"Dear Customers and patrons of Mane Melody!"

"It is unfortunate that we must break the news that our store will be closed for the next three days, this is due to staff absences and unforeseen inconveniences coming up that have forced us to close temporarily."

"But don't you worry fans, we will soon be open again for business and appointments as soon as possible, for the Mane Melody is the one place you can have the finest mane styling, most beautiful hoof polishing, and the catchiest karaoke anywhere in Equestria!"

"Hope to see you soon fellow Mane Melodians!"

Jazz Hooves ❤

This note had been posted on the door to the Mane Melody building, and a familiar pony with a pale yellow coat, pink hair with green ribbons had been reading it, before walking off in a huff, mumbling under her breath something regarding Pegasi being bad, it seems somepony had still not come around to the idea of Pegasi living with Earth Ponies, but that's a story for another time.

ACT 3

It was a mild and grim morning in the Bridlewood Forest, a constant sea of thick grey clouds hung across the sky like a blanket of incoming sorrow, in a moment they might all start weeping rain, first a drizzle, then a downpour, almost like the collective sadness of Unicorns grieving all at once at their current misfortune. It was on this dire day that the other group of the Mane Five, including Hitch, Pipp and Zipp had been about to journey out back to Maretime Bay to look for more clues regarding the case when they were interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Jazz and Rocky, who had fled the town in the night to avoid the robots that had attacked them. After waiting for the duo to wash up and refresh themselves, with help from Pipp, they sat down at a table with fresh tea prepared for them by Alphabittle, and then began to explain everything that had happened to them since last night, the details of which shocked the ponies in the room.

“W-w-what!? Are you serious about this Jazz!?” Said Pipp in disbelief.

"Absolutely girl, the place had been totally broken into, that's when we discovered that little robot inside interacting with Hitch’s computer. When we stepped inside to investigate, it ran off and returned with a group of robots that attacked us, tearing up the place, we were lucky to escape from there without a scratch." Said Jazz.

“Well, almost without a scratch.” Said Rocky, showing off his injured wing to them.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you both went through all of that… if only we had known about it before hoof.” Said Pipp, comforting her co-workers.

"Well we did try to message you and the others several times, but our messages didn't get any responses at all, we were so worried about you Pipp." Said Jazz, comforting back.

"It's been a nightmare up here in Bridlewood, you weren't the only ones who had trouble with those robots, not only did they chase us through the forest, but we also got into a battle with them too, and both times they broke or damaged my phones!" Said Pipp with a growl.

"Not only that, but reception up here has been very weak, almost as if somepony has been sabotaging the Canternet connection routers that had been set up not too long ago." Said Zipp.

"No way! What sort of monster are we dealing with that's behind these robot attacks, and are they related to all the Unicorns going missing!?" Said Jazz anxiously.

Zipp and Pipp simply nodded their heads silently, Jazz let out a sad sigh, sipping more of her tea.

"So where does this leave us?" Asked Rocky.

"I think we should go through what you and Jazz had just told us regarding what happened back in Maretime Bay." Said Pipp.

Both Rocky and Jazz agreed to that, so Zipp opened up her notebook and began jotting down notes.

“So let's start from the beginning, the robots attacked you at the precinct, and they were up to something on the sheriff's computer, is that correct?”

“That’s right, we later saw that it was accessing files that were related to the former Canterlogic employees, for what reason we don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they had managed to download all of it.” Said Rocky.

“Interesting, say, out of curiosity which former employees was that robot looking up?” Said Zipp curiously.

“I had a feeling you’d be asking that.” Said Pipp, rolling her eyes.

“Honestly, it was all the well known former employees, including Toots and Sweets, Phyllis as well, but there was one that stood out from the rest, the former chief of R&D, Dr Wormwood.” Said Jazz.

That made Zipp peak her ears up, “Whoa, really? What a coincidence, we’ve been investigating about that scientist as part of the case at hoof.” Said Zipp.

“Huh, you mean he’s like a suspect or something?” Said Rocky, raising an eyebrow.

“You could say that, now let me ask you a question, are you both are aware of the recent events that have been going on around Maretime Bay?” Asked Zipp inquisitively.

"You mean about the disappearing Unicorns? Yeah, it's been making the rounds around town, and on social media as well." Said Jazz.

“It’s not just in Maretime Bay I'm afraid, over a dozen have gone missing from around here in Bridlewood too, that’s why this place is like a ghost town.” Said Alphabittle at his desk, letting out a sad sigh.

Hearing that made Jazz go wide-eyed in shock, "W-w-w-what!? So that rumour was true after all… But why have they vanished, and for what reason, who could be behind this!?"

“That’s what we’ve been investigating ourselves around here, but… We ended up getting much more than what we bargained for.” Said Pipp, looking at the injuries she and Zipp had accumulated.

