//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: Kung Fu Dragon 
// by CartoonNerd12 
//------------------------------//

That night the Elements gathered in Spike's room hoping to cheer him up but were doing a poor job as they had to admit to him that when he was chosen they didn't trust him at first until they found out about his lack of fighting experience and started worrying about his safety. They had hoped he would quit on his own upon training but they were starting to see that he was quite determined to stay and that was something they were willing to respect.

"But will Princess Twilight respect my decision?" he asked them.

They gave unsure looks as Rainbow said, "Ah, she just needs some time to get use to you and who knows, she might."

Fluttershy commented, "And she's a little frightened right now given of the possible threat that…" she wasn't sure if she should say the rest.

But Applejack said it anyway, "That Trixie will come back."

Rarity pointed, "But we're not allowed to talk about it so…"

Spike spoke up, "Guys, I know about Trixie, she used to be one of Princess Celestia's students and was able to control an Ursa Minor and-" The laughter disrupted him as he asked, "What's so funny?"

Applejack said between giggles, "Sorry, sugar cube, we're not laughing at you, we're laughing at how rumors of Trixie's controlling an Ursa Minor got messed up. You see the real story behind that all starts when Twilight and Trixie attended the same school together as fillies…" she turned serious and so did the other girls as she continued, "They did just about everything together. They were best friends but they acted like they were sisters… One day, Celestia took them under her wing and trained them of how to deal with their magic. They encouraged each other to excel as they figured one of them would be the Dragon Warrior in the future.

"So when they had grown they had to stop an Ursa Minor from destroying Ponyville and like you most ponies had thought Trixie stopped the Ursa Minor but really it was Twilight who did it…This made Trixie upset when she realized that Twilight was better than her at magic so she sought out a powerful object called the Alicorn Amulet so she can be better and then… Trixie started to enslave the townsfolk to do her bidding and when Twilight and Celestia saw how corrupted Trixie became by the amulet, Twilight tried to save her best friend but when she couldn't and it was up to Celestia to trick Trixie to give up the amulet and when she did, she was banished to Tartarus…"

Spike uttered softly, "Wow…"

Rarity nodded, "When Twilight saw all those innocents getting hurt by Trixie she didn't want to you suffer a similar fate by training to be the Dragon Warrior."

Spike held his legs to his chest, "That makes a lot of sense now…" then asked them, "So then how did you all meet her?"

Rainbow decided to take the lead.

"That my friend, all started when I had first moved to Ponyville to be on the weather team then one day I hear this cry for help coming from a well and it turn out a filly fell in there, so I quickly rescued her. Shortly after that I became a local hero and because of that a merchant came to me asking for help…"




Rainbow and the merchant sat outside the Ponyville Café as he tried to explain the situation.

"Bandits stole all my-"

"Wood?" Rainbow questioned, feeling impatiently as she wanted to get going to stop the thieves.

"Sofas and quills! And if I don't get them back…"

"You'll be… uncomfortable?"

"I'll be out of business!"

"Just as I thought. And where did these creeps run off to?" she smacked her hooves together.

"They went-"

"West!" Dash blurted out as she zipped away but came back when the merchant shouted.

"No, east!"

"What are you…?"

"Towards the-"

"Hill!" she zipped again only to force herself to return.

"No! towards the forest of-"

"Leto?"

"Everfree!"

"Everfree Forest? East? Sofas and quills! I knew it!" She was about to fly up when the merchant said.

"You'll need to be very-"

"Quick!"

"Careful! They're crafty ponies!"

"They won't know what hit them!" she flew off at top speed before the merchant could say anything else.




Spike quickly asked, "By going after the bandits did you meet the girls?"

Dash proudly stated, "Yup!"

"Cool! So what were the rest of you doing?" he inquired.

Fluttershy answered, "I was living in Cloudsdale with my family and my little brother Zephyr Breeze was boasting to some friends of his how he could face off to a cockatrice without turning to stone…"

Spike gawked, "What in the world made him say that?!"

Fluttershy sighed, "Zephyr… just didn't know when to keep quiet… and because of his boast his friends demanded to him to prove his claim and so they went off into the Everfree Forest, I followed after him because as his big sister it was my duty to protect him."




Fluttershy was scared of the forest surroundings as she called out to her brother, "Zephyr! Zephyr!"

"Fluttershy?" a voice called back.

The mare went toward the voice to find her brother and his friends. "Thank goodness, you're safe!"

Zephyr smugly replied, "Of course I'm safe, I'm Zephyr Breeze! The bravest and most handsome stallion in all of Equestria!"

"But it's dangerous to be here!"

"Exactly! As you can see we're waiting for a cockatrice to show up so I can face off to it without turning into stone!"

