//------------------------------// // 3 Shades of White... Plus Orange // Story: The Adventures of T.O.B.O.R. // by The EnderPony Master //------------------------------// Cave's POV Well, this day just keeps getting better, doesn't it? Though, I've been through worse. Then again, it didn't had this much screaming. I will never forget my partner's scream. I think I'm starting to see how his mare-shaped frame suits him. Anyway, I was hoping I could simply get those little metal-eating, virus-infected bastards back to the ship, and conduct a bit of research, but that plan has to wait apparently. Just as I was about to head back to my not-so-hidden ship that everyone keeps finding, me and TOBOR here were being surrounded by the Royal Guards. So much for being damn subtle with these Equestrians. I hate to admit it, but I really need to work on my stealth. I mean, what was I thinking? A large, white, Unicorn droid standing in the middle of a field, carrying a mysterious glowing orange box, and vacuuming up a hive worth of Parasprites. Yeah, kind of a attention-grabber now that I think about it. "Sir." Some random guard says. "I'm going to have to ask you to put down the glowing box, and come quietly." I had to resist the urge to role my eyes. They have absolute no authority over me. I follow my Commander, and them only. "I'm sorry, but I will have to deny your request." I say casually. "It wasn't a request, it was an order." He narrowed his eyes. "Now drop the box and surrender, or else we will have to use force." I just look at him unamused. Trying to intimidate me? Not going to happen. "Wait!" My partner said. "There's no need for any hostilities." "Indeed there isn't." The one who spoke was non-other than Princess Celestia herself. Now that she was present, I can see that we came to eye-level. We were pretty much the same size, minus her horn that is. Anyway, as she gets closer, her Solar Guards bowed before her. Me and TOBOR on the other hand did not. The guard from earlier noticed this, and comes over to us. "Show some respect, and bow for your princess!" He snarled in TOBOR's face. "U-Uh, well-" "She is not our princess." I intervened as I stare down the puny soldier. "We bow to no one." "Why you big-" "Dueling Knight, stand down." Celestia commanded. "But, Princess-" "That is an order, Knight." The guard, who is known as Dueling Knight, sighed before following orders. As he goes back into the circle of guards, he gives me a glare. Again, not at all threatening nor intimidating. Anyway, Celestia comes over to us. "TOBOR, it is good to see you again." She greeted. "I wish I could of said my farewells before you left from our last encounter." "It's good to see you too, Celestia." TOBOR greets back. "I'm sorry for leaving like that. I was just angry at the time, and I had to cool off for a bit." "It is alright. I understand that you felt devastated from the news." 'Even though I could simply send him back myself.' I thought. 'I'll have to remember to tell TOBOR this.' "Yeah, but I'm over it." TOBOR reassured. "I've come to accept my little predicament. I mean, this could be a fresh start for me." Celestia smiles at TOBOR's optimism. "I'm happy to hear that, TOBOR." She turns to me. "Now, if I may ask, who are you?" I smiled as I give a salute. Might as well 'spice-up' my first impression. "Greetings, Princess." I said with pride. "I am Caption Cave Johnson, member of an elite military force; The Galaxy Core. It is an honor to meet this kingdom's ruler." Celestia bows her head before saluting back to me to the guards' surprise. "Well, the feeling is mutual, Caption Cave Johnson." "You can call me Cave, Celestia." I don't like formalities that much. "You can also call me Cj if you like." "Very well then, Cave." She nodded. "Uh, not to be rude and interrupt," TOBOR spoke. "But why did you bring the guards with you? I mean, I know you were planning on coming to visit Ponyville, but I didn't think you would need this much guards by your side." "You have a keen-eye in spotting something wrong, TOBOR." Celestia replies. "As to answer your question, I received a letter from my faith student's roommate, Trixie. She wrote that there was an emergency here in Ponyville. It did not say much of what was wrong, but it did had bite marks for some reason. So, I had to bring a couple of extra guards as a precaution." Celesita looks back at the town, to see the citizens cleaning up the mess. "Though, I see that it is no longer required. Which reminds me, what happened to Ponyville?" "Well-" "I can answer that." I said as levitate the Hyper-Cube into view. "In this box, contains an entire swarm of troublesome bugs called Parasprites." "Parasprites?" The Sun-Goddess questions. "Yes. These creatures have the tendency of having huge appetites. When one Parasprite finishes a meal, it multiplies into large numbers. They will continue to search and consume more food in the area." "These creatures doesn't eat...ponies, does it?" She asks, worried for her little ponies' safety. "No. There hasn't been any records of Parasprites eating meat. They prefer to eat things with sugar in it." I reassured. "Oh thank goodness." Celestia sighs in relief. "Though, if that is that case, then how come half of Ponyville have bite marks all over?" "As much as I don't like being the tattle-tale of the group, it was Twilight's doing." TOBOR said nervously. "Twilight?" 