My Little Pony Tales: Quest To Babylon

by Phoxjes Rome

The Difference Between Hearing And Listening

My Little Pony Tales: Quest To Babylon

Chp. 5

There's a difference between hearing and listening.

"So his life sucks?" Patch asked the girls, after being given the briefing of Teddy's story once she had woken up from the unconscious state that he left her in.

"Yeah, pretty much." Melody replied. "So now, he's helping that Illiux guy with buying out the Ice-cream shop, and who knows what else."

"Either way, girls." Sweetheart started. "As much as I don't want to say 'I told you so' about him not being a bad pony, but..."

The other girls gave her the 'Now is not the time' look.

"Okay, sorry." She stopped herself.

"Well, what are we gonna do now?" Patch asked, still in the bed at Starlight's house. "I mean, this Stonefort guy said he has a bone to pick with me, so I guess I'm gonna see him again soon, but what about you girls?"

"I don't know, Patch." Starlight answered, not bringing much optimism to the conversation. "We don't know who wants to come after us, and you've not even met that Stone guy until last night."

"So... No ideas?" Bright-Eyes added.

"You're the smart one, Bright-Eyes; you think of something." Patch said to the mint colored girl.

"Um, girls? I think I have an i-" Clover started, before she was interrupted by someone else.

"I think I have a few ideas." Someone said from out of nowhere. The girls looked around for a bit, then drew their attention to the sudden bright light at the door.

"Those ghost ponies again?!" Patch said, ready to fight, before grunting in pain and remembering the position that she was in.

"No, it's not them." Starlight answered Patch again. She knew exactly who it was that had arrived. "Hello again, Star."

"Star?" The other six girls said in unison, looking at each other, then back to the light.

There was clearly someone walking towards them from the light, and she stepped into the bedroom.

"Hi." The Alicorn girl said quickly, with a open smile on her face.

The other six girls looked in amazement and curiosity at the sight of pony that not only had wings, a horn, but strange clothes on as well. She still had her cape on that Starlight noticed the first two times that they met.

"Starlight? Please tell me this one's one our side." Melody said, unsure about the new girl.

"It's okay, she's a friend to us." Starlight replied, looking back at her supposed friend, knowing her other friends would still be skeptical about her.

"She's right, I'm not like those guys. Well, I mean, I am, but not in the same way as they are." Star tried to explain.

"Well, are you or not?" Bon-Bon asked the slightly older girl.

"I'm a rebel from Babylon." Star answered, leaving the girls with an unclear answer.

"A rebel from what?" Sweetheart asked.

"Babylon. It's my old home, and it's also where your... Acquaintances, are being kept."

"Acquaintances? You mean the colts?" Starlight kept the questions going.

"Yeah them. Anyway, me and some other ponies call ourselves the Rebel Faction of Babylon, because we don't agree with most of what they say or do. So, I'm like those guys because I'm from Babylon, but I don't think that what they do is right."

"Okay, I think I get it." Patch piped up.

"Those boys, on the other hoof, are completely on board with the Babylon, and they'll do anything that their new masters tell them to. That's how your school became what it is now."

"So, it's this Babylon's fault that the school is destroyed?" Patch also asked.

"But... Didn't we already know that?" Clover asked, being ignored once again.

"Yes, and it's really because of Ursa. His master told him that if he agreed to join Babylon, then he and some of his new friends could have their way with the school that he hates so much."

"And he actually agreed? That's low, even for him."

"Well, hold on girls." Sweetheart said, getting their attention. "Remember that Teddy told us his story last night. He probably agreed to it as a way of letting out the anger and fear that he keeps bottled up."

"So he lets out his anger and fear, by doing something that makes more ponies angry and scared?" Clover asked, hoping someone would listen to her this time.

"I guess you're right, Sweetheart." Bright-Eyes said, completely ignoring Clover. "But, it still doesn't give him an excuse to destroy the whole school, on the inside and out."

"Anyway, just remember that this Babylon is also holding Ace and Lancer, as well as him." Starlight reminded the girls.

