The Little Pony Legend 2: Spirits of Courage

by MaggiesHeartLove

Civil Wars part 1

*(~)*

Proverbs 13:20 ~

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

*(~)*

Civil Wars part 1

"Everyone, clear the streets! Get back in your homes."

The Northern troops marched into the city, all wearing matching blue/purple uniforms and matching helmets with purple fabric running down the back of their heads. Serious expressions were carried on their faces. The southerners looked at the troops with worry and fear, they did not know why the north had suddenly decided to invade their home. Northern soldiers waterbended ice barricades, separating the civilians from the streets and later more northern waterbenders formed ice walls around the docks preventing ships from leaving. The people were basically trapped within their own tribe.

Korra did not like the looks of this at all. She watched the whole scene unfold before her eyes as she stood at the outside balcony of the Southern Water Tribe palace. "Uncle, why did you bring your troops down from the North?" she asked Unalaq, who was standing beside her.

"Now that you've opened the Southern Portal, we need to protect it from the people who would do the spirits harm."

"I can protect it." Korra said confidently.

"I need you for something more important. It's very clear now that you and your ponies not only share the Avatar State, but the same destiny as well."

"What do you mean?"

"You couldn't open the portal by yourself, but when the ponies were at your side you could. There is another portal, in the North. Once you girls open it, spirits and man will be able to move freely between the North and South in a matter of seconds."

"But, the solstice is over. How are me and the girls going to open it?"

"The spiritual energy is much stronger in the North. And now that you've opened the Southern portal, your energy is stronger as well." both Korra and her uncle looked over into the horizon, "Which means your ponies will have the same amount as well."

"With both portals open, our tribes will be united again." Korra said with a smile as she gazed into the horizon.

"The world will be united again."

(~)

Inside the Water Tribe palace, the ponies, Spike, and Mako waited in the throne room as Korra spoke with her uncle. Twilight anxiously paced back and forth, “It just doesn't make sense.” she said, “I thought Unalaq was going to teach Korra how to handle spirits, what's with the spontaneous army all of a sudden?”

“The people outside don't look all too happy.” said Spike with much worry.

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this.” Mako said, trying to calm his friend's nerves. They all turned their heads when they saw Korra enter the room.

“Well? What did he say?” Twilight asked, somewhat anxiously.

“Did he explain why the troops are here?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes. He told me now that the spirit portal is open, it needs to be protected at any cost.” Korra explained.

“You can protect it!” Rainbow Dash said confidently.

“That's what I told him." Korra said, "But he said he needs us for something more important.” The ponies all listened attentively as Korra continued to explain, “There's another portal in the north. If we open it, humans and spirits will be able to move freely between the south and northern tribes.”

“But the solstice is over." Rarity pointed out, "How are we supposed to open it?”

“I asked him the same thing. He told me that the spiritual energy is stronger in the north. And now that we've opened the portal, then that means our energy is stronger too.”

“He really said that?” Fluttershy was surprised at this news.

“Yeah!”

“So with the two portals open, that would mean the two tribes will be united again!”

“Exactly!” Korra smiled while giving a thumbs up.

“And that way the spirits will stop being so angry and leave everybody alone.” Applejack said just as happily.

“Sounds good” said Mako.

Pinkie Pie began throwing confetti everywhere and held two flags, one saying south and one saying north and starts singing, “Two worlds, one family. YAY!"

“Okay, I can understand that," said Twilight, "but don't you think that some of the southerners are a little bit…not completely on board with this?”

Korra agreed with the princess, “Yeah, I noticed that, too.”

“He put HUGE ice walls at the docks so nobody can get out.” said Rainbow Dash as he raised up her hooves for emphasis.

“I understand protecting the portal is necessary but this is a tad extreme.” Rarity said.

“Maybe we should have a talk with him about that.” Twilight suggested. Just then, the doors opened and Flash Sentry flew in and bowed before Korra.

"Korra, sorry to bother you, but your father wishes to see you."

“What is it?”

“He said he will be hosting a meeting at his place to discuss Unalaq's troops invading the south.”

“They're not invading!” the Avatar said defensively.

“Kind of looks like it, though.” Spike pointed out.

“Well, it's not!” she pointed out. “I'll go to the meeting and straight this whole thing out with southerners, and then I'll talk with Unalaq again.” She bowed to Flash before walking out, “Thank you, Flash.”

“Want us to come with you?” Mako asked.

“Don't worry, I got this. Why don't you guys go do some more exploring.”

Applejack looked at Korra with concern, “You sure, hon?”

Korra simply smiled, “I'm sure. Go and have a little bit of fun.” Korra kneeled down to an unsure Twilight and lifted up her chin to look at her, “Don't worry. We'll fix this.”

Twilight smiled and nodded and Korra walked out. Mako rubbed his hands together, “So, what do you girls want to do first?”

Rarity's ears perked up, “Oh! I know!”

(~)

In the city of the south pole Mako wore an annoyed expression while he carried Rarity's shopping bags, all filled with water tribe fabrics and jewelry. Rarity happily galloped ahead of them all while levitating more bags.

“Does she always buy this much?” Flash asked while looking curiously at the enormous amount of bags.

“Only when she gets the inspiration to design clothes.” Twilight said with a bored expression.

Rarity spontaneously gasped, catching Mako by surprise, a habit which occurred whenever the unicorn became overly dramatic. Rarity quickly rushed towards the window of a store selling beautiful water tribe jewelry. Her eyes sparkled with glee as she pressed her face onto the glass window, her eyes set on a particular set of necklaces.

“Look at that gorgeous water tribe necklace!” she quickly ran to Mako and started jumping around him. “Please, Mako. Please, please, please!”

“Rarity, you've already used up all of your water tribe money on those four necklaces and I gave you half of mine for those last two. Don't you think you've bought enough?”

Rarity gasped and stopped her jumping, “Enough?! Enough is never enough when it comes to jewelry. Besides, when am I ever going to get necklaces like these in Equestria? Never!”

Mako looked at the unicorn sternly, “No. More. Money!”

“Please, please, pleeeeeeeeeease!” the pony used her secret weapon once again; the puppy eyes, lip quiver and lowered ears, added with a whimpering noise only a puppy would make. Mako arched an eyebrow.

“The puppy eyes, head tilt and pouty lips are not going to change my mind.”

“That's how Korra gets you to buy her things.”

“She also gives me a kiss” he said with a sneaky grin, knowing the pony's reaction would be. Rarity immediately stopped doing her adorable face and stuck out her tongue in disgust.

“On second thought maybe I do have enough.”

Rainbow Dash smirked, “Well played my friend.”, both she and Mako high five/hoof each other.

(~)

Meanwhile, not to far from the others, a sweaty Bolin was pulling a rickshaw across the street. Both Desna and Eska sat at the back, with Pabu in Desna's hand. Bolin was seriously starting to regret his decision in trying to get this girl to like him.

"I will hate to leave this quaint tribe." Eska said in an emotionless tone.

"Is that true, Eska?" her brother asked, his tone matching his sister.

"Of course not, Desna, I will not miss it at all. I hold immense dislike for the South." she began to laugh awkwardly, followed by his brother. Their laughing died when Eska addressed to the one pulling them, "Bolin, laugh at my humorous quip!"

"Yes, dear." the poor boy had to force himself to laugh, "Ha, ha. So-so funny."

"And I will certainly not miss, cousin Korra." Eska continued, "She is always so…unruly. I simply can not understand why so many favor her. Especially that street-rat she calls her boyfriend."

"Yes. It does not make any logical sense." her brother agreed, "After all, you are a princess and she is simply a commoner who is only fortunate to be the Avatar. And even so, she is nothing compared to you, sister."

