CLAWs of Equestria

Chapters

1

The mighty CLAW machines, Maximus and Brutus, released destruction upon the incoming ISI soldiers that were alerted of David Mason and Mike Harper's presence. Maximus dealt with any incoming ISI soldiers on the rooftops with his deadly grenade launcher and mounted mini-gun. Constant ISI soldiers continued to flood into the area in an attempt to capture or kill the J-SOC soldiers. But their efforts were futile with Maximus reigning explosives and bullets upon them. Brutus was able to efficiently deal with any ISI soldiers that could have been trying to advance towards Section and Harper. His deadly flamethrower, if it didn't burn his enemies to death, kept them at bay for his mini-gun to butcher down.

Despite being Artificial Intelligence, Section could easily take control of the pair and direct them as to where they should be shooting. He directed Brutus outside where he would be able to give cover fire for the two J-SOC soldiers. He used his added ability of the flamethrower to scorch the ground troopers whilst Section and Harper waited for Salazar to arrive with evacuation. He then switched to Maximus where he Section manually targeted the enemy drone that was distracted by the presence of him and Harper. Firing the deadly grenade launcher twice, the drone malfunctioned and crashed into the building behind it.

Maximus and Brutus's mounted mini-guns slaughtered any troopers that got too close to the J-SOC. An RPG missile zoomed just over Brutus, whom was distracted with the ground support from the ISI. Section spotted this immediately and used Maximus's mini-gun to unleash a sea of bullets into the RPG wielding soldier. He dropped dead quickly. The fire-fight between the ISI and the CLAWs continued for a good few minutes, with the CLAWs dominating the small battlefield with their hardened armour and powerful weaponry.

The sound of a jeep engine was suddenly heard and two jeeps with mounted machine guns on the back arrived along with one friendly drone. It was Salazar. He had come to Section and Harper's salvation. They quickly entered the jeeps, Section taking over the driver seat from Crosby while he jumped into shotgun. Harper clutched control of the machine gun and they were quickly on their way to find a way out of the city. Maximus and Brutus, only serving as a distraction to the ISI, were left behind so that the J-SOC soldiers could escape. As Section drove further away from the two CLAWs, he lost the signal that connected him to the two CLAW machines.

They were back to being automatic…and left alone to the demise of the incoming ISI machinery and soldiers.

Enemy ISI drones whizzed over the two CLAW machines while more soldiers and enemy jeeps passed through to try and catch up to the fleeing J-SOC soldiers. However, the foot soldiers were unprepared for the sudden bullet storm from Maximus and Brutus. Their mini-guns began to excrete heat as they continued to slaughter more ISI soldiers. Some of the bullets made their way into the ISI soldiers driving the enemy vehicles which caused massive destruction!

One of the jeeps collided into the side of a wall thanks to a dead driver whilst another knocked into a piece of scrap metal and spun through the air. The impact caused a massive explosion. Alerted ISI foot soldiers quickly scrambled to cover where they could avoid Brutus on the ground. But their efforts were futile with Maximus providing over watch from above. He fired his grenade launcher at the hiding soldiers which flushed them out, if they didn't die in the blast, for Brutus to execute.

But still more ISI soldiers advanced into the area!

The small area was becoming a bloodbath but Maximus and Brutus continued their destructive assault on the ISI…but they couldn't last forever.

A 'clicking' sound was heard from Maximus's mini-gun which only meant that he was out of ammunition. He only had his grenade launcher left, but that too was low on ammo. Brutus was fairing much better either. His exposure upon the ground had allowed one ISI soldier to gain a lucky grenade on him. The explosion of the grenade caused his right foreleg to malfunction from the multiple shrapnel wedged inside it. The immobile leg prevented him from moving forward or backwards. He was exposed in the open and was running low on flame fuel and ammunition.

Despite Maximus's low ammo problem, he continued to inflict damage whenever he saw an ISI soldier move. He spotted another ISI soldier advancing on the roof towards the RPG that was dropped by the former owner. Maximus aimed his grenade launcher at the soldier but another 'clicking' sound was heard…

Brutus's grenade launcher had reached its final amount of ammunition and resorted to the remaining rounds of his mini-gun. However, he completely missed the ISI soldier upon the rooftop that was aiming the RPG directly at him! Maximus was unable to do anything and Brutus had just chewed up the last of his mini-gun ammunition! They couldn't continue to hold off the soldiers anymore!

Brutus's camera looked up and spotted a bright yellow light zooming straight towards him. From Maximus's camera, there was a massive explosion, and a grey cloud blanketed where Brutus was standing. However, Maximus's cam could make out what looked like a demobilised Brutus. The front of Brutus of was completely dented in and his mini-gun was bent backwards. However, the camera fixed just underneath the mini-gun was still able to rotate which showed that he was not completely immobile. However, he would not be able to survive another fatal blow!

Maximus turned to look at the AI drones that had suddenly gained interest in the battle that had just commenced. One had spotted the defenceless Brutus lying on the ground. However, Maximus failed to spot an ISI soldier throwing a Semtex grenade which suddenly attached to his left foreleg. The deadly ticking only lasted for a few seconds before a deadly explosion crippled his left foreleg. The imbalance caused Maximus to collapse off the roof and onto the ground below.

The impact was devastating! His camera became distraught and fuzzy. It cut in and out as it viewed the sky. The destruction had gained the other drone's attention and it hovered over the defeated Maximus. With the two drones looking straight at the defeated CLAWs, their pulverising machine guns began to spin up as they prepared to end the pair of them. The ISI soldiers cheered as the drones readied to execute the CLAW machines, but their cheering was soon interrupted by a menacing evil laugh.

From the middle of the small area, a sudden mystical black energy sprung quickly from the ground and speared through the first drone hovering over Maximus. The soldiers, shocked from the unnatural event and baffled at the same time, unleashed their firepower upon the magical dark magic, but it was completely useless. The bullets went through the force like they would when being shot through an ash cloud; they made little holes in the widespread magic, but they repaired instantly.

The mystical black aura suddenly thrashed towards the second drone's machine gun. It destroyed the weapon in seconds. Rendered completely useless, and with the ISI soldiers fleeing for their lives, the drone was unable to escape from the grasp of the dark magic. It began to envelop the enemy drone in a cocoon of blackness. For a few seconds, only the sound of the rain was present before…

The drone suddenly exploded into tiny pieces.

With nothing to distract the magic from its goal, it turned towards the two downed CLAWs. The magic printed itself on the outskirts of Maximus and Brutus and elevated them into the air!

It ended as soon as it began…the CLAWs were gone! An evil laugh echoed through the destroyed streets and vanished as if it had never been there!

His deadly scarlet eyes widened in glee at the sight bestowed before him. The weakened remains of Maximus and Brutus lay before him in the worst of conditions. Their cameras were still moving around as if they were trying to gain sense of where they were and where the enemy was. He laughed in satisfaction. Looking at the foreign machinery planted in front of him, the possessor of the dark magic couldn't help but feel as if he had truly outdone himself with his ideas and intentions. Yet, at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder just how deadly the CLAWs could be in a world full of magic. He had been viewing the human world for months after his defeat at the Crystal Empire, and he was really impressed with the evil that surrounded the human world. Sadly for the owner of the magic, he couldn't take the ISI troops or even any of the factions within 'Cordis die' faction, but the highly advanced machinery was all he was going to need.

Wanting to get to work immediately, he couldn't wait to see first hoof just how evil Maximus and Brutus could be under his power and enslavement.

His horn slowly lit a murderous red and black aura, similar to the dark magic that destroyed the two drones, and it wrapped itself around Maximus and Brutus. The dark energy automatically began repairing Maximus and Brutus and refilling the ammo as if it had years of experience. The repairing was done within a matter of minutes. However, to his liking, the dark magic infiltrated the very core of Maximus and Brutus. The magic reprogrammed their intelligence and re-directed their ally as to being King Sombra himself!

Maximus and Brutus, with a hideous red colour glowing around them, stood fresh and new, ready to serve their new master. In addition, one small robotic spider, possessing the same filthy red glow, hopped individually on Maximus. He was known as Ziggy.

But behind them stood hundreds of CLAWs and drones, all clutching the haunting red aura.

"Ah," King Sombra sighed pleasingly," My mechanical slaves!"

2

"Hm…yes…you are perfect," King Sombra hissed as his demonic shadow figure cloaked over Maximus, Brutus and Ziggy.

His shadow like figure was as dark as night. His shadow was so dark that it could have falsely terminated the existence of Maximus, Brutus and Ziggy if it wasn't for the red glowing light that traced around their mechanical bodies. However, being mindless and enslaved machines, they did not feel an inch of fear unlike the Crystal ponies when they were first enslaved. King Sombra did enjoy watching their pathetic little faces squirm under his dominating power. The hopelessness that reflected through their eyes was enjoyable for the black hearted unicorn. When their heads glared up to his dominating authority, with the lack of hope that they would ever be free, it always sketched a venomous smile across his face. But that was all taken away from him. The mighty combined power of the two Alicorns, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, was more than enough to defeat King Sombra and abolish him into the Artic North where he had been hiding ever since. Adding insult to injury, with the help of Princess Cadance, Shining Armor and the Elements of Harmony, his very slaves were able to defeat him from his second attempt to conquer the Crystal Empire.

