I’ve done it! After several years of work, I’ve finally created it! For many years, we have used portals and gateways, but they were never strong enough to travel to other dimensions and universes. No longer shall they be limited, for I’ve done it!

[Sector: The Orbitus Sector]
[Destination: Storm of Chaos]

A gigantic space station spins slowly in the void of space. It appears to be a metal moon, its surface covered with turrets and hangers. Several ships of all shapes and sizes patrol the surface of the station, occasionally entering or leaving.

[Destination: Storm of Chaos Interior]

A lone humanoid marches through the metal halls of the ship, his feet clanging against the gray floor. The yellow lights powered by some unknown energy keeps the long hallway lit, leaving no room for darkness.

He is a human - well, mostly human. Almost all of his body is machine - only a few parts of his chest, face, legs and arms are still flesh. His right hand is much larger than his left, and a blue orb of energy is where his left eye should’ve been.

He continues down the long corridor, and stops in front of a pair of doors. They slide open and he walks through. He enters a large room. Robots and creatures of all shapes and sizes are currently occupied with different tasks. Some of the creatures take notice of the human cyborg. They nod and he nods back.

A robot walks up to him; it appears much different from the others. It has a “muscular” body, the surface painted gray with a red tinge. Its left arm ends with a cannon, while its right has a hand with a hole in the palm. Its right shoulder has a mounted six-barrel Gatling gun. Its left is equipped with something that appears to be a sniper-rifle of some kind, with a scope attached to the side. Its head is cube-like and its left eye is a blinking red light, while its right is a camera with crosshairs embedded in the glowing orange glass.

Its voice is male. With a southern accent that sounds like it came from some cheap old western movie.

“Howdy Mechos, a mighty proud thing you’ve done! A portal to other universes?” it asks.

“Why yes.” Mechos replies. “I haven’t tested it yet. Just because I created it doesn’t mean it will work, you know.”

The robot snorts, or at least tries too. “With you workin’ on it, there is no such thing as failure!”

“Ammo, I am not that perfect. You know that.”

Ammo walks up to Mechos, and pats him on the back with his hand. “You’re the one that designed this unstoppable fortress! The same with the robotic soldiers, ships, and practically everythin’ technalogical!”

Mechos nods, with a hint of a smile on his lips.

“That’s not all! You are one of the first to join this empire! Without you, Guild Chaos is nothin’!”

Mechos shakes his head. “No, Guild Chaos would eventually come to this; I merely gave it a shortcut.”

“A shortcut was all we need! C’mon Mechos, give yourself at least a little credit! You’ve got to admit!”

Mechos’ lips slowly widen into a grin, he turns to Ammo and pats him on the back as well. “Thanks Ammo, you sure know how to make me smile.”

Ammo chuckles. “Well, they want you at the Warp Chamber, its time to get that universal portal up and runnin’! See ya there!”

Mechos nods, thanks Ammo and walks off. After some time navigating the colossal structure (which doesn’t even begin to describe the massive space fortress), he eventually arrives at a gigantic pair of metal doors. He takes a deep breath and approaches the doors. They open with a hiss - he walks through.

The chamber is enormous; recessed lights shine brightly from the ceiling. Constant steady beeping and hisses are heard all around. Several robots are hurrying from one place to another and one approaches him.

“Mechos!” It says with an urgent voice. “The Universal Gateway is ready for testing!”

Mechos nods. “Good, is the drone ready?”

The robot nods in reply. “Yes, it is prepared.”

“Good, let us start.”

The two enter a tube and step onto a metal plate, which lifts them up like an elevator. They arrive at the control room that is at the top, with a glass window that allows them to see the whole chamber that they rose from. Several robots are currently at work, pressing assorted buttons and pulling many different levers. Several beings stand at the side and one of them is Ammo. He gives Mechos a thumbs up and Mechos nods back with a smile. His smile slowly fades away, replaced with a serious expression.

“Attention!” he shouts in a commanding voice. Everyone/thing stops their current duty and focuses on Mechos. “This is the first time any being attempted to travel to another universe. With Guild Chaos by my side, failure is NOT an option!”

He shouts those last words with a smile, cheers and claps echo the chamber. He raises a hand for silence, and the room instantly quiets down. Except for the occasional beeping from the controls.

“Now, let us make history! Prepare the portal!”

The whole room that was silent a moment ago now started buzzing with activity. Mechos approaches the main controls; he types in a code in the number pad, and presses a few buttons.

The wall on the other side of the chamber opens up, revealing a large bluish-gray metal ring that is as wide as the chamber; it appears to be built into the wall.

Mechos presses several more buttons, and the disk starts humming, and glowing. Soon a gigantic boom echoes around the chamber, following with what sounds like tearing of fabric. A gigantic flat portal opens inside the disk, filling the gap inside it. The color of the portal appears to be a mix of all the greens and blues you can imagine, swirling around.

“How is it holding?” Mechos asks, not looking up from the controls.

“Portal is currently stabilized!” replies one robot.

“The generators are currently in the green!” replies another.

