//------------------------------// // A Desperate Rescue // Story: LEGO Equestria Girls 4 // by Chronicler06 //------------------------------// Chapter 12 A Desperate Rescue Sunset and Twilight sat beside each other with their backs against the cavern wall. They had lost track of how long it had been since Spike had escaped to find help, and they had no way to know how much longer it would take for the young boy to return. With the main entrance blocked by massive boulders, there was apparently no other way out of the cavern, so the two girls had no choice but to just sit and wait. The two girls had been silent for quite some time now. There was simply nothing for them to do while they waited for the faint hope that rescue would be on its way. As time passed and no sign that their boredom would come to an end any time soon, it was inevitable that tensions would soon start to rise. Eventually, Sunset sighed, then turned to Twilight sitting beside her to her right and said, “I still think you should try to use your magic to move those boulders out of the way.” Twilight sighed and sadly responded, “I really don’t wanna do that.” “Twilight, we’ve been over this before,” said Sunset irritably. “I’m pretty sure your new magic has nothing to do with your previous experience.” “I-I-I just can’t take that chance,” Twilight hesitantly replied. “It’s just too risky.” “You won’t know for sure until you try,” insisted Sunset. “Sunset, you don’t understand what I’ve been through,” Twilight firmly responded. Sunset sighed and rolled her eyes before she irritably responded, “Do we have to go over this again? I told you, I’ve once let magic turn me into a monster too. I know very well what it’s like to go through such a traumatic experience.” “No you don’t!” insisted Twilight as she stood up. “You were once a unicorn from Equestria, so you practically grew up with magic all around you! But for me, that incident was my very first exposure to that kind of magic! Of course my initial preconceived notions regarding Equestrian magic are going to be so negative!” Sunset stood up and argued, “You can’t let just one bad experience ruin everything for you!” “It was much more than just ‘one bad experience’!” Twilight shot back. “I almost completely destroyed both of our worlds!” “And I almost tried to conquer Equestria by brainwashing the entire population of Canterlot City!” Sunset shot back. “My incident was just as bad as yours, but I’ve moved on! You should really consider doing the same.” “It’s not so easy when I keep getting nightmares!” argued Twilight. “No matter how much I’d like to, I just can’t let it go!” “Well at least you’re not questioning your very existence!” snapped Sunset. Twilight paused and her expression suddenly softened as Sunset’s latest statement caught her completely by surprise. “What?” she quietly asked in confusion. Sunset sighed as she turned away from her friend and rubbed her hand over her face. “Sunset?” asked Twilight slowly and carefully. “Is… is there something you’re not telling me?” Sunset let out another sigh as she removed her hand from her face. She turned around to face Twilight and hesitantly replied, “Do you recall that… one of the things I did to stop Midnight Sparkle… was to go into the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness?” “Yes, to retrieve my device that had fallen through,” answered Twilight. “The next day, I had asked about what you saw there, but your only response was that I was better off not knowing.” “And I still insist on not telling you about what I saw there,” emphasized Sunset, “nor will I ever tell any of our friends, nor will I ever tell Celestia or even Kjeld.” Twilight was stunned to hear that whatever Sunset saw on the other side, it was apparently so traumatically mind-blowing that she thought it was best to never tell anyone about it — not even those who likely kept some of the biggest secrets in the entire Lego World. She took a moment to carefully consider her words before she slowly asked, “Sunset… what happened to you over there?” Sunset slowly turned away and hesitated for a moment before she replied, “I still won’t tell you what I saw… but I will say that, what I saw over there… it just completely changed my whole grasp on the very concept of reality itself. It’s made me ask questions that I previously would have thought were simply not worth asking, and I still can’t think of any convincing answers for any of them.” After a brief pause, she turned back to Twilight and added, “This is something I also cannot share with anypony in Equestria — not even any of the princesses — because as far as I could tell… that world’s reality is just as questionable as that of the Lego World.” Twilight was at a complete loss for words. Although she lacked the context necessary to fully understand what her friend was talking about, she wasn’t so sure if she even wanted the complete picture. “But perhaps the most startling thing of all,” added Sunset, “is that based on my actions during my brief time there… I may have even made the other side question reality as well…” “Sunset…” mumbled Twilight in shock. “I-I had no idea…” “How could you know?” asked Sunset bitterly as she