Slowly and reluctantly, Twilight began to wake up.

Her vision was hazy, though that was to be expected from someone who had just woken up against her will. Yes, you heard right, someone had woken her up. Yesterday, after Raiden had ran off on his own, there was nothing much else to say. All the other ponies had gone their separate ways, impatiently waiting for tomorrow. Of course, the whole ordeal had Twilight pacing around her house, thinking way to hard about everything that was going on. By the time that she did finally decide to go to bed, it was already late in the night, though she was at least quick to fall asleep.

Needless to say, she wasn't to happy to be woken up.

"Spike," slurred Twilight's drowsy voice, "if this isn't important, I swear on-"

"Spike's already awake," said an uncomfortably familiar voice.

Twilight's eyes shot opened. She began to slowly turn her head to eventually see the red-furred form of Raiden the Hedgehog standing next to her bed. Twilight took a few seconds of silence to blink twice, then gave a frightened squeak and jumped out of bed. "Raiden!" she shouted pointing an accusing hoof at Raiden, "Why did you wake me up!? And, more importantly, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!?!?"

Raiden acknowledged his rings sparking, though he didn't even flinch. In fact, he found her sudden outburst almost amusing, though he still kept a stoic expression. "To answer your first question," he said, "It's almost noon."

Twilight's eyes widened. She ran over to her to her window, and sure enough, the sun was up in the sky, shining all over Ponyville. Twilight's left eyelid twitched. How long how she been asleep. It only felt like a few hours.

Raiden seemed to read her mind and said "Yes, Twilight, you have been asleep for that long. Spike is done with most of his chores by now. What kept you up all night?"

Twilight glared at him. "Who's question is being answered here?"

Raiden grunted and shrugged. "I get it if you don't want to talk about it. Anyway, the answer to your second question is that you were near my location of meditation, so I decided to get you first."

Twilight's expression became one of confusion. "Go for me first?" she asked.

Raiden nodded "I'm gathering you and your other friends. Meet me at the hospital."

Twilight's eyes widened and she immediately stood up completely straight. "That's right! Rainbow Dash! She should be awake by now!" She then pointed a hoof towards Raiden, "And you must have found that Emerald, right?"

Raiden nodded. "I've found it, and 'Rainbow Dash' needs to be caught up on what's going on here." Raiden then turned around and walked towards the exit. "I'll see you and the others at the hospital. Spike should be finished by the time you're fully awake."

Twilight nodded "Alright," and began walking downstairs. Just as Raiden was about to leave, she had remembered something he had said. "Raiden," she called out, "where exactly was your meditation spot?"

"Your freakin' basement," Raiden called back before exiting and closing the door.

Twilight stood on the steps leading downstairs, completely stunned and dumbfounded. After a few seconds of an odd silence, she bellowed out "WHAT?!?!"

Rainbow Dash instantly sat up from her bed.

She was inhaling and releasing very deep and very quick breaths. Her vision was hazy, but she could tell from the feeling under her that she was in a bed. Looking around, she was at least able to make out a blurry outline of the oh so familiar Ponyville Hospital. If she was here, than that meant that somepony had brought her after something had happened to her.

But what was that something?

Suddenly, memories came flashing back into her mind. She saw a strange creature standing on a cloud Derpy was moving. She saw herself flying after the creature. She saw herself attacking the creature over a rather trivial matter. She saw herself look into the creatures eyes. And then she saw...nightmares.

A living hell made of nightmares.

Rainbow Dash gave a pained grunt and put a hoof over her throbbing forehead. That's right! It was because of that whatever-it-was that she was in here, wasn't it? Didn't he hurt her in some way? Weren't his eyes-

Rainbow Dash shuddered. His eyes...his eyes showed her a hell that she would never want to see again. Rainbow Dash suddenly felt angry. So he was the cause of her being here! "Why that little rat!" She flapped her wings and flew out of bed. "When I find him, I oughta-"

She blinked. "Wait a minute..." she thought, and looked at her wings. She was flying perfectly okay, without any pain. In fact, no part of her was hurting. She was without physical injury of any kind. Rainbow Dash was now hopelessly confused. "If I'm not hurt, then does that mean that...thing didn't hurt me?"

She shook her head. No, that couldn't be right. "How else would I have gotten in here?" She landed on the floor to the left of her bed, than rubbed her temples with both her fore-hooves. "But if he did hurt me, than why-"

"RAINBOW DASH!!!"

