ENCOUNTER ON THE BRIDGE

RAINBOW DASH WAS GETTING IMPATIENT. INUYASHA KNEW HOW SHE WAS feeling. Couldn't this contraption – this train, they had called it – go any faster? It seemed like it was taking forever to get to Canterlot. At this rate, everyone in the city could be dead!

"At this rate, everyone in Canterlot could be dead!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Twilight, THIS is why it would have been better to, oh, I don't know, TELEPORT TO CANTERLOT! HELLO! Did your brain turn off or something?"

"Rainbow Dash, this hardly calls for such harshness," Miroku said.

Twilight turned away. Maybe Rainbow Dash was right, maybe she was in the wrong state of mind. She had been pacing up and down the aisles, her mind racing at a mile a minute, her thoughts coming and eating away at her like a swarm of parasprites – was that boy really bluffing? What did this prince want with her? Did it have something to do with the role Twilight played in killing Chrysalis back at the Crystal Empire? The person Inuyasha and his friends were chasing, was he there too? How much damage had been done to Canterlot? Was everyone alright? Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia….Were they still alive? Had they put up a fight? Were they even fighting at all? Was Canterlot still standing? Had it been destroyed again? She could only imagine the carnage, and at the same time, she wished she could just shut her mind off. It would be almost as bad, if not worse than, the time that Knock Out and Breakdown demolished the city. She remembered how the two Decepticons had completely trashed over half the city, killing nearly one hundred citizens; she also knew what the Changelings were capable of, how deadly their magic and their fangs were.

The Changelings had another ability – as their name suggested, they could change into any living being that they wanted. Chrysalis had once impersonated Cadance when Cadance and Shining Armor were getting married, but thanks to Twilight finding the real Cadance, Chrysalis and her entire army were sent flying away. They returned a few months later, but Twilight again stopped them. But both times, the Changelings had taken on the form of Twilight and her friends. She also knew that they could turn into many of the monsters that lived in the Everfree Forest – trolls, cyclopes, satyrs, fauns, manticores, chimeras, gorgons, harpies….So many deadly and dangerous creatures were at their disposal.

And then there was this Prince Carapace the boy had mentioned. Just who was he? Twilight had never heard of him. All she knew was that the boy had said he wanted revenge against Twilight for killing Chrysalis. So did that make him her lover? A family member? Some other relative?

"Twilight, if you keep pacing like that, you're going to wear out the floor," Miroku said.

"I can't help it," Twilight said. She stopped pacing and looked over to him. "I just – I'm worried. What if something terrible's happened up there?"

Rainbow Dash pressed her muzzle up against Twilight's face. "That's why we should have TELEPORTED!" she screamed.

Twilight shoved the cyan Pegasus away, hard. "Back off, Rainbow Dash," she hissed. "I am not in the mood!"

All eyes turned to her. Rainbow Dash looked like she'd just had her heart ripped out. She'd heard Twilight scream in frustration and anger before, but never like that, and never directly at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Twilight said solemnly. "I don't know what came over me."

"I do," Inuyasha said. He was sitting cross-legged on a nearby seat, his arms crossed, his sword propped up against his shoulder. "You're worried. You said it yourself. You've got a lot on your mind. You're scared and angry at the same time, so you're not exactly thinking clearly."

Twilight sighed. "I don't know. Maybe." She looked over to Rainbow Dash. "I'm really sorry I yelled at you, Rainbow Dash. I didn't mean it."

Rainbow Dash waved a dismissive hoof at Twilight. "Forget it. Happens to the best of us. But how far are we from Canterlot?"

Rarity looked out a nearby window. "Well, we just passed Horseshoe Lake, so that puts us about twenty minutes from Canterlot."

Twilight sighed, this time in relief. "Thank Celestia." If she's even still alive, she silently added.

Everyone flew forward as the train came to a sudden stop. They landed in a pile in the aisle –

Except for Inuyasha, whose head had gone through the leather seat in front of him.

"Ow! What the hell was that?!" he cried as he pulled himself free. "All right, who's the dumbass?"

Twilight picked herself up off the floor, gently throwing Shippo and Kirara off of her. "Ouch. Something made the driver hit the brakes. I'll go see."

She cantered up to the engine and pulled the door open. "What's wrong?"

