Crisis In Equestria

A prefab concrete warehouse. Endlessly churning factories. Groups andd groups of young machines. Innocence? Ignorance? These were the things that Crisis dreamed about as his power slowly restored. The first of his memories were beginning to return.

Twilight, AJ and Rainbow had scoured the entire perimeter of the everfree forest searching for;

"A heartless villian!"

"A rare creature!"

"A cheating rival!"

In other words, Crisis. They had been looking since sunrise, and it was fast approaching midday.

"Ah bet it fell raht into the everfree forest.." muttered Applejack, as the trio searched in vain.

"No way!" Rainbow protested, "I told you a thousand times! It landed on the outskirts!"

She glared at AJ. The searching had made Applejack and Rainbow Dash cranky, and this was starting to look like yet another argument.

Before the two could get started on another shouting match, Twilight butted in.

"Girls! We still haven't tried north east. We should search there."

The farmer and the pegasus eased off and turned to follow Twilight, when suddenly...

"Ah've found it!!"

As AJ turned she had noticed a blackened patch of grass. There were drag marks leading off from the spot, and also...

"Footprints?" Rainbow wondered aloud. "But the only person who lives around here is..."

All three ponies turned to look at each other.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight gasped.

Rainbow Dash facehoofed. "Oh she didn't..."

"That monster must've tricked her!" Applejack pointed out.

"In that case, we've got to hurry! She might be in danger!" Twilight shouted to the others, as she began to sprint north towards Fluttershy's cottage. AJ and Rainbow followed suit.

Crisis booted up. Power levels were normal, crash damage was repaired, free will was...

Still there, like a candle in the dark.

Crisis analysed his surroundings; He was in a small wooden room, wrapped in a thick patchwork quilt. He pushed the quilt to the floor and sat up. A tiny window in the corner showed that he was on the outskirts of the forest, a place that...

Yet again, Crisis suprised himself.

The forest scared him. That was the free will talking, the machine on the other hand put forward a more convincing argument about the forest's danger.

There were high levels of GR energy within the forest. That explained the danger.

GR energy was volatile, erratic and extremely high concentrate. In other words, whatever was emiting that energy was very powerful.

Suddenly, he heard something. There was a light patter of footsteps approaching the room he was in. Crisis extended his hidden wrist blade. Better safe than sorry.

Fluttershy had been feeding the other animals, when she heard the sounds of the strange creature waking. After taking it home, she'd done her best to wake it up, but to no avail. It was unlike any animal she'd ever seen before!

The creature was silver in colour, and cold to the touch. It had no fur, no eyes and no mouth that she could see, just one strip running across it's head. The creature also didn't  appear in any of her animal books. Whatver the creature was, it was rare.

She opened the door slowly, so as not to startle it.

Crisis watched carefully as a yellow creature with twirling pink hair entered the room. Body language indicated fear, or unrest, and it moved slowly. The hidden blade retreated. There was no danger; the creature was clearly terrified.

"Good morning sleepy head!" fluttershy called softly to Crisis.

For a split second, machine and free will fought furiously over which would speak. This time, emotion won.

"Good morning. Where am I?" Crisis spoke, trying to remove the machine's influence on his voice. Unlike the others he had talked to, this did not have the desired effect.

Instantly, Fluttershy froze up, a look of shock on her face. She hadn't expected it to talk! If it could talk, then that meant it wasn't an animal! She could talk to animals fine, but people...

She turned red from embarassement, and her shyness stuck out. "You...," she whispered, "you.. you can t... talk?"

"Yes," Crisis replied. "I am able to talk." He was trying his hardest to make a good impression on the yellow creature, and it clearly wasn't working. Fluttershy was terrified! Maybe he was speaking too harshly...

He adjusted his voice to sound more like her, adding in pauses and speaking softly.

"You seem scared. Is.. is everything okay?"

Fluttershy was only able to squeak in return. The gravity of the situation had hit her, as she finally realised what she was talking to.

A tall.. intimidating..

Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on her door.

"Illjustgetthat!" Fluttershy squeaked, grateful for the interruption. She darted from the room, leaving Crisis confused.

Fluttershy answered the door, and was instantly knocked to thee ground by Rainbow Dash. Rainbow noticed who she had tackled, and flew into the air.

"Sorry Fluttershy, I thought you were that cheater!"

Rainbow was followed in by Twilight and Applejack.

"Ooh," Fluttershy said softly, "visitors. Yay."

She smiled happily at the trio, but was met by stoney faces.

"Where's it at Fluttershy?" AJ asked.

"Where's what at?" replied Fluttershy, a look of confusion on her face.

"That flying loser!" shouted Rainbow. "The one who thinks it's funny to cheat! When I get my hooves on him..."

"Not before me!" Yelled AJ. "That there monster threatened Applebloom!"