“Good.” says Mechos. “Ready the launch!”

The floor opens up. A platform lifts up from under the floor; on it is a giant metallic sphere that is the size of a car, on some kind of pad.

“Launch in 10…9…8…7…”

Everyone tenses up, except the robots that are currently maintaining the controls.

“…6…5…4…3…2…1…”

Mechos tenses up as well, his expression is stone.

“…LAUNCH!”

He types in a quick code and the pad slides towards the portal with great speed. It stops suddenly, flinging the giant metal sphere through the portal.

[Universe: Unknown]
[Destination: Unknown]
[Sector: Unknown]

Somewhere, right next to a lush, green and blue planet, a portal opens. A few seconds later, a metallic sphere flies through it, and speeds towards the planet.

Somewhere on the planet, a lavender unicorn is currently stargazing on the balcony of her home. She smiles as she sees a shooting star.

“Wow, Luna sure has outdone herself this time!”

She yawns, and blinks her eyes sleepily.

“Well, its really late, I should go to bed.”

As she trots back into her home, which appears to be built inside a giant tree. The shooting star streaks across the sky and flies over the town. It crashes into a mountain that once occupied a dragon, a small boom echoes from it, too far to be heard by the civilians of the town.

[Location: Unknown Mountain]

The sphere is currently embedded in the side of the mountain; smoke clouds emit from the crater, preventing anything from getting a good look at the side of the mountain. The sound of metal clanking together is heard from the sphere, and begins transforming.

After several moments of transforming, the sphere appears to be a metallic, four-legged spider the size of a car. Its head is completely blank, except for a glowing blue line that cuts across the middle of the face from top to bottom. The legs end in hooked claws, much like pincers. It beeps, and speaks. Its voice is deep and emotionless.

“Arachnidrone #216 ready, proceeding objective: Send message of success.”

How to pronounce names[i/]

Mechos: (měḱ kōs)[i/]

[Destination: Equestria]
[Sweet Apple Acres]
[Cutie Mark Crusader Club House]

Three young fillies are sitting in the middle of a small, wooden building. One has a pale yellow coat aw with a cherry red mane with a large red bow tied to it. Another is pale white with a pink and purple mane, and a small horn protruding from her head. The third is orange sporting a dark purple mane, with a small pair of wings on her sides.

“We will never find our cutie mark!” groans the orange Pegasus.

“Don’t worry Scootaloo, there still has to be something we haven’t tried.” says the white Unicorn, reassuringly.

“But we’ve tried EVERYTHING Sweetie Belle!” yells Scootaloo. “Gardening didn’t work, swimming didn’t work, and we even tried skydiving!”

Sweetie Belle shudders. “That was the scariest thing we’ve ever done; and the scolding from Rarity only made it worse.”

“Can you think of anything, Apple Bloom?” asks Scootaloo.

“Ah don’t know, Scootaloo.” replies Apple Bloom. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” asks Scootaloo.

“Ah know! We could be Treasure Hunters!”

“Treasure Hunters?” asks Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle in unison.

“Yeah! That’s something we haven’t tried!” she says excitedly.

“I don’t know…” Sweetie Belle worries.

Scootaloo runs up to Sweetie Belle, and wraps a leg around her neck.
“Come on Sweetie Belle, it would be awesome! Who knows, maybe we would find a lost chest full of treasure!”

“Well…”

Scootaloo starts nudging her. “Come on Sweetie Belle, think of the riches we would find! Rarity would start accepting your help after that!”

“Really?” asks Sweetie Belle, starting to smile.

“Yeah!” adds Apple Bloom. “We would be famous! And maybe get a cutie mark too!”

“Okay!” says Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both cheer at her reply. The three then shout in unison. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER TREASURE HUNTERS! YAAAAAAY!”

[Storm of Chaos Interior]

Mechos is currently watching a gigantic computer screen as several images are displayed on it. On the screen are images of a forest; the body builds of several animals and plants, rocky formations, and more. Most of the information is coming from Arachnidrone #216, currently exploring a dark forest.

‘It has been three days since the success of the Universal Portal.’ he thinks. ‘After the message of success sent by Arachnidrone #216, we’ve sent several more Arachnidrones and a few Atmoscanners to the new planet. The information we got was outstanding! The plant and animal specimens are similar to the kind on Earth, but a few are still unknown. The atmosphere can hold life, but there has been a strange kind of energy that radiates from the planet. So far it’s harmless, but it occasionally interferes with the information the drones send. We still have more information to retrieve from this alternate world.’

“The information Arachnidrone #216 has been sending is mind boggling! Some of the creatures are merely myths on Earth. Hmmm…” Mechos starts stroking his chin with his big hand. “The drones are simply not enough, we need more information. I should start an expedition to this world.”

Mechos turns the screen off and walks away.

[Equestria]
[Everfree Forest Borders]

The three fillies are looking at the dark forest. Scootaloo is on a scooter, while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are sitting in a wagon that’s attached to the scooter.

