Phoenix Equestria

by PyraBlue Heart

First published 31st of August, 2015

A group of robots suddenly appearing in Equestria wasn't planned. Sealed away until they are needed again they rest and dream of their battles before. A young Twilight Sparkle finds them on accident and befriends one. Just a regular day in Equestria.

Sealed away until they are once again needed, a group of friends are sent to Equestria as a squad of Galactic Rangers from Ratchet and Clank 3.

One of them knows what the future holds for the ponies and stops the rest of them from interfering with critical events, causing friction between the group.

Nearly a thousand years after Nightmare Moons banishment a young Twilight Sparkle finds them, befriending one of the robots.

Can they mend the bond that was destroyed centuries ago? Will they be able to stop a group of psychopaths from destroying Equestria? Will one of the rangers find the siren he fell in love with before her banishment? Well read and find out.

Chapter one: Put on your war paint

“Th...Tha...THANE!!!” Thane suddenly woke up to the sound of his cousin yelling his name, but something was wrong with his voice, it was...robotic. He opened his eye to see four robots standing around him, each with a arm cannon on their left arm, and a head in the middle of their chest. One bot a blue paintjob, another yellow, sleeker design, the third was a purple ranger, with a blocky design, and the final looked like a tank. That last one was taller than any of the others, as well as more armored, with a silver and purple paintjob. He was over twice the size of the others.

“Ok... “ Thane started, noticing his own voice was also sounding robotic. “What the hell happened to us? Nathan?” He asked, looking at each of the robots

The largest robot stepped forward, “Right here cus.”

“Nathan...why are you dressed like that?”

“Look at yourself cus…” Thane blinked then looked down at his body. He was surprised to see his body was made of a jet black metal, and even more surprised to find his head in the middle of his torso. It was also jet black, and unlike the other robots, he had two hands.

“What exactly happened Nate?” Thane asked while looking to himself.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but I’m pretty sure we’ll get a flashback any second now…”

“How does that work?” Nathan just shrugged his shoulders and everything went white.

“Tolja…”

The silver and purple sports car shot down the street towards city hall, where this years Comic-Con was being held. When the car slid into the parking space the group of friends opened their doors and held their stomachs.

A girl in a purple hoodie rested her arm on the door frame. “Jesus Nathan, do you have to drive so fast?”

The tall boy in a grey and purple jacket merely chuckled. “Hey, I got us here in one piece didn’t I?”

The oldest of the group glared at Nathan, “Don’t ever do that again.” He groaned, keeping his stomach down.

Nathan chuckled again, “We’ll see cus.” Two others stumbled out of the car, a female teen with a yellow sports jacket and a younger teen with a blue sweater.

The group exited the car, slamming their doors. They headed to the back of the car and opened up the trunk. Inside was five cases, each containing a costume. “Heres mine…” Nathan said, pulling out a case with a silver and purple stripe out.

Nathan moved away, allowing the oldest to grab his case, a pure black case without a stripe on it. “Here’s yours Zane.” He said to the young teen in the blue sweater, taking out a case with a blue stripe on it.

The younger teen smiled shyly at his older brother, “T-thanks Thane.” He said, taking the case from his brother. The three moved away from the area leaving the girls behind.

Nathan tossed his keys back to them. “When you girls are done putting on your makeup, we’ll be over at the entrance.” The girls glared at him before grabbing their bags. Krystal, the one in the purple hoodie grabbed the door of the trunk and was about to slam it shut. “You slam that door and crack the glass it’s comin out of your purse Krystal!”

The group entered the building in their matching Galactic Ranger costumes. “I can’t believe we forgot the arm cannons.” Krystal moaned through her mask.

Nathan shook his head. “I offered to take us back to get them but Nooooooooo.”

Thane turned to his cousin. “It’s because you’re such a dangerous driver.”

Nathan smirked. “Then why is it I’m the only one of us that has a driver's licence?”

Everyone stopped except for Katie and Nathan. “Why is he the only one with a licence?”

Silence befell the group as they all stared at the now humming Nathan. They all looked at each other in question, they shook their heads and continued on. After walking around and stopping at some stalls, Zane spotted something out of the corner of his eye. “Guys, that guy over there is selling arm cannon props.”

The group stopped and looked to where the youngest member of the group was pointing. Sure enough, there was a stall with a black cloth with a tall thin man standing behind it, he was eyeing the group. Nathan felt off about something. “Something about that guy seems...familiar.”

Krystal patted him on the back and started walking towards the stall with the rest of the group. Nathan still felt unsure but followed. When they reached the table the man smiled. “Hello, what can I do for you today?”

Thane stepped forward. “How much for the arm cannons?”

The man chuckled. “They’re free of charge.”

Zane stepped forward. “Really?”

Nathan watched the man carefully as he gave them their props. Except that there wasn’t a cannon for Thane. “Oh dear, it appears that I’m one short, here, have this shield generator instead.”

Thane put on the glove that matched his costumes design. “Thanks, what is your name by the way?”

The man stood tall and bowed. “I am known by many names, but most call me…” He looked up to face Nathan’s suspicious glare. “...The Merchant.”

A look of fear punched Nathan in the face as he remembered the man. “Oh shi…” At that second, a bright light enveloped the group, what they heard was the laughter of the Merchant.

Thane’s eyesight returned, he looked to see the silver and purple ranger punching the stone wall. “How could I have forgotten that guy, after all of the displaced I’ve read?”

Thane got to his metallic feet. “Wait, you know what’s going on?”

Nathan made one last blow to the way, causing the room to shake. “What’s going on is that that God damn Merchant sent us to another world. I should have remembered!”

He adjusted his arm cannon to be aimed at a rock and a small blast shot from it, leaving a small crater in the floor. Thane looked to his cousins cannon. “That thing works?”

Nathan just looked at his cannon and sighed. “Yep, even this works…”

Thane got up and placed his hand on Nathan's shoulder. “Do you know what's happened?”

Nathan faced the group, each of them giving him a confused look. “I know what’s going on but you’re not gonna like it. Right now, we are not on our world, we’ve been sent here by that damned merchant, when we took those props we basically threw our lives away.”

Everyone stepped a bit closer. “How do you know this Nathan?”

Nathan shook his eye. “I can’t tell you that, it will only cause problems.”

Thane was about to say something else but was interrupted by a door opening. “The princess will speak to you now.”

Nathan straightened himself and faced the figure in the doorway. “Ok, we will be right out.”

The figure nodded and exited the cave like room. The group looked to Nathan as if expecting him to explain. “Ok guys, when we go out here, don’t ask any questions, don’t say anything and don’t touch anything, I’ll do the talking.”

The group was surprised at how serious Nathan was acting, he wasn’t his usual hyperactive self. “And why should we let you do the talking?”

Nathan just turned away and began walking towards the exit. “Because right now your lives might depend on it, I don’t know what version of this world we were sent to, so just trust me, I know what to do here.”

The group looked at each other unsure but followed him, all debating whether or not any of this was real. Nathan looked back at the group and sighed. 'I need to figure out where we are in the timeline, then I can plan our next move. Like it or not we're stuck here.'

He took a quick look around, making sure to take in key details. It didn't look anything like the Canterlot castle. 'Wait a minute." He looked out a window and saw a forest of thorns. 'This is before Nightmare Moons banishment.'

Over one thousand years later

A young Twilight Sparkle ran through the castle halls, Celestia hot on her heels. They were currently playing a game of tag as a break from studying, plus Celestia loved playing with the filly as it was in her instincts to be as motherly as possible towards her. "Catch me if you can princess!" Twilight made a sharp turn in an unfamiliar hallway, a hallway Celestia knew all too well.

"Wait, Twilight, watch out for the steps!" Her warning reached Twilight all too late and she fell down a long flight of stair, leading her into the underground portion of the castle. Twilight used her magic to stop herself from hitting the floor at the bottom.

Twilight shook her head and looked around at the dark hallway.

"Twilight! Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine princess!" Twilight shouted up to her mentor. She looked back to the hallway, she spotted a candle nearby and lit it with her magic, sending a warm glow over the green stone walls. "It looks like nopony's been down here in years."

"Because nopony has." Twilight turned to see Celestia walking towards her with a serious look on her face. She cast a spell and multiple candles in the hallway lit up. "This was one of the first hallways ever built in the castle, and it houses some of Equestrias greatest warriors." Twilight watched as Celestia walked down the hall and to a large stone door that had the symbol of a Phoenix engraved on it. "The warriors were put to rest long ago, after the banishment of a great evil, they had no reason to remain active during this time of peace. So they went to sleep, waiting for the day they would be needed again." Celestia leaned down to Twilight. "Do you want to see them?"

Twilight nodded and Celestia opened the door. They were greeted by a cloud of dust as they walked into the chamber. Along the walls sat four capsules, each a different colour and covered in webs and dust. Twilight walked over to a capsule and wiped away the dust, revealing the sleeping body of a galactic ranger. "What are they?"

"They are the galactic rangers, a group of living machines that were sent here from another world. This ranger is the leader of the group, Thane." Celestia then pointed to the next capsule. "In there is the teams medic, Zane." She moved over to the opposite wall and wiped the dust off the glass. "These are the two female officers, Katie and Krystal. Katie is the sniper and Krystal is their technical support."

Twilight looked around the room confused. "Shouldn't there be a weapons specialist in the team?"

"I see you've been reading up on the military protocols and methods." Twilight eagerly nodded. "You are right, there is a weapons specialist, but he would not fit into this chamber or a capsule." Celestia exited the room and Twilight followed. They reached a much larger door and entered the room. Twilight could hear breathing in the dark room and began to become scared. "It's alright, that's just him sleeping. I'll wake him up to introduce you."

Celestia cast a spell and the room became illuminated, revealing a huge sleeping ranger, over twice the size of the others and heavily armoured.

Celestia walked up to it and tapped it's leg in a pattern. Suddenly the breathing stopped and the eye of the robot glowed purple. This ranger, unlike the others, had two colours on his armour, silver and purple. He sat up and looked down at Celestia.

"Oh, hello Tia, is something attacking Equestria?" He held out his hand and Celestia climbed onto it as if it were a platform. He brought her to eye level, unintentionally lifting Twilight in the process.

"No Nathan, a certain little filly stumbled upon these chambers and I thought I'd introduce you." Nathan looked at her with his huge eye then noticed Twilight hiding behind her legs.

"Ah, so the little element has been born. Don't be afraid Twilight Sparkle, I will not hurt you."

"How do you know my name?" Twilight stepped forward, walking until she was right at his eye.

"That I can not say, but I will tell you this. You are destined for great things Twilight, great things indeed."

"How could you know that, there are no spells for seeing the future, unless the world you came from had the technology for that, but it would be impossible to sustain that much information without going mentally insane, but it could be because of your circuitry or maybe some kind of foreign magic or force that gave you psychokinetic abilities."

Nathan just looked at her. "You're a wordy wee thing aren't ya?"

"Well I do love to read."

He nodded and looked to Celestia. "So, it's been a thousand years since I was last awake?"

"Almost, you haven't missed much."

"Ah, well, I appreciate you coming down to visit me. If you ever want to talk Twilight, you know where to find me." Twilight smiled and he set them back on the ground. As Twilight walked out of the door Celestia stopped and turned to the giant robot.

"You used to be so immature around me Nathan, apart from our meeting of course. Tell me, what's changed?"

Nathan sighed and lay his back against the wall. "A thousand years of solitude does things to a guy, I'm still the Nathan you know, I just know when I need to be serious." Celestia nodded and began to walk out. "By the way, happy birthday."

Celestia stopped in her tracks and looked back to see Nathan had went back to sleep. She smiled and left him at peace.

Author's Notes:

[youtube=

https://youtu.be/yKOlBZJ7Izs?t=70

]

Character profiles can be found in this blog post.

Chapter two: Back in action

Over the years Twilight visited Nathan in the caves many times, she would talk about stuff like what new spells she learned or how her studies were going and he'd tell her of missions that he and the squad went on in the past, although whenever he talked about the squad he seemed to get a bit depressed. When she asked him about it he told her that a few things happened between him and his friends.

