//------------------------------//
// Bug Problems 
// Story: An Earthbound Journey 
// by ShadeJak 
//------------------------------//

	“Seems awfully quiet in here…” Spike remarked, looking around. Other then the howling of wind and the distant sounds of Everfree creatures, the ruined castle walls seemed without any sign of life.

“Well, they have to be in here somewhere,” Twilight said. “Maybe there’s a basement, or—” Twilight froze when she saw a lone pony in the distance. “Stay back,” she said quietly to her friends as she cautiously approached, her horn charging up as she prepared an attack. As she drew closer, Twilight quickly engulfed the pony in magic and levitated it off the ground. “Alright, changeling, where are—” Twilight’s eyes widened when she recognized the pony she’d captured.

“Query. Why have you ensnared me?” the Rarity robot from the Equestrian State Building demanded in a mechanical, though still indignant tone.

“What?! How is that thing still active?!” Rarity demanded, facehoofing in disbelief that such a thing would be allowed to continue to exist.

“Rari-T1000 Unit is seeking Sister Unit. Sister Unit abducted by hostile life-forms. Lost Sister Tracking Mode brought Rari-T1000 Unit here,” the Rarity robot said. “Release Rari-T1000 Unit or Rari-T1000 Unit will utilize excessive force.”

Sighing, Twilight released her hold, and Rari-T1000 fell to the ground.

“Proper Lady Maintenance Mode Engaged,” the robot said and several tiny mechanical arms with dusters and brushes emerged from parts of its body and cleaned itself off, as well as intricately brushing out its synthetic mane and tail to utter perfection. “Query. Where is Sister Unit? Has Organic Counterpart seen Sister Unit?” the robot asked, looking at Rarity.

Rarity stared for a moment at the robotic duplicate of herself, shifting a little.

“Answer Rari-T1000 Unit. You have twenty seconds to comply,” the robot said; her tone growing more stern as its eyes glowed red.

“No, no, I have not. I’m actually looking for my sister as well. It would appear Chrysalis and the changelings have abducted her and her friends as well and brought them here,” she explained, still uncomfortable in the presence of her robot double.

“Response... Satisfactory,” Rari-T1000 responded. “Update. Enemy Identification. Chrysalis. Absolute annihilation of target main-priority,” the robot said, an arsenal of missile launchers suddenly emerging from various parts of its body for a second, before promptly retracting as its eyes glowed blue. “Scanning for possible entries to track Sister Unit and obliterate Chrysalis entity. Entry point confirmed. Exclamation. I am coming, darling Sister Unit!”

With that, the robot trotted over to a random wall and stared at it for a moment, then it placed its hoof on a small stone, causing a section of the wall to spin sideways, and the Rari-T1000 trotted inside.

“Well, I guess this is now or never,” Twilight said, looking back to her friends and leading them after the strange robot.

~

“What is going on here?!” Chrysalis demanded as she looked through the crystal ball in her room, seeing that her adversaries and a robot resembling one of them had found the secret passage into the basement areas of the ruins so easily. “Why didn't Drone 502 alert me?”

“502 is a bad gateway attendant, my Queen, as I have often mentioned,” the armored changeling standing behind her remarked.

“And why is this robot here? Did one of these ponies draw its attention?” The changeling queen asked as she approached the many cocoons, noticing an unusual sight. “Wait… why is there two of this particular filly?” she wondered aloud, noticing the unicorn filly they’d brought in had a double, though it looked… mechanical. “A robot?!” she shouted furiously. “Which drone was responsible for apprehending this one?”

“Hmmm… inability to find our intended targets?” The changeling lieutenant mused, rubbing his chin with his gnarled hoof. “I suspect it to be Drone 404’s error.”

Chrysalis facehoofed as she let out an annoyed growl. “Whatever. Have these intruders disposed of at once! I will not lose my leverage for an early reward from King Sombra!”

“Yes, my Queen,” The lieutenant replied, turning and flying out of the chamber while Chrysalis sent a telepathic warning to her drones to engage the six invaders.

~

“Most beautiful robot I’ve ever seen…” Spike fawned as he watched the Rari-T1000 lead a good distance ahead. They’d ambushed several changeling drones along the way, and many of them were blown away by the robot’s missile launchers.

“Spike, I’d really appreciate if you didn’t show such approval for it. It still leaves me most uncomfortable,” Rarity said with a sigh.

