The Little Pony Legend 3: The Great Change

by MaggiesHeartLove

In Harm's Way

*(~)*

Romans 8:6 ~

So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

*(~)*

In Harm's Way

P'Li hated her prison so much. He was a firebender, she couldn't stand the cold. Of course, over the last thirteen years it had become second nature to her. She still shivered but the icy pain was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. She wished, dreamed, and hoped her one true love would return for her, to free her from this prison. So they could both be free, and be together forever. Now that she heard he was out, it was only a matter of time before they would be wrapped in each other's arms once again.

Outside of the building that led to her P'Li's prison, Tonraq, Desna and Eska stood out in the snow, awaiting for Lord Zuko and Leilani's return. The dragon, Drunk landed heavily on the ground as did Leilani. She now wore her signature cloak, covering her body, minus her head, revealing her long everlasting flowing mane, almost identical to her eldest daughter, minus the silver streak across it.

"Did you see Zaheer?" Tonraq asked.

Leilani shook her head. "The only thing we saw was a snowstorm heading our way."

She and Zuko both turned their heads towards a growing white cloud emitting from the mountains, moving in closer and closer. Tonraq had been around snow his entire life, he knew a snow storm when he saw one…and this was certainly not it.

"That's not a snowstorm….it's him."

With all of his courage, Tonraq and the rest of the group ran towards the growing 'storm', which was being manipulated by Zaheer. He continuously airbended to provide his group some cover. He rode on the roof of the truck, which was being driven by Ghazan. The large truck jumped right out of the manipulated snowstorm and Zaheer and Ming-Hua jumped off the truck afterwards, running towards Tonraq's group. The chief ran towards the airbender. He was just as ugly as he remembered.

"I put you away once, Zaheer, and I'm going to do it again!"

Tonraq waterbended a punch and an ice block at Zaheer, who dodged both attacks. Leilani's horn glowed, manipulating the snow around her, creating multiple ice shards around herself and hurled them at Zaheer, but he also managed to dodge them, by blasting them away, before sweeping Tonraq over with a blast of air. Leilani spread her wings, soaring and attempting to attack the man, waterbending the snow bellow as hands to grab hold of him, for which he kept trying to avoid and blast away, but he soon realized he could only keep this up for so long. This alicorn was indeed powerful.

Desna and Eska began attacking Ming-Hua with multiple ice shards at a rapid pace, which the armless woman dodged. The twins then created a field of iceberg spikes, but Ming-Hua maneuvered through them with her water arms before she froze the pair in ice blocks. She jumped up and broke the ice on the ground with her waterbending, transforming her lower torso into a large ice drill, before gliding down to P'Li's cell. A White Lotus sentry firebended at her, but she countered back, defeating him with little trouble. Another sentry attempted to waterbed at Ming-Hua, but she quickly stroked him down. P'Li's amber eyes widened in amazement to see water slipping in through the bars, growing and entrapping the door before turning into ice. P'Li was covered in a cloak, with somewhat of a metal plate covering her forehead. The water then turned into ice, which froze the bronze door, causing it to fall off of its hinges. A familiar woman with water arms approached her old comrade.

"Ming-Hua."

"Let's get you out of here." Ming-Hua waterbended the metal chains which had restrained P'li for no more than thirteen years. It felt so good to see the cackles fall form her wrists and feet, falling into the icy cold floor. She removed the cuff on her forehead, revealing a "third eye" tattoo. She clung onto Ming-Hua's back, who used ice axes to blimp them both up to the surface.

"We could have just taken the elevator." P'Li said. "Show-off."

Once the two reached the surface, Druk firebended at them, for which P'Li redirected with fire of her own…which she shot from the eye on her forehead. The fire surrounded her entire body, her messy dark locks and long torn cloths sweeping with the movement of the flames. The woman took in the embrace of the fire, smiling in satisfaction.

"I've waited thirteen years to feel this warm." P'Li easily tamed the fire before using her combustion ability to blast the dragon away. It felt so good to be out.

Lord Zuko continued to dodge the rocks coming from Ghazan and retaliating with his firebending, before dodging again for another strike. Ghazan deflected Lord Zuko's blast before using a rock to strike Lord Zuko down.

Zaheer felt he could take no more, with both Tonraq and Leilani's attacks, and the snow attempting to sustain him. He kept trying to blast the alicorn out of the sky, but her large wings gave her an advantage against him. She avoided all of his attacks, still controlling the snow bellow him, which took hold of his leg. He looked up into the pink eyes of the alicorn Queen, flaring with anger and power. He already started to hate her. Finally, she had him trapped, the ice sustaining his arms and legs as he struggled. She also held him down with her own magic. Bending and magic truly were a dangerous combo if used in the wrong hands. Zaheer had never felt anything like this before. It frightened him. The alicorn landed before him, her mane bellowing in the wind.

"You shall not have the Avatar. Not now or ever."

For a moment, Tonraq believed it was over, until he turned to see P'Li free. Her face crinkled, meaning she was preparing for another combustion.

"Leilani, look out!"

In an attempt to save her, Tonraq pushed the alicorn out of the way…right when P'Li unleashed a combustion blast at the two. Blasting them away, and landing roughly into the snow. Lord Zuko struggled to get up as he watched the truck make its escape, disappearing into the distance.

At long last, P'Li could feel the warm and loving embrace of her beloved. She held him so tightly, as if she feared if she let go he would be gone again. The two looked at one another. After all of these years, the love they felt for one another did not fade away, even in the slightest.

"I thought I'd never see you again." she said.

Zaheer smiled. "I never doubted it."

The two leaned in closer, sharing a long awaited passionate kiss. Ghazan was at the wheel, his eyes shifting to the side, watching the two make out.

"Really. Right now?"

(~)

Back at Mako and Bolin's extended family's household, Tu walked in, holding four passes in his right hand. "I've got them. These passports should get you into the Upper Ring."

"Awesome!" Bolin said with a smile, "Tu, you're the best cousin a guy can have." he then turned to the rest of the family, who looked on with saddened looks. "And my other cousins as well. Yeah. Yeah, you're all the best."

