//------------------------------//
// The Spirit of Competition 
// Story: The Little Pony Legend. 
// by MaggiesHeartLove 
//------------------------------//


*(~)*

Titus 3:14~

Our People must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.

*(~)*

The Spirit of Competition



He couldn't get it out of his mind. As he walked around the park, Mako's mind kept on repeating the moment over and over again. That moment when he was with Asami and he saw those rainbow colors…and thought about Korra. He had only known her for a short amount of time, then again he hardly knew Asami either, and even in that short time Mako felt like he already knew enough about Korra.

Not only was she strong and fearless, and stubborn as can be, but she was also so kind and sweet, generous and protective as shown when she was around her ponies. It was a strange theory but, it seemed as if when around her ponies Korra revealed another side to herself that not many people saw.

But he did.

He was very confused, but he didn't want to make a brash decision. There was no way he was going to make a choice based on 'feelings' alone. He had to be rational, and Asami did make him feel special. She was the ideal woman he always dreamed of. Not only that, but he genuinely liked her. She was kind and smart and had a lot of likable qualities. They hardly ever fought, they agreed on so many things, why wouldn't he like her? She was a great girl and she grew on him quickly. But still, why couldn't he stop thinking about Korra when he was around her. It wasn't just his feelings telling him this, it was almost as if…there was something else as well but he didn't know what that was.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard a familiar 'neigh' sound in the distance. He spotted a familiar woman in blue playing happily with a colorful batch of four legged specimens. Korra threw a ball into the air and Rainbow Dash kicked it with her hoof while in mid-flight. Naga was there as well, sitting peacefully underneath a tree while Fluttershy rubbed her belly.

Korra's laughter echoed from across where he stood, her blue eyes sparkling with such happiness and innocence. He always wondered if there ever existed a person like that in this world. Apparently they did exist.

Korra then spotted her pro-bending teammate and waved at him, "Hey, Mako."

Mako shook himself awake and waved in return as he approached them, "Hey Korra. Hey girls."

Twilight was reading a book on the grass, Rarity was sowing a blue fabric together, Applejack was leaning against the tree trunk with a straw in her mouth, and Pinkie Pie, for some reason, jumped down from the branches and landed in front of him. Spike was sound asleep beside Twilight before waking up to see Mako.

"So, what brings you here?" Korra asked casually, Rainbow Dash flying beside her, holding the ball in her hooves.

"Thought I'd take a walk." Mako replied casually, "Nothing much to do today so I figured some fresh air would do me some good."

Rainbow Dash scoffed at this, "Ha! With this stinky city air? Good luck."

Korra elbowed the pony to get her to shush, but of course, Mako did not understand her. "Did she say something?" he asked.

Korra then face palmed herself in embarrassment, "Right, I keep forgetting you can't hear them." she sighed before asking, "So, where's Asami?" she asked rather hesitantly.

"Oh, she had some stuff to do with her dad. Said it was father-daughter weak, apparently."

As much as she tried, Korra couldn't deny how relieved she felt at hearing this, "Oh, that's uh…that's a shame."

"It's okay." after a brief moment of silence, Rainbow Dash tossed Mako the ball, for which he caught in his hand.

"Well, since you're free, wanna play with us?" Korra asked with a dazzling smile.

Mako looked down at the ball curiously and then back at the excitable little creatures. Maybe one game wouldn't hurt.

"One zip!" Rainbow Dash hit the ball with her back hooves and the game was on. Mako and Korra kicked the ball around the field along with the rainbow pegasus and country pony. Pinkie Pie joined in the fun as well. While the girls were all laughing together, Mako was still a bit skeptical on the purpose of this.

"So what are the rules here?" he asked.

Korra laughed at his words, "Rules? This is just for fun!" she kicked the ball as she ran and laughed beside Pinkie Pie.

"Fun?"

Rainbow Dash zipped past him, "Dude, you really do need to get out more." she said before flying off to play. Mako watched as they laughed and joked around and realized…what was he standing around questioning for?

"Think fast!" Mako ran up and kicked the ball away from the girls, laughing as he stole their toy.

"Hey!"

The game continued on for hours, kicking and laughing while kicking and tossing the ball like little children. Mako had never had this much fun in so long. Twilight eventually joined in the fun, and even Naga. The beast would catch the ball in her mouth and toss it around for others to catch. Rarity didn't partake in this…until the ball hit her in the head.

Everyone gasped in horror as the unicorn glared, "Oh. It. Is. On!"

Now everyone joined in the fun, with Rarity playfully stealing the ball away from the others to teach them a lesson. It was a really great day for the group of friends. Mako was about to kick the ball but missed and lost his balance, falling backwards into the pond.

The others stopped playing and Korra rushed over to help him, "Mako! You okay?"

The firebender's black spiky hair was now flat and dripping with water, as were his cloths. Luckily, the pond was shallow. "Yeah, I'm fine." he extended his hand to her, "Help me up?"

Korra took his hand but before she could pull him up…he pulled her back and the Avatar landed into the water, much to her shock. She sat upright, spitting the liquid from her mouth and looked at Mako with her jaw dropped.

"I can't believe you just did that!"

The firebender simply laughed, "You are so gullible!--AH!" Mako was pinned down by Korra and the two teenagers began having a splash-fight, laughing all the while. The ponies and Spike soon joined in as well, laughing just as hard as the two teenagers.

While Korra did enjoy spending time with the Mane Six, it was still nice to have some quality time with someone close to her age, and her own species. She hardly ever had any actual friends where she lived so this really meant a lot to her. The Mane Six were like the gal-pals she never had, and spending time with Mako was like making up for her lost childhood.

Unbeknownst to her, Mako felt the same way. Growing up he never had the chance to act like a normal kid, and now it was like he was making up for those lost years. Seeing Korra smile made him happy, and her seeing him laugh instead of being all serious all the time made her happy to too.

Finally, they grew tired, their hyperactive energy wore down and they stopped splashing each other. They were still laughing, but placed their hands on their knees, catching their breaths.

"That…was fun." Mako said in between breaths, water dripping from his hair and nose.

"Yeah…it was." Korra replied, also in between breaths, her hair ties dripped with water that rolled down across her cheeks. "You know, Mako….you're not that boring after all."

"And you're not nearly as irritating as I thought."

With a mischievous grin, Korra bended more water at his face, making him chuckle. His face was already wet so it didn't really matter.

Korra bended the water off of them and they all sat beside the tree, chatting. Mainly Korra and Mako. After the fun games and splash fights, they decide to regenerate by talking. Korra told Mako about her life at the South Pole and Mako told Korra stories about his childhood. Surprisingly, not everything about his past was that bad. He told her tales of his schemes with Bolin and what they did to get food, to his amazement Korra did not judge but found their antics adorable and funny.

"After I saved Bolin from the pythonaconda, he kept Pabu. Said that 'being deprived of oxygen' gave him the idea for his name."

To his surprise, Korra laughed a bit, "Are you serious?"

"That's Bolin, for you. Always looking on the bright side."

"Maybe you should take a note from that." Korra said, playfully nudging his arm.

"Easier said than done." Mako replied.

"Come on, Mako. You should learn to enjoy the smaller victories once in a while. Maybe that way you won't be such a stick in the mud all the time."

Mako crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow playfully, "Oh, you think I'm a stick in the mud? Really?"

"I didn't mean it like that. I just mean it doesn't hurt to enjoy yourself." it was then that Korra's tone slowly morphed from optimistic, to serious and calm, "I mean, I noticed the way you play in the arena. You're really good but…you lack that…"

"That what?"

"That passion. Like you don't entirely love what you do."

Mako leaned back against the tree. He had no idea Korra had figured that out rather quickly. "You're right. I don't hate it but, I don't really feel like it's where I'm suppose to be."

Korra looked at him with sympathy, "Well, where do you want to be?"

"I don't know. I guess I just want it all. Riches, fame, I want a life where we won't have to worry about going hungry again, and if pro-bending can get us there, then I'll take it."

"And then what?" Korra asked and Mako gave her a curious look.

"What do you mean?"

"Once you have everything you've ever wanted, what will you do then?"

"I just told you."

"Yeah, but just sitting around counting your yuans for the rest of your life? Doesn't sound like a lot of fun."

Mako turned his head away, his brows furrowed, "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Korra immediately caught herself, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

Mako sighed, trying his best to calm down his anger, "It's fine. After all, we can't all have a pre-destined fate, now can we?"

Korra arched an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"You did grow up with people practically waiting on you." he said, somewhat enviously.

"Well, yeah, but it wasn't as great as you think." Mako scoffed. "I'm serious!" Korra said defensively.

"Right, right. I'm sure it was very difficult living with a roof, and a cozy bed, which is more than what I had growing up."

Korra felt a wave of both sadness and anger. "I'm not trying to say my life was worse than yours, I'm just saying it wasn't as glamourous as you're making it sound."

"Maybe, but you don't exactly corner the market on unhappy childhoods is all I'm saying."

The ponies all looked at one another in concern while Spike hid behind Rarity, peeking through her mane, still frightened to even see the whole thing himself. If Korra's anger wasn't flaring before, it most certainly was now. "For your information, my childhood wasn't exactly all sunshines and rainbows!"

"Well, you don't know what it was like for me and Bolin!" Mako snapped, "Nobody gave us anything unless we worked for it, unlike yourself!"

"You honestly believe all I did was lounge around while folks fed me grapes? Are you serious?! I've worked every single day in that compound trying to prove myself to those White Lotus jerks!"

"Jerks? Ha! Says the girl who's never had to deal with bombarded Triple Threats!"

"At least you managed to walk away from those idiots!"

"I only walked away because I saw a chance at a better life and I took it!"

"So did I! When Tenzin couldn't train me at the south pole, I took the next ship out of that place! You have no idea what it was like there! In a compound, miles away from the village, from my parents house, for the past thirteen years! You call that a cozy home? It was nothing but a lavish prison!"

"My whole life is a prison! Every day I wish I could escape this rotten sink hole!"

