This is the story of T.E.K. (Taskforce of Equestrian Knowledge)
Some heroes are born, but legends are made. Some heroes stick to the light, making known their great achievements, others stick to the shadows, protecting from the unknown. In Equestria, there are both of these kinds of heroes. The Elements of Harmony protect the public from major threats like Tirek, Discord, and Nightmare Moon. But this is not their story. This is ours. This is the story of those who protect from the shadows. Those who do what's right, even though they don't get credit. They do what's right from the unknown, the shadows. This is the tale of TEK (Taskforce of Equestrian Knowledge)
It was a lovely day in Cloudsdale, Celestia's sun was shining, and the weather pegasi were busy with their work. But one pegasus, by the name of Fire Ball, couldn't enjoy the beauty of it as he paced back and forth in front of the hospital room door.
He was worrying about his wife, Wind Cruiser. He had never been through this before, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do. He felt so...useless.
“It'll be fine," he thought to himself. “The doctors know what their doing," he whispered to no-pony in particular.
But no matter how much he told himself that, he still worried. But it was only natural. First-time father's are supposed to worry about how their wife's labor would go. The memories were the only things that brought him a little comfort. He and his wife had been together for years, never even once considering children. Then, one day, on a routine check up at the hospital, they found out she was pregnant.
That was over 7 months ago, and here he was now, pacing in front of a door, worrying his wings off. In reality, he knew there wasn't really too much to worry about, but he couldn't help himself.
Finally, after it had seemed years had passed by, the doctor finally came out and ushered him in. Fire Ball did a double take at what he saw on the bed. Sure there were probably allot of Doctors or nurses around the table, but he didn't care. The only pony he cared about was layed out on the medical bed staring at him with the same lovely blue eyes that he'd fell in love with.
But something was amiss. She had a small bundle of something orange between her front hooves. Fire Ball moved in a little closer to get a better look at the small fuzzy mass. Once he saw what it was, he had to use all his power to fight back tears. For a moment, the whole world disappeared, and the only two things that mattered was the father, and his son.
“H-he's got your eyes...." Fire Ball managed to exclaim before he had to bite his lips to stop himself from crying.
“He looks just like his father," Wind Cruiser said.
Even though she looked, and felt extremely exhausted, she still managed to smile at her husband's surprise. She always thought he looked cute when taken off guard.
“W-what should we c-call him?" Fire Ball asked, his tough deposition starting to crack. Wind Cruiser could only manage a small giggle at her husband's obvious shaking and stuttering.
"How about, Jet.... Jet Fly?"
Fire managed a small smile, even in her current tired condition, his wife was still as lovely and calm as ever.
"It sounds perfect", he whispered as he cuddled up next to his beloved, and gave her a small but affectionate nuzzle.
And then, all eyes fell on the small orange Pegasus filly with jet black hair and blue eyes, now known as: Jet Fly. __________________________ Ponyville __________________________
It was a rather dark night in Ponyville. Most ponies would be getting ready for bed at this hour, that is, if they weren't already there. But this was no time to rest for Feather Shock.
He'd been waiting for the past hour now to hear about his wife's (and possibly his child's) condition, and he was getting antsy. Before he got to the point where he would just fly through the doors and into Midnight Phase's room, the nurse appeared through the waiting room's twin doors.
"Mr. Shock?"
Feather's ears perked up at the sound of his name.
"You may see your wife now. Her condition is stable."
"And my child? Is my child alright?"
The nurse turned to canter back to her patient's room.
"She would rather you come see for yourself," she said with a smirk beginning to form at the corner of her mouth.
Feather quickly galloped down the hall, his heart beating at lightning speed. Thoughts of worry and hope danced around in his mind as he closed the gap between himself and the unknown fate of his offspring. One glance into Midnight's room and the expression she carried was all he needed to understand.
"Come meet your new son, Shock," Midnight softly said in an almost teasing manner.
"You had me worried sick," the pegasus sighed. "Always with the suspense with you."
His tense demeanor quickly faded, and was replaced with a smile of relief. Midnight chuckled softly, and said:
"He's got your wild mane."
"But it bears your mane's beautiful black sheen. He also shares your blue eyes, but of a darker shade. They have this, shining spark to them..." He trailed off.
"....That seem to pull you into a vortex of calm, happiness," Midnight finished.
Together, they said to the newborn foal:
"Hello, Shade Vortex."
They had always been so in sync. The newborn simply giggled with carefree delight.
The pegasus and unicorn anxiously called out for their son to get ready for his first day of magic kindergarten. When there was no answer, they both sighed.
"He's wandered off somewhere again," stated Midnight Phase.
"Can't he sit still for 5 minutes?" Feather Shock questioned.
They searched all over town, frantically checking cafés, shops, the library, everywhere. Shade Vortex had an unusual knack for wandering around. One minute he was beside his parents, then he was gone the second they turned around. Needless to say, raising him could be challenging.
"Where is he!?"
Midnight turned to see her husband's worried expression and his wilder-than-usual navy blue mane.
"How could we have lost him? He could be anywhere! He could be hurt or-"
Midnight cut off Feather's nervous breakdown with a gentle hoof on his tense, pale-blue shoulder.
"Hey hey hey, don't worry, Shock. We'll find him. We just need to keep looking," she assured him calmly. Her warm expression started to ease his fear, and he simply nodded.
"Hi mom! Hi dad!"
Both turned quickly to see their son waving to them from a doorway. Irritated, Feather scolded:
"Shade! How could you wander off like that!? You had us worried sick!"
The dark gray, unicorn foal simply jumped up and down cheerfully while exclaiming:
"I FOUND MY WAY TO SCHOOL!!!"
Midnight and Feather both looked up to realize it was indeed the local school where they found their son. They both just stood there, dumbstruck. _______________
Shade Vortex strolled a triumphant canter out of the school door, successfully completing another day of his third year of school. He was halfway on his way home when out of a corner of his eye, he saw something in the sky falling. No, he saw *somepony* falling.
Out of instinct, he quickly galloped in the direction of the falling pony who had disappeared from his visual range behind a line of trees. Thoughts and questions filled his mind as he raced towards them. He didn't know what he expected to do, but he had to do something.
He drew nearer, and was relieved to hear a filly singing.
*Good,* he thought. *She's okay.*
He stopped dead in his tracks as an explosion of color shook the sky.
"What...the..." was all he could muster to say.
Regaining his focus, he eventually reached a clearing in the forest-like area, where a pink-maned, yellow pegasus filly was sitting among a group of small animals.
"Hey! Are you okay?" he called out to the filly.
His appearance startled away the animals, and the filly was filled with a shocking nervousness as well. Apologetically, Shade began:
"Sorry... I saw you falling from the sky and rushed over to see if you were fine."
The filly just sat there, hiding half her face and lowering her shaking body.
"It's okay, you don't have to be scared. I'm not going to hurt you," Shade reassured.
The filly seemed to ease her nerves, silently choking out the words:
"I-I'm fine....."
Shade relaxed himself as well, then looked to the sky and asked:
"Did you fall from Cloudsdale?"
She shyly nodded. Shade started to question just how the heck she survived such a great fall, but didn't, considering she was frightened enough.
"I'm Shade Vortex. What's your name?" he warmly and calmly asked.
Slowly, she began in a soft voice:
"...I'm...F-Fluttershy..."
Shade brought a warm smile to his face, which seemed to ease Fluttershy even more.
"It's nice to meet you, Fluttershy. My Dad's a pegasus. He can take you back home if you want."
Fluttershy nodded again, this time with a slight smile. _____________ Years Later _____________
Shade continued to fidget where he sat, which was painfully obvious to his parents. Practically a stallion now, at graduation in fact, and he still couldn't sit still. Feather Shock sighed to himself, whereas Midnight let out a silent chuckle.
The wait was crushing Shade, who was eager to get up, take his diploma, and go nowhere in particular. Living in Canterlot for the past few years to attend a basic magic high school was painfully boring, even if he was good at it. There was less excitement in the prestigious society, and he couldn't wait to get on the first train out of there. His 'metaphorical Hype Train,' as he referred to it.
Of course, sitting amongst his classmates for the last time, observing them all, left a feeling of emptiness in him again. Out of the entire group of graduates, he was the only one without his cutie mark. For the 77th time in his life, he asked himself:
"What am I supposed to be?"
His mother overheard her son's catchphrase and noticed his face: lost in thought again.
"It'll come to you in its due time," Midnight reassured her son again.
The warm gaze between the two was broken at the call of Shade's name.
"I just hope that time comes," Shade whispered as he approached the stage. ____________ 1 year later ____________
Shade didn't miss Canterlot at all. Having returned to his home town of Ponyville nearly eight months ago, he was happy with his life. Everything just seemed to go his way. Not only was his family able to return to their original house without it being sold, but an old friend had moved and resided here.
Over the past few years, he and Fluttershy had always kept in touch via occasional letters, and she had even attended his graduation. Now she lived in Ponyville, explaining that she and her family decided it was best if they stayed on the ground after the incident with Rainbow Dash's race. And since Rainbow Dash was Fluttershy's best friend, and Shade was able to spend more time with Fluttershy, Shade and Rainbow eventually became quite close by association.
Everyone seemed to question it, two mares and one stallion spending so much time together, but neither three of them thought much of it. They were just friends.
At least, that's what Fluttershy and Rainbow both thought. Over time, Shade's feelings for Fluttershy had changed and become something more, and even he wasn't sure why. It just sort of developed within him. And this wasn't the only conflicting feeling he had.
He still did not own a cutie mark.
Everyone he talked to about it gave him the same answer:
*It'll come in its due time.* ____________
"Well I'm tired of waiting. I'm going to go out there and find out who I am, and what I'm meant to be," he said, finishing the speech he was giving his parents.
Both shocked, his parents pleaded with him to rethink his course. "Where will you go?" they asked.
"You don't know what's out there!" they argued.
"You could get hurt!" they warned.
Shade's resolve was already firm, however.
"I'm sorry, but I can't stay here and wait for my destiny to come without me putting in the effort to discover it. As to where I'll go, I do not yet know. But my Journey to Nowhere will take me wherever I'm meant to go."
Shade paused to watch as his parents slightly teared up, knowing they could do nothing to stop their adult son.
"I truly, and deeply love you both. You have cared for me my whole life, and put up with my mistakes. I promise you, I will return."
And with that final notion, Shade turned to canter out the door, grabbing his tan cloak on the way out.
Just before he reached the outer gate of Ponyville that led into the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash quickly flew towards him. He turned around to be embraced by the only two friends that stuck with him this long. He teared up, returning the hug and not wanting to let go, Rainbow and Fluttershy both saying their goodbyes through sobs into the blade-shaped spikes of his black mane.
"Please don't go..."
"We'll miss you..."
"Come back..."
But he did let go, and headed to the forest, stopping to slowly turn to see his crying friends.
"I will return..." ______________________________ Years before, up in Cloudsdale ______________________________
"JET! DID YOU REMEMBER YOUR LUNCH?"
“Yes, mom I have it."
“Do you have all your information?"
“Yes mom, I have it. Seriously mom, stop worrying it's just school. I think I can handle myself."
“I know...it's just that....you've grown up so fast...."
As Wind Cruiser spoke, her tone got lower and lower. Jet suddenly had a pang of guilt for being so rude to his mother. This was, after all his first day. It was only natural for her to be nervous about how her little "speedster" (as she liked to call him) would do on his first day of school.
“It's ok Mom, you don't have to worry. I'll be fine, really."
As Jet spoke, he got closer to his mother and decided to affectionately nuzzle her in an attempt to cheer her up. It worked a little, because as he nuzzled, she could only smile.
“I know, and I'm so proud of you. I trust you. But... just know that no matter what happens, I'll always be here for you. I love you, my little speedster."
She amplified her words by roughly rubbing her hoof on his head, causing a small giggle to eminate from the spiky haired foal.
“Mooommmm, your embarrassing me!" pleaded the young pegasus.
“Oh please, your such a drama queen. But ok, I guess I'll see you in a few hours. Are you sure your gonna be alright?" she questioned with a small frown.
“Yes mom, I'll be fine," Jet exclaimed.
“Well... alright then... bye," Wind Cruiser stated as she slowly opened her wings to take off.
After all these years, her little foal was finally growing up. She knew this time would eventually come, but she refused to acknowledge it. Jet could almost make out a small glimmer of a tear forming at the base of his mother's eyes as she slowly made her assent. Jet turned around, and began walking towards his school. He then stepped dead in his tracts, and in the blink of an eye, did a complete 180° degree spin, popped open his tiny (but strong) wings, and took off, full speed towards his mother.
Wind Cruiser barely had time to react as a small orange bullet soared towards her.
“GAH!" she screamed as the little orange mass wrapped its small hooves around her in a death grip.
“I love you mommy," Jet truthfully admitted as his small tears warmed his mother's chest fur. Still surprised, it took her a few seconds to compute what had just happened.
“I love you too," she finally said with a smile as she returned the hug. "And I always will," she finished.
The hug between mother and son lasted a few more seconds until finally, Wind Cruiser pulled away.
“Now go on ahead, I'll see you soon enough," she stated in her usual calm and naturally soothing voice. Jet looked up from her blue fur to look into his mother's deep blue eyes one last time before he left.
“Promise?"
“I promise," she said with a knowing smile.
“Now go on, or you'll be late, and we can't have you being late on your first day now can we?" she asked with a fake frown.
Jet's pupils shrunk to the size of pin heads as he realized that he was almost out of time. Quickly pulling away he shot off in a blur of Orange and black. As he flew off, he yelled back to his mother:
“BYE MOM SEE YOU LATER!!"
Wind Cruiser could only let out a small laugh and wave as her little speedster flew off into the open world.
“It's only a few hours, he'll do fine," she thought as she finally made her way back home.
Jet on the other hand was still flying at full speed towards the school.
“Well, here I go," Jet thought as he burst into the classroom..... ______________________________ Years later ______________________________
The day had finally come: graduation.
*Finally, all that hard work is finally starting to pay off,* a now much bigger and older Jet Fly thought as he was calmly sitting down inside the huge open stadium his school called a gym.
He was seated next to all his fellow Flight School students. As he waited for his name to be called, Jet reminisced about the last few years of his life that lead to this moment.
Ever since his birth, Jet's father, Fire Ball, had wanted him to be a Wonder Bolt. With that goal in mind, he trained Jet in the ways of speed and flight ever since he could open his wings. Jet still remembered their intense training sessions like they happened yesterday. All the laps around the house, all the wing up's, all the weighs. But in the end, it paid off. Jet was now a large, strong and handsome stallion.
But while his father focused purely on his physical activity, his mother had always been more relaxed, and lenient. She was always the one to help him out of jams and always the one who supported him. He loved his father dearly, but he could be too intense at times. His mother on the other hand would allow him to relax and just sit down.
But even though his father wanted him to go and join the Wonder Bolts, Jet had always had a secret passion: he loved kaiju and monsters. And he knew almost everything about all of them. For some reason, he'd always been interested. It was just something about them that bought his interests. Maybe it was their massive claws or scales, or the special abilities some had, but he loved to read about and study them.
He usually kept this passion a secret so that his father wouldn't be disappointed. But he couldn't hide anything from his mother, she almost immediately found out. How? He had no idea, but somehow she knew, and actually supported his passion. But when it came to his father, he didn't want him to know. He didn't want to hurt his father's dream for him. The Wonder Bolts were amazing to Jet, he loved them, but he didn't necessarily want to become them.
And this internal struggle shone throughout his life, because he was the only pony in his class without a cutie mark. This brought a slight blush to his dark orange cheeks. He was a bit embarrassed that he had yet to find his special talent. He was the only blank flank in his class.
He was still conflicted about his passion and his father's dream. In the end, the decision had been made for him. His father had already made reservations for him at the Wonder Bolts academy. Jet sighed as he thought about what might come in the future.
*I'll fly across that bridge when I get there,* he thought to himself as he thought about his family.
Both his mother and his father had arrived on time for his graduation. Jet chuckled as he thought about them. They were so different. His father, Fire Ball, was a serious, tough, and intense person. His mother, Wind Cruiser, on the other hand was calm, laid back, and lenient. Jet had always wondered how their relationship worked out.
*Opposites attract, I guess,* Jet thought.
“JET FLY," the announcer's booming voice brought Jet out of his trance and back into reality.
“I guess it's time," Jet whispered to himself as he made his way up the stage. ____________
“Huh, this is Wonder Bolts Academy," Jet thought to himself as he cruised his way to the giant cloud filled with fast flying pegasi.
Jet had to admit, it was rather impressive. The cloud was huge, and had all sorts of weird and oddly shaped machines meant for multiple purposes.
“HEY SCRUB!"
Jet heard a female voice yell in his general direction. Just to make sure they were talking about him, he looked to see who called, and sure enough, a yellow Pegasus with red and orange hair was looking directly at him.
“You must be Jet Fly, huh?" she said in a more matter-of-fact way rather than a question.
“Y-yes that's me," Jet stuttered out.
“Yea, I figured. My name's Spit Fire, and I'm the Captain of the Wonder Bolts," Spit Fire stated.
“It's an honor to meet you Miss Fire," said Jet Fly while extending his hoof to Spit Fire to shake.
She merely looked at it and snorted before flying off and ushering him to follow.
“Right....." Jet exclaimed sheepishly while he rubbed the back of his neck.
While they flew, Spit Fire took it upon herself to explain a few things.
“Here you'll get pushed to the limit, and test your skills in the art of aerial flight. We train winners, not lazy bums, so if your not ready to sweat your mane off, this place is not for you."
She went on for quite some time as they made their way to a certain part of the cloud. Even though she kept talking, Jet wasn't really listening.
“Great," Jet grumbled to himself.
*Why did I agree to this? I never really wanted to come here in the first place. Dad, you better appreciate this...*
Jet's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden stop of his superior.
“Here we are, the cabins. You'll be staying in #13. I'll give you a day to get settled and explore. But I want you to be ready to train in the morning. Later Scrub," Spit Fire said as she flew away.
“I'll give this two months. If I still don't like it, I'm leaving," he said to himself as he looked out the window and out into the open air.
