Mechanical Autonomous Drone

The Mechanical Autonomous Drone (or MAD) is a self-controlled battle-robot designed by the Midnight to counter the Exodus robot forces and cut organic loses. The MAD boasts high resilience, loyalty, obedience and extensive knowledge of weaponry.

When first deployed into battle, the MADs are armed with a handheld weapon that varies per their model (MK1 during the Dimensional War). For the Dimensional War's MK1 models, the drones were armed with a heavy adaption of a G36C and had a rocket launcher concealed within the arm, while later models had a Micro-Missile launcher.

MADs are far stronger than organics, and can take a lot of damage before needing repairs. This, paired with their inability to feel pain or fear, means that MADs may continue to fight even after losing limbs such as the arms or legs. If the MAD loses its head, the drone enters a blind rage, charging at the last enemy they saw after dropping their weapon, and using their bare hands to rip foes apart.

If a MAD is rendered combat-ineffective (loss of limbs and damage to weapon systems), the drone may attempt to rush or ambush enemies and destroy itself with a self-destruct protocol. This does massive damage over a moderate area, but the drone is completely destroyed by the internal explosion. This is done to prevent enemies from capturing the advanced technologies intact, though a few drones have been recorded "sleeping" in order to expose more hostiles to the blast, or potentially await a rescue.

Despite the hardiness of the machines, these drones possess weak-spots known as "Critical Points" in combat. These areas consist of the joints in the limbs, the inside of the head and the main power core, the latter two of which are protected by the drone's hull. While targeting the joints may detach the limbs of a drone, the core and the head Critical Points can cause catastrophic overloads if hit with an Energy Weapon, or immediate shutdown if hit by a Ballistic Weapon.

If its hands and guns fail, the MAD may resort to a head-mounted weapon. These high-power Lasers are stored inside the drone's head, which opens to allow the weapon to fire. The weapon takes 2 seconds to fully charge, by which time the head has already fully opened. This weapon is devastating, able to turn nearly any target including tanks and Titans to ash. It also pierces Energy Shields and Magic Barriers unhindered. Using this attack forces the drone to holster any other weapons, including the Repeating Magnetic Cannon, until the beam subsides.

A second weapon is built into the drone's arm. This "Repeating Magnetic Cannon" acts as a Minigun which is deployed from the right forearm and lays down heavy Magnetic fire in either Short or Long Range configuration. Short Range fires indirect and scattered shots, while Long Range consumes more energy for pinpoint-accurate shots.

Though incapable of higher thought, MADs have been observed working together without provocation, firing their head-mounted weapons in unison to take out large targets, all without being instructed to. The most famous case of this was during the Battle for Ponyville in the Equestrian Civil War as the robots all fired their Primary Laser Cannons at the Magic Barriers raised by the Auroran Empire.

The drones are mass-produced and almost identical in designs, nearly indistinguishable from one-another. However, the Midnight's mainframe (Computerised Analytic Logistic Virtual Intelligence Neuroframe, or CALVIN) has it's own unique body boasting glossy black armour and a glowing orange three-point star on it's face. Unlike other drones, this platform is armed with two Repeating NanoFusion Cannons and a Primary Miniaturised Ion Cannon, all of which can be used simultaneously.

MADs are vulnerable to hacking protocols, but a second drone may override the hacker if a fellow unit is attacked and free it. Alternatively, an isolated drone will commence self-destruct to ensure it is not used against it's own forces.

MADs utilise traces of Elerium in their systems, rendering them immune to EMP effects. However if they are exposed to an Electromagnetic Pulse, the drone is unable to utilise it's Primary Laser Cannon and will be stunned for several seconds.

The Solar Accord were unable to capture any active drones due to their self-destruct protocols, but were able to create their own variant of the machine known as the Assaultron. These units are not self-aware and lack the aptitude of their counterparts, with no built-in weaponry excluding the Head Laser and lacking the ability to utilise firearms. However, the drone was formidable enough to rush foes. Assaultrons are no match for MADs.

The MAD was the major combatant in the Mineral War and the missions known as Operation: Splintered Heart and Operation: Shattered Heart. This was mostly due to their pure strength rendering them resistant to Crystal weaponry and immunity to panic. However this was also a more personal choice by CALVIN and Grand Admiral Robert Thames in order to show the Crystal Empire, who announced their hatred for machines in favour of Crystals, that machinery was in every way superior to Crystal life. CALVIN attends all of these battles himself in his MAD form, and once Cadance is captured by Midnight forces CALVIN tells her that the only way Crystals are better than machines is that they are better at losing. During all of these battles, the MADs fought with far more ferocity and even a sense of brutality as they executed Crystals in horrific ways (like ripping their faces apart or destroying them with the Primary Laser Cannon to the head while being held by the drone). Why they did this is unknown.

While MADs were still a common sight in the field before the Last Lights, very few models survived the nukes and the Assaultrons became more common. Even during the disaster, MADs continued to follow orders. For example, the MAD assigned to protect Rarity forced her into a tank to evade the nuclear blast, while using its own body to stop her from leaving it. It worked, and Rarity survived, leaving the tank to inspect her fallen bodyguard. The MAD was barely functional, saying only one thing as Rarity wept over the decimated chassis of her rescuer. It said "Protect Captain Rarity... objective... complete..." before sparking and shutting down permanently. Rarity was left to wander the highly irradiated ruins of Canterlot alone, dying half an hour later due to the radiation.

While MADs have a very robotic and computerised voice, Assaultrons are more organic in their tones (excluding their underlying mechanical features).

In the Wasteland, the Mobile Autonomous Drones have degraded and become zombie-like, attacking any they see and shuffling around a set area. If they kill a machine, they will often attempt to repair themselves with the parts from the victim. However one drone (named Rust) has kept his former programming and acts more organic than the drones have in the past, keeping sane.