"Girls!" Twilight interjected before yet another argument developed. "I'm sure there's an explanation for both those things, but first we have to find it, and talk to it. Fluttershy, did you find a silver creature near the everfree forest?"

"Oh yes Twilight!" Fluttershy sang happily. "The poor thing looked hurt, so I took him in." Her voice became more concerned. "Except, I don't think he's an animal at all..."

"That's cause he aint," muttered Applejack. "He's some sort of... evil... being..."

"We don't know that AJ," said Twilight, sounding irritated. "We shouldn't judge it until we've talked to it. So, where is it Fluttershy?"

"It's in the back room," The yellow pegasus replied.

All four ponies turned to look at the bedrom door. "Okay," gulped Twilight. "It's time to solve this mystery once and for all..."

She raised a hoof, and pushed the door open.

Standing alongside the bed, in a fighting stance was the creature they had all been seeking.

Crisis.

Rainbow Dash immediately flew across the room, tackling him to the ground. Twilight and AJ rushed over to join her, leaving Fluttershy standing alone in the doorway.

"P... please be careful," she begged. "Don't hurt it..."

"Alright wise guy!" snarled Rainbow, pinning Crisis to the ground. "Your game is up! Who are you?!"

Twilight pushed rainbow off him. "Come on girls, lets be civil." She then adressed Crisis. "You've got some explaining to do! Who are you? What are you? Why are you here?

Crisis spoke with no emotion this time, he was worried by the aggression he sensed in these creatures. "I am Starfuel unit 774273 code named Crisis. I have no memory of my origins or purpose on this planet."

"No memories?" Twilight asked.

"Well why did ya'll threaten my kid sister?!" asked AJ indignantly.

"I have no memory of threatening any of this planet's species."

"You don't remember much do you?"

Twilight and Applejack looked over at Rainbow. She was scowling intently at Crisis.

"My memories were damaged in an explosion during my decent to this planet. They will finish restoring in time."

"But until then, you're lost." said Twilight sadly, a look of pity on her face.

"Don't tell me you're on his side!" Rainbow protested, sensing the sympathy in Twilight's voice. "He might be lying! He's dangerous!"

"Ah hate to say it, but this time ah agree with Rainbow Dash." AJ said, looking at Twilight. "Who knows what that thing is?"

"Um.. if... maybe..."

The trio turned to see Fluttershy nervously trying to speak.

"Maybe.. that is to say... perhaps... he's just.... lonely."

Twilight thought carefully. Finally, she looked up at the group. "I agree with Fluttershy. We shouldn't judge him this early on."

"Crisis," she spoke directly to the silver warrior. "What do you want to do?"

To complete the objective, and avoid corruption through conflict said the machine.

To be part of something, said the emotion.

"To be alone," said Crisis. This time, the machine side was right. He couldnt risk the mission failing.

Twilight's face fell. "Okay Crisis, you're free now. None of us will chase you anymore. She sounded defeated.

She felt defeated.

Applejack, on the other hand, felt shocked. "You're just letting him go??!!"

"Yes," Twilight replied, and she moved aside to let Crisis past. "It's not up to us. It's up to him."

Crisis strode past her toward freedom. There was one more obstacle however. Fluttershy.

Eyes wide an teary, she looked up at Crisis. "Please don't go." she whispered. Her kind nature picked up on something, despite Crisis' cold appearance and nature...

He was lonely.

Crisis hesitated, then walked past the weepy pegasus, and out the front door.

The machine was right. There was no time for friendship.

Before he left however, the metal figure turned, and looked at the assembled ponies, before uttering one word.

"Sorry."

Then he was gone.

The four stood in silence for a few minutes, before AJ finally spoke up. "Ah feel sorry for that thing."

"Me too," replied Twilight, sighing. "I think we should ask Celestia for some advice. If there's anyone who'll know what to do, It's her."

Satisfied, AJ and Twilight left the cottage, accompanied by a still teary Fluttershy.

Rainbow was not convinced. So he's managed to trick them with his cheater magic, that still doesn't change the fact that he could be dangerous.

She left the cottage, and flew into the still sky. All I have to do..

Is prove that it's dangerous!

Part of her wondered if maybe she was only doing this out of spite, but she tried to ignore this fact as she followed the low flying Crisis.

Crisis was thinking about a number of things; The confrontation with those creatures, these new found feelings and in particular...

Himself.

He knew from an internal database that he was a Biomech, so that meant that at one point he had been small.

Biomech were built as "children", then sent into the universe to absorb energy, and gain experience. They energy intake would prompt growth in nanobots, and in Crisis himself, thus saving his creators vast amounts of money.

Young Biomech lacked instructions, and just flew naively from planet to planet, gaining experience the hard way. They had young minds, that were overridden as the child reached full size.

Being small... there were other memories there, but it was almost as if they had been badly plastered over. Erased, or at least an attempt at erasing. All biomech had their memories blocked when they grew to full size, but Crisis had no idea why this was. Strangely, he could feel cracks in the plaster. Maybe these memories would return alongside his objectives.

