> The Knights of Tambelon
>  by Catrina37
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> At My New Beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 1: At My New Beginning


It was a beautiful night in Equestria...

The stars sparkled, Luna’s moon shined, and the sky was a rich midnight blue, compliments of the princess of the night herself.

Atop of the rebuilt Castle of the Two Sisters however, a gargoyle with bat wings, brown and tan fur, and a pointy tail is sitting on a tower overlooking Ponyville, remembering the kindness of the ponies who were living there. Particularly the kindness of a group of pony friends in particular.

“Hey there. Guess you’re wondering why a gargoyle would be out looking at Ponyville at night,” he says in a narrative voice over, “It’s because one special pony helped me and my fellow Knights of Tambelon, and reminded us why we are heroes. I am Scorpan, Hero of Equestria, newly appointed leader of the Knights of Tambelon, and Brother of Tirek. To tell this story, I must start at the beginning of my new beginning...”


****


  “It all started on a normal day in Ponyville. A long time after the defeat of my brother at the hands…er…hooves of Princess Twilight and her friends, Ponyville is getting ready for a victory celebration/anniversary in honor of Twilight’s heroism…”

Some Pegasi are hanging up banners that depict Twilight’s fight and confrontation with Tirek.

Pinkie Pie is blowing some balloons with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and using her party cannon to set up some decorations.

Fluttershy is practicing with her songbird chorus.

As usual, Applejack and her family are bucking apples needed for the feast.

Rarity is busy making the gowns that the six are going to wear. Each gown is patterned after the Rainbowfied Mane 6.


****


In the castle, Twilight and Spike are going over the checklist in the throne room.

“Food, check,” Spike says as he checks off the list, “Dresses, check. Decorations, check. Music, check.”

Then, Twilight comes in from the other hall.

“How’s everything going, Spike?” Twilight checks.

“Everything’s going great, Twilight,” Spike replies, “Your victory celebration/anniversary is coming along nicely.”

“Is this party for me really necessary? It took all six of us to defeat Tirek.”

“Don’t be so modest, Twilight. You’ve earned this party because it’s your magic that always pulls through when there’s trouble. Besides, this celebration is for all of us.”

“I’m glad, Spike. Have you seen Rainbow Dash?”

“She said something about going to the weather station because of an urgent message about a strange anomaly.”


****


Back in Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash, along with her friend and leader of the Wonder Bolts: Spitfire, is heading for the weather station after getting word of a strange weather anomaly.

They ran under the calm, cloud-filled, blue skies, which so far contained nothing short of calm. With the hastening speed of their hooves, the weather station came in their range of sight, and they came to a stop in front of it.

With a quickening trot, they ran to the doors of the station and opened them so hard that you could hear the slam echoing in the building.

Inside, there were a multitude of pegasi who were weather-workers and weather-scientists, each of them talking to one another because they too were wanting to know what was going on. It wasn’t until they noticed the door opening and slamming that they stopped and turned their heads.

A male pegasus scientist stepped forth from the crowd and trotted over to Rainbow and Spitfire without anything holding him back.

“Captain Spitfire! Miss Rainbow Dash! Thank you for coming.” the scientist said.

“We came over as soon as we could.” Spitfire told him.

“Find anything on this anomaly some of the other Wonder Bolts witnessed not long ago?” Rainbow Dash impatiently asks.

“Nothing yet,” the scientist weather Pegasus said, “But we did find that these storm clouds are unlike anything we have seen before, and they originated from the south.”

“Have you been keeping an eye on them?” Spitfire asks.

“Yes m’am. We have been tracking the clouds for two whole hours.” the scientist responds.

Suddenly, the radar started to beep. The beeping got louder and louder until an alarm is sounded, startling Spitfire and Rainbow Dash.

“What’s happening?!” Spitfire cries in panic.

The scientist runs over to the radar, with Spitfire and Rainbow Dash following close behind.

“The storm clouds are getting dangerously close to pony premises and villages,” the scientist said, “It doesn’t look like they’re going to stop either.”

“Where’s the storm heading now?” Rainbow Dash demands an answer.

“It’s seems to be heading towards one direction: Southwest toward the Shadow Mountains.”

Rainbow Dash and Spitfire gasp.

“Ponyville is in that direction!” Rainbow Dash fearfully states.

“You go warn every pony while I gather as many Wonder Bolts as possible!” Spitfire says

“Yes m’am!” Rainbow responds with a salute.

Right away, the two pegasi gallop out of the building, and each of them fly in different directions to their destinations, their wings propelling them like jets.
> The Dark Storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2: The Dark Storm


Meanwhile, back at the celebration/anniversary, everything is all set up. Twilight and Spike are inspecting everything. They notice that a lot of the balloons Pinkie blew are all square, especially when they see her blow up another square balloon not far from a dining table.

“Pinkie? How did you make square balloons?” Twilight asks her with curiosity.

“Simple, Twilight; I blew square breathes,” Pinkie responds, causing Spike and Twilight to look confused.

Suddenly, just when Pinkie was about to blow up another balloon, Rainbow Dash zooms in and crashes at the Town Square, somersaulting until she flops onto her belly a few feet from Twilight.

“Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?” Twilight asks as she runs to her.

“Never mind me, Twilight! Everypony has to get somewhere safe!” Rainbow Dash warns, “A huge storm is coming and it’s heading here!”

All the ponies in Ponyville begin to panic.

“Every pony, get inside the castle! You’ll be safe there!” Twilight commands, “Rainbow Dash, I want you and Fluttershy to do a storm watch! Report on how close it is!”

“You got it!” Rainbow Dash salutes as she speeds off.

“Spike, I need you and the others to gather every civilian and get them to the castle,” Twilight tells him.

“You got it, Twilight!” Spike said, “You can count me.”

Spike runs to get Applejack and the others.


****


Moments later...

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are keeping watch for the storm over the Everfree Forest, keeping constant vigilance for the upcoming danger. So far, there was not a single storm cloud in sight.

Then, just on the horizon Fluttershy suddenly sees something...dark clouds...with a lot of lightning and a tornado, were hovering over the Everfree forest like a flying blanket, covering the trees, and causing small mammals and birds to scatter in order to avoid them.

“Look!” Fluttershy screams as she points her hoof at the storm.

Rainbow Dash sees it too. She also saw that it was coming in very fast.

“How could the rest of the Pegasi create such a storm? Why would they even do that?” Fluttershy asks with horror.

“They didn’t, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash explains, “The storm is coming from somewhere else. We better fly and tell Twilight.”

But just before they could open their wings...to their horror, a whirlwind suddenly appears out of nowhere and catches the two Pegasi. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are screaming, spinning, and flapping as hard as they can to get out while spinning out of control.

Then, out of nowhere, two lassos appear and tie themselves to the two Pegasi by the belly. Slowly, they are lowered down and out of the whirlwind until they are back on the ground, flopping on their hooves and stomachs as they touched it.

“Thanks, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash says as she sighs with relief.

“Not Applejack, Dashie,” a familiar male voice says.

They quickly turn to find that to their surprise, it wasn’t Applejack that lassoed them. It was Discord! And he was wearing cowboy clothes while spinning two lassos.

“Discord!” Fluttershy happily yells while hugging him.

“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“Well, I was checking out the storm and doing some wind surfing with my surf board, when, all of a sudden, I saw you two having the most dangerous ride of your lives like fish in a whirlpool,” he replies.

“This storm is not your doing, is it?” Rainbow Dash inquires with her front hooves crossed.

“Oh no no no! In all honesty, it was not my doing! But I sense a magical imbalance in those clouds.”

At the sound of those words, Fluttershy and Rainbow suddenly became even more horrified. Their mouths going agape with shock.

“You’re saying this storm is created by magic?” Fluttershy asks.

“Afraid so, and it’s dark magic! Someone created this storm to do more than just crash the party!”

“We better tell Twilight and fast!” Rainbow exclaims.

And just like that, Rainbow and Fluttershy fly like they were jet propelled straight for Ponyville. Discord meanwhile made a jet pack appear on his back, activated it, and followed close behind the two pegasi, a trail of bubbles being left behind him.


****


Back in Ponyville, the town was getting filled with winds that were going 85 mph. Applejack and Pinkie Pie have herded every pony into the castle. Rarity is using her unicorn magic to help the animals, including their pets, inside. Not far from them, Twilight’s pet owl Owlowicious is in a tree, too afraid to fly.

Inside the castle, every pony in Ponyville was indoors. Applejack and Pinkie Pie are passing out treats like cider and cupcakes to keep the crowd calm. Rarity and Spike are checking off lists on who is present. Twilight is casting a force-field spell that will protect them from the rain.

The force-field won’t let anything in unless it’s of Ponyville. But it was no problem at all for Discord, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. They flew in through the force-field and ran through the front door. They ran past the crowd and made it to the throne room like race contenders making a tie.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy calls.

Twilight’s attention caught, she ran right over to her three friends to see what they wanted.

“Fluttershy? What is it?” she asks Fluttershy.

