//------------------------------//
// Assurance 
// Story: Trailblazer The Rescuer 
// by Trailblazer Rocker 
//------------------------------//

The next morning, the main five packed away their tents and other belongings. Twilight Sparkle had a feeling that it would be best to look for him and press on at the same time.
"We can't just let him off like that..." said Twilight. "We need to find him and talk some sense into him."
"Hang on... Shouldn't we grab his tent so that we don't have to come back here again?" wondered Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, good thinking. Let's pack his tent."
With all five of them working on it, Trailblazer's tent was taken down in a matter of minutes.
"All right, let's go find this stallion," said Rarity.
"Um, Rainbow?" Fluttershy said as they all were approaching the woods that Trailblazer took off into. "I think we'll have a better chance at finding him with the aerial views we can get now."
"Yes, good idea," Rainbow Dash agreed. "He shouldn't be too hard to find in daylight."
The three walkers and pegasi entered the woods and resumed their search. Like they mentioned earlier, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy got airborne and searched from beneath the treetops. The other three kept on searching through the thick plants and other foliage.
"Trailblazerrrrr!" Pinkie Pie called out.
"We're only here to help you, Trailblazer!" Rarity called. "Please show yourself."
They kept on searching for another half hour, like last night. This time, they weren't looking in just a certain area. They kept on walking forward, hoping to find him deeper in the woods.
"Trailblazerrrr!" Twilight hollered. "Please answer us!"
"Anything on the aerial views, Dashie?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"No... We haven't seen him or anything of his around," answered Rainbow Dash.
"You don't think that... He ran off somewhere else... Do you?" Fluttershy questioned.
"That... Would be bad..." said Rarity.
Just then, they heard some low singing coming from somewhere.
"Nooo-bodyyy, knoowwws, the trouble I've seen..." it sang.
Twilight Sparkle gasped. "Could that be...?"
"That sounded like him!" Rainbow Dash talked back. She started to fly around more quickly to see if she could find him. While Fluttershy followed her, the other three tried to listen to where that singing was coming from.
"Nooo-bodyyy, knoowwws..." the voice trailed off.
Rainbow Dash heard where it came from, and went in that direction. There, she saw a brown earth pony with a long, thick, and shaggy mane, and a backpack worn on his back, hanging on at his sides, wandering aimlessly through the woods.
Trailblazer.
"Hey, I found him!" she exclaimed.
"What? You did?!" Pinkie Pie asked loudly.
"I'm looking at him right now!" Rainbow Dash swooped down and got a closer look. She was not mistaken; it was actually Trailblazer. She and Fluttershy got down on the ground and stopped him from going anywhere. The three on foot quickly caught up to him.
"Oh my God, Trailblazer! You're okay!" Twilight ran up to him and gave him a big hug. Trailblazer did not react. He simply just stood still with her forelegs wrapped around him, head hung low, and drooped ears.
"You know that I'm the real villian here. Why are you all so excited to see me?" he asked them all.
"You're not at fault, Trailblazer!" Twilight started to nudge him. "I know you're better than this!"
"Darling, we all make mistakes, and we do things we might regret later on..." Rarity lectured. "Come now, things aren't so bad now!"
"Turn that frown upside-down!" Pinkie Pie yelled quickly.
All five of them gathered around him, ready for a big group hug.
"All this comforting you're all trying to do is making me feel worse..." he said, gloomy.
"Oh, knock it off already!" Rainbow Dash barked at him. "We need to talk some sense into you!"
"Please... Just cope with us," whispered Fluttershy. "Don't be so negative. We don't like it..."
He rolled his eyes at her. "Big talk coming from the one as timid as a pony can be."
"Excuse me??" Fluttershy got a little angry at that snide remark.
"Go tend to your little fuzzy bunnies and birdies. You talk to them more than you can talk to another pony."
Fluttershy immediately rammed him and left him lying on his back. She stood directly over him. "You listen here, you mule! Don't you try to shift the attention on anypony else here! YOU'RE the one that's in the funk, and YOU'RE the one that's not working with us! Now, we're trying to help you out, but you are going to accept our help, whether you like it or not!
All of them, even Trailblazer, were surprised at her sudden aggression. Fluttershy reacted to it by backing off, regrouping with her friends, and with a worried look on her face. "Was I too assertive?"
"Don't worry about it, Fluttershy," reassured Twilight. She walked up to Trailblazer, who was still lying on his back. "Please, Trailblazer. Just tell us what's wrong, and how this all happened."
He let out an unhappy sigh. "Fine, I will... But it's not like it's going to change anything or make anything better."
All eyes were on him, paying attention to what he had to say.
