Evanstallion: Neon Friendship

Ponyville was a quaint, little town nestled in the hills of Equestria. It contained a small market where the ponies of the town would gather to sell their goods. It was there a small, grey pegasus was shopping for her best friend. He was a doctor: a doctor of science. She had accidentally flown into one of his models of the universe and fractured the small round orb representing the moon.

The pegasus stopped by the flower stand and smelled the sweet fragrance of the lilies. They were always her favorite. She asked for a bundle to bring to her friend as an apology and promised herself not to eat them along the way this time. The flower stand pony handed her bouquet and she flew to find the Doc excited by the delicious smell of the lilies.

“Ooh my gosh!” a voice shouted behind her. “The horror! The horror!”

The grey mare turned her head to see the flower salespony pointing in her direction, who fainted and collapsed on the ground. The pegasus looked forward again only to smash into something incredibly hard. She slid down the hard thing to the ground.

The grey pegasus looked up at the large thing in front of her. Its shadowy form loomed over her but her eyes wouldn’t focus and the thing blurred and doubled. She shook her head and looked again to see a huge, beaked monster in front of her. It stood on two legs and towered over her and the closest buildings. The gray mare began to run away but turned and found her lilies had been crushed. Saddened, she resumed her course away from the menacing beast. The monster bellowed and began smashing nearby buildings. Ponies from the town ran towards the Everfree forest for safety.

***

Far in the distant city of Canterlot, the tall, radiant ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia and the guards of the UP, United Ponies, watched a magic monitor. The monster bellowed as guard pegasi converged on its location.

“Tell them to use their magic missiles,” ordered Commander Shining Armor. “Aim for the head.”

The screen displayed a cascade of colored rockets and projectiles all aimed at the horrid beast. The creature looked up at the pegasi army pelting it with prismatic weaponry, then resumed its course.

“It doesn’t appear to be effective,” observed the concerned Princess.

“We shall try something else at once,” Shining affirmed. “Use the bubble based mortar rounds.”

The mountains surrounding Ponyville began to unleash a barrage of multicolored bubbles. The creature slowed and turned its white, crow-like head towards the delicate display. The bubbles collided with it and began to explode in a large ball of fire. Layer after layer of bubbles exploded around it. Undaunted the monster continued its trek to a nearby town.

Behind the Princess, Discord and Mud Briar watched as the UP’s efforts were wasted as they attacked again and again. Discord’s long draconequus body pitched forward so that his head leaned on his mismatched claws. He wore a long black jacket and red-tinted shades. He placed his white-gloved hands in a steeple and peered broodingly over them.

Discord’s companion, Mud Briar, was an emotionally stunted earth pony wearing a grey suit. His mane was cut in a mod type fashion. He watched the screen with a disinterested glance.

“Their efforts are futile,” Mud Briar droned. “That creature has an impenetrable hide as well as an AT field.”

“Well we know that,”responded Discord with a wicked grin,” but it’s amusing to watch them learn.”

“Only the Evanstallions we have created have capacity to stand up to such a creature.”

“Just let the army play with their little toys. They will realize they need us soon enough.”

Discord peered greedily from behind the opal shining princess. She ignored him.

“At least I hope they do,” the draconequus added sucking on his one tusk in impatience. “Otherwise this will be a much shorter story.”

***

Fluttershy, a small yellow pegasus, stood in a phone booth in the nearby town of Ponyville 3. She cringed as each explosion echoed out across the valley that separated the two villages. Fluttershy wondered why they would name a town Ponyville 3, when the original was a mere field away. What happened to Ponyville 2? She cringed at the thought at what could have happened and shook the scary thoughts from her head.

The cringing pegasus frantically pressed the buttons on the phone to the number she was given. The phone rang and rang but no pony answered.

“Oh, dear,” Fluttershy thought, ”what am I going to do?”

The yellow mare looked at the phone number again to check if she had remembered it correctly. It remained the same as the last 10 times she had rechecked it. It was written on the back of a photo of a pink earth pony smiling at the camera wearing a black dress named Pinkie Pie. She was hugging two balloons to her chest and a hoof drawn arrow pointed to them and stated, “look at this!”