But not this time…this time he would have his revenge!

King Sombra's shadow appearance lowered until his menacing eyes pried upon the small six legged spider, Ziggy. The acute robot spider stood motionless as if he did not recognise the existence of his new master and leader. Nevertheless, King Sombra released a jolly but evil chuckle as he eyed the small spider. Something so small but yet so mischievous and sneaky was pleasurable for King Sombra to think about.

"You, my little pet, have a very important mission," King Sombra started as he turned his head towards the left side of the dimly lit red room. A small robotic movement sound echoed throughout the shadows. From the little sounds that followed them, it did not sound as threatening as did the CLAWs when they marched into battle.

Being banished the first time from the Crystal Empire, and sentenced towards the freezing Artic North, King Sombra was left homeless and helpless. The power of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had left him weak but not helpless. He used what strength he had left to create a small shelter that protected him from the harsh blizzards of the Artic North. From that point on, when his magic had fully restored, he turned his small shelter into a fortress where his personal headquarters would be located. The very room that he and all his robotic slaves were standing in was the giant throne room where, once all of Equestria kneeled down at his hooves, he would take control of everything around Equestria.

King Sombra eyed the dimly red shadows hidden behind the cloak of blackness. Little robotic 'patter' sounds echoed around the room before a small robotic spider revealed itself. The corrupted unicorn smiled in glee as the second spider made its way towards Maximus.

"This is Zaggy," King Sombra stated as Zaggy leaped on top of Maximus to join its counterpart, Ziggy.

Zaggy was almost completely identical as Ziggy. However, Zaggy's appearance was different to Ziggy's as his armour was brown and had eight legs instead of six. Their size was equally matched but Zaggy possessed an army camouflage instead of a completely dark appearance. Both robotic spiders shared the same electronic Taser device that would come in handy for the task they were about to receive.

"You two have a very important mission!" King Sombra stated with a deadly tone. "If I am to rule not only the Crystal Empire, but the whole of Equestria then there are a couple of 'issues' that need to be dealt with."

King Sombra's eyes shun a hideous green colour as they reflected into the small robotic camera of Ziggy and Zaggy. The image of not one, not two, but three Alicorns transferred to their memory bank. They were easily identified as Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadance.

"Easily, the power of Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadance combined together could destroy everything I have planned," King Sombra started after transferring the targets to the two miniscule spiders," It's your important role to find all three when they are not together. Princess Celestia and Luna should be simple, but Cadance will prove to be more of a challenge since she is married to the Captain of the Royal Guards, Shining Armor. You might have to wait, but for now you must simply paralyse Celestia and Luna."

King Sombra wondered to himself on what he would do with the Princesses once they were paralysed, beaten and captured by his CLAW army. At most, he wanted to make them watch their very loyal subjects suffer under his enslavement. Have her watch in pain and fear as every stallion, mare and foal was subjected towards chains and forced to work for the rest of their pathetic lives. Better yet, what if she was forced to watch the ones she kept so close to her be purposely tortured and killed in front of her? How would she feel knowing that she had failed to protect all of her subjects and Equestria? The rhetorical questions tickled King Sombra with glee and excitement. The thoughts of watching his enemies suffer at his hooves were more than what he needed in motivation and confidence that he would soon rule all of Equestria.

"Now my spider slaves," King Sombra hissed as he morphed back into his shadow figure," I can send you on the outskirts of Canterlot but not inside the castle itself. Knowing an Alicorn, they would feel a magical disturbance in the atmosphere if I was to send you straight inside the castle. You will have to make your own way into the building and outsmart any guards that may be positioned around the castle."

The same black aura that had rescued Maximus and Brutus from their assured destruction slowly enveloped itself around Ziggy and Zaggy. They slowly started to hover into the air whilst the black aura started to spin faster and faster around them. King Sombra let out one last laugh for them to acknowledge.

"Remember, find the princesses and paralyse them. Do not disappoint me!" With a roar, King Sombra unleashed his magical transportation spell and a bright red light flashed for a few seconds. When the hideous spell died down, Ziggy and Zaggy's presence was no more.

They were gone. King Sombra unleashed a venomous laugh!

"Now then," King Sombra hissed as he circled around Maximus and Brutus, "We need talk about the mission I have the pair of you involving the Elements of Harmony!"

OXO

The sound of a chariot being pulled slowly rolled along the pathway that led towards Canterlot. It was a beautiful golden chariot that stretched wide enough to fit at least four ponies inside. The wheels glittered with red, white and green emeralds and the overall figure twinkled from the small white diamonds warped all over it. Its beauty was unique and could easily be recognised by all the inhabitants across Equestria as a special chariot of importance and they would know that figures within it were very important and special. The overall appearance of the chariot was priceless and fit for royalty. And within the chariot were royal figures that were happy to be in each other's presence.

The married couple, holding each other in their hooves, happily looked out of their chariot at the beautiful landscape that led to the prosperous city of Canterlot and the Canterlot castle. From time to time, they would cuddle each other and exchange kisses on the nose or lips as the day was beautiful, young and exciting. Why wouldn't the happily married couple, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, exchange their love on such a fine and spectacular day? The mood settled easily for the undying feeling of love between Cadance and her husband and they did not want it to end anytime soon.

The sun was shining, the wind was gentle and friendly, the animals sung with delight, and the flowers blossomed with glee. The day was perfect. Cadance couldn't feel anymore happier than what she was feeling right now. It was almost exactly the same as the time when she and Shining Armor had married. The wonderful feelings that day were almost matched with the feelings of today. There was nothing that could spoil her mood.

Better yet, what made the day more spectacular was the fact that Twilight Sparkle had invited Princess Cadance to join her and her friends in a day at the spa. A day with Twilight was like a special gift for Cadance. Cadance hoped that it would be just like old times where they could bond and be together. It was also a good chance for her and Twilight to catch up on each other and find out what they have been up to. When Twilight grew a little too old for a foal sitter, Cadance had not seen her until her wedding day in Canterlot where they met in one of Chrysalis's green crystal prisons. Thanks to Twilight, she was able to free Cadance and save her wedding by foiling the Queen Changling's plans. Seeing her for the first time where the fate of Equestria wasn't at stake would was much better for the princess. Talking with Twilight, and the rest of the Elements of Harmony, was the part of the day that Cadance looked most forward to. The day seemed too good to be true for the young Princess of love. She sighed happily as she leaned slightly on her husband's neck who in return rubbed his cheek on her snout in response. She shut her eyes whilst she enjoyed the relaxing ride into Canterlot.

As the chariot slowly progressed towards Canterlot, a sudden bump from a hole in the ground awoke Cadance from her fantasy world. The married couple were startled, but only for a few seconds did they worry about what had happened since they were about to enter Canterlot once more.

However, during the small shock, two small spider figures had jumped on the back of the chariot and crawled underneath it. The bottom of the carriage let off a small red glow as Ziggy and Zaggy patiently waited for the chariot to stop outside the Canterlot castle.

3

The carriage slowly came to a halt as Princess Cadance and Shining Armor exited in front of the Canterlot castle. Four guards were already waiting for the pair as they exited. For a moment, there was a silence until the chains on the drawbridge that led into the Canterlot castle slowly descended. Two tall figures stood on the other end along with the company of six other guards. Both possessed a face of seriousness and expertise as they watched the married couple slowly walk across the drawbridge. The smile on Cadance's face slowly deflated as the two serious faces of the co-rulers came into view.

"Princess Cadence, and Shining Armor, it's good for you to come on such short notice," Celestia said as the married couple had finished their short walk over the drawbridge. "Please follow, we have much to discuss."

"What important matters? Why do you look so worried, Celestia?" Princess Cadance questioned.

"Cadance, my sister and I believe that evil has once again planted itself within Equestria. Recently, there has been a disturbance in the magical balance of Equestria. Some pony, or something, somewhere is using great power to inflict evil across the land. I fear that this evil is growing more powerful by the minute. I have a really bad feeling about this," Celestia replied. Her tone was bonded with the feeling of fear but still upheld its authority.

"This evil grows stronger each day. We simply cannot figure out the sole being responsible for these inflating powers. What worries us most is that it continues to grow with each passing day. Celestia and I did plan on sending Twilight Sparkle and her friends to investigate, but the strength of this evil force made us think twice. That is why we have called upon you and Shining Armor," Luna explained whilst the four advanced into the hall where the stained glass paintings of all of Equestria's victories were placed.

"Shining Armor, we need you to assemble a few of your best guards to investigate this matter," Celestia started whilst she stopped in front of the stained glass painting of the Elements of Harmony defeating Discord, "I simply cannot put Twilight Sparkle or any of her friends in danger. Please understand this, Shining Armor; I couldn't live with myself to see my best student hurt because of my orders," Celestia stated whilst she turned to look at the captain.