“Discord discovered something about the storm you should know,” Fluttershy informs her.


****


While the three tell Twilight about the storm, Owlowicious is struggling to fly toward the castle. A branch suddenly falls on his left wing, causing him to get stuck. He hoots as loud as he can, hoping help will come.


****


Inside the castle, Twilight is flabbergasted that the storm is created by someone and some kind of sorcery.

“Someone is using magic to create this storm?! Why?!” Twilight wonders.

“We don’t know!” Rainbow Dash says, “But what we do know is that the storm is heading to Shadow Mountain.”

“What’s there?”

“The Monster of Shadow Pass!” Fluttershy said nervously.

“The what?” Discord asks.

“There have been reports of some kind of shadow monster that scares away travelers who pass there. Most ponies are too afraid to go there,” Rainbow Dash tells him.

Rarity and Spike suddenly run in with scared looks on their faces.

“Twilight!” Spike says while catching his breath, “Rarity and I did the head count to make sure every pony is present and accounted for, and we‘re missing one of the pets!”

“Who’s missing?!” Twilight asks with worry.

“Owlowicious!” Rarity and Spike say in unison, causing Twilight to really worry.

Like a torpedo, she heads straight for the front door of the castle.


****


Twilight rushes outside to find him. But as she did, the winds were getting more and more dangerous, especially to where her mane was being blown in the air.

“Owlowicious! Owlowicious!” she cries.

In the distance, she hears a very familiar sound...it was the sound of her owl hooting. She runs toward the hooting until she sees Owlowicious caught under a tree branch. Twilight rushes over and nudges him to assure him that she’ll help him. She uses her magic to levitate the branch off of him long enough for Owlowicious to fly.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Owlowicious,” Twilight says as she sighs in relief.

Her expression quickly turns into horror when she sees a huge dark tornado heading toward them. Twilight is about to teleport Owlowicious and herself back, but they both get caught in the deadly twister. Twilight was unable to concentrate on using the spell to teleport both of them out because of the winds, but she had all the concentration she needed to still teleport her pet owl out of danger.

“I can’t teleport us both out, Owlowicious, but you can still make it!” she states.

Owlowicious just hoots while nodding no, meaning he won’t leave without her, but Twilight teleports him back to the castle anyway where he’ll be safe, while she is caught in the huge whirlwind.

The twister causes her to spin to where her head would either be upside down or right side up. But her time in the twister soon got worse when a lose tree branch appears of nowhere. With a large smack to the head, she was knocked unconscious and no longer awake.

But none of that could ever compare to what was happening next! The twister was carrying her from Ponyville to the Shadow Mountains!
> Knights of Tambelon to the Rescue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3: Knights of Tambelon to the Rescue


“What Twilight and the rest of Ponyville don’t know is that evil storm was on its way to our home on Shadow Mountain because it’s meant to flush me and my fellow knights out. The storm was created by our former king: Grogar the Ram Wizard. He sent it to drive us out long enough for his minions to track us. We were living in an old abandoned castle when the storm came, causing it to crumble down…”

Inside this old abandoned castle, there were a group of anthropomorphic beings who were trying to keep it from getting crumbled down by the storm. Scorpan was among them, but the others are ones we don’t know about yet.

One of the others is a male anthro bat imp who is knee high, wears a peasant blouse and black pants, and resembles a brown bat. The other creature is a male anthro chameleon who wears a green shirt and a guard helmet.

Scorpan and the chameleon were quickly nailing beams up to prevent the ceilings from falling down, and so far, their plan has worked. The bat imp is busy sealing the windows to prevent anything from flying through them, and checking the walls to make sure there were no leaks coming from holes.

“Hey Rep! Do we have anymore beams?” Scorpan asks the chameleon.

“This is the last one. We should be good after that.” The chameleon named Rep responds while holding a beam.

After saying that, Rep uses all the strength he has to lift the beam in his hands, with Scorpan aiding him in straightening it out. The bat imp flies right next to them, ready to let them know that he accomplished his task.

“All the windows and holes are closed and patched, guys.” the bat imp tells his friends.

“Great work, Thorne,” Scorpan thanks the bat imp, “I think now we can just relax.”

The moment Scorpan said the word ‘relax’ silence had suddenly descended on the trio, and they collapse themselves on the ground with a thump, sitting on their bottoms. They take a deep breath as they sat. But the moment of just sitting was cut short when a hole on the wall suddenly came up and water was coming through it, much to Thorne’s sudden surprise and frustration.

“Aw, come on!” Thorne says with aggravation.

He flies to the hole that was on the wall at the other side of the room in order to plug it up.

“Where did this storm come from anyway?” Scorpan asks aloud.

“Something tells me that this is no ordinary storm,” Thorne says as he plugs the hole with a cork, “This is Grogar’s handiwork.”

“Where’s Catrina?” Rep asks with worry.

“She went outside to stop the storm with her magic,” Scorpan says as he sat against the wall.


****


Outside, the one called Catrina, a female anthro brown cat who wears a red gypsy gown, and has blonde hair, is on the castle wall. She gets out her magic wand, closes her eyes, and then speaks with words of chant which no one but her can understand, even as the lightning and winds got bigger. With a sudden jerk of her arm, and the wand pointing at the clouds, she casts a magical beam at them, causing the sun to shine through, and making the storm and the upcoming tornado disappear.

Opening her eyes, she sees with a smile that her spell had worked.

Scorpan flies up to her, seeing also that her spell had stopped the storm.

“Good job, Catrina,” he complimented, “Another moment, and the storm would have killed us.”

“I’m just glad to have stopped Grogar,” Catrina said.

“Thorne and I are gonna patrol the skies to make sure our food route is not blocked; you and Rep wait here and guard the castle.”

“Okay, but you two be careful.”


****


Thorne and Scorpan are flying in the skies, making sure the route to their food source isn’t blocked by things like fallen trees or rock slides. Within a minute, they came to a stop because they came above where their food was kept. A large garden full of berries, carrots, and all sorts of fruits and vegetables. There was enough to make a vegetarian buffet.

“Looks like Catrina stopped that storm before it could do any damage, Scorpan,” Thorne says to Scorpan.

“Great. Let’s head back home and tell the others,” Scorpan responds.

But just when they are about to fly back, Scorpan sees something lavender below. It was something that wasn’t part of the garden.

“Thorne, wait,” he stops him, “I see something below us.”

He swoops down and lands on the ground to take a closer look. It was an alicorn, and she was unconscious, covered with berry juice, and had a broken wing.

“It’s a pony, and an alicorn at that! That means she’s a princess!” Scorpan says to himself as he examines her wing, “and she’s also hurt.”

Scorpan lifts the princess up and cradles her like a mother or father would cradle a child.

‘She sure is soft. And pretty. Even if she’s covered in berry juice,’ he thought to himself.

He had no idea why he thought that, but he knew that this pony needed help and fast.

Thorne lands to see what is taking Scorpan so long.

“Scorpan, What-?” Thorne gasps when he sees the princess, “Scorpan, you know who this is!”

“Later, Thorne,” Scorpan says, “We need to get her to Catrina.”

Scorpan carries the alicorn as he flies back to their home. Thorne follows behind, although while he did, he still couldn’t believe that they were bringing back a very famous pony he knew of.


****


Moments later, Twilight is on a couch as Rep gently cleans the berry juice off with a washcloth, and Catrina tends to her wing. Catrina smears healing herbs on it, and then wraps bandages around it.

“She’ll be fine, but she won’t be flying for a few days,” Catrina says to the others.

Remembering that Thorne was going to say something before they took off, Scorpan turns to face his friend.

“Now what were you saying before, Thorne?” Scorpan asks his friend.

“I know who she is,” Thorne states, “She’s Twilight Sparkle. The Princess of Friendship and the same pony who defeated your brother.”

“Really?”

Wanting to get a good look at her again, he turns around to find that Thorne was right. It really was Twilight Sparkle!

“I thought she looked familiar,” Scorpan says while looking at her.

‘She looks even prettier without the berry juice all over her,’ he thought to himself, much to his confusion.

“This is bad!” Rep said in a panicked tone, “Princess Celestia and her friends are probably on their way here with a search party. If they find us, Grogar will know where we are and send his thugs after us.”

“What’ll we do, Scorpan?” Catrina asks for his wisdom.

“When she wakes up, we’ll talk to her,” Scorpan says, “Maybe she can use her magic to help us. I always thought that if we ever asked a pony or more for help, they would help.”

“You did save the lives of Equestria’s citizens when you told the princesses of your brother and Grogar’s intentions,” Thorne said.

They hear Twilight yawn as she slowly wakes up. Groggy and a little unsteady, she slowly opens her eyes to bring herself back to consciousness. For a moment, her eyes were a little blurry, but they cleared up like fading fog. The moment Twilight sees the four knights standing next to her, she is shocked out of her sleep and crouches down in fear with her ears flat on her head.

“Don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you,” Scorpan calms her.

Assured by his words and no longer scared, she slowly sits herself up to where she’s sitting on her flank, and perks her ears back up.

