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


]*(~)*
Proverbs 12:22~
The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth.
*(~)*

The Terror Within


Korra's eyes were fixed on Wing, both standing on opposite sides of the garden, facing one another. The breeze against Korra's dark brown and blue hair, leaves bellowing in the wind. Around her waist was a band with metallic cables. The Mane Six stood by a corner, anxiously awaiting for the match to begin, while Pinkie Pie was eating popcorn, watching with anticipation. However, one pony was already tired of the wait.
"Start already!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
With a confident grin, Wing fired two meteorites at Korra, but the princess dodged them before sending her metal cable at the young man. He dodged it twice, trapped it on the ground with his foot and bended it back at her. The impact of the cable knocked Korra to the ground, now entangled with her own cables. The Avatar scowled at the boy, this was pretty embarrassing for her, trapped by her own weapons.
"I can't believe I'm sparring with the Avatar!" Wing said excitedly…while his twin brother scowled a few feet from his right.
"I can't believe I'm stuck with her friend." Wei said, referring to Bolin who was struggling to bend a meteorite in his palms. 
"Hang on, I think I got it. Let me just try this." he grunted as he tried to plaster the meteorite in between his hands, but to no avail and dropped it. "Nope, okay maybe- " Bolin was cut off when he got nailed with a slab of metal by Wei.
"Draw by fire. It's the best way to learn metalbending." Wei instructed. He was really disappointed that he not only got stuck with a lousy pathetic excuse for a metalbender, but that his twin got the opportunity to spar with the hot Princess Avatar. Sure, she rejected his infatuations, and he was kind of over it, but that still didn't kill the fact that he could have been sparring with a powerful, and beautiful, princess alicorn. Instead he got stuck with Bolin.
Bolin ducked as Wei sent a meteorite towards him. He quickly bended a pebble from the ground at his attacker, directly hitting his forehead. 
"Agh!"
Right on cue, Mako and Asami, as well as the spirit trio, joined the ponies. "Whoa. Nice shot, Bolin!" Mako said proudly while Wei winced in pain from the impact. "But I thought you were supposed to be practicing metalbending, not earthbending."
"Yeah, cheater." Wei crossed his arms, bitterly.
"Mako, metalbending is extremely difficult." Bolin said, "No one gets it right away, if they can get it at all! It's not normal!"
Right on cue, Korra was able to dodge Wing's incoming attacks by kicking it with her leg, despite having her hips and hands being wrapped with the metal cables. A happy and confident grin on her face as she broke free of the cables with her bending and used them to knock Wing off his feet, flipping him over and landing on the ground. Korra's wings spread open, making a quick air flip into the sky while shouting in victory, 
"Woo-hoo! Metalbending champion!" when she landed she flexed her muscles. It always felt good to win. The Mane Six, Spike included, broke into cheers and embraced the Avatar in a victorious group hug, praising her for her success. 
Bolin rolled his eyes, "Oh sure. She's the Avatar, and part alicorn! Technically speaking, she's not normal--OW!" Bolin got his punishment when Korra bended a pebble at his forehead, making the earthbender groan in frustration. 
"Ya walked right into that one." said Rainbow Dash.
"Guys, it's time to get cleaned up." said Asami with a smile, "Tonight is Opal's farewell dinner."
Bolin sighed sadly, "Oh, now I have to say bye to Opal? This is the worst day ever!" he slumped his shoulders as he walked away. Mako noticed that Asami still had a smile on her face.
"Are you smiling?"
"What? No, no of course not….and I still smiling?"
"Yes."
"Did Bolin notice?"
"No."
"Good."


(~)


Everyone gathered around the dinning hall, Flash and Twilight sat closest together, happily chatting. Mako attempted to take a seat next to his girlfriend…until it was unexpectedly taken by his boss, who didn't even acknowledge his presence until she sat down. 
"Did you want something?" she asked. 
"Me? No, no I just…never mind." not wanting to negotiate, Mako sucked it up and sat on the opposite side of the table, right next to Princess Luna. She felt pity for the young boy's embarrassment. 
Opal smiled graciously at the chef after he placed her dinner plate before her. "Thanks for making my favorite meal."
"I'm really going to miss you, Opal. No one appreciates my raw veggie wraps like you do."
Bolin sat close to Opal, Varrick was to his left as were Asami, Korra, Lin, as were the rest of the Mane Six. Spike sat on Rarity's lap. 
"Every time I eat raw kale, I'm going to think of you." Bolin said to Opal, who smiled.
"You're so sweet."
Hearing this made Asami want to puke. She didn't express it much, but her furrowed brows and pouty lips were a tad hard to miss as the two continued their conversation. 
"This stinks!" Bolin said sadly, "We were just starting to get to know each other, and now you're off to the Northern Air Temple."
"We'll be together soon. You guys are coming up after finding more airbenders, right?"
"Yeah, but that's… in the future. Ugh, I hate the future!"
Opal held up a piece of kale and fed it to Bolin, "Until then, we'll always have kale." she said as Bolin took a bite of the raw food, smiling romantically. 
Asami did her best to hide her bitterness, as much as she didn't want to hate Opal, whenever she looked at Bolin with those eyes, she wanted to sink her nails into a wall, scratching the surface. 
While Bolin chewed on the kale, Varrick leaned in a bit closer to him. "Kid, can I give you some relationship advice?"
"Umm, no thanks."
"Well, your loss." Varrick then took from his pocket a new contraption which kind of looked like a remote control of some kind. He enthusiastically showed it to Asami and Korra. "Check out my latest invention: an airbender finder."
"Wait, that can find airbenders?" Korra asked as Asami took the machine from Varrick. Pinkie Pie appeared before them, standing behind Korra's chair, looking at the object in awe. 
"Oooooooh! Does it work?"
"Of course it works, try it."
Asami pointed the device toward Korra and Pinkie Pie, scanning them up and down, but nothing happened. The contraption remained silent not making a single reaction to the two airbenders present. The heiress handed the invention back to Varrick. "I think it's broken."
"It's not broken. They need to airbend into it!" Varrick responded, feeling a tad offended, "How else do you expect the thing to work?"
The three girls looked at one another with skeptical looks. Meanwhile, Mako who sat on the opposite side couldn't hear a thing they were saying. He couldn't even hear a conversation between his girlfriend and friends. "What's going on? I can't hear anything. I hate sitting down here!" he then noticed Aiwei next to him, scowling in his direction. "Uh, not because of you."
"I can tell you're lying." 
Mako slumped on his chair and sipped his drink with an embarrassed expression. 
Suyin stood up and tapped her glass to get everyone's attention. "Everyone, if I could have your attention please? Tonight, my beautiful little girl leaves for the Northern Air Temple. Opal, none of us could be more proud of you. You're an incredible daughter, sister, friend, and soon to be airbending master." she leaned down and kissed her precious girl's head. Wei and WIng teared up at the touching scene, while Huan simply rolled his eyes unamused.
"Here's to Opal. May she help lead us into the new era!"
Everyone rose their glass for a toast. 
"I'm so proud of you, Opal." Fluttershy said, "We're really going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you all too."
"Make us proud, kid." said Rainbow Dash with a wink.


