Last time, after escaping Felix with the help of Alistair's brother Xever, the boys introduced their pony friends to the dark warrior's older brother, and Dustin's father Roswell. With a little inspiration the girls used the elements of harmony to receive a message from Magic Valor; apprentice of the five Unicorns. They discovered their elements of harmony needed to reach a higher level, and that there were two more elements out there. With a new task at hand aside from finding King Ebon and defeat him, the group's mission has only just begun.
The very next morning at Dustin's place, the spirit warrior was still in bed inside his room. Suddenly his digital alarm clock went off as it hit nine. When that happened it started playing his favorite song.
Hearing his alarm go off, Dustin groaned before sitting up and reached over to shut off his alarm. He stretched his arms up and yawned, before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and spoke, "Ugh mornings." He groaned, before hopping out of bed and grabbed some clothes. He walked outside his room seeing the bathroom was free. He went in and took a quick shower, before exiting wearing his fresh clothes and went to the kitchen seeing the others were already at the table with Zyphon serving them all eggs.
"Well good morning, master." Zyphon greeted his master.
"Morning, Zyphon. Morning, everyone." Dustin greeted the group.
"Morning, Dustin." The group greeted him.
"I got to say, Zyphon makes the best eggs." Wild said, as he took a bite out of his breakfast.
"That he does." Dustin agreed, as he took a seat at the table and was served a plate of eggs as well.
"So what're we doing today?" Applejack asked.
"Well like Alistair and I said, we want you all to meet our closest friends," Dustin began, "They can help us in our mission to stop Ebon."
"Where are we meeting them at?" Spike asked as he ate some dog food.
"Central Park today," Dustin answered, "I sent a text to them all last night and they confirmed they'd be there."
"So eat up, because we have much to do today." Zyphon suggested, and they continued eating.
Meanwhile at the Savage Brothers apartment, the two bros entered while holding take out bags, "Girls, come and get it!" Alistair called, until he and Xever looked around seeing the whole place was spotless, much to Xever's discomfort.
"Oh no. Oh no-no-no-no-no," Xever trembled, "They cleaned."
"Good morning." Rarity greeted them, as she and the other girls came out of another room looking all ready for the day.
"What happened to my sanctuary?" Xever asked them in a panic.
"Rarity happened?" Muse answered bluntly.
"I thought it was fine the way it was." Rainbow admitted.
"Too clean. Too clean!" Xever started hyperventilating, "I need air!" he ran to a window and opened it. He stuck his head out it taking a deep breath.
"Is he that sensitive?" Rainbow asked, feeling he was taking it too seriously.
"He's just joking around." Alistair assured them.
"He's funny." Pinkie giggled.
Xever pulled his head back in, "Sorry for my episode."
"We all get them." Muse replied, as Xever walked into his room, but looked around it in confusion.
"Hey where are all my shirts?" he asked.
"They're in the hamper of course." Rarity answered.
"Hamper?" Xever asked in confusion, as he turned to his brother, "Alistair, we have a hamper?"
"You didn't know?" Alistair asked in disbelief, "And here I thought you threw your shirts around because you wanted to."
Rarity sighed, "Really Xever, how do you expect to meet someone in your world when you live like a pack rat?"
Xever did a double take, "Hey I'll have you know I've dated five girls in this last month. And they had no problem with my living condition." Alistair only rolled his eyes at his brother's words.
"So what'd ya bring us?" Pinkie asked, while jumping around Xever.
"Cool your jets girl, there's plenty." Xever assured her, as they sat at their dinner table.
So they pulled out some breakfast take outs and they began eating, "Remember we're meeting up with Dustin and the others today at Central Park." Alistair reminded the girls.
"I'm so excited! We're finally going to see the friends you've told us so much about." Pinkie said in excitement.
"Well eat up, because we got a lot more to do." Alistair answered.
"Yeah, after this I have to meet up with Burai," Xever began, "I'm helping him train the latest recruits at the training facility."
"Sounds sweet." Rainbow noted.
"It can be at times." Xever admitted.
Later that day, both groups met up in Central Park, and awaited for the boys friends, "So girls, how was spending your first night in our world for you?" Dustin asked Alistair's group.
"It was spectacular!" Pinkie cheered, while Rarity, Rainbow, and Muse rolled their eyes at her excitement.
"What about you guys?" Rainbow Dash asked the others.
"Not bad actually." Wild admitted.
"Dustin has such a nice place to stay." Fluttershy added.
"Wish I could say the same for Alistair's, but his brother is definitely not the definition of clean." Rarity replied.
"Yeah I know," Dustin admitted, "But trust me I've seen worse."
"So any idea when your friends are supposed to show up?" Twilight asked, while looking around the park.
"Shouldn't be long now." Dustin assured her, as he checked his watch with Zyphon.
"I can't believe we're finally going to meet them." Fluttershy said in wonder.
"Well compared to the images we showed you before, they're older now like we are." Alistair explained.
"Did they believe you when you told them about us?" Applejack asked curiously.
"Well they were skeptical in the beginning." Dustin began, as Alistair continued.
"But eventually they started believing us. After all we've faced some weird stuff even in our world."
"And we're only gonna face weirder as we get older." A new voice spoke up, taking the group by surprise.