“Gotta give it credit though, it sure packs a wallop!” Applejack said with a grin as the robot blasted down a doorway with a missile and trotted onward, calling out to its ‘sister unit’.

“Applejack, you didn’t fight the Sister Unit, believe me… you don’t wanna get on this thing’s bad side!” Twilight said, recalling how she, Rainbow, and Rarity had nearly gotten blown to bits by the Sweetie Bot; herself especially.

“I’m just looking to give Chrysalis a well-deserved beat-down. If she did ANYTHING to hurt the Princesses… or Scootaloo… or anypony else…” Rainbow growled, making several punching and kicking gestures in the air as she flew above her friends.

“You’ll cower!” a raspy voice answered, and numerous glowing blew eyes shone in the dark as a swarm of changelings descended from the ceiling and attacked.

“Everypony stay close!” Twilight yelled as they quickly got back-to-back, Spike yelping as he was caught in the middle.

As soon as they landed, the changelings began to change forms, becoming copies of Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity before charging at them.

Rainbow quickly decked one of her doubles in the face, sending it tumbling into two others and resulting in all three crashing into a column and reverting back to normal as they fell unconscious. Twilight fired magic blasts left and right at any that came her way that looked like her, before zapping one that looked like Applejack.

“Real me! Real me!” Applejack protested, backing away.

“Ah don’t think so!” Another Applejack said, bucking the first one and revealing it to be a changeling.

“Nice try!” Another Applejack said, whipping out her lasso and snaring the second one before swinging her up into the ceiling, revealing another changeling.

“I’ll keep you safe, Rarity!” Spike said; standing in front of Rarity protectively only to be swatted callously aside by her.

“Wrong pony!” ‘Rarity’ said with an evil sneer, and Spike gained a look that could burn through stone.

“How DARE you!” Spike said furiously, uppercutting the false Rarity with all his might and sending the changeling tumbling away. “And for the record, the real Rarity’s way too beautiful for you to imitate!” The dragon said, throwing a small rock at its face for good measure as it reverted back and fell over, dazed.

“Well done, Spikey-wikey!” Rarity said, giving the young dragon a kiss on the cheek. “...Now allow me!” she said, firing several blasts of blue magic at more advancing changelings while Spike touched the spot on his face where he’d been kissed with a huge smile on his face. More invigorated then ever, the young dragon grabbed a fallen rod from an extinguished torch and smacked any changeling that got close.

As several remaining changelings surrounded her, Rainbow grinned and took to the air, flying in circles and catching them all in a tornado, sending them spinning upwards and getting them flung into random directions while her friends took cover behind a column. Satisfied, Rainbow flew down and looked around at her defeated opposition.

“Often imitated, NEVER duplicated!” Rainbow said proudly. “That the best you bugs got?” she asked, smirking.

“Don’t get cocky, Rainbow.” Twilight said urgently. “We still need to find the Princesses and our friends."

“Well, ah say follow the trail’a bug bits, ‘cause ah think that robot pony’s got a better idea of where ta find ‘em then we do,” Applejack said, gesturing to several scorched, injured, or otherwise unconscious changelings in the tunnel heading further down.

“Honestly! That metal abomination is nothing like me!” Rarity protested, sticking her muzzle up in the air indignantly.

“Query. Have you any idea how long it takes to style this mane? Combat Mode Engaged!” the robot’s voice shouted in the distance before a series of loud explosions were heard that shook the walls slightly.

“…Though it does appear to know how I would react under such circumstances,” Rarity muttered as she followed her friends further into the castle.

~

As they passed the scorched hallways where the previous explosion had presumably by the five friends’ account occurred, they discovered that the further and deeper they went into the castle,  the walls had developed a green slime that coated and webbed several of the corners, and changeling amber hung from the walls giving off an eerie green illumination.

“Oh my, the road has forked,” Rarity said, looking at the passages, one of which went left, the other right, with no indication of which way the robot could have chosen.

“We lost our unknowin’ guide, so ah guess we gotta just pick one. We gotta hurry!” Applejack said, wishing she’d had Winona to pick up a trail for them.

“Hey! I hear something!” Rainbow said, leaning towards the left. “Let’s go!” she said, flying down the left path.

As the five hurried down the passage, they found themselves in a basement room where several changelings stood with their backs turned to them, chittering amongst themselves and another passageway was up ahead just past them.

Immediately, Twilight charged up another starstorm spell. As the room lit up, the changelings turned and stared in surprise and confusion just long enough for the unicorn to finish her spell, and the changelings quickly found themselves bombarded by a hailstorm of magical blasts, leaving them decimated in seconds.

