Prologue

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"Many people see me as cool and energetic, gung-go and awesome. They think, I can endure anything and stay cool. But...little did they know, that there is a different side of me...A more painful side...Think of it as...a broken side. You may ask: Why is it here and what happened? Well, I'm gonna tell you just that...My name is Johnny Test and this is my story..."

PrismaGalaxy514 presents:

Based on stories and characters by Lauren Faust and Scott Fellows

The Road of Courage

James Arnold Taylor as Johnny Test

Trevor Devall as Dukey

Marÿke Hendrikse as Susan Test

Brittney Wilson as Mary Test

Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle

Ashleigh Ball as Rainbow Dash and Applejack

Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy

Tabitha St Germain as Rarity and Princess Luna

Kelly Sheridan as Starlight Glimmer

Kathleen Barr as Trixie

Cathy Wesluck as Spike

Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer

Nicole Oliver as Princess Celestia

Britt Mckillip as Princess Cadence

Etc.

It was a day, like any other in Porkbelly. The citizens are doing their usual businesses like always. Even if they experienced one too many disasters. Some from villains, others from rouge inventions. And there were times, it fell victim to alien attacks.

In a place, called „Porkbelly Junior High“, it was like hell for many kids. Bullies, tests, mean teachers, you name it. One of them is an 11-year old boy with hair, that resembles fire. He was chased by a group of bullies. Apparently the bullies got pissed for no apparent reason.

„We're not done, Test! Come here!“ the leader of the bullies yelled.

„Never!“ the boy replied, as he continued running.

The chase kept going through the school halls. During which, neither of them stopped picking up their speed.

"Come here!!!" The leading bully yelled at the boy with his fists ready.

Than the boy makes a sharp turn to the right and goes inside the janitor‘s room, before shutting the door. And it was done before the bullies even saw him going in.

Meanwhile, the bullies looked around and checked every room, including the janitor’s room, but without success.

„Dang it! You may have escaped, Test!!! But we will find you someday! Just wait and see!!“ the leader yelled around in the air before he and his comrades retreated and left the janitor's room. When the school bell rang, it was time for the kids to leave. When the bell rang at the afternoon, it always meant, that the kids are free to leave the school, since the day ended. For them, it was their sweet release from a hellish school day.

Meanwhile, in the janitor's room a short flash can be seen before the kid gets out of the locker.

„Man, that was close…“ the kid sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off from his forehead, but to make sure, that the bullies are truly gone, he slightly opened the door and looked around. When they were gone, he then pulls out a device and presses the button, turning him invisible. He slowly and silently walked away.

Outside, a brown dog is sitting near the school gates, holding a cup of coffee. He waited for a while, during which, he looked at the skies, in order to pass some time. Suddenly, the gates opened, but nobody was there. Thinking, there are ghosts in the school, the dog hides in fear. It wasn't until he heard a familiar voice, that his fear would fade away:

„Relax, buddy! It's me!“

Another flash occured and as the dog comes out, he sees him. The boy with the flaming hair.

„Geez, Johnny…“ the dog said with slight annoyance before he accompanies him on the walk home. And yes, he can talk, for anyone who is curious.

„So, how's the day?“ the dog asked. The boy, named Johnny, replied: „Horrible like always. Hard pop quizzes, barf food and Bumper and his group chased me. Thankfully, I hid in the janitor’s room… But still, I'm not looking forward for the next day…“ Judging by the sound, he was definetly not excited and exhausted.

„Buddy, you know, you should’ve learned for these quizzes a while ago...„ ,said the dog.

„Hello? I already had a stressful time yesterday. My dad was a nightmare for me to deal with, after I nearly wrecked his car with a blaster. Then there is also the time with Whacko and his buddies. After all that was over, I played video games till the night. Needless to say, my dad was not a fan with that„ Johnny replied, recalling the events yesterday. „But hey, I had to test some cool stuff from my sisters!“

"Sure..." The dog rolled his eyes.

As they walked on their way, they saw many kids having fun, some broken buildings, possibly from the events last time, adults doing their business as usual and so much more. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

When they arrived home, they opened the door and he looks around. He sees his mom doing business calls and his dad cleaning all over the house, while preparing dinner. Johnny had a disgusted look in his face before going upstairs to his room, without being noticed.

When arriving in his room, Johnny shut the door tight and jumps on his bed. „Man, I need something awesome to distract myself.“ He replied, when he dodged a wooden sword, courtesy of his best friend, who is dressed as a pirate. „Y'arr! How about an old fashioned pirate battle?“ Johnny just smirked and changed his outfit into a pirate outfit. „It's on!“

He drew out a wooden sword and the two recreated a classic pirate sword battle in the room. They kept fighting and jumping all over around. They have so much fun, when all of a sudden, the dog heard footsteps. „Dad alert!“ he replied and they quickly change back. However, a voice can be heard:

„Relax, Dukey.. It's just us.“

The door opened, revealed to be two girls with red hair, lab coats and glasses. Although one of them has a special ponytail, like no other. The dog, named Dukey, is relieved, but annoyed at the sight. „You nearly scared us with that false alarm!!“ he yelled at them.

„So what do you want?“ Johnny asked. In which the girl with the black skirt replied: „We have a few Johnny coupons, which means you will test our newest inventions!“

"Ah shit, here we go again." Dukey thought to himself. He knew, what's going to happen.

Later in the lab, Johnny is testing a new invention from the girls, who were his older sisters. He drank a mysterious chemical and in a split second, he changed into a dragon. The sisters took some notes. The second test, he was given gloves, that shoot any elemental spheres like projectiles. However, a malfunction caused Johnny to be shocked by a surge. Dukey was shocked, but the girls are unphased, as they kept writing. Thankfully , he survived.

"I'm still surprised, that he survived from all of this!" Dukey reminded, that even after those deadly looking tests, Johnny is still fine. It seems like, he has been imune or something.

However the next test follows with Johnny being tied up to a table, as he saw needles filled with chemicals. A lot of needles with a lot of chemicals.

„Uhm, isn’t this a bit too much?“ Dukey asked. he saw it as not safe.

„Yeah, but whatever.“ The sisters replied in an ignorant bliss.

They pull a lever, in which the device gets closer to Johnny. As screams of pain can be heard and the ground shaking, Dukey looked away. „That's it! I'm outta here!!“ He immediately left the laboratory and the house, however he shuddered about Johnny‘s screams of pain. „I really need something to get it off from my head….“ He looked back at the house, yet still shuddered at the horrible sight. There were times, that the girls went too far and this was no different.

Later after some hours, he came back with a cup of coffee and a first aid kit. He enters Johnny’s room. „Johnny? Sorry for running away, I couldn’t stand your sisters doing this.“ He said.

However, Johnny's not in the room. „Johnny? Where are you?“ Dukey asked, as he looked around. He checked the closet, but couldn’t find him. He looked around, checking every corner and every shelves. Nothing. However when he opened a shelf, he found something.

„What's this?“ Dukey asked. He picked it up and it turns out, that it was a blue diary. Dukey was confused. „That's strange. Johnny never writes anything on a diary, let alone owning one.“

He looked around and he wanted to put it into the shelf again, but his curiosity got the better of him and opened it. The title of the diary said „My endless pain“

„‘My endless pain'? What’s that supposed to be?“ Dukey asked and went to the next page. There was text, which read:

„Hey…

The reason, why I decided to write on this journal is my thoughts couldn’t leave me. Thoughts of pain. However, I don't want anyone to know my second side. My broken side. So I pretend to be cool and happy on the outside and in front of everyone, but when I’m all alone, my true emotions appear and write my worst moments and thoughts here.“

"What's this supposed to mean?" He opened the next page, in which it read:

„Monday
This morning was really stressful because of the hell, known as school. It felt like a marathon, in a bad way. In school, it was horrendous. Bullies, unfair teachers and people who didn’t help me. They all laugh at me…Yep, it's like those bastards really want to pull me down! After school, my mind wasn't clear. I told Dukey about the awesome inventions, when in reality, it hurts me more than being stung by Bee Keeper's million bees. And the bees are no longer a problem, now he is good….Unless I made them mad by accident. Anyway, i was hiding my emotions until the night, when everyone is asleep. Believe me, I was about to break down, but then I realize, that this would cause more trouble and I have enough trouble this day. So I decided to keep it shut.“

He then turned to the next page. He noticed, that the writing was getting not steady. It was shaky a bit, yet still looking normal:

"Tuesday
Yep, same thing happened in the school. Bullies, unfair teachers and....ugh forget it...It's the same thing!!! They never help me! They only make it worse!! And don't get me started to what happened home... My mom pretty much ignored me, but that's the least of my problems. No, the true problems are my sisters and my dad. Like I said, the tests hurt me. But it's their sheer ignorance, that really annoyed me. Of course, I kept being cool in front of them, but damn..How many times do they have to keep being ignorant?? Also being geniuses, my ass. They are definetly being cruel. My dad though....Oh man...Where do I even begin? Let's say, he's being mean 24/7. He doesn't understand the concept about fun or even life. He punishes me all the time when I do my stuff my way. You may think, I may be lazy, but lately, his punishments get even more painful and horrid. Like what?? It's like they care more about my actions and their expectations about me than my life itself!"

As Dukey continued to read the pages, mentions of hatred, pain and near breakdowns can be found. And each page makes it worse. One page actually contains a drawing of Johnny with a broken heart and cracks around him. „No…This can't be…Is this supposed to be a joke?“

However, as he read the final pages , he noticed the very shaky writing and drops around the pages. He realized, those were tear drops. And then, he read the the most recent page:

„This is not a joke..I really can't take it anymore! Everyone is killing me on the inside! Not to mention, being hated and left alone by almost everyone! I really started to hate them on the inside, but I kept the image of a happy and cool boy. However, I feel like, cracks are staring to show. I'm all beaten up, hurt, sad and broken…I wish, I could ask someone for help, but I'm scared, that they would laugh at me, which only makes the pain worse! I'm staring to go insane, as time goes on…It’s even worse than all of the punishments I received from my mom, dad and even Susan and Mary! Why wouldn’t they just leave me alone?!?!?! AAAAAHHHHH!! I just wish, I could just run away somewhere else, where I can be happy....“

His paws were trembling. „Did Johnny really wrote those horrible stories?...“ His heart was racing. All of the happy facade, that his best friend had, was all fake. The smiles, that Johnny had, were also fake. He's been hurting the whole time, yet he kept having a fake image of himself.

Before he can ask more questions however, he heard the door getting bumped. He quickly put the diary back into the shelf, closed all of the shelves and the closet door and went back on all of his 4 paws.

Turns out, that when the door opened, it was Johnny. He looked like he was badly beaten and having bandages all around him. „My god, Johnny! What just happened??“ Dukey asked.

„Test went wrong, sisters turned me back to normal, Bumper found me, getting yelled from my dad again, this time that the news caught us on camera, end.“ Johnny slowly walks to his bed and sits down.

„Wow, you really have a bad day, huh?“ he said.

„You said it, buddy…“ Johnny replied, while groaning in pain.

"What form did you turn into again?" Dukey asked.

"Some kind of monster...." Johnny buried his face on a pillow. The day was too much for him.

„Dinner time!“ That was the sound of his dad. Johnny grunts in annoyance. But he felt like, he had no choice and goes down. "It's definetly gonna be his meatloaf..I know it..." he thought to himself.

Later, in the night, Johnny was laying down on his bed, awake and looking at the sealing.

„All I wanted was to be truly happy and free….“ He thought to himself, as he looked at the stars and the moon. He looked at Dukey, smiled a bit and thought „You are the only friend I have left..“

He then got up, walked to his window and looked at the night sky, thinking about a way to get out of this horrid world and start over. The sparkling stars and the shining moon made him calm down for a while. There is something about the night sky, that made him feel relaxed. Maybe it's due to the calming nature or the thought of the night embracing him, when he needed some comfort and relaxation. Whatever it is, it made him calm down a bit. However, he knew, that as soon as the sunrise happened, thoughts of pain would reappear. He sighed, since tomorrow will be another terrible day.

"Ugh.....Let's hope, things would not go past my breaking point....Ugh, who am I kidding? Of course, it will get worse...." he thought to himself, while looking at the clock. He then looked at Dukey again and smiled, knowing that he will always by his side till the end. After which, he laid down and fell asleep.

The next day after school, Johnny came out and expected for Dukey for be there, so they can walk together, but he was nowhere to be found. „Huh? Where is he?“ he asked. The boy looked around the school and the surrounding, yet there are no signs of his trusty dog friend. "Is this some kind of joke? Come on..." he sighed. At the same time, his phone vibrated and when he turns it on, there is a sent text message from his dad, which said „We need to talk now!“

„Ugh…What does he want?....“ he asked. He assumed, that he is in trouble again. He walked until he reached the street, where his home is. He hesitated, since it would be the same thing as always, so he hid somewhere, hoping that nobody would find him. But then he became surrounded by a white light and vanished. When he appeared, he was inside and when he looked back, he saw his mom, dad and his sisters, looking pissed.

„Ok, what's going on?“ Johnny asked nonchalantly.

„Johnny, stop pretending to be clueless..“ said Mary.

„Ugh, let me guess, I'm in trouble, right?“ he asked, realizing, that nobody were fooled by his act.

„Big time!“ all four of them replied in an angry tone.

„Your sisters told us about your actions. „ said his mom.

„And that was AFTER you destroyed our science project for your selfish reasons!“ Susan yelled at him. "You also destroyed our lab as well!" Mary added.

„Susan, let me handle the yelling.“ said their dad.

Johnny was unphased. He didn't hear the words. But when he asked, where Dukey is…

„We took him away.“

That was from his dad. Johnny froze in shock and disbelief. His sight was fading in an out, after that reveal. „Why?“ he quietly asked.

„Because this was the final straw!!! You ignored the rules and kept breaking them through out the months and even years. Therefore you will never see him again until you’re 30!!!“

Suddenly, Johnny’s expression went dark. His hands were formed into shaky fists, his eyes tearing up. His emotions are now filled with anger. It seems like, he couldn’t take it anymore and snapped. At this point, he started to yell back at his family with his true emotions all in front:

„You know what, I'M DONE PRETENDING! I'M DONE HIDING AWAY MY THOUGHTS!!!! YOU GUYS HAVE HURT ME SEVERELY!!! THE PUNISHMENTS, NEGLECT, PAIN, EVERYTHING, YOU’VE DONE TO ME!!! YOU GUYS ARE THE WORST!!!!“

But his emotional yelling got him nowhere and only irritated his dad more, causing to be slapped in the face. On the ground, Johnny feels more hurt. He looked at them with hatred in his eyes. And without a word, he ran away into his room. He heard his dad yelling „You're grounded!!!“

"I doubt, it would stop his reckless actions, dad..." Susan talked to her dad.

"It sure will, young lady! It sure will!!" her dad responded with confidence. "It's only a matter of time, till he understands my rules and starting to respect the authorities!"

After he went into his room, he locked the door tight, goes to his bed and buried his face into his pillow. Then he started to scream and cry at the same time. It became louder and more broken, as time went on. All of the pain has taken a toll on him. All of the abuse, hate, neglect and pain, they caused him, made him crack and with Dukey being taken away, it was the final blow.

He gets up, his hair being messy from being buried into the pillow, his eyes shedding many tears and he rubbed at the slap wound, he received from his dad. It was still fresh. „Now they did it….They fucking did it!!!!“ Even his voice cracked by the sheer amount of pain. He grabbed the pillow tightly and screamed into it again.

„That’s it!!!! THAT'S IT!!!!“ After that, he threw the pillow to the wall hard and screamed, causing some feathers to come out.

Later in the midnight, when everyone is asleep, Johnny was looking at the window. His expression was blank, as the events from today has finally brought him his dark side. Then, he went to work. He packed his stuff into his backpack, pulled out the blue diary and tore the empty page off. He then started to write a message . During this, his hands were shaking.

„If you read this:
You have abused me for so long, that I have decided that, it’s not worth living in this cruel world anymore. It's all your fault....
Signed, Johnny Test.“

He put it under the bed. He then went into his closet and digs something out from his pile of clothes. It was a safe. He opened it and there were a few devices in there: the Hover shoes, the Invisibility Ray and the Ghost Phaser Badges, which allows him to go through walls. "Good thing, they didn't find them..." Johnny said quietly.

He put the hover shoes on, the badge on his chest and turned the Ray on himself to turn himself invisible. He took his backpack and the diary, went through the walls and activated the hover shoes. He then flew up and looked at the house for a final time, before taking off.

The first stop, the Animal shelter. He knew, that Dukey is there and as he was looking around, he found him asleep. His fur was messed up and had several bruises on him. Johnny's blue eyes were filled with tears now, since seeing his friend in that condition, broke him.

„Dukey….You shouldn’t deserve to be like this….“ Johnny quietly said to him. „Don't worry. We will go to somewhere far away..“

Johnny went through the bars and put the second badge on his back and activated it. He then used the ray on Dukey to turn him invisible and picked him up. "It's time...Time to leave this shitty place behind..." he whispered.

Then he flew off. He looked back one last time at Porkbelly before leaving it all behind. The town, where he grew up his whole life, was all gone in his mind, as this was the place of pain and despair.

He went to an island, but not any island. It belonged to Eugene AKA Bling-Bling-Boy. He flew around the mansion to make sure, nobody is here. He found a note, saying that he and his mother are on a vacation.

„That's good…“ Johnny whispered and went through the walls and into his lab.

He knew, that he has a portal device, in case when he succeeded to make Susan fall in love in him, they can escape into a new world, where they could be alone and never be found again. „Good thing, I stopped him..“ Johnny remembered the moment, where he stopped him.

He pushed a button, turning on the portal. Then he looked at the control panel and pushed a button with a question mark.

„Selecting Random world"

A computer voice can be heard. He looked at the portal, which turned into the colors of the rainbow. He looked back at the control panel, only to notice a button and text saying „Final transfer“ Then he pushed it.

„Portal will shut down in 15 seconds.“

Johnny then looked back at his buddy, Dukey, who was asleep. „It's time to leave it all behind and start over…“ he quietly said.

„Portal shutting down in 10….9…8…7…6…“

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and finally went through the portal.

„5…4…..3….2….1….Zero…“

The portal device has been shut down. And so, Johnny Test and Dukey had left….forever….

"And that is the reason, why I left this hell once and for all..."

End of prolouge...

Chapter 1: Broken Shards

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"There is a world, called Equestria. A world, where ponies and other creatures, like Dragons, Griffons and others, live in harmony.

It is ruled by two royal sisters: Princess Celestia and her younger sister, Princess Luna. The two are alicorns, a mix between an earth pony, a pegasus and a unicorn. Those pony species control the land, weather and magic respectively.

Both sisters were tasked with two important jobs: Princess Celestia would raise the sun and bring the warm days, while Princess Luna raises the moon to bring the cool nights. One day, a conflict between the two sisters happened. It was due to the ponies admiring Princess Celestia more than Luna. The built up hatred had changed her to a horryfiying being, known as Nightmare Moon... Unable to reason with her, Princess Celestia had no choice but to banish her sister to the moon with the Elements of Harmony.

After that, Princess Celestia ruled this world alone, raising both the sun and the moon. However, she felt regretful, that she had to banish her younger sister. She felt guilty after that.... Had she known about Luna's resentment earlier and acted fast, then nothing of those terrible events would even happen. Even the destroyed castle of the two sisters is a reminder of that fateful day. Regardless, she had to continue to rule, for Equestria's sake...Until thousand years later, Nightmare Moon returned.. She was on an unfinished task to make the night last for an eternity. Celestia knew about this and sent her faithful student on a quest to make her find new friends. Although the young unicorn was hesitant, she found 5 ponies, who stand by her side until the end.

After Nightmare Moon's return, the group retreated and decided to go on a journey to find the Elements of Harmony. During their showdown, the situation was tense: Nightmare Moon was gaining the upperhand and crushed the elements, in order to crush their spirits. However, little did she know, that when the unicorn realized about a spark, the elements were restored and chose their new bearers. Those were the elements of Honesty, Laughter, Generousity, Kindness, Loyalty and finally...magic. With those, they put the conflict to an end, Princess Luna reunited with her older sister and started over.

Over the years, the 6 ponies had stopped terrible disasters and tyrants, which included a monstrous insect queen and a literal king of shadows, with their magic of Friendship. Eventually, one of the ponies was turned into an alicorn and became a princess.

Since then, the Harmony in this world grew and Equestria was peaceful again. And all thanks to the 6 heroes of Harmony.."

In a little village called "Ponyville", the ponies are doing their usual stuff. Working, hanging out with other ponies and playing with them. They did have some near disasters back then, but they were all thankfully stopped, thanks to their heroes.

Up in the skies, we see a light streak of all the colors of a rainbow, zooming by. It dodged the clouds, performed some loops and overall kept getting faster. It was until it stopped on a big cloud and it turns out, that the streak came from a blue pegasus mare with rainbow-colored mane and tail and magenta eyes. It was none other than the heroine of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash.

"Aw yeah! 5 minutes less than last time!" she said and sat down on the cloud, being proud of beating her own record. She laid down on the cloud with a smile on her face. "I can't wait for the festival next week, so I can perform my famous Sonic Rainboom there!"

"Howdy, sugarcube!"

A voice can be heard. The blue pegasus looked down to see a orange earth pony with blond mane, white freckles and a cowboy hat. The pegasus mare flew down and greeted her best friend, Applejack, the heroine of Honesty.

"Sup, Applejack!" she replied. "How's it going?"

"Takin' care of business as usual." Applejack replied in an southern accent. "Anyway, Ah've seen you speedin' around the skies. "

"Yeah! And I beat my own record!" Rainbow said in an exciting tone and showed her best friend her recent time.

"Pretty impressive. " said the earth pony, before coming up with an idea. "How 'bout a race?"

"Game on!"

Rainbow Dash is always up for a challenge and this one is no exception. The two ponies line up at the start of Ponyville, however Applejack said: "Ah ah ah. Runnin' only, pal."

Rainbow Dash was a bit bummed. She could not use her wings throughout the race. However, her ego got the better of her and charges for a run up, knowing that she has to win. The earth pony mare began the race with:

"Ready?...Go!"

Both ponies got an excellent start. They ran through the whole village and through the fields, while the ponies watched in awe and confusion.

"Better get goin'!" Said Applejack, who was first.

However, Rainbow Dash decided to run even faster, in order to catch up with her friend. "How's that?" she smirked.

They were almost close to the finish, which is the Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack's home. Applejack was close to winning, when Rainbow Dash decided to twist the rules by flapping her wings for some extra boost. She catched up with the orange earth pony and both arrived on the farm lands. And in the end, Rainbow Dash arrived first.

"Yes! Yes! I won!" The blue pegasus celebrated her victory and flew up. However, Applejack was sceptical, since the pegasus cheated a bit.

"Are you sure? Because I've seen usin' your wings a bit." she said.

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash said nervously and tried to act innocent and oblivious.

"Yer usin' your wings, even though you shouldn't use them.." the orange pony doubted and pointed at Rainbow's wings.

"Uh-oh.." the prismatic mare gulped, knowing that her friend found out.

After some awkward silence, Rainbow Dash flew away and Applejack began to chase her shortly after.

It went on, through the orchards, the fields and around the home until they entered the farm, however Rainbow Dash hid in a haystack earlier. While Applejack was looking around searching, Rainbow Dash remained quiet, in order to not get caught.

Suddenly, she felt like, she was touched. At first she thought, Applejack got her, but when she looked around, she saw...nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"This is strange.." the blue pegasus thought to herself. Then, she felt something, as if someone was moving, even though she couldn't see it. It sent shivers down to her spine. She even heard someone breathing. Was that a ghost or was it in her head? She looked back and when the unseen presence began to move and shake, indicated from the hay moving, she screamed and immediately flew up in fear.

"What was that?" Rainbow Dash was scared. "Was that a ghost!??!?!"

"Ahem..."

She looked back and saw Applejack, who unsurprisingly saw her flying up and therefore found her.

"Something is in the haystack!" she replied and pointed at the haystack with her shaking hoof.

"Oh really?" Applejack was sceptical and went to the haystack.

"No, seriously. I felt like, somepony is there inside! I even heard breathing!" Rainbow Dash replied in an honest, yet panicked tone.

The orange earth pony looked closer and suddenly, the haystack began to shake.

"Huh? What the...?"

Applejack began to dig up the haystack. During which, she hit something, that caused a ray of light to appear. The orange mare and the blue pegasus backed up, as the light became stronger, until it faded away. They then saw a pony, sleeping. A black pegasus mare with the wings fading to a bright yellow and blond mane with orange tips, resembling the flames.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack screamed a bit, because they did not expect a new pony appear from the light and thought, she was like a ghost or something.

However, the screaming caused the pony to wake up and looked around, as she opened her blue eyes a bit.

"Dude... Not cool...", the pony rubbed the eyes.

What's that? The mares are surprised, that the pony has a voice of a young stallion. They immediately talked to each other.

"What the hay?" Applejack was confused, as she looked at the black pony. "Since when does that fella talk like a young stallion?"

"I know right? For a second, it looked like a mare. But I did not expect that voice from a dude..." Rainbow Dash was also confused.

"Strange, huh?" Applejack agreed.

"I heard that!" The black pegasus obviously heard the conversation.

Upon further inspection, it turns out, that the pony is actually a young stallion, however he has the body shape of a mare, without the eyelashes. The black pegasus then looked at the mares with curiousity.

"Whoa...Where am I?" he asked. In which, Applejack responded: "You are in my family's barn...How did you get there?"

"Well, I was pretty tired and didn't want to sleep in the woods. So I was finding some shelter and got there." The black pegasus replied, as he was rubbing his eyes. However, this is where he saw his hoof and he froze.

"What the...?"

"Are you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked.

He ran outside and looked down at a puddle, only to see his face. He began to shake and without a warning, he screamed, as Rainbow Dash and Applejack immediately covered their ears. However, the screaming stopped, as Rainbow Dash hit him on the head.

"Jeez, calm down!" The blue mare responded. "Why did you scream?"

"I didn't expect to be turned into a pony... Damnit...What should I do? I don't want to tell the truth, since who knows if they're gonna laugh at me..? What should I tell them?" He thought to himself, as he was thinking for some answers.

"Hello?"

He heard Applejack's voice and responded with: "Oh, it's just that I was tired."

However they didn't believe that statement.

"Shit...That was a bad one..." he thought to himself again, looking even more nervous. It was really flimsy.

"Maybe I had something on my face. " he replied and grinned nervously. "Like a bug! Or some dirt."

"Great excuse, man..." he thought.

The mares look confused. Would they buy into his excuse or not? His mind was scrambled at this point.

"Uh oh... Did it work?" he thought to himself for the third time.

"Okay...?" The mares were unsure of that. It sent him with mixed messages a bit, still felt relieved.

"So, uhm...I'm quite new here and sorry, if I came here uninvited. I was really tired." He apologized.

"Hey, it's all forgiven. Even though, it's strange, that you appeared from a light." Rainbow Dash replied. Although Applejack was still skeptical about his reasoning.

The black pegasus chuckled a bit and soon enough, Rainbow Dash and Applejack laugh with him.

"Sooo...What is this place?" he asked.

"Well, this is the Sweet Apple Acres! Home of our famous apples!" Applejack proudly told the new pony about her home. "We're harvestin' apples and sell 'em to our customers! Our popular products include our famous Apple Cider and the Zap Apple Jam!"

"Everything about apples?" he asked in confusion.

"Well, yeah. I mean, what else?" Rainbow Dash replied.

"Man....A farm only selling apple products? That's.....odd...But...if her family is proud of doing that work...I wouldn't judge them....if I do, then man..." he thought to himself and asked them a question: "So, uhm...Are you doing that work alone?"

"Nah, mah family would help me out, whatever they can!" Applejack replied.

"Oh, uhm. Did I mention, that her family is large? Like really large?" the prismatic mare asked.

"Uhm...no?" he denied, since he had no idea. That was until the southern earth pony mare showed him a photo of their last family meeting. His eyes widened due to the sheer amount of family members, she has. "Geez! Talk about a huge family!!" he said.

"That's mah family for ya!" Applejack replied and the mares laughed, while the black pegasus scratched his head.

"Hey, what's going on?" A voice can be heard, along with a yawn. It was a male voice.

"What the hay was that?" Applejack asked.

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash wondered.

The mares look back, only to see a brown earth pony stallion, coming out of the barn. However, his appearance is...different from any pony. He looks like a stallion with a chocolate-coloured mane, however he has paws, a dog tail and a dog nose. There is also some stubble on his face. He looks more like a hybrid between a pony and a dog. He noticed the mares looking at him awkwardly.

"Uhhhhh...What? Is there something on my teeth?" The stallion asked confused and showed them his teeth. He looked at his own to see, if there are some leftovers stuck on them.

"Uh, yer should look at yourself, fella.." Applejack replied. At first, the stallion was confused. It wasn't until the prismatic pegasus mare added:

"There is a puddle over there.." Rainbow Dash pointed at a puddle and the stallion went and looked at his reflection. His expression changed, once he saw himself.

"That's great..I look like a freak! How did that even happen? " the stallion was shocked at his appearance.

"Buddy, we have no idea.." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Oh my god...As if things couldn't get any weirder..." he sighed and rubbed his head. He looked way different than the other ponies.

Meanwhile, when Applejack looked the other way, she noticed that the black pony was gone. It seems like, he vanished into thin air before the brown stallion came out the barn.

"What the...." she asked. "That's strange. Why did he run away?" the mare thought to herself.

However, before she can question that, she heard a sound. She looked at her flank, only to see her mark, that resembles 3 apples, glow and projected more apples.

"Rainbow Dash! Look at your cutie mark!" She said.

"Huh?" The blue pegasus mare was confused, until she looked at her mark also glowing and projecting lightning bolts.

"Uhhh, why are your flanks glowing and projecting stuff?" The stallion asked in confusion.

Applejack then replied : "Ya see, our cutie marks glow, when there is like a friendship emergency. And it seems like, it's time for us to leave."

Rainbow Dash then added: "Yeah, we have to fulfill out duties to solve friendship problems. We will talk about that later though. See ya!"

The mares ran off, leaving the stallion looking confused and with even more questions.

"What friendship problem???..."

The stallion scratched his head and sighed. During which, he walked around the barn and the whole acres in utter boredom. However, as he looked down while walking, he saw a bit of hair. As he looked closer, the colors are blond and orange, fading each other.

"Well it seems like, he is here..." He started to sniff the hair and begins to walk and sniff the trail. He walked through the apple orchard and pointed to a bush. He found the source, in other words: the pony, he's finding.

"Johnny, I know, you're here!" he yelled at the air and sure enough, the black pony came out after some time.

"Oh, hey buddy!" He tried not to laugh at the appearance.

"Really funny... Anyway, why are you a pony and I'm a weird mix between a pony and a dog?!" He asked.

"Oh, that? Well, it seems like, somehow, we went there after an accident from one of my sisters' inventions." Johnny replied. "And somehow, we were turned into ponies."

The brown stallion thinks a bit and responded: "it would been true, except that I was in an animal shelter, before I fell asleep and when I woke up, I was In a farm!"

"Uhm...maybe we were...uhh..I got you out and-"

However he was interrupted by the hybrid.

"Johnny, you're lying..."

"Wait, what? I don't like to a best friend like you, Dukey." Johnny replied, while sweating a bit.

"Then how do you explain about this!?" He pulled out the blue diary and showed it to him.

"Wait! How did you get it?" He was shocked. In which, Dukey replied: "It was in your backpack. And even before that, I found it in your room. You were just pretending, when in reality, you are hurt!"

While they are arguing, the skies get covered by clouds. It seems like, bad weather will soon come.

"What are you-" Johnny was interrupted again and this time, his expression changed to fear.

"Stop it! Why didn't you told me about this earlier? YOU KNOW, I COULD HAVE HELPED YOU! WHY DID YOU COVER IT UP!?" Dukey yelled at him. The constant questioning soon made him snap and answered with the truth:

"BECAUSE I'M SCARED!"

Tears started to form on his eyes, as Dukey stopped after the confession. Around the same time, the skies started to rain.

"What?..." Dukey was confused...

Johnny's voice started to crack up, as he explained his reason. His ears have also been lowered.

"Because I'm scared, that nobody would listen to me... I've been feeling this for years and I didn't have the courage to tell them. And even then, they would've make the pain even worse... Besides, they are horrible people...That's why I decided to keep my mouth shut...And thus, I made a fake image of myself...You know, the cool and awesome kid with crazy ideas? In reality, the constant pain and abuse made me weak, broken and helpless...And with you being taken away by dad was the final straw...I couldn't stand losing you and yet he shattered me completely to the point, that I absolutely despise them forever! That's the reason, I decided to leave our world forever and take you with me...I just wanted the pain to go away and start over! I wish, I could've told you about my issues, but the fear wouldn't allow me to do that!"

After the explanation, he broke down into tears. At this point, Dukey couldn't help but to feel sorry about him. He's been though absolute hell, yet he kept a fake persona, so nobody would see him cracking. And yet, here he is...witnessing his mental breakdown for the first time.

Suddenly, he felt something breaking inside of him... A painful ache in his body..

"Wait...If he has been through hell...could this mean..?" There are many unanswered questions, that he yet had to find answers.

He then hugged the crying pegasus, as some tears form in his eyes as well.

As the rain got stronger and stronger, so did Johnny's crying. It also became more painful to listen to, as he let all of his despair and anguish out. The breaking ache in the hybrid soon got worse. If there's one thing, he hates, is to see his best friend being in a mental breakdown. Eventually, his crying soon became quieter and quieter, until he stopped, all thanks to the embrace.

"Let's go inside. It's raining.." said Dukey. Johnny agreed with a silent nod and they went back to the farm.

Hours have passed and the rain eventually stopped. During which, the young pegasus fell asleep a bit. The earth pony looked at the entrance, while having thoughts about what happened. He also held his best friend for a while, while waiting. It was at this time, that Rainbow Dash and Applejack came back.

"Hey, guys! Sorry about the whole wait. It took a long time to fix the problem." said Rainbow Dash.

"It's fine." Dukey replied.

"Anyway, is that weird stallion a friend of yours, fella?" Applejack asked. It's clear, that she asked the black pegasus about the other pony. However, since he's asleep, Dukey answered her question.

"Yeah." He replied. "In fact, we're best friends."

Then they hear some grumbling. After Johnny woke up from his nap, the guys looked at their stomachs.

"Oops, I think, I'm hungry." The black pegasus rubbed his stomach.

"So am I." Dukey was also feeling hungry. "I haven't eaten anything for a while."

Rainbow Dash said: "Then we can go to the Sugarcube Corner for some food." Applejack then added: "Besides, our friends are also there and we have planned to hang out together."

"That would be awesome." The black pegasus responded. But before they get up and go, the earth pony mare interupted.

"Wait a minute, we haven't introduced each other yet! Mah name is Applejack, hardworking pony of the Sweet Apple Acres." The earth pony mare introduced herself.

Then the pegasus mare added, alongside with a pose: "And I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest pony alive and completely awesome! What are your names?"

This is a good question. Originally, they will introduce them with their true names, however, sometime later, they decided to drop the idea. After all, their human names would sound weird to the ponies.

"My name is...uhm..." the young pegasus stallion thought of a name.

He looked at his flank to see a symbol. A radioactive symbol with a blue lightning bolt.

"The name is...Radiant Thunder! But you can call me Johnny." He replied.

"Radiant Thunder...What an awesome name!" Rainbow Dash loved it. The name "Radiant Thunder" has a cool tone and style to it.

Now, it's Dukey's turn: "And my name is Coffee Paw, however you can call me Dukey, if you want to."

He came up with that name, after he saw his mark on his flank, resembling a dog paw and a cup of coffee.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help, but to snicker and eventually laugh at the nickname "Dukey" , resulting an annoying look from him and an elbow hit from Applejack.

"Not funny, pardner.." said Applejack in an unamused tone.

"Sorry.." Rainbow Dash apologized and scratched her head.

They heard the stomach growls again.

"Can we girls go already? I'm hungry..." Johnny responded in an impatient manner. Dukey couldn't help but to chuckle a bit.

"Come on now, everypony! Let's go!"

With that sentence from Applejack, the four ponies are now on their way to Ponyville. On their way, Dukey was asking to himself.

"There is something more to the story... What did he mean by being abused by everyone?..."

It was bothering him for a while, ever since Johnny's mental breakdown on the Sweet Apple Acres.

"I'll probably ask myself and the others, but for now...I'm way too hungry. Plus, those ponies are friendly." the brown earth pony thought to himself and looked at his best friend, as well as the mares. They look quite excited. Johnny couldn't help but smile. However, little did anyone know, that mental breakdown at the orchards was only just the beginning....

"Heheheheh..."

The young pegasus stallion was kind of startled by that voice, but decided to swallow it down and enjoy his new life in this new world...for now.

To be continued....

Chapter 2: Pulled like Gravity

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On their way to their destination, the four ponies exchanged small talk.

„So, you guys want to find a new home, huh?" The blue pegasus mare asked, as she was curious.

„Yeah, seems like it." Johnny replied, after a yawn. „Guess, sleeping in a barn wasn't a good idea after all…" He rubbed his hair a bit as there were some hay left in it.

„Still weird, that y'all chose to sleep there." Applejack was not amused and puzzled at the same time.

"Still better than sleeping in the woods though." The black pegasus made a point.

After a while, they've arrived in Ponyville, a quiet, yet lively little town. They saw ponies happily chatting with each other, doing their jobs and playing each other. The fillies can be seen running around with happy families. That sight made Johnny pause in silence. It made him think of….

"No! Forget it, Johnny! This is not the time to be moody! You came here to be happy without them, so this is the chance! Pull it together, man!!" His inner voice can be heard in his head, while thinking.

However, his thoughts are interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who was calling his name and tapping him.

"Johnny, you there?" she said.

Immediately snapping out, he replied: "Yeah, I'm fine. My mind went elsewhere."

"I must say that this place is quite peaceful." Dukey was impressed by Ponyville's serenity. It felt...peaceful. Applejack however responded: "Well, most of the time. Equestria has been targeted by a bunch of bad apples, but we did stop them."

"Well, good thing. I really don't want to imagine what this place would've been like had they took it over." The brown stallion was relieved. It's a good thing, that Applejack and her friends stopped their menacing enemies from taking over Equestria, because let's be honest: Nobody wants their home being ruled by a tyrant.

During the way there, the stallions saw more ponies having good times. They exchanged some talks with other ponies and eventually made some new friends. Eventually, they stopped at their destination: A big house, decorated with sweet stuff like whipped cream and sprinkles. It looked like straight from a sweet candy world. Waiting in front of the entrance are three ponies: One being a beautiful, snow white unicorn with elegant and curly purple mane and snow blue eyeshadow, another one a shy, bright yellow pegasus with long, graceful pink mane and finally a smart, purple alicorn with dark blue mane with purple and pink streaks. Those were Rainbow Dash's and Applejack's friends. The snow white unicorn is known to be as the Heroine of Generousity, Rarity, the yellow pegasus as the Heroine of Kindness, Fluttershy and the purple alicorn as the Heroine of Magic and the main leader of the group, Princess Twilight Sparkle, also known as the Princess of Friendship.

"Sup, girls!" Rainbow Dash greeted them.

"Hello there, darlings." Rarity replied in an elegant tone.

"Hi…." Fluttershy replied in a shy tone.

"Hi, Rainbow Dash and Applejack!" Twilight replied. When she saw the new stallions, one being a hybrid and the other looking like a mare, she looked confused, yet curious. "I'm surprised that you met those new ponies. One of them looks….pretty funny."

"Thanks for the reminder.." Dukey was slightly annoyed.

"Yup. We've met them at mah farm no less." Applejack replied, thinking back at their first encounter in the Sweet Apple Acres.

"Well, we needed a place to sleep somewhere." Johnny added.

"Oh my." Fluttershy was quite surprised.

"But hey, it's still better than sleeping in the Everfree Forest anyway." Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"What's that?" Johnny and Dukey asked in unison, since they had no idea.

"I would not recommend going there, since the place is filled with the most dangerous creatures ever known in Equestria." Twilight warned.

"Ok, I'm not going there!" The brown stallion was immediately scared. "I would rather be sleeping in the barn alive than sleeping in the forest being endangered!"

"Dude…" Johnny sighed and facehoofed.

That caused the mares giggling.

"Anyway, Rainbow Dash, who are they?" Twilight asked.

"Girls, those guys are Radiant Thunder and Coffee Paw! However you can call them Johnny and Dukey, if you want to…" Rainbow Dash was about to laugh from the "nickname".

"Rainbow Dash…" Applejack was not amused and glared at the prismatic mare.

"Sorry, couldn't help it." Rainbow Dash apologized.

"I'm Rarity. It's really nice to meet you." The white unicorn introduced herself.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, it's an honor to meet you as well." said the purple mare.

However, the yellow pegasus looked away a bit.

"And you are..?" Johnny asked.

There was no response. "Uhm, hello?? Who are you??" he asked again.

"Uhm….F-Fluttershy…" she said quietly.

"Say wha?" He didn't understand what she said. In which Rainbow Dash told him: "This is Fluttershy. She is quite shy towards new ponies."

"You don't say?" The stallions said in unison. Then they hear stomachs growling from the guys.

"Since we are all gathered here, let's go inside." said Twilight.

They went inside the building and to a table. The stallions were amazed about the amount of tasty cakes, cupcakes and several treats on display. It was like straight from a tasty dream. No wonder, why Johnny started to drool.

"Does this place serve coffee here?" Dukey asked. The only response from the girls was Twilight saying: "Not really. But Canterlot has it."

"I see." he understood. He then turned his attention towards his best friend, who was still drooling. "Can one of you girls get some tissues, please? I think, he is drooling."

"Sure." Twilight used her magic to make some tissues appear. Dukey was confused a bit, but then shrugged off because of magic. The hybrid then used the tissues to wipe Johnny's mouth off. "There there." he said.

Then they heard a voice. A voice full of energy and life:

"Ok, everypony! It's ready!"

"About time! I'm starving!" said Rainbow Dash.

"So am I." Johnny replied.

Then they see the treats being carried by a pink earth pony with poofy pink mane, almost like cotton candy and a bright smile. Johnny groaned a bit, since pink is not his favorite color...at all.

"Great, as if seeing pink is not bad enough, I'm pretty sure, she would be an eyesore for me…" He thought to himself.

However, he met with annoyed looks from the others.

"Damn...I suppose, that was not really THAT subtle..." He thought to himself again.

"Alright, everypony! It's time for a-" However, her sentence was interrupted, once the pink pony saw the stallions and shrieked in excitement., as stars were in her bright blue eyes.

She immediately dashed to the two, leaving a big cloud of dust around her. Everyone coughed, due to the huge dust, that she caused.

"Hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie! You must be new here! I'm so excited to meet new ponies like you! I have prepared a song, just for this occasion!"

They couldn't understand, because she spoke too fast. Like way too fast. The pink pony pulled out a big music box and pressed a button, in which instruments come out and play a tune.

Pinkie Pie

Welcome welcome welcome

A fine welcome to you!

Welcome Welcome welcome

I say how do you do?

Welcome Welcome welcome

I say hip hip hooray!

Welcome Welcome welcome

To Ponyville today!

Wait for it!

She ended the song with a pose and a wave to not just the boys, but also to the audience. That includes you, the watcher.

"Okay, I've seen crazy introductions before, but this tops everything, like geez!" Dukey was speechless.

"Yeah. Totally crazy.." Johnny agreed.

"That's Pinkie Pie for ya!" Applejack replied.

The mares giggled, yet the guys still looked puzzled. How was she able to do that?? It seems like, she has different logic than everyone else.

Then Dukey remembered a question, he wanted to ask, way back, when he was in the Sweet Apple Acres.

"The thing is, Applejack and Rainbow Dash left because of a friendship problem. What's this all about?" he asked.

Twilight explained: "You see, my friends and I are tasked to spread friendship to other worlds and occasionally, solve friendship problems. Rainbow Dash and Applejack went there, because they were chosen this time."

"Then why did their symbols on their sides glow?" he asked.

"Well, they were called to go to my castle. Think of it as a meeting. Then the Cutie Map will tell where the next friendship mission is and who will go there. There are times that the whole group goes on a mission because of a big emergency." the purple pony added.

"Really strange way for those thingies on the...uhm.." The black pegasus was struggling to find words, when he looked at the symbols on the sides of the mares. It wasn't until Twilight knew what he's wondering.

"Oh! Those symbols are known as Cutie Marks. They define a pony's destiny on what they do. They also reflect a pony's special talent as well as personality. My cutie mark represents my destiny in magic, while Pinkie Pie's cutie mark represents her destiny in spreading laughter and joy."

They looked at Pinkie's cutie mark, which has 2 blue balloons and one yellow balloon. They look at the other cutie marks, which contain gems, apples, butterflies, stars and a lightning bolt with 3 colors, before looking at their own. Johnny's cutie mark is a yellow radioactive symbol with a light blue lightning bolt, which fades to a bright light on the tip and Dukey's cutie mark is a dog paw with a cup of coffee.

"Speaking of which, what do our cutie marks mean?" Dukey asked.

"Hmm...That's a good question…. I'll think about it later." Twilight replied.

"But now, we have to celebrate for a victory!" Pinkie Pie shouted and gave the tasty treats to all of her friends, including the stallions. Everyone was excited. It didn't take long for Johnny to immediately bury his face to the slice of cake. His eyes sparkled with joy, because it tastes really good.

"This is awesome!" His chirped with excitement and joy

"Yes, but what you did was neither polite, nor fancy." Rarity was not happy about his manners.

"Hey, give us a break. We're guys. Besides, we are pretty hungry." Dukey disputed her claim, which earned him a glare from the white unicorn.

"Relax, Rarity." Rainbow Dash replied. The ponies laughed and eventually, Rarity laughed with them.

Soon enough, the black pegasus had an idea and threw a slice at Rainbow Dash with a snicker.

"Oh, it's on, pal!" She threw a slice back at him. Everyone was confused, except Dukey and Pinkie Pie, who knew, what's going on.

"Ooooooh!!! Are we having a food fight?" Pinkie shrieked in excitement.

"Judging what just happened, I'd say that's a yes." Dukey replied, before throwing a slice at Pinkie Pie.

"Food fight!!" Pinkie yelled in joy and threw some cake at the others. Soon, the others joined in the fun, safe for Fluttershy, who was hiding under the table and Rarity, who was not amused. It wasn't until, she got hit with cake, when she changed her mind.

"It...is...on!" the white unicorn soon used her magic to throw cakes at anyone in her sight. Neither of which backed down and continued throwing cake at each other.

Time has passed and the ponies exited from Sugarcube Corner after a party. It seems like they all had fun, while Rarity was fixing her mane.

"That was fun!" Pinkie Pie said it in excitement.

"You can say that again, buddy!" Rainbow Dash replied. She flew up in the skies with joy in her eyes. She flew around clouds, performed loops and picking up speed.

"That's cool! I wish I could fly too!" Johnny was starry-eyed with excitement of what he had witnessed.

"Johnny, you're a pegasus AKA a winged pony. Shouldn't you be able to fly automatically, as soon you spread your wings and such?" Dukey pointed at the black pony's gradient wings.

"Oh yeah. I forgot. Heheh..." He scratched his head in embarrassment.

The young stallion went to a spot, where he can get into a starting position. "Alright, here I come!" With a smirk, he spread his wings. However, this caused the mares to gasp in shock, especially Twilight, who was basically frozen.

"What? Is it because where I stand?" The pegasus was confused. Twilight immediately teleported to him and looked at his wings in utter shock.

"H-h-h-HOW DID IT HAPPEN!? A pegasus with alicorn wings!? That's impossible!"

"Uh, can you just back off?" Johnny started to get uneasy with Twilight.

She kept on looking and inspecting his gradient wings. She never saw a pegasus like this before, so her curious mind needed answers from him. Johnny on the other hand, was getting more and more annoyed and soon enough, he used his other wings to slap her.

"Get off from me!" he yelled at the purple alicorn. The mare paused in shock, however the young pegasus looked away.

While that was going on, they heard a voice: "Hey! Twilight!"

They looked at the source of the voice coming to the purple alicorn. It was a little purple dragon.

"Okay, that's new." Dukey was quite surprised. "I expected dragons to be bigger."

"Hey, I am still a child, remember!" the dragon glared at the hybrid.

"Well, I'm sorry!" Dukey replied.

The purple alicorn went to the dragon, who has some scrolls. "What is it, Spike?" she asked. The dragon replied: "Well, I received letters from Princess Celestia."

"Who is this little dragon?" Dukey asked.

"Oh. Sorry. This is Spike, my assistant." Twilight replied.

"It's nice to meet you, even though you look strange." Spike was confused about the brown stallion's appearance.

"Geez, can you girls and Spike stop commenting about my weird looks?..." The stallion hybrid was annoyed.

"Sorry, it's just, I've never seen this before." Spike apologized with a nervous smile.

While the conversation was going, the black pegasus was ready to fly. He jumped up into the air and began flapping his wings. However, he only managed to stay afloat for a while, before falling to the ground. He was quite annoyed.

"Ugh! This sucks!" he yelled in the air. Rainbow Dash flew to him.

"Is this the first time you attempted to fly?" she asked. In which Johnny replied: "Yeah.."

"Don't worry, I'll teach you the basics on how to fly and do it awesomely!" the blue pegasus mare encouraged him. "However, it would be a bit difficult with those kinds of wings, so I'll ask Twilight for help."

"You do? Cool!" he was excited.

As Rainbow Dash kept flying around the skies, Johnny couldn't help but to be amazed by her style and speed. He had a daydream of him flying through the skies, dodging clouds and performing loops. At that point, he felt really alive, while feeling the warm sun rays. However, that soon changed, when the skies suddenly changed from a happy bright blue to a sinister dark purple and the white clouds turn to black. He then heard voices, that taunt him and calling him the worst names possible.

"Ha! Look at yourself, you monster!"

"H-huh!????" The black pegasus looked around in a quick pace. His expression changed into paranoia. "What was that!!!! Show yourself!!"

"Very well then..."

Suddenly, he got grabbed by an unseen force and witnessed, as the clouds got closer and form glowing red eyes. They laughed evilly, as they called his name, while Johnny was stuck in fear.

"Johnny....Johnny....Johnny..."

"HEY!!!!!! JOHNNY, ARE YOU THERE!!??????"

That loud yell caused him to shriek and to snap out of that dream and back into reality. The pony looked around, only to see the 6 ponies and Spike looking at him. He looked on the right to see Dukey, after he saw his arm waving in front of him.

"Huh?? Uh, yeah, I'm fine! I was a bit distracted!" he responded.

"Geez, are you sure about that?" Rainbow Dash asked after she flew down.

"Yeah, I swear!" The pegasus stallion responded.

"Uhm...Girls? It's getting late.." Fluttershy reminded everyone. As the ponies witnessed a beautiful sunset, they knew that it's time to go.

"Welp, time to rest, everypony." Applejack told everyone.

Dukey yawned and said: "You know, a bed would be nice."

Twilight came to them and replied: "Perfect timing, because we have to go to my castle first."

"Wait, you have a castle?" Johnny asked. In which Twilight replied: "Yes. You see, I've been crowned as Princess of Friendship."

Dukey was confused: "Wait, a Princess of Friendship? I'm not gonna offend you, but the title sounds...strange."

"You'll learn about it tomorrow." Twilight replied.

"Okay then." The hybrid shrugged.

The group of ponies walked for a long time until they arrived at a castle, resembling a crystal tree.

"This place is huge!" Johnny was surprised.

"You can say that again." Dukey agreed.

They were mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the castle and its sparkling walls.

"Welp, it's time to go!" said Applejack.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Dukey replied in a shock

"Yes, because we have to go to our homes. Besides, Twilight and Spike live there." Rarity answered his question.

"However, I do have some guest rooms available for you two." Twilight assured them.

"That would be nice. I mean, I really want to go to bed now, considering I didn't get much sleep last night." The brown stallion yawned. The night before was not that pleasant for him.

"Well, it's time to say goodbye for now.." Johnny looked down.

"Hey, don't worry. Tomorrow will be a new day!" Rainbow Dash replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah." The black pegasus smiled a bit.

"Good night, Twilight! Good night, guys!" Pinkie Pie shouted and with those words, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy left.

"Follow me, I'll show you your room." Twilight reminded them and went inside. They followed her. After a while, they reached the guest rooms, in which Twilight opened the doors.

"Is there a way to sleep in one room? I mean, as a trusty dog/pony mix, I have to be close to my best friend, just in case of emergencies." Dukey asked Twilight.

"Hmmm….." She used her magic to rearrange one of the rooms. "There, it's possible now. But make sure that there is no hanky-panky!"

"Sure." The stallions replied.

"Good night, guys." said Twilight.

"Night, Twilight!" the guys replied.

As they closed the door, they went to their beds.

"Wow! It surely is comfortable like a cloud!" Dukey was amazed , after he laid down.

"You can say that again." The black pegasus smiled.

"I must say, this place doesn't seem bad at all. The ponies were actually friendly, although Pinkie Pie nearly gave me a heart attack... But still, from all the worlds, we've been through, this one is actually peaceful. No lies, no secrets and there are guardians to protect this world! Plus, it's refreshing to be in a different world with nice people. That's something, you won't see in other worlds though."

"Yeah, indeed." his friend responded and yawned. The earth pony hybrid did the same.

"It's getting late...Tomorrow will be a new day, so we need some energy for the next day. Good night, Johnny!'

"Night, pal."

After those words, the stallions fell asleep on their beds...

Meanwhile....

Somewhere, Johnny, in his human form was in a black void. Everything was dark and cold. And the atmosphere was pretty eerie.

"Where am I?" he shouted. "Hello?? Anybody here??"

He walked around the void. Due to the coldness, he started to freeze and shiver. "Man, it's cold..." he said.

Suddenly, he heard voices from angry people.

"You're a monster!"

"You caused it again!"

"Look at what you've done!"

They echoed throughout the void, making them loud and clear. Johnny covered his ears in fear.

"What was that?? Who are you????" he questioned in the air. The voices kept repeating over and over, adding to the intense situation.

"Johnny? We have some unfinished tests with you!"

He looked back to see big and frightening versions of his sisters, with red glowing eyes and sharp teeth.

"Leave me alone!" He began to run away. The sisters began to chase him.

"Run while you can! You can never escape!" The voices began to sound more demonic. At the same time, he saw his dad, also big and frightening like his sisters.

"Young man, we need a talk about your actions!"

"Damn it, leave me alone!" He sounded scared. No matter how fast he ran, it seems like they were catching up with him. As the distance got closer and closer, Johnny's expression changed that to absolute fear. Eventually, they got so close, that everything around him went black. When he opened his eyes again, he saw many angry faces. He tried to run again, but he couldn't. He was paralyzed, making him unable to move. They got closer and closer, as tears formed in his eyes. The voices get louder and more painfully evil.

"No! NO! GO AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM ME! STOP! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

He screamed really loudly and suddenly he opened his eyes. He was still in the guest room. He looked around to see Dukey looking at him.

"Geez, Johnny! What the hell?" he sounded quite irritated, since his scream basically woke him up.

He saw Dukey in that pony/dog mix and looked at his reflection on a mirror. He was still a pony, albeit a very sweaty and frightened pony with his hair being messy. His heart was racing with fear, he looked…..shaken.

"Dear God…." he sounded shaken. Tears are forming on his blue eyes.

"Johnny, did you have a nightmare?" Dukey asked, while rubbing his head.

"Yes! And a horrible one indeed… That pain….It's still there! Why can't I be just happy for once?!" Tears were dropping from his face and soon started to sob.

Then Dukey felt that breaking in him again.

"It happened again..Why do I feel a painful ache in me, everytime when I see Johnny in despair?...Unless…" he thought to himself.

Dukey was thinking about himself about the connection. It happened all the way back in the orchard. He witnessed Johnny having a mental breakdown for the first time and comforting him. He then remembered something: He too was emotional, as tears were on his eyes too.

"We are connected...But how?" He was asking himself. However, he decided to set the question aside and placed a paw on Johnny's head.

"Let's just go to sleep, okay?" he told the black pegasus. "It's still very late."

"I'm not sure….I couldn't sleep well last night for the same reason." Johnny looked down.

"Hmm...We will talk about this tomorrow in private, okay?" Dukey replied.

The black pegasus silently nodded, went to his bed and fell asleep. Dukey was looking at the sealing, thinking about several unanswered questions about the connection and the story a bit before he too fell asleep. It seems like, he has to find them out tomorrow.

Meanwhile….

Somewhere, a dark blue alicorn was standing on the balcony from a castle, looking at the horizon. She had flowing blue mane that sparkle like the stars in a night sky and royal regalia with a moon symbol. She looked worried.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" she then looked at the moon. What is going on?

To be continued….

Chapter 3: Shattered to the Core

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As the stars sparkled the purple night sky, the dark blue unicorn was standing on a balcony with her ethereal mane flowing. However, she was worried about something..

"What's wrong, my dear sister?"

A voice can be heard. She looked back to see a tall white alicorn with beautiful flowing mane and golden regalia. Her mane consisted of the colors of blue, green and pink, fading to brighter colors and sparkle like stars. It was no mistake. The tall white alicorn is the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia and the blue alicorn is her younger sister, Princess Luna, who rules this world alongside her.

Celestia walked up to her younger sister, since she was worried about her. Then Luna finally answered: "While I was in the Dream World, I was doing my duties as usual, until I saw a dream like no other. Actually, it was a nightmare."

"A nightmare?" Celestia asked.

Luna replied: "Yes. But what's strange is, it came from a pony, I've never seen before."

"A pony, you've never seen before?" Celestia was surprised. "This is strange…"

"It's like he came from a different world." Luna added.

Celestia asked: "What was the nightmare all about?"

Luna closed her eyes, took a deep breath and explained the details:

"It was about a boy in a dark void being chased by evil creatures, I couldn't recognize. They looked like those humans, Sunset told us, except they looked more sinister and demonic. They told him several things, like it was his fault and what he did and called him horrible names. They were closer and closer, until the boy was trapped in the darkness, paralyzed from the fear. I saw the fear in his eyes, along with the tears, as he pleaded with them to stop. But they were relentless and got closer to him. The last thing I heard from him was a scream. A horrifying scream, that sent chills in me.. I've seen nightmares from several ponies before, but not like this.."

"This doesn't sound good.." Celestia was speechless about the unknown nightmare. Who was the boy? Why was he chased by demonic entities? Why was he scared? And most importantly: Who was the pony, who had the nightmare? There are so many questions that circled in her head. Then, she came back to reality and said: "We should keep an eye on this situation. We don't know much about the boy."

"I suppose, it's for the best." Luna agreed.

Soon, the tall white alicorn went to a stance and looked at her sister. "It's time."

"I know." The blue alicorn smiled and went inside, while Celestia used her magic to raise the sun, bringing the warm days.

Meanwhile, in Twilight's castle…

As the sun rays illuminated the room, Dukey woke up. "Wow, I must say, that's way better than sleeping in the farm or even in the animal shelter." He yawned and got up from his bed, as the walls shimmer from the light. He looked at the other bed, where his friend is. He is currently sleeping with his mane still being messy. He tapped on his back, but the black pegasus rolled around. He tried again, but with the same results.

"Give me 5 more minutes…" he mumbled.

With a sigh, the brown hybrid tugged his hair, causing the pegasus to wake up. "Ow! Not cool!" he said in annoyance and pain, as he rubbed his head.

The black pegasus slowly stood up and rubbed his eyes, as his friend noticed him in a cranky mood.

"Geez...You look like you didn't sleep well…The nightmares surely got you hard." the hybrid noticed that.

"Ugh, of course they did!" Johnny replied in a loud and cranky voice, as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Johnny, why not just wash your face with water? That look doesn't seem welcoming to anyone." Dukey asked.

Johnny sighed and replied: "Maybe, you're right… I need to wash it off.."

The black pegasus went to a nearby bathroom and to a sink, where he started to wash his face with water off. As he looked into the mirror, he saw something. It was a reflection of the demonic being in his nightmare.

"Johnny…." A voice can be heard. His eyes widened and shook his head hard. He looked himself at the mirror again, only to see that there was no reflection of the entity.

"What the hell!?" the young pegasus thought to himself. "This can't be….No...No way…"

Soon, he saw more demonic figures in the mirror and more voices could be heard. They looked and sounded even worse than before. The pegasus started to feel threatened and scared.

"Look, what you did, you ungrateful bastard!"

"You're the worst, Johnny Test!"

"You can run, but you can never hide from your actions!"

"You're the cause of the chaos!"

"Young man, you are in big trouble!"
"You spawn of the devil!"

Soon, the entities emerge from the mirror and morphed into a gruesome monster. Johnny couldn't move, because of his fear and trauma.

"No! Stop it!" he pleaded as he covered his ears, since the voices had been unbearable for him. And as the creatures got bigger and closer and as the voices echoed in his head, the pony curled up into a ball and shook for his life. They called him horrible names and such.

"Stop it! Leave me alone! NO! STOP IT!"

With scream, he punched the mirror, shattering into little pieces and when he opened his eyes, the entities were gone. His heart was racing in what it seems like at lightspeed, his body shaking from the hallucinations and his eyesight fading in and out.

"No….Please…..Anything but this…" he spoke quietly and yet shaken.

"What's going on?"

He heard a voice and the door being opened. It came from Twilight, as well as Dukey and Spike, who heard the commotion. Of course, they looked worried of what's going on.

"Johnny, are you okay?!" Dukey rushed to his friend.

"What happened to the mirror?" Spike asked, when he looked at the shards.

After a pause, Johnny answered with a lie: "Well, there was a spider and I tried to stomp it, but obviously, it got away."

"Uhm...okay?" Spike was still confused and looked around. "I don't see any."

"Like I said, it got away!" Johnny repeated it to the dragon.

Meanwhile, the purple alicorn looked at the shards and had an irritated look. It didn't take long until Spike saw her and then looked at the stallions.

"Guys, why not just take a walk outside? We will talk about this later." he said.

"Will do." Dukey answered.

He took the black stallion and went outside the castle together. After they looked around a bit, they went to an alley for some privacy.

"Johnny. About the nightmare...What did you see?" he asked.

"Well...uhm…" Before he could answer, he suddenly saw the nightmarish creatures and screamed in horror..

"Johnny? What's going on?" Dukey was concerned.

As the young pony shook his head, the creatures were gone and instead saw the trash bins.

"No...No!" his inner voice was telling him.

"You look like, you've been spooked by some ghosts.." he said.

"Duh...I'm feeling strange...as if I saw some sort of images…." the black pony responded.

"It means, you're hallucinating." Dukey noted. "I think you need a break."

"What? No no no! I'm fine! Maybe I was out of shape a bit." Johnny replied with a chuckle. "Oops. I gotta go! Rainbow Dash is waiting for me. See ya!" The black pegasus ran off.

Then Dukey felt something twisting in his stomach.

"Something is wrong with Johnny…He has been acting strange lately and now, he refuses to tell the truth…I think, I have to keep an eye on him."

The brown stallion ran off.

Meanwhile in a field near Ponyville…

The blue pegasus mare was waiting for somepony. In the meantime, she flew around a bit to pass some time. Eventually, Johnny arrived with a smile.

"Hey! Sorry for being late. My mind was somewhere again." The young pony added.

"It's okay, buddy! Anyway, are you ready to reach the skies in the most awesome way?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Johnny replied in an excited tone.

"Awesome! Let's begin!" Rainbow Dash flew around a bit.

Later, they went to a spot somewhere.

"Alright! First, spread your wings!" Rainbow Dash instructed the young pegasus stallion. He smirked and spread his large wings.

"Whoa. Still surprised about your wings though." Rainbow Dash was in awe, yet surprised over Johnny's large, gradient, alicorn-like wings, before snapping herself back to reality. "Anyway...Next, jump high and use your wings!"

"Like a bird?" Johnny asked.

"I suppose... " Rainbow Dash answered with a shrug.

The black pegasus jumped and used his wings to flap like a bird. Once again, he managed to stay afloat for a short time, before falling down.

"Don't worry. Keep trying!" The blue mare encouraged the black stallion.

Johnny kept trying to fly. He jumped and flapped his wings numerous times, in an attempt to stay afloat. He kept trying and falling, yet that didn't discourage him. In fact, each attempt he took, he stayed afloat longer than before. Eventually, after so many attempts and more encouragement from Rainbow Dash, he jumped and used his wings again, though this time, he didn't fall. He managed to float completely.

"This is awesome! I can fly!" he was overjoyed by his accomplishment.

"Eh, this is only the beginning, you know? Try to fly for a while." Rainbow Dash reminded him that he needed to fly forward. The young pegasus did attempt to fly, albeit sloppily. He wobbled, as he was trying to balance himself. In fact, he was so close to falling down, before Rainbow Dash caught him.

"Well, your flying skills need some work." Rainbow Dash flew upside down a bit to remind him about his skills. Johnny didn't take it well a bit.

"Shut up…" he said in a peeved tone, with his cheeks going red a bit.

"Hi, Rainbow!"

Twilight came with Spike, just to see what she and Johnny are doing.

"I see that you are teaching him how to fly. " she said with a soft giggle.

"Well, he only got the basics." Rainbow scratched her head as she looked to Johnny, who looked annoyed. Twilight assured: "I know how you feel. When I first earned my wings, I was not used to flying. I kept losing balance, was out of sync and crashed numerous times. But after some time, practice and patience, I was finally able to master my flying skills. All you need to do is keep trying and be patient."

"Bla bla bla, I get it! Can I just continue?" The young stallion said in an impatient tone, as he crossed his arms.

"Hey, don't be cranky. You can't master it in one day, you know?" Rainbow Dash reminded.

"She has a point." Spike added.

"Come on. It wouldn't be that hard!" Johnny nonchalantly replied and started to fly around. "See? Too easy!"

As he soared around the clouds, he felt the exciting rush of his adrenaline pumping, As a pegasus, he felt….alive. However, his peace soon shattered, when he heard a terrifying voice in his head.

"Johnny…."

"W-what was that!?" He looked around, however he saw nothing. He flew to the left, so maybe he can concentrate on something else. But the voice didn't stop.

"You can't escape.."

The pegasus started to feel uneasy and before he knew it, he saw the clouds transforming into the same entities from his nightmares. They start to taunt him and humiliate every single bit of him, in order to crush his spirit.

"No...No! Not again!" Johnny was in disbelief. How could they still follow him, even after he left his own world behind? This was a question that he couldn't answer. Then the creature grabbed him and pulled him close to it, as he was struggling.

"No! Let me go!" He pleaded, as he was afraid again.

As soon, he hit the entity, he lost his coordination and began to fall. The voices got louder and louder as well as more demonic. Just like in his nightmare. But before he would fall into an abyss, he was suddenly caught by orbs of light.

"Johnny! Johnny! Can you hear me?"

It sounded different from the entities, however he was so dazed by the visions, that he couldn't tell the difference. It wasn't until he was slapped by the orbs, in which the black pony snapped himself back to reality. Turns out, the orbs of light were actually Rainbow and Twilight, holding him.

"Johnny, are you okay?" asked Rainbow.

"You suddenly lost your coordination and fell. Thankfully, we caught you before you crashed to the ground." said Twilight. "What's wrong?"

"Probably..got..disoriented…" He couldn't build his sentence properly, as he was still in a daze.

"Geez...Seems like, your head is also scattered…" Rainbow Dash sighed.

"Come on, everypony. We have to take him to Fluttershy's Cottage! She'll help him." said the purple alicorn and she, Rainbow Dash and Spike carried him on the way. Unbeknownst to them, they were watched by someone, whose tail raised from a bush. It was Dukey, who was hiding.

"Great….He's so close to having another breakdown…" he thought to himself.

Then, he remembered something more. In every memory, that Johnny was mentally tortured by everyone on the inside, he was there.

"I was there, when everything happened…I witnessed it all..."

Then, another memory came in, which happened during Johnny's mental breakdown. He was in the animal shelter, when he felt the painful ache in him for the first time.

"That was the first time, I felt that painful ache in me. I didn't know why it happened, until I witnessed him having a mental breakdown. Then the ache returned..."

He remembered the moment again of Dukey feeling the ache when he witnessed Johnny's breakdown for the first time, before he came back to the present. However, before he can think about a plan, a different memory flashed in front of his eyes. Unlike any other memories of the past, this one was blurry and vague. It was about some evil creatures, however they were unrecognizable. They were circling around him. The only time, they spoke was this:

"You dirty dog! You're nothing, but a devil's accessory!"

That memory sent chills to his spine, after he came back to reality. What's more, it was a different memory like no other.

"What the hell? What kind of memory was that?" he thought to himself. It left with more unanswered questions. Like who are those creatures and why was he there?. "Whatever it is, I still have to get to Johnny, before it's too late!"

The brown hybrid began to sprint as fast as he could. Halfway through, he suddenly bumped into someone. As he was rubbing his head to ease the pain, he saw the pony, who bumped into him: a lavender-colored unicorn mare with dark purple hair with light purple and light teal streaks.

"I'm so sorry!" Both said in unison, as they stood back up. They bowed their heads, only to them hitting each other by accident. As they groan in pain and rub their heads, the stallion reminded himself about his mission.

"Look, I would like to talk with you, but right now, I'm in a hurry!" said Dukey before running off, leaving the lavender mare wondering.

He kept running and running through the fields and eventually Ponyville, dodging every single obstacle and several ponies, one being a blue unicorn mare who was handing out flyers. His heart was racing, but he wouldn't know when it's too late. So he picked up more speed as he was running.

"I heard, they were headed to Fluttershy. But where exactly!?" He was questioning about the location. It was at this point that he stopped to ask some ponies.

"Excuse me, do you ponies have any idea, where Fluttershy lives? I'm just asking." he asked.

"She lives in her cottage. Go this way and you will find it." a kind earth pony answered.

"Thanks!" Dukey resumed running, after thanking the pony.

Eventually, after some time and avoiding some obstacles, he finally arrived at Fluttershy's cottage and took a break. After all, the path was exhausting for the hybrid. He hid in a nearby bush and moved to a nearby window, in order to observe and investigate. However, flashes of that unknown memory kept showing him. Each flash revealed a small detail: They all had red eyes. But he decided to swallow it down.

Inside of the cottage, Twilight, Rainbow, Spike, Fluttershy as well as several animals were watching the black pegasus resting on a couch.

"I wonder what's going on with him…" said the prismatic mare.

"We were all thinking the same thing, Rainbow Dash." Twilight replied.

"I hope he's gonna be okay…" said the shy mare in a quiet tone.

A young eagle, who Fluttershy was taking care of, was looking around a bit, before he looked at the black pony. At this point, it noticed that the pony is sweating. It flew to Fluttershy and called for her attention.

"What is it?" The shy pegasus mare looked at the eagle before it pointed at the pegasus stallion sweating and having an uneasy look on his face. "Uhm...girls?"

Twilight and Rainbow looked at the yellow mare before looking at Johnny.

"Uh-oh…." said Rainbow Dash.

At the same time, Dukey saw the event through the window.

"Damn it! He's really about to…" he said quietly.

They witness Johnny moving in a quick pace and mumbling "No!" and "Stop!" , while he's sweating in his sleep.

"I think he's having a nightmare!" Twilight assumed.

As the pacing got faster and more erratic, his rumblings became louder. It sounded like he was in peril. Around the same time, Dukey felt a massive headache, just by witnessing him. The mares backed off, as the pegasus stallion kept moving in a very erratic way.

"No! I need to stop it!" The earth pony stallion went around to find the door and opened it. Just in time for the pony to scream and wake up from the same time. That scream caused Dukey to have the ache again, only this time, it got worse. And before he knew it, flashes of memories appeared in front of him, as well as the unknown memory getting clearer.

It showed him in his dog form in a dark void. He looked confused and uneasy, until the voices could be heard.

"You can't escape…"

"You are nothing but a devil as well!"

As he saw the nightmarish creatures, they looked blurry. But upon closer inspection, he was able to recognize them as people from his past life in Porkbelly. Among them are Johnny's family members. However they look even more terrifying than the others, almost looking like devils from hell.

"Wait! No no no no! This can't be!" he spoke in denial, until he heard a familiar voice.

"Dukey, help!"

He looked back, only to see his best friend, Johnny being trapped in a dark orb. His hair was fuzzy, his clothes being ripped and having bruises and a few cuts. His eyes were filled with fear and tears. It's clear, that they're responsible for the torture.

"What have you done to him, you bastards!?" he shouted angrily.

"We're basically giving him justice." The demons replied.

"Justice?! What kind of shitty excuse is this!? This is torture!" he fired back.

The demons didn't say anything, other than a glare. He tried to charge, but he couldn't move.

"What the?! I can't move!" his voice started to the crack, when his expression turned into fear.

"You're next…" The demons lunged at him but before they could get him, he suddenly snapped himself back into reality, just in time to see Johnny, who is still a pony, looking cracked.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay!?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Johnny replied.

"No, you're not!"

He looked around to see Dukey, who had a worried look on his face and tears on his eyes. In fact, everyone looked at him.

"Dukey, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked, before being shoved away.

"Yeah, what are you-" Before he could finish asking the question, his friend interrupted him.

"Johnny, stop lying all the time! I know, you can't hide it forever! If you keep doing this, then it would get worse!"

"What?" the black pegasus acts confused. But before he could say something, Dukey interrupted him once again.

"No! Don't you see!? YOU'RE PRETTY MUCH DESTROYING YOURSELF! I know that it's hard, but that doesn't mean, you have to hide it!" he yelled.

Soon, the young stallion snapped: "Hey! Watch it!"

Dukey yelled back with: "NO! YOU SHOULD WATCH IT! YOU REALLY NEED TO COME OUT NOW!"

Fluttershy hid behind Twilight in fear and Rainbow Dash was just as shocked as her friends and the animals.

"Guys... " Twilight tried to get their attention, in order to stop the argument, but it fell on deaf ears. She tried again, but failed.

"You know, you're starting to get on my nerves!" the black pony responded.

"QUIET!"

A yell from Twilight managed to silence the two from arguing.

"What's with the fighting?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Ask him.." the earth pony hybrid pointed at Johnny and the mares, Spike and the animals all looked at him.

"Johnny, is there something, we didn't know?" Spike asked.

The young pegasus was sweating really hard, as he tried to find an excuse.

"Shit...They're so close to finding out the truth! Maybe I can…uhm..uhh.. Great, I can't find any excuses!"

"Seriously!? You can't find anything? Just admit it!" Johnny heard his best friend talking to him in a loud manner.

"Why can't you guys just leave me alone?!" he snapped. The room fell into silence.

The animals started to get scared and the mares were speechless. Suddenly, without a word, Dukey ran away, feeling hurt. It was at this point, that Johnny felt regretful.

"Dukey, no!" he reached his hoof, but he knew that he would not come back.

Suddenly, his sight faded in and out, as he heard the voice in his head, taunting him

"Haha! Now you did it! You scared your friend away! How does that feel, you devil?"

The voice became louder, as it laughed evilly. He immediately covered his ears, but he could still hear it. Soon, more voices started to taunt him and before he knew it, he saw the creatures, laughing and circling around the young pony.

"No! Leave me alone!" he pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears.

As the loud voices kept echoing in his head, he ducked down. Soon, they got closer and closer and with it, his fear became larger and larger. Eventually, it was too much for him and he screamed very loudly. Meanwhile, while the ponies and Spike couldn't see the creatures, they jumped at the scream. Before they could ask him of what's going on, he quickly flew and broke through the seal.

"Johnny, wait!" said the young dragon.

"Rainbow, find him and try to calm him down." Twilight talked to her friend.

"Got it!" The blue mare flew through the hole as fast as she could.

"What's going on?..." Fluttershy asked.

Meanwhile, Johnny was sitting in a dark room, having a somber expression on his face.

"Fuck….what have I done?..." he said to himself.

Eventually, he started to cry. It seems like his spirit has been broken…

To be continued...

Chapter 4: A Cry for Help

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In the Sweet Apple Acres, business went on as usual: The Apple family were doing some farm work, while Applejack was bucking some apples. Later, a young beige earth pony filly came to the farm with a velvet red mane and a pink bow. She had some fun with her filly friends earlier.

“Welcome back, Apple Bloom!” Applejack greeted the filly. “How was your crusade?”

“Pretty amazing! We had a great adventure and helped some fillies and colts on our way!” Apple Bloom smiled, while reminiscing her latest adventure with her friends.

“That’s good to hear.” Applejack replied, while being proud at her little sister’s latest achievement.

The two ponies walk to the orchards for some farm work. During which, a very muscular red stallion with orange mane can be seen working on the fields in order to plant the apple seeds there. Then the orange mare got to work: She went to several apple trees with fresh apples and bucked them using her back hooves, while Apple Bloom caught them with baskets. Later, the big red earth pony collected the baskets and carried them to the farm, while the sisters were following him.

“Ah’ve seen, y’all did a good job!” A voice can be heard and it came from an elderly green earth pony mare walking to the three ponies.

“Eeyup.” The red stallion responded.

“Indeed, Granny Smith.” Applejack added.

The red pony, also known as Big Mcintosh or Big Mac carried the cart of apples somewhere, where they can be prepared.

“Apple Bloom my dear, could you please help out your big brother?” Granny Smith asked.

“Sure thing!” Apple Bloom accepted and walked on her way.

During her walk, she crossed the farm. Suddenly, she stopped, since she saw a shadow in the farm. The young filly went inside to find the source of the shadow. She walked closer and closer until she saw a figure. Apple Bloom was scared about the figure. Maybe it could be a dangerous intruder or even worse? Whatever it is, she ran off to tell her family about her discovery.

Meanwhile, Applejack and her grandmother were exchanging some talks, while looking at the apple trees.

“Ya see, I’ve met some….interesting friends sleeping in our barn.” Applejack remembered about the encounter with the two stallions.

“Oh my. Why would they sleep there?” Granny Smith asked.

“One of them told me that he was really tired.” Applejack answered and added. “I’m pretty sure, they didn’t mean to cause trouble, although seeing the pegasus appear from a light in one of our haystack was strange.”

“Strange indeed.” the elderly pony agreed.

Then, they saw Apple Bloom running towards them with a panicked look. The mares immediately went to her.

“Is something the matter, sweetie?” Granny Smith asked. To which Apple Bloom responded: “There is someone in the barn!”

“Again?” Applejack responded. “It’s been like yesterday!”

“Can you show us to the stranger?” Granny Smith asked.

The beige filly nodded and ran on her way to the barn with Applejack and Granny Smith following. Once they arrived at their family’s barn, they entered, only to see the unknown figure as well. Apple Bloom hid behind her older sister, as the eldery pony yelled at the unknown figure.

“Listen up, fella! You have a few minutes left to leave our barn!”

No response. Just pure silence. Granny Smith tried to get the stranger’s attention, but once again...silence. That was until the strange figure raised something a bit, looking like a tail. Applejack gasped. She knew the shape of the tail that well.
“Wait…” Applejack slowly approached the figure.

“Applejack, what are you doing?” Granny Smith asked.

“Could it be?” the orange earth pony mumbled.

It couldn’t be Winona, since the tail was bigger than those from her pet. And as she got closer, the figure became much clearer to see. Sure enough, she recognized the figure as Dukey, but something was not right. He was sitting alone with a blank expression, however she couldn’t see it, since his head was lowered.

“Uhm...Y'all alright, fella?” Applejack asked, but she received no response.

“What’s going on?” Apple Bloom asked. And her older sister replied: “Ah have no idea.”

She gently tapped his shoulder, which caused him to look back at her and her family. His eyes were full of sadness.

“What’s wrong?” The southern mare asked.

He mumbled something that the family couldn't understand. When Applejack asked him what he said, he made his answer loud and clear: "It's because of Johnny! He yelled at me!"

"Come again?" Applejack asked.

"What happened?" Apple Bloom asked as well.

"Y-you see...I was witnessing Johnny in a terrible condition… He was falling apart….I tried to help, but he yelled at me! He was really mean to me, even if I didn't have the intention to hurt him! He is really destroying himself, yet he doesn't let anyone help him, even me! His best friend!!!" His voice was shaky from the event.

"Why would he do that?" Granny Smith asked. However the hybrid couldn't answer her question, as he buried his face into the hay and started sobbing. Applejack went to the crying stallion and gently rubbed his head in order to comfort him.

"There, there fella...Shhhh.."

The other two mares watched, as the mare comforted the stallion, until his crying became quieter. After that was over, the southern earth pony looked at him with a warm smile.

"Hey, why not take a walk outside? It'll gonna clean your head for a while." She said.

He didn't say anything at first, but after a minute of thinking, he finally agreed with a silent nod.

And so, the two ponies set out for a walk outside, while Apple Bloom and Granny Smith looked on.

"Ah was wonderin', what exactly happened between him and his friend?" The young filly asked.

"I wish, I knew the answer, sweetie..." Granny Smith replied with a sigh.

Meanwhile, in the dark forest, a black hooded figure was wandering around and as it turns out, that it was Johnny, who just put down the hood, looking very somber with his hair covering one of his eyes.

Johnny

I don't like my mind right now

Stacking up problems that are so unnecessary

Wish that I could slow things down

I wanna let go, but there's comfort in the panic

And I drive myself crazy

Thinking everything's about me

Yeah, I drive myself crazy

'Cause I can't escape the gravity

I'm holding on

Why is everything so heavy?

Holding on

To so much more than I can carry

I keep dragging around what's bringing me down

If I just let go, I'd be set free

Holding on

Why is everything so heavy?

You say that I'm paranoid

But I'm pretty sure the world is out to get me

It's not like I make the choice

To let my mind stay so fucking messy

I know I'm not the center of the universe

But you keep spinning 'round me just the same

I know I'm not the center of the universe

But you keep spinning 'round me just the same

I'm holding on

Why is everything so heavy?

Holding on

To so much more than I can carry

I keep dragging around what's bringing me down

If I just let go, I'd be set free

Holding on

Why is everything so heavy?

I know I'm not the center of the universe

You keep spinning 'round me just the same

I know I'm not the center of the universe

But you keep spinning 'round me just the same

And I drive myself crazy

Thinking everything's about me

Holding on

Why is everything so heavy?

Holding on

To so much more than I can carry

I keep dragging around what's bringing me down

If I just let go, I'd be set free

Holding on

Why is everything so heavy?

After he sang the song, sobbing can be heard…

In the meantime, Dukey and Applejack went on a walk outside through the scenic fields. However, Applejack was not happy, when he told her about the event that tore him apart.

“What he did to you was not nice… If I find him, he better apologize to you or else!” she said. However, Dukey shot down that suggestion with: “Applejack, it’s not gonna be easy...”

“What makes you say that, fella?” she asked.

“There is a history of him, that is not all sunshine and rainbows. And I have the evidence. But first, we have to go to Twilight’s castle, in order to retrieve it.” he explained to Applejack and thus, they continued to walk, but this time...their goal was set.

Arriving at Twilight’s castle, Applejack knocked on the door and after some waiting, Spike opened the door.

“Hey, guys.” Spike greeted.

“Spike, we really have to go to my room. I must retrieve something in order to show it to Applejack.” Dukey said to the little dragon.

“I have no idea what item you want to retrieve, but okay. You can go inside.” Spike allowed them the entrance and the two ponies went inside.

After remembering the path and many trial and errors, due to the castle’s sheer size and lack of memory, they finally went into the guest room, where Dukey immediately looked around at every corner and object, until he picked up the item, he wanted to show it to the southern earth pony mare.

“What’s this?” Applejack asked, after Dukey showed her the blue diary.

“It’s his diary. Yeah, it’s strange that he started to write in a diary, since he usually hates diaries, but this is different. It’s actually written like a journal, full of things, that are….say...disturbing.” he explained.

“How much?” the orange mare was confused.

“Just read the diary….”

With those words from his mouth, Applejack opened up the diary and started to read the pages. At first, she was confused when she read the first page. However, as soon she started reading the pages, her mood changed into being horrified. The shaky writing, the teardrops and the pages about depression, abuse and other dark topics made her feel sick and filled with disgust. Why would they do this to him? She threw the diary to the ground with a yell.

“That tears it! They’re a bunch of rotten apples!!” Her voice was filled with anger. She couldn’t believe that those horrible people would tear him apart so much, that he was scarred for the rest of his life. Dukey put his paw on her head with a slight somber look and said: “They surely are..”

“Johnny? Where are you?”

They heard a voice and soon, Rainbow Dash flew around and looked at the room.

“Rainbow, what are you doing?” Dukey asked.

“Trying to find him.” Rainbow Dash replied with a sigh.

“Wait, don’t tell me, he vanished….” He was in a denial, but the worst fear came true, once Rainbow confirmed the fact. Johnny is gone!

His sight was fading in and out, his heartbeat racing fast, he was close to freaking out. Surely enough, he freaked out, screaming and jumping around. Meanwhile, Applejack went to her pegasus friend and asked her: “What in the tarnation happened??” Rainbow Dash soon explained:

“Well, basically he was feeling extremely tense. Then Dukey came in and said something about stopping to fake his emotions and such. Then they had a huge argument with him running away. As if things couldn’t get worse, Johnny suddenly screamed and flew up, bursting through the sealing of Fluttershy’s cottage. I attempted to chase him to the skies, however he was nowhere to be seen!”

“Say wha?!” The orange earth pony was alarmed by the situation. She slapped Dukey back to his senses.

“Come on, everypony! We have to find him!” said Applejack.

With that, the three ponies ran off in a hurry.

They soon meet Twilight and Fluttershy, who were looking around. At the same time, Pinkie Pie and Rarity came back.

“Rainbow Dash, Applejack! Any signs of him?” Twilight asked.

“Nope. No signs of him whatsoever..” Rainbow Dash answered.

“I just learned about the situation, thanks to Dukey.” Applejack responded.

“Shit...” Thinking back of what Rainbow said about the event, he soon got very concerned. “His breakdowns are getting worse!”

“What?” Twilight was shocked. “If that’s the case, we have to find him fast!”

“It seems like there are three locations, we haven’t checked yet.” Rarity reminded.

“Here’s the plan, Rarity! Pinkie Pie! Go to Canterlot and find any clues there!”

“Okey dokey!!” Pinkie Pie responded with a smile.

“Fluttershy and I will check the Crystal Empire for hints. And as for Rainbow Dash and Applejack, go to the Everfree Forest!”

“Oh god...The death forest…” The hybrid was shaking in fear.

“Is it okay to let him join us? His dog skills will be coming handy later.” Applejack asked.

“Hmm….Of course.” Twilight agreed.

“Hey, calm down! We got your back!” Rainbow Dash calmed down the brown hybrid.

“O-okay. If it means finding my friend in that scary forest...then so be it!!” his expression changed to being serious and full of determination.

“Yeah! That’s the spirit!” Rainbow Dash was happy.

The three groups split off to the three locations: Canterlot, The Crystal Empire and the Everfree Forest.

Arriving at the Everfree Forest, the trio looked around in order to find any signs of Johnny. Everything about this place would make anyone feel scared: The unsettling atmosphere, the fog, scary trees and dangerous creatures. It’s no wonder why most ponies refused to go there, unless they have a death wish. Suddenly, a scary noise sent chills down to the hybrid’s spine.

“Uhm….Excuse me….? I’m scared…” He looked at the mares with his voice cracked.

“Relax. We are with you. We handled those situations before.” Applejack assured him.

They looked around the forest, but no signs of him.

“I might look around by myself. This forest surely is big.” said Rainbow Dash and flew off.

“Guess, we have to find him on the other side.” Applejack responded and she, alongside Dukey, went the other way.

On the other side, Rainbow Dash looked around. The unsettling atmosphere soon caught up to her and she felt scared. Suddenly, she heard a sound.

“Waah!! What the?!?!” she quickly looked around, but because of the fog it was hard to see. She sighed and landed on the ground.

“Man...Relax, Rainbow Dash….You’ve been there before and you dealt with it. This place is not scary!” She tried to convince herself, in order to continue on. She gulped the fear down and walked around for a bit. Despite the scary setting, she continued to press on and do her mission. Suddenly, she tripped onto something.

“Ow!! Man, that hurts!!” She rubbed her arm, after getting up. The pegasus mare looked back, only to see something on the ground. Then she smelled something.

“What’s that smell..? Wait...Is it blood?!?!?” Rainbow Dash panicked. Sure enough, as the fog gets clearer, it’s revealed to be a hooded pony, laying on the ground as well as some blood stains. At first, she assumed that the timberwolves had attacked that poor pony, but as she went to the other side, she saw some cuts on the arms, which made her feel uneasy. Who would do this?? And who was the hooded pony? The latter question got answered, when Rainbow Dash removed the hood to reveal the pony’s true identity. And that discovery made her scream loudly.

On the other side, Applejack and Dukey were still finding clues, when they heard the scream.

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack recognized the scream, belonging to her friend and quickly went the other way with Dukey following her.

“Oh my gosh…This can’t be…” Rainbow Dash was traumatized at her discovery and backed off. She never saw someone being unresponsive and with blood. It was at this time, when Applejack and Dukey came to her.

“Rainbow Dash, what’s wrong??” Applejack asked.

“NO!!!! JOHNNY!!!!!” When Dukey saw the black pony’s body, he was filled with hysteria and shock and became uncontrollable, once he picked him up.

“No….This can’t be happening...Johnny, answer me!!! Come on!! Answer me!!!!” his voice was filled with sadness and despair, when he attempted to wake him up. Tears were filling in his grey eyes and soon, cried on Johnny’s lifeless body. As the mares watched, Rainbow Dash soon laid on Applejack’s head and started to cry. The southern earth pony laid her arm around her. “There there, sugarcube…Shhhhh...”

As Dukey laid on Johnny’s chest to cry, he heard a heartbeat. That’s right, his heart was still beating. He was filled with hope that his friend might be still alive...

“Girls! Listen to his heart! It’s still beating!” he yelled at them. The mares laid their heads on the black pegasus’s chest and heard the heartbeat.

“Oh my goodness...There is still a chance that he can be saved!” said the orange mare.

“We need him to get him to the-” Before Dukey could finish his sentence, the prismatic pegasus mare picked him up and flew off at high speed. “Well that was quick.”

“We have to follow her!” said Applejack.

“Got it!” Dukey replied and the two went off to follow Rainbow Dash.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flew faster and faster. There was no time to spare. As soon she arrived at the Ponyville Hospital, she screamed for someone to help him. Nurse Redheart was doing her job, when she heard her cry for help.

“What in Equestria is going on?” the white mare asked. However, as soon as she saw Johnny’s body, she rushed to him and told the doctors that there was an emergency. The doctors carried him to a bed, as they were rushing through the walls and into the operating room.

“We’ll do our best to save him. Please wait in the waiting room.” said Nurse Redheart and went off to help the doctors.

Exhausted, Rainbow Dash went to the waiting room. After some time had passed, Applejack and Dukey entered the hospital as well and sat alongside with the prismatic mare in the waiting room. There was one question, that she wanted to know:

“Why did he do it?”

Later, Spike came in with a worried look.

"I've heard that you found him!" he said.

"Yep. With his arms slit…" Applejack responded.

"Tell Twilight and her friends to get them here...now!" Dukey was on the edge, which is no surprise. His friend is now being treated at the hospital.

"Will do." Spike ran off.

Dukey started to cry again, but Applejack hugged him, in order to comfort the broken earth pony hybrid.

"Shhhhhhhhhh...It's gonna be alright, pal…" She softly spoke to him.

Rainbow Dash was still shaken after the discovery. "I...I can't believe it...Why did he do it?!?!" She asked and it was at this point, where the earth pony mare gave her the blue diary.

"What's this?.." she asked.

"It's his diary...It contains the answer to your question." Applejack replied.

With a gulp, the prismatic mare opened the diary, thinking that maybe the whole blood and his body was just a prank. But she was proven wrong, once she started to read the pages. Her sight was fading in and out, her hooves were trembling and her heart was racing. The reason of his suffering made her sick and filled with rage and anguish. And before anyone knew it, she suddenly flew off.

"Oh boy…" Applejack sighed.

Once the sky blue mare was outside, she flew in a circle, picking up more speed as she went around. Essentially, she created a big tornado. But it wasn't enough. Filled with tears, she flew up into the skies and after some heavy breathing, flew down, picking up even more speed than before. As she was doing this, a cone started to form around her and as she got faster, it got tighter and tighter, until it became like a pointy triangle. Then...it happened.

She broke the sound barrier, therefore creating a sonic boom. But not any sonic boom. It was rainbow-colored and flame like and Rainbow's trail became a literal rainbow with sparkles. It is known as a Sonic Rainboom.

After unleashing the Sonic Rainboom, the prismatic mare flew around the fields and Ponyville in a zigzag pattern. It would look dangerous, but at this point she was so blinded by the anguish, that she can't see the ponies on the ground. Or anything in that matter. She flew up again and then down to an empty field, picking more speed as she went. Finally, she screamed as she crashed to the ground, creating a rainbow-colored explosion. Because it was at a close proximity and because of it's greater impact, it caused a minor earthquake in Ponyville. Thankfully, no one was hurt and no building were damaged. But it was enough to throw anyone off guard.

As this was going, Applejack and Dukey felt the earthquake.

"Earthquake alert!!!" He panicked.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash came back, however her mane was messy and had some scratches. She was breathing very heavily.

"Rainbow Dash, are you alright??" Applejack went to her best friend, while Dukey went to a nearby water container and filled a glass with water.

"Here. Have some water." He gave her the glass of water, where she immediately started to drink it.

"Take it easy, sugarcube." Said Applejack.

"All the time, that Johnny was happy, awesome and cool...It was....It was..." Rainbow Dash struggled to finish her sentence and the hybrid finished it for her with:

"...fake. He was broken on the inside, yet he decides to hide it. That's a sign, that he has depression."

Soon, Twilight and her friends arrived to the waiting room.

"We came here as fast as we could!" Said Twilight, while panting.

"Oh my goodness! Rainbow, are you okay?" Rarity asked.

"What did I just miss??" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Why did the earth shake that day?" Fluttershy asked.

"I....I...I had to let my emotions out." Rainbow Dash answered.

"It's funny, that the rainbow was all zigzag! It came up and down and up and down!" Said the pink earth pony in a chipper tune.

"I caused the zigzag rainbow... And the earthquake... because I did the Sonic Rainboom..." the blue mare confessed. "After I read his diary, I was sickened...I couldn't think anymore, it was all messy!"

"What are you talking about?" Rarity asked.

"Read the diary, okay!?!?" she yelled and threw the blue diary at them, however Twilight managed to stop it with her magic.

"Rainbow Dash, calm down!" Said the purple mare and opened the diary. Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike all looked at the diary as well. As Twilight read the pages, the emotions of anguish, sadness, rage and despair can be felt to everyone. Soon, Twilight struggled to read the final pages, as it was painful to do so.

"Oh my goodness..." Fluttershy was shocked.

"What in the name of Celestia!?" Said Spike.

"This is just...." Pinkie Pie struggled to find the words.

"This is horrible!! Horrible!!" Rarity cried out.

"I...I can't believe it... He's been broken all along? If he's in the hospital....then that means...he....he..." Twilight was in loss of words.

"He attempted suicide...." Dukey filled in the blanks.

"They've been all cruel to him..." Fluttershy was close to crying, when Rainbow Dash comforted the yellow pegasus mare.

"Yeah..they're monsters..." Rainbow Dash gulped.

"Let's hope, that he would make it..." Rarity was in tears. Her cheeks flow with black tears, because it ruined her makeup.

Soon, a nurse came in and the Mane 6 as well as Dukey and Spike rushed to her.

"Is he okay?? Did he make it???" Dukey asked in a rush.

"We have some good news. Despite the earthquake, we managed to bring him back to life." The nurse responded.

The group felt relieved at the good news, that Johnny's life was saved. However, with serious looks on their faces. They requested the nurse to visit him and with approval, they were on the way to his room. There was no time to spare.

To be continued...

Chapter 5: Taking Action

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The seven ponies stand before the door to the room. At this point, they knew the truth and they need to act now.

"Ok, everyone. This is it..." Twilight took a deep breath before opening the door and letting her friends and herself in.

When they got inside, they found him: Johnny, who was laying on the hospital bed with his arms bandaged and several medical stuff attached to him like a breathing device and a liquid to stop him from losing blood.

Dukey's heart cracked at the sight and he felt the ache again, however it felt more painful than before. Applejack was the first one, who noticed they hybrid clutching his chest with tears.

"What's wrong?" The southern mare asked.

"It's...it's really painful to see my best friend like this...fighting for his life..." He wiped his tears away, when Fluttershy hugged him.

"We feel the same thing, friend. It's really tragic that he did it...all because of those terrible monsters...." she responded with her voice cracked.

"I..I swear if they come for you guys, then I will give them a taste of my wrath.." Rainbow Dash hasn't recovered ever since she read the blue diary.

"Same here, pal." Applejack agreed.

There was no opposition from the other ponies, considering that Johnny's story of pain and abuse shocked everyone. So much so, that they feel no sympathy towards the people responsible for Johnny's misery.

Rarity was wiping her tears and the wet mascara with a tissue, when she said: "Those people are despicable....despicable!!"

"They're a bunch of nasty party-poopers!" Pinkie Pie added.

"Normally, we forgive someone, who feels remorseful after what he or she did. But what they did was unacceptable and unforgivable, because of their remorseless behaviour!" Twilight was just as outraged as her friend.

Even Fluttershy, the quietest pony and the sweet Heroine of Kindness, snapped:

"They....they....THEY ARE A BUNCH OF ROTTEN MEANIES!!" she yelled.

When he saw the Mane 6's reactions to the story as well as Spike's tears, Dukey felt something, he never felt before. He felt......touched.

"Those ponies....They're...concerned about him as much as I am...Normally, in my former world, nobody gives a single shit about him...But this isn't the case for the ponies in Equestria..."

He remembered the time in his old home, where people never give a single shit about the issues and only care of what they expect him, rather his true nature. However, ever since they arrived in Equestria, the reactions from the 7 were more genuine and actually real.

He walked towards them, before they can let their anger out and spoke to them:

"Girls, please! I know, that you are concerned and outraged about the whole mess. But let's face it: Johnny and I left our original world and everything else for a good reason. We should stop thinking about the past or the future and instead focus on the here and now, in order to change it!"

Twilight was moved by Dukey's words and told to her friends: "He's right. We have to be strong this time. We handled situations with a broken heart before, but this is serious. We have to do it together and get our friend out of the darkness!"

"Yeah!" her pony friends and Spike agreed.

Then they heard groaning and looked at the black pegasus, who slowly opened his eyes.

"Johnny! Thank god, you're alive!!" He hugged his friend with tears of joy in his eyes.

But something about him was off. His hair is still covering one of his eyes and the eyes itself looked blank, like all of his emotions being taken away, therefore feeling empty. Plus, he had a somber expression on his face.

"It seems like, the pain broke him completely." Twilight said with a sigh.

"Why are you here...?" Even his voice became quiet like Fluttershy, but without the spark of joy or any positive emotions.

"Johnny, this is serious. You need stop lying and destroying yourself." Said the hybrid with a serious look.

"We found out about your story, thanks to your diary." Twilight added and showed him his diary.

The black pegasus looked away in disgust. "So, you came here to laugh at my misery??"

The prismatic mare snapped and yelled at him. She said: "What are you talking about!?!? We're not gonna laugh at you!! Seriously, there is nothing to laugh about your pain!!! We're not heartless like those jerks!!! You really need to lay it off and just listen to us!!"

"Okay okay. Thanks for your words, Rainbow, now it's our turn." Twilight told to the blue mare and ushered her to the others. "Listen, we're not gonna laugh at your misery, because it feels very wrong to do so. Instead, we're trying to help you to get out of the darkness."

"It's too late..." he replied with a lowered head.

"No, it's not! There is still time, so don't give up just yet!" The purple alicorn replied,

"We were shocked by your story...I couldn't believe that they broke you so hard, you lost your spark! We really feel sorry about you..." said the white unicorn.

"Those people really brought you down to an abyss. But we're not like that! We are concerned, that you lost your smile!" Pinkie Pie added.

"See, Johnny? There ARE people or in this case, ponies and a dragon, who genuinely care about you." Said the stallion hybrid.

However, Johnny didn't answer anything and looked away. This enraged the blue pegasus mare and hit her hoof to the wall hard.

"HEY!!! We are literally trying to help you and you just ignored it!!!" she yelled, causing the young pegasus stallion to shiver in fear.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight scolded, but Dukey stopped her.

"Let her. I'm pretty sure, she is just as upset as I am." he responded.

"You've been hurting yourself all the time, without anyone knowing! Yet you decided to hide it, in hopes that it will be over! It doesn't, if you keep faking yourself!! You seriously need to face the music and accept our help for once!!" the prismatic mare continued.

The black pony shivered more and more in fear, as the ponies around him are looking for him. They want his confirmation or in other words, the truth.

"Johnny....you have to admit it....please.." Fluttershy begged.

However this caused the black pony to move erratically and tried to get out of the hospital room, however Twilight and Rarity used their magic to restrain him.

"Let me go!!" He yelled.

"Johnny, stop it!! If you keep doing this, then you would scare anyone away and you will be forever alone!!" Twilight yelled back.

The words "forever" and "alone" made him stop in shock and lower his head in silence. He really hated those two words, as it caused distress.

Dukey sighed and said: "It's no use.... he would continue doing it..."

The pegasus stallion feels shaken from the words from his own best friend.

"We should leave now.." said Applejack. The other ponies lower their heads, since their attempts led nowhere.

But before anyone can leave....

"Please wait!!!"

They heard a yell and looked back at Johnny, who at this point, was in tears. The pressure had given in and showed them his true colors: Broken and helpless.

"Don't leave me....." said the pegasus with a weak voice. "I confess....I confess..."

"Is it true, that you've been suffering?" the southern earth pony asked. There is no point of lying and faking any longer. They knew his story and now it's time to wake up from the delusion and confess the truth.

"Y..yes.... It's true.... The times, I smiled was all fake! My whole facade before was all fake! And I did this, so nobody would see my true self... Those damn idiots hurt me so much, that I started to despise them! That's also why I didn't bother to come out, because they will not respond to my cries for help and only make the pain worse!!! And to add insult to injury, they always tell me, that I'm responsible for the chaos, when in reality, they started my downfall! It's no wonder, why I decided to move to this world, but even then.....They would still follow me.... That's right, they would still follow me even after I left that stupid world!!!!!! They're the reason for the constant nightmares each night, the constant pain throught the day and the paranoia and distrust all the time!!!"

Tears were still streaming down his face, when he looked at the ponies and expected the same results like the people from his old world. But it wasn't the case, when he was pulled in to a hug by Fluttershy. Soon, Dukey and Rainbow Dash joined in and later the others. He was given something, that he lacked from the majority back in Porkbelly: Care.

This caused the black pegasus to be extremely emotional and started to cry very heavily. It sent chills in their spines, as his cries echoed around the hospital room. Soon, the mares and the dragon feel a painful ache in their bodies, like their hearts being broken by his story. The same painful ache, that Dukey felt, back when he first heard about the agonising tale of abuse and pain in the apple orchards.

"It's alright...we're here." The yellow pegasus mare said softly to the broken stallion.

As the stallion kept crying, the pain got worse and the gravity of the ache got heavier. For Dukey, it was really painful. For years, he always has been by his side, helping him, doing fun activities and having a good time, even if the whole world are against him. For Johnny, he is the anchor to keep him sane. And after the hybrid ran away, the guilt had overwhelmed him and without his best friend, Johnny became vulnerable for mental attacks and the constant guilt and pain, he had, made him to do that suicide attempt. The hybrid felt guilty. Hadn't he run away and stayed by his side as always, then the suicide attempt would have never happened. He placed his paw on his head with tears in his eyes.

"L-look. I know, that you are in pain....But b-believe me....There are ponies, who g-genuinely care about you... And we can....help you to...to.." Unfortunately, the earth pony hybrid couldn't finish his sentence, as he couldn't hold his emotions any longer. The guilt and sadness, he surpressed, became too much for him to handle and he soon starts to cry alongside his best friend. Similarly, Rainbow Dash also couldn't hold her emotions any longer, but this time, it was due to the horrible story making her messed up and she too cried as well.

"Oh, you poor, poor thing...." The sorrow caught up to the yellow pegasus mare and sobbed quietly.

"It's really sad to see a broken pony cry, especially from the horrible treatment, he's given..." Rarity's makeup was ruined again, because of the tears, but at this point it didn't matter anymore.

"I know...It's really tragic!" Even Pinkie Pie, the most joyful pony in Equestria, couldn't hold her tears any longer.

Eventually, they joined with the five ponies in the crying session. Meanwhile, Twilight, Applejack and Spike couldn't help but watch the sadness unfold. Soon, Spike felt like, he is about to cry.

"Come here, Spike." The purple alicorn hugged the tearful dragon, who started to sob quietly.

The pain felt real and Twilight was so close to let her tears out. But then something prevented her to do so: Her will. She took a deep breath and had a serious expression on her face. Applejack did the same thing. They knew, that it's time to take action.

"Girls, come with me. We need a plan." She said to her friends.

Eventually, they stopped crying and came to Twilight, Spike and Applejack. Then the Princess of Friendship gave them a speech:

"Listen, everypony. We've been through intense situations before. Chrysallis, King Sombra, Tirek, Discord. They tried to tear our friendship apart, but in the end we stayed together and defeated them with the magic of friendship. We also helped ponies , who fell victim from the vile actions of evil. Guiding them to the light and helping them regain their spark of life. But Johnny is different. He is not a victim from any of the vile creatures in Equestria. I mean, he didn't originate from Equestria from the start. He is only a victim from his own personal demons and the monsters, who broke his spirit. The reason, why he and his friend moved here, is because they want to escape from their horrible world, where he was tortured. He thinks, he can't be saved and it's too late, but it's not. There is still a chance and he needs help. We must get our friend out of the darkness and into the light! The light of guidance, friendship and hope. It's time to take action!"

Her friends nod. Their friend is stuck in the darkness of sorrow and despair and they need to help him now.

"Dukey, stay here and guard your friend. Make sure, he wouldn't do it again." Twilight told to the hybrid and he saluted and said: "Got it!"

And thus, the Mane 6 and Spike exit the hospital with a mission: Get Johnny out of the darkness.

When arriving at Twilight's castle, they got together around the Cutie Map, thinking for a plan.

"So, how are we gonna help him?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"How about a giant party?" Pinkie Pie suggested.

"I'm not sure, if this would help him, Pinkie." Rarity replied.

"Rarity is right. We need something more than just that. However, before we can think of something, we have to get help." The purple alicorn used her magic to get a paper and a writing feather, in order to start to write a letter to someone important. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were thinking about some suggestions. And so do Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Spike and Fluttershy. How can they help him? That's a good question.

While this was going on, the lavender unicorn mare went to them.

"Hey, girls. I learned some things about friendship and....uhm...What's going on?" She was confused about the mares thinking.

"Starlight, we are busy finding a way to save someone." Twilight replied.

"Who?" Starlight asked, not knowing about the story, in which the Mane 6 told her about the whole story about their friend being stuck in despair due to painful experiences from the past.

"Oh my gosh...I'm speechless.." She was just as shocked as her friends.

"We all are. And that's why we have to act now." said the purple alicorn as she finished writing the letter. She gave it to Spike, who used his fire breath to send the letter to someone important. "We are currently thinking of a plan."

"Can I join? If it means to help a friend, then I'm willing to help." The lavender mare told to her friends.

"Sure, Starlight!" Twilight agreed.

The purple alicorn went to her library and used her magic to get some books about pony psychology, trauma, depression and visions. She started to read them, in order to understand the subjects and learn on how to help a pony suffering from something traumatic. This was all done, in order to find ways to help Johnny.

"Why are you reading books?" Spike asked. In which the purple mare answered: "It's because, I have to know about those subjects first before we can spring into action."

"I see." the young dragon understood.

Meanwhile, her friends came to her.

"We have discussed each other for a while and we came to a conclusion, that we should give him the best day full of love and care." Rarity reported.

"I was thinking about performing a Sonic Rainboom in front of him, so at least he can appreciate the colors and the awesomeness." Rainbow Dash suggested.

"So far, we have some good ideas. But we still have to think about an effective way. That's why we have to learn about the subjects, what Johnny mentioned and felt, first." Twilight replied.

"Why not doing it now?" Rainbow Dash asked in an impatient tone.

"That would be risky." Starlight replied. "We have to prepare first, then act."

Meanwhile in Canterlot....

The two alicorn sisters were sitting on their thrones and doing their duties as usual. However, Luna couldn't stop thinking about the nightmares, as she recently saw another one. Princess Celestia was also thinking about the nightmare and the mysterious boy and the unknown pony, who had those nightmares. Then she saw the green flames and it turned into a letter. Using her magic to hold it, the princess began to read it:

Dear Princess Celestia,

the reason, I wrote this letter is because there is a serious problem.

The pony in question is named Radiant Thunder, who's been suffering from depression and trauma, all thanks to the horrible abuse and humiliation of the monsters in his original home world. This is also the main reason, why he decided to move to Equestria. However recently, he was seeing visions of those demonic creatures and couldn't sleep because of the nightmares. And the worst part is, he attempted suicide. Thankfully, he got resuscitated and is currently recovering in the Ponyville Hospital. But I'm afraid that if he got released, he would likely do it again.

That's why we need to act fast. We need to get him out of his darkness, where his inner demons reside and bring him into the warming light of friendship, love, hope and happiness. However, we are currently thinking of a plan on how we can do this. We need your suggestion.

Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle

She also saw a photo attached to the letter. A photo of how the pony looks like. Princess Luna saw the picture and gasped. The mane looks suspicially familiar to the hair of the boy. He also had blue eyes, just like him. After some logic thinking, she connected two and two together: The pony and the boy are the same and it's this pony, who has those nightmares!

"Oh my gosh..." Luna was shaken to the core.

"I know. What Twilight described of him, it would make sense with these nightmares." Celestia answered.

"Do you have any ideas on how we can approach this issue?" the blue alicorn asked.

The princess of the sun took a deep breath and replied with:

"Since we are dealing with a pony with a broken soul, who recently atttempted to end his own life because of the horrible trauma from his original world, we have to gather everypony."

"Are you sure?" Luna asked.

"Yes. Since the trauma is so severe, that he has trust issues, it wouldn't be surprising, that he would end up isolating himself, turning over to the dark side or even worse....doing it again. We have to prevent this from ever happening! That's why we have to gather everypony and give him the most love and trust, he needs. It's so far the most effective way to save him." The white alicorn replied and used her magic to write letters to Twilight and the ruler of the Crystal Empire.

The first letter went as follows:

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

I recently got your message and it was loud and clear. We have to do something.

I suggest to gather everypony around Equestria and inform them about the situation, so they can be ready to help. And as for your friend, I will send some of the royal guards to keep an eye on him, so he wouldn't do it again.

Sincerely, Your Mentor
Princess Celestia

And the second letter:

Dear Princess Cadence,

I decided to write the letter because of an urgent emergency. It's about a pony with a broken heart and soul. Please come to Canterlot immediately.

Sincerely, your aunt
Princess Celestia

The messengers were called to send the letters to the two other princesses.

Back in Ponyville, the Mane 6 received the letter from Princess Celestia. At the same time, Dukey came back from his visit.

"Hey. The reason why I came back is because of some guards visiting Johnny and they ushered me out." he said.

"Those are the royal guards from Canterlot. Princess Celestia sent them to guard Johnny and preventing to kill himself again." Twilight answered.

"Oh. I suppose, that would make more sense, I think." He was unsure. Normally, he would be taken to a mental hospital, but then again the rules in Equestria are probably different from their former home.

"Wait a minute. You look....familiar." said Starlight after she saw the dog/pony hybrid. "Aren't you the one, who bumped into me a while ago?"

"Oh...You see, I was in a hurry. To help my friend and all." he scratches his head with a nervous smile.

"It's ok. Now that I learned the whole truth and since you are his best friend, I forgive you." the lavender unicorn smiled.

Meanwhile, Twilight calmly stated to her friends: "Okay, everyone. Princess Celestia wrote back with a suggestion, which would help him to get him out of the despair. We have to gather everypony from Ponyville and beyond and helping us on this mission."

"Everyone?" the hybrid asked.

"Yes. Everyone." Twilight replied.

"Now that you mention it, it would be very helpful, since thanks to the trauma, he would have a hard time coming out in front of everyone, in fear of making the pain worse and assuming, that they're just like those scums. However, after you heard the story, you felt worried and wanted to help him. So I assume that, if we can gather everyone and tell them about his story, they can prove him wrong by showing him affection and care!" Dukey expressed his opinion about the suggestion.

"Exactly!" Spike agreed and so did the mares.

Then he reached his arm in the front. "So, are you ready?" The ponies put their hooves on his paw.

"Of course!" said Rainbow Dash.

"We are ready." Applejack added.

"Ready, when you are!" Pinkie Pie responded with her chipper attitude.

"We have to do this." Fluttershy agreed.

"We will save him." Rarity also agreed.

"Let's do this!" Starlight was determined.

"For Johnny's sake." So does Twilight.

"Yeah!" And also Spike.

With determined looks on their faces, they went out on a mission. A mission to get everyone in Equestria.

Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie went around Ponyville and the Changeling Kingdom to tell everyone to gather on the centre of Ponyville, while Applejack, Starlight Glimmer and Fluttershy went to the Crystal Empire and the Dragonlands to gather them to the goal. Twilight, Dukey and Spike went to Canterlot to do the same thing and also went to the castle to meet up with the royal sisters. Upon arriving, they saw the sisters alongside Princess Cadence waiting.

"Cadence!" Twilight was excited to meet her sister-in-law again.

"It's so good to see you again, Twilight!" And so was the Princess of Love. It's been a while since they met last time. They hugged each other in joy.

However, while this was going on, Dukey felt dizzy for some reason. Around the same time in the Ponyville hospital, Johnny was still laying on his hospital bed, looking depressed, while being watched by the royal guards. Inside of his head, the demonic creatures were still taunting him and hurting him relentlessly. As if his soul wasn't weakened by them enough, it took a toll on his body. He tried to escape, but one guard, who is a unicorn stallion, used his magic to restrain him to the bed, preventing any escape. The taunting voices became louder and louder and his sight fading in and out. Soon, he felt sick in his stomach and his heartbeat began to speed up. All of those factors and the continuous mental torture made the black pegasus pass out. Meanwhile, Dukey's body felt weaker because of Johnny's mental condition taking a toll to his body and when the pegasus stallion passed out, the hybrid soon lost consciousness and collapsed on the floor.

"Oh my god! Dukey!!" Twilight immediately rushed to him, followed by Spike and the Princesses.

"What happened to him??" Cadence asked.

"Guards! Get him to the infirmary now!!" Celestia called her guards.

The guards immediately picked up the hybrid and carried him to the infirmary, all while the ponies wondered, how it happened. It seems like, there are more unanswered questions, they need to answer and they followed the royal guards.

To be continued....

Chapter 6: Operation: Healing Light

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In the centre of Ponyville, everyone was gathered. Every mare, stallion, filly, colt and even foals were here, looking confused as of why they were gathered.

"Why are we here? Why did they tell us to go there?" Those are the questions, that they asked to themselves.

"Hey! Listen up!!"

They heard a voice and looked at the centre, only to see Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie stood there on pedestals. Rarity was also holding some copies of Johnny's diary entries. Then the snow white unicorn gave them a speech:

"You maybe be asking as of why we gathered you here. And we're sorry for interrupting your schedule. But the reason why we did it is because of a very tragic story of a new pony arriving in Equestria. He has been suffering his entire life back in his former world, because of the horrible, horrible monsters abusing him! So much so, that his spirit has been broken!!"

"And who is the pony in question? The great and powerful Trixie wants the answer!" The blue unicorn, known as Trixie Lulamoon, felt impatient.

"Well his name is Radiant Thunder! But we call him Johnny." Pinkie Pie answered.

"Do you have the evidence?" A mare, who is also the mayor of Ponyville, asked to the three ponies.

"We have. Rarity has the copies of his diary entries, which she will read it for you. Those will make you understand, how crushed he has become." Rainbow Dash answered.

The white unicorn started to read the first entry, which was written on Monday and contained his troubled life in school. At first the ponies were confused, but when she read the entry written on Tuesday, which contained his life on home being hellish, they start to feel a bit worried. And it wasn't until the entry on Wednesday, which raised an alarm:

Wednesday,

It keeps hurting... During school, I was I involved in a fight between Bumper and his goons. Why? Because they love making trouble. After a long time of bullying and with no weapons whatsoever, I fought back and punched at his face with my anger. Obviously, we were sent to the principal's office. Normally, the principal is quite a nice dude and very caring. Unfortunately, he was sick on that day and someone has to fill in. And fucking hell, it's that damn teacher... Idk why they chose him over others, then again, ALL of the teachers are mean. And to my shock, he suspended ME, instead of Bumper! He got away scottfree? How unfair is this!??!? They seriously don't care about my suffering! And on home, I didn't even bother to go inside from the door, so I have to climb to the window of my room. However, my sisters were already here with a coupon. And I have to test something again. This time, I had to drink a portion to have a beautiful look. Why? They want to make Gil notice them, even though it will NEVER work. And Dukey warned me, but at the same time, I felt pressured so I did it. Needless to say, something went wrong and even after I got cured, my body felt weak. After that, my best friend carried me to the bed, so I can rest. However my dad heard from my suspension and was obviously pissed, even though it was wrongfully done! But he doesn't care. He just doesn't. I was caught in his shouting when he entered my room. Because of my weak body, I didn't have the power to explain. As if that wasn't enough, I was later tied up on a pole by my dad, just because I refused to brush my teeth! Why do they only care for their expectations and not my well-being!?!?

This caused outrage from the community. Especially parents. They know, that kids don't want to brush their teeth, even though it's good for them. However, tie them to a pole?? That is too far.

"How dare they?!?!?!" One angry mare responded.

"It's only the tip of the iceberg." Said the prismatic pegasus.

As she continued to read the remaining copies, the outrage grew. They can't deny it. Everyone was so mean to him. They also feel sorry for him, for dealing through the pain and anguish.

"How could they to the poor thing? This is sick and twisted!!!" A stallion was really angry.

"Hey! I know, you're as outraged as we are. But we have to do it, because we can help him! It crushed him so hard, that he attempted suicide! We have to work together to get him out of his sorrow! Are you ready??" The pegasus mare asked.

"Yeah!" The crowd agreed. They want to help him.

"Let's go!" She confidently replied.

And thus, they worked together on a plan to save Johnny.

Everything was black for a while, until the eyes opened a bit and a voice can be heard:

"Twilight, Celestia, Luna!! He's waking up!!"

As the sight became sharper and the eyes opened further, we see the four princesses, Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight looking worried.

"Dukey, are you okay??" Twilight asked.

It turns out that it was Dukey, who is waking up and it took place in his perspective.

"Ugh....w..where am I?" He asked with a weakened voice.

"You're now in the Canterlot Infirmary. The guards brought you here after you collapsed to the ground." Princess Celestia explained.

"We want to know, why you collapsed." Luna was curious and so are the other princesses as well as Spike, who has just arrived.

Then something flashed in his eyes and remembered about something. He looked extremely worried and asked the princesses with: "Johnny!! Is he okay??"

At the same time, one of the guards arrived with a report, who gives it to Celestia. She read the whole report and was horrified.

"They said, that he felt dizzy and nauseous. Like something is damaging inside of his body. He even threw up on the floor and later passed out." Celesita responded with a sigh.

"Oh fuck! Fuck, it's getting worse!!!" The hybrid became panicked.

"Calm down! We are still doing the plan. We will assure you, that everyone will help him. It's gonna be okay." Luna assured him.

"I do have a question. Why are you so worried about your friend?" Cadence asked.

"Because I am his best friend. We've been through together through hard times, no matter what. He saved me from the animal shelter on his 11th birthday and he chose me over the other dogs. I never felt so grateful for a second chance of life until that the cage opened and being welcomed by him. Since he saved my life, I vowed myself to do everything to make him happy and save his life from dangerous situations. " he explained to the princesses, while telling about his story on their first encounter. They were moved by the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Even Spike was moved to tears.

"What he did was so noble." Luna replied.

"Indeed. He does have a good heart." Celestia agreed.

"Which was unfortunately shattered by those bastards...And that hurts. Speaking of which, I need to confess something." he told them to the royals.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

His expression turned a bit sorrowful, when he began to explain:

"You see, I've been thinking about a stronger connection between me and Johnny since all the way back in the apple orchards, in which I witnessed him breaking down for the "first" time. Actually, I've seen it for the first time, but the painful ache in me wasn't. It was after I was sent back to the animal shelter, where I first felt it. It stung to my heart hard. I didn't realize that Johnny was in a mental breakdown until after I've seen it happen. As more breakdowns happened, the ache got worse. Then I remembered something: Every time where he was mentally tortured, I was there. And during which, I always had a twisting feeling in my stomach. So I tried to comfort him, like I always do. And god knows, if it worked. Not to mention, while I saw Johnny being in a panicked state in the skies, a memory flashed in front of me. A memory about those monsters blaming ME. That's right, they also blamed me as well, calling me a devil's accessory. That memory came up again, this time they had Johnny being badly hurt. I tried to charge at them, but I was paralyzed! Paralyzed by....fear. And as I was thinking about it and the connection during the visit at the Sweet Apple Acres, the Everfree Forest and even in the hospital, I came to a conclusion..."

"That you are a witness?" Cadence asked.

But Dukey rebutted the question with: "No, Cadence....In fact.....I'm as much as a victim as he is..."

The princesses gasped. They didn't know, that the hybrid was also a victim as well.

"How so?!" Spike asked.

"I've been also tortured by them, both mentally and physically. Why I endured all of it and still kept calm, is beyond me." he answered.

"It must take a willpower made of iron, to endure all of it.." said the princess of the sun.

"And as for your friendship with you and Johnny. Based on what you said, it seems like, you have a stronger connection to him than anypony else. Almost like brothers. Not to mention, I have a feeling, that the connection is also telepathically and psychically. Like if Johnny has a mental breakdown, you feel that painful ache. And if Johnny became sick from the trauma and passed out, that means..." Twilight assumed.

Dukey finished the sentence with: "....then that means my body also felt weak at the same time."

"Interesting..." Twilight was curious about that psychic connection.

"This would explain, why you passed out. Your friendship with him is much stronger and unbreakable than any friendships with other ponies, I've seen." Celestia wondered.

"We never witnessed a connection like this until now." Luna was also curious.

"I can't believe, he was also tortured much like his friend...How tragic..." Cadence was in tears, but Twilight hugged her sister-in-law.

"I feel the same thing, Cadence." Twilight responded.

"We all do. However, if we stick together with our plan and get his friend out of the darkness and into the light, then he would get the closure, he deserved." Princess Celestia assured the others, that things will be okay.

"You're right, sister. We need to be strong!" The princess of the night agreed.

At the same time, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer came back from their mission to spread the news. They were confused as of why Dukey is in the infirmary.

"There is a simple explaination for that." Twilight explained to her friends.

She explained about Dukey's strong and psychic connection to Johnny and his confession, all of these were the reasons as of why he passed out. The ponies were shocked. They didn't know, that Dukey was sharing the same pain as Johnny.

"Oh my goodness..." Rarity was speechless.

"You too!?" Rainbow Dash asked to the hybrid, in which he nodded.

"I can't believe it..." Fluttershy was worried.

"It's sadly true, Fluttershy..." Twilight sighed.

"How is the progress?" Celestia asked.

"We managed to convince everyone to helping us with the plan. Although it takes a lot of convincing for the dragons to get on our side." Starlight answered.

Then the hybrid starts to tear up. The whole time, he was keeping himself together for Johnny's sake, despite the shared pain. Now, cracks were beginning to show, as tears streamed from his face. Cadence was the first one, noticing him like this and hugged him. As Twilight watched, she felt sorry for the earth pony hybrid.

"Girls...?" She pointed at Dukey being hugged by the princess of love. Soon, they all engaged in a big group hug. As he felt the warm embrace by everyone around him, he got more and more emotional. At this point, it has reached to a point, where he couldn't take it anymore. All of the same pain and abuse and all the time, that Johnny has to suffer all of it, caused the hybrid to burst into tears instantly.

"It's okay...We're all here." Fluttershy softly spoke to him.

His cries echoed throughout the walls and the whole area. Loud and clear. The ponies suppressed their tears, since they already shed some thanks to Johnny and his confession. They need to be strong, because Johnny and Dukey need them. They need their care, love and guidance. And if they want to succeed, they have to work hard...together. They need to get them out of the sorrow, the monsters have caused and guide them to a better future full of light and genuine happiness.

After what it felt like hours, the crying soon got quieter, until it became silent. Everyone looked at him wiping his tears away and looking at them.

"You're all very caring and nice..." he spoke.

"Hey, that's what friends are for. Ah swear to my honesty for that." Applejack smiled warmly.

"We're all here for you and your friend with all of our kindness, guiding you." Fluttershy nodded.

"We're making sure, you can smile with laughter!" Pinkie Pie smiled brightly.

"And giving you something special in the act of generosity." Rarity added.

"We'll always be there for you, guys. No matter what. This is true loyalty." Rainbow Dash smirked.

"And finally guiding you with the spark of magic. After all, as the guardians of harmony and friendship, we're making sure, we will help anyone from a shattered bond or even from a broken past. And I, Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, will do our best to help you and your friend guiding to a new future!" Twilight finished the combined speech.

"And no matter how hard the situation is, we can do it, as long as we get together." Starlight smiled.

The whole speech from the ponies, along with the warm smiles from the princesses, made the hybrid feel grateful for them. Soon, his body was filled with confidence and determination to help Johnny and be there for him until the end. Now, there was no time to spare.

"Okay. With that out of the way, let's get it started! Time for Operation: Healing Light!" He spoke to the ponies.

"Oooh! I like that name!" The joyful earth pony jumped in excitement with a smile.

"Okay, everypony. It's time to enact our plan now. Twilight, Cadence, Starlight, Spike, make sure, the crystal ponies follow our plan. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow and Applejack, go to the other worlds and do the same thing. As for Dukey, Luna, Rarity and I, we will go to Ponyville to prepare for it. This is for Johnny's sake. We gather all of them to Ponyville in order to make it work. And when he arrives, we will give him the most care, he needed." Celestia spoke to everyone about the plan.

"Exactly. However, he has to be released from the hospital first, but the guards will keep an eye on him for his safety, both physically and mentally." Luna added.

"And if we managed to get him out of it, he can finally feel loved!" Dukey nodded.

"We'll see." Cadence answered.

"Let's get this party started!"

With those words from Pinkie Pie, the ponies split up to make the final preparations of their plan. Operation: Healing Light is now in effect.

In the Ponyville Hospital, the guards were still standing around Johnny, who is still depressed. His arms have now less bandages, now that the cuts were healed. However he still saw the scars. Soon, he heard a voice from a nurse:

"Radiant Thunder. You can go now."

"Whatever...." he quietly mumbled.

"Remember, we still keep an eye on you! Don't you even think of running away and end your life again, understood!??!" The guard scolded at the black pegasus.

However, the stallion guard was met with silence from the young pony.

When they exited the hospital, Johnny's mane still covered one of his eyes and he has a long, yellow scarf around his neck. He looked down, as he walked, with the ends of his scarf sliding on the ground. The guards were still close to him, making sure, he wouldn't make another suicide attempt again. But that hardly mattered to him anymore.

He then lifted his head up, only to see the ponies looking at him. However, he ignored them, thinking that they're here to make his pain worse. Later, he saw Rainbow Dash, waiting for him, as the colors of the skies turn into the colors of the dusk.

"Hey, uhm...You okay?" the prismatic mare asked.

However, he didn't say anything. Just pure silence. Rainbow looked at him and rubbed his head.

"Come on, where is the smile?" she asked, but she saw none. Just sadness.

"Excuse me, are you making trouble?" The guards asked.

"What? No! I am trying to hang out with him." she explained before getting Johnny's attention. "Hey, wanna fly?"

No answer. However, he slowly went to her, as she prepared to fly. She looked back at the guards, who are pegasi.

"That's good. So they can keep an eye on him in the skies." she thought to herself.

She flew up and performed some loops, while the guards and Johnny watched. Eventually, he flew up, albeit slowly. The guards were following him, as he flew up. As all the four ponies soar the skies together, they witnessed the beautiful sunset before the skies got covered by the stars and the moon . She started to hold Johnny's hoof, so at least he can feel something other being left alone. After some air time, they all land down near the entrance of Ponyville.

"Look, I know you are trying to help me, but don't you see? I'm already a lost cause, since everyone would probably ignore my help." he mumbled.

The prismatic mare started to think of a way to get him to the centre of the village. Eventually, she had an idea and as she rubbed his head, she said: "Look, I've been in Twilight's castle and-"

"No no...Knock it off.." he looked away. Appearently, rubbing his head turned him off, so she stopped.

"As I was saying, I've been in Twilight's castle and brought something to the centre of Ponyville." she explained.

"What is it?...." his voice became quieter, but Rainbow listened, since she was close to him.

"Come on, I'll show you!" she grabbed his hoof and dragged him. The guards followed them, as they didn't want to lose their sights at Johnny. However, even though he struggled, the pegasus mare tightened her grip and dragged him all the way to the centre of Ponyville.

"Why do you have to drag me?..." he asked.

"Because I want to show you something awesome, duh!" she answered.

"I don't want to see anything at all, It's just really depressing and-"

Suddenly, before he can finish his sentence, he was surrounded by colorful lights and the sounds of popping confetti can be heard. He shielded his eyes a bit, until he realized, that the lights were not that bright and he looked in the front.

"Surprise!!"

He saw everyone gathered infront of him. The ponies, the changelings, the dragons and so on. He also saw some packed gifts, delicious sweets, drinks, smiling ponies and non-ponies, wearing yellow party hats with his face on it. The princesses also stood there with necklaces with his cutie mark in a sapphire heart. Even Twilight and her friends wear wigs, which look just like his hair. Soon, Rainbow Dash put her wig on. Johnny didn't know, what to react. Should he be weirded out or flattered? He didn't know.

"We all heard your story and decided to help you." Mayor Mare spoke to him.

"I..I..I don't know what to say." he was speechless.

"Say wha? Excuse me? We all did this! For you!" Rainbow Dash snapped.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

The six ponies and Spike drop their wigs and went to him.

"Yes, of course! Everyone heard your story and they were all concerned! Those bastards were all greedy, more concerned on your expectations than your life! But we're not like that! We're generous ponies and we value your life more than anything material!!" Rarity spoke to him.

"They were so mean to you, it broke our hearts. But we will assure you, we'll be very kind." Fluttershy added.

"Everytime, you attempted to have fun, those party-poopers always ruin it! However, you will have so much fun with us, filled with laughter and joy!" Pinkie Pie looked at him.

"They were always lying to protect their reputation, even though it's already too late. They've poisoned you. But we are honest, that everything will be fine." Applejack resumed.

"They've betrayed you! Stabbed your back way too many times, then toss you to an abyss! We're not like that! We are loyal until the end!" Rainbow Dash continued.

"What they mean is, they tortured you so much, that you lost your spark. However, as the Princess of Friendship, I will assure you, that we will guide you with magic, hope and embrace." Twilight finished.

"Trust us... We will never betray you." Spike looked at him.

He looked at everyone with concerned faces, realizing that what they said, wasn't fake. The looks weren't fake, the gifts weren't fake, everything felt genuine. The Mane 6 and Spike put their wigs back on and began singing a song.

Rainbow Dash

I know the world can get you down
Things don't work out quite the way that you thought
Feeling like all your best days are done
Your fears and doubts are all you've got

But there's a light shining deep inside
Beneath those fears and doubts, so just squash 'em
And let it shine for all the world to see
That it is time, yeah, time to be awesome

Everyone

Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!
Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!

Pinkie Pie

It's true some days are dark and lonely
And maybe you feel sad
But we will be there to show you that it isn't that bad
There's one thing that makes us happy and makes your whole life worthwhile
And that's when we talk to everypony and get you to smile

Everyone

Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!
Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!

Pinkie Pie
Come on and smile!

Then out from the giant cake, Dukey came out, wearing a white tuxedo and a white tophat with a gold band and holding a gold microphone.

Dukey

No matter what obstacles stand in your way
You can shine brighter than the stars
Just crush the voices in your head
And let the light guide you!

Dukey with Starlight Glimmer

Embrace the warmth
Fight the dark
Fly high and reach the stars!

Burn bright like a phoenix
Rise from the ashes
Show them your bright side!

Starlight Glimmer

Because your friends are always there for you!

Everyone

Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!
Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!

Pinkie Pie
Come on and smile!

The Mane 8, Dukey and the princesses

A true, true friend helps a friend in need
A friend will be there to help them see
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
To see the light! (To see the light!)
That shines! (That shines!)
From a true, true friend!

So shine bright!
Brighter than the stars!
You are better than them!
Because we are always there for you!

Everyone

Shine bright!

It ended with Rainbow Dash performing her famous Sonic Rainboom in the night, this time creating a message that says:

We love you, Johnny!

followed by fireworks, thanks to a pony called Tempest Shadow.

Those events of love and appreciation made Johnny feel moved with tears in his eyes. He never felt this before, back in his former home world, but now. He witnessed everyone caring for him. He lowered his head and sobbed. This made the main heroes worried, thinking that their plan didn't work.

"Oh no...Did it work?" Twilight was in disbelief.

However, his next reaction was a surprise to everyone: He laughed!

"Wait, what!?" Rainbow Dash was caught off guard.

"Didn't see that coming." Applejack agreed.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy was in surprise as well.

Then as he lift his head back up and looked at them, he did something, that was impossible back then: He genuinely smiled!

"I just want to say...I never felt the love and appreciation back then. Instead, they crushed me completely. So much in fact, that my faith has been lost....until now. That 'It's too late and I'm already a lost cause' quote? Whoever said that, must be a jackass, because you proved me wrong and gave the most love, warmth, care and hope, I desperately needed. So...Thank you! Thank you, everyone!"

Tears were streaming down from his face, however those were tears of joy.

Everyone celebrated, that their plan succeeded in a big way.

"He's finally back to normal!" Pinkie Pie jumped in joy.

"Not quite. He still has to deal with the other issues, in order to be completely free from the past. However, if we stick together and continue to help him, then it will be all over." Celestia added.

"Whatever, he is finally back!" Dukey was filled with happiness. "Although I also have to face my demons as well. But first!" He went to his best friend and fixed his hair back to his original state. However a bit of his hair popped out on the front.

"Must been from me screaming in the pillow." the black pegasus scratched his head.

Rainbow looked at Johnny's scarf and said : "Eh, it needs to be 20% cooler." She took the scarf off from him and gave it to Rarity.

"I can fix this. Alongside making a bonus!" The white unicorn went to her boutique in order to do those tasks. After a while, she came back with two boxes.

"These are for you!" She used her magic to give those gifts to Johnny and Dukey. They opened them and for Johnny, he received his new and improved scarf. Torn to fit his style. And for Dukey, he received a red scarf with a diamond. They put them on their necks.

"Oh my god! This looks awesome!" Johnny was amazed by his new scarf.

"Indeed! We are cool scarf buddies!" Dukey hugged his best friend and soon, the Mane 8 joined in, all while everyone watched in awe.

"Thank you everyone..." Johnny smiled and shed a single tear in happiness.

Meanwhile, in a different universe...

In the night, where the moon shined, inside of a room of a house, a teenage boy with blond hair was punching a wall in sheer anger and sadness.

"Damn it!!" he shouted.

It appeared, that he is missing someone....like a friend...he cared.

To be continued...

Chapter 7: Answers from the Dark

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It felt like a dream. A warm and happy dream, that he thought, was impossible. Yet here he is, being loved and appreciated by everyone, but in a new world. Ponies, dragons, changelings and so on. It felt like, he was in heaven, feeling the embrace of guardian angels. During the party, everyone had fun and Johnny received gifts and sweets from nice ponies and non-ponies.

Dukey couldn't help but to feel happy. When he sees his friend being happy, he would feel sweet warmth inside of him. Back then, it was impossible to be happy. It always felt cold and empty. However, that was all in the past, as they found a new home and a new community of nice people, who will do anything to make him and his best friend smile. But at the same time, he had a feeling, that he and Johnny are not completely free from the shackles of the past yet and they need more help. Fortunately, Twilight, her friends and the princesses will be there for them. So, as long as they're here, everything will be finally okay.

Applejack went to him after finishing her talk with her friends and witnessed Johnny having a good time, while confetti was falling.

"Ah must say, we did a fine job." she was amazed by the results.

"Yep. Indeed" he agreed.

They watched, as Rainbow Dash flew with him in the skies. Sure, he had to play catch up with her, since he was slower than the prismatic mare, thanks to his sloppy experience.

"Geez. That surely looks sloppy." He commented about Johnny's flying skills.

"It will take time for him to improve. Trust me." Applejack assured him.

Meanwhile, Princess Celestia felt relieved, yet sceptical at the same time.

"At last, I was able to save someone...but is he completely free?" she thought to herself.

"Princess Celestia?"

She looked at Twilight, who was next to her.

"I have a question. Why did you decide to get everyone involved?" She asked.

The Princess of the Sun lowered her ears, as she explained her reasoning to that choice:

"It's because I have to make up for my biggest mistake. Back then, I wasn't able to save my little sister from her darkness. She felt alone and unloved...much like Johnny. However, she took it too far and transformed into Nightmare Moon. I couldn't reason with her, so I had no choice but to banish her to the moon with the Elements of Harmony. I felt guilty for doing it and even more for ignoring her cries for help. Had I've known about the issue earlier and took action immediately, then none of those terrible events would ever happen. And even though you and your friends helped my sister guiding to the light, I still felt the guilt inside of me. And when you brought up your friend being in a devastated state, I knew, that I had to do something fast...so I came up with that suggestion to gather everyone, so he would not fall in the darkness like Luna. And it worked. Even though I wasn't able to save Luna back then, I was able to save his life just the right time, before things would get worse..."

