//------------------------------// // New Problems, Old Solutions // Story: The Mixer Chronicles // by Mixer //------------------------------// The Mixer Chronicles Book Fourteen: New Problems, Old Solutions It took a full week to get the others armor in, but they were excited to be getting the shiny new sets. I started to work on that project I had thought about when in the caverns before, a secret airship hangar. I started by hollowing out a large cavern with crystal saws, then I cut the doors out of the wall and built a mechanism to move them. It was a basic gear system that slid the giant doors with magic power. The next step was building the airship, not just some hull hanging from a balloon, this airship design was totally new. It had a hull that looked like a ship, made from lightweight wood. next were the “wings” which swooped down from either side of the aft end. under the wings were two large flight bladders, each with an envelope of material that was like chainmail, preventing them from being scratched. It also had two propellers in the back to push it along. When it was finished it could accommodate all eight of us, plus Luna, on the deck alone. It even had two crew quarters and an engine room below decks; however, that would take weeks, maybe months to complete, so in the meantime I decided to put my recruits through a training exercise. I began setting up a section of the Everfree forest at the base of the mountain for a little game of capture the flag, unfortunately, the preparations were taking longer than expected so we were waiting for a few days. While we were waiting one night Trottson and I were on guard together again. “So you want the two teams to cooperate and capture the other team's flag, without the team leaders?” Trottson asked. “Yes, I want to see how well they can cooperate without an established leader like you or me,” I said. “So you want me to leave them alone, with just a map and a mission?” he asked. “Yes, I want to know if any of them can take leadership in that kind of situation,” I said. Suddenly a buzzing noise came from the gardens. “What?! Changelings here?” Trottson asked as we rushed in that direction to check it out. Sure enough, a small group of changelings were trying to carry off Chrysalis, how they got in undetected was a mystery. “You go get the others, I’ll keep them from escaping,” I said as Trottson flew off to raise the alarm. Three changelings broke off from the group and flew in my direction. I was flying on a crystal to close the distance faster, and simply spun the board sideways, plowing the three of them over. I could hear hooves from back at the castle so I dodged the next two that tried to stop me, letting the reinforcements take care of them. There were barely enough changelings to lift the statue by now, only about ten or so. Three more detached and the statue almost came to a halt, the few remaining changelings struggling with the weight. These three I decided to take the time and deal with on the ground. They were obviously not prepared to fight, they were thin looking, even for changelings, it was a wonder they could even lift the statue of Chrysalis. I almost felt sorry for them, but I quickly dispatched the three of them with a few swats of the crystal I was previously using to fly on. I walked forward towards the few that remained, struggling to lift the great weight. “Get them!” a small voice cried from the center of the group. With that order, the eight that remained left the statue and confronted me. At that point Phalanx and Trottson had finished their fight, and had come streaking in like missiles, taking out a changeling each. The six left started to back towards the statue defensively, while Phalanx Trottson and I moved in. The few that remained didn’t even put up a proper fight, falling each with a single blow. A tiny changeling that had been clinging to the statue rushed out and tried to rouse one of the fallen drones, “Come on get up!” she cried. This changeling looked to be no older than a filly, and she was now all by herself, facing three full grown stallions. We just kind of stood there awkwardly while she stood up to us, a defiant look on her face but tears flowing from her eyes, “I’m not afraid of you big mean ponies!” The others walked up and and so did Celestia and Luna, awoken by the fighting. “What is this?” Luna asked. “I’m here to get my momma back from you mean ponies!” the changeling child said, her angry words coupled with hot tears. None of us were so cruel as to harm her, not