Alternate Geoverse #6: A Season Of Terror

Chapters

Prologue (Edited)
It's A Mad World (Edited)
Fallout
Discovery
Shadowy Steps
The Arrival

Prologue (Edited)

CHAPTER ONEPrologueVersion 2.0

Ace woke up with a start, sweat pouring from his brow as he struggled to make sense of the dark room around him. He grasped at the air next to him, his hand clenching into a fist when it failed to make contact with anything. "Of course," he muttered. "Pinkie isn't here anymore. And why should she be? I'm a monster." He looked down to see that he had curled himself into the foetal position during his sleep. With a sigh he sat upright and stared blankly at the wall. Silence was his companion in the cold night, his lab blocking anything to do with the outside word. He buried his head in his hands with a sigh, past actions parading relentlessly through his mind. He closed his eyes, seeing the faces of men he had killed in cold blood. Letting out a sniffle he lay back down on the bed.

"I'm a monster," he whispered. "A monster who doesn't deserve any happiness after what he has done."

"You're a being of evil, aren't you?"

Ace sat bolt upright at the sound of the voice. He looked frantically around the darkened room, as if expecting the owner to be hiding in plain sight. "Who's there?" he demanded. "Where are you?!"

"I'm the one who will make you great," the voice replied. "Listen well to what I have to say and you'll never have to experience your trauma ever again."

"I... I deserve my trauma," Ace conceded. "I'm a villain and a monster, someone who doesn't deserve to live in this world."

"I don't deny most of that," the voice said. "But you don't deserve this. This world will not accept you, and you can't change."

"But what can I do?" Ace questioned. "My wife has left me, and nobody will ever love me like she did."

"Ignore that which you cannot control," the unknown voice said malevolently. "Instead, focus on what you can."

***

"Call me Doctor Robo!" Ace yelled over the loudspeaker. "Ruler of the Steel Empire!"

The rest of us stood frozen to the spot as we watched the enormous vessel in front of us. Various gasps of shock escaped our lips as we attempted to process what was going on. Eventually I regained my composure, and turned to the three pegasi who made up my guard detail.

"What are you waiting for?" I shouted. "An invitation?! Stop him!"

The guards saluted and took off towards the ship, albeit with some hesitation. As they approached, Ace spoke again.

"Ah ah ah!" he taunted. "You can't come after me! Isn't there a fire in Ponyville that you guys need to be taking care of?"

The three guards stopped and hovered, exchanging puzzled glances with each other and Ponyville in the distance.

"But..." one of them them trailed off. "Ponyville isn't on fire."

"Oh, really?" Ace replied. "Well, let me fix that. Fire heat ray!"

A tremendous surge of light blazed from one of the ships many cannons. I could feel the raging inferno, even when it was a few hundred feet above my head. The light hit Ponyville, engulfing several of the buildings in flames. Ace cackled maniacally as his ship began to fly away. The guards looked at him, and then back to the burning town. "Now what's it going to be?" Ace mocked. "Apprehend me, or save Ponyville? Choose wisely, because you don't have the horsepower to do both!"

The ship slowly moved out of sight, heading to parts unknown. I stuck my fingers in my mouth and whistled, attracting everyone's attention. I pointed towards Ponyville, the cries of those affected by the fire now being carried on the air.

"Forget about him!" I shouted. "We need to save the town, so let's get a fucking move on!" With those words we all ran as fast as we could towards the burning town. I could see that several homes and other buildings were ablaze: the schoolhouse, Sugarcube Corner and Vinyl's club. "Rainbow Dash," I ordered. "Get your flank up there and grab as many rainclouds as you can muster, because we're going to need them! Fluttershy and Haywick, you both have medical training so put it to use! Applejack, help with the water buckets! The rest of you, do whatever you can to help!"

Everyone nodded and rushed off in their attempts to save as much of the town as they could. As I ran through the area I looked around at the desperate townsponies trying to fight the fires. Ponies were running and screaming, confusion and chaos at the situation setting in. I caught a glimpse of the schoolhouse, where Cheerilee and Big Macintosh were doing all they could to put out the raging inferno that had engulfed it. But even with the help of the local weather ponies, it seemed like a lost cause.

I continued running until I got to the club. I knew that Vinyl would want to try and save her pride and joy, so I stood outside and waited until she arrived. Suddenly, there was a loud crack as the roof collapsed, sending clouds of dust and smoke into the air. I jumped backwards to avoid a piece of burning wood which smashed into the ground beside me. As I stood staring at it, I heard something which made the blood in my veins freeze.

"Somepony help!" the voice was definitely Vinyl's. "I'm trapped!"

I looked around frantically for her only to realise, to my horror, that she was inside the burning club. Without hesitation I rushed inside, the thick black smoke clouding my vision and making me cough. I dropped to all fours and crawled through the rubble. "Vinyl!" I shouted. "Where are you?!"

"Geo?!" I heard her exclaim from my right. "Over here! Hurry!"

I crawled through the twisted, burning wreckage of the club. The searing hot flames of the fire causing every breath I took to cook me from the inside. I kept my head low, to avoid the smoke. "Vinyl!" I shouted. "Keep talking! I’m on my way!"

"I’m by the bar!" I heard her reply. "It’s getting hot in here! And not because of the music!" she joked.

"That means it’s bad, right?" I joked back, following the sound of her voice. A beam from the roof fell down next to me but I ignored it, too focused on getting to Vinyl.

"You’d better believe it’s bad, buddy!" I heard Vinyl again, coughs following her words. "Just hurry up! I can’t see anything!"

Within moments of those words being said, I finally caught sight of Vinyl next to the bar. A beam had fallen on top of her and pinned her down by her shoulders and I also noticed that her shades had fallen off, probably due to the beam’s collapse. The beam was only slightly charred on one side, but it looked like it would reignite soon if something didn’t change. I moved closer, hell-bent on saving her from the blazing inferno. I examined the beam noting that, while bulky, it didn’t seem very heavy. However it still seemed that my strength alone wouldn’t cut it. I needed help, but thankfully I came up an idea. "Vinyl!" I shouted over the roaring flames. "I need you to help me help you!"

She looked up at me in confusion and shook her head.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I can’t move this beam on my own," I replied as I looked down at her. "But if you use your magic then it might give me the boost I need to get it off! Can you concentrate hard enough to do that?"

Vinyl nodded. "I think so!" she said with determination in her voice. "I‘ll give it a shot!" She began to concentrate and soon a misty blue aura had surrounded the beam.

It began to move, and I quickly reached around it, wrapping the parts I was gripping in the royal cape that formerly adorned my back. Lifting with my legs, I began moving the beam until Vinyl was free from it. A large bruise covered her upper back, and was visible through her white coat. Working simultaneously, we tossed the beam away, behind the bar. I took a sharp intake of breath upon seeing Vinyl’s injury. "Don’t move!" I told her. "We don’t know how bad you’re hurt!"

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Well I can’t just stay here!" she protested.

"Of course not!" I shot back. "Because I’m gonna carry you out!" I grabbed her glasses and then hoisted her onto my back, letting her place her forehooves on my shoulders. I gently lifted her up and turned to go out the way I came in, only for various mixtures of high proof alcohol to explode near the bar, cutting off our escape route.

I glanced around, trying to get a bearing of my surroundings. The smoke made my eyes water, and I coughed, attempting to keep both mine and Vinyl’s heads down. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the entrance to the restroom. From my experience working at the club as a security guard, I knew that it had a small window which Vinyl could probably fit through, but I would still need a way out. It didn’t take me long to decide to go there, as I felt that it was better to have one life in danger than two.

I made my way to the door and tossed it open, smiling at my luck. The fire hadn’t reached this part of the building yet and the marble floor would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the fire to overtake the area. I made my way over to the window, and hoisted Vinyl up towards it. She gasped, knowing the situation which I was putting myself into.

"Geo, no!" she said. "You can’t get out this way! You’ll be trapped in here!" I sighed and showed her her glasses.

"See these, Vinyl?" I asked her, to which she nodded. "There is no way I am not gonna get these back to you, all right?" She pressed her lips together and nodded. "I promise. I’ve pulled through for you countless times before, so just trust me."

I saw her force a smile as tears came to her eyes. She wiped them away with a fetlock and grinned at me. "Good luck, man, you’ve always been the coolest dude I know." At that, she jumped out the window to safety.

So here I am, standing in the bathroom of a club that was burning down... Oh well, time to escape like the boss Vinyl makes me out to be!

I pocketed Vinyl’s glasses and quickly tried to come up with an escape plan for myself. Smoke was filling up the bathroom from the closed door, and flooding out the open window.

Flooding... maybe I could flood the fire?

I quickly went over to the bathroom sinks and ripped some cloth off my shirt. Stuffing the cloth into the drains, I turned the water on at full blast. The sinks began quickly filling and I moved over to the toilets, taking a metal plunger from one of the stalls before taking a few whacks at the pipes with all my strength. A couple of hard strikes later and the water was blasting out from the toilet pipes, all over myself and the floor.

Rarity is going to kill me for ruining this shirt, and now I’m completely soaked... well, at least now I know how Twilight feels when we f— focus, Geo, focus!

At this point the sinks were beginning to overflow, water flowing onto the marble floor and into the crack of the doorway. I heard the slight hissing sound of fires being extinguished.

It’s working!

Elated with my success I struck another toilet’s pipe, and another, until all of the toilets had a symphony of sprays splashing out onto the floor. I got down on my hands and knees and carefully opened the door, seeing that the fires had backed away thanks to the flooding. When I opened the door fully, more water flowed out into the auditorium. It slowed the fire, but didn’t stop it. But what it did manage to do was clear the way to an exit. The walls were still aflame but there, down a hall to the back, was a large window. It was still intact but it had no doubt taken damage from the fire, and I was sure that I could break it. All I had to do was get a running start. With this in mind I got to my feet, hunching over to stay below the smoke.

And then, with a lunge forward, I ran.

***

Twilight rushed up to Vinyl, who was being led off by the medical ponies. "Vinyl!" she called, rushing up. "Where’s Geo?"

"He’s still inside..." Vinyl groaned. "He saved my life."

Without a second thought, Twilight began running towards the building, when she was stopped by one of the weather ponies. "No, princess! You can’t go in there!"

"Let me go!" she ordered. "Geo’s in there! I’m not letting him die!"

"The structure is too unstable, princess!" reasoned the weather pony. "It could collapse at any second!"

As if on cue, the structure fell inside itself, the roof caving in. The walls around it came tumbling down, and before long, there was a pile of smouldering rubble.

Twilight was silent. "No..." she sniffled as tears came to her eyes. "Geo..." She sat on her haunches with her shoulders slumped forward and her head hung low as she tried not to cry, attempting in vain to keep her composure in front of the ponies who looked up to her.

Suddenly, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked over and saw a figure, covered in soot and glass, coughing as he walked away from the rubble. There were only two humans in Ponyville at that moment, and Twilight’s heart filled with happiness when she realised that it couldn’t be John.

"Geo!" she exclaimed, galloping towards him. He barely had time to turn around and face her before she collided with him, sending the two of them rolling across the grass in a tangled mess of limbs.

***

As we came to a stop, Twilight was on top of me. I looked up at her and, after a moment, grinned weakly and coughed. "See?" I chuckled. "Didn’t I tell you that you like being on top?"

Twilight didn’t reply as she brought her lips to mine in a passionate kiss. I returned the gesture fondly, cupping her face in my hands — and feeling the dampness around her eyes. "Don’t you ever worry me like that again!" she scolded as she pulled away. "I thought I’d lost you again!"