"Everyone did a good job, so we should be proud of that achievement!" Twilight smiled, however Celestia looked sceptical.

"However, there is still a long way to go. You can see them smiling, assuming that they were finally brought to the light. But we should not end our mission prematurely. There are still some scars from the past, that it'll be taken care of. We have to make sure, nopony will relapse themselves back to the dark again." She explained.

"I know. We will do our best." The princess of Friendship promised.

Celestia smiled, knowing that the Guardians of Harmony will not forget the task. After all, Operation: Healing Light is still ongoing and they will make sure, they won't rest, until the shackles of the past were broken.

Back to the party, everyone were playing some games and danced on the floor, as the sounds of cheerful music can be heard. And Johnny was the main star. He appreciated every single bit of this moment, turning a devastating moment of sorrow into an incredible and fun memory full of love. Even the fillies and colts were adoring him, since they see him as a special pegasus. Can't blame them. Being a pegasus with alicorn wings did have it's benefits.

During which, Dukey felt like something is on his head. It couldn't be the top hat, since it was a bit heavier. Sure enough, when he looked up, he saw a light pink Alicorn baby with purple mane, fading to pink and cyan streaks.

"Oh, hey there! What are you doing on my head?" He asked.

She teleported in front of him and then behind and so on. Obviously this confused him, but Cadence couldn't help, but giggle.

"I see. You have met my daughter, Flurry Heart." She responded, as Flurry teleported on her arms.

"Well for a baby, she is quite...mischievous." he scratched his head.

"She does have an adventurous personality." A voice can be heard and they saw a white unicorn with blue mane and blue hooves.

"Dada!" Flurry was happy to see her dad. Meanwhile, Twilight came to Princess Cadence and saw her niece flying around.

"Hey, uhm. Are you Flurry's dad?" The hybrid asked.

"Of course. My name is Shining Armor." He introduced himself.

Dukey couldn't help but to make a straight face. The name alone Is pretty much like the phrase "A knight in shining armour."

"Oh my god. As if this wasn't that obvious enough, he is with a princess. But I'm not gonna judge them, even though it does sound a bit cliched." He thought to himself.

His thought was interrupted, when Flurry Heart teleported right in front on his face and the hybrid jumped.

"It seems like, Flurry likes you." Cadence giggled.

"You can say that again." The hybrid smiled, despite the Alicorn foal pinching his cheeks.

As Twilight and later, her friends watched this unfold, they giggled. A few seconds later, the purple Alicorn discussed something with them in secret and came to the hybrid.

"Hey. How's the time with Flurry Heart?" Rainbow asked.

"As well, as you can expect." Flurry was still stretching his cheeks, like they were made of rubber.

Twilight used her magic to get the foal to her arms and played with her a bit.

"One more thing, can you get your friend, please? We have something to show it to you." Rarity asked.

"Okay then" the hybrid soon walked around and found his best friend, having fun.

"Hey, man!" He looked at his friend.

"Well, Rarity said, that I have to go with you because of another present or something." The pony/dog hybrid explained.

"What is it?" The black pegasus was curious.

"Come with me and they will show us." He replied.

The two stallions went to the spot, where Rarity was. However, they couldn't find her. Suddenly, they were blindfolded and before they could panic, they heard a familiar voice:

"Chill out, guys! It's me!"

It came from Rainbow Dash.

"What's the big idea!?" They asked her in unison.

They got pushed by Rainbow Dash and Applejack and it went on, until they arrived their destination: a house. Twilight soon quietly opened the doors and they were brought in by them.

"Alright, you can take these off." Said the blue pegasus mare.

They took their blindfolds off, only to see the inside of the house, decorated with gems, flowers, balloons and so on. There was also a shelf full of comics, a fridge full of tasty treats, carpet made with silky velvet and a lamp with black and yellow stripes.

"No way!" Johnny was stunned in awe.

"You actually made a home for us!?" Dukey was also in the same mood as his best friend.

"Yep! We just want you feel welcome at your new home!" Pinkie hopped around them

"We have decorated everything with all the beauty and passion. It needed some glamour and excitement of course." Said Rarity.

"And the awesomeness, it comes with!" Rainbow Dash smirked confidently.

While they look around their new house, Johnny was looking at the shelves. He took one of them out and looked at the cover. It contained a pegasus mare with mane similar to Rainbow's, but all grey and black and wearing an explorer's uniform. Her name: Daring Do.

"Who is Daring Do?" Johnny was confused.

Rainbow Dash froze and flew to him quickly. "You never heard of Daring Do!? The most awesome hero and explorer of Equestria?!" she yelled in shock.

"Uhm, I'm still new here and I don't know anything about this place." he replied.

"Well, her stories are completly action-packed and there are so many awesome moments! It's worth the time reading all of them!" she sounds excited.

"If you say so. Maybe tomorrow. Right now, I'm a bit exhausted from that day." he answered.

"We understand. It was quite a rush." Twilight understood.

The ponies left went outside, leaving the two stallions looking around their new house.

The ponies cheered, that the trauma is over, however the royal sisters and the Mane 7 knew better.

"We shouldn't celebrate prematurely. Even though we made him smile, the trauma is far from over. As far as we're concerned, scars from the past still remained. So we have to keep doing our mission, in order to finally guiding them to the light completely. It's a matter of time and patience, to reach our goal." Princess Celestia gave the residents a speech.

"And as long as we keep working together, the sooner it is to bring them to serenity and peace." Luna added.

The ponies agreed. They need to continue...for their sakes.

Meanwhile...

In the night of Porkbelly, everyone's asleep. However; there was one resident, who was still awake: A teenage boy with tanned skin and blond hair, walking around his room. He looked pissed, as if something had made him snap. As he kept walking, the more questions he had in his head, such as: Why did he disappear?

Then he punched the wall again with his frustration and grabbed a picture. It contained him in the skate park, alongside a kid with flame-like hair, making cool poses. He remembered the time, they hung out together in the skate park. It was quite an awesome time. But because of his friend's disappearance, it all came crashing down. The teenager began to sob with his tears dropping on the picture.

"Why, Johnny bro...why??" He cried out.

Much like everyone else, he heard about Johnny's disappearance from the news. It spread like wildfire and since then, a massive search group began a search effort in Porkbelly, assuming that he ran away somewhere to the other side, but to no avail. They even searched around the country, but there was no sign of him.

At the same time, he felt mad. Like he want to scream at the universe. However, he didn't know, why. He needs answers.

"Johnny would never vanish from his home...There is something odd and I need to find them!" His face changed into a serious look, as he hit his fist on his other hand. The teenager dressed himself in black clothes and a hat, like a spy or something, took some items and jumped out of the window, landing to the soft bushes. He looked around and walked to the house next door to his.

The teenager looked at the white house with blue roofs and went around the back of it. He noticed, that the window was open so the teen used a grappling hook to climb up to the open window. However, he had to be quiet, as the people inside of this house, were sleeping. If he woke them up, then it would be the end of the line. As he got inside, he saw the room filled with toys, posters and feathers. All of them made him clear, whose room belongs to. However he had no idea about the feathers.

"Why are they feathers in the room?" He looked closer, to see that the feathers came from the ripped pillow to the wall. However, he had a task to do.

"What the hell, I need to concentrate!" He slapped his cheeks and looked around the room quietly and stealthily, like a ninja. He looked under the bed, every single cupboard, the closet, everything. But he couldn't find anything to help him answer his question. When he turned around at the desk, he saw a computer, still on standby. The teen went closer and turned it back on. It showed the desktop in front of him, indicating that he forgot to log off and shut down the computer before his disappearance.

"I normally shouldn't look further into his computer.." he thought to himself, but his curiosity got the better of him and started to search the entire desktop. Nothing much out of the ordinary here: pictures from the past, videos, music and some computer games. So far, so good......that was, until he came across a video file, while searching through his computer. It was filed "Day_0.mp4".

"The hell does that mean?" He asked. Why is the video here?

Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming upstairs.

"Shit!" He quietly whispered, pulled out a USB stick and transferred the video to it. Time was slowly running out, as the footsteps were closer. Eventually, the computer finished transferring the file to his USB stick and he closed all of the folders and got out of the room via the window. He also managed to get rid of any traces of him, before the door was opened.

As the door opened, two adults were looking around the room. The man sighed at the sight of the messy room.

"Ugh...I told him numerous times to clean up his room! But he wouldn't listen!" He shouted, as he began to clear the toys away.

The woman felt uneasy, as a few days ago, when she was looking for her son, she got into his room. But it was silent. Assuming, he hid somewhere, she looked at every single corner of his room, but without success. That was until she looked under the bed, in which the note was found. She recalled her reaction, when she read the note. Needless to say, she was hysterical.

Back in the present, she put her hand to her husband's shoulder and said: "Maybe he hid somewhere in the world. Tomorrow, we will try to find him."

"Alright. Maybe someday, he will come back to his senses and just accept our rules!" He replied and both exited the room. Meanwhile, the teenager managed to went back into his own room undetected and looked at the USB stick. Knowing, that he has a computer on his own, he booted it up and after logging in, plugged the stick on the port, went to the folder and started playing the video.

"Let's see, what Day 0 means." He looked at the video closely.

The video started with pitch black for 5 minutes until someone turned on the flashlight. That someone was Johnny, who was hiding under his blanket. However he noticed, that the kid had bags under his eyes, indicating that he didn't sleep well. And he noticed Johnny in a sad mood. He looked around, pulled out the blue diary and held it tightly. Soon, he whispered:

"Nobody understands me... I've been stuck in an endless hell of torture and hatred for as long as I can remember...I felt tortured, pressured, stabbed, betrayed, abused and hated by almost everyone. So much so, that I decided to write on this diary....It will contain my true inner thoughts and emotions and trust me....it will be not as awesome as they think....if they ever find out my dark side...but that doesn't matter, as they ALWAYS bring me down and ignore my cries for help."

He brought a pen and started writing on the first page of the blue diary. He showed the title to the camera: "My Endless Pain". After finishing to write on the diary, he put them aside. But this is where the teenager felt alarmed: Johnny was in tears and showed the camera a wound on his left shoulder, as well as a slap wound on his left cheek.

"I received those from those bastards in this house...."

Then he got emotional, as he uttered one more sentence: "I can't be saved by them....Nobody will..." After which, he cried for the remaining 15 minutes of the video, before ending the recording with a somber look.

"Oh my god.....What does it mean?" The teenager was speechless. He didn't know, that his friend had a damaged side. His sight faded in and put from this revelation. However since it's in the middle of the night, he can't scream.

"Okay. Maybe I should go to sleep." He laid down to his bed and after a few minutes, he fell asleep.

Somewhere in a dark void, the teenager looked around with an eerie feeling in his gut.

"Where am I?" He asked. Soon, he heard evil laughter and when the teen turned his head on the other way, he found Johnny, standing still.

"Johnny? Bro?" He looked at Johnny and walked closer, but then he was terrified, once he saw the flame-haired kid put a noose around his neck.

"Johnny, don't do it!!" He ran as fast he could to get his friend. However the distance became more farther and farther, even though he was running the fastest.

"Goodbye, Gil..." Johnny mumbled in a somber tone before stepping down the chair. Gil watched in horror, as the noose strangled him for a long and agonising time, until his body became limp and lifeless. As if that wasn't terrifying enough, the demons soon celebrated over Johnny's death. Some of them look strangely familiar.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

With a yell, Gil woke up from his nightmare, while sweating bullets. His body was shaking from the horror. Soon, the first hint came into his head. By "the bastards from his house", he soon realized, that his family was responsible. Thanks to the hint, he became extremely angry and screamed as loud as he could and went outside and to the neighbouring house.

His screams caused everyone to wake up and gather to the house. Everyone was confused as of why he screamed and why he went to the house, knocking the door very hard. Soon, the family living there, opened the door.

"Excuse me, what's with the screaming?" The man rubbed his eyes. His twin daughters went outside and as soon as they saw Gil, hearts form in their eyes. But Gil was in a dark mood and soon yelled back at them:

"Shut up!! I know, what you did...You hurt Johnny!!"

The family were confused at first. They didn't know, what he was talking about.

"Uhm, we don't understand, what you are saying. We didn't do anything to Johnny whatso-"

"LIAR!!!" Gil interrupted the dad. "Stop pretending so damn sweet, you monsters!!"

The others gasped. But they were unsure, if they would believe in him or not.

Meanwhile, a cop car was driving around the streets. In it, there were two officers, one black and one white with both wearing sunglasses. On the plates, the names "Mr. Black" and "Mr. White" can be seen wearing at them.

"Wow, it feels like a déjà vu here." Mr. Black reminded.

"Can't believe, we're in the same position again, just because of you blowing up Malaysia again!" Mr. White yelled at him.

"How am I supposed to know, what button is for, after they were rearranged?" Mr. Black replied, resulting in an annoyed grunt from his partner.

But before they can discuss further, they witness a commotion afar.

"What the hell is this? We better check this out." The dark-skinned man told to his partner to drive to the scene. As soon as they got out, they witnessed Gill yelling at the family.

"Wait a second, are those Susan and Mary being yelled by that neighbour dude? " he asked.

"You don't see that quite often..." Mr. Black scratched his head and the two went to the scene and separated Gil from them. He then asked: "Hey! Hey, what's going on??"

"Gil started yelling at us!" Susan explained.

"They caused Johnny's disappearance!!" Gil rebutted.

This caused an argument between the two sides about the weight of Gil's claim. Eventually, the two cops had enough and used a megaphone to silence the fight.

"Quiet! First of all, you need to calm down! And second, as for Gil, you need evidence to support your claim!" Mr. White told to the teenager. At this point, Gil's patience ran out and gave them his USB stick.

"Just watch the damn content within. And as for you, bastards! I'm done being nice!! I'm done with the chill attitude towards you! It's over!!!" The teenager snapped at the family with all of his anger in front.

He was about to leave, when suddenly, the sisters grabbed his legs in denial.

"Don't do this, Gil!!" They were in tears, but Gil tried his best to get free by moving his legs.

"Get off from me!!" He yelled, as he kicked them. However, they were persistent as they soon jumped on him, to make an escape impossible, because at this point, the sisters have lost their minds.

"This is bad..." Mr. White commented.

"We have to do something!!" Mr. Black told to his partner and soon, both sprung into action in order to stop the chaos. They tried to pull the sisters apart from them, in which they started kicking and screaming. Eventually, they used a technique, in which they pressed a pressure point behind the twins' necks. This alone made them soon pass out.

"Don't worry. They will be fine. The effect will soon wear off in a few hours. In the meantime..Sir, please get your daughters to their room. We will talk about this later." Mr. Black assured them and the two carried the sisters to their parents.

"Y-yes, sir." The mother replied.

"And as for you, come with us." Mr. White took Gil to the police car. And his partner soon told to the crowd: "This was only a minor inconvenience."

They drove off with Gil wondering, why he was taken to the car.

"Uhm, why did you pull me in and last time, I saw you, you were agents. Why are you working as cops?" He asked.

"I blew up Malaysia again." Mr. Black bluntly replied.

"Do you really have to tell him that?!?!" Mr. White annoyingly responded to his partner, but he managed to pull himself together, before a fight even occured. "Anyway, the reason why we brought you here is for safety. I mean, Susan and Mary were hysterical and uncontrollable at that point and we would fear that they would do it again."

"The best option, we have is to put you under witness protection." Mr. Black assured him. "And as for the USB stick, we will look further into this."

"Please do it..." Gil was very serious and dark. After all, the evidence changed him. The men looked worried and after arriving at the station, they took him to a secret room, where witnesses can be safe from any danger. They lock the doors tight.

"Don't worry. You'll be safe here. In the meantime, we will look at the content of the USB." Mr. White assured Gil, but they only met with silence and a mad look. They soon went to the computer and plugged the stick in. After boot up and login, they looked at the contents, when they stumbled across the video.

"What's this? A video?" Mr. Black was confused, yet curious.

Mr. White played the video, titled "Day_0.mp4" and they watched It fully. At first, they were confused about why Johnny looked sad and tired, as if he was suffering from abuse. However, after the video was finished, their expressions change to shock and confusion.

"What the fuck?..." Mr. Black was speechless.

"I've never seen this side of Johnny before...." Mr. White was equally speechless as his partner.

They checked at the information about the video. Where it was originally found and when it was made. They were stunned by the answers.

"It was originally found on Johnny's computer and was made....3 months ago....wait a minute.." Mr. White was connecting the pieces together.

"It was made 3 months before his disappearance!!" Mr. Black told to his partner. "What's going on with Johnny during the three months before he vanished!?"

"I have no idea...This is quite a mystery." The dark-skinned man sighed. "We have to find out."

Suddenly, mist started to surround the men and before they knew, they saw a hooded figure and upon closer inspection, the figure was all black with a helmet hiding the identity.

"Who the hell are you!??! Are you friend or foe??" They pull their guns out, but the figure just stood here.

"I'm not here to harm you...I know about your problem and I'm willing to help you and your friend about your crusade." The mysterious figure spoke in a distorted
voice. "Trust me, I come without weapons this time. And as for my identity, it's none of your goddamn business. Focus on the task, if you want closure."

"Uhm...like I said, who are you??" Mr. Black demanded an answer. But the figure waved its finger and said: "Call me.....'The Shadow'. And I will guide you to the answer."

The Shadow soon used another smoke bomb to engulf the room and when the smoke cleared, he was gone.

"This is....bizarre..." Both men were speechless. Who was "The Shadow"? Before they could answer, they heard a loud scream.

They immediately rushed down to the secret room, only to see Gil awake and full of sweat. He was breathing heavily with his eyes widened.

"What happened??" Mr. Black asked.

"Another nightmare..." Gil was struggling to complete his sentence. "And it's worse than before!!"

"Calm down! What did you see in your nightmare?" Mr. White asked to the teenager.

He explained, that he was in an unknown era and witnessed Johnny committing suicide in various ways. Hanging, self-harm, immolation, falling from big heights and finally with a gunshot to the head. And he was met with evil demons laughing and celebrating his death.

"Oh my god....Are you serious?" The Caucasian asked in horror.

"Y-yeah..." Gil was in tears.

"Man...this is gonna be a hard case to solve..." Mr. White sighed and both went inside to comfort Gil, who was a mess after the nightmare.

The next day in Equestria...

Twilight, Spike and Starlight brought two therapy couches to prepare for the upcoming therapy session. Later, Johnny and Dukey arrived inside. Both had bags under their eyes.

"Oh my goodness... " Starlight was worried.

Twilight put herself together. She had a mission to do. She smiled and said: "Welcome, guys! Please play down on the couches. We will soon begin the therapy session."

They both did so, what she said.

"You look like, you haven't slept well." Spike spoke to them.

"Ya think!??!" Johnny was agitated.

"The nightmares were persistent..." Dukey answered.

"Wow...Anyway, let's start with a simple exercise. Please close your eyes as hard, as you can." Twilight instructed the two stallions and they closed their eyes. She then asked: "What are you currently seeing?"

"I see...demonic monsters.." Johnny explained.

"Okay, what are they doing?" The purple mare asked, while writing down her observations.

"They're getting...closer and closer with their sharp claws and teeth...and scary eyes..." Dukey was starting to feel uneasy.

"Uhm...ok...What else?" Twilight continued to ask about what they were seeing. However, she witnessed Johnny feeling tense and scared with constant moving and sweating. Soon, his friend followed suit. She tried to calm them down, but to no avail.

"They're getting closer! No! No!! Stop it!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Johnny screamed and picked up a piano.

"Wait a minute, where did you get that-" She couldn't finish her question, as Johnny slammed the piano down on her. Miraculously, she managed to crawl out from it with only a few bruises.

"Ow...." Twilight moaned in pain.

"This is gonna be harder than I thought..." Starlight sighed.

"Yep..." Spike did the same.

To be continued....

Chapter 8: Retribution and Euthanasia

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"Johnny, stop!!!"

Those were the words of the teenager, named Gil, who witnessed Johnny about to end his own life. He tried to reach him, however the distance keeps going farther and farther. Hell, he tries to walk faster, but to no avail. Soon, a demonic voice can be heard, sending chills to his spine.

"Ha! You thought, you can save him?? My my, you have such a colourful imagination. Shame, that it will never come true!!"

"Fuck you!" Gil barked at the air, since the demons can't be seen.

Suddenly, he was surrounded by multiple versions of Johnny committing suicide in several ways. Some even bloodier than before. Hanging, stabbing himself, cutting his wrists, poisoning himself, falling from a dangerous height, shooting himself and the most horrifying of all: sobbing, while he's strapped to a bomb and as soon it exploded, all of the gory parts flew everywhere, with Gil being splattered by his blood. The horrifying sight, coupled with demonic figures laughing, dancing and even disrespecting Johnny's deaths made the teenager scream in horror and waking up in his room.

"Fuck...it's getting worse..." Gil was shaken from the bloody nightmare. It's been the third time, that this happened.

He went to the sink to wash his face off with water, in order to freshen himself up a bit and to bring himself at least back to the reality.

Ever since he watched the video, Gil became much more anxious and worried about Johnny's well-being. It didn't help, that the searches were unsuccessful and his family probably lied to save themselves.

"Ugh! I can't get it off from my head! I need to know, where the hell he is!!?!" He screamed in the room alone and later sat down on his bed to calm down for a while.

Suddenly, he heard banging on the door. At first, he thought, the men would like to visit him. So the teenager approached forward a bit. However, that thought was quickly shattered, when the door got broken down and the sight, that greeted him, is something out of a horror movie. It was the Test sisters, looking pretty psychotic and unstable with their hair being messy and twitching. Gil slowly backed off, but the sisters went closer.

"Gil..." They both spoke in unison. They sounded deranged and obsessed.

"Get away from me!!" He yelled, but it got on deaf ears.

As they got closer and closer, he looked around for an opportunity to escape. Eventually, the opportunity came in form of a hanging lamp. Gil jumped and swung himself from the lamp above them and ran outside. But it didn't take long, till they started to chase him. He ran through the halls and seveal security people as fast as he could. The teen tried his best to escape from the lunatic twins, so he ran even faster than before.

Suddenly, he was blasted by something and soon, he couldn't move.

"No!!! I can't move!! Somebody help me!!!!" He yelled around, hoping that someone would save him. Unfortunately, the sisters eventually caught up to him. Gil could feel the fear inside and it worsened, once they pulled out long and sharp knives. He tried to plead for his life with no success.

"If we can't have you...." Susan raised her knife, aiming at his head.

".....No one can!" Mary finished the sentence and raised hers too, aiming at his chest.

At this point, there was no way out of this. Gil is paralyzed and the sisters were about to stab him to death.

But then...

Before they even have the chance to stab him, a massive amount of electricity surged into their bodies for a while, until they fell down to the floor unconscious. Gil looked forward, only to see The Shadow holding two tasers.

"Trust me....I'm not here to harm you." The Shadow promised.

"Who are you?!?" Gil was still panicked from the ordeal.

"It's none of your goddamn business. By the way, if I were you, I would've hidden somewhere, where nobody can find me, like going underground." It took the unconscious bodies of the sisters and was about to go, when Mr. Black and Mr. White returned, now in their black suits.

"What the hell happened?!?" Mr. White was shocked and confused.

"Those lunatic girls tried to kill him. But thankfully, that didn't happen. Ugh... it seems like, their sanity has been broken. Like remember the time, when Gil was angry at them?" It asked.

"Well, we only came at the right time and even stopped the whole chaos, before it even erupted into much worse." Mr. Black answered, while his partner comforted a scared Gil.

"Well, that ordeal made them insane. And if I can remember, there was a school girl from a game, that if being rejected or something, she would snap and kill her crush before turning the blade on herself. Unfortunately, they were so close to bringing that moment to reality." The Shadow explained.

"Oh my god...." Mr. Black was horrified about their mental downfall.

"That's why I recommended him to go underground." It looked at them.

"Wait a minute, what about our mission?!?! We can't abandon it, otherwise we will never know, what happened to Johnny!" Mr. White shouted. Then the Shadow gave them two heavy suitcases and spoke to them with: "Inside of those suitcases contain very helpful tools and instructions on obtaining that goal. Now would you excuse me, I'll take them back home and try my best to stabilise their sanity a bit. " Then it vanished in a puff of smoke.

Meanwhile, Mr. White used a needle, that contained the antidote, on Gil, making him move again. However, he was still paralyzed, but this time in fear. The agent tried his best to calm him down.

"So, if what the Shadow is saying, is correct... then that means, that Gil is in serious danger and we really need to go underground!" Mr. Black explained.

"Although, how can we get Gil and those suitcases into Area 51.1 undetected?" His partner asked.

"Well, remember the time, where we put Johnny and the others into a crate and went through the base and to the elevator?" Mr. Black asked.

"Are you thinking, what I'm thinking?" Mr. White asked to his partner and he nodded.

"Okay then. It's a plan!" He confidently agreed. They now have a plan to protect Gil and continue their mission at the same time.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville...

In the Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was teaching the stallions on how to bake some cupcakes.

"Excuse me, how is baking supposed to be relaxing?" Dukey asked.

"Well, it always brings a smile to my face, when giving my cupcakes to my friends!" Pinkie grinned.

The guys were really unsure. Back then, they were terrible at baking stuff and the end results would turn out to be......strange and gross. But Pinkie had strong faith on making them smile with baking, even if they are inexperienced.

"Uhm....We can't bake that well, Pinkie.." Johnny sighed slightly.

"Don't worry! I'll show you, how to do it!" the joyful Heroine of Laughter giggled and showed them steps on how to do it, accompanied with a song.

Pinkie Pie

All you have to do is take a cup of flour!
Add it to the mix!
Now just take a little something sweet, not sour!
A bit of salt, just a pinch!
Baking these treats is such a cinch!
Add a teaspoon of vanilla!
Add a little more, and you count to four,
And you never get your fill of...
Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty!
Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty!
Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!

After so much trial and error, the cupcakes have finished baking and it's time for decorating.

"Okay! It's time to add the frosting!" Pinkie Pie had the frosting prepared with all of the beautiful colors and sparkling glitter. She put them in three bags and gave the two to the stallions.

"Okay! Try to mimic, what I do, okay?" She smiled at them.

"Uhm....k?" The guys were unsure.

Pinkie showed the stallions on how to put the frosting on the cupcakes. She held the bag with her mouth and slowly and gently squeezed them out to each cupcake in perfect shape.

"You know, what? I have a different idea!" Since Dukey is a pony/dog hybrid, he grabbed the bag by his paws and slowly and gently squeezed the frosting on his tray of cupcakes.

"Aw, man...." Johnny sighed. He was never good at baking and coupled with fact, that he is a pony, brings up a obvious disadvantage: He can't use his hooves, without losing balance and fall down to the floor. So he grabbed his bag with his mouth and tried to apply the frosting on his tray. But, because he was not really a precise being and that was his first time attempting, he squeezed the bag too hard and too much frosting came out. Not to mention, because of the pressure from the hard press caused the bag to burst in front of his face.

"Damnit! This stinks!!" The pegasus was frustrated and threw the bag in rage.

"Don't worry. It is your first try. There is always time and chance to improve!" Said the pink mare, while cleaning up the mess. At the same time, Dukey was finishing with the decoration.

"Eh....could've been better..." the hybrid was unsure about his end result, since the process was kinda rushed to make it ready. The frosting was decent, but since it was the first time, he decorated on a cupcake, it came out sloppy and shaky. He then looked at his best friend, whose face was still covered in frosting, so the hybrid proceeded to lick it off.

"Dude...." Johnny was peeved.

"Sorry. I just couldn't resist. The frosting did taste delicious though..." Dukey scratched his head in embarrassment. Pinkie Pie couldn't help, but to giggle at the sight. Johnny however, sighed, realizing that the whole cupcake thing was complicated.

At the same time, Twilight and the rest of her friends went inside of the kitchen to see, what Pinkie is doing with them.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie. We just came here to check on the progress." Said the purple Alicorn.

"Turns out, that Johnny and I are not suited in baking." Dukey scratched head in response.

"Why? Yours look decent." Rarity commented about his tray of cupcakes. Rainbow Dash took one of the tray and took a bite out of it for testing.

"Eh, it's...alright, I guess." Rainbow shrugged.

"Thanks for the critique." He sighed.

"I actually got the idea of baking, in order for them to find the joy within." The peppy pink mare explained to her friends.

"I'm not sure, if that would've helped, Sugarcube..." Applejack responded.

"Plus, Johnny's tray of cupcakes being unfinished and a bit burned, speaks for itself." Rainbow added, which Johnny groaned in annoyance.

"Hmm...Maybe we can think of other ideas to help them." Twilight spoke to her friends.

"I can continue teaching Johnny, so he can improve his skills." The prismatic mare suggested.

"And I can help them find their inner peace." Fluttershy quietly added.

"That would be good ideas." Twilight agreed.

"Hey, Johnny! Wanna improve your flying?" She smirked.

"Yeah. It is better than this mess." Johnny sighed, referencing his failed attempt at cupcakes.

"Come with me!" She replied and the blue and black pegasus flew outside.

However, Dukey became scared by an illusion of that nightmare monster, circling around him and laughing evilly. Thankfully, it vanished, as Applejack noticed the hybrid in panic and put her hoof on him.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright, pal." The southern mare assured.

The heroine of Kindness also went to the hybrid to comfort him.

"There there..." she quietly mumbled. "Why not go out for a walk?"

"I'll accompany him, just in case." Applejack replied.

"I suppose, that would work...I guess." He looked at them. Applejack smiled and together with Fluttershy, they went out for a walk. In the meanwhile, Rarity was speaking with Twilight about the progress and some concerns.

"Uhm, Twilight? I'm not sure, if our efforts would work well. I mean, there are a few issues about them, like there were some spirits of the past lingering around." Rarity was worried.

"Hmm.. We have to work harder and observe every single step to their road to recovery. If there are any setbacks, then we are not afraid of fixing them!" Twilight assured.

"I hope, darling..." Rarity sighed. But they have to continue, for their sake, so they exited the Sugarcube Corner and soon met with Starlight and Spike.

"How's the progress?" Starlight asked.

"Well, they had...let's say, a difficult time with cupcakes." Pinkie reported.

"Really?" Spike asked.

"I was trying to find the joy for them!" She responded.

"Anyway, we have to observe the progress and take action. That's the most efficient way of helping them cope. Johnny is currently with Rainbow and Dukey is with Applejack and Fluttershy. So we need to split up in two groups and keep helping them." Twilight explained.

"I suppose, that makes sense." Spike answered.

And soon, the group had split into two groups. Twilight and Spike went to the path, where Dukey took, while the remaining three ponies took the opposite path, where Johnny and Rainbow Dash went.

Elsewhere far from Porkbelly...

There exists a secret base, named "Area 51.1" , where secret experiments, projects and all other shenanigans reside, funded by the military.

Of course, since this is a secret base, we're talking about, it has the best security, known to man....most of the times. There are times, that a few people managed to get in, either through a close connection to a few or something. Or some of the employees are just plain incompetent.

Outside of the base, the agents in black were carrying a big, wooden box and were about to enter.

"You need to be quiet in this one, okay?" Mr. Black whispered close to the box.

"It's so hot.." Turns out, that Gil is inside of the box.

"Once we get to the elevator, you can come out. But now, we have to get to it first, without anybody detecting you!" Mr. Black responded.

"Fine.." the teenager sighed.

The agents soon entered the area, while carrying the crate. A lot of agents, soldiers and officers were there to discuss secret stuff, scientists experiment their projects and test them. Some of them actually looked at them and the crate, but they managed to make them go back to their usual jobs, by telling them, that they have some stuff to be taken to a secret warehouse. They were almost there, when a loud voice can be heard, that made them stop:

"Excuse me? What are you two doing?"

A general, who wears sunglasses and wearing too many badges, walked towards the men in black, looking kinda suspicious at the contents of the crate.

"Well, we are carrying secret supplies to the warehouse for safe keeping, sir." Mr. Black answered to the general.

"Hmmm...Are you sure, that there is nothing dangerous or suspicious inside?" He looked closer.

"No!" Mr. White immediately answered. He actually made a lie, in order to save themselves and the mission. A few minutes of suspicions silence occured, with the General still looking at the crates and the men in black, sweating in fear. Eventually....

"Ok. You can go now." The general shrugged and walked off. The men sighed in relief, now that they're left alone to continue. However, it wouldn't last, as they heard some struggles in the crate.

"Shit! We need to go now!" Mr. White is concerned and soon, they rushed towards the elevator, that leads to an underground bunker. They knew it too well, as they were underground before, back when the city was under attack by monsters, created by Johnny's mind, thanks to a monster-creating helmet. It didn't last, as they eventually found a way to destroy them and save the city.

Arriving at the elevator, they used their ID cards to grant access to the elevator and selected the option to go to the secret underground bunker. As the door soon closed, they immediately opened the crate and saw Gil getting out of it, while gasping for air and sweating.

"Gil, what happened??" Mr. Black asked.

"I was nearly suffocated, dude!!" The teenager was panicked and enraged.

"Why didn't you breath in with the oxygen tank?" Mr. White asked to Gil.

"Because I couldn't find one!!!" The teen yelled.

"We forgot the tank..." The men sighed and facepalmed, as they realized the mistake of not including a tube inside for Gil to breathe. It didn't help, that there were no holes on the crate whatsoever.

After a very quick ride (and by quick, I mean in a pace, where you felt squashed by the time, you've arrived.), the doors opened and soon entered the bunker. The agents activated the maximum security of the bunker and locked the door to the bunker for Gil's safety.

"Here we are again. Man, it surely feels like old times, huh?" Mr. Black remembered about last time, they were here.

"Yep. It surely does." His partner agreed.

"Can we just get it over already?" Gil was really impatient. He really wants justice for Johnny and more importantly, where he is and if he's alive.

"Right! Let's do this!" The agents agreed in unison and pulled out the suitcases, the Shadow gave to them and put on a table. They soon opened the suitcases and grabbed the contents out of them. They contained two laptops, various hacking tools, a note with an IP address, a radar to track down the twins, a monitor connected to the radar, that has a maps program installed, an alarm, a satellite and some instructions on how to hack computers and get surveillance footage.

"Wow. Never thought, that the Shadow gave us the essential tools for hacking someone's computer." Mr. Black was surprised. However, for their sake of their mission, they have to do it, by hacking and finding possible evidence, that are linked to Johnny's disappearance and the months before it.

They cracked their fingers a bit and started the hacking process. The agents typed down the IP address from the note and confirmed it. They worked really hard on hacking on that computer, while Gil was watching. They also looked at the monitor for possible suspicions activity of the two girls, in order to protect the teenager from future attacks and murder attempts.

After a while, the hacking process was successful and they were granted access on the computer's contents. It contained a lot of scientific projects, scans, surveillance videos, data about inventions and love notes to Gil. The agents shuddered. It was clear, that they had access to the laboratory's computer, which belongs to the sisters.

"Ugh...yep. Definitely belongs to Susan and Mary." Mr. White commented.

But they snapped out of the disgust and went straight to the surveillance folder, where all videos of the house, outside and inside and in different rooms, reside.

"Okay. Let's use these, that happened before his disappearance." Mr. White looked at the video files. They were recorded in chronological order. They started with the living room video, that was recorded on the last day, anyone saw Johnny, before he vanished. Thankfully, they have a programme, that allows them to switch cameras, allowing them for easy work.

In the living room section, the parents were upset. They talked about Johnny's misdeeds and actions, that was unacceptable for them and want to punish him. They thought of ideas, since none of the punishments did do anything and during which, his father was really outraged.

"I was really too easy on him and his dog. I even threatened him to take him away from Johnny, if he hadn't returned my camera! But as time went on, he hadn't really learned anything and ignored my warnings! He really left me with no choice!!" He yelled.

"What the hell does that mean?" Mr. Black asked, while watching.

They skipped some minutes, until they saw the parents set up a hidden trap and a plate of bacon as bait.

"Uhm, I have a bad feeling about this...." Mr. Black's stomach twisted at this sight.

A few minutes after the trap was set and the parents hid away offscreen. A sense of uneasiness and fear can be felt. They don't want to know, what's gonna happen next. And those following scenes would confirm their fears.

It shows Dukey, slowly sniffing at the scent of bacon and getting closer to the plate. Eventually, he reached the plate and ate the bacon. Suddenly, without a warning, a steel cage fell down on him and the parents, being dressed to completely hide their identities, jumped on them. Amazingly, Dukey fought back and tried to escape. That attempt brought them hope for a while, but ultimately it eventually crushed, once they knock him out with baseball bats.

"What the fuck?..." Mr. White whispered in disbelief.

With shaky hands, they switched the camera of the footage, this time, there are people from the animal shelter waiting. And before they see the parents give Dukey to them, the men immediately pause the footage.

"Uh-uh! Fuck that!" Mr. Black had enough of the ordeal.

"It was horrifying.... How could they!?!?" Mr. White was equally horrified as his partner.

"I don't want to see Johnny's reaction to that, when he finds out..." Mr. Black was reluctant to continue watching. Knowing this whole ordeal would break Johnny.

"But we have to....for our mission..." Mr. White gulped and skipped to the afternoon, when Johnny came back from school and switched the living room camera. They watched, as the family had a talk about Johnny's action. And as to be expected, when Johnny found out, what they did, as the ultimate punishment, needless to say, he was not happy. And that was a huge understatement. He actually snapped and let all of his anger out. Hearing Johnny yell at his own family with full emotion, made their hearts break. Despite being agents, seeing a child being sad is devastating. But to make matters worse, none of them even cared! And to add insult to injury, they witness Johnny being slapped to the ground....by his own father.

"Okay, what the fuck!?!?!?" The agents were outraged at this child abuse. And rightfully so.

They switched the camera section to Johnny's room and sure enough, when he locked the door tight, Johnny had suffered a mental breakdown. It was really painful to watch. What's worse is, that Gil watched the ordeal and immediately threw up in a nearby trash can.

"We're sorry..." the agents told to Gil.

"It seems like, we found out the reason of his disappearance." Mr. Black concluded and marked the three important evidence.

Then they heard ringing. There was a phone in one of the suitcases and Mr. White grabbed the phone. It had the symbol of the Shadow and as he looked at the contact icon, the same symbol can be seen.

"Hello?" Mr. White answered.

"Did you find the evidence? The Shadow asked.

"Yes." Mr. White answered.

"However. I'm afraid, that this was the tip of the iceberg. There's probably more incriminating footage on their computer."

"If you say so...." Mr. White answered and soon related the news to his partner, who began digging to the videos more.

Outside, in the surface, a big search group was going around the world, searching for Johnny's whereabouts. Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, anywhere. But there was no sign of him. Still, the family, who ordered the massive search, never gave up.

Meanwhile, the Shadow was hiding in the bushes and observing the search group. So far, the sisters look sane around their parents. However, he knew, that when they arrived to the lab and found out , that their computer was being hacked, they would do anything to stop it. So, it came up with a plan. It had a phone and a voice changer on the hands, as well as a phone number on a note. It typed down the phone number on the phone and proceeds to call it, while activating the voice changer.

Back to the search group...

They were heading to Canada now, also known as the next possible destination for Johnny's whereabouts. He has to be here, they thought. However, the people were really exhausted. They've been searching for him everywhere, even in the most dangerous areas. But the family keep on insisting to continue searching, much to their annoyance.

"How long does this gonna go on?" Mary was exhausted.

"We will find him! I'm very sure of it!" Her father was really confident on his goal.

Suddenly, the phone of her mother was ringing.

"Mom?" Susan reminded her mother by pointing her phone.

"Oh. Hang on." She accepted the call. "Hello?"

"Hello? Mom? Dad?" A familiar voice can be heard, that shocked them, but gave them relief and hope. It was no mistake! The voice belonged to Johnny!

"Johnny? Is that you?! We were so worried!" Her mother was happy to hear her son's voice again. The twins's father grabbed the phone.

"Where are you!?" He asked.

"I'm stuck in the Antarctic. Got into some crazy stuff and now, I'm freezing there! Get me outra here!!" pleaded Johnny in a dilemma.

"Everyone! We found Johnny! He is in the Antarctic! We have to save him!!" He shouted the news to everyone. With Johnny finally being found, they immediately went to the Antarctic.

However...it was all just a rouse, as the Shadow turned the phone off.

"Heh....Idiots. Always listening to lies." The Shadow scoffed. It soon pulled out the main phone and called the agents. "Hey. I just created a distraction to keep them busy. So, have you found more evidence?" It asked.

"I'm afraid, we found much more. Including one with Johnny being tied up to a pole and having his teeth being forcefully brushed by his dad. It was that sickening. Other scenes included Susan and Mary testing painful experiments on Johnny. I know, the whole family is crazy, but all of this whole torture would scar anyone!" Mr. Black reported the findings.

"Yep. Anyway, now that you have the evidence, it's time to show the truth to everyone. You have the satellite, I gave you, right?" The Shadow answered.

"We have it." Mr. White answered.

"Good. Hack the broadcasting satellite and show it to the world. Do not fail on me!" The Shadow ended the call.

Back in the underground bunker, the agents got the call and immediately got to work. They collected all of the incriminating footage and edited it in one big compilation. Soon, they got an e-mail about a video from the Shadow as an intro for the compilation. They added it at the start. After a while, they finished making the video and prepared the satellite. There was no time to spare.

"Time for the ultimate task!" Mr. Black began hacking the broadcasting satellite.

"How long does it gonna take?" Gil asked.

"Not for long. We're almost there.." Mr. Black was sweating because of the work, yet he is confident, that it will soon be over.

After a while, they got access to the satellite and sent the video.

"Alright. The job's done...all we need to do is just sit and wait." Mr. White sat down on the chair.

"Yeah. If there are other problems, the Shadow would handle those" Mr. Black nodded.

"I just hope the nightmare to be over with..." Gil hoped.

Tokyo, Japan

A Japanese business man was doing his usual office work on his computer. Writing letters, calculating, the usual stuff. Suddenly, the monitor of his computer started to glitch and the PC started a video.

"Nani??" The Japanese man was confused.

Auckland, New Zealand

A couple was watching a romantic movie on their TV. Right before the couple in the movie started to kiss, the TV glitched and showed them the beginning of the video.

"What's going on?" The woman was confused.

London, England

A group of teenagers were watching funny videos on a girl's smartphone, laughing their asses off, when it also became glitched and the video began to play.

"What in the bloddy hell is that??" The teenage girl was outraged.

"I have no idea, gal." A teenage boy shrugged.

New York, USA

In Times Square, everything went like normal, when all of the monitors glitched and the video started to play by itself. The people were shocked and confused. Some even suspected of a cyber attack. But then, they heard a voice in the video and when they looked at the monitors, they saw a being completely in black. It spoke:

"Greetings. My name is "The Shadow". I'm not here to cause any harm to all of you people from around the world. I just want to show you the reason of one of the biggest mysteries up to date: The mysterious disappearances of Johnny Test and his dog, Dukey! Now, you may know it from the news or from the ongoing search parties. But, what you may not know, is that their disappearances were caused by his own family! Don't believe me? Watch this video and you will know the truth. But be warned, because there are some atrocious things in this compilation. With that said....Please watch it."

It then shows so many things happening to Johnny, including being zapped, stung with needles, mutated or like cut with extreme pain by his own sisters, his father giving him ridiculous punishments and even recently, the parents trapping Dukey, knocking him out and giving him to someone from the animal shelter.

Needless to say, everyone and I mean, EVERYONE was outraged. They couldn't believe, that the very family, that spread the news about their son's disappearance had actually caused it. Their anger was everywhere: Africa, Russia, Turkey, China, Mexico and more. Even the smart penguins, residing in Area 51.1 were really angry. And obviously it didn't take long, till the outrage reached to Porkbelly.

"You took Dukey away?!?!?" Susan was very angry at her parents.

"We HAD TO, because Johnny keeps ignoring my rules!!!" Her dad shouted.

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL US ABOUT IT!!!" Mary shouted back.

"Ahem!!"

The family looked back to see the search party being mad at them. It didn't help, that they had their torches and pitchforks ready.

"Obviously, we have a lot of bad ideas to do with you, criminals!" One man showed, while cracking his knuckles.

"Uh-oh..." The mother gulped.

Soon, the family ran off, with the search party turned mob, chasing behind. It spread around the whole town, park, pier, everywhere, until they were about to reach their house for safety. However, The Shadow, who was standing on a roof, had a blaster ready.

"Oh no, you won't!!" He aimed at the family and shot 4 beams at them. They were struck by those beams, before they could even reach the door and couldn't move, because the beams have paralyzed them. But when he saw the mob getting closer and raise their pitchforks, he became annoyed.

"Oh, for fucks' sake!" He then used a device to hack into their phones.

Before they can do anything with them, they heard the voice on their phones.

"HEY!!! Listen up! Let the police handle it, goddamnit!!! We want justice, not an execution! You people should've known the difference! Jesus Christ....Sometimes, you are really hard to listen to morals, do ya? Anyway, let the authorities handle the arrests. YA GOT THAT!?!?"

At the same time, the police have arrived and were ready to make the arrests. So the people backed off and let the police do it.

"Alright, everyone! Stay back! The criminals belong to us." The policemen and -women walked towards them with handcuffs ready.

"I-I can explain.." the father tried to explain, but was soon cuffed by the cops and watched, as his wife and daughters were also placed in cuffs as well.

"Yeah yeah. Explain that to the judge!" The female cop pushed him towards the cars. On their way, they were soon met with angry faces from everyone. But for the sisters, the most devastating happen to come from their own professor!

"I am so disappointed of you. Criminals never deserve wisdom!" The professor scolded.

"But...but..but-" Before they can explain, another female cop cut the sentence off.

"No more buts. You definitely belong to jail and not in a laboratory." She looked at them with a glare.

Finally, the family were put in two different police cars, separating the sisters from their parents and as they were driven off, they witnessed the other cops confiscating the trophies and medals and gave them back to the professor.

In the underground bunker, the trio celebrated their victory.

"We did it! We did it!" The agents did a high five in joy.

"It's finally over..." Gil was in tears, but he was relieved, that the culprits were finally caught are now facing justice. "Johnny, bro...if you can hear this, then you are free... " he whispered.

Suddenly, the phone rang and Mr. Black answered it.

"Since they're finally arrested, you guys can go to the surface again. But here is one more thing: Meet me inside of the base. I'm close to a secret portal with a locator built in. Don't ask. Just meet me there. Ok? See ya." Said the Shadow before ending the call.

"What does it mean?" Gil asked.

"Well, we can finally exit the bunker. But we also have to go to the room, where our secret portal device is." Mr. Black told to the teenager.

"Don't ask. I don't know, how he found out." Mr. White on the other hand, was puzzled.

The agents and Gil went to the door and with their ID Cards, exited the secret bunker and went back to the surface world or rather the base. After some turns, they soon arrived at the portal, where "The Shadow" was waiting.

"Thank you for helping us! Without you, this mystery would never be resolved!" The agents thanked it.

"Hmph. No problem." It responded.

"But...why did you decide to help us?" Gil asked a very important question, to which the Shadow replied:

"I helped you, because I want to make up a big mistake, I did."

The agents were confused at first, but then the Shadow soon added with this information:

"By the way, Johnny and Dukey are still alive. They just went to a different universe."

"Wait, what!? How do you know that?!" Mr. Black asked in shock.

"Because....the portal, he used..."

As the Shadow spoke, he slowly took the helmet off and showed the true face in front of the three. The agents were shocked about the true identity of the Shadow. It was actually an obese boy with brown hair and freckles.

"....belonged to me." He finished.

"Wait, is that Bling-Bling-Boy!?" The agents shouted in unison out of shock and disbelief. They couldn't believe, that he was actually responsible for helping them complete the mission.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to go after-" Before Mr. White completed the sentence, BBB cut him off.

"Do NOT mention her name ever again!" He glared.

This came as a shock to everyone. For years, BBB, known as Eugene, has been chasing for Susan for a long time and wanting her by any means necessary. But now, he doesn't want to do anything about her anymore.

"I beg your pardon, what?" The agents were dumbfounded.

"That's right! I'm officially done with Susan Test!" He snapped.

While the agents were frozen, Gil asked him a question:

"Uhm, what do you mean by, he used your portal?"

BBB took a deep breath and explained his reason:

"You see, shortly after I came back from my vacation with my mom, the news have about Johnathan's disappearance have reached everyone, myself included. I immediately went to my lab and watched security footage of the days before he was gone. This is when I came across at a point in the footage, where the portal was activated. And even though I couldn't see him, I could clearly see his shadow, alongside with the shadow of his dog. Knowing, that something was wrong, I immediately went to research about what's going on. I remotely hacked into his computer and watched the video, which sent chills down my spine. At this point, I want to solve this mystery, but at the same time, I couldn't do that as Bling-Bling-Boy, so I had to come up with a hidden identity. This is when 'The Shadow' was born. I was roaming around the town, looking for answers, when I stumbled across you, the neighbor, yelled at her and her family. Then the agents came and I came to a decision to help you guys, after witnessing that moment. And by the by, witnessing that murder attempt had disgusted me to the point, that my love for her was completely shattered. And it didn't help with the compilation. Instead, it helped me on my emancipation."

"Whoa...." Gil was surprised.

"I know, right?" The agents agreed in unison.

BBB soon went to the portal and turned it on. He also activated the locator.

Welcome to the locator. I can find anyone, anywhere.

He then pulled out a blond hair sample, placed it on the scanner and activated it. It scanned the hair and tried to match the sample to the being. Then, it would locate his current whereabouts. After a few minutes, the results came in:

Subject name: Johnny Test
Current location: Equestria

"Equestria?" The teenager was confused.

"Never heard of this place...You?" Mr. Black asked his partner.

"Uh-uh. Not a single clue." Mr. White answered.

"So now we know, where he currently is, we have to go there indefinitely. We will not come back." BBB was serious.

"What!? Why!?" Mr. White was surprised.

"Think about it. The reason, why he vanished is because, the system has failed him. I mean, how many times did anyone try to lift up his spirits, other than his dog?" BBB asked.

"Well, uhm..." the agents thought of an answer.

"Is it no one?" Gil guessed.

"Correct. Nobody gave a single shit about his problems and only care about what they expect from him and being part of their society. I mean, sure we do care about him, but the thing is, we are a minority. And nobody gives a shit about that either! So, I hope, the system in Equestria is better than this one!" The rich kid looked away.

"Wait, what about our stuff?" Mr. Black asked.

"We'll manage. Besides, the people there can provide that." BBB shrugged.

And so, the four were about to enter the portal, when...

"Hold up! I want to come with you!"

They looked back, only to see a green-haired girl, wearing pink clothes, walking towards them.

"Jillian? What are you doing?" Mr. White was confused.

"I'm done with my dad! He just couldn't learn from anything and never accepted my decisions! Not to mention, that he brainwashed my mom. It was enough reason to get out of this shitty place! That and I want to apologise to Johnny." She snapped.

"You're not the only one, young lady."

Another voice can be heard and it came from a old man.

"Aren't you the principal of Johnny's school?" Mr. Black asked.

"Not anymore. I quit my job shortly after the whole controversy started. Not to mention, that I felt partially responsible for his disappearance. So I want to make things right."

"Us too!"

It came from an old man, looking like a farmer, a teen with blue skin and ice as hair and an anthropomorphic mole king with his army.

"You too???" The agents were dumbfounded. They did not expect a reformed man and two of Johnny's enemies come forward.

"You see, Johnny has changed our lives. He helped us during hard times. Heck, thanks to him, I changed my ways." The old man, formerly known as "The Bee Keeper" , responded.

"Huh...I never thought, Johnathan's disappearance would cause an even bigger impact, than I thought." BBB was impressed.

"Okay. You guys can come with us. But if any of you two plot something evil, then we will not show any mercy!" Mr. White agreed, but warned at the mole and the ice boy, known as Zizrar and the Brain Freezer respectively.

"We won't. That's why, we came here unarmed. Plus, the whole abuse had changed us. Believe me." Brain Freezer answered.

"Oh my god...Can we just go?" Gil was really impatient.

"Oh, yeah. Right. Remember, we will not come back to this world anymore, because the world has failed us." Mr. Black reminded the group.

"Any objections?" Mr. White asked.

With no response, the group closed their eyes and went into the portal. This was the point of no return for them. Before Mr. Black got in, he starts the countdown of closing the portal.

Closing the Portal in 10...9...8...7...6...

During the countdown, the general ran towards the portal.

"Hold on! I'm coming!" He yelled and jumped into the portal. Shortly after, the penguins from Area 51.1 also jumped to the portal.

...5...4...3...2...1...

Suddenly, at the last second, a blur, running at sonic speed, jumped into the portal.

...0
Portal shutting down...

With that, the portal was shut down....

In Equestria...

Gil opened his eyes and saw many ponies having a good time.

"Whoa..." he was surprised by the location. However, when he looked at the others, he screamed.

"Gil, what's going on?" Mr. Black asked.

"Look at yourselves!!" He was shaken.

When they opened their eyes and looked at each other, the impossible happened: They've been turned into ponies!! Understandably, they panicked at the sight: Gil was turned into a aqua-colored earth pony, Jillian into a pink unicorn, the Brain Freezer into an icy-blue unicorn, the principal and the Bee Keeper into earth ponies, BBB into a obese, white unicorn and the agents into...unicorns? They looked too different from the other ponies, since they have hands on the front and beaks, like birds. Also, they have wings.

"What happened to us?!?! We're ponies!!!" BBB was panicked.

"Uhm, hello?" Zizrar was confused. Surprisingly, when they looked at him, it turned out, that Zizrar and his people were unaffected and therefore, still in their original forms.

"Wait, Zizrar and his people are still looking like themselves. What's going on?" The Brain Freezer was really confused.

"We have no idea..." The agents sighed.

Suddenly, another pony came out of the portal, alongside with penguins. He was a green earth pony, wearing sunglasses and a hat. What's interesting is, he has no mane and tail.

"Are those... Penguins?" Jillian was dumbfounded.

"Sir? What are you doing here?" Mr. Black asked to the general.

"I decided to go there to make amends." The General answered.

"Uhm..." the agents were puzzled.

"We have to find him! That's an order!" He barked.

"Yes, sir!" The agents nodded and went off with the general.

"We should better follow them." Gil looked at the group.

"Yep." They agreed and they followed the three.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was flying around the clouds and soared, while Johnny followed her. He got a little bit better at flying, but he still had issues like balance.

"Keep trying, buddy!" Said the prismatic mare.

"I'm trying, okay?!" The black pegasus responded.

He tried to adjust his balance, while flying and also improve his stamina and coordination. Of course, flying with Alicorn wings was something different. With Rainbow gaining speed, he did the same thing. It surely gave him an adrenaline rush, but he still had to work out with the kinks.

While this was going, Twilight and Spike observe them, while taking notes.

"Just in case, he would have another panic attack, we will intervene." Twilight noted.

While Johnny was flying, he suddenly saw illusions of the demons.

"Heh heh heh...."

"No! Leave me alone!" He yelled and increased his speed so hard, that he flew past Rainbow Dash in a blur.

"Oh no!" Rainbow Dash began to chase him. And so did Twilight and Spike.

Rainbow increased her flying speed, in order to reach Johnny. However, he was too fast.

"Johnny, wait!!" She shouted and flew even faster.

After a while, thanks to her experience, she managed to catch up to him and grabbed him.

"It's okay, I'm here!" The prismatic mare assured. "Just try to slow down!"

"I can't!!!" He was scared.

Rainbow Dash tried her best to slow him down by flying towards him on the opposite path. Both clashed, with neither of them stopping.

"You need to stop!!!" The prismatic mare yelled.

But he couldn't. So Rainbow kept flying faster, in order for him to stop. However, with the clashing speed caused a sudden electric explosion, that caused both ponies crashing to the ground.

"Guys, are you okay!?!" Twilight checked on them, after she arrived.

"Whoa. Never thought, he can fly that fast...." Spike was amazed, yet puzzled.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The prismatic mare stood up and they check on Johnny. Thankfully, he was fine.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Well, you had another panic attack." She explained.

Soon, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Starlight and Dukey came back, after hearing the boom.

"What's going on?! I heard a boom!" Dukey asked.

"It's something to do with them clashing at each other at full speed." Twilight assumed.

"Weird..." Applejack responded.

"You can say that again." Dukey agreed.

"Ooh! A boom! It surely reminds me of fireworks!" Pinkie smiled.

"Except it was unexpected and more....well...not good." Fluttershy told to the pink mare.

"You're nearly scared us!!" Rarity snapped.

"Calm down, Rarity." Starlight told to the white unicorn mare.

As the mares, Spike and Dukey went to the black pony for comfort and checking any injuries, they suddenly heard a voice:

"Thank goodness, we found you!'

They look at the direction, where it took place and it came from a group of ponies and non-ponies. Johnny and Dukey immediately recognized the group as the General, the agents, Gil, BBB and a few others.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked with an annoyed tone.

"Look, before you make assumptions, couple of things! One: We are not here to take you back. That's out of the question. And two: We're sorry for not helping you sooner..." Mr. Black looked at them.

"Why did you take so long?" The dog/pony hybrid was not happy and demanded an answer.

"Because we lived in fear, dog!" BBB answered.

"Do you know them?" Twilight asked to the guys, in which they nodded.

"Listen, Johnny. We had no idea, that you were suffering in pain, until after you left. It wasn't after watching the video, which was originally on your computer, that we realized the truth behind this pain. So we worked with Gil and Eugene, to find evidence and get your family, who were responsible for the torture, arrested. And it worked. Now, they are facing justice and you can finally be in peace." Mr. Black spoke to Johnny.

"Please, bro...We care for you...Hell, I was so worried, that I had nightmares of you killing yourself in many ways and those monsters disrespecting your death... and me witnessing them... It was that horrible...So I had to take action, alongside with them....I mean, we had to....just to give you peace..." Gil was in tears, while confessing.

"Please, Johnny....We all care for you." The principal softly responded and everyone looked at him with sad eyes, even Zizrar, Brain Freezer and the penguins.

Eventually, after a while of silence....

"Okay. I believe in you. I mean, you guys truly cared for me in those hard times." Johnny smiled and when he saw Gil being close to crying, he hugged the earth pony. The stallion began to cry shortly after and everyone witnessed it.

The mares were touched by that scene, especially Rarity, who had tears in her eyes. Eventually, she broke down crying.

"Come here, Rarity.." Applejack hugged the unicorn mare.

After what it felt like hours, the crying soon became silent.

"So...uhm... I heard, you guys like this place." BBB spoke to the duo.

"No doubt about it. It's fantastic!" Dukey smiled.

"You know, the village is quite peaceful." The principal commented.

"Indeed." Twilight agreed.

"Well, I think, it's time." Johnny looked at the sky.

"For what?" The agents were confused.

"To throw away our past and start anew! We can all live happily in Equestria, without any problems!" He smiled.

"That makes sense. I mean, we all need a new start." BBB agreed.

"Yeah. I seriously need one, after dealing with my dad's bullshit..." Jillian strongly agreed.

Soon, the others agreed, however a few of then were a bit sceptical.

"Although, where should we continue doing our duties?" The General asked.

"We'll manage." Twilight answered with a smile.

Everyone laughed with each other. Twilight assured, that with the help of her and her friends, they will get new lives as new beings. Meanwhile, Johnny and Dukey couldn't help, but smile. Their new lives as ponies have changed them for the better. In order to be completely free is to shed anything related to the past...

Meanwhile, in a forest...

Something had crashed down from a portal...But we can't see, who it was, since dust has covered the whole area. Who crashed down from the portal? Only time will tell....

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Hey, guys!

I'm sorry about the long ass delay of this chapter. 2020 was extremely ass and I need time to recover from that hell of despair. Unfortunately, more despair would soon come because of Lockdown: The Sequel.

Let's hope 2021 would not be another year of great despair again...

Also, I decided to keep the names of Mr. Black, Mr. White and Brain Freezer, since they also dual as pony names. The General and the Principal....they don't have names and as for Gil, Jillian, BBB and possibly The Bee Keeper, do need new pony names.

So I let you guys decide. The best ones will be decided in the next chapter and would get a free shoutout!

Good luck!

In the next chapter, there is something with Johnny, that makes him feel left out and the Mane 8 and the princesses have to find out, what is missing from him and how to fix it.

In the meantime, after arriving on Equestria, Gil, the men in black and several others were about to adjust their new lifes there, with some help of course. Little did they know, that someone also arrived in Equestria and with it, strange things would happen.

Find out next time on Chapter 9: The Missing Piece!

Chapter 9: The Missing Piece

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While Twilight and her friends had a evening picnic, enjoying each other's company, Johnny and Dukey were looking at the night sky and its stars. The soft glow of the moon and the sparkling stars gave them a serene aura. And Johnny knew it too well, since the night always comforted him, when he needed it the most back then in his former world. The night was the most peaceful of the whole day of his life, when everything else went hellish.

But this time, he had nothing to worry about. He found new caring friends, a new home and a community. However, there are some obstacles, he and his best friend had yet to conquer, like getting over from the remaining demons and letting go from the past.

The others were having conversations with each other, when Gil went to the duo for a small talk.

"Hey, Johnny...Can I talk to you for a moment?" The aqua stallion asked.

"Yeah. What is it?" Johnny was curious to see, what Gil wants to talk about.

"You know, this place feels much better than...I can't say it's name." He looked down.

"Yeah. I know, what you're saying. At first, it was awkward settling down in a world of ponies and other creatures and even living as a pony myself, I kinda got used to it after a few days...sort of. My flying is still wonky though." Johnny scratched his head.

When Gil looked at Dukey, he was....puzzled. Not only can he talk, but also is a half pony. A weird mix between a dog and an earth pony. He is basically a hybrid.

"Uhm, your dog looks...quite odd." Gil replied.

"I heard that! Plus, I still have no idea, how this happened.." Dukey sighed.

They had no idea either, how it happened, but to save frustrations, the trio chalked it up with magic, even though Dukey was mutated.

"The thing is....Why did you decided to help me?" Johnny asked. He wanted to know, why Gil went through all the trouble to get the monsters arrested.

After a sigh, the earth pony explained: "It's quite simple. You're my bro. On the day, I found out about your disappearance, it felt like my world came crashing down. I wanted to know, why. At first, I asked them, that if they know why. But they just shrugged and said that they have no idea. They also said, that he probably ran away, because he didn't do the chores. However, my gut was twisting, indicating that something wasn't right. Back then, I had no idea so I kept asking, but they always refused to answer. I kept trying and trying, but to no avail. At that point, I felt like, they were hiding something and started to lose my patience. So, I decided to find the answer by myself, by sneaking into your room and find some clues. This is, where I stumbled across that video and after watching it in my room, my anger reached to the max. I was so disgusted. And this is why I decided to get involved on the crusade."

"It's true. We also decided to help him complete the mission." Mr. Black, Mr. White and Eugene came to him with a confirmation.

"In fact, I even sent the compilation of evidence, that they made, to everyone around the world. In order to make them see the truth." BBB nodded.

Johnny was surprised. He had no idea, that there were people, who cared for him back then and actually were concerned, when he and Dukey left their world behind. It was quite a rarity, since the whole abuse made him forget about everything else.

"I don't know what to say, other than....thank you." He was touched by their dedication.

"Hey. As long, as you're ok, we are glad. I mean, hell, these guys had nightmares about you killing yourself!" BBB pointed at Gil and the agents.

"It's true. Somehow, that video emitted a negative aura around us and when we slept, nightmares occured. And god, it was really bloody awful. Literally." Mr. Black explained and the two shudder from that experience.

"But now that the whole mess is over and that we found you safe and sound, albeit as a pony, there is nothing to worry about." Mr. White smiled and the gang watched the night sky, when everyone saw shooting stars.

"Oooh! Shooting stars! Make a wish, everypony!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

Everyone closed their eyes and thought of a wish each for a moment, as the shooting stars can still be seen. After a while, they opened their eyes.

"So, what did you girls wish?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Parties! You?" Pinkie grinned brightly.

"Cool adventures. Duh." The prismatic mare shrugged.

"Mine is for great fortune in fashion and a great future." Rarity replied.

"Well, I wished for a peaceful future." Fluttershy warmly smiled.

"Mine is to help everyone about friendship everywhere, spreading the knowledge and harmony around Equestria and beyond." Twilight smiled.

"Well, what about yours?" Starlight asked Johnny about his wish.

"Simple. My wish is to be completely free of the past and start anew." He smiled.

"Same thing." Dukey nodded.

"We all do!" The group agreed. The guys looked at them with confused expressions.

"By the way, why did you guys decided to go there?" Johnny asked.

"Well for me, I wanted to escape and do my own destiny, not to be controlled by him!" Jillian growled a bit, remembering the reason.

"Don't you mean the-" However the men got cut off by the pink unicorn.

"Do NOT mention his fucking name! I'm so done with him!!" She yelled loudly, which caused everyone to look at her in shock, even if Twilight an her friends had no idea, whom she was referring to.

"Are you serious?" Dukey asked.

"Yes, I am!!!" She continued to yell, causing Fluttershy, Dukey and even the agents to immediately hide in fear.

"Geez, calm down. Tell us, what happened." Johnny calmly told to the pink unicorn mare.

"Sorry...it's just... what he did was just...unvorgivable..." Jillian apologized, while remembering the moment.

Porkbelly, hours ago

It was a warm day in Porkbelly, when sounds can be heard inside of a green house. Meanwhile, Jillian was listening to music with her headphones in her room. She was really bored, as since Johnny's disappearence, she had nobody to talk to.

"Back then, when you vanished, I had nobody to talk to. It came crashing down and at that point, I'm stuck. So, I refused to talk to anyone personally and spend time to the internet, in order to distract myself from my dad. Not to mention, he outright refused to me to find friends."

"Man, this is getting really boring!" She groaned. "I miss Johnny..."

She sighed and buried her head on her pillow. Suddenly, her phone started to glitch and a video begins to play.

"What the? What is going on?" She was confused and annoyed at the glitching.

"It was at this time, when I watched the video..."

The video included a massive compilation of Johnny getting abused by his own family. From inventions, tests, punishments, etc. Needless to say, the green-haired was shocked at the immense abuse.

"What in the..." She was in utter disbelief about the truth. "This can't be!"

She ran downstairs.

"Where are you going?" the voice of her dad can be heard. A man in a dark green suit blocked the door, but Jillian jumped out the window.

"I should've locked the window earlier." He facepalmed.

She ran and ran as fast as she could. Her heart was racing, as she continued running through. Eventually, Jillian managed to reach to her goal, only to see Johnny's family being arrested by police.

"When I saw them being taken in by the police, my fears were confirmed."

"Oh my god..." Jillian was speechless. She took a few steps back, when she heard a voice, calling her. Immediately, the green-haired girl groaned, when she recognized the voice and sure enough, her father, known as the Dark Vegan had followed her.

"What do you think, you're doing!?" He yelled.

"Have you not watched the video, dad? It's the reason, why Johnny is gone!" Jillian barked.

"Eh, who cares!? With Johnny Test gone, I can finally furfill my goal of destroying planets witout any hinderance!" The Dark Vegan laughed.

Witnessing her father's lack of empathy of his disappearence and the whole treatment, made her fill with anger.

"At this point, I had enough of his bullshit..."

"You know what, I'm done! You're fucking heartless!" She yelled loudly. It didn't sit well for the Dark Vegan.

"Hey, watch your language, lady!" He yelled back.

"I don't care! I had enough of your selfish and heartless ways! You didn't care for Johnny, for me, my mom or anyone else and instead care for your stupid plans, that would inevitably fail anyway!!" Jillian snapped with tears in her eyes.

"How dare you!?!" He was outraged. But she turned her back against him, as a sign of standing by her decision.

"I'm done! No more hiding, no more being passive! I have enough of your bullshit!" She was about to walk away, when the Dark Vegan pulled out his sword and was about to do something, when he was watched by the crowd, who were still there after witnessing the Test family's arrest.

"Hey, what do you think, you're doing?" A citizen asked.

"Out of my way, this is just a personal matter between me and my daughter!" He yelled at the crowd, but they didn't believe him.

"Yeah. Trying to disipline your daughter with a fucking lightsaber... You know, that you're not playing with us, when we saw the truth of what happened in this house!" The crowd soon got more angered.

"While he was distracted by the crowd, I ran as fast as I could. Hell, I used all of my stamina and speed in order to run really far away from him. And knowing, that he would look after me after he dealt with the people, my only solution is to go underground. So, I ran to that "Area 51.1" place and looked around for a bunker to hide."

The green haired girl ran to the military base and immediately hid from the soilders. Knowing, that there are bunkers, she had to come up with a plan. Eventually, that plan came with a soilder, holding an ID card to a bunker. So she waited, until the soilder came at a close proximity to where she is hiding. Sure enough, when he walked to the crates, Jillian knocked him out with a plank and stealthly hid him and took his ID Card away from him. The next step was to find out, where the bunker is and how she can access it. However, she had to do it all, without being detected.

"Thankfully, there was a cloaking device lying around. So I used it on myself, in order to sneek past the moronic guards."

She used the cloaking device and snuck past the guards and looked around for a door or an elevator to a bunker. She found one, but it was already taken, so she had to keep looking. Eventually after so many attempts to locate one and frustations and anger building up, Jillian managed to find an elevator, leading to a second bunker. And nobody is inside. So she placed the ID card on a scanner and soon, it granted access to the elevator. She then walked in with no hesitation. After a turbulent ride, it stopped at the lowest point and opened the door to the bunker.

"After finding a bunker, I hid there from him. I was actually scared for my life..."

Jillian walked around and sat on her bed for a while, when suddenly, she stumbled across a computer, that was connected to a drone outside. She turned it on and activated the software, allowing her to see from the point of the drone's view.

After finding a computer, that was connected to a drone, I used it, in order to see, what he's doing. God, I wish, I couldn't see that damn moment..."

The drone looked around the whole city, yet there was no sign of the Dark Vegan. Jillian thought, that he might went home from a failed effort to find her, so she controlled the drone to fly at her house. While positioning the drone to a position, where nobody can see it, she saw him having an argument with her mom.

"I can't believe, that you would try to do that to our daughter!" She was outraged.

"Hey! I was trying to teach her a lession! And besides, with Johnny Test gone for good, I can finally destroy planets without any problems and improve Veganda for the better!" He proudly responded. But his wife was unamused.

"You really didn't change much after your defeat, huh? All I wanted is to live in peace, without any mentions of destroying him or Earth or any planet! But you always and I mean ALWAYS keep having those thoughts in your head! Why not just forget all of this and start over for once!?" She yelled.

At this point, the Dark Vegan had enough. The failures and the fact, that his wife and daughter didn't support his plans were ultimately enough to make him snap.

"ENOUGH!!!!!!" He pulled out a ray gun and shot his wife with it. It didn't kill her, but instead putting her in a hypnotised stare. As she got up, her eyes were glowing green and she showed no emotions.

"What do you want me to do?" Even her voice was different. It sounded more monotone and emotionless.

Meanwhile, Jillian was horrified by the Dark Vegan actually hypnotizing her mother, the one who is also against his redundant plans. She shut off the programme, before she could see more of it.

"After witnessing that moment, I felt like my world has been shattered to pieces.... I had lost my mom to his madness and with that, coupled with you disappearing, I truly felt alone...with nobody to talk to...This was the point, where my anger and sadness got unleashed..."

She started to scream and destroy any object in her way. Her large amount of anger and sadness had blinded her senses, while she was wreaking havoc in the bunker. Glass breaking and wood smashing can be heard and feathers falling can be seen. After destroying the bunker, Jillian fell down on her knees and started crying.

"I've had enough!!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF HIS BULLSHIT!!!!" She screamed with tears in her indigo eyes. After what it felt like 2 hours of her sobbing and screaming, the green-haired girl finally stood up with her fists clenched.

"That's it....He crossed the line..for years, I've been living in a cage, without any light... but now...I want to get out! I'LL LEAVE THIS SHITTY WORLD!! I'M SO DONE!!!" She yelled in the air and went to the door, while taking the ID Card.

The green-haired girl scanned the ID card on the scanner, which gave her the access to open the door and allowing her to enter the elevator. After a few minutes, the elevator reached top level. During which, she used the cloaking device again to hide from the guards and from the Dark Vegan.

"I tried to find a way to leave this world. I was looking around to find something, when I overheard a conversation of leaving this world..."

After she overheard a conversation, Jillian slowly sneaked towards the source, only to see Gil, BBB and the men in black activating the portal.

"At that point, it felt like, my prayers were answered. So I went to them, in order to leave it all behind."

She deactivated the cloaking device and ran towards them.

"Hold up! I want to come with you!"

Equestria, present

"Oh my God..." Johnny was horrified.

"So, what you're saying is...you had no freedom and despite your protest, didn't care about your opinion??" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah... It still hurts, even after I left..." the pink unicorn mare looked down. Tears were forming in her eyes again, as even retelling that tale still hurts.

"Oh dear...I'm so sorry about what you've been through." The former principal looked at her.

"That must've suck." Zizrar shook his head. However, when everyone looked at him, he answered: "What? The video made us open our eyes. Plus, even we have morals."

While Jillian sighed in tears, the slightly elderly earth pony prepared to tell his story.

"As for my side of the story, I'm gonna explain it now." He said.

Porkbelly Junior High, a few days ago

Inside the principal's office, the former principle, known as Jules Harm, was doing his usual work. However, he looked sad, as he grabbed a poster about a missing person and looked at it. But not any missing person. The person, who disappeared a few days ago, was none other than one of his students and the one, he helped him with his kindness: Johnny Test.

"Ever since your disappearance, I felt like, something has been taken away from me..."

Meanwhile, in one of the classrooms, Mr. Teacherman was teaching his students with the usual subjects. As usual, students looked uninterested and bored. It went on, until the bell rang.

"Okay, class! School is over, but remember! If anybody has an idea, where Mr. Test is or have any clues, then we will talk about it tomorrow, because we will be a part of a search party! Understood?" Mr. Teacherman asked to his students, but they all left, without giving him an answer.

Back in the principal's office, Mr. Harm was still doing his work, like talking to the teachers, until he finished his day and went home. However, he kept asking himself as of why did Johnny vanish so suddenly? The last time, he met Johnny before his disappearance, he was his usual self and in good spirits.

"I kept asking myself, how it happened..."

Even, when he was laying on the bed, the questions were still in his head.

"In fact, the questions kept me awake, since the circumstances of the situation was pretty strange. I wanted to know the reason, as of why...but I was left in the dark. At the same time, I felt tired. I needed some sleep. So I thought of thinking about it tomorrow."

"Maybe tomorrow, I can think of that question.." he sighed and fell asleep.

The next day...

The principal was starting his work in the school by typing down some documents.

"The next day, I went on with the usual schedule. Hours have passed and there was nothing out of the ordinary, until..."

Suddenly, his computer started to glitch.

"What in blazes..?" He was confused.

Then, a video started to play. After the introduction by an unknown being, known as "The Shadow", a montage of the worst moments inside Johnny's home life can be shown. Experiments on his body, abuse, neglect and so on. All of the bad things, that would scar anyone. The principal was shocked and outraged. He couldn't believe, that Johnny was suffering behind close doors.

"I can't believe it! This is horrible!" He slammed his fist on the table.

But before he could ask himself, another video showed up on the screen. It was the Shadow again, this time, he had something different to say. He said:

"Greetings, again. My name is the Shadow. I know, that you are outraged about the reason. However, I'm afraid that the abuse is not exclusive to his home life. No no. His school life was also in shambles, just because of the same thing: Abuse and neglect, except add bullying to the list of atrocities. If you don't believe me, there is another compilation. Please watch it at your own risk."

Another compilation started to play, only this time, it contained recordings from cameras. It showed Johnny being bullied by a group of bullies, lead by a tough, mean boy, named Bumper. The bullying was not exclusively verbal, as Johnny was shoved into lockers and even being kicked, punched and hurt by them. Sometimes, other students can be seen witnessing the whole ordeal. What's worse is, they didn't do anything. They just watched and laughed. Even the teachers ignored the bullying problems. As if that wasn't horrendous enough, Johnny was doing bad at classes and nobody helped him. Instead, they would only make it worse. This, coupled with the bullying incidents, were enough ammunition to break a person. And it seems like, the abuse at home and at school is what pushed Johnny over the edge and vanished shortly after.

Needless to say, the principal was shocked, outraged and broken.

"I can't believe it....All of these horrendous things...is what made him disappear..." He teared up at the story. He now felt sorry for Johnny now and wished, he could've cursed at everyone responsible, but he couldn't. It wouldn't be wise to do so.

"I knew, that once everyone watched the second video featuring the abuse at school, the reputation of Porkbelly Junior High would suffer greatly. There would be massive outrage and hatred towards anyone and I was pretty sure, that many of them would blame me, even though I had no part in the abuse. Even then, I felt partially responsible, because if I knew the reasons sooner, I could've taken action immediately and sent Johnny to a psychiatrist. So, to save myself from the rage of the world and wanting to find your whereabouts, I quit my job shortly after. There was no coming back from this one."

He packed his stuff and left the school with no looking back and without telling anyone. They wouldn't deserve his answer, after what they did to Johnny. Mr. Harm was walking around town with a somber look. He was also scared, that Johnny might have committed suicide because of it. His thoughts were interrupted, when he found a note.

"What's this?" He asked, picked up the note and read it.

"Dear Mr. Harm,

I know, that you are outraged at the situation and even worried about Johnathan's whereabouts. But, I have some news to share. Meet me inside of Area 51.1. Specifically, in the room with the secret portal. Please go there.

Signed,
The Shadow"

"Area 51.1? The secret military base?" He questioned.

"I knew, what Area 51.1 is, thanks to some limited information. But there was a problem: I can't get into the base unannounced. Not to mention, I've never been there personally. I was left in the dark again, when I encountered a group of people and moles running."

He saw the Bee Keeper, Brain Freezer, Zizrar and his mole people running.

"Hey, excuse me!" He yelled, getting their attention. They stopped and looked at him.

"What are you doing? We are going to Area 51.1! We wanted to know, where Johnny Test is!" Brain Freezer replied.

"So do I. The Shadow wanted to meet me in the room, where a portal is." Mr. Harm replied.

"The portal, huh? Maybe he went to a portal somewhere...but where?" Zizrar thought to himself.

"Trust me, I've seen the videos about the reasons behind Johnny Test's disappearance and they were horrific. I was shocked about the extent of the abuse. I feel guilty for not knowing these reasons before and not taking action." The former principal looked down. But the elderly man, formerly known as the Bee Keeper, placed his hand on his shoulder.

"We all are." He replied. "And this is why we're going to the military base now. To find a way to search for Johnny and apologize."

"Since you are worried, like us and wanted to fix the mistakes.....you're in." Brain Freezer nodded.

"Thank you.." The former principal smiled.

Thus, the group continued their journey and eventually, after getting through the guards, they got inside Area 51.1. They were looking around a room with a portal and it wasn't until Zizrar found it, alongside the agents, Gil, Eugene and Jillian, who just arrived. The group gathered in front of the entrance.

"When we arrived at the destination, I was surprised by the amount of people near the portal."

"Isn't that the daughter of the Dark Vegan? What is she doing here?" Zizrar asked.

"I have no idea." The Bee Keeper answered. "But what we do know, is that he is currently in a world, called Equestria."

Once Mr. Harm overheard Jillian's reason of leaving this world, his heart was once again crushed. He hardly knew her, yet her story about her potential abuse from her father made him feel sorry for her as well. As for Jillian wanting to find Johnny and apologise, the former principal can relate. He wanted the same thing.

"I know, what she meant.." He mumbled, went inside, where the group are and said: "You are not the only one, young lady."

Equestria, present

"This means, you guys went there, in order to fix the mistake?" Twilight asked.

"Yes." He nodded.

"Not to mention, we wanted to start over with a clean slate." Zizrar added.

"When I heard about the news of his disappearance and later watching the compilations, I immediately wanted to fix my mistakes and thus went with them." The Beekeeper explained his reason.

"Same here. Even though we fought against Johnny seveal times, we also assisted him. Plus we were really shocked by the reasons behind your disappearance. We may know things about evil, but that was really horrendous, even for us." Zizrar added.

"Wait a minute, you didn't tell us, that there was a second video!" The agents were mad at Eugene for not telling about the second video featuring the school security footage, however, the obese unicorn was unphased and calmly explained: "Turns out, that the abuse is not exclusive to his home life, when I hacked into the school security cameras. I mean, the bullying and torment from bullies, other students and even teachers, coupled with the abuse at home, are enough to break a person apart, you know?"

"Fair enough." The agents got the point and calmed down.

Meanwhile, Johnny and Dukey were sceptical of Zizrar's claim of starting over with a clean slate. After all, he tried to destroy them several times in the past and they feel like, he would soon betray at any last second. The same thing can be said to the Brain Freezer as they glared at the blue unicorn.

"I know, that you guys wouldn't believe me. However, we can show you, that we come in peace this time." Zizrar promised, with the mole men spreading their arms out, showing that they have no weapons. But the guys were still sceptical, so they searched the entire mole group for any contraband. Eventually, they couldn't find anything.

"See? No weapons!" Zizrar responded.

"We did gave them a warning before we went there." Mr. White assured the stallions, that everything has been checked.

"What about you? Why did you decide to come here? I'm pretty sure, this is one of your tricks, icehead!" Johnny glared at the Brain Freezer, while Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh at the name "Icehead". But her reaction resulted of the prismatic mare being glared by everyone and getting an elbow hit from Applejack.

"Sorry." She apologized.

"Anyway...One, I don't have any plans on freezing you or everyone else-" But his sentence was interrupted by an elbow hit from the agents. He got annoyed.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to tell my story!!!!! Ahem...sorry. Anyway, I do not come here to cause havoc, which is NOT MY INTENT! And second, the reason is kinda similar to Zizrar, but more complicated."

Porkbelly, few days ago...

We see the Brain Freezer, flying around the whole city and freezing some people. But something about him was off. The blue-skinned cyromancer looked like, he had lost something important to him.

"After your disappearence, everything felt colorless...and it feels like, a part of me has been torn apart."

After some stuff happened, he sighed and went to a park, where the boy can sit on a lonely bench. Nobody was around him, since everyone ran away from him almost immediately. But that didn't matter for him. As he heard the birds chirping and the breeze blowing the trees ever so gently, he looked around, only to see a happy couple under a tree, kissing. Tears started to form in his icy blue eyes, before slowly freezing to ice. He also witnessed a group of kids having fun, playing as villains and heroes. The cyromancer reminded him of Johnny Test. Even though, he was an enemy and wanted to freeze him solid for all eternity, there were times, that they had fun racing and hell, even teamed up on a few occations.

Of course, there were times, that we had fun, despite being enemies... However, seeing those people being happy and having two things, that were impossible for me to get, things got really emotional. Those two things, I missed were friends and a soulmate. Mentioning the latter word alone caused me to remember a cruical moment for me."

A flashback within a flashback showed Johnny and Dukey actually helping him find a girlfriend, in order to reform him. It ranged to being honest, online dating, etc. And while all of those efforts failed miserably and went back to his evil self. eventually with the power of a device, that allows someone to get a makeover, he got a new look and even got some female admirers, while giving them some iced coffee. After the flashback, he remembered, that one of the girls actually asked him out for a date, in which he said yes. Their relationship was perfect, almost like a fairytale. That was until the makeover vanished, due to it being temporary, along the girl see, who he really was. From that day, his heart was broken and frozen. So much so, that he went back to his evil ways once again. He planned to freeze Johnny Test and the city for good, so he can destroy everything, however the plan was permantely derailed, thanks to Johnny's disappearence.

At that point, he felt like, his purpose was lost.

"I felt like a wothless being... all of the pain, all of the misery lead to my breakdown..."

Soon, the Brain Freezer couldn't hold his emotions any longer and broke down in tears. He cried for hours and during which, nobody came to him for comfort. He felt alone, broken and devastated...until he heard a familiar voice.

"It sure sucks to be alone and worthless..."

The blue boy looked at the other side, only to see Zizrar sitting next to him, while holding a daisy.

"What are you doing?" He sniffed.

"Well, just walking around, while feeling empty..." Zizrar sighed.

"Let me guess, the disappearence affected you too?" Brain Freezer asked.

"Sadly, yes...Despite our shortcomings, he did help us time after time and even had some fun. I mean, Earth has some wonderful things, like books, drinks, parties, everything! However recently, I felt really lonely... Like something is missing from me. Not even my mole men could entertain me, when I always have a hollow feeling. If Johnny was still around, I would obviously hide it, in order to not hurt my pride and kept trying to destroy him...but alas, that day turned everything upside down..." Zizrar explained, while looking at the daisy. He started to pick off each petal of the daisy, in a style of "Loves me...loves me not".Eventually he picked off the last petal....and he got the bad result. Brain Freezer was touched by his sincerity and honesty.

"You know, we are not so different after all." He looked at the mole king. The king soon connected the pieces and knew, what he's talking about.

"You're right! I mean, even if we are seen as sore losers and have our differences, the strong connection and the yearning feeling of being loved pushed everything else away!" Zizrar agreed.

"Do you know, what it means?" The cryomancer asked.

"Yes!" The mole king hugged Beain Freezer tightly. Even with the suit, the bear hug made him gasp for air. Immediately, he pulled away with a nervous smile and a chuckle.

"It was at this point, that I made a friend.... a best friend..."

They decided to spend the remaining day with some fun. Like performing pranks at unsuspected people, playing games, racing around and even showed each other's technology. However even if they had a fun time, they still felt empty and incomplete.

During the night, Zizrar, his mole people and Brain Freezer were looking at the night sky, when they saw a shooting star passing by. Immediately, they made some wishes. Some of them contain having some gifts, but for the duo, all they wanted was to be loved.

"You know, it sucks that Johnny Test just left without any reason. Like what is going on??" Zizrar asked.

"I have no idea, pal. Last time, I saw him, he was his usual self." Brain Freezer remembered the last time, he saw Johnny before he vanished. It was a sunny day and when they met again, the same things would occur: A fight ensues, but Johnny wins in the end.

"Same here to me...However, I have a feeling, that something isn't right, but I don't know, how to describe it..." Zizrar shrugged with a sigh.

"Hmm..We should take a look at it tomorrow. But right now, we need to rest. That day was surely a rollercoaster." Brain Freezer looked at the mole people.

"You're right. Maybe we can find some clues. Okay, everyone. We have to go back underground. Tomorrow will be a new day!" Zizrar told to his people.

"Good night, pal!" The cyromancer brofisted the king before departing ways.

"We hoped, that we could at least find some clues about your whereabouts. But we had no idea, that it would come by itself sooner..."

The next day...

The Brain Freezer, Zizrar and the Mole people were looking around, while wearing sunglasses and without detection. It went on for a few hours, but without success.

"Ugh. Still no sign of him....but there is a familiar face, I just saw..." the blue-skinned cryomancer suddenly found an elderly man, who was looking around. He recognized him, due to the bees around him.

"You know him?" Zizrar was confused.

"It's a long story." Brain Freezer replied.

The group went to the elderly man, known as Dr. Beebles. However, the Brain Freezer knew him as the Beekeeper back in the day.

"It's been a while, since last time." He looked at him and the bees.

"What are you doing in the town, boys?" The elderly man asked.

"Well, finding any clues about where Johnny Test is! Right now, we are at a dead end." Zizrar answered.

"What a coincidence. I'm also trying to find him as well." He told the group.

"And you have your bees to assist the search, right?" Brain Freezer asked.

"Exactly. However, they couldn't find any signs of him." The Beekeeper sighed.

"Same. My mole people couldn't find him either, despite how hard they tried." Zizrar sighed with him.

"I have an idea, how about we can team up and keep finding any sign of Johnny?" Brain Freezer suggested to the former villain, but he was sceptical.

"Are you sure, that this is not part of an evil plan of yours?" He asked to the group.

"No....They all died because of his disappearance." Zizrar responded.

The elderly man was surprised about the change. "Oh my. I didn't see that coming..." he said. "But if what you're saying is true, then I will help you." He agreed.

"Thanks." The blue-skinned boy smiled.

"Alright, everyone! Let's go!" With the words from the mole king, the group went for a search around the world, hoping that they could find any sign of Johnny and most importantly, if he was alive. They looked around Canada, Australia, Africa, China, Mexico, hell even Antarctica, etc. They used the mole people and the bees to look at other places, that they missed. But alas, they couldn't find anything. When they got together in Porkbelly again, near a TV store, they were exhausted.

"This is getting really hard..." Zizrar was out of breath.

"You said it, pal." Brain Freezer wiped his sweat off from his forehead. That sentence caught Dr. Beebles by surprise.

"Wait a second. Since when did you two become friends?" He asked.

"Well, Johnny Test's disappearance did have a profound effect on us. It brought us together." Brain Freezer answered, while scratching his head.

"Yep. All because we found out, that-" Before Zizrar could even finish his sentence, the TVs started to glitch.

"And then, the big moment came..."

"What in blazes is going on?" The elderly man looked at the screens.

"I have no idea." Zizrar shrugged.

Then they saw a being in the shadows, speaking to them in a disembodied voice. He said, that there is a reason behind Johnny's disappearance and they should watch at their own risk. After that introduction, the compilation of Johnny being abused, hurt and neglected by his own family. At first, the group were dumbfounded. They didn't know about his parents, since they barely knew them at all.

"What...just happened?" Brain Freezer was speechless.

"Was that Johnny...being abused?" The Beekeeper asked.

"Seems like it." Zizrar looked closer.

Before they can question though, another video showed up, this time containing Johnny's school life in tatters. Bullying and abuse were the main attractions of the footage.

"Those videos made us open our eyes..."

They were shocked by the revelation. As if his disappearance wasn't bad enough, the reasons made their hearts shatter into pieces. Zizrar slowly began to cry, while Brain Freezer felt sick in his stomach.

"I can't believe it...his family were the cause of his pain....I thought, that they were concerned about him..." the elderly bee keeper was moved to tears.

"You know, what they say....They know how to make themselves look normal. Evil...has a way of looking really nice and shiny on the outside." Zizrar quoted.

"Where did you get that quote from?" The cryomancer asked.

"From a horror movie, I watched." Zizrar answered after a shudder, since the experience scared him.

"Please! There is no time for casual conversations! We were so busy with all of the evil stuff, we never noticed Johnny being in distress on the inside. And we didn't reach out for him....which in that way, makes us partially responsible for his disappearance... Which is why we have to make things right now!" The former villain gave them a speech.

"You're right! We have to find him and make up for the mistakes!" Zizrar wiped his tears away.

"What are we waiting for? Let's do this!" Brain Freezer started his jetpack up.

The group now looked around for areas, they've missed. It was at this point, when they encountered Mr. Harm.

"During which, we met the former principal and...well, the rest is history."

Equestria, present

"And this is when all of this happened and ended up going to Equestria. I must say, what you do is very noble of you." Twilight smiled. The group nodded in acknowledgement, since their actions felt like right choices.

"Yes. We really appreciate your determination to give Johnny some peace at least." Rarity smiled too.

"Eh.....there are still some obstacles, that they have yet to conquer. I mean, you can't get rid of trauma that easily." BBB reminded them.

"We know." The Mane 6 scratched their heads.

"But right now, I seriously need some sleep....Today's been a rough day for me..." Jillian yawned.

"It was a rough day for everyone. Trust me, the penguins and I were stressed by the revelation." The General spoke to her.

"Well since it's been a....very interesting day for all of us, it's best for us to catch some zs. Tomorrow will be a new day for all of us." Twilight spoke to the whole group.

"The thing is, all of us have to get used to this new pony life." said Mr. White.

"We'll help ya with the change." Applejack responded.

"Only one problem. Where should we sleep?" Brain Freezer asked.

"Well, you can all sleep in my castle until we can find some homes for you ponies and....hippogriff hybrids, penguins and mole people..." Twilight was very confused and dumbfounded about the lineup of the others.

"And ponies thought, I have the weirdest look." Dukey responded with a straight face. The mares giggled at the response.

"Okay, guys. It's time to rest. Tomorrow will be a new start!" Johnny enthusiastically smiled and looked at the horizon. The crowd cheered, as the stars on the night sky sparkled, before walking back to Ponyville.

The next day...

Inside of Twilight's castle, the purple alicorn was mixing some potions and doing some research, by writing down on her notes, writing some formulas on the chalkboard and doing some trial and error by testing it on some animals. It was around this time, where Starlight was walking around the castle, when she stumbled across the princess doing an experiment. The lavender mare slowly and quietly approached Twilight, who was adding some finishing touches on something.

"Hey, Twilight!"

The purple mare jumped a bit from that unexpected voice, causing the table to shake. Thankfully, she used her magic to stabilise the equipment.

"What?!?" Twilight yelled at the lavender unicorn. Starlight felt a bit uneasy, but proceeded to ask her a question.

"I was wondering, what you're doing with the potions and what you're experimenting." She nervously smiled.

"Oh.." Twilight calmed down a bit, but not before explaining her plan. "I was experimenting the concept of hybrids. You see, since Dukey's arrival, I was caught off guard, but at the same time intrigued about the concept. So I decided to do some tests and attempt to make a potion. However, I've been having problems perfecting the formula, because I have no idea on how Dukey became like this."

"I have no idea either. Maybe we should ask him. ..but at the same time, I doubt, he would answer, since it could be related to the past..." Starlight doubted.

"I don't know..." Twilight sighed.

"Twilight! A letter from Princess Celestia has arrived!"

Spike came with a letter in his hand and gave it to the princess of friendship. She read the content and understood it.

"It must be about the preparations of the upcoming Friendship Festival. Spike, tell my friends about the news, so we can prepare for it." She told to the little dragon.

"Got it!" He runs off.

"In the meanwhile...I have to put the hybrid experiment on hold, until I found out the formula." Twilight put her stuff away and went with Starlight outside.

Outside of Ponyville, Johnny flew around the skies with his large wings. His skills got better, but still wonky, as he nearly lost his balance several times. During which, he thought about his future in Equestria.

"I'm not sure, what the future holds, considering....ugh..." He thought about his fight against his demons. Even though he was gaining strength thanks to his new friends, the demons are still proving him a massive nuisance. However, he has to keep fighting, in order to get them out of his head.

As he landed at the centre of Ponyville, the black pegasus walked around for a while. During which, he saw many happy pony families having a good time, causing him to have a somber look. But his expression changed, once he saw Rainbow Dash coming to him.

"Hey, Johnny!" She smiled.

"Sup. How's it going?" He asked.

"Well, we are preparing for the upcoming Friendship Festival and we could need some help, you know?" The prismatic mare asked to him, but Johnny has never heard of it before.

"What's the Friendship Festival?" He was confused.

"Well, in this festival, ponies will have a great time, celebrating friendship and the awesomeness!" Rainbow Dash smirked.

"That sounds awesome!" Johnny smiled.

"But right now, we are preparing for it and need some help. The others are helping us right now." She told to the black stallion.

Johnny was kinda conflicted. Back then, he was known to be very lazy, when it comes to projects. Probably as a result of bad communication or not giving him a clear structure. Or not getting help, since everyone was mean to him. Now, that he moved to Equestria and found some new friends, it could be his chance. But at the same time, he would struggle.

"So...what should I do?" He asked to the prismatic mare. In which Rainbow responded: "Come follow me! The festival will be at Canterlot."

"What?" Johnny had never heard of Canterlot at all, since he's mostly been in Ponyville.

"I'll show you!" She flew away, with Johnny following her.

They went to a train station and went into a train, on the way to Canterlot, while having the tickets. During the ride, Johhny saw more families in a good mood and was basically frozen, until Rainbow called his name.

"Uh...Johnny? You alright?" She asked.

It brought him back to reality and said: "Yeah. I'm fine. It's just, I'm wondering, how long the fight would last. You know, against my demons."

"Hopefully, not for long because my friends and I got your back!" She smirked in confidence. Her confidence and determination made him smile.

After some time has passed, they reached their destination and exited the train and went to the Canterlot Castle, where the festival will take place.

On the castle grounds, everyone is busy. Pinkie Pie prepared for cakes and sweets, Fluttershy teaching the animals about their performance, Rarity was focused on decorating, Applejack was preparing some apple treats and drinks and Starlight and Trixie planning the entertainment, with some help of Tempest Shadow. Hell, the others landed their hand on the preparations. The Beekeeper was putting up a stand for honey treats, with the help of an earth pony, Brain Freezer using his magic to create ice sculptures with the help of Zizrar, his mole people and the penguins, Mr. Harm was helping a pony named Cheerilee on the planning, the agents and the general tried to do some formations with a lot of trial and error and Gil, Jillian and BBB helping some ponies out. They also saw Dukey preparing the stage, alongside with some griffons and hippogriffs.

"Hey, pal!" The black pegasus waved at the hybrid, getting his friend's attention, who ran to him expectantly, like men's or in this case, pony's best friend.

"Hey, Johnny! You arrived!" He smiled.

"So, I heard, you guys need help on the preparation for the festival." Johnny noted.

"That would be really helpful." The hybrid responded.

"So, what should I do?" The black pegasus asked to the prismatic mare.

"Well, how about clearing the clouds ? I can show you, how it's done." Rainbow Dash flew up.

They watched, as the blue pegasus mare flew fast and kicked a cloud. The black stallion was amazed.

"See? Now, it's your turn!" Rainbow Dash smiled.

He took flight and kicked a cloud. This is where things get different, as this was the first time, he kicked a cloud.

"Whoa! That's awesome!" He was starry eyed and got another cloud. This is when the cloud felt solid to him. Johnny was curious about what would happen, if he stood on one. His best friend became sceptical, once he saw a grin.

"Johnny, don't you dare doing something ridiculous!" The hybrid warned.

But it was too late, the pegasus stallion landed on the cloud. But something felt....different. He stood on a cloud!

"Whoa! Didn't see that coming..." Johnny was surprised.

"But...h-h-how??" Dukey was dumbfounded, but Rainbow Dash answered his question with: "Well, it's pegasus magic, which allows us to fly and stand on clouds."

He didn't know, if he could take Rainbow's answer. Then again, since the land of Equestria is full of magic and magic is full of possibilities, yet many unknowns, he chalked it up as such and shrugged, as he continued helping the others. Meanwhile, Johnny cleared the skies from the clouds, with some help of Rainbow Dash and a few pegasi. It was around this time, when Twilight and Spike came to check up on the preparation.

"How is the progress?" The purple unicorn asked to every pony, in which they said "Yes" to her question.

"Good. Now let's hope, it will be better than last time." Twilight looked at them.

"What happened last time?" BBB asked but during which, Tempest Shadow looked down.

"Oh, you see, last time there was an invasion, courtesy of the Storm King and the army. And Tempest Shadow was one of his henchmen. But eventually, with the power of friendship, we saved Equestria and reformed Tempest." Twilight explained.

"It's true." Tempest Shadow nodded.

While this was going on, Johnny was flying around, when he saw some families. Once again, it made him pause with a somber look. When he landed down, the pegasus lowered his head. There is something about those families, that made him feel somber. It seems like, he was left out or something. But before he could think anymore, Twilight tapped him.

"Johnny, are you okay?" She asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." He looked up. But Applejack was not convinced.

"Ya sure about that? You don't look like that." The southern earth pony mare responded.

"What are you talking about? I'm fine, okay?" He said nonchalantly, but Applejack was still not convinced. It didn't help, that sweat started to form on his forehead.

"Johnny, you're lying." Twilight shook her head.

"Yeah. Last time I checked, you were looking pretty down." Rainbow Dash crossed her arms.

"He was?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, duh. He was basically frozen and silent." The prismatic mare answered.

It was around this time, the three princesses arrived to check the preperations, but instead watched the whole ordeal, as Johnny soon felt the pressure.

"Hey, look! There is nothing wrong with me!" He nervously smiled.

But the princess of friendship shook her head in disbelief. She had researched about depression and pony psychology before "Operation: Healing Light", therefore knowing the ins and outs.

"No. You are clearly lying. Even if we helped you smile, there is still one obstacle left, that you didn't tell us." She told to the pegasus.

At this point, his patience was slowly running out. As if it wasn't enough, numerous ponies overheard the ordeal and gathered around. Some of them are families. As Johnny looked around the crowd and seeing the families, that somber feeling returned. This time, he couldn't hide it anymore, as everyone is watching.

"Just leave me alone!" The black pegasus shouted.

"We can't. Otherwise, our efforts will be in vain." Princess Luna replied.

"Shut up!" He snarled.

"Hey, listen! We are literally trying to help you! Don't you dare to throw it all away!" Rainbow shouted.

"Johnny, I've noticed that when you see families, you always have a somber look on your face." Twilight noted.

"What makes you say that!?" He sweats hard.

"I mean, your reaction is already proof enough." Rarity responded.

"I think, I know why. You feel left out." Cadence got the answer.

"What? No! Of course not! In fact, I don't need a family! I can just live on my own just fine!" The black pegasus shouted.

But the princess of love knew better. She sensed that empty feeling in his heart.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah! I'll be fine anyway." He responded.

"But, even with that, you would still feel-"

"SHUT UP!!!" The stallion interrupted Twilight with a yell, that startled everyone. As silence filled the area, he was panting really hard, as the fury was racing in his body.

"I'm starting to feel, that you're getting on my nerves..." With those words, he flew away, leaving the crowd stunned in disbelief. Fluttershy was in tears, as she felt hurt by his words. Pinkie Pie hugged the yellow pegasus, as the crowd got disgusted by his behaviour and left. Meanwhile, Twilight was surprised, that Cadence somehow got the answer. As does BBB and the agents.

"Cadence...How do you know?..." the purple unicorn looked at the pink princess.

"Love can be interpreted in many ways: Romantic love and familiarity love. As in love in the family. I sensed that empty, hollow feeling in his heart, when he looked at happy families. And that is how I came up with that conclusion." Cadence answered.

"And when his family abused him...." said the obese unicorn and Twilight, who just caught up with the infos, concluded with: "...his sight on family has been completely shattered!"

"Exactly! Which is why we have to prove him wrong!" The Princess of Love had an idea.

"Do you have an idea, your highness?" Mr. White asked.

"Yes. We have to find a nice, humble and caring family for him. They would help him coping with the pain, while at the same time, giving Johnny a new chance!" She smiled.

"That sounds like a good idea! What do you think, girls?" Twilight asked her friends about their opinions to Cadence's proposed plan. They all agreed.

"That's not a bad idea, sugarcube." Applejack agreed.

"It is a helpful one." Fluttershy nodded.

"Excellent!" Pinkie jumped in excitement.

"That my dear, would be very useful." Rarity smiled.

"Yeah! Awesome idea!" Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Yeah. It would definitely give him more love." Starlight and Spike agreed in unison.

"It would make more sense, since Johnny is still a kid. I mean, even if he claims, he can live all by himself, it would make him feel even more lonely." Mr. Black noted.

"And as far as I know by learning about psychology, that would make the pain worse than it already is, since without a family, he would be forever tormented by the demons." BBB explained.

"Exactly." Twilight agreed. "Okay, everypony, we have a plan!"

"But we have to make sure, that the family does not harm him in any way." Rarity reminded.

"We know, Rarity." Starlight scratched her head.

The Mane 7, Spike and Cadence ran off to find a new family willing to adopt him, not knowing that they've been watched.

The first stop is at Canterlot. The group were looking around and asking some ponies, but the reception was not positive. Given their typical Canterlot behaviour, they left a bad impression for the group.

"I don't think, a Canterlot family would suit him. I mean, they act like jerks." Rainbow sighed.

"Maybe we have better luck in Ponyville." Fluttershy assumed.

In Ponyville, they asked the ponies if they want to adopt him. The reception was better than in Canterlot, but many of them were unwilling to adopt him because either they have too many kids, have seen his behaviour back in Canterlot or just weren't interested.

"Hmm. How about the Crystal Empire?" Pinkie suggested.

"Maybe..." Cadence thought to herself.

As they arrived the Crystal Empire, they did the same thing, asking the ponies. The same reception from Ponyville can be applied here. However, the Crystal Ponies have never heard of his outrage. Some ponies actually considered it, but only left with vague responses, that sounded more negative.

Arriving back in Canterlot, they went to Princess Celestia and Luna to report their progress.

"Did you find one?" Luna asked.

"No...We couldn't find a suitable one." Cadence looked down.

"Maybe we have better luck in Cloudsdale or Manehattan or Vanhoover or other places, we overlooked...or...uhm.." Twilight was about to panic.

"Here we go..." Spike knew, that this was about to happen, when the purple alicorn was stuck. The little dragon gave her a bag to breathe in and out.

"Uhm...excuse me?" A voice can be heard. As they looked back, they saw a sky blue unicorn mare with purple and pink mane and a golden heart necklace, looking at them with her yellow eyes.

"Who are you?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I came here unannounced. My name is Sweet Serenity and I've heard, that you want to help a pony in need." She introduced herself, while being curious.

"Yeah. His name is Radiant Thunder and it seems like that thanks to the abuse, he doesn't want a family." Rainbow sighed.

"It's probably because he is scared of being part of a family again." Cadence looked down.

"Oh no...this is horrible...." said Sweet Serenity.

"Indeed. The abuse had changed him for the worst and even if we made him smile, there are still some obstacles on the way." Celestia looked worried.

"I think, I've heard this story before, while I was moving to Ponyville alongside with my family. And it hit me hard, because this story reminded me of my sister..." The blue unicorn mare sighed in sadness.

"Your sister?" Fluttershy asked.

"What happened to her?" Rarity asked as well. And it didn't take long for Sweet Serenity to gather her courage to explain:

"When I was a filly, we were living in a small cottage far away with my mother and sister. My father died from an illness, when I was 5. It was devastating for all of us, but it was especially heartbreaking for my older sister, Ruby Spark. Despite the grief, we moved on, because that's what he would've wanted from us. To be strong... Everything was fine, until my mother had married a stallion. He was not a nice pony and started to abuse all of us both physically and mentally. It didn't help, that he mainly targeted Ruby Spark. On school, many young ponies bullied her, due to her shy and reclusive persona. It kept going and going, until I had enough. Seeing my family being in an absolute worst state, made me fill with anger and used my magic against him. Immediately after, I ran as fast as I could. I didn't even stop, in fear of being caught. Eventually, I arrived at some officers and explained this whole situation. Needless to say, they immediately arrested him and after my mother had divorced him, we had to move to a different city out of fear. Even then, nightmares of the past kept returning and eventually, Ruby Spark had enough. When I was a teenager and doing my work, I heard my mother screaming and ran towards her, only to find my sister....dead in her room. She had hanged herself. At that point, everything came crashing down and I was really heartbroken. Since then, I avoided talking to other ponies, except for one...High Velocity. We met each other during our school times and it was love at first sight. However, we lost touch to each other after the move and it wasn't after he moved as well, that we reconnected our relationship. One day, I told him my story about the abuse and Ruby's eventual suicide. I was in tears, since the pain was still fresh. However, he hugged me and assured, that this will never happen to me or anyone again and that he will be there for me. I was touched by his nobility and kindness, that I began to cry in his arms. Later, our relationship soon blossomed into an undying and eternal love and we soon got married, when we grew up. And when I heard about his story, it immediately reminded me of Ruby Spark. I want to make sure, it will not happen to him or anyone ever again. Not to my husband, my son, my family and friends and anyone. And seeing his outburst had strengthened my determination, alongside with that of my High Velocity. This is why I made my decision to help."

"Oh my goodness..." Fluttershy was shocked.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your sister, Sweet Serenity." Celestia looked at her with a somber look. "I know that feeling of not helping someone you love on time..." She looked at Luna, while feeling emotional.

It was around this time, that a neon colored pegasus stallion with blue wings and purple mane with blue streaks, as well as a beard, landed to a spot close to the group.

"I also wanted to help too, since I witnessed it as well." He said, while hugging Sweet Serenity.

"So you are High Velocity. Right?" Rarity asked.

"Yes." High Velocity confirmed this. "And we made a decision. To take him under our care."

"So does that mean..." Applejack asked, but the couple confirmed it with smiles and nods.

"Yes! We found them!" Pinkie jumped in excitement.

"But how can we explain that to Johnny? He would probably be upset again.." Spike was worried.

"Don't worry. We will prove him wrong with the power of family." High Velocity assured the group, that everything is okay.

"Indeed. We will give him the most love and care, he deserved." Sweet Serenity nodded.

Meanwhile in Ponyville...

Dukey was rushing into their house, in order find Johnny, since earlier, he flew away after he was enraged.

"Johnny? Are you here?" He asked.

Eventually, he found the black pegasus in their room. But the atmosphere was dark, as he looked back with a mad look.

"What?...." he growled.

"Uhh, don't you think, you got a little too far with your emotions?" Dukey asked. But Johnny snarled more and said: "The fuck does that mean!? I don't need a family, end of story!"

Then they heard the doorbell ringing. As Dukey answered the door, he saw High Velocity and Sweet Serenity smiling.

"Uhm. How can I help you?" He asked.

"We just want to see him." The blue unicorn responded.

"You mean....I don't think, he is in the mood for visitors." Dukey sighed. But that didn't deterred the couple from going in, leaving the hybrid confused. As they entered the bedroom, they saw Johnny facing his back to them in silence.

"What the hell do you want...?" He growled.

The blue unicorn slowly approached the young stallion, while she felt the tension. But that didn't deter the mare.

"Go...away..." He responded with a threatning voice.

"Look..I know, that you are in pain... and you also feel lonely at the same time. But hiding in the dark alone is not a good idea." She softly spoke.

"Who cares? I don't need a family...They suck!" He looked away.

"No, they don't. They're important to our lives. Nurturing someone with love and care and guiding them to a bright path." High Velocity responded.

"Except for me... I've been living in the darkness for god knows, how long! They were nothing but demons from hell! Because of this, I gave up a long time ago..." The black stallion looked down.

"But that doesn't mean, you have to throw it all away. Even if you think, you can take care of yourself, you would still feel alone. Without a family, you will be lost in the dark with nobody to guide you." High Velocity went closer to the black pegasus. But Johnny didn't say anything other than a growl.

"Please... we just want to help you..." Sweet Serenity looked worried. At this point, Johnny snapped and stomped on the ground so hard, that the items on the shelves started to shake.

"Help me?! You can't!!! I had enough of family and I don't like to be part of one ever again! SO WHY NOT JUST FORGET ALL OF THIS AND-" Suddenly, the black pegasus was pulled in to a hug by the blue unicorn.

"It's okay, my dear. It's okay." She softly spoke.

The soothing and soft voice of the unicorn mare was enough to silence him in shock. Back then nobody came to him when he had problems. Not even his former family back in Earth.

"We know your pain and I want to make sure, we'll give you the most love and care as possible, while helping you with coping." She softly spoke.

"W-what?...." his voice became quieter.

"We promise, that we will be there for you. To make sure, that you'll be happy." The neon pegasus stallion joined into the hug as well.

This was the point, where Johnny realized that the couple actually mean well in taking good care of him. Those acts of kindness and love made him very emotional and eventually, when he couldn't hold his emotions any longer, the black pegasus soon broke down in tears, all while the couple kept hugging him.

"It's okay, sweetie. Let it all out." Sweet Serenity warmly smiled.

They kept being strong, despite his sounds of crying being so heartbreaking. After all, they have to, for his sake and for a better future. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the ponies, the Mane 8, Spike and Cadence, alongside with Shining Armor were watching it through the windows. Dukey was also watching it unfold, when he went to check up on his best friend. That sight made his heart feel heavy, while at the same time, it gave him hope, that Johnny would be taken good care by those humble ponies. Eventually, the hybrid soon joined the group hug as well.

After a few hours, the black pegasus soon calmed down.

"I'm sorry....it's just....I'm so scared to be part of a family again, thanks to the pain..." he wiped his tears.

"You don't need to worry about it, while we are around. As long as we are here, we'll guide you to a bright future of love and humility." The mare warmly smiled

"Wait. What do you mean by that? Unless..." Dukey was slowly coming to a assumption, but High Velocity soon confirmed their goal.

"We will adopt you two into our family." The neon stallion smiled.

"What? Are you serious?" Both Johnny and Dukey were surprised.

"Yes. We made up our mind, when we heard the story. Even though it was their idea." The blue unicorn mare pointed at the window, only to see the Princess of Love looking back at them and waving.

"It was also partially my idea as well, since I want to keep you safe, while at the same time helping you." She continued.

After a while of silent shock, smiles were forming on the faces of the best friends. That confirmation gave them more hope for a new, happy life.

"Hey, what did I just miss?" A navy colored pegasus colt with red and orange mane was entering the house with curiousity and confusion.

"Perfect timing, Cosmic Blaze! Say hello to your new brother!" High Velocity introduced his son to the duo.

"Wait, a big brother.....that...is...AWESOME!!!!" Cosmic Blaze immediately flew to Johnny with starry eyes.

"Hey, slow down, bro. I have yet to settle in this new life. But in the meantime, we will have some cool adventures." He hugged the navy colt.

This was something. Being the older sibling, despite being adopted, gave him something, that he was never able to do, back then: control. That means, he can finally have the control of fun, when it comes to his new young brother.

"And maybe I can dual as a pet. But maybe as a brother? I don't know.." Dukey didn't know about his role.

"We'll manage." The couple smiled and gathered a group hug with everyone as a growing family.

The group outside were smiling, now that they accomplished the mission.

"We did it!" Pinkie Pie jumped.

"Indeed, Sugarcube. Indeed." Applejack smiled.

"Now that he has a new family, I bet the nightmares would be soon be over!" Rainbow Dash was ecstatic.

The ponies celebrated, but somehow, Cadence didn't share their opinion, as the princess of love still felt a turbulence in their hearts.

Pony Johnny was flying away in a dark void from the demons, who were chasing him with sharp teeth, claws and piercing red eyes. He was flying faster and faster, all while demonic laughter can be heard.

"You can run, but you will not hide! Haha!!"

Eventually, they vanish.

"Phew....man..." He was wiping his sweat off, when a peculiar sight peaked his interest.

The black pegasus went closer and closer to the source, until it's revealed to be his human form, who is turning his back against his pony counterpart, all while he was crying.

"Wait...is that....me?" Johnny was confused and confronted his human form. "Hey, man! You okay?"

"I'll never be..." his human form responded, while turning back. Johnny was frightened by this following sight: His human form had bloodshot eyes, sacks under his eyes, a blue eye on his left one, several cuts, bruises and other injuries on his body, his clothes being ripped and some of the injuries left his bones exposed.

"Oh my god....No! This can't be happening! I thought, I've gone over them..." the pony said in disbelief

"No..You only managed to reach it halfway..... there is still more....." his human form twitches, all while the atmosphere became creepy. Suddenly, the voice became almost demonic, as he said to the pony counterpart: "Accept the help from your friends.....be more open or there will be consequences..."

This is when the moment took a trip to the most terrifying. His eyes became completely black, with black ooze coming out of them. Blood was dripping from his body and looking more like a zombie. His pony form backed off.

"Hey! What are you doing!? Don't come any closer!! Stop!!!!" His eyes were in tears, but that didn't help, as he witnessed his human form jumping on him.

Johnny woke up screaming from his bed, as that ordeal was another nightmare. Only this time, it became more serious. Around the same time, Sweet Serenity rushed to him, as she opened the door.

"Oh my God! What happened?!" She looked worried.

"Those nightmares! They keep haunting me!!!" Johnny was shaking in fear.

"Oh dear. Come here. It will be all fine." The blue unicorn hugged him and tried to calm him down. But Johnny still had that scared look.

Meanwhile in a forest...

Night time had arrived in the forest and we can hear the sounds of crickets, wolves and owls. However, in one of the bushes, a tail popped up. It was light purple-pink. Before anything happened, it came back into the Bush....as if someone is there....

To be continued....

Chapter 10: Living the new Pony Life

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In the middle of the night, we see Johnny in his bed. But something was off. He was pacing really fast in a frightened state, all because of nightmares...

Meanwhile in his nightmare, the demons circle around the black pegasus, while demonic laughter can be heard. He tried to cover his ears, but the laughter can still be heard, as it occured inside of his head.

Soon, his human counterpart emerged from the shadows, looking absolutely torn up with cuts, bruises and blood coming out of his mouth. Johnny was very scared of the sight. But that was nothing compared to the following scenes.

"Hahahahaha! You little devil! It's time to get the punishment!!" One of the demons grabbed Johnny's human version by the throat, while his pony form felt something tightening around his neck, even though he couldn't see something actually grabbing it.

"S-stop!" He tried to plead, but as always, it fell on deaf ears. Both versions tried to fight back, but the cold aura alongside with the piercing, cold, red eyes of the demons, slowly drained their energies, like they damage their soul. Soon, the demons pulled their sharp claws out. He knew, that they would do something bad to him and as to be expected, they stabbed Human Johnny in the back. During which, his pony counterpart feels a sharp pain in his back.

As the demons kept torturing him with stabs, slashes and burns from their breath, the black pegasus would feel the injuries as well. As he screamed in agonising pain, he once again pleaded to leave him alone and that he can defend himself. But the demons instead laughed and threw Human Johnny hard on the ground. The impact caused him to cough up blood, in which his pony counterpart would follow suit and as the stallion was lying down in agonising pain, he looked in horror, as his human form once again turned into his frightening form and said:

"DO SOMETHING!!"

Eventually, they stabbed him one more time and with a twist, his human form collapsed on the floor and bled out, all while the stallion's pain get worse and worse to the point, where he couldn't move.

The demonic entities got closer and closer to the defenseless pony, who was crying in fear. The last moment he saw, before he woke up, were the demons charging at him.

Meanwhile In Canterlot...

On the castle balcony, Princess Celestia was looking at the skies, while thinking about some plans on how to help them get over from the past. Suddenly, she heard a scream inside of the castle. Immediately recognising the scream, the white alicorn teleported to her sister's bedroom, when she saw Luna with a horrified look on her face.

"Luna, what happened?" She asked, while comforting the dark blue alicorn.

"The nightmares got even worse...." Luna replied.

"This is really bad. I'll immediately have to inform Twilight, her friends and Cadence about the news." Celestia had a worried, yet serious look on her face, as she started to write letters to the princesses of Love and Friendship respectively.

"We have to work even harder now." She mumbled.

"Indeed. We have to make sure, it wouldn't get even worse..." Luna sighed.

The next morning...

As the birds were chirping their melodies and the sun still shining, the black stallion went to the bathroom with bags under his eyes. The nightmares took a toll on him and his sleep schedule.

"Ugh....I need to wash it off.." He went to the sink and opened the water.

As he looked into his own reflection, there was a moment of peace for a while. Enough to take a deep breath and think quietly. Suddenly, voices in his head began to sound louder.

"Ha! You demon!"

Johnny tried his best to fight back and suppress those voices in his head. However, when the stallion looked at the mirror, he saw the evil monsters.

"No! Come on now! I had enough of this!" He yelled. But the demons wouldn't budge, despite how hard he tried. Soon, they emerge out of the mirror and the room started to twist.

"You think, this is over?! Think again..."

The black pegasus soon backed off a bit. During which, the air around him felt cold and heavy and the demons getting closer and closer. Suddenly, he felt like, he bumped to someone. Suspecting, it was a demon, he jumped and screamed, as he looked back. However the sight, that greeted him, made him snap him out of the delusion: It was Dukey, who is currently struggling to stay awake.

"It's you...let me guess, also had a bad night?" He asked, while panting.

"You know it..." The hybrid was even struggling to keep his eyes open, when he went to the sink to wash his face off. As the brown stallion looked at his reflection, he grabbed a brush and began to brush his mane and fur.

"The nightmares were surely an agonising experience..." Dukey rubbed his eyes.

"You said it, pal...They keep stalking us..." the black pegasus sighed and looked down. "Why can't they just leave us alone once and for all?"

"I don't know. Maybe, we should continue fighting." His best friend looked at Johnny, as he scratched his head.

"Yeah....I hope..." Johnny was worried about their progress.

"Breakfast time!" They heard the sound of Sweet Serenity calling anyone for breakfast.

"Let's go." The black pegasus looked forward.

The two left the bathroom on their way to the others. Meanwhile, Twilight just teleported outside and looked around, when she saw the brush, Dukey used, in the bathroom, while looking from the window. Her eyes widened because of it.

"Maybe with his fur, I can get the answers for why he is a hybrid!" Twilight used her magic to slowly taking the fur and the mane strings from the brush and outside of the bathroom. Once she obtained these objects, she teleported to her castle, being eager to solve this mystery.

Back to the family, Sweet Serenity was finishing up the touches, while High Velocity and Cosmic Blaze were sitting at the table. Eventually, Johnny and Dukey did came, but soon collapsed due to a lack of sleep.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay!?" The blue unicorn rushed to the two and used her magic to get them back up. When she notices the bags under their eyes, she gasped.

"Geez, they look terrible..." Cosmic Blaze commented.

"It's because they had very nasty nightmares..." High Velocity sighed.

"But why?" The young colt was confused.

"I'm not sure, if you can handle their story, my boy." The stallion looked at his son.

"Everyone, please! We will help them as best as we can, but right now, they need some energy." Sweet Serenity was worried, while she guided the two to the table.

The two tried to open their eyes for as long as they could, but eventually they fall asleep.

"Oh, dear..." Sweet Serenity sighed.

"Is there any way to wake them up?" Cosmic Blaze asked.

The blue unicorn used her magic to give them at least some energy for them to wake up.

"What...happened?" Johnny was in a slight daze.

"You were really tired, because of the nightmares. I used some of my magic to wake you up." The mare answered.

"Thanks...we really needed a boost." Dukey smiled.

"You're welcome." Sweet Serenity giggled.

Meanwhile, Cosmic Blaze was impatient. After all, it was the weekend and he wanted to fly around and have some fun, like any other filly and colt do. Plus, he needed some energy for that fun.

"Don't worry, my kid." High Velocity assured the little colt and everyone began their breakfast.

Meanwhile, in Twilight's castle...

The purple alicorn was once again researching and experimenting about hybrids. Thanks to the fur and the hair samples, she can finally crack down the mystery. She used her magic and a few gadgets to analyse the samples, which contained Dukey's DNA. After some minutes have passed, the results were in.

"Let's see... according to the results, sometime before he went to Equestria, Dukey has been mutated to include intelligence and the mannerisms of a human... Which means, the mutation has carried over to his new form, when he went to my world. Interesting...." Twilight was very intrigued by the result.

"If I'm able to recreate the formula with magic, then I could get the same result, by testing it to an animal! And maybe...give Dukey a friend, so he wouldn't feel as the only pony/dog hybrid!" With those words, the Princess of Friendship went to work on making some potions.

She tried her best to recreate the formula by mixing some ingredients, testing on a few animals, changing the recipe, etc. Each of these attempts only lasted for a short while or didn't work at all. Or something went wrong, while testing. After a few hours have passed, Twilight was very close on her goal, but she realized, that an important ingredient is missing. It has to be the fur sample. However, since two potions have to be make, one being permanent, she had to think on how to handle the rationing.

"Hmmm..." The purple mare was thinking and thinking hard.

Eventually, she had to use parts of the mutated DNA to complete the potions and added some herbs and other important stuff to also complete the other.

"It's done! The potions are ready!" Twilight smiled at her achievements. She was very proud of her efforts. "Now, I need to test on someone and-"

"Twilight! Twilight! We have some bad news!!!"

A voice made the mare jump and shriek. However, she recognized the voice as belonging to her assistant, Spike, who was holding a letter and looking panicked.

"What!?" Once again, Twilight was agitated.

"It's from Princess Celestia! It's about Johnny and Dukey!" Spike gave the letter to the princess.

"Wait....are you serious?" The princess opened the letter:

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

it seems like, the nightmares got worse and worse. Luna told me, that she saw Johnny and Dukey encountering their original forms, after seemingly escaping the demons. But they returned from the shadows, in order to torment them again...but the way, they did was horrific. The monsters began to torture the original forms in the most painful ways possible and during which, their pony counterparts would feel a massive amount of agonising pain in their bodies. There are times, that they coughed up blood from their mouths! The most haunting is their human and dog forms saying, that they need to accept help from other ponies and open up more, as an advice, before getting brutally killed by the monsters. And that would made their pony forms paralyzed in pain and fear, before the demons prepare to attack them.

We have to maximize our efforts and continue to help them, by finding ways on how to stop the nightmares! It is advised to find an artifact, that would help them surpress their nightmares.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

"No...this can't be! We have to gather our friends again and continue helping them guide to the light! Spike, there is no time to waste!" Twilight was in shock and now has to get back to the main goal. And so, she and her dragon assistant went off to get their friends.

After they left, silence dominated the castle, until some time later, sounds of sniffing can be heard. We see some light purple-pink paws walking and when it peeked, we see the nose of the unknown being.

Back to Twilight, once she gathered her friends to the centre of Ponyvile, she spread the news about their conditions, thanks to Celestia's letter.

"This is bad..." Rainbow Dash was nervous. "Really bad..."

"Ah feel the same thing, pal.." Applejack looked down.

"This is getting worse...We have to work harder than before!" Rarity responded.

"Exactly, Rarity. Princess Celestia mentioned, that we need an artifact, that suppresses bad dreams and I know the one, she's talking about. But I need your help." Twilight explained. "And as for them, someone has to keep an watchful eye on their progress."

"I'll do it." The prismatic mare flew forward. "Ever since I learned the truth behind the situation, I wanted to help them. The story was seriously messed up.."

"It was." Fluttershy agreed.

"But wait! Are you sure, you can do this alone?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash nodded, but Applejack knew better.

"Nah. I'll come with you." She went to the cyan pegasus mare. "After all, we knew them more since the day, we met."

"Okay, girls. I can trust your willingness to watch them. And as for the others, we need to find the items for that artifact and spread the word on everyone again." Twilight explained her plan. "Do you understand?"

"Of course, silly!" Pinkie grinned.

"We wouldn't forget our goal." Fluttershy agreed.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack ran off with Rainbow Dash following shortly after. Soon, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer went off to their own path.

On an open field somewhere in Ponyville, Johnny, Dukey and Cosmic Blaze were walking around for a spot.

"Why are we here again?" Dukey was confused, but the navy colt was brimmed with energy and responded with: "It's usually the spot, I can fly around."

The little pegasus colt soon used his wings to elevate from the ground.

"See? It always fill me.with excitement!" He smiled.

"You are quite a hyperactive one, bro." Johnny rubbed his little adoptive brother's head, even though he looked a bit annoyed. The black pegasus immediately knocked it off.

"Sorry. Didn't know, you don't like that." The pegasus stallion scratched his head.

"Nah. It's fine. You're my big bro, after all." Cosmic Blaze shrugged.

"You know, I also have a hyperactive side of me. Wanna see a demonstration?" He smirked.

"Yes! Yes!" The navy colt nodded.

As soon as the black pegasus spread his wings, his little brother was starry eyed.

"Oh my gosh! Your wings are huge....and that looks awesome!" Cosmic Blaze admired him.

"Well, he is a unique pony, after all." Dukey responded.

Soon, Johnny lifted off from the ground. His flying skills got better, thanks to Rainbow's teachings, however, the only things, he had to master is keeping his coordination.

"Don't worry, I'm still getting used to it." Johnny assured the young colt about his skills.

After a while of maintaining the balance, the black pegasus managed to soar without any problems. Cosmic Blaze could only watch in awe, as his brother soared through the clouds. As this was going on, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were watching from a distance, while hiding in the bushes. Ready to act, if the guys suffer from anxiety attacks.

"We have to be careful, sugarcube. Who knows, when they will suffer another one from those rotten apples?" Applejack looked closer.

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash agreed.

Soon, demonic voices of taunting can be heard, but Johnny and Dukey tried their best to fight them off. The struggle went on for as long, as they could, all while Cosmic Blaze being oblivious of the situation.

"Not this again..." Rainbow groaned, rushed out of the bushes and loudly spoke to the duo, who were struggling to fight off against their demons. "HEY!!! Stop listening to those voices and fight them off! Come on, you guys are better than them!!! You've been in Equestria for a while and we helped you! Now, it's the time to use our advice to stop this chaos!!!"

"Rainbow's right. Yer better listen to her advice!" Applejack added, when she ran to them.

Thanks to their advice, the duo got some fighting spirit and muted the voices. At least for now. The mares sighed in relief, but knew that the voices would eventually return, when the guys are at their weakest. So they have to step up the defenses.

"Y'all need a lot of courage and self-confidence, so y'all don't get broken so easily." Applejack noted.

"We are trying." The stallions sighed.

"Look, we are trying to help you overcome your trauma, but at least build up some guts to heal yourselves." Rainbow looked at the two.

"Hey, what's going on?" Cosmic Blaze was confused.

"It's a complicated story." Applejack responded to the colt.

"Listen, I know we appreciate your help, but right now, neither Dukey nor I have the courage to fix this messy chaos. It's just the whole event took them away from us." Johnny sighed, when suddenly, they heard a voice:

"Did somepony say 'Chaos'?"

Suddenly, everyone started to float, while chaotic things happened, like random transformations, random appearances and so on. The group started to panic.

"Hey, what's happening?" The navy colt couldn't move a bit.

"DISCORD!!!!!" Applejack and Rainbow Dash yelled in unison, as they immediately recognized the whole chaos and as to be expected or rather unexpected, a....unique creature with many features of several animals and a white beard, appeared out of Johnny's mane, while holding a glass of chocolate milk.

"Thaaaat's me!" Discord posed, while spotlights, which came out of nowhere, shone down on him, alongside a neon sign, saying his name and neon arrows.

"Dude, can you get out of my hair?" Johnny was annoyed.

Discord laughed, as he teleported in front the group with a smile.

"W-who is this....uhm...creature?" Dukey was extremely confused. At that point, he was given a card by the chaotic being.

Discord
Draconequus and spirit of Chaos
Spreading chaotic fun like no tomorrow!

"Well, that's Discord. He always wants some-" But the prismatic mare was interrupted by the draconequss,

"You get the drill, chaotic fun! By the by, you two mares really have some interesting friends. Especially the pony/dog one. I wonder, what happened to him." The spirit of chaos pulled out a magnifying glass out of nowhere and looked at the two stallions, especially the earth pony hybrid.

"As if Pinkie Pie wasn't random enough, Discord is like cranking it up to 1000... Why am I always surrounded by weirdos and oddballs?" The hybrid soon felt annoyed.

"Your card said, you are the so called 'Spirit of Chaos'. Really?" Johnny was sceptical.

"I am! Wanna see me demonstrate my chaotic powers for free?" Discord prepared to use his chaotic powers.

"Discord, that's definitely-" It was already too late. Applejack couldn't convince the chaotic draconequus. First, he turned trees into random objects, whenever into nutcrackers, cotton candy, whatever. Then he turned himself to several forms and outfits like no tomorrow. So many of them, that I'll leave this to your imagination.

"How about this one? Chaotix!" Soon, he snapped his paws and turned himself into a chaotic fairy with sparkly clothes and fairy wings and flew around a bit, before turning himself back to normal.

"Those were only the samples of my endless power of possibilities. If you want, I can actually show you some more!" The spirit of chaos smiled.

"Uhm, no thanks. We're good." Johnny sweated a bit.

"Besides. We now know, what you are capable of. Absolutely everything chaotic." Dukey understood.

"Well, you'll get used it. However, he doesn't mean any harm." Applejack noted. "At least nowadays."

"You see, young ponies...My story was pretty chaotic to begin with. Trying to take over Equestria and spread chaos and disharmony everywhere. But then, things happened, which lead to my banishment twice. However I was given a second chance by Princess Celestia. Almost everypony was sceptical and even angry at me. Almost. There was one pony, who was very genuine about my path of redemption." Discord explained about his past.

"Who would it that be?" Cosmic Blaze asked.

The spirit of chaos used his magic to teleport Fluttershy here. Needless to say, she was surprised.

"Discord! What is happening?" The yellow mare asked.

"Nothing. Just explaining my past to these guys." He pointed at Johnny, Dukey and Cosmic Blaze.

"Oh dear. Anyway, how is your day so far?" She asked again.

"Well, they almost had a mental breakdown, if it wasn't for our interference." Rainbow Dash responded.

"In other words, darn demons trying to break them again." Applejack looked down in disgust.

"Uhm, excuse me? What are you talking about?" Discord asked, but no one played attention.

"What are you talking about? They are fine." Cosmic Blaze smiled.

"On the outside..." Rainbow Dash sighed.

"What are you talking about? Are you saying, that something is not right with them." the young colt soon got irritated, not noticing that Discord is trying to get their attention.

"Well, it's complicated to say at least.." Applejack looked at the pegasus colt.

"Are you seriously hiding something, that I don't know-" Before the colt can finish his question...

"IN CASE, YOU'RE NOTICING, I'M STILL HERE!!!" Discord yelled at a megaphone at the group, causing the earth to shake and the manes and Dukey's fur to poof up.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Discord! I didn't know, you wanted something..." Fluttershy immediately apologised. "Well, it's a complicated story, that caused their lives to be in shambles, until we started to help them. I'll tell you more about the story, when we go to my cottage."

"Speaking of which, I noticed that some animals look...distressed. For example, a bird's nest being broken." Discord remembered. That caused Flutterhsy to panic.

"Oh no! I forgot about the animals!! We need to go now!" She breathed in a quick pace.

"On it! Toodaloo!" Discord snapped his fingers and in the next moment, he and Fluttershy were gone, leaving Applejack, Rainbow Dash and the guys with poofy manes.

"Well, that was.....something..." Cosmic Blaze was confused. The others shrugged.

As the prismatic mare looked at the guys, she tried her best, not to laugh at their poofed appearances, much to their annoyance.

"Rainbow, don't." Applejack glared.

"Sorry. It just.." the blue mare apologised, but giggled a bit.

"Anyway... where am I again? Right. About the-" But Johnny interrupted his little brother, knowing that he was asking about the past. Since Johnny just wants to live his new life in peace, he doesn't want anyone to remind him about the dark age of his life again, so the demons wouldn't attack him later.

"How about we go to the park, so we can have some more fun?" The black pegasus responded.

"Yeah! I mean, we all need some distraction from...well that." The hybrid nervously smiled.

They dragged the young pegasus pony and left.

"Weird..." Rainbow Dash noted.

Meanwhile, Applejack felt like, someone is watching. She looked around, only to peek at a Bush, where High Velocity and Sweet Serenity were hiding. They soon came out, after the southern earth pony found the couple.

"What are y'all doing in the bushes?" She asked.

"We were worried about our son finding about the heartbreaking truth of why we adopted them." The neon stallion sighed.

"Why didn't you tell him about this sooner?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We can't! Cosmic Blaze is still a young colt! Besides, we are scared, that it would scar and break his heart. And I don't want that, ever since my sister lost herself into the despair and took her own life...." Sweet Serenity soon began to sob. Their confession touched the mares. The blue unicorn had lost her sister from depression, so it's understandable, that she wanted to prevent any more heartache, after she found about Johnny's abuse story, that also ruined Dukey's life too, due to him being a victim as well.

"Hey. Ah understand your concern. It's hard to tell the fillies and colts about stories, that are not supposed to be told to them." Applejack sympathised. She went to the couple and comforted them.

"I'm so sorry....but I don't have the courage and I'm not sure, if Cosmic Blaze can handle the gravity of the tale..." Sweet Serenity wiped her tears, as she looked at the mares.

"Hey. Why not y'all take a walk and collect some fresh air? Pretty good to recollect thoughts and relieve all stress." The southern mare smiled warmly.

"I hope..." The blue unicorn mumbled.

The four ponies began to take a walk. Meanwhile, the couple were still thinking, if they should tell their son the truth or hide it, so he couldn't be broken. It's a tough choice for them, that's for sure.

Ponyville

A trio of young fillies, lead by Apple Bloom, were trotting around the centre, looking for new adventures and helping ponies find their destiny. Accompanying Apple Bloom, there was a white unicorn filly with curly, purple and pink mane and green eyes and a orange pegasus with purple mane and small wings. Those were her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Together, they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Geez, I'm bored.." Scootaloo sighed.

"Don't worry, Scootaloo. I'm pretty sure, it wouldn't last long." Sweetie Belle giggled.

"Alright, Crusaders! There are some ponies, who are still searching for their destinies and their cutie marks and our mission is to help them find their talent!" Apple Bloom told to her friends with confidence and determination.

"Yeah!" Her friends smiled in unison, remembering their mission.

"Let's go, Crusaders!" All three fillies, now filled with excitement and determination, ran off. To help young ponies with blank flanks find their calling.

During which, they helped some fillies and colts and overall having a great time. While running around, they passed a dark alley. That was until Scootaloo stopped and went back to the alley for some reason.

"What's wrong, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I don't know. There might be something." The pegasus filly looked closer.

"We shouldn't go to dark alleys! Maybe there is a scary monster hiding there..." Sweetie Belle was scared.

"Come on, Sweetie Belle. I'm pretty sure, there is nothing. Besides, we saw worse stuff before." Scootaloo smirked.

"I-I guess..." the unicorn fully calmed down a bit, but still felt worried.

Suddenly, they saw something moving in the rubble.

"There might be some pony! Come on, girls!" The pegasus filly rushed into the alley, with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle following her shortly after. The trio looked around the alley, but they couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

"I can't see anything out of the ordinary." Apple Bloom responded.

"Me too. I'm pretty sure, there is nothing." Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo.

"But I saw something moving, I swear!" The pegasus filly sweared the truth, however, they didn't believe it.

"C'mon, Crusaders. Let's leave the alley." Apple Bloom was about to leave with her friends, when all of a sudden, they heard a noise. They looked back, only to see something slowly standing up. Because the figure is so obscured and that the alley was dark, the fillies get scared. Soon, it slowly approached them.

"Hey..." it spoke to the fillies, but the Crudaders responded by running away screaming in fear. "Uhm, why did they run away? Wait a minute, did I just talk!?!?"