“Well, that wasn’t so hard this time around,” Twilight said with a smirk, only to suddenly be tackled from above by another changeling, sending them tumbling across the floor as it took her shape. The two struggled with one-another, and faced the other four, mirroring one-another’s expressions.

“Shoot it!” one Twilight protested.

“No, that’s the fake one!” the other Twilight insisted.

“Come on, you know me!” The first Twilight pleaded.

Spike looked between the two, trying to figure out which one was the right one.

“Twi, remember the cake we had for my last birthday?” he asked.

“Of course, I do!” the first Twilight said.

“Ha! What I had was a cupcake with sapphire gems!” Spike said, tackling the first Twilight and punching her in the face, causing her to revert to a changeling. “Which wasn’t even from you! All you…” he said, punching it again. “…got me…” he continued, hitting it once more. “Was ANOTHER BOOK!!!” he shouted, knocking it unconscious with one last punch.

“Spike…?” the other Twilight asked, concern on her face at her assistant’s outburst.

“Heh, sorry, Twilight,” the dragon said sheepishly. “Uhhh… let’s get moving, huh?” he asked, scratching the back of his head and laughing nervously.

Continuing onward, the five friends came into a hallway with a stone bridge linking two sections of floor over a pit. Standing on the bridge was a changeling in armor with something strapped to his back.

“Sorry, this is a dead end,” The changeling lieutenant hissed. “Best leave!” he said, firing a bolt of green magic at them.

“An elite changeling. Stay on guard, girls!” Twilight warned.

“Good call, pony!” the armored changeling said with a wicked smile as he fired a succession of green magical blasts at them. Rainbow jumped into the air and took flight, heading straight at him and avoiding several magic bolts while the others leaped out of the way of the changeling’s attack.

With a fierce swing of her hoof, Rainbow decked the changeling in the face, then flew circles around him to create a whirlwind. The changeling, however, just grinned and vanished in a flash of green light, reappearing outside the circle Rainbow was flying in and fired a blast of green magic at her, shooting the pegasus out of the sky.

“Gotcha!” Applejack shouted, sending out her lasso and snagging Rainbow’s hoof, catching her before she could fall into the pit below.

“I’ve got this!” Twilight said, firing a bolt of magic at the changeling, who leaped out of the way.

“No you don’t!” he said, his horn glowing and a swath of light appeared in front of him as though some unseen weapon was swung, parrying the magic bolt and dispelling it. “My turn!” the lieutenant said, firing several bolts of green lightning, this time at the unicorn. “You will not interfere with her majesty’s plans!” he shouted.

“We’ll see about that!” Rarity said, firing several magic bolts as well at the changeling, who flew around them and countered with several of his own before vanishing.

“Name’s Drone 007, lieutenant to the Queen’s armies, licensed to kill all five of you should you continue your assault on our lair!” the changeling said as he reappeared above them and did a spin in the air, the odd, arced wave of light emanating from him again for a split second that suddenly that sent Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, and Spike tumbling backward.

“Must be pretty confident to take on all five of us!” Rainbow said as she removed the lasso from her hoof and flew straight at the changeling again, slamming her hooves into him and knocking him out of the air. “Too confident! And this is coming from ME!” she said with a grin, swinging her hoof again but instead of the changeling’s face it struck something metal. For a second, Rainbow saw her hoof was pressing against the flat end of a blade of some kind, but the changeling bucked her off of him before she got a good look at it. The changeling laughed and fired another green lightning bolt at her, but Rainbow was prepared this time, and flew straight up to avoid it.

“Not necessarily,” the changeling remarked, charging up a magical blast and firing at her. Before it hit Rainbow, however, the glowing ball of magical energy flew around her and hit Twilight head-on as she was charging up a spell of her own, knocking her out. “No need to repeat that trick you pulled on the lesser drones…” he remarked smugly.

“Twilight!” Spike cried out, rushing to his friend’s side followed by Rarity and Applejack. Rainbow glared lividly at the changeling and swung at him with all she had. He was quick; she’d give him that, and certainly experienced in a fight, but she had no desire to give up after seeing what he’d done, and knowing Scootaloo and her friends, and the princesses were still in danger. “You’re going down!” Rainbow snarled, teeth grit as she swung her hoof at the changeling, faking him out and hitting him in the chest, knocking him off balance. She saw his horn glow and spotted something on his back moving, and thrust her hooves up as quickly as she could when the shimmer of reflected light appeared again from the changeling’s back.

