Legend of Silva's Gate

'Mustn't let these common ponies see my face, can't let them see The Great and Powerful Trixie...' a blue mare spoke to herself. She struggled to walk through the town, as she had to compete for her balance against the large and heavy cloak that covered all of her features. Not to mention, her hatred for the town made it difficult to travel through as well.

'Wait, what am I saying? This behavior is not fitting of Trixie! The Great and Powerful Trixie should not be hiding herself in such pathetic garbs!' Trixie shouted at herself. Holding her head high, she gripped part of her cloak with her teeth to rip it off, but she hesitated, and then her head drooped again. 'Of course, I'm not exactly 'Great and Powerful' in this town, now am I? Confound those ponies!' Trixie cursed, raising her right hoof and shaking it silently. She trudged over to the nearest overpass, and began to mope. 'I hate this town, why did I have to book a show at that stupid beach resort! I knew this town has the only road to it, and I can't afford the air rates...The way things are going, I'm not even going to be able to afford hay.' Trixie groaned, shuddering at the thought of having to eat simple grass, as if hay wasn't simple enough! 'Not to mention, I have a coffee date with cousin 'Fire...Oh, how she'll worry upon how hard I've had it for the last while...FIE, I say! As if I wasn't AWARE!' As she sulked in the shadows of the overpass, she could hear the happy ponies on the bridge above her walking along and laughing. Grumbling, she sat on the dirt ground and crossed her front legs with a 'humph!', and stared out of the side of the bridge she entered.

"For the love of- ACK! Raaagh! This is just unbelievable...unacceptable!" a Stallion's voice rung out from the far end of the tunnel, catching Trixie's attention. Shrinking back into the shadows as to prevent her discovery, Trixie watched as a peculiar pale green stallion pulled bandages off himself. As she watched, Trixie deduced that he was having trouble removing the bandages around his midsection. In his struggles, it looked as if he agitated whatever wound he suffered from, as small red stains on the pure white were visible. Not wanting to stick around, Trixie began to scoot around the edge of the bridge, and tripped when she noticed her nice brown cloak that acted as a top layer of concealment was caught on a large piece of broken wood protruding from the bridge. Panicking, Trixie disrobe from the single cloak in a frenzy, causing a few old barrels to fall over. Not looking back, Trixie galloped from the scene, hoping the Stallion wouldn't follow. Deciding to no longer dilly-dally, Trixie quickly oriented herself to the cafe.

"Eh?!" Leo blurted out when he heard the barrels fall over. As he watched, what looked like a pile of rags with blue hooves ran away from the bridge he found himself under. Staring, Leo silently hoped that it wasn't the guard he'd managed to slip from earlier, or that he wasn't near enough to hear the racket and come looking.

'Damn things are going to get me busted...' Leo grumbled, as he gave up on the bandages on what he thought was his stomach. Pulling off the head bandages with little effort, a messy blonde mane poofed up and out. Sighing in relief, he felt the breeze in the air drying up the warm sweat that had accumulated under his bandage, which had created an itch that was driving him mad. 'Now, to clean up, cover this wound, and try to disguise myself...' Leo thought to himself, as he eyed that cloak the creature had left behind. Wandering over unsteadily, watching his steps, he examined where the cloak was snagged. Seeing that the cloak simply had a hole torn in it where it caught the wood, he grabbed the cloak and pulled back. As Leo laid it on the ground nicely, he stared at it, attempting to figure out how to don it.

'Well, I suppose I can just try and throw it over myself..' Leo thought, as he grabbed one side of the neck fabric. After a few attempts and some grumbling, he finally got the cloak to completely cover his bandage. Noticing that the neck portions could snap together, Leo pushed one side towards the other, and both ends of the chain seemed to magnetize to one another, ensuring that the cloak wouldn't fall off easily. 'I should give these horse-things more credit, they certainly figured out how to easily compensate for the lack of fingers and thumbs.' Leo thought humbly, as he found a barrel of water under the bridge. After he washed his head to remove any crusted blood that might warrant undue attention, he wandered out from under the bridge, glanced around to see if he was about to garner unwanted attention, and pulled the cloak's hood up over his head with his teeth.

