Heart Plus - Dawn Arc

by SparkStone

Chapter 8 - The Main Fighters

I watched Kasin get burned after we escape that fire tower when it closed. I couldn't believe it…Kasin got all crazy before we all left! There was so much smoke that we couldn't see anything. I couldn't tell if he was still alive.

"Twilight! What the hay happened to Kasin!?" I questioned angrily. "Why'd he start fidgeting around like that?!"

Twilight gave me a serious frown. She looked almost as if she was going to cry. "He's traumatized by fire Rainbow! He just shut down seeing so much of it at one time!"

I stepped back hearing that. Kasin's traumatized by fire? What happened to that kid? But more importantly, is he alright?

Fluttershy walked up to us with the same worried look on everypony else.

"W-Where's Kasin?" She asked.

"He was just…engulfed by the fire…" Twilight spoke slowly.

"What!?" Pinkie screamed. "We gotta go check if he's okay!"

Before Pinkie could run into the smoke, Applejack grabbed her tail stopping her.

"Hold on! It's dangerous to go in there! That pony had some crazy fire power! We can't just go rushing in blindly!" Applejack told her.

"B-But, what about Kasin?" Fluttershy asked.

"Indeed! We can't just leave him with those brutes!" Rarity protested.

"I know, but this is happened because we were rushing in blindly! We can't just keep repeatin' the same mistakes!" Applejack explained. "First, we gotta clear the smoke so we can see what's happening."

I nodded at Applejack and used my wings to blow away the smoke. When it was cleared up, we saw Kasin being stepped on by Scorch. His hoof was sizzling onto Kasin's chest, burning his shirt. I couldn't help but cover my eyes for a second from his muffled screams. Scorch was also holding Kasin down by his mouth, making it hard for him to speak.

"KASIN!" We all screamed.

Scorch gave us a smug look as he said, "Don't worry…Just this one will die…You all may live since you're not a monster like this one…"

"Stop it! Stop it right now!" I screamed as I flew at him. But when I got close, those floating pieces of armor block me and smacked me back to the others. I slid on the floor while Kasin was still getting tortured. "KASIN!"

It was painful watching him try to get out of Scorch's hold. He was holding him down while he kept on burning his body. I tried to reach him again, but those stupid pieces of metal kept blocking me!

"If I'm gonna get to Kasin, I'll need to beat these things first!" I thought to myself.

Applejack walked up next to me and said, "Let me back you up Rainbow."

We nodded and got ready to fight these things. Before we did, I saw those revolutionary ponies coming out of the alleys and bushes charging at us. Twilight and the others decided to back us up by pushing those ponies back. It was really intense, and we didn't have much time! I knew if I didn't finish this quick, Kasin really would die from that Scorch!

"Ready?" Applejack questioned.

"Yeah, let's hurry up so we can save him!" I replied.

While Applejack took on the armor without wings, it was up to me to fight the flying metal set. I couldn't believe the thing actually flew, but what was worse is that it wasn't a pony. In my mind, I knew I couldn't tease a hollow set of armor like I did with Wing Gar, so I really have to rely on my skills. When we flew at each other, our heads clashed! It gave me a headache, cause its head was just a helmet. It was frustrating! I couldn't bash the thing because metal IS harder than flesh!

I was getting pushed around. If I hit it, then I get hurt. If it hits me, I STILL get hurt! I thought in my mind, "How do I beat it!?" Then it hit me. I've been using all my brawn, now it's time to use my brain, or specifically, be an egghead like Twilight for once.

While the hollow armor tried to tackle me, I decided to fly away from it while I thought things out. The metal thing was still on my tail, so I really had to find out a way to beat it before it beats me. "What can I do to make this thing stop working? It can fly, it has magic, it also…"

That's when it hit me! Magic! I flew to Twilight and quickly got her attention.

"Twilight! I need some help!" I quickly said.

