//------------------------------// // The Reunion // Story: The Little Pony Legend 4: Balance of the Heart // by MaggiesHeartLove //------------------------------// *(~)* Hebrew 10:25 ~ And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. *(~)* The Reunion Twilight flew down and landed on Air Temple Island's courtyard, where she spotted Naga sleeping outside, soaking up the sun. Beside her, the little dragon Spike also slept. Pabu rode on her shoulder. The fire ferret leaped off and pounced at Naga's unmoving tail. He played with it, not once disturbing the large creature. This wasn't the first time Pabu had played with her tail while she slumbered, and given how tiny his teeth were it really didn't bother her. In fact, she didn't even notice and slumbered as if nothing was happening. The tips of the tail tickled a slumbering Spike's nose. His nostrils twitched and he began to sneeze. "Ah…ah…ACHOO!" The dragon blasted a powerful green fire from his mouth which woke him up, making Twilight giggle. "Twilight! That's not funny!" "Ha, ha, ha! It kind of is, Spike." suddenly, Twilight's felt a familiar tingly feeling and her Element of Harmony manifested on her chest, blinking rapidly. Naga finally awoke upon hearing the shimmering sound coming from the star shaped jewel, rising her head in curiosity. Twilight's eyes shimmered. She knew this feeling. "Could it be?" A loud groan was heard from above and the alicorn, dragon and furry creatures looked up to see Pepper descending towards the ground. From the saddle, they saw a woman with long light brown and blue colored wings, her long dark brown colored hair with several blue streaks billowed in the wind behind her, appearing like restless ocean waves. She leaned forward on the saddle, waving her arm at the group down bellow. "Twilight! Naga!" Twilight, at first, could barely get her legs to move, until the reality of who the voice belonged to sunk in. "Korra?…" a smile appeared on her face and she and Spike ran ahead after Naga, wagging her tail happily with Pabu still bitting onto it. The polar bear dog sprung up from her resting spot and dashed ahead. Twilight called out once again, with Spike in tow. "Korra!" Not wanting to waste another moment, Korra spread her wings open and flew downward before the bison did and ran towards the alicorn princess who speeded faster to greet her. "Korra!" "Twilight!" At long last, Twilight could feel her sister's warm embrace around her body. Her tight loving hugs that made her feel safe and secure. Tears of joy rolled down Korra's eyes as she held her fellow Princess close. She didn't want to let go. She felt like she had not seen her in three years, four if she counted her first year in Republic City. Her mind was foggy, lost in a false reality, but reality was right here now. She could touch it and feel it. This was real. "I missed you so much!" Korra said, her voice cracking a bit due to the tears. "I missed you too!" Twilight wiped away a tear once the ended the hug, but their hands were still clapped together. No force on earth could separate them. "Where have you been? Everyone's been worried sick, we couldn't locate you anywhere." "I'll explain everything, I promise." but that would have to wait, seeing how Naga had jumped in between the two, lifting Korra off the ground with her snout. Twilight only giggled upon seeing Naga excitedly greet her mistress. He licked Korra's face and jumped around her like a like a happy little puppy. Korra embraced her beloved animal companion, hugging her head. "I missed you so much, girl!" Rainbow and Fluttershy approached as well and the four girls embraced in another hug, until a little voice was heard from down bellow. "Hey! Remember me?" "Spike!" Korra kneeled down and held the dragon in her arms, "Little buddy, how could I ever forget you?" Korra examined her scaly little friend, "Wow, did you grew a few inches while I was gone?" "You could say that." Spike said proudly while showing off his 'biceps'. "Mom! Dad!" Meelo yelled as he and his sisters ran towards the temple, "We're back! And we got Korra!" Bumi walked out, upon hearing the commotion, and smiled broadly once he saw the Avatar. Bum-Ju floated alongside him, chirping happily. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Bumi wrapped his arms around Korra's waist, lifting her off the ground. After those years with the airbenders, Bumi had once again lost his belly fat. "Bum-Ju and I sure missed you." he said as he released the human alicorn. "It's so great to see you again, Bumi. And you too, Bum-Ju." Korra tickled the little spirit's chin, making him whistle happily, his insect-like ear wings flapping as a result. Tenzin, Pema and P'Li walked out of the temple to greet the children. Pema hugged Meelo while Ikki hugged her father, and Jinora greeted P'Li with a hug. "Well done kids!" Tenzin said. "I'm proud of you all for finding Korra." "Proud enough to get me my tats?" Meelo asked, pointing a thumb at himself while raising a brow up and down in an attempt to persuade his father. Tenzin only narrowed his eyes and gave replied with a flat, "No." as he approached Korra. Meelo pouted in disappointment, while Pema stifling a laugh. Upon seeing Tenzin, Korra spread her arms open and hugged her mentor, resting her head against his chest. "Welcome home." he said in a loving, fatherly manner. "I missed you, Tenzin." They heard a cartoonish sounding zip from across the courtyard. Pinkie Pie screeched to a halt. "Where is she? I heard someone say--- her blue eyes widened at the sight of the Avatar and a wide smile appeared on her face. A smile no one other than Pinkie Pie could give, "Korra!" "Pinkie Pie!" The hyperactive Pony didn't even give Korra a chance to walk up to her. With her airbending, Pinkie rushed towards her at top speed, embracing her friend in the warmest and most loving hug she could give, nearly tumbling Korra over. "You're back!" Korra returned the hug and her heart only filled with more joy at the sight of Rarity and Applejack. Korra felt more tears forming once Pinkie released the hug and Korra ran at the exact same moment the two remaining ponies did. Before long, the fashionista and country girl had their arms around Korra, who sobbed happily. This was really happening. This was real. She honestly could not find any better way to express her feelings right now. She had no words, but her tears spoke for her. "Rarity! Applejack! It's so great to see you!" "It's great to see you to, Korra-kins!" Rarity wiped off the tears from her eyes with the back of her gloved hand, "You've only been gone for six months but for some strange reason it felt longer." "To me it was." Korra said, "Three years, to be exact." Applejack arched an eyebrow, "Three years? How is that even possible?" "I'll explain everything latter, right now I'm just so relieved to be home." and so, the rest of the Mane Six embraced their beloved sister in another group hug. P'Li smiled at the scene. Once the hug ended Korra spotted the combustion bender and happily welcomed her in a hug as well. "It's good to see you again, Korra." "You too, P'Li." "Now, I hate to get right down to business, but I want to hear what happened in Zaofu." Tenzin said. The softness of his tone has shifted into seriousness mixed with genuine concern. Korra hung her head, a look of regret and shame flashed in her eyes, her wings dropping slightly, mirroring her emotions. The ponies all had their ears lowered down, further emphasizing the drastic change in atmosphere. The aura of happiness that came with their reunion had shifted faster than any of them could keep up with. "Way to ruin the moment." Bumi said bitterly with visible annoyance at his younger brother. As much as he knew of the dangers at hand, the girls had just gotten back together again. Bumi had watched the poor ponies wander around with constant worry over their best friend. Just when it seemed all would be well again, as always, the fight was not over. "Kuvira's whole army was there." Opal said seriously, "She captured Mom, Dad, and my brothers." "I thought I was strong enough to stop her." Korra said regretfully. "I feel like such a failure." Twilight rested her hand on her friend's shoulder while Rarity took hold of Korra's right hand. "No one expected you to handle Kuvira on your own." Twilight said, "It's up to all of us to find a way to deal with her." "We're just glad to have you back." Rarity said before resting her head on Korra's shoulder like a younger sister looking to her eldest one for safety and reassurance. Then, she fully noticed her cloths…and her scent. Rarity's nose twitched and rose her head up, cringing. "Um, darling. Two questions; Why are you dressed like an Earth Kingdom hobo and smell like you've been living the jungle?" Korra blushed from embarrassment, "Long story, I'll tell you all about it…right after I take a shower. Pronto!" "Where's Bolin?" Bumi asked, "He's not still on Kuvira's side, is he?" Opal looked down in disappointment. "I can't believe he would stay with her after what she did to my family. But we don't know where he is." "I hope he's okay." said Spike worriedly. "I'm sure he is." said Rainbow Dash, "The guy grew up on the streets with Mako. Pretty sure he can handle anything that maniac throws at him." (~) The poor Bolin panted as he went on. His legs were on fire and his back felt as if it would finally snap after of carrying Varrick. At first, it was to help him out after he was too tired to move, but that was eight hours ago. Bolin's hair was a mess, styled upwards and spread all over like spikes, his cloths were coded in mud and partly torn around the pants and sleeves. Varrick was in equal shape, only he was sporting a five-o'clock shadow. Melody's braid was messy with pieces of hair sticking out everywhere, she had bangs under her eyes due to lack of sleep and her cloths were in just as bad shape as her male companions. "How about you use your own legs for a while?" Bolin said in between breaths. For a skinny guy, Varrick sure was heavy. "You know, once when my satomobile broke down Zhu Li carried me twenty miles in one day. And that was after she sprained her ankle." Bolin finally straightened his back and purposely dropped the non-bender off of his back. "Well, Zhu Li's not here, okay?" Bolin exclaimed, seeing Varrick now laying on the his back. The southern water tribe man sighed in defeat and waved his hand at Bolin, as if shooing him away. "That's fine, leave me here, let the worms gobble me up. I deserve it." he spread open his arms, as if already expecting the cold hands of death to come and take him right then and now. Melody shared Bolin's annoyance and spoke in a demanding tone at the man laying on the ground. "No way mister! You're not getting off that easily! You're responsible for that weapon Kuvira is