Unnecessary Payback Time!
Sardonic winds of melancholy filled the empty vessels of Twilight Sparkle's heart as she sat on top of a hillside not far from the borderline of the Badlands. She stared off into the distance, gazing at the desert landscape that laid before her very eyes. She whispered something to herself, but the very words were drowned by the howls of the sad wind. Suddenly, she heard a scuffling noise nearby. She turned her head slightly and gazed at the green eyes of her old friend, Spike.
"Why are we here again?!" Spike shouted over the howls of the wind as he dragged a blue satchel in the sand.
Twilight smiled at Spike with a hint of good tidings in her eyes.
"We are here for something that I need to finish." She said.
"Something you haven't finished? Like what?!" Spike shouted over the wind as he opened the satchel and started digging through it.
"You'll find out soon enough, my dear Spike." Twilight cooed as she galloped over to the satchel and pulled out a purple scarf.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay now. I have a few questions: What exactly do you mean by that? Why on earth did you have to wake me up from my nap so you could drag me out here? What are you going to do with that scarf?, and why exactly did you call me a dear?" Spike questioned.
"You really want to know why?" Twilight sighed as she wrapped the scarf around her.
"Yes, please!" Spike yawned.
"Okay then. Well, when I said that you would find out soon enough I meant that this journey will be quick. I woke you up from your nap because the journey to get all the way from our castle to the Badlands would take hours, so we had to leave early. I am using this scarf so it can protect me from any sand storm. By the way, I packed you a green one in there. Oh, and I called you a dear because…it just adds to the mood. Come on, Spike, roll with it!" Twilight said.
Spike stared at Twilight with a hint of confusion in his gaze. He then slowly peered inside the satchel and slowly pulled out a green scarf and wrapped it around him.
"I'll…try my best." Spike said with an awkward stare.
"Good, because our journey begins now!" Twilight smiled as she picked up the blue satchel and trotted down the hill and toward the Badlands.
"Hey, wait for me! Boy, fire a bit for every time somepony's said that sentence." Spike sighed as he catched up to Twilight.
"Did you say something Spike?" Twilight asked as Spike now walked alongside her.
"Nope. I was just stating a cliche." Spike said.
"Ah, okay then. That's fine." Twilight replied as she looked forward at the landscape that lay before them.
"Yeah, yeah. It's fun to state the obvious. Speaking of which, mind telling me what or who we are going after?" Spike said quickly.
Twilight had suddenly stopped in her tracks. She then turned her head and gazed at Spike with a look of surprise on her face.
"How did you know that it was a who?" Twilight muttered.
"Ah, so it is a who!," Spike grinned. "Who exactly is it?"
"Nopony." Twilight quickly replied as she began walking again.
"You can't be serious. You dragged me out of bed and took me to an abandoned desert, and yet, you are still not going to tell me what it is we are going to do out here? That's crazy!" Spike exclaimed.
"This desert is not abandoned, Spike." Twilight chuckled as she looked to the dusty sky.
"Really now? Well then, that must mean that you are aware that the thing we are seeking for must be around here somewhere?" Spike asked.
"Indeed. I believe I have been referencing to that." Twilight answered.
"And the thing that is here is something that you intend on finishing?" Spike said.
"In a way." Twilight whispered.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Spike asked with a worried look.
"It means that I will carry out the unfinished task by finishing it through specific means." Twilight stated.
Spike kicked at the sand angrily as he threw one of his palms on top of his head.
"That's not what I meant. I was asking on what specific means you were going to do in order to finish the task. You see, now this is just getting too confusing for me." Spike grumbled.
"It shouldn't be too confusing for you, Spike. You are a very smart dragon, and I believe that you have the capacity to acquire a good level of robust vocabulary." Twilight complimented.
"Wow, you really think so? Thanks, Twilight." Spike smiled.
"Anytime." Twilight smiled back.
A long awkward moment of silence fell upon the two as the trekked further into the desert. Suddenly, a realization of truth had come to Spike.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Spike shouted.
"What? What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked.
"You threw me off there! You gave me a compliment so I could forget what I said earlier. You changed the subject!" Spike mumbled.
"Oh, Spike. There's no need to worry about what we are going up against in the first place! Besides,…when we get through with the problem, there will be no need to ever worry about it again." Twilight whispered.
"Oooookay then." Spike said quietly.
Suddenly, Twilight's hoof had reached out to where Spike was walking, causing him to cease his actions.
"What's the matter?" Spike asked.
"Keep your voice down." Twilight whispered.
"What for?" Spike whispered in reply.
"We are here…I can smell them…follow me." Twilight whispered as she started padding slowly over the sand.
