*(~)*

Hebrew 10:22~

…let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. Four our guilty conscience have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies washed with pure water.

*(~)*

Operation: Risk it All

Before Bolin and Sonata would leave for their mission, the former siren wanted to speak with the alicorn Queen. She was still in the hospital recuperating, rather quickly but still. With a deep breath, Sonata entered the room where she was.

Even after all these years, the Alicorn did not age a bit. Even in her anthro form Sonata recognized her perfectly. She laid on a hospital bed, her face filled with life and wisdom from the past. At the sight of the young pony, Leilani removed the blanket, stood up from her bed and approached her.

Sonata blushed from the compliment, "Thanks. I wanted to come and see you to say…you were right all those years ago. I should have listened to you, White and Wan. I'm sorry to hear about them, by the way."

"I know it may not mean much now but…I hope you can forgive me." Sonata lowered her head in shame, but Leilani lifted her chin up, smiling kindly.

"I knew you were different. It took a while but you're finally on the right path."

Sonata felt so relieved to hear her words, "Thank you, your Majesty. I also ask for your blessing on my journey to Zaofu to help my friends."

"Of course, my dear. In fact, I have something for you as well." Leilani walked over to her bed and pulled out a waterskin. "You can have this old waterskin of mine. I always carry it as a reminder of my days back in the spirit wilds."

Sonata was speechless as the alicorn queen flung the waterskin around her shoulder, "But, I can't accept this. I'm not even that good a bender. Even when I was with Kuvira, whenever I tried to waterbend I was a flop!"

Leilani chuckled, "You underestimate yourself, Sonata. Believe me, you have more strength inside of you than you realize."

Could this be true? Sonata asked herself as the memory ended in her mind. Could she truly be stronger than she seemed?

At long last, Opal's bison landed on the outskirts of Zaofu, a hill surrounded by forest trees and the city, occupied by Kuvira's army, could be seen down bellow. Sonata slid down the bison's tail as Bolin and Opal got off.

"All right, let's do this!" Bolin said determinedly, "Saving the Beifongs, stoping Kuvira, and the sirens, because I vow to repair the mistakes of my past and make your family whole again!" he swore to Opal, who arched her eyebrow.

"I already appreciate the help Bolin, you don't have to get all dramatic on me."

Sonata approached the two, addressing to the female airbender, "Opal, I promise we'll get your family out safe."

But before Opal could respond, Lin shoved the anthro pon aside, "You. Zip it. You won't talk unless spoken to, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." Sonata replied timidly. She knew Lin was still unsure about trusting her. After hearing about her true origins from Bolin and Korra, Lin swore to keep an eye on the now former siren. It didn't matter if she was on good terms with the alicorn queen at this point.

The four crunched down on the edge of the mountainside, overlooking the metal city. "Kuvira tore down all the domes." Opal said, "Why would she do that?"

Lin pulled a spyglass from her pocket, zooming in on the city's barriers she spotted a large number of soldiers and mecha suits spread out. Changes of sneaking in through that way were slim to none.

"She's got a whole battalion of troops stationed there." Lin said, lowering the spyglass. "There's no way we'll be able to spot anything useful from here. We'll have to go in for a closer look."

A voice from behind caused the four of them to quickly rise to their feet and spun around, spotting an elderly blind woman in earth kingdom clothing approach them. She was barefoot and held her white hair in a wide bun. Lin was at a loss for words, she had not seen her mother in a very long time.

"Grandma Toph!", Opal spread her arms open as she ran up towards the woman, hugging her tightly. She was taller than her so she slightly squatted her knees to hug her neck. Toph was sincerely happy to see her young niece.

Bolin could not believe his eyes. Standing in front of him was non other than Toph Beifong. The Toph Beifong. The greatest Earth Bender that ever lived. She was his idol, his inspiration, and he was standing right before her. He began jumping and laughing hysterically while waving his hands in his face. Sonata looked at him as if he was having a seizure.

"What?! Do you have to pee or something?" Toph said while arching an eyebrow, making Opal giggle.

"No! Well, now, maybe. You're my hero! My name is Bolin. I'm friends with your granddaughter! I mean, we kind of used to date before but, we're on good terms now and you're my hero! Oh, I said that. Can I have a hug too?"

"He's an actor." her eldest daughter replied dryly, "So, you already checked the city for Su? How did you know she was captured?"

"Wait, how can you "see" if you're--Oh, wait that was an expression wasn't it? Sorry. My name's Sonata, Miss Toph. Ma'am. Miss Ma'am. Miss Beifong. Toph. Beifong…Hi!"

Toph returned to speaking to her daughter, "Anyway, by the time I got here, they were gone. I snooped around town and heard that they were taken away to some nearby prison camp."

Bolin and Sonata both looked at one another in shame before Bolin answered, "There's a factory and re-education facility not too far away."

"Bolin and I used to work for Kuvira." Sonata replied sadly, earning a concerned look from Opal.

"The dipstick works for Kuvira?", Toph asked her niece, both confused and agitated. "No wonder you broke up."

"No, it wasn't like that!" Bolin explained, raising his hands up in surrender, "We broke up years ago because I was in love with somebody else, but we talked things out and now we're all best friends! Really!"

"Whatever stops the tears, kid." Toph said as she and Lin walked on ahead. Opal, Sonata and Bolin followed next.

The airbender led the group to her sky bison, who panted while green mucus dripped from his nostrils and down his mouth. Some traces he licked with his tongue.

While she couldn't see, Toph could most certainly smell the beast, and hear its mucus dripping. "And I thought Appa was smelly." she said in disgust, "Why would you choose this leaky, nasty thing?"

"You don't choose your bison." Opal explained while Juicy affectionally nuzzled her, "He chooses you. And once he chooses you, you can't change. Believe me, I checked."

At City Hall in Republic City, the now fully recuperated Alicorns, as well as Team Avatar, Shinning Armor, Tenzin, Hou-Ting and Varrick stood before President Raiko. "The borders are secure and troops are guarding the rail lines into the city. So what have you two geniuses come up with to fend off Kuvira?" Raiko asked Asami and Varrick. Sunset Shimmer, who was Asami's assistant, stood beside her.