trying to make. Which, may I remind you, could hurt a lot of people!" Varrick clenched his head and began to turn from side to side on the ground before sitting up in despair, "No, don't remind me! I know, I'm a horrible, horrible person!" he blinked once realization strike him. "Wait a second. Aren't you the one who used your freaky musical voodoo to turn us into your half-mindless slaves? Seems to be, I'm not the real bad guy here." Melody wanted to get angry at him, but she knew he was right. She was to blame as well. "You're right. This is my fault." Realizing they were never going to go anywhere like this, Bolin decided it was high time for him to man up and take charge. He addressed to the two in a calm voice to try and lift up their spirits."Okay, look. Kuvira, Dazzle and Starblaze fooled us all into doing their dirty work and I'm not happy about it either. But, you know how we're gonna make it up to the world?" "How?" Melody asked. "By getting back to Republic City and warning everyone what she's up to!" he turned to Varrick, who looked up at him, and extended his hand. "So, I want you to take my hand and march with me out of this forest!" Bolin said in a positive and encouraging voice as he pointed his finger forwards. Melody was pretty moved by Bolin's courage and determination. Varrick smiled and took Bolin's hand and stood back up with his help. "You really have a way with words, kid. No wonder I made you a mover star." he said as he patted Bolin's cheeks, "All right, I'll take the driver's seat for a while, hop on." Varrick generously bended, offering to carry Bolin. He figured it was the least he could do for not abandoning him in the woods, and for his words of encouragement. "Oh, great, my feet could use a break." Bolin sighed in relied before jumping onto Varrick back. He nearly collapsed due to the weight, but managed to sustain himself. He strained but managed to lift Bolin off the ground, his legs bended and trembling, looking as if they would break at any moment. Watching the thiner man trying to carry a more athletically built young man on his back made Melody cringe. That did not look pleasant for the back. Varrick grunted, "Oh, boy, Melody you want a ride?" "Um. I think I'll just keep walking." "Suit yourself. Here we go!" Varrick took one, very, slow step…almost as slow as a turtle. Once his foot touched the ground again, the three screamed as they were spontaneously caught up in a net that had been hiding underneath the levees this whole time. "Are you kidding me?!" Bolin exclaimed in annoyance, as he and his friends now dangled from the tree branch. (~) Asami was nearly done with her paper work, when she spotted the picture of her and Bolin on her desk. She picked it up and sighed sadly. She really did miss him. She was interrupted by her thoughts when the phone rang. "Hello? What? Who? Pinkie Pie, slow down you know I can't understand you when…she's what?!" (~) "Flash, I'm home!" Mako walked in on his pony brother, literally, banging his head against the wall while resting his hands against it, repeatedly saying, "Ow…ow…ow…ow.." "Tough day with the prince?" "You have no idea." said the pony and continued to bang his head, "Ow…ow…ow…ow…" The phone rang and Mako quickly answered it. "Hello? Wait what? Who's got--Pinkie Pie, what did we say about talking like a roadrunner while on the phone?….What?" as the pony spoke Mako felt his heart race, "Okay, okay, um, meet me at Kuans Cuisine in an hour. No wait, make that one hour and thirty minutes!" he quickly hung up the phone as a wide smile appeared on his face. Flash stopped banging his head, seeing the future prince now frantically pacing back and forth. "What happened?" "Okay, okay stay calm." Mako said to himself as he paced around the apartment, "I gotta reserve a table, big enough for three people and six ponies. Should I get flowers? What am I saying, of course I need to get flowers!" "Mako! What's going on?!" "Korra's back!" "What?" "Korra's back! She's back!" Flash gasped in awe and joy, "She's back!" (~) After a good shower, Korra was changing into some new cloths while behind a long curtain in her room inside her palace. Rarity had arranged a lovely version of her water tribe outfit, decorated with patterns on the shirt and slim pants with new longer bellow the knee boots. "So, you've been living in a swamp for several days with Lin's mother?" Rarity asked as she handed Korra the shirt for her to put on. "Pretty much." "What was she like?" Pinkie Pie asked. "A grumpier, more bitter version of Lin." The mares all looked at one another in confusion. "Is that even possible?" Twilight asked. Korra smiled as she popped her head from behind the curtain, "You'd be surprised." "But what was it like living in that filthy, muddy place?" Rarity asked, all while crinkling her nose at the thought. "Well, there were a lot of things to explore, but I really did miss taking a hot shower. I had to bathe in a lake, and I won't even tell you what we had to use for a toilet." Rarity shuddered at the thought, "You poor thing. Though, it is a shame you had to return in a time of crisis. There's so much catching up to do!" "For starters," said Applejack, "A certain firebender couldn't stop worryin' about you." Korra sighed, looking at the ring on her finger. The memory of it had finally returned, but all the other ones that had clouded her mind to the point of depression was still jarring. "I still can't believe I had forgotten. About…all of this." "What I still can't believe is that Kuvira would do something like this." Twilight said in a disapproving voice. "Hello! It's Kuvira. The woman's a total nutcase!" Rainbow stated bluntly, then tapped her chin in thought, "Although, it's still pretty weird that she knew how to make a potion to begin with." Korra walked out of the curtain, now fully dressed. It felt so good to be in her old cloths again. "Well, she may have won this round, but the next time we meet she won't be so lucky." "Now there's the Korra we know and love!" A knock on the door was heard, "Is she done?" "You can come on in, Spike. It's safe." Korra called out. The polite little dragon entered the room, his claw covering his eyes as to not see anything. Once he was certain things were okay, he removed his claw. "We should get going, the others are already at the restaurant." Pinkie Pie clapped her hands happily, "Yay! The old team back together again!" Korra smiled excitedly. She was going to see the rest her friends again. And her true love. (~) Asami and Sunset Shimmer arrived at the restaurant on time, reading magazines while sitting on comfy sofas in the waiting room. Sunset's ears perked upwards when she saw more figures approaching. She smiled and Asami noticed the presence as well. "I hope you haven't been waiting long." said the brown-haired princess with wings. "Only six months." Asami got up from where she sat and happily embraced her friend, who she considered like a sister. "It's so good to see you again." "You too." she smiled towards the red and yellow haired pony girl behind the heiress. "And you, Sunset Shimmer." After so long, the two old friends hugged. Sunset was so thrilled to see her friend again. She really owed a lot to Korra. "By the way, thanks for coming up with that locater spell to find me." Sunset blushed at the compliment, fiddling with her hair, "It was nothing. I'm just happy it worked." "Yeah, it did." Rainbow said, her face then shifted to awkwardness, "Uuuunless you count the time we lost the map but, we still found her." Asami noticed the half-cut half-long look Korra now sported. "I'm loving the new hair-style." Korra tugged on the locks of hair framing the sides of her face, smiling confidently from the compliment, and addressed to Asami's outfit, "Thanks. And you, you're looking snazzy as always. What else is new?" Asami chuckled at the light hearted joke, "Come on. Mako got us a table at the restaurant. He's been running all over the place getting everything perfect." Korra chuckled, "Yep. That's my man all right." (~) Since Mako had ties to royalty, money was no object. He managed to get them the family table, fit for all of them, especially if the ponies chose to remain in pony form, which really wasn't an issue. One waiters placed a small simple vase with a white rose in the center and turned to the firebender. "Is this to your liking, Prince Mako." "It's perfect. Thank you." the waiter bowed and went back to work. "Okay, everything seems to be in order." He grabbed a spoon and checked his hair and teeth for anything. Once he was satisfied he inspected his cloths. "How do I look? Okay? Fine? Too much? Should I have worn my other jacket?" Flash face palmed himself, "Mako, she's your fiance, she's gonna lie and say you look nice." Mako narrowed his eyes, feeling offended. Flash chuckled nervously and gave him a thumbs up, "Hey, rocking the hair!" "Expecting anyone?" Mako's head jerked up at the sound of an all too familiar voice. He turned around and his breath was caught in his throat. She had been gone for six months, and yet it felt like he had only seen her yesterday. She was still as beautiful as ever. Her smile so filled with joy as her sparkling eyes looked directly into his own. For a moment, time stood still for them. Mako's heart leaped inside his chest, that same fervid flame that she had ignited long ago was burning once again. Without taking their eyes off of each other, they extended their hands and their fingers intertwined. "I missed you." Mako said, gazing into the eyes of his fiance. "I missed you, too." Korra's hands reached his neck, while his arms rapped around her waist, and the two shared a loving, passionate kiss. They took their time to really cherish this moment. A moment they had been so wrongly deprived of. Slowly, their lips parted but they remained in that same position. After months of wandering the earth kingdom, and the idea that she and Mako had remained broken up for the past three years, being here with him was like a dream. She feared she would wake up soon and she would be back in the streets, or worse…back in that wheelchair. But no. This was not a dream. This was reality. A perfect, blissful reality….unfortunately, not everything in reality was that great. A certain annoying prince unexpectedly popped up in between them, sadly forcing the two to part. Mako glared at Wu, nearly ready to burn his hair off. Korra, on the other hand, was rather surprised to see this random stranger just appear out of nowhere like that. Wu smiled at the Avatar, already smitten by her beauty. Mako sure had great taste in princesses. "Hello there, Prince Wu, rightful heir to the throne and Mako's pal." he said as he poked Mako in the chest with his elbow, angering him even further. "I bet he's told you a lot about me." Korra narrowed her eyes, "Nope. Not a thing." "Then we have so much to talk about." Wu said in a flirtatious manner as he placed his arm around a surprised Korra's shoulder, gently pushing her to sit on the booth. He sat close to her, much to her discomfort. "You are going to love the food here, I know the chef personally." Wu took his drink into his hand, gesturing to one of the waiters. "Let's start with a round of your spicy octopus fritters, and keep the cucumber-aloe water coming! Gotta keep this princely skin hydrated." he took a sip of his drink and the waiter walked away to fetch what the prince had requested. Korra was not expecting her reunion with her friends to be interrupted by some arrogant, skinny little rich boy. Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, and Asami, all took Flash Sentry by the arm, dragging him away a few feet before releasing him. He rubbed his now soar arm. "What is he doing here?" Sunset asked the pegasus with a glare. "This was suppose to be friends and family only." Asami said equally angry. "Last time I checked, he was neither!" Twilight exclaimed in a hushed tone. "I'm sorry. I couldn't ditch him. But he promised to be on his best behavior." and just as the words left Flash's mouth…. "Hey, pop into the Avatar State for me. I want to see your eyes and wings glow." Wu said, leaning in closer to Korra, much to her annoyance. "What? No!" Korra snapped back, making Wu sit back in his spot, looking visibly disappointment. Twilight arched an eyebrow at her boyfriend, "Have you met him?" she said with bitter sarcasm. Sunset decided to try and ease the tension, "Okay, let's try and make the most out of this. For Korra." The others decided to agree and took their places around Korra. Spike sat on Mako's lap while the ponies all changed into their pony forms, taking their own seats around the large rounded table. Pinkie Pie sat on Korra's lap, allowing the Avatar to scratch behind her ears. Korra missed having these ponies around her, combing their manes, scratching their ears. Rainbow Dash and Flash sat around, close to their friends. The ponies were all so happy to be with Korra again. It was just like old times. Sunset Shimmer was in her true unicorn form again. "So, now that you're back," she began, "maybe now you could tell us exactly what happened to you?" Korra knew this was inevitable. She wondered if they would believe her or not. Then again, the woman was sitting with supernatural creatures and had wings coming out of her back. Her story would probably be the least disturbing thing right now. She took in a deep breath before finally telling them what happened. "Well, the last thing I remember was fainting and being sent to the South Pole. While I was there, I had this nightmare. I can't remember much of it, but after that everything went…crazy." "Crazy how?" Mako asked with concern. This sounded serious. "When I woke up, my mind was completely altered." "What do you mean?" Asami asked. "I still had my memories about when I first arrived in Republic City. The battle with Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, everything was still there but…" she couldn't bare to say the rest. "But what?" Flash asked. Korra noticed Rainbow Dash nodding her head, gesturing her to continue. "None of you were. It was as if you ponies, Spike and Equestria never even existed." Asami, who was sipping her drink through a straw, immediately spit in shock. "What?!" "It's true. Everything that had ever happened, my victories, my failures, all without you girls or the magic." This was indeed strange. Korra's mind had been implanted with false memories, completely erasing the reality of the ponies, as well as Equestria. "Without any knowledge of my real past I never became an alicorn. Those memories made me lose contact with my magic. I lost my wings, my cutie mark, everything." Everyone around the table gasped in shock, minus Wu who was still sipping his drink while listening attentively. "I still can't believe it was possible." Twilight said, "I've never even heard of a spell like that. Sunset?" "I've never heard of it either," said the ember unicorn. "Since my memories were messed up, I remembered the fight with Zaheer very differently. I never got the poison out, at least not by myself. Su metalbended it out of me." The others arced an eyebrow at this. They would have known it was Su who got the poison out of Korra. They were all there. Except for Sunset of course. "I couldn't walk for months, and I kept getting visions of Zaheer." "Doesn't sound too different than from what really happened." Pinkie said. "Except, I've been away at the south pole for three years." Spike, who was drinking, spit out his drink, "What?!" "I couldn't even go into the Avatar State. At all. Feeling helpless, one day I just packed up and started traveling the Earth Kingdom, hoping to find myself again, and since I didn't have my wings anymore I could fit right in." "You should have seen her when we found her." Rainbow said to Mako and Asami, "She was sporting green garbs and a bob cut." Now, it was Rarity who spit out her drink in shock. "What?!" "Oops." The white unicorn began to hyperventilate. The very idea of Korra cutting off all of her beautiful long hair was far too much. "Korra!"--inhale--"Hair!"--inhale--"Cut!"--inhale--"Off!"--inhale Applejack patted her friend's back, "Rarity, Rarity breath. Breath!" Eventually, Rarity managed to calm herself. "Okay…okay, I'm okay." "So, now we know why you mysteriously disappeared." Asami said, "Question now is; how did you get your memories back?" "You can thank Toph for that." "Come again?" Flash asked. "Yep, you heard right." said Rainbow Dash, "Korra hung out with the one and only, Toph Beifong! So awesome, right?" The friends could not believe this. "No way!" Flash said in disbelief, "Where did you meet her?" "I found her in the swamp, that place is like one giant Spirit Wild." "What was she like?" Asami asked. "A cranky, more miserable version of Lin." Mako arced an eyebrow, "Is that even possible?" Korra, Rainbow and Fluttershy responded in unison, "You'd be surprised." "Thanks to her, I managed to get that memory potion out of my system, and some of the mercury that was still inside of me." Again, another spit take, this time from Mako, "What?!" "It was only a small bit." Korra explained, "Not enough to keep me down for long, and my magic made it pretty much harmless after all these years." "But who gave you the potion to begin with?" Mako asked, his expression slowly growing angry with whomever did this to his friend. Korra closed her eyes for a moment before responding. "It was Kuvira." Spike was about to spit take, until Mako covered his mouth, forcing him to swallow the liquid. "Before I got sick, she came to visit me at my castle. We had tea and she must have slipped something into my cup when I wasn't looking. I knew it was her because I noticed that the potion contained these small little green stones identical to that green pendent she wore around her neck. I'm positive those are the key as to what happened to my memories." "I've seen that stone." said Fluttershy, "Her other ponies wore them too, only in different colors." Sunset rubbed her chin, pondering in thought, "So, Kuvira must have somehow learned how to make a memory potion, using those rocks to keep Korra out of her way. That explains everything!" Spike began pounding his claws together, "Err, when I get my hands on her I'll teach her what for!" "Save some room for me, Spike." Rainbow said while pounding her hooves, menacingly. Korra rose her hands up to cease the tension, "I agree, Kuvira should be our number one priority. But right now I want to just take a moment to spend with my family. To you guys I was away for only six months, but for me it's been three years. Three very long, very painful, very…lonely years." Mako moved his hand from across the table, placing it on top of Korra's, her engagement ring shimmered in the light. "It's been like that for a lot of us." he said with a loving smile. How much Korra missed that smile. "You have no idea how much I missed you, sweetie. The false memories I had about us were terrible." "It's okay, they weren't real." "But they still felt real. I thought we had been broken up all this time." Mako's eyes widened in shock, "What?" "Yeah. And, the strangest thing, while I was away during the Civil Wars, not long after we broke up, you and Asami secretly got back together and then lied to me about it." Mako and Asami both looked at one another before looking back at Korra….right before they all bursted with laughter! "Honey, that should have been your first clue!" Asami said in between laughs. Mako wiped away a single tear, still laughing, "I know I made some stupid mistakes in the past but, come on!" "I know I was close to kissing him that one time but--" "Wait, when did that happen?" Mako asked, his laughing stoping. Asami was stiff, "Nothing." "No, when did you try to kiss me? I think I would have remembered something like that." "Well, it was after that sting operation, when my warehouse was robbed, I sort of, kind of leaned in…" Mako tried to recall that even but, it was very vague, "No, doesn't ring a bell, and why would you do that?!" "Oh, come on, it was years ago, haven't we moved past that?" Mako opened his mouth to say something, but then decided not to an account of she was right. "Good point." "Speaking of which," a smirk appeared on Korra face as she turned to Asami, resting her chin on her hands, her elbows on the table, "How are things with you and Bolin?" But, to her surprise, Asami's face fell and she hung her head. This couldn't mean anything good. "Well, I got to see him during the Coronation but…we had a fight, things were said and….we broke up." Yet another spit take, curtesy of Mako again. Every single time someone did a spit take, Wu was the one who was sprayed on. He would have said something, and he wanted to, but he was far to fixated on the stories to interrupt and say anything. Mako couldn't believe his ears, "You what!?" "Why?" Korra asked, "Why would you break up? You love each other." "I do love him." Asami confessed, "But last time he was here I barely recognized him. You should have seen the way he acted towards me, the things he said, the way he said them, that wasn't the Bolin I know! I don't know when he started changing but he did. Something just…didn't feel right." "I'm sorry, Asami." Mako said empathetically. "I've been where he is, the job just…went to his head. Maybe if you both just sit down and talk about it you can work something out." "Even if I do talk to him, who's to say he'll listen? It was like talking to a brick wall, he was never this stubborn!" "But, he's got a point." Sunset said, "If you can learn to forgive your dad, then you can forgive Bolin." "Wait, what's this about your