"Do you know they way I know about your future?" She nodded. "Lets just say I had to let a few bad things happen for the sake of the future."

"What kind of things?"

"I can't say, some things are better left forgotten...for now at least." He walked over to a curtain and pulled it away, revealing a large emblem with the letter 'M' written in a circle of fire. "Twilight, if you ever see this emblem on a monster or building that is inhabited, you let me know."

"Wh-"

"Don't ask questions, just promise me that you'll come get me if you see this emblem."

She looked at her giant friend and nodded. He sighed in relief and sat back down beside her. "Can I ask you something that's been bothering me for awhile now?"

"Sure."

"How come you're so big, even the other Rangers were taller than the princess, you're as tall as a young adult dragon." He looked at her with his huge eye before standing up and pointed to his waist.

"There is a device on my waist called a Size-O-Matic, it allows me to change from my original size to giant."

"Then why stay giant?"

He sighed and placed his hand on the floor for her to walk onto. He lifted her to eye level and she sat down. "I stay this size to feel strong, like I can do something. There's a lot of personal reasons behind it, the other rangers don't even know about it since I always stayed the same size around them." She placed a hoof on his giant eye and looked at him with caring eyes. "You should go, you've got more studying to do for that test in a few days." She nodded and hugged his eye, the jumped down from his hand and walked out the door.

He sighed and rested his back against the wall. "how the hell am I gonna explain the Maniacs to her?"

11 years later

After sending the now Alicorn Twilight off with their alicorn magic, the three princesses sighed in relief. Celestia looked to Cadence and them to Luna who was looking at her sister with a worried expression. "What's wrong Luna?"

"I was just thinking, maybe...just as a precaution...we should activate Phoenix Squad."

Celestia took a minute to think about it, she had no doubt her student would prevail in her task, but she had to be careful when the fate of the world was a stake. "Alright, we will activate the rangers." Luna nodded and the three alicorns shakily proceeded to the old hallways.

"Should we use Nathan or the squad?"

"The squad, Nathan would probably try to stop them from destroying Tirek. I don't want to have another feud on my hooves like years ago." Luna nodded and opened the large stone doors. They walked over to capsules and pressed large buttons on the bottom of each pod. Steam escaped from the pods as the three royals stepped back.

A black metal hand moved the glass door out of the way and Thane stepped out, his black body blending into the darkness, the only visible part of his body was his large Crimson eye. The next ranger stepped out of his pod, he was noticeably smaller and his blue metal could be seen through the darkness. The next two rangers stepped out at the same time, one had a slimmer figure with yellow metal and the other was a rather blocky looking ranger with purple armour. The yellow one had a much longer arm cannon and the blue one had a smaller cannon and the black one had two hands with no cannon.

The robots looked to each other then to the princesses and noticed that they looked pale. Thane ran over to Celestia and began looking her over as the others did the same with the two other mares. "What happened to you?"

"Tirek, has returned. We expelled our magic into my student in hopes of hiding it from him."

"Why didn't you just awake us up first, we could have taken him on."

"No, that wouldn't have worked. There are certain things that have to happen, you know this."

"That's exactly what Nathan said when Nightmare Moon was banished."

Celestia nodded and turned to the others. "Here are your orders, you are to assist my student Twilight Sparkle in ponyville, but you are only to engage Tirek if all else fails." They saluted and made their way out of the room. Thane picked up the tired Celestia while Zane and Katie carried Cadence and Luna.

Meanwhile, Nathan's eye lit up and his programming told him the other rangers were awake. "Tirek..."

After an intense battle Tirek and Twilight stared each other down. "It appears we are at an impass." He clicked his fingers "How about a trade, your friends, for all the alicorn Magic in Equestria." Twilights friends kept telling Twilight not to do it, but she let her emotions get the better of her.

she agreed to his demands and Tirek let her friends go. After a heartwarming scene with Discord they figured out that the necklace was the last key, but before they could run to the tree of harmony a force field surrounded them, trapping them inside. They turned to see Tirek twice the size he was when he fought Twilight. "You didn't think I'd just let you go, did you? I've learned my lesson from those accursed galactic rangers!"

Twilights ears flicked up at the sound of the robots names. "You know the rangers?"

(Music)

Tirek raised a brow at Twilight. "Wait...how do you know about them? They aren't still around are they?" The smug look on Twilights face confirmed his fears. "Doesn't matter, with all of this alicorn Magic they are no match for me!" Just then, multiple missiles shot into the air and landed oh Tireks back, causing him to grunt in pain.

He turned to see three of the rangers standing there with different rocket launchers from the RYNO(1) series. Just then a sharp pain cut through his neck. There was Thane with two energy blades coming from his wrists had used a camouflage belt to sneak up on Tirek and cut his neck. He jumped out of the way as Tirek tried to swat him and turned invisible to get away.

"DONT YOU HIDE FROM ME COWARD!!!" Tirek started wildly shooting huge beams of energy at the ground around him. While he was distracted Katie aimed her cannon with a scope and shot Tirek straight in the eyes, temporarily blinding him. He screamed in pain, taking advantage of his disability, Krystal got up close and personal with her shock cannon as she shot his legs with charged blasts, sending him to the ground. Zane, feeling a bit brave, ran up to Tireks horns and started shooting them to disable the field around Twilight and her friends. "ENOUGH!!!" Tirek grabbed the rangers in his magic and held them in the air.

They struggled against the force but their resistance was futile. Tirek looked around for any other rangers and turned with fury in his eyes.

"WHERE IS HE!?!" He roared in the Rangers face. Twilight noticed something on Tireks arm, it was the same emblem that Nathan had shown her.

"Where's who, you pathetic crossbreed?" With Krystals little quip, Tirek sent the Rangers flying off in the direction of the girls, they landed just in front of the group and got to their feet. They felt the ground shake as Tirek charged towards them, but the way the ground shook, it felt like there was another giant running towards them.

Twilights face brightened up as she remembered the only other giant she knew. They then heard a loud robotic voice yell something out. "LEROYYYYYY JENKINS!!!" Just as Tirek was about to hit them a huge purple and silver fist hit him square in the jaw, sending him flying. "And it's good!"

The ponies jaws dropped as they gazed upon the towering robot that sent Tirek face first into a mountain.

Tirek got to his feet and stared at Nathan who had moved to a more open area to draw fire away from the girls. "So, you've shown yourself, my old nemesis. It's been a long time."

"And your still as ugly as the day I kicked your pathetic hybrid ass."

"You're as vulgar as ever."

"Awww, you remembered." They charged at each other and their fists collided, sending a shockwave over the large clearing. Nathan grabbed Tirek by the horns and swung him around until he smashed him into the ground. "I'll give credit where credit is due, you've gained a whole lotta weight from being in Tartarus, by the way, how's the Dogfather been?" Tirek roared in anger and swiped at him, he dodged and hit Tirek up the jaw.

He kicked Tirek away and charged up his arm cannon. "Kame-hame-ha!" He shot a huge purple beam at Tirek that hit him square in the chest. He then turned to Twilight. "Don't you have somewhere to be!?" He watched as the ponies snapped out of their trances and ran towards the tree of harmony.

Taking advantage of Nathan's distraction, Tirek pinned his arms behind his back and charged a beam of magic.

"Ohhhhh no, I am not getting buttraped by a monkey-horse!" Nathan swung his foot back and kicked Tirek in the groin, causing him to squeal like a girl. While Tirek fell to the floor, Nathan put his cannon to his mouth. "You wanna know what death tastes like?" He shot a powerful beam of magic down Tireks throat. "Y'know now that I think about it, this can easily be misinterpreted as something else."

Tirek grabbed the cannon and threw Nathan off of him. "Enough playing around!"

"Oh this isn't playing, this is a little thing called a distraction." He shot a barrage of rockets from his shoulders onto Tirek which caused him to wince and backpedal. "Ah, such a shame. A G1 villain returned from a forgotten age, put into writing perfection. But why Larson, why give us such filth to work with, and now good ol'Tirek pays the price." Nathan glanced over to the cliff where he saw Twilight and the girls in their rainbow forms. "I believe my work here is done, say hi to Cerberus for me, I did always love that dog."

The girls shot their rainbow deathbeam at Tirek and freed all the magic in Equestria. As Tirek was thrown into the portal to Tartarus Nathan looked in and waved at him. "Eat me, don't forget to write."

The crystal castle appeared and the three princesses were freed. After a really catchy musical number, Twilight ran out of the castle and into a shrunken Nathan's arms. "Nathan, it's so good to see you again!"

"Good to see you too squirt, what's it been a year?" She nodded and hugged him. "Look at you, a princess now, what did I tell ya huh?"

"Yeah yeah, destined for great things yadayada." He chuckled and set her on his shoulder. The rest of the main six walked up to him with great interest. "Ah, the rest of the elements, I was wondering when I'd get to meet you lot."

"Nathan, this is Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Girls, this is my childhood friend I told you about, Nathan." Pinkie began jumping all around Nathan's body while Rainbow looked over his weapons. The rest of the Rangers were inside the castle talking to Celestia."

"I'm sorry we failed Celestia, we didn't anticipate Twilight giving up the alicorn magic." Thane apologised.

"One of us did." Zane pointed out. "Somehow Nathan knows what will happen."

"And he still refuses to explain how, all he says is 'some things need to happen, so don't interfere'."

Celestia looked at the group unsure then noticed Katie was missing.

As Nathan began making his way back to the castle he was stopped when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey there Nate, long time no see." He turned and looked down to see Katie standing there waving.

"Yeah...a thousand years is a long time."

"You haven't been online for the whole time have you?"

"What do you want Katie, I'd rather avoid Thane for now, as it looks like you guys are staying online for awhile."

"How so?"

"Didn't you see the mark on Tireks arm, that wasn't there the last time we fought. Katie, the Maniacs are back." She stayed silent and he walked away. "Say hi to Zane for me." Katie reached her arm out but he ignored her and walked off.

She sighed and began walking back to the party.

While Nathan was walking he was stopped by Twilight who sat in the middle of the path. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Um, back to my cave in Canterlot, I don't have anywhere else to go." She flew up to him and stared him in the eye.

"Oh yes you do, you're living with me now, I have a large empty castle now with only Spike and Owilicious to share it with. I have plenty of room. Besides, we haven't seem each other in a year." He sighed and looked at her.

"I'm not getting out of this am I?" She shook her head. "Thought so."

She lead him back to the castle where they found out that the rest of Phoenix Squad had returned to Canterlot. Nathan was fine with that, the further they were away from him the better.

Author's Notes:

(1) The RYNO series is a line of super weapons in the ratchet and clank games and mainly consists of rocket launchers.

Chapter three: Flames of a Displacer

The ponies of ponyville set about repairing the damage caused by Tirek very quickly, and Nathan's presence only quickened the process. He used his strength to lift fallen walls and roofs at his smallest size, which was still as big as a house. The other rangers had returned to Canterlot with the princesses and Cadence returned to the crystal empire.

As Nathan set a roof back onto a house he heard someone walking up behind him. He turned around to see none other than one of his old foes, the spirit of chaos.

"Ah, I was wondering when I'd get to talk to you Discord. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Indeed, I appreciate you not shooting me on sight."

"I already knew you were reformed. You should be surprised that the other rangers didn't blast you."

"I should, but there was something else that surprised me. You didn't assist the squad, you saved the ponies. When the battle was over you turned and walked away from the rangers. Why is that?"

Nathan sighed as he lifted a pile of rubble and set it in a huge pile. "A lot of stuff happened, my beef isn't with the rangers, it's with Thane." Discord gestured for him to continue. "You know how Celestia knows what will happen in the future?" Discord nodded. "I do too. So I know about the events that need to happen, so I have to sometimes turn against Thanes orders to insure the squad doesn't interfere with destiny."

Discord scratched his chin and looked at Nathan with a raised brow. "That would cause some problems if you were the only one of the group that knew all that, haven't you explained it to them?"

