//------------------------------// // 42. Center of the Storm - Part 2 // Story: My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// The seven ponies followed Cyclone Wing because they thought that they know how to deal with him. But after looking at an airship with the size of an entire fortress all their spirit was broken quickly. Cyclone Wing who appeared as one pony in front of Star Twinkle and his friends not only managed to steal the Elements of Harmony but also prepared the rest of the Storm Wings to guard them. Star Twinkle slowly understood why Breeze Flyer was warning him from Cyclone Wing. But instead of attacking him and his friends, Cyclone Wing awaited the answer of the seven ponies. "So what's it going to be? Do you leave or do you want to fight the full force of the Storm Wings?" Cyclone Wing asked once more. Needless to say, everypony stood still and watched how the eyes of what looked like maybe a hundred other ponies stared down at them, ready to attack at Cyclone Wing's command. “There is no way that we can take on all of them...” Star Twinkle thought, not even attempting to hide his fear. “What if they are all as strong as this Steel Wing guy?” Coincidentally, a familiar voice snapped Star Twinkle out of his thoughts. "Come on please say that you fight!" The voice shouted from the direction of the airship. Everypony looked up to the Storm Fortress and saw how one pony was standing on top of the wall next to some big mechanical device. "Wait...that voice," mumbled Star Twinkle who recognized the voice immediately. It was Steel Wing who was impatiently jumping around next to something that looked like a cannon. He probably couldn't wait to use it and tried to provoke the group to attack the Storm Wings so that he could test it. "Just a minute Tornado," Cyclone Wing shouted back. The group just remembered how much trouble they had with Steel Wing alone. But now there were, even more, ponies to deal with. Seeing him again certainly didn't help the group. "If that Steel Wing fellow is here, then the other one can't be far away too," Applejack figured. Cyclone Wing then focused on the seven ponies again, trying to convince them to leave. "That's right. And not only that, every single member of the Storm Wings is inside of that airship. Ready to attack at my signal. You are not as foolish to think that you can take us all on, right? You may have defeated far more powerful foes and saved Equestria with the Elements of Harmony but right now you are just seven ponies who are outnumbered by us," Cyclone Wing explained, trying to lower the spirit of the group even further. The sad thing was, that it was true. Nightmare Moon and Discord were both stronger opponents to deal with and could only be defeated by the Elements of Harmony. They would have never even stood a chance against them on their own. This was already proven after they faced off against Steel Wing. Star Twinkle thought back on these “heroic events” and was slowly agreeing with Cyclone Wing. When he met the girls for the first time, they were almost defeated by Nightmare Moon. Discord also managed to almost defeating him and his friends. Star Twinkle came to the conclusion that everything worked out because they were lucky and the fact that they had the Elements of Harmony. But now luck seemed to have left them. Just like the Elements of Harmony... Star Twinkle found himself losing more and more reason to fight and gave up from the inside. "Listen...I don't want to hurt any more than possible. Just leave and everything will end without a fight," Cyclone Wing assured. Despite having the upper hoof, Cyclone Wing always seems to look for a peaceful solution. He just wants to end this as quick as possible without necessary fighting. "We can't just abandon the Elements of Harmony. Equestria needs them if another thread like Nightmare Moon or Discord appears," Twilight explained, trying to reason with Cyclone Wing. "Yeah like some evil insect queen," Pinkie Pie added. "I don't care what happens to Equestria as long as my brothers and the Storm Wings are safe..." Cyclone Wing replied coldly. "How can you say that?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, you are talking about your home too!" Applejack added. "My home?" Cyclone Wing asked confused. Something in his voice changed. He was still calm but there were pieces of sadness and bitterness inside of it. "I am home... The Storm Wings... This airship... My brothers... They are my home! And I will do everything to make sure that nopony will take it away from me! And for that...I need the Elements of Harmony..." Cyclone Wing said with pure determination in his voice. This little speech was definitely leaving some impression on the group. Of course, it wasn't a good one. It only gave them more reason to get the Elements back. “Remember what I said about this group earlier?” Rarity said. “That they are some kind of ruffians? I'll take it back... They are crazy ruffians!” She said, making sure to highlight the word crazy. “Don't worry, we may be outnumbered but we can't let them