"Yeah, if they had the choice to join this Babylon, then why did they? What's their excuse?" Patch asked the Alicorn.

"I'm not really sure, but honestly? I don't think that should be your priority right now, Patch. Remember, Stonefort still wants to take you down." Star answered the tomboy.

"Okay then, what's HIS excuse? Why is he after me?"

"He's not." Star said, causing the girls to raise an eyebrow. "As far as I know, you're just bait for him to draw out his REAL targets."

"Real targets? Who are they?" Clover asked, but got no reply.

"Hey, I'm nobody's bait! Tell this Stonefort guy to deal with his real target himself!"

"Wait a moment, girls. Star, who are these real targets of his?" Bright-Eyes asked the girl.

"Good question, Bright-Eyes." Star replied, causing Clover to open her mouth in shock, feeling rejected from the group. "He's really after Rosy and her parents."

"The Princess?! Why?!" Starlight asked, knowing how serious this was about to get, now that the royal family has been involved.

"Apparently, he has some personal history with them, that he wants to finish himself." Star responded. "But, I do know that he was the reason why Princess Rosy was separated from her family, and had to grow up in that orphanage."

"WHAT?!" Patch practically screamed, jumping right out of the bed and onto the floor, with the other girls. However, as she jumped out, she accidentally hit Clover in the side, knocking her over. More so, she didn't even apologize, or even notice that she did it.

"Patch, you're still hurt, aren't you?" Sweetheart asked, worried for her friend.

"I'm fine, but this guy won't be when I'm done with him." Patch said, sternly.

"You can't be serious, can you?" Bon-Bon asked. "You can't fight while you're like this, Patch; you'll get yourself killed."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Patch replied, still standing tall.

"Even so, you don't know where he is right now." Star told her. "So if you try to find him now, then there's a 9/10 chance that the only way'll you'll meet is if he takes you by surprise."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Patch said, sitting down.

"But girls, I have an idea of how to find-"

"Wait, I know!" Patch said, interrupting Clover.

"What?" Starlight asked.

"If he tried to take me by surprise, then I guess we're just gonna haft to take him by surprise as well."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's simple. We wait until he comes at me, and then-"

Patch stopped herself when she saw a similar black haze from last time.

"Then...?" starlight asked, wanting her to continue.

"I'll tell you later. We've got company." Patch pointed over to the black gas behind Star and Starlight.

"It's a ghost pony again, isn't it?" Bright-Eyes asked the older filly.

"It's Walker." Starlight answered, backing away from the stallion who was now forming into the room.

"Indeed it is, Star." Walker's voice said her, becoming more and more clear to the girls as he started to materialize. He was still wearing the white and black suit from the last time they met, and still had the mouth scarf and sunglasses.

"Why did it have to be you?" Star asked, trying to conceal her voice.

"It's been far too long, hasn't it? How's your leg these days?" He asked her in a genuine manor.

"It's gotten better, which is more than I can say for your eyesight." Star replied, with a smug look on her face. The other seven girls, however, looked like she had taken it too far.

Suddenly, without warning, Walker disappeared from there, and reappeared right in front of Star. She saw this and tried to used her magic by lighting up her horn, but he somehow managed to grab it and hold her face upwards, prevent her from doing anything.

"You DARE to mock ME?!" He aggressively asked as he grabbed her whole body, and threw her to the other end of the bedroom, slamming her into the wall.

"Star!" The seven girls called in unison, before she got back on her hooves. Walker could tell that she was hurt, before the sound of her magic caught his attention.

Within a second, she fired something out of her horn that looked light a ray of stars, and it was aiming directly at him. Despite being a ghost, this kind of magic actually looked as though it did some damage to him.

He was about to hit the wall, but instead phased right through it, heading outside. However, he then reappeared through the floorboards, standing on the floor again, adjusting his hat.

"What are you doing here now, Walker?" Star asked the ghost, standing up and facing the much older stallion.

