AN: Hi, I'm not dead. I've actually had this chapter and much of the next sitting around for a while; sorry for not actually finishing/uploading it, I guess I was just worried that it wasn't entirely ready to be seen by the world? And then I remembered that the whole point of this thing was for me to not care so much about what the world thought and just write. And I did. So here it is, enjoy if you will :L

Chapter 36: Ponies: The Gathering

KABOOM!

All of the rocks, dirt, and ore within a 10-meter sphere collapsed into a pile in front of Hailstorm.

"This sounds suspiciously like some kind of trap," Twilight had said. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so obvious about what he had done... still, we can't just leave Spike at the mercy of some villain."

The pegasus sifted through the rubble, picking out all of the useful metals as he recalled what the unicorn had told him.

"So this time, we're coming prepared. I'm going to gather up the Elements of Harmony, and anypony else who can help."

Hail readied another stick of dynamite and planted it on the wall in front of him, then ran back, getting as much distance as he could.

"From what I've heard, his technology is far advanced, even for a human, so you can go back to the mines and extract as much material as you can, for armor and other equipment."

'It's about time I get a proper suit of gold armor,' thought Hailstorm as he covered his ears in anticipation of the next explosion.

"We may not have Blah, but we can still figure out what Eggman's up to, and do whatever we can to put a stop to it."

KABOOM!

The trees and the hills rushed by at over a hundred miles an hour. The car was far from silent, but it certainly seemed that way without Waluigi's constant bickering with its current driver, who was busy leaning way back in the seat with his feet resting on the wheel, casually picking his nose. Astra sighed. The back of Wario's car was the last place she wanted to be at that moment, but she needed a fast ride to her friend's side.

Her phone vibrated. Happy for the potential time-killer, she picked it up and saw that someone was pestering her. Someone she had never talked to before.

- jesterishDeliveryman [JD] began trolling spacefaringPioneer [SP] -

JD: _this is a pointless VENTURE, you KNOW._
JD: _your FRIEND is already DEAD. there is NOTHING you can DO._
SP: Or you could be saying that to prevent me from going there and saving him...
JD: _keep telling yourself that, SISTER._
JD: _whether he's ALIVE or NOT, i'll still be there WAITING for YOU._
JD: _soon you will JOIN him in the GRAVEYARD._
SP: Are you trying to be intimidating?...
SP: Because if so, you could have picked a better text color than lime green...
JD: _awwww MAN!_
JD: _looks like i've been found OUT. no KILLING for me TODAY!_
JD: _seriously though, you don't have to be INTIMIDATING to be DANGEROUS._
JD: _just look at DON PATCH._
JD: _or PINKIE PIE._
SP: Pinkie Pie?...
JD: _do you remember the MIRROR POOL INCIDENT?_
SP: The what?...
JD: _oh RIGHT. i forgot that that never happened in your CONTINUITY._
JD: _it was a pretty good EPISODE though._
JD: _see PINKIE wanted to be EVERYWHERE at once so she made a bunch of CLONES with a MAGIC POOL._
JD: _naturally, this lead to utter CHAOS and CONFUSION._
JD: _my two VERY FAVORITE THINGS!_
SP: I don't know what you're talking about, nor do I really care...
SP: Just know this: whoever you are, and whatever you did, I will find you, and I will kill you if necessary.
JD: _ooooOOOOOOOH!_
JD: _she used a PERIOD instead of an ELIPSIS. that means she's being EXTRA SERIOUS!_
JD: _listen to me, MURDERER in the making. if i could defeat BO-BOBO and his FRIENDS... what chance do YOU have against ME?_
SP: You have no idea.
SP: The pain that I am going to inflict.
SP: On a maniac like you.
JD: _hahahaHAHAHA!_
JD: _this is getting GOOD! excuse me while i make some POPCORN._
JD: _i just hope you GET HERE by the time I finish EATING IT._
SP: You'll be eating something else after I'm through with you.
JD: _your BONES, MAYBE!_
JD: _see you AROUND... the OBITUARIES!_

- jesterishDeliveryman [JD] ceased trolling spacefaringPioneer [SP] -

There weren't many things that could faze Astra, but this guy was one of them.

"Wah, back for more dynamite?" Waluigi asked without turning away from the computer screen. By this point, he had gotten used to Hailstorm coming and going.

"I spent nearly all I had," Hail turned him down, dragging a large sack full of gold and other ores and sweating intensely. He stopped, taking a moment to catch his breath. Waluigi, hearing the large mass scooting across the floor, took a curious glance which quickly turned to one of awe.

"Wah?!" Waluigi gasped. "How did you get that much... GOLD?"

"Explosions," Hail simplified. "Lots and lots of explosions. And it was worth it."

Waluigi eyed the sack greedily as Hail dragged it over to the furnace and began smelting like mad. As the bars piled up, drool started to visibly form in the corners of the thin man's mouth.

