Looking at the hourglass on the stand, Joseph considered whether he wanted to call Draigo or not, if only to talk about what’s happened so far. “Should I, or shouldn’t I?” He asked himself. Looking over as he heard some footsteps, Joseph found Spike looking at him.
“Why are you talking to yourself?” Spike asked Joseph.
“Just wondering if Draigo could help with what’s been happening around here.” Joseph answered, walking up to the hourglass and picking it up.
“I say you should. The more help with finding our friends, the better.” Spike reasoned. Sighing, he began to pace for a fair bit before speaking aloud as he stopped. “G’day, Draigo. You up for helping me, mate?” Joseph asked.
A portal appeared before Joseph as Draigo stepped through in his armored form once again.
“What seems to be the trouble, Joseph?” Draigo asked in a concerned voice.
“Twilight, Pinkie and my potato friend went missing a couple of weeks ago. The Cakes over at Sugarcube Corner are working on some sort of giant cake to take to this contest of some kind in Canterlot that happens to be on around the same time as that wedding that’s meant to happen.” Joseph said with a sigh, rubbing his forehead in distress.
“Okay, any idea how they disappeared?” Draigo asked as he took off his helmet.
“According to Spike, Twilight tried to teleport somewhere with a black latex suit on, Pinkie rugby-tackled her and since Crikey, that’s the potato I mentioned, was in her magic at the time, all three of them teleported to who knows where. I’ve been trying to find them ever since.” Joseph answered as he began to pace up and down.
“Okay, so have you tried asking a unicorn to try to trace Twilight’s teleport or is that not a thing here?” Draigo tried to confirm what has already been tried.
“Sadly, no it’s not mate. I even asked Princess Celestia and she said that it’s not possible to trace another Unicorn’s teleportation magic.” Joseph said with a sigh looking at him.
“Has anything weirder than normal happened recently? I mean this is Ponyville, weird things happen here all the time.” Draigo commented as he looked at his stressed out friend.
“This is true. The only out of place thing I can think of, is that all the residents of Ponyville are robots.” Joseph said calmly. “Every single one of them are robots and I think they’re being controlled by something, or someone.”
“Well, that’s new. I have to ask this before we go too much further. If we get attacked, am I allowed to kill/destroy whoever or whatever it is or would you prefer non-lethal combat?” Draigo asked Joseph with his hand on his battle axe.
“Oh you can destroy them. They’re 100% robots. I don’t even know if the original ponies are even here anymore.” He said with a shrug, placing his hands inside the pockets of his blue hoodie.
“Good, that means I won’t have to hold back. Anyway, any clues or leads to go off of?” Draigo asked with a pleased smile on his face as he turned into his draconic form.
“From what I can tell, or remember, there aren’t any. The only thing I can think of is whoever is doing all this, makes them stronger and stronger. Even the turrets down in Aperture are getting stronger and stronger. If I destroy them one way, the thing in charge creates more, better robots that can resist what I did so I have to try and find a new way to defeat them every time. It’s really frustrating!” Joseph said as he stomped his foot on the ground.
“Well, it’s a good thing you summoned me then since my arsenal of abilities is massive. Now, have you tried capturing one? I know it’s a machine and controlled by something, but we might learn something about their building material at the very least.” Draigo told him as he looked out the window.
“I actually haven’t. Whatever I do, I end up destroying them in some way or another and every time my back is turned, the remains vanish.” Joseph explained, looking out the window as well.
“So, they strip the field of their defeated members. They are probably using those parts to make the new robots or they’re afraid that you’ll discover something by studying their remains,” Draigo speculated.
“That could be it but I only get the chance to see what they look like on the inside for a few seconds before something else grabs my attention.” Joseph agreed, walking towards the door. “Come on, those ponies aren’t going to find themselves.” Joseph said with a grin.
“Right behind you,” Draigo told him as he followed Joseph.
“Hi Draigo!” Spike waved happily at the dragon as he walked by.
“Hello, Spike. Been doing well?” Draigo asked as he passed by.
“I’ve been doing fine, and so has Ember! She’s actually helping out the Cakes the best she can while we try and locate our friends.” Spike said, following them.
“You ain’t forgetting me are you?” A British voice called out from the bottom of the stairs.
“Not this guy.” Joseph groaned.
“Who is this? I don’t remember a blue ball, thing,” Draigo said as he looked at the ball at the bottom of the stairs.
“How could I?” Joseph said through gritted teeth. “You don’t remember because he was staying with Luna. She sent him over to see if he could help. So far, the dipstick has just been incredibly annoying.” Joseph said, descending the stairs and picking the ball up by one of his handles.
“‘Ullo governor! Wheatley’s my name.” Wheatley introduced himself as he lazily spun.
“It’s nice to meet you, Wheatley. Now, tell me. Why did Luna send you if you’ve been absolutely idiotic since getting here?” Draigo asked in an intimidating voice as he showed off his fearsome teeth.
“Because he’s designed to be a moron.” Joseph said with a bored look, dropping Wheatley.
“I am not a moron! I keep telling you that!” Wheatley protested, swivelling to look up at Joseph, completely unfazed by Draigo’s intimidation.
“Really? Then why have you made zero progress? You didn’t even suggest trying to capture one of the robots, you moron,” Draigo said to the stupid ball.
“What did I just say. He’s a moron. I don’t think he has enough power cells to fuel his brain properly.” Joseph reiterated walking to the wall behind him and leaning his back on it.
“I keep telling you- mmmm. Every time we go out and a robotic pony attacks us, we didn’t think of speaking to them because we run for our lives.” Wheatley answered, doing his best to ignore being called a moron.
“Alright, let’s change that then,” Draigo said as he grabbed the ball with his tail and walked towards the front door. Joseph and Spike both followed him, curious on what he was going to do. Picking up his gun along the way, the three stepped outside.
“What’s the best way to get their attention?” Draigo asked as he looked around for a robot pony.
“Don’t bother trying to look. They look exactly like real ones, fur and all. It’s hard to tell apart so we just go about our day and hope they don’t attack us.” Joseph said with a shrug.