"I never got the chance to, Thane avoids me, Krystal just downright ignores me, Katie would listen and so would Zane, but if they tried to tell Thane he would brush it off." He sighed and looked through his weapon inventory. "When did he become so damn stubborn?"

"Well, I'll leave you alone then, good day to you Nathan."

"You too John."

"Not that nickname again. It doesn't even make sense!"

"What's the fun in making sense?"

"...touché Nathan, touché."

Discord teleported away while Nathan looked through his storage. "Ok, I need to see if I have a flame weapon...nope, don't have one." He reached behind him and pulled out an orange cube, he set it down and a hologram appeared at the top of it as antennas sprouted from the sides.(1)

He touched the hologram and a menu appeared in front of him, he looked through the selection of weapons until he came across two weapons that would suit his needs. "Ok, lava gun or plasma whip?" He looked to the top of the screen to see his current bolt balance(2).

Bolts: 256,540

"That much? I guess that fight with Tirek topped up my balance. Lava gun it is then, I'm sure Thane wants the whip since he prefers melee weapons." He selected the Lava gun and it appeared in his inventory. He picked up the vendor and put it in his storage unit. "There, now the bonfire tonight can go ahead. Well, a unicorn could just use magic...eh whatever, new gun."

The town was rebuilt in hours, the leftover rubble was being used in a bonfire at night. The townsfolk gathered around the pile and sat on blankets they set on the grass. The main six sat on top of Nathan, he walked over to the pile and pulled out the lava gun. He pulled the trigger and a small amount of lava shot out of the mussel, which quickly set the rubble on fire. The ponies cheered and all gathered around the flames with marshmallows on sticks.

Nathan chuckled as he saw a few foals approaching him with curiosity. He looked through the small crowd and saw the CMC, he placed his hand on the ground and the three fillies climbed on. He held them up to his top so they could sit with their sisters (for the sake of keeping this simple I'm calling Scootaloo Rainbows sister). The rest of the foals sat on his legs and looked over him in curiosity.

He smiled internally and watched the fire. You know when people say they see things in a fireplace? Well, he saw himself and his group of friends when they were human, when destiny didn't matter, there was no direct path to follow. He chose to keep the timeline on course, he chose to go against his friends. He could have easily interfered with the planned course of events, but he didn't. Instead of creating an alternate Equestria, he chose to make it as normal as possible while he was present.

Twilight noticed he was deep in thought and flew in front of his eye. "Are you ok Nathan?"

He snapped out of his trance and rubbed his face. "Yeah, just thinking of old times is all."

"You mean before Nightmare Moons banishment?"

"No, before I was sent here, to this world I mean." Twilight sat down in his open hand and placed a hoof on his face, giving him a caring smile.

Meanwhile in Canterlot, Katie watched this happen through her scope while Zane watched with zoomed vision.

"He may be a giant, but he's just a big softy on the inside, right Zane?"

"O-oh, uh yeah..." Zane stammered, even though they were robots Zane still held his childhood crush on Katie. The only other ranger that knew of his crush was Nathan, years ago Nathan would give him advice on subjects like that because Thane would always try to be subtle, while Nathan was blunt and got to the point. "I'm just going to go for a walk, need to get used to the area again."

"Ok, don't get lost this time."

Zane walked through a door and into the castle. As he shut the door he sighed, he began walking down the long hallway and he checked his nanotech(3) supply. "Still at a good level, I'll have to get more from the Gadgetron Vendor." Zane was the teams medic, so it was his job to keep all medical devices in his storage and monitor everyone's nanotech levels. "Thane's a bit low, I better stop by his chambers to heal him."

He sighed and walked towards a flight of stairs. He looked at his arm cannon and to his hand. "I still remember the days when we would all hang out back on earth like they were yesterday. There's no reason to return to our world now anyway, it's been nearly three thousand years, all of our families and other friends are all gone." Zane may be a young boy, but he was mature enough to know the consequences of entering this world. The day that the merchant sent them to Equestria was the last day they ever saw their loved ones.

"Curse that damned merchant."

"Why, he hasn't been to this multiverse."

Zane looked behind him to see a man in a white coat and black spiky hair leaning against a wall with a book in his hand. "Who are you, and what do you mean 'why'?"

The man closed the book and looked to Zane. "My name is Author, and to answer your question, the merchant wasn't the one who sent you here, I was."

Zane looked at Author with disbelief, he pointed his cannon at him and charged a shot. "Do you have any idea how much you've screwed us over?!" Author clicked his fingers and Zanes cannon became a hand.

"Correction, I saved you." Author snapped his fingers again and a screen appeared in front of Zane, showing a large meteorite striking the earth. "Your world was destroyed a week after you were sent here, all the inhabitants were either killed or sent to another world in a new body."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because no one will believe you if you tell them, don't worry though, the others will find out soon enough." He snapped his fingers and Zanes arm cannon reappeared. Zane looked to his cannon then back to Author, but found no one there.

"I think things are gonna start getting strange around here."

Author's Notes:

Before anyone complains that the Lava Gun was a megacorp weapon I already knew that, I put the RaC3 version in, not the meteorite gun.

(1) Gadgetron Vendors were where the player could purchase weapons and gadgets throughout the game

(2) Bolts are the currency in the Ratchet and Clank game, and are obtained by either smashing crates or defeating enemies

(3) Nanotech is a healing item in the games and is found in crates, vendors and can be restored if the player levels up

Chapter four: Night watch

As the ponies all made their way back to their respective homes Twilight and Nathan walked towards the new castle. Along the way Twilight noticed that Nathan was keeping an eye on the Everfree Forest. She had no idea why, the forest was more or less tamed with the exception of the few Timberwolves and Hydras. When they reached the castle Nathan stopped.

"If it's alright with you Twi, I'd like to sit out here for awhile."

"Um...that's fine, just don't stay up to long, you need to recharge soon." He nodded and she walked inside. Nathan began walking over to the forest of thorns and sat down on the outskirts of ponyville, keeping his cannon aimed at the forest.

"I know you're out there...I'm not letting you harm another pony while I'm here." He stated quietly as he scanned the woods, only picking up some of the local wildlife. "Coward..."

He continued scanning for awhile before lowering his gun. Looking at the moon he sighed as he looked back on the past.

The group walked through a large golden door and into the throne room where Celestia sat. She looked over the machines and raised an eyebrow, obviously confused. Nathan walked to the base of the throne and bowed, signalling for the rest of the group to do the same. "Good day princess Celestia, it is an honor to meet you."

"Rise, you need not be so formal."

"Of course." He got to his feet, which made him twice as tall as Celestia.

"Now, tell me, what are your names? And what are you exactly?"

"My name is Nathan. These are Thane, Zane, Krystal and Katie. We are machines from another world, we were taken from our home against our wills and have no way to return be it by magic or some other means, we are stuck in Equestria. We are the galactic rangers, at your service."

Celestia frowned at hearing this, to think that someone would force others off of their own worlds and trap them there. "Well I am terribly sorry to hear that Nathan. I for one welcome you and your friends to Equestria, it's actually a good thing you are here." Nathan looked at her confused. "There is a group of criminals and beasts known as The Maniacs, we cannot defeat them and our most powerful ally is currently away on important business."

"I see..." He looked at his arm cannon and back to his friends. "...well, we are built for combat, and we don't have anything else to do."

"If you help us take these monsters down, you will be given Equestrian citizenship and a home in the castle. If it is any help."

Nathan thought about it before nodding. "Alright, we'll help you. However, these ones only activated and lack combat training, give me a three weeks to get them ready then we will aid your cause." Celestia nodded and called for a guard to escort them to a training area suitable for their size, that being the Minotaur grounds. She gave them a deed to one if the abandoned towers in the castle, satisfied with what he could get for the group Nathan began training the group. Also practicing hand to hand combat with the minotaurs who had befriended Nathan.

A few days later Nathan was sparing with a huge Minotaur that matched his height, Iron Wills ancestor Solid Will. Solid was a grey Minotaur with large horns and muscles.

Nathan blocked a punch with his arm cannon and threw a counter at Solids chest, causing him to skid backwards a bit. "I actually felt that one." He smirked and charged Nathan with his horns, at the last second Nathan stepped to the side and tripped him up. While he was on the ground Nathan placed his foot on his back, holding him down.

"That's 14 to 6 Solid, you sure you're the toughest soldier here?"

"Yeah yeah, ha ha, you win." Nathan rolled his eye and helped his friend up.

"Those were the days, I miss all of the minotaurs. I wonder if I'll come across Iron Will some time." He sat there and looked at the stars. "Luna went all out tonight, beautiful as always."

"Why thank you Nathan."

He looked back to find Luna giving him a warm smile. "Hello again Lulu, it's been a few centuries since I've seen you."

"Yes, and not a day goes by that I don't regret my actions that caused that interval." She squeaked as Nathan scooped her up in his hand and held her up to his eye.

"Now don't you be going and guilt tripping yourself, you weren't in control back then. Besides, your banishment caused a thousand years of peace."

"I'm sorry, it's just I do regret it all."

"I know you do Lulu, but you can't beat yourself up about it. It's not healthy."

"Once again...you are right." She placed a hoof on his eye and smiled. "I really missed you Nathan, and the other rangers."

"I missed you too Lulu, and I'm sure the others did." Just then Nathan got an alert on his HUD that he was low on power. "I'd love to continue this Luna, but I need to get some sleep." She nodded and hugged his eye, waving goodbye she flew off to scout for nightmares.

Nathan got up, shrunk down and made his way to the castle. Once inside he sat down against the wall of the main hall and shut down. His power slowly started recharging as he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter five: Not really a big deal

The next day, the mane six and Nathan were helping Twilight bring in some of her recovered stuff from the ruins of Golden Oaks Library and new equipment into the new castle. Fluttershy and Applejack pushed a large crate as Nathan opened another with a strange looking tool.

Just then a tall thin stallion with a grey coat and black mane walked in with a cart full of books. "Greetings Princess, where do you want these books from Princess Celestia?"

"In the library."

"Even this one that's glowin and vibrating?" Just then Nathan coughed.

Twilight looked to the top of the pile to see the book in question, she brought it down with her magic and the stallion walked off to put the books in the castle library.

Twilight opened the book and started to read as the others gathered around her, Nathan kneeling down to hear what they were saying clearer.

"What is it Twilight?" Asked Fluttershy.

"It looks like a message to Princess Celestia from my friends at Canterlot High."

"How is that even possible?" Asked Rarity.

Phone Book... Thought Nathan as he returned to carrying more crates into the castle.

"I have no idea but, it sounds like they need my help."

Here we go...

After a brief explanation as to Sunset Shimmers message, Twilight began to tell them all about the sirens as Nathan organised some of the bookshelves. "The sirens were three beautiful but dangerous creatures, who had the power to charm ponies with their magic. But to maintain this ability, they had to feed of the negativity and distrust of others. The more of this negative energy they consumed the stronger their voices became, and the farther they could spread their dark magic."

"I don't think I like this story very much..."

"If the sirens had their way, they could have divided and conquered Equestria. But a certain Starswirl the Bearded wasn't having it. Rumour has it, that with the help of a metal giant, he was able to banish them to another world, where he believed their magic power would be lost." They all looked to Nathan who just whistled as he stacked some books. "You fought the sirens alongside Starswirl?"

"Hmm?" Nathan turned his head to look at them disinterested. "Oh right that. Yeah, I knew Starswirl, pretty cool guy actually. The sirens weren't much of a challenge since their magic wasn't combat based." Twilight just looked at him with disbelief. "What?"

"You're acting like this isn't a big deal!"

"It really isn't, I doubt the sirens would risk returning to Equestria as long as Phoenix and I are here, and if they are staying in the other world then you can just build some device that opens the portal early and go sort things out." She just looked at him with a blank expression.

"You put that rather bluntly...but you are right, I do have the necessary equipment to build something like that." The group watched as bits and pieces of machinery floated over to Twilight and she began to, as Rainbow had put it, 'speak egghead.'