“Where am I? Who are all of you?” Twiight asks as she looks around and looks at the four.

“We’re friends, Twilight,” Rep says.

“You know my name?” she asks.

“We’ve heard of you and your friends and how you defeated Tirek,” Thorne says, “We are the Knights of Tambelon. I am Thorne.”

“I’m Rep,” Rep introduces himself.

“Catrina the Sorceress at your service, Princess Twilight,” Catrina bows to Twilight.

“And this is our leader and Captain. And my best friend if I may add,” Thorne says as he introduces Scorpan.

Twilight recognized him right away.

“You’re Scorpan! Tirek’s brother!” Twilight says in awe.

“Also at your service, Princess,” he says as he bows to her and extends his hand.

She didn’t know why, but, she felt mesmerized that he was holding his hand out to her, extending it so that he could help her get back on her hooves. Out of politeness, she connected her hoof to Scorpan’s hand, and he slowly helps her get up from the couch and back onto her hooves. She and Scorpan also couldn’t help but look at one another’s eyes for a moment, then coming back to reality before anyone could notice.

“Anyone hungry?” Thorne asks everyone else.

As if to answer his question, Twilight’s stomach growled loudly, wanting to have some food and nourishment after the ordeal with the twister. She couldn’t help but giggle shyly at that with a slight pink blush on her cheeks.
> The Search Begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4: The Search Begins


“While we’re getting acquainted with Twilight, and while the citizens of Ponyville were helping with cleaning the town up from the storm, Rainbow Dash called a meeting with the others in the throne room, including Discord, Zecora, Spike and Owlowicious, to discuss a plan to rescue Twilight…”

“As you all know, Twilight has been swept in the storm,” Rainbow Dash says as she takes charge of the meeting, “We figure that she’s somewhere between here and Shadow Mountain, and we have to come up with a way to find and rescue her.”

“B-but what about the Monster of Shadow Pass?” Fluttershy says, “Wouldn’t it get in the way of our search for Twilight?”

“We’ve handled monsters plenty of times Fluttershy.” Rainbow responds.

“Rainbow’s right. This monster can’t be any different than the ones we faced before.” Applejack speaks.

Just then, Princess Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, and Cadence arrive urgently through the throne room doors. They rush into the throne room itself to meet up with Twilight’s friends.

“Princesses! And Shining Armor!” Pinkie exclaims, glad to see them.

“We came as soon as we got Spike’s message about Twilight!” Celestia said while catching her breath.

“What happened?” Luna said.

“Owlowicious got caught in the storm, so Twilight went out to look for him.” Fluttershy explains

“She got him out, but the poor darling got caught in the storm herself and it took her straight to the Shadow Mountains.” Rarity also explains.

The princesses and Shining Armor gasp.

“Oh no!” Cadance exclaims.

“Twily’s in trouble?!” Shining also exclaims, “We’ve gotta go help her!”

“We’re already formulating a plan to rescue her,” Rainbow Dash reassures them.

“But how will we find her?! The Shadow Mountains is one of the easiest places to get lost in.” Cadence says with worry.

“I already had Spike write a letter to the best tracker in all of Equestria.”

“Who?” Discord asks with curiosity.

As if an outside force answers his question, someone comes in through the door. Cadence and Shining Armor suddenly gasp when they see who that someone is: Daring Do.

“Ah ha ha! Of course! Daring Do, the pony adventurer of Rainbow’s book series!” Discord screams jubilantly.

Celestia and Luna are also in awe.

“I came as soon as I got your message, Rainbow Dash,” she says, “And I know what caused that storm.”

“You do?” Applejack says.

“Yay. Ahuizotl recently took the Storm Medallion, an artifact that has the power to make destructive storms. I tracked Ahuizotl to Horse Shoe Bay when I saw him conversing with someone in a magic pool. It looked like the shadow of a ram, and it gave him orders to use the medallion in order to flush someone out at Shadow Mountain. I would’ve gotten here to warn you, but the storm was moving faster than me.”

“Hold on a moment. Did you say “a ram’s shadow”?” Luna asks with her eyes wide open.

“I sense some danger in your words; this is the gravest news I have ever heard,” Zecora says in her usual rhyme.

“You think Ahuizotl and that thing he was talking to are trying to enslave the monster?” Rarity inquires.

“Forget the monster! We have to rescue Twilight before it or Ahuizotl get to her first,” Pinkie Pie says seriously, causing everyone to look at her in surprise, “What? I can act serious, especially at a time like this.”

“Right! Rarity, I want you, Applejack, Pinkie, and Spike to wait here and help with the clean-up,” Rainbow Dash commanded, “We may need you here in case Twilight comes back. Discord, Fluttershy, Daring Do and Owlowicious are coming with me for the search.”

“Right, Rainbow Dash, but be careful!” Rarity says.

“Luna, Cadance, Shining, Zecora, and I will stay behind. We’ll attend to the wounded and make sure everypony is accounted for.” Celestia tells Rainbow.

Rainbow smiled. She really didn’t know what the princesses, prince, and Zecora would do, but she was glad that Celestia helped decide for her. She gives a salute with her wing, showing the royals and zebra her appreciation for finding how they could help.

With her unicorn magic, Rarity straps some backpacks onto the five rescuers. The bags were packed with food rations, water, and climbing gear for the trip to Shadow Mountain.

“Everyone all packed and ready to go?” Rainbow Dash made sure.

The four nod yes.

“Good. Let’s go find Twilight.”

Discord uses his powers to teleport the five out of Ponyville.

“Good luck my friends. We are sure you will find Twilight with no loose ends,” Zecora says with hope.
> Story of Scorpan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5: Story of Scorpan


That night, Twilight and the others were seated at a round table, having dinner in the old castle’s kitchen, which is made up of berries, vegetables, and apple slices.

“It’s my special Veggie-Eater Supreme,” Thorne says while handing everyone their meals, “It’s not as fancy, but it should be to your liking, Princess Twilight.”

“Thanks,” Twilight thanks them, “And just call me Twilight.”

With Thorne finishing giving everyone their plates, as well as him sitting down next to Scorpan to not keep everyone waiting, Twilight takes the first bite of her Veggie-Eater Supreme. Her hunger making her first bite a really big one, and the moment she tasted her food, she felt like she was having one of the best meals of her life.

“Mmmmm. This is really good,” Twilight says, before swallowing her food, “Where did you get these anyway?”

“We’ve grown our own garden not far from here,” Scorpan explains, “That’s why it’s important we make sure our food routes are clear.”

“Yay. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to make anyone more Veggie-Eater Supremes.” Thorne points out.

“You got that right, Thorne. Only we’d also lose more than just the one dish.” Rep says to Thorne.

“At least Grogar hasn’t found us, yet. Then we would have been in real trouble.” Catrina points out.

“That reminds me. You mentioned your king is named Grogar. That name sounds familiar.” Twilight says.

“It should. My old friend Star Swirl banished him from Equestria along with the Princesses.” Scorpan points out.

Twilight suddenly becomes wide-eyed and gasps before she can bite her apple, “You mean...Grogar the Malevolent?! He’s your king?!”

“You know him?” Catrina asks.

“Through history! Grogar and Clover the Clever competed with each other to be Star Swirl’s magic apprentice. But when Star Swirl chose Clover to be his apprentice, Grogar turned to Dark Magic to get revenge on her. Star Swirl, however, stopped him before he had the chance to enact his revenge, and he, along with Celestia and Luna, casted an exile spell that prevented him from coming back to Equestria.”

Scorpan sighs, “And unfortunately, Grogar came to Tambelon and took over.”

“What is Tambelon?” Twilight inquires.

“It used to be our home. I should start from the beginning...”

Before he started to tell Twilight about Tambelon, Scorpan by then gets up and walks over to fire igniting in the fireplace. It fascinated Twilight that Scorpan decided to go over to the fire before telling the story.

“Once, I, along with my brother Tirek, were knights under the rightful King of Tambelon. Tambelon was known as the city of musical harmony. Different creatures lived there as they created special bells to bring music to our home. It was peaceful until Grogar arrived and used his dark magic to overthrow our king and take over as new ruler.”

As he told the story, he stared at the flames, like he was reliving the very times Grogar came into power.

“Tambelon soon became a city of ruins, most of our people resisted Grogar and went underground, but others prefer to follow his path of power. They became corrupted by his magic and the promise of power over Equestria, including Ahuizotl, an arrogant ex-student we used to know.”

“Ahuizotl?”

“Yay. And somehow, Grogar corrupted my brother after Ahuizotl captured him for causing a rebel rousing. We were ordered to go to Equestria and steal their magic, so he would prepare for his arrival. When I was sent to spy on the ponies, they become friends with me despite how scary I looked. Even Star Swirl became my friend. I had to tell him about Grogar and his plans. Instead of judging me as evil, he taught me some spells that should only be used for emergencies. I urged my brother to leave the ponies alone, but he would not listen.”