Twilight shot a few beams at some revolutionaries before she turned to me and asked, "What is it?"

"I need a favor. If you can, I need you to look for something."

With Rainbow taking care of the flying set of metal, I was handling the one that stuck to the ground. It was mighty difficult trying to break the thing. A hard hoof to the thing was painful when I tried to buck it. It didn't get any better, since whenever it bashed back at me or kicked me, it REALLY hurt. I bet Rainbow can agree with me when I say metal hurting pony is easier than pony breaking metal.

The hollow thing was winning. At least compared to Tone, this one didn't have a mouth to brag with. I was getting pretty banged up. Fighting armor without anypony wearing it was harder than I thought. But before I could think, I heard a scream.

"AAAGH!"

I looked behind the armor to see Kasin still trying to get away from Scorch. I started to see steam and his skin started to bleed. I remembered if I didn't beat the thing, I wouldn't be able to save Kasin! I just have to take it apart, that's all I need to do. I didn't hold back this time, I rushed at the hollow armor and bucked it's helmet right off! I didn't stop, and slammed my hooves down the chest plate, crushing it into two. The armor pushed me away and tried to reassemble itself. I wasn't gonna let it do that, so with my body moving right at it, I broke it apart, finally beating it!

"Phew, that was tough." I sighed.

Suddenly, the thing started to go together again. I didn't understand until I saw one of those revolution unicorns trying to re-enchant the thing again! Luckily, Rainbow came by and tackled the unicorn. after that, she went over to the armor set and tied it up with a rope.

"Dang it, I should have gotten you to do this." Rainbow complained as her hooves messed up the knots.

"Why are you tying it up?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I did the same to the other one." Rainbow informed me. "Since some of those revolution ponies have these "Dry Stone" ropes or whatever, I used it on the armor so the magic won't work on it anymore."

I couldn't help but flinch at what she did. "Rainbow…you actually thought this through?"

"Yeah…Hey! I can think things through!" Rainbow replied angrily. "Anyways, let's go help Kasin now!"

I nodded in agreement, and together, we ran over to Scorch and Kasin before it was too late.

I was stuck underneath Scorch's two hooves. I was powerless as the heat emanating from him was grilling my chest and face. The pain of his torture reminded me of the burning mansion. I remembered myself being crushed by blazing objects before I escaped. Both mind and body were being assaulted, I was taking in so much agony, I was about to wear myself out. I thought it was over until…

"Let go of Kasin you campfire!" Rainbow insulted Scorch.

Scorch stopped his torture to me and looked up. I turned my head to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash on standby, ready to save me. But looking at them, I could see they were seriously injured.

"R…Rainbow? Applejack?" I muttered. "No…D-Don't…Don't fight him…"

Scorch gave a sadistic smirk as he stepped over me, walking towards the two.

"Well, well, well! The two mares made it! I guess a hunk of metal is no match against the wielders of the elements."

Rainbow didn't reply even though I knew she would have tossed in something to his claim. I knew why she didn't though. Listening carefully, I heard them breathing hard. They were too weak to fight! I was getting worried, seeing my two friends stick their neck out just to reach me only to fight against Scorch with a tampered body.

"What's wrong you two? Don't you have any more strength?" Scorch questioned jokingly. "Well, I hope you both have enough to at least give a good fight!"

With that, Scorch went in and became engulfed in fire. He bashed Applejack away, burning her during the impact. She fell to the floor, breathing harder.

"Applejack!!" Rainbow called. She turned to Scorch angrily. "You're gonna pay for that!!"

Rainbow rushed at Scorch and tackled him. However, as she did, she screamed in pain. I looked closely as I saw he surrounded himself in a fiery aura, burning Rainbow on contact. Once she flinched getting hurt, Scorch simply slapped her, knocking her to the ground. I felt a swell of rage when he did that. My dying body shook with anger, still lying on the floor.

"What's the matter?" Scorch questioned still maintaining a smirk. "Didn't you want to take me down?"