“Have you found out any leads that could help us get to the bottom of this mystery?” Asked Jazz.

“I feel that we are getting close to solving it, but the main problem we have is which suspect to chase down Wormwood, or Phyllis, they are our two main suspects with reasons to be involved, but unless we find definitive proof of either of them being the culprit, we’re stuck right where we are.” Said Zipp with a sigh.

“Well, there is one thing that me and Jazz have discussed that might help solve that problem.” Asked Rocky.

“That's right, it’s about another rumour regarding Dr Wormwood.” Said Jazz.

Zipp’s head shot up upon hearing that, “There’s another rumour about him that we haven’t heard about?”

“That’s right, and I think the sheriff might know about this too, right Hitch?” Asked Jazz.

The sheriff in question had been rather quiet, having just heard from the two ponies about how the precinct, his workplace and home, had not only been broken into by the robots, but that they also attacked and torn up by them too, along with looking up information on his computer, all of that done while he was away helping the Unicorns in Bridlewood. There was not a single word in all of ponydom to describe the amount of anger that he felt from that, but he could think of a few coarse words that he'd rather not say out loud.

“Umm Hitch, hello, Equestria to Hitch, are you there, hello?” Said Jazz, waving her hoof in front of his face.

Then somepony pinched him, waking him up from his stupor.

“Augh, what the f... Oh umm, sorry about that, I zoned out there, what were y'all saying?” Said Hitch sheepishly, making Zipp shake her head.

Jazz looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “I said, did you know about the other rumour regarding Wormwood that was going round a year ago, you know which one I mean right?”

Hitch thought for a moment, then seemed to remember what she was talking about.

“Are you talking about that one rumour regarding the 'machine' that he was said to have invented?” Asked Hitch.

Jazz nodded her head, "That's right, the machine that was said to be able to generate power from magic."

The other ponies in the room all looked up from hearing that, Zipp especially so.

"A machine that can generate power from magic? That sounds pretty farfetched to me." Said Pipp, scratching her chin, "I mean hay, as advanced and sophisticated that our home city Zephyr Heights is, we're nowhere near close to doing anything like that."

"We also shouldn't forget that magic has only returned recently to Equestria, so that means it's highly unlikely that anypony could think up anything like that so soon." Said Zipp.

"That and it is just a rumour Jazz, there was never any evidence that the doc even built the machine at all, in all the times that i've been to Canterlogic." Said Hitch dismissively.

The ponies seemed to be in agreement that such a thing was highly unlikely to be real, but Jazz wasn't so sure, which Zipp noticed and became curious about.

"But, you seem to suspect otherwise, don't you?" Said Zipp inquisitively.

Jazz nodded her head, then gestured to Rocky who walked forward.

"We believe that the machine is real, and also, the method for how it can generate power from magic." Said Rocky.

The other ponies listened, but Alphabittle seemed to be getting a bad feeling from the tone.

"What do you mean by that, the method for how it can get power from magic?" Asked Zipp, eager to know where Rocky was going with this.

"Well, think about it, how can a machine generate power from magic, where does the magic come from? We all know from ancient history that you cannot make magic happen from nowhere, there has to be a focus point for is, so then how, how can this machine in question use magic as a power source?" Asked Rocky.

The other ponies seemed to be racking their brains trying to answer that question.

"Well, us Pegasus ponies are able to fly and manipulate clouds since magic has returned to us." Said Pipp absently.

"And Unicorns are able to generate magic through the use of their horns, even able to cast spells and manipulate objects around the-" Zipp stopped before she could finish, her eyes going wide from what she just said.

She wasn't alone, the other ponies in the room suddenly seemed to be understanding what Rocky's question was, and the answer was not good at all.

"Wait a moment, Rocky, a-are you saying what I think you are s-saying?" Said Pipp, her voice shaking with anxiety.

Rocky simply bowed his head, then came a loud crash that spooked the lot of them, they turned to see Alphabittle had dropped his teacup on the floor in shock.

"The Unicorns... My fellow Unicorns, they are being used as a power source for this machine!?" Alphabittle shouted in panic.

"I suspect it to be the case Alphabittle, it explains everything that's been going on, the Unicorns vanishing, the robots chasing after me and everypony else, it all makes sense." He said.

"B-b-but that's... That's terrible! It's bad enough for our villain to go around on a ponynapping spree, but to use those poor ponies as experiments in generating power from magic!? That's going too far!" Shouted Hitch.

"This is bad, if our perpetrator does have this machine, and has been using it for the purpose that Rocky just described, then we can logically draw another conclusion, that they've already started weaponising it for their ends." Said Zipp, showing a rare sign of panic.

"Oh no Zipp, you don't think that the robot pony we fought yesterday was..." Asked Pipp nervously.

"Correct Pipp, it was likely powered by magic that had been stolen from the Unicorns, using it against us." Said Zipp.

