The Mane 6 traveled through the torturous desert, desperate for water and a good meal. Spike seemed to be taking it the hardest, tripping every now and then and muttering Thorax's name.
After some time, Twilight lifted her head and looked at the group behind her.
"Has anyone seen Spike?" No one answered. "Applejack, you're in charge. I'm going to look for him."
Twilight took to the sky and found a small purple figure walking away from the town she was trying to get her friends to.
"Spike? SPIKE!" Twilight shouted. She dived to where he was at and landed behind him.
"Thorax, do you hear something?" Spike spoke, his back still facing Twilight. Twilight's eyes widened for a moment; then she sighed.
"Oh Spike, he's not there." Twilight sympathized. "Come back, you're hallucinating. I understand how you feel, and the sooner we get back, the sooner we can really return to Thorax."
"Thorax, is that true? Aren't you real?" Spike started shaking. "Say something! No, come back! I..."
Spike collapsed, weeping for a few moments before speaking.
"Twilight, he's dead. Those brutes would've exposed him by now. And I never got to tell him that..." Spike frowned. Twilight put her wing on Spike's shoulder gently, trying to hide the surprise she felt. Sure, she was aware of how close Spike and Thorax gotten ever since he almost died, but she felt her heart break for him.
"We don't know that he's dead." Twilight sighed. "And no matter what, I know he'd want you to keep going and help save Equestria."
"I guess you're right. Celestia would want that too." Spike looked at Twilight thoughtfully and climbed onto her back.
Twilight flew into the sky, seeing that Klugetown was close by. She landed to where Applejack and the rest of the Mane 6 were walking.
"Are we close?" Applejack asked. Twilight nodded.
"Yes, we just need to keep following this road." Twilight reassured her friends. "We just need to find somepony who knows where the Queen is at, we'll spend the night here, and leave in the morning."
They made it to Klugetown, where the monsters looked too sketchy for Twilight's liking.
"Change of plan." Twilight whispered. "We find something to eat and drink, and we get out of here...where the hell is Pinkie?"
"HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN A QUEEN OF THE-" Twilight slapped her hoof over Pinkie's mouth, and several of the monsters gathered around the ponies in interest.
"Don't you think they'd make the perfect sex slaves?" Twilight heard one of them speak. Oh hell no.
"I'll give you all my life savings, so I can spend the night with that one!" A fish monster pointed at Rarity
"What disgusting pigs!" Rarity hissed.
"I swear to every living pony, if any of you filthy cows put a claw on my Rarity-" Before Applejack could finish her sentence, an anthropomorphic cat leaped in front of them and scared the monsters off with talk about an 'infection' that the ponies had.
The cat stared at Rarity for a few seconds before he smirked.
"Well I don't blame that fish monster for wanting to spend everything on a night with you." He winked.
"Dream on fleabag, she's engaged to me." Applejack stood by Rarity, intertwining their tails together. Capper rolled his eyes.
"Whatever farm pony, the name's Capper. And I want to help all of you find this Queen."
"So it looks like the Mane 6 were here..." Marco said, looking at the hoofprints on the beach. "But unfortunately, it looks like the Storm Creatures were here too."
"They're trying to hunt them down!" Tom growled. "They cannot hurt Pinkie! We need to fly there right now!"
Barkina climbed back onto Jackie's back and the five of them took to the skies once more. Jackie wasn't sure how to feel, it was only days before that she realized her questioning status, and now Equestria was in trouble. Oddly enough, she wondered if Rainbow Dash was thinking of her.
They flew over the desert with Tom leading all of them, and once he saw the town ahead, he zipped past them like a bullet.
"We need to catch up to him and make sure he doesn't get hurt!" Marco shouted, taking off after Tom. Pony Head followed him, and Barkina looked down at Jackie.
"You can drop me in the desert if I weigh too much." Barkina decided reluctantly, to which Jackie shook her head.
"No, we're doing this together." Jackie insisted, flapping her wings with even more determination. She kept going until she flew past the tall buildings of Klugetown, glancing down at the hoard of Storm Creatures grabbing civilians and demanding where Twilight was. Then, with Tempest, was the last pony that Jackie expected to see...
Star Butterfly.