"Huh?" wondered Rainbow Dash as she heard a familiar cheery voice. Before she could even look at the door where it came, a very much familiar pink blur rammed into her and knocked her to the ground. Lying on her back, she placed a hoof over her forehead and looked down at the bright-pink, fluffy-maned pony latched onto her waste, tears falling from her eyes onto Rainbow Dash's stomach. Rainbow Dash was quick to recognize her appearance and gave a small chuckle. "Jeez, Pinkie, calm down a little, will ya? What's got you so worked up anyway?"

Pinkie Pie said something unintelligible, covered by her sobs and her muzzle being buried in Rainbow Dash's stomach. She then looked up to look at Rainbow Dash, teary-eyed yet smiling, and repeated "You're finally awake," before nuzzling her way back into Rainbow Dash's stomach.

Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head and gave an awkward chuckle. "Jeez, Pinkie," she started, "this isn't like you." Rainbow Dash slipped out of Pinkie's grasp and hovered in the air. "Rainbow Dash is back! This is something that you should be partying over!"

Pinkie Pie, now looking up wide-eyed at Rainbow Dash's hovering figure, blinked twice, sending the tears away from her eyes. Then that familiar bright, goofy looking smile returned to her features. Pinkie Pie instantly got up to her hooves and started bouncing, reaching Rainbow Dash's height of elevation. "You're right, Rainbow Dash," she stated in that perky voice, "I should act happier now!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled and raised her right hoof, which Pinkie slapped with her own. "There's the Pinkie I know," she stated in her usual overly confident voice.

Pinkie Pie then stopped bouncing and had a look of realization on her face. "Oh, that's right! I don't have time to throw the party. we have to go see Raiden."

Rainbow Dash stopped flying and dropped to her hooves, a confused look on her face. "Raiden? Who's that?" she asked.

"Oh," Pinkie gave an embarrassed facehoof, "Silly me, you two haven't even met yet." Pinkie grabbed Rainbow Dash's hoof with her own. "C'mon. There's something really important happening, and you two need to get introduced."

Rainbow Dash was now even more confused than before. "Pinkie, who-GAH!" She was interrupted when Pinkie suddenly dashed out of the hospital, dragging Rainbow Dash with her.

Outside the hospital, A group of four ponies - one very tired looking - and a tall red hedgehog stood by the door, waiting for Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to exit the building. An air of impatience was cast over the group, everyone wishing that they would just come out and let them get started. Rarity was in a particularly grouchy mood, as she didn't expect to leave the house so soon. "Ugh!" she groaned in frustration, "it would only figure that those two would keep a lady waiting."

Raiden raised an eyebrow and remarked "Funny, Rarity, you seem to like keeping people waiting yourself."

Rarity shot a glare in the hedgehog's direction, replying with spite "I will have you know, Raiden, that I was making necessary preparations for this upcoming journey before you so rudely hurried me out of my own house!"

"There's a difference between necessary preparations and idly giving yourself a pointless makeover," retorted Raiden, slightly annoyed, "What you were doing was the latter, Rarity!"

Rarity, now very peeved, was about to give her own retort when the door to the hospital opened. The air of tension between the red hedgehog and the white pony was now almost completely gone, replaced with a sudden sense of anticipation.Everyone was staring at the door for several seconds that felt like a full minute, when suddenly a ball of multiple bright colors tumbles out of the hospital, leaving behind a large cloud of dust in it's wake. Everyone gave a gasp, except Raiden, who remained stoic. The dust settled, revealing the bouncing figure of Pinkie and a cyan Pegasus identified as Rainbow Dash, holding a hoof over her clearly pained head.

"Ugh," she grunted, "Pinkie, what's the rush?"

"RAINBOW DASH!" shouted a chorus of four distinct voices. Rainbow Dash looked up and turned her head in the direction the voices came from, only to be instantly tackled by a colorful mass of ponies.

Raiden observed the spectacle from nearby, not daring to go anywhere near them. He was never good with emotional moments, and interrupting them would not be doing anyone or anypony any favors. Raiden cringed. He hated this world's grammar.

It took a while, but Rainbow Dash managed to get her pile of multi-colored friends off of her. "Jeez, girls," said Rainbow Dash with a chuckle, "I guess I can't blame you for missing me, but give me my space when I need it."

Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes, saying "Sorry, Rainbow, it's just...there's been cause to worry, you know. For all we know, you could have been lost forever."

Rarity gave a scornful expression and commented "Yes, no thanks to that ruffian hedgehog, Raiden."

Rainbow was a bit confused now, "Raiden?" she asked, "Is that...?"

"Oh!" Pinkie said with realization in her voice, "That's right, you still haven't been introduced yet. Pinkie put one foreleg around her companions shoulder, lifting the other in a seemingly random direction. "Rainbow Dash, meet Raiden the Hedgehog."