Sweetie Belle looks at the dark forest worryingly. “I don’t know about this…”

“Come on, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo says. “Treasure is bound to be in the Everfree Forest, since nopony even bothers to look in there.”

Sweetie Belle gulps. “O-o-okay.”

“Okay then!” shouts Scootaloo, trying to sound cool. “Let’s find us some treasure!”

Her wings start buzzing, propelling the scooter and the fillies in tow into the forest.

[Deep inside the Everfree Forest]

The Arachnidrone stomps through the forest. It has been 3 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 3 seconds since it has been deployed into this world. Continuing to scan every object that hasn’t been identified, from trees to animals to soil.

The Arachnidrone stops in front of a sinister looking tree with gnarled branches, on the trunk is a scary face.

A blue beam of light shoots out of the blue line on the head of the Arachnidrone. The ray of light passes over the tree several times, before shutting off.

“Scan complete.” says the Arachnidrone, its voice deep, emotionless, and robotic. “Plant. Type: Tree. Species: Unknown.”

The Arachnidrone turns away, and readies to walk, but it pauses when there’s a loud roar coming from its left.

The Arachnidrone, turning towards the sound, sees the source; an animal appearing to be a giant male lion, with bat-like wings and a large scorpion tail.

The Arachidrone scans the animal; the animal takes a step back when the blue ray of light passes over it.

“Animal Type: Nearest cross match, Mythological Manticore” The Arachnidrone says. “Threat Level: 4.”

The Manticore readies into a pouncing position.

[A few minutes earlier]

The Cutie Mark Crusaders made their way through the forest, slower than they wanted, but still at a good clip. Apple Bloom looks around, her eyes squinting.

“We’ve found nothing so far.” She groans.

Suddenly they hear a loud roar, startling the three.

“W-w-what was that?” stammers Sweetie Belle.

“Ah don’t know Sweetie Belle, but somepony might be in trouble!” says Apple Bloom.

“We should check it out.” says Scootaloo. She turns her scooter towards the direction of the roar. A few seconds later, they reach a small clearing.

What they see is a Manticore, and a giant metal spider of some kind. The three fillies look at the spider in awe and fright.

The Manticore readies itself, preparing to pounce.

“Threat Level elevated.” Says that metal spider, its voice sounding emotionless and strange. “Elevated to 6, eliminate hostile.”

The back of the Arachnidrone opens up. A giant turret rises out of its back. It has two, long barrels.

The fillies weren’t prepared for the transformation; they look at the spider in awe. The thing on its back starts humming; the two metal sticks’s insides start glowing blue.

“What do you think its doing?” whispers Sweetie Belle.

Before the others could reply, the Manticore pounces.

A ball of blue light fires out from one of the metal sticks; it hits the Manticore and explodes upon impact, sending the Manticore flying. It crashes through several trees and finally lands on the ground, several yards away. Its left shoulder is completely blown off, while the rest of its body is severely burned and covered in gashes and cuts.

The three fillies look at the gruesome scene, their faces turning green.

“Exterminate hostile.” intones the metal spider.

It fires several more balls of energy, which explode on the Manticore. After the smoke clears, nothing is left of the Manticore. The fillies gasp at the sight.

The spider turns to them, hearing the noise. The fillies notice what has happened and are frozen to the spot with fear. A blue ray of light comes out of the head of the spider, the fillies scream at the top of their lungs. Scootaloo turns them around, and speeds back the way they came.

The Arachnidrone watches the three creatures retreat into the forest.

“Error, scan disrupted.”

The Arachnidrone only got a partial scan, only getting their body builds. The turret retracts back into its body, and it stomps off into the forest.

[Destination: Equestria]
[Ponyville]
[Library]

“Spiiike!” yells Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight Sparkle is a lavender Unicorn. With a dark purple mane and tail, and have a pink stripe going across them. Her Cutie Mark is a six pointed star, with five smaller stars surrounding it, representing her talent of magic.

“I’m coming Twilight!” replies a voice.

A small purple and green lizard-like creature runs down the stairs, and gives her a look of annoyance.

“Spike, did you rearrange the books like I asked?” Twilight asks.

Spike sighs. “Yes Twilight.”

A list and pencil levitates in front of Twilight, she marks off the final thing that hasn’t been marked off. She smiles. “That’s it; we completed everything ahead of schedule!”

Spike sighs with relief. “Thank goodness, I’m exhausted. Hey Twilight, is it okay if I take a nap now?”

Twilight nods. “Sure Spike, you deserve some rest. I’ll be buying some pastries from Pinkie if you need me.”

“Yeah yeah.” Spike says, while walking towards his bed (which is more like a padded basket).

Twilight levitates her saddlebags onto her (which have her Cutie Mark on each of them), opens the door, and walks out.

Ponyville is buzzing with activity. Ponies are busy buying things from merchants, talking to friends, or just having a nice trot.

One particular pony approaches Twilight. She has a orange coat, blond mane and tail, and is wearing a brown Stetson hat. Her Cutie Mark is three red apples.

“Hey Applejack!” Twilight says to the pony with a smile. She notices that Applejack looks uneasy. “What’s wrong?”

