> The Sacred Elements
>  by Wind Typhoon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prelude: Two Weeks Ago (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Wow, what a day,” Sunset’s voice scrambled as she rifled into her dwelling. Considering her last day, her mind focused toward the egregious fact that her team beat the Dazzlings. “The power of friendship, no matter what, it can create miracles,” Sunset thought as a mild grin appeared onto her face.
It still remained plausible for other tribulations in the world. “Well, we might be able to fight them, but who knows?” 
Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door. “Who could that be?” her mind deliberated, and as she gravitated toward the door, she chanted a delightful melody. Her motion unbolted the door gradually; however she stood at the verge of alienating due to her quite frustrated and fatigued mind. She sighted Trixie with a joyful and cheerful grin on her face.

“Hello, Sunset. May I come in?” Trixie inquired.

“Uh… sure, come in,” Sunset replied with a hesitant tone of deep consciousness. However as Trixie entered the house, her mood appeared to be distressed.

“Why are you here and why aren’t you speaking like you normally do?” Sunset questioned with morality.
“Well, I wanted to say that I’m sorry about trapping you and your friends under the stage,” Trixie replied with sympathy toward her past, however deleterious events.
Sunset sighed, rational about the incident before they fought the Dazzlings. She could decry Trixie, however her conscience told a tone of mercy.
“I know I was under their control, but that still doesn't change the fact that I feel bad about it,” Trixie spoke with such attribution.
“It’s fine, really. But why tell me this now?And with such cupidity?” Sunset replied, however irrational.
“I do not really have anyone as friend and…” Trixie spoke, her tone fulfilled by misery, however lingering her conclusive words.
Sunset thought, although actualizing with a deep controversy. “Those two girls that you hung out with…?” Sunset initiated with an inquiry.
“T-they were only in my band, not my real friends,” Trixie concluded with an abrupt voice of breaking down.
Sunset simply sensed sympathy toward Trixie, recollecting her longstanding memories. “Don’t worry, I can be your friend if you would like,” Sunset offered for last as Trixie stood strolling away.
She stood emotionally grateful for Sunset, and her tears could no longer linger in her eyes, and they swelled up and purged out. “T-Thank you,” she finally concluded.
Sunset reminded herself to keep herself morally upward, and decreasing her inequity-like thoughts.




Adagio stood—at the moment—pondering the occurrence that remained allocated yesterday. She stood inclined and absorbed toward their downfall at the hands of the Rainbooms, therefore losing their strength. 
“I can’t believe we were defeated by those girls.” Adagio deliberated with lightweight dexterity. She did comprehend their deft in enchantment; however she did not expect such brevity that would shatter their pendants. “Well then, what do we do now?” Adagio alleged.
Her earshot consumed racket-like sound; therefore Adagio twisted her gaze, imagining Aria or Sonata gravitating. 
What she could not apprehend as actuality, her gaze glued toward a Sirin-Alicorn hybrid of her, wandering. Rubbing her consciousness steely, the occurrence diminished with a glinting disappearance. “What was that…? Another hallucination?”Adagio rumored. However as her hackneyed and evanescent earshot heard, she gazed upon Aria and Sonata whom sat onto a seat. 
“Hey, what do you two think we should do?” Adagio requested.
“I suppose that we’ll acquire our retribution toward the Rainbooms,” Aria recommended.
“How competent can we be without magic?” Adagio responded. 
Aria, being repeated of what ensued, merely exhaled.
“What’s your plan, Adagio?” Sonata encountered. Adagio had not consumed time toward such complex inquiry; however she stood certain to try distinguished strategies.
“Why don’t we just accept defeat?” Adagio advised with a comprehendible mind.
Sonata and Aria were thunderstruck about what she remainedsignifying and assumed about how to reply.“Think about it, what else can we really do?” Adagio commented.
“As much as I hate to admit it, you're right,” Aria replied without magnificence toward her comprehension.
“You guys are right. After all, we’re just ethereal sisters,” Sonata spoke in reply.
“Aria, Sonata... Thank you two for staying with me all this time,” Adagio spoke as her facial features initiated to weep.
“Hey, we’ll always be together, no matter what happens,” Aria commenced to comfort.
Unknown to all three of them, the pony Adagio stood perceiving them with a peaceful eye through a window. “Please… Remember…” it spoke as it diminished into a mist.




“Ugh... My damned head,” Wind considered as he unlocked his eyesight with perfunctory manner. But as his disorientation diminished, his keen sight appeared to be glued toward a ceiling of a house. “Where am I?” his voice demanded in an exasperated however perplexed tone.
“Oh, you're awake,” a voice spoke with an inaudible tone. Observing toward his right-hand side, his vision glued to a figure that appeared to be quite alienated from others in attribution, but he could not assure himself. “Where am I, and who are you?” Wind perplexedly inquired.
“My name is Celestia and you're in my house,” she replied with anaffectionate manner.
As Wind seated immobile and considering the paucity words that he heard, Celestia conclusively defined, “I found you unconscious outside. Do you remember what happened?”
He irrationally tried to influence himself to recollect his memories;however he acquired a sudden rush of inequity-felt strife. “AGH!” he screamed in agony.
“Are you okay?” Celestia spoke, countering on instinct. 
“I suppose. I got a headache,” Wind replied.
After a while with the annoyance gone, Wind grasped irrationality. “I don’t remember…” he mumbled.
“Well, do you remember anything about your life?” Celestia inquired furthermore.
“I only remember two things; the rest of my memory is blank,” Wind reported with simplistic infuriation.
“Do you remember your name?”
“Affirmative, Wind Typhoon.” 
“What’s the other thing you remember?” Celestia requested out of curiosity.
“A riddle of sorts. Try to comprehend it…


“When the six hear the call, they gather."


“When the stones shine bright, the darkness comes."


“Hope, Faith, Trust, Spirit, Courage, Unity."


“When the darkness falls, The Sacred Rise.”


After reciting the riddle, an instant of immobility overwhelmed around their position.Eventually Wind questioned with impartially correct mind, “Do you have any idea what it means?”
Celestia whom had to consider, responded with alacrity, “Well, I can tell that six people will unite toward one another when occurrence actions, but other than that… I may as well tell you about the history.”
Celestia clarified by expressing him about both the Fall Formal and Battle of the Bands incidents.
“Why bring this up?” Wind requested out of simplified inquisitiveness.
“Around all, I feel I ought to tell you about what has occurred recently, and another, I reminisced that the crown that Sunset Shimmer stole was known as an Element of Harmony,” Celestia explained, however fundamentally perplexed Wind.
Upon rational about the riddle, Wind spoke, “Wait, the six virtues and people are…!”
“Yes, I believe they are the spirits of six other elements,” Celestia replied with a clichéd look.
“I suppose I am conclusive, or are we required to discuss anything else?” 
“Actually, there’s something I want to question with a garrulous however ridiculous manner,” Celestia responded.
“Go ahead,” Wind measured an inclined mind.
“Would you be satisfied to me and my sister’s son, at least until your reminiscences return?” Celestia grandiloquence inquired.
As the implications of what Celestia told him sunk in, however Wind did not comprehend her sentence. But as his mind reflected those blameless words, his eyes swelled to cry.
“I would,” Wind’s voice spoke; however his mind trembled with alacrity.
Celestia ascended above from her chair and strolled toward Wind. Her momentum provided elegance, and she leaned over to Wind. Providing as a delicacy, her motion embraced on Wind with no egregious mean whatsoever.“It is decency that provides us, Son.”




When the nocturnal nighttime approached and Wind asleep, Celestia stood as a crepuscular animal for a day. She wondered as if foreigner and considered irrationalities. “I wonder, why does Wind have the same name as ‘him’ and how does he know of that prophecy.”
Celestia ambled toward an ancient bookshelf tentatively and acquired an amorous book. “Well, looks like my son might have a chance after all,” Celestia spoke, a mild grin appearing on her face. Her mind focused toward Luna, and maybe they may discover a severe solution. Her motion inured patience as she entered into Luna’s room with anxiety. 
“Tia, are you thinking…?” Luna suddenly reported as Celestia walked in.
“Affirmative,” Celestia responded.
Luna stood still momentarily, acquiring Celestia’s words, “Do you think he’s…?”
“Maybe, he does know the prophecy.” 
“Still, do you honestly think he survived the battle?” Luna inquired with uncertainty.
“The battle with Nightmare Moon 1000 years ago? It’s possible.” 
Meanwhile, Wind remained observing through a window, considering his destined past. His mind focused as he recollected a memory: a song which he had known for a long time.


♪ Twinkle, Twinkle, little light ♪


♪Star up in the sky♪


> Prologue: One Week Later (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


		Sunset strolled to the cafeteria for lunch. However she heard thumping footsteps gravitating nearer. She twisted her gaze, perceiving Trixie sprinting toward her.


		“Hey, how’s it going?” Trixie spoke.


		“Not bad. What about you?”


		“Pretty good…!”


		It stood as a week time since Trixie arrived by Sunset’s house and since then, they’ve developed into decent friends. As the two of them sauntered by Celestia’s office, they couldn’t aid but to catch two voices from the room, one familiar and one diverse.


		“Are you sure about this?” Celestia’s voice popped.


		“Affirmative,” the other voice reported as they consistently passed the office.


		“What is all that about?” Trixie observed perplexed.


		“I don’t know, but I have a strange feeling,” Sunset spoke with a tone of distress as she reminisced about the Dazzlings.


		As they relocated into the cafeteria with garrulously spoken articles, they acquired their lunches. However as the two stood there, they noted a presence. The two of them acquired a close observation toward the Dazzlings that stood in a corner, perceiving quite depressed. Their head glanced at each other and they affirmatively nodded. Their irrational idiosyncrasy inquired them to sit with them, and thus they motioned closer. Adagio instantly noted the two’s presence and their moral influence, and thus her face acquired a joyful smile.


		“Hello, Dazzlings,” Sunset spoke with a non-offensive tone as they approached the Dazzlings somewhat with alacrity.


		“Why are you here?” Adagio questioned although she did comprehend their inconvenient mean.


		“We saw you sitting alone here, and we wondered if we could sit with you?” Trixie—the master of subterfuge—spoke with a tone of delight.


		“Sure, go right ahead!” However as the two girls seated down, it seemed as if the environment were inspirational, however it seemed as if a commotion occurred.


		“So, I don’t believe we’ve ever heard your names.”


		“Oh, I’m Adagio Dazzle; these are Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk.”


		“Nice to meet you all!” Sunset cheered.


		As the lunch progressed, it seemed as if the few had established into friends. They seem to agree upon one thing, they did acquire laughter or so. Whatever their observation may be, we can all agree on one thing, being rational. It stood obvious as the few developed into friends, and that may be their recollection forever.



	


		Afterward as the lunch concluded, Celestia alongside by Luna provided Wind toward a statue where apparently stood a portal.


		“So this is where the portal is located?” Wind questioned as his gaze remained glued toward the lifeless and mercilessly built figurine.


		“I know it seems hard to believe, but yes, it is.”


		“Mind if I touch it?” Wind asked.


		“Not a slight touch would affect anything, I guess.”


		“Mom, I don’t think that an inactive portal will harm me.” Wind’s motion relocated eagerly toward the figurine, acquiring a solid chill on his back.


		As his hand came close to the portal, his reflection on the statue suddenly changed. Instead of a standard reflection, it presented a pony version of him, reflecting his features. As it appeared fresh, the three demonstrated an appealing feature, however it as soon as it appeared, the reflection vanished immediately, leaving a typical replication.


		They three stood perplexed by the action, and they all remained quite petrified for a brief moment.


		As Wind observed the maybe damned statue, Luna and Celestia argued aside.“Do you think he is actually the one?” Luna inquired in a brief moment of lucidity.


		“I honestly not sure, but…” Celestia supposed, beholding back at Wind.


		“Oh, Principal Celestia, and Vice-Principal Luna,” a voice resounded as the two focused on one another.


		The two of them twisted their gaze toward the brusque sound, discovering Trixie who strolled toward them with uncertain misperception. However as she approached with uncertain arrogance or misleading affability, Wind resounded a peculiar sensation.


		“Trixie? Don’t you have...Oh wait!” Celestia, realizing her ineffable misperception, acquired a brief period of discomfiture.


		“Affirmative! The teacher wasn’t there!” Trixie spoke with great sarcasm.“Hey, who’s that?” Trixie noted the presence of Wind.


		In an obdurate mind, Celestia evidently had no preparation for such inquiry. “Err…”


		“I’m Celestia’s and Luna’s friend!” Wind assisted on such incompetence from Celestia.


		“Really, you look a little young,” Trixie commented with inquisitiveness.


		“What is that supposed to mean?” Celestia and Luna questioned simultaneously, reflecting a rather dull manner.


		Trixie apprehended her words, and how egregious they destined, and thus her face fell into a bottomless discomfiture. “Doesn’t matter,” Wind comforted.


		Wind grinned and spoke, “Hey Celestia, about that field trip!?”


		Maybe it stood too early to apprehend these matters; however Trixie did not comprehend what Wind predestined. Celestia, memorizing their previous conversation, replied, “Oh, it was a one that we have planned for a while.”


		“Really?” Trixie replied out of interest.


		“Do you want to know where?” Luna excited.


		Celestia, revealing their position, spoke, “It’s going to be an archeological dig at the Everfree Ruins.”



	

		It twisted into an immoral night, providing Luna and Celestia a brief moment to discuss whatever.“What do you think of Trixie?” Celestia questioned briefly.


		“Well, she is a friendly one.”


		“Not that! Don’t you find it odd how easily Wind trusted her?”


		“A little bit… Why do you ask?” Luna responded.


		“Well, do you remember what I told you a week ago?” Celestia reminded.


		Luna, recollecting her competence around knowledge, replied, “You think she could be one of the elements?”


		“Maybe, but there is a possibility…”


		“True, but it could also be your imagination,” Luna reminded with a whacking tone.


		Celestia gave a deadpan stare, relocating toward upstairs, acquiring the phone.She then obtained the dialing number, and familiarizing herself into action. 


		“Oh, Celestia, what do you need?”


		“I want to talk about that deal we made a while back.”


		“Well, I don’t have any new information.”


		“Why didn’t you find any?” Celestia spoke, sounding exasperated due to her schedule.


		“I lost contact with the 18 scouts that I sent to the ruins,” the voice reported.


		“How long ago was this?”


		“About one week ago.”


		“Ok, the school will be going there next week, so I’ll let you know.”


		“Call me then,” the voice concluded.“Oh, that reminds me, I sent over a gift for you. You’ll find it in time. Bye!” The sound hung up, leaving no trace.


		As a subsequently occurring subterfuge, there stood a quite irrational and firm knock at the front door. But as her motion stood before the door, her mind pondered upon the lingering occurrence which happened last week.


		As her gesture motioned and unbolted the door, there laid an acutely ossified package at her front door. She acquired the item, and then opened it with alacrity. It paralyzed a moment as her hands were damply inside the box; she acquired toy cars, each with their own labels.


		The left one was a pure red with red circles on its side, with a label that said, “Red Joker, For Celestia.” The right one was a night sky black with red wings on top of the roof, with a label that specified, “Black Ace, For Luna.” The middle one was a blue and green combo with red headlights, with a label that stated, “Shift Starforce, For Wind.”

In Celestia’s mind, her mentality exactly knew the sender, “Krim, good game…”


	

		Wind imagined as his consciousness faded. He fell asleep momentarily, and found himself in his dream:an open field with the various people he has met. There were Celestia, Luna, Trixie, and various other people who he had met.


		His eyes were blurred as he recollected somewhat dense. In the corner of his eye, his gaze glued momentarily toward a pony version of Luna.His pulse rammed and dashed increasingly, and suddenly…


		He woke as his consciousness fell once again, and his main acumen stood as to discover whatever stood in action. Peculiar place where he awoke, he had no idea whatsoever. Upon sighting all around, he found himself in an enormous and exposed cave. In the center, there observed to be a tree of sorts encased in a dark aura.


		“Ah… hello there.” a randomly accorded voice spoke behind him.


		His gaze twisted and glued toward a bizarre object—no, animal, that looked exactly alike him. Now acquiring a close-end view toward his own sun-bleached acquaintance, he questioned his own existence as he observed the Pegasus.


		“Before you ask anything, let me tell you that this is a vision of something to come, and call me Cyclone,” the damned creature spoke.


		A little skeptical, Wind just decided to go with it. “So, what is this thing?” Wind inquired, pointing toward the tree.


		“Well, that is known as the Sacred Tree, or the Tree of Harmony,” Cyclone spoke.


		“Tree of Harmony…?”


		“Yes, try to remember that for when you next see this tree.”


		Wind, wondering the bizarreness that he stood specifying, stood with alacrity and stood absolute to inquire, however ceased as two objects flew in front of his gaze, one even cutting his cheek. The objects in question perceived alike two swords, each with six indents for orbs of sorts on each side.


		“What are those swords?” Wind questioned, staying at a distance.


		“You’ll find out in time. It’s irrelevant for now…”


		Before Wind could speak for reply, the cave seemed to shimmer out of focus.


		“What’s happening?” His head motioned as light weighted, and nauseous.


		“Seems as if you’re about to wake up. See you later, and next time… I won’t be alone,” Cyclone replied before fading away into a minor mist.


		Wind opened and rubbed his eyes, thinking about the dream he had.


		“What was that dream?”his mind lingered.


		Nothing seemed out of date, however as his steps included toward the mirror, his eyes lay wide open. There remained a frightening and identical scar that he had acquired in the dream. It stood ossified as his mind could not dismiss such relevance.


		“The knowledge might come in handy later…”

 


> Chapter 1: The Trip Begins (Edited) 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: The Trip Begins
 
Sunset, her mind so concentrated on the previous, monotonous week, glared obliviously through the window of the bus, observing the cell-shaded environment before her eyes. Ever since she declared friendship with Trixie and the Dazzlings, the environment had been honestly quite gloomy. The only article of real note happened last night when she accidentally stumbled over an incredibly strange dream. The mere thought of it had consequences for Sunset.
“What’s up?” the voice disrupted Sunset’s train of consideration.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Sunset responded as her gaze warped onto Trixie. 
“You know, friends are always welcomed for a friend’s problem, right?” Trixie comforted Sunset in a polite tone: the manner and attitude of the speech persuading Sunset. Thinking of it for a slight moment, Sunset determined, “I suppose you’re right.”
“Now, what’s the problem?”
“Well, I experienced a strange dream…”
“A dream…?” Trixie, in an impulse, requested out of interest.
“Yes, and ever since for the past week, I keep the touch of my pony self out of the periphery of my eye.”
Before Trixie could gather her words, the bus drove to a halt at Camp Ponyville. “I guess we have to go,” Sunset, speaking adversely, stepped off straightforwardly off her seat without a regard to anything. 
________________________________________
 
Keeping a tight strangle over the settling positions right after the withdrawal of the bus, Celestia informed all the scholars to the camp’s lunch hall. The students started to converse between each other when they arrived on the benches, sitting in a motionless posture – observing with oblivious eyes. Luna, then, obtained their attention.
“Now, all of you might wonder why I decided to take a field trip here. The reason why is because we have an opportunity to explore the Everfree Ruins located near here,” Celestia announced, cheering in a gracious manner.
Almost immediately, most of the students looked and whispered amongst themselves, their uncertainties undoubtedly seen by Celestia. “Now, before you start asking questions, let me clarify that any rumors that you have heard about the ruins are not true.” The students, while not being reassured, did quiet down.
“Now, all students will be separated into groups, and the groups will be determined tomorrow. For now, all students will report back to the dorms for the night.” With that declaration, all the students directly seated up, just a second away from slipping off of their positions. Still dubious, they relocated to their dorms, while not even speaking a word.
The young nighttime went deaf of noise, the residents and students dormant in their dreams. However, while all the students unconsciously slumbered, Celestia and Luna were in their bright awareness, deliberating the to-do activities for tomorrow. Their conversation was disturbed as Wind, not noting the situation, came into the room abruptly.
“Hello, how’s it going, Wind?” Luna, cognizant of Wind’s mood, asked civilly.
“Good… I’m glad that I volunteered here; the work is exhausting thought.”
“Hey, remember: the job is only temporary,” Celesta gave a humming shout out.
“So, do you know who’ll end up in my watch?”
Celestia, in response, handed Wind a report of a few names, as if she, herself, selected the names arbitrarily. Wind’s eyes recited the titles over and over, then nodding in a slight grin; “Did you assign me with these five girls on purpose?”
“You may have an inquisitive scent; however, these five are far from the standard, and you seem like an appropriate candidate for them.”
“I just hope the activity isn’t too draining on them,” Wind, in his conclusive speech, commented.
________________________________________
 
Sunset woke up with a chilling start, petrified from a dream far beyond the renders of the nightmare; her cheeks swelled by sweat, her expression sought by panic. “Wh-What was that?” She seated upright, her posture hesitant. The air remained fairly damp from her breaths, but she ignored it, relocating to the bathroom and prepping herself for the fresh, hectic day.
Quickly, she slammed the door of the restroom, silently gasping to herself in the dark gloom. Diffidently, her mind dithered whether to note her dream or not: I don’t want to believe that dream, but what was that a shadow? Sunset considered in terror, attempting to sooth herself.
After taking a bath and getting dressed, Sunset, then, preceded to the lunch hall, famished. The long, endless path seemed to take an eternity as Sunset considered of the glitzy reminiscences of her dreams. But the sudden realization that she was, in her posture, sitting on a lunch bench, staring straight at some students who were jogging and shining some sort of armbands.
Then her head perceived Celestia’s movement—the adult swinging an armband alike to the others—the armband gripped tightly by Celestia. As Celestia ambled over, she—in a gentle swing—handed Sunset an armband, the word “Sacred” punctured on it.
“What’s with the armbands?” Sunset enquired in a snooping tone.
“All you need to know for now is that they’re part of picking the teams,” Celestia responded, placing the armband on Sunset’s arm and then tightening it softly.
After positioning the armband on, a camp counselor extracted a solid entrance into the hall; “All campers with armbands, report to the forest after breakfast!” the counselor hastily announced out of worries.
A few students seated upright, and without hesitation, withdrawing from the lunch hall; however, Sunset looked at Celestia in apprehension, her eyes almost swelled by tears. “Don’t worry, you’ll be happy with your team,” Celesta consoled Sunset in her always-motherly tendency.
“If I did know you, Ms. Celestia, it would be,” Sunset teased. Celestia smirked as Sunset, in a sluggish drive, ported with the other scholars and shifted to find Luna and Wind. Unknown to her, an insignificant, red car drifted off of the hall, shadowing Sunset into the forest without her notice.
 
Grouping alongside other students, they carried the identical, red armband Sunset had placed on her arm; the group then reached to a clearing. The counselor proceeds to insist of the first activity, “Okay, now that we’re here, it’s time to start the first camp commotion.”
His gesture twisted to a providing hand: he snatched a few dyed, bleached papers, each of it extraordinarily similar to the students’ armband, and a word matching likewise to it; a map of the area, and a compass. “Your teams have already been chosen, but this activity is to find your teammates,” the counselor presented further instructions.
When no one spoke, the counselor said, “When you’ve found your teammates, head back to the camp; now, any questions?”
“How many members are there per team?” Sunset inquisitively investigated, breaking the bland silence.
“There are six per team: five students and a counselor to watch over you,” the counselor answered. When no one requested further orders and questions, the counselor paused for about a minute, observing his watch, hesitating for the correct moment. The precise timing had its sway; however, it didn’t last long as the counselor signaled for the initiation, the game starting violently off.
________________________________________
 
“Why can I never remember the layout of this forest?” Sonata pondered as her feet strolled through the Everfree Forest ever so slowly. Sonata, persuaded by the brief moment, attempted to navigate through the obscure forest she had visited several times before, however, with no avail. I just want to find my teammates and get out of this forest, she swayed while the roots beneath her crunched.
Her gaze focused on the map, she remained solemn with her work. In a precipitous instant, Sonata ceased her movement, darting her glare at the forest; a slow, abrupt noise called to her, as if the words were painstaking and so indecorous with the environment of Everfree.
She turned to the glaze of the racket, her regard staggered as a bland, green, truck-like toy stood before her feet. “A truck?” she expressed audibly, harvesting the toy truck off from the ground. In her amusement, a symbol stood pinned onto the truck: an irrational, simplistic depiction presented what she did not know.
Unexpectedly, the truck gave Sonata a trivial shock, causing her to drop it. “Ow! Did that toy just give me a shock?"
"Sorry about that; I needed to see if this worked," a dazzling, secretive voice excused itself, the ambiguous sound making Sunset recognize insanity under her skin, presumably from a lack of magic; she twisted her glance nearby to find the source of the voice.
"Down here," the voice called. Glancing underneath the roots, again to the model, she had her mere consideration as if it was a masquerade of some sort.
"H-Hello?" Sonata spoke in her imperceptible tone.
"It’s nice to meet you.”
"Wah!" Sonata shrieked in anxiety, in an effort to plummet the anomaly.
"A good pair of lungs you got there.”
“W-What are you?" Trembling, a few words managed to escape her mouth.
"I am a Shift Car," the truck responded.
"S-Shift C-Car?"
"Yes, you could call me a hidden hero or protector."
“W-Well, what are you called?"
"Shift Technic, but you can call me Technic." 
"M-My name is Sonata Dusk," she now spoke in her abrupt sequence, however, comfortable with the new friend.
Technic, priming to specify further, was disrupted as it scented an alarm within the forest. "What is it?"
"Don't worry; I'm just getting the signals from four of my friends." 
"Are we going to meet them?" Sonata asked, now anxiety twisting into alacrity.
"Yes, just follow directions I give with my headlights." Their movement commenced as Technic demonstrated the route with its illuminating beam of light.
 