"I understand perfectly, your majesty. I wouldn't dare let my sister walk into something that puts her and her friends in grave danger," Shining Armor stated with pride.

Princess Celestia nodded in response as they all continued to walk towards the throne room where she would then send off Shining Armor to fetch a couple of his best guards. She couldn't help but feel as if this magical force was something that possessed more power than her and her sister even combined. In addition, some strange thought plagued her mind that this evil power was even becoming stronger than the power of the 'Elements of Harmony'. The thoughts scared her deeply.

A cold and chilly shiver crept down Celestia's spine of all a sudden. She had the sudden feeling as if she was being watched by something. She paused and turned towards one of the many high windows of the castle. However, her vision met nothing but the bright blue sky and the lazy white clouds that slept with it. Her long stare had caused the others to turn their heads as well. Like Celestia, they saw nothing but the relaxing sky.

"Sister, what is wrong?" Princess Luna asked with concern.

"Nothing…it's nothing," Celestia responded as she turned her attention back towards the throne room," I hope," she whispered.

OXO

Ziggy and Zaggy, after waiting for the princesses and the guards to walk away into the building, crawled down from the carriage and hid underneath it. The little spiders would wait until the guards and the ponies were gone before sneaking into the castle. However, the drawbridge slowly started to wind itself back up as the two enslaved spider-bots were waiting. Quickly, they both dashed towards the bridge and leaped from the small gap that stood in between the spiders and the drawbridge which led to the moat of water below. Their legs clinched onto the wooden structure of the drawbridge as it slowly descended upwards until it sealed shut.

Their plan changed.

Slowly, they began to climb from the tip of the drawbridge to the side of the wall of the Canterlot castle. Their movement was quick and silent. Thankfully they were had to see thanks to their small size but the glowing aura around their bodies made them easier to identify if a guard was to turn their way. However, their speed made up for their appearance as they sprinted like a cheetah across the walls until they made it to the first window. The first story window was blocked off by large glass. Ziggy and Zaggy both knew that they could easily break the glass, but the risk of blowing their cover and jeopardising their mission made them consolidate another plan. Both spiders decided to peer through the window and they spotted the four ponies speaking to each other. As they watched, they noticed one of their primary targets, Princess Celestia, was turning to look at their position. They quickly scampered to side of the window to avoid being seen, and crawled around to try and find another entry that wasn't blocked and wouldn't make any noise that would attract unwanted attention. For five minutes they continued to scramble to the right of the castle until they met another window, open, which led to the throne room.

They spotted the four targets moving down the room. One of their main targets, Princess Celestia, walked forward and sat down on her throne. From their perspective, Princess Celestia seemed extremely curious with all the windows. She constantly looked up at them which forced the two spider-bots to retreat back slightly. Things were going to be difficult for Ziggy and Zaggy as the suspicion and sudden paranoia of Princess Celestia had put them behind schedule. Retreating back to avoid detection, a sudden small black aura projected from the eyes of Zaggy. The aura started to create a live image of a small King Sombra.

"My mighty CLAW army is ready to attack the Crystal Empire. Have you taken care of the three princesses?" King Sombra piped up from his holographic image. Ziggy and Zaggy stared at their master. "Well?" The angered King asked in an assertive tone.

The two enslaved spider robots remained as still as statues.

"Useless!" Sombra hissed in hesitation. His magic forced his perspective to flip from Ziggy and Zaggy to what they were seeing from the window. King Sombra released a low growl as he saw his archenemies discussing from the throne room. Knowing that the delay of the infiltration of Canterlot castle would cause a small dilemma in his plans, King Sombra sighed in agitation. "Not entirely what I had planned…but no matter. Continue with your mission, slaves. I will check again on you and Maximus and Brutus to see if your tasks have been completed. Do not disappoint me!"

The aura that illuminated from Zaggy's eyes suddenly disappeared. Still as emotionless as ever, Ziggy and Zaggy turned their attention back onto their primary targets. Ziggy and Zaggy continued to study their targets while they prepared their Tasers for elimination. From what they observed, there were two guards standing guard beneath Princess Celestia's throne. If they were to reach Celestia then they would have to eliminate any side threats that could possibly jeopardise their goal.

Before long, Cadance, Shining Armor and Luna went their separate ways around the castle which left Celestia alone with the exception of her two guards.

Spotting their moment, they quickly climbed through the window and into the castle and dashed down the wall. They hid behind the closest thing they could find; Ziggy scurried behind a small statue whilst Zaggy fled behind a long curtain that fell from one of the windows and nearly kissed the floor. Quietly, they both peered out from their hiding positions to spy on their targets. Celestia seemed to be writing on a few new papers that had been left for her. The guards stood like statues as they continued to guard their beloved ruler. There was no other guard in sight that could compromise their assault. All they required now…was the right moment to strike.

OXO

"In lighter news, I heard that my most faithful student has invited you to spend the day with her and her friends." Princess Celestia said whishing to change the mood of the subject into a happier one.

"Oh yes! It will be the first time I will be able to see Twilight without the fate of Equestria being put at risk," Cadance responded happily. But her smile was outlasted when Celestia shot a look of annoyance at her. Celestia meant no harm with her vicious glare but she was annoyed at the fact that Cadance had forgotten for a split second of the subject that they were just on. Cadance apologised.

"Should we tell Twilight Sparkle about your worries, sister?" Luna asked.

"No," Celestia started," she doesn't need the burden right now. Plus we do not know for sure if I am correct, but I have a strong feeling that I am correct. I wish I was wrong…but I just know."

As they continued to speak, Celestia's throne stood idle at the top of the small stairs. Rested on the cushion of her throne were important papers that needed her attention. Celestia sighed as she saw the pile. She used her magic to remove them as she took her place upon the throne. However, her eyes averted themselves to the windows above her. The shivering feeling crept its way back down Celestia's spine once more. She couldn't help but feel as if something was watching her. Constantly, she looked between her sister and the married couple and the windows. Luna looked on in concern at her sister.

"If you'd please excuse me, I have important duties to attend to. I will hopefully see you, Cadance, before you depart for Ponyville. And Shining Armor, please could you fetch your fastest Pegasi to me at once!" Celestia ordered. Shining Armor saluted and walked left with his wife whilst Luna walked to the right. She quickly turned around to look at her sister who had already started to sign of papers.

"I will be in my quarters if you need me, sister," Luna told calmly. Princess Celestia turned to look at Luna and gave her a graceful smile and a nod. The princess of the night returned the nod back and walked off and out of the throne room.

Celestia was alone with the exception of the two guards that stood completely motionless. Celestia turned her attention back to the papers and began signing them. However, a sudden noise clutched her attention. The sound of small scampering feet patting on the ground alerted the guards below her as well. Immediately hostile, the sprung into their battle stance and were ready to fight whoever the infiltrator was.

The princess of the sun continued to look frantically at the room around her. But her attention switched…when one of her guards screamed!

4

The second guard had no time to react as Zaggy jumped onto his back and viciously zapped him until he was knocked out. Ziggy had already dealt with the first guard and was scurrying his way up to the startled princess.

Zaggy was quick to follow.

Princess Celestia stared in disbelief at the two small spiders advancing her way. However, her instincts were quick as she quickly used her magic to transport herself into the air right as Ziggy had tried to lunge at her. Her wings kept her in the air and balanced. She tried to get a better look at her attackers but the adrenaline that shot through her caused her to become less focused on specific details of her attackers and more on herself. But what she could make out from the small identification of her attackers, while preparing her superior magic in order to combat the intruders, was that they looked a lot like spiders and the red aura that cloaked around them made them more noticeable to her. The sudden strange presence that she had been feeling all through the day suddenly came back to her right as the spider bots had revealed themselves.

"Who and what are you creatures!?" Celestia demanded with her authority.

Ziggy and Zaggy ignored her question. Ziggy was staring up at the princess from where he had lunged and landed on the back rest of the throne. With the primary objective still in focus, Ziggy quickly dismounted from the throne and began climbing up the left side of the inner castle wall. Zaggy, whom had finished zapping the injured guard, spotted the floating princess glaring angrily at Ziggy and he noticed her charging up her horn. Following Ziggy's example, Zaggy began clawing his way up the inner right side of the castle wall until he had reached the roof.

While Zaggy was making his way to the roof, Princess Celestia had started firing her powerful magic at Ziggy. He was forced to scurry sideways along the wall which prevented him from climbing directly upwards, but his scapegoat was what Zaggy needed in order to pry closer to the unsuspecting princess. Scurrying closer towards the princess, Zaggy's Taser released a small burst of energy in preparation for the full sting.

However, before Zaggy could make his pounce on Celestia, the sound of two giant doors suddenly opened and revealed Shining Armor, Princess Cadance and the six best Pegasi guards. They gasped as they firstly looked at their princess battling with the small robotic spider on the left side of the wall. Then they noticed their comrades beaten on the floor with shocked looks in their eyes. Zaggy knew that they were going to jeopardise their whole mission if they were allowed to intervene.