"Three reasons, truthfully. Firstly, I want a girl named Patch to know that Stonefort has a message for her." He answered, reaching behind him to get his cane.

"I'm right here." Patch called to him, causing him to look around the room.

"Yes, well, I can't really see where 'right here' is." He replied, still searching for her. "Anyway, the second reason is that Phoxjes wants to know why you're here, Star."

"Phoxjes? Who's Phoxjes?" Melody asked the Babylonians.

"My brother/My master." Star and Walker both answered at the same time.

"Brother? Master? Will someone explain clearly?" Patch asked, starting to get frustrated at the pair of them.

"Simple. This little traitor is from the same home that I am, but she abandoned her position as one of our own, and is trying to deceive you six girls into joining her little rebellion." Walker explained.

"I'm not deceiving anyone! I'm trying to convince them into doing the right thing, thank you very much. And, I get that you're blind, but for your information, there's seven girls here, other than me." Star retaliated.

"You can count, can't you?" Walker asked, catching on to the fact that they didn't realize that one was actually missing.

"Alright, Starlight, Sweetheart, Melody, Bright-Eyes, Patch, Bon-Bon and-"

"Clover?" Starlight asked, sounding as if she just saw her friend walking through the door or something.

"Where is she?" Sweetheart asked as well, looking around the room along with the other girls, searching for the dancer.

"She can't be missing. She was just here, wasn't she?" Melody added on.

"Yeah, I heard her voice before." Starlight answered.

"That's the problem. You HEARD her, but you didn't LISTEN to her, did you?" Walker asked the girls, with a smug smile on his face, hidden underneath the face scarf.

"What do you mean?" Star asked the Earth pony, with a tone as if he had something to do with it.

"Being blind for my whole life, I've had to learn to trust my other four senses to survive, and that's taught me the difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is when you know that a sound is being made, whereas listening means that you actually understand what the sound is, and what it means."

"Okay. Now, in English?" Patch responded.

"I mean, your friend- Clover, was it?- Was trying to speak, and get her ideas heard, but none of you were paying any attention to her, and she decided to leave the room."

"Wait, how could you have known that she left? You're blind, aren't you?" Bon-Bon asked him.

"Yes, but I'm also a ghost, along with one of your own. Speaking of which, I just remembered the third reason why I'm here. I'm afraid that, like your school, the roller rink as well as the soccer field, are out of bounds to you."

"What? Why?" Starlight asked him, realizing that things were going from bad to worse with every word that was coming out of his wrapped up mouth.

"Again, simple. The school, as you all should know by now, has been taken over by Ursa and his new greaser friends. The roller rink has been bought by a wealthy young colt named En Garde Apparition, and the soccer field is now home to Virtuoso, and his new colony."

"Who?!" Patch asked, not finding any recognition in the names that he mentioned.

"I'd love to explain, but I'm afraid that you've wasted enough of my time right now." Walker said, disappearing second by second.

"Star, you wanna clear up?" Starlight asked, looking back at the Alicorn. "And could you make it quick? I've gotta go find Clover before that Walker guy does."

"I'll try. The Babylon is trying to take over your home, and recruit you all. Is that quick enough for you?" Star answered her.

"Starlight, I'm gonna go find this Stone guy." Patch piped up. "If he wants a fight, then I'm gonna give him one. Let me know what happens when you find Clover, okay?"

Before she could answer, Patch was out the door, on her way to who knows where.

"Patch, I want to come with you." Sweetheart stopped her, walking towards the door as well. "If Stonefort is friends with Teddy, then maybe I can talk some sense into him."

"Okay, then let's get going." Patch responded, walking out the room with her.

"Girls, wait! You don't know where-" Starlight began, before Star cut her off.

"Starlight, let them go. Have faith in them, and they will prevail." She then turned to look at Bright-Eyes and Bon-Bon. "You two should go down to the roller rink."

"Why?" Bon-Bon asked. "That Walker guy said that it was taken over by someone called En Garde Apparition."

