The Machine Dragon

The Frozen North, several dozen miles outside the Crystal Empire, roughly a day later

Twilight stood stern as the cold and the frigid snowflakes swirled in the air around her. Up ahead a few paces were Shining, Cadance, and several members of the excavation team, plus almost half a dozen guards. Spike trekked beside his big sister, partly stumbling due to the thickness of the snow as he advanced. Everypony (and the singular dragon) present were clad in thick, poofy, jackets. All in all, there were a little over a dozen of them, a mixture of crystal ponies, earth ponies, unicorns, a pegasus or two, hard to tell exactly though given all of the jackets and coats.

Speaking of, numerous layers covered their fur, their faces wrapped in scarves and their eyes covered with goggles. Only the unicorns present had their horns peeking out from the hoods of their coats, Twi, Shining, and Cadance included obviously.

As she marched, barely able to concentrate on anything other than plodding through the snow and keeping her breathing stable, she realized only then she still hadn’t asked the two about Flurry! She frowned beneath her facial coverings at that fact; given the sheer blur and sheer excitement the past day had been, there was little else she could do to get some time to check up on her niece. She couldn’t exactly ask the question now of all times, so she remained silent as the march continued.

The landscape around them had little of note. Thankfully, there were no gorges or chasms. There were a few smaller hills up ahead, however, they posed little threat of collapsing. It was all relatively flat, which was a good thing of course. It did make the entire area seem quite… strange though. How long had this place gone unexplored? Due to the sheer ruggedness of the terrain and temperature, likely for most, if not all of Equestria’s history!

Professor Fossil, clad in a deep blue coat and equally deep blue scarf, stepped up next to the princess, breaking her from her musings.

“Are you alright, Princess Twilight?” she questioned, practically having to raise her voice to a mid-shouting tone to speak over the billowing wind and snow.

“I’m fine!” assured the purple mare with a nod, her own tone quite loud.

“You don’t have to worry about Twily, she’s been through a lot worse!” boasted Shining Armor, turning his wrapping-covered head back over his shoulder to snicker the line out at the mares. Spike himself gave a small chuckle as well.

“Yeah, a little bit of rough weather is nothing!” the drake added.

Fossil nodded, giving a small smile of her own, causing the scarf wrapped over her muzzle to shift just slightly.

“The excavation site is up ahead a few dozen paces, just over that hill!” called out the professor.

This got a small nod from the princess, and the group of about a dozen or so ponies continued up the hill. Snow crunched under their hooves, as the mixed group trekked upwards, adding a bit more strain on everypony, especially those who were hauling equipment.

As they crested the top of the mound of snow, ice, and rock, Twilight could see the camp/excavation site below. There were almost a dozen tents, one notable one that lay dead ahead was a small barracks station, which was watched over by two standing pegasi guards, spears groped in their glove-wrapped wings.

There was a medical tent to the right, and further to the right of that was an even larger tent, likely the main research facility here. It helped that right beside it there were numerous large scanners and metal detectors sitting, a large tarp strung up to cover them from the harsh snowfall. Out in the distance, about three or four hundred hoofsteps further past the camp, she could see more equipment set up on the relatively flat ground that waited below. No doubt that was where their strange machine was found.

“Come on, let’s get you all warm and grab some grub!” shouted a burly stallion, coated in a crimson jacket, as he motioned the group off to the left side of the camp towards another large tent. Said tent had the image of a bowl with steam lines coming off of it etched into the large front flap that acted as a door. It was a mess hall no doubt.

After trekking down the other side of the hill, the group managed to make their way into the tent, with a unicorn magically holding the “door” open, letting the royalty pass through first, along with Fossil and Spike. The interior of the tent was plain. It was quite roomy though, being a few dozen hoofsteps long, and wide.

The flooring was just a few wooden boards nailed together and laid down, there were a few large tables neatly organized to the group’s left, and then to the right was a small cooking station, currently being manned by a mint green earth mare, who was making a batch of rice. The only actual furniture of note was a ping pong table, which was being intensely used by a pair of pegasi who were holding the paddles with their wings, striking the small ball back and forth thanks to their quick reaction speeds.

The warm air inside basically slapped everycreature present in the face, with Spike being the first to tug down his scarf, exposing his deep purple scales. He took a few breaths, getting the warmth into his lungs.

