//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Flash Sentry Chronicles: The Movie 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

It had been almost two days since the forces of the Storm King attacked Canterlot. Two days since every pony in the city was captured and almost all the princesses were turned to stone. Not a single pony had been left free. The unicorns had magic suppressing rings on their horns, the pegasi had their wings tied to their sides and the earth ponies were locked in manacles so strong that even the strongest of them couldn't break free. The Storm Guards were patrolling the city, causing problems for anypony that so much as stepped out of line.

The ponies were being used as mules, forced to pull large pieces of equipment from out of the zeppelins that were now parked all along the sides of the mountain. Any ponies the guards saw slacking, though most of the time they were just trying to catch their breath, had a whip cracked at them. Nopony had been struck yet, but they knew it wouldn't be long.

Any ponies not working were either caged up or chained to large wooden pillars that had been erected. This included Starlight, Trixie, Script, Wild, Gorgenia and Soarin, the six forced to watch as their fellow ponies were turned into slaves. Whenever the guards weren't looking, Starlight tried to remove her shackles. But without her magic, she had no idea how to undo them. "Come on..." she moaned before stopping as thy ape-like creature turned to her.

She smiled at him, the beast glaring back before turning away. But before she could try again, they heard someone cry out, "Come on!" They all turned to see Grubber carrying the stoned version of Ace over to where Derpy and Mira had been put out of the way. "Why'd I hiff ta do this?!" he grumbled. "Not my thaalt those ponies got ta-way." He put Ace down and wiped his brow, "Dis is all Void and Armalum's thaalt. If they's never showed up, I'd be a lot higher up on the ladder right now." He then turned to the statue and smirked. "Maybe if I break dis sing into smaller pee-sees, it'll be easier to carry."

"NO!" He turned to the ponies yelling, Starlight adding, "Please don't. We'll move him if it's too much of a burden, but please don't hurt him!"

Grubber chuckled at them, "Alright. Then get da work." The Storm Guards carefully replaced the chains locking them to the pillar with longer ones, allowing the ponies to move over to where Ace was and carefully pick him up. "Just don't do any-vin stupid. Try and I break yah little fend, got it?!"

Soarin wanted to be snarky, but didn't risk it as they just nodded. Grubber laughed as he walked off, allowing the ponies to move the statues, "Don't worry," Trixie told the three. "We'll find a way to turn you back."

"If it's even possible," Wild sighed, the unicorn feeling lost since his puppets were taken from him at his capture. He looked over at the city, remembering all those years ago when he had been part of a similar plot, but the Battle of Canterlot was nothing compared to this. He then noticed the dome thing a ways away that had the staff the villains used to make the Royal Knights all vanish, the unicorn turning to Script. "Any idea what the heck that thing is and what it did to Lightning and the others?"

Script stared at the staff, the distance making deciphering the marks on it difficult. But after straining his eyes, he let out a hiss, "Definitely rune magic. But it's not like any I've seen before. A few of the symbols looks familiar, but they're very old. Actually...I think they're the same runes Twilight showed us a while back. The ones she found at Ponhenge."

Starlight went wide-eyed at this, "are you saying the knights have all been sent to limbo?"

"Possibly," Script replied, "But it might also be just a similar type of magic. My best guess is that Lightning and the others have been taken out of time. They're still exactly where they are, but have simply been shifted into another plain of existence where time doesn't move." He looked up at the dome covering the city, "As long as this dome is around the area they were in, they'll stay there. Days, weeks, even years could pass and it wouldn't even be a second to them."

"Where the heck did they find magic like that?" Trixie asked, "Temporal magic is insanely hard to use even for alicorns! I should know, I've tried!"

But as she said this, the Storm Guards came up and roared at them. They were quickly dragged back to the post and had their original chains placed back on their collars. "What do we do?" Soarin moaned as he sat down, "There's gotta be a way to stop it."

"A spell like that must take up a bunch of power to use..." Starlight commented.