The figure looked around for something reflective like a mirror or a puddle. Thankfully, there was a mirror, albeit a slightly broken one, so it rushed to it to see the reflection of itself. It turned out to be a light violet-pink earth pony mare with short purple mane with a lightning bolt on it, however she has the features like a dog, like paws, tail and a purple nose. In shock, the mare screamed at the sight of her form. A scream, that caused the ground to shake and startle the residents.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! How did this even happen to me!??!" The hybrid mare was still panicked. She looked at herself, even turning around, only to discover a cutie mark. A bone and a lightning bolt.

"Hold on! Since when did this appear on my cheeks? I mean, it looks cool, but still!" She looked at her cutie mark again.

Suddenly, she reminded of something important. "Wait! I need to find her! But I don't think, those ponies would welcome me with this look." The earth pony hybrid sighed, because she was worried that her look might scare them off. She looked around for something to hide her identity, only to find a big box.

"That'll do it. Also I'm pretty sure, I can maybe pull this off like I'm in a stealth game or something." She grabbed the box and put it on her, hiding her appearance and began to walk. Thankfully, it had holes on the box, so at least she can see something. Everytime, when someone noticed something, she could stand still. When the coast is clear, she can move. However, it's harder to pull it off in a little town, since there are more ponies out there.

"I hope, this works..." She sweated a bit.

On the other side of the town, Jillian was walking around the houses and other buildings. During her walk, the pink unicorn saw some fillies and colts playing with their fathers and by the looks of it, clearly loved each other so much. But in Jillian's case, back then, her father was just too overprotective and controlling on her. She never had the fun or freedom, back in Veganda. Once she moved to Earth, she did become independent a bit, but still restricted and used by him. The sights of the young fillies and colts having a better relationship with their dads made her emotional, but mad at the same time.

"Uhm, excuse me?" An earth pony mare tapped her with a worried look. But Jillian snapped in anger and yelled: "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT!?!?!?!"

This scared the mare so much and having no control of her emotions any longer, Jillian ran away from the town as fast, as she could. She only stopped at Fluttershy's cottage in order to take a break. It was quite a rough day for her so far. Meanwhile, Fluttershy took care of the animals, with some help from Discord. However, this time, she had to take care of a bird family, who lost their nest from strong gusts of winds. She tried to help them by building new nests, while other animals also helped, but none of which passed their conditions: It should be comfy, have enough room for them and future offspring and should not break.

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy was exhausted.

It was around this time, Jillian went to them for some small talk. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to help the birds by building a new nest for them. Their old one had been damaged by the storm." The yellow pegasus responded in a quiet tone.

"Is that your job?" The pink unicorn asked.

"Yes. I take good care of the animals." Fluttershy warmly smiled.

The pink mare looked around to see several animals in Fluttershy's care. Birds, wolves, snakes, etc. But the one animal, that caught her attention, was a bear. Her eyes widened at the sight and soon got lost in joy.

"Oh my gosh! This bear looks cool! Can I have it?" Jillian grinned.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Fluttershy was confused.

"I swear, I would do anything for this bear! Hell, I can actually help you making a new nest or better yet, take these!" Jillian used her magic to take off her hair bands, one being white with golden sparks and necklace and gave it to the confused pegasus. Taking off her hair bands caused her hair to let loose, all while her eye was twitching.

"Uhm, Jillan..you're scaring me..." Soon, the heroine of Kindness felt very uneasy.

"What? I'm just trying to get the bear!!" Jillian smiled.

"Okay, it's official: You've lost your mind.." Discord was not happy about the pink unicorn's attitude.

"No, I'm not! See? I'm fine!" She widely smiled, while having crazy eyes. Discord went inside of her head to investigate the reason, only to come out coughing out smoke 5 seconds later.

"Yikes! Her brain must be on overdrive and it's probably malfunctioning." The spirit of Chaos coughed. The smoke he coughed, would later be turned into black balloons, floating into the sky. "I wonder, why she is like this..." he thinks. At that point, Fluttershy reminded the night, where Jillian confessed her reason, why she went to Equestria.

"I think, I know why she is like this." She noted.

"What is it, Fluttershy?" Discord was confused. That was until she whispered the answer in his ear, in which his perspective changed.

"I suppose her behaviour matches up with the 5 stages of grief. Right now, she is in a bargaining stage." Discord agreed.

Meanwhile, Jillian looks at the bear with a starry eyes and a slightly creepy smile. At that point, she became so desperatre to get it, even when the animals tried to stop her. However, since she is a unicorn, the green-haired mare used her magic to push everyone out of the way. Soon, even the bear got scared by Jillian's unhinged insanity. But that wouldn't last long, as suddenly, she got strapped to a chair with magical bandages, all while everyone watched. Soon, Discord reappeared in front of the trapped unicorn, while dressing up as a certain Austrian psychiatrist.

"So, what are you feeling in that moment?" Discord asked.

"Like I said, I'm fine!" The pink unicorn barked, but the spirit of Chaos and the heroine of Kindness knew better.

"Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein! Of course, you're not. Your mind is completely messed up. I mean, I looked inside of it and...oof, it was smoking." Discord debunked her claim.

"It's probably because you couldn't let go of your past...." Fluttershy told to the unicorn mare.

"What makes you say that?" The pink unicorn got irritated.

"Well, considering that you've been acting strangely around ponies with their parents, which was one thing I saw in the smoke, that you compared to your own, where that person, known as the 'Dark Vegan', giving you zero freedom and because your friend had vanished, that you were genuinely concerned, unlike him. I suppose all of those factors would give you scars, that would take a long time to heal." Discord wrote down on his notes.

"We're saying this, because we wanted to help you get over the traumatic past. Please, Jillian..." Fluttershy pleaded.

"You all making this up...There is nothing...wrong...with...me..." Her smile slowly turned into a sad frown, all while her blue eyes were filled with tears.

"Do you now get it?" Discord released her from the bandages, allowing Jillian to get up. But her emotions of sadness and loneliness overwhelmed the young unicorn and screamed in agony, before teleporting away.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy was shocked.

"Now, she is in a depression stage.." Discord noted, since Jillian had entered the fourth stage.

"I know...We need to find her quick! I just don't want Jillian to end up like Johnny...." Fluttershy was worried...She didn't want Jillian to attempt suicide, like Johnny. Rainbow and Dukey had told her about the time, where Johnny was found with slit arms, which gave her extra motivation to find the unicorn. With no hesitation, she flew off as fast as she could.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Discord was about to follow the yellow pegasus, when he picked up Jillian's hairband and necklace. After he got everything ready, he followed the path, that Fluttershy took.

In the Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, High Velocity and Sweet Serenity were returning from the walk. At the same time, they met Granny Smith and Big Mac, who were waiting.

"Howdy, y'all!" Granny Smith greeted the group.

"Sup?" Rainbow smiled.

"Ah see, y'all brought some guests there." The elderly earth pony noticed the couple.

"Well, this is High Velocity and Sweet Serenity." Applejack introduced the two to her grandma and her brother. But they noted, that they have concerned looks on their faces.

"Applejack, I've noticed, that they're concerned about something." Granny Smith looked at the orange mare.

"Eeyup." Big Mac agreed.

"Ya see, they currently have a problem." Applejack sighed.

"Why not go inside and tell us all about it?" Granny Smith suggested.

"We really appreciate your sincerity." High Velocity nodded and the group went on the house for some apple pie and some talk.

Inside, while Big Mac is preparing the pies, the, the Apple family and Rainbow Dash got around the table, where the couple was waiting.

"Say, what's the matter, you want to talk about?" Granny Smith asked.

"Well, it's about Cosmic Blaze and if we should tell him the truth, why we adopted them..." Sweet Serenity looked down.

"The truth?" The elderly mare was confused.

"About the whole abuse story." Applejack answered to her grandma.

"It seriously messed them up and one of them even attempted suicide!" Rainbow Dash remembered the unfortunate time, where she found Johnny laying on the ground with cuts on his arms, back in the Everfree Forest.

"Oh dear...It was horrifying..." the elderly pony was shocked at what the prismatic mare just told.

"Indeed, Granny... That's why, we're trying to help them get over their traumatic experience." Applejack comforted her grandmother.

"Anyway, we are afraid, that the story would break his heart, considering how tragic and painful the abuse was." High Velocity looked down.

"He is just a little colt... and we don't have the courage to tell him...." The blue unicorn was filled with tears.

"Ya know, it's best, that y'all better tell him the truth. If ya don't, then he will be clouded with suspicions and lies. And ahm pretty sure, y'all don't want that to happen. " said the elderly mare.

"Of course not! We love him after all!" High Velocity answered.

"Mah sweet Apple Bloom was in a similar situation. She wanted to know about our heritage. We tried to stop her, but it was inevitable, that ah have to tell her the truth about her parents and that she was half pear. For a long time, the Apples and the Pears were rivals. It wasn't until, the Pears wanted to make amends and therefore stopping the rivalry. As for Bright Mac, my son and Pear Butter, well they've since moved on to a better place. Ah had to tell the truth to my grandkids, but we are hopeful, that they'll be watching us." Granny Smith explained.

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry for the loss." Sweet Serenity was touched.

"Sometimes, the young fillies and colts have to learn the truth, that not everything is all sunshine and rainbows. It's part of growing up after all." The elderly mare looked at them.

"I've never thought of this lesson." High Velocity responded.

"Me neither. It does give us extra motivation to guide our son towards maturity." Sweet Serenity thought.

"Speaking of guiding, I need to watch over the guys. Making sure, that they wouldn't go through another episode." Rainbow Dash reminded.

"Go for it, sugarcube." Applejack nodded and the prismatic mare took off, while at the same time, Big Mac came back.

"What happened?" Big Mac asked.

"Rainbow had to go watching over our friends." Applejack answered her brother's question.

As Rainbow dashed through the surroundings, she passed through a giant box, where the hybrid mare was hiding. Due to the sheer speed, the box begin to spin really fast with her inside. Soon, it launched to somewhere, where the spinning took a while before losing its momentum, where the earth pony hybrid came out with a sick expression.

"Nrgh...What just happened?" She asked, when the mare felt her stomach being shaken and stirred. "God, I need to throw up..." The hybrid became green and soon threw up in a Bush. After which, she laid down on the ground, in order to rest a bit.

"Damn...could this day get any weirder?" The mare asked, when unsettling sounds can be heard from the forest. Upon further inspection, the forest emitted a negative aura to anyone close to it.

"Ugh...this forest is surely spooky as hell... I don't know, if I even have the guts to enter." She shook a bit in fear. But after some convincing, she decided to swallow her fears and enter this spooky forest.

"Hello? Anybody?" The hybrid mare muttered, while looking around the fog. The spooky figures were looming all around the forest, all while sounds of owls and other animals can be heard. This forest came exactly out of a horror movie. Suddenly, the mare got scared by a scream.

"Hell no! I'm outta here!!" She was about to leave, when she heard another scream, but this time, it didn't belong to the forest.

"SOMEBODY, HELP ME!!!!" The earth pony/ dog mare heard it loud and clearly. What's worse is, she recognized the voice almost immediately.

"Shit! Hold on, pal! I'm coming!!!" She ran as fast as she could, in order to find the source of the scream, in other words, a pony in peril.

And that pony in peril turned out to be a navy blue pegasus mare with blond mane and a crimson lightning bolt, being chased by a creature, known as a Chimera. She tried to run faster and faster, but due to the thick fog, she soon got disoriented and crashed her head to a tree, where she soon lost consciousness.

"Don't worry, little one. The pain wouldn't take long, while we are feasting on your flesh..." The tiger head was about to bite her, when all of a sudden, it got hit by a log.

"What was that!? Show yourself!!" The tiger head was enraged and looked around, alongside the other heads.

"Hey, stinky! Over there!" A female voice can be heard. The Chimera looked around to find the source of the voice.

"I'm over there, furballs!" The same voice can be heard, but on the other side. Little did they know, that the voice came from the hybrid mare, who was taunting the creature. Chuckling, she continued to go to different spots and call the Chimera out, further confusing the creatures. Due to the fog, it was a perfect opportunity to find the unconscious pegasus mare and took off. Unfortunately, the Chimera spotted the two ponies escaping and gave them chase.

"GET THEM!!!" The snake head was focused on the hybrid mare carrying the pegasus.

"Ah shit...it looks like, I pissed them off... This is gonna be a long afternoon..." she sighed.

The chase kept on going, all while they dodged obstacles and not losing speed. However, it seems like the Chimera was slowly catching up to the two. It seems like, hope is lost, when she saw two trees standing at a tight distance. With no choice, she jumped through the trees, all while making sure, not letting go of the unconscious mare. The creature on the other hand, due to its size, got stuck.

"Haha! So, who's the helpless creature now, huh?" The hybrid laughed, but soon dodged at the snake head trying to bite her. The snake head tried to hypnotise the mare. "Come closer....I promise not to hurt you and your friend..."

"Do you think, you can try to get me with that?" It turned out, that the hybrid had her eyes closed the whole time, thus protecting her from the hypnotic snake. "So long, suckers!" She took off with the pegasus.

"Ok, now I need a way to get out of that spooky ass forest. But which one?" The earth pony hybrid asked and tried to take several paths, hoping that one of them lead them to an exit. It consisted a lot of trial and error, due to the fog being really thick and that each wrong path contain horrid creatures, that they thankfully escaped. There was even one point, where she ran in circles, as she encounted the Chimera still stuck between the trees. After a lot of frustration and a lot of wrong guesses later, they've managed to get out of the forest and went close to a river.

"Phew, close call." She put the unconscious mare down to the ground and looked around for essentials, in order to treat a head concussion. During the search, she found a rag and took it with her. She then made the rag wet and cold and placed it on the head of the blue pegasus.

"Huh, I guess, I became smarter too. I like it." She said, since her new found intelligence were the key of saving their lives from the creatures.

After a long while of waiting and guarding, the blue mare woke up. Her sight was slightly dazed from the concussion.

"Hey, Sissy! Are you okay?" The hybrid looked at her. As soon as the pegasus' sight got sharper, she clearly saw the hybrid and instantly recognized her as her friend, Missy. However, the mare screamed at the sight, in which caused Missy to scream too...and then Sissy passed out.

"Ah, jeez..." the hybrid mare facepalmed and carried the unconscious pegasus closer to the river. She used her paws to collect some water and splash her friend in her face. Because of the cold water, she was immediately woken up.

"Wha? What the? Missy, what happened to you!? You look so strange!" Sissy had so many questions in her head, that needed to be answered immediately.

"Well, it's a funny story." Missy recounted her story of why she became a hybrid.

Ponyville, yesterday...

"Somehow, that portal, that we used, made us separate each other. I ended up arriving near a village.

It showed Missy in her original dog form, falling from a portal near Ponyville. She looked around in this new unknown world. She walked around, only to see ponies everywhere. Ponies doing their jobs, all while fillies and colts played each other fun games.

"I arrived into a world full of ponies!"

The discovery caused the dog to panic, especially without her friend. So she decided to find her by any means necessary. Either by looking for clues or trying to communicate with the other ponies, but they assume, she was a stray.

"Trust me, I looked for you the entire day! And I have to survive at the same time! It was pretty much a battle, not gonna lie. Although, there were kind ponies, who gave me some food and water.

We see some ponies giving her some food and water, so at least she wouldn't starve or suffer from thirst. Even in the night, she kept trying, even howling for confirmation, that Sissy must be somewhere. After feeling weak and tired from the search, she went into a dark alley, where she slept in some garbage.

"Eventually, I was tired...So I had no choice, but to sleep for the next try tomorrow."

The next day...

The female dog woke up and continued her search for her owner. She looked around in places, she missed ot never been there before, when she came across Twilight's Castle.

"It was at this time, I came across a Crystal Tree. But not any crystal tree. It had elements of a castle and looked beautiful. Trust me, once you saw that, your eyes would shine by its beauty. Anyway, hoping to find clues, I went inside, looking around in every room."

She looked around in every single room, without being detected. However, each attempt would leave her empty-handed. When she looked around the Library, the dog discovered something: Potions. Particularly a purple one.

"Naturally, because I was less smarter than I currently am, needless to say...I became curious. And then, an owl came by..."

She jumped to the table and looked closer at the potion, when the sound of an owl can be heard and an owl can be seen watching. Because she was a full dog, her instincts told her to chase the owl. A full cat and mouse like chase scene ensued, in which a lot of chaos was caused. The biggest one is when Missy was trying to jump on the table, where the owl was standing. With no other option, it pushed the potion down to the dog and straight to her mouth, causing her to drink the entire potion. After that misadventure, she ran away from the castle and back to the alley, where she got into the pile for some rest.

"It tasted like shit, not gonna lie. After that chase, I ran off and back to the alley. Because the chase used up my energy, I went back to the pile of junk and fell asleep."

After a while, she was awoken by the Cutie Mark Crusaders and tried to communicate with them. It was at this time, where she felt a massive difference.

"When I woke up, I noticed that not only I've grown twice the size of the original and being able to speak, but also the potion had make me smarter.

And then the whole event from several hours ago played out: Missy discovering her new self, finding her friend, etc.

Present time...

"I swear, if it wasn't for my new found intellect, then you would've been dead by the hands...or rather paws...of that damn Chimera!" The hybrid finished her story.

"Whoa...I don't know, what to say honestly." Sissy was speechless. She couldn't believe, that not only did her dog became more mutated, she saved her life because of that.

"Now here is my question: Why did you decide to go to this world and take me along?" Missy asked.

"Well, I have my own reasons..." Sissy looked down. "But first, we have to find him."

"We could ask some ponies for directions, but I'm not sure, if they would be okay with this." Missy pointed to herself, since her form was completely different to other ponies.

"I don't know. But we have to try." The blue pegasus responded.

"If you say so..." the hybrid sighed and the two went off.

Cosmic Blaze returned to his home after a day of games. But something doesn't seem right to him, like they're hiding something from the navy colt.

"Jeez. What's up with them? They kept a bright smile on their faces and ignoring my questions..." he mumbled, as he was on his way to his room, when the door to their room was open. Filled with curiosity, the pegasus colt went inside. It was filled with a some stuff. Daring Do books, toys, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Nothing strange here. I mean, I also have those Daring Do books. At least some of them..." he noted. He looked around, but nothing indicated of a secret. Exhausted, the pegasus sat down on Johnny's bed.

"Man, is there anything, that points out a secret?" He sighed and lied down, when he felt something uncomfortable under the pillow. By putting the pillow aside, he found the blue diary.

"What's this?" He picked it up. It was new to him. "Usually, my mom and dad wouldn't allow me to read into diaries out of privacy, but since they're not here and I need answers...." the young colt opened the diary, in order to know. The content was pretty disturbing for any young pony to read. Mentions of abuse, self-harm, burnout and depression were featured in a lot of the entries. An uneasy feeling creeped up to the young pegasus, as he looked at the several pages.

"That's so messed up! Who wrote this?" He asked. But the diary didn't mention the name of the owner whatsoever, making this mystery even more confusing. Wanting to find even more answers, Cosmic Blaze took the diary and headed off.

Of course, he had to hide from other ponies, so they wouldn't question him. The young pegasus kept going and going, until he came across the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who happened to help other fillies and colts find their destinies. Recognising them from an event shortly after he moved to Ponyville, the navy colt dropped the diary in a Bush and went to them.

"Hey, crusaders! Remember me?" Cosmic Blaze smiled.

At first, the fillies were confused, but after looking at his face, they recognized him.

"Hey! Aren't you the pegasus, who moved into Equestria?" Scootaloo asked, but with a nod from the colt confirms it. "How's your new life in Ponyville so far?"

"Well, it was quite a ride. A lot of things happened to adjust my new life, like a new school and new ponies, I barely know of. But it also brought out some cool moments, like a new park for me to explore and recently, my mom and dad introduced me to my new big brother! Like isn't that awesome?" Cosmic Blaze told them what happened, after he moved in.

"It seems like, you love this place." Sweetie Belle smiled.

"But, recently there are some secrets, that mom and dad didn't tell me. Heck, when I try to ask them of why, they would find an excuse like expanding the family. Now, I have some evidence in form of this diary." Cosmic Blaze went back and picked up the diary from the bushes, in order to show it to them.

"Do you have an idea, who this belongs?" Scootaloo asked.

"No idea. There is no mention about the name." Cosmic Blaze answered with a sigh.

"But this is someone's diary! You would be in big trouble, if your parents found out about this!" Sweetie Belle was not happy about his decision. "I suggest, you should return it now."

"But if I return it, I will never know the mystery of the whole abuse stuff!" The navy pegasus tried to defend his actions, but that didn't convince the crusaders.

"Why not just read it yourselves?" The pegasus colt threw the diary on the ground in a fit of rage.

"Like I said, we will never-" Unfortunately, Sweetie Belle wasn't able to finish, as Scootaloo started to read the diary.

"Uhm, Girls?" The orange pegasus filly looked at her friends and pointed at the content of the diary. Soon, Apple Bloom started to read it and it sent down a chill in her spine. Eventually, Sweetie Belle, whose curiosity got the better of her, started to read, only to be given a negative aura from it.

"Oh my goodness.." Sweetie Belle was horrified.

"Exactly...." Scootaloo agreed.

"You see, what I mean by messed up stuff?" Cosmic Blaze responded with a straight face.

"Whoever wrote this, must been through a lot..." Apple Bloom felt sorry.

"Those ruffians...Why would they do this?!" Sweetie Belle was in tears.

"No idea. But, I have yet to find the clues to that answer." Cosmic Blaze held the diary close.

"We will help you." Scootaloo and her friends joined.

"That's cool. Together, we will get to the bottom of this!" Cosmic Blaze smiled and went off with the Crusaders. They went around, finding for some clues of this mystery. They went on asking some ponies, but somehow, they knew about the story, thus confirming the young ponies.

"That's odd. Everypony knew the story." Sweetie Belle questioned.

"I know, right? Like someone told the story to them earlier. Here is the thing, did anyone told you about it?" The navy colt asked to the fillies.

"No. Mah family never told me about it." Apple Bloom shook her head.

"Rarity didn't tell me about it either." Sweetie Belle answered.

"I had no idea, since my aunts didn't tell me at all. Like what?" Scootaloo scratched her head.

"Weird..." He thought to himself.

On a beautiful scenery with a cascading waterfall and beautiful flowers, Jillian ran to the fields exhausted and completely messed up. She stood there in silence, as the sunray's shimmer through the clear waters and hitting the waterfalls, creating rainbows. However, it didn't make her happy. In fact, she is not happy at all. After suppressing her emotions for so long and the wounds of the past still being fresh, the pink unicorn finally broke down and burst into tears. Her cries became louder and more broken, as she let all of her emotions out. Later, she heard two voices, calling her by name. Looking back, she saw Fluttershy and Discord running towards her.

"Jillian, are you okay?" Fluttershy asked, but got no response from the broken unicorn.

"Uhm, you dropped these." Discord pulled her hairband and necklace out of nowhere and was about to give them back to her. But Jillian looked away.

"I don't need them...They're basically a reminder of the past... Dad has really gone too far...Ignoring my wishes, oppressing my every thoughts, watching every step and eventually.....taking my mom away from me... You don't know, how much it fucking hurts!!!!!" She yelled, but that didn't phase the two and the heroine of Kindness hugged the mare.

"You need to move on...." the pegasus softly spoke.

"How? It's very hard to do so..." the unicorn looked down.

"I know your pain...being isolated and oppressed is awful. However, that doesn't mean, that your life is over. All you need to do is to let go and focus on the present." Fluttershy spoke.

"It's true. I've been there. When Princess Celestia gave me second chance, I was unsure about the future. Considering my past actions were...let's just say...not morally correct. Everyone hated me, because of those. I was so close to give up, if it wasn't for Fluttershy. She gave me second chance and even helped me rehabilitate, thus changing my destiny. Sure, I still like to spread chaos, but not for evil purposes anymore. It took a long time to get used of the new lifestyle and move on from the past. What I mean is, it's never too late to let go from the past and change your destiny!" Said Discord and together with the butter-yellow pegasus friend, they hugged the unicorn mare and comforted her with embrace. After a while, Jillan slowly regained her confidence and stood up.

"You're right. All I need to do is to forget everything about the past and start over." As her hair is moving from the wind, Jillian had a serious look on her face. "One moment." She teleport away.

"I wonder, what she'll do." Fluttershy wondered, all while Discord, who is holding the necklace and the hair band, had and idea and made these into a nest. "Does that count as a nest?" He gave it to Fluttershy.

"We have to give It to the birds." She answered and both left.

Meanwhile, Jillian teleported somewhere near Ponyville, where she found a pair of scissors laying on the ground. She thought of finding the owner and give it back, but she had a different idea. She went to a cliffside and used her magic to grab her hair and positioned the scissors close to it. She remembered the words, Fluttershy and Discord gave to her, as well as some positive moments with Johnny, Dukey and a few others, before doing the deed. Streaks of hair can be seen falling down.

Back in Canterlot, Cosmic Blaze and the fillies were arriving at the Canterlot Castle, looking around, when the navy pegasus colt found a microphone, which was connected to the speakers. At the same time, the crusaders went to him.

"Did you find something?" Scootaloo asked.

"I found a microphone. Not related to the mystery, but..." He held the microphone tightly.

"Uhm, Cosmic? What are you doing?" Sweetie Belle asked, but to no response. Other than putting the diary down, the colt didn't say anything.

"Cosmic, what are you doing??" Apple Bloom asked him loudly, but again no response.

"Something's not right..." Scootaloo felt uneasy.

"Me too.." Sweetie Belle was scared.

Cosmic held the microphone close fo his mouth and opened the diary to the first page. His mind is now set on something, but he didn't want to tell anyone. He turned the microphone on and was, breathed in and was about to say something, when suddenly....

"NOOOOO!!!!"

They looked back, only to see High Velocity, Sweet Serenity and Applejack running towards to them.

"Apple Bloom! What are y'all doing?!" Applejack was not happy to her young sister.

"Trying to find out, who wrote the stories.." the earth pony filly confessed.

"There is no need to!" High Velocity responded.

"Everyone knew the story, because me and my friends...told them a few days ago. " the orange mare confessed.

"Why!?" Cosmic Blaze demanded answers. But Applejack took a deep breath and responded with: "To help him...the pony, who wrote the diary and suffering an agonising pain of abuse and hatred...." Suddenly, they heard a voice, interrupting Applejack.

"...is me..." It came from Johnny, who happened to overhear the conversation and, knowing that the truth was inevitable, he confessed. "That's right. I wrote the diary, because of the abuse. In fact, I don't originate from Equestria at all."

"Are you serious?" Cosmic Blaze was in disbelief, but Sweet Serenity silently nodded.

"Yes...In fact, the story is the reason, why we adopted him...to give him a happy life and a happy family.....something, that lacked back in his original world... I don't want him to fall into the same fate, like my sister...I'm sorry, if the story broke you...I didn't have the courage to tell you, because I was scared...." The unicorn mare soon cried.

At first, Cosmic Blaze was silent, which sent them alarming signals to his parents. But then...

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier? I would've helped him. Plus...the story reminded me of a time, I lost a friend because of those bullies..." He looked down. That statement threw the couple off guard.

"There was a time, I was bullied by some jerks, just because I was a blank flank. My friend was also bullied as well. However I didn't tell you, because they threatened me, that if I told them, then they would hurt me even more or even kill me....Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore and left....I found out about his deed from his mom. I was devastated, yet scared...Later, it got worse, until someone interviewed. A brave filly, telling them to get lost and helped me getting back up. Eventually, thanks to her, I became stronger and stronger. I stood up to the bullies and told them to the teachers and some cops. Thankfully, they got what they deserved." He explained his story.

"Oh dear...." Sweetie Belle was touched.

"Oh my goodness...My poor baby..." Sweet Serenity hugged her son in tears, much to his irritation.

"Mom...." He sighed.

"At least, you had someone saving you. If we have the chance of meeting her, we'll thank her for saving you." The neon pegasus smiled.

"Yeah. She was definitely brave." Johnny smiled as well.

"If you wonder, who she is. Well, her name is Golden Heart." Cosmic Blaze added.

It was around the same time, that Twilight and her friends, as well as Dukey, came to the group.

"I swear, if someone tries to hurt you, I'll protect you and even give them a piece of my mind and some butt whooping." Johnny wrapped his wing around his adoptive little brother.

"Hey, what did I miss?" Pinkie Pie was confused.

"It's quite a doozy." High Velocity scratched his head and explained, what happened.

"Wow. That was....quite an afternoon." Dukey was dumbfounded and everyone laughed.

"Together, we will be a strong family." Sweet Serenity smiled and hugged her husband, her son and her adoptive sons in embrace.

Pinkie was about to cry at the sight, when Twilight gave her a box of tissues. The peppy pony grabbed it and used the tissues to wipe her tears away.

The other ponies, headed by Gil, BBB and the hippogriff hybrids in black went to them and smiled.

"The preparations went very well. All we need is some entertainers." Mr. Black reported.

"I can think of Songbird Serenade, since it was planned for her to appear." Twilight assumed.

"Who?" The ponies were confused. They had no idea, who Songbird Serenade is. But before Twilight can explain, Spike ran to her with a letter. The alicorn princess grabbed the letter and started to read it.

"What!?!" Twilight was shocked.

"What's up?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, Songbird's planned appearance was scrapped, due to a controversy..." Twilight explained.

"What controversy?" Rarity asked.

"I....don't know. There aren't any details about it." The princess of Friendship answered.

"That's great! Who's gonna fill her spot!?" Rainbow Dash was frustrated.

"I can think of one. I've heard, that a band of four stallions, named 'Star Time Rush', needed a spot for their concert." Spike suggested.

"I'll contact them!" Twilight teleported away.

"Hey, guys!" A voice can be heard and it came from Jillian, but her look was different. Her hair is now short and is wearing a new golden necklace with gems and pearls and even a new headpiece.

Everyone was stunned by her new appearance. Gil was basically frozen especially.

"Whoa....Jillian...you look..different." Johnny was speechless.

"I decided to start over and let go from my past. And what better way to do that is with a new look." The pink unicorn smiled.

"Speaking of which..." Starlight was reminded and gave High Velocity and Sweet Serenity a box. Once they opened it, they found a dream catcher inside.

"What's this?" High Velocity asked.

"It's a dream catcher. It allows to let the good dreams through and catch the bad ones." Mr. Harm answered.

"It would be good to at least help them to sleep well." Starlight added.

"I think, it's a good idea. We'll hang it in their room." Sweet Serenity agreed.

After Eugene slapped Gil back to reality, the group were about to go to the centre of Canterlot to spend the remaining afternood, when suddenly.

"Hey, Test!"

Johnny groaned, as he instantly recognized the voice. And fair enough, when everyone looked to the left, they saw Sissy...being out of breath.

"What do you want?" He snarled. "Did you came here for revenge? To make fun of me? To at least humiliate me for something, I did!?!?" He always interrupted the pegasus mare of saying something. Eventually, she lost her patience and snapped.

"JUST GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!!!" She yelled. "I did not come her to humiliate you or anything...."

"Then what is it!?" Johnny soon got angry, but BBB assumed with: "She is trying to redeem herself with an apology. That's the most likely answer."

"What!? Are you serious?" The black pegasus was in denial, but this is when the dark blue pegasus confessed her reason.

"He's right." She responded.

Porkbelly, a few days ago...

We see Sissy walking around the town, when news of Johnny's disappearance got out and spread like wildfire. At first, she was in disbelief and thought that it was only a prank.

"When I found out, that you vanished, I didn't believe in those news, assuming that you were pulling off a prank."

She ignored it and continued her day as usual, but something was definitely missing from her. Even Missy felt the same thing, since Dukey also disappeared at the same time as Johnny.

"Well...on the outside it seems. It's a different story on the inside, like something is missing."

The next day, she used her skateboard to traverse around the area, when she bumped into Eugene, who happened to take a walk.

"Ow!" She groaned in pain.

"Hey, watch where you going!" The young rich kid rubbed his head. The girl noticed the flyers scattered on the ground, which were missing posters.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Don't you see? Helping out the search for Johnathan, duh!" He responded.

"Why would anyone see this as a big deal? It's probably just an elaborate prank from him. I'm pretty sure, at any point, he would say 'Gotcha!' To everyone." Sissy shrugged. But Eugene didn't buy it, since he got dark.

"You don't even have a clue of what's going on..." He snarled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sissy felt uneasy, during which her dog growled.

"You'll see...the truth will be very ugly..." the rich boy left, leaving the two confused.

"Back then, I had no idea, what it meant..."

"Weird..." She sighed and continued riding on her skateboard with Missy following her almost immediately.

"...until that fateful day."

A few days later...

The blonde girl was playing with her phone in a park, with Missy playing with other dogs. Everything was normal, until her phone started to glitch. Confused and dumbfounded, she tried to fix the issue, but with no success. Suddenly, a video started to play. After the introduction from a being called "The Shadow", a compilation of Johnny being abused, hurt, shouted and blamed on a daily basis, including the recent footage of his parents trapping Dukey and giving him to a guy from the animal shelter.

"Oh my god...no...this can't be real! This has to be some sort of sick joke!" Sissy was still in denial. She hoped, that Johnny would jump out and shout "Gotcha!" At her for that prank. Unfortunately, it didn't happen and it got worse, where the second video started to play. Same abuse here, except it's in his school and he's being bullied with nobody helping him. What caught her eye was in some footage, she was seen as one of the many students making the problem worse. At this point, everything came crashing down to her.

When Missy came back and noticed her owner being in a state of shock, she tried to comfort her, but the whole shock and guilt caused the girl to scream loudly. A scream so loud, that it caused a minor earthquake.

Many people noticed her scream and gathered around her. Unfortunately, since many people watched the second video, they instantly recognized the girl and started to shout and throw stones at her.

"You monster!" One citizen shouted loudly.

Sissy took her dog and ran away from the crowd. However, she kept getting attacked by shouts, insults and stones from angry people. The amount of pain and humiliation started to increase very quickly. Soon, she couldn't get the insults from her head, all while dodging the people, some of them tried to take Missy away from her. Eventually, the girl just couldn't take it anymore and ran as fast as she could, leaving Porkbelly hurt and in tears. As soon she arrived in a deserted area, she broke down in tears. Missy, also hurt from the stones, tried to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, Missy....but I just can't take it anymore..." Her blue eyes were filled with tears.

"I was so ashamed and humiliated to even go back to Porkbelly. Even to my mom, since she would be so disappointed of me because of the actions...At this point, there is no return in this one..."

Missy barked and hopped on her lap, hoping her comfort would at least cheer her up. It kinda worked, but it was a hollow feeling. It was around this time, she saw a group of people with moles and bees heading to a base. It turned out, she was close to Area 51.1! Out of curiosity, the girl picked up her dog and ran inside, while of course hiding from everyone. After looking around, she overheard a countdown, she assumed, it was a bomb. But Missy jumped out and went to the source: A portal counting down. Sissy followed her and at first, she was confused as of why her dog brought her here. But when she saw the display, showing Johnny's current location: Equestria.

"When I saw the information, that you're in a place, called 'Equestria', suddenly, a decision was made..."

"Missy...I think, it's time." She picked her dog up and started to dash in a blur. As the countdown almost reached zero, she managed to jump into the portal at the very last millisecond.

Equestria, present

"The reason, why I came here is to say.....I'm sorry...." Sissy was in tears, when she looked at Johnny. "I was such an idiot....not knowing my actions or inactions would cause consequences... and I didn't realise until it was too late..."

Johnny didn't say a single word. He was still sceptical to her, given the circumstances. But Eugene and Rarity didn't share the scepticism.

"We are truly sorry for the whole ordeal, you've been through. But me and my friends will help you find some forgiveness and also happiness." The white unicorn smiled and grabbed the navy mare's hoof.

"Rarity!!" Johnny shouted, but his ear was pulled by BBB, via his unicorn magic.

"Hey! Give her some time to prove herself for redemption!!" Eugene was not happy about the black pegasus' behaviour.

"Wait, where's Missy?" Dukey asked. That was until he heard a voice: "Over there, mutt!" When the stallion hybrid looked around, he saw her, being turned into a hybrid as well. Needless to say, the amount of shock and disbelief made Dukey faint.

"Oh come on!!" Missy was annoyed. She grabbed a nearby bucket of water and threw it to the brown earth pony hybrid, waking him up. "Seriously, you are just as dramatic as ever..."

"What did you say?!?!" Dukey growled, but Applejack broke up the two, before a fight even began.

"Alright, y'all need to stop!!" She shouted.

"Did she too became mutated?" He wanted an answer from this question.

"Well, idk. I drank a portion and than this happened!" Missy answered.

At the same time, Twilight returned.

"Okay, everypony. What's going on- W-WHAT!!??!" When she saw the hybrid mare, her jaw dropped.

"Here we go again..." Spike sighed.

She inspected the hybrid very closely, even to the smallest detail of change. Much to Missy's annoyance. Eventually, she came up with a conclusion: the hybrid potion was a success!

"It worked!! You are a hybrid! But I don't know, which one you drank..." Twilight didn't know, which version is the one.

"Twilight, do you remember the colors of the potions?" Starlight asked.

"I do! Green means temporary and purple means....oh dear. SHE DRANK THE PERMANENT ONE!!!!" The princess was in absolute shock and shouted. But since she was too close to Missy, she shoved the purple alicorn away.

"Get away from me!! Jesus Christ...." she growled.

"Uhm...how do you feel?" Zizrar asked to Missy, in which she responded: "Much smarter and more sassy. Since it's a permanent one, I have to get used to it. I mean, hell! I saved her life for crying out loud!"

Tensions rise between Johnny and Dukey and Sissy and Missy. Rainbow Dash and Applejack groaned.

"Okay, that's enough!" Twilight used her magic to separate the duos away.

"This has been quite an interesting afternoon." The General marked.

"Yep." The men in black agreed.

"Let's just go to sleep! It has been quite a messy day! Besides, we'll sort it out tomorrow." Jillian commented.

"Good point." Starlight agreed.

"Sweetie, I have put a dream catcher in your room, which would keep the bad dreams away." Sweet Serenity told to Johnny about the dream catcher.

"Not sure, if that would work.." Johnny was unsure.

"Princess Luna helped us creating that special dream catcher." Twilight noted.

"Besides, different world, different rules. Right?" Gil asked.

"We'll see about that." BBB answered.

"Hang on, where will we live?" Missy asked.

"We'll manage." Rarity answered.

"Let's all just hope for the nightmare to be over with..." Fluttershy hoped.

"We all do hope, Fluttershy. We all do." Dr. Beebles also hoped for a happy ending.

Meanwhile, in a maximum security prison in a different universe...

Everything was as usual. All prisoners were sleeping with the guards guarding them without any fail.

Suddenly, the alarm went off. The guards went to the cause, only to see two prisoners trying to escape.

"They're trying to escape! Stop right here!!!" A guard shouted and pointed his weapon at them. What they didn't know, is that their powers got increased somehow and managed to overpower the guards, knocking then off like bowling pins. They ran to a wall, breaking it through and soon, they escaped prison.

Why would they escape? What is their motive? I don't know, but I have an uneasy feeling about this.....

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Hey, guys! Damn writers block...

For the upcoming Friendship Festival, I decided to replace Songbird Serenade with four stallions, based on Big Time Rush. Why? Well, Sia's movie "Music" gained a lot of controversy from the autism community, myself included. Not to mention, Sia herself was pretty much toxic to autistic people, which I definitely do not approve.

And also, I made Missy as an hybrid, because I wanted to change up the game. If Missy has a voice, I could imagine her being voiced by Romi Dames. Just saying.

Also, I made up some pony names for some.

Jillian = Natural Spark
DR. Beebles: Honeycomb
Sissy: Crimson Bolt
Missy: Zapped Bone
BBB: Rich Diamond (or maybe Shimmering Gem? Idk)

For Gil , Brain Freezer and Mr. Harm, maybe you can come up with some. Maybe for Brain Freezer "Frozen Glacier?" Idk.

Johnny and the gang were slowly achieving peace in their new lives, despite the hiccups, not knowing that there is someone, managing to get to Equestria, alongside with an ancient evil returning...
At the same time, an old friend would visit Equestria, not knowing about what's to come.

Find out next time on Chapter 11: Reliving the Nightmare!

Chapter 11: Reliving the Nightmare

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In the night of Ponyville, Johnny was still awake in his bed, looking at the dream catcher, that his new mom hung it up. At first, he was unsure if it would work, since if it was back in Porkbelly, it would be nothing but a gimmick. But since he is now in Equestria, where not only magic exists, but also in many forms, maybe it could work. Plus, it contained some magic from Princess Luna, who's basically watching over the dreams.

"Alright, here goes nothing." He looked at Dukey for one more time, before falling asleep. During which, the dream catcher emitted a soft glow, thanks to the magic.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot.

Luna was standing outside the balcony, praying that with the special dream catcher would help them sleep.

"I hope, this would work. I put a bit of my magic in it." Luna hoped.

And so, everything was quiet in Equestria. But little did anyone know, is a lingering force of ancient evil is hiding for a perfect time to strike...

In an different universe, the two prisoners were still on the run from the police, who were trying to arrest them again.

"Stop right there, criminals!!!" A cop was aiming a gun at them. The plan was not to shoot them, but only scare them off so much, they would stop. But since the duo wouldn't stop, he tried to shoot. However they dodged all of the bullets. It was at this point during the chase, that one of them threw a rock at one of the cops, hitting him in the head.

"Dick! We need reinforcements! Over!" The other male cop told to his communication device to the station.

As the chase went to the centre of the city, the two went faster and faster, while trying to shake off from the cops. On the other sides, the roads were blocked by a the police officers and the military.

"Attention, officers! Make sure, they don't cross over the barrier!" The chief's voice can be heard from the transmitter.

"Don't worry, chief. With all of our units, helicopters and barriers, there is no way for them to go under us, around or through us. Ha!" The officer was confident about the barrier. When they saw the runaway prisoners running towards them. They prepared their weapons, in hopes to make them stop. But to everyone's surprise and shock, the prisoners began to jump really high, even over the helicopters and especially dodging the blades. Eventually, they reached the other side and continued running.

"Well, at least they didn't go under, around or through us...heheheh." the police officer laughed nervously at the fail. Meanwhile, two police officers were sighing in disbelief, when the prison uniforms fell on them

"Ah jeez... We have to get them, while being naked..." He sighed.

"The chief would be thrilled about the situation.." The woman had a straight face.

In the police station..

"Uhm, Alpha 1 to base, the barrier didn't work at all." The voice of the officer can be heard from the communication system of the headquarters.

"What?! Don't tell me, they escaped!" The chief was furious, but a confirmation from the officer basically answered his question.

"Damn you, assholes! I'll get you, one way or another..." He slammed his fist on his table in anger.

Back to the chase, the prisoners were still running from the cops. At this point, even the helicopters were present to help the cops. The duo looked around for a way out. Hell, they even tried to slow them down by ripping off the fire hydrants and even throwing some rocks at them. It made them slow down a bit, but not enough. Eventually, they had to hide by jumping to bushes, while the cops were distracted. By the time, they got through the obstacles, the criminals were gone.

"Hey, where did they go?" A policewoman asked.

"I have no idea, pal." A male officer shrugged.

The police looked around the entire city for them, not knowing that the two had already vanished into the shadows.

As the morning sun arrived in Ponyville, everyone was awaken by the welcoming warmth and light. Including the family of Cosmic Blaze, who was waking up feeling fresh.

"Man, I'm charged for some fun!" The navy colt was smiling, when he went to his parents, who were preparing for breakfast.

"Good morning, Blaze!" High Velocity smiled.

"Morning, dad! I hope, my bro gets better." The little colt hoped.

"We all do. Your mother hung a dream catcher in his room as a way to help them." The neon pegasus responded.

Eventually, Johnny and Dukey came to the family, looking better.

"Morning, guys." The black pegasus yawned.

"Good morning, sweetie! Did the dream catcher help you with your sleep?" The baby blue unicorn mare asked.

"Surprisingly, it worked." Johnny responded.

"That great to hear. The magic from Princess Luna did bring some wonders." She smiled.

"However, we have to keep going on helping you. I mean the trauma is far from over." High Velocity reminded.

"We know." Dukey nodded and the duo sat down on the table for the breakfast.

After the breakfast, the duo put their scarfs on and went outside for a new day without nightmares. Meanwhile, Sissy and Missy were walking around. The blue pegasus mare was worried, since that fateful day.

"What's wrong?" Missy asked.

"I don't know, Missy...It's just...the guilt is still haunting me, ever since I watched the videos." Sissy sighed.

"Like that rich kid said, you wanted to redeem yourself. So, you need to take the first steps. Like asking a friend for advice." The hybrid suggested.

"I think, there was a pony named "Rarity". Maybe we should go to her." Missy said to her friend.

"Maybe.." the pegasus is thinking.

The two mares asked some ponies as of where Rarity lives and they responded, that she is working and living in the Carousel Boutique. And after given directions from the village residents, they arrived their destination: an elegant looking boutique.

"Wow. It surely looks interesting." The earth pony hybrid was stunned.

"I know right?" The pegasus agreed and knocked on the door. After a while of waiting, the door opened and Rarity went outside.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where all beautiful clothes be made in all elegance! How can I help you?" The white unicorn smiled.

"Uhm, Rarity...is that correct? I need some advice. To apologize Test for being a jerk and at least earn his forgiveness?" Sissy looked at the beautiful mare.

"Oh! You wanted to make amends and need my help! Of course I can. I mean, you told me about your story and I was appalled by Johnny's reaction!" Rarity groaned.

"Yeah, he acted like an asshole. That's for sure." Missy sighed.

"Please come inside." Rarity went inside with the ladies following shortly after. Inside of the boutique, the two were awestruck by the amount of beautiful dresses and suits.

"Whoa. You made those?" Missy asked.

"Of course, sweetie! It was made by the most beautiful fabrics and sparkling jewels! All made in the name of fashion!" Rarity was proud of her achievements.

"If there is a prom or something, I would imagine myself wearing a cool dress." The hybrid smiled. But Sissy had important matters to do.

"Anyway! I need help on apologising Test, okay!?" The pegasus mare was impatient.

"Okay, I will help you. But please be patient!" Rarity sighed in annoyance.

"You gotta need to work on your attitude and your patience, girl. I mean, jeez..." Missy commented about the blue mare's behaviour, which resulted in a sigh from her friend.

At the centre, Rarity used her magic to put a mirror in front of the blond mare. "Okay, try to exercise about your approach." She responded.

"Does that mean, talking to the mirror and pretend, it's Johnny?" Sissy asked. In which Rarity responded: "Of course. You need to at least try to let go from your fear, darling."

The pegasus mare took a deep breath and started to have a conversation in front of the mirror.

"Hey, Test. L-look, I know I did a lot of fuck-ups in my life and I didn't realise, that those would be your downfall, until it was too late..S..so, I just want to say is...I'm...I'm...uhm.." Unfortunately, it seems like Sissy is really struggling to say "I'm sorry". After all, she had a rivalry with Johnny back in Porkbelly and that rivalry alone caused some bad blood. After struggling for words, she groaned and stomped on the ground.

"Are you okay, darling?" Rarity was concerned, but Sissy just couldn't stop. It was around this time, that BBB came inside and when he witnessed Sissy eventually breaking down, the obese stallion sighed.

"Let me guess, still struggling to say 'I'm sorry', due to the bad blood?" He assumed, but received no answer from the pegasus. Not even Missy would give an answer, because much like her, she also had a rivalry with Dukey before, which means that the outcome was identical.

"Hmm...it seems like, those two have a problem. Miss Rarity, I think they need more help on overcoming the bad blood and their fears." He commented.

"Why do you think, Missy has the same problem?" Rarity asked out of curiosity, in which the snobby stallion replied: "Much like how Johnathan and his dog can be seen as brothers, those two also have a special bond like sisters. They pretty much do the same thing, which unfortunately includes the rivalry between the girls and the boys. I've known this, thanks to not only Johnathan, but also from spying. Don't ask. That was one from the past actions, involving about a girl, I will never mention here. Anyway, what I mean is their bad blood to the guys and the fact that it took so long, would make it harder for them for changes. So I suggest to get more help from your friends, so at least they can make this situation easier."

"You're right. I think, I need to tell my friends about the situation!" With those words, the curly-haired unicorn mare ran off, leaving the other mares looking down.

"Hey. It will get better. You just need to adjust yourselves." BBB told to the two for motivation, even though he was well aware about the problem and their silence. As to be expected, he heard sighs from the girls. So, he and Rarity have to work even harder.

In the skies, the black pegasus was soaring through the skies. Ever since his arrival and Rainbow teaching him, his skills got better. Now, he can fly without any problems...at least, what he sees. Twilight, who was watching with Rainbow Dash, knew that he has yet to work on a few kinks. Especially with his alicorn-like wings. Eventually, when Johnny landed on a cloud, Twilight had to judge his skills in order for him to improve.

"Your flying skills has since been improved, I'm impressed. You also got better with the basics and the balance. There is just one more thing, you really have to work on: And that is coordination. Especially with your unique wings." Twilight made a critic, while looking at his gradient wings.

"Buddy, I just want to fly. Not learning about shit like coordination.." Johnny groaned, but Rainbow Dash knew better.

"The thing is, coordination is key for perfect flying. I mean, I learnt that from the Wonderbolts. Otherwise, you would crash down. " Rainbow Dash commented about her experience. "Yeah, flying is cool and wanting to be fast is awesome, but you have to check on your ego. I learnt that the hard way. Trust me."

Johnny was confused. Not surprisingly really, since he is still a kid and he has yet to learn about maturity and the value of life. And the mares knew it well.

"You have a long way to learn about growing up, right?" Rainbow asked.

"No shit, Rainbow. I'm still a kid." Johnny shrugged.

"Don't worry. We will help you make your journey easier." Twilight smiled.

"Besides, if you have any problems, talk to us and we will squash them!" Rainbow smirked. That claim made the black pegasus laugh.

"You girls are surely quite nice, you know?" He scratched his head.

"Thanks!" Twilight giggled.

"Anyway, shall we continue on your training?" Rainbow asked, while spreading her wings.

"I can't say no to that!" He smirked and said the same thing. Together, the two pegasi flew off with Twilight watching.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Dukey was watching the skies with binoculars. He saw the two flying and smiled, knowing that they're one step closer to normality and peace. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie came out of nowhere and looked very close at the binoculars.

"Hi!" Pinkie Pie grinned. However that sudden appearance from the peppy pink pony caused the stallion hybrid to jump and fall to the ground on the back like a cat, who got scared by a cucumber.

"Pinkie, STOP!!! You nearly gave me a heart attack!!" He yelled, but that didn't phase the heroine of Laughter.

"Did I just scare you?" The pink earth pony was asking, while looking curious, much to his annoyance. "Isn't it that obvious?!?!" The hybrid didn't get over from that jumpscare.

"Alright, fellas! Y'all need to calm down." Applejack came to them with a giggle.

"I was just saying hi." Pinkie scratched her head, even though the hybrid didn't share her over-the-top optimism.

"Anyway, how y'all doing?" The southern pony asked to her friends.

"I was looking on the skies, since Johnny is currently flying." He grabbed his binoculars and looked up with it. The mares looked up as well.

"HI, RAINBOW DASH!!" She shouted loudly and joyfully in the sky, trying to get the prismatic mate's attention. It didn't work, but it caused anyone, passing by, looking at her awkwardly.

"Don't worry. She may be crazy, but her heart is in the right place, You'll get used to it." Applejack warmly smiled, knowing Pinkie Pie very well.

"We'll see." Dukey was a bit sceptical, but the southern earth pony assured him that everything will be fine.

On the other side of the town, the Brain Freezer was sitting alone on a bench, all while watching many happy couples. He signed, since he didn't have a special someone and even if he did have one, the relationship didn't even last long. It was around the time, that Zizrar and Fluttershy, who were having a conversation, came by, only to see the icy-blue unicorn in a somber mood.

"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's just...it hurts to be completely left out of everything, when it comes to love..." he sighed.

"Well, he told me about the problem a few days ago and I can relate. He didn't have a relationship for a while. And hell, he gave up on love a few times." Zizrar commented.

"Oh dear. I know, you had a hard time with relationships and finding a special pony, you would spend with her until the end of time. But I don't think, you would give up on love altogether. All you need is to keep looking until you'll find her." The butter yellow pegasus comforted the cold pony.

"Whatever..no matter how many cheesy comfort, I don't think, it will ever ha-" However, a sight would pause him from finishing his sentence. A sight, he would never forget: Walking around the market was a mare. A snow-white pegasus mare with emerald-green mane, ruby-red eyes and chains with icy-blue pearls around her hair. Her eyes had a similar shape like Fluttershy's. At that point, his usually ice cold heart became warm, hearts formed in his eyes and fell into a trance. It was official: Brain Freezer is now in love! All while Fluttershy and Zizraw were puzzled.

"Uhm, dude? You okay?" The mole king tried to snap his friend out, but it didn't work.

"Uhm...Zizrar? I think, he's in love." Fluttershy answered. When the mole asked who, she pointed to the snowy mare, who was buying some groceries.

"Thank you! Come again!" The shop mare waved and the pegasus smiled, walking off.

Meanwhile, Zizrar slapped the blue unicorn back to his senses. But he's still love struck.

"Have you seen this beautiful pony? She's wow!" The unicorn stallion smiled warmly.

"We know. " Fluttershy giggled.

"Maybe you should make the first move." The mole king shrugged, but that caused Brain Freezer to be filled with nervousness and panic. Obviously, he's never good with girls, because of his evil deeds in the past and having little to no experience. One time, he was honest and told a girl about his deeds back in Porkbelly, only to get tasered by her.

"The problem is, I'm terrible at love.." he shook in fear, but Fluttershy comforted him and said: "Don't worry, my friends and I will help you."

Those words have him some comfort, but not enough.

"Why not just try to be honest?" Zizrar suggested, but the unicorn shot down the idea by saying: "Already done that and that resulted in me and my ass getting shocked by a taser!"

"You know what...hey you!" Zizrar yelled at the surrounding, trying to get the mare's attention. She looked back confused.

"Are you talking about me?" She asked. The mole kind then replied: "Yes, someone wants to talk with you! This guy over here!" He pointed at the Brain Freezer. The thought of being looked by the mare with the fear of making mistakes caused him to panic and run off.

"Weird..." she scratched her head and flew off.

"Zizrar, you don't need to push your friend like this! He needs to be prepared first..." Fluttershy quietly scolded at the mole king and ran off to find Brain Freezer. Soon, the king soon followed suit, not knowing that they're being watched.

Back in the skies, Johnny was doing a good job so far. Soaring around the skies, dodging the clouds and even performed some loops and aileron rolls. All while following Rainbow's trail at the same time. Soon, he eventually managed to gain some speed to catch up with her. Rainbow was kinda surprised. I said kinda, since back then, he got so spooked by a hallucination of his demons so much, that he took off at great speeds. She had to fly at the opposite direction, in order to stop him, but that resulting clash caused an electric explosion. Now, he is in full control and with it, gaining more experience.

Twilight, Dukey, Applejack and Pinkie Pie watched the whole spectacle unfolding, while sitting on the ground. The peppy pony was eating popcorn, Dukey looked through his binoculars and Twilight noting the progress.

"I must say, he really got better overtime." Applejack commented.

"Indeed, Applejack. I'm also surprised, that he managed to catch up with Rainbow Dash. The only other pony to do that could be Pinkie." Twilight noted.

"Not surprising really, since he is quite a quick dude. Even before our move." Dukey scratched his head, all while Twilight was curious about the speed.

"Ooh! It's so exciting!" Pinkie jumped in joy. Everyone watched, as the pegasi flew around the skies, while catching more speed. While Rainbow is obviously the fastest flyer, that didn't stop the black pegasus. Oh no. In fact, when he gained so much speed, his body was surrounded by electrical sparks and a cone of air formed around him, indicating that he was about to break the sound barrier. But...since he is not as experienced as Rainbow Dash, at least not yet...he got launched in the opposite direction.

"Oh, crud! Hang on!!" Rainbow saw this happening and immediately dashed with high speed and caught the falling stallion. Because his body was still charged, the prismatic mare soon felt the surge and both fell.

"Johnny!" The hybrid shouted.

"Rainbow!" Applejack did the same.

"Hold on!" Twilight flew up and used her magic to catch them mid air, saving their lives. However, when she looked at Johnny, his body is still surrounded by the sparks.

"Wait....how in the name of Celestia did it happen!??!" Her jaw dropped and inspected this strange ability of his. "This is unbelievable... not only are you able to catch up with Rainbow and almost broke the sound barrier, but while you were gaining speed, your body was charging with electricity!"

"Say wha?" The black pegasus was surprised. He knew, that throughout his life before he moved to Equestria, he used to be experimented by those...girls. Does that mean, that his genetically-altered genes had manifested into powerful abilities, when he was turned into a pony?

"Hold the phone! He can do that?! That's so cool, but also strange." Rainbow commented.

"I know, right? It seems like, Johnny had something more than just alicorn wings, despite being a pegasus." Twilight thought. "However, your body needs to be discharged first."

"Not sure, how long I'm charged. Johnny shrugged. The mares were also puzzled. They waited for a few minutes, until his body was fully discharged and therefore, free of electricity. After which, Twilight flew down with the two, landing safely on the ground.

"This has to be one of the weirdest moments today so far." Applejack was puzzled. Dukey agreed with a silent nod, but at the same time, he had a theory in his head. Johnny's DNA has been mutated and altered too many times, thus showing them up in forms of magical abilities like super speed and lightning powers, so it got him thinking. Since Dukey was also mutated, maybe some of them were converted into magical powers as well.

"If Johnny has those powers, thanks to his DNA....does that mean it would apply the same to me?" He thought to himself.

"Hey, dorks!" A voice can be heard.

"Oh god...not again..." The hybrid immediately recognized the voice and sure enough, when he turned around, he saw Missy and Sissy.

"Hey! What did Rarity and that rich kid told us?" Sissy shouted.

"I know, I know...Setting things straight and make amends." Missy sighed.

"So what do you want?" Johnny was equally irritated as his pal.

"I know, that you wouldn't trust me and such and I get it...I didn't know, that I was partially responsible for the whole mess in your life, until we watched the videos. For years, our rivalry has caused so much disrepair, that coupled with all fo the shit, you've been through, that you burned all connection with Porkbelly and anything about your life before this. And all I want to say is....is..." Sissy still struggled to say "I'm sorry" to Johnny.

"You guys know, what she means...right?" The hybrid mare noted. After a while of silence, the guys turned their backs against them, indicating a sign of rejection.

"Hey, I wasn't done yet, Test!!" The dark blue mare soon got impatient, but Johnny responded with an angry glare. She tried to get his attention multiple times, but he ignored all of them. But eventually, he soon couldn't take it anymore and snapped.

"Why the hell should I ever forgive to you?!? All you did is just ignoring my chaos and only make it worse, like everyone else!!! And obviously, I can't trust anyone easily, because of this!!!" He yelled at the girls with Dukey agreed with his opinion. After all, he was also a victim to the cruel world and its people.

"Uhm, hello? She is trying to apologise, you asshole!!" Missy rebutted.

"Well, it was already too late then! We just can't trust you, after all you have done.." the hybrid stallion snarled.

This caused an argument between the two parties, that lasted so long. During which, Fluttershy came back and was suddenly intimidated by the situation, given that she was unaware of the moments before. In the end, before anything could escalate into something worse than it already is, Sissy and her best friend ran away. During which, they came across Rarity, who was about to check up on then.

"It's no use, Rarity!" The pegasus was filled with sadness.

"What?! What in the name of Celestia is going on!?" Rarity was shocked by that outcome.

"Well, the dudes just rejected us. Why wouldn't they just listen to us FOR ONCE?!?!?" Missy loudly yelled in the air.

This caused Rarity to pause in shock, before they continued running away. Soon, her shock turned to anger, when the white unicorn ran to the duo.

"Do you even realise, what you've done?!?!?!" The unicorn mare snapped and shouted at them.

"Is...is it over?" Fluttershy was still scared, when Rainbow Dash comforted her.

"That was just really rude, pal.." Applejack shook her head in disappointment.

"How could you just reject their apology?! They didn't mean to cause any harm!!" Rainbow yelled, but the guys were unphased.

"Why can't you understand, that they were too late to realize!?" Johnny stomped his hooves on the ground. "They didn't contribute in anything and didn't even care!!"

"Well, what about the hippogriff hybrids, Gil, Jillian or anyone, they came for you!? You forgave them a few days ago!!" Twilight reminded.

"They're a different story..." Dukey looked away.

"But still...the girls now feel remorse of their actions.." Fluttershy protested, even though it didn't convince them.

"Ugh, why are you guys so stubborn and moronic?!?!!" The prismatic mare lost her patience, after they refused to change their mind.

"Why did you girls never understand, how hard it is to trust anyone!??!" The guys yelled in unison.

"Would you excuse me, we're leaving." Dukey and his pal were about to leave, when Twilight used her magic to prevent them from moving anywhere.

"No! We will not allow you to leave, until you fix this mess NOW!" The alicorn mare protested.

"Let us go!" Johnny tried to break free, but failed, since Twilight made her magic stronger, thus trapping them in a state of paralysis. At this point, the other ponies looked at them with disappointment and outrage.

"You know what, you girls are really getting on my nerves!!" The black pegasus growled, all while his body is slowly charging with electricity.

"Hey! That's no way to talk to your friends like this!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"I...said...LET ME GO!!!" Suddenly, Johnny unleashed a massive shockwave of electricity, breaking him and Dukey free from Twilight's magic and knocking everyone away. Dukey's fur was completely messed up and he was about to ask, when the black pegasus responded with: "No comment...Let's get outta here..."

With no objections, both left....

Soon, the mares woke up and looked around the damage, he caused. The shockwave was powerful enough to destroy buildings and had enough scale to reach the entirety of Ponyville.

"My hair!!!!" Rarity was appaled, that her hair was charged up.

"Can't believe, he was so rude to us!!" Rainbow felt betrayed.

"I know right, sugarcube." Applejack agreed.

"Did he just...?" Fluttershy was still shocked, but Twilight sadly responded with: "Yes, Fluttershy... It seems like, they...ended their friendship.. "

"But, I thought, we can help him..." Pinkie was sad.

Suddenly, the Mane 6 got surrounded by a golden aura of magic and dragged away into an alley, where a shadowy being waiting.

"We've been kidnapped! Somepony, help!!!!" Rarity was scared.

"You idiots!!! Don't you realize the full picture about his mental health!??!!" It turned out to be Eugene, who was really outraged.

"Wait, how did you know-" Pinkie was about to ask, but the obese unicorn interrupted with: "I watched it in the shadows."

"What do you mean by not getting the full picture? They were so rude to Sissy and Missy!" Rainbow shouted.

"Yeah. I know, that what they did was really irresponsible, but keep in mind, that his mental health is still in tatters. I mean, think about it....Twilight Sparkle...We all know, that the abuse and injustice had broken him severely and caused depression and anxiety. Do you know, what other feeling, that pain caused?" BBB stared at Twilight.

"Of course, I know! It also caused....wait...don't you mean, that he is also paranoid?" Twilight realized her mistake.

"Correct! You heard, that he can't trust anyone so easily. Especially to Sissy and Missy, given their record of...well...participating in the pain, thanks to the bad blood. Me, Gil and the agents were let off easily, because we gave him justice by exposing his former family about the dark truth. Plus, we did care for him in some degree or form. Same with Jillian, the former principal and a few former villains. That's not the case with the girls. At least back then..." He explained.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy was speechless.

"And as for you girls, as the supposed guardians of friendship and as for you, Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship, you should've known better by looking deeper to it, instead of blindly shouting at them. I am so disappointed in you..." BBB shook his head and teleported away, leaving the girls feeling guilty of what they've been done...

Inside of Twilight's castle, Starlight Glimmer was just looking around for Twilight for some talk. She looked around several rooms, but with no luck.

"Twilight? Twilight, where are you?" She asked. When the lavender mare went to the library, she didn't expect seeing Johnny and Dukey inside...but something was not right with them....They've become...silent.

"Uhm, guys...are you okay?" She asked, but...no response. "Hello?"

"What?!?!?" They shouted in unison.

"I was just wondering, why you're here." The lavender unicorn was a bit scared, but they simply looked away, much to her confusion. She then asked: "Why are you so angry all of a sudden? Did I just miss something?" But they refused to answer her question.

"Guys, I don't know, if I can help you, when you don't tell me, what's going on.." she sighed. "Like, did you get into an argument or something?"

Even though they didn't say anything, a nod from Dukey confirmed, that they were indeed in an argument.

"Ok...Did someone caused this argument or did it happen with each other?" She asked again.

"Starlight, would you stop questioning and leave us alone??" The hybrid yelled, causing the mare to back off a bit.

"I have no idea, what's gotten into them..." she thought to herself and left the library in order to look for Twilight. However during the search, she suddenly bumped into somepony.

"Ow!.. Are you okay, Twilight?" Starlight was rubbing her head and assumed, that she bumped into Twilight. But when the mare opened her eyes, it turns out, that it wasn't the Princess of Friendship. Instead, standing over there was an orange unicorn mare with red and yellow mane and teal eyes, who was also rubbing her head.

"Wait...Starlight, is that you?" The mare recognised Starlight.

"Sunset? What are you doing here?" Starlight instantly recognized the mare as Sunset Shimmer.

"Well, I decided to take a visit in Equestria, during the holidays." Sunset scratched her head. "Anyway, is Twilight here?"

"No. But, while I was searching for her, I found my other friends." The lavender mare remembered.

"Your other friends? Do you mean Twilight's friends?" Sunset asked. But Starlight responded by taking her to the library, where Johnny and Dukey were sitting. Needless to say, the orange mare was confused. "Uhm...who are they?" She asked.

"Well, I've met them a few days ago. Their names are known as Radiant Thunder and Coffee Paw respectively." Starlight explained.

"Are they new in Equestria? Why does one of them look weird and more importantly...What happened?" Sunset had so many questions.

"Uhm....about that..." Starlight was nervous. "They didn't originate from Equestria at all and there is a reason behind the move." She proceeded to explain her friend about their backstory of how they share the same pain, how they've been abused and such.

"What...?" The orange mare was speechless.

"It's a complicated story, Sunset... Even I had a hard time grasping on what's going on. Recently, they got into an argument with someone, but they refused to answer my questions. It's just....confusing." Starlight sighed.

The two mares went closer to the guys, where Sunset felt uneasy.

"Something tells me, that they never got over with the whole mess..." Sunset commented.

"They didn't...at least not yet." Starlight answered. "We're still helping them to overcome the trauma, even if they can be stubborn sometimes." Starlight sighed.

"Oh dear...is there a way to at least calm them down?" The orange mare was thinking of an idea.

"One moment, please." Starlight went off, leaving Sunset with the silent stallions. Not knowing what to do, she tried to talk about different topics, apart from the argument.

"Hi, my name is Sunset Shimmer. I'm quite curious, that Twilight made some interesting friends. So..uhm...how's your day?" She asked, but gets no response from them. "This is gonna be harder than I thought..."

Soon, the lavender came back with four cups filled with hot cocoa and marshmallows.

"I thought, this would make them feel better." Starlight commented and gave Sunset a cup and two for the duo. Smelling the sweet smell of hot cocoa and marshmallows, Johnny and Dukey immediately turned around and took the cups. Of course, being a hybrid makes it easy for Dukey, all while Johnny had to struggle. However, he had an idea. Before the argument and even before he met the others on that day, the black pegasus saw some pegasi doing more with their wings than just flying, like holding stuff. So, he decided to give it a shot and grabbed the cup with his wing.

"Huh. Never knew, that your wings can do that." Dukey commented.

"Well, ask the other pegasi. I basically learned it by just watching." Johnny shrugged.

They took a sip from their cups and thanks to the sweet and warm taste of the cocoa, the duo got better. Starlight smiled, since her plan did work after all.

"Maybe we should stop mentioning the argument, since...you know." Sunset whispered to the lavender mare's ear. The mare silently nodded, knowing way too well that it would make them grumpy again. She then proceeded to ask them in a normal tone with: "So, how's your new life in Equestria so far?"

"So far, so good. The beginning was a little bumpy, but we since got used to it. Although, sometimes some panic attacks happen." The hybrid explained.

"He is referring to their hallucinations of their demons and anxiety attacks." Starlight told to the orange mare about their struggles. "Oh, I'm sorry! I shouldn't bring them up, right?" She immediately apologised.

"Nah, it's fine. We already told Twilight and the others about that." The black pegasus scratched his head.

"That's good. Knowing the problems beforehand is instrumental on helping someone. I've been there before and so did a few others." Sunset smiled.

"Wait. What do you mean, you've been there before?" Dukey was confused, but the unicorn mare proceeded to tell her tale.

"You see, before Twilight came along, I was hungry for power and ambition. So much so, I could do anything to overthrow Princess Celestia and take the power by myself. And that's where her crown came to play. During the night, I stole it in the Crystal Kingdom and escaped into the human world. But, I lost the crown sometime later and it ended up in the school. Later, Twilight followed my trail. During which, a prom was held and I tried my best to win the position of prom queen. But her kind demeanor won the crowd over and eventually got her crown back. Being a sore loser I was, I threatened to destroy the portal and after some stuff happened, I finally got the crown. But by putting it on my head caused a powerful surge of negative magic surrounding in my body and I was turned into a she-demon, in which I used the powers to take everyone under my control and attempted to defeat her. But Twilight never gave up and with the newfound friendship with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy in the human world, managed to defeat me and undo the brainwashing. The defeat left me completely humiliated and at that point, I just wanted to leave and never come back...but Twilight offered me a second chance of friendship. Over the time, I was that hesitant since the incident had everyone hating me, so my confidence was at a low. That was until the Dazzlings appeared. Watching the fight unfold and with the girls losing to the sirens, I had to take action. My redemption and friendship with the others caused my destiny to change for the better. Since then, I became a guardian between the human world and this one, along with my new friends, including that world's Twilight." She told them about her past up until now.

"While in the subject of brainwashing, I am no stranger, when it comes to bad stuff in the past. Ranging from removing cutie marks, brainwashing a village of ponies and later messing up the timelines. Thankfully, Twilight taught me about friendship and since then, I am on a better path." Starlight recounted her past actions to the duo.

"Yikes. Good thing, that Twilight came into your lives. And as for messing up timelines, well Johnny and I are no strangers to that." Dukey scratched his head and even remembered the time, where they messed the timelines for fun.

"By the way, I'm also no stranger to bad stuff in the past, like blackmailing the girls, whom I never mention their names, for inventions. But that was because my mind was that chaotic. However, I fixed most of the mess, even though everyone continued to blame me." The black pegasus recounted the time, where due to his mental downfall, he did some bad stuff before.

"Well I guess, we all did some mistakes before." Sunset looked at them.

"But hey. Everyone makes mistakes, right?" Starlight asked and everyone laughed.

"Anyway, why do you decided to search for Twilight?" Dukey asked.

"Well, I wanted to talk with her about the future and such. Now that I mentioned it, maybe Twilight is outside. Would you excuse me, I'll go outside right now." The lavender unicorn once again left. This time, continuing her search for Twilight.

"So, anyway. Do you have any favorite hobbies?" Dukey asked to Sunset.

"I love to hang out with my friends and even play music with my guitar." Sunset smiled.

"That's awesome! Would you mind playing it for us?" Johnny grinned.

"Well, when I'm in the human world, yes. Maybe, you can visit me. Just go through the mirror over there and you arrived in the human world. It only opens every 30 moons." Sunset pointed at the mirror, that also acts like a portal.

"That got me thinking, what does 30 moons equal to a month or day or something?" The hybrid was wondering.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, it equals to-" However, before Sunset can answer his question, they suddenly heard Starlight screaming from afar.

"Starlight!!!" Sunset immediately ran off.

"What's happening?!" Dukey was panicked.

"I don't know, man! Let's go outside!" Johnny flew off with his best friend following him almost immediately. When they arrived in front of the main entrance, they saw the lavender unicorn frozen in fear and horror.

"Starlight, what's wrong?!" Sunset asked the poor unicorn, but Starlight didn't say anything. She just opened the door and pointed at what's happening outside: Everything was dark and the building were burning brightly. The skies have darkened as well with no moon or stars be seen. The ponies didn't even looked panicked, as if they fell into a spell. Everyone was horrified that Ponyville fell into total chaos.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!?!?!" The hybrid screamed in horror at the sight.

"I don't know! It was peaceful a minute ago and then this happened!" Johnny couldn't believe, that his new home fell into darkness.

"We have to warn Twilight!!" Sunset shouted.

"Right!" The three ponies agreed and the quartet soon ran. But as soon as ponies saw them, they began to chase the group relentlessly.

"Uhm, guys? I think, they're chasing us!" The black pegasus related the message to Sunset. Suddenly, more ponies appear and tried to corner them.

"Shoot!! Everyone, dodge!!" Sunset shouted. They got the message and began to dodge the ponies, trying to block them from running. They were everywhere, from left to right, there were even pegasi and unicorns up and down as well, but Starlight used her magic to break through the barriers. However, there were just too many ponies, so Starlight had to stop and create a magical barrier around herself and her friends from the brainwashed ponies. What's especially horrifying is that she recognized some of them. Especially the two ponies that caused the most horror: Trixie and Sunburst.

"No....Trixie!! Sunburst!!!" Starlight was in tears, when she shouted. She couldn't believe, that her friends would be controlled by a sinister force.

"Starlight, we need to get outta here! There's too many!!!" Dukey grabbed the unicorn mare and told her that they need to escape.

"He's right! The barrier can't hold it any longer!!" Sunset pointed at the barrier, which was forming cracks by the sheer amount of brainwashed ponies and non-ponies.

"I'm so sorry..." Starlight looked down and teleported herself, Johnny, Dukey and Sunset out of Ponyville and into a safe area. There, the lavender unicorn began to cry. Sunset Shimmer, her only friend who was not brainwashed, comforted her with a hug.

"I'm here, Starlight. I promise, that we'll free everyone and stop the individual, who caused all of this." The orange mare softly spoke.

"Do you have any clue, who did this?" Johnny asked, but his friend shook his head and shrugged.

"I swear, it's becoming like a literal nightmare!" Dukey shouted. The word "Nightmare" caused Sunset to freeze in shock.

"What's wrong? You okay?" The black stallion looked at the unicorn.

"No....it can't be.." she muttered.

"What? What do you mean??" The hybrid asked and at this point, the unicorn began to explain.

"I think, I know, who's responsible. Nightmare....." Sunset assumed.

"You mean like our nightmares?" The guys were confused, however Sunset shot down that claim with: "No. I'm talking about the creature, known as Nightmare. During my time in the school for gifted unicorns, Princess Celestia told me about a tale, where her sister got really jealous and left out, thus creating a new kind of dark magic. She soon infused it with her and thus, Nightmare Moon was born... Even after the banishment and subsequent defeat by Celestia , as well as Twilight and her friends years later, it's said that the creature is still around. I didn't know about the full tale until Twilight told me. There was also at one point, Nightmare had possessed one of her friends. They did free her from that creature, with the help of Princess Luna. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that it possessed somepony else."

"Don't say, it possessed Twilight!!!" Starlight was in disbelief!

"We don't know! It could be someone else!" Sunset rebutted.

"Sunset has a point. We don't know the possessed individual, but we have to stop it once and for all!" Dukey told the mare with a determined look.

"Uhm...guys...?" They heard Johnny speaking in a terrified voice.

"What?" The three ponies looked at him with confusion, but when the pegasus pointed at the direction, he's facing, the confusion quickly turned into horror in seconds. More possessed ponies. What's worse is, that among them was Gil, BBB, the men in black, Jillian, the General and the others.

"You did this...!" demonic voices can be heard.

"W-what?! Are you nuts?!" Johnny was in utter disbelief. What are they talking about?!?!

"Why are you saying stuff like this?" The hybrid shouted. But it fell on deaf ears. They continued to chant insults at the two, all while Starlight and Sunset used their magic to create a barrier around them.

"Stay back!!!" Sunset shouted at the ponies. They came closer and closer, all while the unicorns continued to strengthen the barrier.

More ponies arrived and tried to break the barrier, but with no avail. There was a moment of relief, knowing that they can sort the mess out. But it was short lived a magical dark mist in form of a pair of hands, slamming the barrier with full force, shattering it.

"No!" Starlight was even more horrified.

"Everyone, run!!!!" Sunset shouted and the four ran away, with the hands chasing them immediately. During the whole chase, they kept dodging the ponies, all while the hands were getting faster and faster.

"Shit!! They're getting faster!!" Johnny shouted. "If we can't out run them, then we're done for real!!"

"Guess, that there is one option left. Johnny, grab your friend and fly as fast as you can!!" Starlight suggested.

"What!?" The pegasus was shocked.

"Are you nuts?!?!" Dukey was appalled.

"JUST DO IT!!!!" The lavender mare loudly shouted. With no option, the pegasus began to fly and grabbed his best friend's paws. He flew really fast, but he can't outpace the hands of darkness.

"You know, what?!" Starlight shot a beam of magic directly at the duo, giving them a massive speed boost. It was a sacrifice, that was necessary to keep the guys safe, because shortly after that, Starlight and Sunset were grabbed by the hands and vanished into the void.

Meanwhile, the duo kept being pushed by the beam for a while, until it lost its power and faded away. After which, they crashed into a tree and fell to the ground.

"Ow..man..." Both were in pain. As they got up, there was no sign of any brainwashed pony or the hands.

"Wait! What about the girls?" We have to save them!!" Dukey was about to run, when Johnny grabbed him.

"It's no use! They were probably caught by the hands....Starlight did this just to save us, you know?" Johnny was also out of breath, since it took a lot of stamina. "We should take a break. I'm out of energy..."

"Wait, Johnny! What if the hands find us?!?" Dukey warned him about the possibility of being found by the sinister hands.

All while this was going on, evil laughter can be heard, along with haunting chants. Everything was too dark and without Starlight and Sunset, they can't see anything. The only light source they can use, are the flames, but even then, they can't go back. After all, they knew that Equestria is burning....

"I have a bad feeling about this..." the hybrid felt uneasy by the creepy atmosphere. Johnny agreed. It didn't help, that they're still wanted by either the ponies or the dark hands. So, they continued walking forward, even though it was all pitch black. All while, they felt a cold aura around them. After some time has passed, they reached a dead end.

"Shit..." Johnny sighed.

"Maybe, we should go either left or right." Dukey suggested.

"Which one is left?! I can't see shit!!" Johnny shouted.

"Maybe over there!" Dukey ran off with Johnny immediately following him. Neither of them don't want to be lost In the darkness. However, they reached another dead end.

"Oh come on!!" The guys shouted in unison.

"Maybe the other way?!" Johnny was getting really irritated right now.

"I don't know, but let's give it a shot!" The hybrid ran off again. Johnny tried to follow him, but tripped on a branch.

"Ow!! It hurts!!" He got up and tried to follow his friend's path, even though the pain slowed him down. Unfortunately, he stopped at yet another dead end. At this point, it felt like a trap or it could be that he is in a maze. He couldn't tell due to the darkness. Suddenly, he couldn't hear the voice of his best friend. Like something had silenced him...

"D-Dukey? Where are you??" His hooves were shaking, as he searched and looked around the area. He even tried to backtrack to the point before they reach the walls. But, the sight that greeted him sent chills down his spine. A red scarf with a diamond. With a horrified look on his face, he instantly recognized that of his friend and grabbed it with tears in his eyes...

"No! Dukey!!!! NOOO!!!!!" He screamed to the dark skies as loud as he could. It's official: Dukey has been taken by the darkness!! The black pegasus soon cried in fear and loss, since now...he is the only one...alone....in the darkness.

"No...it can't be..." he still cried out, while tightly hugging Dukey's scarf. As he was grieving, he didn't realise something behind him, until it was too late....Suddenly, the pegasus got grabbed by the dark hand.

"No!!! Let me go!!!!" He kept screaming in tears, but it tightly squeezed the trapped pegasus for a short while, leaving him gasping for air. The dark magic kept stinging his body like needles, all while the torture kept going. Soon, it went inside to the void, all while Johnny's screams of horror can be heard...the last thing, we hear before everything was silenced....

Everything was completely dark.....

Soon, voices of ponies calling someone out by name can be faintly heard...

"Johnny! Johnny! Wake up!!"

As soon the eyes were opened, we see Dukey, Starlight and Sunset looking worried. The black pegasus was still dazed from the ordeal...

"Ugh...Dukey? Girls?.. You're alive..." the faintly smiled.

"I'll get you up, buddy." The hybrid picked his best friend up.

"Where are we?" The pegasus asked the girls.

"We're in...somesort of a dark chamber." Sunset answered.

Everyone was freezing, because of the chamber and it's cold temperatures. When the group looked back, they saw Twilight and her friends, also freezing.

"Twilight! Thank goodness, you're okay!" The lavender unicorn tightly hugged the purple alicorn. "We were worried about you..."

"What in the name of tarnation is goin' on here? Everything was fine a while ago, when all of a sudden, the skies got dark!" Applejack demanded answers.

"I think, I know, who is responsible...and you probably won't like the answer, I'm about to give it to you.....it's Nightmare..." Sunset answered with a sigh. Everyone was shocked.

"Wait! Nightmare?!?!" Rainbow Dash was really shocked.

"How did it come back?? I thought, we destroyed it a long time ago!!" Twilight was in disbelief.

"We have no idea." Starlight looked down.

"It's so cold..." Fluttershy was shivering.

"I know, right? It's unbearable.." Johnny agreed, while shivering.

"I wish, we had some winter clothes on... The cold is just unacceptable!!!" Rarity yelled.

"I mean, at least we have each other....Right?" Pinkie smiled, despite the cold.

"Johnny...I need to tell you something..." Twilight went to the pegasus.

"Let me guess...is it about the argument between Sissy and Missy and me and Dukey?" Johnny assumed.

"Yes...we didn't know, that you were also paranoid and that it was hard to trust them, because of the bad blood...We're sorry for not looking into this further.." Twilight apologized.

"No...I'm the one, who should be sorry....I was just too carried away with my feelings and my trauma...not knowing, that they were genuine about that..." Johnny looked down.

"Correction, WE should be sorry about the whole chaos....I also got carried away in my rage...." Dukey corrected. He too felt responsible for the whole fallout.

"And also...I'm sorry for all the stupid things, I told you today...Damn, I feel like an idiot..." the black pegasus had a look of regret on his face, when he and his friend got pulled into group hug by Pinkie Pie and the others.

"It's okay. Given that I had a similar experience before, I forgive you." Twilight warmly smiled, which gave the stallions at least a second chance of friendship. Soon, Starlight and Sunset joined in the group hug as well. However, Twilight is worried about a different matter. It's about her dragon friend, Spike. He too is missing.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. In which the purple mare responded with: "I'm worried about Spike. What if Nightmare did something to him!?"

"Speaking of which..." Applejack pointed at the mist coming at them, which obscured all sight.

"Girls, are you still here?!?!" Twilight shouted.

"We are still here!" Rainbow can be heard shouting, but she couldn't see her.

Meanwhile, Johnny was looking around the dark mist, where he found his best friend. They immediately hugged, but soon felt a sinister aura around them.

"I don't want to die in the darkness!!" The hybrid shouted.

"Same here!" Johnny agreed.

Soon, they got knocked out by an unseen force....

The two woke up in a ruined castle, where the only light sources were torches. They tried to move, but realized that the hands had trapped them.

"Damn it! Can this day get any worse!?" Johnny shouted in the air, when they saw the Mane 6, trapped.

"Do you really have to ask that!??!?!" Dukey shouted at the pegasus. Back then, when someone asked that question, of course things would get worse.

"Hey! You okay?!" Johnny asked the girls, but they didn't respond to anything. Meanwhile, two pairs of glowing eyes can be seen. They looked around until they locked their eyes at Twilight and her friends, who were afraid. A magical aura soon grabbed the six and pulled them inside the void. Screams of horror and pain can be heard, all while Johnny and Dukey had to helplessly witness the whole agony. Soon, the six came out, but now, they've now brainwashed, like everyone else. They screamed in horror at the sight, because they lost their friends from that vile creature.

"Wait! Sunset! Starlight!! Where are you!?" Dukey kept asking about their location, when he heard a voice, calling out: "We're over there!!"

On the left, they saw the unicorn mares tied up on poles.

"Twilight...no..." Sunset was in tears, when she too witnessed the horrible creature now controlling her friend. Eventually, Johnny just couldn't take it anymore and shouted at the glowing eyes with: "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!?!?!?!" Soon...he heard a voice.

"Hello, Johnny~"

"Wait, how do you know my name?" The pegasus was surprised, that the creatures knew his name.

"We haven't forgotten about you and Dukey."

"What's going on!??!" Dukey was panicked that they knew his name as well. Another response can be heard:

"What? We can't play with our favourite lab rat and your mutt?"

"What are you talking about? I can't remember that-" However, Johnny was interrupted by the second voice:

"What? You don't remember us?? How dare you..."

It was unsettling. How did these creatures know them? As if they were a part of their lives before? Soon, the hybrid asked an important question: "Like I said, who are you?? Show yourself!!" After a while of silence, Johnny yelled: "Just answer the damn question!!" Finally, the voice responded:

"And we thought, we were still siblings...Johnny Test....and as for you, Dukey...Very well..."

Soon, from the glowing eyes, two tall and dark unicorns appeared out of the shadows. Both have dark silver blue armor and long and dark red manes with a dark fade and sparkles. With their sharp teeth and evil eyes, they stared at the helpless stallions. This is where it hit them extremely hard: Those evil mares looked very familiar, even though they wanted to forget their faces....And that's because the pair of ponies are none other the forbidden sisters, Susan and Mary!!

"Have you missed us?" The dark blue unicorn laughed evilly.

"No...This can't be!! I thought, you were arrested! Like staying In prison or something, HOW DID YOU GET HERE!?!?!?" The pegasus was in utter disbelief, that his former sisters had somehow found a way to go to Equestria.

"Wait, you know them?!" Starlight was shocked, that Johnny knew them. But the hybrid had a somber look, when he replied with: "Unfortunately...yes... We do....much to our dismay..."

"Well, congratulations, Einstein! You now realized the truth!" The dark yellow unicorn snarled.

"Whatever you do, Nightmare...your plan of taking over Equestria will never succeed!!" Starlight shouted.

"Is that so?? Some wishful thinking from a pathetic pony...Once we get rid of you, we'll make this world into a personal laboratory of darkness...FOREVER!!!!" Nightmare Susan laughed, as her voice echoed the entire area.

"But wait, my dear sister...Why not just play with our boys for a while, before we destroy them and conquer this world...?" Nightmare Mary smirked.

"Right...we haven't played with them for a long long time...How about....hmmm..Making their nightmares into reality?" The dark blue unicorn looked at her sister.

"Good idea. Prepare for your worst nightmares to become reality!! It's gonna be fun for us, watching you suffer..." the dark yellow pony cackled, as she used her dark magic to surround the guys in a dark void.

"What are you doing?! Stop!!" The two shouted in the darkness, but no answer came. However, dark ponies soon became closer and chant out their crimes from the past and how they didn't forget them, referring their former lives in Porkbelly. It was horrific, but for Johnny...it was absolute torture incarnate. Every single moment from his nightmares soon came to life. From the insults, being paralyzed in fear, bringing up the mistakes, that wasn't his fault and the demons...Oh boy, the demons...They emerge as demonic versions of people from his former world: the bullies, the villains, the citizens and finally, his former parents... All towering the poor ponies, who were frozen in fear and dread. All while the nightmare sisters watched on their thrones, drinking their cups of their victims' tears.

"Ah yes.. the perfect amount of salt and despair." Nightmare Susan smiled.

"Quite an excellent combo, isn't it right, sister?" Nightmare Mary looked at the dark blue unicorn.

"Why, yes~" She smirked, while enjoying the torture from above.

They continued the torture of their former brother and dog with their twisted spells and illusions. The demons kept attacking them, both mentally and physically, as the people kept punching and kicking them. They kept screaming and crying for mercy, but for the sisters, it was like music in their ears.

"Ugh! I can't hear the music loud enough!!" Nightmare Mary was annoyed.

"Let me help you with that~" Nightmare Susan used a spell to amplify the noise. Soon, they heard the sounds of despair loud and clear. So loud, that it can be heard around the entirety of Equestria.

"Much better~" The dark yellow unicorn was satisfied.

Soon, Starlight and Sunset heard their cries of pain. It was painful to listen.

"Johnny...Dukey...." Starlight was in tears.

"No...I can't allow it!!!" The orange mare struggled to break free from the chains, but they were so tight, that any escape would be impossible. Even when she tried to use her magic to break the chains, they wouldn't budge a single bit. "Damnit!! I can't just stand there!!!"

"Sunset...." the lavender mare looked at her friend struggling to break free from the chains. It showed, that she had enough courage and determination to stop the nightmare once and for all.

Back to the void of nightmares, the nightmare sisters kept laughing, as Johnny and Dukey struggled against the monsters, as if they watched a dark and twisted comedy. However, the next chapter of their torture was about to begin: The stallions hot lifted up by a dark aura and gave them the worst pains ever. Albeit indirectly, as they used some voodoo dolls to cause harm to their victims. At this point, they were at the point of absolute pain and it became worse as they where smashed to the ground hard, like someone getting punched by a supervillain.

"I think, that's enough fun. Shall we?" Nightmare Susan stood up and floated with her unicorn magic.

"Sure. It should better be quick, because we have so many plans for Equestria to build." Nightmare Mary was impatient and floated down as well.

"Yeah, I know, my dear sister...You are so eager to start the experiments. I can relate with that. I'm sorry, guys. But I think, it is time for your demise! We had so much fun, while it lasted!~" The twisted blue unicorn laughed.

"Any last words?" The dark yellow unicorn leaned towards an injured Johnny.

"No...more..." he whispered in pain.

"Is that all? Don't worry, we will put you out of your misery right here, right now!" The sisters charged their horns up for a deadly spell. At that point, it's over...the two were just too injured to even move. Plus, the torture had basically broke them severely. So, might as well accept their fates and die then....But then....

"Don't give up just yet!!"

A light blue orb of light surrounded the injured stallions, however the sister can't see them.

"Y'all better fight against those rotten apples and stand up!"

"Don't listen to those ruffians! You are better than them!"

"Just ignore all the neighsayers and stay positive, no matter what!"

"You need to get out of the darkness and shine brighter than ever before!"

Four more orbs of light surround them, all shining as brightly as possible. And finally:

"You're almost there! Don't give up your progress, that you've worked hard for! Stand up and defeat your demons with your newfound friendship and courage!"

Finally, a purple orb came down and joined with the other orbs of light. They wanted the two to keep fighting.

"How...it's just too much..." the black pegasus was in so much pain.

"It's just useless-" But the hybrid was interrupted by the blue orb.

"Don't say that! Come on, you are better than these monsters!! All you need is to remember your original purpose!"

"Think about it, you always wanted a happy life, free from your demons. And despite all of the trials and tribulations, you openly confessed your problems to anyone! You have to keep going! Be more open and brave!"

"Remember and treasure your amazing moments! They will always brighten up your mood!"

"Because...true friends are always there for you."

"With Honesty..."

"...Kindness..."

"...Laughter!..."

"...Generosity..."

"...Loyalty!..."

"...and finally...Magic...Believe in yourselves and together..."

"You will overcome every obstacle! For a better future!!"

The colourful orbs of light soon formed a circle around them in a break neck speed and eventually went inside them, where their bodies began to glow.

"Sayonara, dorks!" The sisters together fired a beam of deadly magic at them; causing a gigantic explosion with the smoke covering the entire area. They laughed evilly, since they succeeded to kill them....or did they? Because when the smoke was settled, not only were Johnny and Dukey alive and well, but also charged up!

"What?! That's impossible!!! You should've been dead!!!" The sisters were shocked by that sudden miracle.

"Sorry for bursting your bubble, but I'm afraid that your show has been cancelled!" The guys were filled with enough magical powers to match the sisters on an equal level, if not better. They immediately jumped forward to their direction and head butted the nightmares out of the void and back to the castle.

"Guys! You're alive! Thank goodness!" Starlight was overjoyed by their marvellous return.

"And wow, you look really powerful and determined!" Sunset smiled.

"Thanks, ladies!" The hybrid winked and broke the chains, freeing the unicorn mares.

["His World" starts playing]

https://youtu.be/BWWfjK0v8eM

"Why, you little..!?" The sisters were outraged and sent the brainwashed Mane 6 forward.

"Okay, everyone. It's time to get serious!" Johnny prepared for the attack and so did the three ponies. "Ready?"

"Ready!" The three ponies had determined and serious looks on their faces, ready to fight them with their magical powers.

"GET THEM!!" The sisters ordered the Mane 6 to attack and so did the quartet. An epic fight as begun.

Starlight used her magic to defend herself against a brainwashed Twilight and Rarity, who were trying to attack her. However, the lavender unicorn dodged their magical beams and unleashed her beam at them, pushing them to the wall hard. But that didn't stop the white and purple mares and charge for an attack, but Starlight smirked and blocked all of them.

Meanwhile, Sunset was fighting against a brainwashed Pinkie Pie and Applejack, who were using their tricks against her. She dodged all of them except a surprise attack from Pinkie with her canon, knocking her to the ground.

"Don't give up, Sunset! We believe in you!!" Starlight shouted, while fending off against her brainwashed friends. This gave the orange unicorn enough determination and confidence to charge her horn up and unleash a shockwave, pushing them away from them far away.

"Yeah! That's more like it!" she smirked and proceeded to dodge and counter all of the upcoming attacks of the earth ponies with her magic, eventually throwing them away to a wall.

Up in the air, Rainbow and Fluttershy were chasing Johnny, who performed some maneuvers to shake them off. The prismatic mare was so close to catch when all of a sudden, he took a sharp turn and kicked her hard to the ground. Fluttershy tried to bite him, but the black pegasus soon grabbed her by the hair.

"Hey, Dukey! She's all yours!" She threw the yellow pegasus to the hybrid, who proceeded to spin her around by the tail and threw her to the sisters.

"So long-a-suckers!!" He shouted, but the sisters halted Fluttershy with their magic and summoned more of the brainwashed ponies and non-ponies, including Shining Armor and Discord. The four ponies group together for an all-out brawl. The crowd jumped on them, but the four kicked, threw or used their abilities to kick more ass, breaking free from the swarm of brainwashed ponies. The Nightmares soon got out the brainwashed group of Johnny's other friends, including a brainwashed Spike.

"Step aside, I got this!" The black pegasus used his electrical abilities to create a terrain around him that anyone enters it, would get the shock.

Meanwhile, Starlight and Sunset used their magic to grab the Mane 6 and Spike and unleashed a powerful spell at them. This caused the brainwashing to be undone, freeing Twilight and her friends.

"Ugh...Starlight, Sunset? What's going on?" Twilight was dazed.

"It's a long story, Twilight. But now, we have to stop Nightmare once for all. Ready for an awesome fight?" Sunset smirked.

"Okay! Every pony, you know what to do!" Twilight looked at her friends and they nodded with determination, ready for the battle.

"Let's do this!" Rainbow Dash smirked.

The Mane 8 charged through the crowds, using their magic, animals, kicks and party cannons to knock them away. Meanwhile Dukey jumped up and landed on his hooves, causing an earthquake that tumbled the group into the group. After which, he had his claws ready, now glowing from the power within. He dashed through them with his claws, attacking every single one of them.

And as for Johnny, he flew up far to the dark skies with the lightning on his body and the magic of his friends being his only light source.

"Here goes nothing!" He smirked and started to dash through the skies, gaining more and more speed, as he continued flying. As he got faster, more lightning surrounded his body and the air formed a cone around him. Last time, he was a bit inexperienced and distracted, but now with enough confidence, he decided to give it all, he got. As he reached terminal velocity, the cone around him got tighter and tighter, until eventually, he managed to create something amazing.

The black pegasus broke the sound barrier and created a sonic boom, similar to Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom. But unlike Rainbow's version, the flare ring didn't contain the colors of the rainbow and instead bears the colors of the flames. His body became even more electrified and left a trail of magical flames behind. This variation lightened up the otherwise darkened sky and the flames continued to burn for a while. He soon dashed through the walls and knocked out everyone at light speed. Rainbow was shocked by the sight and when she looked at the skies, the flare ring and the flames and lightning trail can be seen.

"Did....did he just create his own version of the Sonic Rainboom??!!" Her jaw dropped by that event.

"Indeed he did, Rainbow. Indeed he did." Applejack nodded, while putting Rainbow's jaw back up.

"Ugh! Get them, princesses!!" Nightmare Susan sent out the brainwashed Princesses, including Flurry Heart to attack. The four alicorns combined their beams into one and aimed at them. But Twilight, Rarity, Starlight and Sunset did the same thing by combing their most powerful spells into one and unleash a powerful beam, causing the two beams to clash each other, trying to get the dominance. Eventually, the magic of of Twilight and the three unicorns, coupled with the magic of friendship broke through the beam and hit Celestia, Luna and Cadence. Then, Twilight used her magic to subdue her niece and stop her from using magic.

"Ugh! Fine! We'll just destroy you by ourselves!" The sisters used their magic beams, but the group dodges all of the beams. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared behind them.

"Surprise!!" She used her party cannon to shoot powerful confetti at the sisters, knocking them from their thrones and into the centre. Then Fluttershy used her animals to attack them, followed by Twilight, Rarity, Starlight and Sunset using their magic beams to shoot them up, Dukey and Applejack kicking them to the diagonal direction and finally finishing with Rainbow and Johnny performing a double kick to knock the sisters down.

"You imbeciles..!" Nightmare Mary coughed.

"You are pathetic and weak!!" Nightmare Susan shouted.

"Shut up and admit defeat, bitch." Johnny was not threatened at all by them.

"Okay, my friends! Let's unleash the magic of friendship!" Twilight flew up.

"Right!" Her friends took their positions and grabbed their hooves to form a circle. Suddenly, Johnny, Dukey, Starlight and Sunset started to glow and float as well.

"Whoa! We're joining into the climax!" Dukey was surprised, but also excited at the same time.

"I know, right?" Starlight and Sunset were as equally surprised as he was.

"Alright, you demons! This is the end of the line for you! And together..." Johnny looked at them and together with his friends:

"We will end the reign of tyranny once and for all!!"

Together, they unleashed a powerful rainbow, charged with other magical abilities from the quartet and although the sisters tried to push it away with their dark magic, it was a fruitless effort and the rainbow hit the two mares at full force, screaming in defeat, as the area got brighter and brighter. Finally, Twilight and all of her friends unleashed a powerful spell to undo the brainwashing spell and bring the light back to the skies.

[End of "His World"]

After the bright glow, the sun had returned to the skies, brighten up the days once again. Inside of the castle, Twilight and the others woke up and saw everything is back to normal now.

"Twilight!!" The purple dragon hugged the mare tightly. "I was so scared by the darkness!"

"It's okay, Spike. It's all over now." Twilight warmly smiled.

"That...was...the BEST ADVENTURE EVER!!!!" Pinkie jumped up in joy.

"Indeed, it was." Dukey smiled, who is starting to get used to her crazy personality.

"I'm so glad, that this is all over with. I mean, we were on the edge the entire time." Sunset scratched her head.

"Same here." Starlight agreed.

The group heard the sounds of other ponies waking up and being confused of what happened.

"Oh man...What just happened...?" Jillian was dazed.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie has no idea of the events beforehand..." Trixie was dizzy from the whole event and tripped from a random pony.

"I feel like, I've been drunk hard..." Mr. Black rubbed his head.

"Same. That or we've been high on something.." Mr. White assumed. Eventually, both agreed, that they felt like, they were high and drunk at the same time.

"Ow, my head...." Scootaloo felt like, she was spun out.

"I feel like, I was knocked out by a wrestler, dude...." Gil was trying to balance himself from the dizziness.

"Or being hit by a monster truck..." BBB fell down from the dizzying experience.

"What in the name of Equestria is going on..?" Princess Celestia was rubbing her head.

"Okay, everyone! I know, that a lot of you are confused of what was happening. But I'll explain the events and how we solved it." Starlight proceeded to explain their ordeal against Nightmare, the fight against the sisters and the eventual defeat with the magic of friendship.

"Well, that would explain, why everything became dark around us and then bam! Knocked out!" Zizrar noted.

"Except...who did Nightmare possess?" Celestia asked.

"We'll give you a strong hint." Dukey pointed at the ponies, whom Nightmare possessed: two unicorn mares, one being light blue and the other beige. Both have red hair and tail, glasses and hair clips. One of the ponies has a special ponytail and it's the same on her tail too. Both were laying unconscious.

"Oh....it's them..." BBB was not happy to see them.

"Can't believe, that they escaped prison, just to commit another crime." The men in black face palmed.

Gil on the other hand...was horrified, like he was having war flashbacks. Not surprising really, since they tried to murder him.

"Do you know them?" Jillian asked, but the aqua earth pony immediately hid behind one of the ponies. "Ah, jeez..."

"Wait...aren't those the girls from the video?" Sissy asked.

"Unfortunately yes." The former principal and Dr. Beebles nodded.

"God, I just want to freeze them solid, then smash them into little pieces..." The Brain Freezer was outraged, but that suggestion backed everyone off.

"What? Too graphic?" He was confused.

"Uhm...no? Not only is it wrong to do so, but that also wouldn't count as justice." BBB glared at the ice pony.

Suddenly, the castle began to crumble, as the essence of Nightmare resurgence in its physical form.

"Everypony, run!!" Princess Celestia ordered the citizens to leave the castle immediately and they did, leaving the princesses, the Mane 8, Johnny, Dukey, Spike and the unconscious sisters inside.

"It's..far from over!! I'll be back and continue spreading darkness throughout Equestria!" It spoke in a creepy voice and caused destruction. It soon got fixated on Twilight and her friends and jumped in an attempt to capture and possess them.

"Oh no, you don't!!" Princess Luna used her magic to protect them. "You will never get your evil hooves on them!"

"It's over, Nightmare... " Celestia glared at the creature. "Twilight. You know, what to do."

"I got it." Twilight nodded and once again, formed a formation with her friends. This time, Johnny, Dukey, Starlight and Sunset watched from the scenes, as the princesses and the Guardians of Friendship created a powerful spell and unleashing the rainbow at the creature, banishing it from Equestria. However, that didn't stop the castle from collapsing.

"The castle!!" Twilight watched, as the castle, where Celestia and Luna once resided, was now falling apart.

"We don't have much time, Twilight. We have to get out now!" Celestia told to Twilight, that the castle just can't be saved. The royal sisters used their magic to teleport everyone, including the twins and themselves out of the castle, only to watch, as the former Castle of the Two Sisters crumbled apart into millions of pieces. It was around this time, that the sisters woke up. But the sight, that greeted them was not friendly at all. Everyone looked at them angrily.

"You monsters!! Look what you've done!!!" A stallion yelled at them because of the damage, they've caused.

"Even though they were possessed, when the land was in ruins, that doesn't excuse the fact, that they drove these two ponies into severe depression and anxiety. One of them even attempted suicide! So an appropriate punishment is necessary. Guards!" Princess Celestia called her guards and ordered them to arrest the sisters. Suddenly, the sisters began to run away from the guards.

"Not so fast!" Starlight used her magic to stop the two mares. The twins tried to break free, even resorting to unicorn magic to stop it. But the lavender mare strengthened her magic to make an escape attempt impossible. But the clash between Starlight and the sisters caused them to be pushed away. While Starlight crashed to a nearby wall, Susan and Mary eventually fell on Sunset, who was trying to stop them.

"Ow...." Sunset was hurt by the hit and attempted to get back up. However when she touched each of the sisters' arms, her eyes started to glow white. While this was going on, the guards used their magic to get the sisters away from the orange unicorn, thus bringing her back to reality.

"Alright, you criminals. Your time is up!" One guard commented and they took the girls away to the Tartarus.

"Hey, Test!" Sissy ran towards the black pegasus.

"Let me guess, you want to apologise for your errors?" He guessed.

"Wait, how did you-" the blue pegasus was confused.

"Well, Twilight proved me a point. And that is not to be a paranoid jackass. Look, we're sorry for not accepting your apology. My mind was that chaotic." Johnny apologized.

"Well, OUR minds were chaotic, that's for sure." Dukey looked down.

"You see, they're still paranoid and they find it difficult to fully trust anyone. Trust me, if you learned one or two things about psychology, you should know that abuse, bullying and other stuff would traumatize someone." BBB explained to the mares.

"He has a point." Missy replied.

"Well, we were really acted like jackasses.." Johnny scratched his head

"Uhm. Missy and I are the actual jackasses, Test." Sissy corrected.

"Actually, all four of us are jackasses in different ways. I mean, we fuck up stuff all the time." Missy pointed out.

"Fair enough." The others agreed.

"See, nopony is flawless. And that is what makes each of us special." Twilight explained.

"Anyway, we accept your apology." They smile.

"Thank god, it's over. I can now restart our lives with a clean slate." The blue pegasus mare was relieved.

"Aren't we all?" The group laughed and everyone was happy that peace has returned to Equestria. They just need to repair the world and voila!

Everyone was happy....except for Sunset Shimmer.

Ever since she touched their arms, she saw something unbelievable. Something, that she would never forget. However nobody paid attention to her, except Starlight, who was confused.

"Sunset, what's wrong?" She asked.

"I've seen something in their heads...that was even more complicated..." the orange mare responded.

"What? What did you see?" Starlight was a bit curious.

"Well...it's difficult. I mean, the moments, I saw clearly were the demons, the chains and the blood. Anything else is a...blur." She tried to explain Starlight about what she saw.

"Wait. Doesn't sound like the same thing, that the guys had? Why would the girls have those thoughts in their head, like they were begging for help?" Starlight wanted answers, but Sunset didn't know it clearly.

"I..I don't know...ugh...this story is getting even more complicated than it already is..." the orange mare signed.

"Oh, jeez..." Starlight was a bit worried. For them, even more questions popped up, thanks to the sisters' arrival. Like what is going on in their heads? Why did they allow Nightmare to possess them and more importantly: Why would they go to Equestria?

Those are the questions, that the unicorn duo has to find out soon....

To be continued...

Chapter 12: The Burning Chains

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It's been a week since the Nightmare incident, that caused so much destruction and chaos. The ponies and non-ponies got together to rebuild their homes and restore the nature of Equestria. Within a week, with the help the princesses, Equestria has been restored. And although, they're glad that the girls are now in Tartarus, serving their times, there was a question, that baffled anyone, especially Celestia and Luna: How did Nightmare come back? Last time, they saw it, was during the time of Nightmare Rarity. With the help of the moon princess, Twilight and her friends managed to get Rarity out of the darkness and destroy it.

"I feel like, a much more sinister force managed to bring it back." Celestia thought.

"And it's because of the sisters..." Luna sighed.

"There is no doubt about it." The Primcess of the Sun is convinced.

"And as for 'Operation: Healing Light', we'll continue following it, if it means to cleanse them from the bitter trauma. Or at the very least, give them so much happiness and control to their emotions." Luna looked straight.

"You're right, dear sister. Their mental health is what's important." Celestia was convinced. At the time, there were no other invasions, apart from Nightmare. At least not yet. They looked at the murals, thinking about the future of what's to come.

Meanwhile, Sunset was reading books about nightmare. There was something, that felt off to her. Did they allow Nightmare to be possessed or did it by force? "Come on...There has to be something...I don't want to leave this story one-sided!" The mare kept looking and looking. It was around this time, that Starlight checked up on her.

"Why are you convinced about your idea of reformation? Don't you know, that they caused so much destruction and pain to not only Johnny and Dukey, but everyone in Equestria and beyond?" Starlight was sceptical.

"There has to be a reason as of why they came to Equestria and later became Nightmare's targets! I know, that there is some darkness in their hearts, but I want to help them, despite the odds! I mean, the 'Miss-A-Non' incident left me alienated for crying out loud! And there was no evidence, that I did it!" The orange mare kept reading the books.

"I get, that you are determined, but let's face it: Everyone DESPISES them!" Starlight pointed out, that the sisters became public enemies.

"That's what also happened to me after my defeat! Everyone hated me because of brainwashing them into obedient zombies and I thought, it was all over! If it wasn't for Twilight, of course! I mean, come on! I know, that you did some bad stuff before, but let me ask you a simple question: Did you come at a point, where it seems like, you've become hated by everyone? Was there any feeling of hopelessness? Did someone came to your rescue?" Sunset asked and without warning, she left on the way to the Tartarus, leaving the lavender unicorn speechless. A bit later, she shook off that feeling and moved on...Or did she?

After some time has passed and looking at the map several times, Sunset Shimmer had finally arrived at her destination: Tartarus. She knew, that only bad ponies, who did atrocious things with no regret would stay. But she knew, that she can't get there so easily. On top of that, this place is guarded, preventing any escape. She tried to go there, but of course the guards blocked the entrance.

"Halt! What is your reason to go inside?" A guard looked at her.

"Look. I want to visit the sisters. I just want to ask them a few questions-" But another guard cut her off mid-sentence.

"Denied! Those monsters are locked up for a reason and nopony shall ever visit them again! So, please just leave." He looked stern.

Sunset tried to reason her statement, but the guards always cut her off, because they refused to listen the possibility of their side of the abuse story and pushed her away.

"Ugh...Rude..." She was annoyed and left. It seems like, nobody would allow her to visit them, thus isolating them even further. She tried to tell other ponies about her thoughts, but they wouldn't listen and calling her crazy. It infuriated the unicorn mare and saw it as injustice. She tried to convince her friends about her cause, but of course they denied, leaving her as the only one...

"Man...I don't know, what to do anymore..." Sunset lowered her ears and went to an empty field. "Why did I even come to that mindset of saving them? Is it because of my experience? What if everyone was right and that they can't be redeemed?" She started to question about her cause. "Maybe it's for the best, that I'll go back to the human world...the portal is about to close at midnight anyway..." She said. It was a pretty impossible to convince anyone. Even though the mares had no control of their bodies, their abuse on Johnny and later destruction overshadowed anything else. But before she would leave in defeat, a teal aura pulled her to somewhere secret. At first, the mare was alarmed, but soon realized, that the color of the aura looked familiar. Sure enough, the pony, who pulled her somewhere discreet was Starlight Glimmer coming out of the shadows.

"Starlight!?" The mare was shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"You know, you asked me a very good question and I can answer with that. Yes, there was a time, where I felt hopeless. It came sometime after my second defeat and when Twilight started to teach me about friendship. I remember, that I was really scared to apologise Sunburst or the ponies in their village. So much in fact, that feelings of sadness and deep fear came to play. But Twilight assured me that things will be okay and I even made a new friend, in the form of Trixie. She too did some appalling things in the past, so we became kindred spirits almost immediately. It took a long time to work hard in order to earn forgiveness and being in the position, I am today. Anyway, it also made me think of a possibility, that maybe...just maybe, there could be a glimmer of regret in the sisters and hopefully with our way of teaching them, we will guide them to a different path. A path of friendship and humility." Starlight explained.

"I tried to go to the Tartarus, but they wouldn't allow me to visit them. It didn't help that no pony was willing to help me, which makes this situation even more biased than it already is! It's like they want to drive them crazy with isolation!" Sunset was still frustrated. Both unicorns are now thinking of some ideas on how to talk with them.

"I think, I have an idea." The lavender unicorn mare used her magic to teleport her and Sunset near the Tartarus and hid somewhere. "We have to wait, until the guards left. I don't know how long, but we have to find out, on why they caused all of this. After all, no story should stay one-sided." She looked at the guards from afar and both unicorns waited...and waited..

"I don't think, they'll leave." Sunset was unsure.

"Hmm..." Starlight was thinking of an idea on how to get inside and avoid the guards. They kept waiting, but they didn't move from their positions at all. Sunset was infuriated because they kept staying on high alert. Soon, Starlight had an idea.

"I have an idea. One moment." The lavender unicorn's horn started to glow, as she kept looking at several spots. Soon, she used her magic to create a distraction by forming it into a sphere and threw it far away. After a while, the guards heard an explosion from afar. Alarmed, they went to the source of the explosion.

"See? Now let's go." Starlight used her magic to teleport herself and Sunset inside. After a while of walking, they heard the sounds of screaming, crying, thrashing and the sounds of chains pulling. The mares felt uneasy, but they have to move on. At the time, they arrived at the centre, they found the unicorn sisters chained to the ground and their horns being covered by a special metal, that prevent the girls from using magic. What's more, the twins' hair looked completely messy with Mary's ponytail being undone and their hair clips on the ground. Both were crying, but was it regret or insanity?

"Oh my God..." The orange mare was shocked. They've been locked up for a week and already showing despair. She tried to reach them, but an invisible barrier prevented the mare from going closer. When the sisters looked at the mares, they tried to jump at them, but due to the short chains, they were unable to do so.

"I'm not sure, if I can trust them to be honest, Sunset. I mean, according to Johnny's diary and several recollections from Dukey and others, they've done some horrible things before." Starlight was once again sceptical about Sunset's mission, but the orange mare reassured her with: "Hey. Back then, a lot of them thought, that I can't be changed and forgiven. But I proved them wrong by changing my destiny for the better. Now, it's a matter, if they're willing to cooperate."

They kept screaming, kicking, crying, shaking and lashing on the ground, while pulling the chains. A clear sign of lost sanity. But Sunset was not deterred and proceeded to ask them a few questions.

"Hey. I came here to ask some questions. I wanted to know about YOUR sides of the story. How did you get to Equestria and why? And did you let Nightmare possess your bodies?" She asked. However, the sisters refused to speak. In fact, they due to their mental states falling apart, they couldn't speak at all. The only responses they can are screaming and grunting. But the mares didn't understand on what they're trying to imply.

"Oh dear...They really lost it..." Starlight witnessed their mental downfall.

"I know right? It would surely make the mission a lot harder..." Sunset sighed.

Suddenly, Starlight heard something coming and looking panicked, teleported her and Sunset out of the Tartarus immediately. They hid again and when Starlight peeked a bit, her fears were confirmed: The guards have returned from the inspection and stood their positions in front of the entrance.

"Shoot...I knew, that they'll come back.." Starlight correctly assumed. "That would make it almost impossible."

The orange mare sighed and looked down. Starlight looked at her friend with a worried look on her face. Ever since that blurry vision from the sisters, Sunset has been in an impression, that they maybe can be saved, due to her own experience back in Canterlot High. But sometimes, she would doubt herself about the cause. Maybe, the ponies were right after all.

"Uhm, Sunset? I think, you should take a break. You're really worked up and quite in a rush." The lavender unicorn suggested.

"I think, that's for the best..." Sunset nodded and the two mares left the area.

Meanwhile in Canterlot, rebuilding and preparing for the Friendship Festival, which had been delayed, had begun. Now, ponies worked even harder and it's not to see why: The nightmare incident had destroyed everything in Canterlot and beyond. The non-ponies even helped the ponies on the rebuilding of the stage, the building and especially, the castle. It was around this time, that Twilight went around, checking their progress.

"Okay...It seems like, the rebuilding went a little faster, than expected. Plausible, since Johnny's friends helped them out. Speaking of which..." the purple unicorn kept walking around and eventually stopped at the ponies, putting the decorations on the stage. Two of them were Sissy and Missy.

"Hey, girls! How's your progress?" Twilight asked.

"Pretty decent. I had no idea, that it was decorated before until after we arrived there and holy shit, the destruction they caused were...let's just say...hellish?" Sissy reported.

"You know, I slowly like my new form. Being a hybrid does bring several advantages like grabbing stuff with my paws and feeling more alive. Being smart and full of personality! Sissy on the other hand, struggled..." Missy commented about her friend being a full pegasus.

"Hey, I had a hard time picking up stuff, now that I've been turned into a pony!" The blue pegasus groaned because of her disadvantage.

"Why not try to grab stuff with your wings? I've seen Test doing it and a few others as well. Plus you ARE a pegasus." The hybrid mare shrugged. Sissy looked around and saw several pegasi grabbing objects from the ground and even Johnny using his wing as a bowl or something. "Granted, Test uses even more of his wings then just flying and grabbing, because of his wings being huge!" the hybrid added, while pointing at her friend's wings. As the blue pegasus spread one of her wings, it looked like any other pegasi's wings.

"I mean, you can also improvise, if you want." Twilight scratched her head.

"I'll think of some ideas." Sissy answered.

"Don't you also have to test your wings first? I mean, you don't want to get yourself injured with broken wings and such." Missy reminded. After all, no pegasus likes their wings being broken.

"I know, that I like the thrills but not the reckless ones." The blue pegasus scratched her head.

With a giggle, Twilight moved to a different spot, where the General and the hippogriff agents work with the decorations.

"How's your progress?" Twilight asked to the men. In which the bald earth pony responded with: "Our progress has been slow, but well, your highness!" That statement made the purple alicorn flush in embarrassment. She looked at the hybrids, using their magic to put some ribbons and glitter on the decorations. Even in the air, when they used their wings. In Twilight's mind, they're technically alicorns.

"I must say, wings and a horn are quite handy." Mr. Black was impressed.

"Yep. Plus, those claws also work as hands." Mr. White was also impressed by the claws, dualing as hands.

"About the hand one, that would make the five of you and your friends." Twilight was referring Dukey, Missy and Zizrar, who were helping out on the rebuilding and decorating for the upcoming Friendship Festival. Suddenly, a shriek of excitement can be heard and the hippogriff hybrids were soon pulled into a high by a female hippogriff.

"Oh my gosh!! Oh my gosh!!! Are you new here! I'm so happy, that I met new hippogriffs!" She was so excited. Twilight couldn't help but giggle, all while the hybrids were gasping for air.

"Hey, excuse me! I demand to let my men go!" The General tried to force the female hippo griff to let them go, but she didn't take his words seriously.

"It's okay, General. She is a good friend and a student from the Friendship School." Twilight smiled and flew to the female hippogriff. "Hello, Silverstream! Could you please let the two men go?"

"Oh, sorry..it's just, I'm so excited of finding new friends." Silverstream let the others go, who breathed heavily,

"It's okay. But next time, please go easy on the new ponies and non-ponies. I'm not sure, if most of them share your enthusiasm. Plus, it's been a hard day for everyone involved." Twilight gave the female hippogriff an advice.

"I didn't know, that I've been brainwashed by a sinister force, until Starlight told me." Silverstream scratched her head.

"Nopony knew that at the time. It just happened." Twilight confessed.

It was around this time, that Starlight and Sunset returned from the whole situation and arrived to the castle grounds.

"Hey, Twilight!" Sunset smiled.

"Hey, Sunset! I'm so impressed, that you used your magic again after a long time. Especially in a dire situation." Twilight commented.

"You know, I had to, just to stop the nightmares." Sunset replied.

"We all had to, Sunset. In fact, I'm glad that you helped us, because without you, we would've been in the clutches of Nightmare." Starlight remembered.

"I'm also glad, yet surprised about the guys' sudden boost of power and confidence. If it wasn't for that, then we would be lost. I'm really sorry for what happened to them and anyone else involved in the messy story." Sunset sighed.

"At least we helped them find some footing in Equestria by finding a new family and friends. Those were the first steps to bring them to normality and serenity at least. They have yet to control their mental issues and anxiety attacks though." Starlight reported.

"Thankfully, we're always there to help them. As long as we keep helping them on their journey, the complicated trauma will end. We just have to keep their hopes up." Twilight smiled.

"We'll see about that." Sunset responded.

"Anyway, what are you doing here in Equestria?" Twilight asked.

"I'm just visiting here and check up on you. That's all. However, I had no idea, that I would be soon involved in a crazy situation." Sunset scratched her head. "Even though we saved Equestria, the whole event made me messed up."

"Oh dear...Maybe you should take a break, Sunset. The week has been tough for all of us. After the rebuilding, everypony will take a break and rest. However, I'm not sure, if we can move on from the Nightmare incident just yet. Considering that there were some mental damage left behind." Twilight noted.

"I think it's for the best. I'm about to go back to the human world anyway. This day has been a rollercoaster for me." Sunset looked at them.

"I know." The purple alicorn smiled and she used her magic to teleport her and Sunset to her castle, leaving Starlight with a look in her face, as if she wants to test out a theory... But after a few minutes, Twilight came back.

"Okay, now, where were we?" She thought.

"How about checking up the others and also check on the deal with Star Time Rush?" Starlight reminded.

"That's right! I have yet to check on them!" With those words, the princess of friendship teleported away. Once again, the lavender unicorn returned to her thoughts, but decided to help the other out and went to some groups.

Human World, Canterlot Mall

In this particular mall, Sunset was hanging out with her friends and, while sitting on a table, told them about her experience in Equestria last week.

"No way! Are you for real?" Rainbow Dash was stunned.

"Were you okay?" Fluttershy was worried.

"Yes, it happened for real and don't worry. I turned out to be fine and defeated Nightmare once and for all with my friends." Sunset explained.

"Oh my gosh!!! You were so brave fighting off the monsters with all your might and magic! I wish, I saw this moment!" Pinkie Pie was filled with joy.

"But we were so worried, that you didn't come back last week!" Rarity was worried.

"Well, it was such a chaotic week and everyone had to recover from that." The light-orange girl remembered.

"Say, I'm quite curious about your new friends, Sunset. We never heard of them before." Twilight was curious about the two ponies.

"Oh. Here is the thing, I don't know much about them, but thanks to Princess Twilight and Starlight, I got some of the information. One of them is a pegasus and the other being a hybrid between an earth pony and a dog. Both are stallions, who moved to Equestria a while ago, because they want to find happiness. Their names are Johnny and Dukey and...well, the reason of their move is quite complex and serious. So much so, that I have to simplify their reason in a short sentence to you, girls. The reason is of...well, they want to escape the pain and abuse." Sunset explained about her new friends and some facts about them.

"What pain and abuse?" Applejack asked.

"Well, it's a complicated story. Even I can't grasp on the severity of the damage and how messed up it gets." Sunset confessed. "Thankfully, Princess Twilight and her friends got it covered and are currently helping them and a few others, who also moved to Equestria, to find peace and serenity in their new lives. And also, get over the trauma, of course."

"Well, it's a good thing, that Princess Twilight and her friends help them, because I couldn't imagine the pain, they've felt before their move..." Sci-Twi voiced her opinion.

"I know, Twilight...I know." Sunset sighed.

"It would be super exciting, if they can visit us! I want to know them well!" Pinkie Pie smiled.

"Easy, Pinkie. Sunset told us, that it has been an exhausting week for her and for them. Y'all need to be patient." Applejack noted.

"She's right. The nightmare incident and the rebuilding of Equestria has been very exhausting for everyone involved. Especially, Sunset and her friends." Sci-Twi replied.

"Yeah. It was...quite an earthquake, which left even more questions. But I'll think about them tomorrow. Right now, I'm so exhausted. Even if it's been a week. I had to help the others with the rebuilding and such." Sunset was exhausted.

"We understand, Sunset. I hope, you would rest well." Fluttershy smiled.

"But first, we have to do some fun together, girls!" Pinkie Pie smiled brightly and went to a candy store. The girls laughed and followed her. The group had some fun involving candy, music, games, etc. After a fun time, the girls said goodbye to each other and Sunset took a walk to her home. It's been after dusk and walking at night is dangerous. But the girl knew better, since she has a magical geode in form of a necklace, thus defending her from evil. Eventually, she reached at her home and went inside. There she did some errands and after a break, she went to bed and fell asleep.

Hours later, before midnight, while Sunset was asleep, the door bell started to rang. Annoyed, she went up and went go the door, even though whoever's on the other side, kept ringing the door bell. "Alright, I'm coming!" She opened the door, but without a warning, someone came inside, while carrying something. Sunset rubbed her eyes and turned on the lights, only to see the impossible: The shadowy figure turned out to be Starlight Glimmer and the stuff, she's carrying, are actually Susan and Mary, completely unconscious!

"W-wh...STARLIGHT!?!" She was shocked by the sight, but the lavender girl put her finger on her lips to hush her. She kept asking with: "What are you doing here?! And how did you get them out of the Tartarus?!?"

"Shh! You want to test your theory of possible redemption, right?" Starlight asked. "So, I decided to do an elaborate breakout and covering the tracks."

"How??" Sunset was still asking about the breakout. In which, Starlight took a deep breath and explained with: "You see, I've overheard a conversation by the guards, that they have planned to send the sisters back to their home world and erasing their memories, thus silencing them and their side of the story forever! So, I planned the whole escape the whole time, the day after the nightmare incident. I looked at the structure, the security, the time, everything. After preparing, I took action and used an invisibility spell on myself and snuck into the tartarus, where I also knocked the guards out. I went inside, where I saw the sisters looking pretty messed up and trying to jump at me. But the chains made their attempts impossible. Their screams and howls became really unbearable, so to save my ears, I knocked them out with a spell. Plus, I also used another spell to go through the barrier and broke them free from the restraints, including the metal around their horns. Soon, I used a spell to take out a bit of their hair to create clones, then restraining them, put the real sisters on my back and teleporting into Twilight's castle. Everyone was asleep at the time, so I had to be quiet and snuck to the mirror and went inside. However, I know, that there is not much time, so I had to hide, while at the same time, finding you. And the rest is history."

"But, what if anyone finds out, that they basically escaped and you also vanished? There would be chaos!" Sunset made a point, but Starlight assured with: "Don't worry. I also made a clone of myself."

That kinda gave Sunset relief, but she couldn't believe, that Starlight would do something extreme. She knew, that the lavender girl had learned and mastered magic, but the extent was really astronomical.

"Do you want to save them or not?" Starlight was impatient. The orange girl answered with: "Okay, okay! I know, that was my intention, but we have to test that theory first! And also, if they're willing to cooperate and such."

"Exactly. We don't know, if we can fully trust them, given their record. But maybe we can make them talk about their side of the story and maybe...just maybe, reform them." Starlight nodded. "However we have to make sure, that they wouldn't cause even more chaos again. So we have to add some safety repercussions."

"Agreed." Sunset agreed and they carried the two girls to a different room and made some makeshift beds, so they can lay down. They put the sisters down on the beds and tucked them in. Starlight noted, that their bodies were cold, so she brought an extra blanket to warm them. Meanwhile, Sunset turned on the heater to give them extra warmth. "I think, they're out until the next morning." Starlight commented about the spell and when it will wear off.

"As for the clothes....I think, I'll probably ask Rarity to make new ones for them tomorrow." Sunset responded, since the sisters wore only rags as clothes. "And tomorrow, with my magic of Empathy and your help, we'll maybe see their story unfold."

"Right now, I'm so exhausted...." Starlight yawned. The escape costed too much energy.

"We need some sleep. Maybe tomorrow, we have better luck." Sunset yawned as well and both left the room, slowly closing the door. After that, the lavender girl thought on where she could sleep. After some thought, Sunset suggested her to sleep on the couch, which can be turned into a bed. After some preparation, Starlight laid down and after saying "Good Night" to each other, the orange teenager went to her room. It was a very intense day and they need some rest.

Meanwhile, while the sisters were still unconscious on the bed, sounds of screams and fire can be heard. But it didn't come from the outside. Instead it was in their heads, like something was happening inside.

The next morning...

The sounds of the birds singing and the slight breeze ever moving the leaves ever so gently woke the fiery girl up from her sleep. After some stretching, she went downstairs to the living room, only to see Starlight still asleep on the couch/bed. Sunset tried to wake her up, but it didn't work, as she moved to the opposite direction.

"Just give me five more minutes.." she groaned.

Annoyed, Sunset went to her room, only to come back with an airhorn, that Pinkie gave it to her as a gift a few weeks ago. Slowly and carefully, she made sure, that she was in a correct distance, so the sound of the airhorn wouldn't make her deaf. She also had to consider about the girls in the other room. Afterwhich, she started sounding the airhorn close at the lavender girl, who jumped at the sudden and loud sound like a cat. This was enough to wake her up, only Starlight's hair was really messy.

"Seriously!?" Starlight was really annoyed by the loud wake-up sound, but at least she is fully awake now.

"Sorry, Starlight...but I had to." Sunset admitted and scratched her head.

After Starlight calmed down for a while and some stretching, they prepared breakfast, with Sunset teaching the lavender girl on how to make scrambled eggs. Then, she portioned it into four and put them on four plates, since they have to give two of them to the sisters, who are still laying on the other room. Sunset grabbed the two plates and went to the room, while Starlight grabbed some drinks and followed her immediately. As soon, as they arrived the door, they have to be prepared.

"Just in case, they would try to attack us, I have my magic ready to subdue them." Sunset told to her friend about her safety precaution.

"Man, I wish, I can harness my magic here." Starlight looked down, but Sunset assured her with: "All you need to do is just believe in yourself and channel your inner magic." With a smile, the two entered the room and closed the door, when they saw the sisters still laying on the bed, unconscious and naked. It didn't take long, till the magic wore off and the twins woke up from their slumber. Again, the only sounds, they make, were only grunts and noises. But no words or sentences.

"You're awake!" Sunset exclaimed. The girls looked around their surroundings out of curiousity and confusion. They looked at Starlight and Sunset, who were looking careful. Starlight then explained with: "Don't worry, you're not in the Tartarus anymore."

They looked down at the plates of breakfast, the friends placed in front of them. It has been a week since their arrival to Equestria, after they broke out from prison, they've been sitting for three days. During their confinement in the Tartarus, they were denied of food. Sure, they were given some water to drink, but still. It would also explain about why they looked almost malnourished, so it's no surprise that they immediately started to eat the breakfast like animals.

"Oh, geez...It's gonna be a hard job for us..." Starlight sighed.

"I know." Sunset scratched her head, but decided to go to the girls, while at the same time, creating an invisible barrier between her and the sisters. "Okay, I know, that you are confused as of where you are. Basically, you are in the human world. A world that is similar to Equestria, but more modern."

The twins looked at their hands and were astonished that even though they've been turned into humans again, their skins now consisted of bright blue and bright beige. Which means, they're colourful humans now. Literally.

"Anyway, my name is Sunset Shimmer and my friend over there is Starlight Glimmer. We wanted to know your side of the story and what happened to you before you went to Equestria, as well as the moments, after you arrived. Your information is required, if you don't want to feel the torture." Sunset explained. "Now we got that out of the way, I'm gonna ask you a question: Why did you decide to go to Equestria and did you allow Nightmare possess your bodies or did it possess you by force?"

Unfortunately for our friends, the sisters can't talk. In fact, they only respond with growls and grunts. Starlight and Sunset didn't understand, what they wanted to say.

"Ah, jeez....Is there a way to make them talk?" Starlight sighed.

"I have no idea, but we have to keep trying. After all, a theory needs to be tested multiple times in order to be valid." Sunset was confident. They thought of several ideas to make them speak. However, they also assumed, that because of their snapped sanity, they've lost the ability to speak. It's like something has made them walk to a darker path. Sunset touched the arms of the twins and as to be expected, with the magic of Empathy, her eyes started to glow. Screams, fire, chains and demonic voices can be heard, but the picture is still vague. After a while, she let them go.

"What did you see?" Starlight asked.

"I still don't get the clear picture, but I heard sounds of screams, chains, fire and demonic laughter. As of right now, I don't know, what they mean." Sunset explained.

"Oh, dear...Maybe, we can ask someone for help.." Starlight sighed.

"Maybe I can ask my friends about it, since we have planned to go around the city for a while." The fiery teenager replied. "But first...." she left the room, while Starlight had to watch over the sisters, figuring out on how to find the piece to the ever complicated puzzle. Right now, they were doing absolutely nothing, which is good, since Starlight would be safe. After a while, the orange girl returned with some glasses of water for them to drink. The moment, she gave the glasses to them, the sisters immediately drank from it.

"Problem is, they can't go out there like this." Starlight noted at Susan and Mary with the rags.

"Hmm....We have to find some better clothes for them to wear. But at the same time, we can't leave them behind. Who knows, when they would cause chaos again?" Sunset responded.

"Good point. We have to make sure, this wouldn't happen again." Starlight agreed. She soon went up to the girls and held their hands. "First, we have to get you girls dressed, okay?"

They soon went to the closet, where they can find some temporary clothes. However, while they were doing that, without any warning whatsoever, the sisters lost their minds and started screaming again. They thrashed around the area, but the friends were prepared and Sunset used her magic to subdue the red-haired girls and preventing them from moving.

"Hey!! We're trying to find out about your side of the story, so please just listen!" The orange girl was not happy, however it seems like, her demand fell on deaf ears. She used her magic to silence them, but they were still struggling. Starlight was worried about the situation, since Sunset's anger could jeopardize her theory. She walked up to her and said "Uhm, Sunset? I don't think, being angry would solve this issue. You need to calm down and find a different way, which doesn't involve in further abuse."

"You're right...I should not destroy my theory with my rage.." Sunset sighed and let them go. Thankfully, they stopped struggling, by the time, she let them go. "I'm sorry for restraining you, but at the same time, your insanity won't help our mission. You need to snap out of it and calmly tell your story. It's all, what we want, okay?" she told to the sisters. In response, they looked away in silence.

"Ah jeez...this is gonna be harder, than I thought..." Starlight sighed. Soon, the doorbell rang.

"I'm coming!" Sunset left the trio to answer the door and when she opened it, this world's Twilight Sparkle stood there with a smile. Unlike Princess Twilight, she wears glasses and her hair is in a ponytail. In her arms was a purple puppy with green hair. He is Twilight's pet, Spike. "Hi, Sunset!" She greeted.

"Oh, hey Twilight!" Sunset responded with a smile. "Let me guess. It's about our city trip?"

"Yep. I told the others about it and we'll be meeting them around 11 o'clock." Twilight explained.

"That's good!" Sunset responded. At the same time, Starlight walked to them. "Hey, Starlight! It's been a while since the Mirror Magic incident!" Twilight recognized the lavender girl.

"Yeah. It was a crazy ride." Starlight scratched her head with a nervous smile. "Anyway, what are you doing?"

"Sunset and I have planned to go to the city with our friends to hang out and have some fun." Sci-Twi explained about their plan.

"That's cool. You know, it's been a while since my first arrival in this world and I need to refine my skills as a human, so mind, if I can join?" Starlight asked. Sunset and Twilight giggled with the latter responding with: "Sure!"

But before they could start their plan and go to the city, they were suddenly alarmed by the sounds of screaming and glass shattering inside of Sunset's house. With the exception of Twilight, the two girls immediately knew, what was happening.

"Shoot!" The girls ran back inside as quickly as possible.

"Hey, wait!!" Twilight followed them. She was confused as of what is happening. The girls ran to the source of the sounds and saw the aftermath. Not only did they saw the door being slammed open, but when they went to Sunset's bedroom, the trio saw the window being smashed. What's worse is, that Susan and Mary weren't found.

"Oh, shit...this is really bad..." Sunset mumbled in shock.

"We have to follow them!!" Starlight yelled.

"Got it!!" Sunset nodded and they jumped out of the window to find them.

"Girls, wait! What's going on?!" Twilight followed them again, since she needed answers. Sunset, on the other hand, said: "It's a very complicated story! We're trying to uncover it!"

"Basically, there are two girls, that we're taking care of and let's just say, they're messed up." Starlight commented.

"What? What do you mean by 'messed up'!?" Twilight was even more confused, however, Sunset responded with: "Like I said, it's a very complicated story! But right now, we have to find them!"

"Wait, maybe I can try to smell their trail!" Spike suggested.

"That's a good idea, Spike!" Twilight agreed and put her dog down to the ground, where he started sniffing the trail, after sniffing the bits of red hair left behind. The girls followed Spike, as he kept sniffing. Meanwhile, questions arise inside of Sunset's head, like this one:

"What is happening in their heads?"

Meanwhile, in Equestria...

The Brain Freezer kept pacing anxiously around the fountain. It's been a week, since he saw the beautiful, snow white pegasus mare and being struck by an arrow of love, something, he never felt before. The problem is about his past. He's done so many crimes before in Porkbelly, like freezing everyone and everything and even stole some items. He was honest to a girl at one point and it led to some painful results.

"Damn it! What should I do??" He was feeling the panic growing inside of him. Around the same time, his best pal, Zizrar, came to him with new sunglasses.

"Hey, Brain Freezer! These new sunglasses are glamorous!" The mole king admires his new sunglasses, but the Brain Freezer ignored it, as he kept having a nervous look on his face. "Come on, what is it? Is it about the mare?" he asked.

"No, it is because of a visit- OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT THE MARE!!!" The icy blue unicorn snapped.

"Jeez, chill... Look, I'm also not experienced in romance, even though I recently started reading romance novels. Maybe try to impress her?" Zizrar shrugged. However, his lack of romantic experience was not enough to convince his friend.

"Impress her with what?" Brain Freezer kept pacing anxiously.

"I don't know, by being honest?" The mole king suggested, but this didnt help, as the blue stallion shouted with: "I've already done that before and IT DIDN'T WORK!!!"

It was around the same time, that the snow white pegasus came to the market for some groceries, when she overheard the yelling. "Uhm...what's going on?" She scratched her head. Neither of the two noticed her looking at them with a confused look.

As Brain Freezer kept pacing anxiously, Zizrar kept thinking about possible ways on getting her attention. Unfortunately, because of his lack of experience when it comes to romance and such (and probably because there are no female moles in Porkbelly, I think), his thought process was slower and more difficult.

"Uhm, how about gifts?" Zizrar suggested.

"With what??" The icy blue unicorn kept pacing around. Like what can he gift her? Roses and Chocolate or something unique?

"Let me think...umm...-" the mole king was in the middle of thinking, when all of a sudden....

"Excuse me, what's with the ruckus??" When the two looked around, they saw the mare, directly looking at them. This caused Brain Freezer to ironically freeze himself (not literally), because she was looking at him, wanting answers.

"Uh, not much really! We were arguing over some stupid stuff. That's all." Zizrar nervously smiled. "Anyway, you new here?"

"First off, at least find ways to resolve that crap and second, well I've been there in the past 3 months, alongside with my friends." The mare responded.

"That's quite nice. Me and my friend have been there for a couple of days, because of finding redemption and stuff." Zizrar continued to explain.

"Redemption?" The pegasus was confused.

