Spider in Equestria

by DarkSpider


51. Stone Garden Zone

Dark looked over the emerald colored diamond in his hand, carefully turning it over as he took in every small detail about. The gem was very familiar to Dark, even the small amount of light it let out brought a few memories to mind.

"You really think it's one of them?"

Dark took a quick glance to Venom, who appeared in his human form, but didn't reply. He then looked at Screwball. "You said you felt a large amount of energy coming from this thing?"

Screwball nodded. “It felt a bit similar to my chaos magic, but a bit different, like it's more focused and raw.” She then shrugged, frowning a bit. “Really that's the best way I can describe it.”

Dark sighed. "Well this is bad…" he muttered.

"Why?" Cece asked. "It's just some gem. What's the big deal?"

Dark held up the arm with the crystal. "If we're right, this is one of seven Emeralds. All of which are a major problem if they fall into the wrong hands."

“No wonder it looked so familiar! It's a Chaos Emerald!” Screwball shouted, a smile on her face. “For some reason I just couldn’t remember what it was until now.” She frowned, crossing her arms. “Probably the higher ups blocking some stuff…" she muttered to herself, quiet enough for nobody else to hear.

Rainbow leaned closer from her throne. "Chaos Emerald? That sounds bad."

Dark shrugged. "Well they can be used for good. But if any of them gets into the wrong hands, could be a problem. Just one of these are a very efficient power source."

"And all seven can cause some issues," Screwball continued. "Or turn people super. Or revive the dead. And some other stuff as the writers wanted."

Starlight looked at the Chaos Emerald. "Well we have one. Where are the other six?"

Screwball and Dark shrugged before Screwball said, "I only felt this one when I was near the same area and haven't felt that kind of energy at any other time. And the Emeralds can be anywhere in the world."

"Doesn't help that we only just learned that these things exist in this world," Venom said, though nobody seemed to notice besides Dark, who gave a quick nod.

Cece sighed. "So Hydra, sentient darkness that can erase our world on its way, and now we have to figure out where the rest of these things are? Seriously, we just got back here yesterday. Can't we relax for a bit?"

Twilight sighed. "Looks like that'll have to wait Cece."

Dark rolled his eyes before tossing the Emerald back at Screwball. He then looked at Twilight. "So what do we do?"

Twilight got up. "Well I'm gonna go to Canterlot to inform the Princesses about that...dream we had as well as about these Heartless. Guess I can add these Emeralds too." With that said, she left the room.

With nothing else to discuss, the rest of the group started to leave not long after Twilight did.

Suddenly the door slammed open, revealing a certain pink pony mare on the other side of the door. The pink party pony grinned widely as she skipped towards the others. “Heya guys!” She greeted, waving excitedly at everyone. “So I came by to ask about what flavor cakes you guys like since I’m still planning your welcome back party, it probably won’t be ready till night time, but don’t worry! I’ll make sure that by the end of the day I’ll have the party ready to go!”

Cece rolled her eyes while Dark just smiled. "Vanilla Pinkie. And just use that for any future reference." He then looked at his sister. "And strawberry for Cece."

Pinkie Pie saluted, her expression momentary becoming serious before breaking into a huge grin. “Got it! I’ll see you guys later then!” Just as she was about to skip away, she stopped suddenly in front of Screwball, her eyes widened when she saw the gemstone. “Oh my gosh! You have one of those gems too?! Marble has one in her room back on the rock farm! Though ours was a different color.” She stuck her tongue out as she tried to remember. “It looked pretty grey, but really shiny and glowing!” She turned around and started to leave. “Well I’ll see you guys later!”

Everyone blinked as processed what Pinkie said before Screwball said, "Pinkie wait," before teleporting in front of the pink mare. "You said you found one of these before?" She asked, pointing to the Emerald.

Pinkie nodded, still keeping her smile. “Yup! Marble found it one day when we were just small little fillies!” She answered. “It was really shiny and it sometimes glowed, so we kept it in our room! It made for a good nightlight.”

