War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

The trio examined the rest of the area. There were no more living craw. The only things in the room were rails, columns, rocks, dirt, scrap metal, a mine cart, and a portal to another realm. Pinkie was studying the swirling energy and light from the portal, Twilight was taking pieces out of the craw to study for later, and Rainbow Dash was fiddling with her armor and guns. After Twilight picked up all of the components she needed, and Pinkie finished her examination, the trio regrouped.

Pinkie fixed her mane to cover the obvious laser holes and smiled a little more. "From what I know, this leads to these creatures' world. I think we should be absopositively sure that we are ready." She glanced back at the portal and thought a little more about what was on the other side. "They could've also toughened up from us just waiting around here. If we want to save our friend, we need to do it now!"

Rainbow Dash shot up into the air for a second then came back down. Twilight agreed as she prepared a barrier spell. The trio entered the portal in determination. Whatever was on the other side would not prevail. These three have already been through so much, and they will not fall easily.

The light and shape of the room shifted as the trio entered the portal. Dirt and stone walls converted into metal and wires. All evidence of torches disappeared as light panels took their place. Rainbow Dash suddenly felt like she was thousands of feet into the air. A few craw crawled towards the trio in suspicion. After the shifting halted, the three readied everything they needed one more time.

"Are these the perpetrators, commander?" the lightning craw asked roughly.

The com craw on the other side answered, "These are definitely the vile monsters. Kill them and trace their heritage. I would like to give their families a 'visit'."

Rainbow Dash fired upon the commander as it said that last word. The com craw broke into pieces as it was immediately annihilated, leaving the lightning craw to itself. It attempted to charge an electric blast, but Pinkie rushed in and smashed the craw to pieces. Two bumps in the ground quickly rose and scanned the area. Once they locked onto the trio, they fired a continuous line of lasers. Rainbow Dash hovered behind them and attacked from behind. That one attack caused them to swiftly retreat into their holes. Twilight tried to use her magic to rip them out, but they were surprisingly strong. The turrets popped out again and fired in the other direction towards Rainbow. She dodged and attacked the two turrets again, sending them back into their holes a second time.

"I think we should just leave them there," Twilight said in conclusion. "They'll just continue to attack us forever."

The other two ponies agreed and continued to cautiously walk down the hallway. Once they reached a T-junction hallway with one left path and a straight path, four craw entered the scene. Two of them were air craw and the other two were fire craw. Rainbow Dash fired at the air craw, destroying one and slightly damaging the other. The fire craw sprayed their flames onto Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, slightly roasting them and catching them on fire as the flames danced around their bodies. Twilight used her magic once again to douse the flames and charged a magical wave. The surviving air craw fired at Twilight in hope to stop her interference with the battle. She easily dodged the straight line and activated the spell. The two fire craw temporarily shut down from the blast, and Rainbow and Pinkie wailed on them. The robots were nothing but scrap after a few hits from the two ponies.

The air craw above used its unique gust ability to push them back. The ponies slid on the floor as the powerful wind pushed them further and further away. Twilight fired a magic blast straight at the craw and destroyed it in midair. The broken pieces scattered onto the floor in random areas. The trio regrouped and studied the hallways.

"Where do we go?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "We can't explore the entire base unless you want to be eventually shot from one these punks."

Travis examined the area, but his digital maps were too fuzzy. "I can't get a good idea on where you three need to go. Check your surroundings for any ideas."

Twilight peered down the hallways. She saw a few craw at the left end hold a human in restraints. The craw walked to a nearby cell and threw the person in it. If these creatures had her friend, that was the right way to go. She looked down the straight path to be sure if it was the right way. It ended at a door that led to an exterior landing platform. She pointed her left hoof toward the left end as she finalized the choice. "That way," she said somewhat quietly. "Those guards are next to a few cells, so our friend must be that way."

The three craw detected the trio when they heard their hoofsteps and wing flapping. One of the craw was much larger than the two lightning craw beside it. This master craw wielded a laser machine gun and a electro-bomb cannon. The master craw immediately fired a barrage of laser blasts at the left side of the hallway. Rainbow Dash flew right below the ceiling and gunned down one of the smaller craw. The other lightning craw blasted a strike of electricity at her, partially paralyzing her wings. She fell to the ground with a thud as she lost feeling in her wings.

"Hah, you call that a soldier?" the lightning craw mocked. "GEST Corp. has stronger privates than your pegasus trash!"

The master draw shifted its weight as it glared down at Rainbow Dash. "Nighty night, you murderer."