dad?" Korra asked curiously. Asami sighed before telling her, "A few days ago, I went to visit my father for the first time. He had been writing me letters and I guess I finally felt ready to try and forgive him." Korra smiled at this, for she too had her own experiences with forgiving others who did her wrong. "Asami that's wonderful! I'm really happy you took such a big step. How was he?" "Okay. Older now, but okay." "You sure you can trust him?" Rainbow asked, "He might just be trying to manipulating you again." Asami shot the rainbow pony an angry glare, "You think I don't know what my own father is capable of?!" From behind Asami, Korra gave Rainbow a 'cut it out' hand gesture. "Uh, no, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying you should be careful, that's all." "Oh, right, because I'm always so easy to be taken advantage of!" Asami snapped with angry sarcasm. "She didn't mean that!" Korra intervened. "You don't get to disappear for six months and then act like you know what's best for me!" Asami yelled, then realizing too little too late her mistake. She was already feeling upset enough as it was that Bolin had broken her heart, making her relive a similar moment when someone she trusted just changed to the point of being unrecognizable. Her anger had flared and she said something she didn't mean. "It's not like I planned any of this." Korra stated, slightly taken aback by the heiress's remark. "I wanted to come back but I was under a memory spell, it's not my fault!" Wu placed his now empty glass onto the table and stood up, "As much as I'm enjoying this little catch-up, my royal bladder is about to explode. Flash, come on, I need you to stand guard." The orange pegasus pony lowered his ears in annoyance and remained seated. He had to draw the line at some point. "I'm not gonna hold your hand every time you have to empty your "royal bladder". Go to the bathroom on your own for once." Wu dejectedly lowered his shoulders and walked off, "Fine." After he left, Fluttershy looked at her fellow pegasus with concern, "Do you always go to the bathroom with him?" "I don't go with him, with him, I just stand there in the general vicinity while he …" before he could say anything else, he rested his head on his legs and lowered his ears, "I don't wanna talk about it. While Mako here gets to be treated like royalty, I have to watch a royal pain in the butt." Mako took that as a somewhat offensive term, "Hey, I tried to get you out of it." he said defensively. "Well, great job on it so far." Flash said sarcastically. Twilight did not approve of her boyfriend's behavior, "Flash!" "Sorry, Twilight. I've been under a lot of stress with this guy." Feeling sorry for his pony brother, Mako handed him one of the veggie wraps, tossed it and Flash caught it in his mouth, swallowing it before saying, "Thanks." (~) Wu walked into the bathroom, where an attendant was waiting with a fresh towel over his arm. He pulled out a small bottle from behind him, bowing his head to the prince. "Good afternoon, Sir. Perhaps a spritz of cologne, to freshen up?" "Make it a double, buddy!" Wu extended his arms, ready to be sprayed. The attendant aimed the bottle at Wu, right before covering his mouth and nose with the towel in his arm. The scent was caught in Wu's nostrils, this did not smell like any cologne he had ever smelled. The moment he began coughing he knew something wasn't right. The prince began to feel faint. "Flash! Mako, help! Wu ... down …" The last thing he saw was darkness. (~) Melody wished she had sharper teeth. While in her pony form she tried cutting the ropes with her mouth, but to no avail. Finally, she gave up. "If only I had some water, I could use the ice to cut us down." "I wish Pabu were here." Bolin said, "He could just chew us out of this." But Varrick had someone else on his mind, "You know who else has incisors sharp as a knife? Zhu Li …" Melody and Bolin both looked at one another with skeptical/creeped expressions. Could it be possible Zhu Li was more than just an assistant to Varrick? Their thoughts were interrupted when they heard the sound of twigs being crushed by a foot. They spotted some people approaching them. They were a traveling group, all wearing nothing but matching torn and green colored clothing with ropes as belts around their waists, black shoes and pale green pants that ended just bellow their knees. They looked like they had been traveling the woods for days given their messed up hair and some of the men having fuzz on their chins, indicating they haven't shaved in a while, but they sure did seem rouged enough to know how to survive the harsh wilds. Judging by their eye colors, which consisted primarily of amber and shades of blue, they were waterbenders and firebenders. "Well look what we caught." said a woman. She was a strong looking woman with a dark skin tone, which was common for the people of the Water Tribe. She was muscular with brown scurfy hair styled into a ponytail and two beads holding two pieces of hair across her head, identical to hair loopies. "Wonder if they were tracking us after we escaped." she said. Her voice, though obviously feminine, was still pretty deep and could intimidate even the strongest of men. Bolin extended his arms to greet them, "Hello fellow travelers! I don't suppose you can help us out of this net?" The woman looked over to her male partner. A tall man with medium skin tone, amber eyes and spiky hair as well as bits of facial hair on his chin. He looked very strong, fit and intimidating. The two appeared to be the somewhat unofficial leaders of their group, judging by the way they held themselves. Heads held up high and being the only two up front while the others loyalty walked closely behind them. "Why would we free a couple of lowly Earth Empire soldiers?" the woman asked, narrowing her eyes and her right hand clenched into a fist. Varrick took it an an insult, "Lowly? We were part of Kuvira's inner circle!" "Were! Not anymore! We jump ship." Bolin desperately clarified. If they were going to have any chance of getting out of this forest and to Republic City, they were going to need all the help they could get. "Please, just, let us out!" The firebender slowly approached the group, "I know just what to do with a couple of Kuvira's top men." Melody gulped, "I don't like the sound of that." and she was proven right when the man, who's name was Baraz, firebended a dagger from his fist. The three filched in terror…until he cut the rope, sending the group falling to the ground, screaming. "Ow, my tail!" Melody cried out. "Sorry!" Bolin apologized. (~) Finally, the foot was served, and Pinkie Pie licked her lips at the delicious vegetarian specialties. "Hey Korra, remember what we used to do?" Korra giggled and used her airbending to lift up some veggies and berries into the air in a rotating circle. Pinkie jumped from her spot, from the table and onto the floor. "Go long!" One by one, Korra shot a berry and a veggie at Pinkie Pie, who would flip, jump, summersault, skip and jump up in any comical fashion and caught each treat in her mouth with ease, using her long tongue. Korra missed playing this game. Flash noticed the waiter place Wu's tray of what he ordered, which mainly consisted of strange seafood, and something depicting eyeballs in a bowl of brown liquid. This guy sure ate some strange stuff. But he was nowhere in sight. "I wonder what's taking Wu so long." Mako wondered out loud. "He's not one to miss out on lunch." "I'll go check on him." Flash said as he flew off of where he sat and changed into his anthro form to look for the prince. The others followed out of genuine concern. Flash entered the bathroom, calling out for the prince. "Wu, are you in here? Come on, your octopus fritters are getting cold. Why you eat that stuff, I'll never know." While the others waited outside the restroom, Korra noticed something from the corner of her eye. At the end of the hallway, the exit doors were wide open, and she saw a one of the hotel employees walking past, pushing a cart full of laundry bags. For a moment, she could have sworn she saw something stir from inside the bags of laundry. An uneasy feeling rose from within her stomach, chilling her bones, placing her instincts on high alert. "I'll be right back." Korra said to her friends, not once turning her head, and walked after the man, meeting him out the back of the hotel. He was tossing the bags into a van, accompanied by two more men. She saw something of an evil smirk purse the corner of his mouth. "Excuse me, did you happen to see if Prince Wu came out this way?" Korra asked politely once she approached him. "I am sorry Princess, I haven't seen him." the man replied, bowing his head in respect. No more than two seconds after the words left his mouth, Wu's head popped out from the pile. "Hmm, I'm in laundry …" he said, still drowsy and only half awake as his body rolled out. Korra glared at the man, only for him to bend the ground beneath her, intent on slamming the princess against the hard roof. Her entire body glowed a bright blue before disappearing in a patch of sparkles and reappearing, crunching down on the ground. The man should have known that the Princess Avatar could teleport. He quickly ran to the front of the van, his companions closing the back and drove away. Mako and the others ran out to check on Korra. "They've got Wu! Get the car, I'm going after them!" "I'm coming too!" said Twilight, and Rainbow followed as well, without saying a word while the others went to get the car. Korra, Twilight and Rainbow Dash flew after the vehicle. Korra released a blue spear from her hand at the van, but he narrowly dodged it, bumping into another car, which would have flipped over, had Korra not used her magic to put it back into place. The driver inside thanked the princess and the three proceeded with the chase. Asami drove by in her car, with the others already on board. Mako rode in the passenger's seat, while the ponies all in pony form, sat in the back. The van made a sharp turn and one of the men inside opened the side door, bending a wall to block the car. Korra, Twilight and Rainbow Dash flew on after them. One of the men tossed what appeared to be some kind of smoke bomb at the girls, blinding them with a foul smelling substance. Using her airbending, Korra cleared the way, but they had lost sight of the van. "We're losing them!" said Applejack, her and the others still in their pursuit for the wan. "Hang a right at the next block." Mako instructed the female driver, "We can cut them off on Seventh." but instead of following his suggestion, Asami continued driving straight, bypassing the turn. "You missed the turn! Where are you going?!" "I know these streets better than you. I built some of them!" Mako pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Why