Chapter 1: The Surge
Footage of Lloyd facing off against the Overlord on top of Garmatron Tower was shown as we heard a familiar voice spoke up. "The Ultimate Battle," it said before Lloyd was shown unleashing the power of the Golden Dragon to become an alicorn and defeat the Overlord. "The battle that would end all battles." Equestria was then bathed in a golden light as Darkness that once covered the land vanished.
"It seems like ages ago. After the Golden Ninja defeated the Overlord," the voice said as the footage cut to the Ninja and their allies waking up and coming together for a group picture, "much of Equestria was in ruin." The video shifted to Equestria City in the aftermath of the battle before it changed to creatures fixing and reconstructing everything. "It was a time to reflect on our past, and build for our future."
Overlooking the construction efforts were Dr. Gear and a gray, black-maned Earth Pony stallion. "Great work people. Together we can do it!" the stallion said.
"Transportation group, align with engineering," Dr. Gear told them as a Dragon and a Kirin placed a sign up and then it sped forward to when the city became more futuristic.
"Equestria City soon became… Neo Equestria City," the voice continued as a stallion was seen driving a flying vehicle. "And it became the epicenter of great technological advancements." It was then cut to a desert where an old car was left out and a Serpentine skull was left as well. "But without an enemy to fight, the Age of the Ninja came to an end."
The footage suddenly became replaced with a bathroom sequence where it showed Thunder holding a camera in a mirror as he walked to shower curtains while Trail was heard singing. "Oh baby~! I need you more than ever~!" Then Trail stopped his singing to pop his head from behind the curtains, wearing an angry expression along with a shower cap, "HEY! How about a little privacy you-" The video then started malfunctioning as laughter was heard.
"Oh! That's not supposed to be in here!" Trail said as it revealed him, two years older, in a classroom where a bunch of young creatures were laughing. He was showing them a movie that had been tampered with. "Lights please!" he said as the lights turned on as he tried to stop the tape but then the wheel broke off and it rolled away. "Ugh! Seriously?!" he groaned.
Then a young griffon came in. "Come quick! Mr. Frost is on the fritz!" he said as they all ran out of the room.
Daisy was holding a remote in a different classroom as she was pressing a bunch of buttons while the other students laughed and Frost was dancing on his desk uncontrollably. "Up. No, down. Whoa!" Frost cried out as he kept on moving around crazily.
"What's going on in here?" Landrush asked he and Trail entered the room to see what was happening. He then gave a serious look to the students as he made his way over to Daisy.
"Daisy got an ultra remote from Neo Equestria City, and it's controlling Mr. Frost," a dragoness student answered before she noticed the serious look on Landrush's face as he took the remote away from Daisy and started to fiddle with it.
"How do you turn this thing off?" he asked as he started pressing the buttons and Frost was looking more out of the control as his head and hooves started spinning.
"Hurry up Landrush!" Frost pleaded as he kept on dancing. "My liquid spirit level… is making me less… level!"
Landrush then smashed the remote against the desk as Frost stopped moving and slumped down in relief while the students groaned. "Mr. Landrush is the worst!" Daisy said.
"I heard that!" Landrush said as Sunburst walked in with his beard a little longer.
"What's going on here?!" he asked.
"Daisy was controlling Frost with a remote and-" Landrush started to explain before the bell rang and all the students ran out the door. "Never mind." He and Frost started to slide down the desk and sat on the floor. "It's recess, my favorite time."
Ever since the Ultimate Battle, the Ninja, minus Flash, took up jobs at the School of Friendship as teachers, as there were no more enemies to fight against. Flash, in the meantime, went back to his post in the Canterlot Royal Guard, his heroism having promoted him to Captain, not only to stay with Twilight a bit more, but also to help raise the baby Serpentine who were now grown into their arms and legs. Cozy Glow was given a position as an ambassador to Ponyville, along with Nyx, her new adoptive sister.
The rest of the Mane Six had also used their new positions as princesses to expand their influence across Equestria. Rarity had begun opening "Rarity's Royal Racks" across the kingdoms. Rainbow quickly rose through the ranks of the Wonderbolts until eventually she became the headmare of the training academy and was training non-Pegasi flying creatures. Applejack had been helping Big Mac taking care of Sweet Apple Acres after Granny Smith's unfortunate passing. Pinkie was now running Sugarcube Corner along with Cheese Sandwich, who moved into Ponyville last year. Fluttershy had started volunteering at the Ponyville Hospital. As for the Royal Sisters, Celestia formed her own romance with Discord, while Luna entered a polyamorous relationship with Sombra and Hope (who rekindled their passions after his return to good).
The retired Ninja were in the teachers' lounge as Thunder opened the refrigerator looking for something but had a frown on his face before he closed the door. "All right, who took my pudding cup?" he asked the others. "My name was clearly written on it." Landrush was sitting on the couch, eating said pudding.
"I didn't see 'Motor Mouth' on it," he said in a smug tone as he threw the cup away when he was done.
Thunder growled. "That's it, I'm telling the headmare!" Thunder told him as he turned to Starlight who was pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"Leave me out of this!" she told him. "I'm on break, too!"
Thunder sighed as Trail pulled out his own pudding. "Here Thunder, you can have mine," he told him, tossing him the pudding.
"It's not cold," Thunder complained as Frost pressed some buttons on his foreleg and sprayed the pudding, freezing it to make it cold. "Oh, give me. Mm." Thunder sighed as he sat down. "Is anypony else chapped that Lloyd gets to be the Golden Ninja and fly around, accepting awards, jobs, and calls for help while we're stuck here being teachers with no powers? Ah. I miss our elemental weapons."
"I know. I still can't believe after two years Tirek and the Storm King still haven't shown up," Trail said as he watched Aqua and Gaia slipped into the room panting, as outside they heard student excessively complimenting the two teachers.
"Hi Misses Aqua and Gaia Boral!" a colt called out from behind the door. "I like your dresses!"
"Why is it that when we teach our classes, we get the feeling that none of the boys are listening?" Gaia complained as she sat down.