“They are made of metal, right?” Draigo asked as he spotted a nearby pony.
“Yeah but don’t go about hitting willy-nilly. I think very few of the population are still real. Don’t quote me on that though.” Joseph answered, looking at the same pony Draigo was.
In response Draigo tapped into his power and held out one claw. The pony he was looking at then floated into the air before careening to Draigo’s claw. “Here’s one.”
“How can you tell?” Spike asked, looking at the ‘pony’.
“I used electromagnetism to attract metal to me,” Draigo told Spike as he examined the ‘pony’ before him.
“Electro what?” Spike asked, scratching his head.
“Electromagnetism. It means magnets powered through electricity.” Joseph supplied.
“That’s very simplified, but you’re correct. Now, shall we try pumping this thing for info or just destroy it to study its materials?”
“Pumping it for info sounds like a good choice to me.” Joseph said, crossing his arms.
“Alright. Before we begin allow me to rid us of any outside influences,” Draigo said as the world around them froze in place, “There, now we can do whatever we want without fear.”
“Wow, Twilight was going on about time travel before they disappeared.” Spike said, looking around at the frozen world.
“This should be interesting.” Joseph said studying the pony intently.
“Yes, it should be. Care to start us off since you’ve been attacked by these things before?” Draigo asked with a raised eye ridge.
“Sure. Put Wheatley down though. He’ll complain if you don’t.” Joseph said and informed Draigo of what happened. “There are two things that are consistent when they attack. Glowing green eyes and they get stronger every time we fight them.”
“Okay, that seems like the thing controlling them, though,” Draigo said as he put Wheatley on the ground.
“Other than that, they don’t attack at all.” Joseph finished. “They just leave us be for most of the time.” He continued.
“Okay, so let’s see if it’ll answer some questions,” Draigo acknowledged as he turned his attention to the robot before him, “Who is controlling you?”
“The Queen.” The robot replied in a jittery voice.
“What is your objective, what is your goal?”
“Objective = Invasion, goal = Canterlot.” It replied automatically.
“This is going easier than I thought it would,” Draigo commented before continuing to question the robot, “Do you know where Twilight Sparkle is?”
“Question does not compute.” The robot replied.
“I was going to add that this was going too well but it appears we’ve hit a snag.” Joseph said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.
“Where are the captives being held?” Draigo tried changing how he worded the question to see if he got the same result.
“‘Captives’ does not compute.” The robot replied.
“Okay, where is the Queen?”
“Queen unknown. Only known name is The Queen. Location of The Queen unknown.” The robot replied, sitting down and looking at his interviewers.
“Argh, it’s like a text based adventure game. You have to word it just right for the correct response,” Draigo said as he pinched between his eyes.
“It’s like picking a needle in a haystack.” Joseph said, rubbing the sides of his temple. “We need to think of the right question if we’re doing this right.”
“The needle would be so much easier than this, though,” Draigo commented as he thought of another question.
“Queen = who?” Spike asked suddenly.
“Queen = mother.” The captured robot replied.
“I think you’re onto something there, Spike,” Draigo admitted, “ Invasion base = where?”
“Invasion base = Unknown” The robot replied.
“I think that getting information about where it comes from will be impossible. It keeps saying the same stuff over and over.” Joseph sighed.
“I agree, the same goes for who their queen is and Twilight’s location,” Draigo said with an exacerbated sigh.
“Hmmm. If we can’t ask about the Queen, where Twilight is or what this invasion is about, then maybe we should try something else.” Joseph suggested. “Where were you manufactured?”
“Aperture Science. Level Unknown. Date Unknown.” The robot replied.
“That worked but did it really have to be at Aperture?” Joseph said, and sat down, rubbing his eyes.
“Okay, I think that’s as much as we’re going to get out of him,” Draigo said as he loomed over the ‘pony’ below him, “Should we see what he’s made of?”
“Yeah, let’s.” Joseph answered, going over the answers in his head.
Draigo wasted no time and decapitated the robot with a swipe of his claws.
“TRACKING DEVICE ACTIVATED” the robot shot out before it completely died off.
“A tracking device? What’s a tracking device?” Spike asked.
“It’s something that allows them to locate this guy no matter where he is,” Draigo explained.
“If we’re frozen in time, then it won’t matter right?” Spike asked.
“It doesn’t but we have to come out of the time bubble some time.” Joseph answered, looking at the decapitated robot worriedly. “I don’t what he’s made of but it’ll be nice to have a look at it without that tracking device.” He added, walking up to the robot and examining its insides.
“Anything besides metal?” Draigo asked Joseph.
“There’s wires. Metal struts to keep the body in place. Hang on. I think I see … Aha!” Joseph shouted triumphantly as he reached his arm inside it and yanked out a green blinking thing. “I found the tracking device!” He said triumphantly and threw it to Draigo.
Draigo caught the tracking device in a claw and examined it, “Must have its own power source if it’s still working after you removed it.”
“It must have. Why do you think this ‘Queen’ put the blighters there in the first place?” Joseph asked, examining the robot to see if there was anything else of note.
“Well, the voice said that the tracking device activated after I destroyed it. So, it’s probably to tell her where her fallen are so she can come and rebuild them,” Draigo theorized as he levitated the tracking device and spun it around in the air.
“I get that. It’s just that every other time I destroyed them, they never said anything about a tracking device.” Joseph said, feeling a shiver go up his spine at the thought of this Queen already being there. “Could that have been because the Queen was already there?”
“It’s either that or they are linked somehow and don’t need to vocalize unless they’re isolated, like this one,” Draigo said as he scratched his chin.
“They’re linked somehow. Sounds like the Borg.” Joseph said with a frown.
“Who?” Spike asked, looking up at Joseph.
“They’re alien robotic creatures who have a hive mind and assimilate anything into their ‘Cubes’. Nothing to worry about. I can’t find anything else worthy of pulling out.” Joseph said dismissively, stretching up from his exploration.
“Well, should we see who shows up to clean this guy off the streets?” Draigo asked with a smirk on his face.
“That’s a good idea.” Wheatley piped up.