They looked over and saw a group of young teenagers, who looked exactly like the group the boys showed them in their photo album, only they were indeed much older like Dustin and Alistair were now. There were four boys and five girls, "Guys you made it!" Dustin called, as he and Alistair ran over to the others.
"Wouldn't have missed it." The first girl began, who had aquamarine eyes and short black hair. Her attire included a black shirt with a phoenix symbol on it, a long skirt, and boots. The group recognized her as Aria Sanzo.
"Come on we gotta show you them." Alistair said, as the two brought them over to the girls and Wild.
Pinkie started jumping around each of them, "Hiya! You must be Dustin and Alistair's friends. Wow you look different from your pictures." she started speaking randomly and fast.
Speaking up was the first of the boys who was known as Elroy Zoil, who had short red hair and green eyes. His outfit included a pair of red cross-trainers, jeans, and a green tank top, "Does she have an off switch?"
"I told you one of them had a motor mouth." Dustin reminded him.
Speaking next was Jade Wallace, who had chestnut colored hair and violet eyes. She wore sandals, blue jean short shorts, and an aqua blue top, "So these are the suppose pony girls from the other world?"
"Indeed they are, Jade. Sorry they're not their pony selves here." Alistair explained.
"They look so gorgeous." Alice Kingsley of the Kingsley twins said. She had long blonde hair in long twin pigtails and red eyes. Her outfit included sandals, a light purple skirt, and a blue shirt with a heart design done up in black beads.
Speaking after her was her twin sister named Alicia, who was the stoic one compared to the shy Alice. Alicia had her long blonde hair going down her back. Her outfit included a black gothic style dress with slip on sleeves and belts all along her legs, and black boots, "Indeed they do. The dimension travel has definitely done wonders for them."
Suddenly Rainbow Dash and Applejack were being circled and analyzed by Jethro Scott, the Science Fiction admirer. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes covered by blue lensed sunglasses. His attire was composed of green sneakers, blue jean shorts, and a purple shirt with black swirl images, "Amazing. Actual out of this world specimens." He gasped in nostalgia as he continued observing the two, while they were feeling uncomfortable.
"You're really starting to creep me out." Rainbow warned him.
"Jethro, they're ponies from another dimension, not aliens." Dustin explained, hoping he'd cease the observation demeanor.
"Sorry, but anything not of this world or universe astounds me." Jethro explained sheepishly.
"Ralph, could you help us out here?" Alistair requested of the big boy known as Ralph Booker. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a red shirt, blue cargo shorts, and black and green sneakers.
"Need me to pound some sense into him?" he raised a fist as an example.
"Don't break his skull." Dustin warned him.
"That'd be a sight." The last of the boys known as Dean Colt replied. Dean had dark hair and green eyes. His outfit was a black coat, black shirt, blue jeans, and red and white sneakers.
Speaking to Alistair was the last of the girls who was known as Eu. She had straight long silver hair and blue eyes. She wore black slip on shoes, knee socks, a black skirt, and a purple shirt with thin white vertical stripes, "So they're the ones who specialize in magic?" she asked the dark warrior in interest.
"Yeah. But for now their magic is on the fritz." He answered.
"But we're working on it." Twilight replied.
Muse spoke to the group of young teens, "It's nice to meet you all. Dustin and Alistair have told us so much about you all."
Dustin began as he walked around the group, "Well let's go around and introduce the group."
"We already know their names." Rainbow reminded him.
"True but you'll soon find out there are some things you don't know." Alistair countered.
"First off this is Elroy Zoil; our martial arts expert as we've mentioned." Dustin started motioning to Elroy.
"Nice to meet you all," Elroy began, "I assume Dustin's mentioned about all my martial arts competition victories?"
"Oh yeah said you were a five time winner." Pinkie replied.
"Well now it's eight time winner." He corrected her.
"This is Jethro Scott; our science fiction expertise. He knows all about the science fiction and supernatural world." Alistair explained.
"You do?" Twilight asked the teen.
"Oh yes. I do feel we are not alone in the universe as well as other creatures that exist among us." Jethro explained.
"Other creatures?" Fluttershy asked, while sounding scared.
"Oh yeah, I believe in all types. Aliens, vampires, zombies, werewolves, ghosts, demons..." he continued listing off one supernatural thing after another, which each example making Fluttershy more and more terrified to think such creatures exist in the boy's world.
"Jethro, you're scaring her!" Dustin scolded Jethro to ease up, making him sheepish.
"Don't worry he's just joking," Jade assured Fluttershy, "I'm Jade Wallace. I excel in gymnastics."
"Gymnastics, huh?" A.J asked.
"Oh yeah. See that table there?" she motioned to a picnic table. She ran for it and placed her hands on it, before standing on her hands doing pushups with her legs up in the air.
"Whew, that girl's got skill." Rainbow admitted feeling impressed.
Using her hands, Jade jumped off the table and landed on her feet, "Ta-dah!"
The group clapped in amusement, as Elroy clapped more, "That's our acrobat!"
Alistair whispered to the pony girls and Wild, "He really believes he has a shot with her."
"Got to give him credit." Aria replied, only to get pushed over by Dustin.
"Go on your next." He insisted her.
