All I can remember was howling, and liberal application of changeling gel... still, best. Sex. EVER! Still, why does Ribbon look even sexier than before? I noticed Ribbon was laying on the floor beside me, in what looked like the equine equivalent of that 'draw me like one of your french girls' meme...

*Fwoosh* Ribbon went up in flames before revealing... herself? Albeit not as sexy looking as bef- ...Clever girl... she raises her eyebrow. "You might want to change back to normal before we go."

I get myself up off the floor, before allowing myself to return to normal. "So uh, think we should go grab that stuff from the castle?"

Ribbon gets up off the floor as well. "Might as well, if the princesses haven't got to it first."

"We bringing backup? It could be a trap."

Ribbon nods in agreement. "Of course we are. Even if its not there's still all manner of monsters." I couldn't help but bound and grin as I followed Ribbon, not caring if I looked like an idiot. We hit the armory, where Ribbon grabbed a few daggers and throwing knives, as well as a bow and a crapton of arrows.

When we reached the exit, we were greeted by nine warrior class drones, who fell in line with us as we headed into the Everfree.

After about an hour of walking, we reached an area where it appeared a path had been plowed through the trees, and several large footprints. I hear the guards beginning to mutter amongst themselves, and I catch the word 'hydra' being mentioned. Ribbon turns to one of them. "Old or fresh?"

He give the tracks one last glance. "Fresh, my Queen."

I notice the water in one of the footprints ripple for no reason... shit! Like in Jurassic Park! "Oh, piss..."

Ribbon turns to me. "What is it?"

a very light 'thoom' is heard, and I feel the ground shake beneath my hooves, and Ribbon, as well as the guards hit the dirt, me following after them.

The stomping stops, before resuming at a faster pace, and heading right for us!

A roar rings out, and my body goes into overdrive, dissolving into a cloud of miasma, before beginning to solidify into something bigger.

"IT HAS US, MAKE IT BLEE-" the guards notice the shape I'm taking. "Nevermind, GET CLEAR!"

The hydra emerges, and one of the heads spots Ribbon, and lunges for her..

Only to get denied by my foot, having finished taking on the form of a T-Rex. Ribbon takes the opportunity to shove a knife in the heads eye, before bolting joff with the rest of the guards. Biting down on its neck, I took the opportunity of its shock tuo raise and stomp my foot down in its skull, being greeted to a satisfying crunch. That leaves three heads, and I'm already starting to feel the drain... two of the heads lunged at me, grabbing my legs and tripping me, but not before I managed to grab the third head in my mouth and pull it down with me, dragging the whole hydra down to floor. Rolling back onto my feet, I saw the hydra trying to get back onto its feet, and ran over to it, and bit down right behind where its necks joined, before pulling with all my might, and hearing something snap, before I ripped its spine out, killing hit...

Looking at my work, I let out a massive roar, before feeling my form revert to normal, and I flopped to the ground, exhausted. "Chi, are you alright!?"

I shakily pull myself to my hooves, before trying to rip the knife out of the head Ribbon stabbed, only to be met with large amounts of pain. "My heaaaad...." I held my head in my hooves, hoping to make the pain stop.

"Hold still." Ribbon holds her horn up against mine, and I feel a shiver run down my spine, followed by an odd warmth. I noticed that guards had looked away during this, but didn't really care. "You used too much magic again. The Doctor showed me how to do magic transfusions..." She pulls away. "Feel better?"

I nod. "Good enough to continue." I didn't realize I had flopped to the ground a second time when I tried to magic the knife, until Ribbon pulled me up to my hooves.

"Then lets go." I followed after her, before she eventually stopped, and I bumped into her. What lay ajead of us was a large patch of blue flowers.

"Why are we stopping?"

Ribon points to the flowers. "Because of those."

"Whats so bad about flowers? Changelings allergic to them or something?" I tilt my head in confusion, waiting for an answer.

"Those flowers are a disgraceful trick. Everything is allergic to them."

"So it makes you all itchy?"

Ribbon begins a long winded explanation. "These magic flowers are called Poison joke. And are do just that, play a joke worse than Discord. Twilight and her friends touched these and she lost her magic for a day, Fluttershy's voice became deeper than Big macs, and Rarity's coat grew out ten time longer."

Natures attempt at trolling, got it. I open my wings. "Guess we go over it?"

"Don't. Fold them back in carefully, its the pollen that does it. We'll go around." I slowly fold my wings, and follow Ribbon around the field of Poison Joke. I see the top of the castle raising in the distance, when I notice something off about the ground...

"Hold on a sec..." I grab a branch in my hoof, and poke the ground in front of ribbon, only to trigger the pitfall trap, rendering it useless.

"Thank you." Ribbon turns to the guards. "Watch the ground for pitfalls and wires." With that, we begin maneuver through the trees, avoiding or setting the traps off prematurely.

Walking up to the doors, I couldn't help but mutter. "This is where it all started..." opening the doors, we were greeted to boxes, boxes everywhere.

"Search every box, find anything that useful!... Is something wrong, Chi?"

-This is where I entered this world, while I was still possessed by the Nightmare, and barely managed to fight it down long enough for the bearers to use their Elements on me...- I did in fact eventually get told what exactly transpired, but it makes me feel even worse knowing it did that with my body...

'So, this is a place of great emotional trauma?'

-Yeah... it still scares me what could have happened if things had gone differently...- something caught my eyes, and upon taking a closer look I realized it was... "You..." That damn toaster followed me here! I couldn't help but glare fiery death at it, as it's mere presence mocks me...