"I know. It's like only the girls listen to us while the boys just stare," Aqua added before Thunder went up to her.
"Hi, Miss Aqua. I saved you some pudding," he said in a dumbfounded tone.
"What did we talk about?" Aqua told him with a raised brow.
Thunder then blinked as he remembered. "Oh, right. Boundaries." He then backed off as Aqua turned to them.
"Hey, did you guys here the news?" she asked as the Ninja sat up immediately.
"There's trouble?!" Trail asked as he did a fighting pose.
"Danger?!" Thunder asked.
"An emergency?!" Frost asked.
"Oh, a new menace?!" Landrush asked as he flipped and did a fighting pose. They waited in anticipation for an answer until Gaia spoke up.
"No, we got clearance for a field trip," she told them before they groan in disappointment. "But not just any field trip. A field trip to Borg Industries at Neo Equestria City."
Thunder gasped and the squealed. "Not the Borg Industries!" He said and started spinning around, "As in, home to super genius reclusive savant Cyrus Borg? Inventor of the hover car and everything else cool in this world-?" Before he could go on, Frost kicked him.
"Not only that, I heard that Flash, Twilight and the kids are coming too," Gaia said.
"And the girls, Celestia, Luna, Sombra and Hope will be there too," Aqua added. "It would be nice to see them after so long. I wonder how they've been."
"I heard Sombra is in a relationship with both Luna and Hope," Landrush spoke up. "The same thing with Discord and Celestia."
"Oh, come on." Trail said as he rolled his eyes and went to get himself coffee. "I wouldn't mind seeing them again, but who cares about Cyrus Borg? If you ask me, creatures should concern themselves with the lessons of the past. Not waste their time on the disposable fads of tomorrow when-" When he turned back to the others, they've already left the room. "Oh."
Once everycreature was outside, all the students piled into the bus but Daisy was not happy, "Why can't we take Ultra Dragon? Or the Ultra Sonic Raider?" she whined.
"Because they would never fit all of you on or in them," Gaia said. "Plus, Ultra Dragon went to the Dragonlands for a special training regimen."
At the Dragonlands, Ultra Dragon can be seen sitting in one of the lava pools, relaxing. "This is what we needed," Orchy said as they each took their favorite gems.
"You said it," Rocky commented.
Nimbus turns to her fellow heads. "Still, are you sure we should've just left the Ninja? What if they need our help?" she said.
"Ah Nimbus, come on… You worry too much," Flame said, putting on some shades. "We've been planning this trip for months. Let's enjoy it."
"It has been a while since we've done anything without flying for miles." Shard said as two dragons massaged their wings.
"Yeah, come on, Nimbus. Live a little," Wisp said, while scarfing down some gems.
Nimbus still looked concerned but eventually she just sighed and enjoyed the lava, "I suppose a little relaxation wouldn't hurt," she said.
"And most importantly, they don't have one of these," Landrush added as he held up the bus's microphone. "Pretty cool, huh?" he spoke into it. "I'm on a microphone! I am the ML! The Mighty Landrush!" All the students on board let out a groan.
"Mr. Landrush is the worst," Daisy whispered.
"I heard that!" Landrush told her before he sat down.
"So we really are going back to the city," Gaia commented as she sat next to Landrush. "We haven't been there since-well, you know."
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come," Wu said as he was the last one to board. "We only have today. Or else this offer expires. Get a move on, Aqua!" he told Aqua at the driver seat.
"Aye-aye, Sensei!" Aqua saluted as she started the bus and it drove away.
The bus soon arrived at Neo Equestria City where they saw solid hologram highways above them with hover cars and bikes that left a trail of light as they rode. Street lights that hovered above the ground, vending machines that gave whoever used it what they want, and even billboards that hover above the roads.
The students and the Ninja gaze at the city in awe. "Welcome to Neo Equestria City. The future is what we make it!" a recording on the Billboard said as they rolled past.
"This is amazing!" Starlight said in awe.
"Yeah, you leave the city for two years and everything-" Aqua was interrupted when she made a sharp turn and bumped into Derpy's mail car.
"Ugh! Who still uses wheels anymore?!" Derpy complained. "Get with the program!" Landrush then got off the bus and went over to her.
"Don't worry, we'll free you up," he assured her. "Time for some old school muscle tool." He was about to get her new mail car out of the way before a robot came over.
"Stand back, pedestrian," it told Landrush.
"Who are you calling 'pedestrian'?" He asked the robot as if it insult him.
"It seems as though our help is not wanted," Frost said as they all walked out while the robots fixed the accident.
Wu then stepped out. "Well, I prefer traveling the old-fashioned way—on hoof," he told them as the others stepped out too. "Besides, it's not like we can't find where we're going." He then pointed to the tallest building in the city.
"Borg Industries. Amazing…" Gaia said in awe but looked around. "But, where are the others?"
Suddenly, a portal to Discord's little chaos dimension opened in front of the ponies, and out walked Discord, Fluttershy, and Celestia, along with Sombra, Luna, and Hope. "Sorry we're late," Fluttershy said. "We were in Las Pegasus for some rides."
"They have this new ride that spins you while it's up in the air," Celestia said excitedly.
"Yes, exciting…" Luna groaned dizzily as Sombra and Hope steadied her. Rainbow was then seen flying by with Soarin before they landed on the ground with style.
"Sup, everypony?!" Rainbow asked with swag.
"That was so cool!" Silverstream shouted. "How long have you been working on that?"
"For a while," Soarin answered before a carriage carrying Rarity and Applejack in them came by.
"My goodness! It's hard to believe that the entire city could change in just two years," Rarity said as she looked around.
"A few gizmos too many for my taste," Applejack noted as she walked out. "How y'all doing?" she asked the others before another carriage came by with Flash, Twilight, Cozy Glow, Nyx, Spike (who looks older), and the Serpentine children.
"Uncle Landrush!" the Constrictai child shouted as he jumped off the carriage when it landed, hopping into Landrush's hooves.