was every women he knew so stubborn? "Where did they go?" Twilight asked, the three of them having lost sight of the van. Rainbow Dash spotted their friend's car going up the elevated freeway, spotting the van passing by to their right. Korra flew downwards and landed on the roof of the van and tore it over with her metalbending. Only for them to realize the van was empty, save for the driver. "Where is he?" Korra demanded. Twilight used her magic to drag the driver out of his seat and she swooped down, pressing hard on the gas pedal, causing the van to stop in front of a few spirit vines. Rainbow Dash pulled the man out and pushed him against the side of the truck, "Talk! Now!" she demanded. Right on cue, Asami's car pulled over and the others jumped out. Pinkie Pie groaned in frustration, "Awww, we missed all the fun!" "Wu's not here." Rainbow addressed to the others, while still holding the guy by the collar against the van. "This guy was the only one in the truck." Flash Sentry grabbed the man by the collar and slammed him hard into the van, his jaw clenching tightly in anger. "Where's the prince?" The man grunted from the impact before smiling wickedly, "Halfway to Kuvira by now." He said…his eyes glowing green, "All hail the Great Uniter." Korra noticed this and she gasped. The same thing happened to her back at the swamp. "They must have moved Wu to a different vehicle when we lost sight of them." Twilight stated. As police siren was heard and a cop car pulled over. Once cuffed, Mako and Rainbow Dash both threw the man into the back of the police car, slamming the door shut. Rainbow Dash spoke to the officer driving, placing her hand onto the side of its surface. "Take this guy in for booking. Charge him with kidnapping and tell Chief Beifong that Prince Wu is missing. Put out an all-points bulletin. We'll keep looking." Once the car drove away, Mako smiled proudly at his friend, "Way to be a good cop, Rainbow Dash." "Where do we start?" Sunset asked, "There are thousands of cars in the city and he could be in any one of them." "Or they might try smuggling him out on an airship." Twilight said. "Or maybe a boat." said Rarity. "Or a party buss." all eyes looked at Pinkie Pie with arced eyebrows, "What? It's just a thought." "He could be anywhere by now." said Fluttershy. Flash Sentry face palmed in frustration, "Gah! The one time I don't watch him pee and this is what happens!" Mako crossed his arms, "Well, maybe it wouldn't have if you had just guarded the prince like you were suppose to." "Are you saying this is my fault?" "It's certainly not mine!" Asami came in between the two, "Guys! Look." all eyes fell upon Korra, who walked up to the large spirit vines. Several, colorful spirits flew beside her, giving her space to reach the plant. Closing her eyes, Korra placed her hand on top of the vine, her hand began to glow a bright gold color. Through the vines, she could see the train station, as well as a car. Inside, she saw Wu, sound asleep in the back of the truck She opened her eyes and turned to the others. "They're taking Wu to the train station!" "Are you sure?" Spike asked, "How do you know?" Korra jumped onto the back of the car, "I'll explain on the way, just drive! We're running out of time!" (~) The female waterbender, named Ahnah, bedded water from a lake and into her pouch as Melody observed. She really had to get herself one of those. Her, Varrick and Bolin's hands were tied together, being interrogated by the group of fugitives. "So how did a bunch of water and firebenders end up in one of Kuvira's reeducation camps?" Bolin asked. "Call it what it is: a prison." Ahnah responded angrily. "Kuvira's been purging states of anyone who's not of Earth Kingdom origin and locking them up." Baraz said. Melody averted her gaze, unwilling to look the man in the eye. She knew what Kuvira was doing, and yet she said nothing, and did nothing. These people have been suffering because of her. "Purging?" Bolin asked in surprise. "What are you acting so surprised for? You must have known what she was up to, being part of her "inner circle" and all." "No, I swear! And the inner circle thing lasted like, less then a day!" "Will you at least tell us where you're taking us?" Varrick said irritatedly. "The border checkpoint." said Baraz, "You're gonna help us talk our way past some Earth Empire soldiers." Ahnah continued, "And once we're through, we'll see about letting you go." Bolin, and Varrick shared a look, which confused Melody. She yelped when Varrick shoved her protectively to the side, allowing Bolin to send a wave of earth at the fugitives, knocking them all down to the ground before turning the ground itself into an arc shaped pool of lava, keeping the others at bay. Melody knew about Bolin's talents but this was the first time she was seeing them up close like this. It was amazing. Varrick laughed in victory, "Lava time! Bet you didn't expect that!" Using the heat of the lava, Bolin snapped the ropes, breaking free and taking on a defensive stance to better control the lava so nobody would get hurt. "Look, I'm sorry for what happened to all of you, but as I've been trying to explain, we don't work for Kuvira anymore." "Yeah. If our handsome mugs get recognized trying to go through that checkpoint, we're goners!" Varrick said. "And I don't even want to imagine what she'll do to the pony. She might skin her and put her pelt on the wall." "Wait, what?!" Melody exclaimed in terror. Baraz angrily clenched his fists, trying to keep his anger in check, before speaking, "If you really are fugitives, you better listen up. We've been scouting this region for days. There's a wall stretching along the entire border and patrols guarding every part of it. That checkpoint is the only way out." "It's not worth the risk, Baraz." Ahnah said with concern, but with a firm voice as well, "How do we know they won't turn us in?" "If he wanted us gone, we'd be at the bottom of a pool of lava right now. If any of us want to get out of the Earth Empire alive, we'll have to trust each other." Bolin didn't waste a second in cooling down the lava, which was now harmless, solid rock. The earthbender nodded his head to Baraz. "All right, where is this checkpoint?" Melody couldn't believe what she was seeing. These guys wanted to turn the three of them in to get out, and now they were agreeing to work together. This was so strange and so, and yet… Kind of amazing. (~) Asami took a sharp turn, the wheels causing a screeching sound. The non-bender was driving faster than she normally did to reach the train station. Spike leaned onto the side, feeling nauseous. "Sami, could you take it easy on the turns?" he said before covering his mouth to keep his vomit in. "No time, Spike." Korra addressed to him, "Maybe if you hadn't eaten so many seaweed wraps." "I didn't think we'd be involved in another rescue mission." Rainbow chuckled, "Have you met us? When are we ever not involved in a rescue mission?" Mako turned his head, addressing to his fiance, "So, how do you know where Wu is just by touching some spirit vines?" "Yeah, that was new." said Twilight. "I learned how to connect to people's energies through them." "Who taught you that?" Asami asked. "Toph did, back at the swamp. She said the roots are connected to all plants all around the world. That's also how I was able to contact the others when they found me." "Wow.." was really all they could say. "Anything else you learned there?" Sunset asked. "Well, I did get to see Seabreeze again." "That loud mouth breezie that looked like a girl?" Mako asked. "That's the one." Korra said with a smirk, "Hasn't changed one bit." Upon arriving at the train station, the group practically jumped out of the car, the ponies quickly changing into their anthro forms and Asami placed one a new updated version of her electric glove. Spike tried to jump out, but was too sick to even move. Mako had to take him out himself. Upon entering, the group halted abruptly once they saw the place packed, and the trains full. "Must be rush hour." said Rarity, flatly. "Which train is Wu on?" Flash asked Korra. "I don't know!" "You couldn't have asked that one little question to the vines?" Rainbow said, "That would have been helpful." Korra shot a glare at the pony, "Not the time, R.D." Applejack stood in front, "Everybody, split up and start lookin'. Rarity, Fluttershy and Sunset, we'll look on the left side. Twilight, Mako, Flash and Spike check the right. Korra, you, Rainbow, Pinkie and Asami ask around. Let's move!" They all nodded in response before splitting up. Time was running out and they had to find the prince. (~) Just as Baraz had said, a large wall stretching along the border. With the fugitives had their wisest tied together and walked in a single line, with Bolin and Varrick leading ahead. Melody was in her pony form, walking beside Bolin, with a rope around her neck, the same rope he held and the one that tied all of the fugitives behind him. She dared to look up to see the checkpoint herself. She had been to this place only once and, if she didn't know any better, she would say it had gotten even more scary looking. The structure was made entirely out of metal, from head to toe. Barbwires adorned the roofs and ground, preventing anyone from escaping, and meca tanks guarded the outer post, standing high on top of the roof. At the center of the structure was the Metal Clan symbol. Bolin and Varrick had managed to fix their hair, and Varrick managed to shake, appearing much cleaner than they did before. Some of the stains on their uniforms could not be removed unless with proper washing, but at least they looked far more presentable now than they did before. Melody still wore the pendant around her neck. Without her sisters around, and as long as she did not sing, its magic was basically useless now and did no harm. For some reason, she didn't have the heart to throw it away. Not just yet. "Follow my lead." Bolin whispered to the others as they came closer to one of the guards. He and Varrick saluted. "Good afternoon, sir. Can we help you?" the guard asked. "You sure can." Bolin said, slightly lowering his voice to sound more authoritative, "We captured these escaped prisoners as well as this little traitor." he said gesturing to the pony Melody, who lowered her ears and head, letting out a whimper for effect. She had to look like an actual prisoner, which with all the regret she was still feeling, really wasn't that hard to do. "We need to get them to a secure facility." "Where did they escape from?" the guard asked. "Camp fourteen." "Then why are you bringing them through here? Camp fourteen is the other way." "You think we don't know where Camp fourteen is?" Bolin said, doing his best to sound serious, but even that did not stop the drips of