Chapter Four

Reaper towered over the defeated cannon mobile suit, his body still releasing a lot of heat, removing the sword imbedded within its torso. Many hurried to see their victorious hero, cheering loudly, and began to crowd at the mobile suit's feet. But, when Reaper's body stopped releasing heat and staggered back, the citizens scattered out from behind him… Just before the mobile suit toppled over.

Both Twilight and Flash Sentry soared to the mobile suit's cockpit, wanting to see if their daughter was alright. However, when they touched down on to Reaper's metal body, both royals were forced off of it. "Gah! His body is like the inside of a volcano!" Flash Sentry yelled, rubbing the bottom of his hooves.

"If his outside is this hot, that means Starburst is in danger!" Twilight yelled, trying to find a way to open Reaper's cockpit. "We need to get her out of there!"

"But, how?" Flash Sentry asked, looking around the mobile suit. "He's far too hot for any of us to touch, and I do not think any in Canterlot knows how to-?"
"W-Wat-ter…" Reaper's voice stuttered, making the pair look at his head, the monocular eye blinking in and out. "C-Cool down bo-body… Then p-pull emerge-gency release o-on cockpit's l-left…"

They looked at him for a few moments, before realizing that he just told them how to get Starburst out. "Quickly, go get any pegasi in Canterlot, and have them create the biggest down pour possible over his body! Hurry!" Twilight ordered, Flash Sentry flying off with an 'on it', then she flew down next to the fallen mobile suit's head. "Please, tell me, is my daughter alright?"
His eye, slowly, shifted towards Twilight. "She i-is safe f-for now." Twilight could tell that Reaper's body was under a lot of strain, she could hear the joints and moving parts creaking. "P-Protocol… Th-Three is now in e-effect. All s-systems have d-diverted to… Ensuring pilot's survival."

"Protocol three?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. "What is that?"

"The t-third of m-my four Pro-Protocols." Reaper answered, Twilight taking mental notes. "Protocol One: Ensure Mission is Completed. Protocol Two: Follow Pilot's Orders. Protocol Three: Protect the Pilot."

"Wait, that was only three?" Twilight noted, slightly confused. "What is the forth?"

"Protocol F-Four… Classified. Only to b-be revealed when activated o-or personnel with c-clearance asks. It can o-override all other pro-protocols, and can result in destruction o-of mobile suit, if n-need be." He answered, the eye still locked on Twilight. "Cl-Clearance from R-rear Admiral or ab-above is required."

She gave a nod, before thunder boomed overhead and caused her to jump… Pegasi from the Royal Guard and Refugee Districts were already building storm clouds above Reaper. A smile formed on Twilight's lips, as the down pour fell on to the mobile suit's body, hissing steam shooting upwards. This process lasted a good while, the pegasi having to form so much rain, over a specific large area, wearing them down. Though, when it had finished cooling Reaper's body down, Twilight wasted no time and flew up to his cockpit.

Her eyes scanned the hatch's eft side, spotting a hidden handle within an indention. Twilight grabbed hold of Reaper's emergency release, still worried, and quickly turned it until the handle. She was reward with the sounds of hydraulics and gears grinding behind his armor, before the cockpit slowly opened.

"Starburst!" Twilight called out, moving towards the cockpit's opened hatch, panic in her eyes. "A-Are you alright!?"
The mare in question sat in her seat, both eyes closed, breathing heavily, and still strapped in; the red screens around her flashing overheat warnings. Slowly, Starburst opened her eyes, before smiling widely and giving Twilight a weak thumb's up. "Y-Yeah… T-Told you w-we could do it, m-mother." Starburst allowed her head to rest against the seat's head rest, obviously drained. "T-Though, i-if you all do n-not mind… R-Reaper and I could use s-some rest." A smile appeared on her lips, the mare looking up. "Don't you a-agree, big g-guy?"

"I could g-go for… A-A temporary shut d-down, right now." Reaper's eye moved to the center. "I-If you do not m-mind, Princess."

"Fine with m-me…" With that, Starburst passed out, Reaper's systems going offline.

Twilight could only smile at her daughter, before stepping into the cockpit, unbuckled her, and got the sleeping Starburst out. A pair of Royal Guard Pegasi flew over, with Flash Sentry, as she pulled Starburst out. "Twi! Is she alright?" He asked, the three landing around her.

"Starburst will be alright." Twilight answered, allowing the Royal Guards to take her daughter. "She and Reaper just need to rest."

