• Published 11th Nov 2014
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The Little Pony Legend 3: The Great Change - MaggiesHeartLove



A new Princess, a New Age and a whole new adventure awaits for Avatar Korra and The Mane Six!

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Original Airbenders

*(~)*

Colossians 1:10~

Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

*(~)*

Original Airbenders

The Cutie Mark Crusaders could not believe their own eyes. The Northern Air Temple was a sight to behold, it looked more like a stunning perfectly crafted castle that rested high on a mountain, flying bisons as well as little spirits flew all around. Ever since their encounter with Zaheer, Kya and the rest of the airbenders packed their things and headed to the Air Temple to inform Tenzin about what happened. Kya tried her best to keep a brave face, which she managed to accomplish. The bison they flew on was closing in on the Temple.

Meanwhile, Tenzin stood before a group of new airbenders in front of the temple, they all sat cross-legged on the ground. Most were bored of the lecture, minus one who wore glasses and was paying full attention, wearing a big smile on his face as Tenzin continued to speak. Among them were also new anthro ponies who possessed airbending.

"His pupils pleaded with their master to eat something, but he refused, just like he had each day during summer. Instead he meditated and got his nourishment from the universe. So when Tang Xu completed the ninety-seventh day of his historic fast on which island?"

The airbender who was paying most attention raised his hand. "Oooh! Oooh!"

Tenzin tried his best to pretend he didn't see the boy's hand. "Anyone besides Otaku, who already studied this in his acolyte training?"

Otaku kept his hand up. "Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

"And is answering every question."

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"

Tenzin gave up and finally looked and glanced at Otaku, prompting him to answer.

"Whaletail Island."

"That is correct. Again. Now, on day ninety-eight …" Tenzin was then interrupted when the students broke out in laughter. Another man in airbender clothing emerged from the front door, speaking in a falsetto voice with his tunic over his head and a certain dragonfly-bunny spirit peeking out from the collar. He capered about, his arms waving in his attempt to imitate a ghost.

"Greetings, air people. I come seeking boring stories to take back to the Spirit World."

The spirit flew out of the man's tunic, revealing to be non other than Bumi. Everyone laughed again, including Jinora, who was among the airbenders. Her uncle always found a way to make people laugh, it was one of his most admirable causalities. Tenzin glared at his daughter, who quickly sat back in a disciplined posture.

Latter on, Tenzin and Oogie flew in the sky, showing this to the new recruits. Once the beast landed on the ground, creating a gust of wind as he did, Kai's eyes widened in awe. "That is incredible! When do we get to fly around on our own sky bison like that?"

"Only after many years of practice and intense training." Tenzin said once he got off of the saddle and approached the recruits, who all moaned in disappointment. "Besides, we don't have enough bison here for all of you."

"What about those? It's a whole herd of bisons." Kai said, pointing towards the horizon. The young boy was right, there was an entire heard of bison flying overhead, all in a group heading towards the mountains.

"Actually, the plural of bison is bison." Tenzin corrected as he watched the large beasts flying gracefully across the sky high above the fields. The recruits were astonished by the majesty of the creatures.

"Whoa!"

"Cool!"

"Wow, look at that!"

"Can we ride those?" Kai asked.

"No, that's a wild herd. It would take many years to tame them. Now, let's get back to our lessons." but before he could continue, two more bisons appeared, only these were not with the rest of the wild heard, they had saddles and carried people on their backs. Tenzin quickly recognized some of the people as his family; Kya, Pema, Rohan, Meelo, and Ikki. Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Meelo happily waved at his father.

"Dad! We brought you more airbenders!"

The two bisons landed on the ground, Tenzin turned to the recruits. "Okay, everyone is dismissed. We'll pick this up ... tomorrow." as the recruits all dispersed, the man approached his wife, sister and anthro ponies.

"Hey, Tenzin!" Apple Bloom greeted.

"Hello girls, good to see you again."

Scootalo bowed before the man. "Master Tenzin, I just want to say I look forward to learning more about airbending from you."

"I'm sure you will be a wonderful student, Scootalo." he then turned to his wife, "How is everything in the city?"

"Well, we had a little scare but everything is okay. Zaheer infiltrated the air temple."

Tenzin's eyes widened in alarm, "What! Is everyone all right?"

"Everyone's fine." Kya said calmly, "I fought with him, but he got away. And he stole some old necklace that had something to do with ... Guru ... Lakshmir."

"Guru Laghima?"

"Right ... You know I can never keep all those gurus straight. There were like a million of them. Remember that long, boring story about that guy who never ate?"

"Yes ... I remember." Tenzin said unamused. Then, an AIr Acolyte approached Tenzin.

"Princess Avatar Korra is calling on the temple's radio."

"Korra!" the Crusaders happily exclaimed.

(~)

Tenzin picked up the microphone, the crusaders stood beside him as he spoke with the Avatar. "Are you alright? Where are you?"

He heard Korra's happy voice from the radio. "With Beifong's sister in Zaofu. We're totally safe, unless we get caught in another fight between Su and Lin."

"Lin willingly took you to her sister?" Tenzin asked in disbelief.

"Not exactly. We got a call about an airbender and it turned out to be Su's daughter Opal. She'll be headed your way soon."

"Really? That's wonderful!" Tenzin said excitedly…when he heard Bolin's voice.

The earthbender shouldered Korra aside and grabbed the microphone, smiling dreamingly as he spoke. "She is wonderful, and pretty, and so smart, and she smells like flowers…" as he spoke, his cheeks flustered, placing his left hand over his left cheek, thinking about the lovely airbender. However, a certain young heiress who stood a couple feet away could feel her fists slowly clenching with each word Bolin said. She didn't know why, but hearing him talking all 'lovey dovey' about a girl he had only known for a short amount of time was just downright annoying to hear. Had he learned nothing from his past experiences?

Bolin finally noticed Korra glaring at him, annoyed he had interrupted her conversation. "Sorry. Bolin out." he slid out of view, allowing Korra to use the microphone again.

Sweetie Belle then spoke though the microphone. "Hey, Korra! It's me, Sweetie Belle. Is Rarity there?"

Rarity gasped and absentmindedly shoved Korra to the side, catching her by surprise. "Sweetie Belle? Darling it's so good to hear you again! How are you? Are you safe?"

"We're fine, don't' worry."

Apple Bloom then greeted her sister, "Hey, Applejack!"

It was now Applejack's turn to shove someone, shoving Rarity to the side, bumping into Korra and the two landed on the floor with a yelp.

"Apple Bloom! How ya doin' suguarcube?"

"Great, and you?"

"I'm fine, we're all okay. Get this, your big sister is learning how to metlabend." as she spoke, he was completely unaware of the glares she received from Rarity and Korra.

"Really?! That's amazin'!"

"Well, I aint that good yet but, I'll get there."

"Hey, is Rainbow Dash around?" Scootaloo asked, before hearing a familiar voice.

Now Rainbow Dash shoved Applejack. "What up, Scootaloo?"

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!"

Applejack landed beside Korra and Rarity, looks like the shoe was on the other hoof.

"Hey, how's my favorite pony airbender doing?"

"Awesome, we just got here and I'm so excited to get my own bison!"

"Good for you, kid. Keep at it."

"I will."

Then, Rainbow Dash was shoved to the side by Korra, so she could keep talking with Tenzin. "How's the training going?" she asked, right before receiving a flick on the forehead by a certain rainbow pony. Just because they were close, didn't mean they didn't tease one another from time to time. That's just how tomboys show affection.

"Not so well, I'm afraid." Tenzin said. "No one seems to be interested in the hard work of becoming part of the Air Nation."

Korra smiled as she spoke to the air nomad in a calm and sweet but at the same time very wise voice. Worthy of a Princess. "You need to give yourself a break. Let Jinora and the kids help you out, and what about Bumi? He was a naval commander, maybe he has some ideas about how you get people motivated."

"Bumi?! He's my worst student."

"Yeah, but he loves to organize people. If you ask him for help, you can trick him into taking more responsibility by making him think the whole thing was his idea."

"Hmm. That actually sounds like a good plan. You're turning into a pretty wise Avatar after all."

"Conflict resolution, that's what I do."

As Korra and Tenzin continued to talk, Mako noticed Asami, who stood leaning against the wall like he was, scowling downwards, avoiding looking to where Korra and Bolin were. Mako had seen that look before, and while Asami was unwilling to admit it, he knew for a fact, and from personal experience, that this girl was slowly falling for his little brother. In all honesty, it wasn't entirely that far fetched, after all the two had become close friends, they laughed together, Bolin almost always accompanied her to her business meetings for support or to cheer her up with his humor. Asami, though emotional, was always far more controlled most of the time, Mako as well as the rest of his friends knew that Asami had this fun side that just needed to show itself a little more. She was never really uptight, but never fully laid-back either, and there have been times where Bolin actually did that to her, and Asami, being such an intelligent woman, kind of challenged Bolin, which was actually a good thing. The more he thought about it, the more he began to fully accept and even support the idea. Mako loved Asami, not in the same way as Korra, but still, and he wanted her to be happy, and he had a hunch Bolin was the guy for it, and Asami would be a great girl for his little brother. But there was one little problem….

Opal.

The young airbender was sweet, and pretty and innocent, there really wasn't any real reason not to like her, and Bolin did appear to have an infatuation towards her. Mako silently groaned at the thought; if things didn't get resolved soon, it might turn into the messed up Love Triangle all over again; Bolin would be the new Mako, Asami would be the new Korra and Opal would be the new Asami. He made a promise, no matter what, he would not allow these two kids make the same mistakes he made.

"Take care of yourself, okay." Korra said to Tenzin before signing off.

"You too." with that, he hung up and all that was heard was static. Pinkie Pie gave Bolin a sly smile and playfully elbowed him.

"Ooooh, looks like somebody's got it bad for Opal."

"Oh, yes." Rarity said, "Someone is quite the smitten kitten."

The earthbender blushed, "Well can you blame me? She's so amazing, and beautiful, and kind, and fun and--"

"We get it, she's great!" All eyes fell on Asami, who's own eyes widened at her sudden outburst. Bolin arced an eyebrow, this was so unlike his friend.

"What's with you?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." she responded, leaning against the wall, her arms crossed in front of her chest and looking down at the floor, eyes narrowed. Bolin could tell something was bothering her.

"Come on Asami, what's bugging you?"

Asami's eyes closed shut for a brief moment before she looked at him with a scowl. "I just don't think you should rush things with Opal, that's all."

"What are you talking about? I'm not rushing anything."

"Oh, please! This is exactly what happened with Eska and Ginger, you got way in over your head and look where that lead you."

Mako and Korra both exchanged worried/shocked expressions, knowing they were both thinking the same thing…things were about to get ugly.

"Opal is different! And besides, you were the one who said I should go for it."

"Technically, I said you should be yourself."

"And I was, and it worked! So, what are you so upset about?"

"I'm not upset!"

"You're not?"

"No!"

"No?"

"No!"

"No, what?"

"I don't know!"

