Episode 1
Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were enjoying their second Grand Galloping Gala. Fluttershy had similar luck with the garden animals as she did last time, much like Rainbow Dash was given little attention among the Wonderbolts. Twilight was given no time to exchange pleasantries with her mentor, and Applejack's sales were predictably dismal only for the fact that they were apple products. Rarity wisely avoided Prince Blueblood, but it was not an easy task while she mingled with the upper-class, similar to Pinkie Pie's efforts to bring more life to the dance floor. However, each pony had companionship in the party. Fluttershy had joined Rainbow Dash when they were both unsuccessful at gaining attention. They were joined by Applejack, who decided to close up shop early. Rarity and Pinkie joined in after their social endeavors were unsuccessful once again. They all joined up with Twilight, who had finally finished greeting all of the guests. As they laughed and exchanged made fun of their failures, they were interrupted by a loud explosion, followed by a shockwave that knocked them off of their hooves. They looked out towards the windows, seeing all of the gold-armored royal guard pegusi fly off, while the grounded unicorn guards fired off magic bolts at an enemy that is yet to be seen.
In a panic, they all rushed outside to hear a condescending, maniacal laughter coming from far away. At first they couldn't see where it was, but then large fires sprouted up from the far-end of the mountainside city. Illuminating the darkness, they saw the silhouettes of what they could only describe as the monsters of their nightmares. Fluttershy squeaked in fear, dashing behind the shaken Rarity, where the other four ponies looked on. In the middle of it all was a small figure standing atop a floating platform, into the platform was carved a face with a permanent grimace molded into it. The figure raised up a bejeweled, forked staff and declared with a booming voice that seemed to be both male and female at the same time.
"Listen, you stupid animal-fodder!" The moon peeked out of the clouds to reveal the shapes of these monsters, each one having a metallic hide.
"You are up against an immortal destroyer, and unbeatable weapons!" Each of these monsters had a different shape, some having long necks, others covered in spikes, and others too ugly to describe.
"All of this is the power of the creative genius of the great Dr. Hell!" More monsters stepped forward, all of them dwarfing the towers of Canterlot.
"Soon his mechanical monsters will rule, AND ALL OF THE WORLD WILL BE CONQUERED!!!"
With that, the clouds cleared the sky, revealing an entire legion of these mechanical terrors. They tore through the concrete and granite of Canterlot like it was a sand castle, quickly turning much of the mountain-side city to rubble. The mane six watched in awe and horror at the futile attempts by the royal guard to repel these enemies. The the royal unicorn guard fired all of their magic at one of the monsters, engulfing it in flame. However, this seemed to just annoy the beast, because it quickly emerged from the torrent unharmed and shooting beams of light at its eyes that burned through everything they touched, as some of the less fortunate guards quickly found out. The royal pegasus guards started an airborne assault, gathering storm clouds and launching large blocks of hail at some of the monsters. One of the mechanical brutes pulled out a large scythe that was sticking out of its head, and threw it at the pegusi, knocking them out of the sky and scattering the storm clouds beyond recovery in one fell swoop. As the blade returned to the hand of its owner, the figure on the floating platform laughed mockingly at the royal guard's efforts.
Twilight Sparkle felt a hoof on her shoulder, making her jump. She turned around to see her beloved brother and captain of the royal guard.
"Shining Armor!" Twilight jumped into her older brother's embrace, the siblings exchanging a tight hug in this time of desparate need. However, their embrace was short lived, as Twilight broke off to inquire her brother. "What are you doing here?"
"The returning troops told me you were still here," Shining Armor elaborated, "You have to evacuate now! These machine monsters have already taken an entire half of Canterlot, and my troops can't do a thing to hold them off!"
"But where do we go, then?" Applejack inquired, "Half of tha place already went up in flames, and what's left ain't got much of a defense if the royal guard can't do a day's worth against those things."
"They took us by surprise, that's why I couldn't put up the force field to prevent an attack," Shining Armor pointed a hoof towards the main castle of Canterlot, "The main castle is going to be our stronghold, the princesses are already there to make sure nothing evil gets through until I can get there to put up the shield," He started towards the main castle, "Now come on, there's no time to waste!"
"Not so fast!" The seven ponies found themselves surrounded by humanoid soldiers wearing helmets that went over their eyes, all of them pointing either a gun or a sword at the ponies. "Thank you for giving us such vital intel," The soldier trained on Shining Armor said, a look of sadistic pleasure on his face, "So it's safe to say that if we killed you, Canterlot is as good as doomed?" Shining Armor's horn started to glow with a powerful magic aura, but the soldier talking to him was unfazed.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," The soldier nodded to the one standing next to him, who in turn brought a tied up earth pony that everypony recognized as Bon-Bon from behind him and put a sword to her throat, the earth pony whimpering at the cold feel of the blade. "If I see that horn glow anymore, my men will paint the walls with this mule's blood!" Shining Armor hesitantly stopped his spell, as his horn's magic aura visibly faded, his face wrinkling up in spite. The soldier pointed a rifle to Shining Armor's head, with that sadistic grin still plastered on his face. "That's better."
"You shameless monsters..." Shining Armor muttered, his grimace still filled with anger. It didn't help that the soldiers laughed mockingly at the mention of the word 'demons.' One soldier approached Shining Armor and yanked his head so they could look each other in the eyes.
"We are much worse than monsters, you ignorant horse," The soldier looked straight into Shining Armor's angry eyes and pulled off its mask-helmet. All of the ponies gasped, beholding the grotesque sight of a pulsing brain and a pair of disembodied eyes connected to circuitry that ran through the soldier's head, with transparent tubes flowing throughout filled with blood.
"We are the soulless squadron of the merciless Dr. Hell, and from here onward you will learn to fear his power." The soldier put his helmet back on and pointed to the destructive rampage of the mechanical legion tearing through Canterlot, "Have the smallest taste of what Hell is like, as you watch your precious capital city burn to the ground!" The figure on the platform that was making announcements echoed it's laughter as Canterlot was flattened, seeing all of the failed attempts of resistance by the royal guard.
"AHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Don't you see it? Are you blind to our invincible power!?" As the mysterious entity finished its last statement, another voice boomed out from the sky.
"ROCKET PUNCH!!!" The youthful voiced roared out, as a giant black fist pierced through the clouds and smog in the sky. The mane six watched it fly through the air, seeing it was trailing flame behind it. The sound of ripping metal rang out through the night as the fist burrowed into several of the mechanized monsters, each one toppling over and exploding when the flying fist exited through its back. The fire it was trailing extinguished, as flames from its now-extended fingers propelled it back to where it came from, parting the smoke and reveling a giant shadow with glowing yellow eyes standing atop the mountain that Canterlot was built upon. The figure atop the floating platform visibly recoiled in hate and fear, it and its mechanical legion looking to behold their mightiest adversary standing on the mountain top.
"Curses, it has followed us all the way here..." The moonlight now illuminated the new giant, revealing its shape to be smooth and humanoid, its black armor and red breastplates glistening in the moonlight.
"The cursed robot, MAZINGER Z!!!" The black giant jumped from the top of the mountain onto an open area in Canterlot, upon landing it pointed its black metal finger at the opposition, calling out the figure on the floating platform.
"Alright, Baron Ashura! It's about time you backed WAY off!!"
"You, Koji Kabuto...!" The figure recoiled further at the mention of the name, "NEVER!! We will capture the capital of Canterlot, and we will make you and the rest of Equestria beg on their knees for mercy!! Go, mechanical monsters, MEET IRON WITH IRON!!!" Pointing its scepter at Mazinger Z, the remaining metal monstrosities charged at this new protector.
"If you're not gonna listen, then it's on to the fight!" Mazinger Z raised its arms, the red panels of its breastplate glowing with a heat even the spectating pony hostages could feel. "BREAST FIRE!!!" a crimson energy blast burst from the red panels, submerging many of the mechanical brutes in a wave of hot energy that melted them in to steaming piles of scrap. The ponies looked at their captors to see them all grabbing their heads and scream in pain. The smell and hissing of cooking meat could be heard, as steam bellowed from every opening on the iron masks of Hell's soldiers.
"The heat! It must be burning their exposed brains, with those metal helmets!" Twilight observed, taking all of her captor's weapons away from their reach with a levitation spell, Shining Armor catching them and crushing them into a ball of scrap with his own spell before chucking it out of reach.
"Aw, yeah!" Rainbow Dash boasted, "Can't take the heat? Then get off the mountain, metal heads!" She bucked a soldier in the gut, sending him flying into all of the soldiers behind him and knocking them over like dominoes, clearing a way for the rest of the ponies as they brawled their way out of the crowd of soldiers. They rushed to the last citadel, greeted by the remaining royal guard. After guiding Bon-Bon to the more sheltered part of the castle with the rest of the evacuees, Shining Armor dashed to his post, immediately embracing his wife, Princess Cadence, and casting his force field spell, reinforced by his shared love with Cadence. The pale-pink mare looked up to see the Mane 6 and rushed to them as soon as the casting was finished.
"Oh my goodness, Twilight!" Cadence quickly hugged Twilight in worry, dusting her off with a wave of magic after breaking off her hug. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm alright," Twilight looked out into a balcony, watching Mazinger Z fight off the mechanical monsters that remained in amazement. "Do you know anything about what's going on here?" Twilight beckoned, looking back to the worried eyes of her former foal-sitter.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on. All I saw was this enormous flying monster, as big as Canterlot, and all of a sudden a third of Canterlot goes up in flames!" Cadence looked at the ensuing destruction that was happening outside of the barrier.