"Oh my gosh, I hate to think what this villain is doing to the poor Unicorns right now." Said Jazz sorrowfully.

Everypony in the room was beside themselves in shock and anger from this revelation, Alphabittle especially, now he felt more determined than ever to rescue his fellow Unicorns, and to give the villain behind all of this some well deserved desserts.

"Alright, that tears it, i'm gonna go out there and find the missing Unicorns before it's too late." Said Alphabittle with determination.

"What? Are you crazy!? We don't know what we're up against here, you saw all of those robots yesterday right? Who knows how many that are still out there in the woods." Said Pipp concerningly.

"I don't care, I won't sit here while this mad villain abuses my Unicorns for their own ends, I must find them, it's my duty." Said Alphabittle.

"I understand where you are coming from Alphabittle, but we need a plan, we cannot just charge in blindly." Said Zipp.

Alphabittle however was all fired up and ready to go, he was about to start arguing with them, when the creek of a door disturbed them.

"Umm... I've overheard what you were talking about mister Alphabittle, is it true what they are saying?"

Alphabittle turned around and saw Jasmine looking at him from the doorway, he had been looking after the little filly after she had escaped the clutches of the robots from yesterday, and now seemed to have recovered from the ordeal, and was now curious about what was going on.

"Tell me mister, is it true that those robots are the bad guys, and that they are what's behind my daddy and others vanishing?" She asked him.

The other ponies looked at one another, waiting to see who would be the one to break it to her, then Hitch spoke up and stepped forward.

"Yes little miss, these robots are the bad guys who are behind all of this, and we believe that a villain who created them is keeping them captive somewhere out there, including your father." Said Hitch.

Jasmine went wide eyed from hearing it, and seemed to be on the verge of tears again, but she fought against it.

"I-I thought so, not just my daddy, but also Starduster too... He saved my life by giving himself up to the robots... I feel that I owe him for that." Said Jasmine, wiping away her tears.

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Alphabittle.

"I mean that I want to come with you, if you are going after the Robots, then I want to help out too!" She said, standing upright.

Alphabittle was taken aback by what she said, "W-w-what!? But that's crazy, think of all the danger out there, you could get injured or worse!"

"I-I know that, but... I want to help, I maybe small and a child, but I want to be brave, just like Starduster was when he faced them, i've made up my mind." Said Jasmine, looking determined.

Alphabittle was about to speak up, but he could see that her mind was made up, and nothing was gonna deter her from that, he let out a sigh, and accepted her proposition.

"Alright Jasmine, but you must promise me to be careful and stick with me at all times, understood?" He said sternly.

Jasmine agreed, "I understand mister."

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get moving and find those missing Unicorns before more of them vanish." Said Alphabittle all fired up.

The other ponies agreed, but before they could get moving, there comes a loud sound from Hitches satchel, it sounded like he had received a message on his phone.

"Hey Hitch, was that your phone going off just now?" Asked Zipp.

"Yes it was, hang on let me see what it says." He said, taking it out and reading what the message said, that was when his face fell, and silence filled the room.

"Hitch? Are you okay, what's going on?" Asked Pipp, concerned about what he just read.

Hitch began speaking slowly, "It's from Sunny, she... She said that she had arrived at the Junkyard with Izzy, but then they got separated while waiting for Izzy's friend, and then..."

"And then what, did something happen?" Asked Jazz.

"...She lost sight of her, then she spotted a vehicle of some kind leaving the junkyard, suspecting that it belongs to her friend, she's going to follow it north into the wilderness after them. It looked like she was going to say something else, but it's been cut off." Hitch read out.

"Wait hold on, who is this friend of Izzy's that she went to see with Sunny?" Asked Rocky.

The other ponies shared looks with each other, then Alphabittle spoke up.

"Izzy's friend is none other than Dr Wormwood himself, she met him the day before at that same junkyard, now she went out with Sunny to meet up with him to ask for his help regarding the case, but... Now that this message has come up, i'm starting to believe that it might've been a trap, and that he has actually taken her prisoner!" He said, his anger barely contained.

"If that is the case then that can only mean one thing, that he really is behind all of this, and that he is planning on doing the same thing to Izzy that he did to the other Unicorns!" Said Jazz in a panic.

"Then there is only one thing to do now, we must go after them and track down where they went, before the trail goes cold." Said Hitch, putting on his hat.

"What should we do Rocky, shall we go with them, or head back to Maretime Bay?" Jazz asked.

"I have a hunch we should return to Maretime Bay, I'm worried that the robots might try to attack again, and the last thing I'd want is for more ponies to get caught up in this mess." Said Rocky.

"That's a smart idea, but are you sure you'll be okay with dealing with them over there?" Said Zipp, pointing out Rocky's bandaged up wing.