"It's a long and complicated story." The mole king scratched his head. "Anyway, we haven't introduced each other yet. My name is Zizrar, king of the mole people. Those people over there." He pointed at several of his people having conversations with other ponies and even helping them out. Much like Zizrar, they too wore sunglasses to protect their eyes from the sun. Then he added: "Oh and this is my friend, the Brain Freezer."

"I'm not sure, why he's named after a slushie, but I'm not here to judge ponies and others. My name is Snow Emerald. And....is your friend even alright?" Snow Emerald pointed at the Brain Freezer, still frozen at the sight of her.

"Uh, let me see...Hello???" Zizrar tried to snap his friend out of the frozen state, but to no avail. "Would you please excuse me for a second?" He carried the frozen pony somewhere and slapped him hard, which brought the stallion back to reality at least. "Buddy, you need to chill. No pun intended." He noted.

"But how? That breakup had soured my perspective to love hard, ever since that girl saw the true me!!" Brain Freezer was frustrated, remembering when the girl broke off the relationship, due to his true form. "It didn't help, that I caused a lot of damage..."

"I know, but maybe this would be different." Zizrar shrugged.

"No..." the icy blue unicorn looked away. That dark response alarmed the mole king, so he yelled loudly at the crowd with: "HEY! SOMEONE NEEDS HELP WITH DATING!! ANYONE HAS A CLUE??"

A lot of the ponies were confused on what the mole king is talking about and backed off. The thought of helping a pony to get his love was just bizarre, since some ponies were either single or taken, but no idea, on how to do it. Everyone, except for one pony, who came forward and that pony is none other than an unamused Rarity. "Excuse me, but you could've at least talk to me personally." She sighed.

"Sorry, it was an urgent emergency." The mole king scratched his head with an nervous smile. "You see, my friend over there wanted to impress a girl, named Snow Emerald, but due to his past actions and a breakup, he was left soured."

"Hmm..." the unicorn mare was looking at Brain Freezer, while thinking for solutions. Like her friends, she heard about his past a week ago and together, they were trying to fix the problems and wipe their slates clean, while at the same time helping Johnny and his friend to get out of the darkness. "I think, you need some advice first, which include from adjusting your behavior to a makeover!" She smiled, grabbed the icy blue stallion by the hoof and took off on their way to her boutique. At the same time, one of the mole men came to him with a question.

"Your highness, where can we live? We can't dig an underground system under the village, because the ponies would be angry to us. And also, what would happen, if a war erupted under Ponyville?" He reported.

"Hmm...I think, we should think of possible locations. One, that is peaceful and at a close proximity to the city, In order to get food." Zizrar thought of some ideas. "Tell everyone about out plan, because the time of finding a new home for us is now!"

"Yes, your majesty!" The mole man ran off to tell the others.

"If we've done all those steps, we can live in peace!" The mole king laughed, but it contained an evil tone. However, it was short-lived, as ten seconds later, he got hit by a gray pegasus mare with derpy eyes.

"Oops....my bad!" She apologized and flew off. Zizrar on the other hand, was not pleased.

"WATCH, WHERE YOU FLYING, DUMBO!!!!" He yelled at the clumsy pegasus, not knowing that his yelling and laughter had scared most of the ponies until he looked around and realised the issue.

"Ahh...shoot. Note to self: Work on my anger issues and abandon the evil laughs...This is gonna be a very long journey, I'm sure of it..." he sighed, knowing that the path of redemption will take a very long time.

Back in the human world, the trio of Sunset, Twilight and Starlight continued following Spike, as he kept sniffing the trail of the sisters, who've became rouge.

"Still on their trail?" Sunset asked.

"Still on it!" Spike responded, as he kept sniffing.

"What is happening in their heads!?" Twilight wanted to know. She still hasn't received any answers from the girls.

"No idea, although Sunset may have a vague picture and only a few clues about the truth after she touched them." Starlight replied.

"There may be a small hint, that they feel remorse, but I don't know, because of their delusional state. Also, sounds of fire, chains clashing, screams and demonic laughter can be heard. As of right now, I don't know about the full image, but it's worth to search for more answers about this ever complicated story!" Sunset recounted her experience, when her Empathy powers reacted to the sisters back in Equestria.

"What story?!" Twilight was even more confused.

"The one, I told you about Johnny yesterday!" Sunset shouted. But before Twilight could answer, Spike suddenly stopped much to everyone's confusion. But the dog looked back and said: "Shoot. I lost their trail..."

"Great..." Starlight sighed.

Since the trail stopped near the city, it seems like, the sisters had escaped into it. But because they were delusional, it would cause a lot of problems.

"This is really bad...Their lack of sanity will cause a big scene in the city... Worse is, we don't know, where they currently are now. We should split up! Starlight. go to the center to find their whereabouts! Twilight and I will search for them in other areas." Sunset discussed.

"Got it!" Starlight nodded.

"I'm with you, Sunset!" Twilight agreed. "Come on, Spike! Let's go!"

The trio split up, when they entered the city. There was no time to spare.

Canterlot City, centre

The lavender girl kept running and looking around for any clues about the sisters' whereabouts. She was worried, that they would cause even more chaos than they already did back then. She also asked a few people about the red-haired twins, but they replied, that they've never seen the two.

"This is really bad...." Starlight was on the edge. Suddenly, she saw a traumatized girl and went on to ask one question: "Have you seen two red-haired girls?"

"Y-you mean the two wearing glasses? They went this way...." She pointed to the east.

"Shoot...Thanks for the info! And I'm so sorry, that you're traumatized." Starlight apologized and went to the east. As the girl kept going, even more people pointed at the direction, the girls went. It seems like, they too saw them. In a hurry, Starlight went to a phone booth. Thankfully, she had enough coins to make a phone chall and that's exactly, what she did and later dialed Sunset's number. While waiting, she kept pacing anxiously. Finally, after a few minutes, she got a response.

"Hello?" the voice of Sunset Shimmer can be heard.

"Sunset! I think, I know, where the girls have went! According to some people, they went to the east side of the city! We need to hurry!!" Starlight quickly responded.

"I know! I'll call Twilight about the news! There is not much time left!" Sunset replied.

"Exactly!" After those words, she quickly hung up the phone, exited the booth and continued running to the direction, the citizens were pointing. Eventually, she had to ask one of them about their exact location, only to be told, that they've been heading to an abandoned warehouse. After given directions, she ran as fast as she could to the abandoned warehouse, where she saw the girls running towards the stairs.

"Girls, wait!!!" Starlight shouted, but they didn't notice, as they began to ran upstairs. The lavender girl followed the two almost immediately. As the chase went on, the sisters gained speed, while Starlight was lagging behind. However, she didn't give up and continued. At the same time, why would they go upstairs on an abandoned warehouse? That's the question, Starlight was thinking. Eventually, the staircase ended with a door leading to the rooftop, open. When Starlight came to the rooftop, she looked around for their locations, only to see the two on the edge of the rooftop, slowly walking towards off the edge. No words or any sounds can be heard, aside from the wind. The sisters were also completely silent. This sight alarmed Starlight.

"What are you doing??!!?! STOP!!!!" Starlight rushed towards the two twin sisters, in order to stop them, but it was too late, as Susan and Mary jumped from the edge. "NO!!!!!" Not willing to give up, she jumped after them and gained speed by falling vertically, head first. Eventually, she reached towards the twins and grabbed them, in which the girls started to resist, all while Starlight tightened her grip.

It was around the same time, that a lot of the citizens gathered to the abandoned warehouse with horrified looks on their faces. One of which is this world's Fluttershy, who happened to be here.

"Oh my goodness!!! I need to save them!!" Fluttershy was scared and used her powers to transform. Meanwhile, Starlight was grabbing the sisters tightly, while they struggled. At that point, she knew the existance of magic in the Human World, but she never harnessed it by herself. Starlight started to concentrate and believe, as they kept falling, while at the same time, Fluttershy flew up and was about to grab the three.

"I...WON'T...LET THIS...HAPPEN!!!" Starlight shouted loudly. "I...MUST....SAVE THEM!!! I MUST BELIEVE!!!" At that point, they almost reached to Fluttershy, with her arms open in order to catch them, when all of a sudden, a miracle happened: Starlight and the girls have stopped falling, but that wasn't because of Fluttershy, as they were surrounded in a cyan aura of magic.

"Oh dear...Starlight?" Fluttershy was surprised about this miracle, as the aura made them slowly fall down to the ground. When Starlight opened her eyes, she noted that her hands were glowing for a while.

"What just happened?" Starlight was surprised and confused about this magical miracle, when Fluttershy flew down and explained with: "You used your Equestrian magic for the first time in this world..."

Starlight was about to question that, when all of a sudden, she remembered the words, that Sunset told to her:

"All you need to do is just believe in yourself and channel your inner magic."

"I see..." the lavender girl slowly understood the reason of her magical awakening. At the same time, Sunset, Twilight and Spike ran through the crowd and towards the group.

"Starlight, are you okay?!" Sunset asked with a worried look, but Starlight responded with: "Yeah...I'm fine. I feel like, my magic has been awakened here." That sentence threw Sunset off guard.

"Wait, what?! You used your magic in the Human World for the first time?!" She was shocked.

"She did, Sunset. She did." Fluttershy confirmed.

"What in the tarnation is going on here!?" A voice can be heard.

"Can someone please explain, what just happened?" Another one can be heard.

Sunset and Twilight immediately recognized the voices coming from Applejack and Rarity from this world! Sure enough, they went to the group, alongside with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. They all wanted answers.

"Well, I saved these two from falling themselves to their deaths with my magic." Starlight explained.

"Say what!?" Rainbow Dash was surprised.

"I know, right?" Sunset agreed. It was indeed unexpected. Meanwhile, the sisters started screaming and continued struggling.

"What's up with these girls? Why are they looking so ragged??" Rarity asked.

"I think, we all need a full explaination about the history, Sunset Shimmer." Twilight crossed her arms and everyone looked at her, wanting an answer to this mess.

"Ok....It's time to give you the full story." Sunset was about to explain the story, when Starlight interrupted with: "Uhm, help?" Applejack went to Starlight and looked at the girls, who were still struggling. "Hang on." The southern girl knocked the sisters out, in order to keep them quiet.

"I think, I can help Sunset with the explaination, since I knew the issue better, thanks to Princess Twilight." Starlight looked down.

"Shouldn't we go somewhere private first?" Rarity noted.

"We can go to my house!" Pinkie Pie grinned and everyone agreed. But...what about the people? This was a question, that the girls asked. Luckily, Twilight had a device, allowing to erase memories. As soon, as the group went to Pinkie's house, she used it to the citizens to erase the memories about this event and about the sisters.

Pinkie Pie's house

After some time has passed of the girls calming down from the event and doing some stuff like doing safety precussions, Sunset and Starlight prepared to tell the girls about the story of an ever-complicated web of abuse, trauma, depression, anxiety and nightmares.

"Last week was like any other in Ponyville...My friends, Applejack and Rainbow Dash decided to race to the Sweet Apple Acres. That decision would soon unfold into an unextpected meeting..." Starlight began to explain the story.

Equestria, a week and a few days ago...

In a flashback, we saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash racing through Ponyville and the fields, in order to whomever to reach Sweet Apple Acres the fastest. The thing was, Rainbow wasn't allowed to fly, in order to create an even match. Despite all of this, she cheated by using her wings as a boost in order to reach to the farm first. But Applejack saw this and was not happy about this form of cheating and Rainbow Dash felt busted and flew off, leading to a chase. Rainbow hid in one of the hay stacks, which turned out, that someone was hiding already, albeit invisible. While hiding, she felt something, touching her back, creeping the prismatic mare out. Eventually, she was so scared, that she flew up....in front of Applejack. Eventually, the southern pony dug up the haystack, only to touch something and immediately, light started to glow. (Unbeknown to everyone, it actually came from the time, that before he went to Equestria, Johnny had shot himself with the Invisibility Ray Gun and it seems like, the effect wore off.) From the light, they saw Johnny, who is now a black pegasus, asleep in the hay. Then we saw their awkward first meeting and eventually, meeting Dukey for the first time.

"It didn't take long, till they would meet his friend."

They saw Dukey and being shocked and confused at his appearance, as this was like no other. A hybrid between an earth pony and a dog was unheard of. Eventually, we switched to them coming back and making introductions to each other and to their friends. We also saw Rainbow Dash teaching Johnny on how to fly, because he was now a pegasus.

"They would go on to meet my other friends as well other ponies and non-ponies from Ponyville. On first glance, they were chill, yet playful ponies, wanting fun. And it seems like, they got along with the others....Little did anyone know, is that they were hiding a dark side that nobody knew....until that fateful day..."

A few days later, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle witnessed an argument between the two stallions, with Dukey shouting that Johnny should not hide his problems. At that time, no one knew about the story, even when they saw some alarming moments earlier, so they were confused. It culminated into a shouting match, with Dukey running away and later with Johnny screaming and flying off, disappearing into the skies. The mares, who were alarmed by that sight, immediately went off to search for the black pegasus, with Rainbow Dash flying up in the skies, but to no avail. Twilight contacted Rarity and Pinkie Pie about the news and she joined the search party, while Applejack had learned the story from Dukey.

"His sudden breakdown had caused a chain reaction, that would lead one thing to another...With my friends searching for him all over Equestria."

Together, the team split up into three groups, with Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Dukey going to the Everfree Forest for some clues about his whereabouts. Little did anyone know, is that they would soon discover a gruesome sight: It was Johnny, lying on the ground bleeding, unconscious and with his arms slit, a sign of an attempted suicide.

"However....Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Dukey eventually found him....nearly dead....from a suicide attempt....They were horrified....but there was a glimmer of chance, that he could be saved...

Noticing that Johnny is still alive, thanks to Dukey checking on his friend's heartbeat, Rainbow Dash immediately rushed him to the Ponyville Hospital as fast as she could and thanks to the quick timing and the best skills from the doctors, Johnny's life was successfully saved.

"But thanks to Rainbow's fast flying and the best skills from the nurses and doctors, his life was saved. Soon, the truth would come out."

Eventually, after a while of pressuring and with the Mane 6 learning the painful truth from Dukey and the blue diary, Johnny finally showed his dark side to them and confessing about his pain. Everyone felt sorry for him and they decided to help him. Eventually, Starlight heard of the news and his story.

"Since his confession, the goal was set: Free Johnny from his demons! Even I joined the crusade, after I heard about the story."

Since then, the group started their mission, by telling everyone in Equestria and with the help of the princesses. After lots of planning and a sudden confession from Dukey about his shared pain, a big party was made and when Rainbow Dash dragged Johnny from the hospital to the village's centre, everyone gave him a fun time.

"We all made a big celebration in order to make him feel loved. And after a song, a Sonic Rainboom and many fireworks, we were expecting the plan to work..."

At first, Johnny didn't know, how to react at the sight and sobbed, much to everyone's dismay. But then, the sobbing slowly turned into laughter and looked at them with a smile and tears in his eyes.

"...and it did....He finally smiled!"

With that, the plan was successful, but everyone, even the princesses knew, that the stallions still have a long way to learn on how to overcome the darkness and embrace the light.

"But the story was far from over....No...We had no idea, that soon, more would come into Equestria..."

As the days went, the ponies continued to help Johnny and Dukey on their journey of a new life. Suddenly, from a portal, new ponies and non-ponies came for a mission: to find Johnny, which they did. The best friends immediately recognized the group as their friends and even a few of their enemies. All with their own reasons and big news to share: the individuals, who were responsible for Johnny's pain, were finally arrested! This gave them relief.

"The group, who also came from the same world, that Johnny had lived up until he moved to Equestria, gave the two some closure by arresting the monsters! Plus, they wanted to apologise to them for not taking action earlier."

The group were forgiven by the duo and they began to start over in their new home! Eventually, Sissy and a magically mutated Missy would join in, Jillian cut her hair and gave herself a new makeover, and finding new friends, the team were on their way to a better future....

"They all live in peace...until something sinister happened..."

"And it was around the time, I came into the story..."

Soon, the nightmare incident happened...Equestria was in flames and everypony was put under a spell, except for Johnny, Dukey, Starlight and Sunset, who arrived to Equestria for a visit. After many chases, they were caught and taken to the darkness, where they saw the nightmare sisters for the first time. At first, all hope was lost, when the sisters took the Mane 6 in their control and tormented the guys...but soon, thanks to the words of their friends, Johnny and Dukey gained new confidence and awakened their powers, which they used to free Starlight and Sunset and soon an epic battle began.

"After we were freed, the battle has begun. Nopony on either sides backed down and we tried so hard to stop the Nightmare."

After a long battle, the good ponies got the upper hand and freed Twilight and her friends from the control and together, they used the magic of friendship to defeat Nightmare and cleanse the ponies from it. The ponies were the sisters Susan and Mary. They were soon arrested and taken to the Tartarus for their crimes, but not before a botched escape attempt, which resulted in Sunset seeing something in their heads.

"When they fell on me and I touched their arms, the magic of Empathy kicked in and I saw something in their heads, that left me wondering. Wondering about their side of the story and how can we solve this ever complicated web of problems."

Since then, Sunset was convinced on a theory about redeeming them, due to her experience. But no one believed in her and even the guards of the Tartarus refused her to visit them.

"Unfortunately, no one believed in me, thinking I was crazy and basically leaving them to die, since they refused to give them food!! All but one..."

It was Starlight Glimmer, who also had a similar experience like Sunset. She decided to help her friend. So she decided to break the sisters out of the Tartarus and carry them to the Human World.

"Yep. It was me. In fact, I broke them out, without anyone noticing. I wanted to help her test the theory."

Pinkie Pie's house, present

"That's crazy!" Rainbow Dash was shocked by the extent of that story and the breakout.

"That's horrible..." Fluttershy was in tears.

"Why would they do this?!?!?!" Rarity yelled.

"There has to be a reason!" Twilight crossed her arms.

"We are trying to find it! Plus, Nightmare possessed them, so it's not entirely their fault!!" Sunset yelled.

"But they still hurt the young fella and his friend, which is still terrible." Applejack shook her head in disappointment.

"How long did they abuse him?" Pinkie Pie was curious. But Starlight answered her question by giving her the copies of Johnny's diary entries. The girls started to read it and each entry sent them chills down to their spines. After which, the girls were angry at Starlight and Sunset for breaking the monsters out.

"How could you!?" Twilight was mad, since she was not told by the extend earlier. But Sunset defended her actions by saying. "HEY!! That's what also happened to me after my defeat!!! Everyone hated me, except for Princess Twilight and the others! They saw the different side of the story and helped me reform, despite the odds!" Except for Twilight, the girls agreed. They were there, when Sunset was defeated and given a second chance. But the purple girl with the glasses was still angry.

"Twilight...calm down...We need to at least test that theory first." Rainbow Dash attempted to defuse the situation, with the help of her friends. After a while and with the help of the girls, Twilight calmed down and said: "You're right. I'm sorry. It's time to help Sunset."

"Good. Let's go." Sunset smiled and went, with the girls following her to the bathroom, where they saw the sisters tied up to chairs for safety. They were still struggling to escape from the restraints.

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy covered her mouth.

"How can we snap them out of their insane attitudes?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I have no idea..." Applejack scratched her head.

"Be careful, they are still unstable. We have to be at a safe distance." Sunset warned her friends about the danger.

"Speaking of which, what did you see in their heads?" Rarity asked.

"It's blurry. I can't see the full picture, however, I heard the sounds of flames, screams, clashing chains and demonic laughter." Sunset explained her friends about her sight.

"That's crazy!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"However, we have yet to solve this mystery. It's only a matter of time, if they're willing to cooperate or not." Starlight crossed her arms.

"But first, we have to restore them some sanity." Twilight had her notebook and pencil ready.

Fluttershy carefully approached the sisters at a safe distance and politely asked with a question: "Uhm, excuse me? Could you please take a deep breath and tell us, what's troubling you last week?" However, that didn't work, as they kept thrashing around. So much so, that Applejack and Rainbow Dash had to hold the chairs, they were tied to, down. By the shoulders.

"Are you two even listening?!?!" Applejack yelled. The screaming soon became unbearable for the girls, who covered their ears.

"It's unbearable! When will they stop screaming!??!!" Rarity screamed.

"Please, if you don't cooperate with that theory, then all of our efforts are for nothing and you would be sent back!" Starlight pleaded. That made the situation even worse with the screaming becoming even louder. Once again, the lavender girl tried to plead them for their cooperation, but soon...things would escalate immediately, when the sisters headbutted Starlight, after shaking the girls off. Losing patience and not taking to their antics anymore, Sunset snapped.

"ENOUGH!!!!!!" She slapped the sisters so hard, that when they fell down to the ground, they hit their heads hard. That impact made the sisters unconscious. The girls were shocked by Sunset's action. However, the orange girl was in the brink of tears and ran off immediately.

"Sunset, wait!!! Girls, make sure, that the girls are okay! I have to catch up to her and calm down the situation!" Starlight ran off shortly after telling the girls to check up on the twins.

"This is getting really ridiculous..." Rainbow Dash sighed.

"I know, right? But first, we have to check for any vital signs of the girls." Twilight noted.

"If you say so..." Applejack sighed and the girls helped Twilight to check on any vital signs like their heartbeat.

Canterlot City

On a rainy afternoon, Starlight ran outside to find Sunset, who ran away in a mess. Thankfully, she used one of Pinkie's umbrellas to protect herself from the rain. "Sunset? Sunset, where are you??" She yelled around the area, trying to find her whereabouts. After a while of guessing and asking the locals about the directions, she eventually found her friend in an alley, but in a messed up state.

"Sunset....are you okay?" She asked, but there was no response. Only sobbing. Starlight slowly approached her friend to see, if she's alright. Instead, she heard Sunset mumbling over something, that she couldn't understand. "Excuse me?" Starlight tried to get her attention and hear the sentence, that she mumbled.

"...maybe I was wrong...." the words can be heard, when Starlight listened closely. Confused, she asked, what in the name of Equestria she is talking about, to which Sunset replied with: "They're right....they can't be redeemed...I don't know, how I even came up with that idea!!! Is it because of experience or just simple wishful thinking!??! Or possibly a stupid idea in my head....I'M SUCH A MESS!!!!"

"Calm down, Sunset..." the lavender girl tried her best to reach for her friend, but she shouted back with: "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM MYSELF DOWN, WHEN THEY NEVER EVEN LISTEN!?!?!?" Hell, Sunset was about to slap her in rage, but Starlight tightly grabbed her hand with a serious expression on her face.

"That's enough. I know, that you assumed something crazy after the Nightmare incident and even went so far as trying to find some footing and I know that I did something stupid by breaking them out and bringing them here. But, that doesn't mean, you can throw everything away! After all, a theory needs to be researched, tested and even brought evidence to be either true or false. Plus, your empathy sensed something different in the sisters, that doesn't add up to what the guys were saying. And I know, that they're never wrong. I beg of you, Sunset Shimmer...Don't throw the progress away. There is still a chance. All you have to do is believe in it, despite the odds." Starlight looked at her. Her words made Sunset tear up and soon broke down in Starlight's arms under the umbrella during the rainy afternoon. However, she soon stopped after 15 minutes.

"I'm sorry...I wasn't thinking straight, when all of this happened..." Sunset apologised. But Starlight warmly smiled and forgave her.

"It's okay. We can solve this mystery...together." Starlight nodded. That gave Sunset some hope and confidence to try again. "Let's go back inside. I don't want you to catch a cold." Starlight noted and both got out of the alley, when Sunset's phone started ringing. The girl looked at who is trying to call her and accepts it.

"Hello?" Sunset asked.

"Sunset, you need to come to Pinkie's house quick! Something's wrong with the girls!" It was this world's Twilight, who is calling her. She wanted Sunset and Starlight to come back immediately.

"You do know, that I knocked them out, right?" Sunset recalled the moment, where she slapped them so hard that they hit their heads on the ground.

"I know, but recently, they've been acting really strange, as if they're in peril. I have no idea, why." Twilight answered.

"We're on our way now." Sunset ended the call. "Come on, Starlight." Both girls were now on their way back to Pinkie's house.

Pinkie Pie's house

The duo immediately arrived at the house, where Twilight was waiting.

"Girls! You're back! Come inside quick!" Twilight went inside with the girls following suit. Upon entering the bathroom, they saw her friends in a confused, yet frightened state at the following scene: Susan and Mary were thrashing around in their restraints, but this time, they weren't screaming anymore. Instead, they moaned in distress. Not to mention, the twins started sweating.

"This is getting even stranger..." Applejack noted.

"What is happening?" Fluttershy was scared.

"Brace yoursleves!" Pinkie Pie responded.

Sunset went to the two, trying to calm them down, but upon touching their arms, she started screaming in horror and agony and her eyes glow white. Her Empathy powers were kicking in. Although this time, the glow was intense.

"Sunset!!!" Twilight was scared.

"What's going on!??!" Rainbow Dash was alarmed.

Twilight tried to pull Sunset away from the sisters, but it seems like she was basically glued to them.

"Girls, help me!!!" Twilight pleaded her friends for help and they immediately took action by helping her pulling Sunset away from them, but even with the power of 7 girls and a dog, when Spike started to assist them, it still wasn't enough.

"Oh, great..." Rainbow Dash sighed.

"It seems like, her Empathy powers prevent us from pulling her away, which means that whatever is in their heads, must be intense." Twilight assumed. And it seems like, her assumption was legit, as the behaviour of the sisters got worse. All three of them were groaning in agony and soon screamed loudly. After which, Sunset let the sisters go and lost consciousness, while the sisters also lost consciousness.

"Oh no! Sunset!!" Twilight ran to her friend, while the other girls were shocked and now scrambling for ideas.

"We need to get them to a hospital!!" Fluttershy suggested.

"I'm on it!" Rarity immediately called emergency services, while Rainbow Dash grabbed some towels to bandage their heads, all while untying them from the restraints.

"What is happening...?" Starlight had so many questions in her head at this point. After a while of waiting, when Rarity gave the dispatcher informations about the location and the situation, two sets of ambulances arrived at the scene, took Sunset, Susan and Mary inside and drove them to a hospital.

"We have to follow them." Twilight told to the girls and they're on their way to the hospital.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville...

Snow Emerald was still confused about her encounter with Zizrar and Brain Freezer, so she took a walk alone to clear up her mind. Suddenly, she heard a commotion somewhere and went to the source, only to see a red unicorn mare, protecting a colt from a couple. She was really angry.

"Oh for the love of..." Snow Emerald sighed and ran to the commotion.

"This is my final warning, if you keep hurting this kid, I'll burn you alive! YOU HEAR ME?!?!?!" the red mare shouted, scaring the couple.

"Stop it, Fire Jewel!!!" Snow Emerald was outraged. "You don't need to threaten them!!"

"But they hurt this kid!!!" Fire Jewel stood by her decision, all while her horn was glowing. In the meantime, the couple ran away in fear.

"You seriously need to work on your attitude, girl..." Snow Emerald facehoofed.

"What is going on here?" An aqua-blue unicorn mare with oceanic eyeshadow went to them.

"It's about your sister, Ocean Spark... She threatened yet another pair again for abuse." Snow Emerald reported.

"Again...?" Ocean Spark sighed and used her magic to grab her sister's ear and drag her away. "We'll talk about this."

"Ow! Hey, let me go!" Fire Jewel was struggling.

All while this was going, Johnny and Dukey were hanging out with Cosmic Blaze for a fun day out, when they saw Ocean Spark dragging Fire Jewel away, while Snow Emerald was following them.

"Don't mind us. It's just personal." Snow Emerald looked at them before following them, leaving the guys confused. Cosmic Blaze looked at the colt and asked: "Hey, what are you doing?" But the colt was scared to say anything and ran away. Johnny recognized that behavior and the injuries as injuries from abuse. Giving the fact, that he too was an abuse victim, it left him frozen in horror.

"Uhm, bro? You okay?" Cosmic Blaze tried to snap his brother out of it, but to no avail. Suddenly, he ran off to the direction, the colt ran off.

"Whoa! Johnny, wait!!" The hybrid followed his friend almost immediately. And so did Cosmic Blaze.

Human World, Canterlot Hospital

Starlight and the Humane Six were sitting in the waiting room, waiting for updates about the situation. Everyone was worried.

"I have a bad feeling about this...." Starlight looked concerned.

"I hope, they'll be okay..." Fluttershy prayed for the girls. Everyone agreed. They wanted the girls to be okay and at the same time, find out, what caused Susan and Mary to freak out.

To be continued...

Chapter 13: A Glimmer of Courage

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Somewhere in Equestria, there was a hidden building in the trees, that only a select ponies knew. And the select ponies, who were approaching were Fire Jewel, Snow Emerald and Ocean Spark, Using her magic, she gained access to this location and went inside. Inside of this building was a table with seven chairs, each with an elemental symbol. The trio sat down on their respective chairs.

„Why can’t you girls just understand, that I hate abusive assholes?!“ Fire Jewel protested. She was still mad after the whole ordeal. Snow Emerald responded with: „We know your story, but that doesn’t mean, that you can threaten ponies with death without any surveillance.“ Ocean Spark added with: „You need to grow up and find ways to solve your crusade without any violence or death threats in particular, sister.“

Soon, two ponies came inside: One being a green earth pony with pink mane and a black choker with ruby Pearl’s and the other a dark blue pegasus mare with purple mane with cyan streaks and black piercings on her ears.

„How's the patrol, Cherry Swirl?“ Ocean Spark asked.

„Well, Breeze and I discovered some ponies, that were….unique. four of them are hybrids. Two being a mix between earth ponies and dogs and the other two were hippogriffs with unicorn horns.“ The green Pony named Cherry Swirl reported.

„So far, we don’t know, where they came from.“ The dark blue mare scratched her head.

Another pony came in, which was a yellow earth pony with blue mane, bound in a ponytail and a pink flower. She sat down on her seat, which is nature-themed.

„Hi, girls! You won't believe, what I saw! There was a black pegasus running after a colt with injuries! „ She reported.

„Hey, that's the same colt, I defended from his disgusting parents!“ Fire Jewel reminded.

„Again, we don't know, if they were abusive or not!“ Ocean Spark yelled at her sister.

„What's going on?“ Tropic Bloom was confused, so Snow Emerald answered her question with: „Well, we saw Fire Jewel threatening another pair for abuse.“

„Really? Wow, going right to the fire, don’t you think?“ Cherry Swirl was not happy. This annoyed the red mare so much.

„Hey!!“ she yelled. „I saw the abuse before and that alone proved me, that they were pieces of shit!“

„That's enough!“ a voice can be heard and out from a purple spark came a pink alicorn mare, although it wasn’t Cadence. This mare had blue mane, her wings fading to bright blue and she wore a heart necklace, that was fading from purple to pink. „What's going on?“ she asked.

„Well, my sister threatened another couple. It's been the 10th time already!“ The oceanic mare replied. But her sister got even angrier by everyone not believing in her and used her fire magic against them, but the pink mare stopped it with her own magic. „Enough, Fire Jewel! Go to the time out room, now!“

Fire Jewel went to the Time-Out room with a glare on her face. Everyone was not intimidated by her glare, however Tropic Bloom was worried, like something doesn’t add up.

„Okay, everyone! Any reporting?“ The alicorn mare asked.

„Well, about hybrids, mole people and new ponies, we never knew they live, Jenny.“ Cherry Swirl answered.

„Hmm…odd. Maybe they came from a different planet…or maybe from a different universe. Whatever of this, we need to be careful. We don’t know, they they’re friends of foes. Keep an eye on them,,while at the same time watch for any suspicious activity. I will not allow anyone to fall under an evil being…like many being taken by Shadow Nebula...Remember, may the powers of the galaxies and the elements be with you.“ Jenny explained and the ponies moves out…except Tropic Bloom, who went to the Time-Out room, where Fire Jewel was sitting. With a concerned look in her face, the yellow mare slowly approached her.

„Fire Jewel? Are you…okay?“ she asked, only to get a growl from the enraged unicorn. The yellow pony continued with: „I'm sorry for not helping you…I was really scared….that I would hurt their prideful selves…I know your pain well, even though I wasn’t abused. I know your intentions, but at the same time, you can be pretty aggressive…“

„They never learn true pain…“ Fire Jewel growled.

„I think, they do. It's just their arrogance and pride kept them buried. Anyway, I want you to request something. Could you please stop threatening ponies?“ Tropic Bloom begged for her friend.

„Do you have better ideas…?“ the unicorn growled again.

„Well, you can report them to authorities or even to the rulers of Equestria. The easiest way is to tell to the Princess of Friendship in Ponyville. Please, Fire Jewel…I don’t want to see more heartache and rifts anymore and you do know, that it will be devastating…I beg of you…Please…There are different ways….“ The yellow mare pleaded her friend for more non-violent alternatives. „I can help you to overcome that phase, if you want…Just…Please…for me?“

After a while, the red unicorn broke her silence, looked back and grabbed Tropic Bloom by the hoof. „Fine, I'll try. I mean, you're my best friend after all.“ She smiled.

„Thank you.“ Tropic Bloom hugged her best friend. „We can solve this problem together.“ Soon, both left the base to go to a different lolocation.

Human World, Canterlot Hospital

The Humane 7 and Spike were still waiting in the waiting room for more updates. At the same time, they were wondering, what's inside of the sister’s heads, which caused Sunset to be knocked out.

„I wish, we can find the answers…“ Rarity sighed.

„Something in their heads was so wild, it knocked Sunset out! But Why?“ Pinkie wondered. Meanwhile, Applejack went and then came back with cups of water. „We'll ask Sunset, when she wakes up. It's only a matter of patience.“ The country girl responded.

„Maybe we can visit her?“ Fluttershy responded and they agreed. Together, the seven talked to a nurse, if it's okay to visit their friend and with her approval and guidance, they went to the hospital room, where Sunset was laying. The seven surrounded her with a worried look and prayed for a miracle. After a while of waiting and trying to answer some questions, they heard a groan and as they looked at Sunset, she slowly opened her eyes. Their miracle has arrived!

"Sunset! Thank goodness, you're okay!" Starlight hugged her friend with tears of joy in her eyes. Her friends were also happy, that their friend woke up and hugged her as well.

"We were worried about that, you wouldn't make it.." Fluttershy had tears in her teal eyes.

"Whatever, that was in their heads, must have overwhelmed you. Can you tell us about the details?" Twilight asked. After a while, Sunset explained her friends about what she saw in their heads:

"I saw....fire....fire everywhere....And along with it...where chains....Chains, that go upwards and being pulled. Along with it, I heard screams of pain and agony, as if they were being tortured. I'm not sure if they sounded like guilt or pain. The demonic voices can be heard, but they were no longer laughing....They said something about giving them everything they want...I'm not sure, what they were talking about. Plus, I didn't see them, due to the fire obscuring everything, therefore I didn't see their reactions. It was agonising."

This was bad news for the gang, even though the full picture still wasn't revealed. Only fractions of it were seen.

"Are they feeling guilt or what's going on?!" Rainbow Dash demanded an answer, but Sunset shook her head and said: "I-I don't know! I couldn't tell!"

"But wait! We need to check on them!" Starlight remembered of the sisters. They too were taken to the same hospital.

"I'll go and talk to a doctor!" Twilight ran off. While looking in the halls, she saw a doctor walking around. She went to him and asked him a question: "Excuse me? What are the conditions of the girls? The two girls with red hair and glasses?"

"You mean the girls, who look alike? Well, we are about to do a MRT Scan on their brains to check for any injuries. Right now, the nurses are taking them to the laboratory. I'll soon bring you the results of the scan, if we examined them, okay?" The doctor responded.

"I see. Thank you for the info." Twilight thanked the doctor and went back to Sunset's hospital room to bring the news.

"Did you get any news about the girls?" Sunset asked.

"Well, they are about to do an MRT scan on their brains to check for any injuries. The doctor will soon bring me the results." Twilight explained.

"I hope, they didn't hit their heads hard...It was all my fault..." Sunset felt guilty from her action, but Applejack assured here, that she was agitated and therefore not clear.

"Sugarcube, you weren't yourself during all of this. Plus, they have lost their minds and were loud. A'hm pretty, everything will be fine." The country girl softly spoke. That sort of gave Sunset some hope, but only a bit, because she is afraid, that she might have killed them. Starlight grabbed her hand and promised, that they'll soon handle the problem.

The girls waited for the results. During which, Rainbow Dash quickly get a cup of water for Sunset to drink, Pinkie Pie cheering her friend up with some jokes and tricks, Applejack making the pillow comfortable and Fluttershy brought her a cup of tea for relaxation. And meanwhile, there were questions about the sisters' mental condition and inner workings. In fact, Twilight, Starlight and Sunset already started to theorize several ideas on how they became the way, they are, while using the diary entries and eye-witness accounts as clues. Finally, the doctor came with a report.

"Any results about their brains?" Twilight asked.

"It seems like, there was a minor brain injury on both of them. Our staff will do their best to treat them." The doctor answered. "And as for your friend, there is no sign for any injury in her head. It's just so happened, due to exhaustion."

"I suppose..." Twilight thought to herself, before thanking the doctor, before he left for the operation. She soon related the news to her friends with: "They're fine. It just so happened to be a minor brain injury. The doctors will treat them and hopefully, we can solve this mess once for all."

"That's good." Sunset sighed in relief.

"There must me something behind the scenes, that we don't know..." Rarity wondered.

"We're starting to theorize about several possibilities on why they became like this. Like even though, they stayed in prison for three days, there might be signs of deterioration of sanity. This would also explain about their behaviour, after they were free from Nightmare's possession. Like there is a force slowly breaking them." Starlight assumed.

"Now, that you mentioned it...When I first touched them and the magic of Empathy kicked in, there was an eerie sense of discomfort and panic." Sunset recounted her experience back in Equestria, when they fell on her.

"Hmm...Interesting....Once they're done with the operation, we can talk to the girls about it, when they wake up. We need their words, in other words, the truth to find the missing piece of the messy puzzle and eventually rest this case." Twilight suggested.

"Let's just get this over with." Rainbow Dash agreed.

"This madness seriously need to stop." Applejack agreed.

"Indeed. It's driving me insane just by thinking about it!" Rarity crossed her arms.

"We just want the smiles, not drama!" Pinkie Pie sighed.

"All we wanted is to give everyone peace..." Fluttershy looked down.

"We all do." Sunset agreed.

"Okay, girls. Let's do this." Starlight had a serious expression in her face and so did her friends. It's time to end the madness once and for all.

Equestria, unknown fields

The young colt from earlier kept running away as fast as he could, all while Johnny, Dukey and Cosmic Blaze chased after him.

"What is happening with him!?" The navy pegasus colt questioned. "Was he hurt by bad guys?"

"Given the injuries of that colt and coupled with Johnny's reaction from earlier, it seems like, he was abused." The hybrid assumed.

During the chase, the young lime-colored colt ran as fast as he could, however since Johnny is faster than him, the black pegasus eventually caught up to the young pegasus and cornered him. Without any word, he looked at the colt.

"S-stay away from me!" The colt was scared.

"Just tell us, what happened to you." Cosmic Blaze wanted answers.

The trio cornered the young lime green pony, who is still begging them to stay away, but they ignored his pleas, sending that something is not right. Things immediately escalated, when he screamed and flew up. However, his flight didn't last long, as ten seconds later he collided into a tree. Cornered, the young pegasus backed off from the three, all while Johnny went closer, again without any words. The colt closed his eyes in fear and with tears in his eyes, assuming that he would hurt him even more. But he was proven wrong, when the colt felt like something embracing him. When he opened his eyes, he realized that Johnny had wrapped his wing around the young pegasus. Immediately after, he was pulled into a hug by the black pegasus. The lime colt looked up, all while Johnny was silently looking back. This made the colt emotional and cried in his arms, all while Dukey and Cosmic Blaze watched. What's noticable is, during that emotional moment, Johnny shed a single tear, while remembering his worst moments back then.

"Cosmic? Where are you??" A voice can be heard. The navy pegasus immediately recognized the voice as that from his father, High Velocity! "I'm here, dad!" He shouted and after a few seconds, the neon stallion flew to his son.

"What is happening? You didn't come back!" High Velocity wanted answers, when his son pointed at the crying colt in Johnny's arms. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the injuries, making the stallion feel worried.

"What's wrong?" High Velocity asked the colt. However, he was still crying. He even asked Johnny about what is happening, but received no answer, as the pegasus still said nothing.

"I think, seeing the injuries of that pony had triggered him." Dukey assumed.

"Given the circumstances of his past and the colt's injuries slowly lining up, I understand, why he is like this." High Velocity connected the dots together.

After a while, the colt calmed down and looked at the stallions.

"Hey, what's your name?" Cosmic Blaze asked. Despite the colt looking away a bit, he finally gave them an answer by quietly mumbling his name: Spring Gale. Of course, they didn't understand, what he was saying, so Cosmic Blaze had to listen closely, when he repeated his name and the navy colt relayed the message to the others.

"His name is Spring Gale." He replied.

"What happened?" High Velocity asked, but Spring Gale refused to answer, but Johnny looked at him and grabbed his hoof.

"What is he doing?" Spring Gale was confused, but Cosmic Blaze answered with: "He is trying to assure you, that everything will be fine!"

"Besides, we're here to help you. None of the bad guys are here, so you can tell anything and we won't tell." High Velocity smiled.

"There...is one thing... " the lime pegasus looked down.

"We're listening." Dukey listened and so did everyone. After a while, Spring Gale took a deep breath and explained his story:

"Ever since my mom slipped away...my dad had married a mare and....from that day, they've become...mean...They always hit me and lock me up in a box...it seems like, they don't want me...but the only anchor that keeps me from going crazy are my friends at school...however, I have to keep it as a secret, in fear that they would isolate me even further...as if I wasn't picked on enough, since I was additionaly bullied in school...it's a never ending cycle..." that story put everyone to tears.

"Oh no...I'm so sorry for what happened...." High Velocity lowered his ears.

"That must've been painful to be picked on by the worst of the worst..." Dukey shook his head.

Suddenly, they heard someone calling out Spring Gale....The lime colt hid somewhere in fear. His fears were confirmed, when the same couple, whom Fire Jewel threatened, came back. The group looked at them.

"Excuse me, what do you want from him?'" Dukey asked.

"We want to bring our son back, after he ran away from us! He didn't even do the chores!" The stallion replied.

"Chores? What kind of sick joke is this? You clearly hurt him!!" Cosmic Blaze flew to them with an angry look.

"Go away, you twat!" The mare slapped the navy colt to a tree.

"HEY! DON'T YOU DARE HURTING MY SON!!!" The neon pegasus was outraged at the two for hitting Cosmic Blaze. He soon ran to his son and checked for any injuries. The couple looked around the fields, but Dukey, knowing what is about to happen, when they find Spring Gale, growled.

"Stay away from him!!!" He growled with his teeth shown. But the stallion, being unaffected, went to the hybrid for a stare down. At the same time, a drunken scent can be smelled, indicating that he was drunk. The same can be said for the mare.

Meanwhile, the unknown mare suddenly saw Spring Gale peeking from a Bush.

"There you are, you little devil..." She went to the Bush, but before she can grab him, the hybrid stallion head butted her to the ground.

"I won't let you!!" He growled. This lead to a fight, where Dukey fended off against the abusive couple. "Run, Spring Gale!! RUN!!!" He yelled at the Bush and the lime pegasus ran away. The fight lasted for a while, with nopony backing down. The hybrid even bit them at one point. Unfortunately, the couple pushed him hard to a way and beat him up, severely injuring him. And even more unfortunately, Johnny was there, witnessing it all. But the worst was far from over. The couple chased the lime colt and despite his best efforts of increasing his speed, they caught him. He tried his best to break free, but they responded by slapping him and dragging him by the ear, causing more pain. To add insult to injury, they called him a devil and they said, they had wished, he was never born. Meanwhile, Johnny was witnessing the whole ordeal and filling him with anxiety, while reminding that of his bad past. All the pain, all the abuse, all the trauma, he had faced and now, someone is suffering from all of this....His shock quickly turned into anger, his teeth were crunching, his body was charging up, his clenched his right hoof like a fist...It was at this point, that Johnny finally snapped.

The black pegasus screamed loudly and unleashed a psyionic blast, knocking everyone down, as well as yellow lightning everywhere. Because his parents were knocked down, Spring Gale used his chance to escape and hid behind Dukey. The couple tried to dodge the lightning, but one of them struck the mare's leg, paralyzing her. Similary, the stallion got directly hit by one of the bolts. It didn't kill him, but he was paralyzed by that shock. Meanwhile, Johnny's screams became full of anger and vengeance, as he looked at the paralyzed couple with a menacing glare.

"Y-you don't scare us!" The stallion shouted nonchalantly, despite the injuries, but that response only got Johnny even angrier. The black pegasus went closer to them, while more lightning struck down the area. Meanwhile, High Velocity got Dukey, Cosmic Blaze and Spring Gale together to watch the event unfold and unbeknownst to everyone, so did Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom, who were hiding in the bushes. They overheard the chaos and peeked a bit to see, what is going on.

"You..." he pointed at them with a threatening voice, that makes everyone fear him, even to his new family and best friend. "You monsters!!" A yell, that sends chills down everyone's spines. As he got closer and closer to the couple, they couldn't help but watch helplessly, as they saw the wrath in his eyes. The atmosphere was tense, as his wrath increased at the sight of Spring Gale's parents alone, which is a sign for him, that they're irredeemable. Soon, he charged up for a big attack, as they're pleading for mercy, but it fell on deaf ears.

"What is he doing, dad!??!" Cosmic Blaze was scared.

"I think....he's about to kill them!!!" High Velocity answered with fear in his eyes.

"JOHNNY, STOP!!!" Dukey tried to convince his best friend, not to kill the couple. Unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears, as Johnny, lost in his wrath, finished up charging and is about to kill them with a lightning strike. His eyes were now glowing yellow at the full charge and is about to strike them down, when suddenly, he got ensnared by vines and branches. The black pegasus struggled to get free, but the restraints were too strong.

"Please, don't do this!!" It turned out to be Tropic Bloom, who came out of the bushes and using her nature powers. The yellow earth pony carefully and slowly approached the pegasus, who is still struggling. "There is another way, more non-violent...If you kill them, then there would be severe consequences...You don't want to suffer from those consequences, do you?....Do you??..." However, it fell on deaf ears again. That was until the yellow mare used a nature spell to summon flowers, which can emit soothing and calming aroma and scents. After a while of struggling, Johnny succumbed to the soothing scents of the magical flowers and calmed down, while the vines and branches let him go. However, it also made him collapse, due to exhaustion. Thankfully, Dukey caught him in his arms, despite his injuries.

"Thanks for calming my best friend down.." the hybrid smiled.

"You're welcome. I've seen the whole ordeal and I advice you to hand them to the authorities. Meanwhile, the colt should be taken to a nice family." The yellow mare gave them an advice. An advice, that they immediately noted.

Meanwhile, Fire Jewel was about to come out, when she smelled something. "What's that smell?" She asked and looked for the source of the smell, which turned out to be smoke. And that smoke came from a burning tree, which slowly caused a chain reaction.

"Ah, shit..." she was concerned before turning her attention towards the group and yelled: "HEY!!! Hate to break your moment, but we have to get out of here now!"

Before anyone can question as of why, the flames spread quickly.

"Fire!!!!" Cosmic Blaze was scared.

"Ok, everypony! If you want to live, follow us!!!" Tropic Bloom went to her friend and they ran off, while the yellow mare used her magic to bind the abusive couple together and carrying them away. The stallions did, what the mares told them and ran off. While they were running, Fire Jewel used her magic to push away the fire and Tropic Bloom made sure, that everyone stays together. After a while, the group managed to escape the burning forest, but due to his injuries, Dukey collapsed shortly after. It was around this time, that a wandering Applejack saw what was happening and rushed over to the gang, who were out of breath.

"What in the name of Celestia is goin' on!?" The southern mare asked.

"It's a complicated story..." High Velocity gasped for air.

"I can explain." Cosmic Blaze explained the full story about meeting Spring Gale up until escaping from the forest fire with the help of Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom. Applejack was shocked by the extent of the story and initially outraged at the couple.

"Y'all are completely out of your mind! Abusing your own son like this!? This is unacceptable!" She yelled.

"I absolutely agree with that. Those assholes should be punished!" Fire Jewel agreed with rage in her eyes. However, Tropic Bloom put her hoof on her back with a concerning look. Remembering the promise back then, she took a deep breath and calmed down.

"We know. That's why we're bringing them to the authorities. " Tropic Bloom reported.

"But...what about my brothers?" Cosmic Blaze was concerned at Johnny and Dukey.

"We'll take them to the hospital, my boy. Along with Spring Gale." High Velocity answered.

"And what about the fire over there?" Applejack asked about the raging forest fire. Fortunately, some pegasi, who were flying around, witnessed the fire and brought rain clouds to douse them down. Eventually, more and more pegasi came by to douse the flames down. "Okay then... C'mon, everypony!" With those words, Applejack and the others were on their way to first the authorities and then to the hospital. During that journey, Fire Jewel kept thinking about the incident and how it related to her.

"That pegasus...He shares the same perspective as I do...Does that mean..? Hold on, Fire Jewel...You have to speak to him first to find the answers, damnit! Well, that is, if he's okay..." The red unicorn thought to herself about talking to Johnny, when he wakes up. But she knows, that she has to be patient. The group meanwhile arrived at Ponyville and handed the couple over to the authorities, while providing eye witness accounts. After which, they went to the Ponyville Hospital, in order to get the duo treated. Cosmic Blaze was checked up by a doctor, only to find minor injuries. He got treated by the doctor and even gave a medicine to treat the minor head injury. As this was going on, Fire Jewel, Applejack and Tropic Bloom were waiting in the waiting room. However the yellow pony noted, that her friend acted anxiously.

"What's wrong, Fire Jewel?" Tropic Bloom asked.

"I...I just....I don't know, I have a feeling that they won't believe me..." The red unicorn lowered her head.

"I know..." Tropic Bloom sighed, knowing their behavior, however Applejack overheard the conversation and looked at them in confusion.

"What the hay are you talkin' about?" The southern mare asked.

"It's a messy story." Fire Jewel sighed.

The yellow nature pony proceeded to explain Applejack about the whole ordeal between Fire Jewel and the others, the many times, they disregarded her side about work as the guardians of the galaxies and how they clouded them.

"Say what? That's insane!" Applejack was unhappy about the revelation.

"However, when it comes to child abuse, Fire Jewel can be quite aggressive at times..." the yellow earth pony noted, but the red unicorn overheard the comment and got enraged.

"Me!? Aggressive?!?! HOW DARE YOU!??!" She's about to charge a fire attack at the duo, but Applejack put her hoof on her cheek and asked a simple question: "Tell me, what is the reason of your own crusade against abusers?" In which, the red unicorn looked down, took a deep breath and answered with: "I just want to save the kids from this horrible fate....A fate, that I had as a filly...You see, when I was a young filly, I grew up in a volcanic planet. Back then, I had no idea, that I've been adopted or even the existence of Ocean Spark...Anyway, I was raised by a couple in that planet. My father was a loving pony, who truly cared for me....but my mother on the other hand....She was literally the devil in my life.... She abused me every day and every night, always spreading misery and despair to me. In fact, she didn't care about my existence, when I ran away! It was around the same time, when I got hit by a orb, which is actually the Elemental Orb of the Flames. I have no idea, why it chose me...is it because of fate? Or just coincidence? However, I was found by the guards and brought back, much to my fear and dismay. As expected, my "mother" did the usual abuse thing to me. At that point, my father had enough and defended against me. It resulted in a fight, which in the end, due to her power, she injured my father severely...And I was there...watching....Then something in me has snapped and I screamed, while unleashing the fire powers at her, burning her alive. My grip to reality has been shattered and it wasn't until when I came back. Realising, what I've done and in fear of even more unfair punishment or time in prison, I ran away, never coming back....I was travelling planet to planet, trying to escape from the horror, but the event had truly broke me severely to the point of having no hope...I was truly alone and was about to end it all, when one day...I met...her."

Unknown Forest planet, a few years ago ...

We see a young Fire Jewel being filled with despair and pain, wanting to take her own her life by hanging. She found vines and tied it around her neck, but just before she can do the deed, a voice can be heard.

"What are you doing!?!" It came from a young earth pony filly, rushing towards her. When she got no response and was about to fall, she screamed and used her powers to grab her just in time and even untie the vine around her neck. After which, she slowly put the unicorn fully down. The yellow filly was actually a young Tropic Bloom.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" The yellow filly asked.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!" Fire Jewel lightened her horn up with immense light and heat in anger.

"Tell me, what happened? Where did you get the wounds?" Tropic Bloom pointed at the wounds, Fire Jewel was having. "Did someone hurt you?"

"WHY WOULD YOU ASK THAT?!" The red filly was still enraged, but Tropic Bloom kept calm, despite the situation and went closer to her, despite the threats of burning her.

"ALRIGHT, YOU ASKED FOR IT-" Suddenly, before she can go through, Tropic Bloom hugged her.

"It's okay...." Tropic Bloom softly spoke.

"Back then, no one even dared to help me in my home planet...Tropic Bloom was the first one, who was actually sympathetic towards me..."

This made the young unicorn filly break down and burst into tears. Despite this, Tropic Bloom made sure to comfort Fire Jewel as best as she can, even using her magic to make some flowers bloom, in order to cheer her up.

"It's okay. Look, I made some beautiful flowers bloom. I thought, they might cheer you up or something." Tropic Bloom tried to get the unicorn's attention, but she was still crying. Eventually, she sighed and grabbed her hoof.

"Let's go to a doctor. They will patch you up." She smiled and the fillies left the forest and to a doctor, who patched the young unicorn up and after some assuring from Tropic Bloom, Fire Jewel told her the story of her abusive past. This brought the young Tropic Bloom to tears.

"I was so emotional by her story, that it reminded me of a time, where one of my school friends suffered the same fate. Around the same time, I was also hit by the Elemental Orb of Nature. But one day, I witnessed her about to take her own life... I tried to stop her, but in the end...I was unable to save her, when she hanged herself. The image haunted me for the rest of my life. And after hearing Fire's story, I vowed myself to do everything to make her okay."

"You know what? I'll do everything to help you get out of the darkness. I promise." Tropic Bloom looked at her with a determined, yet serious look on her face.

"Really?" Fire Jewel was in tears. But the yellow filly nodded and hugged her once again.

"Of course." Tropic Bloom responded softly. And that gave Fire Jewel some hope and smiled, hugging her new friend back.

Equestria, present...

"And that is how we became friends. Later, we met the others and the rest is history." Fire Jewel concluded the story. Applejack was moved by the story and that point, she had so many thoughts in her mind on how to solve their problems.

"Ya know, I'm glad, that you saved her and eventually became friends. But what I don't get is why they acted cold to you..." the southern mare responded.

"It has something to do with either a possible return of an old enemy of ours or something sinister is popping up...Whatever it is, it made them work extra hard and disregarding emotions for the mission. This is something, I don't really get, since it's the pain and a shared interest in justice, that brought us together...Like Cherry Swirl being bullied as a filly, Jenny seeing her mother sacrifice herself to save her own daughter, Ocean Spark being tricked into working for Shadow Nebula, believing that Fire Jewel had killed her parents, until she told her the cruel truth, that it was Shadow Nebula, who killed them and as for Snow Emerald and Breeze Dasher...They had witnessed the events of war, but so did everyone else in the group, including us, since we had to fight the war in order to defeat our enemies..." Tropic Bloom sighed.

"That's messed up....You know, I'll tell my friends about this story, so we can sort this out. In the name of Honesty, I'll make sure to help you bring them to the truth and fix that mess." Applejack warmly smiled.

"Thank you... We really appreciate it, especially Fire Jewel." Tropic Bloom thanked.

"But first, Fire Jewel. Ya better need to mature and take the steps of becoming a grown mare." Applejack looked at Fire Jewel.

"How?" The red mare asked.

"By helping you taking those first steps." The southern mare assured the red unicorn, that everything will be okay. "But right now, we have to hope, that they'll be okay." Applejack was referring to Johnny and Dukey, who were still treated in the hospital. Meanwhile, High Velocity and Cosmic Blaze went to the waiting room to join the mares of waiting.

"Spring Gale is currently being treated by the nurses. They said, that a psychiatrist and a new family would be helpful for him." High Velocity explained.

"That's good. We'll keep that in mind." Tropic Bloom answered. Suddenly, the sounds of the door being burst open and when they looked at the source, it was Sweet Serenity and Applejack's friends, who looked worried. Especially Sweet Serenity, who hugged her son.

"I've heard, that you were at the hospital! Are you okay? Do you have any injuries??" The sky blue mare was worried.

"Mom, I'm fine." Cosmic Blaze answered.

"It was only a few minor injuries, sweetie. However....about our boys...." High Velocity hugged his wife to assure her. He was about to tell her about their conditions, when Fire Jewel interrupted with: "They're gonna be fine. The hybrid took a beating, while trying to save that colt. And as for the pegasus, wow...he used his powers to make their lives like hell. Seriously, even he was tired of the abuse!"

"I mean, wow....That was crazy..." Rainbow was shocked by the extent.

"I know, darling....I couldn't imagine his wrath against the bad guys..." Rarity agreed.

"Yeah. Especially when it comes to abusive parents. And yes, the green colt was abused by his own parents, just to let you know." Tropic Bloom added, which caused everyone to be shocked. "Don't worry, we handed them to the authorities, so now, they're gonna face justice."

"That's good." Twilight sighed in relief.

"Girls, I need to tell you something.." Applejack looked at her friends and explained about the messy situation between the two mares and her friends.

"Have they gone cray-cray??" Pinkie Pie was shocked.

"Seems like it." Applejack answered her question.

"Now this is getting really messy...." Spike sighed.

"I know, Spike... But we'll solve this friendship problem...together." Twilight had a serious look on her face. Now they have a new mission: To solve a friendship problem. At the same time, Fire Jewel was about to ask about Johnny and why he decided to attack the parents, when all of a suddenly, two loud screams can be heard. Immediately recognising the screams, the group left the waiting room and with the help of a nurse, went to their hospital room in a hurry. When entering the room, they saw the duo in a frightened state: sweating heavily, blood shot eyes and shaky behaviour. A clear indication, that the trauma of the past had returned in full swing and gave them nightmares.

"No....this can't be!!" Twilight and Rainbow were in shock and disbelief.

"Unfortunately....there is still that issue..." Applejack sighed.

"Oh dear!" Sweet Serenity immediately rushed to two and comforted the as best as she could. However, they were still paralyzed in fear.

"What issue?" Tropic Bloom was confused, since she was unaware about the whole situation.

"Well, in the last several weeks, our friends were suffering from trauma from their former home world and we're trying our best to ease their pain and break them free from the darkness." Twilight explained.

"What happened to them? Was there a genocide?? A war??" Fire Jewel was thinking for reasons.

"No, it's not...It's much more personal and much worse. And it's a similar fate, Spring Gale fell, much even more devastating." The words from High Velocity instantly rang a bell from the red mare, since she knew this problem way too well. After all, she was a victim as well.

"Oh my fucking God...You too!?!?!" She was in disbelief, but a nod from Johnny and Dukey confirmed her fears. Her sight faded in and out, her heart beat increasing and the air around her gets hotter and hotter.

"Oh no....Fire Jewel, please...remember our promise..." Tropic Bloom hugged her friend tightly.

"Oh dear... I'm sorry for your pain. But I'll promise, that me and my friends will help you..." Fluttershy joined in the hug. It was enough for the air to cool down, as the red unicorn calmed down.

"I'm sorry..." Fire Jewel apologised.

"I know, that you are worried as much as we do, but as the Princess of Friendship, I'll assure you, that everything will be okay. We will guide them to a peaceful life without any worries." Twilight put her hoof on the red mare with a warm smile on her face. Looking at the smiles from everyone made her tear up. At that point, she felt grateful.

"Thank you..." She was trying her best, not to cry, despite the tears. However the warm hugs from her best friend, Tropic Bloom and Fluttershy, alongside with the the warm smiles from the group made her feel secure and happy.

"Look, kid. I know that we share the same pain of abuse. I knew that too well. But as time passed by, I met some good friends, who had different tragedies and used the pain to fuel our desire for justice and became the courageous warriors, we are now. What I'm saying is, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Use the pain as fuel your strength and fight back like a warrior!" the red unicorn told the black pegasus with some advice. "Like sure, I have my own problems, like always being triggered at abusive families, but that's because I want to save the kids from the fate, I've been through. Plus, I'm trying my damn best to improve myself, but I always relapse to the anger!"

"I think, it's best to manage your emotions and take steps towards maturity. We'll help you with that." Twilight smiled.

"Thanks. You girls are much nicer than the others, who couldn't take a break.." Fire Jewel sighed.

"It's due to their paranoia, but that doesn't excuse their cold behaviour to her." Tropic Bloom shook her head. She then looked at Johnny and Dukey and said: "And as for you, guys. If you have any issues, feel free to talk to me. My doors are always open. Plus, I'll help you with my sincerity and kindness." She hugged the two stallions with a smile. Then the yellow earth pony had an idea and used the same spell to summon the flowers with the most soothing scents. Those scents of peace are enough to calm them down.

"Those special flowers emit a calming and peaceful scent, able to calm even the most scared person down. This will help you with your anxiety, I think." Tropic Bloom smiled.

"You summon flowers? How?" Twilight asked. The yellow mare giggled and replied with: "You see, much like Fire Jewel, I'm a specialist in elemental magic, in my case, the magic of nature."

"You surely a help for my sons." Sweet Serenity was touched by her kindness.

"Thanks. We really appreciate that." Tropic Bloom warmly smiled.

"So, we have to turn the pain into power? Is that what she said?" Dukey was confused, so Fire Jewel responded with: "Uh, duh! Of course! I mean, if you show weakness to the enemies, then it's Game Over for you. You seriously don't want that to happen, do you?"

"Of course not. That's why we're still trying." The hybrid responded.

"That's the determination, we're looking for! Keep kicking your demons' butts and dash to the light, in order to stop the madness!" Rainbow Dash smirked.

"And remember: If you have anxiety and nightmares, keep in mind that we're always there for you with the Magic of Friendship." Twilight smiled. Those words gave the stallions more courage and determination to end their nightmares once and for all.

"We will! No monster can stop us!" Johnny raised his hoof in sheer determination and everyone cheered.

After a while of waiting, they got the news from the nurse, that Spring Gale will be taken to a nice foster family, after they heard his story and that he'll get support from a psychiatrist. This got High Velocity and Sweet Serenity thinking to do the same for their children.

"Should we do this?" Sweet Serenity asked to her husband.

"For their sake and their future, we should." High Velocity has decided to find a psychiatrist for the two.

"Good decision! With a psychiatrist, the quest of ending their trauma will become easier." Twilight praised their decision.

The group exited the hospital and waited for Johnny and Dukey to recover. After half an hour passed, the two were finally released, after managing to have a full recovery.

"Any news from Spring Gale?" Johnny asked.

"Yep. He was brought to a nice family, willing to take care of him." Applejack smiled.

"I don't get it...Everypony knew their story, there knowing on how to treat the kids? How come Spring Gale's former parents didn't heard about it?" Fluttershy was confused.

"I guess, there are ponies, who chose not to learn about their consequences, therefore being careless and cruel. Or perhaps there are circumstances, that lead to their abusive behaviour." Twilight explained the reasons.

"Whatever it is, there are some bad apples in Equestria, who are living among us." Applejack shook her head. "We have to be extra careful." Every pony in the group nodded in agreement. They knew, that they also have to stop the bad ponies to harm anyone, even abusive families.

"Come on, everypony. We need a break from that dilemma." said Twilight and everyone were about to go, when all of a sudden, a voice can be heard:

"Hey! Where have you two been!?"

The voice came from Jenny, who was not amused about the absence of Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom. Plus, she was not alone, as Breeze Dasher, Ocean Spark, Cherry Swirl and Snow Emerald were also there with the pink alicorn.

"You again? Ugh!" Fire Jewel looked away in disgust. This angered the pink and blue mares and Ocean Spark used her magic to trap her own sister.

"Hey! Stop it!!!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Do not interfere us! This is a personal matter!" Jenny glared.

"Excuse me, but you shouldn't punish your friend, just because of her being busy! She and Tropic Bloom helped us stopping the abusive parents, saved our friends' lives and helped them gain some courage!" Twilight was disgusted.

"Yeah! If it wasn't for us, then they would've been hurt or even worse, dead! Seriously! You need to stop your paranoia and just let it go!!!! " Tropic Bloom couldn't stand their ignorance any longer.

"Quiet, Tropic Bloom!" The pink unicorn was about to silence her, when Twilight used her magic.

"ENOUGH!!!" Twilight was now really angry at their lack of sympathy, while everyone watched.

"How dare you?!" Jenny was enraged at Twilight's interference, causing serious tension between the two alicorns. Meanwhile, Rarity used her magic to break Ocean Spark's spell and released Fire Jewel from the trap.

"I'm really appalled by your behaviour, you ruffian! Trapping your own sister like that!? This is unacceptable!!" Rarity shouted. This caused a fight between the blue and white unicorns. Meanwhile Breeze Dasher, Snow Emerald and Cherry Swirl watched the fights unfold. Same for Johnny, Dukey and their family, as well as Spike.

"This is really getting ridiculous...." Spike facepalmed.

Eventually, Cherry Swirl and Breeze Dasher had an argument with Applejack and Rainbow Dash and all of this made Snow Emerald sick. Much like Tropic Bloom, the pegasus despises arguments. And sure enough, the pressure made her snap.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!! ALL OF YOU!!!" With a yell, the snow white pegasus created an ice wall, separating the groups. Everyone looked at Snow Emerald, who was not happy. "Why not just sort it out in private??"

"Good point. We don't want out reputation to be ruined. " Cherry Swirl sighed. Eventually, Jenny and Ocean Spark calmed down and agreed with Cherry's statement.

"Fair enough... Fire Jewel, Tropic Bloom! We'll talk about this in private! But now, we have to go now! Our mission is still ongoing." The pink alicorn told to the two mares. The group were about to departure, when they saw the red and yellow mares not cooperating.

"No..." Fire Jewel mumbled.

"Fire Jewel! How dare you to defy my orders?! There is still a mission to do!" Jenny shouted.

"THEN DO YOUR STUPID MISSION WITHOUT ME!!!!" Fire Jewel shouted as loud as she could. She had enough of the treatment. "The only thing, you cared about is that damn job and not the well-being for us and others! I'll leave this stupid group and walk my own path!!"

"Fire Jewel, you can't do this-" However, Ocean Spark was interrupted.

"SHUT UP!!!! You guys just dont care!!!! I mean, what happened to our bond, our pain and the desire for justice!?!? You threw it all away!!! I just want to help the kids and my new friends for a better future!!! But nope, you didn't listen to me and only care about sometging bad arriving? News flash, we defeated Shadow Nebula a while ago and last time, I checked, NOTHING SINISTER IS HAPPENING!!! SO YOU BETTER SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH ABOUT THAT NON-EXISTENT PROBLEM!!!!!" At this point, her emotions couldn't be hidden any longer, as Fire Jewel let it all out and soon, ran away.

"Fire Jewel!!!" Ocean Spark tried to reach her, but to no avail.

"Can't believe, that one of us decided to leave...." Jenny was in disbelief.

"Make it two!! That's right, I'm also leaving this stupid group!" Tropic Bloom made her decision.

"Are you crazy!?!?" The mares were shocked.

"No, you are crazy for not even listening!!!" Tropic Bloom unleashed a nature spell to unleash branches and wrap the four ponies around, all while everyone watched.

"Hey, let us go!!!" Snow Emerald struggled to break free.

"No...." The yellow mare looked away.

"You can't do this to us, Tropic Bloom!" Jenny tried to reason with her, but at this point, she had enough.

"Shut up, bitch... " Her abrasive behaviour shocked everyone. "You didn't listen to us! So prepare the punishment! A punishment, that'll make you think twice about your actions!" The nature pony unleashed a spell, in which the five ponies got trapped into strong vine cocoons and sent them to the Everfree Forest. To make sure, that they'll not escape, when the cocoons arrived in the forest, more vines, branches and ivy will strengthen the walls. But at least, she put small holes on the cocoons, so they could at least breath. After all, she knew that killing is a terrible sin. Tropic's actions shocked everyone, but she didn't care as she walked away in silence.

"Wow...that was messy.." Rainbow was speechless, while Pinkie's jaw dropped.

"I've never seen such disharmony and discord in a group before..." Twilight shook her head, when Discord appeared out of nowhere.

"Did somepony call my name?" Discord was confused.

"No, Discord. It's just a misunderstanding..." Fluttershy responded.

"What's going on?" Discord scratched his head.

"It's very complicated...A group of ponies, with such disharmony..." Twilight explained.

"What group of ponies?" Discord asked

"We'll talk about this later. Right now, we need a break." Fluttershy sighed.

'We really need one for sure. I mean, this whole mess gave me a migraine!" Rarity was stressed.

"We're feeling the same thing! Geez, can we just skip that?!" Johnny was not happy.

"I think, we should take a break, In order to clear our heads." Twilight sighed and everyone agreed. The whole ordeal was really messy, so of course everyone needed time to relieve from stress. And so, everyone went to Ponyville for some relaxation.

Meanwhile in the Everfree Forest...

The five cocoons stood, as the fog got thicker and thicker. Sounds of howling and snarling can be heard, as well as struggling from inside the cocoons. The sounds came from Jenny, Snow Emerald, Cherry Swirl, Breeze Dasher and Ocean Spark, who are trying to break free, but failed.

"I can't get out!!" Cherry Swirl was sweating.

"Tropic Bloom really did a good job to make those cocoons escape-proof." Snow Emerald sighed. "Even so far as using a spell, that makes our spells ineffective and having no effect."

"You don't say?!" The other ponies yelled in unison.

"Ocean Spark, whatever you do, do not use your water spells! It'll only make it even stronger!" Jenny yelled, as she couldn't see anyone, even with the hole on the cocoon.

"Damn...And I was about to use it. But I guess, I have to stand back." Ocean Spark sighed.

Jenny tried her best to get out, clawing, using spells or even using body force, but it didn't help and only brought injuries on her body. Her friends also tried with exact same results. It lead to nowhere and only got themselves injured.

"Okay, stop! It hurts!! Why not just take a break!?" Breeze Dasher was exhausted.

"I guess, you have a point. We need to rest." Jenny agreed.

"I'm tired..." Cherry Swirl sweated heavily.

"We all are, thanks to the heat inside..." Ocean Spark was really tired.

After a short exchange of words of agreement, that they need to rest, the sounds inside of the cocoons stopped, and only breathing can be heard. All while the spooky sounds of creatures can be heard.

Human World, Canterlot City Hospital

After making a full recovery, Sunset Shimmer was released from the hospital and went to her friends in the waiting room. They were waiting for the twins and if the surgeries were successful.

"There has to be a reason...There is no way, they'll do this to Johnny without some background." Sunset was thinking. She was determined to find the source of the discord in order to test the theory of redemption.

"I wonder, what caused them to do this? Maybe they were forced?" Pinkie suggested.

"Or something happened, that made them do some messed up stuff?" Rainbow theorized.

"We're not sure, so the only way to get answers is to ask them. That is, if they're willing to cooperate." Starlight made a point.

The girls waited and waited...and waited. Eventually, a doctor came by to bring them the news about the treatment.

"Good news, girls. The treatment was a success and they're now cured from the brain injuries." He explained.

"That's great! When will they wake up?" Twilight asked.

"In a couple of minutes. If you want, I can bring you to their room." The doctor suggested and after an agreement from the girls, guided them to their hospital room.

"Thank you, doctor." Sunset smiled.

"You're welcome. However, there is a chance, that they might suffer from amnesia, when they wake up. I recommend you to take care of them, until the amnesia problem was dealt with. Anyway, I need to go now to take care of others as well. Goodbye." After an explanation, the doctor left. With that information in mind, the girls went into the hospital room, where they saw Susan and Mary, laying on the hospital with ice packs on their foreheads. Right now, they're unconscious. Sunset sighed, as she went towards the sisters. However, when she was about to touch their arms, Rainbow stopped her.

"Hey, remember what happened last time, you touched them?" The prismatic girl reminded Sunset of the time, where she touched their arms, causing her to have a severe glow and eventually losing consciousness.

"I know...It's just... I'm worried about their conditions, that's all. That and the desire to find the reasons of their behaviour and helping them. I just want to bring some conclusion." Sunset sighed.

"We all do, Sunset. We all do." Starlight agreed.

"Say, how long does it take for them to recover?" Rarity asked.

"From what've I've known online, it'll take a week to three months for them to recover." Twilight answered.

"Oh dear... I hope, they'll recover.." Fluttershy was worried. Suddenly, they heard groaning and as they looked back at the sisters, they saw them slowly opening their eyes. The sisters are finally awake and they finally spoke!

"Ugh...where are we?" Susan was in a daze.

"You're in the Canterlot Hospital and you're here, because of a minor brain injury. Thankfully, the doctors treated you." Starlight explained.

"Wait...a brain injury? How!?" Susan was about to ask, when she suddenly screamed in agony, due to a headache.

"Please calm down! The stress would make the pain worse!" Twilight begged Susan to stop.

"She has a good point. Stress only makes it worse, according to science." Mary agreed. Susan took a deep breath and asked calmly on what happened. At first, the girls thought on telling the truth, but Sunset shot down the idea, since she was afraid, that they'll be angry at her, therefore making the pain worse. So, to spare herself and her friends from any more dilemma, she responded with: "You had an accident, which caused you to fall and hit your heads on the ground."

"An accident?" The sisters were confused. But Sunset assured them, that their injuries were caused by an accident. They didn't know, that Sunset was lying.

"I recommend you to rest and take necessary medicine, the doctors will give to you. It'll take a week to three months for a full recovery. I'm not sure on how long exactly for your recovery to be complete, but the point is, you're not in danger." Twilight recommended. "And as for the medical costs? My friends will cover that for you."

"I mean, you don't want to die from it, do you?" Rainbow crossed her arms.

"Of course not!" The sisters responded in unison.

"Good. For your sake of your health, rest and be patient. After all, scientists would say the same thing, since they contributed the health system." said Twilight. It's a good point. If you have an injury on your head, then it's best for you to rest for a while. And that's exactly, what the twins did.

"It's getting late. We have to go home." Applejack reminded.

"Good point. We're sorry, girls. We have to leave. But don't worry, we'll visit you several times. We hope, that you'll recover well." Sunset smiled and they left the hospital.

"Sunset, why did you lie about the cause of the injuries?" Twilight asked.

"I don't want them to be mad, therefore making the pain worse. I mean, that would be bad for their health, right?" Sunset answered. Everyone agreed. After all, it's been a rough day for everyone involved and the sisters needed some rest.

"Fair enough." Twilight replied.

"I think, I can stay here for a while longer. After all, my clone is in Equestria, therefore not causing any suspicion." Starlight told to the girls. "I made the clone to last for at least longer. Let's hope, that during the time, the girls will recover."

"We all do, Starlight." Twilight agreed and after a walk together, the girls said goodbye, as they went on their way to their homes, while Sunset and Starlight went to Sunset's house.

"Let's also hope, that we can find some answers sooner. I really don't want the dilemma to go on." Starlight hoped.

"Me neither." Sunset agreed. "Let's go to sleep. Tomorrow is another day." After those words, they prepared their beds and fell asleep.

???

Jenny was wandering around in a dark subspace, confused as of how she got there.

"Hello? Anyone? Where am I?" She called out, but got no answer. The atmosphere was dark and eerie, the sounds so mysterious and she was the only one wandering around. That was...until she saw two ponies standing their backs against her. As she got closer, the pink alicorn slowly recognized the two ponies as Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom.

"Fire Jewel! Tropic Bloom! I'm so glad, that I found you! Somehow, I was taken into this void with no idea on why. Maybe someone kidnapped me..." At first, Jenny was glad, that she found her friends, but she soon realized that something was off...the two ponies were not responding.

"Hey...are you listening!?" She tried to get their attention, but they still didn't respond. There was this eerie silence going on, that sent chills down to her spine. "Uhm...are you okay?" She grabbed them, but they stood still. Eventually, when they did turn around to see her, she was greeted to a horrific sight: Both Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom have completely black eyes with black ooze coming out of them. The pink alicorn screamed at the sight in horror.

"No!! This can't be happening!! What happened to you, girls?!!?" Jenny was backing away in fear, as the two got closer and closer. Eventually, the pink mare had to run away as fast as she could, while the two were chasing her. While the chase was going on, the surroundings got darker and darker, as well as the ground changing to a blood red. The terror was real. And it got worse, as Jenny stopped at the sight of her other friends, Ocean Spark, Cherry Swirl, Breeze Dasher and Snow Emerald. Much like Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom, they too have black, oozing eyes. When their mouthed opened, they too were pure black and also oozing.

"No...NOT YOU TOO!!!!" Jenny was in disbelief. They too became demonic.

"It's all your fault...It's all your fault..." they started to chant the same sentence over and over again with their distorted voices. It became louder and louder and louder and louder. So much so, that Jenny had to cover her ears, but even then, she could still hear the words echoing in her head. As the ponies surrounded her in a circle, it became unbearable for her.

"Jenny..."

A voice can be heard and the alicorn looked at the source, only too a tall lavender alicorn mare with ethereal dark blue mane, fading to bright purple and her wings also fading to purple. She immediately recognized as her mother!

"Mother! Please help me!!!" Jenny was in tears. But the tall mare looked away with:

"Why would I help a selfish pony, who committed sins?"

"Selfish pony? What are you talking about?! Who is that selfish pony?!" Jenny had so many questions, as her mother closed her eyes. "Answer me!!!!" She shouted and she soon got the answer, as she opened her eyes and said:

"You..."

What's worse is, she too had these black, oozing eyes, like her friends. At this point, Jenny was in absolute horror at the sight of her own mother turning demonic in front of her own eyes. As she went closer, the pink mare was frozen in terror.

"Me? Why!? I didn't do anything wrong!!!" She asked in disbelief. While her friends keep telling her, that it's all her fault, her mother explained with:

"You betrayed your own friends, causing disharmony...You didn't care about them at all and only focused on your non-existent problem...Selfish....And now....YOU'LL FACE THE PUNISHMENT!!!"

Suddenly, shadow hands appeared from the ground and grabbed the pink mare, as she was struggling to break free.

"LET ME GO!!! STOP!!!" She tried to fly away, but the hands were so strong, they prevented her from flying up. She tried to use her magic, but it had no effect on them. She screamed, as the hands drag her deeper and deeper into the ground, until the screams were replaced with silence.

When she opened her eyes, everything was dark red with black mist obscuring the surroundings. When the mare tried to move, she couldn't, as she was restrained by a dark force.

"Hahahaha!! How does it feel to be completely alone and helpless?"

A creature appears from the mist with. It looked like Jenny, except taller. She had a dark pink coat with her wings fading to a dark blue, yellow, serpent-like eyes with a teal aura around them, dark purple armour and dark blue, ethereal mane fading to black. She grinned at the helpless pony with her sharp fangs.

"No...it's can't be!!" The pink alicorn was shocked. First her demonic friends and mother and now this!?! It felt like absolute hell.

"Yes! Fear me! Give into the despair! Your actions really left you alone and helpless, which is an absolute delight to me! You actually made my job far easier, than I would! All it needed is some crocodile tears and some help from your demons!"

The twisted mare laughed evilly, as her demonic mother and her demonic friends appeared from the mist. As they got closer and closer, repeating the same sentence from before, Jenny was begging for mercy, but no avail. It's clear, that they won't stop, no matter what. She tried to use some magic, but nothing happened, like her horn was gone. The mare even tried to use her wings, only to realize, that they're also gone!

"No! My wings! My horn! They're gone!!!" She cried out, but her tears only motivated them even further.

"Hahahahahaha! You fool! Crying will lead to nowhere, except for making me stronger! Just give it up! All at once!!"

Then the twisted tall mare charged at her and went into her chest. The pink mare felt severe pain, as her body is slowly getting corrupted, with her coat turning dark and her eyes getting corrupted.

"Please, stop!!! It hurts!!! It hurts so much!!!!!!" Jenny pleaded the twisted mare to stop hurting her from the inside, but the evil mare only laughed, as the pain intensified. Soon, the demonic ponies also went in her to cause even more pain and corrupt her even further. And as the chants kept getting louder and more distorted, it made the pain even worse. So much so, that the mare screamed in fear and pain and she thought, her life was over....but then...when she opened her eyes, she realized, that she was still inside the vine cocoon! Jenny checked, if her horn and wings were still there, which indeed they are. It turned out, that she woke up from a horrible nightmare.

"Oh my god...." she was still in fear, thanks to that experience.

"Geez, Jenny! Can you just be quiet!? We're trying to sleep!" It came from Breeze Dasher. It seems like, that her scream woke them up. However, Jenny was too scared to say anything, due to the nature of her nightmare. She tried to sleep, even though the nightmare will still haunt her.

As the morning sun rose, everyone woke up. Meanwhile, Snow Emerald was completely silent and in tears. Like Jenny, she too had a nightmare.

"What have I done?...." she mumbled, as her tears dripped from her face and fell to the cocoon's ground. "Fire Jewel....Tropic Bloom....I'm so sorry..." At this point, she felt guilty for what she've done and wanted to make things right. This is when something happened: The vine cocoon, that Snow Emerald was held inside, opened, allowing the pegasus mare to be free from the natural imprisonment. It seems like that the vines had heard her apology with remorse and guilt and decided to release her. "Did Tropic Bloom hear my apology, thus releasing me?" The white mare asked herself. Her theory got more credible, as two of the four cocoons also opened, releasing Breeze Dasher and Cherry Swirl.

"Cherry! Breeze!" Snow Emerald hugged them tightly in joy.

"Snow! What happened? I mumbled my apologies to Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom and suddenly, the cocoon opened!" Breeze explained.

"Same for me. Mine also opened after doing the same thing." Cherry commented.

"It seems like, that Tropic Bloom listened to our apologies and let us go...I mean, she's always close to nature, thus controlling it with her powers and it seems like, they're her third ear..." Snow assumed.

"It's not an assumption. It's real." The green mare responded. "I've seen it before and given that I'm the elemental master of earth, I felt a similar connection."

"What's going on?" The voice came from Ocean Spark, who is now awake.

"We're free." Snow responded.

"What?! How!??!" The blue unicorn mare was confused.

"Wait, what is happening!?" The voice of Jenny can also be heard at the same time.

"We saw the error of our ways....Realizing about our stupid actions and their consequences..." Cherry mumbled.

"What!?" The two mares couldn't hear anything, in which the green earth pony snapped with: "At least, we knew our limits and didn't belittle anyone, unlike you two!!"

"Yeah, that's right! You two are nothing more than horrific tyrants!!" Breeze also snapped as well.

"What we're saying is, you've been cruel to Fire Jewel so much, that she and Tropic Bloom left, because of that! We are really ashamed of you. You seriously should've been more considerate, Ocean Spark and as for you, Jenny! As the leader, you should've known better and just left go of your paranoia!! But no! Your stubborn pride only leads to more harm than good! I'm sorry, girls...but we're leaving this damn group too! Goodbye..." Those were the last words from Snow Emerald, that Jenny and Ocean Spark heard, before the freed trio left the forest and the two for good.

Those words left them in shock and soon, sounds of hysteria from both can be heard, but Ocean's seems to be the loudest.

"NO!!! HOW CAN I'VE BEEN SO STUPID!!!?!?" The blue unicorn screamed and pounded the walls of the cocoon with tears in her eyes. She kept hitting and screaming, even if it means hurting herself. But at this point, it didn't matter to her anymore. Especially, that much like Jenny, she too had a horrific nightmare earlier in the night. "FIRE JEWEL, I'M SO SORRY! I WAS WRONG! I WAS SO DAMN WRONG!!!! I'M SORRY FOR THE PAIN, I'VE CAUSED, I'M SORRY FOR THE WHOLE IGNORANCE, I'M SORRY FOR BEING THE WORST SISTER IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!! I'M ALSO SORRY, TROPIC BLOOM!!!! FOR ALL THE TROUBLES, I'VE CAUSED!!!!!" She screamed and cried, as she kept hitting the walls. Tears were dropping from her face hard. Eventually, she had to stop hitting the walls due to the pain and continued sobbing, when all of a sudden, her cocoon opened, releasing her from the prison and allowing to see light from the day...

"I'm free...but at what cost?...." She mumbled, as she looked at the sky. Soon, her emotions became dark and it became darker, once she heard Jenny's voice.

"Ocean? Ocean! I'm glad, that you got out!" It turns out, that Jenny was the last pony to be released from the cocoon, due to guilt and was about to approach the blue unicorn, when all of a sudden...

"DON'T GET NEAR ME, YOU BITCH!!!!" Ocean slapped the pink mare so hard to the ground with full anger and sadness.

"Ocean, what are you doing!?" Jenny was hurt by the slap and her shout. "Why did you do-"

"SHUT UP!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! I'VE BEEN YOUR SECOND-IN-COMMAND THE WHOLE TIME AND LISTENED YOUR ORDERS, BUT YOUR ACTIONS CAUSED US TO LOSE OUR FRIENDS AND FOR ME, LOSING MY SISTER, THE ONLY FAMILY MEMBER, I'VE LEFT!!!!!!" The blue mare kept shouting, while at the same time, the skies get even more clouded and sounds of thunder can be heard.

"I know, but maybe we can solve this together?" Jenny tried to reason with Ocean, but at this point , she was too angry to be reasoned with, as she was clouded by the guilt.

"NO! FUCK YOUR REASONING AND MOST OF ALL, FUCK YOU!!!! YOU CAN DO THAT ALONE NOW, SINCE I'M DONE!!!" Ocean Spark ran away in tears, after those words.

"Ocean, wait!! Please!!" Jenny tried to catch up with the blue mare, but she ain't having it.

"DON'T EVER GO NEAR ME AGAIN, BITCH!!!" Ocean Spark shot out a beam of water to push Jenny far away from her, as she kept running away, while the sky started to rain. The water beam pushed the pink mare all the way back the centre of the forest, until she got hit by a tree and then fell to the ground. She got up, however at this point, it didn't matter to her anymore.

"What have I done?.....It's all my fault..." Tears streamed down from her face, as the rain got stronger. She felt great remorse and guilt, as it was her actions, that lead to the group getting disbanded, as everyone left, leaving her as the only one. At this point, she truly felt alone and hated...and it hurts...Eventually, she couldn't hold her emotions any longer and burst into tears, while she was poured on by the heavy rain. At the same, Ocean Spark also cried, while running away. During which, the chimera tried to attack her, but she pushed it away with a water beam, made from the rain and her own tears. She wanted to fix her relations to her sister, but didn't know, what to do. It seems like, both ponies felt the massive gravity of their actions and their consequences, although it seems like, because Jenny was the leader, her pain was much worse...

As the days passed by, the Humane 7 and Starlight kept visiting the twins at the hospital, in order to check on their recovery and give them gifts. At one point, Rarity gave them some clothing to wear, only those were simple dresses and shoes. However, she promised them to give better clothing, since she still has to work on the styles. It seems like, that they felt like, those were friends, but due to their stubborn nature, they ignored it. (And also due to the amnesia.)

After a week has been passed, the sisters were fully recovered from the injuries and released from the hospital, while wearing the simple dresses and shoes. Those were basic clothing with only one color.

"We look really dumb..." Susan groaned.

"Excuse me, I'm still trying to find the style, so please be patient!" Rarity was unamused, since she had to repeat her reason.

"Anyway, I want to ask some questions, regarding to your side of the whole abuse story." Sunset prepared to ask the sisters some questions, but then the sisters look confused.

"What abuse story?" The twins asked in unison. That caused a shock to everyone.

"I'm sorry, what!?" Rainbow was really confused.

"The abuse regarding about Johnny and his pal. Last time, I checked, you were part of this." Starlight explained a bit more. However, the sisters still didn't understand the story.

"Last time, we checked, Johnny and Dukey were fine. Why would be involved in abusing them? " Mary answered.

"But...but, you were arrested because of your actions, broke yourselves out of prison, went to Equestria, got possessed by Nightmare, turned back to normal, only to be sent to the Tartarus, I broke you out of it and brought you here!! How in the name of Celestia do you forget about those details! Again, your actions caused his disappearance!!!" Starlight was dumbfounded and tried to tell them, what happened to the sisters, after Johnny had left his former world behind.

"That doesn't sound right. Since when did we get arrested and there is no scientific way, Nightmare existed. Also, about Tartarus? That is just nonsense! However, he's in a world, called 'Equestria', so we have to go there!" Susan was adamant about it and went with Mary to find a laboratory.

"They...they...they FORGOT EVERYTHING!??!" Everything fell apart for Sunset Shimmer. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TEST THE THEORY, IF THEY'RE NOT COOPERATIVE!?!?" Her shock turned to anger at this point. Suddenly, Twilight remembered the words from the doctor and told the girls about it.

"Girls! There is a reason as of why they forgot about it! Remember, when the doctor said, that there is a chance, that when they woke up, they would suffer from amnesia? Well, that chance happened just now! Now, they don't remember anything after Johnny had left his former world!" Twilight explained to her friends about the reason.

"Ugh....Great...Now they made the job even harder..." Starlight was annoyed. Now their mission has become much harder now.

"But! We can bring the memories back, if they're given evidence about it happening!" Twilight continued.

"The only evidence, we have are the copies of his diary entries." Starlight pulled out the copies.

"I mean, it's better than none at all." Pinkie Pie shrugged.

"Ah feel like, it ain't enough though." Applejack was sceptical about it.

"I mean, we can at least try..." Fluttershy was hopeful about bringing the lost memories back.

"Fluttershy has a point. It's either showing them something or nothing." Rarity agreed about Fluttershy's stance on trying.

"Yeah. Pretty sure this would make remember!" Rainbow was confident.

"You're right. We have to try, in order to be closer to the truth!" Twilight smiled.

"Okay then. Let's give it a shot!" Sunset smirked, when Susan and Mary came back, looking confused.

"One question, is there a laboratory somewhere, that we can built a portal device there?" Susan asked.

"Well, I have my own laboratory for some experiences and constructions-" Susan and Mary were about to dash off, when Twilight interrupted with: "BUT! We have to go together, since if you dash off already, then you'll get lost easily!"

"Why can't they use the portal on the school?" Rainbow asked.

"For one, the portal opens once every 30 moons and even if they decided to use the portal, the other side only lead them inside Princess Twilight's castle and if she's there and saw them coming out of the portal, then there will be a lot of trouble." Sunset shot down Rainbow's idea, knowing too well, where it'll take them. So of course, that have to play safe and thus went to Twilight's laboratory. During which, the sisters were too eager to built and experiment on something or even worse, someone. Their behaviour scared Fluttershy and startled the others.

"These girls are crazy..." Rainbow whispered into Applejack's ear, while feeling uncomfortable.

After a while, they arrived at Twilight's laboratory and the very first thing, the sisters do is to look at the inventions in awe, like excited children in an amusement park. Immediately, they grabbed some materials for work.

"Uhm, girls?" Sunset tried to get their attention. She did, but she accidentally pissed them off.

"What!?" They were annoyed.

"Uhm. I just want to show you something." Sunset grabbed the copies and gave it to the twins. "Those were the copies of Johnny's diary entries. Immediately, they began to laugh at the concept of Johnny having a diary.

"Rude....Even the whole amnesia stuff..." Rarity was disgusted.

"Yeah, laughing at someone, whose diary entries are like describing his inner problems? Talk about reaching an all time low..." Rainbow crossed her arms.

"Please, just listen to me! Those diary entries are written like journals, detailing his inner struggles of his life, before he went to Equestria! This is something, that no one should be laughing at, nor is it funny! It's just nothing but pain and sorrow in each and every sentence!!" Sunset was losing her patience at their insolence.

"What she's saying is, laughing over someone's pain, even in the form of a diary, is never funny. It never was and never will be! Want more context? Read the entries to get a understanding on what we're talking about." Starlight suggested the girls to read the entries.

"Maybe later. But for now, we have to build a portable portal device." Susan replied and the sisters began their work on building it. That alone annoyed everyone, but Twilight was curious about their skills. Eventually, after several minutes have passed, they finished the device.

"I must say, they're really talented and smart." Twilight was impressed by the result.

"But also egotistical..." Sunset groaned.

"I mean, weren't you in a similar situation before? You know, back then, when you stole Twilight's crown?" Starlight reminded her friend of that particular event in the past. Specifically the time, when she was a bad girl.

"...touche..." The orange girl sighed.

Immediately after completing the device, Susan tipped the words "Equestria" on the display and pressed a button, where a portal was formed.

"Uhm, wait a minute, girls...Don't you have to test it first!? What if it's actually dangerous!?" Twilight was worried.

"We don't have much time." Mary replied.

"I don't think, the ponies in Equestria would welcome with open arms, considering, that everyone knew the story, due to the diary entries." Starlight was nervous.

"Why? It's probably a misunderstanding." Mary replied and before anyone could do to stop them, the girls have already entered the portal, which it closed.

"Shoot...Worse is, we can't use the mirror..." Starlight sighed, when all of a sudden, Sunset had an idea.

"Twilight, can you please build two more of those portable portal devices? In case, the one gets either destroyed or stolen?" Sunset asked. "We have to go after them!"

"I think, I can try." Twilight immediately went to work on building two portable portal devices for her friends to use, in order to go after Susan and Mary. Eventually, after some fine tuning and testing, she completed the devices.

"Aside from bringing you to any universe, you can also go back here by setting a save point." Twilight explained and set the save points here in her laboratory. "Make sure, no one sees them and bring them safely back there. I wish you the best of luck."

"We'll make sure, Twilight. Girls, stay here! Starlight and I go to Equestria to get them back!" Sunset activated the portal device and typed down "Equestria" as their destination. Together, the two girls entered the portal with no time to spare.

"I just hope, it goes well..." Fluttershy was begging for a safe return.

Equestria, unknown fields

Out of the portal, Starlight and Sunset, now in their pony forms, came out and looked around in an absolute hurry. They don't know, where the sisters currently are.

"Okay, Starlight! We have to make sure, that we find them before anyone does!" Sunset related the mission.

"Got it!" Starlight responded.

The two ponies searched around ten whole fields, forests, deserts, beaches, etc, just to find the sisters. They kept looking and looking, however there were no clues of their whereabouts. Fearing, that they arrived in a crowded place, they immediately went to the first place, they'll go to: Ponyville. Immediately, they hid from everypony else. Starlight peeked a bit around the area for some clues and she found something unbelievable.

"Uhm, Sunset? I think, we're too late..." Starlight whispered and Sunset peek a hit to see, indeed the sisters in Ponyville. Worse is, everyone was not happy about their presence.

"Shoot....This is really getting worse..." the orange mare was worried.

Meanwhile, the twins asked some ponies about Johnny's whereabouts, only to be met with a lot of hate.

"You monsters? Back again for more trouble!?" The crowd got even angrier, as more and more ponies gathered to see them. Susan and Mary were confused about the whole ordeal.

"Uhm, Mary? Have we done something to them?" Susan asked.

"I don't think so...However, they think, we did something bad, due to the superstitions or perhaps they were isolated." The beige mare theorized. However it seems like, no one is sharing their thoughts at all. Eventually, Twilight and her friends arrived at the scene.

"I couldn't believe, that somehow, you got out of the Tartarus and go back here to cause some trouble..." Twilight was suspicious

"Excuse me, we didn't do anything to you, ponies!" Susan tried to reason with them, but none of them believed.

"LIARS! We know everything about you and your actions!" Rainbow Dash shouted, all while behind the scenes, Starlight and Sunset watched from afar. It didn't help, that the anger from everyone in Ponyville is getting tense. The twins backed away a bit, but the crowd had already surrounded them.

"Any ideas on how to get out?" Mary asked.

"We can use the device to get out!" Susan suggested, when all of a sudden, a familiar voice can be heard.

"That's not gonna happen."

They looked back, only to see BBB with a gang of his allies. Sissy, Missy, Jillian, Dr. Beebles, Mr. Harm, Brain Freezer, Zizrar, the penguins, the mole people and finally the hippogriffs in black followed by the general. Everyone wanted to give them a piece of their own justice.

"What are you guys doing here?" Susan was confused.

"Stop pretending to be innocent, you psychos! I knew, that once you got out, you would do it again!" BBB yelled at the sisters.

"What are you talking about!?" Mary wanted answers.

"Like destroying Equestria again and torture us? Yeah, that. This time, this ain't gonna happen!" Missy looked away in disgust.

"Wait, we didn't mutate you, how did you-" However the blue mare was interrupted by Sissy, who is protective towards her best friend.

"At least, I'm glad that you didn't mutate her! Like geez! Also one step closer to her and you're dead meat!" The navy mare growled, slightly startling the twins. At one point, they saw Gil being among the crowd and of course, they were love struck. But the aqua stallion immediately ran away in fear and hid behind the crowd.

"Why did Gil just run away from us??" The sisters were puzzled, only to be responded by Mr. White with: "You tried to kill him! Have you seriously forgotten about that?!?!"

"I think, it's time for you to be given an even harsher punishment!" The general glared at them, even with the sunglasses on. The twins attempted to run away through the crowd and it seems like, they're almost there to the exit, when a wall of lightning was blocking their path.

"Wait, who is causing the walls of lightning?" Susan was confused, when they felt the air around the village charging up and as they looked back, the crowd cleared the path for two ponies to go through, a black pegasus and a brown earth pony/dog hybrid. Both wearing scarfs and the pegasus' eyes are glowing yellow with each charge. The girls' eyes widened, since their appearances are very familiar and it should be, because those ponies are actually Johnny and Dukey! They were about to reach for them, when something was off: Their expressions was not welcoming at all and full of hatred and wrath.

"Guys! What's with those angry looks? Is it because we denied you access to our lab or what?" Susan asked. Once again, they were completely oblivious of their behaviour, given that they had amnesia. However, they didn't respond to their question at all. There was only one thing in their mind: revenge. And it was clear, that they were too far gone from any reasoning, as Johnny went around the sisters and created a lightning sphere, trapping them inside. Then the hybrid charged for a massive headbutt and when he hit his head to the sphere, it launched away to a nearby rock, where it exploded. The sisters got up, confused as of they the guys were attacking them without any reason. They tried to reason again, not realizing that could've used their unicorn magic to defend themselves. But since that fact didn't caught up to them at all and since they had no idea, that they're unicorns, they couldn't dodge the second attack from the guys. They grabbed the sisters and threw them up to the skies and before they knew it, they were kicked down hard by the two. With so much speed, they crashed to the ground hard, hitting their heads in the progress.

And yikes, it must've hurt HARD, as the sisters are basically stuck, as the crowd got closer and just watched, as the stallions prepared to finish them off. Meanwhile, Mary opened her eyes and looked at their faces. They had bags under their eyes, indicating a lack of sleep, but what the beige unicorn did next, she would never forget: When she saw Johnny's arms at close inspection, despite her pain, she could see scars on them. She gasped, as the amount of the slit scars and how deep, some of them where, she realized, that it didn't come from an accident, but rather from a suicide attempt. By putting two and two together, it's clear that Johnny must've been a victim.

"The scars....the bags and the glare...How-" Without a warning, her eyes widened and flashes of memories can be seen. All of it and in detail. The time, that he's been experimented, their disappearances, a murder attempt, being arrested, sent to jail, only to get out and going to Equestria with a portal. And even though, she couldn't remember the time, she was possessed by Nightmare, the aftermath of being imprisoned in the Tartarus in the most cruel conditions. Everything came back to her.

"Burn in hell...forever!" The black pegasus was about to end their lives, when all of a sudden....

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

They were pushed away by a magical aura and everyone saw Sunset jumping out from the Bush and guarding the injured sisters. Everyone was shocked. Why would Sunset protect the monsters?

"Sunset, why!? Why would you protect them, when they caused nothing but despair???!" Twilight was in disbelief. However, the orange mare was angry, like really angry.

"You ponies didn't listen....and that SICKENS ME!!!!" She yelled, but before anyone asked her, she interrupted each of their attempts for reasoning with: "There has to be a reason for all of this! A reason to explain their behaviour and why all of this abuse ever happened!!! I want to test out a theory, that with enough information and trust, I could reform them!!! BUT, NO!!! EVERYONE OF YOU ARE LIVING IN AN IGNORANT BLISS, ALWAYS SEEING THE WORLD IN BLACK AND WHITE, WHEN REALLY, THERE IS A LOT OF GRAY THERE!!"

"Sunset, just-" Twilight couldn't finish her sentence, as the orange unicorn once again, cut her off.

"SHUT UP!!!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO FORGIVENESS??? WHAT HAPPENED TO EQUALITY???? WHERE IS THE LOGIC?!? I know, that nobody is flawless, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO GIVE THEM HELL, WITHOUT LOOKING FOR THE REASONS AS OF WHY THEY DID IT!!!! PLUS, THEY COULD FEEL REMORSE, BUT YOU IGNORED IT!!!" Her anger was in full force, as her horn emitted a harsh, red glow.

Meanwhile, Mary got up without saying a single word and walked away from the crowd. Meanwhile, Susan woke up and when she saw her sister walking away, she got up and went after them.

"At least, one of them listened out warnings and decided to never come back again." BBB commented.

"Mary, wait!! We can sort this out with science!" Susan told to her sister, but got no response. She tried to get her attention numerous times, but Mary ignored all of them, continuing to walk away. But, at the 9th time, when Susan once again tried to get her attention, the yellow unicorn had enough and slapped her own sister hard to the ground, causing everyone around them to be shocked.

"Mary, are you crazy!?!?" Susan was appalled by her sister's decision of slapping her, but Mary just looked away and mumbled two words: "No more..."

"What are you talking about??" Susan asked, but for the other sister, who us known to be nicer and more sophisticated than the other, snapped with a yell of words: "No more of the pain and lies!!!"

"What pain and lies?" It seeks like, Susan is still suffering from amnesia, unlike Mary, who now remembers everything.

"Don't you realize, what we've done!? Thanks to our actions, we lost everything! Our family, our reputation, everything was simply thrown away!!!!" She yelled. "And worse of all, everyone hates us, not only in our world, but in this one too! Meaning, that our future has been obliterated into nothing!"

"But maybe, we can erase their memories and rewind time to undo all of this-" Immediately, Mary cut Susan off. At this point, she couldn't hold her emotions any longer.

"LISTEN UP!! I just want to stop the madness, gaining at least some normality, but you only think about changing something, that is impossible! The damage had already been done and we cannot undo it!!! Sometimes, your behaviour sickens me, but I cannot stand to your ignorance any longer!!!!" The beige unicorn was still mixed with anger and sadness.

"Come on, Mary! Maybe we can just take a break and forget all of this! I mean, you're my twin sister after all!" The blue unicorn was sweating, but the argument had already reached a boiling point anyway.

"NOT ANYMORE!!!" The yellow unicorn mare yelled back and suddenly, shot out a beam at Susan, knocking her to a wall and ran away.

"Hey, wait!!!" Sunset was about to follow the beige unicorn, when she heard booing from the crowd. "YOU ARE SERIOUSLY NOT HELPING AT ALL!!!!" After yelling to everyone, she ran off.

"Wait a minute, if Sunset was in that Bush, then that means..." Twilight used her magic to get someone out of the Bush and in front of her. And that someone was Starlight.

"I think, we really need an explanation from you, Starlight Glimmer." Twilight was serious and so were her friends.

"What's going on, Twilight?" The voice of Princess Celestia can be heard, as the princess of the sun went to Twilight, alongside with Princess Luna.

"The guards had told us, that the ponies, who were in Tartarus to serve their sentence, had mysteriously vanished. Right now, they're searching for these two ponies, far and wide around Equestria." Luna reported.

"We found one!" A guard had pointed to Susan, who was down with the damaged wall behind her. At the same time, the blue unicorn rubbed her head to ease the pain, when everything came flashing back in front of her eyes. Every single one of them. She stood up, now being silent, as the guards approached her. Soon, they tackled her down, preparing to restrain her even further, when without a warning, a blast pushed them away. It turned out, that Susan had unknowingly used her unicorn magic to break free. Her head was lowered, her hair messy and her glasses being cracked a bit. Soon, she approached Starlight and took one of the devices away from her.

"I see, what you mean..." Her voice was a bit more quiet and more down, as she prepared to walk away. "You'll never hear from me again... I'm pretty sure, no one will miss me..." she slowly walked away from the crowd, until the unicorn was gone.

During all of this, Twilight noticed, that Starlight didn't say a single word and had her back against the princess. "Starlight, say something! How did they escape? " she asked, but she got no answer. Only silence.

"The guards noticed, that there were bits of their mane, alongside with a bit of a magic trail. It seems like, that those were clones and cloning magic is known to be the most advanced, with only a few unicorns mastering it. And given, that you have mastered magic in every level, I conclude that you helped them escape, Starlight Glimmer!" Celestia pointed out.

That revelation was a shock to everyone and immediately, she was met with boos and insults. The whole ordeal was getting more and more intense, as her horn started to glow.

"Starlight, how could you?!" Twilight was in disbelief.

"I can't believe, you did this..." Fluttershy was in tears.

As for Johnny and the others, they simply looked away in disgust. Everyone was too close to her, when all of a sudden, Starlight snapped. She screamed and unleashed a shockwave, pushing everyone away from her from a big distance. Soon, she flew up, as the area around her got brighter. The lavender mare looked at everyone with anger and in tears.

"Why....WHY ARE YOU NOT LISTENING TO ME AND SUNSET!? YOU ARE LIVING IN AN IGNORANT BLISS, WHILE OTHERS HAVE TO SUFFER, WITHOUT GIVING THEM A SECOND CHANCE?? THINK, EQUESTRIA!!! THINK!!!! SUNSET AND I DID SOME HORRIBLE THINGS AND YOU GAVE US A SECOND CHANCE, BUT YOU DIDN'T DO THE SAME THING FOR THE SISTERS!!!! STOP WITH THIS INJUSTICE!!! I'M PRETTY SURE, EVERYONE HAS MADE A BIG MISTAKE IN THEIR LIVES, DESPITE SOME OF THEM CLAIMING THAT THEY'RE PURE! Think about it....What was the biggest mistake in your lives?? What is your biggest crime?? At any point, did you feel guilt and regret? And most importantly....WHY?!?! THERE'S A REASON FOR THE ACTIONS, REGARDLESS IF THEY'RE RIGHT OR WRONG!! BUT, NO!! YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE ALL OF THIS IN FAVOR OF THE VICTIMS, WHO I'M PRETTY SURE, THEY ALSO DID SOME BAD STUFF IN THE PAST!!!!! You really disgust me....All of you!...You know what, I'm done! I'm going to the human world and never come back again! I doubt, anyone in Equestria would listen to me and take advice, for being SO HYPOCRITICAL WITH THEIR DOUBLE STANDARDS!!" Those words echoed through the entirety of Equestria, as everyone watched.

Eventually, the lavender mare flew past the crowd, saw their faces one final time in disappointment and looked away...

"I'm done with all of you...Goodbye..." She flew away, leaving everyone in shock. However...little did anyone know, that there are a few, who took this message to heart.

Human World, Twilight's Laboratory

The Humane 6 were waiting for any sign for Sunset and Starlight and if they found the girls. Eventually, a portal opened and someone came out. It was Starlight.

"Starlight! Did you find the girls?" Twilight asked, but the lavender girl only growled in response.

"Are you okay?" Fluttershy was worried.

"NO!!! THEY'LL NEVER LEARN FROM ANYTHING!!!" she screamed in anger, scaring anyone.

"Calm down, Starlight! What happened?" Twilight was worried about her friend, but that didn't change her angry demeanor.

"They're always living in double standards and in an ignorant bliss. Therefore,into helping in my case...You know, what? Screw Equestria!! THIS IS MY NEW HOME!!!" Starlight shouted. The fact, that she'll stay in the human world permanently, shocked everyone with Pinkie doing a spittake, while she was drinking, Rarity fainting and everyone else frozen. But didn't matter to her anymore, as the lavender girl stormed out the lab.

"Uhm....did...did she just...?" Twilight was dumbfounded.

"Yep...." Applejack was speechless.

At the same time, Sunset returned from her trip.

"Sunset! Any news?" Rainbow asked.

"A lot of things have happened...." Sunset proceeded to explain about the whole ordeal from Susan and Mary going to Ponyvile, nearly getting killed, the memories being restored, an argument which lead to Mary cutting ties to Susan to Sunset being mad at the ponies.

"That's insane!!" Rainbow was shocked, while Pinkie's jaw dropped.

"I know, right? And now, I've lost her and I don't know, what happened to the other one! Ugh...wait...where's Starlight?" Sunset asked.

"Uhm....about that..." Twilight proceeded to explain, that Starlight was really angry at the people and decided to stay on the human world for good.

"Oh my goodness...I can't blame her, I was also outraged at Equestria." Sunset sighed.

"Should we go after her?" Fluttershy asked.

"I think, it's best to leave her alone for a while. After all, the whole ordeal had caused so much stress. But if there's anything good coming from this story, is at least the amnesia problem was solved...half anyway." The orange girl answered. "I had no idea, that I'll be involved in an ever complicated web of problems and secrets, when I went to Equestria for a visit a few weeks ago. And now, I don't know, if we can solve it..."

"Don't worry. We'll find a way to end this mess together. It's only a matter or time and effort, in order to find the missing pieces." Twilight hugged Sunset with a comforting smile and soon, the rest of the group joined in the hug.

"Thank you, girls..." Sunset smiled, while wiping her tears away.

"Hey, that's what friends are for." Rainbow smiled.

"I think, I should go looking for Starlight." Sunset was about to leave, when her friends decided to tag along. She smiled, knowing the strength of their friendship and the group went out looking for Starlight.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Canterlot City...

We see Susan, slowly walking through the busy streets and crowds with nothing but silent sorrow. She saw many happy people around her, including families and couples. She said nothing, as she kept walking and walking, until she stopped in an empty alleyway. It was run down, that's for sure.

"Maybe I'll just live there for the rest of my life..." she sat down and sighed. Everything went upside down, after that fateful day. And that lead to so much despair and discord.

Suddenly, she heard a noise coming from a trash can. She went there to inspect the noise, by opening the can. However, the noises actually came from rats trying to find food. Feeling relieved a bit, she closed the lid and went back to the corner. Soon, another noise can be heard, although she chalked it up to being city sounds, as well as sounds from run down fans. Eventually, she stood up and went for the garbage bins, searching for something edible. During this, she became completely oblivious of her surroundings, as Susan was focused on finding food. After all, she's hungry.

Then, without a warning, she was grabbed by a man in black. She couldn't scream for help, as he held a piece of cloth over her nose and mouth. She tried to fight back as best as she could, but he was too strong, as he grabbed her tightly. At the same time, Susan felt like, her body was slowly shutting down, realizing that the cloth is laced with a sedative drug. She tried to hold her breath, but it was impossible, as she was struggling and each time, she breathed in, more of the drug would enter into her body. Her eyesight was slowly fading away, while losing control to her nerve system, until finally....everything went into total black and her body becoming limp. The being in black carried Susan's unconscious body to a mysterious van and after he got in, the van drove off. It's clear, that Susan was kidnapped...while being alone...

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

There was a long ass writers block during this time. But hey, I released it in time of G5 and with it, here is the longest chapter so far!

Yes, I added the Luminous 7 into my story for development, world building and giving character developnent to not only them, but the relations to the others Keep in mind, once I'm finished with the story, I'll make their own saga.

And as for not killing? Well even with the reasons, it's still wrong, unless it's in self defense. But even then, there should be more evidence. I mean, Batman doesn't want to kill and I sure as hell don't want to implement that, unless there is a valid reason, like a sacrifice.

In Equestria, there has been a massive tension between a group of ponies, to the point of two of them leaving and the five being imprisoned by nature. Eventually, they were released, but the group was disbanded, due to most of them leaving it out of guilt. Twilight and her friends have more responsibilities to do in order to clear the clouds of disharmony. As for Johnny and Dukey, they'll continue fighting their demons, while having their friends and family at their side. As for Starlight and Sunset, they had enough and left to the Human World with disgust at their lack of empathy and logic. They'll continue looking to the sisters, testing the theory and finding answers to the questions.

At the same time, Ocean Spark felt really guilty over her actions and wanted to fix her relations to her sister and friends, all while Jenny was left alone in the guilt and sorrow.

Meanwhile, in the Human World, after a sudden fight with Mary, whom she broke her relations to Susan and left, Susan hid in shame, only to be drugged and abducted by an unknown individual.

Will the remaining members of the former group find forgiveness? What happened to Jenny? How will Sunset and Starlight solve this ever complicated puzzle and what will the unknown individual do to Susan, after they just abducted her??

Find out next time on "Chapter 14: Struck by Karma!"

Chapter 14: Struck by Karma

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DISCLAIMER: This chapter contains torture, a murder-suicide, blood, twisted individuals, PTSD and so on. If you are very sensitive or don't want to be scarred, please don't read this and seek help! If you're willing to read the extreme chapter, please proceed it with caution. Viewer discretion is advised.

The Humane 6 and Spike looked around some parts of the city, in order to find Starlight. Last time, she was seen in the Laboratory, looking very angry. It all happened, when the society of Equestria chose to ignore the sisters's side of the story and Starlight, alongside with Sunset didn't like that at all, as they were really trying to find the missing pieces to clear the suspicion and find some sympathy in them. Anyway, a lot has happened in Equestria and now, the group are looking around the city. Eventually, after a while of looking and asking the locals for clues, they found Starlight in an alleyway, who is hitting the trash can with a stick.

"STOP!!" Immediately, Rainbow Dash and Applejack ran as fast and restrained Starlight from causing damage of property. "Please, calm down! This is not gonna help!" Sunset tried her best to calm her friend down. "I know, that you're upset. Their behaviour was really infuriating, not gonna lie. But cutting all ties with Equestria? Don't you think, that's kinda too far?"

But that hardly mattered to the lavender girl, as she was consumed by her own rage. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!" she shouted, as she was struggling. In response, Rainbow and Applejack had to tighten their grip.

"Please, Starlight...You need to calm down..." Fluttershy pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears. Eventually, Sunset lost her patience. "Let her go, girls." She said to the two.

"Are you crazy!?" Rainbow was shocked.

"Y'all know, that this is a risky idea." Applejack reminded her of the situation.

"I'll be fine, girls. Besides, she helped me overcome the sadness and rage in me and now...it's time to repay that debt." Sunset slowly approached her friend, as Rainbow Dash and Applejack let Starlight go, while Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy immediately covered their eyes, fearing for the worst. As to be expected, the second she was released, Starlight dashed towards Sunset and tried to tackle her down. A thud was heard...

When the other girls opened their eyes, they didn't believe, what they saw: Sunset was still on her feet, now tightly hugging Starlight, who was struggling hard. Despite this, she refused to let her friend go.

"It's okay, Starlight. I'm here." She softly spoke. The other girls watched, as Starlight thrashed around, yet Sunset kept calm and continuing to hold her friend in a tight embrace. After what it felt like an hour of screaming and thrashing, Starlight stopped and broke down in Sunset's arms. Meanwhile, Sunset kept strong through the ordeal, while the others tear up. Eventually, the cries has been slowly silenced, as Starlight calmed down and looked at her friends.

"Look, I know that their reactions were cold at worst and the girls' behaviour didn't help much. Sure, they had amnesia, but still. However, that doesn't mean, that we have to give up. We can prove them wrong by finding the reasons of their behaviour and help them reform! It's our mission to find the missing pieces and let the case rest. With you, me and my friends, we can end this complicated mess once and for all and douse the flames of hatred in Equestria." Sunset smiled and so did her friends.

After a while of silence, the lavender girl wiped her tears away and looked at them with a determined and confident look on her face.

"You're right. I won't allow any obstacles to deter me from completing the mission. Together, we can find the missing pieces and end the nightmares!" Starlight smiled.

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Rainbow Dash raised her fist up.

"Way to go, Starlight!" Pinkie cheered.

"Say, what happened to the other girl?" Twilight asked.

"That's a good question...From what I remembered, the blue unicorn, who is named Susan, just walked away and get this, I looked at her face and it was full of shame! Meaning, that her memories are back! However, I was so angry at Equestria, I didn't bother to go after her. I know, that she is in the human world here, alongside with her sister, Mary...but they could be anywhere and I'm worried, that they'll get lost so easily." Starlight recounted the event.

"Huh. The more you know.." Applejack was intrigued, now that she now knows the names of the girls and that they're sisters, at least until Mary decided to broke off with Susan completely out of guilt.

"Maybe we should split up, just in case." Rarity suggested.

"Good idea. Each of us would go to different sections of the city and ask civilians about their whereabouts. There is no time to waste. Let's go, girls!" Sunset agreed and with those words, the group of nine went off to search for Susan and Mary, who are currently MIA.

On the North side of the city, Sunset went around and asked a few citizens about their whereabouts, only to tell her, that they've never seen the girls. In fact, when she went to a nearby cafe, she asked a teenage girl with "Hey. Excuse me for asking you so suddenly, but I'm looking for two girls, one blue and one yellow, both red hair and glasses. Have you seen them going around somewhere?"

"I don't think, I saw those girls walking around " the teenager answered.

"Shoot...But thanks for answering." With a sigh, Sunset walked away.

The orange girl kept asking people about their whereabouts, but to no avail. It's not surprising, as Twilight erased everyone's memories about the scary incident, where the sisters were bare and scared, as well as insane. Of course, she did this in order to save the others from potential PTSD.

"Oh man...It's like, they vanished into thin air...What is happening to them?" Sunset was worried, since they just vanished without a trace. What's worse is, she didn't know, if they were dead or alive. With a sigh, she went off to a different section of the city, hoping that she would find them safely.

???

Everything was dark for a while....until the eyes were opened. We see Susan, slowly regaining consciousness and waking up, after she was drugged by an unknown individual. Even when she woke up, the room was too dark to see anything.

"Where am I?" She was woozy from the drug's effects. She tried to get up, only to find out that she couldn't. It's like, the girl was strapped to a table. "What the?...Why can't I move?" She asked, when suddenly, she was blinded by a bright light, shining right at her.

"Ah. She's finally awake." A disembodied voice can be heard. When Susan opened her eyes a bit, she saw unknown people, whose identities are obscured by masks and lab coats. The light also showed us, that Susan was indeed tied down to a table with strong leather and metal restraining her body and limbs.

"Where am I? What is the meaning of this?" There are so many questions in her head and she asked to the mysterious captors, but she received no answer, as some of them went to mix some chemicals, while the others just stood there...menacingly. Sounds of mechanical machines can be heard, indicating, that she was in an unknown laboratory. Susan would be excited, if it wasn't for those questions:

What's with the masks? Why was she strapped down? And who was her kidnapper?

"So, given the sounds, it's seems like, you're scientists. Right?" Susan assumed. "That means, you do experiments for the greater good?"

"Oh hell no. It's only for our twisted pleasure. Now stand still and be our obedient and submissive Guinea pig" The masked individual spoke in a menacing tone, sending chills down her spine. Susan was confused. Who does scientific experiments for their twisted pleasure? Unless...those aren't actual scientists, but rather twisted people with a high IQ, yet very low morals. That assumption became correct, when they unveiled a big device with a lot of syringes, filled to the brim with chemicals.

"Uhm...What's going on? Why so many needles? It wouldn't hurt that much, wouldn't it?" Susan started sweating nervously. What's more is that, it looked...familiar. The fear is slowly getting into her body and mind. The individual said: "It'll hurt...A LOT!!!". Finally, one of them pulled a lever and the device went down on the helpless girl, who's getting stung and injected by the chemicals. Sounds of screams, filled with pain and horror can be heard, while her tormentors just stood there with no emotions whatsoever, seemingly enjoying her agony, which became worse, when she felt her body burning and mutating in a painful way. While the pain was still going, a memory flashed in front of her, where back when she and Mary had it all and about to experiment on Johnny, they said the same thing and used the similar looking device on him! And now, Susan is on the receiving end of a twisted torture. Being experimented on, except her captors have absolutely no sympathy towards her.

Next, the group went on to grab some clamps and attach them to the table, some of them being attached to Susan herself. With a signal, one of them pressed a button, where the surge of electricity would course to her, causing more pain. As she screamed in massive agony, there is a twisted aura around the tormentors, when beneath their masks, they were grinning. Once they stopped the electrocution, the people opened the restraints, grabbed her and tied her up to a chair. By the time, Susan was slowly losing consciousness from the amount of pain and shock.

"Hey! Pay attention, bitch!!!" One of them slapped her hard, in order to regain her consciousness, while two of them brought the operating table with tools.

"Please....make it stop..." At this point, Susan was in tears right now. The amount of pain and agony caused her to beg them for mercy. Unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears, as they prepared their scalpel and drills to do some "surgery" (more like cutting some skin open) on her. Without any anaesthetic whatsoever. Of course, she screamed extremely loud, since the pain was excruciating. It didn't feel like a science experiment anymore, but rather absolute torture. It went on for hours with no end in sight, until they ended their twisted action. Although they did patch her up, it was rushed to say the least and also in a painful way. Finally, Susan was carried and then thrown into a dark room by her captors, in which they locked the door. If you think, this was the end, think again. The horror has just begun.

At first, Susan felt some relief a bit, however the lasting pain prevent her from calming down. Suddenly, she smelled something....rotten.

"What's that smell?" She looked around for any source of light, in order to find the source of that smell. Thankfully, after looking around and touching everything, she felt something. Upon closer inspection, It was a working flashlight. "Thank God, I found a flashlight." She said. By that time, the smell became unbearable, so she turned the flashlight on, only to be greeted with a horrific sight. There were multiple decomposing corpses lying around, most of them are female. On the walls, they were splattered with blood and other nasty stuff. Most of them either died by the injuries or by starvation and some of them even died a long time ago, while some of then are recent. However, there were some, who died via suicide. Needless to say, Susan screamed in absolute horror, since she was in the middle of a mountain full of death and despair. At the same time, there were sounds of a few survivors, but those were pleas for help and one of them even asked someone to put her out of her misery. But there was one voice, that is different.

"You...!" Susan turned around, holding the flashlight and it turned out, that the voice came from Mary! Much like Susan, she was also tortured by her captors.

"You too?" Susan was in shock, that not only her sister was also there, but she also endured the same torture as she did. Nonetheless, she was happy, that she found her, although Mary didn't share her enthusiasm. After all, she was still mad at her for all of the actions, causing them to get convicted and imprisoned multiple times. She thought, that Susan was the main suspect, the brains of the actions, while Mary did so for her.

"I didn't expect to see you again..." Mary growled.

"Look, I know that you are not in the mood of talking with me. But in this case, we have to find a way to get out of this place. There has to be some items left to make a lockpick or something. " Susan was thinking of some ideas for an escape, all while Mary's anger grew and grew. Eventually, she tried to punch Susan, but she was so weakened and tortured, she couldn't even throw a punch and collapsed.

"Mary, are you okay?!" Susan rushed to her sister's side, despite her injuries.

"Don't go near me, bitch..." Mary coughed.

Suddenly, the sound of the door unlocking can be heard.

"Shit! We need to hide!" Susan grabbed Mary, despite her struggling and hid in one of the piles. Her fears were confirmed, when the door opened and the voices of the tormentors can be heard.

"Alright, who's next?" One of them spoke. Sounds of women screaming "No!" And "Stay away!" also can be heard.

Meanwhile, the masked monsters looked around and eventually found a blue and green-haired girl, curled up into a ball in fear.

"It seems like, the lucky Guinea pig is you! Now get over here!!" He grabbed the poor girl by the hair, which really hurts and dragged her out of the room of corpses and death, while she screamed and struggled. The sounds of terror and fear even continued, when they shut the door tight, leaving the others in total darkness. Except that Susan still had the flashlight, as she came out.

"They're gone..." She whispered. "Damn...I feel sorry for the girl..." Susan was horrified, since given the injuries, it seemed like, she was tortured for a long time. And she was not the only one feeling the pain. Mary, as well as the other victims also felt the terror, the girl felt.

As if wasn't that enough, the girls heard sounds and when Susan shone the source of the sounds with the flashlight, they wouldn't believe, what they saw: 2 sisters in horrible conditions. They were filled with despair and terror.

"Hey, are you okay? Don't worry! We'll find a way out of here!" Mary shouted, assuring them that everything will be okay, but it fell on deaf ears. Soon, they saw something alarming: a knife. One of the sisters found it under the mountain of corpses.

"Please, put me out of my misery, sister..." the dark-haired sister pleaded.

"No...if you go down, I'll go down with you! I don't want to be alone anymore! I would rather kill myself than continue living in agony under the monsters." The other sister hugged her sibling with tears in her eyes. It's clear, that they lost hope of salvation. They cried a bit, when the black-pink haired sister grabbed the knife and raised it up. The sight was alarming for Susan and Mary.

"What are you doing? STOP!!!" Immediately, the twins ran towards the sisters to prevent a murder-suicide. Unfortunately, due to their injuries and the corpses littered around, they were slowed down and one time, Mary tripped one of them and fell down. Susan tried to get Mary up, but of course, she didn't want to do anything with her anymore and only snarled in response. Because of those obstacles and Mary being uncooperative towards Susan, they were unable to stop the inevitable, which was about to happen:

While shedding a single tear of sadness, the black-pink haired girl grabbed the knife tightly and stabbed her own sister on the back, causing the latter to cough up blood, while the other sister cried and apologising her sister for that action. The screams and the coughs of the dark-haired girl sent chills down to anyone's spines. It was truly an agonizing sight. After a while of agony and pain, she let go of her sister, as she was dying and slit her throat open to end her misery. This resulted in the dark-haired girl dropping dead, all while Susan and Mary screamed in horror. With the sister dead, there was no other reason for the girl to live, as she turned the knife on herself.

"STOP IT!!! THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!!!" Susan screamed, begging the girl to stop ending her own life. Mary did the same thing, as the two went towards the girl, despite their injuries. But alas, it fell on deaf ears again and in the end, it was hopeless, as after looking at the twins with a sorrowful look in her face, she grabbed the knife tightly and plunged it deep in her throat, which after removing it, causing an immense amount of blood spraying out of her throat in a big distance, that even Susan and Mary got doused by some of the girl's gushing blood. Finally, after a while, it stopped spraying and the girl dropped dead. The horrifying experience lasted for around 10 minutes. The aftermath wasn't very pretty, as Susan and Mary became scarred and their reactions varied: Mary had a severe mental breakdown and fell on her knees, while Susan curled up into a ball and cried heavily. As if that want bad enough, the flashlight flickered and eventually died, due to the batteries running out, leaving the twins in complete darkness.

"Shit....We're gonna die... We're really gonna die..." At that point, Susan lost all hope of salvation. First the torture, then the corpses and now a murder-suicide. It became absolute hell for the two...one that there is seemingly no salvation for them. And it became worse, when the door opened and the tormentors came in.

"Okay, girls! You're next!" The had their tools ready, when they saw the dead bodies of the sisters, while Susan and Mary stood there in terror, covered in blood.

"Ah, fuck! They're dead! Why they must be so disobedient?! Oh well, we can improvise. At least we have these girls left, so might as well be their stand-in." One of the tormentors looked disappointed by the deaths, but decided to use the twins as their back-up. They went to the sisters to collect them, despite their screams and cries. As they grabbed the sisters for their twisted experiments, they struggled as they could. As Susan cried out for help, one of the captors licked her cheek, causing so much discomfort. When they couldn't stand still, they decided to punch the sisters to the ground, knocking them out. "Why....are...you... doing this?" Susan faintly spoke, before losing consciousness. The tormentors picked up their unconscious bodies and went on for their experiments.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville...

As the ponies worked, played and overall had a good time, Cherry Swirl, Snow Emerald and Breeze Dasher looked around the crowd. They want one thing: Find Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom and apologise for their ignorance.

"Okay, girls. You know, what to do." Snow Emerald told to her girls about the objective.

"We know. Find them and apologise." Cherry Swirl nodded.

"But first, we have to find them first. I mean, we last saw them, before we got trapped in cocoons, they were outside of the hospital. Perhaps, they went to a different location." Breeze Dasher assumed.

"That's why we're about to ask the ponies about their location." Snow responded and the girls went on and asked several ponies about the whereabouts of the two ponies. However, many of them had no idea, where they are, since they've never seen the two.

"Shit.." Breeze sighed.

"Keep trying, Breeze. Remember, there are ponies, we didn't ask yet." Cherry responded and went to different sections of the town and asked several ponies, although they said, that Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom were in the south of Ponyville, so they went to the south, but there was no sign of them. It was around this time, Fluttershy came by.

"Hey, you!" Snow Emerald shouted at the yellow pegasus, startling her.

"Geez, Snowy! Stop scaring her!" Cherry was not happy, that her friend accidentally scared Fluttershy.

"Oops...Sorry about that..." Snow apologized Fluttershy. "Me and my friends are searching for Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom. We just wanted to apologise to them for being ignorant. We were just following orders from Jenny, who didn't get the memo. Tell me, where are they?"

"You mean these two, you mentioned? Well, they are currently in Canterlot, in order to help my friends prepare for the Friendship Festival. I'm about to find Discord, so we can go there together." Fluttershy asked.

"Mind if we join?" Cherry asked.

"Of course, you can!" Fluttershy smiled.

"Thank you. We really appreciate it." Cherry smiled as well. At the same time , Discord appeared out of nowhere.

"You called me, Fluttershy?" Discord asked.

"There you are, Discord! We'll go to Canterlot, in order to help my friends prepare for the upcoming festival." Fluttershy hugged him.

"Say, who are those new ponies?" The chaotic creature was curious about the three ponies.

"My name is Snow Emerald and these are my friends, Cherry Swirl and Breeze Dasher." The icy pegasus introduced herself and her friends to him.

"Ooh! It's nice to meet you! Also one of them is ice related? Well, you don't mind, if I can use this to cool my drink!" Discord put the drink on Snow's head and after a while, he got it back and it became chill.

"What the?! How!?!" Snow was confused.

"Girl, you are the elemental master of ice and snow. You probably have a cold body." Breeze shrugged.

"Really funny, Breezy..." the icy pegasus sighed in annoyance.

"Or it's because Discord used his magic. He can do anything with it." Fluttershy explained. "But I'll explain it later. For now, we have to go now. Twilight and the others are waiting."

"Yeah. It's best to go now, so we can apologise to the others and release the guilt inside of us sooner." Cherry agreed and the group of five were on their way to Canterlot. They decided to go by train. However, little did anyone know that they were followed by a pony in a long, black robe.

Ponyville Train Station

They arrived at the train station, all while Cherry and her friends were waiting anxiously. At the same time, Fluttershy went to the ticket booth and bought five tickets to Canterlot. Next, they waited at the station for the train to arrive. While waiting, Discord exchanged some talks with the elemental trio and Fluttershy explained them about Discord's powers. The trio were speechless about the infinite possibilities of the reality-bending magic. After a while of waiting, the train has arrived.

"It's about time!" Breeze was impatient. She waited for the train for a long time and when the train had arrived and the doors were opened, the group went inside and looked for seats to sit down. After finding some free seats, they sat down and Snow looked at the window with a concerned look. After many ponies went inside, the doors closed and the train went off to the destination.

Inside of the train, Breeze noticed Snow looking concerned. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I'm worried, that they'll never forgive us...After all, we are guilty of the crimes..." Snow sighed.

"Hey, we were just following orders. Jenny and Ocean Spark are the real culprits. We're just their pawns. We can explain them, that we also have second thoughts. So don't worry, Snowy." Cherry Swirl smiled.

"Yeah! Don't be so gloomy! She released us, meaning that she did hear out apologies! Plus, Tropic Bloom is a sweet Pony!" Breeze put her arm on the pegasus mare.

"I know! I know! But...knowing Fire Jewel, she would be completely hesitant, given the topic... You know, what I mean....The one, that was mostly ignored by the two. Plus, she can be quite a hot head." Snow Emerald sighed.

"Don't worry. Everything will be okay." Fluttershy smiled.

"I hope..." Snow looked out the window.

"Breeze, we have to make sure to help Snow to gain the hopes up." Cherry Swirl talked to her friend.

"Got it." The blue pegasus nodded.

"Say, is there any reason, why you wanted to apologise?" Discord was confused.

"We've been quite ignorant to Fire Jewel, when it comes to her stance against abuse. Sure, there were times, that she almost went to far, if it wasn't for out interventions, but...In general, we didn't listen to her pleas and were outright cruel... However, we were just following orders, while Jenny and Ocean Spark disregarded everything. In response, they left the team and imprisoned us in vine cocoons. Believe me, during the night, we couldn't sleep, due to the nightmares. Eventually, the guilt was too much and I apologized in tears. Suddenly, the cocoon opened and I was free and soon, so were Cherry and Breeze. After seeing the errors of our ways and realizing, who are actually responsible to the disharmony, we left the team as well, leaving them alone and trapped in the cocoons. It's just...I couldn't bear the pressure anymore.. " The icy pegasus was in tears.

"Basically, a lot of shit happened." Breeze sighed.

"Yikes...That's a lot of chaos. I know, I'm literally a being of chaos and disharmony, but that, alongside with the other abuse story, this is where I draw the line." Disord scratched his head. As if an abuse story wasn't enough, now he knows about the whole disharmony among the group, causing it to be disbanded. It was clearly too much.

"Me too...It's getting more complicated..." Fluttershy sighed, since now she has to deal with two big problems at the same time.

"What abuse story?" Cherry asked.

"I'll tell you about it later. But for now, we have to focus on the current task." The yellow pegasus told the three ponies, since explaining it now would mean more heartache and a headache. After which, Snow continued to watch out of the window, while Breeze and Cherry looked around without saying a word. It was clear, that they're really anxious and worried. What if they'll never forgive them? What would they do? They've been circling around their heads like vultures.

Meanwhile in the human world...

The Humane 6, Sunset, Starlight and Spike gathered at a cafe, after a long time of searching for Susan and Mary's whereabouts. It's been hours since the incident.

"Any luck?" Starlight asked the girls about their results.

"Nah..." Rainbow sighed.

"Not even a clue..." Rarity looked down.

"None at all!" Pinkie frowned.

"They literally vanished without a trace." Twilight answered.

"No results, y'all..." Applejack crossed her arms.

"They were nowhere to be seen..." Fluttershy looked sad.

"I tried so hard, even so far as asking so many people and even some police officers about their whereabouts, but to no avail..." Sunset was stressed out.

"Shoot...For me, I came empty-handed." Starlight sighed. There was literally no single clue about their whereabouts.

"Should we report them as missing?" Fluttershy asked.

"I mean, we can at least try." Spike added. "Besides, they've been there for a week and a few days here, plus the hospital knew, what they look like. So we could make a sketch about their appearances and bring them to the police."

"I guess..." Sunset stood up and the girls went to a nearby police station, in order to report Susan and Mary as missing. After talking to the receptionist, a police officer brought them to a room for questioning. He asked them a few questions about their names, looks, etc. But there is a problem: There were only a few information about the sisters, that they know of. They know, what they look like, their names, their conditions, but not everything, since they didn't bother to introduce them fully. But the police want the full information in order to report the two missing.

"Okay, I'll tell you the details, we know of. Their names are Susan and Mary. Both have red hair and glasses, one being square and the other crescent-like. Susan is light blue, while Mary is bright yellow. Currently, they're wearing simple white dresses with shoes, because Rarity has to find the perfect style for them. They've been in the hospital for a week and a few days, since they had to recover from a brain injury. And finally, they had some problems mentally, like something is plaguing them inside. As of now, I don't know." Sunset explained all of the details, while the officer noted them.

"I see. What are their eye colors?" The officer asked.

"I think, Susan has blue-teal eyes, while Mary has teal ones." Starlight answered.

"We are worried, since they're only here for a few weeks and we're afraid that they would get lost so easily, since they've never been in this world before." Fluttershy pleaded.

"Or even worse, getting kidnapped nonetheless or heck, even worse, killed." Applejack crossed her arms.

"Please, sir...We just want them to be returned safely." Starlight pleaded.

"We'll do our best to find their whereabouts. In fact, we'll ask the hospital for records of the girls." The officer smiled and filled the report.

"Thank you. We really appreciate it." Twilight was relieved. Eventually, they signed the report and the officer went on to spread the report to his fellow officers and the whole station. After thanking the officer and Sunset giving the address of the hospital, the girls left the police station. However, Sunset and Starlight were still anxious and worried about their whereabouts and their safety.

"Don't worry, girls. They'll do their best." Applejack assured them.

"I know, it's just...I'm worried, where they are and even if they're okay. I'm not even sure, if they're even alive or dead..." Susent sighed.

"Let's just hope, they'll find them and return to us safely." Starlight looked at the sky with a sad look.

"Same here." Twilight looked at her friend.

"We should better take a break from the whole mess. I mean, the whole ordeal is just painful.." Rainbow was exhausted.

"Good point. It gave me a headache!" Rarity complained.

"You know, I really need your help, girls. This weekend, there will be a science fair and I entered it, because not only I want to improve my skills, but I could use the prize for charities." Said the nerdy girl.

"Sure, we can. I really need to distract myself." Sunset sighed, since the whole ordeal gave her so much grief.

"I mean, it's better than nothing." Rainbow shrugged and the girls left the district and were on their way to Twilight's laboratory, in order to help Twilight with her entry.

However, on the other side of the city, a black-hooded girl was strolling around the streets. Even though the identity was obscured by the hood, a frown can be seen, like something happened, that made her angry.

"That damn girl..." she growled. "One day, I'll get my revenge and take her place...Just you wait!" She continued walking around the streets, while avoiding eye contact to everyone.

Canterlot Train Station

After a while, the train had arrived their destination: Canterlot Train Station. The doors opened and many ponies went outside for a day out, work or other stuff. The four ponies and Discord wanted to go to the Canterlot Castle for various things: Prepare for the upcoming festival and in the case of three elemental ponies, find their friends and apologise.

"Here we are." Said the snowy pegasus.

The group soon went to the castle, where many ponies were still preparing for the festival, with even Twilight talking to the manager of Star Time Rush for the negotiations. The other ponies and non-ponies helped their fellow friends and loved ones on decoration, food, drinks, entertainment, etc. Eventually, they met Pinkie Pie, who was making balloons.