"Thank you very much, brother. Bolin! Do you not agree?"

"Yes, yes, definitely." Bolin lied. The poor boy was having the worse time of his life. If he had known Eska was this awful, he never would have made his move on her, Bolin couldn't even get a moment's peace with her around. Thankfully, she would leave soon and this nightmare would be over.

He finally stopped the rickshaw and ran to the side where he earthbended a small flight of stairs before gesturing for Eska to walk down. He held her hand while she descended the stairs.

"You know, It'll be really sad when you have to leave." he said, trying his best to hide his secret relief and joy, "It's been really getting to know you. Really." He chuckled lightly. Eska turned to him, her expression completely free of any visible emotions.

"But you will be coming with me to the North." she stated. Bolin's eyes slightly bulged, he did not like the sound of that. "There we will live the rest of our lives together in icy bliss. Foolish Bolin." she said as she walked away with her brother in tow.

Bolin could feel his heart racing, he really didn't want to be with Eska. Being her boyfriend was a fate worse than death itself. To his relief and joy he spotted Mako and the ponies and quickly ran towards them.

“Mako! Guys! I'm so happy to see you!” he awkwardly hugged his big brother.

“Everything okay?” Spike asked with concern.

Bolin shook his head as he clung to his brother, tears beginning to form in his eyes. “No! No, I'm not okay! I can't take it anymore. Listen, I don't want to live in icy bliss with Eska!”

“Well who would?” Twilight asked sarcastically, while the others gave her their own versions of the answer with bored expressions on their faces.

“A snake?” Rainbow asked.

“A shark?” asked Applejack

“A vampire?” asked Spike

“A big giant man-eating chimera with fire-breath?” Pinkie Pie smiled, which earned her some ver confused stares from her friends. “What? I wanted to play the "name an animal game" too.” she said with a smile.

Bolin continued to weep on Mako's chest like a frightened child, “Oh! Don't make me, Mako. Oh, please, please don't make me!”

Fluttershy flew up Bolin and rubbed her hoof on her back sympathetically, “There, there Bolin. It's going to be okay.”

Mako, on the other hand, remained completely unfazed as his younger brother continued to cry on his chest. “Uh, hey, if you're that unhappy, just break up with her.” he said casually. Bolin looked up at Mako in curiosity, his eyes puffy with tears.

“Break up with her? You can do that?”

“Yeah. Guys do that all the time.”

“You should know, Mr. Heartbreaker.” Rainbow Dash said jokingly while ruffling Mako's hair. He angrily glared at the pegasus.

“Really? I thought we already moved past this!”

"So how do I break up with her?" Bolin asked.

"Just tell her you're not that into her anymore." his brother replied, but Bolin was practically shaking at the idea.

“Oh, no, no you guys, I don't think she'd like that.”

“Of course you can, just be honest with her." Applejack said encouragingly, "I'm sure she'll understand.”

“Unless, of course, she doesn't take it so well and she'll cry her eyes out.” Fluttershy pointed out.

Rarity rubbed the back of her neck as she lowered her ears, “She doesn't strike me as the 'crying' type.” she said with a slight fear in her voice.

“Yeah, more like the "make me mad and I'll freeze you into an everlasting cold" type.” said Rainbow Dash.

Bolin glared at the pegasus, “Thanks, that's very reassuring.” he said sarcastically.

Mako held Bolin's shoulder and smiled in encouragement, “Look, ending a relationship is kind of like pulling off a blood-sucking leech. You just gotta rip it off and get it over with. You'll feel a lot better afterwards. Trust me.”

Flash flew up to the earthbender, “And besides, if she can't appreciate what a great guy you are, then it's her loss. You deserve way better, my friend.”

Hearing their words made Bolin feel an intense wave of relief. He was for fortunate to have such wonderful friends who supported him. The young earthbender finally smiled.

“Thanks Flash Sentry. Thanks you guys.”

Rainbow Dash flipped her mane proudly, “That's what we're here for”

“Whew! I'm lucky you're so good at breaking girls' hearts, Mako. Ha, Korra better watch out.” Mako scowled at him and folded his arms and Bolin tried to take back what he said, “Oooh, no, it's just a--, uh, you kn--, uh never mind.”

(~)

Meanwhile, at Tonraq's house, Korra sat alongside her parents as they held a meeting to discus Unalaq's decision of bringing troops to the south. Korra sat besides her father, despite still being a bit angry with him, she didn't forget her friends' suggestion to talk with him. She would, but she had to find the right time. As Korra looked around the house, all the people sitting on the floor with matching upset and distressed looks on their faces, Korra's heart began to sink. Seeing her people like this was painful for her to watch. She had a natural empathy connection with her pony friends, she could easy tell whenever they were truly sad or happy and vice versa. And because of that, Korra's empathy towards others, besides the ponies, grew bit by bit as time passed. She felt empathy for the people, they really did seem to believe their home was being invaded. She hoped this meeting would clear things up. Her father, Tonraq stood up and spoke to the crowd.

"Thank you for coming, everyone. I know these last few days have been very troubling."

"Troubling? Troubling is when I get that itchy rash that won't go away, and Zhu Li's not around to scratch it." Varrick stated. The eccentric billionaire also attended the meeting, much to Korra's dismay. She was never particularly found of the man. Varrick stood up straight and dropped the cookies off the plate he was eating them before tossing it to the floor, "This is shocking. Nay, sickening! But these kale cookies? Opposite." he turned to his assistant, "Remind me to get the recipe latter."

"What's your point, Varrick?" Tonraq asked, also getting annoyed with this man, who helped himself to more cookies.

"My point is, Unalaq's already booted our chieftains out of their palace. How long before he starts telling is what cookies we can eat?"

"Probably a couple of days." said his assistant.

"Rhetorical question, Zhu Li, you gotta keep up." he turned to the rest of the gathering, "Not to mention, I've got a cargo ship full of halibut that's rotting thanks to this harbor lockdown? Who wants to but a ship full of stinking fish?!" The room fell silent as Varrick calmed down, "Seriously, it's not rhetorical. I need to sell these fish."

Korra stood up and spoke to the gathering of people. Her voice calm but firm, "Chief Unalaq is here to help the South. He wants to show us how to restore balance with the spirits so they'll stop attacking."

"The only spirit I'm interesting in restoring is our spirit of independence!" Varrick exclaimed while raising his hand into the air, "Am I right, people?"

Everyone in the room agreed in anger at Varrick's words, swaying their fists into the air for emphasis. Their angry cheers rang in Korra's ears, giving her a seriously sickening feeling inside and a huge migraine. The young Avatar started to feel woozy, but maintained her composure as she defended her uncle. "All Unalaq is trying to do is make our tribes united again."

"No, he wants control of our wealth." said Varrick, "My wealth. And I like my wealth. If Unalaq doesn't pull his forces out, then we have no choice but to fight for our freedom!"

After Varrick said this, the entire room, minus Korra and her parents, agreed in anger. Some even rising from where they sat, waving their fists in the air. Korra glared at Varrick.

“You want to start a war? Are you crazy?”

“Unalaq started this not us.” said her father. Pretty soon everybody in the room was shouting and yelling in support of Varrick's plan. Senna remained seated, feeling saddened by all the conflict. Tonraq and Varrick started arguing with one another, with Korra literally stuck in between them. The shouting echoed within the walls, all Korra could hear was their anger and frustration banging in her head. She clenched her head tightly while grinding her teeth. She had to make this stop.

“ENOUGH!”