"We can't go any further, Your Highness," the driver said. He pointed with a hoof. "Look."

Twilight looked to where his hoof was pointing. What she saw made her heart sink.

The tracks – they had been destroyed! The steel had been warped and bent out of shape, the wood completely splintered. She recognized the damage, she had seen it before, but only once, back when she was still being tutored under Celestia, when a troll had gone on a rampage. That was the only way this could have happened – either a troll had come by and smashed the tracks, or a Changeling had turned itself into a troll and smashed the tracks. She doubted it was some random troll, though – he would have destroyed the entire track, and not just this small section.

"If we go any further, we'll be off the rails," the driver said. "I can't do that, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I can't risk injuring everypony."

Twilight felt her frustration growing. It would have been an easy twenty minute train ride to Canterlot from where they were now. But no, the Changelings had to destroy the tracks, meaning that if they walked, it would take over an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to get to the city.

But it wasn't the driver's fault. He was just doing his job, just doing as Twilight had asked – no, had ordered – him to do. He had no control over the state of the railroad, he just drove the train from one station to the next, picking up passengers or delivering freight. He could no more control the tracks than Twilight could the time of day.

"It's okay," she said. "You did what you could. That's all that can be asked. Thank you for getting us this far."

"You're not planning on walking to Canterlot, are you, Princess?" the driver asked.

Twilight shook her head. "No. That would take w He had no control over the state of the railroad, he just drove the train from one station to the next, picking up passengers or delivering freight. He could no more control the tracks than Twilight could the time of day.

"It's okay," she said. "You did what you could. That's all that can be asked. Thank you for getting us this far."

"You're not planning on walking to Canterlot, are you, Princess?" the driver asked.

Twilight shook her head. "No. That would take way too long. I think I'm going to take my friend's advice. Thank you again."

The driver bowed to her as she turned and headed back to the car.

"What in tarnation is goin' on up there?" Applejack asked.

"The Changelings have destroyed the tracks," Twilight replied. "We can't go any further by train."

"Okay, so how do we get to the place we want to go?" Shippo asked.

"Walking would take too long," Kagome said. "And even if I'd thought to bring my bike along, I can't carry everyone. It's not a tandem bike, you know."

"Don't worry," Twilight said. "I'll have us there in an instant."

"You mean you're actually going to – " Rainbow Dash started to say.

"Gather round, everypony," Twilight said. "And try not to move around too much. I don't want anyone to end up in the middle of Manehattan without a head."

"That makes me feel SO much better," Inuyasha sarcastically growled.

Everyone formed a close circle around Twilight. Her horn began to glow with that light purple aura.

Kagome felt a strange tingling sensation. She figured everyone else could feel it too. It kind of tickled; she had to fight off the urge to start laughing.

And then they were no longer standing in the train car. Instead, they were now in the middle of a city street.

It would have been a grand, magnificent city made up of marble buildings and cobblestone streets, were it not for the dismembered bodies and half-eaten innards littering the roads and the drying red blood being soaked into the ground. Spending most of her time in the Feudal Era, where evil demons constantly preyed on humans, she had grown accustomed to a scene like this. She had seen entire villages and town decimated by demons. But just because she was used to it didn't make it any less disheartening.

She turned at the sound of someone retching. Rarity and Fluttershy had turned away from everyone else, vomit spewing from their mouths.

"I'm sorry," Rarity said. She wiped the remnants of her puke from her lips. "I'm usually more composed than that."

"Oh my, this is awful," Fluttershy said between breaths.

Kagome noticed that the other ponies had been mortified, all in their own ways – Pinkie Pie's poofy pink hair seemed to deflate a little bit; Applejack was covering her eyes with her hat; Rainbow Dash's wings were flared in anger; Twilight just looked downtrodden, her eyes glistening with tears of sadness and rage.

"Changelings," she hissed. She looked around at all her friends. "We've got to be ready. They could attack at any moment."

She noticed that he humans were all ready – well, three humans, two demons, and one half-demon. Inuyasha had pulled out the Tetsusaiga, its small, rusted blade growing to over three times its normal size; Kagome had unslung her bow and had an arrow notched in the string; Sango had tightened her grip on the Hiraikotsu; same with Miroku and his staff; Kirara had grown from a small kitten to her large tiger form.