Mako graciously accepted the passport from his cousin. "Thanks. I know this wasn't easy."

"Na, it was fine. After all, we're family." while they didn't get off to the best start, Tu had come to really enjoy the company of his cousins.

Rarity approached him and bowed in gratitude. "We simply can not thank you enough, Tu. And while I am still a bit repulsed by the way you handle your fruit business, I can appreciate that you are a diamond in the rough."

"Thanks…I think. It's such a shame you two must leave so soon."

"I wish we could stay." Mako said as one of his little spirits landed on his shoulder, and he happily petted his head. "But if it's true the Earth Queen is forcing airbenders into her army, we have to do something about it."

"It was great to meet all of you." said Flash Sentry. "You're all so lucky to have one another."

Yin took both of Flash's hands and smiled, "And you are too, Flash Sentry. My boys have told me what a wonderful and brave friend you are to them. You may not be a relative, but I would like to consider you part of the family the same way my boys do."

Flash was deeply touched by this. He had never had a family this large before, and now this kind old woman was naming him an honorary member. He couldn't fight the tears that began to swell up in his eyes. Bolin wrapped his arms around Flash in a tight hug.

"Welcome to the family, Brony!"

"Seriously, you got to stop calling me that."

"I think it's adorable." Yin said. Seeing the happy wrinkled smile on her face was enough to convince Flash.

"You know what? It's actually starting to grow on me."

Yin approached Mako, tightly tugging on the red scarf around her neck, "Promise me the next time you visit you will bring that beautiful girlfriend of yours."

"I promise."

"And Rarity, sweet, lovely Rarity, thank you so much for being there for my boys. And for polishing my silverware. I've never seen them so clean."

"It was the least I could do after all you've done for us. Besides, with the messy way Tu and Bolin eat, you deserve it."

"Come back and visit soon." Yin welcomed the boys and their pony friends in a warm hug.

"We will, Grandma." Mako promised. Bolin, Tu and the rest of the family joined in the loving embrace.

"I love you too, Grandma." Bolin said. He turned to the rest of the family, "And Chow, and Tu, and Meng-Meng, and Chow Junior, there is Big T and Little T, and Medium You, and ... and ... and what was your name again?"

(~)

Korra grunted angrily as she punched a protective glove in anger. She and Asami, wearing combat attire, were sparring outside of their residence, while Twilight and Fluttershy watched. Korra yelled as she unleashed another punch.

"I know that Earth Queen is lying to me!" she said with a kick, "I can tell by that stupid little queenly smirk of hers! I can't believe I helped her. I should have known she was using me! And can you believe she had the nerve to disrespect the Princesses like that?!"

"Tell me about it." Twilight stated in agreement, "That woman has got some serious attitude issues. I'm not even sure if she's human."

Twilight's words only ignited Korra's bitterness, and she rise with airbending, attacking Asami with an air kick, knocking off one of her protective gloves and nearly causing her to stumble. "Whoa! Hey, I think I can use a break." she said as she unwrapped her other glove and inspected her hand, "You letting off steam is starting to, hurt. A lot."

"Sorry."

Fluttershy placed a supportive hand on Korra's shoulder, when they heard Pabu chitter and ran forward. The girls turned to see Mako, Bolin, Flash and Rarity running towards them, panting. Mako still had his father's guitar swung over his shoulder, and the trio of spirits were at his side.

"Mako. Bolin." Asami called them out.

Korra ran to greet Mako in a warm hug, "You're okay. I was so worried."

"I'm fine, sweetie." Mako was then roughly pulled away by Rarity, who embraced the Avatar in a surprise hug.

"I'm so happy to be back!"

Korra hugged her friend in return, "It's okay Rarity, you're not in that dirty place anymore. You're okay, you're okay."

"Flash!"

"Twilight!"

The pony couple happily embraced one another while Fluttershy hugged Rarity as well, "Where have you four been?" she asked, in her usual sweet and soft voice. Bolin rested his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"We--We chased Kai. Train. Slipped away. Scary unicorn. Lower Ring. Slept in trash pile. Met our family. Grandma tears. Mako's scarf. Beautiful song." he threw Pabu onto his head, mimicking the queen's royal headgear. "Earth Queen. Lying." after all of that, the poor boy slumped onto the floor. Fluttershy kneeled next to him in concern.

"Can you interpret that?" Applejack asked Mako.

"The Earth Queen's been secretly taking away airbenders and forcing them into her army."

"She was lying! I knew it!" Twilight exclaimed angrily.

Korra clenched her fists in equal anger, her eyebrow twitching. "I swear, the next time I see her-"

"It's the Queen." Asami whispered. Korra and the rest quickly softened as her Majesty arrived, being carried in a sedan. At the sight of her, Bolin opened his shirt and called out to his fire ferret.

"Quick! Pabu. Shirt." the creature jumped in, chittering in protest. "I know. Sorry. Kinda sweaty."

The queen approached the group, looking smug as always. "Good. You're here. Gun, tell them the news."

"We've received word from the Yang Province. There have been reports of airbenders there." said her servant.

"Wonderful, isn't it? It's the very thing you've been looking for."

Korra and her two ponies all looked at each other, rather skeptically before speaking to the queen.

"Oh, thank you! That's, great news." Twilight said sarcastically, followed by Korra who spoke the same way.

"Totally, just the most wonderful news. Ever."

Fluttershy gave a very soft and unsure, "Yay."

"So, I assume you and your friends here will be leaving immediately." she said. Then, Pabu began to wiggle in Bolin's shirt, and the Queen began to sneeze, repeatedly with unease. "Ah, cho! Ah, ah, ah--cho! Is there an animal in my presence?" she snapped at Gun, having trouble breathing threw he nose due to the allergies.

"N-no, Your Majesty. I would never allow an animal near you."

Bolin folded his arms innocently and Pabu's tail popped out of his shirt. Shocked, Bolin clasped his arms around the tail and ran off.

The Queen sneezed once more, "Ah, ah, ah--cho! If I find one within fifty feet of me, it's your head." she turned once again to Team Avatar. "Anyway, if you need any assistance pack, let Gun know. He'll see to it that you're on your way by evening."