Both girls displayed some schematics before the president. Asami opened her mouth to explain, only to be rudely interrupted by Varrick who, in his usual flamboyant manner, waved his hands around so quickly both girls had to duck their heads. Varrick was completely oblivious to their annoyed glares as he proceeded to explain the invention to the president.

"It's a flying mecha suit! Asami got the idea from watching dragonfly-hummingbirds. You can take off straight up, fly in any direction—"

Varrick's enthusiastic tone shifted into an uncharacteristically cold one. "It doesn't have a spirit ray. I'm telling you what I told Kuvira: That technology should not be used!"

"It's already being used by Kuvira!" Raiko slammed his hands on the table as he rose. "I need spirit vine weapons and I need them now!"

"No!" Korra said firmly. Her voice practically bouncing against the walls. "It was Kuvira's harvesting of the vines in the swamp that caused the Republic City vines to go crazy and grab all those people."

"I agree," said Princess Cadance, "If we are going to stop her we must do so without endangering the lives of the innocent."

"What do you alicorns suggest?" Raiko asked, still fuming, "If we can't harvest the vines then your magic will have to--"

Princess Luna rose her hand to silence him, "Our magic is not to be used as instruments of war. We have our most highly skilled unicorn and pegasus soldiers at the ready, but we refuse to be your personal weapon of destruction just to even the playing field. Fighting fire with fire is off the table. It cause more harm than good. If we are to defeat this power, we must be smart about it, not just barge in like barbarians mindlessly blasting back and forth."

Korra then got an idea, "The weapon is fueled with spirit energy, right? Maybe I can ask the spirits if they know of some way we can stop it. Maybe even help defend the city."

Everybody in the room raised their hands in agreement, and Raiko, with a sigh, rose his hand as well. "Alright."

Prince Wu then stepped forward, "Okay, maybe while the weapon geniuses and the alicorns are getting ready for battle, we should be evacuating the ordinary citizens so that if Kuvira attacks, they won't be hurt."

Pinkie Pie's draw dropped and Rarity fainted gracefully from the shock, only to be caught by an unfazed Mako. Wu's aunt was very shocked as well. Even Celestia was taken aback by this, "That's ... actually a good idea." said the sun princess, looking rather perplexed.

Raiko blinked before regaining his composure as well. "I agree. Prince Wu, you work with the police to coordinate getting people out of the city."

"Everyone get to it. I want daily updates." the group bowed to Raiko before exiting the room.

Luna caught up with her sister, "Celestia. Is it possible for it to snow in Tartarus?"

"After that display, I'll believe anything." Celestia said, still in shock that Prince Wu was…actually smart for once.

Flash Sentry walked up to the prince, actually smiling proudly. "Nice job in there. I'm proud of you. You're starting to act like the kind of king I'd like to work for." he said.

"Thanks." Wu said before smiling smugly, "And if Korra buys this "man of the people" thing, I still might get to date her."

And just like that, Flash's feelings of pride were rapidly replaced with the agonizing feeling of disappointment. "Why do you always have to ruin it?" he said, narrowing his brows.

"What? Come on! Why do you think guys do anything great? To pick up girls. Every work of art, every song, every city evacuation, all for the ladies."

As Wu walked away, Flash face palmed and groaned. "You do know she's getting married, right? How do you not get that?!" he said as he caught up with him.

The black smoke from Kuvira's factory was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Inside the facility, with a large opening, Kuvira's scientists, with Zhu Li as the lead, were working on an enormous canon, fueled by spirit vines in containers which were being put into place by two mecha tanks. Baatar Jr. supervised everything.

"All right, everybody, let's test the power core. I want everything in order for the full demonstration for Kuvira tomorrow. Load the energy capsule." The two mecha tanks lowered a spirit vine capsule into the cannon as instructed and Baatar turned to the woman behind the controls. "Zhu Li, initialize phase one."

With a nod, Zhu Li pushed up a lever and just like before, the vine inside the capsule glowed the the same purple energy, becoming more and more intense by the second. The same purple glow started to manifest at the cannon's turret. Baatar Jr. smiled with subtle sadistic glee, picturing the look on his fiance's face once she saw what they had accomplished together.

His smile faded when he heard the beeping sound of a warning alarm repetitively going off. The controls on Zhu Li's dashboard were going haywire. "There's a problem with the condenser. It's backing up!" Zhu Li warned her boss.

With his back turned to her, Baatar Jr. did not show any signs of fear, only annoyance and disappointment. "Shut it down." he ordered with bitterly reluctance.

Zhu Li lowered the lever, but the alarm continued to go off and everything in her board did not shut off as she had expected. "I can't. The override isn't working." she whipped her head around, her face etched with fear, addressing to everyone in panic. "Everyone needs to evacuate. This thing is going to blow!"

Hearing this, as well as the alarm getting louder and more frequent, was what finally allowed Baatar Jr. to show visible fear. "Everyone get out! Now!" he urged his fellow scientists, who leaped over the railing along with the mecha tanks.

However, Baatar Jr. did not leave with the others, but rather he opened the side of the cannon to inspect its circuitry. He was unwilling to leave.

"Come on, Baatar! It's too late!" Zhu Li exclaimed, but Baatar Jr. ignored her words and stretched his hand further inside. The vines inside the capsule ceased its glowing and the energy from the cannon disappeared along with it. The vine itself shriveled up, becoming nothing more than a harmless string of grass. Baatar Jr. had successfully shut off the destructive weapon.

Looking deeper inside, the man's eyes widened at spotting the source of the weapon's malfunction. He pulled the metal ring out with brute force, his jaw clenching in anger. He stood by the railing, addressing Zhu Li and the rest of his team by showcasing them the metal ring, which had been cracked.

"This channeling ring was cracked. That's what caused the reaction to overload." he said angrily, "Now we're taking this whole thing apart tonight and checking everything! Nothing is too small. This has to be ready by tomorrow."