The group looked at her, as she introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Aria Sanzo."
Wild replied, "Nice to meet ya. We heard you're a violinist."
"Yup, but to be truthful I can play any instrument. I just like the violin the most." She admitted.
"That's our Aria for you." Dustin said, making Aria blush.
Alistair put an arm around Ralph, "This big guy here is Ralph Booker."
"Nice to meetcha." Ralph waved.
"Wow you're so big." Pinkie poked his belly making him giggle like the dough boy.
"Just so you know that's muscle not fat." Ralph explained, as he pulled out a bag of chips and started eating.
Dean spoke next, "I'm Dean Colt, nice to meet you lovely ladies. You come around here often?"
"Actually first time here." Rarity answered.
"Right. Ponies from another universe. Gotcha." He winked.
Muse looked to the girl Eu, "You must be Eucliwood Belthio the witch girl."
"I am, but call me Eu for short." She requested.
Rarity squealed, "Oh Alistair, you weren't kidding! Her voice sounds just as adorable as she looks."
Eu turned to Alistair who was blushing, and spoke to him, "What did you tell them about me?"
"Nothing personal. I swear!" Alistair answered as he continued to blush.
Eu eyeballed him before answering, "Good."
Dustin spoke putting his arms around the twins, "And these two lovely ladies are Alicia and Alice Kingsley."
"We're glad to meet you." Alice greeted them.
"A pleasure." Alicia added in her stoic tone.
"Well we're all very honored to meet you all." Twilight greeted them back.
"Now let us introduce you to who we decided to call the Mane 8." Dustin began.
"Mane 8?" Wild asked, while raising a brow.
"Don't ask." Alistair answered, knowing these things always come to Dustin.
"First we have Twilight Sparkle." Dustin began, as Alistair mouthed a countdown before Ralph, Dean, Elroy, and Jethro started cracking up
Twilight's eye twitched at their reaction and spoke in aggravation, "What is so funny about my name? What is it?!"
"Let's just say it involves vampire's that sparkle." Dustin explained, while Twilight was still confused.
"Ok we're done." Dean said, as he and the boys finished their laughing fit.
"Continue, girls." Alistair instructed, before more laughter could spring up.
"My name's Pinkie Pie. And if you're looking to have a party thrown I'm your girl!" Pinkie introduced herself.
"Well I love parties, because parties mean cake." Ralph said, while imagining cake.
"Oh I love cake!" Pinkie answered, as the two were looking very happy.
"Also guys I want to make this clear. If you ever make a promise with Pinkie you better keep it. For your own safety keep it." Alistair warned them.
"Why would we break promises at all?" Dean asked curiously.
"Just don't break one with her." Dustin replied, as they saw Ralph dancing with Pinkie.
"Guys, I found my soul mate!" the big boy laughed joyously.
"Name's Applejack, partners." She tipped her hat to them.
"Cool we got a cowgirl in the group." Elroy said.
"I'm Fluttershy. Nice to meet you." She greeted shyly.
"Wow and I thought Alice was quiet when we first met her." Dean said to the guys, who nodded.
"She may be quiet, but if you really press her buttons she'll give you a stare that can pierce right through your skin." Alistair warned him.
"I am Rarity. A pleasure to meet you all."
"Wow you look like a girl who should be living it up with upperclass types." Jethro noted.
"Well I am a lady of refinement." She admitted, while putting a hand through her hair to move it back, making the boys blush.
"I'm Rainbow Dash; fastest flyer in Equestria. Thank you very much." She boasted.
"And I thought I was a boaster." Elroy whispered to the others.
"Wildcard's the name. Where I'm from I'm known as the game master." The lucky one explained.
"Game master?" Alice asked curiously.
"Yeah he's an expert in card games and such. He's also been gifted with incredible good luck. If he went to Vegas the place would file a restraining order." Dustin explained.
"We got to bring him to the horse races." Dean suggested.
The pony turned girls spoke in shock, "Horse races?!"
"Guys be careful," Dustin warned them, "They may have become humans, but they are still sensitive."
"And I'm Muse, I'm a play writer for performing arts and such." She introduced herself.
"My name's Spike." Spike greeted them.
"Oh look at him!" Alice cooed as she, Aria, and Jade started coddling the dragon turned dog, who was loving the attention given to him.
"Well if our boys Dustin and Alistair say you're all right then who're we to judge?" Jethro asked and the others agreed.
"Hey!" a voice called as they saw a black cat and a white rabbit come over, "Sorry we got held up. Did we miss much?" the cat asked.
"You're just in time to meet our new friends, Salem." Alice began, as she was still petting Spike.
Spike looked seeing Salem the cat, "Huh? A cat?" Spike eyed Salem and suddenly he started growling with his teeth showing. Salem meowed in fright as the chase began.
"Salem, what!" Alicia gasped.
"Spike!" Twilight called, but the two animals weren't stopping. The two animals chased around both groups, "Spike, stop that come here!"
"I knew this would happen." Dustin sighed as Alistair spoke.
"We should've warned them."
Salem grabbed Domino, and held him out using his beak like a weapon, "Back you savage! I got a sharp beak and I'm not afraid to use it!"