Korra's aggressive command was so powerful it could probably be heard all the way across the ocean. Her arms were spread out in an attempt to keep everyone at bay. Finally, the shouting stopped. Korra took in slow deep breaths as she slowly opened her eyes. She gasped at what she saw:

The entire room was emitting a light blue aura unlike anything Korra had ever seen. Everybody stood perfectly still like statues, pale blue auras emitting around their bodies. Korra looked around curiously, her hand reached for her father, his determined expression frozen in place. Korra looked around the room in confusion.

“Wha--what just happened?" she looked down at her hands, which were strangely emitting a faint blue smoke, “Did…did I do this?”

Then, as quickly as it happened, everybody around her began to unfreeze, returning to their original states. They appeared to have had absolutely no knowledge as to what had happened. Some people who were frustrated slowly calmed down, not even bothering to argue again. Tonraq sighed and looked at his daughter, who was still a bit shaken by the experience.

“I'm sorry, maybe you could speak with your uncle. Tell him how frustrated we all are. He'll listen to what the Avatar has to say. Do it for me?”

Korra looked down, trying to put together everything that had just happened, her hands behind her back and the mist disappearing. She took in a deep breath and looked at her father.

“I'll do it for the tribe. I'll sort this whole thing out.” with that she walked out the door.

Once outside she breathed heavily and once again looked at her hands. Could this be what Unalaq meant by her spiritual energy increasing?

(~)

The Southern Water Tribe Royal Palace was the tallest building in the south. A freestanding structure elevating off the ground, with numerous towers topped with rounded spires. Although it was white in coloration, the towers appeared golden when illuminated by sunlight.

Korra entered the Southern Water Tribe palace to see Unalaq sitting on the throne. The throne room was sparsely furnished, with a single throne carved of ice located on an elevated platform in from of the chamber. Three large moldings of the Water Tribe emblem were visible on three arches directly behind the throne. Unalaq sat on the throne, emitting a regal and powerful vibe from him, though half of the room was partly lit, and a shadow hovered near Unalaq's face, giving him a slightly frightening appearance. No one would dare to defy him.

“Our next training session isn't until tomorrow.” he said as his niece stood before him.

“I'm sorry to interrupt. It's about our conversation this morning.”

“Yes?”

“I understand why you brought the troops here but, I'm afraid it's sending the wrong message.”

Unalaq looked at her seriously, “Your father has been talking to you.”

“Not just him. Varrick too. There was a meeting at my parents' house. A lot of Southerners feel like their tribe is being invaded.” she said with concern in her voice.

“I am their Chief. I'm uniting, not invading.”

“I know, but I was thinking that maybe you could…take it down a notch?" she had her index finger and her thumb mere centimeters apart to further express her point.

Unalaq arched an eyebrow, “Take it down?” he repeated, the words sounding foreign to him.

“You know, remove that ice wall around the docks, maybe talk to the people and sort everything out. I'm just afraid if something doesn't change, there could be a civil war.”

“If the water tribes were at war, the other nations would take sides. The dark spirits would thrive off this negative energy, and the world would be thrown into a battle between spirits and man. That would be catastrophic.”

“How do we stop it?”

“We? No, Korra”, he rose from the throne, “This is a war only the Avatar can prevent.”

“What?! Me?! I'm usually the one starting fights. I don't know how to stop them from happening. Besides, you can help too if you just take my suggestion.”

“I will try to "take it down" as you put it, but there is only so much I can do.”

“What are you talking about?" Korra voice began to rise and her anger slowly started builded up inside of her, "You're the Chief! If you can bring troops and order them to create an ice wall to keep people from leaving the city then you certainly have the power to take it down!”

Both Unalaq and Korra screamed in terror when a sudden strain glowing aura came shooting right out of the Avatar's hands, striking a nearby vase, breaking it and the water inside splashed all over the floor. Unalaq looked at Korra in complete shock while she looked at her hands, just as confused. And terrified.

“What was that?”

Korra was practically shaking, “I--I don't know! It just happened! Is this what you meant by my spiritual energy becoming stronger?”

Unalaq thought for a moment before answering, “I honestly have never seen anything like this. But I think it might have something to do with the negative energy coming from this talk of a civil war. Tell me, did this happen before?”

“Earlier today, at my parents' house. I was so frustrated with Varrick that everybody around me froze. It lasted for a little while and nobody noticed what happened.”

“I see. It happened whenever you felt frustrated. Korra, as the Avatar you must remain neutral in this conflict. You will naturally want to help people, but showing favoritism will not help out the tribes find unity. And from what I have heard, that is your "Element of Harmony", is it not?”

“Maybe Tenzin was right. Maybe I'm not ready to be the Avatar.” Korra hung her head in shame and Unalaq placed his hands on her shoulder.

“Tenzin lacked faith in you. But I have no doubt that you will become the most admired Avatar the world has ever known.”

“Thank you, Uncle. And I wouldn't say Tenzin lacked faith in me, he was just a real "perfectionist" and sometimes it felt like he wanted me to be…more like his father.” she said the last part while lowering her head and shoulders in depression.

“Forgive me, I didn't mean no disrespect.”

Korra smiled, “It's okay. I kind of straightened things out with him before he left. He agreed I should make my own choice.”

“In the mean time, try to keep your emotions under control. Who knows what else could happen.”

Korra nods, "I will."

"Try your best to conceal it. Don't even feel it…don't let it show."

Korra bowed to him before she walked out the door with a worried look on her face. Things just got a whole lot harder for her.

(~)

Korra rode on Naga across the streets, passing troops and civilians as she constantly whispered to herself. “Keep cool Korra, get it together. Conceal it, stay neutral.”

Then she heard a lot of commotion that broke her concentration. In the streets, she spotted a group of northern soldiers confronting some southerner citizens. Both groups standing on opposite sides of the street, bending their own streams of water from the snow, ready to attack the other. This was Korra's chance, to be a true Avatar and bring unity. She so hoped she knew what she was doing.

“Pick on a waterbender your own size!” shouted one of the southerners.

“Stop!” Korra came running and stood between them on Naga.

“Tell these thugs to go back to the North. They're not welcome here anymore!”

“These Southerners need to stay in line.” said the northern soldier.

“Everyone, calm down." Korra said with much authority in her voice, "You're all part of the same tribe, start acting like it.”

“You're taking their side? We thought you were one of us.”

“I'm not taking anyone's side, I just—“ Korra flinched when she got hit in the back of the head by a snowball, "Hey!”

A little girl waterbended water into a snowball and threw it at Korra. “You're the worst Avatar ever!" she yelled. Korra rose her hand just as the girl threw the next snowball.

“Wait!”

From Korra's raised hand came out a mysterious cyan ring hue. All around her, people were spontaneously frozen in time, blue auras surrounding their bodies just like what happened in her parents house. Even Naga was frozen. Korra looked down at her hands in distress.

“Not again.”

Then, just like before, the spell was lifted and everyone reverted back to normal. Korra grabbed the now moving snowball into her hand and melted it with her firebending.

“Please, you have to stop this!” Korra pleaded, but instead of listening to her, they remained in their stances ready to fight. Water at the ready until a voice called out to them.

“Everyone, walk away from this. They're not worth our trouble. Go back to your homes.”

Korra immediately recognized her father's voice. The man had come in between the two feuding groups and they all respectively dropped their water before walking away from one another. Korra felt so humiliated, here she was trying to do her job and her father had to save her. She was sick of being treated like a child. However, her anger would have to wait, for she suddenly felt the strange sensation again. She had to get away before anything else happened.

Tonraq turn to his daughter, “Korra, I—“ but he then saw her already walking away on Naga. “Korra!”

Korra ignored her father's cries and took in deep breaths to try and calm herself down. She looked at her hands and realized her fingernails were turning blue.