"That's my childhood in a nutshell!" for a moment, the two became silent. Their anger diminished, extinguishing like a flame sprayed by water. They blinked in bewilderment.

"Seriously?" Mako asked, his voice softer.

"Yeah. Aside from Naga, I never had any friends my own age." Korra looked away sadly. "I couldn't even go outside for five minutes without some kind of supervision. You'd think being the Avatar would make me more popular, but instead it just kept me away from making friends."

Mako gave a look of regret. "Yeah, well. Being a poor street rat didn't exactly boost my popularity either. It was always just me and Bolin." he sighed and crossed his arms. "But even then, I always had to be the parent for both of us. Having to deal with such adult responsibilities at a young age, it's a lot of pressure. Half the time, I'm terrified that if I mess up, Bolin will pay the price for it."

"I can somewhat relate. I've got the entire world hanging on my shoulders. If I mess up, everybody will pay the price for it." Korra sighed sadly, "But I haven't done anything to live up to my tittle. I was hoping that by coming to the city I could finally put what I learned to the test. But so far, all I've managed to do was get arrested, captured by some masked maniac, and now half the city doesn't even like me." she finally managed to look up at Mako, "All I want is to be the kind of Avatar people can be proud of. Is that so wrong?"

"No. All I want is the chance to be more than just some street rat. Is that so wrong?"

"No."

The two teens were silent. Both looking out at the city before them. "Guess, neither of us had a normal childhood, huh?" Mako concluded.

"Guess not." Korra agreed. "You know, aside from the ponies, you're the only other person I've ever spoken to about this."

Mako was rather surprised by this. "Really?" Korra nodded her head, smiling softly. He felt his cheeks burn. The ponies, all had to maintain themselves from squealing. The two teens were connecting in a very strange, but beautiful way. The two awkwardly tried to look at everything else but each other, trying to figure out what to say next.

"And, even after all that, you still want to be the Avatar?" Mako asked.

Korra slowly started to smile, "Well, yeah, I can't exactly quit. I know it's basically my job to want to help the world, but I really do. I want to make a difference because…I don't know, it just feels like the right thing to do. I guess that ambition is what keeps me going no matter how infuriating things get. Eyes on the prize, right?"

Bitting his bottom lip, Mako made a pretty bold move in placing his hand over Korra's hand, which was pressed against the soft grass. She felt her heart skip a beat and almost caught sight of the red in Mako's cheeks.

"Sorry." he said.

"For what? It's not your fault. I'm sorry you had to go through what you did. But, Mako," he looked at her with curiosity, "You may be a lot of things, but a street rat isn't one of them. I mean, you're smart, hard working and you've already come so far. I admire that. I really do."

Mako couldn't believe how incredible this woman was. Despite her own personal feelings towards her isolated childhood she was still determined to find her place in the world. Just like he was. He may not have had a clear idea on exactly who he wanted to be just yet, but it was nice to have a friend who understood what it felt like to want to break free of a prison of a life. He thought he and Korra were so different, and they were…but they were also more alike than he realized.

"So have you." he said. "I mean, it takes a lot of guts to go for what you want." Mako smiled warmly, "And you will make a difference. You've definitely got the passion for it. And plenty of friends rooting for you."

Fluttershy leaped into Korra's lap and the Avatar gently petted her head. "Thanks, Mako. And you're going to find your place in the world too. I know it."

"You think?"

"You got the will and the smarts for it."

The firebender could have sworn he felt his cheek blush. "Thanks."

Even Korra was blushing. "No problem…tell anybody I said this and you're dead." she then threatened, her face still red.

Mako rose up his hands in surrender, "Mum's the word." but he couldn't help but chuckle.

(~)

The days passed as the Fire Ferrets were still training as hard as they could. Mako still spend his times with Asami, but his friendship with Korra grew as well.

Because they had a deadline, they spent most of their days training in the gym, but the two had become more comfortable with one another, and he grew more and more found of the Ponies. Or The Mane Six, as Korra would call them. One day, he came to the gym a bit late, but that was because he brought in some sugar dumplings for everyone. He seemed a bit happier than usual. He was still rather serious and calm, but his smile was seen far more often. Many suspected it was because of Asami, but there was another reason for it as well. Even if Mako himself didn't know it.

Mako took a dumpling from the bag and tossed it to Pinkie Pie, who leaped up and caught it in her mouth. Korra smiled as she watched the scene and a song played in her head.

(Parody of Something there from Beauty and the Beast)

Korra;

There's something sweet

And almost kind

Though he was mean and rather stoic and unrefined

And now he's dear

And so unsure

I wonder why I didn't see it there before

Even the ponies could see the growing closeness between the two. However, there was still a wall in between them, but little by little that wall was breaking down. However, one of them was still holding it up, for personal reasons. But deep down, even he knew he could't keep it up for long.

Twilight;

He glanced her way

I thought I saw

And when they spar they don't complain at all.

But why resist?

Why just ignore?

I know he's never looked at her that way before.

Once the day was done, Korra bid her farewells to her teammates and up on their apartment, Mako watched the ferry ride off towards the island in the distance. He still could not comprehend what he was feeling. He had feelings for Asami, that was clear, but why was Korra still in his mind? Maybe it was that she was his first real friend since his own brother and that meant something to him. One thing was certain, he couldn't confuse his feelings for his goals.

And that right there was the difference between Korra and Mako.

Mako;

New and a bit alarming

Who'd have ever thought that this could be?

True that she's no Asami

But as the days past

She reels me in more and more

Back at the Air Temple, Korra simply sat on her bed, thinking about her own feelings. Unlike Mako, Korra wasn't too distant from her own emotions, even if at times she tried to make it seem like she was. She had come to see there was more to Mako than met the eye. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to judge him.

The Mane Six all stood outside of her room, discussing their own perspective on the situation

Applejack;

Well, who'd have thought?"

Rarity;

Well, bless my soul

Rainbow;

Well, who'd have known?

Fluttershy;

Well, who indeed?

Twilight;

And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?

Rarity;

It's so peculiar

Mane Six;

We'll wait and see

A few days more

There may be something there that wasn't there before

Pinkie;

You know, maybe there's something there that wasn't there before

Mane Six;

There may be something there that wasn't there before.

(~)

After many long days and hours of training, Korra and the Fire Ferrets have become stronger by the minute. Today they were practicing yet again and, as usual, the ponies and Spike were watching their progress. Twilight watched as Korra moved as she and the bending brothers faced battled one another. Korra bended a blob of water before splitting it in two and rapidly launched each smaller water bullet in a different direction. Bolin rose an earth disk with his right arm while Mako moved back and twisted around, vaporizing the incoming water blob with a fire arc. He immediately retaliated with two fire punches. Rainbow Dash imitated Mako's moves while Applejack imitated Bolin's. Ever since they discovered their new abilities, Korra had been teaching them some basic bending moves, which was a bit difficult considering their pony bodies. But the two were strong, no doubt, and fast learners.

The Fire Ferrets were battling each other as their training section. Bolin's disk was then pulverized by Mako's fire as Korra aimed another rapid water blast at the firebender, who jumped over it while Bolin launched an earth disk at Korra, forcing her to shield herself with her water,

"Keep your chin up there Kors!" the alicorn instructed,

"Got it!" Korra replied.

Mako fired a blast at both his brother and the avatar, which they both blocked with their respective element. Mako unleashed a second fire blast which hit Bolin square in the stomach. The young boy was flung backwards, but as he was falling down he rose his hand and launched one last earth disk. Korra directed a water blob away from her but was knocked back as the earth disk hit her in the stomach. The ponies flinched as they watched their friend fall to the ground. But Korra's water attack made contact with Mako, hitting him straight in the face, flinging him to the ground. As the three benders sat up…they all laughed happily.

"It's been great having you back to practice with us Korra" Mako said as he stood up and took off his helmet.

"Feels good to be back, although Tarlokk isn't too happy about my league of absence."

"Hey, you joined the Fire Ferrets before you joined his task force." Bolin said.

"Not like the second one was any more fun." said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight levitated a notebook with numbers written on the pages and showed them to the Fire Ferrets, "You guys have made incredible progress. Your speed and precision timing has amped up by 33%!"

"Great!" Korra cheered happily while pounding her fist into the air.

"What'd she say?" Mako asked.

"We just got 33% cooler."

Twilight playfully rolled her eyes, "Way to paraphrase." she said sarcastically.

"Okay, come on Team huddle time." Mako said. Both Korra and Bolin gathered next to him. Mako then smiled at the ponies, "You girls too. You're as much as part of this team as any of us."

With gleaming smiles, the ponies all gathered near their humans friends as they huddled together in a circle. Bolin smiled flirtatiously at Korra who in return smiled awkwardly at him. She then smiled at Mako who looked a bit unsure.

"It's our first match in the tournament tonight, I know the three of us haven't been a team for very long, but even so, The Fire Ferrets have never been this good. Are we ready?"

"We're ready!"

"Not quite." They all turned around and see Asami holding their new uniforms, which had the Future Industries logo on them, "You'll need these."

"Hey, Asami", Mako happily greeted her.

"Good morning, sweetie."

Korra didn't look at all to happy to see her and neither did the ponies. Twilight narrowed her eyes at the heiress, "She sure has great timing." she said sarcastically under her breath.

Spike stuck out his tongue, "Bleh!"

Mako smiled proudly at the new uniforms, "These new uniforms look great."

"You look great, champ." his girlfriend said flirtatiously. They gave each other eskimo kisses while Korra and the others gaged at the scene.

Spike shivered in disgust, "Ew, double Bleh!"

Korra and the others regain their composure as Mako spoke, "Well, teammates. I'll see you before the match tonight, Asami and me have a lunch date."

Both Mako and Asami walked out while Bolin waved goodbye to them, "Okay well we'll check with you guys later, you know we'll see you when we see you."

Rarity growled angrily as she watched Asami leave, "Err! Just who does she think she is?"