"Hah, don't you worry Zipp, as a former guard trainee I can handle it, we'll make it back there before dusk." Said Rocky.

"Very well, we're counting on you two to keep the town safe, we'll keep in contact if anything comes up." Said Pipp.

"Alright enough horsing around, let's going everypony!" Shouted Hitch, opening the door and heading outside.

Everypony else followed Hitch out the door, Alphabittle meanwhile turned to Jasmine, giving her a hoof up and onto his back, he then headed towards the open door, but also looked back at her, still worried her safety.

"Let me ask you again, are you sure about this Jasmine? There is no turning back once we go outside this door." He asked her.

Jasmine bowed her head in determination, she was set in wanting to go with them.

Alphabittle gave a smile back, then galloped out through the door, following Zipp, Pipp and Hitch on their way north, while Jazz and Rocky galloped off in another direction back toward Maretime Bay. This was to of course cover as much ground as possible in case the robots were to attack again at both locations, but now with a possible lead on where they were coming from, they had the opportunity to finally put a stop to their attacks, and perhaps save the Unicorns too.

They were in fact on the right track to finally solving the case, but the revelations from it, would prove to be much more serious then they had predicted.

Meanwhile, in the north east area of the Equestria wilderness, a weary but determined Sunny Starscout continued to fly ahead, but she felt her Alicorn powers fading fast. She had tried to keep up the chase with the suspected vehicle that Izzy and Wormwood had travelled in, but she has lost sight of it, and now had no choice but to follow the tire tracks left behind, moving further and further north into the wilderness that was Equestria. Along the way she had spotted a few things of interest to her, worn out pathways, rusted disused train tracks, old homes long since abandoned and falling apart, all signs of Equestria's past, something she'd love to look into, but her task at hoof demanded her full attention.
At last, her Alicorn powers faded away, forcing her to land on the ground with a thud, but despite the loss of her powers temporarily, she felt that she was on the right path, as she galloped onwards following the tire tracks up towards the top of a hill.

"Hah hah, they must be close by now, these tracks look pretty fresh." Panted Sunny.

Soon enough Sunny had reached the top of the hill, and now had a clear view of the area all around her. From this point she could see in the distance a dense forest that stretched for miles, along with more ruins, including what looked like an abandoned village, a crumbling old watchtower, and more rusted railway lines that seemed to travel into the dense forest and beyond. But what intrigued Sunny the most was an old factory complex not too far away from her, surrounded by worn but stable brick walls, what looked to be barbed wire along the tops, and noticeably, it's tall smokestacks that were giving out wispy amounts of smoke.

"Huh, that's strange, if these are all ruins, why is that factory over there giving out smoke? Unless... It's not abandoned at all, and somepony is using it right now." Sunny thought to herself.

If that was the case then that could only mean one thing, she galloped down the hill towards the factory, and soon her suspicions were confirmed, the tire tracks that she had been following were heading straight towards the factory gates.

"I knew it, Izzy and her friend Wormwood must've travled to this factory, that means they must be inside it." Said Sunny in realization.

As she continued her approach to the factory, she noticed right away that there were more signs of activity going on, including the drones that had been harassing her and her friends from before, now flying around and patrolling the area around the building, no doubt to keep out anypony from snooping about the place.

"So the drones are here then, everything is starting to add up now." Sunny thought to herself, as she ducked behind a nearby piece of debris to observe the situation.

The main way into the factory was sealed by a big heavy looking iron door, and with the tops of the walls surrounded by barbed wire, there seemed to be no easy way to get into the factory at all.

"Hmm, there must be a way to get inside there, but how?" Sunny said to herself, thinking deeply, "What would Izzy do in a situation like this."

She had a look around for anything that could give her an idea as to get inside there, that's when she spotted some junk laying around that looked like it could be used to make a seesaw, including a rock for a pivot, a long worn wooden beam, and a boulder big enough to help launch her over the walls and into the factory grounds.

"I got it, this should all work!" Said Sunny, as she set to work on assembling the seesaw.

Before long, Sunny had everything ready, she made sure that the seesaw was facing in the right direction towards the factory building, then she pushed the boulder onto one end of it, the weight of it was heavy, but, being an Earth Pony by birth, Sunny was blessed with great strength in her bod.

"Phew, there we are, now then, I just need to climb up on top of that ridge there, then jump down onto the seesaw, and presto, I'll be inside the factory in no time!" Said Sunny, a look of determination on her face.

She proceeded to dash up on top of the ridge, then looked in the distance at the factory, she had to make sure that there was enough of a gap between the patrolling drones so that when she launches herself in, she won't be spotted by them when she landed, lest she ends up alerting anypony inside to her presence. Focusing her eyesight hard, she soon saw her chance, and got ready to jump.

"Steady... steady... Now!" She shouted out, jumping back, and then running and jumping off the ridge as fast as she could.

