"Cutie Mark Crybabies?..BABS?!" Scootaloo sputtered as she saw her savior's face and heard her tone.

"Yeh, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Babs muttered distractedly, shoving Scootaloo behind the wreckage of a building and then peeking in between the slats of shredded wood. Already the stony dog's leg was regrowing itself, stone reassembling. "Damn" Babs swore, preparing to charge once more, this time aiming for the heart. "Okay, Scoots, stay here, I'll go kill it by striking its hea-Scoots?" Babs whispered before pulling at her mane in despair as she saw that Scootaloo had jumped ahead regardless.

"Where'd that damn pony go?" the dog snarled, shifting its head as it looked around for the thing that had crippled it.

"Over here, dumbass" Scootaloo called, making the dog look down at the pony that barely reached past its toes. "Yeah, over here! The great Scootaloo doesn't appreciate mangy mutts stomping around in her town. Leave or die!" Scootaloo boasted, drawing her sword once more. One could have heard crickets with how quiet it was after Scootaloo's monumentally reckless charge. The dog raised its foot and stomped, smashing the spot where Scootaloo was standing. Babs winced at the sight before preparing to sneak away. Then the ground caved in under her.

"What gives Sweetie, I was about to utterly own that dog!" Scootaloo snapped from behind Babs as the brown Earth Pony shook off some dirt. Babs looked forward and smiled in realization as she saw Sweetie Belle's green magic digging a hole in the earth. Obviously the unicorn had some sense and had pitfalled Scootaloo before she got squashed.

"No you weren't, you're lucky Sweetie here was smarter than you" Babs snorted, finding the tunnel cramped and dark, despite Sweetie's magic providing some light as she extended the tunnel.

"Not with that attitude" Scootaloo huffed in response. "So, Babs, what's your story? I mean, it's good to see you and all, but what happened?"

Babs smirked a bit before replying. "From what I understand, Celestia sent generals to the 4 directions and in my case, I had to deal with that bug freak, Chrysalis. Her swarm trashed Manehattan and captured me and tons of others. Celestia's orders weren't to capture us, but I guess she doesn't keep a close eye because Chrysalis used us as food. I escaped when Shining Armor and the resistance busted in and routed Chrysalis from the area"

"Resistance? This is starting to sound like the Mare-inator" Scootaloo quipped, causing Babs to roll her eyes. Scootaloo was about to say another retort when her face crashed into Babs's tail. The earth pony had stopped moving and so Scootaloo ended up quite literally kissing Babs's ass. "Oh, real mature!" Scootaloo snapped, pulling back a bit.

"It's not my fault, perv! Sweetie just stopped!" Babs hissed back. Sweetie slapped them both with a small pebble and then pointed at the obstruction. Babs's jaw dropped and Scootaloo grinned widely.

"The Element of Magic. I guess the story about the Power Above dumping them is true" Scootaloo muttered, whistling in appreciation as she looked at the at the shiny tiara, embedded in the Earth.

"Even one Element could be enough to help us get out of here" Babs sputtered, preparing to yank the crown free. Scootaloo extended a wing to stop her eager friend.

"No, Sweetie found it, it's only right she used it" Scootaloo reasoned, causing the unicorn to blanch.

"M-me!? B-but you two are awesome and brave, you were fighting that rock dog and I was just hiding" Sweetie stammered, looking at Scootaloo with wide, confused eyes.

"You think I'm going to steal your glory? Come on Sweetie, now's your time to shine!" Scootaloo laughed, making Babs wonder if the pegasus's brain was all there. Sweetie still hesitated to grab the magical artifact, though she was looking intently at it. "If anyone here is going to wear it, it's you! You used magic to save Babs from that rock dog!" Scootaloo barked out, getting a glare from the Earth Pony.

"B-but..." Sweetie started before getting interrupted by Scootaloo.

