Chapters Chapter 2: Hey, Cut it out!
Nightmare Moon’s magic had transformed the area Twilight had gone to into one with many sharp dangers afoot. She had to jump around giant scissors, leap over seemingly bottomless holes, shoot automatic turrets and deal with a smaller version of the eye robot near the end of the area.
After finding a small sanctuary between two doors, she paused for a moment to wonder how she’d ever manage the same process for the other seven ponies. She then had the idea to return to Celestia to request a replenishment of her magic and stamina instead of going to each area one after another. Nodding to her plan, she entered the final room.
As soon as she did so, a short alarm rang, followed by a “WARNING!” voice. An Earth pony, seemingly no older than Twilight was hopped into view, slicing a block of wood in half with a scissor that looked just like his Cutie Mark. The young, red-coated and white-maned stallion faced her, almost…surprised to see her.
“N-Nightmare Moon was right! You’ve changed into a bad student…” The stallion said, as if he seemed sad.
“Rolling Cutter!? What’s going on?” Twilight demanded to know, hoping to get answers without having to fight.
“You’re an evil fighting mare now! I’m gonna stop you, Ms. Mega Mare, and make you good again!” Rolling Cutter replied, wielding the scissor in his hoof. “Cutting it up!” He yelled, throwing the weapon at Twilight before she could question why he called her Mega Mare.
She jumped over the sharp weapon, shooting at him for a moment before realizing the weapon was arcing back towards its owner. She nearly got a manecut ducking under the weapon, unable to shoot before the weapon was thrown at her again. “Will you quit this already!? And why did you call me Mega Mare!?”
“Because Nightmare Moon warned me about you! Celestia’s student gone rogue and abusing her powers just to overthrow her sister!” Rolling Cutter said as he was struck by a few more blasts. Enraged, he pulled out a much larger scissor from out of nowhere and chucked it at the unicorn.
“I would never-ah!” Twilight said as she rolled out of the way. “I don’t WANT to be a princess!” She said, the scissor slamming into her from the back without warning. Under normal circumstances, she would probably be half the mare she used to be, but the armor made the attack bounce off. It wasn’t without its consequences, however, the impact forcing Twilight to the ground from just how damaging it would have been.
“W-what? That didn’t-“ Rolling Cutter said, being cut off by a final volley of magic blasts before being knocked to the ground. He could barely stand as Twilight approached him. He fell to the ground, curling up in fear as he looked up at Twilight. But, instead of being finished off, the mare offered a hoof up. “Wait…but you’re…”
“I’m no rogue. Nightmare Moon is the rogue here. Something corrupted Princess Luna and turned her into her bitter counterpart once again. I’ll find out what happened and save your friends…as well as Luna. But, you have to trust me.” Twilight told the fearful stallion, seeing he was still unsure about accepting her speech.
“B-but…Mega Mare…” Rolling Cutter uttered.
“Please, call me Twilight.” Twilight smiled as she helped him up.
“Maybe you should…take this.” Rolling Cutter offered his weapon.
“No need for that.” Twilight simply replied as she focused her magic on the weapon. Her armor turned a light grey upon completion of the spell. Instead of her yellow magic blast, a copy of the scissor appeared in front of her, which swung in the same arc that was previously used against her.
“Wow, that was amazing!” Rolling Cutter smiled, happy that Twilight was able to use his ability without needing to borrow his own weapon.
“Now, I’ve got your power.” Twilight explained. “Hold on to me, I’ll take you back to Celestia.”
“Sure thing.” Rolling Cutter said. “Say, are you going to name that power?”
“I guess I should, for quick reference. I’ll call it the…Rolling Cutter.” Twilight said with a grin. “It’ll be a sign of our friendship.”
“Thanks, Mega Ma-I mean…Twilight.” Rolling Cutter replied as the two teleported out of the area.
You got a new Weapon! “Rolling Cutter!” Twilight mentally shouted as she pictured using it against basic enemies.
“A fitting name, I should say, given your new powers.” Princess Celestia said to Twilight after she brought Rolling Cutter back.