“So you went to Celestia and Luna and warned them of your brother’s intentions. They told me. What happened after you returned home?”

“After I went back to Tambelon, I tried to convince Grogar to leave Equestria in peace, but instead, he declared me a traitor and had me arrested. I thought I was gonna be executed for treason.”

“Until we came to Scorpan’s rescue. And we couldn’t have done it at a better time,” Thorne says, “Grogar was about to break the banishment spell and use Tambelon’s army to invade Equestria using three artifacts he created through his dark power: The Alicorn Amulet, The Manifestation Book, and the very weapon he used to corrupt our people…The Rainbow of Darkness. We stole the items and snuck out of the city before he can catch us.”

“What happened after that?” Twilight asked.

“We took the items to the Princesses and they scattered them to the farthest corners of Equestria. We feared he would send his forces to track us, so Scorpan used the time travel spell Star Swirl taught him to take us to the future,” Thorne told her, “We found this abandoned castle and settled here, hiding from Grogar and his minions until we can come up with a plan to save our home and Equestria from Grogar’s evil.”

At the last word Scorpan says, Twilight completely takes everything that she was told in like she just read a book. Saddened by what her new friends went through, she looks down at the table.

“I feel terrible,” Twilight says with pity, “Scorpan, you got branded a traitor. And, four of you risked your lives just to save us ponies.”

“We were glad to do it, Twilight,” Rep says, “Your kind reminded Scorpan of the very harmony the citizens of Tambelon once had, and inspired him to fight for it once again. To us, you ponies are our heroes.”

Twilight just smiled at them for what they said about her people. Thorne finished his meal up, got up, and walked outside.

“I better go,” he said, “It’s my turn to patrol for travelers and play as the monster.”

Immediately, Twilight felt surprised about what Thorne just said, and came to a sudden realization about what he was talking about.

“You mean you guys are the Monster of Shadow Pass?” Twilight asks.

“We take turns playing the monster so that no one could go into town screaming about us and raising suspicion of our presence to Ahuizotl.” Catrina explains.

“Oh. Well, that makes a lot of sense.”

As everyone else finished their meals, Thorne went outside and put on bigger fangs and huge bat wings. He then flew off into the sunset as the others watched him go from a window.
> My Little Star
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6: My Little Star


Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, Fluttershy, Discord, and Owlowicious have already arrived at Shadow Mountain. They have begun the search for Twilight.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were up in the sky, trying to see if they could spot Twilight, while Discord and Daring Do had their feet still planted on the ground.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy calls to her.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash also calls.

On the ground, Discord makes a mountain-climbing yodeler outfit appear on him, complete with a white and brown polka-dotted feather . Much to Daring Do’s confusion.

“Yodel-A-Hee-Hoooo!” Discord yells out.

When he yodeled, Daring’s eyebrows only went further up. But, she decided to just shrug it off as a way that Discord was calling for Twilight, and just keep looking for the young alicorn.

“Princess Twilight!” Daring Do calls to her.

But not long after, Discord appears out of her explorer’s hat.

“Oh, no need for the formalities, Daring Do. Just call her Twilight, you are her friend after all.” Discord tells her.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Daring Do responds.

Owolowicious hoots for Twilight as he flies ahead and looks until they come across a clearing.

“It looks like night has already fallen,” Daring Do says, “We better rest up here and continue the search tomorrow.”

“I am getting a little tired,” Fluttershy says as she yawns.

“Lucky for you, the Lord of Chaos can set up everything at the snap of the fingers,” Discord says.

With a snap of his fingers, he creates a campsite with a campfire, a perch of Owlowicious, two sleeping bags for Daring Do and Rainbow Dash, and a soft pink bed with a canopy for Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash sees the bed and is shocked.

“Hey! How come Fluttershy gets a soft, cozy bed, while we get sleeping bags?” Rainbow Dash complains.

“Because, Rainbow Dash, she is delicate,” Discord debates, “Besides, I thought tough adventurers like you can sleep on the ground.”

“He so likes her,” she whispers to Daring Do and Owlowicious.

“Where are you going to sleep, Discord?” Fluttershy asks him.

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Fluttershy,” he says as he levitates himself and makes a blanket appear.

“Let’s get some sleep,” Daring Do says, “We can fly above the trees and see if we can spot Twilight from there.”

“I hope she’s not hurt,” Fluttershy says with worry.

Discord wraps his eagle arm around Fluttershy to comfort her.

“No need to worry, Fluttershy,” he reassures her, “Twilight has faced dangers like Tirek and King Sombra all on her own. If she can be tough against them, then everything that’s happening will be no different.”

Fluttershy thinks about what Discord has said to her, and remembers how strong and capable Twilight is. She felt a little better remembering that.

“You’re right, We can’t lose hope now. The others are counting on us to bring Twilight home.” she says.

“Exactly.” Discord responds.

Then, Discord levitates himself back into the air, and covers himself with the same blanket that he had before.

“Good night, Ladies…and Owlowicious.”

“Good night,” the pegasi respond in unison.

The five went to sleep right away, except for Fluttershy. She is too worried about Twilight to sleep despite Discord’s reassurance. She hops out of bed and trots over to where she can see the stars. She sees the brightest star and decides to sing to it in hopes it will grant her wish for Twilight to be okay:

My little star

Shining from afar

Please shine bright for me

Through the night and sea

Help guide a friend home

So she may no longer roam

Please keep your light

As you shine at night

Help me brave

And find my friend to save

Help me bring home

A friend I have known

My little star

When her song ended, a sense of calm flowed inside of Fluttershy. Soon, she trots back to camp, and gets back to bed, closing her eyes with newfound hope inside of her.


****


Little did she know however that Thorne watched her from the trees above the camp.

He stared at Fluttershy with awestruck eyes, because the moment he saw her, and the moment she sang her song, his heart beat sped like that of a race car. He had fallen in love for her.

“Wow. That pegasus. She’s like a beautiful princess from the fairy tales I used to read,” he said while blushing, “A shame I have to scare her and her friends in the morning, but, it’s probably for the best.”

With that in mind, Thorne situated himself to where he hung upside down, and he began to sleep. Despite being nocturnal, he had had a busy day today, and he needed all the energy and rest he could get for his scare.


****


What Thorne didn’t know however was that he too was being watched, and it was by someone who wasn’t a member of his group of friends nor Twilight’s group of friends. As a matter of fact, he was nobody’s friend.

Watching through a telescope, on top of a ledge a little far from the group was none other than...Ahuizotl: Daring Do’s arch nemesis, Grogar’s agent, and second-in-command of Tambelon.

After he gets a clear view of the group on the ground and the bat in the tree, he puts away his telescope, and maliciously smiles to himself about what he just found.

“Well, well. After all these years, the bat imp hasn’t changed a bit,” he says with a chuckle, “And I see that Daring Do, some familiar accomplices of hers, along with the Spirit of Chaos are here as well. This adventure is getting more interesting by the minute.”

He by then turns away from the group of sleeping heroes to face a puddle that was behind him. He takes out a small bottle of red potion. Taking off the cap, all it took was a slight tilt, and one drop on the puddle for a very special purpose: to call upon the shadow he spoke to before, the one Daring Do heard him talking to. When the puddle clears, the shadow turns out to be a demonic-looking ram with blue fur and dark horns. The ram is none other than Grogar.

“Report, Ahuizotl. And this better be important.” Grogar says.

“Sire, I have found Thorne,” he reports, “That means Scorpan and his band of misfits are in this area. My medallion did well at locating them.”

“Excellent, Ahuizotl,” Grogar compliments, “Finally, after all these years of searching, the Knights of Tambelon are within my grasp. And Scorpan can finally pay for double-crossing me and encouraging rebellions against me.”

“Oh yes, yes sir. Then you can finally wreak havoc on the very land you were banished from.”

“And you, shall be rewarded handsomely, and be free to pillage and plunder without any hindrance.”

“You really mean it? All the gold and jewels my cats and I can have?”

“Yes. But for now, keep an eye on him. Once you have all four of them, bring them to me. I want them alive so that I may find my items of power.”

“As you wish, Master Grogar,” Ahuizotl says as he bows to him.

The reflection vanishes. But when it did, Ahuizotl could not help but once again smirk to himself.

“Of course, once I get the three items, I will be the one calling the shots.”

He chuckles to himself a little bit, before he turned his attention back to the group of sleeping enemies and his cats gathered beside him.
> The Monster of Shadow Pass
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7: The Monster of Shadow Pass


The next morning, the five are packing up their camp site to continue the search. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash folded the tents; Fluttershy was rolling up the sleeping bags; and Discord, well, with a snap of his eagle talon and some chaos magic, he made Fluttershy’s bed disappear, and made sure everything was packed.

“I’m gonna fly above the trees and catch our bearings,” Daring Do informs the others.

“Good idea, Daring Do,” Rainbow Dash says.

Daring Do flies above the trees and gets out her telescope. She circles as she looks around, hoping that there could be a good landmark for her and her friends to mark down in order to keep track of their whereabouts.