"Is it still there?" Rainbow asked.

The pink mare hummed, nodding slowly. “Yeah I’m pretty sure it's still there, at least last time I checked.”

Dark shrugged. "Well, looks like we have a slight change of plans…" he then looked at Pinkie. "Hey Pinkie, mind if we go to that rock farm your family has?"

Pinkie gasped, bouncing in place. “Sure I don’t mind! It's been a while since I visited my family’s rock farm! Oh, this is so exciting! I’ll get to introduce you guys all to my sisters, my parents,” She then frowned. “Though I’ll have to reschedule the party… Oh well, we can have it tomorrow!” 

Dark then clapped his hands together. "Well then let's go."


“Soooo, not that I mind or anything, but why do you guys want to come to the rock farm anyways?” Pinkie asked, glancing at everyone. “Is it because of that gem?” She said, pointing at the gem on Screwball’s hand. She jumped briefly when the train started shifting around.

Cece nodded. "According to Tito and Screwball, it's part of a set and are very dangerous. I'm guessing we're heading to your family's...rock farm...to get it…" she muttered, trying to figure out what a rock farm even was but not wanting to ask.

Screwball nodded. "Trust me Pinkie. These things are insanely dangerous. Your family is lucky nobody knows how special these things are."

Pinkie frowned, glancing at the trains window. “If you say it's dangerous, then I believe you… Though we’re going to have to convince Marble to give it up and she’s pretty attached to it.”

"I'm sure we can convince her," Cece said, petting Emily in her lap. "Especially if she's anything like you." She then frowned when she saw Screwball snickering. "What?"

"While I can say that all the Pies are strange, they are not all the same. Heck, Marble Pie is more like Fluttershy than Pinkie."

Cece blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yup. Heck, she never once said an actual word in the show. So no idea what she even sounds like."

Cece then looked at Pinkie for confirmation. "Seriously?"

Pinkie nodded with a smile on her face. “Yeah Marble is pretty quiet, and she’s really shy around ponies. Lime is also always a huge grump and gets mad super duper easy! My parents are really quiet and so serious, and Maud always has a straight face!” She then leaned over and whispered loudly. “But don’t let that fool you, Maud has a great sense of humor.”

Cece then looked at Screwball with a raised eyebrow, in which the filly replied with a simple shrug.

Dark turned his attention away from the trio at the otherside of the cart. Glancing at Rainbow, he couldn’t help but notice stormy expression on her face. The rainbow maned mare continued staring at the train’s window, ignoring everything around her.

"Wonder what's eating her up," Venom commented from Dark's side, to which Dark shrugged in response.

"Um...Rainbow? You okay?" Dark asked.

Rainbow sighed before looking at him with a frown. "I'm fine. Just still pretty annoyed about last night."

"What was so bad about it? At least you didn't almost die from people you didn't know exist or deal with an annoying duo."

"No, but I fought evil version of our friends, as well as you." She then looked out the window again.

Dark stood silent for a few moments before saying, "Exactly what happened in your trials?"

Rainbow glanced at him and sighed. “It wasn’t so bad at first…” She began, sitting up straight. “The first trial was called the Trial of Power, and the trial giver was a copy of Spitfire. She told me that since I picked up the Dream Sword, that my trials were all combat focused, and my first opponent was this weird red furred pegasus.” She frowned, trying to recall the details of the encounter with the villain. “We were fighting just outside some high school in Cloudsdale. The guy had the power to control fire and called himself “Pyro.”” She snorted, finding the name to be unoriginal. “After I beat him, Spitfire told me about how that villain was one I was going to have to deal with in the future. Apparently he will think of himself to be my nemesis or something like that. Guess that makes sense. I'm water and he's fire after all.” 