Korra tapped her two index fingers against one another, trying to come up with something to say. She knew they couldn't leave now. "Uhh, this evening? I'm not sure about leaving so soon-"

Luckily for her, Asami came to the rescue, "Because our airship is having engine trouble. It'll, take me until tomorrow to finish the repairs."

Twilight forced a smile in agreement, "Yep! Can't ride on an airship when it's got engine trouble." the girls all smiled, innocently. *Insert squee sound*

The queen continued sneezing. Gun walked off, and the Queen followed, sneezing onto his sleeve. Once they were gone, Korra thanked Asami.

"Thanks for buying us some time."

(~)

Inside their estate, Team Avatar, the Mane Six, Tenzin and his family, even the Princesses and Spike were present. Princess Luna spoke first, "We should have known that horrible beast of a Queen would do something like this. She doesn't care for anyone besides herself."

"I can't believe she's conscripting airbenders." Tenzin said in disbelief.

"Those people should not be forced to join an army!" Korra said with much passion and fire.

Rainbow Dash began pounding her fists together. "Yeah! That Queen needs to be taught a lesson."

"Ordinarily, I would protest against to such an aggressive approach." said Princess Cadance, "But in this case, I'll make an exception. She doesn't have the right to take away their freedom."

"Well, technically, as the Earth Queen, she does have a right to conscript her citizens." Bumi pointed out…only to have everyone look, or glare at him silently. "What? It's true."

"Guys, what if Kai was spotted airbending?" Jinora said with worry, "He might have been taken too."

Rarity crossed her arms and slumped on her seat next to Korra, "I doubt it, he's surprisingly difficult to catch. The little disrespecting weasel, when I get my hands in him I'll---Ow!" the unicorn was then slapped upside the head by one of Korra's wings, alongside an angry glare. Rarity quickly changed her previous aggressive tone into a sweeter one, "I'll… hug him and be relieved he's safe. That's what I was going to say, heh, heh, heh…" she slumped her shoulders in defeat, "Oh, who am I kidding? You know I'm lying."

"No, Rarity's right." Bolin said, "He's like a little, greased hog-monkey." he then saw Korra glaring at him as well, and fearfully covered his face, "Please don't slap me."

"But what if he was captured?" Jinora asked.

Seeing the distress in her eyes, Twilight squatted to her level, smiling in reassurance. "Don't worry, Jinora. We'll find him. We just need to figure out where to look."

Mako had his hand near his chin, pondering in thought, "I bet they're under Lake Laogai." he said, more to himself than most. He realized the others heard him once he felt all eyes looking at him in surprise and even curiosity. "What? I've been reading some of Jinora's books."

"There's a shock." Rainbow said sarcastically under her breath to Applejack, who simply nodded in agreement. Mako could be a bookworm just as much as Jinora and Twilight.

"What is Lake Laogai?" Celestia asked.

"The old Dai Li agents used to have a secret fortress beneath the lake."

"Oh, yeah, I read about that too." Twilight said. "It was where they use to hold their prisoners and perform some kind of brainwashing ritual on people."

Spike quickly covered his ears, trying to cancel out the words, "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, I don't wanna hear it! La, la, la, la, la, la, la!"

Twilight simply arched an eyebrow, being cool-headed here, "Spike knock it off. The place has been deserted for years. But it still could be where the Queen is keeping the Air Benders. It's probably the very last place anyone would even think about searching, given its history."

"Twilight's right!" Jinora said, "And I know how to check it out without being caught. I can make a projection of myself to sneak into it."

Everyone looked at the child in shock. "You mean that out-of-body thing you did to help giant, spirity Korra and the Ponies?" her uncle asked.

"You can still do that?" Tenzin asked in bewilderment.

"Kind of. And, it's not really an "out-of-body" thing, either. I didn't fully realize it until Korra and the ponies brought me back. Remember when they used their magical energy to create that giant version of themselves to fight UnaVaatu? It's, almost the same thing. When we all entered the spirit world the first time, we somehow created magical projections of ourselves powered by our consciousness."

Korra eyes sparkled in realization. "Which is why we couldn't bend, because we were already using all of our energy to get there." Korra pumped her fists into the air, "I knew it! I knew there was more to it!"

"How is that possible?" Mako asked, "I mean, aside from Korra, humans don't have Equestrian magic."

"Maybe not Equestrian in origin, but even before Wan, White and Leilani separated the worlds, ours always did have some form of magic, such as bending. There have always been people who possessed a sensitivity towards the spirits over the centuries. Iroh was one of them and, despite being a nutcase, so was Unalaq."

"I believe I understand where you're coming from, Korra." said Princess Luna. "However, while I can project my conciseness into dreams and travel with ease due to my alicorn magic, for a human it can be more difficult. If done for longer periods of time, it can be very disastrous to their physical health, as you have all seen when Unalaq kept Jinora prisoner."

Korra nodded, "Plus, in an environment that's so magically charged as the spirit world, it would make sense why our projections could still touch and feel everything as if we were physically there, and how Unalaq was able to keep Jinora trapped." Korra turned to the young airbender, "Are you sure you can still do it?"

"It's not as powerful as it was during the Great Change, but if I can get close enough, I think so."

Twilight smiled as she placed a hand on the child's shoulder. "Alright. Let's go get Kai out. Let's get all the airbenders out."

Pinkie Pie jumped up and hugged Rainbow and Applejack. "Weee! I love it when we break people out of prison!"

(~)

In an underground fortress, illuminated by green lights, airbenders stood in pairs, one on either side. Kai was among them. He didn't like the way they treated these people, if they didn't listen they were beaten, if they messed up they were tossed into their room without a meal, and they treated them as if they were training animals, rather than living, breathing human beings. It was unfair. One of the Dai Li sergeants walked before them, his hand behind his back. "You are the property of the Earth Kingdom. You will become the Earth Queen's elite fighting force and protect her at all cost. It is your duty to serve the Earth Queen."

