“9 years?!” Pinkie Pie shouted in disbelief. “Well, what a shocker,” added Twilight.
"I know, right!" Rachel said in response.
"Well, um, it's really nice to meet you," Fluttershy said, stepping up to her and shaking hands with her.
"Wait, hold on! How did you manage to survive here?" Applejack asked, curiously.
"Well, I'm certainly not alone. I have a lot of help. You want to meet my friends?" Rachel asked. Of course, the girls were ecstatic to meet her friends.
"Um, sure," Fluttershy said, sheepishly.
"We're in," The others replied.
Back at the hideout, Rachel is just bringing out her "friends" for the gang to meet. One-by-one, they come out into the light.
The girls are all impressed to see them at first sight. They all introduce themselves to the group.
After the introductions were over, Rachel continued. “That’s not all, everyone!”
“Come on, Dar. Come here, boy. Here, boy.” she said in a cooing tone, kneeling down.
A beagle who came instantly, barking kind barks and approaching Rachel. She then pets the dog.
“Meet Darwin, everybody. He’s my pet beagle,” Rachel said, introducing her pet dog.
“Oh my gosh!” Fluttershy said in sudden joy. She approaches the beagle and pets it. The dog is adored. What they both didn’t expect is that Fluttershy’s geode magic is spreading on Darwin. After a while, Darwin actually spoke.
“Awww, you’re too kind.” Darwin said, covering his mouth with his paws, shocked by what he just did. “What’s going on?”
Fluttershy noticed. “Um, long story short: I have the power to communicate with animals and they can understand me,” Fluttershy explained, sheepishly.
Sunset steps in. “Allow me to explain who we are,” she said, prepared to tell the story of herself, her friends and how they got to cyberspace.
A few moments later...
“…and that’s how we ended up in this world.” Sunset said, finishing her story.
Rachel, Darwin and the gang were all immersed in the story. “It sure sounds like you all have a great life back in the real world,” Ryan said, disappointed in what he and the others are missing out on.
“Don’t worry, Ry. We’ll find a way back to the real world.” Mary said, stepping in and confronting Ryan.
“If you’re wondering why we came here, let us tell you exactly what happened and how we ended up here,” Don offered, yawning.
“Oh, do tell. Trixie is pleased to hear about your story,” Trixie said, curious to learn.
9 years earlier...
“My friends and I were young elementary schoolers, and we were working on our own homework projects at their own home. Darwin was just a puppy that I let sit on my lap back then. We were almost done with our projects when suddenly, the screens started flashing to the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) that flickered into some kind of monster that looked exactly like the one you were all fighting against. Our computers turned us into digital data and sucked us through.”
“...and that’s how we ended up here.” Emily explained, finishing the story.
“Oh, my. I’m sure your families have been worried sick about you,” Rarity said, concerned.
“I know they all miss us for sure. We have been trying to find the way home ever since, but we couldn’t find any clues to help us,” Don said, feeling sad.
“Don’t worry. We’ll all help you find your way home, but first we have to find a way to beat that demon and save the electronic grid,” Sunset said.
“Aw, thanks,” Rachel said.
“Gagagee,” Mike said, babbling.
“We have to think of a way to defeat the virus,” Starlight said.
“I am all about action here, so count me in!” Rainbow Dash replied, determined.
During their brainstorming session, they suddenly hear an unexpected noise that startled Darwin and Fluttershy.
“What was that?” Darwin and Fluttershy said, in fear. Of course, Fluttershy gets her body blasts of ice-cold air.
They all approach the source, but it turns out the noise was Spike!
“Oh, Twilight! I was worried about you. I’ve been looking all over for you, you haven’t come home,” Spike said, worriedly.
“We were at Sunset’s condo and suddenly we found ourselves here. Let me tell you more.” Sunset said.
A few moments later...
“Oh, yeah. I knew I saw something strange on your computer, Sunset!” Spike exclaimed after hearing Sunset’s story.
A few hours earlier...
Spike was just going around waiting for Twilight to come home, but she hasn’t come home at all. “Oh, where did Twilight and the others go? I’m really worried about them. Perhaps, I’ll have to look for them myself,” Spike said before leaving to look for his owner.
Sometime later during his search, He sees a strange light coming from the window in Sunset’s condo.
“What's going on in there?” Spike said, concerned.
Spike then enters the condo and goes to the source of the light. He sees that there’s a Sunset demon monster on her computer screen. Before he could get out, the computer shot a laser that scanned Spike and pulled him in.
“I sure am glad that I found you all!” Spike said, feeling relieved to see that his owner and friends are okay.
“Who are they?” Spike asked, having set his eyes on Rachel and the gang.
“They’re our allies; Rachel, her dog (Darwin), and her friends. They’ve been trapped here for 9 years.” Sunset explained.
“Wow. I can’t believe it!” Spike exclaimed in surprise.
"Um, hello? We have to focus on how we are going to beat the demon and get all of us back home." Fluttershy and Emily said in unison.
"Yeah, we kind of got carried away," Pinkie said, sounding silly.
...and so, they continue to think of how to beat the virus and get themselves and their new friends back home.
To be continued...