Mighty Helm Island. An island located near the oceans of Equestria. It got its named after the elite group of pony guards that defended this island a long time ago. Other than defending the island itself, the Mighty Helm are famous for fighting in the many wars that have plagued Equestria. While the helm has fought for Equestria for hundreds of years, the group disbanded a long time ago. Now, all this island is a tourist destination for those wanting to learn about the Mighty Helm, see the statues dedicated to the greatest warriors among them, and join the military academy there.
At the docks, during sunset Cadance is getting off the passenger boat and heading toward the town. Before she could do anything, she is greeted by the harbor master, a blue unicorn with a gray mane, eye patch, and sailor's outfit.
The Harbor Master said "Welcome to Mighty Helm Island. I see that you're new to this place."
Cadance responded"I am."
He said"Name's Thunder Anchor . I'm the harbor master of this island ."
Cadance said "I can see that."
Thunder Anchor asked "So what business do you have here, young mare?"
Cadance said "I'm looking for somepony in particular; his name is Roast Pear."
Thunder Anchor said "Roast Pear? Oh yeah, I know him; he's one of the teachers at the military academy. If you're looking for him, he should still be there at this hour."
Cadance said before leaving "Thank you."
Cadance then headed in the direction of the military academy, which isn't hard since the building itself, a giant tower, is visible even if you are out at sea. As she continued to walk through the town, she believes that she senses a presence, probably a Celestia card; but before she could reach to it, she bumps into a small filly who was carrying a basket filled with apples and pears.
Cadance said "Oh my gosh, are you alright? I'm so sorry; I wasn't paying attention."
Said a filly with a pink bow"It's ok; I was looking where I was going."
Cadance said "Let me help you with that."
Said a pony with a hat on"Apple Bloom, wait for me. Wait happened?"
Cadance said helping the filly pick up the fruit "It was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going and I made her drop all of these apples and pears."
She said "Thank you, miss. I'm Applejack. This little one here is my little sister, Apple Bloom."
Cadance said shacking her hand "Nice to meet you."
Applejack said "I don't think I've seen you here before. Are you new?
Cadance said "Yes. My name is Cadance."
Apple Bloom asked Nice to meet you, Ms. Cadance. So what brings you here to the island?"
Cadance said "I'm here on business; specifically, I'm here to see somepony named Roast Pear."
Applejack said "Your here to see our uncle."
Cadance said "Yes, though I didn't know he's your uncle."
Applejack said "Well, I'm sorry to say Cadance but Uncle Roast Pear left the island a few days ago on business."
Cadance said "Darn it. What kind of business?"
Apple Bloom said "He didn't say; but he should be back sometime tomorrow."
Cadance said "That's good to know. Do you know any inns that I can stay in for the night?"
Applejack said "Sorry to say, but most of the inns are already booked given that it's summer. But since your here to see our uncle, you can stay with our family for tonight."
Cadance asked "Are you sure that's ok?"
Applejack said "It'll be fine; we sometimes take in guest in our family barn when the tourist start to show up."
Cadance said "Ok; thank you."
With that said, Applejack and Apple Bloom lead Cadance to their home. While walking, Cadance tried to sense the presence again but it was already gone since night had already fallen upon them.
A couple pf minutes later, they arrived at a medium-sized house that is almost on the edge of the island. The two sisters and Cadance entered the house where their mother is sitting down, reading a book.
Apple Bloom said running toward her mother and giving her a hug "Mom, we're home."
Pear Butter said hugging her daughter "Applejack, Apple Bloom, your home early."
Applejack said "Yeah. The stand was doing great today, but we had to come home because we were running low on our initial goods that we were going to sell; we managed to save some fruit for you and the babies."
Pear Butter asked looking at Cadance"Thank you, girls. Who is this?"
Apple Bloom said "This Cadance. We met her in town; she's here to see uncle Roast Pear about some business."
Pear Butter said "I see. I'm Pear Butter; Roast Pear is my older brother."
Cadance said shaking Pear Butter's hand "Nice to meet you, ma'am."
Pear Butter said "Applejack, why don't you and Apple Bloom get dinner ready. I'll show Cadance to the guest room."
Applejack said looking at her pregnant mother "Are you sure your ok to do that mom? "
Pear Butter assured her daughter "I'm fine, Applejack. I may be pregnant but I can still do stuff like that. Now you and Apple Bloom get dinner ready."
Applejack said "Ok."