"...So, Ms. Sparkle, if the you or Ms. Dash could alert us if you see him, that would be wonderful." a guard asked Twilight, bowing slightly as he did so.

"For sure, Sky Lance. Hopefully we can find him, he was pretty badly wounded..." Twilight trailed off, thinking back to the clearing where she first saw the pale green stallion. The guard and his partner excused themselves as Rainbow Dash muttered, pacing the floor of Twilight's library.

"Guy's a damn hoof-full, alright. Taking off like that being so injured...besides, we don't know if somepony attacked him, or if it was one of the monsters of the forest. Of all the bad decisions I've seen ponies make, this definitely takes the cake." Rainbow Dash grumbled, furrowing her eyes as she slumped to the floor.

"Did somepony just say 'cake'?" Pinkie Pie's voice rang out from Twilight's front door, shortly followed by Pinkie Pie herself as she hopped into the room.

"Sorry, Pinkie, I was just talking about that Stallion. He's missing, got away from his guard escort. Tricked him and his Nurse into thinking he was invited over here." Rainbow Dash explained.

"I know, the guards just explained it to me. Asked me if I had seen anything in my delivery runs," Pinkie explained as she motioned towards the saddle bags hanging off her back, "but I didn't see anything. Shouldn't be hard to find him, though!" Pinkie finished happily, as she suddenly began munching on a cookie.

"'Shouldn't be hard to find'? Why wouldn't he be? Pinkie, If he can get away from a royal guard that easy, even having been that injured, I don't think we'll be finding him easily." Twilight assailed Pinkie Pie's logic, though she did so unwillingly.

"Nuh-uh! Even if he is, like, some sort of Secret Agent Pony, nopony can avoid attention from a missing cutie mark." Pinkie Pie replied between munches.

"Wait, missing cutie mark? Are you saying he's a...Blank Flank?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, silently berating herself for not noticing it before.

"Well, yeah. I didn't see a cutie mark on either flank." Pinkie Pie replied, no longer eating her cookie as she was slightly confused at Rainbow Dash's reaction. Glancing over at Twilight, and incredulous look grew on Pinkie Pie's face when she noticed a similar reaction to the information in Twilight's face. "Seriously? How did you two miss such an important thing like that?"

"Err, yeah, Twilight! I thought you were all about details?" Rainbow Dash attempted to save face, albeit in a playful manner. Twilight, however, rounded on Rainbow Dash with annoyance.

"Don't even try it, you missed it too!" Twilight snapped at her.

"Now, if he is smart...he'll have found a way to cover his flank. Probably his bandages as well." The three mares suddenly heard Rarity say from the doorway. As they stared at her blankly, she shrugged. "What? I know a thing or two about 'blending in'." she explained, as she, Applejack, and Fluttershy joined the three mares in Twilight's library.

"Ah reckon we should be out lookin' for tha fool. If he ain't careful, his stitches'll break on his sahde. Tha quicker we fahnd him, tha better."

"Ugh...okay, first thing's first. I need a map..." Leo spoke to himself quietly. Glancing around, he happened upon what appeared to be a community notice board. Checking his surroundings for a hint of the guards, Leo decided to chance a peek at the board. As he peered over the many notices, he realized that the characters and symbols the horse-like creatures used for written word were nothing like written English. The weirdest part, however, was the fact that he could understand them completely.

'This just keeps getting more confusing by the second. What exactly happened to me? I've come to the conclusion that I'm flesh, blood, and bone again, but I look like this,' Leo thought to himself as he looked himself over in disbelief, 'and my stuff is missing. I can't even 'phone' earth now. Not that I'm exactly on speaking terms with them...' Leo thought glumly, annoyed that he might have to actually ask these...horse things for help. As he looked over the notice board for anything that jumped out at him, anything mentioning space or, heaven forbid, 'magic', as Leo had no other explanation for his transformation. As he scanned along, a poster that featured some small stars on it that had a number of other signs posted over it caught his attention.

