//------------------------------//
// Rebirth 
// Story: The Little Pony Legend 3: The Great Change 
// by MaggiesHeartLove 
//------------------------------//


*(~)*


1 Samuel 16:7~

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.


*(~)*

Rebirth



The Air Acolytes pulled the airship in with ropes. Kya, Pema, Tenzin, Rohan, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Bolin, Bumi, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Spike, Korra and the Mane Six all stood together by the docks as the airship landed. It was similar looking to the ones used by the Republic City's police force, thought far more luxurious looking. Once the machine landed, the doors slid open revealing Asam, standing proudly against the opening.

"Did someone order a fully equipped Future Industries airship?"

"It's perfect! Thanks Asami." Korra said. The crusaders were  astonished with the size and shape of the airship. They had never seen one up close before. Like the Mane Six, they too were in their anthro forms.

"Wow! That's so cool!" said Scootalo, her tiny little wings flapping rapidly in excitement. Asami marveled proudly at her work.

"I figured if we're going to Ba Sing Se to search for airbenders, we should do it in style."

"I never disagree when it comes to style." said Rarity.

"I wanna see!" Ikki said, making an air scooter to go up the ramp. 

"C'mon, Poki." Poki climbed onto Meelo's head. He created an air scooter and followed Ikki into the airship. 

"Wait for us!" shouted Apple Bloom as she ran behind the kids.

"I wanna see!" said SweetieBelle, running alongside Scootalo.

"SweetieBelle, try not to break anything!" her sister exclaimed with worry.

"While you guys are gone, Pema and I will hold down the fort." Kya picked up Rohan, who had not long ago, just started to walk. "Who's excited to spend some time with your Auntie Kya?” She cooed, gently bouncing her nephew. The motion  made him  vomit right on Kya's chest. She cringed in disgust. 

"Aw, he likes you." said Pema, and Kya waterbended the vomit off of herself. Twilight's ear twitched when she heard a sound.

"Flash, we're here already, put me down!"

The anthro pegasus obeyed his friend's request and dropped the firebender on the docks, near the airship. Flash had been carrying Mako by the shirt all the way from Republic City to Air Temple island.  Mako was never one to be afraid of heights, but he didn't feel very comfortable with being carried over the ocean with no security whatsoever. Flash flinched once Mako made contact with the ground. He sat up and groaned in pain.

"Gently!"

"Sorry, dude."

"Mako, Flash!"

At the sound of his girlfriend's voice, Mako quickly straightened himself and fixed his red signature scarf. The thing was practically a part of him. He fixed his hair and cleared his throat when his girlfriend arrived, smiling at him.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"Hey, traveling the world searching for new airbenders? Wouldn't miss it."

The Avatar surprised the man with a warm loving embrace. After their brutal break up from before, the two took the time to reexamine their relationship. After the events involving Unalaq, and the portals and the civil war, the two realized that they had to do some insight searching of their own to realize what they did wrong before. And they did. 

The experience allowed them to learn more about themselves, and helped them to better communicate with one another, with Mako being more open about his feelings and Korra having gained a high amount of patience from her time in the spirit world. In their separation, they both changed and developed, and realized that despite the differences, they still needed each other. They didn't treat each other as just boyfriend and girlfriend, but as friends first and foremost.

Flash Sentry landed on the ground and removed the long tube that was over his shoulder. Twilight walked up to him with a smile. "Hey, Flash."

"Hey, Twilight." the young stallion suddenly became self-conscious as he spoke. "Princess. Princess Twilight." Twilight's smile faded at Flash sudden formality. He stood up very straight and began to speak in a very professional tone. "Once we received your message we proceeded to contact various locations within the Earth Kingdom as ordered by you… the Princesses."

Mako face palmed himself at Flash's actions while Korra arched an eyebrow, as did Twilight. Korra walked by Twilight and spoke sarcastically at her friend. "Right, the princesses thanks you for your loyal service." she flashed her signature grin, barring her pearly white teeth, but no one else was smiling. She cleared her throat and stood a few feet back from the two, returning to her boyfriend. "So, did you find any more leads?"

Mako took the long tube from Flash and showed it to Korra, "There are reports of airbenders popping up all over the Earth Kingdom. I marked the villages on this map."

"That's perfect. Thanks." The two then turned their glances to the two anthro ponies, who simply stood there in awkward silence. Korra took the map from Mako and started walking back to the others, "Uh, hey why don't we check out the airship?"

"Sure, can't wait to see what Asami's done." with that, the two walked back to the others, leaving the pony couple behind to talk. Once they left, Twilight crossed her arms in front of her chest while Flash scratched the back of his neck.

"So…."

"We need to talk." Twilight said sternly. Her eyes narrowing at her boyfriend. The time has come for her to get some answers.

"Uh, what's there to talk about?"

"You've been avoiding me for days, and I want to know why."

Flash couldn't bare to meet her gaze, this really wasn't the right time to tell her the truth. "Look, Twilight I know I haven't been myself lately but, I have a good explanation."

"I'm listening."

"I…I can't talk about it."

Twilight's stern expression shifted into one of concern. "Flash, if there is anything wrong I want to help you. I'm not just your girlfriend, I'm your friend too. You can always tell me anything."

But Flash didn't even look at her as he slowly turned around, his back now facing her and his ears lowered. "I'm sorry. But I just can't."

Twilight's heart sank as she watched him leave. But she wasn't the only one. Both Korra and Mako witnessed the whole thing, and Twilight didn't need to turn around to know that they did. The alicorn turned around to scowl at them and spoke sarcastically at the Avatar. "Great advice Korra. "Stop waiting", "Confront him about it", "You deserve to know!'." the alicorn scoffed and walked away in a huff past the two.

"Well, you should know better than to listen to me!" Korra exclaimed before sighing sadly, "Teenagers."

Mako placed a consoling hand on her shoulder, "I know. Always so mellow dramatic."

Twilight only felt worst when she saw Pema kiss her husband on the cheek. "I'll miss you, sweetie." she said sweetly. Surprisingly, Twilight stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"I'll miss you too." Tenzin said to his wife. "Once we find the airbenders, I'll send word. You can join us at the Northern Air Temple then."

Ikki and Meelo came down off the airship on their air scooters, both looking up at their father upset.

"Hey! How come Jinora gets to go with you but we don't? That's so not fair!" Ikki exclaimed, and her brother also exclaimed in agreement.

"Yeah! What this girl said! Not fair!"

The adults looked worriedly at each other until Princess Luna squatted down to their level. Her long night-sky-like mane bellowing in an invisible breeze just like it always did. Interestingly enough, unlike the rest of the ponies, they didn't have tails sticking out.

"Because if airbenders show up here, they will need some guidance from the two of you. It's a very important job. Are you up for the challenge?"

Ikki smiled excitedly. "Really? Me, a teacher?" the young girl began to spin and jump in place, happily, "Yay!"

"Those maggots will bow to me!" Meelo shouted demandingly, earning an amused smile from his father.

"Go easy on them, son."

"You sure we can't come with you guys?" Apple Bloom asked. In her anthro form, she wore an outfit similar to the one worn by her human counterpart from the human world. A green shirt with short sleeves, dark blue pants and cowgirl boots. Her pony ears and tail remained as well as the light color of her coat on her skin. Her red hair fell down on her shoulders and her red pink bow remained on the back of her head.

Sweetie Belle still had her horn, ears and tail. Her skin was white like her coat and wore a pink and yellow sundress with floral prints and flap slippers. Her green eyes and pink/purple streaked hair remained the same, curly and stylish.

Scootalo had a hood jacket in similar color to Mako's with a light green shirt underneath, dark colored pants and flat shoes. Her skin was light orange like her pony coat, she still had her ears, wings and tail. Her magenta spiky pixie-cut hair remained the same, as well as her lilac eyes. Applejack placed a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"We'll be fine. Tenzin and his family will need all the help they can get."

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and besides, Scootaloo could use some practice with her new airbending."

Indeed, Scootaloo was one of the ponies who uncovered her bending. Her's was air. She was so excited to try it out.

"And Sweetiebelle can learn much about waterbending from Kya." said Rarity. Sweetiebelle turned out to be a waterbender like her big sister. Rarity had already taught her plenty of the basic moves, but now she had a chance to learn from a master.

"I can't wait to learn that water whip move!" she said excitedly. Apple Bloom was the only one who wasn't too thrilled.

"What's wrong, suguarcube?" her sister asked.

"I still haven't figured out if I had any bending yet."

"Well hon, not all ponies are guaranteed bending. But I'm sure you'll find yours soon enough."

"If I ever do. Maybe I'm just one of em non-bending ponies."

"No sire! I know in my gut you got a bending power somewhere in there. You just gotta dig down deep enough."

"You really think I have it?"

"I know you do. So don't give up. You're an Apple, and Apples never give up."

The two country ponies embraced one another in a warm hug.


(~)


Flash walked down the dock and stopped to look out at the ocean. Bolin and Mako ran behind him in an effort to catch up. "Flash Sentry, wait a sec." Mako called out, grabbing the pony's attention. He turned around to face the boys. "What's the matter with you? First you're avoiding Twilight, now you're avoiding almost everyone else? That's not like you."

Flash hung his head in shame. "I know."

"Twilight's your girlfriend, she deserves to know if something is wrong. And we deserve to know too because we're your friends."

"I know."

"And another thing---what do you mean, 'I know'?"

"I know I've been acting like a jerk but it's not because I don't care about Twilight. It's because I do."

Both brothers looked at each other skeptically. "Any idea what he means?" Bolin asked.

Mako shrugged his shoulders, "Your guess is as good as mine."

"The truth is…" Flash took in a deep breath as he twisted his tail nervously. "I've been wanting to say something to Twilight but I'm waiting for the right moment to say it."

"What is it?" Bolin asked, anxious to finally know the answer. Flash took in another deep breath before saying,

"I love you."

Bolin and Mako's eyes widened in shock, and Bolin clenched his fists close to his heart. "Awwwwww!"

