Miraculous Equestria Girls
Chapter 5
Stoneheart
The twelve superheroes jumped or flew from roof to roof until the Canterlot stadium came into view.
"Any ideas on how to stop that guy?" Cat Noir asked.
Princess Ladybug thought deeply, keeping her eyes on Stoneheart. "The more I think about it, the more I think that there is something familiar about that stone golem."
"Now that you mention it, I think you're right." Black Knight said.
Ladybug began twirling her yo-yo. "Come on, y'all!" She threw it to one of the poles of the stadium roof. "We got a rock giant to wrangle!" She then leaped across to the stadium, with everyone else following her lead.
In the stadium, the Canterlot Wondercolt soccer team were packing up now that practice was over. Since Rainbow Dash wasn't there to practice with them today, Spitfire, the co-captain, was in charge, along with Fleetfoot. Among the other team members was Sky Stinger and his best friend, Vapor Trail.
Suddenly, a loud roar was then heard as an angry Stoneheart burst into the stadium. His glowing yellow eyes narrowed as he saw his subject of revenge.
"SKY!" He shouted, as the Black Cats and Ladybugs landed on the far bleachers of the west side of the stadium, seeing the frightened team looking up at Stoneheart. "Who's the chicken now?!"
That voice finally made itself recognizable to Princess Ladybug. "Uh, guys? I think that rock man is Bulk Biceps."
"What?!" Everyone else exclaimed.
"How did Bulk become that, that scary monster?" Junebug asked, gesturing to the golem down below. "True, he may be big and loud, but he wouldn't hurt a fly."
"If I must take a guess, that annoying Sky Stinger must've pushed his buttons once too hard." Dark Lord suggested. Everyone groaned.
"That unsurprisingly makes so much sense." Black Leopard said.
"Yes, indeed." Coccinelle agreed.
"Once I'm through with you, I'll prove to you who Rainbow Dash will choose!" Stoneheart added.
The superheroes all froze as this news bit hit them like a bolt of lightning. "What?" Swift Spot almost shrieked loud enough to be heard.
"Is he saying that he has the hots for Rainbow Dash?" Shadow Racer asked, having a shocked look on his face.
"Uh, maybe this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise." Lady Luck said.
"Being one of the most popular girls in Canterlot High, and maybe even in the whole city, it is likely that she would have a few admirers." Cat Burglar pointed out.
Swift Spot quickly resisted the strong urge to throw up. As Rainbow Dash, she already had enough to deal with Sky and Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy's younger brother, flirting with her; all attempts with either of them ending with a hard right-hook to the face, but this was really hard to stomach. Bulk was a friend, and only a friend, so she wasn't sure how to let him down without hurting him.
Shadow Racer wasn't exactly too keen on this new information, either. As Soarin', he seemed to be the only guy in school that knows better than to get on Rainbow's nerves. Especially when Sky or some other guy would try to act suave with her, which is why she always acts so cool with him, since he didn't see her like that, but as a great friend and a trustworthy teammate. But when Sky or someone else tries to pull a move on her, either he lets Dash handle it, or just scare him away with a death warning.
"So, what's our first move?" Cat Noir asked.
"We take him down." Shadow Racer said, gripping his baton. He can't let his girl best friend be that rock man's next target. He extended his baton and swung into the stadium. Swift Spot tried to grab his belt-like tail, but missed.
"Wait, hang on a minute!" She shouted.
But Shadow Racer was already running across the soccer field, used his baton to jump up high over Stoneheart, and got ready to attack.
"We'll see who gets Rainbow Dash!" Stoneheart shouted before a small black figure appeared in his view.
"I don't think either of you are her type!" Shadow Racer said before swinging his silver baton and hit him across the face. But instead of flinching, the rock giant began glowing and then grew in size and roared even louder. "Well, that wasn't according to plan."
Swift Spot slapped her forehead at what they had just seen. "Well, that's just great! We can't take him down without him growing every time we hit him!"
"Anyone else have a bright idea?" Dark Lord asked.
Princess Ladybug twirled her yo-yo and swung it, wrapping it around the arm of Stoneheart. "We help and continue to try."