The fiery look in his eyes was enough to frighten everyone else to simply nod, unwilling to question him, or even protest, not that they had much of a reason to anyways. Baatar Jr. tossed the ring to one of Zhu Li, who grabbed it effortlessly with her hand.

Juicy flew over to the factory, hiding his body behind the rocks of the upwards hill as to not be spotted. Bolin tried to make small talk with Toph and Lin. There was so much mystery circling the two that he couldn't help his curiosity.

"Little while now." Toph replied, strangely relaxed and casual, "Couple of years."

"Ah, time flies when you get to be my age. I'm surprised you came to save Su. I thought you guys didn't get along."

Toph laid back on the saddle with her arms behind her head, "Good, glad we can put all that behind us."

Lin turned away from her mother, her bitterness growing with every inhale of air she took, "Right….'We'." she muttered sarcastically under her breath. Sonata could sense the tension between them…she understood the feeling all too well.

"Okay, there's the factory." Bolin said. Juicy landed down behind a few large rocks placed on the outskirts of the factory, which hid him and everyone else.

The group managed to sneak in without anyone knowing, hiding behind piles of large wooden stool sheds, and Toph metalbended an opening in the wall, allowing herself and the others to enter. Once inside, the group hid behind several more boxes as they made their way, crunching down and stopping before the famous weapon Kuvira has been working day and night over.

"Whoa, that's one big ... thing." Bolin's eyes widened, more in horror than anything.

"A cannon." Sonata corrected…Opal and Bolin, even Lin, all looked at her surprised, "What? I know some things too, you know."

Toph stomped her foot, using her seismic sense to scan the area. She immediately picked up something from down bellow. "I think I know where they are. Feel that cavern a few stories down? It seems empty, but it's guarded by an awful lot of mech."

Lin stomped her foot onto the floor, also using her seismic sense. She immediately picked up on what her mother had witnessed as well. "Right. Why would you need soldiers guarding an empty cavern? They must have them in some kind of suspended prison, so they can't use their earthbending."

Sonata's ears perked upwards and a metal door slid open, alarming the others. "Someone's coming. Hide!" Sonata explained in a hush tone. Everyone complied and watched as the main doors parted, allowing the blinding light of the sun to shine on through. Once the light dimmed down, Sonata's heart raced when she saw who it was.

The three of them approached the cannon, marveling at it. Baatar Jr. and Zhu Li approached them. "I didn't expect you until tomorrow." said Kuvira's fiance.

"I just wanted to check in to make sure everything was on track. It looks wonderful." Kuvira responded with a satisfied grin.

Aria, still known as Starblaze by Kuvira, looked at the contraption in disinterest, "Looks pretty bland to me. But hey, as long as it's packing some serious spirit mojo, I'm game."

From their hiding place, Opal looked at the anthro pony in disgust, "You're related to that?" she asked in disbelief, making Sonata lower her ears in disappointment. Opal could not believe that sweet Sonata swam in the same gene pool as these two pony tramps.

Baatar Jr. never liked giving bad news to his beloved, but she needed to hear this. "We've had a few minor malfunctions, but we should be ready for the test tomorrow."

Hearing this, Kuvira turned her head towards him, showing subtle indications of concern before turning her attention to Zhu Li. "You've been working on this the entire time, Zhu Li. What do you think the problem is?"

"It's a very complex machine." Zhu Li said, her eyes darting to her left side. "There are bound to be some bugs to work out."

Adagio, known as Dazzle still, approached the woman, her eyes narrowing and arching an eyebrow in suspicion, "But you're doing everything you can to fix those, right?"

From where they hid, Toph could sense Zhui Li's heartbeat from across the room. "She's lying." she whispered.

Bolin's face lit up upon hearing this. Zhu Li was still on their side after all! Sonata was surprised, as well as relieved. Maybe she was able to overcome the siren's spell. Maybe her will was just too strong, or maybe…it could have something to do with her loyalties to Varrick. Maybe they never wavered after all.

"Tell the troops and the factory workers to attend tomorrow's demonstration." Kuvira ordered, "I want them all to witness this incredible new weapon in action."

The others took this moment to sneak away and leave the factory. Sonata remained a few moments more, giving her sisters one more glance before following the others.

Back at their hiding place, Sonata peeked from behind a tall rock looking over the factory.Her brain was working overtime, all of this adrenaline and life or death situations made the gears in her mind spin. Behind her, the others were trying to discuss a plan.

"We should be thinking of a way to take out Kuvira while we have the chance." Opal said

"Or at least destroy the cannon." said Bolin, "If she takes that to Republic City, it could obliterate everything."

"I didn't come to fight with Kuvira or destroy a cannon." Toph stated, "I'm here to save my family. It will take everything we have just to get out alive.

Sonata, finally done with her thinking, approached the others by sliding down the rock she was on. "Alright, listen up everyone." she said, grabbing everyone's attention while wearing a serious look on her face. "I have an idea. Kuvira wants every single one of her people to see the weapon test tomorrow, right? So, the factory will be mostly empty then. That's our best chance to sneak in and free Su without being seen."

Opal and Bolin both looked at each other, sharing surprised looks before giving them to Sonata. "Good thinking, Sonata." Opal said, actually impressed.

"Thanks…. I kind of have a headache now." said the pony, rubbing her head for emphasis.

Korra walked along the Spirit Wilds, looking for any signs of the spirits, but they weren't anywhere to be seen. She then spotted a small yellow spirit resting on top of a gazebo. "Hey, little one." she waved, "Do you think you could help me with …" before she could finish, the spirit vanished, "and you're gone."

Korra turned around to see even more spirits floating about, and disappearing in a flash just like the first one. She managed to catch a glimpse of the fear in their eyes. Judging by their sizes, these spirits were mere children. Confused children who were apparently frightened by something. She knew it couldn't be here, she had been to the wilds hundreds of times. They knew her, especially the kids. It didn't take her long for the realization to dawn on her.

Korra's head jerked up when she saw her spirit children descending towards her, "San, Mika, Ali! What's going on?"

"We don't know." Ali said, "We sensed all the other spirits leaving because they say it's too dangerous, but we couldn't abandon you and dad."

