While Twilight and Artemis were busy setting up camp, Herobrine had taken the other ponies into his lair. There, he quickly put the sleeping bodies into individual cages. Then, he cackled and teleported away, overlooking Twilight's camp. "I know you're there, Artemis. Soon, you'll be removed from Minecraft and your Princess friend will return to the other realm, taking me with her. Only then will I be able to take over the Internet and punish everypony for banishing me to this boring game!" he cackled.
Fluttershy woke up in a different place. She was stuck in a cage, surrounded by her friends and other villagers. All of them looked old. And wise.
"Hey, you, yellow one. Do you know how to get us outta here?"one of them asked. He had a pickaxe cutie mark and Fluttershy guessed he was Digger.
"Um...sorry...um....sir? I just got here and....I have no idea where we are and..."
Digger rolled his eyes. "Oh, another one huh? Well, you're no use then." He turned to his friends beside him. "Hey, Archer, where do you think Herobrine would go and capture others?"
The one call Archer shrugged. "Beats me."
Fluttershy was utterly confused. Herobrine? Who in the buck is that?! "Um....excuse me....uh..."
The two elders did not care and continued blabbering about the 'Virus' as they called it. Then, Applejack woke up, followed by the others.
"What in tarnation is going on here?!" she yelled in her country voice. The other NPCs immediately stopped talking and turned to see who was speaking.
"Are you Farmer?" asked Digger.
Applejack shook her head. "Nah, I'm Applejack....a....user. That is not actually a user..."
At this Digger then realised that all of them were users. "Oh, that explains it. But why no server thread?"
Rarity shook her mane. "It's complicated, darling. But, where are we,might I ask?"
Archer stepped forward. "We are in Herobrine's lair."
Rainbow Dash kicked her cage. "Herobrine? So...tell me again why some weird dude having that name locked us in here?"
Another NPC stepped forward; possibly Woodcutter. "He is a virus that entered the software code that runs Minecraft. He has been trying to escape for countless Minecraft years and is currently capturing elders and wise ponies to find out how to escape. I believe after he found out about you users here, he is planning to go with you after you return home...into the physical world."
The five users looked at each other in total bewilderment. "But why isn't Twilight here?" whimpered Fluttershy.
"Who is this Twilight you're talking about?" asked Digger.
"Don't you know? Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship? Helloooooo??? She was with us until now. I have no idea where she might be," scoffed Rainbow.
At the word 'princess' the NPCs stared open mouthed at the cyan pegasus. "Wait...she is an actual princess? Not just the user skin????" asked Archer in bewilderment.
The five users nodded. "Well....I'm guessing Herobrine hasn't got her yet...or else he would have her hanging in chains over there. He usually does that with special ponies," noted Woodcutter. The five looked at each other.
"But then...if Twilight's out there....he could capture her as well!!!" screamed Applejack. "We needa get outta here!" She started bucking the cage.
"It's useless," Digger shook his head. "Even the most talented unicorns couldn't break the cage."
"But why not??" asked Pinkie.
"Because he's a bat-unicorn."