A second passed, and Rainbow opened her eyes, having managed to strike him in the horn and she noticed a hilt slide harmlessly back into place on a scabbard strapped to the changeling’s back. The changeling faltered in the air, nursing his horn and glared at the pegasus. “Lucky shot,” he snapped, attempting to charge another magic blast but instead only getting a few sparks and a brief headache, the impact of Rainbow’s hit having left him too disoriented to use his magic.

The pegasus grinned and punched him again, this time right between the eyes. The lieutenant spun backwards in the air and grit his teeth at her, preparing to fly at the pegasus only to suddenly be caught in a blue magic aura and a lasso.

“Whoa there, pardner… ah think ya’ll done enough rough-housin’ for tonight!” Applejack said with a smirk. The lieutenant turned and saw Applejack and Rarity now had their attention on him, and held him in place.

“And I think it’s only suitable now you tell us where your Queen is,” Rarity said.

Before the changeling could reply, Rainbow leaned back and bucked him in the chest with both her hind legs, sending him plummeting to the floor.

“Like I’d betray her…” the lieutenant muttered, attempting to use his magic to teleport away again, but Rarity responded by smacking his horn with her hoof, dazing him again.

“Are you so certain?” Rarity asked. “My sister was taken, as was hers,” she said, gesturing to Applejack. “You really wish to find out just how… unpleasant… we can become when somepony of ill intent goes near them?”

“On the contrary, ah wouldn’t mind demonstratin’ either way,” Applejack said.

“Not a chance!” the changeling hissed. Rarity stepped back, an apparent look of horror on her face.

“You… you…” her eyes watered and she let out a shrill wail that made the changeling desperately attempt to cover his ears. Even Rainbow, Applejack, and Spike flinched. “Youuuuu horrible, horrrrrible monsterrrr!” Rarity whined loudly, collapsing to her haunches. “You can’t even tell me where my poor sister iiiiis!” she wailed even louder.

“UGH! STOP IT! STOP IT!” the changeling pleaded, thrashing helplessly as Applejack pressed her hoof into his chest, attempting to drown out Rarity’s insufferable whining.

“WHYYYY SHOULD IIIIII?” Rarity cried. “My poor, poor, dear little sister is in trouble and you WON’T HELP MEEEEEEEEE!”

The shrill whines and wailing proved far more then even the hardened changeling lieutenant could take. “Okay! Okay! Just stop! Please! Please! I’ll talk! Execution by the Queen is preferable to this!” the changeling cried out. The instant the words came out of his mouth, Rarity wiped her superficial tears away and gave him a beaming smile.

“Oh, you will? Well do tell before my feelings are hurt again!” she said cheerfully.

“Down that hall, past three doors, one flight of stairs, big door at the end!” the changeling said. “Now can I please go?” he asked with a nervous smile.

“Ah suppose,” Applejack said, stepping off of him and in an instant the changeling got back up.

“I… should probably get as far away from here as possible. I know I won’t need this anymore…” the changeling said sadly, and the scabbard fell from his back and he flew off down the way the five had come through.

“Nice job, Rarity. I gotta admit, you even fooled me,” Rainbow said.

“Who was fooling, Rainbow?” Rarity asked, cocking an eyebrow in confusion, causing the pegasus to wince a little. A soft moan was heard and Twilight regained consciousness.

“Phew… somepony get the number of that train,” Twilight muttered.

“Twilight! You’re alright!” Spike cried out, hugging his friend.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Twilight said with a smile, returning the hug. “What’d I miss?”

“Trust me, sugarcube, ah wish ah’d been out as well,” Applejack said, glancing back at Rarity for a moment.

“So what’d he drop?” Rainbow asked, looking over the fallen weapon and nudging it out of its scabbard, revealing it to be a well-crafted sword.

“Oh my goodness! That is quite a lovely weapon!” Rarity said, marveling at its shine and craft.

“Yeah, but who’s gonna lug it around?” Rainbow asked. “...Though it is pretty awesome to look at,” she said.

“If my memory’s right it’s the Sword of Majesties!” Twilight said. “But it’s been lost for ages, how did Chrysalis get ahold of it?” she wondered.

“Who cares? If nopony’s gonna use it I’m calling dibs!” Spike said, grabbing it up and giving the blade a swing. “Light as a feather, too! Can I keep it, pleeeease?” the dragon asked, giving his best puppy-dog look. “I mean c’mon I’m the only one who doesn’t have anything to fight with right now,” he pointed out.