"What is happening to me?"

(~)

Back at the team's temporary hut, Rarity was counting all of the necklaces she bought, placing them all neatly over a lovely water tribe garment.

“Twenty three, twenty four, twenty five. Marvelous!”

“You're seriously going to wear all of them?” Mako asked with his usual serious tone while leaning against the wall.

“Well not all at the same time, obviously.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “Can you believe her, Applejack?”, she turned to see Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy looking outside of the hut.

“What are you doing?” Mako asked curiously. Pinkie Pie appeared from behind his shoulder and covers his mouth with her hoof.

“Shush! Don't let them hear you.”

They all gathered around the opening of the hut and spotted Twilight and Flash sitting together a couple of feet away, admiring the view of the Southern Water Tribe. These two had been getting along very well and were no longer feeling awkward around each other anymore.

“You were right, once you get used to the cold this place is pretty amazing.” said Flash, his eyes gazing at the beauty before him…and right beside him.

“Yeah it is.” Twilight agreed, turning her head to face him. “I'm glad you stayed” she said while blushing.

“Me too.” Flash said, also blushing. The princess turned her gaze back to the scenery as the pegasus bit his bottom lip nervously. “You know, Twilight…I'm really glad we got to spend this time together.”

“Me too.”

“I feel like we’re really starting to get to know each other.” he quickly caught what he just said, “I mean, we already knew each other pretty well before but now we do more--I--I mean! We know each other more, I mean!…never mind.”

Twilight giggled at Flash's nervousness, “It's okay, I get it.” she said. Before, she thought Flash was this really cool, calm and collected royal guard, but there was more to him underneath the armor. He was kind, funny, a bit awkward maybe, but she found it adorable. Not to mention he was brave too. He cared about her friends as much as she did. Any stallion who would risk tail and wing for her loved ones had already won a spot in her book.

“I'm sorry, I'm just not good at this kind of stuff.”

Twilight looked at him curiously, “What do you mean?”

The stallion looked distraught as he explained. “I grew up the only pegasus in an earth pony village and my home was on the outskirts of town. That made me a bit of an outcast. So with all of that free time I mostly focused on my dream of becoming a royal guard.”

Twilight never knew about Flash's past, and as she listened she realized just how similar they really were. “I understand." she said, "When I was Celestia's student, I didn't care much for friendship. Until she sent me to Ponyville, and now I can't imagine my life without my friends.”

“Well it's not I didn't want friends, I just never really knew how to make any. I say hello but, it's like I'm stumped on what to do next. I’m so scared of saying the wrong thing that I end up saying nothing at all, which makes ponies think I’m antisocial. That's kind of why I always act like I'm on guard duty because...I just don't know how to be myself around other ponies sometimes.”

“Then don't try so hard.”

Flash looked at her skeptically.

“Flash, you're a really great guy and I understand it can be hard to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. But if there's anything I've learned from my friends, and especially from that crazy-in-the-head-yet-lovable Korra, is that you gotta take risks in life. Or else you'll regret it.”

Flash's face blushed like crazy as he looked at her. “Thanks, Twilight. You know, you’re actually the first pony I’ve ever told this to.”

Twilight blushed once more, her heart leaping in her chest. She arched an eyebrow once she noticed he was struggling to say something else. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just….uh….”

“Just…what?”

"I…was also kind of hoping, well I wanted to ask, that is if you don’t think it’s too weird, maybe you would…like to…"

"Like to what?"

Flash took a deep breath before blurting out…, “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight, maybe?”

Twilight's mouth hung open while blushing. The others, especially Mako, all had their mouths hung open at the scene. Flash quickly got up and prepared to walk away.

“I'm so sorry, forget I said anything, I just thought that—“

“Yes!” Twilight happily blurted out while smiling widely.

“What?”

“What?!” the others from inside the tent were equally surprised.

Twilight blushed while smiling, “Yes, I would love to have dinner with you.”

Flash's heart beat fast. “Really?”

“Really. I've got some water tribe money and I know a great place to get the best noodles.”

“This is great! Wait, don't I have to pay?”

“What century are you living in?" Twilight asked jokingly, "I'm fine with paying.”

“So…tonight?”

“Tonight.”

The ponies inside the tent all giggled and high hoofed each other while Spike smiled happily. Mako's mouth still hung open, “No…way….Twilight…on a date?”

“I know! Isn't it great?” Spike said as he jumped happily.

Mako was unsure how to describe what he was feeling. He had some serious mixed emotions about this. “Yeah…great…her and Flash…alone…without anybody around……..great.”

Twilight's ears perked up at the sound of familiar footsteps. She then saw Korra coming while riding on Naga.

“Korra!”

At the sound of the name, the others all walked out of the hut to greet her. Mako stood among the group of ponies, one hand on his hip, smiling lovingly at his girlfriend.

“How was your day, sweetie?” Mako asked with a smile as Korra jumped off of the saddle. Unlike them, she wasn't in a very happy mood

“Oh, fabulous." The Avatar spoke angrily and sarcastically. "My tribe's about to go to war, and I'm suppose to stop it, but will anyone listen to me? No! And I didn't ask for my father's help." she angrily crossed her arms and leaned against Naga. "Can't he just let me be the Avatar?”

Mako looked on at Korra with a skeptical look, “Um, do you want advice or are we just supposed to listen? Still not clear on that.”

Rainbow Dash placed her hoof on Korra's shoulder, “Been holding that in the whole ride here, haven't you?”

“Yep. Ugh. I'm sorry. My dad just gets me all worked up.”

“Didn't you say you'd talk with him?” Fluttershy asked.

“I will, but I've had a lot on my mind lately.”

“Pretty” said Pinkie Pie, which caught Korra off guard.

“What? How is any of the stuff I just said, pretty?”

“No I mean your nails." she said while pointing at the Avatar's hands, "When did you paint them?”

“What?!”, Korra looked at her fingernails, which were still mysteriously colored blue. The Avatar started to panic, “I thought it finally wore off!”

Mako looked at her new nails, which even he found strange, “So, that's not normal?”

Korra took in a deep, fast breath before speaking, “Okay, this may sound crazy but, earlier today at my parents' place I might have, sort of, probably…froze everyone.”

“What?!” Mako, Spike and Ponies were all surprised by this.

“How?” Flash asked.

“I don't know! I lost my patience, I yelled and the next thing I knew everybody was frozen like statues! And then when I went to talk with Unalaq a blue ray came right out of my hand and then I froze people again earlier in town when I tried to stop a fight, and then afterwords, my nails turned blue!!” she frantically waved her blue fingernails in front of them for emphasis.

Spike was completely baffled by this, “I don't believe this!….You tried to stop a fight?” They all narrowed their eyes at him, “Sorry, you were saying?”

Korra continued, “Unalaq thinks it might be a reaction to the negative energy coming from the conflict between the tribes. Every time I lost my cool, something weird happened and then just as it did POOF it's gone.”

“But, you just lost your cool now when you told us what happened.” Mako pointed out.

Korra realized what he just said. She looked around and slowly, she began to calm down, “You're right…nothing froze. Nothing came out of my hands.” she then noticed that her nails were returning to normal and she sighed in relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

“You really think all of this negative energy could be the cause of this?” Twilight asked.

“So far, it's the only explanation. I can't believe things got so crazy so quickly.”

She walked across the snow overlooking the city below,

(Parody of the failure song)

I was prepared to do my best

Thought I could handle any test

For I can do so many tricks

But I wasn't prepared for this

She began doing waterbending tricks.

Waterbending is a breeze

Past lives I can name with ease

She picked up Pinkie Pie and hugged her before placing her back down.