Korra smiled at her daughter's loyalty, "That's sweet, honey. I have to find a way to get the spirits to help us. Will you help me?"

That night, Sonata, Lin, Opal, Bolin, and Toph sat one flat surfaced stones for chairs, gathered around a flat stoned table created by Toph herself. The only source of light was the fire hearing the teapot. Lin sat with her back turned from everyone else, picking her noodles with her chopsticks, barely eating while the others did. Sonata slurped hers with delight. No matter how many times she ate them, the noodles of this world were to die for.

"So let me ask you about metalbending." Bolin began a conversation with his hero, "Su tried to teach me, but I couldn't get the hang of it."

"I used to have an academy to train metalbending. Even blockheads like you can figure it out with the right instruction."

"Yeah, you're a real sensitive instructor." Lin muttered to herself, but she was still heard by the others.

"Really?" Toph's eyes slightly widened upon hearing this. Just slightly. "It's a very rare ability." she smiled, "Maybe you do have some talent."

Bolin smiled like an excitable little kid. "I can't believe ... you think I'm talented?" he fanned himself, tickled by the excitement of the moment, "That means so much to me coming from my hero."

"Yeah, she's real encouraging." Lin said bitterly, not even bothering to hide it. Which made everyone else all the more uncomfortable.

"So here's something I've always been curious about." Bolin said, "Who's Lin's dad?"

Lin turned her head around, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. Her widened, and scornful eyes only heightened the intimidating glare. Bolin flinched at the sight while Sonata shrieked and morphed back into her pony form, hiding behind the rocks where Opal and Bolin sat on.

"He was a guy named Kanto." Toph replied after the brief awkward silence that followed after the pony's fearful reaction. "Nice man, but it didn't really work out between us."

Bolin waited for a few more minutes to see of Toph would reveal more information. When it never came, he accepted that this was all the info he was going to get out of her on the subject.

Sonata morphed back into anthro form and sat back on her rock chair. Toph could still feel her eldest daughter's tenseness from across the stone table. "Lin, I can feel your enraged breathing from here. Just say what you have to say and let's get it over with."

"Just get it over with? Yeah, let's not linger on the fact that I grew up without a dad. No need to get all touchy-feely about it. Just one of those things, right?"

"Hey, I forgave you for all your garbage a long time ago and Su and I worked things out. You're the only one who wants to hold on to this family drama nonsense for the rest of your life."

While the two argued, Sonata, Opal and Bolin sat awkwardly holding their cups of noodles. Bolin was the only one eating his, while the girls listened quietly.

"Forgave me for what?!" Lin responded angrily, her anger fuming."And not knowing my dad is nonsense to you? It was pretty important to me. And until now, you would never even discuss it. You know, after Su and I patched things up, I thought, "maybe I should try to reach out to mom." But now that we're together again, I remember why we stopped talking. You make me furious and you don't even know why. And when I tell you, you don't care. Once we save Su, you and I are finished."

Toph knew exactly what it was like to grow up with parents who never understood. To be angry with them for so long. She knew it all too well. She hoped that by not being such a control freak like her parents were when she was young, then maybe her children would have a better life. But she realized long ago that this still did not make her any better than her parents before her. They gave her far too much restraint, while she gave Lin and Su too much freedom. Even after realizing her mistakes all those years ago, it still came back to haunt her. She thought time at the swamp would help clear her mind, but in reality, she was too scared to come to terms with her own mistakes. She hatted the fact that she wasn't the best mother when she should have been. Every day, she wondered what happened to make her be this way. She wanted to tell Lin the truth, but she couldn't with these kids hearing it.

Toph closed her eyes and sighed, trying her best to suppress the tears. "If that's your decision and it makes you happy, then fine."

With that, Lin turned away from her mother, all the while Bolin continued to awkwardly eat his noodles. For the rest of the night, nobody uttered a word on the matter.

While everyone else was sound asleep, Sonata was wide wake. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened with Lin and her mother. She knew exactly what it was like to have family drama.

Lin had a hunch on what was bothering her. She wasn't very good at sentimental stuff but she tried her best here. "Listen, uh…you don't have to feel bad about what me and my mom talked about."

"I know what it's like. To have a mother that doesn't always seem to care." Lin was silent as she spoke. "When my sisters took over our kingdom, our mother tried to stop us, but we didn't listen. I was young, I thought we were just having fun. But when we found out she sold us out to the sea-pony king…I got so mad. She tried to explain but we wouldn't let her." Sonata's eyes became hazy as tears rolled down from her eyes, "But, even though I was still mad once we left…I couldn't get myself to hate her. I just couldn't." as the young pony sobbed, Lin felt her heart break.

This young pony was voicing out what she felt. She may have still been angry with Toph, but she could never get herself to hate her. She wasn't that bad of a person, maybe as a mother she wasn't the best, but she wasn't a bad person in general. Lin herself knew what that was like.

Sonata continued to sob, "I don't know why I kept following my sisters. But I didn't have the heart to leave them."

"Maybe because, deep down, you couldn't get yourself to hate them either." Sonata stopped her sobbing as she looked up at Lin, her eyes filled with compassion, "I can see the kind you are, Sonata. You follow your heart more than your head."

"It's not all bad. By doing so you got Bolin and yourself out of Kuvira's web of lies. Not to mention you've proven to be pretty smart in sticky situations." Sonata couldn't believe how kind Lin was behaving towards her. She silently gasped in awe when the woman placed her hand on her shoulder. "You have a good heart Sonata, and a clever mind. You just need to learn when to listen to which."

Sonata clapped her hands closed to her heart, soaking in the words of the woman. "Thank you, Lin. You know, you've seem to be the kind who listens to her head more. Maybe sometimes, it's okay to listen to your heart too."

Lin smiled at her words. Who have thought she would find a kindred spirit in someone who was once joined with evil.

A blinding light engulfed the inside of Kuvira's factory once the massive doors opened and the wheels of the massive weapon started to turn, pushing it forward into the morning daylight. Kuvira, Baatar Jr., Zhu Li Adagio and Aria rode on it, while the rest of the troops and scientist observed from bellow. Some shielded their eyes from the sun's rays, which bounced off of the gemstones which hung around Kuvira's neck, mirroring the shine of that of the two sirens's gemstones.