(~)


Near sunset, an airship took off as Opal waved goodbye from the window. 
Fluttershy; "Bye, Opal!"
Applejack; "See you soon!"
Rarity; "Tell my sister I miss her!"
Rainbow Dash; "Knock em dead!"
The young woman smiled as she watched her new pony friends waving at her as she left. "Goodbye. Goodbye, everybody!"
"Opal!" Pinkie Pie began running closer to the ledge and took out a megaphone, took in a deep breath and shouted into the object; 
"DON'T FORGET ABOUT MEEEEE!!!….Do you think she heard me?" Pinkie asked her friends…who were all covering their ears from the powerful scream enhanced by the megaphone. It was so loud it not only messed up their hair but half of the mountainside shook like an earthquake. Leave it to Pinkie Pie to break the laws of physics. 
As the airship grew farther and farther away, one of the Metal Clan guards spoke on her walkie-talkie. "Lock it down for the night." she said before walking off. Once the airship was nearly out of sight, Lin turned to Korra and the ponies. "We'll head out first thing in the morning." as she walked inside, Bolin sighed sadly.
"It'll be okay, Bolin." said Fluttershy as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I know. I'm really going to miss her though…" a brief sad silence took over, until he spoke again, "On the upside I don't have to eat that raw kale for a while."
"Wait, I thought you liked it." Korra said in disbelief.
"Not really. I can't stand that taste in my mouth! I'm surprised I could hold it down."
"You know you're going to have to tell her, right?"
Bolin slumped his shoulders, "Yeah. I know." as he followed the others inside, Fluttershy and Korra walked next to him, with their arms on his back in comfort. As they walked inside, Mako arched an eyebrow and smiled cheekily at Asami.
"What?" she asked. Mako did not answer, but simply kept on his smile. Asami scoffed, "Shut up!


(~)


That night, Korra combed her now loose hair while everypony else got ready for bed. Rarity placed on her sleeping mask and tucked herself in, while the others got themselves into bed their own ways. Korra was the last to tuck in. She wore a simply white tank top with baggy pajama pants. She began wishing everyone good night.
"Goodnight, girls."
"Good night, Korra."
With a flick of her finger, she turned the lights off and drifted off to sleep while Naga slept on the side of the room. But as they all drifted off, from a slight opening in Korra's bag, the mysterious chest shimmered, emitting a faint rainbow-like glow.


(~)


Mako and Bolin were already in their pajamas, ready to hit the hay. Flash tapped his hooves onto the pillow to make it more comfy and laid down. Spike had his own bed, a basket, similar to his one back home, and curled in to sleep. The spirit trio were playing and wrestling each other on Mako's sheets. The firebender placed his hands on his hips in an authoritative fashion. 
"Okay kids, playtime's over. Time for bed." Ali, Mika and San chirped sadly in protest, but Mako remained firm. "We need gotta be ready to leave by tomorrow, you need your rest."
The spirits decided to obey and flew off the bed, allowing Mako to tuck himself, and the spirits to sleep beside him. They all rested themselves on his head, shoulder or side, nuzzling against him. Mako smiled, these little guys really did grow on him. But before he could drift off, he noticed his brother was still awake, sitting on the side of his bed. 
"Hey, Bolin. You okay?"
Flash rose up from his pillow, looking at his friend with concern. "You look blue."
Spike also sat up, "I'd say he's more pale."
Flash rolled his eyes, "No, Spike I mean he's depressed."
"Oh."
Bolin sighed. His back was towards them as he looked at the window at the full moon. Spike scrawled up beside him on his right while Flash flew up and sat on his left. "What's eating you, bro?"
"Nothing, he's at the top of the food-chain!" Spike began to laugh at his joke, "Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, get it? The Food-chain? Ha, ha, ha,…" he slowly stopped laughing as he looked at the glare he received from Flash. "...okay."
Bolin didn't laugh at all, he simply sat there looking up at the moon though the open window. Illuminating the room with it's soft glow.
"When Opal left I expected to feel like there would be a void in me. Kind of like how Mako felt when Korra went missing. Twice. I miss her, but I'm not entirely sad she's gone. I mean, I am sad but not the kind of sad I thought I would be. And it got me thinking…do I even like Opal in that way at all?"
"Well, I don't think I can answer that for you, little bro." Mako confessed.
Bolin stood up from his bed and turned to his brother. "But what do I do? Opal likes me and I don't want to hurt her feelings. But I'm still not sure about how I feel."
Mako knew that the times has come for him to pass down his knowledge of past relationships. The good kind. "Bolin, believe me, I get where you're coming from. I know it can be difficult to tell the difference between an infatuation and true love, especially when you're new to it. But if there is anything important that I've learned in my past experiences is that sometimes you've got to look deep down inside and find not what you really want, but what you really need."
Bolin took in the words of his older brother, it wasn't anything like when he gave him advice on how to deal with Eska, no this time Mako sounded different. He didn't tell him to do the initiative, nor did he give him a direct answer, he simply offered him a way to do so. And even though he wasn't expecting something like this, especially from his big, often cynical, brother, he felt it inside that he at the very least had what he needed.
"Thanks Mako. You know, I'm really glad you were thrown in jail after Varrick framed you."
Mako chuckled, "And why is that?"
"I guess in a way, it made you a better man."
Bolin went to bed, a smile of relief on his face, and Mako smiled proudly at his brother, before he too drifted off to sleep. Flash smiled proudly at his two 'brothers', and then he heard the sound is sniffles. It was Spike, crying into a piece of tissue paper.
"That's so beautiful."


(~)


That night, while everyone was sound asleep, a very, very familiar group of criminals snuck their way into the city of Zaofu. They hid behind a pillar as a guard walked past them from above and moved forward. Zaheer and his companions had finally reached their target; the Avatar. And this time, they would not fail. 
Bolin laid on his back, snoring and mumbled in his sleep. "Kale, no kale ... Opal …sorry…."
While he mumbled, Pabu instinctively woke up at the sound of something from outside, even Ali heard it. Pabu hopped over to the window sill and looked out. Ali, having been the only one to have woken up, flew beside Pabu and also looked out the window. The two noticed four figures sneaking among the bushes. The fire ferret squeaked loudly in alarm in an attempt to wake his owner. Bolin stirred awake. 
"What? What's going on?" he sunk back down to his pillow in annoyance. "Pabu, sleep!"
Ali flew towards her 'papa' and began tugging on his ear. Mako woke up with a groan, "Ali, stop pulling on daddy's ear. We'll play tomorrow." 
Ali then tried to wake up her brother and sister, but Mika refused to wake up while San was sound asleep, even a bulldozer couldn't wake him up. Ali and Pabu rushed over to Flash and Spike. Pabu licked Spike's face, and the dragon turned around, covering his face with a blanket in an attempt to ignore the ferret. Ali pulled on Flash's ear and he shooed her away with his wing. Ali chirped in annoyance, nobody would listen to her or Pabu.


(~)


Zaheer directed his gang onward to the adjacent bedroom window: Korra's. The Avatar and ponies were all sound asleep while Pinkie Pie muttered in her slumber as she snored;
"Cake…cheese….balloons…waffle iron."
The criminals crouched down beside the window, and Ming-Hua began carving a hole into the window by using her water arm. Naga stirred awake at hearing the commotion. The beast stood up and roared, but she was quickly knocked out by shirshu-spit darts that flew towards her, striking her left side. She whimpered and landed on the ground, paralyzed. The rest of the girls immediately woke up at the sound, 
"Stuffed monkeys!" Pinkie exclaimed randomly once she awoke.
The girls spotted the criminals at the window, coming face to face with them for the first time. Zaheer bended a blast of air into the window but Korra avoided it and jumped out of her bed, attempting to firebend, until she was hit by a dart that struck her left leg as she landed. The Mane Six all got up, ready to attack, but then they were all struck down by the same darts, mostly Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash. The three lost all feeling in their legs and fell to the ground. For the remaining group, Zaheer unleashed another airblast, which contained a metallic net and entrapped Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Korra tried to get up but she felt the darts begin to take affect. He hand shook as she tried to reach for it to take it out, but she soon lost the feeling in her body. Korra grunted, trying to move but her body would not listen. She was now completely paralyzed as she laid down against Naga, completely helpless. She felt her vision become hazy as Ghazan kneeled down to her. Korra's eyes were still open, but she could no longer see anything. Everything was too hazy or to dark in color for her to make out, however, Ghazan could still see her electric blue eyes perfectly. As he prepared to take her, he briefly stopped.
"What is it?" P'Li asked impatiently and she too looked at Korra. 
Her eyes. Her eyes looked strange, almost as if rainbow colors danced in them, colors that matched each of the color coats of the ponies. The two had never seen anything so lovely, the very sight of it filled them up with a warm feeling, one that seemed familiar. But they quickly reminded themselves why they were here; to take the Avatar. No more, no less. Then, P'Li spotted something in the corner of the room; it was an object glowing inside a bag. She quickly walked over and took the object, seeing it was a small octagon-shaped chest, emitting a faint rainbow glow, identical to the one in the Avatar's eyes. She didn't know why, but she felt drawn to this object.
With three of the ponies completely helpless, the other ponies struggled in the net. If only they had brought more darts, they didn't entirely know just how many ponies the Avatar would have. To their surprise, the ponies caught in the net began to change, their pony bodies changing into human form, breaking free from their trap. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy attempted to airbend at the criminals, but Zaheer blasted them all away with his own air blasts, the girls were slammed against the wall. Ghazan carried Korra over his shoulder and they all made a run for it. Rarity quickly grabbed her water skin while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie carried their immobilized friends and ran after the criminals. P'Li had taken the chest with her. She didn't know what value it served, but whatever it was, she was going to find out.


