//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 The Emotional Chapter // Story: Super Stallion // by PioneerofImagination //------------------------------// This is Brush Stroke, a rather unusual pony who as you can see has an unusual habit of walking with just his hind legs. A habit he picked up when he was very young. Other ponies can't help but stare, but he pays them no mind. Brush Stroke had made his way to yet another social gathering in Canterlot which like most, had a pony or two making sure only the invited came in. This time it was a royal guard who saw Brush Stroke approach and blocked his way.  "Sorry bud this party is invitation only." "I might have an invitation, you didn't even ask if I did," Brush Stroke said to the royal guard making a rather good point. "I don't have to," the guard retorted. "No pony would invite a weirdo like you, now beat it." "Now that's not very nice, that makes me mad." "And just what are you going to do about it weirdo?" "I'm gonna make you mad." Brush Stroke then grabbed one of the orbs around his waist and hit the guard with it before he could do anything about it. Suddenly a strange red smoke appeared around the guard who became absolutely engulfed with rage.  "ARGH!" The guard screamed as he attacked the party, sending the ponies there in a panic. "I HATE WATCHING OVER THESE STUPID PARTIES!" The guard screamed in anger as he attacked everything in sight. "I WANT TO DO SOME REAL GUARD WORK!"  "I was planning on making the party ponies here go mad but this works just as well," Brush Stroke said while leaving the party without being noticed. "Soon they'll all know what Brush Stroke or rather the Emo Pony is capable of." *** Squeaky as usual was hard at work at the castle making the floors spotless. It was rather quiet but soon Princess Celestia entered the hallway that Squeaky was working in. Here she comes the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria, Squeaky thought to himself. "Okay don't be nervous just be casual." "Good morning Squeaky, happy Thursday." "Happy Thursday your highness," Squeaky replied as she walked past him. Nailed it, "So princess," Squeaky said, trying to talk to the princess more. "Yes?" She asked, stopping in her place and turning around. "What exactly about today is so happy?" "Well I just think that everyday is something to appreciate, each one can bring new surprises," she answered. "That makes sense. I really like your positive attitude." "Thank you Squeaky, by the way are you having any more trouble sleeping on the job?" "Well, not really. Just a power nap once in a while." "Is that what you call it now?" Stone Wall asked who yet again seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Stone Wall!" Squeaky said surprised that his old friend snuck up on him yet again. "I-I was just-" "Taking an unofficial break?" Stone Wall interrupted. "Get back to work!" "Right away." Squeaky soaked his mop and got back to cleaning. "Stone Wall we were just having a friendly conversation." "Well now we're having a rather serious conversation, there's been an attack at a party." "There was by who?" Princess Celestia asked. "One of the royal guards." "WHAT?" Princess Celestia and Squeaky Clean yelled in unison. "Squeaky go clean a different hallway, this is private," Stone Wall ordered him. "Stone Wall, he still needs to clean this hallway," Princess Celestia said. "You can stay Squeaky."  "Thank you princess." "Now why would a royal guard attack a party instead of defending it?" "When he was brought back for questioning he explained that he was somehow overcome with rage." "Did one of the party ponies say something rude?" Squeaky asked. "I doubt it and if one of them did it's no excuse." "Does the guard remember how and why he got so mad?" Princess Celestia asked. "He said he was talking to a weird pony and everything else is an emotional blur." "Weird like how?"  "Squeaky please focus on your cleaning," Princess Celestia said. "I'll handle this, weird like how?"  "He said he doesn't quite remember," Stone Wall answered. "Wow not much to go on huh Stone Wall?"  "No Squeaky it isn't," Stone Wall replied a little annoyed. "But I knew that part already."  "Well I recognize that tone, let's see what other hallways need cleaning." And with that Squeaky cleaned the last few dirty parts of the hallway and made his way to a new hallway. And later let's see if Super Stallion can find out more. "Perhaps we should have multiple guards in those positions for a while," Princess Celestia suggested. "Perhaps I'll see what guards are up for the task." "Anything else I can do at the moment?" "Yes there is actually, don't contradict me when I'm giving orders." "Oh Stone Wall, honestly." ***  After getting his lunch break and eating, Squeaky Clean slipped out as Super Stallion to see if he could find out who the weird pony was. Thanks to a conversation or 2 he overheard while cleaning, he knew where the party that was ruined was. Super Stallion quickly flew over to the party which was now empty and there were no clues to be found. "So much for finding anything to help me figure out who did this." Suddenly a rather large explosion from a nearby building caught the attention of Super Stallion. "Then again." Super Stallion quickly flew over to the building and saw not only was the smoke an unusual color, pink, but all the ponies inside were either locking lips or hugging one another. "What in Equestria is going on?" Super Stallion asked. "Isn't it obvious?" Brush Stroke who was just outside the building asked. "Love is in the air."   "Love? The smoke!" Super Stallion then used super breath to blow the pink smoke away. Seeing that, the Emo Pony decided to leave and avoid a fight with Super Stallion for now. "All right, that should do it," Super Stallion said. After coughing a little from inhaling what was left of the pink smoke, Super Stallion flew back to the castle. "No clue there either. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time this "weird pony" does something.”   *** Back at the castle Squeaky Clean returned to cleaning the floors and was having a little trouble getting rid of the cough he had. As he was just about finished cleaning the floor Princess Celestia walked by who showed a friendly smile to him. As she continued down the hall Squeaky wanted to talk to her again but instead he wolf whistled at her. That caught the princess's attention and she turned her head to stare right at Squeaky who in a panic began to whistle some more. " J-Just practicing my whistling." "Well, be sure to practice more, you sound really off key."  "Will do!" Princess Celestia then continued down the hallway and Squeaky continued cleaning. "Whew safe, what in Canterlot happened? It's like my love for her possessed me for a second. What a minute, love, just like those other ponies." With the floor cleaned Squeaky made his way outside to clear his head. "Okay maybe it's all out of my system now."  "All right, listen up!" Stone Wall said to a small group of guards. "I need somepony to-" Stone Wall stopped when he noticed that Squeaky Clean was outside. "Squeaky what are you doing? It's not your break yet, you aren't getting paid to sit on your rump you're getting paid to clean! Now get to it!" Stone Wall ordered rather upset. "You know what Stone Wall?" Squeaky asked as he  approached and stood face to face with Stone Wall. "What?" Stone Wall asked, still upset. "You, are my best friend. Bring it in." Squeaky then gave Stone Wall a hug, shocking not only him but also the guards.  "Get off me!" Stone Wall ordered pushing Squeaky off and feeling a little freaked out. "Just, just get to cleaning okay." "Okay," Squeaky said and he left with his cleaning supplies leaving Stone Wall very confused. "Okay, maybe now it's out of my system." After Squeaky left, Stone Wall returned his focus to the royal guards who were still surprised at what happened. "WHAT!? SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SAY?!" Stone Wall yelled, getting the guards back to paying attention to him. After a deep breath or 2 Stone Wall calmed down. "As I was saying there's going to be another party today and I need 1 guard to be there to look out for the "strange" pony that ruined the one that was going on earlier today. Any volunteers?"  The guards looked at each other and were awkwardly silent, to Stone’s Wall annoyance.   "Oh what, are you babies scared? Fine! I'll pick for you, eenie meenie miney, Shining Armor." "What?" Shining asked as he approached the captain. "Why am I the one that has to do it?" Stone Wall answered by hitting him on the head with the back of his spear. Not too hard, but it helped get his point across. "That's why! Now get going and keep an eye out for anything strange. The rest of you back to your regular duties." The guards then followed their orders and scattered.  "Better Shining Armor than me," another guard said to a fellow guard walking beside him. Stone Wall then hit him with a minor spell that hit him right on the flank. The guard then groaned in pain and limped a bit. "Learn to toughen up! I'll have no cowards on my guard!" Stone Wall said to the guard. "Yes sir."  ***  "Okay so far so good," Shining Armor said to himself as he was watching the party. "This isn't so bad. I just wish I knew which pony to be on the lookout for. Keeping a lookout for anything "strange" isn't much to go on." Suddenly Emo Pony appeared and started to approach the party. "Never mind." Shining quickly took a defensive position and approached the Emo Pony, stopping him in his tracks. "Can I help you?" Emo Pony asked. "May I please see your invitation please?" "You said please twice." Shining Armor paused for a split second when he realized that and tried to cover for himself. "Well that shows you how much I want to see your invitation."  "You seem nervous, are you new to the royal guard?" "W-What no I'm not."  "Not nervous or not new?" "Yes," Shining answered without thinking.  "Yes, nervous, very nervous but let's go for extreme nervousness." The Emo Pony grabbed an orange sphere and blasted not only Shining but made a wind spell to spread to guests at the party. "And perhaps from nervousness fear will bloom."  "I don't think so," Super Stallion said as he flew down to meet the Emo Pony. "So you're the "unusual" pony that's been doing this." "Unusual? This coming from the flying earth pony."  "Okay fair point, but I doubt you have a fair point to what you've been doing. Why are you doing this?" "You know, I don't really feel like telling you." The Emo pony then blasted Super Stallion with a pink sphere and vanished in the confusion. Suddenly to the surprise of everypony there, Princess Celestia herself arrived and quickly dispersed the smoke from the party with a stronger gust spell.  "Is everypony all right?" The princess asked. "I'm more than all right," Super Stallion said, getting the princess's attention. "And needless to say you are just fine."        "Oh Super Stallion, I've been hearing quite a lot about you." "Let's not talk about me, let's talk about you and how you are the most beautiful mare ever to come into this world." "Oh, well thank you but now isn't really the time, we have a problem to deal with." "The problem is I don't have you as my very special somepony," Super Stallion retorted. He then approached the princess who was slowly backing up but he simply continued to approach the princess. "And the time to fix that is now." "While I appreciate that -" Princess Celestia stopped when she unknowingly bumped into a table behind as she was still backing up. Princess Celestia quickly lost her balance but Super Stallion noticed this quickly and grabbed her before she could fall.  "Kiss me!" Super Stallion said, in response Princess Celestia teleported off the superhero and appeared a dozen or so feet above Super Stallion. "I-I need to take care of some royal duties back at the castle plus I'm going to visit Ponyville tomorrow so I'll see you later." The princess then teleported away. "What a mare," Super Stallion said as he saw the princess leave. "What a mare." *** "So let me get this straight, you couldn't stop this stallion because you were nervous?" Stone Wall asked Shining Armor when he got back to the castle. "I'm sorry captain I don't know what got over me please don't be mad I'm not fired am I?" Shining Armor said back rather quickly and obviously still under the effect of what the Emo Pony did to him. "First the Ursa Major, then that Dr. Arachnid Sapphire Shores reported after her concert, Nightmare Moon, Scar Flank, and now this guy. What is with this city lately, the water? Wait, am I forgetting one of them?" "Oh I think you are Stone Wall, that green one that's locked up," Shining replied but couldn't remember the name. "Uh I can't remember, I'm sorry don't be mad just give me a minute to figure it out." "Hey Shining," Princess Cadance said upon seeing her very special somepony. "Hi Cadance!" Shining replied as seeing her seemed to have snapped him out of his nervous/fearful personality. "Hello Stone Wall," Cadance said as she pulled both of them into a hug. “Are my favorite stallions getting long.” “Something like that,” Stone Wall said. “So Shining, are you ready for that special date you've promised me today?" Cadance then placed her front legs around one of Shining's front legs making it very clear she was in the mood to be romantic.  "Almost, captain, remember when I asked if I could get off guard duty a little early today?"  "No," Stone Wall quickly answered to the surprise of the couple. "Oh that's right, I forgot to ask.” "Plus with your failure at catching the latest trouble maker I was thinking to have you do some extra exercises to help toughen you up a bit." Upon hearing that Shining was overwhelmed with a sense of fear even bigger than the one he had before. "But captain," Shining tried to speak but fear started choking him up after the first 2 words.  "Go on your date," Stone Wall said, giving the couple a smirk. Those 4 little words filled the couple with pure joy. "But be here all the more earlier tomorrow to make up for the time off." "Yes captain." Hearing that, Shining Armor approached Stone Wall. "Hug me and I change my mind."  "Right, okay captain." "Thank you Stone Wall," Princess Cadance said as she and Shining Armor went off together.  "Well that was very nice of you," Princess Celestia who recently entered the courtyard said. "I'm tough but fair. Besides when he thought he wasn't going on his date he looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown."  "He kind of did, didn't he?" Princess Celestia asked who couldn't help but laugh at the captain's comment. Just then Squeaky Clean also entered the courtyard with a huge smile on his face. I almost kissed the princess and I held her in my hooves. "Was Shining Armor able to get a good look at the pony that's causing trouble?"  "He said his memory was a little foggy, but he was able to give me a decent description."  "That's good, that'll help us find this pony."  "By the way, Shining Armor also said that Super Stallion appeared before you did." "That's right, Stone Wall," Princess Celestia said.  "What was he like despite the stallion being around for a while is still quite the enigma?" "I didn't talk to him all that much, he did most of the talking," the princess answered, recalling the recent awkward situation. "I wanted to get out of there because he almost scared me."  "HE DID?" Squeaky asked, shocking both Stone Wall and the princess and somewhat forgetting he was Super Stallion in the heat of the moment. "What did he do?!" Squeaky asked as he was snapped out of the smoke's effect on him. "He simply came on to me insanely strong. Looking back it most likely must have been an effect of that strange smoke." The princess then placed a hoof on Squeaky's back. "I do appreciate your concern for me Squeaky, but there's no need to overreact. I'm all right it's not like he tried to hurt me."   "You can leave the concern for the princess’s safety to me, so get back to making the floor shine," Stone Wall ordered. "Right, right away." Squeaky, who had already finished the cleaning for the courtyard, made his way to the next part of the castle to clean. There he was alone with his thoughts.  "I came on insanely strong? How could I not have noticed that?" Squeaky asked himself as he continued mopping. "Was I so caught up in expressing my emotions I couldn't read hers?" Squeaky became more and more angry at himself. "I can't believe I didn't notice something that should have been so obvious!"  SNAP Squeaky was mopping so hard he broke his own mop by mistake. "Oh my gosh! I guess I don't know my own strength." Squeaky quickly used a spell that was able to put the mop back in one piece. "That was a close one, for a second I thought Stone Wall was gonna take this out of my paycheck." Squeaky then returned to cleaning the floor and before long his shift was over. "I need to stop that trouble maker before he starts doing real harm." Squeaky made his way to his home and quickly hit the hay. He made sure to get up early and made his quick change into Super Stallion then took to the sky to scour Canterlot for the Emo Pony. He figured it would most likely take a while, but to his surprise after only a minute or 2 of searching he spotted a large blue smoke cloud below him. Super Stallion quickly removed the cloud by blowing it away with some super breath. "I think Super Stallion is here," Emo Pony said as Super Stallion landed in front of him. "What was your first clue? By the way what do you call yourself, the emotional spectrum?" "Close, I'm the Emo Pony." "Wait, how is that close?" "I didn't want to hurt your FEELINGS!" Emo Pony then threw several spheres at Super Stallion but Super Stallion was more than fast enough to dodge all of them. "I'm afraid that trick is worn out." "You aren't afraid yet, but you will be." Emo Pony reached for the fear sphere but found that his entire body was being frozen as a result of Super Stallion's ice spell. "Looks like you finally learned to cool- " Before Super Stallion could finish that sentence Emo Pony used a powerful spell to free himself from his ice prison. "That was a close one," Emo Pony said. "You're just full of surprises aren't you?"  "Yes I am, my next trick will be to stop whatever you're trying to do." "What I'm trying to do. That's right I haven't told you or anypony really what I'm trying to do have I? I guess I got so caught up in proving my point I forgot to say what point I was proving. How ironic that I got caught up in my emotions." "Well out of curiosity, what is your point?" Before the Emo Pony could answer he was blasted from behind by a spell that caused him to fall down in pain. When Super Stallion looked to see who blasted the Emo Pony to his surprise it was none other than Stone Wall himself.  "Super Stallion we meet at last." "You're Stone Wall, the captain of the royal guard," Super Stallion said, pretending not to know his old friend. "How were you able to get here so fast?" "I lent a hoof," Princess Celestia answered who flew down to stand right next to Stone Wall.  "I told you to stay back, it might be dangerous."  "I've seen how effective your spells can be, besides even if he gets back up I have you and the stallion of tomorrow to protect me." "The stallion of tomorrow?" Super Stallion asked. "It's a nickname the media made for you."  "So Emo Pony or should I say Brush Stroke you were about to say why you were doing this," Stone Wall said to him who was trying to stand again. "So you've done your homework on me huh?" "When Shining Armor was able to give a description of you, after some quick research with a hoof full or two of royal guards we were able to identify you. Brush Stroke, a former psychologist that started experimenting with spells that make ponies feel emotions against their will. He tried to get a grant to help further develop his research, but he was turned down and even thrown out because they found what he was trying to do to be unethical." "From what we've seen they weren't wrong," Super Stallion added.  "They just didn't understand, none of you do. These spheres I was able to invent all on my own force ponies to feel whatever emotions they try to hide or lock up deep inside themselves."       "Well now you're going to get locked up deep inside a prison." Stone Wall then placed a magic chain collar around Emo Pony's neck. “Even if you lock me up it’s still too late.” "What are you talking about?"  "My thoughts exactly princess," Stone Wall said.  "To put it simply, what I've been doing so far were simply small experiments compared to what I have in store for Canterlot. Within the mines beneath Canterlot I placed a large sphere that's set to go off any minute and every single pony in Canterlot will be affected as a result."   "WHAT?!" Princess Celestia, Stone Wall, Super Stallion said in unison.  "So many ponies try to bury what’s inside their hearts not knowing the damage that can do to you over time. After it goes off, ponies will see how necessary my research is."  "I don't think so," Stone Wall said as he grabbed Brush Stroke by the throat. "You're taking us to it right now, Super Stallion carry him." Super Stallion grabbed the Emo Pony as Stone Wall tossed him over to him while still making sure his magic restraint was still on him. Princess Celestia then bent down to allow Stone Wall to get on her back. After he did the group took to the sky and before long the mines. "I'm surprised you know about these mines," Princess Celestia said to the Emo Pony. "Very few ponies do."  "Well it makes me feel special to know," The Emo Pony replied.  "I'm warning you, no funny stuff or that spell I got you is gonna feel like a massage compared to the next one." "Was this really the best way for you to prove your point?" The princess asked. "You could have just worked on your ideas more, maybe take some constructive criticism and rework your projects a bit. Over time you probably could have made something that could truly benefit Equestria."  "You think I didn't try that? I did, but how was I supposed to do all that on my own? I tried to reach out but nopony that could help would."  "That shouldn't have stopped you," Stone Wall replied to Emo Pony. "If you could plan all this on your own you could have found another way." "They're right," Super Stallion added. "Your creations could actually do good."  “I already know they can but nopony would listen to me when I tried to explain that.” “I understand your frustration,” Princess Celestia said. “But there had to be another way. I’m sure you could have tried to get ponies to listen.” “Oh easy for you to say,” Emo Pony replied in a huff. “You’re the princess, everypony has to listen to you. None of you know what it's like to be ignored or looked over because your ideas seem crazy or you’re a weirdo.” “I’m sorry you felt that way,” Super Stallion said. “As do I,” Princess Celestia added. “I truly feel for you as I do with all my subjects.” “I don't suppose that you could give me the grant to help with my experiments?" Hearing that Princess Celestia gave him a rather friendly smirk. "I'm afraid not."  "How appropriate." The Emo Pony then dropped a yellow sphere releasing smoke of the same color. Instantly and rather instinctively Princess Celestia got in front of it and used her wings to blow the smoke away, but she was still caught in it. With Stone Wall distracted Emo Pony broke the magic bind on him and he ran off in the confusion. "PRINCESS CELESTIA!" Super Stallion and Stone Wall yelled in unison. "I'm fine, stop Emo Pony, go!" Quick to follow orders Stone Wall ran off to catch Emo Pony and Super Stallion trusted her and flew off to help his friend. The princess collapsed as a result of the smoke but quickly got back on her legs taking deep breaths, but soon, she noticed a strange shadow flying around the walls of the mines. "Did you miss me Celestia? I've missed you," the shadow said. "It's rather lonely being imprisoned in stone but you wouldn't know that would you because I don't turn ponies into stone." "You…You're not real, you're just a product of the smoke," Princess Celestia said to the shadow trying to sound brave. "That much is true but I'm just a prologue to what's to come," the shadow answered as it stopped flying to look at Celestia and seemingly stared into her soul. "What are you talking about?" She replied, trying to hide her fear. "My inevitable return of course, what else?" "You were defeated long ago, you're never coming back!" Celestia yelled at the shadow as she firmly stood her ground with it. "Oh please, do you honestly think you can maintain harmony in Equestria forever? You'll slip up eventually and when you do." The shadow then snapped its fingers and the princess found herself surrounded by complete chaos. "What do you think I'm planning on remodeling all of Equestria like this?" "NO! This isn't real, none of it is!" Princess Celestia said, closing her eyes and covering her ears to all the chaos around her. "It's not real, it's not real!" Princess Celestia then took several deep breaths to help clear her mind. She then took a moment to think of just flexibility, love, and trust. Of her sister Luna, Stone Wall, Cadance, and Twilight. As a result the effects of the smoke faded and the chaos around her vanished. Then the shadow from bottom to the top started vanishing as well. '”Now what smart guy?" She asked happily to mock the shadow. "If you're so smart why didn't you figure it out sooner?"  "My mind was clouded but no more like the real one. You have no power over this land or me."  "Maybe not now, but things change Celestia," the shadow said as the last of it vanished. "Things change." With the shadow gone and her mind clear she flew after the others who were able to catch up to Emo Pony. As Emo Pony was in range Stone Wall blasted him with a spell so hard he was flung 10 feet from where he was before landing face first on the ground.  "I warned you now didn't I?" Stone Wall said as he approached Emo Pony. "That hurt a lot worse than the last one didn't it?" "You have quite the temper don't you? Let's see how bad it really is." Emo Pony got up and threw a red sphere directly at Stone Wall and he was hit dead on. But to the surprise of both Emo Pony and Super Stallion, Stone Wall didn't act angry one bit. Before Emo Pony could react Stone Wall punched him right in the face and got knocked to the ground for the 3rd time. "There's no way you could resist it, what's going on?" "You said earlier that your spheres bring out emotions. Ponies try to hide or bottle up but I can already control my temper.”  “Oh yeah, controlling your anger is one thing. But how about your sadness.” Emo Pony got up and hit Stone Wall with a blue sphere but he still wasn’t affected. “I cry in private,” Stone Wall answered and punched Emo Pony to the ground. “But what do you fear,” Emo Pony said as he got up and blasted Stone Wall with a yellow sphere. “My only fear is fear itself,” Stone Wall answered as he punched Emo Pony to the ground. “Uh, disgust?” Emo Pony through a green sphere and Stone Wall didn’t even reply this time before punching to the ground. "I'll give you this, you can take a beating." Emo Pony then cast a spell that Stone Wall dodged effortlessly. "Missed." "I was aiming at something else." Hearing that Super Stallion and Stone Wall turned around and saw the huge sphere they were looking for, it had a rainbow of colors in it and now a crack slowly becoming bigger and bigger. "You may be able to keep your emotions in check, but I doubt everypony in Canterlot can." Suddenly Stone Wall punched Emo Pony in the face again, this time hard enough to knock out cold. "I don't know about you but I had enough of his fat mouth," Stone Wall said. “Now what do we do about that sphere?"  “I have an idea,” Princess Celestia said as she flew over to the giant sphere and used her magic to create a powerful gust of wind. As the sphere broke she created a multi-layered barrier that contained the smoke as well as the gust which continued to blow until the rainbow colored smoke was completely blown away.    "Wow nice work princess!" Super Stallion said as Princess Celestia removed the barrier and stopped the wind. “I had a feeling that would work, eh they can’t all be winners.”  "Thank you, that's why they gave me the wings and horn."  "All right another disaster averted let's get this trouble maker- " Stone Wall stopped when he noticed Emo Pony was gone. "What, where'd he go?" Princess Celestia and Super Stallion looked around and saw no sign of him. "He got away?" Super Stallion said in disbelief.  "But how? I knocked him out cold?"  "I guess we'll have to remember to ask him that when he pokes his head out again,” Princess Celestia said. "I guess we might as well head back to the castle now princess," Stone Wall said.  "Ah before you do that," Super Stallion said, getting Stone Wall and Princess Celestia to turn their heads to him. "About how I acted earlier, I'm really sorry about how I acted and if I made you feel uncomfortable."  "Oh that's quite all right Super Stallion, I don't think you were quite yourself. In fact I think we've all learned something about keeping our emotions getting the best of us." "Ah not me, again I can keep them under control," Stone Wall said. "Right well, thanks for your help Super Stallion and truth be told I actually was a little flattered by your compliments." "Really?!" Super Stallion said, getting a big smile on his face. "Yes, I was but- " "Oh no." Super Stallion then dropped down back on the ground. "I don't feel I'm ready for any kind of romantic relationship at the moment, but I would be very happy to call you a friend." Princess Celestia then offered her hoof to Super Stallion and he shook it, glad that she at least liked him. The trio then made their way out of the caves. “By the way,” Stone Wall said. “Where were you when Emo Pony threw sphere after sphere at me?”  “I don’t know, you were on a roll, I didn’t want to stop the ball so to speak.” Super Stallion’s answer made the princess laugh a bit. "See you soon sun butt," A mysterious voice said, catching the attention of Princess Celestia who seemed to have a chill running up her spine.  "What?” Princess Celestia turned back, getting Stone Wall and Super Stallion’s attention. “Did- did either of you hear that?” “Here what?” Super Stallion asked. “Maybe that smoke from earlier is still affecting you, when we get back to the castle, you should lie down,” Stone Wall said. “Uh, yeah, that’s it, just the smoke,” Princess Celestia said as she looked around for shadows of any kind. There were none. “Just the smoke.” ***  Emo Pony despite getting knocked out cold was able to regain his consciousness for a few seconds. When his plan had failed he decided to escape and used a spell that teleported him away before he blacked out again. Later he got a rude awakening by another pony within the caves with several kicks to the back.  "Huh." Emo Pony got back to his hooves, still rather sore from Stone Wall's attacks. Back to his senses he saw the pony that kicked him awake. "Who the heck are you and what are you doing down in these caves?" "I was about to ask you the same thing," Scar Flank answered while carrying the drill he stole on his back.  "Yes, that seems to be a popular question." Both Scar Flank and Emo Pony looked up and saw Dr. Arachnid crawling on the ceiling before jumping off and landing next to the other 2 ponies. "Okay that was cool," Emo Pony said. "Thank you, it's nice to be recognized for my own talents." "Well maybe you can get them recognized outside," Scar Flank said. "Excuse me?"  "Get out of my mines you spider pony hybrid."  "Your mines? Give me a break!" "My family worked in these mines for years so if anypony has a right to them, it's me." "I moved nearly all my equipment and supplies where am I supposed to take them?" "That's not my problem!"    "Well I like it here, and it’s not like I have anywhere else to go," Emo Pony added and the 3 villains bickered among themselves for a while. "QUIET!" The voice from before said.  "Who said that?" Emo Pony and Scar Flank asked in union. "Wait, you can hear it too, thank goodness I thought I was going nuts," Dr. Arachnid said happy that it wasn't a voice in his head.  "Who are you?" Emo Pony asked.  "Someone that can help you, but you need to help me first I'll even help you help yourselves to help me."  "What?" Scar Flank asked. "Just listen up, I've got big plans for Equestria and you 3 have roles to play to move them forward." ***  Meanwhile in Ponyville, Princess Celestia was visiting there and to her surprise found small creatures being led out of Ponyville. "What is this?" "It's a long story," Twilight answered. "Oh I see any chance you can give me a quick summary?"  "Maybe later but right now I am exhausted."  "I see well I certainly know a thing or 2 about that." Princess Celestia then explained that she couldn't stay as she had to deal with an infestation problem in Fillydelphia. She asked Twilight if she learned anything new on the magic of friendship, and she in fact did. "I've learned that sometimes the solutions to your problems can come from where you least expect it. It's a good idea to stop and listen to your friends' ideas and perspectives, even if they don't make sense."  "I'm so proud of you Twilight Sparkle and I'm very impressed with your friends as well, it sounds like you're all learning so much from each other." And with that she returned to Canterlot to get what she needed to help with the infestation problem. After the princess left Twilight was grateful to her friend Pinkie Pie for getting the parasprites out of Ponyville. While she would admit Pinkie was rather strange, she was just about the best friend a pony can ask for. "So you just went to Ponyville to tell Twilight you had to cancel?" Stone Wall asked the princess when she returned to the castle. "You could have just sent her a letter." "Yes but I felt like I should tell her that in equine."  "Any excuse so see her now that she's finally out of the castle?"  "Oh Stone Wall stop it." While the princess and her captain were talking Squeaky Clean was hard at work mopping the floor.  This is twice now in a row that the bad guy got away. And twice now that Stone Wall did most of the work fighting the bad guy plus with Dr. Arachnid that makes 3 villains on the loose, Squeaky thought to himself as he cleaned and cleaned. I need to take this superhero thing more serious from now on. As he continued cleaning he remembered how last time he cleaned when he was mad he broke the mop, to avoid doing that again he stared at the princess for a few seconds to calm himself down. And upon gazing on the beautiful face of Princess Celestia he felt his anger melt away. "Humina humina."  "What'd you say, Squeaky?" The princess asked and when our hero realized he said that out loud getting the attention of the princess as well as Stone Wall he was filled with embarrassment and had to think fast.  "Uh just a little something in my throat I'm gonna get some water I'll leave you to princess and captain things." And with that he nearly ran out the door. "Princess and captain things?" The princess said while turning to Stone Wall and couldn't help but giggle a bit while saying it. "I think all these long hours are screwing with his head."