"The cyclops will also require repairs, it would seem." A calm, regal, voice called out, causing the four to turn and see Celestia… With the other royal family members. "It seems, during this recent battle, he has sustained considerable damage."

Flash Sentry and Twilight looked at Reaper's body, noticing several scorch marks across the armor. While none of it managed to penetrate, they could not risk taking such a chance, nor ignore possible damage to the machinery. "You have a point there, Princess…" Twilight started placing a hand over her chin. "But, how can we do that? Such a machine is far too advance for any of us and we have no idea how he was built."

"The burns can be fixed with simple restoration spells. As for checking the body?" Nidra smirked a bit, shrugging her shoulders. "I heard from Prism Bolt, that such things come with a 'manual'."

They all raised an eyebrow, before Twilight gasped. "Of course!" Without warning, she jumped back into the cockpit, searching every nook and cranny. "Come on… Come on, where are these things usually hidden?"

"Um… Twilight? What are you-!"

"Ah-hah! Pilot's left side!" She popped back out, holding a red-black-white, ring bound, book in her hands. "The 'MS-07B-3 Gouf Custom Techincal Manual'! This should tell us everything we need to know!" A wide smile on her lips, and Flash Sentry saw a particular look in Twilight's eyes… The kind she gets, when something new to learn is presented.

"Good to know his repairs are in good hands." Celestia stated, with a smirk, before looking at one of the fallen invaders. "Another boon from this battle, is that we now have some of their own to study." The Solar Princess approached a fallen cannon wielding invader, its metal-organic body stained with its own blood. "We have never managed to bring even one, but this 'Reaper' managed to defeat thirty of them and effectively disposed each one, so that they could no longer be a threat?" Her hand gently caressed the smooth surface, a raised brow appearing. "I want our best examining each type present here, this will allow us to discover more about this threat."

"Celestia, are you sure this is a wise decision?" Discord, surprisingly, asked as he walked up to the alicorn mare. "These things have been kidnapping your precious subjects, along with the fact our magic cannot seem to do them any harm, how sure are you that one is not faking?"

"Did you not watch how Reaper and brave Starburst dispatched them?" She asked, Discord honestly not having an answer for her. "Exactly. If one did manage to survive, I highly doubt it will be a threat to any of our subjects." They all nodded, dispersing to handle what is needed from their ends, Celestia's gaze locking on to a certain one. "Twilight?"

"Yes, Princess!" The lavender mare flew up, from her in depth study of Reaper's manual, to Celestia.

"Maybe it would be best to let another oversee Reaper's repairs, you are needed elsewhere." The eldest princess suggested, placing a hand on to her shoulder. "Don't you agree?"

Twilight gained an unsure look about her, obviously conflicted with the idea. "I… Don't know, Princess. It's not like I do not want to go see her, with every fiber of my heart I want to be by her side, but... I highly doubt her seeing me, after what we tried to pull on her before this? It might not be a good idea." The white alicorn turned the lavender one around, fully, lightly shoving her forward. "Now, hand that Manual off and go see Starburst, she needs you." Twilight, not really one to deny Celestia, gave a nod and handed the manual to her mentor, before flying off.

-Later That Night-

Starburst slowly stretched her body, as she walked down the Canterlot streets, which were almost empty. Granted, Luna had raised the moon and most wanted to rest after what could be considered a nerve racking day, but it is still strange to the mare. She understood that some martial law could be in effect, and she is allowed to wonder around for the facts of being a Princess and a member of the Royal Guard, but no word has reached her about it. Which only left the conclusion they did not want to get involved with their newest protector, whom had a giant robot smack down earlier.

Speaking of Reaper, that is why Starburst is out right now, wanting to see if the mobile suit is up for a conversation. Finding him will be the easy part, since there are lights all over where they fought the invaders and she remembered when they fell back from exhaustion. Though, Starburst feared she might not have been able to go, when she first woke up and saw her mother next to her bed, but lucked out after noticing Twilight had been fast asleep, with a book in her lap. She quickly snuck out, after changing clothes.

Starburst suddenly stopped, pulling her pink scarf up, to protect herself further from the cold night breeze. "Should I have told her where I was going? She is still my mother, after all." She thought, looking down at the stone street of Canterlot, before another thought appeared. "She could have stopped me, if I did… After all, she did not want me fighting anymore." Her hooves started to move again, heading to where Reaper had fallen, without the deep thinking mare knowing. "Though, she did see us fend off all those invaders, but also freaked out about how Reaper's cockpit would not open." During these thoughts, Starburst did not notice a taped off area, with a pair of Royal Guards standing behind it. "But, there is a chance she would-?"