The other Ladybugs looked over at each other and nodded in agreement. They also swung their yo-yos and the cords tangled around various points in the stadium.
"Let's get to it, then." Ladybug said as they swung into the stadium. The Black Cats looked at each other and followed their lead, jumping in with their extended batons.
Stoneheart had Shadow Racer in a position to crush him with his fist, but Swift Spot wrapped her yo-yo string around his leg and pulled him out of the way.
"Consider yourself lucky I saved your skin, furball." She said as she ran off to join everyone else in the fight.
"Thanks, though." Shadow Racer said as he followed her lead.
Princess Ladybug jumped over the rocky arm and slid across the short turf of the play field. Lady Luck and Coccinelle came by her side.
"Anyone have any ideas yet?" Princess Ladybug asked.
Lady Luck seemed to have a light bulb turn on. She then shouted to Cat Burglar, who was hanging onto the back of Stoneheart. "Hey! What is the power of the Black Cats?"
"We can basically destroy anything we touch after we activate our power called Cataclysm." He explained before Stoneheart finally got him and threw him across the stadium.
"Well, that is a little drastic." Coccinelle commented.
"I think we should give it a try." Cat Noir said after he dodged another fist.
"Hang on there, partner." Ladybug said. "This is just an innocent person who was transformed into this giant boulder man, and besides, none of us here can't use our powers yet unless we have an extra five minutes to detransform."
"Good point." Cat Noir said.
"So what can we do?" Junebug asked as she jumped out of the way of Stoneheart's foot.
"And somebody better come up with a bright idea soon, please!" Dark Lord added as he somersaulted out of the way of a swinging rock fist.
"I got this!" Cat Burglar said as he twirled his baton and hit Stoneheart on the leg. But as before, the stone golem grew in size once again.
"Cat Burglar!" The other superheroes reprimanded him.
"Whoops, I guess I forgot about that detail." He said sheepishly before he was sent flying into the soccer goal.
Swift Spot saw that the soccer team had left the stadium during their fight, much to her relief. She then realized that now that Stoneheart was twice as big as he was before, it will be harder to keep him in the stadium if he gets any bigger. Even if Sky was gone, he would go after her next. Well, after Rainbow Dash, not Swift Spot. Suddenly, an idea then went up into her head.
"Hey, Ladybugs!" She called her team. "I have an idea!"
"Well, we'd like to hear it!" Ladybug said, trying to pull back her yo-yo that was tangled around the rocky fist of Stoneheart.
"If this guy wants Rainbow Dash, then he'll have her!"
"What?!" Everyone shouted, confused.
Swift Spot went over to Shadow Racer. "Try to keep him busy. We'll meet you back down in a minute."
"But what do you mean, Stoneheart will have Rainbow Dash?" He asked her.
Swift Spot placed a hand on his shoulder, and the two locked eyes. "Look, I promise you, on the Miraculous my team and I share, that she won't get a scratch. Believe me on that."
Neither noticed that heat was slowly rushing into the two superheroes' faces, hidden underneath their masks, as green cat eyes gazed into magenta gems for eyes.
"Okay." He finally said to her. They both shared a trusting smile before Swift Spot swung over to the top of the stadium to meet up with the rest of the Ladybugs.
"Okay, now what do ya mean by that?" Ladybug asked Swift Spot when she landed. "Tikki said that this will be the first and last time that we'll all transform together. It takes too much energy for her to use to keep us like this. Also, we can't use Dash, aka you, as bait. It's too dangerous, and who knows what he could do if he gets you."
"Well, what if Stoneheart assumed that I was somewhere else that is wide and open where the Ladybugs and Black Cats can take him down?" Swift Spot rhetorically asked.
"You mean, like a trap?" Princess Ladybug guessed.
"Exactly." Swift confirmed with a confident smirk.
"That could work." Princess Ladybug turned to Lady Luck and Coccinelle. "You think you two can start luring him?"
"Absolutely!" Lady Luck saluted before she and Coccinelle swung back down. As they helped the Black Cats, they began talking loudly.