She landed on one end of the seesaw with such force that the boulder launched straight up into the air, and then crashed down hard, launching Sunny off the seesaw and into the air.

"Weee! Don't worry Izzy I'm coming!" Sunny shouted in excitement.

But, she then realized too late that her aim was a little bit off, and that instead of landing right in the factory grounds, she was heading straight for one of the windows.

"Oh shoot, No no no NOOO-"

There was a loud smash, as Sunny crashed through the window, rolled along the floor and ended up landing into a pile of rusted old junk. Dazed, dizzy and shook up a little, she soon regained her senses and got up, rubbing her foreleg.

"Owww, wow... That was some crash, it wasn't how I planned it, but at least I am inside-"

She was interrupted when she heard a familiar noise outside the broken window, one of the drones, perhaps alerted by the noise of the window smashing, had arrived to see what was going on, Sunny had to hide under the nearby junk to avoid being detected. After a few moments, the drone had moved on, Sunny breathed a sign of relief.

"Phew, that was way too close, the last thing I want is to get caught now." Said Sunny, standing up, then inspecting herself of injuries.

After being certain that she had no cuts or worse from the landing, Sunny had a look around the room, it seemed to be an old storeroom, long since abandoned and gathering dust and rust, filled with trash and junk that perhaps was important here long ago, along with old posters on the walls that seemed to be advertisements of some kind, all trademarked by the so called "Flim&Flam" Corporation, perhaps an old company from ancient Equestria long ago. Curious about the posters, Sunny then spotted an open door next to them, moving towards it, she took a peek outside into the corridor to see if anypony was around.

"Hmm, no pony in sight, perfect." She thoguht to herself, as she sneaked out and began to trot carefully around the corridor.

She began to hear distant noises echoing from a distance, the sound of machinery actively working and chugging away, along with the distant beeping sound of drones out on patrol.

"It sounds like this whole place is under guard, I better be careful and snoop around quietly." Sunny whispered to herself, keeping low and moving along the corridor.

She moved down the corridor towards a doorway, she took a peak outside into another corridor, on her left there were some stairs that led down to a lower floor of the factory, and on her right there was another door, but it was all sealed up with old wooden planks, there was no way she was going to get past that without making a noise. Shaking her head, Sunny instead chose to go down the stairs, she proceeded to do so, and found herself in yet another dusty corridor, with a glowing light at the end of it.

"Gosh this place is so dusty, it's enough to make you wanna sneeze non stop." Sunny remarked, trying not to do just that.

Upon reaching the end of the corridor, peering past the doorway, Sunny saw that a large room lay ahead of her in a rough L shape with an upper level, and it was clear that this room had seen some work done to it, as large power cables flowed all along the floor and overhead to places beyond. Sunny then spotted robot ponies standing guard near a doorway on the upper level, the doorway in question was blocked by laser beams coming from machines built around it, most likely to block anypony from sneaking in. The sight of that alone made Sunny very curious about what they were guarding, but, the problem facing her was how to get past it all, she knew that there was no way she could take on both robot ponies alone, one alone was bad enough to fight.

"Great, now how in the hay am I going to get past that?" She mumbled to herself, thinking about her options.

Taking a careful look around, Sunny noticed that the lower level she was on didn't seem to be guarded at all, and that on the right side there was a way into another room up ahead, she decided to creep up there and see if there was a way forward.

"Let's have a looksie around there." Said Sunny, quietly sneaking from cover to cover, and eveing up the path ahead.

It looked like some sort of old store room full of rusty old barrels and worn wooden boxes, but it also appeared to connect to the upper level of the adjacent room, which Sunny realized she could use to her advantage. Without wasting any time, she ducked into the room, and began to plot a path up, quickly hopping onto stacks of barrels and crates, taking care not to cause a ruckus while doing so. Before long she gripped the edge of the balcony and pulled herself up onto the upper level, she saw right away that she was now on the other side of the laser barrier, and the robot ponies none the wiser.

"Hehe, silly robots have no idea I just slipped past." Sunny chuckled to herself, as she trotted on away to the next room.

She then froze when she spotted what looked like a camera up ahead scanning the area ahead, forcing her to dart behind some boxes in cover to avoid it's gaze.

"Bother, i'm gonna have to move quick and fast in order to get past this." Said Sunny, waiting until the camera turned away before dashing to new cover.

She would repeat this multiple times, until she finally reached the far wall under the camera, then she moved off down another corridor, and she noticed bright lights up ahead, with the distant noise of machinary getting louder and more clear.

"I must be getting close to the heart of the factory, I hope Izzy is okay..." Sunny sighed, as she kept up the pace.

It wasn't long before she found herself on a hanging walkway above the ground, and she took a good look below her to see what was going on, and that's where she made a shocking discovery.

"W-what!? What is all this, what on earth..." Sunny said in shock.

