"So what is so bad about this world anyway?" Derpy asked as she, Lyra, and Vinyl emerged from the gateway, "Its not like we are all going to turn hateful by just being here...are we?"
"You wont turn evil from just visiting a world," Vinyl explained, pulling out her sword after she appeared, "but here the Hateful Pinkie makes what she calls Hatecakes, cupcakes that allow the eater to awaken their inner demons. Eventually if somepony eats enough of them they turn hateful and forget what harmony feels like. Just one of them could turn a pony into an evil creature bent on destroying all that represents harmony."
"And Trixie is here somewhere without this information?" Lyra asked, holding a shaking staff with her magic, "What happens if Hateful Pinkie finds her?"
"The same thing I described earlier," Vinyl answered, swallowing slightly as she noticed the factory, "She will be beaten until she renounces harmony and takes up Oblivion's banner. Or she will die. We want to make sure that none of that happens to her. Lets get going."
The three mares approached the doors of the factory, unaware they were already under watch by some sort of mechanical owl in a nearby tree. The owl chuckled and took flight, heading directly for a window of the factory.
-Inside-
"This place is bigger than I expected," Trixie commented, taking in the sizes of the machinery that lined the middle and the walls of the room, "So what exactly do you do in this factory? You said it was a Cupcake Factory, but there must be more than just cupcakes being made here."
"Nah, we just mass produce cupcakes," Pinkie replied, her armor turning into an apron and the same happening to Scootaloo, "We sell them to everypony in the world, which is why we have stayed safe the entire time. In case you weren't aware of it, but this world is in a state of constant warfare between two factions; the Army of Hate and something called the Collective. Sure we make cupcakes for the enemy, but both sides are in agreement that we are not to be touched and when the winner is decided we'll be safe at last.
Now I know your wondering; why am I still here when I could be in the Crystal Empire, Ponyville, or even Canterlot making these exact cupcakes? Simple, all of the safest locations have already been defeated by Oblivion and this patch of the Everfree Forest belongs to Discord, who was kind enough to lend me a hoof, or claw as it were. He helps out around the factory and keeps us safe, all while making sure the deliveries reach their destination safe and sound.
Speaking of Discord I wonder where he went?"
"Here I am," said a voice as the God of Chaos, wearing an apron and carrying a tray of fresh cupcakes, "Oooh, a lovely visitor in the factory. Care for a cupcake Miss...?"
"Trixie," the showmare replied, surprised that the God of Chaos was so friendly when the world was supposed to be full of violence, "and yes, I would love a cupcake." She figured that the Gatekeeper had gotten the world wrong in the attempt to rile up the new recruits and prepare them for anything.
"Miss Trixie it is then," Discord happily said, placing a dish with a cupcake in front of her, "Don't worry, these cupcakes are simply divine. You'll enjoy it Miss Trixie. I'm going to get back to work, so enjoy your visit to the Cupcake Factory."
"Thanks," Trixie called, piking up the dish and taking a quick bite of the cupcake, "He wasn't kidding. This IS delicious. What do you guys do to make it this way?"
"Oh, you know," Pinkie said, leading Trixie deeper into the factory as she continued to eat the cupcake, "Flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, butter, and assorted pony parts."
"What did you say?" Trixie asked, almost thinking that she misheard Pinkie's list of ingredients.
"Flour," Pinkie repeated, "sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, and butter. Same simple recipe that I was taught and it seems to be enjoyed by everypony."
"I see," Trixie said, finishing off the cupcake and placing the dish on a trolley that passed them, "I could have sworn that I heard something disgusting mentioned on the list, but since you repeated what you had said it seems I let my imagination get the better of me."
"That tends to happen when one deals with Oblivion and his forces," Pinkie replied, moving out of a workers way so he didn't drop the trays of cupcakes he was pulling, "They think they saw something, but it tends to be their imagination getting the better of them. We have had some of the workers feel the same thing you have felt, but nothing as strange as imagining an extra ingredient on the recipe."
"Hahaha," came a mechanical voice as a metal owl perched on a window right next to them, "Greetings again Pinkamena Diane Pie."
"Hello Clockwerk," Pinkie replied, not really surprised to see the owl, "See anything...interesting...that I might need to know about?"
"Three more mares are approaching the factory doors," the owl, Clockwerk as Pinkie called him, answered, "I do not know their intentions, but they have weapons drawn. Shall I take action against them or shall I pass this on to Discord?"