"You do know, I was referring to Twilight, right?" Flash asked, in hopes the earthbender didn't get the wrong idea.

"That is so sweet! So that's why you've been so distant?"

"Yeah. Every time I see her I get the urge to say those words but, I don't want to just blurt them out. I've never felt this way about anypony before in my life so I want the timing to be perfect. And the more I'm around her I can't stop thinking about saying it, I get nervous and I act like a complete idiot."

"Like Mako does when he's around Korra sometimes." Bolin said while pointing his thumb at his brother and grinning. The firebender glared and slapped his brother behind the head. "Ow!"

While Bolin rubbed the back of his head, Mako smiled and placed his hand on Flash's shoulder. "Flash, I understand what you're going through. Telling a girl you love her is a pretty big deal."

"I just don't know what to do. I guess I'm also afraid that she won't feel the same."

"That's crazy." Mako said in disbelief. "Look, I may not know much about the courtship of ponies and stuff, but I bet my money she feels the exact same way you do."

Flash smiled at his friend's encouragement, "Thanks Mako. But what do I do the next time I see her? I can't afford to slip up."

"I've got the answer to that." Mako stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a red electric rubber band. Flash arced an eyebrow at this.

"What's a rubber band gonna do to help me?"

"Keep it on your wrist. Every time you feel like you might slip up, just pull on it and it'll snap you out of it."

"Will it work?"

"That's how I got Bolin to stop sneaking sweats from the fridge every night."

"I can still feel the sting!" the earthbender wined as he rubbed his wrist, remembering the hard slaps from the rubber band.

Flash placed the rubber hand on his wrist, "I appreciate the help guys."

"Great. Because if we're going to Ba Sing Se to help the Avatar rebuild an entire civilization, I'm gonna need my parter to keep his head in the game."

"Yeah, it will be so great to have you coming with us, Flash!" Bolin said enthusiastically. "We're going to the place were our dad grew up. Oh, Mako what if we meet our grandma for the very first time!"

"You guys have family in Ba Sing Se?" Flash asked.

Mako looked downwards at the question. "Um, we don't really know. Probably not as much." he said.

Mako never really knew if the boys even had a grandmother. They had only heard about her once, and maybe even their father having a brother, but other than that, they didn't know about any other relatives. Besides, he liked to consider Bolin, Korra, the ponies, Tenzin and his family, even Asami his new family. He learned a long time ago that blood doesn't make a family. Love does. And that had been enough for him. But discovering a new family in Ba Sing Se? If they even had one that is, seemed almost odd in a way. And even if by chance they did find them, would his blood relatives even be as nice as his non-blood one anyways? And what if they didn't find them? He hated for Bolin to be disappointed.

"Besides, we'll be too busy looking for airbenders to be inspecting our family tree."

Bolin lowered his shoulders in disappointment. "Oh come on Mako, what if we actually do meet our grandma? What if I see her and she asks me, "Where is your sweet brother?"" Bolin said imitating an old woman, before reverting back to his normal voice, "and I have to say, "I'm sorry, Grandma, he had to go and look for airbenders with his Avatar girlfriend" and she starts to cry those grandma tears and is like" he imitated his grandma again and grabbed his brother's shoulders., ""Mako, why? Why? I can't go on, I ca-" suddenly changes back to his normal voice, "and then she dies."

Mako stepped back, brushing Bolin off of him. "Okay, all right, maybe we can try and track her down. Though I won't be holding my breath."

Bolin jumped up happily while pounding his fists into the air. "Yes! That's the spirit!"

"Maybe you will see your grandma." Flash said. "Who knows, stranger things have happened. And if you do, she would be so proud to know her grandson is a cop, and a royal confidant to the Alicorns of Equestria."

Bolin came in between the two and wrapped his arms around both of them in a group hug. "Yeah! And she'll be so proud of me for being a pro-bender and mover star and saving the President! And I can't wait for her to meet our Brony!"

Both Flash and Mako arced an eyebrow at the name, "Brony?" They asked in union.

"Yeah, Flash is our honorary brother and a pony. Bro. Pony. Brony! Clever, right? Bet nobody's ever thought of that."

Both Mako and Flash removed Bolin's hands and began walking up the docks, back to their friends, while Bolin continued giving them clever names he came up with. "You gotta admit Brony is pretty cool." he said as he followed his brother and 'brony', who neither were really paying attention.


(~)


"Bye Applejack!"

"Bye Rarity!"

"Take care Rainbow Dash!"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders waved goodbye to their sisters as the airship began to take off, leaving Air Temple Island. Kya, Luna, Pema, Ikki, and Meelo all wave to their departing family members.

"Goodbye, Sweetiebelle! I'll miss you, darling!" Rarity waved to her sister with a hanker-shift.

"Good luck, Apple Bloom! Take care now!" Applejack shouted while Rainbow Dash gave Scootaloo a thumbs up.

"Keep practicing that air bending, Scootaloo!"

"I will!"

"Bye! We'll miss you!" Meelo shouted as he waved goodbye to his family while the travelers (Bumi, Asami, Korra, The Mane Six, Tenzin, Jinora, Bolin, Mako, Spike and Flash) waved back through the green-tinted glass window of the airship. Before long, the ship was completely airborne and on its way to search for new airbenders. On deck, Naga placed her head over the railing and allowed her tongue to hang out, as she felt the wind on her face.

Oogi came up next to her and did the same. Inside the airship, which was gorgeously decorated with extravagant paintings, wall designs and large glass windows, allowing the rays of the sun to enter, along with a round table and comfy furniture. Spike was already lounging in one of the sofas next to Bum-Ju and the three lizard spirits that loved being around Mako. Even he couldn't stop them from coming along. The dragon let out a yawn and stretched before placing his hands behind his head and sighed in relaxation as he leaned back.

"A dragon could get used to this."

The rest of the group sat the table with the map in the center of them. Mako stood up and demonstrated them the areas where he had marked with red marker. "As of now, these are the towns where we've gotten reports about airbenders." he explained.

Twilight walked over to him and examined the map herself. "It looks like we can hit up most of them before we get to Ba Sing Se." she said. Pinkie Pie was jumping up, and popping up, everywhere, changing in between her pony form and anthro form, giggling excitedly, startling everyone she came in contact with.

"I can't believe it! New airbenders! Are you excited, cause I'm excited, I can't remember the last time I was this excited! Well except for the the time when--oh!" the hyperactive pink pony was brought down when Twilight used her magic to freeze her body and brought her down to sit on the ground, cross-legged.

"We get you're excited Pinkie, but could you turn it down a notch?"

The pony nodded with a smile and, literally, zipped her mouth shut. With her cooled down, Korra smiled as she looked at the map in front of her. "We're going to bring the Air Nation back from the brink of extinction after nearly two hundred years."

"And it's all because of you, Korra." Tenzin said proudly, earning a smile from the Avatar. On Korra's shoulder, rested a small butterfly with white wings and blue markings. With her index finger, Korra gently stroked her wings. She could tell the butterfly was as excited as she was.

"So, looks like this is our first stop." Twilight said as she pointed to a marked village on the map.

Rarity clapped her hands happily. "Wonderful! I do hope I brought enough green fabric. Oh, I knew I should have double checked."

Rarity spun around when she heard the sound of someone groaning in pain. Actually it was two people. Both Bumi and Bolin were struggling with a large assortment of bags, all had the emblem of Rarity's cutie mark on them.

"Rarity, did you really have to bring so much stuff?" Bolin asked, sweating while trying to keep himself from collapsing underneath the weight of the bags.

"Well of course, darling. You never know when inspiration will strike. I've read so much about the earth kingdom and from what I've seen, their fashions are simply divine! I already made an entire water tribe and air nomad themed clothing line, now I can start working on an Earth Kingdom line!"

"That's, great little lady." said a struggling Bumi. He felt his back would break due to the large bags her carried. "But, can we put these down now? I think I can hear my spine cracking." finally, the boys could do no more, and they collapsed, dropping down all of Rarity's luggage, which landed right before her feet.

"Right here is fine. Thank you so much, boys."

"Sure." Bumi said as he fell on the ground with a sigh of exhaustion.

Bolin gave the unicorn a weak smile. "No problem."


(~)


A large boat made out entirely of wood floated peacefully in the middle of a seemingly endless ocean. Two White Lotus sentries stood in the two guard towers built to watch over the single wooden cage on the main deck. Inside the cage was a man with long black hair and blue tattoos on his back and arms, and who was currently doing pull-ups using the wooden braces of his prison. The man has been imprisoned in this wooden cage for thirteen years, silently awaiting the day he would break free and continue his mission. Today, his wait was finally over.

A speed boat decorated with the White Lotus emblem and colors headed towards the wooden boat. One White Lotus Sentry spotted the boat and sighed happily.

"Finally. Our shift change is here."

The two sentries made their way over to the stopped speed boat near the wooden boast. To their surprise, there was only one White Lotus member in the small boat.

"Hey! Where are the other guards?" he asked. The White Lotus sentry in the speed boat looked up at the others, showing his face. A face the sentries knew all to well.

"Zaheer?"

Zaheer used airbending to propel himself out of the speed boat over the White Lotus's firebending attack. He knocked the two sentries overboard with an airbending blast. As more sentries started coming out of the guard tower to aid their comrades, Zaheer blasted two more overboard with a gust of wind from his hands. A third sentry waterbended at Zaheer, who dodged out of the way and avoided a firebending blast from another sentry as well. Ghazan tried to watch what was happening through the many wooden beams of his cage. He was surprised to see his old friend battling the sentries…and with airbending!