“The second trial was called the “Trial of Wisdom”.” She said, using her fingers to make some quotation marks. “Apparently I’m too brash and too quick to act, so they made that trial in order to force me to think more often before I make a decision.” She turned away and crossed her arms. “I mean, I know it's kinda true, but what am I supposed to do if I see these really evil looking guys attacking my friends?!” She threw her arms up and scowled. “Turns out those evil looking guys were actually some really edgy heroes, calling themselves Daredevil, Punisher, Jester, and Rattle. And the ponies I saved were all just evil clones of our friends! They called themselves the Sinister 7, and the evil clone of me was apparently in prison and everyone thought I was the evil clone! There’s even an evil clone of Spike!” She yelled, causing a few heads to turn their way before they resumed their previous activities. Rainbow sighed and rubbed her head. “It was so confusing.”

Dark blinked. "Sinister 7? That's really what they called themselves?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Dark shook his head. "Nothing important. So you said there were heroes called Daredevil, Punisher, Jester, and Rattle?"

"Yeah. But with those names and how they looked, you can't blame me for thinking they were the bad guys."

"Like how you thought I was a bad guy?"

Rainbow blinked before quickly turning her gaze out the window again. "This was different. They were fighting our friends and I had no way of knowing they were the good guys. What was I supposed to do?"

Dark shrugged. "Hard to say. But if you made it out, it at least means you passed."

“Yeah, I did pass. Wasn’t easy though.” She admitted, frowning. “When I figured out those ponies weren’t our friends, I decided I could stick around for a bit and pretend to be the evil Dash to get some answers. Turns out I was in some weird alternate reality? Everyone was backwards in it, good ponies were bad, and the bad ponies were good. Even the princesses were evil in that place.” She explained, waving her hand around. “So I decided to go look for the edgy heroes once I found out they were the good guys. Took a while to convince them I was a good guy, and together we took on the Sinister 7, even got to fight the evil me.” She scratched her head, trying to remember the details. “She called herself Blizzard, even had the same powers as me.”

Dark blinked again. "And I thought we had a rough time… How long were you even in that trial?"

Rainbow hummed, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t really remember… I lost track of time, and it felt like I was there for a pretty long time. Probably about a few hours, a few days at most.” She shrugged. Rainbow then let out a small laugh. “Found out some pretty interesting things while I was there though, apparently Trixie is an alicorn princess there, Sombra is the king of Equestria, and Granny Smith runs a mafia in Ponyville.”

Dark's eyes widened. "Seriously? Sheesh, that's insane… And sounds familiar."

"Comics," Venom stated, to which Dark gave a subtle nod.

"So then what happened?"

Rainbow frowned. “After I beat the Sinister 7 I was allowed to leave and continue to the next trial.” She sighed. “The last trial was called the “Trial of Courage”, and at first I was talking to a copy of you, he asked me a question like the others… and then…” 

"You fought him," Dark said. He then shrugged. "Don't see what the big deal is. We've fought each other a ton of times. Should've been easy for you."

Rainbow looked at the window again. "He...said some things. Stuff that seriously messed me up."

"What did he say?"

She stood silent for a moment before taking a brief glance at him. "Do you hate me?"

That question caused Dark to double take. "What? Of course not. Why would you think that?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Forget it." She then looked out the window again.

Dark briefly considered continuing the conversation but decided against it. He then grabbed Peter from his lap and moved to another seat to give Rainbow some space.

As soon as he sat down, he saw Venom sitting beside him. After making sure no one else was in ear shot, Dark whispered, "Okay, how are you doing that? And how come nobody seems to notice you?"

Venom raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You haven't figured it out?" A couple seconds later, he shrugged. "Well dear father, it's simple. I'm connected to your brain. With that connection, I can just make a mental image of myself. Basically like an imaginary friend. Only ones who can see me like this besides you are psychics or my siblings."

Dark blinked. "Well okay then. Wait, why the others?"

"We have a sort of mental connection. We were able to communicate with each other via our thoughts while we were trapped in those tanks after all. So I wouldn't be shocked if they can use that connection to see my...avatar."

Dark nodded simply before pulling out his phone and finding something to read.


