Chapter 1
Twilight Sparkle burst through the twin doors of her castle, using whatever strength she had left to carry herself all the way to her bedroom. When she finally made it there, Twilight collapsed on the bed. She let out a long, exasperated sigh. She had been forced to spend the better part of the day fighting yet another monster trying to wreak havoc in Ponyville. It had been an excruciating fight, but a fight that had been won.
The beast had been sent to Tartarus, and the town had settled back into it’s normal mid-evening routine. Twilight lay on her bed, her thoughts revisiting all the other wild animals and whatnot she and her friends had fought and beaten over the years. There was knock on her door.
“Mm. Come in.” she said. It was Spike.
“Hey, Twi. Saw you fighting that thing out there and I thought I’d whip up some food when you got back.” Spike explained with a smile.
“Aw, thanks Spike. I could use something to eat right now” She replied. Twilight heaved herself off the bed and trotted downstairs, after Spike. He had indeed made her food that looked absolutely delicious. She sat down and started to eat.
“You know Twilight” Spike started. “You’ve been on edge quite a bit lately.” Twilight looked up from her plate.
“Have I?” She inquired.
“Yeah you have. I mean with all the responsibility you’ve undertaken when you became a Princess, you just seem a lot more… I don’t wanna say cranky perse, but you definitely seem more… edgy.”
“I see.” Twilight pondered this for a moment. “Well Spike, unfortunately it’s not like I can drop everything and go on vacation all of a sudden.”
“Actually, you can.”
“Huh?” Twilight was confused.
Spike smiled. “Well, because I am your number one assistant, I decided to take matters into my own hands and packed your bags. Because you’re goin’ on a vacation!” Spike said enthusiastically.
Twilight blinked. “But Spike, I haven't even agreed to go on a-” She was interrupted by Spike.
“Twilight, the way I see it, you’re going to drive yourself mad at this point. Besides, I’ve already cleared up everything with the other princesses. Plus, Shining Armor has agreed to look over Ponyville. All you’ve got to do is pick where you wanna go.” Spike beamed, clearly proud that he’d been able to take care of all that himself.
Twilight shook her head in disbelief. “You’ve certainly been busy.” Twilight sat back in her chair, still unbelieving in the fact that her unplanned vacation had come together so quickly.
“Just some of the perks of being able to send letters anywhere in Equestria!” Spike joked. “So, where do you want to go?”
“Hmmm.” Twilight pondered. “I haven’t seen my friends at Canterlot High in a while.”
“Then it’s settled!” Spike said “I’ll go get your bags.”
Twilight stopped him. “Spike, they’ll have everything I need over there.”
Spike’s ears drooped. “You mean I did all that packing for nothing?”
Twilight giggled “Sorry.”
“Aww.” Spike complained, kicking the crystal floor in frustration.
***
Twilight flipped the dusty switch and stepped back quickly. She listened to crackling of electricity and groaning of machinery as the portal sprung to life. It had taken some time to get the thing in working order again, but it would be worth the effort if she could get a break from the work of being co-ruler of Equestria. Spike had headed out to tell Twilight’s friends that she was leaving, all of them had since come by to see her off.
“Don’t be a stranger.” Rainbow Dash mused.
“Please be sure to take care of yourself darling.” Rarity said.
“Ya’ll have a good time, now.” Applejack followed.
“Be safe.” Fluttershy said.
“HAVE AN AWESOME SUPER DUPER LUPER HUPER FANTASTIC VACATION!!!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Twilight jumped back a little as Pinkie got in her face, but let out a small chuckle.
“Thank you everypony, I’ll be sure to have a good time.” Twilight replied.
Spike walked up to her side and said, while smiling. “Pleeeeaaaaassse tell me I can come you!” Twilight turned to him.
“Now Spike, we’ve discussed this.”
Spike groaned. “But Twilight, I never get to go to Canterlot High with you anymore.”
Twilight frowned at him. “Spike-”
Spike grunted at her and crossed his scaly arms. “Yeah, yeah, the whole multiple Spike-alternate dimension bit.”
Spike walked back to the larger group, still in a disappointed mood. Twilight looked back to her friends. “Well, I guess I’m off then.” She received hugs from each pony at different intensities. Several different “byes” were heard. Twilight looked to the swirling mass of the portal’s vortex held by the frame of the machine. She gave one final “goodbye” to her friends which was met by another round of goodbyes. She pushed herself inside the portal, leaving the world of Equestria behind her.
***
Twilight landed with a light “pomf” onto the ground. She still needed to get used to the ride between worlds. She regained her bearings and got herself to her feet, startled to find herself covered in sand. She then looked up, of course expecting to see the school. But she didn’t. “What the…” Twilight shakily whispered.