'Smooth move, bolts-for-brains.' I thought. "Yes, but she didn't mean to!" TOBOR said quickly. "She originally wanted to make the Parasprites stop eating the food the citizens made for your arrival, but the spell she used backfired and made the little bugs hungry for anything that is not considered food. It was an accident." 'Nice save there, partner.' "While they little runts did go on a rampage, the town only received minimal damage. If it weren't for Cave here, Ponyville would of been gone by the next hour." Celestia turns to me. "Is this true?" She asks me. "Yes. I was working on my research back at my base when my alarms went off. They detected a virus within Ponyville." "Virus?" 'Oh boy. Here's another Q/A session.' I silently sighed. 'Time to end this.' "I will explain everything when the Elements are present. I don't want to repeat myself." "How do you know about the Elements of Harmony?" "As I just said, I will explain everything when everypony is present." I can see that Celestia was unsure about this, but she seems to take my word for it. For now that is. "Very well, Cave. We will take this meeting to my student's library." She declares. Me and TOBOR looked at each other. We both know that we have a lot of explaining to do. So much for a relaxing day. Ponyville, Golden Oak Library 3rd Person The robot duos did had a lot of explaining indeed. When the Elements along with Spike and Trixie were brought to the library, they were surprised when they saw Cave. Trixie and Rainbow Dash didn't react much as they already met the large pony droid. Twilight was fascinated with Cave. She had a lot of questions she wanted to ask. Spike was both amazed and intimidated by Cave's size. Fluttershy was well... shy, but felt better with TOBOR by her side. Rarity and Applejack were fawning over Cave's 'muscular' build to his amusement, and Spike's dismay. Pinkie Pie was happy to see a new pony in Ponyville. She wanted to throw Cave a party, but he declined to her surprise. "Nopony has never turned down my parties before!" As she puts it. Pinkie Pie was determined to throw Cave a party, but he will be ready. No one sneak up on old Cave Johnson. Anyway, after a bit of introductory and getting to know each other, Cave explains to everypony and dragon present why and how he came to Equestria. They felt bad for Cave, but he lets them know that he was fine and that he will redeem himself once he catches the criminals responsible. Cave then explains to them that him and TOBOR might have their first suspect, which happens to be Morubus. When Celestia asks who Morcubus was, Twilight tells her that he was the white unicorn her and her friends encountered a couple of days ago. TOBOR added his two-cents in by explaining that Morcubus was actually the infamous crime-boss back in his world. "So he's like a villain or something?" Spike asks. "Like a villain? He was a super villain!" TOBOR exclaims. "My old... colleague, Agent Sam stopped him from taking over our world. Though, Morcubus got away before he could of been arrested. We never saw him again since then. I never thought he would be here of all places." "How did this Morcubus fellow get to Equestria?" Applejack asks. "Well, me and Cave had the idea that he somehow crossed over the Midnight Zone." "Is it that dimension barrier thing Cave mentioned about?" Rainbow asks. "You are correct, Dash. Though, crossing the barrier is not easy from what Cave told me. It takes special skills and equipment to get through it carefully. So, we suspected that Morcubus' goons somehow obtained space-traveling technology." While it was not Cave and TOBOR's best theory, it was their only one. Cave will have to do some more research on the matter later. "So let me get this straight," Spike said. "There's a super villain who's from TOBOR's world is on the loose in Equestria spreading some weird virus where ever he goes?" "Well, that kind of sums it up little buddy." Cave said. "But these viruses releases aren't out of random." "Yeah, they just come when TOBOR is around." "Hey!" TOBOR