In the direction that Pinkie Pie threw her hoof, Raiden came into view. Rainbow Dash glanced at the bizarre creature's face, and instantly her pupils seemed to shrink a considerable few sizes. For a moment, anyone seeing through her eyes could only see a monster that created her greatest nightmares and could do it again without a moment's notice. She felt fear. She hated fear. She had trained herself since the day she could fly not to give in to fear.

But she felt it. And it was sickening.

"Rainbow Dash?"

She was suddenly snapped back to reality by the voice of the hedgehog. Rainbow Dash blinked and looked at Raiden, standing right in front of her. Once she linked, her yes regained their trademarked defiant flame as she flew right up to Raiden's face. "Hey!" she exclaimed angrily, "You did it! you're the reason I was in the hospital in the hospital in the first place, aren't you?!"

Raiden's rings sparked as he met her challenging gaze with an unmoving expression. "I may have had something to do with it, yes," he admitted. "Problem?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes flared with anger, practically firing heat vision. "You'd better believe I have a problem! I oughta throttle you, mister!"

Raiden decided to humor her for just a little while longer. "You think you can, lady?"

Rainbow Dash gave an angry snort, steam forming from her nostrils. "Lady!? Oh that is so it! You're gonna-"

A purple flash appeared between the two, revealing itself to be Twilight, holding her fore-hooves towards the both of them on either side of her. "That's enough, you two!" she declared in a stern tone, "There are more pressing matters to deal with! Why don't you two just shake on it, and we can get to the matter at hoof!'

Raiden and Rainbow Dash continued to stare each other down for several seconds. Finally, Raiden let go a sigh and extended his hand. "Sorry," he said, "let's just get these formalities out of the way. Raiden the Hedgehog. A pleasure." That last part was a lie.

Rainbow Dash looked down at Raiden's hand, glaring at it for a moment before letting go of her own sigh. She raised her hoof and placed it in the hedgehog's hand. "Rainbow Dash. Ni-" she stopped herself from saying 'Nice to meet you.' "...Interesting to see you here."

Raiden raised an eyebrow. He looked around, finally taking time to assess his situation. "...Yes, I would agree with you," he admitted.

The comment confused Rainbow Dash, but it was left to hang in the air as Twilight spoke, "Good, we've all reached a temporary agreement. Now," she then turned her head towards Rainbow Dash, "Rainbow, there are some things you need to know."

Ponyville Station was completely silent.

There was nothing special about Ponyville Station. After all, it's just like any other old train station in Equestria. Hell, it would look normal even for someone from outside of Equestria. But - also like any other train station - for it to be completely silent was indeed an oddity. Usually, there would be at least a few ponies conversing in one way or another. Everypony always seemed to have somewhere to go. So what happened to a these ponies?

Well, actually, all the ponies were still at the station. If one were to walk into Ponyville Station, they would see several ponies all over the place...or, rather, pony like figures. They did indeed seem like ponies, but something about them was different, making them not quite ponies.

Namely, they were robots.

Everypony seemed to have a distinctly mechanical appearance. There eyes all had a screen-like appearance, with a pixel-like 'iris' in the center. Each leg had a titanium armored plating above and below the area of the knee, each robot-pony having a different color. Each ponies torso had the same color and material plating as on their legs. Their muzzles also had similar plating, but instead of a mouth, each robot-pony had a vent-shaped piece used to released any kind of sound. On their flank, where a cutie-mark would usually be, was the black shape of a rather rectangular head with white spots for eyes in the center of a red circle. The only natural looking part of the robots was the mane and tail.

In the area that can be considered the center of Ponyville Station was the cause of all these robot ponies: the same brown-hooded man. If this man had a smile that could be defined as 'goofy,' he would have it on his face. The man felt giddy, elated that his experiment had worked. In his right hand he held a circular object with a red outline and a blue gem in the center; the same device that was on each robot-pony's chest. Perhaps it's easy to figure out what happened here: these devices were created by this hooded man, and they created these robot-ponies.

The hooded man's smile was now sinister. The process was one of his most brilliant creations. This was the process of turning a living being into a robot minion.

This was the process known as roboticization.

There was one pony that the hooded man had let go. The pony knew about this. Word would get out, and even faster when the hooded man roboticized more ponies. As it turns out, the Equines of this world had DNA that allowed them to become easily roboticized. Either way, word would get out, but by then, it would be too late.

The land of Equestria would soon bow to him.

The hooded man gave one of those sinister laughs he was so fond of.