He had two airbenders attack their opponents, who redirected the attacks and countered, knocking them off. They didn't want to do this, but they had no other choice, the Queen owned them. Kai took a stance, if he was going to stay here for a while, he might as well make the most of it by practicing his airbending. He redirected his opponent's blast and prepared to attack fiercely. When his opponent then shielded himself with his arms, looking tired and frightened.

"Go easy on me! I'm not that good."

Kai took pity on this poor man. He was just as confused and alone as he was. Kai may be a thief, but even he never had the heart to really physically hurt someone. The young boy threw a weak blast, which the man, Yung, easily dodged. Both smiled at one another, even in this dark gloomy place, Kai managed to make a new friend. It was then he remembered Korra. He remembered how she saved him from going to jail, how she saw the good in him, welcomed him into her circle of friends. How could he betray her kindness like this? He began to wonder if she would forgive him after what he did. The Dai Li sergeant say what Kai had done and yelled at him sternly.

"Never show mercy! Now attack your opponent, and this time, like you mean it!"

Kai didn't want to hurt Yung at all, but if he was going to escape, he had to play along. He would make it up to him by breaking him free as well, but until then…

Kai reluctantly threw a stronger blast at Yung, which easily knocked him out. "Sorry."

"A soldier never apologizes to his enemy!" said the Sergeant.

"I'm not a soldier!" Kai snapped back.

"You will be when I'm through with you."

(~)

Oogi landed on an island a few miles off the coast of the city, Lake Laogai. Tenzin, Korra and Twilight stood by Jinora who sat in a meditative stance. "If anything goes wrong, come back immediately." said her father.

"I will." Jinora closed her eyes.

Twilight linked her arm around Korra in a sisterly manner, "Think she'll find Kai under there?"

Korra looked at the young girl with hopeful eyes. "We'll see."

Jinora took in slow, deep and silent breaths, connecting. In a matter of moments, she opened her eyes, looking down seeing her entire body transparent, and glowing blue. She did it! Her magical projection looked around the area, but what she saw was the entire tunnel completely submerged in water. Seaweed grew on the walls and ground, fish swimming in schools all around. Her spirit faded and manifested into another area, but she got the same results; the entire place was underwater, there was no possible way anyone could be hiding under there. Unless they were half fish. Realizing this was useless, her ghostly spirit disappeared, returning to her body. The physical body of Jinora woke up and stood back up.

"What happened?" Korra asked, "What did you see?"

"The airbenders aren't there! It's completely deserted."

Tenzin's eyes widened in horror, "They're not down there?!" This was even worst than he thought. If the airbenders weren't there, then where could they be.

Korra then turned to Twilight, "Twily, you and Jinora have read all about Ba Sing Se. Can you guys think of any other places the airbenders might be?"

"Well, they could be in the catacombs beneath the Upper Ring." Jinora said.

"They could, but there is also the ancient sewers beneath the Lower Ring." Twilight stated.

"Oh, yeah. And there's also the maze of tunnels that connects the rings together, or they could be--."

Tenzin sighed, "There are just too many places. There has to be another way to locate them."

Korra's eyes slightly opened up, "Maybe there is." she squatted down to Jinora, placing her hand on her shoulder. "How did you find me and the Mane Six during Harmonic Convergence?"

"I don't know. I just sensed Raava and she guided me towards you. I think it was our friendship that she led me to you."

"Maybe you can find Kai the same way." Korra said, smiling sweetly, "I know you two have a connection."

Twilight smiled in agreement, while Tenzin looked on with concern. "What do you mean "a connection"?"

Twilight rolled her eyes at this, "Overprotective dad, alert." she said under her breath.

"I don't know. Let me try." Jinora returned to meditate, her spirit once again manifesting from her body.

(~)

In the underground fortress, Dai Li sergeants bended multiple earth discs to the airbenders, who attempt to block it with airbending. Only Kai was able to block the attack. The sergeant bends out more earth discs, and Kai blocke the attack meant for Yung. The man smiled in gratitude. "Thanks."

"You again?!" the sergeant yelled angrily, "If you have time to help your friend, then you're not getting enough rocks for yourself!"

The sergeant then attacked Kai with multiple discs. The boy managed to deflect the first two, dodged the next two, but was subsequently struck by the fifth and knocked down. He grunted when he hit the floor. The sergeant laughed mockingly.

"I guess you're not as good as you thought."

In anger, Kai attempted to attack the sergeant with an air blast, which he easily dodged. The sergeant then immobilized him in an earth shell. "Throw him in the hole!"

Two Dai Li agents came by, grabbed Kai by the shirt and the earth shell diminished. The boy was dragged away by force and then thrown into a prison cell. The door slammed, and Kai was all alone again. Then, he witness something incredible; a bright blue entity began to manifest before his eyes. The boy slightly backed away, shocked at what he saw, until the spirit became clear, and Kai immediately recognized the being.

"Jinora?"

"It worked!" Jinora exclaimed. She did it, she managed to locate Kai.

"How are you here right now?"

"Shh, quiet. It's kind of a new magic trick I found out I had."

Kai breathed a sigh of relief. "At first, for a second there, I thought you were a ghost."

Jinora chuckled, "It's good to see you. We've been looking for you and the other airbenders. We're going to get you all out of here. Where are we anyway?"

"Underground somewhere. Other than that, I don't have a clue."

"I'll figure it out. Don't worry."

"Jinora!…Thanks."

The girl smiled and blushed before her projection traveled upwards, disappearing from Kai's view. She rose up to the surface into the sunlight. She turned her head to see a temple before her. "The Earth Queen's Temple!"

(~)

"I can't believe Miss Queeny Smug Face had them right under our noses the whole time!" Korra exclaimed, fuming with anger. She despised the queen now more than ever.

"We must get those airbenders out." said Princess Luna.

Celestia nodded, "I agree, sister. We must come up with a plan, but we can not simply barge in. There will be Dai Li agents everywhere."

Bumi, who sat on the stairs, already forging a plan, "All right. We go in under the cover of darkness: two small insertion teams and a third on the outside. Then all we'll need is twelve tons of blasting jelly, a medium-sized bulldozer and … does anyone have a badgermole that knows Morse code?"