take the elements, no matter what!” Twilight said, keeping the spirit up in the group. Star Twinkle heard her words but couldn't convince himself to believe in them. He was just standing in the background and didn't say anything. However, Twilight made sure that the Storm Wings would understand how serious the group was to get their elements back. “The future of Equestria once more depends on us! We can't let you have the Elements of Harmony. Even if it means fighting you all!” Cyclone Wing seemed impressed by Twilight's determination but he also didn't want to loose. He looked up to Steel Wing with a serious look on his face. The moment when Steel Wing crossed eyes with him, he nodded in approval. “Alright!” Steel Wing shouted before he started the device next to him. Even from down where the seven ponies stood, the device could be heard. Some kind of sucking device came out of it which slowly sucked in some air from above. Moments later the sucking device was pointing at the group. Cyclone Wing, who exactly knew what was going to happen next, flew away in direction of the Fortress while the seven ponies prepared themselves for whatever was happening next. “Remember how you blew me out of Ponyville with a tornado? Now it's payback time!” Steel Wing said with excitement, laughing maniacally in the process. A huge blast of air came out of the device, directly heading to Star Twinkle and the others. It was like a tornado that was shot right at them. The seven ponies tried to keep on the ground but were effortlessly blown away from the tornado. It carried them far away from the fortress and out of the sight of the Storm Wings, who were cheering over their victory. "Yeah! Take that! Not so fun being blown away by a tornado now is it?!" Steel Wing yelled after them. "I don't think they can hear you anymore," said Hurricane Wing who walked up behind Steel Wing. Featherbrain and Cloud Head were also cheering because of their victory. “That was awesome boss!” Featherbrain cheered. “Yeah! It's not every day where you can see Tornado, firing a tornado at other ponies,” Cloud Head added almost proud of this discovery. “It's Steel Wing!” Steel Wing as always corrected, causing Featherbrain and Cloud Head to get startled. Cyclone Wing landed next to the four ponies on the wall, surprisingly not affected by the Storm Wings victory. “Good job, Tornado,” Cyclone Wing complimented, to which Steel Wing didn't react at all with anger, unlike with Cloud Head. “Still, I wished that they could have lasted a little longer...” Steel Wing said in an upset and unsatisfied tone in his voice, playing with the switches on the device next to him. “I'm sure you will get plenty more time to use this. I don't think that they will give up that easy...” Cyclone Wing said while he looked over to the direction where the seven ponies were blown off too. “There was a light heading towards us, a while ago...” Hurricane Wing said. “Were those the Elements of Harmony?” He asked. Cyclone Wing nodded in response. This relieved most of the ponies. After all, the Elements of Harmony caused all of them quite some trouble. However, for Cyclone Wing it was not over yet. “Where is Mystic?” He asked, causing the excitement in the group to drop by just mentioning his name. They informed him that he was not in the Fortress right now which caused Cyclone Wing to clench his teeth in annoyance. It was Mystic who wanted the Elements so badly and Cyclone Wing just wanted to give them to him so that he could keep his end of the bargain. Even if Mystic wasn't around, he still managed to bother Cyclone Wing somehow. Cyclone Wing left the four ponies to watch out for Star Twinkle and the others and went inside of the Fortress in the middle to retrieve the Elements of Harmony. He just wanted everything to be over as fast as possible. Meanwhile... Star Twinkle and the others laid on the ground with dizzy heads, caused by the tornado that buffeted them. They were blown so far away that they couldn't even see the Storm Fortress anymore. Slowly, every one of them got up again, while still having some problems to stand straight. Most of them... “That was fun!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing all over the place as if she wasn't affected by this attack at all. No one of them expected it to be easy to get back the Elements but that attack was just unnecessary. They didn't even manage to get remotely close to the Elements of Harmony. Which raised a question in the group... “So, how do we get on that airship?” Rainbow Dash asked, crossing her front legs and awaiting an answer. “I mean, I could just fly inside of it, grab the Elements and leave,” she suggested with a boasting tone in her voice. “Oh, please,” Rarity interrupted. “I can't imagine you to fly up there and not getting caught...” she added. Rainbow Dash was making an offended and annoyed face but from the inside, she knew that some of Rarity's words were true and didn't reply as a result. “If anypony has one bright idea, now is the time...” Applejack added, prompting that somepony should come up with