The group turned to look at Sandbar. He was back to normal, except his mane was a bit longer, and he had a slight beard.
“Wow, that was weird…” Sandbar panted, as Gallus felt his beard, giggling.
“I could get used to this…” he said, pecking Sandbar on the cheek.
“I think he needs another spray.” Ember said, one arm around Thorax. She held up the water gun and sprayed it at him, but nothing happened. “Huh. Guess it can only do so much.”
“What is it?” Soarin asked
“Water from the Enchanted Lake. It kept us from falling asleep so we took some, just to see if it would work.” Celestia explained.
“Well, thanks for saving us.” Thorax said, nuzzling Ember affectionately, and she blushed heavily.
“Hold it.” Sandbar leaned against Gallus, looking at Soarin and Rainbow. “Whose side are they on?”
“They escaped the Isle and joined us, Fleetfoot too.” Pharynx explained. “Tempest has Grogar’s Bell, which she says is the only way to stop Yona. Details to follow, let’s go.”
“Hey, wait, does that mean you went back to the Isle?”
“I told you details to follow, we’re meeting up with Tempest, Luna, Discord, Fleetfoot and Spitfire-”
“Spitfire?!”
“Details to follow!” Pharynx, Thorax, and Ember shouted at him at the same time.
“...Okay. Okay.” Sandbar sighed, and Gallus led him down along the path, nuzzling him and kissing his cheek. The others followed, Celestia hurrying along after the king at the mention of meeting up with her cousin.
“Hey, uh, Pharynx?” Rainbow walked over to the changeling as he walked beside his brother and Ember. “Thanks for, you know, saving me back there.”
“Yeah, uh, no problem.” Pharynx responded, and they followed the others down the path.
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Back at Luna’s castle, Tempest paced around as Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Discord helped themselves to the cake that was still sitting in the kitchen. Spitfire and Fleetfoot had picked out all the gems from the cake. Tempest paused and moved over to Spitfire.
“That was a really good idea.” she said, continuing when Spitfire didn’t respond. “To check Yona’s room. Now we know we’re on the right track.”
“...Is there an insult in there that I missed?” Spitfire asked.
“No, I just wanted to thank you.” Tempest told her. Spitfire smiled slightly.
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“No!” Yona yelled in frustration, staring at them using the staff. “Think you’re on the right track? You’re not going anywhere!”
Yona looked up at Blueblood, who was looking nervous.
“Let’s mess them up a little.”
“...I say we go back to my place and maybe binge watch some TV.” Blueblood suggested, and she glared at him. “Or order some stuff online? Yeah?”
Yona waved a hoof and forced him down to his knees.
“What about pizza?” Blueblood said, and she forced him down onto his flank. “N-No, you don’t like pizza… Yakyakistan food!”
Yona then thrust the staff forwards, sending him flying into a broom closet and locking the door, ignoring his pleading screams. Yona laughed and twirled, walking away from the closet as Blueblood pounded on it frantically.
-----------------------------
“I don’t know whose birthday it is but I want this cake.” Spitfire said, licking the frosting off a gem. “Even if I can’t eat half of it.”
Tempest chuckled, eating her own slice, picking out another gem with her magic. “I… might’ve messed some things up by… you know, calling you weak and not letting you join my gang…”
Spitfire looked down, then chuckled. “Yeah. We really could’ve torn up the Isle together.”
The two chuckled and continued eating, until a wood plank clashing against the window startled them. They stood up, rushing to the window as more and more planks appeared, blocking them in. The two girls gripped each other as the light was slowly blocked.
“Fleety!” Spitfire shouted.
“Luna! Discord!”
“We’re trapped!” Discord shrieked, rushing over as Luna and Fleetfoot raced in, Snowdrop behind them.
Fleetfoot clung onto Spitfire, while Luna and Snowdrop hugged each other. Tempest ignited her horn and began chanting frantically.
“You’ve caused the ones I love enough fear, we’ve had all we can take so disappear!” Tempest shouted. “No… it’s not working, Yona’s magic must be getting stronger!”
Spitfire then looked down, noticing that her necklace was glowing and pulsing with a light bright as a fire. She stepped closer, then took Tempest’s hoof. She nodded to her, then they both began chanting.
“You’ve caused the ones we love enough fear, we’ve had all we can take so disappear!” they shouted. There was a moment of silence, and then the boards fell.
The two, unable to hear Yona’s scream of surprise and anger from her cottage, turned to each other. Luna stepped over.
“You did it… together…” Luna said, smiling. “See? This is what I’ve been talking about.”
“Yeah, well… I guess my necklace likes you.” Spitfire told Tempest, who chuckled. Spitfire unclipped her necklace, pulling the Bell off of it. The Bell returned to it’s normal size and she held it out. “Why don’t you hold onto that?”
Tempest’s eyes widened as she took it. The two hoofbumped, chuckling and smiling. Discord went to the window, and then turned back to Tempest, grinning.
“Your bugfriend’s back.”
Tempest’s eyes widened and she rushed outside. The others followed her eagerly. The two groups joined up, Tempest rushing over to hug Pharynx while Spitfire and Fleetfoot greeted Rainbow and Soarin. Gallus and Sandbar went over to Luna and Snowdrop while Discord waved at Thorax, Ember, and Celestia.
“You guys okay?” Pharynx asked
“We’re fine.” Tempest nuzzled him.
“You guys good?” Soarin asked his two friends. Spitfire and Fleetfoot nodded, group-hugging him and Rainbow.
“I told you you could be part of the solution.” Sandbar told Spitfire, chuckling as he rested in Gallus’ embrace. Spitfire rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly.
“Heh… alright.” Tempest kissed Pharynx’s cheek, then pulled away from him, addressing the group as a whole. “We think Yona could be at Secret Cottage. Did she ever take you there, Sandbar?”
“Every father’s day. Even before we started dating, we’d been friends for a while.” Sandbar explained.
“Alright, so that’s where we’ll-”
“What do you mean mom’s not here?!” Celestia exclaimed, drawing their attention. She and Luna were standing nearby, facing each other.
“I thought she and my mom were at Ember’s party!”
“No! They hadn’t arrived by the time the sleeping spell hit, I tried calling her but I didn’t get any service!”
Luna hugged her cousin tightly, and the two girls held each other. Snowdrop, Ember, and Thorax went over, comforting them gently. Thorax looked at Ember, beckoning for her to follow him a bit away.