While he was saying all of this, Pinkie Pie wrote it all down on a notebook. "Okay, I know where we can get the blasting jelly, the bulldozer, but I don't know where we can find a badgermole."

Applejack took the notebook from her hand, reading the words, "Pinkie Pie, this isn't even a list. It's a bunch of scribbles."

"Hey, cut me some slack! I'm still learning how to write with these hands!"

The group turned their heard towards the door once they heard a knock. Cadance sighed irritably, "Oh great, not the Queen again."

"Everyone, act natural." Korra instructed, "And Bolin--"

"I'm on it!" he opened his outer shirt, gesturing to Pabu to get in, but he chittered in protest. "What? Hey, I'm not sweaty this time!" Pabu reluctantly jumped in, and wiggled around in Bolin's shirt before settling inside. Tenzin walked on over and opened the door, only to be just as surprised as the others by why had arrived to see them. None of them were expecting this visitor….

"Lin?"

"Lin?!"

"Lin!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, while the others were shocked.

"Lin? What are you doing here?" Tenzin asked in complete surprise and the chief entered the room and bowed before the royals.

"Your Highnesses."

"It's wonderful to see you again, Lin." Celestia greeted happily, before her face shifted into a frown. "But Tenzin's right, what brings you here?"

"We need to get Korra out of here immediately. Her life's in danger."

Korra and the Ponies' eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

"What to you mean she's in danger?" Applejack asked, "What in tarnation is going on?" she asked Lin, who completely ignored her as she spoke with the air nomad.

"I just got word from Lord Zuko, Tonraq and Queen Leilani."

"What is our mother doing with Chief Tonraq?" Luna asked.

"And what is Lord Zuko doing with my dad?" Korra asked, but just like her friend, the chief of police completely ignored her.

"Zaheer and the others have escaped."

Tenzin's eyes widened in shock, "How is that possible?"

"Because Zaheer is an airbender now."

"No …" Tenzin was now even more horrified. Zaheer was an airbender now? How could this happen?

"All right, hold on! Will you quit ignoring me and tell me what's going on?" Korra said both impatiently and exasperatedly. "Who's Zaheer? Why is my life in danger? How is Leilani involved in this?" she turned to face the princesses, hoping to find some answers.

"We're sorry, we're just as lost as you are." Celestia said. She turned her stern gaze to Tenzin. "Tenzin, care to explain. And Lin, why did our mother wait up until now to inform us about this? If the Avatar is in danger, it concerns us just as much as it does you."

Tenzin and Lin both knew they were right. The air nomad sighed before speaking. "I'll go first." he turned his gaze to Korra, "Shortly after we found out you were the Avatar, Zaheer and three others attempted to kidnap you." at the mention of this, both Fluttershy and Rarity gasped. "Luckily, your father, Lord Zuko, Chief Sokka and I were there to stop them. We apprehended the criminals and locked them away in prisons designed to impair their abilities."

Korra lowered her gaze as the revelation struck her. "So that's why you and my dad sheltered me away."

"It was for your own safety."

The room fell silent for a brief moment as they all tried to process what they had just discovered. The silence ended when Rainbow Dash lashed out. "And you waited up until now to tell her this?! Seriously?!"

Mako stepped forward, "Why were they trying to kidnap Korra?" he asked, his expression shifting to one of anger and worry. He had lost it once when Korra was taken by Tarlokk, just imagine three homicidal maniacs.

"We spent thirteen years interrogating them, but they never broke." Lin explained. "To this day, no one knows what their motive was." she then turned to the two royal sisters, "Your mother wanted to tell you sooner, but she didn't want to distract you from your meeting with the Earth Queen. She thought she could handle them with Tonraq and Lord Zuko."

Celestia lowered her head in disappointment, "She's always so stubborn."

"It has been decades since our mother was on the battlefield." said Luna, "Ever since her last one with Tire--" she quickly stopped herself before she could reveal more, but it was too late, this had already caught Korra's curiosity.

"What battle? Battle with who?"

Luna looked away from her, her teal eyes carried an aura of sadness and they shimmered, as if she were trying to fight back tears. "That's a tale for another time."

Lin approached Korra, "Now we need to get you back to Republic City, where I can protect you. If these criminals are after you, there is a strong possibility they will want the ponies as well."

"Are you sure about that?" Spike asked with worry.

"Well, we don't know if they are aware of their connections, but even if they don't, I'm not taking any chances."

But Korra backed away from the chief, "No ... I'm not running."

Fluttershy was already shaking inside from what she had discovered. "Really are you sure? Because I hear it's great cardio, in fact let's do it right now!" the pegasus attempted to run out the door only to have Asami, wearing a blank expression, to slam the door, and Fluttershy rammed right into it.

Lin should have known Korra wouldn't agree to this. She knew the hot-headed Avatar just as well as anyone. "Korra, you don't understand. These criminals are like nothing you've ever faced before."

The young Avatar stood her ground and spoke with a voice of pure determination. "Look, I'm not a little kid anymore. You don't need to protect me. I came here for one thing, to find airbenders and I'm not leaving without them."

Rainbow Dash flew up, pounding her fists into the sky. "Yeah! You tell her!"

"Korra's right." said Applejack, "I ain't never been the kind of pony to just cut and run at the first sign of something difficult. And I sure as apples aint gonna be it now!"

"I may be more of a fashionista than a fighter most of the time," said Rarity, "but I would rather be seen in last seasons couture than run away like a coward."

Twilight stood beside her friends, "These airbenders need our help. We can't just abandon them."

"She's right." said Cadance, "You really are becoming a strong and wise princess, Twilight."

Realizing that nobody was going to change their minds, Lin reluctantly gave in. "Fine. Let's get them and get out of here. Where are they?"

"In a military compound," Korra said, "and we're busting them out."

Pinkie Pie jumped up excitedly. "Hooray! I'll go get the bulldozer, the exploding jelly and--"

"We're not doing that!!" everyone shouted at the pony.

(~)

That night, two guards patrolled around the Queen's temple. They turned around a corner and spotted Jinora, and a pony formed Fluttershy.