Pinkie squealed, skipping along happily to the front gate of her family’s rock farm. Taking a deep breath, she called out to her family. “Hey everypony! I’m home!” She then threw her arms out to gesture to the group behind her. “And I brought friends!”

An amber furred stallion walked towards the group, a stoic expression on his face. He gave Pinkie a small smile. “Pinkamena, it's good to see thee again.” Turning towards the others behind her, he gave her a questioning look. “Thee must beest Pinkamena’s friends. Thee may calleth me Igneous Rock. Its valorous to meeteth thee.”

Cece blinked. "What?"

Dark simply sighed. "And I thought we were done with this after Spyder-Knight…" he muttered before clearing his throat. "Hello sir. We're Pinkie's friends. And we came here to...um…"

"We came here to get the Chaos Emerald you guys have," Cece stated.

The stallion raised an eyebrow. “Chaos Emerald?” He hummed. “I don't bethink we has't anything like that in our possession. I nev'r coequal hath heard of such a gem.”

"Basically something like this," Screwball explained as she pulled out her Emerald. "Pinkie said she and Marble found one that's gray."

Igneous walked closer, examining the emerald. “Ah aye, I recall Marble and Pinkamena having a gemstone just like this one. None of us knoweth what tis is and Marble currently hath it in her room.” He raised an eyebrow and gave them a cautious look. “Just out of curiosity, why doth thee wanteth t?”

Screwball pocketed her Emerald. "Long story short, it's an incredibly dangerous and powerful gem when in the wrong hands. A single one even can control time if the person learns how to."

"Wait what?" Rainbow and Cece exclaimed before looking at Dark for confirmation.

Dark nodded. "Slow down time, travel through time, or teleport. Those are the most known abilities as far as I'm aware. And like we said, all 7 together can be helpful, or pretty much spell our doom." He then looked at Igneous. "And like my friend said, it can be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands. And we recently learned of a group of ponies who will want them if they learn about the Emeralds."

“We at each moment suspected that the gemstone wast magical, but I nev'r bethought twas that powerful.” Igneous said, looking rather concerned with the news. “If 't be true thither very much art others who wanteth to misuse its power, then perhaps tis best it goeth with thee. I trust mine daughter's judgement, and if 't be true she's well enow with thee all then I suppose I can trust thee all too.” He turned towards the farm house, and gestured them to follow him. “However thee wilt all needeth to convince Marble, t doest belong to her.”

"Well where is she?" Rainbow asked.

He pointed at the house in front of them. “We finished our chores a while ago, so she should beest inside with the others.” He answered, leading them to the house. Opening the door, he called out to the others inside. “Everyone, Pinkamena is here, and the lady hath brought guest.” Igneous stepped to the side, allowing the group to enter the house. Once everyone stepped in, he closed the door and lead them to the living room where the rest of the Pie family was at. “Everypony these art our guest.” He said, introducing them. 

The oldest mare bowed her head in greeting. “Good morrow to you, everypony, I am Cloudy Quartz, tis a pleasure to meeteth thee.” She said, taking a step closer. Pinkie squeed and ran up to hug her. Cloudy smiled and hugged her daughter in return. “Good morrow Pinkamena, it's so good to see thou again, it's been so long.”

The bluish grey mare frowned, not getting up from her seat in the living room. “Name’s Limestone Pie, just don’t cross me and we’ll get along just fine.” 

Cece blinked before looking at Pinkie. "This is your family?"

"Part of it," Screwball replied. "Maud is completely stoic and almost emotionless and I said Marble is like Shy." A few seconds later, she added, "And before you ask, no. Pinkie's not adopted."

“Speaking of Marble!” Pinkie says, catching their attention. She darted to the lump of dark grey hair hiding behind the couch and dragged her sister towards them. “Everypony this is Marble Pie! My little baby sister who’s only a few minutes younger than me, but she’ll always be my little baby sister, isn’t that right?” She said, grabbing the confused pony and turning her head to look at her in the eyes. Without waiting for a response, she turned back to her friends and continued talking. “She’s so excited to meet everypony!” Hearing a lack of response from her sister, she elbowed the pony and gestured towards the group.