Opal landed on a vantage point, right above the factory, away from sight just as the machine had fully stopped crawling outside. Opal's eyes narrowed upon seeing that the cannon was aimed directly at the small deserted town. She spoke into the two-way radio in her hand.

"The test is about to start. They're going to blow up that empty town we flew over yesterday. You're clear to go."

"Copy that. We're going in." Lin responded from the other side, while three of Kuvira's sentries had been knocked out and frozen up against a wall, curtesy of Sonata. One by one they all jumped into a hole, which went down further and further into an underground tunnel. Sonata stared at the walls in curiosity, for they gave off a familiar green luminescent glow. She recognized this color, and her skin began to crawl, yet she swallowed it and journeyed onward with the rest.

With Toph leading the way, they stopped at a wall, only for the elderly earthbender to create an opening, making the wall open like two separate doors, which amazed the young pony. The underground prison had a wooden cage, high anode the ground, suspended in mid air and held by eight ropes on each corner. No question, Su and her family were trapped inside.

However, what truly made Sonata's throat dry was the illuminated green rocks that adorned the cave walls.

"Those rocks. They're the same ones Kuvira and my sisters have. They must have used these on the alicorns."

From inside her prison, the youngest Beifong daughter heard their voices from down bellow, and smiled to see her sister and mother once again. Suyin touched Baatar's shoulder, alerting him of their fortunate stroke of luck.

"The guards are on the other side of that door." Toph explained, sensing them with her earthbending. "We'll have to be quiet."

"Shoot me over to the cage and I can swing them back on my cable." Lin said. "Bolin, Sonata, you'll have to catch them since mom won't be able to see them. Ready?"

The three nodded and Lin crunched down into position, aiming herself at the cage before her. Toph and Bolin stomped their feet at the exact same time, creating a rock column which propelled Lin high into the air, aiming her perfectly onto the top of the cage, causing it to swing roughly. The Beifong family from inside grunted from the impact, Huan lost his balance and collided with his twin brothers before falling on his face. Su and the twins managed to hold steady, as did Bataar, who felt he would wet his pants at the motion.

A guard bursted in from the metal door on the side of the cave upon hearing the commotion. With a focused eye, he looked up at the cage, which was shaking a bit before stabilizing. His eyes darted back and forth suspiciously.

Lin rested on her stomach, using the cave's shadows to her advantage, awaiting for the man to leave. Once he was certain there were no signs of anything out of the ordinary, he made his leave, the metal door making a loud clanging sound once it closed. Toph had closed the entrance she had created from before to hide herself and the other two. Sensing the coast was clear, she reopened the hole and Lin used the metal blade of her suit to cleave an opening above the cage.

"We'll get you out one at a time. Come on." Lin first wrapped her cables on one of her twin nephews, Wing, and swung him towards the opening, where Bolin caught him.

Lin did the same procedure with the other twin, this time it was Sonata who caught him. Of course, unlike Bolin, who managed to stand his ground upon catching Wing, Sonata felt the weightof Wei's human body and both of them landed on the ground, the dust of the cave covering their cloths.

Soanata laughed apologetically, but Wei still thanked herby patting her on the head.

On the surface, Kuvira's followers/workers all gathered at the cannon, while Adagio and Aria stood beside her, smiling wickedly. They were so close they could taste it. Everything was going according to plan. Kuvira stood proudly before her followers, never once denying the victorious glee that swelled up inside of her, which was evident in her regal yet content smile on her face while speaking with much strength and courage as the leader she was.

"Congratulations on all of your hard work. This weapon is proof that the Earth Empire is the strongest nation in the world. And believe me, this is only the beginning!"

The crowd cheered loudly and as they did, Adagio and Aria harmonized, their voices. Deff by most ears but still powerful. The mist that emitted from Kuvira's followers became absorbed into her stone, which was then transferred into Adagio's and Aria's respected necklaces. The power felt so good, and Kuvira's energies were growing stronger as well. She would be the perfect replacement for their traitorous little sister. Kuvira turned to her fiance, "Fire the weapon."

Baatar Jr. pushed up the lever, which caused the the spirit vine in the capsule to once again glow purple. Even stronger now than ever before, with some courses of green lights dancing upon its surface. Adagio and Aria's smiles grew wider in anticipation, which quickly dissolved once an alarm from the machine went off.

"Probably something minor. I should be able to find the problem." Baatar Jr. said as he opened the box to inspect the circuitry. The horrid smell of high temperature metal reached his nostrils which he covered with the back of his hand. A thick clouds of gray smoke extended from the inside. From the looks of it, it didn't appear to be anything "minor", but he refused to think negatively.

He searched the insides, fanning the smoke away, ignoring the stench, only to realize that something from the interior's design was amiss. "The distributor pin is gone." he said as he wiped his hands on a cloth, "I swear I locked it in place yesterday. There's no way it could have just fallen out."

"And this--whatever you call it--is what caused the entire weapon to fail?" Aria asked, sounding bitter and annoyed.

"What?!" Aria leaned against the railing, addressing to all who were present, "What moron did this?! Show yourself!!" but judging by the confused shrugs and head shakes, no one was the culprit. Aria grunted angrily, her nose flaring.

Kuvira empathized her friend's disappointment. How did this happen? It was then, her green eyes shifted towards the only other person who spent almost as much time on the machine as Baatar did.

Zhu Li froze once the metalbender whipped her head, meeting her cold gaze. "What do you know about this?" Kuvira asked as she gained up on the woman, who attempted to back away, only to be cornered between her and the control panel.

"Nothing." Zhu Li replied innocently. But Kuvira was not fooled. She saw that tremble in her eyes.

With a wave of her hand, Kuvira began to metalbend and something began to move from inside Zhu Li's pocket. Slowly, Kuvira pulled out a thin looking metallic object and spun it around above her palm. A metallic object which Baatar Jr. had just recently said was missing from the machine. The distributor pin.

