//------------------------------// // 88. The Games // Story: My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// The day was finally here... The day that many have waited for so long... The biggest sports event in all of Equestria... The Equestria Games! It's like it was yesterday when Star Twinkle and his friends were in Rainbow Falls to train for this very event and qualified Ponyville for the games. Not only took it some very hard work to get to this point, but some ponies also couldn't wait to finally participate in the Equestria Games. Of course, one of those ponies was Rainbow Dash. While the group was riding the train to the Crystal Empire, almost everypony who participates in the games was already warming up to be in top form and high spirits. Something that Rainbow Dash really liked to see. "Listen up, gang! We're almost there, so I've got a few things to say," the mare said, getting everyponies attention in the process. "First off, who here besides me thinks this is the best Equestria Games delegation in Ponyville history?" She asked highly excited, which earned her some cheers from everypony else in the train. Rainbow Dash was waiting for this day for a very long time so of course, she wanted everypony to feel as excited as she was to make this day even better. Star Twinkle was listening to what she had to say as well. He actually was a little excited too. It really helped that he wasn't part of any team. There was no pressure on him at all. He could just sit back, do some cheering for his friends, and let everypony else do the important stuff. It's just the way he liked the best. Twilight, who was sitting next to the stallion, listened to Rainbow Dash too. She was really happy for her to be part of the Equestria Games. "She really is excited about the games, isn't she?" She asked towards Star Twinkle. "She sure is," Star Twinkle replied. "She was waiting for this day to come for a really long time after all," he added. The two continued to listen to Rainbow Dash, who was still making sure to get everypony else excited in the train. "And no matter what your sport is, we gotta give it our best, because we've all got a genuine shot at Ponyville gold!" She said, causing her to receive a lot of cheers once more. "...With the possible exception of Bulk Biceps, Fluttershy, and me. I mean, we're good and all, but we're up against the Wonderbolts and the Storm Wings in the aerial relay, so gold's kind of a stretch. Let's not kid ourselves," she said, being surprisingly modest about her chances to win. "That's a surprise," Star Twinkle said after that sudden behavior of the mare. Hearing that, made Scootaloo walk up to her to cheer her up again. "Don't feel bad, Rainbow Dash! We have absolutely no shot at getting gold either!" She said, referring to herself, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who were on their way to the Equestria Games as well, to carry the flag of Ponyville. But Rainbow Dash was well aware of their part in the Equestria Games and found Scootaloo's words a little confusion. "Uh, that's because you're carrying the flag for Ponyville in the opening ceremony. There are no winners," she pointed out. "Winners or not, we still have the chance to be awesome!" Scootaloo said happily, to which her two friends agreed instantly. "That's the spirit!" Rainbow Dash said happily while she rubbed Scootaloo's mane. "You hear that, everypony? Winners or not, we all still have the chance to be awesome!" She threw into the room, causing everypony to cheer once more. "But, uh, let's still try to win lots and lots of stuff too, 'kay?" She added briefly, showing her competitive side that Star Twinkle knew all too well. "There we go," Star Twinkle said once he saw the behavior that he was used to. The train shortly arrived at the station of the Crystal Empire. Everypony who was going to participate in the Equestria Games was already on their way to the stadium once they were setting hoof outside of the train. Twilight, who just exited the train, was wondering why Star Twinkle was not outside of the train yet. He was the last one who didn't leave the train and the mare started to get worried. "What is taking you so long, Star Twinkle?" She asked. "Coming!" Was the only reply that could be heard from inside the train. Star Twinkle first peeked his head outside of the train and looked around, before he then walked out, wearing a trench coat, a fedora, and big sunglasses. Needless to say, Twilight was highly confused to see Star Twinkle in this getup."Why are you wearing all this stuff?" She asked. Star Twinkle lowered his sunglasses and explained. "We are in the Crystal Empire. I have to dress up like that so that nopony would recognize me," Twilight chuckled a little. "Well, you did help to save the empire, along with Spike and Cadance and defended it against King Sombra. The ponies here see you as a hero. You should be happy," she said. "I know!" Star Twinkle replied, being of course, fully aware of that. "Every time, when I come here, I find myself being looked at from everywhere! It feels weird..." Twilight walked up to the stallion and played a little with Star Twinkle's hat. "And...this isn't weird at all?" She asked, referring to Star Twinkle's outfit. "It at least keeps me hidden from everypony," Star Twinkle replied. He knew that he looked ridiculous but as long as it would work, he was willing to pay the price. Twilight only shook her head and decided to just go along with it, without asking any questions. Almost as on cue, two guards came walking towards the two. "Princess Twilight!" one of them said before he bowed down to her, causing Twilight to bow in response as well. They both then shifted their attention towards Star Twinkle and both bowed down to him, much to his surprise and discomfort. "You honor us with your visit, Great and Honorable Starfall Twinkle the Courageous and Selfless," one of them then said. "What? I mean, how did you know...ugh...whatever..." he replied confused before he took off his clothes again. One of the guards walked over to the luggage that was still sitting in front of the train. This confused Star Twinkle since he believed that Spike was taking care of those things but the other guard quickly explained. "We will take care of those," he said. "Princess Cadance is waiting for you two," "Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Twilight said after the guard's words made her remember. "Spike was already picked up and carried to the castle. We are supposed to go there as well," "We are?" Star Twinkle asked confused, the confusion is on why he was invited. The guards were already taking the luggage to the stadium, where the Equestria Games would be held so Star Twinkle figured he should just go to this invitation. It's not like the games were about to start this early, there was still a lot of time to spare. "Then let's go," Star Twinkle said so that Twilight could lead the way to the castle. "Alright," she said happily. Later at the Crystal Empire Castle... The two ponies arrived at the Crystal Empire and as expected, when Twilight entered it, every guard was bowing down as soon as she walked past them. What was really weird for Star Twinkle, however, was that they also seemed to bow down to him. Twilight seemed to gotten used to all of this but Star Twinkle felt really weird and almost embarrassed. "Every single guard is looking at me..." the stallion thought while he wished that he could vanish in thin air right now. Twilight could see the embarrassment in Star Twinkle's face and chuckled just by the sight of it. She probably