"Enough!" Korra stood in between the bickering teens. "What is the matter with you two? It's not like you to fight."

Asami couldn't take it anymore, she growled in frustration and slammed the door hard as she left the room. Bolin simply sighed. "I don't know what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything, bro. She's just…having a bad day." Mako said sympathetically. Bolin ran his hand through his hair and walked out without a word, still confused as to why he and Asami were bickering, apparently, over nothing. Korra, Mako and the ponies were left in the room, all looking at one another in confusion.

"What was that about?" Twilight asked.

Korra shrugged her shoulders. "Ya got me." she then noticed that her boyfriend was a little uneasy. "Mako? Do you know something?"

Mako maintained his position against the wall, forcing a smile, "Um, nope, no, nothing."

"Then why won't you look me in the eye?" she asked suspiciously. Indeed, Mako's eyes were shifting from side to side, avoiding eye contact.

"No reason."

The firebender gulped nervously when he saw all the girls glaring at him. Korra snapped her fingers and before long, the young man was pined to the ground by Rainbow and Applejack.

"Alright mister detective, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Rainbow said threateningly, "And you know I love doing things the hard way."

"I want to tell you guys but I don't know if I should!"

Korra kneeled before her boyfriend, looking at him with compassion. "Sweetie, you know I will always love and respect you no matter what." her expression then shifted into a threatening one, "But if you're hiding something about Asami, you better spill right now!"

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you!. But first, can these two get off of me?"

Korra nodded her head to the two, and they immediately got off of Mako. The firebender straightened his back as he stood up. "Well, I never did technically promise anything so, here it goes."

The girls all waited patiently for what Mako was about to say, and the truth would stun them…

"The other night I kind of gave Bolin advice that he should go out with Opal because she really seemed to like him and I figured it would be a good thing, but then I saw him bump into Asami, they started talking and she was giving him advice on how to be himself and blah, blah, blah, next thing I knew they were looking at each other and I they really looked at each other, and then I noticed Asami wasn't acting entirely like herself, which lead to my conclusion; Asami is developing feelings for Bolin and vice versa but he's also attracted to Opal which could lead to some real problems if you know what I mean."

The girls simply stood there in silence. Their eyes blinking.……

"Aren't you guys going to gasp, or faint or something?"

"Nah!" Pinkie said, shaking her head.

"We don't like to be predictable." Rarity said.

Korra was probably the most stunned out of all of them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow your role! Asami is…falling for Bo?"

"I know it sounds crazy but I know what I saw."

"And besides," Twilight began, "after everything he's been through, Mako's practically an expert when it comes to being in love and in denial."

"Thank you….Hey!"

Pinkie Pie surprised everyone by gasping loudly, "You know what this means? We should totally arrange a date for them! It can be a romantic candlelight picnic with music, by yours truly!" she took out a tuba and started blowing on it, causing everyone to have to cover their ears. Korra ceased the 'music' by taking the tuba away from the pony.

"Yeah, we're not doing that."

"Why not?"

"I don't think we should meddle in their personal lives."

"She's got a point." said Rainbow Dash, "Remember how it was when we tried to mess with you and Mako?"

The ponies all hummed and nodded in agreement.

"Well we can't just sit back and do nothing." Mako said. "Trust me, I know exactly what Asami's going through. I don't want her to make the same mistake I made. After everything she's been through in the past don't you think she deserves someone who can make her happy?"

"Of course I do, I've always believed so." Korra said compassionately. "But I learned a lot from my experiences too. Sometimes it's best to let things progress naturally and not get involved too much."

"So what, are you saying we shouldn't help Asami?"

"No! That's not it at all! All I'm saying is we shouldn't try and push them together."

"But what about Bolin? He obviously likes Opal too, but the way he looks at her and the way he looks at Asami are completely different. I just don't want them to get caught up in a crazy love triangle, remember how it was for us?"

Korra and Mako took a moment to relive the memory of all the drama, heartache, yelling, confusion, ect. They shuddered at the memories.

"Believe me I don't want that to happen anymore than you do. Look Mako, I understand you want to help her, so do I, so do what you said. Give her the best advice you can give her, and then let her decide what she wants to do. The same goes for Bolin. Trust me, if something is meant to be it will happen."

Mako sighed, what Korra said seemed reasonable enough, they could help their friends without pushing them too hard. He smiled at his girlfriend. "Alright. Tenzin's right you really are becoming wiser."

Korra smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "Hey, it's what I do."

(~)

After talking to Korra and their sisters, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were now with Kai and Jinora looking over the mountain ranges from the balcony of the temple, observing the herd of wild bison passing by. Kai was so fascinated with the beauty of the land. It was like something out of a dream. He felt so free and happy there…especially with Jinora. The young girl was so sweet, and smart and pretty and she smelled like flowers. The ponies noticed him observing the airbender girl at the corner of his eye, and silently giggled amounts one another.

"We should go down there." Kai said overlooking the grassy planes. "I want to fly one of those bisons."

Jinora looked unsurely, she was never one to break the rules.

"Let's go!" said Scootaloo excitedly, "I want to practice my gliding skills."

"I don't know." said Jinora. "We might get in trouble."

"She's right." said Sweetie Belle, her ears lowering in sadness.

"Come on? Let's have some fun." Kai insisted. "We'll be back before anyone realizes we're gone."

Jinora looked over at the grassy fields and then back at Kai; his beautiful emerald eyes glimmering with wonder and the Cutie Mark Crusaders with their ears lowered and pouting their quivering lips. The young girl decided that maybe it wouldn't be so bad, and if Korra could break the rules from time to time, why not her?

"I guess it would be all right."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle morphed into their pony forms and held on to Jinora and Kai while they and Scootaloo picked up their gliders to open them and flew downwards, the ponies shouting with joy as they did. The wind on their faces, their manes dancing in the wind as they flew down by the lake where they saw the herd of bison. Several spirits watched Scootaloo, Kai and Jinora flying and a few accompanied them. One cute little rabbit/bird spirit flew beside Sweetie Belle, hitching a ride on her head.

Kai spotted the little bisons calfs down bellow. The adorable creatures were so cute and cuddly, playing on top of the other peacefully. "Look! Baby bisons. How come they're on the ground?"

"Air bison calves can't fly after a week or two after they're born." Jinora explained. "So the entire herd will stay near the ground, near the valley."

The ponies marveled at the adorable creatures. "Awww, they're so cute!" said Apple Bloom.

"Let's go see them." Kai said before flying downwards near the babies, and Jinora shouted, "Be careful. The mothers are very protective."

Kai landed safely on the ground, folded his glider, and proceeded to pet one of the calves. There were three of them who looked on at the human in curiosity, but only one had the courage to walk right up to their unexpected guest. The little creature sniffed Kai's clothing, quickly finding comfort in the stranger. "Aww, look how cute!" Kai petted it's head and the baby bison licked his face.

"Kai, get out of there!" Jinora shouted from above. She and the rest of the girls noticed an adult bison approaching and flew toward Kai. Needless to say, she did not look very happy. Kai, paralyzed with fear, watched the angry adult bison charge toward him. Jinora and Scootaloo flew past and both grabbed him out of harm's way. The group landed safely on a small clearing in between two large rocks. Jinora and Scootaloo sat down on the ground as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom morphed into anthro form.

"Wow, you really saved me down there." Kai said. "You know, you're an incredible airbender."

"Yeah, that was amazin'!" said Apple Bloom.

Jinora smiled at the compliments. "Well, I've been training for a long time."

"Then, why don't you have tattoos like an airbending master?" Kai asked curiously, earning a powerful nudge on the shoulder by Sweetie Belle, who scowled at him. Jinora looked downcast.

"My dad says I'm not a master yet."

Kai found that had to believe, even though they had known one another for a short amount of time, he could already tell that Jinora was a very special airbender. "You can do everything your dad can. Plus, you have all these spirit-y powers. If anyone's a master, you are."

Jinora blushed at the compliment and felt Scootaloo place a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah. You may be young, but you've got a heart as strong as a horse…or a bison."

"You sure do." said Sweetie Belle. "You know, in a way, we're kind of similar here. You haven't got your airbender tattoo's yet and we still don't have our cutie marks."

"Why is that?" Kai asked, curious to know more about these 'cutie marks'. The ponies all sat in a circle alongside their friends as the unicorn began explaining.

"You see, a pony gets his or her cutie mark once they've found they're special talent. They're destiny. But, so far, non existent of us have discovered ours yet."

Kai and Jinora both looked on at their friends with sympathy. Jinora could relate to them in a way, they wanted to prove themselves despite the lack of their symbols. Apple Bloom then smiled with complete confidence. "But we aint giving up on that! We don't care how long it takes, we just know we'll find out true talents some day."

"Yeah," Scootaloo nodded, "and with our new bending powers we might find them out sooner than we think."

Apple Bloom wrapped an arm around Jinora's shoulder, "And we're gonna help you get your tattoos, Jinora."

"Thanks, Apple Bloom."

"And maybe Kai can get his sky bison soon too."

"I would love that." said the boy.

Scootaloo stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "I think we all know what this means, don't we?"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie belle Both nodded in agreement before standing up as well. "Jinora, Kai, how would you two like to be honorary members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

Jinora's eyes lit up, "Really? But we're not ponies."

"Who cares. Everybody wants to find what their good at, and who better to help ya with it than with good friends? When it comes right to it, that's what our club is all about."

Jinora and Kai looked at oner another. Members of a pony club? While it didn't make much sense it was still a very wonderful thought, especially for Kai who's never really had any friends in the past, and now he had four new ones. They both nodded and smiled at their pony companions and stood up.

"We accept!" They said in union. The Crusaders embraced their friends in a group hug.

"We're going to show them just what we can do." said Scootaloo, "Right guys?"

"Right!"

As they walked along the grassy fields, music played as they sang together, a song to boost their confidence and preparing them for the future as benders.

(Hearts as strong as horses)

We're the toughest little benders in town

Got the moves, got the mojo

No harder working youngsters around

We stand together, work as a team

We'll be the ones to show the world what they've never seen!

(music)

Back at the air temple, Jinora stood with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom while Kai and Scootaloo practiced their airbending by rising up a patch of leaves. While Scootaloo managed to create a lovely display with the leaves on her spiral winds, all Kai could do was blast the patch, scattering the leaves all over the girls, making them scowl at the boy who grinned sheepishly.

We get going when the going gets tough

We know our very best if just never enough

Apple Bloom was next seen trying to bend some water from a bucket, trying to discover her bending power if she had any. But so far, nothing happened, and Sweetie Belle bended some water into a cup and offered it to her friend, who simply gestured that she didn't need it.

We're kinda short, but so what?

We don't get defeated

We could take a little break, but we don't need it

The group marched along, all with determined expressions as they sang.

We've got hearts as strong as horses

We've got hearts as strong as horse

We've got hearts as strong as horses

We've got hea-a-arts!

Hearts strong as horses!