Apple Bloom said "Call if you need us, mom."
Pear Butter took Cadance upstairs to the guest room where Cadance immediately put her stuff down.
Pear Butter said "The bathroom is down the hall if you need it. Sorry that the bed isn't made; I'll get you some nice sheets for you to sleep in."
Cadance said "You don't have to do that. I can just us my sleeping bag. If I wasn't able to find an inn to stay in for the night, I was going to camp out."
Pear Butter said "Trust me when I say that you wouldn't be the only one doing that tonight since it is tourist season."
Cadance said "I noticed."
Pear Butter said "Cadance, I know why your here."
Cadance said with a surprised tone "You do."
Pear Butter said before"Yes. I know that......."
Said a voice "We're back."
Pear Butter said "We can talk about this later, now that my husband is here."
Cadance is caught off guard by this statement from Pear Butter.
Elsewhere, on a train station, a light amber earth pony with brown eyes, black cut short mane, and wearing a cloak, is sitting in a train car, looking at the window. Eventually, the train stopped and he got off for a moment to be greeted by two other ponies wearing cloaks.
Said a hooded mare "Cardcaptor of Strength, Roast Pear, it is a pleasure to see you."
Roast Pear asked "Is she here?"
Said the hooded mare pointing to a hooded unicorn sitting on a bench behind him "She is; she's sitting right there."
Roast Pear asked "Is she willing to do this?"
Said the unicorn "I am."
Roast Pear said "Ok then. Follow me, Cardcaptor of Beauty."
Back at the house, Cadance came down to meet Pear Butter's husband, Bright Macintosh; she also met their son and older brother to Applejack and Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh. The two of them have just gotten back from the fields and helping repair the roof of one of their neighbors . Dinner was finally ready and they sat down and ate.
Bright Macintosh asked "So Cadance, where exactly are you from?"
Cadance said "I was originally from a small village near Baltimare but I've traveled around with my adoptive mother, Zecora, for most of my life."
Apple Bloom asked "How come she isn't with you?"
Cadance said "Because she has other stuff to take care of and couldn't come with me to see your uncle."
Big Macintosh said "Are you here to join the military academy? If so, good luck; our uncle takes no prisoners and will run you ragged."
Cadance said before getting interrupted by somepony knocking on the door "I'm not here to join the academy. I just.........."
Thunder Anchor said after Bright Macintosh opened the door "Bright Macintosh, sorry to disturb you and your family, but the town is having an emergency meeting and everypony is required to come."
Bright Macintosh asked "Why, what's going on?"
Thunder Anchor said "There's been another attack."
Everypony left and headed to the town hall for the meeting. According to police reports, there has been somepony going around attacking tourist with arrows during the day; the injuries were bad enough to put everypony who was attacked in the hospital now. While the attacker hasn't gone after anyone at night, it has become difficult to track the attacker. Everypony is advised not to go around the town alone and anyone under the age of 18 is to be accompanied by a parent or anyone over 18. Cadance knew from this news that this is the work of a Celestia Card; specifically, the work of The Arrow Card.
Back at the house, the Apple Siblings turned in for the night since it is late and they had to get up early in the morning. As for Cadance, she is in her room with Bright Mac and Pear Butter.
Bright Macintosh asked "So, you're a Cardcaptor?"
Cadance said "Yes. I'm the Cardcaptor of Love. I understand that Roast Pear is suppose to be the Cardcaptor of Strength?"
Pear Butter said "And you came here to ask for his assistance since the seal on the Celestia and Luna cards have been broken and they are scattered all over Equestria."
Bright Macintosh said "Looks like my instincts were right about it being a Celestia card; but at the same time, I wanted to be wrong. "
Cadance asked Bright Macintosh "You're a cardcaptor too, aren't you?"
Bright Macintosh said "Yes. I'm the Cardcaptor of Honesty. However, Roast Pear takes care of anything related to the cards after Pear Butter and I left our homes, got married, and started having kids."
Cadance asked "Do they know about this?"
Bright Macintosh "No. We haven't really had the chance to talk to our kids about this; we didn't think we would have too since the cards were sealed for so long and the odds of them being released seemed low."
Pear Butter said "Also, it would almost be like talking about our parents, his mom and my dad; it's a difficult conversation to have with them."
Cadance said "I see."
Bright Macintosh said "Ms. Cadance, I'll help you in capturing the card on the island, but that's it. I can't come on this quest with you, my brother-in-law, and anyone else who is a Cardcaptor."