"Exactly," Script nodded, "Which is why they're using that dome device to power it. If we can remove the staff from the dome, or even destroy the staff, the knights should return and be ready to kick flank. However..." They stared at the dome and saw that it was guarded by several Storm Guards. Any ponies moving from the zeppelins to wherever they were taking the tech were forced to go the long away around. "They're not letting anypony even remotely close to it."

"Well that's just great," Gorgenia sighed as she stared at the ponies pulling the carts of metal and wires. "Where the heck are they even building?"

"I don't know," Script responded, "I spotted some more runes on the parts that passed, but it could still be anything. Whoever these storm monsters are, they know a lot about Rune Magic."

"We just have to hold out," Starlight reminded them, "Twilight and the others will return soon, and when they do, they'll have a plan to finally beat these creeps." The ponies nodded as Starlight watched a guard snap the string of some balloons, which floated up into the air. "I hope."

The balloons flew higher and higher into the sky, eventually passing the balcony of the castle throne room. There, Tempest was staring out at the city and glared at the party objects in disgust. "Disgusting. All this power, wasted on parties." She headed back into the throne room, where the three fossilized princesses had been placed. She looked over at Celestia, her crystalized mane reflecting her. She stared at her broken horn, which sparked and sizzled with lightning.

It was here she heard a sound and looked up, now seeing a pair of Storm Guards walk in with a bottle of blue liquid fire, the source of the sound. "Well?!" She yelled, "Answer it!" The pair moved to the center of the room, where a stone basin had been placed. The ape wiped its brow before pulling the cork out and pouring the fire into the basin. The flaming liquid flew into the container and burst into fire, the pair shifting back as the fire took shape and formed an image.

Inside the flames, the mouth of a creature could be seen. "Where am I supposed to be looking?" The mouth asked, sounding almost confused. "I never understand how this spell works. Tempest!"

"Over here," the unicorn replied, "Your Excellency."

"Where?"

"Over here."

"Huh?" The mouth turned to point into the other direction, Tempest rolling her eyes.

"No. No, right. Look right."

"My right?"

"Yep." The figure shifted and its face finally revealed itself, showing the same being that had been shown to the ponies in the banner. His eyes shifted as he then stared at her.

"Oh. There you are." He stepped back so his entire head was in the picture. "Here's the deal. I'm in the middle of a big re-brand here. The Storm King is tracking well as intensely intimidating. But you know what? I need to back it up. You know what I need to back it up with?" He didn't give her time to answer, "A STORM!" The flames looked ready to explode, flaying everyone in the room. "That would be great! You promised me magic that could control the elements, and right now, I'm holding a what?" He held up a wooden staff with a crystal on the end, "A branch! A twig! Bleh!"

Tempest stepped closer at this, "That would be the Staff of Sacanas, Your Excellency, and it will channel the magic of the four rulers of this land." The Storm King nodded, giving several agreeable sounds as he continued to stare at the staff. "You'll soon have the power of a hundred armies."

As she said that, Void and Armalum walked into the room. "So that would be a yes on your locking down the four Pegacornicuseses, or whatever you call them?" Tempest's eyes shifted to the two new arrivals, their looks showing her that they had yet to track down the ponies in question.

"Give me three days," she told him. "I'll have everything ready for your arrival."

The Storm King narrowed his gaze on her, Tempest actually starting to sweat. "Remember Tempest, only I have the power to make you whole. Make this twig work, and you'll get your reward. Fail me, and your horn won't be the only thing that's broken!"

"It won't be a problem," she quickly replied.

The satyr stared at her for a moment, only to suddenly turn cheery, "Great!" The fire then began to fizzle out, the Storm King's next comments being so fuzzy that she could barely hear what he was saying before it cut out completely.

As soon as it was down, Tempest turned her gaze upon the pair. "You haven't found them yet?!"

"We found tracks leading into a nearby forest," Armalum replied, "But they started to fade when they got deeper into the woods."

Tempest's horn began to spark, but Void stepped between them. "Now now, let's not go doing something reckless."

"I need all four for the staff to work," Tempest growled, "And you want that Flash Sentry pony to save yourself. I would think you'd be a little more upset given you're the one on a time limit!"