Jinora and Kai were meditating next to one another and Scootallo. Kai opened one eye to look at Jinora. Scootaloo saw this and giggled, earning a look from the boy and she resumed meditating. But what they didn't know, was that Jinora was well aware of what Kai did.

When we put out minds together, we can achieve

We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and you should believe

We got determination to represent the nation

For the win!

The two airbenders and young pegasus soared cross the sky on their gilders while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom cheered them on.

We got hearts as strong as horses

We've got hearts as strong as horses

We've got hearts as strong as horses

And we're playing to win as we gallop to glory

We can conquer any challenge we're in

We've got hearts!

Hearts strong as horses

Hearts strong as horses!

Once the trio landed, the five of them rose up their hands up to the sun in victory, knowing that they would accomplish what they desired most.

(~)

Back in Zaofu, Rarity clapped after Huan finished his latest masterpiece; it was a stunningly arranged metallic stick that now looked like an elegantly styled jungle vine, wrapped around a metallic circle. "Marvelous, Huan. Simply marvelous!"

Huan took a few steps back and examined his creation. "Well, it still needs a bit of work but, all in all it's one of my best. Thank you so much Rarity, for all of your help."

"Thank nothing of it, darling. It was a pleasure for me to assist another artistic individual." Rarity's pony ears perked up when she heard someone approaching them. The unicorn happily waved at her friend. "Morning, Korra!"

"Morning, Rarity. Hey Huan."

"Hey." while Huan was far more polite to her now than he was before, he was still indifferent towards the Avatar…but that was about to change.

Korra then noticed Huan's new sculpture. "Wow! This is incredible. Great job, Huan."

Huan bowed in gratitude. "Thank you, Princess Avatar."

"Now, if you guys will excuse me, I need to give the girls a test run." she said, before she opened up her feathery wings. At that moment, Huan's eyes widened in awe.

This was the first time he was seeing the Avatar's wings spread open. They were long and elegant, strong and sturdy, the top was tanned but blue with blue colored tips on her feathers that faded from aquamarine to blue. Korra crunched down before taking off into the sky. As the half-alicorn woman soared through the skies, Huan couldn't help but notice her features; the way her wings flapped gracefully and powerfully against the wind, the way the feathers hugged her body like a blanket as she twirled, bellowing like a dress. The winds making her dark brown locks dance and the light blue streak only increased the beauty. Her baby blue eyes sparkled with beauty and spirit. She laughed as she flew all around, enjoying every moment of her freedom, for a moment Huan envied how she could soar whenever she wanted while he was stuck on the ground.

Finally, having felt she exercised enough, she landed a few feet away from the two, her wings stretching out as she did as well, it felt so good to have a morning flying workout. She hadn't flown since she came to Zaofu, and ever since she became an alicorn, it had become her favorite past time. The winds blew, making her hair bellow in the wind. Huan was now completely smitten. Her supernatural beauty was a sight to behold.

Rarity noticed the way Huan was looking at Korra, she knew she had seen that look before…when Trenderhoof developed a crush on Applejack. She waved a hand in front of his face, but the metalbender only had eyes for the Avatar.

"Um, Huan. Why are you looking at Korra like that?" she asked worriedly as Huan continued to look at Korra.

"I…I never realized how…how stunning the Princess Avatar is. Those beautiful wings, those graceful but empowering movements, that untamed and otherworldly presence. Even an artistic visionary such as I have never seen anything so breathtaking. How did I not notice before? She has inspired me. She is my muse."

Rarity lowered her ears with worry. "Oh, boy."

(~)

Back at the temple, three airbenders, including Yung, as well as two pegasus ponies (in their pony forms) were listening attentively while Bumi told them his latest tale. "And so, we bring the net down on the head pirate, and he looks around real sad and says, "I knew I should have followed my dreams and become a dentist.""

Yung laughed at the joke, "How come you grew up to be so cool, while Tenzin became such a stick-in-the-mud?" he said the last part with a glare.

"Well, I guess cool is something you're born with." Bumi said proudly. They then say Tenzin walking towards them. "Bumi, can I talk to you?" he asked. Realizing the fun was over, the airbenders walked away in disappointment.

"Let me guess, you want to criticize me for something?" Bumi looked at his brother with a bored expression as he stuck a finger in his hear to clean it. Tenzin silently gaged at this but maintained his composure. He had decided to take Korra's advice into action.

"Actually, I need your help."

"Oh yeah. With what?"

"I don't think I'm doing well with the new airbenders, and everyone knows you're a natural leader." Tenzin forced a smile, hoping this method would work.

Bumi removed the finger from his ear and smiled smugly. "True, I did win the Admiral Tung Natural Leadership Award, twice."

"What would you do if you were in charge? Help me be more like you." Tenzin wanted to wash his own mouth with soap. He never in a million years would have even thought about saying something like that to his brother, but if he wanted to get these new airbenders to cooperate, as much as he hatted it, he needed Bumi's help. The eldest brother smile proudly, especially at the fact that Tenzin was practically begging for his assist.

"I'd love to." he said as he stood up. "You've got to use military discipline to whip these troops into shape. The only way to deal with new recruits is to break them down so you can build them back up. Rule with an iron fist." he emphasized his point by clenching his fist. "Show them who the master is."

Tenzin blinked and was silent for a moment. This really wasn't his style but, it didn't hurt to try. "Thanks for the insight."

"My pleasure."

(~)

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, the door of the airbenders' sleeping room slammed open and Tenzin barged in, using his airbending to blast a horn, waking all the airbenders, both human and ponies. Some fell out of bed, while others rubbed their sleepy eyes, groaning. Tenzin stood by the door sternly

"Dawn patrol! Everyone up!"

"What are you doing?" Bumi asked, his eyes sleepy with dark circles around them. "It's barely light out."

"I'm taking your advice. I'm going to break you down and build you back up! Now get moving recruit!"

Bumi stared at Tenzin with disbelief and regret. He sighed sadly. What had he done?

(~)

Tenzin leaped up the mountain. Jinora follows next, followed by Scootaloo and then Kai, who stumbled, and the remaining airbenders, who grunted as they propped themselves up the plateaued summit. Tenzin was the least exhausted of them all.

"Nothing like a ten mile hike first thing in the morning."

The rest of the airbenders hugged themselves, shivering from the early morning cold. "Don't these robes come in a warm bison fur version?" Yung asked, shivering.

Tenzin snapped at him, "No! Of course not."

Bumi attempted to stand up but then slumped onto the floor. "If it weren't so cold, I'd go right back to sleep."

"Then, this is the perfect time to learn meditation and proper breathing technique." Tenzin said. "Airbenders are able to warm themselves only with their breathing." he sat down in a meditation position, overlooking the temple and the sunrise. If the airbenders weren't so exhausted they would have enjoyed the stunning view, the rays of the sun peeking from behind the mountains, brightening up the once dark sky. "Everyone get into the lotus position." Tenzin instructed. "Ah, this is so much more refreshing than sleeping."

Bumi crawled to his brother, "You know when I said that thing about an iron fist-"

"Hush! Meditation time. Focus."

Bumi sighed and returned to meditation along with the others. He then noticed Scootaloo giving him the stink eye. "So this is all your fault, isn't it?"

The former commander sighed sadly and slumped his shoulders.

(~)

After about three hours of meditating, the airbenders all stood before Tenzin, who stood behind multiple thin wooden posts. The airbenders all sported dark circles from fatigue.

"Can we go back to bed now?" Bumi asked.

"Now that we're refreshed and loose from our hike and meditation, it's time for a balancing exercise." Tenzin leaped onto a post, standing on one leg. "The key is to maintain your heaven and earth connection." he pulled out a feather and levitated it with airbending. "Now you try."

The airbenders and ponies were now all standing on the poles…more like struggling on the poles. Tenzin stood bellow, his hand behind his back, watching them sternly. "Back up your posts! It's not hard if you concentrate."

Bumi struggled to maintain his balance. Scootaloo was having an even harder time, she nearly fell until Bumi managed to help her by holding her arm.

"Thanks, Bumi."

"Don't mention it kid---whoa!" the former commander lost his balance in an effort to help the pegasus and fell to the ground. He groaned when he made contact, and his younger brother hovered over him, glaring.

"Get back up! What's the matter, you can't handle it, soldier?"

Bumi glared and slide slowly out of view on his back as the feather drifted down to rest on his face. Jinora, who was accompanying her father looked at her uncle and the other recruits with worry. She had never seen her father behave this way, it was so unlike him.

"Don't you think you're a little hard on them?" said Jinora

"Don't worry, they can take it. You'll see." Tenzin saw Otaku struggling to keep his balance as a group of lemurs surrounded his body, and some even nibbling on his ears. "Ignore the lemurs digging in your ears. Concentrate on your breathing and, you won't even know they're there!"

Otaku lost his balance and fell off, the lemurs taking over his post. Jinora sighed and shook her head. This was just too sad.

(~)

Flash Sentry walked across the halls, his hands in his pockets, deep in thought. He had decided to finally tell Twilight he loved her, he was just trying to figure out a way to do it. He entered the dinning room, everyone already had breakfast so he decided to just get a drink or something. He was surprised to see his honorary brother and partner in crime sitting at the table, deep in thought while taking a sit of his glass of water Su's chef so generously offered him.

"Hey, Mako."

"Hey, Flash. What's up?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

The two looked at one another, and Mako immediately recognized Flash's expression; he was troubled. He offered the anthro pegasus a seat next to him. "What's wrong?"

Flash sighed before taking his seat, "Well, I'm thinking on ways to tell Twilight how I feel, but I'm having a bit of trouble trying to figure out the right moment to do it."

"Well, what did you have in mind first?"

"I was sort of thinking maybe a nice quiet picnic in the garden, but--"

"Perfect! You should do it."

"Really? You don't think it sounds too cliche or too simple?"

"No, it's exactly the kind of thing Twilight would love. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Rarity said I had to go all out to show my affections."

Mako arced an eyebrow, "You're willing to take romantic advice from a pony who carries a fainting couch wherever she goes?"

"Good point."

The boys were surprised when the Chef came by and gave Flash a glass of water of his own. "I would be more than happy to help out." he said kindly, "I noticed your lady friend really enjoyed my salad with ginger."

"That would be great, thank you."

"Thank nothing of it, I've got a soft spot when it comes to romance." said the man, kindly ruffling Flash's blue hair before returning to the kitchen. At the corner of his eye, Mako spotted a familiar figure walk down the halls. The firebender quickly got up and attempted to follow her.

"Where are you going?"

"Just…something I gotta do. Good luck with the picnic."

(~)

Asami took in the fresh clean air that welcomed her once she walked out. The sky was so clear and breathtaking, the clouds were pure white like sea foam, and the bitterness she felt before seemed to fade away. But then, her peaceful state of mind was interrupted when she heard giggling.

"Bolin, you're so funny."

"If you like that, I've got a million Pabu stories."