She sighed deeply, "Zephyr…"




Rarity pointed out, "I believe that's when we were about to cross paths, as I was in the Everfree Forest looking for gems for my new creation."

Spike asked, "Creation?"

Rarity motioned, "Quite. I was living in Ponyville as a struggling seamstress and my best dresses had always had jewels in them. So when one of my best clients brought someone with them one day I was quite determined to fill their order…"




Sapphire Shores walked into Carousal Boutique with Fancy Pants to find Rarity quickly working around the shop as the stallion admired her diligence. She spotted them and addressed them.

"Oh! Forgive me for not noticing you sooner, Sapphire Shores and… oh, my goodness! Fancy Pants!" she gasped.

The stallion chuckled, "I dare say, that's one way to make an introduction."

She blushed realizing her outburst, "I'm so terribly sorry! It's just I recognized you as an Elite from Canterlot and I couldn't help feeling so honored by you being here."

"Not as honored as I am to be here… Miss…?"

"Rarity." she smiled.

"Miss Rarity. I have need of a jeweled dress for my cousin, Fleur-de-lis."

"Why certainly! When do you need it?"

"Tomorrow evening." he stated.

"Tom-tomorrow evening?" she repeated to make sure she heard right.

"Yes, I'm terribly sorry for the short notice but I didn't hear about your amazing dresses until Sapphire Shores spoke highly of you at one of our social gatherings. And I can't think of more a perfect birthday present for my dear cousin."

"How charming of you to say…" Rarity beamed at the praise and declared, "It shall be done! I'll have it ready by tomorrow afternoon!"

"Wonderful! I'll be back tomorrow." he and Sapphire took their leave.

Rarity bit her lip in worry as she looked in her empty box of where she kept her collection of jewels in and set out to look for more. She knew of a place in the Everfree Forest that had a horde of gems and started going there.




Spike looked at Applejack, "And you? What were you doing?"

Applejack nearly blushed with him staring at her and quickly replied, "Me? Well, I was busy with my family's farm: Sweet Apple Acres. My family was having trouble with the Flim Flam brothers since they were tryin' to give us a run for our money. I tell ya, if Twilight hadn't come when she did… I'm pretty sure my family would have been bankrupt and we would have lost Sweet Apple Acres forever…"

Spike furrowed a brow, "Then… why are you here and not helping your family run the farm?"

Applejack explained, "I visit to check up on them and the farm. Because after I met the girls, I was needed here to help protect Equestria. But once that duty is done, I'll go back to what I was always meant to do."

"So how did you meet Twilight?"

"She was on business meetin' with Ponyville's mayor when she came across the farm and saw the trouble we was havin' with the brothers and stepped right in to stop them. Once the duo left, Twilight and I got to bein' good friends when we heard a scream coming from the forest." she turned to the unicorn, asking, "That was your scream wasn't it, Rarity?"

Rarity rolled her eyes, "Yes, that was my scream seeing how the bandits came out of nowhere as I was looking for gems and because of my gem finding skills they saw me as useful…"




Rarity shrieked as the bandits who were really Caballeron and his henchponies surrounded her and were about to kidnap her. While that had been happening, somewhere in other parts of the forest, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie heard the scream and-




"Wait! Wait!" Spike motioned, "How did Pinkie get in the forest in the first place?"

Pinkie giggled, "Oh, that's easy." she spoke at a fast pace, "I was in Canterlot, about to pull a prank on somepony when my Pinkie sense was acting up and Princess Celestia came out of nowhere to me and said, 'Miss Pinkie Pie, you must go to the Everfree Forest.' So I was all like, 'Okey-dokey-lokie!' and set out to the dark and scary Everfree Forest!" she gave a cheesy grin.

Spike stared at the others in bewilderment and Applejack whispered to him, "It's best you don't think about it too much…"

He just gave a slight nod and said to Rarity, "So you were saying?" his face softened with hearts floating around him, "Before I so rudely interrupted?"

Rarity merely replied, "You're forgiven, and yes, so anyway… Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were all nearby when they heard me scream…"




Fluttershy exclaimed, "Oh goodness!" and she whimpered.

Zephyr proclaimed, "It is a dear lady in distress! I shall save her!" he was about to run off when he got tackled by his big sister.

"Oh, no you don't! You are going straight home, mister!"

Zephyr pouted, "Why do you always got to be so bossy, sis?" Then when he saw the stern look she was giving off, he sighed, "Fine." he flapped his wings and flew away.

Fluttershy knew she should have followed him but some pony was in trouble and she had to go see if she could help even if she was too scared to. When suddenly, something passed her at the speed of light causing a gust of wind around and it screeched to a halt and flew back to her inquiring.

"Fluttershy? Is that you?"

"Rainbow Dash?"

