[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.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2 Estimated time remaining: 21 Minutes