“I’d still rather be Twilight, but if that’s what they want to call me, I’ll have to deal with it for the time being.” Twilight said. “Are you sure the Elements can’t help me out?”
“Nightmare Moon will likely have a plan ready in case you try to use them on her once again. It would be safer to have a different strategy, even if it’s something I would not normally condone.” Celestia replied.
Twilight nodded, still disappointed that her friends were unable to help. She was at least glad that it hadn’t taken much for the first recruit to be stopped. Still, as a precaution, her energy was restored before she chose her next target.
“Twilight, give it your all on the next stage too, alright?” Celestia told her as she teleported away.
“…Princess?” Shining Armor called.
“What is it, Captain?” Celestia looked upon him.
“What do you mean by ‘stage?’?” Shining asked.
Author's Note
Really short chapter, I know, and...yeah, it might be a little disappointing that the whole stage was kinda shortened to a paragraph. My reason for that? No matter which version of MM1 you play, that stage is really easy in my opinion, so it'd feel a little trivial to Twilight. The stage descriptions will no doubt get longer after this.
Speaking of Cutman's stage in 1, remember seeing those spikes for the first time in the NES version? Yeah, remember how HUGE that spike sprite was? A little intimidating at first, wasn't it? And I had already played some of the Classic and X games, yet that amazed me for a moment!
Chapter 3: It's Electric!
Twilight never wanted to see another ladder in her life after the five minute journey she went through. Climbing up and up and up so many ladders as quickly as possible to speed past all sorts of electric menaces was just absolutely not fun at all. She honestly wished she had wings at this point just to get that over and done with faster.
A good portion of the way up, however, she sensed something hidden behind giant blocks, but was unable to levitate them out of the way. They were simply too heavy for her at the moment, so she thought to come back later.
Unlike the last final stretch, however, this room had another ladder to climb. Thankfully, there were no enemies, but at this point, the ladder WAS the boss fight. It had taken so long to climb this last one due to her fatigue; she tried singing to herself to help ease the pain.
“I’m still…” Twilight sang to herself, panting. “…in a dream …oh, thank Celestia, THE DOOR!”
Upon finally reaching the door, she climbed up into the room and collapsed on the ground, needing a few seconds to breathe. As soon as she did that, the same “WARNING!” alarm broke out. A purple and yellow unicorn arrived in a flash of lightning shortly afterwards.
“Well done! But, you say good-bye here. I might even tell you more about me after I win.” The confident pony said, his horn crackling with electricity.
“I don’t have any reason to fight you, Thunder Beam! Come on, let’s go back to Canterlot!” Twilight said to him.
“You’ll never blast through my heart with that kind of attitude, Mega. It’s too bad, but I’m going to have to finish you at lightning speed.” Thunder Beam said. He didn’t look like he could be anywhere near as fast as Rainbow Dash, but maybe the phrase spoke more of his power than his agility. “Energize!” He shouted as his own battle cry. His shouting was interrupted by Twilight’s normal blast. “Well, that was most impolite!”
Before Twilight could note how his manner reminded her of Rarity, he shot a few giant electric blasts out of his horn. They were a tad slow, easily dodged when one at a time was fired. After a few traded volleys, Thunder Beam called down electricity from the ceiling, nailing Twilight on the first shot. She could feel the hundreds, potentially thousands of volts coursing through her body, but she did her best to withstand them. It was nothing, however, compared to how sore her hooves were from climbing.
Her normal shot didn’t appear to damage the stallion that badly, so she switched her armor to match the new power, throwing a Rolling Cutter at the electric pony. Even though it clearly hit him, it didn’t faze him more than her normal shots did.
“You thought that old trick would work against me, did you? You might want to get with the times!” Thunder Beam said, confusing Twilight as to what he meant by an old trick.
“Your TIME will be up if you don’t stop this!” Twilight warned.
“Well now, I was unaware you took pun lessons from Time Slow.” Thunder Beam said as the two traded blows yet again.
Twilight eventually prevailed after the last desperate volley. She hoped the Rolling Cutter would be useful against someone else instead of being outright pointless. She approached the downed stallion.