"Hi" they both innocently greeted.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" one of them asked.

The second guard looked at the young girl. "Oh, it's just that little airbender girl and pony who came with the Avatar. You shouldn't be walking around here all alone."

"We're not alone." both girls pointed to behind the guards. Once they turned around, they gulped in fear. There stood Korra, Bolin, Mako, Bumi, Tenzin, and the rest of the anthro Mane Six all in their fighting stances. Pinkie Pie happily waved back at the guards with a goody grin. Before long, for the guards, everything went dark.

With the guards tied up, the gang made their way towards the temple. They entered a doorway to hide from patrolling Dai Li agents. The mares reverted back into their anthro forms. Tenzin turned to the others, "Bumi, Korra, Twilight and Rainbow, you come with me to find the airbenders. The rest of you, find Kai. We'll meet on the surface shortly. Radio us if anything goes wrong."

They nodded their heads as they all went their separate ways. Korra, Tenzin, Bumi, Twilight and Rainbow reached the door to where the airbenders were being held. The airbenders laid on their hard cold rock beds and were startled to see the door open, they feared the Dai Li had come to make them either train more, or to punish them for some reason. To their surprise, they saw a bald man in airbender attire with an arrow on his head, as well as a young woman with wings on her back and two other creatures they had never seen before.

"What's going on?" Yung asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm the Princess Avatar, and I'm getting you all out of here."

The airbenders began to murmur with one another, until Tenzin shushed them, "Everyone, please! You must stay calm and quiet if we want this to work."

"What to work?" Tung asked, then his eyes widened in realization. "We're sneaking out?"

"Yes, and we must leave now." said Twilight.

"We're going to get you away from the Earth Queen and out of the city." said Rainbow Dash, "Now come on."

Without a second thought, the airbenders one by one walked out of their prison cell. Yung stopped halfway to talk to Tenzin and Korra outside of its entrance.

"There's an airbender that's not here. His name is Kai. We need to get him."

"We're already taking care of it." Tenzin informed him.

Bumi was crunching down low and speaking into a walkie-talkie, "Topside, this is Papa Bear. The breezies are in the hold; cue the balloons!"

Static sounded before Flash's voice was heard, "What? What's going on? Are you guys in trouble?"

"No! We've got the airbenders and we're headed out! Bring the airships."

"Why didn't you just say so, man?"

Bumi lowered the walkie-talkie and sighed sadly, "No one likes code names anymore."

"Copy that. Lin, Asami and I are on our way." he said before hanging up. He stood beside Lin who piloted the airship while Asami piloted hers while Oogi rose and followed the airships. The Princesses remained with Lin. Spike was with Asami on her airship, leaning forward excitedly.

"This is so cool! Say, what do these buttons do?"

"You break it, you buy it." Asami said sternly and Spike lowered his ears in fear as he sank down on his chair.

(~)

Kai sat on the floor of his cell, hugging his legs and resting his chin on his knees. He was just about to lose all hope of escape, when the door sounded and light entered the room. The boy's eyes lit up at the sight of Mako, Bolin, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"Come on. We're getting you out." Mako said. Jinora moved in between the two brothers and rushed to the boy.

"Kai!" she surprised him with a warm hug and then…shamelessly kissed him on the cheek. Kai was so not expecting this, but he wasn't complaining. He blushed and smiled in a frozen stance like a little love-sick goofball. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie swooned at the cuteness of the scene.

"Awww!"

Rarity gaged at the scene. She was still pretty steamed with the boy. Bolin was grinning like an idiot. "Whoa! Tenzin's not gonna be happy about this!'

"Then don't tell him." Mako said.

"How can I not? This is too juicy!"

Kai approached the two brothers, looking downwards in shame and regret. "Thanks for coming to get me. I'm really sorry about stealing your wallets, and running away, and getting you stuck on that train."

"Ahem!"

"And for making you lose your stuff, Rarity."

"Hmp! You should be." then, she looked at Kai, his emerald green eyes shimmering in the light, his lips slightly pouting in an adorable manner. The walls around her heart crumbled at the seems. "Oh! Fine, I forgive you!"

Bolin then wrapped his arms around the kid, "Yeah, we can't stay mad at you."

"Yes, we can!" Mako said bitterly, folding his arms, "I had a lot of money in that wallet!"

"Come on, ya'll" Applejack took the lead as the others followed. They ran down the hall and turned a corner, but the rest of their path was blocked by three Dai Li agents.

"Deserting Her Majesty's army is high treason. Punishable by death!" The agents simultaneously bend rock gloves at the group.

(~)

Rainbow Dash peaked her head from behind a wall, looking at the courtyard outside. She turned to her friends, as well as the other airbenders. "All clear! Come on!"

They all ran out, not noticing Dai Li agents hiding on the structure of the temple, who quickly jump downward before them as even more came running from the courtyard. They blocked their path. Twilight and Rainbow Dash both changed into their anthro forms, taking their fighting stances, Rainbow already had two flaming daggers in her hands.

"So, you've discovered my elite army." one Dai Li agent moved aside, revealing the Queen. "I see their loyalty still needs some work."

"These airbenders shouldn't be used as weapons!" Korra said to the queen, "They have a right to choose their own paths."

"These airbenders are Earth Kingdom citizens, and I am their queen. Taking them will constitute an act of war. If you disobey me, I will bear down on you with the entire force of my kingdom!"

Twilight Sparkle walked forward and faced the Queen, "Even if you do make them your soldiers, they will never truly be loyal to you. The moment you turn your back, they will run away from you again and again. They will never stop. You don't force loyalty onto others, it needs to be earned. You are not a true ruler, you are nothing but a selfish, arrogant, loud-mouth beast!"

The Queen gasped and Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped in awe. Korra's eyes were widened in surprise as she closed Rainbow's mouth.

"A true ruler places the needs of her subjects before her own and gives them the freedom they need to choose. You may wear that crown, you may sit on a throne, but you will never be their Queen! These airbenders are coming with us!"

"No, they're not!"