Picking Shining Armor as his target, he pounced downwards.

OXO

"Protect the princess!" Shining Armor ordered his guards. Cadance stood slightly behind her husband as she looked at the scene unfolding in front of her.

The six Pegasi guards had quickly flown towards the princess and created a diamond formation around her: two in the front, two in the middle and two at the back with Princess Celestia in the middle. Once they spotted the perpetrator who Celestia had been defending herself from, they set about to quickly capture Ziggy. One of the guards from the front and one from the back had been the ones to try and capture the small spider, but trying to capture Ziggy proved to be more complicated for the guards. When ever they tried to capture Ziggy, their hooves would get zapped with Ziggy's Taser which caused them to retreat back. Ziggy's quick movement also made it hard for the Pegasi guards to focus on where he would be so that they could catch him.

The other four guards had escorted Princess Celestia to the other end of the throne room.

Shining Armor stepped forward in attempt to help the two guards capture Ziggy with his magic, but something landed on his back! A sharp stinging sensation suddenly flowed into Shining Armor's left foreleg. Zaggy, after picking Shining Armor as his target, clumsily fell onto his back. But the drop caused his to slip slightly over Shining Armor's back and left him clinging onto his red jacket. His jacket ripped from the right shoulder down to his chest as Zaggy unleashed a high voltage of electricity into Shining Armor's right foreleg. Luckily, due to the distance and poor accuracy, Shining Armor's right foreleg wasn't paralysed.

"What the-"Shining Armor cried aloud as he felt a sharp sting rage in his right shoulder. Without thinking, he bucked rapidly into the air in attempt to throw Zaggy off. With luck, Zaggy lost his grip on Shining Armor and tore the rest of the shirt on his right.

Cadance quickly rushed over to her husband and calmed him before he hurt himself. However, right as she calmed her husband, she noticed that Zaggy had already made another attempt to attack her husband. Using her magic, she caught the small spider mid-air before he could clutch onto Shining Armor's back. Unfortunately, she had brought Zaggy just slightly in range for him to use his Taser on her nose. Cadance gasped and released Zaggy as she touched the tip of her nose with her hoof.

The assault of his wife caused Shining Armor to grow incredibly furious. Turning to face the fleeing attacker, he focused his magic and clutched Zaggy before he could scale the walls. In an instant, Shining Armor forced his magic to drag the helpless spider underneath his hoof before Shining Armor crushed him.

Zaggy was left in pieces and the red aura escaped out of the closest window. The red eyes shut down and changed into an empty black colour of nothingness.

Ziggy halted his tracks as he spotted his fallen counterpart and realised that he had been trashed into pieces. With Zaggy compromised and destroyed, Ziggy had failed his mission in eliminating the princesses and had to return back to his master. Consequently, Ziggy being distracted by the termination of his comrade had given one of the guards enough time to quickly snatch Ziggy by surprise. The guard held Ziggy upside down and away from his face so that he could not Taser him.

He brought the prisoner over to Celestia who used her magic to safely hold him at a distance. Ziggy's legs waved frantically all over the place as he tried his best to escape the grasp of the princess. Ziggy even tried to use his Taser in attempts to escape, but his efforts were futile against the supreme clutch of Celestia's magical grasp.

But the struggling of Ziggy stopped when he heard a voice boom inside him.

"You have failed me! The mission was so simple, but you were too weak and futile to do my bidding! You are a worthless fool! I have no need for you any longer, pathetic spider…but your failure is only a small price to pay for the invasion of Equestria. No matter what happens, I will take Equestria, and your failure and ignorance will not stop me!" The voice of King Sombra echoed all over. The mystical red aura suddenly vaporised from Ziggy's body, leaving him as an empty mechanical shell without a controller.

Celestia gasped as she saw the red aura flee and escape outside one of the windows. The simple black spider's legs held in place which resembled his idleness. Princess Cadance slowly walked over to Celestia along with her husband. She quietly whispered into his ear…

"What is it?"

"I-I don't know, Cadance," Shining Armor responded quietly and curiously.

Princess Celestia, after watching the aura escape outside, looked deeply at the empty spider machine. The feeling of danger that Princess Celestia felt when the red aura was around the machine was gone and she felt more relaxed around it. Slowly, she brought Ziggy closer to her eyes.

"What are you?" She asked.

5

"How could they have been so foolish?" King Sombra hissed and smashed his right hoof in fury.

The outraged king marched back and forth in spitting anger and rage as he conjured the consequences of Ziggy and Zaggy's failure. The exposure of his two slaves left the indignant king's plans in turmoil. His escalating fury for the two spider bots only mad his anger spiral as his plans unhurriedly collapsed on top of each other within his isolated mind. He slowly watched as the concentration and hard profound effort that he put for months into his plans slowly fade away into a transparent mist. His mind started to hurt for stress had soon succumbed into a gathering of dark emotions. Pity, anger, fear, rage, they all screamed together as they rattled the mind of King Sombra. Pain swam through the senses that linked to the core of his mind, and time itself slowed to a miraculous halt. The environment around him collapsed and shattered into tiny pieces as his anger quickly enhanced. The fascist penumbra that plagued King Sombra roared, hissed, screamed and yelled so insanely that it could have shattered any living creature that was unfortunate enough to be nearby. The penumbra, a mysterious, feral, cruel, dark, and evil presence that rotted in King Sombra had mutated into a more enraged and tempered shadow. This anger, shared with the inferior common anger of Sombra, greatly rooted a new source of devastating anger that could drive any pony or inhabitant to insanity and unmerciful lust for devastation and power. The defeat at the Crystal Empire was the sole reason for such unjustified actions and feelings to coexist within the corrupted mind and darkened heart of the king. Such a defeat, which ridiculed his hierarchy and status among the Crystal Ponies, whom now look to him as a joke and not a ferocious and preeminent king that he was supposed to be, morphed the taste and demand for revenge. From what the evil commanded from Sombra, he only plunged deeper into corruption as he foolishly agreed to its message; all was property and possession and slaves to the true king. His judgement, clouded by a shadow wall, was not that of his own, but through disorganised and ignorance of emotional conflict.

Sombra's eyes winced in itching pain. The pure corruption, tormenting and swaying no matter where he looked, created unique images of devastation and chaos that synchronised different futures that seemed palpable to the twisted king. Again, his desire drove him forward into obeying what the images wanted to scream at him. With eyes bloodshot, he greedily glared at what his mind wanted. His breathing grew into quick pants of excitement and desire and his eyes absorbed every little detail from what the shadow moving images awarded him. The first image was that which would sprout from corrupted minds, such as Sombra's, which lust for all in their sight. Canterlot castle, in flames and the marvellous and prosperous city, Canterlot, permanently obliterated into black ashes was what the shadow spoon fed Sombra. This was his dream. To see the ponies, if not slaughtered by his robotic army, kneeling at his hooves and looking up to him as if he were an Alicorn. Beautiful rusty chains slotted around their necks and hooves as they very slowly and gravely worked under his authority and kept guarded like pathetic farm animals by his mighty army. Every passing second was suffocated with misery and agony for all the inhabitants, but superiority, glee, pride, and confidence raged through the fake version of Sombra. The cruel imagery was even generous enough to donate the harsh image of the Crystal Empire and the ruins of what remained of it. The once magnificent Crystal castle gained a cruel and annihilating demolition as the rubble that once represented its inner walls of beauty had toppled over the homes, road and land. Everywhere, from high social towns and cities to simple villages, fell under subjection to the dictatorship of King Sombra. Likewise, the shadow continued to feed Sombra his dreams like they were an inevitable reality. One particular moment, which King Sombra seemed to have immorally enjoyed the most, that stood out from the rest involved the benevolent leader, Princess Celestia. King Sombra released a maniacal laugh that escalated further every second as he watched the princess squirm. She was subdued with chains that fitted so tight that she could never get used to it. From the quiet and friendly whispers in Sombra's mind, they told him that she was enslaved to his rule and became his personal tool to enjoy at his leisure.

"Yes…yes….yes! This is what I want! This is my destiny! They are my slaves! This is my land, my land! I am the one and true leader! All belong to me! Everything belongs to the mighty King Sombra!" The ambivalent king cried in sheer instability and forced desire. Sweat greeted the forehead of the power hungry king. His imbalanced breathing was the only existent sound that his ears could detect.