“Oh Spike, are you alright?” Twilight asked, her tone matronly.

“I’m fine, Twi,” he chuckled. “I can breathe fire after all.”

“Preferably not in the tent, please, mister The Dragon,” Fossil added, unraveling her scarf, most of the others following suit.

This caused the royalty of the group, and Spike himself, to give a round of chuckles. Soon though, Twilight finally got a chance to properly greet Cadance now that the two weren’t swamped with paperwork or trekking across a barren, snowy wasteland.

“Cadance, I meant to ask, but how is little Flurry Heart doing?” Twilight questioned.

“You know how she can be,” chuckled the older alicorn. “A little bundle of energy as always. Thankfully Sunburst is taking care of her- I don’t know what we’d do without him!”

“Especially with all the paperwork we’ve been swamped with recently,” added Shining Armor, before grinning to himself. “Who knew charting an expedition to a frigid wasteland would be such a hassle?”

Twilight gave a small snort as the rest of the ponies fully settled in, unwrapping their faces and partly loosening their jackets, though they did still mostly keep them on, given they’d be out in the snow once again before long. After a few minutes, many of them were going over to grab themselves helpings of flowers, rice, and such. Spike himself broke off from his siblings, taking a small baggie of gems (thanks to Twilight’s expertise in packing) to snack on as he went back to the adoring crystal ponies of the unit.

From there, little else happened. The meal wasn’t exactly the most glamorous, but none of the royalty questioned it, sitting alongside their fellow pony without issue. Shining would occasionally give a dad joke, nudging his fellow guards. Spike would get more laughs and cheers from the crowd though, mainly from the crystal ponies though, which was obviously fine by him!

Before long though, Professor Fossil made her way over to the trio of royalty, a small clipboard in her hooves as she took a seat, grabbing a pin from one of her jacket's pockets.

“Princess Sparkle, Princess Cadance, Prince Shining,” she nodded, giving her respectful introductions as she nodded, almost bowing, at the three of them. They perked up, with Cadance having a mouthful of flowers and rice as she honed in on the professor’s words. “I don’t mean to rush you all, but I was hoping that within the hour, we could harness your magic. With the combined energy of Cadance and Twilight, it should be enough to capture the image of the automaton with… roughly ninety eight percent accuracy.”

“Wait, I could help!” offered Shining, with him sitting up straighter as the mare turned her attention to him.

“I understand your magical prowess is… extremely impressive in its own right, Prince Armor,” the earth pony replied, her tone respectful, a faint trace of embarrassment and uncertainty in her words at having to “tell off” one of the rulers of Equestria. “However, having too many gifted users attempt to activate this machine at once could lead to… complications. It could overload the power supply, or cause a surge and fry the whole thing, setting us back a week… I’m sure you understand, sir.”

“Right,” he nodded, slumping back down a bit. While he tried hiding the disappointment, Cadance could easily spot the faint traces of it. The alicorn mare gently reached out, patting his side with her forehoof, which almost immediately made her husband feel better.

“This whole thing won't be dangerous, will it?” asked Spike.

“No. At worst, it will make both princesses feel very slightly drained for about half an hour after using,” Fossil explained. “Normally, this equipment would be handled by regular unicorns for smaller scale scanning, however, due to the depth of the ice and the sheer size of the automaton, we need a higher magical prowess, as I said before.”

“Well, I guess there’s not much reason to wait,” Cadance offered.

“We’re ready when you are, professor,” added Twilight with a small nod of affirmation.

“Excellent, just give me a moment to prepare the machinery, and we will call for you,” Fossil said, wrapping herself up in a scarf once more.

It was about an hour later, and everything was in place. The scanning device was quite large, easily a dozen paces across, and a bit taller than anypony present, even beating the tip of Cadance’s horn by a few inches. It looked almost like a gigantic hockey puck or some type of radar scanner that was positioned downwards.

A long, thick, electrical wire ran off from the side port of one of the machines, with it connecting to a small research tent. Currently the royal trio, Spike, Fossil, and a few others were inside, huddled around several crude, magically powered monitors, and several other sensors.