something. Star Twinkle, however, couldn't believe that they still wanted to go into that giant ship with hundred of ponies on board ready to attack them. While they all discussed what to do next, Star Twinkle kept quiet in the background. Since Twilight noticed his behavior since they first saw the Storm Fortress and decided to finally confront Star Twinkle about it. When Star Twinkle noticed how Twilight came closer, looking at him worriedly, he could just return a worried look himself. “Let me guess...” Twilight started, putting one of her hooves under her chin. “You think we don't stand a chance, right?” She said in a surprisingly amused tone. Star Twinkle didn't know why Twilight was taking it so lightly and returned a surprised expression to her. Then he looked at the ground, embarrassed that he was like an open book for her. “I guess I'm really bad, hiding my fears, huh?” He replied, also slightly amused. “You are,” she replied with a teasing look on her face. “I know things don't look very good right now but we can't give up. This is not the first time that we have the odds against us remember?” Of course, Star Twinkle remembers. But it didn't make the situation any better. “Are they all expecting that things go fluid if they just try? Why can't I think like that?” Star Twinkle thought, trying to force positive thoughts in his mind. Twilight then came closer without Star Twinkle noticing at first. She made sure nopony was listening and whispered some words in Star Twinkle's ears. “To be honest... I'm afraid too...” Twilight admitted. Star Twinkle completely forgot his fear for a moment due to Twilight's words. She wasn't making the slightest impression to be afraid. Did she just want to try making Star Twinkle feel better? “There is little chances to succeed... And I'm afraid to let everypony down... But we at least need to try...” Twilight continued, actually making Star Twinkle slowly feel better. “You could have run back then when we fought Nightmare Moon... You could have given up fighting against Discord... But you didn't... And you won't give up now, I know that much!” She said with a bright smile forming on her face. “They are all afraid too... Afraid to let Equestria down... But they don't show it... I thought I was the only one...” Realizing that Star Twinkle was not the only one who was afraid in this situation made him feel much better. “Yes. I won't!” Star Twinkle replied smiling back at Twilight who returned a smile as well. The two ponies were then walking up to the rest to come up with a plan to get on board of the Storm Fortress. As it turns out, nopony seemed to have found a solution yet. “I know!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while raising her hoof in the air. “How about we build a giant wooden pony and offer them to the Storm Wings? Then if they take it into their fortress, we will all jump out of the statue and surprise them!” Pinkie Pie explained before she smiled happily after coming up with such an idea. “I don't think we have enough time to build something like that,” Rarity pointed out. “Any other ideas maybe?” Applejack asked. “I do...” said a voice that didn't belong to any of the seven ponies who were present. After everypony turned their heads to the direction where the voice came from, they got surprised after realizing from who it came from. A Pegasus mare with a white coat, a light blue mane, light blue eyes and three swirls as a Cutie Mark. It was Breeze Flyer, who stood very passively a few meters away from the group. “I can bring you into the Storm Fortress,” she said to the surprise of everypony. Needless to say, the group quickly got suspicious of her words. Rainbow Dash being the first who mistrusted her. “And why should we trust you? You are a member of them too!” She was not wrong. This could be another trap. But why would the Storm Wings try to go after the bearers of the Elements of Harmony? It didn't make much sense. Everypony knew that they were running out of options. This was maybe the last chance to get the Elements back. Star Twinkle remembered back when she was speaking to him after he saved Hurricane Wing from his illness. She didn't seem like somepony who would lie to him at that moment. And right now, she wasn't making that impression either. “I trust her,” Star Twinkle said, drawing the faces of everypony directly at him. “Yes, me too,” Twilight added. “They already have the Elements of Harmony. What worse could happen?” She pointed out. “Getting captured?” Fluttershy added nervously. “The Storm Wings would never do something like that!” Breeze Flyer protested. “I know it's hard to believe but our group wasn't always like that! Cyclone Wing is just stealing the Elements because it was ordered by our leader...” she seemed to struggle saying those last words. “But what if we manage to get the Elements back? Wouldn't you guys come to steal them again in the future?” Star Twinkle asked. “That is why you have to talk to Cyclone Wing. It all started once Cyclone Wing lost his position as leader. He is doing everything, what our leader