There was rows upon rows of conveyer belts busily moving along components and equipment around, including what looked like parts to build more robots, but what alarmed Sunny the most was what looked like missiles being made, the warheads being put together by machines, and then carried down to parts elsewhere.

"M-m-m-missiles!? W-what... What the buck is going on here?" Said Sunny, surprised at herself for cursing.

That wasn't all though, she also spotted what looked like bombs being made as well, along with more laser cannons, it was crystal clear now that whoever was in control of this factory had ill intent in mind, and Sunny guessed that they aimed to attack all of Equestria with these weapons.

"This is bad, I need to find Izzy now and warn the others back home, Maretime Bay, no, all of new Equestria is in danger!" She said to herself, before moving on down the walkway past the machinery.

She reached the end of the walkway and found another flight of stairs that led down to an area that was dark without lighting. Luckily, Sunny always carried around a flashlight for these sort of situations, she took it out of her satchel and switched it on as she slowly descended down the steps into the darkness.

"Hmm... From the look of things, these lights were turned off deliberately, there must be something pretty important down here that nopony wanted to see." She said to herself.

Soon Sunny found herself on the ground again, and proceeded down the dark path ahead of her, the noises from the factory growing fainter as she went on. As she kept an ear and an eye out for anything suspicious, she began to hear noises that stood out from the rest, they were low, but they didn't sound too far away.

"Huh, they sound like ponies to me, but why would other ponies be in a place like this?" Sunny wondered, moving in the direction of the noises in the darkness.

As the noises grew louder and more distinct, Sunny began to wonder if the pony noises were what she suspected them to be, and this made her eyes open in horror.

"If those pony like noises are what I think they are... Oh no, I better hurry!" She said, and soon galloped on down the hallway in a hurry.

She spotted more cameras up ahead scanning the area, but using the same trick as before, Sunny was able to get past them, and she soon found herself in front of another doorway blocked by laser beams, Sunny knew better then to try and get past them without getting cut to pieces.

"Okay, now how do we get past this, hmm, maybe a power source nearby?" She thought aloud.

She then eyed a power cable on the floor, and then followed it up the wall to a nearby plug socket that it was connected to. Sunny knew right away what she had to do, she gripped the cable tightly in her hooves, and with a mighty pull, she pulled it out, there was a low humming noise, and the laser barrier turned off, clearing the path ahead of her.

"Right, now let's see what's inside here." Sunny Said, as she dashed through the doorway.

She soon found herself inside a large room, it was brightly lit with floodlights which momentarily blinded her after having gotten used to the darkness in the corridors, as well as what looked like a holding cell like structure in the middle of it, and what looked like a Unicorn pony laying down in the middle of it. Sunny immediately got a bad feeling about this, she took a step forward to see about checking the pony in question, when a voice rang out.

"H-hey, is somepony there, hello!?" Came a tired voice from nearby.

Sunny's ears reacted to the voice, she then slowly turned her head to the right, and was greeted with a shocking sight that nearly made her shriek loudly, for there, trapped in row upon row of high tech looking cages, looking tired and thoroughly drained, were all the missing Unicorns. One by one, they all looked up at Sunny, some seemed to have hope returned to their eyes, but others simply stared at her with blank expressions.

"H-hey, it's an Earth Pony!" Said another voice.

"I don't believe it, somepony has found us, at last!" Said yet another voice.

Sunny was too stunned to respond, her worse fears had been confirmed, the Unicorns had been taken here, and that could only mean one thing.

"Wait a m-moment, is that you... Sunny Starscout!" Came a familiar voice.

Sunny shook her head to focus, and saw amongst the Unicorns none other than Primrose, a Unicorn who had recently gone out on a date with the Sheriff, Hitch, but she had not seen her around since that time.

"Primrose, it's you! But... How did you end up here, how did you all end up here!?" Sunny asked Primrose, looking up at all the captured Unicorns.

Primrose sat up and started to talk, "W-well... It all started when I was heading back home from Maretime Bay after my recent date with Hitch... I heard this loud noise from behind me, and that's when I saw this big dark thing chasing after me... I tried to run away, b-but it caught up to me, a-and then-"

Then another Unicorn interrupted her, "The metal monster captured us! It captured us and brought us all here... and then those mean robot ponies took us away to the... the...-"

"The? The what? What did those robot ponies do to you!?" Said Sunny anxiously.

That's when a voice called out from behind her, "The machine... they took us to the machine... and then... the machine proceeds to drain us of our power..."

Sunny looked behind her, the Unicorn in the cell was now sitting up, but was in a bad way, he had clearly been injured from the bruises on his body, like he had been in a fight recently.

"That's terrible... who did this to you mister umm..." Asked Sunny.

"Starduster, that's my name... Tell me Sunny, Jasmine, is she safe?" Asked Starduster.