Hail then darted between chests and buildings, collecting as many bars as he could of all metals and putting them all together to see how much he had to work with in total. Fitting 7, possibly more ponies in full armor would take a ridiculous amount of resources. As he looked at the bars, he noticed that he had a sizable amount of meteorite bars as well, 112 to be exact.

"...where did all this meteorite come from?" Hail muttered, half impressed and half afraid.

"Wah, maybe that's what that blue guy was up to..." Waluigi scratched his head.

"Blue guy?" Hailstorm thought about who he knew that was blue. "Sonic?"

"Yeah yeah that's him," confirmed the demolitionist. "He stopped by many times while I was watching these videos, wah. Once he shouted something about... a lot of meteors falling...?"

"He must've ran around, mining out those meteors for us..." Hail inferred. "Wow, I never thought that a meteor apocalypse could turn out to have a bright side..." He stared at the bar piles again. "Now, if only we had Cody to tell us what we can make out of this..."

Waluigi thoughtfully looked back at the table where the laptop was sitting. A book that had been there a long time caught his eye again, one entitled "Terrarian Crafting for Dummies". He tossed the book in Hail's direction with a nonchalant "wah".

It hit the ground in front of the startled pony and flipped open to a page containing a detailed step-by-step diagram of how to assemble a lamppost from a handful of iron bars, some glass, and a torch.

"Oh... That works." He flipped through the book looking for the meteorite recipes, stopping on the page detailing the set of armor. He figured he might have to search for a few other books more specialized on the equine body structure, but this trip just got that much more interesting.

Twilight stepped back into Sugarcube Corner along with the newly-gathered Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. The party was starting to wind down a bit by then, as she had counted on. Some ponies were taking a break from all the dancing, Rainbow Dash included, but Light Star and Pinkie Pie were still dominating the dance floor.

"Rainbow Dash," called Twilight as the squad approached. "Spike was kidnapped by Dr. Eggman while everypony was distracted by this party. I'm bringing the Elements of Harmony to rescue him."

"Eggman?" Rainbow replied. "Isn't he the one Blah found in the Everfree Forest barely alive?" Twilight nodded. "Doesn't bringing all of the Elements seem a little excessive?"

"That's what I said!" Rarity chimed in. "But we can't afford to risk being outmatched, what with Blah missing and all."

"Yes, we wouldn't want to have to send a second rescue party... again..." Twilight reminded everyone. Applejack scratched the back of her ear with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah yeah, I hear ya." Rainbow stretched. "Alright, let's get cracking. It is for Spike, after all."

"All right, now we just need Pinkie..." Twilight looked to the center of the floor. Neither Pinkie nor Light were present. "Uh..."

"Don't worry, we heard everything!" Pinkie leaped off of the counter, giving nearly everyone a heart attack, especially Fluttershy, who dove behind Applejack. Light was right behind her. "Things were so much more peaceful around here before our universe got mish-mashed with a bunch of others, I mean don't get me wrong, some of the people are nice, but let's just say that there are some that I'd miss a little less than others! Oh and also can Light come with us? I promise he'll behave and he can be useful too!"

"Wait, really?" Light interjected. "I'm not an Element of Harmony or an adventuring crossbow-wielding pegasus... you sure I wouldn't just be dead weight?"

"Oh, don't say that, Lightsy!" Pinkie reassured him, putting a front leg around his shoulders. "You have that hodge-cake thing, you'll be fine!"

"Two reality-bending ponies?" asked Twilight with a laugh. "If that doesn't give Eggman a hard time, I don't know what will."

"Of course, they might also give US a hard time," Rainbow joked. She saw Light looking down as if he thought she was being serious. "Hey, man, I was only kidding," she kicked his shoulder playfully. He returned an unsure smile.

"Yay!" Pinkie jumped joyously. "This might even be fun!"

"Everything's fun for you, Pinkie Pie," Applejack snickered.

"Oh. I guess you're right!" She followed the other ponies, who were making their way towards the front door.

There was a knock on the door as Hailstorm was putting together a suit of silver armor with some of the last of his materials.

Waluigi had gotten bored a long time ago, and he had returned to watching My Little Pony. Hearing the knock made him scramble for the mouse to pause it.

"Waluigi, could you answer that please?" Hail asked, going back and forth between the books and the armor, trying to get the details just right.

"Wah..." Reluctantly, he walked over to the door and opened it. Seeing the seven ponies, his eyes grew wide, as did the ponies' at the sight of the strange-looking man.

"You're... You're..." Waluigi could not contain his bemusement.

"You're funny-looking," Pinkie stated. "And I mean ha-ha funny, not weird-funny, hehe!"

"I'm sorry, but... what were you saying?" Fluttershy curiously uttered, but the cosmic stare that Waluigi responded with made her recoil.

"Um..." Twilight could barely find the words as to what was happening. After a few seconds, she finally managed to snap out of it and break the silence. "Right, is uh, Hailstorm around?"

"Right here," he called from inside. "I'm just about finished with the armor. Twilight, I think you're going to like what I have for you..." He looked up at Waluigi and sighed. "Could you stop standing there with that look on your face and let them in?"