Asami quickly hid behind a pillar as she watched Bolin and Opal walking side by side, laughing and smiling. They weren't holding hands, but they were still very close to one another. For some reason, seeing Bolin with Opal made Asami want to claw something with her perfectly manicured nails. She wanted Bolin to be happy but she didn't understand why she felt such an ugly sting whenever she saw the sweet young airbender beside him. Opal wasn't a bad girl, she was sweet and Asami didn't really hate her, but when she was with Bolin, she could feel her teeth grinding. Sure she felt jealousy before with Korra when she was with Mako, but this, this that she was feeling, though similar, was different, like she really didn't want the two together at all, not even as friends. The very idea of the two left a bad taste in her mouth. The poor heiress was so confused. She sighed and face palmed herself, her mouth opened and began to sing softly.

("I'm not that girl", from Wicked)

Hands touch, eyes meet

Sudden silence, sudden heat

Hearts leap in a giddy whirl

He could be that boy

But I'm not that girl

As she sang, music filled the air, it almost sounded like a soft piano ballad.

Don't dream too far

Don't lose sight of who you are

Don't remember that rush of joy

He could be that boy

I'm not that girl

As she sang, a certain firebender watched as the saddened heiress walked along the patio, singing sadly to herself. In a way, she was both letting her emotions out and wishing she didn't feel them at all.

Every so often we long to steal

To the land of what-might-have-been

But that doesn't soften the ache I feel

When reality sets back in

She looked back at the couple, studying Opal's appearance. She truly was beautiful, probably even more so than Asami herself. Her exotic short hair, bright green eyes so filled with life, and her laughter truly was the sound of angels. No wonder Bolin liked her so much. How could she even compete with that.

Blithe smile, lithe limb

She who's winsome, she wins him

Gentle laugh with a perfect smile

That's the girl he chose

And heaven knows…

I'm not that girl…

Don't wish

Don't start

Wishing only wounds the heart

I learned that lesson long ago

There's a girl I know

He loves her so…

But I'm not…

That girl...

When the song came to a close Mako stepped in front of her, making Asami gasp in shock. "Mako!" her cheeks turned bright red, had he heard all she just said? Or sang?

"Hey. Listen, if you feel like talking--"

"No! No, I'm okay, really." she insisted, but she wasn't fooling him.

"Asami, I understand what you're going through." he said kindly, "You don't have to--"

The heiress, surprisingly, placed her hands over her ears and walked away while chanting; "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, there's nothing to talk about! La, la, la, la, la!"

Mako sighed sadly as he watched her leave, his spirits friends flew beside him, chirping sadly. "Well, that could have gone better."

(~)

Daw sadly witnessed the few remaining black hairs that fell from his head. He sat on a chair while Tenzin shaved his head with a razor. Daw was going to miss his hair.

"When the head is shaved, an airbender is able to feel the wind around him. It is both humbling and freeing." Tenzin instructed as the rest of the airbenders watched the process. A lot of them were not all that happy with the idea of loosing all of their hair. Jinora sat on a corner with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, the two latter joined the rest via sky bison to see the progress. The little rabbit bird spirit was still with Sweetie Belle, having already taking a liking to the young pony.

Scootaloo yawned as she rested her head on her hands. "This is so boring, no way am I shaving my mane."

Sweetie Belle arched an eyebrow as she looked at Daw, "Is he actually crying?"

"What a wimp." said Apple Bloom.

Kai managed to sneak away from the rest of the recruits and scooted next to Jinora. "Hey, you want to go sneak away and check on the baby bisons?"

Jinora placed her index finger near her mouth to quiet him. "Shhh. You should be paying attention."

Kai was slightly surprised by her answer, but he shrugged and walked away.

"I think he likes you." said Sweetie Belle, making Jinora blush.

"What? No, no…you think?"

Tenzin polished Daw's now completely bald scalp, which shined and the air nomad could see his reflection in it. "All right, who's next?"

"I'm not sure I want to shave my head." said Yung as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"That's fine, shaving your head is a personal choice."

"Wait, what?" Daw's eyes widened open in shock. Why had no one told him sooner that shaving your head was a choice? Goodbye hair.

"Anyone else?" Tenzin turned to the others, who all simultaneously shook their heads. There was no way they were going to shave their heads, or manes in the ponies case.

"Fine! Then we can get to our next training exercise: obstacle course."

At the sound of 'obstacle course' everybody moaned. Jinora could not take this anymore, the airbenders have suffered enough.

"You're pushing too hard." Jinora said to her father. "Maybe we should give them a break."

"Jinora, I have this under control."

The young girl glared at her father as he walked off, leaving the Crusaders to comfort her.

(~)

Rainbow Dash and Applejack watched Wei and Wing once again engaged in a game of power disk. Wing managed to gain the upper hand on his brother, metalbending the disk to the pillar, as Wei attempted to block it but found himself sliding on the ground. The two ponies winced at the sound.

"Oh! That's gotta hurt." said Rainbow Dash. Wei groaned bitterly, he always hatted to lose. Then, Korra flew on by and landed beside her friends.

"Hey guys." she happily greeted. The sound of her voice caught Wei's attention.

"Princess Korra!" he quickly stood back up, dusted himself, fixed his shirt and smoothed his hair, flashing a smile at the Avatar. "Um, hey Princess. Looking good today."

Korra arched an eyebrow, "Um, thanks."

"Korra!" The girl saw Rarity running at top speed towards them. She stopped, rested her hand on her knee and took in deep breaths.

"Rarity, what's wrong?" the Avatar was taken by surprise when Rarity grabbed her shoulders frantically.

"Korra! I have to tell you, Huan is--"

"Your highness."

Rarity released Korra and forced a nervous smile when she saw her new friend approaching. "--is such a nice and artistic young man!"

Huan bowed before Korra and then, to her and the other's surprise, he gave her a bouquet of extravagant flowers. "These are for you."

Korra was very surprised by this gesture. Very, very, very surprised. When she first met Huan he didn't give her a second glance and now he was giving her flowers? As odd as it was, Korra still politely accepted the gift.

"Wow, they're beautiful. Thank you."

"Of course they are nothing compared to the beauty you posses."

Korra's eyes widened even more. Did he just call her 'beautiful'? He did. Her eyes shifted to Rarity, who carried a worried and terrified expression. This must have been what she was trying to warn her about.

Wing laughed as he watched the others, "Hey Wei, looks like you've got some competition, lover boy."

Wei's blood boiled when he saw Huan flirting with Korra. There was no way he was going to let his overly dramatic and nerdy older brother win over his girl.

"I gotta ask though, where did you learn to fly like that?" Huan asked, obviously fascinated with the half human alicorn. "You must have taken dance lessons in the past, your movements were so graceful."

"Um, no I've never taken dance lessons before. I learned how to fly from Rainbow Dash. She taught me everything she knows."

The group was surprised to see Wei appear before them, coming right in between Huan and Korra, "Hey, what's the big idea, bro?"

"What? We're just having a conversation." Huan replied.

"Well, have one elsewhere!" he shoved Huan away before smiling at the princess. "So Korra, since you now know how to metalbend and all, maybe we could have a battle sometime. Say, latter this afternoon?"

"Oh, well that's very nice of you, but you see I--"

Korra was interrupted then Huan angrily shoved Wei to the side, away from Korra before giving her a charming smile. "Maybe if you're not too busy I could show you some of my latest sculptures. I would especially love to make one inspired by your stunning wings."

"That's very flattering, but--"

Wei quickly got up and, once again, shoved his older brother, "Why would she want to see your junk?"

"Junk?! You're one to talk, meat head!"

"I asked her first!"

"Well I gave her flowers!"

While the two started bickering, Korra, Wei, Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack all scooted away from the pair as they went at it.

"What the heck just happened?" Korra asked.

"You got two guys fighting over you." Rainbow said, her eyes still stuck on the two brothers, who were now practically wrestling each other. Well, Wei was wrestling while Huan was just trying to get his little brother off of him.

Korra shook her head in disapproval, she had to put a stop to this. She placed her fingers into her mouth and whistled loudly, making the two brothers stop and look at her. They stepped away from one another as Korra placed her hand on her hips in a disapproving manner.

"Look, I am very flattered but, you should know, I have a boyfriend."

Wei and Huan's eyes widened in alarm. "What?! Who?!" they both asked in union before glaring at each other.

"That firebender I came with."

"The dude with the weird eyebrows?" Wei asked.

"And the lack of fashion sense?" Huan asked.

"That's the one. So, as sweet as it is that you both have little crushes on me, it's just not going to happen."

The two brothers felt pretty stupid for their behaviors, to think they were just now fighting over a girl who was already spoken for. Then again, they should have known she would be. But none the less, Korra remained calm and sweet.

"Still friends?"

And just when they couldn't feel any worse, there was the 'we can still be friends' card. But in reality, there really wasn't anything they could do. They both forced a smile.

"Sure."

"Of course."

"Great. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go somewhere…not here." Korra quickly opened up her wings and flew away. She just really needed to be away from the two admirers for a while. The boys were now left with Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The three looked at the boys and then at one another with uncertainty until Wing broke the silence.

"Wow! You two just got rejected by the Princess Avatar! Burn!"

"Shut up, Wing!" his twin exclaimed angrily before smoothing his hair, "And even if she wasn't spoken for, there's no doubt she would have gone for me."

Huan arched an eyebrow, "You?"

"Yeah. She's obviously the athletic type, and that's me."

"Oh, please. She is a Princess, there for, she should be with someone who has class."

"You don't think I got class?"

"I don't think, I know."

Before the long, the two were at it again. The three mares either simply rolled their eyes, face palmed or scoffed at their stupidity. Why did boys have to be so arrogant?

Wing shook his head in disapproval. "This is so embarrassing." he said. He turned to the rest of the ponies, smiling in a friendly manner, "You girls want to grab some lunch?"

"That would be lovely." Rarity said.

"What the heck." Rainbow Dash said with a shrug.

"I could eat." Applejack said as the girl walked alongside Wing.

(~)

Tenzin watched in disapproval from the top rock as the airbenders struggled to make their way through the obstacle course, filled with spinning bells. The recruits would have to make their way through the bells, which spun around from two pols and a wooden bridge which stood over a pretty nasty looking mud puddle. A young female pony airbender weaved through the bells.

"Concentrate! Remember, airbenders move like the wind." Tenzin instructed, he was now extremely deep in his commander mode.

The young pony weaved through the bells and happily smiled, relieved that she made it through without any trouble…right before she was struck by a watermelon, plunging into the mud. Ikki and Meelo were loading a cannon with watermelons, they both smirked and continued firing the cannon, shooting watermelons at the recruits. Otaku was hanging for his dear life on a rope obstacle, which connected two of the wooden bridges, frightfully looking down at the mud bellow while the female airbender pony crossed before being struck by another watermelon. Kai and Scootaloo both ran through the ropes, causing Otaku to lose his grip. The two ran up the course, avoiding the watermelons, and confronted the next obstacle: a cactus-ridden balancing obstacle which was being able to jump from pole to pole without falling into the prickly plants.

"Stay light on your feet, and you'll never feel the stinging rash cactus." Tenzin explained. Scootaloo's friends cheered her on.

"Go get em, Scootaloo!" shouted Apple Bloom.