ordering to do! He is the one who ruins the Storm Wings!” Breeze Flyer said in a much more bitter and darker tone. There must be something that he can use against Cyclone Wing. But Cyclone Wing won't tell us... He probably doesn't want to bother us with his problem... All of us want to get rid of our leader but Cyclone Wing does everything to avoid that... And since everypony trusts him...everypony accepts it...even if it means doing all those things, like stealing the Elements of Harmony...” Things were much more complicated than everypony thought. A member of the Storm Wings just asked a group of ponies to get rid of their own leader. And Cyclone Wing is the only one who is against it for some reason. But at the same time, he is also the only one who could make it happen... After, putting so many thoughts into all this, Star Twinkle was not sure if the Storm Wings were that much of a criminal group, he once thought they were. “Please, you have to talk with him and make him realize that ” Breeze Flyer exclaimed, bowing down in front of everypony and trying to hide her desperate face. If this was all an act, then it was pretty convincing. She looked really desperate and almost began tearing up. Just listening to her was hard for everypony. Fluttershy and Pinkie almost teared up themselves listening to her. Everypony agreed to help Breeze Flyer with her request almost instantly. If what she was saying is the truth, then there was only one enemy to go up against. The leader of the Storm Wings. No time was wasted to put Breeze Flyer's plan in motion. According to her, the Storm Fortress will fly along the Filly Mountains, hidden behind the mountains. The Storm Wings were still criminals in the eyes of everypony else so they couldn't just fly around in open spaces. However, the plan of Breeze Flyer was not really the safest. She suggested climbing one of the mountains to jump on the Storm Fortress, while it was flying nearby. The fortress is surrounded by a wall but there is a small space between the wall and the end of the ground that was still part of the airship. By jumping on that ground they could enter the wall trough a secret passage that would lead directly to the fortress in the middle. The fortress was the most likely place, where the elements would be kept. While inside of the wall, nopony would notice the group entering the fortress. They could talk to Cyclone Wing without any other member, disrupting them on the way. The group did as they were told and climbed one of the mountains, which already took its time itself but according to Breeze Flyer, the Storm Fortress couldn't progress too fast either because of the mountains around it. When they arrived at a good place to jump off from, they just had to wait for the Storm Fortress to fly by. However, the longer they waited, the more Star Twinkle didn't like the idea. “I really don't know how to feel about this idea...” he said nervously. “I mean this is the second time where part of a plan involved me, jumping down from somewhere!” He said, referring to the plan to stop Steel Wing a little while ago. But as soon as he got that out, the Storm Fortress closed. There were some ponies on watch on top of the wall, most likely looking out for Star Twinkle and the others. “I will go and distract them while you jump on, Don't forget the location of the secret entrance,” Breeze Flyer said before she flew off to the few ponies on top of the wall, who kept their eyes on Breeze Flyer, probably asking where she was coming from. The Airship was getting closer and closer, making the airship look even bigger than it was before. It was just like Breeze Flyer said. The wall wasn't at the limit of the ship. There was a small space left on the edges to safely walk on, even if it was very small. “Alright everypony! Prepare to jump!” Twilight shouted due to the engines of the Storm Fortress being louder than her normal speaking voice. Rainbow Dash then coughed and briefly pointed at her wings, showing that she doesn't need to jump. “Or fly...” Twilight corrected shortly after. “Well, here goes nothing!” Shortly after everypony jumped on the airship, trying to keep their balance as they walked over to the spot where Breeze Flyer told them, where the secret passage was. Everypony followed Twilight until she stopped at a certain point. “It should be around...here!” She poked against some part of the wall, which shortly opened up an entrance nearby. Everypony quickly proceeded to walk inside of the wall with the entrance closing behind them. Inside of the wall, it was really dark and quiet but luckily Twilight used her horn to cast a spell that brightened their path. There was only one way to follow which most likely would lead them to the fortress in the middle, leaving them only one way to go. “I wonder how long it took them to build all this...” Fluttershy wondered. “They could have at least do some decorating inside here while building. There is obviously too much...gray...” Rarity pointed out bothered, having even problems looking at the walls. “I doubt that they build all this,” Twilight corrected. “The Storm Wings are not around for that long... They more look like ruins that were around for more than hundred of years,” Twilight analyzed. “Yeah...almost like the castle of the two sisters...” Star Twinkle added. “Except that these ruins are flying!” Pinkie Pie added happily. Suddenly, Star Twinkle stopped moving without anypony noticing at first. “Wait...” Star Twinkle thought. “So does that mean that this thing was flying a hundred years ago too?