"I know!" Rainbow Dash started speaking in a high pitched girly voice as she mimicked Asami, even flipping her mane, " 'Oh, look at me, I'm Asami and I'm so pretty and perfect! Look at my flowing raven hair',--barf!!!"

The ponies all ducked their heads when a flame came shooting out of Rainbow's mouth. She quickly covered it with her hooves.

"Rainbow Dash! Be careful!" said Korra, "Even with the training you guys still need to learn better control over your new powers." The avatar then blushed and face palmed herself, "Oh, great! I sound like Tenzin. If ever do that again just smack me."

"Not a chance, sister." Twilight argued playfully, earning a giggle from the Avatar as she picked up her gym bag and placed it over her shoulder. Bolin blew on his hand to check his breath before walking to Korra, flashing his signature grin, and began flirting with the avatar.

"So…Korra, there they go…here we are…all alone in the gym."

Pinkie Pie jumped in between them and stayed in mid air as she said, "Hey! We're here too, ya know!" she jumped back down.

"Right, no I'm sorry, my bad, I just meant two "people" alone. Together." Bolin corrected as he flashed his signature grin once again at the avatar. Korra was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.

"Um…."

Realizing this, Twilight quickly flew in between them and pushed both Bolin and Korra a few feet apart by placing her hooves on their chests, "We should really be getting back to the temple, I promised Jinora we'd play some pai-sho this afternoon."

She looked to the other ponies, expecting them to help her out. Applejack elbowed Fluttershy, "Oh, um, and Applejack and I promised Pema we would help her with dinner tonight." she said nervously.

"Y--Yeah, plus Tenzin's probably waiting for me to start training so. Bye!" Korra said as she made her way out.

"See ya! said Twilight as she flew behind Korra.

"See ya later, alligator!", Pinkie Pie waved and they all ran out the door, leaving Bolin alone and disappointed.

(~)

The smell of Mako's cooking filled the room of their attic home. While Mako made dinner, Bolin was trying his hardest to give his stubborn fire ferret a bath, "Work with me here, Pabu! You wanna look spic and span in your new uniform, don't you?" Bolin finally managed to get the reluctant Pabu into the tub. The little creature shook off the water from his body. While Bolin washed Pabu, he looked at his older brother out of the corner of his eye for a brief moment before asking, "So, what do you think of Korra? In a, 'girlfriend' sort of way?"

"She's great!" Mako honestly replied as he continued preparing their meal, "But I think it makes more sense for me to go after Asami."

"I was talking about a girlfriend for me!" Bolin said slightly annoyed, "Leave some ladies for the rest of us!"

Mako mentally slapped himself for having missed what his brother was really asking, "I know, that's what I thought you meant." he said. Though deep down he knew it wasn't the truth. Bolin anxiously waited for Mako's answer to his previous question.

"Well…?"

"I don't know, Bo. It doesn't seem like a good idea for you to date Korra."

"You just said she was great two seconds ago."

"Yeah, Korra is a great athlete and the Avatar and stuff, and she has nice eyes and--" Mako suddenly realized he was getting off topic here, "My point is, I don't know if she's really 'girlfriend material'. She's more like a pal."

"Bro, you're nuts! Korra and I are perfect for each other: she's strong I'm strong: she's fun, I'm fun: she's beautiful, I'm gorgeous!" Mako couldn't help but feel uneasy at how his brother was so infatuated with the Avatar. And quite frankly…it kind of scared him a bit.

"Okay, I don't care what you think, I'm gonna ask Korra out." Bolin said proudly as he continued giving Pabu his bath. Mako turned his head around to look at his brother sternly,

"Look, it just isn't smart to date a teammate, especially during the tournament. Keep your head out of the clouds and your priorities straight, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." but Bolin didn't really believe what his brother said. He knew he and Korra would make the perfect couple, anybody could see it, "You know what I'm talking about, Pabu. I'm talking about real love."

Mako tried to ignore this feeling inside of him, but he couldn't. There was no way he could be attracted to Korra. They were too different. Sure he did find her kind of pretty when he first met her, especially with her hair down, and her electric blue eyes really were a breathtaking sight, especially when those stunning colors danced in them. But it wasn't really her looks that caught his attention. There really was something special about her. Of course, she was the Avatar, but she was kind and at times understanding, she understood what it was like to want to belong somewhere. There was a passionate and friendly spirit underneath her headstrong nature.

But then again, Asami was just as understanding and sympathetic to his situations as well. She was honest, and supportive and generous, how can anyone not like her. Plus they had a lot in common as well. Then why was he feeling so conflicted. 

Still, there was no way Mako was going to let some silly idea get in the way of what he wanted. And what he wanted was to win the tournament, get the money, and stay with the stunning and perfect for him Asami Sato. Everything he ever dreamed off was within his grasp.

Then, why didn't he feel too happy about it?

(~)

At Air Temple island, a the snow fell gently down as Korra and the ponies were helping Ikki and Jinora feed the lemurs. One of them nuzzled to Fluttershy. "Aww, you're quite welcome little one."

"So, Korra how's it going with the dreamy firebender boy?" Jinora asked with a cheeky grin, "You two have been spending a lot of time together lately."

"Oh, yeah! Tell us all about the magical romance." Ikki said dreamily.

Korra could feel her cheeks turn red, "What? Ha, listen to you two, I-I'm not interested in Mako or any romantic stuff."

Twilight smiled while rolling her eyes, "Rriiiiiiiight."

Applejack winked, "Sure you're not."

"I'm serious!!" Korra said defensively.

Jinora rolled her eyes while smiling, "Come on Korra, you know you can't keep secrets from them. Even if you tried."

Korra sighed, she knew the girl was right, "It doesn't matter anyway. Besides he's all into that prissy, beautiful, elegant rich girl."

Rarity immediately scoffed in disgust, "Oh, please! What does she have that you don't? You know, besides long flowing and perfectly manageable hair and good taste in makeup, BUT does she have your unique charm and dangerous yet alluring fiery spirit? Ha! I highly doubt it."

Spike agreed, "She's right Korra, you're totally awesome!"

"You're truly one of a kind.", Fluttershy said as she lovingly hugged the avatar.

Pinkie Pie hopped happily into place while saying, "You're the smartest, funniest, toughest, buffest, talentedest, incredibleist girl in the whole world!"

"See? You are beautiful, and certainly don't need makeup or anything to prove that." Rarity continued, "Especially since you already have such a naturally glorious complexion. Although your hair would look lovely all loose and curled. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a swarm of boys practically worshiping the ground you walk on."

Korra blushed and slightly chuckled, "That's kind of exaggerating a bit but, you really mean that?"

"May my fur turn an unattractive shade of green if I am."

"I appreciate it you guys." Korra began fiddling nervously with her fingers, "Sooooo, let's just pretend for a second I am interested in Mako….what would I do?"

Twilight began, "Well, I think personally---

"Finally!! Something where my area of expertise is useful." Rarity interrupted, making Twilight roll her eyes again. This should be good, she thought. "Now darling, it's obvious Mako does have an unspoken attraction towards you, you just need to show him you feel the same. The first thing is first, throw in some hints his way: bat your eyes, pout your lips, but not too much, flip your hair to show it's natural flow, without being too obvious of course, and you can never go wrong with a dazzling smile. Once he's noticed these hints he will be begging to be yours."

Rainbow Dash hoof palmed her face, "Oh, come on! You really think that'll help? I say you be bold! Walk right up to him and ask if he wants to go out."

"She's got a point." Pinkie said.

"Shouldn't it be the boy who does the asking?" Rarity asked.

"She's got a point too." Pinkie said.

"What's she supposed to do? Sit around and wait till he gets the guts to ask her out?" Rainbow asked.

"She makes another good point" Pinkie said.

Rarity was unsure what to say that this point, "Well…uh."

"Point Rainbow Dash!" said Pinkie.

Jinora then got an idea, "Ooh! I just read a historical saga where the heroine fell in love with the enemy general's son, who was suppose to marry the princess. Korra should do what she did"

"Tell me!" Korra said excitedly.

"She rode a dragon into battle and burned down the entire country. Then she jumped into a volcano. It was so romantic!" she sighed dreamily while clapping her hands together.

The others all looked at the young girl with slightly terrified and concerned expressions.

"Uh….." Korra said unsurely.

"Ssssuuuure?"  Rainbow said, equally as uncertain.

Fluttershy tapped her chin, thinking on what to say. "Um, very romantic?"

"Yeah, nothing says "I love you" like being burned alive", Twilight said sarcastically, but Jinora did not notice this.

"I could lend it to you if you like." she said excitedly.

Twilight smiled awkwardly, "Great. Do most of them involve girls committing suicide?"

"Of course not."

Twilight sighed in relief.

"Some of them are murdered or even die of sadness" Jinora said completely unfazed.

Twilight's eyes popped open. "Good to know." the alicorn said sarcastically.

"No, no, no!" Ikki said before speaking rapidly, "The best way to win a boy's heart is to make a love potion of rainbows and sunsets that makes true lovers sprout wings and fly to a magical castle in the sky, where they get married and eat clouds with spoons and use stars as ice cups in their moonlight punch forever and ever and ever!" the hyperactive child airbended upwards in circular motions out of her excitement.

"I love it!" Pinkie Pie happily agreed….obviously.

"The volcano is starting to make more sense to me now." Korra said to Rainbow Dash.

"I know right?" said the pegasus

"As nice as those suggestion are girls, I still think my advice was better" Rarity said proudly.

"No way, she should follow my advice!" Jinora added,

"Tell you what, when she needs to burn her flesh into a fiery pit of death then will take it under consideration." Rainbow said.

Korra turned around when she heard the sound of laughing from behind, seeing a familiar-mother-to-be. "Oh, hey Pema. Um, how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough. But trust me I know what you're going through. Yeas ago I was in the exact same situation"

"You were?" Twilight asked.

"Yep, with Tenzin"

"Daddy was in love with someone else before you?" Ikki asked in surprise.

"That's right" Pema winked.