"Wait, wait, wait," said a confused Rainbow Dash, shaking her hooves in front of her, "So are you expecting me to just buy that?!" she asked in disbelief.

This reaction is pretty much what Raiden expected. While he was bit irritated that Rainbow Dash didn't believe him, he was also somewhat relieved that someone had the good sense to realize that his story was a bit less than normal. Still, he was going to be blunt, deadpan and honest on this one. So he said "Yes, yes I am, actually."

Rainbow Dash put on an annoyed expression. "You must think I'm dumber than you look if you think I'm believing that for even a second."

Raiden rose a hand in defense, "No, no, not at all." That he put on a smug expression, saying "I think that you'll believe that for much longer than a second because you're exactly as dumb as you look."

A tick mark appeared on Rainbow Dash's forehead and her face became fuming red. "Listen here, you, are you looking for a beat down? Because if you-"

She was going to continue but an undefinable flash entered Raiden's eyes, causing her to stumble back and put a hoof over her head. All her friends flinched and looked at her in concern. "Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight, putting a hoof over her shoulder.

Rainbow Dash shrugged her hoof off. "I'm fine," she claimed.

"Those headaches should be fairly common," explained Raiden, drawing attention back to him. "They should pass at some point." Rainbow Dash glared at the hedgehog who responded in kind. "But we're not looking for a fight, now are we?"

The two continued to glare at each other, both just as stubborn as each other until Rainbow Dash looked away and gave an annoyed 'tsk' noise. "Whatever," she said stubbornly, "this doesn't mean I believe you any more than I did."

Raiden shook his head, "I thought as much." He got down to eye-level with Rainbow Dash, making a vow, "so I'll prove it to you."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Rainbow Dash challenged.

Raiden stood back up and looked around at the other ponies. None of them challenged him, though they all seemed to look more doubtful now. All of them except Twilight, at least. "Well at least someone's on my side...sort of. "Watch," he stated, and reached somewhere behind him, pulling out a Chaos Emerald. Rainbow Dash put on a confused expression, while the others had a mixture of confusion and slight fear. Raiden raised the Emerald high into the air. "Chaos..."

Twilight suddenly got very worried, "Raiden maybe you shouldn't-"

"Control!" shouted Raiden. A ray of light surrounded Raiden and the six ponies, and in an instant, the all disappeared.

Just as they disappeared, however, the dragon known as Spike arrived at where the group once was. He was breathing heavily, and he looked absolutely horrified. He held a scroll in his left claw that appeared to have been previously unrolled. Spike clenched his teeth and fists in frustration. "Dang, I was too late!" He began punching his forehead. "Stupid, stupid Spike! That's what you get for thinking you can take a nap after your chores! Twilight always leaves without you, idiot!"

It went on like this for half a minute before Spike decided to stop punishing himself. He fell down on his rump and released a worried sigh. He unrolled the scroll again and reviewed it's contents.

"Just make it back soon, guys," he said to himself, "this is seriously messed up."

In a sudden flash of light, the group appeared to be in an open area of a dark forest. All the ponies had to steady themselves, feeling dizzy after the transportation. Except for Pinkie Pie, of course.

"Woo-hoo!" she shoted, completely eccentric. "That was so fun! Let's do it again!"

Rarity regained her footing and put a white hoof over Pinkie's shoulder. "I'd prefer if we didn't, dear," she said in a woozy voice, and the other ponies groaned nodded their agreement.

"It'll pass," informed Raiden, "everyone feels a little woozy their first time teleporting."

Twilight suddenly looked confused, and voiced her feeling, "But I teleport all the time."

Raiden shrugged and looked at his Emerald, "Must be because it's a different kind of teleportation," he reasoned, "Magic and Chaos are energies that seem to be at odds with each other." Twilight seemed to lose all signs of dizziness and looked genuinely fascinated. She made a mental note to look into that later.

"Ah beg yer pardon, Raiden, but where are we exactly?" asked Applejack, just now looking around.

Pinkie Pie glanced over to Applejack, "You don't know?" she asked, sounding confused. Then she pointed a hoof towards a particularly large tree. What made this tree stand out was that a shaman-like mask hung just above a door in the tree, with several potions hanging over the large branches by what must have been very strong string. two large holes were cut on the side of the trees, resembling windows. "Because I'm pretty sure that's Zecora's hut," Pinkie confirmed.

The group all turned their heads towards the tree. The hut didn't look familiar to Raiden. Who's this 'Zecora?'" he asked, turning to Twilight.

She was still looking at the hut when she answered "She's a friend of ours. She's a zebra." She decided to look at Raiden before continuing "She's also an expert doctor and shaman. We go to her often when we have some kind of medical emergency." She looked back to the hut in confusion. "But what are we doing here?"