The deep, muted whine of the woodland refused to give into Sonata’s footstep after what seemed like a few minutes of ideal sauntering. "Hey, Tech, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Who are your friends; more Shift Cars?" Sonata inquired.
"There are a variety of signals I’m sensing. About others, they are alike my type, really," Tech replied.
"What were you and your friends doing out here anyway?"
"Well, I would tell you, but I think it would better, as you would find it out yourself," 
Inquisitiveness swelled upon Sonata’s mind but she resisted her curious mind, soothing herself with a similar tune she discovered a while ago. This tune…  Tech gathered the resemblance of the tune, only to consider otherwise than to ask.
 
"Looks like the signals are about to meet up ahead," Tech confronted. Tech, having a scent of Sonata’s jolt, relieved her from her worries. ”Scared?“
"A little…" she cried out.
"Don't worry; I know you'll be very happy." Sonata, swallowing into her gullet, headed to the clearing, then stood there as her eyes met another person, standing rigid. 
"Sunset, is that you?" Sonata shrieked, concealing Tech from the view. Sunset, hearing the inaudible earshot of plea, warped her scent and observed Sonata’s crusade towards her.
"Get me close enough so I can touch her," Tech whispered, hidden from the eyesight. Sonata pondered the request but then remembered when she first handpicked Tech.
"Sonata, what are the chances that we see each other?" Sunset astounded.
"I should be asking why you're standing in a clearing," Sonata reacted in a lighthearted tone. Sunset, realizing the connotation of the statement, scrubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.
"Hey, mind if I see your armband, Sonata?"
"Sure. I wonder if you're on my team.” 
Sunset neared Sonata, covertly snatching onto something within her pockets. The two drew near, discovering that they were allies, however, subsequently, the two held an item in their hands, then hitting it onto each other. The two did likewise, only to be stunned for an instant.
"What was that?" Sunset freaked.
"I have an idea.” Presenting the item within her hands, Sunset realized the objective.
"You have one as well?"
The one Sunset obtainable represented a motorcycle hybrid. 
"Where did you get yours?" 
"I found it a few minutes ago on the ground." Before the two managed to pull out anything further, the branches alongside the trees rustled in the suppression of muffle.
"W-Who's there?" Sonata, freaking for the brief moment, requested.
In response, three people emanated into the clearing. "Adagio, Aria, Trixie?" 
"Sonata, Sunset, what are you two doing here?" Adagio called back in response. Adagio, along with Aria and Trixie, sauntered towards Sonata and Sunset.
Wait, assuming Sonata found me with that Shift Car, then I wonder if... She mutely concealed her car in the coating of her pocket.
In essence, they were on the same side, fighting as allies; "Hey, is it me or is this all too convenient?" 
"Sunset, what are you talking about?"
"Think about it; how did we exactly grouped this swiftly?" Sunset responded in a cautious tone. Adagio and the others remained silent, tentative of how to retort to the question. "I figured none of you would have an answer.”
"Well, do you have a theory, Sunset?" Trixie asked.
 
"Better, I can show you something." Sunset alongside Sonata exposed their Shift Cars, presenting in an offering conduct. The others were simply too surprised of whatever they were holding upon their palms, only to be augmented by lingering questions.
"What about you three?" Sunset questioned in a self-assured tone.
The three signaled to the alarm, knowing their objective and gripping onto their own cars; each one of them uniquely styled and embracing a brief history that they inherited: red sports car; black dune buggy; a blue formula car.
"How did you figure it out?"
"My Shift Car told me that there were four other signatures coming my way: three of which were together," Sunset explained.
"So did you know when you saw Sonata?"
"Not exactly; I started thinking about it when you three arrived." 
"Your reservations were confirmed when you saw that we’re all on the same team, right?"
"Exactly, and to be sure, I checked with Deadheat," Sunset responded, keeping her casual tone.
"Would you like to introduce us?"
"I will, but I think we should get back to camp first."
"Um, which way is camp again?"
"I honestly don't know," Sunset responded in a nervous tone. No one spoke a word, silence oblivious and deaf in the core. Abruptly, Adagio’s Shift Car flashed its headlights, presenting the pathway.  



> Chapter 2: Introductions and a Sacred Explanation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Introductions and a Sacred Explanation

After walking for about five minutes, Adagio and the others continued on their way back to Ponyville. "So, why do you five need to shock us in order to communicate?" Sonata inquired in an annoyed tone. "I don't want to explain, it's way too complicated," Technic explained to Sonata in an embarrassed tone. "Fair enough, but shouldn't you five introduce yourselves?" Sunset questioned in a casual tone. The Shift Cars, except Adagio's, were silent for a moment. "In that case, I will introduce myself first." Technic responded to the whole group in casual tone.

"My name is Shift Technic, I'm the brains of this group," she responded in a calm tone. "I'm Shift Speed, the leader of this group," the one on Adagio's shoulder responded in a confident tone. "Name's Shift Wild, power's what I contribute," the one Aria was holding responded in a casual tone. "Shift Dead Heat, like Wild, I contribute power, but in a different way," the one Sunset held responded in a proud tone. "Shift Formula is the name, speed is my game," The one on Trixie's head responded in a excited tone.

"Interesting, I didn't think you five worked as a unit," Trixie commented in amazed tone. "We've been working together for the past year," Speed replied in a calm tone. "Really, you all seem to know each other quite well," Adagio commented in an impressed tone. "Well, we are a good team," Wild noted with a proud tone. "Quick question, where did you five come from?" Sonata inquired in a curios tone. "Overseas, specifically from Japan," Technic responded in a casual tone. "Japan!?" The five girls exclaimed in unison. The five Shift Cars all laughed at their surprise.

After a few minutes of walking and chatting, Technic felt a signal from a Shift Car. "A signal? One of the others?!" she thought, surprised. Checking her radar, Technic noted two things. One, the signal was from a Type Shift Car she hasn't seen before, and two, the signal was originating from the camp. "A new type located at the camp? Should I tell the group?" Tech thought contemplating the choice. Before she could decide, Adagio yelled, "We're almost there, we should hide the Shift Cars." "Might as well tell them later," Tech thought in a disappointed tone.

Elsewhere…

Wind was busy walking around the camp, waiting for his team of five students to arrive "I wonder if they got lost?" he thought in a worried tone. "Something on your mind, Wind?" a male voice questioned from Wind's shoulder. "Why do you want to know, Starforce?" Wind responded in an annoyed voice. "Just asking, you might want to get it off your chest," Starforce replied in a caring tone. "I'm just worried about those five," Wind admitted in worried tone. Starforce was silent for a moment, so Wind continued; "For all I know, they could be..." "...entering the camp now," Starforce finished in a calm tone. "You know, I need to remember that you are my reliable guardian more often," Wind responded in an appreciative tone, putting Starforce in his pocket.




The group of five finally reached the camp and were extremely relieved. "Thank Faust, we're finally here," Aria exclaimed in a relieved tone. "I agree, glad to be out of that forest," Adagio agreed in a cheerful tone. "Don't relax  just yet you two," Trixie commented in a calm tone. "Exactly, we still have to find our councilor," Sunset noted in a semi-serious tone. "That might take a while," Sonata sighed in an exhausted tone.

Adagio and Aria looked around the camp and saw a boy waving his arms. "Hey, who's that?" Aria asked the group in a curious tone. The other three looked towards the boy and Trixie immediately recognized him. "Is that Wind?" Trixie said to herself in a curious tone. "You know him, Trixie?" Sunset inquired in an interested tone. "I've meet him once, but what is he doing here?" Trixie responded curiously. Trixie walked towards him, the others following soon after.

"I thought Trixie's name sounded familiar," Wind thought to himself as Trixie and her friends walked towards him. When they got close to Wind, Trixie walked up to him and immediately asked; "Wind, what are you doing here?" "Well, I'm just volunteering to be a councilor while the school trip is happening," Wind responded appreciatively. "Really, I had no idea," Trixie commented in a casual tone. "By the way, who are your friends?" Wind questioned in a curious tone. "Oh, I guess I'll introduce you to them," Trixie responded in an upbeat tone, leading Wind to the group.

When Wind and Trixie got to the others, Wind introduced himself to them. "Nice to meet you Wind, my name is Sunset Shimmer, these are Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk," Sunset told him cheerfully. "Nice to meet you all," Wind responded in a kind tone. "Wind, can I ask you something?" Trixie inquired in an inquisitive tone. "Sure, go ahead," Wind responded cheerfully. "Well, since you're a camp councilor, are you by chance our teams leader?" Trixie questioned nervously. Wind smiled and stayed silent. "So, what's the answer?" Sonata asked nervously.

"Well, why do you think I was calling you?" Wind answered in a happy tone, showing them his armband. They saw the gold armband and the word "Sacred" was on it. "What are the odds of that?" Sunset responded in a amazed tone. "To be honest, your principle actually assigned me you five," Wind commented in embarrassment. "Principle Celestia did?" Adagio responded curiously. "I'll explain later, but for now get some rest, we're going to have a long day tomorrow," Wind told the group in a caring tone. The five girls looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "By the way, I'm glad to say, welcome to Team Sacred," Wind commented in a cheerful tone before walking away.




As the day went on, more students returned from the forest and all the teams were formed. When dinner time came around, while the campers ate, Wind went to see Celestia and Luna to ask a question that has been nagging him for the past week. When he got to their room, he heard them talking and decided to listen in. "So Tia, why did you decide to assign Wind those five?" Luna inquired curiously. "Well, I saw that those five became good friends fast and would like to spend time together," Celestia responded calmly. "That's not the only thing, is it?" Luna questioned inquisitively. Celesta stayed silent for a moment, before sighing and saying; "There is one more reason," Celestia admitted in a guilty tone.

"Another reason?" Wind thought curiously. "Well, what is it?" Luna inquired curiously. "I believe that there is something that connects those five with Wind," Celestia admitted in a calm tone. "Connected to me?" Wind thought inquisitively. "In what way are they connected?" Luna questioned inquisitively. "The connection comes from a theory of mine, that those five are the bearers of them," Celestia commented casually.

Wind decided to knock on the door, getting the attention of those two. "Come in!" Luna called. Wind opened the door and went into the room. "Wind, how did today go?" Celestia inquired curiously. "It went good, especially after meeting my team," Wind commented cheerfully. "That's good to hear," Celesta noted happily. Wind sat down and talked with the two of them for a few minutes. "Why did you come here anyway?" Celestia questioned in a curious tone. Wind was silent and thought about what to say. "Well, to ask you something, and am I that obvious?" Wind responded in an embarrassed tone. "Yes you are, and what did you want to ask?" Celestia inquired.

"Well, do two you know anything about the Sacred Tree?" Wind questioned nervously.  Celestia and Luna both looked surprised at the question. "I'm going to take your expressions as a yes," Wind responded in a smug tone. "How do you know of that?" Luna questioned in a shocked tone. "I know it sounds crazy, but I had a dream that told me," Wind admitted in a guilty tone. "Wind, do you mind telling us about that dream?" Celestia asked in a inquisitive tone.

After explaining the dream, leaving out the pony Luna he saw, Celestia and Luna were silent. "How long ago was that dream?" Luna inquired curiously. "Last week, the day you showed me the portal," Wind responded calmly. "Well, we know about it, but not much else," Celestia told Wind in a motherly tone. "All I want to know is what it is," Wind noted in a exhausted tone. Celestia and Luna looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "Well, while we don't know what it is," Luna said cheerfully, "I think we have a book somewhere that has something about it." "Really!" Wind exclaimed. "Yes, we don't have it with us right now, but come back in 5 days," Celestia told Wind  in a motherly tone. "Thank you Mom, thank you Aunty," Wind exclaimed happily, hugging them both.

After Wind left, Celestia and Luna looked at each other, a worried look on each of their faces. "This might be a big problem," Luna commented in a worried tone. "Maybe, but it has to happen," Celestia responded calmly. "What do we do?" Luna questioned curiously. Celestia was silent for a moment, before replying; "We help Wind find out more about the Sacred Tree." Luna was about to say something, but Celestia stopped her and said; "Trust me Luna, I know Wind and his team will be able to unlock them." The two of them had a moment of silence. "I hope your right Tia," Luna said nervously.


> Chapter 3: Getting Settled In & A Chat At Dusk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Getting Settled in & a Chat at Dusk

As night fell on Camp Ponyville, the teams were sent to their cabins for the night. Wind lead Trixie and the others to the cabin that was assigned to Team Sacred. "So, what is your school doing here on this trip?" Wind questioned the group curiously. "Well, we're going to explore the Everfree Ruins, according to Principal Celestia," Trixie responded casually. "Really, not many people go there, but it's actually pretty safe," Wind responded cheerfully. "We heard that yesterday," Sunset noted in a  tired tone. As the group kept going, they chatted about various topics.

After a few minutes, the group arrived at the cabin. The cabin was a relatively nice, two-floor building at the edge of the forest. "Wow, this is a nice place," Adagio commented  in an astounded tone. "Like it, me and the other councilors had a competition to see who would get this one," Wind noted proudly. As Wind lead the girls in to the cabin, he explained what the cabin has in terms of rooms. "This cabin is pretty big, having a big living room, a kitchen and two bathrooms," Wind explained casually. "What about bedrooms?" Aria inquired out of curiosity.

When Aria finished that sentence, Wind went wide-eyed remembered something. "Um, I just remembered a possible problem," Wind commented nervously. "What is the problem?" Adagio questioned in a curious tone. "Well, the thing is there are only five bedrooms and six of us," Wind responded nervously. The five girls looked at each other  and back at Wind. "Now, we can try to figure something out, or one of us can sleep down here," Wind noted calmly.




The next few minutes were a little chaotic, with four of the girls trying to figure out what to do. Wind was sitting down on the couch, waiting for them to find a solution. He felt someone sit down next to him and saw Sonata there. "Um, Wind, can I tell you something?" Sonata asked nervously. "Sure, what is it?" Wind inquired curiously. "Well, the thing is, I don't sleep well alone," Sonata explained in an embarrassed tone. " So, you want to sleep with one of the girls?" Wind questioned in a curious tone.

"Um, not exactly," Sonata responded in an embarrassed tone, blushing a little bit. "Well what do you want to do?" Wind inquired in a curious tone. Sonata remained silent, though the blush on her face grew more intense. Wind was thinking for a few moments and then realized who was in the cabin. "Oh," Wind responded, now getting a light blush on his face. "So, um, what do you want to do?" Sonata questioned quietly.

"I, um, don't mind if you sleep with me," Wind responded in a nervous tone. "Thanks," Sonata told Wind happily. The two of them got up and went over to the group. "Well, me and Sonata have worked out a solution to the problem," Wind explained in a casual tone. "Well, what is it?" Sunset inquired curiously. "Sonata is going to sleep with me," Wind responded hiding behind Sonata. The girls were completely silent and not doing anything. "Maybe they understand," Wind thought hopefully.

"Wind, can Aria and I talk to you for a moment?" Adagio asked, a edge of anger in her voice. "Coming," Wind responded nervously. The three of them walked to the kitchen where they spoke. "So, you want to explain why Sonata is sleeping with you?"  Aria inquired curiously, with a clear tone of annoyance. "Well, let me start off by saying, she suggested it to me," Wind responded nervously. "Did  she now?" Adagio questioned curiously. "Yes, she did, do either of you know why she asked me?" Wind responded in a curious tone. The two thought about a reason for a little bit.

"I can't think of reason, but for now, take care of her,"  Adagio told Wind calmly. "Yes, Adagio," Wind responded casually, relieved he wasn't in trouble. "Just don't do anything to upset her or else," Aria commented in a warning tone. "Got it," Wind  told Aria nervously. The three went back to them main room to see Sunset, Trixie, and Sonata waiting for them. When Wind looked at Sonata, he noticed that she was a little sad. Wind decided to wait till tonight to ask her about it.

After getting all the girls settled in, Wind went into the room he and Sonata would be sharing. The room itself was fairly large with a TV, a queen sized bed, and a balcony. When Wind entered the room, he noticed Sonata out on the balcony. "Well, better go comfort her," Wind thought calmly. He walked over to the door to the balcony and was about to open it, when he saw a Shift Car. "Well, that explains how Starforce was able to tell when they arrived," Wind thought with a smile on his face.




Opening the door, Wind stepped out onto the balcony, catching Sonata's attention. "Hey, what are you doing?" Wind inquired curiously. "Not much, just thinking about camp," Sonata responded in a nervous tone, standing next to the guardrail. "Something on your mind?" Wind questioned caringly, walking next to her. "It's nothing big," Sonata told him in a calm tone. "You know, I figured that there's a reason you wanted to sleep with me," Wind commented nonchalantly. Sonata stayed silent, signaling Wind that he was right.

"I'm your camp counselor, you can trust me," Wind reassured Sonata in a comforting tone. "I miss my home," Sonata responded in a sad tone. Wind was surprised about the response, not expecting it. "I miss my family, my friends, and my old home," Sonata explained somberly, getting closer to crying. "Sonata, you don't have to..." Wind started to say in a caring tone. "Most of all, I miss the old times Aria, Adagio, and I had," Sonata finished, breaking out into tears. Seeing Sonata in tears made Wind feel heartbroken.

"Home..." Wind thought somberly. "Sorry, I get like this when I remember home," Sonata admitted in a sad tone, drying her tears. "It's fine, remember I'm here so you can talk," Wind told Sonata in a mature tone. "Thanks, I appreciate it," Sonata responded in a grateful tone. The two of  them stayed there, staring at the stars. "Hey Wind, what is your home like?" Sonata inquired in a curious tone. Wind thought about the question, but couldn't remember anything. "I can't remember," Wind responded in a somber tone.

Sonata was extremely surprised by the response Wind gave. "You don't remember anything about your hometown?" Sonata questioned in a surprised tone. "Nothing, I don't remember anything about my home," Wind admitted in a sad tone. "Well, what do you remember about your past?" Sonata inquired in a curious tone. Wind stayed silent for a moment, before responding, "Nothing, just these past two weeks." After saying that, Wind and Sonata stayed silent for a few moments.

"Sorry, I didn't know," Sonata responded in a sympathetic tone. "It's ok, you didn't know," Wind told her in a caring tone. The two stood there in silence, looking up at the night sky. "Hey, Wind?" Sonata questioned in an innocent tone. "Yes?" Wind responded curiously. "Thanks for talking with me," Sonata told him in a happy tone. Wind smiled out of happiness and continued to admire the night sky.

Sonata then gave him a kiss on the cheek, before heading back inside. Wind was extremely surprised and had a light blush appearing on his face. "Wow, didn't expect that, but I glad it happened," Wind thought happily. With that, he took one last look at the night sky, before heading back inside.


> Chapter 4: A Dream Meeting & A Morning Talk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4: A Dream Meeting and A Morning Talk


After Sonata fell asleep, Wind stayed awake in bed staring at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep as he was thinking about the week to come. "Tomorrow is the first activity, I wonder if I should tell them what it is in the morning," he thought nervously.

He thought back to the conversation with Sonata and smiled. "Home, I wonder what mine is," Wind thought happily, before drifting off to sleep.




When Wind awoke, he found himself in a familiar place. "This place again?" Wind thought curiously studying his surroundings. 

"Ah Wind, nice to see you again," a voice said behind him. Turning around, he saw Cyclone standing there. 

"Hey Cyclone, what did you want to talk about?" Wind questioned curiously. 

"Well, it's about the week ahead," Cyclone responded causally. 

"In what way?" Wind asked, walking around the cave. 

"Well, in order to explain that, I'll need to introduce a friend of mine first," Cyclone answered calmly.

"You have a friend?" Wind inquired curiously. He didn't know that Cyclone had his own friends, since he only meet him in a dream. 

"Yes, five actually, you'll meet them over the course of the week," Cyclone commented casually. Cyclone then walked to a nearby rock and spoke with someone, though Wind couldn't hear it. 

While Cyclone was having the conversation, Wind inspected the Sacred Tree. He noticed there were six insignia on the tree, one of which was his.

"So, I see you're inspecting the tree,"  Cyclone said from behind him. 

"Just checking it out, might be useful for later," Wind responded calmly. 

"OK, my friend is ready, by the way," Cyclone explained, ushering Wind to follow him. Following Cyclone, he was lead to a round room with six doors. "Now, each of these doors will correspond to one of my friends," Cyclone explained as Wind marveled at the doors. 

"Let me guess, I'll meet them as the week progresses?" Wind asked curiously. 

"Exactly," Cyclone responded happily.

Studying five of the doors, Wind saw that they were five different colors: orange, light azure, purple, light amber, and light blue. While looking at the doors, Wind noticed a gray door among the colorful cavern. "Who's that door?" Wind thought curiously. 

"Hey, you ready or what?" Cyclone called cheerfully, standing by the orange door. 

"I'll be right there," Wind responded, heading to where Cyclone was. While Wind was walking over there, he felt a familiar feeling. "That feeling, I felt it before," Wind thought curiously, thinking back to when he first meet Trixie.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Cyclone asked, braking Wind's train of thought. 

"Just thinking about the week ahead," Wind lied smoothly. 

"Okay, I just need to explain something about the other side of this door," Cyclone told Wind. 

"What is it?" Wind asked. 

"Unlike here, you won't have as much freedom," Cyclone explained. 

"How so?" Wind questioned. 

"Well, you won't be able talk or move in there," Cyclone responded. 

"Anything else?" Wind asked. 

"You'll be able to communicate and talk to yourself by thinking, that's about it," Cyclone responded nonchalantly.

Looking at the door, Wind cautiously reached out to grab the handle when Cyclone stopped him. "Let me open it, you should step back," Cyclone told Wind. Taking a few steps back, Wind decided to mentally prepare himself. "I wonder if this will actually work out," Cyclone thought, reaching out a hoof to open the door. 

When the door was fully opened, there was a wall of light the shined brightly. "Wow, was not expecting that," Wind said covering his eyes. 

"Sorry about that, I forgot about it myself," Cyclone said walking behind Wind, guiding him forward. 

"That's okay," Wind said stepping towards the door. When Wind got to the door's threshold, he felt the light engulf him and lost consciousness.




When Wind awoke, he saw before him a room. The room looked like it was underwater, with orange walls, a bed, a dresser, and a desk. Looking at the bed, he noticed that someone was laying down on it. This someone, who he assumed was Cyclone's friends, was a female pony. "I should have figured the she would look like Cyclone," Wind thought to himself. Taking a closer look, he noticed that instead of a normal pony, she had fins on her legs and translucent wings on her back as well as a horn on her head.

"Hello," Wind called out, not sure she could hear him. To his surprise, even though he couldn't speak, the pony heard him and sit up. 

"Oh, you must be the one Cyclone told me about," she said happily. 

"You can hear me?" Wind asked, extremely surprised. 

"Of course, didn't Cyclone explain how this world works?" the pony responded. 

"Right, that's a thing," Wind said, mentally face palming. The pony laughed a little and got off the bed. 

"My name is  Melody, by the way, Princess Melody," she told Wind. 

"Mine is Wind Typhoon, nice to meet you Melody," Wind said, bowing politely.

"Nice to meet you as well," Melody told him. 

"Um, may I ask a question?" Wind asked nervously. 

"Go ahead," Melody responded. 

"What race are you exactly?" Wind inquired curiously. 

"What do you mean?" Melody said in response. 

"Well, Cyclone is a pegasus, so what are you?" Wind explained. 

"Oh, well I'm actually a hybrid of two races," Melody told Wind. 

"Really, what two?" Wind questioned curiously. 

"A siren and a alicorn," Melody responded. 

"I can guess what an alicorn is, but what is a siren?" Wind inquired.

"Well, that can be complicated to explain," Melody commented. 

"We have time," Wind told Melody. 

"I know, so I'll keep it simple," Melody said. 

"Ok, I'll just stay quiet while you explain," Wind told her politely. 

"Very well, than I shall begin," Melody said as she sirens and their biology.

“A siren is a type of aquatic pony. A lot of aquatic ponies usually have fins somewhere on their body, sirens have their fins on their legs.  Most aquatic ponies live only in the sea, however, sirens are an exception. Sirens have two notable features about them, those are the translucent wings and special pendants. The pendants are used to gather magic in the air and help them use the magic." Melody explained.

 As Melody finished, Wind felt a little dizzy. "Melody, I feel dizzy, what's going on?" he asked in a nervous tone. 

"You must be waking up," Melody explained calmly. 

"Is there anything else I should know?" Wind questioned. 

"All you need to know is  that the others will explain different things to you," Melody told him. 

"Okay, nice to meet you Melody," Wind said as he started to feel more dizzy. 

"Nice to meet you too, Wind," Melody responded. With that, Wind felt his consciousness leave him.




After waiting a few moments, Wind opened his eyes and saw he back in the bedroom. "Another one of those dreams," he thought, sitting up. Looking next to him, he saw Sonata still sleeping peacefully. "Better not wake her up," Wind noted mentally, carefully getting up from the bed. 

After getting up from the bed, he looked at a nearby clock on the wall and saw it was 6:50 AM. "Might as well get dressed and start the day," Wind whispered to himself.

After spending a few minutes getting dressed, Wind carefully exited the room. "I think it would be better to wait for the others to wake up," he thought happily. With that thought, he went down stairs and heard the TV in the living room. "What the heck?" Wind whispered to himself. 