Scorch started to kick Rainbow. I could hear her grunt to each kick. The others wanted to help, but were busy fending off the revolutionaries trying to surround us. I stared at Applejack being cared for by Fluttershy, then to Rainbow being tortured. That was the last straw.

"HEY YOU! GET OFF OF RAINBOW!!!" I shouted.

Scorch turned to me and saw I was standing tall. He seemed a bit surprised as well as my friends and everyone else. It did not change his perky self however.

"Or what?" He asked. "Do you really think you can stop me?"

He kicked Rainbow one more time, making me immediately pull out my sling shot and shoot him. He turned to the lead ball, and got smacked in the face. He gave me an angry glare as he said, "Now you're just asking for a death sentence!"

Scorch lunged himself at me. He was turning into a ball of fire, but I countered by kicking him away. Surprisingly, it didn't feel very hot. Scorch was sent over to a group of revolutionaries, bombarding them with his own attack. Scorch got up frustrated with my tactic.

"What…What was that?!" He questioned without a grin of any sort. "He was screaming in pain of my hot hooves, yet when I used one of my strongest fire spells, he simply kicked it away!?"

I didn't waste any time and ran towards him. He stepped back and lit his horn on fire, creating a stick of flames from it.

"Aren't you scared of getting burned? Do you really want to touch fire?" He asked.

When I got close, he swung the extended fire horn at me. I managed to back off before it hit me.

"Scary isn't it?" He pointed out. "I could easily notice how terrified you were of all my fire spells. A little trouble with the flame, right? Tell you what creature, if you run back to the woods you came from, I'll spare you from my blaze as I use it to grill these ponies!"

Nothing stopped the inevitable. I jumped at him and punched him hard, knocking him to yet another group of revolutionaries, blowing them away. Scorch was surprised, but it didn't stop him from attacking me. He swung his fire horn trying to stab or cut me.

"Ergh! Dang monster! Why do you have to be in the way!?" He complained. "I don't have time for you anyways! I need to take charge of those blasted mares!"

He turned away from me and aimed at Applejack and Fluttershy. My eyes widened as I ran between them and Scorch. When Scorch shot another ball of fire, I stood in the way taking the hit for the girls.

Applejack and Fluttershy screamed my name. "KASIN!!"

I heard Scorch laughing, "So was that all it took? A simple fire ball to wipe you out?"

"Kasin…I'm…coming…" Applejack muttered, trying to stand up.

Fluttershy stopped her saying, "Applejack, you can't! You're too hurt!"

Scorch was walking towards the two, passing me after I fell onto my knees from the attack. My entire body was on fire.

"I guess it's just you and me." Scorch spoke. "Now, which one of you wants to get burned to a crisp first?"

Applejack pulled Fluttershy behind her, ready to take the beating Scorch was about to throw. But before he could, I shot a flaming bullet of my own at him. He flinched and turned towards my direction, and there he saw me on fire, but still moving.

"K-Kasin!?" Applejack spoke completely stunned by what she was looking at.

"I-Impossible!" Scorch yelled, taken back by my status. "You-You really are a monster!!"

I ignored him and rushed forward. I grabbed him and threw him far away from Applejack and Fluttershy, as well as into yet another group of revolutionaries. I could hear one complain, "Commander! Out of all the ponies we're having trouble with, you've been blowing away HALF our army!"

"Do not blame me fool!" He scolded at his subordinates. "That creature has untold strength…Everypony, concentrate your attack on it!"

They all roared as they ran towards me. My flaming body no longer felt like pain, but a new sensation of power ready to be used. With a single punch, I shot out a massive bullet like fire ball, throwing out the squads that went on the offensive.

"Twilight, what's going on with Kasin?" Rarity asked as she levitated a revolutionary to a tree.

"I'm not sure." Twilight replied as she too levitated a revolutionary to a lamp post. "But I think it's possibly because of the overuse of Scorch's magic."