"This is embarrassing." Domino sighed, as Salem jabbed him forward trying to ward off Spike but it wasn't working.
Fluttershy couldn't stand seeing the two act this way and started going into stare mode, "That's enough!" The two animals turned to her as she continued, "You should not behave like this. You should be friends."
Spike snapped out of it, "Oh I don't know what got into me." He sighed in guilt.
"Hey I felt the same way when I became a dog one time." Dustin patted the dogs head.
Salem spoke, finally calming down, "So who is this?" he asked as Spike approached.
"I'm Spike. Sorry about the whole chase ya thing. I don't normally do that." He apologized.
Alicia nudged Salem forward to accept his apology and be friends, "Hey no big deal. I'm Salem Sanderson." They bump heads playfully.
The rabbit hopped over, as Fluttershy spoke, "Oh my goodness. This must be McTwisp."
"That I am my dear. A pleasure to meet you." The rabbit spoke in a British accent.
Fluttershy started petting him, "You're just so sweet." She then started petting Salem as well.
"Oh that's good." Salem moaned in delight.
"Fluttershy's a natural with animal's, boys. You should've seen how she'd take care of me and Domino." Fievel explained.
Aria saw a wolf dog come over and spoke up, "Just in time."
"Who's this?" Twilight inquired.
"Is this yours?" Fluttershy asked Aria.
"Yup, he's my familiar." She answered as the wolf dog spoke up.
"Name's Tricera nice to meet you all," the wolf dog began, "I heard from Domino and Fievel about you all."
"And ya got no problem either?" A.J asked curiously.
"None at all." He answered.
Meanwhile in Felix's hideout, the dark warrior yoko was kicking back in a chair, until Ebon's mirror glowed with Ebon's reflection appearing, "Felix!" he called making the dark warrior fall out of his chair, "What're you doing lying down on the job?!"
"Hey Ebon, give a guy a break. I'm trying to relax here." Felix replied in irritation.
"Relax? We don't have time to relax! The elements of harmony are out there as we speak!"
"But we don't even know what they're up to," Felix replied, "No point in rushing in without even a clue as to what our opponents are even doing."
"We would know if you had your useless soldiers out there on patrol like they should be!" Ebon continued to scold him.
"Hey, the shadow soldiers are not useless!" Felix argued at his insult.
"Sometimes I wonder." Ebon mumbled, which didn't go unnoticed by Felix.
"Hey just remember what I'm doing for you, but even I need my breaks."
"Just make sure you're ready for when I call you." Ebon instructed, before his reflection vanished.
"Whatevs." Felix replied, as he went back to relaxing.
Back with the guys, they were relaxing in the park while enjoying the nice weather, "You guys really are the interesting individuals." Muse noted.
"Same to all of you as well." Aria replied to the eight.
"We know Dustin and Alistair talked about those Serpentine, but hearing them from you makes it all the more believable." Dean added.
"Those snakes were some nasty varmints." A.J assured them.
"And Twilight still feels ticked at them for hypnotizing Dustin and Alistair into fighting each other." Spike added.
"Hey those snakes are serving their life sentence in Tartarus, and Pythor who knows where that guy is." Dustin explained.
"He probably got sent all the way to the canyon of fears." Muse suggested as the group chuckled.
"Either way, nopony's heard from him since. Plus with his small size he was as good as animal bait." Wild added.
"Man if we were there we could've pounded us some snake skins." Elroy said, feeling Dustin and Alistair get the better adventures.
"Trust me, you would've loved it. Rainbow nudged Elroy and Dean.
"Well you guys will have a chance to help us this time." Alistair assured them.
"Yeah! After all no one can keep the all stars apart!" Jethro cheered.
"In a sense you're all like us." Wild said, seeing the resemblance between them and the group of teens.
Twilight smiled and thought, 'Yeah, and getting to know them only makes us all the more connected,' she looked at the elements, 'If only we could do something about our elements.'
Soon Jade turned to Aria, Alice, Alicia, and Eu nodding with them, "Listen up, yo. The girls and I have talked and we've decided to take you all someplace really special." the gymnast girls began.
The teen girls announced together, "The mall!"
"The mall?" Rarity asked curiously.
"Rarity, it's someplace you'd call paradise." Alistair explained.
"And I got my brother's credit card." Aria said holding out a credit card.
Dustin was worried, "When he finds out the card has lost cash there will be trouble." he warned her.
"Right now he has no idea I have it," she explained, "I sort of gave him his favorite breakfast this morning. He was so engrossed he left it on the table. Besides my bro is a doctor he has more money than he even knows what to do with it."
"So then what're we waiting for?" Alicia asked everyone rhetorically.
"Let's go." Wild said, as the transformed ponies followed the young teens.
When they entered the mall, Rarity's eyes became wide, "It's beautiful." She gasped.
"Whoa and I thought all the good shops were in Canterlot." Wild noted.
"Ooh so many shops. I don't know where to go!" Pinkie cheered in hyper mode.
Dustin turned to the girls, "I trust you can keep these seven in line?"
"Not a problem, Dustin." Alicia assured him.
"Let's go, girls." Jade ordered, as she and her group took the seven girls off.
They watched the girls leave, as Elroy and Dean brought Wild over, "Come on Wild, let's have some guy time." Dean suggested slyly.