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We are on a ship...” Star Twinkle continued to think. “I don't know... I don't think airships were that common back then...” Twilight replied unsurely. “A flying ship...” “Whatever it is or was, they can't just move in in a ruin that is that old, can they?” Applejack asked. “Flying as in...” “I don't think we should worry about things like that. We are here to get the Elements of Harmony back. We should focus our thoughts on that!” Twilight said, remembering everypony on their current task. “...The air!” “Right, Star Twinkle?” Twilight asked turning her head around thinking that Star Twinkle was right behind her only to realize that he was standing a little further away from the group, not moving at all and looking into the distance. They all gave each other confused looks until they decided to walk back a little, making sure that Star Twinkle was alright. He wasn't reacting to any question that they asked him and only stood there while opening and closing his mouth rapidly. “Why is he shaking?” Twilight wondered when she closely inspected Star Twinkle. “More importantly, what is he saying?” Rarity added after noticing that he was saying something really quietly. “Hold on!” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing near Star Twinkle and moving her ears near his mouth. She then nodded a few times accompanied by some “uh huh's” and “mhm” and then turned around to the girls to say what he was mumbling. “All he keeps saying is: We're flying! We're flying! We're flying! We're flying! We're flying! We're flying!” Imitating the shocked expression on Star Twinkle's face while saying that as well. “ugh...Star Twinkle...” Twilight said, followed by a sigh since this was not the right moment for Star Twinkle's fear of flying. Applejack and Rainbow Dashed decided to push Star Twinkle since he was unable to walk any further. They couldn't waste any more time to get the Elements of Harmony back and had to make haste. Thankfully, Star Twinkle snapped out of it and began to respond to the others. He was still shaking but he kept moving on with the others. There was no way for him to get out of this situation anyway. He just had to endure his for a moment. The path, they were following ended after a few more minutes. They could only walk left after that, which meant that they were already at one corner of the wall. Since they all entered from the left side of the wall, that meant that there was only half of the way left for them until they arrived at the backside of the wall where the Fortress was at. They all walked around the corner, Star Twinkle being the one who was behind all of them, due being still afraid of being on a flying ship. When he was about to go around the corner as well, he noticed how the girls were still standing there. He was wondering what that was all about until a voice answered his question. “I knew that you wouldn't give up that easily,” said the voice, which he instantly recognized as Cyclone Wing's. Star Twinkle decided to hide around the corner, without Cyclone Wing noticing him. He didn't know why he did that. Maybe he thought that he wouldn't be much of a help in his current state or that he would only get in the way like this. Whatever the reason was, he agreed that this move was very cowardly and kinda regret it. Still, he listened to the conversation from around the corner. “Didn't I told you that we would make sure, that the Elements would stay with us?” Cyclone Wing said before he stepped to his left pushing a button on the wall. It was exactly like before when Twilight opened the secret passage. The wall on the left of the group raised and revealed an open place, which was the center inside of the wall. Some pegasi were watching in surprise how a group of six ponies stared at them in confusion. Then all of the sudden the wall to the right of everypony opened up revealing a fan that was spinning rapidly, in an attempt to blow everypony out in the center. It was just like that cannon that Steel Wing fired only a little weaker. The poor attempts to not getting blown out were in vain and Star Twinkle watched how his friends got separated from him. The wall closed again and Twilight and the others were trapped outside with several Storm Wing members starring at them. After getting blown out from the fan, the group got back on their hooves again. They could only watch how the wall closed behind them and how their cover was revealed after they were spotted by the Storm Wings. “Lookie what we got here! Cyclone was right, you did try to sneak into our