“I guess you can hold onto it for now, Spike.” Twilight said with a shrug, prompting a huge grin from the young dragon. “Though I wouldn’t mind studying it later. I’m sure the Canterlot historians wouldn’t mind looking at it, as well.”

“My own sword! AWESOME!” Spike cheered, sliding the scabbard over his shoulder giving the sword a few more swings with it, nearly slicing off the last four inches of Twilight’s tail. “Whoa… sorry.” he said sheepishly, and the sword was promptly floated from his claws and placed back in the scabbard.

“Don’t use until I say otherwise,” Twilight said sternly, feeling this may have been a mistake and he’d be better off with a toy one.

~

“Figures… they’ve bested my lieutenant,” Chrysalis mused, slouching in her makeshift throne as she waited for the inevitable arrival of the five intruders. “When I find him he’ll regret the day he was hatched!”

At that moment, the doors swung open, and there stood Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike, with Rainbow hovering above them.

“Alright, Chrysalis! Let them go and you can leave this place alive!” Twilight said, but the changeling queen just laughed in response.

“You think because you bested that wayward lieutenant of mine that you stand a chance against me?” Chrysalis asked, magic crackling around her jagged horn. “Your princesses are my prisoners! Your brother and his adorable wife are far away and blissfully unaware of my actions, you’ve made a mistake coming here!”

Before any of them could answer, all five were engulfed in green magic aura and levitated off the ground, suspended high in the air.

Twilight struggled to teleport herself out, but was immediately zapped by magic from the changeling queen’s aura.

“Ah-ah-ah, now, Twilight! You’ll only make it worse on yourself… assuming that were even possible,” she said, sneering at the unicorn who had given her trouble before. “I’m going to enjoy feeding off every one of you slowly,” she explained as several changelings began to file into the room. “...And when I’ve fed off every last drop if love energy you five have, I’ll turn you over to Sombra as well. He can have Equestria, all I need is that magnificent love nest-egg that is the Crystal Empire! Claiming it will even be made all the sweeter given who I’ll be ‘inheriting’ it from… wouldn’t you agree?” she said with a smirk, approaching Twilight and mockingly stroking the unicorn’s chin.

“I… won’t… let you…” Twilight said, though feeling weaker by the second.

“What’s that? Sorry I couldn’t hear you.” Chrysalis taunted. “I was too busy imagining my kind being able to feed off the love it emits indefinitely.”

“You gonna actually deal with us or bore us to death with the monologuing again?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, since you asked so nicely…” the changeling queen replied, glancing at her drones. “Have them cocooned. We can make contact with Sombra’s annoying little emissary once they’re secured!”

“Yes, my queen!” a drone replied, saluting. The moment he did, however, he was blasted from behind by a missile, sending him flying into the opposite wall looking more then a little scorched.

Several more missiles flew through the doorway, blasting even more of the changelings.

“What in the world?!” Chrysalis shouted as metallic hoofsteps were heard, and standing in the smoke, eyes glowing red and a missile launcher sticking out of both sides of her barrel, was a furious-looking white unicorn robot with a well-styled purple mane and tail.

“Query. WHERE IS MY DARLING SISTER UNIT?!” Rari-T1000 demanded as angrily as her mechanical voice allowed.

“You have GOT to be kidding me!” Chrysalis protested indignantly. “I will show you what happens when you defy the queen of the change—” Before Chrysalis could finish, the changeling queen was blasted into the wall by a series of missiles. Falling to the ground smoking and looking noticeably worse-off, Chrysalis staggered as she tried to stand, only to get blasted again by more missiles.

“Chrysalis. Enemy. Recommended Course of Action: Continued use of aggressive force until silenced or Sister Unit is found,” the robot said, advancing on the queen.

“You’ll pay for that you walking pile of junk!” Chrysalis shouted, charging up a magic blast and firing it at the robot, sending it tumbling backward.

“Functionality. 80%. Use of Secret Yet Fashionable Emergency Artillery…. Affirmative,” Rari-T1000 said as it stood up, its chest opening and revealing a much larger missile that somehow fit inside of it, painted a lustrous and almost glittery purple color with added darker stripes to give it a more stylish appearance, and fired it. Chrysalis attempted to dodge it, but the missile homed in and slammed right into her chest, sending her flying through the ceiling and several more floors up. The changeling queen screamed the entire time as the missile took her further and further up into the heavens until all that could be seen from the newly-made skylight was a distant twinkle in the night sky.

