Cameras zoomed in on a sea of pink clouds, tornadoes rising out of them and approaching a delicate array of platforms hanging above the clouds, various housing groups and resource collectors hanging from the platforms. Screams could be heard from within the housing sections as lightning flashed from the windstorms.
Dallas began his introduction. "Welcome, Dreadzone fans, to the planet of Bigspins, the City in the Clouds. This city gathers resources and energy from the constant cloud storms of the gas giant to build itself up, power its weather shields and anti-grav units to keep it afloat, and run its industry! However, the weather shields have tragically been disabled, the primary anti-gravity generator is malfunctioning, and the city and its inhabitants run the risk of being obliterated! Can Twilight Sparkle disable the jamming devices, reactivate the weather shields, and repair the anti-gravity generators without falling to her death in the acidic storms of the planet?"
"She'd best work quick," Juanita replied. "The Dreadzone armor can only handle the acidic content of the storms for so long before it fails, and then she'll be eaten from the inside out as she inhales the acidic vapors."
"And she'll have to balance the power until the power collectors are back online," Dallas pointed out. "If she puts too much power into any one system, the others will fail...but the power collectors can't draw the lightning unless shielded from the acidic winds."
"Thankfully's she's been given a Landstalker to work with for a time," Juanita continued. "She can customize it...but she isn't allowed to do so once she finishes ducking inside, and-"
"And she's already fully customized it to draw power from the storms to fly around the city, break the jammer units, and repair things from the remote position," Dallas pointed out. "I have no idea how she made it do all that, but after seeing that chain lightning barrage she used to obliterate all the attacking robots, I want one!"
The cameras zoomed in on a frozen wasteland, the only buildings large grey blocks erupting from the ice and snow, covered in bars and energy fields. The frigid winds howled as they blew across the wastes, cold hardened killer robots patrolling the streets.
"Welcome Dreadzone fans," Dallas chattered. "This is the frozen prison planet Hura Pentre. Patrolled by killer robots programmed to obliterate anything not themselves outside the cells, Twilight has her work cut out for her. Her battle bot companions are sealed up in cells somewhere on the planet, and Twilight will need to free them, fight through the killer robots, and make her way to the escape shuttle to return to Dreadzone."
"In addition to that, the weather itself is against her," Juanita added. "The Dreadzone armor is only so effective against the cold and wind, and her wings are especially sensitive. If she's not careful, she will freeze to death."
"However, heat oases are scattered around here and there," Dallas explained. "She can hide out there to recover from the cold...if she can deal with all the vicious wildlife that also congregates there to deal with the cold."
"You know, I'm a bit surprised she's functioning at all without her battle bots," Juanita commented. "As I understand it, she does not do well alone, and those bots are the only things keeping her from breaking down like she did back on Attica Seven."
"A rather interesting story behind that," Dallas explained. "See, we've all noticed from the out of battle footage that the Dreadzone Champion, Ace Hardlight, has developed something of a soft spot for the little filly...so he went to Vox when it was her turn to face this challenge without her bots. For this challenge only, Ace Hardlight is acting as Twilight's spotter, coaching and encouraging her as she faces the challenge to recover her bots so she won't feel all alone."
Juanita gasped in surprise. "I had no idea Ace Hardlight had...such a compassionate heart. I can only imagine what could have possibly happened in his past to have made him such a cool, collected, merciless Exterminator as he's been in the past of Dreadzone."
"No idea, Juanita. He won't let us talk about it. Perhaps a secret shame?"
"What part of 'not talking about it' do you not get, Dallas?" Juanita demanded, smacking Dallas upside the head as Twilight pursued the challenge.
"Is...is she snuggling a Frost Beast?" Dallas asked as the cameras zoomed in, showing Twilight cuddling with a creature that looked like a cross between a polar bear, a lion, and a gorilla, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth pulled into a goofy grin and two hands full of claws gently stroking Twilight's mane. The creature was also the size of the Dreadzone transport ships.
"That is just too precious," Junaita cooed.
"And now it's stuck her in its mane and is rampaging through the prison," Dallas replied. "It's the grue all over again, but on a larger scale."
"I guess she's just too cute for wild animals," Juanita allowed.
Back in the Battledome alongside Barb and Owloiscius, Twilight faced off against the Liberator Tournament. The first round was another Cycling Weapon challenge in the arena, which Twilight handled easily. The following round caused her armor and weapons to function faster and faster the more enemies she killed. Towards the end, she was having difficulty keeping up with her own tech, but she managed to clear the challenge.
She expected to face off against Ace Hardlight after that. In fact, she had been looking forward to it. However, instead, she was simply handed her new Liberator armor in black and gold and sent back to her containment suite.
Back in her suite, Twilight paced back and forth in confusion. "No Ace in the Liberator Tournament?" she asked in confusion. "No contact from him afterwards? Wha...what's going on? Why hasn't he...?" She shivered a bit, cuddling up to Barb.
Barb's communicator beeped. "...Twilight?" she said nervously. "You've...you've been called to Gleeman Vox's office...at your convenience..."