“Howdy Twi’, have you seen Apple Bloom and the rest of the Crusaders? I haven’t seen them all day.” Applejack asks, speaking with a southern accent. “Have you seen Apple Bloom anywhere? Ah went to check on them back at their clubhouse, but their nowhere to be found.”

Twilight chuckles. “They’re probably crusading again.”

“Remember last time they were crusading?”

Twilight stops chuckling, remembering the Crusader’s attempt at skydiving. “Oh, right. I we should look for them, then.”

Applejack nods, smiling. “Thanks Twi’.”

“No problem.” Says Twilight, smiling.

[Destination: Storm of Chaos]
[Warp Chamber]

Mechos walks towards the group of the six chosen Guild Chaos Followers (aka the commanders).

“Ammo, Serpentine, Razorblade, Blackout, Fortress, and Diamond Back. You six have been chosen for a special task, an expedition to an alien world. This is no ordinary task, for this world is in an alternate universe. You must gather as much information as possible. You six should be able to handle whatever challenge the drones cannot withstand.”

Serpentine appears to be a cross between a human and a snake. His whole body is covered in green scales. The upper-torso is humanoid, very muscular and well-built. His hands end in three fingers, and his head is like a hooded cobra with yellow snake-like eyes. The lower-torso is serpentine and also muscular, showing that he slithers instead of walks.

Razorblade is a humanoid robot, just like Ammo. He is much skinnier than Ammo, the metal surface black with a silver tinge. His legs are very skinny, ending with three razor-sharp claws in a tripod formation. His arms are also skinny, but they end with three oversized barbed blades also in a tripod formation (which is currently closed, like pincers). His head is cylinder-like, with nothing but a crack with two orbs of red light shining from them.

Blackout is a humanoid being. He appears very much like a human, with a few differences. He wears a flexible black metal armor that covers his entire body. While his arms and legs are covered in a black clothe, also with pads on the joints made of the same metal as the body armor. He wears a cape also made of the same clothe, except it glows faintly with a purple color. He wears a mask that covers all but his eyes, which looks like purple glowing orbs with no pupils. He has two sheathed swords strapped to his back; the hilts are made of a black metal (much shinier than the armor). He also has a scythe strapped to his back as well, also made of the same metal as the swords, except the blade glows a faint purple. He wears a belt, strapped to it is a sheathed dagger (also made of the same metal), and an unusual string-less crossbow. His appearance makes him dark and mysterious.

Fortress is a hulking humanoid robot; he stands the height of one and a half fully grown humans. The metal he is made of is a shiny gray, lined with a golden metal on the edges. Fortress’s body is REALLY muscular; he has huge arms ending with giant fists. His head is small compared to his massive body; the only feature on it is a small, blinking red light.

Diamond Back is also humanoid, but made of a different material. He isn’t made of flesh nor metal, is he made of rock, gems to be exact. His body is muscular in shape, with a few spikes coming out of his body. Each part of his body is made of a different type of gem. His head is made of sapphire, his left arm is made of ruby, his right arm is made of emerald, his chest is made of Topaz, his back is made of diamond (one of the reasons for his name), his left leg is made of onyx, and his right leg is made of amethyst.

“We’re prepared for whatever that world throws at us, partner.” says Ammo, tipping an imaginary hat.

“I have a question, Mechosss.” says Serpentine. His voice sounds reptilian, his voice hisses whenever he pronounces an “S”.

“What is that?” asks Mechos, turning to Serpentine.

“You mentioned sssomething about mythical creaturesss from Earth, what kind exactly?”

“From what has been sighted, there are Cockatrices, Manticores, and Hydras. There might be more, so you must be weary.”

Serpentine nods, his forked tongue flicking out.

Mechos turns to the rest. “Anymore questions?”

Razorblade and Fortress raises their blade/hand.

“Yes Razorblade?” asks Mechos.

“What if we encounter dangers, or intelligent life-forms? What I mean about intelligent life-forms as in the dominant species.” says Razorblade. His voice is low and dark, with a metallic ring to it.

“The Arachnidrones have been monitoring the strength of the creatures. Most of you have no need to worry about the Cockatrices, but a Manticore will attack if you invade its territory. You cannot reveal your position, so you must destroy any threat. And if you encounter the dominant species of that world, if there are any, you will simply not interfere and merely observe them.”

Razorblade nods, snapping his blades, making them give off a metallic ring.

“And Fortress?” asks Mechos.

“WHY ME COMING, ANYWAYS?” booms Fortress. His voice is loud and deep, hinting strength, but also stupidity.

“Because you kept on bugging me, Fortress.” says Mechos, annoyed.

“OH! NOW ME REMEMBER!” Fortress falls silent after those words.

“Any other questions?” asks Mechos, wanting to get this over with.

The six don’t reply.

“Good. Now, board the Ghost and prepare to be launched.”

The six walk/slither/stomp their way towards a ship of some sorts. It is small, but large enough to hold the six. It has two Gatling Guns equipped to the front, its wings bending slightly to the back. It has two rockets at the back. The six climbs inside and the doors close with a hiss.