"Back when we were all fillies, Black Hole and I were troublemakers. Both of us picked on the other students as much and we could with some of the most unruly things we had in mind. But I had this alpha-male belief at that time and picked on Black Hole too. He tried retaliating, but never succeeded in doing so. His constant failures at bullying me and my constant bullying of the other fillies at that time made him miserable, according to him."
"Then came the time that we were all pre-teens. I saw all the stupid things I did as a foal, and felt really guilty. I went to apologize to all the ponies that I bullied and seeked forgiveness, through apologies and other means, like doing favors for them. But when I went up to Black Hole, I saw him tears. He felt miserable, and I felt the guilt grow even more. He yelled something at me about all the cruel things I did to him back then, and he ran away. I got in one last chance to say that I was sorry, and I yelled it at him to make sure that he heard me. I know for a fact that he heard me, but he didn't listen. He just ran away without accepting my sincere apology."
"And nowadays, as you all know, he's now more vengeful against me that he wants control of the treasure to do sone cruel things to me..."
"Well, thanks for letting us know what happened between you two..." said Pinkie Pie. "But now what can we do about it?"
"Wait a minute...!" Trailblazer's ears perked back up. He rolled over and got back on his feet, then rested a hoof under his chin, thinking out loud. "I made honest attempts to make up with all the ponies that I bullied, and they've all accepted them so far. Even in the few places we've visited on this journey, they've accepted my apologies because I saved their siblings. So, they see the good in me, even after years of making my first impressions on them..."
"Yes? Go on, this is good," encouraged Rarity.
"But Black Hole refused to accept it, even though I am truly sorry for what I've done... That means..."
"Yes, yes??"
"That means that I've all that I can. And if he still couldn't see that, then, I'm perfectly fine!"
"Yes, this is good!" exclaimed Twilight.
"He made the choice to not accept my apology, when I had honest remorse!"
"Well, I've been TRYING to tell you THAT..."
"So, if he thinks he can get away with taking away my little red delicious, he's got another thing coming!"
"Is this it? Are you back, ready to keep going?!" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.
"Oh, like you wouldn't believe. That's my precious AppleJack he made off with! And he's gonna pay."
"That's the spirit!" Pinkie Pie said while rampant.
"LEEEEET'S DO IIIIIIIITT!" he yelled.
All the other ponies around him cheered, praising him for regaining the will to keep going.
"I knew you had it in you!" shouted Twilight. "I take it that you're feeling better now?"
"Heh... Yeah."
"There you go!"
"Good on ya, 'blazer!" yelled Rainbow Dash.
"Ummm, please don't be hard on me for yelling at you like that... I- I didn't mean to..." Fluttershy now felt guilty.
Trailblazer walked up to her. "Hey, I think that if it weren't for your assertive rant, I'd probably still feel blue. So really, I should thank you."
"Oh, thanks for your forgiveness!" she yelled in her mild tone of voice.
"All right! Who here's ready to save AppleJack from our favorite train wreck?!" Trailblazer shouted that in a mix of excitement and anger.
The other five cheered and let out affirmative shouts.
"All right! Onward!"
Twilight pulled out his packed up tent and handed it to him before they continued, and then they made their way through the woods.

"So, how are you enjoying your new holding place, you stubborn cowpony?" Black Hole asked.
AppleJack was locked in a small cage next to his throne. Inside, AppleJack was tied by her legs, which were pinned to her body, forcing her to be lying down. The cage that she was encased in was small, which almost made the ropes unnecessary. It was wide enough to accompany her length, and tall enough for her body in her lying down state, forcing her head to be lying down on the cage's floor.
"Is this really the biggest cage y'all have??" she asked. "Ah'm cramping up in here, way more than ya probably think!"
"Oh, shut up. White Comet was a useless surveillance guard, and look where THAT got him."
"That was a terrible thing for ya to do!" She paused. "And he did nothin' wrong!"
"Oh, please. He carried such little weight for us. Yes, he did what I told him to do: watch you. But he told you information about the plan, and talking about Trailblazer's progress behind my back, AND he was going to take you away for an escape. Why SHOULDN'T I have cut his life short?"
"Because yer Black Hole, and you have no heart."
"Ah, yes... Now then, I suggest you give up on Trailblazer. He's going to get killed too. I guarantee it."
AppleJack looked down, resting her chin on the cage floor, had floppy ears, and let out an unhappy sigh. It's been awhile since she's heard anything about him, and she wondered if they've defeated this Sclar thing. Her answer to that question never came. She continued to lie down, thinking that they weren't going to make it.
A little bit later, the Sound Wave pony barged through the doors, wound up as ever.
"Sound Wave! This had better be good, for you to burst in here like that!" lectured Black Hole.
"Yeah, my bad. Sorry, my Lord," said Sound Wave. "But, yeah, it's good, all right!"
"Well, what is it?"