“As rude as you were…you put up a good fight.” Thunder Beam said, accepting his defeat with grace. “Now…just go ahead and…” He said as Twilight extended her hoof.
“You can tell me all about yourself when this is all over. There’s no need to fight over it.” Twilight told the electrical pony.
“After my relentless assault, you’d be willing to listen to me?” Thunder Beam asked, confused by the olive branch Twilight had essentially handed him.
“I have a friend that’s just as over-dramatic as you are, and she’s one of my closest friends. Just come with me and I’ll put that fight behind us.” Twilight smiled. In the end, she really couldn’t be mad at the stallion for the hoof torture she just went through. Whatever turned Luna into Nightmare Moon again was truly at fault for this.
“I’m sure you don’t have time to listen to my story…but, will you promise to introduce me to someone who does?” Thunder Beam requested.
“That friend of mine can do that and even design an outfit for you while she’s at it. Now, hold still.” Twilight said, performing the same copying spell she used with her previous duel. Her armor turned into an even darker shade of purple than its base form, to which she turned around and let loose a tri-directional electric blast. They were blasts of blue lightning compared to Thunder Beam’s yellow, making for an easy difference to tell other than the additional upward and downward shots.
“Well, now…isn’t that quite the nifty ability?” Thunder Beam commented, grinning at the upgrade to his power.
Twilight nodded. “Now, I have your power!” She said, feeling the line was already getting repetitive. “Just like Rolling Cutter, I’ll name the spell after you.”
“Oh, have you already brought him back? Perhaps there is no need to bother that friend of yours; I know he’ll kindly listen to my words.” Thunder Beam replied as the two teleported off.
You got a new Weapon! “Thunder Beam!” Twilight called out as she mentally thought of defeating enemies straight ahead of her as well as directly above and below her.
Twilight had already teleported to her next destination after her magic top-off.
“I remember how Thunder Beam used to be deathly afraid of cuts after being frightened by paper cuts as a foal.” Princess Celestia told Shining Armor as she watched Rolling Cutter and Thunder Beam chat in the throne room.
“That would explain the ‘old trick’ comment he told us about. He might’ve thought Twily tried to take advantage of that, but he had toughened up to not worry about them anymore.” Shining Armor replied.
“Yes…and with the removal of one weakness came another to replace it: His coat becoming messy.” Celestia informed him.
“You must be joking…” Shining said, not surprised that his sister compared him to Rarity.
“For as long as I’ve watched over you two, I’ve never joked about my work.” Celestia replied, sighing as it really did seem like a silly weakness.
Author's Note
By the way, Twily's borrowing the old 80's Mega Man cartoon catchphrase with power copying if you haven't picked up on that yet. Also, since this was the last pre-written chapter I made, I thought I wouldn't make it too easy by going in a weakness order, so I went in a fake-out order for a moment. Remember that Oil Man and Time Man exist in Powered Up? Yeah, they completely messed with the weakness order if you look it up, so I thought "Hey, Gameplay and Story Integration chance!"
Now then, being as that was the last chapter I had already finished by the time I started uploading this, that means we're reverting to a classic style of Mega Man fic chapter progression. That means YOU get to choose who Twilight faces next ala the Stage Select the series is known for!
If you need a list, here you go:
By the way, any idea why my browser seems to have a spelling problem with teleport/teleporting/teleportation when I know I'm getting them right?
Chapter 4: Time to Burn the Trash!
Twilight probably wished she went after the ice recruit next, because many fire pillars had to be carefully dodged around to avoid being completely singed. The armor was resilient, yes, but nowhere near invulnerable. Thankfully, she was starting to get some more mileage out of her Rolling Cutter, noticing that these shots had a peculiar bonus of passing straight through solid walls for some reason.
One incredibly annoying obstacle was sentient fireballs that jumped up out of the lava in a desperate attempt to catch Twilight mid-jump, burn her and send her into the deadly lava below. The first one that popped up prompted her to do a mid-air U-turn (she concluded by this point that Nightmare Moon’s “stages” were partially defying the laws of physics by this point, something which mentally drove the unicorn nuts) and carefully take out the fireball before proceeding. From then on, she took each jump over the lava with extreme caution.