turned away again. “I never intended on telling anyone about any of this. I certainly didn’t want to start a mass panic by making everyone question everything in existence — or even question existence itself.” Twilight couldn’t think of a proper response, for she knew that Sunset did have a valid point. Sunset chuckled and dryly remarked, “I guess it’s probably a good thing that my new magic happens to be the ability to read minds. It means the only one in the entire universe whose deepest darkest secrets I can never expose… is me.” “That does make sense, now that I think about it,” noted Twilight. Sunset turned around to face her friend again and said, “Believe me, Twilight, this is a very heavy burden I’ve been forced to carry, and I would never wish it upon anyone — not even our worst enemies. If you thought Midnight Sparkle was traumatizing, then my limited experience on the other side of the Infinite Abyss of Nothingness is unimaginably worse.” Sunset’s confession certainly left Twilight with a lot to think about. It was no secret by now that Twilight was still struggling to overcome the mental trauma she had suffered from the Midnight Sparkle incident, but this was apparently the very first time Sunset had shared even a hint of the kind of trauma she had suffered on that very same day. It sure did put things into perspective. But perhaps most astonishing was that while Twilight had clearly been struggling with her issues, Sunset had never shown any sign that she had been going through perhaps one of the worst cases of an existential crisis ever known to occur. Twilight decided that she would have to ask Sunset for advice on how to put up with such anguish, once they got home. Assuming, of course, if they would ever get out of that cavern. “Twilight! Sunset!” The two girls immediately recognized that voice belonging to Spike, and it apparently came from the same hole in the cavern ceiling he had escaped through. They both turned towards that hole just in time to see another rope quickly lower down all the way to the cavern floor. “Hasten! Climb the rope!” called another familiar voice. Twilight and Sunset glanced at each other and smiled before they both walked over to the rope. Sunset was the first to grasp the rope and begin climbing up, followed closely by Twilight. It was a long climb up to the ceiling and then along a short upwardly sloped tunnel towards the surface, but they put all the effort they had into it. In only a matter of minutes, they had reached the surface, and were both pulled out of the hole with the assistance of a small group of Forestmen who had gathered around. Once they were both out in the open on a rocky hilltop, they saw that among the rescue group was not only Spike, but also a familiar resident of the Dark Forest. “Robert Nathaniel Hood, I am so glad to see you again,” remarked Twilight with a smile. Rob N. Hood tipped his hat to the two girls and cheerfully remarked, “I am quite the chivalrous man, if I do say so myself. The moment young Spike informed us of thy plight, I resolved to have both of thee rescued at once.” “Thanks for helping us out,” said Sunset. “Unfortunately, that only gets us out of the cave. We’ve still got a lot of other problems to deal with right away.” “I’m afraid she’s right,” said Twilight to Rob. “My Jump-Gate return device got destroyed, and without it, we can’t make an instant return to the city. Conventional means of transportation from this particular region could take many days, and we simply don’t have that much time to spare.” Rob gave a hearty laugh and cheerfully responded, “Worry not, fair lady, for I come bearing a special gift!” Twilight and Sunset looked at each other in confusion, then turned to Spike. Spike simply smiled and remarked, “Trust me, you’re gonna love this.” Two Forestmen hauled a chest over to the two girls and set it down on the ground right in front of them. Then one of the Forestmen pulled open the lid to reveal what was inside. Twilight and Sunset looked inside the chest and gasped. “No way…” muttered Sunset in disbelief. “Is that…?” asked Twilight. “A Jump-Gate return device?” responded Rob with a smile. “It most certainly is!” “Yeah, even I couldn’t believe it!” remarked Spike. Sunset looked to Rob and asked, “How did you even get one of these?” “‘Twas a gift delivered to me just hours ago,” answered Rob, “courtesy of the LEGO Team as compensation for the goodwill mission being cut short. However, it seems thou are in desperate need of one, and since I have no desire to set foot outside this forest anytime soon, I have decided to bestow this gift upon thee.” Twilight took the device out of the chest and attached it to her right wrist. She switched it on, quickly checked through all the systems, and smiled. “All features on this device seem to be working perfectly,” she noted contently. She turned to Rob and said, “Thank you so much!” “Happy to have been of assistance!” responded Rob with a smile and a tip of the hat. “Now then, if what Spike has told me is true, then it seems thou must depart with great haste, so my fellow Forestmen and I shall return home at once. I bid thee farewell, and wish good luck to thee and thy friends!” As