"Oh my, if he is smitten by Rainbow Dash, I do hope he doesn't try to come after her next!" Coccinelle said.
"Yeah!" Lady Luck agreed. "She's over at Town Hall on her afternoon run! I really hope Stoney here doesn't find her!"
The Black Cats were all confused at what the two Ladybugs were doing, but whatever it was, it seemed to work because Stoneheart had stopped attacking them.
"Rainbow Dash is at Town Hall?" He asked, processing the false information. He then began heading out of the stadium and towards Town Hall. "I'm coming for you, Rainbow Dash!"
"We gotta go after him!" Shadow Racer was about to take off with his baton, but Swift Spot used her yo-yo to pull him back.
"Easy there, tiger." She teased as she released the string. "She won't get hurt."
"How can you be so sure?" SR asked, getting back on his feet.
"Because Rainbow Dash isn't at Town Hall." Junebug said as she and the other two Ladybugs came down.
"You tricked him?" Black Leopard asked.
"Indeed." Coccinelle confirmed with a flip of her hair. "And we will catch him there and bring him to justice!"
"And also, get to the bottom of all this." Ladybug added.
Dark Lord suddenly came up beside Junebug, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I really like this devious idea of yours, ladies." He said as he gave a flirty glance to the Ladybug beside him. Junebug blushed a little from behind her mask, but rolled her eyes and moved away from his grip.
"Let's get going, then." Princess Ladybug said as all of them began heading over to Town Hall.
Over at the Town Hall, everyone had already started to run and scream as Stoneheart arrived on the scene. The stone golem roamed around, scanning the crowd for the girl with spectrum colored hair. But, there was no sign of her. He roared angrily as he began to climb up the Town Hall building to get a better view.
"Hey, Rocky!" A voice called out. Stoneheart turned to the direction of the voice and saw the Black Cats and Ladybugs on a nearby roof adjacent to the Town Hall. They then all jumped down to the ground below.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Stoney, but the object of your affections is not here!" Black Knight said.
"Where is she?" Stoneheart demanded.
"Safe and far away from you!" Shadow Racer said, pointing his baton at him.
Stoneheart growled viciously at the superheroes when he realized he had been swindled, but then, he began coughing really hard. After a few violent coughs, a gigantic swarm of dark purple butterflies flew out of his mouth. The heroes would've been grossed out if the butterflies weren't forming the face of a man.
"City of Canterlot," the image of the man began to speak, "I am Hawkmoth."
"Hawkmoth?" The twelve superheroes questioned to each other. Was he the reason why Stoneheart became a super villain?
The butterfly image began to talk again. "All of you Ladybugs, Black Cats, give me your earrings and ring, the Miraculouses, that you all share now. You've done enough damage to these innocent people."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Swift Spot interrupted. "Hold the phone, Hawkmoth. We all know this trick; trying to make us look the bad guys here."
"Well, yer lies ain't gonna get you nowhere." Ladybug added, as she and the other Ladybugs came forward and into the view of the butterfly image.
"We're not going to let you reverse the roles here." Princess Ladybug said. "You're the one who turned an innocent victim into a supervillian, not us."
"So, it seems that you are the real bad guy." Junebug declared at him, sounding as brave as she could.
"Listen here, Hawkmoth." Coccinelle said. "No matter how long it takes, and no matter what the challenges, we will find you and you will hand us your Miraculous!"
With that, all six Ladybugs swung or flew up the Town Hall building up to the image made of butterflies.
Lady Luck began twirling her yo-yo and shouted, "Time to de-evilise!" She slid a finger over the surface of her yo-yo, and it opened to reveal a glowing sparkling pink inside. The others quickly followed suit and began to slice apart the image, making Hawkmoth yell in pain. In six blurs of red, the Ladybugs captured all of the corrupted butterflies until the image dissipated and they landed on the roof of Town Hall.
Everyone down below was watching in awe at what they saw. Princess Ladybug then began to speak in a loud voice to be heard. "Let us make this promise to you. No matter whoever tries to harm you in our fair city of Canterlot, the Ladybugs and Black Cats will do everything in our power to keep you safe."