pouted. "Now, now. There is no need to point hooves here, even if it's true." "Oh come on!" "But that is why I'm here." Cave turns to the princess. "Princess, if it's alright with you, I would like take this discussion someplace more private." Celestia thinks for a sec before answering. "Very well, we will continue this discussion in Canterlot. It is-" "I know where it is. It's not that hard to find." Celestia nods before turning to the rest of the ponies and dragon. "Well, it was nice visiting you all again my little ponies, but there is important matters I must discuss with Caption Cave here." "It was nice talking to you too, Princess." Twilight said. "Is there something we can do?" "As so it was with you, my faithful student." Celestia smiles. "For now, you all may continue on your daily lives until I get things sorted. I will send you a letter if something comes up." Celestia turns to Cave. "Now, shall we head off, Cave Johnson?" "We shall," Cave nods as he picks up the glowing orange box. "But first, I need to head back to my base and put away these pests." "Of course. Would you like me to send a-?" "No, thank you. I have my own transportation." Celestia nods before going out the door. A moment later, the others hear the sounds of flapping along with hooves clopping. Meaning their princess along with her guards leaving. Cave heads to the open door before looking back. "It was a pleasure meeting you all, but I have some business to attend to." Cave said as he too walks out with the glowing cube in tow. The room was silent for a moment until Rarity spoke. "Well... that was indeed interesting." She said. "I know! I can't wait to throw Johnny a party!" Pinkie cheered. "But he said that he doesn't want one." TOBOR said. "Never have I ever not thrown a party for a new pony!" "You haven't thrown me a party." "I know. That is why I'm going to make a party for you and Cave! Double the party, double the fun!" Suddenly, there was knocking on the door. It sounded rough. "Hello? Hello!" The voice called out. "Princess?!" "Who could that be?" Twilight asked. "It's a library! Come on in!" The door open to reveal a rather panicky mayor. "Mayor Mare?" Twilight says in surprise. "What are you doing here?" "Oh, I need to talk to the princess! Is she here?!" Mayor Mare asks desperately. "She was just here." TOBOR answered. "But, she left a few minutes ago." "Oh no!" Mayor Mare facehoofed. "What's the matter? Why do you need to see the princess?" The brown mare sighed before composing herself. "I was just heading back to my office to fill out some forms for the damage those... whatever those things were did." "Okay, and what's the problem?" "The problem? My entire office is completely wrecked!" "Wrecked?" Twilight asks. "Yes! My desk is flipped over, all of the paperwork were scattered all over floor, and my private wine- er... herbal tea cabinet was taken!" "Sounds like your office was robbed." TOBOR narrowed his eyes. "Did the thieves left anything behind? Any leads of some sort?" "Well, they did left some sort of graffiti on my wall, but I'm not sure what it means." TOBOR thinks for a sec before responding. "If it's alright with you, Mayor Mare, I would like to take a look at your office." TOBOR asks. "Do you think you can help me?" The mayor asks hopefully. "Of course. I'm a robot-pony, I can help solve this mystery. I'm on the case." "Oh, thank you, TOBOR!". "I'll come along too, Mayor Mare" Twilight said. "We'll cover more ground if we work together." "Excellent! Come on now."Mare said as she walks out. "There isn't a moment to lose." "What about us? What do we do?" Dash asks. "You girls stay here." TOBOR said. "Me and Twilight got this one, but I there is something I need to tell you all when we get back." The girls weren't sure what, by they agreed to stay put. Though, Trixie and Rainbow Dash may have any idea of what it is, and they can't wait to see the other's reaction when hey hear the news. Everfree Forest, Cave's Ship It didn't take long before Cave got back to his ship. He will have to make a reminder for himself to setup a better security in the future. Getting real tired of being caught. Anyway, Cave makes his way to the cargo hold where he puts the glowing orange box, or Hyper Cube on a pedestal. "Welcome to your new temporary home you little metal-eating bastards." Cave grumbled. "Hope you don't mind your roommate." Just then, the sound of chains echoed throughout the room. It came from a rather irritated, yet familiar black-eyed dragon. To which, it was in a large cage. The dragon gives a snarl before smacking against the bars with its tail for intimidation. Cave just rolls his eyes. "Oh, give it a break already. That cage is built to survive a galactic