The master craw raised its cannon arm at her. As the cannon charged, Twilight threw multiple magical blasts at the craw. They staggered back and lost focus. Rainbow Dash got back up and galloped away from danger. She rubbed her wings as if they still had some feeling and swore at the craw in anger. Pinkie leaped over to the lightning craw and smashed a spiked hoof onto its head. The craw fell apart as it burst into a lightning storm. Pinkie was thrown back by the knockback, tumbling onto the ground as she landed. Twilight fired a few more magical blasts at the master craw. The craw backed away a little, but it soon fired an electro-bomb that was aimed directly for Twilight. She dived to the left before the bomb exploded in that area.

Pinkie quickly leaped back to the craw and climbed on its back. She attempted to rip it apart, but the craw shoved her off after flailing its arms over its head. Pinkie climbed back on it again and ripped the head off of the master craw. The giant body plummeted into the ground and twitched with crackling electricity. Twilight looked at the various cells in the area. Only a few of them held prisoners, and none of them were familiar to her. The human from earlier was sharpening a knife in the corner. He only glared back at the pony in a desire for bloodlust. Frightened from the encounter, Twilight continued down the hall. She noticed a humanoid creature with yellow skin and eyeballs that growled at her ravenously. It's mouth was filled with fangs and a forked tongue. It's human hands were replaced with wicked claws, and its feet were three-toed talons. The creature snarled and dripped its yellow blood on the ground as it breathed heavily. Twilight backed away slowly to avoid any more contact with the creature.

Twilight eventually signaled her friends to follow her. She approached a door and read the words pasted on it. "Dreadnought Prison Sector for Vital Prisoners. Our friend might be in here if none of these other cells have them."

Rainbow Dash realized another outcome. "They might also be, dead." She shuddered at the thought of one of her friends dying by these creatures.

"Well, let's find out!" Pinkie exclaimed as she slammed the door open. A large room that could fit multiple tanks was revealed. Cells lined the walls from the right and left sides of the room. Two big doors were placed on both ends of the room, possibly allowing entry for bigger machinery. A few of the prisoners were sitting in their cells while tinkering with various materials. Some of them looked at the trio in surprise, but they quickly dropped their expression soon after. One lonely, yellow pegasus sat in a corner in one of the cells. They sobbed as they held down their head in fear. When it heard the trio trot up to the cell in suspicion, it quickly glanced at them like a frightened and curious animal.

"Are, are you three really here?" the still shivering pegasus asked through its quivering voice.

Rainbow Dash gasped in horror. Her wings unfurled quickly as she regained feeling in them. "Fluttershy! How did they get to you?"

Fluttershy was still recollecting herself as she spoke once again. "I, I was hiding in the Everfree Forest, when all of a sudden, these spider things caught me!" She cried into her hooves again a little louder this time. "I never thought I'd see you girls again. They kept on calling me a necessity to their plan, and I still don't know what they mean."

Rainbow Dash figured out what that phrase meant. "They're probably interested in the pegasus form. I don't mean in like a loving way, I mean that in a war based form. Have they been studying your wings?"

Fluttershy nodded a yes. "Also, can you please let me out?"

Twilight grinned sheepishly as she pulled open the door with her magic. Fluttershy trotted out of the cell and reunited with her three friends. She then noticed the absence of two other ponies.

has been added to your party.

"Where are Rarity and Applejack?" She asked curiously.

Rainbow Dash inched a little closer to her. "We're not too sure. I think they're like you in some other cage or whatnot."

The giant door to their left unlocked and slowly opened. The four ponies jumped in surprise as a hulking machine crawled into the prisoner room. The machine carried four different weapons and was accompanied by six craw. There were two fire craw, two chain craw, and two lightning craw. The weapons the machine held at the end of its arms were an electro scattergun, a laser machine gun, a fire cannon, and a wind blower with a chainsaw blade at its end. A giant tank was strapped to the back of the machine, and two huge panel on its chest. A big head was attached to the top of the machine. As it scanned the four ponies, it released a mechanical and booming voice.

"Well, hello you little killers," it spoke with a grim and sadistic voice. "I've heard from the grapevine about your species. More specifically," –the machine pointed at Twilight Sparkle with its laser gun arm– "you. I've heard about the different possible and already occurred events that other species are talking about. These other events are usually linked to you, and I don't enjoy that. A creature like you shouldn't exist. In fact, all of your damn species shouldn't even be alive right now!" The machine calmed himself. "Anyway, I know how probable magic is in the humans' and kavarians' universe. Your species is rather, unique compared to anything that has evolved in any universe." The machine examined the pegasus wings and the unicorn horn of the group. "However, I believe a species like you is too powerful to exist. These, what do you call them, ponies, are far too much of a focal point to competing armies. That is why I'm going to kill you four and your entire planet."