Smiling shyly, Marble nodded. “Mm-hmm!” She hummed.

Cece blinked for a moment before turning around and walking out the door. "This is a little too much crazy for me. I'll just wait outside while you guys get the Emerald."

After she left, Screwball turned back to Marble and cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me Marble. But Pinkie said you found a gray crystal that looks like this?" She asked as she pulled her Emerald again.

Marble quickly glanced back at Pinkie, moving forward when she saw her sister encouraged her to step forward. Shyly taking a few steps closer, she examined the emerald on Screwball’s hands. She stared at the emerald in awe, recognizing it to be similar to the one she had. Turning back to Screwball she nodded in confirmation to her question. Reaching for one her dress’ pockets, she gingerly took out a grey colored emerald and held it out for her to see. 

The two emeralds suddenly began glowing brightly, they flashed repeatedly for a few seconds before letting out one massive blinding light. The light briefly blinded everyone in the room, when they regained their vision everyone gaped at the large beacon shooting upwards towards the sky.


Cece and Emily immediately turned towards the house as they saw the beam of light, the pair completely confused by it before running back inside.


All around Rockville, the ponies couldn’t help but stop and gape at the pillar of light that shined at the edge of their village. Foals would grab the attention of their parents and point to the light, shocking their parents at the sight. 

“What is that?” An elder stallion questioned.

“Isn’t that light shining in the Pie’s farm?” One mare said, staring in awe of the light. “Doth thee bethink something hath happened to those folk?”

“It's quite quaint, surely a miracle must've hath happened!”

Even as the light died down, the ponies couldn’t help but keep their eyes locked at the spot the light had been shining through. All around Rockville, confusion and awe filled their heads.


“Sir! Sir!” The high pitched squealing of the crab-like machine stole his attention. Rotating his transport, the egg shaped figure gave the robot his attention. Seeing that it had its leader’s attention, it continued speaking. “You might want to take a look at this!” The crab pointed right behind its leader with its metal claw. 

Turning around the egg shaped commander couldn’t help but stare in awe of the pillar of light. “What is that light?!” He yelled, leaning forward in interest. 

“It appears to be coming from the rock farm in Rockville, sir.” The crab answered, skittering closer. 

“A Rock Farm you say?” He repeated, staring at the light as it slowly died down. “Fascinating.” Turning towards the computer on his transport he started pressing a few buttons. “Computer, scan that light. Have we found our target?”

“Scanning…” A masculine, monotone voice said, following the orders. “The energy the beacon is giving out is exactly the same type of energy of the target. Chances of the source of light being the target… 98.75%.”

“Fascinating.”


A few seconds later, Rainbow spoke. "What the hay was that?" She asked as Cece and Emily came back inside.

Screwball sighed. "So we're going with the Sonic X thing huh?"

"The what?"

"In a certain Sonic show, when 2 or more Emeralds are "reunited" after being separated, a beam of light happens," Dark explained. He then looked at the two Emeralds. "And looks like that's the case here…"

“That. Was. Amazing!” Pinkie yelled, scooping up Marble in a hug as she bounced around. “What was that?! You just took out your gem and then both of them started glowing, then boom! A huge pillar of light appears out of nowhere! I bet everyone in Rockville saw it!”

Dark, Venom, Cece, Emily, and Screwball stared at Pinkie. "Rockville?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, that's the name of the village. Rockville."

Cece deadpanned. "The more I learn about your world, the crazier it seems…"

Rainbow shook her head before looking at Dark and Screwball. "So is there any problems with that?"

The pair shrugged. "Depends on if anyone understands it," Screwball replied. She then put her Emerald away again. "Look Marble, can we take your Emerald? For now I'd rather we hold on to as many of these things as we can. And no telling how many others saw that beacon."