"So what did you do?" Korra asked.

"Well for the longest time, I did nothing. I was so shy and scared of rejection."

"I know the feeling." Fluttershy said "The being shy and scared part, I mean."

Pema giggled before continuing, "So yeah I was scared, but watching my soulmate spend his life with the wrong woman became too painful. So I hung my chin out there and I confessed my love to Tenzin. And the rest is history."

Korra, Ikki, Jinora and the ponies all huddle together and sighed dreamingly, "Oooooooh."

Spike however, was not so amused, "Oh, brother."

Rarity wiped away a single tear, "That's the most romantic and inspirational story I have ever heard!"

"Uh, yeah! I think so too." Spike said.

Korra took everything Pema had just said into thought. The Avatar smiled as she made up her mind. She was going to do what Pema did…Hang her chin up and confess her feelings for Mako!

What could go wrong?

(~)

Millions of pro-bending fans cheered as the Fire Ferrets bended like the never bended before. They were at the top of their game. The Ponies and Spike all watched from the lockers as Korra and her friends fought hard on their next match.

Even the announcer could barely contain his excitement, "I am astonished with the level of indulgent being displayed here tonight by the Fire Ferrets, no wonder the avatar has been absent from the papers lately. She's obviously had her nose to the grindstone in the gym."

The ponies all happily cheered, they were all wearing hats with fire ferrets on them waving tiny flags,

"Come on Fire Ferrets!" Applejack cheered.

Twilight,

"You can do it Korra!"

Move just like a wave

Some action is what they crave

We're all here for you, cheering loud and high

Knowing that with your skills your team will touch the sky

Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow and when it's time you'll know

You've just gotta ignite the light

Ponies,

Ah

Twilight,

And let it shine

[bPonies,

Ah

Twilight,

Cause you own the night

Yeah, show us the light

Baby, you're a Firework

Ponies,

Ah!

Twilight:

Come on let your colors burst

Make em go-

Ponies,

Ah, Ah, ah

Twilight,

As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Ponies,

Baby you're a firework!

Come on let your colors burst!

Make em go,

Ah, Ah, Ah.

As you shoot across the sky-y-y!

Boom Boom Boom

Even brighter than the Moon Moon Moon

Boom Boom Boom

Even brighter than the Moon Moon Moon.

The ferrets won the match by throwing their opponents out of the ring.

YEAH!

"All three rounds go to the Future Industries Fire Ferrets to win the opening match of the tournament!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Bolin said happily as he and his teammates embraced in a group hug. The ponies did so as well from the balcony.

Mako and Korra were the first to enter the locker rooms while Bolin was still enjoying the praise from the crowd. The two teens were then tackled by ponies and a dragon who ran to hug them. Rainbow Dash was giddy with excitement, "You guys were soooooooo awesome!"

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash." Korra said. The two teens got up, Mako removed his helmet and smiled at Korra as he walked to his locker.

"Wow, we were really connecting out there on that ring." Mako said, his voice still filled with the excitement left over from the game. Korra removed her helmet and blushed at his compliment.

"Yeah! You know I feel like the two of us have been connecting really well out of the ring, too."

"Um, sure."

Twilight nudged on Korra's leg and nodded her head towards Mako's direction, signaling her to go for it. Korra took in a deep breath before speaking, "So, I was thinking we could spend some time together." she said shyly while placing her right hand on her left arm. The ponies gleamed and silently squealed in excitement as they watched the two teens. Spike was crossing his fingers for good luck.

"We've been spending lots of time together." Mako replied.

"I mean, outside of the gym and not while searching for kidnaped family members or fighting chi-blockers." Korra couldn't stop her heart from beating so fast, in all of her life she never felt this nervous.

"It's going, weeeeeell!", Pinkie whispered to Rainbow Dash.

"He hasn't answered yet." said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, I--" Mako looked into Korra's eyes, once again shimmering with bright colors. The firebender's stomach was in knots, he had to find some way out of this, "I don't know. Asami and I are--"

"Look, I really like you and I think we were meant for each other!"

The ponies and Spike lost their excited smiles and all dropped their jaws as their eyes popped open in shock, "Gah!"

"Didn't see that comin'." said Applejack still stunned.

They could not believe Korra just blurted out her feelings like that! Oh, who were they kidding? This was KORRA for pete sake. She quickly turned away and covered her face in embarrassed. Mako didn't even look at her.

"Korra. I'm really sorry but…I just don't' feel the same way about you."

Ponies and Spike once again go, "Gah!"

Pinkie Pie pretended to be stabbed in the chest, "It burns!"

Korra could not even begin to describe her disappointment…or her embarrassment. This was clearly a mistake. "Forget I ever said anything." she sadly walked away from Mako and the ponies all looked at her just as upset.

Rainbow flew near her, "Ya know, when I said "be bold", this isn't exactly what I meant."

"Rainbow Dash, you're not helping!" Applejack replied sternly.

"It's okay." Korra said sadly.

Just when things couldn't get any worse, Asami walked in through the door and hugged Mako, "Congratulations, you were so amazing out there" she kissed his cheek and Mako took one last glance at Korra, both sharing the same sad expressions, before walking away with Asami.

Spike tugged on Korra's leg, "Korra? You okay?" he asked with concern. She picked him up and placed him on the table next to her, "I will be. Don't worry." she scratched his head affectionately.

Bolin walked up to her, smiling confidently. This time, he was going to asked her out, no matter what. "So, Korra. I was thinking', you and me, we could go get some dinner together, sort of a…date situation."

This caught all the ponies by surprise. Especially Twilight, "Say what, now?"

"You know, a date." Bolin explained, "When two people, preferably a guy and a girl, go some place together to--"

"I know what it is!" Twilight responded somewhat bitterly, making Bolin back up a bit. Korra didn't like the idea very much, especially with the way she was feeling right now.

"Bolin, that's really sweet but I don't think so. I don't feel very date worthy."

"Are you kidding me? You're the smartest, funniest, toughest, buffest, talentedest, incredibleist girl in the world!" said the young man with true honesty and optimism.

"Hey! That's what I said!" Pinkie Pie said annoyed,

Korra couldn't help but blush and giggle from Bolin's compliment, "You really feel that way about me?"

"I've felt that way since the moment I saw you."

As sweet as his words were, the ponies were not entirely convinced that this was going to go well, especially since they knew Korra didn't see Bolin in a romantic way. Meanwhile, Mako was listening in on their conversation and he didn't look too happy about what he was hearing.

"Trust me, I know we're going to have so much fun together." Bolin said happily, in hopes of changing her mind. Korra thought about it for a second before responding with a smile.

"You know what? I could use some fun."

"But---!" Twilight blurted out. She just couldn't let Korra and Bolin do this. It just wasn't right.

"What is it guys?" Korra asked and Twilight tried to come up with a good enough excuse.

"Uh…uh…"

In a desperate act, Spike surprised Korra by clinging on to her waist, "Hey! Spike, what are you doing?"

"Please don't go! I'll---miss you!"

Korra arched her eyebrow at this, "Since when are you so clingy?"

"Please!" the dragon cried while hugging tighter.

"Spike, honey let go." after a bit of struggle, Korra finally manages to release the dragon's grip on her and looked back at Bolin, "Okay, sure. I'll go with you."

"Yes! Who's the luckiest guy in the world? Bolin!" the earthbender wrapped his arm around Korra and Mako angrily watched the two of them leave while Asami nuzzled against his chest. The ponies noticed his angry expression and looked back at the door where Korra and Bolin had just left.

(~)

Latter, in the showers where Korra was getting changed, the ponies were out of the dressing room talking with her. "Korra, you sure you want to go on a date with Bolin?" Twilight asked.

"I don't see why not." Korra said from inside the showers, feeling the hot sensation of the water through her dark brown hair, "Besides, we're just hanging out, no big deal."

Applejack said, "Look, sugarcube, Bolin is a nice guy and I know you'd never do anything to hurt him but…"

"We just don't want him to get the wrong idea" Rarity added.

"And we hope you're not just doing this because you're upset about what happened with, you-know-who" said Fluttershy.

"You mean Mako?" Korra asked as she stepped out of the shower, now fully dressed and fixing her hair ties.

"Too soon?"

Judging by the looks on their faces, Korra started to fully realize the error she had made. "Okay, you guys may have a point. I probably wasn't thinking straight." just then an idea popped into her head, "Hey! Why don't you guys come with us?"

The ponies were all a bit surprised by this suggestion, "Wouldn't that be kind of a crowed?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, if three's a crowd then," Pinkie Pie started counting her hooves, as more than four appeared as she counted, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 would be an even bigger crowd!"

"You don't all have to come, just one or two of you. That way it won't be much of a date. We can all still have a fun time, I can get my mind off of Mako and nobody gets hurts."

However, the ponies were not fully on board with this. Even Rainbow Dash wasn't convinced, "Won't Bolin feel kind of awkward with us around?"

"I'll tell him you guys really wanted to come." Korra suggested. She tried very hard to make this sound like a good idea, but the looks she got from the ponies told her otherwise. She knew she couldn't lead Bolin on, he was too sweet for that. She sighed in defeat, "Who am I kidding? You're right, this is crazy! I'll just be sending him the wrong message and I can't do that to him. I'll tell him I can't go." She prepared to leave until she was stopped by Twilight.

"Wait! Maybe a little night out is exactly what you need. We'll come with, but make sure to let Bolin down easy."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Let's all have some fun." the alicorn said with a smile.

Rainbow decided to agree, "I'm in"

Pinkie Pie raised her hoof, "Me too! You know me, I love fun!"

Korra turned to the others, "What about you guys?"

"You go on ahead, we'll just hang out here in the gym." said Applejack.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely, go on and have fun", said Rarity.

"Yeah, forget about that jerk" said Spike.

"Thanks Spike. Come on guys" Korra said as she, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle left the showers, leaving behind Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Spike.

Fluttershy waved goodbye, "Have fun"

Once they were gone, Rarity quickly gained a look of determination, "Come along, Spike." the two headed towards the door. AppleJack looked at them suspiciously, "Where are you guys going?"