war." "I will rip you apart and kill everything you love." The dragon said in a nightmare-ish tone. "Yeah, well you're going to have to wait in line, buddy." Cave chuckles before leaving the room. Cave walks down the dimly lit hall before reaching the control room. He then made his way to the large computer before the screen lights up. "This is Caption Cave Johnson, commander of the Equestian Ground Base, do you read me?" Cave ask the screen. A moment later, the screen reveals a grey mare in uniform. "This is Lieutenant Marry, current commander of the Galaxy Core Moon Base, read you loud and clear." The mare replied. "Ah, Marry," Cave smiles. "It's been awhile." "It's only been like a week since we last contacted, Cave." "What? Can't an old droid like me miss his colleague?" Cave smirked. "Anyway, so you're on the Moon Base?" "Yeah, the Commander assigned me to maintain order up here for these robots." "They're AI's, Marry. Why do you need to direct them?" "I don't know. I'm just following orders." Marry shrugs. "Though, I can provide some assistances when needed." "But... I'm the only member on this planet." "Not for long~" Marry sings. "What?" Cave tilts his head. "The Commander thought it would be a better idea to send more members to that rock your standing on." "What?! But this is my mission!" "Relax, Cave. Your current mission is still yours. It's just we need to setup a network on that planet to gather some data. You have to remember, this is not the same dimension you worked with before." "...True." Cave sighed. "I nearly forgot when I was socializing with one of the inhabitants." "You didn't reveal too much, did you?" "No, just the basics." "Good." "Though, I am about to head out for a meeting with the princess." "Already?" Marry asks surprised. "That was quick." "Well, there were some complications that occurred." "Really? Like what?" "Well for starters, I've identified the suspect for the missing virus shipments." "For reals?!" Marry nearly jumped. "Who is it? Maybe we could find them if I send a report." "Well, I don't know who were the ones that attacked specifically, but their leader is some infamous villain named, Morcubus." "Morcubus? Sounds regal." "Indeed. From what I gathered, he is actually a wanted criminal from another dimension." "Another dimension? How is this possible? Which one is he from?" "He's from a dimension called Sim's Universe." "Sim's Universe? That's one of the old dimensions the G.C. patrols." Marry puts a hoof to her chin. "From what I can recall, it's in the Video-Game sector of the Universal Map." "Indeed he is." Cave confirmed. "Though, I couldn't find any lead on how he left his dimension, nor for any of his men." "This is a serious problem, Cave. We are dealing with a rogue dimension traveler who has a large amount of highly unstable viruses." "Actually, that's another thing I need to inform you about. Somehow, Morcubus is able to control these viruses." "What?! How is that possible?!" "I don't know. Though, my guess is that his colleagues seems to know how to work and apparently experiment on the viruses. The nasty little specks have been used twice in a row already." Cave sighed. "The first strike was used on an Alpha Red Dragon, and the other was used on a swarm of bugs documented as Parasprites." "This is not good. I'll have to send a report to the Commander." "Very well, but while you do, please inform him that I request-" "Wait..." Marry interrupted. "How did you get Morcubus' profile?" Cave's eyes widen a bit. "Er, I was given a tip by an anonymous." "That's a lie, Cave." Marry frowned. "Since Morcubus is from another dimension, this current one wouldn't have any knowledge of him." Cave's mind started to panic, trying to process any helpful comebacks. "You're hiding something, Cave. Spill it!" Cave sighs as he knew he was caught. Might as well come clean. "Alright, Marry. I'll tell you, but please hear me out." "Just tell me." The other Core member was getting impatient. "Okay... I've gotten all this information about Morcubus from..." Cave sighs once again. "...from a robot android name, TOBOR." "A robot? But this planet primitive to have any robots, well... minus other electrics." "That's because this one is from the same dimension as where Morcubus is from." "Another rogue traveler?" "This one is different, Marry!" Cave narrowed his eyes. "He came to this dimension not on purpose. It was a failed teleportation accident. His creator who guess by the name, Dr. F is responsible for TOBOR's departure." Marry eases up a bit as regains her composure. "Oh... well, if that's the case, then we'll have a G.C. escort ready for your friend's safe travel." "I'm afraid I cannot allow that, Marry." Marry was surprised