"Bring her in here to rest," the Leader instructed. The Leader led Soren and his friends into his tent. After it was clear that the raid was over, the Leader caught up with Soren and his friends and offered a place for Rainbow Dash to heal.
"Those blasted bandits caused such destruction," the Leader commented as Rainbow was put down onto a makeshift bed by Twilight. Soren glared dangerously at the stallion. Leaving his friends' sides, Soren stormed up to the Leader, the others watching with concern.
"Just who do you think you are saying that?!" Soren fumed. "Weren't you planning on doing the exact same thing to their camp? Don't act innocent with me because I know that, in a way, you're just as bad as their leader. There's a war going on between this place and the bandits, I understand that, but now it's time to end it." The Leader was struck in awe at the gall of this alicorn.
"How dare you?! I'm the leader of this community, and I will not stand by while some alicorn tries to take over." Just before Soren and the Leader got into a massive argument, Twilight intervened.
"You two, be quiet!" The stallions looked at her. "Soren, I understand why you're upset, I truly do, but we need to calm down right now." Soren remained silent. "Leader, I need to repair our ship, so I will be leaving as soon as possible to go do that. Spike will stay to take care of Rainbow Dash, while Soren comes up with a plan to deal with the Master."
"You expect me to just stand by and do nothing?" the Leader asked.
"Of course not. You will be repairing and helping your community. This is the best plan we have and you know it."
"She's right," Rainbow Dash defended in a slightly strained voice. "Twilight is the best organizer there is. It would be smart to listen to her."
"Very well," the Leader said, giving in. "I've seen what you all can do, so I'll leave it up to you four to solve our conflict." After everypony nodded, the Leader left to check on his community.
"That pony is almost as stubborn as you, Rainbow," Spike joked. Rainbow Dash had enough strength to give Spike a friendly punch to his arm; they both chuckled. Twilight walked up to Soren, who has yet to lose the seriousness in his eyes.
"Soren..." Twilight started calmly. "I know you're angry, I know everything is going wrong and there are ponies getting hurt or worse, but I need you to relax and think clearly." Twilight leaned in closer to whisper the next part. "Becoming slightly discorded won't help anypony." Soren growled a little at Twilight. She backed away quickly, which caught Spike and Rainbow's attention.
"I'm not becoming discorded," Soren replied with slight anger. "There's so much chaos on this planet, and I plan to stop it tomorrow."
"What's your plan?"
"You all are going to stay here to help this community while I go and confront the Master. First, I'll need to ask the Leader where the bandits' camp is."
"Oh no, you're not going out there alone," Twilight said. "I'm going with you. He's my enemy too." Soren sighed and his voice became softer.
"Twilight, listen to me. We both know there are no other options. You need to fix the TARDIS, and Spike needs to help Rainbow Dash. Plus, I don't want to risk anymore lives. I'm going alone and that's final." Twilight looked down. She was still unsure about the idea, but deep down she knew Soren was right. Twilight looked at Soren. He smiled at her. "Please, Ms. Sparkle." Twilight felt like crying a little, but instead she nodded and hugged Soren.
"Just come back to us, alright?" Their hug broke and Soren agreed. After he was done conversing with Twilight, Soren left to go find the Leader, then he planned on flying to the bandits' campsite tomorrow morning.
When Soren left the tent, Rainbow spoke to Twilight. "Do you really want to let him go alone?" she asked. Twilight sadly shook her head.
"What could I do? If we protest against him, he might become discorded again. He'll be alright... he has to be, right?" Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike exchanged glances.
--------------
"So tell me 'Master,' did your plan go as expected?" the bandit leader asked the blue stallion.
"Of course," the Master replied. "We caused serious damage and took some lives, and most importantly, the white alicorn is enraged. Everything went as expected." The bandit leader looked doubtful.
"Even if that were true, what is your next plan of action? Don't forget that we have a deal."
"Yes, yes, if my enemies perish, then I will help you bandits defeat yours. I'm a man, err pony, of my word. Anyway, the next part of my plan requires us to just sit here." The leader raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, our little alicorn pal will show up very soon."