"To spy on Mako," Rarity said, "Did you see the look on his face when Bolin asked Korra out? He's obviously hiding something and we're going to figure out what"

Both she and Spike ran out to find the firebender, leaving a very concerned Applejack and Fluttershy. "Why do I get the feeling that this ain't gonna to go so well?" said the country pony.

(~)

Outside near the arena's entrance, Bolin waited for Korra. He quickly smiled once he saw her approaching, the avatar was wearing her parka, "Hey, Korra!" His smile then faded when he saw she had brought company, "Um, are they--"

"Bolin, look I'm sorry but I have to be completely honest with you." Korra looked directly at him and spoke from her heart, "You're a really great guy and I like you a lot but…." she paused for a moment, this was a lot harder than she had hoped, "I don't like you…in the exact same way that you like me."

The avatar said honestly yet also quite sadly, this was painful even for her. But not as painful as it was for Bolin, who dropped his shoulders and the sadness was evident on his face,

"Oh,"

"I'm really sorry! When I agreed to go out with you I was really upset about something that I kind of don't want to talk about right now and I thought that maybe hanging out with one of my best friends would help make me get over it. But I don't want to give you the wrong idea. I shouldn't have lead you on like that. Now that you know how I really feel, I'm hoping we could still go out, as two best friends enjoying each other's company? But if you don't, I will completely understand."

Korra waited anxiously for his reply, praying he wouldn't hate her forever. After a few seconds…Bolin smiled, "You really think of me as one of your best friends?"

Korra smiled sweetly in return, "One of the best I've ever had. Really. The last thing I ever want is to hurt someone as sweet and loyal as you. I'm sorry I can't return your feelings, but I do still care about you."

"Well, I am a little upset about all of this…but I'm glad you told me the truth."

"So you're not mad at me?"

Bolin gave her a genuine smile, "Nah, I can never stay mad at you. Ya know what, forget the date let's just go have some fun together. As best buds. I'm cool with that."

Korra sighed in relief, "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that." she said as she hugged him tightly, "Wait here, I'll go get Naga." she ran off to go find their ride and Bolin kept on his smile. Twilight smiled proudly at the earthbender,

"I'm glad you're taking this so maturely Bolin,"

"Well, Korra said she just wants to be friends, and it's cool." unbeknownst to them, he had his fingers crossed behind his back and whispered to himself while smiling cockily, "For now anyway."

"What was that?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, nothing" Bolin said with a smile. Twilight and the others arched their eyebrows. This boy was up to something.

(~)

The group of friends decided to eat at Narrok's noodle shop, where they served authentic water tribe food. Korra, Bolin, Pinkie, Rainbow and Twilight were all enjoying their delicious water tribe noodles,

"So, how do you like it?"  Bolin asked with his mouth full of noodles.

"Mmm, it's delicious and totally authentic." Korra said, also with her mouth full, "I didn't realize how much I missed water tribe grub."

Twilight slurped some noodles and spoke with her mouth full too, "It really is to die for."

Pinkie slurped her noodles, "mmmm, yummy!"

"Totally!" said Rainbow Dash, also speaking with her mouth full. They all silently thanked the fact Rarity wasn't there to see them talking with food in their mouths.

Bolin swallowed his noodles before speaking, "That's great! Because this is my favorite joint. See, you love water tribe food, I love water tribe food, just one of the many reasons we are so great together"

Hearing this, Twilight kicked his leg, "OW!"

The alicorn looked at him intimidatingly, the young man got the message quickly, "I-I mean, you know if this were a date which it's not, just two friends and their pony pals eating together"

Twilight smirked as they kept enjoying their meal. Then, Korra noticed a group of people from across the room, one man in particular was giving them a very unfriendly look, "Hey, who's that creepy guy over there that keeps glaring at us?"

Pinkie Pie began looking around, "What guy?" Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie's head and turned it to the direction to where the guy was sitting along with his group of followers. "Oooooooh, that guy!"

"That's Tahno, and the wolf bats" Bolin said.

Rainbow looked at them curiously, "Tah-who and the what-nows?" she asked

"The reigning champs, three years running. Don't make eye contact." he warned. But Korra disobeyed him and glared at Tahno.

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Aaaand she made eye contact. Real shocker." she said sarcastically.

Tahno stood up, raised his hands in a flashy manner and, with his posse behind him, made his way to Korra and Bolin.

"Uh-oh, here he comes." said the worried earthbender, "Now don't mess with this guy, he's a nasty dude."

When he saw him coming, Bolin continued to eat his noodles, while having a frightened look on his face. Tahno smiled arrogantly at them, "Well, well, well if it isn't the Fire Ferrets. Pro bending's saddest excuse for a team. Tell me, how did a couple of ammeters like you luck your way into the tournament? Especially you, Uh-vetar."

Korra scoffed at him, while the ponies all snarled.

"And these must be the legendary Avatar pets I've heard so much about. Frankly, I thought they'd be a lot more impressive."

The three ponies angrily growled at him. Tahno continued to look at Korra, and suddenly noticed that her electric blue eyes were actually quite stunning. The way they somehow shimmered in the light with such an otherworldly beauty, he even got a glimpse of other various colors dancing in her eyes. He suddenly found himself somewhat attracted to the female avatar. He liked that certain mystery she had going on. He leaned in a bit closer, invading a bit of her personal space.

"You know, if you'd like to know how a real pro bends. I could give you some private lessons." he said somewhat flirtatiously, before catching a whiff of her hair, "Watermelon and vanilla. Nice." he said with a wink. Korra shivered in disgust at his closeness.

"Last time we let Rarity force perfume on Korra." Twilight whispered to Pinkie Pie. Korra slowly stood up and faced Tahno with fire in her eyes.

"You wanna go toe to toe with me, pretty boy?"

"Go for it. I'll give you the first shot."

"Korra, don't." Bolin said, shielding the right side of his face with his hand, trying to warn the Avatar, "He's just trying to bait you, if you hit him we're out of the tournament."

Korra glared at Tahno's cocky grin as the ponies mirrored her expression. Rainbow attempted to charge at Tahno, before Twilight placed her hoof in front of her to stop. Korra placed her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

In a flash, Naga came bursting through the window, roaring at Tahno who quickly backed away while shrieking like a girl. He quickly regained his composure as he and his company left the building. Korra and her friends then started to laugh at the scene. Rainbow Dash felt her sides hurt from the laughter, "Ha! You are so totally awesome! You too, Naga." Rainbow petted the polar bear dog who then licked the pony.

Bolin couldn't stop his laughter, "Oh, man I've never seen someone harass Tahno like that."

Twilight wiped away a single happy tear, "If I didn't know better I'd say he was this close to peeing his pants! Ha, ha, ha!"

Pinkie Pie was on her back laughing, "HA, HA, HA! Pee his pants! Good one, Twilight!"

"Yeah, it was great. You are one of a kind, Korra."

Korra smiled at Bolin's compliment.

(~)

Meanwhile, back at the arena. Mako was in his usual cloths shooting fire blasts at a target in the gym. Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Spike were watching from afar as the firebender kept throwing attack after attack with much fury. Spike winced as he watched Mako be so ruthless with the dummy.

"He doesn't look too happy." said the dragon. "Maybe we should leave him alone."

"Ever since Korra left with Bolin he's been crankier than usual." Rarity said.

"You really think it could be because he's jealous?" Applejack asked.

"I see no other reason for him to be upset. He is in the tournament, he has a new girlfriend--blech!--any other boy would be over the moon right now. Look at him--" Mako angrily shoot another fire blast and the dummy which literally exploded. The young man took in slow but deep heavy breaths as the burned remains landed on the floor. "--Unless that's how firebenders express happiness, we must face the facts."

"He really likes Korra but he just won't admit it." Fluttershy said.

"That's right."

"So, what do we do? He can't hear us, remember?" said Spike.

"We don't need words to get the truth out of him. Watch and learn." Rarity confidently walked towards Mako, while Applejack hoof palmed her face.

"Oh, boy."

Mako started picking up the remains of the dummy, when he heard a cute 'neigh'. He turned to see it was the white unicorn.

"Oh, hey Rarity. What's up?"

Using another method of communication, Rarity used her magic to levitate three pieces of her mane and styled them to look like Korra's hair style. Mako looked at her curiously but was kind of getting what the pony as trying to tell him.

"Korra? What about her? Besides that fact she's out with my brother? After I specifically told him it was a bad idea" he said bitterly as he continued to clean up the remains of the dummy.

Rarity then used her magic to levitate his scarf and wrapped it around her neck. She fixed her hair to make it look slightly spiky like Mako's. She began acting all broody like he does. Mako arched an eyebrow.

"Just what exactly are you trying to tell me?" he asked.

Rarity continued the charade for a while: she switched back to "Korra" by arranging her hair style to match her's and pretended to be the avatar yelling. She switched to "Mako" by putting on his scarf and also pretended to be him yelling. She switches to "Korra" and pretended to waterbed while flipping her hair being all sassy and pretty. She switched back to "Mako" stuck out his tongue like a lovesick puppy and even whistled like what men do when they see an attractive woman. Mako was finally starting to understand.

"Wait, you think I have a thing for Korra?"

Rarity nodded, happy that he understood what she was trying to tell him. But the firebender was just as stubborn as the avatar.

"That's ridiculous!" he said before taking the scarf back from the unicorn and wrapped it around his neck, "You were all there, I told her I don't feel the same way. Did she put you up to this?"

Rarity shook her head and placed her hoof on her chest as a symbol of honesty.

"Either way, I made my decision." with that Mako left the gym in an angry huff, leaving a very disappointed unicorn behind.

That went swimmingly." she said sarcastically.

"I told ya so." said Applejack.

"Nopony asked you!"

(~)

The ponies and Spike all walked outside and see Mako sitting in a plate of stairs at the arena's entrance. They then see a group of familiar figures approach them. Spike was the first to run towards them, "Hey, Korra's back!"

Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy shortly followed. Korra kneeled down and grabbed Spike in her arms.

"Korra! How was it?" asked Applejack.

"Great, we had a lot of fun."

Pinkie Pie was hoping excitedly and speaking fast as she began explaining the events of the evening, "Yeah and there was this guy with really weird hair and he was insulting Korra, we wanted to show him but then Korra called on Naga and she was all like ROAR! All up in his face! It was hilarious!"

"You should have seen it!", said Rainbow Dash.

"OH, I bet it was awesome." said Spike. They all headed towards the entrance of the building, when Mako stood up and looked sternly at his teammate.

"What kind of game are you playing?"

"Uh, Pro bending. We got a quarter final match."

"No, I mean with Bolin."

Realizing the tension between them, the ponies decided to back off, "Um, yeah we'll just be…over there." Twilight said awkwardly.

They all walked a few feet away from the two teens. Spike jumped from Korra's arms and joined the other ponies as Mako continued to interrogate Korra, "You got him all in a tizzy and you're only using him to get back at me/"

Ponies could not believe what he just said, "What?!"

"She is not!" Rarity protested.

"I am not!" Korra protested, "We're just having fun together. Why do you care, anyway?"

"I'm looking out for my little brother. I don't want to see his heart get broken."

"You got it all wrong, I--wait a second…" Ponies all turned their heads to look at Korra who smiled cheekily at the firebender, "You're not really worried about him. You're jealous! You do have feelings for me!"

The Ponies all smiled widely! Applejack galloped her hooves happily and cried out, "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"

"What, jealous? Don't be ridiculous." Mako said, though he didn't sound very convincing.

"Admit it. You like me."

Spike laughed, "Ha! Busted!"

"No, I'm with Asami!" Mako protested, trying to convince Korra. But it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. Rarity rolled her eyes, Rainbow, AJ and Pinkie gaged, while Fluttershy and Twilight looked at him annoyed. The Ponies looked at Korra when she started talking.

"But when you're with her you're thinking about me aren't you?"

They all smirked in satisfaction.

"Get over yourself." Mako said, slowly getting more and more annoyed. The Ponies turned their heads and narrowed their eyes at him.

"I'm just being honest." Korra said defensively. Ponies looked at their friend with concern.

"You're crazy!" Mako yelled in anger, making the ponies look at him in surprise.

"You're a liar!"

Ponies looked at Korra surprised and then narrowed at Mako. As the two teens headed to the two separate main entrance doors the ponies sneered at Mako as he walked by, startling him a bit. They then followed Korra inside.

Rainbow Dash huffed, “Why do humans have to make things so complicated?”

“Tell me about it.” The rest of the Mane Six and Spike agreed in unison. 

(~)

"Eight teams have been eliminated and eight advance into the quarter finals, which get underway way tonight. The rookies are about to take on the former and longest-reigning champs, the Boar-q-pines."

The ponies waited anxiously for their spots near the lockers as the next match was about to start. The best sounded.

"Korra dodges and, ooh, slams right into her teammate! Down goes Mako and Bolin and Korra!"

The Ponies and Spike winced in pity at the scene as Korra accidentally knocked into Mako when trying to attack and then an earth disk from the opposing team's eathbender knocked all three of them into zone three. They knew that the Fire Ferrets were completely out of focus. Particularly Korra and Mako.

"That's gotta hurt." Fluttershy said.

"You were suppose to defend when I attacked!" Mako told her angrily.

"I had an opening so I took it!" Korra yelled in response, and just as angry. If not more so.

Bolin looked at both of them with concern, "What is up with you two?” he asked. While it wasn’t anything new that they would argue at times, but with the way they’ve been getting along recently, and their flawless teamwork on the arena, why were they at arguing now? Bolin placed his hands on their shoulders, becoming the peacekeeper for once. “ Alright, whatever just pull together guys."

The next round started, at first they started off well, until Mako got hit with water by the opposing waterbender. Bolin was by far the only one who managed to dodge each of the opponent's attacks and send a disk hurling at the opposing earthbender just as the bell sounded. The ponies cheered for their friend who managed to win the second sound.

"Go Bolin!", Pinkie cheered.

"That's our boy!" said Spike.

During the third round, all three of them got whopped by the opposing team. The ponies and dragon hated seeing their human friends get beat up so badly. The round ended up in a tie. The referee tossed a two colored coin consisting of red and blue. Once he flipped it, it landed on red, which meant the Fire Ferrets won the coin toss. Mako volunteered to be the fighter for the tie breaker, but Bolin stepped in instead, realizing his brother's head was not in the game. He stepped onto the center platform which rose up. Both Bolin and the opposing earthbender unleashed their earth disks at one another, Bolin rolled down beneath the opponent as he jumped up. Bolin managed to force him back the zone, but the other earthbender managed to grab Bolin and flip him over but he flung a few more earth disks his way and the opponent fell from the platform into the pool. Bolin won the match for the Fire Ferrets, securing a place for them in the semifinals.

The ponies cheered loudly for them as they hugged and Pinkie Pie jumped happily while waving pom poms. While Korra and Mako were happy about the win, they both angrily turned away from each other. The ponies' happy expressions faded when they saw the two of them.

The three teens returned to the lockers, Korra removed her helmet and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Pinkie happily greeted the avatar, "Great game, Korra!"

"Must have been a different game. Because we stunk!"

Pinkie lowered her ears in sadness, "Yeah, I didn't want to bring it up."

Mako walked pass Korra who grunted in response. She narrowed her eyes at him and angrily walked out. The ponies followed. Spike was the only one who stayed behind. He saw Mako angrily punch his locker before letting out a depressed sigh. The dragon, out of sympathy, patted his leg and smiled at the firebender. Mako kneeled down and petted Spike's head.

"Thanks, Spike."

Spike then pointed to the door and made his two claws look like two mouths talking to each other. Mako quickly got the message.

"Fine, I'll talk to her."

As he left to go find Korra, Spike noticed Bolin taking out a bouquet of pink roses from his locker. "Please tell me those roses are from one of your crazy fan girls." Spike asked hopefully.

"Nope. Korra might not see me as something more than a friend but I'm gonna change that" the young earthbender smiled confidently while holding the roses close to his nose.

"Uh, I don't think that's such a good idea Bo." the dragon said while fiddling with his claws, "I mean what if she doesn't change her mind? You're only gonna wined up getting hurt. Not that she would intentionally hurt you, it's just that--"

"Hey, would you give up on Rarity?"

"Well, no but--"

"So I'm not giving up on Korra. I'm no quitter. Wish me luck little buddy."

The little dragon sadly watched his friend exit the locker room while whistling happily, "Yeah. Good luck. You're gonna need a WHOLE lot of it." he said sadly.

(~)

Korra stood underneath a gazebo outside of the arena looking up at the stars, more specifically the full moon. She remembered the time the ponies told her about Princess Luna. How in Equestria she would raise and lower the moon and how she would enter ponies' dreams to help them overcome their fears.

"Bet you'd get a good laugh out of my dreams, huh Luna?" Korra asked. Even though she knew nobody would answer. She felt some familiar figures approach her. Fluttershy spoke first.

"Korra…there's something that…we need to tell you."

"I know." Korra interrupted, catching the ponies by surprise, "You, Rarity, Spike and Applejack stayed to try to get Mako to like me."

"Technically, it was Rarity who did most of the work there." Applejack said.

Rarity narrowed her eyes at her. "Hey!"

"Well, ya did!"

"How did you know?" Fluttershy asked.

"I know you guys want us to be together and I appreciate you care so much but let's face it. It's not gonna happen." she said the last part with much sadness. The truth was painful.

"You're not mad?" Rarity asked.

Korra sighed as she turned around to face them. "You shouldn't have meddled." she said.

"I tried to warn em", said Applejack. Rarity looked at the country pony with stern eyes.

Korra then surprised the ponies by smiling, "But I know you did it out of love. So you're forgiven. But don't stick your noses where they don't belong next time. Okay?"

Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity nodded, "Okay"

Twilight smiled proudly at Korra, "Sometimes you amaze me with how smart you can be."

"I don’t feel so smart."

“Hey, we all make mistakes. The important thing is that we learn from them.”

Then, the girls sensed another presence…they all angrily glared when they saw Mako walking towards them. Rarity quickly got into a defensive stance, Applejack and Pinkie see this and do the same. The firebender knew they would not allow him to get closer to the avatar.

"I know you girls are mad at me right now but can I please talk to Korra?"

Rarity scoffed, "Why would she talk with you after the dishonorable way you've treated her?"

Mako still couldn't understand what they were saying. "I'm pretty sure you're saying things like, "I was a jerk", "I don't deserve to talk to her", "Get out before I kick you where it hurts". "

Rarity arched an eyebrow, "Well, he's got good observation, I'll give him that much."

"And I get that but I really need to talk to her. Please?"

The ponies didn't move until Korra spoke, "It's okay guys." Korra tells them and the ponies hesitantly stopped their growling at the boy. Rarity huffed at the firebender and lowered her ears in anger.

"You got lucky this time." she flipped her mane and walked off with both AJ and Pinkie Pie but not before Pinkie Pie came up super close to his face once again.

"We're watching you." she said before slowly lowering down while looking at Mako with fierce eyes.

The ponies watched from a few feet away as Mako talked to Korra, who had her back turned as she leaned on the cylinder.

"We need to talk" he said. “Look sometimes you can be so infuriating and--"

"Wow, great start." Korra said, "Look, you’ve already made it clear how you feel about me so if that’s all, you don’t have to explain it again. I get it."

"No, there is more." The Ponies all looked skeptical at him as he continued to speak. "What I'm trying to say is; as much as you drive me crazy…" Rainbow and Applejack got ready to kick him if he went too far. "…I also think you're pretty amazing."

If Korra had pony ears, right now they would jolt upwards in surprise. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and prepared to strike. "Oh, now you're gonna get it you---wait, say what now?"