The overwhelming lust for his dreams, which was abused to him like an addictive potion, slowly climbed back into the fragments of King Sombra's mind and hushed to sleep. The pieces of reality had fixed itself together again after the dark illusions had swallowed themselves into Sombra's mind. The glimpse of reality almost seemed like a bad nightmare for the king. The power of reality was seemingly harsh for attacking King Sombra since it provoked the cold hard truth that he wasn't the assured ruler of Equestria for the time being. His eyes, still bloodshot from the excitement, averted his attention towards the lifeless mechanical killers that remained as still as statues. At that very moment, King Sombra's eyes widened once more as he realised exactly why his penumbra had decided to illuminate the vision to him. King Sombra suddenly unleashed a hysterical laugh that portrayed him almost as if he had lost complete glimpse of his sanity. Still the CLAW machines remained emotionless and seemingly unaware of King Sombra's unnatural performance, but every single one had witnessed his actions and every word that he spilled out.

"The time is now, my slaves," King Sombra started after calming himself down from his hyperactive state once more," I believe that you are ready for the storming of the Crystal Empire!" A loud and synchronised movement of every CLAW was heard as they all stood up fully. Straight after their rise, they all released an alien like noise to show that their systems were fully online and ready.

King Sombra simply stared at his slaves as they prepared themselves for the starting of the invasion of Equestria and their assault on the Crystal Empire. Maximus and Brutus, just two of the thousands of astronomical CLAW machines, stood out from the rest as their armour contained a light dirt brown colour while the others possessed a much darker camouflage. The contrasting colours made Maximus and Brutus easily stand out from the rest of the army which helped King Sombra with the mission he had arranged for them. Their colour scheme difference allowed King Sombra to easily identify them.

"Maximus, Brutus, come here now!" King Sombra ordered as he held his head up to show his hierarchical position. The two massive CLAW robots slowly marched their way over with loud 'thuds' on every step. The cynical king stood only slightly taller than Maximus and Brutus but they were superior in their thickness and width. "I trust you know your mission well because I have no time for failures!" King Sombra screamed in the face of his two slaves as they remained almost dead.

Maximus and Brutus had been assigned for a capture mission within a timid yet warm hearted town known as 'Ponyville'. The voluminous CLAWs, instructed and dictated by King Sombra, were given enforced orders to capture the Elements of Harmony alive and harmed as little as possible. The pleasure of torturing them personally for their assist back in the Crystal Empire would be pleasing for the king as his inner demon craved for the sounds of his nemeses suffering under his divine power. Once the two mechanical slaves had subdued at least one of the six then the others, as Sombra believed, would surrender to their terrifying power. The first sighting of the two foreign emotionless killers would undoubtedly lure the prying curiosity of one of the Elements which would grant the deadly machines with the unmerciful pleasure of slaughtering anything that protested with courage against their demands. King Sombra thought it through simply as if it were child's play. Subduing one of the Elements into a position where their mercy rests in the emotionless killers could and then forcing the inevitability of surrender from the other elements, for the sake of their friend's life, linked to King Sombra's special 'upgrade' for the two outcastes.

"For your important mission, I will grant the pair of you with a rather 'special' gift which will surely provide useful if you wish to lure those gullible little ponies out of their homes," King Sombra stated pleasingly," and remember I will be checking on you very shortly! By the time I travel through my magic, I hope that these pathetic ponies have been captured and ready for me to transport them into my dungeon. This is just the beginning of Celestia's suffering! The kidnapping of the Elements of Harmony is bound to catch Celestia's attention, and when she sends her guards out for them to realise that I have conquered her territory with an unstoppable army, she will have nothing to do but surrender!" The evil rooted mind of the poisoned king was injected with glee as his horn started to glow the infamous dark red colour. "Well…" The King stated with a hideous chuckle," you two can't be convincing without voices now, can you?"

The blackness that blanketed the inner red of Sombra's magic was darker and more alien that what his former magical abilities possessed. The slight purple that once bonded his magic with his dark crystals had expelled itself and was eaten away by a new presence of dark magic. One that would stare at his horn's magical aura would immediately understand fully the pure hazard and danger that surrounded it, and the very idea of being struck by a force so corrupted would plant a scar of eternal grief and fear if it did not kill them or corrupt them in the same way. The presence of it could immediately send a very nerve wracking chill down any creatures' spine, so the wisest and safest option for any weaker minority of species that was to see such an evil force… was to run! However, power was what all evil fed on and craved for. King Sombra enjoyed his new power as if it were a gift that he had been destined with for eternal partnership. The enhanced magical capabilities that cloaked itself in promise of eternal power and success was what King Sombra greatly adored about his atrocious new magic, so his mind was clouded by its mirage of a promising future for him as the ruler of all Equestria and all the inhabitants within it. The adrenalin that flowed through his veins from how the dark magical energy within him grew stronger and stronger every day gave him more of a selfish excuse to accept whatever he saw in front of him and follow it as if it were his life goals.

With the speed of a Dragon, Phoenix and Windigo combined; the hideous and abominable magic zapped Maximus and Brutus and fizzed around them like electricity. An unnatural and painful screeching sound erupted from the two CLAW machines as they dropped heavily to the floor as if they were suffering from a series of never ending painful nightmares. Every screech screamed in pure agony as each second past. King Sombra himself even found the cries slightly disturbing, but a villainous smile, stretched from ear to ear, clawed its way onto his face. Eventually, after a short while of idle screaming and mechanical cries, Maximus and Brutus had stopped completely and were seemingly paralysed as their legs had bent down to show that they were almost kneeling down. The quietness stretched itself for a short while before King Sombra became easily frustrated.

He walked over and stood in front of Maximus.

"Report, Maximus!" He demanded with his strict authority.

The seemingly offline Maximus suddenly rose slowly with grace. The mechanical structure within Maximus's legs rattled and clicked together as they adjusted back to his standing position. Throughout the process, King Sombra's smile faded slightly as he was seemingly judging Maximus's appearance as if it were an inspection day. The king snorted through his nose as he waited to see if his magical capabilities had worked. And much to his relief, with the dirty smile that smashed its way back onto Sombra's face, he heard a mechanical voice reply to his command…

"All systems are officially operational and functional. CLAW machine, Maximus, is officially online and awaiting for further instructions. Identifying…King Sombra: All mighty master and leader of Equestria and the inhabitant slaves living within it," Maximus stated robotically as he stood tall and proud in front of his master. King Sombra hissed pleasingly at the sight of his enhancing magical abilities working right in front of him. Again, he walked to his right and stood in front of the kneeled Brutus.

"Report, Brutus!" He repeated with the change of name but same tone of authority.

"All systems are officially operational and functional. CLAW machine, Brutus, is officially online and awaiting for further instructions. Identifying…King Sombra: All mighty master and leader of Equestria and the inhabitant slaves living within it," Brutus stated robotically in the same sentence and tone as Maximus. King Sombra smiled heavenly at his new CLAW machines.

"Good, this is very, very good, "King Sombra started as he started to walk slowly back and forth between the two, "listen closely, slaves, for we have some minor details that we need to attend to before I send you off! I want you to search back into your memories. Find the exact mission I have assigned for the pair of you." King Sombra ordered aggresivley but with a smirk at the same time.

The simplicity of failure was not a bargain that the cataclysmic king wanted ever again. Just the thought of a single defeat sparks a small and slow chain reaction of built up anger and corruption. His two embarrassing defeats in the past fuelled his acidic temper and emotional corruption with the love drunk desire for victories as well as his malfeasances. The hint of his paranoia for defeat forced his need for an assured victory to become assured, accurate and promised. Everything needed to be checked thoroughly with Sombra. No flaws, no weaknesses, no self-consciousness, and, of course, no peaceful emotional conflict! The idea of having even one of his CLAW machines rebel against his supremacy slithered the dark feeling for destruction and rage once more. Despite the fact that King Sombra had thousands of deadly machines of mass destruction, his penumbra illness possessed his feelings on certain situations, and it purposely tortured his senses by making his desire lunge for victories in every given circumstance. So therefore, the threat of one of his machines turning on him could cause his penumbra to erupt in a physical rage. Upon this, he had given Maximus and Brutus limited voice patterns and only certain speeches that he intended them to have.

"Processing…processing…processing…mission briefing found. Mission objective: obtain crucial precious cargo, the Elements of Harmony: Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkamena Diane Pie; also known as Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle. One captured, the Elements of Harmony are immediately to be held detained until master Sombra escorts them to base. Further briefing required," Maximus stated with a firm and clear robotic voice.

"That is correct. The Elements of Harmony are extremely important if Celestia is to surrender under my divine power. She is too weak in the heart to allow ponies as precious as the Elements of Harmony to be tortured so easily. Even better, with the Elements of Harmony under my control, their power combined with mine would make us greater and stronger than Celestia could ever wish to be! Either way, she would be forced to hand the throne and Equestria to me! However, my slaves, there could be resistance that might need taking care off before you capture the Elements of Harmony. As you can notice, Maximus and Brutus, through your vision there is a blue and purple bar on the top right of your screens. Is that correct?" King Sombra hissed.

"Locating the requested blue and yellow bars…bars found," Maximus and Brutus bellowed in sync.