“May as well, seeing as I never get to see otherwise.” Joseph said with a shrug.
“Alright,” Draigo said as the world unfroze, “How long does it usually take for them to disappear?”
“No idea. I think about-” Joseph stopped talking as the robot disappeared in a flash of green magic. “That was a bit too quick.” He mumbled.
“We’re being watched if it was that quick,” Draigo commented, “Do you know the one place no one looks when they’re looking for someone?”
“Up?” Spike asked.
“Oh you gotta be kidding me.” Joseph groaned and immediately looked up to the rooftops.
“Up is the correct answer, Spike,” Draigo told the young dragon as he took to the skies in search of whatever was watching them.
Searching the skies by placing a hand on his forehead to block out the sun, Joseph narrowed his eyes as he thought he spotted something following Draigo. “Draigo! There’s some sort of black thing flying behind you!” Joseph called up to the dragon.
“Is there now,” Draigo muttered to himself as he refroze everything besides himself, “Now, let’s see what has the audacity to chase me.” Draigo flipped around and looked at the thing following him.
Paused in mid-flight, the black Alicorn was pointed in an upwards direction, clearly intending to fly away. It had transparent, green wings. A black and shiny metal casing which seemed to have the texture of chitin armor. On the head was a piece of jagged metal which was its own version of a horn.
“Well, well. A metal Alicorn,” Draigo said to himself as he got in the Alicorn’s flight path and stuck a claw out as if to grab it, “I wonder if it can suffocate.” He unfroze the world and grabbed the Alicorn by the throat as it flew into his outstretched claw.
The Alicorn gave a gasp as she suddenly found the dragon in front of her. She gagged a bit as its claw wrapped around her throat but other than that, no reaction at all to her throat being squeezed.
“Hello. Would you mind answering a few questions?” Draigo asked as he revealed his rows of teeth.
“Not at all,” she said as her eyes rotated a bit to get a better look at his teeth.
“Good. What’s your name? I really don’t like not knowing who an opponent is and it’ll be a pain to refer to you as the ‘Metal Alicorn’ all the time,” Draigo commented as he began to bring them both towards the ground.
“Just call me Queen.” Queen answered, not taking her eyes off the dragon.
“Well, that leads nicely to another question, Queen. What are you the queen of?” Draigo asked her curiously.
“I’m the queen of an interconnected hive of robots.” Queen replied.
“Ah, sorry. Let me rephrase that. What are your people called? Like, Celestia is the Princess of the Equestrians and I’m the so called ‘god’ of my dragons,” Draigo clarified for Queen.
“Didn’t I say? Robots. The robotic ponies that are actually around you to be precise. Of course, there are others but I just really like Ponyville.” Queen replied, her eyes roving at the town.
“Huh, okay. Are you the one who kidnapped Twilight Sparkle? The unicorn who lives in the library tree,” Draigo asked as they landed on the ground.
“Who?” Queen asked back, stepping back a bit.
“Oh, don’t play innocent with me. I know you’ve been watching that human over there,” Draigo said as he pointed at Joseph with his free claw, “Twilight is the purple unicorn who lives with him.”
“I have been watching the human, but that’s only because I wanted to find out why someone would reactivate Aperture.” Queen looked at the human and narrowed her eyes slightly while he did the same.
“Fine, next question. What became of the original ponies that were living here? I don’t care about their location, yet. I just want to know if they are alive, dead, or dying,” Draigo asked as he tightened his grip to ensure Queen wouldn’t get away.
“Gak!” Queen choked a bit. “They’re still alive. I have them hooked up to medical machines I took from the hospital when I abducted those ponies.” Queen continued, her eyes rotating wildly.
“Oh, so you can suffocate. Wonderful,” Draigo commented cheerfully, “Now, is it you or one of your robots that clears the destroyed robots?”
“It’s me.” Queen said simply and quickly.
“Do you plan to try to overthrow the current rulers or are you just going to replace them as you have everyone else?” Draigo asked as his voice turned serious once more.
“Sorry. Loved the chit-chat but I gotta run.” Queen said with a smile, the energies running through her body powering her horn as she flashed away and out of Draigo’s grip.
“Well, we got more answers, at least,” Draigo said lightly as he walked over to Joseph and Spike, “We’ve got to tell Celestia and Luna about what we know.”
“That would be a good idea but the three of you will help us get this cake to Canterlot.” Ember told them, walking up to them while helping the Cakes balance a triple-tiered cake on Big Mac’s back.
Draigo sighed and levitated the entire cake from the red stallion’s back, “Hello, Ember. Joseph, shoot a portal to Canterlot and we’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
“Hi.” Ember waved at him.
“Already on it.” Joseph said and pointing the gun towards the city on the side of the mountain, he took aim and fired. Turning to a wall, he fired another one but it appeared to be closed. A few seconds later, the portal opened up, revealing part of a street on the other side. “There we go.” He said with a smile.
“Where exactly are we taking the cake?” Draigo asked as he walked toward the portal.
“Oh, the garden at Canterlot Castle.” One of the Cakes supplied, unsure if they should run in fear of the dragon or not.
“Perfect, we really are killing two birds with one stone. Any of you coming along?” Draigo asked, turning his head around to look at the group behind him.
“I definitely am and I may as well bring Wheatley back to Luna.” Joseph said, picking up the ball.
“We’ll both come along as well. It would be nice to see a city other than Ponyville.” Ember said and held Spike’s hand.
“We will stay here. We need to take care of the bakery. Let us know how the cake went.” Mrs. Cake said and with Mr. Cake giving a nod, they both turned and headed back to the bakery. Big Mac didn’t say a thing and tiredly walked back to the farm, hoping to buck a few apple trees.
“Alright, do you two want a ride or are you good?” Draigo asked as he looked at the young couple.
“We’re good. I’ll just show Ember the sights around Canterlot and meet you at the castle later.” Spike said, leading Ember through the portal and into Canterlot.
“Sounds like a plan, Spike. Come on Joseph. We’ve got deliveries to make,” Draigo chuckled as he stepped through the portal with the cake in tow.