Korra's eyes widened as she turned around to face Mako, "So… you do like me?" she asked somewhat hopefully and surprised. Ponies waited anxiously, while leaning forward. Pinkie Pie leaned in a bit too far and fell on her face. “But you said—“

"I know. It was in the spur of the moment and I said the first thing I could think of." The firebender replied, making the ponies smile happily. "I do like you. But--"

Twilight looked at him with worry, "But?"

"Not the 'but'! Anything but the 'but'!!" Pinkie Pie cried out.

"I like Asami too."

Ponies "hoof" palmed their faces, "He truly is an idiot" said Rarity.

"I don't know things are complicated. And I'm feeling very confused and---" Then right out of the blue, and before he could process what was happening, Korra kissed Mako full on the lips!

The Ponies all dropped their jaws and they gasped. Rarity placed her hooves on her forehead and fainted from both shock and happiness. Mako was shocked at first, but he quickly gave into the softness of the Avatar's lips and genuinely kissed her in return, making her cheeks turn red. Rainbow Dash excitedly flapped her wings.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"

Spike came running out and stopped near the ponies, catching his breath from the running. "Guys! Guys, we've got a big--Wow!" but once he saw the two teen kissing passionately, the dragon's eyes widened. His eyes remained that way even after the kiss ended, "Didn't see that coming."

"Or, that!" Fluttershy pointed her hoof to where Bolin stood who holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands. The girls all shared the same worried looks as the two teens ended the kiss, both looking happy, but Korra's happinesses shifted to guilt when she saw the young earthbender, and Mako turned around, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Oh, boy" Applejack said in worry.

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to tell you: Bolin's coming." Spike added.

"Great timing Spike!" Twilight said sarcastically. The two teens were shocked to see Bolin, who simply stood there in complete shock.

"Bolin this isn't what you think!" His brother said

Pinkie Pie cried out, "Yeah, your brother wasn't really kissing the girl you like! Oh wait, yeah he was."

“Not helping, Pinkie!” Spike exclaimed. 

With tears in his eyes, Bolin ran off crying and sobbing loudly like a baby as he tossed the roses to the ground. Mako angrily turned to Korra, "Great, look what you did!"

"You're blaming me?!"

"You kissed me!"

"You kissed me back!"

Mako growled furiously and stormed off to get his brother. Guilt swept up inside of Korra.

"I know, I know I messed up big time!" she said to the ponies.

"Yeah, you kind of did.” Twilight said with honest sympathy.

(~)

The next day, Korra was in her room thinking about what happened the night before. The image of Bolin running out in tears kept on replaying in her mind. Her head rested on her window as she gazed at the area. She felt so awful for how she treated him. She was even starting to think that maybe kissing Mako wasn't exactly the smart thing to do. She felt so angry with herself.

As she looked out the window, she sadly sang;

I have to find a way.

To make this all okay.

I never meant to hurt anyone.

Now I fear two of my friends are gone

Oh, why

Oh why?

Meanwhile in the city, Mako kept searching for his brother. He felt awful for what he did to him, but at the same time..he didn't entirely regret kissing Korra. Which made him feel like the worst brother in the world.

Korra continued to sing as she looked sadly at the city.

Losing promise

I don't know what to do

Seeking answers

I fear I won't get through…to you

Oh, why

Oh, why?

Twilight joined the avatar and placed her hoof on her shoulder. "Oh, Twilight. What have I done?"

"It's gonna be okay, Korra."

"No it's not. I hurt two of my closest friends. I acted like such a jerk."

"You didn't know Bolin was going to show up. You were honest with him before and you laid him down easy." The avatar buried her face in her arms. "And about that kiss, well, okay not the best decision of your life, for sure, but it’s not too late to fix this."

“How?”

"Just tell them you're sorry. Speak from your heart like you do with us."

"What if they don't forgive me?"

"True friends always forgive each other no matter what." Twilight said with an encouraging smile, "I'm sure they will"

Korra looked over at the arena. "I hope so."

“Besides, you’ve learned one of the most important lessons. Learning from your mistakes, admiring you were wrong, and want to fix it.” Twilight leaned against Korra in an effort to make her feel better. The Avatar smiled and hugged the alicorn. Twilight was right, one way or another, she had to make it up to them both.

(~)

Finally, Mako had reached his brother's favorite hang out. He waved as he greeted the owner, "Morning Narook. My brother here?"

Narrook gestured to a booth behind Mako. No doubt, he spotted his brother, his head buried in his arms which were on the table. Mako walked over to his young brother and gently shook his shoulder. "Come on. Wake up. Taking you home, bro."

Bolin looked up at his brother, his eyes were still puffy from the tears, his hair was a mess and he had bags under his eyes. "Don't call me that." he said in an overly dramatic saddened and angry voice, "You're not my brother! You're a brother betrayer! The only one I can trust anymore is Pabu! Pabu loves me."

He gestured to Pabu, who was laying in a bowl of noodles on the table. His stomach was big and rounded, signaling he had eaten probably more food than his owner.

Mako couldn't deal with this right now, "You're a mess, and we've got the biggest match of our lives tonight. Let's go" he said as he placed his hand on Bolin's shoulder, but he angrily slapped it away,

"No! I'm not going anywhere with you, you traitor!" he angrily pointed at Mako.

"Guess we'll have to do this the hard way." the older brother effortlessly picked up Bolin and hauled him onto his back.

"Why?!" Bolin cried out sobbing,

"Told you dating a teammate was a bad idea." he said as he carried his brother out of the shop.

"You're a bad idea! Put me down! Put me down!" Bolin continued to whine in sobs as the two exited the building, a bloated Pabu slowly followed close behind. Slowly.

(~)

Mako finally managed to get his brother to their attic and placed Bolin on his bed, where he continued to cry. Mako was getting a migraine from all of the noise as he rubbed his forehead. He hoped some fresh air would clear up his head so he opened the window. On the corner of the window sill, he spotted the flower Twilight had given him, he had it in a small vase and was still a bit fresh, minus a few petals that had fallen. He angrily looked at it. What real meaning did it have? It was then, he saw the rainbow colors once again. That was the last straw. He angrily grabbed the flower, crumpled it and threw it out the window with much fury.

Having had enough of the 'fresh air' Mako angrily closed the window. Unbeknownst to him, the flower did not fall into the ocean, but was taken by a small breeze that led it to the gazebo where Korra had kissed him. The flower landed on the ground and stayed there.

(~)

That night, before the match was about to start, Korra entered the locker room and saw Bolin sitting on the bench, his head hung in depression. Mako was still not speaking to her as he placed on his gear. He didn't even look at her. She wasn't sure if they wanted to hear her apology now, so instead she grabbed her gear and prepared for the match. As the ponies watched the match from their usual place, the three friends were way out of sync and out of focus.

"The Buzzard Wasps open with a flawlessly executed combo. All three Ferrets take an early visit to zone two. And Mako is knocked all the way back into zone three! The Fire Ferrets have been struggling to stay alive since the opening bell. All three players are totally out of sync tonight."

Mako got slammed down to the ground by the opposing team, Korra kept getting whipped with water and Bolin…well, he got hit in the stomach by an earth disk which caused him to puke his noodles on the side of the ring. The ponies looked at the scene with pity and disgust.

"Cleanup on aisle three!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Korra was knocked into zone three while Mako gets plunged into the water. But before they could lose the bell sounded.

"And the Ferrets are bailed out by the bell!" shouted the announcer, "They had better pull themselves together folks for round two otherwise they can kiss the finals goodbye"

"Come on you guys!" Applejack cried out.

"PULL yourselves together!" cried out Rainbow Dash.

During the second round, Mako got knocked back a zone and firebended a blast at the opposing team…which accidentally hit Bolin from behind, "Hey! Watch it!"

Distracted, Bolin was hit from behind by the opposing team's waterbender and was knocked out of the platform. The ponies watched in horror. Rainbow Dash hoof palmed her face, "Aw man!"

Rarity lowered her ears in sympathy, "Poor Boly"

Out of pure anger and annoyance, Korra started flipping the opposing team's firebender by making her jump up and down with her water. The referee blowed his whistle,

"Unnecessary roughness! Move back one zone!"

"All unnecessarily rough you up!" Korra angrily bended water at him, earning herself a yellow fan.

Spike bit his claws, "This really is sad to watch" The ponies nodded in agreement. Sad didn't couldn't even begin to describe this.

"Well I guess there's always next year" Mako said with much disappointment. Both he and Bolin were just about ready to hand in the towel.

Korra, in desperate need of help, turned her head to look up at the ponies from the balcony of the locker room, all of who which smiled in reassurance at the young avatar. Then, Korra squinted her eyes a bit when she noticed the lights on the ceiling of the locker room somehow created a halo-like glow around the ponies. The colors of their coats shimmered, creating a rainbow like effect that reflected in Korra's eyes. However, unlike before these were not just pretty colors faintly dancing in her irises, but they manifested in clear colors on the corners of her irises that was really more of a glow than a shimmer.

The Avatar blinked and suddenly had an epiphany: her friends were there for her. They never abandoned her, even when she wasn't acting the right way…now she had to do the same…for Mako and Bolin. Twilight winked at Korra and saluted her with her wing. Korra smiled back and nodded before facing Mako and Bolin.

"Come on guys, we still have a chance even if it is a slim one" she said with much hope.

"The way we're playing…we don't even deserve to be in the finals" Bolin said with utter disappointment.

"Look, If we don't pull together and work as a team, we'll never forgive ourselves." Korra said trying to sound as optimistically as she could. But the brothers had made up their minds.

"Let's just get this over with" Mako said in a monotone voice.

"The sooner the better" his brother said with the same voice as they headed back to the starting line. Until….

"I'm sorry!"

The two brothers stopped on their tracks and turned around to face the avatar, surprised by her sudden outburst. They noticed she was trying to fight back the tears.

"What?" Mako asked in surprise.

"I’m sorry about....everything. I never meant for things to get so messed up and I never wanted to come between you, honest! Even if we lose this match, it won't be nearly as painful as the thought of losing you two."