Then...to her mouth-opening surprise...she spots an old castle on top of a hill. Little did she know of course that it’s the same one Scorpan and the others are staying in.

She dives down to let the others know, landing gently onto the ground.

“Hey guys. I found a castle,” she tells them.

“Castle?” Rainbow responds with a quizzical look.

“Yay. It’s northwest of us. We can go over there and see if anybody has seen Twilight or if she’s there.”

“I wonder how anypony could even miss that?” Fluttershy questions.

“Oh, don’t worry Fluttershy. It’s just fate. After all, writers can hide something so well, and they have a good reason for doing it.” Discord says to Fluttershy.

The last part of course gave her a rather confused look. She really didn’t know what he meant by all of that.

Suddenly, a huge bat-like shadow appears and circles them. Fluttershy looks and screams.

“IT’S THE MONSTER!! RUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNN!!!!!” She screams as she tries to fly off.

The monster is really Thorne in his disguise. He swoops down and dive bombs the heroes, hoping to scare them.

“I’m not afraid of that monster!” Rainbow Dash says as she flies up to fight the monster. She zips past him numerous times, causing Thorne to lose balance in his flight.

“I’m dealing with a feisty pegasus!” Thorne says in panic.

He struggles to get away from Rainbow Dash, but she bumps him, causing him to crash down to the campsite. Thorne was in a daze when he sees he’s surround by everyone but Fluttershy, who hides behind Discord. Discord picks up the “monster” and observes him. Holding him upside down by holding his feet as he did.

“Oh, well, how do you like that? This isn’t a monster at all; it’s only a bat imp disguised as one.” he informs them.

“Warrior bat imp if I may put in.” Thorne adds.

“What do you think we should do with him?” Fluttershy asks.

“We’ll take him with us while we look for Twilight,” Rainbow Dash says.

“You’re Twilight’s friends?” Thorne asks.

“You know Twilight?” Rainbow Dash says with a surprised look on her face.

Discord by then puts Thorne down so that he could explain himself without being in such an awkward position. Thorne of course had to flip himself up on his feet because his head was on the ground instead of the air.

“My name’s Thorne. And don’t worry, Twilight’s safe. She’s recuperating at my home, which is that castle you spotted.”

Fluttershy by then stepped out from behind Discord to come in front of Thorne.

“Can you take us to her?” Fluttershy asks him nicely.

Thorne smiled at the way Fluttershy asked him, as well as being able to see her closer than last night, and how beautiful she was to his point of view.

“For an angelic pegasus like you, I would even move this mountain,” Thorne says as he takes her hoof and kisses it.

When Discord saw what Thorne just did, it caused Discord to growl with jealousy like a lion.

“Lead the way then, Thorne.” Rainbow orders Thorne.

With that order made, Thorne walks ahead of the others, leading the ponies and draconequess who were following closely behind to where Twilight was being taken care of.


****


As the group was making their to the castle, Ahuizotl and his cats were sleeping on the hill, not knowing yet that their targets were moving on. Ahuizotl was sleeping against a rock, while his cats laid with one another like kittens in a basket.

The small white kitten of the group was the first to awaken, yawning and stretching as she did. Thinking that it was a good idea to check up on Thorne and the other heroes on what was happening, she gets up from her spot, and walks softly to the ledge. A quick survey of her surroundings and the view, and she spots what she was looking for: Thorne, the pegasi, and Discord. She also saw that Thorne was leading the group.

Quickly realizing that they were on the move, the cat hastily runs to her master, and meows loud enough to wake everyone up. Her meow did however cause Ahuizotl to get disturbed from his sleep, making him yelp as he awoke.

“Ah! 32!” he yelped, like he was answering a math question.

He snapped out of his stupor when he found that his cat was clawing him to get his attention.

“What is it my friend?” he asks her.

Since he could speak cat, his kitty friend by then meows everything that is happening at this very moment. What she told him had given him great joy.

“Really? Excellent! Excellent!” he joyously says, “Come my friends, we have no time to waste!”

Running straight to the ledge he last saw Thorne and the others from, he brings out his telescope, and sees Thorne leading the others somewhere northwest from where they slept. Seeing where the path lead, he finds that they’re headed straight to the old abandoned castle.

“Hmmm. Strange how no one could ever see that castle they’re headed for,” he says as he puts away his telescope, “But no matter. Once I capture Scorpan and his friends, this search will be worth it in the end.”

He by then pridefully chuckles to himself for the accomplishment he made for both his master, and himself. Soon, he will finally take the knights into custody.
> Reunited At Last
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 8: Reunited at Last


Back at the castle, Scorpan is nervously waiting for Thorne to return. Catrina and Rep were also waiting anxiously, as well as Twilight who was concerned for her new friend’s safety.

“I hope Thorne is alright,” Scorpan says as he paces, “He’s been gone longer than usual.”

“I’m sure he’s fine, Scorpan. He’s pretty capable of taking care of himself,” Rep assures him.

“So, you guys take turns being the monster?” Twilight inquires.

“We have to,” Catrina explains, “Scorpan is a famous hero of Equestria. If any pony sees him and tells others where he is, Grogar will send someone after us. The spell may have prevented Grogar from coming back to Equestria…”

“But it doesn’t mean his followers can’t come!” Twilight finishes with realization.

Catrina grimly nods yes to Twilight as a sign that she’s unfortunately correct.

Then, they hear the front door creak open. Thorne peers his head from behind the door.

“I’m back,” he says while ducking sheepishly.

“Thorne, we were starting to worry,” Scorpan says while sighing in relief. “It took you longer than usual. What happened?”

“I came across a pegasus who’s not afraid of monsters,” Thorne explains himself, “She and her friends are out here with me, saying they are friends of Twilight.”

“My friends are here?!” Twilight exclaims with glee.

Thorne by then opens the door all the way to reveal Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Owlowiscious at the entrance with smiles on their faces.

“Twilight!!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy shouted happily as they flew in and hug Twilight.

Owlowiscious just hooted happily and cuddles Twilight.

“It’s so great to see you all!”

“Hey, Twilight!” Daring Do greets as she steps in front of the doorway.

The moment Scorpan, Catrina, and Rep couldn’t help but let their mouths go agape at who they were seeing before them.

“Holy cow! Isn’t that...” Rep says with wonder.

“Daring Do?!” Catrina finishes for him.

“I didn’t know she was real?” Scorpan says with amazement.

“Believe me, when I first saw her, I too was really surprised.” Thorne tells them.

“She’s not the only celebrity here!” Discord jokingly says as he pokes his head from the top of the door.

“DISCORD!!!” Rep and Catrina shouted.

Without hesitation, Rep uses his tongue to catch his head and pull him in. But Discord suddenly made himself disappear before he could be pulled any further.

“Enslaving innocent ponies again?! Or are you planning to sell them out to Tirek like before?!” Catrina angrily says as she and Rep look around for him.

With a bright flash, Discord made himself reappear, his cleft hoof balancing him on top of Catrina’s nose like he was in a balancing act.

“Oh no! I’m not up to anything. I don’t even like Tirek anymore,” Discord tells Catrina, “I am a reformed draconequess.”

“He’s telling the truth! Honest!” Fluttershy pleads for him.

Catrina by then grabs Discord by his cleft hoof and holds him upside down.

“How do we know that you didn’t just mind control them into being your servants.” Rep says.

“Catrina, Rep, wait! Have you also forgotten that he gave my medallion to Twilight, saving Equestria?” Scorpan says as he stops her.

“How do you know about that? And who are you guys?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“I often fly over Ponyville to hear any news.”

“As for who he is, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight explains, “This is Scorpan.”

“The SCORPAN!?!” Rainbow Dash excitedly says, “The hero who saved us from Tirek the first time!”

Discord by then disappears from Catrina’s grip.

“I must be dreaming!” Discord said as he magically appears behind Rainbow Dash.

“Wow,” Fluttershy softly says with awe.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Scorpan!” Daring Do said as she bows to him.

“And those two are Catrina and Rep.” Twilight introduces.

“Hi.” they both say.

“It’s nice to meet you guys too.” Daring Do tips her hat.


****


Outside, on top of another ledge not very far from the castle, Ahuizotl is with his feline henchmen. He followed Thorne and the others to the castle, and today, from a distance without the use of his telescope, he got to see that the gang of knights was back together, along with seeing Princess Twilight introducing the knights to her friends.

“At last, I have finally found the hideout of Tambelon’s band of misfits,” Ahuizotl said as he rubs his hands, “I will finally have my revenge on Scorpan.”
> Hurricane Ahuizotl
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 9: Hurricane Ahuizotl


Later that night, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, and Discord were having a vegetarian dinner with the knights, while Owlowiscious was having some meat for dinner. They were deeply enjoying their food.

Rainbow Dash and Daring Do are like there was no tomorrow, gobbling their food. Discord ate with polite etiquette, but he also inserted the food in his jaw like it was a cash register, and it would open and ring like one too when he would use his deer antler like a lever. Owlowiscious was nearby having a mouse that he caught not too long ago, and he pecked at it as he ate. Fluttershy of course ate with only polite etiquette, and the way she ate had gotten Thorne in a slate daze upon watching her.