"Lead the way." He answered, as the boys took him off to their favorite spots.
Meanwhile with the girls, Rarity was looking at the clothes in a store in nostalgia, "My goodness these styles and these fabrics."
"Some of these we never see in Equestria." Fluttershy gasped.
"According to Dustin and Alistair you have somewhat similar outfits. Though due to our different bodies yours are altered, and apparently pants aren't a need." Alice spoke.
"That's right." Twilight confirmed.
A.J looked at some of the stuff, "Certainly unlike anything I'd ever wear to anyplace fancy and such."
"Not to worry they have more casual wear and all." Jade explained.
"Show me the way." Rainbow instructed wanting to see more cool and casual types of garb.
"Wait for me, Sugarcube." A.J said joining her.
Pinkie looked around and started mimicking some mannequin poses, while Twilight noticed this and spoke, "Pinkie, try not to mess around too much." Pinkie ceased her antics with a pout.
"Uh Twi, I think we just lost Rarity." Muse said, while pointing to Rarity who was looking at the jewelry.
"My stars! So beautiful." She gasped at the merchandise.
"Dustin said in Equestria gemstones and such are commonly found." Aria noted.
"Oh yes they're just about anywhere." Rarity confirmed.
"Wow. Well some of these while appear real some can also be fake." Aria warned her not to be deceived.
Fluttershy looked clearly worried, and spoke, "Girls, I'm worried about us leaving Spike with the other animals outside." Fluttershy said.
"We understand your concern, but animals aren't allowed in public places like this." Alice explained.
"The only types of animals that come in are service animals." Aria added.
"And unless you have a certain disability Spike has to remain outside with the others." Eu finished.
"I hope he's not too bored." Twilight spoke in worry.
"Don't worry I'm sure the other animals are showing him a good time." Jade assured her.
Outside the mall, Spike and Tricera were tied to a lamp post, while Domino perched on the side acting casual, and Salem, Fievel, and McTwisp hid in a bush, "I still can't believe I'm now limited to where I can go into." Spike grumbled.
"Now you know how I've been feeling for centuries." Salem replied, reminding him of his story being a mage that was stripped of his powers and sentenced to be a cat.
"Oh give it a rest Salem we've all heard your complaints." McTwisp replied, in irritation.
Tricera spoke to Spike hoping to lighten him up, "Being a dog ain't so bad, little buddy."
"Yeah, how do you figure?"
"Trust me kid the tail you'll be able to live with, but fleas are another story," he began, "I got turned into this by a witch hundreds of years back," He explained his story, "The spell unfortunately was permanent. But this does have its perks. I get three square meals a day, a comfortable bed, and lots of pets. And here comes another perk," he saw some girls walk by with food, "Watch and learn." Tricera said, as the girls passed as he whimpered and gave them the big soulful puppy dog eyes
"Oh look at him." a girl cooed.
"Are you hungry, boy?" another asked as he made a whine sound. So the girls gave him a little something.
When they left Tricera spoke to Spike, "See it's that easy."
Spike was amazed at the perks of being a dog, "Wow. Let me try! I'm gonna try it on the next person who walks over."
"Good luck, kid." Salem said, feeling eager to see how this would go.
And so someone did pass, but to Domino's and the other animals' shock it was none other than Clara; the girl of Dustin's and Domino's nightmares who captured them. Spike however, never getting a chance to see her through the fence that time didn't know. He presented himself before her, while giving her the eyes. Suddenly she grabbed Spike by the throat, while looking overjoyed. The tug broke him free of his leash and collar, "Ma, I found a stray dog! Ma! Oh, ma!" she called, while carrying the struggling Spike off.
Tricera spoke to Domino, "The evil girl you told us about?"
"Yes! He's done for now." Domino cawed in sorrow.
"Come on, we got to follow them!" Tricera said, while getting free of his leash, "McTwisp, you stay here. If the group comes out tell them what happened." he instructed the rabbit.
"You got it." McTwisp confirmed.
"I think I'll stay behind to and cover my rear. I mean the rear." Salem said, while trying to weasel out.
"Oh come on, Salem!" Domino cawed in annoyance, and pecked at him, until Salem followed.
As the animals followed after, they saw Clara get into a car with Spike that drove away. Fievel who was riding on Tricera's back spoke, "How will we catch them now?"
"Domino, you know any shortcuts to he girl's house?" Tricera asked hopefully.
"Only one, follow me!" he flew with Tricera and Salem following behind.
Meanwhile, Clara returned home, "You're gonna like living me, puppy. We're gonna have all sorts of fun. First thing to do is give you a good dog name. I'll go with Rex, like the first dog I had before he ran away." She explained, while Spike thought in desperation.
'Twilight, save me!'
Back at the mall, the group came out and saw no sign of their animal partners, "Where's Tricera?" Aria looked around.
"Salem, Spike, Domino, and Fievel are gone too." Dustin noted.
McTwisp spoke, as he hoped into Alice's arms, "We got a problem. It's Spike."
"What about him?" Alice asked.
"Is he all right?" Twilight asked in worry.