One last annoyance was one of the eye robot’s reappearance, which Twilight zapped multiple times with the Thunder Beam before moving on to the boss gate. “Things are certainly heating up…” She muttered, facehoofing. “Ugh, that was such a terrible line!”
-WARNING!-
A red-and-grey stallion came down from the ceiling in a shroud of fire, dispelling the flames with a cry of “Really cookin’!”
“Fiiiiiiire! Burn! Burn! My justice burns hotly! Evil beware!” The stallion yelled.
“Fire Storm…why are you…? But, I haven’t done anything to you!” Twilight said, hoping her words could at least work on ONE of the eight guys for once.
“By the fire of justice, I am certain you are evil! FIIIIIIIIRE!” Fire Storm shouted.
“What a hothead…” Twilight sighed, preparing for a fight when Fire Storm immediately shot a couple of fire walls at her. One easily placed jump solved that problem, though it brought out his other attack, which was to create a bunch of fire pillars to home in on the mare. Alone, these attacks were nigh-on useless, but used in conjunction with each other made dodging a tricky feat.
Twilight felt her mane and tail getting singed multiple times during the fight. “Can’t you guys just listen BEFORE you fight a losing battle!?”
“This fiery justice will show you that this battle will not be so easily won! I will be the eternal torch to provide the warmth through the eternal night! I AM-“
Twilight cut his speech off, dashing up to him and delivering a quick buck. “Listen, you! I-uh, oh.” She said, seeing flame erupting around the stallion.
“You dirty scoundrel!” Fire Storm shouted, concentrating the fire into his right front hoof. “These fires will consume your very soul! Here I go!”
“Then I guess it’s time to fight fire with fire!” Twilight said back, thinking back to one of her previous rage-filled outbursts.
“This hoof of mine is burning red!” Fire Storm yelled, his hoof’s flame cloak growing in strength. “Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory! ERUPTING BURNING HOOF!” He yelled to the heavens, charging at Twilight for one final assault.
Twilight had her eyes closed, concentrated her burning (literally) rage from the fight and channeling it into her magic. “Careful, cause this is gonna be a DOOZY!” She said to Fire Storm, finally opening her eyes and releasing the magical buildup throughout her body, dousing her mane and tail in flames and changing her coat to a pure white.
The two rushed each other, Twilight’s horn lowered to prepare one last rage-fueled blast. The two finally collided, with Twilight’s horn blasting Fire Storm’s hoof at point-blank range, causing a massive explosion that sent both of them flying at the walls of the arena.
By the time the smoke cleared, Twilight struggled to her hooves, her body having reverted back to normal. She coughed a few times as she went over to Fire Storm’s immobile body. “Oh no…please don’t tell me that form went overboard…” She muttered, leaning down to check for a pulse. She felt a faint beat, but it was at least sustainable. “Whew.” She breathed a sigh of relief, lighting her horn up over his unconscious body. Her armor quickly turned a bright red and yellow. She was too tired to test-fire the new weapon, so she simply smiled and softly told her fallen foe, “Now I’ve got your power.”
You got a New Weapon! “Fire Storm!” Twilight shouted as a bright fireball engulfed her placeholder enemies in flames, also creating a small shield that temporary orbited the mare for a split second.
“I believe it might be appropriate to call that a Rage State.” Celestia told Twilight as Fire Storm’s wounds were being attended to.
“It might have won me the battle, but I don’t want to rely on such a thing…” Twilight sadly replied. “I mean, I might have been able to bring it out myself, but what if I lose control over it?”
“Honestly, the last thing Equestria needs is you going-“ Shining stopped himself when Twilight had glared at him. “-Hey, I was only gonna tease.”
“Well, it wouldn’t have cheered me up any.” Twilight said back, sighing to calm herself down.
“Have you received a reply from Cadence, Shining Armor?” Celestia asked, as she suggested to contact his wife after Twilight left for her third battle.