sweat rolling down the side of his face, "Kuvira wants them transferred." "Then I'll need to see the transfer order." Bolin looked to Varrick, silently asking for help. Varrick stomped towards the guard, grabbing him by the collar. "Listen pal! I had to fight off two badgermoles, six wolfbats and eighteen hog monkeys to capture these guys, so sorry if I don't have the paperwork! I was too busy cramming it in a hog monkey's mouth, while it was trying to eat me! I am in sore need of a shower and I have blisters that are the size of cantaloupes and twice as juicy! So you can let us through, or you can give us your name and rank and I'll make sure to pass it on to Kuvira! You know what happens to soldiers who question her orders, don't you? Bad stuff!" Bolin and Melody both had their mouth hung open. This guy sure did come up with solutions right on the fly. It was hard to believe he depended so much on Zhu Li for…well, everything. The guard became visible nervous. The last thing he wanted was trouble with the boss. "Let them through!" Two guards metalbended the gates open from both sides, allowing the group to walk right through.Melody sighed in relief, so far so good. The group bypassed a man working inside a booth. Varrick gave a salute and a smile as they walked by. The man only nodded politely until his eyes turned his wall. These two men looked uncannily identically to the wanted posters of the same men. He quickly ran outside, pointing an accusing finger, just when they reached the other side. "Wait! Stop them, they're traitors to the Empire!" With their cover blown, they started making their last minute escape. Two mecha tanks leaped from the roof of the checkout and jumped in front of them, stoping the group in their tracks. More guards and mecha tanks surrounded them. But Baraz was not going down without a fight. "There's no way I'm going back to prison!" He burned right through his ropes, using fire from his middle singers and attacked the soldiers with his blasts of fire. They blocked his attacks by shielding themselves with rocks. The rest of the prisoners broke free and stated attacking the earthbenders with their own bending. One of the mechas aimed its flame thrower at Bolin and Varrick. The younger earthbender rose a rock to cover them both. Melody morphed into her anthro form, not that it would do her any good, and removed the rope from her neck. Varrick chickened out, yet again, and ran off to seek coverage. Seeing this, she immediately followed him. Baraz rolled away from the mecha's incoming punch, and Ahnah came to his aid by ending her water into a slab of ice, causing the machine to slide and lose its balance. Baraz shot fire at it in an effort to knock it down. The mecha managed to pressed its metal feet onto the ice, breaking it and keeping its balance. It shot a beam of lightning at the two, causing them to have to jump out of the way. It unleashed its flame thrower at Baraz, who countered it with his own fire. Two more mecha tanks came after Bolin, and he shot several boulders at the machines. The rocks smashed into smaller pieces upon collision. He morphed the ground into a pool of lava, sending it towards the machines like a tidal wave. Unfortunately, the mecha tanks jumped over. While in midair, one of the tanks aimed his lightning ray at Bolin, who ran from the impact, but was flipped into the air once the rays strike the ground, causing it to shake. Bolin landed on his back but quickly flipped right back up again. While the fight ensued, Varrick crunched down, hiding underneath the gate, while a female waterbender had been knocked down by one of the earthbender guards. "What are you doing?" a voice from behind said. Varrick yelled and turned his head to see Melody right beside him. "Ah! Melody! When did you get here?" "I can't believe you're hiding like a coward." "What can I do? I don't have bending like you guys, heck you won't even use yours!" "I may not be able to fight like Bolin and the others, but I do know there is something you can do. Use that crazy mind of yours." she said while tapping his forehead with her finger, "I'm sure you can come up with something." Varrick pondered this for a moment looked up the window of the booth from which he had been hiding under. Inside, he saw a generator. Immediately, the gears inside his brain began to turn. "Melody, you just gave me an idea!" Varrick grabbed the pony by the wrist and entered inside. He quickly picked up a nearby screw driver and opened the lid off a large generator. He flipped over a table and unscrewed one of the legs then picked up some wires and started wrapping them around the chair leg, while holding the screwdriver in his mouth. Melody saw the fight continue through the window. While she knew Bolin was a capable fighter, it didn't feel right to her to just leave him to do this on his own. "You keep working on that." she said before running out of the booth, ignoring Varrick's cries. "Melody, wait!" Bolin kept throwing his lava at the tank, but continued to dodge each attempt. Bolin quickly jumped out of the way once the tank attempted to crush him with its mechanical hands. Bolin bended a fissure from the ground up, which knocked the tank down from beneath its feet. Another one aimed its lightning at Bolin, to which he quickly launched himself up into the air by bending an extra fissure from underneath him. The lightning strike instead hit the rock, breaking it to bits. Bolin rolled to the side, and the tank readied another attack. A loud whistle caught its attention from behind. Melody cupped her hands around her mouth, yelling out at the tank. "Hey, metal head! Over here!" The machine instead turned his aim at the pony, who ran away from the impact as quickly as she could by morphing into her pony form to gain more speed on her four legs. Despite this seemingly reckless act, Melody did have a plan. "Bolin, no!" she called out. Immediately catching on, Bolin ran forward, creating another fissure which knocked the machine down. More tanks came at them. Melody hurried towards Bolin, who rose the earth around them to create a wall, protecting them from the merged blasts of fire from three mecha tank's flamethrowers. The two were now trapped, and who knew how much longer the wall would hold up. Meanwhile, with the wires wrapped around the chair leg, Varrick placed it outside and hooked the rest of the cables to the generator, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Boy, I sure hope this works. And if not, I'm blaming the pony." He pulled the lever and from outside, the chair leg sent out an electromagnetic pulse, which spread all across the area. In one swoop, the mecha tanks shut off, sparing the lives of everyone else. Bolin and Melody peeked their heads out, astonished to see what had happened. Varrick laughed and pounded his fists into the air in victory, "I still got that Varrick touch!" Once it was safe, Bolin and Melody stepped out from their hiding spot, surprised to see all of the machines completely still and down. Melody blinked in surprise, "He actually did it." Varrick ran by the two, "We're clear, come on!" Melody stood up to follow him, but quickly stopped once she saw Bolin had yet to move. The rest of the water and firebenders were still fighting the guards. And loosing, by the looks of it. Some of the prisoners were badly wounded and couldn't fight. Bolin did want to help people, things changed when he was with Kuvira. At first he did it for the good of others, but soon he grew to do it to get recommendation, or even a simple pat on the back. To make himself feel good. And that was wrong. It may have been partly caused by a spell, but he could have broken free if he had the will and the desire to. Bolin had fallen pray to the glory masked as good intentions, but not anymore. Not again. He couldn't abandon them now. "Varrick, wait, we can't leave them!" Bolin called out, causing Varrick to stop in his tracks. "Bolin, wait!" Melody called out once the earthbender jumped over his rock formed wall towards the prisoners. The guards had formed their own rock wall for protection, and each impact left another injured bender in their wake. Bolin jumped in and created a massive pool of lava, scarring the guards away back into the wall, closing the gates behind them. To make certain they would not follow them, he moved the lava all the way upwards to the gate's entrance, leaving it boiling hot. Long enough so they could be gone once it cooled. Baraz, while assisting one of his own, smiled gratefully to Bolin, as did the others for his selfless gesture. "Thanks. You didn't have to come back." "Yeah. I kind of did. Let's go!" Melody had no words to describe this. Bolin had a chance to escape, to be free, but he chose to remain and help these people. People he barely knew. It would have made more sense it it were someone he had known for a long time but, this? Being loyal to people you just met. It was strange. But, in a great way. (~) "The 4:25 bound for Omashu is now leaving on track number six. All aboard!" Mako, Flash, Twilight and Spike looked all around searching for Prince Wu, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Pretty soon, everyone gathered together. "Any luck?" Korra asked first. "No." Sunset replied, "If we don't find Wu soon, we might never get him back." Korra got down on one knee, pressing her hand onto the surface of the floor. An aura of gold appeared underneath her palm, and several bystanders watched curiously. Korra then rose her head, immediately spotting the next train about to leave. "He's on that train!" she said. She and the others quickly boarded before it took off, the ponies taking on pony form once again. Spike was the last to catch up, but was quickly levitated by Twilight and rode on her back. Upon entering, they walked by the passengers, looking around for the prince, heading towards the far back of the car. "How do you know for sure he's here?" Flash asked his Avatar friend. He and the others were still in pony forms to save room. The winged ponies hovered beside them, while Pinkie Pie rode on Mako's back. "I don't. But I had a feeling, okay?" "You know, it would be nice if your "Avatar Powers" could be a bit more specific sometimes." Mako glared at the pony, "Hey, you're the one who lost Wu!" Korra angrily turned around to face them both, annoyed, "Or maybe if you two would stop bickering we might actually find him!" "Don't get mad at me!" Mako said defensively, "It was his job!" Flash scoffed, "Excuse me mister "Perfect Prince"!" "Oh, we're playing that card again?" Korra grunted in frustration, "You two are acting like a couple of babies!" "Wait, me too?" Mako asked, "I'm not the one questioning your "Avatar feelings", even if they are pretty vague sometimes!" "Well, unless you have any other leads on where we can