"You can do it!" said Sweetie Belle.

Kai and Scootaloo both easily leaped through the balancing poles, bypassing the other airbenders who tried their best to keep their balance, before crashing into Yung and causing the three to fall into the cactus patch. Kai and Scootaloo then leaped up the tall rock mountain to reach Tenzin at the very top, doing so with ease, overtaking Bumi and Otaku. Otaku finally managed to get himself up and Scotaloo and Kai high five one another before Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ran to hug them both in congrats.

"You guys did it!" said Apple Bloom, before backing away wincing in pain, "Ow! Still got the pricks from the cactus."

"Where's Bumi?" Sweetie asked. The three ponies, plus boy, overlooked downwards, seeing the man pressing his back against the rock, standing on a steep ledge, fearfully looking down.

"Everyone is waiting for you, Bumi." Tenzin said, "If you don't make it over the next thirty seconds, they'll all have to run through the course again!"

Scootaloo cheered for her friend, "You can do it, Bumi! Come on!"

With all of his might, Bumi leaped to the next ledge, he struggled to keep his grip but quickly lost it. As he fell, he landed and fell off of various rocks before plunging down into the mud. Scootaloo lowered her ears in sympathy, he was so close. Bumi spitted the mud out of his mouth, half of his red shirt covered his face. Tenzin shouted to his brother,

"Get back up the wall, recruit! You're letting your fellow airbenders down."

That was the last straw, there was no hay in Equestria that Bumi was going to tolerate Tenzin's commando persona any longer. He stood up from the mud, fuming mad.

"I'm finished! I've never wanted to be an airbender and I'm too old to be back in boot camp. Count me out!"

Tenzin was shocked that his brother was quitting on him. After everything he had done for him and the airbenders this was how he repaid him? As Bumi walked away, Tenzin yelled at him furiously, "Fine, quit! We don't need your attitude in the new Air Nation."

Daw opened his mouth to ask a question. "Master Tenzin, when do we get to go home and visit our families?" he and the rest of his fellow airbenders were drenched in mud.

"Go home? You just got here."

"When's dinner? I'm starving." asked a pony airbender.

"Can I change out of my robe now? It's itchy." Yung said, scratching his arm.

"This is just as bad as the Earth Queen's prison." Kai said rather bluntly. Tenzin's eyes bulged open in anger as he snapped.

"I'm tired of all this complaining! Jinora, take over!"

"Does this mean, I'm the master now?" she asked rather unsurely at first, before smiling with delight.

"Yes, just lead them through some basic exercises."

"Well, since I'm a master, when do you think I can get my tattoos?"

Tenzin turned to his daughter, looking down at her in confusion. "What brought this on?"

"I was just talking to Kai, and he was asking me, so-"

"Kai! What does he know about when you should get tattoos?" as Tenzin yelled, Kai slid behind the Cutie Mark Crusaders in fear, while they arched their eyebrows at him.

"The answer is "no"! You're just a little girl."

It was now Jinora's turn to get mad, "I'm not a little girl anymore. I can airbend just as well as you. I know everything about our culture and history, and I have a stronger connection with the spirits that you ever will. Lead your own class!"

Tenzin watched in shock as his eldest daughter stormed off in anger, the Crusaders following in behind to comport her. Tenzin's expression changed from shocked to angry before turning to his younger children.

"Ikki, Meelo, you're up. Just lead them through the Bagua circle."

Meelo smiled a mischievous grin as he slid to stand right in front of the mud covered recruits and pointed to his right, speaking in his 'commander' tone.

"Look to your left! Look to your right! One of those people will not make it out of here alive."

(~)

Everything was just perfect, the picnic blanket was all set, and Flash thanked the chef for preparing a mouth watering romantic meal for him and Twilight. Flash had left a note for Twilight earlier. He stood proudly before the picnic, smiling in satisfaction as Ali and Mika both carried some flowers in their mouths and placed them elegantly around the blanket.

"Everything's perfect. All that's missing now is my girlfriend." Suddenly, Mika began chirping franticly, pointing her tail towards something. "Mika, what is it?--WHOA!!"

Flash immediately flew upwards to avoid getting hit bit a rock. He landed safely but was shocked to see Wei and Huan having an earthbending/metalbending fight.

"You take that back, nerd!" Wei said angrily before earthbending a rock from the ground before him and hurled it at his brother who countered it and hurled it back at Wei, who flipped over to avoid the impact.

"You take back what you said about my sculpture, first!"

Huan metalbended a meteorite from a pedestal and hurled it at Wei, the two were so wrapped up in their battle that they did not even notice Flash Sentry or the picnic he had prepared. Wei was pushed backwards by an impact from a rock, curtesy of Huan, and landed on the picnic, crushing the food and wrecking the perfectly arranged flowers. Flash's eyes widened in horror, his perfect picnic was ruined!

Wei then took some of the food in his hand and threw it at Huan. His hair and cloths were now completely covered in veggie wraps and ginger. He scowled and lunched at Wei, both wrestling on the picnic, making it even worst, shoving food into each other's faces. Flash tried his best to break them up, but they just shoved him aside.

"Take it back!" Huan said.

"You take it back!"

"ENOUGH!!"

The two brothers ceased their fighting, when both blue and magenta colored sparkly auras surrounded their bodies, levitating them apart and away from the scene. They were still being surrounded by the magic, curtesy of Korra and Twilight, who both looked on in disappointment at the two.

"What is going on here?" Twilight asked angrily.

"He called me a meat head!" Wei said, glaring at Huan.

"He called my creations trash!"

"Quiet!" Korra's angry voice was enough to strike fear into their hearts. "You two are acting like fools!"

"He's the fool." Huan said, glaring at Wei.

"You're the fool!"

"You are!"

"Fool says what?"

"What?"

"Ha!"

"Gah!"

Korra face palmed herself in frustration, "Errr, I can't believe this! I already said I wasn't interested."

"We know," Wei said, "we were just discussing which one of use you would have chosen if you weren't spoken for."

Korra's expression only became more stern, her teeth clenched into a sneer, her eyes narrowed and burning with anger. "Unbelievable. Both of you fighting over something so stupid! For crying out loud, you're brothers you should know better than to let some petty infatuation come between you."

The brothers lowered their heads in shame, they had no idea how upset the Avatar was, she didn't only sound angry, she sounded hurt and even a bit sad.

"Now both of you apologize to each other and stop fighting over me! Some girls may like that kind of attention but not me." with a snap of her fingers she released Huan from her magic and Twilight released Wei from hers. The two young men looked at one another, either scratching behind the head or tugging on an arm, both to proud to go first.

"Now!"

The boys flinched at Korra's loud voice, and sighed.

"Sorry I called your stuff trash."

"Sorry I called you meat head."

They also turned to Flash Sentry, who was still pretty shaken from the boys destroying his picnic. The two finally took actual notice of what they had done, and now they felt even worst.

"Dude, we're so sorry." Wei said sincerely, "We had no idea, we--we were just---"

Flash rose his hand to stop him, "No, no forget it."

Twilight walked over to the picnic, her heart sank at the sight. So this was what Flash had planed of her; a romantic private picnic. It was obvious that Flash had done a lot of hard work on it and now it was a all ruined. Twilight placed a hand on his shoulder, "Oh, Flash. This was so sweet."

"I had this whole thing planed out and now it's ruined."

"No, no of corse not." she looked down at the scene; there was food everywhere, smashed and crumpled, and the blanket was stained and flower petals laid all around. "Well…okay, it's a little bad but, it was still really thoughtful."

Flash didn't answer, he simply stayed quiet, disappointed that his perfect moment with Twilight, the perfect moment to say how he felt, was ruined. He couldn't tell her it right now, could he?…no.

The brothers now felt even worst than ever.

(~)

Mako hid behind the wall as he saw Asami reading by herself in one of Suyin's gardens. He knew she would never speak to him out of her own free will, but maybe he could try the casual approach. He didn't want this girl to suffer over this like he did. Back then, he didn't have anybody to help him to cope with his feelings, and Asami was lucky enough to have him to understand. He took in a deep breath and walked over, pretending he didn't see her.

"Oh, hey Asami! I didn't see you there." he said, trying to act as casual as he could.

"I'm not talking." she replied in a deadpan tone.

Mako chuckled nervously, "What? What makes you think I wanted to talk?"

"Look, whatever you think you heard me say just forget it."

Mako sighed in defeat, dropping the act, "Come on, Sami. I just want to help you. I know I'm the last person you would go to with this kind of thing but--" he flinched when Asami angrily slammed her book closed, stood up and glared at him.

"What part of, "I don't want to talk about it" do you not understand!" with that, she angrily walked away in a huff, leaving the firebender to sit on the bench and sigh sadly.

This counseling thing was harder than it looked.

(~)

"It'll be okay." Sweetie Belle said, "Tenzin's just really steamed right now but he'll come around."

Jinora dejectedly looked at a flying bison herd, while the Crusaders stood beside her. She was so upset with her father, she wasn't a little kid anymore, she was old enough to take care of herself, why was he so stubborn?

Kai then walked up to the girls. "Sorry what I've said got you into trouble with your dad."

"It's not your fault." said Jinora leaning against the balcony, "He just can't believe that I'm grown up now and I don't need him telling me what to do like one of his recruits."

Kai felt sympathy for his friend, he wanted to make her smile again…he would do practically anything to make her smile. A smile itself appeared on his face as an idea came to mind.

"I know something that'll cheer you up."

(~)

With Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom hanging on just like before, Jinora, Scootaloo and Kai flew down to the valley where they found the bison herd earlier. Once they landed, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle morphed into anthro form. The group of friends looked around, surprised to find the place empty and deserted of bisons.

"Where are the baby bisons?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"And where did all the spirits go?" Jinora asked as well, realizing that even the peaceful entities were gone as well. Apple Bloom placed her hands near her mouth to call out for the creatures.

"Spirits! Bisons!"

"Come out come out wherever you are!" said Scootaloo, scanning around the area, but there was no sign of the creatures. Suddenly, both Jinora and Sweetie Belle screamed when a net came shooting out of nowhere and trapped the girls, as they landed on the ground. Kai, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom turned to see a man in green earth kingdom clothing with a cannon in hand, no doubt where the net had come from. Using his staff, Kai blasted the man away with a wind blast and the friends rushed to help Jinora and Sweetie Belle but were subsequently blocked by an earth wall.

"Look out!" Apple Bloom shouted, right before she and Kai were also trapped by a net which was shot threw another canon by another man. The third man shoot at Scootaloo, also entrapping her.

"Hey! Let us go!"

The four friends were dragged by the ends of their nets by the three men. The two others did not wear green like the first one, instead he wore somewhat reddish/brown cloths and the other wore dark bluish with fur lining. There was a fourth man in brown clothing with various animal furs around his waits. They reached a campsite and the men threw the children onto the ground near a truck. They grunted once they landed and before them saw a burning fire, where a man sat, his back turned to them, his hair spiky was dark brown and he wore what looked like a cape made up entirely out of sky bison fur. The very sight made Jinora's stomach turn, what kind of cruel monster would use a bison's fur for a fashion statement?