"Princess Starburst? What are you doing out here, so late?" One of the Royal Guards asked, snapping Starburst out of her thoughts. "Shouldn't you be resting in bed?"

"Huh? Oh, I was wondering if I could speak with Reaper?" She replied, looking at the tape for a moment, then back to the guards. "Is that ok?"

"Well…" The other guard started, the two looking at one another for a moment, before he continued. "We were told to keep the public out, nobles or not, but I think you are alright to enter… You are a princess, after all." Starburst flinched, hating how she is always being treated differently because of that, as a guard lifted the tape up for her. "Go on through, Princess Starburst."

She gave a nod, still having to duck under the tape, and kept walking towards where Reaper had fallen. "From what I can tell, they have not managed to move the big guy…" Starburst thought, eyeing how the mobile suit has not been moved from where he laid. Her gaze then went to several covered areas across Reaper's body, where engineers seemed to be working on exposed internal parts. "And it seems like they are trying to make repairs… Probably mother's doing." A smirk appeared on her muzzle. "Bet she turned the cockpit upside down, trying to find some book explaining how to repair him." Starburst then spotted a certain bat pony alicorn. "Nidra!" She called out, running up to said older princess.

"Starburst?" Nidra smiled, as said mare stopped a couple of paces from her. "It is good to see you up and about, but shouldn't you be resting?"

Starburst rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, but I wanted to check on Reaper, he took quite the beating and put a lot of pressure on his body." She looked towards the dormant giant, Nidra doing the same. "Along with if he could answer a few question… Is he up, yet?" The mare looked towards the alicorn, who also rubbed the back of her head again.

"Well…" Nidra seemed a bit worried about the answer, not sure of it herself. "Mother has spent many hours trying to wake him, but has failed thus far." Sounds of an angry Lunar Princess screaming, followed by 'Thou art impossible!' made Nidra sigh in annoyance. "You can guess how that is going over with her."

"Yikes… Thanks for the warning, I will try to stay out of her war path." Starburst then looked towards the dormant Gouf Custom. "I wonder why he is not responding… Think he needs more time to recover? He did fight thirty of those things."

Nidra thought about the idea for a moment, tapping her chin. "Tis a valid point… It took him two days of rest before waking up, and that had been when we were attacked." She sighed, placing a hand on to her forehead. "If that is the case, things can get rather complicated if we must be in danger, for him to wake."

"I see, guess that means it may be a while before I can talk with him again." Starburst stared at Reaper, watching the engineers working on his scorched body… A sense of concern starting to, strangely, take hold of her heart. "I am honestly worried about him, what if something is wrong and he cannot tell us?" Nidra could not help but nod in agreement, the thought having high merit. "We wouldn't know, unless Reaper wakes up."

Sounds of metal grinding against metal, heavy humming following, started to echo from within Reaper's body. A familiar "dong" alerted those around the mobile suit, his eye appearing within the visor. His palms turned over, pressing on to the stone ground, and cocked his right leg up, which alerted the engineers to what is about to happen. They all scrambled off of his metal body, just before Reaper slowly pulled his upper body off of the ground, tarps and ties snapping from his metal strength. His eye shifted left to right, then locked in to Starburst. "Reaper online, Princess. Is there trouble?" He asked, staying in a seated position.

Every one of those present were shocked, wondering what caused the mobile suit to choose now to wake up. "Um… What caused you to wake up? Did your scanners pick something up?" Starburst asked, her confusion not processing his question.

"Because you commanded me to, Princess." Reaper answered, careful with his torso's movements due to an open cockpit, the groups even more confused. "You are my imprinted pilot, Princess Starburst. I follow your commands and orders."

"Oh… That makes since." Starburst said, before thinking about his answer for a second. "Wait, how come I am the imprinted pilot?"

Reaper prepared to answer, before physically hesitating. "Error… Information unavailable." His voice had turned monotone, the kind one expected from machines. "I mean… I don't know. I just imprinted on to you for some reason." The mobile suit physical relaxed, from what they could tell.

They all just stared at him, the answer not too convincing, but Starburst continued anyways. "Alright… Mind helping us with your repairs? Give us an idea, as to what needs to be fixed?" In all honesty, she just felt relieved that he is awake right now.