Raiden shrugged, "I just tracked the Chaos Emerald's energy here and teleported to it's area."

Rainbow Dash swooped next to Raiden and asked "So now what? How are we supposed to find this thing, huh?"

"Easy," replied Raiden, pulling out his Emerald once again, "these Emeralds are drawn to one another. As long as we have at least one, finding another shouldn't be too challenging." Raiden raised the Emerald in front of him. "If I had to guess..." He held the Emerald in the direction of Zecora's hut. The Emerald began to glow, confirming Raiden's suspicion. "The other Emerald is inside the hut."

Twilight gave Raiden a skeptical glance. "Wouldn't that mean that Zecora has it? Why her, of all ponies?"

"It could happen to anyone," Raiden reasoned, walking towards the hut, "Remember, Scootaloo had the last one, and she's just a kid."

"Wait, what!?" Rainbow Dash flew in front of Raiden, stopping him just as he got in front of the hut's door, "What exactly happened to Scootaloo? What did you do!?" She sounded angry, but there was a touch of worry in her voice.

"Hopefully not the same thing that happens to this 'Zecora' friend of yours," answered Raiden, not missing a beat. Before Rainbow Dash could press for further details, Raiden pushed her to the side.

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash shouted in utter rage, causing Raiden's rings to spark, "I want answers! What-!"

"Rainbow Dash!" The cyan pegasus turned around to see Twilight giving a worried yet bashful look. "Not now. Calm down." Rainbow Dash wanted to retort, wanted to shout, but for her friend's sake, she didn't. She gave a defeated sigh but still kept a glare in her eyes. Twilight look at her friend in relief

Raiden stood in front of the door to Zecora's hut. "Best to make sure if anyone's home," he thought, and he cautiously knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Fair to assume that no one's home." Wasting no more time, he reached for the doorknob...

...only for the door to blow up in his face.

Raiden, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, who were closest to the door, were sent flying back, earning a collective shriek of fright from the other ponies. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and hovered in midair, Raiden placed his hands on the ground before pushing himself off and flipping back on his feet, and Twilight landed on her hooves, but stumbled and lost her footing(hooving?). Pinkie Pie caught her before she could hit the ground.

"What the hay was that?!" Applejack shouted in confusion and panic.

"Does the door not like us?" Pinkie Pie asked, but it sounded like a genuine question. Raiden looked at her dumbfounded.

"Is she serious?" he had to ask in his head.

Pinkie Pie than shouted in mild frustration "What did we ever do to you, door?! Did we slam you too hard once? If so, we're sorry!"

Raiden blinked. "...My God, she's serious." Raiden didn't know how to react. "She's going to be hard to deal with."

Raiden snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a heavy thump. Everyone's head's snapped in the direction of the hut. The sound was made again. Raiden crouched in a defensive stance. The other ponies did the same, though Rarity was a bit more shaky, and Fluttershy instead chose to hide behind Rainbow Dash, who gave a fierce glare towards the hut. Twilight's horn began to glow, along with Rarity's to a lesser extent, Pinkie Pie pulled a large pink cannon seemingly out of nowhere, and Applejack had equipped her rope from her saddle.

They heard the noise again.

And again.

And again.

Until finally a figure appeared from within the hut, and the ponies gave a collective gasp, while Raiden's glare became like sharp, cold steel.

Before the group was a four-legged mechanical being, it's eyes not unlike a screen with it's glowing red pixel iris. The figures titanium plating on the torso and above and below the knee was of a light gray color, though the legs each had three dark gray horizontal stripes, with the left foreleg having five gold rings latched on to it. On it's back plating the stripes began at a large black area before being pointed downward. It's tail was tied in a knot before flowing downward, and it's mane was in the form of a distracting striped Mohawk. On it's neck were five more golden rings, and on it's plated ears were two golden earrings. In place of a mouth was a metal vent on it's muzzle. But the think that set Raiden off was what was on the titanium plate that could be considered her flank. On it was a symbol he was very familiar with.

The silhouette of the head of the man he hated the most.

"Armstrong..."

"ZECORA!?!?" shouted the ponies in confused terror.

The metal being continued to stand there as it made a noise in a robotic voice "Identity: Zecora: Not Found." It's eyes seemed to flash as it stared at Raiden. "Target Located. Terminating Now!"

Despite the situation, Raiden couldn't help but blink. "Hey, that rhymed. Sort of. Maybe...well, almost." Raiden shook his head and glanced at Twilight. "So, this your friend?"