“I was just about to tell you when Twily came back. She has too much work to do in the Crystal Empire that her workload got a little out of control. I’m afraid she won’t be here to help Twilight.” Shining sadly replied.
“Oh well, I was expecting as much anyway.” Twilight said back. She had also made sure to heal up before deciding on her next challenge. “Tell her that her sister-in-law misses her, alright Shiny?” She asked, to which Shining smiled and nodded. “Alright, I’m off. Wish me luck!” She said, teleporting away.
Celestia smiled as Twilight left, though frowning when she looked out the window.
“Don’t worry, Princess. With Twily’s experiences, she needs no such thing as luck.” Shining said to cheer her up a little.
“It’s not her that I’m worried about. Twilight has proven her strength countless times already.” Celestia said back, still staring into the sky.
“It’s Luna, isn’t it?” Shining asked.
“I was not present to notice her sudden transformation. Could it be that the Elements truly weren’t enough to banish that corruption for good?” Celestia said to him.
“It’s not like the Elements are there to kill, even if it’s used against seemingly pure evil…” Shining said. “They are the Elements of HARMONY after all.”
“While I ponder this…Shining, do you know why I asked for both of you to come here?” Celestia shifted the topic, turning back to the white stallion.
Shining Armor nodded with a neutral expression. “For Twilight, it’s obvious. As for me…” He trailed off, looking away for a moment before turning back to Celestia, staring her straight in the eye. “I’m a last resort.”
Author's Note
Whoo boy, going back to this was pretty cool. ...Yeah, ironic for FireMan, I know. Anyway, some explanation:
So, Stage Select time! We've got 5 more to go, so choose whatever!
The year AN 1003. With the advancement of science, the citizens of Equestria are able to create more advanced technology. A purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle lived peacefully in the town of Ponyville, overseen by her mentor, Princess Celestia. But, one day…
It was a bright sunny day in the royal town of Canterlot, where a purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle was on a solo trip, her objective being to report to Princess Celestia in person. She had wondered why Celestia couldn’t just come to her new hometown of Ponyville, but she was never one to question the alicorn’s decisions anyway.
Before Twilight could reach the royal castle, however, a city-wide alarm rang out, causing Celestia’s faithful student to make a mad dash for the castle. A white unicorn with blue hair spotted her and cut her off.
“I’ve been looking all over for you, Twily! We’ve got a big problem!” The stallion hurriedly told her.
“What’s going on, Shining Armor!?” Twilight asked of her brother before a laugh filled the skies. “H-how is this possible!?” She said as she looked up; the black and light blue alicorn announcing herself to the world.
“Wahahah! Ladies and gentlecolts, your attention please! The name’s Nightmare Moon! Yes, the true princess of the night herself has returned! It may seem rather sudden to you, but I’ve decided to shed my pathetic Luna self and cover all of Equestria in eternal darkness! Ahem…anyway, to begin…my dear sister, Celestia! I’ll be taking your precious new recruits!” Nightmare Moon yelled in a manner that would make even those used to the ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE cringe. She flew down as she spotted Twilight and Shining. “Hahahaha! That is to say…hmm? What’s this? Twilight Sparkle and her dear big brother? I’m afraid your pitiful Elements of Harmony are of no use to you now!” She told the two as she flew off towards the castle.
“Those special recruits for the Royal Guard are in trouble, Twily! Let’s hurry to the castle!” Shining said to her as Twilight’s horn glowed.
“Shining, hold on to me!” Twilight said as Shining put a hoof on her back. She focused as much magic as she could to use her teleporting spell for two.
The two arrived in Celestia’s throne room, where Nightmare Moon had already captured a bunch of other ponies inside a giant bag. Twilight had looked pretty tired from using the spell on more than herself, but she trudged on to the white alicorn’s side.
“Hahahahah! Just like I promised, Princess Celestia, I’ll be taking them with me!” Nightmare Moon declared.
“Stop, Luna! Stop, I say!” Celestia said, trying to get through to her little sister.
“Farewell! Hahahaha!” Nightmare Moon said as she flew off, creating a shield to prevent any of their magic from stopping her escape.