"Wahahaha... wah..." Waluigi squeaked, awkwardly scuttling aside and letting the ponies inside. They walked into the house cautiously and were met with the sight of several suits of armor on wooden pony-shaped frames. Three of them were full gold, one was silver, two were iron, and one was purple. Hailstorm placed the silver helmet on one of the mannequins' heads and waved at the ponies. "Hey, make yourselves at home, I'm just about finished."

"Ooooh!" Pinkie bounced up to one of the gold sets. "So shiny!"

"My, my," Rarity exclaimed, staring apprehensively at the armor. "Do I really have to wear one of these? Honestly, they're a bit... drab."

Hail closed his eyes to prevent them from rolling in full display. "You'll live, Rarity. Especially since that's what armor is designed to help you do."

He cleared his throat before the white unicorn's scowl could become another dissatisfied remark. "So I only had enough material for 3 sets of gold armor, but I figured that shouldn't be a problem because Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy would benefit more from a lighter iron suit. I also had enough for one silver, a fair compromise. However, that brings me to the highlight of my collection..."

He walked over to the purple suit of armor. Its pauldrons were decorated with red and yellow, and looked rather futuristic, especially for ponies - the helmet even had a visor. "This is a Meteor Suit. The book tells me that it increases magic damage when worn, so I made one especially for you, Twilight."

The purple unicorn studied the armor closely. "Thanks..." She wasn't entirely sure about it from just the looks. It didn't exactly strike her as being any kind of magic enhancer. Carefully, she picked up the helmet with her magic, and already she could feel a bit of an extra kick from it. She put on the full set of armor, and felt a surge of energy in her horn. It was also comfortably warm and relatively light-weight. Her eyes widened with unexpected satisfaction, as did most of the other ponies, who were now circling around in admiration. "This... actually feels really liberating..." she muttered, examining various parts of the armor.

"Well!" exclaimed Pinkie, "Does this mean I can put on my own shiny suit now? Please please please?"

"And, um," Fluttershy softly spoke from the corner, "I appreciate all the work you've done for us but um... there are only seven suits of armor, and, well, eight of us..."

"Eight?" repeated Hail, doing a quick head count and stopping at Light Star. "...You're bringing him? Are you sure?" Light's gaze slowly drifted downward. "I mean, no offense, but do you think you can-"

"Oh, we've been over this," Pinkie interrupted, halfway through slipping into one of the gold bardings, "He'll be fine! The more the merrier after all, and I wouldn't want to miss out on an opportunity to hang out with my new boyfriend! Besides, you still have some of your old armor, right?"

Hailstorm blinked, then checked one of the other chests. "...just some copper, but..."

"Great!" Pinkie dove into the chest and flung the copper pieces at Light from halfway across the room, forcing Applejack to duck. The panicked Light barely caught the helmet on his head, and the breastplate in his mouth, which weighed him down and caused him to miss the leggings, which bounced off the walls and buried him. Waluigi burst out into laughter, but the stares from most of the ponies cut him off, and he hunched himself over the computer again in embarrassment.

The room was met with silence as the ponies finished preparing themselves for battle. The earth ponies each received a suit of gold, except for Light who shakily donned the copper; Rarity settled with the silver, and the pegasi were fitted with iron. Hailstorm equipped the final gold armor, but realization struck him when his attempt to casually hover in the air landed him rather violently on his head.

"Ow..." he uttered, rolling over onto his feet. "That's right... I'm a pegasus too..." He had spent so much time envying Blah's gold armor that he completely overlooked the fact that it wouldn't suit him very well.

"Well, I would've said something," said Rainbow Dash, flying next to him with little difficulty in her iron suit, "but you looked so happy putting that on... and I'll admit, I kinda wanted to see you fall," she added with a chuckle, which was met with a crude stare from Hail.

"If y'all ask me," Applejack chimed in, "it'd make more sense if you just wore the copper." Clunk.

Hail closed his eyes slowly, finishing it with a sigh. The thought of downgrading from his original iron back to copper was not exactly appealing to him. "Do I have to...?" Clunk.

"If y'all want to fly, I reckon you should," Applejack replied bluntly. Clunk. Light certainly didn't seem adverse to this idea.

"Well... it's just after all this time..." Clunk. "Ok, what exactly is that noise?"

Everyone turned to the corner, where Fluttershy was busy trying to lift herself off of the ground and crashing silently. Clunk. Seeing all of the eyes on her, she backed up against the wall. "S-sorry..." she squeaked, "but I really can't even fly in this... and Rainbow makes it look so easy and..."

"It's ok, Fluttershy," Twilight consoled her. "You can wear the copper armor, it's much lighter and it's better than nothing. Are you fine with that?" The yellow pegasus nodded softly. "Good. And Hailstorm, you get the iron armor, so no loss on your part."

"Yeah... all right," Hail begrudgingly agreed, and the ponies proceeded to perform a triple armor swap.

Waluigi took a sip from his mug. "Wah, best episode yet," he praised under his breath.