Ratchet stepped back as he finished tightening a bolt inside the ship he and Twilight had spent the past year building. The bright blue bulbous vessel was rather ungainly looking, and the engines seemed somewhat undersized for the vessel, and the cockpit canopy was rather large, but at least it appeared functional. "Well, Twilight," he said, "what do you think? How does it look?"
Twilight stuck her head out of the cockpit where she'd been working on something with her wrench. "Looks great Dad," she said, the glow of her horn showing her focus was still on her work.
"Come on, Twilight," Ratchet complained. "Come out here and take a real look."
Sighing, Twilight hopped out of the cockpit and trotted over beside him, turning to look at the ship. "It looks...shipy?" Twilight suggested.
"Come on, Twi," Ratchet nudged, "give me an honest assessment. I can take it."
Twilight gave the ship a once over. As a surprising urge towards brutal honesty filled her, she found herself saying, "Dad, it...looks like it's held together by bubble gum, duct tape, and wishful thinking."
Ratchet suppressed his wince. The truth of the matter was, due to a banking error on his part, their shipment of parts had lacked the full amount of sealant they needed to hold all the parts of the ship together, and he'd had to improvise. Some of the internal engine components and the landing gear were held together on the inside with space-duty duct tape, and the seats in the cockpit were affixed to the floor with pre-chewed Mega Bubble Super Chew Bubble Gum, which had been scientifically proven to be impossible to remove from a surface once it had dried and affixed. "Well, there is a lot of talk about the power of positive thinking," he offered lamely.
"I said wishful thinking, Daddy," Twilight pointed out with a smile.
"Let's see what the last step is," Ratchet said quickly, touching his Gadgetron Help Desk interface.
"Final step," the voice intoned, "attach Robotic Ignition System." Twilight and Ratchet both groaned. "Thank you for using Help Desk Technology."
Ratchet sighed. "Robotic Ignition System? Those things are expensive! Not to mention difficult to come by."
"Maybe I can build one?" Twilight offered. "I mean, how much harder can it be to make than the gadgets I've made?"
"Twilight," Ratchet groaned, raising a gloved hand. The circuitry in the glove glowed with a blue light. A nearby water bottle was surrounded with a matching glow, and flew to the glove. It was Twilight's latest invention for Gadgetron, the Power Glove Gadget. Using specially designed circuitry inlaid with energy conducting crystals, it generated an energy field that mimicked her basic telekinesis. However, the base design couldn't lift anything over 10 pounds, and could only pick things up, move them, and put them down, or to call something to your hand. Ratchet primarily used it to grab tools, food, drinks, or to recall his Omniwrench when he threw it at enemies. Ratchet took a drink as he gathered his thoughts. "Twilight, as amazing as your gadgets are, robotics is a very different field to work with. We'd do better earning enough money to order one...unless one happens to fall out of the sky."
At that exact moment, a dark brown ship screamed through the atmosphere overhead to crash in the distance on the Plateau. "What was that?" Twilight asked in shock.
Thinking back to a similar moment exactly six years ago, he chuckled. "Deja Vu," he said quietly.
"Eh?" Twilight asked in confusion.
"In all likelihood, our Robotic Ignition System," Ratchet elaborated. "Come on, let's check it out!"
As Ratchet loped off, Twilight took off after him. "Wait! What do you mean deja vu? How has this happened before?"
As they ran together, taking the occasional pot shot at either horned toads or thunder soldiers that got in their way, Ratchet explained. "Remember how I told you about how you arrived? Well, it actually happened just after I'd asked the universe for excitement in my life. Not moments later, your basket crashed through my skylight and you woke up crying."
Twilight blinked. "So I'm exciting then?" Absently, she seized a Thunder Soldier in her magical aura just before it fired it's electric discharge, spinning it around so it destroyed several of its fellows and a group of horned toads before she casually tore it in half.
Ratchet chuckled. "Definitely. And now I ask the universe for a Robotic Ignition System, talking about it dropping out of the sky, and a ship crashes?"
Twilight smiled. "I see your point. We should check for survivors, though."
Ratchet nodded. "True. But it didn't look like there was anyone in control. Which means it's finders keepers."
Twilight giggled. "I'm gonna keep more!" she cried happily, racing forward.
"Hey, wait up!" Ratchet called, loping after her.