Marble’s eyes darted between Screwball and the grey emerald she had in her hands. The grey mare stared down at the emerald with a conflicted expression, she glanced towards Pinkie before looking back at them. Before she could give them her answer, a hard knock on the door interrupted them. 

Limestone turned towards the front door with a glare. “Now what?”

“Oooh! I’ll get it!” Pinkie called out, skipping towards the door. “They’re probably just wondering about that light show.” Opening the door, she gave the newcomers a bright smile. “Hello there officers, how can I help you?”

Standing in the doorway were a pair of guards, the one on the right was a pegasus, while the one on the left was an earth pony, the pair covered in the standard guard armor. The one in the right spoke first, “Good afternoon ma’am. We’re here to investigate the bright light that seemed to originate from this exact location.” The first guard explained, giving Pinkie a light smile.

“Did you happen to see anything that might have caused it or even the source of that light?” The second guard asked with a frown.

"Don't worry guys, we got this, Cece said as she stepped next to Pinkie. "You can be on your way."

The two guards turned to each other, a single eyebrow raised. Turning back, the first guard gave Cece a smile. “While we appreciate the help citizen, this is a matter that the guards should handle.” He said, waving his hand dismissively. “However, does this mean that know what caused that light?”

Cece raised an eyebrow from under her hood. "Citizen? Seriously? I know the guard are weaklings but besides making me mad, they never seem to be idiots. I know for a fact that Celestia spread the word about us to all the guard."

The two glanced at each other again, their eyes narrowing. With a huff, the second guard turned away from her. “We don’t have time for this, we’re very busy girl, and I doubt that the Princess would let someone so young into the Royal Guards.” Now giving Pinkie his full attention, he addressed the confused mare. “Now ma’am, may we enter the house so we can continue our investigation? It's very important we find whatever caused that light, it could put your friends and family at risk.”

Dark glared at the guard but before he could do anything, he started hearing growling. When he looked to the source, he saw Bri poking her head out of his bag and growling at the guards with an angry glare.

The guard scowled when he spotted Bri growling at him. “Get your mutt under control before I have to do it for you.”

Dark blinked before he glared at the guard again, growling himself. "What did you call her?"

“A mutt.” He gritted out. “Now are you going to get that thing under control or am I going to have to discipline the both of you.” He threatened, taking a step forward.

At this point, Venom was glaring at them too, as well as Screwball. Dark rose an eyebrow. "Oh really? Trust me dude, you don't wanna do that."

The guard continued glaring at Dark. Hearing Bri let out a bark, he turned towards the pokemon and scowled. “Fine, seems like I’m going to have to teach this thing some manners.” The guardsman stomped towards them, his hand reaching out to grab the pokemon. Before he could grab Bri, Dark quickly grabbed his armored chest and tossed them out the door, almost hitting the first guard.

The other guard glared. “Now you’ve done it, for assaulting a guard I’m placing you under arrest!” As he took out the sword on his belt, he was suddenly thrown out by Cece’s hammer hitting his chest plate. The guardsman landed right next to the other one, who was in the middle of getting up.

“We should’ve just stormed the house.” The earth pony spat out. “Last time I’m listening to you.”

“Y-you were too confrontational, don’t think I won’t report your behavior.” The pegasus stuttered, getting onto his knees, a large dent was on his armored chest. “We’re meant to have the trust of the civilians, they won’t trust us if we’re being confrontational.”

"Okay, first and only warning," Cece said as she stepped out of the house, shouldering her hammer and removing her hood. "You two dumbasses leave now, and I don't show you why the rest of your buddies are afraid of me."

The two guardsmen glanced at each other, getting up from the ground, they glared at Cece. The earth pony grunted. “Now can we do things my way?”

The pegasus frowned, “Fine.” He spat, reaching for his pouch. “We’re not supposed to be doing things like this, you are aware of that right?” He said, glancing at his partner who just shrugged. “I will be reporting you after this is over.”