"Make that two thirds," Shining Armor corrected, "The last of the pegasus scouts arrived and just gave me a report. Everypony in Canterlot is either evacuated or here at the main castle, guards included, thankfully." He watched Mazinger Z as it fought against the legions of mechanical monsters, "Did the guy on the platform call the black one Mazinger Z?" He watched the battle continue. To dodge Mazinger Z's fatal fire blast, the surviving machine monsters took to the air, still charging at Mazinger Z without relent.
"RUST HURRICANE!!!" Gale-force winds burst from the grill on Mazinger Z's face, engulfing the mechanical beasts in rust while blowing them away. As they fell to the ground, they disintegrated into dust. "Ya see that, Baron Ashura? This is the power to defeat you, and anything else Dr. Hell has in store!" Mazinger Z pointed a challenging finger at The floating platform. With its mechanical legion wiped out, it seemed that Baron Ashura was defeated. However, the evil entity had one more trump card up its sleeve, calling out to the shadows behind it.
"Go, DaiGaizer W-5!!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a giant among giants emerged from the smoke and smog of burning Canterlot, towering over the once-thought titanic Mazinger Z. It's giant wings blackened the night sky as its gigantic spiked legs shook the ground, shaking the very foundation of Canterlot.
"Meet your fate, Koji Kabuto!!" The Platform that carried Baron Ashura plugged into the giant of giants' hideous head, as tentacles slithered out of its abdomen and grabbed Mazinger Z by the legs, "We will drag you to the bowels of hell!"
"You wish, ugly!" Flames burst from Mazinger Z's feet, boosting it away from the titan of titans that had it bonded. However, DaiGaizer refused to let go. The voice coming from Mazinger Z cursed at his failed efforts, "Damn, so that's how it's gonna be, huh!? BREAST FIRE!!!" Mazinger's red breastplates began to glow with that familiar heat that wiped out a large number of monsters minutes before. However, the monster holding Mazinger Z sprouted more tentacles and used them to grab Mazinger Z by the shoulders, turning its chest away from the intended target. "Ah, crap!"
The blast of concentrated heat fired off into the night sky as more tentacles sprouted from the last monster like a viscous flesh-eating plant, all of the tendrils wrapping around Mazinger Z to restrain it from every angle. Baron Ashura laughed mockingly, watching Mazinger Z's futile attempts to escape.
"What's the matter, Koji Kabuto? Can't fight while your back is turned!?" The DaiGaizer's chest opened up, revealing several large cannons concealed within, all trained on Mazinger Z.
"Fight me face to face like a man!" The voice coming from Mazinger Z retorted, "Or did you realize you could only win by fighting like the coward you are!?" Mazinger Z constantly struggled against the tendrils, but it was useless when the tentacles holding Mazinger's legs suspended it in the air.
"It doesn't matter, so long as we win!" All of the cannons aimed at one singular point on Mazinger Z's back, "Fire, for the glory of Dr. Hell!!" Several loud bangs rang out as explosions erupted on Mazinger Z's back. "AHAHAHA!!! Do you see? Not even the great and powerful Mazinger Z can-huh!?" The smoke and debris from the explosions cleared, revealing that Mazinger Z was completely unharmed. "Tch, no matter! I'll just have to bring you to Dr. Hell in once piece, so I can rip your body to pieces right in front of him!" All of a sudden, two beams of light streaked from the sky and in between Mazinger Z and DaiGaizer, cutting all of the tendrils that bonded Mazinger.One was a deep blue, trailing a azure pattern that resembled the night sky. The other was a shining white, trailing behind it what looked like sunlight. Twilight Sparkle's eyes lit up, as she immediately recognized them.
"Princess Celestia!" She excitedly exclaimed, the white ball of light bursting open to reveal the pure princess of the day, "and Princess Luna, too!" The deep blue ball of light exploded to unveil the younger princess of the night. Twilight's confidence faded when DaiGaizer turned its head towards her, Baron Ashura had apparently heard her cry.
"Now isn't this wonderful?" the two-faced hermaphrodite said, DaiGaizer facing the princesses, "I can kill everything that stands in my way all at once, now that they're all in the same place!" DaiGaizer charged at the three protectors, firing a black energy beam from its eyes at the princesses in a motion that was almost instant. They saw the darkness in front of them, but had no time to cast a shielding spell. The two princesses heard a loud bang, but they opened their eyes to see a giant black hand in front of them, belonging to Mazinger Z.
"I don't know what you are, but thanks for the save!" The princesses of night and day looked to where the youthful voice was coming from, and beholden the face of Mazinger Z. "Now it's my turn, and I've got something special for you this time!" Mazinger Z turned to face DaiGaizer, batting away the dark force with its hand.
"Reitou Beam!!" The spikes on the sides of Mazinger Z's head glowed blue, suddenly letting out a blue beam from the tips. DaiGaizer tried to block it with its gigantic left arm, but it was soon enveloped in ice when the beam touched it, "Rocket Punch!!" Mazinger Z's fists flew out, breaking DaiGaizer's frozen arm by burrowing large holes into it's bulk, "Breast Fire!!" Mazinger Z's breastplates let out another fiery blast. DaiGaizer's remaining arm blocked it, folding out into a large shield, but the arm quickly melted away into another steaming lump of scrap. "Rust Hurricane!!" Mazinger Z blew out gale-force winds that launched DaiGaizer up in the air, carried by the winds against its giant wings while corroding its armor at the same time. "And finally..." The grimacing platform ejected from DaiGaizer's head, as Mazinger Z's eyes lit up, it's body hissing with the golden energy bursting from every seam. "PHOTON BEAM!!!" In an instant a white tower of light burst from Mazinger Z's eyes, lighting up the night as if it was day and blasting DaiGaizer into oblivion. Cadence and the mane 6 cheered as they watched the final blow be dealt to the monstrous attacker, its ashes falling onto the ground as Baron Ashura called out from the floating platform.
"We'll get you for this, Koji Kabuto! YOU'LL SEE!!!" Baron Ashura screeched with all the malice it could muster as it descended into the totem. The scowling platform quickly sprouted wings and flew out of sight.
"Just TRY IT, Baron Ashura!" Mazinger Z pointed in the direction that the totem had fled, "Mazinger Z and I will be waiting, and each time will turn out just like today, and just as it always has!" Princess Celestia looked at the black iron giant.
"Just what is Mazinger Z...?" She saw Mazinger Z take a step forward, and saw that the foundation there was not going to hold. "WAIT!!" She flew after Mazinger Z and tried to cast a levitation spell, but it was too late.
"...Huh? Oh-CRAP!!" As Celestia foresaw, the floor crumbled underneath the black robot, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" The voice coming from Mazinger Z screamed as it fell below Canterlot, heading all the way to the base of the mountain. Princess Cadence and Princess Luna heard the call, and immediately rushed to where Mazinger Z fell, trying to combine their levitation spells with Celestia's as all three princesses followed Mazinger Z's fall. Unfortunately, Mazinger Z was much heavier than they imagined, and they could only slow its fall. The mane 6, Shining Armor, and every royal guard not in the hospital gathered around the large hole that Mazinger Z had made, frantic in seeing the giant surrounded by three magical auras as it fell to the ground. Hearing a loud crash, all they could see of it and the princesses was a large cloud of debris.
"So, you've failed me yet again, Baron Ashura." An elderly man said, lying atop his throne in the darkest of dungeons. His hair and beard have grown long and grey, a testament to his labor. His crimson cape and bejeweled scepter a show of his rank, genius, and power. Standing before him was a kneeling Baron Ashura, a testament to his defeats. "What pitiful excuse would you have this time? Did the colorful, magical ponies defeat you!?" He rose up, anger flowing through his being, "Were you defeated by the magic of love, or the Elements of Harmony!?!?" The bottom of his scepter slammed against the floor, making Baron Ashura cower with fear as he stepped down along the crimson carpet that bisected the room and walking towards Baron Ashura.
"No, my lord! It was something else entirely!" the two-faced hermaphrodite pleaded, "It is the wretched grandson of Juuzo Kabuto, and the horrid robot, Mazinger Z!!" The old man paused, his mouth agape at what had been conveyed to him.
"The legacy of Juuzo Kabuto threatens me again!?" The bottom of the elder's scepter met the floor once more, a louder noise reverberating throughout the room, and the whole building. "That is it, we will no longer hold back. Come fourth, my Equestrian general!!" He pointed his scepter to the shadows that encompassed the room. Baron Ashura looked around, hearing the clop of hoof-falls on the granite floor. The commander of hell's army beheld something that made him shiver with fright. It's slime-green hair and tail strewn about its head and back like seaweed, its fangs sharp and yellowed by age, its limbs filled with holes like that of rotting flesh, its wings like that of the most hideous of insects, its horn like the disfigured branch of a poisonous tree, and its eyes, those wide, sickly-green, peircing eyes...
"Oh, how can I help my future co-ruler?" The queen said, her voice distorted by an aura of malice.
"Queen Chrysalis, my Equestrian General, how would you like to exact the most foul of revenge against those that have defeated you?"