Joseph chuckled and stepped through, fizzling out the portals as he stepped into Canterlot. “It’s a lot louder than I’m used to.” Joseph commented, rubbing one of his ears.
“It is a city after all. It probably doesn’t help that there’s a big event happening fairly soon either,” Draigo commented as he began to walk towards the royal gardens. The ponies that noticed him either froze in place or took shelter inside of a building.
“That is true.” Joseph stated, following Draigo as he rubbed at his ear. “Never really been to Canterlot after I brought Luna back from the moon.” Joseph mumbled, looking around.
“What do you think of it so far?” Draigo asked as he smirked at the ponies’ reactions to just seeing him, “The ponies here are definitely more skittish than the ones in Ponyville.”
“At least they actually show emotion. The ones back in Ponyville, the majority anyway, try to show it but it looks … fake.” Joseph said. “What do I think of the city, or the ponies?”
“Both,” Draigo told him as they rounded a corner and saw the castle at the end of the street.
“Well. The city is loud and a lot busier. The ponies so far seem more obnoxious, snooty and scared.” Joseph replied, swinging Wheatley lazily. “You haven’t talked much, mate.”
“Mate, I’m just glad I’m going back to Luna. I just didn’t want to ruin the peace.” Wheatley replied.
“Well, you’ll be back with her soon, Wheatley,” Draigo commented as the castle loomed over them.
“This is the castle? I’ve never seen the outside of it.” Joseph commented, looking up at the dizzying heights of the towers.
“Yep, it looks better from a distance, in my opinion. Now, let’s ask the guards for directions. I can’t just assume that your castle’s layout is the same as mine,” Draigo admitted.
“Right. Excuse me, mate. Where’s the royal gardens?” Joseph asked a patrolling guard.
“All the way around the back. Just go through here and follow the path.” The guard said. If he was scared of a dragon and a human, he didn’t show it.
“Right, thanks.” Joseph said and walked towards the path the guard indicated. “Should be this way.” He called out to Draigo.
“Right behind you,” Draigo replied as he followed Joseph to the gardens.
“Does it look different so far?” Joseph asked him, walking towards the back end of the castle.
“Not really, so far so similar,” Draigo admitted as he checked on the cake floating behind him.
“The cake looks like it’s holding up well.” Joseph commented, looking back at the cake.
“Matter manipulation kinda makes it easy like that,” Draigo confessed as they entered the gardens.
Looking at the gardens, Joseph found that there were various statues dotted around the place and in the big empty space in the centre, lots of tables had been erected with ponies milling about. The other cakes for the contest were on various tables on the outside of the group in the middle. “This doesn’t seem so bad.”
“Nope, not bad at all,” Draigo said as he looked around, “Where the heck do I put this, though?”
“Ah, the final cake. Bring it over here.” One of the judges called out, pointing to an empty spot for the cake to go to.
“Got it,” Draigo said as he levitated the giant cake into the spot that was indicated.
“Now we tell the Princesses what we know. That shouldn’t be too hard.” Joseph said with a wince.
“Thanks for the entry. We’ll judge all the cakes later on today.” The judge announced to the ponies assembled.
“We might not have to go anywhere to find Princess Celestia, Joseph,” Draigo told him as he looked at the other cakes.
“Why?” Joseph asked, looking around. He spotted both Celestia and Luna chatting with each other as they walked into the gardens from the castle. “Oh. That’s why.”
“Well, let’s get your torture over with,” Draigo chuckled as he walked over to the pair of Alicorns.
“I’d rather not.” Joseph said with an uneasy grin as he resigned to following Draigo.
“Oh, hello. We have not seen any dragons around here in a long time.” Celestia said softly as she greeted Draigo.
“Hello, Celestia, Luna. How’s your day going so far?” Draigo greeted the two sisters.
“A bit boring so far.” Celestia admitted.
“How doth thou know our names?” Luna asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“Well, Celestia, perhaps this will make your day a little less boring,” Draigo said as he turned his attention to Luna, “I know thy name for I hath known thee for a long time.”
“And what would that be?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Thou hath known us for a long time?” Luna echoed, still acting suspicious.
“G’Day Princesses.” Joseph said, waving to the both of them with an uneasy smile.
“Well, for one, your local human is here,” Draigo said as he gestured to Joseph, “For another, we’ve come to tell you that something very important. Could we speak in a more private setting?”
“Of course.” Celestia said and gestured to a more secluded section of the garden. “Will over there do?”
“I see thou hath brought the ball back.” Luna commented, noticing Wheatley in Joseph’s hand.
“Yeah, he got too annoying so I figured you could have him back.” Joseph replied, throwing Wheatley to Luna who caught him with her magic.
“Yes, over there will do nicely,” Draigo agreed, “Oh, before I forget. To answer your question, Luna. I’m not from this world and have known my version of both of you since before you were princesses.”
“You are not of this world?” Luna asked, leading the group over to the spot that her sister had suggested.
“That may be one of the reasons I haven’t seen a full-grown dragon in a while.” Celestia said calmly.
“Well, I’ve got nothing to do with the dragons of your world, but if you’d like to see a full-grown dragon then I’d be more than happy to show you one. All I need is an area about the size of a hoofball field,” Draigo told her with a smile, “That can wait for a little while, though. Canterlot is going to be invaded by robots. I believe there are some here already.”
“There definitely are. I saw a few ponies act not as scared as others when you walked by and this lot aren’t looking for cover.” Joseph affirmed what Draigo said, looking carefully at the gathered ponies.
“There’s an invasion and it’s already starting?” Celestia asked seriously, whatever kind of joy in her face there was, left at the mention of there being an invasion.
“Unfortunately, yes. They are led by a metal Alicorn that goes by ‘Queen’. The robots have a hive mind and will get stronger if we don’t defeat them all in one fell swoop.” Draigo told the princesses.
“How are we going to do that? Do you know where these robots are being manufactured?” Celestia asked quickly.
“We know where, we just don’t know the specific where in that location. The robots are all being manufactured in Aperture but that place is so huge, it will take ages just to find the assembly room for the robots.” Joseph supplied.