"Jasmine? Yeah she's safe with my friends, and we were able to fight against the robots and chase them away from Bridlewood." Said Sunny.

Starduster breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm glad to hear that... But now how will you get us out of here?"

Sunny looked around the place, the cages looked to be sealed with some sort of electrical lock, it's unlikely she could pry them open even with her Earth Pony strength, there had to be another way to get them open.

"Hey umm, I once saw one of the robot ponies over there, messing with some kind of control panel, perhaps there is something there that could help." Said one of the Unicorns, pointing it out with their hoof.

Sunny looked in the direction they were pointing, and then headed on over to the control panel, it was full of buttons and switches, including the ones that unlocked all the cages in the room, which she proceeded to press and flick to trigger them opening, the Unicorns who had all been watching looked on in disbelief, until one of them shouted.

"Look everypony, the cages are open, we're free!" Shouted Dreamy, one of the captured Unicorns.

"About time we were unlocked, now let us leave before we get clocked." Said another, which a lot sounded like Onyx.

All of the Unicorns then rushed out of their cages, dancing around in euphoria at their freedom, a few of them then tried to use their horns to cast magic, only for small sparks to come out instead. Sunny then went into the holding cell whose door had also opened up to help Starduster to his hoofs.

"Thank you for your help Sunny..." He said slowly, grunting as he tried to move.

"Hey you should take it easy Starduster, you're pretty banged up." Said Sunny, helping him move forward out of the holding cell.

Some of the other Unicorns also helped him out, and starting to help bandage up his injuries.

"Did you really fought all of those robots all by yourself Starduster?" Asked Primrose.

"Heh... Yeah I did miss, but I think I bit off more than I could chew, but... It was all to allow my daughter to escape back to the village." Said Starduster.

"Wow... I always thought you were just a fussy, tea loving, stick in the mud, but... You truly are brave pony Starduster!" Said Dreamy, one of the Unicorns that had been captured.

"Hey now, I act fussy because of the antics you ponies get up to... But still I couldn't allow those robots to hurt a foal, that's just not right." Said Starduster.

"Well, either way mister, you're a brave Unicorn, and now that we're out of here, let's get the hay out of here!" Shouted Jasper, who made a beeline towards the doorway.

Sunny however went wide eyed, realizing that something could hear them, "W-wait, Jasper don't go-"

It was too late, Jasper had been caught by a security camera in it's sights, after which the klaxon started going off around the factory.

"EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY, INTRUDERS HAVE BEEN DETECTED, ALL UNITS MOVE ON INTERCEPT COURSE." Shouted a voice over the intercom.

"Great... Now we're really gonna get it..." Said Primrose, sitting down with her head in her hooves.

"Jasper, you ding dong, next time look where you're going!" Shouted Dapple, Onyx's music partner.

"Uh heh heh, umm opps?" Said Jasper sheepishly.

The other Unicorns groaned, but they were now spooked by the approaching sounds of machinery.

"T-they're coming...!" Shouted Primrose.

"What do we do now!? Without our magic we cannot defend ourselves!" Shouted Dreamy.

Sunny however, was not concerned, instead she began reaching into her saddle back, and then pulled out her helmet she used for roller blading, dented and worn from the last battle, but still in one piece.

"Umm Sunny, what are you doing?" Asked Starduster.

"Well what else? I'm getting ready to fight those robots and help us to escape." Sunny replied, placing the helmet upon her head.

"Huh? B-b-but that's crazy Sunny, what if there is too many of them!? They'll blast you to bits!" Said Primrose in disbelief.

"Maybe, but i've faced off against these bucket of bolts before even while outnumbered, and me and my friends came out of that victorious. Yes we may have had some cuts and bruises, but it's better than getting blasted to a crisp, or worse." Said Sunny, tying up her helmet, then flexing her hooves.

"Sunny... You mean to fight all of them, by yourself?" Asked the tall Unicorn Leaf, normally a pony of few words.

Sunny let out a huff, then turned round to face the Unicorns, showing a look of determination, "No, we are all gonna fight them together. If we pool in all of our strength, we can break out of here and put a stop to whoever is behind all of this, but only if we work together."

The other Unicorns looked at each other, exchanging mixed glances and feelings, then Starduster spoke up.

"Sunny's right everypony, we've let those robots push us around long enough, I say it's time we take the fight to them...." He said, standing upright on his own.

Jasper looked at him wide eyed, "B-but Starduster, we don't have our magic anymore! How are we supposed to fight them without it-"

"Use your brain dummy, you still got your own hooves haven't you?" Said Dreamy

"Ohhh, well I did take some Unicorn fighting lessons recently, they could finally come in handy."

"I don't know about you ponies, but I got a bolt to pick with these bots." Said Dapple, cracking his neck side to side.