-To Be Continued-
NEXT TIME
Episode 2
Aphrodite Samurai: Don't piss off your girlfriend!
Don't Piss Off Your Girlfriend!
Episode 2
Koji Kabuto started to stir. He groaned, grabbing his forehead in an attempt to help regain his memory of what happened before he lost consciousness. "Ugh, what were those things? They looked like pegasi, but they had unicorn horns..." He stared up at a ceiling, expecting to see the reinforced canopy of the Hover Pilder. "Where the heck am I?" He looked around the room, seeing beams of sunlight illuminate the space from curtained windows. On his right was a closet, where on his left was a door. He laid on a soft bed, but the bed felt a little small for him. Across from him was a sight that made him rub his eyes in hopes that it was just an illusion. He reopened his eyes, and they were still there; two unicorns, and one of the equine beings he saw the night before, resting on cushions right in front of his bed. He saw that one of them began to wake up, and tried to move towards the door.
When he looked to see if the equines were awake, he found himself staring into a pair of large, curious eyes, belonging to a unicorn with a vivid lavender coat. The unicorn looked Koji up and down, taking in and observing his features as he did the same. Their eyes met again, Koji meeting a determined, studying gaze that seemed familiar.
"You really remind me of Sayaka..." Koji said, letting out a chuckle as he turned around, remembering his girlfriend "Now to find out where I am..." He headed towards the door in relief that the three equines wouldn't be a problem, when he heard someone behind him.
"Who's Sayaka?" Koji spun around, looking around the room in a frantic search for where the question came from.
"Who sad that?" He started towards the center of the room, searching behind anything that might conceal someone. He searched under the bed, and in the closet, but found nothing.
"Over here." Koji faced where the sound was coming from to see that purple unicorn waving its forehoof the way a human would raise their hand. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and--what? Haven't you seen a unicorn before?" The unicorn gave an akward look to Koji.
"No," The human responded with a wide-eyed expression, frozen in shock. He quickly shook his head in an attempt to shake it off. He'd been fighting Dr. Hell's legion for so long, he figured, that he shouldn't be shocked by something like a talking colorful unicorn. Koji dismissed it as a ploy from Dr. Hell, considering how the unicorn had chibi proportions and pastel colors. 'Also, why does the fact that it talks shock me?' Koji thought. "So, where exactly am I? Furthermore, where's the Hover Pilder and Mazinger Z?" He looked at Twilight expectantly, only to see her nudging the other two equines.
"Come on, Cadence he's awake!" Twilight nudged the winged and horned equine, then proceeded to the unicorn resting next to her, nearly stabbing him with her horn in an effort to wake him, "Wake up, Shining Armor! Didn't you want to thank our guest for helping defend Canterlot?" The two equines began to wake, rubbing their eyes with their forehooves. The 'winged unicorn' looked around the room until her eyes met Koji. She got up and exchanged good mornings with Twilight before approaching Koji with a comforting smile.
"Good morning," she held out a forehoof in front of him, which he shook reluctantly, still getting used to the prospect of colorful talking ponies, "You're Koji Kabuto, right? I am princess Mi'amore Cadenza, but please call me Cedence."
"Uhh, yeah," Koji scratched his head, "Can you show me where the Pilder and Mazinger Z are, and I'll be on my way..." He opened the door by a crack only to see it burst open as dozens of ponies bombarded the unsuspecting human adolescent. His vision was suddenly filled with ponies of all colors, shapes, and sizes, all either asking him questions or taking photos of him. He backed off with his hands up in a panic, "Whoa! What the heck is going on!?" Just then, Shining Armor jumped in front of Koji before the human adolescent backed into his bed and fell on it.
"I'm sorry, but Koji Kabuto cannot talk right now. He's disoriented and unfocused, and we don't even know if he's injured or not yet. So until we know he comfortable and unharmed, I will take any questions you have." Shining Armor turned and winked to Cadence, who took the signal and went to a door on the other side of the room.
"Twilight, Koji!" She said, waving a hoof to the ones she was calling to, "This way!" She pushed the door open and subtlely closed it behind her as the three of them walked through a hallway, brightly lit by skyline windows, letting the sun bleed in. Koji rubbed his head.
"Augh..." He groaned, "I've been piloting Mazinger Z for so long, but it never occurred to me that I'd have to fight crowds of paparazzi in addition to Dr. Hell's legions!"
"That reminds me, in that last battle, did you try to protect the city?" Cadence asked. Koji drooped his head slightly.
"Well, the place looked pretty antiquated, so I knew it was important somehow, but I just couldn't do it, I'm not as skilled as I should be with Mazinger Z," the human clenched his fist, "Damn, I need to catch up with Sayaka..."
"I've been meaning to ask," Twilight interjected, "Actually, I already asked and you didn't answer, but who is Sayaka?"
"She's someone that's, well..." Koji paused for a few seconds, looking away and blushing.
"Is she your special somepony?" Cadence observed with a smile, expecting Koji to say 'yes.' The human adolescent, however, merely raised an eyebrow.
"What's a 'special somepony'?" Before anypony could respond to his question, a shadow cast itself over the hallway and quickly vanished. Koji looked above to see a blue blur right before it vanished out of view, along with it's shadow. Koji readied his photon pistol in caution. "Either of you see that?"
"Yeah, but that's only--" Twilight was about to explain, but was interrupted by the sight of Koji running down to the end of the hallway, followed by Cadence. "Wait!" Both of the equines beckoned, Twilight also giving chase. They were too late, however, as he kicked the door aside and pointed his photon pistol straight inside. What he then saw was not exactly as he expected, as a bunch of party poppers went off in front of him, followed by three loud voices.
"SURPRISE!!!" the confetti clearing to reveal a room filled with ponies, all dressed in assorted party hats. In the center was a long table filled with appetizing food plates, above it all was draped a banner that read "Welcome to Equestria". Koji holstered his photon gun and looked down to see three fillies holding the party poppers that went off in front of him. One was a bright yellow earth pony with a bright red mane, one a white unicorn with a curly purple mane, and the last was an orange Pegasus with a deep purple mane.
"...Did I walk into someone else's party?" Koji stepped back, his mind reverting back to a state of confusion. The message on the banner registered in his head, as he then turned around to the equines behind him, "So I'm in---" He was quickly interrupted by the ear-to-ear grin of a pink pony in front of his face.
"The greatest party Pinkie Pie EVER conceived!" The pink pony quickly declared, dashing back into the party and spinning Koji to face it while zooming across the room to different parts of the party as she described them, "We've got music by the one and only DJ PON-3, we've got the greatest apple cider courtesy of sweet apple acres, we've got the biggest pinata in the world, and everypony in Canterlot AND Ponyville is invited!" The pink pony jumped back to Koji's face, "And guess who our guest of honor is!"
"...Who?" Koji said, still stupefied. The three filles and the pink pony jumped up and declared who the party was for.
"YOU!!" More party poppers and even some small fireworks exploded outwards at the declaration, accompanied with cheers from all ponies present, except for Twilight Sparkle, who gave Cadence a nervous glance.
"Shouldn't we be doing something about this? I mean he panicked already, and I wasn't prepared for my first Pinkie Pie party, either..." Cadence gave Twilight a reassuring smile, and pointed a hoof to Koji.
"I don't think we should worry that much," Cadence said, as she watched Koji awkwardly enjoy the party games and snacks, "Let's just keep an eye on him."
"By the way," Twilight quickly added, "Did the flying monster you saw get destroyed in the battle?" Cadence's expression suddenly became worried.
"No, I never saw it in the battle..." She then rushed to the nearest window to look up at Canterlot. The once glorious capital of Equestria, she now saw blasted nearly to pieces. What she didn't see worried her more, however, as she rushed back down the hall they came from.
"Where are you going!?" Twilight called after her, following as fast as she could. Cadence quickly stopped and spun around to face Twilight.
"I have to see Shining Armor about this monster," She spun around again and continued to gallop down the corridor, "You go keep an eye on Koji Kabuto!"
Ann Ville looked at today's issue of Equestria Daily, her body covered in sweat after her latest and no doubt greatest job. Leaning back in her chair, she looked at the front page. Her jaw dropped as she started to stare at it in disbelief. The headline was "Giant Monsters Destroy Canterlot: Mazinger Z Saves the Day". She quickly ran to town hall, the newspaper clenched in her teeth.
"Mayor Silverstar, Ms. Yumi!" She rushed into the building and set the article on the table in the center of the room, where a human girl and Mayor Silverstar were discussing something, the girl hanging her head with a downtrodden demeanor. She suddenly turned her attention to the mare that entered, who threw the news paper on the desk. "Have you seen this?" The human girl took the newspaper in hand, her eyes widening at the front page. She quickly flipped through to the article it was highlighting and read aloud.
"An attack from mysterious monsters leaves Canterlot defenseless. The one behind the attack is identified by the attackers as Dr. Hell, though little else is known..." She moved down to a photo of Mazinger Z impaling a mechanical monster on its fist, "The attack was thwarted by a giant machine, called Mazinger Z by the attackers. It was operated by a creature named..." The next words ignited a spark of determination in the human's eye. "Koji Kabuto." She paused for a few seconds, gazing at a picture of Koji unconscious. Mayor Silverstar looked over the human's shoulder at the picture.
"He looks a little familiar, doesn't he?" The girl nodded and continued reading.