"Sorry," I replied. "But I did have to save my old boss. Again. Don’t worry though, Twi, I’m absolutely fine." Another set of wracking coughs escaped my lungs, betraying the fact that I wasn’t fine at all. Twilight got off me and helped me up before leading me to the makeshift hospital which had been set up outside of town. Along the way, we passed Pinkie and all four of the Cakes who were huddled together, watching silently as Sugarcube Corner went up in flames. Pinkie had looked over at us, before looking back up to the Cakes. Cup Cake nodded solemnly and waved a hoof at Pinkie, who pursed her lips together before joining us, hanging her head.

We continued on to the hospital, neither Twilight or I knowing what to say to Pinkie. We both silently agreed to tackle the situation once my hospital visit was dealt with. As the hospital came into view the gravity of the situation began to dawn on us, as several townsponies were there, most of them injured in one way or another. Despite everything they still found the presence of mind to bow to Twilight and I as we walked past them, ignoring our pleas not to bother.

Doctor Haywick and Fluttershy were both tending to Lyra, who was suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation just like I was. Fluttershy was holding her hoof while Haywick was administering oxygen. He glanced up as Twilight and I approached, allowing a small smile to grace his lips. "Back again?" he said. "I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case... but I heard what you did for Vinyl, so I guess your presence here was inevitable. You’re a good man, Geo."

"Thanks, Doc," I wheezed. "Say, where is Vinyl anyway? I need to give her back her goggles." I removed the goggles from my pocket and dangled them from a finger, the lenses reflecting the flames still raging in town. Haywick nodded and pointed towards a nearby tent.

"She’s in there being treated for her injuries." Haywick replied. "The poor mare has a very nasty bruise across her back, a broken leg, and some third degree burns... not to mention the obvious effects of smoke inhalation."

"I’m guessing that last one is a very common problem right now?" I said flatly.

Haywick nodded as Lyra coughed again. Twilight wrapped a wing around her in a comforting gesture while I sat down and took an oxygen tank from Haywick, applying the mask to my face and breathing in deeply.

"Th-thanks," Lyra said. "I was helping Bon Bon while she tried to save as much of her stock as she could before the fire claimed her shop. We managed to save some of it, but the flames spread quicker than anypony thought."

"I’m sorry." Twilight soothed. "I hope Bon Bon is okay."

"She’s fine," Lyra replied. "She may have lost her store but at least she’s still alive, albeit shaken up by this whole thing." She looked Twilight in the eyes. "I heard Doctor Sorou’s voice earlier," she said mournfully. "But why on Equestria was he saying those horrible things? Why did he do this to us? Why is he calling himself a villain? It just doesn’t make any sense at all!"

Twilight and I exchanged a worried glance before she wrapped Lyra in a tighter embrace. "I don’t know," Twilight’s voice cracked with emotion. "But I assure you that we will find out."

Lyra nodded meekly and buried herself in Twilight’s fur, allowing the alicorn to rock her back and forth while I sat and watched. All the while I was shaking my head and wondering how many other ponies would be asking the same questions.

***

An hour later I was given the all-clear to leave. After thanking Doctor Haywick and wishing Lyra all the best, Twilight and I left the tent. She draped a wing around me as we started walking towards where Vinyl was. As we walked we looked at the smoke billowing over the town. The fires had been contained, but a large portion of Ponyville had been destroyed. Townsponies, some black with soot, bowed to Twilight and I before breaking into applause.

"It would seem that word of your exploits has spread," Twilight said. "I’m very proud of you, Geo."

"I did what any rational person would have done," I replied with a dismissive wave of my hand. "Besides, I’m sure Vinyl would have done the same for me."

"You bet your flank I would, boss." Twilight and I stopped walking as we saw Vinyl’s head poking out between the flaps of a tent. I walked over to her, whereupon she reared up onto her hind legs and pulled me in for a bone-crushing hug. "I may have lost my club," she whispered. "But at least I have my life... as well as friends I can rely on to get me through." She looked up at me, tears running down her cheeks and onto what remained of my shirt. "I owe you big time," she said. "Whatever you want, you come to me. Hell, if being a Prince doesn’t work out for you then I’ll make you manager of the club once I rebuild it."

We both chuckled as Vinyl got back onto all fours and wiped her eyes again. I reached into my pocket and removed the goggles, presenting them to Vinyl on the flat of my hand.

"I believe these are yours?" I mused. "I told you that I’d get them back to you."

Vinyl squealed with glee and took the goggles in her magic, levitating them back into position atop her head. She beamed from ear to ear before hugging me again, much tighter than the last time. Twilight, watching from nearby, stifled a giggle as she watched the unicorn squeeze the life out of me.

***

Twilight and I decided to spend some time talking to the townsponies, especially the injured ones. Every single one of them had asked us why Ace had attacked the town, but we found ourselves unable to answer. Even we didn’t know why he had done this. All of our attempts to speak to him had been ruined because of his bots’ refusal to let us into his laboratory. Who knows what those eleven months alone with his thoughts had done to him?

We told everypony that we would get the answers they wanted at a later date, and that the main priority right now was getting the damage repaired and our lives back on track. The latter would be hard, given the circumstances, but we knew in our hearts that as long as we stood together we would get through it all with our heads held high.

Leaving the hospital, we caught sight of Pinkie Pie sitting on a bench with a sullen expression on her face. Her mane and tail were completely straight, and her usually bubbly personality had given way to sorrow and pain.

"It’s not fair..." she muttered. "I was going back to him... I was gonna make things right..." She began crying as she trailed off. Twilight and I sat down on either side of her, wrapping a wing and an arm around her. Pinkie’s sobbing became full-blown bawling as she buried her head in her forehooves. "This is all my fault!" she whimpered. "If I had just stayed with him, then none of this would have happened!"

"Don’t blame yourself, Pinkie," I soothed. "You didn’t know that this was going to happen. None of us did. If you had stayed with him, how could be sure that things would have been different?"

"I could have talked to him!" she shouted. "I could have talked him out of whatever crazy ideas he had! I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE FOR HIM!" Twilight and I both flinched as Pinkie’s anguished cry echoed across Ponyville. She let out a defeated sigh and looked up to the night sky, the smoke having now cleared. "But I wasn’t there for him," she lamented. "Instead I left him because I couldn’t bear to give him a chance. All that he’s done: Manglanosa, the killing, the hostages, the lying... it all became too much for me to bear. But maybe I should have paid more attention to what was going on in his mind. Something drove him to act the way he did."

"And whatever that something is," Twilight said gently, "we’ll figure it out and get him the help he needs."

"But what if he’s beyond help?" Pinkie said flatly. "What then?"

"Then..." I trailed off for a moment. "We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But despite everything, Pinkie, Ace is still our friend and your husband. We will not give up on him, you have my word."

A small smile graced Pinkie’s lips as she nodded.

"You’re right, Geo." she replied. "Ace does need our help. I can only hope that we get to him before somepony gets seriously hurt."

I returned her nod and we sat in silence. As I watched the sky I could only begin to imagine how Pinkie must have felt about everything. And as I looked at her despairing face, I knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

It's A Mad World (Edited)

CHAPTER TWOIt's A Mad WorldVersion 2.0

Ace gazed upon a crystal marble he held between his fingertips, lost in thought, as he leaned forward in his chair. His mind felt... lost. he knew he had just done something horribly, horribly wrong. He wondered idly what Pinkie thought of his actions. The marble in his grasp turned to his whim. The pink pony took the forefront of his thoughts. He remembered her well. He understood why she left. She was scared. Scared of him. Honestly, he was scared of the same person. He didn’t blame Pinkie. She was right to leave him, in his mind.

The marble completed another revolution in Ace’s fingers. He missed her. The way she moved, the way she laughed, the smile on her face... he rested his head in his palm. He was rife with devastation, and there was indeed a simple explanation. He looked at the small crystal ball. Earlier in the year, he would’ve wept, but he was done crying. He had accepted his fate. He was supposed to conquer Equestria. Any ties to his old life had to be severed. He wasn’t Ace any more. Ace was dead. He was Dr. Robo, and it was his destiny to lead his Empire to victory against all who would oppose him.

The marble fell from Ace’s hand, and Dr. Robo stood. The marble bounced off the deck of the ship, rolling into the shadows. Dr. Robo glared at the computer screen before him. The deck of his ship was wide, and divided into rows facing out from his throne. Computer terminals at every station dotted the rows, and at every station was a Doc-bot, feverishly working at their respective terminal to keep the ship in the air.

***

Applejack watched John as he threw another bucket of water onto a still-smouldering pile of rubble. All around them, residents of Ponyville were doing the same to other buildings which had been ravaged by the fire. John walked over to a tap in the middle of town, wiping his brow, while Applejack walked over and laid a hoof on his arm. "Take a break, sugarcube," she pleaded. "Ya ain’t gonna be much use ta anypony if’n you’re tuckered out."

"No," John snapped. "I’m not going anywhere until I know for sure that the town is safe." Applejack winced slightly at her husband’s sharp tongue. Seeing this he sighed and sat next to her, placing a protective arm around her — and the foal she was carrying. "I’m sorry, AJ," he said sullenly. "I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. It’s just that... I feel like what Ace did is my fault. Like I could have stopped all of it from happening."

"Everypony thinks that, John," Applejack sighed. "Heck, even Ah think I coulda done somethin’. But the fact is, I don’t think any of us coulda seen this coming."

"So what the hell do we do then?" John lamented. "I just feel so fucking useless."

"Hmm..." Applejack tapped her chin in thought for a moment. "I guess all we can do now is help folk here, and then work out what we’re gonna do about Ace. Ah heard Geo got himself into a bit of a mess earlier, so we need to check up on him and all our other friends."

"All right," John replied. "Town first, friends second and Ace third. Sounds good to me."

Applejack gave John a peck on the cheek and he stood up, helping her to her hooves. The two of them then walked in the direction of the hospital tent, both their minds full of questions and worries.

***

"Are there any more patients, Fluttershy?"

"No, Haywick. I think you’ve treated them all," Fluttershy replied. "Now please, sit down and have a drink. You’ve been on your hooves for hours helping everypony."

"I’m a doctor, my dear," Haywick sat down with a small sigh. "Helping everypony is what I do best."

Fluttershy nuzzled Haywick contentedly as the two looked out of the flap of the tent towards Ponyville. The fires had been extinguished, but a thick layer of smoke lay over the once-peaceful town. Fluttershy shuddered, leaning closer to the stallion sitting by her side. "I can’t believe Ace would do this," she whimpered. "I never knew that being away from Pinkie Pie for so long would do this to him. Oh, if only we could have done something..."

"Like what?" Haywick replied. "I’m sorry to have to say it, Fluttershy, but there’s nothing we could have done. It would seem that Ace’s fall from grace was inevitable. And even if we had been allowed to see him, curse those blasted bots of his, then what could we have said to him?"

"We could have... um..." Fluttershy ran a forehoof nervously along the ground. "We could have told him how much we missed him, and how much of a dear friend he is... was."

"And what about all that he’s done?" Haywick countered. "Killing all those men in cold blood like that, would you have forgiven him for such a thing?"

"He wasn’t thinking straight," Fluttershy said. "Killing those men was a bit over the top, I know, but he clearly hates himself for it. I don’t know what’s been going on in his mind in the time he’s been cooped up in his lab, but I could hazard a guess and say that his guilt and rage finally got the better of him. But to answer your question, yes, I do forgive him."