Once she finished, all of the Ladybugs re-opened their yo-yos and held them in the air. From each, a swarm of pure white butterflies emerged and flew out into the sky.
The Black Cats were watching the Ladybugs in awe. They then all felt something warm, sharp, and tingling hit them in their hearts. All of them were thinking the exact same thing as they kept their cat eyes on one specific Ladybug: Black Knight on Princess Ladybug, Shadow Racer on Swift Spot, Cat Noir on Ladybug, Dark Lord on Junebug, Cat Burglar on Lady Luck, and Black Leopard on Coccinelle.
Whoever she is behind that mask, I love that girl.
In his lair, Hawkmoth growled with annoyance. "That's the problem with superheroes! They always have to get in the way!" He then had his neon mask light up his face to communicate with Stoneheart.
"Stoneheart, you know that they are hiding the object of your affections somewhere. Snatch their Miraculouses, and they'll be powerless against you."
"Okay, Hawkmoth." Stoneheart answered. The stone golem began climbing up to the top of Town Hall.
The Black Cats joined the Ladybugs on the platform below. "We better stop him fast before he decides to tear the city apart." Shadow Racer pointed out.
"Where could his Akuma be?" Ladybug wondered aloud.
Coccinelle just then noticed that around his right wrist, there was a black wristband with a dark purple gem. "Maybe it's in that wristband." She said, pointing to it.
"It might be." Black Leopard said. "It is the only material object that we see."
"But how are we supposed to get it if we can't so much as punch him?" Dark Lord asked.
Princess Ladybug thought about it. There is one way, but it is very risky. "I think we should use our powers." She said, grabbing her yo-yo.
"You think that this is the right time?" Swift Spot asked.
"There doesn't seem to be any other solution." Princess Ladybug said. "But, does anyone know how they work?"
"Let me try!" Lady Luck suggested, and tossed her spinning yo-yo into the air. "Lucky Charm!"
A large swarm of glowing red ladybugs came spiralling out of the yo-yo and circled up in the air. Once they compacted back together in a white flash of light, a red object with black spots appeared and landed in Lady Luck's hands.
"A parachute?" Swift Spot asked, recognizing the object.
"You sure you said it right?" Cat Burglar asked.
"What the heck are we supposed to do with this?" Ladybug asked.
Cat Noir saw that Stoneheart's weight was causing some parts of the building to start and collapse in on itself. "You better figure it out soon, because this place is going down!" The Black Cats sprung into action and they began to hold up the crumbling parts of the building up.
The Ladybugs quickly looked around them, and strangely for them, everything was in black and white. But when they saw their yo-yos, they lit up in red with black spots. Then, they saw the parachute highlighted in the same pattern, then Stoneheart appeared the same.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Princess Ladybug asked her team.
"It may seem crazy, but it's worth a shot." Ladybug said. She turned to the Black Cats. "Can one of y'all keep him in one place?"
"On it!" Cat Burglar called out, and used his baton to hold up his section of the columns. He then jumped up and climbed up to where Stoneheart was.
He jumped as high as he can, and then shouted, "Cataclysm!" Black bubbling specs appeared around his right hand as he landed close to the stone golem's feet. He slid around him in a circle, his empowered hand touching the section of the roof, turning it solid black. When he removed his hand and jumped down, the roof started to collapse, and Stoneheart fell halfway through.
"Will that buy you girls enough time?" Cat Burglar asked, who was back at his post.
"Perfect!" Lady Luck said.
With that, the Ladybugs quickly swung up or flew up to where Stoneheart was on the roof. Swift Spot and Junebug wrapped their yo-yos around the straps of the parachute, while down below, Ladybug had hers wrapped around the cord.
"Hey, rock face!" Ladybug called up to the giant rock man. "Heads up!"
She then pulled her yo-yo down, therefore pulling the cord. The parachute then exploded open and the two flying Ladybugs flew back, letting it catch in his face.
"Now!" Swift Spot shouted.
Coccinelle jumped up and snatched the wristband away Stoneheart. "Ooh, very nice." She said, seeing how much work Bulk Biceps must've put into it.
"Coccinelle!" Princess Ladybug called to her.