Zaheer avoided another waterbending attack and jumped on top of Ghazan's cage. He reached for his pocket and threw a handful of rocks into Ghazan's feet. The man smiled. Zaheer knocked over another sentry and launched himself up onto the platform between the two guard towers. In his cage, Ghazan earthbended the rocks in a constant circle. The friction heated the rocks up to the point where they became lava, glowing brightly in orange and yellow colors. Ghazan then began slicing the wall of his prison, using the lava and kicked a section of the wood out, crushing one sentry in the process. As Ghazan exited his prison, he knocked a sentry overboard with his lava rocks. Once all of the sentries were thrown overboard, Zaheer and Ghazan clasped hands.

"It's nice to see you again, Ghazan."

"Thanks for busting me out. Where did you pick up the new skills?"

"I have Harmonic Convergence to thank for that. I was given a gift. I believe it's a sign that our path is a righteous one."


(~)


It was around near five in the afternoon, everyone inside the airship was busy with their own thing. Either lounging on the luxurious sofas, reading a book, well mostly Jinora and Twilight who both sat in a corner reading together, something they did often, even Rainbow Dash was with them reading the latest installment of Daring Do. Korra was reading also, but a different book, she was reading the journal she and the Mane Six had. The one where they would write the things they had learned in hopes one day these lessons would help others in the future.

The Avatar was sitting in a chair, lost in thoughts, before she reached into her bag, with her cutie mark on the side, and took out a tiny little chest. Once she took it out, the star on her forehead glowed, and the tiny chest reverted to it's normal size. It was now the size of a normal medium box. Diamond in shape, with seven keyholes on each side. Mako took a seat next to Korra, looking at the object curiously.

"Still trying to figure this thing out?" he asked.

"It's been six months Mako. Six months and two weeks since this box first appeared, and so far, there hasn't been any clue as to what it contains. I can't shake the feeling that we need it for something."

"Well, your gut instincts never failed us before. Maybe we'll find the answers when we need it."

"Maybe."

"In the mean time, you've got your detective boyfriend here to help you out." he said with a proud smirk.

Korra slightly chuckled, "Yeah, but I'll settle with just you."

Mako arced an eyebrow at Korra's teasing insult. The two teens then smiled at one another and leaned in for a kiss…until a certain little dragonfly lizard spirit came in between them, causing back to back away in annoyance.

"Gah! You guys again?"

Soon, the three little creatures were perfectly nested on his shoulders and hair once again. The firebender crossed his arms and huffed angrily. Korra couldn't help but giggle. "Awww, they missed their daddy."

"I'm not their daddy! Seriously, why couldn't they get stuck with someone else? Like Bolin or Asami? Why me?"

One of the spirits, the one with pale blue wings, landed on Korra's lap, its big brown eyes shimmering into her own. Her heart melted at the sight of the sweet innocent creature. "I don't know Mako, I have a feeling these little guys chose you for a reason."

"What reason would that be? To annoy me?"

"No. Look at them, you gotta admit, they're really sweet." the little lizard rested it's head on Korra's palm, nuzzling at her touch. Mako had to admit, this was pretty adorable. But still, he wasn't the kind to have pets. He was more like, being the friend of the one who has the pets.

"Okay, maybe they are kind of cute, but I just don't think I'm up for this. I've already had my hands full with Bolin over the years."

"I heard that!"

Mako flinched at the sound of his brother's annoyed voice. "Love ya, bro!" he shouted back, in hopes he would forget the slip up.

"Come on Mako, just give them a chance. Who knows, you might even learn to love them as if they really were your own kids. And I bet you'd make a great dad."

Mako blushed at the idea. He was never against the idea of having children. He may have fantasized that possibility of him being a father, with Korra as his wife, but he wasn't so sure if he would make a good enough parent. Dreaming about it was not the same as actually doing it. But the looks the little spirits gave him were too cute to resist. Even though they still bugged him, he decided to at least tolerate them for the time being. Hopefully, they would grow bored of him and move on to the next unfortunate victim. Mako sighed as he crossed his arms and slumped on the couch in defeat.

"Fine." the spirit with light green wings liked his forehead with its tongue, he didn't even bother to do anything about it. Looks like he was stuck with them for now.

"Okay, now place the rock through the string, like this" Pinkie Pie instructed. She and Bolin both sat cross legged on the floor, the pink pony was teaching her human friend how to string candy rocks into friendship necklaces like the ones her sister Maud Pie taught her how to do. Pinkie Pie made hers with a variety of colored candy rocks, while Bolin made his mostly of green colored rocks. The earthbender held his creation proudly.

"How this?"

"Wow-we! You're a natural at making rock candy necklaces, Bolin!"

"What can I say? I'm just gifted."

Asami saw the two creating the necklaces and squatted down next to Bolin to admire their work. "Wow, those look so pretty."

"Thanks. Pinkie's sister Maud taught her how to make em."

"And now that we're done, we can give them to our best friends!" Pinkie Pie said. Bolin looked down at his friendship necklace, he at first was going to hand it to Pinkie Pie, but seeing Asami next to him, smiling her always beautiful smile and her lime green eyes sparking, he changed his mind. To the heiress's surprise, Bolin placed the necklace he had made around her neck.

"Here Asami."

"Bo, this is…so sweet."

"Hey, you are one of my best friends. Plus you deserve it."

Pinkie Pie smiled at the scene, placing her hands on her cheeks, for which she could feel blushing. "Awwww, chucks."

Asami smiled graciously at the gift. "Thank you." and Bolin got a surprise of his own…his eyes bulged open in a comical fashion and his face turned bright red at the sensation of feeling Asami's soft lips on his cheek. The heiress walked off towards the clear glass window, admiring her gift, while Bolin sat there in complete shock and rubbed the area where Asami had kissed him.

This was the first time she did that. Asami was always so sweet with Bolin, like a big sister, ruffling his hair, laughing at his jokes, face palming herself whenever he did something goofy, and now she kissed him on the cheek. It was strange but, for some reason, he couldn't help but feel a strange sensation in his stomach. He was awoken by his thoughts when Spike shouted to everyone else, standing near the glass window looking down bellow.

"Hey guys! We made it!"

Everyone gathered around the window, down bellow they saw a quaint little earth kingdom village. This was where they would find their first airbender.


(~)


Once they all exited the airship, a middle sized man with black hair wearing a green headband and clothing consisting of various green colors, traditional earth kingdom clothing, approached the group. Both Mako and Flash stood straight and stood beside their respective girlfriends, both speaking in dignified tones.

Mako spoke first in a dignified manner, "Her royal highness, Princess Avatar Korra."

Flash spoke second. "And Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria."

As royal confidant and a royal guard, it was their job to present the girls whenever they were presented. Sure not always, but in Mako's case, he really wanted to try it. It was kind of cool working side by side with royalty now. The man smiled and approached the two with welcome arms before bowing down before them.

"Princess Korra, Princess Twilight! Oh it's such an honor to have you come to our humble village."

Korra and Twilight both bowed as well. "Thanks." they said in union.

Tenzin approached the man as he stood beside the princesses. "I hate to get down to business, but is the airbender here now?"

"Kuon and his family will be joining us shortly for a special dinner." the townsman said. "Please, right this way."

As the man lead the team to where the airbender lived, Flash noticed Twilight looking at him. She didn't smile or anything, she simply turned away and joined the Avatar. Flash opened his mouth to say something, but quickly stopped once he felt this three words would spontaneously come out of his mouth. He then yanked on the rubber band on his wrist, repeatedly as he followed his friends.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow"

The kind man, who was really the town mayor, led the group of friends into the home of the airbender, who's name was Kuon. A middle aged man with tanked skin and dark hair, though the top of his head had only two strands of hair left due to his age. Beside him sat his wife and three children. As they all sat at the table, Korra and Twilight sat opposite the mayor, while the others sat on the side of the large table. Mako and Flash sat nearer to Korra and Twilight, the two boys sat together along with Spike. Bolin sat next to them with Pinkie Pie and Rarity, then Jinora with Applejack, Tenzin with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash and finally Asami sat next to Bumi. On Mako's shoulders, again, were the little spirits. Surprisingly, they were behaving themselves. The ponies reverted to their pony forms to take up a bit less space to sit next to their friends. Pinkie Pie was drooling over the variety of delicious foods before her. He licked her lips like a dog, only to have Rarity whip her with her tail, and glare in an attempt to remind the pony of her manners.

"Kuon has been the talk of the town ever since he's got airbending; he's like a local celebrity." said the mayor.

"I just want to say it's an honor to meet a fellow airbender." Tenzin said to Kuon.

"Oh, I still think of myself as a simple farmer. Who can airbend!" Kuon spread his arms a bit, only to accidentally unleash a gust of wind across the table, causing a plate of pie to fly up into Bolin's face. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I still don't have any control."

"No worries! I love pie." Bolin said with a smile on his face as he removed the pie, pieces of the cream still on his face. Pabu jumped onto his face and started licking the cream off of him before taking the whole pie off of the table to eat. "And so does Pabu." Bo said with a goody grin. Asami couldn't help but giggle at Bolin's optimism, the friendship necklace he gave her was still around her neck.

"Well, you're so much more than just a farmer now." Tenzin said to Kuon. "Harmonic Convergence changed everything. You represent the future of a culture that is being reborn. You're going to help us rebuild the Air Nation."

Kuon was extremely confused by the air nomad's words. "I'm gonna do what now? The only thing I'm planning to rebuild is my barn."

"But you must come with us to the Northern Air Temple."

"Well, I can't do that. I have a family and a farm." Kuon said, his expression slowly growing firm as he spoke. This answer did not suite well with Tenzin at all.

"Of course you can come. This is of the utmost importance. Your wife will understand."

Kuon's wife shook her head. "Wait, what? No, I do not understand."

Kuon's daughter tugged on her father's arm. "Daddy, where are you going? Why does the bald man want to take you away?" she asked fearfully, earning a sympathetic look from Fluttershy.

"No one's going to take Daddy away, sweetheart." her mother said. Realizing the confusion between the two parties, Korra stepped in in hopes to clarify things. She spoke to the young girl in a sweet tone of voice.

"Actually, this bald man does want to take him, but it's for an important cause. Your dad is an airbender, and he should learn about his culture."