by Cave's new tone. "W-What do you mean by that?" She asks. "I mean that I want to allow TOBOR to continue his new life here Equestria." "Cave, you know very well that it's against rules and regulation to let rogues wonder out of their own dimension illegally." "That's right, and it's a good thing we're dealing with just one rogue, and that's Morcubus." "We can't exclude this TOBOR character from the list, Cave." Marry groaned. "The Commander might of let your other 'Rogue Friends' off the hook last time, but times have change, Cave. He isn't going let this one go this time." Cave didn't respond as he remains silent. He knows that something like this will get him into a lot a trouble. However, he won't back down. "Marry..." Cave spoke. "Please... just this one time... as a favor from a friend..." "Cave..." Marry sighed. "Will you please keep this a secret?" The grey mare closed her eyes as she rubs her forehead. She knew that this was against rules and regulations, but.... 'I know I'm going to regret this.' Marry thought. The Lieutenant gave a big sigh before giving in. "Alright, Cave... I'll keep it between us." "Thank you, Marry." Cave smiled. "I know-" "Please don't make me regret this, Cave." Marry said irritably. "If the Commander finds out that I'm-" "Let me worry about that, Marry." Cave reassured. "I'll take the heat from him if he knows." "...Thanks, Cave." Marry said with a thin smile. There was a moment of silent before Cave spoke again. "Well, I got to get going. I've already left the princess waiting long enough." "Yeah, you go do that. I'll just... continue the Moon Base's construction." "Alright then, I'm signing off-" "Wait, Cave?" "Yes?" "...Please be careful..." Cave smiles for his friend's concern. "Don't worry, Marry, I will." With that, the computer screen shuts off as the lone android caption leaves the room and into the dimly lit hallway. "That's odd. It smells like rain." Ponyville, City Hall 3rd Person When Mayor Mare said that her office was trashed, she wasn't kidding. When TOBOR and Twilight entered the room in City Hall, they saw that everything was indeed ruined. It looked like a tornado hit the place. Right now, the intelligent duos were examining the graffiti the mayor mentioned before. "Of all the people to come here, it had to be them." TOBOR grumbled. The graffiti was a very familiar logo the robot recognized. On the wall was a big letter 'M' that was spray-painted in red. TOBOR knew the logo. It was Morcubus' corporation symbol; MorcuCorps. "Who are you talking about?" Twilight asks. "MorcuCorps. It's Morcubus' crime headquarters. It's where him and his goons run their operations against Sim's City in my world." "Do you think this might be their doing?" "Possibly, but if it was them, then what did they wanted from the Mayor's office?" "Let's spread out and look for clues." Twilight suggested. "Good idea." As Twilight wanders off to the other side of the office, TOBOR continues to stare at the red graffiti. 'What are you planning, Morcubus?' TOBOR thought. 'What did you even need from Mayor Mare's office?' "TOBOR!" The white robot went back to reality by the bookworm across the room. "Yeah?" TOBOR asks. "I think I found something." Twilight said. "What did you found?" "Well, when I was looking into Mayor Mare's filing cabinet, I found that out of all the documents inside it, there's only four missing." "Missing documents?" TOBOR tilted his head. "I wonder what could they be?" "I don't know. The drawer they were in wasn't labeled like the others. In fact, it was actually locked." "Locked?" "Yes. When I was checking it, I found the lock for it was busted open." TOBOR puts a hoof on his chin. 'What kind of documents did they stole? What was in those files?' "Did they leave anything behind?" TOBOR asks. "No. It seems that they opened up cabinet with their bear-hooves." "That's all I need." "What?" Twilight asks confused. "Remember before I said I worked with a special agent back in my world?" "Yeah, it was Special Agent Sam, right?" "Yes. Before we went on our last mission to get Morcubus, a Biology Scientist name, Roxie Road installed a special tool in me called The Magnifier." Author's Note: I couldn't find the real name for the device in the game, nor the image. So, let's just go along with this one. My apologies. "The Magnifier?" Twilight asks. "Yes. It's just like a regular magnifying glass, but it is 100 times more powerful. It can even reveal hidden footprints and marks of any kind." "That's incredible!" "Thanks, now, let's see what we can find." TOBOR's eyes lit up and flashes a blue light onto the broken file cabinet. Not a moment later, the light reveals a set of hoofprints. "This is amazing, we can trace where the