"Scanning now…" Reaper's eye dulled, as he seemed to completely freeze, and took a couple of minutes before refocusing on to Starburst. "Scan complete. Left shoulder joint damaged, minor. Right knee joint damaged, minor. Torso armor damaged, minor scorch burns. Primary weapon out of ammo. Secondary writs mounted weapon down to thirty-seven percent ammo. Suggested course of action: Make repairs when possible and restore ammo count before next operation."

"We can handle the repairs, your manual will be a great help, but as for the ammo…" Nidra tried to place the right words for this. "Will be most difficult to replace."

"That will not be an issue." Reaper started, all looking up at the mobile suit, as he began to look around. "My scanners have picked up a beacon from the transport ship I was on…" His eye, then head, looked to the south. "It seems to have crash landed several miles from here, in a vast forest." The pair physically paled, hearing his directions. "What?"

"Thou's directions are to the Everfree Forest." A voice announced, causing them to look towards its source, seeing an unarmored Luna returning from her 'cooling off' walk. "Tis a dark, eerie, and dangerous; place for our subjects, even for ourselves."

Reaper's eye studied Luna for a moment, before speaking up. "What threats dwell within this forest?"

"No threat to you. However, the town of Ponyville, which stands between here and the forest, has been taken over by the invaders." Luna explained, giving Reaper an understanding of such situations.

The mobile suit just stared at Luna, contemplating the information, before his eye shifted to Starburst. "What do you believe we should do, Princess?"

Starburst blinked a couple of times, staring up at the sitting Reaper. "Well…" She started, rubbing the back of her head. "Maybe we should wait until your repairs are finished, then see about your ship?"

"Then it is settled." Slowly, the mobile suit stood up, only to kneel back down. "Repairs, that can be managed, shall be done before beginning operations to recover the transport." His right hand balled into a fist and pressed on to the stone ground, bracing him.

The engineers, after seeing Reaper return to a motionless state, quickly began their work once more. Though, after he informed them of areas needing repairs, hey had a better understanding of where to focus their efforts. They split into three groups, one focused n Reaper's left shoulder, another worked on his right leg, while the third continued focus on the scorched areas. The work of restoring areas fell to the unicorn engineers, while the pegasi and earth ponies examined Reaper's body for any damaged areas missed. It honestly looked like an actual maintenance crew working on the mobile suits, each having a copy of Reaper's manual, Celestia creating duplicates with her magic. Only thing missing from such a sight, had been a hanger of some kind to shield Reaper from the weather.

Starburst, on the other hand, waved goodbye to Nidra, who went back to the castle, before flying up to Reaper's cockpit. Once seated inside, she buckled herself in, for safety, and had the cockpit closed. "Hey, Reaper, mind if we talked, in private?" She asked, noticing a manual sitting on the left hand consul, and grabbed hold of it.

"Affirmative, Princess. I have no problems with this." Reaper replied, as she opened the manual up. "What is on your mind?"

"First of all, Starburst will be just fine. I hate being called 'Princess'." She started, a green thumb appearing on screen. "Second? How are you going to teach me to pilot you? Is there some sort of training program?"
"In fact, there is." Reaper's camera turned off, being replaced by a green screen and different images of his body, along with different parts. "We can go over the different control functions, along with different on board simulations, while repair are being done." A list of programs started to be listed on screen, from simply walk to sprint training, all the way to heavy combat operations training. "However, real world situations will different from computer simulated. Are you ready to begin, Starburst?"

She took a deep breath, manual sitting in her lap, and lightly grasped the controls. "Yeah… Let's start with the basics." Starburst smiled up at the cockpit camera.

"Cutting functions between the cockpit and the body. Basic movement and patrol program selected." An on screen arrow moved to the first program listed. "Beginning simulation… Now."

In seconds, the camera screen came up with, not what was outside, but with some sort of computerized world. Its ground, walls, and sky; were shaped with green lines on a black background and the buildings were varying sized range blocks. In front of the screen's gaze, was a blue trail acting like some kind of predetermined path. "This is… So cool!" Starburst, in her awe, described.

"Welcome to the Basic Movement Simulation, Starburst. Shall we get started?" Reaper asked.

Starburst nodded, her hold on the controls growing tighter, feet pressed on the pedals. "Let's!" At her words, a blue diamond appeared straight ahead and instructions of what to do.