"Oh! Right!" Coccinelle dropped the wristband on the roof's surface and stomped hard on the purple gem, breaking it. When she removed her foot from the broken jewel, a black butterfly with neon purple stripes crawled out of the remnants and was about to fly away.
"I don't think so, Akuma!" Lady Luck shouted. "No more evil-doing for you!" She once again slid her finger across the surface of her yo-yo, opening it and revealing the magical sparkling pink inside. She then began twirling it around. "Time to de-evilize!"
Lady Luck swung her yo-yo at the Akuma, catching it, and brought it back to her. "Gotcha!" She then re-opened her yo-yo again, and a pure white butterfly fluttered away, completely purified.
"Bye-bye, little butterfly." Junebug said to the little insect as it flew past her, and she and Swift Spot landed back on the ground with the parachute, removing it from Stoneheart's face as it was deflating back into the pack.
When they all landed back on the roof, the pack began glowing. Lady Luck took the pack and tossed it up into the air while shouting, "Miraculous Ladybug!"
The pack glowed even brighter, and then, it split into swarms of magical ladybugs, flying throughout Canterlot, magically fixing all the damage that was caused. Buildings were repaired completely, as if nothing had ever happened.
The Black Cats joined the Ladybugs on the balcony on the roof. "Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Black Knight asked, awestruck.
"Yeah." Everyone else answered.
"It's dazzling." Coccinelle said.
"It's beautiful." Junebug added.
"It's amazing." Ladybug replied.
"It's awesome!" Swift Spot exclaimed.
"It's sparkly." Lady Luck piped in.
"It's miraculous." Princess Ladybug finished.
After the ladybugs finally vanished, Stoneheart had black ooze and bubbles surround him, and Bulk Biceps shrunk back to his normal size. He looked around, having no recollection of what had happened.
"You know, we do make a pretty good team." Dark Lord said.
"We sure do!" Swift Spot added. "We are awesome!"
"Definitely!" Shadow Racer agreed, and the two shared a fist bump. "Pound it!" They exclaimed.
The others smiled at each other and did the same: Princess Ladybug with Black Knight, Ladybug with Cat Noir, Junebug with Dark Lord, Lady Luck with Cat Burglar, and Coccinelle with Black Leopard.
In his lair, Hawkmoth was seething with anger, all of the butterflies flittering around the domed room. "This is just the beginning, you Ladybugs. You and the Black Cats may have won the battle, but I will win the war." His fist clenched tighter.
"I will get your Miraculouses!" He vowed. "I will get the absolute power! And all of Canterlot will be mine!"
With that, the huge circular glass window began to spiral close towards the center, waiting until his next strike.
Back at Town Hall, the Ladybugs and Black Cats landed on the ground, with Black Knight helping get Bulk Biceps down as well. Just then, the mayor came up to them. She was a kind and aging woman with silver hair, pale tan skin, and dark ocean blue eyes, and she wore a beige work dress with matching heels.
"Canterlot City is indebted to you, Ladybugs and Black Cats." She said. "Could we at least know your names individually?" She asked.
The twelve superheroes quickly glanced over at each other, and knew right then that they were all thinking the same thing.
"I'm Princess Ladybug, and my partner is Black Knight." Princess Ladybug started off, taking a place beside her Black Cat partner.
"The name's Swift Spot, and I'm partners with Shadow Racer." Swift Spot picked it up, smiling confidently while placing a friendly arm over her Black Cat's shoulders.
"I'm Ladybug, and I'm teamed with Cat Noir." Ladybug continued, standing next to her partner.
"My name is Junebug, and my partner is Dark Lord." Junebug added in a surprising moment of confidence by standing next to her partner.
"I'm Lady Luck, and this is my partner, Cat Burglar." Lady Luck piped up cheerfully, wrapping an arm around her partner's shoulders.
"And I am Coccinelle, and my partner is Black Leopard." Coccinelle finished, taking her place beside her Black Cat.
"We're here to keep you safe." They all said simultaneously.