"True," Void replied while adjusting a setting on his mask's controls. "But they're running scared. They're panicking and their best fighter has been taken out of commission for a little while. It's just a matter of time before we catch them and bring them in. Then you'll have what you want, and I'll have what I want." She couldn't be sure, but Tempest could tell his eyes were looking up at her broken horn. "Just relax and look forward to getting your horn back while I do all the work."

"Not this time," Tempest hissed, "You let them get away once, and I don't intend to make the same mistake twice! That Princess is not gonna keep me from getting my horn back!" She then heard the door open, all turning to see Grubber walk in with some pilfered spongecake from the festival. "Prepare my ship!" The hedgehog almost choked on his food, but did as he was told and ran out the room again while Tempest turned to one of the stain glass windows. "How far could one little pony get on her own?"





The next day...

The blazing sun filled the sky over the deserts south of the badlands. The lack of clouds and the way the sand absorbed the heat turned to place into a freaking oven. And as Twilight and the rest of her escapee friends trudged through it, they had found they hadn't eaten in over three days and had barely been able to sleep a wink. They were now regretting this hasty decision, all ready to collapse any moment. Their manes were a mess, their eyes had bags under them and if they didn't find drinkable water soon, their lips were gonna fall off.

"Oh geez," Springer moaned as he wiped his brow. "It's so hot out here."

"Yeah," Flash nodded. "You knew it was gonna be hot when you heard that lonesome sky guitar and hawk's cry." The others turned to him with raised eyebrows, only to then hear a guitar rift followed by a bird screech. Clearly, the heat was getting to them.

"There's sand in my...everything," Pinkie groaned as they continued to trudge over the large dunes whilst trying to not kick up any sand. "Heh...saving...Equestria..." She suddenly let out a demented laugh, then noticed something on the ground. "Oh! Look!" She picked up the skull of some kind of bird, "Maybe this little one knows which way to go!" She giggled as a bug crawled out of the skull and across her face. "What's that, friend?" She placed it next to her ear, "We're lost?" She let out another demented laugh before she started coughing, then fell face first into the sand.

"Is this what's like to be you?" Soul asked her brother, who was the only one who still seemed to be in somewhat suitable condition.

"Nope," he sighed. He was hot, but not as blisteringly hot as the others. "Hotter. I could really use a drink right now though." He looked over at a nearby cactus and licked his lips, only for Flash to grab him.

"Don't even think about it. I'm tired enough without having to suffer through you singing a song about it being quenching." Heart moaned before noticing Flash flinch, the squire's eyes glancing down at Flash's wound. It was completely gone now, but the veins around it were still black.

"Are you okay?" He asked while the others began to slow down.

"I'm fine," Flash assured him as Spike started moaning.

"We could be going in...circles!" He pointed out. "Endless...sand. Nothin' for miles...but sand..." He picked something up, "And this rock." He let out a cough before raising his tail, revealing something stuck to it. "And this cactus..." He took a deep breath before falling forward, "And this roooooooooaaaaaad...." Like Pinkie, he seemed seconds away from fainting, "This rooooooad...." But as he said that, Twilight's exhausted brain registered what he had just said.

"Hmm? A road?" She looked down and saw a bunch of rocks sticking out of the sand in an organized fashion. It lead to a sand dune. "This is...where there's a road, there's a-" She stopped and gasped, those who hadn't fallen to the ground following her up the dune and also seeing it.

"Whoa," Heart whispered after carrying Spike up the dune. It in the distance was a giant construct dead ahead of them, sitting on the edge of a large coast with a giant sea behind it. The construct was a building with large nearly flat spikes sticking out of it, which had many buildings built atop it. Almost every building was spewing a black smoke.

"Cool!" Rainbow cheered.

"What is that?" Applejack asked as Pinkie suddenly shot up out of the sand looking good as new.

"Oooh! A city!" She happily bounced on the spot, "We're doing it!"

"You know what they say," Rarity added, "Where there's a city, there's a spa!"

The others turned to her at that, "Who says that?" Rainbow yelped as they made their way to the city.