“These are some of the best cooked vegetables I’ve tasted,” Fluttershy compliments.

“Cooking is one of Thorne’s best talents,” Rep informs her.

“Along with other qualities I have,” Thorne says as he flirts.

When Thorne said that, it made Scorpan and Discord roll their eyes. Discord rolled his eyes in a “Oh, brother” kind of way. Scorpan rolled his eyes in a “we know” kind of way.

As they continued eating, the gears in Twilight’s head were turning like clockwork. She wanted to somehow repay the new friends she made, not just as a thank you for helping her and the ponies of Equestria, but also to aid them in their fight against Grogar. If only they could come to Ponyville.

And then...a realization hit her like a light bulb switching on.

The knights can come to Ponyville!

“Scorpan? Why don’t you come to Ponyville with us?” Twilight suggested, “You’d be very welcomed there.”

“That’s very kind of you, Twilight. But I’m afraid we can’t live there,” Scorpan declined, “Doing so would put you and your friends in danger of Grogar.”

“Don’t you worry about him,” Rainbow Dash says, “We took on Nightmare Moon, defeated and tamed Discord (Mostly Fluttershy), defeated the Changeling Queen, defeated King Sombra, and sent your brother back to Tartarus. I think we can handle an old cranky goat and whatever power he’s got up his sleeve.”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile with her eyes half-closed when Rainbow called Grogar an old cranky goat.


****


Unknown to any of them, Ahuizotl is outside, watching them, and had overheard what they were just talking about. He then ran at a distance from the castle where he wouldn’t be noticed even if someone saw him from a window.

“That is what you think, Miss Rainbow Dash!” he says.

Then, he gets out the medallion. With a rub at the center, and a lift and hold of it into the air, he creates another storm.

Two seconds later, the same storm cloud from before appears on the horizon, except it was bigger and more intense. It was making its way to the castle, unleashing powerful winds, fierce lightning and roaring thunder as it did.

Ahuizotl could only smug at the accomplishment he made so far.

“Looks like the chance of rain and winds are 100%, eh Scorpan.” he gloats.
****
Inside the castle, the dinner table begins to vibrate. Dishes, cups, and even food began to vibrate with the table.

“That’s not good,” Daring Do gasps.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash rush to the windows and looked outside. Much to their horror, they saw that it was another storm just like the one that sent Twilight all the way to the Shadow Mountains.

“It’s another storm!” Rainbow Dash panics.

The ceiling suddenly starts to fall bit by bit. One of the bits of the ceiling had even smashed onto Fluttershy’s plate full of food.

“The castle is crumbling down!” Catrina exclaims.

“We gotta get out of here and fast!” Rep said as he takes Catrina’s hand and runs with her.

The Pegasi fly behind them, so fast that none of the debris could touch them. Twilight is unable to fly because her wing is still injured. She gallops as quickly as possible, but then...a beam falls in front of her, blocking her only way out. Twilight screams for help, causing Scorpan and Discord to turn around and see her.

“TWILIGHT!!!” Discord and Scorpan shouted in unison.

With a wave of his arms Discord uses his magic to lift the beam into the air and make it disappear. With the pathway clear, Scorpan flies over and picks Twilight up, putting her on his back.

“I got you, Twilight,” He said as he lifts her onto his back, “Now hang on tight!”

Twilight closes her eyes and tightly hangs onto Scorpan as he flies them out like a missle. He dodged the falling debris and zoomed the both of them outside, where the fierce winds are blowing rocks and trees away. Slowly, Twilight opens her eyes, releases her grip, and slides off of his back.

“Twilight! I need your help to stop this storm!” Catrina informs her.

“How?!” Twilight replies.

“I need you to combine your magic with mine!”

Catrina takes out her wand, and with a spin she activates it. Twilight activates her horn and touches the wand with it. They both unleash their magic at the cloud, causing it to dissipate until there is nothing but a moonlit sky. Unfortunately, they are unable to save the castle before it crumbles down and turns to rubble. The knights are now downtrodden from losing their home.

“Well...guess that’s two homes we’ve lost,” Thorne says while hanging his head.

Wanting to help him feel better, Fluttershy nudges him to comfort him.

“The offer to stay in Ponyville still stands,” Fluttershy says, making Thorne blush and Discord jealous.

“Guess we’ll be taking up on your offer after all, Twilight,” Scorpan says.

In gratitude for accepting their offer, as well as helping her escape the crumbling castle, Twilight extends her hoof and touches Scorpan’s hand with it.

“Discord can teleport us back when he’s ready,” Twilight said, “And thanks for saving my life.”


****


As Discord readies himself for teleportation by doing things like crack his knuckles, pull his fingers, and even stretch his arms, Ahuizotl was not far from our heroes. Out of hearing distance, he peeks from the bush, happy to see the four knights out in the open.

“Good! I have flushed my old classmates out of hiding! Now, I can finally take Scorpan to Grogar,” he gloats to his minions, “Onward to Ponyville!”

Running away from the castle, and using a short-cut that was on the mountain, Ahuizotl and his feline henchmen rush to Ponyville. They were determined now more than ever to finish their job.
> Ahuizotl vs. Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10: Ahuizotl vs. Ponyville


Back in Ponyville, the recovery from Ahuizotl’s enchanted storm has been in definite full swing. The damage caused by the storm, which includes wrecked houses, fallen trees, and rocks that apparently flew everywhere, was getting situated by being rebuilt or taken away. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike were among the ponies who made sure that the town was clear of any hazard.

And, despite the fact that it seemed like all of Ponyville’s residents were unharmed, there were many who were injured. Several elders and children had received broken legs or hooves from the stampeding to the castle. There were many who were also unable to make it to the castle despite the head count made inside, and they were injured either because of falling debris from their own homes or outside, or getting caught in the winds and landing somewhere like a tree. The princesses, Shining Armor, and Zecora personally oversaw the wounded and were doing everything they could to help them and the doctors who were working as well.

Mayor Mare and Spike oversaw everything in town, and here and there they also lended a hoof in support. Just now, they were checking on a house that was being repaired by some construction ponies.

“Good work, everypony. Make sure the roof is stable and that no holes are on it.” Mayor Mare said to them.

“Oh! And here’s a nail in case you need one!” Spike shouts

With that, one of the unicorns who was working on the house used his magic to pick up the nail from Spike’s claw, bring it over to his face level, and then gives Spike and the mayor a salute of thanks.

The mayor salutes in return before heading off elsewhere in town. As they passed by, Applejack and Rarity were working on a tree that had fallen because of the storm.

“I sure hope Twilight is alright, Applejack,” Rarity says, “She and Rainbow’s search party have been gone for two whole days now.”

“I’m sure they’re alright, Rarity. Twilight’s a strong mare, and I have faith that Rainbow and the others will bring her back in no time.” Applejack assures.

“Well...let’s just hope they come back soon, then.” Rarity replies, feeling assured by Applejack’s words.

Just then, a bright flash suddenly ignites itself in the Town Square, and Applejack and Rarity notice. Curious, they immediately ran straight for where the flash came from. Nearby, Mayor Mare and Spike also noticed, and they quickly follow behind.


****


At the Town Square, it turns out that the flash came from Discord, who safely teleported himself and the rest of the gang from Shadow Mountain.

The Knights of Tambelon couldn’t help but look at their surroundings for a moment, remembering that it’s been years since they had been this close to a town full of houses and everything.

“Woah. I don’t think I’ve ever been this far into a town in a long time.” Catrina said as she looked around.

Nearby, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, and the mayor soon enter the scene, and gasp upon seeing that Twilight and Rainbow’s search party were back. Although they had yet to notice the Knights of Tambelon.

“Twilight!” Applejack, Rarity, and Spike shout upon seeing her.

“Princess Twilight has returned!” Mayor Mare calls out.

From every corner and part of town, the citizens of Ponyville soon came to see Twilight after all that she went through.

Applejack, Rarity, and Spike all run up to her and happily hug her while saying how worried they are about her.

“Twilight! We were so worried about you!” Rarity says.

“I’m fine, thanks to some new friends I’ve made,” Twilight says as she’s about to introduce the Knights.

“TWILIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!” Pinkie suddenly shouts in the distance.

Twilight’s ears directed to the sound of her shout, she soon spots Pinkie speeding towards her like a cheetah. And just like that, Pinkie grabs Twilight in a tight hug, and spins her around with joy while hugging her.

“I’m so glad you’re back.” she joyfully says.

“I-It’s great to see you too, P-Pinkie.” Twilight says, although she did feel crushed by her hug.

Pinkie by then releases Twilight from her hug, but when she did, she suddenly sees Scorpan and gets scared. Her reaction was the one she had around Princess Luna during Nightmare Night.

“AAAAHHHH!!! IT’S THE MONSTER OF SHADOW PASS!!!! RUUUUUUUNNNNNNN!!”