But Twilight did not entirely agree with what Korra was saying. "Actually, Korra, I don't think he should come with us." Tenzin's eyes widened at her words.

"What?!"

"Like Kuon said, he has a family. Even if we are trying to rebuild the air nation, we shouldn't force the man to leave his home."

"I agree with Twilight" Applejack said, raising her hoof.

Rarity followed her friend's example and rose her hoof as well. "As do I."

"Me too." said Fluttershy.

"Me three." said Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie, who had her head deep into the pie she was sharing with Pabu, rose her head from the pastry and licked the cream off of her face. "Me four!"

"I guess you are right." Korra said. But Tenzin was completely baffled by all of this. A moment ago, Korra was on his side, and now she was siding with the ponies?

"Korra, you're seriously siding with them on this?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well she does make a good point. I want to rebuild the air nation just as much as you, but we really shouldn't force anyone to come with us. That's not the right way to do this."

"Well, I'm sure if we explain the culture to Kuon, he would change his mind."

"I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding." Kuon said, his voice becoming more and more stern with every word he spoke. "I'm not going with you. I might be able to airbend, but I'm no Air Nomad, I'm no monk."

Sensing the growing tension, the mayor stood up from his chair, smiling nervously. "Okay, maybe we should just have some dessert huh? Who's up for dessert?"

"I do!" said Pinkie Pie.

Tenzin continued to try and reason with the new airbender. "Sir, you must understand, you're an airbender now, and there are thousands of years of culture you must learn about, skills you must master."

"You expect me to abandon my entire life? My family?" this was all Kuon could take, he had had enough of the airbender's attitude. The farmer slammed his hands on the table, the silverware shaking from the impact, and stood from his seat, glaring at Tenzin. "No! No sir, I'm not going anywhere with you and I think it's best that you leave."

This was not the kind of reaction Tenzin had hoped for. He finally found another airbender to join the air nation, and he declined. He didn't understand how anyone would not want to be an airbender. Non the less, he maintained his composure and stood up.

"Very well. I'm sorry we wasted your time." The others all stood up from where they sat and one by one, exited the door. Pinkie Pie was the last to leave, she had a plate of pie balancing on her head with Pabu ridding on her back.

"Thanks for the pie!"


(~)


Back on the airship, everyone gathered around the table, all equally devastated from what had happened moments ago. "In my head, I saw that playing out very differently." Korra said in disappointment.

"Yeah, same here." said Rainbow Dash as she hovered beside the Avatar. The ponies remained in their pony forms, minus Rarity who sat cross-legged on the sofa's arm while Bumi laid on the sofa playing with Bum-Ju. She was filling her human nails without a care.

"Maybe we should have stayed and tried harder to convince him to join us." Asami said.

"Or we could have thrown him in a potato sack and forced him into the ship." Bolin suggested.

"That's how they got me to join the United Forces." Bumi said while playing with Bum-Ju.

"I still say that Twilight was right." Rarity said, still filing her nails. "If the man didn't want to leave his entire life behind to become an air nomad who are we to force him to do otherwise?"

"Rarity's right." Tenzin said. "We can't coerce people…or throw them in potato sacks." he said while glaring at his brother. "They must come freely." Tenzin recollected himself mentally and smiled optimistically, "But not to worry, there are plenty of other airbenders out there who will be happy to come with us once they find out what the Air Nation is all about."

Rainbow Dash pounded her hoof into the air. "Alright! That's the spirit T-man! Full speed ahead, people! Time to find us some airbenders!"

Pinkie Pie, once again, popped out of nowhere. "Cue the musical montage! I know just the song, I'm gonna keep singing it until we found all of our airbenders!"

Mako's eyes widened in horror, normally he would tolerate Pinkie Pie's singing, but she was talking about singing…through the whole trip!!

"No, no, no, no, Pinkie Pie, please no!"

Too late.

Pinkie Pie;

Tell everybody we're on our way!

Mako;

"Pinkie!"

Pinkie;

Soaring above the earth kingdom!

Mako;

"Pinkie, please stop!"

Pinkie;

With blue skies ahead, yes we're on our way!

Mako grabbed some pillow cushions and tried to block out the pony's singing by placing them over his hears, but to no avail.

And there's nowhere else, that's I'd rather be!

Mako groaned sadly and slumped on the couch. Once this pony starts singing, there's no stoping her.


(~)


As the group of friends continued their journey across the earth kingdom, stoping at every village that was marked on the map, Pinkie Pie sang by herself a catchy song, but modified to fit their scenario.

Tell everybody, we're on our way

And I'm loving every step I take!

With new airbenders to find, yes we're on our way

And I can't keep this smile off my face!

Mako;

"Somebody just kill me now!"

The team followed the markings on the map, stoping at another earth kingdom village where they found another airbender, an eight-year-old boy. At fist, he seemed genuinely interested in learning to become an airbender, but Tenzin's method's to persuade his mother were… not the bet way to do so.

"When your son becomes a master, he'll have tattoos all over his body, just like me." Tenzin was met with a door slammed to his face by the boy's mother. Her message was clear: There was no way she was going to let him get tattoos. As they continued their journey, Pinkie Pie kept on singing.

So, we didn't get lucky

The first time or two

But I'm not loosing hope just yet!

Mako sat on a chair his head resting on his hands, pouting and growling in impatient frustration while Pinkie kept on singing right next to him. He

And the stories that we tell will make you smile

Oh, it really lifts my heart!

The group stopped at another earth kingdom village where Tenzin spoke to a glutenous man chewing on a drumstick, leaning lazily against the frame of his door, listening with disinterest at Tenzin's enthusiastic tellings of air nomad culture. "There's nothing more nutritious than our vegetarian diet." Tenzin said and received the same answer he got from the previous one… a door slam to the face.

Not the snow not the rain can change my mind

The sun will come out, wait and see

I know that we can rebuild the Air Nation

Oh, it really lifts my heart!

The next village took them to the house of a beautiful woman in extravagant clothing. No doubt a woman after Rarity's own heart, a fashionista with a capital F. Sadly, she lacked the unicorn's hospitality given the haughty greeting she gave the airbender, who proudly showcased his long red robe.

"I can tell that you're going to love wearing our ancient airbender robes. They're very breathable."

Once again, Tenzin got the door slammed in his face. As they carried on, Pinkie Pie's once enthusiastic singing began to slowly grow less and less enthusiastic.

So tell them all I'm on my way

New friends and new places to see

At every place they stopped, Tenzin tried his very best to get everyone to join the air nation, encouraging new airbenders with kindness, generosity, and honesty. Maybe a bit too much honesty.

"You'll never have to worry about your worldly possessions again, because you won't have any."

"You'll get to shave your head."

"Your best friend will be a giant bison."

The trend continued, and continued, and continued. One door slammed after another, and each time Tenzin's hopes and enthusiasm about new airbenders decreased further and further until it was tethering by a thread. Pinkie Pie was so hopping her song would bring them good luck, but as time went on, even she was growing tired of the constant rejection. Her throat was dry, her eyes dreary and her normally puffy, curly mane was nearly deflated like an empty ballon.

"Tell everybody, I'm on my way….new friends, and new places, to see…" the pony panted and laid on her stomach on the couch, nearly out of breath. Korra gently scooped her into her arms, cradling her like a child.

"Thanks for trying to lift up our spirits Pinkie, but maybe you should take a break."

"Thanks…singing…is hard." with that, the pony passed out in Korra's arms. Once she knew she was out cold, she exclaimed to everyone.

"She's out, people!"

Everyone sighed in relief and removed the earplugs they had on the whole time. Did you really think they were gonna tolerate Pinkie Pie's constant non-stop singing the whole trip?

Mako sighed in relief. "Glad that's over." even his new little spirit friends, Pabu and Bum-Ju came out of hiding underneath the couch once the pony was out cold.

"I still don't get how you were able to go through all of that without using earplugs." Mako said to Korra, who shrugged her shoulders as she gently placed the sleeping Pinkie Pie down. She adorably started sucking on her hoof.

"Eh, I've learned how to tune people out. I used to do it with you and Tenzin all the time."

"What?"

"What?" Korra said with a nervous smile. Even after all this time she still manages to let something slip out of her mouth. Tenzin crossed his arms in frustration, leaning back on his chair.

"I really thought I had that last guy. Who doesn't want a bison as their best friend?"

"It's okay Tenzin, I still want to be an airbender." Bumi said, trying to make his little brother feel better.

With Pinkie Pie asleep on the couch, Korra walked up to the table. "Okay, we've tried it your way, and people just don't seem to be responding." the avatar smiled proudly as she pounded her fists together. "It's time for a little tough love."

Twilight Sparkle rose a fist into the air and exclaimed in agreement, "Tough love, baby!"

Rainbow Dash followed her example. "Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Oh, please." Rarity scoffed. "Why is it always abrasiveness with you ladies? Clearly, what these airbenders need is a little persuasion by charm and charisma." she said with a proud flip of her mane and batting her long eyelashes, for which everyone already knew were not 100% natural. The girls all arced their eyebrows at Rarity's suggestion.

"Okay, tell you what Rare," Korra began, "We'll try my approach first, and if all else fails, we'll try your charm idea. Deal?"

"Very well." a brief silence fell upon the room, as the two friends simply stood there looking at one another, until finally, Rarity lowered her ears in disappointment and sent the Avatar and annoyed glare. "You're not really planing on using my method are you?"

"You know me so well."

"Eh, fine. We'll try it your way, but don't blame me if it doesn't work."


(~)


Korra, Mako, Bolin, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Flash Sentry and Fluttershy approached the home of their latest airbender. And Rarity was there to see if Korra's 'tough love' approach would be effective or not. Korra was the first to knock on the door.

*Knock, knock*

The owner of the house opened the door to see Korra and her comrades all smiling happily and kindly. The woman was a mother around her mid forties wearing spectacles, brown hair and laugh lines across her face. She gasped in surprise and smiled in wonder at the sight of Korra. "Oh, are you the Princess Avatar?" she asked in a kind and calm voice, but he excitement was hard to hide. There really was no mistaking it, in all honesty how many women existed in the world who had a pair of feathery wings growing from their backs?