Suddenly, a beeping was heard from Ladybug's earrings. She placed two fingers over them, quickly realizing that their time was running out. Next to her, Cat Noir saw that one of the five black spots had vanished. A similar beeping noise was then heard from his ring. Beside him, Ladybug saw that one of the glowing neon green pads of a cat's paw print had disappeared as well.
"We best go now." Cat Noir said. The other heroes nodded.
Black Knight showed Bulk to the mayor. "Can you please escort him back to his school, Madam Mayor?" He asked.
The mayor smiled. "Of course." She then began leading Bulk to her car, while the heroes swung, jumped, or flew up to the closest roof.
"So, are we all okay on who's partners with who?" Princess Ladybug asked.
"No contest." Cat Burglar answered, looking at Lady Luck with a cocky smile. The Ladybug in question rolled her eyes with a playful smile.
"Definitely not." She answered coyly with a finger bopping his nose, making him blush red under his black mask.
Ladybug heard her earrings give another beep. "C'mon ladies." She said. "We best go." She turned to Cat Noir. "Seeing ya for patrol tonight, Cat Noir?" She asked, giving him a bright smile.
Her Black Cat felt heat rising in his face like a flood. He hoped his mask hid it, though. "Patrol?" He asked.
Ladybug nodded. "Since we know that Hawkmoth fellow is somewhere in town, we gotta keep an eye out for any of his Akumas, day or night." She explained.
Cat Noir grinned cheekily. "It's a date, then." He said, inching his face closer to hers, seeing that she had tiny white freckles on her cheeks, almost completely hidden underneath her mask. Freckles that seemed pretty familiar.
Ladybug rolled her eyes and pushed his face away with a finger. "I wouldn't go that far, you rascal." She teased with a sly smile. She didn't know why then, but there was a strange yet familiar heat creeping up her cheeks.
"We are all taking turns using our Miraculous, correct?" Black Leopard asked.
"It seems so." Coccinelle answered, coming up to him. "I look forward to our first mission together." She said.
Black Leopard took her black latex covered hand and lightly kissed the back of it. "As do I, milady."
Coccinelle rolled her eyes with a soft smile, even though the kind gesture made her insides churn in a familiar way when she would talk with a certain someone.
"You up for a race, Swift?" Shadow Racer asked his partner with a challenging smirk.
Swift Spot returned it. "As much as I would like for you to eat my dust, no can do right now." She answered. "But, I'll be up for it when it's our turn. Deal?" She held out her red and black latex hand for a handshake.
"Deal." Shadow Racer said, sealing it with shaking her hand.
"I'll be looking forward to when it will be our turn." Dark Lord said to Junebug, sending her a flashy grin.
Junebug rolled her eyes, but returned the smile. "Actually, I will be, too." She said.
Princess Ladybug turned to Black Knight. "So, I'll be waiting for our first mission." She said.
Black Knight smiled at her. "Me too, Princess." He said.
Ladybug heard her earrings beep a third time. "Time to get movin', girls."
The other Ladybugs nodded, waved to to their respective Black Cat partners, then swung or flew away. The Black Cats smiled at the Ladybugs as they disappeared over the rooftops. They definitely can't wait.
The girls made it back to Twilight's bedroom balcony just as the last spot on Ladybug's earrings vanished. Pink sparkles went up their bodies, erasing the latex bodysuits, masks, ribbons, and excess red and black coloring from their hair as if they never existed. Princess Ladybug transformed back into Twilight Sparkle, Swift Spot back into Rainbow Dash, Ladybug back into Applejack, Junebug back into Fluttershy, Lady Luck back into Pinkie Pie, and Coccinelle back into Rarity. Tikki appeared in a flash of pink light out of Applejack's left earring, and landed in her hands, exhausted.
"All right!" Rainbow cheered as she held a lock of her original spectrum colored hair. "Not only do I have my awesome hair back, but we had just defeated a real super villain!"
Applejack looked down at the Kwami in her hands. "You all right, Tikki?"
Tikki opened her fatigued eyes. "That was fun, but I'm super tired. And hungry."
"Well, what would ya like?" AJ asked.
"Cookies are my favorite." Tikki said, sitting up. "Chocolate chip, to be exact."