"Let's see what we have here..." Leo whispered to himself just before he carefully pulled the covering notices off the board. Once it was uncovered, he took a good look at the poster. Reading it was a little difficult, as the poster looked quite aged and bleached by the sun. 'The Great and Powerful Trixie...magic showcase...here in Ponyville. So this town is called 'Ponyville', eh? Must be what these creatures call themselves. Makes sense, they are kinda small to be horses.' Leo figured, making a mental note to remember these pieces of information. As he continued to try and garner more information from the poster, he was approached by a light yellow mare with pink and navy blue hair.

"Oh, you don't want to see her. She's a fraud, claimed she took down an Ursa Major and she never did. If you want to see magic, you should go and see Twilight Sparkle! She has to be the most talented unicorn I've ever seen." the friendly mare finished with a smile.

"A-ah, I see. Uhm...I might have to do that." Leo replied with a weak smile. "Say, where can a pony get a drink around here?" Leo asked, aware that his throat felt parched and prayed that his earlier deduction about the term 'Pony' was correct. He became less nervous when the mare didn't become confused.

"Oh, if you want a simple coffee or juice, the cafe is just around the corner. But if you're after something harder, there is always the Watertrough. It's a simple bar in the daytime, but it's a hap-hap-happening nightclub! Just opened, actually. Lyra and I have been planning on going..." The mare happily informed Leo, as she drifted into thought. A sudden ping of pain shot over Leo's side, prompting him to bring a hoof to his side and grimace. "Oh, hey, are you okay?" The mare asked, suddenly concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. I just uhh...slept wrong." Leo lied to the friendly pony. Pointing a hoof towards a street, Leo asked her a question. "You said the cafe was thataway?"

"Oh, yes! It's quite nice actually, I hope you enjoy it!" the mare exclaimed happily as Leo headed off towards the cafe. Leo turned back before he took off.

"Thank you, Ms...?" Leo trailed off with a question.

"Friends can call me Bon Bon! Whats your name?" Bon Bon asked him.

"Name's Leo. Thanks again, Bon Bon." Leo replied honestly, feeling at ease around the mare. Bon Bon nodded, waved goodbye, and then continued on her way. Leo glanced back to check if she was gone, and feeling confident she was, walked as quickly as he could back to the board to tear of the poster down. Stuffing it in a pocket compartment he found on the cloak earlier, Leo quickly left the notice board and headed for the cafe, and began thinking about how weird the mare was for calling him a friend so quickly.

"Hey cuz, you think I wouldn't recognize you if you wore tons of clothes?" A smooth female voice rung out from behind Trixie, as she sat at a back table inside the cafe. Trixie groaned quietly as a bright yellow mare with a mane that looked like fire, sat on the other side of the table. "Actually, you kinda stood out more than blended in. Everyone was looking over here even before I trotted in."

"I'm aware, Spitfire, that's why my hood is raised. I don't need to be recognized in this town." Trixie replied coldly.

"Wooow, anger much? No need to take it out on me. Not like I have anything against you for embellishing your abilities. I get that same stuff from Soarin' all the time." Spitfire explained, nudging her cousin's elbow. "Let's get some drinks, yeah?" Spitfire suggested, as she summoned a waiter. "Triple Espresso Latte with half ice please." Spitfire ordered, prompting Trixie to stare at her wide eyed.

"Do you enjoy bouncing off of walls, Spitfire? Honestly, you'll give yourself a heart attack! A Single Espresso Latte has two shots of espresso!" Trixie exclaimed, shocked at the order.

"Ah, six shots? This is my tame drink. I normally get a Quad Espresso Latte before shows." Spitfire calmly replied. Looking at her cousin, who was now silent with disbelief that Spitfire was still capable of functioning after all that caffeine intake, Spitfire ordered for her. "She normally gets a coffee with cream." Spitfire spoke to the waiter, who nodded and wrote the order onto his notepad. "Uhh...Can you get her a bagel as well? if you don't mind, that is, but she's looking a little thin." Spitfire whispered to him, causing him to nod again. As Trixie finally collected herself, she stared at Spitfire for a moment, who smiled back in reply.