"En Garde means On Guard, which normally means to fight with a weapon, specifically a sword." Bright-Eyes answered, thinking about it. "Or more possibly, a Lance."

"You mean..."

"Uh-hu. Think about it: Lancer, a wealthy young colt, being held by this Babylon, bought out the whole roller rink, a place that's clearly important to him. Plus, This pony's second name was Apparition, which means a ghost, or a ghostlike image. If Walker, or even any of these "Ghosts" have any relevance in this at all, the clue's right there in the name. And, if Teddy changed his name to Ursa, which is Latin for bear, by the way, then there's no reason why Lancer wouldn't change his as well."

"See, this is why you're a good friend." Bon-Bon said to her, making their way out of the room.

"Melody, what about you?" Starlight asked, turning to the last girl in the room.

"Well, if Bright-Eyes is right, and Lancer really is there, then I guess that this Virtuoso guy must be something relating to Ace, and his new little friends have taken over the soccer field. And, if anyone of us is gonna get through to Ace, then it's probably me."

"Oh yeah, about that..." Star interrupted. "Maybe I should go with you, Melody. There's something about Ace that you may want to know."

"What?" Melody questioned.

"I... can't tell you in front of Starlight, so I'll tell you on the way over." Star answered as she teleported over to the musician.

"O...kay..." Melody hesitated to say, as she took the hoof of the Alicorn, before they disappeared a second later.

"Okay, they're on their way to help, now I gotta do the same for them. Clover, here I come."

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"So... Any idea where we're actually going?" Sweetheart asked Patch, after they were walking around Coltonville for about 10 minutes.

"No, but I'm not turning back yet. Not unless we hear something about Starlight's house going up in flames, or that miss Hackney is being held for ransom." Patch answered, still looking determined as ever to achieve her goals.

"I'm just saying that it might be better for us if we had a plan finding them before we do anything else."

"Oh, that's a fantastic idea(!) Let's sit around here in the middle of nowhere, and wait for the first Babylon guy that sees us to come out and attack us like the sitting ducks we are(!) And while we're at it, why don't we just paint a big target on our foreheads(?)"

"I'm sorry, Patch..." Sweetheart said, backing up a few inches. Patch saw how upset she was with her sarcasm, and sighed.

"Don't be, I'm the one who should apologize; you're only trying to help."

"It's fine. You're just worried about princess Rosy, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I mean, these Babylon guys have already take over the school, and most likely the soccer field and the roller rink. If they get to Rosy and her family as well, then we're doomed."

"I know what you mean. But really, what I wanna know is the reason why Ace and Lancer are helping these guys. They know that what they're doing is bad, but even THEY aren't this cruel, Lancer especially."

"I guess we're just gonna have to rely on Melody and Bright-Eyes to have a little heart-to-heart with them." Sweetheart joked, getting a laugh from her friend.

"Yeah, but if all else fails, then my hooves are at the ready."

"Patch, you can't just go at them head on. I mean, you already tried that against..." Sweetheart stopped herself, and looked sad at her next word she said. "Teddy."

"You're still sad about his little story, aren't you?" Patch asked, not getting an answer. "Look, don't worry about that, it's his problem. If it makes you feel better, to me, he's still the annoying little showoff that he's always been."

Sweetheart giggled.

"That really doesn't make me feel better, but thanks anyway." She replied, tears reforming in her eyes.

Patch smiled at her awkwardly, until she looked behind her and changed her expression to one of fear.

"Teddy..."

Sweetheart was understandably confused about that word, until she turned around and saw the "Greaser" from last night.

"You're back on your hooves already?" Teddy asked the girls, as he walked up to the girls, alongside of two other ponies. One of which was the Jamaican pony with the sledgehammer.

The one on his left, however was a new one. He had a leather jacket on two, similar to Teddy's, and he appeared much shorter than him, yet his legs were normal sized, and they were pointing downwards to touch his body, like a spider's. He had a gold/dark green mane, which was styled into a modern quiff. His light blue eyes were clear to the girls, more so than the dark green/dark yellow coating. Strangely, he had a pair of antennas on his head.