His emotional side cried out in sadness. What was he? Why was he here? Where were his creators?

Emotions were hard work, he realised as his thoughts continued.

But they were worth it.

Spike, was going through a thought process not unlike that of Crisis. He was sitting on a fallen tree, watching as a group of dragons flew overhead in an ordered formation.

A part of him wished he was up there with them.

Of course, he loved his adoptive family; the six ponies he had lived around since his time in ponyville were an irreplaceable part of his life. They cared for him, and helped him through both easy, and hard times.

Still though, Spike wanted to meet other dragons, and not foolish ones like he had met during the migration.

He wanted to visit the mighty kingdom of Whitewing. Whitewing was one of the only known dragon empires, and this in itself was amazing. Dragons were either solitary, or part of a clan, and so a city of dragons was usually unheard of. Unlike the various clan dragons, Whitewing dragons were civilised, and were in many ways not unlike the ponies of Equestria. In fact, King Whitewing himself was an age old friend of princess Celestia, and as a result, Equestria and Whitewing were great allies.

There was however, still a level of secrecy upheld even in Whitewing, meaning that little was known about it. Spike longed to go there, even if only for a day.

"Huh, but I can't leave Ponyville without Twilight's company," Spike muttered tp himself. "And theres no way she'd let me visit whitewing..."

That's when Spike noticed movement behind him. A metallic figure stood against the hill behind him, sunlight relecting off it's alloy body. It was a majestic sight, uniform metal against wild, free nature. Standing out, yet blending in. Spike could only stare in shock.

As for Crisis, he had only stopped to analyse the strange creature before him. It was a reptile of some kind his database decided. Too small to pose a threat, and most likely unintelligent.

So Crisis was slightly suprised when the baby dragon spoke.

"Uh.. who are you"

For what felt like the thousandth time, he related his identification.

"Starfuel unit 774273, code named Crisis."

The same old designation. Why not just call himself Crisis? His serial number meant nothing to the reptile.

Also, Crisis had a nice ring to it.

Wow.. thought Spike. This thing is weird. He'd never seen anything like it, even through Twilight's seemingly endless supply of books. He looked carefully at Crisis, before turning away to watch the last dragons vanish over the horizon. Whatever this metal thing was, it seemed to be a one off.

Like him. Spike held back tears. Why couldnt he just be a pony like his friends? Why did he have to be the odd one out? The last dragon disappeared over the horizon.

Crisis was also watching as the last dragon vanished. The pair remained in silence for some time, before Crisis finally spoke.

"Why are you not with your kind?"

Spike instantly looked up, stunned by Crisis' statement. He thought for a while before replying.

"My... my kind live in this town. I guess I'm more of a pony than a dragon..."

Pony: Young horse. Resemblance to the creatures Crisis had previously spoken to. So they were called ponies. The machine refused to note this fact, however the emotion noted it with ease. Then the two sides returned to fighting. Crisis examined Spike. "You are alone in your species."

"Yeah..." replied Spike. Don't get me wrong, I love Ponyville. It's just... sometimes I feel that I'm the odd one out. That I'm not... wanted."

"I see." said Crisis. There was more silence.

"I'm probably wrong," said Spike. He looked up from the ground, at Crisis. "Still though, It would be nice to meet other dragons. Whitewing dragons that is."

"I could take you."

"What!!?" both Spike, and the machine side exclaimed. The machine horrified, Spike delighted.

"To the Dragons. You could fly with me."

"I... I..." Spike was torn. He wanted to go to whitewing and meet other dragons, but he felt guilty about not telling Twilight. she was his closest friend... almost a sister. Then again... It's not as if he'd be gone long... just a couple of hours, then back in time for dinner. Twilight would never know!

"Okay!" said Spike, a determined look on his face. "I'll go."

Crisis nodded. He had finally made a connection with someone. Him and Spike were both out of place here. They were both alone, in species. Crisis' emotional side noted something else about him and Spike. They were now friends.

The baby dragon leapt aboard Crisis' cold alloy back, and then Crisis engaged his boosters. Twin scramjets launched him into the air, and far into the distance.

Spike was amazed; he'd never seen anything this advanced. He'd also never flown this smoothly, and efficiently. Still though, his thoughts kept returning to his friends, and how they would worry if he wasn't back on time.

It'll be okay... though Spike. Twilight would never find out that he was gone, after all, nopony was watching.

However he was wrong.

Somepony was watching. A brightly coloured pegasus...

With a look of horror on her face.

TO BE CONTINUED

The next thing he knew, the unicorns fired parallel beams of light that overpowered his armour and blasted him backwards.

His energometer responded to the attack by analysing. GR energy, and in large amounts too. The ponies had the upper hand, or rather...

Hoof.