"You actually look quite nice in casual clothes. Mind, you usually look nice in just about anything." Trixie complimented Spitfire. Even though she was so successful, and always so upbeat, not to mention popular, which made Trixie jealous...Spitfire was still family, and Trixie still cared about her. Which included complimenting her when it was due.

"Oh, really? You think so? Well, thanks I guess. I kinda just threw something on, I didn't feel like coming clothe-less today." Spitfire replied, pulling on her shirt a bit. Motioning to her cousin, she continued. "Apparently, you didn't feel like it either." Spitfire teased. As the two got into idle conversation, they didn't notice when another customer walked into the store. He waited patiently as the lone waiter served the two mares on the back table.

"I'll not be more than just a minute, sir. Why don't you go ahead and seat yourself?" Trixie and Spitfire heard the waiter announce to the customer.

"Uhh, sorry, but...I was just wondering if I could have a glass of water? I'm afraid I have no commerce to speak of." the customer asked, embarrassment in his voice. As the waiter finished placing the two mares order on their table, he continued the conversation.

"Well, if it's a simple glass of water you want, that's fine. I insist you take a seat though, you certainly look fatigued. By no means is it a busy day, so feel free." The waiter finished, motioning one of his hooves to a table close to the door. Not willing to have an argument over water, the Stallion heeded the waiter's requests and sat at the table. The more and more Trixie heard, the more she felt compelled to take a peek. As she glanced over, the first thing she saw was the robe she had lost earlier.

'Wow, he must be worse off than me if he has to take lost and abandoned clothes.' Trixie gloated. The more she stared, however, the more details that came apparent. Most of the details and information came when he whisked the hood off himself to combat the hot summer air. When she let out a little squeak before covering her mouth with her hooves, Spitfire finally decided to stop trying to get her attention and take a look at what was so interesting herself.

"Sweet Celestia, is he ever gorgeous!" Spitfire exclaimed, catching the glances of other patrons. The stallion, however, seemed to ignore the blatant flirt, or simply didn't hear it, as he did nothing to acknowledge it while he seemingly struggled to lift his glass of water with his hooves. Turning back to Trixie, Spitfire began to whisper excitedly. "No wonder you've been staring at him and ignoring me!"

"Wha...? What? No! No, he's just wearing a cloak I left at a bridge w-when it got caught. I w-was too lazy to ruh-remove it!" Trixie tried very hard to half-lie, but her cheeks betrayed her. Spitfire stared silently at her knowingly, her expression one of a teasing disbelief. "No, seriously, it actually is my cloak. No word of a lie."

"Ah, but you don't deny your attraction to him! Seriously, go and say hello." Spitfire egged her on, but Trixie blushed some more and shook her head. "No? Well, okay then, I suppose I'm gonna have to drag you over then." Spitfire said with a wink, as she grasped one of Trixie's hoofs.

"What the-! How undignified, Spitfire! What're- No no please don't.." Trixie quieted to an uncharacteristic squeak again.

"Hey there, handsome! My cousin and I noticed you came in here stag, wanna make this a party of three?" Spitfire asked the Stallion in a her silkiest voice she could muster (which is to say, very silky). As Trixie's face turned crimson, mostly out of embarrassment for her cousin's antics, the Stallion slowly turned his gaze towards Spitfire, wearing a look that could only be described as an uncertainty of whether he should be frightened or insulted.

"Wha- no- who....who are you?!" The Stallion managed to finally blurt out, having spilled the remnants of his water on the table. Spitfire continued to stare at him for a moment, before rearing up in surprise, shock on her face.

"You don't know me? What, have you been living under a rock? I'm a wonderbolt member! Spitfire?" Spitfire cried out in astonishment, and as the rest of the patrons stared at the scene, the stallion stayed silent and slowly shook his head uttering only an 'uhh...' as a form of reply. "Oh...wow. Are you one of those wild ponies? That migrate around and live off the land?" Spitfire hoped would be an explanation for his lack of knowledge. When he shook his head, now extremely wary, Spitfire's mood took a nosedive to gloomville.