(~)


Pabu once again leaped onto the bed, chattering franticly to get his owner's full attention. This time, he was successful.
"Huh? What? Oh, Pabu." the fire ferret jumped back to the window. "It's not play time right now. Okay, we are seriously going to have to have a talk- WHAT THE HECK!" Bolin's eyes widened in horror at seeing four people he did not recognize, carrying an unconscious Avatar. "They've got Korra. THEY'VE GOT KORRA!"
At the sound of this, Mako immediately woke up and ran out of the room at full speed. Flash, now in anthro form, along with Spike also ran out quickly. Once outside, Mako began throwing fire blasts at the enemies. 
"Let her go!"
Bolin send at a boulder shortly after Mako's attack, but P'Li absorbed the fire, while Ming-Hua stopped the boulder with waterbending. She sent a line of water at the brothers, but was suddenly countered by another water whip, which then froze up to Ming-Hua's water arm and shattered. 
"Give back our friend you rat's nest!" Rarity exclaimed angrily, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy both carried their unconscious friends on their arms. They quickly ran to the brothers to assist them. P'Li and Zaheer attacked with their respected elements, which Mako and Bolin also avoided. They hide behind a pillar along with Spike and while Rarity and Fluttershy attempted to attack with their respected elements, Fluttershy held Applejack with one arm. 
Mako yelled to the guards at the top towers, "They've got Korra!"
The guards turned on a light, as well as various others, which were shone onto the criminals, revealing them to everyone. "So much for the element of surprise." said Ming-Hua. 
"Back-up plan." said Ghazan.
P'Li turned and blasted combustion at the guards who were operating the lights, shooting them off. She fired another blast and the impact knocked down Mako, Bolin, Flash, Spike and the others who stopped right near Asami's door. Wearing her nightgown, she ran outside, seeing the unconscious Rainbow Dash and Applejack, she held them close. Rarity assisted Mako in getting up while Pinkie assisted Bolin. 
"We can't let them take her." Mako said in despair. 
"I don't think they're going to get far. Look!" Asami gestured her head to the guards, who where now attacking the criminals, but unfortunately the guards were easily overpowered. The criminals tried to flee, but were stopped in their tracks as they were now surrounded with slabs of metal, bent by Lin Beifong. Su, Wei and Wing added onto the pile. Princess Luna emerged from her chambers, flapping her wings and rose a few feet from the ground, her horn glowing, ready to fight. The guards stood around the slaps of metal which now contained the criminals. 
"We have you surrounded. It's over. Release the Princess Avatar!"
Suddenly, to everyone's shock and surprise, lava began to flow out from underneath the pile. Luna quickly grabbed Lin and flew her to safer ground beside their comrades. They all watched in horror and shock as the pillars around the criminals crumbled down, revealing that Ghazan was bending the lava. Bolin could not believe his eyes.
"No way! That guy is lavabending! That's awesome ... ly not good for us."
While the guards tried their best to get to the criminals, Korra slowly began to regain consciousness, witnessing her captures attacking her friends and the guards of Zaofu. Her eyes spanned from the four criminals, getting a better depiction of their appearances. One was a man with long dark hair in green clothing and various tattoos on his arms and a very tall woman with a braid and eye tattoo on her forehead. She had heard about these kinds of people; combustion benders. They could unleash fire blasts with their minds through those eye marks. Another one was a woman who apparently had no arms but was bending water to make her own, giving her an octopus-like vibe. The last person was a man with an airbender staff and bald head. Her intuition told her this was Zaheer.
In Flash's arms, a pony Twilight began to stir awake, her consciousness slowly returning, which could only mean that Korra was coming to as well.
"I'm going to create some cover. We've got to get out of here!" Zaheer said and then began to airbend a mask of smoke from Ghazan's lava, but was caught by the wrist by a cable of one of the guards, who managed to reel Zaheer off the platform. Bolin, Mako, Lin, Asami, Flash, Spike, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Princess Luna and the Metal Clan members took cover together behind a slab of metal in order to avoid the criminals' attacks. Asami held Rainbow Dash close while Fluttershy continued to hold Applejack. 
"How did they get in here?" Lin asked her sister.
"I don't know, but we're not letting them escape!"
They all looked over, as three guards used more metal slabs to create a bridge to get to the criminals. Ghazan knocked the guards off with earthbending.
"There's no way to cross that moat." Asami said. Then, Princess Luna spread open her wings and flew upwards. Her horn glowed brightly, unleashing a powerful blue magical blast at the attackers, nearly knocking them down. Ming-Hua attempted to waterbed at her but the moon princess easily dodged the attack. 
"Release the Avatar! This instant!"
P'Li took in a deep breath and began to unleash her combustion at the princess, who easily dodged her attacked by flying around them, unleashing her own attacks. The others watched in fear and worry as Luna attacked them, trying to reach for Korra. But at last, P'Li's attacks did their job, striking Luna on her right wing. The princess cried out in pain as she fell.
"Princess Luna!"
Luckily, Luna managed to land where the lava had not touched, rolling on the ground with a grunt. Lin and Su rushed to her aid and led her with the others behind the wall. "Are you alright?" Su asked with concern. Luna inspected her wing, it was badly wounded by the impact but it wasn't too serious. 
"My wing will be alright, but I can not fly."
This was bad; Korra was being kidnaped, three of the ponies were paralyzed and useless at the moment, one of the criminals created a lava river which no once could get across and now Luna couldn't fly. Su then looked up at the ceiling dome and an idea formed in her head. 
"Don't worry, we don't need to cross. Lin and I can drop in from the dome on cables."
"That's a great idea." Lin said sarcastically, "Except we'll get blown up the second that third-eyed freak sees us."
"She's a combustion bender. If one of you can stun her, her powers will be knocked out temporarily."
"Bolin can land a shot." Mako said, surprising his brother.
"I can?"
"He can?" Spike asked.
"You have to take her out right before we drop down." Su instructed, 
"I do?" Bolin asked again
"He does?" Spike asked again.


(~)