“Let's see how this goes." ______________________________ Two Months Later ______________________________
*Sorry Dad...*
Jet mentally kicked himself for letting down his father.
*I gave it a try, but... it's just not for me. These are great ponies and all, and they do great work, but...it's just not for me.*
Jet had really, honestly tried to like the training. All the drills, and practices were actually similar to his father's training, but he never liked that either. It wasn't as if he didn't feel like he couldn't make the cut, because he was actually one of the fastest in his class. Even surpassing Soarin in some practices. But, no matter how good he did, and no matter how much he tried to like the training, he just couldn't get into it. Every morning was a pain.
*But where do I go?*
This thought stopped Jet dead in his tracts. He couldn't go back home, his parents would be too disappointed. His father would be crushed. This was his dream for him.
*No, I can't go back. Not until I've figured out what I want to do,* Jet finalized.
But that still didn't really answer his question.
*Maybe I'll fly around and try to find somewhere to clear my head,* Jet told himself.
Just before he was about to jump off the Cloud Academy for good, he heard a feminine voice come up from behind him.
“You don't have to go you know. Your one of the best here. You could stay, really make a living for yourself with us."
After spending so much time with her, Jet almost immediately recognized that voice.
“It's a nice thought Spit Fire, but... it's just not for me. I just need to...to go. Find somewhere to clear my head, find somewhere I truly belong," Jet replied.
Spit Fire looked a little saddened by that, but quickly regained her usual stoic self.
“Well, if you don't, you can always count that you'll have a place here," she complied.
She then proceeded to stuck out her hoof towards him. The move shocked Jet because he had never seen her shake anyponies hoof before. But he regained his senses and happily returned the gesture.
“Thanks, that means allot to me," Jet said as he began to take flight and fly off into the distance.
“Later Scrub!" Spit Fire yelled at him with a small smirk as he slowly disappeared into the horizon.
Jet Fly could only chuckle as he made his way into the unknown.... _______________
It had been a few months since his leave from the Wonder Bolts Academy. Early in his travels he stumbled across a kind family of farmers, after he fell asleep in their barn.
The Apples, as they called themselves, were a nice family of Farmers consisting of a huge red stallion named Big Mac, a baby filly called Apple Bloom, an older mare called Granny Smith, and a bright orange mare that went by the name of Apple Jack. They were kind enough to let him stay with them after he explained his situation to them. But, under the condition that he would pull his weight and help out around the farm.
That was fine with Jet. He was more than happy to help the kind folk that decided to give a total stranger a place to stay. But what he really appreciated was the wisdom that Granny Smith held. After explaining his situation to her, she asked him:
“What do you want? What do you like more than anything else?"
It was a puzzling question. He loved both fast flight, and kaiju. But when it came down to what he liked better, kaiju and monsters took the cake.
“I-i love monsters. I love to read about them, study them, and I already know all about them. But I've never had a chance to actually make a living out of it..." Jet said sheepishly.
“Well, then find a way. I can't tell you what to do, but I will tell you this: always follow your heart. What is it telling you to do? Follow your heart, and you'll succeed," Granny Smith said with her infinite wisdom.
After a few more days of working with the apples, Jet Fly found out that Canterlot was now offering Kaiju and Mythical Creatures classes. This is exactly what he had always wanted, a way to finally make his passion into a career. After saying his thanks and goodbyes to the Apples for sheltering and feeding him, Jet Fly was on his way.
He was now currently flying towards Canterlot's direction.
“Here we go again", Jet thought as he finally entered into Canterlot air space.
Little did he know that this school had so much more planned for him...
As Jet Fly slowly descended into Canterlot air space, he marveled at the beauty of the capital city of Equestria. It was simply marvelous. Everything shined, and glistened in the sunlight. There were many tall buildings and shops, but what stood out most was the castle. It was amazing, from its high balconies to its intricate brick and craftsmanship. Along with its beauty, it was huge, easily taking up 1/4 of the mountain city. Most of it was built onto the mountain, or near it. It had many peaks, pillars and towers.
Jet could do nothing but marvel at the master craftsmanship that it must have taken to build such a marvel. The cool touch of the cobblestone streets brought Jet back to reality and back to his mission. After he had found out that Canterlot was giving Kaiju and exotic creature classes, he had jumped at the opportunity to follow his dreams. He honestly didn't know what to expect or even where to go, but to him, being one step closer to fulfilling his dream was good enough. But now, just being here wasn't good enough. He had to find the school. Finding a light blue unicorn with a pink dress to be closest to him, he quickly trotted to her destination.
“Hello Miss, I'm new here, could you please direct me to the Canterlot college?" Jet inquired.
In return he got an arrogant smirk and snort.
“You? Schooling at Canterlot? HA! I have a better chance of becoming the next princess than you do at studying in the most prestigious school in all of Equestria!" she scoffed.
"But-"
“Look at you, your a ruffian. Look at your spiky and unkept mane. HA! The Princess only lets in the most highly esteemed equines into her school. Not just random ponies who waltz in. You clearly don't have what it takes to study under the Princess. Why don't you do yourself a favor and go home before you embarrass yourself?" She said with clear disgust in her voice.
Jet suddenly found the ground very interesting as he looked down at his hooves.
*Maybe she's right... maybe I don't have what it takes...* he thought as the mare kept staring at him with her snout held high.
Thinking her job complete, she began to make her way back to her business. As she proudly walked away, Jet could just make out her last word that summed up her rampage.
“Pathetic."
Jet stayed in that depressed state until he felt a warm hoof on his shoulder.
“Don't listen to her. She's just like most of the ponies in this city: high strung, stingy, and haughty".
Jet turned around to find an extremely light grey mare, with a purple mane with light grey streaks in it. She had three purple stars as a cutie mark, and her eyes were an arctic blue.
“Hi! I'm Twilight Velvet. Nice to meet you!" she said with a smile and an extended hoof.
“Uhh... h-hey..." Jet stuttered out.
He was still a bit down after his "talk" with that prissy pony. Twilight Velvet seemed to notice, and decided that it was her duty to help out this poor, sad pony.
“Look, don't take it personally. Most if the ponies here are jerks. They'll go out of their way to make fun of somepony that doesn't reach their standards. You just gotta ignore them," she said with a smile.
Jet seemed to perk up a bit at this, and sensing her advantage, she continued:
“So, why is it your here again?"
Jet was nervous at first to answer the question, but finally relented saying,
“I'm here to apply for the Canterlot school. I wanna take the Kaiju and Creature classes. But, I don't know where the school is."
Her smile seemed to get bigger at this revelation.
“Ahh, now that's something I know. My daughter goes there. She studies under the Princess herself in Gifted Unicorns section of the school. I'm so glad that you've decided to take the next step in your education. It's located inside the castle."
"Wut," Jet gasped as his pupils shrunk to half their size.
“It's...i-in the castle? WHERE THE PRINCESS LIVES? I CAN'T WORK UNDER THAT KIND OF PRESSURE!" Jet yelled as he began to hyperventilate.
"Hey hey, it's ok. Don't panic. Your a nice stallion, just as good as anypony. You flew all the way here, you can't quit now. Besides, I'm sure you'll do fine."
Jet calmed down a little bit at the encouragement.
“A-are you sure?" he asked.
She simply smiled and said:
“You got this. Now go on, registration ends in a little while. You'd better hurry."
“Thank you, Miss Velvet, for your kindness. I really appreciate that."
“No problem. With all these snobs running around, there's gotta be at least one pony willing to help an equine out, right?" she said with a smirk.
Jet chuckled at this, and finally jumped in the air and aimed towards the castle. Before he left, he turned around one last time and said,
“Your daughter is a very fortunate mare to have a mother like you," before taking off into the air and zooming off.
“Good luck!" she yelled after him while waving her hoof in the air.
“What a nice stallion", she mused before returning to her work. _______________
Filled with new-found energy after his conversion with Miss Velvet, Jet had quickly made his way to castle. After signing up, taking a few tests, and waiting about 2 hours, he had finally been excepted into the school. Jet was dumbstruck to find out that he had been accepted. He sure did show that one jerk mare.
*Miss Velvet was right,* Jet thought to himself.
Thankfully, a dorm had been prepared for him to stay in for the time that he studied. Making his way to his dorm, he was relieved to find out that he had it all to himself. He was notified that class started the next day, and that he could take today to explore the city and get settled in.
“No way am I going back down to the city. Those guys are jerks... except Miss Velvet. She's a nice mare. But I'm in no mood to be chewed out again. I'm just gonna relax and prepare for tomorrow. I wonder who my classmates will be... Wait, there is one thing I have to to take care of," Jet thought to himself as he drifted off into sleep.
Today was the beginning of the rest of his life. ____________________________________
Today had been a successful day for Miss Bits. She had bought a new dress, shoes, and furniture. And as a bonus, she got help out a young stallion realize that he was foolish to try to get into Canterlot's school. How dumb of him; only high class, elite ponies could get into that school, not hillbilly wanderers.
While on her way to her house, she saw an orange blur shoot past her and stop right in front of her. Fearful of her life, she galloped into the nearest opening. She saw a way out in a small passage way leading to an alley. While running she heard the orange thing laugh evilly. It was taunting her, and taking the challenge it ran into the alley after her. She could feel it following her with its sick, twisted laugh. Bits gulped as she ran face to face with a dead end. She quickly began yelling for help, and that some psycho was trying to kill her, but to no avail. There was no-pony nearby to help her, and she was at this thing's mercy. She turned to face her attacker, a stallion, but failed because the alleyway shadow was blocking his face, and the only light in the alley was right next to her in the form of a small lamp. As he slowly closed in on her, she could just make out a small piece of paper hanging from his wing.
“Remember me?" it asked in a voice similar to a dragon growling.
She shook her head no, hoping that he would show mercy.
“I'm not surprised. Snobs like you usually don't remember those whom you hurt. But let me try and jog your memory."
He slowly stepped into the light of the lamp. Bits gasped as she recognized the stallion from the street, the one she had helped out. She tried to talk, but was too dumbstruck to speak.
“Never thought you'd see me again did you? Well anyway, I'm here for one reason, and one reason only. And I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I'll make this fast..." he stated as he slowly reached back to grab the paper.
Bits' mind was filled with fear, imagining all kind of ways that he might try to kill her with that paper. SHE WAS TOO RICH TO DIE! She flinched and tensed her muscles as he walked closer to her so she could read the paper. Rolling her dice, she leaned forward to read what was on the document. She reeled back at what was written in it. It couldn't be possible. It was simply impossible. He just smirked as she muttered that such a thing was impossible. Once she was finished, he said:
“Oh yes, I accomplished the impossible. And guess what? YOU WERE WRONG AND I WAS RIGHT!"
She reeled back as he shoved the acceptance letter into her face. Written on it was a royal seal with the words “You have been accepted" on it. She simply fell to the ground in shock as He danced in celebration of his victory. “AWWW YEEAA I SHOWED YOU! WHO'S PATHETIC NOW!?" he laughed as he continued his dance.
Once finished, he grabbed back the paper and took off into the air. Before leaving, he left her with the words:
“Next time, show a little kindness".
Bits simply stayed in her trance as he finally flew off. __________________ Two months later __________________
The sun slowly started to set in the afternoon sky of Canterlot. Everything was going as it usually went in the city streets; nothing was out of order. This was quite pleasing to Celestia's royal guard, especially those guarding the city entrance. Even if their job proved to be boring at times, they enjoyed the peace.
"Same as usual again," sighed one of the guards.
His companion merely nodded in agreement. However, the guard's smile soon faded into an expression of suspicion and anticipation.
"Something wrong?"
"Something doesn't feel right... I sense that something is about to arrive," he replied.
The fellow guard didn't question it, his partner's special talent was prediction after all. So he simply readied himself as well, unsure of what exactly was coming. Half a minute later, blue and white sparks of magical energy formulated above the ground. The guards readied their stance, gripping their spears. Within seconds, a cloaked form teleported in front of them, collapsing onto the stone ground of the mountainside entrance.
"Who goes there?" both guards demanded.
The form looked up to remove the hood of his tattered cloak to reveal the scratched face of a gray-coated, black-maned unicorn.
"Help...m-me," was all Shade Vortex could muster before dropping back down into unconsciousness. ________________
Shade slowly awoke to a hospital bed, relieved to discover he'd successfully escaped his previous near-death experience. His strength was severely depleted, so he gladly took the time to relax, lying in the bed half-awake.
His attention was revived when he heard hoofsteps coming towards his room. He heard the visitor with a greater hearing range than the average pony, as some of his senses had been heightened during his previous 'Journey.' Shade could smell all the medicines and mediocre hospital food around him, and feel the stinging injuries that were bandaged and covered in gauze.
The visitor eventually reached his room, and Shade was surprised by who she was.
"Princess... Celestia...?" Shade asked weakly.
The pearl Alicorn smiled as she began:
"It is good to see you are awake, Shade Vortex. Your injuries have been sustained and tended to, but you will still need time to fully recover."
As good of news as this was, Shade was still confused as to why he was hearing this from the Princess herself, and not from any of the doctors or nurses.
"You...know me? And why...did you come to see me?" he couldn't help to ask.
"Not too long ago, you attended one of our schools here in Canterlot, and you were an exceptional student. As to why I'm here, it is because of how you arrived here yesterday." Celestia stated.
"How I... arrived?" Shade questioned.
Celestia went on to explain:
"Yes. My guards have informed me that you teleported in front of them at the entrance of the city. However, that is a skill taught in only the more advanced classes, of which I have confirmed you have not attended. I'm curious as to how you were able to perform such a skill."
Shade strained to jog his memory of the past two months, memories he was not a fan of reliving. In a somewhat uneasy tone, he finally replied:
"I just sorta... did it. I was in a tight spot with no way out, and I just concentrated... Next thing I know, I was a safe distance away."
While his reply somewhat gave her an answer, Celestia was still curious and had more questions.
"And what kind of situation led you to pull off such a feat?"
Shade turned from facing her at that question, closing his eyes as he painfully responded:
"I'd rather not talk about it..."
Celestia frowned at this, a look of concern reshaping her expression. Something awful had clearly happened to this poor stallion, and it was obvious he wasn't open to sharing it, at least not now.
"I can see this is clearly a difficult subject for you, so I will leave my questions at that for the time being. I only wished to offer you this."
Shade perked back up as Celestia levitated a rolled up scroll towards him, and set it on a nearby table.
"It is an application to one of Canterlot's most advanced schools. You are obviously quite gifted, and I believe you would benefit from training your abilities here. The 1st semester has already started, so you'd be starting a couple months late, but I do not think that should prove to be a problem," Celestia explained.
Shade looked at the scroll with curiosity. Celestia started her way out of his room, saying:
"I must go to attend to other matters. The offer remains yours to consider while you recover."
Shade weighed the decision in his mind. He wanted mainly to return home to his friends and parents in Ponyville, but at the same time he saw that the Princess' offer was a great opportunity for him. Thinking for a moment, he came to a decision.
"Princess..?" he called out just before Celestia had left the room.
She stopped and turned her head to face him.
"I'll do it."
Celestia smiled and said:
"I had hoped that you would."
Shade thought to himself as Celestia left his room:
*When I left Ponyville, I promised I would return. And I intend to keep that promise...*
He reached over to the scroll, observing its written contents. "Canterlot's School for the Gifted (Unicorn sector)" is what read in bold letters, information following it explaining the school's setup and a basic description of the classes.
*...But now I will return better than ever.* ______________
Jet Fly had become well accustomed to his college schedule over the past two months. Strolling through the east wing of the school which housed the pegasus classes, however, he noticed an odd sight: Princess Celestia, apparently escorting a dark gray unicorn in a tan cloak, whose legs were partially bandaged, towards the west wing for the unicorn classes.
*Strange... Celestia only walks with a student if they're new to the college. That's simple enough, but why was he covered in bandages?*
Jet's thoughts were interrupted as he abruptly bumped into an earth stallion.
"Hey watch where you're going!" the earth stallion grunted.
"Sorry. Got lost in though-"
"You pegasi really irritate me sometimes. You fly all high and proud in the sky but as SOON as you touch ground you can't tell right from left!" the earth stallion continued to rant.
Jet tried to just move around him, but the earth stallion kept stepping in his way.
"DUDE!"
"You think you can just walk away from me?" the earth stallion challenged.
Now Jet was the one getting irritated.
"Maybe not, but I can sure do this!"
With that, Jet lifted off the floor and flew over and past the aggressive stallion.
"Lousy jerk," he said as he landed a safe distance away from the scene of confrontation. _____________
Shade continued to walk beside Celestia, wincing every now and then from the soreness in his legs. They eventually reached the classroom Shade would be assigned to. Before entering, Shade stopped.
"Princess Celestia?"
"Yes, Shade Vortex?"
"I just want to thank you for everything you've done for me up to this point. You had me nursed back to health, gave me this opportunity to improve my skills, and encouraged me when I began to have doubts. I will not let you down now, and will give this my best effort," Shade stated in a confident yet slightly painful stance.
"I have no doubt that you will. Now, I think it's time you meet your class."
With that, they entered the class. The whole class seemed to stop immediately to gaze upon their gracious monarch.
"Hello, Princess Celestia! Do we have a new student joining us today?" the teacher cheerfully asked.
"Indeed. Class, I'd like you all to meet Shade Vortex."
Shade merely waved his hoof as he tensed up with nervousness. It had been a while since he had needed to interact with multiple ponies. He didn't even realize that he was shaking. Or that he was sweating. Or that the Princess had left half a minute ago and he was still standing there.
"Mr. Vortex?" the teacher called.
Shade remained in his trance.
"Mr. Vortex!"
"Huh!?" Shade blurted as his mind snapped back to reality.
“Shade you may take a seat now," the teacher informed him in a tone that said 'this should be obvious.'
Already embarrassed, Shade took an empty seat in the back of the classroom. This way, all the focus would be away from him. Except for when the teacher did what she did next:
"Now then. I am Ms. Sapphire. At this moment we only have less than half an hour before lunch. In the meantime, why don't you tell us about yourself?"
Shade's pupils shrank and his body started to heat up.
"I... I, uh... d-dont know what to talk about," he weakly choked out.