After that was done, Twilight placed the magic book in the machine and the portal activated. "Alright, Spike, let's go." The girls looked expectedly at Twilight. "No girls, everyone would be suspicious as to why there was two of each of you walking around, it would attract too much attention." The girls frowned and then looked towards Nathan.

"What?"

"You can still go with Twilight, you've faced the sirens before and you aren't from this world." Rarity stated.

"How exactly am I going to fit into the portal?" He gestured to his height. "I'm at my smallest size right now."

"I can temporarily shrink you down to fit." Stated Twilight proudly,

"Fine, it would be fun to mess with the sirens again."

Twilight nodded and her horn glowed, sending a purple aura over the ranger. He gradually shrank down to only slightly taller than the ponies. Twilight walked through the portal and was followed by Spike. Nathan took a look at his arm cannon and sighed. "I better not end up as some kinda toy robot." With that he stepped through the portal.

The human five and Sunset Shimmer sat around the statue awaiting Twilights return. Just the she came tumbling out of the portal.

"Twilight!"

"I'm back..." Sunset reached to help her up but she hesitated, she eventually accepted the help. "...but I have some bad news about those new girls." The group frowned. "Although, I brought a little help this time. Someone who fought the sirens in the past." They all looked towards the portal and someone else came out of it. He didn't tumble but slid across the ground on his knees and hands.

He got up and dusted himself off. He was a tall boy with an above average build, white skin and spiky purple hair. He wore a white coat that split into two points at the bottom, purple jeans and white boots. "Ah, feels good to be a human again." Nathan wriggled his left fingers a bit. "Been awhile since I had this arm, that's gonna take some getting used to."

"Nathan?" He turned to see Twilight looking him over.

"See something you like?" He asked teasingly. She blushed and tried to form words but ended up stuttering. "Relax, I was just teasing."

"Twilight...who is this...beautiful man?" Asked Rarity flustered. Nathan decided to play about with this. He took hold of Raritys hand and kissed it.

"My name is Nathan Phoenix, second in command of the Phoenix military group at your service malady." Rarity fanned herself with her free hand. Rainbow and Applejack struggled to suppress their laughter, Pinkie just raised an eyebrow and Fluttershy cowered at the new arrival.

"That's enough Nathan, stop playing with the poor girls feelings." Nathan groaned and let go of Raritys hand.

"You're no fun Twi."

"Nathan, is that you?" He turned a little to see Sunset looking at him with wide eyes.

"Well, if it isn't little Sunny. I trust you are no longer like the selfish brat I used to know?" Twilight just looked at them confused.

"Yes...thanks to Twilight I was able to turn over a new leaf." The two hugged and separated. "So this is what you look like as a human, I'll admit that I'm impressed."

"And like that we're done." Nathan pushed Sunset off and walked beside Twilight.

Chapter six: Insanity always wins

After a quick debriefing about the situation Twilight and Nathan sat in thought. Twilight looked over to see Nathan grinning like a psychopath. He got out of his chair in the cafe they had gone to and made his way towards the school.

"Where does he think he's going, wasn't he supposed to help us out?" Asked Rainbow in an irritated voice.

"From the way he was smiling I think he's going to get into some form of combat." Stated Twilight as she looked over a counter spell for the sirens curse.

"What?!" The human five all yelled at once.

"Would you believe me if I told you that Nathan is actually a giant warbot in Equestria?" They all looked at her with blank expressions. You could hear a pin drop over the silence that had overtaken the group.

"Nathan...is a robot...from another world?" Rainbow asked with excitement and disbelief. Sunset pulled out a photo of her as a filly with Nathan beside her in the shot, she was in his hand and the camera was being held in Sunsets magic. They all gawked at the size of the robot and the sheer adorableness of the little pony. "Awesome..."

"We should probably follow him, he can get a little...totally insane when he's fighting." Twilight got up and they all began following Nathan back to the school. He held his sadistic smile with shadows over his eyes.

"This is gonna be gooooooooooddd."

The dazzling wandered the school looking for a suitable place to sleep when they heard a familiar psychopathic laugh echo amongst the hallways around them. Arias eyes widened, Adagio started shaking and Sonata just smiled. Adagio frantically looked around, trying to pinpoint the location of their past enemy.

"No no no no no! You can't be here!" She shouted in panic.

"Oh and why is that Dagi? I don't remember there being any sort of barriers blocking me from entering this world!" They heard footsteps coming from behind them and quickly turned to see a figure in the shadows walking towards them, a screeching sound could be heard as the figure dragged some kind of weapon along the ground. A weapon Adagio and Aria knew all too well.

"Did you girls miss me?" Nathan stepped out of the shadows and stared at them with the most insane smile. "I missed you."

"Natty!" Sonata ran forward and hugged him.

"Ah, little Sonata, as lovable as ever I see." Nathan had nothing against Sonata, she wasn't purposely evil, only led astray by her sisters because she couldn't make it on her own. When Starswirl and Nathan had battled the sirens no harm came to Sonata as she was given a choice of wether or not to follow the others, plus Nathan kinda had a crush on her due to her playful and carefree personality.

He gently pushed Sonata to the side and looked to the other two.

"So...nice school you got here..." He said in a dark voice.

Adagio winced and stared daggers at him. "We have no reason to be scared of you here, you are just human now without your mechanical body to project you from our spell! You sexist..." She launched a small ghost siren at him.

"Ow..."

"...Insane..."

"Ow..."

"...insubordinate, gun fetish crazy monster!" As the last ghost siren reached him he grabbed it in his mouth.

"You know the funny thing is..." He chomped the siren causing it to disappear. "...in any other circumstance, you might have had a point there. Except my boss is a mare, I'm a only semi-insane, I'm loyal to my country and beliefs..." He slowly walked up to Adagio. "...and there is no one alive who could possibly understand my sexual preference." He clenched his fist. "So in other words Miss Adagio..." He reeled his fist back and punched her full force in the face. "Ch-Ch-Ch-Check your privilege!" She slid across the ground while holding her cheek. "Now, are you going to surrender and hand over those amulets, or do I have to bring out a certain gun that I know you absolutely love?" Her eyes widened. "RYNO...Two." Aria and Adagio both looked at each other and nodded.

"We will never surrender to you!" Nathan's features softened as he turned away.

"Good luck you two, I hope ya die." They looked at him with confused expressions before they began to sweat at the voice of a familiar robot.

"Mr Zurkon no like siren ladies, Mr Zurkon kill!" The two ran down the hall and out the front doors, the robot chasing them. Sonata looked to Nathan with a huge smile.

"Don't worry, I set him to stun." She raced over to him and wrapped her arms around his left one and rested her head on his shoulder. "I missed you too Nata."

The group looked on as the events took place and watched as the couple walked out of the school.

"Well...that went cleaner than I expected." Muttered Twilight and Sunset at the same time, they looked at each other and backed away until they heard Nathan shout at them.

"OH MY GOD JUST BUCK ALREADY!!!"

With Sonata now siding against the Dazzlings, Adagio and Aria were left on their own. "What now Adagio, we can't do this without that idiot." Aria looked at her sister expecting a new plan.

"I don't know..." Adagio sunk down low and shook her head. "I honestly don't know."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance..." They both looked behind them to see a cloud of purple mist floating just above the ground with two glowing yellow eyes.

"What are you?" They both asked.

"I am known as...Nightmare Fuel."

Author's Notes:

For those of you who have no idea what Nightmare Fuel is let me explain.

Nightmare Fuel is the main antagonist for three of my stories, this one included, and exists to wreak havoc in the multiverse as there is multiple versions of it all across the multiverse.

Have any more questions? I'll be happy to answer them for you.

Chapter seven: Decisions, decisions

Meanwhile in Equestria

Thane looked out at the setting sun, leaning on railing by the canterlot gardens. Noticing a lack of activity in Ponyville, especially since Nathan was supposed to be there, raised a few suspicions. He also felt that something big was about to happen, a feeling he had felt before Nathan 'betrayed them' as Thane would put it.

"Thane?" He looked back to see Celestia walking up to him.

"Good evening princess, what can I do for you?" Celestia shook her head.

"Stop playing soldier for a minute would you? It makes me uncomfortable."

Thane sighed and looked back out to the sunset. "Fine, what do you want?"

"I want you to stop being so moody all the time." He was about to counter when she got up in his face. "No, don't you dare give me the 'he betrayed us' excuse, that won't work anymore, in fact it never worked."

Just then another ranger entered the conversation. "Yeah Thane, why can't you get over something that happened a thousand years ago?" He looked over to see Krystal leaning against a tree while polishing her mini-turret glove. "The rest of us have."

Thane just sighed and looked to his hands. "I don't know, maybe it's something stupid or something legitimate. I just don't know why I can't forgive Nathan for attacking us like that."

"He didn't straight on attack us you idiot he warned us that some things had to happen and we would have gotten in the way, you were the one that threatened him." Krystal quickly snapped back, catching both Celestia and Thane off guard. "Think about it, 'cause if you don't figure something out soon, I'm leaving the squad and joining Nathan in Ponyville." She straightened herself and began walking back towards the castle.

Thane only looked at his friend in shock, not willing to believe what she had just told him.

"Celestia...was what she said true?"

Celestia just frowned. "I detected no lie in her voice, I would recommend you choose your next actions carefully. Otherwise the entire squad could fall apart before the Maniacs even show themselves." She walked away, leaving a confused and conflicted Thane behind.

Zane had finished repairing Katie and decided to pay an old friend a visit. The small timid robot slowly made his way up the long spiral staircase that lead to the top of a certain princess's tower. Waiting until the sun had gone down and the moon was in the sky, he knocked on the door and patiently waited for an answer.

"Who is it?"

"Um...it's Zane."

"Zane! Please do come in!" He opened the large door and was immediately tackled by the night princess who proceeded to hug him.

"Hi Luna." She nuzzled his eye and sat on top of him.

"Hello again my old friend, what brings you to my tower?" She stepped off of him and allowed him to stand.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something, something really important."

"Oh then please, do come in." She led him into the room and lit a candle before they both sat down at a table in the corner of the room, the only light being the candle and Zanes glowing blue eye. "Tell me, what is it you wish to talk about."

"Ok, but you have to promise you won't tell anyone else." She rolled here eyes before making the pinkie promise. "Alright. I recently came across the one responsible for bringing us here." Her eyes widened in shock.

"That means there is a way for you to return to your homeworld right?" He shook his head.

"No, awhile after we were sent here our planet was hit by a huge meteorite that destroyed it. Some of the population was sent to other universes entirely while most...you know." Luna's smile turned to a frown.

"So even if there was a way to send you back there is nothing to go back to." Zane nodded.

"The one that sent us here saved our lives, but I can't help but feel there is some other reason he sent us here." Luna placed her hoof on Zanes hand.

"Well, I think it's best that you have to stay here, I would miss our talks too much." They both stared at each other before Luna cleared her throat. "I hate to cut this meeting short but I have some rather painful duties to attend to."

"If you'd like I can help you with them." Luna just looked to him curiously.

"Are you sure?"

"I don't have anything else to do right now." Luna smiled and began leading the young robot to her night courts.

Katie and Krystal sat on the rooftops of the buildings in Canterlot, looking up at the night sky.

"You're really going to leave the squad if Thane doesn't come to his senses?" Katie asked her sister in concern.

"Yeah, things are getting stale around here with him being all serious 99% of the time, plus I miss spending time with Nathan." This got Katie to giggle as she looked up at the stars.

"Yeah, I miss the big guy too, he was the only one that actually made things fun here."

"Remember when he tried to test out his suck-cannon and accidentally launched Clover the Clever into Starswirls library?"

"How can I forget, he immediately threw the gun at Thane and bolted. Clover would have killed him if it didn't get her the job as Starswirls assistant." The two shared a laugh before laying down. "I wonder what he's doing right now."

Outside Canterlot High

Nathan and Sonata walked hand in hand down the pathway leading to the park. Just then a portal appeared in front of them and a man walked out. He wore a green tracksuit with a metal sash over his torso. He also had a scarf that covered his mouth. His hair was comprised of large spikes, much like Vegeta's from Dragon Ball Z, except it was green. The man looked at them and smiled.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Roden Godswell, and I am your displacer."