"It says he's been held in Ponyville," she summarized, "It looks like he got hurt in the battle..."
"And I assume you want to meet him?" Sheriff Silverstar gave the girl an encouraging smile. "Take whatever you need, even with Aphrodite on your side the desert is a long way to cross."
"Thank you, Silverstar. It must be hard finding supplies out here."
"It's the least we could do after what you did for us. You saved our farmland, our crops, and our lives, and we owe it to you and Aphrodite." The human reached for a basket of apples, only to have Braeburn bring it to her in his hoof.
"Besides," Braeburn added, "We can take care of ourselves fine, supplies-wise. Though, Chief Thunderhooves might be a bit jealous that you're leavin' so soon after just visitin' Appleoosa." Braeburn chuckled as he nervously scratched the back of his head. "Oh, and say hi to my cousin Applejack, you'll know her when you see her." The human girl nodded with a confident grin as she put on a helmet and stepped outside. A giant, slender figure then clouded the sky, followed by the thundering of metal footfalls as the figure ran off into the distance.
"That's how we party; Pinkie Pie style!" Pinkie declared when the party concluded. Koji was slumped over on the couch, exhausted. He was given little time to get focused in Pinkie's happy rampage of a party.
"It really is the wildest party I've ever been too..." Pinkie Pie caught a glimpse of Koji lounging around as opposed to being on the dance floor or eating a party snack, and she did not take it well. Koji blinked, and the next thing he saw was Pinkie Pie's teary-eyed face.
"Y-You don't like my party?" Koji quickly got up.
"Uhh, no, it's actually great that I get a party for saving the city, for once." Koji scratched the back of his head nervously. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Pinkie Pie brighten up again.
"So it's your first party!? That makes this one SUPER-SPECIAL!!!" Pinkie jumped into the air, about to sing another hyper on-the-spot song when she was interrupted by Twilight, who levitated her back to the ground.
"I think you're taking it a little too fast, Pinkie," Twilight said in a vain attempt to calm pinkie down, "I mean, look at him. He's really tired from the battle yesterday, and your typical Pinkie Parties aren't helping him recover."
"But how will he get to enjoy his party now? It's his first one!" Pinkie was seriously concerned for Koji's lack of party in his life, but Twilight knew he needed rest a little more than he needed a hyperactive Pinkie Party.
"Maybe you can hold an after-party when he starts to feel better." Twilight offered, breathing a sigh of relief when Pinkie brightened up again.
"That's perfect! I'll even invite the princesses, I'm sure they want to thank Koji for saving them!" Pinkie then hopped off, while Koji approached Twilight with a serious expression.
"Alright, now that we've gotten that out of the way, where's Mazinger Z?" Twilight decided to finally cave in and show him where she thought it would be.
"Follow me, they towed it to Sweet Apple Acres, that's where my friend, Applejack, lives and works." Twilight proceeded to an exit, Koji closely following. Once outside, Koji looked around to get his bearings, suddenly walking backwards as he followed Twilight.
"That looks like a hospital," Koji observed, turning around to walk forward again. "What happened after Mazinger Z crashed?" He looked at Twilight.
"Well, first we went down to check on it," Twilight replied, "We've never seen anything like Mazinger Z before, so I went to figure out what it was," She paused, putting her hoof to her chin. "I still can't figure that out. It should have shattered into pieces when it landed and when it was attacked by the machine monsters, but we didn't see so much as a dent or even a scratch. What the hay is it made of? And then a cockpit of some sort fell out of the head, and then you come tumbling out! I still don't know what you are. I mean, you have the same body as Dr. Hell's soldiers, but you had a head of hair under that helmet, and then we saw you bleeding, so we rushed you to the nearest hospital, and then Pinkie Pie gets the idea in her head to throw you a party, because she always throws any new pony a party, even though you aren't a pony, it's all one big mess!" By the end of her explanation, Twilight was holding her head with both of her front hooves. Koji just stood there looking at her nervously.
"Um, okay," Koji diverted his attention to his surroundings, seeing various ponies of different colors, shapes, and sizes walk about, minding their own business. Strewn about are houses and shops of similar variety, a tree with windows and balconies coming out of it stuck out to Koji. "So, where are we?"
"What?" Twilight broke from her confused daze, suddenly blushing at her outburst, "Oh, I'm sorry! We're in Ponyville, it's where I live, and it has the closest hospital to where Mazinger Z landed." She then continued leading Koji to Sweet Apple Acres, refreshed by the change of topic and still willing to continue the conversation. "You know, we've never seen anything like you before. Not in the history books, not in mythic stories, not in cryptozoology, not even Zecora could identify what you are, and she usually knows these kinds of things..." Twilight looked to Koji, who has an expression that betrayed his baffled state of mind.
"What do you mean you've never seen a human before?" Koji said. He then paused, putting his hand to his chin. "That explosion blew me farther than I imagined..." he thought.
"So you're a human?" Koji snapped out of thought, suddenly finding himself in front of a massive orchard. He looked down at Twilight, the source of the question. He quickly nodded in response. Twilight tilted her head at his initial pause, but quickly turned forward and proceeded to the barn in the center of the orchard. "Does that mean you're from a different time, before pony history existed, or are you from another planet?" Twilight looked at the ground in thought, "Another planet that has the same living conditions... At the same time, your phenotype is definitely alien, but what about your genotype? Are ponies and humans really so different?"
Twilight looked up and saw a familiar bright red barn. "Well, we're here. Why don't we see how the towing crew is doing? It must have been pretty hard moving Mazinger Z...where are they?"
Not a single pony was to be seen. Twilight made a quick search around the barn and saw two stallions and Applejack drinking Cider in the back. Twilight quickly confronted her. "Applejack, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping the rest of the towing crew?" Applejack looked at a clock conveniently mounted on the wall of the barn.
"Aw shucks, looks like our break is over," She turned to the two stallions, "C'mon, boys, the others will need all the help they can get, if they wanna tow the rest of it."
"The rest of it?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"Twi, you remember when the cockpit-thing fell outta Mazinga-whatsit's head? Well, we couldn't find a way to re-attach it, so we towed it separately. Ah was just taking a break with the boys that helped me tow it because it's a lot heavier than it looks," She then walked towards the base of the mountain that held Canterlot. "Well, I'd best be off. Y'all can help yourselves to some cider, just leave enough for the rest of the crew." Just before she made another step, Koji called out.
"Wait a sec!" All the ponies turned to face Koji, "Where did you put it?"
"It's in the barn." Applejack answered simply. Koji then proceeded to pull the barn doors open, revealing the Hover Pilder, it's ruby-red chassis gleaming in the noon daylight.
"I can at least give you guys a ride." Koji said, hopping into the Pilder's open canopy. "It's a thanks for taking good care of me." Koji gave them a thumbs-up accompanied by a confident smile.
"Partner, Ah don't mean to be rude, but don't you need the rest of Mazinga-whatsit to move?"
"Nope, the Hover Pilder can fly all on its own."
"But how do you expect to fly in that thing?" Twilight inquired, inspecting and taking in all of the Pilder's features."It looks like these turbines are meant to steer, and the fin on top to stabilize, but from what Applejack told me it's far too heavy to achieve lift without a float as big as the barn!"
"Bah, who needs floats to fly?" With the flip of a switch, the Pilder's wings unfolded, pointing the turbines down. They began to spin, and suddenly the Hover Pilder was hovering out of the barn. "Alright, everyone get in!" They did so. Koji closed the canopy, leaving everything very snug, but not uncomfortable. Twilight looked at all of the control levers and buttons, inadvertently reaching for one before Koji blocked it with his hand. "Sorry, that only works when piloting Mazinger Z."
"Ah hate to complain too much, and thanks for the offer," Applejack started, shuffling her hooves, "But is this all the Pilder can do?" She got a look from the other three ponies, "All ah'm sayin' is the faster we get there, the better."
"No problem!" Koji made the Pilder ascend. When the Pilder cleared the trees, Koji flipped another switch that made the Pilder burst forward with speed. Twilight, thrown back by the sudden shock, got back up and looked out the side of the canopy, her eyes widening at seeing all of the trees pass by faster than she had ever seen before.
"Whoa, nelly!" Applejack exclaimed, pulling against the Pilder's acceleration to get back on her hooves. "So this is what Rainbow Dash feels like!"
"Alright, which way?" Koji asked, turning to Applejack.
"Just go straight ahead, there should be a clearing somewhere-"
"There it is!" The Pilder slowed down as Koji saw a scene of ponies, and an assortment of animals trying to pull Mazinger Z headfirst out of a crater by rope. The Pilder slowed to a still hover and set down just as the wills of the pullers gave out, and Mazinger Z fell back down a few feet. Koji opened the canopy and the ponies in it filed out. Applejack ran to a pony with a butter-yellow coat and bright pink mane.
"Fluttershy, what's been holding up? Given all of that time and the help from the animals, I'd figured you'd at least be halfway there by now." Fluttershy turned around and responded in characteristically quiet whispers.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that Mazinger Z is so heavy, we were lucky most of the animals haven't already quit." She then saw Koji jump out of the Pilder and approach them. Remembering what happened the night before, she hit the ground and covered her eyes with her hooves with a squeak.