“Fine by me.” The guard smirked. Reaching for something in his pouch, he took out a bright orange gun-like object, the end of the gun was colored yellow. Pulling the gun’s trigger, a bright yellow bolt of energy shot out of the gun straight towards Cece. The pegasus besides him took out a similar weapon and began firing at the pink hedgehog as well.

Before the energy bolts could hit Cece, she was pulled away from its path by a pair of webs. Dark quickly jumped over her without his bag, heading straight for the guardsmen. Raising his arms up again, he shot out a pair of webs to swipe the blasters from the duo.

"Okay, now I know something is up. The guard doesn't have tech that good." He then rubbed his hands and stood up straight. "Now, who are you really? Hydra goons?"

The earth pony scoffed. “Hydra?! Don’t make me laugh, they’re nothing but a bunch of fools!” Smirking, he raised his fist and hit his chest. “We’re with the Doctor of course! Just you wait, soon there won’t be a single pony who hasn’t heard of the Empire!”

The pegasus scowled, using his wing to hit his partner’s head. “Idiot! Are you trying to expose us?!”

The earth pony rolled his eyes. “Honestly it doesn’t even matter, they won't be able to spread that info anyways, after all we’re the only ones who are going to walk away from here.”

'Doctor?' Dark thought with a confused expression under his cover before he shrugged. "Whatever. I'll just beat the info out of you then."

“You won’t get the chance.” The pegasus said snidely. Darting towards Dark, the pegasus spread out his wings and swung one of them at Dark.

Feeling his spider-sense warn him, Dark quickly jumped back barely avoiding the wing’s feathers. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the feathers slash through his shirt, leaving a large cut across it.

Spreading out his wings again, the pegasus flapped his wings, shooting out a volley of sharp, metal feathers to impale him.

Dark quickly darted to his side, dodging the incoming feathers. Before he got the chance to counter attack, the earth pony leapt towards him, managing to land a single hit before being tossed aside. Dark gritted his teeth, wincing at the surprisingly strong blow from the earth pony. Regaining his senses, he dodged another barrage of metal feathers before using his webs to restrain the pegasus.

Just as the earth pony was getting up again, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by a rainbow blur. The stallion growled, glaring at Rainbow as she started freezing his body. Rainbow then stood over the fallen foe confidently, “Now why don’t you just do yourself a favor and stay down!”

The stallion smirked, confusing the cyan pegasus. Seeing a bright light start to come off from under her, she looked down and noticed the palm of his hands start glowing. As if sensing the incoming danger, Rainbow quickly jumped back, barely avoiding the two lasers from killing her. The ice around his body began to break apart as he stood up, the stallion shrugged off all the ice that stayed on his body, his hands humming dangerously. “Now… why don’t I give you a counter offer? Do yourself a favor and surrender any, and all of the emeralds you have, and I promise you a quick and painless death.” He said the palms of his hands glowing brightly, the fur around his palms being burned away, revealing the hand to be metal underneath.

Rainbow got over her shock and glared him. "I don't think so," she stated before forming an ice sword.

The stallion smiled, his mouth seeming to be wider than most ponies. Raising his two arms, his eyes literally began to shine. “Deactivating stealth protocols. Fighting at full capacity!” He said in a monotone, yet jovial voice, his speech carrying an echo. His hands hummed dangerously, lightning up with energy.

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed in confusion, suddenly not too sure if what she’s fighting is actually a pony. Eyes widening, she quickly dodged the incoming lasers. Bolting towards the stallion, she expertly maneuvered herself around the beams of light, successfully dodging every blast as she got closer. Remembering how the hands were made of metal, she raised her sword and slashed at the stallion’s hands, successfully managing to slice the metal hands in half. Dispelling the ice sword, she raised her arms up and froze the fake guardsman’s entire body, making sure to leave the whole thing encased in ice.

Breaking free from the webbing, the pegasus quickly jumped back, trying to create some distance between himself and the hero. “That idiot! The hell does he think he’s doing exposing us?!” He quickly dodged an incoming punch before going airborne. “This is a catastrophe! No use in trying to salvage the mission…” He grimaced, darting towards the train station to escape.