"Pardon?"

"When Scorch was torturing Kasin, most of his magic went around him. Since some of his magic lingered, all of Scorch's spells are being used on Kasin, especially a fire shield."

"So Kasin can't get hurt to fire?" Pinkie questioned.

"Yes, but the spell Scorch accidentally dropped off will eventually wear out." Twilight stated.

With that conversation overheard and recorded in my mind, I knew what I had to do. I would have to use all my strength to beat Scorch before the spell wore off. No time for talking, I only had one thing in on my list.

Protect my friends by beating down Scorch Vies!
With my body on fire, it was easy passing through the crowd of Revolutionaries trying to bombard me with spears, swords, and axes. I simply passed through them with the fire on me burning those who got close. Scorch saw me coming, and even I could tell he knew he was in deep trouble.

With a frustrated expression, he ordered, "All units! Change your attack towards those six mares! I'll handle this one!"

With that command, they avoided me and headed towards my friends. Knowing how long they've been fighting, I knew there was no way they could hold off the entire army. I didn't change my course though, I still headed straight for Scorch and rammed him down. He struggled to get up, as he was too surprised to use his magic in time to protect himself from my burning body.

"Eh…Don't think you have the upper hoof monster!" He told me. "Do you really think your friends can hold off against an entire army?"

I raised my fist towards him and said, "Yes."

With that said, I rushed in and punched him right on his jaw, spiraling him to a tree. It practically burned the tree down upon impact. He seemed even less confident about this battle, but even if I was winning, it was still gonna be a long fight.

It was getting more difficult to fend off against the revolutionaries as they recently focused their attack on us. With Fluttershy treating Applejack's wounds as quickly as possible and Rainbow seriously injured, Me, Pinkie, and Rarity tried our best to cover them. But even with our best efforts, we were being pushed into a corner, and soon became overwhelmed by the numbers. Pushed against the wall, we tried to stand our last ground.

"Just…A little more…!" Rainbow muttered.

"They're finished!" one of the revolutionaries yelled as they threw the spears at Rainbow. I tried to use my magic to stop it, but I ended up defending myself when more came at me with swords.

"Rainbow! Look out!" I shouted.

Before Rainbow could notice in time, somepony levitated the spear away from Rainbow and lunged it at the revolutionaries. I looked up to see Lyra, as well as the other towns ponies.

"Don't worry!" Lyra assured us. "We're not gonna let these guys take our home!"

With that being said, everypony rushed in at the revolutionaries. They pushed them back, and we ended up having the winning edge in the battle! The revolutionaries became unsure on what to do, seeing that there were so many of us fighting. Some of the revolutionaries even started to retreat!

But it wasn't over yet. Even with many of us working together, Scorch was still up and fighting against Kasin. I was scared because the spell Scorch had left off of Kasin would soon wear out. I ran to him making sure he was okay.

When I saw the two of them, they were dueling with a series of complex fighting skills. Scorch had used his horn to blast fire and flail it around. Kasin didn't seem to mind and rushed around it. With his fire shield, he would be fine. However, after Kasin kicked Scorch, he jumped off and fell to his knees.

"Ah! Dang, that's hot!" Kasin grunted.

Kasin's fire shield wore off. He was now vulnerable to fire, and was therefore no match for Scorch. Even he knew and grinned menacingly.

"Oh, what's the matter? The little fire protection I gave you finally wore off?" He sneered. "Well, now let's finish this off with a good old fire room!"

He then pulled off the same spell before. Surrounding Scorch, Kasin, and I were walls of fire, spiraling around us. He then started to close them as Kasin's eyes widened and tears started to form. He was having trauma to the fire again.

"That's right, without the magic I accidentally left off on you, you're powerless!" Scorch pointed out to the shivering Kasin. "You die from the fire you fear the most!!"