"Scare them away," Pinkie answered the owl, "but do tell Discord that we will be needing an increase on the special ingredient soon. We've almost run out."
"Of course," the robot owl replied, "It will be as you will."
"Oblivion is persistent isn't he?" Pinkie asked as the owl left his perch, "First he sends the Element of Violence after us and now he thinks that a stealth team of three can take us by surprise."
"Your owl didn't describe any of the mares that were approaching," Trixie commented, "Why didn't it do that? They could be allies looking to seek shelter."
"Clockwerk will deal with that," Pinkie answered, not even looking back at Trixie this time, "He's always under orders to make sure they are allies before he opens fire on them. Don't worry too much about them; if they are truly allies they will be inside before you know it and if they are enemies they will be erased in no time."
"If you say so," Trixie replied, taking a look back at the front door before continuing after Pinkie.
She was completely unaware that the Pinkie she was following flashed her eyes deep red before they returned to normal. Plus she was wearing an evil smile, but the showmare wouldn't know that unless she was looking at her face.
-Outside-
"Shoot, I KNEW we were under observation," Vinyl said, noticing the mechanical owl perch on a nearby branch, "and I have the feeling that something bad is going to happen."
"HAHAHA, GREETINGS VINYL SCRATCH," the owl said, speaking in its computer tone with what seemed like a sense of superiority, "I MUST SAY, YOU ARE SURPRISINGLY PERSISTENT IN YOUR EFFORTS TO ERADICATE LORD OBLIVION FROM THE WORLDS. YOU REMIND ME OF THE SON OF MY NEMESIS, THE THIEVIUS RACCOON RESPONSIBLE FOR MY DEFEAT SO LONG AGO."
"Clockwerk, we meet again," Vinyl growled, holding the sword at the ready while she faced the small owl, "This time you and I will finish what we started on the world of machines."
"i COULDN'T AGREE MORE VINYL," the owl replied, "ONLY THIS TIME YOU WONT BE WALKING AWAY WITH ANYTHING THAT BELONGS TO LORD OBLIVION."
Vinyl blasted the mechanical owl with magic and the entire tree it was perched on exploded into a huge ball of flames, the smoke rising to the sky. Lyra was amazed, she had never seen that level of magic from anypony other then Twilight and the Princesses themselves. But as she watched the smoke she noticed a form appear, though it seemed to be pony sized at first. When the figure emerged from the smoke Lyra realized exactly what had happened and wondered how it was possible.
Clockwerk grew in size, changing from the size of an ordinary owl to the size of a terrible bird of prey that easily towered over all of them. His talons gleamed as he carved the ground and stepped towards them, his mighty wings blowing the smoke away with a single gust. The hate in his eyes was enough to melt metal as Lyra soon found out thanks to her spare sword lighting up before she tossed it at him. Not even her melting sword seemed to slow the robot bird down very much.
"GIVE UP VINYL," the owl pestered, swinging his talons and barely missing Vinyl by an inch, "YOU KNOW THAT HATE WILL WIN IN THE END, SO WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING IT SO MUCH? YOU KNOW THAT OBLIVION WILL EVENTUALLY CONTROL THE TERMINAL AND EVERY WORLD IN ALL OF EXISTENCE. SO WHY FIGHT IT?"
"Because if somepony doesn't stand up for harmony then life wont be worth living," came a voice as a cannon ball hit Clockwerk square in the chest and sent him flying, "and that somepony who stood up the first time was none other than Vinyl Scratch, Captain of the Leviathan Airship and Commander of the Warriors of Harmony."
Flying directly above them was the same ship that had picked them up in the world of Hate, again piloted by the talented Shining Armor. The stallion grinned and turned the guns on the factory, the fuses being lit as he targeted the main structures. One good blast and he would put this evil operation out of business. Permanently.
-Inside-
Pinkie and Scootaloo, who had been walking and talking to Trixie the entire time since Clockwerk had left, now stood perfectly still. The showmare was looking around the factory without them, which was just fine considering that an airship waiting just outside the factory. Sure Pinkie was worried about Trixie finding the location of their secret ingredient, but right now she was more worried about losing the entire factory.
"What are we going to do Pinkie?" Scootaloo asked, her apron slowly being replaced by armor, but it wasn't the same silver armor as before, "Should we warn Discord and get out while we can?"