McTwisp knew it would cause Dustin to go off the deep end, but he hummed the first few bars of Clara's song. Dustin's eyes widened recognizing the tune, "Oh no." McTwisp nodded, seeing he got what he was trying to tell them.
Rainbow suddenly noticed Spike's collar and leash on the ground next to the lamppost, "How'd his leash and collar come off?"
Dustin turned to the girls and Wild, while sporting a look of horror on his face, "Girls, Spike has fallen into dangerous clutches." he warned them.
"What're ya talking about?" Applejack asked.
"I mean, she's got her," he continued, "The same girl who took me prisoner when I was turned into a dog."
The girls realizing who Dustin was talking about were shocked, "Oh no!"
"Come on!" Dustin called as he ran, with the group following him in hot pursuit.
"Oh I hope Spikey Wikey is ok." Rarity said in worry.
"He should be for the moment." Dustin answered.
"Where do you think he's at right now?" Alistair asked, knowing Dustin's the expert on Clara.
"If my calculations are correct he should be by now getting the most traumatizing bath experience of his life." Dustin answered, while the girls were shocked at his deduction.
And indeed Dustin was right. Spike was currently in the middle of being forcibly scrubbed with suds and soap getting into his eyes, while being dunked and raised only to get dunked again. Spike was feeling as if she was trying to drown him, 'This girl is crazier than Discord, and that's saying something." he thought, while coping with his situation.
Clara pulled him out and started drying him, "I want you to be really clean so we can play dress up."
'Somepony save me!' he thought again in desperation. He was then brought into Clara's room where she saw other animals in smaller or bigger cages. Some were mice, hamsters, birds, turtles, cats. She even had an elephant cramped in a large cage. How was she able to fit an elephant in her room and in a cage regardless, Spike would never be able to figure out. Spike could see the animals mouthing to him 'help us'.
As Dustin and the group caught up with the animals, they were nearing the house, "We have to hurry because by now Spike is probably..." Dustin halted, while hearing yelps coming from the house, "Too late."
"Why what's going on?" Twilight asked as she heard Spike yelping.
Dustin was worried about how to explain it, but spoke anyway, "Right now Spike is getting spanked because of a mishap of Clara's stupidity that she blamed him for."
Suddenly Twilight's eyes turned into rage with her face turning red as well, "THAT'S IT!" she snapped, before heading towards the house. Her friends were shocked at how angry Twilight suddenly got.
"Twilight, what're you going to do?" Alistair called.
"You can't break in and enter, it's illegal!" Dustin called out.
Twilight replied, while going into her RCV mode, "I WILL NOT LEAVE MY NUMBER ONE ASSISTANT!"
The teens flew off their feet and onto the ground, "Whoa that voice works here?" Alistair asked Dustin and the guys, while trembling.
"What?!" Jethro called having lost his hearing.
"I can't hear you!" Elroy called, as he was digging a finger into his ear.
The girls in fear of standing between Twilight getting to Spike, allowed her to pass them and up to the front door. She went to the door and knocked on it holding Spike's collar and leash. A woman opened the door, "Yes, can I help you?"
Twilight calmed down and spoke, "Please help me. I'm looking for my dog."
"Your dog?" the woman asked.
"Yes. I left him in front of the mall a number of blocks back, and somehow his collar snapped off. You wouldn't have seen by chance?" she asked hopefully.
"What does he look like?"
"Purple with green floppy ears." Twilight explained as the women pondered before answering.
"Now that you mention it my little girl did bring home a stray matching that description."
Twilight's eyes lit up and spoke, "Then it has to be him."
Clara's mom spoke, "I'm so sorry. My little Clara is always bringing home stray animals. I just don't know where she gets the habit from."
"Well I would like to have him back, please?" Twilight requested.
"Of course, please come in." she invited Twilight inside, as the others waited for her to come back out and hopefully with Spike in tow.
As Twilight walked in, she continued hearing dog yelps from upstairs, "Where's her room?" she asked.
"Follow me." she led her upstairs, until they opened the door seeing Clara trying to hold Spike down who was trying to escape the spanks.
"Down boy! Down!" Clara ordered Spike roughly, as he struggled.
Twilight was in shock seeing her number one assistant get abused like that, and had to put a stop to it, "Spike! Come here, boy!" she called, acting like his owner as she's supposed to be in this world.
Spike hearing his name, saw Twilight in the door way. He got free from Clara's hold and jumped into Twilight's arms nuzzling his face into hers, as she nuzzled him back. Clara was in shock, until her mother spoke to her, "I'm sorry Clara, but apparently that wasn't a stray you brought home."
"But mom, I saw Rex had no collar." Clara whined.
"His name is Spike," Twilight began firmly, "And I don't know how, but somehow his collar and leash snapped off."
"I'm so sorry for the inconvenience." Clara's mother apologized to Twilight.
"No trouble at all." Twilight answered, as Clara pouted and whined.
"It's not fair!"
"Thanks again." Twilight said, as she started walking away. Spike peeked over Twilight's shoulder and saw Clara's mom wasn't looking and smirked while looking at Clara before speaking softly.
"Gotcha!" Clara blinked, wondering if she seriously heard words come out of the dog's mouth.
Outside the house, the group saw Twilight come out, with Spike in her arms, "Spike!" they called running over to him.