Chapter eight: Let the battle begin

Nathan stepped in front of Sonata in a protective manner. "You...you're my displacer?"

The glowing green figure nodded. "Yes, I am the one that sent you to your version of Equestria. I'm assuming you already know how the multiverse works?"

"I'm somewhat familiar with it, I've never come across a token before though, and I have little interest in creating one." Roden nodded in understanding.

"I understand, it's common to see a displaced weary about what the multiverse holds. Be warned though, there are displaced that can enter your world through other means. Like shall we say...Jack of Blades."

Nathan's expression became furious. "I am not having that insane bastard near my friends again."

"You may not have a choice in the matter, just be glad you found a way to drive him back last time."

Sonata placed a hand on Nathan's shoulder and looked to him worriedly. "Natty? Are you ok?"

He sighed and placed his hand on hers. "I'm fine Nata, just...memories." He shook his head and looked to Roden. "So, why show yourself now?" Just then he felt a massive surge of dark energy. "Well...that answers that question." The three of them looked over to the school and a large cloud of dark purple smoke. "How are people not noticing that?!"

"It's a trick that the monster behind it developed, only people that have ever used magic can see and feel it!"

Nathan growled and pulled out his wrench. "So what type of creature we dealing with here exactly?"

"It's a creature known as the Nightmare Fuel, a parasite across the multiverse."

Sonata hugged Nathan and looked up at the cloud. "That's a whole load of dark energy, if my sister come into contact with it then they'll be unstoppable!"

Nathan just held her close. 'I've known Sonata for over a thousand years, even though most of that time was spent apart I already know she's the one for me, and I'm not letting anything harm her!' He kissed Sonata on the lips and ran towards the cloud.

"Nathan no!" He pulled out the RYNO 2 and RYNO 5 as he turned the corner.

'Something's already messed with this moment in the timeline, that means I can go all out." Grinning like a madman he sprinted head first into the large cloud that was quickly spreading over the city. Roden just shook his head.

"I lose one bet with Author and I have to displace the trigger happy one, why couldn't I have Krystal or Zane?" He snapped his fingers and sent Sonata to safety. Pulling his scarf up a little he began sprinting towards the cloud and disappeared inside it.

Twilight and the others all ran out of the school and found the area surrounded by purple fog. Looking around they noticed that time had stopped around them. They looked over to the centre of the clearing to see Adagio, Aria and a new strange girl glowing. The new girl looked like Sonata but with a different colour scheme. Her hair was pitch black, her skin was purple and her outfit was black. Her eyes glowed hello and she had four dark tendrils growing out of her back.

The new girl, who shall be called Nighmare for convenience, looked at the girls and smirked. She held up her hand and a ball of dark energy began to form. Before she could throw it she was blasted by a barrage of plasma rockets, bullets and missiles, causing her to be flung across the clearing into a brick wall, looking as if she hadn't taken any damage at all.

The girls looked over to see Nathan holding two massive guns and shaking his head. "Seriously? Of all the beings you could shape into it had to be a crappy recolour of my little Sonata? That's just hurtful." Roden appeared beside him and crossed his arms.

"You should probably continue blasting it while it's unable to move."

"Yeah but that takes the fun out of it, I haven't had a good fight since I visited the land of behemoths. Speaking of which I wonder how Scorpan is doing these days." While he was side tracked a dark tendril shot towards him and hit him in the face. Nighmare smirked until she noticed that his head had only shifted slightly. "Hm, I actually felt that one...a little." He grinned like a psychopath and charged the she-demon.

"WAIT!!!" The both came to a screeching halt and looked to Sunset. "You guys can't fight like this here, there is too many people living in the area!"

Nightmare just looked at her with a raised brow. "And I should care why?"

"You wouldn't be killing them on purpose?" She guessed.

"Fair enough. We will settle this their way, in the battle of the bands."

Nathan just put his guns away and flipped her off. "Bring it on bitch." The fog lifted and time returned to normal. Nightmare smirked and teleported her along with the two sirens out of t he area. Nathan sighed and looked to Roden. "And here I thought I'd get to finally kill something that was worthy of being destroyed by the RYNO's."

"You'll get your chance Nathan, for now you have to prepare for the concert. Sonata is waiting for you in the Evermoon Hotel a few miles down the road, a little gift from me to you, as it took me so long to finally meet you."

"Well, gee thanks Roden." Roden handed him the key to the room and vanished. 'I'm going to be in a fancy hotel sharing the same bed with Sonata throughout my entire stay here...something better fucking happened because this is the first time I've gotten my dick back for centuries! Plus I want at least one kid before I die...don't you look at me like that, when you spend a thousand years alone then you'll know what I'm talking about.' He waved goodbye to the girls and began walking towards the hotel.

Chapter nine: A thing of the past

Nathan stood on the roof of the Evermoon Hotel, his coat flapping in the wind. He had his arms crossed as he stared up at the moon, thinking about his past and what he was going to do about the new threat. Sonata was fast asleep by the time he had got there, he was fine with that. Although he did wish that something would happen in the time he spent in this world, like he said, he wanted a child.

He stared down at the city bellow him, watching the street lights flicker on. Soon the city was lit up like a beautiful light show. He closed his eyes and began to remember the day he left the squad.

(music)

Around 1500 years ago

Discord was wreaking havoc across Equestria, buildings were floating and some were upside down, the fields of grass were turned into multicoloured checker boards, ponies were being changed and corrupted and so much more was happening to the once peaceful land.

Phoenix Squad watched this from a cliff overlooking the town that the spirit of chaos was currently in, Nathan being his minimum size as to avoid detection. The rest of the Rangers still had not learned of his growth abilities. He looked worriedly out at the town, he looked over to the Everfree Forest and spotted the young Celestia and Luna walking into the cave of the Tree of Harmony. Looking back he saw his team getting ready to fight.

They were about to charge down the cliff when he stepped in front of them. "Nathan, get out of the way, we have to finish Discord before he causes actual harm to the residents!" Yelled Thane. Nathan shook his head.

"It isn't our place to fight him again, we may have stopped him from reaching the castle of the two sisters but we can not interfere in what is going to happen." They all looked at the huge robot in question.

"And you would know this how?" Asked a slightly annoyed Krystal.

"I can't explain that right now, you have to trust me on this. We can't get involved further!" Thane shook his head and tried to walked around his cousin, only to be stopped as a blast shot in front of him, hitting the ground. "That was a warning Thane, we can't get involved anymore."

"Why?" Thane asked in an authoritative tone.

"Some things need to happen, please, stand down." Nathan begged.

"Not happening, we swore to protect these ponies, and that's what we're going to do." Thane tried walking around again only to be flung at a rock as Nathan smacked him with his arm cannon. Thane just sat up and looked at Nathan in anger.

"I'm sorry Thane, but if I need to fight you to make sure the sequence of events remains, I won't hesitate." Nathan began to grow, surprising the group. Once he reached three times his normal size he slammed his fist into the ground.

Thane got up and activated his energy blades, the other rangers taking defensive stances. They all stared each other down until Thane charged forward, causing the rest to do the same. Nathan held out his cannon and shot a large beam at the group, hitting them all. Thane jumped out of the blast with his shield generator and continued to run at the giant robot.

Nathan noticed this and swung his cannon at Thane, only for him to jump over it. Expecting this, Nathan grabbed Thane in the air and slammed him into the ground. Thane them sunk his blades into the robots hand and cloaked. Running up Nathan's arm he began to furiously swipe at his torso. Nathan quickly turned causing Thabe to be flung off and be hit with a barrage of missiles, heavily damaging him and rendering him unable to move.

Nathan turned to the three others who looked at their friend in shock. Krystal growled in anger and pulled out her gravity-bomb launcher. As she charged she felt something grab her shoulder. Looking back she saw it was Katie who was shaking her head. They all looked to Nathan who had an ashamed look on his face. He waved at them before jumping down the cliff and landing with a resounding clang.

He began walking towards the chaotic town. 'If I let the group fight Discord they'd kill him, I can fight him to stall for the sisters.'

Nathan came face to face with Discord in the middle of the town. Both stared at each other before charging forward.

He snapped out of his vision and stared at the moon. "I may be a little gun crazy, can become insane during battle, even get a little insensitive. However, I still care for my friends and family. I will always regret that day, it still haunts me up to now." He turned away and began heading to the door he had found that led to the roof in the first place.

As he was walking he felt a presence in the wind, one that haunted him ever since he had landed in Equestria. Turning around he saw the see-through glowing figure standing there. It was wearing a blue dress with a small white apron, it's hair was long and brown at it had a sad smile on its face.

"Of course you'd still be around. Why wouldn't you be...mother?" The figure just continued to give him that small sorrowful smile. It then burst into flames and slowly began to become ashes that blew away in the wind.

"I've never fallen so far from where I've been, this road is ending, but a new one begins. I try to wash way my sins, like ashes in the wind." With that line said he turned away and walked down the stairs, leaving the burning ghost to fade away.

Author's Notes:

There is a deeper meaning to the burning ghost, Nathan had a darker past than the rest of Phoenix ever knew.

Chapter ten: Meanings in the song

The stage was set, the Dazzlings and other students had sung their opening songs, all that was left was the Rainbooms, who had chosen Bathan to be their opening act so he could face off against the Nightmare Sonata in the first round. Sonata kissed him on the lips and wished him good luck. Walking up to the stage he signalled the DJ, who was Vinyl Scratch's brother who had electric red hair instead of blue.

The DJ nodded and flipped a switch, starting Nathan's song. 'Put meaning into it, it may be from a franchise that has been run into the ground but it holds meaning to your past.' He thought before he started singing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shHEhMtKyIo

[Verse 1]
I, I've been waiting a long time
For someone to discover me
Why, you ask?
It's because I'm getting
A little claustrophobic in here
I see how you get ideas
About how I really came to be

Well I guess I can see
How you think I am mean
Golden green
All machine
Cause it's me

I've been stuck here all alone
No one to tell the things I know

Well I guess I can see
How you think I am mean
Golden green
All machine
Cause it's me

Suddenly four ghostly figures appeared and circled Nathan, a look of shame and sorrow as he looked at each of them. They all had golden suits on with their faces blurred

[Background]
You are never going back
Cause you got springtrapped
You are never going back
Cause you got springtrapped
You are never going back
Cause you got springtrapped
You are never going back
Cause you got springtrapped

[Verse 2]
Well deserved
I paid the consequence and
I have learned
That I'm twisted
But it still hurts
Why do they get to go and I have to stay

They moved on
But I am stuck in here
Well they're not wrong
But I'm asking for some peace of mind
If I could rewind
I would never come back
To the place at the time

[Chorus]
This is it
The big finale
But they never quit
They were out to get me
What I did is unforgivable
And I will pay the price

Golden suits
Are now my curse
So now I walk towards you
Can you get me out of all my troubles and
All my past mistakes
All the sadness and
Please all of the hate

I see how you get ideas
About how I really came to be
Well I guess I can see
How you think I am mean
Golden green
All machine
Cause it's me

[Background]
You are never going back
Cause you got springtrapped
You are never going back
Cause you got springtrapped
You are never going back
Cause you got springtrapped
You are never going back
Cause you got springtrapped

[Verse 3]
I guess I'm all alone
And I don't think I move on
I'm forever stuck in gold
To live the life of an animatronic
Fright attraction
Someone please prove me wrong

Suddenly a ring of fire appeared around Nathan as he sang with upmost emotion.

[Chorus]
This is it
The big finale
But they never quit
They were out to get me
What I did is unforgivable
And I will pay the price
Golden suits
Are now my curse
So now I walk towards you
Can you get me out of all my troubles and
All my past mistakes
All the sadness and
All of the hate

The song ended and Nathan had a few tears forming in his eyes, unnoticeable by the crowd that cheered for him. He waved to the crowd and walked off the stage. Sonata immediately rushed over and brought him into a meaningful hug. "Thanks Nata, I just need a minute to myself." He kissed her forehead before walking out and off the school grounds.