With her wing banged with a blanket, Luna, Lin Su and her twin boys all stood on top of the dome of their home. Wei turned to his brother "Open the hatch." his twin obeyed his orders and used his metalbending to open the two metal plates on the floor. Lin and Su were both tied with cables around their upper torsos, ready to lower down and retrieve Korra. Lin turned to the princess, looking at her with concern.
"Are you sure you're up for this?"
Luna looked at Lin, her beautiful teal eyes burning with determination and courage. "I refuse to remain helpless while my fellow princess is in danger."  
Su then turned to her two sons, "If we get in trouble, metalbend us up."
Wei held a radio beside him and spoke through the walkie-talkie to Mako. "We're in position."
He heard the firebender respond from the other line. "Copy that." 
"So um, just out of curiosity, no hard feelings about what happened with Korra right?"
"This really isn't the time for that!" Mako briefly looked to his side where his friends were and shielded his next sentence with his free hand so that Wei was the only one who heard him. "But if you try anything again I'll fry your butt off."
"Copy that." Wei hung up and Mako turned to his brother.
"It's Bolin time."
Another blast was heard and the boys shielded themselves. Bolin looked downcast, could he beat this three eyed woman? 
Rarity placed a hand on his shoulder, "You can do it, Boly."
With new confidence, the earthbender's face became stern and determined, clenching his fists, ready to strike. "All right. Bolin time. Bolin time!" He stood up from behind the metal slap and fired a boulder at P'Li, but she ducked and avoided it. The criminals immediately started firing attacks toward the friend's slab. Attacks went back and forth as Bolin, Mako and Pinkie Pie fired their respected Elements at the criminals, while Asami, Spike, Rarity, Flash and Fluttershy cared for the unconscious ponies. 
"I can't get a clean shot!" Bolin exclaimed as he and Mako ducked in cover from the incoming attacks.
"You have to!" his brother said. He then hear Wei speak from the walkie-talkie. 
"Are we a go?" he asked. Mako took the device and responded; "No go!"
"Copy that, we're a go."
"I said no! Wait!" 
But he was too late, Wei hung up and Sun, Lin and Luna dropped down with their cables. Mako peered back at the criminals, who were preoccupied with the guards. P'Li looked up and saw the two metalbending sisters and the alicorn princess lowering down. Mako noticed that the woman was distracted, stood up, unleashed a fire blast and said to his brother, "Bolin, take the shot!" 
P'Li got ready to fire, seeing his chance Bolin quickly shot another rock at her. A pebble really. The pebble went flying towards her third eye, hitting her in the forehead, stunned her, and caused her attack to redirect back at the pillars behind the group. The explosion knocked the criminals down, as Su, Luna and Lin land. Mako cheered proudly for his brother, waving his fists in victory. 
"Yes! Good job, little bro!"
Once the sisters and alicorn landed, Luna unleashed a powerful blast at Gahzaan, stunning him and he fell to the ground and Su earthbended at P'Li and Ning-Hua. Lin picked up Korra, hoisting her over her shoulder and the three were hoisted up towards the dome. 
Lin felt something reach her leg, seeing it was Ming-Hua who grabbed her with her water arm. Luna unleashed another blast at Ming-Hua, causing the woman to break her hold. She attempted again but this time was stopped by Mako's fireblast which diverted her attention. Meanwhile, Zaheer was busy fighting two guards, but looked up and saw Lin escaping with Korra.
"No!"
Zaheer flew up on his glider in pursuit of Lin. He blasted air at the chief, but his attacked were countered by Luna's magic which gave Lin the chance to swing away from Zaheer. Su fired metal shards at the glider to puncture holes in it. Zaheer began to loose altitude and began o fly downwards. As they were hoisted up, Lin smiled at her sister and alicorn friend, smiling graciously. 
"Thanks."
Zaheer managed to land beside his friends, glaring up angrily at the alicorn princess and the others. He hatted magic now more than ever. "We've failed!" In a fit of rage, Zaheer successfully created cover by airbending the smoke, which grew in size. The others shielded themselves from the impact. Once the smoke cleared, the villains were gone without a trace. From the safety of the dome, Lin, Su and Luna saw the criminals disappear.
"Where did they go?" Lin asked.
"They could not have gotten far." said Luna. 
Su then began to speak through the walkie-talkie, "Guards, search the entire estate!"
Luna crunched down beside Korra, stroking her hair in a sisterly manner. The young woman was not asleep exactly, but she could not move an inch of her body. Flash carried the paralyzed pony Twilight in his arms, she, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were in the exact same state. They all hoped they would get well soon.


(~)


Mako, Asami and Bolin sat on a couch in Su's office where Korra lied on the opposite couch. Flash held Twilight while Rarity held Applejack and Fluttershy held Rainbow Dash. Aiewi handed each of the anthro ponies a green bottle. "This should neutralize the shirshu toxins." he said. They all sat on the floor as they gave their paralyzed friends the liquid, helping them drink it. They could feel it going down their throats and their mussels began to slowly tense up, a sure sign that their feeling was returning. Aiwei took the liberty of helping Korra drink the medicine. Her index finger began to twitch and move. Everybody was still very shaken from the experience, but Lin was fuming mad. Her job was to keep these criminals away from Korra and she couldn't even manage to do that.
"How could you let this happen?!" in exclaimed angrily at her sister, "You assured me this was one of the most secure places in the world." as she ranted, Korra began to slowly move her body as did the rest of the ponies who were in her same condition. 
"It is." Su insisted. "I don't know how this happened. Obviously this was a well-planned operation, so don't blame me."
Luna placed a hand on Lin's shoulder, "Lin, please. We are all deeply upset about this, but getting angry with your sister will not help anybody." 
A female guard walked in and stood before Su. "We searched the entire estate. There's no sign of them."
"Well, keep looking!" Lin snapped. The female guard bowed and walked out. Aiwei stood up from beside Korra, wiping his hands from some of the sticky medicine which somehow managed to drip onto his hands. 
"It would seem they had some inside knowledge of Zaofu." said the man, "They must've been working with someone."
Rainbow Dash finally got the feeling in her body again and morphed into her anthro form, as did Applejack and Twilight. Flash held his girlfriend close for support as she spoke faintly while rubbing her head.
"The guards. It had to be one of them." Twilight said, her voice shaking as she tried to lift herself back up.
"I agree." Aiwei said.
All of a sudden, the once calm, sweet and easygoing woman who was Lin's younger sister, instantly vanished. The very idea of somebody betraying her fair city, a place she had worked so hard to keep safe for her and her family, made her blood boil like never before. If there was one thing she hatted more than anything, it was distrust and lies. She snapped at Aiwei, speaking in a commanding and intimidating voice which could blow up a person's ears if not prepared. 
"Question them all! Whoever betrayed my city will suffer the consequences!"
Korra finally sat up, rubbing her head, groaning as she tried to get the words out. "The chest."
Mako rushed to her side and sat beside her, giving her support. "What?"
"The chest." Korra repeated, this time with more power in her voice, "The chest from the Tree of Harmony. They stole it."
Everybody gasped at the news. The criminals had the chest! Luna's heart began to pound within her chest. This was terrible, sure they would not be able to open the box without the keys, but who knows what else they would do with it. It had an incredible power deep within, what if they tried to open it by force? What if they unleashed something that they were not prepared for? In the wrong hands the chest could be used for dark purposes. Her face became stern, her attitude now matching Su's.
"Me must find whoever is working with those criminals. They are not aware of the power they currently hold."
Asami spoke, "But they can't open the chest without the keys, right?"
"I doubt they would let keys keep them from finding out what's inside." the princess turned to Mako and the others, "Take Korra and the others to their chambers."
"Yes, Princess." Mako said as he carried his girlfriend bridal style while Flash did the same with Twilight. Fluttershy and Rarity helped Rainbow Dash by supporting her on both sides and Asami and Pinkie Pie did the same for Applejack.


(~)


Mako placed the covers over Korra. Rainbow, Twilight and Applejack reverted back to their pony forms as the others placed them all in their beds. Mako squatted down and placed a soft loving kiss on Korra's forehead. "Get some rest. We'll figure this all out tomorrow."
Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity all morphed back and tucked themselves in. Rarity looked up at the firebender with worry, "Do you think those ruffians would do anything with the chest?"
"I don't know." Mako responded. It was the only answer he could give her. Then, suddenly, he felt Korra reach for his arm. Her eyes were closed but her lips moved, as if she were speaking in her sleep.
"Lies…" she sand faintly. 
Mako began to worry and caressed her face. "Korra?" he listened as she spoke again;

A lying heart can not speak truth. 
An honest heart can not tell lies. 
Behind the mask of false truth.
A lost soul with deadly ties. 

Once she ended her rant, Korra feel into a deep sleep. This was the second time this happened. The Mane Six had no idea what this meant, but whatever it was, this would surely be of help in discovering who had 'deadly ties' with these criminals.