fortress!” Said Steel Wing who was on top of the wall where he was before, amused by the group's failed attempt. “That's just lucky for me!” He added before he prepared the cannon that he used before to get rid of the seven ponies. “I don't think it's a good idea to use that inside here, Tornado. You could hit some us in the process,” Hurricane Wing advised in concern, though his expression was looking not too concerned at all. Steel Wing understood and formed an upset expression on his face, not being able to use his cannon once more. “Fine! Then go and get them, guys!” Steel Wing ordered to the members of the Storm Wings who then prepared themselves to attack the group of ponies. There were dozens of ponies, mostly consisting of pegasi slowly walking up to Twilight and the rest of the girls, ready to attack them. However, Breeze Flyer, who was standing next to Steel Wing and Hurricane Wing looked at Twilight and her friends with a shocked expression. Some of the girls instantly, suspected that she was tricking all of them but they didn't have time to worry about that right now. “All this sneaking in and we still ended up trapped by those guys!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed annoyed. “Don't worry, girls! Star Twinkle is still inside. There is still hope!” Twilight assured and trying to boost the morale again. The Storm Wings knew that they outnumbered Twilight and her friends but still proceeded with caution as they slowly approached the group. “Hey isn't one of them missing?” Steel Wing wondered as he scanned through the group of ponies. “Weren't there always six of them?” Breeze Flyer responded, trying to confuse Steel Wing so that he won't send some ponies to look for Star Twinkle. “I dunno...maybe?” He replied confused. Breeze Flyer was releasing a relieved sigh, realizing that she just prevented the situation from getting any worse. However, Hurricane Wing was looking over to her, without her realizing. His eyes were narrowed as if he caught up of what she was planning behind everyponies back. Meanwhile at Star Twinkle's situation... Separated from his friends, Star Twinkle was all on his own against Cyclone Wing. But the good thing was that Cyclone Wing didn't notice him. “Now there is only one left...” Or at least that's what Star Twinkle thought... Surprised by Cyclone Wing's words, Star Twinkle walked around the corner since there was no reason to hide anymore. He soon found himself standing in front of Cyclone Wing who didn't make any move and just stared at Star Twinkle. “How could this happen? Now I'm all on my own!” Thought Star Twinkle after realizing what just happened. “I should have been blown out too... But I decided to hide like a coward... Even after I decided to not give up in front of everypony...” Star Twinkle instantly regret his action and now he will be punished for it by dealing with Cyclone Wing on his own. So he decided to stand still not even bothering to resist, whatever Cyclone Wing was about to do with him. But instead of walking towards Star Twinkle, Cyclone Wing turned around and slowly moved away from him. Of course, Star Twinkle didn't understand what this was about. “Why are you walking away? Aren't you trying to stop me?” Star Twinkle asked surprised by Cyclone Wing's action. Cyclone Wing didn't turn around and continued to walk away from Star Twinkle. “There is no reason for that... I can't see any sign of resistance in your face,” Even though Star Twinkle wasn't aware of it, he knew what Cyclone Wing meant. It was probably all written on his face that he was afraid to deal with this situation. But despite all his hesitation, Star Twinkle couldn't just stand there, doing nothing. “Wait!” Star Twinkle yelled across the hallway. Cyclone Wing stopped but didn't turn around. This action alone made Star Twinkle already regret his words. But Star Twinkle false bravery prevented him from taking back his words now. “I have to get the Element's of Harmony back!” He exclaimed, letting Cyclone Wing know that he was serious now. “Then you have to go past me...” Cyclone Wing threatened while still not facing Star Twinkle. Star Twinkle clenched his teeth in determination and actually charged at Cyclone Wing who didn't seem to notice due him still being turned around. However, once Star Twinkle was about to ram Cyclone Wing, he spread his wings and flew up some meters, avoiding Star Twinkle's charge. Moments later Cyclone Wing landed back on the ground now facing Star Twinkle. He could see how Star Twinkle's expression changed a little but he still didn't want to fight. “I am still thankful that you helped Hurricane Wing. But don't think that you will get some special treatment because of that... I will complete my mission...” Cyclone Wing said determent once again warning Star Twinkle to not do anything stupid. “If your brothers and the Storm Wings are that important to you then why do you insist on following your leaders order?” “How do you know about that?” Cyclone Wing replied, his usual calm voice changing into a more bitter one this time. “I know what the Storm