"What, is there something behind me?" Koji looked around, seeing nothing but the trees that surrounded the clearing. Upon hearing his comment, Fluttershy peaked out of her hooves and saw that he wasn't one of Hell's soldiers. Getting up, she dashed to Koji to apologize and check up on his condition.
"Oh I'm sorry! Are you still hurt? You shouldn't be walking around so soon!" She fluttered around Koji, checking him from every angle.
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Koji said, trying to bat Flyttershy away. She backed off and let him continue. "I just came to help you guys out. Can you ask your friends to lift Mazinger Z's head?"
"Sure, but don't push yourself!" Fluttershy said, as Koji went back to the Hover Pilder. Just before Koji closed the canopy, Twilight jumped in. Koji stared at her for a second.
"What?" Twilight shrugged, "I just want to see how you pilot Mazinger Z." Koji replied with a confident smile.
"You got it!" With that, the Pilder shot upwards into the sky. Twilight looked at the controls, each and every button starting to glow with anticipation as Koji flipped the switch that closed the Pilder's wings.
"PILDER...."
The animals and ponies down below focused all of their efforts to raise Mazinger Z's head. Though it was considerably easier than lifting all of its mass, they still needed a lot of effort to manipulate it with just rope. When they got it upright, the Pilder screamed towards the ground with blinding speed.
"OOOOOONNN!!!"
The pilder crashed into Mazinger Z's crown, filling the cavity in its head as it came to life. Standing up from its own power, Mazinger Z snapped the ropes that bound it effortlessly. Raising its arms above its head, its body emitted a blast of energy that sent Fluttershy to her back and the animals back into the forest. Mazinger Z turned towards Ponyville and kneeled to the ponies that remained.
"Thanks for the help, do you need a ride home?" Koji suggested. The remaining ponies cheered, both amazed at Mazinger Z's performance and relieved that they wouldn't have to pull so hard anymore. Now they could ride on Mazinger Z on the way home? The very idea thrilled them. "Well, hop on!" Mazinger Z knelt down with open arms, the earth ponies and unicorns piling on while the pegusi flew up to Mazinger's shoulders. Once everypony was set, Mazinger Z headed out to Ponyville. Next to Koji, Twilight got up from nearly splattering her lunch all over the inside of the Hover Pilder and stood next to Koji.
"Whoa, how does Rainbow Dash keep her lunch dow-HNNGG!!" Twilight choked on another piece of her lunch before swallowing it back down. Koji pointed to a small compartment next to Twilight.
"Barf bags are in there." Twilight shook her head.
"N-No thanks, I'm fine."
"By the way, who's this Rainbow Dash you keep bringing up?" Koji asked, perishing the thought of bringing up how odd a name that was to him. "She a friend of yours?"
"Yeah, she's a pegasus. I'm sure you'll recognize her by her rainbow-mane."
"A pegasus with a rainbow-mane..." Koji shrugged, "...Why the heck not? Next think you'll be telling me is that a dragon lives in these mountains."
"Well, a dragon did used to live here," Twilight explained, "But he cast Ponyville in a black smog, so we had to ask him to leave." Koji stared at her, wide-eyed, but quickly returned his mind to controlling Mazinger Z.
"So, why do you keep bringing her up?"
"She's an expert flyer, and your fancy flying really reminds us of her." Koji smile again.
"Maybe I should challenge her to a race with my Pilder." Twilight gleamed at Koji's challenge.
"That'd be perfect! I'd get to gauge the Hover Pilder's specifications!" She made a mental list, talking about each item as she put it down. "I'll need my Animometer to measure it's wingpower and anti-gravitational potential, a stopwatch to determine the top speed..."
"I already know all of those specs," Koji said, "Except for lift potential, I think Sayaka knows that one..."
"Wait, you do?" Koji rolled his eyes.
"What kind of machine enthusiast would I be if I don't know the specs of my own ride? Besides, most of them are pretty obvious," He pointed to various gauges scattered around the Pilder's dashboard, "Top speed is on the speedometer, but now it's just measuring for Mazinger Z instead of the Hover Pilder; Thruster power is over here, again measuring with Mazinger Z; the fuel gauge for the Pilder is here, and this is Mazinger Z's energy gauge." He pointed to a bar gauge that seemed to be low.
"Why is it so low, did something happen in the battle?"
"Well, something happened in the battle before that, but this is pretty normal. It shows the energy output of the Photon Energy reactor that powers Mazinger Z. It goes up whenever I use an attack like Rocket Punch or Breast Fire."
"What happened in that 'battle before the last battle'?"
"Bluntly, it's the first time the gauge reached maximum level," Koji stared off, reminiscing of that fierce battle. "Damn, Dr. Hell was throwing everything he had at us back then. Even with all of Mazinger Z's power, even with the help of all my friends, I thought I'd be toast! Dr. Hell had some sort of new Mechanical Monster, it wasn't like anything I've seen before, and none of Mazinger Z's attacks could even scratch it! Still, I somehow defeated it, but when Mazinger Z reached maximum level, it looked like everything exploded! Next think I know, I wake up in the middle of some sort of forest. I think I was wandering though it for days, maybe even weeks." Koji looked to Twilight, who pulled out a notepad from seemingly out of nowhere and was taking very detailed notes. Twilight looked up from her note-taking at Koji's silence.
"Oh, don't mind me, please continue!" Twilight said. Koji turned his focus back on the past and Mazinger Z's controls.
"One day I find a really steep mountain, and decide to climb it, so that I could get my bearings. But when I got to the top, I saw a city on the other side being attacked by Baron Ashura." Twilight looked at him.
"Right, who is this Baron Ashura?"
"Baron Ashura is one of Dr. Hell's creations," Koji elaborated, "He's been trying to either destroy Mazinger Z or steal it ever since my grandfather gave it to me."
"So you inherited Mazinger Z from your grandfather?"
"Nope, he built it," Koji smiled proudly, "Each and every one of Mazinger Z's systems is a marvel of technology, and it's all thanks to my gramps!"
"He built this all by himself?"
"Yep, it's his life's work, besides his family." Koji's facade of pride faltered as he manipulated the controls. "Mazinger Z is all I have left of him..." Koji let out a deep sigh, "And now I don't know if any of my loved ones survived. Boss, Professor Yumi, Shiro, Sayaka..." His head drooped, so did Mazinger Z's. Koji suddenly felt a hoof on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be fine," Twilight smiled comfortingly as Koji looked back at her, "Besides, if you survived I'm sure the rest of them did." Koji gave Twilight an appreciative smile, returning his focus to Ponyville and Mazinger Z's controls. Something then caught his eye in the distance, a tall, thin shape approaching Ponyville from the opposite direction. Twilight looked over his shoulder and saw the giant visage. "Another one of Dr. Hell's mechanical monsters!?"
"No, it's Aphrodite A," Koji's face lit up, "There's only one person I know who would pilot that robot." Mazinger Z dropped off all of the ponies at the edge of Ponyville, running around the circumference to meet with Aphrodite A. "Sayaka!" Koji called out through the communication link in the Pilder. At first there was a discouraging pause, as Aphrodite seemed to step back when its ember eyes fell on Mazinger Z. "Uh, Sayaka?" Mazinger Z waved its hand, and Aphrodite A shook out of the stupor, as Koji finally got a response on the comm-link.
"Koji! I thought I'd never find you!" Aphrodite A ran over to Mazinger Z, taking its hand. "Where were you all this time!?"
"Sorry Sayaka, I would've kept searching for you, but I got sidetracked," Koji replied with a confident smile, "Baron Ashura was attacking a city, you know I had to stop him." Koji Winked, but Sayaka just Scoffed.
"You're so impulsive, Koji."
"You know it!" Koji gave a thumbs-up, "Anyway, let's head into town, we need someplace to stay for the night." Koji turned Mazinger Z to Ponyville, and with another scoff from its pilot, Aphrodite A followed.
A few moments later, Koji and Sayaka entered the library. Sayaka entered through the balcony, as Aphrodite A lacked a detachable Pilder to land on the ground, instead lying down and leaning its head against the balcony. Twilight looked at the two of them, as they quickly embraced each other.
"It's nice that you two have been reunited." She said, getting an embarrassed look from Koji, "I'll leave you two alone to catch up. If either of you need me, I'll be upstairs." She proceeded to the second floor to see Spike, greeting her with a warm smile. "So, Spike, what do you think of our new guests?"
"I think they're all right, a little weird-looking, though..." Spike went over to the balcony to admire the giant machines parked next to the library, "Still, they brought some pretty cool stuff! I wonder if they'd make one in pony shape, for you guys." Spike looked at Twilight to see her eyes gleaming. Imagine how many problems she could solve with a super-robot of her own. Equestria need fear no more of dragons and other monsters. She shook her head, ridding it of such wishful thinking.
"That definitely would be nice." Twilight looked out the window to see Rainbow Dash staring at Mazinger Z, as if she was challenged to a staring contest. Rainbow Dash then proceeded to make a bunch of funny faces at Mazinger Z, but it's face remained stone-stiff. Rainbow then inspected the rest of its head.
"What the hay are you, anyhow?" She flew into Mazinger Z's now empty cranium, inspecting the inside, "No wonder you're not moving, you don't even have a brain!" She paused for a second before quickly flying out with a panicked realization in her eyes. "Then that means you're a zombie!" She went into a fighting stance, "Well, no zombie's gonna take Ponyville, I don't care how big you are!" She then heard Twilight Sparkle call from below, startling her in an embarrassing moment.
"Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow descended to the library balcony to meet Twilight, "What were you doing?" Rainbow Dash stuttered, obviously caught at a bad time.
"Um, w-well, I was--" She soon composed her thoughts, "Do you know what Mazinger-whatsit is? I mean, it's not reacting to anything, it's got hide like I've never seen since the dragon migration, and it's head is empty!"
"Well," Twilight cleared her throat, "Mazinger Z is actually a vehicle, as opposed to a living creature. Not only that, from what I'm told its the most advanced piece of machinery in all of Equestria, or even the world. It's head is empty because that's where the detachable cockpit goes when in use."
"So, who's been piloting?"
"Want to meet him? He's downstairs." Rainbow Dash followed Twilight downstairs to see Koji and Sayaka being circled by Rarity, Koji wearing a new dress that to Sayaka invoked a Victorian style, mixed with a tasteful accent of feathers and gemstones. To Koji, they were just fruity dresses that made him feel fruity when he looked at them. It didn't help his pride when he heard Rainbow Dash snickering at how flamboyant the new clothes were. "Rarity," Twilight said, raising an eyebrow, "What's going on here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry Twilight. It's just that when I saw Koji's clothing I simply wept at how, well," Rarity gave an apologetic look to Koji, who responded with a look of confusion, "Not to insult your fashion sense or anything, but it was quite ugly. The only thing that made it look right was the coloring, and even then it was much to bright."
"Brown, red, and yellow?" Koji said, a hint of frustration in his complaint.
"Well, needless to say you needed a new suit," Rarity turned back to Twilight, "And when Sayaka informed me about human taboos about nudity, I knew I had to make another dress for her as well! As fashionable as it is, she'll need much more than a white jumpsuit if she's going to stay here." Rarity pointed to Sayaka, who was standing still with her arms out while Rarity levitated a measuring tape to measure the width. She then turned her head to see Koji taking off the clothes she made, revealing his pilot suit inside while tossing the dress aside. "Wh-what? Don't you like the suit I made?"
"Well, If I'm gonna be wearing this instead of my pilot suit, make it something a little less formal." Koji nonchalantly suggested, "Or at least something that's easier to take off. Don't you have zippers or simple T-Shirts?" Rarity scoffed at the notion.
"Why in Equestria would I do that? I am an aspiring fashionista, why would I bother with such simple, drab concepts?" Koji slapped his forehead.
"Humans have nudity taboos?" Twilight said, "What, you don't have a fur coat?" Sayaka shook her head.
"Well, we're going to worry about necessities before focusing on fancy ball dresses," Koji looked through a nearby window to see ponies, "So, I assume I can't just go and buy factory-made clothes?"
"I wouldn't think so," Twilight answered, "You're going to need custom-made clothes, and Rarity here is Ponyville's tailor." Twilight pointed a hoof to Rarity. Koji let out a sigh of defeat.
"I guess we have no choice," Koji looked at Rarity with a nervous smile, "Can it at least be a little simpler than my pilot suit? I need to be able to change quickly between them."
"Certainly, darling!" Rarity beamed.
"Wait," Sayaka intervened, "I don't think we have any good money, how will we pay for the clothes among other things?" At this, Rarity waved a dismissive hoof.
"It's nothing to worry about, darling, I'll make your first set of clothes as a favor. Besides, I think the princesses will compensate Koji for saving their lives and that of countless others."
"Right,I heard about the battle last night," Sayaka approached Rarity and sat down next to her, "Tell me about it."
"Oh, the attack was horrible!" Rarity said, dramatizing her memories, "Everything was burning, the smoke filled the sky, and we were surrounded by Dr. Hell's soldiers as the mechanical brutes tore Canterlot apart! Worst of all, I GOT DIRT IN MY GLASS SLIPPERS!!!" While Rarity continued with her dramatic re-enactment, Koji approached Rainbow Dash.
"So, you're Rainbow Dash?" The rainbow-maned pegasus jumped into a hover to Koji's eye-level.
"THE one and only!" Koji crossed his arms, a confident smile plastered on his face.
"Think you can beat me in a race?" Koji said, with a cool air.
"Nope, if it's no holds barred, I got this race in the bag!" Rainbow Dash scoffed, "Those long legs might carry you far on land, but I'm fastest in the sky!"
"I didn't say I was racing you with my legs," Koji said, still with a calm aura, "I'm racing you with the Hover Pilder," he pointed out the window to the jet-propelled hovercraft, "I gave your friends a ride in it earlier, and they say the speed reminds them of you. I wanna see who's fastest!"
"You're on," Rainbow held out a hoof, "And may the best flyer win!" Koji shook her hoof, as they stared at each other. Both of them wore a happy grin on their mouths, but their eyes beheld an odd, positive tension. A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash and Koji Kabuto exited the library, a crowd already gathered to admire the machines parked just outside. When the library door creaked open, Koji was met with dozens of expacting faces.
"Oh, not again..." Luckily for Koji, Twilight quickly took charge of things, a bunch of measuring tools in her magical tow.
"Okay, I need everypony to back up," Twilight announced, "We're about to hold a race!" Twilight then proceeded to Koji and Rainbow Dash, "So, where do you plan on racing?"
"Well, first we'll do a few laps around Ponyville," Rainbow Dash confidently stated, "Let's make it three. Each lap, we have to take a turn into one of the many landmarks that surround Ponyville."
"But wait, Koji doesn't know the geography of Equestria, how will he navigate?" Twilight asked.
"Well, naturally I'll be ahead of him the whole time," Rainbow Dash confidently began, continuing with an angry glare from Twilight, "But I had Pinkie Pie mark each landmark detour with a colored flag." With that, Pinkie Pie characteristically burst out of nowhere with the same effect of a party popper.
"Yep, I marked each one with a different color!" She then pulled out colored flags as she described what the indicated, "The yellow flag goes to Froggy-bottom Bog, the grey one goes to Ghastly Gorge, the white one goes to Cloudsdale, and the REALLY big one on top of town hall will lead you back if you get lost!"
Just before Koji could get in the Pilder and the race could begin, Koji felt another hoof on his shoulder. He turned around and saw what he determined to be another princess.
"Hello," Celestia greeted with a pleasant smile, "You are Koji Kabuto, correct?"
"Yeah, and you're one of the princesses, if I'm right."
"Indeed you are," She nodded, "I am princess Celestia, and I came here to thank you for trying to protect Canterlot."
"Ehh," Koji groaned, "It was a bang-up job..." He pointed to the mostly destroyed mountainside city.
"But you've saved the lives of my subjects," Celestia interrupted, "And for that I am grateful."
"I was kinda lucky this time," Koji said, now entering deeper thought, "I caught them by surprise with Mazinger Z, usually they have some clever countermeasure against it. They don't want to waste mecha-beasts, so they usually just bring one or two specifically designed to take down Mazinger Z, not a whole legion. They knew they would've won by brute force." Koji then looked at Celestia, "I guess I got too confident when they brought in Daigaizer, thanks again for the save back there." Koji gave Celestia a thumbs up.
"You're very welcome," Celestia then changed the subject, "I'm actually here to talk to you about something. You see, this enemy, this 'Dr. Hell' is unlike any enemy that Equestria has faced before, and we need your help, Koji Kabuto."
"Don't sweat it," Koji insisted confidently, clenching his fist in front of himself, "Wherever Dr. Hell's armies attack, Mazinger Z and I will be there to mow them down!"
"That's good to hear," Celestia replied, "But I was also wondering if you could share intelligence, what exactly Dr. Hell has prepared for us."
"I'll tell you what I know, but I'm not sure if it can be useful." Koji then turned around when he heard Sayaka's voice calling for him.
"Koji~! Can you help me with something~?"
"Oh, who is that?" Celestia asked.
"That's Sayaka," Koji answered, blushing at how Sayaka lovingly dragged out her words, "She pilots Aphrodite A, the other robot right there." Koji points to Aphrodite A, laying with its hands propping up its head.
"Koji~!"
"I'd better see what she wants." Celestia giggled at Koji's response. He went to the source of the seductive calls, entering the now empty library. Twilight went to her mentor.
"Can't you believe it? From what I gather, these humans are an alien species," She began, ecstatic with the implications swirling in her head, "Not only that, but their technology far surpasses ours! You see, at first we thought Mazinger Z was a mount of some sort, but now I'm told that it's actually a machine!"
"So it is?" Celestia looked up at the towering black robot, "I am just grateful he is willing to help us." Celestia looked back down to see Koji leave the library, an odd daze to his gait as he approached the Hover Pilder. The canopy closed and it quickly took off.
"So we're starting the race!?" Rainbow Dash started, but before she could say anything else the Pilder dashed off into the sky. At its peak, its wings folded inward and it crashed into Mazinger Z's cranium. Twilight could feel that something was wrong, and headed for the library. The door opened in front of her, revealing Sayaka.
"Sayaka, what's going on?!" Twilight pleaded, receiving a malevolent smirk from Sakaya.
"I didn't think you'd recognize me this time," she growled, her eyes projecting a sickly green aura that was all to familiar to Twilight, Sayaka's body now enveloping in green flame, and the distorted voice of the pretender replacing Sayaka's voice. "I took acting lessons from Dr. Hell."