Adagio and Aria grunted once they saw this. Zhu Li was suppose to be under their spell, but it appears she had been faking it the whole time. They should have known, Sonata did get to her first, she must have told her the only way to resist their siren song.

Kuvira's eyes narrowed in anger as she grabbed the pin, "You swore your loyalty to me and I gave you a chance at greatness. This is how you repay me?!"

Zhu Li, however, showed no signs of of fear whatsoever. "You're a monster. I regret nothing."

Clenching her jaw, Kuvira grabbed Zhu Li by the arm, nearly twisting it and threw her at her fiance. "Chain her up in the target town. She can see how the weapon works up close and personal."

The only remaining prisoners now were Su and her husband. But man, terrified of heights, was curled up and clung onto the corner of the cage for his dear life.

"Sweetie, it'll be fine. Lin won't drop you and Bolin will catch you." Su said, trying to reassure her frightened husband.

Su shrugged at her sister, unsure on what else to do. But Lin was not always as soft as her sister was. Even if it was her brother-in-law. "Sorry, but I have to do this."

Without his consent--or even a warning--Lin wrapped her cable around Baatar's ankle and swung him from the cage, throwing him into the opening where the others awaited. It wouldn't come as a shock if the man would need a fresh pair of pants after all of this.

Unfortunately, his screams of terror were what alerted the guard from before and upon seeing the prisoners escaping and sounded the alarm. In literally no time at all, a mecha tank appeared behind him.

From the outside, Kuvira, Adagio and Aria heard the alarm. "What now?!" Adagio said impatiently, clenching her fists tightly in frustration.

"I didn't come all this way to stop now. Fire when ready. I want to see that town destroyed."

Back in the prison, the mecha tank activated its flamethrower at Lin and Su, who were just escaping from the cage. Lin cut the two ropes of the cage with her cables, and shielding her little sister, the cage swung, avoiding the fire blast. The cage swung towards the opening and the two sisters leaped onto the side while the cage crumbled upon impact.

Once they were safe, Su quickly rushed towards her mother, who happily embraced her youngest daughter. Bolin smiled at the sweet scene and called Opal from the two-way radio.

"Oh, right!" using his earthbending, Bolin quickly shattered the green rocks that surrounded the cave, watching as the little pieces fell into the abyss bellow. At least that was one problem down. Now to deal with her sisters.

The group reached the surface, via another hole created by Toph, but rather than jump right out, they peeked their heads, quietly observing if the coast was clear. Once certain, one by one, they all emerged. Suyin smiled in relief upon seeing her daughter glide down to greet them. Crunching down, she pulled out a bison whistle to summon hers. While the sound was low and resembled more of a faint wind blowing into an old whistle, Juicy still heard it none the less.

"Mom! Dad!" Opal rushed on over to hug her parents, relieved to see them both alive. Sonata couldn't help but feel both a sense of joy, while also sadness upon seeing the scene. At least someone's family was happy to see each other again. Opal then turned to Bolin and Sonata, placing a hand over her head.

"Thank you." she said. The two smiled softly at her, but the moment was short lived.

Bolin's eyes widened at this as he stood up, "What? No, we have to go save her."

"We've been through too much together. I can't leave her. Toph, you said Zhu Li was lying about fixing the cannon. She must have been trying to stop it."

"For all you know, she could just have been covering her butt because she made a mistake." said the older earthbender.

Sonata knew Bolin was right, but she couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt. Bolin had much more to live for, he had a family to get back to, and a fiance, but her?…she didn't have anything left to lose. Her mind was made up.

"I'll get Zhu Li out of there." Sonata said, already marching her way towards the town, only to be stopped when Bolin grabbed her by the shoulder.

"I can't risk anyone else's lives! Not anymore. Bolin, you have a future waiting for you back home, and I can't let Opal loose her family again." Sonata gently removed Bolin's hand from her shoulder, taking one step back. "I'll do everything I can to make sure that Zhu Li makes it out safely, but if anything happens to me…" Sonata closed her eyes tightly and turned away. "Don't look back." with that, she ran off, not looking back as Bolin, Opal and Lin called out her name.

"Sonata!!" Bolin cried out, reaching out his hand to try and grab her again, but Sonata had already morphed into her pony form, giving her the advantage of running away faster on all four legs.

Opal couldn't allow her new friend to sacrifice herself like this. Juicy made a turn and arrived a few moments later. Opal quickly airbended herself onto his saddle. "You guys get out of here. I'm going with Sonata."

"Me too!" Bolin said, adamantly before climbing onto the saddle beside Opal. She did not protest his decision and the bison flew off after the pony, creating a gust of wind around the rest of the group.

"If you all want to get yourselves captured again or worse, that's your business." Toph said, "I'm through."

Her youngest daughter placed a hand on her mother's back, "Watch out for Baatar Sr. and Huan." she said before she, Lin, Wei, and Wing headed off, leaving Baatar to speak to his mother-in-law.

Korra sat underneath the gazebo, her body glowing as she traveled to the spirit world. Mika, San and Ali were there waiting for her. They appeared near the Tree of Time, where multiple spirits had also gathered around the Princess Avatar. Korra stood tall and proud, addressing to the colorful creatures.

"Spirits, this is the Princess Avatar. Please listen to me." Korra spoke as more spirits continued to materialize around her, "Since I opened the portals, spirits, humans and ponies have lived happily together in Republic City. It's all I could have hoped for. I know you felt the effects of Kuvira cutting down spirit vines. But now isn't the time for you to flee the city. It's time for you to help me save it from Kuvira, who was perverting spirit power to use as a weapon against other humans."

San stood before the spirit, waving his scaly fists, "What'ya say? If we work together we can save our home!"

Then, a long serpentine-like spirit with bird-like features, beak and all, descended from behind Korra, speaking in a wise masculine voice. "We have been living harmoniously with humans for very long now, and we understand the situation at hand. But we can not get involved in this human war."

"Yes, but he was misusing Vaatu's power during Harmonic Convergence to force our kind to fight you. It was not of our own free will."