Her eyes became as wide as dinner plates when she realized she was right in the middle of a dessert. Dunes of sand were the only things that were visible. Twilight spun around only to see the Canterlot High statue half buried. Twilight backed up and ended up falling on her rump. She barely paid any mind to the fall, as she was still reeling from the shock of the change between what the human world looked like before and after she last left.
She was made entirely of questions, and confusion. She still had the same clothes she always had every time she went through the portal. Something had gone wrong while she was away, that much was certain. She needed to get back to Equestria, and figure out what the hay was going on. She stumbled to her feet and practically flew to the statue. She slammed her body up against the thing, desperate to get back to her own world.
However she found that the portal wouldn’t open to her. She pounded on the statue, again, and again, and again. Then she heaved her entire human body up against the statue. Twilight realized the portal wouldn’t open.
“Come on! There has to be some way to open this thing!” She was frustrated beyond comparison. After several minutes of pounding the statue, she realized that the portal wasn’t going to open.
Now she was scared, legitimately scared. Twilight turned to face the open desert. The reality of the dense heat suddenly hit her like a freight train. She went to wipe a few beads of sweat off her head.
She figured that standing around in the middle of this dessert wasn’t going to help anybody. Best try and find civilization.
“I need to move.” She said to herself.
She decided to start walking to her left. As she walked, she struggled to find a good foothold in the sand. This whole thing was almost surreal. Unreal. She just had to figure out what was going on. She had to find her Canterlot High friends. However she was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of a car engine.
Now she had heard car engines before, well before whatever happened here. But this engine sounded much, much more rugged. More worn. She spun on her heels, thanking Celestia that there was someone else out in this dessert.
However, her thankfulness turned to dread when she got a good look at the car. And the men riding it. From what her friends had told her, before the last time she left, this frightening vehicle was a “Volkswagen Beetle”. This car looked like it shouldn’t have been running at all. It was completely rusted. It had a number of spikes lined across its frame. The tires had jagged metal plates covering the tires.
The most horrifying aspect, however, were the men driving the car. They had milk white skin, wore only cargo pants, no t-shirt, and both wore goggles. The men, if they could be called that, had by now had taken notice of her and had started to drive their vehicle towards her. Every instinct in Twilight’s body told her to run her hardest and fastest.
So, that’s exactly what Twilight did. She turned away and ran. And ran, and ran. She could hear the car’s engine steadily getting louder, getting closer. She didn’t dare look back, she had to concentrate on moving her legs and nothing else. She had never run this hard before, and due to her untrained body, she was losing momentum. By this point, the car’s motor had dissipated all other thought.
This time she did look back, in time to see the rusted Volkswagen hit a dune. The car sailed over her head, she actually had to dive to avoid getting hit. Hitting the sand hard, she saw the vehicle land in front of her. It turned toward her as she got up.Twilight immediately knew she had been beat. There was no possible way to escape the car at this distance (15 feet). She decided to speak to the two men.
Hoping they spoke English, she timidly asked “Who are you?”
They just looked at her for a moment, as if processing the question. Then the man driving the Volkswagen cackled at the question. The man riding the in the back followed in the laughter, but was the first to speak.
“Who are we?” The man riding the back questioned, leaving Twilight to answer.
“Um… yes?”
The man then continued to answer. “We are Slash.” He said, pointing to himself. “and Jawsnapper!” pointing to the man driving the car.
It was the driver’s turn to speak. “We are the Warboys who serve Immortan Sombra!” Jawsnapper the driver finished the two warboys introduction.
“Did he just say Immortan Sombra?” Twilight asked asked herself in her mind, but quickly shook away the thought.
Jawsnapper asked Twilight. “Now the question is, who are you?” His voice obviously demanded an immediate answer.
Twilight complied, “Twilight Sparkle.” She replied. The two warboys talked about something amongst themselves. Twilight slowly started to back up and prepared to run again. But Slash, the backseat rider took notice of Twilight’s motions, and called out to her.
“STOP!!” he yelled. Twilight didn’t dare take another step. She waited for Slash’s next move on the sun baked sand. The warboy dropped from the back of the Volkswagen, feet first onto the sand.
“Just where do you think you’re going?” Slash questioned.
“Er… um…” Was all Twilight could mumble. The Warboy grinned.
“Why, if you leave now, you’ll miss out on the honor of being one of Immortan Discord’s prized breeders!” The warboy smiled. Twilight didn’t get a chance to answer, and froze in fear as the warboy got off the back of the car, and moved toward her. He grabbed her by the arm.
“You’re coming with us, now!” Twilight snapped out of her trance and was immediately even more terrified for her life than she had ever been before. She struggled to get away.
“No, NO!!” Twilight screamed. She continued to pull against Slash’s grasp but he was much too strong. She tried and failed to get away from the two warboys as she was dragged to the rusty Volkswagen.