I can make a speech of friendship's bliss

But I wasn't prepared for this

Was this choice right, or was it wrong?

I can't be sure….

Mane Six,

She can't be sure…

Korra,

My mind is sharp, my skills intact

My heart is pure…or at least I hope

Mako,

“You know it is…”

You've taken your share of licks

You've made it through the thin and thick

Korra,

But no I wasn't

Mane Six,

Oh, no she wasn't

Korra,

Oh, no I wasn't

Mane Six,

Oh, no she wasn't

Korra,

No I wasn't prepared…for this!

“Oh, Korra. I just hate to see you like this.” said Rarity.

Mako smiled as he placed his hand on she shoulders, “Why don't you take a break from all this Avatar stuff and we go out for a nice quiet dinner tonight? Just the two of us.”

Korra smiled at the idea, “That'd be great. Maybe I do need to get my mind off of things.”

The two teens wrapped each other in their arms and shared a passionate kiss. The other ponies swooned at the scene, while Flash and Spike just smiled.

(~)

Latter as the sun began to set, Korra was in her room brushing her hair and placing her hair ties when Twilight walked in.

“Hey, Korra.”

“Hey, Twily. I'm just about to go meet up with Mako.”

“Yeah, about that, I've been meaning to tell you something that I didn't get the chance to tell you before.” the alicorn blushed as she spoke, making the Avatar smirk and arc an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah. I did notice earlier that you were rather excited for something. Does it have anything to do with a certain Pegasus, who's first name rhymes with "Sash"?”

Twilight excitedly clapped her hooves and quelled, “Yes! He asked me out today!”

Korra gaped, “No way!!”

“Way!!”

The two girls screamed, more like shrieked, with joy as they jumped up and down. They simultaneously stopped and briefly turned away from each other with shocked looks on their faces.

“Wow, that was so unlike us.” said Korra while Twilight nodded.

“Yeah, let's never do that again.”

“So, when's the date?” Korra asked excitedly.

“Tonight! I'm meeting him in a few minutes."

Korra was taken by this this, “Wait, tonight?”

“Yeah. I was going to arrange it to be a double date but, I just…well.”

“Oh, no, it's okay. You and Flash want some alone time to hang out. I completely get it.”

“So we're good?”

“Duh!” The two girls giggled again, “Come on, I'll walk you out.”

(~)

Naga stopped in front of a lovely water tribe restaurant, the best one in town. Mako got down first from her saddle and helped Korra down by grabbing her waist and placing her down.

“You know I can get down myself.” she said while still smiling, secretly enjoying the sweet gesture. Her boyfriend smiled in return.

“I know, I'm just trying to be a gentleman.”

Korra giggled and linked her arm around his, “Well, Officer, care to escort the Avatar to dinner?”

“Gladly.”

The two laughed as they made their way to the entrance of the restaurant. “I am so glad I can finally get a break from everything that's happened." said Korra, "With any luck I won't accidentally freeze anything again.”

“Just relax and don't freak out. I'm sure everything will be fine.”

“Thanks Mako.”

Once they reached the door, both teens stopped and looked doorways with shocked expression, spotting two familiar looking faces.

“Twilight?” Korra exclaimed in shock.

“Korra?” Twilight exclaimed in shock.

“Flash?” Mako exclaimed in shock.

“Mako?” Flash exclaimed in shock.

"Awkward." said one random civilian who just so happened to have walked on by, passing the group.

“I didn't think we'd find you here.” said Korra, feeling a bit awkward at the situation.

The feeling was mutual on Twilight's side, “We planned on going to dinner first.”

Mako looked down at the pony couple, “So you two are…on a date?…right now?” he asked, even though he tried to hide it, the uncertainty was pretty evident in his voice. Twilight's face was burning red, this was already embarrassing enough as it was.

“Um…yeah. Hey, if you want we can eat somewhere else.”

As the two prepared to leave, Mako quickly came up with a somewhat good idea. At least to him it was. “On second thought, why don't we make it a double date?”

Korra and Twilight both looked at each other in shock and worry. The two had already agreed that they each wanted to spend some alone time with their dates, Korra especially respected Twilight's choice because she wanted the two ponies to hit it off. Korra briefly glared at her boyfriend before forcing a smile on her face.

“You sure, Mako? I mean shouldn't we give these two some time to themselves…" she spoke the last bit through her teeth while shooting him a look of disaproval, "without us around?”

“Yeah. What she said.” said Twilight, knowing very well where Korra was getting at.

“Come on, we're all here, on dates, might as well.” the firebender insisted.

Korra and Twilight both knew that Mako was not going to change his mind on this, and they knew his own reasons why, so they decided to make the most out of the situation.

“Okay, why not?” Korra said with a soft smile.

“Great.” the firebender opened the door and allowed his date to walk in first, “After you.”

“Why thank you.”

Mako smiled as Korra entered and he followed. Flash kept the door open and allowed Twilight to walk in first before following. The two ponies marveled at the beautiful place, it looked kind of like the restaurants in Republic City, but more, as Pinkie Pie would probably put it, "Water-tribe-themy". The walls were decorated with elegant drapes of various blues and whites, emblems of the water tribe and other various symbols decorated the chairs and tables, and the lanterns were decorated to look like elegant koi fish.

"Wow, nice place,” said Flash as he admired the exotic looking restaurant.

“This was always my favorite place to eat, growing up.” Korra explained.

Twilight smiled happily, "Maybe this double date wouldn't be so bad after all." she said to herself.

(~)

"Me and my big mouth."

Twilight sat at the table wearing an annoyed/bored expression, matching Korra and Mako's, while Flash Sentry carried an awkward face.

The Avatar's creepy twin cousins sat on the opposite side of the table while Bolin sat next to them, who did his best to look happy. They had, unfortunately, ran into the group at the restaurant, and Bolin, being Bolin, quickly asked the group to join them. This was not the date Twilight was hopping for; first Mako insisted on making it a double date, and now they were sitting next to a nervous earthbender and two bizarre twins who hardly ever smiled.

Korra wasn't having much of a picnic either; she wanted a nice quiet night with her boyfriend, and now here she was, interfering with her best friend's first date with her creepy twin cousins. And a nervous Bolin. Mako shared the girls' annoyance, more or so with his brother and the twins really. He did not, however, regret inviting Twilight and Flash to join them. Thought at the moment, it was rather hard to enjoy that little victory.

“Are they always together?” Flash whispered to Twilight.

“You mean the twins?" she whispered back, "Yes. It's super creepy.”

Bolin laughed awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood. “Isn't this fun, hu? We never get to spend enough time together, just the…seven of us. So fun.”

Eska eyed at the two ponies who sat beside Mako and Korra, “Why must your pets sit with us at the table?” she asked in her usual monotone voice. Twilight in response growled at the ice princess before her, not even caring how she looked while doing so.

“They're with us, and they hate being called pets.” Korra said defensively.

Desna eyed at the ponies as well, “You claim that they have the capability of human speech, yet I have never heard them do so.”

“That's because you need to open your heart in order to hear them.” Korra explained to her unfeeling cousin. The two twins looked at each other and then back at Twilight.

“We do not understand.” said Desna.

“There's a shock.” said Twilight sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

Eska and Desna briefly turned to each other once again before turning to the others, “Excuse us while we retrieve more sustenance.” said Eska as the two twins left the table. Once they were gone, Bolin turned to Korra and Mako, his once happy demeanor changing to a frantic and desperate one.

“You guys gotta help me.”

“Bolin, I thought you were breaking up with her.” said his brother. “What happened to 'ripping off' the leech?”