'At least it runs in the family...' Trixie thought to herself, thinking of her own attitude for the past year as she attempted to cheer Spitfire up by patting her back. When the Stallion finally looked at her, Trixie froze and looked back, feeling her heart pumping. The Stallion stared for a moment, squinting his eyes slightly as he looked upon her. When he suddenly looked away and began rummaging in the cloak for something, Trixie collapsed to the ground in a daze.

"I'm about to buy the magic store..." Trixie mumbled, now trading turns with Spitfire for being looked after, as he cousin began to fan Trixie with a menu off of the Stallion's table.

"You are...the 'Great and Powerful Trixie', are you not?" The Stallion asked. Upon doing so, Trixie's daze was suddenly snapped, and as if someone fed her and her attitude some elixir, she perked right up and leaned on his table, surprising even Spitfire.

"Why yes, I am...though not to many of the common pony folk in this pathetic town. What can the Powerful Trixie do for you, Mr...?" Trixie asked the Stallion coyly, with Spitfire silently cheering her on between moping about his lack of knowledge about herself.

"Uh....just call me Leo. I need to ask you some questions about magic. Let's talk in private." Leo asked, placing one of his hooves onto Trixie's, his request causing Spitfire's jaw to drop. Her composure cracking, Trixie gave a weak 'meep!' and pulled away, surprising Leo.

"I- uh- only if it's about magic- I mean, it's improper, we just me, and- uhh.." Trixie fumbled around verbally, she and Spitfire completely misconstruing Leo's request. Just as Leo understood what the mares were so embarrassed and shocked about, prompting him to raise a hoof to his face in annoyance, a sudden crashing came from outside, with my shrieks and shouts of fright. Mildly concerned, Leo hopped down from his chair to take a peek outside, Spitfire and Trixie following out of curiosity.

"Well, THIS is a disappointment. We'll have to get a rain-check on that conversation." Leo said, a frown on his face and uncertainty on his face. Before him, stood a humongous red metal creature, that looked curiously like a giant bug.

"Please, citizens of this pathetically small planet, calm yourselves! I am but a humble Emissary, and I carry a message from my people!" the robot exclaimed, his words causing a sudden halt in the panicked fleeing of other ponies.

"What do you want?" Leo asked bluntly, annoyance growing on his features. The creature looked down at Leo in surprise, and then gave an exasperated sigh.

"My, aren't you cocky? I don't take kindly to attitude, you know. Why, I don't take kindly to..." the creature began to list off attitudes that annoyed him severely, to which Leo used the distraction to beckon Spitfire over.

"Spitfire, was it? If you want to survive the next five minutes, and ensure no one has to get hurt, do as I say. Without question, save those for later." Leo spoke to her harshly. Determined to do her part, Spitfire nodded with gusto. "Okay, this thing here is a robot. Basically, a giant, walking, sentient, machine. This particular model, LODUS6, has a uniquely terrible design flaw: a giant off switch on his back. Normally I'm capable of taking these guys out myself, but right now I can only avoid his swings. I'm kinda messed up already." Leo explained, lifting one side of the cloak to show his bandages, the red marks on them still relatively small.

"So, let me guess. You'll distract him, while I sneak around the buildings, and push the button? Sounds like fun." Spitfire replied with a smirk on her face.

"Exactly. But, I need you to make it look like you are fleeing in terror, and only when it seems logical to do so. We can't have him suspecting anything. Make sure she follows you, also running in terror." Leo motioned with his head to Trixie. As the two looked at her, however, they determined asking Trixie to 'look afraid' wasn't necessary. Getting ready, Leo turned back to the robot. "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Look, LODUS6 dash Twelve, I know all about your dislikes. You've told me this before, what does the hive remnant want with this planet?" Leo shouted angrily at the robot.