Rob and the Forestmen began to walk away, Twilight entered a return code into the new device. “So where are we going?” asked Spike. “Our ultimate objective is to go after Gloriosa,” explained Sunset, “but we have no idea where she went. Instead, we should first go back to Lego City. We need to regroup with our friends and tell them what happened, then we can begin to figure out where Gloriosa went so we can go after her and stop her madness.” “My thoughts exactly,” stated Twilight. “The nearest Jump-Gate to our friends is the one we had just used at LEGO Team Headquarters, so that’s where we’ll start.” She held out her arm and hit the green “Open” button. A set of Jump-Gate doors materialized on the hilltop, then parted open to reveal the massive multipurpose hangar room at the LEGO Team Headquarters building in Lego City. Without a word, Twilight, Sunset, and Spike all rushed through the gateway. Once they were through, the gateway doors closed behind them. When they had left, this room had been largely calm and empty. But now, LEGO Team Headquarters had erupted into a mass scene of hectic chaos. Personnel were running back and forth all over the place, sometimes bumping into each other and sending papers flying around. Almost every computer console in the room had someone urgently typing away on their keyboards and control panels while countless images flashed across their screens. And overseeing everything from the main platform in front of the giant display screen on the wall was Thomas Playwell. “What the heck is going on here?” asked Sunset. “Uh, girls?” Spike spoke up as he pointed at one of the glass walls on one side of the hangar. “I think we might know where Gloriosa went.” Twilight and Sunset turned around to look outside the massive window and their eyes widened in shock. This side of the building should have provided a view towards Lego City, but instead all they saw was a massive wall of dark and twisted brambles, with seemingly no way to get through. “Did Gloriosa really do all of that?” asked Twilight in shock. “Well, who else could be able to do this?” remarked Sunset. “Look! The monorail!” exclaimed Spike as he suddenly pointed left towards where the barrier cut across the peninsula. The three minifigs watched as the monorail train rode along the track down the peninsula, heading for a direct collision course with the barrier. Just seconds later, the train slammed into the brambles, but rather than smashing through them, it simply bounced right off. The train was violently thrown off the track and collapsed to the ground beside the road under the track. “Shoot!” shouted Thomas in frustration as he witnessed the crash on the big display screen. He took a deep breath and then calmly told one of the nearby assistants, “Send out the ambulance and the firetruck. Make sure the engineer in that train is okay.” “Yes, sir,” acknowledged the assistant with a nod before he walked away to send out the order. Thomas lowered his head and sighed. After taking a moment to calm his nerves, he began to glance around the room, then immediately froze once his eyes fell on the three minifigs he had been told to find here. “Where have you three been?” he asked irritably. Sunset stepped forward and explained, “Gloriosa left us stranded in the Dark Forest part of the Castle Region. You have no idea how lucky we are to have made it back here at all, let alone this quickly.” “What’s going on here?” asked Twilight. “Is Gloriosa behind all this?” “I’m afraid so,” answered Thomas solemnly. “As soon as I got here to search for you, the spaceship she had hijacked was seen crashing into the Rich Cultural Center, where the gala we attended was taking place. Moments later, a wave of magical energy was unleashed that created this massive barrier of brambles around much of the city. We’ve been unable to break through, and we can’t establish any communications with anyone on the inside.” He rested his hands against the railing around the platform and let out another sigh before he muttered, “My father and your friends are among the people trapped inside, and I am not sure if there is any way we can help them.” “Sir!” one of the workers at the numerous computer consoles suddenly called out. “There’s a pirate ship in the harbor!” “On-screen,” requested Thomas as he turned back to the big display screen. The live video image immediately came up on the display screen, showing that there really was a pirate ship sailing along outside of the part of the bramble barrier that went through the harbor. “Is that Brickbeard’s ship?” asked Spike. “Can any of you confirm it?” requested Thomas to the workers busy at the computers. After a few seconds of rapid typing on the keyboard, one of the workers responded, “Yes, sir, that is definitely Brickbeard’s ship.” Out on the pirate ship, Captain Brickbeard — who had a wooden peg in place of his right leg, a hook in place of his left hand, an eyepatch over his left eye, a large brown beard piece attached around his neck, and wore a red captain’s uniform with white epaulets on his shoulders and a black hat on his head with a pirate’s skull and crossbones printed on it — looked out across the wall of brambles