after this. “We can’t just leave her,” Ivy said. “And we are not going to hurt her,” Rose added. “I don’t need your pity,” the filly said, barely standing now. “Little one, we can’t let you simply take her,” Celestia said. “But we won’t simply turn you away,” Luna added. Celestia turned to one of the guards taking care of the changelings that had been defeated, “Set up a small campsite will you,” she asked, then turned to the filly, “Will you come with us?” She wiped away some fresh tears and said back, “Ok, but only because I have to, form mama.” Celestia walked next to the changeling filly and put her wing around her, guided her over to the now almost ready campsite, the rest of us following behind. “Now why don’t you sit here and enjoy the fire while we discuss this,” Celestia said, sitting the young changeling down next to Ivy. She beckoned me and Luna to talk inside in private. “So, little one, what’s your name?” Ivy asked in a soothing, friendly tone. "Crystal,” the little changeling answered with a sniff, drying the last of her tears. Trottson and Thunderlane were watching vigilantly while Brick and Star Shine sat on the other side of the makeshift campsite. “What a pretty name,” Rose said, sitting on the other side of Crystal. “So, Crystal, tell us what happened,” I vy said. “Weeks ago, moma said she was going to get enough food to last us a lifetime, she said she would be back, and took most of the others with her. They returned, but mama never came back,” the little changeling said, holding back a fresh rush of tears. “The others wouldn’t tell me what happened. They always told me what happened before, but I refused to believe moma was gone. Then, they said that mama had come back, just like I knew she would, but then word reached us that she was turned to stone. They told me that I was queen now, and so I decided to get my moma back,” she finished, waving a leg around proudly. -- “What is so troubling you Mixer?” Luna asked. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it is the fact that we were facing a CHILD, or maybe the fact that she was only here to get her mother, who I turned to stone in the first place, or better still, the fact that I have to face a bottomless pit of guilt for orphaning a child whose mother I made a promise to help!” I said pacing frantically. “Mixer...” Celestia began to say. “NO! I won’t just let it go. There’s a filly out there who lost her mother to ME! All because I was more worried about Discord than protecting her!” I practically yelled. “Mixer...” Luna started. “And don’t expect me to simply but out of the situation. I won’t just be pushed aside in this matter. I ruined a fillies life!” I said, my words mixing with tears of anger and sadness. Luna out her hoof on my shoulder to calm me down, “We don’t want you to. We just want you to calm down, we can’t reach a reasonable solution with you in hysterics.” I took a deep breath, “So, what do you propose?” “I would never let harm come to a filly, even a changeling,” Celestia said. “But this is utterly unprecedented.” “Should we keep her here? We can’t just let her go, not that she would leave her mother,” Luna said. “What do you think Mixer,” Celestia asked me. I barely heard the question, lost in thought about the situation. A shake from Luna jolted me from my stupor. “Mixer are you alright?” Luna asked. I shook my head a little to clear my thoughts, “I think that keeping her here is the best course of action.” “But what do we do with her?” Luna asked. “We have to keep some kind of watch over her,” Celestia said. “I’ll do it,” I said. “Are you sure?” Luna asked me. “Yes, she’s my responsibility, it should be my job to watch over her,” I said, steeling myself for the confrontation. The three of us walked outside to check on the “campers”. Ivy got up and walked over to us, “So what did you decide?” “We will keep here here under Mixer’s watchful protection,” Celestia said. “Mixer, are you alright?” Ivy asked, her voice sounding distant to my unfocused attention. “Y-yeah,” I managed to reply. “What’s wrong? you keep staring at Crystal,” Ivy asked. “So her name is Crystal,” I said, registering as the only bit of information I needed to know. “What’s up with you? I haven’t seen you like this, even in the short time I have known you,” Ivy said. I let out a long sigh, “I was the one who turned her mother to stone,” I said flatly. “Oh...” she trailed off, her sympathy showed in her eyes. I put my head down, “Yes,” I said, not particularly willing to move from that particular spot. “I’m