Cadance said "I understand. "
Outside the room, the three of them didn't realize it, but Applejack was listening in on the conversation.
The next morning, during early sunrise, Cadance and Bright Macintosh went out to find The Arrow card. Most of the town is still asleep at this time so finding it without causing too much of a ruckus wasn't going to be too hard for them. While they are walking through the town, Cadance is trying to sense the card's presence.
Bright Macintosh said "Anything?"
Cadance said "No, net yet. The card is doing a good job concealing itself. How come you aren't able to sense it?"
Bright Macintosh said "I was never really good at doing that. My mother could do that, but not me. By chance, during your travels with your adoptive mother, did you ever meet somepony by the name Maria Ann Smith? She lives in Ponyville at a place called Sweet Apple Acres."
Cadance said "I recently came from Ponyville. While walking around the area, I did come across that place and it..........did you hear that? Someone is following us."
Bright Macintosh said "Come out, now."
Applejack said walking out from behind the house "It's me."
Bright Macintosh said surprised to see his daughter "Applejack, what are you doing here? Are you by yourself?"
Big Macintosh said coming out too "Nope."
Bright Macintosh said surprised to see his son"Big Macintosh."
Applejack said "We came to help you."
Bright Macintosh said "You two need to need to get out of here; it's not safe."
Applejack said "Why? How dangerous are these Celestia Card things?"
Bright Macintosh said "How do you know about the Celestia cards?"
Cadance said sensing a presence "Everypony get down, now."
While Cadance and Big Macintosh dodged to the left, Bright Macintosh and Applejack dodged to the right. They noticed a hooded figure holding a bow, pulling on the wire, arrows appeared out of thin air, and fired again at them.
Big Macintosh said "What is that?"
Cadance said "The Arrow Card. A very aggressive Celestia Card that likes to shoot its arrows at anybody that it deems hostile."
Applejack shouted "But everypony who lives here is peaceful."
Cadance said "That doesn't matter to Arrow."
Applejack said "How do we stop it?"
Bright Macintosh said "You can't. Only Cadance and I can handle this."
Cadance said as an arrow almost hit her head "Actually, we may need their help after all now. Arrow is way more aggressive than I anticipated."
Big Macintosh asked after Cadance gave him 25 sheets of paper with strange signs on it "What are these?"
Cadance said "Magical Paper written in Olde Ponish. I need you and your sister to place these around the area."
Bright Macintosh said "Cadance, I don't like the idea of putting my kids in danger like this."
Applejack said "Dad, we're not fillies anymore. We can help you."
Big Macintosh said "Besides, I don't think we can run anywhere now. "
Cadance pulled Big Macintosh away from the arrow before it hit his head "Look out." She then headed out and said "Hey Arrow."
Said Arrow "Cardcaptor."
Cadance said "That's right. I'm your opponent."
Cadance grabbed out a sky blue gem and it started to shine in front of everypony. The gem turned into a pink and white bow with the gem shaped like a heart on the top. Cadance pulled the string and fired her own arrows at Arrow himself. Arrow dodged them but Cadance flew toward him to make sure he wouldn't get away.
Applejack said looking at the papers "So, how do these papers work anyway?"
Big Macintosh said "Who knows, but we might as well do what Ms. Cadance asked."
Bright Macintosh said "You two start placing the papers around town. I have to help Cadance."
Applejack asked "With what?"
Bright Macintosh said bringing out a small shovel "This."
Applejack said with a perplexed look "A mini shovel."
Bright Macintosh said "It's one of the elements in the form of a weapon; it's on your favorite Mighty Helm member, Rockhoof. I can use this to help Cadance."
Big Macintosh asked "Is it suppose to do something?"
Bright Macintosh said "It should have grown bigger. What's going here?"
Cadance shouted "What's wrong?"
Bright Macintosh said "It's not working. My weapon isn't working. "
Cadance said noticing an arrow from Arrow going toward Applejack "Look out!"
Bright Macintosh said after he pushed his daughter away before getting hit in the shoulder from one of the energy arrows "Ahh."
Big Macintosh and Applejack said "Dad!"
Bright Macintosh said after his kids moved him to a safe place "I'll be fine. You two need to help Cadance."
Applejack said "We can't just leave you like this."
Bright Macintosh said "Don't worry about me; your dad has been through a lot worse than this. Now go."