"These bars are the energy that is stored in your impressive weaponry. Thanks to my beloved magic, all of your brethren contain them. As I noticed before I saved your inferior little lives back on your home planet, this frequent resource, which is constantly referred to as 'ammo' by your creators, does not last for very long. I figured that these small issues would cause a minor set back in my goal for domination. So I performed a little upgrade in all of your systems. Never again shall such a distraction bother you. But be warned, this bar will start to deplete when you use your weaponry for too long and will take a while to refill to their original quantity. The blue bar links to the impressive weapon hoisted on top and the purple is for your dangerous explosive devices. Oh and Brutus, you might notice that you have an extra bar which is orange. That is for your deadly fire device!" King Sombra informed the pair in the most pleasing manner. He used his dark magic to pry the allowance of seeing through the same perspective as the pair. He smiled when he noticed the bars.

"Upgrades are noted and saved," Brutus responded.

"Good, now you are ready for your mission," King Sombra stated as his horn began to glow. In the same mirroring movement, the magic began to spin viciously around Maximus and Brutus. The fog of magic was so thick that it almost became impossible to see Maximus and Brutus within it. King Sombra looked at the blanket of magic in a determined way, "but remember this, my army is ready to begin its reign of terror across Equestria. The last thing we need is the powers of the Elements of Harmony being used upon us…do not fail me!"

In a swift instant, the black magic began to corrode itself over the two robots. A strong gust of wind had entered the room and little bright flashes, much based around the shape of lightning, flickered within the black magical sphere. A sudden strong thunder crashed and echoed all around the throne room before the black sphere flashed brightly and left in Maximus and Brutus's place was nothing. They were on their way to the outskirts of Ponyville!

6

"I don't understand this," Princess Celestia stated to her sister, captain and niece. They had retreated to Princess Celestia's bedroom where they could discuss recent matters in private. Amongst her was her sister, her niece and Shining Armor. The fastest Pegasi guards stood outside and waited for further instructions.

The tamed and empty Ziggy still remained in the clutches of magic from Princess Celestia. The apoplectic Shining Armor, the demure Princess Cadance and the former antediluvian Princess Luna all conflated with the princess of the day as she continued to stare with abstruse vision at the idle Ziggy. Ambivalent feelings washed the very heart of the swarming atmosphere within the isolated room whilst the coexisting minds tried to tamper with reason as to the true identity of such a cold, recondite creature that performed, with its now terminated partner, paroxysms against the very benevolent princess whom so elegantly brings the day for the inhabitants that inhabit the beauties that lie within the labyrinth of precious and insurmountable land. What allowed an eccentric atmosphere for the four to inhale was the mysterious way in which the spider robot transmogrified from its amaurotic violence to a neutral motionless state which gave its demeanour that of a deceased and unworthy or pointless being. Studying the physic of Ziggy, the perturbed four struggled to guide their thoughts to their tongues as their rioting minds tried to seek a comprehensible solution as to what specific creature Ziggy made out to be. Undoubtedly, the thought process of a spider seemed most logical, but the thought was mutilated through the immutable and logical explanation of Ziggy's physical experience as his appearance showed to have containing six legs and not eight. Also, Ziggy's macroscopic and burnished metal armour was that which released a gas of clear confusion towards the princesses and the captain. It was obvious to them that he was a machine, but Artificial Intelligence was not known within the landscape of Equestria.

"I say we destroy it," Shining Armor stated harshly. He had a hoof wrapped around the back of his wife whilst his face, angry and outraged, continued to face the encased robot. The assault on his wife from Zaggy left the captain in a bitter mood. Despite the shock being minor and hardly damaging, it was still an aggressive and dishonourable attack which was high treason, and Princess Cadance was his wife which made the matters worse and further problematic. Slight paranoia and huge mistrust sailed through the captain as he continued to stare at the vacuous mechanical robot. He started to question why he kept the guards outside and why he didn't invite his spear to his side, for he wanted to be ready in case Ziggy did lash out suddenly.

"If the need is necessary, then I will allow you personally to dispose of this odd creature, but there is something strange about it," Princess Celestia replied without turning her head. Her eyes were dead focused on Ziggy," There is something which doesn't fit to this creature…it's as if it's not a creature at all."

"How can that be, sister? How can you tell that this being has no essence of life like any other within Equestria?" Princess Luna questioned as she stepped forward.

"Here, Luna, take hold of it. Do you feel what I feel?" Princess Celestia used her magic to levitate Ziggy over to Luna. She then released her force of magic to allow Luna's to grasp onto.

"What…what is this?" Luna questioned almost fearfully.

"What do you feel, Luna?" Princess Cadance asked with concern in her eyes.

"You feel nothing, don't you? That's the problem. Unlike anything I have ever imagined, I have only ever heard of what a lifeless being would feel like to hold with our magic. Alicorn magic, compared to unicorn magic, is better at comprehending the life source within a being, but to feel nothing means that the life source has depleted. But this creature has no detection of a life source, but yet is still slowly moving its legs," Princess Celestia explained whilst Luna passed on Ziggy to the clutches of Princess Cadance. Shining Armor flinched a little.

"Perhaps it's dying," Princess Cadance suggested.

"If it was dying, Cadance, then we would still be able to feel a small essence of life from within, but what we hold seems to be moving," Princess Celestia responded whilst watching Cadance move Ziggy around with her magic.

"Oh my, this poor creature has never sensed love before. As a matter of fact, it hasn't felt any emotions before! How can this be? I can feel what it is feeling from within, and I feel nothing! What an awful life this poor, poor thing must of lived! Can't we do anything about it?" Cadance asked with a sore expression and a disheartened look.

Princess Celestia looked at her niece with a troubled and saddened look. Granting the most generous and beautiful gift of life through magic was some what impossible, even for Alicorns' standards. Perturbed as she was, Celestia wondered if bestowing such a precious gift to the very enemy that had once tried to assault her was the right thing to do. A sense of her morality kicked in. Part of her, full of ebullience and with eloquence, gently informed herself that her attacker forced, out of their will, to attack her and that giving the helpless creature a chance for a proper life was the most moral and benevolent thing to do. However, another side, roaring with judgement and a slightly eccentric voice, commanded her that the creature did not deserve life for it was dangerous and could possibly attempt to strike her again. Both voices, contrasting and juxtaposed, screamed with a burning passion inside her head. It only left her to brood alone as to which voice she should follow. The decision was abstruse and both sides had valid arguments for the fate of the small spider robot. Perhaps, if she did grant the creature its own mind, it would be able to teach her, if it did harness the power of speech and reason, about its kind and what its purpose is and where they came from. But then again, what if there was thousands of creatures just like it, mindless, lifeless, emotionless, and waiting for any innocent life that crossed them by so that they could attack them and hurt her beloved subjects. That was the very dominating reason that destroyed the denying side of her. Information was what she required from the idle Ziggy and without his mind, which could possibly be filled with vital information, then the lives of many of her subjects could be in danger.

"Shining Armor," Princess Celestia started," Send the guards over to the Crystal Empire and have them investigate the matter that I have been worrying about as I had originally requested." Shining Armor immediately saluted, and he kissed his wife before exiting the room and commanding the six best Pegasi guards.

Once the door closed, Princess Celestia quickly spoke before any silence could immigrate into the room.

"There is something we can do, Cadance," Celestia started as she grasped back Ziggy from Cadance's magical force," For all we know, there could be more of his kind out there which could be filled with the same hostility and hollowness as this one. I cannot allow these creatures to blindly attack my subjects, so we are going to give it life."

"Give this creature life? Is that even possible, sister?" Princess Luna questioned as she stared in almost disbelief. She hadn't believed that they could give life to a creature. It seemed impossible for any magical creature to comprehend.

"If we all combine our magic and focus then it might just work. I know that it has never been done, Luna, but I believe that we can do it. Understand this; I think that there is more than meets the eye with this creature. It's like this creature has something amazing about it, and also it can share knowledge of its kind for us to understand," Princess Celestia explained with a weak smile.

After thought, Luna looked towards her niece who seemed to agree with her aunt's idea and theory. Seeing this, Luna decided to conflate her opinion and make it match to theirs by so agreeing to attempt the spell. All three closed their eyes and allowed their horns to engulf in a mystical colour that matched their coat colours. The beauty of the white resembles that of peace and harmony, which flourishes through all of her subjects and, at some degree, every being that inhabits in the land of Equestria, reflects through the very beauty of Princess Celestia herself. Any being that caught a glimpse of its white beauty would immediately be caught in a feeling of pure happiness and glee, and they would be cocooned in peace as they allowed the unrelenting and uncontrollable power flow through their body. Partnering beside the white was the extravagance of a dark blue colour. Its glamour showed it as being that of preciousness and attractiveness and its power of eternal black, blue and darkness portrayed its competency of protection from the dangers that may threaten anything. Its blanket of trust and adroit easily spoke to any inhabitant that it could protect and serve against any evil that may threaten the well-being of those that it loved and cared for. The third beauty of power blossomed a beauty of pink. In most obvious retrospect, the sheer brightness of the pink clearly identified of being a power that could overcome any being with the feeling of love. The look upon its trustworthy colour eliminated any plaguing feeling of anger, hate, jealousy, fear, all would be casted aside and forgotten. The dominating power of love could fill every inch of every soul in Equestria and make them realise the beauty of life and the love for their loved ones. These powers were what ruled Equestria and what fuelled the ponies, and other intelligent life forms, with the compassion to carry out their every day lives. The tip of the three horns met which allowed the fuels of magic to combine together. And in a synchronised timing skill, they fired their beam of impenetrable magic at the vacuous Ziggy.