sorry,” she said, placing a hoof on my shoulder to comfort me. I stood up tall and walked over to Crystal and Rose, who were apparently making smores. “Mmmm, these taste so good,” Crystal said through a mouthful of the gooey treat. “Where did you get that?” Ivy asked. “Oh, I asked a guard to get the ingredients,” she said. “And by “guard” I assume you mean your brother,” I said. “Yes, I sent him to go get it, he was just sitting over there anyways,” Rose said. “So who are you?” Crystal asked me, now done with the s'more. “I’m going to be your guardian for a bit,” I said, using a soft tone. “My guardian?” she asked her head leaning to one side. “Yes, I’ll be watching over you for the remainder of your stay here at Castle Canterlot,” I said. “So, what? Does that mean I’m going to see my mama again?” she asked excitement building up in her. “If you follow me, you can talk to her right now,” I said. “Really!” she asked. “Yes, I happen to know a way you can talk to your mother through the stone,” I said, heading toward the unmoved statue of Chrysalis. “Now, can you use magic yet?” I asked. “I can use a little,” she said, making her horn glow green. “Ok, then concentrate and let me do all the work,” I said, connecting the three points of her horn, mine, and Chrysalis’s with an aura of magic. I held that, in theory, because we were in the astral plane together Chrysalis and I would still have some mental link left over from our incarceration. I let the magic flow through me, trying to find a way to reach the astral plane, or at least Chrysalis’s mind. It felt like a long time, walking with Crystal following me through a tunnel of blackness. Then we seemed to find just what we were looking for, as Chrystal’s sitting form came into view. “What is this?” she asked turning around. “Mama!” Crystal exclaimed dashing over to her. "Wha... you...” she let both her questions trail off as her daughter hugged her leg affectionately. “Mama, I came to rescue you from the mean ponies, but they beat you drone. Then this nice pony brought me here to see you! Isn’t that great!” she exclaimed, clinging to her mother. “Is this true?” she asked me, her eyes fixing me in a stare between hate and gratefulness. “Yes,” I said. She took one more stabbing look at me then looked back to her daughter with loving eyes, “My little gem, I have to go now, I’m sure our friend is putting considerable strain on himself to do this.” “Mama?” the little changeling looked up at her. “You go with the nice pony and be a good little filly, do whatever he asks you to; and try to be like the other ponies, it will be easier to make friends,” Chrysalis said moving her daughter towards me. “Should anything happen to her,” “Don’t worry, I won't let any harm come to her,” I said. “Good,” she gave a nod and walked off into the void. I awoke with a start, I was sore and the sun was shining. “Mixer! Thank goodness you are ok, you’ve been out for over a day,” Ivy said, her voice laced with concern. Two guards rushed in and moved toward Crystal. I shot between them and growled, “Don't. You. Lay. A. Hoof. On her.” The two guards backed away. “What was that about?” Ivy asked, shocked at my sudden hostility. “I made a promise to her mother to protect her, and I intend to keep this one,” I said, relaxing a bit. “This one?” she asked. “That’s a long story, one that I don’t have the time to tell,” I said, and walked over to examine Crystal. She looked just like she was sleeping. Then she too awoke and looked around sleepily. “Where are we?” she asked with a yawn. “We are in the gardens,” Ivy said. “The gardens, in Canterlot?” she asked. “Yes,” I said. “What about mama?” she asked. “Don’t you worry bout a thing, she’ll be alright, and so will you,” I said, picking her up with my magic and placing her on my back. “So you’re gonna have her ride on your shoulders?” Ivy asked, hiding a slight giggle. “I don’t think she minds, do you?” I turned my head slightly to ask Crystal. “It’s a little uncomfortable,” she said trying to balance on my armor. “Try this,” I said, as I lifted her up and formed a platform out of crystal on my back and anchored it into the shoulders of my armor. She shifted around a bit on the flat surface before saying, “This is much better.” It must have appeared like I was some kind of royal transportation for the little changeling as I walked around with her riding on the crystal platform. Ivy was rolling with laughter at this point, watching as I strode around the garden carrying the filly about like royalty, which