find the prince I would be happy to hear them!" "GUYS! STOP!!" Fluttershy flew in between the group, stoping their fighting, "Now can we please focus here?" The couple and the ponies continued to walk down the train, completely unaware of two passengers, a man and woman sitting on opposite sides, share a suspicious glance. Asami opened the door at the end, seeing it was filled with luggage. "I don't see Wu." Mako said. Pinkie Pie jumped from his shoulder upon hearing a faint muffled sound. She approached a red colored luggage, which began to shake and rattle frantically. Something inside was hitting against the surface, as if trying to break out. This caught everyone's attention and Pinkie Pie opened the bag. A terrified Prince Wu popped out, waving his arms and legs frantically, his eyes closed shut as if trying to fight some invisible threat. Mako quickly grabbed the Prince by the shoulder, and shook him back to his senses. "Wu! Relax, it's us!" Wu opened his eyes, blinking in confusion. "Mako? Where am I? Am I dead?" "Not even close." Rainbow Dash muttered, while rolling her eyes. "You're on a train." Mako said, "We're gonna get you out of here." "Uh, guys!" Pinkie Pie pointed her hoof towards the train door, which opened to reveal the same mysterious passengers from before. Judging by the metal accessories, and their style of clothing, they were a couple of Kuvira's supporters. The fire fired a metal band at Korra, who blocked the attacks by creating an aquamarine colored shield to deflect the attacks. The force field then shifted into a powerful tornado, which Korra used to the pair flying upwards, hitting the ceiling before falling to the ground. Pinkie Pie's ear twitched and turned her head to see more of Kuvira's supporters approaching from the opposite side of the car. "Incoming!" she exclaimed, warning Korra. Seeing them, as well as another Kuvira supporter running after them, Korra metalbended the door closed in front of him. She next metalbended the roof open. "Everyone out!" she said. "I'm not going up there." Wu protested. To which Korra responded by narrowing their eyes and an annoyed pout. The next thing he knew, Wu was being held against his will by Twilight and Rainbow Dash, now in their anthro form, hovering high up into the sky. Korra, Fluttershy and Flash flew up as well while Sunset Shimmer used her magic to levitate herself and the rest out safely, landing onto the roof of the train car. Twilight scanned the area, "Let's get the prince somewhere safe. AH!!" Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash suddenly had their wings tangled by metal cables, causing them to drop Wu, who was then caught by Applejack. The two were then thrown to the roof. Metal slaps then attached themselves to Korra's wings, preventing her form flying and more cables wrapped around her legs, knocking her down as one of the attacks reeled her in. She unleashed a fire blast from her ankles, knocking him down and metalbended the cables off of herself and her two friends. Flash dashed down towards one of the attackers, kicking him in the gut from above and knocking him down, while Sunset Shimmer blasted her fire at the second, only for him to trip her using a cable by wrapping it around her ankle. Rarity used a water whip, bending the water from her diamond broach to strike the man away, while Spike untangled Sunset. The attacker shoot a cable at Rarity, but Pinkie Pie intervened, creating an air blast that shot the cables away. Two more appeared from the other side, and Asami quickly attempted to kick him, which he blocked with his wrist, but was quickly overtaken when she shocked him with her glove. The final attacker began bending the metal the roof upwards to trap the others. Mako sends a fire arc at another incoming cable, sending it flying back, only for the attackers on the opposite end to start bending the roof, just like their comrade. Korra, turned to Twilight and Sunset Shimmer. The three nodded in agreement, and each grabbed hold of their friends. Their horns, and the star mark on Korra's forehead glowed brightly In a flash of light, leaving behind a trail of sparkles. The attackers blinked in surprise. The prince was gone, and so where the others. The friends all magically reappeared, hovering in the air. While those with wings were flying, those who did not screamed as they fell. With their magic, Korra and Twilight softened their landing. The group all watched as the train continued its pace toward the Earth Empire. The winged ones landed safely and Pinkie Pie jumped up, happy as ever. "Wow-we! What a rush!" Sunset stood up, dusted herself and helped Asami to stand up. "You okay?" "Yeah. I guess I'm a little rusty." said the heiress. Flash helped the prince to his feet, "You all right?" "Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. " Wu graciously hugged the pegasus, who only stared with a deadpan expression before the prince placed his arm around him. "You are definitely getting a raise, Buddy." "You should be thanking Korra." Flash said, gesturing to Korra, who smiled. "We never would have found you with out her." Wu bowed before the princess. "I owe you my life, Princess Avatar. If only there was some way to repay you. Oh, I know!" he then took Korra's hand, much to her discomfort, "How about I take you out for a night on the town?" Korra rose a brow. "Really? You're asking me out? A girl who's already engaged?" "So ... I'll put you down for a "maybe"?" "How about a "never"?" Korra removed her hand from his and turned to her friends. "Not exactly what I imagined for our first day back together." "What are you talking about? This was the most fun I've had in months!" Rainbow exclaimed while placing her hand on her hips, "While being a cop is great and all, I do miss the old high speed, life threatening moments." "It really was like old times." Asami said. "Except for the getting on each other's nerves part." "Actually, that is like old times for me and Korra." Mako said, winking at his fiance. Korra shot him an amused grin as she moved closer, "We still got it, don't we?" "Yeah, we do." the firebender chuckled while wrapping his arms around her waist. "And what I said about your Avatar feelings being vague, well, they can be, but that doesn't mean they can't be right. Which they often are. Besides, I'd follow you into a running train any day." "You always say the most romantic things." Korra smiled and rested her head against his chest. Wu arched an eyebrow at the scene, "Did they really just call nearly falling to their deaths "romantic"?" he asked Rainbow Dash. "Yep." Rainbow Dash, folding her arms while smirking. "They're crazy." Their moment was interrupted when Flash tapped Mako on the shoulder, getting his attention. "So, about what I said before I, I didn't really mean-- Mako rose his hand, interrupting the stallion, "No worries, I understand. Stress makes people do and say stupid things. I should know. I'm sorry for the stuff I said too. It really wasn't your fault." Flash smiled and the two brothers shook hands. Sunset Shimmer removed a stray hair from her face, "It was pretty thrilling to be part of the action. Don't get me wrong, life in Republic City is great, but at times it can be kind of…predictable." Twilight then began to speak, her voice sounding soft and kind, as a Princess should sound, "Our lives may not be what most people dream of, but for us it's one unforgettable ride after another. No amount of adventure stories could ever compare to the ones I experience with you guys. And I wouldn't have it any other way." Leave it to Twilight to make the most out of any situation. Korra happily embraced her pony friends. "I'm sorry things got so tense earlier." the avatar apologized. "I guess after being apart for three years, there's bound to be a bit of an adjustment period. Especially if those three years were only six months in my time." Asami tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Since we're all apologizing, I'm sorry for snapping at you guys before. I guess I'm still just really upset about the break up. I shouldn't have said those things." she was surprised when Korra wrapped her arms around her, hugging tightly. "It's okay, I get it." Korra placed her hands on Asami's shoulder, "I really am glad you're giving your father a second change. We won't pressure you, but I hope you can do the same for Bolin when you feel the time is right." "I hope so too." Asami then managed to smile. "Either way, it's great to have you back, Korra." "There's no place else I'd rather be." Once again, Team Avatar embraced in yet another group hug. Wu opened his arms to join in, but was pushed back when Applejack stuck her hand out, holding the prince at bay with her hand to his cheek. Nevertheless, Wu made the most of it and simply placed his hands onto Pinkie Pie's shoulders, being somewhat part of the hug. In away. "You guys are the greatest friends a guy could have." "So, what are we gonna do with him?" Korra asked once the hug ended, "It's too dangerous to take him back to the hotel." "Whoo! You're telling me! I need a cushy safe house somewhere." "I think I know just the place." Mako said. (~) The sun was nearly setting, creating a radiant aura of orange and yellow, with hues of pink over the horizon. The group of friends arrived at the Sato Estate. Wu whistled, impressed by the luxurious mansion. "Nice digs, Mako. You didn't tell me you came from money." "I don't. This is Asami's place. She was nice enough to let my family stay here after they fled Ba Sing Se." The front door of the porch opened and Mako's grandmother, Yin, stepped out. She still wore her older grandson's red scarf around her neck. "Mako! It's so wonderful to--" her eyes winded when she saw the winged young woman beside him. "Korra! My dear, you're home!" "It's good to see you too, grandma." Korra said lovingly as she lovingly hugged her future-grandmother-in-law. "What brings you he--" before she could continue, Yin's eyes widened, gasping in shock. Her hand instinctively reaching for her mouth, just barely covering her widened jaw. Her focus was fixated on the young royal man standing before her. The sunrise creating a radiant aura from behind him and she reached out a trembling hand to him. "Are you …?" "Grandma, this is Prince Wu." Mako said, "He needs to stay with you and the family for a little while." Wu got down on one knee and gently took Yin's hand, "It's an honor, Grandma Mako." he kissed the surface of her hand, causing Yin to feel lightheaded and faint gracefully, classic Rarity style. Mako caught her before she hit the floor, hand still placed over her forehead in a dramatic manner. "She loves royalty." He said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "I think I'll fit right in here. Thanks for looking out for me, Mako." Wu said once he