"Listen, Sweetie. Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me! Believe in me who believes in you!" Scootaloo spoke, nudging up next to the alabaster pony and looping a wing around her comfortingly. Babs continued rolling her eyes at the display. Sweetie wasn't brave enough, right?

"...I'll see what I can do!" Sweetie growled out firmly, yanking the tiara from the Earth and placing on her head, to Babs's disbelief and Scootaloo's joy. A spark of purple magic seeped out, flowing into Sweetie's breast and heart. Then the ground exploded.

The rock dog had been sniffing around, trying to find where the pony had disappeared too. He knew they weren't dead, there wasn't any blood. The ground suddenly began shaking before a plume of dirt exploded outward in front of him, causing him to leap back in shock as a small sphere containing the ponies erupted out of the ground.

"HAHA, WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT, MUTT!" Scootaloo taunted from within the bubble of purple magic. The dog snarled in anger and lashed out with a heavy claw, crushing the magic bubble like it was a grape. Scootaloo and Babs both yelped in shock as they tumbled onto the dog's back from the heavy strike while Sweetie Belle gritted her teeth, shaking with exertion as the Element of Magic struggled against the crushing force above her. Babs and Scootaloo leaped about on the dog's back, too focused to talk as they dodged its attempts shake them off.

"I-i have to believe" Sweetie gulped, doing her best to steel herself. She wouldn't let anyone else die! "Believe in in Scootaloo, who believes in me" Sweetie grunted to herself, the tiara crackling with power as she created a new bubble, leaping past the dog's paw and ramming into shoulder, causing the massive beast to yelp and stumble back. Scootaloo and Babs seized their chance, leaping towards Sweetie. Sweetie's eyes widened as the shield made a small hole so her friends fit through before reforming. She hadn't focused any magic, she just thought it and it happened. The Element of Magic was far stronger than she had thought. The dog recovered quickly though and rammed itself towards one of the remaining buildings. The shield slid off from the force of the impact, right into the dog's mouth. Letting out a monstrous snarl, the savage monster of rock attempted to crush them. The shield bent inwards, the Element of Magic itself deforming slightly under the pressure. Babs hissed in pain, shoved into a corner.

"Damn! We're going to get crushed!" she snarled, doing her best to keep her legs stretched out as well as the shield. Scootaloo merely drew her sword, prepared to stab the dog's mouth if it came to it.

"I'll believe, I need to believe!" Sweetie whimpered to herself, trying to gain her resolve back. The item on her head flashed and her eyes turned white briefly. Memories of its past bearers, all their friendships surged through her. "I NEED POWER!" Sweetie roared, channeling the friendship through her horn with a loud "CRACK!". Green magic turned rainbow as it flowed into the tiara and amplified, shooting out magic with more force than Sweetie had ever seen.

The dog squealed in pain as part of its jaw exploded outward, the rainbow colored magic shredding through stone teeth like paper. Staggering back, it coughed up the shield and looked upon the ponies in shock and pain, realizing the pale one's horn was emitting a rainbow glow and that out of the shield stuck a massive horn, like a scaled up version of the unicorn's. The horn in the shield spun like a drill.

"All right! That's what I'm talking about! Bust through that ugly thing!" Scootaloo roared to Sweetie. The unicorn nodded, gritting her teeth before shooting their shield forward. The dog let out a wail of anger and tried to stop them with its paw. Its arm shattered, the spinning horn tearing through it and slamming into his chest.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Scootaloo and Sweetie yelled, feeling the strain of keeping up the friendship magic.The dog's body actually lifted off the ground, scrabbling with its remaining paw at the sphere about to pierce his chest. With a sickening crunch, the drill tore straight through his chest, tearing out the red Heartstone that powered him and emerging out his back.

"W-we did it?" Sweetie murmured, looking at the dead, house sized dog hundreds of feet below them, its chest completely destroyed.

"No, you did it" Scootaloo laughed. Next Chapter: Enter The Resistance Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 13 Minutes