"Case yah forgot," Applejack pointed out. "We're on a mission to save Equestria."

"I can multitask," Rarity replied as they got closer, Flash grimacing at the sight.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea. I get the feeling this place isn't the kind of place ponies should be in." The others started to see what he meant, now spotting a bunch of cages and other items that didn't look pony friendly.

"It's not like we have much of a choice," Twilight responded, "There's no way we're gonna survive much longer without food and supplies, and this is the only place we'll get some anytime soon."

"She has a point," Springer nodded. "But I'll run ahead and check the place out, see if I can find a safe spot we can use to recuperate."

"Alright," Flash replied, "But check in every five minutes. If you don't, we'll assume the worst." Springer ran off at that, picking up speed before completely disappearing and reappearing atop one of the houses. He then disappeared again and reappeared on another roof, the jakhowl constantly doing this until he was out of sight.

And as the ponies walked into the city, the older ones gathered around the twins since they definitely decided this wasn't a place for ponies to be lost in. There were a variety of creatures all around the place, many of which they had never seen before. But they all had an aura about them that screamed they would happily pluck their wings to sell as dusters without a second's thought.

The city was filthy, the streets covered in large cracks and holes full of water while the building looked so run down that it was a miracle a light breeze didn't knock them over. "Ooh! Hey!" They turned to a nearby stall booth where a cloaked creature stared down at them "You with the horn, you selling?" Twilight stepped away from the booth while Flash jumped in front of her just as Fluttershy spotted a bunch of cages filled with animals that did not look happy.

"Oh..." She moaned before the birds started squawking loudly. "Ooh!" She ran back to her friends, who had just stepped up to a large bipedal turtle creature lifting giant barrels onto a cart.

"Hi there!" Twilight called out as the turtle threw the barrel onto a stack of others. But all this did was make the barrels roll off the cart. "Ooh, I'm sorry. Here. Lemme help you with that." Twilight started using her magic to lift the barrels up until-

"Hey!" He yelled, "No magic around my merchandise!" They all flinched at this, the group quickly walking away.

"You know that he only said that after you finished helping because he didn't wanna pay you back, right?" Flash commented.

"This is Springer." They all looked up at the voice, "This place is a total dump. I've been scanning everyone here and they all have some seriously nasty aura. Lots of liars, cheats and even a few criminals. But they all have something else staining their aura."

"What?"

"Fear."

"What could they be scared of?" Heart asked.

Soul gulped at this, "If I lived here, I'd be constantly scared too."

"Okay," Twilight nodded. "We just gotta stick together. Be careful who you talk to. And try to blend in." But as she said that, the sound of Pinkie's voice crying out aways off filled the air. "Oh no."

"Can I have your attention please?!" Twilight let out a groan as she ran down the street, only to see Pinkie exclaiming to a group, "Can anypony take us to the Queen of the Hippos?!" She stopped yelling at this as she saw her friends run up.

"Pinkie," Twilight barked, "You can't just take off!" Her eyes darted around at this, now seeing the creatures surrounding them before speaking through clenched teeth, "And you don't need to announce to every-"

"Relax, Twilight!" Pinkie told her. "I totally got this!"

But as she said that, an eight foot lizard creature stepped up and pointed at Spike. "How much for the giant gecko?"

The ponies went wide-eyed as Spike glared at the lizard, "Who you callin' a gecko?!"

"Uh," Twilight stepped in front of him, "Spike isn't for sale."

"I want that fancy purple hair!" Another creature pointed at Rarity's mane, "I'll give ya two storm bucks for it!"

"Two storm bucks?!" Rarity yelped, "It's worth more than that!"

A shark creature then pointed at Lightbringer. "Nice sword. I'll give you five Storm Bucks for it." Flash glared at him while the other creatures started crowding around them, bidding to try and buy them, their manes and tails and even a picture of Pinkie's sister Maud. Flash and Heart got ready to start fighting, the pegasus also preparing to send a distress signal to Springer. But before he could, someone leapt down in front of them.