"Oof!" he grunted when he caught him. "You've gotten stronger since last time we saw you, Coal."
"Hello, Miss Rarity," the young Fangpyre spoke shyly.
Rarity giggled and patted the Serpentine boy's head. "Why, hello Fangy-Wangy," she said as Fang chuckled.
"Fang and Rarity, sitting in a tree," Sky the Hypnobrai girl teased before she giggled.
"Sky, don't tease Fang," Toxsa, Sky's Venomari sister, told her after she elbowed her.
The young Anacondrai, Melody, slithered up to the building, taking a selfie before turning to the group. "So can we go in now? Can we, huh, huh?!" she asked excitedly.
Flash chuckled and gestured all of them to follow. "After your Aunt Pinkie Pie comes," he assured her before he walked up to his old friends. "It's great to see you guys after so long."
"Great to see you too," Smolder said before she walked up this Spike who turned out a bit taller than her. "And look at you, how's the air up there?"
"Ha-ha, very funny," Spike chuckled before he saw Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich's carriage flying in. "Oh, there they are."
"Hi everycreature!" Pinkie Pie shouted before she and Cheese Sandwich jumped out the carriage and parachuted down to them.
"That's them for you. Always so random," Trail commented before they suddenly appear behind him.
"Too true, my friend. Abso-gouda-ly true," Cheese Sandwich said, making Trail jump.
Celestia clapped her hooves. "All right. Now that we're all here, let's begin the tour of Borg Industries." The group headed towards the building, walking through the automatic doors. But Trail and Applejack got their tails caught in them and were stuck.
"Oh! I hate technology!" Applejack complained as she tried to pull herself free.
"Get in line, AJ!" Trail strained as he pulled too.
"Welcome to Borg Industries," a chrome, silver-maned, and open-circuited droid mare with green eyes walked down the stairs and greeted the group. "I am Pixal, Cyrus's Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form." As she spoke, Frost looked at her in awe at first sight. "I'm sorry to hear about the traffic accident."
"Wow, news travels fast." Gallus commented.
"Everything in Neo Equestria City is fully automated and interconnected," Pixal explained. "Your antiquated bus should be ready shortly." She then turned her attention to Frost. "You are Frost, a droid like me. What does Frost stand for?"
"I stand for peace, freedom, and courage in the face of all who threaten Equestria," Frost declared before Thunder walked up to him.
"She means your name, tin head. What does 'Frost' stand for? " he told him.
Frost realized his mistake and turned back to Pixal. "I guess I'm just Frost," he replied unsurely.
"Permission to scan?" Pixal asked as Frost saw his reflection in her eyes.
Frost stammered as his eyes reflected her face in turn. "Uh… Permission granted?" he said uneasily as Pixal began to scan him.
"Heh, check it out," Rainbow Dash whispered to the others. "Frost has an admirer."
"I think it's so sweet," Fluttershy commented. "Like how you had a crush on Soarin since flight school." Rainbow Dash looked away with a blush on her face while Soarin chuckled a little.
"Your hardware is outdated and your processor is slow and incompatible with ours," Pixal robotically assessed when she was done scanning. "Peculiar. All droids must recharge our batteries, yet curiously, I'm unable to locate your energy source." She then placed a hoof where his heart was. "What powers you?"
"I, uh... I don't know," Frost said with a blush on his face.
"Mr. Borg and Dr. Gear would like to see the Ninja and the Council of Friendship on the one-hundredth floor," Pixal said as she gestured to the elevator. "If the others would follow me for the rest of the tour."
"We'd be honor Pixal." Sombra said as they followed her and Trail and Applejack finally got their tails free.
"Seriously?!" Trail said.
"Why can't we just have regular doors?!" Applejack said as they rushed to the elevator. Frost was staring at Pixal while the others entered the elevator.
"Hey, Frost, you with us?" Gaia called before Frost snapped out of it and rushed over.
The computer on the elevator had a camera looking towards the Ninja and the Council of Friendship as Frost entered the elevator and Flash pushed the button to the top floor. Suddenly, a computerized voice was heard as the elevator seemed to scan the present ponies.
"Yellow Ninja, Red Ninja, Blue Ninja, Green Ninja, Black Ninja, White Ninja, Element of Magic, Element of Honesty, Element of Generosity, Element of Laughter, Element of Loyalty, Element of Kindness identified. Golden Ninja not present. Wait for action."
The others followed Pixal into two rooms filled with inventions. "Mr. Borg believes technology is the key to making our dreams come true," she told the group as they were amazed at the inventions in the room.
"Whoa!" Gallus said.
"Cool beyond cool," Sandbar said.
"Awesome," one student gasped.
"Uber-mega," Daisy said as she walked by some of the tech. "I'm, like, wow!"
"Mmm, it's not like home in the Chaos Realm… but I will admit it does have its own unorthodox flair," Discord confessed.
"Even now, he is working on a Digiverse where the gamer will be digitally scanned in to take gaming to another level," Pixal explained, gesturing to a pony playing a VR fighting game.
"Whoa! They have Perfect Match consoles!" a filly shouted with excitement as Aqua, Gallus, Smolder and Sandbar walked to a group standing next to two machines with hearts all over it.
"What's Perfect Match?" Sandbar asked.
"It's the latest craze," a hippogriff told them. "It finds your perfect partner with flawless results. Maybe we could give them a try."
"I doubt a machine can know somecreature's likes and dislikes," Aqua said.
"Yeah, it's kind of ridiculous and stupid," Gallus commented before Smolder elbowed him gently.
"What, you scared that your 'perfect match' will end up being a hippopotamus?" she joked as the other girls laughed.
Gallus sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, I'll try it. But only to get you off my back," he conceded as he stepped onto the machine. "But I still doubt that-"
"Hello Gallus. You are a selfless griffon who comes off as stoic and aloof, but deep down prefers to spend time looking after others and their well-being," the machine told him which surprised him because that was exactly like him. "Analyzing match now." After a few seconds, the machine showed a hologram image of Silverstream right in front of him.