The flames cleared, and Celestia beheld the one being that could defeat her in a show of force. Regardless of how little chance she had, she stepped in front of Twilight and spread out her wing in front of her in a defensive stance.
"You won't win this time, I'm not going to let you or Dr. Hell harm my subjects." She stated.
"Such confident words from somepony that already lost," Chrysalis boasted, "I'd tear you limb-from-limb myself, but I have a town to demolish. Besides, did anypony say I would do it? Koji?" She called to Mazinger Z as she flew to Aprhodite A's open canopy, "Can you annihilate these worms for me?" Celestia's eyes widened, as she turned around to face Mazinger Z's glowing gaze. Aprhodite A rose, "Now, RISE MY MECHANICAL BEASTS!!!" Several mechanical beasts burst out from the ground on each side of Ponyville, preventing anypony from running away. In desperation, Celestia focused a large amount of energy into her horn, letting it off in a flare that illuminated the now setting sun. When the light dissipated, two comets of magical energy streamed from Canterlot, one a deep blue, and another a pale pink. They both crashed on either side of Celestia, the auras fading to reveal Princess Cadence and Princess Luna. They quickly took to the air to avoid Mazinger Z's photon beam, Celestia placing a shielding spell on the civilians that had gathered.
"My sister, what is going on?" Luna asked, "Why is Mazinger Z attacking us!?"
"I'm afraid its pilot, Koji Kabuto, is being controlled by the changeling queen," Celestia solemnly responded, seeing her subjects run in terror of the mechanized monsters. Shaking off her despair, she continued flying with her sister and niece following closely.
"What?" Cadence said, surprised that Chrysalis had retuned. "We have to get to Koji and break the spell!" Mazinger Z then let out a primal roar, as the Rust Hurricane blew the three princesses away. They landed at the edge of Ponyville, protected by a shielding spell from Luna.
"Sister, please, help me guide our subjects to safety!" Celestia rushed towards the chaos, tossing aside rubble before it could crush civilians. Luna quickly joined in, running next to her sister as they galloped straight to Mazinger Z. Cadence was just about to join, when she suddenly heard thundering footsteps from behind. She turned around to see Aphrodite A, but something was different about it. As she looked on, Aphrodite A reached behind its back, pulling out a long, curved scabbard, and throwing it at one of the mechanical monsters, smashing its head and knocking it onto another mecha-monster. The scabbard discarded, this new Aphrodite brandished a curved sword that gleamed in the sunset. Aphrodite rushed into the battle, slicing several mechanical brutes in half with one swing.
"What the-" Aphrodite A's pilot gasped, before it was standing it's exact image, minus the sword. It took a fighting stance, "So, another one of Dr. Hells tricks..."
"No, I orchestrated this myself," Chrysalis replied from within the other Aphrodite, "He simply gave me the resources I needed."
"Like Koji would fall for your stupid trick."
"Oh, I think he was very fooled," Mazinger Z stepped next to the Aphrodite that Chrysalis was piloting, "Weren't you, Koji?"
"Mm-hmm," Koji droned, Mazinger Z slumping over in a beastly posture.
"In fact, I think he was so fooled, he'd rather be my servant than be your boyfriend," Chrysalis lied, "Such a shame too, now nobody can stop Dr. Hell, much less myself. Koji, dispose of this wretch." Mazinger Z rushed the sword-wielding Aphrodite A, wrenching the blade from her feminine fingers and throwing it to the ground, Grabbing Aphrodite A by the arms, Mazinger Z swung the smaller robot around in a circle before throwing her into the Everfree Forest.
"Oh no!" Cadence gasped, quickly flying to where the mysterious second Aphrodite A landed. She came to a clearing of broken and uprooted trees, where Aphrodite A was laying. Hopping up its metal body, she looked inside the canopy to see the real Sayaka Yumi, tears steaming down her face as she sobbed in despair. Cadence tapped her foot on the glass. Sayaka looked up and opened the canopy.
"Y-You're-" Sayaka sniffed, but Cadence held up a hoof to silence her.
"That's not important right now," Cadence said, "That imposter was lying to you, she has Koji under a mind-control spell, and the longer he's under it the weaker he gets!" Sayaka's tears stopped as she lowered her head, "I need you to get me close so I can break the spell."
"That BITCH." Sayaka growled. Cadence was taken aback by the foul words, but she got a peircing glare from Sayaka. "GET IN." Cadence fearfully complied. Soon, the real Aphrodite A was standing upright and rushing towards the burning Ponyville, it's movements disturbingly similar to one of Dr. Hell's mechanical legion.
Meanwhile, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and even Fluttershy were trying to combat Chrysalis' attack, with little success. Even after getting all of the ponies into Applejack's wine cellar, they had no idea on how to combat both Mazinger Z and the mechanical brutes. They found themselves surrounded, the fake Aphrodite A looking down on them, accompanied by Chrysalis' mocking laughter.
"So how does it feel to be at the brink of defeat once again?" Chrysalis boasted. She then paused when she came to a sudden realization; this had happened before. "Koji, quickly, CRUSH THEM!!" Mazinger Z raised its foot over the eight ponies, and stomped down with all of its might, sending debris and dust into the air. The dust quickly cleared, showing that Celestia, Twilight, Luna and Rarity were using a shield spell on the group, protecting them in a magic bubble. Chrysalis did not hesitate with her next command. "Again, keep stomping until there's nothing left!" Mazinger Z started stomping on the shield rapidly, sending the group further and further into the ground. Rarity faltered first, collapsing from exertion. Soon Twilight collapsed, nearly passing out from exhaustion. With one last stomp, the shield was broken, Luna and Celestia knocked down by the remaining force. Mazinger Z raised its foot high, ready to deliver the killing blow, when it was suddenly tackled by Aphrodite A.
The real Aphrodite A.
It's skull canopy opened up and Cadence flew out between Koji and Sayaka. Her horn glowed, becoming brighter and brighter until its magical aura engulfed both humans. The magic concentrated into a crimson heart shape, bursting out in a magical wave. Koji shook his head.
"Ugh, what the heck happened?" Before he could get an answer, Sayaka tackled him in a strong embrace. She then did something that was a first between them: she kissed him. Stunned for a few seconds, Koji slowly wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes in euphoria. They broke away when they heard the cries of anger from Chrysalis, enraged that her plan had been foiled again by the same pony.
"Damn you, you pink wretch!" Crysalis screamed, "I'll just have to kill ALL OF YOU!!" The fake Aphrodite raised its narrow heel and stabbed it at the canopy in Mazinger Z's head in hopes of killing the humans inside. Koji quickly took to the controls and Mazinger Z grabbed the fake Aphrodite by the leg. With a quick pull, the impostor toppled over.
"Sayaka, quick, get back to Aphrodite A!" Koji yelled. Sayaka nodded and quickly ran back to Aphrodite A's open skullcap. Koji closed the Pilder's canopy as he stood Mazinger Z upright. He looked around to see that Mazinger Z and Aphrodite A were surrounded, not that he was discouraged. This was almost routine for him and Sayaka. The fake Aphrodite stood back up, now engulfing itself in green flame. A wave of its hand swept the flame away, revealing its true form. Aphrodite's feminine fingers were replaced with vicious talons, its curved yellow eyes now red and slanted, its ember frame replaced with a red and black skeletal chassis.
"As powerful as Mazinger Z is, do you think it has a chance against my personal mechanical beast, Hermaprhodite C2?" The mechanical beast sprouted long wing-like arms from its back, each ending in three long scythes.
"So it's a shape-shifting mechanical beast," Koji observed, unintimidated, "Like that'll save you!" Mazinger Z raised its arms forward, one bracing the other at the bicep. Before he could fire the Rocket Punch, Aphrodite A put its arm in front of Mazinger Z.
"She's MINE." Sayaka ordered. Legitimately intimidated, Koji used Maiznger Z to grab Aphrodite's sword and scabbard off the ground, handing it to the feminine robot. Aphrodite sheathed it into a loop on its back.
"I'll make sure it stays a fair fight, then!" Koji then focused his attention on the rest of the mechanical beasts. Noticing some movement below, he looked down to see the ponies scurrying to the exhausted princesses and unicorns. Mazinger Z dove its body over them to protect them from a missile barrage, "Get out of here, Sayaka and I can handle the rest!" He ordered, launching a Rocket Punch at the mechanical brute that attacked them. Without hesitation, the equines cleared the area, turning around and gazing on as spectators of the rumble between metal giants that tore apart Ponyville.
Aphrodite A and the Hermaprhodite C2 were locked in combat. Aphrodite A tackled its impostor to the ground before getting pushed off by a pair of slender legs. As Hermaphrodite regained its footing, it's pilot mocked that of Aphrodite.
"Mazinger Z far and away surpasses Aphrodite A," It's hand morphed into the straight end of a crowbar, "How can you hope to defeat something designed to surpass Mazinger Z?" It thrust the tip into the ground and pulled back, tossing up the earth in front of it and throwing Aphrodite A into the air. When Chysalis saw Aphrodite land on its feet, she had Hermaphrodite morph both of its arms together into a giant jagged javelin and charged at the female robot. Aphrodite responded by grabbing the end of the javelin and, using Hermaphrodite's momentum and weight against it, flipped the mechanical beast onto its back.