Haywick sighed and kissed Fluttershy on the nose tenderly. She draped a wing over his back and pulled him closer.

"Well..." Haywick said. "Let’s just pray that there is yet some hope for our friend. I’m sure the rest would agree with me when I say that something needs to be done, and soon."

"Let’s go find everypony then," Fluttershy replied. "That way we can all sit down and talk about what that ‘something’ is."

Haywick nodded and the two of them stood up. As they left the tent, a voice calling their names caught their attention. The two turned to see John and Applejack approaching, the former looking a little worse for wear.

"Hey, folks," John said. "Judging by the looks on your faces, you are both concerned about whatever the hell has gotten into Ace, aren’t you?" The two of them nodded. "Same with us then. We were actually here to ask you if you’d come with us into town, but I can see that you’ve already had that idea."

"Yes," Fluttershy replied. "We were going to go see Twilight and Geo. As Prince and Princess, Ponyville is their responsibility."

"Plus they can contact Celestia and Luna for help," Haywick added. "Because the way things are going right now, the whole of Equestria will soon know of Ace’s downfall. And when they do, it is the Princesses who will have to answer for it."

"Yeah," John said glumly. "Because they’re the ones who let him stay in Equestria in the first place. And let’s not forget his backstory: a lot of ponies are going to be playing the ‘Why did you let a former gangster stay in our country?’ card."

"We’ll sort that when the time comes," Applejack said as she started walking. "But there ain’t no sense in discussin’ it without the others here. So let’s go an’ grab everypony else and head on over to the library."

The other three said nothing as they fell into line behind her.

***

"How could he do this to us?!" Rainbow Dash growled as she struck out with her forehooves. "If I ever get my hooves on Ace, I’m gonna tear him apart!"

"Whoa, Dash, settle down," Spark Plug said hesitantly. "We can’t go jumping to conclusions."

"What conclusion?" Dash replied. "The fact that Ace has betrayed us in the most horrible way imaginable, or the fact that... we failed him as friends?"

"Don’t say that!" Spark said sternly. "None of us knew that this was going to happen. And even if we did know, there would have been nothing we could have done. You know as well as I do that nopony has been allowed to see Ace lately. Whatever he’s been planning, he has had both the time and the privacy with which to do so. We tried to get to him, but we couldn’t."

"Well we should have tried harder!" Dash yelled. "We should have blazed past those oversized tin cans, marched straight into that lab of his, pulled him out of whatever crazed world he was in and shown him how much he means to us and Pinkie!"

"That’s right..." Spark said quietly. "Pinkie will be taking this harder than anypony else. I can’t even begin to imagine what the poor mare must be going through, and I don’t even want to think about what will happen to their daughter. At the very least, I hope that she visits her father while he’s in a prison... not buried in a cemetery."

"Yeah... well, I’m not sure how to feel right now," Dash moaned. "Part of me wants to buck Ace’s teeth out, but the other part thinks I should stick by him."

"I see what it is," Spark replied. "You are the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty yet you are torn between your loyalty to Equestria, because it is your home and your loyalty to Ace, because he is your friend." Dash nodded meekly. "My dear Rainbow, the answer is obvious. You can support both causes at once, by helping Ace find out what is wrong with him... which in turn will help Equestria."

Rainbow Dash looked at Spark in wonder before a small smile tugged the corners of her lips. She nodded, with more vigour than before, and nuzzled Spark’s face. He blushed at the contact, as well as conceal his surprise at the fact Dash didn’t look around to make sure she wasn’t being watched.

"You’re right, Spark," Dash whispered. "You’re always right. Come on, let’s go Twilight. She’s the egghead, so hopefully she’ll have some clue as to what we need to do." She pointed a forehoof in a random direction. "For Ace, and for Equestria!" She said dramatically, as she began trotting towards town. Spark Plug chuckled and rolled his eyes before following her.

***

"It was horrible, Gummy," Pinkie said as she paced around the tent nervously, her eyes darting back and forth as if she was expecting something to leap at her from the shadows. The voices of other Ponyville residents who had lost their homes filtered in, but Pinkie paid no attention to them. In one corner sat her pet alligator, chewing on a ball as he watched his owner walk around muttering to herself. "I feel like there’s something I could’ve done, y’know? Twilight says that there was no way to predict what would happen. But I’m his wife, I should have known that something was wrong!"

A loud cry cut through the air. Pinkie stopped in her tracks and turned to the source of the noise — a foal in a crib. She mentally slapped herself for waking her up and walked over, cradling the child gently. "Shh... There, there, Chocolate. Daddy’s... not here right now. I miss him too." Chocolate snuggled up to Pinkie’s chest and cooed happily. A small smile came to the mare’s face at the affectionate display, and she gently placed Chocolate back in her crib. The foal fell asleep in moments and Pinkie turned her attention to Gummy, who was still chewing on the ball. "I just don’t know what to do. I... There has to be some way to make this right, right?"

Gummy stopped chewing and fixed his gaze upon his owner. He blinked once and resumed his attempts to devour the ball. Pinkie looked at him for a moment before she gasped. "You’re right!" she squealed. "My friends will know what to do! You’re a sweet, wonderful genius, Gummy! They’d be at Twilight’s right now, wouldn’t they?" Gummy blinked again and Pinkie nodded. "That settles it," she said. "I’ll go there now, and Chocolate’s coming with me! Watch the tent while I’m gone, Gummy! Bye!"

***

Arriving back at the library I flopped down onto the couch, burying myself in the softness of the cushions. The guards assigned to protect Twilight and I were there as well, their faces showing signs of pain and anguish. They saluted as we came in, but I raised a hand. "You shouldn’t be here," I said sternly. "Go to your families and friends, make sure they’re okay." One of them opened his mouth, an unsure look on his face. "Consider that to be a direct order from your Prince. Now go, we’ll be fine."

They didn’t have to be told twice as they galloped out of the room and took to the air. Twilight nodded at me and went upstairs, coming back down a few moments later with Azure and Evening on her back.

"Hi, daddy!" Evening squealed. She noticed the sullen expression on my face and matched it. "What’s wrong? Why are you sad?"

"Don’t you worry about me, sweetheart," I replied. "Daddy is just a bit tired."

"I heard Uncle Ace yelling earlier," Azure said. "Why is he so angry? We saw the fires and heard shouting and crying."

Twilight and I exchanged a worried glance with each other, while Azure and Evening looked at us with perplexed expressions. The two of them could see that we were keeping something from them, and their childish curiosity would not relent.

"Uncle Ace..." Twilight flailed a bit, trying to find the right words. "Uncle Ace is not well, kids. He’s just not being himself."

"Oh," Azure replied. "Well... give him some medicine then. It works when Evening and I get ill."

I chuckled at my son’s naivety, which seemed to upset him a bit. He snorted at me and crossed his forelegs.

"Sorry, son," I said. "But I think not even that yucky stuff we keep in the cabinet is going to help your Uncle Ace."

Evening slid off Twilight’s back and walked over to me. I picked her up and she wrapped her little forehooves around my neck.

"Will you and mummy make Uncle Ace better?" she asked as she nuzzled my cheek. "I hope you do."

"We’ll try," I gave my daughter a kiss on the forehead. "But if medicine doesn’t work then Uncle Ace will have to spend some time in the hospital."

Azure copied his sister and slid off Twilight’s back. I scooped him up and he hugged the other side of my neck.

"Don’t worry, daddy," he said. "Mummy can use her magic to make Uncle Ace feel better. And if she can’t do it, then Auntie Celestia and Auntie Woona can help."

Twilight giggled at Azure’s pronunciation of ‘Luna’ before coming over and joining the hug.

"We’ll make Uncle Ace better, kids, I promise," she said. "Now come on, it’s time for bed."

"Aaaawwwwwww...." Azure and Evening groaned as they were levitated onto Twilight’s back. I gave them both a kiss goodnight and watched as they went upstairs.

"We’ll either make him better..." I muttered. "Or we’ll kill him trying. And I hope for all our sakes, especially Pinkie’s, that it’s the former."

***

"Who could have known that Ace could be so cruel?" Spike wondered. "I had no idea he could do something like this. What do you think, Rarity?"

Rarity bit her lip nervously, memories of what she had been told about Ace’s past flooding through her mind. The images did not make for pleasant viewing, and she shook her head to clear her mind of the horrors which were lurking within. "All I know is that Ace is acting very uncouth," she replied. "And that something needs to be done before somepony is seriously hurt." She paused for a moment. "Or, Celestia forbid, killed."

"But the main question is... what are we going to do about it?" Spike said. "Ace has to be stopped, and I’m guessing you, me and the others are going to be the ones who will have to do it."

Rarity sighed. "I guess we are, darling," she said. "But I cannot rightly say just what our course of action will be. My guess is that everypony will be meeting to discuss matters."

"Yeah, you’re right," Spike mused. "Chances are they’ll be going to see Geo and Twilight at the library. So we should make our way over there now and join them."

Rarity nodded and got up from her seat, walking over to the door. She and Spike both stepped out into Ponyville, closing the door behind them, and walking side-by-side down the street towards the library. As they walked, Spike draped a wing over Rarity’s back, prompting her to lean into him with a contented sigh. Clearing his throat, Spike spoke in a hushed tone.

"What will we do if... if Ace can’t be saved?" He said. "Do you think we’ll have to fight him?"

Rarity shuddered, knowing full well what Ace was capable of in a fight. "I hope not," she muttered. "Those bots of his... they would not be easy opponents to overcome."

"But what if we somehow managed to get him alone?" Spike offered. "What would we do then?"

"If we could not reason with him... then I guess we would have to fight." Rarity replied. "I’m no strategist, but I’d imagine that with our superior numbers we would be able to overpower Ace without having to resort to violence."

"At least, you hope so," Spike said with a small chuckle.

Rarity smiled at him. "Do not worry, my dear Spikey-Wikey, for we will find a solution to this mess. Ace will be saved ‘come hell or high water’, as Geo would say."

Spike smiled back and the two of them fell into silence as the library came into view.

***

John, Applejack, Fluttershy and Haywick were the first ones to arrive, followed closely by Dash and Spark and then by Rarity and Spike. Pinkie was the last to arrive, and was unable to look anypony in the eye as she slunk over to the couch and sat down. The distraught look was still on her face, and her mane and tail were still eerily flat. What little cheer she got seemed to come from her foal, who she brought over. She cuddled Chocolate’s sleeping form, only the beginnings of a smile showing on her face as she did. The sight of the normally bubbly mare looking like this could have brought a tear to a glass eye.

"So what’s the plan?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I assume that’s why we’re all here, to do something, right?"

"What can we do?" I replied. "We have no idea where Ace is headed, we don’t know how he got this way...it looks like there isn’t much that we can do."

"Well we cain’t just give up, raight?" Applejack asked. "Ah mean, we’ve faced big ol’ nasties out ta destroy Equestria before. Naightmare Moon and Sombra? Shoot, they were nothin’ but a bitch an’ a trick." The rest of us stared in wonder at the words that had left AJ’s mouth, and she looked away sheepishly. "Ah’m sorry. Ah guess John’s rubbin’ off on me." She admitted with a chuckle.

"Applejack brings up a good point, though. You’ve faced off against the toughest baddies Equestria has to offer!" Spike said, throwing a couple of enthusiastic punches. "If you guys can shoot him with the elements, then I’m sure he’ll be back to his old self again!"