The only one not ready was Shippo, who was on Applejack's back, hiding behind her neck and mane. "This was a dumb idea," he said. "I shouldn't be here; I'm just a little kid!"

"Then you should have stayed home," Inuyasha growled. "Come on; we don't have all day."

"They're probably on their way to the palace," Twilight guessed. "Follow me."

She led them down the street, all of them unaware of the massive insect watching them from above.

##########################

"What are you doing here, Carapace?" Celestia asked. "What's your game?"

Carapace had spent the past hour and a half circling the three pony princesses, eyeing them like a lion eyeing its kill. For the longest time, no one had said anything. The fear in the room had been palpable; Carapace could almost taste it. He relished in it. He had wanted the princesses to fear him. He had wanted them to realize that their fate was sealed, and that there was no way for them to escape.

But they were not the true prize.

"I already sssaid," he hissed. "Twilight Sssparkle, the Princccesss of Friendship. I have busssinesss with her. And I would like to know when she will be arriving."

"That doesn't explain why you brought these humans along," Cadance said. "Did you bribe them into aiding you?"

"We have a deal," one of the humans – the tall man with the two swords – said. "The Changelings act as our guides in this land, and we in turn help them with their little…problem. Besides, both parties have been well compensated." He winked at Carapace. "I get my prize, and the prince gets his." He turned to look at the mirror the little girl in white was carrying. "Oh, and Carapace? You don't have to wait much longer."

"What are you talking about?" General Thorax asked.

"They're here," Jurorenmaru said.

"Excccelent," Carapace said. He turned to his two generals. "Sssend out the Changelingsss."

"You can have your fun with this princess," Jurorenmaru said. He climbed up onto a nearby windowsill. "But I have my own affairs to attend to." He turned to Kanna. "Stay here. This shouldn't take long." With that, he leaped off the windowsill.

"Ah, yesss," Carapace said. "Hisss prey isss here with the Princccesss." He smiled, flashing his dull gray, blood soaked, gore-encrusted teeth. "The time for my revenge drawsss near."

He heard a clap of thunder. The Pegasi of Cloudsdale were moving storm clouds over the city. Poor timing, he had to admit, but deep down, it would make the experience all the more dramatic.

And after I tear out Twilight'sss ssstomach, I will at leassst have sssomething to wash my mouth out with. Ssstomach acccid isss not very tasssty.

#####################################

They were running across a large bridge, their lungs burning, their hearts pounding, when the first few raindrops started to fall, slowly and steadily at first, but after a few seconds, those slow and steady raindrops started falling faster and faster, harder and harder, until they were in the middle of a torrential downpour.

Rainbow Dash smacked a hoof against her face. Of all the times for Cloudsdale to schedule a thunderstorm over Canterlot, why did it have to be now?

"Hey!" she screamed up at the clouds. "This isn't the best time! Tell the weather ponies they have to reschedule! Hey! Can't you hear me?"

"I don't think they can, Rainbow Dash," Pinkie Pie said. She pulled a megaphone seemingly from nowhere. "Maybe this will help." She held the megaphone up to her lips and screamed into it, so loud she nearly toppled several nearby trees and shattered the windows of the nearest buildings. "HEY! PEGASUSESES! TURN OFF THE WATER!" She lowered the megaphone. "Huh. Don't think they're listening."

"Way to give our position away, you idiot," Inuyasha grumbled.

Twilight was about to snap at him, to tell him to be quiet, when the quiet clip-clopping of hooves on the cobblestone streets got her attention.

And then she heard her name called. Weakly, faintly, but she heard it.

"Twily."

Shining Armor was limping over to her. His armor was cracked and broken, one of his eyes had been swollen shut, he was bleeding from multiple wounds, and judging from the way he was limping, at least one leg was sprained, perhaps broken.

Twilight rushed forward and put her neck under her big brother, supporting him before he collapsed.

"Shining Armor! What happened?"

"Changelings," Shining Armor said weakly. "They're here with…with humans. There's a man, a woman, and two children – a boy and a girl."

"Only one of them is human," Inuyasha said. "The others are demons."

"I suppose that explains some things," Shining Armor said. "They displayed powers I've never seen."