"Back up, everyone! Back it up!" The newbie called out, standing tall to reveal it was some kind of humanoid cat around Springer's height with orange fur, a blue waft of hair and covered in a red overcoat. "Y'all in some serious danger!" He stepped away from the ponies, looking absolutely terrified. "Now you didn't touch any of them, did you?" He pointed at the ponies, "Just look at all those colors! You think that's natural? They're infected with pastelis coloritis!"

The creatures all gasped as Heart went wide-eyed, "What?!" He looked himself over, "We are?" The older ones all rolled their eyes as Applejack walked up.

"Now yah listen here fella, there ain't-" She didn't get to finish as the cat stuffed the end of his tail in front of her mouth.

"Don't worry, don't worry," He ran over to one of the shark creatures, Flash noticing him place his tail into a pool of purple liquid. "As long as you're not covered in purple splotches, you'll be fine." As he said that, he swung his tail around and the shark next to him got covered in the purple stuff. Somehow it didn't seem to notice, at least until the cat turned to him before jumping back. "Uh-oh." The shark looked down and saw the purple splotches covering his body, the creature gasping.

"What do I do?!"

"Enjoy your last moments and don't touch anyone," the cat chuckled, "Because parts will fall off." This was enough to terrify the shark and everyone else around him, the crowd suddenly vanishing in a cloud of kicked up dust. "Well, all right." the cat let out a purr as he turned to the ponies.

Rainbow flew over to him. "Wow! You're awesome!"

The cat nodded as Rarity added, "And quite charming." She let out a giggle while the others nodded. Flash noticed Spike cross his arm, wondering if he was still carrying a torch for the mare until he heard him say.

"Lightning probably wouldn't think so."

"Now now Spike," Rarity chimed in, "I still love Lightning, but I'm allowed to compliment a rather dashing creature who helped us out.

"Capper's the name," the cat brushed some dust of his coat before bowing. "Charming's my game." He turned to stare down an alleyway. "So...to the Hippos, then?" He began to make his way down the alley, Pinkie laughing as she bounced after him. That was until Twilight jumped in front of her, holding up her wing to stop her.

"I don't know if we should trust him."

"We could definitely use a friend out here!" Pinkie told her as Capper used his claw to push the wing down.

"You know what?" He placed a paw on their shoulders, "Little Cotton Candy Hair is right. And, if I do say so myself..." They suddenly heard the internal music that every creature seemed to have, the group realizing they were about to be part of a musical number.





Meanwhile...

Springer continued to leap from roof to roof while trying to get a better understanding of the town. He did his best to keep to the shadows, hopping to another roof, only to then notice a nearby zeppelin dock. "Huh," he chuckled, "That could come in handy. If we can find a way to get ourselves on one of those zeppelins, we won't have to walk to wherever the heck we need to go."

"Springer," the jakhowl stopped and focused, "You there?"

"I'm here. Just about to check in. You all alright?" He then noticed something in the back of Flash's mind, "Is that...music?"

"Yeah. We met this shady guy named Capper. He seems to wanna help, but I don't know. Think you can find us and check him out yourself?"

"No problem," Springer replied, "And I think I have an idea that might help us out. I'll tell you about it when I get there."

"Got it. See you soon." Springer nodded and closed the line, the jakhowl reaching out to try and locate him. But before he could, he felt a shiver down his spine.

"WHOA!" He yelped as he leapt away, seconds before a familiar black bolt shot down and hit the spot where he had been standing. He slowly turned around, only to see a familiar black armored figure standing on a higher rooftop. "Armalum."

The living armor lowered his hoof and jumped off the roof, landing on the same one Springer was on. As he did, his legs grew several black spikes. Springer made a Bone Breaker and held it up defensively as he reached out through his aura. "Flash! Flash! We got trouble!" But nothing happened, "Flash?"

"Don't bother," Armalum spat, "We studied your abilities and Void discovered a way to block the link you have with Flash Sentry." Armalum held out a crystal with runes glowing inside of it, "Now it's just you and me."

"Don't even think I'm gonna let you anywhere near my friends!"