Gallus blushed as Silverstream beamed. "Oh Gallus!" she chirped happily, "you're the best!"
"I… I didn't even-" Gallus said trying to get over his shock.
Smolder then pushed them out of the way. "My turn!" she said, stepping up to the second machine, "Alright, Perfect Match! Try me!" she challenged.
"Hello Smolder. You are an independent and heartfelt dragoness who is generous to help those in need of confidence and is not afraid to express her inner femineity," the machine told her. "Analyzing match now."
"I bet it's not even gonna get it right. I mean, I know a machine can't decide my- What?!" Smolder was dumbfounded one the machine showed a hologram image of Spike as her perfect match. "M-Me and Spike?!" Her whole cheeks turned bright red at the thought of it. "I...I mean, I like him and all but...oh man. This thing is messing with my head now."
"I don't know. You were really impressed by Spike's height when we arrived," Gallus teased, getting some revenge as Smolder gave him a murderous look.
"Your turn, Ms. Aqua!" One of the fillies said.
"I guess I could give it a try," Aqua said before she looked at Sandbar. "But only if you try the other one. I'm not going to suffer alone."
"Well, okay," Sandbar said with a smile. "I am a little curious if me and Yona are a perfect match." The two of them then stepped on the machines and they both lit up.
"Hello Aqua. You are an independent, self-confident young mare who refuses to be in a colt's club," the machine that Aqua stood on stated. "Hello Sandbar, you are an easy-going young colt who always tries to make his elders proud," the machine added. "Analyzing matches now."
"Of course it's gonna be Thunder, Aqua," Silverstream told her as they waited for the results.
What the two machines came up with shocked them all to the bone as the perfect match for Aqua was not Thunder, but Landrush. And Sandbar and his three friends were shocked that Ocellus was his perfect match.
"Promise you will not tell anyone about this," Aqua asked the fillies and the others.
"Me too. There's no way Yona can handle this!" Sandbar asked his friends.
"Yona can't handle what?" The young colt jumped when he heard Yona before quickly turning back to the machine. The hologram was gone, giving him a moment to sigh in relief.
Meanwhile the Ninja and Mane Six had reached the one-hundredth floor and saw Dr. Gear and another stallion next to her.
"Well, hello there, young ones," Dr. Gear greeted as she turned to her son. "Oh, and of course you too, son."
"It is good to see you again, mother," Frost greeted.
"I would have guessed Ninja to sneak in a window, not use the elevator," the stallion next to her said as Thunder let out a gasp.
"Oh my Celestia! Are you-? Are you-?" he stuttered.
"Cyrus Borg? Yes," the stallion answered. "Unfortunately, when my parents gave me a name like that, my future in technology was predetermined." He came around the desk and they all were speechless to see robotic artificial spider limbs on his back hooves. "Ah, yes, these. Sadly, I've been disabled all my life. But it's nothing my mind couldn't fix." He then turned towards Frost. "Speaking of which, it's a pleasure to meet you, Frost. Your mother told me all about you."
"She has?" Frost asked as he turned to his mother.
She just waved him off. "Oh, how could I not? You are my greatest creation. But even as Equestria continues to change, you can never be replaced. You're too special for that," she said before turning to Applejack. "On that note, Applejack, my deepest condolences. I heard about your grandmother. She had such a strong will; I would've love to meet her."
"Thank ya, but loss is inevitable," Applejack said in a sad tone while she looked at the scarf her grandmother gave her. "Plus, I doubt she wouldn't even fit right in for what Equestria has changed into."
"Today maybe, but not tomorrow," Borg said with a smile. "Technology making the impossible possible. The only limit to our potential is that which we don't dream,"
Flash was looking around the place until he recognized the spot the tower was built on. "Hey wait, isn't this the same spot where the Overlord was destroyed?" he asked as both Borg and Gear had to look away in frown as they looked scared. "Who dreamed up the idea of building a corporate headquarters here?"
"Ah, what better way to send a message to evil that we won't cower to anyone," Dr. Gear said as she looked around. "I see. Or better yet, I don't see the Golden Ninja."
"Oh, his hooves are a bit full," Gaia said as the two scientists glanced at the cameras, "but we can tell him to stop by when we see him."
"No, no, no!" Borg quickly said. "We're glad it's just the twelve of you. In fact, I want to give you all a gift." He then went over to a corner and pulled something with a curtain over it over.
"A gift?! Won't say 'no' to that!" Pinkie shouted excitedly.
"Me too," Landrush spoke up. "It wouldn't happen to be cake, would it?"
Borg then removed the curtain and revealed it to be a statue of himself made of gold, as a recording of his voice played out. "The future is what we make it."
Landrush and the others looked a bit underwhelmed. "Huh, so no cake," he remarked.
"Oh, wow. A statue. Of yourself," Trail tried to say it with enthusiasm but with no luck.
"I know!" Thunder shouted with enthusiasm. "How cool is that?!"
Soon Borg and Dr. Gear pulled Twilight and Flash to the side while the others looked at the statue.
"Listen, Twilight, you and your friends need to get as far away from here as possible," Dr. Gear whispered to her. "And I don't mean from the city. I mean far from Equestria, and tell no one where you're going."
"What? Why?" Twilight asked.
"Please, protect them and the Council with your life. All of Equestria depends on it!" Borg whispered to Flash.
"Protect? Protect what?" Flash asked.
"You were right, we should never have built here," Borg added as the camera moved to them.
"You must go. He's listening. If he finds out you're here, he'll never let you leave!" Dr. Gear added.
"He?" Twilight and Flash repeated as the two scientists moved away.
"Uh, I'm sorry to cut this short, but there's things to invent!" Borg told them as if he was trying to get them out of here but keeping it as casual. "I hope you can show yourselves out!"
"Ah, okay. Of course," Landrush said before he and the other Ninja picked up the statue.
"Guys, I think there's something weird about Frost's mom and Borg," Twilight said as they walked towards the elevator.