“I tried! But anytime I bring up the subject, she threatens to freeze me in a block of ice and feed me to dolphin piranhas!”

“So it was more like you 'tugged' at the leech.”

“Yes, over and over and over, but it won't come off." Bolin face palmed himself in dismay before addressing to Korra, "Why didn't you warn me your cousin had the power to reach into my heart and crush my soul with her bare hands?”

Korra arched an eyebrow, “Uh, 'cause I thought it was pretty obvious?”

“No, no, not to me it wasn't. I'm very bad at reading people. You should know that by now!” Bolin started to sob, “Do something, Avatar!”

“What can I do?”

“Nothing." said Mako sternly, "This is Bolin's mess, he's the one who's got to clean it up.”

Bolin kept on begging and whining, “Come on!”

Korra, Mako and Twilight face/hoof palmed their faces. So much for their fun night.

(~)

“Well that was…not what I hoped for.” said the disappointed firebender once they exited the establishment.

Korra held his arm and smiled, “Well, the night's still young. Want to go for a walk?”

Mako smiled at the idea, “Yeah.”

Korra turned to the two ponies, “Um, Twilight why don't you and Flash go on ahead and we'll meet up back home.” the Avatar winked and the alicorn winked in return.

Mako, on the other hand, was not to happy about that, “What?”

Korra quickly elbowed him and Twilight turned to Flash, “If that's okay with you.” she said.

“Yeah, I'd like that.” said the pegasus.

“We'll see you two latter. Don't wonder off to far.” Korra said.

“We won't!” Twilight responded. The two couples took different ways but as Mako and Korra walked, he kept on turning his head towards the ponies.

“Korra, what did you do?” he asked with worry.

“Just cause our date didn't work out doesn't mean theirs shouldn't.”

“But they'll be alone. Without us around!”

“What's your point?”

“Twilight alone with a boy. A boy I hardly know--I mean, we hardly know!”

They briefly stopped walking and Korra crossed her arms, “I thought you liked Flash.”

“I do but, him and Twily…it's just…”

“Don't you think you're being a tiny bit overprotective?”

Mako slightly blushed, “What? No, of course not, why would I be? It's not like I'm her father or brother or anything. Why, would that be weird?”

Korra laughed, “I think it's sweet that you care about her so much, but you need to relax. Twilight's a big girl and Flash is harmless. She'll be fine.”

Mako sighed, “I know. It's just that….I see a lot of you in her.” Korra's eyes widened in surprise at this as her boyfriend explained, “I know I've hurt you many times in the past, I guess I'm just scared of Twilight going through the exact same thing. Maybe Flash won't mean to hurt her, but… I don't know. I guess I just want everything to go right for her."

Korra placed her hand on his cheek and smiled warmly, “Look, believe it or not, I get concerned too. But I trust Twilight. She's smart, grounded, and not a pushover. Whatever happens she can handle it.”

Mako rolled his eyes, “Of course you'd say that, you see into her heart…literary.” Korra chuckled, even though it was true, the way her boyfriend stated it was kind of adorable. Mako then joined in the laugh, “You probably think I'm silly.”

“No, you're just being a concerned friend." said Korra, "Which is one of the many things I love about you.”

Mako smiled flirtatiously as he held her in his arms, “Back at ya, babe.”The two teens then shared a passionate kiss underneath the moonlight.

(~)

Meanwhile, Twilight and Flash explored the rest of the city at night, admiring the scenery. “Sorry about Korra's cousins.” said Twilight.

“Don't worry about it. Though to be honest, they completely freaked me out!” Flash actually shuddered a bit.

“You're not the only one.” Twilight also began to shudder alongside him.

“So….”

“So….”

A brief silence, and then Twilight beamed as an idea formed in her head. “Hey, you want to try something cool?”

(~)

"YAHOOOOOOOOO!"

The two ponies laughed as they slide down the snowy slope on two wooden boards. Twilight was showing Flash a sport Korra had invented along with Rainbow Dash…snowboarding.

“I get the sense you've done this before!” Flash said as the speed of the wind blew on his blue mane.

“Korra and the rest of us used to do this back at the mountains outside of Republic City during winter! Race you to the bottom!”

The alicorn princess speeded ahead and Flash smirked, “You're on!”

He sled faster behind her, they zigged and they zagged, their manes and tails bellowing in the wind, laughing all the while, until they reached the snowy bottom. More like crashed into the snowy bottom. They both popped out of the snow, wearing snow beards and hats. The two laughed at each other's silliness before shaking the snow off of them.

“That was a blast!” Flash said excitedly.

“You should have seen when Korra and Rainbow Dash did it." said Twilight with a big smile on her face, "They went down the slope twenty times until one of them won.”

“Which one did?”

“Both. Each time.”

“Oh, man.” he said between laughs.

“Don't worry, they had fun.” said Twilight also between laughs. Flash's giggles slowly died down as he smiled while blushing.

“I'm having a really great time, Twilight.”

Twilight was also blushing, “Yeah…me too.”

The two ponies smiled and looked deep into each other's eyes. Flash admired the way the princess's eyes sparkled in the moonlight, how her mane flowed in the gentle cold breeze. Twilight couldn't contain the butterflies in her stomach, Flash was so sweet, and handsome, and polite and a whole lot of fun. They had so much in common and yet they were still somewhat different all at the same time. Neither one knew who did it first, but their faces slowly drew closer. They slowly closed their eyes, their faces now only inches apart…..

“WOAH!”

The two ponies quickly yelped in surprise when something fell down the slope and into the snow. “What the heck?!” Twilight then noticed a familiar red fabric sticking out of the snow. “Wait a minute.” She angrily walked towards the stranger, levitated the snow off of him and was shocked to see who it was.

“Mako?!”

The firebender laughed and waved awkwardly at the pair, “Hey, Twilight.”

If looks could kill, Mako would be a dead man right now. The princess was furious. “Were you spying on us?!”

“No! No, I wasn't….." The princess arched an eyebrow at him, Mako knew he could never truly keep anything from her, "Okay, I was.”

“I can't believe you! How could you do this?!”

“Look, Twilight I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“So you don't trust me?”

“No, it's not that!”

“Then what is it?”

“Well, I…I, uh”

“Just as I thought. I get that you're protective and all but this is crazy! You're not my brother!” Mako silently gasped at the alicorn's hurtful words. She turned to Flash, “Come on, Flash. We're out of here.”

With that she flew off angrily into the night. Flash gave Mako a concerned look before following Twilight. Leaving a saddened Mako behind.

(~)

Korra stopped Naga in front of her parents place. She entered and saw her mother seated. Senna was looking down sadly only to raise up her head when her daughter entered.

“Is dad around?” Korra asked.

“He went out to meet up with some friends to try and settle this whole ordeal.”

“I'm taking care of it.” Korra said bitterly.

“He's only trying to help” her mother said, trying to ease her daughter's anger.

Korra groaned, “There he goes again! He still doesn't trust me to do things.”

“That’s not true.”

Korra sighed as she sat down next to Senna, “I don't even know why I came to talk to him. He won't listen anyway.”

“Korra what's going on between you two?” her mother asked sadly.

“Ask dad.” her daughter replied angrily, not even looking her way.

“I've tried, but he won't talk about it. Honey, it breaks my heart to see our family being torn apart like this.”

“You want to know what's going on?" Korra finally turned to face her mother, anger evident in her eyes, "I found out dad's been lying to me my whole life. Unalaq told me everything; how dad and Tenzin kept me trapped down here while I trained; how dad got banished from the north.”

Senna lowered her gaze in shame, “So, the truth is out.”

Korra was shocked by this, “You knew? And you never said anything?”