Fluttershy snickered as she looked at all the other arrows on the photo that pointed to various things in the background. Each subsequent arrow commanded her to look, “here”, “and here”. The amount of arrows threatened to over take the image.

Fluttershy giggled at the strange correspondence the two had recently. Pinkie Pie seemed like a fun pony that enjoyed parties. Fluttershy had many tea parties in the past and wondered what kind of fun tea parties she would have. She looked down at her drab, off-white, buttoned down shirt and plain,beige khakis and wondered if she should have dressed up for the event. But as she looked at the desolate streets of Ponyville 3 she felt the bitterness of disappointment.

“Oh, it doesn’t look like Pinkie is coming. Perhaps I should get to a shelter. But if I go to a shelter and she shows up looking for me then she’ll think I left. That would feel awful to be abandoned by a friend. Maybe I could…”

A large impact shook Fluttershy off her hooves. She noticed the power lines above her twist and sway. Suddenly a flash caught her eye. She looked down the street to see a gray pony with a purple mane. It had a sullen look on its face.

An “uh?” escaped Fluttershy’s lips. Then the other pony vanished.

The ground next to the confused pegasus exploded as a large foot crashed through the pavement. The chunks of road tore up the phone and buildings around her. She let out a little “eep” then stiffened like a board and fell to the ground. She tried to stay as still as possible. The huge monster continued on its way.

Fluttershy closed her eyes tight and thought about becoming invisible. She tried desperately to control her breathing which had quickened to a rapid pace. She visualized herself as hollow or see-through. Her ears rotated towards a strange rumbling sound. She tried to become smaller. The rumbling increased until it sounded like it was right in front of her.

“Fluttershy?” a voice shouted at her. Now the monster was calling for her by name! She pulled into a tighter ball. “Fluttershy, come on,” said the voice again. Fluttershy hoped the voice would go away.

“Fluttershy this is no time for a nap,” scolded the bubbly voice. “We need to get out of her or that monster could flatten us.”

Fluttershy’s eyes popped open and she flapped to her hooves. In front of her was the same bright pink pony in her photo on top of a bright blue cannon. Fluttershy hesitated at the sight of the cannon.

“Get on, we have got to get out of here now,” Pinkie shouted.

Fluttershy jumped on and the cannon sped off. “Um, how is this cannon rolling on it’s own?”

“No time for questions, silly,” Pinkie responded. Pinkie lowered her body to the cannon’s enormous muzzle and it picked up speed somehow. Fluttershy clung to the large cylinder as best she could. She flapped her wings to keep herself from sliding off any further.

The cannon sped out of town while another squadron of pegasi engaged the giant. They fired more rainbow rounds and threw more explosives. The monster was momentarily phased at their persistence and didn’t notice the cannon roll onto the main roadway out of town. The little cannon put great distance on the monster and soon found themselves approaching a scenic overlook.

“How did you know where to find me?” asked Fluttershy.

“My Pinkie sense has never failed me yet,” answered Pinkie with a large grin. Suddenly her face became very serious. “Wait a minute. Ears flapping. Eyes crossing. Tail twisting. They’re going to drop an N2 mine! Get down!”

Pinkie flung her body over Fluttershy to cover her as the ground violently shook and the air exploded around them. Fluttershy quickly glimpsed a rainbow colored ring stretch out across the sky. Dust and small debris scattered past them as the concussive wave knocked Pinkie’s cannon over. Fluttershy silently prayed to whatever deity was in control that she would survive.

***

The UP headquarters exploded with cheers as the magic monitor displayed nothing but debris.

“Wait,” commanded Celestia. The cheers began to die out except for a single pony who didn’t hear. He found the nearby ponies staring at him and quieted.

The guards stared back at the screen. The room gasped and groaned as the looming, gaunt form of the creature stood still and tall in front of the buildings.

“No effect at all,” gasped Shining Armor.

“There’s nothing more we can do,” Celestia stated with great finality. She turned her eyes to Discord behind her, who waved with a pleased smile. “The fate of Equestria is in your hooves now.”

“Technically he has hands,” answered Mud Briar.