He seemed to have gotten to Kasin. I could already see him nearly falling from another upcoming seizure. I was so scared, I ran to his aid.

"Kasin!!" I called him.

For a moment, he snapped out it and turned towards me. His gaze seemed to be focused on me for a while before he turned back to Scorch while gritting his teeth. I stood by Kasin and held onto him. I wasn't sure what he was planning to do, all I knew was that he didn't seem scared anymore. Instead, he slowly pulled away from me and jumped right towards Scorch. Kasin pulled his slingshot out and simed while flying through the air.

"Hahaha! You fell for it!" Scorch shouted. His horn lit on fire, and a beam of pure fire glazed Kasin inside.

I was shocked, and ran towards where Kasin would be.

"NO!" I cried.

But it wasn't over. Out of the beam, Kasin came out still flying. Scorch was shocked and soon, Kasin shot slung a bead to Scorch, and it exploded in a spectacle of fireworks. Scorch in irony, was burned in the end. The fire room spell wore off, and soon, everypony saw.

"C-C-COMMANDER SCORCH!!!" A revolutionary yelled.

"Finally…" Applejack muttered.

"About time…!" Rainbow quietly complained.

Scorch and Kasin were still high up in the air, and as both fell, Scorch crashed to the floor without conscious. Kasin landed on his feet and kneeling from the pain. However, he stood tall and glared at the revolutionary army, sending chills down their spine.

Everypony was silent until a pony yelled, "All units! All units!"

"With a report of more than half our army being taken down mostly by the six wielders elements and the monster as well as a failure to take over Ponyville and capture the elements, we must pull back and regroup as…"

He gulped, straining to say the next sentence. "As our commander Scorch Vies, the fire master has been defeated by the monster!!! In other words, WE ALL MUST EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!!!"

The citizens of Ponyville cheered as the Revolutionaries ran out of town. But before they even got close to the edge of town, Princess Celestia came with the royal army and arrested all the revolutionaries that were in the vicinity. They arrested the revolutionaries and aided everypony. When I saw Princess come to the plaza, I quickly went over to her, but not before helping Kasin up. When I came up to her, she sighed in relief as I went up to hug her.

"Twilight! Thank goodness you're alright!" Princess Celestia said reassured. "I received your letter and assembled my forces as quickly as possible."

"Thank you Princess! It's alright though, me and my friends handled it before you came." I informed her.

"Yes, and I'm very impressed Twilight." The Princess commended me. "To think you and the town actually stopped them all, especially…!"

Suddenly, her eyes widened. She walked towards Scorch, seeing how badly beaten he was and how deep in the crater as well.

"Commander Scorch Vies…" Celestia muttered.

"Do you know him?" I asked.

"Twilight…I never knew you or your friends could defeat somepony of his status…"

"W-Why? What is he?"

"Before the elements of harmony were used again by you and your friends, we had to use a more…offensive power. We had a group of attribute masters, perfecting the ways of combat, able to even defeat a whole army if necessary."

"A whole army!? I never heard of them before." I admitted.

"They were formed secretly to make sure it wouldn't cause a panic to the masses." the Princess explained. "They had moved to Unity long ago, but why is he with the revolutionaries?"

The name Unity had reminded me of Gnosis's story. "Princess! If you remember, my report to you about the ponies who captured me were revolutionaries as well! They all came from Unity for what happened to their land!"

Princess Celestia gave me a grim expression. "I see…"

"If I may ask, what….stopped you from helping them after the king was overthrown?"

The princess sighed before telling me, "Twilight…would it be alright if I tell you and your friends a bit later? I would like to tell you the whole story once things have settled down."

I nodded understanding her wishes. "Alright…"

The princess turned to Scorch once more and continued to express his defeat. "Still, how you defeated Scorch is beyond me. I only know only Luna and I able to handle them alone. To everypony else, they would easily be beaten. Tell me, who is the one who achieved such a feat?"

"Oh…that would be Kasin."