"Coming up!" Pinkie said, pulling out a plate of chocolate chip cookies.
Tikki was surprised at how fast Pinkie did that. "How did-"
"Don't ask." Twilight cut her off. "It's best to just roll with it."
Tikki raised a supposed eyebrow, but then shrugged. She then zipped over to the plate of cookies that Pinkie had placed on a nearby table.
Fluttershy was eyeing Rainbow. "You know, Dashie." She said, getting the athlete's attention. "Once we get back to school, you should talk to Bulk Biceps about what happened."
Dash then remembered that him and Sky Stinger's fight for her affection was the reason why he was akumatized. "Yeah. I will."
"Now that everything is fixed and put back to normal, we should be heading back to class in about an hour?" Rarity asked.
"It seems so." Twilight said.
Meanwhile, the Black Cats jumped through Flash's bedroom window just as the last green pad on the ring blinked and disappeared. Neon green electricity and black specs rose up over their bodies, taking away the cat suits, fake cat ears, cat eyes, and excess black or green in their hair. Black Knight transformed back into Flash Sentry, Shadow Racer back into Soarin', Cat Noir transformed back into Spike, Dark Lord back into Discord, Cat Burglar back into Cheese Sandwich, and Black Leopard back into Fancy Pants. Plagg flew out of the ring on Spike's finger in a black blur and landed in his hands, just as exhausted as Tikki was.
"Oh, my poor aching body!" He cried out. "I can't move! And I'm starving!"
Spike rolled his eyes at the Kwami's dramatic antics. "Well, what would you like, buddy?" He asked.
Plagg had a giddy look in his green cat eyes. "Camembert, please." He said.
"Camembert?" The guys asked, not knowing what it was. Fancy Pants seemed to know, though.
"It is a kind of cheese." He explained, having a dour look on his face as he got out a lunch box from his backpack. "Some people say it has... an acquired taste and smell."
He then pulled out a small wheel of cheese and handed it to Plagg. The guys exclaimed in disgust as the strong smell hit their noses. Plagg, however, grinned like the cat caught the canary and snatched the cheese.
"Get used to it, boys." He said. "You chose it, so you better learn to deal with it." With that, he zipped to Flash's desk and sat down to enjoy his cheese. The guys groaned.
"Where do you get that stuff?" Flash asked.
"It is quite expensive." Fancy explained. "But, because of my so-called privileged life, I have lots of it." He handed Spike three extra wheels of Camembert. "I'll bring all of you some of them to give to Plagg when he needs it."
"Just our luck." Discord complained. "Now, we'll smell like moldy cheese all the time."
"Bring some air freshener." Cheese suggested.
"I already do." Soarin' said, implying that since he was on the sports team, he needed to smell decent after a long and sweaty practice.
Soon, Canterlot High was bustling as students came back to at least attend the last hour of school. The girls soon found Sunset Shimmer over at the steps.
"Remember, Pinkie." Applejack whispered to the party girl as she held her Stetson hat, where Tikki was hiding underneath. "We Pinkie-Promised."
"Right." Pinkie said. "And you can't ever break a Pinkie Promise."
Sunset then saw her friends and waved to them. "Hey, girls!" She ran over to them and all of them were soon in a group hug. "Did you hear the news?" She asked excitedly.
"What news?" Twilight asked, trying to sound clueless, though she had a feeling that she already knew what Sunset was saying. From the corner of her eye, she saw Applejack slightly grab her hat, knowing that she was a little cautious about Tikki hiding underneath.
Sunset looked at Twilight, her jaw opened in surprise. "Uh, the news that there's not just one, but twelve real superheroes right here in Canterlot!" She said like it was obvious.
AJ breathed a silent sigh of relief and let go of her hat.
"Oh, that!" Twilight pretended to realize. "Yeah, that is pretty cool."
"Cool? More like awesome!" Rainbow Dash added.
Sunset then noticed something. "Applejack, when did you get your ears pierced?" She asked, pointing to the small shiny black earrings in her ear lobes.
The cowgirl tensed for a second. She can't lie to a friend, but she would also be breaking a Pinkie Promise. And Pinkie never really forgave her for that one time. Even though technically, she didn't break it, but try telling that to her.