"How do you know about...? Do I know you?" Twelve asked the Stallion before him. As a little scanner zipped over Leo, the dawning of realization poured over Twelve. "My, my, my...it's been a long time, little LY Two! What on earth HAPPENED to you? You were turned! In reverse! Not a much better organic form, I'm afraid to say." Twelve gloated, prompting Leo's rage to suddenly grow exponentially.

"What. Does. The. Hive. WANT!" Leo shouted at him again. Spitfire began to edge away uneasily from Leo, as when she looked back to him at his last exchange, she noticed his jade green eyes turned to a dull red.

"Such rage! You were never so quick to anger before...was the rage born out of the death of your 'queen'?" Twelve egged Leo on.

"You will NEVER speak of her again! I will ensure you a dumped into the hottest volcano on this planet!" Leo screamed at him, his eyes now fire red. The robot seemed pleased with the rise he got out of Leo, and continued his announcement to the rest of the ponies.

"Right, so, inhabitants of this pathetic planet! Do not fear me, as I come with a message from my people, the Hive! Please, come closer to hear my message! Fear me not, for I am not a threat!" The robot exclaimed in a manner not unlike a town crier. As the ponies let their guard down and approached, they became enthralled with this strange newcomer. "Our great King is pleased to see such a lush and vibrant planet along our travels in space! Shortly, he will be descending upon this peaceful planet to visit and travel the land, with many missions to fulfill!" Twelve relayed his message.

"Uhm, what sort of missions? Missions to gain friendship?" Leo heard and saw a wall eyed grey pony with wings ask, bandages on it's own wings.

"Get ready, things are about to get real..." Leo whispered to Spitfire, who nodded.

"Friendship? Why on earth would he need friendship with pathetic bipedal organics? The King hasn't seen such a lively planet in so long, he hasn't been able to stretch his servos in combat in a number of years! No, obviously the missions are to main, destroy, and kill everything here!" Twelve exclaimed happily. As he stared at his audience, and they stared back silently, he sighed and grew blades on the insides of his two largest claws. "Now would be a good time to fear me." Twelve explained lazily. There was a moment of silence before all hell broke loose, with Ponies running frantically in every which direction (save for towards Twelve). In the panic, Spitfire grabbed a hold of Trixie and ran for the nearest street corner that lead around to Twelve's back.

"Twelve, you're mine..." Leo said bluntly, as he he began a circular stalking pattern. His internal programs noticing the threatening pattern, Twelve entered a battle stance himself, similarly entering the circular pattern that Leo had started.

"LY-2, you must realize how futile resistance is, coming from you, with the grave wound in your side. Yes, not even a cloak can hide injury from me." Twelve bragged.

"Is that a hint about upgrades that I hear? No matter. Being one with these creatures has it's...benefits." Leo attempted to sych-out his opponent, stancing himself a little more menacingly, at the cost of aggravating his wound slightly. 'Yet, I haven't exactly found them yet...' as he fought to hide his grimace.

"Oh please, LY-2, you can't hide your pain from me, not as an organic, so stop the charades. It's insulting." Twelve complained mockingly. As a growl escaped Leo and his stance shifted slightly, Twelve took the motion as an opportunity to attack. In blinding speed, he thrust his blade-laden claw towards Leo, catching him off-guard. Not wasting any time, Leo twisted his body in a strange manner to avoid the blades. He found himself unable to keep up, however, and still collided with the blunt top-outside edge of Twelve's right claw. Uncaring, Twelve swung his claw sideways to the right, sending Leo rocketing into one of the Cafe's front windows, causing an explosion of glass pieces to shower over everyone cowering inside. Groaning, Leo felt his right side ignite in a fiery pain as he struggled to get up.

'GODDAMMIT, SPITFIRE, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? I'M DYIN' HERE!' Leo screamed in his head, through the agony. As he began limping back outside to face his foe again, Leo was vaguely aware of a warm liquid streaming slowly and steadily down from his loin to his barrel. What he was more aware of, however, and more frightened over, was his extreme fatigue. "Nuh...nice going, Twelve, urgh! Hit a man while he's down. How....honorable." Leo joked, knowing full well that most robots disregard honor as a useless function imposed by organics.