beside his ship and growled, “I shan’t be lettin’ an overgrown hedge stand in my way…” He raised his jagged cutlass and shouted, “Fire the port side cannons! All of ‘em!” The pirates aboard the ship quickly followed their captain’s command and within the time span of just one second, every single cannon on the side of the ship facing the wall of brambles fired. With so many cannonballs being fired all at once at a single location, they were able to smash a huge hole through the barrier. All of the pirates let out a loud cheer of triumph, but that lasted only for a few seconds before they saw the countless brambles swiftly regrow to completely seal up that massive hole. The crew groaned in disappointment, but then they suddenly started to cry out in terror as more brambles quickly rose up out of the water all around the ship and began to grasp onto the floating structure. Captain Brickbeard swiftly grabbed onto the nearest mast and tried to scurry his way up as he shouted in panic, “Arr! It be a kraken! I know it!” Once the vines and brambles had grown over every part of the ship, they started prying the entire structure apart. The ship creaked and groaned for a few seconds before it finally shattered to pieces that then splashed into the water. The vines and brambles then retreated back into the sea, leaving the pirates and the debris from their ship floating on the surface. Back inside the LEGO Team Headquarters building, everyone had watched the swift destruction of that pirate ship on the main display screen. “Well, so much for that,” muttered Spike. Thomas turned to one of the nearby assistants and requested, “Send out the patrol boat and have them arrest the pirates.” “Yes, sir,” acknowledged the assistant before he walked off to send out the order. Thomas sighed and shook his head. “At least that puts an end to Brickbeard’s rampage,” he muttered. “Darn shame we cannot celebrate due to a much more serious ongoing crisis.” He let out another sad sigh. “I do not know if I am ready to handle this kind of responsibility…” “Don’t worry, Thomas,” assured Sunset. “We’ll do everything we can to save the city, our friends, and your father.” She turned her attention out the window again and added, “First, we need to find a way to get through that barrier.” Sunset, Twilight, and Spike all silently stared out the massive window at the barrier as they tried to think of any possible ideas. It wasn’t long before Twilight began to slowly smile. “Or maybe we can just bypass the barrier,” she remarked with enthusiasm. Spike raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean by that?” “The Jump-Gate!” exclaimed Twilight excitedly as she pointed at the Jump-Gate close to where they stood. “We can use it to take us directly into the city without having to worry about the barrier!” “That’s a great idea!” exclaimed Sunset with a smile. “We can also use the Jump-Gate to take us directly back to the cultural center, so we can jump into action right away.” “I agree, but I would also advise caution,” stated Thomas. “If Gloriosa notices a Jump-Gate opening within the barrier, she may try to block it off, leaving us right back where we started.” “Then maybe we should open it somewhere further away, where Gloriosa won’t see us,” suggested Spike. “Okay, with all these factors in mind,” stated Twilight, “we should open the Jump-Gate far enough from the epicenter where our arrival would go unnoticed, but we should also try to be close enough that we won’t have to spend a lot of time simply walking the rest of the way there.” She turned to Thomas and asked, “Can you show us a map of the city?” Thomas tapped a few buttons on the nearby console and an image came up on the display screen showing a map of Lego City. “Could you also highlight the site of the cultural center and the full extent of the barrier?” added Twilight. Thomas tapped a few more buttons on the console and the map gained a red “X” over a location somewhere downtown and a large red circle that was almost perfectly centered over the “X”. “Now all we have to do is pick a destination,” stated Twilight. Sunset glanced at the map for a moment, then looked to Thomas and asked, “What would you recommend?” Thomas studied the map for a few seconds before he eventually replied, “I would suggest the street in front of the fire station. It’s close to downtown, and its location should provide enough cover to permit such a sudden entrance without attracting much attention.” “Got it,” said Twilight with a nod of agreement. “Specify the coordinates and I’ll enter them into the Jump-Gate right away.” Twilight then rushed over to the Jump-Gate. As Thomas spoke the coordinates, Twilight entered them into the control panel beside the Jump-Gate. Once the coordinates had been entered, she turned back to her teammates and asked, “Ready?” “Ready as always!” confirmed Spike as he stood in front of the Jump-Gate doors in a stance that showed he was prepared to start running. Sunset was mysteriously absent at that moment, but she quickly returned to stand beside Spike. Quite notably, she was now carrying a large laser blaster in her hands. Twilight glanced at the big weapon in Sunset’s arms, then raised an