could relate to that since she had to get used to getting more attention as a princess. Luckily, Princess Cadance was waiting in a room with no guards, making it a little bit easier for Star Twinkle to have a conversation. Princess Cadance seemed happy to see both Twilight and Star Twinkle. "Twilight!" She said as soon as she saw her sister in law. What followed was their usual greeting. "Sunshine Sunshine Ladybugs awake, Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" They both said while they did their usual little dance. As usual, like every other time when he saw that, there was only one thing that Star Twinkle could think. "That is adorable..." he thought while he maintained a serious expression on his face. After that was done, Princess Cadance returned to a more dignified manner again. "I'm so glad that you could make it here," she said before she shifted her eyes towards Star Twinkle. "Are you enjoying your stay as Hero of the Crystal Empire?" She asked with a casual smile on her face. Princess Cadance probably expected the stallion to appreciate all this attention, which is why she got confused to see an uncomfortable expression on the stallion. Twilight decided to fill her in how he felt about all this and the princess quickly understood. "Oh," was all that Princess Cadance could say at first. "I was sure that you would enjoy all this as much as our other hero," "Other hero?" Star Twinkle replied while he tilted his head in confusion. It was only then that Star Twinkle noticed how Spike was sitting on a royal sofa while a mare was feeding him with gems. "More of the green ones, please? I like the green ones," he said which caused the mare to get a little nervous until she picked one green gem out of a pile next to her. Star Twinkle quickly realized now why the luggage was still at the train station. It appeared that Spike was staying at the castle already because Princess Cadance wanted to express her gratitude to him to save the empire. And knowing Spike, he probably enjoyed every second of it. "He is certainly enjoying himself..." Star Twinkle said. "You should too," Princess Cadance pointed out. "She's right, Star Twinkle," Twilight added. "You two got the Crystal Heart to Princess Cadance in time to save this entire empire from destruction!" "Exactly," Princess Cadance added. "You two are known throughout my empire as "Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious and Great and Honorable Starfall Twinkle the Courageous and Selfless," she explained proudly. While Spike was giggling in excitement after hearing that, Star Twinkle was looking rather confused or even shocked. "Isn't that awesome?" Spike said excitedly. "We're big shots here!" He then walked to a balcony while he grabbed Star Twinkle's leg to show him something. "See that? That's us!" He said before he pointed down to the main plaza. "You gotta be..." Star Twinkle just said as soon as he saw what the dragon was pointing to. Right in the middle of the main plaza of the Crystal Empire, there was a statue of both Star Twinkle and Spike. It showed Spike riding on Star Twinkle and holding the crystal heart in his claws. By now, Star Twinkle figured that even if he tried to hide from the Crystal Ponies, if a statue of him was in plain sight like that, then it would be nearly impossible for him to do that. "Pretty neat, huh?" Spike said while he looked at the statue with hypnotizing eyes. "Sure..." Star Twinkle replied a little bothered. "And that is not even all!" Princess Cadance added cheerfully, much to Star Twinkle's shock. "There is more!?" Star Twinkle said, who was already overwhelmed by all this in the first place. Princess Cadance explained. "Since you are both so well known in the empire, I thought you both could do us the honor of lighting the torch at the opening ceremony," she said before she looked over to Spike. "You'd be the very first dragon in the history of the Equestria Games to do so," she added, probably so that the offer would sound even better. "Of course I'll do it!" Spike quickly replied. "And -- bonus -- I can do it with my fire breath!" He said before he demonstrated it in front of everypony. Princess Cadance tipped her chin for a second. "But wait...if Spike lights the torch with his fire breath, then what is Star Twinkle supposed to do?" She wondered. This was enough to let Star Twinkle come up with an excuse to get out of this situation. "Oh! What do you know...looks like Spike is more than enough to do it then!" He said nervously with a fake grin on his face. Princess Cadance looked a little confused to hear those words, causing Star Twinkle to get even more nervous. She looked as if she would come up with a solution for that any second now. Fortunately, Twilight saved the day for him before it could come to that. "I think, what Star Twinkle wanted to say is, that he wanted to let Spike do it instead," Twilight explained. "Remember, he is not called selfless without a reason," she added before she secretly winked at the stallion, which caused him to understand that she said that in order for him to get out of this. Princess Cadance seemed to understand and nodded in response. "As long as you are okay with that," she asked towards Star Twinkle. "Yeah! Sure!" The stallion replied almost instantly. This was a solution that he could live with after all. The Equestria Games would begin in a little while so the three left the castle shortly after to get to the stadium of the Crystal Empire, the place where the games were held at. While they walked over to the stadium, however, Star Twinkle had to say one thing. "Thank you," he simply said after Twilight stepped in to convince Princess Cadance. It didn't take more words to make Twilight understand what he was thanking her for. "You're welcome. I know that you would feel uncomfortable doing something like that unlike someone else," she said while she looked back to point at Spike who was already doing some poses on how to light the torch. He clearly couldn't wait to do this, much to Star Twinkle's and Twilight's amusement. Later in the Crystal Empire stadium... The Equestria Games were about to begin and Star Twinkle was already on his way to find his seat...or rather, trying to find his seat. There were thousands of ponies inside the stadium, every single one highly excited for the Equestria Games to start. Trying to spot a free seat would be impossible. But luckily, that was already taken care of by his friends. "Over here, Star Twinkle!" Pinkie Pie screamed while she waved towards the stallion to show him where his friends were. The stallion quickly went towards where Pinkie Pie was at. There was a free seat next to Pinkie Pie, who was sitting next to Rarity and Applejack. "Where have you been?" Applejack asked. "They are about to start the games," "Sorry, I just kinda got lost after using the bathroom," Star Twinkle explained. "It didn't help that there are so many ponies here either..." he added before he sat down next to Pinkie Pie. "Where is Twilight? Shouldn't she be here already?" He asked as soon as he noticed that she was nowhere to be found. Pinkie Pie quickly pointed upwards behind her. "She's over there with all the other princesses!" She explained. Star Twinkle looked at the direction where Pinkie Pie was pointing at and he immediately saw Twilight sitting next to Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance, all of them sitting on fancy seats that would fit their royal position. After thinking about it, it actually made sense that Twilight was up there and not with her friends. She was looking around as if she didn't belong up there though. Maybe she didn't have much of a choice, is what Star Twinkle figured. There were only minutes left until the opening ceremony would start and the four ponies were waiting excitedly to see their friends and family down there, presenting themselves in front of everypony. "I can't wait to see my little sister and her friends carry the flag of Ponyville into the stadium!" Applejack said, referring to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who would enter the stadium first. "Don't forget Spike!" Rarity pointed out. "He has the rare honor to light up the torch!" She added with an excited grin on her face. "Yeah!" Pinkie Pie said. "I can't believe you didn't want to that, Star Twinkle!" "What? You mean going down there so that everypony would look at me while I light the torch?" He asked in a sarcastic tone. "Shh! I think they are going to start!" Rarity pointed out, causing everypony to focus their attention towards the middle of the stage. Shining Armor was the one who introduced the audience to all the competitors. One team after another stepped into the stadium after Shining Armor introduced them. The Wonderbolts, who were representing Cloudsdale, was only one of them. There was also a team that consisted purely of griffons, who were representing their home. "And now...representing the capital of Equestria, Team Canterlot!" "That means..." Star Twinkle thought after he remembered again who was representing Canterlot. Shortly after, the Storm Wings entered the stadium with Cyclone Wing, Steel Wing and Hurricane Wing leading their team. Rainbow Dash was pretty confident to win at the Equestria Games but with competition like the Wonderbolts or the Storm Wings, this was probably a little bit harder than she originally thought. But there was no time to worry about that, especially since Shining Armor was now introducing the next team. "Now, please welcome the delegation from Ponyville!" Shortly after, the Cutie Mark Crusaders did their little routine that they practiced a little while ago and team Ponyville entered the stadium with Rainbow Dash being in the lead. However, Rarity was a little more excited about something else. "Oh! Oh! That's my sister!" She said towards the crowd while she jumped up and down excitedly. She probably didn't even notice how everypony else looked at her confused. It seems like there was no team left to enter the stadium, which means that the only thing left was to light up the torch to finally start the Equestria Games. Star Twinkle was directing his view towards the torch for that. He quickly spotted Ms. Harshwhinny who was followed by Spike. However, Spike took his sweet time to walk towards the torch. In fact, he wasn't moving at all and just stood there. If it wasn't for the two guards that pushed him towards the torch, he would probably still stand over there. Star Twinkle didn't seem to be the only one who noticed all that. "What is going on down there?" Applejack wondered after she looked down there as well. It could be only Star Twinkle but if he was in this situation, then he would get really nervous. He figured that this is what was going on down there. "Don't lose your cool now, Spike..." he though in concern of the little dragon. Eventually, after some delay, Spike was climbing up the ladder that was leading to the torch and finally decided to lit the torch. Or at least, he tried to. It took Spike quite some time to light it and soon some ponies in the audience realized now as well that things were not going according to plan. Spike did try his best from the looks of it but for some reason, he couldn't breathe fire at all. "Oh no, poor little Spike!" Rarity expressed in concern before she covered her eyes. "Yes, he better start to light the torch, or else, everypony in this stadium will begin to look at him, laughing at his misery, and stop looking at him as a hero that saved them but instead as a dragon that ruined the Equestria Games!" Pinkie Pie said in a panic. "Yes, Pinkie! We are aware of that, thank you!" Star Twinkle said after he felt that those words were a little unnecessary at this very moment. "No problem!" She replied back happily. Then suddenly, the torch was finally lit and Spike managed to get his job done. Even he seemed to be surprised to see that. The awkward silence in the audience quickly transformed into cheers of relief. Shining Armor also did his best to not let that drag down the Equestria Games. "Let the games begin!" He announced to get the crowd cheered up again. Star Twinkle and his friends couldn't help to release some relieved gasps after this situation was over. "That was needlessly dramatic..." Star Twinkle said. "Yeah, but it worked out in the end," Rarity added in relief as well. Spike may have dodged a lot of embarrassment in the very last second. It wouldn't be the best thing if the dragon that saved the Crystal Empire would embarrass himself in front of the very same ponies, not to mention, the rest of Equestria. One could only hope that this little delay would be forgotten by everypony really quickly. Later, outside of the stadium... After the first few games, there was a little break in between so that the audience could take a little break as well. Star Twinkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity took that opportunity to meet up with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Oh! There are our little superstars!" Rarity exclaimed as soon as the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran out of the stadium. She quickly went up to her sister of course. "You were fabulous!" She said, being proud of Sweetie Belle and hugging her. "Made me sit up proud like a cornstalk in August!" Applejack said towards her little sister while she hugged her as well. "Ya done good, squirt!" Rainbow Dash said towards Scootaloo while she rubbed her mane proudly. "You three really were wonderful," Twilight said as she landed next to her friends. "But does anypony know what was going on with Spike?" She asked confused. She clearly noticed that something was going on with him as well. "He sure seemed to be having a tough time of it out there," Applejack pointed out. "I guess, he got a little nervous?" Star Twinkle figured. "He put things right in time, though," Rarity added, trying to see the positive thing about the situation. Twilight, however, had to disagree. "Actually, it was me. I didn't want him to be embarrassed, so I cast a secret spell to light it for him," she admitted. This caught the group a little by surprise. "Oh, dear. Have you told him?" Rarity asked. "No, but he might have figured it out on his own," Twilight replied in concern. "You gotta tell him, just in case," Applejack advised. "I know. I'm just afraid of how he'll take it. I know what pride he takes in a job well done," Twilight said, fearing how the little dragon would react to her honesty. "Psst, here he comes now!" Rainbow Dash said as soon as she noticed the dragon walking up to them. "Act casual!" She advised before she put on some sunglasses, clearly not acting casual at all. Twilight instantly noticed how Spike was feeling a little down, judging from how he was walking towards them with a lowered head. "Spike! Is everything okay?" She asked in worry. "I guess. I don't know. The weirdest thing happened down there," Spike replied in his confusion. It was the perfect opportunity for Twilight to explain things right now but Spike didn't notice her words and continued. "I mean, there I was, trying to light the torch, with all of Equestria watching, and feeling like the hugest failure ever, and then the thing just lit! It was amazing!" He explained while his mood shifted from sad to happy in an instant. "Oh, phew!" Twilight replied. "I was afraid you'd be upset," she added after realizing that Spike wouldn't get sad after realizing that Twilight helped her out. "Upset? Are you kidding? Why would I be upset to discover I can light fire... with my mind?" He replied while he grabbed his head with his claws as if he was about to do just that. Of course, the group reacted in confusion to hear him coming up with a conclusion like that but before they could question him about that, they were interrupted by two crystal ponies. "Look, look, it's the Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious and the Great and Honorable Starfall Twinkle the Courageous and Selfless!" One of them said as soon as they spotted the two. "Can we get your autographs?" The other pony asked before they took out two pictures of Star Twinkle and Spike. Rainbow Dash poked Star Twinkle in the side and grinned. "Looks like somepony has to attend to their fans," she said jokingly. "Hehe...yeah," Star Twinkle replied nervously before he walked up to the two ponies to sign his picture along with Spike. It felt really weird to sign autographs for somepony. It's deferentially something that the stallion had to get used to while he stayed at the Crystal Empire. It also didn't make it easier when the two ponies stood there and complimented them further. "How you two saved our Empire was really amazing!" One of them said. "Aw. You know what else is amazing?" Spike asked after he was done signing the pictures. "Watch this!" He said before he held the two pictures in front of him while heavily focusing his eyes on them. Nothing happened and it only resulted in awkward silence. "What are you doing?" Star Twinkle eventually asked confused. "I'm trying to set those pictures on fire with my mind," he explained while he kept his eyes focused on the pictures. However, as expected, nothing happened because this whole "Setting things on fire with your mind" thing was just made up by Spike without realizing it. Star Twinkle looked back to Twilight as if he wanted to tell her that she needed to confess before things would get even weirder. "Spike, may I have a word with you a moment?" She whispered to him. Star Twinkle gave the two ponies their pictures back and walked away with Twilight and Spike. "Hey, Twi, what is it?" Spike asked. "Hold on, hold on, give me a second... If I can set fire to stuff with my mind, mind-reading must be just around the corner! And I predict that you are about to ask me... to set fire to something with my mind!" It seemed to get worse by any passing moment so Twilight just went ahead and told the truth. "No, because you can't!" She said. But as expected, Spike held into the illusion that it was all him. "Oh, really? So how do you explain what happened down there in front of thousands and thousands of–" he said confidently before Twilight interrupted him in mid-sentence. "I did it, Spike. I cast a spell to do it for you," she just straight out said into his face. This caused Spike to be quiet again. Needless to say, he was shocked to hear this but it needed to be said before he would get into problems. "I'm sorry, Spike. I just couldn't stand to see you stuck like that! You understand, don't you?" Maybe Spike did understand that but he definitely didn't look happy to get that news and had tears running down on his cheeks. "I... I... I need to be alone right now," He said as he walked away from the group with his head lowered in sadness. Twilight attempted to walk after him but from the looks of it, it didn't look like anything that she could say would help right now. "Just give him some time," Star Twinkle said as he put his hoof on the mare's shoulder. "I'm sure he'll understand what you did for him," "Maybe...I still feel a little bad though," Twilight said as she watched the dragon walking away with his head looking down at the ground. Spike seemed to walk towards the stadium. From the same direction, three ponies walked past him, the three brothers of the Storm Wings. They noticed how the dragon was upset but they decided to leave him alone since they didn't know what was bothering him. "Wasn't that your little dragon friend?" Steel Wing asked towards Star Twinkle and his friends. "What is up with him?" "It's kind of a long story," Star Twinkle said, even though that was not the case. He just figured that they should leave him alone for his own sake. To change the mood a little bit, Rainbow Dash flew towards the three so that the subject could be changed. "Canterlot is doing pretty good! I hope you guys won't slack off in the Aerial Relay! I mean, you have to go up against us after all!" She boasted confidently. "What did you say!?" Steel Wing asked. "It almost sounded like as if you thought that you could beat us!" He said, showing his own confidence in front of everypony. "Exactly," Cyclone Wing added while he walked up to the group, much to Steel Wing's surprise who expected his brother to scold him for being so provocative. "We will win those games in Princess Celestia's name!" He said with a dead-serious expression on his face. Hurricane Wing smiled after those almost threatening words of his brother. "Don't take this too personal. Cyclone just wants to make sure to not let Princess Celestia down. She was the one who wanted us to represent Canterlot after all," he explained. Even with a reason like that, Star Twinkle had a hard time not taking Cyclone Wing serious. "He could at least say it a little less serious...it almost sounded like as if he was waging a personal war against us..." Star Twinkle thought. The group exchanged some less threatening words. Eventually, the three stallions walked away again but then somepony came walking towards the group of ponies. It was Ms. Harshwhinny who seemed rather bothered by something. "Princess Twilight, we have a slight problem," she started as she walked up to Twilight. "What's the matter?" Twilight asked back. Ms. Harshwhinny explained. "We have some problems with the Anti-Magic System," "Anti-Magic System?" Star Twinkle asked. "Yes, you see...in order to prevent cheating, there is a machine inside of the stadium that seals Unicorn magic. We don't want anypony to ruin the games by using magic in a sports event after all," Ms. Harshwhinny explained. "Yeah! Right! We don't want that!" Twilight replied a little nervously, especially after she was the one who did use some magic before to help out Spike. "Exactly," Ms. Harshwhinny replied. "We originally planned to set everything up before the games started but we ran into some problems...and the pony who made this thing isn't anywhere to be found to help us out," "And you want us to find him?" Twilight suggested, causing Ms. Harshwhinny to nod in reply. She was thinking about what to do. There would probably some problems if she wasn't back in time since she was a princess but she also didn't want any of her friends to miss the games if they happened to be late. "I'll do it," Star Twinkle then said out of the blue, much to Twilight's surprise. "Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, I don't want any of you to miss the games," he said, which was ironically what Twilight didn't want as well. Before Twilight could discuss this with the stallion, Ms. Harshwhinny quickly took his offer since there was not much time left until the next event started. "Great, Mr. Twinkle, we are counting on you," she said. "Who exactly am I looking for?" Star Twinkle asked in order to make the search easier. Ms. Harshwhinny then described the pony. "His name is Tinker. He is wearing a necklace with a hoof on it. He is also...well...a little different..." "That is...a pretty vague description..." Star Twinkle asked a little bothered. "Trust me, he is the first pony that will stick out of the crowd once you come across him," Ms. Harshwhinny simply explained. Ms. Harshwhinny was not known to make light of a situation so she was probably giving a good description of this pony. Star Twinkle had no choice but to go with that. "Tinker, hoof necklace, weird...got it!" He said while he was on his way to look for this pony. As soon as the stallion was on his way, however, Cyclone Wing walked up to him. "Star Twinkle," he said, trying to get Star Twinkle's attention. The stallion walked up to him and had a serious expression on his face. The fact, that Cyclone Wing's expression was even more serious than usual, actually got Star Twinkle a little worried. He instantly knew that what Cyclone Wing was about to say was probably really important. "What is it?" Star Twinkle replied. Cyclone Wing made sure that no one else was listening and quickly went out with what he wanted to say. "I overheard your conversation and...I can't help but ask you one thing. That pony that you are supposed to find, his name is Tinker, right?" "Yes," Star Twinkle replied. "They told me that he is wearing a necklace with a hoof on it and that he is...different..." he further informed. Cyclone Wing quickly formed a wary expression on his face. "If it is the same pony that I know, then keep one thing in mind..." he said before he moved his head closer to Star Twinkle. "Be careful around him." Hearing those words made Star Twinkle a little nervous. "Why should I be careful?" He asked confused. Cyclone Wing then started to explain. "You probably know by now that Tornado lost one of his wings," Cyclone Wing said before he turned around to look at his little brother. "Tinker was the one who replaced it with this metallic wing. He also was the one who covered the other wing in metal because of Tornado's wish," "But...isn't that good?" Star Twinkle asked confused, not being able to see the problem here. "I mean, he was the one who gave your brother his wing back so shouldn't you be happy about that?" "I should, yes..." Cyclone Wing replied before he looked back at Star Twinkle. "But I don't trust Tinker...because there was somepony else who was with him when I first met him..." "Who?" Star Twinkle asked out of curiosity. Cyclone Wing gave a quick answer. "Mystic," Suddenly, Star Twinkle could understand why Cyclone Wing was worried. "I see..." he simply said while he started to get worried now as well. "Yes," Cyclone Wing said. "Mystic somehow knew about Tornado's lost wing and he offered to replace it by letting Tinker take care of it. I don't have to remind you that Mystic is a pony that you can't trust, right? He was the one who secretly put a magic seal on my brothers to make them go through constant pain and wanted me to give him control over the Storm Wings in return for the medicine. I don't have any proof that Tinker had anything to do with all of this since I never heard of him after that but still..." Cyclone Wing explained. Just remembering all this stuff must have been hard for the stallion since he clenched his teeth in the middle of this story. But Star Twinkle assured him that he would keep his guard up. "I'll be careful, don't worry, Cyclone Wing," he said with a smile on his face. "I know you will, I trust you..." Cyclone Wing replied with a smile on his face as well. After that conversation, Star Twinkle was quickly on his way to find this pony. All he had to do was to bring him back to the stadium so that he could fix the Anti-magic system. But the last words of Cyclone Wing worried Star Twinkle a little. He remembered Mystic all too well and his view about this world so he figured that this Tinker would be similar to him. That was something that he wasn't looking forward to at all... A little later... Star Twinkle's search has only just begun but he still wanted to find Tinker as fast as possible so that he could return to the stadium. He didn't want to miss, Team Ponyville's Aerial Relay since his friends were part of this team. Right now, he was on the main plaza of the Empire. "Now where do I start looking? Why did I even volunteer to do this?" He asked himself. He had to be honest that missing the games was not the worst thing in his life. The others were looking forward to the Equestria Games far more than him so he was okay with that but he also realized that the Crystal Empire was really big and finding one pony would probably impossible before the next event started. Star Twinkle couldn't help to worry about all this until he heard a familiar voice right in front of him. "The Great and Honorable Starfall Twinkle the Courageous and Selfless..." a pony read out who was standing in front of the statue of Star Twinkle and Spike that was placed in the middle of the main plaza. "Wait...I know that voice..." Star Twinkle said after he faintly remembered hearing this voice before, way back. The stallion that stood in front of the statue turned around and was now facing Star Twinkle. It was an Earth Pony with a light brown coat, a dark brown mane, orange-colored eyes and a light bulb as a Cutie Mark. He was also wearing the necklace with the hoof on it, making him the pony that Star Twinkle had to look for. "I know you!" Star Twinkle said as soon as he recognized this pony as the same one that he encountered back then before Queen Chrysalis attacked Canterlot. He remembered how this pony strangely knew about the attack before it actually happened. But before he could ask about that, the stallion replied to Star Twinkle. "Isn't it obvious!? We met already after all!" He replied. "Yeah..." Star Twinkle replied before he quickly cut to the point. "You are Tinker, right? I was asked to look for you so that you could return to the stadium," But Tinker replied with a bothered expression on his face. "Why would I do that?" He asked confused. Star Twinkle quickly explained the situation. "Well...you are the one who built the Anti-Magic system in the stadium, right? It doesn't seem work and the ponies in the stadium need your help," After hearing that, the stallion had a shocked expression on his face. "Doesn't work? Did you just say that one of my inventions doesn't work!?" He said offended and with an angry expression on his face. "I have to let you know that everything that I build works perfectly!" He claimed while he stomped his hoof on the ground angrily. Star Twinkle had no time to argue with this pony and just wished that he would come with him. "Whatever the reason is, you need to come with me, they really need your help," he almost begged. Tinker rubbed his chin for a second. "Alright!" He then instantly replied, which heavily surprised Star Twinkle at first. "But! Only if you transform for me!" He added. "Transform for you?" Star Twinkle asked confused. Tinker turned around to face the statue of Star Twinkle behind him. "You and The Great and Honorable Spike saved the Crystal Empire...and you fought against King Sombra!" He then said while he pointed towards the stallion. "You did so by transforming! I want to see that with my own eyes!" He said with a determined look on his face. It was a weird request but if that made him return to the stadium, then Star Twinkle was willing to do that. "Alright," he said before he started to concentrate. Shortly after, a horn appeared on Star Twinkle's head. It instantly made Tinker's eyes widen and he rushed towards the stallion. "There it is! A horn! A real horn out of nowhere!" he said while he fiddled around with it for a few seconds, much to Star Twinkle's discomfort. Tinker's attention then shifted towards Star Twinkle's back. "No wings?" He then asked. "No, I can either make a horn or two wings appear but not at the same time," Star Twinkle explained. Tinker didn't seem to be too convinced to hear this. "That doesn't seem right..." he mumbled after he inspected Star Twinkle's body further. After he finally stopped, there was one more thing that bothered him. "Can I ask one more favor of you?" "What?" Star Twinkle replied even though he didn't like hearing that. With a wide grin on his face, Tinker went on ahead and asked his question. "Can I cut parts of it off?" He asked excitedly. Star Twinkle instantly transformed back after hearing that and had a shocked expression on his face. "What? No!" "Why not?" Tinker asked in an upset tone. "Surely it will grow back the next time you transform!" He pointed out. "I...don't know if it works like that..." Star Twinkle replied. "Exactly!" Tinker exclaimed. "That is why we need to do this! To get the answer to that question! If I could do that, I would do it in an instant!" "Whatever!" Star Twinkle said, trying to change the subject. "I transformed, now you come with me, right?" Tinker didn't seem to happy but he felt responsible to keep his word. "I suppose..." he said while he shrugged his shoulders. The two then walked in direction of the stadium. Star Twinkle was quite relieved that this search didn't take as long as he expected. He also quickly realized that Ms. Harshwhinny's explanation was pretty accurate. He was...different. Talking to him was weird as well for some reason. It's like this pony was living in his own world. Star Twinkle wondered if he would get along with Pinkie Pie. But right now, the only thing that he could think about, was why this stallion kept looking at him as if he tried to analyze him. "What?" Star Twinkle finally asked after he started to get bothered by the look that Tinker gave him. "Nothing..." Tinker replied while he kept his eyes focused on Star Twinkle. "I just thought that it was a really weird coincidence that you can transform just like Starwhite," "Huh?" Star Twinkle replied confused. "You know! Starwhite! The role that you played in Canterlot at Hearth's Warming Eve!" Tinker replied. "Oh, yeah! My role in the play!" Star Twinkle remembered. "You saw it?" "I did!" Tinker replied. "I just thought that it was interesting that you, who played the messenger of the three pony tribes, Starwhite, are also able to transform..." "Yeah, right...Starwhite was a Unicorn that transformed into an Alicorn. He was known as the first Alicorn ever," "Alicorn?" Tinker replied confused. "Yeah... you know, like Princess Celestia," Star Twinkle pointed out. "But I heard that his existence is not really proven in the history of Equestria," he further explained. "Mhh..." Tinker replied while he rubbed his chin and went into deep thoughts. "No...he didn't transform into an Alicorn..." he simply said. Star Twinkle got confused hearing that, especially since Tinker seemed to be rather serious in this very moment. "How do you know?" He asked. "Isn't it obvious!?" He exclaimed, causing Star Twinkle to jump on the spot. "The transformation came from sort of connection! The connection being the Four Knight's of the Princess!" Star Twinkle remembered hearing that term before. "Wait...I think I heard that somewhere before," he said while he tried to remember it. "I think I read a book here in the Crystal Empire that mentioned them," "Right!" Tinker said. "The Knight's of the Princess were able to transform as well and use magic that is now long forgotten! Starwhite must have been connected to those ponies since he was able to do the same. And then...there is you!" He said while he walked dangerously close to Star Twinkle and looked straight into his face. "How do you know to use an ancient transformation like this? What is your connection with them!?" Star Twinkle felt a little intimidated to get bombarded by so many things at once. "I don't know...I barely know anything about it, to be honest," he replied almost frustrated. Tinker didn't say anything and turned around again before he mumbled some more words. "There are really strange things happening recently...as if there is some kind of force driving it...This could be really interesting, depending on what I choose to do from now on...I definitely want to be part of this change..." he said with an excited grin on his face. "Uh..." Star Twinkle said, causing Tinker to look back at him in fascination. For some reason, it sent shivers down on his back. "Your transformation is only one thing that I need to know more about..." Tinker said excitedly. "Even if it is, for some reason, incomplete..." he mumbled while he turned his head around yet again. "That transformation of the four knights... Terra Unisus..." Star Twinkle had no idea what this stallion was mumbling about but he clearly had no time for it and reminded him that they still needed to hurry. "Can we please return to the stadium? I'm not sure when the next event is about to begin..." he said, hoping that Tinker would make hast from this point on. "Yeah, sure!" Tinker replied in a sudden happier mood change. The two then started to walk over to the stadium so that Tinker could get to the machine and enable the Anti-magic System. Tinker took care of the machine and claimed that it would work now, which meant that Star Twinkle could finally return to his friends. A little later... Star Twinkle was just running up the stairs to reach the audience seats. Once he had a good look on of the stadium, he saw how the Aerial Relay already started. In fact, they seemed to be in the final stretch of the race. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire were in the lead and Hurricane Wing just switched in for his brother Cyclone Wing, making him leave a little bit behind. Hurricane Wing tried to catch up with the two mares but there was no way that he could with the two mare's being in the lead that far. Eventually, it was only a race between Rainbow Dash and Spitfire. One of them, however, was slightly faster and managed to get through the finish line by an inch. It was Spitfire, meaning that Cloudsdale was winning Gold and Ponyville Silver. "Almost..." Star Twinkle said as he saw that. He really would have liked it if Team Ponyville managed to get gold in this race but judging from how the two mare's hoof bumped each other, Rainbow Dash was showing fair sports and wasn't mad about losing to Spitfire. Star Twinkle figured that he shouldn't stand in front of the stairs and tried to look for his friends, who should be sitting nearby somewhere. However, as soon as he noticed Spike down there next to Shining Armor. "And now... um... the Cloudsdale anthem, as sung by... Spike!" Shining Armor announced, causing the crowd to cheer in excitement. "What?" Star Twinkle said as soon as he heard that. The stallion had no idea why Spike was down there until he remembered how upset he was before for not being able to light the torch. This must have been his way to deal with the situation. Maybe he wanted to show all of Equestria that he could be better than this. Star Twinkle just hoped that he would not get nervous again. He was actually surprised that the little dragon volunteered to sing the Cloudsdale anthem. Star Twinkle himself, never even heard it before. ...And from the sounds of it...Spike didn't either... "Oh, we're the Wonderbolts and we're super fast And we're from Cloudsdale which-is-a-part-of-Equestria" The little dragon began to sing nervously. Sadly, that was only the beginning of something much worse to come. "That we like best and we're proud and we're fast and we like it because it really has nice trees Yeah, we love the town because it's so cool and, and we like to fly really fast and everything like that I kinda wish this was over 'cause it is... n't... yet... over... now. Oh, we're the Wonderbolts and we're super fast and we're cloud– from Cloudsdale We like it there 'cause it's really nice and the trees are cool and I hope it is over now And... it keeps going on, la la la And we really love the town So I wish that this... song... was over now. Over... now. Over... now..." After a very long and awkward song from Spike, the whole stadium was filled with shocked silence. Star Twinkle actually never expected that this place could be quiet like that. You could practically hear a needle drop and everypony would be able to hear it. The Wonderbolts, who were born in Cloudsdale, were probably shocked the most, as well as every other pony who lives there. However, there was one pony who was not able to read the mood and applauded Spike for his singing. And that pony was, of course, Pinkie Pie. "Nailed it!" She said throughout the whole stadium. Needless to say, Spike left the scene in embarrassment and the crowd started to mumble confused words to each other. They were probably really confused to see what just happened in front of them. Star Twinkle was feeling no different and had an embarrassed expression on his face. "What just happened?" Was all he could say. Later that night... The Equestria Games started to come to an end. There was only one more event that was left and it was called Ice Archery. The group wanted to concentrate on this event but all they could think of was what Spike did before, making it pretty hard to enjoy the games. Star Twinkle just walked up to the rest of his friends with a worried expression on his face. Rarity quickly picked up on that. "How did it go?" She asked. "Not good...he wouldn't open the door again...I think Twilight is with him now, though," Star Twinkle replied. He was, of course, referring to Spike. He tried talking with him over the course of the day but he always refused to talk with anyone. Or maybe he was just not in the current state to talk with anypony. Rarity didn't seem to like hearing that and frowned a little to which Applejack tried to comfort the mare. "Aw, don't worry, Rarity...Spike will be fine again," she said as she put her hoof around Rarity. "I'm actually more worried about what everypony else is thinking about poor little Spike after his last attempt to impress them..." Rarity expressed. "Well...he is still considered a hero of the Crystal Empire..." Star Twinkle pointed out. "I don't think a little...slip up like this will influence much of his reputation..." he explained, even though he had some small doubts after he said those words. The group really felt a little down, even after Star Twinkle said those words so Pinkie Pie felt responsible to cheer up everypony again. "Hey, did you know that Ponyville has thirty-seven medals and Cloudsdale thirty-six? It looks like we'll be medal champs of the Games!" She said, trying to change the subject for the better. Rainbow Dash noticed Pinkie Pie's attempt to cheer everypony up and decided to follow up. "But Cloudsdale has two ice archery finalists down there now and we have none! If they both place, Cloudsdale wins the medal count!" She pointed out. "So you're saying that it all comes down to this one event?!" Pinkie Pie replied with some worry in her voice. Suddenly, the main concern was now how Cloudsdale was doing in this event, instead of how Spike was feeling. It was probably better like that. It actually made everypony think about something else. Of course, everypony still felt bad about the little dragon but there was not much left to do for him, especially since the games were almost over. Star Twinkle also believed that if there was one pony left to cheer him up, then it was Twilight so he just believed that she could cheer him up again. Putting the Spike matter aside, the group tried to focus on the current event. There were a bunch of ponies who used bows and arrows to shoot at some targets as one would expect from an archery event, however, according to Rainbow Dash, those arrows were special. Each time they would hit, the area around them would freeze a little bit and the pony who managed to encase the whole target first would win the competition. It was actually rather tense to watch this, knowing that the end result would determine which team had the most medals at the end of the day. But as soon as they all got caught into all of this, some fan next to the group cheered loudly for one of the competitors. "Go get them, Hurricane!" Star Twinkle actually jumped as soon as those words were practically shouted into his ears. It was Steel Wing who was the one who sat next to him. As soon as the ringing sound in Star Twinkle's ear was gone, he asked what Steel Wing and Cyclone Wing were doing next to him. "We are cheering for our brother of course!" Steel Wing explained. "Look!" He said before he pointed down there to the field. Hurricane Wing was one of the archers who competed down there as well. "Well, Canterlot did well in those games, but there is no way that you'll beat us or Cloudsdale in terms of medal count with only one of you down there," Rainbow Dash said proudly with a wide grin on her face. "Shh!" Steel Wing replied while he looked over to his right, where his big brother was sitting at. It was only now, that Star Twinkle and the others noticed how Cyclone Wing was sitting there with a defeated look on his face. "We let the princess down..." he repeated over and over again. "Somepony surely takes those games seriously..." Star Twinkle thought with a small smile on his face. The event down on the field continued. It was starting to look as if it was about to end anytime soon since most of the targets were almost completely filled with ice. This actually put some pressure on some of the competitors. One of them was actually pressured enough that he dropped his bow and managed to accidentally shoot an arrow in the air and hitting a cloud that was over the stadium. At first, it looked as if nothing happened but shortly after, the cloud was starting to freeze and came down falling to the ground. "Oh no!" Rarity exclaimed in shock after she saw how this cloud came falling towards everypony. "This is bad!" Star Twinkle added in fear. But Rainbow Dash quickly stepped up. "Steer it towards the field, away from the crowds!" "She is right! We have to do something!" Cyclone Wing agreed, who seemed to have put himself together in this very moment. "Right!" Steel Wing said before he flew towards the frozen cloud with Cyclone Wing and Rainbow Dash doing the same shortly after. Star Twinkle figured that he should assist them as well and decided to transform to fly up there. But strangely enough...he couldn't. "What? Why can't I..." he said before he remembered one crucial thing. "The Anti-Magic System!" He then remembered. Of course, Tinker's invention was still active and prevented the use of magic. As it turns out, it also blocked Star Twinkle's transformation. This was especially bad because it looked like as if all the Pegasus, that tried to stop the cloud weren't enough to stop it from falling. Shining Armor seemed to order the Anti-Magic System to be turned off but there didn't seem to be enough time to do that. Things looked really bad. Star Twinkle looked all over the place to see if he could come up with a solution for this. He soon spotted Twilight and Spike down on the field, the latter one walking straight towards the frozen cloud. "All of you, move!" He shouted as he continued to walk towards the cloud. Since all of the Pegasus couldn't stop the cloud from falling anyway, they decided to move away to see what Spike was about to do. The little dragon jumped on the backs of the ponies and made a huge jump towards the cloud and released a huge fire breath towards it. Shortly after, the huge cloud was covered in a green flame and started to melt. Soon, the frozen cloud was completely melted and the only thing that was left was some rain that was caused by it. "That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed after she witnessed that. The little dragon was quickly approached by his friends who all expressed their praise for him saving the day in this dire situation. Even the princesses came to thank him. Princess Cadance especially was grateful that Spike saved the empire yet again. "I just wanted to thank you personally for saving those ponies and the Games, O Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious. You must be very proud. But Spike gave a surprising answer. "I guess," he simply replied. "You guess?!" Everypony else who was present instantly replied confused. Spike explained what was bothering him. "I just saw what needed to be done and reacted. Just so happens I can breathe fire and... if any of you could do that, you'd have done the same," he said. He clearly still seemed to be down after all the events that happened earlier this day. "Forgive me for bein' blunt, Spike, but you're not makin' a lick of sense," Applejack commented. "Well, it's just how I feel," Spike expressed with a frown on his face. "Wait a second," Twilight then said as soon as she seemed to have figured out what was bothering Spike. "You keep saying you let everypony down, but we all keep saying you didn't. You know who's disappointed in you, Spike? You. And only you can make it right with you again. What would that take, Spike?" She asked in concern of the little dragon. "Meh, I don't know. Can you turn back time? 'Cause I'd sure like a do-over on that opening ceremony," he asked. "Well there is that one scroll from Starswirl-" Star Twinkle pointed out before he was poked in the sides by Twilight, who thought that bringing that up wasn't the best idea now. Princess Cadance, however, seemed to already have something in mind. "We can't turn back time, but, would you do me the great honor of lighting fireworks in my place at the closing ceremonies tonight?" She suggested. Twilight thought that this was a great idea. "Come on, Spike. You saved the Crystal Empire twice! I think you can light some fireworks," With that said, Spike agreed to give it a shot. All there was left to do was to continue the games so that they could be closed by him. And there was not much time left until that was the case. A little later... After everypony was awarded their medals, all that was left was ending the games with a huge firework. Star Twinkle and his friends were waiting for exactly that while also celebrating the success of their own achievements. "We did it! Ponyville won the medal count, and only by one medal!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "Hmm, wonder which medal that was?" Rainbow Dash added before she raised her chest to show off her own medal to everypony. Shortly after, the Fireworks were about to start and Spike walked up to the field to try closing the games without embarrassing himself this time. Luckily, Spike managed to light the fireworks without a problem though and the sky was quickly filled with beautiful colors. "Looks like he did it," Star Twinkle said after seeing Spike doing everything right. "He sure did," Twilight added. "He also shared with me what he learned after everything that happened today," "Lemme hear," Star Twinkle said, being curious about what that could be. Twilight then repeated what Spike told her. "No matter how many times others tell you you're great, all the praise in the world means nothing if you don't feel it inside. Sometimes to feel good about yourself, you gotta let go of the past. That way, when the time comes to let your greatness fly, you'll be able to light up the whole sky," For some reason, Star Twinkle felt like that this lesson was directed towards him, which caused him to widen his eyes while thinking about those words. "Is something the matter?" Twilight asked as soon as she saw that reaction of Star Twinkle. "No, it's nothing...don't worry about it..." Star Twinkle replied while he looked up at the sky and continued to watch the fireworks. Twilight decided to leave it at that and joined in to watch the fireworks as well. They were pretty nice to look at after all... At the same time, outside of the stadium... As soon as the fireworks began to start inside the stadium, Tinker, who was walking away from it looked back to the stadium. "Looks like those boring games are finally over," he said before he didn't spare any more second looking at the fireworks. "At first, I thought coming here was a big waste of time but getting the chance to meet Star Twinkle again really made up for it," he said with a smile on his face. "I really wished that his Terra Unisus transformation would be complete because right now, it isn't even worth it. He probably isn't even able to use Terra Unisus Magic, like the Knight's of the Princess," he mumbled to himself. Some ponies around the empire noticed the fireworks as well and figured that they should remove some decorations since the Equestria Games were over now. "Can you remove those?" One stallion said to a Unicorn who then proceeded to use it's magic to remove some ribbons that were hanging on one of the street lights. Unknown to all of this, Tinker walked past them while being in deep thoughts. He also didn't seem to notice that the hoof on his necklace was glowing in a yellow light all of the sudden. The Unicorn proceeded to remove the ribbon from the street lights and levitated it in front of him, but to his surprise, the light around the ribbon and around his horn vanished and the ribbon dropped to the ground. "Huh?" He said, while he knocked on is horn in confusion. The lights, which were all kept shining because of magic, also seemed to go out as soon as Tinker walked past them. They did light up once he was too far away from them but the ponies who were removing the decorations surely were surprised what exactly was going on right now. Tinker's necklace stopped glowing again and he didn't seem to be aware or either didn't care about all those things happening around him. He was clearly too deep in his thoughts after all. "Then again..." he started, once he finished another one of his thoughts. "There was this one incident in Ponyville...that fire...a pony that set the town on fire...I am pretty sure it was the result of Terra Unisus Magic as well..." he mumbled to himself. He quickly figured that there was some kind of connection to this event and Star Twinkle and he wanted to find the answer to that. "But!" He then randomly exclaimed. "I don't have time to think about that! There are so many other things to worry about just now!" He said with an excited expression on his face. "One thing after another...I have to continue my research after, once I get back home after all!" He added before he ran towards the train station to get home again to get back to his research. Whatever that research was...