"You BITCH," Sayaka growled. Hermaphrodite retracted the spear, only to have it thrust out of its lower abdomen in an attempt to skewer Aphrodite A. The attack failed, as the feminine robot parried the attack and chopped down on the shaft, breaking off the spear. Aphrodite grabbed the spear and impaled Hermaphrodite on it. "You attack innocent ponies, you side with Dr. Hell, you try to destroy my Aphrodite A, and you try to separate me and Koji!" Aphrodite raised its fist, aimed at the pinned-down Hermaphrodite C2. "Now it's PAYBACK TIME!!!", Sayaka vented her rage onto Chrysalis and Hermaphrodite, landing heavy punch after punch to the mechanical beast's abdomen and face.
Meanwhile, Mazinger Z was facing dozens of mechanical monsters head-on. Koji prepared to use Breast Fire, but then noticed that lots of buildings were among the mechanized brutes. "Damn, don't wanna repeat yesterday," He muttered, tilting Mazinger Z's chest up, "Breast Fire!!" superheated rays of red light erupted from Mazinger Z's red breastplates, this time reducing airborne mech-monsters to ash while leaving the grounded menaces and the buildings around them intact. "Looks like I'll need some precision..." Koji said, preparing the Photon beam at a lower energy level. "Photon Beam!" Mazinger Z's eyes released a precise beam of energy that cleanly cut through the mechanical beasts. Many metallic clangs could be heard as the heads of the mechanical beasts hit the ground. "And that's all for today!" Koji boasted, seeing no more enemies in front of him or on radar. He turned around to see Aphrodite A continuing to pummel Hermaphrodite C2, each consecutive hit sending a jolt through its otherwise limp limbs. "Umm, Sayaka?" Mazinger Z touched Aprhodite A on the shoulder, making Sayaka stop her assault, "It's over, you already cut its head off." Sayaka looked blankly at the decapitated machine.
"I didn't do that..." She said, she looked up to see the head morphing into what looked like a jet, "There it is!" Aphrodite pointed to it, but Koji did nothing upon hearing the cries of defeat from Queen Chrysalis.
"She'd better run," Koji boasted, "Because from now on you're dealing with double the trouble!" Sayaka stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "...What?"
"You have failed me, Queen Chrysalis," The tyrant Dr. Hell stated, seated up upon his thrown and looking down upon the changeling queen as if she was his mere servant, "Still, you preserved Hermaphrodite's head, the one part that it's transformation abilities cannon replace. Therefore, you must be punished just as Baron Ashura was, and no more." The changeling quickly rose to her hooves to object.
"Baron Ashura is no more than your servant," she opposed, "I am queen of the changelings, and I will not be treated the same as Ashura by a pathetic, naked ape!" She charged at Dr. Hell, still possessing all of the power that she had attained by mimicking Princess Cadence at the royal wedding, and using it all up in a powerful blast of magic concentrated at the scientist-tyrant. The beam of sickly green energy collided with Dr. Hell's chest, burrowing through his abdomen and exiting through the back of his spine. Queen Chrysalis watched his body slump over, and grinned maliciously.
"Now I will make Baron Ashura MY servant!" She morphed into the form of Dr. Hell just as Baron Ashura burst into the throne room. She looked at Baron Ashura, expecting the two-faced hermaphrodite to bow down in reverence, as Ashura had always done in Dr. Hell's presence. Instead, Baron Ashura's face became flooded with red rage.
"Queen Chrysalis has murdered Dr. Hell!" The Baron had screamed into the halls behind, which soon filled with soldiers brandishing swords and guns in anger, "Seize her!" Queen Chrysalis looked at the hands of her disguise in confusion and panic, only realizing that she was staring at her own hole-filled hooves. She fell on her forehooves and looked up to see Hell's legion run at her, Baron Ashura leading the charge. All of a sudden a shadow blocked the changeling's view, and everybody looked in awe. The shadow turned around, and revealed itself to be Dr. Hell.
"B-But I killed you!" The changeling queen stuttered," My magic tore through you like your machine monsters through canterlot!"
"But you didn't, and what of if you had?" Dr. Hell gestured to his legion, "If I die by your hoof, you face the everlasting torment of my namesake before and in the afterlife!" The enraged tyrant turned around and stared Chrysalis in the eye, "This betrayal cannot go unpunished, especially considering your debt to me; who else will kidnap ponies so that your people may feed off of them?"
"But how did you disable my ability to take disguises!?" The changeling queen shrieked in defiant disbelief, looking again at her hole-filled hooves.
"I have a master illusionist in my ranks," Dr. Hell explained, "With your changeling army, I thought I would gain an advantage in numbers, but your strategy is merely a weak shadow of his. His strategies are far more efficient, and he is more loyal to me." Dr. Hell returned to his throne, where the mirage in his image disappeared. "I merely had him cast a spell on you that would make you unable to assume forms, as long as I willed it. He also created the illusion that you vanquished so quickly." As Baron Ashura clobbered Chrysalis in the face with his/her scepter, and sending the changeling queen to her knees before Dr. Hell, the scientist-tyrant continued, "However, since you seem so protective of your people and won't bother assimilating them into my ranks, there is one other thing that you can give me to pay for your debt."
"I don't understand!"
"Oh, do you now? Don't try to deny your past. Was there once a time when you could overpower the being that can make the very world go 'round?" Dr. Hell bore a malevolent smile as his gaze met the knowing, and yet confused stare of Chrysalis.
"But I need to feed to regain that kind of power, I have since lost it..."
"But if I were to feed you enough, you would surpass that amount of power, wouldn't you?" Chrysalis regained her confidence and immediately formed a plan of escape when she was powerful enough. However, Dr. Hell knew what she was up to when he saw her smile and bow obediently. "Ashura, how would you like to have a new, powerful Mechanical Monster to be added to your ranks?" At first, Chrysalis remained confident, if a little confused as to why Dr. Hell would bring up something so off-topic.
"I would be most grateful, Dr. Hell!" The two-faced hermaphrodite quickly and graciously responded.
"Then take the power core and build one from our finest materials!" Dr. Hell rose from his throne triumphantly, his blood-red cape bellowing in an unseen wind, "I will see to it that this mechanical beast has the most powerful body that any machine can have, and with it we will crush Mazinger Z as if it were an insect!"
"Where is the core, Dr. Hell?" Baron Ashura cautiously questioned, "I don't see a single machine here."
"Right in front of you." Dr. Hell stated, pointing his staff at Chrysalis, who immediately froze.
"Hahaha, so you'll have a worse punishment than me, after all." Baron Ashura cackled, "Seize her!" Chrysalis rushed to the exit as fast as she could, but to no avail as the Iron Mask had already filled the corridor. Dr. Hell laughed in pleasure as he heard the wretched equine's cries of pain as his soldiers overwhelmed her.
"In the mean time, Viscount Pygman?" Dr. Hell called into the darkness, where a green-skinned pygmy emerged from seemingly nowhere.
"Yes, Dr. Hell?" The imp hissed.
"Keep Mazinger Z occupied until this creation is complete, I'm counting on you to keep Mazinger Z busy, perhaps soften up Equestria's forces."
"And what if I could defeat Mazinger Z?" The pale-green pygmy twiddled his fingers, expecting an affirmative from Dr. Hell. However, Dr. Hell instead glared at Pygman.
"As miraculous as that could be, Mazinger Z has proven time and time-again that no weapon in our current arsenal could possibly stand a chance against it, and as much as I hate to admit it, this wretched machine of the photon labs can only be defeated by a new machine," The aged tyrant rose from his throne and approached Pygman, "That being said, I will not tolerate anymore of your wasteful antics!" His staff met the ground, establishing his authority, "You may use the resources under your control, and no more!" Dr. Hell proceeded back to his throne, not turning back when Pygman continued debating his plans.
"What if I were to find more resources on my own, Dr. Hell?" The green imp rubbed his hands together expectantly, "What if I found something that could possibly surpass Mazinger Z?" Dr. Hell stopped walking, and glared over his shoulder at Pygman.
"You don't mean to tell me..."
"The Spirit of Chaos! The very god of destruction that the 'people' of this world have come to fear in just a few minutes of his reign of terror! If I freed him, there's no telling what we could do!" The green imp was clearly liking his plan. With something as unpredictable as that in his hand, the forces of hell would be unstoppable. However, Dr. Hell turned around with a piercing glare of disapproval.
"I FORBID YOU TO FREE DISCORD!!!" Dr. Hell roared, the points of his forked staff now poised at Pygman's throat. "Just as there's no telling what we could do if he was on our side, there's also no telling what he could do if he wasn't. You have already seen how trustworthy the fiends of this world are," the old scientist gestured to the hall in front of him, screams of agony still echoing through them, "And don't think he'll be any more trustworthy with you alone." Dr. Hell quickly put his staff to rest at his side and continued to his throne. Taking a seat in it, he made one more announcement.
"However, Pygman, I will allow you to steal the Elements of Harmony." Pygman looked on slack-jawed, "With the elements gone, Equestria's backbone is crushed, and Mazinger Z's last resource is severed. I trust you can recover them from Canterlot in it's damaged state?" Pygman made a gracious bow to Dr. Hell.
"Certainly, your highness, it's such a brilliant plan!" He then disappeared, leaving to his mission.
Author's Note
Edit: Fixed the music link and some spelling errors.