The rainbow-mane mare questioned, "What you doing out here? Don't you know this is the Everfree Forest the scariest forest in all of Equestria?"

"Of course I do, Dashie! But Zephyr was out here and I had to get him to come back home!"

"And is he…?"

"He's home, I sent him back not two minutes ago."

"So I take it that was you I hear screaming?"

"No! That was somebody else! I was just going to go see how I can help!"

"You? Wow, Fluttershy, I've never seen this side of you before."

"Come on, we have to hurry!" she flapped her wings and the two old friends set out to where the scream came from. And when they did they found a campsite with brand new sofas that made Rainbow gasped.

"The bandits! They're here! Alright!"

Fluttershy saw the bandits were eating and next to them was a unicorn mare tied to a rope as she was busy casting a gem finding spell and digging up gems much to the unicorn's disgust.

"Oh… that poor girl…"

Dash whispered, "Well we're going to rescue her… Just follow my lead…" she started to crawl when a pink mare suddenly showed up right in front of her making Rainbow yelp in surprise and whispered in shock, "Who the heck are you?!"

"Oh, I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!"

Dash shushed her, "Quiet! You want them to know we're here?!"

Pinkie whispered back, "Oh, are we in stealth mode? I can be in stealth mode!" she put on a spy costume with night vision goggles.

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash gawked at her sudden costume change, wondering how she did that. Dash started, "Where did you…? Never mind, I don't think I want to know. Because right now we got more pressing things like saving that filly from those thugs and getting those sofas back…"

Pinkie pointed out, "Somehow, I don't think that'll be a problem…."

"Huh?" both pegasi said when looking at what the random mare was gesturing at.

The unicorn was complaining to the point the stallions were getting fed up with her and it seemed like they were going to let her go.

Dash mentioned, "Huh, not bad. Of course she could have just used her fancy magic to use that frying pan they were using and knock them all out but annoying them to heck works too."

When Rarity was set on leaving, Caballeron pulled a fast one by gagging her up!

Fluttershy uttered, "Oh, no!"

Dash stomped her hoof, "Rats!" then stated, "Well looks like I'll have to save her after all…" she readied herself to take off when suddenly the bandits were all lassoed in by one cowpony. "Hey! I was about to save her!" Rainbow showed herself.

Applejack faced the pegasus, "Well if you hadn't just stood there before I got here, you probably would have."

Then Twilight approached the bandits, "At least you got them all. Caballeron and his henchponies have been causing quite a lot of trouble for us. So we can finally bring them to justice." she used her magic to make a bubble around the stallions.

Fluttershy helped Rarity get her gag off while Pinkie untied her. Rarity exclaimed in disgust, "Never. Will. I. Wear. A dirty rag on my face again! I swear… If some uncouth brute does that to me again, I will make them wish they were never born!"

Applejack gave out a low whistle, "Wow, this gal's got some spice here."

After a few moments of introductions, with Rarity bowing quite a few times to Twilight due to her royal status. The group started to get along and Twilight said.

"You know, it seems odd that we all met like this on the same day. And… Celestia did tell me that I should consider making new friends to help protect all of Equestria… Maybe… Just maybe…" then asked, "Would you all like to come with me to Canterlot?"




Rarity primped her mane, "Naturally we all said yes."

Rainbow interjected, "Puh-lease, you practically squealed when she mentioned Canterlot."

AJ chuckled, "Yeah, you did."

Rarity humphed but ended up smirking.

Spike was frowning in confusion and motioned, "That's it? No big battle to see how awesome each of your skills were? She just asked you to come with her?"

Applejack shrugged, "Pretty much."

Rainbow said, "Besides, we've proven how awesome we were when that Bugbear came around!"

Spike commented, "That's true."

Fluttershy mentioned, "Shortly after that, we all became the bestest of friends and made sure Equestria was protected, it was then we realized we had a connection all this time with Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom which was the reason we got our cutie marks."

Spike gawked, "Whoa! Really?!"

The girls all agreed and Spike soon learned of how the girls and Twilight got their cutie marks at the same time but what shocked him the most was the actual day it all happened. When Pinkie gave the exact day the rainbow appeared to make her smile, Spike gasped out.

"That's my birthday!"

"It is?!" they exclaimed in astonishment.

"Yeah! That was the very day I hatched!"

They gapped as AJ muttered, "I'll be… that sure is a dang coincidence…"

Pinkie shuddered, "Spooky…" The others mumbled in agreement, then once they processed this new information in their heads, Pinkie Pie declared, "Looks like our Dragon Warrior is just as connected as we are!"

Spike felt touched when he saw the others nodding their heads, it was like they were finally accepting them. By feeling so happy he playfully threw a pillow in the air that it caused Pinkie to start a pillow fight and the others joined in making their bond ever closer.