"That depends, Spike," Twilight said. "If something inhabited him, and is making him do this, then yes, we could use the elements and banish whatever evil is inside him. But if he’s doing this of his own accord, and is just insane to the point where he’s hearing voices in his head, then the elements will..." Twilight paused, sighing. "The elements will destroy him."

A solemn silence descended on the room, as the gravity of what was at stake hit us. Twilight’s words seemed to have taken all of the hope out of each of us, and none of us knew how to respond. Though, eventually, Pinkie did. "I can’t do it." We all turned to her, and saw her clutching Chocolate as tears welled up in her eyes. "I can’t be responsible for that. It’s already my fault that he’s acting like this, I don’t want him to die because of me." Pinkie sniffled, and her tears intensified. She began sobbing silently, as Rarity and Fluttershy ran up to comfort her. They began their own hushed conversation, trying to calm Pinkie down.

"This is bad," Dash said worriedly. "Even if the only way to stop Ace was to use the Elements, it requires all six of us to do it. But if Pinkie doesn’t want to, then we won’t be able to stop Ace that way. We need a new plan."

"Maybe we should visit Princess Celestia, and see what she has to say on the matter," Twilight suggested. "She has thousands of years of experience, so maybe her insight will give us a good idea on what to do about this." We all nodded in agreement. "All right then. Let’s go."

We all stood up and left the library, Rarity and Fluttershy still doing their best to console Pinkie, and headed for the station. None of us knew what lay ahead...

But we all knew that it wasn’t going to be easy.

***Ace's Lab, Seven Months Ago...

"I remember this show I used to watch," Ace said to himself as he worked on a new invention. "I really liked the characters, because they were noble and honourable Samurai. I practised fighting like them using wooden swords when I was younger."

"So you were an effective combatant," mused the voice in his head.

Ace nodded as he spliced together a few wires. "I actually managed to beat up a kid with a baseball bat by fighting like them. If I refine it, I can train myself to fight like that again, and actually improve on what I’ve done," he replied, as a feeling of satisfaction washed over his mind.

"Then you had better get started, after you finish your work on this creation. You will need that skill to prove yourself."

Ace smiled, before a solemn thought entered his head. "When this is over... Will I be loved?" he asked the thin air.

"Love?" The voice scoffed. "What use is that? Love led you to this sorrow that you are experiencing. There is no place for love in our future," the voice turned more sinister. "Banish any thought of love away. You can never be loved. Especially after everything you’ve done."

"... yeah, I guess you’re right," Ace sighed as he returned to his creation.

Fallout

CHAPTER THREEFalloutVersion 1.0

Dr. Robo descended from his craft, hovering high in the air. The cloaking system would make it look like a cloud, preventing any scouts from Canterlot from finding him. The bots down below had been scouting a ruin for some time, and Robo had come to check up on them. Floating at the bottom of the gravity lift was Grav-bot, currently in charge of the exploration of the old ruin. "Grav-bot, report," Robo demanded. "Is this ruin suitable for a base?"

"Unknown at this time, Doctor," Grav-bot replied, the metallic voice echoing from the squid-like machines speaker. "An event has occurred. Your interest is projected, as the event is related to your current objective."

Dr. Robo raised an eyebrow as he folded his arms. "Explain."

"The walls of the ruins depict runes," Grav-bot explained. "Theory: the artefact appears to have the ability to corrupt anything. Reference: the runes on the ruin walls. Current objective: the conquest of Equestria. Projected conclusion: corruption may be instrumental with any plans you may create."

"I see," Dr. Robo stated, nodding understandingly. He was indeed intrigued, but he needed to know more about this artefact. "What is it called? And where is it?"

Grav-bot processed the query for a moment. "The artefact is known as the Satchel of Shadows. Reference: the runes on the walls. The artefact is located deeper within the ruins themselves. Reference: the runes on the walls. Exploration teams have been dispatched to retrieve the artefact, but a contradiction has been found. Contradiction: the artefact is in the centre room of the ruin. Reference: the runes on the walls. The artefact is not in the centre room of the ruin. Reference: reports from exploration teams."

Dr. Robo had an unreadable expression on his face. "Show me," he demanded. Grav-bot flew off at walking speed, with Dr. Robo following close behind him. The bot led him through a labyrinth of stone, going deep underground by several floors. Different bots were busy retrofitting the ruins for habitation and factory construction, as well as disabling traps and opening doors set up in the ruin itself.

Grav-bot entered a large chamber in the centre of the complex, with Dr. Robo following close behind. Inside was a pedestal, with various markings around it, similar to the runes outside. Dr. Robo inspected the rest of the room, and saw four pillars at each corner. Behind one of the pillars, however, his eyes caught something. Casually strolling over to it, he saw the skeletal remains of what appeared to be a pegasus. He turned back to Grav-bot. "Help me extract these remains," he ordered.

The pegasus seemed to have been dead for centuries, but his saddlebags had held up remarkably well. Whoever he was, if it was indeed a male, seemed to have been an adventurer. Dr. Robo didn't have any respect for the stallion, however. Without being phased by the fact that he was looting a corpse the mad scientist reached into the saddlebags, searching around to see what he could find. Most of it was random tidbits and a couple of valuable looking gems, but when he got his hands on a book he pulled it out and dusted the cover off.

The book had some sort of parchment over it, suggesting that the stallion wanted it to keep for a long time. And boy, did it work. Dr. Robo was able to open the book with hardly any difficulty, and spent some time reading what he found to be a diary of the fallen adventurer. Skipping ahead to the latest entry, he tried to see if it had any clue as to the whereabouts of the missing artefact. After he finished he closed the book, muttering a curse under his breath.

"The artefact is not here," he concluded, turning to face Grav-bot. "This pegasus was poisoned by one of the ruin's traps. In his last entry, he stated that he was trying to get the artefact before a rival unicorn could get their hooves on it. He made it as far as this room but collapsed with his prize in sight, and the poison wearing on his body. The unicorn followed in a few minutes later, and offered the pegasus help, but the pegasus responded by spitting on the unicorn's hoof. From that point on the unicorn, likely insulted, completely ignored him. The last page states that the unicorn took the Satchel of Shadow, shortly before leaving the pegasus to die." He shook his head. "We can worry about the Satchel later."

"No we can't!" echoed the voice in his head.

Dr. Robo looked up, and thought to himself. We have no leads on the Satchel, and it likely doesn't have any power anyway. It's been sealed away for Celestia knows how long.

"The Satchel is key to our conquest! Its power is equal to that of the Elements of Harmony, for the Rainbow of Darkness is contained within!" reasoned the voice. "Without the Satchel of Shadow, we can never hope to stand against Celestia and her Elements of Harmony! Equestria is united behind her, and her power is leagues above yours!"

Dr. Robo was silent for a moment, before turning to speak to Grav-bot. "We will need the Satchel, so we won't completely ignore it. Get CABAL to analyse any data on the Satchel of Shadow, and see if he can't pinpoint its location. Have the rest of our forces continue construction on the base." An idea popped into his head, and a malicious grin formed on his lips. "Actually, I'm going to take a detachment of bots with me. If what I've researched is true, then I'll need to dress warmly." After his ominous statement, Dr. Robo strode out of the ruin, back toward his ship.

***

The journey to Canterlot was, unsurprisingly, a very quiet one. At first the conductor refused to let us on, citing the fact Ponyville had just been set on fire, but he was quick to relent when Twilight and I pulled rank on him and ordered him to prepare a train for us.

It's a good thing we had to wait for the train to be prepared, as Twilight and I had to rush back to the library for Azure and Evening. We arrived back, red-faced and with two sleepy and confused foals in tow, to sniggers from the guys and stifled giggles from the girls.

Settling into the carriage, each of us seemed preoccupied with our own thoughts. Rarity and Fluttershy were still tending to Pinkie, who had also brought Chocolate along. Spike and Haywick watched their marefriends with unsure looks on their faces, Dash and Spark opted for looking out the window at the scenery, and John had his arms around Applejack so tight, he looked like an accessory.

Other than the occasional giggle from the foals, the journey was completely silent. Every now and again we would catch the eye of one of the others in the carriage and offer them a weak smile, but we knew that all the talking would be done in Canterlot.

As the train pulled into the Canterlot station, we could see that the place was a hive of activity. Several Royal Guards, fully armed and armoured, were lining the platform, so we guessed that word had finally reached the city of the events which had transpired in Ponyville. All of the guards were looking around nervously, particularly towards the sky.

Wordlessly, we got off the train and stood on the platform. The guards snapped to attention as one of them, a unicorn stallion wearing the armour and sash which signified his rank as Captain, approached us and saluted. He had a crimson coat, a crimson mane and a crimson tail — both of which were very fluffy-looking, even under the helmet he wore. His cutie mark was the symbol used in chess to denote the king.

"Your Majesties," he said. "My name is Crimson Star. I am the new Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, and I have been expecting you all. Time is of the essence, so if you would be so kind as to follow me, I will escort you to where Princesses Celestia and Luna are waiting."

"Lead the way, Captain," I replied.

As we started walking I couldn't help but notice that the girls, except for Pinkie and Fluttershy, were giving Crimson Star evil looks. He didn't seem to notice, but if he did then he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"Hey, Twilight?" I whispered. "What's wrong? Why are you all giving him the stink-eye?"

"Crimson Star is notorious for having hit on pretty much every mare who lives in Ponyville," she sighed. "He's tried it with me, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack. He didn't talk to Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie seemed oblivious to what he was doing."

"When was this?" I hissed. "Was it recently?"

"No," Twilight said calmingly. "This was months before I met you, and I turned him down quicker than you can blink. I guess you could say that I was just waiting for the right man to arrive and sweep me off my hooves."

I grinned and kissed her on the cheek as Crimson Star opened the ornate doors leading into the throne room. We could see both Luna and Celestia, holding quills in front of them as they worked through a small mountain of parchment. The sound of the door creaking caught their attention and they looked up, fixing small smiles on their faces as they saw us.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed happily, breaking into a gallop so that she could greet her mentor.

"Twilight, my faithful student," Celestia cooed in relief, giggling to herself as she bent down to embrace Twilight. "Old habits are hard to break, aren't they, princess?" She asked with a smile, trying to mask the shadows under her eyes with a gentle expression.

The worry in Twilight's eyes, however, let Celestia know that she wasn't fooled. "Is everything all right, Celestia? You look tired."

"I've been spending most of the day dealing with the fallout from..." Celestia sighed. "The fallout from Ace's attack on Ponyville. Everypony is up in arms, and the Ratification Council is demanding that something is done. Not just about Ace, but humans in general. It's proving to be rather tiresome."

"The Ratification Council?" I asked in response to Princess Celestia's complaint. "What's that?"

Twilight huffed, looking up at me with disappointment. "Honestly, Geo," she scolded. "Didn't you pay attention to your description of duties when you were coronated?"

I put a hand behind my head, embarrassed. "Um, no," I admitted. "I was too busy thinking about... other stuff."

Twilight rolled her eyes before bringing a hoof to her face, having figured out exactly what I was thinking of. "Oh, for the love of..." She performed the stress relief exercise Cadence had taught her and then continued talking. "Our duties as members of the royal family are to protect the ponies of Equestria, and make decisions based on the problems we perceive with the nation. Our decisions come in the form of decrees, and every decree we make has to be approved by both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. But even if we have a decree approved, there's no guarantee it'll be carried out, because it then has to go through the Ratification Council. The council consists of seven ponies who vote on whether or not the decree should be ratified. A position on the council is elected, rather than given by sovereignty."