technically, she was. “You better watch out, before you know it you’ll have the whole castle in stitches,” said in between bubbles of laughter. “I dare them to say something,” I said jokingly. “Well then, I think you should go to see Luna, she was worried about you after you passed out,” Ivy said, still recovering from the bouts of laughter. “Ok, thanks,” I said, leaving her to get herself under control. As I walked through the halls of the castle, the guards looked on in shock, the maids looked on in awe, and the little changeling on my back was grinning ear to ear as she was carried around like royalty. When we arrived at Luna’s door Trottson and Thunderlane were on duty. “Um...” Trottson trailed off as Thunderlane tried to keep from breaking a smile. “Is Luna here?” I asked. “Yes,” Trottson replied, trying to keep his own cool. I knocked at the door, “Luna can I come in?” “Yes,” the answer came. I opened the door with my magic and walked in, Crystal waving to the two guard ponies, Thunderlane’s snickers could be faintly heard through the door. “Well now, who is this?” Sombra asked, taking a look at Crystal. “My name’s Crystal, and this is my guardian,” she said, turning to follow Sombra as he circled me. “Who? This big old softie?” Sombra asked, showing a grin that matched hers. Luna face hoofed as she watched Sombra making a new friend, all the while I simply stood there so Crystal would not lose her balance. “I see you’re both well,” Luna said finally. “Yes, we had a little talk with Chrysalis while we were out,” I said, my eyes following Sombra every time he passed by my field of vision. “So, you figured out that you could contact her after the business with the astral plane?” Luna asked. “It was more of a theory at first, but it proved correct,” I said. “Though this time the temporal distortion was opposite, we had a short minute or so conversation and we were out for over a day.” Sombra had kept circling my until I could feel Crystal wobbling from dizziness. “Woah there!” Sombra said steadying her as she was about to tip over. “Thanks,” she said as she readjusted. “Who are you?” “Why, you can call me uncle Sombra,” he said proudly, followed by a corresponding facehoof from Luna. “You should stop doing that, otherwise you’ll have a permanent hoofprint on your forehead,” I told Luna. “I know, he never ceases to amaze me though,” she said with a sigh. “And this is you auntie Luna!” Sombra said. “Hey now!” Luna said. “Don’t drag me into this.” Crystal seemed delighted and tested out these new names, “Uncle Sombra and auntie Luna!” Sombra smiled while Luna let out a sigh in resignation. “So did anything important happen while I was out?” I asked. “Just the usual,” Sombra said. “Ok, just wanted to check. You don’t think Celestia would mind me dropping in on her do you?” I asked. “She’s not busy at the moment,” Luna said. “Ok, thanks!” I said as I left the room with Crystal on my back. “You know, technically you’re a princess,” I said to Crystal. “Really?” she asked. “Yep, you are the daughter of a queen after all,” I said. “So does that make me Princess Crystal?” she asked. “It sure does,” I said, “By the way, why were you so friendly with Sombra and Luna?” I asked. “That’s easy silly, I can see it on him,” she replied. “You can see it?” I asked. “Yeah, it’s a trick moma taught me, I can see ponies emotional auras. When I arrived all of you had red auras, now you are pink, and he was a nice yellow,” she said. “What about Luna, and Ivy?” I asked. “Auntie Luna was kind of blue, but with a calming dash of green. And Ivy had a pinkish yellow aura,” she answered. “Wow, that seems like it could come in handy,” I said. “It does, it lets me know who is nice or not,” she said. “So what does each color mean?” I asked. “Well, red is mean, blue is sometimes sad or afraid, yellow is happy, green is calm, and pink is kind,” she answered. I wondered if kind was the only thing pink ment, “So are you ready to go see Celestia?” I asked. “Who’s that?” Crystal asked. “She’s Luna’s sister and ruler of Equestria,” I said. “So is she my auntie too?” she asked. “I’m not sure if she would appreciate it as much as her sister, but you could ask,” I said. “Ask who what?” Celestia said, as I almost ran into her. “Oh, princess, I was just coming to see you,” I said. “And you have a passenger,” she said looking down at the changeling riding on my back. “Hi auntie Celestia!” Crystal piped up. “Auntie?” Celestia asked with a chuckle. “Yes, Sombra is her ‘uncle’ and Luna is her ‘auntie’,I said, “You can call