"She's been locked up for a long time in a lighthouse prison in the middle of the ocean," Thunder reminded her. "And they're called artificial limbs. I know Applejack and Trail hate technology, but do you have to be rude? We're their guests."
"No, she means that they were acting suspicious," Flash corrected. "Almost as if they were scared of something, or somecreature." They then entered the elevator when the doors open. "He told me we have to protect the council and them with our lives."
"Dr. Gear told me that me and my friends have to leave Equestria and tell no one where we're going," Twilight added. "Then they told us that if he found out we were in the city, he'd never let us leave."
"Protect them? Leave Equestria? He?" Pinkie asked in confusion.
"What the hey are they even talking about?" Landrush asked.
"I don't know but-" Flash said before the elevator doors slammed shut and Trail jumped which caused him to bump into the others and they dropped the statue which broke in half.
"Oh great, look what you did!" Thunder shouted at Trail before Frost notice something odd about the statue.
"It's hollow. There's something inside." Frost pointed out as Rarity saw something in it. She used her magic to levitate twelve modern-looking Gi's in the colors of the Ninja and the Mane Six.
"Why would they give us new Ninja outfits?" She asked as she inspected each one.
"Guys, I think Flash and Twilight may be onto something," Gaia said as Twilight took two strangely shaped gold objects.
"And what exactly are these things?" She wondered as Flash notice four more of them and picked them up before the lights in the elevator turned red.
"Techno Blades located. Apprehend." They heard a computerized voice saying when they noticed the lights turned red. "Will the assailants stand down and drop the Techno Blades?"
"First you call us pedestrians, and now we're assailants?" Thunder complained.
Meanwhile, Frost was pushing buttons on the control panel. "Nothing works. Perhaps a malfunction?" he asked before Flash realized what the golden objects are.
"Guys, these must be the Techno Blades," he told them. "The things we have to protect with our very lives."
"Protect from what?" Rainbow asked.
"Very well. Going down?" the computerized voice said as the elevator sent itself down at an alarming speed, causing the twelve to pin the ceiling.
"Gah! Let the elevator have the Techno Blades, darling!" Rarity pleaded. "I think it's made its point!"
"We have to get out of here!" Landrush shouted before Flash noticed a way out on the roof that they were being forced on as it was going down.
"Going up?" Flash asked before he struggled to stand on his back hooves before he jumped up and knocked the escape hatch on top of the elevator.
"NINJA, GO!" the others shouted as they did Spinjitzu and spun their way out of the elevator and onto the roof. It was still going at high speed until Frost looked over the edge and saw the other elevator going up.
"There!" he told the others as they timed it right and jumped on to the other elevator.
Down on the ground floor a stallion and griffon were standing alone. "I'm bored," the stallion sighed.
"Really?" the griffon asked. "Well, me too, actually-" He was interrupted when the elevator crashed behind them.
Back on the other elevator the twelve were catching their breath. "Phew, that was close," Fluttershy said.
Gaia started passing around the outfits. "Looks like we just quit our day jobs," she said.
Twilight the gasped in alarm. "Oh my gosh! The students and the others!"
Pixal soon led the group into the factory line where robotic arms were working on vehicles at that very moment. "And this is our factory line where-" The lights suddenly turned red as well as her eyes as the arms' lights turned red and redirected their attention towards the tour group. "This will be the end of your tour."
"I don't know what she meant by that, but I did not like the way she said it," Discord said before his body started to tingle. "Ooohhhh-hoo-hoo! Odd. Haven't felt that in a few years. But that was only when…" Suddenly, his eyes widened with dread.
"What is it?" Celestia asked him when she noticed the worried look on his face.
"He's back," Discord said.
"Who's back?" Starlight asked before they noticed the machines suddenly started going crazy. Wu knocked away a buzz saw when it was close as Luna blasted away a few arms when they tried to grab them while Pixal made her getaway.
"Stay back and stay together!" Aqua told the students as an arm was coming for them before she kicked it back.
"This way, there's a way out!" a colt called out as he pointed to some windows nearby and the students, minus the Young Six and the Serpentine children followed him onto a conveyor belt.
"No! Do not break formation!" Aqua shouted as the students were in danger as a buzz saws was blocking their path and an arm started to grab at them. "Why don't boys ever listen to me?!" She asked before she rushed over to protect the students.
Back on the upper levels, an elevator opened revealing the Ninja and Mane Six in their new suits, with masks that left their manes exposed, and the Ninja holding the Techno Blades.
Rarity looks at them and hummed. "I must compliment Professor Borg. He certainly knows good fashion," she complimented as they turned to some security bots aiming their guns at them.
"Oh yeah? Two can play at this game!" Trail said before he thrusted his Techno Blade forward but nothing happened. "What's with these things?! How do we turn them on?!" As the bots came closer, the others backed away a bit before Frost noticed the chandelier right above the robots and got an idea.
"Here, let me try!" he told them as swung his Techno Blade only for it to bounce off the wire to the chandelier. "It's not sharp! Why even call it a Blade?!"
They ran until they were cornered. The robots fired at them but they dodged, however the blasts hit the window and it began to crack.
At that moment, the heroes knew they screwed up. "...Oh snap," Pinkie squeaked. The window soon broke and the force of the air flowing out drawn our heroes out of the building before Landrush quickly grabbed hold of a fire hose that went out with them.
"Grab on!" he shouted to the others before they quickly grown hold and the hose was at the end of its line. "Ready to crash the party, team?!" he asked as they swung their way to a window below the one that just broke, only for them to smack into it and not burst through it.
"Ooh, this just isn't our day," Rainbow groaned as they slide off the window and fell, only to land on a window cleaner lift.
"Ow!" Thunder said as his Techno Blade landed on his head. A window cleaner bot then noticed them and moved to attack before Applejack bucked it away. "Thanks AJ. What in the world is going on?" he asked.
"It's like the whole building is out to get us," Trail added.
"Maybe whoever Dr. Gear tried to warn us about is doing this," Rarity suggested.