"I see the deep dark sleep is knocking on your door, LY-2. Perhaps you should reconsider facing me again. You'll be able to live a little longer that way. Maybe a week, who knows?" Twelve mocked menacingly, attempting to antagonize Leo into making a fatal attempt to strike, and he readied a stance for it. Not taking the bait, Leo frowned.

"What do ya take me for, a mook? I'm not falling for that." Leo shouted back at Twelve. As he was praying that Spitfire hadn't lost her nerve at the last moment, Leo stumbled. His injury was beginning to take it's toll on him.

"While you may still have your battle prowess, it seems your logic and intelligence has taken a nose-dive since becoming an organic. My main processor has alerted me that this battle has had a 43.2% increase in time past the conclusion of our first duel. Not to mention, your movement speed has decreased dramatically since that little nudge I gave you. You would be wise to try and find medical assistance...not that I would actually let you, at this point. You've wasted much of my time, and I want some form of yield to present to the King. Your death would elate him."

"Oh yeah? whoever your king is can join that bitch in android-hell. Remember, it's a real place." Leo spat at Twelve. Just as Leo collapsed from fatigue, there was a sudden and loud 'CLANG!' from behind Twelve. It's eyes narrowed for a moment as it realized what happened. Spitfire boastfully flew up and over the robot to face him. As the two stared at each other, she silently waved goodbye at him, gloating at her victory. As Twelve stared at her, he grew a happy look that rivaled the one that Spitfire wore.

"Yes, I suppose a 'goodbye' is in order!" Twelve exclaimed happily, prompting a confused look from Spitfire. Turning to Leo, she shrugged, and didn't see Twelve swing his left claw to his right in preparation of a large hit.

"Spitfire, MOVE!" Leo shouted in anger. Shocked, she turned in time to watch Twelve's claw slam into her with the force of a train. As Leo watched helplessly, Spitfire's lifeless body tumbled through the air and slammed into the ground a distance away with a sickening thud. Struggling to get up, Leo's muscles screamed at him to stop. "Another upgrade..." Leo said quietly, coming to terms with the reality he may have just gotten one of these creatures killed due to his own lack of knowledge.

"You see, LY-2, I have a five minute fail-safe now. Takes a little while for me to shut off, so I can defend myself...or kill anything that initiates my shutdown. So yes...another upgrade. Don't feel TOO bad, now! It, and the rest of the creatures inhabiting this small planet are slated to be killed anyways!" Twelve explained, his calm demeanor chilling Leo to his core, as he began to slip out of consciousness.

"Not if I have ANYTHING to say about it!" a older woman's voice flowed out, rage streaming from every letter. Surprised, Twelve turned to look at the newcomer on the scene.

"Oh, wonderful! The royalty has come out to hear our message!" Twelve exclaimed. As he advanced menacingly upon what Leo could only make out vaguely as a white mare with a pastel, multi-colored mane. Within seconds, however, Twelve was floating in the air, his weapons being crushed by unseen forces. "WHAT IS THIS? THIS IS...IMPOSSIBLE! MY SENSORS DO NOT INDICATE ANY BZZZT-" Twelve screamed out in disbelief, shortly before Celestia caused his vocal systems to short. As oil began spewing out of every joint, Twelve struggled to look towards Leo again.

"Better get used to it now, because...this place is kinda weird." Leo gave one last mocking piece of advice to Twelve. Still Panicking, it's head suddenly jarred back towards Celestia by unseen hands.

"Enjoy the dark void, you disturbing creature." Celestia spoke firmly, yet calmly. With one final crunch, Twelve seemed to fold in on himself, with oil splattering within a small radius over which the scrap heap he now was resided. Leo wasn't exactly certain, however, as almost everything turned into simple blobs. He felt panic beginning to set in, but once the white blob came into view, he felt safe. "Go ahead, you can sleep now without worry, you shall awake later." the blob said to him. All too happy to oblige the white blob, Leo nodded, and then passed out cold.