A challenger approaches: Craw Machine Mk 7, supposed leader of the Aerial Brigade

The machine ordered the craw to surround the newly created quartet. Rainbow Dash slammed her two front hooves into two chain craw, damaging them both severely. Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and shredded the two lightning craw and a fire craw with it. All three of them were obliterated in the blast radius. The last working craw kept its distance and blasted fireballs at the four ponies. Twilight threw a few magic blasts at the craw and destroyed it. The two chain craw were blasted to bits by Rainbow's guns. The giant machine was rather impressed with the ponies' effectiveness in battle, but that only supported its reason to kill all of them.

The machine slowly crawled up to the quartet and positioned itself. Pinkie tried one of her leaps to latch onto the machine and destroy it, but her move failed when the machine used the wind blower to shoot her into a nearby wall. Rainbow Dash fired at the machine with her guns, but it was not even the slightest bit damaged after the laser barrage. The machine raised its laser gun and fired a storm of lasers. Fluttershy ducked under the fire while Twilight deflected the lasers back at the machine. Rainbow Dash flew over the gunfire and slammed into the machine's head. It didn't even dent the slightest bit.

Twilight was feeling a little hopeless from her and her friends' futile attacks. "Travis, is there anything we can do to stop this thing?"

"I have no clue," Travis answered in haste. "All of the documents I have on the craw do not talk about a certain weakness. The only thing I have is that the metal is somewhat weak to acidic materials.

"But we don't have anything like that!" Rainbow Dash responded with a snarl. "Is there anything else that can actually help us?"

Travis searched through his digital notes as the machine sprayed fire into the room. "No, I can't find anything else on weaknesses. You'll have to experiment with what you know."

Pinkie was now sitting in the back of the fight while staring up at the ceiling. Fluttershy found a wall that she could hide behind, and Rainbow Dash was constantly kicking and punching the machine to do something. It was still unharmed and continued to worsen the battlefield for the four ponies. Pinkie was still looking at the ceiling, but her face shifted to a curious expression. Twilight was confused on what she was doing and decided to ask her about her activity.

"Pinkie," Twilight started while dodging and blocking various projectiles, "what are you doing now?"

"I'm trying to see if I can catch that move," Pinkie responded with her eyes locked on the ceiling. She didn't even look over to Twilight.

"What move?" Twilight asked in a more confused manner. The blasts and lasers of the machine still pelted her barrier.

"The one up there! I think I can catch it!"

Twilight rolled her eyes as she did not see the move where Pinkie was talking about. "You go ahead. I'll just experiment on this thing for a while."

Pinkie Pie then jumped up to the ceiling and held onto a text box with various numbers and words. She fell back down to the ground and ripped the text box apart. At the same time she did that, the machine was readying a lightning blast. However, when it attempted to fire the cannon, only a single beep was produced. The machine fired again and again, but only constant beeps poured out of the cannon.

"Why isn't my gun working?" the machine growled in frustration. "I know that it works perfectly fine!"

"So that's what that move was!" Pinkie exclaimed in joy.

Twilight looked at Pinkie with a wide mouth of shock. "How did you do that?"

"It was simple! I just took the boss's move and destroyed it! Since it doesn't have that move in its roster anymore, it can't use it!"

Travis's mouth gaped wide as he examined the scene. "That's, amazing! I don't know what you just said, but whatever you did was spectacular!"

The machine screamed in rage as it fired a stream of dancing flames. Rainbow Dash flew over it again, but she landed near Fluttershy this time.

"Hey, we need your support out here." Rainbow Dash calmly demanded as she shook Fluttershy with her front right hoof. "Can you cheer for me again? I might be able to hurt something if you cheer while I bash that monster."

Fluttershy got up to her hooves and spoke softly. "I'll help out. I'm not going to fight that, thing though."

"It's alright. You don't need to do that anyway."

Rainbow Dash took off into the air as Fluttershy entered the battle zone. She inhaled deeply as she prepared to cheer. "Go Rainbow Dash." Her voice was still soft and small.

Rainbow was almost sliced in half as a chainsaw swung around her body. "Fluttershy, cheer louder! I can't get motivated by a whisper!" The same chainsaw swung at her again and chopped off a sliver of her tail.

"Alright, I'll do better this time," Fluttershy spoke in a calm voice. She inhaled again, preparing to cheer once more. "Go Rainbow Dash!"