"What, a toaster?" I turn to look at Ribbon, and nod, before turning back to the toaster, and picking it up, before turning it over and shaking it, dislodging an extremely old piece of burnt toast, and a fork. Ribbon walks up and pokes the toast with her hoof.

"That was what I was preparing to eat, before the Nightmare surprised me, and caused me to electrocute myself..." A very horrifying thought hits me. "Please let this have been pulled through with me, and not be the sign of cross dimensional leakage..."

"I don't sense anything here." Wait, you're saying this has happened before?! On second thought, I don't want to know...

"My Queen, we have found something you may wish to look at!" One of the guards had rushed in an excited look in his eyes, carrying a chest full of blue paper... no way, blueprints!?

"Dibs!" I quickly retrieve the chest from the guard, and begin looking through the blueprints. Lets see, buildings, traps, armor... OHHH! Rifle schematics, and ones for a pistol as well! I couldn't help but grin like a maniac, and rub my hooves together like a Bond villain. "Soon..."

"Soon, what?" Ribbon had walked up to me, a trolling grin on her face.

Showing her the schematics, I grin even wider. "We can dramatically improve these, into a reliable weapon..."

She tilts her head, confused. "I mostly work with melee weapons, this is griffin design. how are we going to improve it?"

"You want the long version or the short version?"

"Short now, long later."

I grin even wider. "Make it much more accurate, improve the ammunition, and allow it to fire multiple shots before reloading."

"How?"

I inhale, preparing for a long explanation. "What we need to do, is build this with better materials, lengthen the barrel, add spiraling grooves to the barrels inside- that improves accuracy, add a scope, design bullet casings- basically it holds the bullet and some gun powder, and when you pull the trigger, it hits the back of the casing, igniting the gunpowder, and launching the bullet, modify the rifle design so that the spent shell can be ejected - we'll do bolt action at first, but we can eventually make it so the blowback from firing ejects the spent shell, and add a magazine, so when the spent shell is ejected, a fresh bullet is pulled up and into the firing chamber..." Ribbon just stares, her eyes beginning to drift until she is staring at me like Derpy. I'm American, I can be a gun nut if I want to.

"Uhhh Ribbon, you there?" I wave my hoof in her face, trying to get her attention. She shakes her head, and her eyes realine.

"What? Huh?"

"Did you even get what I said?" She shakes her head.

"Uh, no. What did you say?"

"First, we need to make better ammunition."

"Alright. What do we need for that?"

"Bullet casings- basically it holds the bullet and some gun powder, and when you pull the trigger, it hits the back of the casing, igniting the gunpowder, and launching the bullet." I pause. "Also, make the bullets more aerodynamic, spears don't work as well as you think they would."

"Not what I meant, Like copper, lead, iron?"

"Iron for the casing, the actual bullet is copper with a lead core. And gunpowder as the propellant, obviously."

"I'll stock up. I hope my supplier will still sell to me."

"Worse comes to worse, I can make my own materials, remember?"

"A hard, cold enchanted, material."

"This is important, we also need a way to eject the spent casings." I wish I could just show her... oh. I apply hoof to face. "Can't I just send the information over our link?"

"I forget we can do that. Because you're a pony I don't think of it."

Okay, bullets, bolt action rifles, full auto feed systems, basic firearm designs, and specifications on my favorite sniper rifle. I think thats everything I need to send...

"Uhhh. That's what you're going to make?"

"Trust me, this thing can punch through two or three feet of solid steel, and still be incredibly lethal... and we couldn't enchant stuff..."

"Peace through superior firepower?" The worry in her voice kills my excitement.

"Hey, I chose that one, not only because of its power, but its weight and recoil would make it incredibly difficult for most ponies to aim, let alone fire."

"But, look at the trigger," she holds up the rifle designs. "Most ponies already can't use it."

"Exactly, I don't mean to mass produce it, I only plan on making one."

"As long as we only make one. Something like this could take down a dragon."

I smile. Some think they can outsmart me... maybe... maybe... But I have yet to meet one who can outsmart bullet... "any idea on how long it will take?"

"I'll need to work my way up to it. I'll start with the, uhh, bolt-action." She closes the chest. "I'll work on this later once I get a shipment. The changelings have got all the valuables."

"What now?" So boredom, we meet again...

"We go back. I want that Poison Joke." Eh?

"For what, pranking Rainbow?"

"Something like that." I follow after Ribbon, thinking about what to do tomorrow.

When we return to the patch of Poison Joke, Ribbon levitates a jar from somewhere, and levitates a single flower into the jar, before sealing it. "Alright, got it. Ok, this is going to be my longest teleport, so hold onto your guts." Everything flashed green, and we arrived in the hive, my stomach threatening to evict its contents if disturbed any further.

Ribbon was panting from overexertion. "Everyling okay?" The guards all nod, before hauling the loot of to somewhere. My stomach settling, I yawned.

Ribbon nodded in agreement. "Come on, it's been a long day."

I look up at the ceiling, the massive amount of pods bringing a question to mind. "I've been wondering what its like to sleep in one of those..."

She tilted her head. "You want to sleep in one...?"

"Yeah, they look comfy..."

"See you in the morning."

Three drones walk over, and escort me to one, where I climbed inside, feeling myself sink into the gooey insides, and watched as I was sealed in and hung from the ceiling... If it weren't for the shift in gravity, I would never have been able tell that happened, as when the pod had sealed, all outside sound was cut off. I then realized that I was still breathing despite being completely immersed in this gel... Not gonna question how I can breath this goop. It felt warm, and I slowly drifted off to sleep...