“If they do attack, I can destroy them all, if that is what you wish,” Draigo told Celestia in hopes of raising her spirits a bit.
“That would be nice.” Celestia commented.
“There is some further bad news. We still haven’t found Twilight or Pinkie.” Joseph interjected.
“You haven’t?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow at the human and shifting her stance a bit.
“No, I haven’t. After Draigo suggested talking to them, we did and they wouldn’t tell us Twilight’s location.” Joseph answered further, gulping a bit.
“I think Queen is holding them somewhere. Is there someplace in Canterlot that’s been abandoned for a very long time or a place where there shouldn’t be anyone?” Draigo asked as his claws began to glow.
“There is the crystal mines beneath the castle but those mines have been abandoned for centuries and were sealed off long ago. I don’t recall seeing anything or anypony make their home there.” Celestia said immediately, eyeing Draigo’s glowing claws.
“What art thou doing?” Luna asked, seeing the glow as well.
“I’m going to use my Aether manipulation to see if there’s any life in those caves you mentioned,” Draigo said as his claws glowed brighter. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the life force he felt from each of the beings nearby. He slowly extended his magic out until it encompassed the entire city, above and below ground, “There’s two sources of life force directly below us. Is that where the caves are?”
“Yes. Could that be them?” Celestia asked with wide eyes, nodding her head. “That was an impressive feat of magic.” Celestia added.
“I’m just getting started,” Draigo said as he began to lower into the ground, “I’ll be right back after I see who’s down there.” He continued to lower himself down until all they could see was darkness.
Celestia, Luna and Joseph looked down at the hole that seemed to swallow Draigo up.
“I’ve never seen him do that before.” Joseph muttered, crouching down near the edge.
“Earth manipulation.” Celestia commented, recognising the power as one she’s seen a few other dragons use before.
“Twilight, teleporting is no use. You’ve been at this for days!” Pinkie told her friend as she teleported, slamming into a crystal wall for the umpteenth time.
“I don’t care! We’ve been at this for days, trying to get out of here!” Twilight argued, running back towards Pinkie. “I don’t see you doing anything about it!” Twilight shouted at Pinkie.
“Because there’s nothing to do! There’s absolutely no way out of here!” Pinkie shouted back.
“Did someone say there’s ‘absolutely no way out’? Cause you’re wrong,” Draigo said as he appeared from the top of the cave.
Looking up at the voice, Twilight smiled brightly, while Pinkie backed up a bit at the sudden intrusion.
“Draigo!” Twilight called out in delight. “What are you doing here?” she asked, backing up to make room for him.
“I could ask the same of you, Twilight,” Draigo said with a smile as he landed next to her, “Joseph was really worried about you two and decided to summon me to help out. Are there any guards that I have to worry about?”
“Not that we know of. Far as I can tell, it’s just us three here. It’s so great that you’re here!” Twilight answered, her smile widening.
“Hi, Mr. Dragon. I’m Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie introduced herself after having gotten over the initial shock of having a dragon descend from the ceiling of a cave.
“Hello, Pinkie. I’m Draigo, a friend of Joseph’s,” Draigo introduced himself, “Now, who’s ready for some fresh air?” Draigo laid down on the cave floor and waited for their obvious response.
“Fresh air? Yes please!” Twilight whooped.
“Joseph knows a dragon!? Why didn’t he say anything to me!?” Pinkie gasped. “Oh, and some fresh air would be nice too.”
“Well, you can ask him yourself when we get out of here, Pinkie. Now, hop on my back and hold on,” Draigo told them as he gestured to his back.
Pinkie shrugged at the answer and immediately jumped on, wrapping her hooves around one of his spines. Twilight laughed and hopped on, wrapping her hooves around another spine.
Draigo made the earth beneath them rise up and they were soon engulfed in darkness. He solved this by imbuing his body with light so that he produced enough to properly see with.
“How you two doing back there?” Draigo asked as he looked up through the hole he’d made earlier.
“I’m doing fine. Twilight though, looks like she’s about to have a heart attack.” Pinkie said, looking behind her to check on Twilight. Twilight had a frightened look on her face even though there was enough light to see by.
“It’ll be okay. It’ll be okay. You just have to endure for a few more moments.” Twilight mumbled to herself in an effort to keep her heart rate down.
“Twilight, would I ever let something bad happen to you while I’m around?” Draigo asked her as he turned his head to look at her.
“No, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still feel fear.” Twilight told him, focussing her gaze on the spine she was holding.
“What are you afraid of? The dark? Moving through the earth on a dragon’s back? Talking about it will help,” Draigo said as he increased their speed a little bit.
“None of those. More like enclosed spaces.” Twilight answered his question as she screwed her eyes shut.
“Ah, claustrophobia. Okay, let’s kick it into high gear then,” Draigo told them as they began to shoot up fast enough that their manes blew in the breeze.
Joseph, Celestia and Luna walked back from the edge as they saw a bright light move increasingly faster towards the top of the hole. “I think that’s Draigo.” Joseph commented.
Twilight screamed a bit as she felt him move faster while Pinkie laughed at the rush of speed that Draigo poured on.
“We’re almost there, Twilight. Just hang on and let me handle everything,” Draigo said as he saw the edge of the hole above them.
“That’s just great.” Twilight muttered, cracking an eye open as she looked up at the light.
“Oh, learn to live a little Twilight. Try to find the joy in the moment,” Draigo told her as sunlight began to touch their faces.
“If I did, then I wouldn’t be safe.” Twilight protested as she slightly relaxed her grip on the spine.
“But that’s the whole point of living Twilight!” Pinkie said. “You have to learn to live a little and let go!”
“Yeah, well, I don’t want to do that.” Twilight argued, giving Pinkie a pointed glare.
“You’re going to have to sometime, young one,” Draigo said right before they shot out of the hole and up into the air.
“AAAH!” Twilight screamed as she suddenly let go of the spine and almost immediately began falling back to the ground. Feeling herself slow down, Twilight opened her eyes and looked to see a golden aura surrounding her.