(~)


The next day, Mako and Flash waited for their girlfriends, who would be joining them in the interrogation of the guards. They spotted the girls walking towards them, looking healthy and bright-eyed as always. 
"How you feeling, sweetie?" Mako asked. Korra stretched out her wings.
"Pretty good. That toxins took a lot out of me, but I feel like my old self again."
"That's good to hear."
Flash greeted his girl with a warm hug. "You okay, too?"
"I'm alright." Twilight responded with a smile.
"Good. Lin, Su and Luna are waiting for us to interrogate the guards."
Korra sported on a determined expression. "Good. Let's get to the bottom of this." the Avatar took the lead as the others followed, but then Mako stopped her.
"Hey, Korra."
"Yeah?"
"Do you, remember anything else after Zaheer and his goons captured you?"
Korra pouted her lips in thought, her eyes scanning left and right trying to recall anything else that happened afterwords. "No. Not really. Just me going to sleep. Why?"
"Well, you kind of, soft of, well---"
"You started to talk like a physic guru." Flash bluntly said, earning an annoyed glare from Mako. 
"Thank you, Flash." he said sarcastically. 
Korra arched an eyebrow, "I what?"
"It was just like that time when me and Bolin were stuck in the lower ring. You spoke through Rarity with her Element of Generosity."
Korra remembered that. She said a weird rhyme and in it, It was hinted that Mako would find something, she assumed it would be airbenders but at it turns out it was his family all along. Then she realized, in a way, her rhyme did come true! Could this mean that, Korra…could see the future?
"I…I don't remember saying anything." 
"Well, you were pretty worn out." Mako pointed out.
"Maybe. What did I say?"
"You said, and I quote; 'A lying heart can not speak truth. An honest heart can not tell lies. Behind the mask of false truth. A lost soul with deadly ties."
Korra placed her knuckle near her chin, pondering what Mako claimed she said last night. "Deadly ties? What do you think that means?"
Twilight and Flash shrugged their shoulders, "How should we know." said the pegasus, "You're the one who said it."
This was all becoming very strange, first the criminals want to kidnap Korra for reasons unknown, they steal a magical chest that could not be opened and now Korra was speaking in rhymes foreseeing things of the future? What was next? A run in with poison joke? Ironically, not the strangest possibility.


(~)
 

In interrogation room, Aiwei was seated at one end of a small table, with a guard at the next. Su, Lin, Korra, Luna, Mako, Flash and Twilight all stood behind the man as he interrogated the guard. The anthro pegasus was holding a clipboard with a list of guards to interrogate. Aiwei continued to ask the same questions to each guard he interrogated. With his ability to tell when someone is lying, this would be no problem. 
"What is your full name?" Aiwei asked the first guard. The same route continued with the next and the next.
"Where were you last night?" 
"Do you have any knowledge of the people who tried to kidnap the Avatar?"
Time passed by and one by one, each guard gave him the answers he wanted. But as it seemed, almost none of them knew about Zaheer personally or what he wanted with Korra.
"My name is Zhu Guan."
"I was patrolling the south wall of the Beifong estates."
"I have absolutely no knowledge of the people who tried to kidnap Korra."
Aiwei looked back at Lin and shook his head, signaling that this man is not the culprit. This was the same routine for the past four hours. Finally, they interrogated not a guard, but a former crime lord billionaire. Korra had a hunch he was not to blame, but better safe than sorry, according to Mako's philosophy. 
"What was I doing last night?" Varrick asked, as cool as a cucumber. "Same thing I always do. From nine to ten, I checked my body for ticks. Lyme disease is a serious killer." he then stretched himself demonstrating the workout while Twilight and Flash rolled their eyes. "Then I did my nightly Varrick calisthenics, followed by thirty minutes of breath holding. I filmed the whole thing if you want to watch it."
Twilight placed her hand over her mouth, trying to fight the urge to vomit right then and there. Mako pinched the bridge of his nose white Korra simply looked at him in disgust and pity and Flash was face palming himself. Aiwei had heard enough.
"That won't be necessary."
Varrick bowed in respect to the three princesses and walked out. Flash crossed off his name off the clipboard. "Well, he's clean, though I gotta say I did bet money on him." he received annoyed glares from the princesses. "What?"
"It would seem no one here was responsible for what happened last night." said Princess Luna. But Lin was not done yet.
"Maybe it wasn't a guard after all." said the chief, "Maybe it was someone a little higher up the food chain. Aiwei, why don't you question Su?"
Korra could understand that Lin wanted to protect her but she needed to stop being so paranoid. And she especially need to stop pointing fingers at her own sister. The Avatar turned to the chief, her eyes flaring. "Lin, stop! Your sister was not involved!"
"No, I'll gladly be questioned. I have nothing to hide." Su sat down on the chair facing Aiwei, looking calm and confident. 
"Su, you don't have to." Twilight said.
"That's perfectly alright, Twilight." she turned to face her truth seeing, "Go ahead."
"What is your full name?" Aiwei began 
"Suyin Beifong. I'm the daughter of Toph and the only sister to Lin, and I had nothing to do with the attack last night."
Aiwei turned to the others. "She is telling the truth."
"This is a waste of time!" Korra snapped, annoyed that Lin would even think that her own sister would betray her like this. She grunted as she crossed her arms. "Just bring in the next guard!"
Flash looked down on his clipboard and called out the next guard, "Hong Li! You're up."
The guard walked in and sat down on the chair facing Aiwei. He was a strapping young man around eighteen-years-old with a pale complexion and dark hair and brown eyes. His expressions, posture and overall look didn't look guilty in the slightest, but looks could be deceiving. 
"Give me your name and tell me where you are from." Aiwei said.
"I'm Hong Li. I was born and raised here in Zaofu."
"Do you have any knowledge of the people who tried to kidnap the Avatar?"
"No." the young boy answered honestly. However, this time Aiwei stiffened and leaned forward. 
"Did you help the attackers enter Zaofu last night?"
"No, of course not."
Aiwei's eyes narrowed. "You're lying."
Hong Li's eyes widened in shock, "What?! No, I'm not!" 
Su walked over to the boy, her eyes burning with anger as she began interrogating him herself. "How did they get in and out?" to everyone's shock and horror, Su pulled the young man by his collar and pined him against the wall. "Where are they now?"
"I don't know! I'm telling you, I didn't help them!"
"You're a traitor to the entire clan!"
"Su, stop!"
Suddenly, Su was spontaneously moved away from Hong Li by a magical cyan blue aura that sparkled around her. Korra had impulsively used her magic to back Su away from the young guard, placing her beside her sister. Without even saying a word, Korra walked over to Hong Li. The guard was on the ground after having been freed from Su's power grip. The Avatar assisted him up by offering him her hand. He graciously accepted it. Korra could see the beams of sweat from his forehead and she could tell he was shaking, his heart was racing.
"It's okay, just calm down."
Su, Lin and Luna looked at Korra curiously but Twilight knew exactly what she was about to do. Korra placed her left hand on Hong Li's shoulder and placed her two right index fingers over his heart, just like she did with Kai and Varrick. Mako knew that Korra was trying her new ability to see into people's hearts. She kept her eyes locked on Hong Li, who began to blush at having the Princess Avatar so close to him. Her eyes were stern and focused as if she were searching for something. After a short while, her expression softened and she backed away from him.
"He's telling the truth." she said somewhat surprised. 
Even Su was shocked, "What? How is that possible? What did you do?"
"I know this sounds crazy, but I have this ability to see into people's hearts. He's not lying."
Luna's eyes widened in surprise, this was an entirely new and rare power she had just witnessed. "Incredible. I have never heard of an ability like that before."
Korra kindly turned to Hong Li, "You're free to go."
The young man bowed graciously, "Thank you, your highness." with that he prepared to leave but Aiwei stopped him.
"Wait. This doesn't make any sense. I can clearly tell he is lying."
"No, I'm not. Honest."
Mako stepped forward to Aiwei. "I agree with Korra. Her power hasn't been proven wrong before, why would they be wrong now?" his amber eyes narrowed at the truth seer, his attitude was already becoming suspicious here. But Aiwei remained calm.
"Just to be safe, I suggest we search his place."
Now it was Twilight's turn to get annoyed, she groaned in frustration, "This is ridiculous!"
"Twilight," Luna raised her hand to clam her fellow princess down. Her eyes then turned to Aiwei, though her glance was far from convinced. "If this will place your suspicions to rest, then so be it. However, I highly doubt we will find anything."