"Why do you have all these hoops?" John asked. "Why not let the Royal Family rule? Its members seem to be pretty down-to-Earth."

"You've obviously never met Prince Blueblood," I muttered.

"The checks and balances are there," Twilight continued, "to prevent certain ponies from making outrageous or overzealous decrees that would send Equestria back into the Age of Winter."

"Speaking of which, the council has been making some rather ridiculous proposals," Celestia sighed, rubbing her temple with a hoof. "One of the perks to being elected into the council is that you can propose decrees to the Royal Family. They still have to go through approval and ratification before being issued as an edict, but it gives the council a certain measure of power. In this way, Equestria can be considered both a democracy and a monarchy at the same time."

"But this nasty business with Ace's apparent fall to darkness has left a bad taste in everypony's mouth." Luna added. "None are reacting as badly as the council. This morning alone, my sister and I have received over thirty proposals for new edicts against humans. The least infuriating one demands that any and all humans in Equestria be accompanied by three guards at any given time with orders to kill them if they are deemed 'unsafe to the public'. The proposals get progressively darker from there."

"Well," John said flatly. "That's a fair load of shit right there."

"You can say that again," I replied. "I seriously hope that none of these crazy ideas become law."

"Worry not, dear friends," Luna soothed. "My sister and I shall do everything within our power to ensure these laws do not come to pass. We... only wish that we could assist you more directly."

"Perhaps you can," I stated, stepping forward. "We're not entirely sure what to do about Ace."

"Geo, no," Twilight interjected. "Celestia and Luna have enough on their plate as it is. Why should we ask them for more than they're already giving?"

I shrugged. "What? It's not like I'm asking them to drop what they're doing and do our job for us. I was just wondering if they knew of any other ways to get Ace under control, in case the Elements didn't work. I mean, that's why we came here, isn't it?"

Twilight was about to respond, when Celestia spoke. "Unfortunately, no. We've never dealt with humans invading our world. You could say you're the first," she said, giving a tired smile at her own joke before sighing. "Forgive this princess. I only meant to lighten the mood, but in my fatigue I had forgotten how hard this must be for all of you."

There was a collective moan of disappointment from everyone. I couldn't believe that there was no way to stop Ace without the Elements, but everything seemed so dark at this point. As we were about to thank Celestia for her time, she perked up slightly. "However, Princess Luna and I were at one time great heroes that travelled the land you now know. We fought the darkest of evils. Perhaps we can dispense some wisdom of dealing with foes that seem to operate on similar principles to Ace's."

"Yes, 'tis true." Luna added, looking up from a bill that she had clearly denied, if the smouldering parchment was anything to go by. "For an enemy on the move, the best tactic is to follow him and observe his movements. That would give you the best insight on how to defeat him."

"But we don't even know where he is!" Rainbow exclaimed indignantly. "How the hay are we supposed to find him?"

Celestia hummed as an idea came to her. "You know, we're not the only ancient beings who have the ability to help in some capacity. In fact, aside from myself and Luna, there's another such being here in this castle."

I tried to think. Were there any other immortal beings in the castle I didn't know of that could help? Well there's one, but...

"Wait a second, Celestia," Twilight said, interrupting my train of thought. "You can't possibly mean—"

Her words were interrupted by the sound of chuckling that reminded me of John De Lancie. Suddenly, the familiar face and unmistakable body of Discord appeared out of thin air, laughing his gut out. "Oh, that's a hoot, Celestia!" he laughed. "And here I was, thinking that you didn't have a funny bone in your body!"

I heard Rarity whispering behind me. "Fluttershy, he's your friend now, isn't he?" she asked, to which Fluttershy nodded. "Then could you be a dear and ask for his help? He'll respond better to you." At this, Fluttershy nodded again and flew up to the draconequus.

"Um... hi, Discord," she said with a smile. "I take it you were listening in on our itty-bitty conversation?"

"Of course I was," Discord said with a smile, as he snapped his fingers and changed into a pile of ears with a face. "You could say I was... all ears!" He guffawed.

There are some things that Discord does which are either really cool or funny, and then there are some things that he does which are either annoying or disgusting. This fell into the latter category. Thankfully, in a flash of light, he transformed back.

Fluttershy gave him a nervous smile. "Well, maybe you'd like to... um... help us find Ace? Please?" She looked at Discord expectantly.

Discord brought his lion paw hand up to his chin in thought, as he looked up at the roof. "No," he said, facing back to Fluttershy with a grin. It didn't take him long to reach the conclusion, I noticed. Celestia looked at Discord sternly, as the ponies gasped. Discord noted the reaction, and blinked. "What?"

Fluttershy turned angry. "Discord! You promised to help us when you said you were reformed! I can't—"

"A tut-tut-tut-tut!" Discord interrupted. "You know I made no such promise." He said, causing the room to disappear, and the backdrop changing to Ponyville. Everyone turned into translucent versions of themselves. Including me, which I thought was kinda cool. I looked over, and saw the scene set for right after Discord was reformed. "Don't you remember my exact words?"

We all watched as past events unfolded: Discord approached Celestia, who was watching him with a small grin on her face. He bowed before her and said, "Princess, I am ready to use my powers for good." There was a slight pause before he added under his breath, "Most of the time." The Discord that was with us snapped his fingers, and we were all back in Canterlot, in the castle.

"I only said that I'd use my powers for good. I never promised to help you," Discord said as he summoned up a hammock, laying on it with a coconut in his hand which had a straw sticking out of it. "I gave myself an out, in case I wanted to sit back, relax, and watch the show." He said with a grin, flicking down a pair of sunglasses over his face. "And what better show than this? Poor Ace has gone absolutely nuts, and is intent in sowing confusion and destruction in Equestria! Because of this, ponies everywhere are becoming distrustful of humans! Chaos is spreading, and I don't have to lift a claw to move it along! Why would I ever want this to stop?"

Twilight stepped forward, trying to plead with him. "Discord, please. Fluttershy is your friend, right? Well Ace is her friend too, and it pains her to see him like this."

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, that's true. I really don't want Ace to do this to Equestria, I'm afraid. Not of him, but for him. Please, Discord, help us."

Discord raised his shades and, for a moment, I thought he was going to give in. But instead he crossed his arms, looking rather annoyed. "Fluttershy, you know I hate seeing you upset. But if I did help you solve all this, it'd be as a HUGE favour. And you know my policy on favours. Put quite simply, there's not a thing you can do to repay me if I helped," he finished by sticking his nose up in the air with a small smirk.

Everyone was annoyed with how stubborn Discord was being, including me. And so, in a rare fit of outrage, I shouted at him. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Discord! It's in your best interests to help us!"

All attention turned to me as Discord chuckled. "Oh? I should want to help you? Well then, go on," He snapped his fingers and suddenly, I was standing on a podium with a spotlight centred on me. "Let's hear your side of the debate then. How are you so certain that it's in my best interests to help you, Prince Geo?" He disappeared, and soon reappeared at a podium on the opposite end of the throne room.

I took a moment to think about it as I honestly didn't have a clue how it would help him to help us. I just said it in the spur of the moment. "I... uh..." I struggled to find words for a moment, before I just decided to wing it, thinking about past events. "Think about it, Discord. If Ace is serious about taking over Equestria with the Steel Empire, then he's gonna want to get everyone associated with Princess Celestia captured and locked away, or worse. Ace has a good chance of beating you because, if you'll remember, he did manage to trap you in that shield."

Discord yawned as he polished his talons on his coat. "And? He can't get me using the same trick twice."

I pounded the podium in frustration. "But he's more unpredictable than you are!" I asserted.

That caught Discord's attention, and he glared at me. "Me, less unpredictable than some mere mortal?" he scoffed. "Poppycock! I'm the spirit of Chaos! I do chaotic things! Look!" He snapped his fingers, and text appeared above him, as if he were a character in World of Warcraft. The text read 'DisUnpredictabilityCord' "Unpredictability is my middle name!" He insisted.

I folded my arms. "And yet you predictably go out of your way to perpetuate chaos," I said with a smirk. "He'll use that against you and trap you." This caused Discord to stop and think, so I pressed my advantage. "And don't think for a second he won't come after you, because the last I checked he still considered you an enemy."

Discord was silent for a long moment, as he just stared at me. Eventually he spoke. "… well, I never thought of it like that," he said. He snapped his fingers, and the podiums disappeared. "All right I'll help, but only insofar as I give you information and hints."

"That works," I said as I turned to Twilight and winked. She gave me a huge grin in return.

"And even then, I will do it in the way I know best," Discord said, causing the rest of us to turn to look at him curiously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him, accusingly.

Discord only smiled, and began floating around us while reciting a rather strange riddle.

"If you want to save your royal guard,

Find the dog that belongs to high card.

Look inside, there's a gift for you,

A prism of skies, she mirrors her, too!"

A pregnant silence befell the throne room, as we all tried to make sense of the riddle. Suddenly, John broke the silence. "... what the fuck kinda hint was that?!" he shouted indignantly.

"That's all the information I can give you, right now," Discord told us. "Will you figure out my little riddle? Ooh, the suspense is killing me!" He laughed, as his coconut drink and sunglasses reappeared. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to enjoy a few rays of sunlight while Celestia still controls it. Toodle-loo!" With one last snap of his fingers he disappeared in a flash of light.

I sighed. "It's not much." I said. "But at least it's something. Come on, everypony, let's figure this out. Because the sooner we do, the sooner we can help Ace."

Everyone nodded and we set about undertaking the task of solving the riddle Discord had left us with. I don't know much about riddles, given the fact I'm not really into word games, but I did know one thing.

It was going to be a long night.

***

Deep in the wreckage of Manglanosa's base in Ghastly Gorge, something stirred. A capsule came online, with the computer screen next to it flashing. Warning: Reserve power failure. Containment breach imminent. The screen flickered, and the entire pod went offline. Suddenly a large, fist shaped dent appeared in the door of the pod. Two more came rapidly after that, before the door flew off its hinges. Amongst the mist that poured out, a deep, menacing voice bellowed out a single word.

"Sorou..."

Discovery

CHAPTER FOURDiscoveryVersion 1.0

We spent hours trying to decipher Discord's riddle. Many caffeine-enriched beverages were consumed, much time was spent rubbing our respective temples, many ideas were exchanged and many voices were raised as it became apparent to all of us that we weren't going to work it out without the help of a miracle.

"If you want to save your Royal Guard..." I contemplated.

"Well the 'Royal Guard' part is obviously a reference to Ace himself," Twilight mused.

"But, umm, why would Ace be in trouble?" Fluttershy asked. "Isn't he the one trying to take over Equestria?"

"Well he's in trouble with me!" Rainbow scowled. "When I get my hooves on him, I'm gonna make him sorry for betraying us!"

"Rainbow!" Applejack chided as she nodded towards Pinkie, who was sulking in the corner. She had heard Rainbow, and started to tear up. Rainbow grimaced and quieted down.

I quickly tried to make the focus of the conversation go back to the riddle, so I stated the second line of it. "Find the dog that belongs to high card."

"High card?" John asked. "Is there a dog that belongs to a king?"

"The gryphons have a king, but we have no idea whether or not he has a dog," Luna interjected, attempting to assist as best she could. "We could ask him, but it would take some time for the messenger to get there."

"I don't believe that's what the riddle means," Celestia said, her attention divided between a proposed law and the current situation.

"Speaking of dogs, we should check on Winona when we get back," I heard John tell Applejack. "The poor lab is probably worried about everything that's going on."