Landrush turned to her. "But that's crazy Rarity," he said. "Who would even have that kind of power?"
Twilight thought for a moment, before remembering that when they entered the building she felt a faint ominous presence, and now she could sense it again and it was even stronger, no not stronger, more noticeable. The only other time she felt this presence was when...
"...Oh no…" Twilight gasped in dread.
The other turned to Twilight in confusion. "Um, care to share with the rest of us, Egghead?" Rainbow asked.
"I think I may know who's behind all this, but it couldn't be," she said in a worried tone. "Lloyd defeated him."
"You fools!" a very dark and familiar voice shouted at both Borg and Dr. Gear as a pair of glowing red eyes were on the monitors. "You tried to give them the only thing that could defeat me and thought I wouldn't notice?! I'd get rid of the two of you if I didn't still need you! Don't think to ever betray me again!"
"Of course not, I promise," Borg said in a scared tone. "I promise!"
"Don't promise him anything!" Dr. Gear told Borg before she glared at the pair of eyes. "Even if you try to slow them down, they'll get out of the city, and you'll never get what you want from the Council! We're just lucky the Golden Ninja wasn't with them! Soon they'll realize what they're for, and you will be no more!"
"We will see about that, Doctor!" the eyes answered back. The lights on Borg's legs turned red as the robotic arms on them grabbed Gear and they moved on their own towards their workbench.
No! No!" Borg pleaded as robotic arms grabbed the two and lay them down on the bench. "Don't! Let us go! No, please, no more!" Sparks started to fly off the bench as the two cried out as something was happening to them.
Back outside as the heroes used the lift to travel downwards Twilight started explaining her idea of the culprit, "...And that's what Dr. Gear meant when she said he'll never let us leave," Twilight finished.
"Do you really think it's the Overlord who's behind this?" Thunder asked her worriedly.
"But how?! We all saw Lloyd blow that varmint to kingdom come!" Applejack noted.
"Defeat, yes. But can he be destroyed?" Frost asked before a light shined on them, and they saw a hover copter aiming its weapons at them.
"I don't know, but we can!" Thunder shouted in a scared tone.
Then Frost got an idea. "Landrush, throw me!" Frost told him.
"Excuse me?!" Landrush asked, hoping he misheard.
"THROW ME!" Frost repeated.
Landrush then threw Frost at the copter. Frost grabbed onto it throwing its aim off and destabilizing it. He then flipped onto it's back and noticed his Techno Blade had gained an ethereal blue gear and Blade and the staff extended. He then jabbed the Blade into the copter as it was covered in an icy aura and then transformed into a Ninja-Copter with a white, blue and gold design and Frost in the cockpit.
"Whoa! What just happened?!" Rainbow asked.
"The Techno Blade must've hacked the hover-copter's systems," Gaia guessed as Frost pulled up next to them. "Frost controls it."
"Cool," they all said in awe.
Back in the factory line, Celestia and Luna blasted away a few robotic arms while Sombra and Hope formed a protective shield around the students near the buzz saws. Aqua then kicked each one down as they were getting closer to the windows.
"Run! Jump! And kick!" She said as she deflected the machines.
Wu then jabbed his staff at one of the lasers and noticed the stairway. "Everycreature! Get to the window!" He said as they all climbed up and Aqua kicked another machine.
"Uh, we have a little problem!" Sandbar shouted when the lift that went up and they all saw a furnace just up ahead.
"How do we stop it?!" Ocellus asked before she spotted a power panel.
"Over there!" Aqua jumped off the conveyor belt and tried to get the panel open.
Then the Ninja and Mane Six flew in on the copter and saw what was happening. Frost fired at the panel, causing Aqua to fall onto the converter belt just in time for it to stop.
"Oh, that was close," Gallus said as the Ninja-Copter brought the Window-cleaner lift for them to climb on.
"Okay everycreature, back to the bus!" Sombra said as he stepped onto the lift.
"Come on, young'uns! Jump on board!" Applejack said as they all hopped into the lift.
Aqua made sure the coast was clear before rushing over to the bus. But just as she was about to jump, Pixal grabbed her leg.
"Enemy apprehend-" She tried to say but Aqua kicked her, causing her to let go and she ran to the lift hopped onto the copter.
"Come on. She's one of them! We have to go!" Aqua told Frost as they flew away.
Celestia turned Twilight. "Twilight, what in Equestria is going on here?" She asked.
"We just need to get out of here!" Twilight responded as Frost flew down to the bus. "Aqua, I need you to get back to the School and send a letter to Lloyd if he's not there. We need the Golden Ninja."
"What about you guys?" Aqua asked.
"We must protect the civilians," Discord answered. "If what I felt is true, then things are about to get a lot worse before it gets better." Just as soon as he said, that the whole city went berserk. Traffic lights and robots harassing creatures, vehicles moving around like crazy. It was like the whole city was out to get them all. "See? It's chaos! And very poorly thought-out chaos, at that," Discord said in an unimpressed tone.
One of the large robots started to tip over the bus with the students inside as the Ninja and the others tried to keep it from tipping over. "This is just insane!" Nyx shouted.
"I'm on it! NINJA, GO!" Landrush shouted he did Spinjitzu and got on top of the robot before he slammed his hoof into the robot and pulled out a bunch of wires to shut it down as it fell back. "No one calls me pedestrian!"
"I always said Mr. Landrush was my favorite," Daisy said as the students cheered before Aqua drove off with them. The only ones who stayed behind with the Ninja and the others are Cozy Glow, Nyx, the Young Six, and the Serpentine children.
The others then huddled up. "I think I get it now!" Rainbow said.
"Yeah, these Blades hack into their systems!" Trail added.
"They purge the Overlord's control from them," Fluttershy continued.
"And turn them into our allies," Gaia finished her thought.
"I guess the greatest way to beat an enemy is to make them your friend!" Applejack commented.
"So how about we do a little hack-attack?" Thunder quipped.