“It’s ok, Mud Briar. Thank you, Princess,” Discord said bowing cordially. “This is the reason why CAKE exists. To the Discord copter!”

***

Pinkie and Fluttershy stood with their backs to the cannon. They placed their front hooves under the cold barrel and began to heave. Fluttershy felt the strain immediately on her back hooves. Her thighs feel like they were about to explode. Sweat poured off of her head and she felt a little faint. The cannon finally began to lift off the ground.

Pinkie dug her hooves into the ground and gave one mighty lurch. The cannon caught the implication and righted itself.

“Thanks Fluttershy. It would have been impossible if I had to push this back up myself,” beamed Pinkie.

“Yes, you um welcome,” Fluttershy quietly said to her hair. “I just um wondered why you didn’t use it to fight that monster back there.”

“Oh, it’s not that kind of cannon,” Pinkie explained and patted its side. A large clang echoed from the barrel as she did. She pulled the cannon’s string and confetti mixed with streamers rained from the sky.

“It’s a party cannon. I brought it here to properly welcome you to Ponyville 3 and your new job at CAKE.”

“CAKE? Is that where my friend Discord works?”

“Yeah, he runs it. It’s a secret organization,” she shouted. “So don’t tell anypony about it, ok. Speaking of which, I have to get you there. Discord is going to want to see you right away.”

“Oh dear, does he need me for something?”

“Probably. I haven’t been there very long myself. All I know it’s super dooper important.”

Fluttershy’s heart sank. She hoped he would be able to explain why she couldn’t remember what happened between them. But it sounded like he called her for some sort of job. She quietly climbed back on Pinkie’s party cannon.

“Aww,” cried Pinkie. “Don’t look so down. It probably won’t be that hard to do. It’s not as though the fate Equestria rides on it or anything.”

***

Discord stood in front of his desk in the command center of CAKE. The room was a large circle with computers and screens lining the front wall. Trixie, Lyra, and Bon Bon sat behind their terminals while Twilight marched into position in front of them emboldened in her white lab coat. She took a breath and addressed the group. “Ok team. We are a go. Celestia is counting us to make this machine work.”

Lyra waved her hoof in Twilight’s direction. “Um, how is this thing going to fight if we don’t have a pilot?,” she asked. “Isn’t the first filly hurt?”

“Good question,” commended Twilight and pulled a note card out. “It says here a new pilot is being delivered to us and please sit up.”

Lyra shifted from her normal slouched position on the chair to a more appropriate one.

“I want Unit-01 up and running in anticipation for her arrival,” commanded Twilight expertly.

“Yes, Ma’am,” the three mares answered in unison.

Twilight strode over to Trixie’s station. She sighed disapprovingly at the cyan unicorn’s large star printed hat on her head.

“Trixie,” she hissed quietly. “We talked about this. You can’t wear your hat in the office.”

“Sorry, Twi..ma’am,” Trixie apologized for the countless time.

“Are all the preparations made, Twilight?,” asked Discord as he sat in his chair.

“Yes, Commander Discord.”

“Good. I want the pilot taken right to the Evanstallion. We need to get into this fight as soon as possible. Oh and bring me some green jello they didn’t have any on the Discord-copter.”

***

Pinkie and Fluttershy rode the cannon into CAKE’s entryway and took a large elevator down.

“So you don’t even know what your good friend has been up to all these years?” asked Pinkie brightly.

“No” Fluttershy admitted. “I kind of lost contact with him some time ago, I think. To be honest I am having trouble remembering what happened between us but I know it must of been something awful. Every time think about him I feel a little nervous and sad.”

“That’s weird, are you missing memory too?”

“Yes. It’s the strangest thing.”

Fluttershy tried to remember her earliest memory but was jolted by the elevator. The large open platform started to descend into the complex. Pinkie, Fluttershy and the cannon all coasted down together. Fluttershy moved closer to Pinkie for fear of falling off.

“So what sort of things does Discord do here?” Fluttershy asked trying to sound like she wasn’t envisioning the elevator chain breaking and crashing to their deaths.