(~)


The group began to search for Hong Li's house. Asami and the rest of the ponies joined in the search. While Twilight levitated a few books from the shelf and examined the pages, but she really was just skimping rather than actually searching. Bolin and Spike searched the kitchen. Spike opened the oven and found nothing while Bolin opened a cover. Finally, Twilight slammed one book closed and placed them all back in the proper order. 
"This is a waste of time! Korra already said the guy was innocent and that's that." while Twilight ranted, one of the lizard spirits, Ali, picked up a piece of paper with her mouth and handed it to Mako. The young firebender read the note.
"I say we leave right now."
"You'll might want to rethink that, Twi." Mako said, catching everyone's attention. "Ali found something."
Bolin and Spike were both stuffing their faces with cookies from a jar. "What?" they both asked.
"Spike, Bolin! Put those back!" Applejack said sternly. The two boys gobbled up the remaining cookies in their mouths and placed the jaw back in the pantry. Everyone gathered around Mako as he read the note.
"It looks like it's from them. 'Team assembled. Ready to rendezvous.' "
Asami then handed Aiwei a book with green covers, "And look at this." 
Aiwei opened it up and read through the pages while Mako took a quick look at them. "These are the guards' logbooks." said Aiwei, "All their schedules and routes are in here." 
"Let me see that." Korra took the book away from Aiwei, rather aggressively and flipped through the pages. Her angry expression shifting to concern, and even worry as her eyes scanned the pages, reading the words in plain black and white. "He's right. It's all here."
"This doesn't make any sense." Twilight said, "You said he was innocent."
"Maybe I was wrong this time. These powers are still pretty new to me. Maybe I just felt sorry for the guy." Korra confessed, feeling pretty humiliated that her new powers had failed her. 
Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, fully convinced that this guard was guilty. "That guard knows everything." said the rainbow pegasus. "We have to get him to talk."
"Let's go confront him with this evidence right now." Mako said. But his eyes slightly widened in surprise at Aiwei's next response. 
"No. Let's give him a little time to sweat it out. He will talk eventually."
As Aiwei walked away, Mako formed a slightly suspicious look on his face. Aiwei walked pass Korra and all of a sudden, she felt a cold chill up her spine. Something was off here…way off. 
Before he could reach the door, Korra blocked Aiwei's path by teleporting herself in front of him, starling the man. "Hold on. If you were so sure he was lying, why are you backing down now? We have the evidence, what are you waiting for?"
Aiwei's eyes shifted from left to right, as if trying to calculate something in his mind. The Avatar's clear blue eyes piercing his very soul. "I just think he won't come clean if we confront him about it now."
Korra arched an eyebrow, she then realized she was standing pretty close to Aiwei. So close, his heart was only a hands reach away. To be safe, she began to reach for his heart. The Avatar slightly jumped when the man grabbed her wrist, rather tightly. Realizing this, he released her. Korra rubbed her wrist, still feeling his tense grip.
"Forgive me your highness. I--I guess my survival instincts kicked in." he bowed in apology and walked out the door. Korra looked at him suspiciously as did the rest of the group. 
Aiwei was definitely hiding something.


(~)


Latter on, Team Avatar was searching the remains of the battle scene. The lava from Ghazaan had resolved into dried up stone, surrounding the place. As they searched, Rarity watched her step, the dirt from the rocks getting on her beautiful white boots. 
"Ew! You know, just because they are villains doesn't mean they can't clean up after themselves."
Mako was squatting down examining the remains but they could not find any clues or anything. Korra was simply standing, her arms crossed, her mind wondering to Aiwei and his suspicious attitude. Pinkie Pie had resulted to making a rock sculpture with some of the dried up rocks. Rainbow Dash pinked the bridge of her human nose. "I don't understand why we're not talking to that guard right now."
"I agree with Rainbow Dash." Rarity said, "Every minute we waste here, those ruffians get further away."
Fluttershy removed a strand hair from her face, "I still don't understand how such a sweet guard could get involved with a group of supper criminals."
"You're right, Fluttershy." Mako said. "It makes no sense at all." 
"What do you mean, suguarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Think about it; that guard is only eighteen years old and has lived in Zaofu his entire life. Zaheer and his gang have been in prison for more than thirteen years."
Flash scratched the back of his head, unsurely, "I don't know, man. We all saw the evidence. It's pretty overwhelming."
"Maybe a little too overwhelming?"
The others jumped in shock and surprise when Varrick popped up from inside a hole. Rarity glared and clenched her fists. "Can't you just say 'hello' like a normal human being?"
"I could, but where's the fun in that?"
Rarity glared at him in annoyance and Bolin casually greeted his friend. "Hey, Varrick. What are you doing here?"
"Collecting pumice stones. That lava bender did a lot of damage, but he makes a nice exfoliating rock, and when you got callouses like mine, you take all the pumice stones you can get your hands on. Or in my case, feet." Varrick laughed, as he rubbed a stone against his foot, much to Team Avatar's disgust. Spike literally puked into the hole.
"What were you saying about the evidence?" Mako asked him, the billionaire smiled his signature cocky grin.
"I was saying that I can smell a conspiracy when I see one."
"No. Really?" Rarity said sarcastically while crossing her arms.
"Look, if I was trying to set someone up, I would tell everyone he's guilty and then plant the evidence in his apartment as proof."
"Oh, you mean exactly like what you did to me?" Mako said while crossing his arms.
"Yes, just like that! Remember how great that worked?" the glare he received from the firebender said otherwise, and Varrick's expression changed into one of regret. "Well, not for you. But hey, water under the bridge, right?"
Mako's eyes widened at the realization, "You're right." 
"About you ending up in jail?" Pinkie asked as she zipped by him.
"No. Well yeah, but besides that. All the evidence points to this guard, but maybe he's just the fallback."
"But for who?" Bolin asked. 
Finally, after being silent for far too long, the Avatar spoke, "For the only person who can truly keep a secret in this city: Aiwei."
"Korra's right." Mako said, "He's the only other logical culprit."
Pinkie Pie pondered, "He was acting pretty suspicious back there."
"He was." Korra said. "When I reached out to feel his heart, he grabbed my wrist."
Once Spike was done vomiting, he wiped his chin and looked up at the girls, "He could just be a guy who likes his personal space."
Twilight pondered at this, "Or, it could be he knows your powers are legit. Which means he does have something to hide."
"Exactly." Korra responded with a snap of her fingers.
"For two dames in tiaras, you've got good heads on your shoulders." Varrick complimented. The girls arched their eyebrows.
"Um, thanks?"


(~)