"Hi, Fluttershy!" Immediately, the peppy mare hugged her friend in a few seconds.

"Hello, Pinkie." The shy pegasus smiled.

"Ooh, are those new ponies?" Pinkie was curious about the three ponies, not knowing that those were responsible for the disharmony. However, it can be chalked up by a very busy schedule.

"Actually, those were three of the ponies, whom Tropic Bloom imprisoned them into cocoons." The shy pegasus explained the incident.

"We're here to find the two and apologise for being part of the mess. We feel very guilty about our actions, which lead to the team disbanding. At the end of the day, we were simple pawns, who follow the orders..." Snow Emerald looked sad. The guilt made her open her eyes and realizing the consequences. So did Cherry Swirl and Breeze Dasher.

"So, you were not actively cruel?" Pinkie asked.

"Of course not! We had doubts, but we pushed them aside out of fear. Fear of igniting their fury." Cherry lowered her ears.

"With that out of the way, where are Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom?" Snow asked. She wanted and answer badly.

"Hmm..Tropic Bloom...Well, she is currently somewhere, helping Rarity out. But for Fire Jewel, she is preparing the torches as decoration. I can bring you to her, if you want!" Pinkie smiled. However, that was met with mixed results. Cherry and Breeze were for it, while Snow had some doubts to it. After all, knowing the red mare's personality as a hot head, not to mention the consequences from their actions showing, she became very nervous. As a result, Snow became very anxious. Cherry knew this and held her friend's hoof, while they went on to follow Pinkie. During the walk, several ponies can be seen helping each other out. Eventually, they found Fire Jewel, who was placing the torches.

"Hi, Fire Jewel! I have some friends, wanting to talk with you!" Pinkie smiled and got the unicorn's attention. Unfortunately, when the mare saw the three ponies, everything went south.

"What the hell are YOU doing here!?" She snarled.

"Listen, Fire Jewel. We're not here to cause any more drama. We just want to make amends and try to close the rifts of hatred, we've caused." Cherry Swirl tried to douse the flames of hatred, but Fire Jewel didn't listen and looked away on disgust.

"I don't believe you..." the red mare looked mad.

"Listen! We are really regretting our actions! We did fucked up things, sure...but at the end of the day, we were just pawns of two ponies, whose names we do not speak of!" Snow Emerald plead with lowered ears. Unfortunately, the red unicorn didn't listen, as she was not forgiving to them.

"Sure. You're doing this, just to make you feel better..." She growled.

"No, we're not! We are truly sorry about the incident!" Breeze Dasher got a bit irritated at Fire Jewel's ignorance. At the same time, Sissy and Missy were helping out a few ponies, when they saw the argument.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Sissy was confused by the whole ordeal. "Also, why does this look....familiar?"

"I don't know. Let's check it out." The hybrid went to the scene, alongside with her best friend. Arriving at the commotion, they felt a sense of tension between the ponies.

"I don't want to listen to your damn lies!!" The red unicorn shouted.

"We're not lying! In fact, we've been haunted by the nightmares and voices all the time up until now! You gotta understand..." Snow felt scared.

"Understand the palm of my hoof, bitch!" The red unicorn slapped the snowy pegasus mare so hard, she fell to the ground. Cherry and Breeze tended to their friend, who felt hurt by her anger and was about to cry. Since everyone overheard the commotion and watched the scene unfold, needless to say everyone was shocked.

"Hey! What the hell were you thinking!?!" Sissy was outraged at the red unicorn's cold action to the ponies. "They're trying to apologise!"

"So you are backing those fuckers up, huh?!" At this point, Fire Jewel's horn started to glow in a menacing orange, while flames startled to go around her. But the girls were not phased by her rising anger.

"Geez, girl! You've really gone off the rails, huh?! Look at them! They're hurt now, because you were so damn hostile!" Missy shouted.

"She has a point, Fire! All we wanted is to free ourselves from the guilt by apologising you and Tropic Bloom for what we've done!" Breeze shouted, while comforting a broken Snow, who was rubbing her cheek.

"Plus, I'm pretty sure, that Tropic has listened our apologies. I know, she is your best friend and that she saved you, but she doesnt want to be fully on your side, since she hates any sort of conflict, whatsoever!!" Cherry added some points in their defense. Suddenly, they heard a voice, saying:

"It's true! I heard their voices!"

Behind them was none other than the flower pony herself, Tropic Bloom! She slowly approached her friends in defense of the three, causing the red pony to widen her eyes in disbelief.

"Listen, Fire Jewel...I know your pain and I know your struggles and your clear intentions of saving the poor fillies and colts. At first, I felt sorry for you and even helped you out. But...the more I thought about it...the more I realized, that you're slowly losing your grip on reality and your sanity! What I mean is, I'm worried that you would eventually lose yourself to the madness! And you know damn well, that I hate any conflict, especially ones within the group with friends!!!" Tropic Bloom was in tears, screaming with all of her emotions out.

"Wow...." Breeze Dasher was surprised at Tropic's sudden burst of emotions. Normally, Tropic is known to be a quiet and nice pony, who kept things to herself and never meant to hurt anyone. But this was unexpected.

"Holy shit...Didn't see that coming..." Missy was speechless.

Suddenly, the atmosphere became hotter and hotter, as the flames on the torches started to rise even higher than before. Everyone backed off in fear, because of those signals. And those signals were caused by Fire Jewel herself, whose eyes were changed to red and menacing, serpent-like eyes with the whites changed to a dark orange. All while a burning aura emitted from her eyes. "I see, what you mean...You are talking and working against me... I should've known, that I would not trust anyone...You know what, bitch?! It's over!!" With a distorted voice, she slowly ran towards the yellow earth pony.

"What are you doing!?" Tropic was scared, when Cherry defended the poor earth pony from the unicorn's insane wrath. "Stay back!!" The green pony shouted, but it fell on deaf ears.

"You know what, Fuck your intentions! Fuck your lies and most of all: FUCK ALL OF YOU!!! I'm done being lied and ignored by everyone in this damn world!!! And as for you, girls! We are no longer friends!!! Now GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE, BEFORE I'LL BURN YOU ALIVE!!!!" The red unicorn screamed with all of her anger and hatred in front, bringing the four elemental ponies into tears, especially Tropic Bloom, who've become hurt by her friend's cruel and heartless words.

"Fire Jewel....how could you?..." The yellow pony was close to breaking down and all four ponies, who all felt hurt, ran away from Canterlot, crying. Sissy and Missy became furious by Fire's cold action.

"Seriously, you're really acting like a hostile bitch!" Sissy shouted.

"SHUT UP OR I'LL BURN YOU TOO!!" At this point, Fire Jewel lost herself in the hatred and anger, she created.

"Go on with those threats, we don't care! You hurt your own friends, who are trying to apologise and set things straight! There is proof, that they're feeling regret! Have you've not seen their eyes!? Have you've not seen their faces!!? You chose to ignore it all, just because you are seriously OFF THE GODDAMN RAILS RIGHT NOW!!!!" Missy furiously shouted at the red unicorn at the lack of empathy.

"ALRIGHT, YOU ASKED FOR IT, BITCH!!!!" The red mare unleashed a massive beam of flames directly to the girls. They were so close, when suddenly, a clash of fire, magic and electricity took place, as someone guarded the mares with their powers. As the dust settled, it turned our to be Johnny and Dukey, using their powers to protect Sissy and Missy, with Johnny's body being surrounded by lightning.

"That's enough!!!" Both stallions were not happy at Fire Jewel. At the same time, Pinkie Pie, who watched the whole ordeal, became confused and Fluttershy, who curled up into a ball in fear, quietly sobbed, when Twilight and her friends came to her side.

"What in the tarnation is going on here!?" Applejack demanded answers.

"Cherry Swirl and her friends wanted to apologise to their friend for the abuse, but Fire Jewel became hostile and even became mean to them, even to her best friend, Tropic Bloom!" Fluttershy explained.

"Say what!?" Johnny was shocked.

"Don't tell me, she did the exact same mistake, we did..." The hybrid stallion was in disbelief.

"Well, judging her reaction and her friends ran away crying, I'd unfortunately say...yes." Missy told them the truth

"Okay, this has gone too far!" Rainbow was outraged.

"We feel the same, darling..." Rarity agreed.

"Fire Jewel, you have seriously gone too far! All they wanted is forgiveness and closure, but no! You decided to shun them and end your friendship with them, breaking their hearts in the progress! You better go there and fix this mess, NOW!" Twilight demanded Fire Jewel to fix her own mess, but instead, she fanned the flames even further, as the red unicorn snapped and more flames go around her in a sphere. Everypony backed off a bit, as the flames became brighter and hotter. Eventually the sphere eventually morphed into a menacing dragon, made from fire with piercing red eyes. It roared, as the flames on the torches reached the skies, scaring off the pegasi away. What's more.. Fire Jewel wasn't seen, indicating that she turned herself into the burning dragon.

"Twilight, what's going on!?" Princess Celestia flew to the princess of friendship, demanding answers.

"She lost it..." Twilight answered.

The dragon roared loudly and flew off, spewing fire around Canterlot.

"Welp, can't have that! Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie! Find Tropic Bloom and the others and comfort them! Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash! Evacuate the ponies out of the flames safely! I'll take care of Fire Jewel!" Twilight spread her wings and made her horn glow a bright pink, as she was ready to attack.

"Actually, make that three." Dukey responded as he and Johnny stood beside the purple alicorn.

"Make it five!" Sissy and Missy also stood beside Twilight, ready for a fight.

"Are you sure about that? I don't want you to get hurt!" Twilight protested.

"Man, we've been through worse before." Johnny defended the reasoning, as he and Dukey were in some intense situations before.

"Plus, we just wanted to straighten her out." Sissy added. "Also, I've handled a dragon before."

"Uhm..." Twilight was confused.

"Let's just move on, before Fire Jewel would destroy everything. .." Dukey was not patient, as he pointed at the burning flames in Canterlot.

"Right! Let's do this, everyone!" With the words from the purple mare, the five ponies went off to stop Fire Jewel from destroying everything.

"Meanwhile, outside of Canterlot...

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were searching for the four ponies, who left Canterlot with tears in their eyes. They looked around the area.

"Wait! Maybe they want to go back to Ponyville?" Pinkie theorized.

"If that's the case, we have to go there!" Fluttershy went off with the peppy party mare following her immediately.

The two mares ran as fast, as they could, hoping that they were not too late and the ponies being lost forever. After a while of looking around and searching, they heard sounds of sobbing in the bushes. They investigated every single Bush for their whereabouts, until Fluttershy found them in a Bush near a field with trees.

"There you are! Don't worry, we're here to comfort you." Fluttershy slowly approached the elemental ponies.

"I know, that she was quite a meanie to you, but you were sincere with your attempts. You really wanted to apologise to her, right?" Pinkie asked with the ponies silently nodding.

"I wanted to know, why you did this....There has to be a reason." Fluttershy wanted an answer.

"There is a reason...You see, we are concerned by Fire Jewel's mental health. If the damage reached a certain threshold and if we didn't prevent it, she would easily lose it and go on a blind rampage. And it would become worse, if she wasn't stopped in the right time. It all stemmed from the abuse, the time that Ocean Spark was tricked by Shadow Nebula into believing that Fire killed her parents, when in reality, Nebula killed them in cold blood and finally, seeing the children, who were traumatised by the horrors of the worlds, thanks to the evil forces. The truth is, she may be a tough and reckless hothead, on the inside, she's a traumatized pony, who just wanted to be free from the pain. We all sympathise her, since everyone had a different kind of pain in the past, but feeling similar. It's the pain that fuels our desire for justice and order. But recently, Ocean Spark and Jenny had lost themselves and forgot the purpose." Cherry explained.

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy was shocked by the whole revelation.

"Why didn't you tell them to stop a while earlier?" Pinkie asked. She was still confused.

"I assume it's either the return of an old foe or something sinister would come to Equestria. I don't know, that's what Jenny told to me at least." Tropic answered.

"But hey, we're accepting your apologies!" Pinkie hugged the ponies with a bright smile. "And I'm pretty sure, my friends would also forgive you!"

"What?" Snow was still in tears. "Are you for real? After everything, we've done...you forgive us?"

"Of course. Everyone deserves a second chance of redemption." Fluttershy warmly smiled. The warm smiles sent a calming and serene aura to the quartet, soothing them. After a while, the four ponies wiped their tears away and smiled.

"Thank you..." Snow smiled.

"On top of that, we'll help you restore the friendship with Fire Jewel and improve yourselves. After all, we're tasked to solve friendship problems, since we're chosen for this destiny, alongside with our friends." Fluttershy smiled.

"Yeah! We are experts in this! Although nopony is flawless, we can learn from our mistakes, while keep fighting with a smile!" Pinkie grinned.

"You know, despite our shared desire for justice, there are times that we argued many times, sometimes for silly reasons. So, I think, we need some advices from you." Breeze admitted.

Meanwhile, Tropic Bloom was looking around a bit, when all of a sudden, she saw a high pillar of flames, seen from afar. "Uhm....girls?" She tapped everyone and pointed at the pillar.

"WHAT THE F-" Breeze was frozen in shock.

"It's Fire Jewel! She's destroying all of Canterlot and soon, the whole of Equestria!" Fluttershy was alarmed.

"Oh hell no...Not again...." Snow was scared.

"Not again? What do you mean? Did it happen before? Tell me!" Pinkie wanted some answers.

"You see, it happened before... But there is no time for any explanations! We have to stop her!" Cherry stood up.

"You're right! This madness really needs to stop!" Pinkie agreed.

The six ponies ran as fast as they could, in order to stop Fire Jewel and save everyone. Again, the black-hooded figure just watched from afar and after a while, it followed them, without saying a single word and much like a ninja, it avoided detection from them.

Back to Canterlot, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity helped the other ponies to evacuate, while stopping the flames. Rarity did her best to block the fires from spreading, as they guided the citizens out of there.

"Stay close each other, y'all!" Applejack instructed the other ponies.

Suddenly, the group of ponies were blocked by a high wall of flames, courtesy of the dragon.

"Oh, come on!!" Rainbow was infuriated.

They heard the dragon roaring and spewing fire at the group, but Rarity took quick action and used a shield spell to protect everyone from the out of control beast. Despite the temperature getting higher, the white unicorn stayed strong and kept the shield up.

"Keep going, Rarity!" The prismatic mare cheered her friend on. In response, the dragon roared even louder than before and spewed a powerful blast of fire. Rarity did her best to strengthen the shield to the maximum limit, but unfortunately the blast was too powerful for the unicorn mare to handle, causing the shield to break and everyone being knocked away from the force.

"Rarity! Are you okay!?" Applejack shouted, however Rarity collapsed from exhaustion shortly after. The dragon was about to spew flames at them, when all of a sudden, it got hit by a pink, magical beam. It looked around, only to see Twilight shooting another beam from her horn. In response, it spewed another powerful blast of fire, which resulted in both beams clashing each other. It kept going and going, with neither of them showing any signs of weakness. Eventually, it caused a big and powerful explosion, knocking the two away from each other. Meanwhile, Johnny and Sissy, both holding buckets of water, waited for the perfect timing. As the dragon got up and was ready to roast everyone, it heard voices, taunting it.

"Hey, flame butt!"

"You're too slow!"

"Come and get us!

Those voices belong to Dukey and Missy, who made faces and taunting the beast more. As to be expected, it roared in a furious rage and began to spew fire, but they dodged every single attack of them in quick succession. As they it kept trying and the hybrids kept dodging, the pegasi eventually came out and doused the dragon with water, but...here is the problem: It became unaffected by the water!

"Hey, what the!? Did it just evaporated the water!?" Sissy was shocked. What's worse, their action only made it even angrier. As suddenly, the dragon grabbed the pegasi and threw them into the ground.

"Johnny!!" "Sissy!!" Immediately the hybrids went to their friends, who were left with injuries. They picked them up and ran off. But the dragon spew a fire blast in front of them, creating a fire wall.

"Let's go the other way!" Dukey was about to go to the left side, when it spews flames on both sides, trapping them.

"Shit! We're trapped!!" Missy backed off a bit.

The dragon wasted no time to spew a quick beam to finish them off, but it was suddenly stopped by an earth wall, followed by a beam of lightning and ice.

"Stop it, Fire Jewel! You're gonna hurt innocent ponies or even worse, kill them!!!" A familiar voice can be heard and and it became clear, once the earth wall was lowered. It was Cherry Swirl, Breeze Dasher, Snow Emerald and Tropic Bloom, who managed to protect the quartet from a burning doom in a nickel of time.

"It's you!" Dukey immediately recognized the ponies.

"Don't worry. We got this!" Breeze assured them. At the same time, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy came to the scene and a few seconds later, so did Twilight, Applejack, who was carrying an unconscious Rarity, Rainbow Dash and later Spike, who managed to find them.

"Is everypony okay?" Twilight asked.

"Well, water didn't work on her." Johnny answered in a daze.

"What?! That's impossible!" Twilight was in disbelief.

"Her massive rage has made her stronger. So strong in fact, that she is immune to water." Snow explained. "There is really no time left! We have to stop her, before she could burn everything into the ground!" The four elemental ponies charged their powers up for the attack and so did the dragon. It blasted fire, but the four ponies blocked it with a combination of a shield made of earth, nature, ice and thunder.

"They have a point! It's time to douse the flames!" Twilight got ready and so did her friends, as well as Johnny, Dukey, Sissy and Missy.

"Bring it on, lizard!" Sissy shouted. "I've dealt with dragons before and you are no different!"

The dragon roared and charged toward the group with a burning tackle, but the group dodged it in quick succession. Soon, Breeze, Rainbow and Johnny flew up and circled around it to not only confuse the creature, but also creating a tornado around it. Around the same time, Cherry used her powers to create rock pillars, while Snow connected them with her ice powers to create slopes. Pinkie, Applejack, Dukey, Missy and Tropic used the slopes to slide on then with incredible speed and aim towards the eye of the storm, which is to attack the creature without touching the tornado. As they flew up, all four earth ponies performed a combined drill kick to take the creature down. Soon, Twilight, a recovered Rarity, Spike and Tropic used their powers to create a combined blast made out of magic and flames to hit it with full force. Finally, the three pegasi, who created the tornado earlier, got into a formation, in which Sissy soon joined. "It's now or never!" Breeze shouted and the four pegasi dashed at a great acceleration. They spin around to create friction and around them, a cone started to form, in which it started to spin like a drill. The dragon spew a big fireball to slow them down, but they came through it and managed to hit the dragon, causing it to crash into the ground. The four pegasi flew back to their friends on ground and checked, if the dragon and in extension, Fire Jewel, was truly defeated.

"Did we defeat her?" Sissy asked.

"I'm not sure, but half a minute has been passed..." Missy shrugged.

"Whatever it is, let's hope, we can end this nightmare and make Fire Jewel explain herself." Twilight noted.

But before anyone can say anything or even go closer, the walls of flames got even higher and the dragon got up. The combined attack only got the creature even angrier. It roared so loud, the earth started to shake and the temperature git even hotter. Soon, it blasted a massive beam of flames in a quick succession. Twilight tried to shield it with her magic, but the overwhelming power of the creature's ever rising blind anger caused Twilight and everyone to be knocked far back. Another blast from the dragon caused everyone to fall down. Their screams of pain can be heard, as the dragon kept firing out. Eventually, everyone is on the ground, struggling to even get up, due to their injuries.

"It can't be....She overwhelmed us..." Twilight faintly spoke.

The dragon landed in front of them, glaring at the weakened group one more time, before it charged up for one fatal blast. No one can even defend themselves anymore, again due to their injuries. Tropic Bloom looked at the dragon with tears in her eyes.

"Fire Jewel...please...stop..." the yellow earth pony pleaded for mercy, but unfortunately...it just didn't care about mercy. The group closed their eyes, as they're about to embrace their fates, as the dragon shot the blast out. Everything was hopeless....until a beam of water collided with the flame blast, causing a large amount of mist to appear. The dragon was confused. Who was responsible of preventing her from burning everyone? The answer became clear, once the mist was settled: It was the pony in the black cloak!

"Stop it right here!" The pony shouted.

"Get out of here, please..." Twilight warned the pony, but she didn't listen.

"No. Fire Jewel must be stopped, before more lives would be changed for the worse or even taken! She may be nearly invincible on the outside, but on the inside, she is as vulnerable as ever. Let me do it!!" It commented.

"How do you know, you can defeat her? She's too strong!" Tropic shouted. At the same time, the dragon spew fire, only for the pony to dodge. However, some of the flames managed to get the cloak, causing it to slowly burn.

"It's personal, buddy. In fact...." the pony grabbed the cloak and threw it away, revealing the identity of the pony: A oceanic blue unicorn mane with beautiful mane, oceanic eyeshadow and light teal/cyan eyes. Tropic, Cherry, Snow and Breeze gasped at the revelation. The pony is none other than Ocean Spark!

"...I wanted to end the mess, I've caused!" The blue mare finished her sentence.

Everyone was surprised and shocked by her reasoning and the fact, that she's free. But Tropic explained them with: "Despite her actions, it's clear that she felt the massive guilt and wants to fix the whole ordeal."

"Time out, she was a jerk to her own sister!" Rainbow didn't believe the reasoning.

"I'm not sure. Let's see, if she really wants to fix the mess." Snow answered. Of course, there's some suspicion, but who knows.

As the dragon immensely roared at Ocean, the blue mare stood calm.

"I know, I fucked up, causing our sisterhood to be torn apart and me losing everything. But I've since seen the errors of my ways and felt the gravity of my actions in a severe way. I want to say is...I'm sorry..." She softly spoke, but the dragon kept shooting fire, in which the blue mare used her water spells to douse them all.

"I can't believe, that you're not listening....I'm sorry, but you left me with no choice..." Ocean Spark used her immense water magic to transform herself into a mythical sea serpent, made of water. The eyes were glowing in a calming blue, in contrast to the dragon's furious red. Thus, a battle between the dragon and the serpent began with both using their powers at maximum.

As the fight was going, Silverstream, Mr. Black, Mr. White and several of the hippogriffs, lead by the unnamed General, went to the injured group.

"Everyone, we have to bring them to the royal infirmary on the castle! Pick them up and fly as fast, as you could!" The General commanded the hippogriffs.

They responded to pick each of the ponies and flew off in groups.

"Do you think, they'll be okay?" Silverstream was worried.

"Don't worry...they will.." Mr. White answered.

The hippogriffs soon arrived to the royal castle, where the royal sisters, Cadence, who is comforting a crying Flurry Heart, Shining Armor and the royal guards, were waiting. The hippogriffs brought the injured ponies to the guards, who immediately rushed to the infirmary. Princess Celestia looked at the damage with a worried look on her face.

Back to the centre of Canterlot, the dragon and the serpent continued fighting, each of them trading blows to each other. Slowly, the dragon got the upper hand, when it surprised it from behind and pinned it down.

"Please, Fire Jewel! You need to snap out of it!!" Ocean Spark's voice can be heard, when the serpent used telepathy to communicate with the dragon. But it kept roaring and charged up another fire ball. This is when the serpent decided to retaliate and create a water sphere to counter it. Both fire and water spheres clash, causing more mist to appear. As they kept firing, more mist appear due to the elements clashing, causing the flames to be evaporated. Suddenly, the dragon lost control, when the serpent liquidated itself to free itself and reappeared, when the mist has been slowly settled. The water creature closed its eyes and focused on a weak point. The dragon roared and directly charged at the serpent, but it liquidated itself again and moved around to disorient the burning creature, by reappearing then disappearing in puddles of water around it. After what it seems like hours, the dragon had enough and spew fire all over it, causing the water to boil and evaporate. It seems like, the dragon stood victorious, when all of a sudden, the serpent, now glowing with full power, used a spell to go inside of the dragon from behind.

In a burning void, Ocean Spark, who is protected by a sphere of water, looked around, searching for her sister. Eventually, she found Fire Jewel, who is encased with fire, still with the menacing, serpent-like eyes.

"Stay away from me, bitch!!!" The red mare was about to use the flames, when Ocean, with tears slowly coming from her eyes, came closer. Despite numerous warnings, the blue unicorn didn't listen and kept going.

"You're still persistent, huh!??!?! Alright, prepare to get-" Suddenly, the red unicorn is pulled in a hug by Ocean. During this, the elements clashed once again.

"I know, that my actions drove you away from me, alongside my friends....I didn't mean to hurt you, sister...It was Jenny, who is persistent with her orders. I couldn't say no, due to me being a second-in command. Plus, I don't want to hurt her feelings and ignite her fury, so I had to follow her orders...I got blinded by her words, until it manifested into my head...In the end, it was me, not having enough courage to stand up to myself....if I knew about my actions and their consequences and stood up sooner, then none of the heartache would even happen...I'm so sorry, Fire Jewel..." Ocean shed a single tear, while the red unicorn stopped struggling and her eyes reverting back to normal. After a while of silence, the red unicorn screamed, as the water overwhelmed the flames and everything around them going white. Meanwhile, in Canterlot, the dragon started roaring, as it slowly faded away in a bubble and mist appeared for a final time. After it settled, the citizens came back, only to see Fire Jewel on the ground and Ocean Spark standing over her. They started to cheer, although some of them even demanded to kill the red unicorn.

"I can't. This is not the right way! Even though she caused damage, I refuse to kill my sister!" Ocean refused and looked away.

"You coward...!" The red unicorn stood up and her horn shone brighter.

"Fire Jewel....If you're really willing to take revenge and release yourself from all of your hatred inside of you, then you would have to kill me first...Go on! Do it!" the blue unicorn spoke back, without showing any resistance. The red mare would've ended her life right here, right now...except, it didn't happen. After a while of hesitation, her horn stopped glowing.

"I...I can't...I can't bring myself to do it..." Fire Jewel fell down on all fours with tears in her eyes. What's more, seeing some ponies, who didn't manage to escape unharmed, had angry looks on their faces.

"This is all my fault....I'm nothing, but a monster!!" Fire Jewel sobbed.

This is around the same time, the guards arrived to apprehend Fire, but to their surprise, the red unicorn went to them, without any sign of resistance whatsoever and without saying a single word. It seems like, the gravity of her actions hit her hard and decided to give up. After some confusion, the guards grabbed the silent mare and left, all while Ocean Spark watched, as her little sister got taken by the guards for her punishment. Tears were streaming from her eyes, when she heard Princess Celestia coming.

"I knew, that you would come, your majesty...and I know, that you wanted answers. So, I'm willing to tell you everything about her and what transpired before the chaos in great detail!" The blue unicorn looked at the princess right in the eyes. The sun princess was surprised about Ocean's willingness to come clean.

"I see. But first, you're coming with me to the castle." Celestia added.

"I know." Ocean Spark went to the princess, who used her magic to teleport them inside of the castle.

The Castle of Canterlot, a few hours later...

After Ocean Spark explained Fire's entire backstory, her times with her friends as guardians, meeting Ocean, which due to a severe misunderstanding and deception by Shadow Nebula, caused her to attack her sister, the revelation, her ending the fight and Ocean redeeming herself, Jenny's paranoia and mental deterioration and everything else, the sisters were shocked by the context.

"I can't believe it..." Luna responded.

"It's the truth, princess. Also, the reason, why we even have to restrict her is out of a genuine fear, coming from me. I was afraid, that she would snap, due to the amount of abusive parents in this world and causing a devastating rampage. I really don't want this to happen, so I talked to Jenny about my fears. At first, we came up with that plan and it all went smoothly....but soon everything spiraled out of control, when Fire became more erratic and Jenny becoming colder. It's a perfect storm, which lead to the team disbanding with bad terms..." Ocean added.

"Hmm...on one side, it's unacceptable to destroy friendships and going on a rampage. But on the other side, due to her being a victim of abuse, betrayal and the effects of war, it's inevitable that all of these problems would make her snap." Celestia commented.

"And it's all my fault...I'm nothing more than an igniter!" The oceanic mare sobbed, as the royal sisters comforted her.

"It's not your fault. Twilight told me, via letter, that there was disharmony in the group. I think, it's best to take a deep breath and find ways to pick up the pieces and start anew. And as for Fire Jewel, thanks to your honesty and willingness, her sentence will be reduced to only a few months in the dungeon and community service. Which means, she'll rebuild Canterlot with others, but without using any magic." Princess Luna explained.

"And as for your problem, it's best to tell Princess Twilight Sparkle, so she could help you with the friendship problem. Right now, she is recovering in the infirmary, alongside with her friends. So we have to wait for their recovery. " Princess Celestia noted. However, Ocean still looked sad, since she still felt guilty for what she had done, which worried the royal sisters. They now have to think on how to solve the entire mess and help Ocean regain her courage and confidence.

???

Back into the unknown place of horrors underground, we see the masked sadists in lab coats preparing their tools for their next twisted experiments. Meanwhile, we see Susan and Mary, chained and shackled to a wall with duct tape on their mouths, preventing them to say anything. They tried to break free, but one of them slapped the girls to stop them from resisting.

"Ready for the next batch of experiments, girls?" He grinned evilly. Despite the muffled screams from the twins, they brought the tools and the chemicals on the table and cracked their knuckles for their twisted fun. Two of them grabbed come cables and attached them to the girls' bodies, while the other two grabbed some chemicals and a generator. They connected the cables to the device, which is powered by the generator and as they turned it on, they felt an electric shock. Granted, not as painful as last time, but it still gave them a sense of pain. Unfortunately, the worst has yet to come...

As they laughed at their pain and misery, they inject the girls with the chemicals, in which they reacted almost immediately. The pain was so unbearable, that they struggled violently. During this, memories of the past repeatedly flashed in front of their eyes. Those memories were about them experimenting on Johnny with electricity and DNA manipulation. It kept going, as they felt like, their bodies were changing for the worst. Severe burns even to the bones, their brains overloading and their hearts accelerating to the max. Soon, they stopped the device, as they became fascinated by their durability.

"Ah, it seems like those girls are more durable than the others. Interesting..." one of them commented.

"This means, they're so much fun to play and experiment with than those other whores. Hehehehe...." one of them chuckled in a sinister and sick tone. If that doesn't convince you, that they're irredeemable and twisted individuals, then I'm pretty sure, the next part surely will: He went towards the girls, who were crying and begging for mercy and rubbed their thighs, just to give them so much discomfort and terror as possible. They continued laughing, as the sisters were still crying.

(At this point, I warned you. I'm sorry for potentially scarring you for the rest of your lives. Sadly, psychopaths like these existed in real life and still do. I really don't approve their behaviour at all.)

"Hey, take it easy there. We still have so much time left with them. Plus, they're really valuable. So we have to preserve them really well." One of them told his pal. For them, they have so much time, although for the sisters, the passage of time has been lost. They released them from the chains, although there was really no point in escaping, as Susan and Mary were severly weakened by the experiments. They carried the two to tubes, restraining them tightly and fill it with liquids. At least, they were given oxygen masks, but only to sedate them with drugs, as they started the preservation process. At the same time, two of those "scientists" came back with two more unconscious girls.

"I've got new Guinea pigs for us to use." He said. Everyone laughed evilly and strapped the new victims down and prepared their tools, while Susan and Mary were stuck in tubes, being unconscious, not knowing how much time they even have left.

Later in the night...

Inside of the house, Starlight was peacefully asleep, but Sunset was still awake, still being unsure about the plan.

"Ever since that fateful day, everything became incredibly messy...On one hand, they surely did some terrible things to the others, especially to Johnny and Dukey....But on the other hand, the whole Nightmare incident was something out of their control...plus, I still have to find the reasons of why and learn about their backgrounds. However...I'm having doubts recently...Is Twilight right? Are they really irredeemable? Should I just accept the reality and face the punishment?... I don't know..." She was thinking about everything, what happened previously. Ever since the Nightmare incident and after seeing inside of their heads, she was thinking about her own past and became convinced to save them. But...as time went on and after what happened in Equestria with the sisters coming back and such, Sunset became blinded by her mission, that it costed many friendships. However, the whole scenes inside of the sisters' heads kept haunting her. At this point, she became conflicted. Should she continue going through the risky route or just give up and play safe? She looked at the sealing, while being plagued by very difficult choices, which were linked to Susan and Mary's fates.

"I should better get some sleep..." Sunset sighed and tried her best to fall asleep, even when the questions kept bothering her...

A few days later into the weekends...

Applejack, Rarity, who was holding Spike, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, who was holding her rabbit "Angel", Rainbow Dash and Starlight Glimmer were waiting in front of the convention building for Sunset.

"Where is Sunset? I told her to come here in a few minutes." Rarity asked.

"Easy, Rarity. She will come." Applejack assured her.

And on cue, Sunset ran towards them in a quick pace. She was exhausted, since she had to run as fast as she could.

"I'm sorry, girls! I woke up late and since I couldn't catch the bus, I had to run!" The orange girl was out of breath.

"It's okay, Sunset. Now that everyone is here, we can go to the fair, so we can meet Twilight." Fluttershy smiled and the girls went inside the convention building.

The science fair was filled with many guests and participants, showing off their greatest inventions to anyone interested. Many boys and girls, with aspirations and dreams on making their wishes come true, couldn't wait for the eventual presentation. One of them was Twilight, showing off her invention to anyone. The others go to her, to give her some motivation.

"Twilight, we wish you the best of luck!" Pinkie cheered her friend on.

"You got this, Twilight." Applejack smiled.

"Thank you, girls! I'll soon give everything, I've got!" Twilight smiled.

"I'm quite amazed at all the inventions, everyone made, including yours." Starlight was amazed.

"I know right? However in the end of the day, it's a friendly competition where everyone have some fun." Twilight noted. "The presentation is in an hour. Why not just look at the other inventions from fellow smart people?"

With a nod, the girls went to the other participants and their inventions, while Twilight stayed. Pinkie went to a girl with a custom-made candy dispenser, which is able to give anyone the ideal candy. Rainbow was with her, when she tried it out. It scanned her and gave her a jelly bean.

"Oooh!" The peppy party girl ate the jelly bean and since it scanned her a while ago, she got the very sweet one. "BEST CANDY EVER!" She jumped in excitement. Rainbow couldn't help but scratch her head and giggle a bit.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Rarity checked out several inventions from others, including those creating eco-friendly accessories, amazing visual effects in 3D and so on. Sunset and Starlight also checked out the other inventions from several participants and got amazed by the results. Finally, Fluttershy and Angel went around, when she saw a male teenager with his own invention.

"Hello, mister. I'm wondering, what your invention is about." Fluttershy got curious.

"Oh, this? It's a groundbreaking invention, that allows to create amazing wonders and solve many world problems!" He showed her with a charming smile on his face.

"Can you show me one of those wonders?" The shy girl was intrigued by the invention.

"Sure thing!" He pressed a button and it produced eco-friendly energy to make a flower grow.

"It's wonderful!" She was amazed by the performance.

"It can do more wonders, if you want!" He replied.

"Of course!" She smiled.

Meanwhile, one of the participants, who was next to the teenager, showed off her invention to some guests, when all of a sudden, it smoked hard and caught on fire.

"Oh no!! My invention!!" She was distraught, when it made loud bangs. Thankfully, she grabbed a near by fire extinguisher to douse the flames. However, the loud bangs scared off Angel to the point of jumping off from Fluttershy's arms and hopping away. Unknowingly, the boy just...smiled.

"Angel, wait!" Fluttershy went after her rabbit throughout the crowd. As Angel keep hoping in a fast pace, so did the pink-haired girl. During the chase, she went through the crowds and apologising them. As the spokesperson announced the presentation, Angel went to the backstage, all while Fluttershy went in shortly after. The guard was already distracted by two rowdy kids, which left the entrance unguarded. Fluttershy used it to her advantage and eventually, catching Angel in the progress.

"There you are, Angel! I'm here now." The shy teenager did her best to calm her rabbit down. She was about to leave, when she saw something...odd: One of the wooden boards was open a bit.

"What's this?" She went a little closer and opened the board, which revealed a secret staircase going down. With the curiosity getting the better of her, she slowly and quietly went downstairs. As she went further down, the darker it got, until she arrived at a hallway. It was illuminated by a few lanterns. After a while of following the path, she heard sounds of screams in agonizing pain.

"What was that?" Fluttershy quietly spoke. She was getting worried, that the screams came from much worse than she thought. As she gently opened the door a bit, she saw the most horrifying scene in front of her eyes: The masked people in labcoats "experimenting" on Susan, Mary and the green-blue haired girl, all while they screamed in agony. The tormentors just laughed in their sick enjoyment. Needless to say, it severely horrified the poor Fluttershy, who immediately left and went upstairs back to the backstage.

Meanwhile, the crowd became excited by the inventions, the participants showed off. Sunset and her friends were also watching the presentations and waited for Twilight's turn.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I'm so excited!!!" Pinkie jumped up and down in excitement.

"We all do, Pinkie!" Starlight smiled.

"Up next, Twilight Sparkle!" The spokesman called and Twilight herself came with her invention.

"Thank you, sir." Twilight smiled and showed off her invention and presented them, what it can do. As everyone became awestruck, including her friends, the scientists were impressed. However, it was around the same time, Rainbow was bumped by a terrified Fluttershy.

"Huh? Fluttershy, what's wrong?" The prismatic sports girl asked.

"It's horrible! It's really horrible!!" Fluttershy panicked.

"What in the tarnation happened??" Applejack was confused.

"Yeah. What happened, Fluttershy?" Starlight also wanted answers.

"I saw...something...horrible...it's about the girls...They're getting....they're getting..." Suddenly, Fluttershy ran off to the backstage.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Starlight and the others followed

"What's going on, Sunset?" Twilight was confused.

"I have no idea! We'll be right back, Twilight!" Sunset ran off to follow her friends to the still unguarded entrance to the backstage. None of them are aware of this, since they were focused on the presentations. As the girls followed Fluttershy, she was still panicking. That was until Applejack hugging her shy friend.

"Calm down, fella... Why did you go there?" Applejack asked, when Fluttershy showed them that particular board.

"Huh? What's this? Why is it slightly open?" Rarity was confused.

"I have no idea, but it seems like, it's a door to something underground." Sunset looked closer and opened the board, revealing to be a door to a staircase.

"A staircase? What is a staircase doing here?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm not sure....but the only way to get answers is to go down." Sunset went downside, alongside with her friends. Applejack was still holding Fluttershy, as they went to a dark and deep decent, which led to pathway with a few lanterns. As they went through the hallway, they heard the screams.

"What was that??" Pinkie was alarmed.

"This doesn't sound good..." Rarity was worried.

"Wait a minute..." Sunset listened to the screams carefully, in order to identify them. Alongside an unknown scream, there are two, that were really alarming to her. "No...it can't be!" She was shocked.

"It really is them..." Starlight was also shocked by the revelation.

"We have to help them!" Fluttershy replied.

"Yeah! Who ever is doing this to them, should not get away scotfree!" Rainbow cracked her knuckles.

"Okay, girls! We have to transform!" Sunset told to her friends.

"But wait a minute. Starlight can't transform yet. How is she able to do help us out?" Applejack asked.

"I'll do, whatever it takes!" Starlight stepped forward. "We have to do this together!"

"Right!" Sunset and her friends, minus Starlight, used their necklaces to transform into their magical forms.

Meanwhile, due to the chemicals being injected, the blue and green haired girl was turned into a rat and was placed in a maze, where it began to run. They also placed a robot with saws and other deadly weapons on the same starting position is the poor victim, where it began to sense the rat and began to chase her. As the tormentors cheered the robot on, the sisters had no other choice but to watch. However, it won't be for long, as have their drills ready to drill their heads in. But before they can do that, the door was bust open by Applejack and the girls went inside.

"Leave them alone, you ruffians!" Rarity demanded their release.

"You better that or else!" Rainbow was in a fightning stance.

"How about no!" They pressed a button on a remote, where many robots appear and they used the chemicals on themselves, in order to mutate to monsters.

"Prepare to die!" One of them said in a menacing tone.

"Get ready, girls!" Sunset told her friends and thus, both sides went out for a battle.

Rainbow and Applejack used their powers to destroy some of the robots in close combat, while Pinkie used her powers to distract them with colourful confetti explosions. When the robots fired lasers, Rarity reflected them with her gem powers and Fluttershy used her powers to summon creatures to attack them. This leads to Sunset and the monsters. At first, they slammed their fists to the ground, but Sunset dodged all of the attacks. She then shot out magical blasts at them. Not to be outdone, they used their extractable arms to grab her, but she defended herself with a well-timed shockwave.

While this was happening, Starlight snuck through the fight to free Susan and Mary from the restraints.

"Don't worry, girls. I'm here. Now, let's get out of here!" She spoke to them.

"Not a chance, sissy!" After a voice, she lavender girl was suddenly knocked down by one of the "scientists", who didn't mutate, but instead used a baseball bat with lots of tasers attached.

"Stay back!" Starlight tried to use her magic, but nothing came out. She tried multiple times to perform any form of magic, but once again, nothing came. "What!? How!?" She was in disbelief.

"Hahahahaha! You fool! Do you think, magic will stop me?" He smirked.

"I'm not scared by your threats! If you even dare to hurt them even more, you have to fight me!" Despite the pain, Starlight never gave up, as she stretched her arms out to protect the sisters.

"Very well, then. This will be your last!" He tightly grabbed his bat, while Starlight had to grab an iron bar, which was close to her.

"Bring it, punk!" With those words from Starlight, they engaged in a battle, with neither of them showing any sign of weakness. It went on and on, all while the others have to deal with the robots and mutants. It seems like, there was no sign of a decisive winner. And as for Susan and Mary, after seeing the exit, they used their remaining power to crawl. Mind you, since they're still injured, their speed has been drastically slowed down.

"How long is this gonna go on?!" Rainbow asked.

"Not for long!" Suddenly, the six girls were hit to the wall by a surprise attack by the robots and mutants.

"No!!" Starlight shouted, before the robots punched her hard to the wall. As she collapsed, she saw the mutants taking her friends hostage and the non-mutated individual standing victorious, as the robots grabbed the sisters.

"You know, it's been fun playing. But unfortunately, your paths end here right now!" He laughed evilly, as the mutants began to slowly crush the others and the robots shocking Susan and Mary. It seems like everything was hopeless, when all of a sudden....

Fueled by rage, Starlight screamed and unleashed a massive shockwave, knocking everyone down and freeing her friends. Everyone watched, as Starlight was engulfed by a bright teal light, until it faded away, only to see Starlight, now with her human ears changed into pony ears, her hair being extended with that resembling a pony's tail and her eyes brightly glowing white. It's clear, that her powers are fully awakened.

"Do you think, you can try to kill my friends and get away so easily!?!" The lavender girls spoke in a menacing tone, echoing through the laboratory of hell.

"Starlight...What happened to you?" Rarity slowly got up, asking on what happened.

"She...she had transformed and thus, fully awaken her Equestrian magic." Sunset explained.

Then Starlight unleashed yet another magical shockwave, knocking them even further, while allowing her friends to grab Susan and Mary, as well as Applejack freeing the third girl, who was turned back to normal thanks to Starlight's magic.

"Get out of this hell, girls! I'll take care of those scums..." Starlight told to her friends to go upstairs.

"Are you sure, you can do it yourself?" Pinkie asked.

"Knowing Starlight, she can. After all, her expertise on magic is phenomenal." Sunset assured Pinkie. "Okay, girls! Let's get out of here!"

The girls left this underground place and while the bad guys tried to stop them, the lavender girl used her magic to hold them in place. "You tried to kill them and now, you'll pay the price!" Starlight started to float up, as there are literally no limits to her magic.

Upstairs in the actual science fair, nobody was fully aware about what happened underground. (It's due to the soundproof barriers.) After the participants have presented their inventions, the spokesman and the scientists came forward.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have witnessed many amazing inventions from our participants! And as great as they are, only one of them will be chosen as the invention for the future! Without further ado, I will announce the winner of this year's Canterlot Science Fair!" He smiled and as the sounds of the drums rolling can be heard, he was given an envelope and he opened it to announce the winner.

"The winner is..." The tension was high, everyone was excited it kept building, until he announced the winner's name.

"...Plasma Storm!"

Indeed, the boy, who he talked to Fluttershy an hour ago, named Plasma Storm, came to the stage to receive the money price. Everyone cheered for him, all while Twilight just stood, when suddenly, Sunset's voice can be heard.

"Hold it!!"

It came from Sunset, who ran to the stage alongside her friends, who were holding Susan, Mary and the third girl in terrible conditions. Everyone was horrified by their conditions. So much so, that the ambulance people, who were at the scene, in case of accidents causing in severe injuries or worse, immediately rushed to the stage, grabbed the girls and ran as fast as they could to the ambulances.

"Girls, what happened to them!?" Twilight was really worried, when she asked her friends about what's going on....

"I've seen...I've seen....I've seen those monsters torturing them!!! They laughed at their pain and misery, while hurting them with their tools in a name of 'science' , when in reality it's nothing but a sick and twisted pleasure for them!!!! THEY'RE NOTHING BUT HEARTLESS MONSTERS!!!!" Fluttershy screamed the whole truth as loud, as she could. This sent massive shock to everyone, including Twilight.

"No...It can't be!!" Twilight was in disbelief.

"It's sadly true, Twilight...It sadly is.." Applejack sighed.

"Hehehehe..." One voice was not like any other...In fact, it was a completely different reaction unlike anybody else! And it came by none other....than Plasma Storm!!

"I guess, the jig's up then..." He pulled out a knife and hold a scientist hostage. Panic ensued as everyone tried to leave, only for him to press a button, in which all the doors became locked, trapping them.

"Let her go!!" Sunset shouted.

"Don't take a step closer, missy or she's history!" He had a crazed look on his face, while tightly grabbing the knife, which was close to the scientist's throat.

"Calm down! We can slowly work this out!" Twilght tried to de-escalate the whole situation, but Applejack was suspicious to Plasma Storm.

"Twilight, it's no use... Why? Because I have a darn suspicion, that he's workin' for them!" The southern girl replied.

"What!?" Twilight was shocked

"Well...you got that part right, wanker!" He laughed.

"Why are you doing this!?" Sunset shouted. Everyone demanded answers from him. But he just laughed off in a fit of insanity. As the heroines got closer, he threatened them to slit the scientist's throat like a pig, if they went one step further, but that didn't deter them from stopping him.

"Aright then, YOU ASKED FOR IT!!" He was about to do it...He was about to take a life, when all of a sudden, he stopped like a statue.

"W-what happened to my body?!? I can't move!!" He was terrified, that he couldn't move, suddenly, his arms opened without his control, releasing her from his grasp, all while being surrounded by a teal aura. "M-my arms!! No!!!" He was in fear. When the girls looked back, they saw Starlight, still in a ponied up, rage fueled state, while having the tormentors trapped and restrained.

"Starlight?" Twilight was left speechless at this moment.

The lavender girl threw the "scientists" into the ground hard and threw Plasma Storm to them, causing him to drop the remote. Twilight grabbed it to unlock the doors and letting everyone out. At the same time, a police force came in, after someone called 911.

"Starlight, I think that's enough. The police will take care of them." Sunset told her friend to stop, but it fell on deaf ears, as Starlight started to unleash pulses of magic blasts, hurting them.

"Starlight, stop!!!" Sunset pleaded her to stop, but it didn't work.

"I think, she completely snapped." Twilight explained.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried to restrain her, but Starlight unleashed a psionic blast at them. Rarity tried to trap her in a gem, but she broke free. Twilight used her magic to even stop her, but again Starlight cancelled it. This leads now to Sunset, who decided to tackle it head on. She grabbed her friend and tightly hugged her, while she screamed and unleashing more psionic blasts.

"Starlight, you need to stop right now!! Please!!!" Sunset pleaded as loud as she could to stop her friend. Sure, she felt the blasts hitting her, but she kept her tight grip on her friend and even used her magic to stop her from hurting anyone. It went on for 15 minutes, until magic blasts stopped and Starlight detransforming and losing consciousness in Sunset's arms. The girls went to the two, while the police arrested Plasma Storm and his comrades.

"If you want the answers, please follow me." Fluttershy told to a police officer about the hidden path and went with him backstage to show him the entrance.

"What the...Since when does the exhibition centre have a hidden entrance?... Don't worry. We'll investigate this mysterious entrance." He told Fluttershy about it.

"Thank you, officer..." Fluttershy thanked him before going back to her friends.

"We have to bring her to my house." Sunset commented and the girls left the centre with sad looks on their faces.

Canterlot City Hospital

"Hurry, we have to get them to the operation rooms!" The doctors ran as fast as they could, while carrying Susan, Mary and the girl to the operating table. It was an urgent emergency. Ever since news of the science fair incident quickly emerged, the doctors and nurses worked as hard as they could, in order to save the victims.

As the doctors brought them into three separate operation rooms, the tension was high. They'll try their best as they could to save them. First, they scan their bodies, only to see injuries inside of the bones. So they have to be immediately operated.

Meanwhile, The Humane 7 went to the receptionist, asking her about the conditions of the girls.

"Our doctors will do their best to save them. All we have to do is just hope and pray." The receptionist answered.

The girls waited and waited for a doctor, just to get to the results. Everyone was on the edge. After waiting for an hour, they've realized that the operation would take long and left the hospital.

Meanwhile in the centre, the police investigated the pathway to the underground laboratory, only to find a lot of terrifying stuff, straight out of a horror movie. But it was nothing compared to their reaction, when they opened the door to the dark room, in which they found a lot of dead bodies and a few weakened survivors, who gave into their great despair. One of the officers threw up, two of them cried and three fainted from the shock. It was truly the most horrifying sight, they've ever seen.

Four days have passed and the news about the science fair incident and the dark cult of deranged people went wildfire. Everyone couldn't stop talking about it and it caused severe damage to the exhibition centre's reputation, since nobody was fully aware of the underground chamber. The trial wasn't pretty, as many of the victims' families were distraught by the news, all while the culprits just laughed and mocked them. Eventually, the jury and the judge had enough, who sentenced them either life in prison, without possibility of parole or even the death penalty. Even when justice was served, the families were still left with an empty feeling, as nothing could bring their girls back. Not even with compensation. It was truly a dark day for everyone.

Meanwhile, Sunset and Starlight, who has recovered, went into the hospital again to ask the doctors about the conditions of the girls. And after a waiting for a few hours, eventually a doctor came to them.

"Are they gonna make it? Tell me!" Sunset was impatient. Not surprisingly really, since the incident affected her and Starlight.

"Well, it took a long operation session to fix them, but it seems like the procedure is not over. We had to put them into a medically induced coma, in order to continue. I'm sorry for what happened to them." The doctor explained and apologized.

"It's...It's okay..." Sunset looked down and left.

"Sunset, wait!" Starlight followed after her friend. Tears were streaming down from Sunset's face, as she walked away silently and with a sorrowful look. Starlight grabbed her hand and looked at her friend. She sighed and continued to walk to her home, without saying a single word. In face, neither of them said anything on their journey. It was completely....silent.

Equestria, fields near Canterlot, several hours later...

In the night, we see Ocean Spark, laying on the grass and looking at the night sky with nothing but sorrow and silence.

She couldn't stop thinking about what happened: The disharmony of the group, the fallout, her reputation being destroyed, everything. The oceanic mare stood up, as she felt the wind.

Sorry belongs to Daughtry

Ocean Spark

Will you listen to my story?
It just be a minute
How can I explain
Whatever happened here never meant to hurt you
How can I cause you so much pain

When I say I'm sorry
Will you believe me?
Listen to my story
Say you won't leave me

When I say I'm sorry
Can you forgive me?
When I say I will always be there
Will you believe, will you believe in me?

All the words that I come up with
They're like gasoline on flames
There's no excuse, no explanation
Believe me if I could undo what I did wrong
I'd give away all that I own

When I say I'm sorry
Will you believe me?
Listen to my story
Say you won't leave me

When I say I'm sorry
Can you forgive me?
When I say I will always be there
Will you believe, will you believe in me?

If I told you I've been cleanin' my soul
And If I promise you I'll regain control
Will you open your door?
And let me in take me for who I am
And not for who I've been, who I've been

When I say I'm sorry
Will you believe me?
Listen to my story
Say you won't leave me

When I say I'm sorry
Can you forgive me?
When I say I will always be there
Will you believe, will you believe in me?

When I say I'm sorry
When I say I'm sorry
When I say I'm sorry
When I say I'm sorry

When I say I'm sorry
Can you forgive me?
When I say I will always be there
Will you believe

As she sat on the grass and the wind blowing her hair ever so gently, she looked to the skies again, thinking on if she would be able to restore on what's left on her relation to Fire Jewel, her friendship to everyone and how she would even do it. There are so many unknowns.

She thought about her sister, the only family member, she has left and wondered, how she really felt about her. Is there still hatred in her or did it fade away? She is completely unsure about herself and everything, as she looked down to reflect, what she've done.

Meanwhile, Fire Jewel was in her cell, laying down and not saying a single word. Her expression was completely silent and sorrowful...

In the end, it's everyone's fault...

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Hey guys. Sorry about the long ass delay. There have been some personal issues, like a massive headache and being busy with art projects. Also my tablet broke.

Also also, I'm sorry that I potentially scarred you from that EXTREME chapter. Don't worry! I'll make side stories, which will contain more wholesome and less fucked up stuff, but also fill in the blanks, since those side stories will take place, while the twins are in a coma. Idk, how many of them, I'll write, but once I'm done with these, the main story will continue, but this time with less physical torture!

Also, I can imagine Plasma Storm having a a slight resemblance to Light Yagami from Death Note.

Oh dear...So much had happened....

After the whole fire dragon incident, Fire Jewel was apprehended and is spending her time living with the punishment. Meanwhile, Ocean Spark is left with a dead end on what to do to restore on what's left.

In the Human World, since the incident, Susan and Mary are now in a coma. All while the Humane 8 had to wait, pray and hope for the best. However, Sunset is starting to have second thoughts about her theory and the whole crusade.

What will happen to them? Will Susan and Mary ever wake up? Will Ocean Spark find a way to make everything right? Will Cherry, Snow and Breeze even recover from the guilt and redeem themselves? And what would happen to the others?

It's the end of Act 1: Broken Hearts and Minds

After some side stories, which would fill in the blanks, the story will continue with Act 2, starting with Chapter 15: Lost In Time !

Side Story: Finding a new Purpose

View Online

It's been a few days since the fire dragon incident and in the royal castle, the royal sisters were waiting for the report. Several guards came in with the report.

"Your majesty! We looked at the situation and calculated the number. The number of casualties will surprise you. The amount of fatalities are...zero. Indeed, nopony died. Although there are injured ponies." One of the guards reported. The amount of deaths or at least a lack there of, surprised the sisters.

"It seems like Twilight and her friends did an amazing job on evacuating everyone." Luna was amazed.

"It's not just Twilight and her friends. A group of ponies and mole people also helped with the evacuation, while using their powers, which included ice, bees and more." Another guard reported.

It was clear, that Johnny's close friends and former enemies played a big part on the evacuation. In fact, it became more evident, when Jillian, Brain Freezer, Mr. Harm, Dr. Beebles, Zizrar and his mole people were called to come to the throne room by the guards.

"I've heard, that you also evacuated the other ponies without any problems. I'm impressed." Celestia looked at them.

"Mind you, it was a massive team effort. If it wasn't for Brain Freezer, Eugene and the others, then the outcome would've become much worse." Dr. Beebles answered.

"Hang on. Where is that Eugene?" Jillian asked. They realized, that Bling-Bling-Boy is not here among the group.

"That's actually a good question. Unfortunately, he just...left, leaving everyone without any clues. This happened after the evacuation, by the way." Brain Freezer answered.

"I'll send a few guards to look after him." Princess Celestia responded and sent a few guard to look after him.

"One more question. Is johnny gonna be okay?" Jillian asked about Johnny's condition.

"Right now, he and the others were recovering in the castle infirmary. Only time will tell." Princess Luna responded. The others were still worried about them.

"If you want, the guards will guide you to the infirmary." Celestia offered them a chance to visit their friends. With their approval, two royal guards guided them on the way to the infirmary. Meanwhile, the royal sisters were still thinking on what to do with Fire Jewel. At the same time, Luna was thinking about something. It was about a massive shout from a certain unicorn. But right now, she had to put it aside, in order to rebuild Canterlot, even though it'll be put in the background of her head.

Ponyville, Equestria

Since the dragon incident only happened in Canterlot, none of the civilians in Ponyville had any idea about it and thus, life went on as usual. However, it didn't take long, until news of the incident spread to anyone and soon, everyone was talking about it. The extra papers showed the news in great detail and sell in a crazy rate. However, this result a slight divide in the community. The majority already painted her as a villain, who deserved go rot in the dungeons, but there are some ponies, who are wondering, why she would do that. One of them is Spring Gale himself. He knew, that she was one of the ponies, who saved him. So he told his new adoptive family about his whole story. They were surprised and curious on what exactly happened to her, to make her like this. Needless to say, everything has become chaotic.

However, there was one voice, who was completely silent about it. In fact, it had nothing to do with the incident at all. Sitting in the park alone, was Eugene himself. As the chaos went on, the unicorn was alone with his thoughts, blocking himself from the commotion. He looked like, he was worrying about his future and his destiny. The obese stallion sighed in sorrow, as he looked up to the skies, feeling unsure about himself. As the fillies and colts can be seen playing and having a good time, he ignored all of the sounds, as he lowered his head and ears to cover his face. He was completely alone with his thoughts, when all of a sudden, he heard a voice.

"Uhm....excuse me?"

This was enough to break BBB from his thoughts and looked at the source of the voice, only to see a pale magenta earth pony filly with a tiara. She looked concerned at the sad stallion.

"Huh? What do you want?" He asked to the filly.

"Oh! I'm sorry to disturb your peace. My name is Diamond Tiara and I went to the park, in order to wait for my friend, Silver Spoon for some playtime, when I saw you in a sad mood. You looked like, something broke you severely. So....what's wrong?" Diamond Tiara asked after her introduction and reasoning.

"It's very complicated...." he sighed.

"What? What's complicated?" The filly was confused. Eventually, after a bit of silence, the stallion finally explained his story:

"I couldn't help, but to reflect about my past and what I've done...Back then, I thought, I had it all. Money, possessions, everything. But there was someone, I valued even more than money and gold. It was a girl, whom I refuse to speak her name. Ever since seeing her for the first time, I knew that she will be the girl, I spent time with for the rest of my life. Back then, I did literally anything to win her heart or even hypnotize her. I literally had no idea about what happened behind the scenes with Jonathan. I was focused on her and her heart. Sure, I did notice him and the others, but they were like obstacles to me. I was so blinded by ignorance and love back then. It wasn't until Jonathan disappeared, when I started to open my eyes. I began investigating about the cause, after seeing footage of him, being invisible, activating the portal device in my former laboratory. I hacked into the computers of the Tests and found evidence, that not only contianed the answers, but also really changed my perspective towards that girl. It became more evident, when I witnessed her and her sister attempting to murder someone, who also wanted answers on his disappearance. From that moment, everything fell apart and my love for her had completely shattered to the point, where it can never be restored. Instead, in its place stood a burning flame of hatred of her and mist of guilt of what I've done, since I was partially responsible for his disappearance. Together with that boy and the agents, I managed to find even more evidence and exposed the truth to everyone as my other identity 'The Shadow', which it worked and they faced the punishment. When looking back at the actions, I've done, I felt a big amount of guilt and regret, that I really want to fix. And the best reason at the time is to leave everything behind, get the people and go to the location, he's currently in: Equestria. Sure, the truth also made a select few of people open their eyes and went with us. Now, I'm living my new life here, but since I left everything related to the past behind, I've since have constant worries about my destiny and my future. Like what can I do? How can I use some of my skills to good use and more importantly: What will my future be? They've been constantly circling in my head, ever since the arrival in this place."

"Oh...I'm so sorry about that..." the filly was shocked and moved by his story. "You know, based on your words, you were really spoiled and a single moment made you realize your errors and changed your ways. I know this, because I was in a similar situation before." She then admitted her past mistakes to him.

"Wait...You were spoiled before?" The unicorn was surprised by her revelation. She nodded and told him about her story:

"I thought myself higher than everyone else, especially the ponies without a cutie mark. I often talk them down about the "blank flanks" and had little regard to anybody. I wasn't alone, as Silver Spoon also felt the same way. At least in my eyes anyway. It wasn't until the class president election, where I lost to Pipsqueak, where everything changed for me. Not only was my reputation damaged, but also lost Silver Spoon and as if that wasn't enough, got berated by my mother. Those events really made me open my eyes and realise, how much of a jerk, I was. At that point, I really want to make up for the mistakes and eventually, I found the courage and confidence to not only help the others, but also stand up against my mother and accept friendship."

"Oh wow." He was surprised by the fact, that he and Diamond Tiara shared similarities to each other and both reforming in the end.

"I've since come around it and focused on improving myself and the future for the better. And it's best, you should do the same." Diamond Tiara offered him her hoof in friendship. It took a while for Eugene to consider, since he was hesitant a bit, but eventually, he accepted her. At the same time, a gray earth pony filly with glasses ran to the duo.

"I'm here, Diamond Tiara!" She told to her friend.

"Oh! Hello, Silver Spoon! I just comforted someone, who's in dire need of a change." The tiara wearing filly explained.

"Uhm, who is this unicorn?" Silver Spoon looked at the stallion with confusion.

"Right...You haven't introduced yourself to us yet." Diamond realized.

The stallion sighed and looked away a bit, which concerned the fillies. In his mind, his mistakes were really foolish and his arrogance didn't help it either. It was done out of a hopeless goal of love, that in the end, became out of reach permanently. Even the name "Bling-Bling-Boy" became tainted, due to the actions. He wanted a complete restart.

"I was originally going to...but I decided to just wipe my slate clean! From now on, everybody will know me as...uhm..." He was thinking on alternative names, he could use. The closest contestants are "Glistering Gem", "Splendid Treasure" or even "Dazzling Diamond". However, in the end, he decided on one name. A name, that would suit him.

"What is it?" Silver Spoon got a little impatient.

"In the past, I may be known as Eugene or as I often be wanted to be called back in the day, Bling-Bling-Boy. But from now on, I'll be known as Brilliant Diamond!" The stallion looked at the skies.

"You really want to remove any instances from your past?" Silver Spoon was curious.

"Given with the circumstances back then and his realization, yes." Diamond Tiara answered for him. "Anyway, Silver and I will go out to the centre of Ponyville for some playtime. If you want, you can come with us."

"I mean, I really wanted a distraction from those thoughts." Eugene smiled and went with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to the centre for some playtime. Perhaps, the playtime would brighten up his days. After arriving at the centre of the town, they went to a milkshake bar, where they sat down to a table, after ordering some milkshakes. While waiting, the Cutie Mark Crusaders also went inside for a fun day out, in which they saw Diamond Tiara.

"Hi, Diamond Tiara!" Apple Bloom greeted. It's been a while, since they last met her on their school.

"How are you doing?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Just hanging out here with Silver Spoon and a new friend, I met in the park a while ago. His name is Brilliant Diamond." Diamond Tiara answered.

"Nice to meet you!" Sweetie Belle smiled.

"I've heard, you're one of Johnny's friends, right?" Scootaloo asked out of curiosity.

"Well, it's complicated. Nowadays, I became friendlier to him, but back then, it's a different story. However right now, I wanted to take a break from the gloom." The stallion explained.

"I've heard the whole story about the whole incident, so it's okay." Apple Bloom understood Eugene's past. After all, Applejack, High Velocity, Sweet Serenity and even Johnny himself told them about the whole story. Soon, the CMC sat down on the same table with the others, while they waited on the milkshakes. Once they got their shakes, the fillies did some small talks about their day and other topics. Watching them happily talking made Eugene feel a bit sorrowful. He never had true friends back in the past, before he met the Tests. And even then, once he met the Tests and later did had some fun time with Johnny, Dukey and a few others, he didn't see it that way, since he was blinded by arrogance and ignorance. It wasn't until Johnny left his world behind for Equestria, that he finally opened his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Diamond Tiara asked. She was worried about her new friend.

He sighed and didn't say a word for a while, which made the fillies worried. It wasn't until he broke his silence.

"It's just....I never had real friends before. Which means, because of that, coupled with my past arrogance and my reputation back then, it was very difficult to find friends to begin with, due to a lack of social interaction." He explained.

"Oh my...We can help you with that, alongside with Twilight and her friends! They'll help you with your friendship issues, while we'll help you find your new destiny!" Sweetie Belle smiled.

"Are you sure?" Eugene looked at them.

"Of course! We'll promise, that with our help, you'll get out of the black hole and be new and improved!" Scootaloo smirked.

"After all, they helped me realise about my errors and improve myself at a greater scale. And with that experience, me and my friends will guide you to your new peace." Diamond Tiara added. The fillies reached out their hooves to him as a sign of friendship and guidance. This is something, he never had before and that action made the stallion feel emotional. However, he decided to grow up and accepted their sign by reaching out to the fillies.

"Okay, Cutie Mark Crusaders! It's time for a new mission!" Apple Bloom proudly smiled, as she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, alongside with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, were about to change Eugene for the better, when the royal guards arrived at the scene.

"Excuse me, Bling-Bling-Boy?" One of the guards approached the unicorn.

"From now on, please refer me as 'Brilliant Diamond', okay?" The stallion made sure, that he'll be called by his new name.

"Oh. Apologies for that. Anyway, Brilliant Diamond. Princess Celestia wanted your presence and as such, you're coming with us to Canterlot." Another guard reported.

"We'll come with you!" Scootaloo responded, as the fillies stood next to him. After they received the approval of the guards, the guards took the stallion and the fillies to Canterlot.

After a long carriage ride, a walk though Canterlot, arriving the castle and going inside, the group have finally arrived into the throne room, where Celestia and Luna were waiting for him.

"I've heard, that you left the group, after you and the others evacuated the rest of the ponies, without saying a single word. Do you care to explain, why?" Celestia wanted answers, however the obese stallion just looked down.

"What's wrong? Is something bothering you?" Luna asked.

"Well...uhm.." Scootaloo scratched her head, when Eugene decided to open up.

"Well, there is something, troubling inside of my head. You see, ever since my emancipation and redemption, I've been constantly worried about my future and my new destiny. Looking back at my past actions back in Porkbelly...really made me realize, how much of a massive twat I was and how these actions shattered my reputation. I just wanted a complete restart in my life and a new destiny. And the better away to start it is with a new name, which would be 'Brilliant Diamond'. But...even then....I'm afraid, that I would destroy my progress and everything, because of my instability." He explained.

"After hearing his story, we vowed to help him on his new journey." Diamond Tiara added.

"It's really nice, that you young fillies decided to help him. However, when it comes to the other aspects, Princess Twilight and her friends have it covered. But, right now...they're recovering in the royal infirmary, alongside with their friends." Luna informed.

"Oh no! Is my big sister gonna make it??" Apple Bloom was worried.

"Will Rarity be okay?" Sweetie Belle also became worried about her sister's condition.

"What will happen to Rainbow Dash??" Scootaloo became anxious.

"In other words, will they make it?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Don't worry, little children. They will. So far, they're recovering well. Our doctors also do their best to take care of their injuries. " Celestia assured them.

"Well, that's a relief. Can we at least see them?" The unicorn stallion asked.

"The guards will guide you there." The princess of the sun responded and two guards guided them on their way to the infirmary. Meanwhile, the princess of the moon was still troubled by her thoughts and that important question:

How would she do it?

Meanwhile, in the royal infirmary...

As the allies were worried about their friends and waited for the results, Eugene and the fillies arrived at the scene. There was a sense of anxiety looming in the air. Even the CMC, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon felt that air.

"There you are! Where have you been?" Zizrar asked.

"I was lost in my thoughts all alone. I was worried about my future and had no idea on what to do. It wasn't until this filly, named Diamond Tiara, offered her hand in friendship, in which these girls follow suit" the obese unicorn explained.

"It's true. We decided to help him to find a new destiny and secure the future." Diamond Tiara added.

"And the first thing, I did, is to make a new name, in order to shed myself from the past. In my case, my new name will be 'Brilliant Diamond'." Eugene told to the others.

"Wait a second, you decided to change your name?" Mr. White was confused.

"Well, most pony names have something to do with their cutie mark. At least, that's what I've heard." Eugene scratched his head.

This caused the agents, the General and the others, except for Zizrar and his mole people, to check on their own cutie marks and think of ideas. Thing is, in the case of Mr. Black, Mr. White, Brain Freezer and the General, they're really struggling to come up with any names, that would fit in this world.

"Hmm...I think, I have some suggestions. Natural Spark, Glimmering Leaf and so on...hmm..You know, what? I decided! My new name will be Natural Spark!" It took a while for Jillian to find a new name for her.

"I think, Honeycomb would be a good choice." Dr. Beebles came up with a name, which suited him, since he's no longer the Bee Keeper anymore.

"Is it possible to keep our names?" Mr. Black was out of any ideas.

"I mean...Mr. Black...Mr. White....I suppose, it could also work as pony names, right?" The General suggested. The others were discussing about that. One one hand, their real names are completely unknown. But on the other hand, they're worried about the reaction of the ponies and beyond. Ultimately, Eugene made a decision by saying: "Fine. You can keep your names. It can also duel as pony names."

"What about me?" Brain Freezer asked.

"Uhm...You do realize, that you introduced your name to that snow pony earlier, right?" Zizrar reminded.

"Oh yeah....I forgot..." The frosty pony face palmed.

"What about you, guys?" Jillian was referring to the final two: The General and Mr. Harm. Zizrar and his mole people are completely excluded.

"Well, I'll be thinking about it." Mr. Harm responded. "Right now, I have no idea. However, in the future, I'll be finding the one, that suits me the most."

"Same for me!" The General added.

Suddenly, they heard someone running as fast, as it could. It sounded pretty chaotic. Also, there were sounds of a guard, telling it to slow down. As they looked on the right, it turned out, that the sounds actually came from Gil, who was completely exhausted. The same can be said for the guard.

"Sir! You can't just walk around the castle without any guidance!" The guard warned.

"Is Johnny okay?!" Gil was worried.

"Excuse me, but WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Brain Freezer wanted answers.

"Well...I was in Ponyville, just chilling and hanging out with some dudes. I literally had no idea about that incident, until I overheard a conversation." The aqua earth pony confessed.

"You literally had no idea until now!?" Jillian was not happy.

"You are really that absent-minded, aren't you?..." Eugene facepalmed.

But before the situation would even escalate, they heard the door being opened and saw a doctor, coming out.

"I have some good news. The ponies have regained consciousness and are in no critical danger. Even though, there were injuries. Right now, they're recovering from it. If you want, you can go inside to visit them." The stallion reported. It was a big relief for everyone, knowing that Johnny and the others are not in any danger. After hearing about the good news, the group went inside to see the others, being fully awake. Johnny, Dukey, Sissy, Missy, Twilight, Spike, their friends, Breeze Dasher, Snow Emerald, Cherry Swirl and Tropic Bloom. All of them slowly got up, when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hugged their big sisters, Scootaloo hugging Rainbow Dash and the others being happy, that their friends are okay.

"I've heard, you guys were in an intense fight against a burning dragon." Jillian told to them.

"Yeah...Wow, she was really strong..." Rainbow rubbed her head.

"A bit too strong, if you ask me. Seriously, everyone would be burned, if it wasn't for Ocean Spark's clutch moves." Breeze commented.

"What's the big deal of her? She seems like a bitch, if you ask me." Johnny is not happy.

"I mean....her past basically broke her so hard, she snapped." Cherry Swirl answered

Suddenly, they heard Tropic Bloom having a mental breakdown and crying on her bed. The three elemental ponies looked at her friend, whose scars from that verbal attack from her best friend still felt fresh.

"Poor Tropic...Fire Jewel must have hurt her so bad...." Snow sighed.

"At this point, we're completely torn apart... On one hand, what she did was just rude and cruel...but on the contrary, she had a terrible past, revolving about abuse, war, PTSD and suicidal thoughts. I don't know...It's just a whole mess..." Cherry felt overwhelmed by the whole affair. "I'm also not sure, if Fire Jewel would completely get out of this, due to her reputation now being shattered."

"The whole thing is a big ass mess! Once a minor problem, it has fully escalated to a gigantic friendship problem and a mental problem at the same time, which eventually grew into a crime! And now, she's basically rotting away, because it was basically OUR FAULT!!!" Breeze shouted really loud, as she let her anger out.

"This is really getting even more complicated than ever before..." Spike was worried.

"I know, Spike...It seems like, their stories are completely messed up and they caused a chain reaction, which lead to this. Girls, we have to talk with them about their past and the pasts of their friend, in order to find the missing pieces of the puzzle, while also at the same time, continuing with our mission to help the guys." Twilight made up her mind.

"I've never thought, it'll get even crazier and more headache inducing...." Rarity moaned.

"I feel like, our arrival basically made everything worse for everybody..." Snow looked down.

"Don't say that! It's not your fault. You had so much stress, during your quest as guardians of the galaxies. Plus, each of you had issues from the past." Twilight assured them.

"It's true. For example, I was severely bullied by many of the ponies in my home planet, when I was a filly..." Cherry sighed.

"Or me being neglected by my parents, in favour of my brother. Don't get me wrong, it was not malicious, just being absent-minded, but back then, it caused a resentment to them, that as a filly, I ran away from home. Thankfully, after the first defeat of Shadow Nebula, they did apologise and promised to do better. But, it was not completely solved, as I still have the scars." Breeze told them about her past.

"Even though I came from a loving family, during the war, there was an overwhelming sense of fear everywhere..." Snow explained about her past.

"Same... Except, none of the people in my home planet, Synthesia, had any idea, since it was an isolated planet, in which no one even attempted to take over the planet." Tropic Bloom added, while having tears in her eyes.

"And Ocean Spark...Oh boy...it was really painful...First seeing her parents being murdered in front of her eyes, but also falsely believed, that Fire Jewel killed them, when in reality...It was actually Shadow Nebula herself. Regardless, she held a big grudge on her and even joined on Nebula's side for a while. Eventually, Fire did eventually tell the truth to her and after a lot of convincing and evidences from us, Ocean felt guilty and redeemed herself by not only destroying one of the bases, but also liberated a planet from her control. In the end, she joined in our team." Snow added.

"And then, there was one more pony, who also lost someone dear...but...we decided, not to talk about it.." Cherry commented.

"Wow, those are really messed up!" Pinkie Pie was frozen in shock.

"I see...It's clear, that you have troubled pasts and traumatic experiences, before and during your time as guardians." Twilight made it clear.

"Yeah. And it increased, as we decided to use our elemental powers to protect others and defeat evil. I mean, a guardian of the galaxies is really no joke!" Breeze responded.

"Yikes, you really had go through so much! I swear, you girls have more willpower than anyone else!" Missy answered.

"I mean, if they're protecting the galaxies, that must been a heck of a responsibility." said the orange country mare.

"But right now, thanks to the whole friendship problem and that, we are emotionally drained..." Snow felt sad.

"Don't worry, we'll help you overcome from your worries and such." Fluttershy promised.

"Thank you...We really need it." The green earth pony smiled.

"Uhm, Brilliant Diamond?" Silver Spoon got the stallion's attention. "What are we gonna do about their issues?"

"The best way is to at least help them." Eugene responded. Meanwhile, hearing Silver Spoon calling BBB with a completely different name threw Johnny and Dukey off, while Sissy and Missy were just confused.

"Wait! Wait! Hold the phone! Brilliant Diamond??" Dukey immediately wanted answers.

"That's right. You and Jonathan are not the only ones with different names nowadays. I decided to rename myself in order to distance myself from the past. That's not all, as Jillian and Dr. Beebles have new pony names right now. They're now known as Natural Spark and Honeycomb. As for the former principal and the general, they have yet to decide, while the rest kept their names, as it could also dual as pony names. By the way, Zizrar and his mole people are not included, because they're completely different." Eugene explained.

"New pony names? Damn, why didn't I think about this before?" Sissy asked.

"Probably because we're caught up in other issues and also a busy schedule?" Missy answered.

"You guys decided to rename yourselves?" Gil was thrown off. He literally had no idea, that some of them decided to take new names.

"Well, with these guys having new names, I think, it's best for the three of us to do the same. Let's see..." The navy pegasus mare looked at her flank, where her cutie mark is. It showed a crimson lightning bolt. She then looked at the flank of her friend, which showed a violet lightning bolt and a bone. "I think, I have some new names. I could be named 'Crimson Bolt', while you can be 'Zapped Bone'." She then shared this idea to the hybrid mare.

"You know, what? Those are cool names!" Missy loved the names. Their new names are Crimson Bolt and Zapped Bone. Finally, it's Gil's turn. His cutie mark resembled a star with a surfboard. The problem is, he couldn't figure out a new pony name, since....well, he lacks intelligence.

"Oh boy..." Applejack looked on.

"Actually, I have no idea..." Gil looked down, since he was out of ideas.

"Maybe later, man..." Johnny nervously smiled.

"We'll think about some good ones later." Dukey scratched his head.

The mares giggled a bit, however they knew, that it'll take time to recover. One pony was worried for a different reason. It was Tropic Bloom. Despite Fire Jewel treating her harshly, she hasn't given up on her. After all, she was the first pony to help her recover, when they were fillies. That action lead to an inseparable friendship up until then. She looked out of the window, wondering if there's anything to do , to fix the broken relations and end the nightmares.

Meanwhile, in the dungeons...

Speaking of Fire Jewel, she was still locked up in the dungeon with her horn being covered by that metal cover, which prevented her from using magic. The red mare looked down with her face not shown. Tears came from from her face and fell into the ground and the silence kept going...that was...until she started sobbing. Her sounds echoed through the area, as it became more broken. The guilt had completely taken the mare over, causing her to fall into a deep depression.

"I'm a monster....I'm nothing, but a monster..." she mumbled.

Soon, she heard sounds of hoofsteps and saw the guards, slowly approaching her.

"Fire Jewel, it's time to do your Community Service." One of the guards reported. The red mare didn't say a single word, as she was taken by the guards from her cell and went upstairs. It was completely silent. The unicorn avoided any eye contact from the guards by lowering her head, as thoughs of sorrow and regret circled in her mind.

To be continued...

Side Story: New Divide

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As Canterlot was slowly recovering from the whole dragon incident, the guards were watching Fire Jewel rebuilding the buildings with only tools. To make sure, she would not get away from community service or someone even attempting to hurt or even kill her, more guards came by to monitor the situation. However, that didn't stop the residents to call her horrible names and terrible stuff, like "devil" or "I hope, you die!" and so on. All of those insults, coupled with some ponies throwing trash at the red pony, severely worsened her depression. The other ponies, who didn't harass and and throw junk at her, like it's in the medieval ages, only watched, as they pass through, adding up to the humiliation.

When the day ended, they put her back in her cell and another guard came by to watch her. During this time, the mare was completely silent and didn't even resist to anyone. Everything in her head is getting worse and worse, as she stood in her cell, without moving a single muscle.

Later, in the midnight, the guard was doing some routine watching, when he heard a sound, coming from the halls. The pegasus stallion went inside, leaving Fire Jewel unguarded. Turns out, the sound actually came from a door opening and it was a female unicorn guard. Without saying something, they switched positions, since she was the night guard. As the mare went downstairs, she didn't expect the unthinkable: The guard saw Fire Jewel, tying a noose, made from sheets, tightly on her neck and when it was tied to the highest position, which in this case was the ceiling, she was about to step down from the highest bed and committing suicide.

"NO!!!" The guard used her magic to stop her fall and untie the knot, releasing her. As she opened the cell door to check up on her, she saw her face, which was full of despair and hopelessness. As the guard kept checking, the red pony still didn't move.

"Just next time, don't do this to yourself." The female guard told to her, but it seems like, it fell on deaf ears, as the guard put the red mare to her bed, left the cell, locked the door and watched intensely. Fire still hasn't moved at all, while she was watched. In face, she couldn't fall asleep, because of her depression. What's worse is, apart from the abusive past, another memory is secretly and slowly getting unravelled in her head. Eventually, the guard witnessed the mare crying herself to sleep.

The next day, she was escorted out by the guards for the community service, after she was woken up. That day, the night guard told the other guards about Fire's attempted suicide and they decided to raise up the surveillance and put her under "suicide watch". That means, there will be several guards available to watch her during the night, in order to prevent another suicide attempt.

Anyway, she kept rebuilding the houses, the castle and other buildings, while also disposing of debris and other trash. Unfortunately, the day was the same as yesterday, as the citizens continued taking down on her and making sure to make her days as miserable as possible. Sure, not all of them are for it, but there are numerous people, who want her completely miserable, until her death. After all, they only saw her as an irredeemable criminal. As the days turned into weeks and as Canterlot gets slowly rebuilt, the harassment continued. It went on and on, while the pain got worse and worse. Also, when the unicorn wasn't busy working, she would sit in her cell and not moving an inch. Unlike Susan and Mary, when they were held in Tartarus, the guards actually allowed the mare to be visited by someone. In the end, only one decided to visit her and she'll soon be a frequent visitor, during her imprisonment: Fire's older sister, Ocean Spark.

During one of those visits, Ocean brought her some home baked cookies for her little sister, who was still silent.

"Fire....I know, that you are in a very difficult time and I know, I did a lot of shit in the past...I just want to tell you something...I'm really sorry...After that incident in Xeon, I wanted to prevent something like this, so I told to my friends about it...It was a good intention on paper...but...unfortunately, the execution was completely chaotic. Soon, we were so caught up in our duties, that I basically forgot that original goal, until it was too late...I made you even more agitated than before and that resulted in tons of paranoia, which lead to that second dragon incident.... Since then, I feel really awful every time, causing for the group to be disbanded in bad terms." The blue mare told to her sister about her feelings, when her teal eyes became filled with tears. "I really don't mean to hurt you, yet it did happen...It was a perfect storm of issues, that lead to a domino effect...And now...everybody hates you, because of that!! It was really my fault and I should be the one locked up!!! I'm really sorry, Fire Jewel!!!" The unicorn soon cried, as the guards watched. Unfortunately, there was no response from the red unicorn, as she was frozen in despair. After a while, the guards told Ocean, that the visitation time was up and she had to go home, in which the blue mare did just that. But not before looking back at her sister one last time of the day, with tears in her eyes.

"I just wish, you would forgive me and for us to go back to the good old times..." Ocean sobbed a bit, before leaving Fire Jewel alone with the guards.

As the night began to rise, she was greeted with more night guards, before laying down on her bed and once again crying herself to sleep.

A few weeks have been passed and the rebuilding was almost complete. She just had to finish the buildings. Once again, some residents call her bad names, while the majority went on with their days. One of them was Tempest Shadow. She was taking a little break from spreading the good news about Storm King's defeat, when she saw Fire Jewel doing the final tasks to rebuild Canterlot, while being harassed by the residents. It was around this time, where cracks began to show. After the constant pain and abuse from everyone, she screamed and tried to run, but the guards held her in place.

"Hey! Don't you dare to do something stupid, pal!" One of the guards reported. "You really don't want to have an extended sentence in the dungeons, don't you?"

"WHY DON'T YOU GUYS JUST KILL ME INSTEAD!!! EVERYONE HATES ME, BECAUSE OF WHAT I DID!!!" The red mare screamed and shouted, as the extent of her depression showed. "I'M PRETTY SURE, EVERYONE WILL BE HAPPY WITH ME DEAD, BECAUSE I REALLY DESERVE IT!!! I TRULY DON'T DESERVE A SECOND CHANCE!!!" She was in tears, as everypony watched, including Tempest. The majority really didn't want to and backed off. The red mare had truly given up and thought, that her death will be the ultimate release and making everyone happy.

"What's going on?" The mare with the broken horn was confused. She had no idea about the dragon incident, since she was somewhere else.

As I said, the majority of the ponies really didn't want to kill the red mare and backed off in fear. (Because for real, if someone did have the guts to kill a person, they hate or killing a criminal in universe or in real life, he or she will face the consequences, because it's still murder, no matter the circumstances. A lot of people don't have the guts and any ideas to do just that and just stay away from the trouble, since let's be honest, NOBODY wants to go to jail and have their reputation ruined in real life! It's called common sense!) However, one reaction was completely different from the rest:

"Don't worry....You'll soon get your wish, bitch!"

As everyone looked at the source of the voice, it came from a crazy unicorn stallion with a burnt face. His eyes were really small, as he crackled and laughed in a fit of insanity. As if that wasn't enough, he had a knife, ready to kill the red unicorn and cut her up like a pig.

"I'll make sure, everyone will be happy....by CUTTING YOU UP LIKE A PIG AND CRUSH YOUR INTESTINES!!!!" He laughed loudly, as the ponies backed off in fear, except the guards, who prepared for the big defense and Tempest, who got ready.

"Don't take a step further!!" One of the guards shouted, but it fell on deaf ears, as the crazed unicorn dashed to the scene. The guards did their best to slow him down and disarm him, but the sheer amount of insanity made him stronger and broke through them like bowling pins. Tempest unleashed a magical shockwave to knock him away. The unicorn mare was about to take the knife away, when he stood up and began a fight with her. As they struggled with the constant kicks and magic blasts, one guard tried to escort Fire Jewel out of Canterlot. Unfortunately, the crazed stallion with the burnt face, who was fueled by insanity and a twisted sense of "revenge", pushed Tempest out of the way, causing her head being hit onto the ground and used his magic to throw the guard away, like trash. The red mare was locked in fear, as he went closer an closer.

"DIE!!!!" He was launching himself at the unicorn, when all of a sudden, he was pushed away by a beam of water. That beam came from Ocean Spark, who appeared from the shadows.

"Don't you dare to even lay a hoof on my sister!!!" Her horn glowed even brighter than before, as the oceanic mare became angry. Soon, a fight between Ocean and the crazed stallion began, as neither of them backed down. Meanwhile, Tempest slowly got up, as the fight became more intense, with both unicorn shooting beams to each other. Due to Ocean's expertise in her magic and experience, she had the advantage. Eventually, she used her magic to trap him in a strong bubble. "That'll teach you on doing something dangerous! I'll take you to the authorities, so justice will punish you!" The oceanic mare was very careful, when she slowly approached him. She looked at Tempest and said: "Ma'am, please take Fire Jewel to a safe location."

"I'm on it." The dark mare with the broken mare was about to go to the red mare, when all of a sudden, the scarred pony started laughing hysterically. "You think, you can trap me in a stupid bubble! Once I'm done with that monster, I'll kill all of you!!!" He unleashed a powerful spell, breaking free from the bubble and knocking Ocean, Fire and Tempest into the ground. Soon, he jumped at the helpless red mare, grabbed her by her throat and started choking on her, while laughing and shouting "DIE!" over and over again. Ocean Spark got up, when she saw this unfold. She screamed and grabbed the crazy individual in a headlock. He tried to break free, even so far as to bite Ocean's arm hard. Despite this, she never let go of her grip, while Fire Jewel was still choking. She tried to use her water magic to prevent him on killing her sister, but eventually, she realized, that nothing can stop him and as she saw Fire's eyes about to roll up, she was left with no other option: The blue mare started to scream and used all of her strength to snap his neck, which proved to be fatal, as he dropped dead to the ground and letting Fire go, as she gasped for air.

Of course, the terrified crowd witnessed it all, including Tempest. Soon, the blue mare backed away and with shaken arms and blurred vision, she immediately realized the gravity of her actions and suffered a severe mental breakdown, as she fell down. Eventually, the guards have arrived and immediately went to their positions to apprehend the mare, when she suddenly ran away, which the guards immediately began to chase her.

"Hey, are you okay? Tell me! Are you okay!?" Tempest checked up on Fire Jewel, who still gasped for air. The guards, who were there, since the beginning, immediately went to the red mare and checked for any injuries.

"I doubt, she is safe here...We have to bring her back to the dungeon for safety." One of them commented, as they brought Fire Jewel and were on their way back to the dungeon. Meanwhile, Tempest stood there, confused on what just happened. There were several questions in her head. "Excuse me, what's the meaning of this?" She needed answers from the guards. In the end, the guards stood her about the dragon incident in full detail, alongside with Ocean's words about Fire's past. After that bombshell of information, a memory flashed in front of Tempest: The attack from the Ursa Minor, her time as a commander for the Storm King, her crimes, everything. She soon felt sympathy for Fire Jewel and wanted to help her. But first, several questions had to be made, such as:

Who was the stallion?

Meanwhile, the chase went on and on, as Ocean ran as fast, as she could, until the chase continued in the castle. "Stop right there!!" One of the guards shouted. They thought, she could harm more ponies on her way inside of the castle, but this is, when the story turned into into the very strange. She went downstairs, rather upstairs. It went on and on, until the guards realized, that Ocean was on her way to the dungeons on her own! It became more evident, when she used her water magic to evaporate through the door and when they opened the door, they saw Ocean in a closed cell already.

"Go on...lock my horn...I deserved it..." She spoke.

That completely baffled the guards. They never had an incident like this. So many questions circled in their heads, as they had to understand on what's going on.

"We'll be right back..." They went upstairs. They wanted to tell the princesses about this strange situation.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot centre...

Tempest looked around and asked ponies about the identity of that scarred stallion, in order to get answers. Most of them are too scared to even tell something, since it happened so recently. She kept going and going, until one pony came forward.

"The pony with the scarred face? His name is Vanity Shine. He was so proud with his beauty, that he liked to brag about it all the time." One of the Canterlot mares told her about it.

"Hmmm...It seems like, when his face got burned, he went insane..." Tempest started to connect the dots. "This is really not good.... Where is his home?" She thought to herself and then asked someone for the location of his home. She really needed the missing pieces. After looking around for so long and asking other ponies about the house, someone actually gave her directions on Vanity's house. After a while of following directions and several backtracking, due to mistakes later, she finally arrived. As Tempest entered inside, she was met with complete silence. But as she looked inside of several rooms, she was about to leave, when sounds of banging can be heard.

"What was that?" She used her ears to track the sound and followed it to the wall of the bedroom. At first, the mare thought, that it was all a trick, as the wall was solid...or is it? Because as she knocked on the wall, it turned out that there was a room hidden in the wall. In the end, Tempest unleashed a burst of magic to tear the wall down, only to see something horrible: It was an indigo mare, with messy lilac hair, tied up and her mouth covered in duct tape. She was weakened and covered in dust. Immediately, Tempest untied the mare and got the duct tape off her mouth. It seemed like, she was locked behind that wall for weeks.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" Tempest asked.

"Do I look like, I'm okay?!" The unknown mare twitched.

"What happened to you? Do you know anything about Vanity Shine? Tell me, I need answers!" The scared unicorn grabbed the mare by the hoof and helped get up, but she was wobbling.

"He....he....he's my boyfriend...." She weakly responded. "The burns of his face made him go insane...He was literally obsessed over a red unicorn, thinking, that she was responsible for his burned face.... He fantasised about killing her in so many ways and disposing her body in a way, where no traces of her can be found...He talked to himself, that he would do society a favor by killing her...I became really scared by the sudden change...He may be arrogant and vain to the extreme, but the dragon changed him for the worse. One day, I tried to reason with him, that killing her would not do anything better, but instead damage his reputation and getting him locked up in Tartarus, but he didn't listen....Until he had enough and I was left beaten, tied and left to die behind the wall..."

"Oh my gosh... I'm so sorry for what happened to you..." That story horrified Tempest. "The thing is, he did try to kill her, but her sister tried her best to stop him, until she was left with no option, other than snap his neck. But now that you're free, I can take you to a doctor to fix you up." She tried to pick the mare up, but she resisted and ran off. The unicorn chased her to the kitchen, where she witnessed the mare pulling out a knife, but not to try to harm Tempest...

"What are you doing!?" Tempest shouted.

"I just can't be saved....The weeks of imprisonment made me insane...There is literally no hope anymore..." the mare answered. "The only way to get out of it is to end it all.." She was about to turn the knife on herself, when the dark purple unicorn tackled her to the ground in an attempt to disarm her. That resulted in a big scuffle between the mares.

Back in the Canterlot Castle, in the throne room, the guards reporter the royal sisters about what happened in Canterlot. The beginning of the community service, Fire Jewel becoming suicidal, thanks to the constant trashing by the citizens, only to be prevented, the suicide watch, her snapping and wishing the guards to just kill her, only for Vanity Shine to go through the guards and almost killing the red mare, until Ocean Spark snapping his neck and running all the way to the dungeons by herself, in a sign of immediate guilt. The sisters were completely baffled and horrified by the story. Even though the weeks, leading up to it were uninterrupted, since Fire Jewel was doing her sentence just right, except that her suicidal behaviour lead her to be put under suicide watch, the dragon incident became a catalyst on what happened today.

"I can't believe, that things would become much worse..." Princess Celestia was overwhelmed. "Their arrival surely made everything even more complicated..."

"Which makes it difficult to focus on the royal duties..." Luna looked down. "I swear, most of the ponies wanted to fan the flames even further, which leads to Fire Jewel becoming hopeless. At this point, I have no words to describe this ever complicated incident."

"I think, it's best to talk with her friends about the full backstory, in order to understand them more." Celestia suggested. "Guards, get Breeze Dasher, Tropic Bloom, Snow Emerald and Cherry Swirl to the throne room. We need their stories to fill in the blanks."

Four guards nodded and went off to find them. At the same time, a pegasus guard flew inside with an urgent message.

"Princess Celestia, there has been a scuffle in Canterlot!" He reported.

"A scuffle?" The sun princess asked.

"Yes. A fight broke out, in which Tempest was involved." He then added more information. The sisters were thrown off. They last saw Tempest after Storm King's defeat and the Friendship Festival.

"What is she doing here?" Luna asked.

"Guards, make sure to break up the fight!" Celestia ordered and the guards went off. At the same time, Luna was thinking about something. This time, it's about a memory of the past.

"Hmm...Why do I have the feeling, the dragon incident sounded.....familiar?" Luna thought to herself. "Or is it just me?"

The guards outside of the castle and on to the scene, when they heard glass shattering and tumbling. Soon enough, the unknown mare and Tempest came out, in which she broke free, grabbed the knife tightly and backed off a bit.

"Listen! You need to think this through! Taking your own life will affect everything negatively. Is this, what you wanted? If not, please....take down the knife, calm down and let me help you...Everything will be okay..." Tempest tried to reason with her, but the mare was about to turn the knife to herself, although she was hesitant a bit. As the guards came closer and as the tension became higher than before, the mare was really about to slit her own throat.

"Please...I beg of you...Don't do this to yourself....Just give the knife to me and we can take you to a doctor..." Tempest slowly approached to the indigo unicorn, who became really scared. But eventually, she had second thoughts and put down the knife, in which she was pulled into a hug by the mare with the broken horn. "See? I'm here now." She softly spoke. "And as for the guards, they're not here to hurt you..."

However, the guards demanded answers. So the dark unicorn looked at them and responded with: "Take her to a doctor. I'll explain the full story, when we go to the castle, so the princesses will hear the tale." With those words, one of the guards took the indigo mare to the hospital, while the other guards took Tempest to the castle.

As they arrived inside the throne room, Tempest told to the princesses about everything, what happened. From the discovery of that indigo mare, the escalation and finally her preventing her from taking her own life. "Now, she's been taken to a hospital, where the doctors would take care. Also, I've heard about the whole dragon incident and the past, before it. Of course, there are many unanswered questions, that need to be answered." She explained.

"This is, why we decided to bring her friends in, in order to elaborate on the backstory further. Speaking of which...." Celestia explained, but stopped herself, once she saw the four elemental ponies entering the throne room. "Just in time!" She smiled.

"You want our backstories and everything to fill in the blanks?" Cherry asked.

"Of course. We wanted to know about you and your friends, as well as your professions." Luna was curious.

"The thing is...despite of what happened, that is really not Fire's nature....She may be hot headed and wild, but she has a soft and caring side to all of us, especially to her big sister, Ocean. The dragon incident was a result in ignorance, anger and over exaggeration." Tropic explained.

"Actually...That was the second time, she lost control and caused a rampage." Breeze noted.

"The second time? What happened before that?" Tempest was surprised. Snow decided to take a deep breath and explained the story about the first dragon incident:

"It all began in the planet, Xeon, when we were in a fierce battle against the shadow ponies. Cherry and Tropic helped the citizens evacuate, while the rest of us fought of an entire army. We were defeating the shadow ponies with out elemental powers and purification spells. However, everything turned upside down, when Shadow Nebula arrived..."

Xeon, a few years ago...

In a flashback, we see a nefarious dark pony with golden regalia and sparkling, velvet mane, fading to purple, walking through the flames and facing against Jenny, Fire Jewel, Ocean Spark, Snow Emerald and Breeze Dasher.

"You!" The pink unicorn snarled at her arch-nemesis.

"You know, that we kicked your army's asses, like always! So why don't you just quit?" Fire Jewel shouted.

"Do I look like, I would listen to your pathetic words? You realise, that once I'm done with you and take the elements by myself, I'll cover this universe in darkness and rule it for all eternity!!" The nefarious pony laughed.

"You'll never get your dirty hooves on the elemental orbs! Girls, let's go!" From the words of Jenny, the five ponies and Shadow Nebula engaged in a lengthy and ferocious fight. Beams were exchanged, light VS. dark clashed each other and neither side showing any sign of weakness.

"It was a ferocious battle between the two sides..."

"Get a load of this!!!" Shadow Nebula unleashed a powerful beam of magic, knocking the heroines into the ground hard. Like really hard. However, Ocean stood up a bit and tried to attack the nefarious alicorn, but that resulted in Ocean getting caught and tortured by painful magic spells.

"Unfortunately, in the end...she got the upper hand. Keep this in mind, this was our sixth mission. But still...She was stronger than us, due to our teamwork not being completely harmonised than in later battles. She then started torturing Ocean...which was the tipping point for Fire...And then, it happened..."

Seeing her sister being tortured by Shadow Nebula, who was laughing at the pain, really set off the red unicorn hard. So hard in fact, that she screamed and got surrounded by a lot of flames. As everyone watched in shock, the flames got higher and higher and soon, the fire dragon came out. She soon attacked the evil pony, releasing Ocean in the process. A hard battle between the two insued. During which, the others checked up on the blue unicorn.

"Ocean, are you okay??" Snow asked.

"Yeah...I'm fine...But my sister....is..." Ocean Spark looked up to see the dragon.

"She had transformed...into an elemental creature." Jenny answered.

"We forgot to mention, that the dragon is Fire's elemental creature. Each of us has the ability to transform into a specific animal. Ocean would transform into a water serpent, Breeze into a falcon, me into an polar bear, Cherry into a lion and Tropic into a big butterfly. However, there was one, has hasn't been able to transform into her elemental creature yet... But I digress."

Eventually, after a while of fighting, Shadow retreated with her army, after being weakened.

"You may won this time, Luminous 7....but soon, I'll be back!" She shouted at the group, before disappearing in a magical mist. The dragon couldn't be able to catch her.

"Unfortunately...Shadow's retreat really set her off and thus, losing control...."

Essentially, it caused the dragon to go on a rampage, spewing fire everywhere. By the time, Cherry and Tropic returned to the group, the rampage had caused damage.

"Oh no! What are we gonna do?!" Tropic was scared.

"We have to stop her from causing damage!" Jenny responded, before flying up to the dragon, up close. "Fire, stop! You're gonna hurt a lot of innocent people, if you continue!" She shouted, but it fell on deaf ears, as she attempted to scorch the pink mare, but Jenny immediately teleported away to safety.

"Shit! She lost it!" The alicorn looked at the situation.

"Is there a way to stop this?" Breeze asked.

"We have to go inside the dragon, in order to reach her!" Ocean suggested.

"Wait! Are you sure? What if this won't work and we get killed in the process?" Cherry was worried.

"If we manage to sooth her from the inside and get her back into reality, we can stop it for sure." Ocean added.

"It's a risky idea...but we have no other choice, but to take it!" Tropic was convinced. At the same time, Jenny teleported herself back to the group.

"Fucking hell, she is too strong!" The pink mare looked at the dragon keep scorching fire blindly.

"Jenny, we have to use our combined powers to go inside of the dragon, so we can break her from the blind state!" Ocean suggested.

"That's actually a good idea....Okay, girls, get into your position!" Jenny's words made the others to go in a formation. As they focused on an entry point, the dragon kept roaring. However, Breeze distracted the dragon by causing a storm. This was enough for them to charge with full speed and going inside of it. Inside, it was burning hot, with flames everywhere. Eventually, they saw Fire Jewel, blinded in rage with the same serpent-like eyes, as in the Canterlot incident.

"Fire, please!! You need to control yourself! Innocent lives are at stake, if you keep continuing! Please, I beg of you!!!" Ocean immediately hugged her sister, as the others soon joined and soothed their friend. Although the red unicorn screamed and the temperature rising, they refused to let her go. Eventually, after a while, everything was covered in smoke, as dragon faded off in it and the group emerged outside, thanks to Jenny's protection spell.

"In the end, we finally managed to soothe her....but she would soon see the damage, she caused."

Soon, sounds of ponies, saying hurtful insults of the unicorn mare can be heard. As the red unicorn opened her eyes, she saw the angry crowd with burn Mark's, indicating, that some of them weren't so lucky. Her heart broke at the sight and became so scared and so guilty, that she ran away crying.

"Fire, wait!!" Cherry and her friends immediately followed her.

"It was really painful for her to have her reputation damaged by a mistake, she couldn't control...This was and still is the biggest downside of her transformation, due to the lack of control, which was contributed from the pain of the past. Even though Shadow Nebula caused a lot more damage, the incident alone burned in everyone's minds.

Canterlot Castle, present

"From that day, Ocean suggested to watch over Fire, in case of yet another blind rampage...but this time...it's our ignorance and Fire's mental deterioration, that lead to the second incident...God....I feel like, our arrival made everything worse..." Snow looked down in sadness.

"You don't need to apologise for your arrival. It's just, you have been dealing with an internal friendship problem, nobody knew until now." Celestia assured them.

"You don't understand...Our ignorance lead to this! Coupled with the fact, that her mental health has been deteriorating, due to the countless cases of abuse and her stubborn personality! We are responsible of Fire's downfall and now she and Ocean are in the dungeons, because of us!!" Tropic was getting really emotional. "I think, everyone would be better off, if we just left and never came back..." The yellow mare ran away crying.

"Tropic...." Breeze looked concerned at her friend.

"And as for our backstories, we'll tell you." Snow sighed, in which the three ponies told their backstories to the royals and Tempest in full. (Their backstories will be in a different, upcoming story, all about them and their friends.)

"I'm so sorry, that you had to suffer through several issues..." Luna looked sad.

"However, it's the pain and our shared sense in justice, which held us together...but now...our friends are gone, because of a stupid mistake...." Cherry sighed.

"Would you excuse us, we have to close ourselves up from the public in shame..." Breeze looked down and the three ponies left in sadness. It's clear, that they're ashamed of their actions. The others couldn't do anything, other than watch...but then...

Something came up in Tempest's mind. Hearing the stories, as well as the trials and tribulations of those elemental ponies, really cranked up her determination on doing something to release everyone from their burden.

"Princess Celestia and Luna! I demand Fire Jewel and Ocean Spark to be immediately released!" She had a serious look on her face. That threw the sisters off.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Celestia was shocked.

"Think about it...These ponies did some terrible mistakes in their lives...Just because someone did a mistake, that doesn't mean, their life is over! There is still a chance, that they could be redeemed! I know that from my experience, when I was responsible for the invasion...I thought, doing the Storm King's orders would help me restore my horn....but I was wrong, when he betrayed me and sent me right into the storm...But despite all of this, all of the atrocities, I've done, Twilight Sparkle never gave up and forgave me....At first, I thought, that this wasn't happening...I gave up on friendship! But even then, she was determined to make me change the sides...Her friendship made me realise about my errors and changed myself for the better. And now, I'm gonna use my experience to help the sisters!" The dark unicorn was determined. "I know, that some are still angry and never want to forgive her, but tell me...Where is the line drawn between reasonable hatred to just straight up harassment?? Has anyone even made a mistake in their lives?"

"She has a good point... Everypony made some terrible mistakes in their past...which includes me." Luna suddenly agreed. "Think about it, my dear sister. Think about that certain event many moons ago...when I was consumed by jealousy and hatred. Your ignorance didn't help at all."

That sent chills down to the sun princess' spine, since she was really referring to the Nightmare Moon incident thousands of years ago. "It's like, you want to repeat history, but with two different ponies." Luna glared at Celestia, as she went to Tempest. Those words really felt painful.

"Tempest Shadow, you have not only my permission, but also my assistance. I too, did terrible things in the past." The moon princess told to the former commander of the Storm King. "With my experience and kindness and your determination, we can get the sisters out of the darkness." The two left the throne room, leaving Celestia without any words. Soon, tears were streaming down from her face. She couldn't believe it....The princess of the sun made the same mistake from thousands of years ago.

The guards kept watching the two unicorns, who are in separate cells. Fire Jewel being depressed as always and Ocean Spark being silent. However, the silence was broken, when the guards heard steps and saw Princess Luna, coming down.

"Guards, release the two unicorns." Luna demanded.

"Are you serious? What if the crowd of ponies try to kill her again?" A guard was referring to that attempted murder from earlier.

"Don't worry. I'll bring them to a distant place, where they can stay there safely." The moon princess assured. "I just want to safely monitor them, while helping them reform." At the same time, Tempest came downstairs.

"As I said, Tempest and I will keep an eye on them." Luna added.

After some convincing and Tempest's reasoning, the guards were at first hesitant, but eventually, they opened the cages, allowing the mares to be free. Luna and Tempest grabbed each of the sisters' hooves and the moon princess used her magic to teleport herself and the others into a safe location.

Equestria, unknown forest location

The quartet arrived in an unknown forest location. Fortunately, it's safe for them to do the mission. The first thing to do is to release Fire and Ocean from the metal on their horns, allowing them to use magic again.

"Why?" Ocean asked.

"Well, you're not the only ones, who made bad mistakes in the past." Luna spoke to them softly.

"For example, due to the Ursa Minor incident, that left me scarred and my horn broken, I gave up on friendship completely and became the commander for the Storm King. That means, I did atrocious things in his name, like invading lands, imprisoning the citizens and captured the princesses, including Twilight. I did all of this, because I clung onto the foolish belief, that he could restore my horn....Sadly, the truth was not like that, when he betrayed me. But despite all of this...Twilight never gave up on me." Tempest explained her backstory to the sisters.

"Celestia also never gave up on me, even when my hatred and jealousy got manifested, when I transformed into Nightmare Moon many moons ago. However, I didn't know it back then, since I was blinded by negative emotions and the darkness. It all stemmed, that I put the most effort with creating a beautiful night, yet the ponies ignored it. And my case didn't get better, once I was cast to the moon by Celestia and the Elements of Harmony. Many moons later, I returned as Nightmare Moon and banished my sister, in an effort to last the night for an eternity. However, even though I destroyed the elements, it eventually got restored and chose Twilight and her friends as the new bearers, which lead to history being repeated...except I dint get banished for the second time, but instead turned myself to normal. I felt really guilty for everything, I've done. When I saw Celestia returning, I was scared, that she would never forgive me...But instead, she did." Luna explained her backstory. "You see, we are not flawless and made terrible mistakes in the past. But that doesn't mean, that you cannot be redeemed. There is always light at the end of the tunnel."

But Fire Jewel simply looked away. "This is bullshit...." she mumbled.

"What?" Ocean couldn't understand, what she said and neither did Luna and Tempest.

"Don't you see!? I've caused nothing but harm in the last few months!! I'm nothing but an irredeemable monster, who deserved to die!!!" The red unicorn became really caught in the despair.

"Please don't say that..." Luna tried to calm the red unicorn down, but it didn't work.

"Shut up!!! Look at me!! I've got too much blood on my hooves! I'm nothing but a-" However Fire was interrupted by Tempest.

"Stop it! You really didn't mean to harm anyone! It was due to blind anger and being stuck in the delusions! Just like me, back then...What I'm saying is, you need to stop being hopeless and improve yourself for the better!" She shouted. However, that resulted in the red unicorn running away crying, with the others chasing her. However, the chase only lasted for less than a minute, before she bumped into somepony, who was also running.

"Fire, are you okay!?" Ocean rusher to her sister's aid.

"Hey! Watch, where you're going!!" They heard a voice. As the group saw the individual of the voice, being down on the ground, it was none other than Trixie Lulamoon!

"Trixie? What are you doing here?" Luna asked.

"Please...I'm not in a mood..." Trixie looked away.

"What's wrong?" Tempest asked.

"I really miss Starlight, that's why!!! I've been thinking about her words from several months ago and it made me feel guilty....Now, she's gone, because I was partially responsible!!" She screamed.

"I know that feeling. I've been thinking about it during the last few months as well. Making a terrible mistake, that cost you the reputation and friendship. I'm no stranger to this and neither is Tempest." Luna sighed. She knows the feeling way too well.

"Wait, you did something terrible before?" Tempest asked to Trixie, in which the blue unicorn responded with: "Yes. It turns out, that the Great and Powerful Trixie....is not perfect...You know, what? Let's cut to the chase. I was so caught up in my own ego and thought myself better than everyone else, despite my magic skills being not good. That changed, when Twilight defeated me in a duel. Fueled by revenge, I found the Alicorn Amulet and used it to gain an unfair victory and changed Ponyville to my image. In the end, I was defeated by Twilight once again and I was left ashamed. Later, I met Starlight and since we had similar experiences of being formerly evil, we formed a special friendship. It also helped me reform. But now, with her gone, I feel terrible..."

"I'm so sorry for that..." Tempest hugged the blue mare.

"I'm not sure, how I would deal with this..." Trixie sighed.

"We're also not sure about it either." Princess Luna answered. It was around this time, that Trixie saw the sisters.

"Uhm, who are these ponies?" Trixie asked.

"These are Fire Jewel and Ocean Spark. Two sisters, who did terrible mistakes in their lives, just like us." Luna answered, before giving the unicorn mare with information about the two mares, including their backstories, the dragon incident and the time, where someone tried to kill the red unicorn. Needless to say, Trixie was shocked by the extent.

"Oh my gosh....This is awful! I'm so sorry, that you have to go through this...." Trixie apologised.

"It's okay....We've been through shit time after time, but it's what makes us stronger...Well, that was until now. The group has been through petty fights each other before, but it's my ignorance, that lead to the final nail in the coffin." Ocean looked sad.

Suddenly, Fire tried to run away again, but Luna used her magic to hold her in place. "Fire, you need to stop!!" She shouted, before turning her attention to Trixie. "I'm sorry. The second dragon incident, coupled with the citizens hating and attacking her, made her really suicidal."

"Wait a minute...you know about the Xeon incident?" Ocean was surprised.

"Yes. Your friends actually told me about it. Celestia and I called them to the royal throne room, in order to get a better picture about you and the others." Luna answered.

"The second time?" Trixie was confused, in which Ocean proceeded to tell the Xeon incident to her in full. "That's crazy!" The blue mare was shocked by the whole revelation.

"I thought, monitoring her would prevent incidents like this from ever happening, but....a poor execution and a shit ton of ignorance only let the doors open for even more disaster..." The oceanic mare became sorrowful. "And now, my sister is suffering and wants to kill herself, because of me... I am responsible for all of this! It's all my fault!" Soon, she was pulled in a hug by Tempest.

"That doesn't mean, it's set in stone forever. You can use your experience to learn from the mistakes and improve yourself for the better." She softly spoke.

Meanwhile, Fire was still struggling to get out the magic aura, but Luna refused to let her go. Screaming, kicking and thrashing can be heard, as she struggled further. The rest couldn't bear to see her like this, so the moon princess used her magic to get the red unicorn close to her and pull her in for a hug. "It's okay. I'm here. I know that feeling, I've been there before. But like Tempest said, you can learn from your mistakes and change yourself. There is a saying, that where there is darkness, there is also light." The dark blue alicorn mare softly spoke to the troubled mare, who at this point, stopped struggling and started getting really emotional, as she started to have a mental breakdown. At the same time, Trixie put her hoof and Fire's head.

Meanwhile, Luna was recounting on the letter from Twilight, which mentioned that Johnny attempted suicide before. Since they, the princess of friendship, her friends and his new family would keep an eye on him. And now, history is repeating itself, but this time with Fire Jewel. This time, she will double the effort to help her, alongside Tempest and Trixie.

"Look, we may have out flaws, but here is the thing: Nopony is perfect. And we can learn from the mistakes to improve ourselves." said the former commander of the Storm King.

"But...they'll never forgive me..." Fire looked down.

"I know. But if you want things back to where it was before the mess, you have to work really hard on yourself." Trixie added.

Soon, Ocean, Tempest and Trixie joined in a group hug to the red mare. They want to make sure, that she would be safe and happy.

Ponyville, Equestria

The news about the attempted murder and the release of the two unicorns of course caused a lot of controversy. Unlike, with the dragon incident, Ponyville has been divided by so many opinions. One of them is Twilight Sparkle herself. She knew, that something is wrong with the whole group. Once her friends have arrived to her castle and gathered around the map, she proceeded to make a statement.

"You know, there is a lot more to Fire Jewel and the others, that we don't know of. Like their profession, their history, their reason to arrive in Equestria. There has to be a reason!" she said.

"Don't you think, we already been through too much?" Rainbow was exhausted.

"Rainbow...There is always a reason to all of this." Applejack looked at the prismatic mare.

"The worst part is, I couldn't find Tropic and her friends, since they basically vanished from the public eye..." Fluttershy looked worried.

"And with Fire Jewel and Ocean Spark gone, it's difficult on finding answers." Rarity sighed.

"Wait! We have forgotten about someone, about a pink unicorn with blue hair!" Pinkie reminded of Jenny, who is still M.I.A.

"If only I know, where she is..." Spike answered.

"This is why, we have to go to Canterlot, in order to find the answers. It can't go on like this, especially that Fire Jewel and the others are still suffering. I've seen some ponies and non-ponies, who did terrible things before and apologised for that. They saw the error of their ways and wanted to redeem themselves, but we managed to help them with the magic of friendship. And now, it's clear, that the group is clearly in need of a guidance." Twilight explained.

"Wait, what about Johnny?" Rainbow asked.

"We'll tell High Velocity, Sweet Serenity and his friends about this, so they'll keep an eye on him and Dukey." Twilight responded, as she wrote a letter to Johnny's parents and then several others to his friends. "Come on, girls! We have to find the answers about the group."

With those words from the alicorn princess, the Mane 6 and Spike went on their way to Canterlot, in order to talk with Princess Celestia, while also sending the letters to the rest.

After some time has passed, the group had finally arrived the castle and entered the throne room, only to see Celestia sobbing.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight rushed to her mentor. "What's wrong?"

"I can't believe, I did the exact same mistake again, causing Luna to leave..." The sun princess was still in tears. "How can I be so foolish??"

"Wait, Princess Luna left!?" Twilight became panicked.

"Yes! She left with Tempest, in order to release Fire and Ocean from their cells and vanished, alongside them! But not before saying, that I would let history repeat itself, but being ignorant of the whole matter!" Celestia was still in tears.

"Oh no..." Twilight hugged her mentor, in which her friends did the same. It was clear, that they would double the effort to find the answers and solve the ever complicated problem, once and for all. At the same time, a guard came by, only to watch the scene unfold. After a while, the sobbing was silenced, as Celestia wiped her tears away.

"Your Majesty, are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine..It's just, I was sad, that I made the same mistake again, which cost my relation to Luna dearly." Celestia sighed. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

"We wanted information about the group as a whole." Twilight answered.

"I have the documents ready." The guard was holding a folder of the documents, about Fire Jewel, Ocean Spark, her friends and everything, in which he handed it over to the Princess of Friendship. The Mane 6 started to read the information about them in full. Their backstories, their profession, their rise and fall, everything.

"It's clear, that we're dealing with a troubled group, who needed a lot of help. Girls, we have to find Cherry, Breeze, Snow and Tropic!" Twilight became serious.

"Excuse me, darling? We have no idea, where they are." Rarity reminded.

"This is why we have to double our efforts to search for them. Come on, everypony!" With those words, Twilight and her friends ran off, in order to find the four elemental ponies. Meanwhile, Celestia was thinking on what to do, in order to fix the mistake. It'll take a lot of time, but she had to do it, in order to not make the exact same mistake again, as now and thousand years ago.

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Across this new divide!

Sorry. I was listening to "New Divide" by Linkin Park, while writing this story. 😅

Also, I really apologize for the rant in the story, because I was angry and anxious at the time. Real life stuff happened. That also lead to be mislead and misunderstood to a frequent commenter on my story, whenever I post a new chapter. Don't get me wrong! I love a good discussion about the morals and the different perspectives. It's just my emotions are completely out of control, due to my struggles with mental issues, like anxiety, ADHD, autism and depressive thoughts, which escalated during the pandemic, which lead to a lot of mistakes and misunderstandings, like taking things WAY out of context and seeing something like an attack. Plus, I always gave second thoughts, before posting, as I'm very afraid, that I would be the target of bullying, hatred and so on. Not to mention, that I'm very afraid, that the direction of the story, that I'm going for, would alienate everyone and thus alienating me! I'm just trying too hard to make everyone happy, while delivering a story, that I'm passionate about, but my anxiety and some disagreements made me feel bad! Sorry...I was too emotional. For the commenter: I'm really sorry for potentially causing chaos. I just couldn't control my emotions.

In the end, I'm really that sensitive to critics. I mean, I love some good, constructive criticism and some advice/help on making the story better. I'm really up for the feedback. It's just, if you leave the context out and write something, which makes it look like an insult or an attack, then it'll make me feel bad and I would have left with no other choice than to remove them. So, please be more considerate.

Then again, I'm just a human. Mistakes happen, but I can learn from the mistakes to prevent any more problems and improve myself for the better. I'm only a work in progress, like everyone else.

Since almost no one knows about the Luninous 7, I suggest to go to my Deviantart, where there is a dedicated folder in my profile about them. Most of them is just random stuff, but there are some with information (Granted, I'll update or change some of the infos later). (Fun fact, some aspects of them are inspired by the Winx Club.) Plus, I have plans to publish a story, just about them, in order to not only introduce you to the galactic warriors, but also post their backstories, adventures and eventual climax against Shadow Nebula. I'm not sure, when it'll come out, due to real life stuff and writer's block, so please be patient. It'll come out someday.

Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed the story so far and understood about my whole struggle with emotions and such.

Have a nice day!

Side Story: Adjusting the new Human Life

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In the Human world, it was the early afternoon, when school day has ended in Canterlot High. Many of the students were exhausted from a long day in their high school and were excited for some free time. Seven of which, are Sunset Shimmer and her friends, as they talked about on what to do. At the same time, Starlight waited for the girls, when she saw them.

"Hi, Starlight!" Pinkie Pie hugged her friend. "How's your day?"

"Let's just say...boring to say the least... I have nothing to do, other than visiting the hospital to check up on them." Starlight sighed. She was referring to Susan and Mary, who are still in a coma.

"Oh... Look, we're also worried about them, like you. I just wish, a miracle would happen, in which they'll wake up one day." Sunset looked to the lavender girl. "However, we have to wait, since we have a plan."

"Oh..." Starlight looked down.

"What's wrong, Starlight?" Fluttershy asked.

"You know, that I've been living there for the past few months. However, I feel like, I haven't really settled in and felt left out, when I saw you returning from school. I just want to be more engaged with you." The lavender girl responded. "And plus, I want to make an impact here."

The girls were thinking of ideas on how to make it true. Eventually, they have many ideas.

"How about a part-time job?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe something fun?" Pinkie grinned

"You can sign up for Canterlot High!" Rainbow suggested.

"I'll help you find a home!" Rarity also suggested.

Needless to say, Starlight was overwhelmed by several suggestions of her friends. "Girls! Girls, please! We only can do those one at a time, in order to not overwhelm her." Sunset slowed them down. "We'll help you with that." She said to her friend.

"Thank you." Starlight hugged her friend. At the same time, Twilight was thinking about something. The whole affair about the sisters and the science fair incident, caused a big, magical awakening in Starlight. However, she's afraid, that the lavender girl would lose control and go completely off the rails, like what happened in the fair. "Girls, I need to talk with you about Starlight." She got her friends' attention with an important matter.

"What is it, Twilight? Need something to get out?" Rainbow looker at her.

"You know...Remember the abandoned warehouse?" Twilight asked.

"I remember it clearly!" Fluttershy answered.

"Same with me and Sunset." Starlight responded.

"You see, on that day, Starlight tapped into her Equestrian magic in the Human world for the first time. It was an urgent situation, so she had to focus. And then...under the exhibition centre, when we fought off against the crazy scientists, who tortured Susan and Mary, it happened again, only this time, she awakened her magic fully. Unfortunately, there was a problem. She was blinded by her own fury, which resulted in her nearly killing the scientists, if it wasn't for Sunset's intervention. I'm saying this, because Starlight....you have to control your Equestrian magic in this world." Twilight commented, then told Starlight on what to do.

"You know...ever since those events, I feel like, my magic had been awakened. But the thing is, I have no idea on how to do it, since this world is still new to me." Starlight looked at the skies.

"Don't worry, we'll help you." Sunset smiled.

"You can count on us!" Pinkie brightly grinned.

"But first, i have to make a list about the suggestions." Sunset wrote a list about the suggestions from her friends about Starlight fully settling in. "After which, we have to do those one at a time. And the first thing to do is to find a part-time job for Starlight, so she can earn some money."

"I mean, it would be nice to earn some money to cover my essentials." Startlight scratched her head.

And so, the girls went into the centre of the city in order to find a part time job for Starlight. They looked at every job offering, every shop, every small company, they had to find a good one for her. Then, they made a list of the most likely jobs, the lavender girl would take. Camp counsellor, an assistant for a book store, a volunteer for an animal rescue, anything. As Starlight grabbed the list and read the suggestions, there are some potential jobs for her, but she has yet to choose one, in order to earn some money. However, there are still other matters to do, like enrolling to a school and keeping her Equestrian magic under control.

"Hmm...you know...I can choose one later. Right now, I have yet to tackle through the other priorities." Starlight answered.

"It's okay, Starlight." Fluttershy smiled.

The lavender girl looked at her hands and remembered the time, when her magic was fully awakened. Unfortunately, she lost control of her magic, due to her being blinded by rage. Sometimes, when she's angry, her magic will become stronger. However, anger, if it's too much, would only result in more harm than good. That's what her friends are currently thinking, mainly Sunset. They have to make sure, an incident like the one in the science fair would never happen again.

"The first thing to do is to control my magic." Starlight made up her mind.

"Good decision. You know, you can do that in my laboratory, while we'll make sure, not to lose control." Twilight suggested.

The others agreed and went to their destination, not knowing that someone was watching from afar. It was the girl with her face obscured by the black hoodie, who was standing on the other side of the road. Without saying a word, she left, while having some dark thoughts.

Twilight's Laboratory

We see the girls in front of a transparent wall out of the strongest glass and Starlight, hooked to a device, monitoring the amount of magic, she would use. Right now, it's 0%.

"Okay, Starlight. Let's start with you doing some simple tasks. Try to lift this ball using your magic." Twilight spoke via a microphone.

There was a ball, standing on a nearby table, where Starlight was standing. She started to concentrate and tried to use her magic to just lift the ball, but it didn't work. While Twilight was writhing down on her notes, Starlight tried again and again to lift the ball, but it wouldn't even move a single inch, leaving her frustrated each and everytime. Eventually, Starlight became so frustrated, that she was about to give up, when suddenly, she unleashed a magical explosion. Thankfully, no one was harmed.

"Uhm, Starlight?..." Twilight asked.

"I know!" The lavender girl was not happy.

"Look, why not just try to take a deep breath and focus. I know, you can do it!" Sunset gave her friend some motivational advice. Eventually, Starlight had no other choice, but to follow it. She took a deep breath and started to focus to channel her magic. It took a few tries, but eventually, a teal aura emitted from her hands and the ball started levitating.

"I did it!" Starlight was happy with the results. The girls cheered at the success.

"Not yet. There is still a long way to go. But we can help you." Twilight smiled, but knows, that her friend has to control her magic.

A montage of Starlight attempting to control and harnessing her Equestrian magic in this world by doing some tasks, Twilight and the others gave her. Some of them are successful, others though....not so much. However, Starlight is an expert of magic and over time, as the days have passed, she managed to harness magic and control it. It's clear, that she was going to a right path.

Another few days have passed and the Humane 7 were sitting in a cafe for some chatting and some relaxation. The topic of their conversation was important, since next year, they're gonna graduate form Canterlot High. Everyone was talking about their dreams and what they'll do in their future with excitement and curiosity. Everyone...except for Sunset Shimmer. There is one thought, that has been bothering her for a while. But she didn't know, why.

Meanwhile, Starlight was on her way to the cafe, while buying a bouquet of flowers from a nearby shop. She wanted to give it to the twins, who are still in the hospital. She saw her friends and was about to approach them, but something caught her attention instead. It was the girl in the black hoodie, watching the girls, while getting closer.

"Hey!" The lavender girl tried to get their attention, only for the individual to run away and for Starlight chasing after it. It went on and on, while nobody slowed down.

"Hey! Come back! What do you want?" Starlight asked, but the individual refused to answer, as she ran faster. So, of course, the lavender girl had to try to catch her up. Suddenly, she went into a crowd full of people, who were witnessing a performance from some musicians. Even though Starlight tried her best to find him or her, there were too many of them. In the end, she had to give up and went to the cafe, where her friends are waiting. Meanwhile, the black-hooded individual came out form the other side of the crowd.

"Ugh... Good thing, I got away from her...Anyway, with that out of the way, I'm gonna plan my revenge." The girl sighed, before continuing to walk away.

Back at the cafe, Starlight met up with her friends and sat down to the table with them.

"Hi, Starlight! Nice flowers! Any reason to buy them?" Pinkie was curious.

"I bought them, because I want to visit Susan and Mary in the hospital, so I can give it to them." Starlight answered. "Anyway, what you're doing?"

"We'be been discussing about our upcoming graduation from Canterlot High and our future plans." Twilight answered.

"You're gonna graduate?" Starlight was confused.

"Yes. Next year, we'll finishing our time at school with a ceremony, followed by a party. The girls and I have discussed about what we'll do in the future, like Twilight wanting to become a famous scientist and Fluttershy an animal vet." Sunset discussed.

"I want to become a world-famous fashion designer, while also helping those in need." Rarity told Starlight about her future.

"And I want to be an awesome athlete!" Rainbow commented.

"I want to become a party planner, baking pies and spreading fun!" Pinkie Pie smiled.

"And finally, I'll be taking over the farm and work hard as always." Applejack answered.

"What about you, Sunset? Any thoughts about what you're gonna be?" Starlight asked.

"Well... That's a good question....but right now, I'm in the middle of so many questions and unknowns." Sunset answered.

"What's wrong, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked.

"The thing is, I have no idea on what to do about many things. On what to do with Susan and Mary, since there are some clouds of doubts, my future and importantly, my true destiny." She sighed.

The girls were confused. But Sunset replied with: "It's a very complicated story."

"As for Susan and Mary, we're not really sure, since they're still in a coma. In fact, we don't know, If they'll ever wake up, considering on what happened to them." Twilight explained. "But there is still a glimmer of hope, that they'll be okay. We just have to keep our hopes up."

"You're right. We just have to believe!" Pinkie replied.

Her friends agreed and after some time hanging out, they left the cafe and went to the hospital. As they entered the hospital room, they saw Susan and Mary, laying on their beds. The monitors showed their heart rate, while they're attached to a breathing tube. On the desks, their cracked glasses stood. A painful reminder on what happened. Starlight went to them and after filling a vase with water, put the flowers in there.

"Oh, girls... I'm very sorry for what happened to you. Those 'scientists' were cruel psychopaths...Thankfully, we stopped them and saved you, before it could get any worse...I know, it's tough, but we're here for you. We all wish for you to recover form this horrible experience..." Starlight spoke to them, despite them being in a coma.

After the girls prayed for the best and some well-wishes, they left the hospital, but not before Sunset looking back at the sisters and shedding a single tear. No one knows, if they'll ever be able to wake up...

To be continued...

Side Story: Flickering Voices

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Somewhere in a dark and misty void, lit by various torches, we see Fire Jewel wandering around the area. Aside from the torches flickering, there are no other sounds, that fill the empty and eerie silence. The ground itself is reflective, while the background is just a black void.

"Hello? Anybody here?" The red unicorn asked, but there was no answer in this void. She kept walking and walking. During which, the mare felt a slight, yet cold gust of wind, rushing by. Despite this, she continued walking through the void, when all of a sudden, she heard a voice.

"You demonic criminal!"

When the red unicorn looked back, she saw many of the ponies with angry looks on their faces. But those weren't normal ponies. Many of them had severe burns on their flesh, some of them exposing their bones, their eyes completely black, with blood coming out of them and some of them are still burning. What's worse is, she recognized them as the citizens of Canterlot. Suddenly, they charged and the mare started running away in fear. As the chase went on, the light of the torches started fading away, slowly engulfing everything in total darkness, except for the burning ponies.

"Get away from me!!" She screamed, when all of a sudden, she bumped into someone. As she looked up, she saw her best friend, Tropic Bloom, looking like the creepy burned citizens.

"Oh god no!!! Tropic, what happened to you!?!?" Fire was locked in fear, when the yellow earth pony looked at her in disgust and spoke.

"What happened to me? You tore me apart with your foul words and your hatred! You pushed everyone away with your arrogance and wrath!"

The burning pony looked at the red mare with her cold, black eyes, as she crawled away in fear. Suddenly, she bumped into someone again. It was Cherry Swirl, also charred and bloodied like the rest. Soon, Snow Emerald, Breeze Dasher, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Johnny, Dukey, Sissy and Missy appeared from the dark mist.

"No!!! Look, I'm so sorry for all of this!!! I didn't mean to harm anyone!!" The red mare pleaded for mercy, but it fell on deaf ears, as they went closer and closer to the helpless pony. As if that wasn't bad enough, the heat was increasing to an alarming rate, that even Fire herself couldn't handle it.

"You really have no idea, do you?...

YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF.

SELFISH"

The everlasting chants of "You'll never get everything back." and other hurtful words made the red unicorn curl up into a ball and cry in fear and regret. Suddenly, the ponies around her burn even brighter than ever and the flames getting even closer to Fire. If things couldn't get any worse, her stepfather and Ocean were seen and as Fire Jewel looked at him, they simply shook their heads in disappointment and left into the dark mist, leaving her completely vulnerable to the burning ponies and their wrath. Then, without a warning, the ponies turned fused each other into a demonic lava monster, who grabbed the red mare by throat and shot some lava at her, causing a spontaneous combustion. As Fire Jewel screamed in pain and agony, the flames soon began to char her skin and eventually inside of her body. The cherry on top of this sundae was when hooves grabbed the red mare and dragged her underground, presumably hell, when all of a sudden...

She screamed and opened her eyes, revealing that she was in a cabin. All of this turned out to be a terrible nightmare. At the same time, Princess Luna was standing on the other side and placed her hoof on the mare's shoulder.

"I'm here now." The moon princess looked at the terrified unicorn. "I know, that your nightmare wasn't pleasant, in fact, Ocean had a similar one, except that in the end, she was pulled by horrific versions of her friends into the deep blue, where she drowned. But don't worry, Tempest, Trixie and I will help you overcome it." She pulled the red unicorn into a hug, in which she started to sob. The dark blue alicorn looked down, as she made sure to comfort the terrified pony the entire night.

The next day, the three ponies went outside to discuss on what to do to help the two sisters.

"Why not doing a therapy session?" Trixie suggested.

"Hmm...I suppose, we have to go deeper by hearing their sides of the issues, in order to find the right solutions." Tempest agreed and looked at Luna, who nodded.

"We have to find the root of all of their problems." Luna looked serious.

Soon, the elemental sisters came out of the cabin. Both of them looked very tired and weak, with Fire Jewel even struggling to stay awake, while also dealing with depression. Trixie and Tempest guided the sisters to a flower field and sat down in one circle.

"We start with you, Ocean Spark. How are you feeling?" Luna asked.

"Really bad. I had a nightmare, when my friends and my deceased parents chased me in a dark void, where the ground was reflective like the water. They gained even more speed, while I slowly lost my stamina, causing them to catch and drag me down into the deep blue. It seems like, it represented my thoughts of regret and pain..." the oceanic mare responded.

"The events of the past are still haunting you... You know, all of us had experiences like this before, but with the help of our friends and loved ones, we managed to overcome our own darkness and embracing the light of friendship. And it's time for us to do the same for you." Luna explained, that she, Trixie and Tempest all had similar experiences with guilt of the past, before deciding to listen to their friends' advices. Ocean Spark looked at her sister, only for the red mare to look away.

"I know, how you feel. The scars of your actions are are still fresh in your mind and the constant harassment from the ponies made everything worse. But here is the thing...if you're at the rock bottom, there is no other direction, than to go up. In other words, just because you made something terrible, doesn't mean it's set in stone forever. All you need to do is to tackle your insecurities down and improve yourself for the better, in order to stop those constant nightmares." Trixie hugged the red unicorn with a smile. "Plus, we are here for you, that's for certain." The mare soon remembered her own past, where after she was defeated by Twilight twice, she saw the error of her ways and tried her best to fix them. It wasn't until Trixie befriended Starlight, where she got better with her progress. Ocean watched, as tears formed in her sister's deep blue eyes and hugged the red unicorn as well. Soon, Tempest and Luna joined in for a group hug.

"I know, I've done terrible things before, my dear sister and I'm really sorry for causing all of that heartache in the first place. But...we can start over again and focus on improving....that is, if you forgive me..." Ocean looked at her younger sister.

"It's true. Nopony's perfect. Everyone makes mistakes time after time, but we can learn from them." Luna commented.

"How am I supposed to do that, when I can't even forgive myself?..." Fire quietly answered.

"Remember, we're here for you. We all thought the same, after realizing our mistakes. But we overcame our demons and embraced the light. You just need to forget the past and try to move on." Tempest responded.

As the mares kept hugging the red mare, Fire looked down, while shedding tears in silence. At the same time, Ocean felt a bit of relief, since she found ponies, who also made similar mistakes and changed themselves for the better. However, she and the others have to focus on helping Fire Jewel.

Meanwhile....

Twilight and her friends have been searching through several cities, forests, fields, even up to the skies in Cloudsdale and underwater in Seaquestria, but so far, they found no trace of Tropic and her friends. Even, when Twilight contacted Cadence for their whereabouts, the princess of love couldn't provide them Information. Currently, they're searching in a forested area. They can't leave them completely unnoticed and certainly empty handed...or in this case empty hooved.

"How long is this gonna go on?" Rainbow was impatient.

"There has to be a clue on where they are! They can't just disappear!" Twilight responded.

"This forest is sure quite big." Applejack commented.

"They could be hiding anywhere! Maybe they turned themselves invisible? Oh! They're probably underground or even in space!" Pinkie became curious.

"Whatever it is, they have to be out somewhere, Pinkie." Fluttershy responded.

"Okay, everypony! I think, the best way of finding them is to split up. Spike and I will move forward, while you have to go to different directions. If anyone finds them, give us a sign, got it?" Twilight told to her friends about the plan.

"Okey dokey, Twilight!" The peppy party pony jumped up and down in joy.

"You can count on us." Applejack smiled.

Soon, the six ponies went to separate ways, while Spike stayed with Twilight. Each pony had their own tactics to find some clues. For example, Fluttershy talked to the animals for some assistance, Pinkie Pie just using her Pinkie sense, Applejack looked around very carefully, Rarity using her magic to find something and in this case for Rainbow Dash, flying around.

"Hello? Come on, girls! Where are you?" The prismatic mare shouted, hoping for a response, but nothing came out of it. "This is getting ridiculous... What's up in their minds?..." she sighed, as she continued to fly around. Half an hour has been passed and Rainbow couldn't find any sign of them, when all of a sudden, she hit something hard and crashed to the ground.

"Ow! What was that?!" The pegasus rubber her head to ease the pain. There was nothing to see and yet it felt like, she crashed into something made out of steel. Rainbow Dash reached her hand to touch the unseen object and sure enough, she heard a sound. She started to fly around this thing, while also crashing to more unseen steel, since she had no idea about the size of that object. Eventually, after some bumps and crashes, she went ot the other side and knocked on the unseen object.

"Hello? This isn't funny!" Rainbow shouted, when all of a sudden, something flashed a bit. As she kept knocking, the object became more visible, revealing to be some sort of a headquarters. Or is it a spaceship? The building itself looked futuristic and sleek.

"W-what is this? Is this a spaceship?!" Rainbow became baffled by the appearance and the fact, that it existed. "I gotta find Twilight and the others!"

The prismatic mare flew up and at first shouted: "HEY, GIRLS!!! I FOUND SOMETHING!!!!" But there is a problem: Where would they go, if they heard her shouting? She had to signal them something. Suddenly, an idea came.

"I got it!" The prismatic mare flew up so high and when the time was right, she flew down as fast as she could. During which, she built up more speed and the air around her started to tighten. It became tighter and tighter, until it formed into a cone around her and soon, she broke the sound barrier by unleashing her Sonic Rainboom, in which Rainbow used this to her advantage by flying around the building. She then stopped and waited for her friends to come. She didn't have to wait long, as she heard her friends coming 5 minutes later.

"Rainbow, did you find something?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. This....thing over here." Rainbow pointed at the headquarters. Everyone was in awe at the sight and at the futurists architect. They've never seen something like this in Equestria.

"Oh my goodness..." Fluttershy responded.

"OH MY GOSH!!! A SPACESHIP!!! ARE THERE ALIENS INSIDE? ARE THERE ROBOTS? IF SO, ARE THEY FRIENDLY? DO I NEED TO THROW THEM A WELCOME PARTY?! DO THEY LIKE CAKE AND CUPCAKES??" Pinkie questioned everyone about what was in her mind. Of course, not sure throwing a party towards unknown strangers would sound like a terrible idea, but then again, it's Pinkie Pie, we're talking about. Anything is possible in her eyes.