“There goes Twilight.” Pinkie muttered.
“I told you that you had to let go sometime, Twilight,” Draigo said as he glided to the ground, “Thank you, Celestia. I would have caught her myself, but I’m pretty sure she appreciates you catching her more than me.”
Twilight gave Celestia a sheepish smile as she was set down. “Thank you, Princess.” She said a little shakily.
“You were down in the crystal mines the entire time, sheilas?” Joseph asked, scratching his head with his gun.
“Yeah, I don’t even know how I got there.” Twilight answered, looking towards Joseph.
“Probably something Queen did,” Draigo commented as he examined both Twilight and Pinkie for any injuries.
“Who’s Queen?” Pinkie asked, giggling as Draigo examined them.
“I see you’re wearing the suit Other Twilight was wearing.” Joseph commented to Twilight before turning to Pinkie. “Queen is a robot Alicorn that turned almost all the citizens of Ponyville into robots and she has been using those robots against me to see how I would react. By beating them, she has made them stronger and stronger, forcing me to change my tactics every time. The last time I fought them, I had to use the Speed Gel so now I don’t even know how I’ll beat them if they attack again.” Joseph explained and saw their shocked expressions. “That’s who Queen is, Pinkie. Glad you’re both back, though!” Joseph ended with a smile.
“Beating them will be my job,” Draigo said confidently, “There’s too many ways for me to beat them and there’s some ways that they can’t build a resistance to.”
“You’d be surprised at the many things Aperture created before they went under. They were first a shower curtain company and then headed into more scientific applications for the military.” Celestia said, frowning at the prospect of having to fight a virtually unbeatable army.
“My dear Celestia. You’d be surprised at the many things I can do,” Draigo said as he smiled at the solar princess, “Their main strength is also their main weakness when they are facing me.”
“So the very fact that they can resist practically anything is their weakness? How would that work?” Twilight asked, sitting down on the grass.
“Well, that’s not exactly what I had in mind. The main strength I was thinking of is that they are made of metal. So long as they are made of metal, I can beat them while only using one power,” Draigo explained to the lavender unicorn.
“So you’re going to melt them?” Twilight asked, trying to confirm the power she was thinking of.
“Thou saw that flash, or was it just me?” Luna asked, pointing with a wing to the entrance of the hedge maze.
“Was it a green flash?” Draigo asked as he tensed up for an expected confrontation, “If it was green then it could be Queen.”
“There was most certainly a green flash. Nothing is there anymore though.” Luna affirmed the colour.
“She overheard us and now she’s going to see if she can replace the bodies of the next wave.” Joseph said with a groan as he sat down heavily.
“Well, that changes the game plan a bit. Not by much, though,” Draigo told them as he went through his abilities in his head.
“I’ll tell the Captain of the Guard to get the soldiers prepared. We can’t have an invasion while our niece gets ready for her wedding after all.” Celestia said with a grimace and trotted towards the castle to alert the guards.
“That won’t do a thing, Celestia. They’ll look just like normal ponies,” Draigo called out to her.
Celestia stopped her trotting with a sigh and turned back around.
“You’re right. So how do we stop something that’s already started?” Celestia asked. A white flash appeared above Joseph’s head, dropping an item onto it and bouncing off.
“Ouch. What was that?” Joseph asked as he rubbed his head and looked down at the rock. “It’s a rock. With a piece of white cloth tied up to it.” He said dumbly, crouching and picking it up.
“Ah, that’s Crystal’s token. She’s a mage that wields dragon-slayer magic,” Draigo told Joseph as he remembered his own adventure with Crystal.
“Dragon Slayer magic?” Joseph asked in surprise as a message played out in his head. “You sure it’s a girl? The message has a male’s voice to it.”
“I summoned her myself quite a while back,” Draigo told the skeptic.
“Can’t argue with that then.” Joseph said with a shrug and unwrapped the scarf from around the rock. Wrapping it around his own neck, a pillar of flames appeared near the group. Out of the flames, they heard some shouting as the voices got closer.
“Coming through!” A female voice shouted as she flew out and headbutted into the castle wall, making a rather large crack appear. The flames disappeared as the female got up off the ground and held her head.
“Now that’s a wake-up call.” Crystal said as she shook her head to get rid of a buzzed feeling and turned around, her eyes widening as she saw the group gathered. “Hi, I’m Crystal. Which one summoned me? The dragon or the blue hoodie?” She asked, walking up to them.
“It’s good to see you again, Crystal. The one who summoned you is him,” Draigo said as he pointed at Joseph.
“The blue hoodie. Hi. Nice to see you as well, Draigo.” Crystal said, greeting the group and walking up to Joseph.
“G’Day, sheila. I’m Joseph.” Joseph greeted her, still having a slightly shocked look at her breaking the castle wall. “This must be yours,” He said and handed her the scarf, which she wrapped around her neck.
“An Aussie. This’ll be fun,” she said with a smile.
“If by ‘fun’ you mean getting to fight robotic ponies that look like real ponies that are trying to invade Canterlot then yes it will be,” Draigo said as he repaired the damage to the castle wall.
“You headbutted the castle wall and you’re talking normally. You should be dead.” Twilight said as her shocked gaze turned to Crystal.
“My parents always said I had a thick skull,” Crystal answered, tapping her skull to prove her point. “Oh, Draigo, I never got my clothes back when I left your world.” Crystal continued, turning on the spot to Draigo.
“I’ve got them in my room back at the castle, in my world,” Draigo told her.
“Phew. At least they’re safe.” Crystal sighed in relief.
“You are not worried by robotic ponies. Why not?” Celestia asked her.
“Because I can just burn them until they melt. Simple.” Crystal answered with a shrug.
“That’ll only work on them for a little while. After that they’ll be resistant to your flames I’m afraid,” Draigo said with a shrug of his wings.
“Well then I’ll just-” Crystal was interrupted by a hand being placed over her mouth, effectively shutting her up.
“Don’t say what you’re going to do. That’s how she’ll upgrade the robots without loosing them on us.” Joseph growled. Crystal moved his hand away from her mouth so she could speak.