"What's wrong with him?" Twilight asked Sonata. "And how come you two are so close?"

"Nathan acts tuff and strong, but that's a mask. He's actually really intelligent and sensitive, due to something that happened in his past life, he started acting like a big deal because when he needed to be strong he was weak. Lang we are so close, we were best friends one thousand years ago, if we hadn't been separated we probably would have been married by now, we always did like each other. I know Nathan better than anyone, I trust him and he trusts me." Sonata explained as she put a hand to her chest and closed her eyes. "He's unstable with his emotions, I need to make sure he's alright. I'll see you girls later." With that Sonata ran after her significant other.

Equestria

Krystal sat looking out at the sunrise. Over the course of the night she had been thinking about what happened with Nathan in the past, she was the only person other than Sonata and Katie that knew of the giant's background.

She shook her head and watched as the sun peeked over the horizon. He thoughts soon turned to her situation with Thane, she had been thinking about the certain topic of leaving the squad for years. She saw how happy Nathan was living with the ponies, maybe she could find that joy too. She had very little that would even make her crack a smile, Nathan was the one that made life with the squad fun, but when he left Thane changed. He became strict and moody, and no one knew why.

Krystals mood went from depressed to determined. "There's a chance at happiness with the ponies of Ponyville and Nathan, if I can find a place there I can be happy." She looked to the Phoenix emblem on her cannon. "I've decided...I'm leaving the squad."

Author's Notes:

A little cameo from my other story Cut Above The Rest is hidden in here, let's see if you can find it

Chapter eleven: Chilling with a crimelord

A few hours after Sonata had caught up with Nathan and calmed him down, Nathan had learned of a crime family that was oppressing the nearby areas. Thinking of it as a good opportunity to blow off some steam, Nathan went after them. Sonata returned to the hotel to think about something important while he 'cleaned up' the mess in the backstreets.

After gunning through a few dozen guards and thugs, Nathan opened the door to a room when a man was sitting in the shadows.

"Chill Ice, you reign of awesome terror is over, I'm taking these streets back."

"Woah woah, don't stress out your servos brobot, what ya bettin about?" The lights went on and revealed the man, he was in his early twenties and wore a blue jacket and grey jeans.

"Well, your gang is slowly taking over this city that apparently has no law enforcement."

"Whaaaat? Dude, take a look around, I already gots everything I need right here. Bricks, floor, hook..." He pointed to a large hook hanging from the ceiling. "...man I love that hook, so chill."

"Quit stalling, I'm taking you down right here and now." Nathan readied his wrench.

"Ok, cool, I dig it. But check it, better plan. I grab some nachos, put some Flux Pavilion on the old iPod and you and I cool our hard drives and just veg out for a bit." Chill walked over to a coffe table with two beanbag chairs, an iPod hooked up to a stereo and a bowl of nachos.

"Um, wow, seriously? I mean, your guys out there tried to kill me."

"Oh, sorry about that Nathabrah. They do their thing and I do mine, chill and let chill y'know?"

"Look, you seem cool, but I have to beat you, gotta get rid of the crime here."

"Ohhhhh, you want us to stop all that heisting? Sure, we'll stop. In fact take this diamond to show that we made peace with y'all."

"Uh, really?"

"Micasa sucasa my robo ombré, you seem stressed out anyways." Chill sat down on one of the bean bags and started strumming on his guitar.

"Uh I am far beyond stress, there's this demon I have to fight by singing an-"

"Dude, if ya keep focusin on it you're never gonna calm down. Now kick off those fancy boots and chill for awhile. I got Hoodie Cobra and Bong Raccoon coming over later, we're gonna watch Big Lebowski on my dads flatscreen." Nathan lay back in the other bean bag and sighed happily.

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Wow...that is a nice hook."

"I know right?"

After a moment of silence Nathan asked a question that I think all of us are wondering. "How do you know I'm a robot?"

A few hours later Nathan made his way to his and Sonatas hotel room. "I should visit those guys some time, they seem alright." As he opened the door and closed it he looked around to find the room was only lit but a few candles that were scattered around the room. He felt something grab his shoulder and looked to his side to see Sonata there wearing...AND WE ARE GOING TO LEAVE THEM ALONE FOR NOW!!!

The next day

Nathan walked towards the school with a goofy expression and holding Sonata close. After their...eventful night together, they had both agreed that their relationship should move at a faster pace to make up for the years apart.

"Thanks for last night Nata, it really cheered me up." He said as he kissed her head.

"So I take it that we'll make it a regular thing?" She asked with a sultry gaze.

"I love you so much right now." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.

"We gotta make the most of our time here Natty, when we get back to Equestria we won't be able to do anything like that."

"I'm sure I can find a spell or something to turn myself into a pony or something." She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him close as they walked. 'At the rate we're going I'm gonna end up proposing by the end of this...and she knows it too.' He looked at her from the corner of his eye and saw she was deep in thought and allowing him to lead her to the school. He felt a sense of responsibility, like he had to protect her, he always had that instinct around her but now it was stronger. 'Oh God is she...?'

She looked up to him and smiled.

'Oh my God...'

She nodded and tears welled up in her eyes.

"That fast?" He asked in disbelief.

"There is a lot of weird things about siren anatomy, one of thos things being quick pregnancies." He smiled happily and spun her around on the air.

"I'm going to be a dad?!" He asked with hope in his eyes.

"Yep, we're going to be parents!" She replied with tears of joy. Nathan set her down and immediately placed his lips on hers. Then one question came to their minds at the same time.

"What's it going to look like?" They both asked at the same time.

Nightmare watched the couple through a small portal and growled. "Great, now that annoying ranger has offspring." She slammed her fist into the table she was sitting at and turned to Adagio and Aria. "Have you two got any ideas?"

Adagio closed her eyes in thought before smirking. "How about...we use this situation to our advantage?" Nightmare motioned for her to go on. "That ranger has always been protective of those dear to him, now that Sonata is going to bare his child he'll do anything to keep her safe. So what if we kidnapped Sonata and forced him to surrender...or we kill her and his child."

Aria just looked to her sister in shock. She knew Adagio was evil but to actually kill someone, that was going to far, even for her standards. Nightmare rubbed her hands together with anticipation.

"Very good Adagio, very good indeed."

Aria managed to slip away and run out of the building. "I don't care about ruling the world or anything like that, I just want to do what I want when I want. And right now, I want to protect Sonata and my future niece or nephew."

Author's Notes:

Yeah...I know that the relationship between Sonata and Nathan is being rushed, but it's not the main focus of the story. As it was said, if they were together through the thousand year peace they would have been married.

I'll slow things down from now on, so don't worry.

Also, yes I watch Dorkly and listen to Flux Pavilion, sue me

Chapter twelve: A step too far

Twilight and the girls sat in front of the school. "What do you think Nathan needs to talk to us about Twilight?" Asked Sunset.

"I don't know, but he seemed very excited about it." As soon as she said that Nathan appeared with Sonata close to him.

"Hello everyone, I have two very important announcements to make." The girls all leaned forwards. "First off...Sonata and I, are having a baby!" Everyone gasped and immediately went up to hug the two. Twilight had immediately ran over to her friend and looked him in the eye.

"Congratulations Nathan. Looks like your dream will come true after all." The girls all looked to him confused, all except for Sunset and Sonata.

"What dream?" Asked Applejack.

"As you know, in Equestria I am a giant warbot, therefore I don't have any organic body parts, making it impossible for me to have any offspring. I spent a thousand years alone in a small cave, waiting for when I would next be needed. Over that time I had only one thing to do...think. Day in and day out I would think about my life, the world, anything. There was one thing that was on my mind frequently though...the thought of raising a family. It started with a fascination, then a dream, then an obsession. During my time in the cave I would look out into the world from the cave and watch the inhabitants, mainly those with happy families. It soon became a mission in my coding to start a family. And now..." He wrapped an arm around Sonata and smiled warmly. "...I can complete that mission." The girls, even Rainbow, gave 'awww's at the small tale and hugged them once again.

"Wait, you said there was two things that you wanted to tell us. What's the other thing?" Asked Sunset.

"Oh right! I have a plan to take down the Dazzlings!" The group all gasped. "What?" He asked in confusion.

"Why is Aria limping?" Asked Rainbow as she pointed towards an injured Aria. Nathan ran up to her and caught her before she could collapse in the middle of the road.

"Aria, what happened to you?" Nathan looked over her body, she was badly bruised and cut in many places and she appeared to have a sprained ankle and a broken arm.

She coughed and looked to him. "You need...to get...Sonata...somewhere...safe. Nighmare...knows about...the...baby. She's coming...for it." After that Aria fell unconscious, but not dead. Nathan held her bridal style and ran back over to the girls.

"Get her inside and find somewhere safe, take Sonata with you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny disco ball(1). "If Nightmare or Adagio finds you toss this in the air, it should give you time to escape." He was about to shoot off when Sonata grabbed his arm.

"Wait! What are you going to do?" She asked with worry. He turned around and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm going to do what I should have done two days ago..." He kissed her on the lips and let her go. "...I'm going to go kill Nightmare." With that he began running towards a tall building. 'I'm coming for you, you bitch!'

Nightmare watched as Nathan approached the tower with a burning rage, literally burning. Smoke emitted off of him as he sprinted towards his target. "I should have just killed Aria when I had the chance, but you had to try and stop me, didn't you?" She looked back to an exhausted Adagio that was on her knees breathing heavily with a good amount of injuries.

"I said we'd threaten to kill Sonata, not actually do it. Then you try and kill Aria...that's two of my loved ones you've tried to kill in the span of a day. So if I die here, then I have one thing to say to you...I hope that Nathan swings his wrench right between your legs." Nightmare slapped her with a tendril, knocking her unconscious.

"Foolish girl, I should have just killed you all when I had the chance two days ago." She thought for a moment before smiling evilly. "I won't kill you though. My master could use another breeding sow!" Nightmare laughed like a psychopath before teleporting to where Nathan was. He came to a screeched halt and pulled out his wrench. "If you insist on fighting then let us both battle at our full strength, not in these limited bodies."

With a flash of light Nathan found himself on a large circular platform in a black void, being lit by one large ball of light high in the sky. He looked at himself and saw he was in his ranger body again. Looking around he saw Nightmare start to change. She burst out of the Sonata copy and emerged as a large beast made of a dark purple liquid fog with two glowing yellow circles for eyes. It's body was muscular and it had multiple large tendrils. "Now then, shall we begin?" (we will call it a he now) His voice was now crackled and echoed.

Nathan stared at the beast with an unholy rage. "You threatened my girlfriend...my unborn child...you made a mockery of me by assuming I would fall for such an idiotic trap...you made a mockery of my girlfriend by changing into a crappy recolour of her...and you had the gall to hurt my future sister-in-law!" Nathan's body became black and grey, his eye turned orange and smoke began to emit from him. "I WILL MAKE SURE YOU CAN NEVER HARM ANYONE DEAR TO ME!!!" Blood red fire exploded from his body, outlining him and his power increased by rapidly. "I WILL PROTECT MY FRIENDS!!!"

Nightmare twitched in anticipation. "Ah, so this is what you used to drive back Jack of Blades when he entered your world! Very well, let us begin!"

Author's Notes:

(1) the grovetron is a gadget in the games that will force any and all enemies in its range, including bosses, to dance and be left vulnerable

Chapter thirteen: Battle of giants and meeting the twins

Equestria

Thane and the other Rangers were saying their goodbyes to Krystal as she was about to leave for Ponyville when they all shuddered as a long forgotten feeling made its way into their bodies. They felt an unbalance, a dark power and at the centre was Nathan in what they had called 'Devil Mode.'

"Oh no..." Katie muttered as she brought up a screen. "Please don't do this again Nathan!" They all gathered around the screen and looked at their former weapons specialist in horror. The blood red fire that outlined his now black and grey amoured body bringing memories of what had caused him to achieve that mode.

"What made him go berserk this time?" Asked Zane as Katie swiped the screen backwards, playing the events that had transpired before Nathan had activated his Devil Mode.