Twilight and Spike crawled over the sand quietly as they reached to be what looked like a boulder. They then slowly crawled up on top of the boulder and gazed down upon a small collection of tents that were placed in the middle of a large sand pit. In the middle of the sand pit stood one big tent. On the very outside of the big tent was a camp fire with a black, equine-like creature with holes in its body that held a can of beans with their magic over the fire.
"Foods up, everyone." The creature spoke with a dark voice.
Suddenly, a small swarm of black, equine-like creatures came crawling out of their tents and gathered around the campfire.
"Queen Chrysalis, forgive me when I say this, but: I don't want beans tonight! I want real food! Darn it, we've been eating beans for the past year! The past year! We have no more love to eat, the tents are smelly, and this campfire has been our only source of light. Apart from the fact that we have the moon and the sun." One of the creatures retorted at the large creature.
"Well, what do you want me to do? Go raid Canterlot again? Look where stuff like that has gotten us!" Chrysalis snapped back.
"True, but we could of at least started out smaller first!" The creature replied.
"Like where? That pony village?" Chrysalis asked as she poured out the can of beans into a bowl.
"It would make much more sense. That place has a lot of love. In fact, I don't know where you got the idea to go to Canterlot. Sure, there was a wedding going on, but most of the civilians there are upper class snobs. The civilians in Ponyville are quite more kindred to each other. If you asked me, I should of lead the invasion and gone there!" The creature snapped back.
"Ha! Maybe you should of. I need a good laugh right now." Chrysalis smirked as she ate a spoonful of beans.
"So, these were the guys you were planning on going after? Hobo Changelings?" Spike whispered to Twilight as they sat on the rock.
"They need to be put out of their misery, Spike, or in other terms, they need to be even further away." Twilight explained.
"That would make sense. I guess." Spike sighed.
"Hey, who's up there!?" Queen Chrysalis shouted at Twilight and Spike.
"We've been spotted! Time to commence the sentencing." Twilight chuckled as she grabbed Spike by the arm and flew downwards onto the very ground of where Queen Chrysalis and her changelings stood.
"Ah, the purple one and the other purple one. How nice to see you again." Queen Chrysalis cooed as she took a bite of her beans.
"Save it, Chrysalis. We have come to exile you from Equestria." Twilight growled.
"Exile me?," Chrysalis said as she looked around. "…Oh, you have got to be kidding…"
"Spike, touch my forehead!" Twilight shouted all of a sudden.
"Whaaaat?!" Spike shouted.
"Just do it! Touch my forehead with your forehead." Twilight commanded.
"Um, okay then." Spike whispered as Twilight picked him up with her magic and and laid her forehead on his.
"By the power of my sister-in-law and my brother, I hereby replicate the power that they did unto these changelings. I sentence them to be exiled from all of Equestria!" Twilight shouted as she started rubbing her forehead up against Spike's.
"Twilight, I don't think that this is working!" Spike complained.
Twilight ceased rubbing Spike's forehead and looked around at the changelings that stood before them. Queen Chrysalis herself had a look of disappointment on her face.
"I'm more sad at seeing you attempt something like that than I am mad at you for spying on us. Just…please leave. Knowing on how desperate you are to get rid of us is just sad. You exiled us from Equestria alright. So, please go right now." Chrysalis sighed.
"Never!" Twilight growled as she shoot at the can of beans that was next to Chrysalis.
"My beans!" Chrysalis gasped as she watched the can fall to the ground with the beans pouring out on the sand.
"Let's go now, Spike. They've learned their lesson." Twilight smiled as she and Spike teleported out of the campsite.
"I…I…hate you." Chrysalis stuttered as she stared at the beans on the ground.
"I told you so," The changeling whined. "I could of lead us all to victory, but no! You had to go to the wedding! You didn't even get a slice of cake! I know you said you wouldn't partake in any cake, but still…"
"I…I…hate you." Chrysalis repeated.
§
A sudden burst of purple energy erupted on top of a hillside near the border of the Badlands. Twilight Sparkle and Spike had now arrived back to where their journey through the desert had begun.
"Why couldn't we have just teleported back to home?" Spike asked in confusion.
"Because my teleportation spell can not reach that far." Twilight explained.
"Likely story." Spike whispered to himself quietly.
"I heard that." Twilight snapped as she took off her scarf and placed it in the blue satchel.
"Heh, sorry about that. In my defense, what you did back there was really crazy." Spike replied.
"They have learned their lesson, Spike." Twilight smiled.
"And what lesson is that?" Spike asked curiously.
A long pause had followed. Twilight looked back at the Badlands and smiled. A hint of wisdom was in her eyes.
"That no matter how bad of conditions you are living in, there is bound to be someone who will find your mistakes in life and tear you down even more." Twilight cooed.
"That…actually makes sense." Spike said as they began their journey back home.
