Canterlot Dorks: Canterlot High's Dark Secrets

by ThatUnknownPony

Ch7: The Clock Tower

The following week after Applejack and Octavia had their little incident, the Rainbooms were once again reunited in the usual classroom, all with the exception of Twilight and Applejack.

"Where in hell is her?" Sunset wondered, having not seen her that morning, "She's been arriving pretty late these days."

"All I know is that her sister told me that she was in a friend's home, but didn't say who," Dash mentioned, trying to think of where she could be.

"OOH! OOH! I bet she's with Twilight, she's the only one who's not here!" Pinkie tried to guess with enthusiasm.

"Uhmm, I-I'm not so sure..." Fluttershy said, "I heard that something bad happened after the last class the past Friday... Or so I heard."

"Oh, that's right, I heard she was fighting with Octavia for that boy, Crowned," Rarity giggled, thinking about her friend having her first crush.

"What?! Are you serious?!" Rainbow was in disbelief, "Awww, why didn't she tell us?! I wanted to see her give the boot to that boring moneybags!"

"Dash, please," Sunset scolded her, "Octavia isn't a bad person to wish her that, and it's not our fault you just hate classic music."

"But... what if she was expelled for that?" Fluttershy was now feeling nervous, but Rarity intervened.

"Oh nonononono, don't even think about it, Fluttershy. Besides, if that was the case she could've already told us this weekend."

"Then what do you think happened to her?"

"It's simple, Rainbow: She "won" Crowned for herself, and decided to spend the whole weekend at his house."

"T-The whole weekend?" Sunset blushed just from thinking about it. "Oh my, but that sounds kinda... improbable, don't you think?"

"Well I don't know about you, but if I had a boyfriend, I could spend a whole weekend alone with him," the fashionista expressed her point of view, her face going all red.

"Oh Rarity..." Sunset covered her face as she blushed too, probably even more than Rarity.

Surprising them, the door suddenly opened as Flash entered the room and greeted his friends.

"Hey, I'm not interrupting you, right?"

"Oh, not at all, buddy," Sunset uncovered her face and felt a bit more comfortable with him near, "Hello, by the way."

"Hey Flash!" the rest of the Rainbooms greeted their old pal.

"Okay, so, now that we're all here-"

"WAAAAAIT!!!" Pinkie Pie suddenly yelled out, getting everyone's attention, "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Uuuuuuhm, no?" Flash answered, obviously lying.

Sunset remembered for a moment about Dizzy's warning, and looked suspiciously at him.

"...do you happen to know something about Applejack?"

Flash began to look nervous, like if he was hiding something from them.

"N-no, not at all. I-I'm sure she's just busy with other business and that."

Everyone else looked at him unconvinced, noticing how obvious his lie was. Realizing trying to fool them was useless, Flash finally confessed:

"Okay, Okay..." he sighed and continued, "I think she is with Crowned!"

"HMHMHM!" Rarity giggled, "I knew it, AJ won Crowned and left with him."

"Well..." he tried to explain, but all the words were stuck in his throat.

"Flash... AJ and Crowned are dating, right?"

"...honestly I have no idea," Flash responded, sweating nervously.

"W-What are you talking about?" the fashionista was beyond confused... that is until someone appeared at the door.

"Howdy, everybody!" Everyone looked over to the door, and saw a very excited and happy Applejack arriving. "What a great day, don'tcha agree?"

"Applejack!" The rest of them were excited of seeing her.

"Oh boy, really, what a day to start the week... So tell me, did'cha brought the fifth element, Flash?"

"Applejack, uh, care to tell us about-waitwhat'chasayagain?" Sunset had to stop herself when she realized what she had just said.

"Ooooh, the fifth element? I LOVE THAT MOVIE!"

"Pinkie..." the other Rainbooms said in unison, look unamused at her.

"Come on, that a was a good joke!" she complained in response, inflating her cheeks in a child-like way.

Rolling his eyes, Flash took off his bag, and opened it to retrieve the stone from inside it. He then handed it to Pinkie, and as soon as it touched her hands, the element began to shine.

"OOOOOMYGOOOOOSH!" She screamed joyfully as the element took the shape of a necklace with an aquamarine balloon on the front. "WOOOOOW! MINE, MINE, MINE!!!"

Pinkie proceeded to jump all across the classroom, giggling in a silly way as the others were surprised their friend had recovered the element.

"Applejack, did you really find the Element all by yourself?!" Dash asked in surprise.

"Honestly..." AJ reminisced of the Great Apple Tree, and how the whole incident brought her and Tavi closer, "It was actually... a familiar of mine, in a way."

"A familiar, you say? ...was it Big Mac?" Fluttershy wondered curiously.

"J-Just forget about that," Flash said with enthusiasm, "Let's just focus on the fact we have now five of the six elements!"

"And it just so happens that the only missing element... Is the most important of all," Sunset placed his palm over her head, something Flash acknowledged and comprehended why, as he walked towards her and tried to relax his friend.

"Well, if it is so important, let's just go for it now!" Rainbow exclaimed, but was stopped by a certain orange-skinned girl.

"Uhm, A'h say we should discuss this later... maybe on our lunch break?" the other girls exchanged looks, and agreed on that. "A'h believe A'h have something to help us find that last stone."

"I'm with you on that," Sunset added, "we need more time to get ready, so I'll see you all during break-time."

"Okay!" the rest of the Rainbooms said in unison, but right when they were at the door, Rarity stopped them.

"Befooooooore that..." she then walked closer to AJ and pulled her to her side. "We heard of your... incident with Octavia and Crowned, so... how did that turn out?"

Rarity smiled anxiously, as the others looked with curiosity as the farmer's cheek turned a deep shade of red.

"Oh, about... about that, uhm... A'h can only say that... A'h got more than A'h expected," she responded, with a bit of a silly smile.

"B-Beg your pardon?" Rarity was now very confused, and Applejack not really disposed to talk about it.

"WOAH, LOOK AT THE TIME!" She exclaimed, pointing at her watch-less wrist. "A'H HAVE CLASS NOW, SEE YA'LL LATER!"

She tried to run away as fast as she could, and Rarity tried to go after her. The other Rainbooms simply shrugged, wondering what was all that about.

---

Few minutes before the classes began, Crowned was already on his chair waiting, his mind lost in the thoughts of the crazy weekend that had just passed. He didn't even notice when Dizzy sat next to him.

"Uh, Crowned?" Dizzy tried poking him to react, but he was still daydreaming. "Croooowneeeeeed."

"EEEeeeeheheh..." he only responded with silly noises, smiling like a dunce... and his friend understood.

"CROWNED, ANSWER ME, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"

His friend got startled by his scream and fell to the floor.

"Ouch..."

"Finally you react, dude," the gray boy said, unamused by him. "Care to tell me what happened last Friday that AJ and Octavia had to literally kick me out of your house?"

"Huh, what? ...oh, Dizzy, I didn't see you," Crowned smiled nervously.

"Don't try to change the conversation and tell me: What happened that day."

The boy with the crown gulped audibly, and after he stood up and took his seat again, he tried to explain.

"W-Well, you see... I-It's kind of a long sto-"

Fortunately, he was cut short when AJ rushed through the classroom's door and pushed Dizzy again, sitting next to Crowned.

"Howdy there, suga'hcube," she said casually, ignoring for a moment the guy she had pushed. "Was that pasty botherin' y'ah, buddy?"

Crowned began giggling silly, when another voice interrupted them.

"There you are, Crowny," both him and AJ recognized their friend Octavia, who sat at the other side of the boy, "I was starting to get nervous about you."

Dizzy stood up again, tried to reply against the orange girl, just as he realized what he was looking at.

"APPLEJACK, CAN'T YOU SEE I... was... theeeee..." His brain was trying to process what his eyes were watching. "Weren't you two... like... in complete misery because Crowned dumped you both? ...making me lose fifty bucks, by the way."

"Mmm? A'h have no idea what'cha talkin about, pasty," AJ responded, moving her chair closer to her friends.

"But from now on we're going to seat next to Crowned, so... Hope you can find a seat behind or in front of him if you really want," Octavia added, as she also moved closer to the others.

The three friends shared a small hug together, Crowned smiling and blushing in the middle. Dizzy, however, was quick to realized what was going on.

"...Crowned?" he asked with a bit of uncertainty.

"W-What's the matter, buddy?"

"Please... tell me you didn't..."

"Oh, right, A'h think it's fair for y'ah to be up to date about our dear friend Crowny." AJ and Tavi exchanged playful looks, giggling a little bit.

"You see, Applejack and I reached some kind of agreement and, well..."

"We decided to become his closest friends," they both said in unison... But Dizzy realized there was something else.

"C-Closest friends?"

"Eeyup. Y’ah know, hanging around together, playing games, sleepin’ at each other’s… maybe a bit more than that" AJ confessed, as the three blushed immensely.

"B-but… doesn’t that… technically make you his... g-girlfriends? As in... p-plural?" he couldn't not give credit anything he was being told or that he could see.

"Well, maybe if you put it that way," Tavi said elegantly. "We just want to be around someone we really appreciate and love, just without any of the weight and everything around ‘being girlfriends’ and all that."

"And if ya'h have any problems, A'h have a couple of 'friends' of m'ah own y'ah can talk to." AJ gave him a death stare as she shook her fist in front of Dizzy, making him tremble, before hugging Crowned alongside Tavi.

"Paradiiiiiiiiise..." the blue boy smiled in a silly fashion with his two 'special friends' hugging him tightly. Dizzy, meanwhile, was struggling to process this information.