"He's dating that siren?" Asked Krystal with a hint of disbelief in her voice. "More importantly...HE'S HAVING A KID WITH THAT SIREN!?!?"

"Calm down Krystal, there are more important matters at hand here. Like why Nathan would even consider returning to that form." Snapped Thane.

"Maybe it's because it was a danger to Twilight?" Suggested Katie.

"Maybe it was going to come kill us?" Guessed Krystal.

"Whatever the reason he shouldn't have returned to that form at any cost." Said Thane in an authoritative tone. At this point, Zane had had enough with his brothers attitude and think headedness.

"It's because that...thing, threatened his significant other and unborn child you idiot!" Yelled Zane, causing everyone to look at him in shock.

"Zane, what t-"

"No Thane! I have had enough of this fake persona you have! Why can't you just accept the fact that Nathan left the squad because you refused to listen!? He didn't 'betray' you or any of us! He was protecting the natural order of this world! Then there's you! You act the strong leader when you can't even admit you feel guilty about Nathan leaving because you refused to listen to him!"

Thane was taken back by his brothers words, never before had he seen Zane angry or hear him raise his voice. "Zane I..." He sighed and turned to the screen, watching the battle his cousin was fighting.

Nathan held up his cannon and charged up a large energy ball. He swiped the cannon and five energy balls appeared in front of him and shot orange beams at Nightmare, hitting him head on. Nathan then charged forward and slammed his fist into Nightmares face, sending a huge wave of energy with the punch.

Nightmare staggered before launching multiple huge tendrils at the warbot. Nathan quickly batted them away with punches if blinding speeds. He then charged another energy ball before leaping into the air and throwing it to the ground, causing a compressed nuclear explosion that was contained by a small energy field. He then fell down onto the injured Nightmare and stomped him with his giant feet.

Nightmare grabbed Nathan by the arm and started slamming him into the ground multiple times before summoning a large ball of dark magic and bringing it down onto the warbot. Nathan leapt out of the blast and pulled out the RYNO V which now was jet black and the gun mussels were seeping red mist. He aimed at Nightmare and pulled the trigger, sending a huge wave of glowing red bullets and missiles at his opponent.

Nightmare staggered before charging the warbot. The then began a battle of strength as they each tried to push the other over the edge of the platform. Their hands were interlocked, but with one of Nathan's arms being a cannon he could still attack. He fired a beam into Nightmares palm and smacked him across the face with it. He then held the monster down and rapidly shot him in the chest with powerful lasers.

Nightmare roared and pushed Nathan off of him, he then leapt to the edge of the platform and began charging one last final attack in the form of a huge ball of dark energy and it only continued to grow. "SAY GOODBYE TO ALL YOU HOLD DEAR WARBOT!!! BECAUSE ONCE I FINISH YOU I'M GOING STRAIGHT AFTER YOUR PARTNER AND CHILD!!!"

This only added more wood the the bonfire that was Nathan's rage, which in turn increased his power. He then placed his hand over his cannon mussel and started charging his own attack. The two stared each other down before launching huge lasers at the other which collided and started forming a ball of conflicting energies. The two poured more and more energy into their attacks.

Nathan closed his eyes and started to look deep for any emotional connection he could find. 'Sonata...Twilight...Sunset...Celestia...Luna...Girls...Zane...Krystal...Katie...Thane...Solid...Starswirl...My Child...Scorpan...I will protect you and your memory!' His fire burner brighter and he began walking towards Nightmare slowly, pushing the ball of energy towards his foe as he went. 'I will protect what I have...I've lost too much already...I will not allow a repeat of the golden suits incident!'

Three streams of red energy shot out of Nathan's back and added to his attack. "NO!!! How are you this powerful all of a sudden?!?!"

Nathan stared at him. "Memories." With one final push Nathan launched his attack forward and the ball of conflicting energies swallowed Nightmare.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" The energy started destroying Nightmare, turning him into purple mist. The energy ball exploded. Nathan fell to his knees and the Devil Mode deactivated. He looked up to see the two types of energies absorbing the purple mist. The energies turned blue and yellow. Both separated and formed two small figures.

The glowing figures gently floated to the ground and lay on their sides. The glow died down and revealed two small children. One was a boy with bright yellow hair, three freckles under each golden eye, he was wearing a yellow jacket, yellow jeans and yellow sneakers, he looked no more than nine years old. The other was a girl with long sapphire blue hair and eyes. She wore a small blue dress with patterns of white flowers and wore blue slippers. Again only looking around nine years old.

"What in the world?" Nathan sat down and watched the two carefully as they slowly sat up. They rubbed their eyes and yawned. They looked around confused before laying eyes on him. He was about to say hi when he was asked a question that he did not expect to hear.

"Daddy?"

He was completely taken back by what the little girl had said.

"Are you our daddy?"

He heard the sound of a portal opening and turned around to see Roden walking to him. The children noticed Roden and ran behind Nathan to hide. "Roden, do you know something about this?"

Roden sighed and nodded. "I do. When a Nightmare is destroyed it turns into purple mist and then into a small purple orb. With that blast of two opposite energies separating, the life force of the Nightmare was absorbed by the two energies and gave life to two new beings, created from your energy. The girl is made from your negative energy, and the boy is positive. They are your children now."

Nathan couldn't form words. He turned back to look at the children who were hugging his back for protection. "It's alright little ones, he's a friend." He said in a slightly unsure voice. The two trusted his word and walked around and sat in Nathan's lap. Roden looked up to Nathan and nodded.

"Take good care of them, I have altered a few things so that they recognise Sonata as their mother, they can turn into ponies, humans or rangers. I must be going now." With that Roden stepped through a portal, leaving Nathan to get familiar with the two children.

"Hello there little ones, what are your names?" He asked in a calm soothing voice. The girl looked up to him and smiled softly.

"I'm Sapphire."

Nathan looked to the boy who was twiddling his thumbs.

"Um...I'm...Lyric."

"Well then, it's lovely to meet you children."

"It's nice to meet you too daddy." Sapphire walked up to his eye and hugged it, Lyric following his sister's actions. Nathan felt a great sense of pride and fulfilment with them calling him their father. He put his hand up to them and held them close.

"Come on, let's go see mommy." Both of the children smiled as Nathan led them through a portal. 'Looks like the baby will have some older siblings to play with.'

Author's Notes:

Yeah I was a bit concerned with doing Sapphire and Lyric, since my friend a Prince_Zodiac had done something similar with his displaced

I had opted for Sonata being pregnant to be how Nathan got his wish, but I just couldn't leave these two out, so Nathan will have three children

Chapter fourteen: Homebound

Nathan had returned to his human form, Lyric and Sapphire at his side holding his hands. He looked down at them and smiled, he had noticed a few things about them as they walked down the street. Lyric seemed to be extremely shy, while Sapphire seemed to be more open, she was still shy though, after all the two of them were only born. He also noticed a soft glow came from their hairs and clothes.

"Daddy?" He looked to Sapphire who was looking at him with curiosity.

"Yes Sapphire?"

"Why did you change?"

He looked at her and tried to for the words. "Well, this is what the people of this world look like, when we get to our world I will change back."

"Do we have to change?" Asked Lyric.

"Not if you don't want to son, you can stay this way, turn into a pony or look like me when we get back."

"I don't want to change." Lyric mumbled quietly. Nathan pulled him close to reassure him, earning a small smile from the boy.

"Daddy, are we going to see mommy?"

"Yes Sapphire, we're going to go get mommy and then we're going home."

"Is mommy pretty?" Nathan smiled warmly at her question.

"Yes, she is very pretty." As they turned the last corner they began walking straight for the front of Canterlot High where the girls, Aria and Adagio were sitting. Sunset noticed Nathan walking towards them and alerted everyone. Once he reached the statue the twins hid behind him.

"Nathan! We were so worried." Sonata took him into a warm hug and kissed him on the lips. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Sapphire peeking under Nathan's arm. "Who's that?" Nathan smiled warmly and turned to the twins.

"It's ok, they're all daddy's friends." They looked at each other and looked back at him with unsure looks. "It's ok, I promise." He walked behind them and placed his hands on their shoulders to reassure them. "Everyone, this is Sapphire and Lyric, my children." They all gasped.

"But how?" Asked Sunset.

"After I defeated Nightmare I was rewarded with these two, they're created from my positive and negative energies." He looked up to Sonata. "Looks like Junior will have some playmates." Sonata looked to the two children in shock.

"Mommy?" Sonata placed a hand to her chest in disbelief.

"Yes Sonata, they recognise you as their mother." Nathan pushed the twins gently towards her with a smile.

Sonata got on her knees and looked at the two children.

"Mommy?" Sonata started to tear up and nodded, she opened her arms and the twins rushed into them.

Nathan stood up and looked at the sweet sight before him. The sense of fulfilment returned at seeing the complete family, with another member on the way. He joined in on the hug and kissed Sonata. The girls all looked at the new family with soft smiles on their faces.

"Well then girls, looks like it's time for us to go." Twilight hugged the human five and Sunset, she then looked to Aria and Adagio. "So, what do you two have planned then?"

"We'll just stay at Canterlot High and try to blend in with the crowd, try and live normal lives for once." Adagio answered with a honest smile, earning a nod from Aria.

Sonata got up and walked over to her sisters. "I'll try to visit as much as I can." They hugged and Aria ruffled her hair.

"Just get going you goofball." Sonata smiled and walked back over to the twins. Nathan then walked over to Sunset.

"Make sure Adagio and Aria get settled in ok, I'll keep in touch through the book in Equestria." They hugged and Nathan walked over to the portal. Twilight waved goodbye and walked through the portal with Spike. Sonata waved back and walked through with the twins. As Nathan was about to walk into the portal he turned back. "Good luck in the Frienship Games." With that he leaped through the portal.

When Sonata had exited the portal she had pink see-through wings and her hooves were shaded pink as well, her mane was flat and was missing her ponytail. The twins had remained the same, they sat with Twilight as they waited for Nathan to come through the portal. They had cleared the way for his size as they weren't sure if he would be shrunken by Twilights spell or if he'd come out full size. After a few seconds the portal glowed and a glowing white blog was at out of it. The blob then grew and formed Nathan in his ranger body. "Ok...that was a terrible experience."

He shrunk down to his smallest size and looked to his family. "Looking good Sonata." She smiled and flew up to rest on his shoulder. He turned to the twins. "Well Sapphire and Lyric, welcome to your new home." Sapphire looked around the large library in wonder while Lyric walked over and sat beside his father, looking around in caution. 'He's extremely shy, he'll get better over time...I hope." Nathan set his hand down in front of Lyric and the boy climbed into it.

"I'll go set up one of the guest rooms for the twins." Twilight said, leaving the family alone for awhile. Nathan watched as Sapphire walked around and looked at the stacks of books, occasionally stopping to look at a few covers. She looked around for a bit before taking two books and holding them under her arm.

"Will Twilight mind if I took these books to read?"

"I'm sure she'll let you borrow them for awhile, as long as you give them back when you're done." He answered in a soft but stern voice.

"Ok daddy." Nathan moved his attention to Lyric who had found some sort of amulet. It was purple with a white gem in the shape of a four pointed star in the medallion.

"Lyric, where did you get that?"

"The green man gave it to me...he said it was for you when we got here." Lyric gave his father the amulet before walking off to join his sister in the hunt for a book to read.

'Green man? Must be talking about Roden.' Nathan held the amulet up to his eye to inspect it. "What is this thing?" He took a chance and focused some energy onto it. Sure enough there was a flash of light and he started to change. When the light died down Nathan was now a tall white earth pony stallion with a thin waist and small mussel. His cutie-mark was a bullet with purple fire. His eyes were dark purple and his mane was spiky and also purple. His hooves were solid black and he wore the amulet around his neck. He got up and placed a hoof to his head.

Sonata glided down and looked over her partners body. "Well, looks like we've solved that problem." She walked over and put a hoof to his cheek. "You alright there handsome?" He looked at her and smirked.

"Never better." Just then a note floated down and he caught it in his hoof.