Ali, the eldest, stepped forward to face the spirit, "Manyu, you of all spirits should understand. You've lived in the wilds for years. As an Elder Spirit many humans came to you for advice and support and you never once turned a blind eye to them. The humans aren't just flesh and blood, they're our family. Princess Korra and Prince Mako took us in like their own children. In their hour of need we can't abandon them. If there is anything Princess Korra has taught us it's that Friendship is Magic, now is our time to prove it once again. Please, will you help?"

"Little one, your loyalty towards your human parents is very noble. However, as intelligent as you are, you are still much too young to fully understand. The banyan-grove tree is of a powerful kind of magic, one that towers over our own. When the roots were harmed by Kuvira's machine the vines connected to it became so consumed with anger it became blinded to the truth. When they started capturing the humans we were powerless to help them. Because we are of the same energy we couldn't fight the vines, or coax them into releasing your friends." he turned to face Korra. "It was only with your light magic were you able to heal it and free everyone, but I'm afraid the damage is far too great at this point. So long as Kuvira has the vines in her possession she will have their power, and we will be powerless against her. We will only be endangering you rather than helping."

Manyu hung his head in regret, only for Korra to gently stroke his beak. "It's okay. I understand now. The last thing I want is to place any of you in unnecessary danger. I know you tried to help, and I'm eternally grateful for that."

"Don't be. For now, just stay safe and conserve your energy. I promise, your honor will be avenged, and the Spirit Wilds will be safe for you to return home again."

"Thank you, Princess. Our hope and our prayers shall be with you." With that, the spirit and the other disappeared, as more and more began to fade away. There was nothing she could do. Before long, all of the spirits were gone, save for the three little ones, who nuzzled her face.

Sonata panted as she ran into the empty town, spotting Zhu Li tied to a metallic post. The woman was surprised to see the pony, who had just now changed into her anthro form.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help you. And call me Sonata from now on." using the water from her waterskin, she froze Zhu Li's ropes into ice and broke them apart, freeing her.

"Sonata!" The pony heard her friends calling out to her from above. A wind picked up around her and Zhu Li and Juice landed beside them.

"We couldn't let you do this." Bolin said, "You never leave a friend behind. No matter what."

At the exact same time, the cannon's turret slid into place, aiming directly at the abandoned town. Baatar Jr. pushed the lever on the control panel and a scientist pulled down another lever downwards on the side of the machine. Baatar Jr. looked through a pair of binoculars, and a knot formed in his stomach.

He spotted a sky bison, and his little sister alongside a new now free Zhu Li, Bolin and Sonata. For a moment, Baatar's felt a knot in his stomach, his eyes widened and a green glow flickered in his eyes. He blinked once, causing several green specks to fall off and he turned to his fiance.

"No! We have to stop the test!" he cried out in desperation, but the purple energy was already forming in the cannon's turret. Rocks that rose upwards and collided with the side of he weapon, knocking it to the side which caused it to misfire once the bean came blasting out The powerful booming sound rang in everyone's ears, and the ground beneath them trembled at the impact.

The group had already mounted onto Juicy, when the beam, coming at them at a speed that could rival even the Wonder Bolts themselves, came at them with almost little warning. Thankfully, the beam missed the entire town, striking only a large rock…puncturing a hole right through it, the opening now surrounded by smoldering rock. Bolin's eyes bulged open in horror at the sight.

"That would actually be really cool if it wasn't trying to kill us." Sonata said, the light specks of amber falling upon them like snow, along with the remaining smoke from the blast.

Kuvira adjusted herself to see the source of the cannon's disruption. Suyin, Lin, Wei and Wing fighting Kuvira's forces. By the looks of it, the Beifongs had the upper hand, while the troops had to hide behind walls made of the earth, before the Beifongs too had to resort to doing so when more increased in numbers.

Adagio and Aria jumped off the railing and joined in the fight. Aria lowered the guards earth walls, "You guys are pathetic! If you want something right, do it yourself!"

With all of her might, Aria lunged a boulder at the earth wall that protected the Beifongs and broke it apart, causing the family to roll down, grunting as the dust dispersed. Aria cracked her knuckles, "This is going to be fun."

Adagio hurled fire blasts at Wei while Aria earthbended at Wing. Aria grunted as she rose up a large boulder and hurled it at Wing, who managed to break it apart in one punch. Adagio flipped over Lin, dodging her cables and burning them into a crisp. The pony smiled wickedly as she landed and hurled a fire blast at Lin, who earthbended an earth wall to shield herself from the attack.

Seeing her chance, Su went to engage Kuvira atop the cannon, flipping over and hurling a rock at her. Su bended the metal from around her, hurling them at Kuvira, who managed to redirect them back at Su. The woman tore apart the metal of the machines and used it to create an armor for herself and continued to attack Kuvira. The two metalbenders sliced and diced each other's attacks, the sound of clashing metal was repeatedly heard. Su bended a metal tool box at Kuvira but she bended it away from her, watching as it fell to the ground. She continued to dodge her former teacher's attacks, and grew a metal blade from her wrist, jumped up towards Su in an attempt to slice her, but Su managed to dodge the incoming attacks, nearly loosing a small lock of her hair in the process. Su grabbed hold of Kuvira's arm and flip her over, but Kuvira snuck back from under the rails and kicked Su down. Extending a cable from her wrist, Kuvira entangled Su's arm and hurled her down to the ground before bending her away and was knocked down from the tank.

Aria, Adagio and a few more earthbenders landed in front of her, but were thrown back by one of her twin sons. Bending the earth, he hoisted them both up, allowing his brother to grab hold of them and land safely, before closing the earth wall around them. Aria and Adagio grunted and continued to attack, Aria managing to break apart the earth wall, only now because it was a circular one, it meant more rocks. She tore it down one by one, and with each attack, Adagio hurled her fire. The two were ruthless and unforgiving in their attacks. No restraint whatsoever. They managed to subdue the group with ease and now the soldiers as well as the mecha tanks surrounded them. Adagio smiled wickedly at their victory. The heroes have lost.