Every pony by then screamed and ran for cover.

“Wait! Everypony! It’s okay, there’s no need to be afraid!” Twilight calms them, “He’s no monster! This is Scorpan!”

“A+ correction on that!” Discord supports while holding a large, white paper with an actual A+.

“Scorpan?” Applejack happily realizes after looking at the gargoyle, “It is Scorpan!”

“Scorpan!” Rarity and Spike call him.

Soon every pony, including the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the Cake Family, Cherilee, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, and the Wonder Bolts all appear while saying his name and coming to greet Scorpan. He may be Tirek’s brother, but he is still a hero in their eyes because he cared enough about them to save them.

Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, and Cadence run up to Twilight, happily hugging her.

“Twily! We were so worried about you!” Shining Armor said while preventing himself from crying.

“I’m fine, BBBFF,” Twilight says.

“Please don’t ever get caught in something like that again, okay.” Cadance says with tears streaming from her eyes.

“I won’t, Cadance.” Twilight reassures.

Celestia and Luna suddenly Scorpan, whom they recognize as their old friend.

“Scorpan? Is it really you?” Luna asks.

“It’s me, Princess Luna,” Scorpan says.

Celestia and Luna both hug them, smiling with tears of joy as they did.

“We’re so glad to see you after all these years,” Celestia says.

“Thanks. I really missed you guys.” Scorpan told them.

Suddenly, just as everyone thought that nothing could go wrong, a familiar Spanish accent made itself known.

“How touching.”

The ponies and dragon gasp when they look up to see that on the rooftop of a house, Ahuizotl and his cats were looking down at everyone with faces of evil, the sun illuminating them to give them a rather classic entrance. Not wasting any time whatsoever, Ahuizotl leaps into the air, and lands on the ground with his feet and hands, making the ground shake a little. His cats by then leaped down next to him.

“Ahuizotl!” Daring Do and Scorpan said with a serious face.

“Greeting, old friends,” Ahuizotl says with a chuckle, “So nice to see you again after all this time.”

“You were never a friend of ours!” Thorne reprimanded him.

“Still doing Grogar’s dirty work?” Rep sneered.

This shocks Celestia and Luna when they hear Grogar’s name.

“So Grogar is behind this,” Celestia tells her sister.

“I was afraid of this, even after Daring Do mentioned a ram’s shadow,” Luna says.

“As much as I like conversations, I’m afraid I’ll have to cut to the chase for my sudden appearance. I’m going to give you and your fellow knights a choice Scorpan: surrender yourselves and come back with me to Tambelon, or I will create a storm large enough to destroy this pony village and everyone in it.” he demanded as he got out the Storm Unicorn’s Medallion.

With lightning fast reflexes, Catrina gets out her wand and unleashes a powerful enough wind to blow the Medallion out of Ahuizotl’s hand, much to his sudden wide-eyed shock. The medallion lands on the ground.

“I don’t think so, Ahuizotl.” Catrina spats.

At that response, Ahuizotl growls with agitation and anger.

“Fine then.” he says, before he runs to get the medallion.

But just when he was about to grab it, Rainbow Dash flies down and snatches it. But the tiger jumps her and pins her down.

“Daring Do!” she calls as she throws the Medallion to her.

Daring Do catches and flies to the air, but Ahuizotl catches her with his tail-hand. Discord uses his magic to teleport her out of his clutches. Daring Do gives him the Medallion.

“The medallion can only be destroyed Draconequus fire, Discord,” Daring Do informs her, “Only you can destroy it!”

They suddenly hear Fluttershy’s scream. Discord and Daring Do turn with fear and shock to find that Ahuizotl held Fluttershy as a hostage with his tail-hand. She struggled as she was held.

“I know about your bond with this pegasus, Discord. She is a valuable prize indeed, but I’m in the mood for trading more than keeping. Hand me the medallion or your friend is cat food.” He threatens as he hangs her over his cat gang.

His wild cats then start leaping for her and snapping their jaws just to have a bite of pegasus. Fluttershy screamed with fear and struggled more and more.

“Stop this, Ahuizotl!” Scorpan commands out of nowhere.

At that command, Ahuizotl turns his attention to Scorpan, who stepped forward from his group of friends.

“I’ll go with you back to Tambelon, but only if you let Fluttershy. Just take me, and leave Thorne, Catrina, and Rep out.”

“Scorpan, no!” Thorne shouts.

“Don’t do it!” Twilight also says.

Scorpan by then faces them, giving them a look that told them he’d rather go with Ahuizotl than risk the life of Fluttershy.

“I’m not gonna have any pony harmed for my safety,” Scorpan states to them.

Ahuizotl smiles upon this revelation, and chuckles to himself with triumph.

“You haven’t changed at all, Scorpan,” Ahuizotl scoff, “Being with these Equines made you the weak-minded fool you are today.”

While Ahuizotl is distracted, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sneak up behind him and bite him on his tail, causing him to scream and let go of Fluttershy.

“You’re wrong, Ahuizotl!” Scootaloo tells him off, “Caring for someone does not make him or any pony weak! It means that Scorpan has a strong spirit, one that is filled with a kind heart and the courage to save someone no matter the danger!”

“We see him as a hero because if he hadn’t told the princesses what Tirek was about to do, we would have been in danger long ago,” Apple Bloom added, “Scorpan did what all true heroes would do, save another’s life no matter the cost, and he inspired others to do the same. He stuck up for us, so we’re stickin’ up for him! You’re not taking him back to Grogar!”

“If you want him, you’re gonna have to get by the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Sweetie Belle said as they stood bravely between Ahuizotl and Scorpan.

Ahuizotl was about to attack when his tail is grabbed by Spitfire.

“You’re gonna have to get by all of us, Mutt!” she says as she hangs on tight.

Ahuizotl shakes his tail hard enough to shake Spitfire off. Big Macintosh comes out of nowhere and kicks him hard.

Bulk Biceps has Ahuizotl pinned down.

“Get them, My Cats! Starting with the three little ones!” Ahuizotl commanded.

The Tiger jumps onto Bulk Biceps; the cheetah is on Scorpan; the Panther jumps Thorne; the Lynx jumps onto Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo; and the white kitten jumps on Apple Bloom.

“Whoa, Doggie! If you take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride!” Apple Bloom says as she starts to jump, “Come on every pony! Kick ‘em up! Kick ‘em hard! Buck ‘em off! Buck ‘em down!”

Soon, they are all jumping, trying to force the cats off. Even Scorpan and Thorne are doing it. The cats are unable to hold onto them. When they came to a scratching halt, the cats are forced off, causing them to fall and pile up on their master.

“Get along, L’il Kitties!” Apple Bloom remarks.

“That’s my baby sister,” Applejack proudly says.

“Eeyup!” Big Macintosh says.

Ahuizotl erupts into a rage.

“ENOOOUUUUUGH!” he angrily screams.

With all the speed he could muster, the cheetah suddenly speeds for the medallion and grabs it from Daring Do’s grip.

Before the cheetah could return it to his master though, Applejack suddenly rams into him, her strength being able to knock him to a wall, and making the medallion fly a little before she caught it with her mouth.

But the tiger pounced Applejack before she could even run, pinning her down so that he could grab the medallion with his jaws. But, in the blink of an eye, the medallion suddenly disappears from AJ’s mouth before the tiger could even clamp his mouth on the medallion.

The medallion disappeared because Twilight used her teleportation spell to keep it away from the tiger.

Before she could do anything else though, the panther and lynx surround her. It almost seemed impossible for her to escape...or was it?

The lynx and panther by then leap at her for the medallion! But right before even a single claw could touch her, she uses her wings to lift herself into the air with flight, causing the lynx and panther to by then bump their heads against each other and get knocked with dizziness.

Twilight hovered in the air while holding the medallion, but, out of nowhere, a boomerang is suddenly thrown at her, trapping her neck against a wall and causing her telekinesis to stop holding the medallion. Ahuizotl by then approaches the fallen object and picks it up.

“Yes! I am victorious!” he says with pride.

With his eagle claw and lion paw, Discord generates a fireball of Draconequess fire, and aims it at the Storm Medallion in that was held by Ahuizotl’s hand as he cackles in triumph. Then, he throws like a pitcher throwing a baseball at the medallion without Ahuizotl even noticing.

As Ahuizotl cackled, the fire made contact with the Storm Medallion! By the time Ahuizotl noticed, the medallion explodes, causing shards to suddenly fly ever and making him fall backwards to the ground and go into a stupor. When he came out of his stupor and found what had just happened, he was immediately shocked with realization that he had lost!

“NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”

He then hears a whistle. Turning around, he sees Rep transforming into a bull. Breath by then flared out of his nostrils like he was a real bull.

“This is for Scorpan!” he says as he charges at him.

The ram from Rep was so hard, it caused Ahuizotl to crash into the wall of a brick-walled house.

Discord then snaps his fingers, making both his hands and tail chained up.

“You are going straight to Tartarus for interrogation, Ahuizotl!” Celestia says as she was about to use her magic to send him there.