Armalum laughed at this, "I don't need to be. I just have to keep you away long enough for Tempest and the others to grab them." Springer's eyes widened before he tried to run off, only for Armalum to turn into a shadowy cloud and flew past the jakhowl, Springer sliding to a stop.

"How are you doing that?!" He yelped as Armalum summoned a blade on his right leg and charged. "You couldn't do this the last time we met!"

"Last time I was stuck feeding off the powers of the creature I inhabited!" Armalum roared as he swung his blade, Springer blocking it with his staff. "This time, the power I'm wielding is far greater than you can imagine! A parting gift from my master." Springer stared at the blade at this, only to notice that it wasn't made from the same material as the armor, but the black rock substance that had poisoned Flash.

"Corrupted Shadow."

"Exactly," Armalum cackled as he attempted to slash him again.





Back with the others...

Capper had finished his song and brought them to a large windmill he called home. They climbed up a large flight of stairs before arriving at an attic door, quickly pushing it open, "Welcome, my little ponies, to my little manor."

He leapt inside and the ponies stuck their heads through the trapdoor, allowing them to see inside the room. It was a small round room full of bookshelves and other items that looked like they were from another world entirely.

"Ooh!" Rarity hummed, "A sort of a roco-hobo-Bohemian hodgepodge."

"Apologies for the state of my litter box," Capper chuckled, "I wasn't expecting guests." They glanced around at this, each being interested in certain items.

"Ooh!" Pinkie looked up at a bunch of bobbles hanging from the ceiling, "So many fun breakables!"

"Lookie, don't touchie," Flash told her as Rainbow and Applejack stared at a tea pot with ten spouts on it.

"Y'all sure y'all want the Hippos?" Capper asked as Twilight began looking at the bookshelves.

"Yessirree!" Pinkie nodded, "The Queen of the Hippos!"

Capper smirked. "Not like the Queen of the Lions, or Tigers, or Bears?" Fluttershy looked interested in those queens while Twilight noticed something on a nearby bookshelf. A book that looked rather out of place. The strangest thing was there was a drawing of a mountain on it, one which she also spotted a good distance out the window.

"Hey!" Soul saw a bunch of paper on a nearby table along with a quill, grabbing them and seeing the paper was entirely blank. "Can we borrow this?"

"Sure sweetheart," Capper replied, "Draw all the pretty pictures you like."

"Oh," Soul gave it to Spike, "it's not for drawing."

"Great idea," Spike responded as he started writing, "We can send a message to Ember and Thorax. No doubt they'll wanna send us support in stopping the Storm King."

"Storm King?!" Capper yelped, "You guys know the Storm King?!"

"Not really," Flash replied, "He's after us..." He saw Rarity was about to explain, but then she noticed him shake his head. "Don't worry. We'll be out of your hair before he and his goons can possibly show up and cause you problems."

"I see," Capper hummed before moving over to his bed. "So..." he sat down as Spike sent the letters, "Tell me about yourselves. I'm sure a couple of colourful ponies like you must come from a rather interesting place." The ponies smiled and began telling him about Equestria while Twilight focused on the book she had found and Flash moved over to look out the window.

Heart saw this and moved up to him, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Flash nodded before staring at his friends. They all seemed to have given their complete trust to Capper, which made him worry. "Just...gotta be on guard." He looked back out the window, "I'm the only knight left. I have to protect Twilight and everypony else, no matter what happens."

"Well, you're not alone," Heart added, Flash glancing down at him before smiling.

"You're right," he ruffled his hair as Heart smirked. "Springer's here too. He'll keep you all safe if I can't." Heart's smile vanished as the pegasus looked out the window, "But I figured he'd be here by now. Wonder what's keeping him."





"GYAH!" Springer yelped as he was tackled by the shadow through the wall of a house, landing in a bathroom where a lizard creature was bathing. The lizard screamed as Springer got to his feet, only for the shadow to dive down and wrap around his body. He grunted and groaned as he felt the cloud squeeze him, lifting him up as he kicked his legs around to try and escape.