The woman stepped aside and gestured for the others to come inside her home. "Please, come in, come in."

The group of friends all walked inside and followed the woman into the dinning hall. The house was rather small but had a very welcoming and lovely comfortable vibe. It was very cute and well decorated with fine silverware on a wooden shelf, which form behind led down to the basement.

"When my son got airbending, my husband and I were so happy. We thought this could open a lot of doors for him, maybe he could finally move out of the basement." she said in a joking tone while nudging Korra's arm. The Avatar chuckled along.

"How old is he?" Korra asked.

"He's twenty-two, and you know, still just to figuring his life out."

"Well, I have a great opportunity for him." Korra said, keeping a sunny and polite attitude all throughout. She did say they would use tough love, but she now knew better to use assertiveness only if it was truly needed. After all, a princess must be firm but also kind. "We're looking for airbenders to join us at the Northern Air Temple."

The ponies tried to hide their cringes when the woman let out a high pitched squeal of delight. Some dared to even press their ears against their heads just to try and cancel the sound out.

"That sounds wonderful! I'll get him." the woman poked her head from behind the shelf, containing the silverware, and shouted at her son. The ponies flinched when she called him out, her once sunny and friendly tone changed into a very loud and abrasive one. "Ryu! Get up here!"

The woman returned to her happy demeanor, her previous angry yell having not affected Korra or her human friends. The Avatar exchanged thumbs up with the boys and winks with the ponies. Pinkie Pie smiled broadly, eager to meet the new airbender.

They heard footsteps and saw Ryu walk up from the basement. He was as tall as Mako, though his slouchy posture would make him look a bit shorter. He wore green clothing, rather stained with who knows what, and wore only one pink fuzzy slipper. His skin was brown like that of his mother and wore glasses. His dark hair was messy and even somewhat greasy, added with a few facial hairs on his upper lip and chin. He wore a very bored expression. Rarity immediately crinkled her nose at the sight of him. Korra shared her same reaction, though she didn't show it as openly as Rarity did. She politely extended her hand and smiled at Ryu.

"Hi, I'm Korra."

Ryu looked at her hand, unimpressed. He didn't even smile. "So you're like the Avatar or something. Big deal."

Korra was a bit dumbfounded by this. She wasn't really expecting him to get all fan-boy or anything, but she believed he would have at the very least had been polite and shook her hand. He didn't even seem fazed at all by the wings on her back, though they were tucked in, they were still noticeable. Mako and Bolin did not like this man's attitude, but Korra maintained her composure and smiled.

"Uh, well, I just wanted to talk to you about an opportunity."

"Yeah, I heard you talking to my mom, and I'm not interested." Ryu said, as he attempted to make his way back down to the basement. Korra's once warm smile quickly changed into an angry frown. She already tried the sweet and polite way, now was the time to be firm.

"Well, you're gonna be interested."

Ryu let out a startled gasp when Korra reached out and grabbed his collar with brute force, kicked her leg, unleashing a gust of wind that pulled out a chair, and threw Ryu into it. She slammed her hand onto the kitchen table, her free one on her hip, but Ryu looked unfazed at her actions

"You're an airbender now and you have a responsibility as a citizen of the world." Korra stated, asserting her position as a Princess and Avatar.

Ryu simply glanced to the side. "Whatever. I didn't ask to become an airbender, you know."

Korra scoffed at his statement, "Well, I didn't ask to be the Avatar, or half alicorn, but I am, and I'm fulfilling my duties." she said. He may not have asked to become an airbender, and she certainly didn't ask to be dealing with this stubborn mule of a grown man, and yet here they were.

"Like me." Twilight stepped in, "I didn't ask to become an alicorn either, or a princess but I too am fulfilling my responsibilities."

"So? You don't have to." Ryu responded blankly.

"Yes, we do have to." both princesses answered in union.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, we do!"

"….No, you don't."

Korra was only one millimeter close to slapping this guy in the face, even Twilight was loosing her patience. Rainbow Dash lost it ever faster, as she flapped her wings and created two flames on both palms. "That's it!"

"Cool it, Rainbow!"

The pegasus pony hesitantly obeyed the Avatar's order and diminished the flames, folding her arms with an annoyed pout. Korra sighed in hopes to try and calm her nerves. "Well, look at it this way. If me, or Twilight, or even the rest of us didn't embrace our roles, then our entire world could be thrown into chaos and disappeared forever. Think about that! Is that what you want?"

Ryu shrugged "….Maybe."

"No, it's not!" Korra and the ponies all shouted in perfect union, only Fluttershy hid behind Mako, trembling in fear. Things were not turning out the way they had hoped.

"So what? Who cares?" Ryu said, annoying the girls even more. Both Rainbow and Twilight hovered over the table, angrily glaring at the man.

"Everyone cares!"

"I don't care."

Korra angrily slammed her hands on the table, causing it to shake. "Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't."

Twilight groaned loudly, her patience at hit its limit. The alicorn was now face to face with the man, glaring at him with a burning fury in her eyes. "You listen here you lazy, arrogant, pigheaded, skinny little slacker, if you don't get your behind up on that airship right now, I'm gonna---"

"Ahem!"

All eyes fell on the white unicorn with diamond marks on her flank, who arched an eyebrow while smiling in amusement. The girls knew what she was trying to tell them. She was right, their method didn't work. Twilight groaned in annoyance and flew down. Korra gestured to the unicorn to give it a shot.

"Go ahead." she said rather bitterly. The proud unicorn aproached Ryu and smiled charmingly.

"Now, Ryu, darling, I understand that becoming an airbender wasn't out of your own free will, but think if it this way. This would be a wonderful chance for you to see the world, explore, meet new people. I'm certain that many airbender ladies would love to have such a strong and handsome man like you around to train with." Rarity said, speaking in an eloquent and charming manner while batting her eyes on the emphasis that he would get to meet girls. But Ryu remained unaffected by her attempts.

"Whatever."

Rarity stiffed, she thought for sure her method would work. Non the less, she maintained her charming demeanor. "What do you mean? Don't you want to meet girls? Airbending ladies are quite lovely, and I heard many women go for a man who can really ride on an air scooter." she said while batting her eyes, but gained no reaction from the man.

"Whatever, who cares, weirdo."

Rarity's eyes snapped wide open, while the others gasped in shock. Bolin's hand raced his mouth in shock. "Ooooooooooooh, no."

Suddenly, Rarity's left eye began to twitch, and her once charming outlook slowly faded, her hands beginning to clench in a way that almost looked like he was about to strangle the man. "What…did you…just call me?"

"Weirdo. And I really don't care about anything that you freaks have to say."

Rarity's eyes burned with fury as her hands clenched and a growl escaped her throat. Bolin hid behind Mako's back, even the firebender was getting scared. In his time of knowing the girls you never, ever, ever, EVER get any of them mad. Even Ryu was finally starting to show some emotion. Emotions of fear once the anthro unicorn grabbed the man by the collar threateningly.

"Well, you're about to care, you ungrateful little slacker, because you're coming with us!" With that, Rarity started dragging the man by the collar by force. Ryu tried to break free from her grip, but despite her girly appearance, this unicorn was strong. Korra stared with her mouth opened in ajar. A few minutes ago, she was close to doing the exact same thing, but Rarity had beaten her to the punch the moment Ryu tested her.

"Stop pulling on my collar! You're stretching it out!" Ryu protested as he was being dragged away by the angry unicorn. "Mom, are you just gonna let her take me?!"

Ryu's mother, however, was thrilled to finally having her son move out of the house that she was even helping by pushing him out the door while Rarity kept her grip on his collar. Ryu tried to fight back by holding the doors frames.

"I think it's a great opportunity. Just try it for a week and see how it goes." his mother said, trying to push him through the door with all of her might.

"No! Let me go!" Instinctively, Ryu released a blast of air from his hands and flew back into the house and landing on top of his mother. Rarity now held his torn up empty jacket in her clenched hands, which she then tossed aside and thrusted forward in another attempt to drag him out of the house. She'd take him kicking and screaming if she had to.

"That's it!" but before she could reach for him, Mako and Korra both grabbed onto of her arms and pulled her away.

"Okay, Rare, that's enough!" Korra said, surprising even herself for being the one to prevent Rarity--of all ponies--from getting too violent. Maybe the tough love approach wasn't such a good idea after all. "Let's get out of here!"

"We'll get you some tea and biscuits back on the airship." Mako said as the two dragged her out, kicking and trying to throw a punch a Ryu.

"The hey with tea and biscuits!" The unicorn grunted and flared her nostrils. Rainbow and Twilight flew out and Fluttershy turned one more time and waved at Ryu's mother.

"So nice to meet you! Good luck with your son!"

Once they were gone, Ryu's mother shoved her son away from her. Once again, her efforts to get her son out of the house failed miserably.



(~)



In a far off prison, littered with White Lotus sentries walking down a catwalk around the inner edges of a large octagonal building. The structure was positioned above a vast pit of lava. A single cage suspended with wires rested in the center of the building, floating high above the bubbling lava below. The small cage is braced with metal bars and held a woman with long, black hair and no arms. Her skin was pale white, her long raven hair covering nearly her whole face, save for a single cut to reveal her left eye. Her cheek's were rather bony and she was so thin looking. She simply sat there, minding her own business, when suddenly, the sentries all started to cry out in horror.

"We're under attack!"

"Look out!"