Wings used to be like! But they changed once you got a new leader, right?” “So what? I'm doing what my leader is ordering me. That is how it normally goes in a group!” Cyclone Wing corrected who was starting to get a little annoyed by Star Twinkle's words. “Even if most members of this group are against that?” “How do you know all this!?” Cyclone Wing said, his expression changing to a more angry one this time. Star Twinkle figured that his words weren't doing a good job in getting more information from Cyclone Wing. It was going a lot better in his head. There were still the Elements of Harmony left to retrieve. So he decided to focus on that first. Once again, Star Twinkle charged at Cyclone Wing out of the blue but Cyclone Wing was again, prepared and levitated upwards again. However, this time Star Twinkle was jumping before Cyclone Wing was even up in the air. Cyclone Wing didn't expect that move from Star Twinkle and couldn't stop in time and was rammed by him in midair, causing him to fall back a few meters and making him land where Star Twinkle was a few minutes ago. Despite this attack, Cyclone Wing got up again real fast this time determent to fight back. He expected one more attack from Star Twinkle but instead of coming right after him, Star twinkle inspected the wall on his left. “Where is it?” Star Twinkle said touching the walls hasty one after another. It was now that Cyclone Wing realized what he was planning to do. But it was too late. Star Twinkle found one of the buttons that Cyclone Wing pressed to get rid of the girls before. Once again a fan opened up in the wall, coincidentally where Cyclone Wing was standing at right now. This time it was Cyclone Wing who was blown away from the fan. But since the wall wasn't open anymore, Cyclone Wing was just pushed against the wall and unable to move for a short time. Time that Star Twinkle used to run away in direction of the fortress that he and his friends were heading to originally. Unable to move, Cyclone Wing could only watch how Star Twinkle was running away from him. But he knew that it was only a matter of time until the fan stopped and freed him. And it was only a matter of time until he caught up with Star Twinkle. Meanwhile outside with Twilight and the others... The fight outside has already begun and despite being outnumbered, Twilight and her friends were not doing a bad job fighting off their opponents. Twilight used her magic to fight off most of them and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and even Rarity were resorting to good old hoof fighting. Pinkie Pie was mostly playing around and Fluttershy took every opportunity to get out of harm's way. Steel Wing and Hurricane Wing were impressed to see them holding off most of their members. Steel Wing even seemed to enjoy this fight a little until he realized that they were losing. “I think I'm going to join them soon before I get bored,” he said to Hurricane Wing, Breeze Flyer, Cloud Watcher and Featherbrain who were watching as well. Breeze Flyer realized how the situation was slowly getting out of control and decided to do something about it. Without a word, she flew off into the fight, heading right at Twilight who didn't notice Breeze Flyer at first and got pinned down on the ground. Twilight was already preparing a spell in her horn but she noticed the worried expression on Breeze Flyer's face and hold it back. “What happened?” She asked, making sure to take advantage of the confusion in this fight to not get caught talking with Twilight. “Cyclone Wing was waiting for us, Star Twinkle is still inside the wall,” Twilight explained. Breeze Flyer couldn't afford to talk much longer and tried to keep the conversation short in order to not get caught. “I'll try to find a way to get you inside somehow, just hold on some longer,” she said before she pretended to get hit by Twilight's magic and flew off to Steel Wing and the others again. Steel Wing was surprised to see her act that way since he didn't saw any magic coming out of Twilight's horn but Breeze Flyer acted like it was some kind of invisible beam of magic. Since Steel Wing didn't know the first thing about magic, he believed it without questioning and left it at that. Once again, Hurricane Wing starred at Breeze Flyer with a suspicious look on his face. “So that's how it is...” he mumbled to himself before he spread his wings and attempted to fly off. “Whoa, whoa! Where are you going to?” Steel Wing asked in surprise and almost shocked. “Joining the fight...” Hurricane Wing replied casually. “You sure? I mean...you know that we don't have any left, right?” Steel Wing asked, showing signs of concern for the first time. “I know... Don't worry. I won't be gone for long...” Hurricane Wing assured before he flew off into the fight. He too was flying right at Twilight but instead of pinning her down like Breeze Flyer, he grabbed her in midair and flew off with her in his hooves. Rainbow Dash noticed how Twilight was pretty much captured and tried to follow them but was blocked by a few members of Storm Wings in her