"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Jackie gasped, landing on a rooftop and staring down. Marco and Tom were next to her, staring at the cyan pony by Tempest's side.
"What? This makes no sense, she saved my foals just so she could...oh no." Marco's eyes widened. "She's still in love with me, but I think she's trying to get back at Twilight."
"She's getting back at her for putting her in a cage several years ago?" Tom frowned in confusion. "Is she trying to tear your family apart and get you to Mewni? But why? I thought she was learning to be good."
"I think that was just a cover-up." Marco sighed. "What do we do though? We can't fight all of them at once."
"Can't my ass! Why else would we be here?" Pony Head protested. "We need to knock some sense into Star before she gets your wives hurt!"
Realizing that Fluttershy and Pinkie could get hurt, Marco and Tom flew off the rooftop and towards the Storm Creatures.
"Didn't you see that broken-horned pony turn several princesses into obsidian?" Barkina asked Pony Head. "Fighting them will be useless! I'm going to warn the Mane 6 to get out of here."
The small brown dog leaped off the rooftop and ran past Tempest, who looked behind her and saw Marco and Tom flying over the Storm Creatures, swiping at them with their hooves.
"Did you two come here to save your friends?" Tempest asked tauntingly. "Get out of here before I turn the both of you into obsidian."
"Star, how could you? You think that just because you saved my foals, I'll forgive you for hurting my friends?" Marco snapped.
"Why are you doing this?" Tom asked, his eyes wide.
"Because she wants to be with me."Tempest stood in front of Star protectively. "I told you Star, that 'best friend' of yours isn't grateful for shit. You're better off being here with me."
"Maybe you're right." Star sighed.
Marco realized too late that Star wasn't intentionally doing evil things again, but she had given up after Princess Luna was turned into a statue. He felt his heart break for Star, feeling the desperation she had to find happiness, no matter what side she ended up on. And in addition, he suspected that Princess Luna's defeat hit Star even harder because she wasn't in love with him anymore.
Star was falling in love with Princess Luna.
"It has been such a pleasure to meet you, my purple-maned little friend." Capper grabbed Rarity's hoof and kissed it. Applejack scrunched her nose in annoyance, and Twilight was looking through the books in Capper's house.
"Oh, do we really have to part? You could come with us darling, or do you have anything to stay for...?" Rarity asked.
"I'm sure there's plenty of dames that he wants to hook up with here." Applejack huffed, turning to the rest of her friends. "Any luck with finding a map?"
"No, I keep finding books on creature enslavement and something called 'Playboy magazines.'" Twilight looked at the magazine she was levitating with her horn.
"Ooh! The feline babe on this one looks hot!" Pinkie exclaimed, goggling at an open magazine beneath her hooves. Capper blushed and took both magazines from Twilight and Pinkie.
"Those aren't going to help you find the Queen of the Hippogriffs." Capper told them. Applejack stepped forward and pulled out another magazine.
"Bisexual Monthly, huh?" Applejack looked at Capper, then Rarity. "So I guess he's going after dames and dudes in this town."
"T-That's none of your business!" Capper took the magazine, looking slightly embarrassed. "We're not here to gossip, we just need to keep."
"Oh darling, you should know that we won't judge." Rarity smirked, leaning against Applejack. "Fluttershy and Spike may be the only straight ones here, but they're just as open-minded."
"Um, there was something I wanted to tell all of you." Spike admitted. "You see, I-"
"Tempest is coming!" The six ponies heard a voice shout from the window. At the same time, an anthropomorphic naked mole rat stormed into the house.
"So were these the exotic ponies you were talking about?" Verko asked, rubbing Fluttershy with his claw. Twilight levitated her away with her magic, glaring at Capper.
"He was trying to sell us! C'mon, let's get out of here before Tempest reaches us." Twilight leaped out of the window. Rarity stared at Capper with sadness in her deep blue eyes.
"Told you he was a no-good fleabag." Applejack huffed, leaping out of the window with a disappointed Spike on her back. Everyone else jumped out of the window, and when Rarity landed on the dirt, she saw a group of Storm Creatures running towards her.
"Let's go!" Applejack pulled her up and Rarity ran, not looking back at the tom that she thought was her friend.