Something ticked in my mind, as AJ responded. "Ah've told ya before that she's a collie, not a labrador," she said. "An' don't you worry none 'bout her. Big Mac agreed to keep 'er settled."

"Wait a minute..." I moved over to John. "Hey, John, give me your cards." I said, holding out my hand.

"What cards?" John asked, looking at me questioningly.

"The deck of playing cards you keep on you at all times whenever you go out," I insisted. "Now shut up and let me see 'em."

John sighed, taking out a deck of cards from the chest pocket of his jacket. "How did you know these were there?"

"Oh, please," I replied. "You always have a deck of these in case you get bored of having to wait a long time. I remember you telling me that when we first met."

"Huh, I didn't think you'd remember that," John replied, scratching his head. "So... why do you need them anyway?"

"Because 'high card' doesn't refer to a king," I said as I looked through the deck. "There's one card in a suite that has a higher value than any of the face cards." I took out an ace of spades, and held it up. "It refers to an Ace."

"But Ace doesn't have a dog," Pinkie said, confused.

"Not unless he recreated K-9 from Doctor Who," John added.

"He doesn't have a dog, but he does have a lab," I said.

It hit everyone else instantly, but John still didn't get it. "How does Ace have a labrador, but not a dog?" I heard the sounds of multiple hooves colliding with faces.

I rolled my eyes. "He has a laboratory, not a labrador," I told him. "We need to find the lab that belongs to Ace, which means we need to go back to... you guessed it, Ponyville."

***

Fiddlesticks smiled brightly as he brought his bucket out of his house. Snow was plentiful in the village that formed around the train station near the Crystal Empire. The town council had yet to decide on a name for the village, but that didn't subtract from it's charm, nor did it keep both Crystal ponies and Equestrian ponies from taking up residence there.

The young Earth pony intended to make a snow fort, playing with his friends. The bucket would make it easier for him to pack down the snow. Maybe this time he would gain the upper hoof in the snowball fight, and then he'd impress that filly he had his eyes on, Snow Flurry. Fiddlesticks trotted happily towards the playground, eager to play.

The sight of a shadow descending on the village caused him, and other ponies who were going about their business, to stop. Curious as to what was suddenly blocking out the sun, every pony in the village looked up at the sky — all of them gasping at the massive ship that was there.

And then all Tartarus broke loose.

***

Princess Cadence was writing a letter at her desk when shrieks of terror echoed up into her window. Her attention drawn from her task, Cadence moved over to the window to discover the cause of the uproar. Her eyes widened in shock, as she immediately spotted the source of the terror.

No one could've missed it. Off in the distance, a huge ship with the embroidered 'Dr. R' was firing a barrage of different rays down at the village near the train station. Running back towards the main city was a stampede of ponies, all panicked and frightened by the apparent invaders.

It was then that the door to Cadence's room burst open, and Shining Armour entered, panting heavily. "Cadence!" he exclaimed.

Cadence's expression suddenly became more determined. "I'm all right, Shiny," she replied, turning to him. "There are ponies fleeing the battle. Send the Guard out to retrieve them, and then meet me at the Crystal Heart."

***

Dr. Robo descended from his ship amidst the reinforcements of dozens of bots at his beck and call. Around him, the flashes of rays from various space age cannons died down, as the battle quickly faded to conclusion. A Doc-bot approached, and put a fist to his own chest in a Roman salute. "Report: Master, we've secured the town, but an estimated forty eight percent of the populace has fled to the capital."

Dr. Robo began moving towards the Crystal City. "Are there any casualties to report?" he asked.

"Answer: No, master. The rest of the populace surrendered with little resistance," the Doc-bot replied. Robo moved to the edge of the village and observed the fleeing ponies, while a unit of Crystal Guards moved in to rescue them. "Query: Shall I dispatch a unit to retrieve them, master?"

"No," Robo said. "We have what we need. Prepare to defend against a counter-attack, and deploy the AMF generators." With that, he turned and walked back to the command post his bots set up near the beginning of the battle.

***

The Crystal Guard marched out onto the field and met the fleeing civilians, who were grateful to see friendly faces. Some of the soldiers began to escort them back to the Crystal City, while the rest of the detachment went to head off what they thought was going to be a pursuing enemy. They were soon surprised to learn that the enemy was still at the village.

The commander ordered two unicorns up to scout the enemy defences. The two scouts approached the lines, seeing robots digging a trench into the ground. Some were spiderlike, while others were humanoid. Amongst them, the scouts saw three humongous bots with cannons mounted on their left arms, and two slightly smaller bots on treads with a swivelling turret.

Before they could ascertain any more information about the defences a beam of light shot towards them, grazing one of the unicorns. The unicorn fell to the ground, and his friend quickly moved to drag him behind a rock.

The unicorn who wasn't wounded peeked out from behind the rock. He was able to see a squad of eight bots advancing towards them before another ray struck the rock near his head. He quickly ducked back behind cover, before moving toward his partner. Summoning up magical energy, the unicorn enveloped himself and his buddy in a magical aura and teleported them both away to safety.

***

Commander Shimmering Shield listened to the scouts giving their report. Whoever this enemy was, they were set on securing their positions. They probably expected a counter-attack. Using a pair of binoculars, she observed the enemy encampment. The metal soldiers seemed to be setting up spires of some sort. Spires on tracked platforms.

Commander Shield concluded that the best course of action would be to dig in herself, and buckle down. After all, the Princess would be trying to activate the Crystal Heart. Giving the order, the Crystal forces began securing their position just outside the Crystal City.

***

Cadence had gathered all the citizens of the Crystal Empire near the palace, ready to defend their home. "My little ponies!" she declared. "So long as we have the Crystal Heart, we will not let any foe take our homes away from us! Use the light and love within you to drive off this terror, and restore peace to our land!"

All the ponies bowed before the Crystal Heart, contributing their power to it. The streets of the Crystal City glowed a bright blue, and filled out every nook and cranny.

Dr. Robo watched from a great distance, smirking, as if daring the building power to come at him.

The Crystal Heart began spinning rapidly, as the power of the Crystal ponies was absorbed into the heart. A field of mystical energy developed around the heart, and began pulsating.

The spires in Dr. Robo's camp came online, and electricity cackled up the shafts.

A shockwave erupted from the Crystal Heart, causing every pony in the Crystal Empire to begin sparkling with the radiance of jewellery. Princess Cadence and the rest of the Crystal Ponies watched as the shockwave rushed toward the enemy camp, looks of triumph evident on their faces.

But those gazes suddenly turned to looks of despair, as red pulses of energy shot out from the spires, intercepting and nullifying the shockwave and dissipating it harmlessly. Princess Cadence stood aghast at what she saw. Thinking quickly, she decided to go to a reliable fallback, and immediately threw up a shield around the Crystal City. "Get our forces inside the shield, Shining!" Cadence shouted. "Tell them to fall back!"

***

At the front line of the mechanized army, Robo smirked upon seeing the shockwave dissolve. He brought up the microphone from his PDA, and spoke into it. "Deploy the Mecha-Flyers," he said malevolently. "Give them a reason to run."

The Crystal ponies fled back to the city as Robo's forces began advancing. A group of five large aircraft took off, each armed with several turrets. They quickly overtook the retreating ponies, and several different types of rays shot down, melting snow, scarring the earth, and causing huge explosions as rays of heat, beams from particle cannons, and arcs of lightning from plasma lancers rained down destruction upon them.

The pegasi tried to fight back, letting loose with lightning strikes from nearby clouds, but the ships had shields that deflected the weather strikes away. One unicorn did manage to disable one of the craft with a lucky beam of magic, before the rock he was standing on was destroyed under a barrage of beam fire.

Soon enough, most of the Crystal Army was back behind the shield. Those that were wounded in the strike were overtaken from the land advance, captured by the bots coming up in a slow march.

Several ponies died before making it inside the shield.

***

Outside the shield the robot army waited, standing at attention, staring at those who were brave enough to approach the barrier. They had been like that for hours, completely statuesque, only moving when one pony got too close to the shield. And when that happened, they all raised their weapons and aimed at him.

This had been going on for a while, as their artillery and heavy weapons had failed to make a dent in Cadence's shield. It seemed like the army had been stopped in their tracks.

But then, a red pulse shot at the shield. A section of it started to cave. Then two shots. Then three. Soon, four pulses began barraging a specific section of the shield, weakening it. The civilian ponies on the other side began running, while the Crystal army got ready for a fight. A small hole soon opened in the shield and an even smaller bot flew in, holding a package. And just like that, the bombardment stopped.

Several pegasi flew in to intercept the bot, only to be met with a burst of electrical energy. The BIRD made a beeline to the Crystal Palace, not letting anything stop it.

***

Cadence and Shining Armour stood and watched as the small bot flew in through an open window. The guards kept their eyes and weapons on it, unsure of what the device was capable of. After flying around for a few minutes the bot dropped a small box in front of the two royals, who took a few nervous paces backwards out of worry. Before they could say anything, the top of the box opened up and shot out a faint concentration of light — showing the stunned ponies the coy smile on the face of the human standing before them. Shining Armour growled and stomped a forehoof into the ground. "Is that you, Lieutenant Sorou?" he demanded. "Explain yourself!"

"Oh why hello there, Captain," Doctor Robo replied. "I didn't expect to see you."

Shining Armour raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really?" he asked. "Then what did you expect?"

Dr. Robo laughed dryly. "You ponies really need to learn sarcasm," he groaned. "And for your information, Captain, I've pr-r-r-romoted myself! To Emperor of the Steel Empire!"

"What in the name of Tartarus is wrong with you, Sorou?!" Shining bellowed. "Have you completely lost your fucking mind?"

Dr. Robo scowled at him. "That name no longer has any meaning for me, Captain!" he snapped. "I am now Dr. Robo, and you would do well to remember that!"

Before Shining Armour could reply, Cadence spoke. "What do you want from us, 'Doctor Robo'?" she said sternly.

Dr. Robo smiled evilly. "I'm glad you asked, my dear!" he said malevolently. "My demand, as it happens, is very simple." he paused for a moment. "Give up the Crystal Heart."

Cadence and Shining Armour exchanged a look before glaring at him. "Why should we?" Shining Armour asked.

"And what happens if we don't?" Cadence added.

Dr. Robo chuckled. "Because if you don't..." He stepped to the side, revealing several Crystal Ponies. They were alive and unharmed, but bound and gagged as well. "One of these poor souls will die for every hour that you refuse!"

Cadence gasped and covered her mouth with her forehooves while Shining Armour growled in fury. "Why are you doing this?!" Cadence pleaded.

"Why? WHY? It's because of him!" Doctor Robo snarled, pointing at Shining Armour. "It's because of them!" He pointed at his hostages. "It's because of all Equestria! You all have doubted my integrity, my competence, and my willingness to do the right thing! And for the longest time, I have lived with that!"

"But no more! Despite the fact that I have proven my trustworthiness time and again, everyone still doubts me! Treats me like I'm the villain! Well, there's only so much a man can take! You all want to make me out to be the bad guy?! Well, fine! Now I'm the bad guy!"

"You didn't trust me after I freed the pony slaves from the Diamond Dogs! Princess Celestia didn't trust me when I said Manglanosa's men were going to betray Equestria! Ponyville didn't trust me after my lab was attacked! And my own wife doesn't trust me when I say Discord is irredeemable! No matter what I do, I can't be trusted!"