"Oh... I-I understand" He began saying, trying to not sound freaked out. "I mean it's fair, TOTALLY fair... I-I'm happy for you, and I have no problems with this at all-"

---

"-YOU DAMN BASTARD!" Dizzy yelled as he shook his friend by the neck, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU DID?! AND HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO IT?!"

Crowned could barely let out incomprehensible babbling trying to catch a breath, asphyxiated by his friend. Everyone else in the Cafeteria looked at them with weirded out expressions.

"Okay Dizzy, that's enough!" Suddenly arriving to stop the two, Flash separated Dizzy from his friend as he finally caught some air.

"Oh no, it's not enough!" the pale boy protested, pushing to strangle Crowned a bit further, "I CANNOT BE CALM WHEN HE'S ALMOST BECOMING A BRAD 'TWO'!"

Hearing that name, Flash grabbed him by his shirt and stared at his eyes in a cold, angry way that make him gulp his own words.

"...I'll let that pass this time and pretend you didn't just say it," he said, letting him go from his grip.

"Ouch, my neck..." Crowned cried a bit, rubbing his neck, "W-What was that for, dude?"

"...You really have no idea of what you did, right?" Dizzy realized how clueless his buddy was.

"Uhm, get a couple of cute friends?" Crowned responded with a silly smile.

"Noooope, you just call yourselves 'friends', but the truth is that you basically made the strongest girl in the entirety of Canterlot High AND the most elegant girl in school fall for you AT THE SAME TIME!!!"

"...I think they're more like the strongest, cutest, most tickable girls in-"

"Crowned, you really don't see the problem, right?" the pale boy said, face palming in response. "You may say they're just friends, but everyone else can see you're not! You'll have the entire school following you like a bunch of jealous freaks wanting to end you!"

"W-WHAT?!" his friend was now getting terrified, while Flash simply shook his head.

"Dizzy, can you stop saying that?! You're just stressing him!" he commented angrily, to which Dizzy responded.

"Hey, I'm just worried about him! Don't you remember what happened to you?"

Unfortunately, he touched a very sensible nerve on Flash, who responded by punching him in the face, and looking very serious he left the cafeteria, as everyone simply watched and wondered what got into him. Crowned was beyond shocked by this.

"W-WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HIM, DIZZY?!" he exclaimed in disbelief, as Dizzy rubbed his face in pain.

"Ouch... S-Something I thought he got over..." he responded, his face red from both the blow and the shame. "You know? I should be angry, but... I think I deserved that one."

"But I don't understand. What's so bad about calling him 'Brad'?"

"Well, it's... It's very complicated." Not even Dizzy wanted to recall that past.

"Dizzy, how was Flash before?"

The pale student hesitated on telling him what he knew of his friend, so he tried to put it as simple as he could.

"Well, I might not be the right person to tell you... All I can say is that he used to be a heartbreaker dumbass that earned the ire from the whole school... at least until he dated Sunset and changed for the better."

"J-Just that?"

"Dude, I didn't hang around him a lot those days, in fact I'm amazed I even got around him with his infamy... Ouch, he had to have a strong right hook."

Crowned remained thoughtful, worried about his friend and his past, and after adjusting his crown, he ran outside hoping to find his friend. Dizzy meanwhile stood up, still holding his hand over where Flash hit him.

"Please tell him to forgive me for that?" he said before Crowned disappeared behind the door. "...I-I'll be in the infirmary in the meantime."

---

Crowned searched for his buddy all through the halls, hoping to find him somewhere. Running out of places to look, he decided to search outside the school, and luckily he found him standing near the Entrance Statue. He had a serious look on his face, mixed with a bit of sadness, something that worried the naive student.

"Flash?" Hearing his voice, the blue-haired boy raised his head to face him, still with his saddened expression.

"Oh, it's just you..." he said with not much emotion. "You didn't have to follow me."

"I know, it's just... I was worried about you, and my duty as a King is to ensure my..."

"You really take your 'king' thing very seriously, don't you?" Flash realized how cold he came out, and apologized. "I-I mean, I'm sure you have your reasons, it just surprised me."

"Heheh, I-I know I'm not a REAL king, but I like taking my 'job' seriously, and I want to see you happy!" His optimism really surprised the young 'Casanova'.

"...I suppose you want to know why I got angry at Dizzy, right?"

"Dizzy tried to explain me, but..."

"I know, I know... he's kind of an idiot," Flash said, in a more playful tone.

"Well, he is, but he was really concerned that I didn't fall for your old mistakes. He didn't mean to insult you."

The boy simply sighed, and lowered once again his head as he spoke:

"I understand. It's just... I-It's something very personal, okay?"

Feeling a need to support him, Crowned walked towards his friend, and without hesitation he hugged him tightly, trying to show him how much he cared.

"C-Crowned, what are you..." Flash tried to protest, but his friend only hugged him tighter. "Crowned... you really don't have to worry like this for me."

"Sorry, but I don't like seeing my friends get upset like that."

Letting out another short sigh, the blue-haired boy returned the hug to his friend, feeling a bit calmer.

"Flash... What happened to you in the past?" Crowned asked with curiosity, hoping to make him feel better. "How was the old you?"

"...I don't know what Dizzy might've told you, but... I-I used to be very different back then." Flash took a deep breath, trying to deal with the memories. "When I first came to Canterlot High, I got a bit of a reputation as a 'Casanova': I don't know if it was for my looks or my behavior, but I had plenty of girls falling for me. Soon, I was the most popular guy in the school, and they didn't even know my name, they simply called me 'Brad' and assumed that was my name. But, well... guess that fame got into my head. I wanted to date every girl, loved to be hated, I just... I guess if you knew how I truly was, you would not want to be friends with me anymore."

The naive blue boy looked over at his friend, having heard more from him, couldn't give credit to his words.

"Flash, I..."

"You don't have to say it," Flash interrupted, still beating himself. "I'm nothing but a parasite, a wolf in sheep's clothing..."

"I wasn't thinking any of that," Crowned said firmly, staring directly at his eyes. "What I was going to say is that I doubt I would stop being friends with you, Flash. You learned from your mistakes and changed, and I don't see you as some kind of wolf or parasite. Besides, probably you could look cool with wolf ears."

"CROWNED!" pushing away the crowned boy, he then proceeded to blush as his friend laughed sticking out his tongue.

"Sorry, that's the truth!"

"Y-You dummy..." Feeling more relieved with his support, Flash hugged his friend tightly, blushing a bit from how close they were.

They remained like that for a while, without fear of someone looking at them... or so they thought...

"Crowned, did you have any luck finding-" Walking right while they were hugging, Dizzy reacted just as expected from someone suddenly walking into his friends like that. "OOOH! MYYY! GOOOOOOOD!"

The two boys yelled in unison as they turned around to face their shocked friend, looking the scene with disbelief.

"JUST AS I WAS AFRAID OF, THIS IS PROOF YOU JUST WANT TO STEAL CRO... Wait, no..." Neither Flash nor Crowned could comprehend what the hell was going through their friend's mind, just looking in confusion as he reached all the wrong conclusions. "CROWNED, AREN'T YOU HAPPY WITH AJ AND TAVI?! WHY YOU WANNA STEAL FLASH TOO?!"

"DIZZY!!!" they both yelled at the pale boy, catching the attention of the Rainbooms, who passed by at the worst of times.

"What the hell is going on he-" Dash stopped herself the moment he saw the blue boy and his yellow buddy holding each other.

"O-Oh my," AJ, Tavi and Sunset responded at the same time.

"H-Hey, this isn't what it looks like!" Crowned tried to defend himself. "I-I was just hugging my friend!"

"Honey, if that's who you're truly attracted to, you should've told us before," Octavia joked, making her friend cover his face in embarrassment. "I mean, we're your friends, we'll support you if you choose to be with Flash."

"W-WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY!?" Flash was just stuck frozen in place, not knowing how to defend himself.

"Well, y'ah know what she means," AJ said with a wink, teasing both her friends. "A'h should be angry at this, but honestly A'h rather have him dating y'ah than Dizzy."

"HEY!!!" the pale boy quickly realized he was digging himself deeper than his buddies. "Wait, THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M INTO HIM!"

"Does that mean I should tell Twilight that you're... busy, Flash?" Sunset blushed as she said that, but not as much as the two guys did.

"GIRLS!!!" They yelled in unison.

"Oh come on, we're just kidding!" Pinkie exclaimed, just to smirk once again and tease them. "Although why are you two still holding each other like that?"

Flash and Crowned quickly realized they were still holding arms like before, and separated immediately, looking a tad bit embarrassed by all this.

"Alright lovebirds, I think you should come with us," Sunset commented, making them blush further. "We have to plan how to recover the last element now."

The two boys looked at each other, still feeling a bit of embarrassment, but decided to follow her as she and the Rainbooms walked back into the school. Only Dizzy watched in hesitation, unsure if he wanted to follow them.

"Aren't you coming, Dizzy?" Pinkie asked him, and while he wanted to, he tried to dissimulate lacking enthusiasm.

"Well I... I'm not sure... but just in case, where are you going to be?"

"Oh you know, in the same classroom as always: third door on the left by the largest hall."

“O-okay… I might think about it”

Dizzy saw how Pinkie skipped away towards the classroom, and as soon as he made sure she couldn’t notice, he decided to follow her. He knew the other girls thought he was fed up with helping, so he was going to make sure to surprise them by suddenly joining them, having a bit of a knack for being a bit theatrical in his antics. But right when he was on the hallway where the classroom was, a familiar voice stopped him in his track.