The two brothers looked at her and then at each other with surprised looks.

"To me, you're more than just my teammates…you're my best friends." Korra said. Her voice was kind and sincere, "And if I have to go down tonight, I'd rather go down with us working together as a team than a bunch of jerks angry over some stupid misunderstanding. Is that really how you want to remember this night?"

The two brothers were both taken by surprise by her words and they could tell that she really was telling the truth. They both smiled at her.

"You're right, Korra. I'm sorry." Bolin said sincerely.

Mako nodded, "Me too."

"So do you forgive me?" Korra asked hopefully.

Mako smiled kindly at the Avatar, any angry feelings he had before suddenly left him, "Of course we do. Now let's win this. Together."

With their confidence back, the three got into their positions ready to win the match and get into the finals. The ponies happily watched the scene as the three friends stood together as one.

No matter what world they were in, one thing always remained the same…the magic of friendship!

This time, the boys fought a lot better, their synchronization was back, this new transformation wowed the crowed. But as a sad result, they were also a bit too exhausted. The ponies gasped as they saw Bolin take an earth coin to the shoulder. The boy cried out in pain, "AH!"

"Bolin!" with his big brother distracted, the opponents knocked Mako out of the ring and he fell into the water, not long afterwards Bolin got knock out too, his injury making him unable to fight anymore.

Korra was now left on her own in the ring.

"The Ferrets' dreams of making into the finals now rests in the avatar's hands." said the announcer, "But with three on one I don't like her odds"

The ponies watched with anticipation as Korra fought three benders all by herself. Spike was nervously biting his nails at the scene. Bolin breathed heavily as he struggled to get out of the water. Mako gave him a helping hand and hoisted his brother up.

"Are you okay? How's your shoulder?"

"Ow! It's messed up pretty bad. But I think I'll be alright"

"I'll ask Twilight if knows a healing spell or something."

The two stepped onto the levitator and remained silent for a few seconds before Bolin spoke, "Are we…gonna be alright?"

"Of course we are. We're brothers, we'll get through this mess"

"You know, I think she really meant what she said. About our friendship meaning more to her than winning the game"

"Yeah. I think so too…" Mako realized he had been a bit too hard on Korra. He was starting to think she was coming between him and his brother, when then all of a sudden she helped them remember what really mattered. Mako looked at his younger brother with sincere regret, "I'm sorry"

"Me too." The two brothers smiled at each other. Their bond was rekindled. "Girls, hu?" Bolin said jokingly.

Mako chuckled, "Seriously."

They both watched as Korra continued to dodge every element the other pro benders threw at her. Ten seconds remained on the clock, Korra started gaining her ground by strategically aligning each of the three opposing benders in a single line with swift attacks. Spike stopped biting his claws and began biting on Twilight's hooves, for which she angrily swatted away from him. Korra waited for the perfect moment, a star shimmered in her eyes, with one swift movement she unleashed a gigantic water attack at the opponents. The three benders were all sent flying out of the ring.

Korra had won the match!

The brothers, the ponies and Spike all jumped and danced happily at her victory. Korra stood there proudly and waving to the cheering crowd. She never felt more alive.

"It didn't seem possible folks but The Ferrets are heading to the finals!"

Twilight jumped happily, "She did it! She did it! She really did it!"

Rainbow Dash zipped around happily, "Was there ever any doubt?"

Fluttershy cheered, "Wu-hu! Go Korra! Yeah!"

Pinkie Pie danced, "Victory Party!"

Mako happily hugged his brother, who winced in pain "Shoulder! Shoulder!"

"Sorry" he said as he released him. Korra walked up to them removing her helmet, Pinkie and Spike jumped into her arms.

"You were amazing!" Spike said while hugging her.

Twilight hugged Korra from behind, "That was some very impressive strategizing, I'm so proud!"

"Thanks Twilight."

"That was pretty much the coolest thing I have ever seen" Bolin commented.

"Thanks for not giving up on us." Mako said graciously, "We never would have made it this far without you. I owe you. Big time."

"You're welcome….So, I know things are confusing right now, but I hope we can still be friends."

"Definitely." Mako then patted Pinkie and Spike who were both still in Korra's arms, "We all can" he said. "I'm really sorry for all those harsh things I said."

"It's alright. I'm sorry, too."

"Awwwww! Group hug!" Pinkie Pie happily said and they all gathered around in a warm group embrace.

Then, to everyone's dismay, a familiar arrogant waterbender and his teammates walked into the room. It was Tahno and his wolf bats, "You boys smell something in here? Wait, I know what that is…yeah, that's the scent of losers." he said tauntingly.

Korra lowered Spike and Pinkie as he and the ponies growled at him. "I hope we see you in the finals, then we'll see who the losers really are" Korra said while glaring at him. Tahno however remained unfazed by this.

"Yeah, I'm peeing in my pants already"

As he and his team walked to the ring as Korra snarled at him. Applejack taped her leg, "Save that energy for the finals there, Kor"

"Yeah, you're gonna need all of that passion for when you kick his sorry butt!" said Rainbow Dash. Korra smiled at their encouragement.

Asami came rushing in, quickly hugged Mako and smiled at Korra, "Great job! What a comeback Korra, I've never seen a hat trick like that"

Korra smiled genuinely at the young woman. Despite her envy, she knew Asami wasn't all that bad, and it was high time she began treating her nicely. "Thanks. But, if it hadn't been for you and your father we wouldn't have had the chance to play. So thank you"

The ponies all smiled at Korra for being so nice to Asami, however Rainbow Dash scoffed and crossed her hooves. She didn't care how nice Asami was, she still didn't trust her.

"Uh, if you guys are done with the little thank you party, need some medical attention over hear" Bolin's shoulder was bruised badly.

"Oh, right. Korra does Twilight know any spell---" Mako began to ask. But before he could continue, Korra and Twilight cleared their throats as sign for him to shut up. He then looked at Asami, other than the fact that they could talk, she still didn't know about the ponies' magic or of where they are truly from. "Uh, know any…spell-ing tricks?" Mako smiled nervously at his girlfriend, "They're really, really clever."

Ponies and Korra smiled nervously as well, hoping she would buy it. Asami arched an eyebrow, "Oooookay"

"Don't worry Bolin, I can help" Korra said as she walked over to Bolin and touched his injured shoulder. The boy winced in pain.

"OW! Haven't you hurt me enough, woman?"

"Relax, I'm a healer. I learned from Katara, the best there is." she waterbeds some water over his shoulder which began to glow, "No, no, no, ah!" then he started to like the soothing feeling and relaxed as Korra continued to heal him, "That's the stuff"

"Bolin, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn't mean for things to get so out of hand."

Bolin looked at her in regret, "Actually, I think I should be the one apologizing. You made it clear you wanted to just stay friends and instead of respecting your decision I tried to make you change your mind, which was pretty selfish of me. I'm sorry."

Korra smiled in reassurance, "That's okay."

Bolin then smiled. "But we had fun together didn't we?"

"I had a great time, honestly. You are one of a kind Bolin"

"Please, go on, I enjoy praise" he said happily,

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Oh, brother"

Rarity ruffled his hair, "That's our little Boly"

"Your winners! The Wolf Bats!" they heard the announcer say. Korra stopped healing Bolin, "What? How is it over already?"

They all looked to see the wolf bats on the ring receiving their praise from the crowed. Down below they saw the opposing team all being carried away by medics. Fluttershy winced when she saw all the scars and bruises they had.

The Fire Ferrets were going to have some serious competition in the finals.

(~)

Back at the temple, Korra sat on the porch outside, her mind still replaying the events of the game, and before. She noticed Pema walk out and joined her. "Rainbow told me you won the game."

"Yeah, we did."

The woman could already tell what was bothering the teenager. "Boy trouble, still?"

Korra sighed before speaking, "I jumped into the volcano and got burned." she felt Pema wrap her arm around her, allowing her to rest her head on Pema's shoulder. "Was it anything like this for you?"

"Sweetheart, you have no idea. But don't give up hope. Even Tenzin took a while to come around. Some things are worth waiting for."

Her words placed Korra's troubled mind at ease. "Thanks, Pema."

"You're a very special girl Korra, don't let others tell you otherwise."

Meanwhile, above the roof over their heads, Twilight was out on the roof looking at the city. Spike climbed up and sat next to her.

"A yuan for your thoughts."

"This world is a lot different than Equestria and the mirror world." she tells him while looking at the city, "Things get so complicated so quickly and folks tend to let the most valuable things slip away from them almost as fast."

"I know. But at the same time, I don't think it's all that different." Spike explained, "At Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer tried to split everybody apart by making them think only negative things about each other. And Discord tried to separate you and your friends by exposing your weaknesses and fears. That's kind of what Amon is doing; he's splitting people apart by infusing their hate and reminding them they're different."

"You're right Spike. But it's not our job to fix it. It's Korra's. She's the Avatar. She symbolizes unity by controlling all four elements."

"Maybe that's why you're here. Since we came to the city you girls have done nothing but help Korra, even if you don't think it's much. You're helping her realize the true magic of friendship. And once she's learned all she needs to learn she'll be able to stop Amon and save the city. So don't worry. It's like you always say: There's nothing we can't accomplish if we work together."

The princess placed her leg front leg around the little dragon in a side hug.

"You're right Spike. Eyes on the prize."

(~)

He didn't know why, but Mako had a sudden urge to walk over to the gazebo where he and Korra kissed. The young man was even more confused than ever. He got along so well with Asami. She made him happy, she was nice, strong, beautiful, what's not to like? But his mind kept on shifting to Korra. He really didn't want to think about it, especially this late at night. Suddenly, he spotted something on the floor. Instinctively, he picked it up. He couldn't believe it was the flower he had thrown away earlier.

He never really believed in signs or good or bad omens, but a small part of him believed this was one. Maybe Korra was in his life for a reason. Weather it was meant to be as a friend or…something more?

Only time would tell.

(~)