thieves went." Twilight says in awe and excitement. "Well, then, let's get going." The duos start to follow the several hoofprints, which were found scattered around the office, out the door and back outside. It took a while, but the trail lead them outside of Ponyville. "Jeeze they sure made a trip didn't they?" Twilight said. "Yeah, but don't worry. We just need to keep- wait, what?" TOBOR stopped. "What? What's the matter?" "You might want to take a look at this." The one pair of hoofprints suddenly went into a different direction, completely heading away from the rest of the tracks. "They split up?" Twilight claims. "Apparently so. Why though?" "We can't just follow one of them." "Actually, we won't have to." TOBOR groaned. "Why?" "Let me enhance the Magnifier." TOBOR's eyes once again flashed a light, but more brighter than before. Soon, the field that tracks were in continued on a couple a feet before vanishing. "What? What happen to them? Where did they go?!" Twilight said. "I don't know. Can you see if there is any traces of magic?" "I'll see what I can find." Twilight's horn glow as she scans the area around the vanished tracks. A moment later, Twilight was done scanning, but she was really confused. "This doesn't make sense." Twilight whispered. "What wrong?" TOBOR heard. "Well, I scanned the tracks, but found something odd." Twilight explains. "The track that separated from the rest only had a small amount of magic. The same amount that an Earth Pony would have." "Okay, so one of them is an Earth Pony. What about the others?" "That's the thing. The rest of the tracks those ponies left had none whatsoever." "Is that normal?" "No. Everypony and other living things have at least a small amount of magic in them, but these ones don't." Twilight rubs her head. "Maybe they teleported?" TOBOR asks. "Can Unicorns teleport here or something?" "Yes, but these ponies didn't have any magic or even enough to use that spell." "Neither would the other pony that left the group." TOBOR said. "If they didn't had enough magic to use for a spell, then how did they disappeared from the spot too?" "I don't know." Twilight sighs in defeat. "The trail has gone cold. We can't track them down much further." TOBOR groans in irritation. Something like this has happened before in his world. Not even a super robot like himself couldn't figure it out-- "Wait!" TOBOR suddenly had an idea. "Mayor Mare can tell us what those files were. Maybe that can help us." "You're right, TOBOR. Come on, let's see if we can find her back at the office." TOBOR nodded as him and Twilight make their way back into Ponyville. It took a couple of minutes, but both ponies made it to their destination. Though, they saw Mayor Mare talking to a pair of Royal Guards. This confused TOBOR. Didn't she asked him and Twilight for help? "Mayor Mare?" TOBOR asks. Mayor Mare looks away from the guards to TOBOR with a sheepish look. "Oh! TOBOR, Twilight, I didn't think you come back to me." Mare said. "I thought you asked us for help." Twilight said. "I know I did, but I think I need some more professional help I'm afraid. I'm sorry." TOBOR felt a little bad he was let off from his case, but he can't really argue with Mare. He might of been an agent, but only temporary with only a small amount of training. It might be best of the authorities look into this. However, he will have to let Cave know about this too since it involves with Morcubus' goons. "It's alright. I understand." TOBOR nods. "Though, me and Twilight did found something that might help." "You do?" One of the guards asks. "Yes." Twilight answers. "Me and my friend here did a small investigation and found that the culprits stolen a couple of files." "Files?" Mare asks. "That's actually why we came here to ask about, Mayor Mare." TOBOR said. "We were wondering what were those documents. The ones they stole were from a locked drawer." "They stole those files?" The Mayor asks confused. "That's strange." "What documents were they, ma'am?" The guard asks. "Those were just maps to some old mines in the mountains." "Why were you keeping these maps?" Twilight asks. "It was a request from one of the old miners. Though, in my opinion, I don't see the point in doing so. They've cleaned out those mines many years ago. There is nothing left to find but rocks and maybe bits of coal." TOBOR looks up in thought. Why would Morcubus need maps to mine that are completely useless? "Thank you for the information, everypony." The other guard finally spoke. "We will look into this." "Thank, Sir. I really appreciate it." Mayor Mare thanks. "And thank you both for trying anyway, sorry." "It's alright." Twilight waves. "We were happy to help." With that, everypony went off