All three opened their eyes to see that Ziggy had landed on one of Celestia cushions and was on his back. His legs were frantically fiddling as he tried to gain sense as to what had just happened to him. The three Alicorns stared in disbelief as their magic had miraculously worked! Princess Celestia, being the first to recover, used her magic to help Ziggy back onto his six legs. From what they noticed, the small part at the end of his body, which was a small rectangular shape which meant that it was his head, was frantically looking left and right before looking up and halting completely. Princess Luna was the first to speak.

"State your name, creature!" She demanded.

There was a moment's pause before they heard a quiet voice…

"Z-Ziggy…"

7

If it was not for her friends that so easily calmed the hyper and panicked unicorn then she would have looked like a mess for when Princess Cadence was to arrive. Twilight Sparkle dashed through her list that contained all the activities that she, her friends and Cadence would be doing for the day, and another list was constantly being checked off for the different things that they would need in order for the day to be perfect. Within the list, a picnic basket, picnic cloth and picnic food were established ticked off with a large red tick, and the picnic itself was neatly arranged in one corner of the library to avoid any unwelcoming accidents. Next on her list was the timing arrangements made for the spa, for it was Rarity's idea that the spa would be a relaxing and referential way for the princess to relax and enjoy herself in Ponyville, and the marshmallow fashion pony had known best since she was most probably the best paying customer who paid regular visits to her two favourite spa ponies, Aloe and Lotus. Also on Twilight's list, agreements with the Mayor of Ponyville allowed for there to be a party for Princess Cadence’s arrival into Ponyville, and decorations, bright and marvellous, were hung all around the town, balloons placed on the roofs of every Ponyville home, one giant table filled with delicious treats to water the mouths of ponies and wild inhabitants alike: one pink frosted chocolate cake, multiple drinks of lemonade, sweets wrapped in colour coded patterns to show their colour, and finally music entertainment had been organised and set up personally by DJ Pon-3, or Vinyl Scratch as other pony folk detailed her as, which would be played throughout the entire party. Despite this being labelled 'day one' on Twilight's list, she wanted Cadence’s first day within Ponyville to be the best day she ever had since her wedding day. Princess Cadence would be staying for the entire weekend, and despite Twilight's home not being the best for suited royalty, and knowing that Cadence wouldn't mind entirely, Twilight still forcedly barked at Spike to clean every inch of the library and tree house, and her room, since Twilight would be giving Princess Cadence her room for the week. She didn't mind sleeping downstairs with Spike.

"Twilight, Sugarcube," Applejack said sympathetically to the edgy unicorn while she continued to move certain things that she believed that Cadence might consider a nuisance," Y'all might want to calm your cattle. You'll hurt yourself worrying too much."

"How can I calm down, Applejack? Princess Cadence will be here soon, and it will be her first time here in Ponyville! I want her to feel happy, comfortable and welcome here in Ponyville. After all, this isn't Canterlot or the Crystal Empire after all." Twilight refused to even spare a second of a glance at her friends as she continued to move things about until she believed that it would suite Cadence’s preferable comfort, and then move it again as her mind was rattled and puzzled with worry and fear of Cadence’s reaction and battling against her reason of believing that everything was fine just the way that it was. However, the touch a gentle hoof on Twilight's shoulder halted her actions and caused her face to meet the innocent and timid face of Fluttershy.

“Um, Twilight, I'm sure Cadence will love everything that you're doing for her," the timid Fluttershy stated with a gentle voice and smile. Twilight, after hearing her friend's words, inhaled deeply and slowly breathed out as if she were breathing out all the stress that had been built up throughout her body.

"Yeah, c'mon Twilight, since when has Cadence ever been upset with…anything that you've done? She was your foal-sitter after all, so what's there to worry about?" Rainbow Dash, enthusiastic and loud, flew into Twilight's face and wrapped her left forearm around Twilight's neck and squeezed a little too tight for comfort. She released Twilight after a few seconds of her suffocation and apologised after realising her actions.

"Perhaps you're right…maybe I am worrying too much," Twilight said aloud.

"Um, hello, this is Princess Cadence we're talking about! She's fun, funny, happy, smiley, free, kind, care-free, pretty…" Pinkie Pie with ebullience stated while staring at Twilight with a smile stretched ear to ear and still describing Cadence a little too much.

"Um, Pinkie, that's enough," Twilight nervously laughed as she feared the inevitability of Pinkie Pie charging off on one of her rambles.

"…amazing, positive, relaxed, enthusiastic, smart, bright, clever, slightly too loveable but still loveable, cool-"

"Pinkie Pie!" The other five elements roared at the top of their lungs in order to halt her word spree. The unnaturally talented Pinkie Pie stopped and stared at her friends. With the talkative Pinkie Pie silenced for the split second, Rarity stole the opportunity to heed some words of her own to Twilight.

"Twilight, dear, I'm sure Cadence is going to be thrilled in just being here to see you. Surly, Princess Cadence would care more on having a good time with you rather than how good her surroundings are, wouldn't you say? There is nothing that can possibly go wrong today. Today is just too perfect for anything bad to happen, so why don't you go and get ready yourself, hmm? I'm sure you would want to look your absolute best for Cadence’s arrival." Rarity's words were wise and pleasant for Twilight to listen to as she faced her friends. In descending order, Pinkie Pie, hopping up and down on the spot, was smiling with glee and her eyes were shut as if she was trapped inside her own imagination and thinking of new wacky things that she could express to all the pony folk around her. Rarity stood preciously and elegantly next to Pinkie Pie, and her mane shined happily with her smile upon Twilight noticing that she had used a different conditioner in her mane. Applejack, standing with a smile, stood with Rainbow Dash hovering slightly over her and both had reassuring smiles which put any leftover nervousness at ease. Twilight smiled.

"You're right, Rarity, today is going to be perfect. I'm sure Princess Cadence will love everything that every pony has done for her arrival." Twilight's smile and own words changed her mood into a more excited one as she now couldn't wait for the arrival of her former foal-sitter. "There is absolutely no way that anything bad can happen-"Twilight's words were silenced, hushed and destroyed by the sound of screams and cries that rattled through the atmosphere and delivered a series of nerve rattling chills down their spines. Being the Elements of Harmony, their immediate reactions was to storm outside and confront whatever was causing a disturbance to the inhabitants of Ponyville; it did not matter if the emergencies throughout Ponyville were serious or not, for it just mattered to the Elements of Harmony that they take every single one seriously.

The streets of Ponyville were flooded with fleeing ponies as an avalanche of desperate and panicked screams invaded and plagued the positive atmosphere in Ponyville and crushed the happiness in the six ponies. Ponies barged into a couple of the six as they had tried to calm them down and gain some sort of explanation for what had disrupted the peaceful flow in Ponyville. Following through the petrified screams were the sounds of doors and windows being closed and doors being slammed and locked purposely loud which was usually the routine that the Ponyville folks repeated whenever there was danger lurking throughout their timid little town. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike, who had shortly followed the others after hearing the cries, all looked around try and locate the main source that caused so much disturbance to their town, and their answer was met by a strange foreign, and mechanical, sound that thumped against the very soil and rocked the dirt up and down, and gradually grew louder and louder and louder as they stood terrified. The smashing of the ground appeared to be louder from behind the seven, and they turned around slowly after they saw two shadows mount over them and heard that the thumping had halted. From there, they gasped in utter fright and were frozen on the spot as they stared at the foreign CLAW machines, Maximus and Brutus!

"Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia and element of magic, Applejack, worker of Apple acres and element of honesty, Pinkamena Diane Pie, common baker at Sugarcube corner and element of laughter, Rainbow Dash, efficient performer of the sonic rain boom and element of loyalty, Fluttershy, talker to the animals and element of kindness, and Rarity, local fashion designer and element of generosity, we have strict orders to capture you alive! Failure to comply and surrender will result in deadly consequences! Do you comply?" Maximus's robotic voice stung the very ears of the seven as they stared on in a mixture of horror and surprise.

"Unidentified species located next to the element of magic. Scanning…scanning…target identified as 'Spike' and threat detection is minor." Brutus's voice was just as horrifying as Maximus's voice. Their mini-guns violently started to spin which startled the seven even further. They stood, like statues, and waited for a response from anyone of the Elements of Harmony.