Mechos walks away, towards the tube that leads him towards the controls.

A few minutes later, the portal starts glowing, and the familiar boom and the ripping of fabric echoes around the chamber. The Ghost’s engines start humming, and it lifts off the ground.

Mechos’ voice booms through hidden speakers. “You are clear to launch!”

The ship thrusts through the portal.

[Destination: Alternate Planet]

The ghost flies out of the portal, speeding towards the planet.

[Ghost Interior]

A robotic voice speaks through the speakers.

“We will be entering the atmosphere in 4 minutes and 21 seconds. Activating Heat Shields.”

A few minutes later, the ship starts shaking rapidly as it enters the atmosphere of the planet. But a magnetic current holds the six passengers, preventing them from being thrown around the ship. A few minutes later, the ship stops shaking and starts vibrating. And the robotic voice speaks again.

“Atmosphere has been successfully infiltrated, silencing engines and activating cloak.”

The Ghost penetrates a layer of clouds, the humming sound of the engines suddenly vanish, following with the disappearance of the ship.

[Exactly 3 minutes and 32 seconds later]

The invisible Ghost is currently flying over a dark, dense forest, barely touching the treetops. The forest starts thinning as the ship continues to fly, then the ship stops suddenly.

[Interior]

“What’s goin’ on?” shouts Ammo.

“Civilization detected beyond the borders of the forest.” says the voice. “Landing in forest to prevent detection.”

“Like they’re going to detect us anyways…” grumbles Razorblade.

“OH GOODIE GOODIE!” booms Fortress, clapping his giant hands together, making a loud clang with each hit.

The ship lowers itself into the forest, the branches merely scraping past the invisible ship with little resistance. The ship uncloaks, and the doors slide open with the hiss. Once the magnetic current has been shut off, the six jump out of the ship. Fortress’ jump makes the ground shake, startling a few birds.

“Can you be any louder, Fortress?” asks Diamond Back sarcastically. His voice is a little deep, with a small rumble.

Before Fortress could reply, Diamond Back makes a zipping gesture. Fortress stops, and nods slowly.

“Now, we should get to the borders of this here forest, and be as SILENT as possible.” says Ammo, saying that more to Fortress then the rest. “Okay, Blackout, you scout out ahead and warn us if anythin’s coming.”

Blackout nods silently, and dashes into the forest, towards the direction the Ghost is pointing towards. His feet don’t even make a sound as he disappears into the forest.

“I will wait until you wish to return.” says the robotic voice, and the ship vanishes under its cloaking field.

“Alrighty, onwards!” Ammo quietly orders.

The five walk/slither towards the direction Blackout went, attempting to be as quiet as possible (while Fortress isn’t having much luck).

[Forest Borders]

The five encounter Blackout, who is lounging on a tree branch. He catches sight of the five, and jumps off the tree and lands on his feet, silently.

“Alright, I’ll climb a tree and zoom in and see what I can find with my scope. I’ll tell y’all what I find.”

Before they could reply, Ammo walks towards a tree and starts climbing it. Despite one of his hands being a cannon, he surprisingly climbs the tree with ease and dexterity. The moment he finds a perfect, strong branch for his perch, he moves his cross-hair eye to the scope of his Sniper Rifle that’s attached to his left shoulder.

What he sees is a meadow, full of flowers and animals that he would find on Earth. He sees a dirt road, and follows it with his eyes. He soon comes across a tree with a door and windows; its yard has a chicken coop, along with several other animals. Ammo studies the “tree house” for a bit, but then follows the road again. He sees a town in the distance, but it’s too far away. He zooms in, and zooms in, and zooms in until he has zoomed to his max. He can now see what inhabits the town, the creatures there are-

“Oh…my…god…” says Ammo, his voice filled with shock and disbelief.

“What!?” asks the others (except Blackout, who is merely looking at Ammo with a confused look), their voice urgent and failing hide their excitement.

What Ammo sees are horses, no, they’re smaller, ponies probably. They’re all in a variety of colors - green, blue, pink, and many other colors. He can just barely make out images on their flanks. Such as a rose for one, a bunch of bubbles for another, and so on. He also notices that some have horns, and some others have wings, but they’re much smaller than the mythological creatures that the humans imagined. The whole scene looks like it’s from some little girls show!

“Well!?” asks Diamond Back, sounding both annoyed and excited.

“You wouldn’t believe what the creatures I’m looking at.” says Ammo.

“Ssspit it out already!” Serpentine says, anger filling his voice.

“The inhabitants are ponies!”

Razorblade chuckles. “I’m sorry, but I must’ve misheard you. I thought you said ponies.”

Ammo slowly. “Yup. Not just ponies, but pony unicorns, pony pegasi, and they come in all sorts of colors too. They even have pictures on their b… flanks.”

“Let me see!” shouts Razorblade. He starts running up the tree with his clawed feet, leaving deep marks in the bark.

“Watch it, Razorblade! This thing is built into me!” shouts Ammo.