"Kasin?" The princess repeated. "I remember you mentioning him in some letters, but his description was very vague."

"About that…he's not a pony…"

"Is he a griffon?"

"No, he's nothing I've seen before. He's very kind and shy though, and…"

"Kind? Shy? Yet he managed to defeat an Attribute master?"

"He surprises me with his sheer strength whenever he needs it."

That's when it hits me. Kasin can only get strong when he really needs it! The patterns do say it all. I usually hear Applejack telling me about how Kasin's arm is always sore and he gets tired easily, but when fighting Gnosis or Scorch, he was practically invincible! Until he was done fighting anyways.

"Well, if he saved the ponies without even killing anypony, then nonetheless, I must meet this hero." Princess Celestia insisted. "Twilight, please show me your friend, Kasin."

"He's right over there." I assisted her.

When we walked over to Kasin, he was being treated by Fluttershy with Applejack by his side. When the girls saw the princess, they bowed to her presence. Kasin was staring at the princess curiously. I looked at the Princess to notice her surprised expression at Kasin. She then leaned over to me with something to say.

"Never in my thousand years of ruling have I seen such a creature…"

"That's…That's why it was hard for me to write it down in words…" I told her.

"A thousand years?" Kasin repeated.

The princess regained her composure and said to Kasin, "W-Well, hello Kasin. Twilight has told me about you and how you saved all of my people."

Kasin seemed to be thinking of something. "A thousand years of ruling…" Suddenly, his eyes widened as he said, "WAIT! YOU'RE OVER A THOUSAND YEARS OLD!? THAT'S CRAZY OLD!!"

I couldn't help but open my jaw as well as everypony else who was close enough to hear that claim. Even Fluttershy and Applejack were taken back by Kasin's loud outburst. Quickly Kasin said, "I mean, seriously! I never thought I'd meet such a goddess-like figure before me! Especially someone who knows how to make age just a number, cause you look WAY hot!"

Applejack shoved her hoof up to Kasin's mouth while Fluttershy still stared at Kasin. I quickly ran up to Kasin and said, "Kasin! How could you say that to the Princess!?"

I suddenly felt the princess tapping me to the side. She walked up to Kasin closer and looked towards him.

"Um…yes…" I notice Princess Celestia was…blushing!? "Thank you for your compliment Kasin. It is a true pleasure to meet your acquaintance, I am Princess Celestia."

"Princess Celestia?" Kasin repeated. "Oh! You must be Twilight's teacher too!"

"Quite right, I guess she told you some things about me."

"She told me a lot of great things about you." Kasin expressed. "I could see you're a good pony seeing how you came to Twilight's aid as well as all my friends!"

Kasin stood up and bowed as he said, "Thank you! Thank you for saving my friends!"

The princess chuckled a bit as she said, "Kasin…I should be thanking you…"

Kasin was confused as he stood back up and said, "Pardon?"

"You saved all of Ponyville and did so without taking anyponys life. For that, I'm truly grateful for all you've done for my people."

Kasin scratched his head as he replied, "I-It's no big deal. I'm just glad you were here to round up the revolutionaries in time before things got worse."

"On the contrary Kasin." Applejack spoke. "The fight already ended when you put Scorch there in his place."

"Again, I must say I'm very impressed." Princess Celestia continued. "To defeat somepony of such high power, you did it without any serious injuries."

"Actually, I did catch on fire during the battle." Kasin admitted.

"Even so, you are one very noble creature-, No…friend. You are welcome in my kingdom if you ever come by."

"Thanks! I hope to visit someday too!"

With that, they politely said their goodbyes. I walked with the princess a bit more before she left.

I then began to apologize for Kasin's behavior. "So, Princess! I'm very sorry about how Kasin misspoke earlier, he's just-"

"Oh? I have a feeling he meant every word he said." The princess stated. "Never a creature was so bold enough to call me 'hot'…"

The princess…blushed again!? Before she too said goodbye to me and left with the royal guards along with all the revolutionaries. After all that, the town rebuilt the minor damage the invasion had left behind. As much as we wanted to help, the girls, Kasin, Spike, and I decided to relax for the rest of the day.