"What are these kids doing in my camp?" the man asked his helpers, not taking his eyes off of the fire.

"We caught them sneaking around. Thought they might tell someone we're here."

"They're the new airbenders. Must be living up in the temple." the man stood up and turned around to face his men and captives. He was way taller than depicted a few seconds ago, his hair was a frizzy mess and had a dark scary beard, his voice was deep and frightening, it could make a chimera pee itself with just one scowl.

"Hurry up and gather the rest of the gang and let's get out of here before someone comes looking for these kids." he took a better look at them and realized that three of them were off looking; they had pony ears, tails and one of them had a horn on her forehead while the other had small wings. "Hmmm, looks like we've caught ourselves come ponies as well. We'll take them to Ba Sing Se, with the rest of the fresh meat."

(~)

Korra was supervising the two brothers as they cleaned up the mess they had made. Twilight stood beside her, looking downcast. "I'm really sorry for what happened." said the Avatar with compassion.

"It must have been pretty important for Flash to be so upset like that. You think this might have anything to do with why he was avoiding me before?"

"Maybe."

"Korra!" The two princesses turned around to see Asami walking towards them, well more like marching angrily towards them. "Tell me, would it be so bad if I banged your boyfriend's head against a wall?"

"Depends, what did he do?"

"He has this crazy idea that I'm 'falling' for Bolin." Asami rolled her eyes as she said this.

Korra and Twilight both exchanged glances before looking back at the heiress. "And the problem with that is…?"

"It's crazy! Why would I fall for Bolin?"

Korra turned to Twilight, who simply nodded and smiled, "Go ahead, I'll keep an eye on these two." Korra nodded in response before placing her arm around Asami's shoulder and the two walked off, chatting.

"Want to explain to me what happened?"

"No! Why does everybody keep asking me that?!"

"Maybe because you keep yelling."

"I'm not yelling!" the heiress blinked once she realized what she just said. She reeled back and blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Korra assured with a smile, "You know, I've actually gone out with Bolin once, and in my perspective, he'd make a great boyfriend."

"And yet you fell for his taller and broodier brother." Asami said with her arms crossed, while arching an eyebrow. Korra however, remained unfazed.

"Come on, you know as well as I do there is a lot more to Mako than meets the eye. Aside from being hot tempered and a bit cynical, and he has a lot of reasons as to why, he’s also very responsible, dedicated, smart and rational, and when he makes a mistake he does his best to make up for it. He challenges me, for better or for worst and... I he loves me for all of my flaws and perks as well.”

Asami smiled. Listening to Korra speak with such heartfelt emotion made her heart swell. She was right, Mako was indeed all of those things, even during their short time as a couple she recognized those qualities. “That is true, but what does this have to do with Bolin?"

"You've been friends with Bolin for a long time, right?"

"Yeah."

"And was he always perfect, right?"

"No, but nobody’s perfect. But, Bolin is incredibly sweet." Asami’s cheeks flustered, "He's one of my best friends. He's always been there for me, even when I didn't ask him to. I never thought much about it before but now..." Korra placed a hand over her friend's shoulder, she remained quiet for a moment before speaking. "…I'll admit I am kind of starting to grow attracted to him but…there's still Opal. I practically threw him at her and now they're together and for some reason it bugs me. But I still want him to be happy because…his happiness means so much to me."

Korra laughed, "That's exactly how I felt when I had to let Mako go so he could comfort you after what happened with your father."

"Korra I am so sorry for putting you through that."

Korra waved her hand casually, "Don’t be. Water under the bridge. But I do suggest you explore these feelings better to understand what it is you need to do."

"But I still don't know why these emotions are so new and strange to me. And why is it happening now? I want him to be happy but not with Opal and I feel terrible and--" she clenched her head as she groaned in frustration, "Errr! I'm just so confused!"

Korra embraced her distressed friend in a warm hug. "It's okay. I'm probably not the best person to give you advice in this particular field, but I bet there's somebody else who can."

Asami knew who she was referring to. "It's embarrassing. Talking to my ex about having a crush on his brother? I'm not even sure if he could help."

"Have you ever given him a chance?"

Asami began to wonder…did she?

(~)

Inside a room in the air temple, Tenzin sat down to meditate. He was trying to get rid of the anger inside of him from earlier. He knew one day his daughter would become more independent and start making her own decisions and even defy his orders…but why did it have to be today?

As he meditated, he muttered to himself. "Tattoos. How could she think? Focus. Breathe. Bumi ruins everything. In the hill. Focus."

"Taking a little break from teaching?"

Tenzin opened his eyes to see his beautiful wife sitting beside him. Her green eyes shimmering beautifully in the sunlight that entered the room through the windows, one of the many things that stole Tenzin's heart in their youth.

"I've failed. Bumi quit, the rest of the airbenders want to go home. Can't they see that I'm trying to rebuild an entire culture?"

"You know, just because these people can airbend, it doesn't automatically make them Air Nomads."

"Tell me about it."

"I remembered when I moved out of my parents' house to become an Air Acolyte. That first night I was so scared and lonely and the bed was so hard."

"It's actually better for your back." Pema scowled at her husband, "Sorry."

"The point is: I really wanted to be there, but it still took time for me to adjust to feel like I was a part of it all. The people are probably feeling the same way. You have to be patient."

Boy did that phrase sound familiar. "Now I know how Korra feels when I'm talking to her." but non the less, his wife was right, he was being too hard and he needed to be more patient with these people. They are still entirely new to this lifestyle so it was only natural that they would struggle to get the hang of it. Tenzin lovingly and graciously kissed his wife.

"Thank you, Pema."

(~)

Tenzin walked out of the temple, spotting his brother, with Bum-Jun on his shoulder, talking to Yung and a pony airbender. "Bumi, I want to apologize for losing my patience."

But instead of saying 'it's okay,' or 'don't worry about it', Bumi folded his arms, not even bothering to look at his brother, "I'm not talking to you." he said before walking away.

"Hey! Get back here." Tenzin exclaimed, but his brother just ignored him. He realized that he lost his cool yet again and sighed in sadness. He then remembered he had to apologize to his daughter as well. "Where's Jinora?" he asked the airbenders,

Yung responded, "I saw her fly off on her glider with the ponies and her boyfriend."

Tenzin's eyes widened in alarm. "What? Her boyfriend?" his brows furrowed as he muttered bitterly, "Kai!"

(~)

Back at the rustlers' camp, Jinora, Kai, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom along with the bison calves, were all locked in cages loaded onto the truck. The leader of the rustlers, Ganbat smiled wickedly at one of the calves, causing him to wimpier in fear.

"How can you steal these bison. They're endangered." Jinora exclaimed. She and Sweetie Belle were locked up in the same cage with one bison calf while Kai and Apple Bloom were in another right beside them with another calf, and Scootalo was locked with a third one right next to a fourth.

"Well, that's why they're worth so much. The Earth Queen and her fancy friends pay big money for bison steaks and other rare meats. I even heard she ate her dad's pet bear."

"You're disgusting." said Sweetie Belle, and Scootalo blew a raspberry at the man who simply scoffed.

"Wine all you want little pony. You and your friends will pay a handsome price." he walked away, leaving the friends in their cages. Kai came up with an idea,

"Hey, do that spirit beaming thing you did to find me." he said to Jinora.

"That's a great idea!" said Apple Bloom "You can go to the temple for help."

Jinora hugged her legs, "I can't. I'm all cramped in here and I need quiet and time to focus."

Then, Sweetie Belle's little rabbit bird spirit friend manifested and chirped in her shoulder, "Hey, maybe my spirit friend can help with that."

"Great idea, Sweetie Belle." the little spirit landed on Jinora's finger as she whispered her message to it; "Go find Bum-Ju, tell him we're in trouble." The little spirit flew out of the cage. Jinora smiled at the unicorn, "Guess I'm not the only one who's good with spirits."

Sweetie Belle smiled and blushed at the compliment.

(~)

At the temple, Bumi sat near a tree while Bum-Ju chittered with him. "No, I don't think I should apologize. Tenzin just wants to boss everybody around. I'm too old for that."

Bum-Ju chittered.

"Well, let's face it. I'm just not cut out to be an airbender!"

Bum-Ju chittered once again and Bumi pouted as he turned away, "Well, that's your opinion."

Bum-Ju curled up to sleep when Sweetie Belle's spirit friend appeared, chirping franticly, catching Bum-Ju's attention. The two spirits conversed and Bum-Ju jumped onto Bumi, chittering the news.

"Wait, Jinora sent this spirit? Is she in trouble?"

Bum-Ju and the spirit flew off, while Bumi ace chase. There was no doubt that his niece was in danger.

(~)

Meelo and Ikki were training some airbenders in keeping balance when Bumi came running towards them, "Jinora's in trouble. We have to go get her."

"How do you know?" Yung asked.

"Bum-Ju's friend told me." he said referring to the spirits beside him.

"You're able to communicate with the spirits?" Otaku asked in surprise.

"More or less, I get the gist. Let's go."

"Shouldn't Master Tenzin be dealing with this?" Daw asked scratching the back of his newly bald head, "I don't want to get into trouble"

"Master Tenzin isn't here. It's up to us. Ikki and Meelo, grab some bison. Airbenders, move out!"

(~)

The airbenders (both human and pony) followed the spirits on two flying bison, where they landed on a cliffside overlooking the campsite of the men who captured Jinora. Using a telescope, Bumi spied on the rustlers, seeing his niece, Kai and the Crusaders locked up in cages along with the baby bisons.

"Bison rustlers. They've got Kai, Jinora and the Crusaders locked in crates. Looks like they're getting ready to leave, we'll have to move fast."

Daw did not like the idea at all, "I don't know if I'm ready to get in a fight with some bison rustlers. I can tell without that telescope that they're mean-looking."

Bumi furrowed his brows in a scowl. These guys needed some serious motivation. He stood up and spoke to the rest of the group, "Listen, this is what we've been training for."

"We haven't been training that long." Daw said.

"That's not important now. Remember how we persevered together on that obstacle course?"

"You actually quit." said Otaku. Bumi looked at him in annoyance….before lowering his shoulders in disappointment. They were right, he did quit. Who would follow a quitter?

He looked over at Bum-Jun who sat on a rock beside him, the light hit his transparent wings, creating a rainbow glow that manifested in Bumi's eyes. What was he thinking? He was no quitter.

"Well, I'm not quitting now. I know we've had a tough time, me more than anyone, but we're airbenders, and there aren't many of us so we've got to stick together. They've got five of our own in cages out there, and we're not leaving until we bring them home."

Meelo stood by his uncle, raising his fist into the air with determination, equaling his uncle's as he shouted with pride;

"Leave no airbender behind!"

(~)

The rustler closed and locked a cage with a bison calf. As the man left, the calves whimpered and Kai took out two twigs and began picking the lock. "In. Down. And twist." the young boy managed to unlock the cage and stepped out along with Scootaloo, the calf tumbled free of the cage. He then proceeded to free Jinora and Sweetie Belle.