"Capture us? Who do you have orders from that wants to capture us?" Twilight Sparkle tried asking, but her answer was met by, firstly, a deadly split second of Maximus's machine gun bullets attacking the ground and secondly a repeated response. The eruption of the mini-gun was so purely nerve racking that if forced Fluttershy and Spike to collapse in fright. The bullet flash of Maximus's mini-gun was not what it had been originally when it showed a mixture of yellow, orange and white, for King Sombra's magic had completely changed its colour so that it was a mysterious purple colour. The bullets themselves also projected a purple essence around them, but it lost its weird colour as soon as it touched the ground, but the noise made when fired was almost alien like and high-tech.

"Failure to comply will result in deadly consequences! Do you comply?" Maximus repeated his last line again at the seven. What differed was the enraged Applejack and Rainbow Dash who stared with new foundations hatred towards the invaders. They didn't understand how they thought they could have the right to march into Ponyville, disrupt the perfect day and threaten them if they did not come with them.

"Hey, who do you think you are? Coming in here, threatening us and trying to capture us like were your prisoners! I ought to teach you some manners!" Applejack roared. She had been the first to respond back harshly towards the two enslaved robots, and she had tried to advance a hoof forwards in order to display her courage against Maximus and Brutus and show that she wasn't going submit to their demands so easily. However, her action of taking a hoof forward immediately forced Brutus to spray a quick flame at Applejack with his flamethrower. The flames just missed her by a few inches, but the harsh heat that projected from the flames attached itself to Applejack's face which showed her how hot the flames were. Her immediate reaction was to fall onto her back into her original place as she stared up in horror. Her friends looked on with disgust and were sparked with rage at the atrocity they had just committed.

"Oh that's it, you've made me mad!" Rainbow Dash hissed as she took flight in attempt to flank the machines and attack them from behind. Twilight had tried to warn Rainbow Dash that they had no idea how the strange creatures worked and that immediately attacking them without the slightest of clue of how they battle and whether or not they needed the Elements of Harmony in order to help them was a foolish idea, but her lips were too slow as she couldn't even utter a word to the apoplectic Pegasus before she had already launched herself into the sky. However, Rainbow Dash's actions resulted in deadly consequences!

"Failure to comply with demands, use of force authorised," Maximus's mini-gun started to spin once more and was pointing straight at the six on the ground. Brutus's mini-gun had spun around and looked up to try and find the colourful mare. However, he was struggling with the Rainbow trail that was left behind whenever she dashed, so she was harder to spot for Brutus. In result, he automatically started firing blindly in the air in attempts to hit Rainbow Dash.

Twilight, quick on her hooves after acknowledging what the mini-guns are capable off, made a force field around the six of them in the blink of an eye. Maximus's mini-gun violently began to unleash a sea of deadly bullets at the force-field. Twilight's shield was successful in blocking the bullets, but it would not last very long, for Maximus's bullets were covered in King Sombra's magic which slowly broke the magical field that protected Twilight and the gang.

"Spike, quickly, take a letter while you can!" Spike wasted no time in rushing back towards the tree house and grabbing a letter whilst Twilight held of Maximus. Fortunately, thanks to Twilight's panicking while they were cleaning up for Cadence, Spike was able to find a feather and quill quickly and rush outside in order to listen to what Twilight wanted him to note down. All she told the young dragon was to write one simple word, and that word was 'help'! Spike quickly jotted down the single word and held it up to breath his magical fire onto the letter. The sound of shattering suddenly echoed through the atmosphere for all to hear and right before the letter was sent to Princess Celestia, a small trail of blood slowly cried down the sheet…

8

A bullet, travelling with brute power and shining with purple elegance, scratched across Spike's cheek before the small breath of magical green fire burned the scroll Princess Celestia's magical mail system. A speck of blood danced through the air and onto the side of the scroll before it disappeared. The young dragon had yelped in horror at the sudden pain, and when he noticed that Twilight's shield spell had broken under the pressure of Maximus's weapon, and the others were already fleeing for their lives, he didn't hesitate to join them. His heart was punching, biting and scratching at his chest but the baby dragon was too focused on his survival instincts, for the adrenaline was swimming through his blood and attacking his brain with the same and most common message for any animal in danger; the message simply told him to run. And with an unguided thought, his feet pointed in the first direction that would lead him away from the danger, but a strange feeling enveloped itself around Spike. The magical feeling was one he was far too familiar with, and immediately he had been unwillingly attached to the back of Twilight as she fled into her home. Remarkably, the bullets that the first foreign machine, Maximus, had missed Twilight and Spike, as if it were some form of good luck; as if Princess Celestia herself was protecting her from afar, or it could have been as if Maximus was missing on purpose, but Spike wasn't willing to complain about it as long as he wasn't hit again by the strange weapons that they were using.

The door immediately slammed shut and Twilight, dropping Spike, quickly unleashed her magical capabilities of throwing whatever heavy items at her disposal in front of the door and windows. She would have used the stronger spell of a force field to encase the tree house like before with her friends, but her magical abilities were weakened by the fact that she had to hold off the magical weaponry of Maximus. However, her focus was entirely on her books in which she hoped that she would find an answer to what the two giant creatures were and if there was some sort of weakness that they could use against them. Problematic for the purple unicorn, none of her seemingly eternal piling books had any resolution to her problem. A river of panic attacked Twilight as she looked towards her slightly injured assistant as he stared at her with the same look of panic.

"What are we going to do, Twilight?" Spike's eyes reflected Twilight's emotions, as if they were both looking in a mirror at themselves. Both felt a grudging pain escalate through their bodies as their minds lost themselves in a painful labyrinth. The answer to their question, opaque and tormenting, shielded behind each wall inside their minds, especially Twilight's, as they struggled to form a decent solution to their problem. Twilight started pacing back and forth in attempts to think of something, or wait for Princess Celestia to respond to their despair message, whilst Spike peeked through one of the windows that was blocked with a simple chair and crossed with curtains. The young dragon noticed that one of the CLAW machines was still firing deadly hazes of bullets into the air whilst the other was, slowly, chasing Pinkie Pie and Rarity. All he could do was watch, in fear, as his friends were chased and attacked by the machine.

"You ruffian!" Rarity's voice and insult had no effect on Maximus as he continued to, unbelievably slowly, chase the two. "You bunch of stupid, mindless, ignorant…stupid ruffians!"

Pinkie Pie, being her 'oblivious to danger' self, magically summoned her famous party cannon while Maximus was distracted with Rarity. The bright blue cannon stood proudly at the side of Maximus, and he had no time to react, since his size made his movability slow, and try to stop the party pony from firing it.

"Say hello to my big friend!" Pinkie's cry alerted Rarity and caused Maximus to stop firing as they both turned to see a giant patch of bright pink bubble gum dive straight at Maximus. And with a giant 'splodge', the extremely sticky bubble gum captured Maximus. The extremely sticky bubble gum suddenly became a massive virus to Maximus. The gum had oozed its way into the joints of Maximus's legs which prevented him moving another step, and others in his mini-gun stopped the magical bullets from firing momentarily.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, while trying to figure out a way of stopping Brutus from destroying her, was desperately trying to avoid the meteors of magical bullets that kissed the sky with a beautiful, yet hideous, purple colour. Whizzing left and right, her rainbow trail that she left behind must have caused some sort of distraction to Brutus down below as his fire was focused in between its rainbow colour. The Pegasus's mind was scrambled with reckless and thoughtless ideas on how she was going to deal with her enemy. She couldn't get too close, for she feared of deadly consequences and would hate to have to come into contact with whatever Brutus was firing at her with. The booming of Brutus's machine gun rattled Rainbow Dash's ears which prevented her from thinking of any ideas and forced her to keep on moving. However, it was that sudden word that caused a switch in her brain to activate.

"Boom…boom…I know, the Sonic Rainboom!" Rainbow Dash felt a sense of joy and pride caress her as she continuously remarked herself as a genius, and an idiot for not thinking of the idea straight away. Also, she noticed that the sound of the rattling weaponry of Brutus had stopped, since his mini-gun was overheated and the flamethrower was useless at her distance, which gave her enough time to greedily absorb the speed she needed in order to perfect her special move.

Without hesitation, the cyan Pegasus dashed as far upwards as she could, and as fast as her wings could cope with before the maximum height was to her liking. Hovering slowly and observing her target, Rainbow Dash gave an almighty cry before summoning her ultimate power to her wings. Her dive was beautiful, elegant, graceful, perfect, and deadly enough at the increasing speed that surrounded it. The wind grew harsh and attacked her face, but she still continued to force more power into her Rainboom, and allowed gravity to aid her fall in which allowed the tip of the enveloping sound and wind to transform into a small speck of a rainbow colour. She saw Brutus become larger and larger as she descended further and further, and her friends: Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who had just finished their hoof nudge for their teamwork and were suddenly staring at Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Spike observed with awe after Spike had told Twilight of a strange forming colour in the sky, and Fluttershy and Applejack, whom Applejack had hidden Fluttershy for her own protection, all observed and witnessed the truly remarkable event…

…and in a matter of seconds…a giant ray of a rainbow zapped out and shot all over Ponyville!