“Dizzy!” Turning around to see who called his name, Dizzy was suddenly tackled by her girlfriend.

“Aaah, Coco! You really startled me this time!” he said with a smile.

“Where were you, my dear, and… oh dear, what happened to you?” She touched his face noticing a bruise in his face.

“Oh, that… I-I said something awful to Flash and he didn’t take it well,” the boy told to her couple.

“Ooow, I told you not to be grumpy around them, I thought we talked about it.” Coco stroked his bruise slightly, hoping it didn’t hurt.

“I know, I know, and it was my fault, but…” the pale student looked around, checking if there was nobody else, and said: “Hey, have you heard some rumors about Crowned?”

“I heard something, I think… is it true he’s dating two girls at the same time?” she asked curiously.

“Well, yes, and no. They aren’t ‘dating’ per se, but he became friends with Octavia and Applejack… really close friends.”

“Wow, that sounds kinda crazy.”

“I know, right?” Dizzy said with a bit of annoyance, “I-I mean, do you imagine if something like that happened with us?”

“Huh? How so?” Coco wondered about what he meant.

“I- mean, if there was a friend that really that wanted to be with me and you had to share with her, would you do it?”

“...I-I don’t think Miss Rarity would have interest in you. Much less in a threesome,” Coco said, misunderstanding what his boyfriend was saying.

“WHAT?! No, that wasn’t what I tried to say!” Dizzy said blushing like crazy.

“Then what were you implying?” she looked at him suspiciously, while he seemed a bit more confused than anything.

“I was just... I didn’t mean… N-Never mind,” he said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“By the way, where were you heading, my dear?”

“Oh, w-well…” Dizzy was aware he couldn’t tell her about the whole Elements ordeal, so he tried to come with an excuse. “Rarity wanted to ask me for a favor, i-it’s something quick, it won’t take long!”

Before Coco could even question that excuse, his boyfriend rushed to meet the other girls, wondering what just happened.

“...what is he up to now?”

---

Meanwhile with the Rainbooms, they had already reunited again in the usual classroom, discussing their next movement to recover the last of the elements.

“...and thanks to Applejack, we now have five of the six elements with us,” Sunset explained to the other girls, pointing to the collar in Pinkie’s neck. “But of course, she couldn’t have done it without the help of our new ally here, Octa… via…”

Sunset crossed her arms and looked unamused as she noticed how Tavi was more focused on her friend Crowned, who simply enjoyed feeling his head between a couple of soft planets as she hugged him like a plushie. The other girls noticed this and giggled a bit, just as she realized how they were staring at them.

“Oh! Uhm, thank you, girls,” she said, a bit embarrassed of being caught holding his closest friend like that. “It… uh… sure feels nice to lend a hand saving our school.”

“Hehe, if y’ah have a hard time focusing, then A’h shall take our little friend for a while.” Applejack reached for Crowned and pulled him towards her chest, like if he actually was a doll… not that he minded.

“Paradise…” he uttered enjoying the warmth of his apple friend.

Everyone but Sunset laughed at this, blushing a bit from their little antics.

“You’re quite the lucky guy, aren’t you, Crowned?” Flash teased him, just as Sunset was losing a bit her patience.

“Enough, please. Remember, we need to focus if we really want to save Canterlot High from the shadows.” As everyone else finally shut down, Sunset picked up the notebook they retrieved from the “Shady Guy”, reading from the notes scribbled into it. “Now, according to these hints, there is only one place where the last Element should be…”

Just as she spoke, Dizzy sneaked inside the room in silence, hoping to not catch the attention from anyone. Wanting to make a surprise entrance, he was the one surprised when Sunset finished her statement:

“...And that place is no other that the School’s Clock Tower.”

“WAIT! ...did you just say ‘Clock Tower’?” He didn’t care that his surprise was now busted, Sunset had caught all the attention of the pale boy.

“I… Did… Never expected you to be here, Dizzy,” Sunset felt a bit nervous of seeing him.

“Well, I-I just happened to stroll by, that’s all,” the boy said as an excuse. “So, what about the clock tower? What’s in there?”

“Oh, Sunset said the last element was in there,” Fluttershy told him, and everybody expected a different reaction from him rather than an enthusiastic…

“Can I join you, then?”

The room suddenly went silent, as everyone stared awkwardly at him in disbelief.

“...What?”

“Huh, you?! But I remember you wanting us to never involve you on anything like this again!” Flash exclaimed in shock.

“I did?! I-I mean… You've already done a lot for me and… well, this is the last element so… I-I just wanted to help, alright?” Everyone seemed suspectful about this sudden altruism from Dizzy.

“Hmmmh, are you sure this is just out of being a goodfella?” Pinkie inquired, looking directly to his eyes.

“S-SURE SURE! Why else would I help?” the boy smiled widely, albeit a bit nervously.

“I don’t knoooow…” Pinkie said distrustfully, before yelling: “Girls, GATHER AROUND!”

The rest of the Rainbooms stood up and gathered in a circle, discussing about if letting him help.

“Is it just me, or is Dizzy being a liiiiitle bit too generous?” the pink girl said to her companions.

“Pinkie’s right,” Rainbow replied, “how often does that sucker offer to help anyone? Well, asides from…”

“I know what you’re gonna say, don’t you dare bring that up,” Sunset knew she was going to mention his crush for her, and the less they spoke of it, the better.

“Okay, okay, but still it does sound suspicious.”

“A’h agree with Rainbow, there’s something strange about him suddenly feelin’ like lending a hand for us.”

“I don’t know, Applejack, maybe he genuinely wants to help,” Rarity said to his defense. “I saw him the day when he helped me, and he didn’t seem as annoyed as he made it sound.”

“And, no offense, but… didn’t you say we might need as much help as possible?” Fluttershy said looking at Sunset.

“Well, yes, I said it, but…”

“But, we can always get a bit of help from a pal,” Rarity said. “I mean, Coco keeps talking about how he…”

“Not a single word, Rarity.” Sunset stared down at her friend, as she realized her mistake.

“Oopsie.”

Meanwhile, Dizzy waited for their verdict, as Flash and Crowned approached him to talk with their buddy.

“Well, can’t say I’m not surprised that you’re helping us, Dizzy,” Flash said enthusiastically.

“What can I say? I like being unpredictable,” he responded with glee, as he noticed how Crowned was looking at him unamused.

“Crowned, why are you looking at me like that?”

“...I was cozy before you arrived,” his friend responded, comically inflating his cheeks like a toddler.

“...Seriously?” Dizzy wasn’t very pleased to be reminded of his situation. “Do you have to constantly remind us you're dating two girls?”

“W-We aren’t dating, we're just really close friends, and they were the ones who chose that!” Crowned was blushing immensely as he tried to come with excuses, “A-And I seriously love them both, I can’t help but be their mutual friend after all.”

“D-don’t try to fool me, I know you convinced them of double-dating you! Hell, I’m sure you only pretended to not choose any of them just Flash could win that bet!” Dizzy yelled at him as he shook Crowned vigorously, making him almost drop his crown.

“WOAHWOAHWOAH CALM DOWN!!!” The blue boy managed to get out of his grip, as he explained: “I SWEAR, I ACTUALLY TOLD THEM I WASN’T DATING ANY OF THEM! They later showed up at my house and told me they agreed to be just friends with me… really close friends… Uhm… so Flash took your money, huh?”

“DON’T CHANGE THE TOPIC!” Dizzy shook him further, before Flash separated them.

“Okay, enough with that, Dizzy. Why does that even bother you so much? Do you…” In that moment, Flash comprehended what was going on, and his expression was enough to worry his pale pal. “Is it…”

“Flash… Don’t. Say. Anything.” Dizzy was feeling nervous, knowing he got busted.

“Ooooahohoo, I’ll do!” He leaned closer to his friend, and with a smug smile he said: “Are you jealous that Crowned has two nice girls on his side and want the same for you and-”

“SHUT UP, FLASH!!!”

“Am I lying?”

“...no,” Dizzy finally admitted, with much resignation. “If only I was as lucky as him and get Coco and Sunset together… Yeah, I envy him, you happy, Flash?”

“Oh Dizzy…” Flash sighed as he approached to his pal. “Let me tell you something: I already knew you still had something for Sunset, but… Some people are just born lucky, and Crowned is one of them. It’s like winning the lottery, and our dear ‘king’ truly won the big prize.”

“Thanks… I guess?” The boy with a crown said, turning from blue to red from his comment.

“...why did you have to be so lucky, Crowned?” Dizzy wept, dropping to the floor in a mix of shame and a bit of sadness.

After discussing it for a while, the Rainbooms approached the boys as Sunset told them their decision.

“Okay, so we talked about this and we’ve decided that… Why are you weeping on the floor, Dizzy?” She asked confused when he saw her pale friend, who quickly tried to brush it off.

“Uhm… I-I felt down, and got something in my eye,” he lied. Thankfully they believed him, except for AJ, who simply raised an eyebrow at his comment.

“Oh, okay. Now, we talked about it and, even if we have five of the elements already and enough power to recover the element… We would always need a couple of hands to help us, so you, Crowned and Flash shall come with us.”

“Wait, for real?!” Dizzy said in excitement.

“Indeed. I mean, the last element? The shadows might as well have their strongest defenses against us, and they don’t expect non-magic users to assault them as well. We need to be ready for everything, especially since we’re dealing with a powerful kind of entity.”

“Wait, you said ‘entity’?” Flash expressed confusion at her reveal.

