It had only been a few hours since the Mane 6 and Sparky returned from their previous Unity Quest in Bikini Bottom, and they already had an interaction with the evil snow leopard Allura, who was revealed to have icy powers, as well as a hypnotic purr and the powers that she claimed from a piece of a very powerful star.
The Mane 6 knew it wouldn’t be too long before Allura found out how to use the star piece to open small portals. And after she learned how to make portals... they were sure that Equestria would be next on her conquest list.
And since they were already with the dragons of the Isle of Scaly (who they had just recently formed an alliance with), they went ahead and told Dragon Lord Spike and the other dragons what had went on.
When the story ended, Spike hummed in thought, trying to think of a plan. “Alright, so how can deal with her mind controlling purr?” he asked the ponies. “Her ice magic won't be too tricky if we know the full extent of it, but the mind control is another.”
“We don't have the Starlight Ridge snow with us,” said Misty, “which is what we used the first time to defeat her.”
“The only reason we were able to beat her in the Lost City of Atlantic City is because the four foals were possessed by the ocean spirits,” Hitch added just before chuckling. “That’s a whole other story, though.”
“But… maybe Sunny can make a new spell to undo the mind control?” Luxxe asked curiously. “His Royal Spikeness told us alicorns have that capability.”
“Um… I don’t really know if I’m that powerful yet,” Sunny said, a little ashamed and embarrassed to say so. “I don't even know how to create an entirely new spell.”
“Well... maybe we can find some crystals in Bridlewood could have some magic to neutralize mind control?” Zipp suggested. “Or I can go and make more snow ear plugs for everypony!” Izzy chirped, causing Blaize to raise an eyebrow at her. “There's no way you can make hundreds of ear plugs for every single pony in Equestria, Izzy.”
“Eh, that may be true,” said Izzy with a shrug, “but it never hurts to try and push your limits!”
“Is there a dragon on the Isle of Scaly whose dragon fire can remove mind control?” Pipp asked the dragons. “Not that we’ve ever seen,” Tumble admitted. “But again, we have been sleeping for 1000 years, so it wouldn’t be completely unheard of.”
“So… what do we do?” Hitch wondered. “We can’t just not do nothing!”
“We’re not gonna sit by and do nothing,” said Sunny, surprising members of both the Mane 6 and the dragon clan. “I think our best bet is to go back to Equestria and bring the dragons with us, so everypony else knows that Allura could arrive at any moment and that we’ve formed an alliance with the dragons.”
“But what if ponies panic when they see us?” Fountain said with a worried look. “We have been gone for a long time…”
“Yeah,” Jade nodded. “We don’t wanna scare anypony.”
“Well… if any of them have heard of the Guardians of Harmony, they might recognize Spike,” said Sunny. “And everyone's pretty used to Sparky. You guys are basically the same... except your bigger and your powers are more controlled,” Zipp added. “Plus,” said Hitch, holding Sparky in his hooces, “we’ll do it together.”
“All right then… let’s get going!” Spike smiled. “I’ll text everypony in Maretime Bay and let them know that an emergency meeting is gonna be going on at the Brighthouse,” Hitch said as the ponies galloped toward the Marestream. “All you dragons have to do is follow us!”
That's when the Mane 6 hopped in the Marestream and took off into the sky, and Spike led his dragons after them and away from the Isle of Scaly.
XXXXXXXX
It took about 30 minutes or so, but everypony in town was gathered at the Brighthouse for the meeting. But there were some very important ponies missing; Sunny and her friends!
Where were they, anyway?
Just then, Jazz and Rocky looked to the sky to see the Marestream flying toward the Brighthouse with Spike, Blaize, Fountain, Luxxe, Leaf, Tumble, Lava and Jade right behind them. “Dragons!” Jazz cried. “Yikes!!” Sprout yelped, hiding behind them before the dragons landed on the ground, followed by the Marestream, and Sunny and her friends came out of it. “Sunny… what are dragons doing here in Equestria? They haven't been seen for generations,” Phyllis Cloverleaf, Sprout’s mother, asked in concern. “Please don’t worry,” said Sunny. “The dragons and ponies are now allies, and they’ve come to help us in case Allura were to show up.”
“You can trust them,” Hitch assured. “Since one of them is the friend of Twilight Sparkle, one of the Guardians of Harmony.”
“Which one?” Jazz asked, looking at the different dragons as Spike came forward. “Me. I’m Spike… well, Dragon Lord Spike now, but Spike, nonetheless.”
Posey acted like she was going to say something, but she then flopped over on her back in shock, prompting several ponies to come to her aid.
That’s when Dahlia spoke up. “But wait… who’s Allura? And why do we need to protect Equestria from her?”
“She’s an evil snow leopard who has ice magic and a hypnotic purr,” Sunny explained, and then she and her friends took turns explaining to the crowd of ponies what happened in Starlight Ridge and what Allura did…
…and then, they told them about Opaline and what the Unity Quests were.
And of course, it frightened the ponies about Allura and the fact that she had mind controlling abilities. “What can we do against a mind controlling winged snow leopard?” Posey asked after regaining consciousness. “That's what we're trying to figure out,” Sunny admitted. “With the dragons as our allies and their unique dragon fire powers,” said Misty, gesturing to the dragons around them, “we've been devising possible countermeasures against Allura.”
“But…” Zipp added with some hesitance, “we’re going to need your help too.”
“Us? Say what?” Toots asked in surprise. “What in the world could we possibly do? We’re just… ponies. You guys are the heroes.”
“But there’s nothing to fear as long as we stick together,” Zipp reassured. “With true unity and friendship nothing can defeat us,” Misty added. “So, what do you say, everypony?” Sunny asked. “Are you willing to make your own alliance with the dragons and make sure Allura never attacks Equestria?”
“YEAH!!!”
“You can count on us!”
“Allura won't be messing with our home anytime soon!”
“For Equestria!”
Sunny and the rest of the Mane 6 smiled happily in return before their cutie marks started to glow and shimmer again...
...which meant another Unity Quest was around the corner, and this one would be one that was out of this world in a different way. “We better get up to the Unity Crystals,” Zipp told her friends. “Spike, can you keep an eye on everypony until we get back?”
“Of course,” Spike nodded, and the Mane 6 went up to the Unity Crystals, which were shimmering once more. “Do you think it could be sending us back to Bikini Bottom?” Misty asked. “Or somewhere else?”
“Well, there’s only one way for us to find out,” Hitch said. “Here we go!”
And just like that, the Unity Crystals sent out a white light that teleported everypony off on their next big adventure.