When he got to the living room, he noticed Adagio sitting on the sofa. "Adagio? Wind called cautiously. 

Adagio, not noticing Wind come down the, was startled a little. "Oh, it's just you Wind," she said, calming herself.

"What are you doing up?" Wind questioned, sitting down in the nearby chair. 

"I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep," Adagio admitted in an embarrassed tone. 

"Ok, why did you wake up?" Wind asked curiously. 

"Well, I had a bad dream," Adagio told him. 

"Oh, well than I won't pry," Wind said. The two of them sat in silence until Wind noticed a small red car on the arm rest. "Oh, so she has one as well," Wind thought, smiling a little. Mentally calling out Starforce, he got up and walked over to the couch.

"Hey, mind if I ask you something?" Wind asked, sitting down next to Adagio. 

"What is it?" Adagio responded. 

"Where did you get that toy car?" Wind questioned curiously. 

Adagio had a look of surprise before she picked up the car. "Well, I brought it from home," Adagio told him. 

"Really, it looks a little like mine," Wind commented. A little confused, Wind reached down and grabbed Starforce, who had just arrived. When Adagio saw the car, she was surprised that he had a toy car.

"You still play with toy cars?" Adagio asked in amazement. 

"What can I say, I'm a kid at heart," Wind said with a smile on his face. 

"Can I hold your car Wind?" Adagio asked, blushing a little bit. 

"Go ahead, as long as I can hold yours," Wind told her. The two nodded in agreement and exchanged their toy cars. A few seconds after the exchange, they both got shocked by the cars. While Wind remained calm, Adagio was surprised and almost dropped the car.

When Adagio felt the shock, she instantly knew what the car was. "Wind, this car wouldn't happen to be a Shift Car, would it?" 

Wind simply smiled and motioned to the car in Adagio's hand. "Yes, I would be a Shift Car," Starforce said. Adagio simply looked up and stared at Wind. 

"I'm going to tell the others about this you know," she told him. 

"I know, I was planning on telling you all anyway," Wind said confidently. Adagio got up and lightly punched Wind's arm and smiled. The two kept talking for a little with Speed and Starforce talking with each other.                                                                                                                                                                                                        


> Chapter 5: The First Activity*
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: The First Activity*

A few hours after talking with Adagio, Wind was sitting in the living room with all the Shift Cars.

"I still can't believe that Adagio convinced the others to you guys here," Wind told the Shift Cars.

"I'm curious as to why you and Starforce didn't reveal yourselves earlier," Technic commented.

"Well, we needed to be sure," Starforce explained.

"I get that, but the way you did it surprised me," Speed commented. Wind and Starforce laughed in response.

Wind stopped laughing when he heard the door to the cabin open. "I wonder what our first activity is going to be?" he heard Sonata ask.

Wind quickly got up and walked over to the front of the cabin.

"Hey there everyone, what were you discussing?" Wind asked the girls.

"Well, we were talking about what the first activity for the week," Sunset told him.

"Really, well I guess I should explain a few things concerning that," Wind said, leading them into the living room. When the girls saw the Shift Cars on the table, they tensed up a little bit. "There is something I need to show you first," Wind said as he grabbed Starforce and tossed it to Sunset.

Sunset caught it and was surprised to see the toy car in her hands. "Hey Wind, I didn't know you had a toy car like Adagio's," Sunset said in surprise. Everyone, except Adagio, walked to Sunset to see Starforce. When they all were around Sunset, the four of them felt a shock. After they felt the shock, everyone realized what the car was and looked at Wind.

"I guess I have some explaining to do," Wind said as he sat down.

After a few minutes of explaining, Wind stayed silent and waited for a response from someone. "Well, that's an interesting tale," Sunset said, a bit of shock in her voice.

"So, what do you all think?" Wind asked the group.

"I believe it, considering you have Starforce," Aria said.

"Same here, I'm going to assume the same for you three?" Sunset said, looking at Trixie, Sonata, and Adagio. They all nodded in agreement and the Shift Cars simply made excited noises.

"Well, I think it's time I talk about how the camp activities are going to work," Wind told the group. Sunset and the others gathered around Wind to listen to what he had to say. "To start, I won't revealing much other than the event for each day," Wind explained to the group. They all nodded in understanding.

"Well, for the most part, all the activities will take place in the morning and end before lunch. Each day will have a different activity to complete, usually focusing on something specific. The activity today will be a simple team building exercise. I don't know much more about the activity than that."

"So, you don't know what the exercise will be?" Adagio asked curiously.

"That's right," Wind responded.

"Well, at least we know when that activity will take place," Aria said, getting up from the couch.

"I think that you should all get ready for the activity," Wind said as he got up.

"What are you going to do while we get ready?" Trixie asked curiously.

"I'm going to talk with the Shift Cars," Wind said. They all nodded and went to get ready for the day ahead of them.

After a few minutes of getting ready, Wind lead the group to the center of the camp.

"So, why are we meeting in the center of the camp?" Sonata asked.

"Because there is a meeting place there," Wind explained. No more questions were asked as they arrived at the meeting ground. When they arrived they saw, that there were a few students there already. "Now, we wait for the rest to arrive, you can talk amongst yourselves," Wind told the group.

The group talked as more students arrived. When all the students were there, one of the counselors started to explain the activity.

"Good morning campers, I'm going to explain the activity for today. Today is a simple activity, but it could take a while to complete. The activity for today is capture the flag. In order to succeed, you will need to find four flags scattered around the camp. However, you all won't know the locations of the flags. The only way you'll find out the locations are by hints given your councilors .The first team to get all four fags and return here will get an advantage in tomorrow's challenge. Are there any questions?"

Not one of the students said anything. "Well, I think that there is nothing left to explain, so the challenge is on," the councilor said happily.

Very quickly, all the students immediately ran to their chancellors. "That dismissal went about as well as I had hoped," Wind thought, mentally face palming.

Soon, Team Sacred meet up and went back to the cabin.

"So, what are the hints?" Sunset asked Wind.

"Before I tell you them, you may want to write them down," Wind told them.

Trixie grabbed a nearby piece of paper and pencil.

"The first hint is that one is near a large body of water, hidden in plain sight," Wind said. Wind paused to let Trixie write down the hint. "The second is that two of them are near one another and the third hint is that they are places people wouldn't expect to look," Wind explained.

"Is that all the hints?" Aria asked curiously.

"Well, I do know the fourth hint, but I'm going to keep that a secret until you find the other three flags," Wind said, a smirk forming on his face.

Adagio noticed something in his eyes, but kept quiet about it.

"So, what's the plan for getting the flags?" Sunset inquired.

"I suggest splitting up to get the flags faster," Wind told the group.

"That's a good idea," Sonata said happily.

"I agree, it would be faster," Aria commented.

"Well, since I'll be staying behind, one of you will be going alone," Wind explained.

"I'll go alone," Aria volunteered.

"Ok, than you four spit into groups of two," Wind told the others.

After a few minutes talking and discussing, Adagio decided to go with Sonata and Sunset decided to go with Trixie.

"I think we're all ready," Aria said.

"Before you go, I have something that might help you all," Wind said, reaching into a nearby drawer. Wind pulled out a set of three walkie-talkies and handed one to each group. "These walkie-talkies are made for long range communication, so you'll be able communicate from across the camp," Wind explained.

The groups grabbed their walkie-talkies and got everything they needed.

"Good luck you five, I'll be waiting for you to return," Wind said. With that, Team Sacred split up and went to different places around the camp.

Adagio and Sonata were just arriving at the nearby lake when they heard some conversation. "Hide," Adagio told Sonata, ducking behind a nearby tree. Sonata did the same, just before a group of students holding a flag passed them. "Looks like you were right to come this way Sonata," Adagio said.

"If I may say this, I told you so," Sonata said playfully.

"Slow down there, we still need to find the flag," Adagio said. Adagio looked around and thought about the hint they were given.

"What do you think the hint means by hidden in plain sight?" Sonata asked curiously.

"I'm trying to figure that out," Adagio said, thinking about the clue. Looking around, Adagio failed to see any flags at all. "I can't find anything," Adagio said.

"Neither can I," Sonata said, looking at the lake. The two looked around and couldn't find anything. "I'm going to look up in the trees, see if I can find something," Sonata said.

"You do that," Adagio told Sonata, looking around the lake once more.

After waiting a few minutes, Sonata came down from the tree holding a long box.

"You found something?" Adagio asked, impressed Sonata found something.

"Yes, and I think I figured out what the clue means," Sonata said, opening the box. Inside the box, there was a long piece of wood.

"What is that and what is it supposed to do?" Adagio questioned as Sonata grabbed the piece of wood.

"It's supposed to do this," Sonata replied as she walked up to the lake and put the piece of wood in the water. After waiting a few seconds, Sonata pulled up the wood and it had a flag on it.

"Wait, how did you figure that out?" Adagio asked in amazement.

"When I found the box in the tree, I was confused at first, then I remembered the hint," Sonata explained, grabbing the flag from the wood.

"The flag is located near a body of water in plain sight, what about it?" Adagio inquired.

"Just because it's in plain sight doesn't mean we can see it," Sonata said.

Adagio was about to say something, when she started to understand what Sonata meant. "I think I get what you're trying to say," Adagio said, a look of realization forming on her face. "Exactly, just because it's in plain sight doesn't mean it's obvious at first," Sonata told Adagio.

"And when you saw the lake after getting the box, that's when you realized what the hint meant," Adagio said.

"That is basically what happened," Sonata said.

"I'll tell the others in that case," Adagio told Sonata.

Adagio reached for the walkie-talkie as it bussed to life. "Hey Adagio, are you there?" Aria asked.

"I'm here, what is it Aria?" Adagio replied.

"Did you find your flag already?" Aria inquired.

"We did, you can that Sonata for that," Adagio told her.

"Well, that's good to know, I'm almost to an area I think my flag could be," Aria said.

"Ok, where are you?" Adagio asked.

"I'm in a tree house by the lake," Aria responded.

"Wait, then you should be able to see us because we're at the lake right now," Adagio said. There was the sound of scuffling on the walkie-talkie, so she assumed Aria was moving.

"I can definitely see you, didn't think you would be so close," Aria commented.

"Ok, good to know you're nearby," Adagio said.

"Why do you say that?" Aria asked curiously.

"I'm going to talk to Wind about something, I want you to watch Sonata," Adagio told Aria.

"Fine, just give her the walkie-talkie and I'll guide her over," Aria said in an annoyed tone.

"Got it," Adagio said, turning off the walkie-talkie. Adagio then walked over to Sonata, who was looking at the lake.

"How did it go?" Sonata questioned.

"Good, Aria called and said she's nearby," Adagio responded.

"Really, can we go meet up with her?" Sonata asked happily.

"You go ahead, I need to talk with Wind," Adagio told her.

"About what?" Sonata inquired.

"I just have this feeling that he is hiding something from us," Adagio explained.

"What could he be hiding?" Sonata asked.

"I'm going to find that out," Adagio said, giving Sonata the walkie-talkie. After giving her the walkie-talkie, Adagio turned around and went back to the cabin.

After a few minutes of walking, Adagio eventually arrived at the cabin. Opening the door, she looked instantly knew where to look for Wind. Heading to the living room, she saw Wind sitting on the couch. "Hey, I was wondering where you were," Adagio told him.

"Your back, did you find your flags?" Wind asked.

"Me and Sonata did, but I'm here to talk about that fourth hint you told us about," Adagio told him.

"Like I said, I want you to either figure it out on your own or find the rest of the flags," Wind reiterated, staring at the TV.

"In that case, would you mind giving me the last flag?" Adagio asked politely.

Wind paused, turned around, and looked Adagio in her eyes. "How did you know?" Wind inquired calmly.

"When you told us to figure the hint out for our selves, I saw something in your eyes," Adagio explained, sitting in a nearby chair.

"Would that something be the hint of a liar?" Wind responded.

"Something like that," Adagio said.

"How did you know I had a flag?" Wind asked.

"I figured that the camp councilors would do something with one flag, and you telling us to find out the last hint for ourselves tipped me off," Adagio explained.

Wind stayed silent for a moment and smiled. "Here I thought I was more careful," Wind said laughing a little. Wind opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a flag. "You've earned it," Wind said, holding the flag out.

Adagio grabbed the flag and then paused to think about something. "Why did you ask us to find out for ourselves?" Adagio asked.

"I don't want reveal that at the moment, but I'll tell you tonight," Wind told her. Adagio was about to say something when Wind got up from the couch.

"For now, you need to get to the square," Wind told Adagio.

"Why?" Adagio questioned.

"Well, I think the others should have their flags by now," Wind explained.

Adagio than remembered why she came to see Wind in the first place. "Your right, but don't think we are done talking about this," Adagio said running to the square. As Adagio left, Wind went back inside and waited for the girls to return.

After waiting a few minutes, Wind heard the door to the cabin close. Looking up from the book he was reading, he saw Team Sacred enter the room.

"How did it go?" Wind asked.

"We were the winners of the challenge," Sunset said happily.

"I honestly thought we would take longer, but Adagio pulled out a surprise," Trixie said.

"I'm glad that you all won," Wind told the group.

"So, what do we do now?" Sonata asked.

"Feel free to do whatever you wish," Wind said getting up from the couch. With that, Team Sacred went about to do their own business.

> Chapter 6: A Siren's Hope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6: A Siren's Hope

It was close to night time in Camp Ponyville and Wind was currently talking with Celestia.

"So, how was the first activity?" Celestia asked curiously.

"It went really well for them, they found the clues pretty fast," Wind told her.

"I heard that you kept one of the flags, why?" Celestia inquired.

"I wanted to see if one of them could find out," Wind explained.

"I have a feeling that's not all, but I'll let it slide," Celestia told him.

"Well, is there any other reason you called me over?" Wind asked her.

"Yes, I wanted to give you this book," Celestia said, pulling out an old looking book.

"What's this?" Wind asked, looking over the book.

"A book I've had for a while," Celestia told him.

Wind was looked through the book and saw that it was written in an unfamiliar language. "What is this language?" Wind inquired curiously.

"I'm not too sure myself, all I know is that it's an heirloom that has been in my family for a very long time," Celestia explained.

"And you wanted to give it to me?" Wind responded.

"Yes, I feel like you should have it," Celestia told him.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," Wind said as she got up and hugged her.

"You're welcome, my son," Celestia said. With that, Wind left the house and returned to the cabin.



When Wind arrived at the cabin, he noticed that Adagio was sitting in one of the chairs in the living room. "What are you still doing up?" Wind asked her.

"Oh, hey Wind, I'm just thinking," Adagio told him, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Noticing the sadness, Wind walked up to her. "Do you want to talk?" Wind questioned in a sincere voice.

Adagio stayed silent for a few moments, before getting up and walking outside. "I wouldn't mind, but I like the outside better, it helps me think," Adagio responded.

Wind followed her outside to the back of the cabin. Outside, there were a few chairs scattered around, so Wind got two and sat down in one. "So, what seems to be the matter?" Wind asked Adagio.

"Well, lately I've been thinking about my home," Adagio told him.

"What's your home like?" Wind inquired curiously. Adagio stayed silent as she tried to think of words to describe her home.

"It's peaceful enough, crime rarely happens, and it's by the sea," Adagio explained as she remembered the kingdom of the Sirens.

"It sounds like a place I would like to go to at some point," Wind commented with a smile on his face.

"Well, I would like to see your reaction to it, Adagio said, laughing a little bit.

"Why did you leave out of curiosity?" Wind asked tentatively.

"Well, it's not like we wanted to, we were forced to leave," Adagio told him, remembering the day they were banished.

"You know, Celestia told me about what you and your sisters did," Wind told Adagio. Adagio stayed silent in response. "Why did you do it? I know you three are good, but why?" Wind asked in a caring tone.

"We wanted to go back home," Adagio said sharply.

"Do you want to explain?" Wind questioned.

"Well, if Celestia told you, then I don't see why not. Since Celestia told you, you must know about Equestria as well. Our home, commonly called that Kingdom of the Sirens, was a very beautiful place. Me, Aria, and Sonata all lived there and were one big family. For a time, things were peaceful for us, we had friends, had jobs, and lived a good life. Unfortunately, not everything is meant to last. I don't remember it clearly, but something took our parents hostage and forced us to work for them."

"We were forced to do a lot of horrible stuff and were banished to the human world. We had a couple of decades to think about what we did and ways to try to get back home. When we sensed Equestrian Magic coming from CHS, we thought we could finally go home. But, when Sunset and her friends interfered and destroyed our gems, we had to accept that there was no going back."

Adagio finished her story and, with tears in her eye, got up and started to openly cry in front of Wind. Wind, seeing her sadness, comforted her with a hug from behind. "Why?" she asked through the tears.

"I may not know how you feel, but I feel sorry for you. You and your sisters were separated from your family and forced to do horrible crimes. While I may never know that feeling, I know you did what you had to do with good intentions," Wind explained to Adagio in a comforting tone.

"How do you figure?" Adagio asked him, sniffling through her tears.

"Well, why did you accept his offer?" Wind responded.

"It was because I hoped to see our family again," Adagio told Wind.

"Do you still hold that hope in your heart? The hope that you'll be able to return home and see your family again?" Wind questioned.

"I do, but why do you ask?" Adagio responded.

"Like I said, I don't know how I would act in your situation, but there is something that I do know. No matter how many obstacles you will face, as long as you have hope, there will always be a way to achieve your goal, no matter how impossible it may seem," Wind explained.

Adagio was stunned by the advice that Wind gave her. "But what if I don't have any more hope?" Adagio asked with tears in her eyes.

Wind walked up to her and wiped a tear from her face. "Don't worry, as long as you have others around you, hope will never fade," Wind told her. Wind was about to head back inside, but quickly remembered something. He took out a ring from his pocket and gave it to Adagio, who took it slowly.

"What is this?" Adagio asked as she looked over the ring. The ring was a silver ring with a ruby as the stone.

"Just a good luck charm. Remember, you don't have to place the burden of others on yourself and make everything you want achieve seem impossible. As long as you have hope, anything is possible," Wind told Adagio before walking back inside.

Adagio stood outside for a few seconds, before she put the ring on her finger. "Wind, thank you. I know that feeling hopeless is bad, but you've taught me to have hope, no matter how dire and hopeless the situation may seem," Adagio thought to herself. With that thought, Adagio headed back inside with a renewed hope of returning to Equestria.

> Chapter 7: A Magical Meeting & A Morning Performance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7: A Magical Meeting & A Morning Performance

After talking with Adagio, Wind spent the rest of the day walking around the house and observing the others. As the afternoon went on, he started to develop a headache that would just not go away. At first, he thought nothing of it, but as time went on, he started to get extremely annoyed. When it came time to go to sleep, he went to the restroom as his headache was still there.

"Why is this headache not going away?" Wind thought as he splashed water in his face. When he looked back in the mirror, he felt his like he was going into a tunnel. "What's happening?" Wind thought as he heard something.

"Hey Wind, where are you?" a familiar voice called.

"That voice, is it Luna's?" Wind thought.

"There you are, I've been looking for you. Come on, I want to show you the Night Blooms," the voice told him.

"Night Blooms…?" Wind questioned as a memory resurfaced. The memory in question was of an open field at night time. The field had very odd flowers scattered around it that seemed to glow in the moonlight. The flowers were blue in color with the glow coming from the petals.

"Hey Wind, are you in there?" Sonata called, snapping Wind out of the trance he was in.

"Sorry, I just zoned out. I'll be out in a minute," Wind said as he proceeded to get ready for bed.



After getting into bed and falling asleep, Wind found himself in the cave with the Sacred Tree again. "I think I can see a pattern starting to develop with these dream sequences," Wind said as he walked towards the tree. As he looked at the tree, he noticed an orange light on one of the tree's branches that wasn't there before.

"Ah, I see you were able to help the tree a little, nice work," he heard Cyclone say from behind him.

"So, every time I do something, still a little bit unsure about that part, a part of the tree light up and it gets a little better," Wind said, coming up with a theory.

"Yes and no is the best answer I can give there," Cyclone said.

"What do you mean?" Wind asked curiously.

"Well, you're right in saying that every time a light appears, the tree gets better. The thing is, that's not the only factor in play here," Cyclone explained.

"But, since I only have so much time here, you won't be able to explain it all, is that right?" Wind inquired.

"You got it right on the money. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to my next friend you're going to talk to," Cyclone told Wind as he headed towards the doors. Wind waited by the tree for Typhoon and noticed a flower growing nearby. The flower was on that he had seen recently and surprised him that it was there.

"A Night Bloom? What's that doing there?" Wind thought as he approached the Night Bloom. He leaned down and sure enough, it was the same type of flower he saw in his memory.

"Hey Wind, are you ready?" Cyclone called.

"I'm coming," Wind responded as he headed to the doors. When he arrived, he saw Cyclone standing in front of the light azure door.

"I believe you remember what the rules of this world are right?" Cyclone asked as he opened the door.

"I do," Wind responded.

"Well, then good luck," Cyclone said before walking off. Wind then stepped into the light that was behind the door and closed it behind him.



When the light faded away, Wind found himself in a small, one person room. The room had a wardrobe, a bed, and a WINDOW that showed a field. Hanging on the walls were various posters, all different styles, but advertising the same thing.

"Come On! Come All! Come and see a Magic Show unlike any you've seen before!"

"I see you noticed my posters," a voice said from behind him. Turning around, he saw a teenage girl wearing a wizard hat, a cape, a light blue shirt, and boots. One thing he noticed is that the girl had a horn on her forehead.

"Hello there, who might you be?" Wind thought to the girl.

"My name is Trixie Lulamoon, nice to meet you," the girl told him.

"Wait, did you say Trixie? That's the same name as one of my students," Wind thought to himself.

"You must be the one Cyclone told me about," Trixie said as she walked to the bed.

"I am, my name is Wind Typhoon," Wind told the dream Trixie.

"Nice to meet you Wind," Trixie told him.

"So, what exactly are you going to talk to me about?" Wind asked as he remembered what Melody said.

"Oh, well I am going to tell you how Equestria works as a country," Trixie told him.

"Ok, you have me interested," Wind said.

"In that case, Equestria is home to three races of ponies. They are Earth Ponies, Peagasi, and Unicorns. Unicorns like me lack physical strength but are experienced in magic. Pegasi control the weather and can fly. Earth ponies can't really do anything special, but they are very strong. Leading all three races are the princesses, who are a special race known as alicorns. You've met Melody, but to give a little more detail on a pure alicorn, they are a combination of all three races of ponies with the best traits of the three.

The princesses govern the land of Equestria, but they are more prone to be nice rulers who do make mistakes. The different types of ponies do different jobs depending on the type doing the job. For example, unicorns are doctors, pegasi are weather managers/workers, and earth ponies are farmers and teachers. That doesn't mean all ponies of a type have to stick to one profession though. I know of a few earth ponies who are musicians, a pegasus that is a veterinarian, and a unicorn who controls some aspects weather."

After Trixie finished her explanation about Equestria, Wind felt nothing come over him. "Huh, that's odd," Wind said.

"What is odd Wind?" Trixie asked.

"Well, after Melody finished explained what she had to, I started to feel dizzy and I woke up in the real world," Wind explained to Trixie.

"Oh, well that's probably because you were waking up," Trixie told Wind.

"So, at the moment I'm not going to be waking up?" Wind asked.

"Exactly, which means I don't know what to do," Trixie admitted.

"Well, why don't you tell me what these posters are all about?" Wind responded.

"That is kind of a touchy subject for me," Trixie told Wind as she sat on the bed.

"I won't push it, but could you at least tell me what you do?" Wind requested.

"Well, I'm a traveling magician who does shows in any town I stop in," Trixie told him. It was at that point that Wind began to feel dizzy.

"Trixie, I think I'm starting to wake up," Wind told her.

"Ok, just one more thing I wanted to tell you," Trixie said.

"What is it?" Wind asked.

"Look for the door," Trixie told him. With those words, Wind woke up.



Wind opened his eyes and carefully got out of bed. "What did she mean by looking for a door?" Wind thought to himself.

"Morning Wind," Sonata told him. Wind turned to around and saw Sonata lying on the bed awake.

"Morning Sonata, what are you doing awake?" Wind said as he looked at the clock and saw it was still early in the morning.

"I woke up a little before you did. As to why I'm awake, I heard a noise coming from outside," Sonata told him.

"Do you know what the noise was?" Wind asked.

"Well, I don't know who caused it, but is sounded like something falling over," Sonata described as she sat up. Wind looked at Sonata as she sat up and saw that she was in her pajamas. Wind blushed slightly at the sight and turned away quickly.

"I'll go check it out," Wind said as he got up to get dressed.

"Hey Wind, did you want to tell me anything?" Sonata asked, a slight blush forming on her face.

"Well, I must admit, you do look really pretty," Wind said quickly before walking out to get dressed. Sonata blushed profusely before heading off to get dressed herself.



After Wind got dressed in his camp councilors outfit, he went downstairs to find what made the noise Sonata was talking about. He put his hands in his pockets and felt something that wasn't there before. Taking the paper he felt out, he opened it up and saw a familiar image on it. "Wait, how did this get here?" Wind thought as he put the paper back in his pocket. It was then that he heard a crash come from the back of the cabin.

He quickly walked to the back and saw Trixie on the ground outside, surrounded by various props. "Not again, that's the fourth time I've messed this trick up," Trixie said to herself aloud.

"Trixie, are you ok?" Wind asked as he rushed over to her.