"The factory will be lost regardless of what we do," the God of Chaos said, appearing from a red mist behind them, "Lord Oblivion wants what we can salvage before this place is destroyed. I have already sent the last available shipment of Hatecakes through the gateway."
"And the ponies chained below the factory?" Scootaloo asked, her eyes turning deep red as her armor darkened to a black color, "What does Lord Oblivion want with them?"
"Leave them behind for the showmare to find." Discord answered, tapping a cane against the wall, "We have a minute before those cannons fire on us and set this place ablaze. All the workers have been evacuated back to our home base, now all that matters is us getting back. And that includes getting Clockwerk back as well. Speaking of which where is that crazy mechanical owl of ours?"
"Stalling our 'friends' outside," Pinkie said, reverting to her dragon form and shredding her apron as her armor materialized, "but considering that the Leviathan is waiting right outside our door I take it as he got surprised and is on his way here to meet up with us."
"Time to leave my friends," the mechanical owl said, smoke emitting from him as if he was preparing something big, "This body is at its limit. Remove the chip and give it to Rarity, she'll know exactly what to do with it."
"Understood," Scootaloo said, waiting for Clockwerk's head to open before removing what he referred to as the Hate Chip, "Now, lets get going before it blows."
The front of the factory exploded as a cannon ball flew through the factory, exploding once it hit the first piece of machinery. The factory itself shook as pieces of machinery randomly exploded and fires began to rage out of control. Trixie stumbled as the floor broke under her, looking back to see the Leviathan floating just outside the destroyed wall. Then she saw Hateful Pinkie standing next to Discord, a hateful Scootaloo, and a robot body whose head was opened.
"Ah, Trixie," Pinkie said, turning on the mare as her warhammer appeared in her hand again, "I can't say it wasn't a pleasure showing you around the Cupcake Factory, but I'm afraid our time together has been cut short. You and I will be seeing more of each other in the days to come Trixie, so don't let the other Elements of Hate kill you before that."
The next thing Trixie knew there was a blood red gateway standing directly behind the assembled hateful ponies, one identical to the ones the Gatekeeper used. Discord and Scootaloo entered the gateway, but Pinkie stopped before the swirling vortex as if she had something else on her mind.
"Here," she said, tossing a ruby red key with a silver chain to Trixie, "The Key of Violence. Proof that I will be seeing you again Trixie."
Before Trixie could respond Pinkie entered the gateway and was gone, which resulted in the vortex closing shut seconds later. Trixie picked up the key just as she noticed the smoke emitting from the suit, the gears turning as she realized exactly what was going to happen. She turned to run and the suit exploded, taking everything in the immediate area with it and tossing Trixie further down the walkway.
"Trixie's still in there Shining Armor," Vinyl shouted, her and her companions boarding the airship as it prepared another cannonball, "and as much as I would like to see this place go up in flames we can't leave her in there."
"You have five minutes before the place is destroyed," Shining warned, "and I will not be responsible for the death of one mare."
"Fine then," Vinyl said, a bridge dropping down and allowing them access to the burning factory, "Lets find Trixie and get out of here."
Trixie groaned and pulled herself up, but she heard the screams of ponies behind a nearby door and forced it open with her magic. She wasn't expecting to find ponies chained to the walls, some of them cut open and bleeding while others weren't moving. At least she found that five of them hadn't been harmed or even touched yet.
"Save us, please," one of them, a pony she recognized as the teacher Cheerliee, pleaded, "We haven't much time before this place collapses."
"Right," Trixie replied, cutting the bonds on the five unharmed ponies and getting them up, "We have an airship outside, so lets get you guys to safety."
The five nodded silently and Trixie led them out of the room, right into the path of Vinyl and her companions. Before either party could rejoice another machine exploded into flames and made them hurry towards the Leviathan. As they crossed the bridge and it raised up more of the factory exploded, flames raging as it ate away at the evil that had resided there.
"Blow it to heck Shining Armor," Vinyl shouted, covering her ears.
"Aye aye Commander," Shining said, turning to the cannons, "FIRE."
The factory erupted into flames as the second round was fired, the remaining machines exploding and the structure falling into ruins. Whatever remained of the evil gateway was long gone and none of the pony remains were around.
"Lets go home then," Vinyl said, the ship entering the gateway, "We've got some things to explain."
Trixie looked back at the burning ruins, unaware of the sudden red flash in her eyes before they returned to their normal color.