"Calm down, Pinkie. We have to make sure, if they're friendly." Applejack calmed her peppy friend down.

"I have a question. How can we get inside? The door IS closed, you know?" Spike pointed out the obvious problem: The door is closed! At first, Fluttershy knocked on the door. "Hello? Is anyone in there? We want to know, where Tropic and her friends are." The shy mare softly spoke, but there was no response.

"Excuse me, but we need an answer!" Rarity demanded, but there was nothing.

"Guess we have to go through the door. I know, it sounds wrong, but we have to find a way in." Twilight looked closer at the door to find something. At the same time, Rainbow kept knocking, hoping that someone would open the door for them. Suddenly, Twilight had an idea and called her friends to gather around her. She used her powerful magic to teleport herself and the others inside of the ship.

"That was easy." Twilight commented. "Okay, girls. We have to look around for any signs of them, okay? Maybe they could be anywhere-" Suddenly, a red alarm has been caused and the mares became panicked.

"What is happening?" Rarity freaked out.

Before anyone knew it, a white mist covered the group fully and after while, when the mist has been settled, they've been completely frozen in ice.

"Alright, how dare you to break into our headquarters?!" A voice can be heard, alongside sounds of someone slowly walking in a careful pace. Out of the shadows came out Snow Emerald, who didn't hesitate on using her full ice powers.

"What's going on, Snowy?" The voice of Breeze Dash can be heard, who came in.

"A couple of intruders came in and even bypassed our security." Snow explained, who pushed the blocks of ice to the room with the big table and seven chairs.

"Damn, maybe they're some Shadow Ponies, we probably missed!" Breeze assumed.

"Perhaps. We have to interrogate them!" Snow agreed and used her powers to thaw the ice out, releasing Twilight and her friends. Suddenly, they recognized them as the ponies, who were helping them in Canterlot, especially Twilight, who is the princess of Friendship as well as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who comforted them outside of Canterlot.

"Oh shit!!! I'm so sorry! I thought, you were shadow ponies, intruding out headquarters!" Snow profusely apologised.

"Alright, alright! What's going on here?" Cherry came into the scene and saw the Mane 6 and Spike shivering from the cold. "Seriously, Snowy? Seriously?!?" She scolded the ice pony, before sighing and going to the ponies. "Sorry, girls. There has been a terrible misunderstanding."

"Although I wonder, how they found out about our HQ and got inside undetected." Breeze was wondering.

"But first, we have to warm them up, before asking questions." Cherry noted.

After the elemental ponies used blankets, warm drinks and increased heat from the heaters to warm the heroines of friendship as well as Spike, they sat down around the table.

"We heard a lot of you from Princess Celestia and the guards. It's clear, that you've been dealing with a massive friendship problem, that in the end, there the entire group apart. We wanted to help you with that." Twilight explained her reasoning.

"I really appreciate your concern, but right now, we're really in no mood for anything, given that the mistakes basically destroyed everything, we stood for." Snow sighed.

"I know, that you've been living with the guilt from what happened a few months ago. But keep hiding from everypony else and not doing something actively against it, doesn't really help at all." Fluttershy made a good point. "We can help you overcome your insecurities."

"That is, if you're really willing to accept our help. If you really want those nightmares to end indefinitely, then take my hoof and we'll help you with the magic of friendship." Twilight reached her hoof to the three ponies. At first, they were really hesitant, since the pride is restricting them, but in the end, the will of breaking the chains of hatred and go forward overwhelmed their minds and were about to take Twilight's hoof, when all of a sudden, the ship started to shake and heard the motors starting up.

"What in the name of Equestria is going on?!" Rarity became panicked.

"It comes from the cockpit! Come on, girls!" Breeze found out and the three elemental ponies ran off with the Mane 7 having no other choice than to follow them. Arriving at the cockpit, they saw Tropic Bloom, preparing for launch. With tears in her green eyes, she started the countdown.

"Tropic, stop!" Snow shouted, but the yellow mare didn't listen, as the countdown started from 10 seconds.

"We need to stop her from taking the ship off!" Breeze told to the others. At first, Applejack used her trusty lasso to catch Tropic and restrict her from moving, but she was persistent and pressed the button for launch.

"Breeze, cancel the launch!!" Cherry yelled at the dark blue pegasus and she did presses some buttons to override the launch.

"Launch cancelled." A voice can be heard.

"Tropic, what do you think, you're doing!?" Snow yelled with the yellow mare curling up in fear.

"Please don't yell at her, Snow. You would make her even more terrified." Fluttershy reminded.

"But she just attempted to start the ship!" Snow tried to defend herself, but Applejack silenced her with a single hoof on the pegasus' mouth

"Just take a deep breath, sugarcube. Too much anger is quite unhealthy, y'all." The southern mare made her point, before turning her attention to Tropic. "Tell me, what's the matter?"

"Our arrival caused nothing but trouble, when everything became public...." Tropic was stuck in the blue.

"Yeah, she really hasn't recovered from that second incident at all....especially, since....you know." Breeze sighed.

"We know, darling. It wasn't pretty...." Rarity looked down.

"I swear, everyone would be better off, if we just left and never came back!" Tropic became even more distraught.

"Don't say that! You did some good stuff before! Applejack told me, that you saved Spring Gale, got everyone out of the burning forest and even helped us on out battle against Fire Jewel. Sure, in actuality, it was Ocean who managed to stop her, but we really appreciate your efforts on trying." Twilight responded.

"Plus, you have soothed two of our friends back in the hospital with your powers. I'm impressed, that you could even do that, especially that they've been dealing with their own demons." Spike referred to Johnny and Dukey, who were calmed down by Tropic's nature powers.

"Wait, they've been dealing with their own demons?" Breeze was confused.

"Yes. But instead of explaining it to you, I'll give you his diary." Twilight used her magic to teleport Johnny's blue diary here and give it to the four ponies, who began to read it whole. Needless to say, they were shocked by the extent of the abuse.

"Ey yo, what the fuck?!?!" The dark blue mare was outraged.

"This is horrible! I can't believe, he and his friend would endure all of this..." Cherry felt sorry for them.

"This story alone breaks my heart..." Tropic was in tears.

"When we read his story, we can't help but to remind him of Fire Jewel...She too was a victim of abuse by someone, who's supposed to take care of her." Snow looked down. "Speaking of who, we're not sure, what happened to Fire...She's probably rotting away in the dungeons.."

"Uhm....about that..." Spike responded and proceeded to tell them, what happened to Fire and Ocean, after they left.

"Wait, they've been released!?" Tropic was shocked.

"Yes. It was Princess Luna and Tempest, who came up with the idea. But after they were released, they just disappeared from the public eye." Twilight explained. "It's clear, that they want to help them reform, like my friends and I did the same to them. Speaking of reforming, you girls should do the same. We're here to help you overcome your massive friendship problem."

"Our...friendship problem?" Tropic asked.

"Yeah. We were about to accept their help, when you suddenly decided to start the ship up and leave this world." Snow answered.

"Do you mean it well?" The yellow mare asked to the ponies one more time, but the heroines of friendship nodded their heads. After some consideration and a bit of hesitation, Tropic reached her hoof to Twilight, who grabbed hers in return.

"We're telling the honest truth, dear." Applejack warmly smiled.

"With all of our kind hearts..." Fluttershy came to them.

"...and our loyal instincts..." Rainbow continued.

"...as well as our generous promises..." Rarity smiled.

"And bright laughter!" Pinkie jumped in joy.

"...I promise, we'll help you overcome your insecurities and embrace the magic of friendship." Twilight finished the sentence.

"You know, we've been prideful and stubborn, but that's the part of youth. But now, it's time to shed the demons away and start growing up." Cherry smiled and the ponies engaged in a big group hug, symbolizing their acceptance of friendships and willing for the change.

"Come on, girls. Let's go back to Ponyville." Twilight smiled and the group left the ship. During which, the elemental ponies opened themselves up more and told them, that they came from different planets and became blessed with the powers of the elemental orbs. However, the side effect of those orbs is the bearer would stop aging, until they severed the ties. They would of course do that, when all threats were fully defeated. And of course, since their headquarters was built by different parts from different planets, that would explain its futuristic appearance.

Ponyville, Equestria

The group returned to the village, where business went on as usual. It was around this time, that Eugene came to them, alongside with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"Hey, where have you been?" The white stallion asked.

"Well, we found Tropic and her friends in a spaceship, in the middle of a forest, nonetheless." Applejack answered.

"A spaceship?" Diamond Tiara was confused.

"It's a complicated story, kid." Cherry giggled.

"Does that mean, that they don't come from here?" Silver Spoon asked.

"No. We come from different planets and we've been travelling through galaxies and stopping threats as galactic guardians. The reason, why nopony heard of us here is because not only that we arrived there a few months ago, but we've been also working in the shadows." Snow explained. "In other words, we were REALLY secretive."

"I see. They've been trying hard to keep their identities secret, like ninjas." Eugene understood.

"In a way, yes." Breeze laughed.

"Anyway, what do you want?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it's about that upcoming Friendship Festival. Aside from someone named, Colortaura, I've heard that a group of four stallions wanted to sign in. They're entertainers, not musicians. I have no idea, who those ponies are, but I do have a picture of them." The obese unicorn gave a picture to Twilight. It showed a group of four stallions posing. We see a pink pegasus with a dad beard, a blue earth pony, who wears glasses and making funny faces, a green earth pony with glasses making an adorable pose and finally a purple unicorn, posing and winking. What makes him different from the others is his eye shape, which looks more oriental.

"I see. I'll talk to them about negotiations." Twilight answered and teleported away.

"How you're doing, man?" Rainbow asked.

"Quite well, actually. Diamond and Silver were really supportive of me and my redemption, since they too did similar mistakes, just because of money." The unicorn stallion explained.

"That's so sweet of you!" Fluttershy was in awe.

"Are you taking good care of him?" Pinkie asked.

"Of course!" Diamond and Silver smiled.

While they exchanged some talks, Snow Emerald decided to take a walk, in order to cleanse her mind. During which, she saw Brain Freezer taking with Zizrar and dealing with a few shenanigans. The snow mare with the emerald mane couldn't help, but giggle. Soon, she came up with an idea. "Hey, guys! Let me join!" She went to them, when Brain Freezer became red again and we can her Zizrar laughing.

Meanwhile, as for Cherry, Breeze and Tropic, they were happy, that they found new friends along the way.

"Hey! Why not hang out in the Sugarcube Corner for some funtime?" Pinkie suggested and everyone agreed. And so, they were on their way to the Sugarcube Corner for some fun.

But wait...haven't we forgotten someone?

???

Meanwhile, in yet another forest area, we see a pink alicorn with messy blue hair, just wandering around with sad thoughts in her mind. It's been a few months after the altercation and she hasn't recovered from it ever since. Suddenly, a voice can be heard inside of her head.

"Yes....Give in to your darkness...."

All while a bit of a dark aura can be seen emitting from the poor pony, while shedding tears along the way.

However, it's not over. At the same time, in a familiar world, in a big mansion, we see a purple male cat with a bowtie, sitting on the window and watching the scenery in silence. Around him was an aura of sorrow. Soon, he shed a single tear, as he felt the wind gently touch him.

To be continued...

Side Story: Sorrowful Loss

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In Porkbelly, a lot has happened, ever since Johnny Test and Dukey disappeared without a single trace. News about this incident spread like wildfire and it lead to many search groups, who tried to find him, but came back empty-handed. A few days later, a masked entity named "The Shadow" hacked all televisions and phones, in order to show them a video about the horrible truth, that Johnny's own family were responsible for him leaving the house and Porkbelly forever, while taking Dukey with him from the animal shelter. Everyone was shocked and outraged about the truth and it lead to the family being arrested and sentenced to prison. For the parents, named Hugh and Lila, they were given life sentences, while the twins got 20 years, due to them being minors. At the same time, more people have vanished. The agents, the general, Sissy, Missy, Eugene, Jillian, Mr. Harm, Dr. Beebles, Brain Freezer, Zizrar, his mole people and the penguins. A few days later, the sisters broke out of the prison and it lead to them being chased by police. They did disappear a bit, but they were later found in a forest by a ranger. (BTW, those aren't the real Susan and Mary. It'll be explained in a future chapter) They were later arrested and their sentences were extended.

Since those events, there were more unsuccessful search efforts, times of grieving and hatred towards the Test family. A few months have passed and after no new development, the police closed the case, assuming, that Johnny was probably killed by his own family, while the government officially and legally declared Johnny and Dukey dead in absentia, along with the others, who also vanished. As if that wasn't enough, new laws were passed to prevent child abuse and bullying. They really don't want other children to end up like Johnny.

Now, it's been six months after the disappearance and the town of Porkbelly never felt the same again, as the people still felt the aftermath. Some of them made statues and shrines in his memory, while others kept campaigning for a better future for the children, with Child Protection Services and other charities helping them. Schools raised up their surveilance and offered abused as bullied children special education and therapy sessions, parents became more aware of their actions and started to become more careful. All of this proves, that Johnny Test wasn't an ordinary child and that his disappearance made a big impact in everyone's lives.

One of them is a male, magenta cat, sitting on the window in a big mansion. He had purple stripes on his face, his fur on top of his head was pushed back in a style of rich men and wore a red bowtie. He was watching the scenery outside with a sorrowful look on his face, while being touched by the gentle breeze. However, he is not an ordinary cat, as he knows Johnny too well and he has a great amount of human intelligence and speech, much like Dukey. He is none other than one of Johnny's enemies, Mr. Mittens.

"Ugh....Everything has gone downhill, ever since he left..." he sighed. He knew about Johnny's disappearance too well, since he heard about it in the news, like everyone else. Even when Johnny was his arch-nemesis, there were of course times, where they raced against each other, played games and even helped him out sometimes. Those were the good old times. But now, with him gone, he was left with a hole on his heart, that can never be filled. It was around the same time, an elderly butler came to him with a cup of tea.

"Here is your cup of tea, sir." The butler gave him the cup of tea, in which the cat took it.

"I just don't get it, Albert...It's been six months since he vanished and yet, it feels like, it happened yesterday..." Mittens sighed, while drinking his tea. "How did that happen? Last time when I met him, he was his usual self. Everything was pretty much normal, but then...the next day, he was gone and everything came crashing down..."

"Haven't you watched the videos from 'The Shadow'?" Albert asked.

"Of course, I did!! I was playing some video games, when it happened. I was basically forced to watch the videos!" The male cat stood up, looking a bit more agitated. "Back then, I was not in a good mood, when so much drama happened, which lead to the split of the Johnny Stopping Evil Force 6! It was a really messy one, as there were so many clashing opinions and petty fights. I was about to let my frustrations out on Test, when I received the news about his disappearance, which really didn't help my mood at all!!!" He screamed in anger.

"Sir..." Albert was about to tell him to calm down, but Mittens was blinded by his negative emotions.

"AND NOW LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!!!! I lost so many allies and enemies in a week! Brain Freezer, Zizrar, the Agents, the General, even the former Bee Keeper, all of them are gone, while I just stood there, still having to process on the whole ordeal!!!!!!! And you know, what?? IT STILL HURTS, LIKE A PART OF MY HEART HAS BEEN BRUTALLY TORN APART!!!!!" The male cat stomped his foot and threw the cup down, shattering it, in rage and pain. He heard about their disappearances a day after the arrest of the Test family.

"Sir...may I suggest you to go out for a walk or perhaps do some exercises?" Albert suggested. "I'm concerned, that your stress would burn you out. In the meanwhile, I could bring you some snacks and cake."

"You know, Albert? The whole ordeal caused so much migraine in my head... I'm going to play some video games to ease off the pain a bit, even though it's not much..." Mittens went to the living room to play some games online with random strangers, all while Albert went to the kitchen to prepare the snacks and cake.

The magenta cat was playing an online battle royale game, but it felt empty, playing with random strangers, now that his friends and enemies are gone. Regardless, he managed to take out two of his enemies, before hiding his character somewhere. At this point, there is no time for moping in an online game. He has to concentrate, if he wanted to win. As the session grew longer, more players got eliminated. Also during that session, the voice chat was on for the players to communicate or rather hurl insults and swears to another, whenever it's in English or in a different language. Eventually, only Mittens and a random Korean player were the only ones left standing. Both of them were really skilled. A long battle between the two players in the game ensued with one of them trying to eliminate the other, while dodging the projectiles. In the end, after so much teeth grinding and skillful maneuvering, Mittens finally managed to eliminate the other player, winning the game, all while he heard the Korean player swearing and banging the table with his fists hard.

"Got 'em." The magenta cat smirked and put his controller down for a well-deserved break, when Albert came back with the snacks.

"Here are your snacks, sir." Albert politely reminded.

"Now get me some drinks. I have to play yet another session." Mittens grabbed the controller again and joined a session with other random players.

"As you wish." Albert went back, but Mittens didn't notice, that the butler's movements were...slightly off. As if...he was tired.

The game started and the players engaged in a long battle against each other. Mittens concentrated himself for the win and did as well, as he could, while eliminating some of them. But it was around this time, when the empty feeling had returned, alongside a new emotion for Mittens: Loneliness. The disappearances of his allies and enemies, especially Johnny, was still a shock to him, given the reasoning and the timeline. The empty feeling really dampered his skills of the game. Suddenly, he heard a sound of a shot. That sound brought the cat back into reality and realized, that he was eliminated by the same Korean gamer from before, who started laughing at him.

"OH, COME ON!!!" He threw the controller on the TV in rage and sat down. "Why can't this feeling leave me alone?!?!!"

As if that wasn't enough, he heard sounds of Albert falling down and glass shattering, coming from the kitchen. Annoyed, Mittens got up and went there, assuming that Albert had accidentally dropped the glass. "Ugh, Albert! You just dropped some amount of high quality-" But, when he arrived at the kitchen, his expression of annoyance has changed into horror, as he saw Albert, laying motionless on the ground. His sight was fading in and out at a rapid pace and his heartbeat increasing, as the cat fell into total panic.

"Oh God, no!!!! Albert, wake up!!!" Mr. Mittens tried to wake him up by shaking the butler's body, but it didn't work. He checked Albert's pulse, only to hear it beating slowly and his breathing being shallow. Not knowing, what to do, he grabbed a nearby phone in the mansion and called 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" The dispatcher can be heard.

"Hurry up and please come here, my butler has just collapsed!!!!" Mittens yelled.

"Please calm down, sir. What's the address?" The dispatcher asked, in which Mittens provided the address of the mansion, alongside the necessary information about Albert, including his name and age.

"Is he breathing?" The dispatcher asked about Albert's condition. Mittens checked on Albert's body, only to realize, that he wasn't breathing anymore.

"He's not breathing......HE'S NOT BREATHING ANYMORE!!! HE'S REALLY NOT BREATHING ANYMORE, JUST COME HERE PLEASE!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!" The cat became panicked.

"Okay, calm down, sir. Help is on the way." The dispatcher assured.

All while Mittens stayed on the phone to talk with the dispatcher, it took around 15-20 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. After hearing it coming to the mansion, Mittens hid somewhere, while emergency responders went to the kitchen to pick up Albert's body and carried him to the vehicle for a quick ride to the Porkbelly Hospital. Immediately after, the magenta cat came out and grabbed a hat, a pair of gloves, shoes and a trench coat and ran outside. The reason, why he did this, is because he had to keep his identity a secret, like something happened, that damaged his reputation.

Porkbelly Hospital

Immediately after arrival, the doctors rushed Albert to an emergency room for a resuscitation. There was really no time to spare, as they immediately grabbed the necessary tools and began trying to revive the butler. First, they tried to gibe him oxygen and then kickstart his heart with a defibrillator. All while monitoring his vitals at the same time.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mittens went inside the hospital to talk with a receptionist. He wanted to know, if Albert would be okay.

"Don't worry. The doctors will do their best. Please wait for further results." The receptionist responded his question, which lead to the cat go to the waiting room.

As he waited for any progress, he can feel the massive anxiety and tension tightening around his shoulders. This was something really unexpected, as for his age, Albert seems to be perfectly fine. There was literally no sign of him showing any weakness up until now. What's going on? Is Albert actually okay? Is he....dying? So many questions circled around the cat's head like vultures on a hot desert day. After a few hours of waiting and praying, a doctor came by and guided Mittens to Albert's room. There he was, laying on a hospital bed, being attached to a breathing tube and a monitor, showing his vitals. The doctor left Mittens alone with the butler, but...with a sad look....as if he knew about what's going to happen...

"Albert! Albert!! What's going on!?" Mittens demanded answers. "You were fine just a few hours ago!"

The old butler slowly turned his head towards his master and with a weak and painful voice, he responded: "It hurts..." Hearing Albert speak like this really hurts.

"Hang on, I can get some painkillers!" Mittens was about to go, when Albert interrupted him.

"Don't....It's not gonna help, because I really don't have much time left...." He weakly spoke.

"D-don't say that, Albert!! I...I can fix this! I could get some powerful painkillers or making a cure for that pain or hell, use that tea house time machine from the Tests to prevent that from ever happening and even bring Test back!" At this point, Mittens was in complete denial of the harsh reality. It's clear, that Albert is in a lot of pain, but the cat chose to ignore it, due to his mental instability.

"Please...t...there is no need for all of this....s-sir...You need to m-move on....from t-the past...." Albert was serious and genuinely concerned about Mr. Mittens' declining mental state. "It...hurts...Could you please bring me a glass of water.....sir?" He then asked his master, in which the cat, with tears in his green eyes, brought a glass of water. With shaky paws, the magenta cat poured some water into the butler's mouth for him to drink it, since he was too weak to do it on his own. Suddenly, the butler grabbed his master's paw.

"I swear to God, don't leave! Who's gonna clean the litter box for me?!" Mittens tried his best, not to cry, despite the fact, that tears were streaming down from his face.

"I'm pretty sure...you can do it....all by yourself....since...I'm going away..." Albert responded. "It's time....It's...It's been.....it's been an honor....to serve you...despite the ups...and downs....I wish you....the best of luck....and farewell....s....s....sir...." Albert shed a few tears from his face, before drawing his final breath and dropping his hand, letting Mittens go. The next thing, the cat heard was the sound of a flat line, sadly making a nightmare come true.

"No....NO!!!! ALBERT!!! OH MY GOD!! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!!!! THIS CAN'T BE REAL!!!! WAKE UP!!!!! WAKE UP, GODDAMNIT!!!!" Mittens tried to violently shake Albert to wake him up, but that didn't work, as he felt his butler's body becoming cold and limp, like his spirit leaving the mortal world behind. Hell, he slammed his fist on his butler's chest out of frustration and sadness, but it didn't help. As a last ditch effort, he repeatedly pressed the red emergency button on the device, calling nearby doctors and nurses to go there. They tried their best to revive Albert, all while Mittens watched in horror. They really did try their best....but unfortunately...it was all for nothing. One of the nurses looked back at the cat, whose identity is still obscured by the trench coat and hat and shed a few tears.

"I'm....I'm very sorry, sir..." She responded.

"We really are...We tried our best to bring him back, but in the end...it was all for nothing....He's gone...he's dead...." The doctor added, before pulling the white blanket over Albert's body. The news really sent Mittens into an unbelievable amount of shock and sadness. The fact, that Albert just died was too much for him to handle....

"NOOOOO!!!! ALBERT!!!!!!!!!!!" Mittens suddenly jumped at the bed and broke down on his dead butler, leaving the doctors and the nurses having no other option, than to watch helplessly, as his cries became worse. So much so, that the nurses began to sob and the doctors lowering their heads in silence. At that moment, the room was filled with sorrow, grief and despair.

Meanwhile, in a certain toy company...

A group of programmers, who possessed a copy of the game "No Escape!", tried to overwrite some codes, while employees watched. It was a long and agonising effort, as they looked into every piece of code and finding a way to overwrite it. Apparently, they didn't have to look further, since it turns out, there is a flaw in the game's programming, that allows anyone with great skills to exploit it or even delete it in general. It was connected to the core of the system. After finding it, the programmers wasted no time and overwritten the code completely. After which, they turned the game on and see the robots being disabled, allowing one prisoner to escape from the game and jump into the real world. A prisoner with poofy blue hair on his sides and on the top of his head.

"I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!! And it feels so good to be free!" He shouted in joy and relief. Immediately after getting out, he went to the meeting room for some planning. "I still haven't forgotten about my last defeat, but this time, my new plan of getting rid of all of the children, will be perfect!"

Much to the dismay of his employees, the toy maker, also known as Wacko, hasn't really changed that much. "Sir...It has been almost a year, since your last plan failing. After all of those constant failures, you think, you could just stop and be a better person by making toys for children to enjoy." The secretary was getting fed up.

"Nope! All I have to do is to think of better plans and not screw it up! It's been almost a year since I was captured by that video game...Now I have to step up my game! Now what do kids like to play these days....?" He thinks about several plans, before looking at a newspaper article about children on their phones. This is when a lightbulb came off. "That's it! Phones! I could develop an app, that is kinda like No Escape, but even more foolproof and perfect! And this time, I will get rid of every kid, including my enemy, Johnny Test!"

"Uhm, sir...? Johnny Test has since been declared dead." One of his employees told him about the recent news.

"WHAT!?!?! WHAT DID I MISS!??!?!!" Wacko was shocked. He literally had NO IDEA about Johnny's disappearance and presumed death, since the last time, he saw him, both were in the "No Escape" video game, battling each other and also avoiding the robots. In the end, Johnny and Dukey overwritten the code of who the robots have to catch and guard and escaping, while Wacko himself gets imprisoned in the game.

"A lot actually, sir." His secretary gave him several newspaper articles about the disappearances of Johnny and Dukey in chronological order, from the first report all the way to their presumed dead confirmation. This was unexpected for the evil toy maker, especially when it comes to the timeline and reasons why.

"Ah, man! Worst past is...I didn't get the chance of destroying him and now that opportunity is now gone!!!" Wacko was outraged, before calming himself down. "Eh, whatever...I can live with that. On the plus side, NOBODY will stop me on doing it again!!!" He laughed evilly, as he went to a different room. Unbeknownst to him, the secretary pulled out her phone and secretly called someone for some...confirmation. After that short call, they went to follow their boss, who called the programmers to make that app.

The programmers used the "No Escape!" video game as a reference and looked at the code for some flaws. After which, they wrote down a lot of codes, added functions, failsafe, etc. Except they added some stuff, like better guards in the programming, stricter surveillance and some psychological ways to prevent children to escaping. After a lot of programming and a lot of testing from crash test dummies, as well as a lot of perfecting the app, Wacko came to them for the final test. They saw the crash test dummy playing the app for a while, until getting sucked into the phone. They waited for a few hours for the dummy to get out. If it didn't get out, that means, the app was foolproof. And it did, as the dummy didn't resurface.

"It worked! Now it time to get the app to the store! But not by marketing and such, I'm gonna hack the store and get the app in!" At that point, the toy maker's mind went insane, as he started typing on the computer to hack the app store and was about to put the app in with evil laughter and crazed eyes, when all of a sudden...

"FBI, OPEN UP!"

They heard glass shattering and doors broken down and saw a fuck ton of soilders storming and tackle down Wacko, all while the employees ducked down for safety.

"Sir, you are arrested for crimes against humanity!" The leader of the soldiers made his point clear.

"Excuse me, what's going on?!" Wacko was dumbfounded, while betting pointed by the weapons.

"We've been searching for you for a long time, thanks to this video, which included all of your crimes." The solider showed him a video, in which included the truth. It started with the mysterious vigilante, The Shadow, appearing out of the dark.

"Hello again. This is the Shadow speaking. You think, that all of the perpetrators were brought to justice and the story being finished? Unfortunately, no. Why? Well, I've been researching about the whole case, when I found something peculiar. It seems like, in one of those 'Experiments', they did convert Johnny's memories into video files. And some of them featured a notorious person, who's determined on getting rid of all children in Porkbelly and perhaps...the entire world. Anybody, who has some common sense knows, that this action would basically drive humanity into extinction. If not, well this video will show you, how twisted and cruel this person actually is. For any parent out there, even though you won't like it, this video will open your eyes and be more careful."

After those words from the Shadow, the video faded to a montage, showing the evil toy maker's crimes from start to finish. What's worse, it was all for a petty reason. He just wanted peace and such. Any sane person could just kindly tell them to keep it down, talk to their parents, do their business elsewhere or even better, JUST IGNORE IT. But no, Wacko literally chose the insanity route and decided to get rid of ALL children, which is not only petty, but also without children, there will be no new generation and that the human race would slowly go extinct.

"That's probably just a misunderstanding, right?" Wacko tried to double down the incidents.

"In the past, probably...but this is not the case today. You can thank Johnny Test's disappearance for the massive change. Anyway, you're coming with us." The leader responded with an angry glare.

"Oh, really? In that case, if you want a fight, then so be it!" Wacko pressed a a button on a hidden device around his wrist, which was covered by one of his sleeves. Suddenly, many of his dangerous toys appear out of nowhere with dangerous weapons. Immediately, the soldiers prepared their weapons and shoot the toys, but many of them are bulletproof and attacked the soldiers, as Wacko laughed like a madman. Many of the employees backed away in fear, only to be held hostage by the dangerous toys.

"SIR, PUT DOWN THE TOYS!" One soldier commanded him to stop the madness, but it fell on deaf ears, as the toys kept rampaging. So of course, the soldiers kept firing and firing. While that was going on, Wacko went to the computer, in order to start his plan of getting rid of all children. He laughed and laughed, as he was really about to push the button, when suddenly, he was tackled by one of the soldiers, leading to a big scuffle, leading to screams, scratches and kicks. It went on and on, but eventually, the crazy toy maker got the upper hand by throwing the solider to a wall. He was really about to push the button for real.

"I'm afraid, your pathetic plan of taking me down will end right here, RIGHT NOW! And THIS TIME, I'M GONNA WIN!!!" Wacko laughed in a maniacal tone, as he was inches away from the computer and he was about to push it for real, when all of a sudden, he heard a voice.

"No. Your path ends now!"

Suddenly, the toys dropped like flies, releasing the employees and stopping any shots and such, as footsteps can be heard. Everyone looked around, only to see the secretary with another remote, which included a kill switch. "Sir, we are completely tired of your nonsense! All we wanted is a complete restart and making toys for children to enjoy, but you never listened and instead used your resources and your company name to ruin our reputation!" She yelled, before turning her attention to the FBI. "Gentlemen, he's all yours."

"Gladly, ma'am." The leader responded and the soldiers tackled Wacko down and arrested him.

"YOU TRAITOR!!! I'LL BE BACK, I SWEAR!!" Wacko shouted, but the secretary just looked away in silence, as he was taken away by the agents and guards. His shouts and snarls of clear insanity can be heard, sending chills down to everyone's spines. But as time went on, the sounds became less laudable, as he was taken further and further away, until eventually...it became silent. As the injured soldiers slowly got up, the leader went to the secretary and shook her hand.

"Thank you for your cooperation." The leader looked at her. "The operation was a success."

"Believe me, it's for the good of mankind. But, remember about our side of the deal." The unnamed secretary reminded the leader of a deal, they took.

"Of course, ma'am. You and the other employees will use the resource to make a brand new company to start over from scratch, while we'll erase the data and you'll be excluded from the trial." He nodded.

"We just wanted to start over. That's all. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time." The secretary told to the employees and they sighed in relief, as their nightmare was over. They took the assents and resources and immediately began working on their restructuring.

It turns out, that all of this was part of an operation from the employees and the FBI. In fact, just two weeks before the incident, they confronted the employees with the mission of shutting down the company for good, due to the constant scandals and controversies. But after the secretary and the employees told them their opinions on Wacko and his deeds, the FBI thought about it. In fact, the secretary herself offered a deal on catching the crazy toy maker, in exchange for the agents to wipe all of the data clean and for them to just start over with a clean slate. After the FBI thought about it for a while and some discussions, they agreed and for the next two weeks, they confiscated a copy of the game "No Escape!" and hire the best programmers to get him out. And the rest is history.

Five days later, Wacko stood on trial in a cube, made of plexiglass, while many parents and a lot of angry toy makers and companies gathered, because they believed, that thanks to him, the toy industry as a whole will collapse. The trial was not pretty to say the least. As the parents of his victims testified against him, a sense of dread and insanity loomed in the air, Wacko's sanity became shattered and laughed like a mad clown. Children became scared and cried and their parents became mad, as the toy maker shouted insults at them, which really didn't help him with the case at all and instead showed, how cruel he actually is.

"Order! Order in the court!!" The judge banged his gavel on the desk to silence everyone and they did, except for Wacko, who still laughed. Eventually, security guards have to put him a mouth cage around him, since his behaviour became too unbearable for everyone. Once the guards silenced him, the judge resumed with his judgement. "Has the jury reached a verdict?" He asked the jury.

"We have, your honor. We declare the defendant, Wacko, guilty of all charges of child kidnapping, attempted murder and also attempted genocide." A man in the jury read out the verdict and the others agreed. Although they discussed earlier, if he would be plead guilty or not, when he's insane. And if that's the case, would he be sent to death or life sentence in a max prison?

Ultimately the judge had decided a fitting punishment in his mind. "With that said, the court sentences you to death! Normally, I'm neutral during the cases, but this one...it's undeniably clear, that it makes every parents' blood boil, myself included! I am a father of three children, who are destined for greatness and yet, they deserve happiness. You are basically trying to break them by separating them from their family for all eternity and erase the human race slowly and painfully, all because you have very petty reasons! No wonder, why Johnny Test had disappeared, it's because of you! Well you and his family and a few others!" The judge sentenced him, while being angry. Given that the judge is a father of three children, it's understandable. After that sentence and a slam from the gavel, the guards took the crazy toy maker away, but not before for him ushering an even crazier laugh. A sign, that his sanity has been completely shattered and couldn't be restored at all. A laugh, that echoed throughout the entire courtroom and giving anyone a very unpleasant memory....But regardless, the parents, as well as toy makers and companies were relieved, that their greatest enemy has been given, what he deserved. But, it will take a long time for the toy industry to rebuild itself again, after that case.

Inside of the mansion, Mr. Mittens has been laying on his bed with a depressed look on his face, moping and grieving. He had truly lost everyone: His allies, Brain Freezer and Zizrar, even the Bee Keeper, despite him retiring from being evil permanently, his enemies Johnny, Dukey, the agents, the general, the sisters, despite them being arrested and sentenced in prison, some people, he didn't really care, like Eugene and Jillian and now, his trusty butler, Albert. (Side note, he never met Sissy, Missy and Mr. Harm) It was just too much for the cat to handle. And so, he decided to isolate himself from everyone by staying in the mansion, thinking that he's not in a mood for everything. As the days went by, despite Mittens making sure to meet the essentials, like food and water, his grief prevented him on checking on his other needs, causing his fur to become really messy. It went on and on, until two weeks later. On Wednesday, he has to attend Albert's funeral. So he brushed his fur all by himself and prepared himself for that day by dressing himself with a black trench coat, gloves, shoes and the hat. Mittens also took an umbrella and went out. On that day, the skies were cloudy as hell and heavy rain poured all over the city. Regardless, he went out on a walk to the cemetery, while being plagued by a lot of negative thoughts. As he arrived, the cat noticed that one person was not in the crowd: His former owner.

"Wait a minute...where is he?" Mittens wondered. He theorized, that either he had no time to attend the funeral, due to a very busy schedule or he had already moved on from him and Albert. He leaned more on the latter theory, since it's been a long time since his very first plan and even before that, him leaving his owner and taking Albert with him. However, he couldn't recall time, as he was busy with other things, like races and other foiled plans. But this time, the cat had to focus on the present and say goodbye to his butler, while reminiscing on the times, where there were turbulent moments, but also good ones, despite Mittens himself not being nice. He silently hid in the crowd of the mourners, as Albert's family members and close friends carried the casket to the open grave and a chaplain preparing his words.

"Ladies and Gentlemen...We are gathered to mourn the loss of Albert." The chaplain went on to tell about Albert's life and his accomplishments, despite the fact, that he helped Mr. Mittens on so many plans on destroying Johnny and turning everyone into cats. Speaking of Mr. Mittens, the cat himself was trying his best to not stand out from the crowd and avoid any eye contact. It went on for a few minutes in the pouring rain, until the coffin was lowered and the mourners leaving bouquets of flowers behind. Before the grave was filled, Mr. Mittens threw a single white rose into it and left the cemetery, without saying a single word and shedding a few tears.

As the feline went by the other passerby and even a few couples kissing under the rainy city, his heart broke even more, since it's clear, that his massive loneliness extends to love as well. Since he is the only anthropomorphic cat in this world, the reason as of why he would turn everyone into cats, other to rule the world, is some form of companionship. Well, at least, that what he sees now. Back then, he was such a nasty cat, but as time went on, he spent more time battling Johnny and his gang or even playing games with him or hell, teaming up on one occasion, the magenta feline became a bit softer but still nasty. That was until Johnny and Dukey disappeared from this world and with them, his allies and enemies as well, in which the cat found out the truth of why. As if the drama, resulting in the alliance disbanding under bad terms wasn't frustrating enough, their disappearances added more weight to his already heavy problem. And recently, losing Albert was the breaking point.

He couldn't even think straight, as the feline continued walking down the streets, while ignoring any eye contact. Eventually, he had to go to a quieter place than the loud hustle of the city. More specifically, he was about to go back to his mansion and was about to open the door, when all of a sudden, the magenta cat was caught in a dark bag, courtesy of men dressed in black.

"Hey! What the hell!? Let me go!!" Mittens struggled to break free from the bag, while the men grabbed it tightly. In fact, he tried to claw his way out, only for the bag to not budge, as if it was made from a very strong material. Suddenly, one of the men opened the bag a bit and sprayed a substance inside. Meanwhile, Mittens still tried his best to get out, but he didn't realise, that breathing in the gas would slowly make him lose consciousness. "Are you guys deaf or something?!!? I said let....me....go..." Those were his last words, before passing out, while the men carried the bag to an uncertain destination.

Meanwhile in Equestria...

Rarity was doing her usual job inside of the Carousel Boutique by sketching some ideas and making dresses, when she heard a knock from the door.

"One moment, please!" The white unicorn responded, while finishing a recent dress. After which, she went to the door and opened it, revealing to be the Brain Freezer.

"Oh! Brain Freezer, what brings you here?" Rarity asked.

"Uhm...you know...I'm still stuck on trying to win Snow Emerald's heart, since...well. I'm still nervous as hell. That's because she started to hang around me and Zizrar for a while." The icy unicorn explained.

"Well, my friends and I are still trying to fix their friendship problem and guiding them to righteousness. Right now, they're slowly improving, when I last met them. It's still crazy, that it all happened without our knowledge! You know, the whole drama amongst them, because of certain events, which lead to that dragon incident and Fire and Ocean being taken by Princess Luna and Tempest? It still gives me migraines..." Rarity sighed. "But it seems like, it would soon go away. I hope... Anyway, I know, that you are still scared about being rejected again, if you decide to tell her about your past. I was originally going to tell you to forget the past, which I'm still recommending for you to do so for your sake. But, after the whole drama, I was like 'Screw it! Try to be honest with her! Lying is not good at all!'. I know, that you are still hesitant, but it's better to tell her the truth than not saying at all!" The heroine of generosity gave him some advice. "And also, be nice."

"Again, how? What if my past would make her hate me!?!" The blue stallion became nervous.

"I'm pretty sure, she will understand, darling. Plus, Starlight and a few others did some terrible things before and were forgiven. If they bounced back from their actions and redeemed themselves, I'm pretty sure, you can do it too. Same for your friend, Zizrar, who I still have to make some new sunglasses, after his old ones were destroyed by accident." Rarity assured him, that everything is okay. "Now would you excuse me, I have to finish some new dresses and decorations for the upcoming Friendship Festival."

"Uhm...I've heard, that the last one was interrupted by the Storm King some time ago. Is that the reason, why there will be another one?" Brain Freezer became curious.

"Actually, since there was so much progress with our relations to non-ponies, thanks to Twilight's efforts, the princesses have decided to plan another one. That and Tempest actually wanted to attend, since she just wanted to have a good time." Rarity explained, before closing the door, leaving the icy stallion to think about the advice, he was given.

After which, Brain Freezer went out for a walk in Ponyville, while he heard the sounds of the citizens working hard and playing hard. Seeing many young and old couples having a good time made him imagine his future with Snow Emerald. They sounded wonderful, but of course, he was dealing with so much anxiety and doubts. Like what if things would go wrong? He was really scared of yet another rejection, after what happened in the past, when his true identity was revealed in front of his former girlfriend. In fact, he was so busy dealing with his thoughts, that he didn't pay attention to his surroundings, when all of a sudden, the icy unicorn bumped into someone hard and fell onto the ground.

"Ow! Watch, where you going, man!" The stallion yelled, while rubbing his head. At first, he assumed, he bumped into a random pony, but upon opening his eyes and looking around a bit, he saw Snow Emerald herself on the ground, groaning in pain and rubbing her head and around her were dropped bags of groceries.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry! I didn't you here!" The icy unicorn profusely apologized and used his unicorn magic to pick up the bags.

"It's okay. I was also lost by my own insecurities as well. Also, thanks for picking up the groceries." Snow forgave him and grabbed the bags. "I've been trying my best to move on from...well...that drama."

"Oh yeah. Twilight told me about it. It's about that drama between you and your friends, which leads to the disbanding of your team and losing your friends." Brain Freezer responded, before remembering, what Rarity said to him. Before Snow could leave, he grabbed her hoof, took a deep breath and confessed with: "I'm sorry, if I'm being pushy, but....I can't stay silent any longer...I have to get this out of my chest. You see....I had a dark past before..." That confused the pegasus mare, but curiosity got the better of her and listened to his confession. But before, he could tell her about his past, the stallion used his magic to teleport him and Snow to a different section of the village, where there is not much activity.

"I don't originate from Equestria, but instead from a different universe, specifically in a city, called 'Porkbelly'. It all started a long time ago, outside of the Institute of Technology. Back then, I was just a coffee guy there, but with an exceptionally high IQ and twisted thoughts. I was showing off one of my inventions at a contest, in hopes of winning. But of course, reality wasn't really kind to me and I got belittled as just a coffee guy. Something snapped inside of me and froze everyone, except for a particular duo, shown here." Brain Freezer pointed at Johnny and Dukey playing with their brother, Cosmic Blaze and Breeze Dasher.

"You mean your friends over there? Those two ponies, named Radiant Thunder and Coffee Paw?" Snow asked.

"Yes. But back then...It was very complicated. At the beginning, I saw them as threats, trying to prevent my plan of freezing over Porkbelly. They tried to trick me, but of course, they couldn't differentiate the cups and I was so close on defeating my enemy, but was ultimately defeated by...a rich looking friend of his. That rich guy is the one playing with the fillies." Brain Freezer referred to Eugene, who is seen playing with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, before continuing his story. "As I said, the relation between me and him was very complicated. On one hand...or should I say...hoof...he and his pal were my enemies and stopped my plans time after time, even when I teamed up with other bad guys, it still wasn't enough to defeat him. But on the other side, I did enjoy spending time with him racing, playing games and even teaming up time after time. But that was nothing, compared to the time, he helped me finding love. I was really lonely, but too stubborn to show it. It wasn't until one of my many defeats, where the truth came out to them. Amazingly, they decided to help me find a soulmate for me. It was...messy to say the least...a lot of chaos and failures happened and at one point, gave up my pursuit altogether and went back to my evil ways. But in the end, I was locked into a device, which made me look really handsome and eventually, I made a new life for myself. I did eventually found one girl and started a romantic relationship with her...but my true identity eventually came out and she was horrified at me, severely breaking my heart. Completely heartbroken, I went evil again, but my connection with Radiant Thunder, or as I know him as Johnny, surprisingly improved. It's more like a frenemy situation. I really can't describe it in full, due to how complicated it is. But one day...everything changed for me. Johnny had disappeared without a trace, alongside with his doggy pal, which really broke me even harder. Keep this in mind, before that, the alliance between me and others fell apart, due to constant arguments and petty fights. I was already stressed at the time and with his disappearance, also made me...depressed, as the loneliness and sadness from that heartbreak returned at full force. Even when I found a best friend, in form of Zizrar, it still wasn't enough to fill the void. And soon...I saw the videos from the Shadow, in which my eyes opened at the full truth about Johnny's disappearance. Disgusted and feeling guilty of being part of that mess, I went with my friends, as well with a kind man, to make amends and find him. Eventually, when we arrived at Area 51.1, I was told by the agents, that Johnny actually went to this world...Equestria. As to be expected, we went there PERMANENTLY and after a while of searching, we found them and apologized for what we've done. They did forgive us and we started to live our new lives as ponies and non-ponies. Right now, I'm still trying to redeem myself." During the confession, the icy blue stallion had tears forming in his cold blue eyes.

"Oh my God..." Snow was shocked of the whole story.

"You know...looking back...I can't believe, how insane I was back then." Brain Freezer sighed.

"Sounds like, you have a very serious problem with yourself. From what I've heard, you couldn't get over your own past, especially from that heartbreak." Snow commented, causing the icy unicorn to look down in shame. "Look, I don't want to sound too harsh...but, you have to confront your problems and trying to solve them one by one." The pegasus mare added.

"I'm trying, okay?!" He shouted. "I'm just scared, that you would hate me, because of it!" The icy blue stallion lowered his head, while tears fell down from his face.

"Wait...why would I-" The snowy pegasus was confused and was about to say something, when Brain Freezer interrupted her.

"No, seriously! Unlike the others, when I first saw you in this village, something had changed inside of me. It became...warmer and softer..." At this point, Brain Freezer was struggling to find the appropriate words for Snow, due to his high anxiety.

"Well, what is it?" Snow asked, but before the stallion could even tell her about his feelings, they heard a shout from Breeze Dasher.

"Hey, guys!" The dark blue mare flew to them with a worried look on her face. "Uhm....hate to interrupt your conversation, but...I really could use your help right now."

"What is it, Breeze?" Snow asked to her friend.

"Well...I was just minding my own business, when I saw some mole dude stuck in a hole, with some muscular moles around him, trying to get him out." Breeze explained.

"What?! Where is he!?" Brain Freezer was shocked to learn, that it was Zizrar, who got stuck.

"Follow me!" Breeze flew off with the icy ponies running after the mare out of Ponyville and they arrived near a forest, in which they saw Zizrar, stuck on a hole upside down.

"Can someone tell me, what's going on?!" Brain Freezer asked.

"Well, we tried to find a place for the mole people to dig and make a new home, when we saw a hole. Zizrar was about to inspect it, when he tripped and his crown fell down into it. Of course, our king jumped inside of the hole, but got stuck halfway." One of the mole men explained. "We tried to get him out, but the hole is too tight."

"Shit....We have to get him out now!" The icy unicorn replied and tried to use his unicorn magic to pull Zizrar out, but it cost a lot of stamina and power. Of course, it didn't work and instead left him exhausted.

"Have you guys tried to extend the hole by digging?" Snow asked.

"The ground is dry." One of the mole men explained and even touched the ground a bit, which was indeed dry.

"Why not trying to watering the ground to make the soil easier to dig?" Brain Freezer had an idea.

"It's a good idea, but....there is a problem. Ocean Spark is currently unavailable, due to...you know, being taken by the moon princess! Alternatively, I could use my ice powers, but that would not be a good idea and even if you want to use fire, keep in mind, that Fire Jewel is also unavailable for the same reason!" Snow explained, which lead to the group thinking of other ideas. None of which would do something, but Brain Freezer had an idea.

"Wait! Why not using our ice powers and the other would use torches to melt the ice and watering the ground? As for your friend not being available, we can improvise!" The icy unicorn explained his idea in full and thought of something, when another "Eureka!" moment came by, when he saw her friend, Breeze Dasher. "Hey, you! You can use a bit of your lightning to create fires!" He added.

"Wait, are you serious? You know, that my lightning powers are no joke, pal!" Breeze references the power scale of her elemental powers.

"Also, what do you mean by 'our' ice powers? Wait...don't tell you have..." Snow was taken aback by what Brain Freezer said, before knowing, what he meant.

"...ice powers as well? Yes. And as for the lightning, you could make smaller ones on some strong branches, yet strong enough to make torches." Brain Freezer addressed both of the girls' questions and concerns.

"Hey! Could you guys hurry up?! I think, my blood is on their way to my brain!" The voice of Zizrar can be heard, who's getting impatient. "Also I still need to get my crown back!"

"You heard him, guys! Let's start!" Snow had a serious look on her face and the group start their plan on freeing the king. The mole men went around to find some strong branches and after they returned, Breeze used her lightning powers to set the branches ablaze. And while Snow and Brain Freezer used their ice powers to create small ice blocks around them, the men use their torches to melt the ice down, with the dark blue pegasus mare using her wind powers to keep the fire burning. The fire caused the ice to melt and soil the ground around Zizrar with the water. At the same time, one of the mole men kept checking the ground, if it's wet enough to extend the hole and getting their king out. After a couple of minutes, he started digging around the hole, extending the diameter in the process. After a while, the hole was big enough for the ponies and the mole people to pull Zizrar out. Thanks to the soiled ground and the extended size of the hole, they managed to get him out of the hole and lay him down on the ground.

"Wait! My crown..." The mole king was a bit dazed, while also shielding his eyes, due to the sunlight.

"What happened to your sunglasses?" Snow asked.

"You see....Rarity said, that he accidentally broke his old sunglasses and that she'll make a new one for him." Brain Freezer explained.

"Uhm....How did that happen?" Breeze was confused.

"It was... really chaotic. I had a lot of bad luck, like getting hit in the head by a falling flower pot, bumped into that clumsy pegasus again and finally, tripping and falling on my sunglasses." Zizrar recounted on the event.

Meanwhile, one of the mole men inspected the hole and looked down, only to see, that the crown somehow went missing. "Uhm...excuse me?" He went to the king and attempted to explain about the situation. "Your crown...uhm.."

With those words, Zizrar immediately stood up and looked down on the hole, when he noticed, that his crown wasn't there anymore. "MY CROWN!!!! How did this happen!? It was there a minute ago, when I got stuck!!" He yelled in shock and in disbelief.

"I was about to say, that it somehow went missing." His right hand man responded.

"Hold up....There's no way, it could just disappear so quickly..." Breeze doubted.

"Perhaps, someone stole it from underground, because there are no other ponies and creatures around aside form us. And even then, I didn't hear someone taking it via magic or just by hoof and running away." The snowy mare theorized.

"That means, someone stole my crown from down under the hole! Gentlemen, go down into the hole and get it back, now!!" Zizrar commanded his men to go down into the hole and find the thief, in which they nodded and after extending the hole further, went inside and dug even deeper.

"What about the new sunglasses?" Zizrar asked, while still covering his eyes.

"Pretty sure, Rarity is still working on it. Why not go back to Ponyville to check up on her? Maybe she had it finished." The icy unicorn told to his friend.

"Good idea! Let's go!" Zizrar was about to run, when Snow grabbed him.

"Not so fast! We don't want you to get lost, okay? We're gonna go to Ponyville together. So stay close to me, okay?" Snow responded.

"Hmmm...actually, you can go. I'll go inside the hole, making sure, these dudes are at least protected." Breeze made her decision and told her friend about it.

"Are you sure, you want to go inside alone? You do know, what happened last time, you did something similar, right?" Snow was sceptical.

"I know. I know. It didn't go so well and got my ass captured by them. But, trust me! I'll be careful this time!" The dark blue mare responded in a confident manner, before zooming into the hole, leaving the trio behind.

"You know. Breeze can be a bit cocky, but she is a loyal warrior." Snow told the guys about her friend. "Actually...I haven't told you about my friends, Cherry, Fire, Ocean and Tropic yet. But first, we have to go back to Ponyville. It's been quite a day." She continued, before flying her way back, with the guys following them. However, she excluded someone else, due to drama. Meanwhile, Brain Freezer was feeling down, because he didn't get the chance on telling Snow Emerald about his feelings, before Breeze interrupted them with the emergency.

???

Elsewhere, Mr. Mittens slowly woke up in an unknown, windowless room with a single steel door, a table and a few chairs.

"Ugh....where am I?" He was still dazed by the substance, which knocked him out earlier. He tried to get up, only to feel something preventing him on doing so. It turned out, that he was handcuffed and chained to the chair, he was sitting. Immediately realizing, that he got captured, the feline struggled to break free from his restraints, but due to the strength of the chains and the cuffs, he couldn't get himself out. But that didn't deter him from trying his best multiple times, even though it cost him stamina. Suddenly, the door opened and a group of men in black, holding several files in cases entered inside. After closing the door shut, they sat down to the table, put down the files and started at the magenta cat.

"Well, well, well. Look, who decided to wake up." One of the men spoke to the struggling feline, when two of them hold him in place, preventing any struggle.

"What is the meaning of this!? Let me go!!" The feline hissed at the men, but they were unphased by his anger.

"We've heard a lot of you, thanks to our former agents, who've you encountered a lot of times." The man responded, while pulling out a secret file, containing a lot of confidential info, alongside a profile of Mittens himself. "It's no surprise, why you're here, considering that we have a lot of information about you. Attempting to turn everyone into cats, destroying public property, even going so far to team up with other criminals for the most damning of all: trying to destroy Johnny Test. " He then pulled out another secret file, this time about Johnny Test and his disappearance and death. "You know, the boy, who had disappeared without a trace and was declared dead a few weeks ago?"

"Wait a minute..." The feline was slowly putting the pieces together, as of why he's here and who those men are. Eventually, he then remembered the moment, he was bagged and knocked out by an unknown individual. "Don't tell me, you're..." He finally got the answer, who the men are, but one of the men finished the sentence for him.

"FBI agents? Yes. And you are in big trouble, furball! Because we have the evidence right here!" The agent slammed his fist on the table hard.

"Look, I'm not in the good mood for talking at all, given that I lost my butler a few weeks ago! " Mittens yelled. "And even before that, I felt really empty, because I lost so many people in my life! Especially my enemy, Johnny Test!"

"That doesn't change the fact, that you've done so many crimes in the last years alone! I'm pretty sure, you're gonna spend your entire life behind bars! That is....unless you have to do a little favor from us..." The FBI agent told him about something...odd. He offered something to Mittens.

"What do you want from me!?" Mittens became annoyed.

"Remember, when I told you about connections, you had in the past? Well, recently, several of your allies have either vanished as well and got declared dead or in the case of the evil toy maker, arrested and sentenced to death. However, there is someone, we had trouble on capturing him. Someone, who is stronger than any of us." The agent put down another file and opened it. This time, it showed a picture of a man in a green armored suit and tons of information about him.

"I know him. Even though I only met him a few times." Mittens recognized the person as the Dark Vegan. "But..,. Like I said, I was such in a bitter mood, that I isolated myself from everyone. Why? Because I had a feud with members of the Johnny Stopping Evil Force 6 a few weeks before Test vanished. Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, one of our agents overheard a conversation of him planning to drain all life sources of our planet and then destroy it altogether, while he was outside his house. He said, he'll do it tomorrow. Of course, we have plans to stop him once and for all, since he too has a long history of crimes, this time, it's attempted genocide. But the problem is, he has an entire army and advanced technology. He destroyed our jets and weapons many times. This time, he would do it again, if we go to the offensive. This is why, we need a willing agent to infiltrate his ship and ambush him. And we think, you are the only one, who fill all of our credentials, plus with the extra knowledge about him." Another agent explained the situation about Dark Vegan's upcoming attack on the planet and looked at Mittens, as if he wanted to recruit him.

"But be warned, if you decline our offer, then you would be sent to a supermax prison for the rest of your life, without the possibility of parole. And perhaps, we would remove the formula, which makes you the smart talking cat, you are, PERMANENTLY." The agent warned the feline, who responded in silence.

"So...I'll ask you one final question. Either jail time for the rest of your life or help us on taking down Dark Vegan and his army once and for all? Make. Your. Decision." The agent emphasized the choices hard, while the other agents went around the feline, who only looked at the lead agent in silence. They really want an answer from him right here, right now. Keeping the silence even longer would land him behind bars immediately and be turned into a regular cat permanently. So keep being silent is not an option. Which means, Mr. Mittens has to decide his own fate right now, since the agents wanted a definite answer from him. After some quick thinking, he made his decision. So he looked at the agents with a serious look on his face and told them about his final decision.

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Hey, guys!

You might be wondering "Why did you decide to kill off Albert?". That's a good question. I wanted to give Mr. Mittens some character development and a possible redemption. Also, let's be honest, Albert is old. However, I have also plans for expand his character development further, like introducing an OC.

Also, it seems like, someone made a fan casting site about my fanfic right here. Look, I would be amazed, if someone decides to do a audio story or even an animated fan film, but please be patient! I have so many ideas about the story, but I have yet to finalize them. The final fanfiction will contain 4-5 acts. Once the fanfic is finished, you can do those animated adaptations or something.

Also also....I actually talked to a friend of mine on Deviantart and I'm slowly considering about rerating my fanfic to mature, due to the 14th chapter having extreme moments. But then again, it was only just one chapter. Plus, I know that some teen movies have some blood, like the Scream series. Idk, what do you guys think?

Anyway, those are my words from today. I have yet to finish the next side stories, before I'll start writing on the next main chapter.

Have a nice day!

Side Story: Grieving in the Rain

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As Brain Freezer, Zizrar and Snow Emerald returned to Ponyville from the forest, they saw Cherry Swirl talking with a few ponies. However, the talk wouldn't last long, as Cherry turned her head to see her friend.

"Hey, Snowy!" The green mare ran towards her pegasus friend.

"Hi, Cherry! How's it going?" Snow smiled.

"Pretty well. I've been socializing with other ponies and non ponies, while learning new things about friendship. It is hard for sure, but it feels so therapeutic. Speaking of which... recently, Tropic felt much better than before. Fluttershy helped her overcome with her insecurities with the help of her animals. I mean, nature and animals go really well." Cherry explained about her progress, alongside that from Tropic.

"Yeah. I'm really glad, she is in a better mood than before. As for us, we had to deal with a situation." Snow responded. "Basically, Zizrar became stuck in a hole, while trying to retrieve his crown back. Since Fire and Ocean are unavailable, we had to improvise on how to get him out. Brain Freeze and I had to use our ice powers a bit, while the mole people used some torches to melt them down."

"And get this: after I got out, I went back to the hole, only to see, that my crown has disappeared! So I had to send my men down there to retrieve it." Zizrar added.

"Breeze also stayed behind to help the men, even though I told her to be more careful." Snow told her friend about Breeze's decision.

"Now, that you mentioned it, I have to go back to get my crown!!" Zizrar proclaimed, much to the dismay of the girls.

"Are you fucking crazy!? We don't know, what lurks underground!" Snow tried to convince the mole king about the dangers, but he immediately went off, leaving everyone behind.

"Oh my god..." Snow sighed and face palmed.

"Let me tell you, he's quite an eccentric one." Brain Freezer chuckled.

"Go figure." Cherry scratched her head."

"Oh! I just realized, I don't know much about you girls and what you did before you arrived here!" The icy unicorn just realized.

"I mean, since we're friends now, we can tell you just that. But first, we need to go to a nearby cafe or something. There's got to be one near Ponyville." Cherry noted and the trio went off to find a cafe, since they wanted to take a break. Eventually, they found one and after ordering some drinks, they sat down to a table. Coincidentally, Fluttershy and Tropic Bloom were also here, looking for a free table and when the yellow ponies noticed the others, they went to them.

"Hey, girls!" Cherry smiled at the two mares, before turning her attention towards Tropic. "I've heard, that you're feeling much better now, huh?"

"Indeed, I feel so much better now, thanks to Fluttershy, her friends and of course, her animals. In fact, I actually helped her with the animals with my nature magic to not only improve their homes, but also getting resources for future assistance." Tropic smiled, while demonstrating her nature magic by making nearby fauna bloom.

"That's quite impressive!" The stallion was in awe of the yellow mare's ability to control nature.

"It's all thanks to the Elemental Orb of Nature. You see, my friends are chosen by the Elemental Orbs and with these, we protect the galaxies and stop evil. Each of us have different elemental magic, along with other great spells. For example, Snow controls the magic of ice, while Cherry controls the earth. Then there's Breeze, who managed to control two elements, wind and lightning. Fire Jewel obviously controls the power of the flames and her sister, Ocean Spark, controls the water." Tropic explained. "And then....there's one more. The elemental orb of the Shining light. But we don't want to talk about it."

That last sentence made Fluttershy a bit suspicious. The elemental ponies never talk about the pink alicorn, they last encountered outside of the Ponyville Hospital. Of course, she's aware of the drama, but the fact, that they refused to talk about her, even though she was mentioned by them, when they explained the first dragon incident to the royal sisters, is certainly off.

"Uhm, what happened?" Brain Freezer was confused. "Who has that Shining light orb?"

"Please...don't even think about going there." Snow became cold towards the answer and the same can be said to Cherry, who looked away and Tropic, who felt saddened.

"But-" Before he could ask why, Snow grabbed him by the cheeks.

"I said: "Don't. Mention. Her. EVER." The icy pegasus mare replied in an aggressive tone.

"Snowy, let him go..." Cherry sighed and tapped her friend's shoulder. The snowy pegasus let him go and sighed, before the green mare turned her attention towards Fluttershy and Brain Freezer. "I'm sorry, but we still have to get over that drama." She replied. "Plus, we had to deal with our own issues."

"I understand. The incident was quite painful for us all." Fluttershy tried to be sympathetic towards Snow, but the icy mare still had the cold glare.

"No. You don't understand, how it feels to have a leader, who doesn't know better! One, who was too strict and yet, fails, due to that bitch not being able to being paranoid for five fucking seconds!" Snow yelled at the shy mare, immediately scaring her.

"Snow, please...." Tropic slowly got anxious by friend's assertion.

"Oh dear....it sounds like-" Once again, Fluttershy was cut off by an angry Snow.

"...a total bitch?" She glared.

An argument between the two pegasi ensued, while Brain Freezer was left confused and Tropic covering in fear, until eventually, she couldn't take it anymore. However, Cherry was aware of it and immediately covered her ears.

"EVERYPONY, STOP!!!!" The yellow earth pony mare screamed, unintentionally causing some the bushes and trees to go out of control for a short time, before she stopped.

"That's enough, Snow!!" Cherry was not happy over her friend's cold demeanor and grabbed her ear.

"Why is she acting so mean?!" Brain Freezer was in disbelief, in which Cherry sighed and explained him the following:

"You see, Snow can be quite pessimistic and assertive on a bad day. And sometimes, she can be quite cold to others....no pun intended. But....I'm pretty sure, it's not her intention to be a bully. She's a headstrong and calculated mare, who controls the ice with efficiency. Even though, she can be brutally honest, she's also known for being a loyal pony, once you know her for a while."

"Ugh....I just needed a break..." Snow sighed.

"In that case, why not start socializing with others? I know, your cold demeanor would make it difficult, but try to open up a bit more and warm up?" Tropic suggested.

"You know...Maybe I can help." The icy stallion raised his hoof. "You know, I also had a difficult time with socializing others, mostly due to my background as a bad guy. Even after I slowly began to redeem myself, I still have yet to go through those obstacles. And it's clear, that your cold demeanor also prevents you from socializing. But I'm pretty sure, we can work it out together....that is, if you really want to." He reached his hoof towards Snow Emerald as a sign of sympathy. At first, the snow white pegasus was hesitant, mostly due to being plagued by the drama and other factors. But after slowly realizing, that he was really genuine about it and after some encouragement from the other mares, she finally grabbed his hoof.

"You know....I always had difficulty to open myself up to others, due to the rules back then in my home planet and other factors. But....after meeting my friends and realizing that they were genuine to me, I slowly started to do some progress. Alright, I'm in." The pegasus mare smiled, causing Brain Freezer to blush and the other mares to giggle.

"I'm happy, that you managed to soften yourself up." Fluttershy smiled.

However, Cherry Swirl became worried about her best friend, Breeze Dasher. It's been a few hours and the dark blue mare hadn't returned.

"What's the matter?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh....it's just, I'm worried about Breeze. That's all." Cherry responded. "I just don't want her to be missing again. For those, you don't know, there was a time, where she got involved in a squabble. She heard a mysterious sound and went after it, only to be never seen again. It wasn't until combining my earth and Tropic's nature powers to find her location. It turned out, that she was caught in a conflict between two clans and got herself captured. Of course, we managed to save her and solve the conflict once for all, since....it turns out, they had a rivalry before."

"Oh my...That's horrible..." The shy mare was shocked.

"Don't worry. She bounced back after that incident...although this lead to us deciding to watch her, making sure an incident like that would never happen again." Snow chuckled a bit. "She is quite a cocky one, that's for sure, but she is one of the fastest fighters in our group."

"Man, I've heard Rainbow Dash is currently the fastest pony alive. Imagine her racing with Breeze." Brain Freezer nervously smiled.

"Oh boy...This would be a very quick, yet chaotic race, that's for sure." Cherry giggled and scratched her head.

"Here are the orders?" A waitress served them their drinks and some sweets.

"Thanks." Snow smiled.

After they received the orders, they began to talk about their hobbies, professions and what they're doing recently. Snow and Cherry talked them about their friendship progress and that Twilight and the others got their back, if they have problems. At the same time, Fluttershy tood them about her activities and the friendship school, in which she's one of the teachers. However, recently there has been some hiccups. Meanwhile, Brain Freezer watched, as the girls chatted each other, but he only set his eyes for Snow. As he watched her laugh and talk about various topics, he smiled and blushed, thinking that she would be the right one for him. In fact, he had a plan to confess his love to her, but there was a problem. He still hasn't got the confidence, he needed. Plus, he's been plagued with anxiety. Like, what if she doesn't like him back? But regardless, seeing the snowy pegasus does melt down the anxiety.

Meanwhile, on the park, we see Johnny, Dukey and Cosmic Blaze playing with a blow up ball, passing it to each other. They had a fun time with each other. For Johnny and Dukey, this was a well-deserved break, after the dragon incident, as well as a wholesome distraction from the usual struggles against their demons. Plus, the serene atmosphere did help them recover as well.

"Here I come!" Cosmic smirked and prepared himself, when Johnny passed the ball at him. As soon, as the ball got closer and closer, the navy colt prepared for a pass of a lifetime, until he hit the ball so high up, it nearly reached the height of a tree. The three ponies raced for who would catch the ball first, but a sudden change in wind direction caused the ball to fly to a completely different direction and land into a tree far away from the group, causing it to become stuck in a highest place between the branches.

"Geez, Cosmic. If this was Baseball, that would be a home run." Dukey commented.

"Don't worry, bro! I got this!" The black pegasus smirked and flew up to the same tree, in order to retrieve the ball. It took a while to find the ball inside of a tree, but he managed to grab it and flew down to the ground. Finally, he threw the ball to Dukey. Seeing this gave Cosmic a new idea?

"Hey! Why not threw the ball up and the one, who catches it first, wins?" He suggested.

"That's a good idea....except the fact, that one earth pony hybrid and two pegasi would be unfair." Dukey doubted about the idea. Him competing against Johnny and Cosmic would be nearly impossible, unless some compromises had to be made.

"Why not for me and Cosmic not using our wings?" Johnny suggested.

"That's a good compromise!" The hybrid liked it. It's enough to make it fair for everyone.

Even though Cosmic is a bit bummed, he eventually agreed and they take their starting positions. They waited for the moment, the hybrid to throw up the ball high.

"Aaaand...GO!" After a while of anticipation, the hybrid threw the ball high up and the three ponies ran towards the direction of it's path, with each one of them hoping to get it first. It was quite a fun competition between the trio, as they tried to get the ball, jumping, reaching their arms out, etc. (Well, except for flying.) In the end, thanks to many experiences of jumping around, Dukey was the one, who caught the ball in the end.

"I win!" He cheered and performed a victory dance.

"Rematch!" Johnny shouted and the trio agreed. The same thing happened as last time, with the hybrid pony throwing the ball up and the ponies sprinting and jumping for it, except at the end of the second round, it was Johnny, who caught the ball.

"Yes!!" He celebrated his victory,

"Rematch?" Dukey asked.

"You bet, buddy!" The black pony smirked and threw the ball up. The round went on and on, until the end. Johnny and Dukey were really close to getting the ball. They fought for it a bit, but a breeze of wind blew it away from them and into Cosmic's direction. The colt eagerly awaited to get the ball, but Dukey's dog instincts kicked in, sprinted really fast and grabbed the ball by his mouth.

"Oh, come on!" Cosmic was getting really annoyed. He didn't got the chance to win in the previous rounds.

"Dude, really?" Johnny was not amused by his friend, who's holding the ball.

"Sorry. I couldn't help." The hybrid apologized with a nervous smile. "Next time, I'll play it fair."

In the fourth round, the earth pony threw the ball really high up and the exact same thing happened. The three ponies chased at the direction of the ball, however a other sudden gust of wind blew it in the opposite direction, throwing them off. However, since it was blown off at the reverse direction and since he was behind his brothers, Cosmic took the opportunity to make a sharp U-turn and ran as fast as possible.

"Oh no, you don't!" The duo went to Cosmic's direction, also going really fast. However, the navy colt noticed them from behind and ran even faster than before. The duo did the same thing.

"This time, I'm gonna win!" Cosmic smirked and as he saw the ball went right, thanks to a breeze of wind (not to mention, the ball being very lightweight, since it was a blow-up ball.) He quickly went the direction, following by the guys immediately after.

Johnny was behind Dukey and his brother. He had to do something to get the upperhoof. In the end, he decided to not follow the rules and used his wings to boost him forward a bit, without them noticing him cheating. He got really close to Dukey and was really close on catching him up, when all of a sudden, he got hit by a water balloon. Meanwhile, Dukey had no idea about his friend being hit and he wouldn't have the time to look back, because immediately after, he too was hit by another water balloon.

However, Cosmic had no idea about them falling behind, since he was so focused on the ball and winning the round. He hasn't won one since the first round, thus his determination rose even higher than before. Eventually, with a quick sprint and a long jump, he managed to grab the ball, thus winning the game.

"YES! I FINALLY WON!!" He flew up and around in excitement and joy for a bit, celebrating his first victory, before coming down to tell the guys about it.

"Guys! Guys! I did it! I finally won-" However, the navy colt saw them looking around, while dripping with water. "Uhm...what just happened?" He got confused.

"Don't look at me! I'm not the one responsible!" Dukey defended himself, when the pegasi brothers looked at him. "Plus, I got hit as well!"

Out of the blue, the guys, except for Cosmic, got hit with even more water balloons. What's more, they were coming from different angles.

"Hey! Not cool!" Johnny shouted in annoyance.

"Whoever's behind of that, stop!" The hybrid shouted as well. It's at this point, that they heard laughter from the other side. As they looked around, they saw Sissy and Missy coming out of a bush, laughing at them.

"Oh, your faces are so priceless!" The pegasus mare laughed, while throwing two more at the duo.

"What are you doing!?" Cosmic was getting defensive and confused at the same time.

"Just having some fun, kiddo." Missy smiled and threw another balloon at Dukey, who growled in response.

"Knock it off!" The black pegasus shouted in a very angry tone.

"If so, then catch us, if you can!" The navy mare threw another water balloon, before she and Missy took off, while the guys chase after them immediately after. Cosmic, who's still confused, ran after them.

"Hey, guys! Wait!"" Cosmic ran as fast, aa he could to catch up to them, but the little colt couldn't keep up to his brothers. Suddenly, he saw them doing a sharp right turn and did just that, but he suddenly tripped on a rock and fell to the ground.

"Ow! Man...that hurts..." Cosmic slowly got up. "And I lost them.... darn it...." The navy colt sighed and walked off to pick up the ball. Once he grabbed it, he was about to fly back to his mother, while on his way, he saw a silver-white unicorn filly with golden mane, reading a book. His eyes widened at the sight of that unicorn, as if he knew her. Sure enough, a crucial memory flashed in front of his eyes.

Several months ago...

A group of bullies have cornered the scared pegasus in a playground. In Cosmic's view of point, they were shadowy ponies with glowing eyes and distorted voices.

"Give us your coins, now!" One of them shouted, but Cosmic curled up in fear.

"Do it or we'll beat you to a pulp!" Another one shouted in an impatient tone.

"Leave me alone!!" Cosmic cried in terror. He was constantly bullied by them, just because back then, the navy colt had no cutie mark. At first, it was just typical bullying stuff. Getting thrown into a trash bin, being pushed and insulted and getting laughed at. But over the time, it got worse. At one point, he was threatened with violence, if he didn't give them money. In fact, the bullying was the main cause for the death of his friend.

"Like if we're ever listening to a puny blank flank! Come on, ponies, you know, what to do!" The leader smirked, as he directed his grunts to beat him up. It seems like, this was it, when all of a sudden, a magical barrier was formed around the navy pegasus. As Cosmic opened his eyes a bit, he saw that unicorn filly, using her magic.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" She shouted at the bullies.

What happened soon after this is that the filly managed to grab Cosmic, escaping from the bullies and alerting the authorities about the incident. In the beginning, they just dismissed the bullying, but since the death of Cosmic's friend happened was recent (It happened before this). The school was on high alert. Thankfully, they managed to find the bullies and gave them appropriate punishments. They also contacted authorities, just In case. However, out of fear and pain, Cosmic chose, not to say anything to his parents. But that didn't stop the filly from helping him recover.

Present day...

Thankfully, Cosmic became so much better than before. The navy colt and his family moved into Ponyville, gained his cutie mark and met his adoptive brothers. Eventually, he did tell his story to his parents, after hearing Johnny's entire story of abuse and bullying. And now, the same filly is in the same park as him.

"No way...Could it be..?" The colt was speechless. Eventually, after putting two and two together, he recognized the unicorn as his saviour, Golden Heart!

Meanwhile, the filly herself was still reading her book, when she heard a voice, calling her.

"Huh? What was that?" She looked up and around, only to see Cosmic coming to her. "Wait....is that...Cosmic?" Slowly, she recognized the navy pegasus, as fun fact: They actually went to the same school.

"Hi, Golden! It's been so long, hasn't it?" Cosmic was excited.

"It sure does, Cosmic. How's your new life in Ponyville so far? I've been busy with schoolwork for a long time, after the incident." Golden was curious.

"So much has happened to me since then. I met the Cutie Mark Crusaders and they helped me find my destiny, in which I earned my cutie mark, I went to a new school, the teacher is quite nice and most of all, mom and dad gave me two awesome brothers! Mind you, they're older than me, since they're adopted, but still. I had so much time with them, since they're brave, cool and fun!" Cosmic explained the filly about what happened to him afterwards.

"That's quite amazing! I'm really glad, that you're really happy now!" Golden was glad, that the navy pegasus finally recovered from the trauma. "Although, I'm quite curious about your brothers. Like, are they new here?" She asked.

"Well....about that..." Cosmic scratched his head and explained the whole story to Golden.

"Oh, geez...That's quite a rough one. In fact, it could be theorized, that this is why the bulles became like that back then. But that's just speculation." Golden had theorized about something about the bullies. "Anyway, as for me, things have become really busy for me since that incident. My mother got a job at the Ponyville Hospital, which meant we had to move in there, as our previous home was too far away from it. Since the move happened a few months ago, I have yet to go to a school. It's quite a difficult process, let me tell you. I still have to wait for my mom to get a response. In the meantime, I spend time studying magic and psychology." She then explained to him, what happened to her after it. .

"Wow. That would explain, why we haven't talked to each other for a long time." Cosmic was surprised at her answer. "Anyway, since my brothers are currently busy chasing after girls, like really though....I still have no idea why they do that....I just wanted to play ball and have some fun."

"Mind if I join in?" Golden asked.

"Sure!" Cosmic was happy. Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice.

"Hey! Let me join too!"

That voice came from Spring Gale, who was running towards them for some playtime.

"Hi, Spring! How are you doing?" Cosmic asked, while being happy to see the lime colt feeling better again. It's been a while since he was rescued by his abusive original parents.

"Thanks for asking, Cosmic. I'm feeling much better now. Gee, it's been a while since we last met at the hospital." Spring replied, while reminiscing of the more difficult times.

"Yeah. It surely was quite a hard time." Cosmic commented.

"What happened to you? Was there an accident?" Golden looked at Spring's scars and was worried at him.

"No...It's much worse...." the lime green colt looked down in sorrow. The filly was confused by his response.

"Oh boy...It's a long story, Golden....And a hard one for that..." The navy colt gulped.

"Well, my mom said, that one of the patients is a victim of abuse, since she works as a psychiatrist. She also said, cases like this have become more frequent recently." Golden responded.

"Well....the thing is...." Cosmic tried to explain the reason of the increasing cases, when all of a sudden, they heard a voice.

"It's due to a tragic story."

That voice came from the princess of friendship herself, Twilight Sparkle, who was walking by, when she saw the kids talking about the case.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle!" Golden Heart bowed down, which lead the purple mane to be flustered.

"Oh please, I'm flattered. Anyway, I overheard your conversation and I decided to tell you the whole story. That is, if you're brave enough to hear it." The purple mane explained.

"I'm actually used to it, thanks to my bro and Spring." Cosmic assured.

"I see. And I heard, that your mom is a psychiatrist, right?" Twilight asked to the white filly.

"Of course. Plus, I've been studying magic and a few things about psychology." Golden answered.

"I see. Okay, since the story is quite a long one, I'm going to tell you a short and simplified version of it." Then the princess of Friendship proceeded to tell them a shortened version of Johnny's story. After which, Golden was speechless, while Cosmic and Spring just responded in silence, since they already knew his story.

"But don't worry, Golden. He's getting better! He has a good mom and dad, a good little bro and lots of amazing friends, who're all helping him!" Cosmic smiled, knowing that the situation is going to be okay.

"That's wonderful!" The filly was relieved.

"Anyway, what are you doing here, Cosmic?" Twilight asked, but the navy colt just sighed.

"Well....I was playing with them, when two girls just threw water balls at them. Currently, they are chasing these two." Cosmic explained.

"What do they look like?" Spring asked.

"From what I can remember, there are a pegasus and a funny looking earth pony, just like Coffee Paw. Like she's half dog or something." The navy pony recalled their appearances.

"Oh my...You must be talking about Crimson Lightning and Zapped Bone, also known by some as Sissy and Missy. There is some sort of a rivalry between they boys and the girls. And from what I've heard, that they would pull pranks at them. You know, they remind me of Rainbow Dash, who also pulls those pranks at anypony. But don't worry, she doesn't mean any harm and she did learn the lesson of not overdoing them. And I'm pretty sure, the girls won't do it either. I know for a fact, that I've talked to them a few days ago and they are still learning on becoming better ponies. It's just....sometimes, old habits die hard." Twilight laughed. Meanwhile they heard the chase still ongoing. "They will eventually learn someday, don't worry, kids. Friendship can be a rocky road sometimes, but in the end, it can still prevail, when all of those issues are resolved peacefully and with dignity. And sometimes, rivalries can become to friendships."

"Ooohh." The three kids understood, what she said. Suddenly, they heard the sound calling out Cosmic's name. The baby colt immediately recognized it as that from his mother.

"I'm here, mom!" He immediately went to the direction of the voice, which came from Sweet Serenity, looking for him.

"Where are your brothers?" The light blue unicorn asked.

"Uhm....about that..." Cosmic was nervous.

"It was due to Crimson Lightning and Zapped Bone pranking them with water balls. But don't worry. I'm pretty sure, they don't mean any harm, although the bad blood in the past would make the guys not see in that way. It's a long and complicated story, Sweet Serenity." Twilight explained the whole ordeal.

"Uhm...hi....you're Cosmic's mom, right?" Spring was really shy, meeting Sweet Serenity.

"Of course, I am. And you must be Sping Gale. My husband and my son told me a lot about you. I'm really sorry, that you had to go through so much pain, but I'm really happy, that you are feeling much better now with more supportive parents." The unicorn mare comforted the lime colt.

"Don't worry, I'm slowly getting better." Spring assured.

"Oh. My name is Golden Heart." The golden haired filly introduced herself.

"You mean, THE Golden Heart, who saved my baby from those bullies?" Sweet gasped in a worried manner. "Tell me, was he okay?"

"Yes, he was. Well, it was a silent issue, considering that he never told you about it out of fear of their threats being realized and...well, the aftermath being not really smooth, considering that he was also grieving for a friend, he had lost before. My mom had to help him through out the months, until he had the courage to tell you about it. It was good, that I had to intervene at the right place at the right time. I mean, who knows, what happened to him, if I hadn't. But thankfully, it's becoming a thing in the past now." Golden explained the whole story to her.

"Honestly, I wouldn't imagine it either, if you haven't took action." The blue mare had tears in her eyes. "And frankly, I don't want to.... I don't want anyone, I love so dearly, to fall under the same fate, like Ruby Spark. So....I am really grateful, that you have saved my son...."

"Who's Ruby Spark?" Spring asked.

"Her late sister. She too was bullied and abused, until she had enough. The story alone is really messy for you to understand." Twilight sighed and comforted the sad unicorn.

"I'm sorry...the memories about Ruby and her final moments changed my point of view towards society a bit and it could've been worse, if it wasn't for High Velocity and my family." Sweet wiped her tears away. "It was too heartbreaking..."

"It's okay, Sweet Serenity. Not everypony has a happy life. But the tragedies became as cautionary tales about the aspect of a pony's life and how easy it can be shattered. However, we can learn from these to save other ponies' lives and make Equestria a better place." The princess warmly smiled. "With enough love, patience and of course, the magic of friendship, we can overcome even the most tragic events. Of course it takes a lot of time, but in the end, we have to keep looking forward."

"I know. My family and new friends are supporting me through thick and thin!" Cosmic smiled and jumped up in joy.

"Aw, shucks. Please." Spring Gale blushed in embarrassment, yet smiled happily.

"Hey! Why not play some ball, in order to being some fun?" Cosmic suggested this, just because it would bring out some light-hearted distraction from the traumatic pasts.

"Sure! I'm so down for it!" Spring agreed.

"Of course, I'd love to!" Golden nodded and the three kids went off with the blow up ball for some play time, all while Twilight and Sweet Serenity watched on with smiles on their faces.

"You're really have such a loving family, huh?" Twilight looked at the unicorn.

"They really helped out my life in more ways than I could've ever think of." Sweet was very grateful of her family for being here for her throughout the times, ever since she started one with High Velocity. "And I couldn't imagine a life without my rays of sunshine."

"I'm really happy for you, Sweet Serenity. Keep up your good work!" Twilight congratulated. "But....now that you excuse me, I have to break up a potential fight over there. Making sure, that the girls have to learn, not to overdo their shenanigans." She then used her magic to teleport away, in order to break up a chase.

As Sweet Serenity watched her son playing with his new friends, it made her reminisce of some happy memories of her childhood, where she used to play games with a few of her friends.

"It surely bring back memories..." She smiled.

Unknown Fields...

A few months have passed (There is a reason for the time contradiction from last chapter. You'll see why.) and Tempest, Luna and Trixie observed and watched, as Fire Jewel and Ocean Spark slowly improved themselves.

"I never thought, that we would meet like-minded ponies, who made similar mistakes." Ocean looked at them. "We were so busy saving galaxies and stopping evil, that we haven't have the time to check up on ourselves and such."

"Well, there are a few more like us. Namely Discord and Thorax. We can meet them, if you want to." Trixie reminisced of these two, who also made similar mistakes in their pasts. One caused a lot of chaos and disharmony and the other used to work for Queen Chrysalis.

However; they are still worried about Fire Jewel falling back. The dragon incidents and the drama severely affected her self-esteem and confidence. And it all stemmed to her traumatic childhood, which was the cause for all of the heartache, she caused.

"Fire, are you okay?" Ocean asked her sister, but the red mare didn't respond to the oceanic mare's question. She sighed with "Sometimes, I wonder, what it could've been, had I realized the consequences of the actions sooner and took action immediately.

"We were thinking the exact same thing, when we were in your hooves, Ocean Spark. I for example, had a hard time earning the ponies' forgiveness, after I had turned into Nightmare Moon. But as time went on, Twilight, Celestia and the others never gave up on me and eventually, I made peace with myself." Luna recounted her events as a tale to remember and learn.

"Same here for.me, after the whole Ursa Minor and Alicorn Amulet shenanigans." Trixie added.

"And for my service as a former commander for the Storm King." Tempest remembered. "What we're saying is, just because you made mistakes in your past, it doesn't refine you as a whole. You can get out of it, if you're believing in yourselves and having enough support to reignite the confidence."

"But...how am I supposed to do that, if I can't be able to forgive myself...?" Fire asked.

"Don't be hard on yourself, Fire. Take a deep breath, learn from your mistakes and you can get out of the void of doubt." Luna embraced the fiery unicorn, as the sun is slowly setting. The moon princess used her magic to raise the moon, because it's still her duty to do so, even if she had distanced herself from Celestia, due to the aftermath.

After getting motivation from the reformed mares, Fire Jewel took a deep breath, thought back of the past, used these as cautionary tales and lessons and began to slowly mature. Ocean did the same, since she too was guilty of the whole mess.

"Ocean? I'm really sorry for being such a stuck-up bitch. I was really blinded by my own past." The red mare apologized to her sister about her mistakes.

"....Actually, I'm the one, who needs to apologise." Ocean admitted and the two sisters hugged each other.

"..Uhm....How will Breeze, Snow, Cherry and especially Tropic react? Will they still forgive me, even after what I've done?" Fire asked in a worried tone.

"They will." Luna assured the red mare.

"Hey, Fire. After we're done with the whole journey, we should start over with a clean slate. You know, to symbolize a new beginning?" Ocean reached her hoof out.

After a while, Fire nodded and took her older sister's hoof. "You're right, sister. For a new beginning."

The three mares smiled, knowing that they have reached to the acceptance stage, but...there are some doubts, considering that it's basically been months after the dragon incident and Fire Jewel didn't got help during her time behind bars. It didn't help, that most of the ponies outright hated her guts. Most of them were understandable, but it soon devolved into straight up harassment and at one point, a murder attempt. So, unless a miracle would happen, they have to work harder than before.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville...

The family were looking up the skies to see the stars, when they saw a shooting star flying by.

"Quick, everyone! Make a wish!" High Velocity directed everyone to close their eyes and wish for something. After a minute of silence, he then asked: "So, what did you wish for?"

"A beautiful future." Sweet Serenity answered.

"Some action and fun!" Johnny answered.

"To make our lives as ponies a bit easier, since it's hard to let old habits go." Dukey chuckled a bit. "So, what did you wish for, Cosmic?"

"Being happy with all of you! And of course wishing for Spring having a happy future." The navy colt replied.

"That's quite nice of you." The neon stallion was proud of his son.

It was around the same time, they saw some small, flying orbs of light.

"Ooh, what are those?" Cosmic was curious of those lights. It wasn't until, that Johnny and Dukey took a closer inspection to reveal that the lights actually came from fireflies.

"Those are fireflies, bro." The black pegasus told his brother.

"Sweet!" The colt was mesmerized by the lights, the fireflies emitted. Johnny couldn't help, but smile.

As the little critters flew around in several formations, everyone was amazed by the beauty of the scene. After a while of giving them a bright show, they flew away to their next location. Probably, to their homes.

"Alright, everypony! It's slowly getting late. Let's go back to our house." Sweet Serenity noted the others to go to their home, in which they did just that. At the same time, the fireflies reminded one of the parents of a precious childhood memory.

???

Somewhere, in another universe, a mysterious individual in spy armor and helmet, snuck around neighborhood as silent and fast as a ninja. Making sure, nobody would see them, they would hide in various spots and not making any sound. After while of sneaking around and hiding, they eventually reached a green house hid in one of the bushes. They heard a sound and peeked a bit, only to see a woman with glowing green eyes, entering a door. The mysterious spy looked around and put their head to a nearby wall, to hear something. In it, they heard a conversation between her and a familiar-sounding person.

"At last, after months of planning, construction and stealing toasters and bread, the ships are now ready to launch!" They heard the voice of a man, laughing evilly.

"What are you gonna do, sweetie?" She asked.

"Well, to pick up, where I left off, duh! Cutting down the trees, sucking all water out and destroying the Earth! And with Johnny Test and the other enemies out of the picture, nobody will stop me! And if the government attempts to stop my plan, I have a surprise for them! Hahahahaha!! Not get into the ship and let's get to work!' The man commanded.

"Yes, master." She complied in a monotone manner and the spy heard footsteps of them entering into a ship. They looked up on a open window and used a cloaking device on themselves to sneak inside of the house and quickly into the ship, before the doors would close. After which, they hid in one of the rooms and waited for a perfect opportunity.

"Agent Zero, you hear me?" They heard the sound of a person inside of the helmet, which has a hidden Communicator.

"Yes." They responded in a distorted voice, possibly to hide their identity. "I'm inside of the ship."

"Excellent. Now wait for the perfect opportunity to strike and take him down once and for all. Understood?" The person asked and gave him instructions.

"Roger that." They understood and ended the call.

Meanwhile, the ship took off into space and took its position. Meanwhile, the mysterious man, which was shown as someone in a dark green armor, radioed a message to someone far away.

"Attention, my people! I have finally returned to make everything great again! Meet me in the Solar Galaxy and we can pick up, where we left off!" He called out and waited for the other ships to arrive. At the same time, he prepared the machines for the big moment. Two robots went on to search around the whole main ship for any intruders, just in case.

"Soon, my lifelong mission to destroy the earth will be complete!" He gloated, as he watched the planet one last time, before starting the destruction.

Back to the robots, they were looking around, scanning each corner of every room for any sign of intrusion and to check up on the items, devices and machines, which were about to be used. Surprisingly, they didn't detect Agent Zero, due to them using a special kind of technology, allowing themselves to avoid detection from scanners. They were hiding in the storage room, waiting for the robots to pass by. After they went by the door to the storage room, they snuck out and hid somewhere else again. Once they saw the robot, they used a hidden blade from the utility belt and stabbed it right through the head, destroying it. As more robots went by, they hid themselves and one by one, systematically eliminated all of them with a sneaky stab. Basically, he was acting like a ninja. It went on and on, while getting closer to the cockpit.

After a while of waiting around, the ships have finally arrived.

"About time! I was munching on toast, while waiting. Heck, I was about to start without them! Eh, whatever. Now, with everything ready, the show can now begin and nobody will stop the Dark Vegan from completing the mission!" The armored man, who is known as the nefarious Dark Vegan, laughed evilly, as he finally decided to direct the attack and pressed the button. "Attack and steal ALL of their resources!"

The ships surrounded the planet and began sucking all of the water and cutting down all of the trees. (Really though, the humans would've done a huge favour for him to be fair, given that how they handled nature recently, but that's just me.) He watched, as the ships do its job, but he wasn't done with that. To make sure, the planet will be indefinitely destroyed and leaving no evidence of its existence, the main ship has a giant laser cannon ready, which is powerful enough to pulverise even the smallest of atoms.

"In a few hours, the earth will finally be destroyed!" At this point, he was gloating in victory.

But all of a sudden, a red alert was sounded, causing the former ruler of Veganda to immediately check on the surveillance system for the cause. To his shock, he saw the robots being eliminated one by one by a mysterious blur.

"What!? Who's doing this!?" Dark Vegan slammed his fist on a table and slowed down the footage of the eliminations. Even with the slowdown, he could only see a bit of the individual, since they moved too fast. As if that wasn't enough, he saw ships coming from the Earth, ready to take him down.

"It seems like, they are trying to stop me, huh? Well, too bad!" He presses a button and watched, as the cannons shot down lasers at the ships. Some avoided them, but others weren't so lucky. However, once they shot down those homing missiles, it was lights out for the remaining ships.

"Where was I? Oh, right..... Guards, destroy that intruder!" He commanded the robots to destroy Agent Zero, in which they complied and left. However, surveillance footage showed, that not even a minute later, they destroyed the robots in no time.

"He's good..." Dark Vegan commented at Zero's skills. "But this won't be enough to stop my plans! Sweetie, take care of that intruder! I'll prepare the cannon and eat some toast!"

"Yes, master." His hypnotized wife nodded, grabbed a saber and left, all while he pressed some button to do some coding, in order to prepare the cannon.

Meanwhile, Agent Zero just destroyed a robot and prepared to enter, when they saw her.

"Wait a minute..." Agent Zero looked closer at the wife, who's about to strike. Thankfully, they dodged the first attack.

"What is it, Agent Zero?" The person from the intercom asked.

"Something's off about her. Her eyes are glowing bright green, which normally isn't the case....It's clear, that she's doing this against her will. In other words: She's hypnotized." They analyzed the situation.

"Shit! If that's the case, don't hurt her! Find a way to snap her out of the state and get her out of here!" The mysterious boss responded.

"Got it, boss." They ended the call and has the weapons ready: Two blades from the wrists. They had a intense stare down, before the fight has begun.

[During this battle, Sonic's Fight starts to play]

https://youtu.be/1l23nuG_CoM

The red-haired woman rushed ahead for the first attack, but Zero dodged it with a slide to the left, before jumping up with the blades out. However, she was aware of it and used the saber to protect herself from the blades, which caused them to spark like crazy. As a result, Zero jumped away and switched their weapon with a saber on their own, except it had a lilac coloured glow. The two charged forward with their sabers for an epic sword fight. Neither of them backed down, as they kept trying to attack the other. And it wasn't just on one spot either, as they kept jumping at different spots of the hallway and clashing each other, with sparks flying by from each of the sabers clashing.

"Ma'am, you need to snap out of it! He's controlling you!" Zero tried to convince the wife to wake up, but it didn't work, as it seems like, the mind control was too strong for words to break her free. She kept trying to kill them, only for them to blocking them and trying to figure out, how to break the mind control. And they had to do it quick, as they had to stop the Dark Vegan and save Earth. There wasn't any time for strategies, so they decided to side step to the right, grabbed her and threw the wife to the ground. They were about to do something, when she used a powerful force to grab them by the neck,. As she stood up, she had the blade ready to finish them off.

"Any last words?" She asked.

"Yes. There!" They pressed a button, in which she got shocked by a current of electricity, courtesy of a sticky shocker on her back, letting them go by the process. After which, they used a blaster to shoot her, but it didn't kill her, as it was designed to undo any effects of mind control. They panted, as they watched her slowly standing up from the injuries, now with her eyes returning back to normal.

"Ugh...what happened?" The wife groaned, in which she saw Zero.

"There is not much time, ma'am! Use the escape pod and get the hell outta here! Dark Vegan needs to be stopped now!" The agent commanded her to escape from the ship. However, the name "Dark Vegan" caused her to remember, what happened before she fell under mind control.

"I can't believe, he had used me like a solider and not faring a single bit about Jillian, Johnny or even anyone!!!!" The woman yelled in anger, as she felt like, Dark Vegan had betrayed her. "THAT TWO-MOUTHED BASTARD!!!"

"Ma'am! I know your pain, but this isn't the time right now. Let me stop his crazy plan and save this planet, while you get out of here and tell them everything." Zero was empathetic to the wife, but he had to hurry up. "Now go!" They yelled at her again, but after some consideration, she silently nodded and ran off to an escape pod, while they ran as fast as they could to the cockpit, but by that point, Dark Vegan saw everything via surveillance and decided to do it himself. Which would explain, why before Zero could even reach the cockpit, the green-armored man was waiting for him, blocking the entrance.

"Ugh! People like you give me such a migraine! You are just like Johnny Test, always trying to stop my plans with your tricks and devices! And I thought, with him gone, I could've destroyed the Earth like nothing!" Dark Vegan complained, while having his saber ready.

"Even with him gone, I won't allow you to cause any form of harm to this planet!" Zero shouted, while having their saber ready. "I would like to have a squabble with you, but I have to destroy your devices right here, right now!"

"You have to go through me first, which I doubt, you would do that! I'll destroy you right here and there!" Dark Vegan held his saber tightly.

"Come get some." Zero prepared for the ultimate showdown.

Dark Vegan jumped forward for the first attack, but the agent threw a smoke bomb to throw him off guard. "Hey, that's unfair! Then again, I don't care about the rules." He commented, before looking around and listening for any signs of Zero. Being on high alert, he then heard something from behind and used his saber to defend himself. Sparks came out from the clash, which came from Zero's saber, confirming that it was indeed them, attempting to do a sneak attack.

"You're quite good. But can you dodge these?!" Dark Vegan pulled out some built-in lasers from his suit and shot multiple times at Zero, but they either dodged all of them or in the case of the final two shots, deflected them with a special shield.

The two then dashed forward for an epic clash of swords, in which sparks emitted from each and every strike. Both sides kept on dashing forward, attempting to strike each other, while protecting themselves. And it went on, as they went to several spots of the ship. It went on and on, until Zero used another smoke bomb to distract Dark Vegan again. However, he was prepared for this, as his helmet came with a sensor. He stood still, waiting for any sign of the mysterious agent. The silence went on for a few minutes, while not moving a single muscle.

Finally, the sensor detected something 45 degrees from the right, confirming that it was Zero. So he decided to do a different method: The armored man suddenly side stepped to the left and ducked, causing Zero to miss him. As if that wasn't enough, he pointed his lasers and shot them in the back, causing the agent to be flown to a wall. Thankfully, the suit protected them from shots. Zero immediately stood up and attempted to strike him down, but unbeknownst to them, there was a hidden trap in the room, they're currently standing. So when the agent crossed that specific spot, they got trapped in a plasma ring, caused by hidden antennas around that room. And it wasn't painless either, as Zero screamed in agony.

"Gotcha, you fool! You think, you can stop me with your toys and movements? Ha! Think again!" Dark Vegan stood triumphant towards the trapped agent. "However, before I destroy you, I'll now uncover that face of yours and show you to the world as a message, on how you and everyone failed!"

"Agent Zero!! What's going on!? Answer me!!!" The boss got worried by their condition, but Zero couldn't respond, due to the pain. As Dark Vegan was about to rip the helmet off, there was a sense of tension emanating in the air, while Zero struggled. Eventually, he took the helmet from Zero off, to see the true identity of the intruder....but he didn't expect on who Zero was under the helmet. The true identity of Agent Zero, the one who attempted to destroy DV's plans on world annihilation, the one who's somehow at the same level as him. It isn't a random person, no. Zero was no other than the feline himself, Mr. Mittens!

"You cannot be serious right now....WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE IN MY SHIP NONETHELESS!??!" He yelled, still in shock of all people, it was Mittens, who decided to stop his plan. However, the feline refused to answer and lowered his head.

"Oh, wait! Let me guess... You are trying to save the Earth, just for you to conquer it all by yourself? Newsflash: Your idea is pathetic! Turning everyone into cats, has been the stupidest plan, I've ever heard!" He shouted, but Mittens still refused to say anything. "Plus, being stuck with people, who have no idea about competence or even sharing, was a bad idea....In fact, the only thing in common is us having the same enemy. But now with him gone, I decided to fully break away and focus on destroy the earth!"

"This is none of your business...." Mittens quietly growled, thinking back of the argument. "Plus, I'm not in the mood right now...."

"Not in the mood for what? Breaking through my ship without my permission? Trying to stop me, when we could've worked together? First of all, you're just a party pooper, who doesn't know anything about fun! And second, why are you doing this!??" Dark Vegan yelled at the feline right in the face.

"Zero! Respond, damn it!!!" The boss can be heard yelling for a response. Unfortunately, the armored man saw the earpiece, Mittens had for the mission and took it away from him.

"Wait a minute....They sent you of all people to stop me!?" He felt betrayed by the fact, that the feline worked for the government. As a response, he threw it to the ground and stomped it hard. "Oh....now you threw me off BIG TIME!!" He had his saber ready to finish him off. Mittens still kept his mouth shut, but closed his eyes, as if he knew, it's over for him.

"Say goodbye, fur ball!" He aimed at the neck and was about to decapitate Mittens. It seems like, it was all for nothing, but then.....

The ship was suddenly rocked by random explosions, causing Dark Vegan to lose his balance and the antennas to malfunction, causing Mittens to be released.

"DANGER! DANGER!" A robotic voice can be heard through the speakers. As if that wasn't enough, Mittens suddenly chuckled.

"You were saying, pal?" The feline stood up and got his saber back. "You see, while you got lost in the smoke, I quickly left behind some "presents" all over the place. What's that? You had no idea? Too bad, that I ran in a blur, before attempting to strike you. In other words, the smoke bombs and me attempting to strike you down? It was all just a distraction." He smirked.

In a flashback, we can see, the second after the smoke bombs covered the area, the feline activated the super sonic boots to run faster than sound. After which, he ran all over the whole ship and placed down some explosives in specific places. This was done twice and during the second time, he left a bomb at the cockpit. And that specific bomb as exploded there, causing massive damage.

Back to the present, Mittens was about to leave, when Dark Vegan attempted to shoot him. However, the sudden tilt made him fall of and shoot at the ceiling, then bounced off multiple times multple times, before grazing over Mittens' right eye, in which the feline screamed a bit in pain. Surprisingly, it only left him with a scratch, due to his eye being closed and the projectile not being close enough to damage the actual eye.

But this was enough to turn around and tightly hold the grip of his saber on one of his paws, while the other is covering the injured eye.

"So, you have chosen the hard way, huh?" Mittens responded in a serious tone. "Fine. I wouldn't go down without a fight anyway. Even when I'm slightly wounded, this wouldn't stop me from completing my mission!"

"Bring it!" Dark Vegan prepared for a fight and the two began their second round of swords clashing and not holding back, all while the ship is slowly destroying itself, thus they also have to dodge falling debris.

Dark Vegan attempted to slash Mittens, but the feline dodged it with a slide to the right and round-house kicked him to the ground. Not to be deterred, the armored man stood up and punched the cat in the jaw. This caused in a very serious fight, in which all gloves were off. They stopped using their sabers and instead punched and kicked each other, while the pummeling continued through the ship, up until the escape pods.

During which, Mittens started to think back at that argument, in which he and other bad guys disagreed to their methods and reasons. It didn't help, that Brain Freezer was gone for a while, before returning to the gang. It slowly evolved into petty fights and eventually, it ended off in a sour tone, as Zizrar was the first to go and one by one, the others followed suit. And then, a few days later, Johnny Test had disappeared from the Earth. A lot has happened, including the truth coming out, the Bee Keeper, Brain Freezer, Zizrar and his mole people disappearing as well and finally, Albert's death and him being forced to work for the government, just to keep his freedom. This was enough fuel for him to roar like a lion and punched Dark Vegan so hard, it send him flying to a wall and being buried by the debris.

The feline panted hard and took a breather for a while, but then he heard a message from the intercom:

SELF-DESTRUCT IN T-15 SECONDS.

"Ah shit!" The magenta cat stood up and ran towards the rubble of debris, when Dark Vegan suddenly got his head and arm out.

"I'll destroy you and everyone!" He tried to grab the cat, but the weight of the debris, coupled with his suit malfunctioning, caused him to get stuck.

"Take my hand!" Mittens tried to reach him, but the stuck vegan still tried to destroy him one way or another. It didn't help, that he had ten seconds left.

"Stop resisting and get out of here!" Once again, the cat tried to convince him.

"No! You ruined my plan! You are as worst as Johnny Test!" The vegan shouted back at him. That was enough for the cat to turn his back against him and slowly walk towards one free escape pod.

"I tried to give you a second chance, but you chose, not to listen to me. Fine...then enjoy your last few seconds here, while I'm getting out. Goodbye, Dark Vegan." Mittens looked at him one final time with a glare, before entering into the pod and activating it. The pod was soon launched from the ship and began it's course towards earth.

"CURSE YOU ALL!!! YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME! I'LL BE BACK, JUST YOU WAIT!!!!" Dark Vegan screamed at the top of his lungs during his final five seconds of his life.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

0...

Meanwhile, in space, Mittens watched, as the main ship exploded in a big burst. The resulting shockwaves caused the remaining ships for explode as well, causing a chain reaction, releasing all the water and trees back into the earth. As the pod descended deeper and deeper, the turbulence became more frequent and eventually, that turbulence caused Mittens to hit his head to a steel wall, losing his consciousness shortly after.

The cat slowly woke up on a hospital bed, covered in bandages. Yet, he still felt the pain from the fight, as he struggled to get up. He looked around a bit to see, that he was in an infirmary. He wasn't alone however, as he saw the red haired wife of the Dark Vegan standing beside him.

"Thank goodness, you're okay!" She looked at him.

"Where...am I?" Mittens groaned.

"You're in the infirmary. Specifically in a place called Area 51.1. You've been there for at least half an hour." She explained. "During which, I talked to the agents about everything. Including my actions under his control. Although they did sympathise with me a bit, it didn't change the fact, that I was responsible for stealing the resources and being an accomplice for nearly destroying the world. That means....I have to face the punishment, no matter what..." She had tears in her eyes, as several agents appeared to detain her. Since there was no resistance, she looked at Mittens one final time.

"If you see my dear Jillian, tell her everything....and tell her, that I love her so much. Goodbye, Mr. Mittens....and once again....thank you....for everything...." She sniffed, as she was taken away from the infirmary, leaving Mittens all alone, contemplating on what she said.

"Okay, sir. I did, what you said. I took down Dark Vegan and the planet is safe....can I please go now, so I can try my best to move on from Albert's death?..." He asked the FBI agent to be released. He had enough.

"Hmm..." The agent thought about the deal. One one hand, the feline did manage to stop the Dark Vegan and his plans, even though attempting to catch him alive ended in a disastrous failure. But that doesn't excuse him from the fact, that he still attempted to take over the world multiple times and destroy Johnny Test, who had been friends with a few Area 51.1 agents, before he, the agents and even the general vanished without a trace. But there's also the fact, that he lost so many people in his life by either disappearing from the face of earth or in Albert's case, slowly dying in front of him. After thinking about everything for a when, he came with a decision.

"On one hand, you did some terrible crimes in the past....and even though I wished for you to be punished, since you have basically saved our planet and everyone from Dark Vegan, I was left with no other choice....than to let you go." The agent stepped away for Mittens to leave.

"Please...I had been through so much already...." Mittens responded inna sorrowful tone, before standing up and leaving the infirmary behind. Surprisingly, the agent didn't do anything

As he was slowly leaving the base behind, a tense aura of suspicion and paranoia filled the air. Before he went to the exit door, he suddenly stopped and sensed something with his whiskers. He looked around, only to see nobody.

"That's weird...." Mittens commented, but still kept his guard up, assuming that the government would attempt to catch him with a trap. To make sure, he looked around, grabbed a piece of wood and threw at the door, when all of a sudden, a cage has been dropped from the ceiling, confirming his suspicions. Thankfully, he wasn't near the door.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a red alert and footsteps coming closer.

"What the hell??" He looked around, only too see agents with electric nets, jumping at him. However, his cat instincts allowed him to dodge them.

"Hey!! We had a deal!! I just did your dirty work and yet you still tried to catch me!?" Mittens felt betrayed by the government.

"Sorry, pal. But the thing is, we wanted to to take the credit and get rid of you, because of your crimes. Now, hold still, kitty!" One of the agents responded.

This response sent Mittens into a blazing fury, as when the agents tried again to catch him, not only did the feline dodged all of them, but scratched them furiously. After which, he stole one of the blasters to shoot a hole on the wall and escaped the facility, with tears in his eyes.

It was a very stormy night, with heavy rain, thunder and high winds. But despite his injuries, Mittens didn't stop running away as fast, as he could, until he reached his mansion and locked the door. Everything what happened this night, coupled with the loss of so many people around him, caused the feline to suffer a severe mental breakdown, in which he destroyed furniture, smashed glass down and scratching everything in his way, all while screaming and crying in sheer pain and misery. It went on for five minutes, before curling up into a ball and cried on the floor. His crying was soon mixed in with the sounds of rain outside and the lightning bolts from the sky.

After what it felt like an eternity, Mittens stood up, went to a room and grabbed a rope. Next, the feline created a noose around it and went to his room. He tied it to the highest point of his bed, grabbed a ladder and placed it there, in which he climbed up. After suffering through so much, he decided to just end it all. But before he would put the noose around his neck, a loud lightning strike caused the magenta feline to jump up in fear and fall down the latter and into the ground, causing more pain in his body. He screamed in response, but he attempted to get up, in order to finish the job, when there was something under his bed, that caught his attention.

"What's this?" Mittens looked closer and reached his arm under his bed as far, as he could. After fiddling around, he felt something, grabbed it tightly and pulled it back towards him, in which the object in question turned out to be a letter. "A letter....to me? But who wrote this?" The feline decided to open the letter and read the content of it.

Dear Mr. Mittens,

if you are reading this letter, then there is a high chance, that I have died. But I have already seen it coming for a few months. So, I decided to write this letter and tell you my concerns and truths here.

I've noticed in the last few months, that you've been feeling really unwell, sir. Not physically, but mentally. Ever since Jonathan's disappearance and subsequent death in absentia, you have been isolating yourself from the public eye and lived in loneliness and sorrow. It's not just that, as the drama of your former group, coupled with the disappearances of a few of your teammates, made everything worse. But that was nothing, compared to the fact, that you have been yearning for some sort of companionship with another feline for a long time. Specifically, a lady feline.

I tried my best to keep you company and help you, even if you don't fully notice my dedication. In fact, I had plans on bringing you another cat and mutate him or her, just to keep you company. But things have become so difficult lately, due to the Shadow exposing everyone, who are responsible for Jonathan's disappearance. And sadly, you were part of it, which made everyone scared of you.

So, if trying to bring happiness to you won't work in this world, perhaps I could do so in another world, but my health has been deteriorating as of the writing of this letter. In the end, I had no other choice, that to leave you find happiness on your own and maybe....just maybe.... find some redemption yourself.

I wish you the best of luck and even in death, I'll be watching you from above, no matter, where you go.

Best wishes,
Your butler, Albert

The letter has made the magenta feline even more emotional than ever and cried hard. He couldn't believe, that despite the ups and downs and his nasty attitude, Albert still cared for him in some ways. Not only that, that letter made him open his eyes for the very first time.

"Even when I was bad, he still cared for me..." he sniffed.

All of this made him think of something....what if Johnny and the others aren't truly dead, like what the officials said? What if they're in a different world or even...in a different dimension? This theory made him filled with so much determination to find them.

"No..they just can't be dead. They have to be somewhere alive! If so, I have to find them and tell them the truth!" The feline stood up, finally having a goal in his mind. "And fast, otherwise the government would find me and....ugh...I don't want to think about what they would do to me.." He shuddered, before going to his own laboratory, taking his stuff and Albert's letter with him. It contained so many gadgets and weapons, enough for future plans. But that's not, what he wants. He knew, that he had just built a portal device on his own, originally to find allies from other worlds. It even has it's own DNA searcher.

But now, he wanted to use it to find the others. However, as soon, as he started it up, he coughed out a hair ball.

"Ugh, hairball!" He coughed, but then, the feline had an idea. He knew, that underneath all of this, a bit of Johnny's hair had to be inside. So he tore it apart and combed through each and every hair fiber for the blond and orange one. Eventually, he found it in the deepest core and put the hair on a scanner, in order to find him. After a few minutes of analyzing the hair, searching for Johnny and more, the location has been revealed.

"So...according to this scanner, Test must been in Dimension 10102010. And if I'm not mistaken, the others are also in that world." Mittens looked at the monitor. "Okay! With that information out of the way, it's now or never!"

He put the coordinates on the machine to activate a portal to Dimension 10102010. But there wasn't any time left, as he heard explosions from downstairs.

"Shit! I have to do it immediately!" Mittens commented and looked at the portal. Despite the pain, he activated some bombs around the laboratory and ran into the portal. It was done in order to prevent the agents from tracking him.

???, Dimension 10102010

During a heavy rainstorm, Mittens emerged from the portal and started to crawl, due to his pain. Problem is, even though he had arrived in that dimension, he was actually set in an unknown location. However, the feline didn't know that, as he kept crawling and crawling, hoping he could at least finding them. He also hadn't noticed, that something feels....a bit different about him.

But that didn't matter, as he stopped crawling after a few minutes, because he was exhausted. Didn't help, that the pain was getting more and more intense with each movement, despite being patched up with bandages. So he has left with no option to close his eyes and rest in the rain. Before everything would go black, a female voice can be heard, along with footsteps.

"Oh my god! Are you okay!?"

Meanwhile, in a forest....

After a few hours have passed, the rain has stopped and we can see Princess Celestia taking a walk with an umbrella. She has been thinking about so many things, including Luna, the elemental ponies, the sisters and of course, something that she hasn't told them to anyone else.

"If only I can see Luna again and apologize to her..." the sun princess sighed, before she noticed something peculiar. "What's this?"

The princess went closer and closer, only to see a pink Alicorn with dark blue hair and gradient wings. Her head was lowered and her hair being so wet, it covered her eyes. She felt a sorrowful aura around the mysterious Alicorn.

"Excuse me? Are you okay?" Celestia asked, trying to get the mare's attention, but it didn't work. She looked at her face, only to see a frown, but not her eyes, as they were covered by her wet hair. It's clear, that something is wrong with this Alicorn mare.

Suddenly, the mare started to float upward and being covered in a dark purple mists. Celestia dodged from the mist, but had no other choice, than to watch. During which, she saw a few tears dropping from the pink mare's face, before being fully covered by the mist. Soon, a bright light emitted form the mist. It was so bright, that Celestia had to shield her eyes with her wings. At the same time, ominous sounds can also be heard, along with evil laughter. It went on, until the light faded away and the sun princess uncovering her eyes, only to see that the bright pink alicorn was not here anymore and in her place stood a tall, dark pink Alicorn with sharp teeth, silver-blue armor and a ethereal dark blue mane fading to black with sparkles around it. Her eyes had a dark teal aura around them, as she looked at Princess Celestia.

"Oh! A princess! I didn't expect to see one in front of me." She noted.

"What have you done to her and who are you!?!?" Celestia demanded answers.

"You mean that Alicorn girl? She has accepted the full despair and allowed me to take control of her body. And as for who I am? I'm glad, that you asked. I'm none other than the darkest star of the universe, Shadow Galaxy!" The tall pink Alicorn introduced herself. "And once I'm done with those pathetic elementals, I'll conquer this galaxy for all eternity!" she laughed evilly.

"I can't let that happen!" The sun princess prepared for battle.

"Bring it, sunbutt!" Shadow Galaxy smirked and the two shot off magical blasts at each other, causing them to clash and then explode.

Celestia shot more magical beams at the tall Alicorn, but she created a barrier around her to deflect magic back at her. The sun Princess avoided all of her own projectiles and created a strong beam of magic, in which she fired it off, but Shadow Galaxy teleported at the last minute somewhere.

"What?!" Celestia was shocked and looked around, when Shadow Galaxy teleported behind her.

"Surprise!" She shot a powerful beam at Celestia, causing the sun Princess to fall to the ground hard. "For a sun goddess, I expected you to be stronger, not be such a jobber. Oh well, you wouldn't be able to realize that anyway, as I'm about to destroy you!" She shot out another powerful, magical beam, but before it could hit her, Celestia used her magic to teleport away at the very last minute.

"Damn! Whatever, I can live with that. She will be my messenger of my upcoming arrival." She smirked and laughed evilly.

Meanwhile, Princess Luna was looking at the sky with a worried look. It seems like, she sensed something dark in Equestria, but she didn't know, who is causing it. While Tempest, Trixie and the elemental sisters were sleeping, the moon princess couldn't help but to worry about her older sister, Celestia....

"I need to find her...." Luna spread out her wings and flew away into the night, in order to find her sister.

To be continued...

Side Story: The Dark Galaxy

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The next morning, Twilight Sparkle went to her castle for her usual duty: maintaining friendships and solving problems all around Equestria. This day, she had an appointment with her friends to check on the cutie map for some potential friendship problems. As she entered that room, her friends were waiting.

"Good morning, Twilight!" Pinkie smiled and waved.

"Geez, last night was quite something, huh..." Rainbow Dash scratched her head.

"I couldn't sleep well, because of those horrid lightning storms! I swear to Celestia, I had to calm down Opal, because she got scared by those..." Rarity complained.

"I know, girls. It was quite a rough night. But I hope, this wouldn't distract us from our quest." Twilight assured and the girls sat around the cutie map, waiting for a new mission.

"Now let's see, if there's anything." Twilight looked closer.

"Oooh! I can't wait for the next exciting adventure! Whatever it is, it'll be fun!" The peppy party pony was really excited.

"Easy there, sugarcube. We have to wait. It's not like, it'll come to us by itself." Applejack calmed her friend down.

"TWILIGHT!!!" They heard the voice of Spike being panicked. And sure enough, the purple dragon rushed toward his friends for an emergency. Right after, he tripped and fell down in front of the mares.

"Spike, are you okay!?" Twilight was worried of her assistant.

"Twilight...the letter...it's....urgent..." The dragon panted hard, while holding a letter.

"Whoa there! Chill! What's the problem?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's from Princess Celestia!!" Spike gave the letter for Twilight to read. However, this one made her worry really hard.

"No..." the Alicorn was concerned.

"Twilight? What's going on?" Fluttershy asked.

"We need to go to Canterlot immediately! Come on, girls!" Twilight ran off with her friends following her shortly after.

"You were saying, Applejack?" Pinkie jumped, resulting the country mare sighing.

The Mane Six and Spike rushed out of the castle and through Ponyville in such a hurry, that they haven't noticed some ponies around the area.

"Do you have any idea, why Celestia needs us in the morning??" Rarity asked.

"No, but I have a bad feeling about this! Maybe I was failing my role as the princess of friendship or Equestria being attacked or....Anything!" Twilight got very anxious about it.

"Don't say that! You're doing an amazing job as a princess!" Pinkie replied in her usual optimistic tone. "Plus, we've dealt with so many scary monsters and bad guys before and our fun friendship powers always send them flying to oblivion! It's basically our thing!"

"Pinkie's right. Whatever it is, this will be a piece of cake! Plus, we ALWAYS get your back!" Rainbow smirked. Though the word "cake" got Pinkie perked up.

"Cake!? What's the occasion? A party!? What ingredients should I use!?" At this point, the peppy pony was asking so many questions about cake.

"Easy there, sugarcube." Applejack attempted to calm her friend down. At the same time, Fluttershy went to help the southern pony.

"This is not the time for cake, Pinkie! Princess Celestia needs us!" Twilight shouted.

"But what if it's for something else?" Pinkie hopped.

"Pinkie, please..." Fluttershy replied.

Since Applejack and Fluttershy were focused on calming Pinkie down from her usual shenanigans, they haven't noticed the surroundings around them. And before they knew, their road came to a crashing halt, when they suddenly bumped into some ponies.

"Girls, are you okay!?" Twilight went back to check up on them.

"We're fine, dear. We just got bumped by a few of the ponies, while we had to calm Pinkie down." Applejack explained.

"Will you three watch, where we're going!?" A familiar voice can be heard. Sure enough, when the Mane Six and Spike looked forward, the three ponies standing on the other side are none other than Snow Emerald, Tropic Bloom and Cherry Swirl. Right now, Snow was rubbing her head in frustration, while Cherry and Tropic got up.

"Hey, girls. What are you doing?" Twilight asked.

"We're currently on our way to the hospital." Cherry answered.

"Is it about Johnny again? Now that I mentioned him, I'm really getting concerned." Rarity was starting to get worried about Johnny, since she and her friends haven't checked up on him for a while, due to many other events happening for a long time. It's been a few months after all. "Please don't tell me, he's having a shock or something worse..."

"No no! He's perfectly fine! I met him yesterday and he was in good spirits! In fact, I did exchange a bit of small talk of him about the process." Cherry eased Rarity and her friends. "Recently, he, his pal and an aqua stallion, in which his name is apparently Gil, were last seen hanging out with some ponies. Plus; they've done so many tricks, that made the fillies and colts look on in awe and-" Cherry was too carried away by what she was supposed to say.

"CHERRY!!!" Snow yelled at the green mare, being completely annoyed. Once again, her shout startled everyone and scared Fluttershy and Tropic.

"W-what she's s-supposed to say is.." Tropic was still shaken up a bit and tried to explain the real reason, but Snow's glare is scaring her.

"Geez, for an ice pony, she seems to be quite a hot-headed jerk." Rainbow commented, which resulted getting growled by the icy mare.

"Everypony calm down! Rainbow, you're not helping..." Twilight was annoyed at Rainbow, before turning her attention to Snow. "And as for you, take a deep breath and tell us why you and your friends are going to the hospital."

"Fine..." Snow took a deep breath and explained. "I was doing my regular business this morning. Reading books and doings some errands. Everything was normal....until I overheard a conversation between Lyra and Bon Bon."

A few moments ago...

We see Snow sitting on a bench and drinking, while reading books. The birds were chirping melodious tunes as always and there was a gentle breeze coming by. A few ponies were walking by, either with someone or just being alone doing their regular business.

Meanwhile, Lyra and Bon Bon were walking around the village, rubbing their eyes a bit.

"Man, the storm last night was something..." Lyra yawned.

"I know, right? It was quite loud." Bon Bon agreed. "But it was nothing compared to what happened later, when an injured pony came right to our doorstep. It was really terrifying...."

Snow happened to be nearby to hear the conversation. Curious, she walked towards the duo, wanting to ask questions.

"Hey. I overheard something about an injured pony on your doorstep. Can you please elaborate further?" She spoke to them.

The two mares were puzzled by Snow just walking by and wanting to listen more about the situation.

"Pardon for just walzing by. I'm Snow Emerald by the way." She introduced herself.

"Uhm...okay?...I'm Bon Bon and this is Lyra Heartstrings." The cream colored earth pony introduced herself and Lyra in an awkward manner. "Why are you asking this?"

"Well, I had similar cases like these back then, when me and my friends are patrolling the galaxies. Mind you, most of the time, Shadow Nebula had either had a hoof on all of these, her Shadow Ponies or just them escaping from their captors. This was all in the past though, as we finally defeated that bitch and restored peace, but we still had to do our jobs, since...well, there's still evil afoot." The icy pegasus was drinking her drink and explained her reason. "What I'm saying is, what you're saying peaked my interest. You said, an injured pony came to you. What happened?"

"Well, it happened after the storm cleared. After it finally ended, we were relieved to get some good sleep, when we heard knocking on the door. It was persistent, so Bon Bon had to answer the door. Meanwhile, I was on the bedroom, when I heard her screaming. I rushed to her immediately after, only to see an injured dark blue pegasus mare on the doorstep. She was looking at us for a short time, before she collapsed. So, we had to bring her to the hospital." Lyra explained the entire situation, while Snow was drinking. Unfortunately, the word "dark blue pegasus mare" made her spit it out in shock.

"Does this mare happened to have short purple and blue hair?..." She was shook from the revelation.

"Yes. But her mane was really messy and she was covered in dirt. Like-" Before Bon Bon could even explain further, Snow dropped her drink and flew past them as fast as she could.

"After which, I immediately called Tropic and Cherry for an emergency meeting, to tell them the entire story. There is no doubt, that it had to be none other than Breeze! Last time, when we saw her, she went with the mole men to a hole, to investigate the matter. After that, she was never seen again until now." Snow finished her explanation. "But now with that information, we're going to the hospital to ask her on what the hell happened! Come on, girls!" The icy mare ran away, with Tropic following her. But Cherry stood there for a while to tell them something.

"Uhm, girls? Here's something, I need to get out of my chest. I need you to check up on Snow time after time. Recently, she's been extremely agitated, secretive and impulsive. I know, the drama is the main factor, but I fear, there's something else going on inside of her mind. Like a secret conflict or something." She quietly told the Mane 6 and Spike about her thoughts and worries. "There's also one more thing... It's about the-" Before the green mare would continue, she heard Snow calling her.

"Cherry, hurry up!"

"I'm coming!" Cherry shouted back and before she ran after her friends, she looked back at the ponies and said this: "Please....She needs to learn..." That left the mares and Spike confused.

"Did anyone catch that, what she said?" Spike asked in confusion and the girls were just as puzzled as him.

"I swear, this group is hidin' more secrets from us..." Applejack felt suspicious, despite knowing their backstories. She had a feeling, that there're more to the group.

'What makes you think of that, Applejack?" Rarity was confused.

"Well, like Cherry said, Snow has been acting....quite different. More aggressive and isolated." The country mare explained her suspicions. "Plus, I think, we forgot somepony, that they refused to mention."

"We'll talk about it later, Applejack. But now, we have to go to Canterlot. Princess Celestia needs us!" said the princess of friendship and the group continued on their journey. However, the orange earth pony mare wasn't the only one feeling suspicious, as Fluttershy had the same thoughts too.

Meanwhile, we see Sissy and Missy walking around the little town. However, the blue mare was feeling a bit down lately.

"Come on, Sissy! It's a beautiful day, why the long face?" Missy asked.

"It's just....ever since I moved into this world and got turned into a pony, I've been worried about my future. Like what should I do? What job should I take? There are so many questions in my head, I can't ignore them any longer! Didn't help, that even though we apologized to Test and his mutt, I still feel the anxiety!" Sissy explained her worries to her best friend. It's clear, that ever since she left her original world to Equestria, she's been dealing with constant worries about the future.

"Oof. Yeah, that sucks. We'll have to talk with Twilight, if we meet her next time. But for now, why not just have fun and turn off those thoughts for a while? I mean, I don't want you being such a downer all the time." Missy commented.

"I guess, you're right. But the problem is, aside from Test and his mutt, as well as Rainbow Dash, I have no idea, who else I should hang out with." Sissy explained one of the issues. It's clear, that she couldn't think of anyone other than Johnny and Dukey. And even though she and Rainbow became friends, it's hard to hang out with her, due to the prismatic mare having a busy schedule with the Friendship School, solving friendship problems and being part of the Wonderbolts.

"I can relate. I also couldn't stop thinking about the mutt. It's not like, I have a crush on him! No! It's just..." Missy tried to find a reason, but gave up after couldn't think of anything else and Sissy interrupting her friend.

"Can we just move on?" The blue mare looked at her with an annoyed look and red cheeks, indicating that she's hiding something. Like a crush or something. At the same time, Jillian was walking around, when she spotted the girls.

"Hey." The pink unicorn walked in, feeling bored. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a walk, pal." Sissy answered. "You look quite bored."

"Well....this world has its benefits, like being vegan friendly and being you know, peaceful. But...recently, I'm feeling really bored. Like I have no idea, what to do with my new life as a pony here." Jillian explained. "At the same time, I'm trying to make my own future, away from my "dad". Even though I have moved on, doesn't mean, the demons in my head are fully gone. Thankfully, I have become better handling with them, thanks to Fluttershy, who is quite decent. Pinkie is obnoxious as hell, Rarity is....well, too much, Applejack's fine, Rainbow reminds me of Johnny and Twilight...well, she's doing her job."

"I mean, you're not wrong. All of them are quite cool, though Pinkie can be a bit too loud. That's just my opinion though. Anyway, I've been thinking on what to do with my life in Equestria. But so far, I have no ideas. Maybe we can talk to Test for some help!" Sissy commented.

"Uhm...yeah....About that..." Jillian scratched her head.

"Oh, jeez... I don't like the tone...what is it?" Missy is feeling a bit bummed and sighed.

"From what I've heard from them, they're currently going on errands for their mom and dad. Well, the nicer ones to be precise." The pink mare explained to them, that Johnny and Dukey are currently unavailable.

"Aw man!" The girls were bummed by the news, however that left Jillian wondering about something.

"Do you girls have a crush on them?" She bluntly asked them a simple question.

"What?! No! What makes you say that?" Both Sissy and Missy denied in unison.

"Just asking. I feel like, you haven't hung out with anyone else in this world. Whilst for me, I'm still trying to open up more." Jillian shrugged.

"Hmmm...hey! Why not hang out at a nearby cafe? You know, to know each other more? Because frankly, we hardly know you." Missy purposed to the mares, in which Sissy agreed.

"Eh, I guess it's better than just wandering around." Jillian shrugged and went with them to a cafe nearby and sat down. However, Missy noticed a group next to them. A group of familiar looking ponies. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the group of ponies are none other than Mr. Black, Mr. White, Gil, the General, the Beekeeper, Mr. Harm and Bling-Bling-Boy, who are having a conversation.

"Hey, dudes! Whatcha' talking about?" Missy yelled at the group

"Oh. We're just talking about what we've been doing lately in Ponyville." Mr. Harm answered. "If you want, you can join us." He asked them, in which the girls agreed and sat down with them.

"So, what were you doing lately?" Sissy asked them a question.

"I'm glad, that you asked, Sissy. For the past few months, I found a job as a teacher in a school in Ponyville and have been teaching the fillies and colts about the usual school lessons, while also giving inspirational life lessons in between. One of the new students was Cosmic Blaze, who has recently started his new day there. He was so excited on meeting new friends, but also open about his past of being a victim of bullying. I could see the fire in his eyes, similar to how Johnny had back then and still has. Brave, undeterred, yet heroic and kind. I guess, him having an older brother, albeit an adoptive one, gave him a massive boost of confidence."

"As for me, I started a honey business there, the same way, I did back then. At first, there were some hiccups due to me getting used to the new status quo, but a small community of beekeepers around Ponyville helped me getting better. So far, the business is going well. In fact, I took one unicorn mare, named Honey Hive, under my wing." Dr. Beebles gladly recounted his story, while filled with joy.

"Well, my goal is a bit more ambitious. You see, before all of this, I was known as a rich, evil mastermind, flaunting my status and chasing an impossible dream. If it wasn't for Jonathan, wait...Let me correct this." Eugene had to correct something. "I mean, if it wasn't for Radiant Thunder's disappearance, I wouldn't be in that place, I am now. That event really made me open my eyes and look, what I've done. Not to mention, hanging out and making friends with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon made me realise, that I have a great potential, but my ego from the past always pushing it back. I'm still trying to learn more and..well, be more humble about it. But I hope, that I can get behind my past and use my skills as a inventor and genius for the better and maybe...push Equestria into a new age of technology. But for now, it'll take a long time, since they don't have the right resources. However, I can improvise, now that I have learned about unicorn magic."

"Whoa, wait dude! Radiant Thunder? Since when did you call Johnny like that?" Gil was confused about Eugene mentioning Johnny by his pony name.

"I've been calling him like that, ever since me finding my new name. Brilliant Diamond. Plus, we have to get rid of our original names once for all, if we want a complete restart. And I'm not the only one, who's been thinking about that. I mean, look at Crimson Lighting and Zapped Bone over there, the new names of these girls." The white unicorn pointed at Sissy and Missy respectively. "Mr. Black, Mr. White and Brain Freezer are the only exceptions, but other than that, aside from Dr. Beebles, now known as Honeycomb, some of you haven't found new names." He made a point.

"Newsflash, I already have one. It's Natural Spark." Jillian corrected.

"And I have recently found mine. Humble Mind. That was before I introduced myself to the students as a new teacher." Mr. Harm noted about his new name.

"I'm still finding my new name! Just you wait! I'll come up with one in no time!" The General spoke with false confidence. In reality though, he has NO IDEA. (Can't blame him, because nobody knows his real name.)

"And as for you, have you even looked at your cutie mark for once?" Eugene turned his attention to Gil.

"I have a cutie mark?" The aqua stallion was puzzled, much to everyone's disappointment and shock.

"Oh come on!" Sissy was irritated and got up, after the revelation made her fall down in a comedic fashion.

"Oh my God, everyone has a cutie mark, dumbass!" Missy became outraged.

"Ladies, please. We can solve this issue without any drama." Mr. Harm calmed the girls down, preventing any escalation.

Everyone, including Gil himself, looked at the cutie mark. It resembles a golden star with a red and cyan surfboard. Has that cool dude vibe.

"Just think of a name, based on your cutie mark!." Jillian noted.

"Right..." Gil smiled....but only for a while, before responding with: "Yeah, I don't get it."

"Do you really want a restart or what!?" Missy became even more agitated.

"Missy, chill!" Sissy scolded her friend.

"Wait a minute...Chill..." That word caused Gil to think hard about his new name. There were some ideas in his head, but only one of them will come out. Meanwhile, the former agents and Eugene were surprised, that Gil started thinking hard and take things a bit more seriously, since being a vital point on helping them finding Johnny and arresting those, who are responsible for the mess. Eventually, a lightbulb went on in the aqua pony's mind.

"I got it! Chill Vibe!" Gil proudly presented his new name, before hugging Missy. "Thanks for the idea, man!"

"Uhm....you're welcome?" The pink hybrid awkwardly responded in frozen confusion.

"I actually like the name. What do you guys think?" Jillian asked the group about the new name, in which the others agreed.

"Okay. Now that we solved his problem, I am still curious about the others." Sissy changed topics. "What about you two dudes? I have never heard you two up until now."

"Well...it's a work in progress." Mr. Black answered.

"What he means it...we have no idea." Mr. White lowered his head in embarrassment. "I mean, we could do something similar by applying as guards, but applications recently is taking a very long time to respond. Not to mention, we had to do little side jobs to earn some money."

"Have you tried to apply for the jobs as royal guards?" Dr. Beebles asked.

"Actually, we haven't even considered on that idea." Mr. Black scratched his head.

"To be fair, we've been really rusty on that experience. It's been a long time, after all." Mr. White made a point.

The others are currently thinking on some ideas on how to help the unicorn hybrids to find some jobs, when all of a sudden, the sky became dark purple.

"Wait a minute, what the hell? The sky has become dark!" Sissy pointed everyone about the sky out.

"Perhaps it's night time?" Gil questioned.

"I doubt that." Eugene shot down the question. "It's currently in the middle of the day. There's no way, it would suddenly switch into night. Plus, I don't see the moon." He pointed out, that the sky became really cloudy with the only semblance of light being the glowing swirls of stars.

"You're right! Who could've done this?!" The General asked, when all of a sudden, they heard a voice.

"I did!"

As they looked back at the source of the mysterious voice, they saw a tall, dark pink Alicorn mare, with a dark blue, ethereal mane, purple armor and sharp teeth, standing with a menacing smile and a dark galactic aura around her eyes.

"Who are you?!" Sissy loudly yelled at the dark galactic mare.

"Oh, I'm glad, that you asked, child. My name is Shadow Galaxy! But you can call me....future empress of the universe." She smirked.

"Future....empress?" The blue pegasus mare became frozen in shock.

"That's right! I'll conquer this universe and everyone will bow down to the one and only! Me!" Shadow Galaxy laughed, as the ponies around her feared of her presence.

Ponyville Hospital

Snow, Cherry and Tropic rushed into the hospital and looked everyone.

"Where is she?! Where is Breeze!?" Snow yelled. Meanwhile, Cherry asked a nearby nurse.

"Excuse me, we're looking for a dark blue pegasus mare with violet and blue mane. She is our friend. Is she here?" Cherry asked.

"Well, yes. She's recovering here. I can guide you to her room, if you want." The nurse responded.

"Thank you." Tropic thanked the nurse before she guides them to the room, where Breeze is. All while Snow was extremely anxious. As soon, as the nurse opened the door, the snowy mare rushed inside, while the earth ponies following their friend, apologising the nurse about Snow's behaviour. As soon as they entered the room, they saw the blue mare laying in a hospital bed, bandaged and hooked up to an IV.

"Oh my God..." Tropic quietly gasped.

"I know right?" Cherry stood there in shock.

"Breeze! WAKE UP!!! WAKE UP, GODDAMNIT!!!" Snow screamed at her friend, begging her to wake up. Soon, her wish was granted, when the blue pegasus groaned and opened her eyes.

"Where...am I?" Breeze groaned, when all of a sudden, she was grabbed into a hug by Snow Emerald.

"BREEZE!! Thank god, you're okay! I've been worried about you, since you went missing!" The icy mare was in tears.

"We heard, you crawled to a couple of ponies, looking beaten up and covered by dirt in the early morning. Tell us....what happened?" Cherry asked.

"Oh...I'll tell you. You girls remember last time, you saw me, right? When I entered a hole to help Zizrar get his crown back?" Breeze asked, before telling them, what happened after that. "You won't believe, what happened next."

A few days ago...

We see Breeze Dasher along with Zizrar and his mole people, going around the underground tunnels, while making new ones. Their goal: Find Zizrar's crown.

"Uhm, your majesty? I'm confused, as of why there are some existing tunnels. Did we dig them?" One of the mole men asked.

"Hmmm...I don't remember us digging those tunnels around the area, where I got stuck." Zizrar doubted. "Perhaps, we should go even deeper. Men, dig deeper!"

The mole men did, what he asked and dug deeper and deeper underground, all while the group followed deeper. Thankfully, some of them have lanterns to illuminate the path.

"Aw man, how long is this gonna go on?" Breeze was impatient.

"Until I get my crown back, feathered horse!" The mole king was too determined to get it back.

"At first, Zizrar was quite a pain in the ass to endure."

"Dude, I have a name, remember..." the blue mare became annoyed. "Also, are you trying to redeem yourself, or what?"

"I'm still trying, you know?" Zizrar understood, as he kept going. "And honestly, I don't like your current attitude."

That severely angered the pegasus mare, as she suddenly stopped. "The fuck did you just say?!" She snapped and was about to rumble. "At least, I have met some friends, who aren't such prompted assholes, like you!"

"How dare you, cloudy?!" Zizrar is about to square off.

"Oh, you wanna fight, huh?" The dark blue mare growled.

"Uhm, guys..." One mole man was trying to bring their attention, while putting his head up to a wall, but the two were too focused on their argument. It didn't help, when insults were thrown around both sides. It almost came to a fight, but thankfully, two of the mole men grabbed Zizrar and Breeze, in order to prevent any discord. Needless to say, the whole thing was pretty chaotic. Meanwhile, that one mole man kept trying to bring up everyone's attention, but his voice was lost in the squabble, as nobody listened. Eventually, he had enough.

"HEY!!! WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP!?!" He yelled, silencing everyone and stopping the chaos altogether. "I heard something from the other side, while I was putting my head to this wall!"

"What did you hear?" Another one asked.

"Well, it sounded like...voices." The listening mole man described the sounds. The others put their heads to the wall and they indeed heard voices.

"But then...we heard voices from the other side."

"Could you dig a very small looking hole? Just in case? But not too big! I don't want the crown thief know, that we're here." Zizrar commanded one of the men to carefully dig a very small hole for them to look through. After that's done, Breeze volunteered to peek through the hole.