Ming-Hua looked up in interest and saw a large blast of fire from one of the White Lotus. Two sentries were then thrown off of their platforms with blasts of airbending. Where could it had come from, she wondered. Up on the platform, she spotted a very familiar man with long hair and familiar tattoos on his arms. He threw a barrel out over the cage. Ming-Hua spotted another familiar man, his hair had gotten longer over the years, dressed as a White Lotus member, who sliced the barrel open with airbending and water gushed out. Ming-Hua got up and spun around, waterbending the falling water into a pair of tentacle-like arms, occupying the space where her nonexistent arms would normally be. She knocked open the door of her cage and began to climb up with her water arms. She launched herself up to a platform and threw a White Lotus member off. Ming-Hua dodged a fire blast and propels herself to a higher platform using her "arms". She landed on the second-to-highest platform and froze the end of her water arm into an angled piece of ice and used it to hook the neck of a White Lotus and hurl him off of the platform. She simultaneously grabbed another White Lotus member and slammed him hard on the metal platform. Once she had landed on the platform, she turned to see her old comrades.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see your ugly mugs again."

"Great to see you too, Ming-Hua." Ghazan greeted with a smile, even after all these years, Ming-Hua's way of showing gratitude never changed. Ming-Hua turned to Zaheer. "I'm flattered. You busted me out before that girlfriend of yours."

"We're getting her next." the airbender said with a smirk.



(~)



Back on the airship, the humans and anthro ponies all sat in their chairs around the large table, all looking very disheartened. Spike was on the floor playing with Pabu, Bum-Ju and the lizard spirits in a game of poker.

"Got any three's?" he asked. Bum-Ju showed him his cards and the dragon dropped his jaw. "Full house?! That's five times in a row! Now I know you're cheating!"

"Well, I guess we should just go to Ba Sing Se and try our luck there." Tenzin said dejectedly.

"I don't know what to do." Korra said sadly. "I just thought more people would be excited about coming with us."

"We've tried everything we could think of." said Applejack. "We tried being honest and polite, we tried tough love, we tried Rarity's charm, and what have we got?"

"Bubkis!" Pinkie Pie pointed out.

"Exactly."

"Well, maybe you gotta do more to get them excited." Bumi suggested and made jazz hand gestures as he explained. "You need to add a little razzle-dazzle."

Bolin smiled at the idea. "Yeah, razzle-dazzle! We could put on some sort of airbending street performance!"

"I was gonna say we could cover Tenzin's robe in sequins, but that's even better!"

Rarity's eyes sparkled at the idea, "Oh! I love it! Except for the one about Tenzin wearing sequins, even I could never make that work, but maybe showing everyone a one-of-a-kind, dazzling Air Bending Extravaganza is the exactly the kind of motivation people need! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're not a goofball." Rainbow Dash said in a bored tone before glaring at Bumi and Bolin, who were now stacking some of Spike's occur cards in the form of a pyramid.

Pinkie Pie jumped up excitedly, "Yeah! And maybe after we have the show, we should totally throw a New Airbenders welcome party!" as she said this, confetti, balloons, streamers and a large banner that read "Welcome new airbenders in chinese appeared over them. The anthro pony blew on a party whistle and placed party hats on everyone, though they did not all look very amused, minus Bumi and Bolin.

Korra sat cross legged on her hair, wearing a bored expression, while Twilight laid her head on the table with her arms crossed. Both girls glanced at each other, their expressions mirroring the other's.

"It sounds ridiculous." Twilight said.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Korra said before turning to her mentor sitting next to her. "But it might work."

Tenzin sighed in defeat. "I'm willing to try anything at this point."

"Yes! That is the kind of enthusiasm I like to hear!" Bolin said, right before his ear was nearly blow off by Pinkie's party whistle.


(~)


The airship flew down close over an Earth Kingdom town, made up of sandy-colored rocks. A small crowd was gathered to watch the airship. Rarity peaked through the window, happily smiling at the sight of all the people gathered to see the unexpected show.

"This is it. We've got a full house." she said excitedly with a squee.

"I sure hope this works." Korra said hopefully as she and Twilight both placed their princess crowns on their heads. They figured they could help sell it by looking their best.

"Okay, now everybody, and everypony, get into position." Rarity instructed as she handed Mako a collar with a long leash and he arced an eyebrow. He and Rarity had a performance together in the show, but he wasn't all too thrilled about it.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked her.

"Hey, we are doing this for Tenzin, Korra and the future of the entire Air Nation, show some support!"

"Okay, fine."

"And it's not too late to try on the costume I made you!" the unicorn batted her eyelashes hopefully, but Mako simply narrowed his eyes and pointed downwards.

"Just get on all fours, sister."

Rarity pouted and changed into her pony form. Applejack then realized somepony was missing. "Where's Fluttershy?" Korra didn't even need to look around, she looked underneath the table and there sat Fluttershy shaking in fear.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Here we go again."

"I'm sorry, but you know how scared I get whenever I need to perform in front of large crowds."

Korra squatted down and smiled sweetly at the anthro pony, while removing stray strands of hair from her face. "Come on, Flutters. You've been on stage hundreds of times before. And even if you do get scared, you always manage to get through it. Remember Heart's Warming Eve? Of when you sang for the Pony Tones? Remember that?"

"Well, yes."

"So just think of it as one of those times. We'll be right there with you. Okay?"

"Well…okay."


(~)


The townspeople awed as Bolin stepped out of the airship, wearing a fake mustache and speaking through a megaphone. Spike stood on his shoulder, wearing a similar mustache.

"Come one, come all to witness The Amazing Airbenders!"

Bolin then handed Spike the megaphone and the dragon spoke though it, "The airbending show that will leave you breathless ... with wind! But first, please give a very special welcome to the Ponies with the style, flair, brains and bronze, they were the ones who fought alongside Avatar Korra in saving the world and restored the magic! The Elements of Harmony!"

Applejack, jumped out of the airship, earthbending rocks from the ground, lifting them up and kicking each one with her powerful foot, smashing them into tiny pebbles. She landed perfectly and tipped her hat. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy both did acrobatic back flips and unleashed their powerful airbending up into the sky in beautiful synchronization. Rainbow Dash flew up into the sky, unleashing a stunning fire blast from her hands. The crowd cheered for their performance. The four ponies all smiled and waved at the adoring crowd. Spike once again spoke through the megaphone.

"And give an even louder welcome for our two beautiful royals! Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Avatar Korra!"

Gasps were heard when Twilight and Korra both flew up, appearing magically out of nowhere in a magenta and cyan colored blasts. The two flapped their stunning wings, twirling and dancing across the sky, people marveled at their beauty. Finally, the two simultaneously unleashed magical blasts from their hands, creating the shape of a magenta star and a blue cyan heart in the sky. The two landed gracefully on the ground, their hands on their hips, looking strong and beautiful. A few men swooned at the sight of Korra, others even fainted, much to her own surprise.

"Aren't they a stunning sight folks? Well, now that they have had a proper introduction, on with the show! Take it from here, Bolin."

"Thank you Spike. First up, the tattooed master himself, you know him as the son of Avatar Aang, he shaves every hair on his head, every single day!"

Tenzin took his shirt off and turned to face the audience. "It's the one, the only guy with an arrow painting to his nose, Tenzin!"

The man airbended a large wheel and drove it around in front of the awed crowd as they cheered for Tenzin. He stopped in the middle of the half circle created by the audience and threw his hands in the air. As much as he hatted this, it seemed to be drawing some attention. The ponies all clapped for him.

"He did a pretty good job." said Applejack.

"Totally." Rainbow agreed, "Though I still don't get why it was necessary to take off his shirt though." the pegasus shuddered.

Spike 'whispered' something into Bolin's ears, and the earthbender 'gasped' in horror.

"You don't say, Spike!"

"I do say, Bolin!"

Bolin turned to the crowd and spoke through the megaphone. "Now, now, ladies and gentleman, ladies and gentleman, please be quiet. I have some serious news. We've heard that an escaped firebending convict has been spotted near here, and he has taken one of our beloved ponies hostage!" the crowd began to murmuring nervously. "Now, I don't want to panic anyone, but if you see a firebender with a red scarf-"

Mako was standing in the crowd with his arms crossed. At his cue, he straightened up and stared walking out while a man in the audience cried out, "I see him! He's right there!"

Mako stood before the crowd and said his lines, very stiffly. "I am the escaped convict, and you will all reap my fire." he paused before letting out a small blast of fire from his fist into the air. The whole crowd gasped. Spike spoke though the megaphone.

"Where is the pony you took, you villain?" he said dramatically. Mako once again said his lines very stiffly as he held up a leach, with a pony Rarity at the end of it. She pretended to struggle in his grip.

"Here she is. You can try and take her but you won't succeed. Muaha, ha, ha," he didn't even try to laugh right. This guy was seriously not committed to the act. Rarity pretended to struggle and cry dramatically.

"Oh, whoa is me! Won't somebody please save me from this ruffian? Please, save me! Save me!" she laid on the ground and cried like the drama queen she was.

Mako muttered between his teeth, "This is so humiliating."

Rarity briefly stopped crying and muttered back, "You're humiliating. Get into the act. OH WHY?!?!"

The crowd continued to mutter. "Oh no! Who will help this poor defenseless pony?" Bolin exclaimed.

"I will!"

All eyes turned to Korra, who stood proudly before Mako and moved her arms in swift graceful movements. "With my airbending skills!" she unleashed a powerful tornado which caught Mako, forcing him to release Rarity's collar, and the young man was risen up into the air. Korra released him and he fell, but she quickly caught him with another airbending blast and brought him up in another tornado, lifting him up even higher than before. The firebender screamed,

"Ah! Hey! Let me go! This is not what we rehearsed! Korra!"

The Avatar giggled at his expense, "Ha, ha, sorry sweetie." from behind her, Asami and the rest of the ponies laughed along as well. Seeing Mako in awkward position was always hilarious. Even Flash was laughing. Finally, Korra stopped aribending and Mako landed hard on the ground.

"Had enough?" Korra asked, still in the act.

