Author's Note

This one's a little shorter than usual, but there isn't much to discuss here. It's LITERALLY just a rest stop for the heroes.

Skull Castle Rest Stop

The team had stopped in the room where they had defeated Bass. Most of the organic beings hadn't slept for at least 20 hours, leaving the robots to keep them guarded, which they had no objections to. It gave them a little time to catch up, even though they were in incredible danger.

"So Bass, how exactly did you get infected with Roboenza's prototype in the first place?" Mega asked. "Remember, we all caught that disease, but we were able to be cured."

"Alright, I'll run you down on what happened." Bass said. "And...uh...this is kinda strange, but do you mind if I do it in song? I just feel like it would be easier to do."

"Go for it, Bass."

"Whatever..."

"I travelled through the fortress, hoping I could end this,
But I underestimated what I was to witness.
Wily's capsule cloned itself and I was fighting two,
I never noticed one was fake 'til I remembered fighting you.

My Bass Buster was spraying and I was silent praying,
Hitting Wily wasn't easy, but I kept on playing,
I contacted the fake, it's head began to shake,
And released Roboenza on me in it's natural state."

"When you finally took him down, you couldn't help but frown,"

"I felt something was wrong with me but I couldn't think how.
He caught a fever then, I took him back to base,
He left behind the cure for Roboenza and escaped!

But I couldn't help but feel...like I was out of mind,
I ran some diagnostics but the virus failed my sight!"

"And over time it crawled through systems, making you go mad,"

"When it was done, Wily would have me under his command!"

"Why did I start singing along with you, Bass?" Mega asked after they'd finished.

"Don't know, but I'd rather you didn't. Your singing voice sucks." Bass answered in the savage way he was used to, earning a wry chuckle from Proto Man.

"Bass, you're a cool guy. It's funny to say that, but you are." Proto Man followed up. "I sure hope Wily's next robot is a bit more loyal to him!" he joked, getting the three of them laughing.

"Heh. You're not so bad yourself, Blues." Bass responded, shortly before his built-in communications device began vibrating. "That'll be Wily checking to see if I beat you. If you can hear me, everypony play dead!" he commanded, and everyone did as they were told before Bass picked up.

"Bass! How come I haven't heard back from you recently?" Wily demanded.

"Wily! Uh...kinda long battle I had to get through." Bass answered nervously. He was feeling a little hot under the collar.

"Well, I suppose you were able to terminate our intruders?"

"Of course, doc. Allow me to show you." Bass replied before turning on his first-person camera and showing Wily a little false footage.

"Brilliant. Well, I suppose I can let you stay down there a little while, but I need you back up here before the bomb goes off."

"Can do!"

"See you then, Bass." Wily said before hanging up.

"OK, we're in the clear." Bass signalled. "You guys can get up if you want to." The robots immediately got back to their feet, as did Starlight and Applejack.

"Hoo-wee! This Wily sounds meaner than a...um...yeah, I got nothin'." Applejack said. "I don't got no countryisms when it comes to humans. And humanoids, for that matter."

"Well, yeah, Wily sucks. That's why I went against him one time, and actually won!" Bass claimed.

"We all beat Wily that time. Don't ask why we all had a go at him, but...yeah." Mega stated, before looking down on Diamond. His genes had been able to reconfigure themselves and he was no longer becoming the pony he was inside. "Yo, Diamond. You're good, let's go." he said, but Diamond remained asleep. Everyone else awoke, however, and were ready to move on when Twilight overheard something. It sounded like...singing.

"Is that...Diamond...singing?" she asked herself a little louder than anticipated.

"Sounds like it." Applejack responded. "What you say we listen for a bit before we try to wake him again?"

"It couldn't hurt. I guess we can spare some time." Bass said. "Besides, a song's always welcome." They had to use a voice modulator to get the words out properly, but they went sort of like this:

"If I'm a diamond
Then why do I feel so rough?
I'm as strong as a stone
Even that's not enough,

There's something jagged in me
And I've made such mistakes,
I thought that diamonds were hard
Though I feel I could break,

Would you believe~,
That I've always wished I could be somepony else?
Yet I can't see~,
What I need to do to be the pony I want to be...

I've been told my whole life
What to do, what to say,
Nopony showed me that
There might be some better way,

And now I feel like I'm lost
I don't know what to do,
The ground is sinking away
I'm about to fall through,

Would you believe~,
That I've always wished I could be somepony else?
Yet I can't see~ee,
What I need to do to be the pony I want to be...

To be the pony I want to be..."

"So...beautiful." Bass said. "I never knew Diamond could sing so well. Kinda like somepony else in the room," he shot a quick glance at Fluttershy.

"I will admit, it's brilliant. But...do you mind, Twilight?" Mega said, requesting that Twilight auto-tune him, which she did.

"I don't like the look of this." Proto Man said, standing WELL back.

"DIAMOND! TIME'S RUNNING OUT!" Mega yelled in a MUCH more menacing tone. Diamond sprang awake in an instant, his Buster supposedly at the ready.

"Huh? Wha? Who's there?" he said, still partially asleep. Blinking a little bit, he was forced back to reality, following up by saying: "Oh, right. Timer. Let's move!" They decided to just follow Diamond's commands and everyone followed him through the corridor that would lead to the peak, with Bass and Mega sticking behind for a sec.

"Should we tell him about his sleep-singing?" Bass asked.

"Probably not. Who knows what would happen?" Mega replied.

"Good point. Let's catch up with the others." Bass said, before the two sprinted forward to follow the other nine.