“Yes, remember I told you I found something?” Taking an old book from her backpack, Sunset placed it in a desk and opened it on a page depicting shadowy creatures similar to the shadows they had been facing. The rest of the team got around the book and looked at it as Sunset described its content. “I found this old book about ancient legends and mythical creatures, including ancient monsters and dark beings, and there I found about these creatures called ‘The Unbodies’.”

“The Un-what now?” some of the girls asked in unison.

“The Unbodies are magical beings, born from concentrated dark magic that was released. These creatures try to steal whatever magic lies inside other creatures to feed from it by attaching to their shadows, and those who have large quantities of magic imbued to their beings tend to feel weakened after an Unbody feeds from them.”

“Oooh! So that’s why we all felt that limp and flaccid when they attacked us?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Exactly. The only way to defend ourselves from them is either lacking magic, or using magic in its purest form, just like the one stored in the Elements of Harmony. The Unbodies cannot feed from pure magic as it repels them, and non-magical beings can’t be weakened by them either.”

“Well we got both now with us here, so it should be easy, right, Sunset?” Dizzy noticed that she looked more concerned, even perhaps scared. “Sunset?”

“It’s… not as simple as it sounds, Dizzy,” she said coldly, as she turned the page and showed more sketches of the creatures. “The Unbodies are composed only of magic, so if they don’t get a attached to a host, their magic disperses and they disappear. Imagine them as balloons: with time, gas leaks out of them, so the more magic they have in them, the more dangerous they are.”

“So what? We just give them the boot and…”

“I’m not done yet, Rainbow.” Everyone stared at Sunset with more worry. “Because of that, the Unbodies have found a way to keep their magic from dispersing: Feeding on emotions, more precisely on negative emotions. They search for those with darkness in their hearts and feed from them. Usually, they tend to switch hosts constantly, trying to find one with enough dark feelings inside them, to whom they attach until they take the physical appearance of their host.”

Everybody in the room exchanged looks of concern, wondering how bad this had been going. AJ and Octavia both looked over to Flash, who seem to be the most upset from all this, and they remembered the doppelganger they had face days before; Dizzy meanwhile thought about the clone of him that he encountered back a couple weeks ago, and was the first to ask Sunset about it.

“Uhm, Sunset? H-How bad is this?”

“Very bad…” Taking a bunch of photos from her bag, Sunset dropped them all over the desk for them to see. “These were all taken from everyone in school.”

The Rainbooms and pals stared at the pictures carefully, and noticed something frightening on them: In each one of them, the students had shadows that didn’t match them. Some looked more monstrous than others, just like the shadow monsters they had been facing throughout the month.

“That’s how the Unbodies have been surviving all this time,” Sunset explained to them, “they attach to a host, take what they need and then change their hosts. They absorb magic from the portal in our school and keep it inside them by feeding on the emotions of everyone. That’s why they suddenly became vulnerable to our magic, they’ve been spreading throught the school, and feeding on our emotions gave them more power… And that’s why we need to find that last Element before they can gain a more powerful form.”

All of the girls saw the worry on her face, and understood perfectly what she was talking about.

“Well, what are we waiting for? LET’S GO GET THAT ELEMENT NOW!!!” Rainbow yelled in a heroic fashion.

“W-Wait, Rainbow,” Fluttershy held her friend for a moment, “a-aren’t the principals and the maintenance team the only ones who know how to reach inside the clock tower?”

“Heh heh, nice of y’ah to ask,” Applejack said, as she grabbed something from inside Sunset’s backpack, “because Tavi here found this the other day…”

Placing it on the desk, she revealed it to be blueprints of the school’s design.

“So this is the thing you kept talking about?” Dash asked to her partner.

“Eeyup, we found it there, although A’h still can’t understand why.”

“Maybe they just left it there when the shadows… I mean, the Unbodies scared everyone out?” Fluttershy commented, looking at the blueprints.

“I don’t know, this doesn’t look like it was abandoned and more like it was deliberately hidden right there.”

“Sunset, do y’ah think there’s someone behind all this?” AJ asked to her friend, feeling she was suspecting the same thing.

“I don’t just think that, I feel that there is some dark secret buried in this school… perhaps with our luck that secret will surface once we’ve dealt with the Unbodies.”

“Hopefully… But we can leave that for another day,” Octavia said as she cracked her knuckles. “For now, let’s focus on getting ready to assault that tower!”

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement, giving Sunset a bit of confidence and hope.

“Good. Now, we need some time to get ready and figure out the best path to the tower.” Sunset turned towards the boys and leaning towards Flash she said: “Flash, I need you to look over Twilight and protect her. The Unbodies can still target her, and we don’t want to put her in unnecessary risk.”

“Understood.”

“Dizzy, Crowned, if you’re gonna help us, it could be helpful if you train with Flash in the meantime. We shall attack on Friday after school, when there’s nobody who would get endangered.”

“W-Wait, training?!” Dizzy protested immediately, remember how ‘well’ his previews training went. “I-I DON’T NEED MORE TRAINING, I CAN PERFECTLY HANDLED THE SI-”

“It’s been weeks since your last training, buddy,” Flash interrupted him to his annoyance. “You still need to de-rust a bit if you want to last that day.”

“T-THAT’S BECAUSE I WAS BUSY WITH ‘YOU KNOW WHO’!”

“EHEM…” Sunset quickly tried to forget that mention as she focused on the rest of the Rainbooms. “Girls, I need you to practice with your elements, too… or your sable in the case of Tavi.”

“Consider it done, girl!” Tavi boasted, as Crowned fawned over her friend.

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to study the blueprints to find the right path to the towers as well as read more about the Unbodies. If we want to destroy them, we need to be ready for anything.”

In that moment, the school bell rang announcing the classes were about to start.

“Well, I’ll be taking the guys to their classroom,” Flash said, as he began leaving along with Dizzy and Crowned.

“See ya later, my Apple and... Muse,” Crowned said to his friends, as they blushed at his comments.

“Muse?” Octavia was the one who got more flustered. “I like it, sounds cute.”

Following them, the rest of the Rainbooms left to their classrooms, at least until only Applejack and Sunset remained in the room. Sunset looked down to the floor, sighing with worry.

“...Ye’r still thinking about that, right?” Applejack asked her friend, noticing her being upset.

“Like you have no idea…” Sunset turned her head towards the farmer girl, knowing fully she could trust her. “Do you really think this is all happening because of… well, that day?”

Applejack let out a long sigh, and trying to be as honest as possible without hurting her friend, she said:

“Sunset, A’mh not gonna blame y’ah for this whole ‘Unbody’. Yeah, y’ah screwed up with the whole Crown incident, but that doesn’t mean everything bad has to be y’er fault.”

“But what if it is?! What if these shadows are becoming stronger because of me?! I just can’t get this feeling off my back.”

Sunset was about to break into tears, and her friend was trying desperately to be supportive to her. It was then that she remembered something from last week, something that she needed to tell solely to the broken girl by her side and no one else.

“Sunset, A’h just remembered… Last Friday, when Tavi and A’h recovered the Element… we saw someone in the abandoned room.”

“Wait, what? WHAT?” The golden girl’s eyes opened with shock. “W-Who did you see there?!”

“...Flash. Well, actually a shadow version of him.”

With this new info, Sunset was now more concerned about how this could affect their plan.

“Why would the Unbodies took his shape?”

“Well, we all know Flash used to have… quite a bad reputation,” she reminisced, back to her earliest years in high school. “Do you think he still feels guilty about his past? Just like me?”

The farmer girl remained thoughtful about it. It was true, they all believed that Flash had left his past behind, but it was possible that after meeting Twilight a part of his guilt might’ve resourced as a consequence.

“So what do y’ah think we must do?”

“Quite simple: We must keep this a secret from Flash. Unless we want us to rekindle his guilt, it’s better to keep him protecting Twilight while we take down the rest of the Unbodies. And now that both Dizzy and Crowned are helping us, we can count on them and keep Flash as far from this. If this... "Dark" Flash encounters him, it might bring him to despair, and I'm sure that he's waiting for us at the clock tower..."

"...Expecting us to arrive with Flash. A'h wanna see his face when he sees our friends instead." Applejack patted her friend in the back, as she prepared to go back to classes. "Come on, Sunset, we have the rest of the week to prepare."

"You're right... We still got time to think this plan through."

The two girls left the empty classroom and back to their routine, as Sunset reflected on what her friend just told him. If the Unbodies had copied Flash's appearance, who's to say they didn't do the same with her? Worse... what if they copied her "other" self?

---

Later that day after classes, Flash reunited his friends again at the gym, Dizzy completely opposed to the idea of training again.

"I'm telling you, I'm so ready to climb that clock tower!" he protested, inflating his cheeks in a "really mature" way. "I'm so ready for anything."

"Dizzy, seriously, why are you suddenly feeling so confident about this?" Flash looked at him suspiciously, knowing pretty well that wasn't something he would be saying.

"Oh, well... L-Let's just say that this was made for me... In fact, I was born ready for this day!" The goofy grin on his face and the hesitation on his voice revealed the truth behind it.

"Dizzy... please don't tell me this is all because of-" Dizzy rushed to shut Flash's mouth before he spoke, but that only helped to make Crowned doubt of his word.

"Why are you stopping Flash from talking? ...what are you trying to hide, Dizzy?" Even his close friend was now raising an eyebrow at him.