"Free the bison first." Jinora said, but before Kai could protest, one of the rustlers grabbed him by the collar.

"Hey! What are you doing out?"

Kai airbended at the rustler, forcing him to let go. The man was thrown towards the campfire and rammed into one of his comrades, both grunted once they hit the ground. The rest of the rustlers ran to get the escapees. Meanwhile, the other airbenders and ponies charged into the camp, catching the attention of the rustlers.

"The airbenders!" Apple Bloom exclaimed happily.

The airbenders all unleashed a combined air attack, but the rustlers defended themselves by earthbending an earth wall. Kai prepared to attack Ganbat, who was able to detect the attack and knocked Kai away with earthbending.

While the airbenders continued to unleash their bending at the rustlers, one of them shot a net at Daw, who had his back turned. However, the incoming of the net created a semi-breeze from which Daw could feel thanks to his shaved head. His eyes widened in alarm and narrowly dodged the attack before counter-attacking at the rustler with an air blast.

Apple Bloom tried to use Kai's twig method to unlock Scootaloo's cage. "Come on, Apple Bloom, hurry up!"

"I'm tryin'! It's not as easy as it looks!"

Ganbat split the airbender group with earthbending, but Meelo was able to leap up the earth wall and knock him off with an air blast. Two airbenders, riding on Ikki's air scooter, snuck up another rustler and managed to ambush him, blasting him against the rock. Bumi let out a war cry and the pony airbenders charged the camp, while Meelo defeated the final rustler. Apple Bloom was nearly done in freeing her friends, but was then dragged by her shirt by Ganbat.

"You're coming with me!"

"Let me go!" Apple Bloom managed to stomp her foot onto the ground, and a rock rose up, sending Ganbat flying up and landing hard on his bum. Apple Bloom couldn't believe it. "What the--"

Ganbat groaned as he stood up again. Apple Bloom took a stance but was roughly shoved aside as the man entered the truck and drove away, "Forget you!" he turned on the vehicle and drove off, at least he would make a buck with two ponies.

"Kai!"

Hearing Jinora's cries, Kai grabbed his glider and pursued the truck, and Apple Bloom hung on to his feet.

"Hang on, Apple Bloom!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!"

Meanwhile, Tenzin flew on Oogie when a heard of wild bisons flew roughly past them in a great hurry. The air nomad was curious as to what had caused their anxiety, he got his answer when he spotted a truck driving down on the road and the bisons flew down towards it. Tenzin squinted his eyes for a better view. "What's going on down there?" he saw what appeared to be a glider chasing after the truck…which carried cages of baby bisons, as well as his daughter.

"Kai! Help!"

Tenzin's heart raced at the sight of his child imprisoned in a cage. "I'm coming Jinora."

Kai caught up with the truck and allowed Apple Bloom to enter through the window, knocking Ganbat down with a powerful kick, which caused the truck to skid out of control. The man was able to regain control and restrained the pony by grabbing the collar of her shirt. Kai then entered the truck and tried to get the man away from the pony, the boy held on to his back, but they both stopped their fighting when they saw some adult bison approaching the truck.

"What the …"

The other adult bison surrounded the truck and Tenzin directed Oogi to knock against the vehicle. Kai and Apple Bloom leaped off the truck and onto Oogi. An adult bison stopped in front of the truck and airbended at the car which was then blown away and Ganbat was forced right out of the vehicle, stunned by the attack. Kai and Apple Bloom leaped off of Oogi, both fuming mad for what he did to the bison and their friends.

Ganbat struggled to stand up. "You got me. I give up."

Apple Bloom was not going to let him off the hook that easily. She grunted as she stomped her foot onto the ground, creating a wave of earth directly at him, causing him to rise up, flip over and land hard on the ground and Kai, in return, aggressively swiped a gust of air at Ganbat, flinging him against the truck. The young boy walked over to him in anger,

"You think you can kidnap Jinora, and all these baby bisons?!" he threw Ganbat upwards before slamming him against the truck once more. Before he could attack again, Apple Bloom stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Stop! I think he's had enough, Kai."

"She's right," Tenzin said. "An airbender never attacks a defenseless opponent." he said…before smiling. "But that was very good technique."

Kai smiled in gratitude and Apple Bloom elbowed him as a sign that she too was impressed.

"And it looks like you finally figured out your bending powers, Apple Bloom."

The pony's eyes widened at the realization, with all of the action going around she didn't have enough time to fully process this. She smiled as she looked down at her hands.

"I can't believe it….I'm an earthbender! Wait till my family hears about this!"

(~)

That evening at the valley of the bisons, the spirits roamed free once more. Sweetie Belle petted the spirit she had made friends with and kissed his head. "It was nice meeting you. Now go on, back to your family." she released the spirit to return to his own kind, but after two seconds, to her surprise, he came flying right back, nuzzling against he cheek.

"Looks like he wants to stay with you." said Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle was a bit surprised, but happy non the less.

"Okay, okay, you can stay. I think I'll call you…Valiant! Because you were so brave to go and find help. If it weren't for you we'd all be halfway to the Earth Queen by now." the little spirit chirped, signaling he liked the name.

As for Ganbat, he got a taste of his own medicine when Bumi locked him within the cramped bison cage. Bumi smiled proudly. "Maybe you boys haven't heard, but there's some new airbenders on these parts. And you never mess with an airbender's bison."

As Tenzin walked towards his brother, Daw spoke to the airbenders, "Without my shaved head, I'd never could have dodged that net. I really felt it coming at me. You guys should totally get shaved."

Tenzin smiled proudly at his big brother. "I'm proud of you. Your connection with the spirits, natural leadership...you remind me of Dad."

Bumi was touched by Tenzin's kind words, but a part of him still felt bad for the way he had acted before. Tenzin wasn't the only one to blame here. "I'm sorry I've been causing you so much trouble. I guess I was just scared of not being able to measure up as an airbender. You know, even though I'm Aang's son, I never really felt like I was a part of the Air Nation before."

Tenzin placed a reassuring hand on Bumi's shoulder. "You are now."

With the bison herd, Ikki and Meelo were playing with the calves while Jinora and Kai snuggled the mother bison. The she licked Jinora in gratitude for what she and her friends had done to save her babies, making the young girl giggle.

"They're so friendly now." Kai said. The group was surprised to see Tenzin walk towards them.

"The bison are the original airbenders. They recognize their own kind." Tenzin kneeled down to his daughter who hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry for running off." Jinora apologized.

"I'm just lucky no one's hurt."

"I know."

Once they ended the hug, Tenzin fiddled a bit with the hairs on Jinora's forehead. "But I also realized that perhaps I was too harsh on you."

"Does that mean I can get my airbender tattoos?" she asked with a smirk.

"It's hard for me to believe that my little girl is grown up enough to have her tattoos. I'll promise I'll think about it. Fair enough?"

"Yeah."

Father and daughter turned around at the sound of Kai's voice, "Jinora, look. They're flying!"

The adorable calves awkwardly ascend up into the air, bleating and kicking their feet aimlessly. The crusaders joined the group, swooning over the cuteness of the calves learning how to fly for the very first time. It was a truly beautiful sight for Tenzin to see, seeing these creatures learning to stand on their own….just like his daughter. He smiled as he observed the creatures.

"I guess everyone is growing up."

(~)

Asami followed the sound of guitar strings and spotted Mako leaning against a pillar, playing his father's guitar. Ever since he got it, he enjoyed playing it in his free time. She suspected it was either to relax or brighten up his mood. She took in a deep breath and approached the firebender who stopped playing when he saw her.

"Hey. Listen I want to apologize for blowing up at you before."

"No, I'm the one who should apologize. I should have known not to get involved with how you were feeling. I'm still trying to get the hang of this, 'being more sympathetic' thing."

Asami smiled and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know you've never always been the 'in touch with your feelings' kind of guy." she said while using air quotes. “But, you try. And, you’re getting better.”

Mako chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, "It's just, when I saw the way you looked at Bolin it really reminded me of when I started falling for Korra. I didn't want you to make the same mistakes I made. I care about you Asami and after everything you've been through, and I apologize for being the cause of most of it, you deserve happiness. That's all I want for you."

Asami was grateful to have a friend like Mako who cared so much about her well being and happiness. "I know you're just looking out for me and you were right before, I should have been honest with my feelings. Problem is I just didn't know what my feelings are exactly. Korra gave me some advice earlier and it helped a lot but I still feel kind of lost."

Mako placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Look, I can't say for sure what's going to happen. Maybe things will work out with Bolin, maybe they won't, but you'll never know if you don't try and figure it our instead of wondering "what if". And besides, if something is really meant to be, it'll find a way. Always."

"How will I know?"

"You'll know…just listen carefully and be patient. Sometimes the answer can come in…unexpected ways."

With the advice from both Korra and Mako, things suddenly began to make more sense for Asami, her feelings no longer appeared so alien to her, though still a tad new and strange, but now far less confusing than before.

"Thanks Mako. Thanks for being there for me."

"I'll always be here for you, Asami. Whenever you need me."

The young heiress happily embraced Mako in a warm hug as he returned the gesture, she felt the warmth and love of a big brother. She was one lucky girl to have been blessed with such great friends. The two were then interrupted when Pinkie Pie came running towards them.

"Hey guys! Come on!" she eagerly took their hands and led them to the very center of Su's estate, where everyone else was gathered, including Princess Luna, Lin and Su as well as the rest of her family.

"What's going on?" Asami asked.

"I have no idea." said Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie stood before everyone, smiling her signature happy smile.

"Good evening everybody! And everypony! I'm sure you're all wondering why you're all here. Well, I won't tell you…I'll show you! Varrick, do the thing!"

The man gave her a thumbs up and plugged in the two outlets, everybody's eyes widened with wonder as the trees and buildings all around the estate were suddenly illuminated with stunning lights, all in various colors of the rainbow, primarily the color coats of the Mane Six. The lights were all around the pedestals and the bushes, giving it all an enchanting magical fairytale demeanor. And last but not least, a spotlight shone from one of the towers, controlled by a guard, revealing two poles stood in opposite sides of the place with strings of Chinese lanterns hanging from them, all in multicolor, giving Su's entire home looking like a rainbow kingdom.

Everybody was astonished by the beauty of it all. Su was breathless, "It's beautiful!"

"Wow! This is incredible!" Korra said in awe, but then her expression shifted to one of confusion, "Wait, when did you guys get all of this?"

"And why didn't we see any of you guys putting it all up?" Mako asked.

Pinkie Pie simply winked. "That's a Pinkie Secret."

Mako decided to just roll with it, whatever Pinkie Pie did, it was best not to question it…ever.

"Since we've been in Zaofu for a while now, and Opal will be leaving for the Air Temple soon, I figured we should have a "Farewell-Good luck Opal, and Lin and Su rekindled their sisterly-hood, Rainbow Party!"

Su smiled graciously at the gesture, "Pinkie Pie, this was so thoughtful. Thank you."