"We have found the third and final key to unlock that temple door!" Sound Wave held out a bronze key with a ruby planted at the head.
"What?? Is... Is that it?"
"Damn right, dude!"
"So, the time has finally come..." Black Hole let out some long evil laughter. "Now, that dark power is finally going to be brought back!"
"What...? D-dark power?" AppleJack asked.
"I'll let you do the honors, my lord!"
"Good, good." said Black Hole quietly. He picked up AppleJack's cage and began to walk up to Sound Wave to grab the key.
Just then, one of his soldier ponies barged through the doors. He was panicking a little.
"What? Now what?" wondered Black Hole.
"Lord Black Hole! Please excuse me for arriving without permission, but, our scouts have spotted Trailblazer and his friends outside the mountain base!"
"Wh-WHAT?!" screamed Black Hole. Sound Wave and AppleJack said the same thing, except Sound Wave sounded afraid while AppleJack sounded happy.
"It's true, my lord!"
Black Hole growled angrily while AppleJack cheered.
"Heeeeeee-yaw! Now THAT'S my little sugarcube! He's-a comin', and he's comin' to whip your smug behind!"
"Shut up!" Black Hole turned to look at the soldier. "Tell the others to get into position! I'll also need some of my soldiers in the temple with me. Hmmm..." Black Hole thought for a second. "Ah, yes, of course. STEELHIDE, SHADOWCOLTS! I summon you!"
SteelHide and the three Shadowcolts appeared in the room.
"Yes, Lord Black Hole?" SteelHide asked.
"I need you four to come with me. I'll explain what you need to do when I get there."
Everyone in the room followed Black Hole to a room deep within their castle, a few floors down. There, they found a big door, which had two keys inserted into it already. Black Hole inserted the key into the last keyhole and waited. Just then, a deep rumbling was felt, and the door almost looked as if it was going to burst. The door started to open, slowly, and the rumbling reached minor earthquake proportions. Dark purple shadowy smoke was released as it opened, then quickly disappeared when it was released. The door finally stopped rumbling when it stopped opening. All of them could see what was beyond that door, which was an eerie temple made of dark purple, gray, and black rocks. Fallen pillars were in the temple. Balconies were also eroded and chipped away. Stalagmites rose from the sides of the temple path.
"At long last, the enterance to the Tenebres Temple is opened!" Black Hole hollered. Then, he looked at his followers. "I need half of you guys to come in with me. Just stay along the path and stop Trailblazer when he approaches you." He looked at SteelHide. "I need you to watch the enterance to this place. If anything, just stall him by fighting him."
"Okay, my Lord..." said SteelHide.
"As for you, Shadowcolts..." he said to them. "You tag along with my guards and try to stop Trailblazer when he comes."
"Ah, and tag along, we shall!" He turned to his two siblings. "Come, my brothers!" The three disappeared into the ground through their shadows.
"As for you, AppleJack..." Black Hole turned to her. "You're coming with me. Enjoy keeping control of your own body while you still can."
"Wait, what do ya mean by that?" she asked, a little bit scared.
"You'll find out soon enough..." Black Hole chuckled evilly to himself after saying that and entered the temple. Several guards followed him into it. The largle door was shut when everypony that was allowed to entered, and SteelHide stood in front of it.

"Is everypony okay?" Fluttershy asked after the tremors subsided.
All five of them stood outside the Crawnite Mountain base, shaken, but unharmed. The woods that they were going through led to the Crawnite Mountain Range, conveniently. From there, they kept on heading through it and ended up at the mountain base.
"Yeah, we're quite all right," answered Rarity.
"So..." Pinkie Pie wondered. "Anything about that pegasus we just saw a little bit ago?"
"What about him?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Well, he saw all six of us, then went all, 'Oh no, they're here!'" As she repeated what that pegasus said, she exaggerated her imitation of the panicked gesture he made when they were spotted by hanging in midair and covering her mouth with small pupils. She fell back down and resumed talking. "And then he flew back into the mountain!"
"Seems to me like there was an enterance up there," pondered Twilight, looking up at the face of the mountain.
"Looks like we'll have to give you four more sky rides," said Dash.
"You should go see what's up there first though."
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy lifted off and headed for the area that they saw that pegasus disappear to. There, they saw a balcony with a glass door, which they thought was where he went through. They touched down after seeing it.
"We found a balcony up there. I'm pretty sure that's where he went."
"Very well, let's head for that balcony," said Rarity.
Fluttershy grabbed Twilight Sparkle as Rainbow Dash carried Pinkie Pie. Rarity and Trailblazer had to wait for a little bit before they came back down and carried them to the balcony.
"Okay, AppleJack..." Trailblazer said quietly to himself, taking a deep breath. "Now is the real deal, and we're coming to save you." He felt and looked determined as he said that, and opened the balcony window.