"Once I peeked through the small hole, my eyes wouldn't believe, what I saw. There was....life underground. What's more, they look....quite similar to Zizrar and his army....but with a twist."

Through the hole, she saw a hidden civilisation of mole people during a training session. They have quite a few similarities to Zizrar and his mole men. The major difference is, the hidden mole people were all female.

"What the...?" The blue mare whispered at the sight of it. She had seen hidden civilisations on other planets throughout her journey through galaxies. She did encounter a few underground people before, but never in her life had she seen a hidden civilisation, full of strong mole women.

"Let me see!" Zizrar pushed Breeze away and peeked a bit, to see the women, who are built like amazons, practice their weapons. "Well, I'll be damned. There are mole women!"

"Shh! Be quiet!" Breeze hushed the mole king and listened more to the ladies fighting, when all of a sudden, they heard a stern voice:

"Ladies! Here comes Queen Iris!"

Zizrar peeked through the hole again and he saw something. A group of mole women, lead by a strong built queen with a platinum crown and jewelry, holding a long scepter. As soon, as he saw this amazonian-like lady, the mole king basically froze. As for the mole men, as far as they know, their kind only consist of men. So seeing a different kind of mole people, only consisting of women, was a massive surprise for them.

"Any progress made ladies?"" The queen asked.

"Nothing much, our majesty. Just improving our skills and keeping everything in check." One of the mole women responded.

"Actually, there is something, Queen Iris..." The one with the ponytail had something.

"What is it, Talia?" Iris asked to her soilder, in which the mole woman, named Talia, pulled out a golden crown, that looked awfully similar to Zizrar's crown.

"I found this crown, while doing my routine inspection underground. I had to use my hands to blindly test the ground, in order to protect my eyes. Needless to say, from all of the objects I took, this has to be the most peculiar." Talia explained, who gave the crown to Iris, who looked closer at it.

"Careful, Talia. You'll never know, what happens on the surface. Therefore, we don't know, if this is safe or not!" The mole woman, who's been next to Iris, became suspicious.

"Evelynn, please. I just checked this crown and it seems to be safe. But something is off about it. It doesn't look like something from our home. But at the same time, I'm really curious about some potential treasure from the surface world. Unfortunately, the bright light prevent us from exploring! Unless there is a miracle item out there, I'm afraid, we're currently stuck there. But regardless, we have to wait for this opportunity and until then, we have to keep training and push ourselves to the absolute limits." Iris made a speech to everyone, including Evelynn.

Meanwhile, Zizrar saw everything, but he was still frozen, which annoyed Breeze Dasher and some mole men, who wanted to see the ladies.

"Dude...can you move?" Breeze tapped Zizrar multiple times, in order to snap him out of it. Frustrated, the dark blue mare pushed him away and looked a bit through the hole.

"Hey!" The mole king angrily stood up.

"You've been there for too long!" The pegasus mare yelled at him, while the mole men looked nervous, like they knew, what's gonna happen.

"Watch your tone, Breezie!" Those words from Zizrar seriously ticked Breeze off, but thankfully, two of the mole men restrained the two from starting a fight, but they kept on shouting each other.

"Stop it, you two!" One of the mole men pleaded Breeze and Zizrar to stop the argument.

"...and I still stand by the opinion of him being and asshole. Like, seriously! I can't stand him!"

"Calm down, Breeze! What happens next?"

"Being too angry is not good for you..."

*sigh* "Sorry about that, girls...Anyway..."

On the other side, one of the ladies, who was close to the wall heard something. She tapped one of her friends for attention.

"What is it, Auriana?" One of them asked.

"I heard something on the other side..." Auriana listened closer to the wall, when she saw the tiny hole. After peeking through it, she saw Breeze, Zizrar and the mole men. "Queen Iris! There are intruders on the other side!!" She yelled, shocking everyone.

"Ladies, break the wall down and capture them!" Iris commanded her soldiers.

"Yes, Queen Iris!" The women complied and they formed a formation, where the most buff women stood at the front, preparing to break the wall down.

"...I had no idea about my surroundings, since I was too focused on the argument, until it's too late..."

Back to Breeze, she and Zizrar were still arguing, while the mole men did their best to defuse the situation. It seems like, their arguments would keep on for what it seems like an eternity, while all of them were unaware of their surroundings. That was, until they heard the wall broken down, several footsteps coming closer and the weapons pulled out, along with a voice:

"Freeze, intruders!"

That came from Evelynn, whom she and the ladies surrounded the group with their spears pointed at them, who were thrown off by the sudden appearance.

"Damnit! This is all your fault!" Breeze blamed Zizrar for blowing the cover.

"Why me? You're the one who pushed me!" The mole king refused to take responsibility.

"YOU'RE BOTH AT FAULT FOR THIS!!!" The shout of an angry mole man can be heard. He really had enough with their arguments. "WHY CAN'T YOU TWO JUST STOP WITH THE SILLY SPATS AND JUST GET ALONG FOR ONCE!??! BUT NOW, THANKS TO YOU, WE'RE APPREHENDED!!!"

The other mole men stood by, as they saw their friend pant after a long time of yelling at the two.

"Enough! Ladies, take them to the dungeons." Queen Iris commanded the girls to take the group to their underground prisons, while both Breeze and Zizrar didn't say anything, because they're progressing on what the mole man just said.

"Oh my God...you were imprisoned down there?!" Tropic was in shock.

"Yeah...However, I was taken to a separate cell away from the mole men, because apparently they've never seen a pony before." Breeze further added.

"Those mole women sound really ruthless and strong." Cherry commented.

"Well...not all of them..." The dark blue pegasus suddenly rebutted, causing her friends to fall in a surprised shock.

"What?! What do you mean by not all of them!? They've imprisoned you and the others!! Not to mention, they stole the crown and probably beat you up!!" Snow furiously yelled at Breeze.

"Let me explain, goddamnit!" Breeze shouted back, before taking a deep breath. "Where was I?.....Oh yeah."

Underground, several hours later....

The group of the mole men and Zizrar were sitting in multiple cells, seperated from the others, but there were a few mole men sitting with others. And then, there was Breeze herself, who was held in a cell away from the others, completely alone. The dungeon was guarded by a mole woman, holding a spear, making sure, her prisoners behave and not trying to break out. And just to be sure, Breeze's wings were tied up in chains.

"Great...as if things couldn't get any worse..." She sighed and sat down.

"Silence!" The guard yelled, causing Breeze to pout in annoyance. Soon, everyone heard the door opening and a braided mole girl came out.

"Okay, youngling. Make sure, those prisoners behave and not make any nonsense. Understood?" The guard told to the young mole, who is feeling a bit unsure.

"G-got it..." She quietly responded and grabbed the spear. The guard glaring makes her even more nervous, before taking her place, as the woman left. "Okay, focus on the task..." She quietly spoke to herself. However, she overheard something in one of the cells.

"I can't believe it....First, my king fell down a tight hole and lost his crown, then he started arguing with the pegasus and now we're held prisoners by a bunch of strong and mean mole women! This has to be the worst day of my life..." That came from one of the mole men, who's really frustrated and down. "This is all their fault...."

The shy guard went to that specific cell, holding the same mole man, who yelled at Zizrar and Breeze, before getting captured. He put down his sunglasses and glared at the girl. "What do you want? Should I be silent in my corner of sorrow, for your enjoyment!?" he snarled, causing the girl to become more scared.

"N-no....I-I....I'm truly sorry for what happened..." she gulped.

"That's a lie..." he looked away.

"No, I mean it! I also apologize for the mean behaviour coming from the other soilders and our commander, Evelynn... Even though they're trying their best to protect themselves from danger, I feel like, they take things a bit too far. Especially Evelynn, who is the most stern and ruthless." She softly spoke with empathy. "Also I've never seen a bunch of mole men before...That reignited my curiousity of the surface world once again, after being underground for so long." She then looked at Zizrar and Breeze, sitting in their respective cells and sighed. "And as for them, I looked at their faces and it seems like, they feel remorse on what they've done. Or perhaps they're sad of their imprisonment. Especially that pony, who really doesn't belong here underground..."

"Even though I overheard everything, I didn't say a single word. I was just....silent. Didn't help, that I wasn't looking."

To prove him, that she has different intentions, the mole woman gave him some apples.

"I know, the other guards will give you some food, but I thought, giving these fresh apples might help you." She softly spoke. Those words and the gesture of giving him the apples, surprised the mole man. Most mole women he encountered were mean and tough, but this one was timid, but very sweet and kind.

"I never thought, I could meet a sweet mole woman. The others were acting all tough and were mean and hostile." He looked down.

"They really haven't interacted with other species of people for a long time, due to them choosing to isolate themselves from everything and train themselves to their absolute limit. So much has happened, which caused them to follow that path for a lifetime." She explained. "Even though, I understand their concerns, at the same time, their behavior concern me...Plus, I just wanted to explore the world, meet new friends and live a peaceful life..." The braided girl looked at the other mole people in their cells, including Zizrar and at Breeze, before turning her attention back to the mole man. But before one would them would say anything, they heard the sound of the rusty door opening. The girl shrieked and quickly returned to her position, where it fully opened to reveal Evelynn and a few guards walking in, looking around.

"Alright, fellas! Who is the leader of the bunch?" Evelynn yelled sternly, causing everyone fo shake in fear. They walked around and looked at every cell, before stopping at Zizrar, who's looking at the ceiling. It took one of the guards to hit her spear at the bars, in which he turned his attention towards the ladies.

"You look different. Are you the leader by any chance?" The stern commander asked.

"Actually, I'm the king of the mole people. Well...of the mole MEN, that is." Zizrar admitted and clarified his answer. "Why do you ask me this?"

Hearing the confirmation, the guards opened the cell and took the mole king, while the mole people watched. After which, At the same time, they shackled his hands, just to be sure.

"If that's the case, then you're chosen for interrogation by queen Iris." The commander explained the reason as of why they'll take him away and then turned her attention towards the shy guard. "So far, nobody decided to make foolish decisions to get out. Keep an eye on them, Amber! Understood?"

"Y-yes, commander Evelynn..." she nervously responded, while she was shaking in fear. Evelynn on the other hand, couldn't understand, what she said, so she got closer.

"I can't hear you!" She shouted.

"Yes, commander Evelynn! Understood!" She loudly repeated her response.

"Hmph. Since you are still new to this, I'll let you know, that we're never gonna take easy on our enemies, no matter what. Now get back to work!" As the group exited the dungeon, Evelynn looked one last time on the shy lady, whose name is confirmed to be Amber, before leaving with Zizrar and closing the door shut. As soon, as the door was closed, Amber dropped the spear and collapsed on the floor our of exhaustion.

"Are you okay?" The mole man asked.

"I'm sorry...But I'm so scared of my peers...especially Evelynn..." She groaned, before getting up and returned to the mole man. "Anyway, you've probably overheard my name being shouted from her. I'm Amber. What's your name?" The shy more girl introduced herself and asked him on what his name is.

"The name's Roy." The mole man introduced himself as Roy. "Can you tell me more about your people? I'm kinda curious."

"Of course, I can!" Amber smiled and proceeded to explain more information about her people, all while Breeze is slowly overhearing everything.

"I heard, that someone named Amber befriended one of the mole men, named Roy. And it sounds like, she's a nice girl."

The blue pegasus looked back to see Amber and Roy chatting each other. It seems like, they were slowly starting a friendship. This caused the mare to smile, since it reminded her on her first encounters with Cherry Swirl, Tropic Bloom, Fire Jewel, Snow Emerald, Jenny and finally Ocean Spark, in which she became friends with them and even formed a team with them to stop evil. Those were the good old times. Kicking the bad guys' asses, visiting planet after planets and having a fun time. Despite their trials and tribulations, they eventually came together stronger than ever. Too bad, the drama tore the team apart.

"Man...it surely reminded me of the good old times." She sighed, since she missed that feeling.

"Hey, Roy! Don't tell me, that you're chatting with a guard..." One of the mole men yelled, since he was far away from Roy.

"Don't worry! She's friendly!" Roy assured his fella, that she's different from the other mole women.

"Uhm...Amber?" Breeze spoke to the braided mole girl, who got distracted.

"Yes?" The shy mole went to Breeze's cell, when she heard her asking her something.

"Uhm...Do you have any plans to start your own life?" The mare asked out of curiosity, since she over heard the mole speaking about her curiosity of the surface world.

"I wish....It's just, the other girls are really iffy about the surface world, due to the war back in our home planet. Since Queen Iris and her people escaped to this planet, they've became really paranoid and stayed underground ever since." Amber explained about the reason. "But...I don't think, everyone is pure evil. I just wish, I have the courage to speak up and go out, but I'm afraid, that they would punish me..."

"Actually, I overheard about Queen Iris being curious about the surface world, after getting Zizrar's crown from one of her soldiers, named Talia. She said, that the light is preventing them from going up there." Roy responded, after being reminded of something, he overheard before being captured.

"Really? She really said that? I'm sorry... I was somewhere else, doing some small errands." Amber sighed.

"He's actually right. I also overheard Iris saying that." Breeze shrugged.

"I see..." Amber answered, taking their words into consideration. "I guess, that makes sense, when Zizrar was taken for questioning by Queen Iris. She might be curious..."

From that day onward, the three of them became friends. However, most of the mole men became cold to their bond, due to the superstition of the mole girls being mean.

A few days passed and the group were still in their cells. Everytime, Zizrar and one of the mole men will be taken for more questioning by the guards. During that time, Roy refused to talk to Zizrar or anyone about his new friendship with Amber, since he was fully aware, that they wouldn't accept it. Given that the other guards were too strict and loud to them. Hell, they threatened them with their lives, if they didn't comply. Even Breeze was aware of these and also refused to speak even further.

"But most of them disliked my friendship with Amber and Roy and their friendship in general, due to them being treated like prisoners by the other guards. Even though Zizrar didn't know that, Roy and I decided to keep it a secret. And then last night... it came into motion."

Yesterday, Amber was about to end her shift, when Roy had an idea.

"Hey, Amber! I need you to tell you something! " Roy quietly got her attention, since Zizrar was taking a nap. The mole girl came to Roy's cell, in which the mole man whispered something in her ear. At the same time, four of the guards opened the door. They opened Zizrar's cell and took him away. But two of the guards stopped in order to look at every cell, before stopping at Roy's cell.

"You! You're coming with us." One of the guards sternly looked at Roy and took him away, as the cell was opened. She stopped near Amber in order to switch the jobs.

"On it, Gia." Amber took Gia's job, much to her sadness. But regardless, she had a job to do and left with the others, while Gia grabbed a spear and watched over the prisoners with a stern look. Most of them were silent, due to their treatment.

"Hmph. I'm actually impressed, that you guys behaved so damn well." Gia commented. "As long as you follow the rules, nobody will be harmed."

The others silently complied, including Breeze. It went on and on until late at night, when everyone was asleep. There were no guards at the time, but of course, they didn't try. That was until the door was silently opened and someone tiptoed through the chambers and looked around the cells, until they found Breeze's cell. They sliently unlocked the door and released the mare from the chains, allowing her to fly again. All while Breeze's asleep. Then the mysterious individual grabbed several rocks, shaped them like a lying pony, painted it blue, glued some fake violet and blue hair on the front and back, mimicing a mane and a tail, painted a face, then did their best to make it look as close to the blue mare as possible. However, those small noises woke the mare up, who was close by.

"Ugh...what's going on?" The pegasus groaned and opened her eyes, only to see that shadowy individual building something. What really caught her eye is due to the silhouette of the individual, having a braided hairstyle and being petite.

"Wait a minute...You look familiar..." she stood up and looked closer, only to feel lighter around her wings. Sure enough, when the mare opened hee wings, there was no restraint to hold them back. She went closer and closer to that individual and tapped them, only for them to shriek in fear.

"Wait! That voice..." She thought. That voice sounded feminine and shy. And there was only one, who has that voice and that braided hairstyle. Sure enough, the shadowy individual turned out to be none other than Amber, who's been trying to free Breeze all along! But before the mare would even respond, the mole girl immediately hushed her.

"Shhh! You need to be quiet! I'm trying to get you out of here." Amber quietly whispered, as she finished the fake pony construction and grabbed a nearby torch to light up the area.

"Get me out of here..? Was this your idea?" Breeze scratched her head.

"No. It was actually Roy's idea. He requested me to get you to the surface world, because he said, you have some 'elemental' friends, right?" Amber explained, who was responsible for the plan. Which meant, what Roy whispered to Amber earlier was actually a secret plan to get Breeze out of the chambers and back to the surface world.

"Well, yeah. Not sure, why he wants me to get my friends though...." Breeze was still puzzled.

"To get some help? Now please follow me. I know a way out." Amber grabbed Breeze's hoof and left the chamber. They snuck through the tunnels and around a few guards. A few minutes later, the reached a wall. However, Amber began to push something, which revealed a hidden tunnel going up.

"Damn...You're really clever." Breeze was impressed.

"Thank you." Amber giggled. "I actually made that secret tunnel a while ago, so I can explore the surface. But only at night, since most of them are asleep. Now go, young pony! You deserved to be free."

"Never thought of a mole girl actually helping me out... Thanks, Amber! And don't worry, I'll get my friends for backup and we'll kick their asses and save the others!" Breeze was about to go, when she suddenly had a question. "Wait! What about you?"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'll keep it as a secret." The shy mole assured, which relieved the mare to climb upward. The last things, she heard before was the tunnel being closed. From that point onward, it's just Breeze Dasher climbing her way up to freedom. Unfortunately, not even a few minutes later, the dark mare became exhausted.

"Man, how long is that tunnel exactly?!" She groaned, assuming the tunnel would take so long. In fact, she didn't know, if the chamber was really deep underground. Regardless, she kept on crawling upwards, even though it took most of her stamina. Eventually, she touched something hard, so Breeze moved the objects away and crawled out of a hole, now covered in dirt, since the ground was wet a while ago.

"After what it seems like ages, I finally got out! And goddamn, it was a pain in the ass to crawl through a tight space! My back hurts from thinking it..."

"Oh man...I swear to God, I'll never climb through a tunnel ever again!" The pegasus mare groaned again, when she got up and laid down on the solid ground, to catch some air and energy. The breeze and the sounds of the grills and other animals brought relaxation to Breeze, since she missed the surface so much, even though she was imprisoned underground a few days ago. After a half an hour of resting, the blue mare got up and looked around.

"The problem was....I have no idea, where the hell I was. It was super far away from Ponyville. I mean, it could also be far away from our ship!"

"Okay. I'm feeling a bit better now.. But....where the fuck am I?" Breeze didn't recognized the area around her. "What direction should I go and WHERE THE HELL IS PONYVILLE!?!" She screamed to the sky, as she became even more frustrated. Breeze flew up and around the forested area, searching for something. A light, a house, anything to point towards pony civilisation. But instead, she saw nothing but trees, rocks, lakes, fields and wild animals. During the search, she became even more and more annoyed, until eventually, she landed on a field and stomped her hooves.

"Man, could this day get any worse?!?!" The blue mare angrily yelled and painted, as she was exhausted again. Suddenly, she heard a voice.

"Thing is, a few days ago, while I was hanging out with Radiant Thunder and Coffee Paw, they said something like: 'Don't ask, if things could get any worse! It always makes things even shittier!' Back then I assumed, that they had the worst luck imaginable. But looking back at that moment, I really shouldn't have said those words, because immediately after I said that...of course it did get fucking worse....But in the worst way imaginable. And no, I'm not talking about the mole girls catching up to me, hell no! Instead..."she" came back."

"Hello, Breeze. Long time, no see.~"

"What the?! Who's that?!" Startled, the blue mare looked around for the source of the sound, only to see nothing. "Aw man, this is one of those mind fucks, huh?" She kept looking around, while hearing laughter somewhere. "Where are you!? Show yourself! I'm not afraid to throw hooves at ya!" Immediately in a battle stance, Breeze prepared for the mysterious enemy. Then out of nowhere, a dark, galactic aura surronded the poor mare, making her unable to move and lifted up, as dark mist surrounded the area close to her. Soon, she heard hoofsteps getting closer and she was met with glowing yellow, serpent-like eyes with a blue to pink aura around them and a glowing horn.

"Oh no...Not this shit again..." The dark blue pegasus was afraid of the pony, to whom she knew. Sure enough, her fears were confirmed, when Shadow Galaxy stepped out of the shadows with a wicked grin.

"Missed me?" The dark pink Alicorn nonchalantly smiled.

"I thought, you're gone for good! Like being destroyed by the power of the elements and Jenny overcoming you!" Breeze shouted.

"Oh you silly pony, you have no idea, that little drama of yours and your friends gave me enough strength to return from the shadows and picking off, where I left off! And you might ask, what drama...Well, the one, that started with a rift between Fire Jewel and us!" Shadow Galaxy explained her return and rubbed salt to the wound.

"No...." Breeze was left shook from what she just said. The drama between Fire Jewel and her own friends and sister, causing the team to be broken off on bad terms, which lead to a lot of misunderstandings, terrible mistakes and lots of lives ruined and caught off in a web of the dilemma, were all the cause for more damage than good. Examples being the dragon incident and recently, Shadow Galaxy's return after a very long time.

"Oh, but don't worry, little one. I'll make sure to do everyone a big favor by getting rid of you and your friends. And once I'm done with you, I'll cover the universe in darkness and rule it as the supreme queen for all eternity!!" Shadow Galaxy preceded to laugh evilly, as sounds of lightning can be heard roaring from the skies. "And don't be sad. It'll be quick and painless" She was about to charge a killing blow, when all of a sudden, cyan lightning bolts hit Breeze, charging her up and breaking her free from Galaxy's magic.

"I may have been out of shape a bit, but I still got some fight in me left!" Immediately, the pegasus mare prepared for a throw down. "I'm gonna defeat you, just like me and my friends last time!"

"Bring it, twerp!" Shadow Galaxy smirked and also prepared for an attack.

[During this battle, this theme plays:

https://youtu.be/pO-4aFrFUCc

First, Shadow Galaxy unleashed a dark beam at Breeze, but the mare dodged it by flying away.

"Charged hurricane!" Breeze used her powers to created an electrical hurricane to send it right at the dark Alicorn, whom she flew through it and fired several shots, in which the pegasus created a powerful wind to bring those shots right back at her. Shadow Galaxy responded by blocking them off with a barrier. Next, she unleashed a powerful shockwave, causing a minor earthquake and slightly throw Breeze off and thrown her to a nearby boulder.

"That does it! Amped Kick!" Breeze got up and flew up to the skies, in order to charge herself up to a powerful attack. After which, she flew down at rapid speed and positioned herself to a single kick, while being surrounded by lightning bolts. Due to its incredible speed, she managed to hit the evil Alicorn and also sending electrical shocks at her. What followed is an all out brawl between Shadow and Breeze, which including unleashing their spells at each other, kicking, etc. It went on and on, until the dark blue pegasus flew so fast and kicked her away. Exhausted, yet triumphant, Breeze smirked.

"Is that, what you got!?" She chuckled, but her demeanor changed, when Shadow Galaxy hit a tree, she suddenly turned into dark smoke. "What the!?" She looked around, but unbeknownst to Breeze, the dark alicorn reappeared behind her from a mist.

"No, but thank you for asking that, Breeze." She smirked and fired off a beam, in which it hit the pegasus mare to the ground. After which, she fired off several shockwaves at the helpless mare, giving her more pain and agony. "That was sure fun, but unfortunately, your time is running out!" After which, Shadow performed a drop kick at Breeze and used her magic to pick her up, in order to finish her off. It was pretty hopeless, as she charged for yet another powerful blast for a killing blow.

"I would've been a goner, since she was too strong and I was exhausted, due to the escape, but then..."

An innocent rabbit came by and made noises, while searching for food. However, the sound distracted the shadowy mare.

"Huh? How dare you distracting me from getting my victory!?" She snarled, scaring off the rabbit, whom it ran away. However, during that brief distraction, her horn stopped glowing and Breeze was let go. She used that brief time to fly away as fast as she could.

"Now, where was I-" Shadow Galaxy turned back, only to see that Breeze had already escaped. "Damn it! She escaped, just like the princess! Whatever, I'll pick them off next time. Besides, I have more time to set my plan in motion and soon, everypony will bow down to the future empress of the galaxy!" She laughed evilly.

Meanwhile, Breeze flew as fast, as she could to get away from Shadow Galaxy, however, her injuries slowed her down hard, until she had left with no other option than to land down on the ground in order to run, but even then, the injuries hindered her journey even further. She tried to walk for a while until she had no choice but to crawl.

"I got away as fast as I could, but it hurts so bad, that I had to slow down. Meanwhile, I had no idea, where I was, though in reality, I was close to Ponyville. So imagine my relief, when I found houses. After which, I tried on knocking on every door, so I can get some help."

It went on and on for a while, until she found houses, which meant, she arrived at a village. Relieved, she used her remaining strength to crawl further and knock at every door, in order to get some help.

"And of course, it lined up with you eventually knocking on a particular door, in which Lyra and BonBon eventually answered, before losing your consciousness."

This was the last thing, Breeze did before losing consciousness, thus ending the flashback.

Ponyville Hospital, present

"I never thought, that bitch would come back after so long....Hearing her name makes my blood boil...." Snow growled, while Cherry and Tropic backed off. "We have to stop her!"

"Yeah! There's no way in hell, she will succeed this time!" Breeze was motivated, but when she moved, the injuries caused her to groan.

"No, Breeze! You're still injured! Please rest, while we're taking the mission." Snow stopped her friend from moving.

"B-but...what about the mole people?" Tropic asked, since Breeze's story made her worried about Zizrar and the others, who they've still been captured underground.

"We'll take care of this later! But for now, we have to go to Ponyville to raise the defenses and prepare for the battle! She'll regret invading this planet, when we use our elements together!" Snow rebutted.

"Yeah, but think about it, Snow. There are only three of us. Breeze is still injured and not to mention, FIRE AND OCEAN ARE STILL ABSENT!!! That shit ain't enough! I suggest, we should get some assists!" Cherry made a point, since despite being three versus one, she remembered one time, where it wasn't enough, when they fought against Shadow Galaxy a long time ago. Presumably the first encounter and battle. But Snow didn't want to hear anything about it.

"No! The last thing we want, is more casualties and injuries! I really don't want anyone to fall under her foul hooves and make everything worse! So, it's now just the three of us now or never!" Snow outright shot down Cherry's request and ran off.

"Damn, what's up with her?..." Breeze scratched her head.

"Recently, she's been extremely agitated and hard to work with. The drama is of course the main reason of all of this and I get, why she doesn't want more assists, but....I fear, that Snow is hiding something, since she reacted to the drama a lot worse than the others." Cherry theorized, before switching topics. "Hey, Breeze, you said, you escaped to the surface to get our help, right?"

"Uhm, yeah. That's what Roy wanted. Breeze nodded. Suddenly, Cherry had an idea.

"Uhm...Cherry? Shouldn't we go after Snow to help her?" Tropic was worried.

"Hmm....Breeze...We'll help you get the men out." The pink-haired mane made up her mind, much to Tropic and Breeze's shock.

"Cherry, you don't understand! If you don't follow Snow's orders, she'll kill us!" Tropic tried her best to convince Cherry to change her plan, but Cherry stood to her decision.

"That's the thing! Snow really needs to learn to be more open and less bossy to us and everyone! Plus, I think, it's time to tell everyone the whole truth about us, including...you know, who. That's right! I'm going to tell the entire history about...her...my best friend..." Cherry was getting more and more emotional. "You may be apprehensive about it, but it's time to change it! It's OUR fault!! We brought many innocent ponies into OUR petty mess! And I don't want to be associated with the drama and being the target of bullying again! I JUST WANT TO BRING OUR FRIENDSHIP BACK AND THINGS TO BE BACK TO NORMAL!!!!" With tears in her violet eyes, Cherry looked at her friends. "Girls...you really need to understand....we need to take responsibility and mature....and of course trying our best to restore our friendship....I learned that from Princess Twilight and her friends..."

"Cherry..." Tropic watched on, as he friend was in an emotional state. It reminded her on when she met the green mare for the first time, when Breeze brought her to the cottage. It all happened in the planet, Shima.

Shima, several years ago...

Inside the cottage, Tropic was preparing in the kitchen, while Fire Jewel prepared the fireplace with wood and her own fire magic, when all of a sudden, the door was bust open by Breeze, who was carrying Cherry.

"Huh? Breeze, what's the matter?" Tropic ran to her friend, while Fire was confused.

"Wait....who's the new girl?" The red unicorn was confused.

"No idea, but while I was flying, I saw her falling from a cliff. It's a good thing, I flew as fast I could and catch her, before she hit the cold waters. She resisted at first, but then stopped." Breeze explained her reason on bringing in a new pony.

"Tell me, who pushed you?" Fire asked, wanting answers, but the green earth pony looked away in sorrow.

"Please...we're not here to hurt you... " Tropic pleaded.

"You're probably saying this, to make yourselves better and make my life miserable, like everyone...." The green mare mumbled.

"What the fuck, we're not bullies!" Fire snapped, but Tropic held her friend back.

"Fire, please! You're scaring her! Anyway....we just want to do the right thing and make the universe a better place, protecting people and stop evil. Bullying is not part of our nature." Tropic assured, that she and her friends were not doing any harm and instend present them as potential heroes.

"Of course, you wouldn't help me from what I've been through! You wouldn't help someone, who's been called 'a weakling' or something for so long!" The pink haired mare snapped.

"The hell are you talking about? Were you....bullied?" Fire guessed.

"Seems like it." Breeze looked at Cherry.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened to you... I know, that we just met and thus, don't know about you at all. But I assure you, that we're different. If you have any issues, you can talk with any of us. Our doors are open." Tropic slowly approached the green mare, who's been hostile, fearing for the worst. But her suspicions were debunked, once she was pulled into a hug by the yellow mare. "It's going to be okay. We're here now." She softly spoke to the green earth pony, who's been touched by Tropic's kindness.

"Besides, if those bullies show up again, we're gonna give them a piece of our minds and a good ass whooping!" Fire Jewel added and joined in the hug, followed by Breeze shortly after.

"I....I....I..." Cherry was at a loss for words, due to being emotional by their actions.

"Don't worry, man. We're gonna protect you....no matter what..." Breeze smiled.

"She's right. That's what friends do." Tropic warmly smiled, as the green mare had tears streaming down from her face, to which the yellow earth pony wiped them away.

After which, the four ponies sat down and Cherry proceeded to tell them her struggles with bullying. They were shocked by the extent and told them, that despite having different experiences with pain, like Fire Jewel being an abuse victim, Tropic being unable to save a friend from suicide and Breeze with abandonment issues, they've bonded over their pain and their shared desire for justice.

Ponyville Hospital, present....

"Cherry...I made up my mind... Let's help Breeze out and set things straight. Besides, it's best to tell them about her, so that mistakes like these will never happen again." Tropic quickly hugged the green mare, finally convinced to join her plan. She then turned her attention to Breeze. "Breeze, we'll get the men out and stop Shadow Galaxy for good. And maybe....talk things out. You can rest, while we're doing your request." She smiled.

"Thanks. I knew, I can count on ya!" Breeze smirked.

Meanwhile Cherry was brought back to reality through the power of friendship and proceeded to leave the room with Tropic, while Breeze watched and laid down to recover.

Meanwhile in Ponyville...

We see ponies running away from Shadow Galaxy, who used her magic to cause destruction and capture ponies. Some of the running ponies were Sissy and Missy, who were running as fast as they could or in Sissy's case, flying.

"I swear to God, we can't catch a break! First the dragon and now this, despite that being months ago!!" Sissy screamed.

"Where the hell are Test and the mutt!? They could've been a REALLY big help right here!!" Missy shouted, while running. Suddenly, the hybrid tripped and injured herself. Sissy came by to help her friend up, but they were closed to be captured by the dark orbs, when all of a sudden, they were shot down by beams and Jillian coming out to protect the girls.

"Stay away from my friends!" The pink unicorn charged her horn, ready for the fight, as more orbs appeared. She shot down more and more of them down, however more of them appeared. Regardless, the unicorn mare kept on going, until they were surrounded by the orbs. Suddenly, a blizzard froze them solid.

"Hey, where did that blizzard come from?" Sissy looked around for the source, when a white pegasus with emerald green mare flew by, to protect everyone. In other words, Snow Emerald has arrived.

"Everypony, get out of here! The guardians will take care of this!" Snow spread her wings in order to save everyone. The girls did just that, but not before Missy stopped to ask a question.

"Wait, guardians? You're the only one." She asked, before being grabbed by Sissy and Jillian and running away. That question hit Snow hard, as she looked around for the two earth ponies.

"Wait....Where the hell are Cherry and Tropic!? Did they just abandon me and the mission?! I swear, if I see them, they're gonna be in so much trouble!" She screamed, but unfortunately for her, Shadow Galaxy was standing behind. "And...she's already behind me, isn't it?" She turned, confirming her suspsicion. However, the icy mare was prepared for it with her ice spells.

Canterlot Castle

The Mane 6 and Spike arrived inside of the castle and once they arrived the throne room, they saw Princess Celestia with bandages on her body and some doctors watching on her.

"Oh my goodness! Princess Celestia! I read your letter and we came here as fast as possible! Are you okay!? What's going on here!?!" Twilight was worried and panicked of seeing her mentor and fellow princess being taken care of her injuries.

"Not to mention, the sky was getting really funny, with all of the starry swirls and night colors It's like, they are gathering around for a weird party!" Pinkie Pie added, because earlier, they've seen the skies change.

"I'm okay, girls. But earlier, I've discovered something unbelievable. It was about a pink alicorn, with dark blue hair being covered in mist and the next thing, I knew was a menacing alicorn with dark galactic mare coming out, calling herself as Shadow Galaxy, whom she tried to destroy me. Luckilly, I managed to escape to Canterlot and wrote the letter to you, because Equestria really needs your help again." Celestia explained. Suddenly, a lightbulb came off in Pinkie's head.

"Pink alicorn? Blue hair? Hmmmm...I swear, I've seen her before..." The pink party mare started digging in her head, finding for a specific memory and in a short time, a "Eureka!" moment came in. "Girls! Girls! Girls! Somehing just tickled my brain hard! Remember when we last been in the Ponyville hospital several months ago, when we first met Fire Jewel and Tropic Bloom?!"

"The Ponyville Hospital? What do you mean, darling?" Rarity was confused.

"Now that you mentioned it Pinkie, something flashed in front of my eyes just then.." Fluttershy commented.

"Same here, sally!" Applejack nodded. Soon, a crucial moment flashed in front of everyone's eyes. In other words. the last time, where they saw the alicorn mare. It was outside the hospital, where they just left with Fire, Tropic, Johnny and Dukey. She stood there, along tith Snow, Breeze, Ocean and Cherry, reprimanding the mares. One thing lead to another, more drama insued and finally Tropic imprisoned them in vine cocoons, due to her having enough.

"Wait! Princess Celestia, it's slowly becoming clear now! We've seen the pink mare before, when we exited the Ponyville hospital, with Fire, Tropic and the guys! It happened several months ago! It was a very messy ordeal to witness a drama between friends, who've clearly been through so much and have been together for several moons. In fact, I talked with Tropic for a while and she said, that the drama really hurt her self-esteem. What happened next is that Fire snapped and causing damage to Canterlot and almost getting herself killed several weeks later. Despite knowing everything about the rest of the ponies, we've never known about her, because they refused to talk about it!" Twilight explained the memory and everything, what happened to them.

"Actually, it was Snow, who refused to talk about it...In fact, she was incredibly offensive about it and she would get really angry and scary, if I mention her. The others were not in the mood to talk about her, but I feel like, she may have a hatred towards her." The shy pegasus pointed something out.

"I'm startin' to distrust those ponies, y'all...They've been clearly hiding a lot of secrets in front of us and they've been seriously troubled, ever since they arrived at Equestria..." Applejack was slowly getting more doubtful of helping the elemental ponies. "For someone, who've been protecting beyond the stars, they were really terrible with friendships!"

"Applejack, I know your concern and I get, where you're going...It's been months since the fallout. But maybe, if we decide to calmly talk to them and assuring them, that we're helping them restoring their friendship, then perhaps, they're gonna tell them the full story. " Twilight comforted her southern friend, before turning her attention towards the sun princess. "Was there something about the alicorn, princess?"

"Yes, there was something...I've seen tears dropping from her eyes, before being fully covered by the mist. Like she was completely saddened by something. That's something, that kept me thinking that perhaps...she's been remorseful about her actions. So, there is still a chance, that if we manage to find her, we can talk this out and bring the group back together." Celestia recounted a small detail and a very interesting theory about what happened before. "However, I fear, that maybe Nighmare has returned and possesed her. But at the same time, I doubt it, since she was completely alone. Not to mention, we have defeated it a long time ago, back when it possesed the sisters."

"We're not exactly sure, how exactly happened with the mysterious alicorn, but one thing is clear: We have to stop her and save Equestria!" Twilight was determined with the mission.

"Now, where is she currently?" Rarity asked. "We have no idea, where she went after her encounter with Celestia."

"She said something about conquering the galaxy. But she had to start somewhere. " Celestia was thinking about a possible location, when all of a sudden, a royal guard just informed her, that Shadow Galaxy is currently in Ponyville.

"If that's the case, then we have to go back! Okay, girls! Get close to me, because I'm gonna teleport us there immediately!" The princess of friendship had a serious expression on her face and as soon, as they closely gathered around the purple alicorn, she used her horn to perform a teleportation spell to get herself and the others to Ponyville.

"Good luck, ponies." Celestia nodded and sat down. At the same time, she missed Luna so dearly and was thinking of apologizing to her.

Unknown fields

Cherry and Tropic have just arrived at the hole, where it all started. The hole, where Zizrar got stuck and his crown was last seen, before being taken by a different kind of mole people. They noticed, that it became deeper, since the mole men went into the hole, along with Breeze to find the crown thief. Now, that they know what happened to them, they're ready to free them. But they're also aware, that Amber is the only good one, so they're gonna let her go. So they went into the hole and walked through the tunnel.

"Okay, how are we gonna find them, without getting caught by those women?" Tropic asked.

"Hmm...Perhaps I can detect them, by using my power to feel the earth's vibratons underground. Stand back, Tropic. I'm gonna do it. " Cherry had an idea and Tropic stood back, as the green mare's hooves started to glow and she closed her eyes to feel the vibrations. The mare concentrated even harder during this time. After a few minutes of tracking down the vibrations, her ears started to twitch. "I sensed some vibrations over there! Come on!" Cherry and Tropic proceeded to follow the vibrations. As they got closer, the more intense the vibrations became, meaning they're getting closer to the source. As soon as they arrived to the spot, Cherry put her ear to the wall, listening to something. Using her powers to feel even the earth's slightest vibrations, she heard a male voice.

"I heard someone. Which means, we are close to the guys! Now stand back, I got this!" Cherry turned around and her backhooves glew orange, as she started to charge for an attack. "Terra Break!" She shouted and kicked a massive hole through the walls and going inside. They saw a mole man being surprised by the hole, but unfortunately, a guard was nearby.

"Cease, intruders!" The guard opened the cell with a spear in her hand.

"Can't let this happen! Rock Trap!" Cherry stomped down the ground, which caused the guard to be trapped by a cube of rocks. The mole man saw this as an opportunity to get out with the ponies following him shortly after. The yellow mare used her nature powers to unlock the cells by creating branches, that act like lock picks. Unfortunately for them, two of them are missing, which are Zizrar and Roy.

"Wait! Where are the remaining two!?" Cherry asked.

"You mean our king and Roy? Well, they've been taken by the guards. We're not sure why, but I'm afraid, that they're in danger." One of the mole men answered.

"In that case, we have to find them!" With those words from Tropic, the group charged through the door in search of the two, who may be taken to the queen. After knocking out some guards and lots of looking around later, which meant, taking some wrong paths, they've arrived closed to the throne room.

Slightly peeking through, without any suspicion, Cherry and Tropic saw several mole women gathered around in a large circle, along with the sounds of metal clashing. When they couldn't see, what's going on, Cherry used her powers to elevate the ground, she's in a bit, in order to see. What she saw, is Zizrar and Roy fighting for their lives against two of the best warriors with nothing more than a sword and shield. While Roy had a slightly better advantage, both of them lack their skill of fighting with weapons, since that's something they didn't have back in Porkbelly. Not to mention, the mole men weren't really the smartest, even when they started to go to the library to read books. The mole women on the other hand, have a lot of combat experience and intelligence to boot. So it shouldn't come off as a surprise, that the female warriors managed to overpower the two and disarm them from the weapons. The other mole women cheered, while Queen Iris and Evelynn watched. Well, all but one, as hidden in the crowd, Amber was looking away in horror.

"Finish them! Finish them!" The crowd cheered.

"Hmph....They're such pathetic creatures..." Evelynn scoffed, before turning her attention to the queen, who's been watching the spectacle. Meanwhile, the warriors prepared for a killing blow to the two, who were incapacitated. They were about to, until the ground started to shake and before they knew, Cherry landed in front of the guys, causing pillars to appear.

"Sorry, ladies! The show's over!" Cherry stood tall, while Tropic landed next to her friend.

"Get them!" Iris commanded the soliders to attack the intruders, but unlike Breeze, Cherry and Tropic were prepared. Using a spell, named "Glistering Soil", Cherry used her magic to make the ground perfect for Tropic to use her nature spells.

"Wild Branches!" Tropic stomped down on the ground to make branches appear to slow down the soldiers.

"Wait, you're Breeze's friends, right?" Zizrar asked.

"Yep. And partners at saving the universe. Now stand down, more soliders are coming! Terra Break!" Cherry kicked some of the soilders away with her glowing back hooves. Meanwhile, Tropic screamed out green shockwaves, which caused vines to appear. Most of them are caught and incapacitated by the vines, except Evelynn, who slashed the vines down. The yellow mare backed away a bit, due to the pain.

"You won't get away with this!" The commander charged with her sword and shield, however the yellow earth pony dodged them.

"What are we gonna do, amiga?" Tropic was fully tensed by the battle, while also fighting Evelynn off. It didn't help, that more soliders appeared to assist Evelynn, while Cherry is fighting against Iris. Eventually, the mares have their backs each other, while being surrounded.

"How about a convergence spell?" Cherry suggested an idea.

"Right with you!" With the words of the nature mare, the two ponies closed their eyes, their hooves started to glow and focused on creating a convergence spell. "Elemental Convergence: Nature's Rumble!" With those words, they unleashed magical shockwaves, which caused the earth to rumble and branches and vines to sprout out and attack the women, all while Cherry erected a rock shield around the guys and unbeknownst to everyone, aside from the ponies, Amber. She hid behind the guys during the battle. Once the guards and the queen were subdued and trapped on the ceiling, since they don't want to kill anyone (which is something, superheroes and magical girls never do, with some exceptions of course) Cherry opened the shield and Amber hid from everyone else almost immediately.

"That'll do. Come on, guys! Let's get outta here!" Cherry shouted and she, Tropic and the group left, while the ladies were left hanging. However...one of the guards, Auriana was thinking about something...peculiar, like she knew, that there was something, nobody knew before, regarding to Amber.

Meanwhile, the group stood to an area far away and Cherry used a spell to cover herself and everyone in a rock cube and lifted it up to the ceiling, like an elevator.

Equestrian Fields

The cube emerged from the earth and opened up, getting everyone out and feeling the breeze once again.

"You must been her friends, right? In this case, thank you for saving us." Zizrar thanked the two mares and the other mole people bowed down in a sign of gratitude.

"Breeze told us everything, what happened to you, so we got here as fast as we could. It's a good thing, we stopped those ladies from causing harm." Cherry responded.

"Uhm...guys?" Tropic pointed her hoof up to the sky, which was still dark with the strange swirls of stars.

"Shit...We almost forgot about Shadow Galaxy!" Cherry was reminded on what's going on. Not to mention, a distant orange glow from afar suggested them, that they're somwhere close to Ponyville. "We have to go to Ponyville and stop her once and for all!"

"Pardon me, but...who's Shadow Galaxy?" Zizrar was confused on who Shadow Galaxy was. After looking at each other, Cherry and Tropic sighed and looked at them with a serious expression.

"I knew, this moment would come..." Tropic lowered her ears.

"It's time to break the silence and tell them about the whole truth...." Cherry lowered her head and was about to tell them everything about Shadow Galaxy and by extension, the mare behind it, when all of a sudden, a mole man alerted them of ice shards flying towards them.

"Uh oh! Natural Cloak!" Tropic created a magical barrier around her and the others, protecting themselves from the ice shards. The yellow mare already knew, who's responsible and right on cue, they saw Snow Emerald, all bruised up and looking very angry.

"Where the hell have you two been!?" The pegasus growled.

"I'm sorry, Snow...We had to take a different route and save the mole people from a different kind from mole people, whom they're all women and coming from another planet." Tropic responded in a scared tone.

"We were on our way to Ponyville to assist you on defeating Shadow Galaxy." Cherry added, but the name already made the icy mare's blood boil even further, scaring the yellow earth pony even further.

"Uhm...can we go now?" One of the mole men asked.

"You heard him right...She's scaring all of us." Zizrar echoed his concern to the mares. With no choice, Tropic created some vine capsules for them to enter.

"They'll automatically bring you to Ponyville...Now go..." Tropic lowered her head in defeat and ordered the mole people to go into the vine capsules, in which they did, but not before Roy looking back at the yellow mare, who had tears in her eyes and lowering her defenses.

"Okay, Snow...We'll go with you..." In a defeated tone, Tropic started to walk towards Snow through her shield, much to Cherry's dismay, which soon evolved into rage.

"There you go, Tropic. Now come on, Cherry. We have to go now. Equestria needs us." Snow looked at her friend, begging her to come with them, but the green mare suddenly turned her back against them.

"No..." Cherry mumbled.

"What...What do you mean by "no"?" The icy mare turned around in disbelief.

"Snow...I'm tired of living with the guilt of everything, including the lies. Not to mention, if we keep doing this, it'll bring out more harm than good!" The earth pony's voice was shaken from the whole drama. "I know, the drama tore us apart and I get your concern...but at the same time, keeping the truth about her from others would make the problem a lot worse...I'm sorry...but I have to break my silence about her!"

"Cherry, don't you dare mentioning about her!" Snow growled.

"Cherry...." Tropic was scared.

"Tropic, I have to do it! It's the only way to get rid of the nightmares and guilt!" Cherry looked at her friend with small tears, before turning her attention towards Snow. "And as for you....I don't get it, I really don't....You used to be honest, smart and loyal...you may be secretive, but knew what you're doing... But now, you're nothing more than a cold control freak!"

"Hey! I don't want anyone being pulled into out business! Remember the last time, when Fire nearly destroyed everything!?" Snow shouted. "And I swear, if you mention her one more time, then I'll-"

"Looking back at our actions, that came from our pettiness, empty promises, lies and lots of misunderstandings...I've been thinking about those the whole time and realized, that it's OUR FAULT! We let ourselves being carried away by our emotions and caused so much grief, that our reputation there became shattered! I just want things to go back to normal and I will start by telling everyone everything about us, including about our former leader." Cherry closed her eyes, as if she knew, that Snow would attack her, if that pony was mentioned. Regardless, she stood ground on her decision was wasn't gonna change it one way or another. This resulted in a massive argument between the two, in which Tropic was close to tears, having no choice, but to watch. When it was too much for her to handle, she screamed and covered herself in a vine cocoon to hide.

"Great, you just made Tropic hide herself!" Snow was angry.

"No no no, you're the one, who did this. Your bitchy demeanor was a pain in the ass for us recently, ever since our group fell apart and the dragon incident! When will you realize, that it's never gonna help? Like, I feel like, you just hate her!!!" Cherry yelled.

"SHUT UP!!!" Snow's eyes glowed white, as she unleashed a powerful blizzard at Cherry, out of anger. Suddenly, an ice wall was erected in front of Cherry, thus protecting her from the storm.

"That's enough!!"

That voice came from Brain Freezer, who happened to overhear the conversation. His horn glowing was proof, that he erected the ice wall. Needless to say, he was disappointed by Snow's behaviour.

"Stay out of this! This is none of your business!" Snow growled.

"None of my business? NONE OF MY BUSINESS!?! You kept pushing away everyone, kept secrets from your own friends and you were outright mean to them, when all they want to do is to set things straight! Like jeez, what the hell is your problem!?" The icy unicorn went straight to the snowy mare.

"How dare you?" Snow looked at him.

"I dare! If it's wrong, it's wrong! I actually don't care, if you're smart or not, you're mean, cold, disgusting, distant and if you're keep doing this, NOPONY WILL EVER GO NEAR YOU AGAIN!!"" He yelled at her right in the face, much to Cherry's silent astonishment. A few minutes of silent later, something unexpected happened with Snow: the icy mare had tears in her eyes and before anyone knew, she flew away crying.

"Damn....You actually did it..." Cherry was still stunned by what happened.

"I don't get it...Where is the Snow, I once knew?? Why is she so mean to us? Why can't she tell us the truth!?" They heard Tropic crying in the cocoon. "She used to be nice and honest..."

"Uhm...what does it mean?" Brain Freezer was confused. In response, Cherry took a deep breath and whispered something in great detail in his ear. "I see...Tropic told me something about the drama earlier. And man...I didn't knew, it had more consequences than I thought."

"I know right! We not only lost four friends in a span of months, but disintegrated everything, we've worked for, all for a string of unfortunate events, caused by our pettiness and outbursts! I can't believe, that we became something, we swore to fight against several years ago....and now I'm ashamed and broken...." Cherry was saddened. "And Tropic is right. Snow used to be nice, smart and loyal....But the drama reared its ugly head and completely soured her and caused a flame of hatred towards her to ignite....And I thought it was extinguished, when Snow started to trust her more, after our friend has saved her life and proved her leadership skills..."

Then something clicked inside of him. After everything, Cherry told him and reflecting to his own past and his mistakes, Brain Freezer knew, what he had to do. He looked at Cherry with a serious face. "Go get your friend and go to Ponyville. I'll be right back." He said.

"But-" Cherry was about to tell him a counterargument, but Brain Freezer had his eyes set for a mission.

"No butts! She needs to learn!" With those words, the unicorn ran of to where Snow flew off, leaving Cherry behind, who knocked at the vine cocoon.

"Hey, Tropic. We need to go back to Ponyville." The green mare softly spoke.

"But how are we gonna suppose to do that with just the two of us?..." Tropic was still inside the cocoon.

"I have no idea, but as our former leader has said: 'We have to do our best, no matter how dire the situation is. As long, as we have each other.'" Cherry placed her hoof on the cocoon and after a few minutes of silence, it opened and Tropic came out, in which Cherry comforted her.

"See? Everything will be alright. Now let's go. I'm pretty sure, they need us." She softly spoke with a warm smile. After which, Tropic silently nodded with a smile and the two mares ran off to save Ponyville from Shadow Galaxy.

Ponyville, Equestria

In this village, Shadow Galaxy was currently in a battle against Twilight and her friends, who they've arrived to evacuate everyone and stop her. Pinkie fired off many confetti and random cupcakes from her confetti cannon, while Rainbow Dash dashed around to deliver some fast kicks. On the other side of the spectrum, the dark pink mare unleashed several shots at the Mane Six, in which Rarity used her magic to block them off, scaring Fluttershy to paralysis and engaged a 1v1 battle against Twilight. Meanwhile, Applejack used her lasso to ensnare the dark Alicorn, but broke herself free with a spell.

"Y'all have ideas on taking her down?" Applejack asked her friends.

"I know!" Pinkie turned her confetti cannon into maximum overdrive and took cover. "INCOMING!!!"

After Pinkie'a friends took cover, the confetti cannon steamed heavily and fired off a massive cake, balloons, confetti and lots of glitter at Shadow Galaxy, causing the mare to be slowed down.

"How dare you throwing the party stuff at my face!? If anything, it should be done after conquering the galaxy!" The mare screamed.

"You're wrong, Shadow Galaxy! Or should I say, the mare behind the darkness?" Twilight shouted. "That's right, Princess Celestia told me and my friends about everything, what happened to you. It seems like, you're feeling guilty on what happened with the whole drama! I know, it hurts, but you have to fight it!"

"Wrong! That pony is long dead and will never come back, while I'm still around!" The dark alicorn fired off shockwaves at the Mane Six, but they refused to get down, as they began to charge themselves for a finisher.

"Perhaps the magic of friendship will guide you to the light!" With those words from the princess of friendship herself, the six heroines fired off a rainbow beam at Shadow Galaxy, who fired off a massive beam at the other one, which caused a clash between the two beams. It kept changing the direction on which one will hit who. In fact, it went on for hours, until the magic of friendship overcame the dark magic and hit the dark mare, causing an explosion of light, magic and smoke. The battle was over and the heroines looked at the smoke and presumed that they have cleansed the pony with the magic of friendship. At first, they celebrated over their victory, but when the smoke has settled, Fluttershy noticed that Shadow Galaxy was gone.

"Uhm..girls?" Fluttershy alerted her friends and pointed at the dark mare's absence, which caused Twilight to investigate the spot almost immediately. Meanwhile, her friends were worried, that perhaps, they've killed her, but unbeknownst to the mares, it was not the case. In fact...they didn't realize it, until it was too late, when the ponies were surrounded by a magical aura, paralyzing them in the progress. And right on cue, Shadow Galaxy reappeared in the process.

"Hey! That was dirty!" Rainbow Dash called foul at the dark mare for her cheating.

"But...how did you escape at the very last second? There is no way, the magic of friendship would miss!" Twilight became panicked, but Shadow Galaxy just put her hoof on the purple alicorn's face with a smirk.

"Oh, you have no idea on what I'm capable of. That pesky pony was a better master in magic since she was trained from the best of the best. And I've just took those skills and made them incredibly stronger! And while you have fought valiantly, unfortunately for you, it won't matter anymore, as I'm just gonna destroy all of you and setting these ponies and beyond as an example that no one will mess with me!" With those menacing words, Shadow Galaxy fired off shockwaves, beams and other magical attacks at the girls, making them scream in agony and pain, all while the dark mare stood there, laughing menacingly. She then proceeded to throw them so hard to the ground, that they couldnt move any further, due to their injuries. Her horn supercharged and shot off a powerful beam at the mares and it seems like, this was the end of the heroes of Equestria....or is it?

"Not so fast!"

When the dust was settled, the unexpected happened.

"What?!" Shocked, the dark pink mare saw Twilight and her friends surrounded in a magical shield, created by none other than the returning princess of the night, Princess Luna!

"Princess Luna?...You're back!" Twilight was happy to see the moon princess again, despite her injuries.

"As soon, as I saw the skies changing, I immediately knew that something was wrong and got here as fast as I could." Luna explained the ponies about her sudden return, before turning her attention towards the dark mare. "And as for you, Nightmare...I didn't expect you to return and possess a poor pony once again. I demand you to release her from your grasp or else!"

"Nightmare? I don't even know, what you're talking about, but I hate, when twerps like you interfere my conquest!" Shadow Galaxy was about to charge up her horn, when the ground around her started shaking and vines grabbing her hooves, courtesy of Tropic and Cherry, who ran to the scene as fast as they could.

"We're not gonna let you take this planet!" Cherry shouted.

"Are you girls okay!?" Tropic rushed to Twilight and her friends.

"We're fine. Just endured a beatin', sally." Applejack struggled to get up. Seeing these ponies in pain made Cherry and Tropic to go to Luna's side with serious expressions on their faces.

"Princess! Let us handle the situation!" Cherry looked at Luna, who was surprised by the green pony's wish. But the earth pony proceeded to explain her reason with: "I know your concern, but this is something, Tropic and I have to deal with. We're incredibly sorry for dragging you into our mess....In fact, I've been getting nightmares about our drama everytime and I personally wanted it to stop! We've lost our friends from our dangerous misunderstandings and pettiness in general alone and we don't want to lose even more and damaging our reputation! It's bad enough, now that only four elemental orbs are active, due to the fire, water and light one shattering at the pressure of their actions, now with Snow being agitated and gone and Breeze in the hospital, i just wanted to end the drama indefinitely! Please, princess...I just want the drama to end, so we can live our peaceful lives..."

"Please...It's been bothering her for the last few months and I hate seeing my friends being hurt and broken...The drama also hurt me in some ways..." Tropic begged the princess.

After hearing their stories, she reminded om her time helping Fire and Ocean and giving them lessons about forgiveness and redemption. As such, she sympathised the earth ponies and made up her mind. "I heard your stories loud and clear. In fact, I will assist you on your battle. Let's take her down together!" Luna smiled, much to the mares' relief and gratitude.

"Thank you, Princess Luna." Cherry smiled and she and Tropic stood side by side with Luna, as they prepared to continue the fight. "Twilight, get yourself and your friends out of here. We'll handle this." She looked back at Twilight, telling her to get her and the others to safety, all while Luna and the earth ponies, now charged up with their earth and nature spells, were ready to take Shadow Galaxy down once and for all.

Unknown forest, Equestria

"Snow? Snow, where are you!?" Brain Freezer shouted, as he kept searching for the icy mare around the forest. He kept looking at every angle, every spot, trees, bushes, rocks, literally everything, but so far, he couldn't find a single clue about her whereabouts. That was, until he found a little patch of snow, which is unusual, because winter season hasn't arrived yet.

"Huh? Snow in the middle of the forest? I know, winter season is not here yet, which means, she's not far behind..." Seeing the patch of snow made Brain Freezer follow the wet trail, with some snow patches in between, all while dodging dangerous animals and even freezing them out of self defense. Eventually, he found a big dome made out of snow and ice in the middle of the forest, confirming that Snow was indeed inside the dome.

"Well...seems fairly obvious...Alright. time to go inside of the dome." The icy unicorn looked around for an entrance, but couldn't find any, due to the dome being made in one piece and therefore, bring frozen shut. So he decided to just break in by using his unicorn magic to blast a hole at the dome, allowing him to go inside the dome.

Inside the dome, not only he's met with a large maze made out of ice and snow, but the hole was automatically closed through ice magic, that Brain Freezer didn't do at all. On top of that, it was incredibly cold, like -40 to -50°C (or approximately -40°F. Idk, I'm not a mathematician and I have no idea about Fahrenheit, since I live in Europe). Fortunately for the icy stallion, the years of perfecting his icy weapon, freezing everything and even make everything colder around him or just make it permanently winter, made him get used to the freezing cold.

At first, he went into the maze and tried to find a way to get to the snowy mare, but there was a lot of trial and error with the blue stallion kept going to dead ends, avoiding traps, making wrong turns and overall had to backtrack his steps, but got lost, because the maze was overall pretty confusing. "Alright, fuck it!" Frustrated, Brain Freezer unleashed a powerful spell, destroying the maze completely, leaving behind an ice wall in front of him. Blasting a hole through the wall, the unicorn went inside another room with lots of snow around the area and there she was: Snow Emerald, sitting on ice with her back against Brain Freezer and head and ears lowered in silence. Knowing what to do, he approached her, but she ignored his presence, being silent.

"Well, well, well. It seems like, you're here in this ice dome, you created, huh?" Brain Freezer commented, but Snow refused to say anything. Eventually, she looked back at him but only for a short time, before looking away. But during the short time, he saw guilt in her eyes.

"Hey, uhm...I know, it's pretty awkward to talk to you again....but...I just want to get some answers from you. Your friends were terrified of you and Cherry commented, that you may have a secret. Like a hatred towards that pony or something. Really, what's the deal? Why were you like this? Look, I don't want to be rude and what I said was not really nice and all. I just....snapped. But seriously, what's the whole thing with you and your friends!?" The unicorn demanded answers from Snow. He wanted info about her, but the mare kept being silent. He was about to lose it in frustration, but he was suddenly reminded by what Twilight said to him during his first days at Equestria:

"Even though the past hurts, you have to learn from them, in order to improve yourself and remember, keep a calm mind, even at the most infuriating situations."

All of a sudden, Snow looked back at him again, only this time, with tears in her ruby eyes, streaming down from her face and from this moment onward, she didn't look away. It's like, she wanted to make things clear.

"You don't know, what it's been like to know someone for a long time, only to get betrayed and hurt for such petty reasons...that's because I've been feeling this this the entire time!!!" Snow yelled.

"Calm down, Snow! What do you mean by getting betrayed? I thought, your coldness came from your planet having strict cultures, at least that's what I've heard." Brain Freezer was taken back by the sudden revelation, but wanted more from the snowy mare.

"I can't, because they would use me for their selfish needs and then throw me away, like a useless toy!" Snow refused, but the stallion ain't having it and grabbed her face.

"Excuse me, you and your friends have been in Equestria for at least a few months and you even met new ones! Stop being so delusional about it!! Nopony's gonna harm you, not even your own friends!! Just tell me, what the fuck happened that made you like this and I swear to god, you better not lie or else!!" His horn was glowing in rage as a result, scaring the pegasus more into tears.

"OKAY, FINE!!! I'M GONNA TELL YOU THE ENTIRE TRUTH!!!!" Snow screamed, before attempting to calm herself down, after realizing, that Brain Freezer would just leave her behind, if she kept acting like this. She sat down and proceeded to tell him everything:

"The whole strict culture thing is actually partially true, but that's not the issue here. It all began, when I was a little filly, in a planet named Neveon. I had a promising upbringing, since my mother is a teacher and my father being a scientist. So of course, I was brought to the best school there to study. I was known for being incredibly smart, but had problems with fitting in the crowd and socializing, which caused me being a social outcast. Didn't help, that some ponies were jealous of my talent and and bullied me or used me for their selfish needs. I was in a similar position to Cherry, but I had a few friends, whom I spent time with them to recover myself from the constant trauma. It didn't help, that Neveon was lead by a strict rule and some of the bullies had connections with some of the most powerful politicians and mayors, so I had to keep myself shut and just move on. Didnt help, that my parents weren't really rich, but not poor either. It's like in between. But regardless, I kept on going with my life, when one day, I was hit by something, while studying for an astrology project. It was like a small, yet bright shooting star, but it didn't hurt me. It turns out, that I was actually hit by the Ice Orb, one of the seven elemental orbs, sent out to find chosen ones to save the galaxy. However, because I didn't know that at the time and the element hasn't activated yet, I was left confused and later decided to move on to continue my studies. In the end, I managed myself to ignore what they said by isolating myself, but still kept my friends and family in touch. In fact, I was about to write a test on my 8th birthday, when one day, everything went downhill....when Shadow Nebula and her forces invaded my planet. I remember the images of weapons being fired, people being taken away or even executed and lots of destruction and despair. My family and I did, what everyone could by finding a safe place. My friend, Mirror Note, offered some shelter for us and brought us to what it seems like an entrance for a bunker, they owned. But when we got inside, I was knocked down by a Shadow Pony and saw my family being taken away, as Mirror Note just stood there with a cold stare, which was the last thing I saw, before getting knocked out."

"Jesus....That's horrible..." Brain Freezer was shocked by the story, bit Snow proceeded to tell him more, because in her perspective, the pain had just begun. And during her explanation, short flashbacks occurred.

"When I woke up, my family and were shackled in a cell. I couldn't believe, that Mirror Coat, my childhood friend, would do something like this...She was a friendly and caring individual, who used to stand up for me. Anyway, we've been used as the Queen's personal work slaves and needless to say, it was like hell, as we worked so hard without any breaks and punishments would result in torture or even worse, execution. It went on for what it seems like months, when my dad saw an opportunity to break himself and his family free. Keep this in mind, it happened in Nebula's spaceship. We ran away from the deadly guards in Hope's to find something to escape. When we reached to the escape pods and locked the door, we were so close, but unfortunately, the Shadow Ponies and commanders have reached to the door and were attempting to break in. Knowing, that their fates were basically sealed, my parents pushed me into an escape pod and activated it. I remember hearing the last words from my mom and dad, before being launched off into the deep unknown of space..." With tears, Snow recounted, that her parents said their goodbyes to their only child, before being launched off into space, drifting away with the certain thought, that her parents were executed shortly after.

In the flashback, her escape pod kept on flying and spinning, until it crash landed to the planet Xeon. Fortunately for her, a couple of resistance fighters saw the falling pod and when they went to the location, they found the unconscious filly and took her in. Snow then recounted, that she woke up in a base and after telling her story, the fighters were sympathetic and felt sorry for her. In the years, that followed, not only was she raised by them, but trained in martial arts and became the group's engineer and the smartest of them. She went on to do missions for the group, freeing citizens, stopping armies and helping each other. One day, their base was attacked by the shadow ponies. The group fought valiantly with Snow assisting them. It was an intense battle, which slowly went to their favour, when one of Snow's teammates suddenly pushed her into a pile of the monsters. He just looked at her with an evil grin, as it turned out, that the stallion was actually an agent for Shadow Nebula. Worse part is, he was her best friend. It seems like, the Shadow Ponies were about to kill her, when the memories of torture and betrayal fueled her rage and therefore unleashed a powerful blizzard, freezing everyone close to her. She went on to escape to another planet, named Shima, in which after remembering her torment, decided to completely isolate herself and train her newfound ice magic.

A few years have passed and Snow became a master of the ice and snow. What she didn't know at the time, is that the elemental orbs have a side effect, in which the wearer would stop aging. But that hardly mattered to her anymore, as she kept training herself and avoiding anyone in the process. It went on and on for a while, until one day, shadow ponies arrived to attack her. However, the hard training made her into a formidable and calculated fighter, in which Snow demonstrated by attacking them with her ice powers, before freezing them solid and shattering them with kicks.

"Don't ever touch me again, bastards!" She yelled and looked away, when all of a sudden, she heard an explosion and something being flown into the ground. That something turned out to be a red unicorn mare, AKA Fire Jewel, who just got up.

"Man, those guys are tough..." The red mare rubbed her head, being unaware that Snow was next to her.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Snow growled.

"Look, I wish I could talk to you, but now, I have to go back to help my friends! See ya!" The unicorn ran away as fast as she could, leaving Snow behind. At first, she would just ignore the mare and continue with her usual routine. But the constant explosions made it hard to ignore any further and the snowy mare flew to the source of the explosions.

When she arrived, she saw Fire, Tropic, Cherry and Breeze fighting off against an army of Shadow ponies and a monster leading the troop. The shadows were defeated by the elemental ponies, but the monster was incredibly tough. Not only did they tank the elemental attacks, but also used them against the mares. In the end, they threw the convergence spell against the mares, sending them flying to a boulder. Meanwhile, Snow felt something, that the ponies had similar auras and wavelengths to herself, but also sharing the same enemy.

"Hahaha, you fools! You are match against my might! Now prepare for your doom!" The monster laughed, as he prepared to destroy them. Suddenly, the troop and they were hit by an ice shard. Looking back to see, where it came from, they saw Snow.

"Leave them alone!" Snow shouted with her wings sprouting, infuriating the monster to charge. However, the snowy mare dodged the attack by sidestepping and flying away. A big battle inside between Snow and the monsters. They tried to use their powers to destroy her, but the pegasus mare used her ice powers to freeze them solid. Next, she unleashed a hail of ice at them, while charging herself at the monster, kicking them to the curb. After lots of kicking and a somersault strike, she froze the monster solid and shattered it to pieces, all while the four ponies watched in awe.

"Damn...Did you see that?" Fire was stunned.

"She saved us..." Tropic was left speechless.

"And kicked their asses with ice powers..." Breeze was quite impressed.

But then, Snow was suddenly ambushed by a new army of shadow monsters, which caused the four ponies to intervene and defeat them and save the icy mare in the process.

"Man, those assholes don't know, when to quit, huh?" Breeze huffed.

"No shit, girl." Fire agreed.

"Are you okay?" Tropic went to Snow and reached her hoof to pick her up, but the snowy mare got herself up.

"I'm actually fine." Snow looked away a bit. "I must say, you girls are...unique. As in having elemental powers and such."

"Well, so are you. I mean, we've seen you unleashing blizzards and freeze monsters solid." Fire shrugged. During this time, Tropic felt a connection between herself, her friends and Snow. "Oh my...This aura...I feel like, we're alike..."

"Please, I'm just doing my job. Plus, I'm actually fine with working alone." Snow looked away, before being dragged by Breeze.

"Dude, don't be such a buzz kill! Shadow Nebula is getting stronger and you have the guts to take her down! We have the same goal, same enemy and all of that shit!" Breeze smirked.

"Uhm...Breeze? We don't know her..." Cherry told to her friend about the obvious.

"My bad...My name is Breeze Dasher, fastest flyer alive and master of wind and lightning!" The blue mare proudly introduced herself.

"I'm Cherry Swirl, master of the earth. It's nice to meet you." The green mare smiled.

"I'm Fire Jewel, the burning wildcard and hottest pony!" The red mare confidently spoke.

"Uhm...I'm Tropic Bloom...The guardian of nature." The yellow pony shyly introduced herself.

"You girls are quite....interesting so to say. My name is Snow Emerald and as I said, I prefer working alone." The snowy white mare repeated her point.

Suddenly, they hear more Shadow Ponies coming.

"Damn, these guys are coming for more, huh?" Breeze was annoyed and the five ponies were in their battle stances. What follows is a fight between teen the two sides. The downside was because the four ponies lack any plans or strategies, they would eventually fall behind.

"After seeing those ponies in danger again, I decided to use my brain to help them out."

"Fire, Cherry! Go to the left! Cherry, Tropic! Go to the right! I'll stay here! Once we're in our positions, we have to use our strongest attacks!" The pegasus mare told them about her plan.

"Are you sure, this would work?" Cherry asked.

"Believe me, we have to form ourselves into a circle formation! Therefore, our strongest attacks will combine into a strong convergence spell, that would get rid of all of these monsters! Now, go!" Snow explained her plan further and thus, the four ponies decided to follow her plan, after having no choice. After all, there were so many of them. The best thing to do is to gather them into one place, which is exactly what they did. They followed to a spot and trap them using their magic. After which, the group went around them and charged themselves up for their strong attacks.

"Aim above them, girls!" Snow shouted at them, before having enough power to unleash her attack. "Arctic Storm!"

"Amped Hurricane!" Breeze shouted.

"Volcanic Overdrive!" Fire shouted her spell.

"Eco Storm!" Tropic unleashed hers.

"Rock Fissure!" Cherry unleashed her spell as well.

The most powerful spells went above the enemies to clash each other and combine them into a powerful convergence spell, which caused a powerful explosion, destroying all the shadow ponies at once.

"We did it, girls!" Breeze and the girls celebrated, while Snow watched. Then Tropic went to her.

"Thank you for helping us." Tropic thanked her.

"It was nothing." Snow answered.

"You know, you have the potential on becoming a hero, someone willing to save the universe from evil. And since our powers are somewhat connected, that would explain, why our elemental powers combined so well." The yellow mare smiled. "Say, if you personally don't mind-" Before she could say anything though, Breeze dashed towards the two girls.

"Hey, Snow! You can join our gang!"" Breeze was excited.

"Yeah! It would be really awesome!" Fire smiled.

"Girls, girls, please! Don't force her!" Cherry scolded the two mares, before turning her attention to Snow. "Anyway, you have the potential for greatness and to be fair...we really needed someone with so much smarts, since..well...we've been through some dumb stuff before. Sorry...Don't know, why I just blurted it out. Anyway, it would be really nice, if you join us to fight for a better future. Not just for us, but also for the universe, since...those orbs told us to protect the galaxy." Afterwhich, Cherry reached her hoof to Snow and while the snowy mare hesitated at first, the connection between her and the ponies, plus with the fact, that they saved her and they're genuine about it, she grabbed the green mare's hoof, therefore accepting the offer.

"From this day forward...I made new friends, whome I spent time with them defeating bad guys, saving citizens, having fun and overall helping each other. Sometime later, we met our future leader of the group, Jenny, a new friend, named Ocean Spark and....well. The rest is history. We went on to protect the galaxies and eventually, we defeated Shadow Nebula once and for all, together."

"Oh my God..." Brain Freezer was shocked by the entire story. He couldn't believe, that the snowy mare, who controls the ice with efficiency, was a victim of multiple betrayals, bullying and war. But mostly betrayals.

"And...I was so damn close on getting my past behind me. I really was! I found friends, who would stand for me, no matter what and having a shared sense in helping others....Even though, I always kept things to myself, out of fear of getting back stabbed again....even to my own friends, due to my stupid paranoia! But....ever since the drama, I felt like, my heart was stabbed with thousands of daggers and I had an even harder time opening up! And it got worse, when one day, I was checking stuff in the headquarters, when I discovered the elemental orbs of fire and water completely shattered, due to their actions. And hearing about their actions made everything even worse!! So I often blamed Jenny for ruining everything!! Which is why, when I heard the news about Shadow Galaxy returning, I just wanted to defeat that bitch!! Granted, we had different ideas and I didn't get along with her at the start, but I warmed up to her until I can call her a friend, until the fucking drama destroyed everything, including our friendships! That and Shadow Galaxy hurt my mother! It was accidental, but I was so damn mad at her!!! IN SHORT, IT WAS A FUCKING MESS, THAT TORE ME APART AND MADE ME FEEL PARANOID AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME EVEN MORE SO THAN BEFORE!!" Snow screamed so loudly, letting her anger out, while tears streamed down from her face. During this time, the air around them was getting even colder, due to her rage dropping the temperature around the area. Not to mention, the ice ground, they stood started to crack at every powerful stomp from the mare. Seeing this, makes Brain Freezer once again think of his own past, where extreme emotions got the better of him. In fact, he was about to say something, but the temperature dropped even further and more ice formed everywhere, when Snow got even angrier and more torn up. So, before things would escalate even further and potentially leading in anyone being harmed, Brain Freezer immediately pulled Snow Emerald to a much, MUCH needed hug. From that point onwards everything became silent.

"You don't need to keep everything to yourself, including your emotions. I mean, it's okay for some private stuff, but sometimes...you just have to face the music with honesty and humility. Sure, what you did was stupid, but you know what, so did I. In fact, everyone makes mistakes, no matter the size. But we can learn from our mistakes, take notes to them and thinking about ways to get out of the darkness and change ourselves for a better future. My point is, tell them about the truth and learn from your mistakes." The stallion comforted the mare with words of wisdom and guidance. After what it seems like hours of silence, she was so touched by his kindness, that the normally cold, distant yet smart pony began to break down in his arms. All while snowflakes were floating, like time around them has stopped. Despite the fact, that they're inside of the ice dome, it seems like magic was responsible. However, it didn't matter for the two of them, as he kept comforting the mare inside of the glistening ice. Eventually, Snow calmed herself down and a after a bit of no response, she saw that the stallion reached his hoof out to her. At first, she hesitated, due to her fear, but since she wanted to end them right here right now, she grabbed his hoof, symbolizing her finally accepting help.

"I never thought about getting some psychological help for very long time...I know, that I'm secretive, but I never thought myself, how much I kept them in..." Snow reflected herself.

"Hey, I was in the same position as you. Back then, the loneliness and the anger got the better of me and I spent time freezing people and doing evil things. But after Radiant Thunder helped me with romance, I was so grateful, that I keep on remembering it to this day. But then, I lost it all, once my true face showed up again to the girl, I've been dating. I felt like, I was stabbed with a giant dagger and snapped again. I was about to take it out on everyone, including him, which eventually...would never happen. I realized about my mistakes and went to Equestria to make amends and trying to redeem myself." Brain Freeze recounted his past experience. "Keep in mind, I'm not perfect. I still have lots of things to learn, but regardless...my stay in Equestria had improved me to be more social and hard working. I made new friends, including those with similar experiences as me, learning new things and hell, I'm starting to make ice coffee for everyone again, only this time, without freezing everyone. And after hearing your story, I made up my mind. Just like what Radiant Thunder did to me, I'll help you guide towards redemption and friendship."

Hearing those words made the mare smile with tears, in which she wiped them away shortly after. After hugging him as a sign of gratitude, Snow used her magic to make the ice and snow disappear around her.

"Damn, making ice and snow disappear? You're really are talented." He was impressed by Snow's skill.

"I've been training for years, so this isn't new to me." Snow giggled. It was around this time, where they heard someone coming and it turned out to be Trixie and Tempest, who were coming.

"Uhm, where are you going?" Brain Freezer asked to the mares.

"We're going back to Ponyville, because the skies became more insane!" Trixie answered, while pointing the sky getting darker with more starry swirls.

"Whoever's responsible for this, he or she won't get away with it!" Tempest added.

"I know, who's the culprit." Snow proceeded to tell them about Shadow Galaxy in full detail. The mares were shocked by the revelation.

"She did what?!" Even Brain Freezer was stunned.

"It's a long story, guys. But now we have to go back! Everypony needs us!" Snow was about to go with the group, when all of a sudden, she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Snow."

"It can't be!!" Snow gasped, since she knew the voice. In fact, once she turned back, her eyes widened in shock, much to Brain Freezer's confusion.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville...

Luna, Cherry Swirl and Tropic Bloom tried their best to weaken Shadow Galaxy in some way and stop her for good. During this chaos, the Mane 6 and Spike decided to evacuate every pony out of here. But they weren't alone. Sissy, Missy, Jillian, the hybrids in black and white, the General, Eugene, Gil, Dr. Beebles and Mr. Harm helped the girls on getting everyone out of the village. But there were some ponies, who were stuck inside the burning flames. Two of these are Lyra and BonBon, who were trapped in a circle of flames. Although Lyra used her unicorn magic to grab a bucket of water and attempted to douse the fire, the size of the flames themselves made dousing them with a bucket of water pretty difficult. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash and Sissy grabbed them flew them out of the flames. There was also a small group of ponies including the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who Applejack, Rarity and Dr. Beebles had saved, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon being saved by Eugene and Pinkie Pie and so on. But then, there was also High Velocity and his family, who were stuck inside, while trying to navigate out of a burning building.

"Stay close to me, everyone!" High Velocity looked at his family, while coughing due to the smoke.

"Dad, I can't see anything!" Cosmic was scared.

"I know, Cosmic! But stay close to us, okay?" He looked back at his son. Suddenly, they heard the ceiling cracking.

"Oh no! Get down!" Sweet Serenity screamed and they ducked, as the debris were about to tell them, when all of a sudden, a blur knocked them away.

"Follow me!" A voice can be heard and the family had no other option, than to follow the voice of the person, who freed the path before them and getting them out of the house. Upon opening their eyes, it turned out to be Amber. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"We're fine. Thank you for saving us." Sweet was grateful.

"You're welcome. Now please get to safety!" Amber responded and the trio complied by running away. The mole girl ran around to save ponies, without protection to protect from the bright light. But at this point, the skies were pretty dark. During her rescue mission, she saw Roy evacuating the animals. Surprised, but happy, she went to him.

"Amber, what are you doing here?" The mole man was stunned.

"I'm doing my best to help everyone!" Amber answered with determination.

"Look, I appreciate your concern and determination, but if Zizrar, Iris or anyone sees us together, we'll be screwed! Since they just arrived there!" Roy was seriously concerned, so he begged Amber to leave, in which she did, much to her dismay. And his prediction became correct, once Zizrar and his men have arrived.

"What are you doing here? We need to find Brain Freezer!" Zizrar was worried about his best friend.

"Yes, your majesty!" Roy complied and the group went to the right direction.

Meanwhile, Amber ran around to look for helpless ponies to save, when all of a sudden, she heard a magical explosion and got hit by a blurry object. But as she opened her eyes, the blurry object turned out to be Tropic Bloom.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?!" Amber was worried about the yellow mare.

"I'm fine. Wait...You must be Amber, right? The one, that Breeze talked about?" Tropic was curious, when she looked at the shy mole girl. Once she nodded, Tropic smiled. "From what she said, you're really nice and I wanted to thank you to save my friend."

"Y-you're welcome." Amber blushed a bit, being flattered by the sign of gratitude.

"She also told me about your concerns and I can say is, that I feel sorry that you're the black sheep of the mole people." Tropic softly spoke before giving her some advice. "But you should be proud of what you really are. You just need to gather some courage and stand by your decision, even when there will be backlash. In other words, don't be afraid and come out of your own shell, even if it takes time. I know that well, since it took a long time for me to do so."

"Tropic! Are you okay!?" Suddenly, she heard the voice of Cherry, running towards them, along with Luna.

"I'm fine, girls!" Tropic smiled, but all of a sudden, they heard Shadow Galaxy say:

"Not for long!"

Suddenly, with the exception of Luna, who just evaded, Cherry, Tropic and Amber were held in a magical aura by the dark pink mare.

"Let them go!" Luna demanded.

"Only if you surrender your rule, princess." The dark mare wanted Luna to surrender, so she could take over the galaxy.

"I've heard this multiple times by many vile individuals, who were trying to take over Equestria. I'll never surrender to your dark presence!" Luna refused.

"Oh...And I thought, I could've just spare you, if you just surrender....Very well then...If I don't get, what I want, I'll just take it by force and eliminate anyone, who defy me! Starting with these girls." Shadow Galaxy mad her horn glow.

"Jenny, please! This isn't you!" Cherry pleaded the pony behind the darkness by any means necessary, but it didn't budge.

"I told you, that pony is long dead! But...since your drama has reawakened my strength to take control over her body, I shall return the favor by just eradicating you from existence!" She laughed evilly, as she shot down beams at the three girls, as they screamed in agony.

"No!" Luna screamed, but Shadow Galaxy kept on laughing.

"Sorry, princess...but it's already too late for reconsideration. So I shall destroy you too!" The dark mare snarled with her sharp teeth.

"Not while I'm standing!" The moon princess shot down a beam at the dark Alicorn, but the later used a barrier to reflect it back at her in a much faster speed. So fast, that she didn't get time to react, before getting hit.

"P..please...." Tropic was weakened with tears, while she saw the dark mare charging for the final blow. It seems, everything's hopeless now...until, the dark mare was suddenly hit by a beam of fire and ice, releasing Tropic, Cherry and Amber from Shadow's grasp.

"Leave our friends alone, bastard!"

A voice can be heard, that shocked everyone except Amber. Along with the cracking of the flames and destruction, faint hoofsteps can be heard, slowly coming towards them. At first, three shadowy individuals can be spotted from afar, but as they got closer and closer, they became clearer to see. Tropic and Cherry widened their eyes in shock, while Shadow Galaxy was stunned in disbelief at the following sight of those individuals, who have serious faces. Sure enough, the mysterious individuals turned out to be Snow Emerald, along with two familiar ponies, whome they've been M.I.A for a few months. Two unicorns, one being red and having a fiery mane, the other being blue with wavy mane, resembling the waves. Which meant only one thing: the unicorns were none other than the returning Fire Jewel and Ocean Spark!

"Snow, Fire, Ocean!" Cherry struggled to get up, while being surprised, that they came back.

"How?! How did you come back!? What about the drama? The one, that tore you and your friends apart, thanks to you?!" Shadow Galaxy yelled at Fire in disbelief.

"Sorry, but this time, I'm not feeling that bullshit today!" The red unicorn answered, while standing tall.

"We're here to at least make up for what we did for the last few months. Even though we won't be fully forgiven by some people due to the extent of our actions and the consequences, we've been learning from our mistakes and accepting the situation, thanks to being taught by a select few of ponies, who did similar mistakes like us." Ocean explained.

"It's true! I was there, teaching them about redemption, humility and, facing their fears, along with Trixie and Tempest!" Luna confirmed the story.

Angered, Shadow Galaxy shot several beams, but the elemental sisters deflected each and everyone of them. "We may fucked up lots of times and we were at the lowest level, but we've since learned our mistakes and decided to make amends for what we've done. Especially me...I just wanted this nightmare to end!" Fire was serious about the redemption arc.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!!" Shadow Galaxy kept on shooting, but the sisters kept on reflecting and even Snow froze one of the beams solid.

"No, you shut up!" Snow yelled, angering the dark Alicorn so much, that she shot out a massive beam at the three mares, when all of a sudden, a miracle happened. There were a pair of red and blue lights surrounding the sisters and the glowing shards gathered together to become two orbs. Cherry and Tropic were shocked, since those orbs were none other than the Fire and Water orbs. It's clear that their redemption and willing to make amends have their elemental orbs restored and returned to their respective bearers. Not only that, but they were protected by a magical barrier, courtesy of the newly restored orbs.

"No! It can't be!!" The dark alicorn was in total disbelief at the sight of this miracle.

"Well, we got dome good news and bad news. The good news is, we have our powers back. The bad news is, WE HAVE OUR POWERS BACK, BITCH!" Fire shot off a beam of flames at the shadowy mare so quick. Coupled with the shock and the quick speed of the beam, she got hit and was sent flying far away. Meanwhile, Cherry and Tropic got up, despite their injuries and hugged the sisters.

"It's nice to see you again after a long time." Ocean smiled.

"We all do." Snow looked at her friends, before turning her attention towards the direction, the enemy has flown. "We have to get ready. She'll come back soon." Suddenly, a voice can be heard:

"Hey, don't forget about me!"

That came from Breeze, who just landed next to her friends.

"Breeze, how? You're supposed to rest!" Snow was shocked.

"Yeah. I just couldn't rest during this. Plus, I just want to help you. So....I cheated by getting out of the hospital, entering our ship and grabbing some healing potions, while taking one by myself. I have currently three of those left." Breeze showed them the bag, filled with the three healing potions. After seeing Tropic, Cherry and Amber in an injured state, she gave the potions for them to drink, in which they did just that and the healing effects kicked in.

"Thank you so much, Breeze!" Amber hugged the dark blue mare. But then, she saw something alarming: her clan had just arrived the village from afar. "Oh no! They came back!"

"In that case....go back to your people and don't tell them about our secret. My friends and I will take it from here." Snow told to the shy mole girl, which she complied gy running off. And as she expected, Shadow Galaxy teleported back to the spot.

"You! You'll pay for this!" The dark Alicorn screamed.

"Good luck with that, but you're not gonna bring us down, now we have the powers and our confidence back! Ready to kick some ass, girls? Just like last time?" Ocean responded with a serious look on her face before asking her friends.

"Ready!" Her five friends responded with optimism.

["I Burn" (Metal Remix) starts playing during the battle]

https://youtu.be/SflUTSVZrYo

Both sides charged for an all out battle, while the Mane 6 and Spike watched, after they finished the evacuation of the citizens. First, Shadow Galaxy fired off several projectiles, but the elemental ponies dodged them with impressive and quick moves and the unicorns fired off magical beams at the dark mare. She quickly blocked them and created some clones of herself to attack them, which would result in a close combat with the ponies taking on each of the clones.

"Pyro Arrow!" Fire shot out burning arrows at the clone, in which it resulted in some burns.

"Diamond Wind!" Snow flapped her wings so hard, it created sparkly, yet cold winds at her clone.

"Vine Scream!" Tropic unleashed a powerful scream at her clone, in which several vines tightly grabbed her.

"Fluorescent Tide!" Ocean unleashed magical waves at one of the clones.

Meanwhile, Cherry and Breeze stood their backs against each other, while fighting against two of the clones. Eventually, they performed a convergence spell, called "Volt Terrain", in which they charged the ground. Then the two, now supercharged, kicked the cloned so hard. It went on and on for a while, with the elemental mares keep attacking the clones with kicks and magic, until they were dissolved into smoke, once they delivered the final blow. In response, the dark mare proceeded to fly up and used her magic to create shockwaves at the mares, whom they used theirs to protect themselves.

"Enough! I'll destroy you one way or another!" Shadow Galaxy fired of a massive magical beam at the ground, throwing the mares off guard and sending them flying all over Ponyville, except for Fire and Ocean, in which they were thrown to the opposite direction together. Refusing to back down, they kept on firing, but the dark mare kept on deflecting them, before grabbing the sisters with her magic.

"Hmph. You still don't get it, huh? Oh well, allow me to demonstrate!" Shadow Galaxy used her magic to torment the sisters with past memories of their actions. Her goal was to break them again, so she can easily destroy them. But the sisters kept on resisting the memories.

Meanwhile, Cherry, Tropic, Breeze and Snow have gathered together again and once they saw Shadow torturing the girls, they tried to intervene, but the dark mare was aware and used a magic to trap them in crystals.

"Hey! That's so uncool!" Breeze shouted and knocked on the walls hard, but that didn't matter to Shaodw whatsoever, as she used the maximum amount of their magic to torment the unicorn sisters further with memories of the dragon incident, the drama, the murder, everything related to them. They were so close, until a voice from Luna can be heard.

"Don't let the past get the better of you!"

"Remember about your journey and the purpose! Learn from them!"

"Yeah! Focus on the here and now and let the past go! In other words, keep fighting!"

The latter two came from Tempest and Trixie respectively, whom they've just arrived next to Luna. Seeing the mares and their expressions caused Fire and Ocean to take their advice to heart, learn from their past, reevaluate the purpose of their journey and gathered so much courage and strength to make their bodies glow and eventually break free from Shadow Galaxy's grasp.

"What!? That's impossible!" She was shocked by their sheer willpower.

"Now you're getting it! Though the last few months, we've been taught about the lessons of courage, forgiveness, redemption and most importantly of all, the magic of friendship!" Ocean explained.

"She's right!" They heard the voice of Twilight, whom she just freed the elemental mares from the crystals and she stood along with her friends. "Even though we haven't seen them after a long time, I can see from their faces, that they have learned the most important lessons of all!"

"At first, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, inside of my own darkness, because I was weeping from my actions and drowning myself into the sorrow and guilt. But Princess Luna, Trixie and Tempest managed to get me out of that zone and after some training, have finally accepted the reality, regained my confidence and decided to change myself for a better future by focusing on the present. And look, where I am now! Stronger and better than ever before!" After those words, Fire unleashed a powerful beam at Shadow Galaxy, hitting her and the sisters ran to friend's friends side. Together, the twelve ponies stood against the dark Alicorn.

"Step aside, girls. We got this....together!" Snow told Luna, Trixie and Tempest to back off.

"It doesn't matter, if you are many, I'll get my goals of conquest one way or another! Even if it means to destroy the planet and reshape it in my image!" Shadow snarled.

"Not while we're standing!" With Twilight's words, the twelve ponies charged for a massive team attack. In response, the dark Alicorn used her magic to destroy them, but they dodged them all with some well timed moves, like in the instance of Rainbow Dash and Breeze Dasher, flying around them.

"Hey, Dash! Wanna combine our speed to create an awesome attack? Like going ALL OUT for this?" Breeze suggested with a smirk.

"Aw, yeah! Let's go, pal!" Rainbow was excited and the two speedy pegasi flew around Shadow Galaxy, in order to distract her. She tried to slow them down with spells, but they managed to flew around them with quick precision and finesse. Meanwhile, Applejack and Cherry Swirl ran towards her with the former pony swinging a lasso around.

"Okay, Applejack! I'll use the ground to traverse you around and boost you up!" Cherry explained her plan, before using her magic to create rocky pillars for the southern earth pony to jump around and throw the lasso at the mare to immobilize her and while swinging around, she used a diagonal pillar to jump further and deliver a powerful back kick at her. Meanwhile, Shadow Galaxy destroyed the pillars with magic blasts, but Breeze and Rainbow managed to kick her up to the skies. Then the two pegasi flew around her as fast as possible. The combination caused a colourful, yet amped tornado, trapping the dark mare with electricity. While in the skies, Twilight and Snow Emerald flew into the tornado.

"You're not going anywhere, Shadow Galaxy! Ready, Twilight?" Snow asked the princess of friendship, after she yelled at the dark galactic mare.

"Got it!" Twilight agreed and the two mares flew up and while the purple mare charged her horn up to maximum, Snow concentrated herself and gathered enough energy for her spell "Arctic Storm". At the same time, the princess of friendship fired of a massive beam and after they've combined into a convergence, it sent the dark mare crashing to the ground and dispersing the tornado at the same time. Enraged, Shadow Galaxy quickly got up and fired several homing shots at the flying mares. They responded in flying away from them as fast as they could.

Suddenly, Rarity and Ocean Spark circled around the mare in order to distract her. In response, Shadow created dark orbs to destroy them, but the unicorn mares kept on running and dodging them. At one point, Rarity deflected one of them back at the mare.

"Keep running, darling!" Rarity shouted at Ocean.

"Got it, Rarity!" Ocean complied.

At the same time, Fluttershy and Tropic Bloom stood by, waiting for an opportunity.

"Are you sure, this will work?" The shy pegasus mare was nervous and unsure about the plan.

"Trust me, Fluttershy. It will!" Tropic assured her with confidence. They watched, as Rarity and Ocean used their horns to create a convergence spell to shoot out sparkling water at the mare. Once that's done, Rarity shot out several fast beams at her, while the blue unicorn used one of the waves to move around with grace. Once she found a sweet spot, she kicked the dark mare towards the yellow ponies.

"Now!" Tropic made her hooves glow and summoned branches and vines to trap Shadow. They went so far to cover her horn, to stop her from using magic. Fluttershy flew up, navigated around the arms of nature, then performed a roundhouse kick underneath the dark alicorn. At first, Shadow Galaxy pulled off a scary face to intimidate Fluttershy and while it worked for a short time, Tropic jumped at the leaves, grabbed Fluttershy, went around her and unleashing shockwaves, knocking her down. Then the two mares grabbed her tail, swung around and then threw her off far away.

But the dark mare returned and unleashed shockwaves to threw everyone off and hurt them in the process.

"You think, your tactics will stop me?!" She yelled, but a voice can be heard behind her.

"Hey! Look around, Shadowy!"

Shadow Galaxy turned around, only to be attacked by a very speedy Pinkie Pie and her speedy, yet rhythmic kicks, spins, random objects out of nowhere, like a rake, a hammer or even something outlandish, like a balloon sword and the occasional blasts from her party cannon.

"And now for the big one! A big, fiery siesta!" The peppy party mare happily shouted, while aiming and firing off a big shot from her party cannon, in which included cupcakes, cakes, (both of them have burning candles) confetti, balloons, silly strings and the crowing finish, Fire Jewel in the middle of the party shot.

"Careful, it's gonna be too hot to touch!" With a smirk, Fire unleashed a beam of flames at the dark mare, launching her to the ground.

What followed was a quick, all out attack from Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Tropic Bloom, Cherry Swirl, Ocean Spark and Fire Jewel, whom they all used their signature moves to hit the dark mare multiple times, with the finishing blow of the sisters performing thrust kicks at her. But this was not the actual final part, as Shadow Galaxy was launched upwards. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Snow Emerald and Breeze Dasher quickly came back with the homing beams trailing behind them. Shadow Galaxy was eager to destroy them, when they made an unexpected move.

"Coming right back at ya!" Rainbow smirked and the four flying mares made sharp turns at the very last second and at close proximity. This caused the beams not having time to make sharp turns and accidentally hit the dark mare in the process, crashing her down to the ground. After what said and done, the twelve mares stood together, as the dark Alicorn struggled to get up.

"No....It can't be....I can't let myself to be defeated by those colourful rats!!" Shaodw Galaxy shouted in pain.

"Yeah, yeah, we've heard that shit many times from many bad guys, we've encountered. Shut up and accept it for once, bitch." Fire shut her up with facts.

"Shadow Galaxy or whoever's is behind the darkness, I know, that the drama might have hurt you so much, you let yourself be taken over by darkness." Twilight spoke with some sympathy.

"Shut up! That mare is long dead, you hear me!?" Shadow angrily screamed at Twilight.

"No, she's not! I can sense her still being trapped there! And I'm pretty sure, we can resolve this without any destruction or drama! I'll show you the magic of-" Twilight was about to finish her speech.

"Bruh, can we just skip to the good part?? You know, light her up with a powerful spell?!" But Breeze cut Twilight off, because she was impatient.

"Shall we combine the magic of friendship with our elemental powers, princess?" Ocean suggested.

Twilight and her friends agreed and they used their combined powers to gather much energy for the finishing attack. Similarly, Fire and her friends did the same by gathering enough power. The twelve mares floated upwards and gathered around in a circle, with their powers combining for the ultimate convergence. Their bodies began to glow, as they charged themselves up for the final attack, the one which will end the terror once and for all.

"Elemental Convergence: Harmonic Friendship Blast of Purification!" All twelve ponies shouted, while unleashing their combined powers of Harmony of Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic and the Elements of Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Nature and Ice into a very big, very colourful and sparkly beam, directing towards the dark mare. Shadow Galaxy tried to stop the beam by firing of her extremely powerful beam of dark magic at it. Even though she tried her best to push the beam back at the group, the combined efforts of the twelve mares, the magic of friendship and the cosmic elements proved to be too much for her to handle and it pushed through the dark beam and onto the galactic mare of darkness herself.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Shadow Galaxy screamed in agony, as she was engulfed in a colourful light. At the same time, Twilight and the rest of the group also unleashed a blinding light towards the surroundings and shot another one to the sky, not only turning the sky back to normal, but also extinguishing the flames and most importantly, ending the battle against Shadow Galaxy once and for all.

[End of "I Burn"]

After the dust was settled, the twelve ponies landed down to witness the aftermath. The skies were back to normal, the flames were extinguished and many ponies returned to their village, cheering and celebrating, that the threat was finally stopped. Three of them were Luna, Trixie and Tempest.

"You did amazing, young ponies." Luna congratulated the elemental mares. "Especially you, Fire and Ocean. I'm so proud of you."

"I knew, that you managed to make it." Tempest was proud.

"Like, we've seen the colourful spectacle of magic clashing each other and you coming out victorious!" Trixie cheered.

"Thanks, but honestly we wouldn't be in that place, if it wasn't for you, girls. You made me and my sister realize about our mistakes in our lives and taking action." With those words from the red mare, the sisters hugged the three ponies, who have taught them the importance of friendship, humility and redemption.

"Luna!" Suddenly, they heard the voice of Princess Celestia, who not only returned from her recovery, but seeing her younger sister again made her feel a bit emotional. "I'm truly sorry for not listening to you and your perspective about the sisters, therefore making the same mistake as those many moons ago. I have no idea about their story, until listening to Cherry and her friends talking theirs to me, after the fire dragon incident. Hearing them makes me feel more empathetic towards their tales of abuse, loss and mistakes." She apologized to the moon princess about her reaction.

In response, Luna hugged her princess, understanding that she didn't mean to fully ignore their pleas earlier, as she had no idea on how massive the drama actually was. "It's okay, my dear sister. I forgive you." She smiled.

Seeing this, Fire Jewel looked at her friends, ready to make amends. "Uhm...girls? Speaking of which...I'm really sorry for fucking everything up and being responsible for the break up of the team...I just wanted to help the kids, who had troubled pasts as I, but my reaction was....not really the best or appropriate in that matter, which caused in me losing myself in my own madness and damaging my own reputation by nearly destroying Canterlot and everyone, I hold dearly. I didn't took the reactions from you guys and anyone in consideration, until it was already too late..." the red mare apologised to her friends, until she turned her attention towards her sister. "As a result of my recklessness, I lost everything, including you, sis...I am aware, that not everyone will forgive me, it's just...I wanted to set the record straight..."

After a few minutes of silence, Ocean spoke up. "Actually...I should be the one apologising for not listening to you..."

"No...It should be me, because I kept so many secrets and didn't tell you the entire truth about my feelings..."Snow looked down, but when she saw Brain Freezer, who's encouraging her to tell the truth, she proceeded to tell them the true reason of her behaviour, in which she was a victim of multiple betrayals, oppression and war. Needless to say, her friends were shocked at the sudden revelation.

"Oh my God...I'm so sorry about what you've been through..." Tropic hugged the snowy mare.

"Holy shit, man....Those guys were just assholes, who decided to use you and then throw you away, like trash..." Breeze was not happy.

"I didn't tell you that, because I was scared...Scared, that you would turn against me...." Snow was understandably worried. "But keep bottling up my secrets and emotions turned out to be really bad, as demonstrated in my mistakes recently..." But what happened next was quite touching, as the elemental ponies hugged the icy mare as a sign of comfort and confirmation, that they'll never betray her, no matter what. Everyone, who witnessed it, were touched by the revelation. Especially Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy.

"It's nice, that it wrapped up quite nicely, right darling?" Rarity was in tears, before dramatically sobbing in Applejack's arms. The southern mare herself got a box of tissues for that occasion. Fluttershy grabbed some to wipe her tears away, while Pinkie used her mane as a makeshift tissue. (Don't ask.)

"Actually...there is still someone missing..." Twilight pointed the obvious out, as she looked at the pink Alicorn mare, who just woke up. Soon, all eyes were on her.

"I didn't expect to see you again like this..." Cherry sighed.

"Especially since...you know..." Fire looked away in disappointment.

"Girls, I..I...I" the pink mare attempted to tell them something, when she heard the angry crowd of ponies, who were not happy at the destruction, she caused. Meanwhile, the elemental mares just walked away with Cherry looking at the mare for one last time, with sadness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry...." Cherry looked away with small tears.

"No! Cherry! Girls! Wait!!" The pink mare was in tears, trying to reach out to them, before being completely overwhelmed by the angry crowd and their shouts.

"Please...I really didn't mean to..." She started to curl up and shake hard, as she kept hearing the shouts of the angry ponies, which were getting louder and louder in her head and thus, became a lot more vulnerable and hurt than before. Eventually, she started to scream really loud, silencing everyone and used her magic to teleport herself out of here.

"Wait!!" Twilight attempted to go after her, but it was too late. "I just...I just wanted to ask her about her side of the story..." She lowered her ears in defeat.

Suddenly, Roy was running and looking around frantically. "Anyone has a big supply of sunglasses!?" He asked, while looking worried.

"Why?" Rarity was confused.

"Let's just say, my king and a different set of mole people REALLY need them...Problem is, I don't have enough money!" He explained his reasoning.

"I can help you, sir." Rarity decided to help her. In response, Roy tightly hugged her, looking incredibly happy.

"No problem, but....could you please let me go?" Rarity was gasping for air, in which he complied and they went to a nearby store, where they have sunglasses.

"Wow, this day has been the weirdest so far..." Spike commented.

Meanwhile, Twilight saw the six mares slowly walking away from everyone. After hearing similar stories from a select few, namely from Sunset, Starlight, Trixie and a few others, the princess of friendship made up her mind and approached them.

"Girls, wait!" She shouted.

"Look...we're not in the mood, considering that we dragged you into our mess..." Cherry responded with sadness.

"I know, but...you said something about 'setting the record straight' and 'making amends'. I'm actually happy, that you made up with each other, but I couldn't help but to point out, that...well...despite the fact that you've been friends for a long time, there has been a lack of connection lately. Maintaining friendships can be hard, I know that well with my friends. However, at the end of the day, we appreciate each other and acknowledge our flaws each other, since nopony is perfect. We're unique in our own ways. Which is why I was thinking on teaching you about the importance of friendship." Twilight smiled and offered some help to them.

"The thing is...we may have our fair share of arguments in the past and we've been pointed out by some wise ponies about it. But never in our lives, have we actually considered it, since we were really busy saving galaxies and stopping evil." Snow pointed out.

"I'm aware of that. Hence my offer of guidance." The purple mare nodded. The mares proceeded to discuss each other in a circle, which lasted for a few minutes, before coming up with a decision.

"Okay, Princess. We made up our minds. Please teach us about the important lessons of friendship and redemption." Cherry bowed down as a sign of respect, in which the others followed suit.

"Then it's settled!" Twilight hugged the mares and from this day forward, she became their mentor and teacher.

"After all, at the end of the day, we're still young ponies..." Cherry responded.

"I know. It takes time and effort to mature. But I'm pretty sure, my friends and I will help you with that, if you have any concerns." Twilight smiled, assuring them, that everything will be okay.

"She's right." Princess Celestia agreed. She and Luna were witnessing the current moment.

"Uhm...Your majesty? There's just one thing, I REALLY want to explain to you, in regards to the pink mare, you saw. We used to be friends with her and heck, she was our leader. That is...if Snow's okay of it." Cherry was nervous.

"Go on, Cherry. I honestly don't mind. Everyone needs to learn the truth." Snow didn't care and gave the green mare her blessing to tell them about the pink mare. After all, Brain freezer showed her the way of redemption.

"Alright....The blue haired Alicorn, you just saw, was none other than Jenny, our leader of the group. She used to be the bearer of the Shining Light orb, one of the seven elemental orbs beyond the stars. Her leadership skills and powerful spells lead her to be regarded to be the best of magic in the galaxy, we came from. She too had a traumatic past, losing her family in an invasion of her home planet, where Shadow Nebula attacked. She managed to escape and later chosen by the light orb. Then one day, I found her in Shima, during a heavy snowstorm and managed to save her life by bringing her in, much to Snow's irritation, since she wasn't used to new people at the time. In fact, there was constant arguments between those two, but eventually Snow learned to at least tolerate. As we went on to several intergalactic adventures, we battled evil, learned each other more and saved many citizens from different planets. I used to be her best friend and she would confide in me, because she was incredibly anxious about herself. Eventually, we got stronger and stronger, managed to defeat Shadow Nebula once and for all, after numerous fights against her throughout the years and brought a new era of peace. A few months ago, we decided to go to Equestria for some rest and such, but something happend to her, that made her paranoid. I'm not sure what caused this feeling to occur. Maybe she has sensed a new kind of evil or something, I don't know. Regardless, it was the ball, that kept rolling and coupled with our own issues and arguments, lead to our massive downfall, as you have seen. And as for Shadow Galaxy, it was due to a dark curse/corruption, Shadow Nebula put on her, when she got captured. The worst part is, even after we freed her, the dark magic was and still is a big problem, since it feeds off Jenny's negative emotions and would awaken at a certain threshold. She did manage to control her emotions at one point, but of course the drama sent everyone over the edge, including her... and sadly...it lead to Shadow Galaxy's return....We have no idea on how to break it, since it's a very tricky one. " Cherry explained the princesses about the pink mare, who's name is confirmed to be Jenny. Some ponies were confused at the name, but then again, they assume that there were different rules in different galaxies.

"I see...There are indeed several factors behind the downfall, most of them on an emotional level." Luna was thinking.

"After hearing this story, I'm slowly starting to see a pattern there between your pasts and Jenny's. We'll figure it out on how to solve this web of problems." Celestia made up her mind. "And don't worry, Cherry. My sister, Twilight, her friends and I will spread the word. In fact, we'll contact Princess Cadence about it."

"Thank you, princess." Cherry bowed down, but the sun princess instead hugged her with a smile.

It all seems to end well, until a pony overheard shouts from the other side. "Uhm...ponies? What's going on? I heard shouting over here." An earth pony pointed at the direction.

"I have no idea. Come on, everypony!" Twilight and everyone followed at the direction of the shouts. As soon as they've arrived, they saw the mole men and women against each other, with Zizrar and Iris in a shouting match. The bug difference is, Zizrar and the ladies have their sunglasses on. Things escalate even further, when they pull out their weapons.

"So, you want to fight, huh? Then bring it!" Zizrar shouted.

"It's on!" Iris glared and both sides charged, only to be stopped by the combine efforts by the three princesses using their magic.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" Luna demanded an answer.

"Well, we want payback against those ladies, who have basically tortured us! I mean, we almost died, if it wasn't for the earth ponies!" Zizrar explained.

"I'm sorry, but they were rude to us and disrespected our code of honor!" Iris rebutted.

"Earth ponies?! Alright, which one of you have sent them here?!" Evelynn was enraged. "Say something!"

"Excuse me, but I may have the answer." Gia stepped out

"Gia, what's the matter?" Iris asked, only for her and Evelynn to be explained by the soldier about her discovery. "So, you're saying, that the blue mare had escaped? But how!?" She was stunned.

"Breeze? What did you do?" Ocean asked. The dark blue mare sighed and explained with:

"Okay...I admit, I was underground for a while. I was helping the guys on finding the crown, when we first saw these girls." She then proceeded to tell them everything, but left certain things out, like her friendship with Amber, due to the promise. Needless to say, the moles weren't happy by the breakout and were eager to kill the mare, but her friends immediately surrounded her, ready to stop them.

"Great...here we go again..." Cherry sighed.

They were about to attack, when all of a sudden...

"STOP!!!!" They heard someone screaming and before they knew, Amber was seen covering for the ponies.

"Amber!?" The women were shocked.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Iris demanded answers.

"Please...No more wars, that would only result in bloodshed! I know your concerns and the need of protecting ourselves, but keep attacking at anyone, when they didn't do anything wrong and isolating ourselves will only result in more harm!" Amber let her true concern out. "Why can't just live our lives in peace, without paranoia rearing its ugly head?! Why can't we just lower out guards down for once!?"

"Amber...." Breeze was stunned by Amber's newfound bravery.

"Holy shit..." Fire was stunned, yet amazed.

"Amber, we-" Auriana tried to reason with her, but the braided mole had enough.

"NO! I was keeping it myself for a long time, in order to please you, but the truth is, I've always have my own goals and no one will attempt to deterr me from accomplishing them!" Amber threw her spear on the ground as a sign of her commitment and her pacifist nature.

Even the mole men were confused on why Amber, a mole girl would stand up for the ponies and everyone. However, they still havent forgotten about the treatment from the other guards during their imprisonment and even forced Roy and Zizrar into a death match, even though they have zero experience in weapon and hand to hand combat. Speaking of which....after watching Amber's bravery and looking at Breeze one last time, he knew, what he had to do.

"I'm sorry, Breeze...but I can't stay silent any longer..." Roy mumbled, before stepping out, revealing to be siding with Amber. "She's right! That also included to you, guys!"

"Roy, how could you!?" One of the mole men was disgusted by his position. In fact, most of them actually opposed to it, while Zizrar just stood there silently. The same can be said for the mole women towards Amber, especially Evelynn. Although Iris also stood there silently.

"Fine! If that offends you, then I'm leaving!" He screamed, while going to Amber.

"What are you doing!?!?" Tropic yelled, trying to convince the mole man otherwise, but he wasn't having it.

"So, you have betrayed us???" Evelynn pointed her spear at Amber, but Roy shielded himself for the shy mare. "That's it! I'm gonna execute you!" She was about to strike, when...

"Evelynn, that's enough!" It came from Iris, who stopped the commander by grabbing the spear. She then turned her attention towards the group with: "My apologies. Truth be told...We escaped to this planet for a long time, but even then....the scars of the past still remain....Ladies, it's time to retreat."

"But, Queen Iris-" Evelynn tried to find and argument, but the queen cut her off again.

"Look. Even though, we're strong warriors, we also have a code of honour and respect. If Amber decides to leave, then let her. In other words, you should not worry about her anymore." Iris told to the Commander, before leaving with the army. But not before Evelynn gave Amber the most painful glare, signaling that for her, it isn't over. Iris on the other hand, looked at Roy and nodded, as a way to say "thank you" to giving her and her clan the sunglasses.

As a result to this cold reception from the commander, Amber weeped in Roy's arms, feeling hurt. So, the mole man looked at everyone one more time, said: "It's best to leave us alone for a while...And I'm sorry, Breeze...It had to be done." and left with Amber somewhere into the unknown, leaving everyone frozen, including the elemental mares.

"Man...out of all conflicts, we've encountered... this, along with ours, has to be the messiest of them all..." Fire commented.

But Snow had a completely different reaction. She was theorizing about something, when all of a sudden, she saw a note, in which she picked it up.

"There is more to Evelynn and our clan than what's on the surface. Meet us at the fields on midnight and we'll give you the information.

Signed, Talia and Auriana."

The icy mare kept the note to herself, since she felt suspicious about Evelynn and how her behaviour had similar patterns to herself, before Brain Freezer pointed them out, despite meeting her for the first time.

"Hmm...There's something, I want to do, to help everyone and solve this conflict...But how?" Snow thought to herself, before returning to the group. It seems like, not all mole women are the same. Not to mention with the circumstances behind it.

"Man....Today has been a really crazy one, huh?" Rainbow Dash commented.

"And a very stressful one at that." Applejack added.

"Excuse me, we can actually help you on rebuilding the village...that is, if you're okay with that." Ocean suggested some assistance.

"That's very nice of you, Ocean. We really need some helping hooves on rebuilding Ponyville anyway." Twilight approved.

"Yeah. Pretty sure, it'll take a while." Spike looked at the damage, before suddenly spewing fire. From the green flames, a letter emerged, in which he grabbed it. "Uhm, Twilight? It's for you." The little dragon gave the purple mare the letter, who she opened it up and started reading.

"What does it say?" Rarity was curious.

"Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

after throughly reading your message about your request and the circumstances behind it and some negotiations behind the scenes, we came to the decision to agree letting Star Time Rush perform for the upcoming Friendship Festival.

Sincerely,
Quartz Records"

"It's about Star Time Rush! They agreed to perform at the Friendship Festival!" The purple mare happily reported the good news to her friends.

"Hooray!!" Pinkie cheered.

"But....what about the picture, you have? About the group of ponies?" Rarity asked Twilight about the picture of the stallions.

"Now that you mentioned it..." Twilight went to Eugene for answers. "Brilliant Diamond, do you know anything about those stallions?" She asked about the picture of the three stallions.

"Actually, I have no idea about these guys... I found the picture somewhere, while I was in Manehattan for a break. The only info I know about them, is the name of the group. They're called the 'Try Guys'. Other than that, I have no idea, who they are and where they're performing." Eugene gave her a bit of information. "In fact, the only reason, I suggested these guys for the festival, is because...well, they could be a fun addition."

"I see... I'll try to contact anyone, if they know this group and find ways to contact t them and ask, if they're willing to participate and perform for the Friendship Festival." Twilight responded and teleported away.

Meanwhile, Fire Jewel was talking with her friends, when all of a sudden, Spring Gale came to her with a smile.

"You're the nice lady, who saved me, right?' Spring asked

"Uhm...yeah. why?" Fire answered.

"Thank you so much for saving me again! And my family!" Spring hugged the red mare.

"Yeah! You're really awesome!" Suddenly, Cosmic joined in to the hug.

"We saw you and your friends stopping that menace and words cannot describe, how grateful I am." Golden Heart smiled and also hugged the mare. In fact, the citizens actually thanking Fire Jewel and her friends for rescuing Ponyville and being more open to her was a stark contrast to the ponies in Canterlot a few months ago. A strong sign, that she has grown, but still has so much to learn. This caused the red mare to tear up and hugged the kids back.

"Fire? Are you crying?" Ocean asked.

"Uhm...No...My eyes are burning!" Fire feebly denied.

"Oh, Fire." Ocean giggled and everyone laughed.

It was all good vibes and such, when they heard hoofsteps and panting from the other side. As everyone looked to the source, they saw Johnny and Dukey, running and then collapsing to the ground in exhaustion, while carrying bags.

"Came here....as fast...as we could...Man....can't go on...anymore." the black pegasus was out of breath.

"Whoa, what are you talking about?" Spike was confused.

"The skies were changing and we assumed that something was going on... it was full...of swirls..." Dukey tried to explain, while gasping for air and sweating like bullets.

"Bruh, you just misssed out on a lot. Like A LOT a lot." Breeze explained.

"Hey, where have you two have been!? We could've used your help, when Shadow Galaxy attacked us!" Sissy demanded answers and so did everyone.

"Who's Shadow Galaxy?" Johnny was completely confused. Especially since he never heard of her at all.

"Uh oh...How are we gonna explain this to them, along with a lot of other things, that happened during their absence?" Breeze was nervous.

"Especially that we're completely exhausted to do so." Cherry sighed.

"It's a long story, boys. And a really messy one at that. But right now, we're just exhausted, man..." said the red unicorn to the boys.

"Wait...why are you back?" Dukey was confused on why Fire Jewel came back.

"Again, it's a long story..." Fire collapsed from exhaustion and Ocean picked her up.

"I'm sorry, guys. There were a lot of things, that happened to us, during the few months. We'd like to tell you everything, but right now, we need some rest." The blue mare apologised.

"Where were you been?" Rainbow asked.

"We actually sent them to Vanhoover for some errands this morning, like getting some items for us and such." High Velocity explained the reason.

"We got the items there, but a lot of things happened. First, Johnny had to take a detour, because he saw a special shiny Daring Do figure in a store. I tried to convince him to just ignore it, but he gave me that sad stare and I just couldn't resist and had to buy it for him. Yeah, he's been a fan of Daring Do, after reading the books." Dukey explained.

"Told ya, that Daring Do's awesome!" Rainbow smiled in excitement. "Also a shiny Daring Do figure? WHERE CAN I GET ONE!?" However, Applejack pulled her away by the tail.

"Simmer down, sally. Let him continue." She was not amused.

"Uhm...okay?" Dukey was left speechless for a while, before continuing with his explanation. "As I was saying, after we got everything, we bought two train tickets back to Ponyville and went to a train back home. We were there just chilling and chatting, when the second obstacle occurred. The train suddenly stopped, due to a boulder standing on the track. And it happened just 15 minutes after it took off! So we had to wait, till they can get rid of the boulder. But as we got out, we saw the enormous boulder blocking the path and we were understandably frustrated. Then...we saw the skies change to the weird night with swirls. At first, we thought, it was perhaps an illusion or perhaps a mind fuck. But everyone saw it and became confused by the sight and presumed, that it was night time, so they went inside. But what kind of night sky would have swirls on there?" He then looked at Johnny, hoping that he could continue, but of course he was still out of breath. "Anypony have a glass of water?" He asked anyone.

"Perhaps, I can help you with that." Ocean used her magic to make a glass appear and filled it with water. After which, she gave it to Johnny, whom he immediately started to drink it.

"Oh my" she commented.

"Thanks, man." Johnny thanked the blue mare, but he lost track on what he was about to say, so Dukey had to whisper it to his ear. "Oh, right... We had to wait for half an hour and it was the most frustrating one ever! I tried to push it, but it was too heavy! I tried to kick it, but it was too hard, that I almost sprayed my ankles. Not to mention, there were those conductors there and had to carry me away..." he continued.

"We could've waited longer, if it wasn't for someone. You see, there was a pony, who exited from the train, just to look at the boulder. A gray earth pony wearing a dress and having a a bored face. We approached her and she spoke in such a quiet and monotone way, that Johnny fell asleep. She sounded...boring." Dukey added.

"Oooh! You met my sister, Maud???" Pinkie grabbed the hybrid's face. "She told me, that she was on a train ride coming back from a mining trip or something. I literally have no idea, that she was in the same train as you were! Tell me, what happened next?!" She wanted an answer.

"Pinkie..." Rainbow pulled Pinkie away, being unamused.

"Well, here's the crazy thing, we had to distract the conductors, since she requested us to do so, after we explained the problem to her. What happened next....I..I honestly can't describe on how ludicrous and insane it was...She went to the boulder....and outright destroyed it into pieces. We were let speechless, like what the hell just happened...? However there was something glimmering on where the boulder was, that we had to investigate. Turns out, there were gems and crystals inside." Dukey continued, but the mention of gems and crystals perked Rarity's interest.

"What kind of gems and crystals exactly? Can I take a look at them?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Man, just let us finish...." Johnny was getting slightly annoyed at the interruptions.

"Sorry." The white unicorn apologized and backed off.

"As I was saying....We eventually took some of them with us with Maud taking the other half and went back to the train. When the conductors came back and saw the track being free, our journey continued. Everything went smoothly...until yet another problem occurred. The train had to slow down multiple times, due to traffic and at one point, some haystack blocking the path. And by the time, we reached Canterlot station, the train had to stop again, due to a check. By this point, Johnny was completely fed up and wanted to go home. He was like "Fuck it!" and left the train to go home by foot....or in his case by flying. I had to follow him, because it was a crazy idea for him. The heavy bags and the long road to Ponyville were definitely factors on why we came back completely exhausted..." At the end, the hybrid stallon collapsed again. After which, Rainbow and her friends helped them unload the bags. Meanwhile, Rarity was unloading the bags, when she felt something hard. Once she opened the bags, she was greeted by a colourful shine.

"Oh....oh my goodness... I can't believe my own eyes..." this unicorn mare gasped in shocked, before fainting.

"Uhm...Rarity? Are you okay?" Spike was worried.

"Wake up, Rarity." Applejack tapped her friend multiple times.

"Oh man..." Breeze scratched her head.

After a while, the purple haired unicorn woke up and quickly unloaded the gems and crystals out of the bags, in order to admire the sheer beauty of them.

"The colors, the shine, the glitz and glam! There're also very colourful crystals, shimmering from the light! Oh, they're are so glamorous!! Oh! The inspiration hits! I can see them being used for beautiful gowns, suits and some accessories! I have to work with these beautiful gems and crystals! Heck, they're also perfect for decoration for the Friendship Festival!!" With sheer excitement, Rarity used her magic to grab the shiny crystals and gems and quickly went to her boutique.

"Oh, Rarity..." Fluttershy sighed.

"I have to agree with her. Those were actually beautiful." Ocean commented.

"Your friend is quite something, huh." Snow was stunned.

"Well, that's Rarity for ya!" Applejack chuckled and the mares laughed with each other, while the guys gave the items to their parents, essentially checking that objective off from the list.

"Hey, Johnny bro! I finally have a new name!" Gil came to them with excitement. He wanted to share them about his new name.

"Oh, what is it?" The black pegasus was curious.

"You guys ready?......It's Chill Vibe!" He presented them with his new pony name.

"Man, that's a good one!" Johnny complimented Gil's new name.

"Thanks, bruh! Hey, wanna hang out and doing some tricks?" The aqua stallion asked.

"Hang on." Johnny quickly left to his parents to ask them, if he can go. After a while, he came back. "Sure thing! Mom and dad are cool with it."

"Hey, mind if I join?" Breeze asked.

"What about me, big brother?" Cosmic asked as well?

"I can teach you some awesome tricks, if you want to! Rainbow smirked.

"Sure, you can!" Johnny smiled and everyone were happy. After that, Gil, Johnny, Dukey, Cosmic, Rainbow and Breeze went to a day filled with awesome fun. Meanwhile, Cherry, Tropic, Fire, Ocean and Snow watched.

"Hey, girls. I know, we fucked up multiple times in our past and such. But perhaps, it's time to put these to rest and start a new life there. What do you think?" Ocean smiled and stretched her hoof out. "Fire and I promised that after we changed our paths, we'll start over with a clean slate."

Soon, the four ponies put their hooves above Ocean's with Snow being the last one to do so.

"For a new beginning!" The mares shouted and jumped in joy, as they reached their hooves to the sky, finally ready to start their new life, start over and rebuild their friendship, all while being guided by Twilight. After months of drama and uncertainty, the conflict was over....well, not really. Almost...They are still thinking about Jenny, where she currently is and the most importantly of all, if they can see her again. After all, the entire group was at fault for their public fallout. Not to mention about the elemental orb of the shining light, which is now broken. But for now, they have to focus on learning about friendship and spreading the truth to everyone, in hopes of not making the same mistakes ever again, while also protecting everyone. It'll surely be a tricky task, which they're gonna be ready for.

Unknown location, ???

[???'s POV]

Everything was completely black and silent for a while, until I slowly regained my consciousness. My sight was slowly opening and sharpening and I heard a voice next to me.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

It was a voice, that sounded feminine, I thought, it was probably just a bad dream and that I was probably just laying in the Area 51.1 infirmary. But when I opened my eyes... or my eye, as the other one was covered up by bandages, it seeks like, I was inside of a cottage or something with a faint light coming from a lamp somewhere. I groaned a bit, due to pain coming from my body.

"Oh my God, you're finally awake!" There was the voice again. Who was in the house? And where the hell am I? I moved my head to the right a bit, only to see someone standing next to me. A female feline in black and white, with blue hair and differently coloured eyes. One being blue and the other being yellow. She was looking for me, being worried. This makes me question: Who is she?

However, I was somewhat lost at the sight of that lady, like I was captivated or something. I tried to get up, but the pain on my body, makes it difficult to do so. However, there were new bandages around my body, but there was something...odd...I don't know....like I look somewhat the same, yet at the same time, not....

"Please... you're still wounded..." the feline spoke to me, wanting me to keep laying down and rest. Of course it hurts like hell, so I laid down and fulfilled her wish.

"Where...where am I?" I asked the cat girl for answers.

"You're currently at my grandma's cottage. I'm living with my grandma, after my parents disappeared." She answered. "It happened, when the Storm King attacked our home and I had no other choice but to flee."

"Man..." Being forced to flee after your home getting attacked by a bad guy...that's just messed up, even by my standards. Soon, I heard the sounds of a high pitched whistle.

"Oh! The tea is ready!" She went off to presumably a kitchen. I don't know, since I'm still laying on the bed. So, I had to wait till she came back with some cups of tea.

"Here you go." She put the cup of tea to a cupboard next to me. I slowly got up a bit, because it hurts and grabbed my cup. As we're drinking tea, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I have no idea why, but it's like this feline has been a chosen one in my life.

"I actually found you in the quarry, while I was taking a walk. You were wounded with one of your eyes being covered." She explained on how she found me. Oh right. The injuries. I never have forgotten on how these happened.

"So...do you have any idea, what place I am?" I asked her about the location. I know, I'm in that cottage, but I wanted to know about the name of this world.

"I'm not sure about it myself, but I have a feeling, that we're a bit close to a land, named Equestria." She assumed, since there was a map on the wall. So it seems like, I'm close to a land named Equestria. But then, she forgot about something.

"Oh my! I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Belle. What's yours?" She asked. Belle, a very charming name for a charming feline, don't you think?

But, wait...I have to introduce myself to her. Shit... I was too distracted. So I had to slap my own cheeks to snap myself out of it. So I looked at her and introduced myself with the following:

"My name....is Mittens. Mr. Mittens."

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Hello, everyone!

Yep, I brought up my main OC back, but this time as the dark side, seen in her nightmares all the way back in Chapter 13. Also, my writing skills and logic are rusty AF. (Plus, that damn writer's block again...)

And the reason, why I included mole women is due to several reasons:

Most of the mole people, we know in Johnny Test, are basically 99.9% full of men, which made me question, why there are no women. Like really, how do they manage to reproduce? And how in the name of Celestia did Zizrar became king, if his civilisation is full of dudes?!
Zizrar is known to be the flamoyant, feminine one full of buff men. Granted, there are a few exceptions, like one nerdy mole dude from the very first episode. So introducing a pack of strong females, lead by a buff, masculine queen would add some balance. And also add some feminine ones, like Amber.

Also also sorry for the lack of activity lately. Many things happened since them. One of them was the passing of Jason David Frank, some irl stuff and me grieving about the news of the Johnny Test Netflix revival being ended. And no, I'm still not over it.

Finally, remember the "Try Guys" tease back in "Side Story: Flickering Voices"? Turns out, I had to retcon some things for obvious reasons. However, I am still unsure, if I'll put them into the story. Only time will tell.

Anyways, I hope, you like this side story and forgive me for the errors. Like I said, it's been a long time. And let's hope, 2023 will be at least decent.

Side Story: Rebuilding

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It's been a few hours since the Shadow Galaxy incident and the citizens of Ponyville were working hard to rebuild their home. Despite the fact that the skies were back to normal and once again, no casualties reported, due to yet another successful evacuation by the Mane 6, the General and his group, the ponies and non-ponies were still mentally reeling from the aftermath. One pony, who's been really feeling gloomy and down lately is Cherry Swirl. After all, the drama mentally tore her up and she lost her best friend in the process. Since then, even though she helped the ponies on the rebuilding, she became reclusive and distant.

"Uhm...Cherry? Are you okay?" Ocean asked her friend, but the green mare didn't respond at all, as she kept rebuilding the house. The blue mare sighed, knowing that today's events took a toll on her.

"Man...this was all my fault...If only I haven't been such a stuck up, hot headed bitch, perhaps things could've been different." The red mare felt guilty about the whole situation, since she felt responsible for the whole fallout.

"We all are, sister. If only we've been a bit more transparent about it..." Ocean went to her sister and comforted the fiery pony.

"She's right...But a combination between paranoia, secrecy and pride eventually lead to a tragic domino effect, leading to this...Especially from me." Snow lowered her ears, before doing a little speech. "But....at least we told them everything in full detail, which lead to us being Twilight's new students. However...I know for a fact, that healing and redemption takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention with some of the ponies being angry at us, after our drama lead to so much destruction In Canterlot and Ponyville. The best option for us is to just focus on ourselves and the present, learn from our mistakes and push forward to live life to the fullest. After all, we never know, if today would be our last."

"You're right, Snow. Which is why we're doing this...to wipe our slates clean and start anew." Ocean nodded and the ponies proceeded to continue rebuilding the little town and helping ponies along the way.

After a few hours, the elemental ponies were still rebuilding the houses, while Mayor Mare watched the process. At the same time, Applejack went to the elemental mares to check on them. She had mixed feelings towards them. On one hoof, the dragon incident in Canterlot and the Shadow Galaxy attack in Ponyville, which were results of their petty fallout, caused damage to their reputation in Equestria. Especially Fire and Ocean. But on the flipside, they didn't mean to hurt anyone. In fact, they've been helping her and her friends out on several occasions, like saving Spring Gale from his abusive parents, giving pep talk to Johnny and Dukey and helping them out to stop evil. Recently, she had softened a bit towards the mares, but the southern pony knew, that it takes a lot of time for them to make up for their mistakes and change.

"So...how y'all doin'?" Applejack asked to the mares.

"Well...a bit rough, but other than that, we're fine..." Snow breathed out, while doing her job. "Well...except for....you know.." She looked at Cherry.

"To be fair....the whole situation was our fault. It all stemmed to misunderstandings, poor reactions and jumping conclusions too early. It wasn't until it culminated to a messy break up and the destruction of our friendship and reputation, all because of our emotions getting the better of us, rather focusing on logic." Ocean sighed.

"Exactly...didn't help, that my bitchy behaviour and burning ego made things even worse...It's so hard to forgive myself for all of that shit going on." Fire looked down.

"Healing takes lots of time and patience, sugarcube. And even though you won't be fully forgiven by everypony in Equestria, your story gives them a whole different side of the story to understand. I advice y'all to cool down, take small steps and work hard on 'em." The orange earth pony gave the sisters some words of advice and a hug.

"Thank you, Applejack..." Ocean mumbled.

At the same time, they heard Johnny, Dukey, Gil, Rainbow, Cosmic and Breeze, coming back from their break laughing with each other and sharing stories.

"And there was the time, my friends and I went against an army of cyborg and trolls, lead by a space pirate and we were kicking their asses and releasing people from their clutches. Man, being a galactic guardian has its cool sides." Breeze told them abour her life. The elemental mares, minus Cherry, looked at their pegasus friend being happy and in high spirits. Tropic, Snow, Fire and Ocean lightly smiled, knowing that even when situations are dire, she would joke a few things or two, but over all, she's pretty optimistic, even when things do not go in their way or getting hopeless.

"Wow, you are actually much cooler, than I thought." Rainbow was amazed.

"And I thought, Johnny and I always had those crazy adventures involving aliens, robots, crazy people and everything in between." Dukey commented about their past experiences with enemies like these.

"Kind of think of it, after settling into a world of ponies, where stuff like these happens, I wouldn't be surprised, if aliens decided to visit here. It would be quite awesome." Gil chuckled.

"Well, that depends on the aliens and their motives, bro. Not to mention, if they know this place and such." Breeze scratched her head.

"Yo, Breeze! We could've use your help right now!" Fire was carrying some wooden borders, when she shouted from afar.

"No problem, Fire! Check this out!" In a flash, the dark blue pegasus grabbed the borders and rebuilt a few houses in just a few seconds. Coming back, she smirked and said: "See? In just a few seconds!"

"Whoa! Did you guys see that?" Cosmic was stunned.

"Looks like, you've got some competition, Rainbow." Johnny commented to the prismatic mare.

"Uhm..Breeze, we really appreciate your help, but..." Tropic thanked her friend at first....before pointing at the houses, being hastily built. "...they look really rushed and messy. Like, they could collapse at any minute now..." And as to be expected, the houses collapsed, pretty much proving Tropic's concern.

"Oops..." The dark blue mare scratched her head with a nervous smile, while everyone looked at her with slight annoyance and embarrassment.

"I can help you, if your want." Rainbow offered Breeze and her friends for help.

"That would be great, Rainbow." Breeze was thankful of the offer and the prismatic mare began helping her and her friends on the rebuilding of some houses by actually securing them and taking time on the borders. However, the guys have noticed, that Cherry wasn't doing anything to help them and that she was looking down with her ears lowered.

"Uhm...Are you okay??" The hybrid shouted and tried to get the green mate's attention, but she ignored it.

"Hey, what's the deal??" Johnny tried any method to make Cherry notice them. Shouting, poking her a bit, even a bit of shaking, but she wouldn't budge. "Man...what's up with her?" Those words caught Breeze's attention and she rushed to them.

"Oh, shit! I forgot to tell your about what happened! Man, I was too carried away with the tricks and playing with y'all." She nervously smiled.

"Uhm, what's going on?" The aqua stallion was confused and so did Cosmic. The black pegasus and the hybrid were concerned of them, since they couldn't understand the whole story of drama and so on. Especially Cosmic, since he's still a young colt. They want to make him good influences as big brothers. So, they held the dark mare off from explaining.

"Uhm, guys. Why don't you help the others out?" Johnny asked the two of them to leave.

"Especially you, Cosmic. I mean, I'm pretty sure, mom and dad are concerned." The hybrid added.

"I could need some help now!" They heard Pinkie shouting from afar and Gil left there with a shrug. Meanwhile, Cosmic was still confused, but regardless, he knew, that his parents were needing some help, so he flew off.

"Okay, what's the story behind it?" The hybrid was curious.

"Well, since that shit is complicated as fuck, I'm gonna give you an abridged verison of the whole deal. So...remember our first encounter and the whole dragon incident and such, which came from our drama?" Breeze proceeded to explain as simple as possible. The whole thing is just a mess. So much so, that the blue mare had to repeat some moments for clarification.

"Basically someone, named Shadow Galaxy tried to conquer the galaxy and destroy anyone, who dared to defy her, Fire and Ocean coming back, along with Snow and you eventually stopped her. Is that right?" The hybrid is slowly catching up.

"Basically the whole thing in a nutshell." Breeze shrugged. The guys knew about the situation in some ways, as they dealt with aliens, evil robots, robot aliens and so on, trying to conquer or even destroy Earth several times. In other words, it wasn't new to them. However, they haven't experienced something, like Shadow Galaxy before, at least not in that magnitude. Something, that their former villains and even those, like Whacko and Dark Vegan will never match.

"Dude, the whole thing gives me a headache..." Johnny groaned.

"Same here, man. The whole drama is a fucking mess. I've been trying to cope through this with jokes and such, just to lighten up the mood a bit. I mean, someone has to do it, huh?? Not everything has to be all doom and gloom!!" The dark blue mare was getting more and more frustrated, but suddenly calmed herself down and sighed. "Sorry. It's so hard living with that pain. It's so fucking hard for all of us...But hey...at least, Fire and Ocean are back and they had learnt their lesson, so there's something. Right, Cherry?" She looked at the green mare, who still wasn't responding.

"Hey, Breeze. We need your help again and..." Ocean came back, along with Fire, Snow and Tropic, when all of a sudden, Cherry started walking away.

"Cherry, where are you going?" Tropic asked, in which the green mare finally broke her silence.

"I'm going back to the ship..." Cherry mumbled, while walking away from her own friends and although her friends tried to convince her to stay, she ignored their words due to her depression and left Ponyville, leaving everyone worried, including Applejack, who just came back. Looking at the mares, who looked defeated and down, especially Fire and Ocean, a decision was suddenly made.

"Not on my watch!" Applejack proceeded to follow the direction, Cherry went.

"Where are you going?" Dukey asked.

"Helpin' a fellow pony in dire need!" Applejack answered, while running off.

After that, Dukey proceeded to comfort Tropic and the elemental sisters apologising to Johnny on their actions with dignity and maturity. But there was one pony, who had something else in her mind: Snow Emerald. Ever since the mole incident and finding the note, the snow white pegasus mare has been thinking about the mole people, their origins, how the mole women went to Equestria and possible ways on ending the conflict. But there's also some questions, that needed to be answered, like "Why did two of the mole women leave a note behind?" Needless to say, she's determined to help Roy and Amber and end the conflict between the two sexes once and for all. But for now, she had to help her friends on rebuilding Ponyville.

As the sun had settled, the ponies decided to take a break and go to sleep, but some of them decided to continue their work on the rebuilding process.

Meanwhile, the elemental girls were tired of the whole day and were about to return to their ship for some sleep. Tomorrow is another big day, so they have to be prepared for it. As they arrived, the doors opened and Applejack came out with Cherry.

"How did it go?" Ocean asked.

"Don't worry, fella. I've been comfortin' and helpin' her the whole time, as soon, as I've arrived at that ship. Thankfully, she didn't plan on takin' her own life, but I have to make sure, she won't." Applejack explained that while everyone has been in the rebuilding process, she managed to comfort the green earth pony for hours.

"Thank you, Applejack." Tropic was grateful, that the southern pony helped her friend.

"This ain't over though, Tropic. She needs a lot of help right now. So, I'm gonna take her to Sweet Apple Acres for some R&R." Applejack proceeded to tell them, that Cherry needs some therapeutic help and her plan.

"Are you sure about that?" Snow asked.

"I swear to my honesty, I'm doin' my best." The southern mare tipped her hat a bit in confidence, before leaving with Cherry, while the others entered the ship to sleep. However, little did they know, Applejack actually had plans to cheer the elemental ponies up, including Cherry.

Several hours later into midnight...

Everyone was fully asleep in Equestria....Everyone...except for Snow Emerald, who's in the ship. She slowly got up and sneakily snuck around the others, without making any noises and silently left the ship, while holding a block of paper, a pencil and the note block.

"Here goes nothing." Snow took a deep breath and flew up and away to several fields far away, where Talia and Aurianna are probably waiting.

Speaking of who, the two mole women were currently waiting in a field, standing near a tree.

"Uhm...You sure, this is gonna work?" Auriana was concerned.

"I hope, someone has responded to our message and decided to come here. All we have to do is wait, Auriana." Taila was confident on someone coming for a talk.

"But...what about the others?" The other mole girl asked.

"Don't worry. They're currently asleep." Taila assured her friend, that they're safe.

They waited for a while, in which the two ladies looked at the stars and their constellations. They are currently worried about a certain incident, involving their clan and Amber. They kept on waiting and waiting, until they saw a figure flying through the skies and landing to the ground, revealing to be Snow herself.