"Aww, it was nothing. You should thank Varrick too, he was a big help."

Varrick blushed at the compliment, "Well, it was Pinkie's brilliant party planning that did most of the work."

"It has all of the rainbow colors." said Opal, her eyes twinkling.

"This is all marvelous, darling." Rarity said, "But I'm afraid we're not properly dressed." she said, looking down at her very stylish outset, but didn't seem to fit the theme of the party. Until Korra got an idea.

"I think I can help with that." her forehead star began to glow as she rose her hands, using her conjuring magic as sparkles emitted from her finger tips, circling all around everyone. Suddenly, the Mane Six's outfits began to change, transforming into more rocker-like outfits with colorful patters and multi-colored streaks on their manes and tails.

(Their Equestria Girl Rainbow Rocks outfits. The promotional ones.)

Korra's outfit changed as well, earning a sleeveless blue top with cyan blue straps and a butterfly-like pattern which faded from pale pink to blue to white, and a diamond-like shape with a white circle in the center, similar to Raava's. Underneath the shirt was a transparent tank top, and around her waist was an aqua ribbon with a blue opal gem and a long piece of the ribbon extending downwards which faded from aqua to pale blue, almost looking like a tail. Her pants were slim with up the knee blue boots similar to her old ones. Her hair was down and wore her tiara and had some aqua green colored streaks added with her already pale blue one. Her arm band and arm warmers remained the same.

Mako's outfit also changed, tuning into one very similar to what he was already wearing, only now he had a new red scarf, longer than his old one which reached down and was attached to the belt round his waist, which had a golden flame belt buckle, and the tips of the scarf faded from red, to orange to bright yellow, representing a tail, flame emblems appeared on his gloves, and his guitar gained flame-like details around its edges, and a single orange red streak was on the side of his head and a patch of a police badge with a flame behind it was on the left side of his shirt.

Bolin wore a similar outfit to his own, only he had a sash around his waist, emerald green in color with an earth kingdom symbol on it as the rest of the sash faded from green to pale green-yellow. Bolin had brown wrist bands and a patch of Pabu's head on the right side of his shirt and a yellow-green streak on his right side of his head.

Asami wore a dress, had cut on the left side. It was dark magenta in color with the image on a gear in pale magenta color, she wore a short sleeved jacket with a high collar and a purple ribbon similar to Korra's only purple with a gear broach and the ribbon faded from purple to yellow at the end. She wore dark magenta pants and long black boots. Her hair had yellow and purple streaks.

Lin and Su's outfits became brighter, Lin's police uniform changed into a lovely metal clan-like dress, similar to Su's. Both gained green streaks in their hair. Opla's ought changed too, turning into a dress-like version of her normal outfit, which had bright yellow tints on the edges of her green shirt and her hair had yellow and green streaks.

Even Princess Luna's dress gained light purple and pink tints around it, and lovely light white eyeshadow. Basically, everyone's outfits became rainbow-fied. Korra's conjuring magic was improving. Pinkie Pie jumped up happily.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's party!"

It didn't take long for the entire estate to get into the party mood, Su and her entire family as well as the guards were all dancing to the beat of the music. A male guard played on the drums while a female one played a tambourine while Mako played his guitar. The firebender then spotted Flash Sentry standing by a pillar, looking grin. Mako stepped away from the guards and approached his friend.

"Korra told me what happened today."

"I felt so embarrassed I couldn't say anything."

"You still have a chance."

"Now? In front of everyone?"

"For crying out loud Flash, if you love Twilight it doesn't matter when, where or how you tell her, all that matters is that you say it with your heart. That's what she really cares about."

Flash thought about this for a moment, maybe Mako was right. Maybe he was trying too hard to make the moment perfect when all he really had to do was just say it. Then, he got a brilliant idea.

"Thanks Mako. You're right, maybe I've been a bit hard on myself. But this party just gave me a great idea."

Mako rolled his eyes, "Here we go."

"No, really! And I'm going to need your help." Flash then spoke with Opal, whispering something into her ear, making the young airbender smile with glee.

"Of course! That would be so romantic."

Korra and Twilight were happily chatting when Wei and Huan walked up to them, both with regrettable expressions on their faces and their hands behind their backs. Both Twilight and Korra folded their arms in disapproval.

"What do you boys want?" Twilight asked. The girls were surprised to see Wei hand Twilight a bouquet of simple-looking flowers and Huan gave Korra an identical one.

"We wanted to apologize for our behavior." Huan said. "It was foolish and disrespectful of us to compete for your affections."

Wei hung his head, "Yeah. We should have respected your feelings but instead we acted like selfish jerks."

"Been there!" Bolin said from afar, remembering the time when he tried to get Korra to fall for him instead of respecting her choice.

Korra smiled proudly at the boys. "I forgive you. And I'm sorry for starting this whole thing."

"Don't be, we were the idiots."

"Well, Wei was more of an idiot than I was." Huan said.

"Hey!"

"Ahem!" Korra arched an eyebrow at them, the two boys were not going to get into another fight.

"Sorry."

Korra smiled and then she kissed both boys on the cheek, making them blush. Then, to her surprise, the two boys swooned and passed out, both with happy smiles on their faces, faces flustered and tiny hearts floating around their heads. Korra and Twilight exchanged surprised looks.

"I'll never understand human boys." said Twilight.

"Me neither."

Then, Mako took a microphone and caught everybody's attention. "Excuse me, everybody. Good evening, sorry to interrupt but, my friend Flash here would like to say a few words to a very special girl."

Twilight's eyes widened and Korra squealed with delight. Flash stood beside Mako and he handed him the mic. Twilight smiled, excitedly waiting what Flash would say or do. The anthro pegasus took in a deep breath and spoke.

"Twilight, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you…and now I finally know how."

He nodded his head to cue Mako to strum his guitar as Flash sang,

It's been said and done

Every beautiful thought's been already sung

And I guess right now here's another one

So your melody will play on and on

With the best of em

Mako strum his guitar, soon he was playing a speedy and more upbeat rhythm while Flash sang, with each word Twilight's heart was all aflutter.

You are beautiful

Like a dream come alive

Incredible

Rarity and Fluttershy sighed dreamily. This was so romantic

A centerfold, miracle, lyrical

You saved my life again

With each word he walked closer and closer to Twilight, and held her hand while looking deep into her eyes.

And I want you to know, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

And I keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat

Yeah.

Then, Twilight began to sing the next verse.

No one compares

You stand alone, to every record I own

Music to my heart that's what you are

A song that goes on and on

Flash and Twilight;

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I love you like a love song

Once the song came to a close, everyone applauded for the couple, who really didn't pay any attention for they were too busy looking into each others eyes.

"I love you, too." Twilight said and the two embraced. Flash felt like a hugh weight had been lifted right off of his shoulders. Twilight loved him back, not that he doubted it, but still. He felt pretty stupid for not having the courage to have said it before, but the important thing was that he said it.

Seeing the two so happy was exactly the kind of boost Asami needed. She spotted Bolin, still clapping for the happy couple and noticed Korra hug Mako. The heiress approached the earthbender, her heart pounding.

"Hey, Bolin."

"Oh, hey Asami. Great outfit."

"Thanks, you too. So, listen Bo, I…I've been meaning to tell you something. About, Opal--"

"I know, she's great right?" That wasn't what Asami wanted to hear but he continued, "I mean, she's not like Eska or Ginger, she's…different."

The happiness in his voice made Asami's heart shatter. "So, you're happy, hu?"

"Yeah, I guess I am." Asami looked downcast, she should have known that this was stupid. But then, Bolin's happy tone changed to a more relaxed, but still happy one, "I have you to thank for that."

This somehow caught Asami's attention. Her eyes sparkled.

"You said all I had to do was be myself and you were right. Whenever I felt unsure on what to say, I always think about that conversation we had. You have no idea how much your words meant to me."

Asami blinked in surprise and she blushed, "Wait, are you saying you think about me when you're with her?"

At that moment, Bolin's eyes widened in shock. In a way, what Asami said was kind of true, he did think about her a lot recently, especially with Opal, but at first he assumed it was like having her as a guardian angel to help him with his insecurities. But, did it mean something else? Did it?

"Oh, no, I, I mean yes but, well--" Bolin was cut off when Asami kissed him lovingly….on his cheek. Bolin was very surprised by this, the way Asami kissed was…well…very nice. His heart was all aflutter now.

"I'm glad you're happy." Asami said. Then, Opal walked over to Bolin and took his arm.

"Come on Bolin, let's dance."

"All right!" Bolin reverted back to his upbeat self as Asami watched them leave with a content smile on her face. Mako and Korra approached the heiress looking at her with concern.

"You okay?" Korra asked.

Asami smiled at the two. "Yeah. You were right before, Mako. If something is meant to be, it'll happen." Asami then joined the rest of the friends on the dance floor, while Korra and Mako both looked at her in confusion, then at each other, then at Opal and Bolin dancing and finally at each other. They placed two and two together and smiled, realizing what had happened.

Pinkie Pie stood in the very center and whistled to Varrick. The man placed the spotlight on the pony as she, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack danced and Pinkie sang;

(A parody mashup of Shake Your Tail and Make a Wish)

Get your hooves up!

Party's starting out right now!

Everypony, everypony get down!

Time to have some fun, let's not waste our time now

We're all here and it's time to ignite the lights!

Mako played his guitar while Bolin played on the drums and Fluttershy played the tambourine as Rainbow Dash took her place and danced with her pony friends.

Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail

Shake your tail!

Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail

Shake your tail

Shake your tail, cause we're here to have a party tonight

Oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

Oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Korra and Asami joined in the fun as they sang to the crowd who danced happily along to the beat and Twilight and Flash danced together. And as they sang, Jinora and Kai and the Crusaders laid happily with the sky bisons and Bumi joked round with his little brother, who at least tolerated his antics.

It was good that things changed.

Korra;

Starting out great and it just got better

Everyday you'll learn a little bit more

Asami;

Time to celebrate now we're all together

Make your dreams come true, what are you waiting for

Pinkie Pie;

Close your eyes and you will see, my little pony friends

Oh, oh, oh, oh!

Rarity;

Think of all the changes you can make

Why should this ever have to end!

All Together;

Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail

Shake your tail!

Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail

Shake your tail

Shake your tail, cause we're here to have a party tonight

As they sang the chorus, Su danced with her husband, Lin danced with her nephews, Spike danced with Naga, Pabu and the spirit trio while Princess Luna danced with Su's eldest son.

Oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

Oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

(Shake your tail, shake your tail)

Oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

Oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

(Shake your tail, cause we're here to have a party tonight)

Oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

Oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

(Shake your tail, shake your tail)

Oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

Oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

(Shake your tail, cause we're here to have a party tonight)

Oh, oh, oh!

Shake your tail because we're here to have a party tonight!

(~)

Author's Note:

What? Did you think I was going to make this a total repeat of what happened in the Spirit of Competition? I aint that predictable. Also, a shout out to Neon-sphinx for a great review! Hope you like story too.