Dear Nathan
The amulet you are wearing can transform you into your human, ranger and pony form at will. When you are in ranger mode it will appear as a gadget in your inventory, as a human it with be a bracelet and as a pony it will be an amulet. When in pony form you can change into an earth pony, Pegasus or unicorn depending on what you need, you cannot however turn into an alicorn.

Sincerely, Roden Godswell

Nathan smirked at the letter. "That magnificent bastard." He handed the letter to Sonata, once she read it she looked at him with a sly look. "What's that look for?"

"Oh you know perfectly well what it's for." She passionately kissed him and looked at him with half lidded eyes.

"Can you at least wait until the kids are asleep first, don't want them seeing anything." She rolled her eyes and Twilight walked into the room. She froze when she saw Nathan's new form. "See something you like?" Twilight snapped out of her trance and starred daggers at him.

"The guest rooms are ready, there's one for the twins and your room has been converted to suit Sonata being there." Nathan smiled and walked over to nuzzle Twilight.

"Thank you Twi, I appreciate it." Her features softened and she rolled her eyes.

"Ok ok, don't you go soft on me."

"I'm a dad now, I'm probably going to change a little bit." Sonata walked to his side and called the twins. "Hey Twi, the twins were wondering if they could borrow a few books to read. That ok with you?"

"Sure it is, just make sure they aren't damaged." Nathan nodded and the twins came back, Sapphire had five books in her hands while Lyric had one book on magical places in Equestria.

"Alright you two, let's get you into bed." They both nodded, not questioning their fathers new form and they follow ed Twilight to their rooms. Sonata waited at the door while Nathan tucked the two into their own separate beds in their plain room, he'd get them new bed covers and some furniture later. He kissed the, goodnight before blowing out the candle that lit the room and closed the curtains.

He and Sonata then walked to their room. As Nathan closed the door he turned and saw Sonata laying across the bed with a 'come hither' look. He smiled and walked over to her.

Author's Notes:

Back in Equestria at last.

By the way, this is what Sonata looks like in this...

Chapter fifteen: A new mission

Krystal stood at the door of the Castle of Friendship the next morning. She had wanted to make sure that Nathan was OK after activating Devil Mode the previous day. She wasn't able to view the rest of the battle as she had a train to catch, so she was going to find out what had happened. She knocked on the door and stood back, soon heavy footsteps could be heard and the door opened revealing Nathan at a semi-medium size.

"Oh, Krystal, hi." Nathan shrank to his normal size and stepped out closing the door. "What brings you by?"

She sighed and looked up at him. "I left Phoenix." Nathan just stared at her in silence, not expecting something like this first thing in the morning.

"Oh...well, come on in. We're just sitting down to breakfast, we can talk more inside." He held the door open for her. She thanked him and walked with him to the dining room. "Take a seat, I'm just going to go wake up the twins." She looked at him confused as he walked out. As he reached the door Sonata fluttered up to him and planted a kiss on his eye. "Good morning Nata. I'll be back in a second, we have a guest." Sonata looked over Nathan's shoulder and noticed Krystal.

"Oh, Krystal. I haven't seen you in centuries." She flew over and sat opposite her.

"It's good to see you too Sonata, congratulations on the baby by the way."

"Thanks, I'm really excited about it. I know Nathan is too, although we have some other members of the family now." Sonata said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Krystal tilted her eye in confusion.

"Come on Sapphire, your brother is up and ready. We're waiting on you." The two of them heard Nathan say from down the hall.

"Five more minutes..." A soft feminine voice complained.

"That's what you said five minutes ago, come on."

"Do I have to?"

"That's it, dragging you out." The was a few giggles and multiple protests from the small voice until heavy footsteps could be heard. "Sorry about that Krystal, someone didn't want to get up this morning." Krystal looked to the two children, one was on his shoulder while the other was in Nathan's closed hand with a grumpy look on her face. "Krystal, meet Sapphire and Lyric."

"Um...hi."

"Hello."

Krystal just looked at Nathan in question. "They're my kids." He explained. This just caused more confusion, Nathan then explained what had happened with the battle against Nightmare and what had happened after. "Sonata, could you go get the twins some breakfast, I need to talk to Krystal in private for a moment." Sonata nodded and led the kids out of the room. Nathan changed to his human form and sat down opposite Krystal.

"Didn't take you for a family man Nathan, I'm honestly surprised."

"A lot can happen over a full millennium." His smile faltered and he leaned back in his chair. "So, what happened with Phoenix?"

Krystal sighed and looked to the table. "I just couldn't put up with Thane and his fake attitude anymore. You don't know it but Zane, Katie and I were watching when you were at the bonfire. We've been watching ever since you moved to Ponyville. You looked like you had found happiness in this town, so I thought I could find that happiness too." Nathan placed a finger to his chin in thought.

"That makes sense I suppose, but what do you plan to do here exactly? I'm sure I can find room to put your capsule into in the castle, but what do you plan to do in your own time?"

"I figured I'd just let life take its course, maybe fight some creatures in the Everfree to earn bolts for weapons. You must have a ton after beating that Nightmare thing."

"Yeah, nearly a million." There was a moment of silence before a letter appeared in front of Nathan. "A letter from Celestia?" He took the scroll and undid the seal, reading over it his smile returned. "So that's it."

"What?" Nathan changed back into his ranger form and made his way to the door.

"Got our first mission from Celestia. Just for me and you... And the twins, can't leave them here with just Sonata, gotta let her get settled in."

Krystal got out of her chair and followed him to the kitchen where Sonata and the twins were eating waffles.

"Get your stuff together kids, we're going sailing!" Sonata just looked at him with a raised brow. "We're going to the land of behemoths, we got a mission from Celestia. Thought I'd give the twins an adventure while you settle in." Sonata smiled at her partner.

"Ok, but I don't want them coming back with a giant pet centaur."

"Fine, I promise it won't be bigger than a kraken." Sonata shook her head and flew up to him to kiss his eye.

"No pets. When you get back we'll talk about it." Nathan nodded and the twins finished their meals.

"Alright, let's go pay your uncle Scorpan a visit."

Nathan and Katie began walking towards the shores of Equestria, with Sapphire and Lyric riding behind Nathan's eye. Celestia had arranged a ship to cross the ocean separating Equestria from the land of behemoths.

"So Nathan, mind explaining to me what we are going to do when we get there?"

"I figured I'd pay a visit to Scorpan and see how he's doing. After that we get on with the mission."

"And what is that mission?" Nathan's composure became hostile.

"The Maniacs emblem has been spotted in the countries near the land of behemoths, we have to go investigate."

Author's Notes:

And now we are on with the main storyline with the villains of this story.

Chapter sixteen: Smooth sailing

Meanwhile in the land of behemoths

A man in a dark purple tailcoat, dress pants and a top hat looked through a liquid screen as Nathan, Krystal and the twins reached the ports of Equestria. The mans hair was messy and golden while his eyes were pure white and his teeth were razor sharp, giving a Cheshire Cat kind of smile. His focus was on the twins as he twirled his black cane and tapped his black leather shoes.

"Well well well, looks like our favourite tin man has a few brats now." He gave an evil chuckle before turning to a group of shadowy figures. "What do you all make of this my fellow Maniacs?" He asked while leaning on his cane.

"I think we could use this to our advantage." A slim cloaked figure stated as his two golden eyes pierced through the shadow that his hood created over his face.

"Oh and what makes you think that Carnage?" The man asked while pacing back and fourth on the red stone table that the he group had been sitting at.

"From what we can tell those children are still developing in their minds, if we can convince them that their father is evil and that we are good, we can have them turn on him."

"And he wouldn't fight back because he would never want to harm his own brats!" The man applauded his colleagues plan. "Very good Carnage, now, how do you suggest we go about this?" Asked the man as his body bent in a 90 degree angle in front of Carnage.

"Well Hack, I was thinking that you and Psychopath could draw Nathan's attention away from our base while Mist kidnaps the children, then leave the rest to me." Hack smiled so hard Pinkie would be jealous,

"Very well, come along Psychopath." A tall muscular cloaked figure stood up and followed Hack out of the liar.

Nathan sat on top of the mast of the large ship in his human form. He stared up at the sky as the waves rocked the ship gently back and forth. He looked down and saw Sapphire and Lyric playing pirate with some of the ships crew, Sapphire had won them over in mere minutes and had them catering to her every whim. Chuckling at his daughters antics he turned to see Krystal tinkering with a Mr Zurkon robot. He watched as she dismantled it completely along with a few agents of doom(1) began building another small robot.

Shrugging Nathan went back to cloud watching.

After a few more minutes he got bored and hopped down to the deck. Switching to his pony form, which had attracted a few of the mates on boards attention, he made his way over to where his children were playing.

"Fire the cannon!" Chuckling at Sapphire he was about to pull out his Gravity Bomb launcher to give her some form of cannon he was surprised to hear somethings being launched. Walking over he saw that Sapphire had in her arms his Negotiator, looking in his inventory his weapon had indeed been taken by the little psychopath.

"Sapphire, how did you get my gun?" He asked walking over to her.

"When we were riding behind your head on the way to the boat I got bored and looked around your storage unit, I only took the one gun though." She pulled the trigger on the rocket launcher and blew up a nearby rock.

"Ok, I'm happy you're using some weaponry and all, but you should have asked me first." He stated in a firm voice, causing her smile to falter.

"Sorry daddy." She picked up the gun and handed it back to her father.

"It's ok sweetheart, you just wanted to blow something up."

"It is fun."

"I know right? Anyway, if you wanted a gun so bad, I'm sure I can find one best suited to you." Sapphire beamed with a huge smile. Nathan laughed and ruffled her hair. Changing to his human form he began looking through his inventories. As he reached the end he frowned. "Hold on a second." Pulling out the Gadgetron vendor he looked through the selection until he came across the perfect weapon for his daughter. Clicking the purchase button the weapon made its way into his inventory. Packing the vendor away he pulled out the Telsa Claw.

"Here, this should do nicely for your first weapon." He handed the claw to her and she looked at it confused, looking for a grip. "You wear it like a glove, slide it onto your right hand." Doing as instructed, Sapphire put on the claw and smiled. Nathan then set an apple on a barrel. "Ok, give it a shot... and try not to hit the barrel or I have to pay for it." Nodding Sapphire pointed the claw at the apple and pulled a trigger on the inside. A steady stream of electricity shot out and zapped the apple, causing to cook then explode.

"This gun is perfect! But it's got limited ammo..." Nathan patted her back and opened up the vendor again.

"There, any time you run out of ammo it'll automatically refill as long as there are bolts in my account, that should take care of it since a full clip in that thing costs like a hundred bolts at most." Sapphire smiled and hugged him.

"Thank you daddy." Nathan always felt a sense of pride and fulfilment whenever Sapphire or Lyric called him that.

"No problem Sapphire, just don't go around randomly zapping people, ponies or whatever other creature you come across... unless they're evil then go nuts." As Sapphire ran off to find something to test her new weapon on Nathan turned around and saw Lyric sitting on a small crate reading a children's book. Nathan pulled up another box and sat down beside his son. "Hey son, how're you doing?" Nathan placed a hand on his sons back and gave the timid boy a comforting smile.

"Um, I'm feeling fine... thanks for asking daddy." Nathan had already figured out Sapphire and Lyrics personalities. Lyric was the shy and quiet one, while Sapphire was the adventurous and loud one. As he thought about it he realised they really did represent two parts of his being, Sapphire being the mask that he puts on to act strong and Lyric being what he really was on the inside.

"Want me to read this to you, maybe help you sound out a few words you have trouble with?" Lyric nodded and handed his father the book. Nathan lifted him into his lap and began reading the book to his timid son, making sure to make him feel safe with a soothing voice.

Meanwhile Krystal had been watching him interact with his children. "Those two are going to do him wonders, maybe someday they'll help him break out of the shell he's formed." With that she went back to building her own little robot.

Author's Notes:

(1) Agents of Doom is the name of a glove that allows the player to summon four small robots that charge an enemy and explode on impact.