The girls waited until they were about 5 feet away from them, before they replied.

"What do you want?" Patch asked, stepping in front of Sweetheart to protect her.

"Alright, just ignore my question then." Teddy replied, looking as smug as ever. "I'm here because Stone's got some unfinished with you, Patch."

"Who's Stone?" Sweetheart asked asked him, at the risk of getting hurt.

He didn't say anything, and instead took a step back, as the other two took one forwards each.

"Me." The Jamaican pony answered, leaning on his sledgehammer that he still kept.

"So you're the guy that's got a bone to pick with me? What I have I ever done to you?" Patch asked him, starting to walk up to him.

"Walker told ya, girl. You're nothin' but bait for me, so I can drag out da princess."

When he said this, similar to Teddy from before, his brown eyes and black mane glowed the same brown color, and his coat glowed dark purple.

"Patch..." Sweetheart started to walk up to her, before the new pony approached her quickly, stood up and surprised her by showing off the fact why he was so short.

When he stood up, he appeared to have more than just 4 legs. He had 6 legs on each side, and that wasn't his whole body. In fact, that looked as though it was just half of his body, for a total of about 30 legs.

"Stay out of his frickin' way, Sweetheart, before I rip off ya head!" The long-legged pony screeched at her, sounding croaky and rough, and showing off his two fangs, in addition to a couple of hair stands popping upwards and his eyes expanding, even forming a crossing pattern like a fly's.

"Whoa..." Sweetheart whimpered as she wanted to run from there, but knew better than to abandon her friend.

Before she could respond in any other way to the freakshow before her, his fangs retreated back inside his mouth, his antennae-like hair formed back to the rest of the do, and his eyes turned normal again.

"Nah, I'm just messin' kid. How ya doin'?" He said, suddenly turning playful and lightly slapping her on the foreleg, before pulling up his own legs to act like an armrest.

"This is 30, the Equine Centipede." Teddy's (new) voice told her, coming from right behind. She turned around, judging that he was most likely safer to talk to than 30. She looked back at him, and he quickly lit up the same purple and brown colors that Teddy had done a few times.

"Teddy, what are you doing here?" She asked, still afraid of what he could do to her.

"Sweetheart, we both know from long experience that you're the only one of your friends who trusts me, so I can promise you that you will not be hurt for the whole time that we're here tonight. I care too much about you to hurt you." Teddy responded, looking at her warmly.

"Okay... That makes me feel better." She smiled.

"But..." He continued, causing her to look worried again.

"But what?"

"You remember Swan, right? Well, she wants a little word with you herself. Starswirl knows why, but apparently it's personal." Teddy finished, spreading his wing. "I'm sorry, but I've got to fly, and get Rosy's attention."

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"Are you sure this is a good idea, Bright-Eyes?" Bon-Bon asked her much smarter friend, as they walked towards the roller rink.

"Not really, but it's our best bet." She replied, stopping at the doors of the rink. "I know that what happened to Patch could very well happen to us as well, but at least we could see what's happened to him."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Bon-Bon replied.

"Well... Let's get this over with." Bright-Eyes said, grabbing the door with he hoof, waiting for Bon-Bon to do the same.

They both shot each other a reassuring look, before opening the door at the same time.

"And so, even when it would seem as though you've been singled out by the opponent, there's always a way to..." Somepony was quoting out of a book in the distance of the building, before their attention was turned the sound of the doors opening.

The pony was a sort of brown-barley color, with a brown and white mane. He was wearing a white long sleeve polo shirt and a black and white tie with a pin to keep it from hanging low, behind of his black waistcoat. He also wore a pair of black glasses on his face.

"Ah, we have a couple of guests with us tonight." He said, getting up from the chair he was sitting in. As he walked over to them, it was clear that there was another pony there with him, sitting on the floor and listening to what he was saying.

"Um, hi there." Bright-Eyes waved to the approaching stallion. "We were just-"

"Looking for your friend Lancer, or trying to find a pony named En Garde Apparition?" He finished for her, stopping in front of them.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Bon-Bon questioned the stallion, not trusting anything.