“He’s in charge of the safety of all Equestria. We have these huge robot things that are kind scary but not as scary those angel things we saw back in town. They’re trying to hurt ponies. So it’s our job to stop them. Right now we have an angel right above us wrecking things and hurting ponies. We have a huge robot to fight it but we need a pilot. They said Commander Discord called you here to pilot.”

“Really? I’ve never done that before.”

“I know but the Commander thinks you can help us defeat the angel over head.”

“Defeat the Angel? Me? How? I can’t do that?”

The two made their way through the steel lined labyrinth to the Evanstallion holding cell. Pinkie pronged while Fluttershy looked about nervously. The tense pegasus tried to imagine what fighting a beast like she saw before would be like. The very thought made her feel faint in terror. What could Discord be thinking? How could a small meek pegasus that could hardly fly fight a huge angel? She didn’t see anyway she could do it.

“I’m sorry, Pinkie but I think you have the wrong...,” Fluttershy began. She stopped when she noticed a purple unicorn in a lab coat waiting for them by a large orange lake.

“Hello Fluttershy, my name is Twilight Sparkle,” it said reading from a card. “ I helped design the Evanstallion as well as the spells that aid them.”

Fluttershy stared at her quietly as she finished. Twilight seemed a bit flustered by the silence and hurriedly pulled the next card.

“This is Evanstallion Unit-01. Or just Unit-01 for short. This will be your Eva.”

Fluttershy remained completely still and continued to stare at the ground.

“Umm she does talk right?” asked Twilight to Pinkie.

“She seemed pretty fine to me,” shrugged Pinkie. “Maybe she’s afraid of unicorns.”

“Oh, it’s ok,” said Twilight softening her tone like she was talking to a small foal. “Unicorns are nothing to be afraid of. We’re regular ponies just like you.”

“Except for the crazy magical horn,” injected Pinkie.

“Not helping.”

“Oh, I’m not afraid of unicorns,” explained Fluttershy in voice that both ponies strained to hear. “I’m scared of bmm.”

“What was that?” asked Twilight. “Was that Ponish?”

“I’m afraid of giant robots,” shouted Fluttershy. “And orange lakes.”

“Oh that’s not so bad,” laughed Pinkie.

“She’s here to pilot a giant robot. How is she going to do that if she’s afraid of them?” demanded the exasperated unicorn.

“Oh, I guess that is kinda bad. What if we just bring her to the robot blindfolded? Then she doesn’t have to be afraid of the orange lake.”

Pinkie wasted no time and quickly pulled a blindfold from her mane. “It’s for surprise party emergencies,” she explained to Twilight’s inquisitive look. They lifted Fluttershy onto the boat and crossed the orange lake.

It wasn’t long before they approached the large equine form of Uni-01. A large horn protruded from its head. It was covered in purple and lime green armor. Its mane and tail was a mass of wires. A purple plate of armor sealed its mouth shut. It stood stories tall and looked down on them with darkened eyes.

Pinkie Pie shuddered involuntarily. The Evanstallion unnerved her. She was supposed to bring smiles to all the ponies of the world. The Eva was only there for destruction.

The little boat arrived at a small catwalk in front of the dominating robot. Twilight and Pinkie helped carry the petrified Fluttershy off the boat and in front of the Eva. Fluttershy struggled to get the blindfold off then immediately wished she hadn’t. The monstrous metal head of the Evanstallion stretched three ponies tall above her. The darkened sockets of the Eva suddenly awakened with two pin points of harsh blue light. They narrowed at her as she approached.

“Are the eyes supposed to do that when it isn’t on?” asked Pinkie uncertainly.

“No,” whispered Twilight. “It’s never done that before.”

Fluttershy saw behind the unnerving machine a large observational window . She could make out the sleek form of Discord observing her through it. Heat rose to her face as anger over powered her fear in that moment.

“Is this why you brought me here, Discord?” she demanded. “To pilot this horrid machine? To fight monsters for you? If you thought I was going to do that then you don’t know me at all.”

“But Equestria needs you Fluttershy,” responded Discord calmly. “All your pony friends and all the cute little animals need you. They’re getting hurt and their homes are getting wrecked by those angels as well.”

“I don’t know if that justifies hurting another creature.”