Her cheer filled Rainbow with determination and power. She hovered to the back of the machine and repeatedly punched the tank. There were no dents, but then she realized something. Metal draws electricity towards it. This machine is made out of metal, and a machine can become useless if they are exposed to too much electricity. She forged a storm cloud and kicked it towards the machine's head. A huge bolt of lightning struck the metal head, damaging the machine moderately.

"Agh, what was that?" The machine turned around and swung both a chainsaw and a stream of fire at Rainbow Dash. She darted back quickly and fired a stream of lasers at the machine. The lightning worked, but lasers still don't. She needs to keep using electricity on this machine if she wants to destroy it quickly.

"You found its weakness!" Pinkie hopped up and down while waiving her forelegs in excitement. "Now, keep on using that on that big meanie!"

"Meanie?" the machine stated in an offended manner. "I'm a savior to the future universes! Your species is not supposed to exist, and I don't care what you four have to say about it!"

A gust of wind blew back all of the ponies near Fluttershy's old cell. The machine scuttled forward as a chainsaw revved. Twilight fired a magic blast and bounced the chainsaw back a bit. The quartet scrambled around the machine to avoid any collateral damage to their group. Rainbow Dash surged electricity through her storm cloud to the machine's head again. Parts of the machine twitched violently as the extra energy fried its components. Attempting to destroy Rainbow Dash, the machine fired a barrage of lasers into the air. It missed completely. Fluttershy cheered a little louder, and she urged Twilight and Pinkie to join. All three of them shouted Rainbow's name as she conjured another storm cloud. She slammed the cloud into the machine head once more, destroying all of the locomotive functions. The machine collapsed onto the ground and whirred loudly.

The machine's head swiveled over to face the four ponies. "Wh- why do you vermin re- resist death? Don't you all kn- know that your world's existence thr- threatens all other worlds?"

"Why do you keep calling us vermin?" Rainbow Dash stomped her hooves to ground furiously.

"Because, that is exactly what you four are. I on- only wanted to advert a deadly crisis. If you all continue down th- this path, everything and everyone will die. Nothing left will exist."

Rainbow Dash growled at the machine. "Stop bluffing and tell us why you really wanted to kill us!"

"That is the truth. I know th- that someone will rise. When they do, you will be warned once. After you ig- ignore that warning, your world will fall apart. Please, end Equestria be- before they end everything." The machine's voiced trailed off as it repeated that last phrase. "End Equestria, before, they end, everything..." The machine's lights and voice died out as steam collected above the machine.

Craw Machine Mk 7 has been defeated!

Fluttershy was panicking a little. "What, what did it mean that our world will die?"

"I don't know," Twilight answered in speculation, "but I don't think it's lying."

"Oh, come on!" Pinkie was looking at Twilight irritably. "It was obviously scaring us! Do you really think it cares for other worlds?"

"I'm not sure either," Travis started calmly, "but you four need to leave this ship. I'm detecting a huge array of craw closing in on your location."

Rainbow Dash readied her guns and flew near the exit. The other three ponies soon followed. Fluttershy was in the back, hoping to avoid any serious conflicts. Once the door opened, seven craw scattered into the room. Four chain craw immediately swung their chainsaws at Twilight and Fluttershy. All of them missed, but three air craw hovered over the quartet to gun down all of the ponies. Rainbow Dash fired at two of the air craw, destroying them in the process. Two chain craw sliced at Pinkie and actually hit her. One of the chainsaws cut into her left cheek and created a bloody gash. The other chain craw ripped a piece of her flesh in her left hind leg, slightly crippling her. She limped away from the two craw as she cried a little and attempted to take the pain. Her wounds felt like burning fire as the air rubbed on them. Twilight fired a magic blast straight through both of the craw, also destroying them in the process.

"Pinkie, eat one of your treats!" Twilight ordered in fear.

Pinkie quickly took a orange and yellow cupcake and ate it. Her open wounds closed up as new skin and muscle entered the injuries. She felt better too, but the other two chain craw weren't happy with her mending.

"Great, they're repairing themselves now?" one of the chain craw shouted in frustration. "Well, let's see if you can fix a severed head!"

Pinkie suddenly punched the craw's head and pushed a chainsaw into its body. The craw fell apart while the other crawled towards her. An air craw flew around Pinkie and aimed for her head. Rainbow Dash rammed into the air craw at the last second to stop a fatal move. The air craw lost its control and was smashed into bits when it hit a nearby wall. Rainbow then fired at the chain craw and destroyed it. The four ponies regrouped once more and funneled into the hallway.