"N-NOTHING! I-IT'S JUST HE WAS GONNA SAY SOMETHING EMBARRASSING AND.... O-ON SECOND THOUGHTS I MIGHT NEED SOME TRAI-"

Despite his effort to backpedal, Flash slapped him in the head and separated him from his side.

"Stop it, Dizzy! Don't think I don't know you're just doing this because you're being reminded of your 'videogame' fantasy." The sudden blush in the pale boy's face confirmed this to Flash. "I know you too well, buddy. I mean, a Clock Tower full of monsters?"

"Wait, ARE YOU REALLY JUST HELPING BECAUSE YOU'RE REMINDED OF A VIDEOGAME?!" Despite being his friend for a while, the crowned boy had a hard time believing him right now.

"COME ON, FLASH, YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE VIDEOGAMES! YOU KNOW ME BETTER THAN ANYONE THAT THE CLOCK TOWER IS ALWAYS MY FAVORITE PART!"

The other two boys face palmed at the same time, hearing his ridiculous excuse to join them.

"You are a giant dumbass, Dizzy," Flash said, still processing his silly excuse.

"Maybe he is, but... at least he's motivated to help, that's something?" Crowned shrugged, not knowing how to defend that.

"Well, I guess..." Despite his disbelief, Flash had to agree that at least meant they a couple of hands more to aid. "In that case let's not lose more time and get back to training. Now... GIVE ME 500 PUSH-UPS, NOW!!!"

"OOWWW, FLAAAAASH!!!" Crowned and Dizzy yelled in unison, having to follow his harsh training for the rest of the afternoon... And the following four days.

---

Through the course of the week, the Rainbooms and the Dorks both got prepared for the upcoming Friday, where they would execute their final movement to end the menace of the Unbodies. Flash trained the boys in self-defense and basic training to endure the harsh battle they were going to face, while Sunset and friends studied the blueprints of the school to find the path to the Tower, as well as figuring out all the defenses the "shadows" had set for them. Finally, Friday arrived, and the boys wouldn't be happier as they barely managed to take a breath in the cafeteria during lunch break.

"Oh geez, are you two okay?" Norman said when he passed by and noticed them nearly passing out.

"...Nooope," was their response.

"Man, you don't look... normal. W-What even happened to you?"

"We went through General Flash's Death Camp all week long," Dizzy said, feeling his head... dizzy.

"I can't feel my legs..." Crowned cried quietly, much to Norman's shock.

"B-But why did you do that on the first place?"

Fully aware they had to keep their mission a secret, they tried coming up with excuses.

"UUUUUHM... T-To be in shape like my friends?" the blue student said, reminding Norman of his... 'special' friendship with AJ and Tavi.

"...why did I bother asking?" he groaned, before going on a rant. "YOU KNOW THAT ISN'T NORMAL?! You can't just expect to girls to be your close friends and-"

"Don't waste your time, Norman, I've said the same 300 times this week to him," his pale friend said, still catching his breath.

"Oh, well... you're still a fool anyways, it's not normal you have two 'best friends'," the normal boy said, clearly jealous of his luck.

"...But they're so nice!" Crowned said with his silly grin all over his face, only to be weakly smacked by Dizzy.

"Crowned... shut up."

Suddenly, a pink blur rushed towards them, stopping right behind the boys.

"HEY GUYS, WAKE UP!!!" Pinkie's iconic voice resounded on their poor ears.

"AAAAAAHHH!!!" The two boys jumped from their seats, only to be grabbed by the pink girl.

"QUICK, COME WITH ME!" Without waiting an instant, Pinkie pulled them by their shirts and left with both guys towards their usual meeting place.

"...That wasn't normal at all," was the only thing Norman would say about it.

---

A few seconds later, Pinkie arrived with the boys and sat them on a couple of chairs.

"GOT' EM!!!" She proudly exclaimed, as she rushed to her place with her friends.

"...H-How did he do that?" Crowned said in disbelief.

"...Don't ask, just accept it," responded Dizzy, already used to her antics.

"Thanks for bringing them, Pinkie," Sunset Shimmer said, as she placed the blueprints on the desk in the classroom. "Now that you're all here, I'll get to the point: After reading these prints, it seems that there is no other entrance to the Clock Tower other than in the abandoned section."

"Wait, just through the abandoned parts?"

"I'm afraid so, Crowned. That means we might be dealing with a lot of Unbodies on our way. Hopefully there are still cracks in the walls, so we might not be totally in the dark."

"But, if the only way in is through a zone that has been barricaded for years, how has the school given maintenance to the clock?!" Crowned couldn't understand it, until Pinkie said it bluntly:

"Uhm, they use a crane? D'uuuh!"

"...why didn't I thought about that?" Now he was feeling silly, gaining a couple giggles from his two friends and Dizzy.

"The point is..." Sunset growled, trying to get back to the topic, "We'll need to do this tomorrow at high noon. There won't be any students here so we'll have nothing to be afraid of, and with the Sun on our side, there won't be many Unbodies on guard."

"Wait... Y-YOU SAID TOMORROW?! NOT TODAY?!"

"You got a problem with that, Dizzy?" Rainbow asked to the pale student, with a bit of threat in her voice.

"W-Well... You see... Tomorrow I was planning to- Uhm..." Dizzy felt a bit indecisive, thinking about his plans of asking Coco on another date... And maybe something else. "I-I mean, even if Sunset wants, I could..."

"HE WOULD GLADLY COME TOMORROW HELP YOU!" Crowned covered his buddy's mouth before he spoke too much, and to his ear he whispered: "Dude, I know you want Coco and Sunset to get along to see if you... get as lucky as me, but this is a very serious moment. You have time to think about it later, but now the school needs us."

Knowing his friend was right, Dizzy sighed in resignation and said:

"Y-Yeah... I-I was gonna say I'll be tomorrow here. I-I can postpone my date to next week."

"Thank you guys, you don't know how much you're helping us out."

"Hey, that's what we are fo-" In that moment, Crowned realized someone was missing in the room. "Wait, where is Flash? I thought he was gonna-"

"Flash is busy right now with Twilight. He... He cannot come with us," the boys looked at Sunset with uneasiness, wondering why she had decided to exclude him.

"A-Any reason for that, Sunset?"

"J-Just that we need to protect Twilight, Dizzy. That's all there is." Even if she sounded so sure of herself, the pale boy felt there was something off about it.

"I-I see..."

"Forget about Flash right now, Dizzy. He has his mission, and we have ours, ok?" Dash said, sounding more than excited for the following day. "Hope you're ready, girls! Tomorrow we're making our final assault!"

Everyone in the room began cheering, getting ready for the upcoming battle... ignoring that, just outside the classroom, Flash was hearing it all, aware of why they had assigned him to watch over Twilight.

"...I understand what you're trying to do, Sunset," Flash told himself as he walked away from the classroom. "But I just cannot let you deal with my own faults by yourselves..."

---

The following Saturday at midday, the Rainbooms arrived at the school, followed by the two Dorks and their new musician friend.

"Alright, we're here, girls. Now, how do we get in?" Crowned said as he arrived alongside his friend.

"You just wait right here; I know a secret entrance." Saying that, Sunset left the group waiting as she ran around the school, looking for her secret passage.

While they waited, the team took the time to take another look at the "map" Sunset had designed from the info in the blueprints, preparing for their assault.

"Hoo-weeh!" Applejack exclaimed, looking at the detailed map of the tower." One usually doesn' pay attention to these details, but… Whoa, the Clock Tower is quite high when you look at it."

"Now that you mention, yeah. It's definitely not gonna be easy..." Octavia said, noticing what her friend pointed out. Feeling that was a right moment to talk, the musician looked at the girls and commented: "Uhm, girls? Can... Can I tell you something?”

"Sure, darling, tell us," Rarity responded.

"Well, it's just... I can't help but thank you for accepting me so... quickly. I-I thought you could easily reject me and..."

"Tavi, not only are y'ah one of the best swordswoman A'hve ever seen, y'er also really smart and mature..." Tavi couldn't help but smile at her friend's words. "Besides, y'er both mine and Crowned's best friend, and A'h believe that's enough reason for us to trust that y'ah will keep this a secret."

"Thanks, Jackie," the musician responded with a smile.

Shortly after that, Sunset opened the school doors from inside the building, and after certifying nobody else was passing by, she made a signal to call the team inside. Quickly, everyone ran inside, as Sunset closed the doors again, just in case anyone happened to arrive.

---

After wandering through the empty school for a while, the team arrived at the tower's door without much trouble, when they noticed multiple chains keeping it locked.

"Uhm, anyone has an idea?" Fluttershy said worried, not expecting that kind of lock.

"Allow me." Octavia took a look at the chains, and making a sign for the girls to give her space, she grabbed her sable and with a quick slash cut through the steel, breaking the chains.

"WOAH!" Rainbow exclaimed in amazement, while the others' jaw dropped in surprise... All except AJ, who simply giggled at her show of skill.

"I know, I'm good at this."

"Well, what are we waiting for!" Pinkie said excited, as she opened the door.

Losing no time, everyone went inside the tower, but not before Crowned noticed something about the broken chains on the floor.

"Wait a second," he called the attention of the rest of the girls, holding a segment of the broken chain in his hands. "Girls, I need you to look at this."

The Rainbooms all surrounded the boy, looking at what he was holding.

"Don't you notice something weird on these chains?"

"Well, let me see..." Rarity looked at the chains, and realized what Crowned meant. "You're right: they look awfully clean."

"Yeah, almost like they're new..."

The girls exchanged looks of concern, not knowing how to feel about this.

"Uhm, maybe the principals have been using this path and we didn't know?" Fluttershy commented, to which Pinkie replied.