The earth then began to shake, and a massive wave of rock came rolling upwards, clashing with the army and the sirens, sending them flying and slamming against where the cannon. Kuvira got back on her feet, her hair already becoming an unkept mess, and sneered upon seeing the old hag.

Toph had returned to save her family. Accompanied by Baatar, Huan, Juicy, Opal, Bolin, Sonata and Zhu Li. Sonata jumped off of the saddle, seeing her sisters groaning and then scowling.

Toph pointed her finger at Kuvira,and called out, "You give metalbenders a bad name!"

Toph's words didn't so much as sting Kuvira, but rather it made her want to crush the metal rails she held in her hands. Before she could attack in defense, Sonata reacted first and used her own water to hurl herself up to land right where Kuvira stood, her eyes automatically to the stone around Kuvira's neck. She had to break it.

Sonata began attacking Kuvira with her water, and she with her metal. Sonata managed to dodge each of the attacks, slid to the floor, nearly dodging Kuvira's blade and attempted to have her water break the string that held her necklace in place. It was like time slowed down as the water sliced through the string and Sonata emerged from the other side, turning around to face Kuvira. But something wasn't right.

It remained on Kuvira, not even being sustained by the string. It was as if the stone itself had become a part of her now. Sonata was at a loss for words, this couldn't be good.

Her two sisters flipped over and landed beside Kuvira, all glaring angrily at her. "You've got a lot of nerve coming back here." Adagio said, taunting her younger sister.

"What did you do?!" Sonata demanded to know, feeling more fear on Kuvira's behalf rather than for her sisters.

"It's not what we did. It's what Kuvira did. You never believed in her like we did, Melody. Now it's time you payed the price."

Sonata could see the coldness in Kuvira's eyes. She wasn't under a spell, nothing was causing her to behave this way. It was all her, and now the consequences of her choices were growing. Seeing the stone attached to her chest gave Sonata the horrible realization.

"I can." Kuvira said, "And I will. You were my friend once Melody, now you're nothing." with her blade ready, she prepared to finish the pony. But she, Adagio and Aria were knocked down off of the cannon from a bolder, curtesy of Toph.

With a heavy heart, Sonata jumped off and ran to her friends and flew off on the bison.

Once they safely landed in the forest, Su embraced her mother, "Thanks for coming to save us, Mom."

"Yeah, thanks, Chief." Lin said, and paused for a brief moment, "I'm sorry for what I said last night. I was just ... you know."

Toph knew that she could be as hard as a rock, but sometimes it was best to be soft now and again. Especially when it comes to your children. "Look, I know I wasn't a great mother, but one way or another, I ended up with two great kids. Good enough to risk my bony old butt for, anyway. I don't blame you for being angry with me all this time, and if I could turn back the clock and redo everything I would." Toph allowed a tear to escape her eye, "Just so you know, even if I wasn't always good at showing it… I always knew you girls were capable of so much more than I had ever imagined."

Toph took Lin's hand, alarming her eldest child. "Lin, I know you always wanted to follow in my footsteps, and I am proud of the chief you've become. Please know, I was never hard on you because I wasn't proud, but because I was scared. More scared of how I had raised you both than anything." she then too Su's hand. "I only wanted you both to have what i never did. The freedom to choose your own paths. It took me a long time, but I realize now that, just as our world and Equestria needed each other to keep balance, I should have kept that same balance with you two. But, I am grateful that you both turned out better than I did. Nothing can bring me greater joy than knowing my little girls have finally found where they truly belong. I can't undo the mistakes I've made but, If you can just find some way not to hate me, maybe that's enough, at least for me."

Sonata placed a hand on Lin's shoulder, smiling encouragingly, "A good friend once told me to risk what I have for the ones I care about. Are you willing to risk your own pride for a mother who just wants your forgiveness?"

Lin could hear, and feel, the wisdom behind her words. With a loving smile, she hugged her mother with all the love in her heart. "Of course we forgive you. I love you, mom."

Su joined in the hug as well, "I'm sorry I made things difficult for the both of you when i was young. I love you both, so much."

"I love you, too. "Toph allowed more tears to roll down her eyes, boldly expressing the love she felt fro her family.

Bolin, very unwelcomely, joined in the hug, much to the latter's annoyance. "You know, I never had any family except for my brother until a few years ago, and reuniting with them made me realize how special it is--"

"Argh, enough! Enjoy the ride back to the city with the gum flapper here." Toph angrily escaped Bolin's embrace, causing him to collide with Lin, who then shoved him aside. The moment was completely gone.

"No, my fighting days are over. Don't tell Korra, but my back is killing me now. This is why you didn't see Katara messing with that civil war nonsense. At some point, you gotta leave it to the kids." Toph said as she began to walk away into the forest until Bolin called for her, prompting her to stop in her tracks.

"Wait! There is one thing I need to ask you. You see, I'm getting married and I was wondering if you'd like to come to my wedding? I mean, you know, if you feel like it. No pressure or anything. None at all, it's not like it wouldn't mean the world to me to see you at--"

Zhu Li smiled, but not just any smile, this was a special kind of smile. "You did say that love weakens their magic, right?" Sonata and Bolin exchanged smiles, could this possibly mean that she and Varrick….

Sonata and Bolin's excitable smiles turned into disappointed frowns. "Well, at least everyone made it out okay." Bolin said. But Sonata wasn't too happy. "What's wrong, Sonata?"

"I think we may have a much bigger problem. That Zanith stone Kuvira has…it didn't come off. I tried to remove it but it's now stuck to her body. I fear she's been exposed to the siren's dark magic for too long. It's beginning to consume her."

"My sisters don't need my voice anymore, because now they have a new one…Kuvira."

"No, but now that she had her own stone Kuvira will be bonded to my sisters forever…she will become the third siren."

Everybody gasped in horror. Kuvira was now even stronger than ever. But the bad news did not stop there.

"I'm afraid I have even more bad news to deliver." Zhu Li said, "Kuvira is going to attack Republic City in two weeks with her weapon. And with what Sonata just said, her army will become even more dangerous than ever. She truly will become a monster."

The Little Pony Legend 4: Balance of the Heart

by MaggiesHeartLove

Operation: Risk it All