Shade could feel everyone's skepticism. Ms. Sapphire, almost annoyed, responded:
"Well for starters, perhaps you'd like to tell us about your cutie mark?"
Shade started to begin his old habit of fidgeting uncomfortably, turning his head to glance at his cutie mark: 3 blue, slightly bent half-circles that all seemed to converge at one central point like a pinwheel, with a small light blue circle in between each half circle.
"I... think it means I have some talent in teleporting."
Some of his classmates gasped at the mention of teleporting, while Ms. Sapphire was more stricken by the way Shade explained it.
"You think or you know?" she asked with one eyebrow raised.
Shade was getting more uncomfortable now, nervously replying:
"Well... I mean, I'm not *exactly* sure... I can teleport, but I'm not that good at controlling it yet..."
This irked Ms. Sapphire more. Before she could speak however, another student interjected:
"What do you mean you're not exactly sure? You should know by now!"
That was when Shade knew he had to reveal the one embarrassing truth about himself that started all of this and caused him so many hardships the last two months.
"Well... actually, you see... I didn't actually get my mark until... a few weeks ago..." Shade trailed off, immediately hanging his head low.
Some of the same students gasped again even harder. Others started to giggle. The rest just looked at him like he just said his dad was a dragon. Ms. Sapphire stared at him for a while before the lunch bell rang. The class quickly left the room to head for the central cafeteria, a few no longer able to contain their laughter on the way out. Shade could hear nearly all of their remarks:
"Is he serious?"
"What a weirdo."
"Newbie probably won't last a week."
Shade took it all in as he shamefully followed the crowds to the cafeteria. He was glad he brought the remaining bits he had with him that were carried in his new cloak, kindly provided to him by Princess Celestia. _____________
Jet hovered above the floor as he cruised towards the cafeteria. He took a place in line and bought himself some hay fries and a sunflower sandwich, then went to take a seat at a table. While searching for a seat, however, he noticed the same unicorn he saw earlier in the corner of his eye, sitting by himself at an empty table.
*This newcomer looks like he could use a friend, or at least somepony to talk to,* he thought, moving towards the lonely-looking stallion.
"Hey, mind if I take a seat here?" he asked as he floated over with his tray in his hooves.
"Go ahead, I guess. I'm not waiting for anypony..." the unicorn stated in a somewhat discouraged tone.
Jet took a seat across from him and asked:
"This your first day?"
"Yeah."
"Not going so good, is it?"
"No." Jet could tell this stallion was feeling down, watching as he sat there and fiddled with his own hay fries, levitating and shifting them with his telekinesis.
"Yeah, first day is always a bit rough, but you should do fine here as you get used to it. Just try to avoid confrontation with the hot heads and the overly competitive," Jet assured the dark gray stallion.
The stallion just continued to sit there, though, and his expression confirmed that he didn't feel any better.
"Is there... something wrong? You look like something's bothering you," Jet asked.
The unicorn let out a sigh and began:
"I've just... been through a lot recently. Haven't had much contact with anypony for a while."
He proceeded to take a bite of some of his hay fries as Jet looked at him with sympathy.
"You probably don't want to talk about it, do you?" he asked.
The unicorn shook his head as he continued to slowly chew.
"Well, if you ever do want to talk about it, and you need somepony to talk to, you can talk to me. Name's Jet Fly," Jet said with an outstretched hoof.
The unicorn swallowed and returned the gesture, saying:
"Shade Vortex." _______________
Jet and Shade sat with each other every day for the past month, and they quickly became friends. Shade also quickly developed an enemy, much to his dismay.
"I just don't get it, Jet," he went on to explain.
"I never even spoke to anypony in class, but this one guy won't leave me alone. I know I'm new and all, but I think he actually feels threatened by my skills because he's the top in the class."
"I told you this kind of stuff happens, Shade," Jet told his annoyed friend.
"You just gotta ignore it. Over time, what's-his-face will eventually back off."
"I'd like to think so, but that doesn't seem to be the case with Nova Orbit."
Shade said in a distasteful tone.
"You talking about me?" a third, uninvited stallion mocked from behind Shade.
"...You've gotta be kidding me..." Shade groaned as he turned to see Nova Orbit standing behind him.
Nova jabbed a hoof into Shade's chest as he said:
"You just watch your back and stay outta my way, newbie. This is my turf, and no place for a weirdo like you."
"Come on Nova, leave him alone. He's not causing any trouble," Jet defended.
"I don't think I was talking to you, featherbrain, so pipe down," Nova barked.
"Listen, Nova. I don't know what your deal is, but please just leave me alone," Shade said firmly.
"What're you gonna do about it, newbie?" Nova asked, shoving Shade in the chest, making him stumble back.
"DUDE!" Jet exclaimed.
“Don't. Push me," Shade said in a tone colder than ice, regaining his balance.
He then proceeded to stand up on his hind legs, slightly towering over Nova. Now the whole cafeteria was staring at the ongoing confrontation. Nova just looked up at the standing stallion with pure cockiness.
"Why not?"
Push.
"Do something. I DARE you."
Push.
Shade's pupils shrank as his face changed from an expression of annoyance to pure rage. Regaining his balance again, and gritting his teeth, he punched Nova. Right in the face.
"OOF!"
Jet's jaw dropped and the growing crowd gasped and "oohed" as Nova fell over, rubbing his swelling face.
"YOU LITTLE-"
Nova's exclamation was cut short as a blue aura enveloped him, and Shade, back on all fours, lifted Nova and slammed him against the wall with his telekinesis.
"AAARRGHH!!!" Nova yelled as he struggled against the strength of Shade's telekinesis that kept him pinned against the wall.
The crowd was going nuts.
"Dude let him go!"
Jet yelled to his enraged friend, but Shade's grip wasn't letting up. If anything it was growing stronger.
"SHADE!"
But Shade was long gone, consumed by anger and frustration as he forced Nova harder against the wall. Everything was broken up when a loud, regal voice called Shade's attention.
"SHADE VORTEX!"
The crowd stopped its commotion as Princess Celestia stormed through the cafeteria. Shade's rage fleed him, and he immediately released his hold on Nova, who fell to the floor, groaning in pain. Shade was completely shocked when he realized what he had done.
"I...I-I...."
Celestia stood almost directly behind him.
"WHAT has gotten INTO you?" Celestia demanded.
Shade continued to stammer, sitting down on the cold cafeteria floor, tears forming in his eyes.
"...What have I done..."
And with that, Shade completely broke down as he collapsed onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably and curled up in a shameful ball of regret. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Shade continued on the path to the Everfree Forest, still wiping straggling tears from his goodbye to his friends and family. The afternoon air was getting chilly, leading Shade to pull the hood of his tan cloak over his head with his fully-mastered telekinesis.
He had prepared for this journey for a few years, learning any skill and storing any resources he would need for the trip. In his saddle bag, he had 1000 bits in case he stumbled into a town and a map of Equestria in case he got lost. Back at his former high school, he had learned how to create a light to shine from his horn for when it got dark. He also took a course on plant life to know which plants in the wild were safe for eating. As far as he could tell, Shade was all set for beginning his time of self-discovery to find out what he was supposed to be - his Journey to Nowhere.
Shade looked back at the shrinking sight of his home, mentally saying goodbye in hopes that his friends would somehow hear him. Part of him wanted to stay behind, to forfeit his cutie mark in favor of his loved ones - and his loved one.
*Fluttershy,* he thought to himself as he trotted along the forest path.
*I don't know why, but I think I love her. We've been friends for so long, and she was always so kind. We never fought, never had an argument. She always supported me, and I always encouraged her to express her opinion, which I listened to and considered.*
Shade smiled as he remembered all the good memories of letters exchanged between them while he was in Canterlot. His reminiscing had to come to an end, however, as he realized how deep he had gotten into the Everfree, and how dark it was getting.
*Lousy Fall timing. Getting darker much sooner nowadays. I'll have to rest somewhere safe, and quick. It's never good to hang around here in the dark.*
He knew of the dangers that resided in the treacherous forest, but it was the only way out of town without taking the train, and he wanted to save bits. So on he trudged, searching for a place to rest. He noticed a rock cave a few meters ahead.
*Good. Hopefully nothing lives here already and I can briefly stay here. It's a bit far though. What I wouldn't give to be able to teleport and get there quicker...* Shade thought to himself as he quickened his pace.
All his teen life he'd been fascinated with teleportation. He tried many times in the past to perform it, but failed each time. It was too advanced of a skill. Nevertheless, he remained marveled by the concept.
Eventually he reached the cave. Just in time, too. Shade heard faint howls in the distance. He took notice of a large, loose boulder beside the cave entrance. Once he entered, he strained as he moved the boulder to block the cave entrance partially with his telekinesis, covering it just enough so that no predators could enter. Which was of course pleasing to Shade. He didn't care for being attacked by Timber Wolves or anything else while he rested for the night. The gaps between the top of the boulder and the roof of the cave entrance served as a natural window that allowed him to still partially see outside. Share flickered on his horn light to scope out the interior of his temporary rocky residence. It did not extend too far deep into the mountain it was embedded in, which meant there was, thankfully, no room for any bears or dragons to lurk in the shadows and attack Shade from the depths of the cave. Pulling his cloak closely around him and laying on the dirt floor, Shade got as comfortable as he could get as he began to rest. Half worrying about what the future held for him and half feeling homesick already, Shade's thoughts began to slow and fade as he drifted into slumber. ____________
Shade awoke in the night to the sound of faint but definite scratching at his makeshift stone barrier. Immediately startled, Shade slowly rose from the ground, breathing heavily. He knew what was on the other side of the boulder.
*Timber Wolf...*
He wasn't sure of how many there were, but he knew he had to move. He would have to try and crush the wooden hound with the boulder, and make a run for it. He gulped as he slowly approached his only shield between him and the unknown number of Timber Wolves waiting at his door.
*Here goes nothing...*
With that, the boulder was enveloped in a blue aura, and Shade strained as he pushed the rock forward. The following sound of a yip and crunching bark confirmed he had crushed at least one Timber Wolf under the boulder. Then he saw the other three that had moved out of the way. Time seemed to slow as the trio of Timber Wolves all lunged forward to make a meal out of the lone unicorn stricken with fear.
"AAAARRRGHHH!!!"
Shade yelled as he closed his eyes and pushed the lunging logs of death back with a telekinetic wave. Shade stood briefly amazed at his own hidden mental strength, but quickly snapped out of it to make a break for the outside trail before the piles of branches could reform. Quckly galloping through the nighttime forest, cloak fluttering in the wind, Shade spotted a hut some distance away from a patch of blue plants he recognized from his studies as poison joke. Leaping over the comedic weeds, Shade stumbled and neared the hut. Reaching it, he fiercely knocked on the door, looking over his shoulder to see if anymore threats were following him. To his dismay, he heard more howls.
"IF SOMEONE'S IN HERE PLEASE OPEN UP! I'M BEING CHASED BY TIMBER WOLVES!"
There was no reply for a while, and Shade's fear grew as he glanced the ravenous creatures coming into view. They drew near quickly, and Shade's heart was beating at lightning speed. He closed his eyes, not wanting to watch whatever happened next. The Timber Wolves, however, stopped just before the patch of poison joke, sniffing it and immediately turning away. Shade slowly opened an eye as the pack fled in the opposite direction, much to his relief.
Soon the door behind him opened, and Shade turned to see a creature he had come to recognize as a Zebra from his studies. The Zebra blinked her tired eyes for a moment. She must have been woken from sleep. She yawned and said:
"Greetings, traveler of the night. What brings you here in such a fright?"
Shade, intrigued at first by the Zebra's rhyming, shakily answered:
"H-hello... I was traveling through this area but was chased down by a hungry pack of beasts... I need a safe refuge to stay for just the night."
The tired Zebra simply nodded and said:
"Take refuge in my home for now..."
The Zebra yawned, and continued:
"...Not safe to wander when the sun is down."
Thanking the hospitable stranger, Shade followed the Zebra inside, quickly closed the door behind him with his telekinesis, and collapsed onto the floor.
Princess Celestia sat on her throne, Shade Vortex in front of her. Shade's entire demeanor was grim, broken, and full of shame and regret. He couldn't even bare to look the solar monarch in the eyes, his own still red and dripping tears infrequently.
When Celestia first saw what took place earlier in the cafeteria, she thought she'd made a mistake by pushing such an aggressive and uncontrollable stallion to join her school. But when she saw how he had reacted when he realized what he had done - the pain and regret in his eyes, his trembling voice, and the unforgettable sobs of true mental anguish - she began to feel pity for her troubled subject. Something obviously happened to him, and she had a feeling it was connected to the past events of his life, right before he appeared in Canterlot.
"Shade," Celestia finally began, Shade still unable to face her.
"Usually when an event such as this takes place, the offending student would be expelled and placed in custody immediately."
Shade said nothing, his mouth quivering, body heating, and eyes stinging. He simply closed his eyes, waiting for this nightmare he had created to end.
"But after getting all the facts from a certain pegasus, and other eye witnesses, I understand you were provoked from weeks of being bullied. While your actions cannot go unpunished, they will not be nearly as severe since you were a victim in all of this. I cannot say the same for Nova Orbit, however. As soon as he is discharged by the medical staff, he will not be allowed to continue to attend."
Shade couldn't even enjoy the news of his being permitted to continue to attend, still struggling with his conscience.
"Something is clearly troubling you, my student," Celestia said with sincere concern.
Shade looked up finally, his eyes red with tears from silent sobs.
"Tell me... what happened to you in the time before you appeared in Canterlot?"
Shade quickly turned away as his tears began to flow again at the mention of that awful period of his life. Celestia knew the troubled unicorn didn't want to talk about this, but she couldn't help him if she didn't know exactly what was wrong.
Shade felt a warm wing around him as the Alicorn Princess had walked over to give him the comforting embrace, sitting by his side. Shade could control himself no longer as he quickly burried the side of his face in her soft, pearl fur, breaking down in tears. Celestia only wrapped her wing closer around the crying stallion, giving him time to get himself together. _________________ One year later _________________
“I've gathered you together to put you through a team bonding exercises. These will hopefully build trust among you and your partner," Celestia said in her regal, firm voice through the mike.
While saying a few other things about trust and whatnot, the pegasus stallion Jet Fly and the unicorn stallion Shade Vortex turned to look at each other as murmurs ran throughout the stadium.
“Team bonding exercises? Have they ever done this before?" Jet asked.
“Not that I know of. But then again, we haven't really heard much about this school's past," answered Shade in his tough but calm voice.
Much had happened up to this point. News had reached Canterlot how Nightmare Moon had returned, but was soon defeated by the rediscovered, legendary Elements of Harmony. The former Princess of the Night, Luna, was now reunited with her sister as she underwent her reproval.
On the other hoof, after the "fight" about a year ago, Shade had gone through therapeutic training to control both his temper and magic. As a result, he had an extremely calm disposition and was now a skilled mage.
His teleporting skills had improved drastically, and he could now teleport objects separately from himself with a warp beam. Jet in the meantime had been a supportive friend the entire time, and through some intense training (and a small spell by Shade), had learned how to create small currents in the air that nearly traveled at the speed of sound. “Wind Blades" as he called them were caused when he swung or flapped his wings or tail really fast. Because of his years of training this wasn't really much of a challenge, all he really needed to do was harness his "Pegasus magic" and flap or swing. But they were only capable of cutting bread at this point. But the loyal friends had been through it all together, through thick and thin.
Helping out when the other one needed help, and in the end, they both gained something. For Shade, a trusty friend and for Jet, crazy powers.
“Still sounds like fun to me. Just gives me an excuse to use my wind blades," Jet said slyly, with a small smile creeping onto his face.
Shade merely rolled his eyes.
“Pfft... please, what use would they have? Unless they have bread that needs to be sliced."
Before Jet could retort, the microphone boomed as Celestia ordered silence. Once that was attained, she continued:
“The trials consist of 3 challenges. The first will be a puzzle challenge, the second will be an obstacle course, and the third is a cooperation challenge. Those that pass all the challenges will get a significant amount of extra credit and more."
Excited whispers ran rampant throughout the area. Some were stating how they could really use the extra credit, while others said that they didn't really care about the credit but liked the prospect of a challenge.
“Extra credit, huh? That could actually help me out a little," said Jet with an inquisitive look.
Shade raised an eyebrow at this and asked, skeptically:
“I thought you already have straight A's?"
Jet merely shrugged and answered:
“Extra credit doesn't hurt."
“I'm not going to force any of you to participate, and if you don't feel inclined to do it, I won't object. But, I would greatly appreciate it if you did. All those who would like to test their skills shall meet me after this assembly. And with that, I shall end this meeting. A good day to you all," finished Celestia.
With the meeting over, ponies started to file out. As Jet watched Shade walk to the door, he sat back with this head gears in full blast.
“Wait"
The word stopped Shade and encouraged him to turn around. He looked at Jet with a questioning look.
“I think we should try to pass these trials," Jet stated.
“But why? We don't need the credit. We're both straight A students."
“It's not about that. I can feel it. Something's up. No way the Princess would go through the trouble of making an entire arena just for one occasion."
“What do you think she really has planned then?"
Jet frowned at this as his head gears continued to turn.
“I'm not sure, but I'm almost certain that she has something special planned for the winners. I think we should find out what that is."
“Eh, I don't know..." Shade said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
“C'mon, we could totally win. I'm the fastest flier here, and your the most talented unicorn I know. Combine your raw power with my intellect, and we would almost certainly win," Jet insistence.
Shade finally relented under his friends stare.
“Fine, not like I have anything better to do. But don't be upset when all we get is extra credit."
“YES!" Jet said as he jumped up in victory.
“Let's go! We don't wanna be late!" he exclaimed excitedly as he hovered his way over to the back of the stage where the Princess was waiting for the participants. ______________
“Shade, Jet, greetings. I was hoping I would see you two back here," said the Princess as the two ponies in question made their way onto the stage.
“Always a pleasure, Princess Celestia," Jet said charmingly as he bowed down and took the Princess' regal hoof, placing a small kiss upon it.
This action caused the Princess to erupt a small giggle.
“Such a gentlecolt as always, Jet," giggled the solar diarch.