“We were trying to keep our family together, to give you a normal childhood.”

“I never wanted a normal childhood. All I ever wanted to be was the Avatar but everybody keeps holding me back, even my own parents! Unalaq's the only one who believes in me.”

“That's not true, Korra.”

“You're right on that at least.” Korra removed the headband Celestia gave her and looked down at it in her hands in regret. “The ponies believe in me and so does Celestia. Unlike dad and Tenzin, she gave me the freedom to make my own choice…I'm beginning to think I let her down. All of them.” she said the last part very sadly.

Senna placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder, “Don't say that, of course you haven't.”

Korra placed the headband back on her head, “No? Then why is everyone in the South turning against me when all I'm trying to do is help them?”

“The problems between the north and south started long before you were born. You can't expect to undo them in a day.”

“So I should just sit back and let the Water Tribe go to war?”

“No, but this situation might be out of your control. Varrick's been plotting a rebellion against Unalaq. He asked your father to join, and—“

Korra stood up when she heard that, “Dad is part of a rebellion?”

“I don't know, but I don't want you getting caught in the middle of it.”

“It's too late, mom. I'm already in the middle of it.”

With that, she ran out of the house and rode off on Naga, ignoring her mother calling out her name. As she rode into the night she spotted a familiar blur of purple flying towards her. Before she could react, the object flew into her, knocking her out of Naga's saddle. She already knew who it was.

“Ow! Twilight!” she got up while Twilight shook the snow off of her body, having fallen into the snow from the impact. Korra could sense her friend's anger. “What's got your feathers in a bunch?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” said the alicorn. Korra dusted off the last bit of snow from her parka, and answered her friend's question hesitantly.

“I think my dad might be part of a rebellion against Unalaq.”

“What? No way, your father would never---“

Korra looked down with uncertainty, “I don't know….I don't want to believe it but...”

Twilight lowered her ears in sadness. “I understand.” she said. Though she didn't want to believe Tonraq was truly with the rebellion, she remembered what happened to Asami and Hiroshi. What that poor sweet girl went through was unbelievable and unexpected. She hoped the same didn't happen to Korra.

“Come on, let's go find out.” Korra got back on Naga as she rode with Twilight flying beside her. “So, why are you mad?” Korra asked as they rode off. The alicorn narrowed her eyes.

“Your boyfriend crashed my date.” she replied bitterly.

Korra sighed, “I was afraid he'd do something like this.”

“You knew?!”

“I didn't think he'd go that far.”

"Have you met him? He takes almost everything this far!"

"Okay, point taken."

Twilight groaned loudly, “ERRR! I just can't believe him. Who does he think he is, anyway?”

Korra looked at her with concern, “It's not that he doesn't want you and Flash to work out, he does, he's just worried that you'll go through the same drama we did.”

Twilight slowly began to calm down, “Okay, I can understand that. But still, he should trust me.”

“He was just looking out for you. Sure he may have done it the wrong way. Correction; the stupid and paranoid way, but sometimes people do those kinds of things because…“ Korra slowly pulled on the rains, forcing Naga to come to a slow stop as realization struck her, “They…care.” Once Naga stopped completely Korra groaned in frustration and slapped her forehead, “I am so stupid! It's not that my dad doesn't trust me, he's just afraid of me getting hurt.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow in confusion, “Didn't we kinda already tell you that?”

“Yeah, only now completely understand.”

Twilight blinked in surprise, “Whoa. Even now, the way we mirror each other still shocks me.”

“Tell me about it.”

(~)

The two girls finally reached the palace, Korra burst through the large doors and ran inside, called out for Unalaq.

“Uncle!”

Korra and Twilight stopped running the moment they spotted two northern troops tied up and unconscious near the throne. “That can't be good” Twilight said with worry. It was clear that Varrick's plan for a rebellion was now taking its full shape.

“Oh, no. Uncle?”

The girls quickly ran up the stairs and down the halls of the palace to Unalaq's sleeping chambers. Once they reached the corridor of the upper side, they halted and hid behind the wall. The girls watched in silence as a group of southern water tribe men, all wearing masks over their faces, exit Unalaq's room. Korra's eyes widened as they watched the tallest and strongest-looking of the men carrying her unconscious uncle over his shoulder. To Korra's terror, the proportions and even eyes looked horribly familiar.

“Dad?”

“No, it can't be.” Twilight whispered in equal shock. It was hard to tell if this man was truly Tonraq because of the mask, but what if it was? Korra silently prayed it wasn't her father, but even if it was, she would have to make the ultimate sacrifice and confront him. She hoped she could be as strong as Asami was when she had to face her father. Both girls stood in front of the rebels.

“Dad, don't do this.” Korra asked pleadingly. One of the rebels next to the one holding Unalaq stood a few feet before Korra.

“Turn around, Avatar, and pretend you didn't see anything.”

“No. Leave Unalaq and go." Korra tells them with a kind/pleading voice, "I'll tell him I tried to stop you, but you escaped. We can still avoid a war.”

“No, we can't.”

The rebel sprung into action, raising his hands to create an ice wall with his water in an attempt to trap Korra. Twilight came in between and zapped the ice away with a fire blast. Realizing the power of the pony, the rebels quickly ran ahead, with Korra and Twilight chasing after them. The rebels ran down the flight of stairs as Korra froze the handrails and slide down to land in front of them. Her eyes beaming with compassion for the rebels, not wanting to fight them. She really didn't.

“Get him out of here!” one of the rebels tells the one holding Unalaq. As the man ran off Twilight attempted to follow him but was blocked by an ice wall, forcing the girls to back away.

“We're all part of the same tribe." Korra said, "I don't want to hurt you!”

Just as the words left her mouth, a blue cyan aura came shooting from her hand and strike one of the rebels, knocking him down. Twilight was shocked by this while Korra fearfully looked at her hands. The rebels were just as stunned, “What did you just do?!”

“Don't you see? Your negative emotions is affecting my spiritual energy. If you don't stop now it could get out of control.”

“Things are already out of control. No thanks to you.” the rebel got into a fighting stance ready to attack.

Twilight came between him and Korra in an attempt to reason with him, “Please, think of how much this nation has suffered from one war already.”

But the rebel could not understand her, “Get out of the way you vermin!”

The rebels attacked Korra, but she and Twilight easily dodged their efforts by flipping and flying to the sides. Korra ran up to a pillar, grabbing on to one of the banners as two rebels came at her. The Avatar tossed the banner against them, using her airbending to wrap it around the two men, entrapping them. Twilight hovered over them, dodging their attacks. She flew by them, levitating the rope that one of them carried around his waist. The princess wrapped the rope around the rebels and tied them all up against a pillar in a secure not, added with a bow for humor. For last, Twilight kicked both rebelled in the head, knocking them unconscious. Korra gave her friends a thumbs up, “Nice one, Twi.”

"Look!" Twilight pointed her hoof to the man carrying Unalaq. Both girls dashed outside and ran down the stairs outside of the place, chasing after the man who was now escaping via snowmobile.

“Dad stop!" Korra cried out.

Twilight flew ahead and zapped the snowmobile, causing it to crash and stop in its tracks. Unalaq landed in the ground as Twilight held the rebel still with her magic. Korra ran towards him, “Why did you do this, dad?” she asked as she removed the rebel's mask, quickly discovering that this was not in fact Tonraq.

“What? Who are you? Where's my father?”

“He wouldn't help us." said the rebel as he glared at the avatar, "He's a traitor, just like you.”

Twilight growled at him but Korra tells her to step down as Unalaq slowly awoke. He was safe and best of all, Tonraq had nothing to do with this. Not a bad night.