"So go on! Treat me like a villain, a criminal, a threat to all Equestria! God knows I've done enough already to deserve it! But know this! Whatever wrath you incur, whatever evil I wrought, you brought it upon yourselves!"

Shining Armour ground his teeth together, a look of pure hatred on his face. "You rotten, despicable, no-good piece of—"

"Don't antagonise him, Shining!" Cadence interrupted. "We have to give in to his demands!"

"B-but—" Shining Armour stammered. "The Heart!"

Cadence glared at him. "I don't know about you, Shiny, but I will not jeopardize the safety of the Crystal Ponies by refusing to cooperate as too many have died already," she said, facing Doctor Robo. "You shall have your wish." she said glumly. "We surrender."

Dr. Robo retook the forefront of the picture, his expression changing from a scowl to a large grin. "Wow, I didn't even have to start the countdown," he laughed. "Very well, Princess. Lower the shield, and allow my forces in. Then, after the Crystal Heart is safely in my hands, you can have your precious ponies back."

Cadence nodded solemnly and charged her horn with magic, lowering the shield, while Shining Armour slumped his shoulders and sighed. "You've doomed us all, Cadence," he mumbled. "Do you really think that Ace... or Doctor Robo, or whatever the hell he's calling himself now... Do you really think he is just going to take the Heart and leave us alone?"

Cadence shrugged. "I did what I had to do to protect everypony," she defended. "I can only hope that some remnant of Ace remains, and he will spare us for co-operating."

"Yeah," Shining Armour scoffed. "You do realise that he's sparing us now just so he can kill us all later, right?"

He felt a sudden stinging sensation on his cheek as Cadence slapped him. "Don't you dare doubt me, Shining Armour!" she hissed. "As a Royal Guard, you know as well as I do how important the safety of others is, so might I suggest that you start acting like a guard so that we can get through this?"

Shining Armour rubbed his cheek. "I'm sorry, Cady," he muttered. "You're right, we need to be strong. I can only hope that Twily and the others will be able to figure something out."

Cadence nuzzled him. "Twilight's a smart mare," she soothed. "I'm sure she, Geo and the others will have a plan figured out in no time. Remember, this isn't the first time the Crystal Empire has been threatened by a crazed tyrant."

"You're right, Cadence," Shining Armour replied. "Twilight and her friends will fix this." He hugged Cadence tightly before adding under his breath, "At least, I hope they will."

***

A large crater in the ground was the most obvious indicator of where Ace's lab was. We approached it slowly, unsure of what we would find, but all we found was rubble and the scattered pieces of various bots. We descended into the lab carefully, light from both Twilight and Rarity's horns providing us with a slim glimpse into the darkened ruins.

"Okay," Spike said. "The first half of Discord's riddle has brought us here, so now we need to decipher the second half of it." He thought of the words for a moment. "Look inside, there's a gift for you. A prism of skies, she mirrors her, too..."

"Yeah," John muttered. "I still don't see what the fuck kinda riddle that is." We all looked at him. "Yeah, yeah, I know I'm an idiot. Well, pardon me for not being a freaking genius like our good friend turned mortal enemy."

I ignored him and continued looking around — not that I actually knew what I was looking for, of course. Each of us busied ourself within an area of the lab, searching through the pieces of Ace's shattered life for anything that could help us. As I worked I couldn't help but notice that Rainbow Dash was looking a bit distant, so I walked over to her. "Hey, Dash," I mused. "Are you all right? You seem a bit... off."

"Huh, wha'?" she mumbled. "Nah, I'm fine." I raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed. "Okay, I'm totally not fine. It's just... I dunno. The last time I was here I saw something weird, and I'm hoping that it's still here."

"You saw something?" Twilight asked. "Can you remember what it was?" Dash furrowed her brow. "Come on, Rainbow, I know you can remember something. Who knows? It might help!"

"The last time I was here was after Ace and I got into a water balloon fight in town," Dash replied, a faint smile gracing her lips at the memory. "I was looking around his lab when a glint of shiny blue metal caught my eye. So I peered into the room, and saw something pony-shaped, though all I could see was a metallic hind leg, and a group of seven large, rainbow coloured cables. The leg was the same shade of blue as my coat, and engraved near the 'flank' of this metal pony was—" She paused for a moment. "Well... I dunno what, because that's when Ace shut the door and told me that that particular room was 'off limits'."

"And that's when I turned up and got all shouty at you," Pinkie groaned. "Because I thought you were trying to kiss him."

"Yeah," Dash chuckled weakly. There was another uncomfortable silence. "Anyway, I was kinda hoping that whatever that thing was is still here. I'm curious as to what it could have been, since I could have sworn it looked like me."

"Looked like... wait a minute," Twilight said, furrowing her own brow. "Discord's riddle mentioned 'a prism of skies', right?" We nodded. "Well what about a rainbow? Geo was telling me about how rainbows are formed back on Earth - light reflected through rainwater - and also how you can make one by shining light through a prism. So what if 'prism of skies' refers to a rainbow?"

"It's plausible," Rarity said, tapping her chin. "But what of the last few words - 'it mirrors her, too'? If I'm understanding this correctly, then that means we are looking for something which looks like Rainbow Dash."

"We don't have to," Spike called. "Because I think I've just found it. You might want to see this."

Without pause for thought, we all barrelled out one room and rushed through to the other, where Spike stood staring intently at a sheet covering something in the corner. Barely visible underneath were seven rainbow-coloured cables. We shared a nervous look with each other before I finally plucked up the courage to take the sheet off and cast it aside.

There before us stood one of Ace's bots — a perfect copy of Rainbow Dash. It was painted blue, had two magenta headlights for eyes, and even had her cutie mark engraved on the flank. Dash hovered around her robotic doppelgänger curiously.

"Whoa," she breathed. "It... it's perfect. This had to have been what I saw all that time ago — I guess Ace hadn't quite finished it yet. But why did he go to all the effort of building it?"

"Ah don't know," Applejack said hesitantly. "But Ah sure as hay don't wanna find out. Let's just leave it and get outta here."

"But Discord's riddle led us here!" Dash defended. "This has to be what we're looking for, so let's take it and go!"

"Y'all don't know what that thing is capable of!" Applejack snapped. "Fer all we know, it could be evil like Ace is. Discord was probably just sendin' us on a wild goose chase."

"But what if she isn't evil?" Dash growled. "You said it yourself, AJ, we don't know what she's capable of. Remember, we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover."

The two of them continued to argue, not noticing as Spike walked over to the bot and ran a claw along it. He soon withdrew the appendage when a soft click, followed by a beep, resonated throughout the room. Dash and Applejack ceased their debate and stared slack-jawed, as the headlight eyes illuminated and the bot slowly stood up.

The bot shook its blue, metallic body as if it were a pony, and stretched it's metal wings. The soft hum of some sort of propulsion technology was heard as the robotic Dash began hovering in place. Its headlight eyes settled on us while Twilight and Rarity charged their horns, ready for anything. Dash, for her part, landed in between us and the bot and stared it down. The bot mimicked her actions and, were it not for the material it was made from, I could have sworn she was looking into a mirror. The magenta lights flashed as the bot analysed us...

While we all backed away in fear of what was about to happen.

Shadowy Steps

CHAPTER FIVEShadowy StepsVersion 1.2

The bot regarded us all for a moment, cocking its head slightly at the sight of us all huddled together out of fear of what might happen. And then, to our surprise, it spoke in a metallic voice that was a near-perfect copy of Dash’s.

"Hi," she said cheerfully. "I’m Rain-bot Dash, and I gotta say that it’s nice to finally see some new faces. The only one I’ve had to look at lately is my dad’s."

"Dad?" Pinkie asked, finding her voice amidst the tension. This bot seemed friendly enough, even if Ace had built it.

We watched the robot rub the back of her head with a mechanical hoof. "You know him as Dr. Sorou, if my memory banks are accurate," Rain-bot told us. "Gosh, unless my internal clock’s off, he hasn’t worked on me in nine months."

"That was about the time Discord was reformed," noted Fluttershy, while a pang of guilt seemingly found its way onto Pinkie’s face.

"Where is he, anyway?" she asked as she looked around the room, taking in the sight of the many piles of rubble. "Wait…" Rain-bot glanced around, the lights of her eyes forming a concerned expression. "What the heck happened in here?!"

"It… it’s complicated," I mumbled, clearing my throat. "Tell me something, Rain-bot, do you know where you are? And why you were created?"

"Well, yeah," Rain-bot replied, taking a seat. The peaceful mannerisms of Rain-bot put us at ease, but we all remained on guard. "I’m in dad’s laboratory, and I was created to be a gift for Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow looked visibly surprised. "A gift? For me?"

Rain-bot nodded. "Yeah. I’m supposed to be, like, a personal trainer," she informed us, looking at Rainbow. "I can do everything you can do, except better. I have more speed, more stamina, more maneuverability, and I even have a function that allows me to scan and copy abilities and powers to use to help train you." What equated to a competitive expression crossed Rain-bot’s face, as she got to her hooves and playfully took a step forward. "My entire purpose is to mould you into the greatest Wonderbolt who ever lived. And once you’re the best, I’ll make sure you have the ability to remain the best!"

We all looked bewildered by this. Twilight stepped forward, looking at the bot curiously. "That explains the rest of Discord’s riddle," she mused aloud. "‘Look inside, there’s a gift for you.’ — Discord was talking about a literal gift for Rainbow Dash."

"Wait a second…" Rain-bot looked over at us, as if trying to process something. "When was Discord reformed? Last time I checked, he was an irredeemable villain — according to the server’s memory banks." She looked up, her eyes flashing as if she was transmitting. "... which are now offline. What the hay?" A panicked expression overtook Rain-bot. "What’s going on? I’m activated eight months past my release date, dad’s nowhere to be seen, and the data servers are offline! Did… did something happen to my dad?"

Though she was a machine, we all heard the worry in her voice. Like she was genuinely concerned for the safety of Ace. I don’t think any of us thought that her emotions were anything but genuine, once we saw the look in her eyes. In a different situation, I might’ve congratulated Ace for making such a life-like bot. But instead, I sighed. "Rain-bot…" I began. "Take a seat. I need to explain something to you…"

I told Rain-bot about the events leading up to Ace’s fall to madness. About him and Pinkie splitting up, about how he locked himself away for nine months, and when we finally saw him again, he was a megalomaniac who burned down half of Ponyville. Now we didn’t know where he was, and we came back here to look for clues. The entire time, we monitored Rain-bot’s expression, and watched as it turned from worry to utter disbelief. Before I’d finished she stood up, shaking her head. "N-no!" she shouted. "Y-you’re lying! Dad would never do something like that!" She said, denying my assertions.

"Rain-bot, I know this must be hard for you…" I tried to explain.

"Sh-shut up!" she shouted at me. "You’re just playing a cruel prank! Dad’s a defender of Ponyville, and all its inhabitants! He saved half the ponies out there from slavery in the Diamond Dog mines!"

"Rain-bot, we’re really sorry…" Rainbow spoke. "But we can’t deny what’s already happened. The ponies out there are homeless and injured because of what Ace did before he left. And as much as we don’t want to believe it ourselves, the fact is that Ace is putting all of Equestria in danger - even as we speak - and we need to stop him."

Two shutters slid shut over Rain-bot’s eyes, and we heard fans and turbines inside her starting to spin more rapidly. The sound coming from her speaker sounded a lot like erratic breathing, as she tried to come to terms with the new information. But suddenly, she shot up in the air, causing us to get back on guard. "NO!" she cried, her eyes shooting open. "This is all some cruel joke, and I’m gonna prove it!" Before any of us could do anything, she took off, down the hall, and out the lab.