Shade simply rolled his eyes at the display.
*What is up with him?* he thought.
“Hello Princess. Good to see you again."
“Good to see you again as well Shade Vortex. I hope all has been well for you two?" she asked.
They both nodded.
“Excellent. Now we can begin. Come, let us enter the back room where the other participants are waiting for my return."
Once they made their way to the room, Celestia motioned for the two to take their seats alongside the other small hoof-full of ponies in attendance. Jet noticed that there weren't nearly as many ponies as he thought there would be, but shrugged it off as he and Shade took their seats.
“Now that we're all here, I would like to thank you all for accepting my offer," she began.
“The trials were built to test you and your partner to the fullest. Testing reflexes, power, and skill. But I warn you, it will not be easy, so I give you all a final chance: those that would not like to participate may leave now."
When no-pony got up, she smiled and continued.
“Good. Now, as mentioned earlier, there are 3 trials. The first one you have to worry about is a puzzle. If you can solve it and successfully make out the pattern, you win. But no magic or flight will be allowed in this test. The second is an obstacle course, and in this one you can use anything you think will help you succeed. Make it to the end without being hit or giving up, and you win. The third is a team work exercise where you'll be pitted in teams against each other. I'll explain that one better when we get to that part. But for now, let's make our way to the first trial. Please follow me."
She then started for the door. Shade looked at Jet with a look that said “Are you sure about this?" Jet simply nodded.
The small band of ponies made their way deeper into the gym and into a giant hall way. As they walked, the walls slowly started to lose their pure white concrete to brown and black rock.
“I don't remember ever seeing this part of the gym before. This is huge, how is this not visible from outside?" Shade asked inquisitively as the band entered into a large waiting room.
The room was uneventful. It was composed of 4 corners, was about 20 square meters big, and was easily 30 meters high.
“My guess is that it's built into the mountain. That's the only way. Plus, look at the walls. They're solid rock, not the concrete and marble of the castle and gym. Whoever built this meant for this to be kept hidden from the outside," Jet stated with a serious look as they slowly made their way to a door on the other side.
“On the other side of this door is the puzzle. I will let you in one pair at a time. I will call your names and you will enter through the doors. The first pair will be Shatter and Moon Scale. Please come with me."
The two ponies in question looked at each other with excited eyes and made their way to the princess. As they passed through the doors all the rest of the ponies made their way to different corners of the room. As Jet and Shade sat down on their haunches, Jet closed his eyes and mentally prepared his mind for the upcoming test. Shade closed his eyes and began harnessing his raw power into energy he could use. Neither said anything as they both concentrated. They had been through this phase before. Mostly before tests. When they were like this, they had no reason to speak, for they had an understanding.
Jet had no idea how much time had passed as he finally heard his name called. They were both surprised to find out that they were the last ones left in the room. As they made their way to the Princess, Jet and Shade shared an intense look that said “Let's do this."
“Are you two ready?" Celestia asked.
The dynamic duo nodded in confidence as the Princess smiled.
“Very well," she exclaimed as they made their way through the double doors.
What was on the other side made Jet gasp and Shade narrow his eyes a bit.
Jet gasped as he took the entire room in. The “Tile Room," as Celestia called it, was amazing. It was an enormous room and the walls were composed entirely out of brownish stone. Four black torches adorned each wall, each one lit, lighting up the otherwise dark room. But the walls and ceiling weren't what was amazing, it was the floor that really caught their eyes. It was adorned with tiles, each one with a picture of something on it.
Each row of tiles had seven tiles. There were seven rows in total, leading all the way to a small landing on the other side of the room. Each tile seemed to be made out of dark brownish stone, and the image adorned upon it was engraved on its center.
“Whoa..." both Jet and Shade said at the same time.
“Yes, the Tile Room is quite a marvel to behold. I will repeat the instructions one last time for you. All you have to do is make it to the other side of the room without using magic or flight. If you use either, you're disqualified. If you get hit, your disqualified. That's about it. There is no specific time limit, but you must beat your competitors times to move on. Understand?" Celestia asked.
After the duo shook their heads yes, Celestia flew to the other side of the room.
“May the odds be ever in your favor."
Once Celestia left through the door on the opposite side, Jet began to take notice of the pictures on the tiles.
“This is obviously a trap room. If we step on the wrong tile, we'll activate some sort of trap. The key is to figure out the pattern. Look closely at the first and second row. Is there anything they have in common?"
Shade knelt down and began to study the tiles. The first row had as follows: a triangle, a horseshoe, a cake, a blanket, a lightbulb, grass, and a basket. The second had: bats, what appeared to be sound waves, a weird shape that looked like a blob, a small claw, a ribbon, a cow, and a box.
“I have no idea. I can't gain anything from these emblems. They seem totally random."
“There's gotta be something. Let's keep looking at the other rows."
“But the pics are so small. I can't see all the way to the last row."
Shade continued to squint to see the opposite side of the room.
“I can. Natural pegasus vision."
Jet countered as he continued to scan the floor.
“Oh yeah. Forgot about that."
The third row had: a napkin, a cap, wire, a pony, an ear, water, and a bowl. The fourth had: a fruit of some sort, a balloon, a bridge, paper, a dragon, a goat, and a bell. The fifth had: glasses, a cello, a lyre, the earth, wings, ice, and a feather. The sixth had: dust, a knife, a cottage, a large tree, the sun, a number two, and a door handle. The seventh had: a quill, lettuce, smoke, a swirling mass that looked akin to a galaxy, a sword, a weird bipedal creature with four limbs that Jet recognized as a human, and finally the last tile was all black, empty of any symbol.
Jet relayed to Shade what he saw so that they could discuss it.
“I don't get it. They seem so random. I can't detect any sort of pattern. Besides the fact that each row has inanimate objects. You think that's the pattern?"
“I don't know... there are multiple inanimate objects on each row. What if we accidentally choose the wrong ones? We can't take that risk."
Jet continued to think. He closed his eyes and concentrated even harder.
“Think Jet, Think! What do these things have in common? What's the pattern?"
“Hey, don't cows eat grass?"
Shade's statement was more of a factual tone than as a question. Jets eyes popped open at this revelation. Shade was right. And he might be on to something. Jet had a hypothesis now, but wasn't sure if it was correct or not yet. He continued to scan the next row.
*Grass, cow, napkin? No no, that doesn't make sense. Wait... grass, cow, pony? That makes sense!*
A small smile crept Jet's face as he began to make the connection. Shade noticed this and angled his head in question.
“I found the pattern, Shade."
“What is it?"
“Look at the first three. You were right about the connection between the cow and grass. The next one in line is the pony. Don't you see?"
Shade wasn't really catching on. Then it hit him like an express train.
“The food chain?"
“Not the food chain exactly, but more like the natural order. If we go by this pattern, the next safe tile should be the dragon, then the earth, then the Sun, and finally the galaxy. You get it? It's just going by order of the lowest, to the highest. Cows eat grass, ponies own cows, dragons are more powerful and dangerous than any pony, and the earth is where we all live. The sun provides life for the earth. And finally, the galaxy holds it all."
Jet jumped up as he reveled in their discovery.
“WE DID IT BUDDY! WE FIGURED IT OUT!"
“Calm down, we're not done yet. Just because we're almost certain of the pattern, doesn't mean that we have the correct one."
Jet immediately stopped and rubbed his neck.
“Yeah, your right. I'll try it out first."
Jet slowly made his way to the grass tile. Shade narrowed his eyes as he waited with pins and needles for Jet to either succeed in making it to the other side, or trigger a trap and risk getting them both disqualified. A bead of sweat dripped off Jet's face as he got even closer to the tile in question.
*I sure hope this works*
There was a moment of silence as Jet placed his hoof on the cold tile. Both ponies waited for something to happen. Then finally... nothing. Nothing happened. Either they were correct in figuring out the pattern, or this tile was defective. The latter was highly unlikely, so the only logical conclusion was that they had successfully figured out the pattern.
Jet let out a sigh of relief as he finally put all of his weight on the one tile, making sure to avoid all the others.
“Let me make it to the end first. Then you. Just to be safe."
Jet continued his journey to the cow tile, flinching as he put his weight on it. Again, nothing happened. At this point, Jet was more confident about their plan and was even more eager to get to the other side. Next was the pony, then the dragon, the earth, sun, and finally the galaxy. Once Jet finally stepped hoof on the other side of the room, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
“It worked Shade, It's safe! You can come across now."
Shade gulped as he made his way to the grass.
“Let's get this over with."
He stepped on the first one, then the cow, and then the pony. But something happened when Shade made his way to the dragon.
He stopped and shook his head. He started sweating profusely, his pupils shrank, and his breathing sped up. Jet took notice of his friend's panicking and yelled out to him.
“Don't worry it's safe... Shade, can you hear me? SHADE!"
But it was no use. Shade wasn't there anymore, only a shell. Shade couldn't hear anything besides his own screams and the roars of his past. He closed his eyes as he started screaming at something that wasn't there.
“No... NO! GET AWAY!"
Shade's mind began flooding with memories of caves, running, and a large, terrifying dragon. He was no longer in Canterlot, he was far away in the Everfree Forest, running for his life from the fear of his life.
Jet had no idea what was going on. His best friend was now lying on the pony tile, screaming and yelling at something while rubbing his face and head like it was on fire. Whatever he was seeing was intense. But then, something even more dangerous happened. He started rolling over. Any farther and he would lean on the other tile next to it, surely activating a trap.
Jet quickly looked around himself to find something he could use to help his friend snap out of his trance. Finding a pebble to be the only thing available, he quickly kicked it with his foreleg at full speed towards Shade. It succeeded in hitting his face, seeming to bring him back to reality, but it also caught him off guard, sending him back a bit, stepping on the tile behind him. A loud crack echoed through the room as the incorrect tile sunk into the floor.
"Uh oh..."
Shade, now back to the present, was trying to clear his head, which was in an unexplained pain. While trying to remember where he was, he caught a glimpse of Jet waving his hooves at him in an erratic way. He also seemed to be yelling something. He then began to remember his situation, and the trials, and the tiles. Then it hit him.
“Crap..."
In the span of a few seconds, arrows flew out of the walls at breakneck speeds. One whipped past his snout, mere millimeters from his face. Acting fast, he jumped to the next tile just in time as three arrows flew directly where he was just sitting.
“C'MON SHADE! YOU'RE ALMOST HERE!"
Shade hopped up and landed on the next safe tile. Only three more to go. Seeing an arrow fly right for his face, Shade acted fast and jumped to the side, landing on his belly on the tile next to him. Unfortunately, the safe tile was directly in front of him...
“OH C'MON!"
Another loud snap resounded throughout the room once again. Shade jumped on the sun as the incorrect tile sunk into the floor, just as the other one had. For a second, Shade questioned whether or not something was gonna happened. But then the tile got hot... really hot. Shade yelped and jumped to the next tile as his hooves burned from the intense heat emanating from the slabs of stone. The next tile was cool to the touch, and it gave him a sense of relief, but it didn't last as he realized that two more arrows were aimed for his face and flank.
Going full speed, Shade did a complete barrel roll onto the other side of the room, finally landing on the safe side. They had finished it, finally. Shade sighed as he took a moment to relax. Jet watched as his mentally and physically exhausted friend laid on his belly in an attempt to relax.
Finally, after about ten seconds, Jet grabbed his friend's tail and dragged him through the doors. They were greeted by a smiling Celestia.
“Well done you two. You both finished with outstanding times and without being hit. I'm very impressed."
Jet was a bit confused.
“How did you know?"
Celestia motioned to a screen showing the tile room. It had plastered on it the arrows still flying and an entire row of now red hot tiles.
“You two have passed with the fastest time ever. And your the only pair to trigger a trap and not get hit. I'm very impressed," she said with a smile.
Shade, on the other hoof, was not smiling. He was not happy at all. His face grew hot with his pent up rage.
“Do you know what you put me through? I could have died if one of those arrows had hit me! And my hooves could have been burned off if I stayed on those tiles any longer than I had!"
Shade seethed through his grinding teeth. He was obviously trying to contain his anger. Celestia, unfazed by Shade's obvious rage, kept her smile.
“You were perfectly safe the entire time. The arrows were made out of rubber, and the heated tiles were simply heat rocks, meant for warming up reptiles. It only reached a certain temperature. It burns, but it doesn't permanently hurt you."
Both Shade and Jet's mouth dropped at this revelation.
“So... I wasn't in any real danger?"
“No, and if things did eventually get out of hoof, I could always shut it down with this switch."
She then motioned to a small red switch on the wall. Once she flicked it down, the stones on the screen turned back to brown, and the arrows stopped shooting out the wall.
“I-I'm sorry Princess. I should have known you would have everything under control..."
Shade sheepishly rubbed his neck.
“No worries Shade Vortex. Your concerns are entirely reasonable. You were simply worrying about your safety."
With everything cleared up and the first trial completed, they began their way to the other contenders on the other side of the waiting room. This one was almost exactly the same as the other one, with the exception of the screen and switch. The other ponies looked just as exhausted as they did.
“I wonder how everypony else did," Jet asked as they took their place near the rear of the group.
“I'm extremely proud of you all for attempting this trial. It was not easy, and that was the point. But unfortunately, some of you did not follow the rules, and are thus disqualified."
She then proceeded to call a few pairs of ponies who were now disqualified. But, being a generous Princess, she promised to give them extra credit anyway for their troubles. After a guard escorted them out, Celestia turned to face the remaining pairs. There were only five pairs left.
“I'm proud of you all for succeeding in passing the Tile Room by using both ingenuity and teamwork. But it's not over yet. There are still two more tests you have to pass. With that in mind, let us make our way to the next one. Come, follow me."
The group of ponies thus departed as they made their way to the next trial. Jet turned to Shade to ask about to ask about the incident.
“Hey, wanna tell me what happened to you back there?"
A grunt and solid “No" was all Jet got in response. Jet decided not to push it, and decided to drop the topic for now. The remainder of the walk was made in silence. As they made their way to the next trial, Jet could only think about what other traps and challenges awaited him and Shade...
As the small band of ponies and the solar Princess continued their walk down the seemingly endless hallway to the next trial, Jet turned to Shade and couldn't help but wonder why he went so crazy back at the tile room.
*He was fine until he reached the dragon tile, I wonder why it spooked him so much.*
Shade for his part was trying to ignore the weird look Jet was giving him and decided to keep concentrating on his magic.
*Celestia said that any kind of magic is legit in the next trial. What was it again? An obstacle course? Yeah, that sounds about right.*
Shade turned to check out his competition. He couldn't help but crack a small smile.
*These ponies have no idea what their in for.*
Finally, the five pairs of ponies and the Princess finally made it to a tall black door. It itself seemed to be made out of obsidian or some other type of dark stone. It was also very big, almost reaching the 8 pony tall ceiling. Shade raised an eyebrow when Celestia pushed it open with her magic seemingly effortlessly.
*That door must weigh a ton. How did she open it with such ease? How much power is she hiding?*
Shade's thoughts stopped as he took in the marvel behind the door.
“Welcome, students, to the next test. The obstacle course."
All of them took in a collective gasp. Jet and Shade spoke in awe simultaneously.
"Dang..."
The room was massive, being at least 100 ponies long and wide, and at least 50 ponies high. It was mostly white, with a few black spots that looked oddly like burn marks. But strangely enough, there was no floor for the most part.
The entire middle up until a few hooves lengths, just enough for two rows of ponies to stand, was made up of water. The only way across seemed to be the small but plentiful bridges that ran just above the waters surface. But what adorned nearly every inch of the gigantic room was what really took everypony's breath away.
The obstacle course was huge, taking up almost the entire room. It was composed of all kinds of crazy things and obstacles. One area contained three giant axes swinging back and forth, just barely grazing the small bridge under it. Another area had no such things, but the pathway itself was moving randomly, in an almost erratic manner. A small bridge had two walls on each side, with small pistons the size of hooves pumping in and out of the walls. Not even the air was safe, because giant turning rings and squares were lined randomly near the ceiling. But what caught Jet's eyes were the five flamethrowers that adorned one wall.
*So THAT'S where those burn marks came from.*
Shade was more shocked than impressed.
“Why is there even a room like this? What purpose could this death trap possibly serve?" Shade whispered to Jet.
“No idea. What I do know is that we need to pass. If Celestia really built this just for this occasion, the pay off must be huge."
Jet never took his eyes off the course as he replied. Celestia finally spoke again to the group.
“This room was built for the royal guard to train and work out in."
Most of the ponies "ah'd" or said “that makes sense," but Shade and Jet merely looked at each other and shared a look that said the same thing: bull crap. Shade grumbled as he whispered to Jet.
“These ponies are fools if they believe that lie. This is at least a mile into the mountain and we have only seen one guard this entire time."
“Yea, and plus I've talked to multiple guards about their training, and none of them have ever mentioned having to jump away from giant bear traps."
Jet then pointed a hoof at a bridge lined with metal clamps lined with sharp teeth to emphasize his point. Celestia addressed the group again as she explained the rules.
“The rules are very simple: make it to the other side of the room without falling in or touching the water. You are allowed to use any kind of magic you wish to use. But do not try to aim at your fellow competitors or you will be automatically disqualified. Understand?"
They all nodded in agreement, except for Shade, who just kinda snorted.
“Good, now all of you take your place in front of one of the paths."
The Princess then pointed to the five paths that led to the other side. The five pairs of ponies did as they were told and took their places along the curved lines. Jet's mind switched into overdrive as he realized that the flying axes were his first obstacle.
*Ok, so each axe takes an entire three seconds to go down and up again. The axe in the middle is swinging in the opposite direction, also taking three seconds. That means there's a direct straight away at exactly three seconds. If I can move fast enough, I can make it through the straight away with 0.5 seconds to spare. LET'S DO THIS!*
Jet prepared his body and mind for the grueling test of his physical and mental strength that was almost upon him. Jet looked to his right to see how Shade was doing, and he was quite shocked to him smirking. Shade seemed as calm as ever. Jet had seen that face before. He saw it every time they had a staring contest. It was his “I got this" face, as Jet liked to call it. Shade rarely ever used it, as he was skeptical and questioned everything, so Jet didn't really understand why Shade seemed so calm in the face of such an intense test. But Jet quickly got his focus back as he heard the Princess say:
“On your mark..."