Before long, they reached the crash site. The pieces of the ship were scattered about, a few large chunks and several smaller pieces. In the center was a small robot the size of a large lunchbox or a small backpack. It had a boxy main body and a round head, and all of its limbs were pulled in so only the blocky hands and feet stuck out, somewhat reminiscent of a turtle. It was obviously off line.
Ratchet picked up the robot. "Well, this might be worth something...or at least be useful."
Twilight levitated all the pieces of the ship up in her magical grip. "I'm going to see if I can't make a Robotic Ignition System out of these," she said, heading off with all her salvage.
Ratchet stared for a bit. He'd seen Twilight effortlessly lift a great deal with her magic, as she insisted on calling it. He thought he had gotten used to it. However, seeing her lift somewhere between 500 and 1000 pounds of spaceship junk in three large pieces and dozens of smaller ones that effortlessly was unnerving, to say the least. "Does she even have limits?" he muttered under his breath in wonder as he followed.
His power returned slowly, his circuitry once more coming active. Internally, he was rather surprised. He hadn't expected to survive the crash of his stolen ship. Opening his eyes, he saw what his systems recognized as a Lombax at work on a rather slipshod looking vessel. He approached the Lombax from behind, examining his work. "Interesting," he said at last.
"Wah!" the Lombax shouted, falling backwards off the crate he was standing on.
"You appear to be quite handy with your wrench," he continued, undeterred by his conversational companion's antics.
The Lombax stood up, brushing himself off. "You bet!" he affirmed. "Twilight and I built that ship together."
He turned to fix his gaze on the ship for a time, then turned back. "Currently I am in search of someone to assist me in saving the solar system-"
"ARRRGH!" a shout echoed from nearby. Large pieces of shrapnel he recognized as being pieces from his ship were propelled violently towards the upper atmosphere. "It's not fair!" the voice wailed. A lavender miniature equine bearing horn and wings stepped out of the nearby shed which had apparently been modified into a house.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" the Lombax asked, going to rest a hand on the pony's neck.
"I discovered I actually could use the pieces of the ship to make the Robotic Ignition System we need to get our ship running," she explained, nuzzling into the Lombax's side, "but the circuitry and parts from the ship are too big! The completed system would be larger than the cockpit, and then it would only be good as a pilotless drone." She burrowed her face into his furry stomach. "Sorry I messed up, Daddy," she whimpered.
"Hey, it's okay," he replied, holding her close. "I didn't think it was possible with those parts. It's okay to fail sometimes, Twilight."
The young robot tilted his head as he heard this interchange. "I beg your pardon," he told them, "but I couldn't help but overhearing your conversation regarding your ship's missing components. I believe we can assist each other. I happen to be equipped with the latest in Robotic Ignition Systems-"
"You are?" Twilight said eagerly, leaping forward. "Can I see? Maybe if I can examine a miniaturized System I can figure out how to make one that small!" She began poking at his internal compartment flap.
"Excuse me, Miss," he interrupted her, shifting his hands to block her endeavors, "but I would rather not have you poking through my internal systems unless you are a registered roboticist."
Twilight frowned, turning around and stomping her feet. "Stupid arbitrary ethics tests and bureaucratic loopholes..."
"Is there a problem?" he asked the Lombax.
"When she was three and a half, she got a job as a consultant for Gadgetron designing weapons and gadgets," the Lombax explained. "A few months back, when she learned about the field of robotics, she tried to get registered to work in it. However, one of the questions on the ethics test is 'Have you ever designed or built a weapon of destructive category 3 or greater?' When she answered yes, she automatically failed the test."
"It's not fair!" Twilight complained. "Gadgetron cancelled the RYNO project and sold the blueprints when meeting safety protocols caused it to exceed the cost/effectiveness parameters!"
The Lombax rolled his eyes, apparently having heard this tirade before. "And then she learned that there was nothing in the rules that prevented roboticists from creating weapons of that level after they're certified."
"Bureaucratic hypocrites!" she shouted in anger, wrapping a violet aura around a large boulder and hurling it into the nearby canyon where it smashed into the wall with a satisfyingly loud cacophony.
The Lombax shook his head. "Say, weren't you saying something about saving the solar system?"
Hearing this, Twilight pointed to a poster of Captain Quark. "He could probably help."
The young robot nodded. "I was hoping you could assist me in finding him."
"Why do you need him, anyway?" the Lombax asked.
Opening his interior compartment, he allowed the infobot to de-miniaturize and play it's message.