What awaited them was two master craw with their electro-bomb cannons primed. Twilight activated a deflect spell and rebounded the two bombs. The craw shut down and fell apart as electricity fried their components into useless scrap. The ponies galloped down the hall and took a left. Eleven Lightning Craw's awaited them, all of them already firing blasts of electricity.

"Woah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she and her friends retreated to the hall wall. "That's way too much electricity for me!"

Twilight pondered the situation thoroughly. "I can use a deflect spell again, but that'll drain my magic for a little while. Pinkie and Rainbow, you'll have to go behind the swarm and attack them from there."

"Gotcha!" Pinkie chirped as she examined the squadron of craw. Rainbow Dash fired upon the craw while she flew to the back, and Twilight distracted them while using a deflect spell. Multiple lightning bolts struck the craw and caused massive bursts of electricity. Rainbow Dash had to almost hug the ceiling to avoid the deadly electricity from below. Fluttershy stood behind the wall and only watched her friends fight the craw. Twilight deactivated her spell after all of the craw fell apart and stopped exploding.

Rainbow Dash peered over to the right hallway in the T-junction. "That's the last of them for now."

The three ponies still on the ground galloped over to the portal entrance. Before they could leave the ship, fire blasts pelted the wall right in front of them. Dozens of craw were closing in fast, and they were all of the types the quartet battled. Fire craw, chain craw, lightning craw, air craw, com craw, and master craw flooded the hallway. Rainbow Dash fired at the swarm while the four ponies traveled through the portal. The craw staggered a little, but they only accelerated as Rainbow Dash dissipated from the journey.

•—————•

The four ponies arrived back at the mine. It looked the exact same as it was before. Craw still littered the ground, and torches still delivered light to the group. Travis was becoming weary of the entire army that was heading their way, so he decided to pressure the quartet.

"You better get out of here right now," Travis warned with speed. "There's a drop ship outside right now, but that army will destroy it if they catch up to you."

The four ponies galloped again to the exit. They bucked support beams and encouraged cave-ins as they fled the mines. The recently teleported craw climbed and blasted their way through the obstacles, and they were almost right behind the four ponies. A closer chain craw swung a chainsaw at Fluttershy to rip her hind legs apart, but it missed by a few inches. The four ponies galloped faster and faster until they finally reached the exit. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash destroyed the last two support beams. The entire entrance was closed off as multiple boulders and bundles of dirt slammed into the horde. The mine grew quiet as the craw were crushed under the collapse.

A drop ship was purring in the distance. The pilot from inside the ship signaled the ponies to enter the ship. The quartet trotted over to the ship and sighed in relief. Fluttershy was still scared and confused from craw stampede. "Are those things going to take us again?" she asked in fear.

The pilot turned to her and answered in a soothing voice. "Those things aren't going to get you. You're perfectly safe here."

Fluttershy shrieked as she stared at the pilot. "Gah! What is that thing?"

Rainbow Dash glanced at her and put a hoof on her back. "That's a human. They don't hurt, and they're pretty friendly." Rainbow Dash's voiced changed to a beg. "Please don't do that around them again. They may be nice, but I don't know how they'll act if you do that to another one."

"No worries, pegasus," the pilot responded cheerfully. "We get people like that sometimes when we clean up terrorist missions."

Pinkie's ears shot up in intent. "What do you mean, terrorist missions?"

"Well, they're attacks on cities and towns that involve killing the locals. I believe all of you were involved in the Invasion of Ponyville, right?" All of them nodded in agreement. "Alright, then. The missions we go through involve more, inhuman acts. We've seen suicide bombers kill themselves to knock down an entire skyscraper. I've even personally seen civilians get bombs stabbed into their spine and forced to run into crowds of people. Those terrorists that plan those attacks are sick in the head, and that's why we deal with them."

Pinkie almost regurgitated from the thought of somepony getting some sort of device implanted into their body and exploding in front of a crowd. "Thank you, for the gracious detail." She didn't feel thankful at all. She felt disgusted and punished.

The pilot turned back to the controls sheepishly. Twilight helped comfort Pinkie a little after that scene, and Rainbow Dash was looking out into the landscape. They were going back to Ponyville, and a few other drop ships were flying with them too. Inside of those drop ships looked like the ED soldiers that GEST Corp. recently released onto the battlefield. What are those guys doing here? she thought to herself. I don't remember seeing them on the battlefield. If they're traveling with us, then what's happening?

Her questions were about to be answered as they touched down onto the familiar soil of Ponyville.