At her words, the entire room got insanely tense as all the ponies knelt down and prepared to run. All except for Shade, who still stood high, looking as calm as ever.
“Get set..."
All the ponies got even lower to the ground, just waiting to hear those final words...
“GO!"
And they were off, each pony running in the direction of the first obstacle. But just before Jet could take off at the axes, having timed his aerial flight perfectly in sync with the axes, Shade suddenly yelled:
“Stop!"
Jet was taken off guard, but decided to concede anyway to confront his partner.
“DUDE! We gotta get going, or else we're gonna lose!"
Jet almost yelled at Shade in hopes of getting him to start running. But to no avail, because he simply kept his confident smirk.
“No. Let them get as far as they want, it doesn't matter."
Now Jet was curious.
“I-I don't understand. Why aren't we running and flying right now?"
“Give me a second and you'll see."
Shade's horn immediately glowed with a blue hue and his eyes locked onto the other side of the room. Then, *flash!* In an instant both Jet and Shade were on the other side of the room. Jet was at a loss for words. Shade on the other hoof calmly trotted to a corner and layed down. Back to his senses, Jet shot a look behind his shoulder, then back at his friend, then back to the other ponies still trying to pass the second obstacle, then back to his friend.
“Did you-"
“Yep."
“Aww ponyfeathers, I was all pumped and stuff, then you just teleported us over here."
Jet's tone hinted a saddened, disappointed feeling. Shade chuckled as he replied.
“Hey, you're more than welcome to fly back over there."
“Nah, I'll spare myself the trouble. But isn't teleporting kinda cheating?"
“Nope. The Princess specifically said that any kind of magic was allowed. I simply used the magic I felt would get us here faster."
“Hmmm, I guess your right. And hey, I didn't get nauseated this time. Looks like you've been practicing."
“I have. Thank you for noticing."
Far back on the beginning side of the room, Celestia stood with a small smile and a shake of her head.
“I should have known that would happen. I did say that any magic was allowed. Guess I'd better go greet the winners."
And with a thought, a flap, and a *flash!* She was standing right next to Jet Fly.
“WHOA! Didn't see that coming!"
Jet hovered back a few feet, having been taken off guard. Celestia immediately turned to look at Shade.
“That was an unorthodox way to win," she said with a grin.
“I'm an unorthodox pony. Besides, I followed the rules."
“I suppose you did. Let us wait for the rest of the competitors to make it to the end before we move on."
Celestia still retained her smile as she turned to look back on the rest of the competitors. Jet flinched as a large earth pony got punched in the gut by a piston and fell into the water.
“Umm, Princess? Are those axes and flamethrowers real? Because if one of them were to be hit by one..."
Jet trailed off as the rest of his sentence was obvious. Shade's ears perked up at the question and looked at Celestia, clearly hoping for an answer himself. Celestia only smiled.
“Most of it is an illusion really. I have ten highly-skilled unicorns watching from a small room near this one, constantly keeping up the illusion. I wanted to see how you all would fare under such pressure. After the rest of them make it over here, I'll show you what truly lies underneath the illusions. But know that they are in no real danger."
Satisfied with his answer for the moment, Jet returned his attention back to the ponies still running on the track. One pair was dodging and ducking underneath giant rotating beams. Another pair were timing the flamethrowers. Another was running full speed as the bridge behind them was sinking underneath the water. And two pegasi were flying high, trying to dodge the rings, beams, and... arrows, that littered the sky. Seeing these ponies struggle actually made Jet happy that Shade had teleported them directly over to the end.
After about five more minutes of running, grunting, and splashing, all the pairs had finally made it to the end. Every last one of them looked extremely exhausted, and they were panting hard. Most threw them dirty looks after seeing that they had teleported to the end. All Jet could do was give them a sympathetic shrug. After counting all the pairs that hadn't fallen into the water, only two pairs were left: Shade Vortex and Jet Fly, and a pegasus mare called Sky High and a rather large earth pony stallion called Tumbler.
“I thank you all for participating once again, and once again I'm extremely proud of you all for making it through such a grueling course. But alas, only these four ponies will be moving onto the next trial. But for those who didn't make it completely dry, I assure you you will be given a week of vacation and you will still earn some extra credit for your troubles," Celestia said, trying to cheer up the downtrodden pairs who couldn't make it without hitting the water.
It had the desired effect as each of them grew a smile at hearing their rewards. Satisfied with now easing the tension in the room, she ushered everyone to look at the now empty obstacle course.
“As some of you may have noticed, you were never in any real danger. Most of it was an illusion, see?"
Celestia motioned to the various obstacles. At that moment, all the axes became wood beams with slight curves. The flamethrowers were mere metal tubes. And the bear traps became patches of soapy water. Understandably, all the ponies in attendance, save for Celestia herself, were in an udder state of confusion. She took it upon herself to explain.
“You see, everything was simply trying to get you to fall into the water. The swinging beams and pistons would knock you over. The slippery, soapy spots were meant to throw you off balance. And of course, the arrows and other sharp objects were made from rubber. The main purpose for disguising them as real weapons was to see how you all would do under pressure, and you all exceeded my expectations. Come, let us leave this place."
She then began to walk out the other set of large obsidian doors and make her way out into the hall way. Already in the hallway to greet them was a set of guards, who escorted the unsuccessful ponies back to the castle. After they were long gone, Celestia turned to the remaining four ponies.
“I am extremely proud of you all for making it this far. But don't rest just yet, for there is one more remaining trial for you to face. Follow me to final challenge."
The four ponies did so as Celestia began her slow ascent up a flight of stairs near the obsidian doors. Jet let out a sigh as they made their way up the stairs after their Princess.
“Almost Finished."
Shade nodded, but started thinking to himself.
*What other tricks does Celestia have up her sleeve?*
Jet seemed to read his friend's thoughts as he spoke with a smile.
“We got this. We just have to continue to work together. Together, we can accomplish anything."
And off they went, back into the unknown, and deeper into the mountain. But with newfound conviction and with teamwork on their side, the dynamic duo strode with confidence as they bravely awaited their next task.
As Celestia opened the large obsidian doors to the next trial, the two remaining groups of ponies stepped onto a raised balcony that looked out over the final room. From what they saw, it appeared to be another obstacle course, only without any obstacles. There were walls set up almost randomly, and two raised platforms on opposite sides of the room, one blue and one red. In the center of the room was a yellow flag on a pole, the base of it glowing a bright yellow.
"Capture the Flag?" everypony asked simultaneously.
Celestia took this as her cue to explain the final trial.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, welcome to the final trial. As you have already guessed, it is indeed Capture the Flag. This test is more so to observe how well you work together as a team, not so much as your ability to win. So keep in mind that victory does not guarantee passing the trial."
Everypony nodded in understanding. Celestia continued to explain the rules.
"The rules are quite simple. Both teams will work to take the neutral flag to the opposite team's base to score one point. The first team to three points wins the official match. The flag shall be reset after every capture. There is a magic barrier in the air just above the walls to prevent cheating by flying over the entire course to score, and there will also be a compete restriction on telekinesis. Teleportation will be limited to only a short distance ahead as well."
Celestia quickly glanced at Shade with that, who chuckled nervously.
"Red team shall be Sky High and Tumbler, and Blue team shall be Jet Fly and Shade Vortex."
With everything settled, the two groups headed towards the stairs leading down into the room.
"We totally got this, Jet. With your strategy and my determination, we can't lose!" Shade said to Jet as they took their position on their side of the room.
"I sure hope so. Hopefully this will all be worth the trouble. I wonder what she meant by reset, though?"
Shade simply shrugged at Jet's question. With everypony stationed at their side of the room, Celestia spoke again using the royal canterlot voice.
"On your marks..."
Both teams readied their stance.
"Get set..."
The pegasi of both teams flared their wings out.
"Go!"
An orange blur quickly passed Shade as he made his way to the flag. Jet had taken the time on the balcony to analyze the entire layout of the walls, so he remembered where to turn in most areas. Sky High had done the same.
Both reached the flag and grabbed the pole at different spots with their mouths. As they struggled to take the flag away from each other, Tumbler and Shade reached the center to lend aid to their partners. Jet lost his grip on the pole, and Sky High quickly swung it out of his grasp and smacked him out of the way with it. She flew right past Shade, who had been knocked over by Jet as he stumbled from Sky's tricky maneuver. She didn't even wait for Tumbler, who was trying to follow her.
"Wait for me!"
Gathering himself back together, Jet stood and helped Shade to his hooves.
"Somepony's a little cocky..."
"You got a plan?"
"Now we wait. Let them score this one point."
"Huh?"
"The reset. I noticed how the flag sort of had this vibe to it. And the glowing base? Think about it, Shade. There must be some kind of connection. The flag must transport back to that central base once a team scores."
Shade couldn't help but be amazed at such a deduction.
"So if you're right, when the flag theoretically warps back here..."
"We'll be right here to take it and score, and they'll have no time to stop us."
A plotting smile crept both of their faces. ____________
"Seriously, Sky, wait up!"
Tumbler struggled to keep up with the speeding pegasus, breathing heavily. Sky wasn't exactly the 'cooperative type.' She much preferred to rely on her own skills, and carry the whole team with ease.
"If I stop to wait for you, that's more of a chance the enemy has of winning!" she yelled out before rounding a corner wall.
"We're supposed to work together you know!"
Striving to keep up, he sighed to himself.
"It's her stubbornness that's going to cost us the actual test here..."
Sky dodged around numerous walls and sped down the gap that led to Blue team's base. Landing just in front of a glowing yellow circle on a blue pedestal, she confidently planted the flag in the center. To her surprise, it immediately became consumed in light and magical energy and disappeared.
"I guess that's the reset she was talking about. Time to head back to the center."
She quickly turned and sped back the way she came, past her panting partner. Tumbler just watched as she left him behind again.
*Screw it... we're doomed to lose...* ___________
"...So I guess you can say things are getting pretty serious," Shade said as he wrapped up his story.
"Huh. I had no idea you had a special somepony back where you lived."
"Well... she doesn't actually know how I truly feel about her..."
"You never tol-"
Jet's question was cut short by a bright light behind them as they sat at the base of the flag stand. The flag had been reset, just in the manner Jet predicted. Quickly, he grabbed the flag.
"Cover me while I run the flag?"
"You got it."
Both quickly hurried in the direction of Red team's base, Jet flying at a moderate pace so Shade could keep up. Both were laughing as they glanced Sky High coming to see their little "surprise." __________
"WHAT!?"
That was all Sky High could exclaim as she saw that the flag was gone.
"Looks like we've been misdirected. An interesting play."
"Oh shut up, Tumbler."
Sky flew off to chase down the flag before Blue team could score. Tumbler didn't even try to follow.
*I'll just wait here for the flag and give it to who I see first. Don't got time to chase after anypony. I got asthma.* __________
"Dude she's catching up somehow!" Jet exclaimed as they raced to Red team's base.
"Determination can provide much adrenaline in trying circumstances."
Jet raised an eyebrow at Shade's ominous statement.
"What?"
"Nothing. How much farther?"
"About 20 pony lengths away!"
Shade looked back as Sky High gained on them, teeth gritted and fire in her eyes.
"Think it's about time we gave her the slip."
With that, Shade focused his sights on the Red pedestal at the end of the gap between the walls. In a white flash and a few blue sparks, they teleported right onto the pedestal. Jet firmly planted the flag down and watched as it reset.
"YES!!!"
"NO!!!"
Sky halted her flight, spun around, and made her way back to the center. Jet turned to Share quickly to state their next move.
"Trail her. I'll take a shortcut and cut her off."
"Consider it done."
As they split off in two directions, Shade could only admire Jet right now. His strategic mind was impressive. Shade continued to pursue Sky, his legs unrelenting in their motion.
He had run before. Harder than this. He had to run for his life those dreaded two months. He could handle this now. Eyes locked on their target, Shade teleported again, this time in front of Sky.
"What th- GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Sky halted and landed on the ground in an attack stance. Shade only gave her a cold stare. Then, he stood up on his hind legs. Now Sky was getting a bit worried. She had seen this stance before, and what happened to those who were stupid enough to challenge it. Her eyes widened and her lips quivered as she looked up at him. Jet rounded around the corner to carry out his ambush, only to see his friends in his signature intimidation stance.
"Shade...?"
Shade just stood there, everypony beginning to fear. Shade finally broke out a smirk.
"BOO!"
"EEK!"
Sky jumped back and fell flat on her flank.
"NOW! GO!" Shade yelled to Jet, and they quickly headed to the center.
Sky was still on the ground, panting heavily. _____________
Jet and Shade eventually reached the center to see Tumbler just lying against the base of the flag stand. Both shared a confused look.
"You didn't... try to capture the flag?"
"What's the point? My team clearly can't function as a team, and it doesn't matter if we win officially or not. The whole point was to test our teamwork skills, which my partner is clearly lacking."
Before anyone could say anything else, there was a bright light around the entire room. When the light faded and everypony was done wiping their eyes, they discovered they were back on the balcony with Celestia.
"I believe I have seen enough. It is clear to me, and apparently to at least three of you, which of you can and cannot work as a team. As promised, you will all receive the extra credit for enduring to this point, but only Jet Fly and Shade Vortex shall continue from here. Tumbler and Sky High, my guards shall escort you back out. And you both will be given substantial time off from school and small prizes of your choice for coming this far."
Sky was still trying to make sense of everything that just happened, while Tumbler was just content with everything being over with. As he watched them leave, Shade turned to ask Celestia the million bit question.
"So where *do* we continue from here?"
“Whatever do you mean?"
Now it was Jet's turn to step up.
“Don't give us that. We know something's up. No way you'd go through this much trouble just to see our 'co-operation skills.' The only reason we participated was because we both knew there was something deeper going on."
Celestia could only smile.
“And your suspicions were correct. I am impressed you both saw past the obvious and loomed deeper. To see what truly lies on the inside. I must say I'm quite proud of you both. I was secretly hoping you two would be the winners. Come with me, and everything will be explained as to the true reason I held these trials."
“Finally, we get some answers and not some two-bit fib," Shade whispered to Jet as they followed the Princess down the seemingly endless maze of hallways back to the castle.
“You know how much I hate lies."
“Calm down. I'm sure the Princess has a completely logical reason for all of this. It has to be big. But yeah, I'm excited too. We're finally getting what we came for," Jet whispered back as the trio finally made their way back to the familiar white walls and marble floor of the castle.
“Come, I am sure you both have many questions. Let us go to my private quarters. What we must discuss is of utmost importance, and could very well decide the fate of Equestria."
“...What...?"
Both stallions deadpanned as they momentarily stopped in their tracts to take in what the Princess just said. Jet stuttered as she turned to Shade.
“S-she can't be serious... can she?"
“Only one way to find out."
Shade's frown grew deeper and he continued to make his way back to the Princess, who had covered a lot of ground during their pause. Jet lingered back for some time until he finally shook his head and took off into the air to catch up.
After finally making it to Princess Celestia's room, she quickly closed and locked the room door. Though Jet couldn't tell, Shade felt a magical barrier work its way around the room.
“Why so much security, Princess?"
Shade let a small smirk show on his face.
"Scared that somepony will hear us?"
But the look on Celestia's face told him that she was all business, and in no mood to joke. The smile on his face fell back into his usual grim frown after seeing her state.
“What we are about to discuss is top secret, and is only known by myself and a select few. The real reason I held the trial was because..."
She trailed off as Jet and Shade leaned in closer in anticipation.
“...I needed to find the best pair of ponies this school could offer. I needed to push them to their very limit. To see how they worked under pressure. To see how they worked together. To see if they had what it takes."
Celestia made her way over to a small projector as she explained. Jet remained confused.
“But Princess, you still haven't told us why were here. All of this, for what?"
“Before I tell you why, you must first come to understand."
Taking the small projector in her magic, she activated the machine. She then closed the curtains so that they could see the picture it displayed on the wall clearer. The illuminated picture on Celestia's wall was quite strange. It was unlike anything Shade had ever seen. But Jet almost immediately recognized it.
“A Changeling?"
“Indeed."
Shade, however, was completely lost.
“...Um... What's a Changeling?"
Taking the honor upon himself, Jet answered him.
“A Changeling is a quadrupedal, insectoid-pony-like creature. They almost always travel in swarms. They have tough outer scales covering their entire body. But what makes them really unique is that they feed on love, literally as their food source. And the fact that they can change their shape and size to change into almost any animal they want separates them from anything else in nature. A pony, a cat, a dog, pretty much anything. They do this to find those whose love they can feed off of."
“I-I don't understand..."
“Think of it this way: let's say you have a very special somepony you love very much. You give this pony all your love. In reality, this pony could be this-"
Jet gestured to the image.
"-simply pretending to love you back. But in reality your just a food source. It takes your love, and magically transforms it into usable energy."
“That's... really creepy. To know that someone you love could be a bug thing..."
Shade shuddered as he imagined Fluttershy possibly being anything like that.
“Yeah, it is creepy. But they haven't been spotted in about a century..."
Celestia frowned as she began to explain more.
“That's what makes this image so important. A long time ago, I banished the Changelings to a faraway land, and it has remained that way for a long time. But... this picture was taken last week, near the Everfree Forest."
Jet's eye widened drastically.
“WHAT? T-THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! Because when there's one..."
Jet trailed off as the realization dawned on him. Celestia completed the equation for him.
“...There are hundreds. This image could signify the beginning of a war. But it's not just the changelings. Manticores, Dragons, Cockatrices; they are all major threats. I'd usually send the royal guard to take care of such situations, but they can't always handle some of the tasks needed. And while the elements of Harmony are very capable, I don't always want the public to know about such things, to prevent mass panic, and they are still very new, having just brought my sister back. That's why I need something more. An elite team of warriors who can take care of threats quick and efficiently. And be able to infiltrate hostile territory to gain information. But to the public, they will be regular everyday ponies, carrying out their business. This team will be called the Taskforce of Equestrian Knowledge, or TEK for short. That's why I held the trials - so I could find the perfect ponies for the job."