eyebrow and asked, “Don’t you think that’s a bit excessive?” Sunset rolled her eyes and readied her weapon as she replied, “As much as I’d like to hope for the best… I’d rather be prepared for the worst.” “Fair enough,” muttered Twilight. She hit the green “Open” button and then rushed over to join her two friends and teammates as the Jump-Gate made its usual low whooshing noise. Once the noise stopped, the doors parted open, revealing a slightly overgrown street in Lego City. “Hey, it worked!” remarked Spike excitedly. But as soon as he said that, a bunch of dark and twisted brambles suddenly sprouted from the ground just beyond the gateway and quickly grew to completely block the opening. “Or… maybe not,” he added dejectedly. Sunset sighed and shook her head, then she raised the laser blaster in her hands and shouted, “Stand back!” Once everyone nearby had taken a few steps back, she began to rapidly fire the blaster at the wall of brambles that blocked the gateway. Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! All those laser bolts quickly shredded through a large majority of the brambles, almost effortlessly clearing the gateway. Once Sunset finally stopped firing, she lowered the blaster as she smiled and smugly declared, “There! Problem solved.” Unfortunately, those shredded brambles quickly grew back to once again completely block the gateway. “Oh come on!” shouted Sunset furiously as she threw the laser blaster down onto the floor. “So how are we gonna get through?” asked Spike. “I wish I knew…” muttered Twilight. Sunset glanced over at Twilight and after only a few seconds, she smiled and said, “Twilight! You can use your magic to pry the brambles apart. It should provide us with enough of a gap that we can slip right through.” Twilight looked away and hesitantly responded, “B-but I don’t wanna use too much magic. Midnight Sparkle might take over.” Sunset grasped both of Twilight’s hands and desperately begged, “Twilight, our friends are out there! They need our help!” After that display of empathy, Sunset suddenly ponied up — gaining pony ears, longer hair to resemble a tail, and a unicorn horn on her forehead — which certainly caught the attention of the dozens of people busy working in the room. Twilight continued to hesitate, but after a few seconds, she took a deep breath and softly responded, “Okay…” She faced the gateway and held both of her hands out towards it. She began to focus her magical energy and her hands started to glow. The same purple glow also covered the brambles as they started to shift. She poured out more magical energy, causing her hair to start flapping in a nonexistent breeze as a point of magic began to shimmer on her forehead. Finally, with enough effort, the brambles were pushed apart, creating a gap just wide enough for a single minifig to pass through. “That’s it! That’s good enough!” exclaimed Spike excitedly. Without any hesitation, he ran towards the gateway and dove through the gap between the brambles. Sunset picked up her laser blaster from the floor and ran towards the gateway, then jumped through the gap. Once she was through, she called back, “You’re doing great, Twilight! Come on over!” Twilight began to groan against the strain of keeping up her magical output. She was terrified of what could happen if she kept it up any longer, but she knew it would soon be over. All she had to do now was step through the gap herself. She walked slowly at first, but as she got closer, she began to reduce her magical output, giving her more energy to move faster but also risking the brambles collapsing before she made it through. Finally, as she reached the threshold of the gateway, she cut off her magic and dove through the gap. Twilight tumbled to the ground, but Sunset was there to help her up. As Twilight panted from exhaustion, Sunset smiled and contently said, “You did great, Twilight.” Twilight smiled back, then glanced back at the gateway just in time to see the Jump-Gate doors behind the brambles close. As soon as the doorway vanished, the blocking wall of brambles suddenly collapsed into a messy pile. “Whoa…” remarked Spike in astonishment as he looked around at their surroundings. “This place looks like the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.” Twilight and Sunset also began to look around and they saw that virtually every street and building all around them were covered in all kinds of overgrowth. In addition, there was seemingly no sign of any civilians out on the streets, and whatever vehicles there were out on the streets had been completely deserted. With the addition of the orange sky above caused by the setting sun, it was well and truly a very eerie sight to behold. “What has Gloriosa done to this city?” Twilight softly asked in shock. “I don’t know,” replied Sunset with firm determination as she tightened her grip on her laser blaster, “but we’re gonna find her and put a stop to this madness.” “Uh, girls?” Spike spoke up as he pointed down the street to the right of the fire station. “I think we’ve got company.” Twilight and Sunset looked over in the direction Spike was pointing and they quickly saw about a dozen minifigs about two city blocks