"Oh, Wind, how long have you been standing there?" Trixie asked nervously.

"I just got here, are you ok?" Wind responded, offering his hand to help her up.

"I'm fine, just had a little accident trying to perform a trick I knew," Trixie explained as she took his hand. Wind pulled her up to her feet, then looked around at the various props.

"I take it that you like to preformed magic tricks before?" Wind questioned as he picked a magicians hat.

"Well, it's not something I do often anymore, but I do practice some tricks on occasion," Trixie explained shyly.

"I would actually like to see what you can do. Do you think I can help you set up a show for Team Sacred after the trip is over?" Wind offered.

"As much as I would like to, I'm not sure I'll be able to do it," Trixie admitted.

"Well, that's no reason not to try. Like I said, I'll help you as much as I can," Wind told Trixie. Trixie thought about it and smiled in response.

"Sure, I don't see any reason not to go for it," Trixie said happily.

"Good, then I'll help you plan some tricks after the activity," Wind said. The two cleaned up the props that were on the ground and headed back inside.

> Chapter 8: The Second Activity*
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Chapter 8: The Second Activity

After talking with Trixie and the girls heading to breakfast, Wind proceeded to clean up around the cabin. While he was cleaning, he thought about what he experienced yesterday. "That memory I had, it feels familiar, but I don't know where that was. It was obviously outside and with Luna, but where was it?" Wind thought as he cleaned the living room.

"Something on your mind Wind?" Starforce asked as it drove up to his feet.

"It's just something I've been wondering about Starforce. By the way, where were you and the others yesterday?" Wind responded.

"We were scouting out the ruins nearby, it's part of my mission," Starforce explained.

"That's right; I remember Celestia and Luna telling me that there were some Ruins nearby. Why are you exploring them?" Wind said.

"I would tell you, but I don't know all the details myself," Starforce said.

"That's fine, I just wanted to know where you were," Wind said as he picked up some garbage from the floor. It was at that point that the rest of the Shift Cars entered the room.

"Hey Wind," They all said.

"Hey, the others were worried about you all," Wind said, leaning on his couch.

"Sorry, we had something we needed to look into," Speed said.

"Well, at least let me know if you're all going somewhere," Wind said.

"I'll keep that in mind," Technic said. After a few moments, the door to the cabin opened and the girls came back from lunch.

"Hey everyone," Wind said as he sat back down on the couch. The Shift Cars all went to their respective owner who picked them up.

"Hey Wind, when did the Shift Cars get back?" Adagio asked as she put Speed on her shoulder.

"They came back while you were at breakfast," Wind said as Starforce sat on his lap.

"Where were they?" Sunset asked.

"I think that they were wandering around the camp," Wind said, lying about what Starforce told him.

"Oh, so they were looking around the camp all of yesterday?" Aria asked.

"We get bored very easily," Wild said from Aria's hand.

"Fair enough," Sonata said, putting Technic in her jacket pocket.

"Come on, let's get ready for today's activity," Wind said as he got up from the couch. Team Sacred nodded in agreement and got ready for the day's activity.



After getting ready, Wind lead Team Sacred to the meeting ground and saw that there were a good amount of teams already there. A few minutes of waiting later, a camp councilor came to explain the next challenge.

"Hello campers, it's time for the next activity. Today's activity is a simple scavenger hunt game that will involve the whole camp. Your team leader will have a list of places you will need to go to in any order you wish and a list of things to look for. When you get to a location, you will need to find out if any items are in that area. When you find all the items, report to your leader and they will handle the rest."

The campers, knowing to start when the instructions were finished, immediately rushed over to their team leader. When Team Sacred meets with Wind, they saw he was holding two papers. "Here are the places you need to go and the things you need to find," Wind said. The team took out their phones and each took a picture of both lists.

"I'll take the lists themselves," Sunset said. The girls looked over the lists and Trixie noticed something.

"These places are all close enough to each other that we can walk to each one quickly," Trixie told the group.

"So, we can look for each of the items together?" Sonata asked.

"We could do that or we could split up into groups in order to find the items faster," Trixie suggested.

"By the way, I'll be coming with you all this time," Wind told the group.

"So, what should the groups be?" Sonata asked.

"What about me, Sonata, and Sunset go the locations on the first half of the list and Trixie, Wind, and Aria go to the second half?" Adagio suggested.

"I would complain, but it'll do for now," Aria commented. The others nodded in agreement and quickly got into their groups.

"See you back here when you've searched all your assigned buildings," Sunset said. With a consensus among the team, the two groups then headed off towards their respective buildings.



After a few minutes of walking, Trixie, Aria, and Wind arrived at the first of their buildings. "Wind, do you have any hints for us?" Aria asked curiously.

"Just that there is one object in every building," Wind said.

"How do you know that off the top of your head?" Trixie asked.

"They let us know before the activity started," Wind said as he opened the door. Trixie and Aria looked at each other and just shrugged that information off before heading into the building.

"So, what exactly are we looking for in this building?" Aria asked.

"I don't know what it is or where it is, they didn't tell the leaders that much," Wind told the two.

"But is there an indicator for us to find?" Trixie asked.

"There should be a flag with our team name on the object. Also, all the objects for the teams are together, but we can only take ours," Wind responded.

"Then let's start looking," Aria said. The three started to look around the building for something that looked like a hiding place. Eventually, Trixie found a small opening behind a bookcase that was in the building.

"I found it," Trixie called as she took out the item from the hiding place.

"Ok, that's one down," Aria said as she moved to the exit of the building.

"Yes, we now have about eight more to go," Wind said as he took a hold of the item. The three left the building and went to the next on the list. After a few more minutes, they had only one item left on the list.

"We made good time, now what is the last location?" Trixie asked.

"According to this, it's our team cabin," Aria said.

"Ok, let's go," Trixie said, going ahead of the group. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at their cabin and went inside.

"Where would be a good place to start looking?" Aria asked. It was at that point that Trixie noticed Wind looking a little nervous.

"You ok Wind?" Trixie asked.

"I'm fine, it's just the fact that I'm wondering where the last item could be," Wind said.

"Something tells me that's not the only reason, but I'll ask after the activity," Trixie thought.

"Do you have any ideas?" Wind asked. Trixie looked around the living room and saw something interesting about the door to the backyard. She walked towards the door and noticed that something was wrong with it.

"I'm going to try the backyard, see if I can find something there," Trixie said as she opened the door carefully. Wind followed her as he was confused by what she meant. Trixie looked outside and saw that her stuff was on the ground.

"I thought we picked that up," Wind said as he walked forward. Wind was stopped by Trixie extending her arm.

"Let me handle this," Trixie said. Wind simply backed off in response and let Trixie look over the area. Trixie walked to the items and noticed that some of the looked like they were placed in a curious way. Trixie moved some of the objects and found a hole in the ground. Trixie looked inside the hole and found the object there. She kneeled down, reached into the hole, and grabbed the object. "I found it," Trixie said as she pulled the item from the ground.

"Trixie, that's amazing. How did you find it so quickly?" Wind said out of amazement.

"I'll tell you later, but for now, let's go win this challenge," Trixie said as she went to find Aria. When she found Aria, she saw that Aria was looking through Adagio's room. "What are you doing?" Trixie asked.

"Um, nothing important. Did you find it?" Aria responded as she put down what she was looking at.

"I did, come on," Trixie told her. Aria quickly followed Trixie and they met up with Wind.

"Are you two ready?" Wind asked. They both nodded in response and they all headed off to meet up with Sunset and the others.



After running to the team meeting place, they saw that Sunset, Adagio, and Sonata were already there. "Hey, we got out things, how you all?" Sunset asked as she held up a bag with their items.

"We got ours as well," Trixie said as she held up a similar bag.

"That's good, I'll take all of this and take care of the rest," Wind said as he took the bags in his hands.

"What do we do?" Sonata asked.

"You have the rest of the day to yourselves; feel free to do whatever you want," Wind said as he headed off to deliver the items. The five teammates looked at each other and smiled in success.

"Who want to look around the camp?" Trixie asked. The all nodded yes and went to go look around the camp.

"So, where was the last item on your group's list?" Sunset asked Trixie.

"It was back at the cabin, I found it fast," Trixie said.

"Really? Did anything eventful happen?" Sunset asked. Trixie looked at Aria, who was talking with her sisters, and whispered to Sunset what she saw. Sunset went wide-eyed at that and looked at Trixie.

"You didn't hear it from me," Trixie said as she walked away from Aria.
> Chapter 9: A Magician's Thoughts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9: A Magician's Thoughts

After turning in the objects to the councilors, Wind walked around the camp for a little bit. While walking, Wind thought about what he saw with Trixie. "Ok, I have to admit, I didn't understand why the stuff was on the ground, but Trixie is very bright," Wind thought as he continued to walk. Eventually, Wind came across a small lake. "Ah, this must be the place where Adagio and Sonata found their flag," Wind thought as he remembered what Adagio told him.

"Just like old times, am I right?" a voice asked. Wind was surprised by that and looked around to find that no one was there.

"What the heck?" Wind said to himself as he moved away from the lake. As he headed back towards camp, he saw Luna and Celestia talking in the distance. "Might as well tell them about it, maybe they would know something," Wind thought as he went to go talk to them. As he got closer, he noticed that Celestia was holding a book.

"Ah, and there he is now," Luna said when she noticed him.

"Did you two need speak with me?" Wind asked.

"We just wanted to talk to you about something," Celestia said.

"What did you need me to speak to me about?" Wind asked curiously.

"Well, we wanted to give you a little challenge so to speak," Luna said as Celestia held out the book she had. Wind took the book and noticed it looked a little old.

"That book has been in my family for generations, and I believe that it might hold a clue to getting your memories back," Celestia explained.

"That seems good, but there is a catch, isn't there?" Wind said as he noted the way that his mom chose her words.

"You are really observant," Luna commented.

"Thank you for the compliment," Wind said.

"Well, you see, while that book has been in my family for generations, no one has been able to decipher it," Celestia explained.

"Why is that?" Wind asked nervously.

"Well all you need to do is open the book and you'll see for yourself," Celestia said. Wind did as she said and opened the book. After taking a quick look at the pages, he closed the book and looked at Celestia with a blank look.

"Really?" Wind said simply.

"Yes, you can see why no one has been able to decipher this book," Celestia said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"And what makes you think that I can do it?" Wind asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I just have a feeling," Celestia said.

"You know what, I'll see what I can do and get back to you later," Wind said as he turned around.

"Oh, and one more thing," Celestia said.

"What is it?" Wind asked.

"Know that I love you and I will always be there for you," Celestia said. That comment made Wind smile as he walked and he gave thumbs up to Celestia.

"I know, that's why you're my mom," Wind said as he walked away. After he went out of sight, Celestia and Luna looked at each other nervously.

"Do you really think that he can do it?" Luna asked.

"I'm not sure, but something tells me there is more to him that meets the eye," Celestia responded.

"Well, he is supposed to be our brother after all," Luna said.

"No, that's not the only thing," Celestia said as she started to think about something.

"What makes you say that?" Luna asked curiously.

"I'm not completely sure, but there is something odd about him that I can't put my finger on. Before you ask, no it's not the fact that I think he's our brother reborn, it's something else entirely," Celestia explained. Luna looked a little worried at this comment and looked at the direction that Wind went.

"I hope you're right and he can decipher it in that case," Luna said.

"Don't worry, I know he'll be able to find out its mysteries," Celestia said confidently. With that, Celestia and Luna returned to their cabin in order to talk in private



Eventually, Wind got back to the cabin and started to talk to himself. "The book's words are symbols that no one in the family has been able to figure out and she expects me to figure it out?" Wind mumbled to himself. Wind spoke to himself to a little bit, but was interrupted by someone.

"Wind, is something the matter?" he heard Trixie ask. Wind looked in the living room and saw Trixie standing by the back door.

"Oh, hello Trixie, how long have you been standing there?" Wind asked in a cautious tone.

"Well, I was standing here since I saw you talking to yourself," Trixie said.

"Oh, well this is awkward," Wind said as he blushed out of embarrassment.

"You still haven't answered my question," Trixie said as she walked towards Wind.

"Well, there is one thing that is bothering me," Wind said as he show the book to Trixie.

"What's this?" Trixie asked.

"It's a book that Celestia gave me to decipher, but if you open up the book, you'll see why I was mumbling to myself," Wind explained. Trixie opened up the book to a page and immediately closed it.

"Well, I can see why you were mumbling to yourself now," Trixie said.

"I know right, and she told me that no one in her family has been able to decipher that book," Wind told her.

"Why did she put you up to anyway?" Trixie asked curiously.

"I guess she must have seen something in me that told her I could do it," Wind said as he stretched the truth a little bit. Trixie doubted what he was saying for a little bit, but decided to just believe him.

"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about this afternoon," Wind said as he dropped the subject they were talking about before.

"Oh, well I figured that you would want to know," Trixie said as she walked to the back door. Wind followed her and saw that the yard was cleaned up.

"I'm going to guess that you cleaned the mess up," Wind said.

"I did, after all a detective always leave a scene untouched until the mystery is solved," Trixie said. Wind processed that and then realized something.

"You're a fan of detective films, aren't you?" Wind asked.

"Just a little, but I really like them," Trixie said as she sat on the ground. Wind did the same and took a moment to admire the sky.

"It's a good day out today, isn't it?" Wind asked.

"It is," Trixie responded. The two of them stayed there for a few minutes and thought about things.

"What made you think about your detective knowledge when we saw the stuff on the ground?" Wind asked out of curiosity.

"I thought it seemed a little suspicious. After all, we made sure that everything was cleaned up," Trixie explained.

"And after you saw that the stuff was on the ground, you instincts triggered?" Wind continued.

"That would be correct," Trixie said.

"How did you learn your detective skills anyway?" Wind asked.

"Well, I guess you could say that a trip to Japan and a good teacher," Trixie told Wind as she remembered her teacher and smiled.

"Really? Would you mind telling me his name?" Wind asked.

"He prefers his name to be kept secret," Trixie said. Wind silently nodded and got lost in his thoughts. "You know, you seem to be really laid back," Trixie commented.

"Well, I am actively trying to do something that is taking some time," Wind told Trixie.

"What would that be?" Trixie asked.

"Well, I've been looking for a way to restore my lost memories," Wind said. Trixie looked surprised and looked at Wind with a look of concern. "Don't worry, I'm working on it," Wind told Trixie.

"You try saying that to someone who has the same problem," Trixie said as she hugged her knees. Wind took a second to process that and immediately looked at Trixie.

"Wait, are you trying to tell me that you also don't have any memories?" Wind asked in a caring tone.

"At least up to a certain point in my life. It's weird, I remember everything from my junior high years onward, but before that I'm drawing a blank," Trixie said as she started to tear up.

"Do you occasionally have flashes of your old memories?" Wind asked.

"Only on occasion, and even then I don't remember them afterwards" Trixie said.

"Then that should be enough to let you have hope," Wind said as he reached into his pocket.

"What does that mean?" Trixie asked.

"Well, I recently had a memory come back to me. I don't know anything about it, but it let me know that I can regain my memories," Wind explained as he pulled out a piece of paper.

"So, just because you had that flash, you have hope?" Trixie asked.

"That's right," Wind said. As he said that, Wind started to unfold the paper. "I also took the liberty of drawing something from my memory," Wind said as he showed her the paper. Trixie took the paper and looked at the drawing.

"Wind, what is this flower?" Trixie asked.

"I believe it's called a Moon Flower," Wind said. Trixie looked at the drawing and felt something come up in her mind. "Does it look familiar to you?" Wind asked. Trixie stayed silent as a memory came back to her.

"It does, and I remember it clearly this time," Trixie said in a happy tone.

"That's good, what was it if I may ask?" Wind asked curiously.

"It was about a field of Moon Flowers and there was someone else there with me, but I don't remember or recognize who it was," Trixie told Wind in an ecstatic tone.

"Well, I have two things to tell you. First off, you should calm down," Wind said. Trixie did as Wind told her and calmed down a bit. "Second off, I'm really happy for you," Wind said in a caring tone.

"I should thank you, after all, you helped me get one of my memories back," Trixie said.

"No problem, I understand how you feel," Wind said.

"Here, I imagine you want this back," Trixie said as she gave the picture back to Wind.

"You keep it, I would rather you have it than me," Wind said.

"Isn't this important to you?" Trixie asked.

"That is true, but I think it would be more useful in your hands," Wind said as he got up.

"Are you sure?" Trixie said as she folded the paper up and put in her pocket.

"I'm positive," Wind told Trixie with a smile on his face.

"Well, thank you, I really appreciate it," Trixie said in an appreciative tone.

"Don't mention it," Wind told Trixie. Wind went back inside the cabin and left Trixie outside.

"Wind, you're so nice, I'm curious to know what your past is," Trixie thought as she stood up. Trixie looked around the backyard and saw that something was growing there. "What is that?" Trixie thought as she got closer. When she got close enough, she noticed that it was a flower that looked very familiar.

"What is this thing?" Trixie said to herself as she reached to touch it.

"Trixie, are you coming?" Wind called before Trixie touched the flower.

"I'll be right there," Trixie said as she headed back inside. As Trixie left, the flower seemed to open up slightly before vanishing.
> Chapter 10: The Third Dream & A Quick Agreement
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10: The Third Dream & A Quick Agreement

After spending the rest of the day helping the rest of the team, Wind got ready for bed. "Hey Wind, can I speak to you?" Sonata asked after she came out of the bathroom.

"Sure Sonata, what did you want to talk about?" Wind responded as he sat on the bed.

"Well, it's just a question about your memory," Sonata told Wind. Wind seemed to tense up for a moment before calming down.

"Sure, what did you want to ask?" Wind asked.

"Well, do you have amnesia?" Sonata responded in a nervous tone. Wind looked at Sonata and sighed.

"How did you find out?" Wind questioned in a calm tone.

"Well, I came in when you were talking with Trixie in the backyard and overheard the two of you talking, Sonata explained.

"I would tell you something about privacy, but I feel like I need to open up to someone," Wind told Sonata.

"You don't need to," Sonata said.

"Its fine, like I said, I needed to tell someone about this and you're the only one who I really feel comfortable to talk about this," Wind said in a serious tone. Sonata said nothing and waited for Wind to tell her what had happened. "Well, first thing first, you are right in the fact that I have amnesia," Wind told her.

"I knew that, but do you know how you got amnesia?" Sonata asked.

"No, I woke up with no recollection of my past. The only reason I'm here is because of Principle Celestia, who found me and took me in," Cyclone explained.

"So, you consider Celestia you're mother?" Sonata asked.

"Something like that," Wind told Sonata.

"Hey, I'm not judging you, but it's good to know not to make you upset," Sonata told Wind.

"Well, that probably is a good idea. Besides, who know what Celestia would," Wind said in a playful tone. Sonata laughed nervously as she thought about the consequences of that action. "Well then, let's go to sleep," Wind said as he laid down on the bed he and Sonata shared. Sonata climbed into bed and started to fall asleep when she felt the feeling that they were being watched. She looked around and saw that no one was in the room with them.

"Must be my imagination," Sonata thought before falling asleep. After she fell asleep, a blue light appeared in the room and slowly hovered over to Wind. When it reached the bed, the light floated there for a little before heading into Wind.



"Huh, this is new," Wind told himself as he looked around the cave. When he got there, he was expecting Cyclone to be there waiting for him. When he arrived, however, he couldn't see Cyclone anywhere, "I wonder where he is," Wind thought as he walked around. He was about to head towards the doors when he felt a small hoof touch his leg. Wind turned around and looked down to find a small alicorn filly waiting there with something in its mouth.

"Hello there," The filly somehow said with something in her mouth.

"Hello there little one, do you have something from me?" Wind asked as he kneeled down.

"I do, here you go," The filly said as she levitated the letter in her mouth to him. Wind grabbed the letter and began to read it.

"Dear Wind,"

"Sorry about not being there, something came up and I had to take care of it. I'll be back in two days. Until then, I sent Conta to keep you company. She is a good kid and one that I know you'll have a good time with. Also, I've already spoken to the next two friends you'll be visiting and they'll let you know when it's time. Anyway, see you when I get back."

"From, Cyclone"

Wind looked at the filly and smiled at her. "Well, it's good to see that he cares about me," Wind said as he patted Conta on the head. Wind noticed that Conta seemed a little nervous while he patted his head, but didn't move away. "You're nervous about this, aren't you?" Wind asked in a kind tone.

"Of course I am, I'm always like this when I meet a new person," Conta said as she shuffled her hooves nervously.

"Well, why don't we talk for a little and get to know each other?" Wind suggested.

"That might be a good idea," Conta said as she walked to the Sacred Tree and sat down there. Wind followed her and sat down next to her.

"So, how did you meet Cyclone?" Wind asked.

"Well, I don't feel like talking about that because it's kind of personal," Conta said.

"Hey, I understand how you feel. In the real world, I keep these meetings a secret from everyone," Wind told Conta.

"Why do that?" Conta asked curiously.

"Well, I do that because I'm honestly waiting for a good time to tell them about this," Wind admitted. Conta said noting in response and left an uneasy silence. "Hey, do you have any memories of your past?" Wind asked cautiously.

"Not all of them," Conta told Wind.

"I know how you feel, I don't have any memories of my past," Wind said.

"How are you handling that?" Conta asked. Wind thought about how to answer that and realized something.

"To be honest, while I keep a happy exterior for everyone to see, I'm honestly sad," Wind told Conta in a shaky voice.

"You're sad about not remembering your past, aren't you?" Conta asked.

"Of course I am, I don't know where I came from, I don't know who my parents are, I don't even know if I have any old friends," Wind ranted in a depressed tone. Conta said nothing and just listened to what Wind said. "The worst part is that I don't know what to do when I get my memories back. Do I go look for my old family and friends or do I stay here?" Wind said. It was at that point that a bright purple light came from one of the doors.

"I think that your new friend is calling you," Conta told Wind.

"I think so; I've got to get going. Sorry about bombarding you with my depression, I just needed to vent it with someone," Wind told Conta as he got up. Wind started to walk to the doors when he heard Conta getting up and walking behind him. When Wind got up to the door, he went open the door when he saw an aura around the handle. He smiled and let Conta open the door for him. "I thought you were nervous around people you didn't meet before?" Wind said as the door opened.

"We are the same in terms of how we feel and I like how you are," Conta told Wind.

"Thanks, I appreciate the sentiment," Wind said as he walked into the door.



When Wind arrived at where the door lead, he noticed something different immediately. "Hey, I actually have a body in this one," Wind thought to himself as he tested out the body he was given. After getting used to his body, he looked around and saw the room looked similar to the one when he visited Melody.

"Hello there, you must be Wind," a voice said from behind him. Wind turned around and saw a siren standing there.

"I am, you must be the one that I'm supposed to be meeting today," Wind said.

"That is correct, my name is Aria Blaze, nice to meet you" she told Wind as she extended her hoof.

"Nice to meet you Aria," Wind said as he shook her hoof. Wind realized something and noticed a pattern developing. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know someone known as Princess Melody would you?" Wind asked curiously. Aria looked confused before realizing that name sounded familiar.

"I do, but Melody is actually the nickname of one my friends. Her name is Adagio Dazzle," Aria told Wind. Wind nodded in understanding and kept that in the back of my mind.

"Anyway, what do you have to tell me?" Wind asked.

"You mean like about the sirens?" Aria responded.

"That would be correct," Wind said.

"Well then, why don't you tell me what Adagio told you and we will go from there," Aria told Wind. Wind thought back to when he meet with Adagio.

"She just told me a little about how Sirens work, where they live, and how they get their magic," Wind told Aria.

"Ok, well then, I can explain how Sirens and Ponies interact," Aria said.

"Ok, that seems fair enough," Wind said as he got ready to hear.

"Well, Sirens and Ponies do have an interesting relationship. Early in Equestrian history, Ponies tried to hunt Sirens for their scales but that was ended relatively quickly with a diplomatic trip by Princess Celestia, the ruler of the nation of Equestria. We started to slowly trade our goods between the nations and peace came for our two nations."

"I imagine that there was some distrust between the two of your nations," Wind said.

"It was less distrust and more of people who didn't agree with the trade and peace between the two nations," Aria explained.

"Ok, is that all that Ponies and Sirens did in terms of interaction?" Wind asked.

"Well, there was also more of a relationship that the two had, but I don't know much about that. You'll have to ask Sonata about that," Aria told Wind.

"Out of curiosity, do you know when I'll be seeing Sonata?" Wind asked nervously.

"Well, you should be meeting her in two days," Aria said after she thought about it.

"OK, since it looks like I have some time to spare, mind if I ask you a few questions about yourself?" Wind asked politely.

"Sure, just as long as you don't get too personal, which I will let you know of," Aria responded.

"In that case, what is your relationship between you, Adagio, and Sonata?" Wind asked curiously.

"That is one question that I can answer comfortably. You see, while we may act like we are only friends, we are actually sisters," Aria told Wind.

"Why do you act like you're all friends in that case?" Wind questioned.

"Well, it's because we aren't sisters by blood. We consider ourselves sisters, but we are actually really good friends," Aria explained.

"Ok, what was your home like?" Wind asked. This caused Aria to become awkwardly silent. "I won't ask in that case, since it seems like a private topic," Wind said.

"Sorry about that, it's just something I'm uncomfortable answering," Aria apologized.

"Its fine," Wind said in a comforting tone. Before Wind could ask his next question, he felt a familiar feeling come over him. "Well, I think I'm about to wake up," he told Aria.