me auntie Tia,” Celestia said to the little filly. “Ok, auntie Tia!” Crystal said. “So what did you want to ask me Mixer?” ‘Tia’ asked. “I wanted to know if it was alright to give Crystal some tutelage on how to be a pony,” I said. “What teacher do you propose?” she asked. “The same as with her mother,” I said. “I’ll send for Twilight and her friends immediately,” she said. “Thank you,” I said, and changed direction to head towards the Luna Guard barracks. “Who’s Twilight?” Crystal asked. “She’s a friend, and her and her friends are going to be your new teachers,” I said. “Awww,” Crystal moaned. “Now don’t be like that, it will be fun,” I said. “Ok,” she said. Crystal looked around everywhere with wonder as we descended into the caverns to go to the barracks. “Wow, it’s so big,” she said with wonder. “Yes it is, we have almost a small town down here,” I said. “Wow,” she said as the lift reached its destination. I walked to one of the houses that was for rent and I asked if it was vacant. The pony managing the rentals told me that it was vacant and that I could rent it if I wanted. I told her that I would and she gave me the key. “So what are we doing here?” Crystal finally asked. “This is going to be your new home,” I said. “Huh?” she asked. “I have to guard Luna, and I also have to keep you safe. I didn’t think it would be appropriate for you to sleep in a barracks with a bunch of other snoring ponies, so I’m renting this house for you,” I explained, lifting her off my back and onto the floor. “So I get to live here with you?” she asked. “Yes,” I said. “Yay!” she exclaimed and gave me a hug. I returned it saying, “Now, you stay here for a minute while I go check on something.” “Ok,” she said and scampered into the other rooms. I went across the way to the barracks and asked Rose to keep an eye on her for me. She did and I went to check on the progress of the preparations for the training exercise. The preparations were almost complete now, only the soft magical boundary was left. I returned to the house to find that Rose was playing with Crystal in the rather large living room. “Ha ha, I got you!” Crystal said as she caught up to Rose, who was running around the open space. They both looked up as I let out a laugh, “Good to see you two are getting along.” “You told me to keep an eye on her, and she wanted to play,” Rose said. “Thank you Rose,” I said. “No problem,” she said as she walked out. “Miss Rose is really nice,” Crystal said. “She is, though, her brother is a different story,” I said. “So what now?” she asked, still wiggling around with energy. “Well, I have a little exercise for the Lunar Guard planned for tomorrow, so I’m going to check up on a few things then get some rest for tomorrow,” I said, preparing the crystal platform for her to ride on. “Ok,” she said as I lifted her up onto my back and we went to the lift to finish my errands. The next morning I had everypony ready to go on the training exercise. The goal was to capture the other team’s flag before they captured yours. Both teams had four members and a map with the location of the other team’s flag. Unbeknownst to the six team members, Trottson and I, the team captains, had planned to leave the teams to fend for themselves, to test their abilities. On my team was Ivy, Phalanx and Thunderlane, on Trottson’s team was Brick and the siblings. Crystal was accompanying me on a canopied platform, but was unaware that she would be making my disappearing act more convincing. When my team entered the training area the barrier sealed behind us and we marched onwards towards a large rock, almost a small mountain, to get a better view of things. “Ivy what does the map say?” I asked looking towards a cave in the rock face. “If this map is right we should be somewhere to the south east of the flag,” Ivy said studying the map. “I,m going to see if there is a faster way around this rock through that cave,” I said, walking in that direction. “Ok, but don’t wander off too far,” Phalanx said. “I’ll be fine,” I said, knowing full well that as soon as I got inside the cave, the entrance would collapse. When the rocks came clattering down behind us, Crystal’s shriek of surprise helped add to the realism of the staged accident. “Mixer are you ok.” I heard Ivy call from outside. “We’re ok, the cave goes on farther, I think I’ll follow it and look for a way out,” I said, rather shouted through the rocks. “What are we gonna do now Mixer?” Crystal asked. “Why, my dear, we are going to get out of this cave,” I said and started