“Wait, stop! LUNA!” Celestia yelled, a rarity for the normally elegant princess. “What insanity…using my loyal subjects to conquer the world…”
“Princess, please! You have to let the others and I go after her!” Twilight asked of her beloved mentor.
“Twilight…I believe she is right about the Elements. She is brimming with power beyond anything you’ve ever faced.” Celestia warned her. “I’m afraid if you plan to go after her, there is no time to bring your friends.”
“Princess, I really want to help everyone! But, without my friends…I don’t know if I’m strong enough…” Twilight looked down, afraid of the thought that the magic of friendship might not be enough to stop Nightmare Moon this time.
“Twily…” Shining Armor said, wishing there was some way to console her.
“Hmm…alright, I understand.” Celestia softly said as Twilight looked up at her, confused as to what she meant. “The old Elements may not be enough…but, that doesn’t mean that friendship cannot prevail. As dangerous as this may be, sometimes such things must be done. Stand still, my student, and I will make the necessary preparations.” The princess told her.
Shining Armor took a step back, unsure of what Celestia could possibly do. The alicorn’s horn glowed a bright yellow before a white flashed bathed Twilight in light. When the blinding light subsided, her body had become surrounded by a dark purple armor, with openings for her face, horn, mane and tail.
“I’ve given you two new spells, Twilight. One is a rather basic forward blast of pure magic, while the other is a more unique power. Nightmare Moon will likely force the eight recruits against you in battle, so I’ve given you an ability to copy the attacks of each of them when they are defeated. They will then become your own and you’ll be free to use them.” The princess explained.
“I have to…fight all of them? Alone?” Twilight asked, unsure if such a plan could work over straight-forward friendship.
“I’m afraid so, Twilight. You will have to fight until each of them are free of Nightmare Moon’s grasp. Once they have recovered, order them to return to me.” Celestia replied, sighing that such violent measures must be taken.
“Alright…I’ll be on my way, Princess.” Twilight said, knowing there was no reason to delay any further. She’d have to make do without her friends for the time being.
After the power up process, a large mechanical being with a single eye appeared in the throne room, presumably a robot left to distract the three.
“Twily, go! I’ll defend the Princess!” Shining Armor commanded, his horn glowing blue.
“Shiny, let me test out my new spells!” Twilight replied, using her horn to shoot at the robot’s eye. The robot recoiled, though it immediately became angry, stomping around using its spring-like bottom. The unicorns dodged out of the way as it attempted to come down on top of them. It then went after Shining Armor, who tripped it up by creating a shield around himself. On its back, the eye robot seemingly ceased to be a threat.
“Now, Twily!” Shining told his sister as she pummeled it with many blasts to the eye. After enough punishment, the robot exploded, leaving behind a small scroll. “What in the-“
“It looks like a map…each of recruits has a location marked for them.” Twilight said as she levitated the scroll in front of her. She committed each of them to memory and gave the scroll to Celestia.
“Twilight…my subjects…potentially your new friends, you must stop them and Nightmare Moon! For the sake of Equestria, we’re counting on you!” Celestia told her student as Twilight prepare to teleport. The process seemed to allow her plenty of magic power to use to without tiring quickly, but only if used for long-distance travel.
Twilight nodded, disappearing from the room.
“Are you entirely sure she can do it by herself without her friends?” Shining Armor asked.
“She won’t be without friends, Shining Armor.” Celestia said, managing to smile despite the previous events.
Author's Note
Twilight's adventure begins! I had already started going in one order at first, but when I first wrote this, I only did a couple of the "Robot Masters" before doing something else. However, once I get to the point I stopped at, I'll allow you guys to choose which Rob-er, Pony Master to fight next!
Oh, and before you say anything, yes, I'm aware Twilight kinda already has a basic forward shot spell, but I think of it as powering up (heheh) her basic shot to rival Mega Man's...wait, what did they call the Mega Buster before 4, anyway? Ah, whatever. Enjoy the first chapter! Oh, and I'll just be working on one story's next chapter at a time so I don't get myself tangled up in writing three stories at once. Cause...y'know, that'd be bad. XD