"On a normal day, I am clam like a summer breeze, but on this day, I am a storm that blows down the trees, let's total them." Said Onyx with a smirk.

At that moment a group of robot ponies burst into the room, along with a group of flying drones, all of them packing laser weaponry, they soon had all of the ponies surrounded on all sides.

"HALT, THE PRISONERS ARE LOOSE, THEY MUST NOT ESCAPE!" Shouted one of the robots.

The ponies however were not concerned, with renewed vigor in their bodies, they all took battle positions as the robots aimed their weapons at them, waiting for the signal.

"This is it everypony, are we ready? GO!" Shouted Sunny, as she charged forward.

The rest of the ponies all gave out a battle cry as they followed her in charging towards the robots, who retaliated by opening fire, and soon a big battle began to take place, with explosions and blasts of light echoing throughout the corridors and rooms, for now, the battle for the Unicorns freedom was now underway.

Meanwhile in another part of the factory, Doctor Wormwood was busy showing to his new friend Izzy Moonbow some of the inventions that he had been working on, all the while remaining unaware of what was going on not far away.

"As you can see here Izzy, in this workshop i've been doing all sorts of inventing, such as this thruster back pack right here, and this handy grabber that allows us ponies to have greater dexterity." Said Wormwood, showing them off.

"Woooooow, all this stuff looks so high tech and so cool and so.... oooh i'd love to try them all." Said Izzy, squeeing in delight.

"Hahaha, that's the spirit Unicorn, i'd sure love to see what you could come up with all this equipment at your disposal." Said Wormwood.

Izzy gasped, wondering if he is implying what she thinks he is implying.

"Wait, are you saying...?" She asked him.

Wormwood showed a smile, "Yes Izzy, i'm asking if you would like to work for me, i'm offering you a job."

Izzy put her hoofs to her face, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Ohhhhh my gosh! I didn't think that when I moved here from Bridlewood that i'd get to have a new job for inventing!" She said excitedly.

"Oh trust me Izzy, there will be plenty of inventing going on with us working together." Said Wormwood, moving over to another of his inventions in admiration.

"Oh i'm so excited I could just build something right now, maybe a toaster that creates instant jammed toast, or maybe a pair of walking trousers so that ponies can walk upright and not have to be on all fours all the time, oh oh, or I could build a cannon that shoots glitter everywhere, oh wait, I already invented that one." Said Izzy sheepishly.

Wormwood raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her, "You invented a cannon that shoots glitter?"

"Yeah I did, I haven't used it yet though, i'm still waiting for the right opportunity." Said Izzy smiling.

Wormwood seemed amused, but also showed a rather dark look in his eyes.

"Why have you also invented a cannon too Doc?" Asked Izzy.

"You could say that, although it doesn't shoot glitter or anything pretty like that." Said Wormwood.

"Oh really? What does it shoot then? Is it fireworks or something just as explody?" Izzy asked excitedly.

Wormwood chuckled, then flashed a smug smirk, "Heh heh heh, oh it is quite explody Unicorn, just wait until the show starts, then you'll see it in action."

Izzy tilted her head in curiosity, "Huh? What show? Is something coming on soon that we need to watch?"

Wormwood nodded, "Something like that, you don't want to miss it when it happens, it'll be quite the experience-"

Their conversation was interrupted when the distant klaxon went off, and the alarms began to ring out all over the place, along with the factory shaking a little as a distinct explosion was heard. Izzy was spooked and confused on what was going on, but Wormwood seemed calm, although a look of irritation grew on his face, he then pulled out a small tablet and began browsing something on it, his look growing more and more darker.

"W-what's going on? Are we in trouble or something Doctor!?" Asked Izzy in an unsure tone.

Wormwood just huffed, putting his tablet away, then began making his way to the nearby blast door.

"We need to get going Izzy, there is trouble brewing not far away, and we need to get to safety, please follow me." He said to her.

He pressed the button and stepped through the open door, gesturing to Izzy for her to follow him. Izzy got the message and trotted after him, leaving the room behind, as the klaxon continued to ring out, and the sound of distant explosions rock the factory. However, in Izzy's rush to escape from the room with Wormwood, she didn't noticed that one of the inventions from the room had mysteriously disappeared, an item labled "prototype energy blaster", almost certainly a weapon of some kind.

Was Izzy walking into a trap, and is her 'friend' more then what he seemed to be? The stage was now set for the upcoming battle, and the stakes were about to get much more serious than anypony realized.

Author's Note

Whoa, this chapter took longer to do then I had expected, but i'm glad to have it out finally, as we now begin to enter the meat of the matter with this story, the next chapter is going to be a doozy as everything finally gets revealed full force, i've been itching to get to this part ever since I started writing this over 2 years ago now.

If everything goes to plan, I could have the story wrapped up before Christmas this year but we'll have to see since this time of year tends to get really busy!