The shadow chuckled before flinging him straight up into the air, smashing him through the roof and up into the sky. "Whoa whoa whoa!" He gasped as he got a good ten feet above the streets before beginning to fall, missing the roof and heading straight for the ground. He quickly formed a pair of Aura Blasts and threw them, the two slamming together and exploding inches above the ground, pushing him back to land safely.

Rolling along the ground, he leapt to his feet and charged while trying to connect to Flash. But Armalum appeared in front of him, slashing his blade just as Springer summoned a Steel Paw, barely blocking it before pushing Armalum back and kicking him away. He then fired an Aura Blast, but Armalum turned to smoke, the sphere flying right through him.

"You can't beat me!" Armalum growled, "So stop trying!" He raised both front legs and started firing at him, but Springer put up an Aura Guard that the Corrupted Shadows kept bouncing off. "Pretty soon, Tempest will have found your little friends and we'll have what we need."

"Don't count my friends out so easily," Springer hissed, "They're not just gonna be laying around while Equestria's in danger."





Back in Capper's loft...

Most of the Mane Seven were laying around laughing as Twilight continued her work. "Stop playin' me!" Capper told Rainbow. "A sonic rainboom? That's not a real thing!" He got up and stared right into her eyes, "Is that a real thing?"

Rainbow smirked and hovered in the air. "I'll show ya!" But before she could try, Capper grabbed her.

"Naw-naw-naw, I don't need you 'sonic rainbooming' up in my place, thank you very much." Rainbow chuckled as she sat back down, Capper turning away. When he did, he found a needle and thread hovering in the air. "Whoa, hey, hold up now." But before he could stop it, the needle dived into his coat sleeve, which had a large rip in it, and stitched it up rather neatly. "Whoa." He turned to Rarity, who smiled at him while her horn glowed and held up some buttons.

"Here you go." She sewed the buttons into place on his coat. "I do apologize. If we were back home, I could've done something truly fabulous."

As she said that, Capper raised an eyebrow, "Okay...what's the catch?"

"Nothing," Rarity replied, "After all that you've done for us, consider it a thank you."

"Oh." Flash happened to be look his way when he said that, now noticing a look of guilt appear on his face. "Uh, don't thank me. Really."

"Girls!" They heard Twilight call out, "We've been looking for the wrong queen!" She grabbed a map she had found in Capper's things and placed it on a table. "We don't need the Queen of the Hippos! We need the Queen of the Hippogriffs!"

Flash heard this and his eyes went wide. "Ahh, of course." He slammed his hoof into his head, "How did I miss that? I've actually met a hippogriff." The ponies all remembered Wingill, the strange half pony half eagle creature that had been a part of Shadow Corrupter's entourage.

"Couldn't he also transform into a fish?" Rainbow asked.

"And he could control water," Rarity nodded. "If we had an entire army with that kind of power behind us, the Storm King wouldn't stand a chance."

"Oh!" They looked up at Capper, "Oh...the Hippogriffs! Now, the trouble with that is...no one knows...where they are."

Twilight glared at him, "Says here they're on the top of Mount Aris!"

"You mean the mountain right outside the window?" Pinkie asked, pointing at the window.

Capper grimaced at this, "Objects in windows may be less mountainous than they appear. Heh heh heh..."

Twilight ignored him and folded up the map. "Let's go, everypony." They headed down the trapdoor, only for Capper to quickly run ahead of them as they reached the front door.

"Wait!" He pinned himself to the door, letting out a cat yowl. "You can't-" He stopped as the ponies raised an eyebrow at this. "You can't make it by y'allselves." He placed a paw on Twilight's shoulder, "You need an airship! And lucky for you, I can get you a ride."

"I think we can get there on our own." Twilight responded as she pushed him aside and opened the door, only to be suddenly greeted to the sight of a large mole creature in a tuxedo and top hat.

"Here's Verko!" He laughed as Twilight let out a gasp, Flash pushing her behind him as the mole turned to Capper. "These ponies better shoot rainbow lasers out their eyes if they're gonna settle your debt! Brought the big cage." He pointed behind him and they law a large cage used to haul circus animals. "Let's load 'em up!"