"I don't know; don't they always use a crane to fix the tower?"

"Not only that," the fashionista grabbed the chains, as she distinguished her reflection on the metal, "this chains are shining new!"

The girls were now really shocked, not knowing what to think. The other people who knew about the abandoned section and the entrance to the tower were the Principals, and they didn't want to suspect from the beloved heads of Canterlot High.

"Do you think they're hiding something here?" Crowned asked, looking troubled by the discovery.

"I don't know, Crowned, but we'll have to worry about it later, after being done with this." Tavi tried to calm his friend... that is, until she noticed something. "By the way, have any of you seen Dizzy?"

Her answer came in the form of a gleeful squee, calling the attention of everyone as they saw the pale student looking above him, with the happiest grin he has ever had since he got a girlfriend:
Above them, large gears moved along rusty chains, with the sunlight filtering from between cracks of a wooden upper floor. For Dizzy, this was like a dream come true.

"Whoa, I never imagined it would look like this!" Sunset said in surprise. "Is this what amazed you, Dizzy? ...Dizzy?"

Dizzy appeared to be petrified... with the stupidest smile printed over his face.

"This... This is my place. I'm in my natural element." Out of nowhere, Dizzy pulled out a leather whip with a metal tip.

"What in the... SERIOUSLY, DIZZY?!" Crowned couldn't believe what he was watching.

"Is... Is that a whip?" Sunset said, not understanding what was going on in his head.

But before they could say anything, the madman used the whip to grapple on one of the chains, holding it firmly as he began raising up the tower, much to the bewildment of everyone else.

"COME ON, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!" He yelled in excitement, as he somehow swung himself into one of the moving gears, using it as a platform. Everyone below wouldn't believe what they were seeing.

"O-kay... And I thought Pinkie was a little off," Dash said in complete stupefaction.

"HEEEY!!!"

"Do we have to worry or..."

"Dizzy REALLY loves videogames with clock tower levels." Crowned explained unamused.

"Ooooooh!" Everyone said... right before face palming, realizing how stupid he was acting.

"I'll make sure he doesn't end up killing himself," Rainbow said as she used her Element to sprout pony ears, tail and wings, opening flight near Dizzy.

"There should be a stairway nearby for us," Sunset commented, pointing at the wooden ladder leading up the tower. "We gotta hurry, I have a bad feeling about this, even with the sun still up."

The rest of the team quickly climbed up the tower through the wooden platforms built for maintenance. Dizzy meanwhile did all sorts of crazy jumps and stunts, sometimes with Rainbow having to catch him before he felt face first into a moving gear, yet nothing could vanish the utter glee he was experiencing.

"...Seriously, what got into him?" Rarity asked, concerned about his sanity.

"I've never seen him so... cheerful and excited," Pinkie said, even shaking a little. "It almost feels wrong."

"Well, he's really into videogames, and everyone has their favorite franchises and all that," Crowned explained them, before looking at Dizzy with complete unamusement. "Although you'll never see me going down pipes or eating mushrooms like him."

"And thank goodness for that" Everyone let a small giggle at Applejack's comment, as they continued going upwards.

But as they kept climbing to the upper floor, Sunset couldn’t help but feel something was wrong, even if it seemed like nothing was out of place.

"Girls, don't you think this is very calm?"

"Now that you mention it... Yes." Fluttershy realized the same thing her friend was thinking. "Didn't you say the Unbodies would have their strongest forces waiting for us?"

"Yes, I did... This is very strange."

"Maybe we truly took them by surprise," Octavia said, as the rest of the team agreed on that.

"Perhaps you're right... Anyways, remember, we gotta focus and not distract ourselves like..." A large "Woo!" was heard from above them, followed by the loud groan of a certain rainbow-haired girl. "...like our pasty-faced friend."

They all shared a collective groan, as they finished climbing the tower. Once on the top floor, Dizzy was already waiting alongside a very tired Rainbow Dash.

"Waaaay ahead of you!" Dizzy boasted, holding his whip like if he was some sort of vampire hunter.

"Yeah... But only because I kept you alive, moron!" The blue girl complained, as her friends walked towards her.

"So the last Element should be here, right Sunset?"

"Yes, it should..." Sunset looked around the room, noticing only boxes on the sides, gathering dust and spider webs. "It must be on one of those boxes, there's nowhere else to hide them."

"But that's why we came here early, we have all the time in the world," Dizzy said cockily. "I mean, the Unbodies can't appear unless there is no light, and we have clear skies for-"

Like if tempting fate, the sky began to darken, as mysterious clouds began covering the Sun, slowly leaving the tower in complete darkness.

"Wait, d-didn't they predict open skies today?" Crowned asked nervous, as he exchanged looks with the rest of his companions.

Realizing what this meant, they all exchanged looks of concern before rushing to the boxes, quickly checking inside them hoping to find the stone before the shadows arrived.

"Quick! We have not much time," Sunset hurried everyone, as the each opened a box and searched for the stone. "This is the only place they would've hidden it."

"But how do you expect us to find them fast among all these-" Luckily for them, Dizzy managed to find the stone right on the box he opened. "Oh. Like this."

Everyone turned towards him and rushed to his side as he picked up the stone... But he should've seen that it was an obvious trap.

"You've really pushed me all my limits... Congrats." An ominous voice echoed through the room, as a shadowy hand grabbed Dizzy from inside the box by the wrist, right before another hand rose and took the Element of his hand. Terrified, the boy screamed and barely managed to shake off the shadow, as a dark mist began covering the room, and giving the impression it somehow grew wider than before. While Dizzy slowly retreated, the darkness inside the box began taking a physical form, one resembling that of a certain friend.

"I-Is that... Is that Flash?!" Fluttershy said scared, hiding behind of Sunset.

"Of course not, it's just one of those Unbodies," she said defiantly, looking at the shadowy being in front of her with no fear.

"Well, well! If it isn't the lovely bad girl everyone loves to hate," Dark Flash said mockingly, much to the irritation of Sunset.

"Shut your mouth! Girls, you know what to do."

Losing no time, the girls grabbed their necklaces and blasted their magic against the shadow... Who simply let out a yawn.

"Predictable." Before any of the beams would hit him, a barrier of darkness rose with a single movement of his hand, blocking the power of the Elements. Everyone gasped and backed up a few steps away.

"How did he do that?!" Rainbow reacted in shock

"Do you think I was gonna be like one of my inferior minions?" Giving them no time to react, the Unbody summoned several hands from beneath the team and held them in place, as they struggled to get free from their grasp.

"HOW'S HE TOO STRONG?! IT WAS MIDDAY AND THE SKY WAS CLEAR!" As an unwanted answer, Dark Flash warped in front of Dizzy, making him back as much as he would with the shadow grabbing him.

"Well, to put it simply... That was all me."

"Uh... Oh..." Pinkie muttered, realizing what was going on.

"W-What do you mean with that?" Crowned asked, looking terrified from their dilemma.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Dark flash giggled mockingly, as a cocky grin appeared on his face. "Well, if you insist... You've been meddling far too long with my plans, what with sneaking inside a closed school just to get your precious element, so I was forced to use my powers to... let's say, even the odds. Any more questions, smartasses?"

"What do you want with the Elements?" Sunset roared in anger.

"Isn't it obvious, sweet-heart? Wasn't my little show of darkness enough clue for you?" the Unbody gleefully said, letting out an evil cackle. "Sure, it was nice feeding from your weak human energy, but it was the Original Element of Magic that brought us here, so of course when the Elements of Harmony of this world appeared, we wouldn't let the chance pass by, don't you agree?"

"And what are you even planning? To enslave an entire school full of teenage students to do your biding? Even I realize now how stupid that is!"

"Hmhmhmhmh... You clearly have no idea, do you?" Sunset began to feel unnerved, shocked by the absolute confidence in Dark Flash. "Did you really think the school is our end goal? That after taking control of this place we would move to Equestria and risk encountering the Princesses? No... We have something more in mind. Something bigger and better! And the only thing we need to succeed... is keeping you away from this element for just a little longer."

Sunset stared at the dark creature, feeling nervous and even a bit afraid, but she had confidence in her friends, in that they were going to get out of that anyway possible, and she defied the creature with a determined voice.

"Listen to me: I don't care about your plans, because we both know this will end with you loosing. We'll take that element, and we'll destroy you and your forces for impersonating our friends. Maybe you can defend from our magic, but you can't take it away from us, and one Unbody is something five Elements can take out."

A sinister grin appeared on Dark Flash's face, as he began laughing manically, until he erupted into an insane fit of laughter.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK I'M A SIMPLE SHADOW?! No... I'm fear itself, darkness incarnated, THE FORCE THAT WILL CRUSH YOU UNDER ITS FEET! AND NOW, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU DROWN IN ETERNAL DAR-"

To everyone's astonishment, Dark Flash was suddenly hit with a staff, his physical form proving a weakness. Slamming into a wall, he lost control of the shadows holding the Rainbooms, releasing them.

"AARGH! WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT?!"

"Maybe if you didn't brag about yourself, you would see that!" a familiar voice said from among the dark room.

The team then turned their heads to their right, and they wouldn't believe what they were seeing.

"FLASH?!" To everyone's shock, Flash was standing now where his copy used to be, holding a staff and looking ready to fight.

"Well, if it isn't the "guard" himself..." 'Dark' Flash said, 'cleaning' himself up and facing the real deal. "Nice job taking me by surprise."

"Don't think I'll ever let you touch them, freak," Flash boasted, aiming his weapon at his copy.