"Well, um, Pinkie dared me to have them pierced." Applejack decided to said. Well, that was partially true. "Rarity did 'em for me, so now, I gotta keep wearing for a couple of weeks."
Sunset was still a little suspicious, since the cowgirl never had her ears pierced. Rarity had hers pierced first, then Pinkie, then Fluttershy, then Twilight. Rainbow had her own pierced on a dare as well. "Okay." She said, choosing not to push the subject further.
They all slightly laughed with relief and started to head into the school. But then, Fluttershy saw out of the corner of her eye Bulk Biceps sitting on one of the steps. She caught Dash's attention and gestured to him. Rainbow noticed that he was looking pretty guilty about what happened.
Applejack came to her side. "Ya know what ya have to do." She said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I know." Rainbow said. "But, it is obviously different than rejecting Sky or Zephyr. No offense, Fluttershy." She added, turning to the kind-hearted girl.
"None taken, Dashie." Fluttershy assured. "He embarrasses me enough as it is as well."
Tikki peeked out of AJ's hat to speak with Rainbow. "Just be yourself. And gentle."
"Uh, gentle doesn't exactly work with Rainbow Dash." Applejack said, looking up at the little Kwami.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dash asked her, not sure if she should feel insulted.
"All you can do is say no and be a friend." Fluttershy advised.
Rainbow took a deep breath. Then, she walked over to Bulk Biceps. "Hey, Bulk." She greeted.
The huge boy looked up and saw the beautiful athlete standing in front of him. A pink blush appeared across his face.
"H-Hey, Rainbow Dash." He said, rubbing the back of his head nervously, making Dash raise an eyebrow. He actually does like her. This might be trickier than she thought.
From a few yards away, Soarin' and Spike saw the scene while the rest of the guys went inside with Timber. Spike saw that a suspicious glare was forming on Soarin's face as they watched the interaction.
Plagg seemed to have sensed it, too. He popped out of one of the side pouches of Spike's backpack and smirked at Soarin'. "You jealous, pretty boy?" He asked. He then saw Rainbow Dash and did a cat noise. "She's hot."
"That's my friend you're talking about." Soarin' said, glaring at the Kwami.
"Just a friend?" Plagg asked, his cat-like grin not leaving his face.
Soarin's face turned bright red. "Yes!" He hissed. "Even if I did like-like her, she would give me a black eye if I tried to make a move."
"It's true." Spike confirmed. "Rainbow Dash is more into sports than dating."
Plagg only gave Soarin' a sly glance. "How do you know that for sure?" He asked mysteriously.
Back with Rainbow and Bulk, they were still talking. "You doing okay? With the whole turning into a supervillian?" She asked.
"Yeah." Bulk said quietly, making Dash raise an eyebrow. This was not the usual loud Bulk Biceps she knew in gym class.
"Look, I know why you got turned into Stoneheart." She said. Bulk looked down at her, surprised. "One of the new superheroes in town, Swift Spot, told me that she had a hunch. Is it true?"
He nodded while not meeting her eyes, making her guilty. "I'm flattered, but I have to say that I only saw you as a friend." She said.
"I know." He replied.
Rainbow put on a soft smile. "But, at least I can trust you on a team with me instead of Sky." She said, her smile turning playful.
That seemed to perk up Bulk. "Yeah. That's definitely seems better."
The school bell then rang. "I gotta go." Dash said, but before she started to head inside, she added, "One day, you'll find someone who can make you happy."
Bulk grinned as she ran inside the school with Fluttershy and Applejack. He put the wristband away and also went inside the school building.
Soarin' smiled at the scene he had seen. At least Bulk wasn't Sky or Zephyr.
"You were saying something about her giving guys a black eye if they tried to make a move on her?" A snarky voice got his attention.
He turned to see Plagg giving him a cat-like grin from Spike's backpack pouch.
"Buzz off." He said as he and Spike went inside the school.
"I'm not a bug, sporty pants!" Plagg retorted back undignified. Spike laughed at his reaction. Life had just gotten much more interesting.