Mako rose up on his knees, his hair a complete mess. "No! I'm good." Rarity galloped beside him and he released her from the leash, earning a happy gasp from the unicorn. "There, you're free to go." he said emotionless and the unicorn morphed into her anthro form, striking various posses, and the crowd awed at her beauty. Rarity rushed to her friends and embraced Korra in a warm hug.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! You saved my life!" Once they ended the hug, Rarity smirked while arching an eyebrow and whispered to the Avatar, "Nice improvising, by the way."

"I learned from the best." the two friends fist pumped each other.

Oogi them soared and spin through the air as Bolin once again spoke through the microphone. "With the power of airbending, even this beast can float! Like a feather."

Bumi began to show off airbending blasts, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy danced, while creating elegant spiral movements, unleashing air blasts all around. Fluttershy's pink mane gracefully bellowed in the wind, amazing the crowd.

"Look what can be done in only a few short weeks of practice!" Bolin said. Jinora flew over the crowed on her glider, and the whole crowd frightfully gasped at seeing a young girl flying.

"No no, don't worry folks. She might be young, but she is in full control!"

Jinora softly landed on a tall building, striking a pose and waving at the crowd. The entire crowd began to cheer. From the building Jinora then spotted someone among the crowd. Somehow, he managed to stand out from the rest of the people. His green eyes were wide with wonder and his smile was wide and bright and full of joy. He looked around Jinora's age, dark brown hair, partly shaved bellow. He wore green clothing like everyone else, but even so, Jinora could distinguish him perfectly. She had to admit, this boy was pretty cute. Snapping herself awake, Jinora flew balk down to the others. Bolin and Spike both gestured to their cast and everyone cheered for them. Pinkie Pie and Bumi enthusiastically waved in return.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you, or anyone you know is an airbender, please, send them our way!" Bolin said. "Master Tenzin and Avatar Korra would love to teach them all they know!"

Korra and Twilight both shrugged and smiled at Tenzin, hopefully some airbenders would join them. As the crowd began to disperse, some of them grew worried when no one came to them. Then Jinora's heart skipped a beat when the boy she saw earlier came running towards the group. She wondered if this meant that she thought it meant.

"Hey! Hello." the young boy greeted. "If you're looking for airbenders, you just found one." before their very eyes, the young boy blew various wind blasts out of his hands. This boy clearly had skills, no doubt. "I wanna join you guys."

"Get outta town!" Bolin exclaimed excitedly. The rest of the group became visibly excited.

Twilight smiled at Korra, "Looks like we got our first recruit." the two friends high five one another in victory. Their little show helped out after all.

Pinkie Pie jumped up excitedly. "Alright! A new airbender, it's so nice to meet you, I'm Pinkie Pie, and check this out!" she morphed from her anthro form into her pony form. "I'm a pony!" she morphed back into anthro. "And now I'm part human! I can do that whenever I want. I just wanted to let you know because sometimes people get confused when they see a person with ears and a tail."

"Wow! Real life ponies?!" the boy's eyes widened with child-like wonder. "So cool! I never thought I'd see one in person! You're all so beautiful."

Rarity clapped her hands together near her face. "Awwww, aren't you just the cutest little gentleman." she then turned an stern glare at Mako, "You could learn a thing or two from him."

Korra smiled at the young boy. "It's very nice to meet you Kai. I'm Korra, this is Twilight, Tenzin, Mako, Bolin, Spike, Flash Sentry, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Asami and Bumi."

"It's nice to meet you all. Especially you Princess Avatar. I've heard stories about you. You're even more beautiful in person."

Korra placed her hand over her heart, "Awww, thank you."

Mako however, scoffed at the young boys flattery. He didn't have him fooled for one second. There was clearly something off about him, especially with that particularly almost heavy looking bag around his shoulder. Why was he wearing it anyways? And why would he already be packed if he didn't even know they were coming? Everything about this boy just screamed 'trouble.'

"Just to be totally clear," Korra continued, "we're going to be heading to Ba Sing Se, then the Northern Air Temple to live as nomads and rebuild the Air Nation. All that sound good to you?"

"Yeah, Ba Sing Se, rebuild the temple, Air Nomad what do you do, I'm in. Let's go right now."

Bolin jumped in the air, "This is going to be so great! You going to love it, er ... ah ... real quick, what's your name?"

"Kai. So when do we hit the road?"

Tenzin rose his hand to the young boy, "Hang on a second Kai, where are your parents? We can't have you come with us without their permission."

Kai's smile faded as he looked down in sadness. "My parents are ... gone."

At the sound of the word 'gone', the girls all gasped and looked at the boy with sympathy. Korra and Twilight shared a saddened glance, they both felt equally awful for the young boy. Not nobody felt even worse for him than Bolin did.

"You're an orphan?" he asked.

Kai held the sling of his bag on his shoulder and began telling them his sad tale. "It happened about a year ago. My home town was raided by outlaws, but my parents fought back against them. I was so scared, but they told me not to worry they would protect me, and they did. My parents saved me and the entire village, but they died in the fight. Mum and pap meant everything to me, they're were my whole life."

Bolin started to shed some tears, while Pinkie Pie already had tears coming out of her eyes like hoses, crying out loud like a baby. Rarity blew her nose into a hankie and Flutterhsy cried into Applejack's shoulder. Rainbow Dash looked on at the boy with sympathy as did Flash Sentry as the boy continued. "Ever since then, I've been on the run. Those same outlaws are still after me."

Rarity squatted down and embraced the young boy in a warm hug. "Oh, you poor, poor thing. Living all alone in the streets like that, I can't imagine anything more awful."

"Hey!" Mako exclaimed, feeling insulted by this.

"Oh, please, you have a job now, you're dating a princess, what have you got to complain about?" Rarity spatted at him before returning to hug Kai with so much love and compassion. "This sweet innocent little angel needs us."

Fluttershy squatted next to Rarity and also hugged the young lad. "It's okay, Kai, you don't have to worry about being on the run anymore."

"That's right." said Bolin before turning to the rest of the group. "Right guys? Tell him."

"I'm so sorry about your parents." Tenzin said to Kai. "I know we could never replace them …but we are here for you." Rarity and Fluttershy both stood up as the man placed his hand on Kai's shoulder.

"We'll keep you safe, come on." Korra said as they all made their way into the airship. Bolin and Rainbow Dash both wrapped their arms around Kai's shoulder as they walked up the platform into the ship.

"Welcome to the family, squirt." Rainbow said, "Just to let you know, whatever you need, feel free to ask your good friend, Rainbow Dash."

"When you board this airship, you're going to leave your old life behind and start a new path." Bolin said. "That's big brother advice. Just think of us as your big brother and pegasister."

Rainbow arched an eyebrow, "Pegasister? Seriously?"

"What? It's cute."

Once they all boarded into the airship, both Korra and Twilight removed their crowns and placed them on the sofa, happy to finally take them off. Kai noticed at the corner of his eye the stunning headwaters; Twilight's crown was made of sterling gold and amethyst stones decorated the pointed tips, while Korra's was a shimmering sterling silver with three blue heart shaped jewels decorated around the swirled designs. The young boy smirked.

Suddenly, Flash's ears perked at the sound of motors running. He tapped on Mako's shoulder, grabbing his attention. The two boys walked away from the group and stared out a window. They witnessed a group of motorcyclists outside their airship, all wearing similar green colored uniforms with brown-colored platting.

Mako turned to the group. "Guys! I think we got trouble."

"What is it?" Twilight asked as she and the whole group turned around. The lead motorcyclist got off his motorcycle and removed his helmet off, revealing a tan skinned man with perfectly shaved brown hair, a brown beard and green eyes. He walked up to the airship removed his glasses and stood before the airship.

"Release the boy, or we'll take him by force." He rose his hand to reveal his palm, before clenching it into a fist. The rest of his group each simultaneously earthbended a rock from the ground and got into fighting stances, the rocks hovering in front of them. Unlike their leader, their uniforms were styled somewhat differently, they did not have the same brown platting as the leader and each wore a helmet and their green goggles. While all in the same green color, each outset was designed individually.

At the sight of them, Kai began to shake in fear, his heart was racing and a drip of sweat fell from his brow. "The outlaws! They're here … Uh, let's get out of here." the boy anxiously grabbed Korra's arm and pleaded to leave, but this boy was about to learn that this Avatar was not the kind to simply cut and run.

"We are not running away from anyone." she said bravely. Kai released her arm as she approached the doors. The airship door opened up to reveal Korra, her wings spread out. "If you want Kai, you'll have to go through us!" Korra said to them in a powerful voice.

The outlaws all launched earthbended rocks at Korra, but she managed to avoid their attacks by spreading her wings and hoisting herself upwards out of the airship's door and destroyed the rocks by airbending. With the strength of her wings, she unleashed a powerful wind blast at the leader and his followers, they all fell back and the leader landed near the fountain that stood at the very center of the town. The leader soon got back up and earthbended rocks at Korra, but she managed to counter his attacks by earthbending her own rock and then airbending at another he threw at her with a wind blast from her hand. Finally, the Avatar earthbended a line of rocks on the ground which lead all the way to the leader's feet, causing him to be knocked into the waterfall. Korra stood up proud, tucking her wings behind her back as the rest of the Mane Six stood beside her, all looking on angrily at the leader of the outlaws.

"Your days of harassing an innocent boy is over." Twilight said in a powerful voice. "You outlaws are going to prison."

"Outlaws?" The man looked at them in surprise and confusion. "Innocent boy? I'm a sheriff." he said, gesturing his to the golden badge on his chest.

"Uh, sherif?" Applejack asked in both confusion and worry.

"As in, the cops?" Rainbow asked, equally worried. Why did they always have to get in trouble with the law?

"That's right," said the man, the sherif to be precise. "And these are my deputies, and this kid is a thief." The girls' eyes widened in surprise. They couldn't believe it, Kai had been lying to them. Rarity gasped louder out of all of them. "Whatever he told you was a lie, we've been chasing him for months."

Korra's face became stern as she looked back at the group. "Where's Kai?"

"RIght here."

All heads turned to look at Mako and Flash, who were both carrying Kai with their hands, pulling on his shirt, the boy struggled in their grip. "We found him slipping away." Mako said.