The Earth Queen turned and walked away, as the first row of Dai Li agents began bending rock gloves at Team Avatar and the airbenders. Suddenly, all of the airbenders rallied beside Korra and the ponies, combining their airbending abilities to create powerful blasts of air at the Dai Li, attempting to hold their ground while the airship ladder landed to give them a lift. Bumi was the first to climb on.

"Come on!"

(~)

Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Kai, Jinora, Mako, and Bolin, where still fighting the three agents. Mako avoided a rock glove, and he and Bolin fire and earth attacked back at the agents, who successfully evade Mako's attack. However, one of them was knocked against the wall by an earth pillar sent by Applejack. Another agent charged and received a combined air blast from Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, knocking him out. Mako firebended at the last remaining agent, who stopped the blast with an earth pillar. He send a rock glove spiraling quickly at Jinora, and managed to capture her into his grip. The girl screamed, Kai's face looked on in shock, followed by anger. He charged at the agent, avoiding a boulder sent his way, and fired two air bending blasts to knock the agent backward and free Jinora. With the agent down, Kai stood by him, grinning proudly.

"I guess I am as good as I thought."

But the fight wasn't over. In the opposite direction of the halls, two more agents appeared. The others took their stances ready to fight, when suddenly, something began moving within their robes. One agent had bumps moving round in his cloths, which then dragged him across the floor, as he screamed in terror and confusion as to what was inside is robe. The bumps began rising upwards, lifting the man up into the air, and began spinning him around. He screamed as he was flung right into his companion, and the two were rammed against the wall. The bumps emerged from the now unconscious Dai Li's robes, revealing themselves to be none other than the spirit trio.

Rarity's jaws dropped. "I don't believe it."

Mako smiled proudly with his arms crossed, "Way to make daddy proud, kids." the three spirits 'high-tailed' one another in victory.

(~)

Once the final airbenders entered the airship, Bumi spoke to Lin through the walkie-talkie. "Everyone's in. Let's go!"

From the window, Cadance saw the others all standing on the rails of the temple building, blasting away the rest of the Dai Li agents with air and fire bending, who attempted to climb up to reach them. Cadance quickly ran out the the door and flew out of the airship to help her sister-in-law. She soared downwards, unleashing a powerful blue aura from her horn, which blasted the rest of the Dai Li agents away. Twilight gleamed when she saw her.

"Cadance!"

"You didn't expect me to let you have all the fun did you?" she then turned and whistled towards Tenzin's bison, who came at her command. "Come on!"

Tenzin, Korra, Twilight and Rainbow Dash all rose up and jumped onto Oogu, who began to fly away, as the Earth Queen looked on. She turned to the stunned Dai Li agents next to her. "Take down those airships!" at her command, the agents began bending rocks at the bison. Cadance stood in between the two and blasted the rock into bits.

"Where are the others?" Rainbow asked.

"We need HELP!"

Bolin screamed at the top os his lungs as he and the others all ran down the temple steps. More Dai Li agents rose to new heights on earth pillars, and began firing down at the escapees. Before Korra could stir Oogi towards them, she saw a white and dark blue blur fly right beside her. Her eyes widened. "Are those---?"

As Bolin, Mako, Kai, Jinora and the ponies ran, they saw their saviors soaring downwards. The Royal sisters. Celestia's horn glowed, her wings spread wide as she let out a powerful yell, unleashing a powerful fire blast, which then split into various fire spears, aiming directly at the Dai Li, knocking them down from their pillars. The running group felt their bodies rise as a blue sparkly aura surrounded them. Princess Luna carried them all to safety, lowering them down onto Oogi's saddle.

"Whoa, that was awesome!" Kai said, amazed at what had just happened.

The Earth Queen pointed at Oogi and the airship flying off in the distance., as pieces of Oogi's fur fall onto her face. "Bring me those airships now! Ah, ah--cho! Oh, get it off me! Ah--cho! Get this fur off my- AH--Cho!"

(~)

The following day, the airship landed neat the ruins atop a range of hills in the desert. Bolin kneeled before the two princesses, repeatedly kissing their feet in gratitude. "Thank you, thank you for saying us. Muaw, maw, maw"

"It was nothing Bolin." said Celestia.

"Nothing?! You two were amazing! I can't thank you enough! Thank you---muaw--thank you--muaw, maw!"

Mako had had enough of this and forcibly removed his brother from the ground. "Sorry, your majesties."

Meanwhile, Tenzin and Korra stood before the airbenders. They all sat down, listening to the air nomad.

"I know that none of you chose to become airbenders. But now you do have a choice." as he spoke, the rest of the group of friends listened attentively, and hopefully. "We can relocate you somewhere safe, or you can come with me to the Northern Air Temple, to live in peace and train as Air Nomads. You are no longer anyone's property. What path you decide is up to you."

For a moment, they were all silent. Pinkie Pie bit on her human nails, nervously awaiting to hear from them. Then, Yung was the first to stand up. "I want to go with you." he said, right before another rose up as well. The pattern continued.

"Me too."

"Count me in."

As more airbenders agreed to go with Tenzin, tears began to form in his eyes as he smiled. At long last, the Air nation was slowly blooming into the world once more. The rest of the ponies, including Spike all cheered happily. Pinkie Pie came ridding before the new airbenders on an air shooter shouting; "Airbender party!" as a whole bunch of streamers and balloons came falling down out of nowhere.

And so, with new airbenders, it was time for some to part. Tenzin, Jinora, Bumi and Kai would leave to the Northern Air Temple with the rest of the airbenders, while Korra and the rest would travel to seek more. Jinora stood before the Asami's airhsip, the one they would take to the Air Temple, as Twilight squatted down to hug her book-loving friend. "I'll miss you, Jin."

"I'll miss you too."

Applejack also kneeled down and hugged the child, "You be good now. Say hi to Apple Bloom for me, will ya?"

"I promise."

"And tell Sweetie Belle I'll be thinking of her." said Rarity.

"I will."

"And tell Scootaloo to never quit. And that I miss her."

"You got it, Rainbow."

Spike, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie where the last to hug Jinora goodbye, while Flash Sentry simply ruffled her hair. "See you soon, kid."