-------------
Soren flew over Planet Zero's landscape as the sun could barely be seen rising through the thick clouds. The dark, rocky earth constantly reminded him of how doomed this world was. After he left his friends, Soren found the Leader and asked the stallion where the bandits' camp was. Once he was given a direction, Soren was off the next day. As of now, he has been flying for at least ten minutes in a single direction and has yet to see a camp of any sort. Soren went over his plan; he wanted to get in, do 'something' to the Master, then leave this horrid world with his friends.
As Soren finished going over his plan, he saw something in the distance. He quickly figured that it was the bandit camp. Soren decided to land a few yards away from the entrance. The camp itself looked more like a base than a camp. The walls surrounding the area looked to be made of tougher material than the other community's walls. These walls were smooth and absent of moss or any sign of decay. 'The bandits obviously created the stronger campsite,' Soren thought, "so why is this battle a stalemate?" His thoughts were cut short, though, by a loud voice created by a microphone.
"Well, well, well," the pony using the microphone said, "look who finally decided to show up." Soren looked on top of the walls and saw speakers on certain portions. He also saw many ponies standing on the thick wall. One of them was holding the microphone, and he looked all too familiar.
"Hello again, Master." Soren spoke loudly, yet calmly.
"Oh, I do love it when you use my name, Doctor. Never gets old. Would you like to come inside? We've been expecting you."
"Yes I would, actually, but you're leaving with me when I'm done in there, whether you like it or not."
"We'll see about that. Bandits!" The bandits on the wall were at attention. "Go ahead and greet our guest of honor." The Master laughed evily as he left Soren's sight. At that moment, a dozen pegasi flew out of the base and into the air. Soren took flight as well, knowing that he would be dive bombed if he didn't.
As they flew in the air, Soren and the twelve pegasi looked at each other for a few seconds before half of the group flew straight at Soren. Soren smirked, and his horn began to glow. He then launched forward to meet his welcoming committee. Before he and the six pegasi almost came into contact, Soren casted an old spell that he accidentally used on Rainbow Dash; it was the spell that freezes ponies in a block of ice, and he used it on all of the ponies flying at him. The frozen ponies fell to the earth, but upon impact, the pegasi didn't shatter into pieces. Only the ice shattered, then the pegasi were simply too injured to get up. Soren, still holding his smirk, stared at the other half of the pegasi and repeated the same process with them.
After the twelve pegasi were dealt with, Soren flew directly into the bandits' camp. Upon landing inside, he couldn't see anypony, but soon the sound of air cracking surrounded him. Within seconds, unicorns appeared all around Soren, their horns staying aglow. Soren had to think fast or die right then and there. Soren knew the unicorns were about to blast him with countless spells, but he had an idea. Soren's horn began to luminesce as a few of the unicorns already started to fire at him. While he prepared his spell, Soren had to dodge bolts and beams of all kinds of elemental magic (dark, ice, fire, lightning, etc.)
Within seconds, Soren's spell was finished charging. He casted it just in time to be hit by a explosive bolt of magic, except his newly created shield blocked the spell. Soren managed to create a shield. After he noticed that he was safe, Soren wrapped his spell around his body like armor. The unicorns didn't falter as they saw the 'armor;' they believed it wouldn't hold against their onslaught. Luckily for Soren, they were wrong. In retaliation, Soren started casting his own spells to defeat his enemies. He managed to clear a path deeper into the campsite, all while keeping his shield up.
Eventually, Soren made it into the center of the camp. He noticed that the unicorns had stopped firing at him, but he decided to keep his shield just in case. In the center of the bandit community, the Master and a pony that looked like he could be the leader of the bandits were waiting for Soren. The pony next to the Master was rugged and had torn clothing. This black-coated pegasus looked tough but not as tough as one would expect from a bandit leader. Soren assumed he had to be clever and sneaky or had some hidden ability.
The Master projected an evil grin, but the Bandit Leader held a neutral expression. "Looks like you didn't die," the Master stated. "How unfortunate. It seems as though I'll have to do it myself." Soren looked at the Bandit Leader; he expected the stallion to be ready to help the Master. The leader looked bored.
"Don't look at me," the Leader said. "This is between you and him." The Master pulled out his laser screwdriver and shot it at Soren. Soren wasn't hurt directly by the laser, but when the laser hit the shield, the combination of the two energies created an explosion that sent Soren reeling. Soren steadied himself and saw that the Master was still pointing the screwdriver at him.
"Shall we get started, Doctor?"