"I know quite a lot about... Well, everything. I know that Star and her new friend sent you here to find out what you could. It's not uncommon to send in your pawns first, so that the likes of the castle and bishop can move more freely."

"Um... Pardon?" Bright-Eyes said to him, hoping he could simplify for her.

"Did it not occur to you that maybe Star just sent the two of you off on the easiest job because she doesn't think you're capable of defending yourselves against something more dangerous?"

"No, of course not. I know we've only just met, but she- wait, how did you know that?"

"Hmm hm hm hm." This stallion laughed, before his horn lit up, and the pony on the floor got up and made their way over to the three of them.

"What?"

""How did you know that" indeed. Similar to Star, I'm originated from Babylon. But unlike her, I intend to make a name for myself by helping other ponies in the public. Because of this, I am well respected by founders and other high authority ponies, such as a young colt that you both know too well."

The pony behind him was now right next to him, still looking down to the floor and not letting the girls see his face.

"Once I was able to become on such great terms with them, I was practically another family and they had no problem allowing me to speak casually with theirs. And so, you can speculate..." He put his hoof around the younger pony's shoulder. "This young stallion is."

"Lancer...?" Bright-Eyes said, sounding distraught as she knew that it was him.

"... Bright-Eyes..." He said, barely moving. A few seconds later, he slowly tilted his head up and looked at her in the eyes.

It was him, but you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't already know. His mane was dyed to have black ends at all of his edges. Also, he was sporting black eyeliner, lipstick, hoof polish and diamond earrings.

It combined with his new outfit, which was made up of his black long-sleeve shirt, black Velcro pants, black Gothic boots and silver chain necklace.

"... You don't know how happy I am to see you two."

"What happened to you, Lancer?" Bright-Eyes asked, moving her hoof to her mouth in shock.

"My name's..." He started, before looking down again. "... En Guarde..."

"Why..." She tried to take a step forwards, before the older pony put his leg in her way to stop her. "Hey, let me through. Who are you?"

"My name is not important right now." The stallion replied.

Bright-Eyes looked puzzled by his answer.

"Why not?" Bright-Eyes asked, before continuing. "Actually, it doesn't matter. Whoever you are, What happened to Lancer? He looks like a goth."

"I.....am." Lancer replied behind the pony. He still sounded like he was unsure about everything that he said, emphasized by the now depressed accent he was speaking with.

"Not much of a yeasayer, are you boy?" The stranger asked the younger colt, before walking away and giving the two some room.

"Lancer, you can't really be... THIS, can you?" She walked up to him, trying to put her hoof on his chin, right before phasing through it. "What in the..."

"I said I am." He responded, moving away from her hoof.

"Lancer, look at me."

He slowly tilted his head up once again, his eyes beginning to meet hers. When they met on eye level, he saw her warm smile trying to sooth him.

Deep down, a small part of him was telling him to smile back. But, just as his mouth was about to make the slightest movement, he looked as though he was in pain, and stared straight ahead.

His eyes and mane glowed black, similar to how Teddy's glowed brown, and his coat glowed in a dark red.

"Are you okay?" Bright-Eyes asked the now goth pony, before he turned away from her, just as the glowing stopped.

"I can't answer that. I'm hurt everywhere. On the inside." He answered, walking away slowly. "Master Phoxjes told me that general happiness is a lie."

""Master"?" Bright-Eyes said, thinking about that word. "But, Teddy said your master's name was Caxpe."

"I mean, Caxpe IS my superior, but Phoxjes is my faction's leader, as a goth." Lancer responded, still looking sad.

Suddenly, a new feature on his body that she hadn't noticed before began to light up: a horn. There was a horn on the top of his head, sticking out of his mane and standing tall.

"Phoxjes?!" Bright-Eyes and Bon-Bon suddenly remembered that name, and where they hard it before.