For a moment, Twilight couldn't answer. She looked positively terrified. She didn't even know the answer. Was this really her friend? Was this Zecora? It couldn't be. Zecora was a zebra, not a robot; not this...thing. This...this was terrible! When she finally could answer, her voice was shaky and slow "No. Well, I-I mean, Zecora, she-she's not...She's suppose to-"

"No," Raiden answered for her, causing her to snap her head towards him in shock, "it isn't." He glared back at the robot that was once Zecora. "Not anymore."

As if fate chose to disagree with Raiden, Zecora's eyes became blue for a moment, and for eyes on a screen, they looked genuinely sad, causing the ponies to double take in terror. And to even Raiden's shock, a strained voice came from the vent on it's muzzle, saying "My little ponies...you must...run..." but almost immediately, the eyes turned red once again. A compartment on Zecora's back opened, revealing a small Gatling gun pointing at Raiden. The robotic voice spoke once more. "Terminate Hedgehog: Priority One!"

Raiden's eyes widened when the gun started to spin, prompting him to shout "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

On instinct, Raiden jumped out of the way, while the ponies all shrieked and ran out of range of the dangerous weapon. Rainbow Dash flew high into the air with Fluttershy cowering after her, while Rarity and Pinkie Pie chose to hide behind two different trees, leaving Twilight to put up a magical barrier in front of herself and Applejack, stopping any lead projectiles that meet it's front. Despite this, Zecora's only intended target was Raiden, only shooting in any direction he was weaving away from.

Eventually, Raiden had enough of the game he was playing and chose to ran towards the robot. The spectating ponies didn't know what to be more shocked at: the fact that he even began to think of running straight towards such a weapon, or the fact that he seemed to make it in front of the robot before anyone could even begin to blink. Once in front of Zecora, he drove his fist into the robot's titanium plated would-be jaw, leaving a small but visible dent in that area and sending Zecora sliding back a few feet, leaving two parallel dirt trails in the ground.

Zecora didn't even begin to deter, as her cybernetic body turned while her Gatling gun fired, the path of bullets making it's way towards Raiden. For a second, Raiden ran away from the bullets, but they just kept following him. Raiden jumped over the line of bullets, and ducked as he landed. Crouching low, he curled into a ball and began to spin much to the confusion of the ponies. Before long, he launched his ball form towards Zecora, zooming his way past all the bullets being fired at him. When in front of her, he jumped in the air in his ball form and brought her with him, essentially drilling Zecora into the air. At the peak of his jump, Raiden exited his ball form and kicked off of Zecora's chest higher into the air. When right above her, Raiden delivered a bone-crushing axe kick to her head, sending her rocketing towards the ground.

Raiden landed on his feet in front of the massive dust cloud that had formed. He very cautiously looked at the dust cloud, waiting for any signs of movement and ignoring the baffled onlookers surrounding him. He stood as he was for a few more seconds, but nothing happened. He began to slowly and carefully walk towards the dust cloud...

But as he got close, from the dust cloud emerged Zecora's mechanical body, only difference was that time seemed to slow down as something familiar to Raiden were attached to her hooves. Quite literally latched onto her hooves were two katanas, both surrounded by electricity, as if it were being created from the katanas themselves. But the familiar part was that the very sharp blades were both a bright red, and on Zecora's sides were two open compartments, both containing scabbards for the blades that had triggers like guns. Yes, Raiden knew these blades.

High-Frequency Muramasa Blades.

"Those are my blades!" shouted Raiden mentally. Raiden was snapped back to reality when Zecora pulled her right metal foreleg back, ready to swing her sword. Raiden wasn't prepared for the swords and didn't have time to react. But before Zecora's attack could connect a rainbow blur smashed into Zecora's right side, sending her crashing into a tree in her path. Raiden's eyes widened as he looked at the spot where Zecora once was, in her place a smirking Rainbow Dash, crossing one foreleg and backleg over the other. Raiden stood up straight. "She's fast. She might even match my speed." Raiden's demeanor didn't change, saying "You sure took your sweet time."

Rainbow Dash gave an annoyed yet cocky glance towards Raiden. "You didn't expect me to watch and let you die, did you?"

Raiden matched her smirk, "I had my suspicions," he replied. It wasn't a joke.

Rainbow Dash, however, seemed genuinely offended by the comment. She got in front of Raiden's face. "Listen you, I never leave anyone hanging, even in I don't-"

"New Threat Detected: Pegasus Pony." The sound of Zecora's robotic voice snapped the heads of the red hedgehog and cyan Pegasus towards the sound. The metal zebra had already gotten up from it's damage, now standing on it's hind-legs, it's forelegs held out holding the blades in a reverse grip. From her back opened a compartment that revealed two rocket devices on each of it's sides. "Flight Systems: Activated. Terminate Accordingly."