"Take it easy, Shining Armor," Fluttershy said. "You're hurt."

"It's nothing," Shining Armor replied, trying to sound brave. "I've been through worse." He forced a laugh. "Remember? I'm captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard and Prince of the Crystal Empire. This is – OUCH! – this is nothing."

"You're wrong," Sango said. "In fact, you being alive is a miracle. By rights, you should be dead."

"CROSS SLASH!"

"Look out!" Twilight cried. She put up her magic barrier, and not a second too soon – a large green "X" came flying at them. It hit the barrier, shattering it. Twilight winced; the barrier breaking only stung a little, but she also remembered what happened the last time her barrier had been broken.

She had barely survived.

All eyes looked up to the roof of a nearby building. Standing tall, both swords in his hands, was Jurorenmaru, a sly, smug look on his face.

"That was some good timing. Too bad your barrier broke. You'd make one tough opponent, Little Miss Purple."

"That's one of the people that was with the Changelings," Shining Armor gasped.

Inuyasha stepped forward, both hands tightly gripping the handle of the Tetsusaiga. "JURORENMARU!"

"That's me," Jurorenmaru said. He leaped down from the building, landing on the bridge. "I'll admit, I was starting to wonder when you would show. I mean, I knew you were coming, but still."

"Wait one apple pickin' minute," Applejack said. "How the hay did you know we was comin'?"

Jurorenmaru didn't reply; instead, he pointed to the sky. Hovering in the air above them was a massive wasp.

"Oh, great," Sango hissed. "Kanna must have been watching us the whole time."

"What's the matter?" Pinkie Pie asked. "It's just a big bug."

"A big, repulsive bug," Rarity griped. "How disgusting."

"That's no ordinary bug," Miroku said. "It's a Saimyosho."

"A what?" Rainbow Dash asked. More big words she didn't understand. Why couldn't these people speak more simply? It was like everything they said, from their names to their weapons, was a mouthful and nearly impossible to say the first time.

"Naraku's poisonous insects," Kagome replied. "He uses them to spy on us."

"There, now see, THAT I understand," Rainbow Dash said.

"This is a good conversation and all," Jurorenmaru said. "But I think we've got more important things to attend to. First off – you horses, or ponies, or whatever you call yourselves. Which one of you is the Twilight Princess?"

Twilight stepped forward. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. Why? Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, I'm not the one who has business with you," Jurorenmaru said. "That would be Prince Carapace."

"Who?"

"He's the Changeling prince. And he's waiting for you to arrive." He pointed to the palace tower in the distance. "He's up there in the tower with three more princesses. But I suggest you hurry. He doesn't exactly strike me as the patient type, and it's only a matter of time before he decides to rip out their livers."

Twilight could feel her anger growing. She was shaking with rage. She snorted with frustration and anger, hatred towards Jurorenmaru and Prince Carapace. Her mentors, her sister-in-law; she wasn't going to let them suffer like that.

"Take care of my brother, you guys," she said. She galloped away, pushing past Jurorenmaru.

"Twilight!" Rarity called after her.

"Now," Jurorenmaru said. "You little horsies can go ahead and leave. I don't have any obligation to kill you. Inuyasha and his crew, however…."

Inuyasha growled and bared his teeth. "You bastard." He turned to everyone else. "You guys go help Twilight. I'll take care of this asshole."

"You sure you can?" Rainbow Dash asked. "All by yourself?"

"Watch me," Inuyasha said as he raised the Tetsusaiga above his head. Wind began to swirl around it, sending rain flying in every direction. "You're going down, Jurorenmaru! WIND SCAR!"

Stone and metal shattered as the massive blade of wind flew directly at Jurorenmaru. Jurorenmaru leaped out of the way, barely avoiding the attack. He landed on the roof of a nearby house; the force of Inuyasha's attack caused the building to shake and rattle as though it were in the middle of an earthquake.

"Wow. Imagine if I hadn't gotten out of the way. Wouldn't be much of me left now, would there?"

Inuyasha hissed. Jurorenmaru was really beginning to get under his skin.

"Inuyasha, you missed!" Pinkie Pie cried.

"No, ya think! Why the hell are you people still here? I told you, I can handle Jurorenmaru. You guys need to go help Twilight! So get going, damn it!"