away. However, even from that distance, they could tell that these minifigs were very unusual because they were of various shades of brown and the only surface features on their bodies were unique patterns of wood grain. “Are those minifigs made of wood?” asked Twilight in disbelief. “That actually doesn’t surprise me,” remarked Sunset. When Twilight and Spike gave her confused looks, she turned to them and explained, “If I was Gloriosa right now, I would want a bunch of minions to maintain complete control over the city, and with the kind of power she now possesses, I can’t think of a more efficient way to obtain these minions than to simply grow them like trees.” As Sunset was talking, Spike saw the dozen woodfigs suddenly turn toward the recently arrived trio and then began to advance towards them. Twilight opened her mouth to say something to Sunset when Spike suddenly spoke up fearfully, “Uh oh, they’re heading this way!” As Spike quickly ran off towards the fire station, Twilight and Sunset looked over at the woodfigs again and saw that the faceless minions were indeed charging right at them. Sunset immediately raised her laser blaster and prepared to fire, but then Twilight placed her head on the weapon and gently lowered it down. Sunset glanced at her friend in confusion, especially when she saw a smile on Twilight’s face. “Allow me,” Twilight said confidently as she turned to face the approaching woodfigs. “I believe this would be an excellent opportunity for me to field test one of my latest inventions.” She reached behind her back and pulled out a silver cylindrical object that was just barely big enough to be grasped with two hands, although she currently held it in only her right hand. “What is it?” asked Sunset. Twilight glanced back at Sunset and grinned as she replied, “I call it…” FWISH! A bright beam of light that glowed a lavender color suddenly extended from the upper end of the object, reaching a complete length of just over half of a minifig’s height. “The plasma blade,” finished Twilight. She then swung the blade around in an arc, which generated a low humming noise as it moved through the air. Vrrr. By now, the charging woodfigs were less than one city block away, so it was only a matter of seconds before the two sides would clash. But rather than wait for them to arrive, Twilight decided to raise her plasma blade, grasping it with both hands, and charged right at the wooden opponents. When the two sides finally met, the woodfigs never stood a chance. Twilight swiftly swung her plasma blade around, effortlessly slicing through each and every woodfig that tried to get close to her. The glowing blade hummed as it flew around through the air and sizzled as it sliced through the wooden torsos and limbs of the faceless minions. It wasn’t long before Twilight found herself standing alone surrounding by singed and scorched wooden minifig parts. With a smile of satisfaction, she twirled the plasma blade once and remarked, “I’m loving this thing already!” Pew! Twilight yelped and ducked as a laser bolt suddenly flew right by her. When she heard the clattering of wooden parts behind her, she glanced up and saw among the woodfig parts was a head with a clean hole right through the middle. She then glanced over at Sunset, who had her laser blaster raised. Sunset smiled as she lowered her blaster and playfully remarked, “You missed one.” Twilight silently responded with a sly smile. She then turned to face the street ahead and stated, “If these woodfigs came down this street, then we’ll likely find Gloriosa in that direction.” Sunset walked over to Twilight and added, “And knowing that our friends would definitely not just sit idle while all this magical madness is going on, we’ll mostly likely find them confronting her as we speak.” “My thoughts exactly,” agreed Twilight with a nod. She turned back to the fire station and called out, “C’mon, Spike! Let’s go!” Back at the fire station, Spike pulled an ax off of one of the parked firetrucks and swung it around a few times. He smiled and quipped, “Ready to chop some firewood!” He then ran out of the fire station and over to where Twilight and Sunset stood. As soon as he arrived, his smile fell when he saw the plasma blade in Twilight’s hand, in addition to the laser blaster Sunset was holding. “Aw, no fair!” he grumbled. “You girls get all the fancy space laser weapons, and I’m stuck with an ax!” Twilight giggled and remarked, “Don’t take it too personally. We’re just using whatever weapons we could grab.” “You snooze, you lose,” teased Sunset. Spike sighed and muttered, “Well, as least I’ve got something to fight with.” “Okay, enough fooling around,” Sunset spoke up. “We need to find our friends and stop Gloriosa.” She began to walk forward down the overgrown street as she continued, “We’ll definitely be facing some resistance along the way, but I’m sure we’ve got what it takes to make it through.” Twilight kept her plasma blade active as she walked beside Sunset, while Spike followed behind them as he tightened his grip on his ax. The three friends and teammates were now on a mission, and they were not going to let anything stop them from reaching their destination.