Intense streams of fire exploded from the bottoms of the jets, causing Raiden and Rainbow Dash to crouch in defensive stances. The fire from the jets bursted once more before Zecora rushed through the air towards the pair, the rockets speeding her in her desired direction.

However, when Zecora came close to the pair, Twilight appeared in front of her in a purple flash, causing even Zecora to flinch. Twilight surrounded Zecora in an aura of purple energy, stopping her in midair. Twilight flung her to the left, where Applejack could be seen. As Zecora flew past Applejack, the orange Earth-Pony threw a lasso around her mechanical neck. When the rope became taught, Zecora stopped flying, and before she could react, Applejack flung her by the rope back towards Raiden.

In a moment of foresight, Rainbow Dash flew up into the air, while Raiden crouched low to the ground. When Zecora got close, Raiden delivered a bone-shattering back-flip kick to Zecora's jaw, sending her flying through the air. Above her, Rainbow Dash was prepared and flew downwards with her fore-hooves outstretched to crash into her. However, Zecora was prepared this time. She activated her back rockets, and flew out of the way of Rainbow Dash's attack. Rainbow Dash flew past her before righting herself in midair. She looked up only to have her face meet Zecora's metal hoof, sending her crashing through the roof of Zecora's hut.

Zecora was ready to follow up, as she pointed her forelegs towards the spot where Rainbow Dash crashed. Compartments on her hooves seemed to open up, releasing two small Gatling guns. The guns started to rotate, but before they could fire, Fluttershy crashed into Zecora in a yellow blur. The metal zebra could do nothing as Fluttershy actually broke her right foreleg, following with a knee to the gut that left a dent, and finally grabbing her by the leg, spinning her around several times, and throwing her at rocketing speeds to the ground. Fluttershy then flew to Zecora's hut to help Rainbow Dash in any way.

Meanwhile, despite the beating received, Zecora righted herself in midair and landed on her hooves, the supposedly broken leg seeming not to affect her at all. Raiden gritted his teeth in frustration, Applejack and Twilight panting heavily beside him. "Darn toot'n," heaved Applejack, "how tough is she?"

"We need to stop fooling around," advised Raiden, "You've all been hesitating. We need to destroy her as fast as possible!"

Twilight snapped her head towards Raiden with a look of surprise, and maybe a hint of disgust. "Destroy her!?" she shouted, "Why would you even say that!? That's still our friend in there!"

Raiden turned his head towards her, "Not anymore. She's a robot and her mind is useless. We'd be doing her a favor by destroying her."

"A favor!?" Twilight exclaimed in frustration. She straitened herself in a firm stance. "A FAVOR!?!? How can you say that!? How could you expect us to destroy our friend without hesitation!? Is it that simple for you!?" Tears now stained her eyes, crawling down her enraged face. "Would you do it if it was somepony you cared for was like this!? WOULD YOU!?"

Raiden continued to stare at her, not visibly phased by her outburst, and not noticing that similar tears threatened to fall from Applejack's eyes, before looking back at Zecora, still unmoving. "Never stopped me," he stated quietly. Twilight blinked at, forgetting her state of rage, and stared at Raiden in wonder. For the first time since she saw him, Raiden had genuine sadness in his eyes.

"Raiden?" Twilight questioned cautiously. Applejack looked just as confused.

Before they could think in the subject any further, Zecora charged at the the three, spinning her blades into a reverse grip. Twilight put a shield in front of the group and Applejack got in front of Raiden. Zecora crashed into the shield and she staggered, but her head created a sizable crack in the defense. Twilight then lowered the shield, and while Zecora was open, Applejack turned around, reared back her hooves, and bucked her chest with enough force to send her sprawling on the ground.

Zecora attempted to stand up, but before she could fully gain her footing, her metal face was met with the left fore-hoof of Rarity. Zecora shook her head and slashed at Rarity, but Rarity ducked under the slash. Zecora attempted to follow up with an above slash with her other sword, only for Rarity to sidestep, now standing on her hind-legs. Rarity gripped Zecora's still outstretched foreleg and flipped Zecora over her shoulder. Rarity attempted to stomp Zecora, but Zecora twisted her body enough to sweep her leg under Rarity, causing her to fall to the ground. Zecora jumped to her feet and got ready to stab the grounded Rarity, but she soon had a pie blasted in her face. Rarity was surprised, but smiled when she looked up to see Pinkie Pie waving at her with her Party Canon aiming at Zecora.