But before the princess could fully cast her spell, Ahuizotl uses his strength to break free of his chains.

“That’s what you think, Princess!” he says as he gets out a smoke bomb.

He by then throws the smoke bomb to the ground, and it caused smoke to spread in the Time Square. The everypony and everyone outside of Ahuizotl and his cats coughed when the smoke got in their way. When the smoke dissipated, Ahuizotl and his cats disappeared.

“We gotta go after him!” Twilight says.

“No need, Twilight,” Scorpan says, “He’ll be back. He serves Grogar. He won’t rest until I’m his prisoner.”

“My friends and I won’t let that happen, Scorpan.”

“So I noticed.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders approach Thorne to introduce themselves.

“Hey there, Mister. We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Apple Bloom starts the introduction, “I’m Apple Bloom.”

“I’m Sweetie Belle,” Sweetie Belle says.

“And I’m Scootaloo,” Scootaloo introduces herself, fluttering her wings as she did.

“Greetings, young heroes,” Thorne says with a bow, “I am Thorne, at your service.”

The Crusaders couldn’t help but giggle at the gesture Thorne gave to them.
****
Meanwhile, out in the middle of a jungle in Southern Equestria, there was a temple sitting at the very center of a clearing. Just when things seemed quiet though, a portal appears out of nowhere! Ahuizotl and his cats step out the other side of it, having escaped from going to Tartarus. He was home.

After the portal vanishes, Ahuizotl is just about to head inside his temple when he sees Grogar’s looming shadow appear on the ground in front of him. In fear, the tails of he and his cats are between their legs. Ahuizotl’s tail-hand slightly grasped his right leg.

“You incompetent fool! How dare you let a bunch of ponies run you ragged and fail to get the Knights! Is this what your father and brother have seen you accomplish the most?! Failure?!” Grogar shouts angrily

“Forgive me, Master Grogar!” he begs on his knees, “I did not mean-“

“Never mind!”

His shout was enough to instill fear in the large canine and his feline companions, making their ears droop down. It satisfied the goat, but he felt that that wasn’t enough.

“Report to Tambelon now! And do not waste any time dilly dallying, because if you do, things won’t be pretty.”

Another portal soon appears, this one to take Ahuizotl and his cats to Tambelon.

“And by the way, I overheard your intention to double-cross me and takeover Equestria yourself before I fully disappeared from the puddle on our last talk. So do not think your failure in imprisoning Scorpan will be the only thing you’re getting punished for.” Grogar warns.

Ahuizotl gulped nervously at what Grogar just told him, and he was fully convinced to not keep his master waiting. He and his cats rush into the portal that would take them to Tambelon.
> Always a Knight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 11: Always a Knight


“The next day, Thorne, Catrina, and Rep were helping the ponies with the clean-up after the storm and Ahuizotl’s attack...”

Catrina is helping Applejack and Rarity rebuild using her wand, such as ; Rep is helping the injured Pegasi with Pinkie Pie; and Thorne is cooking food for the ponies who are working hard.

Fluttershy comes in to get food for some of her friends.

“Thanks for your help, Thorne,” Fluttershy thanks him.

“All part of being a knight, Fluttershy,” he says, “I think I’m going to like living in Ponyville.”

“I’m glad.”

Thorne blushes, thinking she likes him.

“Fluttershy. Out of all the little ponies here, I want to get to know you the most.”

Fluttershy giggles at him.

****

“As for me...well...I got to have a tour around the castle hosted by Twilight. The best parts were doing something without worrying about a villain jumping out from somewhere, and getting to spend some time alone with Twilight and getting to know her more...”

Inside the castle, Twilight is showing Scorpan around. They went through several hallways and went to several rooms, and even though it was often like a maze, Twilight knew where to go like she was a living map. Currently, they were making their final stop: the throne room.

“And this is the throne room, where my friends and I oversee the problems of Equestria,” Twilight finishes the tour.

“This castle is wonderful, Twilight,” he compliments, “I can’t believe it was my medallion that served as the final key for this.”

“Yeah. It’s like you were there in spirit to save and protect us like the first time.” Twilight replies.

Scorpan giggles, “That’s one way to put it. A great one too.”

Then, the both of them started giggling about the whole thing.

When they stopped giggling, the two of them couldn’t help but think that the sound of one another giggling was melodious to their ears. Although, Twilight’s thoughts very soon turned to something else. Something that made her look downcast and droop her ears. Scorpan took notice of that right away, and walked over to her to put his hand on her shoulder.

When Twilight felt the hand touch her, she immediately took notice and looked up to Scorpan.

“I wish I could give you your medallion back.” Twilight said to him.

Suddenly, a burst of light shines in the middle of the throne room. It releases an object that is triangular in shape. Scorpan recognizes it as his medallion, the one he gave to Tirek long ago. He takes it and looks a it.

“It’s your medallion!” Twilight says in awe.

“This medallion is known as the Medallion of Knighthood, given to knights who show the Four Codes of Valor in Tambleon,” Scorpan explains, “Courage of the Heart; Love for another; Inner Strength Inside; and Self-Sacrifice for Others. I gave it to Tirek hoping he will break free from his darkness and remember that he was a knight. But apparently, it’s not the case.”

“I know it was hard for you to go against your brother, but Grogar had complete control over him, and there was nothing you could have done. At least while in Tartarus, Tirek is where Grogar can’t harm or corrupt him.”

At Twilight’s assurance, Scorpan couldn’t help but smile at her.

“I guess you’re right.” he says to her.

Hearing those words, Twilight felt happy that Scorpan no longer felt bad about what happened between him and Tirek, and that there is still hope for him.

“So, Scorpan, will you and the others stay and help keep Ponyville safe?” she asks.

“You can count on me, Twilight,” he accepts while holding her hoof.

The two of them could not help but look into each other’s eyes as hand and hoof held together.
> Heroes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 12: Heroes

In the present, Scorpan sits on a couch in the castle, where he looks out a window at the lights of Ponyville and thinks about how much his friends mean to him.

“I take that you’re wondering where I am now,” he continues his narration, “Well...my friends and I are now living in the Castle of the Two Sisters. And with a little help from Discord, Celestia, and Luna, the castle was rebuilt to its former glory.”

He by then gets up from his couch, and walks over to a bookshelf to grab a book. But he still continues his narration.

“To others, the Ponies of Equestria are weak like sheep without a shepherd. But to me, they are true heroes. Like the rest of the knights and myself, they look out for each other, and Twilight and her friends are ready to defend those who need their help. Their bond with each other made them strong against every threat, proving that the Magic of Friendship can overcome just about anything. It will be that same magic that will help us defeat Grogar’s forces someday. Right now, I’m gonna enjoy living among the ponies, and especially Twilight.”

Just as he was about to grab a book from the shelf, Pinkie Pie suddenly comes in to let Scorpan know something.

“Scorpan! The party is starting without you,” Pinkie Pie informs him, “You don’t wanna miss it, do you?!”

“Oh! I almost forgot. Be right there, Pinkie Pie,” Scorpan says.

Right away, he quickly flies out of the room and straight off to Ponyville.

Pinkie couldn’t help but feel amazed at how fast he can fly when he would need or want to. But that never stopped her from quickly dashing with him to town.


****


At the Town Square, Ponyville is having a celebration in honor of the Knights of Tambelon for the help they gave in saving the ponies of Ponyville, and for the courage they inspired into everyone. Rarity has given them special clothes worthy of the Knights based on what the Four Codes are.

Twilight and the Four Princesses stand at the center of the Square before the crowd.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts!” Twilight speeches, “We’re gathered here today to welcome four brave heroes who have risked their lives to save others, and show true inspiration to a few of our own. They even saved my life when I was lost in the storm. One of the Knights proved to be the greatest hero in history, and shows true leadership to everyone. Please welcome to Equestria...the Knights of Tambelon!”

The audience cheers for the knights after Twilight finishes her speech.

Twilight:
It’s a parade of heroics!
Of true hearts that care
Of warriors with spirits
And will always be there!


Scorpan is the first to come in. He is wearing silver armor with a cape of gold, showing his pure heart and courage. Spike is seen carrying his cape.


Fluttershy:
Each has a type of heart.
Each with precious love
They came from a faraway land
To rise above


Thorne shows up, revealing his new clothes, made up of a hat with a feather, a blouse, and black pants and cape. He hands Fluttershy a rose and blows a kiss at her.


Knights:
And we come together
There’s no calling we won’t go
No battle we can’t win
When we come together,
There will be light to shine the way
Inside our hearts every day!


Catrina and Rep come in their ensemble. Catrina is wearing a maiden/sorceress gown, and Rep is wearing green armor. They hold hands as they come together to sing with the ponies and the rest of their team.


Chorus:
Let the hero inside you
Remind you to always care
Let the hero inside you
Allow you to always be there.


Scorpan:
Let the hero inside you
To remind you to always care.


The story ends with the Knights getting their picture taken with the Mane 6, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Discord, and Spike.