“But no pony else can do it right now. And you came all this way. I set up all this for you. Why don’t you give it a tinsy pilot? For me?”

“I’m just don’t think I can”, she mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

“Well this a fine kettle of fish,” said Discord kicking an unseen rock and adjusting his red tinted glasses.”I’m not entirely sure what to do now.”

“We could try Maud again,” suggested Mud Briar as he arrived behind him.

“I suppose we’ll have to. Just a shame really. I had hoped my good friend would help us out. After all, when all of life hangs in the delicate balance isn’t that when true friends step up the most? Oh well. Bring out Maud.”

A team of medical ponies wheeled a stretcher with the same pony Fluttershy saw in the street lying in it. She had bandages on her right eye and shoulder. Fluttershy couldn’t believe that Discord would be so cruel to make this poor pony fight in that machine.

“Maud, you will do it again,” instructed Discord as turned to leave.

“Ok,” responded the dead tone of the pony in the bed.

“That’s not fair to make her pilot that thing,” Fluttershy blurted to Discord, her eyes brimmed with tears of sympathy. “She’s hurt.”

“I’m sorry to ask this of you, Fluttershy,” Twilight said placing her hoof on her shoulder,” but if you won’t pilot it, she has to. We have no other pilots and no pony else can do it.”

Before the little pegasus could respond the entire complex shook. One of the light fixtures in the ceiling shook loose and plummeted towards the wide-eyed Fluttershy. She ducked and placed her wings over her head. Fluttershy cowered waiting for the dull thud of the lamp and splinter of bone that never came. She peeked one eye open and noticed the light fixture floating above her in a shimmer of lavender. She followed the light and saw Twilight straining to hold the fixture with her magic. The sweating unicorn threw it into the orange waves.

“Thanks I..,” Fluttershy began then her pupils shrank in shock. Maud had fallen out of the stretcher. “Oh my goodness,” she gasped and rushed to Maud’s side.

Fluttershy began to place her hooves on Maud’s body to check for injuries.

“Ow,” said Maud in a dead monotone, as Fluttershy pressed on her side. Fluttershy pulled her hoof back and revealed bright red blood on it.

“Oh you poor dear,” gasped Fluttershy. “No pony should make some pony do something when they’re hurt. Alright, Discord, I’ll pilot it.”

Discord merely nodded but a small grin appeared on his face.

Twilight pressed a series of buttons on a nearby control panel. Behind the monstrous metal pony’s head a large hatch opened and a large white tube ejected.

“We need you to climb in,” explained Twilight.

Fluttershy found herself in a small cockpit filled with dials and displays. There was a large seat with pedals that strapped to her hooves. She placed her hooves on the pedals and felt the clamps lock on. Then the top of tube closed. Darkness filled the space for an instant only to be vanquished by yellow light. Fluttershy could see the bottom filling with the pale orange liquid from the lake.

“Not the orange water again,” whined Fluttershy.

“It’s ok,” cooed Twilight. “The liquid will fill your lungs and exchange air directly. You’ll be ok. Now the Evanstallion runs off of magic that enters through a cable attached to your Eva’s tail. If the power is cut you have only five minutes left before the magic runs out.”

Twilight finished the initial steps then returned to the control center with Pinkie pronging in tow.

“Ok, ponies this is for real,” she declared to her team as she entered. “Clear the entryway. Open the exit tubes. Remove the restraints.”

“Biometrics in sync,” informed Bon Bon.

“Amazing,” cried Pinkie,”it’s like we found the most super duper pony for the job.”

“It is impressive on her first try,” confirmed Twilight.“Ok everypony, we’re as ready as we’re ever going to be.”

“Eva launch,” screamed Pinkie pulling the cord on her party cannon. It exploded over the control center coating their work stations in multicolored confetti scraps.

“Is she going to do that every time?” asked Trixie covered in confetti.

The Evanstallion shot up a metal launch duct. Fluttershy felt crushed as the G forces pushed her further in her seat. The tube’s interior vanished from view and was replaced with the images of the outside. Fluttershy watched with trepidation as the surface rushed down to meet her. The blinding light of the sun caught Fluttershy by surprise as the machine breached the city.