***

Rain-bot flew to Ponyville, intent on clearing things up. She didn’t believe a word that was said about her father. It couldn’t be true, none of it. But when she saw the destroyed homes, doubt and disbelief took the forefront of her processes. She landed, just outside of town, and began slowly trotting forward, taking in the wreckage of what were once homes and buildings.

Ponies were going about their daily lives, attempting to reestablish some sense of normalcy. There were markets and stands set up, and ponies were going about their daily business, but there was a solemn air about the town. Everyone was sad, confused, and some were even angry. No one paid attention to Rain-bot at a distance, but as she drew closer, a pegasus looked over at her. The look of horror on Raindrops’ face when she saw Rain-bot would be one that the poor artificial mare would never forget.

Raindrops shot up in the air, and pointed a hoof at Rain-bot. "Everypony run! It’s one of Sorou’s machines!" The panicked uproar was immediate, as ponies bolted for their homes and hid.

"Wait!" Rain-bot cried, but it was too late — the streets were empty. Rain-bot attempted to process what was going on, but she soon realised that the only explanation as to the behavior of the ponies was the one she wished weren’t true. "Why…" she muttered to herself, looking at the burned shells of a group of buildings. "Why would dad do something like this?"

Hearing a whistle from further in Ponyville, Rain-bot looked over to see a group of guardsponies charging towards her with their weapons drawn. Rain-bot didn’t want to hurt them, as she knew that they were only defending themselves — at least she could thank her dad for giving her that kind of judgement. And so, with a flash, she was up in the air and heading away from Ponyville.

***

"We’ve got to go after her!" Rainbow Dash said, looking over at the rest of us.

We all nodded in agreement. "Rain-bot can be exactly what we need to catch Ace and help him regain his senses, so let’s go and find her," Twilight said, turning to face John and I. "In the meantime, you two stay here and look around. Who knows what else there might be remaining here?" We both nodded, giving our respective wives a quick hug and a kiss before they and the rest of the group ran off.

I turned to John. "Let’s take a look around," I said. "There’s got to be something here that we can use, and we can also wait to see if Rain-bot comes back before the others find her."

John nodded. "All right," he replied. "I’ll take a look around the laboratory and you take a look around in here."

He headed off, gingerly stepping over pieces of rubble and broken glass, and entered the remains of the laboratory. I heard him cursing and let out a chuckle — he had clearly forgotten just what Ace was like when it came to cleanliness, and his old lab back on Earth would testify to that.

I looked around the room. This place seemed to be made specifically to build and program Rain-bot Dash. Going up to a computer, I pressed a few buttons. A cracked screen glowed to life, but all that I could see was a blue background, probably because the screen was too damaged to display anything. As I contemplated pressing Control-Alt-Delete, I suddenly heard John’s voice from the other room. "Oi, Geo!" He called. "I think I’ve got something!"

I tore myself away from the computer and rushed through to the laboratory, scrambling over the same pieces of wreckage and broken glass he’d been avoiding. I could hear the urgency in John’s voice, and I could tell that he had found something important. I ran up beside him and dusted myself off, clearing my throat and trying to ignore the fact I was sweating slightly. "What’s up, mate?" I asked nonchalantly. "Did you find something?"

John was looking at a computer screen showing a map of the Everfree forest. "Take a look at this," he said, pointing at the screen. "What do you see?"

I shrugged. "I can see the Everfree Forest," I replied. "Why, what can you see?"

John pointed emphatically at the screen, indicating a few areas which had each been marked with a red circle. "Ace has clearly been doing a lot more than plotting world domination while he’s been down here," he said. "These are some kind of energy readings... and by the looks of things, he’s been tracking them for weeks. Whatever they mean, they must be important if Ace has been keeping tabs on them."

I took a closer look at the monitor. "Perhaps we could look for them?" I offered. "After all, there’s no point in us standing here like a couple of spare parts. Rain-bot will probably be in Ponyville somewhere, and once she sees for herself that we were right about her ‘dad’, she’ll be begging to join us — if only to knock some sense into him."

John nodded. "Sounds good to me," he said, taking up a nearby pen and a scrap of paper. "I’ll make a copy of the map, you go and find a couple of torches."

Wordlessly, I did as I was asked — though part of me began to dread just what it was we were letting ourselves in for.

***

A baleful creature watched the wreckage of the lab, and saw the two humans come out. Hefting a large rocket launcher, it observed the duo moving quickly, towards the forest, before its attention focused back on the lab. The humanoid monstrosity sniffed the air, and looked north. "Sorou…" it bellowed, before rushing off to parts unknown.

***

As Twilight and the girls entered Ponyville, they were surprised to find everypony panicking. A large crowd gathered around the group and started clamouring for attention. Twilight groaned and climbed onto a nearby crate of supplies, letting the words of the crowd flow over her like water from a shower.

"I saw it!" Raindrops shouted. "I saw another one of Ace’s terrible machines!"

"Has he returned!?" Lyra added. "We have to be ready! He could attack at any time!"

With so many ponies panicking, the girls had a difficult time getting any information. Twilight, who had been trying to calmly get everypony’s attention from her position atop the crate, was beginning to feel a little peeved at her lack of success. Finally, in a fit of annoyance, she took a deep breath — and shouted as loud as she could, the result being not only the first instance of the Royal Canterlot Voice not being used by either Celestia or Luna, but a sudden and deathly silence. "QUII~EEET!"

All the ponies turned to look at the source of the voice, and saw Twilight, looking very sternly at the previously panicking ponies. She began to announce her case in a very calm manner. "Thank you. Now then, I am very much interested in locating the machine that was just here. We have reason to believe it’s been programmed so drastically differently, it is a potential ally to our efforts to stop Dr. Robo."

Rainbow pulled Twilight aside, leering at her. "‘It?’" she whispered harshly. "I looked into Rain-bot’s eyes, Twilight, and I don’t think she can be called an ‘it’!"

"That may be, Rainbow Dash, but these ponies don’t know her. They wouldn’t understand." Twilight argued quietly, before returning to her speech. "Sorry. In any case, even if it isn’t our ally, it is crucial that we find it as soon as ponily possible, before anypony else gets hurt. With that in mind, we need a collaboration of all witnesses to determine where the machine is headed. I ask that you all cooperate with ourselves, and the local guardsponies, to the best of your abilities. Thank you."

***

A flying machine swiftly made its way to the palace in the skies of the Crystal Empire, ponies dashing into their houses at the sight of it. As it touched down right outside the Crystal Palace Cadence and Shining Armor trotted down, flanked by several guards. The door, which consisted of a large platform, unlatched itself from the top. On hinges at the bottom, the platform slowly lowered into a ramp. Four Doc-bots began marching out — these ones colored red, in stark contrast to the metal-hued bots that had performed the main assault. These bots acted differently, too. Where the normal Doc-bot would be statuesque in its vigil, these bots were constantly scanning their surroundings warily, resting their hands on holstered weapons.

The bots surveyed a large crowd of ponies that had gathered in a large circle around the Crystal Heart. None of them were making any hostile moves, and had looks of despair on their faces. Cadence and her entourage were bowing their heads, showing their submission. The bots moved to either side of the flying machine, standing guard and allowing a fifth figure to disembark from the flyer. To all outward appearances, it was Ace, but Shining Armor noted that his skin seemed a little... off. He was discoloured, and looked slightly sickly, but from the way he carried himself and the expression on his face, anypony would think that he never felt better.

Dr. Robo smirked as he made a beeline for the Crystal Heart. This is how it should be, he thought. No resistance, no death... this would have been so much easier for them if they had just decided to give up. Robo made his way to the Crystal Heart, but just as he began to reach for it, a young colt jumped in his way.

"You big meanie!" the colt shouted. "You’re not allowed to touch the Crystal Heart!" The colt’s mother, in a panic, tried to rush over to him — but the bots were quicker and moved to block everypony else from assisting the colt. Robo scowled at the youngster, before drawing his pistol from its holster.

"You’re young and foolish, little one," he stated, training the sights on him. "Step away from the heart, and return to your mother."

"No! My mommy told me that the Crystal Heart is the heart of pony happiness — and ponies can’t survive without their heart!" the colt insisted. "Ponies deserve to be happy, and you have no right to take that away!"

Time seemed to stand still as Dr. Robo stared down the young colt. No one could hear the conversation going on in his mind.

"Kill him," the voice said.

"He’s not a threat," Ace reasoned. "There’s no point in killing a harmless individual."

"He’s in our way," the voice repeated a little more forcefully. "Kill him."

"Why?" Ace wondered. "I could just as easily stun him, and knock him aside."

"If we are to rule this world, the inhabitants must learn to fear our name!" the voice demanded. "Make an example to all who would stand against you! Kill him, and ensure that all will fear your name!"

For a moment, Ace was still. He remained that way, his weapon aimed at the young child before him who was staring back indignantly. It was in that moment, Ace began to show his true colours.

"No," he replied.

"What?!" the voice shouted indignantly. "Dr. Robo, you would do well to reconsider this! You know that none of these ponies can ever love you, knowing all that you’ve done to them! Make them fear you! Make them suffer!"

"That’s not what I signed on for," Ace snapped. "I wanted to create a new world full of acceptance and peace. I don’t want the ponies to fear the world that I create. Even after they find a way to dethrone me - which, let’s face it, will be inevitable - if they fear me, then they’ll fear all that I have created, and work to tear it down. I don’t want them to fear that."

There might have been other words, but Ace didn’t hear them. For a moment, the sickly visage of Dr. Robo became healthy again, as he holstered his weapon. In that moment, the ponies thought he had given up. But then he shot forth and grabbed the colt by the scruff of his neck, lifting him to eye level.

"Be thankful that I am merciful, young one," Dr. Robo said, lifting him higher into the air. "Had I chosen to crush you under my heel, I could have done so. You’re nothing but an insect to me." Robo tossed the young colt aside, sending him skidding to his mother’s hooves, whereupon she quickly gathered him up in a hug. "Remember that next time you decide to challenge me." Robo looked around, a scowl on his face. "Are there any other takers?" He announced. When no one stepped up to face him, he smirked and turned back to the Crystal Heart.

Now unopposed, Robo reached out and took the heart. "Thank you for your business, Princess Cadence," he said, making his way back to the flyer.

"Dr. Robo!" Cadence called, causing him to pause. Cadence stood, looking distraught, but determined. "Our bargain?" She asked, reminding him.

"Ah, yes," Robo replied delightfully, handing the crystal heart off to one of his bots. He took a microphone from his PDA and spoke into it. "Release the prisoners." He said darkly, before boarding his flyer.

As his flyer’s door closed, more flyers appeared over the horizon, and rushed into the city. They all landed in strategic positions in the city streets, and alarms started going off. Ponies looked on in fear, as they felt they had been betrayed. After all, these fierce looking machines that landed could obliterate you if you got on the pilot’s bad side. The doors opened, the ramps went down…

And out rushed the various ponies who had been inhabiting the village near the train station. They galloped as fast as they could, rushing to reunite with their friends and loved ones. Ponies embraced, and happiness had been returned to those who deserved it.

"I’m a man of my word, Princess!" exclaimed Dr. Robo, through the loudspeaker on the flyer. "Our business here is concluded, so my forces and I will now take our leave!" And just like that, all of Dr. Robo’s machines fled, returning to the massive airship that they came from.

The Arrival

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.