Queen Chrysalis was sitting on Twilight's throne, levitating in front of her a black chalice filled with a green drink, which she was slowly drinking, savoring its sweet, yet bitter flavor; the taste of the unconditional love she received from her subjects, distilled and turned into a tasty drink. It couldn't sate her craving for raw love, but she enjoyed that love drink quite a lot.

"I think I'm starting to get addicted to this." the Queen thought with a chuckle while looking up at the two cocoons hanging from the ceiling. The first had a white unicorn mare inside it, slumbering peacefully. The second had a purple and green baby dragon; he was awake, but couldn't move a single part of his body, with the exception of his eyeballs.

"Your Highness!" a Changeling wearing a dark purple armor said before landing in front of her and saluting. "We just received a message from the outposts. There's an intruder coming from above! According to them, it's some sort of... Demon!"

The Queen just smiled before sipping her drink again. "I knew that Earth Pony was going to come after his lover. I also expected him to use the Slave of the Bracelet to bring him here."

"If you already expected him to come, does that mean you have a plan?"

"I always have a plan, Captain! Now send a message to the outposts. Tell them to activate... The Swarm!"

The drone nodded and saluted before leaving the castle. Chrysalis finished her drink and placed her chalice on the armrest of the throne. She looked up at the baby dragon with a smile on her face.

"Fearing for your friend's life, infant? You should. There's no way he is going to survive The Swarm! And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a little something that needs to be done."

She then left the throne room, leaving Spike behind, who was struggling as hard as he could, but without being able to move a single inch.

* * *

Braeburn was standing on the upper back of the Slave of the Bracelet with a serious expression on her face, staring at the horizon, hoping for the castle to appear on his field of vision. Apple Bumpkin was sitting on his lower back, looking down at the ground several feet below them.

"I'm coming for you, Twilight!" he thought. "Just hang on a little longer."

"The Wasteland is soooo boring..." Apple Bumpkin said with a frown. "If we weren't on a rescue mission, Ah wouldn't have asked to come along, simply because o' this trip." she looked at her brother and sighed. "And mah own brother is so focused on watchin' out for his castle that he won't even talk to me." she looked down one more time and arched an eyebrow. "What the...? Hey, big bro!"

"..."

"Big bro?"

"..."

"Braeburn!"

"..."

She took a deep breath and approached her muzzle to his ear.

"BRAEBURN!"

He finally reacted, turning his head to look at his sister. "Yes, sis?"

"Finally, a reaction! Anyway, look down."

Braeburn did as he was told and looked at the ground, seeing several green, glowing dots.

"Mister of the bracelet!"

"Yes, Master?" the Slave of the Bracelet asked.

"Do ya know what in tarnation are those?"

His eyes widened when he looked down. "Anti-Magic Crystals!"

"Are those a problem?"

"Big problem, Master! They attack any source of magic, including myself. They are going to try to shoot us down. Hang on, for this flight is about to get really bumpy!"

Braeburn and Apple Bumpkin wrapped their forelegs around the arms of the Slave of the Lamp, who started to fly in zigzag as the green crystals started to shoot green beams of energy at them. He managed to dodge most of the attacks, but the few ones that managed to hit him were hurting him, making him slow down.

"I-I can't hold on much longer... I'm sorry, Master."

More anti-magic beams hit his body. After a few more hits, the Slave of the Lamp lost his consciousness and started to fall.

"Ah don't wanna die!" Apple Bumpkin shouted.

* * *

"...And now we're here." Celetia said, finishing to tell everything that happened. "Now that you all know what happened, will you help us rescue Twilight and the others?"

"Reckon course!" Applejack said. "One o' mah best friends an' mah cousin can be in major danger, Ah have to help 'em."

"I agree with AJ!" Rainbow Dash said, flapping her wings. "Nopony foalnaps our friend and gets away with it."

"She saved us so many times, now it's time to return the favor." Rarity said, smoothing her mane with a foreleg.

"And on top of that, she is also our ruler!" Fluttershy said quietly. "South Equestria needs her to watch over us."

"Intriguing..." Pinkie Pie said, looking down while scratching her chin. "Alright, everypony, I got this! We need an armadillo, a chess piece and a cart! Don't worry, Princess, we won't mess this up."

"Well, I can get those things you asked, but what--"

"Don't worry about it, Princess!" Applejack said, both her and Rainbow Dash covering Pinkie Pie's muzzle.

"Yeah, just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie."

"If you say so..." the Princess said, going back to her golden chariot and pointing at a second carriage. "Now, please, hurry up. Time is crucial!" the five mares climbed on the second chariot.

"Where are we going, Your Majesty?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm going to Canterlot. I left a few royal business unfinished when I came here. But you're going to the location in the map Prince Braeburn sent us. I'm counting on the five of you! I will join you once everything in my castle is done."

"And we won't let you down, Princess Celestia!" Rarity said with determination.

Celestia smiled. "I know you won't."

The four pegasus Royal Guards flapped their wings and took off. Celestia's chariot went east and the Elements of Harmony's chariot went south.

"Y'all gals better be ready." Applejack said, adjusting her hat on her head.

"Yeah, you heard the Princess!" Ranbow Dash said. "We have no idea of what's in there!"

"I'm Super-Duper-Super Ready!" Pinkie said, polishing her Party Cannon. "No, wait!" she grabbed a cupcake from inside the cannon and ate it in a single bite. "Tummy full. Now I'm ready!"

"I just hope they're all ok..." Fluttershy said.

Rarity wrapped a foreleg around her friend. "We all do, Fluttershy!"

"We will be there in no time, then we're gonna kick flanks and bring our friends home. Isn't that right, fillies?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Right!" the five said at the same time.

"Then let's speed this thing up!" Rainbow Dash placed herself between the Royal Guards to help them pull the carriage, making it fly twice as fast.

* * *

Twilight woke up when she heard the sound of the door of her cell being opened. Queen Chrysalis was standing there with somepony lying on her back.

"Hello again, Princess! I brought you a roomate." the Changeling Queen levitated the pony on her back and dropped him in front of Twilight. "I found him snooping around."

Twilight gasped and helped the pony up.

"Braeburn!" she said, hugging him; his hat and jacket were missing and he had fetters on both his forelegs and hindlegs, but it was definitely him.

"Ah... Ah'm sorry, Twi... Ah... Ah failed ya..."

"It's ok, Braeburn. It's ok. We're going to get out of here!"

"I'd like to see you try." Chrysalis said, locking the cell door again and leaving the dungeon once again.

"Ah was goin' to save ya, Twi, an' now Ah'm a prisoner too..."

Twilight only held her loved Braeburn close to her, finding solace in the warmth of his body. "Don't worry, we will find a way out. Together!"

Braeburn hugged her back. "Yes, Twilight." since she was hugging him, she wasn't able to see his eyes flash green. "Together!"

Author's Note

Fact about me: I love references. There are, like, uh, a gajillion of them in my fanfics! Can you find all of them?

And why not read this fanfic while listening to this?: