The Little Pony Legend: Shadow Play

by MyEcho4

Shadows and Reflections

Chapter 5: Shadows and Reflections

Not even covering his pony ears with a pillow could cancel the noise of the loud banging at the door. The sorcerer tried his best to nudge his wife awake but even he knew that she could sleep even through a bombing raid without flinching. Finally giving up, Nova groaned as he got up out of bed, his hair an unruly mess, and he walked staggerly to the living room. He rubbed his eyes, his bangs were a darker shade than his natural any blue color, making him look all the more unappealing. He shifted into his anthro form as he approached the door.

“Chi, I know this night was important to you but I swear if you lost your 12th key already, I will turn you into-”

As soon as he opened the door all traces of sleep and grumpiness had been completely erased. There he saw Iris and his sister, all beat up, bruised, and very weak, leaning on the Avatar’s shoulder. He wasted no time in pulling the girls in and laid Chi out on the pullout couch.

“Sunset! Sunset! Wake up!” Nova shouted as he ran down the hall to the bedroom. There he still saw the unicorn still fast asleep. 

“Mmmm...hang on honey. Just gotta save the prince from the evil king, okay?”

Nova rolled his eyes before saying “Sunset! It’s Chi! She’s hurt!.”

As soon as she heard the words “Chi” and “hurt”, Sunset sprung out of bed, shifting into her anthro form, and ran out of the bedroom, nearly knocking over Nova in the process. She ran over to the couch and gasped at her sister-in-law.

“Iris, what happened?” Sunset asked. 

“It’s a long story.” Iris said. “To put it lightly, she got hit on the head pretty hard.”

Chi groaned and opened her eyes, giving her sister-in-law and brother a weak smile as she tried to get up from the bed.

““Nah. it was nothing. Just a scratch for this wisp!” she said confidently as she jumped out of bed but staggered a bit but pretended to act like it didn't even happen. “See? I'm in tip-top form!”

“Auntie?”

The three looked to see Eclipse, all dressed in his PJ’s coming out of the hallway, still rubbing his eyes.

“Eclipse, go back to bed honey, everything’s fine. ” Sunset said in a calm motherly voice. 

“It’s okay, Sunset.” Chi said as she walked over to her little nephew. “Heya, sport. What are you still doing up?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” Eclipse replied. “You didn’t sing me to sleep like you always do. And you promised you would when you got home.”

“Well I'm home now. And to prove to you all that im okay, I'm going to take Eclipse to bed and sing him his lullaby, okay bro?”

Nova, not feeling in the mood to argue, shrugged his shoulders and let her go. Chi picked Eclipse up and carried him back to his room. No matter how hard one tried, Chi’s stubbornness was like a huge brick wall. Impossible to penetrate. 

“I always keep forgetting that she’s a stubborn wisp.”

“I think she got that from you” Sunset said, nudging his shoulder.

“Oh haha.”

“Ahem.”

The couple turned around at the sudden attention of the princess. “Now that we know Chi is fine, there is something else you guys need to know.”

“That we do.” Nova replied. “What happened out there? I thought she didn’t want anyone with her.”

“Well she did.” Iris replied before tugging her hair. “Buuut me and the others were feeling guilty so we followed her. Though, she was actually pretty happy to see us but that’s not important right now.” 

She said before getting back on topic. “It’s...about the museum.”

Nova and Sunset shared glances of concern. “What do you mean?”

Chi finished tucking the little unicorn back in his bed, giving him his favorite stuffed animal to snuggle with. She dimmed her blue aura a little so it could be dark enough for him along with his night light.

“Alright. Comfortable?” 

Eclipse nodded as he held on to his stuffed animal, a platypus bear.

“Iris told me about today’s lesson. I can’t believe you could teleport that far!”

“I know right?” Eclipse exclaimed happily. “I actually teleported into Uncle Mako’s office! You should’ve seen the look on his face!” 

Chi giggled. “Oh, I can imagine! Keep that up and you’ll be better than Nova in no time.”

“And maybe you can teach me archery!”

“Woah there! I already told you that you are too young. We can practice when you’re older.”

Eclipse pouted. “Aww but I wanna learn now! I’ve been practicing!”

“I know you have, kiddo. But you know as much as I do is that if Nova or Sunset found out, or if anything happened to you, they would turn me into a doormat.”

“I know.” Eclipse said “I just wanna be awesome like you and the guardians.”

"Awesome like us? How so?"

"For one, you guys have superpowers! You can run crazy fast, Uncle Hiro can make rocks explode. Auntie Nori can make pearl shield things. Uncle Gallant can talk to animals like Doctor Toku Dolittle! And you guys are so fearless, taking on the dangerous spirits like the Nogitsune or fighting the Storm King to save Equestria! But me ...well...I can just teleport and fire sparkles from my horn. I just wish I could be like you guys. Be like you especially.”

The wisp couldn't believe what he was saying. It wasn't a bad thing but Chi always knew since he opened his eyes for the first time, Eclipse was a big fan of the Guardians of Harmony. From meeting them after school, getting lessons from Iris or Akari to even begging his parents to get one of them to babysit him and have Hiro plan his party every year. He dreamed of becoming a guardian someday and promised to work his hardest to do so. She took a strand of his hair and placed it behind his ear. 

"Oh Eclipse." She started. "I know you wanna be a Guardian but you actually have it all wrong. Being a guardian is more than just superpowers and being fearless. It's especially more than rainbow laser light shows."

"It's not?" Eclipse said. "But isn't that all you do? I thought being a Guardian means all of that and spreading the magic of friendship?"

Chi got up from his bed and pulled her shirt down just a tad so her torso was showing where she manifested her bright blue sol.

"You know what this is right, Eclipse?"

"Yeah. It's your Sol. It’s your heart and gives you the power to shapeshift. You got it from your brother, right? My Uncle Shade? When he sacrificed himself."

"Yep." She said. "But also nope."

"Wait, Uncle Shade isn't my Uncle?"

She giggled, "No no silly! He is still your emo, stubborn uncle like I told you. What I was talking about is the shapeshifting part. I can shapeshift depending on my feelings. How Wisps use this power is that we need to think happy thoughts in order to turn into what we want. The happier the thought, the more awesome things I can turn into. Which is why whenever I do that, I always think of my happiest memories. My family. Both old and new. And really, it kinda scares me especially when we're saving the world."

"You? Scared? But your the element of loyalty!"

"I know but here's the thing. You see, kiddo, Being a Guardian is more than all that you told me, while it does have it perks it also has its share of baggage. Especially for me. I'm not only the element of loyalty but also the big sister of the team. While Iris may be in charge, I'm still the one who has to look out for everyone. Make sure nothing bad happens to them. I'm the one responsible for anything that falls upon them and it scares me to imagine what would happen if Akari' was turned to stone by the Storm King or seeing them fall out of the sky. I'm scared that I'm going to mess up and someone will get hurt or worse. I can't let that happen to me. Not again."

Eclipse frowned. He always thought that her auntie was the spunky, heroic, bubbly gal that he grew up with but he never heard this side of her. Especially knowing now how she shapeshifts. While showing many strengths, she also has weaknesses as well   hand held his tiny hands out and places it on Chi's warm glowing blue on.

"I...I didn't know you felt that way. I'm sorry for what I said."

"Hey don't be." She said holding onto his hand. "Because you know how I overcome it?"

Eclipse shook his head. 

"I don't let those thoughts cloud me because I love them. I love them with all my Sol. They're the ones that make me wake up every morning and high tail it to school, they're the ones that make me laugh when I'm having a bad day just as I do with them. We all care and love one another and that's what makes me strong, run fast, and...do this!"

She shook her head into a goofy looking mask and started doing funny faces to the young pony like her tongue extending out while her eyes rolled in her head to even stretching her face out to crazy proportions like a rubber band before letting it snap back in place, making the little pony laugh a little before shaking her head, returning it to normal.

"Again again!"

"Ha ha! Maybe another night, Eclipse." She replied. "What I'm saying is in the end, being a Guardian is about facing your personal obstacles to do what is right to spread the magic of friendship around us, not just about superpowers. Shoot, I still wonder why I was chosen to be the Element of Loyalty."

I know why."

"You do?"

"Yep. Like you said, you love your family and will do anything to protect them. Even if it means sacrificing your life by your own brother. Also, your the coolest auntie in the universe so they really had no choice."

Chi smiled and gave him a small kiss on the forehead. "Aww thanks, squirt. Ready for bed?"

Eclipse let out a yawn and rubbed his eye. A sigh of yes no doubt.

"You gonna sing your mom's lullaby?" 

“Of course. I always keep my promise” said Chi as she pulled the blankets up a tad more before opening her mouth and started to sing in her beautiful voice.

The little colt’s eyes closed  for the last time of the day as he fell fast asleep in his bed. 

“Good night, Squirt.” she whispered before giving him one more kiss on the forehead and quietly walking out of the bedroom, trying not to make any sounds on her way out. She closed the door, letting it click before walking back to the living room where Nova and Sunset were now putting on their jackets, despite being in their pajamas.

“Is he asleep?” he asked as he finished buttoning up his coat.

“Out like a light.” Chi then looked around and noticed that someone was missing. “Hey, where’s Iris?”

“She went home."

Chi noticed her brother's worried face, even though he looked like he could pass out at any moment.

"You’re heading over there now? At this time?"

"We have to see what happened for ourselves. If what Iris showed us is what I think it is, then they're back." replied Sunset.

"Wait, you know who they are?" Chi asked with surprise. 

Before Nova could speak, a phone buzzed on the table and Nova picked it up, seeing it was a text from Mako. He took a look at it before replying back.

"We'll talk about it when we get back." Nova said as he finished putting on his shoes and grabbed the house key from the wall. "Until then, stay here with Eclipse, okay?"

Chi nodded and yawned herself before giving a kiss to both of them. 

"See ya guys later today."

"Will do." said Sunset before the couple heading out the door and closed it. Chi went and sat down on couch and kicked her shoes off, placing her feet on the coffee table. She rubbed her temples. What a night this has been. A simple night turned into complete chaos. Though she should know by now that this wasn't anything new. She reached into her cost pocket and pulled out the card that was shown to her back in the forest. Just who were those guys? They seemed to know Queen Korra and the Elements all too well like they met them in the past. Did they? Or were they just messing with their heads. And speaking of which the leader, Nadare, she had never seen anyone like that before. The way he moved, fought, and his voice. Just the thought of it made the wisp's face scrunch up like a crumpled piece of paper. Just who did he think he was trying to hit on her like that? He's more like a pervert than a leader. But when she thought of him again, she noticed his eyes behind the mask. Bright blue cyan. While having that tint of evil in them, they also look awfully familiar. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but it's like she knew him from somewhere. Before she could ponder any further, her skirt buzzed and she pulled out her phone, seeing it's a text from Iris.

"Are Sunset and Nova still there?"

"Nah. Went into town to check out the museum. Nova was pretty concerned though."

"Same with my mom. But Dad looked even more worried. Like he knew this was coming."

"What do you mean?" 

"Idk. Im gonna go ask him in the morning."

"They asked you to stay behind too huh?"

"You know how they are. Even after we saved the world...several times. Though I am kinda tired."

Chi yawned. "Same. I'm gonna go hit the hay myself. Where do you wanna meet up tomorrow?"

"Entrance of the Museum…..are you sure your okay? You looked pretty beat up back there."

"I'm fine. dw"

"I'm just worried that's all."

"that's my job lol. I'll ttyl!"

"TTYL"

The wisp yawned and dragged herself to her room. She didn't even bother changing and simply took off her socks, jacket and skirt and fell into her hammock in her t-shirt and shorts. She snored the night away, every so often twitching like a dog or cat. As she slept, her chest glowed a faint blue color, pulsing like in tempo with each breath she took ...then mysteriously, it turned into a faint magenta like color, glowing ominously in the dark room.

Sweat poured down her face as Chi opened her eyes and suddenly began to cough the amount of smoke she breathed in.

Smoke.

She instantly jumped up and noticed she was no longer in her room but on the grass in the everfree forest. She looked at her surroundings and noticed that it was on fire. Why was the forest on fire?”

"Hello?" She called out,. "Anyone?"

"Auntie Chi!"

Knowing that voice like it was her own, she spun her head towards the source and saw Little Eclipse, held limply in the hooves of Sunset and Nova. Standing beside the unicorns were The Guardians, all in a fighting stance.

"Eclipse!" She called out. "Don't worry I'm here!"

"Get away, traitor!" said Akari, her voice booming through the trees.

"Traitor? Kari what are you talking about?"

"We believed in you, Chi." Iris said, her voice cracking as she was trying not to break down. "You were family, why did you betray us?!"

"Iris…."

"You were my sister!" Nova shouted. "Eclipse loved you!"

"You were supposed to protect us!" Hiro shouted, tears are seen rolling down his cheeks.

Chi couldn't believe what she was hearing. Why were they so angry? What happened to her nephew? As though she knew the nexts words to say, she spoke like having no control of herself "I... didn't mean to." The wisp pleaded. "Please, if you would just let me explain-"

When she stretched out her hand, the flames around her charged toward the the five heroes as if by command. They all screamed in pain and terror as they were engulfed by the flames and right in front of Chi. They were reduced to ashes which flew up into the red colored sky. Chi covered her mouth in terror at what she had just witnessed. When she looked around, she noticed that there was more fire in places that weren't there before. In fact, she was surrounded by the flames but when she looked at herself, she wasn't burning. Not even the smell of smoke came off of her. It was like she was immune to the blaze before her. She buckled down to her knees and began to weep, crying in her hands.

"I'm sorry...I...I couldn't save you."

She uncovered her face and glanced at the puddle beneath her made by her tears when she saw herself in it, she was horrified to see not her in the puddle but someone else entirely. Someone she never even wanted to think about since that day.

Tirek.

She screamed and crawled away from it before backing into a tree and yelping, getting back on her feet in an instant and ran deep into the forest, she noticed a figure running beside her, as if racing her. She kept running as fast as she could deeper and deeper into the forest. When the trees finally cleared she noticed herself running towards a cliff but it was too late to stop herself as she tumbled off, screaming all the way into the dark void. She looked up and noticed the silhouettes of Nadare and his gang all laughing at her as she kept falling and falling. She turned around to not look at them but that just made things worse as she was now looking into the gaping maw of the powerful Tirek, ready to devour her like he did with her species all those years ago. 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" 

"CHI WAKE UP!"

The wisp gasped as if she was begging for air from being underwater for too long. She stood up and ran over to the corner of her room, her clothes and body completely drenched in sweat and tears, her eyes red and nose a little runny too. She breathed heavily as she gazed upon who woke her up. It was Iris and the Guardians, all having looks of shock and concern on their faces. The poor wisp was glowing purple, a sign of fear in her kind. It was like she seen a ghost. 

Iris slowly walked over to Chi. "It's okay. It's just us."

Chi looked down at her outstretched hand and slowly reached her hand out and gave her own, her fear slowly draining away almost instantly. Her hand was still drenched in sweat however but Iris really didn't care. The only thing that mattered was her friend.

"I...Iris…"

"It's okay, We're here." Hiro calmly said. "It's over."

"By..but why are you all here?" Chi questioned, slowly getting composition back. "I thought we were meeting at...oh no."

"We did but our parents were gone" Akari said. " They said they were over at the station so we were heading over there when we went by your place." 

"We thought you were sleeping in again and we all had a key to the apartment." Mai added. " When we came inside, Eclipse was already gone and-"

"Wait he's gone?!?" Chi exclaimed. 

"No Chi, it’s fine. Sunset left a note saying she was taking him to daycare."

Chi sighed in relief.

"Anyway, we heard you screaming and that's when we woke you up. You had quite the nightmare didn't you?"

Chi nodded her head. "But that's it. Just a nightmare." she walked over to her closet and grabbed some new pair of clothes and flew into her bathroom. "Nothing to worry about."

"You were screaming louder than the time the new Marvelous issue was delayed by a week." said Chrysalis.

"That issue was the conclusion to the biggest cliffhanger in history! They can't just "delay" it!" She protested, her words a little muffled due to her brushing her teeth.

"Chi, we’re being serious," said Gallant. "Last night was pretty insane. If you don't wanna go that's perfectly-"

"And I'm telling you that I am fine." she retorted as she stepped out of the bathroom, fully clothed and cleaned up. "It was just a bad dream. I had a rough night, in case you forgot."

Iris sighed. Just like her that wisp was more stubborn than Cranky Doodle. "Okay. If you say so."

"Thank you." Chi replied, walking to the kitchen and picking a nice red apple from the fruit bowl and taking a big bite out of it. "So...we gonna go or what?"

As much as they were concerned for their friend, they had other important issues at hand. They all headed out the door and into the elevator to make their way to the police station.

Ponies and humans gathered around the now closed off Museum. Harmony City police officers scouted the perimeter,  calling in the city's best detectives to help solve the mysterious break in while reporters and journalists flooded the streets and entrance, trying to get answers to what happened. Iris and the other ran through the crowd and made it to the now closed off entrance, several guards standing at the perimeter. 

“Excuse me?” she called out to the guard, he looked down and he casually greeted the princess.

“Morning, Princesses, Guardians.”

“Are our dads inside?” asked Akari. “We were supposed to meet them here.”

“Oh yeah of course.” he replied before opening the gate to the team but enough so they can get in and keep the reporters. When the entered the building it was a terrible sight to behold. Dozens of guard still unconscious from last night and the rest who were awake or trying to stay awake, getting care from the medical team.  Rainbow, Flash, and Soarin were trying to question the conscious guards Rosalyn, Tadashi and Mako were looking over the scene. Korra, Twilight, Bolin, Nova, Sunset, and Asami were nowhere to be seen. From the looks of it, the museum as a whole was completely unscathed, all except for the main exhibit case and a shattered skylight. Whoever these thieves were, they had this well planned out from start to finish. After getting through the crowd, Iris saw her mom  along with the others walking out of what seemed to be a security room. They all had small bangs under their eyes, indicating they have been up for most of the night in front of the cameras.

“Hey Mom!” 

“Iris?” Korra smiled in relief when she looked over to the kids. “What are you guys doing here? Don’t you have school?”

“Its Saturday.”

“Is it?” Korra said before looking at her geo-phone, the date being Saturday just like she said. “Huh. Age is finally starting to get to me. “ Korra said before letting out a long yawn.

“Wow, you guys look horrible.” Mai said which got her some looks from the team. Being the element of honesty, she tends to be honest a little bit too much in certain places. Even when half asleep, they still caught on her brutal honesty.

“Gee thanks, Mai” Bolin replied. 

“I’ve been scanning and checking those cameras for hours.” Asami replied. “I looked through everything I could find, even used that procedure you taught me but what they did was far more advanced in tech.”

“We tried rebooting it, using magic, even kicking and punching it but we came up with-”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Nova finished before sighing. “I mean yeah we got the book back but who in their right mind would steal that when there are dozens of other priceless artifacts here?”

“Only thing we found was a card where they took the book.” said Sunset “Did you guys see anything else when you took them on? Like symbols? Scars? anything?”

The team thought about anything they could remember but shook their heads. But the more Akari thought about it, the more she did remember something on that brown wolf's clothes.

"Actually...I do remember something. A symbol of some sort"

"Really? What did it look like?" Korra asked, her tone sounding very nervous all of a sudden.

“If I remember correctly, it looked like the shape of three claw marks going down the right side. It looked like it was clawing out the symbol of the Shadow Triads. Each of them had it, both it was in several places like the one I fought had it on her jacket.”

“Hey...now that you mention it. I remember seeing a symbol like that too.” Gallant chimed in. “only it was on his glove.”

“Yeah I remember seeing one also.” said Hiro.

“Me too.” Nori added.
“Ditto.” said Chi. 

The adults, except for Nova, looked at each other with unease. The way the kids described the symbol it sounded all too familiar to them. Something they thought was gone a long time ago. Nova noticed this and looked at his wife with concern.

“Hey you alright? It's like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Korra sighed at rubbed her forehead. If she's thinking what she’s thinking, they were in big trouble.

“I'm gonna go talk to your father.” Korra told her daughter before walking over to him and the others were still trying to get questions out of them. Hozu was trying to process everything that just happened in the last several seconds.

“Uhm okay so what was THAT about?” Hozu asked. “You clearly know something. Who were those guys?”

Twilight looked at the others and sighed. It was probably time for them to be caught up. She placed a hand on both Akari and Iris’s shoulders.

“They're ...They're called the Shadow Claws.”

The group looked at each other with confusion.

“Shadow Who?” they said in unison.

“Shadow Claws” Mako said, handing Gallant a file with one of the members names on it. Each of the Guardians were actually given a file, each with a name on the tab and front saying “CLASSIFIED” in big red lettering. When they opened it up, they were greeted by what they would assume to be a temporary mugshot of each of the thieves. And by temporary, it was a poorly shot photographs of them trying to get a facial at least but for some it was either a blur or only half a face or body part. In the notes, nearly all the info about them was blank besides their names and code names along with abilities. Some had more evidence than others.

Also among the group were Tadashi and Rosalyn

“They were, well in this case -are- one of the United Kingdom’s most wanted criminals. Wanted for breaking and entering, assault on officer and civilians, smuggling, Grand Theft in all cases, and for one of them, attempted manslaughter.”

The team looked at each other with unease. If what Mako said was true, they were lucky that night.

“They were responsible for some of the biggest theft crimes in the city before some of you were born.” said Rainbow Dash. “After several years, they decided to take their thievery beyond the city and into Equestria and even the Spirit world.”

Nova rubbed his chin in thought. “Y’know. The more you talk about them, I do remember me and Chi hearing news about these guys a couple years before I met you all of you.”

“Yeah..Yeah me too!” said Chi. “Though we thought it was Kage, Shade, and Ronin so we tried to go find them but they were always one step ahead. They were good. Real good.”

“That’s what makes them unique,” said Rosalyn. “The Shadow Claws were originally part of my gang, The Shadow Triads.”

 “But wait, weren't they disbanded not long after you were kicked out?” questioned Iris, remember when Rosalyn, or back then Tempest, held her and Akari captive on the way to Canterlot.

“Not exactly. After I was booted out, a few weeks passed until I stumbled across an old member. He told me that there was a feud in who would lead the Triads now that me and Tadashi were gone. After several days of seeing who would become the next leader, they decided to just disband and become part of several smaller teams. The Reapers, The Phantom Thieves, and the Shadow Claws.”

“Unfortunately for them, the first two were easily captured in their first heist.” Tadashi added. “As for the Shadow Claws….”

“They always got the better of us.” Flash growled under his breath. “Every time we found out where they were hitting, they were always two steps ahead and we missed them by a thread. Always leaving  a “custom” calling card to mock us.”

“Custom?” Hiro questioned.

Soarin handed him a stack of cards they collected over the years. Chi, Gallant, and Nori looked over his shoulder as he read some of the cards they made. Several of them making them cringe from the jokes made to even having their eyes wider than dinner plates from the words on others.

“Yeesh. These are custom alright.” Nori said with disgust.

“We even got the whole team together for one night.” Korra said before looking at a photo of a crime scene, the date the same one as that night. “I’ll never forget it.”

“We were this close…” Mako said, his anger starting to rise. “This close. We had them surrounded. The entire city was on lockdown.”

“But they still got the upper hand...again!” Flash exclaimed. “It still ticks me off to this day. They were so slick!” the pegasus’s feathers ruffled in anger

“Your dad spent literally months after months trying to find them, he wouldn’t stop till he did.” Twilight said to Akari.

“It almost made me lose my mind.” Flash continued, letting out a long sigh and unclenching his fists to relax. “And my team. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let them get to me again. Especially since I was going to be a dad. I couldn’t risk my anger destroying my family. And myself."

Akari really felt that one. The fact her dad went through so much to catch these guys but had to stop in order to save his life and his family because he almost went out of control was truly heartbreaking. She promised herself that she would make sure they were brought to justice no matter what.

“After that night. They just vanished.” Rainbow continued. “Not a single trace of them remained. Its like they never existed.”

“So we know what they are and what they do.” said Akari, using her fingers as a counter. “But we still don’t know who they are.”

“We were saving that for last.” Tadashi answered as he pulled out his Geoslate and began typing something in before placing it on the table, pictures projecting from the small camera on top.

 “First..there’s Ciya, the badger wolf. Born mute, he talks by how he bends and is much more powerful than he looks.”

“Silent but deadly. Got it.” Hiro noted.

Rosalyn continued.  “Then there’s Tiupan. He’s the airbender that is also blind but don’t let that make you think you have an advantage. He can use the air around him to see, even knowing who is who just by how they walk and how the air moves around them, making him a tough opponent to defeat.”

“ And...he’s also a good cook.” Tadashi chimed in. “Hey those guys may be criminals but he makes the best steamed dumplings I’ve ever tasted….” he said his mouth already beginning to drool as he dreamed of eating his food for the first time long ago.

“Losing you, Tadi!” Rosalyn called out, snapping her fingers in front of his face.

“Oh, right sorry.” he apologized quickly before clearing his throat and continuing.

“Then we have Mona. The smallest of the team. We really don't know much about him since he showed up the last time we were face to face with the Claws. From as much as we could gather, he has some sort of elastic powers and is really flexible and fast on his feet.”

“Guess I’m not the only one who can stretch after all.” Chi muttered before feeling a sudden wave of dizziness wash over her and she rubbed her head.

“Next up is Doku, the muscle. Doku is a scorpion wolf, replacing his tail with a stinger full of venom. While a little can leave his opponents paralysed, take in too much can have serious consequences.”

“Not to mention he can run on all fours both as a wolf and anthro plus having the ability to jump to high places in a single leap.” added Soarin. “He’s also a little...well…” he twirled his finger around his head, implying that this Doku was on a bit of the crazy side of things. 

“Then we have the brains of the team, Kaminari.” said Rosalyn. “She is a skilled anthro wolf, being able to hack into pretty much anything she can get her little claws on. Although still a kid, Kam has been known to pack a punch when necessary and thanks to her electric powers, she can deliver quite a shock to those who touch her stuff.”

“Believe me. I know” said Tadashi, who shivered at the memory of him making the grave mistake of touching her things without permission before continuing. “Hadari is the orca wolf of the team, having the ability to waterbend and swim very well, especially in colder waters. She can also use her looks to seduce her enemies and then strike without warning. She’s also second in command behind Nadare, or at least she considers herself to be.”

“What do you mean by that?” Iris asked.

“Well that answer lies with Bulkan.” Rosalyn answered, swiping the screen to show the picture of the team member who looked to be a jackal. “Bulkan’s past is much more mysterious than the others. All we know is that he and Nadare have been together long before they joined the Triads. Bulkan is not like the others, he is fearsome, cruel, heartless, and extremely dangerous. His sword is made from some of the strongest metal in the United Kingdom and is sharper than a sword, being able to slice even the thickest of things in one swoop.”

“Bulkan will stop at nothing to get what he wants,” said Tadashi. “Even if it means taking a life.”

“I guess we found our Kage.” whispered Hiro to Iris but not too loud for Nova to hear. 

“And now for the final member of the group.” Rosalyn states as the image transitions into the main leader of the team. Not much can be said in terms of appearance besides him being a blue anthro wolf and he seemed to be a big fan of black and blue. His black jacket went all the way down to his knees and had blue outlines on the edges and cuffs, which were folded inside out so the ends won't cover his hands which were covered by dark blue gloves. He had on black pants and dark blue short heeled boots and a black tshirt. His hair was a messy blue color and he had on his face what appeared to be a grey mask with blue outline around the eyes. On his shoulder was the same symbol on the cards though it looked more like it was etched in their poorly. By the way he dressed and how he looked, it was no doubt that he was definitely the leader of the group.

“Nadare.” Mako started. “He’s the leader of this team. From as much as we can put together, he’s just as bad, if not even worse, than Bulkan.

“Though he is not a killer.” Rosalyn stated. “Me and Nadare go way back actually. Long before we joined the Claws. He’s more of a, I guess you can say, charming and charismatic trickster.

Chi shivered in disgust. She definitely got the charismatic part down. Just thinking about him trying to flirt with her last night makes her skin crawl. Though when Chi walked closer to the image and tried to get a better look at him, especially around the eyes. There was something that felt...familiar about him but she just couldn’t put her tongue on it. While looking, she thought she began to see his vision becoming more reddish and blurry. She rubbed her head groaned lightly at the sting of sudden pain and dizziness.

“What is it, Chi?” Nova asked her. The wisp snapped out of it and quickly shook her head. 

“Oh it's nothing” She said, casually brushing it aside. “It's just he looks like an avatar in my video game is all.”

The others looked at her with confusion but decided to just shrug and move on, all except for Iris who seemed to be a little concerned for her still after what happened this morning. Rosalyn cleared her throat and started to continue.

“Anyway, While he may sound dangerous, he doesn’t always rely on violence to get what he wants. That's mostly Bulkan’s doing.”

“But even with him on the team, Nadare made sure to keep him in check while in the Triads.” said Tadashi.

“So now that we know who they are, can anyone explain why they were after a dusty old book?” said Hozu.

“I don’t know.” Rosalyn said. “Whatever is in that book must be very important to them. We can’t let them get their hands on the rest of the book.” she finished as she turned off the geo-slate and handed it back to Mako.

Gallant slowly raised his hand, a little nervous of interrupting the conversation. Fortunately, Mako was the kind of chief that didn’t mind a slight interruption. 

“Yes, Gallant?”

Gallant cleared his throat adjusted himself. “Well, Chief, uh. I think I may know why they might be after the book.”

All heads were now on him, making him feel a little more uncomfortable, but after feeling the hand of his girlfriend on his shoulder, his worries quickly melted away and he stood up. 

“Last night, well, actually all night, me and my family have been trying to decipher the language in the book.” He said as he placed it on the table and opened up to the first page. “The writing is in ancient ponish language. Like long before the one we know today.”

“Ponish language?” Korra asked, a little confused. During her time as a princess, her and Twilight spent some time on learning different languages from Equestria and the human world. They have heard of the language but it proved difficult to decipher and translate when they were snooping through Nova and Starswirl’s stuff so they gave up. “Isnt that language impossible to translate unless you were from old Equestria?”

“Yeah. but My Mom and Dad also know a little of the language. My Dad because of his studies in the crystal empire and my Mom because of the cutie mark removal and time travel spell she used when she hated you guys.”

“That makes sense.” Twilight said, rubbing her chin. “I always wondered how she was able to read that scroll.”

“A lot of reading and a ton of sleepless nights.” Starlight replied. 

“Gallant also taught me a little as well while were studying together some nights.” said Akari. “I might not know as much as you guys but I’m willing to help as much as I can.”

“I appreciate the volunteering, Akari.” Sunburst said. “But while we were able to get the first couple pages done, there's still several more pages that need to be translated. Who knows how long that would take.”

“The claws may have some pages but as far as we know, we have the book. They can’t do much with that. We’re one step ahead and lets make it count because it might be our only chance to find out what they want and stop them before it's too late. I’ve made my mistakes with these guys in the past but not this time. Not again.” Mako looked up to the family and pointed to the book. “Officer Sunburst!”

“Yes sir!” he replied.

“Your orders are you and your family to translate those pages as fast as you can. We need as much help as we can. See if Leilani will be able to help out.”

“Yessir!”

“Lieutenant Dash, Sorin. You guys send out your squads and go over every location between here and 100 miles radius and Sentry, you and your squad go over Equestria. Keep an out for anything suspicious. The rest of us will try to look through the rest of the Starswirl’s stuff to find anything that could help with speeding things up."

"I'll see if me and Sunset can dig through more of The Elder's scrolls." Nova added. "I think it's time to refresh on my old ponish anyway."

“Sounds like a plan!” Iris exclaimed. “Alright guys! Lets get to-”

“Hold up, tiger!” Korra interrupted. “Even with this ordeal going on, you guys still got school going on and you are not missing that.”

“But Mooom!”

“She’s right, Iris.” Mako agreed. “I know you guys want to help but you guys are graduating soon and finishing up school is more important.”

“More important than saving the world from a group of psychotic theives?” she said, placing a hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow.

“Iris…” Korra said in a stern tone. “You know how important this graduation is to you guys and its a week away. You guys still have so much to prep for the ceremony and we can’t let this whole ordeal get in the way with that, can we?”

The princess sighed, her wings drooping with her mood. “Yeah I guess.”

“Well I’m definitely gonna need to be at school since im part of the officers but during free periods and lunch, we can always try to decipher pages and keep track of things while my mom and dad work on it at home or the empire.”

“Thats actually a good idea!” Korra agreed. “What do you say, Iris?”

The princess shrugged “Well. We are still helping even at school. Do you guys promise to let us know if you find anything that could help?”

“Of course.”

“Then it works for me!” Iris exclaimed, her wings bouncing back up again. “What about you guys?”

“Fine by me.” Hozu agreeded.

“Sure.” said Chrysalis.

“Im cool.” Hiro replied.

“We can keep in contact on the Geo-Slates.” Mai replied. “MAGGIE can create a secure VPN where we can talk to each other just in case if our friends want to drop in and snoop on us.”

“Works for me!” Akari replied.

“Im down.” Nori replied.
“What about you Chi?” Iris asked, only to see the wisp wiping some sweat off her face with her sleeve and rubbing her temple. “Uh Chi? You okay?”

The wisp snapped out of it and shook her head. “Y-yeah Im fine.”

“Are you sure?” Hiro asked. “Ever since what happened at your home you’ve been acting a little-”

“I said im fine, Hiro!” she snapped, catching everyone off guard. She realized what she did and cleared her throat. “Sorry. I'm just a little tired that's all. Im gonna go use the bathroom. Be right back.”

Before Nova could ask anything, she zipped out of the room, several papers flying about from the sudden gust of wind.

“What happened at home, Iris?” he asked the princess. 

“She had a nightmare and when we tried to wake her up, she looked worse than mom on a bad hair day.”

Nova was confused. Chi hasn’t had a nightmare in years. Not ever since her brother betrayed her and they found each other. Something mustve really happened last night that did a number on her, but what is the question.

“Could you guys keep an eye on her?” he asked. “Just in case if anything else “weird” happens at school or hanging out?”

“Yeah of course.” Akari replied. “Though I hope she’s okay.”

“Yeah me too. Me too.”

Chi ran into the bathroom and threw her coat on the floor. Her shirt was drenched in sweat as she raced to the sink and turn the faucet on cold before splashing her face with the cool liquid, even making her hand a small cup to take a drink and splash the rest on her face. She looked in the mirror, her shirt now wet and sweaty and her face and parts of her bangs covered in water. She had no idea what was going on with her, every since last night, she felt completely not like her normal self. Did she touch some poison joke? No because her powers would be going on the fritz, she’s not allergic to anything either as far as she’s aware either. Maybe not enough sleep, suddenly she remembered her sol acting a little funny after her ordeal with Nadare last night and she pulled her shirt down enough to wear she can see her sol, though when looking at it, she noticed that it was no longer its bright blue color but now blue with a faint magenta glow on the edges.

“Thats totally weird.” she whispered to herself as she tapped her sol, even using her sleeve to try to wipe off whatever that was stained on there.

“Hey.” 

She shot up and looked around the room, wondering if she’s alone in here. 

“Hello? Anyone in here?” She called out, but no answer came back. She sighed and rubbed her head.

“Great. Im hearing things now.” she muttered. “What’s next my reflection gonna jump out at me?” 

She turned around to splash herself with water one more time before turning off the faucet and grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser to wipe her face. Once she finished drying and threw it away, she looked in the mirror agan….only to find her reflecting looking at her. Smiling.

“What the-?”

“Boo.”

 The wisp let out a yelp, her eyes bulging out for a split second before backing away, forgetting that her coat was on the floor and she slipped, landing her behind right into the trash can and her coat flying up into the air and landing on her head. The reflection laughed at the wisp’s silly incident.

“Oh ho wow! We really are that clumsy aren’t we?’

Chi lifted the coat off her head and gasped at what she saw on the floor. Thanks to the clear crystal waxed floor, she could see her reflection clearly and she it laughing at her. How is this possible? Some sort of magic.

“Okay very funny you guys, but im not in the mood right now okay?” she called out, but nobody answered. “Guys? Its over. You can come out now.”

“Oh nonono. This isn’t their doing” said the reflection, who wiped a tear from her eye. “This is all on you. Well us actually.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Chi as she tried to pull herself up, only to realize that the bin was still stuck to her butt. In an awkward position, she tried to pull the bin off but it would budge. The reflection chuckled slightly.

“Well well. I guess we both now know where all those sundaes and strawberries have gone.”

Chi’s blushed and turned a faint green, glaring at her reflection. “Shut up. Your not even real!”

“Oh but I am, sister.” she replied, giving her silly looking smile. “And we have a lot to discuss.” 

“What are you talking about?” she said, as she was nearing getting the bin off her butt. “We..have...NOTHING...to discuss.” At “nothing” she finally got the bin free and tossed it to the side, picking off any remaining paper towels that clinged onto her purple mini skirt and tossing them into the bin. “You are my reflection. So be one!”

“Uh You do know a reflection talks as well right?” she stated. “Like whenever there's a clear surface? Duh!”

“Will you stop that!” Chi exclaimed. “I have nothing to talk about okay? I am fine. Its just been a long night.”

The reflection sighed. “Alright. Might as well say it. I'm your conscious.”

“My what?”

“Conscious? Y'know that little voice inside your head that tells your right from wrong? Wow did you pay attention to Psychology at all last year?”

“I know what a conscious is.” Chi replied a little annoyed. “Stop assuming im dumb okay? I'm not.”

“Oh Im not saying your dumb. Look i'm here to help you okay?” The reflection began to act more calm and had a more understanding voice. “Look, Chi. these past few days have done a number on you. Its the anniversary of well..you know.”

“My parents and species being killed by a savage power hungry maniac? Yeah you don’t have to sugar coat it for me. Im 1900 years old. Im not a child anymore.” she said turning her head away from the mirror

“I know I know. Its just, well, We know how hard it was that day. You keep getting nightmares about it even after you met your friends. You still have trauma deep down inside you. You know if you keep this up, its going to hurt you and your family down the line.”

The wisp sighed. I guess she was her conscious after all. Everything she said was true. Yeah on the outside, she was always a spunky blue gal, but deep down all her sadness, anger and hate for the one who took her life away from her still burns, even if she doesn’t think about it. 

“No matter how hard you try you can’t run from your past.” the reflection said. “You know that too.”

“Look, I may not be able to run from my past but I can at least accept it and move on!” she exclaimed to the reflection, who remained unfazed.

“Uh huh. Tell me this, Chi. Have you really accepted the past? Or are you just keeping it locked away, hoping it’ll never overcome you?”

The wisp tried to protest, but once again she was right. She groaned and slapped her forehead.

“I dont have time for this.” she said before turning around started walking away.

“Wait!” the reflection called out. “What if I told you that you can fix the past and make it right?”

Chi’s ears perked up and turned around. “What do you mean?”

Before her reflection could answer, the door began to open and she quickly dissolved back into the mirror and began to act like her reflection again.

“Hey wait!”

“Chi?”

She turned around to see Chrysalis, peeping through the door. “You alright?”

“Yeah..yeah I'm okay.” she said, putting on her coat and adjusting her hair.

“Okay. Were about to head back to Akari’s library. Just checking to see if your coming.”

“Yeah totally! I’ll be right out.” she said before Chrysalis nodded and closed the door. Chi turned her hand into a blow dryer and dried all the water and sweat that was still on her and her clothes. She looked in the mirror and saw her reflection was back to normal. 

“That was weird.” she whispered before walking out of the bathroom to catch up with the others, having no idea the shadow on the floor revealed to have eye sockets and a creepy smile crept on its face before returning to normal.