“Oh no you don’t!” Cece yelled, flinging her hammer towards the retreating pony. The hammer spun towards its target, successfully managing to hit the pony’s back, causing him to crash onto the ground. The pegasus skid across the ground for a few inches before finally stopping. 

Just as the pegasus was about to get up, he felt something press onto his back, turning back slightly he saw the pink hedgehog pressing her hammer against his back. “I wouldn’t move if I were you, why don’t you give up?” 

The pegasus scanned the area around him, trying to find a way to escape. Checking to see if everything was okay, he tried to move his right arm, only to notice it no longer responding. He grimaced, finding himself truly trapped. He gritted his teeth, trying to come up with a plan. “Fine… I surrender.” He said, his voice sounding off, and carrying an echoing sound.

"Who are you?" Cece asked as Dark and Rainbow stepped closer but still kept their distance.

The downed pegasus stayed silent for a few seconds before finally responding. “I think the better question is what am I?” He said, the front of his body being obscured by how he was positioned. “Who I am is of no importance.”

"Another cyborg?" Dark asked, looking at the frozen earth pony and remembering the Hydra goon with the robotic arm.

The pegasus let out a small chuckle. “You’re close, but no, I’m not a cyborg. Just another loyal creation of the doctor’s.” He answered, his metallic wings twitching.

"Creation?" Cece asked.

Rainbow's eyes widened as she looked at the frozen "guard" before looking at the downed one. "Wait, are you a robot?"

The pegasus stood still for a second before laughing, his laughter sounding cold and carried an echo. Twisting his body, he stared at the trio with a happy expression on his face. “Now what gave you that idea?” He said. The trio took a step back in shock when they saw what was hidden underneath the pony’s fur. On the right side of his face was nothing but metal, the fur surrounding that part of his face seeming to have come off during Cece’s attack.

Dark shook his head as he got over his shock. "You two were after the Chaos Emerald. I take it this "doctor" knows about them?"

The robot nodded. “That is correct, the Doctor knows all about the Chaos Emeralds. We were sent here to collect the emerald that is located here in Rockville. We got lucky that we ran into you though…” He looked down at himself before looking back at them. “Or rather we thought we got lucky… seems the two of us weren’t enough to take on the three of you… I blame him.” He said, turning his head towards his partner. “He should’ve let me do all the talking instead of being so hostile.”

"Actually your first mistake was dismissing me," Cece said. "But yeah, your friend is definitely dumber. Now who is this doctor you keep talking about?"

The pegasus grimaced at the question, after debating if he should answer or not, he shook his head and gave her his full attention. “If I agree to tell you everything I know I want something in return.” He began, not giving them any time to think about it, he then listed his demands. “I want to be repaired, and I want protection from the Doctor and my former comrades. I can’t exactly return to him like this. He’ll have me dismantled and used for scraps once he hears about how badly I failed.”

Dark shrugged. "Fine."

The robotic pegasus smiled, his shoulders drooping in relief. “The Docto-” The machine was caught off when a volley of energy bolts tore through him. The body of the robot was full of holes, with only half of his head remaining, he looked down at his body and fell backwards, his single eye darting around in fear and desperation before another energy bolt blew up the remaining half of his head. 

“What a shame.” A monotone voice echoed from above, catching the shocked trio’s attention. Above the trio was a large grey hovercraft, with the lower half being completely black. Sitting inside of the floating machine was an egg shaped humanoid robot, the robot’s middle torso was red with a pair of yellow downward-pointing triangles. Its head was a grey dome, with a pair of orange colored eyes staring down at them. Behind the robot was what appeared to be a pair of rockets attached to its back. “The androids held so much promise… Oh well. They were only prototypes. I must make sure to report this to the Doctor.” The Super Badnik looked briefly at the frozen robot before turning its attention back towards the heroes. Getting up from his seat, the robot gave them a bow. “Greetings Spider, Ms. Rose, and Ms. Dash. I am the EggRobo.”