"Hmmm... What makes you think this won't go like last time, Flash?" hearing this, the Rainbooms turned to look at their friend, unsure of what that meant.

"Flash, what does he mean by 'last time'?" Sunset asked in confusion, not knowing what was going on.

Flash turned over to see them, and in a calm voice he said:

"I'll explain everything to you later, but we have to deal with this guy first."

Dark Flash simply smirked, letting out a loud cackle at them.

"HAHAHAHAHAH! IS THE PRETTY BOY PLAYING TO BE THE HERO AGAINST ME?! LET'S FACE IT, FLASH: YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A WASTE OF AIR, THAT'S WHAT YOU'LL ALWAYS BE!"

As the monster erupted into laughter, Flash showed genuine anger on his face, as he removed his jacket to reveal an armor underneath it, and then he attached a blade on the tip of his staff, turning it into a spear which then aimed to the neck of his shadow copy.

"I don't care what you think of me, but let me warn you: This time, you'll be the one going down, because I won't rest until you're gone. IN NAME OF MY FRIENDS, AND IN THE NAME OF PRINCESS TWILIGHT, I SHALL DESTROY YOU HERE AND NOW!"

"...so badass," Crowned whispered, earning an awkward stare from his friend Dizzy, who didn't know if feeling jealous or walking away.

Dark Flash looked astonished at the bravery of the boy, feeling annoyed by his determination.

"The nerve..." he said grinding his teeth, and then turned to face the Rainbooms. "You'll have to apologize me, girls, but this moron really wants to go first."

Trying to take him by surprise, the Unbody blasted a sphere of darkness at Flash, making him dodge and giving the creature a window to attack. But as soon he tried to ambush him, Flash swung his weapon against him, barely managing to block it. The Rainbooms tried to blast the monster at this chance, but once again he barely managed to stop them with a barrier.

"You're pretty impatient, aren't you?" Dark Flash giggled as he pulled out the last stone. "In that case, you can have some fun with my... girlfriend."

To their surprise, Dark Flash threw the stone right in front of the girls, before focusing back to Flash, as the two engaged in combat. Knowing there was a trap, Sunset ignored the stone and tried to run towards her friend... but was blocked by an invisible barrier, keeping her away from their battle.

"FLASH, WAIT!" she yelled, trying to stop her friend... but unfortunately for her, there was something worse about to happen.

"Uhm, Sunset?" Fluttershy said, pointing at the stone, suddenly floating in the air. "A-Are the elements supposed to do that?"

The yellow girl turned around, as everyone witnessed how the Element was surrounded by a dark silhouette, as it materialized into the worst possible thing for them.

"W-What..." it took a moment for her to notice, and when she did Sunset regretted it. "Oh no... No no no no NO NO!!!"

"Oh no, not again..." Applejack said, recognizing the large figure materializing in front of them.

Twice as tall as any of them, with a crimson skin, pitch-black eyes, red flames for hair, the raging she-demon from the past was standing right in front of them.

"AHAHAHAHAH!!! DID YOU MISS ME, SUNSET!?" the demon said in a mocking voice, looking at the terrified girl, as she was staring at the incarnation of her mistakes.

Sunset tried to gather strength to face her fears, but her legs were frozen in place, and her whole body trembled at the sight of the monster... that is, until a certain white boy stood next to her, wielding his whip as brave as he would act.

"Don't feel afraid, Sunset," he said, trying to sound heroic... and she would've yelled "That's what I'm trying" if her friends hadn't spoken first.

"Yeah, we'll take of her!" Rainbow claimed proudly, as the Rainbooms all stood near their friend, all with their Elements in hand.

"OH, WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!" The demon said, as she sparked a glowing ball of magic, throwing it at them.

The gang quickly moved away from the attack and blasted their elements at Demon Sunset, but the creature dodged their attack with ease, laughing at their attempt to destroy her.

"IS THAT ALL THAT YOU CAN DO?!" she yelled, as she dived towards Sunset, trying to grab her. Rainbow managed to push her friend out of her reach, but just barely.

"Phew, that sure was a close call!" she said as they both stood up.

"T-This is bad... We got to stop her, quick!" Shimmer yelled in panic, as the monster threatened to attack them. Rainbow grabbed her friend and flew out of the way from a magic blast, placing her far away from her reach. Sunset saw as her friend charged against the creature and tried to follow her, but was stopped when someone grabbed her by the arm.

"Sunset, wait!" Applejack shouted, pulling her friend away from the battle. "Y'ah can't simply approach her like that, it's too dangerous for y'ah!"

"But Applejack, she's..."

"A'h know, dear, but we have our magic to fight her, and you... Well..."

Sunset tried to reply to her, yet even she had to agree that being magic less she would not help much.

"Sorry, A'h really am, but it'll better if y'ah hide for now..." Applejack said with hesitation, before joining back with her friends battling the demon. Sunset looked at the Rainbooms, fighting the shadow of her own mistakes... and all she would do was hide. A single tear dropped from her face as she looked for a hideout, with a sensation of guilt eating her inside.

Meanwhile, helping the girls, Octavia and Crowned were busy trying to deal with the she-demon... or at least Tavi was, Crowned giving moral support.

"COME CLOSER, YOU COWARD, SO I CAN SLASH YOU!" she taunted the Demon Sunset, who angrily fired her magic at her, dodging the attack while pushing his friend away. "Are you okay, Crowny?"

"Uh, yeah yeah!" He said, his whole head shaking, crown still in place.

"This is getting too dangerous, dear," she said, helping her friend to stand up "I think you should find where to hide, I can deal with this creature!"

While he wanted to stay and protect her, Crowned knew pretty well she didn't need any of that.

"As you wish, my muse." Giving her a small kiss, Crowned ran to take shelter while the monster was distracted, as he saw Rainbow Dash managing to connect a kick to her gut, even if it did little to anything.

Finding a group of boxes nearby, Crowned jumped behind them, hoping the monster would find him there... Only to find a terrified white splatter trembling like crazy hidden already.

"Dizzy?! What are you doing here?!" He yelled at his friend.

"W-WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!?" Dizzy responded, fear noticeable in his voice.

"BUT YOU HAVE A WHIP! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD FIGHT FOR SUNSET!"

"AGAINST A DEMON?! MAYBE IF I WOULD TRANSFORM INTO A DEMON OR A VAMPIRE, THEN I..." the boy stopped talking when he noticed someone nearby. "Wait, is that Sunset?"

Turning his head around, Crowned also realized that Sunset was hiding just a couple of boxes away, looking at her friends fighting the Unbody impersonificating her. But right before he would wonder why she was hiding, Dizzy had already run towards the girl.
As he approached, he noticed the concern in her face, watching her friends fighting her demon alter-ego.

"Sunset? Is everything ok?" The boy asked, surprising the already shaken girl.

"GAH! DIZZY?! How did you... N-never mind, just leave me alone." Sunset tried to avoid looking at him, sounding in despair.

"Dizzy, what's going on?!" Crowned quickly approached to his friend, crouching to avoid another missed blast.

"Aren't you seeing?! That thing, monster, she-demon, whatever, she's... I-it's her, okay!?" Dizzy probably should’ve used different words to explain his friend, as Sunset began to feel even worse from that. "Sorry... Listen, I..."

"S-Shut up, Dizzy," she responded, clearly not feeling well. "This is all a nightmare... if only I could do anything..."

"Sunset..." the pale boy tried to comfort her, but once again she turned his aid down.

"Stop! I don't need comfort, I... I NEED TO DO SOMETHING... BUT I CAN'T! I can't..." Sunset was on the verge of tears, feeling completely useless. Dizzy then placed a hand over her shoulder, and continued:

"I-I know it must be hard to face your old past, how you were-" The girl was about to push him away, but then he proceeded, "-but, that doesn't mean you can't change. I mean, look at me."

Sunset turned her head towards him, feeling like he actually was saying something meaningful.

"Yeah, remember how I used to be? Before this moron changed my life?"

"HEY!" Crowned replied as his friend pointed at him, causing Sunset to giggle.

"Yes, yes, I remember," she replied, feeling a bit cheered up, "You haven't change that much."

"Y-Yet I am still here! I got myself into dangers I never expected to face... all because of a friend. You understand now?"

Sunset thought about his words for a second, starting to feel he had a point. She turned over for a moment, seeing how her friends barely managed to keep away from the monster, doubt filling her again.

"You might be right, but... How can I fight that thing without magic?"

"Come on, Sunset, if there's someone who can think how, it's you," Dizzy said in a flattering voice... the right words she needed to hear.

"Think... Think! That's it!" She stood up, feeling much more upbeat. "They need someone who guides them, someone who knows how to deal with them. Oh, thank you, friends!"

Both Crowned and Dizzy blushed as the girl hugged them in gratitude, the blue boy thankful neither AJ nor Tavi were watching him.

"Now listen, I think I know how to deal with her, but I'll need your help once again, guys, ok?"

"You can count on us, Sunset!" Crowned said cheerfully, as he and Dizzy ran back with the group, but then she stopped the pale boy for a moment, suddenly grabbing his arm. "Hey, Dizzy?"

"Uh, y-yes, Sunset?" his cheeks began to fluster, hearing her voice.

"There's something I need to ask you..." Sunset walked towards him, standing right next to the boy. "Do you think, if I was in a relationship like Crowned with AJ and Tavi... Would it work?"

Dizzy's heart began to pound really fast, his whole face turning red.

"I... I think it would..." Slowly, he leaned towards her friend, every moment closer to her.