"The people on those planets are hosed!" the Lombax proclaimed as the infobot finished displaying its information. "Good luck getting Captain Quark to help you-"
"Oh can we help him, Daddy?" Twilight begged. "Please, please, please? If we go with him, we might get to meet Captain Quark!" Her eyes shone with eagerness.
The Lombax chuckled. "Well...I suppose it couldn't hurt. We were trying to get out into the stars anyway, and that's as good a place to start as any to keep my promise."
As Twilight danced with joy, the young robot tilted his head in confusion. He didn't follow that train of conversation. Discarding his confusion, he continued. "If you can use your ship to get me to the coordinates contained in the infobot, I might be able to gather further information there."
"And in return you start the ship up so we can go where we need to? Deal." The Lombax extended his hand to shake.
The young robot accepted the handshake. At that moment, two Blargian pursuit craft landed nearby. "We had best hurry, sir," he pointed out.
Twilight glanced towards the two ships, then looked up. "3...2...1..."
A loud whistling filled the air. The two pieces of the ship she had launched upwards in frustration crashed into the two craft from above, crushing cockpit and engines in fiery explosions.
Twilight pulled out her hunter's guild license. "Sweet! 25,000 bolts each! Pity they won't implement the 'Skill Kill' rules till next year. Bet I'd have gotten a major bonus for that!"
The young robot tilted his head. "You appear to be quite skilled, Miss."
Twilight shook her head. "Don't call me Miss. I'm only 6. Call me Twilight."
"Of course, Miss-"
"I'm serious," she insisted. "Call me Twilight."
The young robot tilted his head. "Why is that so important?"
"Because if you call me Miss, that means we're strangers, and I'm not allowed to go anywhere with a stranger, and that means you can't start our spaceship and we're all grounded."
The young robot blinked as he pondered this. "Your logic is sound. What are your names?"
"I'm Ratchet," the Lombax spoke up. "This is Twilight Sparkle."
"Call me Twilight," the filly requested. "What's your name?"
"A pleasure to make your acquaintances, Ratchet, Twilight. My serial number is B5429671."
Twilight shook her head. "Nope, can't go with that. Organic minds, with rare exception, aren't suited to casual memorization of strings of numbers and letters that can't be turned into words. You'll need a name."
"A valid point. What name would you suggest?"
"I'ma call you Clank, cause that's the sound you made when Daddy dropped you on the way back from the crash site!" Twilight smiled widely as she proclaimed this.
The young robot frowned, about to protest. Ratchet rested a hand on his arm. "Look, Clank, you'd best get used to that name, and I'll tell you why. Twilight is young, enthusiastic, and stubborn. Unless you yell at her and make her cry - which you may not do - she's going to continue to call you Clank, introduce you to everyone we meet as Clank, and never let it go until it sticks. So you might as well accept it."
"Besides," Twilight pointed out, "it's hardly the worst thing I could have named you. Imagine being called Schadenfruede, for example."
After thinking for a time, the newly christened Clank nodded. "I suppose you are right. I believe I can get used to the name. Very distinctive, at any rate."
Ratchet grinned. "In that case everyone...all aboard!" With that, he hopped into the pilot's seat of the ship, Twilight following to lay down in the backseat.
Clank climbed into the shotgun seat, using his Robotic Ignition System to activate the ship. It slowly rose into the air, and then shot towards space.
i like the cover art for this story it look cool and this chapter
I honestly wasn't sure whether Clank was going to make an appearance in this. But now that he has, this can only get better.
twilight built the RYNO? my god
5008819
No, she was on the team that made the original design. Gadgetron never built a prototype.
""I'm going to see
1. Extra quotation mark.
Ahh, the bolt multipliers... First time it came around it was a god send for those expensive Gadgetron weapons but after that I used it for the augments and after say maybe the third time playing through, stomp on the bad guys and laugh at their corpses as I feed on their remains as I grow ever stro-
Alright, better stop before I become a megalomaniac. Again
will they ever find equestria if it is in this universe?
If she built the Ryno, I'm wondering how she'll react to the shady guy in Blackwater City.
5008860
I have to wonder if she was on the design team for the original RYNO or if she had a hand in the others on down the line. If she was responsible for the RYNOs V and VII playing their respective music I will not rest until I find a way to shake her hand through the internet!
5009729
I'm getting there.