"Optical Receptors: Compromised!" Zecora announced, "Targets: Unable To Identify!

"Before Zecora could do anything about it, Raiden rushed up to her and kicked her in the side, sending her flying into a nearby tree. Raiden held out his hand to Rarity, which she took, albeit not very gladly, and was supported up. Raiden looked at Rarity rather impressed. "To think, out of anyone on this world, you and Fluttershy can fight."

Rarity brushed some dirt off her shoulder and corrected the position of her mane, saying "Self defense class, dear Raiden. You never know when a lady could need to fight. As for Fluttershy...I've heard that comes with the territory of massaging a bear."

At that moment, many unsettling images of what massaging a bear must be like past through Raiden's head.

Raiden couldn't dwell on it, however, as Zecora dashed towards Rarity, delivering a hoof to her gut and roundhouse kicking her in the face, sending her soaring past Raiden and crashing her into the dirt. Raiden glared at her and tried to punch her, only for Zecora to dodge to the left and stomp on Raiden's hand, keeping him on the ground.Zecora then slammed her other hoof into Raiden's face, raising her right hoof off of his hand, and sent him sprawling in the dirt.

Zecora felt a large cake hit her in the back. She turned around to see Pinkie Pie aiming her Party Cannon at her. The Cannon then shot a punch bowl, which Zecora easily slashed in half. She opened the compartment in her left fore-hoof and revealed her Gatling gun before firing it at Pinkie Pie. In a panic, Pinkie jumped out of the way, but her Party Cannon was not spared from being covered in holes, annihilating it. Pinkie looked upset from that. "Aww. Now I need a new cannon," she said depressed.

Zecora aimed her gun at Pinkie, but before she could fire, Applejack wrapped her lasso around her leg and pulled it away from Zecora's target. Applejack charged at Zecora, but before she could even get close Zecora shot her left foreleg, eliciting a scream of pain and terror from her and causing her to fall to the ground.

"APPLEJACK!" shouted Twilight in horror. In a rage, she charged her horn with a powerful magic blast. Before she could fire however, Zecora grasped a rock and threw it at Twilight's horn. The rock hit it's mark and interrupted Twilight's spell, giving Zecora the opening the shoot at her and graze her side. Twilight shrieked in pain and fell to the ground, clutching her wound. Zecora aimed the gun at her head and prepared to finish her. Twilight closed her eyes and awaited her end at the hand's of her own friend.

But before Zecora could shoot, Raiden ran up to her and punched her in the face. the force of the punch caused Zecora's body to turn, but she swung it back around and tried to hit Raiden. Raiden caught Zecora's hoof and kicked her across the face. He took the opening and dashed to Zecora's side, grabbing one of the scabbards, and then grasped Zecora's left foreleg, taking the first blade from her hoof. Zecora spun around and slashed at Raiden with her other blade, only for him to block the attack and fiercely swing upward, sending the blade flying from her grasp. Raiden kicked Zecora's leg out from under her, causing her to begin to fall to the ground. Finally, before she could hit the dirt, Raiden swung his blade upward, aiming for her neck.

Before the blade could hit, however, time seemed to stop for both Raiden and Zecora. They looked at each other eye to eye, and Raiden saw that her screened eyes had become blue once more. Somehow, through the screen, Raiden could see sorrow behind her eyes. The two had a mental exchange in their time stopped world. "Thank you for destroying what I came to be," Zecora said gratefully, before her tone became serious, "Now stop the madman that did this to me!"

Raiden mentally nodded and said to her "Yes. That's a promise."

With that, both fighters snapped back to reality, and in that exact moment, Raiden's sword moved upward and decapitated Zecora's metal head.

The former battlefield was completely silent. You could hear a pin drop on the grass, the only sound being a small breeze. The spectating ponies all seemed to stop breathing. Even Rainbow Dash, having just stood up, saw the whole thing, barely standing up and being supported by Fluttershy, though she herself looked like she was about to faint. Everypony else seemed to be unable to keep their eyes off of the scene, except for Applejack, who, after bearing witness to her friend's decapitation, fell unconscious from the pain and shock.

Finally, after what seemed like a frozen eternity, Metal Zecora's head hit the ground, before her screen-like eyes blink out, confirming that she was.

It seemed that the only sound able to be heard were the screams of the horror stricken ponies.

"ZECORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!"

Author's Note

Oh Celestia, I'm gonna get so much crap for that. Though to be honest, I'm proud of how the fight scene turned out. See you next chapter(whenever that might be).