Shade and Jet soaked in Celestia's words for a moment, coming to understand what she explained.
“So, let me get this straight. You want me and Shade here to fight evil and protect the country in the name of justice and everything that's right."
The Princess nodded at Jet's question.
“Can we have a moment?"
“Of course. This is a lot to take in. Remember, you are not inclined to do anything. I will not force you to do something you don't want to do. But, I would greatly appreciate your bravery, and all of Equestria would benefit from it. "
Celestia made her way to a corner of the room, leaving Jet and Shade to discuss with each other.
“I think we should do it," Shade frankly stated after Celestia was out of earshot.
“You seem pretty confident. But why? Don't you know we could be killed? I'm not too sure..."
Shade closed his eyes and sighed deeply before responding.
"Jet, look... I never told you about this, but after I left home, for two months I had to fight to survive in the Everfree Forest. I saw and did some things that still haunt me, and I would never wish such tortures on anypony..."
Jet was almost speechless at hearing this. Shade NEVER talked about when he left Ponyville.
"Wow, Shade... you... you never talk about what happened before you came here..."
"It's not a story I like to tell. My point is, if I had an opportunity to protect somepony from such things, I would. Now we both have this opportunity. We can save lives, Jet. Sure we won't get a lick of credit for any of it, but does it really matter? We're helping ponies, and that's what really counts."
“Whoa... your right. But before we agree to anything, let's see what we'll have to do, where we'll do it, and how we'll do it."
Motioning for the Princess to come back over, Jet asked what this job would mean, and what would happen if they accepted the offer.
“You would secretly train here for a year and a half after your classes - learning to fight, work together, and use powers you never thought possible. After you graduate, I will assign you both two separate places to go to try to find other worthy members to join TEK. Then you and your fellow members will become stationary at one location. I will assign you missions personally, and you will answer to no-pony but me, and perhaps my sister when she comes to terms with modern society. You will all be given monthly pay from myself, and any other help you may need. You will also be given unrestricted access to the Canterlot Archives and library."
“That sounds... really well thought out, Shade, are you sure you want to do this?"
Shade nodded with a determined look on his face.
“For the first time in a long time, I'm actually positive of something."
“Well then, we accept your offer Princess."
“Excellent!" Celestia said with a giant smile.
“I knew you both would accept! You two are a rare breed. Smart, strong, and confident. I always secretly knew you two were the right ponies. You make quite the capable team."
Shade and Jet both looked at each other and nodded.
So far Shade's week had been more calm than the first day he began his journey. Zecora, the zebra he'd been staying with for the time being, had been quite hospitable. She had insisted that he take time here to rest and better prepare himself before wandering any further into the Everfree. Now Shade knew what to expect, and how to handle whatever would happen next. Now, he felt, he was ready.
"Are you sure you want to get leaving? Continuing your journey will not be easy."
Shade looked at Zecora with determination. He knew he had to continue, and he wasn't going to turn back no matter what lay ahead of him.
"Yes. I have to go, and find out what I'm supposed to be. Somewhere out there is where I will find the answers I've been searching for. It may be in the next town ahead, or in another. Heck, it could be in this very forest. All I know is that this is my best shot at discovering my destiny."
Zecora nodded at his philosophical words with a smile. Shade had clearly made up his mind. Maybe he really was ready after all.
"If that is what you wish to do, then there is no-pony stopping you. After you step out that door, I hope you find what you're looking for."
Shade gathered all of his belongings before heading to the door. Thankfully, he had remembered to grab his saddle bag when he left the cave on that first night.
"Thank you for everything, Zecora. I appreciate all you've done."
"The pleasure was indeed all mine. Perhaps we will meet again sometime."
Heading out the door, Shade turned back and smiled.
"Maybe we will."
And so, Shade resumed his journey, confident and ready to face the path that lay ahead.
Or so he thought.
_________________ One month later _________________
Shade completely regretted not taking the train out of Ponyville instead. This forest was a living nightmare. All that time he spent preparing became nearly useless. Everything kept getting worse every day it seemed, and this day was no exception.
Now he had lost his map and a majority of his bits, having only a portion left inside his cloak pocket, somewhere around 25 or 30. He had to ditch the saddle bag that held the rest, since it was only slowing him down, and he had previously been chased by drakes trying to indulge their greed. So, Shade had to focus more on getting out alive than his "destiny," which was starting to lose meaning to him.
Currently, Shade was moving as swift and silently as he could through the Everfree. The sun was beginning to set, and Shade didn't have time to marvel at the otherwise beautiful orange sky. The more Shade wandered through the forest, the treacherous the area grew. He'd stumbled upon more packs of Timber Wolves, a few drakes on the hunt, and other vicious creatures. And it was even worse at night, and shelter was getting harder to find. Shade stopped only to rest shortly when the area was safe and to occasionally eat whatever safe plants or fruit he could find. Dodging through trees and bushes, Shade reached a clearing, littered only with a few rocks scattered across the ground.
*No. Too open. Gotta stay hidden.*
Before he could turn back into the safety of the trees, however, Shade heard a twig snap. He froze and listened carefully around him, not making a sound. Shade hoped whatever was out there couldn't here his heartbeat, because it was pounding in his chest at lightning speed.
*Really wish I could just teleport out of here...*
Constantly searching his surroundings, Shade saw nothing for what felt like another five minutes or so. Then he saw the glowing green eyes in the bushes a short distance away.
*There you are, you sneaky little runt.*
The Timber Wolf jumped out of the bush, standing roughly three meters away from Shade. He had just about enough of the wooden hounds, and was starting to resent them more than fear them.
The Timber Wolf slowly crawled its way closer to its prey, trying to intimate it and play it into its claws. But Shade wasn't going to be intimidated by the walking log any longer. He stared it down with almost the same cold eyes, completely defying it. The Timber Wolf increased its pace as it moved in closer on its target. Shade did something more unexpected. He stood up on his hind legs, horn glowing a bright blue, and eyes still staring daggers into the Timber Wolf. As it leaped into the air, Shade harnessed all of his energy before yelling at it.
"LEAVE. ME. ALONE!"
Then he released a telekinetic wave that flung the Timber Wolf backwards, yelping as it was sent away. Panting, Shade dropped back to the ground, worn out from the expense of energy. He got back up after regaining his breath and strength, heading back into the denser parts of the forest. He needed to move and find shelter before something else found him. ______________
Shade was starting to panic. He'd been moving for what felt like hours, it was nightfall, and he still couldn't find shelter. The area he was in seemed to be pretty cave-free, much to his dismay. He'd already attracted too much unwanted attention, and had to make a quick escape through a patch of thorny bushes that left his legs scratched and sore. His cloak was tattered and torn in some areas, but it still held the bits he had left.
Shade looked behind him constantly as he ran to ensure he wasn't being followed, and thankfully he wasn't. What he did find when he looked in front of him, however, filled his heart with hope.
*Finally! A cave!*
Shade had never been so happy to see arched rocked before, and he darted right in. Once inside, Shade dropped to the ground as he caught his breath. It was quite dark inside, and there was no sunlight to reveal to him what lurked in the shadows. Nothing to give him any warning before Shade heard a deep growling sound.
Immediately startled, Shade stood up and slowly turned his head to look into the darkness, afraid to use his light magic to reveal whatever horrible creature he stumbled upon. Shortly after, Shade's eyes were filled with fear as he was met by cold, piercing cyan eyes, a toothy and vicious smile, and the pale-lavender scales of a large, purple-spined dragon.
So much had led up to this point. Jet and Shade had come so far now, both in their training and in their lives in general. Through all of it, both had grown into more than they could have ever anticipated. Both learned and developed new skills as well.
Jet had fully mastered his "wind blades" to the point where they could cleanly slice through the thickest wood. Shade had learned an ancient method of quick group travel through opening a portal to another location, though he could only open a portal to a location he's previously been to or to one he can see, and it expended a lot of energy. He could also harness his magical energy to fire from his horn either a bolt of energy or a warp beam to transport separate objects.
The aforementioned training was now completed, and quite ahead of Celestia's schedule. She had planned out everything to give them enough time to fully hone their skills and prepare themselves for anything that lay ahead in the future, but she didn't realize just how skilled they already were in some areas.
Jet knew almost every existing and extinct creature and nearly everything about them, which actually led to the discovery of his claw-shaped cutie mark a couple years back. He was also well adept at speed and strategy. Shade was in his own category altogether. Skills such as stealth, endurance, and strength were not new concepts to him, merely traits he needed to slightly improve. His alertness to his surroundings was also quite remarkable. However, when she asked him how he had developed such skills, he only gave her a grim expression as he told her-
"From needing to survive two months in the Everfree Forest."
He refused to talk about it any further. But now was not the time to dwell on the past. Now was the time for commendation. The Princess of the Day and the two of her most favored pupils were meeting secretly as Jet and Shade "graduated." The training had been rigorous, but at last came to an end.
"I am very proud of the both of you, and I am glad to delegate such a weighty responsibility to such willing and talented stallions."
Jet and Shade both stood proudly and respectfully before their solar diarch as she went on with the secret ceremony.
"You both have come a long way, and have exceeded my own expectations. It is my hope that you take my guidance and your training to heart to protect all of Equestria from the background."
Jet took in Celestia's words as she spoke, then stole a glance at his comrade. He noticed a single tear trailing from Shade's eye. Shade took Celestia's words to heart as well, his mind thinking back on everyone he knew and loved.
*Trust me, Princess. I WILL protect them.*
Celestia turned to look Jet in the eyes.
"Jet Fly, due to your impeccable strategic thinking, you will be designated as the leader of TEK."
Jet bowed his head in respectful humility.
"I am honored, Princess."
Celestia smiled, then turned to Shade.
"And you, Shade Vortex, for your immense bravery and capability, shall be his second-in-command."
Shade imitated Jet's respectful gesture.
"A responsibility I shall not fail."
Celestia nodded, motioning for the duo to rise.
"With your training complete, and the foundation for your team laid, it is time for you to seek out others fit to join you in the defense of Equestria. I shall send you both to two separate locations. Jet, I shall send you to search the city of Manehattan."
Jet nodded and gave a salute.
"As for you Shade, I'm sending you to the one place you would likely want to visit first," Celestia said with a smile.
Shade's eyes widened because he knew exactly where she was referring to.
"Home..." ___________
Shade couldn't wait to return to Ponyville and see his family and friends after nearly three years. He'd decided it'd be best to take the train this time, refusing to ever step hoof into that death trap of a forest again, and Celestia had been kind enough to pay for the ticket. Jet had taken a separate train to Manehattan, so he rode alone.
*I don't like alone... the sooner I get home the better. Sure, I could have warped there through a portal, but I want that to be a surprise. I'll take everything slowly.*
Shade thought back to all the good memories he had of his two female friends back home. Back when his life was happy and simple, he thought.
*I'm just glad to know they're still there. They've become pretty well known over the past year as the Elements of Harmony. I wonder what the other four are like? I knew Twilight back in my early days at Celestia's school, but we didn't really associate much.*
Shade relaxed himself in his seat, getting ready to take a nap as he waited for the next hour to pass by.
*Guess I'll find out soon enough.*
By the time Shade woke up, it was late noon and the train was just pulling into the Ponyville train station.
*It's like I always wake up just when I need to...*
Stretching first, Shade got up and exited the train carriage. When he finally left the train station, he stopped in the middle of town.
*Now... where do I go?* ____________
Twilight Sparkle and Spike were taking another stroll through town as they went through the items on Twilight's checklist. Spike was always a bit annoyed by his "big sister's" obsession with organization and planning, but he trudged through it nonetheless.
"Alright, Spike, we've almost completed our agenda. Next we have to pick up some items at the marrrr...."
Twilight trailed off as she spotted a familiar-looking stallion standing a few meters ahead.
"Uh... Twilight? Something wrong?"
*Is that who I think it is?*
Spike looked to where Twilight was staring. His eyes narrowed as he began to rub his chin in thought.
"Huh. Now where have I seen him before?"
Twilight started moving towards the dark gray stallion, and Spike followed. Nearly halfway to him, she called out.
"...Shade Vortex?"
The stallion turned around as he heard his name. His face immediately beamed upon recognizing the lavender unicorn.
"Twilight! I was just looking for one of you!"
Now Twilight was confused.
"Hi, Shade... it's been a while. Um, what did you mean, 'one of me?'"
"I heard how you and five others became the Elements of Harmony. It was all in the papers at Canterlot!"
Twilight warmed up now that she had that cleared up, but she still had some questions.
"Oh right, that! That makes sense. So what brings you to Ponyville?"
Shade let out a small sigh as he went on to explain his business in Ponyville.
"I used to live here about three years ago. I've come back after some... self-discovery. I was actually friends with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Now I've returned to see them and my parents, whom I currently trying to find. They weren't back at our house for some reason..."
Twilight's face beamed with cheerful surprise upon hearing this news.
"YOU KNOW FLUTTERSHY AND RAINBOW DASH!?"
"Hehe... yeah. There good friends of mine. I would've come back sooner, but... circumstances... Anyway, I've wanted to see them again for some time now."
"Well then I'll take you to 'em! Come with me! I'm sure they'd be glad to see you again!"
Shade chuckled.
"Hehe, I certainly hope so."
Twilight was about to lead the way before stopping, remembering something.
"Oh wait! I almost forgot! Shade, you remember my assistant, Spike?"
Spike waved his claw as Shade eyed him for a while. Shade's face scrunched up in thought, searching his memory banks. Spike frowned as Shade finally said:
"Barely." ___________
Rainbow Dash lazily rested on a small hovering cloud in the air above the park. Aside from flying or racing, this was her favorite thing to do. There was no better feeling than to rest on the most softest substance in Equestria. Needless to say, she didn't feel like doing much of anything right now. That's why she was a bit annoyed when Twilight tried to disturb her nap.
"Rainbow Dash!"
"...Ughhh..."
"Rainbow! Can you come down for a sec?"
"...Whyyyy...?"
"I have an old friend who wants to see you!"
Rainbow finally perked up a bit.
*Huh?*
"And who might that possibly HUH!!!!!!!!!"
Rainbow's response was cut off as she gasped upon looking down to see this 'old friend.' She couldn't believe her eyes.
"Shade!?"
Shade Vortex chuckled at his old friend's surprise.
"Hey Dash. It's been a while."
Rainbow immediately rushed down in a rainbow blur as she gave Shade a giant bear hug.
"OH MY GOSH YOU FINALLY CAME BACK!!!"
She reeled back a bit and glanced the newest feature on his flank.
"And you finally got your cutie mark!"
"Hehe... yeah..."
Shade replied almost weakly, still recovering from Rainbow's near-tackle. Twilight was chuckling the whole time as she watched the reunion, but stopped to ask something that puzzled her a bit.
"Wait, *finally* got your cutie mark?"
Shade hung his head a bit while Rainbow turned to Twilight.
"Yeah. Shade here's been a blank flank nearly all his life! That's actually why he left about three years ago, on some 'self-discovery' quest or something. By the way, Shade, how did you get your cutie mark? What does it even mean? I wanna know EVERYTHING!"
Shade hung his head even lower, however.
"Trust me... you don't."
The three of them were silent for a while, then Shade perked back up.
"...Right. Well, as for what my mark actually means, I wanted to wait and show you, Fluttershy, and my parents all at once. By the way, do you know where they are?"
Glad that the awkward silence was broken, Rainbow turned to answer him.
"Fluttershy's back at her house with her animals probably. As for your parents... they actually moved to Manehattan last year..."
"What!?"
Shade's ears flopped down and his expression saddened.
"How could they leave..."
"Sorry, Shade. Your Dad got a new job that took him there, so they had to move. They would've sent a letter, but no-pony knew where you were..."
Twilight put a hoof on Shade's shoulder as he sighed.
"Yeah... I guess that's true... Well I guess I can still see Fluttershy then, maybe even meet your other friends as well."
Twilight finally spoke up again after listening to her friends' conversation.
"I'd be glad to introduce you."
Rainbow spoke up as well.
"Fair warning. One of them is a bit... hyper."
Twilight giggled.
"That's ONE way to describe Pinkie Pie." ___________
Shade took some time to reacquaint himself with his old hometown again, buying out his parent's now vacant house. In another hour or so, his friends were throwing a "welcome back" party for him. And apparently, Pinkie Pie threw spectacular parties.
*Guess we'll see if that holds true later on.*
Shade was ecstatic that he was back here. He only wanted to take this time to relax and enjoy the moment. He'd start searching for TEK recruits tomorrow.
*I won't forget my mission, but I can't ignore my friends either.*
Shade continued strolling through town, occasionally stopping to greet those he recognized. Then he looked to his right and saw a place that made him freeze: the path to the Everfree Forest. He stood there as horrible memories flooded his mind.
*It takes more than time to forget an experience like that...*
Shaking his head to clear away the nightmarish memories from his mind, Shade turned the opposite direction, heading back into town. It was almost time for the party. _______________________ Manehattan Air Space _______________________ Jet smiled as he continued his slow decent to the ground below. Manehattan was always so fascinating to him: the huge buildings, the bustling public. It had all seemed so intriguing. Now Jet had his chance to explore the entire city!
Looking to his right, he saw a reflection of himself in the windows of the skyscraper he was descending next to. Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts.
*I gotta keep my head in the game. I'm here for a specific reason, not to sight see.*
After finally touching down, Jet looked around and took in his surroundings. He seemed to be in some sort of market. Ponies were everywhere, and no-pony seemed to even notice him. That was fine with Jet. He didn't come here to gain popularity. He came here for one reason: find possible recruits. But he couldn't let the general public know that, they couldn't know anything, it was for their own safety. So, to combat this, he came up with a semi-truthful cover story: he had just graduated from Canterlot and was now in Manehattan because of the Science of Equestria laboratory. He planned to get a job there and hopefully settle down. Jet gave a small chuckle at the second part of his cover story.
*"Settle down," hehe. As if. No mare can tie ME down.*
Getting back to his mission, he remembered that he had to find a possible member for TEK. But they couldn't be just anypony. They had to be trustworthy, kind, generous, capable, loyal, and fun (as insisted by Jet).
