So during my hiatus, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to write. I did some freelance stuff with a friend (which we're still gonna be working on, as it's a welcome change from a lot of things), and reviewed a lot of my old stuff. And you know what I found out?

I missed it.

I missed being able to write whatever I damn well pleased, even if it was only a simple adventure, or a comedy with lots of action scenes. I missed the pleasure of writing comedy, and not having to worry about being serious or not.

In other words... I missed writing about the original Travels. Comedy, some action, the occasional tidbit about wisdom and all that. So I decided...

It's time to go back to basics; to go where I should've gone a long time ago.

It's time for a return. A... sort of sequel, if you will. An excerpt of which can be seen below.

“You won’t get away with this!” Princess Cadence shouted defiantly at the queen of Changelings, whom looked upon her with an arrogant smirk on her face. “Twilight and her friends will-”

The imprisoned alicorn was interrupted by the sound of the court doors slamming open followed by the buzzing of several dozen Changeling troops. Her heart sinking, the princess looked to the entryway, to see an image that crushed all remaining hope she had for the rescue of Canterlot:

The Bearers of Harmony had been captured. All of them looked to be exhausted, no doubt drained from a long and ultimately futile battle against the sheer numbers of the Changeling Army. Applejack’s signature hat bore several new tears all along the rim, while Pinkie Pie seemed strangely weighed down by the gravity of the situation at hoof. Rainbow Dash was being restrained by a small group of changelings, their hooves grasping at her legs in an iron grip. As Cadence’s eyes scanned them, she lowered her head in resignation.

They had lost.

As if sensing her thoughts, Queen Chrysalis gave her another smug grin, and asked her, “You were saying?” Not even bothering to see if the alicorn would have a response at the ready for her, she turned to the group of prisoners to say, “You do realize the reception’s been cancelled, don’t you?”

Twilight glared at the changeling queen, her mind racing as she tried to think of another solution. Oh, she had plans. Several of them, in fact. Each one she thought of could potentially free them, defeat Chrysalis, and save Canterlot if executed properly. But she was missing that one critical ingredient:

Time.

What she really needed was a distraction. Something to get Chrysalis’ attention, if only for a moment! But just what could she do?

It was funny. Just that mere mention of the word, Time, and she was already thinking just like him. The one who could always pull out some sort of brilliant unorthodox plan that only he could come up with. He’d be busy mocking the Queen, even if he knew he was about to lose everything. It was just the way he was; he’d smile at the apocalypse if he could.

He was definitely smiling when he defeated Discord, she thought to herself, smiling a little at the memory.

As Chrysalis gave the order for her changelings to return to the city and resume their feeding, Applejack turned to Twilight with an apologetic smile on her face. “Sorry, Twi. I guess we should’a listened to you.”

“It’s not your fault,” Twilight was quick to reply. “She fooled everybody.”

Seeing the look on her friend’s face, Applejack smirked just a little herself, and said, “Y’know, I’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout him too. Didn’t he always tell us he’d be back when we needed him most?”

Blinking, Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Chrysalis cackling with mad laughter.

“Don’t tell me you still cling to hope even now!” she asked with disbelief underlying every word. Her emerald eyes scanned the group with an amused shimmer in them, while she laughed even harder. “There’s no pony left! Your princess is trapped within a prison of my own power; your brother is under my control; and I am surely powerful enough to deal with your dear, dear Luna when she returns.” She teasingly flicked Shining Armor’s nose with her tail, causing Twilight and Cadence to flinch with anger. “You see? There is nothing anypony here can do to stop me!”

“I... I hate to admit it,” Rarity began, “but I believe she may be right. It’s not as if a miracle is just going to fall out of the sk-”

CRACK!

“...What was that?” Pinkie asked, tapping her chin with her hoof. “And does anypony else hear that whooshing sound?”

As the room fell completely silent, everyone started to listen for the aforementioned noise. There was, indeed, a strange, almost echoing whooshing sound, something that was both familiar and unfamiliar to the group at large. Once again, there was a loud CRACK, like the sound of a hammer breaking through stone... only this time, it was much, much closer.

"Wait, what's that music?"

Just as Rainbow Dash asked this, something large, and most definitely on fire, crashed through the ceiling, and collided violently with the floor between the ponies and Chrysalis. An enormous amount of dirt and rubble was sent into the air, and everyone felt themselves pushed back by the force of the crash. Recovering quickly, Twilight rushed to the edge of the new crater that Canterlot Castle had just received, courtesy of...

“Hey Applejack, isn’t that one of your carts?” Pinkie cheerfully asked.

“Uh huh... it sure is,” AJ grumbled.

As the smoke began to clear even further, it was made obvious that the cart had been heavily modified. Metal dinner plates had been drilled to the cart in seemingly random intervals, almost acting like scales in its own way. The wheels - or what had been left of them - had been changed out with heavy, rubber tires, similar to the ones they put on parade floats. A glowing green box had been duct-taped to what appeared to be the back of the contraption, and it was still giving off a good amount of smoke somehow.

A section of the plates began to move suddenly, as a head poked itself out of the rubble, and looked around curiously. It was a chocolate-brown pony, by the looks of things, with a darker colored goatee on his face, and a scruffy mane that fell to his shoulders on his head. A pair of thick, black-framed glasses sat upon his nose, and as he clambered out of the “cart”, the girls couldn’t help but think he was... familiar.

The moment he was free, he dusted off a dark blue vest, and got a manic look in his eye. Raising his front hooves to the sky in a victory pose, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “THAT IS WHAT ONE POINT TWENTY-ONE GIGAWATTS OF POWER CAN DO! Woo! I feel great right now!”

“...I know that beard anywhere...” Twilight murmured to herself, almost in a daze. “Omnius?”

The figure turned from his victory pose, and seeing the group of pastel-colored dust-covered ponies, a large smile appeared on his face.

“I’m back, baby.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to announce that Omnius' Return: Equestria is in the works. Every other Travels story will be put on hold, and I'm still gonna be workin' on other projects as well. So while it may take awhile, just know...

It's coming.

-Traveler