"I was just going to the bathroom!" Kai said, as he struggled in their grip.

"With your stash of gold?" Mako threw the sack Kai had been carrying the whole time towards the sherif and Korra. The bag landed at Korra's feet and the ponies gasped in shock; when the bag made contact with the ground, all of the stolen jewels and even pieces of gold all fell out, the treasures sparkled in the sunlight, difficult for anyone to miss.

"I told you, I found this on the road." Kai protested.

"Oh, really?" Flash said sarcastically, "Then care to explain where you got those?" he pointed his finger to the pile of jewels on the floor and Twilight and Korra both spotted some very familiar items within the stash before gasping in shock;

"Our crowns!" Twilight exclaimed as she and her friend both retrieved their possessions, the very things that symbolized their roles as princesses, aside from the wings and magic. Korra felt devastated, she showed Kai kindness and compassion and he had the nerve to steal something from her. Twilight glared at the young boy. "You stole our crowns?!"

"I can explain!"

"Enough with the lies kid." Mako said sternly, still holding the boy by the shirt. "I want the truth."

"The truth is, he's the outlaw." said the sheriff, "He's spend an entire life in an orphanage, got adopted by a real nice family six months ago, and how did he repay them? By taking their entire life savings." two deputies took Kai by the arms as Mako stood beside Korra. "We've been after him ever since."

"Is that true?" Korra asked the boy, even though her face was stern, inside she felt breathed. Sure she only just met Kai, but she already developed a soft side for him, especially when she heard about his 'past', but it was nothing more than a lie. Kai looked downward in defeat. There was no point in lying anymore, he had been figured out.

"Yeah….it is."

Fluttershy was on the brink of tears. "Oh, Kai. How could you?" the saddened pony cried into Rarity's shoulder and the unicorn glared at the boy.

"And to think, we felt sympathy for you." said the unicorn, feeling just as betrayed as her friends did.

"You out ta be ashamed of yourself!" Applejack said with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah!" Rainbow agreed. "Playing around with people's emotions like that and then stealing right off the back? Not cool!"

"Please, let me explain!"

"You're done explaining, kid!"

"Wait." Korra stopped Rainbow and looked at the boy, though her glance was serious, Kai could tell she wanted him to say what he wanted to say. And so he did.

"The person who stole that stuff was the old me. Once I got airbending, I changed. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like airbending choose me for a reason, like I'm a new person."

Korra never took her eyes off of Kai. With every word she looked deep into his eyes. She could see that there was some honesty behind his words. The sheriff's deputies began taking the boy away from the group who tried to break free. "I'm sorry! Please, you have to listen to me." The deputies led him away and the sheriff walked along with one of his deputies holding the sack of gold.

Though heartbroken by this revelation, Bolin still felt bad at them taking the boy away. "Are, are you taking him back to the orphanage?" he asked sadly.

"No, he's headed to jail." the sheriff said. Fluttershy gasped in horror as more tears feel from her eyes.

"Don't you think that's a little extreme? He is just a boy." Rarity asked, despite her anger towards the boy, him being in jail was not a pretty image. Korra didn't feel right with letting them take two boy away. But the look in his eyes did show some integrity. Maybe, just maybe...

"Wait!"

The the men stopped and turned to face the Avatar. "Give me a moment with him." the deputies looked at one another in confusion, but once the sheriff nodded at them, they released Kai and shoved him before Korra. The two now stood facing each other.

Kai was sweating and gulped in fear, what was Korra going to do with him, she was the Avatar AND an Alicorn with unlimited magical powers. He never should have crossed her. His nerves grew once Korra squatted down to his level and looked directly at his emerald green eyes. Her cold glance burning into his very soul, it was as if she was seeing right through him. He flinched as Korra rose her hand, placing the tip of her two index fingers right on his heart.

The others watched in confusion as to what Korra was doing. She maintained her gaze on Kai, his anxiety slowly fading as her expression softened. No longer did he see fierceness in her eyes, but he saw warmth and even…love. Her eyes shimmered with pale rainbow like colors unlike anything he had ever seen. She slowly removed her fingers from his heart and stood up, her tall appearance making him nervous once more. Kai closed his eyes shut as he felt her lean in closer, fearing what she might do next. But the boy was quite surprised to realize that Korra did not do anything painful to him at all.

In fact, right there on top of his head, Korra planted a very loving kiss and smiled. Kai could feel his cheeks burning. He had never had anyone kiss him on the head before. It was like the kind of kiss a mother or a big sister would give. Many were very surprised by this act, minus the ponies who knew exactly what Korra was doing. The Avatar turned to the sheriff and his men.

"You've got the family's life savings, now let us take Kai."

"Do you really want our first member of the Air Nation to be a liar and a thief?" Tenzin said.

Korra smiled at her mentor, "He just needs some guidance, Tenzin. Who better to give it to him than us?"

"You're really going to give this kid a chance?" Mako asked, folding his arms, still on the belief that Kai could not be trusted. Seeing his uncertainty, Korra approached him, gently gripping his hand.

"Of course. I gave you one, remember?"

At this, Mako's expression softened. Who was he to judge a street rat child when he was one himself? And that was exactly why he would be keeping an eye on him.

Applejack walked up to Korra, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow. "You really think he's got something special, don't ya?" Korra nodded with her usual happy smile, which eventually made it's way into Applejack face and she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, then I agree. The little partner does deserves a second chance."

The rest of the ponies nodded in agreement. Tenzin stroked his beard and thought about this for a while. Maybe Korra was right, maybe all Kai needed was someone to show him the right path. He made up his mind. "You can release the boy into our custody, Sheriff."

The sheriff's deputies let go of the Kai's hands, and the boy smiled with glee as he ran towards Korra and hugged her around her waist. Korra returned the hug.

"Thank you!"

"Don't make me regret it."

"Welcome to the family, little bro." said Bolin, while he and Jinora hugged Kai, the Mane Six joined in the hug, and Bumi went and hugged Tenzin, much to his annoyance. The sheriff and his groups drove away from the scene and The friends goes back onto the airship. Mako and Flash both stood as everyone got on and suddenly stopped Kai, turned his head around and the firebender bended down, narrowing his eyes at the youngster.

"I just want you to know that I'm going to be watching you, kid. I know exactly what you're all about, 'cause I've been there. You don't have me fooled."

Mako stood up and moved away from Kai, Flash Sentry crossed his arms and also narrowed his eyes at the young boy. "That's right, so you better watch your back, kid." said the pegasus. Kai simply smiled and placed casually placed his hands in his pockets.

"Woah! Hey, lighten up. I'm turning over a new leaf, making a change. Don't you worry about me." the two young men scowled as they watched the boy walk up towards the airship via the platform, only to enchanted Jinora who stood there with her hands behind her back, her cheeks tinted with red, and spoke shyly.

"Hi, I'm Jinora. If you need any help with airbending, I could show you what I know." the young girl felt as if her stomach was filled with butterflies. Kai was really captivated by her beauty and smiled graciously.

"Thanks, that real nice of you."

"Jinora!" The young girl was startled when her father called."We're leaving now." She smiled at Kai before the two entered the airship. Mako did not like the looks of this at all. Flash on the other hand, was smiling.

"Looks like Jinora's got a crush on the new kid."

"Please, she could do better."

"So could Korra."

Mako's eyes widened and he sneered at the pegasus, "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing." Flash casually walked on back into the airship, just when Mako's little spirit 'children' flew up and surrounded his head. He lowered his shoulders and pouted in annoyance.

"Great, now I've got four thorns on my side.?"


(~)


The former Fire Lord's amber eyes scanned the volcano, which was once the prison of Ming-Hua. The cage was no empty, just like the previous prisons.

"They came out of nowhere." the White Lotus sentry bowed his head "I'm so sorry, Lord Zuko."

"How could you let this happen?" Zuko asked.

Zuko was an elderly man with long white hair and beard, amber eyes like that of a traditional firebender, a golden fire styled headset holding a piece of his hair on the back of his head, and a flame-like scar was visible across the left side of his face. Many years ago, Zuko was once a prince of the Fire Nation, banished for disrespecting his father and sent on a quest to capture the Avatar. After many long months of failure, betrayals, and a lot of soul searching, Zuko eventually returned home, only to realize this was not what he wanted or needed anymore, and so he teamed up with the Avatar, who was once his pray, and helped him in defeating his father, Fire Lord Ozai, from destroying the world. Ever since, Zuko became a wise and benevolent ruler, guiding his nation into an era of peace, and even became lifelong friends with Avatar Aang. Now, an old man, he traveled the world on his fateful dragon steed, doing his best in keeping the world in balance while his daughter ruled the fire nation. However, today was a tragic day indeed. A day he prayed would never come.

But it did.

The sentry continued to explain. "They caught us by surprise, and Zaheer is an airbender now."

Zuko was alarmed by the revelation. "No! This can't be. Do you have any idea the power these criminals possess? Individually, they can take down any bender. Put them all together, they could take down the entire world. And now you're telling me that their leader is an airbender?"

"We can track them."

"We don't need to track them." Zuko and the sentry turned around to see the alicorn, Queen Leilani standing before them. "I know exactly where they're going. Lord Zuko, may I accompany you on your mission?"

"It would be my honor, your majesty."

Zuko, Leilani and the sentry walked out of the prison, approaching a large winged slender red-colored dragon awaiting its master. "Notify the new chiefs of the Northern Water Tribe that an attack on their prison is imminent, and send word to Lin Beifong in Republic City. The Princess Avatar must be protected."

The dragon lowered its head, allowing Zuko to climb on.

"Where are you going?" the sentry asked.

"To stop them."

Zuko's dragon roared before spreading it's wast bat-like wings and rose up from the ground, creating a gust of wind, and soared up into the sky. He roared once more as he and Zuko flew off into the distance, with Leilani flying by his side. He promised himself the Avatar would be safe at any cost.



(~)