*Manehattan is full of ponies. There HAS to be at least ONE pony who meets those standards.*
Jet thought to himself as he made his way to the Lab. He made sure to notice every movement around him, taking it all in, looking for anything to give him a hint of who and who didn't have potential. Thanks to his extra sensitive hearing and eyesight (due to regular pegasus skills, intense training as a child, and the intense training from Celestia), and so far, he didn't really notice anything that stood out to him. After about an hour of walking, Jet finally made his way to the Lab. Applying for the job was almost too easy, seeing as he had BOTH PRINCESSES as referrals, and graduated Canterlot's most prestigious school with straight A's. He couldn't help but smile. After passing the short test needed to receive the job, he made his way to his station. The job itself didn't worry him at all, it was his REAL job that worried him. What if he didn't notice anything? What if he didn't find anyone? Jet shook his head to clear his thoughts.
*No point in worrying about what I can't control. I'll just see what happens, and if I don't find anypony, I'll go check in Shade's town.*
After a bit of walking, Jet finally found his station.
*Here goes nothing...* ________________
Over the past 2 weeks, Jet had searched far, wide, high, and low for anypony who could be a good companion for TEK. Nothing escaped his eyes and ears. But to his dismay, none seemed to qualify. Most of the ponies in this city were cruel and dishonest, similar to Canterlot. Now there were good, honest ponies, but they were either too elderly or already had families, and Jet didn't want to put a family under that kind of pressure.
Deciding that he was wasting good time in this city when he could be somewhere else, Jet decided to mail a letter to Shade, asking his friend for advice on what to do. The next day he received a teleported letter in response, saying:
*Jet, don't waste time going somewhere else. Visit Ponyville, I'm sure you'll be surprised at what you find.* ____________
“Huh, so this is Ponyville. Not bad. Very different from the busy city life."
Jet spoke to himself as he walked off the train. He decided to take the motorized vehicle instead of flying so that he could read the latest Daring Do book while he traveled. After the train had stopped, he tucked his book in his small suitcase full of small items he gained from his time in Manehattan. Now here he was, making his way to the small town.
As he came closer, he saw a small black dot, and as he continued to walk the dot became clearer. Finally, he recognized the object as his best friend.
“Your late."
Jet only smiled.
“Better late than never. So, what's so special about this town?"
“It's not so much the town that's special, but the ponies that live in it. Jet, welcome to Ponyville."
Jet Fly had been living in Ponyville for a little over a week now, and he was really coming to like this town. It was very homey, in its own weird way. What Jet liked about it specifically was how kind and generous everypony was compared to what Jet had seen in Canterlot and Manehattan. He also liked how roomy the town was. Unlike the huge skyscrapers of Canterlot and Manehattan, Ponyville's houses and shops were small and cozy, leaving plenty of open sky. Taking in a huge breath of fresh air, Jet finally made his way outside.
For the past week Jet had been living with Shade in his parents old house, and so far the arrangement was working nicely. Shade showed him around town and introduced him to his old friends, who were now the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. And to Jet's surprise, he found out that the Apple family was located here.
*Huh, I never did think to go to the nearby town while I stayed with them for two months...*
Jet had thought to himself when he first found out.
To his joy, the whole family was still together and it was a warm reunion of friends, even though so much had changed. Apple Bloom was no longer a baby, and Apple Jack was now the physical embodiment of Honesty.
Jet was liking this town more and more every day. It had this positive aura to it, and it made almost everypony happy.
*It's ponies like this that we'll be fighting for.*
Jet thought as he took to the air outside his shared home. Yesterday Jet found out about a recently opened lab that *totally* had nothing to do with the Princess, and after he applied he was almost immediately accepted. That's where Jet was headed now.
Today was going to different than all the rest of the days he had spent here in Ponyville. Today, Shade and himself vowed to return to the real problem at hoof: finding new members for TEK. _______________
“So, none of the Elements can be on our team?"
“No, that would put too much strain on them, they already have enough to worry about."
Shade responded as he and Jet made their way into town, discussing what they were looking for in a TEK member.
“A TEK member should succeed in areas that we both fail at."
“Hmm, how about physical strength?"
Shade gave Jet a raised eyebrow in response.
“Look, even though we're both strong, we're still no match for dragons or any other beasts. Trust me, if we want any hope to survive, we need raw muscle power."
Jet explanation seemed to have an effect on Shade, and he nodded in response.
“Well, we'll meet back home in an hour. I have some... business to attend to.",
Shade seemed a bit suspicious. Jet noticed that he wasn't looking him in the eyes, suggesting that Shade was hiding something.
“Business? Care to explain?"
Now Shade was visibly nervous. Whatever he was hiding was obviously embarrassing for him.
“I-its nothing, really..."
“Shade, what's wrong?"
Shade finally conceded, having lost his solid composure due to Jet's intensive stare.
“Fine... I'll tell you. But if you laugh so help me I'll teleport you to the Everfree Forest."
“Sure sure, I won't laugh. Now what's so weird that you can't tell your best friend?"
Shade looked around first to see if the coast was clear. Seeing there was no-pony closer enough to hear, he began to whisper.
“I'm...I'm going to the spa with Fluttershy..."
At first Jet was surprised at this sudden revelation. Then it all became clear to him. On the other hoof, it became clear to Shade that Jet was using all his will power not to burst out laughing.
“I SWEAR IF YOU LAUGH..."
Shade seethed with rage.
“Pfft, No no, I'm *snort* fine. I won't laugh. It's just..."
But it was too late, Jet's body couldn't handle the sheer hilarity of his friends predicament. He was laughing so hard that tears began to form. But before he could even hit the ground from falling over, Shade's horn already started glowing. A bright flash later, Shade was all alone except for a small scorch mark on the ground. A little over half a minute later, Jet flew back to his original position. His giggles left behind in the Everfree Forest.
“Dang, I didn't think you'd actually do it."
“Hmph."
Shade said with a turn of his head.
Jet began to feel guilty about betraying his friends trust and embarrassing him even more than he already was.
“Sorry man, it was just... unexpected. Why are you going to spa?"
Jet asked while rubbing the back of his neck.
“Fluttershy asked me to go. Apparently she wants me to meet Rarity there. I introduced you to her a few days ago. She's one of her friends and she really wants us to hit it off. They have weekly spa meets, and the next one is today. I wanted to say no... but she looked at me with such big, beautiful, caring, loving..."
“Uh... dude?"
“-Sorry. But yeah, I couldn't say no to that face. So here I am, putting my dignity on the line for the mare I love."
Jet was impressed at his friends feelings towards Fluttershy. If it had been any other pony he would have definitely said no.
“Huh, I guess you have your reasons. Alright Shade, I'll let you have your fun. Guess I'll meet you back at the house after your pool party. In the meantime I'll search around looking for somepony."
Jet took to the air, waving goodbye to his friend he took off.
“IT'S NOT A POOL PARTY!"
Shade yelled after his friend. Looking at the clock tower to check what time it was, he was surprised to see that it was almost time to go.
“Well, here goes nothing. You better appreciate this, Fluttershy..."
Shade grumbled to himself as he made his way in the spa's direction. _____________
Overall, Shade was having a nice time at this spa. He had met the mares at the entrance, having just made it in time. Rarity was kind enough to pay for his pass, saying that any friend of Fluttershy is a friend of hers.
Once they went inside, Shade was introduced to the two masseuses: Aloe and Lotus. They seemed like nice earth ponies. After introductions were made, it was time for the spa to actually begin. Fluttershy seemed to sense Shade's resistance, but she only wrapped a warm wing around him to calm him down. Knowing that there was no turning back, Shade bravely ventured into the unknown.
All of that was about 10 minutes ago, and here he was now, encompassed by searing steam coming from a small stand in the middle of the room filled with burning coals and water. The extreme heat was oddly relaxing. Shade hadn't felt this good in years. And to make it better, the love of his life was sitting right next to him.
*Ahhh... Can't get much better than this...*
But of course, all good things must come to an end, and at that moment Aloe opened the door to the sauna and announced that their massages were now ready for them.
Making their way out, Rarity decided to take up the back of the group. In reality, she needed time to think about this strange stallion walking beside Fluttershy. She had yet to come up with an opinion of him.
*Hmm, he seems nice enough. Not bad looking either. He's rather trim and fit. I wonder if he has any friends like him...*
Rarity thought as they continued to walk down the hall. Biting her lip to get back to concentrating, Rarity continued her silent judging.
*There is definitely something off about him though. But I suppose that doesn't matter. Fluttershy likes him, so I suppose all is well... Wait a second...*
Rarity paid closer attention to the now laughing pair. The way Fluttershy acted around him. The way Shade looked at her. It all became clear to Rarity.
*Oh my...* _______________
Once in the massage room, Shade took everything in. It was a pretty normal room, consisting of a few massage tables and a huge tub filled to the brim with hot water. While Fluttershy was escorted to her table, Rarity walked up to Shade.
“So, have you told her yet?"
Shade froze at the words.
*She can't be asking what I think she's asking... can she?*
Shade decided to play it cool and remain calm in his response.
“What do you mean?"
Rarity only smiled at noticing his visual effort to keep a straight face.
“Oh please, don't play innocent with me, now. You have a crush on Fluttershy, don't you?"
She said slyly, a small grin creeping on her face. His secret out, Shade's facade broke down and he submitted to this mare's ultimate observation skills.
“What gave it away? I thought I was hiding my feelings pretty well..."
“Oh darling, don't feel bad about your emotions. That's just the way you feel. You can't help that. And for what it's worth, I believe that she may feel the same way."
Rarity spoke with a warm smile. Shade remained somewhat skeptical.
“...Really?"
“Really. I've seen the way you two act around one another. And I tell you, I've never seen Fluttershy so calm before. Your very presence makes her happy."
Shade smiled at this, and stood up straighter, now having new-found pride and joy.
“Now come on Mr. Charming, our masseuses are waiting."
Rarity said while she began to make her way to her table. Shade nodded in agreement, and he too made his way to his table. Once there he noticed that his table was empty of a masseuse. He expressed his confusion to the nearest one.
“Hey, uh... Miss Lotus? Um, don't I get a massage too?"
She nodded and smiled
“Oh but of course, sir. But our employee is a tad late. Please, just wait just a little while longer, he'll be here soon."
At that, she returned her attention to the white unicorn in front of her.
Shade waited about 20 seconds before he heard a light trembling. He looked at the tub of hot water next to him, and noticed that with every tremor it rippled. Slowly but surely, the trembling grew louder and louder, and stronger and stronger. It got to the point where the table was visibly shaking. Shade began to panic.
*This has to be some monster. Nothing normal can be making this trembling. This creature must have incredible power...*
Although the shaking and pounding was clearly present, no-pony else seemed to notice it.
*I can't be the only one feeling this, can I?*
Shade then decided that it was up to him to stop whatever monster was going to bust through those doors. He gathered up as much magic as he could in his horn, and mentally prepared for battle, even though everypony else around him looked at him like he was crazy. Then suddenly, the pounding stopped. But Shade didn't let down his guard, he knew that the fight was just beginning.
Then suddenly, the double doors shot open at the speed of light, revealing the source of the trembling. But Shade couldn't believe his eyes. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Before him was the largest stallion he'd ever seen. He was pure white, and had a short, dark gold mane and tail. He was enormous, towering a full head over Shade. His forelegs were composed of massive biceps. Every inch of his masculine body was covered in muscle, and he stood with great pride. Aloe seemed to notice Shade's shock and decided to ease his fears by introducing the two stallions.
“Mr. Vortex, this is Bulk Biceps. He's a masseur here. Bulk, this is Shade Vortex. He's visiting here with Rarity and Fluttershy."
Bulk stepped forward to acknowledge Shade. Shade only came up to his upper chest when standing in front of him.
“So... your my masseur?"
“YEAH!!!"
Shade had to take a step back after nearly becoming deaf by the intensity of the otherwise simple word. It was comparable to being slapped by a typhoon.
*Geez, even his voice is powerful...*
Shade thought to himself as he was escorted by Bulk to the awaiting table. After noticing Bulk's motions for him to get on the table, Shade began to grow nervous.
*NO WAY THAT GIANT IS TOUCHING ME! HE'LL BREAK EVERY BONE IN MY BODY!*
Again, Aloe noticed Shade's hesitance and once again decided to calm his nerves.
“Don't worry Mr. Vortex, although Bulk looks tough, he's very gentle. He'll make an extra effort to be careful. Isn't that right, Bulk?"
Bulk nodded.
Shade was still skeptical, and was just about to leave until he heard a small voice call out to him.
“...Shade? Is, um... everything okay?"
Shade looked to see Fluttershy, staring at him with concerned eyes. Those beautiful, teal eyes. He couldn't help but smile, and finally decided that if letting this steroid induced stallion massage him would make Fluttershy happy, it would be worth it.
“No problem at all."
Shade finally got up and lied down on the table. Then Bulk walked over to the smaller stallion and began to work.
Shade was awe struck. For such an enormous pony, this Bulk Biceps was surprisingly gentle and light on his hooves. The massage was actually very relaxing, and Shade admitted to enjoying it at least a little bit... just a little.
But it wasn't long before it was over, and afterwards Shade thanked his masseur, Bulk nodding before leaving the group. Aloe then directed the group to the large tub that was against the wall, and then she too left the room, leaving the group of ponies alone.
“I wanna thank you guys for inviting me to come to this spa with you. I'm not gonna lie, I was skeptical at first, but I've been having a great time."
Shade said as he began to sink into the warm, soothing water.
“No problem at all darling, it was our pleasure."
Rarity said as she began to do the same. Fluttershy merely nodded in agreement. _____________
“I want to thank you both again for this wonderful afternoon. I really had a nice time."
Shade thanked Fluttershy and Rarity as he walked outside, flanked by the two mares in question.
"It was no trouble at all. It was a pleasure to have such a gentlecolt accompany us."
“Oh yes, it was nice of you to join us. I, um... didn't think you'd come to be honest... But I'm glad you did."
Fluttershy happily stated as she moved a hair closer to Shade.
“Well, I have to get going. I'll see you two later."
Rarity said as she began to walk back to her boutique. But just before she left, she gave Shade a quick wink while Fluttershy was preoccupied with a small butterfly. There weren't many cases where Shade blushed, it just wasn't in his nature. But just this once, his face turned a slight shade of red.
“Well, looks like it's just us now."
Fluttershy spoke with her trademark smile.
“Yeah, I guess it is..."
Shade responded with a small smile of his own. The atmosphere was growing awkward fast the longer they just stood there, and Shade knew that he had to go meet Jet back at the house.
“Hey, Fluttershy... I gotta go. I got some business to attend to."
“Oh... okay..."
Fluttershy spoke just barely above a whisper, reverting back to her shy self and hiding behind her massive pink mane. Shade's heart tore apart at the thought of leaving her. But he knew he had to go. He had a job, and he had to finish it. But that didn't mean he couldn't cheer up the shy pegasus.
Shade almost never gave hugs anymore, unless entirely necessary. This situation 100% qualified. He reached out with his forelegs and drew her in. Fluttershy had no time to react except for a small gasp. She immediately froze and remained immovable.
“Thank you, Fluttershy. I had a great time with you today."
Shade said into her mane that was currently engulfing his entire face. He couldn't tell, but he could almost feel her face warming up at his touch.
“...N-no p-problem. I...I'm glad you came..."
She stuttered a bit as she finally began to relax her body and fully accept the hug.
Shade's job here was done, and he finally let go. He liked to think that Fluttershy was sad that he pulled away, but he couldn't know anything for sure.
“Goodbye Fluttershy, until next time..."
Shade said as he began to walk back home.
“Goodbye Shade! I hope I see you soon!"
She yelled to him in a weird whisper/ shout that just barely made it to Shade's ears.
*So do I...* ____________
Jet was extremely upset and disappointed. He searched all day for somepony who could be the muscle in TEK, but all he found were average ponies. He had wore himself out from flying all day like that, and now he was lying on the couch wiped out. He had no hopes that Shade had found anything because he'd been at the spa the whole time with mares, while his friend worked his wings off.
Then Shade burst through the door.
“Dude, you could have just opened the doo-"
“NO TIME FOR WHINING I FOUND THE PERFECT PONY FOR OUR GROUP!"
Shade yelled while reaching out with his magic and grabbing Jet, lighting him to the front door that was now broken off its hinges.
“How could you have possibly found somepony? You were at the spa the whole time."
Jet said as he gave no resistance to the magic carrying him, far too tired.
“But that's just it, I found somepony at the spa that could very well be the perfect fit for the muscle. Trust me, you've never seen anything like this before."
Shade mused as he and his levitating friend started down the street.
“Speaking of, how was the spa?"
Jet yawned.
“It was... an interesting experience."
Jet turned his head in a quizzical look. He was a bit curious. But he knew better than to ask further, because he knew he wouldn't get an answer.
But that didn't matter right now, all that counted was that they might have found somepony.
“Whatever bro, as long as you found somepony, that means the spa may not have been a complete waste of time." ____________
“Good work today, Bulk. You earned this paycheck."
Aloe smiled as she reached out to give the huge stallion his paycheck.
“Sweet!"
Bulk exclaimed as he grasped the small envelope. Payday was always a big day for him, especially after he'd gotten his raise.
As he made his way out, he saw somepony familiar waving at him. Yes, this was the same grey unicorn who he served about an hour ago. It would be rude not to acknowledge him, so Bulk decided to wave to him as well. He was surprised to see that the unicorn was waving him over to join him.
“Hello, Bulk Biceps. It's good to see you again. I was just coming by to see if you could help me with something."
Shade said while motioning to a cart full of bags of sand. The cart was audibly struggling to keep itself together with the heavy bags of sand on top of it, and one of the wheels already seemed to have broken under the pressure.
“Do think you can hold up this cart while I replace the broken wheel?"
Bulk eyed the cart for a second, wondering why somepony would need a cart full of sand, but he just shrugged and did as he was asked, getting down on his stomach to crawl under the cart. Once that was accomplished he pushed down on his legs and lifted the cart with his back. _____________
Jet was awe struck. Watching from a nearby alley, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. This stallion was enormous, a giant, white mass of pure muscle. When confronted with the task of carrying the weight of the 300 pound cart, he didn't even flinch. He just picked it up like it was nothing.