"From your shocked gasping, I take it that you've just realized that my master is Star's older brother, and Walker's master too." Lancer aid to the girls.

"But...Why?" Bright-Eyes asked him, getting closer. "Why would you help him? From what Star said-"

Bright-Eyes stopped herself mid-sentence when he just disappeared from the spot in a quick flash of light. Looking around, he didn't appear to be anywhere, until the same flash of light appeared again right next to her.

"Ah!" She jumped, before he moved his whole head closer to hers.

Then, came the most creepy rendition of all: his head actually moved right through hers, and his snout was now sticking out of the other end. Due to shock, she found herself in a state of complete stillness, and her ears were perked right up. This was perfect for him, as he could whisper something to her.

"Bright-Eyes, I'm a Ghost pony." He told her, before moving out.

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"What do you mean, Ace isn't a pony anymore!?" Melody asked the Alicorn walking alongside her. "What else can he be, a dinosaur?"

"You're not too far off, actually." Star replied, not wanting to go where she was heading. From past experience, it was clear that she knew what was in store for her, and she wasn't looking forwards to it.

"Well, whatever he is now, I'm sure I can persuade him to stop whatever he's got planned." Melody tried to reassure her new friend.

'I don't think that's as easy as you think it is, Melody.' Star thought, walking slower and slower with each step.

"What's the problem? It's right over there." Melody said, pointing over to the field.

"I know that, I just don't think that walking right into it is the best idea right now." Star responded, knowing what was coming their way.

"Come on, it can't be tha-" Melody was cut off when Star piled on top of her, and lit up her horn, creating a star shaped shield around them both.

This was in the nick of time too, as a giant stream of fire was shot straight at the girls, heading from Melody's direction.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?!" She screamed, as something circled them, flying about. It looked like a 10ft. high monster of some kind, with wings where it's arms would be, no feet and a large tail.

"It's a dragon." Star said in response, before deactivating the shield and taking Melody's hoof. "Come on, let's get to safety."

"Wait!" Melody shouted, as she was dragged with her. "What's a dragon doing here?!"

"That's what I was just saying. Ace is-" Star was cut of at the sound of something landing right in front of her towering over them both. She looked up to see them giant, and saw another dragon, this one with light cyan arms and legs, and over-sized scales hanging out over his whole body.

When Star saw him, she shot another star ray out of her horn, and he covered himself where he was hit. After he was covering his eyes, the pair thought that they could get past them.

However, he hadn't let his guard down yet, as he grabbed onto Star with his tail and threw her away from him, in the opposite direction they were heading for.

"Star, you okay?!" Melody shouted to her, trying to run across to where her new friend was.

Before she could even start running, she felt something biting her tail. But it didn't feel like it was trying to rip it off, rather the felt like it was just trying to take her with him.

"Ahhhhh!!" She screamed, being carried upside down into the soccer field by the dragon. "STAR! STAR, HELP!"

"Hold on, Melody!" Star shouted, trying to run back to the musician. however, she was stopped in her tracks when the high flying dragon from before slammed down on top of her, stopping her from going anywhere.

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"Ohhh...Clover where are you?" Starlight asked nobody, looking high and low for her friend. She had already looked everywhere that she would be: her house, the Coltonville ballroom, the dance studio, even the Ice-cream shop. There wasn't a trace of her anywhere.

Hope was quickly being replaced by the idea of something awful happening to her. Instinctly, she tried out her next best idea.

"CLOVER!!" She yelled into the air, hoping the friend would hear the beacon.

"You couldn't have gotten far..." Starlight whimpered, her eyes not missing so much as an inch of the whole town.

Then, as she was staring upwards, in the hopes that an idea would come to mind, she noticed that a figure had started to ascend into the sky in the near distance.

They had wings flapping on their body, and a faint shine of moonlight reflecting off of his eyes, indicating that he was wearing glasses of some kind.

"Is that Teddy?" Starlight asked herself, running up to the flying figure. As she cantered after it, despite being on the ground and the figure in the air, she noticed that it was starting to fly away from her.