"Well then, I'll be sure to tell Sonata to continue telling you about the Sirens," Aria said. With that, Wind felt himself wake up and return to the real world.



Wind woke up groggily and sat in the bed. "Morning sleepy head," he heard Sonata say. He looked to his left to see Sonata already up and dressed.

"You're up early," Wind said as he got out of bed.

"I woke up at about seven and couldn't go back to sleep, so I just woke up and got dressed for the day," Sonata told him.

"Well, did anything happen while I was asleep?" Wind asked as he was about to enter the bathroom.

"Well, I did notice Aria out in the back yard, but I didn't notice if anything was wrong," Sonata told Wind.

"I'll go check on her after she got dressed," Wind told Sonata in a comforting tone.

"OK, I'll leave her to you. I would just recommend you be care because she can get easily frustrated," Sonata told Wind.

"Thanks for the heads up," Wind said as he closed the door. After Wind got dressed, he went down stairs and looked outside to see Aria standing outside. As he opened the door, he heard her practicing her singing with some obvious difficulty.

"Days flying by, I still wonder why," Aria sang with several voice cracks.

"Wow, that Battle of the Bands event must have done a real number on her voice," Wind thought. Aria then stopped singing and then walked to the fence, which she seemed to punch out of frustration.

"Dang it, why can't I get any better?" Aria said, an angry tone very obvious in her voice.

"You seem like you could use some help," Wind said as he walked out to the backyard. Aria turned and saw Wind walking towards her.

"How much did you hear?" Aria said bitterly.

"I heard you trying to sing and saw you punch the fence out of frustration," Wind told her.

"Why did you come out to me?" Aria said as she turned towards Wind.

"Well, I came to help you because Sonata told me…," Wind said.

"Sonata told you?" Aria said.

"She's worried for you, you know," Wind told Aria. Aria said nothing as she let that thought sink in. "If you want to talk, we can do it this afternoon after the activity," Wind offered.

"That would be perfect," Aria said as she just clenched her fist.

"Ok, I'll leave you to yourself," Wind said as he slowly backed up. With that, he left Aria in the yard to vent her anger.

"God dang it, why does this always happen?" Aria thought as she started to calm herself down.
> *Chapter 11: The Third Activity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 11: The Third Activity

After an awkward talk with Aria, the girls went to go eat breakfast while Wind stayed at the cabin. This would normally be Wind's time to relax, but he was busy trying to decipher the book that Celestia gave him. "I don't understand!" Wind said in frustration as he closed the book.

"Something wrong Wind?" Wild asked as it drove up to him.

"Hey Wild, it's just that I'm trying to decipher this book that Principle Celestia gave me and I just can't seem to understand it," Wind said as he sighed.

"Let me take a look. I might not be the brightest of the group, but I can give it a look to see if I can figure it out," Wild said. In response, Wind opened the book and showed it to Wild. "Well, I can see what you mean by hard to decipher," Wild commented after a moment.

"I just don't get it, this book looks like an ancient language, but it seems like it's one that has not been seen before," Wind said as he put the book down.

"I'll say, while I might not be the brightest of the group, I know that doesn't seem like any language known to humans," Wild commented.

"Hey there you two what are you talking about?" Aria asked from behind Wind.

"Oh Aria, what are you doing here?" Wind responded as he closed the book.

"I didn't feel like staying over there, so I decided to come back before everyone else," Aria told Wind. Although Aria tried to hide it, Wind caught her slightly shaky voice and decided to ask her about it later.

"I'm just trying to decipher this really annoying book," Wind said as he showed her. Aria looked over the book and felt something click in the back of her mind.

"I feel like I've seen this language before, but I don't know the exact details," Aria said.

"The worst part is that I feel like I've see this language before as well, but I can't remember where," Wind said as he closed the book.

"Well, why don't you got ready for the activity and I'll see what I can do," Aria told Wind.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Wind said as he got up from the desk and went upstairs. Aria took Winds place and got to work looking over the book.



After the rest of the girls got back to the cabin, everyone got ready for the activity and headed out for the camp center. After arriving and waiting, they got a quick rundown of today's activity.

"So, for today, all the teams will be assigned a list of three tasks they have to complete. The tasks will seem a little odd, but this activity is meant to get all of you to think creatively. Also, no team will have the same tasks. That's all I have to say, good luck campers."

After the councilor finished, the teams went back to their leaders and almost immediately went to go do their tasks. Team Sacred immediately split into teams after reading the tasks and went to do them in teams of two. Aria and Sunset were stopping to go over who was doing what tasks. "Ok, so the task that you and me took is to take a picture of a wild bear," Aria said.

"That seems dangerous but we should be able to do it," Sunset said as she held the camera that Wind gave her.

"I can agree with that," Aria said.

"Hey, do you know what the tasks the others are doing?" Sunset asked curiously.

"No, but I do know that Adagio is going with Trixie and Wind is with Sonata," Aria told Sunset as they walked to the forest. The two stayed silent for most of the way until Sunset broke the silence.

"Hey do you think that Sonata loves Wind?" Sunset asked curiously.

"Why would you ask that?" Aria asked sharply.

"Well, during yesterday's activity, she told that she may have a crush on him," Sunset told Aria.

"She told you, why would she tell you?" Aria asked.

"Well, she told me and Adagio, and she was going to tell you, but I imagine that she forgot," Sunset said. Aria was about to retort, but was stopped by the roar of a bear.

"I think that was a bear, and it doesn't sound happy," Aria said in a worried voice.

"We had better be careful," Sunset said as they got closer to the bear. Eventually, the two of them arrived where the roar had come from and they saw a very mad bear. "You know we could find another bear," Sunset suggested in a hushed voice.

"Or I could try to calm the bear down," Aria said as she was about to step into the clearing. Sunset immediately stopped her from walking forward.

"What are you doing?" Sunset asked in a panicked tone.

"I'm trying to win the challenge for us," Aria said in a calm tone.

"You're crazy, you are going to get yourself killed," Sunset said.

"Look, I don't want to hear much from you, I just want you to trust me on this," Aria told Sunset. Sunset stayed quiet for a few moments as she thought about that comment from Aria.

"Fine, just try not to do anything stupid," Sunset said handing Aria the camera. Aria took the camera and quietly walked out of their hiding place.

"Ok Aria, you're going to take a picture of the angry bear and leave, that's all you're going to do," Aria thought to herself as she slowly and cautiously walked toward the bear who was looking away from her. After she got close enough, she quickly brought the camera to where she could take a picture that had the bear in frame and took a picture. While she did get a good picture, there was a noticeable click that she and Sunset hear.

"Oh, that's bad," Aria said quietly. The bear turned around, saw Aria holding the camera, and immediately charged at her. While the bear was charging, Aria noticed something about the bear's eyes that intrigued her. That didn't stop her from dodging out of the way and quickly ran towards the direction that Sunset was hiding. "Let's get out of here!" Aria yelled as she ran past Sunset. Sunset said nothing as she ran after Aria with the bear chasing the both of them.

"Well, we got the picture, what do we do about the bear?" Sunset asked in a panicked voice. Aria looked around and noticed that the trees seemed to be getting thicker.

"I have an idea, when we get to a tree, run around it and keep running forward, we'll try to lose him that way," Aria told Sunset.

"What if we can't lose it?" Sunset asked. Aria thought about that and came up with a crazy idea. Before she could tell Sunset, they came up to a tree and ran around it. They then head the bear getting closer.

"Head back to camp, I'll try to lure it away," Aria told Sunset.

"Are you crazy?" Sunset said.

"Just trust me," Aria said. Sunset was silent before she took a right and headed back to the camp. Aria smiled and continued to lead the bear away from the camp.



After a few minutes of running, Sunset eventually reached the campgrounds. "Aria, I hope you're alright," Sunset thought as she panted.

"Sunset, are you alright?" she heard Wind call. Sunset looked up to see Wind and Sonata running towards her.

"Wind, Sonata, what are you two doing here?" Sunset asked as they arrived.

"We we're just finishing up with our task when we saw you enter the camp, what happened and where's Aria?" Wind told her in a worried voice.

"Did you call me?" the three heard from the forest line. They all turned to see Aria exiting the forest with her holding her arm which, along with part her torso, was bleeding from what looked like a claw slash.

"Aria!" Sonata yelled out of panic as she ran to her sister.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Aria said as she leaned against a tree.

"No, you're not fine, we need to get you back to the cabin," Sonata said as she took Aria in her shoulder.

"Do you want to explain what happened?" Wind asked Sunset.

"Hey Wind, here's our task," Aria said as he tossed him the camera which he caught. Wind looked at the pictures and saw a picture of a wild bear on it.

"You actually got it?" Wind asked out amazement.

"Well, Aria did and I will kindly say she is incredibly brave," Sunset said as Sonata and Aria left their sight.

"You have a crush on her don't you?" Wind asked. Sunset said nothing as a blush formed on her face.

"I do," Sunset admitted out of embarrassment.

"Well, then you better go help her. I'll be going to find Adagio and Trixie to explain the situation to them," Wind told Sunset as he turned to leave. Sunset nodded and went towards the direction Sonata and Aria went while Wind went to find Trixie and Adagio.
> Chapter 12: A Blazing Talk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 12: A Blazing Talk

After leaving everything with the camp leaders, Wind started to look for Celestia and Luna. "Ok, so how did the bear become so hostile towards Aria?" Wind thought as he looked for Celestia and Luna. After a few minutes of searching, he found the two of them in their cabin talking. "Um, excuse me; I need to talk to you two about something important," Wind said. After Celestia and Luna let him in, Wind explained the situation to them.

"So, that's why we were told that one of our students was attacked," Celestia commented after Wind finished explaining.

"Not only that, but by a bear. Aren't bears tame in these woods?" Wind asked the two.

"They are supposed to be, and while I would understand any other animal being frightened by someone; the ones in this forest in particular are really accepting of humans," Luna told Wind.

"So, would it be out of the question to assume that there is some sort of magic affecting the area?" Wind suggested to the two adults. Celestia and Luna seemed to think about that for a moment as they thought of the possibility.

"It could be possible, but what could be causing it?" Celestia wondered.

"Hate to be a bother, but I have to go check on Aria," Wind said.

"Ok, take care and tell her that we wish her good wishes," Luna said happily. With that, Wind left to his team's cabin leaving Celestia and Luna by themselves. "So, what do you think of the situation dear sister?" Luna asked after Wind left.

"Well, there is one object in the area that could be causing trouble, but it should be impossible," Celestia told Luna. Luna was about to question further, but realized what Celestia was referring to.

"If it is what I think you're talking about, I agree with that impossibility," Luna said.

"Well, all we can do for now is help him to figure out what is behind this," Celestia told Luna as she got up and grabbed Red Joker.



Meanwhile, Wind was rushing back to his team cabin to see if Aria was ok. When he arrived at the entrance, he saw Sunset standing outside. "Sunset, how's Aria feeling?" Wind asked when he got close enough.

"Wind, I didn't expect you to be back so soon. She's doing fine, when me and her got back, I bandaged her up. Did you tell Celestia and Luna about what happened?" Sunset responded in a worried tone.

"Well, I did and they said that it was not normal for a bear or any animal in these parts to attack a human. I suggested that it could be possible that magic might be involved," Wind told Sunset. After Wind said the word magic, Sunset seemed to tense up at that. "Are you ok?" Wind asked as he noticed.

"I'm fine. Anyway, I would recommend that you check on Aria?" Sunset responded.

"What happened to her?" Wind asked immediately.

"Well, she just took a book that was on a desk, went into her room, and never came out since," Sunset told Wind. Wind was about to ask further when he remembered what she offered to do.

"I'll go talk to her, see if I can't get her to come out," Wind told Sunset as he entered the house. Sunset said nothing as she entered the cabin after Wind. "Don't worry Sunset, I'll find out what is troubling you tomorrow and hopefully calm those worries," Wind thought as he walked up the stairs.



When Wind got to Aria's room, he heard some grumbling from the other side of the door. "Ah, she might be getting frustrated with the translation of that book," Wind thought as he knocked on the door.

"Leave me alone," Aria said in a slightly raspy voice.

"It's me," Wind said loudly. There was a silence from the room until the door opened slightly and he saw Aria's face appear.

"What do you want?" Aria asked sharply.

"I came to check up on you. May I come in?" Wind told her. Aria seemed to think about that for a moment before opening the door all the way. "Thank you," Wind said as she opened the door for him.

"Don't mention it," Aria said as he entered in the room. Wind noted as he entered the room that when Aria said that, her voice seemed slightly hallow.

"So, how has been the translation been going?" Wind asked curiously as Aria closed the door.

"Well, can I freely say something about Principle Celestia first?" Aria asked, leaning on a desk.

"Go ahead, but I think I know what you're going to say," Wind said.

"Well to be blunt, your mom is a weird person," Aria told him. Wind was about to retort, but he realized what Aria said.

"How do you know that Principle Celestia is my mom?" Wind asked curiously.

"Well, Sonata hinted at it during breakfast and you just confirmed it right now," Aria said with a smug grin on her face. Wind simply face palmed at that statement and sighed. "Anyway, about the translation, I wasn't able to translate anything in terms of words, but I did remember some of the letters and I wrote those down," Aria told Wind.

"Really, may I see what you wrote down for the letters?" Wind asked. Aria nodded, grabbed a paper that on the desk, and showed it to him.

"Wow, that is very impressive," Wind said as he looked over the letters that Aria had written down. While Wind was looking over the letters, Aria sat down on the bed and clutched her arm in pain. Wind looked up to compliment Aria when he saw this and immediately rushed to her side. "Are you ok?" Wind asked in a worried tone.

"I'm fine, it's not like the bear fully scratched me. He got me a few times, but he only grazed me and I was able to get away relatively safely. Still hurts like hell though," Aria said.

"May I see the wounds on your arm?" Wind asked in a comforting tone. Aria hesitated at first, but slowly started to remove the bandages that covered the wounds on her left arm. After taking them off, Wind saw that there were some light cuts on her arm. Not enough to go very deep, but deep enough to have a good amount of blood coming from them. "Wow, that isn't as bad as I thought," Wind commented as he took the bandages from her.

"I have a few of these around my body and they're all about the same as this one, so I think I got pretty lucky," Aria told him as he started to bandage up her arm again.

"Which makes me wonder why you even did that in the first place? Seriously, if you're trying to outrun a bear, you could try to hide from it," Wind said in a slightly annoyed tone. Aria had no response to that as Wind finished putting the bandage back on. "What happened?" Wind asked as he sighed. Aria stayed silent in response and just sat there in silence.

"I wanted to help Sunset get back to the camp safely," Aria said eventually. There was kind of an awkward silence between the two until Wind eventually sat on the bed next to her.

"Look, I want you to know that I will always be here if you want to talk to me and let out some stress," Wind told Aria in a companionate tone.

"Ok, well you see the thing with me and the bear was kind of a split-second decision. I don't know if Sunset told you about what happened yet, but I guess I can explain. You see after I took a photo, the bear became hostile and started to chase me and Sunset. In my brilliance, I decided to tell Sunset to run back to camp while I lead the bear away from the camp," Aria explained.

"Ok, that was probably the smartest thing for you to do," Wind told Aria.

"Well, after Sunset left I decided to see I could get the bear to calm down in some form. I first tried to get the thing calm by trying to lull it to sleep with a lullaby. That didn't work and I then tried to knock the thing out cold. That obviously was going to fail, so I then decided to try to outrun it. I was able to succeed in that regard by getting into the trees and climbing away from it before heading back to the camp," Aria explained to Wind.

"So, that's how you got away," Wind said. After Wind said that, he noticed that Aria seemed to be trembling. "Hey, are you ok?" Wind asked in a worried tone.

"It's just that this experience showed me that without my pendant, I'm just a normal girl," Aria told Wind in a shaky voice. Wind was about to ask what she meant when he remembered what Celestia had told him happened a few weeks ago.

"And without that pendant you and your sisters wore, you're just as vulnerable as anyone else?" Wind asked out loud.

"That would be a correct assumption," Aria said.

"You feel helpless without your magic, don't you?" Wind asked curiously.

"Of course I do," Aria told Wind. Wind noticed at this point that Aria seemed to be trembling.

"Let me guess, you're afraid of not being able to protect your sisters," Wind guessed calmly. Aria's eyes widened as he said that, but then looked down at the floor in sadness.

"I want to be able to protect them with all my strength," Aria said in a soft voice. Wind stayed silent as she let out all of her worries. "I want to protect my friends and sisters with everything I have, but today showed me that even if I do, I just as easily die protecting them," Aria said as she gripped the bed sheets.

"Well, what's wrong with that?" Wind asked. Aria looked up at Wind with a look of confusion. "Well, even if you don't have magic, remember the fact that as long as you protect them, they will be grateful," Wind told Aria. Aria thought about those words as Wind got up.

"Wait, can I say something before you leave?" Aria asked as she walked over to her desk.

"What is it?" Wind responded as he turned around.

"Thank you, I really needed to let out my frustrations," Aria said, walking up to Wind with the book in hand.

"You're welcome; I'm always here to help. Oh, and one more thing before I forget," Wind said as he took the book.

"What is it?" Aria asked curiously.

"I would like you to have this," Wind said as he pulled out a small case and gave it to Aria. Aria took the case and immediately looked over it.

"What is this?" Aria asked curiously.

"Well, I want it to be a surprise to you," Wind said.

"Oh, well in that case thank you for the gift," Aria told him happily. Wind smiled in response and left the room, closing the door behind him. "I can see why Sonata took a liking to him," Aria thought as she went back to the bed and laid down on it.
> Chapter 13: The Fourth Meeting & A Sunny Morning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13: The Fourth Meeting & A Sunny Morning

As the day went on, Wind worked on various parts of the book with the translations that Aria gave him. "You know, even with Aria's translations; this thing is still a big pain in the ass to translate," Wind said as he was about to go to sleep.

"Did Aria's translations help in any way?" Sonata asked the frustrated Wind.

"They did help translate some words, but it doesn't help if I can't translate the other words to make sense of the book. Even with the words I translated, I would still need context in order to understand them," Wind told Sonata as he put the book down.

"Hey, I don't think I've ever seen the book before. Do you mind if I take a look?" Sonata asked curiously.

"Well, I don't see what there is for me to lose with you trying it. Heck you might even know more than Aria by the way, no offense to you or your sister," Wind responded as he handed her the book.

"None taken," Sonata said as she opened the book. After a few seconds of looking through the book, Sonata stopped on a page that had a picture of two trees. "You know, I'm looking at these words, and I like I've seen these before, but I can't remember what the language is," Sonata said as she recalled seeing these before.

"I feel like that as well, but what makes me curious is the fact that you come from another world and don't remember," Wind commented.

"Oh, that might be because of the fact that there are parts of me and my sisters past that we don't remember clearly," Sonata said casually with a big smile on her face. Wind nodded as he processed that, then stopped and realized what Sonata told him.

"Wait, what do you mean that you and your sisters don't remember?" Wind asked in a surprised tone.

"In a sense, we remember most of our past clearly, but there are certain patched that we just don't remember," Sonata explained, her voice taking on a sad tone. Wind said nothing to that response and simply hugged Sonata. "You don't need to do this you know," Sonata told Wind.

"I know, I just feel like doing this after hearing that," Wind responded. Sonata smiled and returned the hug to Wind. As Sonata did that, she felt a familiar feeling that she hadn't felt since the Battle of the Bands come from Wind. "Hey Wind, is there something that you're not telling me?" Sonata asked in an innocent voice.

"It's something I don't want to talk about," Wind said in a sad tone.

"Oh, sorry," Sonata said in a guilty voice.

"It's fine, maybe I'll tell you in the future. I'm going to sleep, good night," Wind said as he laid down on the bed. Sonata got up off the bed and walked out to the terrace.

"Smooth move Sonata, smooth move," Sonata thought as she looked at the sunset. As she watched in wonder, she closed her eyes and concentrated on happy thought. "It's always so nice out here," Sonata said to herself.

"I'll say, I always liked this time of the day," she heard Wind say as he walked up behind her. Sonata kept her eyes closed as Wind joined her.

"I thought you were going to sleep," Sonata said in a sad voice.

"I couldn't sleep," Wind said.

"Hey, have do you have any idea what language that book is in?" Sonata asked curiously.

"Well, I will say that the letters did look like runes. But why are you asking me that again? I've been teaching you this language for a week," Wind told Sonata. Sonata thought about that for a bit, realized that she didn't know what he was talking about, and opened her eyes to see that Wind was not there.

"What just happened?" Sonata thought as she went back inside. As she went back inside, a shimmering figure appeared beside where Sonata was standing. The figure said nothing as it faded away into nothingness.



As Sonata was getting into bed, Wind was fast asleep and was just waiting in the cave for the next light to be lit with Conta to keep him company. "So, if I may ask, do you know why Cyclone left?" Wind asked Conta curiously.

"Well, I guess he would be checking up on the actual Sacred Tree," Conta told Wind.

"Wait, you mean this thing is in the real world?" Wind said out of semi-surprise.

"Of course it is, after all, everything you see or hear about in a legend is true in some form," Conta told Wind.

"So, why is Cyclone so obsessed with the thing anyway?" Wind wondered aloud.

"You know, for how close me and him are, basically a father/daughter relationship, he has never told me why he is so obsessed with the tree," Conta said. Before Wind could say anything, a bright orange light came from the room with the doors.

"Well, looks like that is for me," Wind said as he got up from the ground.

"Good luck Wind," Conta said happily.

"She's a really good kid," Wind thought as he reached out to open the door. As he did, he briefly felt a presence beside him. Deciding to quickly write that off as his imagination, somehow, he opened the door and stepped inside.



When he emerged on the other side, Wind found himself in a very fancy bedroom. The bed room had a big bed, a full length mirror, a dresser, and a window that lead to a balcony. Wind decided to walk to the window in order to see where he was when he heard some singing coming from outside. "Hello? Is someone out there?" Wind asked nervously.

"Oh, you must be the one that Cyclone told me about. Come on out, I was just passing the time while waiting for you," a voice said. When Wind stepped outside, he was greeted by the view of a beautiful sunset on a city at the foot hills of a mountain, which he assumed was where the room was located. Leaning against the railing, he saw the one who he was supposed to meet. "Welcome, you must be Wind," she said to him with a smile on her face.

"That would be me, I'm going to guess that your name would be Sunset Shimmer," Wind said as he walked beside Sunset.

"How did you guess?" Sunset asked curiously.

"Well, I noticed a pattern forming between the color of the door and the person I visited. So, by using the process of elimination, I was able to know that you were the next one that I was going to visit," Wind explained to Sunset.

"Wow, you really are as bright as Cyclone says you are," Sunset said in an impressed tone.

"You know, I'm curious to hear what you have to tell me about this place," Wind said as he admired the view.

"Well, if you're curious where we are, then all I'll tell you at the moment is that we're in a castle on the mountain side," Sunset told him in a hinting tone.

"Wait, if we're on a mountain side, how are we not falling down the mountain?" Wind asked curiously. Sunset stayed quiet and just gestured to the sky. Wind looked up and saw a faint shimmer of something surround the city. "Magic?" Wind asked in a slightly bored tone.

"Yes, that would be the reason," Sunset said in an innocent smile on her face.

"Why is that all the impossible feats that would take human years to solve or work towards fixing be solved by simply using magic?" Wind commented out loud as he face palmed.

"Hey, it's kind of the way things are done in Equestria," Sunset told Wind. Wind was about to retort, but stopped himself when he realized what she told him.

"Wait, so you mean the world that I have been visiting over all my trips to my dream world is Equestria?" Wind asked as he came to a slow realization.

"That would be correct," Sunset told Wind.

"So, I'm going to assume that either you and the others made these places for me or Cyclone made all these area from his memories," Wind said as he processed the information.

"Actually, we're not even sure as to why your dream areas look like Equestria. I mean you would have no knowledge of how things are positioned or even the names of cities," Sunset admitted.

"Then these places should be Cyclone's memories right?" Wind asked.

"Actually, Cyclone also lost his memories, so we don't know how these places even came to be?" Sunset told Wind. Wind let that thought sit in his head for a minute before feeling a little groggy. "You feel like waking up?" Sunset asked.

"I do, but I don't want to wake up because I have so many unanswered questions," he told Sunset. Sunset stayed silent for a moment before crating a door of cyan light. "What are you doing?" Wind asked curiously.

"I'll go tell our Sonata about today's conversation and tell her to explain everything to you, but there is something I want you to do," Sunset told Wind.

"What would that be?" Wind asked curiously. Sunset leaned next to Wind's ear and whispered something in his ear. "I was planning on doing that anyway," Wind commented as she pulled away.

"Well, I think you should wake up for now. Something tells me that your Sunset is already awake," Sunset told Wind before stepping through the portal. After Sunset walked through the portal, Wind felt himself get knocked unconscious by something.



When Wind woke up, he felt a dull pain in the back of his head. He was about to groan, but remembered who was sleeping next to him. Wind quietly and carefully got out of bed, walked over to the door and exited the room. "Ow, what in the hell hit me and why do I feel a dull pain?" Wind silently said once he exited the room. He was about to wonder more when he heard the sound of someone walking around downstairs.

"Knowing my drams, that's probably Sunset down there," Wind thought as he started to head downstairs. As he walked down the stairs, he heard Sunset saying something.

"Why do I feel so nervous?" Sunset said to herself.

"Hey Sunset, are you ok?" Wind called as he entered the main room.