stood back up and placed a hand on the firebender's shoulder in gratutude. "Now where's the nearest bathroom? I have been holding it all day!" Wu practically waddled as he dashed inside, bypassing the rest of Mako's family members. "Hey, grandma, who was that weird skinny guy?" a voice asked from inside the mansion. The sound of little dragonfly wings was heard and three, now much older looking, little lizard spirits emerged from the front door. "Dad!" Yin managed to regain her composure and Mako was tackled by the happy little spirits, who he called his children. Ali, Mika and San were not as young as they used to be. They had grown up and were now able to talk. Mako laughed as the kids settled on his head and shoulders, "Hey kids. I got a surprise for you." he turned his head towards their 'mother' who waved and smiled when she saw them. "Mom!" The three spirits happily embraced Korra, laughing and showing her with kisses. "We missed you so much!" Mika said, nuzzling her nose against Korra's cheek. "I missed you too, Mika! Look how big you've all gotten." San, the only male of the trio, flew in front of her, smiling proudly, "I know, right? I'm the toughest dragon spirit there is." Mika rolled her eyes, "Says the guy who's afraid of spiders." "They have eight eyes and hairy legs! It's not natural!" Ali, the eldest, nuzzled against Korra's cheek, "Where have you been, mom? Dad said you were sick." "I was, but I'm feeling a lot better now." "So does this mean you and dad are gonna get married now?" Mika asked hopefully. Korra tickled under the flying lizard's chin, "Of course. Right after we handle Kuvira, I promise." The three spirits flew around happily celebrating. It was so good to have their mom back. And soon, they would all be a real family. At this point, Korra didn't even care that she had to ride on high speed trains, save a pampered prince and have to deal with a power hungry dictator. All that mattered to her right now… Was that she was finally home. (~) Bolin, Varrick, Melody and their new companions arrived at an open area, filled with water. A small dock stood, with a getaway wooden boat for them to take. Baraz and Ahnah, with their fingers intertwined, once again couldn't thank their new friends enough. Bolin looked down at his uniform. What was once something he wore with pride, he now felt great shame for being seen in it, especially in front of the people he had unknowing harmed by assisting Kuvira. "I know it might not mean much coming from a guy wearing this uniform, but I'd like to apologize for what Kuvira's put you through." "Me too." Melody said, lowering her head, "I never truly knew how horrible she was becoming." Baraz extended his hand towards the pony, catching her by surprise, "We apreciate everything you've done for us. Thank you." Melody looked down at the hand and, hesitantly, shook it, followed by Bolin. "Guess this is where we part ways." "It's been a blast!" Varrick laughed at his own inside joke. "We're heading north too." Ahnah said, "Why don't you come with us? It's the least we could do after you saved our necks. Varrick took another look at the boat. It had seen better days, but it was sturdy enough to take the group to where they needed to go. But, after the grassy day they just had, Varrick wasn't willing to take anymore chances. "On that hunk of junk? No thanks. I'm allergic to drowning." "Well, you could stay here and starve in the wilderness." Melody said, folding her arms. "I highly doubt anyone will come and save you this time." Varrick's eyes widened at her words. As much as he didn't want to drown, there was no way he was going back into that forest, especially with the Earth Kingdom still under Kuvira's thumb. "I mean, uh, we'd love a lift!" Varrick said, smiling nervously. Once they weren't looking, Varrick frowned, dropping his shoulders in defeat. Bolin and Melody jumped in, the boat making small movements once they did. Varrick crunched down and carefully got on, with one foot on the boat and another still on the widen dock, which caused the boat to slightly separate. If not for the rope holding it in place, Varrick would have fallen into the water. He lost his balance and fell on his back into the boat, quickly straightening himself afterwards. Once the boat set sail, Melody leaned against the side, looking out at the sunset. Her long braid billowing in the wind. "You were pretty brave back there." Bolin said, taking her by surprise as he stood beside her, also looking at the sunset, already imagining Republic City not too far off over the horizon. "You're the brave one." Melody corrected, "But why did you do that?" "Do what?" "You barely know those people. They caught us in a net and held us prisoner, and yet you still fought for them. Why?" "Well, somebody I know once told me that the world is filled with friends you haven't met yet." Bolin smiled, "And the best way to make a friend, is to be a friend." Melody's eyes shimmered at hearing his words. She and her sisters had been Kuvira's "friends" for so long now, but the way Bolin described true friendship…maybe it was what she had been missing all along. Bolin placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "If it hadn't been for you, I'd still be working for Kuvira right now. You saved me. You're a good friend, Melody." Melody turned her gaze away from him, "Please don't call me that anymore." "Why?" "Melody isn't my real name. That's actually another thing me and my sisters lied about, and I'd rather you not call me by something that was forged from a lie." "Well, okay. What's your real name then?" "…It's Sonata." "Sonata, huh?" Bolin repeated, taking in the new name. "That's kind of pretty. Okay, Sonata it is then!" (~) After a long day, Korra and Mako cuddled underneath the gazebo outside of Air Temple Island, watching the sunset. "I really missed moments like this." Korra said, resting her head on Mako's shoulder. "Me too." "And just think, pretty soon we'll have them all the time." "We kind of already do." Mako said with a chuckle, "But I know what you mean. I promise when it's all over, we will have our wedding. We'll be together, and wherever you go, I won't be far behind." Korra knew his words rang true. Just by looking into his eyes she knew she could always count on him to be there whenever she needed him, but to also allow her the space to do the things she needed to do on her own. He would be her supporter, her friend, and her partner. Forever. A single happy tear rolled down her face and Mako gently wiped it with his thumb. Through everything they had been through, they're love for each other only grew and grew. They had some hardship, but through those hardships came some good as well. They learned from their mistakes, and loved each other for all they were. Flaws and all. Their love was not always perfect, and it would never be, but that did not mean it was not worth fighting for. Much like the sunset before them, their future looked bright. Until… "Korra! Mako!" The couple turned around to the sound of Twilight's frantic voice. She rushed towards them, and the two held the frightened princess in their arms. "Twilight? What's wrong?" Korra asked. "It's the alicorns! Something's happened!" (~) The three rushed towards Republic City Hospital as Twilight continued to explain. To ease her anxiety, she and Korra held hands while Mako stood beside them both. "The alicorns arrived for a meeting with Tenzin, Raiko and the other world leaders and all of a sudden they just passed out. We tried everything, we called all the doctors that we could find, but they don't know what's wrong!" Tears rolled down her cheeks and Korra took Twilight by the shoulders, "Twilight, calm down. We'll figure this out. How bad is it?" But the younger alicorn couldn't stop the tears. "Twilight?" "You should see for yourself." Korra's eyes widened and the two rushed to where the alicorns were being held. It all happened so quickly that they had little time to take them to Equestria and so they sent them here. In the room, Tenzin, Raiko, Fire Lord Izumi all stood, looking on with worry. That was when Korra saw them. The three royal alicorns, all in their pony forms, fast asleep. But they were not sleeping peacefully. No, their brows twitched and beams of sweat dripped from their faces, brows and noses. Their bodies did not move, as it they were too heavy to do so. Only their faces did, their noses twitched, their eyes closed shut, tightening as if trying to open but looked as if they were stuck together. The strangest thing of all were their horns. The outlines glowed a horrible green color. Korra couldn't breath. These were the most powerful creatures she knew, and now they looked so…helpless. She could sympathize with this. They appeared as if their minds were being plagued by visions they could not get rid off. Her heart stopped for a brief moment when she saw Twilight's own brother, Shinning Armor there as well, and their three-year-old daughter Flurry Heart sobbed in his shoulder. Shinning Armor looked up at the Avatar, not saying a word. His eyes looked fuzzy due to his tears. When Korra looked down at what was in front of him, she could feel her own tears threatening to come out as well. Laying on the bed was none of other than Princess Cadance. Twilight's old foul sitter, turned sister-in-law and one of Korra's dearest friends…was now laying in bed, on all fours, in the exact same state as the others. Twilight walked up to them and got down on her knees, breaking down into tears as she sobbed beside Cadance's bed. Korra's sadness began to shift into anger. Her tears stopped and she stormed out of the room, not saying a word. Outside, she spread her wings open and flew up to the roof, looking at the last bit of sunlight of the day, her long hair billowing harshly against the twilight winds. She took in a deep breath before screaming at the top of her lungs, her voice booming for all to hear. "KUVIRAAAAAAAAA!!!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!!!!" That much, for certain, was a promise she was going to keep…. No matter what. (~) Baatar Jr. hammered in a small stake with a cord attached onto the surface of a tree. He looked at his remote in hand, the red needle flew right into the reddest area of the gauge. "This area is overrun with spirit vines." he said, smiling to his fiance, who stood behind him, arms folded. "And they appear to be even more powerful than the samples we took from Republic City." "Perfect." Kuvira replied. She turned to her followers. "Harvest the vines until there's nothing left." she ordered. Using the chainsaws that outstretched from their wrists, the mecha tanks went to work and began cutting through the tree roots. The roots that belonged to the Tree of the Foggy Swamp, which was now surround by Kuvira's military airships. (~)