"Frost, Trail, and Gaia, you take to the skies," Sensei Wu ordered. "I want Flash, Thunder, and Landrush on the ground. And the rest of us will do what we can for the civilians."
"This is so exciting!" Pinkie said with joy as Landrush was letting out a giggle.
"Anypony else feeling all tingly inside?!" he asked excitedly.
"Let it out, guys. We know you've been holding it back for years now!" Twilight told them.
"NINJA, GO!" they all shouted and split up. Trail and Gaia rode on Frost's Hover-Copter. They made it to the hologram Highway where both Trail and Gaia jumped on another hover copter before a jet was flying in from the sky.
"Oh, I want that!" Trail called dibs on when he saw it.
"You can have it. I got my eyes set on that!" Gaia told him as she pointed to a spider-like vehicle crawling along the buildings.
They both jumped off the hover-copter and onto their choice vehicles. Trail struck the jet with his Blade and a fiery aura surrounded it as it turned red with fire details and gold propeller Blades. Gaia jumped onto the mechanical spider, jabbed her Techno Blade into its chasse and leafy aura coated it before it turned green with forestry details as Gaia appeared in its control chair.
"Yeah! Ha-ha!" Trail cheered in the cockpit of the jet but realized he did not know how to control it. "Aw, seriously?" He started to press some buttons and the jet started to fly out of control a bit when he pressed the wrong one. "Whoa! Okay, not that button." A hologram version of Borg then appeared in front of him.
"So you've figured out how the Techno Blades work," the hologram said as Trail looked at it in confusion as he was getting used to the controls. "You must know, they are far, far more important than you think."
"Umm, ya mind explaining-" Trail asked before he noticed another Jet was following him.
"This is a prerecorded message, but I can tell you that a few months ago, we discovered a virus laying dormant in our system. The Overlord," the message said as the other jet caught up to Trail.
"So, looks like Twilight was right," Trail said as he saw the jets fly by him.
"You have to get the Techno Blades out of the city, along with the Council of Friendship," the hologram told him as the jets targeted him. "Because once he knows you have them and that the Council is with you, he'll never let you leave. We've also given you new outfits to help block the facial recognition software."
"Uh, great. Style and function," Trail commented before he boosted up his jet. "Wanna wrap it up? I'm a bit occupied at the moment."
"Had we known this would happen, we would never have built where the Overlord was destroyed. Goodbye, Ninja, and good luck." The holo-message ended as a missile was following Trail and he was doing his best to outmaneuver some artillery fire from below.
Meanwhile Gaia was crawling across the sides of the building while the other spider vehicles chased her, she activated the flight mode and went on the offensive, knocking the spider away. Then she was starting to be attacked by the raiders below. "Um, boys, could you take care of that, please?!" She asked.
"Leave it to us Gaia!" Thunder said as he flipped over a mech and jumped onto a raider, slamming his Techno Blade into it, as electricity sparked around and then it exploded into a blue raider as Thunder was driving it, "Ha, I love it!" He said as fired at some of the mechs. "Hey, Landrush, need some help with those security mechs? Or maybe just some old-fashioned artillery fire?"
Landrush ran up to one of the mechs and flipped it over at some of them. "I think I got a handle on it!" he shouted before he ran up to one and the Techno Blade of his extended a chain out as he lifted around and slammed it against it. It turned black and grew golden claws, "Yeah!" Landrush cheered as he slashed the robots, "Stomping Mechs to Mech Stomper!" he said.
Flash rushed by them as he saw a hovercycle coming right at him at high speeds. "Hello, beautiful," he said with a smirk. He timed it right before doing a backflip as his Techno Blade activated when he landed on the cycle, jabbing the Blade into the cycle. It glowed yellow with winds around it before it transformed into a yellow with silver outline hovercycle that created a light behind it. Flash did a U-turn with the cycle, the light acting like a solid wall as some of the bots slammed into it and exploded. "I'm loving more and more of this hacking stuff!"
"Now that we've all got our own rides, let's clean up the streets!" Trail suggested as they continued fighting.
Back at the School of Friendship, Aqua rushed through the halls. "Lloyd!" she called rushing into the teacher lounge where she thought he was. "The others are in trouble-" She stopped herself when she saw it was Dareth, not Lloyd, sitting in front of the television.
"Oh, hi Aqua. Can you believe," Dareth gestured to the television, "I'm watching my favorite game show with the Diamond Dogs when BAM! The cable just dies on me!"
Aqua just groaned in exasperation, taking a scroll and quill, and began writing a letter.
Back in the city, the Mane Six was taking out a few robots with the Young Six while Wu, Sombra, Hope, Cozy, Nyx, the Serpentine children, the royal sisters, and Discord were helping the civilians escape the danger. "It's so cool how dad can hack those things!" Sky shouted after seeing Flash use his air cycle to take out a few bots.
"I can hack things too, you know!" Fang reminded her before he ran up and jumped on one of the Security Mechs and bit into it. It turned into a snakelike mech as Fang and the Serpentine children hopped in.
"Awesome!" they all said as they had the citizens board the Serpentine vehicle and drove them off to safety.
"Heads up, sis!" Nyx called out to Cozy before she ran over to her and put up a powerful shield barrier that found back a missile attack.
"Things are really heating up here!" Spike shouted as he and Smolder grabbed a couple of bots and slam them into each other. He held up his hand for a high five, only for her to look away and blush before setting a blaze a few more robots. "Was it something I said?" he wondered.
Sombra blasts more robots but even more showed up, "Gah! Curses, none of this is working!" He said, "No matter how many we strike down, ten more take its place!"
"Sombra's right! There's no point in staying in the city anymore!" Flash as he zipped through the streets. "We have to get the Techno Blades and the Council out of the city!"
"But what about the others?" Frost asked as he zipped through the air in his hover vehicle. "We can't leave without them!" Trail picked up each of their locations and headed towards each of them.
"There! I'll pick them up and meet you all at the intersection of Wilfert and Fleming!" He told them.