Razorblade stops running up the tree, and simply stands on it, his clawed feet digging into the wood so that he can stand straight without losing his balance. “It sounds like it came from some TV show for little girls on Earth. Are you sure you’re not messing with us!?”

Ammo shakes his head, and peers through his scope again. He sees a lavender unicorn speaking to a regular orange pony, and he notices something that the orange pony is wearing. He freezes, thinking that things couldn’t get anymore unbelievable.

“My god, it’s wearing a Stetson hat!”

[Equestria]
[Everfree Forest Borders]

“What do you mean ‘My god, it’s wearing a Stetson hat?’” asks Razorblade.

“An orange pony is wearing a hat! A STETSON HAT…COWBOY HAT! Whatever you call it!” yells Ammo.

“And what’s wrong with it?” asks Diamond Back.

“It just seems…” Ammo pauses, thinking of the right word. “…wrong.”

Razorblade jumps off the tree, and lands right next to Fortress, who is currently sitting on a crushed log (the crushed part probably came from Fortress).

“Ssso, what do we do now?” asks Serpentine.

“We go back. This kind of information would be useful for Mechos.” says Ammo, while jumping off the branch and landing with a thump.

The other five nod in agreement, and head back the way they came as silently as they could muster.

“I can’t wait to hear his reaction.” says Razorblade, snickering.

[Slightly deeper in the Everfree Forest]

The Cutie Mark Crusaders are terribly lost, ever since that giant metal spider shot that strange ray of light; they turned got out of there as fast as they could. Somehow they made a wrong turn, and now can’t find a way out. Traveling on scooter was really difficult, so the Crusaders had no choice but to walk on hoof, while pushing the scooter and wagon with them.

“Ugh, this is the SAME tree!” groans Scootaloo.

“All the trees look the same!” says Apple Bloom.

“I just hope we get out of here soon, before that spider gets us.” Sweetie Belle worries.

The three continue to trot through the dense forest. The more time they wander the more anxious and scared they get. Before they lost all hope of finding their way back, they came across a tree. This is no ordinary tree, it is a house. Painted masks are hung on it, and there are many windows, along with a door. The three fillies run up to the house and knock on the door hastily. After a few seconds of waiting, the door opens.

Standing at the entrance is a zebra. Her mane style is a Mohawk, and she wears golden ring earrings, along with matching neck and leg-rings. She smiles when she sees the three fillies.

“Apple Bloom and friends, I am glad to see you. I was just making some stew, would you like some too?” she asks with an African-esque accent.

The three fillies nod anxiously, and Zecora steps aside, letting the three fillies inside. Zecora walks towards a cauldron filled with a vegetable stew; she grabs three bowls with her mouth, and starts filling them.

“Zecora?” asks Apple Bloom.

Zecora walks towards the three with the bowls balancing on her back. She bends down and lets the bowls slide off and stops in front of the three fillies. “My pony friend, you have a question in your mind. Let it out, and I will try to give the answer you seek to find.”

“Do you know a lot about the wild life in the Everfree Forest?” she asks.

“Of course Apple Bloom, I know animals from Manticores to doe. What do you wish to know?”

“Ummm.” says Apple Bloom. “We saw a strange animal. It looked like a giant metal spider.”

Zecora cocks her head in confusion.

“Yeah!” Scootaloo chimes. “It was battling a Manticore! It shot these balls of light and they EXPLODED!” she starts waving her hooves in circles when she said “exploded”. “Then the Manticore was gone!”

Sweetie Belle nods. “Then it turned to us. It was so scary.”

“But I got us out of there.” says Scootaloo, posing like a hero.

Zecora shakes her head. “During my time I have seen change. But what you have described is quite strange.”

“Oh.” says Apple Bloom, her head sinking.

“Cheer up, Apple Bloom!” says Scootaloo. “Think of it! We’ve discovered a new species! Maybe that was the treasure we’ve been looking for!”

Apple Bloom perks up, and the three look at their flanks, and they find nothing.

“Awww…” groans the three.

[Everfree Forest]
[Ghost Location]

The six approach the invisible ship. Once they’ve gotten in range, the ship shuts off its cloaking field.

“Welcome back.” The robotic voice says.

“Yeah yeah.” says Ammo. “When can we send the information to Mechos?”

“In approximately 12 seconds the portal will reopen for communication.” replies the voice.

“Just in time.” says Diamond Back.

The doors open and the six walk inside. Ammo walks up to what appears to be a speaker in the back of the room. Not a moment later, it buzzes to life, and the familiar voice of Mechos speaks through it.

“This is Mechos. Do you copy?”

“Aye.” says Ammo. “We’ve got a load of information that you wouldn’t believe. Ah think we encountered intelligent life, possibly the dominant species. It’s hard to be sure, but Ah have mah money on it.”

“Can you describe them?” asks Mechos.

“Let’s see here.” Ammo pauses, making it seem like he is thinking on how to describe them. “Ponies.”

“What?” asks Mechos.

“Ponies, they come in all colors and have pictures of rainbows and flowers on their flanks. And there are unicorns and pegasi too.”