running for the entrance on the other side of the cave. -- “So we know where the other team’s flag is but not ours?” Brick asked. “Yes, it’s an interesting twist, makes it so you can’t puppy guard your flag,” Trottson said, flying just above his teams heads. “So why aren’t we headed right to the other team’s flag, we won’t get lost,” Star Shine said. “If we just started running around the forest in the direction we think the flag is in, we’ll end up going in circles,” Trottson replied. “So what are we gonna do?” Rose asked. “I’m going to scout up ahead to look for any distinctive landmarks, you three stay here,” he said flying off to our secret rendezvous point. I saw Trottson approach from the top of a cliff where we were set to meet. “It seems like all is going according to the plan so far,” I said, scanning the trees for his team. “Yes, you did make it convenient with me being the only pegasus on the team,” he said as he landed. “What’s going on?” Crystal asked confusion written across her face. “I wanted to test their abilities to work together without a determined leader,” I explained, location the three earthbound members of Trottson’s team. “Oh, so this is like a test,” she said. “Yes,” I replied. “I don’t like tests,” she said. “It does not appear that Brick does either,” I said, watching as the three of them argued. -- “So what do you propose we do, walk around in circles all day?” Star Shine questioned Brick. “It would be better than sitting here doing nothing,” he snorted. “What about Trottson, he told us to wait here,” Rose said. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to go find that flag,” Brick said, turning and walking away. -- “You should go help Brick, he just fell in a pit trap,” I told Trottson, as I watched the glimmer from the magical trap that I had set. “He’s going to develop into a problem,” Trottson said. “Not if he learns from this exercise,” I said. “Well, I better go help him,” Trottson said as he flew off. “Now, let’s see what Ivy and my team are up to...” -- “Ok, you two search around the rock in opposite directions, if you see anything wait for the other to get around to you,” Ivy said. “Who made you leader?” Phalanx asked. “I did when you two didn’t have a better idea than waiting for him to find a way out,” Ivy shot back. Phalanx could not deny that fact, “Ok, what if we don’t find anything?” “Then you two should meet on the other side of the rock. If that happens come back here and we will plan our next move,” she said. -- “Ah, just the kind of leadership I was looking for,” I muses as I watched Phalanx and Thunderlane begin their circuit of the rock. “What about the others?” Crystal asked. “Let’s see...” -- “I told you to stay put!” Trottson shouted down the hole. “I thought that it was better to be proactive,” Bricks voice came up from the deep hole. “Well, at least the others stayed in position, I’ll come back with help,” Trottson said, flying off towards the two siblings. “Serves him right for abandoning us,” Star Shine snorted. “Star,” Rose said, trying her best to chasten her brother. “He’s fine for now. While I was scouting I saw a clear path heading in the direction of the flag. I also saw another path that could lead to the flag, but it’s longer,” he said. “So what are we going to do?” Star Shine asked. “I’ll take the longer path, while you two will go down the clearer path,” he said preparing to take off. “Do you think it’s a good idea to split up?” Rose asked. “We can cover more ground like that, plus the sooner we get done, the sooner we can get Brick out of that hole,” Trottson said, flying away. “Well sis, let’s go,” Star Shine said, heading in the direction Trottson indicated. -- “We found another entrance on the other side of the rock but no tracks,” Phalanx reported to Ivy. “Take me there,” Ivy said. “But it would take too long to walk,” Thunderlane protested. “Then carry me,” she suggested. “Um...” Thunderlane said, blushing slightly. “What? Don’t think you can carry little old me?” she asked. “Enough of this,” Phalanx said, putting his arms around Ivy and lifting her into the air. They flew around the large rock and Phalanx set Ivy down in front of the cave. “You’re right, there aren't any tracks,” Ivy said perplexed. “What does that mean?” Thunderlane asked. “It means that he didn’t just walk out of this cave,” Ivy said. “He can kind of fly with his crystals,” Phalanx said. “That explains the lack of tracks, but what about him missing?” Ivy asked. “What’s that?” Thunderlane asked pointing to a high cliff. Ivy