With Sensei Wu and the others, they soon found themselves surrounded by the security droids. Trail tried to pick them up but the droids made it impossible. "I can't find a place to land!" he called out, avoiding fire.
Wu saw a fire hydrant nearby before he ran up to it and knock off the top of it. He then used the water to get up close to up close to Trail's jet and watch on as he flew by. They all then met up at where Trail said they would meet, and they were getting surrounded by more robots. "What are we going to do?!" Silverstream asked in a worried tone. "We're surrounded!"
The rest of the Ninja then blasted through the robots and stopped by them. "Everycreature climb on!" Flash said as they all piled onto the vehicles and drove away.
Eventually though they were cornered again. The Ninja tried to destroy the robots but then more just dropped in, "Oh come on! Borg Industries couldn't have this many!" Rainbow complained.
"There's too many! We're never getting out!" Landrush told the others.
"Just keep going, they'll have to run out of batteries at some point!" Trail shouted as blasted a few.
"Well, I'm not so sure about that," Frost commented as he moved back from a blast.
"Aw hayseeds! Where's Lloyd when ya need-" Applejack asked before with a wave of golden energy the machines stopped dead in their track.
The group cheered as flying in was Lloyd in his dragon form. "Now's your chance Twilight!" Lloyd said as Twilight nodded.
"Girls, let's show these robots the Magic of Friendship," Twilight declared as the girls then came together, connected their magic, and released a powerful rainbow wave of magic that blasted the machines further back.
The group cheered as Lloyd then changed back to pony form and landed in the center of the group. "Robots vs Ninja and Alicorns? Dare I ask?" Lloyd quipped.
The others gathered around. "Man, are you a sight for sore eyes," Flash as on the screens showed a sinister pair of eyes and familiar voice.
"So you couldn't help yourself. The Golden Ninja, we meet again," the eyes said as they knew very well who that voice belonged to.
"Overlord!" Lloyd shouted with a glare.
"But how did you survive?!" Twilight asked.
The Overlord merely laughed. "You little foal... Did you really think that I, the living embodiment of the darkness and evil in Equestria, would be brought down so easily?!" he asked spitefully. "I lived through wars, extinctions, and genocides. All you did was trap me is this accursed digital world!"
"We defeated you once, we'll defeat you again!" Lloyd promised.
"Oh, I don't want to fight," the Overlord told them as the robots started to absorb the friendship magic and the golden power around them. "I just want your power!" Lloyd was getting ready to shoot another golden blast before Celestia stopped him.
"No, your power is only making them stronger," she told him.
"But how do we fight?" Lloyd asked.
Flash shook his head. "We don't. We need to get you, the Techno Blades, and the girls to safety!" he said.
"I don't think he'll let us leave," Ocellus pointed out.
"I may have a plan, listen closely," Celestia said as they all huddled together and Celestia whispered her plan.
"Tia, are you sure about this?" Discord asked in a concerned tone.
"If we weren't in this situation, I wouldn't be," Celestia responded. "Now let's go!"
"NINJA, GO!" The Ninja did Spinjitzu as they took one of the Council of Friendship with them and quickly got back on their new vehicles before they split up.
"I hope this works," Twilight said as she and Gallus and her kids rode with Flash.
"At a four-point-two percent chance of success, I'd say our hope is slim," Frost said as Fluttershy, Hope and Sandbar rode with him.
"That's why it's called hope, Frost," Gaia told him with Rarity and Ocellus rode with her.
"The Techno Blades. Find them!" the Overlord ordered the computer as it showed video recordings of Trail flying with Rainbow and Smolder while Wu and Celestia ran away.
"Searching for Techno Blades," the computer said.
Landrush and Thunder had made it out of the city as they were on the outskirts. "Landrush, jump on!" Thunder told him before Landrush had his mech jump on the back and gave his vehicle a boost.
Back in the city, Celestia and Wu were running across rooftops as Wu was carrying a large clump of cloth with something in it. They soon pass a camera as it was scanning the cloth he was holding. "Techno Blades, 92 percent confirmation," the computer said
"The sun alicorn and the sensei have them! Get them now!" the Overlord ordered as the two continued to run across the rooftops. They soon came across a large gap to of which Celestia flew over while Sensei Wu jumped across with one leap. They soon came across an intersection where Sensei Wu jumped across the floating traffic lights to get across until they both reached the next rooftop.
A hover copter soon blocked their path before they were surrounded by more. Once the light shine down on them, Sensei Wu unraveled the cloth and revealed that they did not have the Techno Blades. "No. No, no!" the Overlord shouted with rage. "Where are the Blades?!" He then checked a camera on the intersection where Sensei Wu was jumping off the hovering traffic lights before he rewound the footage and played it back slowly, which revealed Flash on his Hovercycle getting the Blades when Sensei Wu was low enough to pass them on to him. "Those old fools will pay dearly!"
Meanwhile, our heroes we're getting far from the city as they can while Lloyd grew concern for his uncle and Celestia. "We have to go back for them!" He told the others.
"We will, but not until you and the girls are safe," Trail said.
"He wants these weapons," Landrush told him, "and for some reason, he wants you and the girls too."
"Remember, this was Celestia's plan. They can't break her or Wu," Luna told them.
"Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has yet to come," Frost recited what Wu told them. "We need to worry about today."
"You said it, Frost," Gallus said.
"We will come back to Neo Equestria City, but only on our terms!" Gaia said, "And when we do, we'll be ready."
"But for now, we find some place safe to hide," Flash said as they kept rolling across the desert, "They'll be looking for us."
"So the question remains: What does the Overlord really want with us?" Twilight wondered.
Back at Borg tower, two shadowy figures were on the one-hundredth floor, one of them having the Overlord's eyes. Down on the factory line, Pixal had a holographic version of Frost up as she took off his head and all four of his hooves before taking out a few things inside and replacing them with new software. She then reattached new hooves and a head with a Ninja mask on. "Upgrade complete," she stated as she uploaded the blueprints to the computer and the factory line started working on a whole new army.