"Wind, what are you doing awake?!" Sunset responded out of surprise.

"To be honest, I think I hit my head on something," Wind told Sunset, keeping his dreams a secret at the moment.

"Oh, are you ok?" Sunset asked in a worried voice.

"I am, it's just that there's a dull pain for me. But that does make me wonder what you are doing up so early," Wind responded as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, I honestly do get up before sunrise pretty much every day in order to watch the sunrise. Do you want to come watch it with me?" Sunset told Wind.

"I don't mind," Wind said as he started to walk towards the back of the cabin.

"Actually, I have a better place where we can watch sunrise, follow me," Sunset told him as she headed towards the stairs. Wind just decided follow Sunset and not ask any questions about the location in question until they got there. After walking upstairs, the two headed to Sunset's room.

"Wait a second; doesn't your room face away from the sunrise?" Wind asked curiously.

"Just watch, you'll see what I found," Sunset told Wind. When they entered the room, Wind noticed that Sunset's window was open. Before Wind could ask about it, Sunset walked over to the open window and climbed through it. Quickly figuring out where the window lead to, Wind quickly followed Sunset through to open Window and onto the roof of the cabin.

"So, this is the place you discovered was a good place to watch the sunrise?" Wind asked as he carefully followed Sunset over the roof.

"It is, the day after we arrived at the camp and got settled in, I opened my window to watch the sunset and found a way up onto the roof. For the past three days, I've always come up here if I needed to think peacefully and to watch the sunrise and sunset each day," Sunset told Wind. After a bit of careful maneuvering, Sunset and Wind found a good place two watch the sunrise.

"Wow, it is very dangerous to be up here," Wind commented as he got a grip on the roof.

"Hey, what can I say, I do like the risky thing from time to time," Sunset said in a happy and slightly excited voice. Wind agreed with Sunset, but also took note of the hesitation that she hid.

"Wow, this is a pretty good view if I do say so myself. While I do think this is really dangerous, I will have to admit that it is a very nice view from up here," Wind told Sunset in an appreciative tone. A few second after Wind finished his sentence, the sun slowly started to appear on the horizon. Wind looked at the view of the forest and the sunrise from the roof and was amazed by it.

"Well, I think you have a new past time to do now," Sunset comment with a giggle. The two then just sat in silence as they watch the sunrise. After a few minutes, Sunset spoke up and broke the silence. "Hey, do you think the two of us can talk after the activity?" Sunset asked in a nervous voice.

"Sure, I was planning on talking with you anyway, but what did you have in mind?" Wind asked curiously.

"Well, it's something I've wanted to get off my chest for a while," Sunset told Wind.

"In that case, where do you want to talk?" Wind asked.

"Well, how about we watch the sunset together?" Sunset suggested.

"Why, I'm already looking at the Sunset," Wind said in a joking voice. As soon as he said that, Sunset laughed at that.

"That's honestly one of the funniest jokes about my name in a while," Sunset said as she laughed. Wind simply smiled as they continued to watch the sunrise and talked for a little while.
> Chapter 14: The Final Activity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 14: The Final Activity

After getting back inside the cabin with Sunset, Wind saw that Trixie and Adagio were waiting and ready to take off. "Sorry about the wait, I just wanted to show Wind the sunrise from the roof," Sunset said as she walked up to them.

"It's not a problem, I've seen you up there plenty of times, so taking Wind to see that view is nice," Trixie commented. As Wind looked over the group, he noticed that he didn't see Sonata and Aria anywhere.

"Hey, where are your sisters?" Wind asked Adagio.

"Sonata suddenly caught a fever and Aria is going to stay here to watch over her. I told her that you would be here to look after her, but she just refused," Adagio told Wind. Wind thought about that for a few seconds before looking at the three girls present.

"I'll go try to convince Aria to let me take care of her so she can join you," Wind told the group.

"Ok, good luck with that," Adagio said as she opened the door. With that line, Sunset, Adagio, and Trixie headed for the mess hall while Wind went up to his room.




When he got to the room, he saw that the door was slightly open and he heard voices inside. "Hey Aria, what are you doing here?" Sonata asked in a sickly tone.

"You came down with a fever and I'm staying to help you recover," Aria said in a sympathetic tone.

"Oh, isn't Wind here?" Sonata asked curiously.

"He is, but I feel better taking care of you myself. He didn't do anything to you yesterday did he?" Aria responded.

"No, he hasn't done anything to me," Sonata told Aria. Deciding he heard enough, Wind carefully knocked on the door.

"Come in Wind," Aria said. Wind walked in to see that Sonata had a towel on her forehead and Aria was leaning over her.

"Hey, you know I could take care of her, right Aria?" Wind asked as he walked towards the bed.

"I know, but I honestly feel better taking care of her myself," Aria told Wind.

"Aria, I know you worry for me, but Wind will be able to take care of me," Sonata said with a smile. When Aria saw that smile on Sonata, she simply smiled and walked towards the door.

"Wind, would you mind if I see you outside for a bit?" Aria asked as she walked out. Wind did as he was told, before he stopped and turned to Sonata.

"If you need us for any reason, me and Aria will be outside," Wind told her.

"Ok, I'll be waiting here," Sonata said as she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Wind simply smile and went outside to find Aria waiting. "So, what did you need to talk about?" Wind asked in a quiet tone. Aria gave him a questioning look before Wind pointed back to the room and made a motion of sleeping.

"Oh, I understand now. Anyway, I thought I should tell you that I'm going to be keeping an eye on Sonata after you take off for the activity," Aria told Wind in an equally quiet tone. Wind was about to retort, but then realized that he needed to be there for the activity and that someone needs to stay behind to keep an eye on Sonata.

"Ok, but why do you offer?" Wind asked curiously. In response, Aria rolled up her jacket sleeve and showed Wind the bandage she had on.

"I'm going rest so that I can recover from yesterday. I know that I may seem fine, but I'm not taking any chances," Aria said as she rolled up her jacket sleeve.

"I understand, thanks for telling me ahead of time. So, I imagine that you're going to the mess hall?" Wind responded.

"Of course I am, did you need me to do anything?" Aria asked in response.

"Just that if you could tell the camp councilor by the name of Gloria Daisy that you and Sonata will be here recovering," Wind told Aria.

"Got it, I'll be sure to let her know," Aria said as she started to walk away. Just as she got to the stairs, she called back to Wind.

"Hey Wind, take care of her," Aria said before heading down the stairs. Wind simply nodded and quietly looked in the room to see that Sonata was fast asleep.

"Sleep tight Sonata," Wind said quietly as he closed the door partially. After he did that, Wind went to go grab the book and work on translating the words.




After about 30 minutes of reading the book at a desk downstairs, Wind heard the front door open. "Welcome back everyone," Wind called from his desk.

"Wind, what are you doing down here? I thought you were supposed to be looking after Sonata," Adagio said as she closed the door.

"She fell asleep, so I decided to take the opportunity to try and translate this book I've had with me since the second or third day," Wind said as he looked over something.

"Wait, where did you even get that book?" Trixie asked curiously.

"Celestia gave it to me; she said that it was a book that has been in her family for generations. She gave it to me in the hopes that I would be able to find out what it holds. There is also the fact that no one in her family has been able to find out what it holds yet," Wind explained to the four that were there. Wind noticed that Aria looked a bit uncomfortable and simply smiled. "You can go stay with Sonata you know," Wind told her.

"Thank you, I'm going to go check on her," Aria said before walking to the stairs.

"You know, I've never seen her so vulnerable before, I wonder why she's like that now," Sunset wondered as Aria went up the stairs.

"She has a soft spot for Sonata, although that girl can be more trouble than she's worth, she keeps us from falling apart and we appreciate it, even though we don't show it," Adagio explained with a smile. Trixie, Wind, and Sunset simply nodded in understanding before Wind closed the book and got up from the chair.

"Well, we have an activity to go to, I'll let Aria know real quickly, and then we can take off," Wind said as he walked to the stairs.

"Mind if I go with you? They're my sisters after all," Adagio said. Sunset and Trixie simply said nothing as Wind and Adagio went upstairs. When they went to the room that Wind and Sonata shared, they saw that Aria was leaning over a now awake Sonata.

"You all are leaving already?" Aria asked.

"We are, Adagio and I just came up to tell you both that we are taking off," Wind told the two.

"Good luck you two," Sonata said from the bed in a slightly better tone than before.

"Thanks, same to you two," Adagio said as they headed back down the hall. As they walked back down the stairs, Wind noticed that the Shift Cars were nowhere to be seen.

"Odd, from what I recall from what Starforce and Technic explained to me, once a Shift Car has bonded to someone they deem worthy of their assistance, they're able to monitor their vitals and health. By that logic, shouldn't have Technic notice something was wrong with Sonata and come to help her?" Wind wondered as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Is something on your mind Wind?" Adagio asked curiously, breaking Wind's train of thought.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thing about what could have caused Sonata to get sick so quickly," Wind lied.

"Did you come up with anything?" Adagio asked enthusiastically.

"No, nothing comes to mind at the moment," Wind asked in a slightly uncomfortable voice. Adagio simply nodded in response as they walked up to Trixie and Sunset.

"You two told them?" Trixie asked curiously.

"We did, you ready to go?" Wind asked curiously.

"Of course we are," Sunset said a bit enthusiastically. As Sunset opened the door, Wind thought he saw something walking away in the distance. Wind dismissed as a trick of the eye and proceeded out the door to the meeting grounds where they meet every day before an activity. As the four walked away from the house, none of them saw a figure looking over the group, more specifically at Wind.

"So, that's the one he was telling me about?" the figure said to himself. After thinking for a little, the figure just laughed a little. "Interesting, very well then, I'll play your game. I'll always be observing though; I don't want anything to happen to the kid. After all, I owe him a favor," the figure said before disappearing somewhere.





After a few minutes of walking, the four members of Team Sacred that were present arrived at the meeting area. "Wow, even though we left a little late, we are still pretty early to the meeting," Sunset commented as she looked around and saw that there were still people arriving.

"From what I've been told, the campers are all usually pretty laid back and the councilors usually wait for all the teams to be here before starting," Wind explained to the three. After waiting for a few minutes, all the teams had arrived and a councilor came up to explain to day's activity.

"Welcome all, today is the final activity. For those that don't know, tomorrow is the trip to the nearby Everfree ruins. However, we decided not to simply give you the tools for exploring the ruins; instead, we decided to make it an activity. Your team leaders will each have a list of hints that point to a backpack for each member in your team. Each backpack is also labeled with the name of the member who is supposed to own it. The backpacks will be hidden around the camp and are not located outside the campgrounds. There are no additional rules other than not to mess with or move other team's backpack. With that, I wish you all the best of luck."

After she said that, almost every team left the meeting area, though there were a few that stayed behind to work out a strategy, with Team Sacred being one of the ones that did. "So, what do you guys suggest?" Wind asked as he let the others take a picture of the list.

"Well, I would suggest we split up and each take a clue so we don't get lost trying to find the packs," Trixie pointed out.

"That is a good idea, good thinking Trixie," Adagio said with a smile. Trixie blushed at that comment, which Wind and Sunset didn't seem to notice.

"So, mind if I take two? I'll be happy to be on the lookout for Aria's backpack as well as Sonata's, unless you want to look for them Adagio," Wind commented.

"No, I don't mind if you go look for them, but if I find my pack first, I'll let you know," Adagio told Wind. Wind simply nodded and he was about to leave when Sunset chimed in.

"Hey Wind, I know this may seem like a silly question, but where do we meet up after we find our packs?" Sunset asked curiously. Wind thought about that for a moment before opening looking at the group.

"Well, why don't you three meet up at the lake outside of camp? I would go, but I think it would be better for me to go tell Aria and Sonata about the activity and what is going to happen tomorrow," Wind told them. Everyone simply nodded in response before each taking off in a direction. When Sunset ran far enough away, she stopped and leaned against the side of a nearby building.

"So, that's what is going to happen," Sunset thought. As Sunset looked at the picture she had taken of the list, she focused on one hint in particular.

"If you want to find this pack, then you have to find one who you will need to redeem yourself with."

Sunset sighed as she thought about her past and people she needed to make amends with. As she thought about it, Sunset made a quick realization and sighed out of both anxiety and realization. "I figured this would have to happen sooner or later," Sunset said as she walked towards a specific destination.




After about a minute of walking, she came up to a specific building. "Well, I figured that this day would come, but I didn't think that it would be this soon," Sunset thought as she remembered what one of the first things that she did in this world. As she did that, she casually walked up to the door and knocked on it. When the door opened, a very familiar person to Sunset answered.

"Oh, Sunset, I wasn't expecting you to stop by during an activity. What did you need to talk about?" Principle Celestia asked curiously.

"Well, I came because I wanted to talk to you about what happened on that day," Sunset told Celestia, making sure emphasize "that" Celestia seemed to think about what Sunset was referring to for a moment before opening her eyes out of shock.

"Sunset, are you sure you want to talk about how this so soon?" Celestia asked in a caring tone.

"Well, I don't feel like I'm ready or that you have recovered, but I have to because of this," Sunset said as she showed Celestia the hint. After Celestia read the hint, she simply closed her eyes as she thought about what she read.

"Well, that would explain why a councilor came by and left me a backpack with your name on it," Celestia said with a sigh. Sunset stayed silent as she clenched her fist out of anticipation. "Sunset, you know we don't have to talk about this, I could just give you the backpack and you could go back to your team," Celestia told the teen in a comforting tone. After Celestia said that, Sunset immediately hugged her and started to cry.

"I'm sorry; I should never have done what I did. Please, let's just talk about this and make amends. I already have one Celestia feel bad about, I don't want to have another," Sunset said through the sobs. Celestia stayed silent as she saw the scene in front of her and then simply hugged Sunset.

"I understand; come on in, I have a feeling that you want this to be private," Celestia told Sunset. Sunset simply nodded as Celestia lead her inside and closed the door behind them.





After letting Sunset calm down, Celestia went into the cabin's kitchen to make some tea for the two of them. As Sunset sat down at the table, she noticed two toy cars on one of the shelves: one being red with small, flaming rings in the back and another was black with red, digital-like wings on the back. "Oh, just some toy cars, nothing unusual though, other than the fact that adults have some kid toys. But then again, a lot of people spend money on weird thing, like children's trading cards," Sunset thought.

"What are you thinking about Sunset?" Celestia asked as she brought in a tray with two cups of tea and set it onto the table.

"Oh, I was just taking note of the two cars on that shelf over there," Sunset told her as she pointed to the two cars. When Celestia looked over at the two cars, Sunset took note of the surprised expression on her face.

"Oh, those are actually a gift that Wind gave me and Luna," Celestia said in a calm voice. Sunset thought about questioning further, but decided to drop the topic.

"I see, he must be a good kid," Sunset told Celestia as she sat down with Sunset.

"I didn't mean it like that," Celestia said with a hint of a hurt expression with on her face.

"I sorry, it's just that I can't believe I'm bringing this up so soon," Sunset said in a sad tone. The two of them sat in silence as they silently drank their tea.

"It's hard to believe that a little over a year has passed since that day," Celestia commented while she drank her tea.

"I know, it has been over a year and I've changed a lot since then," Sunset said in response.

"I will honestly admit that even I couldn't see what has happened recently coming," Celestia said.

"Well, that's kind of how magic works, it just does what it does," Sunset said in a slightly sarcastic tone. The two then started to laugh at that comment as they realized that what Sunset was referring to.

"You know, I missed time like this. Just the two of us spending time together," Celestia said happily with a sad smile on her face. Sunset went silent when Celestia said that and sighed.

"Do we really want to open up old wounds?" Sunset asked as she put her now empty tea cup down.

"No, we don't, but we can talk about it if you want to," Celestia said in a motherly tone. Before Sunset could comment further, Celestia felt her phone ring from her pocket. Taking it out, she saw that Wind was calling her. "Excuse me Sunset, I have to take this," Celestia said as she answered the phone and got up from the table. Sunset stayed silent as Celestia walked past her, thinking about what she was doing.

"She won't accept me even if I do apologized to her," Sunset thought to herself as she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Well, you won't know unless you try, isn't that right Sunny?" a voice told her. When she heard that, Sunset immediately opened her eyes, got up from the chair, and looked around the room to see that no one was there.

"There is only one person who calls me Sunny aside from Pinkie and the other, but from what I remember, he's been missing for at least three years," Sunset thought to herself. Sunset then remembered something the person was referring to said. "No matter what the situation, if there is something you're unsure about; just do what your heart tells you to do. It might not always be the best solution, but it's better than doing nothing," Sunset recalled to herself.

"Sorry about the interruption," Celestia said breaking Sunset's train of thought. When Sunset turned around, she saw that Celestia holding her backpack.

"It's fine, by the way who were you talking to and why do you have my backpack?" Sunset asked curiously.

"What was Wind, he just called and said that they were waiting for you," Celestia said as she held out the backpack, waiting for Sunset to accept it. Sunset in response smiled, walked up to Celestia, and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what happened that day. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you and the school back before the Fall Former. And most of all, I'm sorry if I hurt you," Sunset told Celestia with some tears of happiness running down her face. Celestia said nothing in response, then smiled and hugged Sunset back after she put down the backpack.

"I forgive you Sunset, I forgive you," Celestia said as she patted Sunset's back. The stayed in each other's embrace, before Sunset let go and grabbed her back pack. "Before you go, could you do me a favor?" Celestia asked as she led Sunset to the door.

"Sure, what did you need?" Sunset asked curiously as Celestia opened the door.

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell Wind about our past. You don't have to tell him about that day, but you could tell him the other thing?" Celestia said with a warm smile on her face. Sunset was about to ask what Celestia was talking about when she remembered.

"You know, do you mind giving me something so he can believe me?" Sunset responded. Celestia simply nodded before going back inside the house to get something. "Well, Wind is going to be in for a decent shock when he hears this," Sunset thought.

"Hey, you could also thank me for the tip," a familiar voice said next to her. Sunset turned and saw a person in a black coat leaning against the side of the house.

"Who are you?" Sunset asked defensively.

"That's not important right now, what is important is for you to keep Wind safe," the figure told Sunset.

"Why are you fixated on him?" Sunset asked. The figure stopped leaning against the side of the house and walked away from Sunset.

"Because he is a key, a special key that can unlock a certain power," the figure said as they walked away. Before Sunset could go after him, Celestia came back from inside the house.

"Who were you talking to Sunset?" Celestia asked as she held out a piece of paper. Sunset thought about it for a moment before deciding to tell Celestia what had happened.

"Well, I wasn't really talking to someone; it was more of someone in a black cloak telling me things," Sunset told Celestia. Celestia simply nodded and handed Sunset a piece of paper.

"Give this to him and he will understand to trust everything that you say," Celestia told Sunset, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Ok, thanks for everything Celestia," Sunset said as she took that paper.

"Don't mention it, Sunset. Remember that I'll always be here if you need anything," Celestia said as she smiled.

"I will remember, see you later," Sunset said as she ran off and waved goodbye. Celestia waved goodbye until Sunset wasn't in her vision anymore.

"You know, she's a good kid," the person before said as he entered Celestia's view. Celestia quickly reacted to the person she saw and got into a defensive stance.

"Why are you here?" Celestia asked the cloaked figure as she walked closer to him.

"What? You're surprised to see me after all these years? Come on, you know that we'll always be around," The person told Celestia as he walked in synch with her.

"How did you recover so quickly? I thought that he took care of you source of power," Celestia responded as she remembered a talk from several years ago.

"Oh, well why don't you ask your friend?" the figure told Celestia in a confident tone. Celestia was confused until she realized what the person was referring to and quickly got out a white emblem of sorts from her pocket. After looking at the emblem for a bit, Celestia looked at the figure again, this time with a very angry expression.

"What did you do to them?" Celestia asked in a furious tone.

"Now, now, I wouldn't be worried about your friends; I would be more worried about yourself," the figure said. Before Celestia could react, a portal of darkness appeared beneath her and started to pull her in.

"You won't get away with this, Sunset and her friends will stop you," Celestia said as she was being pulled down.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them; I've already taken steps to prepare for that," the person said mischievously. Celestia thought about that comment then realized something very important. Before Celestia could say her thought, she was fully pulled into the portal. "Now then, let's see if my plan goes smoothly," the figure said as he hopped in the portal which closed behind him.
> Chapter 15: A Talk at Sunset & Some Thought
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 15: A Talk at Sunset & Some Thought

As Sunset was asking back to the cabin, she took the time to think about some things. "These past three weeks sure have been interesting to day the least. I ended up making friends with Trixie and the Dazzlings, I'm at a campground because of good behavior, and I meet a talking car," Sunset thought, being slightly weirded out at that last thought.

After a few minutes of walking, Sunset eventually arrived in front of the cabin. Standing at the door, she saw Wind waiting for her. "Hey Sunset, what took you so long?" Wind asked.

"Sorry, I was talking with Principle Celestia and I took longer than expected," Sunset told Wind as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I heard about that, what were you two talking about anyway?" Wind questioned. Sunset went quiet at that question as she thought about what to say. "Is it something you want to talk about privately?" Wind asked kindly.

"It is, do you mind if we talk on the roof at sunset?" Sunset responded nervously.

"Well then all we need to do is get to the roof because it's already Sunset," Wind said in a joking tone. Sunset laughed at in response to that joke.

"That is actually really funny," Sunset said through her laughter.

"Hey, I can be funny if I try," Wind responded as he opened the door. After he opened the door, the two of them walked into the cabin.





After Sunset and Wind both went inside, Wind went upstairs to go check on Sonata. "I wonder how she is doing, last I checked on her, Aria and Adagio were taking care of her and she was feeling mostly better," Wind thought as he walked up stairs. When he reached the room, he saw that the door was slightly open. He cautiously knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Come in!" he heard from inside. Opening the door, Wind saw that Aria was getting up from a chair and stretching while Sonata was sitting up in bed.

"Hey Wind, you came to check up on how Sonata is doing?" Aria asked.

"Of course, where did Adagio go?" Wind responded.

"She said she wanted to think about something and went for a walk around the camp," Sonata said in a more healthy voice.

"I see that you're feeling better," Wind said with a smile.

"Well, you can thank Aria for helping me get better," Sonata said in an upbeat tone, causing Aria to blush.

"It was nothing, I was just taking care of my sister," Aria said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Hey, I appreciate anyone who takes care of their family," Wind told Aria. That comment cause Aria to blush more than she already was, earning a chuckle our of Sonata.

"Hey Wind, you want to take care of Sonata for an hour so I can rest?" Aria asked, straining a little to keep her embarrassment back.

"Sure, you go rest," Wind told Aria.

"Thank you," Aria said quietly before walking out of the room.

"You know, she seems nice when it come to you and Adagio but always has this mean demeanor otherwise. Why does she do that?" Wind asked curiously.

"Well, I don't know why she does it exactly, but I think it might be to protect us," Sonata explained as she got off the bed.

"That makes sense to me, Adagio is the one who does a lot of the thinking for you three, Aria protects you and Adagio be being intimidating, and you keep them both together by being all happy-go-lucky," Wind commented as she walked over to Sonata. Sonata seemed to think about that for a moment before responding.

"Huh, now that I think about it, we do work like that," Sonata said as she came to the realization. Wind simply smiled as he and Sonata talked for a while.





After Wind was done doing various things around the cabin, include making sure that everything was in order and taking care of Sonata, sunset started to arrive. "I guess I should head up to the roof," Wind thought as he walked to Sunset's room. Wind knocked on the door and was greeted by Sunset opening the door for him.

"Hey Wind, I can't believe you actually came," Sunset said as she let Wind into the room.

"Wait, you actually doubted that I would come after you told me to come?" Wind asked out of amazement.

"Hey, I have a bit of reservations about what I'm about to tell you," Sunset said as she looked down at the floor.

"I completely understand that, but at least have a bit of faith in me," Wind told Sunset.

"I know I should, but what I'm about to tell you is kind of important," Sunset admitted.

"Well, how about we get onto the roof and you tell me about it there?" Wind told Sunset. Sunset simply nodded in response and went to the open window. Both of them climbed through the window and found a good place on the roof to stay. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Wind asked as he got comfortable.

"Well, there is kind of something that I have to ask you first," Sunset said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"What did you want to ask?" Wind responded.

"Well, when you were talking with your mom earlier, did she happen to say anything about me wanting to talk to you?" Sunset asked in a shy tone.

"She did say something along those lines. Why do you ask?" Wind told Sunset.

"It's because of a secret that me and her have," Sunset said, a small blush forming on her face.

"A secret, what kind of secret?" Wind asked.

"Well, it kind of has to do with a part of my past," Sunset explained. Wind stayed silent for a moment as he thought of a reaction to that.

"I can see why you wanted to keep it a secret in that case," Wind said as he looked at Sunset.

"Anyway, I feel like telling you about it," Sunset told Wind.

"Are you really sure about that?" Wind asked.

"I made a promise to Celestia and I do not intend to break that promise," Sunset said in a very serious tone. Wind stayed silent as he motioned for Sunset to go on with her story. "Ok, well I think the best place to start this conversation would be at when I first got to this world," Sunset explained nervously.

"If you feel comfortable with that, then go right ahead," Wind told Sunset. Sunset simply nodded in response and went back to remembering that time.

"After coming through the portal to this world, I found myself wandering the streets of Canterlot city in the night. To be completely honest, I was honestly very scared when walking in an unfamiliar place in an unfamiliar world. I was about to go back when a car pulled up next to me and someone came out of the car. That person was Principle Celestia.