The rest of the Mane Six looked over at Kai. The boy looked downward in sadness….until he was surprised by a group hug from all of the girls. Once they dispersed, Rarity kissed Kai on the head. "Don't think just because I forgave you you're entirely off the hook. You still owe me a new pair of shoes!"

Twilight felt Korra tap her shoulder and they both walked over to the princesses. "Thank you so much for your help." Korra said.

"It was our pleasure." Cadance said, before welcoming both Korra and Twilight in a warm embrace.

"Luna and I will return with Tonraq and Lord Zuko to seek out these criminals."

"Actually, sister…I have decided to remain with the Avatar and her companions."

"What?"

"I feel it would be best to have one of us by our mother's side in case something is to happen. They already have two waterbenders with mother and Tonraq, it would only level the playing field of you went."

Celestia didn't like the idea of leaving her sister alone, but she knew she had a good point. They would need every advantage they would get in order to fight these criminals.

"I will contact you whenever I need you."

"I am so proud of you, Luna." The two sister's embraced in a warm and loving hug. Once they separated, Korra and Twilight hugged Celestia. "Be safe, girls."

"We will."

Korra then walked over to Tenzin as Twilight remained with the princesses a while longer, all looking at her seriously. "Princess Twilight, now it is more crucial than ever that you all remain by the Avatar's side. She will need all of her power, in order to stop these criminals."

Twilight nodded her head in agreement, a determined look dawned on her face. "I promise."

Korra smiled at her mentor, "Good luck at the Northern Air Temple. I'll send more airbenders your way when I find them."

"Be careful out there. Stay safe."

"I'll try. Seems like wherever I go, I make a new enemy."

"But you made some new friends too. You did well, Korra."

The two hugged. "This is only the beginning." Korra said.

With a heartfelt goodbye, the two airships dispersed. Asami piloted the police airship as the others watched the other fly away in the opposite direction. Luna looked on sadly, waving goodbye to her sister. She would miss her. Korra placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort, and the moon princess smiled.

Korra took a seat on the couch, only to be surprised by a laughing Mako, playing with the trio of little spirits. She couldn't believe it, was this her boyfriend?

"Um, Mako?"

"Oh, hey Korra. San, stop pulling your sister's tail."

Korra chuckled, "Wait, did you just name them?"

Mako's cheeks turned red, "Well…maybe."

Korra laughed as she sat closer to him, gently petting one of the spirit's heads. "But I thought you didn't want anything to do with them." she said in a somewhat joking tone.

"Hey, a guy's allowed to change his mind, isn't he? And I kind of learned something today when I met my family." Korra rested her head on his shoulder as she listened to his words, "I remembered a promise I made to my mom. That I would live life to the fullest and enjoy the good things that came my way. I never kept that promise until now." he planted a soft loving kiss on Korra's head, making her blush and snuggle against him. "I guess what makes family so great is that it's always growing. And you really should be open to it, because before you know it, you'll miss out."

"Wow….who are you and what have you done with Mako?"

The firebender playfully nudged her arm, making her laugh, as the little spirits circled around him. "Hey kids, how about a hug for mommy!"

"Wait, what?"

The three little spirits began circling around Korra's head, making her giggle and they rested on her head and shoulders. Mako wrapped an arm around her as their 'kids' rested on there laps.

Flash smiled at the scene, then he frowned when she spotted Twilight looking out the window. He took in a deep breath and approached her.

"Hey."

"Hey" she replied. She didn't even smile, or turn around.

"Look, Twilight I understand why you would be upset. But I just want you to know that…I'm sorry. I'm sorry you felt I was avoiding you. It wasn't that I don't care about you, I do. I guess sometimes, I just don't know how to say it and I whenever I do try, I come off sounding like a complete doof." Twilight didn't turn around to face him, but she still listened to his words. "I never want you to think I don't care about you, and I should have told you the truth before. But that is still no excuse for avoiding you like that."

The alicorn finally faced him. "Flash, do you want to know one of the reasons why I like you?" Flash remained quiet, uncertain is he knew the answer or not. The princes smiled, "Because you're a doof. I like how you tend to get nervous around me, because it reminds me how much you do care. But when you kept blowing me off I was scared you were thinking about breaking up with me."

"What? That's crazy, I would never do that." he took hold of her hands and looked deep into her eyes. "Twilight, you are the most incredible, most intelligent, most amazing pony I have ever met. Never forget that."

Twilight blushed and smiled. "I won't." the two ponies hugged one another in a loving embrace.

Not to far, Bolin and Asami looked on at the two, smiling happily for them. Their gazes them shifted towards Korra and Mako. "Look at that." Bolin said. "That's love for ya."

"Yeah." Asami agreed. "It really is."

"Hey, Asami…do you think you and I will ever have what they have one day? I mean, I'm fine with it being just me and my friend but, still, it would be kind of nice, ya know."

"Yeah, it would be."

"Do you think we'll ever find it?" he asked as he looked at her. Asami turned her gaze from the couples and back at Bolin. The sun was rising higher and higher up into the sky, it's golden rays entering the airship trough the glass windows. The two friends looked at one another, seeing how the rays made them both glow with a dazzling aura of pure light. Asami suddenly felt her heart skip a beat as she looked at Bolin's sweet, innocent and trust worthy smile. She could feel her cheeks burn and smiled.

"Yeah…I think we will. One day."

Bolin smiled in return, noticing how Asami's light green eyes shimmered in the sunlight. Realizing they had been staring at each other for too long now, they both turned their gazes away and for the first time ever, they stood beside each other…awkwardly.

The world wasn't the only thing changing.

(~)

Author's Note:

GAH! I know, I know I did not forget about Opal, and NO I don't hate her, but…I LOVE BOSAMI!! Why? I don't know!! I'm hooked people! Hooked!!!!
Okay, until next time, God bless, *Kiss Kiss*

Comments

[Counter-Guardian-Emiya]

The feels were good in this chapter.

[Lucasnike123]

9362519
That is the good news.

The bad news is that Luna was about to mention Tirek !!

And what relationship will he have with Zaheer?