5009729 Shake her hoof, you mean...
So Twilight cannot become a licensed roboticist due to having helped design weapons of excessive collateral damage. As a child.
Well, at least the field of Robotics is safe from ever having the CMC join their ranks! They count as weapons of mass distraction all by themselves, don't they?
5009965
And that's why she's complaining about hypocritical bureaucracy.
And actually, the CMC could become roboticists, because robots who are weapons of mass destruction can also be qualified roboticists in order to repair themselves.
5009969 when will Twi get her cutie mark? Or does she already have her cutie mark?
5010907
She arrived with it.
There is significance to that.
5012046 oh! Well that makes a lot of sense now.
Somewhere, In a distant universe, a sadistic, telekinetic mad doctor became very peeved for no reason...
5112457 by name I mean schadenfrede
5112457 I think that was also a TF2 reference because there's a taunt named Schadenfreude.
A pity Twilight has to be limited by the power of politics, guidelines, and ethics. Otherwise, she'd take Gadgetron by storm
Too funny
5149564 you know she just can't be certified. Nothing's actually stopping her from doing whatever the hell she pleases. I doubt the pencil pushers will try whining when she's got gurren lagann level OP items at her beck and call.
Later...
"And not only your plan is needlessly complicated and makes your more enemies that you can handle, specially as backwater planets in the middle of nowhere tend to be the favorite places for big rich big wigs to use as their personal holidays resorts or to escape paperwork, but it would have been much easier to just find a planet with not intelligent life and colonize it! Heck, making a planet out of pieces of other planets? Even terraforming a death planet would be cheaper! Are you Blargians idiots?" Twilight Sparkle then have said Blargian a copy of the Holobook she had written called "Colonization of planets for Blargians or how to get more space to live in."
Wow, that is totally unfair.
sooo its like that upgrade ratchet got in his wrench in "A crack in time".....just way more usefull
.....ahhhh fuck my previous comment the chapter before was in hope she didnt make it.....
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE SHES GONNA END UP MAKING A BIO-OBLITERATOR
I know absolutely nothing about the Ratchet & Clank series, but this just might rope me into it.
5848479 Same.
5848479 He managed to do it with TF2 for me.
Hmm....was thinking no clank....hopefully it's not exactly like ratchet and clank but with twilight.
Haha~ I don't recall them giving an explanation for why it boomerangs back to him, so I like it!
OH GOD I'M DYING.
5877621 Indeed, seen too many good crossovers be ruined by it being the events of one with another char makin' a few cracks and doing jack shiiii- nothing in the end.
No not really
And this is before the Alicorn Ascension
Schadenfreude means "joyous wound" or "malicious joy", which means that the word signifies a sadist/masoquist emotional relation in a person
5947177
The term specifically means taking joy in the misfortune of others.
5907405 Magic mastery IS her special talent, after all.
Fucking Deus Ex Machina much?
5834481 Don't we alr*BOOM*
6675922
I don't know who it was that gave this comment an up-vote, but none of what happens in this story is a Deus Ex Machina. That phrase refers to a once-in-a-million event that is triggered when certain conditions are met.
Not by the actions of a filly alicorn Twilight going off repressed memories.
Aren't they trying to save the galaxy, not just the solar system? In any case, I can't help but chuckle at this Twilight being a near bloodthirsty mad genius.
7865732
In the actual game, Clank says solar system for some reason.
it sucks that i can't watch the info bots and other youtube videos put into the story due to adobe flash but that won't stop me from enjoying the story
5008909
don't you mean Megalovania-c
8462555
And then all the enemies get dunked on.
Due to the fact Celestia and Luna are Alicorns that move the Sun and Moon, she is nowhere near her full power.
5008909
Random human falls into a basket in space
5008909
You’re not alone, pal. Bold Muliplier = tons of Bolts = awesome expensive gear = happy trigger-happy Lombax = evilly-grinning happy player.
Enemies beware, for the gamers are here!
5907405
Yeah, the more I think about Twilight Sparkle's character(The pony one, not Sci-Twi) the more I think that she should have been a Villain Protagonist.
Though I can’t comment on the constructial propities of chewed bubblegum and wishful thinking, thanks to the myth-busters, you should never underestimate what you can do with duct tape.
Aaand off we go...
Thunder
companion's
'shone' - Past form of to shine, not 'shown' - past form of to show
"I am only six hours online. I believe you are the elder of the two of us, Twilight."
wouldn't that be XJ-0461?