“What?” repeats Mechos.

“You heard me, Ponies! Think of small horses that are painted with the color of Skittles. Occasionally imagine them with a small horn or pair of wings, and don’t forget to at a smiley face or a rainbow to their flanks.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” says Mechos, sounding annoyed. “Enough fooling around Ammo.”

“Ah’m telling the truth!” says Ammo. “That’s what Ah saw! They were in a small town; they came in all sorts of colors that would put rainbows to shame!”

“So you are not fooling around.” asks Mechos, sounding serious.

“Nope!”

Mechos sighs. “It’s hard to believe, it sounds like it came from some show for little girls.”

“That’s what he said.” snickers Ammo.

After a moment of silence, Mechos speaks again. “Listen, I want you six to gather as much information as possible. Do not, I repeat, do NOT be detected! We must not disrupt the locals until we have enough information. We don’t know if they’re friendly or hostile.”

“Alrighty Mechos! You’ve got Ammo on the job!” says Ammo, with a salute.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” says Mechos, before the speakers turn off.

“Really?” asks Razorblade. “This time you made it seem more unbelievable.”

Ammo chuckles. “Eh, just wanted to mess with him. Onwards, its time to go stealth mode! Mechos wants information, and we will give him information!”

[Everfree Borders]
[The same spot]

Ammo is perched on the same branch, peering through the scope of his rifle. Serpentine, Diamond Back, and the rest are currently lounging around.

“Ammo, we have been sitting around for at least a hour.” says Razorblade, sounding bored. “When will we do something?”

“You’re supposed to keep watch!” growls Ammo. “You and Diamond Back, patrol the perimeter as silently as possible. Blackout and Serpentine, scout the forest and warn us if you see any creatures that could prove as a threat.”

“OOH OOH WHAT ABOUT ME?” booms Fortress.

“You just sit there and be as quiet as possible!”

“AWW-“

“Quite!” Ammo orders.

“Awww.”

“Much better.”

The four that were assigned for duty march/slithers off into the forest, leaving Ammo and Fortress.

[Ponyville]
[The Road to Fluttershy’s House]

Twilight Sparkle and Applejack trot down the road towards their friend’s house. They have spent hours searching for the Crusaders, but they only come up empty-hoofed.

“Don’t worry, Applejack,” sooths Twilight. “Maybe Fluttershy will know.”

“And what if she doesn’t?” asks Applejack.

“There is always Zecora.”

Applejack sighs.

After a few minutes of trotting, they reach their friend’s house. Fluttershy, a light yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail is currently tending to her animals; on her flank is an image of three pink butterflies.

“Hey Fluttershy!” says Twilight, louder than intended.

The Pegasus jumps with an “eep”, dashes and hides behind her chicken coop. She peers out slowly and sees her friends; she sighs with relief and trots slowly up to them.

“Sorry Fluttershy.” apologizes Twilight with a sheepish grin.

“I-i-it is okay.” Fluttershy says timidly.

“We’re just wondering if you’ve seen the Crusaders.”

“Ummm, I’m sorry to say that I haven’t seen them since yesterday.”

Applejack groans and turns her head away, looking at the Everfree Forest that is merely less then fifty yards away. Something catches her eye in the distance, some creature is sitting on a branch, but the darkness is covering its appearance.

“Ummm, Applejack?” asks Fluttershy, in a more timid voice than before.

That little voice was enough to turn her head.

“Yeah?” she asks.

“What are you looking at? I mean, if it’s okay with you to answer…” says Fluttershy, her voice getting even quieter with each word.

“I’m just looking at-“ says Applejack while pointing her hoof at the direction she saw the creature, but pauses, and sees that there is nothing there. “Huh.”

[A little earlier]
[Back to Ammo]

“It’s looking at me.” says Ammo, uneasy. The orange pony with the Stetson hat (which he still thinks it’s wrong) is looking at his direction, in fact, it is looking at HIM. Out of uneasiness, he takes a small step back. Forgetting that he is in a tree branch, he falls off and lands on his back.

Fortress starts laughing, but quieter than usual, but still loud enough to make the ground shake slightly.

Ammo curses to himself for forgetting that he was in a tree, and just lies. “Just my luck.” he groans.

[Everfree Forest]
[The Pathway Out of the Forest]

The three Crusaders ride down the path, which they apparently forgot during their time of “treasure” hunting. They will reach the borders in no time!

“We should’ve taken this path.” says Sweetie Belle. “That way we wouldn’t get lost.”

“But this path is the most used by ponies! There wouldn’t be any treasure!” says Scootaloo.

“But that means there would be even more monsters!” retorts Sweetie Belle.

“Stop it!” yells Apple Bloom. “There is no time for fightin’ right now!”

The two fall silent.

‘Usually Sweetie Belle is the one that breaks up the fights.’ Apple Bloom thinks, she chuckles silently at the thought.

After few more minutes, the Crusaders see light at the end of the path. Scootaloo beats her wings harder, propelling the scooter even faster. Less then a second, the three Crusaders are in open daylight. The three cheer, happy that they are out of the forest.