“Is that how whoever this she is found out about the flames?” She asked, looking at him worriedly.
“Yes. So don’t say how you’re going to combat them. Just attack with everything you got and just pray it will work.” Joseph answered in a hushed whisper.
“Fortunately, there’s only one of them that sends them back to get fixed, Queen. If we keep her busy then we shouldn’t have any problems,” Draigo explained to the group.
“How will We keep that charlatan busy?” Luna asked.
“By feeding her false information?” Joseph suggested.
“How about, oh I don’t know, fighting her?” Draigo said as he gestured with one claw, “That’s the only sure fired way of keeping her busy since we don’t know where in Aperture she’s making her robots and it’d take too much time to find it. Even if we sent a team into Aperture, I’m sure that she’s got traps and other obstacles already in place so she can concentrate on clearing her defeated troops,”
“That could work.” Crystal said, plucking at the hem of her orange top.
“I’ve already disarmed about five of her traps without knowing it but I doubt I’ll be able to clear them all by the time Queen has finished working on the next batch of robots.” Joseph said, scratching his head as he threw the rock towards Twilight, who caught it in her magic.
“Disarming traps is all well and good, but we need to interrogate them to find out the location.” Twilight suggested, studying the rock.
“Already did that, the robots don’t know the location of either the original ponies or their manufacturing plant,” Draigo responded to Twilight’s suggestion.
“Hey guys, have those ponies reacted at all to Crystal appearing or to that crack in the wall Draigo fixed up?” Pinkie asked, pointing to the happily chatting ponies near the cake contest.
“I don’t think so, sheila.” Joseph muttered, getting up and walking to the crowd.
“Not sure if that’s such a good idea.” Crystal called out to him.
“I’m just checking it out.” Joseph called back and tapped one of the ponies on the shoulder. It didn’t react, just kept chatting with its neighbour.
“Allow me,” Draigo said as he once more directed his power at each of the ponies. They came flying over and were promptly crushed into one giant ball, “Crap, they’ve heard everything we’ve said and that means Queen knows as well.”
“Let’s assume that everypony has been replaced. We could go into the castle and warn Cadence and Shining at least?” Twilight suggested, staring at the ball of metal.
“It’s already started. Queen most likely knows what we’re up to.” Joseph said with a grimace.
“Twilight, while warning them is all well and good, what would that accomplish? We’re dealing with robots that look like real ponies and they could be anyone. The two of them would just end up panicking since they couldn’t even trust each other,” Draigo explained to the concerned mare.
“Okay, you’re right. That means we won’t be able to trust our friends either. The only people-slash-ponies we can trust are in this group.” Twilight said with a sigh. “Wait. Pinkie and I were down in the caverns for how long?” Twilight asked.
“A couple of weeks, give or take a few days.” Joseph shrugged. “What are you getting at?”
“If we were down in the caverns, then could Queen have been making robotic copies of us two during those two weeks?” Twilight asked with wide eyes.
“There’s a possibility that she did,” Draigo admitted, looking at Twilight and Pinkie.
“Try picking us up with whatever you used to pick up those ponies there!” Pinkie suggested. “It’s the only way to tell if we’re actually real and they didn’t move us to some other place.” Pinkie added.
Draigo complied with Pinkie’s suggestion and directed his electromagnetic manipulation at Twilight and Pinkie. The two mares remained where they stood, “You two are real ponies, Pinkie.”
“Yay! I’m real!” Pinkie said with glee.
“Never doubted you were. But if this ‘Queen’ was making copies of you, she could have inserted them into Ponyville already.” Crystal said.
“Nah, we would have noticed immediately. There’s just something eerie about them.” Joseph said and began to pace back and forth.
“You know what? We’re wasting time. So, let’s stop it for awhile,” Draigo said as the world around them froze in place.
Crystal walked up to a bird that was in mid-flight and touched some of the feathers on the wings. “Why has time stopped?”
“I think that’s the joke.” Pinkie said, digging around in her mane for something.
“Time stopped because I wanted it to. Also because now we can talk about our plans without Queen eavesdropping on us,” Draigo told Crystal as he watched Pinkie dig around in her mane, “Got an itch you can’t reach, Pinkie?”
“No …” Pinkie said slowly and pulled a potato battery out of it.
“Crikey!” Joseph shouted, running up to Pinkie and grabbing the potato.
“I know, it’s surprising.” Crystal retorted, watching him grab the yam.
“No, Crikey is his name. I can understand the confusion, though.” Joseph said, piercing the potato with one of the prongs on his gun. “After not getting any solar energy for a couple of weeks, he’s going to stay on here until he charges up.” Joseph said with a happy smile.
“You named a potato battery?” Crystal asked in disbelief, walking back from stroking the feathers on the bird.
“No, he named himself.” Joseph answered.
“Alright, Joseph has gone crazy, folks,” Draigo quipped.
“I have not gone troppo, mate.” Joseph protested. “Just wait a couple of hours and he’ll speak for himself.” He added.
“I agree with Draigo.” Crystal said with a weird look on her face.
“He really does speak.” Twilight, Pinkie and the Princesses agreed with Joseph at the same time.
“He’s really obnoxious too.” Twilight added.
“Okay, assuming this isn’t some big prank and Joseph isn’t crazy then why didn’t the potato talk the last time I came here?” Draigo asked, “Also, the spud won’t get any solar energy until I unfreeze time since everything is frozen besides us.”
“He was conserving battery power after seeing how amazing and awesome you were.” Joseph answered. “Oh yeah. The sun’s frozen too. Now you all think I actually am crazy.” Joseph said with a sigh.
“Now that Joseph has been reunited with his … spud. How are we going to fight Queen? If she fixes them up as well as sends them away to get fixed, we can only assume she’ll have the same upgrades as her army.” Crystal theorised, sitting down near Draigo
“While that may be true, she can’t counter everything. There’s no way she can while keeping her soldiers the same size as regular ponies. Besides, she will never be able to counter some of my abilities, like space/time manipulation,” Draigo told her as he placed a claw on her head.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Remember how she was caught in that time bubble you used earlier?” Joseph asked, sitting down and playing with some grass.