Both Twilight and Cadance had removed their jackets, and while the interior was far warmer than it was outside, a chill still ran up their spines. A white unicorn mare in a labcoat magically offered each of the princesses a small, golden ring, sized perfectly enough to fit over their horns. Said rings were connected to numerous wires, which ran into the nearby console, which then ran outside, back into the massive scanner.

“Now ya might feel a slight tingling,” the unicorn mare offered, a soft, sugary sweet Whinnysotan accent in her voice, “Just take deep breaths, and ya both will be right as rain! I’ll be right alongside ya every step of the way.”

The two alicorns nodded, placing the rings over their horns. Doctor Fossil gave a check over the monitors and various pieces of equipment, which were manned by more labcoat-wearing ponies. Soon enough, she trotted over to the two monarchs, looking between the duo as she spoke.

“Alright, in just a moment, I will have Dawnstar here activate the machines,” the archaeologist explained, motioning behind herself to a sleek, blueish-black unicorn stallion. “One last time I must ask, are you both sure you want to lend your magic?”

The princesses looked between each other, almost snickering at how late the question was, though they understood why exactly the earth mare would question them. They soon nodded amongst themselves, and both Shining and Spike smiled, silently agreeing with their family members.

“We’re ready,” Twilight audibly confirmed.

With a final nod, Fossil gave her team a little longer, going back over to check on the machinery once more.

“You know… why didn’t you guys bring in Daring Do for this?” Spike pondered amidst his family, partly whispering given the mare in question was a secret identity, though it was a secret identity that wasn’t fully hidden amongst royalty, at least after her sudden retirement. “Seems like she’d be all over this stuff.”

“We attempted to, but she never returned any of our letters,” Shining Armor admitted. “I guess it’s either due to the fact she works alone, or she’s taking her newfound freetime a bit harder than we thought.”

“Rainbow has been awfully worried about her,” Twilight replied. “Maybe after all this is over, I can try to help track her down. For Dash’s sake at least…”

There was little more time to discuss the archaeological adventurer as before long, a less adventurous one soon trotted over to the two.

“Alright, we’ve triple, and quadruple checked the systems… Just give us the go ahead, princesses,” Fossil spoke.

Almost all of the eyes in the room were on the duo, with the majority of the scientists and archaeologists looking to their leaders for confirmation.

Twilight and Cadance gave their respective nods.

The switch was flipped, buttons were pressed, and the numerous pieces of machinery began whirring and wooing. Outside a loud BRRRRZZZZZZZ sound rang out, as the ground partly rumbled. While it wasn’t enough to knock anypony off their feet, it made a few pencils roll off their respective desks and clipboards jitter.

BRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZ

The duo’s horns lit up as the machine began doing its work. Blue magic flowed from Cadance’s horn and down the wiring, while Twi’s let out a strawberryish, purple hue. Their combined energy seemed to almost overcharge the scanning device, as a few ponies monitoring outside could see it almost come to life, vibrating and shaking slightly from the power of the two powerful princesses.

Back inside though, Twilight felt her magic slowly being sapped. Not very fun to experience, but this was about the good of her subjects, not her comfort. Cadance herself was reminded of the time she had to give all of her alicorn magic to her sister-in-law, to save it from being absorbed by Tirek, however this was far less demanding. Instead of an instant draining sensation, it was more of a slow crawl downwards.

“Five percent of the mapping completed,” Dawnstar said as an image slowly began to form on the monitor he sat in front of.

“Ye're doing great,” the Whinnysotan unicorn added, giving the two mares a small nod, smile on her face the whole time.

The two alicorns smiled back, though they didn't speak, given their current positions.

Fossil’s eyes furrowed a bit, her gaze switching from the princesses to the machinery to the monitors, and then back, looping between the three every few seconds.

Shining and Spike remained at the two’s sides the entire time, just in case they were needed.

“Fifteen percent!” the dark blue stallion, called yet again.

Fossil looked over, her eyes furrowing further at what she saw. On the monitor, the image of a large… tail? Was taking shape. What kind of robo- automaton had a tail?

She shook it off, looking back to the princesses.

Twilight and Cadance were drained looking, but little else seemed wrong with the duo, and thus the magic draining continued.

“Twenty five percent!” the stallion called.