their separate ways, minus Twilight and TOBOR. The sun was starting to set in the horizon as both ponies trot their way down the street of Ponyville. Venders and other stands were closing down for the night as ponies were too walking home. "Well, that was certainly an eventful day." Twilight said. "Yeah," TOBOR replies. "I didn't expected to battle a swarm of metal-eating bugs today." Twilight cringes from the memory. She sighs as she looks at TOBOR with her ears down. "TOBOR, about that, I'm really sorry for putting you in danger like that." Twilight looks down. "I didn't mean to make them-" "Twilight, it's okay." TOBOR reassures. "You were only trying to help. It's the thought that counts. Though, you might need to work on you spells a little more." "Your right, and thanks, TOBOR." Twilight smiles. "Does this means we're still friends?" TOBOR smiles. "Yes, we are still friends, Twi." Twilight was happy with TOBOR's answer. It was going to be a good night as her and TOBOR made their way back to the treehouse. She was really curious as to what news TOBOR wanted to share from earlier before they left. Bad Lands, Morcubus' Lair Private Studies "Hmm... well that is a stupid name for a city." Morcubus comments. Suddenly, the door to Morcubus' room opens as his loyal goon, Esma trots into the room. "Sir," Esma bows a bit before answering. "I got good news." "It better be." Morcubus rolls his eyes unamused. "It is, Mr. M. Me and the other spies have retrieved the documents as you requested." "Are they locations of the mines?" "Yes, I've already checked it before we left. They tell exact locations within the mountains near the town of Ponyville." Morcubus grins from the news. "Excellent. Hand them over." Esma turns and tries to reach for the stolen files in her saddlebags. Though, she struggles to hold them as she tries to balance them with her hooves. "Oh for Sim's sake." Morcubus says as he levitates the documents out of Esma's grip. After looking over the document paper by paper, Morcubus chuckles. "This is perfect." "Um, Sir?" "What?" Morcubus said with a tone. "I-I just wanted t-to ask, why do you need to know where these mines are?" Esma asks nervously. "I mean, from what I read in those files, the mines have been picked clean. There is nothing left in them." Morcubus chuckles again as he shake his head. This only confuses Esma before her boss responds. "Oh how clueless you are my sweet little Esma." Morcubus says creepily. "What do you mean, Sir?" "What I mean is that there is more to it." Morcubus lifts up the papers. "These mines aren't just simple holes. They are actually a complex tunnel network, and they are perfect to setup the next post." "Post?" Esma tilts her head. "Are we going to expand?" "Yes. Our spies got information about a Galaxy Core member settling himself on this pathetic planet. That means he's not alone. So, I need a special team to keep an eye on that pest from sniffing around for any leads on us." Esma flinches as she rubs the back of her head. "Uh, about that, Sir." Esma says nervously. Morcubus narrows his eyes as he gets up from his chair. "What did you do?" "I didn't do anything, Sir." Esma gulps. "However, the 'field agents' you assigned to assist me did something." "What is it? Spit it out!" "Well... they left a spray paint graffiti of our logo when they trashed the Mayor's office." "I said to not leave any traces of us!" Morcubus yelled. "I told them the same thing, Sir, but they barely listen to me!" "Is that so?" Morcubus asks. Esma nods as sweat was starting to form. She did not want to be punish for her mistake. A moment later, after short silence, Morcubus spoke. "I'm going to whisper something to you, Esma. Whatever I say, I want you to repeat that message to those slackers." Esma nods again as she leans forward and listens to Morcubus. Though, her eyes starts to turn wide ever for every word Morcubus spoke. When he was done, Esma shivered a bit before speaking with a bit of fear. "S-Sir... d-don't you th-think that is a l-little harsh? I mean, we are the bad guys, but that seems a bit-" The look on Morcubus' face made Esma shut up as she bows her head. "I will do as you wish, Sir." She squeaks in fear. "Good, now one last thing before you're dismissed." "Y-Yes, Sir?" "...Did you grab that 'other' item I requested." "Yes, Sir." Esma reaches into her saddle bags again and pulls out rather exotic looking wine bottle. "Ah, yes." Morcubus says as he levitates the bottle into his grasp. "Red Rose Wine, my favorite." "I guess, I shall go-" "No need," Morcubus stopped Esma. "Come and join me for a drink. My treat." Esma was surprised by her boss' sudden mood swing. However, she couldn't pass off some high-quality wine. "Yes, Sir."