“If I remember correctly, Aperture dabbled in some time/space mechanics but they never really got far. One of the head scientists even proposed to me that there was a multiverse out there that we could use to our advantage and that there were whole universes in different points in time. I shot it down, of course, because time travel was always dangerous and very unpredictable. I’m not sure how far they got if they continued in secret though.” Celestia told the increasingly worried group as she laid down on her belly.
“Okay, so they dabbled with space/time. They are still made of matter and if I really need to I’ll break them down at the atomic level. Hopefully I won’t have to though since that can be a tad bit dangerous for anyone near them,” Draigo said as he got a bit more desperate to find a power that could be used on the robots without being countered.
“Our situation is getting even more dire every time we think out different possibilities.” Joseph said, rubbing the sides of his temples.
“You’ve been quiet, Twilight. Something on your mind?” Crystal asked, leaning into Draigo’s claw.
“Yeah. What we’re saying about time. About a month ago, we got a message from the future. Well, from a future me. Joseph, Pinkie, Spike and Ember kept stopping me from going to the Archives where this time spell supposedly is. Well, when I tried to go there while Joseph was sleeping, I got a voice in my head telling me to bring Crikey, along with me wearing this if I teleported to the Archives. The only unforeseen thing was Pinkie tackling me and sending my trajectory into what I now know is the Crystal Mines. I’m just wondering if I should use that time spell the other me used to send a message to my past self.” Twilight explained, gazing at the rock intently as she did.
“So, you want to travel back in time. Stop and think for a second. Did you listen to your future self when she showed up to warn you?” Draigo asked Twilight and then followed her gaze to the rock she was staring at, “You’ve been staring at that rock pretty intently. Penny for your thoughts?”
“No. I kept asking questions and interrupting her.” Twilight said, tearing her gaze from the rock and to Draigo. “I’ve been staring at this because Pinkie forced me to appreciate just what a rock was.” Twilight said simply.
“I asked if she came from an epic future war. She said yes and said she didn’t have time to explain because Twilight kept interrupting. I’m starting to think this ‘war’ is the one with the robots.” Joseph said, as he dragged his fingers down his face as he thought back.
“Well, how about we change the past then?” Draigo said as a crazy grin split his face.
“Thou art crazy! Thou cannot change thy past!” Luna said in shock, looking at Draigo’s grin.
“My sister is right. If you change the past, you change the present.” Celestia agreed.
“Changing the past sounds great! What you planning to do?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m going to go back to Twilight’s library at the moment her ‘future self’ disappears and explain the situation. She’ll have to listen because she won’t be able to talk!” Draigo explained his plan to the group, “It’s brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I tell you. Fiendish, I say.”
“And how are you going to get to stop Past Twilight from talking? If she’s anything like mine, then she’ll just keep asking questions.” Crystal asked, lighting her hand on fire and watching it dance on her fingertips.
“Easy,” Draigo said before he directed a little of his power at Twilight, “Twilight, what’s the one question you’d like the answer to the most?”
“That’s-” Twilight tried to speak but found that her voice couldn’t make a sound. Trying a few more words, she found that Draigo had completely silenced her.
“Sorry, Twilight,” Draigo apologized and released her from his power, “That is how, my little dragon-slayer.”
“That’s cool.” Crystal said.
“So that’s taken care of. You going to put Past Twilight in a bubble like this as well?” Joseph asked.
“Hmm, not a bad idea,” Draigo admitted as he tapped his chin.
“What are you going to exactly tell my student’s past self?” Celestia asked, sighing as she realised there was no stopping the dragon.
“I’ll tell her that her future self sent me to explain since she was rudely interrupted by her past self. That she should investigate the ponies in town that aren’t their usual selves and that she should beat Shining Armor for forgetting to tell her that he was getting married before the wedding invitations were sent out,” Draigo said with a huge grin on his face, “She should be able to figure out everything else we already know if I point her in the right direction.”
“That’s all well and good but you do realise Twilight will still have to travel back in time so that you can appear after she leaves.” Joseph said, scratching his head.
“Well, that’s true,” Draigo said as his tail tapped on the ground, “We should probably keep the mortals as safe as possible. So, Twilight doesn’t get to travel in time.”
“I don’t? How does that work?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Draigo probably wants to keep you safe.” Crystal answered, lying down and playing with a few crystals of her own making.
“I suppose that makes sense.” Twilight said, looking at how the dragon slayer manipulated the crystals.
“To be fair, I tried to stop her because time travel is just too wacky to be used willy-nilly.” Joseph interjected.
“That’s true. Just look what it did to The Doctor’s mentality,” Draigo agreed, “Where did that come from?” Draigo wondered out loud.
“Yeah, he kept switching personalities and how he looked every so often. It would drive anyone mad. You were probably remembering something from before you got Displaced.” Joseph said with a shrug, standing up and stretching. “I want to try something. Can you come here for a second Crystal?” Joseph asked, beckoning Crystal to follow him.
Crystal got up from where she laid down and followed Joseph to a spot a bit further away from the group. “What’s up?” She asked.
“I’m going to fire blue gel from my gun. What I want to know is if it can catch fire. I figured you could supply the fire, sheila.” Joseph explained, getting his gun ready.
“Sounds good to me but what’s it for?” She asked, getting a fistful of flames ready.
“I’ll tell you and the others at the same time if this works.” Joseph said and fired a patch of blue gel onto the ground. Throwing her arm forward, Crystal shot some flames onto the gel and was surprised when it actually caught fire.
“Okay, should I go ahead and visit Past Twilight or do you have something else, Joseph?” Draigo asked as he noticed the pair come back to the group.
“I figured, since my blue gel won’t make them bounce around anymore and since Queen is most likely upgrading her army to be fireproof, we combine the two. Fire and gel. It most likely won’t work but at least we know that it can catch fire.” Joseph explained once they had successfully put the fire out without bouncing high into the air.
“Okay, it’s good to be prepared. Now, I’ll see you later,” Draigo said as he stood up and vanished with a wink of light.