“What is that?” Shining Armor asked, looking towards the monitor.

While the model that was being fed into the equipment wasn’t the highest of quality, it was three-dimensional, being able to be turned, rotated, and such for superior viewing and studying. As Dawnstar rotated it though, the only thing the ponies could see were several large, jagged spikes, far larger than the comparatively tiny rhombus that had been sticking out of the ground. Now the group saw that said rhombus was just a tiny spike on a gigantic tail, a minute piece of the whole being.

“Fifty eight percent!” the deep blue stallion called.

The monitor updated again.

Some of the ponies gasped at the update.

The large spikes were running down to the machine’s back. Its shape was quite strange. Now they could see the partial beginnings of a large pair of feet. Said feet were wide, ending in metal claws, almost like that of a-

“Is that a dragon?” Spike asked, piping up.

While the image on screen didn’t have a pair of wings, from the little that was revealed, the machine seemed almost like a bipedal reptile. The long, spiked tail, muscular feet. Its back spikes were even close to well… Spike’s!

“What kind of creature would want to build a dragon?” one of the scientist stallions questioned, adjusting his glasses with a forehoof.

“Seventy two percent!” Dawnstar called once more.

Now almost half of the body of the creature was revealed. It was laying at a downward slanted angle, likely having fallen onto the side of a cliff or being partly buried by a cave-in long ago, never to rise again. The tail was resting just beneath the ice, which explained the strange rhombus jutting up from the snow.

While the majority of the survey crew already knew the machine’s general shape, few of them would’ve expected it to be a tail of all things. The guesses had ranged from tendril to even drill, but this seemed to have them all beat. Building a tail on a machine just didn’t seem all that important, especially given the fact the tail itself was very flexible, expertly built with segmented, armor that allowed for a natural movement of the joints.

Twilight and Cadance were slouching a bit now, pumping more of themselves into the radar, almost seeming like an attempt to finish the scan. Spike and Shining had their attention drawn away from the apparent machine dragon as they looked towards their family.

The two alicorns just managed a pair of partly weakened smiles at the males.

“Ninety six percent!” the unicorn male spoke.

By this point only the upper neck and head of the creature was invisible, but that wasn’t needed. The body-shape of the machine was fully revealed. Two long, stout legs, a pair of short arms, with the right one seeming a bit asymmetrical compared to the one on the left, as it was more armored and had a large square spike jutting off at the shoulder. Both of the forearms look like they had a pair of twin cannons mounted onto them. That fact made the scientists a tad nervous, sweat forming on some of their brows at the thought of the machine activating again.

However, the weirdest part was what was attached to the beast’s back. It was a large, square-shaped pack with several thrusters on the bottom; perfectly molded to lock onto the bipedal machine without interfering with its numerous spines. A pair of what seemed to be even larger cannons were mounted, resting on the upper shoulders of the automaton.

“Is… is it wearing a jetpack?” Spike questioned, wide-eyed. His worry for his sister was briefly clouded by his inner comic-fan, despite his prior attempts at dismissing the “childish entertainment.”

“There’s no way…” Fossil attempted, however as the scanner finished, the model in front of the group was complete.

“One hundred percent! Image is completed!” Dawnstar nodded.

The head appeared on the model, and almost instantly the loud noises from the machine outside slowed, stopping as quickly as they came, with the rumbling ending shortly after as well.

The face of the being was saurian, with a long snout poking out along with several teeth being displayed. It was a bizarre sight, and slowly everycreature present began to process just what they were looking at…

The group were looking at the slumbering form of a bipedal, gigantic, robotic, jetpack wearing, shoulder-and-arm-cannon mounted dragon.

There was a long, complete silence, as the scientists and a few guards looked between each other. One could hear a pin drop, or pencil rather, if they hadn’t already all fallen to the floor.

Amidst the quietness, Spike was the first to speak.

“Alright… This is WAY cooler than aliens…” he managed.

“Spiiike…” Twilight just managed to groan between her heavy breaths, with the alicorn’s horn ring being soon removed by the same Whinnysotan-accented unicorn who stayed by her side the entire time.

She wanted to lay down, but the princess pulled herself back to her feet as she stared at the monitor, millions of questions running through her head. If anything, she seemed more confused now than she had been when the group started…