With the ponies in their pony forms, Team Avatar, along with the spirit trio, approached the outside of Aiwei's house. It was as mall cozy metal-like cottage on the very edge of Su's estate, surrounded by a green bush wall around his yard and a metallic entrance. The team squatted down and Bolin peeked into the window as did Spike.
"He's not home." Bolin said. 
"Or he's hiding in there." Spike said. 
Then Bolin gasped, "Or he's invisible." both Spike and Mako looked at Bolin skeptically. "Probably just not home."
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and pounded her hooves together. "Let's go in there and make the guy talk. Ponyville style!"
"No." Mako said, "We have to first find some evidence that links Aiwei to Zaheer, otherwise Su won't believe us."
Rainbow flew up to the door, "Alright, stand back everybody, I'm breaking this thing down!"
To the pegasus's surprise, Korra simply walked on by, turned the knob and opened the door with ease by using her magic. "Or we could just walk right in." Korra said while sassily placing one hand on her hip and arching an eyebrow.
"You know, a long time ago you would have been fine with breaking a door down." Rainbow said, rather disappointingly.
"Only if there's no other option." Korra affectionately petted her head as she and the others all walked inside. The team scattered around the place, searching for anything that could serve as solid evidence. Twilight and Flash looked in the book shelves, while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew into the bedroom chamber and Spike looked underneath the carpets.
"Nothing here." said the dragon.
Pinkie Pie was looking inside the vases. She appeared from inside an incredibly slim one from which it was nearly impossible for her to fit in the first place. She then appeared again from within a completely different vase right beside Korra who was inspecting the counters.
"Nothing in here, either." said the pony.
Asami flipped through a book on a table, but there were no words on it or pictures. "It's just an empty book."
Rarity and Applejack inspected the kitchen, and both popped their head from the entrance, speaking to Mako. "Nothin' on our end." said Applejack.
"Although it wouldn't kill him to dust under the fridge." Rarity said, before her rose twitched and she sneezed. "Ah--ah--cho! See?"
The two pegasus mares flew back from the bedroom. "We've struck out." said Rainbow Dash.
Mako looked for anything on Aiwei's desk, with some help from his 'kids', while Bolin searched the jars and such on his bookshelf. He was particularly interested in one little piece. "Hmm, it's like a desert on a jar."
"Bolin, put that back!" his brother snapped, "We don't want Aiwei to know we were in here if we can't find anything." 
Bolin moved to put the jar back, but had forgotten where it was before. "Hu?" 
"You forgot where it goes, didn't you?" Mako impatiently placed the jack back on its shelf a few inches from where it originally was. Then, Ali began to chirp in Mako's ear and flew towards the right side of the bookshelf, pointing down to the floor with her tail. This little spirit had some massive detective skills, just like her old man. 
"Good job, Ali." Mako squatted down and saw some marks on the floor. "These look like scuff marks. I think this bookshelf slides open." he slide the shelf to the side and the others gathered around him. Behind the shelf was a a cellar with a door at the very end. Looks like they found their evidence.  
"What do you think is down there?" Korra asked.
"Could be a storage cellar." Bolin said. 
"Or it could be how Zaheer got in and out." Mako said.
"Or it could be a secret underground dance room with a disco theme party every weak!" Everyone arched an eyebrow at Pinkie Pie's far fetched idea. "Or, it could be what Mako said."
The others turned around when they heard Asami cry out, "Aiwei's coming back! Quick."
The friends ran off of the stairs and slide the bookshelf back where it was, as Aiwei entered his home. The man was certainly not expecting a bunch of teenagers, and ponies, in his house. "What are doing in my house? You are trespassing on the property of one of the highest-ranked officials in the city. You'd better have a good explanation."
Bolin spoke first, "We do. We do. We actually knocked on your front door and we thought we heard you say," Bolin spoke in a higher pitched voice. " 'Come in, I'm in the bathroom!' " silence surrounded the room as Bolin grinned sheepishly. 
Rainbow Dash hoof palmed herself, "We're dead."
Knowing this was futile, Bolin lowered his arms in defeat, his voice reverting back to normal. "I don't even know why I'm saying that. You know I'm lying, and you don't even sound like that."
Twilight flew up, facing Aiwei. "We came here because things weren't adding up, and we thought you might have some answers."
Aiwei's expression remained stern as he gestured to his couch. "Sit. If you want to talk, let's talk over some tea."
The Avatar eyed the liquid suspiciously as the man poured it into the cup in front of her. Twilight was on her lap while Rainbow sat on Asami's, Spike on Mako's and Pinkie Pie on Bolin's. Fluttershy, Flash, Applejack and Rarity sat on the couch with Bolin and Asami, who both sat on the same couch while Mako and Korra sat on opposite seats. The trio sat with them, Ali with Mako, Mika with Korra and San with his 'uncle' Bolin, all on their shoulders. None of them dared to take a sip of the tea.
"Now, what is not adding up exactly? Hong Li was clearly lying and we found evidence in his apartment." Aiwei said.
"But don't you think it's weird how young he is?" said Applejack, "How did he ever get mixed up with this group?"
Aiwei walked toward the bookshelf, maintaining his cool. "Perhaps through a relative, or maybe he was bribed. We will find out those answers in time. But if it wasn't him, who do you think it was?" he asked, keeping his back towards them while facing his bookshelf. The friends all exchanged looks of uncertainty. They knew they couldn't lie, but since the ponies were not on the floor, they could.
"We don't know." said Flash Sentry. 
"You don't think I had something to do with this, do you?" Aiwei said as he moved the jar Bolin had moved back to its original spot.
Twilight eyed at Bolin who looked down in shame. He just had to touch the jar. Korra was done playing these games, but she maintained her cool. "We're just looking for answers." she said, her little spirit Mika hissed at the man, her wings slightly spread in an intimidating fashion. The spirit had a fiery side just like her 'mommy'.
"And you think you've found something, don't you?" Aiwei maintained his back to them. He looked down at his feet, noticing the bookshelf had been moved. The team all looked at one another nervously. 
Aiwei had figured them out.
"You have no idea what is coming for you, Princess Avatar."
Like a flash, Aiwei metalbended his stairs upward in an attempt to trap the group. Rainbow Dash and Twilight both flew up amd firebended at the new wall, but it had no effect. Korra rushed up and metalbended into the wall, but only made a small rupture.
"Come on, he's getting away!" Mako exclaimed frantically, earning a glare and a snappy remark from his girlfriend. 
"I'm still a little new at this, so back off!" 
Korra took in a deep breath, moved her arms and managed to break through the wall, tearing it wide open and the gang ran to the cellar. Korra turned the handle and opened the door, only to find what appeared to be a large tin gallon with something beeping attached to it, which exploded no more than two seconds after Korra opened the door.
It was a bomb!
From outside, Aiwei's house went up in smoke, the explosion was heard all around the estate. Princess Luna heard it and rushed to the scene, along with Lin and Su.
Korra and Twilight both created a protection force field around them and their friends, which kept them safe from the impact. Once the force field faded, the entire place was trashed, pieces of the house were scattered all around and flames were everywhere. Korra grunted in anger and the group walked ahead cautiously into the other room, but found no trace of Aiwei. 
"He's gone." said Mako bitterly. 
Applejack spotted a small opening nearly covered by debris. "Look, he must've escaped through there!" she morphed into her anthro form and turned to Bolin. "Help me clear it out."
Bolin and Applejack worked together to open the path with their earthbending, only to reveal a tunnel entrance, as Lin, Luna and Su ran into the room.
"What happened? We heard an explosion." Lin said with concern. Luna rushed over to Korra and the ponies.
"Are you girls alright?"
"We're fine, princess." said Twilight
"Where's Aiwei?" Su asked.
"Your trusted adviser is the one who betrayed us." Korra confessed. "He was lying about the guard."
Su's eyes widened in shock, "What? No!"
"We confronted him and he bolted through here." Korra pointed to the pathway. Lin stomped her foot, using her seismic sense on the tunnel. She turned to her sister, 
"He must have collapsed the tunnel behind him."
"And he rigged an explosion to destroy any evidence that might have been here." said Mako.
"This is where Zaheer got in and out." Rarity said. "Aiwei was the traitor."
Su didn't know how to react to this. Her most trusted advisor was a traitor. "I ... trusted him."
A female guard rushed in to Su, "Is everyone okay?"
"Aiwei is a fugitive." Lin stated, "Get all available guards to search the mountainside, and find out where this tunnel exits immediately!
Kuvira obeyed her orders, and once she left Lin walked over to comfort her saddened sister. Mako surprised Korra by placing a hand on her shoulder. "You knew this was going to happen."
Korra looked at him skeptically, "What are you talking about?"
"What you said last night. Behind the mask of false truth. A lost soul with deadly ties. You were having a vision about Aiwei. About his betrayal."
Korra's eyes widened in shock. What she had said did depict what just happened. Luna was fascinated by this news. She approached Korra and lifted up her chin to look at her. "You…had a vision?"
"I…I think so."
Luna silently gasped. Just like her mother…Korra had the gift. 