"Stay back!" Talia pulled out her spear at Snow in self defense, but this was due to them meeting her for the first time.

"Relax, girls. I'm the one, who found your note and decided to go here to meet you." The pegasus mare eased their worries by showing them the note and has her note and pencil ready. After which, Talia put her spear away. "In fact, I'm really curious about your species and the history, along with the whole incident involving Amber, whom I know thanks to a close friend of mine, named Breeze. But enough of the fluff, what do you want to talk about?" The two mole women looked at each other and silently discussed about what topic, they want to talk about. After a few minutes, they made up their mind.

"Alright. You know about our clan and that we escaped to this planet here. But our clan in Equestria is actually a fraction of the original amount of mole people in our original home planet Primaia, where it used to be bigger and more prestigious and strong." Taila noted, before proceeding to explain Snow the entire history of their clan:

"A long time ago, Primaia used to be full of life and prestige, filled with luscious nature, brave legends and a thriving community, ruled by the original queen, Calypso. Known for her wisdom, maturity and kindness, she ruled our clan, while also teaching us the importance of loyalty and peace. Some of them decided to live their lives in peace, while others strive to be like her, with one of them being Iris herself. Given that she had a rough upbringing, she strived to be strong and wise, just like her. She worked hard on her training, just to get in the army, even though she was poor. Eventually, it paid off and she transformed herself into a confident and happy woman, ready to make the world a better place. Many soldiers in training admired her for her kindness and wisdom and being a respectful sparring partner. One of her sparring partners was Evelynn. She used to be bright and full of energy, while also being on the same level as Iris. In fact, they were the strongest warriors and their experience were put to the test, when they fought in a duel for the role as the queen's commander. After a long and arduous battle, in the end, Iris won the battle and earned the role as commander. However, she had a condition, that Evelynn would be her right hand lady. A few years have passed and everything was great, with Iris working for Queen Calypso with respect and maturity. That was....until that fateful day....where our lives were permanently changed..."

Auriana then continued the story with: "An army of shadow ponies had invaded our planet, lead by a cunning and menacing being, named Shadow Nebula as a part of a intergalactic conquest. Many of our species either got captured, escaped the planet or even worse, lost their lives during the invasion....we were one of those mole people, who managed to escape, including Evelynn, several more of our clan, Iris and a little mole girl, she's been holding. The little girl was none other than Amber. After waiting in space, we arrived at a planet and on the land, named Equestria. The first thing, we saw, when our clan set foot on the place, was the moon with a mysterious symbol of a pony, made out of the moon craters, before finding a place to dig underground and building our own civilisation. Since then, we've been more secluded and aware than before."

"Hmmm...A moon with a face...." Snow was thinking about the moon, before realizing what they meant. "You know, I've spent time researching about Equestria's history from the day, I made friends with Twilight and from what I've read, that face on the moon was the symbol of Nightmare Moon's imprisonment over there. Given that Princess Luna is reformed now and that Amber is grown, I assume you went to Equestria presumably many moons ago, during Luna's imprisonment."

"Seems like it." Talia confirmed.

"I feel sorry for you girls...Having to escape your home from a maniacal megalomaniac, thirsty for power and darkness, really messed you up. I know the feeling, since many people from different planets had the same experience before. Hell, even me and my friends went through that same shit before." Snow showed lots of sympathy to the mole women.

"Except that Evelynn became even more aggressive and secluded these days.... and the worst part is, we don't know the real reason why, given that she never told us about anything." Talia sighed, but the mention of Evelynn's secrecy and aggression perked the snowy pegasus, especially that she went through a similar phase before several times. One time, when she first met her future friends, the second one was when she was with Jenny during the first mission and the recent one was after the whole drama. In fact, she started theorizing about the possibility, that Evelynn might went through a traumatic experience or even several of them before. Maybe those could explain about her behaviour, but she has yet to confront the commander about the secret.

"At this point...maybe Amber was right after all and we need to change....but Evelynn refused to see it that way and Iris refused to comment about it..." Auriana looked down, after she told the pony about her feelings. "Oh god....I feel really sorry about her....I can't believe, we just stood there, not helping her...." During those words, she started to tear up and Talia had to comfort her friend, all while Snow listened more about their problem. The situation is clear: Amber's emancipation from the clan caused a secret divide and the two sexes were at tension against each other. She had to do something.

"I made up my mind. I'm going to unite the two civilisations into one and bring Evelynn back to her senses." Snow had a serious expression in her face, as she made her decision, much to the girls' shock.

"What!? You can't be serious right now! Evelynn is known to be the strongest and the most ruthless one and she would not hesitate on putting your head on her spear!" Auriana tried to convince Snow, not to follow her plan. "I mean, at one point, she threatened the males and your friend with immediate execution during their captivity!"

"You'd be surprised, on how capable I am. Plus, I had my experience facing against ruthless criminals, a few dictators and even Shadow Nebula herself, with my friends on my side, so I have the necessary resources and smarts available. Not to mention, I have the elemental orb of ice. I could just freeze her and her followers no problem." Snow was confident.

"I know, that you're trying to help us and we really appreciate it...but couldn't risk our lives to defy our commander. Anyway....thank you for letting us talking about our problems..." Taila was about to depart with her friend.

"You're welcome and remember. Never underestimate the power of the elements and the magic of friendship." Snow smiled, as the two women departed. During the time, she finished up noting everything, what they said and making ideas for her plan. The mare packed up everything and left the forest, but on her way back, she bumped into someone.

"Hey! Who just bumped into me?" The pegasus mare rubbed her head and opened her eyes and despite being in the middle of the night and in a forest, she can recognize the mysterious individual due to the moonlight glimmering on the mane and tail. There can only be one pony, whose mane and tail glimmer at the light from both the sun and the moon and having the shape of an iceberg. And sure enough, the individual turned out to be Brain Freezer.

"Brain Freezer? What are you doing there in the middle of the night?" She was confused on why he was in the forest. Especially after midnight.

"I was about to ask the same thing." The icy blue unicorn rubbed his frozen head, when he saw the note block. "Is that a note block, you're carrying?" He grabbed it up and although Snow tried to intervene, he read all of it in detail.

"It seems like, they too felt remorse." The icy unicorn commented, which threw Snow off.

"What?! What are you talking about?" She was perplexed by what he said. The blue stallion proceeded to explain her about that peculiar detail:

"You see, I was honing my unicorn magic that night in a secluded area, because I felt it was the safest time. Not sure, why I decided to do that in the middle on the night though. Suddenly, two mole men appeared out of nowhere and they scared the shit out of me. Like I almost froze them, but the beam was inches off from them and hit a random boulder. Naturally, I was pissed at them, but then...something unbelievable happened: The mole men, named Lance and Brandon, also felt guilty for ignoring Roy and that they couldn'do anything out of fear as well! Why? Well, it's due to the divide amongst the men! And it seems like, Zizrar refuses to talk about it! He just...looked away in silence that day."

"What? If that's the case...then it's clear, there's a huge divide between the two clans and another one amongst each of them! The worst part is, my friends and I haven't experenced something similar! So, this is all new!" Snow realized the problem, which got even more complicated than ever, especially with the lack of experience.

"Take it easy, Snow. We'll think about something tomorrow. For now though, we need some sleep." Brain Freezer slowed things down.

"You're right. Perhaps some sleep would clear my mind." Snow nodded and the two of them left the forest. During the time, the icy unicorn looked at her and blushed, thinking about an appropriate time to confess his feelings to her and what he would say, but also dealing with the constant anxiety and focusing on his redemption journey. However, he has to push those feelings aside for now, in order to help her and bringing Zizrar back to reality.

The next morning, Twilight and Spike were staying in the castle, doing their usual duties, with Twilight overseeing the Cutie Map and Spike writing the letters and receiving them. Some of them were from Princess Celestia and Luna, telling them that they have made up and they're overseeing the rebuilding of Ponyville and the upcoming Friendship Festival. Other letters were about finding the trio of stallions, named the "Try Guys" . At least, Star Time Rush agreed to attend and perform at the festival, but the other group was sort of hard to get. Recently though, a name popped up in one of those letters, that could be helpful of finding at least one of them: Jolly Goodie. So, Spike decided to write a letter to Princess Celestia on finding Jolly Goodie and if he and the others would be able to be part of the festival.

At the same time, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy, arrived to the main room to meet with Twilight and continuing their duties.

"Good morning, Twilight!" Pinkie greeted her friend with her usual joy. However, they noticed, that their Alicorn friend looked....stressed. "What's the matter? You look quite under the weather today."

"I know, Pinkie..." Twilight sighed and looked at the map. "You know....just when I thought, we could just relax and rest, after the defeat of Cozy Glow and the return of magic, we got caught in two separate main incidents, that are connnected in some aspects. One being about Radiant Thunder and his constant battle against his mental demons and the other being a group of friends in shambles. What's more, both of them caused a bigger impact to Equestria as a whole, both good and bad. Mostly good, since the subject of abuse has been become more and more aware and that our elemental friends have redeemed themselves in the end....it's just...Everything is getting more and more complicated..."

"I know that feeling, darling. Sometimes, things are getting rougher and more complicated. But rest assured, those problems are slowly going away." Rarity assured Twilight with a smile.

"Yeah, Twilight. Like I met Johnny and Dukey this morning and they're doing well. We talked about some awesome stuff, we're gonna do today and heck, Sissy is getting better with her flying. As for them an Missy, yeah, it's kind of a mess, but hey. They're getting better." Rainbow commented.

"I talked with Jillian and she said, she's improving and started finding new friends. Although she told me, that she kinda missed her people." Fluttershy told her about what Jillian, AKA Natural Spark has been doing.

"I'm actually glad, that they're doing just fine. The issue may be fully over with....if it wasn't for what Sunset and Starlight said about.....the sisters. At first, I haven't thought anything of it, but after the whole debacle with Fire Jewel, her sister and their friends being somewhat resolved, there was this lingering thought, that perhaps....the story might been a a lot more complicated than we thought and that the two had a point." Twilight said something, regarding to Sunset, Starlight and the Test twins, before clapping her cheeks. "But that's just me. We don't know for sure, since it's been months after the last sighting. As for Fire and the others...I'm glad, they're slowly improving, but there are some unknowns, namely about the Alicorn named Jenny. It's a shame, that she's basically missing."

"The one, who basically started that mess? Jeez, she should've been punished by this point for starting all of this, along with those....nightmare sisters!" Rainbow responded negativity about the mares, much to everyone's annoyance. The most notable thing about the prismatic mare, aside from her impressive speed and being the heroine of loyalty, is her enormous ego and pride.

"Rainbow! There are some things, we can't blame Jenny for! Namely due to her being through so much pain and heartache! Plus, those ponies from outside of our galaxy, which means, some things are different than here. And as for those girls, the whole thing is too complicated and unless we get confirmation from them or even from Sunset and Starlight, it'll be left completely open for conspiracies and theories!" Twilight responded in a stressful manner.

"Take it easy, sugarcube. We have to do those things only one at a time, starting with those elemental ponies. Recently, Cherry has been stayin' at the Sweet Apple Acres with my family, who are watching over her." Applejack suggested the ponies to do things one at a time.

"How about talking to those ponies and give them company? Like for example, Applejack could talk and comfort to Cherry, while I could spend time with Fire Jewel, Fluttershy with Tropic Bloom and so on? And also give them some advice for them to learn!" The peppy party mare suggested, that the Mane Six spend time with the six elemental ponies, while teaching them valuable lessons.

"That's actually a really good idea. What do you think, girls?" Fluttershy asked to her friends, in which they agreed. "Wonderful! I planned to invite Tropic into the tea party with me and Discord."

"I'd like to help out one of them, but recently, I had to finish up decorations for the festival and making dress requests. One pony wanted a beautiful dress and the other an elegant, black dress." Rarity pointed out, that she had to work for the festival, which has been postponed to a week.

"Now that you mentioned it, Spike! Can you write a letter to Princess Celestia, asking her to find someone, named Jolly Goodie and if the group can participate the festival? So far, we got Colortaura, Star Time Rush and PostCrush as musicians and we got some entertainers, but there is still one spot left." Twilight asked her dragon assistant to write a letter, in which the purple dragon is in the progress of doing so. She then returned her attention to her friends and asked, if there are objections. After nothing came, the purple mare responded with: "Okay. With the current objective settled, the meeting is adjourned."

Twilight and Spike stayed, while the others left to do their jobs. After that, Twilight continued her duties as the princess of friendship, while also dealing with the Friendship School, while Spike finished the letter and sent it to Celestia with his magical dragon breath. However, a few moments later, Spike was standing in front of the main door, when he heard a knock from the other side. Upon opening it, he saw Snow Emerald.

"Hello, Spike. Is Twilight here?" The snowy mare asked.

"Uhm, she's currently at the Friendship School. What do you want from her?" Spike was confused.

"I just want to talk with her about something. It is about...a particular event yesterday, related to mole people and such." Snow answered.

"Hang on, I'll talk to her. In the meantime, wait here, okay?" Spike went off, while the pegasus mare went to a nearby room to wait. While waiting, Snow kept on thinking about what the mole women said and what to do to stop the conflict. It went on for at least 15 minutes, until Spike returned with Twilight. After which, they went to a separate room, with a table and seats. After sitting down, the purple duo wanted the reason, why Snow decided to talk with them.

"I've heard, that you had a lot of experience on solving friendship problems with your friends, as well as uniting different kinds of species together, is it true?" Snow asked a simple question.

"As a matter of fact, we do." Twilight answered, but is unsure, what Snow wants with this information.

"Well...there is that...issue from yesterday, relating to the mole people. I am aware of the existence of mole women, thanks to Breeze, since she was held there, but ever since Amber and Roy had left their people, most of them were opposed, but there were a few, who felt sorry about the whole instance. Two of them, are two women, named Talia and Auriana. I went to the meeting spot in the middle of the night, since they want to tell their clan's tale and expressed guilt over what happened." Snow explained and proceeded to tell Twilight and Spike about the history of the mole women and why they decided to flee to Equestria, which took place during Nightmare Moon's imprisonment and WAY before she and her friends have arrived, as it turned out, they landed in that planet after Twilight's castle was built. During the wave of explanations, Twilight carefully listened and Spike took notes of the whole ordeal.

"But it turns out, that the same thing happened for the men, when Brain Freezer told me about him being told by Lance and Brandon, that they're feeling sorry for Roy and that Zizrar has been awfully quiet about it. So, yeah. Both clans are currently dealing with constant tension amongst them, all because of Roy and Amber leaving their people behind. I'm saying this, because I want to help them and end the conflicts once and for all." Snow concluded her thoughts, all while Twilight and Spike carefully observed. For Twilight, it wasn't new. Applejack and Fluttershy told them about their quest to solve a friendship problem in the village of kirins and helping out Autumn Blaze to break the silence and return the emotions of the other kirins, all because of their philosophy of drinking the River of Silence would prevent any arguments. Despite several hiccups, including the two mares arguing and getting captured and almost dropped to the river by the community, thanks to Autumn Blaze, they managed to talk with the kirins out and bringing back their voices and emotions. So, hearing Snow's tale about the mole people and the conflicts made the Alicorn mare think about possible ideas.

"Hmm...from what I've heard, the mole people have been completely split and in shambles. However, unlike the kirins, it's clear that a few of them don't share the same view as the others, when it comes to Amber and Roy. I think, the best way for this plan to work is to talk with Roy and Amber directly. Then, you have to go to the mole people and attempt to reason with them. If all of those steps work, then teach them the importance of friendship and slowly bringing them together." Twilight explained the first steps of a plan.

"To be fair, isn't it a bit too early to ask them about what happened yesterday? Pretty sure, they're still reeling from it." Spike was concerned about Roy and Amber, given with the fresh wounds.

"Perhaps give them some time to heal. Like wait for a few days or even weeks." The princess of friendship suggested to leave them alone for a while.

"I guess, you're right....I honestly don't want to overwhelm them even further, after...well....that.. It's just, I've been invested about it, simply because of Evelynn. I have a feeling, that she is hiding a secret and...perhaps, feeling constant paranoia and distrust, after multiple betrayals, like I did." Snow reconsidered her options.

"I appreciate your concern, Snow, but sometimes, it's best to take things slow and focus on other things, like rebuilding your friendship with the others and being more open with yourself." Twilight gave the snowy mare some advice. After thinking about it for a while and taking the princess' advice to heart, Snow nodded and left the castle, leaving Twilight and Spike to do their usual work.

As Snow went to the centre of Ponyville, Brain Freezer was waiting there.

"So, how's the meeting with Twilight?" he asked.

"Well, here is the thing. Although she gave me some basic steps about the plan, Spike pointed out, that it's too early to take action. Especially, if the two mole people are still reeling from what happened yesterday and the others being apprehensive about it." Snow explained her meeting with Twilight and how it turned out.

"I tried talking with Zizrar about that event, but he basically refused to comment further and even gave me the meanest glare, when I persisted. Man, whatever is happening to the guys, it wasn't pretty. I even talked with Lance and Brandon about it, but they didn't say much else, other than their guilty looks on their faces." He sighed.

"Damn....But it's best to leave them alone for a while and focus on other things, like me focusing on my friendship studies, reconnecting myself again and also with my friends. I mean, the very last thing, we want, is further conflict and the possibility with neither of them speaking with anyone again. I mean, do you really want that happen to your best friend?" Snow reiterated Twilight's point in a serious tone and that last question made the icy unicorn reconsider about doing the plan. He'd been best friends with Zizrar ever since Johnny's disappearance and it would be foolish for him to ruin it all, especially with the messy breakup and the end of his alliance with the other villains, due to constant tension. All of those factors made him to what he is today.

"I guess, you're right. It's not worth to pressure him and the others any longer. Plus, it happened just YESTERDAY." He now realised it, that pressuring the mole people about an event, that happened yesterday, is not a good idea after all. Not to mention, there's also the fact, that he has feelings for Snow Emerald, so he wanted to be on her good side. After all, prior to their meeting today, he had visited Rarity in the morning for some advice and she told him, that clear communication and mutual understanding are key for a good relationship. Then, he decided to switch topics. "Hey...uhm...If you have nothing to do today...then maybe we could-" Before he could finish his question, a pony was asking anyone for help on rebuilding the shop.

"Hey! I can help you! Sorry, I had to go now." She left the dumbfounded unicorn to help the pony in need. After a few minutes of awkward silence and lots of processing, he yelled "Man, I blew it!!!", which lead to draw attention from some slighty peeved ponies, which made the situation even more awkward and embarrassing. So much so, that Brain Freezer was feeling, he was about to shut down, but luckily, he went somewhere else to attend to.

In the skies, Rainbow Dash was practicing her skills by flying through the clouds, performing impressive tricks and overall flying really fast. All of this was partially done to prepare herself for the Friendship Festival, as the Wonderbolts will be scheduled to perform an air show later on. And since she is part of them, she had to practice harder, in order to achieve perfection...or at least close to perfection that is. Not to mention, she will perform her iconic Sonic Rainboom to wow the crowd. After a while of flying around, the prismatic mare stopped to take a break.

"Phew. That was cool and all. It's really crazy, that I haven't practiced my skills for the festival for a while. Oh well, there's lots of thing to catch up!" She wiped the sweat off from her forehead, before resuming her training of improving her tricks. However, during her training, she flew into a particular cloud, when she hit something hard. So much so, that she lost balance and fell down to a nearby cloud below.

"Ow...What that that?..." Rainbow rubbed her head, groaning in pain, when she started looking at the source of the impact...which revealed to a particular, dark blue mare with violet mane, also groaning in pain on another cloud, which was facing Rainbow.

"Dude....you could've killed me..." The dark blue mare was not happy.

"Oh! Sorry, Breeze! Didn't really see you in that cloud. I was practicing my skills and overall being fast, when I didn't pay attention." The prismatic mare apologised for that sudden crash.

"To be fair, this wasn't the first time, someone bumped to me, while was was inside of the cloud. And yeah, I often prefer to relax and nap inside of clouds, rather than on top of it. Sometimes, I relax on top of them, but being inside of a cloud is quieter. I love the thrill of action and adventure, but sometimes, I like to just relax and bask in." Breeze rubbed her head, explaining that the crash wasn't her first rodeo, before proceeding to feel the breeze. "Man, it's nice to have a break, after all of that shit happened in the last few months."

"I feel ya. Things are getting better with Johnny and the others. Everyone's learning and redeeming themselves and you and your friends are doing the same thing, ever since Twilight got you under her wing." Rainbow smiled, but Breeze suddenly became serious and showed her a different side underneath her free-spirited and cocky shell.

"Hey...can I talk to you about something?" The blue mare asked, like something's troubling her.

"Sure, I'm open." Rainbow nodded, ready to listen. After which, the dark blue mare took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her everything:

"Well...Remember, when I told you a bit about my backstory about me being neglected by my parents, in favour of my brother? There are more ramifications to me than you think. When I was a little kid, everything was quite normal with my parents loving me, but that changed, when my little brother was born. They focus on him way more than me. I tried ho get their attention and love, but I got ignored and even if I DID get their attention, they half-heartedly acknowledged me. Don't get me wrong, my little brother loved me and hell, he still does and I often hang out with him, playing games and going outside and such. I mean, before I went to Equestria, I visited of him, being really proud of him graduating. At the same time, I had to focus on school and while I was excelling with sports, i was terrible with math. Not to mention, i was a quiet pony back then, with only having a few friends to hang out with. But here's the thing. While I was neglected by my parents, when we visited my relatives, namely my uncle and aunt, they gave me something, I didn't get: love. They cared for me, they supported my decisions, which my parents do, just....you know...being occupied with my brother and hell, my uncle was the reason, why I became so confident and free-spirited, since they often take me to beautiful fields for me to fly around. Plus, he made me laugh with jokes and such, which would be my thing later on. Anyway, all of this would eventually boil up to one moment. I was doing my flight classes and I got an achievement for the fastest time in a course. I was so excited to tell my family about it and while my brother was proud of me...my parents were...okay with it. Keep that in mind, I was a kid at the time and well, they were busy with their jobs as well....and looking back at it....it's very complicated...I was completely fed up and that lead to an argument between with me and my parents, before screaming that, they're not my parents anymore and locking myself in my room. Later at night, I flew away from home and tried to find my uncle and aunt, but that night, it was seriously foggy as fuck, so I got lost easily somewhere. Didn't help, that there was a heavy hunderstorm going on. I tried going back, but that made things worse by getting myself even more lost. Suddenly, lightning struck down the ground and I was scared. But then before I was hit by one, a blue orb struck me In the chest and when I was hit by one of the lightning bolts, a sudden surge of energy made me shot out bright bolts in the sky and strong winds. That caught the attention of someone, after those surges stopped and lead me back to my home, in which my uncle and aunt welcomed me back and after telling them my story, they basically gave my parents a much needed wake up call and they've been trying their best, even though, as I got older, I became...distant and ran away again, this time to another planet, to make my own decisions, where I would meet Fire and Tropic and...well...the rest is history."

"Jeez...This story kinda reminds me of Scootaloo, given with how busy her parents are and such." Rainbow was sympathetic towards Breeze.

"Yeah....In some aspects, but completely different. Thank God, they learned from their mistakes and are trying to improve our relationship, although again, they did it a bit too late, but hey. Better late than never, I guess...But the most important thing is....I can be quite anxious in secret, but I masked it with my attitude and jokes. I was slowly learning to be more genuine during my adventures with my friends...however the recent drama made me completely relapse myself." Breeze sighed. "I was just afraid."

"Let me tell you something, Breeze. It's okay to not be okay. Nopony's perfect. We're basically unique in our own way and if we mess up, we can make things right again. Plus, there's no need to be afraid, as long as you have awesome friends, like me, Johnny, Pinkie and many many more! And if you fall back, there's always a chance to get right back up and try again! We're all here for you and that's, what really matters at the end." The prismatic mare gave the dark pegasus a motivational speech to liften up her spirits and energy.

"You know...I never thought of that...I mean, it's been AGES, since I got up again from a fuck-up. " Breeze slightly smiled, before getting up, now being more confident. "You're right! I've been through so much before, but I'm gonna stand tall and fight them like those Shadow Ponies! And if I don't succeed, I'll fucking do it again!"

"Yeah, that's the spirit, Breeze!" Rainbow cheered on. "Hey! If you're free, are you up for a race? I could use a partner right now."

"Hell yeah, I'm in!" Breeze prepared herself and the two pegasi started their race in the skies.

Meanwhile in the Carousel Boutique, Rarity was working on some dresses and decorations for the second Friendship Festival. Thanks to the crystals and gems, Johnny and Dukey brought, she was able to make beautiful looks, ribbons and so on. She was marvelling of her finished products, when the doorbell rang. Immediately, the unicorn mare answered the door, only for the pony to be revealed to be Ocean Spark.

"Oh hello, Ocean! Come in!" Rarity was happy to see Ocean and the two unicorns went inside the boutique. She noticed, that the blue mare was wandering around a bit. "What brings you here?"

"I'm just...wandering around." Ocean quietly responded in a tone, that was not quite happy and Rarity was suspicious about it. "I've heard, you're really a good designer and since I love fashion, I though I could check this place out.

"You don't sound so enthusiatsic today. What's wrong, darling?" Rarity asked.

"It's nothing." Ocean sighed, but Rarity didn't believe it a bit. It didn't take long, precisely just a few seconds, she cracked and immediately blured out the truth. "Forget it....The whole drama made me feel guilty and scared, just like what happened, when I lost my parents as a filly. I blamed at someone at Jenny for our downfall, even though I was also responsible for that. What this reminds me of in some ways, is the time, I falsely blame Fire for murdering my parents, when I had no idea, that she is my sister and that Shadow Nebula was the true culprit. I'm such a foolish pony, who would blindly pick sides for selfish reasons..."

"Darling, let me tell you something. You are not a horrible pony. You are just flawed, like everypony in Equestria and beyond. And I know for a fact, that you've been through so much, that no words describe on how tragic they were. But there is always some form of beauty in the rain, you're standing, if you believe in yourself and look at the bright side at the end of the tunnel. In other words, if you set those things aside, holding you back, be more generous and considerate and believing in yourself, you can shine brighter than any beautiful gem out there! That is true inner beauty!" The heroine of generosity gave the water pony some words of advice. "Plus, it's best to practice by looking at the mirror and convince yourself, that you can do it."

"You mean, that there is some form beauty and I have to start looking at the bright side?" Ocean asked.

"Of course! Even when there are doubts, just keep doing, what you love and continue walking your path of redemption." Rarity smiled, which made Ocean consider. "Since you love fashion, maybe you can help me with the dresses."

"Well, I'm not really a fashion designer..I just like to dress in trendy and beautiful looks, but I can at least try." Ocean nodded.

"Actually, I need a model, who can give me some constructive criticism for my projects, so I can improve them." Rarity scratched her head.

"Sure!" Ocean agreed and decided to help out the white mare.

In the Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was preparing some cake dough for delicious deserts, while also preparing some party stuff for the Friendship Festival at the same time, without any setbacks, because she can do literally ANYTHING. Since Cheese Sandwich will attend there for decorations and entertainment and Pinkie being his collaborator, more work had to be done, all while being joyful about it. Suddenly, she heard the door opening and immediately dashed towards the entrance, in order to welcome the customer. "Welcome to the Sugarcube Corner!" She grinned and the customer was revealed to be Fire Jewel. "Oh hi, Fire Jewel!"

"Uhm...hi. Wow, you seems to be extremely chipper today." Fire entered the store.

"Of course, I do! The Friendship Festival is coming soon and while the last one was rudely interrupted by the Storm King and his party poopers and that new forms of friendships are made, like new ponies from a different dimension and even our of space, it deserves a second comeback! I'm so excited to meet new friends, hanging out with my best friends, while also giving everything, I got and having a fun time!" Pinkie explained.

"That's cool! Where will it take place?" Fire warmly smiled.

"In Canterlot, duh! Just like last time!" Pinkie smiled. Unfortunately the mention of Canterlot soured Fire's mood.

"Oh...Canterlot...woo.. Look, I just to get some cakes, since I'm starving." The red unicorn sarcastically responded, before ordering something.

"Which one do you want? Red Velvet? Vanilla Cake? Oh! How about a Rainbow Cake?" The peppy earth pony asked.

"Uhm...Just surprise me, okay?" Fire sighed.

"Okey dokey!" Pinkie Pie rushed back to the kitchen, while Fire sat down. During her wait, the mention of the name "Canterlot" brought so many unpleasant memories there. After a while, Pinkie came back with some slices of cakes.

"Here you go!" She smiled, while handing down the plates.

"Thanks." Fire slightly smiled.

"Hey, do you want to come to the festival?" Pinkie asked.

"On second thought....I'm just fine by staying in Ponyville and y'know...just chilling." Fire responded in a tone, that made Pinkie feel suspicious immediately.

"But why though?" The pink mare demanded an answer.

"Nothing really...it's just, I don't want to go there." Fire was about to leave, when Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Whoa! You just scared the shit out of me! How do you do that?!" Fire was suddenly scared by Pinkie's instant reappearance.

"Is there something, you haven't told me? Is there some sort of....a grudge??" Pinkie suspiciously stared at the red mare, with one of her eyebrows raised, which deserves a certain sound effect.

"Leave me alone..." The red mare growled, as she was about to leave, but Pinkie kept on reappearing in front of her, as if she was teleporting in an instant pace.

"Is it because of....oh, I don't know....A CERTAIN INCIDENT, INVOLVING A BURNING DRAGON?" Pinkie got closer and closer, bringing up the dragon incident, which brought even more unpleasant memories for Fire.

"Do not bring that up!!" She yelled, but Pinkie was persistent and unphased

"Why though? Is it still etched in your head, because of what happened there and as a result, doing your punishment, while enduring so much hatred from everyone in Canterlot, which results in you almost getting killed by a crazy individual, until your sister had to step in and later being taken by Luna and Tempest for some therapy? Because I have a feeling, that you don't want go there, because you're afraid of being abused again??" The pink pony suspected of Fire not wanting to go there, due to the dragon incident and its aftermath, which pissed Fire off.

"SHUT UP!!!" She blasted off a fire beam at Pinkie, only for the mare to throw water from a bucket, causing the fire to evaporate and the room being covered by mist. Where did the bucket of water come from? No idea. Anyway, Fire looked around in the mist, searching for Pinkie Pie. It went on for a while. During which, she raised her defenses up, when all of a sudden, she was "ambushed" by Pinkie Pie. And by "ambushed", I mean the peppy mare immediately pulling Fire into a tight hug out of nowhere, causing her to pause. All of this in the mist, which was slowly fading away.

"It's okay, not to be okay. I'm here now and you can talk to me about your problems." Pinkie smiled, which caused the red mare to become emotional.

"Fine...you got me....I still haven't forgotten the fact, that Canterlot hates my guts....So much so, that even it's been months, I still can't step a fucking hoof there, without getting harassed by everyone there. It's a living reminder of my biggest fuck-up, I've ever done, just because I was such an emotional bitch, who refused to let go from the past!!" Fire screamed, letting her frustrations out.

"Hmm..." Pinkie was using her head to think about a solution, before coming up with one almost immediately. "You know, when I was a little filly and the sun was going down, the darkness and shadows always made me frown and hide in my pillow. But Granny Pie taught me, not to be afraid at those shadows and that I have to face my fears, stand tall, realizing that those shadows aren't gonna hurt me and in order to make te disappear, I have to just laugh! Soooooo...giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at the grossly, crack up at the creepy, whoop it up with the weepy, chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky and tell those big dumb scary faces and nightmares to take a hike and leave you alone and if they think, they can scare you then they got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna laugh! In other words, if things are tough, be brave and just laugh and smile through it! That's the importance of laughter!"

"I...uhm....I actually have no idea, what you're talking about..." Fire was at a loss of words, being seriously confused at what Pinkie just said. "What do you mean by just laughing through the pain?"

"I'll gladly show you!" The peppy party pony grabbed and pulled Fire away somewhere with so much joy.

Outside of the cottage, Fluttershy was taking care of her animals of their needs, only this time, Tropic Bloom was helping her out, using her nature magic and her motherly instincts. Notable examples include Tropic taking care of the bear and rabbits and using her nature magic to make some grass grow for the animals to eat. After they finished their work, they went inside for a tea talk.

"It's nice, that you decide to help me taking care of the animals, Tropic." Fluttershy smiled.

"You're welcome, Fluttershy. I had the experience from taking care of my garden with all of the exotic flowers and other forms of fauna. Plus, I had to take the role as the mother of my team. Like for example, I had to break up a fight between Snow and Breeze, due to their differences and slowly talking things out or I had to take care of the others, when they got injured. In exchange, they helped me overcome my fears and protect me anytime against terrible foes." Tropic explained her experience.

"I really appreciate your kindness and compassion to your friends ans loved ones. I would do the same to my friends and family as well." Fluttershy smiled, but noticed that Tropic has been a bit down lately. "What's wrong, Tropic?" She asked.

"You know, I'm scared, that through my sheer amount of kindness, people will assume, that I'm a weak pony. And even though I proved them wrong on multiple occasions, I couldn't shake off my anxiety from my system. This would result in me not having a stronger connection to nature in some occasions, which is linked to my emotional state. Another problem is, when I get too angry, my magic woulf go out of control. That's something, not even the best sorcerers and masters can figure it out." Tropic explained her feelings.

"Oh my. It could be, because you have so much unrest and doubt in you. I suggest to take things slow and find your inner voice. Believe me, I was in the same situatuon as you. I was cowardly and anxious in the beginning, not being able to help my friends in some situations and even fell under Discord's spell once. But my friends helped me find my inner voice and it took a long time for me to truly come out of my shell and be more confident with myself. What I'm saying is, kindness is not a weakness and you should not be afraid of doubts. Be more confident and proud." Fluttershy gave the yellow earth pony mare some impactful advice.

"I actually never thought about finding my inner voice and make peace with myself. Thank you so much, mi amiga." The nature pony thanked the heroine of kindness.

"That's what friends are always for." Fluttershy hugged Tropic in a warm hug.

In the Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Big Macintosh were working on their orchard, while Granny Smith watched the progress. Apple Bloom wasn't here, since she went with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo earlier. Of course, she did help out before going with her best friends to help out ponies to find out their destinies. It was all part of their usual routine, but there were two exceptions today. For one, the Apple Family were slowly connecting with the Pears, ever since they found out the family truth and the other one was Cherry Swirl helping the siblings out. It was actually part of Applejack's idea, to make the green mare focus on something else other than her own sorrow and while it did work a bit, she and her family kept a watchful eye on her, since Applejack told them about Cherry's story.

She was carrying some baskets of freshly bucked apples, when she thought back about her friendship with Jenny and the good times, they had. That made her so emotionally numb, that she didn't pay attention to her surroundings, until she tripped and dropped the basket. Immediately, she picked them up at a breakneck speed, put them back in the basket and continued moving, only for the pink-haired mare to trip again.

"Y'all good?" Applejack asked.

"Y'all seem to be off your game lately." Granny Smith came to her.

"Sorry. I'm not much of a farmer myself...Although some of my relatives own a cherry farm. But I'm trying my best! Failure is not an option!" Cherry got up and kept going.

"Whoa there, nelly! You soundin' not too enthusiastic today." Applejack held her back, being suspicious lately.

"I'm just....a bit tired lately." Cherry answered and left, but the apple family were suspicious, so Applejack and her brother decided to follow her in secret.

Cherry went to the farm and sat down on the hay. She kept thinking back of the good times with her friends. Hanging out, going on festivals, amusement parks, malls, concerts and other fun areas on their day out. Feeling emotional again, she laid down and buried herself in the hay.

"Jenny....girls...." Cherry missed her friends dearly, especially her best friend, who's been there for her and vice versa, during the hard times. In fact, during the later missions, they took a best friend test and got the highest score out of anyone. Sure, best friends come in different shapes. In fact, the were all like a family of victims of different circumstances all sharing big dreams and aspirations. But it was Jenny, who Cherry understood the most. She was the one, who helped the green mare stand up to her demons and moving on from the past. In exchange, Cherry helped her friend on her own personal demons, like dealing with her dark side and finding ways to combat it. That dark side, known as Shadow Galaxy, was and still is a big issue, that hasn't been resolved to this day. But from that fateful day onward, nothing has been the same anymore and she has been down on her spirits since. She was about to close her eyes and just take a nap, in an attempt to sleep it off, when she was uncovered by Applejack, causing the green mare to jump.

"What in the hay are you doing there?" Applejack asked a simple question, but instead of simply answering, Cherry jumped above her and ran off.

"Oh no, you won't!" Applejack grabbed her trusty lasso and chased after her. Big Mac was outside of the farm, when he saw his younger sister exiting it and decided to go after her. Together, the southern ponies looked around for any signs of the green pony, when they found something peculiar....a small cube, made out of rocks.

"Pretty sure, she's in there." Applejack assumed.

"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded and the two went to the box, which Applejack kicked the rocks down with her hindlegs, causing a hole. But when Applejack went inside, Cherry wasn't there.

"What's going on here?" Granny Smith wondered about the commotion, while Big Mac investigated the place.

"Cherry has been actin' seriously strange lately and now she hid somewhere.." Applejack sighed, slowly getting frustrated.

"Gee, she's quite a tough one..." Granny scratched her head.

"Down here!" Big Mac pointed at the ground beneath the cube, hinting that Cherry might be underground. The mares went inside and the strong stallion demonstrated by putting his ear on the ground, which Applejack and Granny did the same thing, confirming his theory. The orange mare dug a hole on the ground and it didn't take long, till the ground gave away automatically, revealing Cherry Swirl underneath. Not taking chances, Applejack used her lasso to lift her back to the surface.

"Seriously, Cherry! You're making this harder for all of us! We tried to help you, but you just refused to tell you and lied to us! I think, you're just prefer to be alone by then! In fact, your friends did more harm than good with your drama, the dragon and now Shadow Galaxy almost destroyed Equestria and kept on lying, just to make you and your "friends" look better! I actually don't care about your past as a guardian or something, you and the others are a bunch of liars!!!" The southern mare snapped and yelled at the pink-haired mare with all of her frustrations. Predictably, Cherry felt severely hurt by what she said.

"If that's the case...then nobody deserves my life!!!" Cherry broke free and ran away crying in full shame. Big Mac and Granny looked at Applejack, not happy about breaking her heart driving her away. Immediately, Applejack felt really bad about it for being too honest about the situation and overall, being too negative about her and the others.

"Sweet Celestia....what have I done?" Applejack felt guilty about it, before looking at her grandmother and brother. "I know...I know, that I'm responsible...Don't worry...I'll take care of it myself." She immediately took responsibility, grabbed her lasso again and took off.

"Big Macintosh, follow your little sister, just in case." Granny spoke to the stallion.

"Eeyup." The red pony nodded and went after the direction, his sister left to chase Cherry.

Belle's Cottage, Somewhere in Equestria...

Mr. Mittens has been recovering from his injuries from his fight against Dark Vegan and recently, he became a bit better. Now, he's sitting on the table, along with Belle's grandma, waiting for the tea and cookies.

"So...what exactly happened to you guys?" The magenta feline became curious.

"Well..we lived with our people for a very long time, with our family being together for various events and occasions. Everything was fine...until the day, where the Storm King and his army invaded our home...Everything went into total pandemonium, as our people escaped. Some of them got captured by his army, while others escaped to secluded locations. Belle and I were one of the lucky ones, who managed to escape. But her parents on the other hand....they're currently missing to this very day and we have no idea, where they are. Anyway, we've been hiding since, until Belle found you in the quarry." The elderly gray feline explained the truth.

"Man...That's awful...." Mr. Mittens was appalled, even though he had done bad stuff before, but not like this.

"I know...But the worst part is, we have no idea, what happened afterwards. I assume, the Storm King is still out there, conquering land after land. Hence the reason, why we hid in a secluded area." The gray cat sighed.

"The tea and cookies are done!" Belle happily shouted and brought a tablet of tea and cookies to her grandma and Mittens.

"She's trying her best to be optimistic, even during the dark times. Although she is not good with socialising." The grandma giggled.

"Good for her." Mr. Mittens thought in his head. Plus, he can't blame her, given with the past. And honestly, given with his own past and that he had to feel the consequences in form of Johnny's disappearance, Albert's death and him being used as an agent for the government to fight Dark Vegan, only to be betrayed later, of course, he's trying to be a bit more positive. Even when the wounds are still fresh from the aftermath.

While they're having the tea and cookies, Mittens couldn't help, but to look at Belle. At the same time, he felt something....warm inside of his otherwise cold heart. As if something is thawing the ice out. Could it be, that he....actually fell for the tuxedo feline?

"Say, we haven't heard about you, Mr. Mittens. Tell me, what happened there?" Belle was curious, but the question snapped him back to reality....and not in a good way for obvious reasons. Like how the hell was he gonna explain this, without upsetting her? After all, his villainous past would definitely scare her away. Eventually, the amount of stress caused him to have a migraine and eventually him fainting.

"Oh my god!!" Belle rushed to the magenta feline. "Nana, what are we gonna do!??"

"Take it easy, sweetie. We'll figure it out." The granny calmly responded and the two head off to the bedroom, where Belle put him there.

"What is happening?" Belle was concerned about Mittens, being unaware of his past.

Back to Applejack...

The orange mare has been running through the woods and fields, in order to stop Cherry and rectifying her mistake. There was no time to spare, especially with the possibility of Cherry ending her own life at any time.

"Cherry?! Cherry, where are you!?" She looked around for any sign for the green mare, while she kept on running. It went on for a while, with the mare looking around at every corner and running in a fast pace, until she saw a green glint far away from a cliffside. Alarmed, Applejack went to the cliffside as fast, as she could, with her lasso on her.

After a while, she arrived at the cliffside, where she saw Cherry standing at the edge with a blank expression on her face, like she had given up on life.

"Cherry, don't do it!!" The orange mare shouted, trying her best to convince her, not to jump off, but unfortunately it fell on deaf ears, as Cherry proceeded to jump off.

"NOOO!!!!" Immediately, Applejack acted fast, jumped down and threw her lasso, in order to catch the green mare. After she successfully caught Cherry, she grabbed on a branch.

"Let me go, Applejack! I don't deserve to live!" Cherry struggled.

"No, I'm not gonna allow that! Not even once!" Applejack refused to let her go, even when they were literally hanging on a branch. Cherry tried to swing around, but the southern mare tighten her grip on the lasso and she pulled her up.

"Why?....our arrival caused nothing, but trouble...And it seens like, you and the other want us to be gone forever...." Cherry was completely depressed.

"That's not true! I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier!" Applejack attempted to apologise, but Cherry refused to listen.

"You're just saying this, just to make yourself feel better!" Cherry kept on swinging, in an attempt to break free and continue falling to her doom, but Applejack tightened her grip even more. Unfortunately, both heard a crack and realizing, that the branch is gonna give way and both of the mares plummeting to their deaths, the southern mare had to do something.

"You're wrong! I actually didn't mean to yell at you! It's just the entire story has caused so much chaos and division soured my perspective! It wasn't until, I heard your stories about your past, where I finally saw the whole picture! But my stubborn pride and brutal honesty were hindering the progress..." The orange pony explained her apology even further, but hearing another crack, she took a deep breath. "Cherry, listen....I know, things are seriously tough now and that you dearly missed the good times, including your best friend, Jenny... and I can understand that, losin' someone, who's been there for you. And that you had a very tough life, with all of the bullying and the wars...But, not everything is all full of darkness and sorrow and you and your friends are not full bad apples. You and your pals did more good than ever before. Remember the time, where you helped us out against the dragon and later Shadow Galaxy, combining the power of the elements and the magic of friendship, saving Spring Gale, helping Johnny and Dukey out and some small deeds, you've done before? Tell me, are you willing to just throw all of your progress away, just because you have a bad day? Do you really want that?!"

That made Cherry stop resisting and think about the consequences, if she decides to go through with it. However, there is not much time left, because more cracks can be heard, as the branch was about to give away. The green mare had to make a quick decision. Either perish in the fall, all because of a temporary problem, than can be fixed with enough help or take Applejack's words into consideration and take action? After all, it reminds her of the same situation, where she tried to jump off from a cliff, only for Breeze to stop her and later the others supporting her through the dark times.

And the decision was finally made, when the branch eventually broke and the two mares were sent falling....but only for....10 seconds, as they suddenly land on a platform, made out of of the rocks.

"Cherry..." Applejack was surprised and the green mare stood up and approached her in silence. But before she could respond, a long rope fell down from the cliffside to them. Instinctively, the two mares grabbed the rope and got themselves pulled up. It took a while for them to reach back to the cliffside, but they eventually got there and the mysterious individual, who threw the rope, turned out to be Big Macintosh.

"Big Mac!" Applejack rushed to hug her big brother. "Thank Celestia, you came here for the save." Afterwhich, she released the green mare from the lasso.

"You...saved me..." Cherry finally broke her silence.

"Like I said, I'm honestly sorry for what happened earlier." The southern mare tipped her hat down. "But I promise, I'll make up for it by actually helping you. That is, if you're willing to take my hoof and accept the change." She reached her hoof to the green mare.

"Actually....I'm the one, who should apologise... my mind wasn't clear on that day, especially with the reeling aftermath. Plus....I admit, I'm just scared of failures, thanks to my upbringing. As in, my parents taught me, that failures aren't an option and that they were strict in some ways. Not to mention, the bullying and the wars...." Cherry apologized for her behaviour and admitted other aspects of her past, like her upbringing. "The worst part it, it's something, that sticks to me to this day."

"Gee, didn't realize about that part of your childhood...Sorry for the amount of pain." Applejack was sympathetic.

"I appreciate your transparency and honesty. However, if you still have the issues of the past, it's best to let go, accept and learn from your mistakes. You can look back at the past sometimes, but don't overthink too much, pal." Big Mac gave the mare some advice.

"He has a point." Applejack agreed, while still holding her hoof out. After some consideration and some thinking of the past, Cherry finally took Applejack's offer and grabbed her hoof.

"Come on. Let's go back. There's some work to do." Applejack smiled and thearth ponies were on their way back.

[What follows, is a montage of Cherry, Breeze, Fire, Tropic and Ocean hanging out with the Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity respectively, while this song starts playing:]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIA8NaNc5H8

Up in the skies, we see Rainbow and Breeze flying as fast, as they can, all while performing some impressive tricks, like aileron rolls, loops, etc.

"Heh. Impressive, Breeze! But can you keep up with the fastest pegasus alive?" Rainbow complimented, as she started to fly even faster.

"Oh, it's on, man!" Breeze smirked and also increased her speed.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was doing some entertainment for the citizens in Ponyville, to cheer them up, with Fire helping out. At first, she wasn't good with the accordion, all while standing on her back legs. Needless to say, she fell over with the accordion on her face. The red mare was humiliated, but Pinkie brightly smiled, signaling her to keep going with a smile.

Fluttershy was helping out some animals, in short of food, when Tropic used her nature magic to grow some fruits and grass for them to eat. One time, there was an argument between Angel and another rabbit and Tropic used her aromatherapy magic to soothe them. The yellow mares giggled each other.

In the Carousel Boutique, Ocean was wearing the dresses, Rarity made for some feedback. And while she liked some of them, when she wore the sexy, black dress, she was quite confused.

"Don't worry. Someone, named Fine Pride, requested this kind of dress! She liked it dark and elegant." Rarity gave her some context.

"I mean, fine by her and I'm not gonna question anyone's fashion choices. It's just...a few embellishments could not hurt. I don't know." Ocean critiqued.

"Noted." Rarity took notes.

In the Sweet Apple Acres, the Apple Family working hard and preparing their products, all while Cherry inspected and made a few suggestions.

"Have you guys tried to combine apples and cherries into one recipe? I can think of a good one." Cherry suggested.

"You sure about that?" Granny asked.

"I'll write down the recipe for you and a sketch on how it looks like." Cherry ran off to the house to write down a recipe and draw a sketch. After a while, she returned with the recipe and the sketch.

"It's an apple and Cherry crumble crisp recipe! We can try this out and make the others test it. Just in case!" Cherry smiled. "I can get the cherries for you!"

After a while, the apples agreed to try the recipe out and went straight to work.

In the skies, the pegasi flew faster and faster, all while dodging clouds. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash had an idea and flew down extremely fast, in order to perform the Sonic Rainboom.

"Ooh! I can do this too!" Breeze proceeded to do the same.

All while they two pegasi flew down and having the air form around them, they kept increasing the speed. At the same time, in separate locations, Tropic learned more to embrace herself, Cherry and Applejack preparing the recipe, Fire becoming more and more confident and performing her acrobatic fire tricks to wow the crowd, Ocean modeling and having fun with Rarity.

As the two got faster and faster, Breeze's body started to charge and being surrounded by electricity, like Johnny, but the difference here, is that her electricity is more controlled. Then the most incredible moment occured: Rainbow successfully pulling off her Sonic Rainboom, while Breeze...pulled off something similar. She broke the sound barrier, but the effect is similar to a Sonic Rainboom, but the colors are more violet and cyan, reflecting the colours of her mane. Another difference is, Breeze's trail is also electrically charged and the Sonic Boom self caused high winds in the skies. Enough to push the clouds away.

In Ponyville, everyone has seen the colourful, double Sonic Boom in the skies and the trails, swirling around each other and creating impressive shapes with them, like arches, stars, sharp curves, flowers, hearts and more. Needless to saw, everyone was amazed by the spectacle, as Rainbow and Breeze rushed their way to Ponyville. That included Johnny, Dukey, their friends and the elemental ponies. And yes, that included Cherry, who was with Applejack with the apple-cherry crisps for testing. Eventually, the elemental ponies went after the trails and even went as far, as to join in by creating magical rings for them to fly through and creating an elemental spectacle on their own. Breeze saw the spectacle and joined in by creating electric spheres and shooting them in the skies for her friends to shoot to create beautiful fireworks. Finally, Rainbow and Breeze landed to admire the spectacle.

"That was awesome, Breeze!" Rainbow was excited.

"Hehe. Thanks, Rainbow." Breeze blushed and smiled, while everyone applauded for their performance. As they cheered, the elemental friends felt even more appreciated than ever before.

"That was soooooo cool!" Fire expressed her happiness and excitement.

"It was really memorable!" Tropic smiled.

"Yeah. I know right? Speaking of which, Applejack and I have some crisps for anyone to test. If anyone wants that, go on!" Cherry has some crisps in her hoof and anyone, who are interested, tried it out with positive reactions.

"That was delicious!" Pinkie was amazed.

"Never thought, apples and cherries would go well with that." Sissy smiled.

The elemental friends were so touched by the positivity, they hugged their friends and each other as a sign of gratitude. Twilight couldn't help, but to be proud of their first accomplishment.

Suddenly, Spike spewed a flame, which took form of a letter. "Twilight! I got a response!" He gave it to the violet mare to read. It went on as followed:

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

I'm so proud of taking the elemental ponies under your wing and teaching the ways of freindship. However, as for Jenny, the pink alicorn, we just got the word, that she was last seen on her way to Ponyville last night, but she teleported away to parts unknown. It's implied that she was on her way to your castle. If only we can find her and also teach her about friendship and redemption. But in the end, it is what it is.

On a positive note, not only that Luna and I reconsiled our sibling relationship, but progress was made for the Friendship Festival, when we not only found Jolly Goodie, but he also responded, confirming himself as part of that group! Although, one group of entertainers stepped out at the last minute and we need a replacement. Anyway, I'm sending his response to you.

I wish you the best of luck.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.

"Oh my..." Twilight was surprised at the new information, before Spike spewed another flame, which took form of another letter, in which she immediately took and read it fully:

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

we are quite surpised, but also humbled by your request. However, we are aware, that you're having questions about us. Well, allow us to give some info on what we're doing.

The Try Guys are all about trying out the unknown, stepping out the comfort zones, embracing improvements and overall positivity towards Equestria's generations, whatever it's celebrating all things LBGTQ+, mental health acceptance and so on. And also overall making everyone laugh.

After so much discussion and consideration, we agree to perform at the Friendship Festival.

Sincerely,
Jolly Goodie, Lively Tea and Fine Pride

AKA

The Try Guys

"It's the Try Guys! They responded and agreed to perform!" The princess of friendship was excited about the news. Everypony had no idea, who they are, but at the same time they were also curious and excited to see them. Now with Star Time Rush and the Try Guys being part of the festival, there was that one space, that had to be filled. But looking at the elemental mares, Twilight had an idea. But she had to inspect her castle, because Jenny might be there. But she has yet to confirm the theory.

"Wait. Where's Snow?" Fire asked.

"She and Brain Freezer went out to take a walk to the fields. Just to admire nature and hanging out." Twilight answered.

"Oh my. I wonder, what they're doing." Tropic was a bit curious.

Somewhere in the fields...

We see Brain Freezer and Snow Emerald just chilling in the fields, while feeling the slight breeze.

"What a beautiful day today, huh?" Snow smiled.

"Yeah. It's nice to just get away from the stress and just relax." Brain Freezer smiled back. "Feeling better, Snow?"

"Yeah. You know, being under Twilight's wing is actually quite a godsend. A blessing, considering that our mentors didn't know much about friendships, let alone specialising in it. I mean, there was that one sorceress, who sort of knew, but her ways were....quite outdated. After travelling through different galaxies and stars, fighting evil, while also doing small deeds of kindness, being open towards minorities and so on, it's nice, when we have a break and go out to either have some fun or just relax." Snow explained more stuff about her life as a guardian, all while the icy unicorn watched and smiled. At the same time, he was thinking of doing his move. As in...confessing his feelings to her.

"Okay, Brain Freezer...You've been in love with her for months and I was held back by many inconveniences. But now it's time. I'm not gonna fuck this up and let that chance slip away! This is the moment, I've been waiting for!" He thought, while hearing his heartbeat increase and his face becoming flushed. He's been waiting for this moment and now, he's gonna take it. He cleared his throat, stood up and asked: "Hey, Snow. I need to tell you something...."

"What is it?" Snow was confused, but proceeded to listen.

He took a deep breath and proceeded to explain with: "Well....where do I even begin? Remember the time, when we first met in Ponyville, where you've been shopping for groceries? During that time, I was reeling from the amount of pain of heartbreak and loss, back in Porkbelly. I've been happy during a short time, when I was with a girl, when Radiant Thunder helped me out on my loneliness, until she saw my true face and since then, I wasn't in the mood of finding love...until I met...a particular pony, who's been there for me and being a very charming, funny, smart and loyal individual, I've ever met...And you may ask, who that pony is....Well, the pony, I've been looking for, was none other than....was none other than..."

But before he could finish his confession, a yell from Zizrar can be heard from afar, calling his name. Once again, it was rudely interrupted.

"Ugh!!! Excuse me for a moment..." Brain Freezer was visibly frustrated, but kindly excused Snow and left to the direction.

Meanwhile, Zizrar and his mole men were looking around, when the icy unicorn arrived, looking pissed.

"Seriously, guys!!! I'm in the middle of my biggest moment and I'm tired of being rudely interrupted all the time!" He snapped.

"Actually, we could've used your help. We found a spot for our new home and we need new furniture and stuff. It's unfortunate, that we have one member less thanks to those ladies, but we can try our best to move on." Zizrar explained his reason. The last part irked Brain Freezer, as he was fully aware of the while tension between the sexes and he and Snow have plans to end the conflict. He looked at Lance and Brandon for a bit, knowing full aware of their concerns, but given with the whole drama, he wanted to keep it a secret.

"Actually, what is your biggest moment?" One of the men asked.

"It's none of your damn business." The blue stallion looked away, like it's clear, that they basically ruined his opportunity. In fact, he's beyond frustrated.

"What? Why do you keep it from your friends?" Zizrar asked, but the icy stallion ain't having it.

"Because, this is something, I've been working so hard for that moment! I've been trying to confess my feelings, since I've been in love with her for a long time and I can't just let that opportunity get away! But, nope! I got interrupted at least 4 fucking times in two days and that REALLY PISSES ME OFF!!!!" He screamed all of his frustrations out.

"Is it because you have a crush on that Snow pony?" One of them asked.

"YES!!! BUT I'M SO FUCKING ANXIOUS AND PISSED RIGHT NOW!!!" Brain Freezer just couldn't calm down. Suddenly, before anyone can answer though, a female scream can be heard from afar.

"Snow!!" Immediately, the icy pony ran off as fast, as he could, thinking that someone is trying to harm her. The mole men immediately followed shortly after.

He ran as fast to the meeting spot, only to find, that Snow is not there. Assuming the worst, he ran around the area, hoping for any sign of the white mare. During his search, he heard a loud commotion and ran to the source of it, which came out of a wooden cabin. At the same time, he heard the windows being smashed, so he busted the door down, only to find Snow fighting against a crazed and feral Evelynn and Amber, grabbing her throat and gasping for air.

"What the?!? Amber, what the hell is going on?!" Brain Freezer demanded answers.

"It's Evelynn! She tried to kill me..." The braided mole girl still gasped.

"When I got inside, she was strangling her, so I had to take action!" Snow explained, while fighting the crazed woman. The fight was pretty messy to begin with with screams and so many kicks and bites, as well as attempted slashes and blasts. Unfortunately, the deranged strength was just too much for the mare and next thing she knew, she was on the ground, with Evelynn trying to stab her with her spear, with the mare trying to hold her off. Seeing Amber being so scared of her own life, because of the attempted murder and Snow being in danger, caused something inside of his body to snap and his horn glowing intensely.

"ENOUGH!!!!!!" With the maximum rage, he blasted a powerful ice beam at Evelynn, instantly freezing her and freeing Snow in the progress.

"You...you saved me..." Snow took a breather, but the expression of his face started to worry her. Before she knew, he broke through the wall out of rage. Immediately knowing the condition, Snow ran after him, leaving Amber completely stunned. But it wasn't over, as the mole men have arrived and seeing a mole woman and having flashbacks of their imprisonment and treatment, they surround the sky girl, intending to capture her.

"Please....no more..." Amber curled up into a ball in fear. But before anyone can do something, Roy came back and immediately defended her.

"Stop!!! She's harmless!!" He screamed.

"How so? She's one of those ruthless people! I mean, you and our king were taken to the execution for crying out loud!!" One of the mole men hasn't forgotten about it. Before Roy would say anything about it, he heard a familiar voice.

"They're not! They's just trying to defend themselves!" That came from Brandon. He and Lance are ready to explain.

'This morning, two mole girls, named Talia and Auriana, visited us and explained the true reason of their behavior. Originally from a planet, named Terraria, they escaped here, after an invasion, that lead to some of them either killed or captured. Hell, there were a few, who sided with the bad guys, just to save themselves! Worst part of all, their original queen, named Calypso, is still missing to this day! In other words, they've been through so much! They also told us, that they want to set things straight and talk to their current queen, Iris about the situation, hoping that the conflict would end. They feel sorry for not helping Amber, just as we failed to help Roy..." Lance explained everything, shocking everyone.

"Wait....They came from a different planet and that they've been through so much pain?" Roy was genuinely surprised by the revelation.

"Yes...But seriously though, we can't live with yet another mistake, just like with Johnny Test and his disappearance, right? Is this, what we really want??" Brandon reminded everyone about the consequences. Hearing Johnny's name froze Zizrar, since his disappearance and the subsequent reason shocked everyone to the core. He may be a Villain in the past, but he had and still has his own standards and despite some minor setbacks, actually cares for his people. After a while of the silent realisation of what happened.

"Gentlemen....It's time to make up for the mistakes." The king became serious. He looked at Amber for a while, before taking off. The other men followed shortly after, with the exception of Roy, who picked her up.

"It seems like, they learnt their lesson. Unlike Evelynn..." Roy looked at the frozen mole women in shame, before taking off with Amber.

The group have arrived at the hole, where the women are and went inside. There was no time to spare. As soon as they arrived at the centre, Brain Freezer was attacking several mole women and even freezing them out of anger, while Snow tried to stop him.

"Help me!" Snow asked for help, in which Lance and Brandon complied.

"What is happening here??" Zizrar asked.

"Let's just say, a lot has happened. Due to the event yesterday about Amber, Evelynn went insane and we had to lock her up. But she had escaped and attacked some of us out of blind fury. And now, the ice pony is attacking us!" One of the mole women answered.

"Say what?" The mole men were surprised.

"If only I know, why Evelynn's like this..." Gia sighed.

"Where's the Queen?" Zizrar asked.

"She's in the other room....But she's not in the mood for talking right now.... But why do you want to talk with her?" Gia answered.

"This madness needs to end.." Zizrar answered, before going to the room. At the same time, the mole men assisted Snow on stopping the icy unicorn and the women had no other option, but to help them out too.

Meanwhile, Zizrar went inside and looked around for a while, before seeing Iris' silhouette in the shadows and got closer. He noticed, that she was completely silent and that she was sitting in a corner with her head on her knees and facing the walls.

"Uhm...hey...Can I talk to you for a moment?" The mole king awkwardly asked, but there was no response. There was a sorrowful aura radiating from the queen and Zizrar felt it. Suddenly, he realised the fact, that Iris kept on questioning him out of genuine curiosity, not out of paranoia. With that in mind along with the backstory, he sat next to her.

"Look....I had no idea, that you and your people existed and sure, the imprisonment was not really the most welcoming or even comfortable, which lead to that negative stigma towards your kind....but...my men and I also had no idea about the circumstances behind it, until Roy split from us and Lance and Brandon telling us about it. And...man....the invasion, seeing your people getting killed, imprisoned or hell, changing sides, just to save themselves and having no choice, but to escape to another planet? That sounds like the worst kind of pain imaginable, no wonder, why your kind has been defensive until now..." He sighed.

"You don't understand the pain, I'm feeling....I broke Calypso's promise and indirectly hurt Amber....I can't believe, that I'm a terrible queen..." Iris doubted herself.

"What kind of promise?" Zizrar was confused about the promise part.

"Two days before the invasion, Queen Calypso called me to the nursery room, where she had her baby in her arms. She made a promise, that if anything happens to her, I'll take care of her as her godmother. Looking at her innocent eyes, I accepted it and held her in my arms. She was indeed, the sweetest little girl. I couldn't imagine it happening even sooner than I thought. She also made a secret, not to tell them about her heritage, until she's 18. This was made, so that there wouldn't be any conflicts among us." Iris explained.

"But what does this have to do with Amber?" Zizrar asked, unsure if the story has any relevance to Amber.

"It turns out, everything has to do with her! Because....Amber is in fact....the daughter of Queen Calypso, which makes her a princess! But I had forgotten about the promise, due to the constant paranoia and constant training, ensuring that none of this would ever happen, until she defected herself from the clan, where all of a sudden, all of the memories came back and I feel awful about myself...So much so, that I hid myself from my own people in shame....The worst part of this is...I don't know, if I'll be able to forgive myself after this!! I doubt, Amber would forgive me, due to my actions and inactions, like treating her the same as the others, because of the secret and outdated beliefs! It's all my fault and I deserve to be punished in whatever shape it be!!" At this point, Iris was in tears, feeling guilty of what she's done. Hearing this gave Zizrar a whole new perspective, which has some shades of familiarity to it, considering his own mistakes. With all of the information in mind, he grabbed Iris' shoulder, since she is taller than Zizrar, but she is on the ground.

"Hey, I also make mistakes all the time and even though some made me doubt about my position, I got the right amount of help to bounce back up and learn something from them along the way. Back then, I had a rivalry with a particular black, flame haired pony, who used to be human in original world, that went back and forth. Then came the day, where he disappeared and the videos from the Shadow made me wake up and realize the truth....Feeling awful about myself, my mole people, a couple of friends and I went to the place, he went, also known as Equestria, in order to set things straight. What I'm saying is, everybody makes mistakes, but we can learn from them to become better. I know that from Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, as well as from my own friends. There are of course moments of doubts then and there, but I know for a fact, that you're are better than that. Plus, being perfect is overrated." The mole king gave her a motivational advice to the Queen. "I may not be the right person, who can teach friendship, since I'm still learning. But I know someone, who can. And you can get the help, if you can trust me and take my hand." He reached out to Iris, but instead of taking his hand, she pulled him in for a hug.

"Please help me..." Iris responded with a shaky voice, before letting him go.

"You'll get it." He nodded, until both heard a bang from another side. "But first, we have to go back to our mole people and stop my friend from causing havoc. He has lost it, by the way."

With those words, the king and queen exited the room and went to their people, only to see Snow using her magic against Brain Freezer in a cold fight.

"Stop it, Brain Freezer! The mole people have stopped fighting!!" Snow screamed, but it fell on deaf ears. In the heat of the moment, she tackled him to the ground, just as he finished charging an ice beam. But that caused him to misfire the beam and bounced around the room, which caused everyone to take cover. At one point, Zizrar had to push Iris out of the way. But the beam was about to hit Taila and Lance, as they couldn't find cover.

"Lance, watch out!!" Roy ran as fast as he could.

"Talia, no!!" So did Amber and in the nick of time, they pushed the two out of the way to save their lives, but that would result in the two taking the hit and when the mist had settled, they were frozen in ice.

"AMBER!!!!" Iris screamed in horror, as she saw her godchild frozen and rushed there. Everyone was shocked so hard at the sight, everything fell into silence, like the flow of time itself had stopped.

"No..." Brandon was in disbelief at his friend encased in ice and when the ice ponies came to, the unicorn saw the damage, he had caused.

"What have I done..?" He was shaken of what just happened and when Snow was about to say something, he backed away. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!" He screamed and ran off in guilt and shame.

"Wait!!" Snow was about to after him, but Zizrar stopped her.

"Snow, let me handle it. He's my best friend after all." He looked at the trail and went after it, leaving the pegasus mare with the mole people and witnessing Iris being completely shattered at the frozen tragedy.

"THIS WAS ALL MY FAULT!!" Iris banged on the ice with a broken heart. "IF I'D BEEN MORE CONSIDERATE AND TOLD HER ABOUT THE TRUTH SOONER, THEN NONE OF THIS WOULD EVER HAPPEN!!" Hearing this perked Snow's ears up.

"Hey..." Snow approached the broken queen.

"What...do you want?" Iris was slowly becoming bitter, when she looked at the ice mare.

"I'm just curious on what truth, you're talking about." Snow answered.

"Wait...what truth? Your majesty? Is there something, we don't know of?" Auriana looked at the Queen and soon, all eyes are on Iris. With Zizrar's advice in mind, she sighed and proceeded to tell them the truth about Amber.

"You see...Amber is...was...I'm sorry..." Iris apologised, being so close to her breaking point, before gathering enough strength to continue. "She's the daughter of Queen Calypso..."

"That means, she's actually...a princess!?" Taila was shocked, like everyone else.

"Why didn't you tell your people about that earlier?" Snow asked.

"Because....I was afraid of causing more unrest amongst my people....and i was just afraid of someone betraying us, just like what happened in Primaia or using this info for their worst plans..." Iris explained her reason. Much like there are shades of familiarity to Zizrar, there are like those for Snow as well, given that she made a similar mistake to her own friends.

"I understand your paranoia, given that I was in a similar situation to my own friends before...After the drama relating two of my friends, which then escalated to a full on fallout for all of us, I was left disillusioned by the betrayal, that I kept things to myself and became more and more cold and hostile...It wasn't the first time though, given that I was betrayed and hurt by a few of my close friends in the past, that shaped my paranoia and distrust to ponies and non-ponies in general, until my friends came along. But I was so afraid of telling them my story, out of fear of history repeating itself. It wasn't until, when Brain Freezer made me realize my own mistakes, that I shouldn't hang on to my fears and I have to let the past go and be more honest to them. It is debatable, if the reason may be valid, but the point is...You should let go from the past and move on. Our mistakes have may been written in ink already, but there are a lot of open pages for our stories to continue. There's always a chance for improvement for a happy ending. In short...if you have something in your mind, my door is always open and it's okay to show weakness in front of your own people, because they care about you." Snow hugged the Queen, which after bottling up for so long, she broke down in the pegasus' arms. Witnessing the bittersweet moment caused Lance and Brandon offering Talia and Auriana their shoulders to cry on, which they did, some mole people letting their sadness out, while others fight back their tears and lowered their heads in a moment of silence. Needless to say, the air was filled with grief and sadness at the loss of their friends, when all of a sudden, Snow's wings emitted a warm glow and created a mist of magic around the ice. The magic itself slowly melt the ice down, freeing Roy and Amber from the cold prison and witnessing the moment.

"Queen Iris?" Amber softly spoke, getting everyone's attention.

"Amber!" Iris immediately hugged the young mole."I thought, I lost you from the ice..."

"Go on. Tell her." Snow encouraged the Queen to tell her the truth.

"Amber, there is something, I need to tell you." Iris then proceeded to tell Amber the truth about her heritage and being the daughter of the former Queen, Calypso.

"I didn't know, I'm actually a princess and I had a mother...I thought, you're my mother." Amber was surpised.

"You were a baby at the time and your mom promised me to take care of you, if something happened to her." Iris looked down. "I'm sorry for not telling you about the past...there are so many factors, preventing me to do so."

"It's...very complicated to say the least..." Snow added.

"It's okay, if you don't forgive me. I just wanted to get it out of my chest. I was trying to protect you..." Iris felt ashamed, but to her surprise, Amber hugged her godmother back.

"You really forgive me? After everything, what I've done?..." The queen was surprised.

"Of course! You are my mom after all and it's clear, that you love me." Amber smiled. "And as for all of you, I forgive you."

"What do you say, Amber? Can we start everything over with a clean slate?" Iris asked and Amber nodded, which everybody cheered.

"A hurra for the queen and the princess!" Auriana cheered.

At the same time, Zizrar came back with Brain Freezer.

"We're baaaaaaaaacck! Jokes aside, he's okay now. All it takes is a lot of counseling." Zizrar reported about the situation.

"I'm sorry for the damage, I caused...I relapsed back to my insanity for a minute..." The unicorn apologised.

"It's okay, but next time, you should get your emotions checked and find way to calm down." Snow responded, in which she was pulled into a hug by the blue stallion.

"Thank you! I thought, I have ruined our bond with that stupid stunt!" He was emotional about it, which caused Snow's cheeks becoming quite rosy.

"Roy...we're really sorry about not listening to you. We literally have no idea about what's going on behind the scenes. But realizing, that the women were not as mean, as we thought and that you are clearly happy with Amber, it's clear that we need to change." Zizrar apologised to Roy and the others looked at him, sharing their guilt.

"You mean..." Roy was slowly realizing, what they're on about.

"Of course, silly! We're uniting two kinds of mole people into one! That is, if Queen Iris is actually okay with it..." He looked at the Queen.

"I accept your offer." Iris nodded, wiped her tears away and shook hands with Zizrar, making history at the same time.

"Well, would you look at that. Everything is concluding quite nicely." Snow smiled.

"Yeah, I agree." Brain Freezer agreed, but looking good at Iris again, reminded him of something. "But what about Evelynn?"

"I wish, I have the answer on what's going on inside of her brain..." Snow sighed, which caused Zizrar to overhear and consider about Evelynn and the possibility of helping her overcome, whatever demons she has in her brain.

"Let's go back to the surface. We could use a nice break after all." Zizrar answered and put on his sunglasses.

"By the way, I want to thank to Roy for providing us with those sunglasses, which were quite a massive blessing for us." Iris smiled.

"What can I say, he has quite a gold heart." The mole king chuckled and everyone went to the tunnel back to the surface.

As everyone got out of the hole, everyone admired the beauty of nature, especially the women, who haven't seen the surface world, ever since they left Primaia. They enjoyed the beautiful sunset and felt the gentle breeze of the wind.

"It's...so beautiful out here.." Gia was amazed.

"I know, right?" Talia smiled.

"Snow? Snow!"

A voice can be heard, which the icy mare immediately recognised as those from her friends.

"I'm here, girls!" She waved and saw her friends running towards her.

"Man, where have you been? We've been looking for you for hours!" Breeze asked.

"I'm okay, girls. I just had to resolve some conflict with the mole people and it worked. They're slowly getting along." Snow explained.

"That's excelente, mi amiga! I'm actually glad, that they get along after so much tension." Tropic was proud.

"Yeah. It was as messy one, believe me." Breeze remembered about the imprisonment.

"Girls, it's best to just move on from all of this, okay?" Snow was exhausted.

"Got it!" Her friends agreed.

"Hey, Snow! The Friendship Festival is in a week and we could use your help right now." Cherry noted.

"Sure! What do you think, guys?" Snow asked the others.

"Eh, what the heck. We're in!" Zizrar joined and everyone were now on their way to Canterlot, even though Fire and Ocean were feeling quite nervous about it. At the same time, Zizrar was thinking about Evelynn and how he can help her.

Human World, Canterlot Hospital

"When we were at the amusement Park, I was quite squeamish at first, when we went to the roller coaster, but Sunset assured me that everything will be okay. And guess what, it was awesome! We had a good time hanging out, while also playing lots of games, eating delicious foods and taking photos. I wish, you were there to see all of this." Starlight was telling the comatose twins a story about her at the amusement Park with Sunset and her friends. She was laughing at first, until it faded away, since they still weren't responding.

"I wish, I could just see in your head and find out, what happened in your perspectives..." She sighed and looked at the sisters in sorrow. It seems like, there was like no progress was made, even though they were in stable condition. Suddenly, a nurse entered the room.

"I know, I know. Visitation time is over and I have to head home. It's okay." Starlight knew, what the nurse was about to say, got up and left the room, but not before looking back at the sisters with a sad look. "Take care, girls...take care." Little did she know, that one of the sisters started slightly twitching their fingers.

As she exited the hospital, she looked at the sunset for a while, before going her way back to Sunset, when all of a sudden, she was bumped by a blur.

"Ow!" The lavender girl rubbed her head as she opened her eyes, she saw a purple-pink, heart shaped necklace on the ground. As she picked it up, she was about to give it to the individual, but they ran off so quickly, she didn't have a chance to approach them. The only thing she saw about the individual was, that he or she has long, blue hair.

"Oh, man...I should better hold on to this necklace, until I return it to its rightful owner." She put the necklace into her bag, before continuing her journey. At the same time, she had some guilt in her about what happened in Equestria.

"Man, I actually miss Equestria and my friends....But it is what it is and i have to live with the consequences..." Small tears form in her eyes, as she thought about Equestria and how she felt homesick. But since her decision was to help Sunset on finding answers, she felt like she burned down the bridge and had to live with it. As she kept walking through the city to Sunset's apartment, she could feel the breeze and the few rays of the sun, as it was slowly setting.

Sunset's apartment

"Aaannd...done!" Sunset clicked on the upload button, since she finished making a video for her channel. It was about her announcement about her future, involving about the upcoming graduation. She just had to study for the final exams and she would be done for the school. However, there were some thoughts about where she truly belongs to, as well as with the sisters. All unanswered questions, that she has yet to answer. Suddenly, she heard the doorbell ringing and as she opened the door, Starlight came in.

"Hey, Starlight. How's the visit?" Sunset asked.

"I actually don't know. I shared my story about what happened today, but as usual, they didn't respond. I wish, they could just wake up from their coma..." Starlight sighed and sat down on the couch.

"I feel you, Starlight...I'm starting to get worried about them and the possibility of them never waking up and thus, making this mystery completely unsolved..." Sunset sat down with her friend. It was at this time, where Starlight pulled out the necklace and put it on the table

"Where did you get the necklace?" The fiery haired girl asked.

"Someone must have dropped it, when he or she bumped into me at like light speed. But they went off as soon, as they got up. I'm currently keeping it, until I can return it to the owner." Starlight explained.

"Oh...The necklace looks quite beautiful, if I say so myself. But I understand, that it clearly belongs to someone." Sunset looked at the necklace.

"Yeah." The lavender girl agreed and yawned, as she was exhausted. They prepare themselves for some rest, while also having those thoughts about those currently unresolved situations.

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Yup...As you guys, gals and non-binaries see, aside the ponies, based on Big Time Rush, I'll also introduce ponies based on the Try Guys! They haven't been ponified before, so I thought: "Why not fill the void?"

HOWEVER, I am very aware, that the brony community have no idea, what I'm talking about. For that, I recommend you to watch this video and this one for context and some education.

And as for why Cherry said, that she doesn't like failures? Well, simple. Since 2022, I coded Cherry as Asian, along with Tropic being Latina and Breeze being black. Just adding some diversity and range.

And finally, I had to correct a mistake, that Sunset had a house. That was on me though, because I didn't do enough research. I'm sorry about that!

So stay tuned for the upcoming Friendship Festival full of fun and several references! It'll be a break from the usual gloom and drama. And when it comes to fanfare screenshot, I'll pack in some cameos and easter eggs!

Also, forgive me for the shoddy writing. It's been months and the writer's block is such a pain in the ass to deal with.

Side Story: Ending the Nightmares

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It's been almost a week since the Shadow Galaxy incident and things have been quite busy in Canterlot, due to the Friendship Festival happening in three days. Everypony were working hard on the preparations of the stage, several stands and so on, like Dr. Beebles and his apprentice working on their honey stand, several hippogriffs and kirins working together, the Apples and Pears collaborating for delicious delights and even added the apple cherry crisps, thanks to Cherry Swirl, Pinkie Pie and Cheese working on their party stuff, Rarity doing the decorations and so on. Everyone has been in good spirits, despite of what happened last time, but since Ponyville was almost complete with the rebuilding process, the festival would be their well deserved break and reward.

Meanwhile in the castle, Princess Twilight Sparkle went to a meeting with the princesses, with Spike carrying the plans for the Friendship Festival and their main attractions. The difference between this one and the last one, is that Twilight has become a lot calmer and more considerate since then.

"Okay, princesses. I have a lot of plans for this Friendship Festival. Since we have a more down to earth celebrities this time, I was thinking of personalising the stage for them. For Star Time Rush, the stage would be a bit more simple, yet fun, In contrast to Songbird's extravagant look. They would perform a couple of their songs, while Pinkie would fire off sparkling confetti. As for the Try Guys, I have their schedule. First, they would attempt to bake something without a recipe, then having a performance and so on. Now, there is that issue of the empty spot, but I know exactly, who will fill it!" Twilight explained the plans, all while Spike showed them.

"And who would it be?" Cadence was curious and in response, Twilight whispered something in the ears of each princess.

"Are you sure about that?" Luna was a bit concerned.

"Trust me, they'll be perfect for not only performing, but also showcasing a new type of friendship, that is out of this world." Twilight smiled and soon, Celestia and Luna knew exactly, Where she is going.

"What happened there?" Cadence was confused. She was aware about the dragon incident, but not about the Shadow Galaxy one. In response, the other three princesses gave the princess of love the story about it and how she was ultimately defeated by a cosmic convergence between the magic of friendship and elemental magic, along with backstories for the ponies.

"Speaking of which, at the day, where Brain and Snow ended the conflict of the mole people, I actually entered my castle to find Jenny, the pink alicorn, but without success. But then, before midnight, I heard a noise coming from somewhere, and when Spike and I went to the source of the noise, which came to the room with the portal to the Human World, but it was inactive. I'm actually afraid to say, that she may escaped into the human world, before the portal had closed and that we have to wait for 30 moons for it to reopen. I'm sorry, princesses. It seems like, I wasn't able to get her in time..." The princess of friendship was bummed at her failure to reach to Jenny, but Celestia put her hoof on the violet mare's cheek.

"Don't get too upset, Twilight. Perhaps she was so distraught and needs some space to process. And when she comes to Equestria next time, you'll reach her for the necessary help." Celestia warmly smiled and hugged the violet princess, with Luna and Cadence joining in the hug shortly after.

"But for now, we should take a well deserved break from the debacle and concentrate on the upcoming festival." Luna changed the topic and suggested, that they should concentrate on other things. With nods from the other princesses, they exit the castle.

As the princesses inspected the progress, Twilight took the chance to visit her friends, who are currently working on their designated jobs: Rainbow clearing the skies, with the help of several pegasi, Rarity decorating the stage, Applejack working on her apple stand with her family, Pinkie and Cheese doing the entertainment preparations and Fluttershy organising the animals on the singing. It's similar to the first friendship festival, but without any interventions from evil and of course, Twilight being a lot calmer than last time. But there were a few shades of concern in her.

"Hi, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie immediately jumped into a hug with her best friend. "How was the meeting?"

"It actually went quite well. I talked to them about the plans and the last spot was filled." Twilight explained her friends about the meeting.

"It's quite crazy, we're doing another one, just because we made friends with new kind of non-ponies and even ponies from out of space! But you know what, I don't mind, because it lead to more awesome moments!" Rainbow was excited.

"That and Tempest actually wanted to relive the experience, because of...well, you know." Twilight scratched her head. "You know...all of this reminds me of the first Friendship Festival, given with the deja vu. Except this time, there are no form of evil interrupting and me being a lot calmer than back then. In fact, I'm not exactly sure, why I was so nervous back them. Must have been the anxiety of doing this festival for the very first time." Twilight giggled, recalling of the last festival. "But this time, we got this...together!"

"That's the spirit, pardner!" Applejack smiled.

"Yeah! Let's give everypony the best party EVER!!!!" Pinkie gleamed in joy.

"As long, as we have each other..." Fluttershy warmly smiled.

"...we're gonna have an amazing time, darling." Rarity winked with a smile.

"What do we waiting for? Let's get to work!" Rainbow was excited.

"Yeah!" With those words, everypony worked even harder than ever before, ensuring that everything will be better than ever before. At the same time, they meet other ponies and help them out. Dr. Beebles with his apprentice, Honey Hive, several non-ponies like hippogriffs, kirins, griffons, yaks and many more. In fact, Twilight took her time to visit her old friends, Twinkleshine, Minuette, Lemon Hearts and even Moondancer. As time went on, they were so close of being completed. During the inspection, Twilight was suddenly visited by a tall, dark and strong pony with no mane, but wearing sunglasses and a suit. He looks similar to Mr. Black and Mr. White, but as a full pony.

"Are you the princess of friendship?" He asked.

"Yes, I am." Twilight confirmed her status and the tall pony stepping aside, revealing that behind him was a group of four young stallions. A black unicorn, a blue earth pony, a red pegasus and a white unicorn. After a while, they looked at the princess.

"So you are Twilight Sparkle, right? We are Star Time Rush. My name is Stellar Harmony." The red pegasus introduced himself and the band, confirming that they are Star Time Rush.

"It's nice to meet you, Stellar Harmony." Twilight shook hooves with Stellar, but then the black unicorn pushed him aside with a smirk.

"The name's Diamond. Diamond Tune." The unicorn, known as Diamond Tune, introduced himself in a suave and slightly flirty way. "It seems like, I found the Sparkle in the dark, because you shine brighter than anypony else."

That made Twilight speechless, but that's because she was thrown off guard by the black unicorn and his sudden pickup. But before she would say anything, Diamond was pulled away in a magical aura, courtesy of the white unicorn.

"Dude, she's a princess, you shouldn't just barge in! You're gonna set us up for big time trouble!" The white stallion was not happy about Diamond's direct approach.

"Hey! Performing this festival for everyone, including the princesses, is a high tier opportunity, so of course I had to look really beautiful." Diamond showed his face to the stallion, but that resulted in the two bickering...but not for long, as the tall and strong stallion, who is also their bodyguard, lifted them up with all of his strength.

"Okay, Freight Train! I get it!" The white unicorn was afraid.

"Sorry about that. We may be pretty chaotic, but our hearts are in the right place." Stellar apologised to the princess. "Oh! The white unicorn, you see is Rhythm Mind and finally, the blue one is Allegro Crash. We're all best friends, by the way." He then introduced the white and blue stallions to her.

"Sup." Allegro greeted in an excited manner, before looking around. "Wow, this place looks awesome!"

"It sure does." Stellar agreed. Around this time, Rhythm and Diamond were put down, after they stopped fighting each other and went to their friends.

"I'm honestly pretty nervous right now..." Rhythm was anxious abour their performance.

"We all are. But remember, opportunities like these come once in a life time and we have to live to our fullest as much as we can. In other words, go Big Time!" Stellar gave his friends a motivational speech.

"You're right! Plus, it's gonna be really fun meeting new ponies and having a good time all around." Allegro smiled.

"I really appreciate your optimism, guys." Twilight giggled. However, Freight Train was called by the the manager.

"Boys, we should head over to the hotel now, otherwise he will be pissed." Freight Train got the boys' attention to get to the hotel.

"Sorry, your majesty, but we have to go to our hotel to prepare ourselves." Rhythm told the princess of friendship, that they should go.

"'I'll get the best one!" Diamond proclaimed.

"No, I'll get the one!" Allegro protested.

"Race to the hotel!" The boys proclaimed and proceeded to run, but Freight Train followed them, after apologising to Twilight.

"I must say, their friendship is...pretty interesting, but also chaotic...." Twilight scratched her head, feeling quite bamboozled at the level of chaos. But then again, those stallions are younger than her and since this is their first concert in Canterlot, she chalked it up to excitement, but also a little tension, before continuing her inspection. On her way, she talked with PostCrush, witnessed Applejack and Colortaura reuniting and watched the progress, when she saw a group of ponies discussing each other. What caught her attention were three ponies: A pastel blue pegasus wearing glasses and a silver ring necklace, a pastel green earth pony with a shorter and more fragile built and also wearing glasses and a pastel purple unicorn with beautiful mane and the narrowest eye shape, she had ever seen. She compared to the picture, Eugene gave to her and after comparing, Twilight had realized, that those three ponies are in fact the trio from the picture, in other words, the Try Guys have arrived.

"Oh, hey! You must be Princess Twilight Sparkle, right?" The green one saw Twilight and went to her. "I'm Lively Tea and it's been quite an honor to be there."

"It's nice to meet you, Lively Tea. I've heard about you and your friends from the response letter, but I'm quite curious on what you're doing exactly." Twilight answered out of curiosity.

"Glad, that you asked! We try out new things and more, while entertaining the crowd with puns, jokes and all of that shit. Like with food, fun or whatever the hell it could be, because frankly, we keep bringing out new things, while also continuing things, we love. Like with Fine Pride over here, bringing out all things gay and style and Jolly Goodie being a fun comedian, with a love for food." Lively explained.

"I actually have a feeling, that Jolly would be great friends with Pinkie, given that she is all about laughter and deserts." Twilight chuckled, but as if on cue, Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere.

"You called my name?" The peppy mare grinned, before seeing Lively Tea with stars in her eyes, she greeted him with high energy. "HIII!!! I'm Pinkie Pie! It's really nice to meet a new friend!"

"Wow, your energy can rival Jolly at time now." Lively laughed. "Speaking of who, you can meet him and Fine Pride over there-" But Pinkie dashed faster than the green pony could even finish his sentence. Bemused, he followed her, while Twilight watched, as the pink mare met Jolly and Fine for the very first time. Jolly Goodie was happy and excited, while Fine Pride on the other hoof...felt really uncomfortable around her. It became more evident, when Pinkie hugged the two stallions.

"Oh my god...Stop..." The violet unicorn became really, REALLY uncomfortable about the hug. Jolly on the other hand, chuckled.

"Pinkie, you should let them go!" Twilight demanded her friend to let them go, before apologising the stallions.

"Nah, it's okay. I mean, we all do some chaotic fun sometimes. Like the few times, where Fine Pride sat on my lap and I was full of chaotic joy." Jolly took it quite well with a chuckle and reminiscence about the fun time, resulting in Fine Pride just curl up and laugh out of embarrassment.

"Say, if you guys decide to visit Ponyville, I recommend to check out the Sugarcube Corner, where I create delicious treats for everyone, with a big bright smile!" Pinkie jumped and recommended the team.

"That sounds like, I could do a "Eat the Menu" episode there." Jolly responded with a smile, which both he and Pinkie laughed with each other.

After a while of discussing about the plans and so on, the Try Guys left with their team to their hotel, while Twilight and Pinkie stood there.

"Say...what about that last spot? I could bring in someone new to fill in!" Pinkie suggested.

"No need to. I know just a group of ponies, who are capable to do their own wonders." Twilight shot down her suggestion, knowing well, who that group could be, but wanted it to be a surpise.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville...

We see the elemental ponies hanging out near a flower shop. They've been feeling slightly better since the incidents, revolving around them, thanks to supporting friends and their new mentor, Twilight Sparkle. Recently, they were excited for the Friendship Festival, since it'll be a time to take a break and relax from the drama. Everyone....except for Fire and Ocean. Breeze was the first one, noticing the sisters in a blue mood, but quickly understood about why.

"Oh, right....I almost forgot about...that incident...Man, it really sucked..." Breeze felt sorry about the sisters. Her friends shared her feelings, since in retrospect and in hindsight, it was their fault.

"Even if it has been months ago, I still don't dare to step hoof on Canterlot..." Fire sighed, since Canterlot was hell for her.

"I feel you, sister." Ocean put her arm around her little sister, since she also had bad memories about Canterlot as well. But before they could sulking in dread, Trixie overheard the conversation and went to them.

"What's going on?" Trixie asked.

"Nothing, really...Just we're not in the mood of going to Canterlot.." Fire's ears and gaze lowered.

"Is it because of the mistake?" The magician asked.

"No, it's because of preference- Yes, of course, it's because of that fucking dragon mistake!! It's this reason, why I don't even bother going there..." Fire became frustrated about the guilt, she felt, which Trixie can sympathise with her. However, since Twilight forgave her and making friends with Starlight, she became a better pony since.

"Listen, girls. I understand your feelings, since I was in a similar situation. But here's the thing. Running away from the problems is NEVER an option. If you do that, you'll never find any peace and resolve. I know it, Tempest knows it, Princess Luna knows it and you should know it too. Rather than running away, it's best to just, you know...face it head on like making a statement? For example, I did my apology tour as a way to make up for my stupid mistakes." Trixie recalled her feelings, before giving them some advice.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that, when Canterlot hates my ass?" Fire was out of ideas.

"Like I said, just face it and make a statement, that you want to make amends! All you girls need is to muster some courage." Trixie made her point clear. "If that's difficult, it's okay. I can help you."

"That would be nice." Ocean faintly smiled.

"We REALLY use some help right now." Snow sighed. "ESPECIALLY Fire."

"Anyway, I'm about to go to Canterlot right now, since I have to practice my magic for my performance." Trixie explained and was about to leave. "If you want, you can come here too. Although I have to accompany the sisters, in case."

"You know, It wouldn't hurt to check out this place." Breeze shrugged.

"One second!" Fire rushed away from the group and ten seconds later, she came back with a black cloak, which obscured her identity.

"Oh boy....This is going to be harder than I thought..." Snow slowly facepalmed.

"Yep." Trixie agreed and the group left for Canterlot.

Meanwhile, Zizrar was walking around the village, being lost in his own thoughts. He couldn't stop thinking about Iris and Evelynn and how he can solve the issue. He tried to focus on other things like making sure, the men and women are not fighting. And it worked, as slowly but surely, they were slowly getting along. But now, he can't just leave the Evelynn situation hanging any longer. He HAS to act.

"No...I can't hide that any longer! I have to find out!" Now with full determination, Zizrar headed off to the place. Thankfully, he knew about the cottage, where Roy and Amber stayed for a while.

Somewhere in Equestria...

Inside the cottage, Evelynn was still frozen since that fateful day almost a week and everything has been quiet, apart from the occasional birds chirping. It wasn't until Iris entered the cottage and lamented at the sight of the frozen commander.

"Evelynn..." The queen sat down and touched the ice. "I wish, I know, what happened that caused you to be like this...." She then remembered the good times, where they've been training back in Primaia and while the winner kept on changing, they respected each other and their skills. Evelynn was known for being ruthless, but honorable. What happened to her? But before she could sulk in her misery, she was spooked by the sound of the door opening.

"Wow, I didn't expect the queen of the mole people to be squeamish." As Iris heard a voice, she looked at the door, revealing to be Zizrar, who opened it.

"What are you doing here?" Iris asked, masking her sorrows.

"I want answers." The king replied with three simple words, but with a big impact and went to the ice, with the intention of ending the problem. He pulled out a torch, much to Iris' surprise, but he couldn't reach up, due to his height.

"Damn it! I want to thaw her head out!" He was frustrated, before noticing that the Queen looked at him quite awkwardly. "What? I've since become smarter, ever since I started staying in Equestria. Not to mention, this is also the safest method, without getting us killed. Now could you please give me a lift? He needed Iris' help, who after thinking about it for a while, proceeded to pick him up and lift him to Evelynn's head, in which the king used the torch to thaw the ice out. But it took so much time, so he pulled out a thick stick and turned it into a second torch, which sped up the process a bit. After a while, Evelynn's head has been thawed out, but as he got down and the former commander regained consciousness, she began to snarl, which freaked Iris out, but the mole king stayed cool and determined.

"Hello, Evelynn. I've heard a lot about you." The king approached her. "Tell me, what happened, that caused you to be like this?" He asked, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Evelynn...You used to be honorable..." Iris slowly approached her former sparring partner with tears in her eyes. "I thought, the tough exterior came from the pain of having our home planet robbed from evil and that's what everyone had been thinking up until recently....But even with the people being slowly united, I can't stop thinking about you, given that you were the best and we used to be friends..." She put her hand on the commander's cheek, which caused her to pause for a while...until she used her head to slap the queen's hand hard. Seeing Iris in a hurt state cause something inside of him to snap, got up to the ice and slapped Evelynn with a disapproving look on his face.

"Hey, she's trying to help you and this is your response?? Like, what the hell were you thinking!?" He yelled at Evelynn, who had snapped out of her feral state, due to the slap. "It could've been easier, if you just talk about what in the name of Celestia and beyond happened, that caused like this and we could've gone the easy route...but, all you did was hurting those, whom you considered as your fellow brethren, severely hurt Amber and just recently, made Queen Iris sad!!" He pointed at a now hurt Iris. But before Evelynn could respond, the queen ran off sobbing, feeling hurt, which angered Zizrar even more. "Oh, now you just made her cry! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!?" He screamed, but at the last minute, the king got his act together and got off the ice. But before leaving, he looked at the disgraced Evelynn and uttered those chilling words with: "I am seriously disappointed and ashamed of you..."

As he went outside, Zizrar wasted no time to find Iris, which didn't last long, as he found her sobbing near a tree. Without saying a word, he hugged the broken queen and thought of an idea on how to cheer up. The king looked around and saw a beautiful white and pink hibiscus flower. Immediately having an idea, he picked it up and tapped on her shoulder, since she was sitting on the grass, getting her attention.

"It's not much, but I thought, that would cheer you up." Zizrar gave the flower to Iris, whom she accepted the gift.

"Thanks..." Iris put the flower on her hair, but was still in a blue mood.

"Let me tell you something. There's an old saying, that goes like this: When one door closes, another one opens. I've heard that from a fortune cookie back then. Just because Evelynn can't be convinced, doesn't mean, you're an awful friend and queen. Everybody makes mistakes. Hell, I know that WAAAAYY too well." Zizrar made a speech. "But, you have a lot of your people, doing their best, to make you happy, even non moles like Twilight and Snow are helping us. They're always reminding me to always look at the bright side and I think, you should start doing the same." He then came up with an idea to cheer Iris up by playing a game. "Let's play a game, to liften up the spirits."

"What could it be?" Iris was still down about what happened.

"How about Hide and Seek?" Zizrar suggested.

"I think, I played the game a few times, but that was before I went to the army." Iris admitted.

"Then I guess you can relive that experience then. And to make things easier, I'll count and you hide." Zizrar came up with a solution and turned around to count. While he was counting to 10, Iris proceeded to hide somewhere.

After finished up counting, the king turned back and searched for Iris. He looked around trees, bushes, rocks and other areas, until eventually, he found Iris in a small cave. Afterwhich, it's Iris' turn to count and after a while of counting and hiding, she went on to find Zizrar in a Bush next to a river. It went on and on for a while, as they kept switching turns and so on. During this time, the queen slowly felt better and better, as she spent time playing with the little King. Eventually, the game ended with Iris finding Zizrar underneath some bushes and they went to a quiet place, where they witnessed a lot of fireflies flying around.

"You know, I never had something quite peaceful and joyful since the days before the invasion." Iris admitted, while watching the fireflies.

"Hey, it's best to live life to the fullest and make everyday count. Plus, it doesn't hurt to have some fun, you know?" Zizrar smiled and the two watched, as the fireflies flew around in a dazzling spectacle. The fireflies reminded them of the good old times. For Zizrar, it was about, when at one point, he and his men were watching the fireworks from afar, with the sunglasses on, due to how bright they can be. And for Iris, it was the innocent times as a little girl and that she used to stargaze.

And don't worry, the fireflies are small and not that bright enough to burn their eyes. After a while watching the fireflies and then looking at the stars, which at one point, when a shooting star appeared, they immediately made their wishes, they got up and were about to leave, when they heard a scream, filled with anguish.

"Ignore her." Zizrar recognised that from Evelynn and advised Iris, not to go there, much to her dismay, but given that she was yelled at, it's best for everyone to call it a day and recover. After all, they're only a few days left till the celebration and they have to look out for their people.

Canterlot, two days before the festival...

Preparations were under way for everyone involved, including the Mane 6, who were doing their usual duties, while Applejack met Rara again and the others meeting Star Time Rush for the first time.

"So, you were saying, that you had to work yourselves to the top?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yep. In the beginning, we were just four hockey players, but one thing led to another and our manager, Abrasive Blast, made us into a boyband. Mind you, Diamond Tune wanted to be a famous singer and we tried to help him, but because I stood up for my friends, here we are." Stellar chuckled.

"Yeah. I mean, I wanted to be famous, but...I was a bit nervous though. Thank Celestia, my best friends helped me shine through those obstacles." Diamond Tune appreciated, that his best friends became part of his life.

"Plus, being a popstar is really fun!" Allegro smiled.

"It is...unless if you count being yelled by our manager, excessive training, crazy fans, someone trying to sabotage our careers, etc." Rhythm counted some setbacks.

"Geez, that sounds harsh." Rainbow scratched her head.

"We'll manage." The boys shrugged off. It's clear, that they're a lot more outgoing and social than Songbird Serenade. Plus, it doesn't matter, if their stage isn't glamorous. They just wanted to have a fun time on stage. During their exchange, they learn that Allegro has a tendency of being a wildcard, often wearing a helmet, Diamond being a charmer, who at one point, winked at Fluttershy and Rarity, Rhythm being quite smart, but also anxious and that Stellar is doing his best to keep the band together.

"Dogs!! Rehearsal time!!" They heard someone yelling.

"Oh, man..." The boys sighed, recognising the voice as that from their manager, Abrasive Blast. They immediately go there, except for the black unicorn.

"Sorry, ladies. We have to go now. But our performance will be legendary, especially with this handsome face." Diamond Tune gleamed in his beauty, before leaving to follow his friends.

Afterwhich, Applejack returned to her friends to talk about what Colortaura has been up to lately, just as the Try Guys returned to witness Vinyl Scratch checking on her equipment.

"So, you are the Try Guys, huh? Brilliant Diamond heard a few things about you, before telling us about it." Rainbow became curious of the trio.

"Pretty much, unless he mistook us for a different group." Jolly chuckled. "I'm basically the funny food guy, making jokes and being a chaotic goofball. Lively is quite the quirky and lovable one, who also makes a joke or two and then there's Fine. Honestly though, his wardrobe and his presence could intimate anyone, but he has an eye for creativity and is dedicated to the craft, he makes." He then explained, what their personal shtick is

"It's really nice to meet somepony, who has an eye for talent with a brilliant dedication to it!" Rarity was amazed by Fine's dedication to his art, even though she was intimidated by his aura.

"By the way, is my dress ready?" Fine asked, which threw the generous unicorn off guard.

"Wait...so, you're the Fine Pride, who requested this dress?? I thought, it came from a mare...albeit a bigger one." Rarity was dumbfounded.

"You have a problem with that?" Fine looked at Rarity with a slightly annoyed glare.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, anypony can wear whatever they want and I've seen a few stallions wearing dresses. It's just, I had no idea about your identity until now." Rarity made a clarification and apologized about the misunderstanding. "And as for the dress, I have it ready." She used her magic to give the dress to the violet unicorn.

"I'll let it slide this time." Fine answered.

"Hey, guys! Check this out!" Vinyl Scratch showed them a sound test by playing a bass drop and that caused the surroundings to shake. "How was it?" She needed some feedback.

"Uhm, that's sounds good, but could you please tone down the bass a bit? Wouldn't want the stage to collapse at any minute, given that I spent so much time decorating it." Rarity fixed her hair, as the bass drop fizzled it, as she gave Vinyl her feedback.

"Noted." Vinyl kept working on the audio balance.

"Not gonna lie, that sounded like a giant's stomp." Jolly commented on the bass drop, which caused Lively and Fine to laugh with him.

Meanwhile in Canterlot...

Trixie and the elemental ponies have arrived in the town and have been looking around the buildings. While Trixie and Breeze were excited for the spectacle, as the magician will perform some tricks for all ponies to see and the others being happy, that they'll taking a break, there were two ponies, who don't share the enthusiasm: Ocean Spark and her little sister, Fire Jewel, who has obscured her identity even further with the addition of white, high stockings, a mask and sunglasses. Being in Canterlot brought bad memories for the sisters for obvious reasons. As they kept walking, Fire made sure to avoid any eye contact with anyone out of fear of being exposed. As for Ocean, she had seen fearful glares from a few ponies, but other than that, most of them minded their own business.

"It's still haunting to return to Canterlot a few months later after....you know." Ocean sighed, feeling uneasy. But her sister was even more so, by remaining silent.

After a while of walking, they reached the stage, where they marvel at the decorations and other things, this festival will offer.

"Well, I'll be damned." Snow was amazed by the beauty.

"It looks beautiful so far. I honestly can't wait for the festival!" Cherry smiled.

"There you are!" Twilight welcomed them with a smile.

"Sup, princess." Breeze greeted.

"It's nice to meet you again" Snow bowed, flattering the princess of friendship.

However, her expression changed into confusion, as she saw the heavily cloaked pony. "Uhm...who is he or she?" Twilight asked, in which Ocean whispered her answer into her ear, revealing to be Fire Jewel in disguise. In response, the cloaked pony went to Twilight with a worried expression behind the mask and sunglasses.

"Seriously, Twilight. I'm not really sure, if I have the guts to be there. Normally, I'm known to be fiery and confident, but this place scares me." Fire whispered.

"Don't worry. You have amazing friends to support you, no matter what and you have done good things in Ponyville recently." Twilight was confident and proud of Fire's progress.

"Not to mention, you and your friends are slowly improving, so that's a good thing." Spike appeared, having overheard the conversation.

"That's a good point, if it wasn't for that obvious problem." Snow pointed at Fire, hinting them about the Dragon incident.

"I know. We'll figure it out." Twilight acknowledged the incident, before reminding of something. "Follow me." She went with Spike, much to the ponies' confusion, but decided to follow them out of curiosity. After a while, she lead them to the castle grounds and later, into the throne room, where the princesses are waiting.

"Welcome back, Twilight!" Cadence warmly smiled.

"And it seems like, you've brought your students along." Celestia looked at the elemental ponies with a warm smile as well, although she was confused about Fire with her identity being obscured.

"I know your issues, Fire." Luna approached the mare and removed the hood from the cloak, revealing her fiery mane.

"Nah, it's okay." Fire looked away, but Luna knew better.

"Sometimes, it's okay to be vulnerable. It makes you want to change things, despite the obstacles. Speaking from my experience. And I know, that you're currently afraid of facing the past after a long time, but remember. If you don't face the past, you'll be stuck with those negative emotions for a very long time." Luna responded, but the warning scared the mare a bit, so the dark blue alicorn comforted her with a hug.

"Remember, Fire. We're best friends for a long time." Cherry approached her friend.

"And we always got each others' backs!" Breeze smirked.

"And even though our behaviour and actions messed up our connection somewhat, we managed to pull through and picked up the pieces for a new beginning." Tropic added.

"Because at the end of the day, we're all destined to be great friends, hoping for a better future." Snow nodded.

"We're always there for you, sister." Ocean smiled. Their words gave some hope for the red mare.

"Thank you, girls. I honestly wouldn't be there, without you." Fire hugged her friends and her sister, while the alicorns smiled and Spike tearing up with joy. However, Twilight was feeling unsure on how to tell them about Jenny's escape to the Human World.

"Come to think of it...if only Jenny was there, so we can rebuild our friendship. Sure, she fucked things up, but so did we... Our behaviour didn't help much... She was and still is our best friend after all..." Ocean was feeling regretful of the pink mare's absence.

"I know, where she is...but...you have to wait till you can see her." Twilight went on to explain about Jenny escaping into the human world and that they have to wait for 30 moons for the portal to be active. Even then, it has a 24 hour limit for being open.

"30 moons?! Damn..." Breeze lowered her ears.

"Dear God..." Ocean shed a single tear, in which Twilight hugged the blue unicorn. "I'm not sure, if I'll be able to forgive myself for yelling at her back in the forest...." She was shook by the event.

"Same...we were just so shitty to her..." Snow sighed.

This left the alicorns wondering on how they can solve this problem. However, Twilight may have an idea. But she has yet to make an important announcement.

"Girls? There is something, I want to say." She turned her attention to the mares.

"What is it?" Snow was confused and so were her friends.

"Well... recently, there is one spot left for performers and I've been wondering about who will take the place. Well, I have since decided on which ponies will perform their magical spectacle, if you know, what I mean." The princess of friendship explained.

"Uhm....I don't get it." Cherry scratched her head and the others were equally as confused as her. That was...until a light bulb moment occured in Ocean.

"Hold up....you don't mean.." Ocean put two and two together.

"What?" Tropic didn't get it.

"Girls, remember the time in Ponyville, when we saw Breeze and Rainbow breaking the sound barrier and later joining in with our magic." Ocean recounted.

"Oh shit! I remember! So, does that mean....we're chosen to be performers on stage?!" Snow just realized and asked Twilight for confirmation, if which she and the other princesses nodded in response.

"Bro, this must been the craziest moment of my life...well, along with other crazy moments, I can think of." Breeze's mind was blown.

"No shit." Cherry agreed.

But that announcement would make Fire even more anxious than ever. Being chosen to be on stage in front of ponies and non-ponies, with some of them being from Canterlot, whom she really felt the most vulnerable, caused her heart to race so fast, she couldn't even think straight.

"What's the matter, Fire?" Celestia asked.

"Do I really have to be on stage?? In front of everypony??" Fire responded with a twitching eye.

"Easy, little pony." Luna comforted the red mare with a hug. "We'll figure it out."

Unknown Forest, the night before the Friendship Festival

After some time has passed, Zizrar returned to the cottage, Roy and Amber had built. He had a feeling, that there was still some unresolved problems to deal with and to visit Evelynn. When he entered the cottage, he saw that the ice has been fully melted by the torches, which were put with makeshift holders, which meant the former commander has been freed from her ice prison. But she's currently sitting on the ground, hugging her knees tight and her face buried on them.

"Hey...How are you doing?" Zizrar sat beside her, but she wouldn't respond to his question, out of guilt and sorrow. So, the mole king had to think of something to make her break out of her shell. He sighed, stood up and went to her, to speak with her, even though he couldn't see her face.

"Listen. I know, that you've been feeling crushed after the whole debacle with you and your people, especially Amber. And I can understand that. I have a friend, who's been feeling the same way. His name is Brain Freezer and he too let his extreme emotions get the better of him all the time and It result in severe damage and chaos. But as he realized his mistakes, he was and still is slowly learning on how to be better. But he's not the only one feeling that way, as Snow Emerald also had a similar experience. But it was a result of multiple betrayals in her life, that made her cold and distrusting towards others. But eventually, with help of her friends, she managed to slowly get out of the shadows and learning to be better as well." Zizrar recounted the stories of Brain Freezer and Snow Emerald and their mistakes and eventual redemption as examples on something, he wants to say. He put his hand on Evelynn's shoulder and continued with: " What I'm saying is, it's never too late to change your ways and become better. I'm pretty sure, your heart is saying the same way."

But then that tender moment was interrupted, when the king smelled a burnt scent and as he looked back, his King's coat has been catching fire, due to him being unknowingly too close to one of the torches. Immediately, he got it off and tried to put the fire off. He managed to stop the flames, but that left the coat to be singed.

"Oh, that was my favourite coat!!" Zizrar was understandably frustrated at the damage, but before he could yell more, he was grabbed by Evelynn, whom she finally showed him her sorrowful face. Apparently, Snow's story had caught her attention.

"Is there something, you want to say?" He looked at the vulnerable woman, which after a while of silence, finally broke it by revealing a story.

"Yes....It's something, I buried it deep into my head a long time ago and didn't tell the others, out of paranoia...So...remember the invasion in Primaia? I was helping Iris on evacuating the people to several escape pods, when one of my sisters remined me of my family, who were trapped inside the burning house. Feeling alarmed, I went there, tearing down debris and fighting through the flames until I reunited with my mom and my other sister. After a while, we tried to get out of here, when the unthinkable happened....Shadow ponies have ambushed us and I saw my sister, Eris just standing there. I called her name, asking for help, but she didn't respond. Instead, she grabbed my mom, looked at her with the coldest stare, I've ever seen and as me and my other sister, Kryssa were held captive by those monsters, we were forced to watch Eris execute our mom in cold blood and stole her necklace. It became clear, that she betrayed us for those Shadow Ponies....But as we get taken into a ship, Kryssa saw an opening and attempted to fight off those creatures, while freeing me. Knowing, that she wouldn't survive, she yelled at me to run as fast as I could and never come back. I was hesitant as first, since she was and always has been, the best sister, but she insisted, telling that I have to live. With no other option, I did, what she said and ran off the burning house, feeling severely betrayed, hurt and pissed. However, one of the mole women, named Nara, noticed me and informed Iris about my whereabouts. Afterwhich, we escaped Primaia into the parts unknown, until we reached at a planet, housing a land, named Equestria. As we hid underground from anyone, the pain and anguish fueled my flames of negativity and began distancing myself from anyone, out of fear, but that cost my sanity. Despite all of this, I've seen my people as family, even Amber, despite my rough exterior. But then she left, which caused something inside of me to snap. I literally had no idea, why....but I'm not really sure, if I'll be able to get out of this hell, I created...." She lowered her head, after explaining her story. "As a matter of fact, the only thing, I deserve, is death... Go on....kill me..."

The revelation threw the mole king off guard. He knew Snow's story of betrayal, but Evelynn's was much, much worse. Being betrayed by a friend is one thing, but being betrayed by your own sibling and witnessing them to kill your parent, is a whole new level of pain. Sure, what she did was terrible, but her story gave him a new perspective and context. Despite of the revelation, Zizrar refused to kill Evelynn and instead hugged her.

"Why?....I am beyond any point of redemption...." Evelynn was surprised, but feeling hopeless.

"Don't say that! You're not a terrible person. You just made a mistake. That's all. I'm no stranger to mistakes as well, but even then, I eventually found my way of redemption, with the help of friends, I've made in Equestria. You should do it too. Just because you made a mistake like this, doesn't mean your life is over. As one popstar from one TV show said: "Everybody makes mistakes. Nobody's perfect." I said that to Iris and she considered it. So, what do you say? Are you willing to shake off those demons and start over with a clean slate?" Zizrar reached his hand out. At first, Evelynn hesitated a bit, as her actions and the consequences made her entirely miserable, but something inside of her heart told her to take action, so after a while, she took his hand, but also pulled him into a hug. It seems like, she saw Zizrar as a father. As a response, he smiled and hugged back.

"The thing is, Iris has no idea about my inner struggle with my demons..." Evelynn admitted.

"Until now..."

That voice came from Iris, whom she decided to visit Evelynn. She overheard the entire conversation as a result of it.

"Queen Iris!" Evelynn was surprised by the queen's appearance and bowed down. "I'm truly sorry for what I've done to Amber... My demons and emotions made me snap, as I was afraid of being betrayed again..."

"Actually....I'm the one, who should be apologising. We all had no idea about the consequences of our actions. I had no idea about Calypso's promise until Amber left and while I felt really guilty about it, Zizrar and his people and friends showed all of us, that there is a different way to find redemption and solace." Iris admitted. "It was OUR fault for not being transparent about the issues. Not realising, that Amber is much more important, than we thought, due to our pride and time being cruel..."

"Just to let you know, Amber is a princess." Zizrar added some clarification, which shocked Evelynn. She had unknownly harmed a princess, which made her feel even more miserable. Thankfully, Zizrar hugged her once again, to comfort her. Seeing this made Iris join in and Evelynn staring to sob quietly, letting the remaining bit of her sadness out.

"There, there...Everything will be okay." Zizrar comforted the broken commander, before turning his attention to Iris. After a while, the sobbing stopped.

"Hey...the Friendship Festival is tomorrow and it would be a good time for a break. What do you say?" Iris asked.

"I'm honestly not sure..." Evelynn answered.

"Hey. We're here for you and if you have something in your mind, tell us." Zizrar showed his fatherly side to Evelynn.

"I guess, I can join....But I'm not, what the others will say. Especially Amber..." The commander was concerned.

"We'll help you apologise to them." Iris smiled, giving her friend some much needed hope. After a while, the mole people left the cottage, with Evelynn holding Iris' and Zizrar's hands.

Meanwhile, in the Canterlot Castle...

In the middle of the night, Fire Jewel was on her way to the bathroom to wash her face. But on her way, she heard angry voices in her head, along with the growls of a dragon. As she reached the sink, she turned the water on and looked at the mirror, only to see the fire dragon in her reflection, spooking her. Immediately, the red mare proceeded to wash her face multiple times and turning off the sink, but as she pondered at her own reflection, the dragon flashed in front of her once again.

"No..." Fire was horrified until the voices in her head became louder and more unbearable to her. Memories of her punishment in Canterlot, of her being ridiculed and belittled by the people and almost getting killed by a crazed pony, was driving her crazy...

"GO AWAY!!!" Feeling Critical, Fire punched the mirror into pieces and curled up into a ball. But then, she started hyperventilating and gasping for air. Thankfully, a male bat pony, who is working as a night guard, heard the commotion and went there, only to see the red mare gasping for air.

"Hey! Are you okay??" He immediately rushed to the mare, who was having a panic attack. "Hey! Easy there! Take a deep breath." He coached her to take a deep breath and continued to do so. After some fast breath, her breathing finally slowed down. He looked at the shards and was confused. "What happened?" He asked Fire about it.

"I....I..." Fire was struggling answer, when Ocean suddenly appeared.

"Fire, what's going on?!" The blue mare immediately rushed to her sister.

"She had a panic attack." The guard reported.

"Is it because of-" Ocean was about to tell her about the incident, when she was interrupted.

"YES, IT IS BECAUSE OF THAT DAMN INCIDENT!!" The red mare screamed.

"Calm down, ma'am! What incident!?" The confused bat pony wanted answered.

"Oh...It seems like, you're new to the situation, we're dealing with. Don't worry... I can explain." Ocean answered and proceeded to tell him everything. The dragon incident, the drama between friends, the paranoia, the Shadow Galaxy incident, EVERYTHING.

"I see... And you've been trying to restore on what's left on your friendship with the others and the relationship with you two." The guard slowly understood the entire story.

"But the problem is, Fire's Canterlot experience was so awful, she wouldn't even dare to step a single hoof in it, without freaking out or even worse." Ocean sighed.

"I see... Listen, Fire. As much as I understand your concern and I do feel sorry for what happened to you, what you're doing is running away from the past. It NEVER leads to something good and would haunt you for all eternity." He warned the red mare about what she is doing.

"Isn't it, what Princess Luna told me earlier?" Fire asked.

"Exactly. Like you want those nightmares to end, do you?" The guard asked a very important question.

"Of course, I do!" Fire answered.

"Then you should face it head on. Make a statement, take action and forge a new road of redemption! You just need to gather some courage." The bat stallion gave her and Ocean some motivational advice for them to consider.

"That's what me and my friends have been doing recently." Ocean nodded, before turning her attention to her younger sister. "And as for you, I know, you're scared. But remember, your friends and I are always here for you." She hugged the red mare for comfort.

"I know...." Fire lowered her ears and hugged back. "I'm tired of living in the shadows for so damn long and being plagued by my demons....I want to change that...No...I want to face It head on like a warrior!" The red mare stood up.

"There you go." The guard nodded with a smile.

"Oh and...sorry for breaking the mirror. I was haunted by my past." The red mare apologized.

"Don't be sorry, lady. Be better." The guard replied, leaving Fire more motivated to make amends.

"Come on, sister. We have to go back to sleep." With Ocean's words, the sisters went back to their room to sleep, while the guard continued his duty.

Canterlot - The day of the Friendship Festival

It's showtime! The Friendship Festival is about to begin and every pony and non pony entered the town for a good time. Kirins, changelings, dragons, griffons, hippogriffs and many, many more have joined for the festival as a symbol on how much Equestria has grown. One group of Kirins, lead by Autumn Blaze, headed to the court.

"This is soooooooo exciting!!! This is my first time, I visit this festival and I can't wait for meeting new people and sing songs!" Autumn gleamed in excitement.

"Easy there, Autumn. The festivities haven't started yet." A female kirin calmed the excited friend down.

"But we can check the stands in the meantime, like the apple stand over here." A male kirin pointed at the stand, occupied by the apple family, but when Autumn saw a particular, orange mare, her eyes dilated.

"HI, APPLEJACK!!" She ran to the stand to meet her friend, even if it means cutting the line. "It's been a long time, since we last met, isn't it?" She brightly smiled.

"Howdy there, Autumn! Though next time, be more patient. There are a large line of ponies waiting here." Applejack pointed out the line of angry ponies.

"Oh. Sorry. I'm just so excited to be in this festival and meeting you again." The kirin chuckled.

"It's okay, pardner. Just keep that into consideration, okay?" Applejack giggled.

"Got it!" Autumn nodded and went at the start of the line, leaving the other kirins being slightly annoyed, but bemused by her antics.

Other notable sights include the hippogriffs talking with other kirins for the first time, the Student Six tasting some honey treats, Dr. Beebles and his students prepared, Sissy and Missy playing a game, Jillian meeting some likeminded ponies, Fluttershy, Angel and the Penguins helping out with the birds, the beautiful ice sculptures, Brain Freezer and Snow Emerald made and several ponies and non ponies having a good time. Two of which were a lilac pegasus and a beige unicorn having a good time.

During this time, Johnny, Dukey and their family had just arrived at the courtyard.

"This festival is quite lovely, isn't it?" Sweet Serenity smiled, admiring the beauty of the festival.

"It sure does. But nopony can be as lovely as you, sweetie." High Velocity smiled at his wife and kissed her, much to the annoyance of both Johnny and Cosmic Blaze.

"Dude, stop!" Johnny shielded his eyes.

"Mom, dad! Stop!" Cosmic was embarrassed.

"Wait, you too, Cosmic?" Johnny was surprised by his little brother sharing the same opinion as him.

"Really goes to show, that you guys are too young and inexperienced about love. I mean, I also share the same statement as you two, it's just....well, it's complex to say the least." Dukey scratched his head.

"Hey, Cosmic!" The family heard a voice coming from Spring Gale and his parents, who were also visiting the festival.

"Hi, Spring! Are you also here for the party?" Cosmic was excited to see his friend again.

"You bet, buddy!" Spring jumped in excitement.

"You must been Cosmic's parents, right? Spring has told us a lot about you and your children." The kind earth pony mare greeted the couple.

"It sure does." High Velocity smiled, seeing his son hanging out with Spring.

"I just want to thank you for giving him a better home." Sweet thanked them.

"It's nothing. After hearing his story, we knew, we had to take care of him." The unicorn stallion smiled, before introducing himself and his partner. "My name is Picture Snap and this my fiancée, Iridescent Dawn."

"I'm High Velocity and this is my wife, Sweet Serenity. You already known my son, Cosmic Blaze, but those two ponies are our adoptive sons, Radiant Thunder and Coffee Paw." The neon stallion introduced himself and his family to the couple.

"You've been adopted as well?" Iridescent Dawn was surprised by the fact.

"Yep. For a very long time." Dukey answered with a chuckle.

"And man, it was the best decision, since they treated me sooooooo much better than the last one." Johnny commented.

"It shows." Picture Snap chuckled.

"Hey, guys!" Another voice can be heard. This time, it came from Golden Heart and her mother, whom they were also visiting the festival. "You are also here too, huh?" The silver filly smiled.

"You bet, Golden!" Cosmic responded.

"Easy there, kids. The festival hasn't started yet." Golden's mother calmed the kids down.

"That's the thing. We were about to go to the stage for the announcement and performances." High Velocity stated.

"Same here. Hey, why not going there together?" Iridescent Dawn asked.

"Sure, that would be great." Sweet agreed and so did Golden's mom and the dads and the group of families were on their way to the stage. On their way, Johnny and Dukey met with Eugene, the men in Black, the General, Mr. Harm with a group of filles and colts for a class trip, along with Cherilee, Gil with his new friends of ponies, a dragon and a griffon and later, Sissy and Missy, whome they finished the game and all of them were on their way to the stage. They also met the mole people and meet the women for the first time.

"It's so crazy, that we're meeting mole girls from out of space." Johnny commented.

"Our culture and stories are much crazier, trust me." A mole woman, named Carissa, chuckled in response.

Every pony and non pony have gathered for the opening announcement. Even Tempest Shadow, Grubber and the reformed Storm Creatures, Captain Celaeno and her crew, Capper, Queen Novo and Princess Skystar were there to attend the second festival. After a while of waiting, they heard the horns, as the princesses finally appeared.

"Citizens of Equestria and beyond! We're all gathered to celebrate a new era of friendship!" Princess Celestia introduced the festival to everyone.

"Recently, there has been great progress made of friendships. It's not just limited to Equestria and our world, as ponies and non-ponies from different dimensions and even from different galaxies arrived and made friends with our people." Princess Luna continued.

"And as the months go on, despite some setbacks, friendship and love continued to blossom, thanks to the new development, while also getting introduced to their cultures and stories." Princess Cadence smiled.

"And their stories caused a big impact to our lives, etching them in history books for all eternity. We couldn't be any happier with this new era of Equestria, we're ushering in. So...without further ado, in the name of the Sun and the moon, love and friendship and all things positive, let the festivities-" Twilight was about to finish the speech, when her microphone was taken away from her, being in a orange aura. That actually came from Fire Jewel herself, who is on stage.

"Hey! It's that fire demon again!" Someone from Canterlot noticed and soon, some of them booed at the sight of the red mare, who was getting even more anxious. The bad memories have returned and was about to break, when all of a sudden...

"Hey! Leave her alone!!"

That voice silenced the crowd and it came from Ocean Spark, who came to the stage with her friends to defend her sister.

"Seriously. What is up with you and constantly harassing her, just to make yourselves feel better?! Do you guys feel no shame??" Cherry called them out, feeling tired of her friend being verbally attacked. But that didn't stop the angry ponies from protesting.

"EVERYONE, SHUT UP!!!!!" Snow screamed at the crowd, silencing them indefinitely. "Thank you." She lowered her voice.

Seeing her sister and friends defending her, gave Fire even more hope and remembering the words from Luna and the bat pony, coupled with a smile from the moon princess herself, she took a deep breath and put the microphone close to her. "Before we start with the party, there is something, I want to get it out and address even further."

"Something, WE have to get it out. Because we got this...together." Ocean corrected and after looking at the princesses, they were given with five more microphones to make their official statement.

"I'm pretty sure, you guys are aware of our actions, which lead to my dragon form nearly burning Cantelot to the ground and by extention, Shadow Galaxy invading Ponyville. I know, that you have a lot of questions....So...we're gonna give you a timeline of what happened, along with a public apology later on." Fire opened her statement and letting one of her friends to continue.

"But first, some background info. We actually come from different planets in a galaxy far, far away from yours. Our galaxy had been in war against a nefarious warlord and conqueror, Shadow Nebula. In ancient times, there were seven powerful sorcerers with orbs, called the elemental orbs, able to defeat and seal her for a very long time, until the seal has weakened, allowing her to return. The seven sorcerers put those orbs in a temple called "The Temple of Order" and put a protection spell on them. Fast forwards a lot of years and the elemental orbs had been drifting in space, until they sensed and chose seven special ponies with divine elemental power. Those ponies are us, along with another one. A pink alicorn named Jenny." Snow added some history to their galaxy and the orbs.

"A divine pony, named Galaxy Shine, who was Jenny's mom in a higher level of existence, have warned us about Shadow Nebula's return, after me, Jenny, Fire, Cherry, Snow and Breeze have gathered in Shima and thus started a very long adventure, full of danger, trials and tribulations. But during our decade long adventure, due to the orbs heavily slowed down our aging process, we grew closer and closer and became best friends." Tropic explained about their start of a long adventure and how they grew to be best friends.

"Eventually...I was part of it. At first, I was seriously bitter, thinking that Fire had killed my parents and had followed Shadow Nebula's orders to destroy them. During many of our battles, I used my water powers to best them in combat and in one occasion, actually defeated them. But later, Fire, with the truth of Nebula being the true murderer and the knowledge, that we're long lost sisters, approached me and after a long battle, she won. As she wouldn't bring herself to kill me and me not being able to do the same either, I apologised to her and slowly but surely, redeemed myself and eventually joining the team." Ocean added her story of blind revenge and redemption.

"Eventually, after a long and arduous battle, the Luminous 7 were finally able to destroy Shadow Nebula for good with the power of the elements and friendship, which created a very powerful convergence, similar to those, which defeated Shadow Galaxy in Ponyville. We went on to be immortalised in history books around the universe and decided to go to Equestria for a much deserved break....but we had no idea about the Storm, that was about to brew among us..." Breeze sighed.

"We had no idea, what caused Jenny to be on high alert and being distrustful towards new ponies. Either she sensed a new kind of evil in this place or something else. Whatever it may be, settling in Equestria started off really rocky. But as I saw some couples abusing their kids, I got terrible flashbacks of my own childhood, where my stepmother abused me...I had to take action to protect the kids, but....looking back, I was so damn immature and too lost in my own emotions...." Fire recounted the start of their troubles.

"I only wanted to keep an eye on my sister, due to what happened in Xeon, where she transformed into a fire dragon and, after losing herself in her rage, causing damage to the cities. I wanted to prevent another Xeon disaster here, but....in hindsight, the execution was terrible to say the least...." Ocean lowered her ears, while explaining the reason.

"In fact, the whole plan literally fell apart outside the Ponyville Hospital, when we stood against Fire and Tropic. One thing left to another, which lead to our natural imprisonment, arguments occured left and right and our immaturity caused the split and eventual end to our group. And it only got worse with the dragon incident, which severely crushed our spirits. And we wouldn't be there and left the planet out of shame...if it wasn't for Twilight Sparkle and her friends. They showed us about the importance of friendship and mental solace. They were here, when there were no other way, they guided us to where we are and that's something, we're really grateful for." Cherry explained the Storm of negativity, which lead to so much dissaray and Discord, which where slowly solved with the help of their newfound friends.

"However...there was also Jenny, who after being left alone for a while, let her negative emotions got the better of her, which allowed a dark force to take over her body and turning her into a wicked pony, known as Shadow Galaxy. That dark force was caused by Shadow Nebula herself, when she used her magic to corrupt her during her captivity. That dark side caused so much strife for us, that we're still figuring out on how to dispell that evil side permanently, but without any sign of success, as this force was so persistent and difficult to deal with. The only time, it really rested, is when Jenny dealt with it in a mental battle inside of her subconscious mind. And it seemed like, she conquered the dark side for a long time....but the drama caused Shadow Galaxy to return and spread havoc in Ponyville..." Tropic sighed.

"Fire and Ocean were unavailable at that point in time, since Luna and Tempest had released them and took them to where the hell they were, I was injured by the fight and before that, had to deal with mole women and later, Snow was getting even more outraged and distrusting, until Brain Freezer had to call her out and knock some sense to her. What's worse about it, due to their actions, the fire and water orbs got shattered. So, my friends had to face against Shadow Galaxy on their own. Even when they got help, she overwhelmed them and was about to defeat them, when Fire, Ocean and Snow returned from their absence. And thank God, they were back." Breeze recounted on the Shadow Galaxy incident.

"My sister and I were taught about redemption and the importance of friendship and bonds by Princess Luna, Tempest Shadow and later Trixie Lulamoon. As time went on, we learned more and more about those topics and took action to slowly end our nightmares and restoring our relationship and friendships with them, until that particular day, when we were ready to face It. At first, it was nearly impossible, until the fire and water orbs have been magically restored due to our redemption and got our powers back. After a long battle, in which me, Fire, our friends and even Twilight and her group teamed up and combined our skills and wits to weaken her, we performed a magical convergence between the magic of the elements and the magic of friendship, defeating the dark pony once and for all...even though it only suppressed her as always, as we still have no idea on how to purge that force out of Jenny. Speaking of Jenny, the magic cleansed her from the influence, but feeling guilty of her actions and our behaviour not doing anything better, she teleported away, with her now being in the Human world, which is currently not open until 30 moons later." Ocean explained about her and Fire's redemption arc and the defeat of Shadow Galaxy.

"Look, I get that there are still some unresolved questions and we wished to go further, but there are some things, we have to consider, as we're currently go through everything. And for those, who keep on harassing Fire, knock that shit off! I'm pretty sure, everyone has made a mistake in their lives at some point! That includes me, whose fear of betrayal and pain had fanned the flames even more." Snow lowered her head.

"I don't know, if we can fully articulate from the pain, we're currently feeling right now. Our pride and arrogance had costed a lifelong freindship, we've built for many years...We...We lost a friend, a leader, that we can count to, someone who has changed our lives for the better. It's weird and we're really sorry for dragging you into our personal dilemma..." Tropic apologised.

"Things will change. But, we hope that through the dark times, there will be a chance to grow and become better ponies for a better future. We're slowly improving, as time went on and made some progress. I mean, I was vital on saving Ponyville with a renewed confidence." Fire scratched her head. "So, in conclusion..."

"We're really sorry for our actions." The six ponies bowed down, while issuing their public apology.

"We hope, that you can understand, that nopony's perfect and that there's always a chance for redemption." Fire concluded the speech. "And we hope, we have cleared enough things up. If not, you can ask us anytime and we'll give you more information."

At first, the crowd was purely silent, which gave them a bad impression, that their apology didn't work, since some ponies are quite tricky to be convinced. Even when the dragon incident happened a few months ago. But before they can leave the stage, they heard a clap from Tempest....followed by Grubber, then Johnny and Dukey, then Trixie, then Brain Freezer as well as Sissy and Missy, followed by the men in Black and Dr. Beebles and slowly, more and more of the crowed clapped with them until eventually, they were given a big applause for their transparency and maturity. Even the princesses applauded for them.

"You did it, girls! You managed to bravely stand up and make amends in front of everypony! I'm so proud of you." Twilight congratulated the elemental ponies with a hug. The group were finally relieved, as a big weight around them has lifted. Especially Fire, who she finally felt the Sweet and serene peace, after months of mental discord and finally regained her full confidence.

"Wait a minute!"

They heard a voice from behind, revealing to be Zizrar, who's with Iris and Evelynn the entire time.

"Evelynn?!" The mole women were surprised by her return.

"Go on. Tell them." Iris smiled at her friend, encouraging her to come forward.

"What are you doing here?!" Roy was not happy to see Evelynn again.

"I know, you're still mad at me for hurting Amber and I get that. But please...hear me out..." Evelynn responded, before clearing her throat. "I'm truly sorry for what I've done. I was so caught up with the past and my emotions, that I forgot about my consequences until it was too late. You may be asking, what past? Well...during the Primaia invasion, my sister, Eris betrayed me and Kryssa and even worse, killed my mom in cold blood, revealing to be working for the invaders. But even when Kryssa managed to get me out of here and escaping the planet, the betrayal had seared into my heart and soul so bad, that I've became distrustful, rough, persistent, prideful and angry all the time. I hid my pain through my tough exterior, as I kept on training and even when I became Iris's commander, the pain and anger was still there. It wasn't until I hurt Amber and Zizrar calling me out of my behaviour, that I finally got back to my senses and realized about the consequences, my behaviour and actions have brought. At first, I was feeling hopeless with death being the only release, but Zizrar showed me another way, that doesn't end in my death. One filled with hope, friendship and courage. In other words, he gave me an offer of redemption, which I gladly accepted. Now, I'm trying my best to become better, even there are some doubt. But I'm not giving up. As long as I have a loving family, there will be a good future." She offered everyone a big apology on her own. Hearing Evelynn's story had confirmed Snow's suspicion of feeling betrayed.

"You're not the only one, who had been betrayed in the past. I know that issue too well, since I was in that situation multiple times, except it came from those so called "friends", I had the closest connection to. So, let's make a promise. I'll help you overcome your darkest fears, just like somepony did that to me." Snow hugged Evelynn with a warm smile.

"Thank you...but I'm not sure, if I have the courage to tell Amber about it..." Evelynn was worried, when they heard a familiar voice.

"No need to, Evelynn."

The commander gasped at the voice, which revealed to be Amber, who came out of the crowd.

"Amber! I'm really sorry for nearly killing you..." Evelynn was in tears, feeling regretful of her actions. "I was....not feeling myself on that day, feeling consumed by my own demons and-" before she could finish her sentence, Amber hugged her. "But...but why?" The short-haired mole woman was left speechless.

"Simple...Despite your stern behaviour and the trauma, you're like a big sister to me. I never gave up hope on you, because I always had a feeling, that you cared for me in your own way. I mean, you helped me fix my braid at one point." Amber smiled.

"What?!?" Roy was shocked.

"Roy...please hear me out." Amber looked at Roy, before turning her attention back to Evelynn. "I know, things have been really rough, But I was never mad at you. In fact, I was concerned. Concerned on what's happening to you. And now that I heard abour your past, I feel really sorry for you and understand, why you were like this."

"I understand." Evelynn wiped her tears away."it's just....I want to set things right. Restoring on what's left and becoming better. So...what do you say. Should we start over with a clean slate, Princess Amber?" She bowed down in front of the shy woman, which shocked everyone, since they had no idea, that Amber is a princess until now. Regardless, Amber accepted the offer, while Zizrar and Iris were proud of them.

"Awwww!" The crowd were touched.

"Well, looks like, there is a happy ending after all." Cherry smiled.

"It sure does, man. It sure does." Breeze nodded. It was, when the Try Guys approached the elemental mares.

"You know, the way, you girls handled the apology surely reminded us of a dark time, where we also had to make a statement like this and restructuring our company and group for the better." Jolly commented.

"What happened?" Ocean asked, in which they told them about the event, that threw them off guard in a bad way.

"Oh my God..." Tropic was shocked. "I'm truly sorry for what happened to you."

"We all are." Fire corrected, feeling bad for them.

"But we've since moved on from that shitty time and became better." Fine was happy about their independence and emancipation.

"That's actually good." Snow nodded.

"Anyway, when will the party start?" Lively asked.

"Oh! Twilight, if I may?" Fire asked Twilight for her permission.

"Of course, Fire. You have my permission." The princess of friendship nodded.

"You have all of our permission, Fire." Princess Cadence smiled.

"Sooooo...With the nightmares being finally gone and everything being alright again, are you guys ready?" Fire smirked and asked the crowd, in which they cheered. "I can't hear you! Are you ready?" The question made the crowd cheer even louder.

"Then let the party begin!" Fire used her magic to light up the torches, signaling the beginning of the festival and a good time. Everybody cheered, as the elemental ponies were now excited for their upcoming performance and having the best time of their lives, even though Jenny wouldn't be present.

Sunset's Apartment, Human World

We see the fiery teenager packing her stuff, as she and her friends were about to go on a vacation to a different place. As much as she's excited for it, since that would meen good times together and even performing for a crowd, she knew that, she needed someone to watch over her stuff.

"Alright, everything's settled." She picked up her suitcases and went to the door, where Starlight was waiting with money, she earned from her new part time job. "How's your new job, Starlight?" She asked to her friend.

"It actually went quite well." Starlight replied. "So....you're going away with your friends today for a while, right?"

"Yeah. We taking a little vacation there to relax and take things off from our mind before our final tests next year. And since you've been watching over my apartment and my stuff, you do realise, what you should do." Sunset told to Starlight about her duties as a housesitter.

"I know, I know. Don't touch your personal stuff and taking care of Ray." Starlight already understood the rules, causing Sunset to chucke a bit.

"I know, I can count on you." Sunset smiled, before giving spare keys to the apartment complex, the mail box and the apartment itself to her best friend. "Take care, Starlight!" She said goodbye, as she left her apartment to join her friends below. After a while, Starlight opened the window, seeing her friends.

"Hope, you girls have a good time!" Starlight waved, as the girls smiled, when they entered into a limo cab, which Rarity paid for transport and drove off to the airport. Afterwhich, she went to the living room and picked up the heart necklace, wondering about the possibility on who the owner could be. Didn't help, that she was still worried about Susan and Mary, who were still in a coma. She had visited the hospital once more before Sunset left, only to hear nothing from them. But at least she gave them some gifts and flowers, before leaving.

"I wish, they could finally wake up, so I can talk to them...." Starlight sighed and sat down, feeling concerned about their health and if they would ever wake up. But regardless, she had to keep praying for a miracle, so she got on her phone, which was a gift from Rarity, to browse on the Internet.

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Hello, everyone!

The boyband ponies and the Try Guys are finally here, as well as the chapter with many Easter eggs! But not before concluding things up before the next arc.

For Star Time Rush, I decided for the guys being based on the BTR TV show, but decided to mix in a few elements of their real life counterparts. Which would explain the appearance of a body guard, named Freight Train and their manager. I grew up watching a lot of Big Time Rush, so this was easier to do.

As for the Try Guys, it was quite hard to write them as accurate to them as possible. I am aware of their shtick with Keith being a funny foodie, Zach being sweet and weird and Eugene being edgy, gay and stylish, but I had to watch a lot of Try Guys videos, just to nail their personalities, while also making a few changes, so they would fit in Equestria.

The reason, why I put them here? In one of the older Try Guys videos, Eugene mentioned, that his favourite pony was Fluttershy. Even though in hindsight, he's like Fluttershy and Rarity into one. Just saying. Not sure, if he watched G5 though.

Again, this is just me though.

Stay tuned for the very last side story, before the main one, which would start the festival with a bang and conclude with a twist!