"No you don't!" Starlight shouted, running faster, before crashing into someone as she turned the corner, knocking them both onto the ground.

"Oh sorry." Starlight said rubbing her head.

"It's fine." A very familiar voice told her, getting back up. "At least you noticed this time."

"Clover!!" Starlight shouted, jumping to her hooves in a fusion of shock and relief. "There you are! We were worried sick about you."

"Really?" Clover said, with the tiniest hint of sarcasm in her voice. Starlight didn't reply, and instead wrapped her legs around her friend in a comforting hug.

What Starlight didn't notice was that Clover wasn't really hugging back, but instead lifted her hooves in uncertainty.

"Listen, I'm really sorry that we ignored you before." Starlight said to her, before Clover looked down to the ground.

"Again..." She muttered, hoping that Starlight wouldn't hear her.

"Huh?" Starlight said, wanting Clover to repeat herself.

"Nothing. Where are the other girls?" Clover asked, looking around herself and Starlight.

"Star and Melody are at the soccer field, looking for Ace, and anyone from this Babylon place that Star's from. Bright-Eyes had a theory that Lancer's taken over the roller rink, so she and Bon-Bon are testing that idea out now. Meanwhile Sweetheart went with Patch to settle the score with this Stone guy that wants her, and the princess."

"Oh... I see." Clover responded. "Maybe he has something to do with Teddy. In fact, he could be one of those leather jacket ponies from the school."

"That reminds me, Clover. There was another flying pony above here a few seconds ago. Do you know anything about that? Or rather, them?"

"Yes... I do. But they made me promise to keep it a secret."

"Okay. Well, that doesn't matter right now. C'mon, let's go back to the house." Starlight started to walk back to her house, before turning around after 5 steps. She didn't hear Clover's hooves trotting, and got concerned again.

"Um... You go ahead. I'll be with you later." Clover said, before taking a few steps backwards. As she was walking, being Clover, she tripped over a branch nearby and nearly fell into the mud.

"Are you okay?" Starlight asked in actual concern. Clover didn't answer, and instead just picked herself up and continued walking away. "Glad to hear it..."

Starlight just kept walking back to her home, her friends being the only thing on her mind.

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"What even happened?" Starlight asked herself, her hoof on the doorknob of her own home. "Everything is just turning from bad to worse. It's all just happening so quick."

Just then, everything was rushing through her mind about the recent events: phoning Swan, the shrine to Ace, school closing, the Ice-cream shop, meeting Illiux, buying out the shop, the meteor shower, her friends in the spheres, meeting Star, everything Star told her, the gem, the dragon that interrupted them, Teddy's new wings, the school, the sledgehammer pony, Teddy vs Patch, Teddy's backstory and everything that he's been through, the ghosts, Walker's warning, Clover disappearing, the roller rink and the soccer field, and now the flying pony from earlier.

After a deep sigh, she slowly opened the door.

"I wonder where the other girls are right now."

Them, as if on cue, some friends called out to her from right behind her.

"Starlight!!" Her friend's voices shouted, running up to Starlight. She turned around and saw Sweetheart, Bon-Bon and Star on her way over to her.

"Girls, what happened?!" Starlight asked, as she closed the door and looked at the girls. The four of them caught up with each other.

"Patch found that Stone guy. Turns out it was that pony with the sledgehammer from the school, and the two of them are still at the back of the school now." Sweetheart explained, catching her breath.

"We found Lancer." Bon-Bon told the girls. "Bright-Eyes was right, he was at the roller rink, and there was another pony with him. She's still in there with those two, but I got kicked out."

"Melody's been abducted inside of the soccer field. I can't get in there with just my magic alone. Those guys there said that he'll let me in if I took you girls with me." Star finished.

"Well then we gotta save her! Come on!" Starlight announced, running towards the place that Star just came from.

The other three girls followed her, cantering to save their artist friend.

"Starlight, what happened to Clover?" Star asked, flying above the girls.

"I'll tell you later!" Starlight replied, running faster to the soccer field.