After a bit of explaining and coming up with a quick fake backstory, she took me back to her house, took care of me, and even taught me about various things. I felt more loved in this world than I did back in my own world. When I was enrolled in Canterlot High, I didn't expect become so different. I imagine that Celestia told you about what happened, so I won't go into detail."

"Ok, so what is your secret?" Wind asked.

"Well, is it ok if I just tell you plainly?" Sunset questioned.

"Sure, though I doubt that whatever secret you have to tell me, I will not be surprised," Wind said confidently.

"Well, what if I told you that Celestia was my mom and that you and me are technically brother and sister?" Sunset told Wind. Wind stayed silent as he processed what he has just heard.

"You know, you got me with that one. You're my sister!?" Wind exclaimed.

"You actually believe me even though that secret of mine seems very hard to believe?" Sunset asked.

"Well, I think that it seems believable in my mind because of the way your life has been up to this point. I mean, how normal has your life been in this world?" Wind responded in a slightly surprised tone. Sunset thought about that question for a moment and realized something.

"You know, you actually have a point about that. My life has been anything but normal while I've been here," Sunset commented.

"That is exactly why I believe you when you said you're my sister," Wind said. Sunset stayed silent as she thought about what Wind had just said. "I'm also not saying that because I think you're not normal, I'm saying it because you have done a lot of good things these past few months from what Celestia has told me," Wind commented.

"You really think about that about me?" Sunset asked.

"Of course I do," Wind said with a smile on his face. Sunset blushed in response to what Wind said.

"Thanks, I really appreciate that," Sunset said as she looked at Wind.

"Don't mention it, it's the least I could do for my sister," Wind said with a big smile on his face. Sunset felt really happy when she saw that and smiled back at Wind. As the two were doing that, the sun started to set over the horizon.

"You know, this sunset is nice from up here," Wind commented as he looked at the sunset.

"Why, thanks for the compliment bro," Sunset said in a joking tone. Wind just laughed at that comment because he knew what Sunset did.

"I see you learn from your brother," Wind said as he laughed. Sunset simply laughed in response as the night started to arrive.





After spending some time with Sunset on the talking about various things, Wind headed back inside while Sunset stayed on the roof a little longer. "What I can't believe that Celestia would keep the fact that Sunset is my sister away from me," Wind thought as he entered his room.

"Hey Wind, how did it go with Sunset?" Sonata asked from the bed.

"It went very well. How are you feeling Sonata?" Wind responded.

"I'm feeling better, although I honestly don't know what happened to me," Sonata told Wind.

"That is the part that was worrying me," Wind said as he walked up to the bed.

"What do you mean?" Sonata asked.

"Well, I've been curious as to where the Shift Cars have been all this time," Wind told Sonata.

"I think that they're off doing something somewhere else," Sonata responded.

"Even if they were off somewhere, Technic should have come back to check on you," Wind said.

"What do you mean by that?" Sonata questioned.

"Starforce told me that once a Shift Car has bonded with someone, they are able to do a number of different things," Wind began to explain.

"So, is that why we can communicate with the Shift Cars?" Sonata asked.

"Exactly, I don't know exactly how that works, but it is how we can communicate with them. However, there is something else that the bond does for us, Wind told Sonata. Before Sonata could ask, the two of them heard a faint tapping on glass.

"Where is that coming from?" Sonata asked nervously. In response, Wind walked over to the balcony door.

"I would assume that it would be from the balcony because this is the only glass that we have here from the room," Wind said as he approached the door. Wind opened the door and something green immediately flew onto the bed.

"Technic!" Sonata said out of surprise.

"Sorry, I'm late… need to rest," Technic said in a weak voice. Wind quickly ran to the bed and noticed that Technic was damaged.

"What happened to you? Are you ok?" Wind asked in a calm voice.

"I'll tell you tomorrow… so exhausted… need to rest," Technic responded.

"Ok, we'll wait until tomorrow," Wind said as he held out a hand.

"Thanks," Technic said as she fell asleep. Carefully, Wind picked up Technic and put her on the nearby table.

"I know you're worried about her, but you can tell that Technic needs her rest," Wind told Sonata as he noticed her worried expression.

"I know, but what happened to her and where are the others?" Sonata said in a worried tone.

"I don't know, but we'll find out tomorrow. Anyway, we better go to bed. Something tells me that we're going to have a busy day tomorrow," Wind told Sonata. Sonata simply nodded quickly before laying down in bed. Before Wind went to bed, he thought about something.

"These past two days have been eventful to say the least. I'm going closer to everyone and even found out that Sunset is my sister. Although, there have been some weird events that make me wonder if there is something going on here. I just hope that nothing bad happens tomorrow," Wind thought before climbing into bed and going to sleep.
> Chapter 16: The Final Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 16: The Final Meeting


After heading back into his mind cave, Wind walked into the center of the room where the tree was. "I wonder where Conta is. I would usually see her sitting just under the tree." Wind thought as he looked around cautiously. It was at that point that he heard someone from behind the tree. "Hello?" Wind asked.

"Hey, what took you so long?" a familiar voice responded as she walked out from behind the tree. When Wind saw who walked out from behind the tree, he just smiled.

"You know, I knew that it was going to be you, but I still didn't know what you were going to look like." Wind said happily as he walked over to her. The person standing in front of him was Sonata and she was wearing the clothes she normally wears, but she also had translucent wings on her back.

"Well, I can see why you would be wondering that." Sonata said with a smile.

"So, what are we going to talk about?" Wind asked seriously. Sonata remained quiet as she thought of how to word it.

"Well, what do you think we're going to talk about?" Sonata responded as she started to walk to the doors. Wind went quiet for a moment as he followed Sonata and thought about what the others had told him.

"I'm going to completely honest, I have no idea." Wind told Sonata.

"What I told you that it's going to be on why you have these dreams in the first place?" Sonata said.

"Really? That's an interesting thing to talk about." Wind commented.

"It's not the only thing you're going to see here." Sonata said happily as she stopped in front of the pale blue door. Wind briefly thought about asking a question, but stayed quiet and decided to ask later. "So, are you ready to learn the truth?" Sonata asked in a serious tone.

"I am." Wind said confidently. Without saying anything else, Sonata opened the door and a light streamed through.

"I should note that before you enter, there is someone that you are familiar with in here. Find them and they will guide you." Sonata told Wind. Wind simply nodded before stepping into the door, which Sonata closed behind him. At that moment, two of the doors opened and both Adagio and Aria came out.

"He's on his way?" Adagio asked.

"He is," Sonata said simply.

"Do you think he'll be happy when he learns the truth?" Aria asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. At this point, we have to rely on what he chooses to do." Sonata said with a smile. The other two girls simply put their hands on Sonata's shoulder as they prayed for Wind.





After exiting from the light, Wind found himself in an underwater city. "This must be where Sonata and the others live." Wind said to himself. As he spoke, he heard some footsteps from around the corner.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" a timid and familiar voice asked. As soon as Wind heard that voice, he turned around and saw that Sonata didn't come in with him. Without another thought he quickly walked in the direction of the voice as he saw the Sonata that he knew walk around the corner.

"Hey Sonata!" Wind said in a welcoming tone as he got closer to Sonata. Sonata turned to Wind and a smile formed on her face when she saw him

"Wind! What are you doing here?" Sonata asked happily.

"Well, I suppose I could ask you the same thing." Wind responded. Sonata was about to say something about that comment, but she stayed silent. "In all honesty, to answer your question, I'm here because of these weird dreams I've been having lately." Wind told Sonata.

"Really? That sounds like the same reason that I've came here." Sonata said. That comment got Wind interested very quick.

"Out of curiosity, how did you get here?" Wind questioned as he started to fit some pieces together.

"Well, after I fell asleep I started to have a weird dream that I can't remember, but I do recall something about a gamer. After a while, I started to hear a voice that said 'Go to the city. There, all will become clear.' After that, there was a bright light and I woke up here." Sonata explained. Wind was about to say something when they heard someone coming closer to them.

"Hurry up, we're going to be late!" a voice said as it approached. When Sonata heard that voice, she immediately turned in the direction that the voice was coming from. Wind did the same, mostly because he was curious about whom the voice belonged to, and they both saw two anthro kids running around a corner.

"Well, I guess we can just as the kids." Wind said as he walked forward. He was about to touch the kids when they just phased right through him. Wind said nothing as he realized what had just happened.

"I know this place." Sonata said as Wind looked at her.

"Wait, you know where we are?" Wind questioned.

"I don't know yet, but I need to go check something first. If you want to come with me, feel free to do so." Sonata said in a determined voice. After she said that, Sonata quickly took off down a nearby alleyway with Wind following close behind.





"Where are we going?" Wind asked Sonata after a few minutes of running. Sonata didn't respond, she only kept running forward. Wind was about to ask again when he noticed a tree in the distance. "Are we going to that tree?" Wind asked.

"Yes, we are. I'll explain the significance when we get there." Sonata told Wind. Wind just nodded and stayed silent as they approached the tree. As they got closer, Wind noticed that there was a fairly large tree house in the tree and a cliff overlooking the ocean. When they got to the base of the tree, Sonata stopped and looked around while Wind stopped to catch his breath.

"So, why did you just suddenly decide to come here?" Wind said as he laid down on the ground to rest. Sonata stayed quiet as she thought about what to say. "Before you even start, can I ask if we're in your memories?" Wind asked as he sucked in some air.

"How were you able to tell that?" Sonata asked out of shock. Wind stayed silent for a moment before explained how he arrived there. "So, you have been having these dream meetings over the past week?" Sonata asked after he finished explaining.

"Basically, that's also how I knew these were your memories." Wind said as sat up. Sonata stayed silent as she let that information sit in her mind. "What I'm wondering about is what connection I have between you and the others." Wind said as he looked over the city.

"Well, it might have to do with this memory." Sonata said quietly.

"What makes you say that?" Wind asked.

"I don't if you've heard this before in one of your meetings, but me and the others have some hazy childhood memories." Sonata explained.

"Hazy in what way?" Wind asked.

"Well, it's like I can remember those memories, but I feel like there is something missing from them." Sonata told Wind. Wind stayed silent as he thought about what that meant.

"So, is this one of the hazy memories that you have?" Wind asked as he stood up.

"That is correct and it's actually one from our early childhood." Sonata told Wind.

"You know, when I met Adagio and she told me that you there we're Sirens, I thought you would live in the sea, not on dry land." Wind said as he looked around the area.

"Well, it's sort of a half and half thing. We do live in the sea, but we can also live on dry land." Sonata explained. Wind was going ask another question when they heard someone approaching the tree. Sonata and Wind turned to see two familiar girls arriving at the tree.

"I'm going to assume that those children are Adagio and Aria." Wind commented.

"That's right." Sonata said.

"That was a long run, but at least we made it in time." Adagio said as she panted heavily.

"I'll say, but you kind of need to relax. This isn't a meeting like the ones you have back at the castle." Aria said.

"Castle?" Wind questioned.

"Oh right, I don't know if she told you her full name when you meet the dream version of her, but her full name is actually Adagio Melody Dazzle and she was the princess of our home kingdom Melodia." Sonata explained. Wind thought back to when he met the dream Adagio and remembered something.

"Now that I think about it, she did call herself Princess Melody." Wind said.

"That's what a lot of people called her, she is a very good leader." Sonata told Wind. After Sonata said that there was silence for a good five minutes until Aria spoke up.

"Hey, where is Sonata? I thought she would be here before us." Aria commented.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm here." A young voice said as she approached the hill. Sonata then when quiet as a young Sonata ran up to the other girls.

"Aw, you looked so adorable as a young girl." Wind commented, which made Sonata blush.

"There you are; what took you so long?" Adagio asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Sorry, I was on my way relatively quickly, but something came up." the young Sonata told the two.

"Really? I'm interested about what came up that made you late." Adagio said. The young Sonata stayed silent for a moment as she thought about what to say

"Well, I was asked by someone if they could join us up here." Sonata said instinctively.

"You really do remember this day don't you?" Wind asked Sonata.

"I remember it being very important, but I can't remember why." Sonata said as she put a hand to her head.

"Well, I was asked by someone if they could join us up here." the young Sonata repeated.

"Who asked you?" Adagio questioned.

"It was that new guy at school, I forget his name." Sonata mentioned.

"Oh, I think I know the one you're talking about. He's the quiet one who can use magic naturally right?" Adagio commented. Wind looked over at his Sonata and saw that she looked a little confused.

"I'm going to take it that this isn't the version of events that you remember?" Wind asked Sonata.

"You're right; this isn't the version of events I remember." Sonata said in a concerned tone. Wind stayed silent as he turned back to the conversation that the three were having.

"So, what did you tell him?" Aria asked.

"I told him that he couldn't come, but I did feel a little bad for him." Sonata said, a frown appearing on her face.

"Well, do you think he actually listened?" Adagio questioned Sonata was about to respond when there was some shifting in the tree.

"What was that?" Sonata asked in a scared tone. In response to that question, someone wearing a jacket jumped down off one of the tree's branches. Adagio quickly responded by conjuring Siren wings and stepping forward.

"Who are you?" Adagio asked in a serious tone.

"I'm just someone who wants to make an introduction." The person said in a very familiar voice. When Sonata and Wind heard that voice, they both looked at each other.

"Is this part of your memory?" Wind asked Sonata.

"No, it's not." Sonata said in a shocked voice before turning back to the scene in front of them.

"What kind of an introduction?" Adagio asked, getting a magic spell ready.

"Just the kind when you first meet someone." The person said as he brought his hands up.

"How do we know you're not lying to us?" Aria asked.

"Well, why don't you just check to see if I'm lying? After all, I'm pretty sure any of you would be able to check with magic." The person said in a calm tone. Adagio, Aria, and the young Sonata all looked at each other before Sonata nodded and walked up to the person. Sonata gathered her magic and put her hands on the person's head. After a few seconds, she took her hands off his head and turned back to Adagio and Aria.

"He's telling the truth." Sonata told the others.

"Are you sure that he didn't put up any magical words that might have messed with your magic?" Aria asked. Sonata was about to respond, but the person spoke up

"I can safely say that I did not put up any wards. Even if I did, I know that Sonata here would have been able to tell." the person said. Sonata was about to agree with what the person was saying before realizing what he said.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" Sonata asked cautiously. Adagio and Aria looked at each other before silently starting to cast some magic.

"Well, I suppose you wouldn't know who I am. After all, I just started to go to school with you three a week ago." the person said before taking off the jacket. The person who had the jacket on was a young Wind, which cause Sonata to go wide eyed. Sonata was about to go forward and say something, but Wind held out a hand to stop her.

"For now, just let this play out and you can voice your concerns after they leave." Wind told Sonata. Sonata looked at Wind for a moment before nodding and staying silent.

"Oh right, I remember you now. You're the one who can use magic naturally without having to access your Siren form right?" the young Sonata said when she looked at him.

"For the sake of you not having to say that again, call me Wind." the young Wind said with a smile. Aria and Adagio looked at each other before dispelling the magic that they had prepared.

"Ok and why should we trust you after you just jumped out a tree waiting for us?" Aria asked cautiously.

"Hey, I actually just came up here to relax. I like to find perches to rest on and was actually sleeping in the tree, when I heard you three showed up." the young Wind said. Adagio thought about that comment and realized something.

"Sonata told us that you asked her if you could join her a few minutes ago." Adagio commented.

"Well, I do know some teleportation magic." Wind told Adagio.

"Come to think of it, we did feel a surge of magic before we got here." Aria commented. Adagio rolled her eyes and looked at Wind.

"Ok, but how did you know where to teleport?" Adagio asked.

"I'm not sure if you know this, but you do need to know where you want to teleport beforehand." Wind explained.

"So, you've been here before?" Adagio asked.

"I have, in fact, been here before. This is usually the place I go to when I need to think about stuff." Wind responded. At that point, Aria walked up to Wind and grabbed him by his shirt.

"So you came up here to spy on us?"Aria questioned in a threatening tone. As Aria was holding him, she felt him shake a little.

"Um, I promise that I wasn't trying to spy on you, so could you please let me go?" Wind responded in a quiet tone. Aria was about to say something until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Just let him go Aria, he seems harmless." Adagio told Aria. Aria listened to her sister and let Wind's shirt go.

"Are you sure about that?" Aria asked Adagio.

"Yes, I am sure about that that. Besides, I think Sonata is a little worried for him." Adagio said. Aria then took a quick look at Sonata and saw her helping Wind up.

"Alright, I'll leave him alone for now." Aria said with a sigh. Adagio gave Aria a smile in response and looked back at Wind and Sonata.

"Sorry about my sis, she can be a bit forceful at times." Sonata apologized.

"It's ok; I can understand why you would need someone to be protective." Wind responded in a calmer tone.

"So, why did you come here?" Sonata asked Wind kindly.

"Well, I was having a bit of a rough day so I decided to come here again. It had been a while since I have been up here, but I decided to come check this place out for old time's sake." Wind told Sonata.

"And when you got, here you noticed our tree house?" Sonata asked.

"I did and I was honestly surprised that someone built a tree house up here." Wind responded. Sonata went silent for a little before speaking up.

"Do you want to go look at it?" Sonata asked nervously as she looked at her sisters. Aria and Adagio were shocked at what at Sonata said while Wind smiled.

"I would like to, but I don't want to disturb you or your sisters." Wind said. Adagio stayed silent for a moment before she sighed and shook her head.

"It's fine with me." Adagio said reluctantly. Aria then looked at Adagio before just face palming.

"Same with me, just try not to break anything while you're up there." Aria said in the same tone. Wind simply looked back at the two other Sirens.

"Are you two being serious or are you just saying that out of pity?" Wind asked. Wind then stayed silent for a moment as he realized something. "I'm sorry about any disrespect that I meant Princess Melody." Wind said in an apologetic tone.

"It's fine; just try not to cause too much trouble. Also, just call me Adagio when we are by ourselves." Adagio said in a slightly annoyed tone. Wind simply nodded in response before turning around and walking towards the tree house.

"If you spend a lot of time with them, you'll learn how to deal with them." Sonata commented as she walked behind Wind.

"I can tell, but I have a feeling that they're not going to make it easy for me." Wind said. Everyone stayed silent as they walked to the tree house and went inside it. After they all went in, the older Wind and Sonata looked at each other.

"So, did you remember this part at all before now?" Wind asked Sonata.

"No, I honestly don't recall this ever happening." Sonata told Wind. Wind stayed silent for a moment as he thought about various possibilities.

"You said that you did have some memories where you didn't remember anything clearly right?" Wind asked.

"I did, but why do you ask?" Sonata responded in a confused tone. After getting that conformation with Sonata, Wind went thought of a possibility for the situation.

"I have an idea of what could be happening here." Wind told Sonata.

"Really?!" Sonata asked in an excited tone.

"It's only a theory for now, but I believe that what we are watching are your true memories." Wind said. Sonata tilted her head in confusion which made Wind smile. "To explain in simpler terms, what we just saw is what actually happened in your memory." Wind explained. Sonata then nodded in response to that question. "You're not understanding this, are you?" Wind asked with a sigh.

"Well, I understand it a little, but I'm curious as to why these are starting to happen just now." Sonata said.

"That does make sense and brings up one big question. If you haven't been having these types of dreams before, why are you starting to have them now?" Wind said as he started to think again. The two stayed silent as they thought of things that could be happening.

"Maybe it's because of you?" Sonata suggested.

"Please, don't be ridiculous. There's no way it could be-" Wind got out as his mind started to think about those words. Sonata took note about the look on Wind's face and smiled.

"Did I make a good guess?" Sonata asked in a happy tone.

"Sonata, I think that you may have gotten it right on complete accident and I'm happy about it." Wind said as he realized something. Sonata smiled in response to that while Wind walked towards the nearby cliff. "I'll tell you about what I came up with in a little, but right now we need to go somewhere." Wind told Sonata in an excited voice.

"Where are we going to go?" Sonata asked Wind as she followed him. Wind stayed silent as they approached the cliff.





When they got to the cliff, Sonata was shocked to see another version of her standing in front of a door.

"I was wondering why you took so long." the dream Sonata said Wind.

"Sorry about that, we kind of had to take care of something." Wind sold the dream Sonata.

"That's fine. Also, I should mention you can call me Dreamy Sonata just to have a bit less confusion." Dreamy Sonata said. Wind simply nodded in response while Sonata just stood there a bit confused.

"So, this is the dream version of me?" Sonata asked Wind.

"That's right, she is the one who actually let me in here and I'm pretty sure that she also brought you here." Wind told Sonata. Dreamy Sonata smiled at the last part of that comment.

"You could tell that I did that?" Dreamy Sonata asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. I just had a feeling and you confirmed it for me." Wind said with a smile. Dreamy Sonata laughed a little at that comment, which made Sonata smile.

"I see that you're as sharp as ever, but there is a matter which I have to tell you about." Dreamy Sonata told Wind.

"What did you want to talk about?" Wind asked.

"I wanted to show you this door." Dreamy Sonata said before making a door appear next to her. Wind immediately recognized this door as the gray door he saw in the cave.

"I recognize this door." Wind said immediately.

"It should look familiar to you; after all, this is the door that leads to Cyclone's memories." Dreamy Sonata told Wind. Wind's eyes went wide when he heard that name.

"Cyclone is the one who guided you for a while, right?" Sonata asked.

"That's right, but why would Cyclone's memories be in my head?" Wind responded

"You'll find out when you enter the door." Dreamy Sonata said. Wind walked up to the door and realized something.

"Something happened to Cyclone?" Wind asked Dreamy Sonata in a serious tone. Dreamy Sonata responded by just looking down at the ground out of sadness. "I thought so." Wind said.

"So, what are you going to do Wind?" Sonata asked. Wind stayed silent as he thought about that question.

"I'll take a look at what is on the other side of this door. Sonata, I want you to stay in this memory to see what you can find out." Wind said in a very commanding tone.

"I don't mind that, but why don't you want me to go with you?" Sonata asked.

"He probably figured out that you won't be able to come with him through the door. The door itself will not let you enter unless the owner wants you to enter." Dreamy Sonata explained.

"Which explains how I got in here." Sonata said to herself.

"I can keep you company until you wake up." Dreamy Sonata offered her regular counterpart.

"I wouldn't mind that, but it will be a little weird to talk to myself." Sonata said. While the two Sonatas talked to each other, Wind thought about something.

"If Cyclone's memories are in my head, why are they there in the first place? More importantly, even if I get an answer in there, there is still one big question that I have." Wind thought to himself.

"Hey, I thought you were going to go in there already." Dreamy Sonata said, breaking Wind's train of thought.

"You know, a guy can have his privacy to do his own stuff. I do see your point though." Wind said as he opened the door. When he opened the door, he saw the familiar light that he had seen at all the doors.

"Hey Wind, could you turn around?" Sonata asked from behind him. Wind did turn around expecting say goodbye to Sonata. What he got instead was a surprise hug from Sonata.

"Please be safe." Sonata said while hugging him.

"Hey, it's me you're talking about, I'll be fine." Wind responded. Sonata then smiled and gave Wind a quick kiss on the lips.

"That's a bit of motivation for you." Sonata said before she stepped back. Wind simply looked stunned at that action before recovering and giving thumbs up.

"That is some good motivation." Wind said before he entered the door. After Wind entered the door, it closed on its own and disappeared.

"I hope he'll be ok with what he learns from there." Dreamy Sonata said while silently praying.

"Why wouldn't he be ok with what he learns in there?" Sonata asked.

"Well, let's just say that it has information about his true family." Dreamy Sonata said before she started to head for the tree. Sonata understood what her dream self meant and prayed for Wind's safely.
> Chapter 17: The Truth About the Past (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 17: The Truth of The Past (Part 1)

After Wind stepped through the doorway, he found himself floating in a white void. "So, this is where I'm supposed to be." Wind said to himself. As he walked in the void, he noticed the figure of someone in front of him. "Who are you?" Wind asked. The figure turned around to reveal itself as a humanoid Cyclone.

"Yo, it's been a while Wind." Cyclone said.

"Cyclone? What are you doing here?" Wind asked. Cyclone stayed silent for a moment as he thought about what to say.

"Well, if you haven't put it together by now, then I guess I could spell it out for you." Cyclone said.

"Allow me take a quick guess then." Wind requested. Cyclone simply smiled and let Wind take the lead. "With the way you suddenly disappeared a few days ago and the fact that I have your memories in my head, I would say that we are the same person." Wind guessed.

"You're correct, for the most part." Cyclone told Wind.

"What do you mean 'for the most part'?" Wind questioned.

"It's a bit complicated, so I won't tell you unless you are absolutely sure that you want to hear it. I should also mention that this will also set your destiny into motion." Cyclone told Wind. Wind was about to say something, but held it back as he thought of a few things.

"This could lead to the answers about my past that I've been looking for, but what does he mean by destiny?" Wind thought.

"So, have you come up with an answer?" Cyclone asked.

"I'm sure that I want to hear what you have to say. After all, this could be the only chance that I have to learn about my past." Wind told Cyclone. Cyclone stayed silent for a moment before he smiled.

"That is the answer I was expecting to hear from you. After all, I shouldn't expect anything less from myself." Cyclone said happily.

"Myself?" Wind thought, confused as to what Cyclone meant.

"Very well then, I suppose the best place to start would be the beginning." Cyclone said as he conjured the gray door that had been in Wind's dreams.

"Isn't this the last door from the cave?" Wind asked.