Me and the rest of my friends were having ourselves a victory party at night. It was at the park with snacks Pinkie brought from Sugar Cube Corner, Kasin's other dishes he whipped up, and Applejack brought some apple treats too. We were all having a great time while sitting around the picnic blanket, taking a break from that crazy stuff earlier today. None of us were as badly hurt compared to the time we saved Twilight a while back. I guess we started getting used to this kind of thing.

Lyra was here too along with that other girl, Bonbon. Kasin insisted we invite them over since they helped save our hinds, not that I don't appreciate it. Lyra seemed to be talking a lot with Kasin about something. They laughed at things I didn't get, like this Xbox or this GameCube stuff. When I tried to listen, they told me I wouldn't understand. They were right, talking about using controllers or something. I didn't even WANT to know what a controller was, cause the name sounds kinda creepy. I was a bit tempted to make Lyra go somewhere else just for a moment so I could talk with Kasin, but they were so into whatever they were sharing.

"Jealous Rainbow?" Rarity said behind me.

"W-What!? What are you talking about!?" I questioned.

"I guess even a tomboyish mare like you can become attracted to a stallion when she sees one."

"Again! What are you talking about!?"

"You like Kasin, don't you?

"What? Pfft! No way! Sure, he's super cool when he's fighting against those revolution guys or whatever, but he's usually so modest and humble- I mean, he's too much of an egghead and he's so shy."

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase, opposites attract?" Rarity asked.

"No, and I don't want to hear anymore of this love garbage." I retorted.

"Fine, fine, then at least let me make it up to you." Rarity insisted.

"Like what?"

Rarity walked passed me and went to Lyra.

"Lyra, darling! We don't often talk as much! Why don't we get to know each other better?"

"Oh, um…okay." Lyra accepted. "Talk to ya later Kasin, alright?"

"Okay! Show me your PlayStation when I come over!" Kasin replied.

As Rarity and Lyra walked pass me, Rarity leaned over to me and said, "He's all yours, hurry before somepony takes him up again!"

I rolled my eyes at her "generosity", but it didn't stop me from talking to Kasin. When I walked towards Kasin, I saw Applejack already sitting next to him.

"OH, COME ON!!" I thought in my mind.

I overheard the conversation Applejack and Kasin were having.

"Kasin! I love this rice here! What is it?" Applejack asked.

"It's just a rice ball with seaweed around it. I added sugar by accident when I was trying to reach over to the salt."

"Well, it's delicious and filling! Much better than what I had at Manehattan."

"Manehattan? That's weird, there's city from my world called Manhattan."

"Why? Is it full of men there?" Applejack joked.

"Oh, har-de-har-har, very funny." Kasin laughed sarcastically. "I suppose Manehattan has nothing but manes roaming the city then."

Applejack laughed at Kasin's claim. While the two joked around, I just walked up to them. They seemed to notice me coming up to them when I did.

"Hey Rainbow! What's up?" Kasin asked as he started eating a cupcake.

Before I could say anything, Pinkie jumped out of nowhere and said, "Oh! Is our Fighting Trio talking?"

"Fighting Trio?" Applejack repeated.

"Yeah! You know, Rainbow, Applejack and Kasin!" Pinkie spoke.

"Uh…Didn't we all fight together?" Kasin asked.

"Yeah, but you're our main fighters!" Pinkie continued. "You know, Rainbow fights the strong pegasi, Applejack fights the really strong ponies, and Kasin fights the strongest unicorn, or the strongest of them all!"

Kasin scratched his head saying, "I don't know if I would say I'm the strongest of us three. I mean, I still get tired after just a few apple trees I bash."