He didn't bother waiting for a reply; he leaped up at Jurorenmaru, ready to cut him down.

Jurorenmaru quickly raised his swords to block Inuyasha's attack. He felt the vibration of the impact go through his arm as the two blades met. Inuyasha kept coming at him, his attacks relentless, his swings his arms and head. Jurorenmaru found it almost difficult to keep up with him.

Almost.

They locked blades and stared at each other. Inuyasha's face was twisted in rage, and he let out a loud snarl.

Jurorenmaru was much more composed, simply smiling as they pushed against each other's weapons.

"Not bad, not bad," he said. "This is going to be a fun fight. I might just prolong your death a little bit."

"Just shut up and give me your jewel shard," Inuyasha growled.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I'm afraid I can't do that," Jurorenmaru said. He pushed Inuyasha back. The two of them circled each other. "You see, I no longer possess it."

"What?"

"I gave it to Prince Carapace as a sign of gratitude for him and his Changelings going out of their way to guide us through this strange land. And when I say strange, I mean strange. Have you seen the creatures that live in that forest? The one I fought was part tiger, part snake, and part goat."

"Yeah? Try a twenty foot tall lizard with five heads, and every time you cut one off, two grow back."

"Wow. Orochi has nothing on that thing."

"Can I get back to killing you now?" Inuyasha asked. He charged forward, his sword raised above his head. "You're going down!"

"Oh crap!" Jurorenmaru barely dodged Inuyasha's attack. He leaped off the roof and landed back on the bridge. "Damn. That was a close one. Another second and I wouldn't have my head."

"Just give it a few minutes, you bastard," Inuyasha hissed. He jumped at Jurorenmaru, the blade of his sword crystalizing. "Eat this! ADAMANT BARRAGE!"

Several razor sharp crystals flew at Jurorenmaru, so fast he could barely see them. He leaped back – once, twice, three times, each time barely avoiding getting hit. The crystals tore through the stone of the bridge, shattering the support beams on the way down.

The bridge buckled and swayed. More and more stones fell into the river below. Jurorenmaru and Inuyasha held their arms out to their sides, trying to keep their balance.

Maybe that wasn't a good idea, Inuyasha thought. The bridge is about to come down!

Jurorenmaru leaped away, landing on the other side of the bridge. He tumbled, falling and rolling as he landed. Inuyasha jumped after him.

Inuyasha thought he would make the jump. After all, a fifty foot gap? That was nothing. He'd made leaps greater than that just by leaping from tree to tree. A fifty foot gap should have been like a simple hop.

But he had misjudged. And even if he hadn't, the bridge was still collapsing beneath him, which caused him to misjudge. He could tell as soon as he jumped that he wasn't going to make the leap.

"DAMN IT!"

He grabbed for the ledge just before he plunged into the river down below. The rain was making the ground slick beneath his fingers; he found it difficult to keep his grip. He dug his fingernails into the dirt between the stones in the street, dug the blade of the Tetsusaiga into the ground to keep himself from falling.

"Son…of…a…bitch," he groaned as he pulled himself up. He felt his biceps burning as he climbed up the ledge. Jurorenmaru was standing nearby, his swords stuck in the ground by their blades, his arms crossed.

"You okay over there, Inuyasha? Don't want you to go dying before I bring your head to Naraku."

Inuyasha stood up straight and tightened his grip on the Tetsusaiga's handle. "Oh, stuff it."

Jurorenmaru pulled his swords out of the ground. "Shall we continue, then, or do you need to take a break? I can give you a few minutes to catch your breath if you need it."

Inuyasha bared his teeth in a frustrated snarl. He tightened his grip on his sword even more, so tight his fingernails were digging into his palms. This guy was really starting to get on his nerves.

And Inuyasha was getting tired of hearing his voice.

"Die! WIND SCAR!"

Once again, Jurorenmaru evaded the attack, though he could still feel the breeze on his skin. He couldn't help but shudder; he had come so close to getting hit. He had seen the damage the Wind Scar did to the landscape; he didn't want to imagine the damage it could do to a living creature.

He landed on the roof of a store. "What's wrong, Inuyasha? Can't get me while I'm up here?"

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT THE HELL UP!"

And then he heard it.

Kagome's cry for help.