Bold: The Ranger and The Robot

Strongbolt stared at the map of Equestria. He traced the lines that the trains followed from Ponyville down towards Appleloosa, he took various measurement and wrote down different calculations. His wife, Shiera, watched him, slightly concerned.

"Aha!" He exclaimed. "Judging by the distance from Ponyville to Appleloosa, and the time we've already spent on the train I think we should be there in..."

"Five Minutes until arrival." An announcement came through the speakers.

"Um, yeah, that." Strongbolt said in an annoyed tone.

"You know," Shiera said, "we could have just asked someone."

"But what if there is no one to ask?" Strongbolt countered.

"Well, there was though."

"No, I mean if we get stuck in a situation where there is no one to ask about how long the train ride is. It's best to get some practice."

"Of course." Shiera laughed sarcastically. "How could I forget the everyday problem of needing to know how long the train ride is going to be when there's no one else around."

"I'm just saying. It could happen."

"Well, if it does, we know what to do." Strongbolt sighed, she had beaten him.

"Hang on," Strongbolt said, pulling out a brown hat from his bag, "almost forgot about this." He placed it on his head.

Shiera giggled. "When did you pick that... thing up?"

"Got it before we left Ponyville. Thought it might fit the theme, make us stand out less."

Shiera was puzzled. "What's wrong with standing out?"

"Well, you know. We have our enemies."

"You don't mean... The Corruption? Do you?"

Strongbolt rolled his eyes. "No I mean Steve the Magic Cow, who do you think I mean?"

"We beat The Corruption back in the Everfree Forest, remember?"

"I guess so, but it did say it wouldn't be the last we'd see of it. And that warning Luna gave us..."

"Try not to think about it too much." Shiera reassured him. "That thing doesn't even know where we are."

"Don't you remember? It said 'we are everywhere.'" Strongbolt mimicked the hissing voice of The Corruption. "What if it has allies out there?"

"If it does, we'll do exactly what we did to the last one."

Strongbolt remembered the night in the Everfree Forest when they were attacked by The Corruption after they went in to find their friend, Twilight Sparkle. Strongbolt wondered what Twilight was doing at that moment, apparently Celestia had organised for her to stay in Ponyville a while longer. Strongbolt remembered Shining Armor, his friend in Canterlot who had seemed so upset to watch his sister leave.

"Hope Shining Armor is alright." He murmured.

They arrived at Appleloosa at midday, the sun hung in the sky lazily. Strongbolt and Shiera looked out across the rows of buildings.

"You know, I've only heard stories about this place." Shiera said. "Have you ever been here before?"

"No I..." Strongbolt began saying, but then he stopped. Something about the place seemed odd.

"Where is everypony?" He asked. Shiera looked around her, it was true, the whole place was empty except for them, even the ponies on the train appeared to have dispersed.

"Something isn't right here." She said. Strongbolt investigated the buildings, one of them caught his eye.

"That Blacksmiths." He said. Shiera followed his eyes.

"Oh!" She gasped. "There's a huge hole in the wall. What could have done that?" The train horn blew and it shifted into motion and took off, leaving a trail of dust behind.

"What is going on here?" Shiera coughed. The dust partially cleared, and it became apparent to Strongbolt and Shiera that they no longer stood alone on the platform. They could not make out the new pony in the dust, however, they could see he was a unicorn, yet, oddly enough he had no mane.

"Hello?" Strongbolt called. Two red circles appeared in the area where the pony's eyes should have been.

"Um, Strongbolt?" Shiera asked nervously.

"I see it." He said in a shocked voice. The pony stepped forward out of the dust, but it was not a pony, a mechanical being, a robot of some sort, with a drill-like horn and a short spiked tail. It scanned them. Strongbolt and Shiera stood motionless.

"Alert!" It suddenly screamed. "Hostile targets located. Proceeding with disposal."

"That does not sound like a 'welcome.'" Strongbolt yelled as the beast ran at him with its drill horn rotating at full speed.

"Run!" Shiera shouted. They jumped off of the platform and ran for the town, the robot followed them, charging like a bull. They turned a corner and passed through a narrow passage, Strongbolt kicked a barrel over to block their persuer but it smashed straight through it, covering it in the barrel's contents: rum. Strongbolt began to get tired, he slowed slightly, unfortunately the robot did not do the same, it instead sped up, noticing its opponents weakness. It knocked Strongbolt aside with his head, Strongbolt quickly recovered his senses, grabbed the nearest object he could, an empty tin can, and threw it at the creatures head, luckily it became lodged in its horn.

"Error. Drilling sequence cannot continue, switching to alternative attack systems." It said.

It pounced onto Strongbolt and began frantically flailing its arms, Strongbolt tried to block but the machine overpowered him and knocked him back again, this time, however, he was cornered. Strongbolt faced his oppressor who was removing the tin can from his horn.

"What do you want from me?" He yelled. The robot lowered its head and began to form  a small orb in its horn, as it did this it stuck its hooves into the ground like it was absorbing the earth. Strongbolt backed up against the wall, he extended his wings but one of them was injured.

"Ack!" He cried.

"Charging complete." The robot hissed as the light of his horn grew brighter. It was about to launch its attack when it suddenly set ablaze. Fire engulfed its whole body quickly and it's horn flickered and turned black.

"ERROR! ERROR!" It screamed. "CRITIC-C-C-CAL DERMERGE EN ALL AREAS. MERDA 3 Reterrrrning to repairrrr station."

Then it jumped into the air launched itself into the ground and dug through the earth with an unbelievable speed, covering up the hole as it went like a worm. Shiera stood where it had once been, covered in soot and ash. She held a burn out match in her hoof. Strongbolt laughed in relief.

"Thanks dear." Strongbolt breathed.

Shiera gulped. "Don't mention it, 'dear.'" Suddenly a beige pony with a black hat appeared around the corner.

"Holy hell! Are you guys alright?" He asked.

"Considering we just got attacked by a maniacal robot with a laser shooting drill-horn, yeah, I'm doing pretty well thanks." Strongbolt said.

"You met MERDA then?" The pony asked.

"Murder?" Shiera repeated.

"M.E.R.D.A." The pony confirmed.

"What does that stand for?" Strongbolt inquired.

"We ain't sure, but it's what that... thing calls itself." He pointed towards the upturned earth where the robot had vanished.

"What is going on here?" Strongbolt exclaimed.

"Perhaps it's best if y'all follow me. You ain't from round these parts are ya?

"No, Canterlot."

"Well fer city folk you gotta hella loada fight in ya. I ain't never seen anypony attack that thing."