"Pinkie, why did you just say I just fight the strongest pegasi? Are you saying Applejack is stronger than me?" I questioned.

"Rainbow, no need to make a fuss about it." Applejack told me, but I knew I could see a cheeky grin behind that poker face of hers.

"Well, you're really strong too Dashie, but Applejack IS an earth pony, and she DOES work hard on the farm a lot, plus she DID beat the floating armor when you just used that Dry Stone stuff on the both of them, so…"

I huffed at her claim, but she was right. (In a way.) Even so, I wanted to get Pinkie to just stop this.

"Hey Pinkie, can you get me some more of those Cookie Smoothies? I think I saw some over there." I pointed at the picnic table away from us.

"Okey-Dokey!" Pinkie agreed as she hopped away.

Applejack gave me a glare after she left.

"What?" I questioned.

"Alright Rainbow, what did you want to talk to Kasin about? I'm pretty sure there's something on your mind to tell a white lie like that." Applejack stated. Dang that element of honesty!

"Just wanted to say hi and all." I replied.

Applejack gave me a blank stare as she said, "Come on, spill it missy."

Sighing, I started off with, "Well, I just want to know…mostly, are you really okay Kasin?"

The kid tilted his head at me and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well…the way you were screaming at the fire today was…scary." I explained. "I was…really freaked out when that happened, and what I want to know is…did something happen to you?"

Kasin's eyes widened. He looked down with his bangs covering his eyes. "…Yes…something did happen back then that got me scared of fire real badly."

"What do you mean?" Applejack asked.

Kasin sighed and asked, "Do you remember Rainbow…when I first came here, I said, 'Nothing will change that day?'."

I nodded yes as he continued.

"That day…was the day I lost my family to a fire…"

I couldn't help but get taken back by that. I heard everypony gasp, stopping the party. Twilight was different. It looked like she already knew.

"Do you…want to talk about it sugar cube?" Applejack asked.

Kasin nodded. "I don't really want to…but after today, it doesn't feel as painful."

Everypony gathered around and we listened to the whole story. His home, the fire during the day, his family, and the following events after that. It was so awful. I really thought Kasin was this born timid kid, but now…I see him as somepony who went through a lot, and all while he was still a child. After that story, all about his past, he didn't cry. He seemed content, as if it didn't bother him anymore.

"After today…" He slowly continued. "I found something even more frightening."

"What was it?" I asked.

"When I saw Scorch hurting you two…I got so scared that I would lose you…any of you…I realized that losing my friends would be worse than losing my family a long time ago. Today, I finally understand…I accepted the death of my family seeing there's nothing I can do about it now…but I can do something about you all. I promise with all my heart, that I will do my best to protect you."

That vow felt pretty heavy to say. Kasin really wasn't how I described him, at least not completely. With a few tears, I felt I was on the verge to say something.

"Kasin…there's one more thing I want to say…" I said.

Kasin noticed my tears and looked at me worried. "What's wrong?"

"…You…You were right about earlier…I said we could take all of them on, but…you were right! I was in over my head. If it weren't for Lyra and everypony else backing us up when we needed to fight off those revolution guys, we would have lost. We even almost lost you again when we met up with Scorch. I'm sorry Kasin…I almost got you killed if we weren't lucky…"

I held my head down, admitting my flaws. But after all I said, Kasin placed his hand on my head and said, "No Rainbow, you were right."

I looked at him while he smiled and said, "We fought them with a small crew and came out on top with everybody backing us up! Even if we did almost lose from time to time, we won. I'm the one who was wrong for doubting any of you. I now know you all are more than capable of taking care of these crazy things happening. I'm the one who should be saying sorry for not having enough faith."

He started to pull me close and hugged me. "In other words, you were awesome out there. I should have known all along."

I let myself get humiliated just to get my point across, and he replied letting himself take the fall? I didn't know what to say. I just hugged him back seeing how nice he was.

Thanks Kasin.