"Thanks Dizzy... I hope Twilight and Flash see it the same way."

THUMP!

The noise echoed through the entire room, catching the attention of everyone.

"What the hell was that?" Sunset Demon wondered, before resuming her fight with the

As the battle continued, Sunset ran back with Applejack, who expressed shock to exposing herself to danger.

"Sunset, what in the hay are y'ah doin'?!" she yelled, as she dodged another blast from the demon. "A'h told y'ah to..."

"I know, but I can't leave you alone, especially with this problem!"

Pointing at the monster, AJ saw as the Sunset Demon repelled Dash's kick, just as a blast from Pinkie hit her in the chest. She let out a shriek of pain, and for a moment the Element Stone was visible from the hole left in impact... which immediately healed, as the demon laughed maniacally, launching her own blast to the pink girl, barely protected by Rarity creating a shield.

"...Alright, didn't see that one coming," Crowned said as he returned, dragging a white splatter with him.

"Crowned, Sunset, Y'ah really need to get somewhere safe? Or do y'ah have any ideas?"

Sunset thought about their situation: They needed to take away the stone to deal damage to the demon, but first they needed to deal damage to her...

"Now that you mention it..." she said confidently. "Wait for me, girls."

To everyone's surprise, Sunset suddenly ran right in front of her counterpart, sweating nervously but looking determined to help.

"SUNSET, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Rarity shouted to the flame-haired girl.

"Giving you some time to make a plan!"

The fashionista looked a bit confused at her answer, but then turned her head to see Applejack calling her and the others, as Sunset approached the giant She-demon.

"HEY, YOU OVERSIZED FREAK!" The angry she-demon was surprised to see Sunset, and smiled wickedly.

"Well, look who decided to finally show!" She said in a confident voice. "Finally decided to let me take care of you?"

"You wish... No, I'm here to face you, demon!"

The giant demon simply let out a sinister cackle, while preparing another magical blast.

"YOU?! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE MAGIC! Now, be a nice girl and LET ME FINISH YOU!"

When the shadow creature attacked, Sunset simply limited herself to dodge, hoping that she would keep all her attention to her. As she was distracting the monster, the rest of the girls had reunited away from her.

"Well, that should keep her distracted... Now does anyone have a plan?!" Rainbow asked anxiously, worried about her friend.

"Actually... I think I have one," Crowned responded, much to the surprise of everyone.

"You do? WELL TELL US NOW! Sunset can't keep her busy for long!" Rarity said, looking very concerned.

"Okay... Applejack?" The farmer girl turned her head towards Crowned with curiosity. "...I need you to throw Dizzy."

"Wait... d-did you say... THROW ME?!" Dizzy had just regained conscience and was now regretting his existence.

"...I'm liking this plan already," Applejack smirked. The rest looked a bit confused as to why. Crowned proceeded to explain:

"Listen, you need to attack her while she's distracted. In the air, Dizzy can use his whip to retrieve the Element from inside her when exposed, and that's when you can deliver the final blow."

"Yeah yeah, good plan and all, but... WHO'S GONNA CATCH ME?!"

"Hah! Don't worry, Dizzy! You have me for that!" Rainbow boasted.

"Uuuuhhhm..."

Suddenly, a loud yell called their attention: Sunset had barely dodged her alter-ego's attack, but was blown away by the blast and felt to the ground, getting cornered by the monster.

"GUESS NO TIME TO LOSE! APPLEJACK, NOW!!!"

"WAIT WAIT, I'M NOT READYYYYY!" Dizzy barely had time to scream before AJ flung him into the air, directly towards the Sunset Demon.

"Huh?!" Getting distracted, the demon just looked as the boy was flying towards her. "What in the world is... AARGH!!!"

Taking advantage from the distraction, the girls blasted their elements at the creature, exposing the Element once again.

"WHY, YOU LITTLE... WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS ALREA- AAAGHNOWWHAT?!" the Sunset Demon felt as something suddenly hit her, flinging the Element from inside her. "Oh no..."

"Heheh, not bad for a rookie vampire killer, don't you think?" Dizzy now boasted, being carried by Rainbow Dash.

"This isn't over..." the monster growled, as she landed trying to pick up the Element again. "This is but a mere..."

She wouldn't finish her sentence as she was blasted once again, this time without the stone to absorb magic from. Feeling her body breaking apart, the demon saw as Sunset picked up the stone, now being the one with the last laugh.

"Sorry for you, sad creature, but I will never be you again. Octavia?"

The musician walked near her friend, unsheathing her sable with glee.

"Now you'll feel what happens to those who dare impersonate my friends." With a confident smile, Octavia raised her weapon as it was bathed with the magic from the other girls, and with quick moves she sliced whatever was left from the demon, only a terrified expression remaining on her face.

As she sheathed her sword, the Sunset Demon shrieked in pain as light began to emanate from the slices, exploding in a cloud of white sparks.

"That was the last of her... We did it, girls..." Sunset smiled as she looked at the recovered stone. "Finally, the last stone..."

In that moment, a loud thud called the attention of the group, and when they turned around they found themselves in front of Dark Flash... laying below the real Flash's feet, the barrier having disappeared with her defeat.

"NO, MY GIRLFRIEND! WHAT DID YOU DO HER?!" the Unbody yelled in anger.

"It's over, buddy," Flash responded by stomping him again. "Your days of stealing magic are over."

"No... Not yet... I CAN STILL KILL YOU!"

Taking him by surprise, Dark Flash summoned his sword and tried to slash his counterpart, but seeing his attack coming Flash dodged with ease, and kicked his rival's weapon off his hands and with a swift move stabbed him with his spear, holding him in the floor.

"Sorry, but this ends here."

"UUGH, NO... YOU CAN'T... I..." He wouldn't even finish his threat when he noticed the Elements shining, ready to be blasted.

"Like he said, this end here," Sunset said, smiling smugly. "We won."

"T-that's what you think..." Dark Flash giggled weakly, still looking menacingly at them. "As long as there's darkness in this place... I'll come back... As long as there is an infinite source of corruption and betrayal... I'll come back... AS LONG AS THAT ELEMENT REMAINS IN THAT STONE... I'll come back... and I will..."

Having none of that, Sunset simply did a gesture, and with no further instruction the Rainbooms blasted the Elements at the Unbody, who simply laughed as the Elements banished the creature, once and for all.

“Well... this is finally over,” Flash breathed in relief.

“And in what a way!” Pinkie added, jumping in excitement.

“Alright, now can we get out of here?” Rarity pointed to the staiway, ready to leave, “this whole place is a mess and... even more now.”

Feeling like the threat to the school was over, the Rainbooms began to leave the tower, having plans on something for later that day. As they walked to the exit, Dizzy and Crowned thought about what the monster had just said.

“...Dizzy?

“Uh, yeah Crowned?”

“...Do you think what that Dark Flash said will become truth?” The pale boy raised his eyebrow at his friend’s suggestion. “I mean, we don’t know what was his plan, and there’s still a secret in the school. You saw the chains and the blueprints: Those were recent, and-”

“LET THAT GO, just... don’t think about it, ok?” Dizzy commented in annoyance, “We’ll solve that on another day. Come on, let’s head home.”

“Uhm, but Pinkie just told us to go to her house.”

“Her house? For what?”

---

“Come on in, dear,” Flash said as he opened for Twilight the door to Pinkie’s house.

“Thanks Flashy. Uhm, hello?” Twilight walked inside, not noticing anyone. “Helloooo?”

“Over he-” Flash tried to point to the living room, but coughed a bit, getting interrupted.

“Flashy? Do you feel fine?”

“Y-Yes, it’s just-” the boy coughed once again, “-just a small flu. Let’s just come in...”

They both came into the room, and as soon as they turned on the lights...

“SURPRISE!!!” Coming out from hiding, her friends approached the surprised girl.

“AAH, G-GIRLS! WHAT A NICE SURPRISE!” She could barely react. but then popped the question: “But what are we celebrating?”

“DUH! WE’RE CELEBRATING YOU GOT PERFECT GRADES, SILLY!” Pinkie said, throwing confetti all over the place.

“Oh, that... it was nothing, I mean it was actually pretty ea-”

“Twily?” Sunset walked towards her friend with a box in her hands, looking very happy for her. “Here, it’s a special present from all of us. I know you’ll wonder ‘where do we got it’ and all that, but... Just open it and touch it, and then... well, we’ll explain you everything.”

“Huh? W-What are you talking about?” Curious about her message, Twilight looked at the box for a moment, and decided to open it right there... and inside, she found a particular round stone. “Uhm, it’s an... interesting gift. But why a rock?”

“Well, we didn’t want to tell you until we found it, and now you’ll understand why we were so busy and-”

But all the excitement in the room seemed to banish when Twilight grabbed the stone... without it reacting.

“Excuse me, no offense, but... how does this stone explain that?”

Everyone in the room gasped in disbelief. For some reason, and to their surprise... the element had no reaction on Twilight.

END OF CHAPTER.

Author's Note:

NOW OBLIGATORY "TO BE CONTINUED" MUSIC

Well, I certainly took my time with this chapter. I kinda blame work and other things that kept me busy. But at least now I'll get to continue this story.
Welp, this episode has been dragging for a long while, mostly because of a little mistake I did while editing it... And kinda got carried away. But after discussing with my co-author, he pointed me out where I was going wrong, and got back on track, so... yeah, this episode was very heavily edited recently, but hopefully I'll continue the story without much issue.
So, thanks again for reading and see you next time!