“APPLE BLOOM!” yells a voice. The Crusaders cringe - especially Apple Bloom.

Applejack angrily trots up to the three, along with an annoyed Twilight Sparkle. “Where have y’all been?” she angrily asks.

“W-w-we’ve been in t-t-the Everfree Forest.” says Apple Bloom, shrinking into the wagon.

Those words made Applejack even angrier. “You know it’s dangerous in there Apple Bloom! You could get lost, or worse!” she scolds.

An idea pops into Scootaloo’s head. “We were just visiting Zecora.” she says.

“We were?” asks Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo nudges her. “Ow. Oh yeah, we were!” she says.

Applejack gives the three an unconvinced look.

“Y-yeah!” Apple Bloom shakily says. “But we heard a roar, and thought somepony was in trouble!”

“It turned out to be a Manticore, fighting a giant metal spider. It was very scary.” says Sweetie Belle.

“The spider transformed! It started shooting these balls of light that exploded!” says Scootaloo “The spider was like pew pew and the Manticore was like roaaaarr and the spider was like-“ Scootaloo stops when the other Crusaders give her annoyed looks.

“What Scootaloo is trying to say,” Apple Bloom says. “That the metal spider shot out these balls of light, and they exploded when they touched the Manticore! Then it turned to us, and this blue light came from it. We got out of there as fast as possible, I swear!”

“We asked Zecora, but she didn’t know! We’re honest, that’s what we saw!” begs Sweetie Belle.

The three Crusaders give Applejack and Twilight a puppy-eyed look.

Twilight sighs. “Fine, I’ll try to look it up. But a giant metal spider that shoots exploding balls of light? That doesn’t sound normal, even for the Everfree Forest.” She looks at Sweetie Belle. “Rarity is looking for you in town, you should go see her. Its getting late anyways.”

The three Crusaders nod slowly. Apple Bloom gets out of the wagon, and follows her sister (Applejack) back to the Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo follows Twilight, who is leading them back to their homes.

[Back to the borders of the Everfree]

Razorblade, Diamond Back, Serpentine, and Blackout arrive back at the spot, seeing Ammo sprawled on the ground.

“Don’t ask.” says Ammo, before anyone could say anything.

Razorblade and Serpentine chuckle at the sight, while Diamond Back helps Ammo to his feet.

“Okay, I’ve got a new plan.” begins Ammo. “I bet when it turns night, they will go to sleep, since they seem so similar to humans on Earth. Blackout, you will investigate the town while the ponies sleep, get as much information as possible.” Blackout nods. “You start in five hours.”

[Five hours later]

Ammo is right; the ponies of the town indeed need their rest. The moment the moon (which looks just like Earth’s, except a little bigger) rose into the sky, all of the lights turns off. They still waited just in case, when Ammo nods, Blackout went off into the town.

The town is truly quiet, except for the occasional whistle of the wind. Blackout silently creeps around the town, seeing through the darkness with his glowing purple eyes. He would blend into the shadows if he would hear a sudden noise, which would only turn out to be an animal or an object moved by the wind. He approaches an unusual building (all of the buildings are unusual to Blackout, except this one stands out from the rest). It appears to be a mix between a house and a carousel.

He would use his Cape of Blink to enter inside, but he needs to at least see the surroundings once, for he could blink (short range teleport) into anything (a wall perhaps, or even a living creature). He tries the door, and it is unlocked. He opens it slowly, and feels a pressure of some sort at the top left of the door. He looks up, and sees a bell, stops opening the door the moment he caught sight of it. He peers through the small crack of the door, and sees a large room, okay enough for him to blink.

He grabs the edges of his cape, and flings it around him. Not a moment later, he is inside the room. He looks around him, seeing mannequins in the shape of ponies, along with rolled up tubes of cloth, even an unfinished dress. Many tools litter on tables; scissors, spools, even an iron and sewing machine.

He cautiously takes a step forward, not noticing a white fluff ball in front of him. He steps on the tail of the creature, and it lets out a loud sound that’s sounds like a mix between a screech and a meow. He jumps back and with an automatic reaction, draws his twin swords from their sheathe, both glowing purple in the darkness (the swords appear to be Katanas, the blade made of a black metal that glows purple). What Blackout sees is a white cat, it hisses at him for stepping on its tale (which is awkwardly bent on the spot he stepped on, the bent part strangely resembles a foot-mark.).

Under the cracks of another door on the left side of the room, a light turns on. And he hears a frantic female voice. “Opal!?” The voice is followed with a thump, and the clopping of hooves, the clopping is fast, telling him that whatever it is, its running towards the door.

Without anything else to do, he quickly sheathes his swords and flings his cape around him. Disappearing from the scene.

[Several yards away from the strange building]

Blackout watches the building, as all of its lights start turning on. He is currently standing on the roof of a building with his cape flying in the wind; his figure is in front of the moon, giving him a mysterious and heroic appearance. He quickly jumps off the building and runs back towards the forest, where he can meet up with his associates.