covered her eyes from the sun and looked at the top of the cliff. She could see the form of a pony scanning the forest. “Looks like he flew up that cliff to scan the area,” Ivy said. “Why would he just fly up there without telling us?” Phalanx questioned. “I don’t know, but he could have spotted the flag by now,” Ivy said. “Thunder, you go and ask him.” “Ok,” he said taking off in my direction. -- “Oh dear, it appears that they spotted us,” I said to Crystal, watching Thunderlane close the distance between us. “Isn’t that good?” she asked. “I guess from their perspective,” I said. “Mixer, what happened back there?” Thunderland asked flying up to us. “I found a way out of the cave and flew up here to get a better look at the surroundings,” I said. “Well we were worried about you,” Thunderlane said. “Well, as you can see, no need to worry. But from what I have determined, I think the other flag is somewhere around there,” I said, pointing to a small patch of trees in the distance. “What should we do?” he asked. “You and Phalanx search that area while Ivy heads in that direction,” I pointed in the opposite direction, “To intercept the other team.” “Alright,” Thunderlane said flying off. -- “So where do you think the flag is?” Rose asked Star Shine, looking at the map. “Well, I doubt it will just be out in the open,” he said. “And what about Brick?” she asked. “He deserved to fall in a hole,” Star Shine said. “But he’s still on our team,” Rose complained. “And he disobeyed an order, and he fell in a hole for his trouble,” Star Shine said. “I hope that we find it soon,” Rose said. “Yeah, I’m getting hungry,” he said, his stomach growling. -- “So now, you have both teams on the fast track to the other teams flag,” Trottson said, observing the two pegasi flying in a search pattern around the patch of forest. “Yes, I have seen about all I need to make an evaluation,” I said. “You do?” he asked. “Yes, the flags are just a pretense,” I said. “So you just wanted to see how they would handle themselves without a leader?” he asked. “I thought I already explained that,” I said. “I didn’t think you would finish the evaluation befor ethe exercise is all,” he said. “There is still time,” I said, watching where Ivy and the siblings would inevitably meet. -- Ivy had actually found her own teams flag. She took the opportunity to try and set up a trap, only a simple tripwire, but a trap nonetheless. When she had finished the simple leghold, she hid in a nearby tree, ready to spring and run with the flag. -- “Hey, there’s the flag!” Star Shine exclaimed as her rushed through the trees to reach the objective. His run was cut short by a thin line that ripped him up. “Star!” Rose cried surprised, as Ivy jumped out of a nearby tree and grabbed the flag. “Hey, come back here!” Star Shine shouted after her. Ivy was running as fast as she could with the flag in her mouth. She could here as the two unicorns chasing her were trying to catch up with her. Ivy was surprise when the flag started to glow with a pinkish aura and she found herself being pulled backwards. She looked behind her and saw that Rose was trying to pull her back. She grabbed onto a tree as she was sliding backwards and held on. “Let go,” Rose said as she tugged harder on the flag. Ivy held onto both the flag and the tree, trying no the let go of either. “I said, LET GO!” Rose yelled as she yanked the flag from Ivy. “Looks like we win,” Star Shine said grabbing the flag himself. At that moment the magical barriers that surrounded the area cleared and went down. “Wha...” Rose asked while she looked around. “It looks like the test is over,” I said, walking up with Trottson and the others. “Sorry guys,” Ivy apologized to Phalanx and Thunderlane. “It’s alright,” I said. “This was an evaluation of your teamwork and leadership.” “So you planned all this?” Star Shine asked around the flag handle. “Yes, and I think that Ivy by far did the best, and Brick did the worst,” I said. “You need to learn to cooperate with the group, instead of running of by yourself because you think you can do it,” I said, turning to Brick. He just hung his head a little. “Ivy, you demonstrated leadership, even when it seemed like you were the least experienced. That is a good trait,” I praised her. “Thank you,” she said, looking a lot happier than a few seconds ago. “Now, everypony get some rest, it’s back to the regular schedule tomorrow,” I said. This group of ponies might need some work, but they were proving to be a better guard than I could have hoped for.