"Oh my Spikey Wikey, are you ok?" Rarity asked in worry, while nuzzling his head with hers.
"I'm fine now, but my bum hurts." he groaned.
"Yeah I know. The girl has iron hands," Dustin nodded as he rubbed Spike's head, "But at least Twi got you out before she started to sing." He shuddered.
Twilight embraced her number one assistant turned dog, "Oh Spike, I was so worried about you. More than when you ran away that one time."
"Well I'm ok now Twilight, and this time it wasn't me running away," Spike began, "Also I'm never complaining about bath time again!" He shuddered.
"I was right." Dustin nodded.
"Well let's get away from this house." Domino suggested and they all started walking back.
Soon they were walking through New York as Dustin spoke, "So what'd you all think of the mall?"
"It was simply fabulous." Rarity answered.
"There were definitely some stores we never would've seen anywhere in Equestria." Twilight added.
"Well that mall is nothing compared to the Mall of America," Dean answered, "If you're ever here and not on some mission we'll have to take you there sometime, although it requires traveling across the states."
"So where are we going now?" Fluttershy asked.
"We're gonna show you the place that made us into the warriors we are today." Alistair answered as they reached the Mikael Hotel.
"This place again?" Rainbow asked, feeling a tad disappointed.
"You trained in a hotel?" Muse asked curiously.
"The hotel is just the cover," Aria began, "The real training facility is within it."
So they entered again and Dustin and the others showed the group into the large elevator, "Watch and learn." The spike head teen began, as he pressed some of the elevator buttons in a pattern and soon it started moving down.
When it reached the final floor the doors opened, and they exited seeing a hallway, "Down this hall." Alistair instructed, as they followed the teens.
They came upon two doors, and when they opened they saw a huge training facility, "Whoa nelly." Applejack gasped.
"Wow!" Rainbow Dash gasped in amaze.
"Look at that." Wild said, while pointing to a group of kids of both genders and were either a spirit or a dark warrior.
They group watched as the trainees were practicing with Xever, and three other boys about his age. The first one had short black hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a green and white training robe. The other two were in fact twins except one of them was a dark warrior and the other was a spirit warrior, but the most common trait about them was they both had brown hair and green eyes. The dark warrior who wore black sneakers, black jeans, and a green shirt, and the spirit warrior twin wore blue and white sneakers, blue jeans, a short sleeved aqua blue shirt, and over it was a short sleeved unbuttoned red shirt.
"Hey it's Xever." Pinkie noticed.
"But who're those three with them?" Rainbow asked.
"Wait a minute, I remember," Twilight began, "That one boy is Burai Sanzo; Aria's big brother. And those twins are Valmont and Belmont Baliton."
"Correct," Dustin answered, "Those guys were our seniors and taught us everything we needed to know about being spirit warriors or dark warriors."
They watched as the four older boys were teaching the trainees combat moves and exercises, until a bell rang. The group ceased their training, as Xever spoke, "Ok class, that's about it for today."
"We'll see you again tomorrow. Remember to practice." Burai reminded them.
"Yes, senseis." The students bowed their heads, before taking off.
Seeing the four were free, Dustin, Alistair, and their groups walked over, "Hey guys, that was a good lesson you were giving." Dustin greeted them.
"Hey Dustin, hi everyone." Burai greeted them.
"Hey, Burai." The young teens greeted him.
"So it looks like the rest of you are getting along fine." Xever said, noticing the ponies turned human were looking like they had no problems with his brother's other friends.
"We sure as sugar are." Applejack admitted.
"Everyone allow us to introduce to you, three of our senior students who trained us along side Darius, Burai Sanzo, Valmont and Belmont Baliton." Alistair introduced them.
"And guys, these are the ones we told you about years ago," Dustin began, "Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Wildcard, Muse, and Spike.
"Pleased to meet you, girls." Burai shook Twilight's hand.
"Dustin and Alistair did mention they made some interesting friends in another world, but we never would've guessed it'd be a magical world of talking ponies." Belmont explained, as he shook Rarity's hand.
"They also mentioned you were all very special ones because you wield power on par with ours." Valmont finished, as he shook Rainbow's hand.
"Well we have done a few missions to save our land from various dooms." Twilight admitted.
"And now you're here to help save our world from another evil from your home world?" Burai asked.
"That's right." Muse answered.
"I told the guys what you told me, and they agreed to help." Xever explained as the four older boys stood together.
"Thank you for your kindness." Twilight thanked them.
"No problem," Burai began, until he turned to Aria looking suspicious, "By the way Aria, today I happened to look into my wallet and I noticed my credit card was gone," Everyone watched as he eyed Aria, "What could've happened to it?" he asked suspiciously.
Aria seeing there was no way to fool her brother now, spoke, "You'll never take me alive!" Aria called as she ran for it.
Burai sighed, "That sister, always the hard way. Be back in a flash." he concentrated his spirit energy to his feet and took off
"He's faster than a mad bull." A.J whistled.
Dustin smirked as he watched Burai come back, while holding Aria up by the back of her shirt, "I should've used that technique to move fast as well." Aria grumbled.
"Doubt you would've made it far enough." Alicia replied bluntly, while Aria scowled at her.