“Well… that was… unexpected…” Rainbow said, looking over at the Rarity robot while the real Rarity just sighed.

“Exclamation! Sister Unit!” the robot suddenly said, approaching one cocoon and shooting it with a pair of lasers that fired from its eyes. “Error. You are not Sister Unit,” it said, staring down at Sweetie Belle, who looked dazed for a moment, her eyes a glassy green color before she sat up and shook her head a bit, her eyes returning to normal immediately after.

“Sweetie Belle! You’re alright!” Rarity shouted, rushing over to her sister and giving her a hug.

“Gotcha, Apple Bloom!” Applejack said, giving another cocoon a crisp buck and smashing it apart, and her little sister tumbled onto the floor.

“Scoots! I’m here!” Rainbow said, smashing apart another cocoon and freeing the pegasus filly within while Twilight blasted apart the remaining ones, freeing the princesses, Dr. Whooves, and several other captured ponies, including the Sweetie Belle robot they’d encountered before.

“Princess! Are you alright?” Twilight asked, worried for her mentor.

“Thank you… I’ll be alright, I think we may need some rest after this experience, though,” Celestia murmured softly.

“It is only a shame I could not handle that aberration myself…” Luna said bitterly, staring up at the hole in the roof.

“Exclamation! SISTER UNIT!” the Rari-T1000 shouted again, approaching the robot double of Rarity’s sister. “Query. You are fully operational?”

“Running diagnostic,” The Sweetie Bot said. “Functionality confirmed. Only power recharge required.”

“Relief mode engaged. Begin Loving Sister Nuzzle,”  Rari-T1000 replied, and the two robots gave one-another an affectionate, sisterly nuzzle, prompting a facehoof from Rarity and a look of confusion from Sweetie Belle.

“What in the world are—” Sweetie Belle wondered aloud.

“Don’t ask. Celestia’s sake, don’t ask!” Rarity replied.

“Well on the bright side I’d say everything turned out quite nicely! These five managed to free us after all!” Whooves said. “Which reminds me, your highnesses, perhaps it is of our best interests that we move our research to the Canterlot castle in case of any other attempts on us such as this!”

“Very well. I will have guards sent to recover whatever is needed…” Celestia replied. “Will there be anything else?”

“Ah, yes,” Whooves said, rubbing his chin. “It may be best we get in contact with the gizmonks as well. I may have use for them if my suspicions are correct!”

“As you wish, Doctor,” the Princess of the Sun said with a nod.

“And these three fillies as well will be of use, I trust?” the Doctor asked with a smirk.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders, inventors again! YAY!” the three fillies shouted with a cheer.

“That reminds me, do you three have that book about overcoming shyness?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, that Iron Will book Shy Away In A Day, right? We returned it just before we left fer that trip with Rarity an’ Pinkie Pie!” Apple Bloom said. “Should be back at the library!”

“I see,” Twilight replied. “Well, thanks for returning it, girls, we actually need it… don’t ask why, it’s a long story.”

“Wherever your journey’s taking you next, I suggest you hurry along,” Luna said. “Sombra’s power grows worse and I fear we are running out of time.”

“Don’t worry about us. We will work day and night to find the means of facing Sombra,” Celestia replied.

“As you wish, Princess,” Twilight said with a bow. “Spike? You stay with them, I want to make sure you’re safe.”

“Only if I can take this cool sword with me!” Spike said, gripping the blade's handle like his life depended on it.

“Fine, you can keep the sword,” Twilight said with an eyeroll. “…For now. We need to make a stop at Ponyville before we continue our trip to the Badlands.”

“It’d be a good chance ta check in on Fluttershy an’ Pinkie Pie as well,” Applejack said.

“Good point. And I could stand a real bath in the meantime,” Rarity added.

“Well, let’s get going then! I wanna get back into some action!” Rainbow said with a cocky smirk.

“You behave yourself, understand?” Rarity asked her little sister sternly.

“Error. I am not Organic Counterpart,” the Sweetie Bot replied.

“See….? …Anypony…. Could make that… mistake!” a barely conscious changeling muttered weakly from under some rubble before passing out.

“Ugh…” Twilight facehoofed. “Let’s just get going before this gets any crazier,” she said; Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow standing next to her and the four vanished, their next destination the town they hadn’t been to in what felt like so long…