"It is and as you could have probably guessed that it's the door that holds my memories." Cyclone told Wind. Wind simply nodded in response and reached out to open the door. "Before you open it, I should let you know that you will not be able to leave until I'm done showing you what I need you to know." Cyclone said. That comment made Wind stop what he was doing and turn to face Cyclone.

"So, how long will I be asleep?" Wind asked.

"In the real world, you'll probably be asleep an extra 4 hours." Cyclone responded.

"And I take it that made sure to let Dreamy Sonata know?" Wind questioned.

"Don't worry about that, I made sure about everything." Cyclone said.

"Then why do I feel that something isn't right here?" Wind thought.

"Anyway, just step on thorough and prepare yourself." Cyclone said as he opened the door himself.

"Is there anything that I should know?" Wind asked.

"Just that since you're going to be viewing my memories, you'll be stuck on a straight path until you transition to the next one." Cyclone said. Wind simply nodded to that and stepped through the door.





"Hey, wake up sleepy head." A voice said as Cyclone woke up. As he woke up, Cyclone sat up and saw that Celestia was there.

"Sorry Celestia, I kind of forgot about today and overslept." Cyclone said as he got out of bed.

"Don't worry about it too much; I actually came to tell you that we're going to be holding an emergency meeting in a little about that issue." Celestia told Cyclone. Cyclone tried to remember the issue and then remembered what they needed to talk about.

"Oh right, that issue. Did something happen recently?" Cyclone responded.

"Kind of." Celestia told Cyclone. Cyclone then turned to Celestia who was leaning in his bedroom doorway.

"What do you mean by kind of?" Cyclone asked. Celestia was about to respond, but Cyclone stopped her. "Actually, just wait until the meeting. I have a few things I want to talk about anyway." Cyclone said.

"Ok, just try to remember all your armor this time." Celestia said playfully.

"I thought we agreed not to bring that moment up again." Cyclone sighed as he remembered that day.

"I know we did, but that doesn't mean I can't bring it up in private." Celestia said. Cyclone simply sighed as he brought up his wrist with a strange multi-colored brace on it. The brace fit neatly on his wrist and was about the size of a brace use by Red Buster, a friend of his. One of the main differences was the round window near the front of the brace (near the hand). "You still use the Guardian Brace to change clothes?" Celestia asked.

"Only to chance into my armor, but I just wanted to check something." Cyclone said as he looked at the brace.

"What kind of something?" Celestia asked.

"I had this weird dream last night. I don't remember the specifics, but it had to do something with my Guardian Brace being broken." Cyclone told Celestia as she removed his Guardian Brace.

"Your Guardian Brace being broken?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, weird right." Cyclone said as he looked over the brace. Celestia was silent for a moment before she walked into the room and removed her own white Guardian Brace.

"Maybe it wasn't just a dream." Celestia told Cyclone.

"What do you mean?" Cyclone asked.

"Well, how much do we really know about these things?" Celestia responded. Cyclone stayed silent for a moment before coming up with an answer.

"You make a good point there." Cyclone said.

"Exactly, which is why I would recommend a closer look at these things when you the chance." Celestia told Cyclone, putting her Guardian Brace back on.

"You make a good point." Cyclone said as he put on his Guardian Brace.

"Good, now get ready because we're having the meeting in about 2 hours." Celestia said before she turned around and left the room. Cyclone simply nodded before he went and got dressed for the day.





At the memory ended, Wind was left with a lot of questions to ask. After stepping out of a doorway similar to the one he entered, Cyclone was right in front of him." Ok, before you start asking questions, just wait until the end to ask them." Wind asked.

"Why?" Wind asked.

"Because I figure I should at the very least give you context to what you just experienced." Cyclone explained.

"Fair enough." Wind said as he got mentally prepared for a lot of information.

"The memories you are experiencing will all be taking place around 3000 years ago. The place you were just in is known as the Nexus Castle, a city ruled over by King Galaxia and Queen Faust. I was part of a special part of the Royal Guard known as the Guardians. The Guardians were made up of me, Celestia, Luna, and three others you will meet soon enough. The six of us were in charge of handling any supernatural threats that attacked the kingdom.

The part you were watching specifically was part of an eventful day known as Zero Second. As for what Zero Second is exactly, you'll find out soon enough. The most I can tell you about at the moment, it was a day that changed everything."

After Cyclone said that, another door appeared behind Cyclone. "Well, I think you should get going. You have a meeting to attend to after all." Cyclone told Wind.

"I'm not going to get to speak much am I?" Wind asked.

"Nope." Cyclone responded. Wind simply nodded and walked to the door. "Before I forget, in this memory everyone is going to be in a set of armor and refer to each other in code names. Just thought I should give you a heads up." Cyclone said as Wind opened the door. Wind gave a simple thumbs-up before walking into the door.





After getting dressed and eating breakfast, Cyclone walked to their meeting room and equipped his armor before going inside. "Time to see what this meeting is about." Cyclone thought as he entered the room. When he entered the room, he saw King Galaxia and Queen Faust already at the head of their meeting table and no one else.

"Joker, good to see that you're here early." Galaxia said.

"Well, you know how I always like to be earlier than the others you highness." Cyclone responded before bowing.

"We do know how you love to be early, but this does give us a chance to give you something." Faust said as she got up from her chair. Cyclone stayed silent and didn't move as the Queen walked up to him.

"You can stand up now Joker." Galaxia told him.

"Oh, sorry about that." Cyclone said nervously as he got up.

"You know, it still amazes me how you can wield so much power, but still be nervous about anything." Faust said with a smile.

"It's a habit of mine." Cyclone said shyly.

"In any case, we would like to give you this." Galaxia said as Faust held out a key. Cyclone took the key in his hand and instantly recognized the key instantly.

"Isn't this the key to the Sacred Cave?" Cyclone asked.

"It is, and we want you to have it." Faust told Cyclone.

"It would be an honor to accept this gift, but why?" Cyclone asked as Faust went back to her seat.

"I am not sure myself, but he came to me in my dreams last night." Galaxia told Cyclone. When Cyclone realized who Galaxia was talking about, he instantly got a little tense.

"Well, what did he want to say?" Cyclone asked.

"He mentioned something about entrusting the future of the kingdom to you, though we aren't sure what that means." Galaxia replied.

"What we do know is that it would be for the best that the one to hold the Sacred Key is you." Faust continued.

"Are you honestly sure that this is the best?" Cyclone asked in an unsure tone. The two simply nodded yes in response to that question and Cyclone simply looked down at the key for a moment. "I won't let you two down in that case." Cyclone said confidently as he put the key away.

"We know you won't." Galaxia said. As Galaxia said that, they heard footsteps approaching the door. The three looked at each other before Cyclone nodded and went to take his seat at the table. As Cyclone sat down, the doors opened and five people in armor came into the room, sitting down at their respective places at the table.

"Good, you all seem to have made it." Faust told the group.

"Hey, no thanks to someone waking up a little late." The one who sat closest to Cyclone said.

"Now now, no need for placing blames Shade." Galaxia said. Shade, who currently had his arms crossed, wore a full set of black armor and had a great sword on his back.

"Anyway, before we get started with the meeting, let us just make sure that everyone is present and accounted for." Faust said.

"Joker, the Wielder of the Ancients, is here." Cyclone said, know the procedure by now.

"Shade, Wielder of Darkness, is present." Shade said.

"Crystal, Wielder of the Wild, is good to go." Crystal said in a calm tone. Crystal's armor was more than a little different from everyone else's. Her armor was, instead of the normal metal armor, comprised of black insect chitin.

"Chaos, King of Discord, is here." Chaos said, a hint of insanity in his voice. Chaos' armor was a mix-up of various different types of armor types.

"Solar, Ruler of the Sun, is present and ready for action." Solar said in a motherly tone. Solar's armor what pure white and had the symbol of a sun on her right arm.

"Lunar, Ruler of the Moon, is ready." Lunar said in an obviously tired tone. Lunar's armor was similar in design to Solar's, but was purple in color and had a moon on her left arm.

"You sound exhausted Lunar. You didn't have a good night's sleep last night?" Crystal asked.

"No, I kept having this weird dream." Lunar said as they stifled a yawn.

"Well, maybe it has something to do with the issue I wanted to bring up today." Galaxia said in a serious tone.

"Really? Does it have to do with the Allagans?" Cyclone questioned curiously.

"Yes, it does." Galaxia said as they had brought out a map and put it on the table. The map, which took up the entirety of the table, had various countries that were all colored red, blue, or purple.

"As we all know, the Allagans have recently been expanding by concurring various countries. Our kingdom and allies aren't taking that well so, we've been at war with them for the past three years." Galaxia started to explain.

"That's why you created the Guardians right?" Chaos asked.

"Exactly, the Allagans are known to use biological weapons as well as magic in combat, so we decided to form a team to combat these threats and go on missions." Faust said.

"That's all well and good, but what does that have to do with the development you called us here for?" Shade asked.

"I was just about to get to that. Recently, some of the scouts under Shade's and Lunar's command have reported back some interesting news." Galaxia responded.

"What have these scouts reported?" Solar asked curiously.

"It seems that the Allagans have been slowly advancing on Musica Kingdom." Faust said. When Queen Faust said that, Joker instantly sat up.

"Are there any other details about their advancement?" Cyclone asked.

"Yes, there is the fact that it looks like an expeditionary force instead of a full army." Lunar commented.

"An expeditionary party you say?" Cyclone asked curiously.

"As you know, we have a close watch on the boarder of out allied kingdoms. It would make sense that they would send a small expeditionary group to slip by our borders." Galaxia told Joker. Before anyone else could comment, the doors to the room burst open and a guard ran in.

"Pardon me you highnesses, but I have urgent information." The guard said, holding out a paper.

"It's fine, what does this information pertain to?" Galaxia said. In response to that, the guard pulled out some papers and gave them to Galaxia. After skimming over it for a quick moment, Galaxia was shocked by what he read. "Thank you for the update. Tell the Guard Captain to prepare the troops and start evacuating the citizens." Galaxia told the guard as he gave the papers to Faust. The guard simply nodded before running back down the hall ways and closing the doors.

"What's going on your majesty?" Solar asked. Before he could speak up, Faust stood up quickly as she finished reading the papers.

"The Allagans have an army marching towards us!?" Faust exclaimed. That caused all of the Guardians to have various reactions, but they all shared one common reaction at first.

"WHAT!?" they all said.

"Yes, what Faust said is correct. Apparently, the Allagans have somehow broken through or defenses and have a small army on the way. You all can stay here and talk amongst your selves, this meeting is adjourned." Galaxia said as he and Faust got up and left the meeting room.. As the other Guardians talked amongst each other, Joker thought about a few things.

"Why would they send a small expeditionary force to Musica while also sending a large army to our kingdom?" Cyclone thought. As he thought about that, he remembered something important about Musica and left the meeting room silently.





As the memory ended, Wind stepped back into the white space with Cyclone. "Ok, so you ready for the next part of the explanation?" Cyclone asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Wind said as he got mentally ready.

"Very well, then I guess to start is that the memory you just saw takes place in the kingdom of Nexus. Nexus is currently in a war against the Allagan Empire, an empire who wishes for nothing else but to rule the world. Nexus has teamed up with the Draconica Kingdom, a kingdom inhabited by dragons, the Musica Kingdom, a kingdom inhabited by creatures known as Sirens, and the Purgatorio Kingdom, a kingdom inhabited by various angels and demons.

At the time I was initiated into the Guardians, the war had been going on for about 5 years. Zero Second, what you about to witness, is what could be called the climax of the war. Not because there was a winner at the end, but because of another reason you'll find out when it's time. Either way, there were countless lives lost in the course of the war as well as the climax.

What you're about to see next happens a few days after the meeting, so I'm going to explain a little bit about what is going on. After I left, I went straight to the Guard Captain to see if he could secure me passage to Musica. I had realized that it could be possible that the Allagans could be attempting to brainwash the people of Musica. Since there was little protection for Musica because they aren't used to violence, I decided to head over to Musica to make sure everything was ok.

Solar and Lunar, which you can tell are Celestia and Luna, found this out as well and decided to send their apprentices with me. Celestia sent Starshine Shimmer, a girl with a short temper but incredibly smart and shy, while Luna sent Trick Lunamoon, a girl with a fascination of various types of magic. The memory you're about to see is after we just got there and were meeting up with the rulers of Musica, along with their daughter and her friends."

After Cyclone finished, another door of light appeared behind him. Without another word, Wind simply walked through the doorway.





The doors to the throne room opened and Cyclone, Starshine, and Trick walked into the throne room. In front of the sitting in the thrones where two Sirens, King Reverb and Queen Rhythm. When the three got to the foot of their thrones, the all bowed out of respect. "It is good to see you two again." Cyclone said.

"It is good to see you as well Cyclone. It has been sometime since your last visit." Reverb said in a kind tone.

"Over a year if I recall correctly." Cyclone commented as he remained bowed.

"You three may rise. Cyclone, who are your compatriots?" Rhythm asked.

"These are the apprentices of Solar and Lunar." Cyclone said as he let the two introduce themselves.

"It's an honor to meet you two, my name is Starshine Shimmer, apprentice of Solar." Starshine said shyly.

"My name is Trick Lunamoon, apprentice of Lunar. Nice to meet you." Trick said with a smile.

"It's nice to meet the both of you. No, forgive me for ruining the mood, but why did you need to meet with us so urgently? Your letter didn't give us much to go on." Reverb asked curiously. Cyclone was about to say something until someone tackled him to the ground. When he looked who it was, he saw Sonata hugging him tightly.

"Cyclone, it's good to see you again." Sonata said as she continued to hug him.

"It's good to see you too Sonata." Cyclone said as he patted her head. When he saw the looks on Starshine and Trick's faces, he simply had a look that told them that he would explain later. "Can I get up now Sonata?" Cyclone asked. Sonata then realized what she was doing and quickly stopped hugging him.

"Sorry, it's just that it's been a while." Sonata said as she helped Cyclone up.

"Still as energetic as ever I see." Cyclone said happily.

"Sorry about that you highnesses." Sonata said in a responsible tope.

"It's fine Sonata, I can understand your reasoning. It has been over a year since Cyclone last came here." Rhythm said in an understanding tone.

"Anyway, what I wanted to tell you about was that we recently received some reports about the Allagans." Cyclone said.

"Really? What do these reports entail?" Reverb asked curiously.

"Well, the first is that the Allagans have an army marching towards Nexus right now. I don't know how long we have until they get there." Cyclone said in a very serious tone. The whole room was silent for a moment until the door to the room opened and a guard walked in.

"Pardon me your highnesses, but there are Allagan troops at the gates requesting entry." the guard said.

"That would be what the other report said." Cyclone commented.

"Are they acting hostile at all?" Reverb questioned.

"No sir, in fact, they seem to be extremely exhausted and have injured with them." the guard said. After the guard said that, Cyclone was initially confused.

"If I may your highness, may we go out to greet them?" Cyclone asked Reverb.

"I think that would be for the best, you three are better suited for combat in case the need arises. We are still training our guard for combat sadly, so we can't provide you with combat ready people." Reverb said.

"We won't let you two down." Cyclone said before he, Starshine, and Trick started to walk towards the door to the throne room.

"Wait, before you go I would recommend you take Sonata." Rhythm told Cyclone. When Cyclone heard that, he immediately stopped in his tracks.

"Why?" Cyclone simply asked.

"Well, to be perfectly honest, Sonata has actually been training to be a fighter for a while now." Reverb explained which made Sonata blush a little. Cyclone was about to say something, but Stardust leaned close to him and whispered something into his ear.

"It actually might be beneficial to have someone else with us who knows how to fight. Trick and I don't have a lot of experience." Starshine whispered. Cyclone took a quick glance at Trick and saw that she was simply nodding in agreement.

"Ok, she can come." Cyclone said. Sonata was excited by Cyclone's response and ran towards the three.

"I won't let you three down." Sonata said proudly as they all left the throne room.





As the four of them walked the streets of Musica, there was a silence over them. "I think to keep us a little occupied as we get there, we should talk about some things." Trick suggested as they walked the road to the front gate.

"That seems like a good idea. I personally like silence, but it's more comfortable to talk with others." Cyclone said.

"I'm actually curious about something myself. What is your relation to the king and queen Sonata?" Starshine asked a bit quietly. Sonata did manage to hear the question and was a bit hesitant to answer.

"It's ok, they won't tell anyone." Cyclone told Sonata. Sonata simply nodded in response and took a deep breath before she began speaking.

"My relationship between with Reverb and Rhythm is that they are my adoptive parents. I don't recall much of my birth parents, but I do know that they were murdered. Fortunately, my birth parents were members of the King and Queen's council, so they took me in as an adopted daughter." Sonata said.

After Sonata finished explaining, Starshine immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry; I didn't want to bring up a bad part of you past." Starshine said in an apologetic tone.

"It's fine; you had no way of knowing. However, I am curious as to where you two come from and how you became apprentices." Sonata said. Tick then looked over at Starshine and shot he a look that said 'I blame you.'

"Well, we both actually have a similar story. We were abounded by our parents for a reason, our respective mentors found us and offered to take us in, and we were trained in our respective magic types." Trick summarized.

"Wow, you two must be really talented in that case." Sonata said.

"We are, but I wouldn't say that we're the best at what we do." Starshine added.

"Are you two kidding? From what I've been able to see you two do, you both do some pretty amazing things that even I can't do without practice." Cyclone said in a happy voice.

"Thank you for the flattery Cyclone, but we really only learned what Solar and Lunar taught us." Starshine said as she rubbed the back of her head. Before anyone could say anything else, they heard some commotion coming from in front of them.

"I guess we're at the gate." Cyclone said as they walked towards the front gate.

"There does seem to be a few people gathered." Trick commented as they saw the small crowd.

"Honestly, I don't blame them; it does get pretty boring out here." Sonata admitted. The group then went silent as they thought about what they should say to the Allagans when they heard a voice.

"So, you're saying that you came here seeking shelter?" a female voice that Sonata recognized asked.

"Oh no, I was wondering where they were." Sonata said as she ran forward. Cyclone and the others did the same and they saw two Sirens standing in front of one of the Allagans.

"Yes we we're." the Allagan said. Before the Siren who questioned the could continue, Sonata walked up to them.

"Hey Adagio, Aria, you can stop now." Sonata told her friends.

"You know, I was wondering when you would get here Sonata." Adagio asked.

"Well, I'm sorry I was there to meet our guests." Sonata said. Adagio turned towards Sonata to ask what she meant and saw Cyclone and the others arriving behind her.

"Oh Cyclone, when did you get here?" Adagio asked, which caught the attention of the other Siren.

"Hey Princess, I've been here for a little bit. In fact, your father sent me here to check out the situation." Cyclone told Adagio.

"Wait a second, you're Cyclone?" the Allagan asked. Cyclone was about to respond until he saw the Allagan who asked the question.

"Is that you Wind?" Cyclone responded as he walked up to his old friend. Trick and Starshine looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the scene in front of them.

"Cyclone, you know this Allagan?" Aria asked in a shocked tone.

"Of course I do, how could I forget my own brother?" Cyclone responded as he helped Wind off the floor.

"You brother!?" the three Sirens, Starshine, and Trick all exclaimed. Cyclone looked behind where Wind was kneeling and saw several other Allagans of a variety of genders and ages wearing the same clothes as him. While he did notice that some looked like they were fine, ne saw that several more of them looked like they needed to eat while others had varying degrees of injuries on them.

"Get these people to the castle quickly." Cyclone said as he started to help Wind into the city. Before anyone could say anything, Sonata spoke up.

"Adagio, could you put up a barrier that covers the entrance around that area?" Sonata asked her friend as she pointed to just behind the furthest Allagan. Adagio was about to question her, but then she saw that Sonata had a serious look on her face.

"All right, whatever you say." Adagio said as she erected a yellow barrier around the entrance. No sooner than she did that, an explosion impacted the barrier, which made Adagio tremble a little. Cyclone turned towards that direction and saw several Allagan creations, including a moarter, and troops coming out of the nearby woods.

"Dang, they followed us all the way here?" Wind exclaimed.

"We'll talk later." Cyclone told Wind before he set him leaning against the wall. As soon as he did that, Cyclone turned to the gathering crowd of people. "To all that are here, my name is Cyclone of Nexus. Get these people to the castle on the double and explain to King Reverb that they are to be treated like guests." Cyclone told the group. Before anyone could object, another explosion impacted the barrier, which got everyone's attention.

"Well, you heard the man, do as he says." Adagio told her citizens in a slightly strained voice. The citizens said nothing and got to work helping the Allagans to the castle.

"Hey, we'll wait for you at the edge of the barrier." Starshine said before she and Trick walked to the barrier.

Cyclone simply nodded before he turned to Allagan fighters and walked towards the barrier only to feel a hand on his shoulder stop.

"Hang on a sec, are three you going to fight them by yourselves?" Sonata asked Cyclone.

"What other choice do I have?" Cyclone responded. Sonata went silent for a moment before deciding on an answer.

"Let me fight alongside you." Sonata said. Cyclone was taken by surprise when he heard the answer sonata gave.

"Are you crazy Sonata?! You know how dangerous these people are right?" Aria exclaimed.

"Of course I know that, but that doesn't keep me from wanting to protect my home." Sonata responded, a hint of bravery in her voice. When Cyclone heard that, he thought back to when he first meet Sonata before giving a light chuckle.

"You've grown a lot since we first meet." Cyclone said proudly.

"Of course, I wanted to impress a certain someone in my life." Sonata said before she looked down and blushed slightly. Cyclone understood what Sonata was talking about and nodded.

"Very well, then let me see how much you've changed and what you've learned through your training." Cyclone said before turning around and walking towards the barrier. Sonata simply nodded and was about to join him when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You're really going through with this aren't you?" Aria asked.

"I am and nothing you say will stop me." Sonata said. Aria stayed silent for a moment before she reached behind her and pulled out an object.

"Here." Aria said as she put her hand into Sonata's view. Sonata noticed the object and took it.

"You were planning on giving this to me when I got mature enough in your eyes?" Sonata asked.

"Yep, now get going. I'm helping Melody with the barrier." Aria said before running to Adagio's side. Sonata simply nodded before joining Cyclone, Starshine, and Trick near the barrier. After she joined then, she saw that Cyclone had cast his own barrier.

"You ready?" Cyclone asked. Sonata simply nodded and unfolded the weapon to reveal a boomerang.

"Really, a boomerang?" Trick asked in a questioning tone. Cyclone was about to retort but Sonata by throwing the boomerang towards the mortar. The Allagans laughed at the toy that flew towards the mortar. When the Boomerang hit the mortar, it instantly started to rust at a fast pace and all the fluids in it started to come out of the rusted shell. The boomerang then returned to Sonata and she caught it. That display made Starshine, Cyclone, and Trick just turn their heads slowly towards Sonata.

"Don't talk shit about the boomerang." Sonata told Trick playfully with a smile on her face. Trick simply nodded before getting out a lance that looked futuristic.

"Remind me not to get on her bad side." Starshine said nervously as she got out a two sabers. Cyclone simply nodded as he walked out of the barrier that Adagio made to confront the Allagans. As soon as he stepped out of the barrier, Cyclone decided to make some talk with the Allagans first.

"Allagans, why are you here?" Cyclone asked.

"We're here to take care of some deserters of ours." the leading Allagan said.

"I imagine that there is no way we can talk this out peacefully?" Cyclone asked.

"No, and especially not with a Siren like you." the Allagan said. That statement made Cyclone smile slightly as he got out a small disk with the symbol of a pair of hands holding each other.

"Funny you say that actually, you must not realize who I am." Cyclone as he put the disk up to a slot in the side of his Guardian Brace.

"Why should we, you Sirens are not worth the enough of learning about." the Allagan said. Cyclone simply responded by inserting the disk into the slot, which made the symbol on the disk appear on the round portion of the brace and a noise occurred.

"Unity Disk Recognized. Ready to Change?"

"Very well, then let me show you who I am." Cyclone said confidently. Before any of the Allagans could react, Cyclone extended his arm forward towards the group of Allagans. "Guardian Change!" Cyclone yelled. The brace brimmed with energy for a moment before shooting out a shield around Cyclone and a spell circle appeared in front of him. The circle passed through him and when it did, the armor he was wearing to the meeting was equipped to him.

The dark blue armor was a form of light armor with a lot of protection and was designed around a humanoid dragon. The gauntlets and boots had claw like markings on the backs of them. In addition to that, the armor had scales all around it. The chest piece had a pair of wings engraved in the back. The helmet was the most interesting part, with a pair of dragons eyes on top of a dragon maw visor.

Cyclone then summoned a pair of swords, one silver in color held in his right hand and the other gold in color held in his left hand. He then put the silver sword into the air and struck a pose where he had one sword on his shoulder and the sword he had in the air extended forward while saying something.

"The Linked Uniting Star! Guardian Unity!"

"Guardian Unity you said?!" the lead Allagan exclaimed.

"That's right." Cyclone said simply as he put the sword to his side.

"Well, this just gives us a good chance to take care of you here. Won't have to wait to take care of you at Nexus." the lead Allagan said. Cyclone simply stayed silent at that statement as the others joined him.

"So, you ready to fight?" Starshine asked in a more courageous voice.

"Of course I am. Just be sure to keep the leader alive, I want to see what he knows." Cyclone told the others.

"Makes sense considering that Allagans are approaching the kingdom." Trick said.

"Roger that Cyclone." Sonata said happily. Cyclone simply nodded and they all got ready to battle. The lead Allagan ordered his army to charge and the four defenders ran forward to meet them.