(~)

Unalaq, now fully awake, along with Korra, with Twilight held in her arms, stood inside the palace as the rebels were being led away in handcuffs by the troops.

“Thank you both for saving my life.” said the chief.

“I'm just glad we got here in time.” Korra said in relief while stroking Twilight's mane.

Unalaq looked at his troops, “Find Varrick. I want him to freeze in prison with the rest of these traitors.”

But Korra quickly stopped them, “Wait, you can't just lock them away. That will only make the south angrier.”

Twilight agreed, “She's right, there is already too much conflict as it is.”

“You want them to go free?”

Korra shook her head, “No. But let them stand trial for what they did. Every Water Tribe citizen deserves that right. We need to show that we are all one nation, not just two tribes.”

After two seconds, Unalaq agreed, “Very well. I will respect the Avatar's wishes in this matter.”

“Thank you, uncle.”

(~)

Outside the girls headed back home, not at peace to know that Korra's father was innocent and that the rebels would get a fair trial. “That was a close call.” said Korra while placing her hand over her beating heart. Twilight's heart was also racing.

“Yeah.” The two girls looked at each other. “You know what we should do, right?”

“Yep. I need to go apologies to my dad for acting so horribly before.”

Twilight shrugged her shoulders, “Eh, in all respect you could have acted a lot worse.”

Korra chuckled.

“And I've got a friend to apologies to.” said the alicorn

“Yeah. Let's go back and try to get some sleep. We'll fix our messes in the morning.”

“Bright and early.”

“Maybe not that bright, my dad hates mornings.”

“Now I know where you get it from.” Twilight said between laughs.

(~)

The next morning, Flash Sentry woke up to see the tall firebender standing before him when he exited the tent. His arms were crossed and the rising sun shown from behind him, cascading his shadow over the pegasus stallion, who took a small step back.

"We need to talk." Mako said in a serious tone which made Flash gulp. None the less, he complied and followed the firebender a few steps farther out into the snow, overlooking the city before them. The run rising over the horizon, making the icy waters sparkle.

"I'm sorry." Mako finally said, putting an end to the temporary silence. Flash's ears perked up in surprise and Mako looked down at him with a look of regret. "I know you're a good kid. Eh, pony. Stallion, whatever. The point is, I'm not against you and Twilight spending time together, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright between you two."

"I understand." Flash said, "Twilight did say you were the protective type, which is understandable with you being an officer and all. Plus, you don't know me all that well so I understand your concern, but if I did anything to upset you I'm really sorry."

Mako shook his head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. I guess…it's more to do with me." his shoulders dropped in disappointment and Flash arched an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Long story short, I've done and said some things to Korra I'm not proud of. And you're right, I do care about Twilight and I do want her to be happy, and she's very happy when she's with you." his words made the pony blush, "Which is why it concerns me more if she got hurt the same way I hurt Korra because...I guess…I see a bit of myself in you."

Flash was now even more surprised. "Uh…I really don't know what to say to that."

Mako chuckled. "Like I said, you're a good pony and, believe it or not, I like you. I guess I was scared of Twilight getting hurt by some crazy misunderstanding or the wrong words being said."

"Okay, I guess I understand. But, there is one thing I need to ask." Mako nodded, allowing for Flash to ask his question. "If Korra was willing to forgive you for your mistakes, don't you think Twilight would forgive me if I messed up."

This made Mako's eyes widen in surprise. The pony did have a point. After all the fights and arguments Mako and Korra had on their road, she still forgave him and returned his feelings. So, why couldn't Twilight do the same for Flash is anything happened? Besides, even if he and Flash were similar that didn't mean he would make the same mistakes Mako made. Apparently he was letting his past guilt make him fearful for his friend's future. He saw so much of Korra in Twilight despite their differences, and he saw a lot of himself in Flash despite their differences. He wanted Twilight to be happy but he also feared for history to repeat itself.

"With all due respect Mako, whatever happens it's got to be Twilight's choice. And I assure you, I will respect any decision she makes and if I ever do mess up then I'll take full responsibility for them. You have my word."

Mako smiled at the young stallion. "Thanks, Flash Sentry. I'll take your word for it."

The two boys smiled and heard another voice call out for the firebender. “Excuse me. Mako, you got a minute?”

Mako and Flash nodded at each other, “You guys go on an ahead.” said Flash. He walked pass Twilight and smiled, “We'll talk later.”

Twilight smiled and nodded in return before looking up Mako, but before she could say anything Mako spoke first.

“I'm sorry.”

“Hu?”

“I shouldn't have spied on you and Flash. You guys wanted some time together and I should have trusted your judgment. I shouldn't have embarrassed you.”

Twilight smiled in reassurance. “That's okay. Korra explained everything. Let's just say, we both realized something important. I shouldn't have blown up at you like that. I'm sorry. So…. still friends?”

Mako smiled and kneeled down to her, “Of course. You're like a little sister to me Twilight, that's why I worry about you all the time. You and Korra.”

The two embraced in a warm hug, their friendship restored. “By the way, what were you and Flash talking about?” Twilight asked.

“We were just getting to know each other. Plus, I apologized for last night. He's not such a bad guy, you know.”

“I do know.”

“But I'm still going to keep an eye on him.” Mako jokingly warned. Twilight smiled while rolling her eyes. As crazy as Mako was she knew she could always count on him.

(~)

Meanwhile, Korra entered her parents' house. They sat on the floor eating and looked up smiling while Korra stood by the door.

“Is it okay if I come in?”

Senna smiled, “Of course. We heard what happened. Are you okay?”

Korra's eyes briefly shimmered with rainbow colors as she began to cry. She quickly ran to her father and embraced him, “I'm so glad you weren't there. I don't know what I would've done.”

“I had no idea how far Varrick was willing to go. My brother and I have our differences, but I would never attack him.”

“I'm so sorry for thinking you had anything to do with the rebels. And for all the pain I've caused you and mom."

“I'm the one who should apologize. After I saw the Southern Lights return, I was so proud of you. I never should have held you back.”

“When your father and I found each other, all we wanted was to live a simple life and raise a family." Senna said, "But, then we discovered you were the Avatar, and simple was over. We knew one day the world would need you, and you wouldn't need us anymore.”

“Mom, dad.” Korra hugged both of her parents, “Of course I still need you. I love you so much.” Unbeknownst to them, Korra's head band started to give a faint but firm glow as did Korra's cutie mark on her left cheek.

Just then, the door opened and Unalaq walked in with his troops.

“We weren't expecting you.” said Tonraq. Unalaq looked at them with a cold face, “Tonraq, Senna, you are under arrest and will stand trial.”

The three were completely shocked by this, “Trial? What for?” his brother asked.

“For conspiring to assassinate me.”

Korra stood up and faced her uncle, “What?! No, there has to be some mistake!”

“There is no mistake.” Unalaq turned to his troops, “Take them away”

“No!”

Once again, another energy blast comes out of Korra's hands and the two troops, including Unalaq, were shot out the door. They landed in the snow and looked at Korra in shock. Tonraq and Senna looked at Korra confused while Korra looked at her hands, shaking in fear. Her fingernails turn blue again.

“What's happening to me?”

To be continued……

*(~)*

Proverbs 13:20 ~

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

*(~)*

Author's Note:

I just want to clarify that Twilight and Flash did not plan on doing anything "dirty". The fanfic may read Teen ratted but it will have a PG ratted vibe. Why? Because that's just how I like it. Sorry for the long wait, been busy with schoolwork. Nearly done with book 3, feel free to read the rest of this fanfic on my fanfiction page.

God Bless. Kiss, Kiss.

Comments

[ponylover2]

I love this story