With that said, Applejack and Big Macintosh ran around the town and placed the magical papers on the walls, some houses, and a few barrels. While they are doing this, Cadance is battling Arrow with her energy arrows. The two of them are evenly matched in terms of shooting despite not hitting each other. However, Cadance is starting to feel exhausted from shooting her energy arrows at Arrow. In order to save some energy, she simply flies toward Arrow while avoiding arrows being hit at her. She manages to land a kick at Arrow's face, causing his hood to come off, revealing it to be an earth pony male. This did not phase Arrow as he simply moved away from Cadance and started shooting at her again. Cadance retaliated with her energy arrows, causing the arrows to destroy each other.
Applejack said "Cadance, we've run out of magic paper."
Big Macintosh said "Now what?"
Cadance said "Thanks you two."
Applejack said as she noticed Arrow about to shoot Cadance "Look out."
Bright Macintosh said catching Arrow from behind and holding on to him tightly "Oh no you don't."
Applejack said "Dad!"
Bright Macintosh said "Ms. Cadance, do whatever you were going to do now? I don't know how long I can hold him."
Cadanc said holding up a real arrow with a paper on it "Force of the Ice. I command you, be my arrow and strike at my enemy."
As a result of her saying this, the magical paper scattered all over the place started to generate ice that was heading toward Cadance's enchanted arrow that has enchanted paper on it. Cadance then put the arrow on her bow, ready to aim it at Arrow, took a deep breath, and fired it at the Arrow. Bright Macintosh moved out of the way in time so the arrow only hit Arrow. This caused Arrow to freeze completely.
Applejack said "That's amazing."
Cadance said pointing the bow at Arrow "Return to your original form and be sealed, ARROW."
While still encased in ice, Arrow turned into energy and turned into a card. After it's transformation, it went straight to Cadance. Cadance got down to check Bright Macintosh but Big Macintosh and Applejack were already there.
Big Macintosh said looking at the card "Is that Arrow?"
Cadance said "Yes. He won't be hurting anypony anymore."
Applejack said "What exactly were those papers you gave us?"
Applejack said "Enchanted paper that can summon certain elements like ice. It's easy to make but you have to scatter them around in order for power to come toward the "master" enchanted paper."
Said a voice from afar "Hey, did you all here something?"
Thunder Anchor said from afar "I think it came from over there."
Said a panicked female voice "It might be the attacker."
Applejack said "Oh boy, how are we going to explain this to everypony? "
Roast Pear said as he appeared before them with the hooded unicorn "You won't have to."
Big Macintosh said "Uncle Roast Pear."
Roast Pear said "Come on, let's head back to the house and I'll take care of the rest."
They all went back to the house like Roast Pear said before the crowd of ponies showed up. He then grabbed an Amnesiulet, pointed it in the air, and covered the town in its power, making them all forget the events relating to Arrow and the damages.
Big Macintosh said "What was that?"
Roast Pear explained "It's called an Amnesiulet; can wipe out anypony's memories about certain things. However, this one was only made to wipe out any evidence or information that relates to the Celestia and Luna cards along with any damages related to it. It's the ultimate Deus ex Machina for our work."
Cadance said "I have one too, but it can't just wipe out all the damage done."
Roast Pear said "This one is special."
Apple Bloom said running out of the house to hug her uncle "Uncle Roast Pear, your back."
Roast Pear said "Hey Apple Bloom."
Apple Bloom said noticing injuries on both of them"Dad, Ms. Cadance, what happened to you two?"
Bright Macintosh said "We have a lot to talk about."
Everypony went inside and headed to the dinning room where Pear Butter is sitting down at the dinner table.
Pear Butter said giving Roast Pear a hug "Hey Big brother."
Roast Pear said "Hey little sis."
Pear Butter said heading toward her husband "Bright Mac, are you alright?"
Bright Macintosh assured her "I'm fine, darling. This is nothing."
Roast Pear said holding the mini shovel "I'm going to take a guess and say that the shovel didn't work for you."
Bright Macintosh asked "How did you know?"
Roast Pear said holding a pair of gloves "Cause you're not the only one. The gloves don't work either. Anyone who received the elements in our time our beyond that, can't access the power of the elements to create the weapons."
The hooded unicorn said taking off her hood "They're asking for a new generation of Cardcaptors to harness their power."
Roast Pear said "Everypony, I would like to introduce Sugar Belle. She's the new Pillar of Beauty; one of the newest Cardcaptors."
Apple Bloom asked "What's a Cardcaptor?"