(~)


In Su's office, the Beifong sisters and Team Avatar as well as the princesses all sat (ponies in anthro form). Korra and Mako were both standing, angrily glaring down at the ground for having allowed Aiwei to escape. The female guard ran to the door.
"What did you find?" Lin asked
"We located the end of the tunnel, but there's no sign of him. Just some fresh tire tracks." 
"He had an escape plan all ready to go." Mako stated in an angry tone. Just like his girl, he hatted loosing the bad guy, especially when they manage to outsmart you. It's humiliating and infuriating. Rainbow Dash shared their frustration. 
"I swear the next time I see him I'll firebend that nose-earring thingy right off of his face!"
"I trusted him with my life." Su said sadly, making Rainbow change her aggressive attitude as she looked at the woman with sympathy. "I thought we were family, but it was all a lie."
Princess Luna walked around the room, her arms crossed, her expression calm but stern and serious all at the same. "Whoever these people are, they have proven themselves to be even more powerful than we thought, and more dangerous."
"That's why we have to find them." Korra said, "We're going to hold off our search for airbenders and hunt down Aiwei. Naga can track his scent."
"And I bet if we find Aiwei, we'll find Zaheer." said Twilight. 
Rainbow Dash pumped her fists into the air. "Alright! Those creeps won't know what hit them!"
Spike also jumped up and began kicking and punching. "Yeah! They'll think twice before messing with a ferocious fire breathing dragon!"
Mako arched an eyebrow, "Ferocious? You wear an apron and bake blueberry muffins while singing show-tunes." 
Spike glared at the firebender and crossed his arms, turning away from him, his nose held high. "Well, see if next time I'll even let you have a muffin."  
Lin stood up from her seat, snapping "Are you crazy?!"
"Okay fine, I'll let him have one."
"Not that! We're not hunting this group." she said to Korra, "There could be other secret agents in other parts of the world looking for you right now! I'm taking you back to Republic City, where I can protect you."
"If I wasn't safe here, then I'm not safe anywhere. I have to stop them!" Korra said with fierce determination. 
Pinkie Pie briefly jumped up exclaiming enthusiastically; "Face off!"
"It's too dangerous! You are not going!" Lin snapped.
"Stop trying to protect me! I'm the Avatar and a Princess. This is my job!"
"Don't lecture me about jobs!"
Su stood up and stopped the two from bickering any more. "Enough! Korra, listen to Lin."
"But… they…"
"Please. Lin's only looking out for you. I promise you, Aiwei and everyone he's working with will be brought to justice."
"I agree with Su." said Princess Luna. "It is best if you leave and return to the city. I would rest much more soundly knowing that you are." 
Korra didn't want to hide or run. Sure she was scared but if there was anything she had learned from the past if that you mustn't let your fears get the better of you and you must make sacrifices for the greater good. 
"Korra."
The Avatar turned her attention to Fluttershy who spoke and stood up, placing her hands behind her back. 
"We know you want to stop them, we do too. But they're right, they are far too dangerous even for you and all of us. Besides, if by a chance they did manage to take you…I don't know what I would do."
This was enough to convince Korra. There was no way she was going to place herself in harm's way just because she wanted to settle a score with these jerks. She couldn't put her friends through that, they had already been through enough. Besides, it was Korra they were after not the ponies. In fact, they didn't appear to have any interest in the ponies at all, just her. Korra walked over to Fluttershy and welcomed her in a warm loving hug that only a sister could give.
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." once they released she turned to Su, Lin and Luna. "I'll go back. If you really think it's best."
"I do." Su said.
Lin smiled and placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Thank you, Su."
Suyin adressef the rest of the group. "Everyone should get some rest tonight. I'll have my people prep your airship and you can leave first thing in the morning."


(~)


In the Team's apartment, everyone sat around the place, bored and upset. Sitting around while a group of criminals were on the loose was not their thing. Never was. Rarity and Spike were already done with the packing. Even the fancy unicorn was upset about this.
"Well, this certainly is a fine mess. A group of valiant heroes wallowing in self pity and regret while those cold, heartless ruffians are out there causing who knows what! Of all the worst things that could happen, this is the. Worst. Possible. Thing!" 
Mako pinched the bridge of his nose, "Not the overly dramatic couch flop, again." 
Just as he predicted, Rarity levitated her infamous fainting couch and flopped on it, crying her eyes out. "Oh, whoa is us! Why, why, why-hy-hy-hy-hy!" Rarity briefly stopped, noticing how everyone else was ignoring here. "Why do I even bother?."
Twilight sat up and walked round the room. "I can't stand this. We've faced way more dangerous things before, why are we running away from these jerks?"
Flash opened his mouth to respond, "Well, Lin did say that--"
"Oh, sure what Lin said, just because she said so it doesn't mean she's right."
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Korra walked over and turned the nob, surprised to see who it was. 
"Su? Princess Luna?"
"You really think Naga could track Aiwei?" Su asked.
"Definitely." Korra responded. 
"Then, here." to her and everyone's surprise, Su handed Korra a pair of car keys. "There's a jeep packed with supplies on the east gate. It's all gassed up and ready to go."
"What? Why?" Korra asked in confusion. She had no idea what was going on.
"Because I want you to hunt down Aiwei and bring him back to me."
Bolin began, "But you said -"
"I said what Lin wanted to hear and I bought you guys some time. Go. I'll deal with Lin in the morning."
"Wait a second." Korra said and turned to the princess, "I thought you agreed with Lin too. You told Celestia--"
"I know what I said." Luna stated, "And while I am indeed worried for your safety that does not give me the right to deny you of your destiny. Those criminals have the chest from the Tree of Harmony, which is connected to the seven of you. It is you and you alone who must retrieve it, for whatever happens to it you will know what to do."
"How?"
"You just will."
Korra turned to the rest of her friends, all sharing the same determined looks, agreeing that they should go after Aiwei and Zaheer. However, Korra's eyes fell on Fluttershy. 
"Flutters? Are you okay with this?"
The pegasus pony's hair covered her face, but Korra could sense this was not sadness growing inside of her. She removed the strands of hair from her face and looked at the avatar with determination. 
"I've been wanting to get even with those guys the minute they hurt my friends. And nobody should get away with blowing people up. Count me in." her brave face reverted back to her shy one, "Did that sound too harsh?"
Korra affectionately petted the pegasus's head in reassurance. "Let's get this guy!" 
"Rode trip!" Spike said as he placed a pair of shades. Korra then surprised Su with a gracious hug. 
"Thanks." Su hugged the Avatar in return and then hugged Princess Luna. "I won't let you down." Korra promised.
"I know you won't."


(~)


The group reached the jeep and were surpassed to find some familiar faces. 
"Huan?"
"Rarity."
"Hey, Wing!"
"Sup, Rainbow Dash."
"Wei?"
"Hey, Korra."
"I'm here too." Mako stated with a glare and crossing his arms, making the metalbender back away slightly. 
"What are you doing here?" Rarity asked her fellow artist friend.
"We couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye." it didn't take long for Rarity to hug Huan. "I will miss you my friend."
"So will I."
Rainbow Dash and Applejack fist pumped Wing, "Take care you guys."
"We will, partner." said Applejack. 
Wei approached Korra and smiled kindly. "I know our relationship didn't go as planed but--"
"What relationship? We never had one to begin with."
"Work with me here! Anyway, It was nice knowing you and I'm gonna miss you."
Korra smiled sweetly. Wei really was a nice guy and she knew he would find someone someday. And in all honesty, it was kind of sweet that he had a crush on her. She then opened up her arms, welcoming him in for a hug. "Come here." Wei and Korra shared a friendly hug. But when Korra was ready to let go, she realized Wei was still holding on. "Uh, Wei, you can let go now."
"Oops, sorry." the released the Avatar while blushing and earned a glare from Mako, who placed his arm around Korra to make a point. 
Huan gestured to the jeep, "Go on, leave before aunt Lin finds out you're gone."
Spike jumped onto the driver's seat. "I'll drive!"
"Can't reach the pedals." Asami said.
"You'll drive!"
And so, with Korra ridding on Naga's back, and her friends ridding on the jeep, the winged ponies flying beside them, the group rode off into the night in the hunt for the man who betrayed Su's trust.
And Zaheer. 


(~)