way and couldn't get past them right away. Meanwhile, Twilight tried to free herself from Hurricane Wing who carried her in the air and away from the battlefield. “Let me go!” She exclaimed but once she looked down and realized how high she was in the air, she corrected herself. “Or fly closer to the ground and then let me go!” “You are trying to help us, right?” Hurricane Wing asked calmly, making Twilight stop struggling in an instant. “I can't bring you to the fortress right away, that would cause too many suspicions but I can show you a secret passage that leads to the inside of the wall... That's how you got in, right?” He said, looking at Twilight with a smile on his face. Twilight was surprised that Hurricane Wing was helping her all of the sudden but she was also worried about Star Twinkle and the Elements of Harmony and let herself get carried to the same secret passage where Breeze Flyer was leading them too. “Why are you helping us? We would go up against your brother,” Twilight said, not understanding why Hurricane Wing helped her too. “No, you would go up against Mystic...” Hurricane Wing replied. “Mystic?” Twilight replied confused. “That's the name of our leader...” Hurricane Wing replied. “You guys saved Equestria before so maybe you can save our group too. At least I think that you can,” Hurricane Wing explained with a smile on his face before he flew off again. But he stopped one moment and flew right back to Twilight after he remembered something. “Oh yeah! If you see that green pony again, then say him thank you from me. For saving me back then,” “Will do!” Twilight replied before she pushed the button that opened the secret passage again. She then ran inside and hurried to Star Twinkle's help, hoping that she can still save him and the Elements of Harmony. Meanwhile, at Star Twinkle's location... Star Twinkle still continued to run away from Cyclone Wing. He was running as fast as he could and hoped that Cyclone Wing wasn't coming closer to him. But unfortunately, Cyclone Wing slowly caught up with him, making Star Twinkle accelerate even more. Cyclone Wing was slowly closing the gap between them. Star Twinkle would have probably one more minute left until Cyclone Wing caught up with him. After some more running, finally, a corner was in sight, meaning that it wasn't too far away from the fortress in the middle anymore. Star Twinkle ran around the corner and got surprised how there was no more long hallway but instead several small halls that he passed through in seconds. But now he realized the real problem. “Where are the Elements of Harmony?” He thought in panic. It was just now that he realized that he had no idea where to look at. There were way too many rooms and multiple floors as well. How was he supposed to know where the elements were at? The only indication that he had was that Cyclone Wing was still following him. And that could only mean that Star Twinkle was still on his way to them. While running through the halls, Star Twinkle noticed something in the distance in front of him coming closer and closer. Somepony stood in the middle of the way and shot a magic beam right at Star Twinkle, causing him to dodge out of the way but stumbling while doing so. Even Cyclone Wing had to dodge that shot since it was flying directly at him as well. But instead of Star Twinkle, he was not sure if that was on purpose or an accident. They both had to stop in their tracks and we approached by a Unicorn with a dark purple coat, a dark blue mane with a “W” shape and yellow stripes, dark blue eyes and a cloud of mist as a Cutie Mark. "And here I thought you had everything under control," said the unicorn in disappointment. "I have everything under control, Mystic," replied Cyclone Wing annoyed by just hearing Mystics voice. “Really? You seem to have problems with only one pony while outside almost all of the Storm Wings try to fight off six ponies,” Mystic corrected. Somehow, Star Twinkle was relieved to hear that his friends were doing alright but now he had to face two opponents at once. And only Cyclone Wing was already hard enough. “Get me the Elements of Harmony, Cyclone Wing. I will deal with this nuisance,” Mystic said, moving his head away from Cyclone Wing to Star Twinkle with a smug smile on his face. Cyclone Wing didn't like it but did what he was told and flew past Star Twinkle. Star Twinkle tried to stop Cyclone Wing, however, Mystic was drawing Star Twinkle's attention to him by blocking his path. “I don't like being ignored, you know...” Mystic said almost amused. “I assume that you and your friends were the ones who disrupted my plans before. How about I'll pay you back for that?” Mystic said in a threatening tone in his voice before he prepared a spell in his horn, smiling sinisterly in the process. Whoever that pony in front of Star Twinkle was, he was definitely not like Cyclone Wing. He wanted to fight and even seemed to enjoy it judging from the sadistic expression on his face. Something was telling Star Twinkle that things would only get worse from now on. To be continued...