"What have I told you about sneaking off with my personal belongings?" Burai asked his sister, as he sat her on the ground.
"But I didn't do it for me. I did it for my new friends," Aria explained, "Besides Dean was the one who taught me those tricks."
"Hey, leave me out of this." Dean responded not wanting to be dragged down with her.
"Word of advice, 'ask'." Burai suggested to his sister.
"I warned her." Dustin added, while Aria scowled some more.
Twilight began speaking to Burai, "Dustin and Alistair told us you trained them and their friends in this place along side Xever and the Baliton Brothers?"
"That I did." He answered.
"You must be quite the strong fighter." Rainbow nudged the spirit warrior.
"Well I was one of the best in my class." Burai admitted, while making sure not to sound boastful.
Xever spoke up with a chuckle, "Maybe in terms of spirit attacks, but I was always the best in hand to hand combat."
Burai spoke to his rival/friend, "Now Xever, we've all excelled in our own fields."
"True, very true." He admitted.
"What sort of fields you excel in?" Wild inquired of them.
"Burai mostly excels in using his spirit energy for healing, me I'm good in hand to hand combat mostly as you've seen me in action." Xever explained.
"And when you got a twin who thinks on the same level as you…" Valmont began as Belmont continued.
"You two would excel greatly in terms of tag team."
The group nodded in agreement as Fluttershy spoke, "And Felix, he was your friend?"
The four older boys looked at each other before sighing, "Felix was more than a friend of ours." Xever explained.
"He was our brother." Burai added.
"All of us were the dream team of our generation." Valmont put in.
"Until one day he went rogue." Belmont finished, as Burai continued.
"One day Master Darius had told us someone was giving information about dark warriors who were becoming our allies."
"Because of that, those dark warriors were hunted down and terminated by enemies." Xever added, putting frights on the girls faces.
"We eventually found out it was Felix who was doing it." Belmont put in.
"We found out he was doing it out of jealousy and inferiority," Valmont took it, "He didn't want more competition as he already had. Though he wasn't a spirit or a dark warrior, he still wanted to be the strongest."
"Once we found out, he fled New York. When he came back years later he became a dark warrior. The dark energy powered up his yoko abilities even more." Xever continued.
"He wasn't the friend we remembered him as." Burai finished.
"That's so sad." Twilight said in sorrow, to see one of their friends was consumed by inferiority and jealousy and decided to go rogue.
"Yall sounded so close, and now those days are done?" Applejack asked.
"Afraid so." Burai admitted.
"At least we haven't gone down the same path." Xever said putting an arm around Burai, and the twins put an arm around Xever, so all four of them were close.
"The friendship we've forged and with our other fellow students have grown stronger just as her have." Burai added.
"And we're the same way." Dean motioned to Dustin, Alistair, and the others.
'It's nice to see they haven't let competition and greed drive their friendship apart.' Twilight thought in relief.
"So if Felix is partners with this King Ebon, he's probably going to be harder to fight?" Valmont inquired.
"Yeah, and with our elements of harmony temporarily on halt, we have no way of helping you fight them." Twilight explained.
"That does pose as a problem." Belmont agreed.
"Hey, can we just fill these eight up with spirit energy and dark energy and train them in our fighting style?" Elroy suggested.
"That would be too dangerous, Elroy." Burai answered, as Xever continued.
"Burai's right, we have no idea what mixing spirit or dark energy could have on them, especially when they return to their pony forms. The flux of the energy mixed with their elements of harmony could either strengthen them or by far ultimately destroy them." The girls started trembling at that possibility.
"However," Valmont began, "That doesn't mean we can't teach them some fighting moves that don't require spirit or dark energy."
"Yeah, there are some combat moves even regular people can learn, with the right amount of training that is." Belmont finished.
"So you think yall can train us to fight Felix and the shadow soldiers?" Applejack asked.
"It's possible, and if you get your elements to start working again, there's a good chance their magic could also improve your fighting prowess." Burai admitted.
"Hmm, what do you all think?" Twilight asked her friends.
"Well I'd be all for that. With the kind of moves these guys could teach us I could reach a whole new level of awesome!" Rainbow boasted.
"Well I should join to make sure she doesn't go overboard." Wild added.
"I sure could use some practice." Applejack admitted.
"Ooh, count me in too!" Pinkie cheered.
"Normally fighting isn't my thing, for I am more into fashion," Rarity began, "But for the sake of both our worlds, I would gladly learn from you."
"I'm not sure how much I could learn, but I'll do it to." Fluttershy said.
"So will I." Muse agreed.
"Then I guess it'll be unanimous, because I'll join as well." Twilight confirmed.
"You all made a wise choice." Dustin admitted.
"But be warned, their training is unlike anything you've ever dealt with." Ralph warned them.
"I trained at the Wonderbolts Academy, so how worse can it be?" Rainbow asked.
"And I trained under a Minotaur. So what could be even worse?" Fluttershy asked curiously as well.
"A minotaur?" Jethro asked with a raised brow, while Rarity and Pinkie gave him a look as to not ask about it.
"Well then buckle up you lot," Xever began, "Because when we're done with you you'll be covered in bruises." He smirked, while the group looked shocked wondering what they got themselves into.