The girls gasped as Flash and Heart glared at him.

"You were...you were going to sell us?" Rarity screamed to the cat, Capper grimacing at this.

"I knew it!"

"Heart!" Flash called out, "Burn this place to the ground if you have too!"

"With pleasure," Heart's mane lit on fire. But then it went out as a familiar voice began to chuckle, the air filling with a crackling sound.

"Silly little ponies." A certain purple armored unicorn stepped into view with Void and some Storm Guards behind her.

"Tempest!" Twilight gasped as Spike and Soul screamed.

Tempest turned to Capper as she walked inside. "Trusting strangers? Big mistake. Big..."

"They can't help it," Void spat, "It's in their pathetic weak nature. One that we have freed ourselves from."

But before either of them could say anything, Verko leapt in front of Tempest. "Hoo-hoo! My goodness!" He grabbed the unicorn by her cheeks. "Well, look at you! With your scary broken horn and scowly eyes. What tricks do you know, my little pony-wony?" He got his answer when Tempest's horn began to spark and crackle before exploding with energy, the electricity hitting the mole and zapping him.

After a few seconds, the blast ceased and the smoking Verko coughed before wheezing out. "Not bad..." He fell back, doing so allowing Tempest to see the ponies escape through the window.

"Go! Go!" Twilight yelled as she flew out, leaving Flash as the last one.

"Flash Force!" He fired a beam of light from his sword, hitting the ground in front of the villains and causing it to explode. Tempest, Void and Capper were blasted back as Flash leapt out the window.

"Augh!" Tempest pushed herself back to her hooves. "Get...her...NOW!"





Springer and Armalum were now jumping around the town, the jakhowl unable to escape the monster. "Aura Force!" He roared, unleashing a laser that Armalum blocked with his shield. Springer grunted and panted, his lack of rest and food leaving him tired as Armalum was running on a full tank of gas and didn't intend on driving ecologically.

"Raaah!" He yelled before firing several bolts, Springer barely managing to back-flip away, "Just give it up already." He charged with both legs growing blades, Springer crossing his arms to create an Aura Guard that blocked both. The dome around him wasn't that big, and growing smaller by the second, Springer pushed down to one knee. "Seriously?! What do you have left to fight for?! Your home is conquered, your friends have all been captured and you're the last of your kind once again! Just give up!"

Springer opened his eyes and glared at the living armor, feeling his strength waning. "Wouldn't it be easier just to give in?"

"Yeah," Springer huffed, "You're right. It would be." But as he said that, something happened their caught both their attentions. A large windmill propeller a good distance away suddenly spun like crazy before ripping off the tower, the five bladed device flying through the air before bouncing off the ground several times. Springer just knew that had been caused by his friends, causing him to smile and dig deep. As he did, the spikes on his chest and arms glowed. "But the easy way...isn't always...THE RIGHT WAY!" As he screamed that, he swung his arms and the light to flew out of his spikes and into the shield around him.

The barrier suddenly exploded into a wave that blasted Armalum back, the living armor crying out as he crashed into a nearby wall. "Gyah!" He moaned, pushing himself back up.

"RAAAAAH!" Springer roared as he summoned a pair of Steel Paws and slashed at him, Armalum not able to turn to shadow quick enough. Springer then slashed him again and again, turning into a complete blur that Armalum couldn't escape. And before he could counter those slashes, Springer dealt an upwards kick into Armalum's chin, knocking him back again.

"Augh!" He crashed into the wall again as something flew off. The aura blocking gem, which Springer fired an Aura Force at, shattering it on impact. At the same time, the heavily damaged Armalum slid down the wall and groaned, his armor slowly regenerating.

Springer spun around at this, only for Armalum to moan out, "You can't protect them forever." Springer glanced back at this, "Eventually, your little friends will fall into our clutches. The princess, the filly and your shiny golden colt will be ours, and their powers will be put the better uses than harmony and friendship."

Springer let these words sink in, now going wide-eyed, "They're going after Flash as well." Before Armalum could say anything else, Springer shot off, quickly locating his friends as he raced away.