“Incredible... This guy is the strongest stallion I've ever seen. Shade wasn't kidding when he said I'd be surprised. And he's STILL holding it without even breaking a sweat. Unreal... Roids... It has to be roids..."
Jet whispered to himself as he observed from a distance.
“This is 100% who we need." _______________
After Bulk was finished helping the unicorn, he continued back on his way home. Once there, he unlocked his door and was immediately surprised to see that he wasn't alone in his house. He saw that the dark unicorn and some other orange pegasus were present in his living room. Since nothing was missing from his house that he could see, he decided not to beat the color off off the two smaller stallions for breaking into his house, and see what they wanted. They seemed to notice his confusion, and the orange pegasus stepped forward to explain himself.
“Hello, Mr. Biceps. My name is Jet Fly, and you've already met my associate and friend, Shade Vortex. We're here because we'd like to offer you a job opportunity..."
Now Bulk was somewhat interested. He liked his job at the spa, but he was looking for a way to bring a few more bits into the house. Sensing his peaked interest, Jet continued.
“...But it's not like any other job you've ever heard of. So, to explain things better than we could, we've brought a friend."
“Thank you, Jet. Greetings, Bulk Biceps."
Bulk's jaw nearly fell to the floor as Princess Celestia herself stepped out of his kitchen. He immediately bowed low to the ground, or at least as much as his huge chest would allow.
“I assure you, there is no need for that at this time. "
Bulk stood up once more with a raised eyebrow.
“Jet and Shade here are part of a group of anonymous ponies, assigned with the task of protecting Equestria, and gaining reconnaissance information on possible threats to our home. This group is called the Taskforce of Equestrian Knowledge, or TEK for short. But they cannot do this alone. For this, they need your help. They have found that you have qualities that would make you a great team member. If you accept, you will become an elite member of a secret group, and you will be given substantial pay for your services. But be warned, it is not an easy task. You will be asked to put your life on the line, and you may not tell anypony about this, to protect the public from panic. I'll understand if you decline. This is allot to take in and we shall give you time to think about it."
Bulk's expression was unreadable to Jet. He held a perfect poker face, and whatever he was thinking was hid beneath his impermeable facade. Not that he shouldn't be surprised. He was just asked to work for the Princess, join a secret society, and put his life on the line in the span of a few sentences. Celestia sure wasn't trying to beat around the bush.
Jet assumed it would take the shell shocked stallion a few days to make up his mind. Not that it mattered if he said no, because the princess taught Shade a "amnesia" spell that erased short-term memories. But still, it had to be a lot of pressure on the massive stallion.
“YEAH!"
Jet and Shade's eyebrows rose as their heads tilted in confusion. The Princess too seemed confused at the stallion's sudden reply.
“Are you sure? It's not going to be easy."
Bulk aimed one of his huge biceps at a small square picture frame on the wall. It depicted him and another small, light green pegasus on his back, and they both seemed to be having a good time.
“I'm not sure I understand."
“I believe I do, Jet Fly. Is that your sister?"
"Uh-huh."
Celestia nodded in understanding.
“I see. You want to protect those that you love. Especially those like your sister."
Bulk nodded as well. He wasn't backing down.
“Very well. Bulk Biceps, welcome to TEK."
“Welcome to the team, buddy."
“Let's put that strength to good use" _______________ The next week _______________
“Dude, where are you going? We're supposed to train Bulk today. We made this schedule exactly last week today so that we could already have it planned out and that there wouldn't be any distractions!"
Jet argued furiously with Shade, who had just informed him he wouldn't be coming with him to Canterlot just yet.
“Look I'm sorry! Something came up at work at the post office. I gotta go take care of it."
"You work at the post office?"
"Yeah, I help with transporting packages aside from standard mail. I'll meet you guys in a few hours, no biggy."
“...Fine. A few hours. Later, bro."
Jet sighed as they both went their separate ways on the street.
A few minutes later, Shade arrived at his destination, and his two companions were already there, waiting on him. Rarity and Fluttershy greeted him as he neared the entrance.
“Good to see you again, Shade."
“Yes. We're, um... glad you made plans to join us today. That was very kind of you."
“No problem. Now let's go. This week at work has been exhausting. I need this." Shade smiled as they walked inside the spa once again, though deeply he thought to himself.
The plan was moving along nicely. In the span of a few weeks, the two heads of TEK had found their first member and had him regularly training with Celestia to be fit for duty. In the meantime, Jet and Shade continued to search for their next recruit between their cover jobs and spending time with their friends, both new and old.
Both sat in the living room of Shade's house as they discussed their next move.
"So, where do we find our next recruit, Jet?"
"We need to find somepony who knows about nature. Sure we each have our own degrees of knowledge regarding plant life, but it's not our expertise."
Shade got to thinking from Jet's specific description.
"A plant-life expert you say?"
"Yeah, in case we get missions out in like a jungle or forest or something."
After flinching a bit from the mention of "forest," Shade started thinking harder, cross-checking his memory banks from what and whom he knew. Soon he found their answer.
"I think I may know somepony."
"Shade, you know we can't recruit Fluttershy."
Shade was both shocked and offended by the assumption.
"What? No! Jet I'm talking about another pony. Or rather, another zebra."
Jet displayed a quizzical look.
"You mean like that zebra that the others told us about? The one they thought put a curse on them?"
Shade looked Jet dead in the eyes, pure assurance evident in his own.
"I mean exactly that zebra, Jet." _____________
Shade led Jet rather slowly through town to the location of their next possible recruit. Jet still had a few questions, and Shade wasn't giving many answers.
"So why exactly are we searching for this particular zebra again?"
"Because she fits your criteria perfectly."
It irked Jet just how vague Shade was being right now.
"And... how do you know that exactly?"
"I... knew her a long time ago. Back in my time in the Everfree..."
Jet's ear perked from this information. Now he was getting somewhere. He also better understood why Shade was taking his sweet time leading them to their next recruit's location.
*He almost never talks about the Everfree. I'm surprised he hasn't blocked it from his memory by now. One of these days I'll get him to talk to me about what happened.*
Once the path to the Everfree Forest was well within sight, Shade stopped abruptly.
"As you may recall, she lives within the forest itself. I'm pretty sure her hut is the only one that would be there, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to find her, especially if you get an aerial view."
"'Too hard for me to find her?' You mean you're not coming with me?"
Shade shuddered a bit as past memories crept back to his mind. He shook his head before responding.
"I... I-I can't..."
Jet wasn't having it.
"C'mon, Shade. It's been like three years. You're far more stronger than you were then."
But Shade was already leaving, heading back into town.
"Where are you going, bro?"
Shade stopped and slowly turned to face him.
"I... I need to run... far away... Can't go back there... to that place..."
Shade's stammering trailed off as he turned away and shut his eyes.
"Shade..."
Shade only shut his eyes tighter and hung his head, traumatizing memories already flooding his mind. Before Jet could protest any further, Shade teleported away.
"Great... Shade, you'll get there some day. I guess I'll just have to give you some more time to face your fear."
And so, Jet started off on his path to the Everfree Forest alone. _____________
Shade reappeared back in his home. After taking a moment to get himself back together, he lied back on his bed, thinking to himself.
*What is wrong with me? Why do I always feel so consumed with fear every time I see that place?
Shade thought of how he felt so alone, how he felt so helpless and isolated. He didn't enjoy it at all.
*I don't ever want to feel like that again... I don't want to be alone ever again. My days of isolation are over. I have a whole group of new friends now. It's time I start spending time with them.*
Shade took some more time to get himself together before getting back up. Then he went to his desk to write a message to each of his friends, telling them to meet him at the park whenever possible. After sending each one with his warp beam, he left to head to the park. _____________
Jet only walked along the entrance path to the Everfree Forest for a short time. He soon took to the skies where he felt more comfortable, and could get a better view of the forest area to find the home of their next recruit.
*What did they say her name was again? Zecora or something? Probably should've asked Shade before he disappeared...*
As Jet cruised above the Everfree, he noticed how strange the weather started to feel the farther he traveled through. Everything felt off... unnatural in a way.
*This is weird... Pegasi are always in tune with the weather and the wind... here, it feels so... foreign...*
Just when Jet thought he had found the location of this "Zecora" he was searching for, he felt the wind pushing harder against him from the front. Too hard. He found himself losing control of his flight, and then he was caught in a windstorm, surrounded by dark clouds from the Everfree Forest.
*Can't... control this... windstorm... Can't... hold on...*
Soon Jet was sent spiraling down out of control, crashing through branches, bushes, and finally onto the forest ground. Jet was stunned for a while, sore all over, but he got to his hooves eventually. Then he noticed what he was standing in.
"...Crap..."
Poison Joke was EVERYWHERE. All around him. And his wings were too sore to fly up and over all of it. He just had to trot through it and accept whatever effect would result. As he started finding his way to the zebra's hut, he felt something wet dripping down his face. He stopped for a second as he wiped it and observed what it was.
*Am I... crying?*
Jet couldn't believe it. Crawling? In HIS skin?
*Great. Poison Joke turns me into Jet Cry. This is no respectable image for the head of a secret society of protection!*
Eventually, Jet reached the hut. After many futile attempts to dry his eyes, he knocked on the door. Soon afterwards, a grey zebra answered, a puzzled look quickly taking her face upon seeing the "crying" stallion.
"I'm not crying, poison joke did this to me. Are you... Zecora?"
The zebra seemed a little more confused now, but she answered nonetheless.
"I am the one you are looking for. May I ask what brings you to my door?"
Jet seemed satisfied now. At least now he was making real progress again. He smiled as he responded.
"We have much to discuss."
Zecora let Jet into the small hut, and he stopped to examine the place.
"Whoa, *sniff* you have a lot of potions and herbs in here."
Zecora nodded with a smile.
"In my hut I have many potions and elixirs alike. Now please, tell me why you've stopped at my home tonight."
She said as she constantly walked around the hut, grabbing things and pouring them into a massive pot in the middle of the floor.
I'm here because I want to *sniff*-"
"Please, let me first take care of that poison joke, come to this pot and give your head a soak."
Jet did as he was told and walked over the green liquid-filled pot. He was at first hesitant, but he eventually complied and dipped his head into the liquid. Once he pulled his head out he felt his flow of tears cease.
"Hey, thanks a lot!"
Zecora nodded in acknowledgment.
"Now that your tears have finally dried, perhaps why you are here you can now describe."
*Dang, this zebra's got some mad rhyming skills.*
Jet thought to himself before sitting down to explain the reason for his visit.
"Yes. My name is Jet Fly, and you already know my friend Shade Vortex."
The mention of that name brought a wide smile to her face.
"Oh yes! Shade Vortex is an old friend. His life I once helped defend. He stayed with me for a while before moving along to his next trial."
"So I've heard. Because he knows you so well, he suggested you to be a part of an organization known as TEK: the Taskforce of Equestrian Knowledge. TEK is assigned specific missions from the Princess to handle situations that the Elements of Harmony either can't handle, or are too busy to handle. I suggested we needed a nature and wild life expert, and Shade immediately mentioned your name."
Zecora sat down as well, appearing dumbfounded and confused for a second, and Jet realized that her brain was having difficulty trying to soak in all the information she had just heard.
"Yes yes, it is a lot to take in all at once, but the truth of the matter is, Equestria is in danger. There are tons of monsters and evil beings out there that threat to tear Equestrian society apart. TEK is the only thing standing between the safety of the public, and utter discord. I'm only trying to do my part to help. So is Shade and hopefully others in the future. We could really use your plant-life, healing, and medical expertise."
Zecora seemed to understand somewhat better the gravity of the offer. Jet could almost see the gears turning inside her head as she sat in deep thought.
"Ever since I came to this place, ponies have ran from me with great haste. But if I can protect the ponies that call it home, then the fact that I belong I can truly make known."
"Then is that a yes?"
Zecora nodded.
"Yes! Thank you so much! I know Shade will really appreciate this. Look, I'll be back later with Princess Celestia to give you the run down of TEK and our missions. How does that sound?"
"To me that sounds pleasing, so I guess I shall see you this evening."
"Definitely. Bye!"
Jet row and turned to open the door to the hut, flying off in Ponyville's direction.
Zecora watched him fly away before returning to her work. She had a lot to think about for the next few hours.
Jet was currently on his way back to Ponyville, this time flying a little closer to ground. No way was he dealing with this forest's crazy weather again. As he flew barely above the treetops and got closer to Ponyville, Jet noticed an intriguing sight below: Shade, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, all heading into the Everfree.
*Now that's odd. Just earlier today Shade wouldn't go anywhere near this place. Wonder what he's doing here now, along with some of our friends? Guess I'll go see what's up. Better change direction first and come from behind them, so the others don't know about my whereabouts in the forest.* ___________
Rainbow Dash looked to Shade, who was just barely keeping up with the group, moving at a slow, nervous pace.
"I don't like this..."
"Don't you worry there, sugarcube. We're right here with ya."
"Applejack's right, Shade. You'll be just fine."
Shade felt slightly better. Somehow, Fluttershy always found a way to reassure him. He always loved that about her.
Suddenly, however, a nearby bush rustled. Startled, Shade let out a small scream before firing an energy blast right at the bush, which immediately ignited and became half-burnt with smoldering blue flames.
"Geez, Shade, it was just the wind!"
A bit embarrassed, Shade eased up and his ears flopped down.
"Sorry, Dash... sorry guys..."
Applejack on the other hoof was a bit confused.
"How'd ya even do that?"
"...Just one of the tricks I picked up over the past few years."
It wasn't much of an answer, but Shade wasn't really trying to go into details right now.
"Hey, what's going on over here?"
The four ponies looked up to the fifth voice descending upon them. Rainbow Dash was the first to address him.
"Jet? What are you doing here?"
"I, uh, saw you guys earlier heading this way. Wondered what was up."
Shade gave a slight, secret nod to Jet's cover story. Fluttershy chimed in with the explanation.
"Oh, we were just helping Shade overcome his fear of the Everfree Forest!"
Jet looked around the area before responding.
"...By leading him directly into it?"
Shade sighed.
"It was Twilight's idea. I, uh, talked to the others about my problem... Twilight said the best way for me to overcome my fears was to 'face them head on. Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack were kind enough to accompany me.'"
Jet smiled, glad to hear his friend was finally doing so.
"Well I'm just glad your finally working to solve it, and getting help in fact. Mind if I tag along?"
"Be my guest."
The five of them then continued through the forest, and much to Shade's surprise, nothing bad ever happened.
*Probably just because it's late noon. At night it's a different story...*
As they traveled, Jet and Shade had stayed a distance back for awhile to discuss their mission progress.
"I take it you found Zecora?"
"Yeah. I gave her the basic run-down, and we agreed I'd meet back with her tonight with Celestia for her final answer."
"Good. I think I'm starting to feel slightly less terrified of this place, so I guess I'll join you. I would feel more safe with Celestia there too."
"Great. It's settled then."
Jet and Shade started to move back up with the others with their secret discussion concluded.
Ditzy Doo was completely disoriented. She awoke to finding herself lying down on what felt like dirt ground, perhaps in some forest. There was a slight ringing in her ears and her hearing was muffled, and as she started to open her eyes everything around her was blurry. And her head hurt like crazy too.
“...itz!...ake up!"
Ditzy looked up slightly. Still squinting to see, she tried to make out what she thought was shouting at her.
*What's that orange thing yelling at me? Did I mess up another delivery or something?*
“...Ditz!"
*Huh... It's almost like it's yelling-*
“DITZ! DITZY WAKE UP!"
“WAH!"
Ditzy yelled as she jumped up and fell back on her side.
“Phew, I'm glad your awake. You had me worried there for a second, Ditzy."
“Huh? Jet? Where am I?"
Jet shook his head and smiled.
“Well, I'm not surprised that you don't remember. You hit that tree pretty hard."
Ditzy tilted her head in confusion.
“Tree? What tre-oh... Right... Sorry..."
It was all coming back to her. She and Jet were on a training mission, scouting out a supposed Timber Wolf nesting ground in the Everfree Forest. They were flying steadily before Ditzy collided face first with a giant oak that now had her face imprinted on its trunk.
“It's no problem. We were just about done for today anyway. C'mon, it's getting late. Let's set up camp here."
Jet then took off his saddle bags and began to take out the sleeping bags.
Ditzy sat idly as Jet set up camp. By now they had already gotten a campfire started with some leaves around their clearing.
“Hey Ditz, mind adding some fuel to the fire?"
Ditzy smiled, finally having something to do.
“Oh, okay. I can help!"
Ditzy went over to grab the spare wood, though she accidentally grabbed something else next to it.
“NO DITZ NOT THE-"
*woomph*
“...food supply...."
Realizing what she had done, the clumsy pegasus rubbed her foreleg in embarrassment.
“Oh... I'm really sorry! They were sitting right next to each other and the food pack looked just like spare wood!"
Jet merely sighed.
“It's okay. I know it wasn't on purpose. Look, stay here and watch the camp while I go out and find some supplies. Can you handle that?"
“Aye aye Captain!"
Ditzy saluted.
“Good. I'll be back in a bit. Watch your surroundings. The Everfree is a dangerous place. Be careful."
Ditzy watched as Jet took off into orange light of the Everfree sunset.
“Okay! Jet assigned me the task of watching the camp site! It is my sworn duty to do as my commanding officer told me! Don't worry Jet! You can count on me!"
Ditzy swore to herself. Sitting on her haunches, she rubbed her head.
“Geez, I hit that tree really hard. It still hurts. CURSE YOU DEPTH PERCEPTION! I could have sworn I still had a few more feet before that tree..."
Looking at the now twilight sky, Ditzy began to wonder how she even came to be in TEK.
“With my eyes, everyone in Ponyville knew that I was a klutz. It makes me wonder why Jet and Shade would ever choose me, a simple mail mare, to join an elite group to protect Equestria."
She reveled in the warm glow of the food fueled fire. Thinking a few weeks back, she thought back to how she came to be among them. The way she heard it: _______________ 5 weeks earlier _______________
“Her? The grey Pegasus?"
“Yep. She's my co-worker. We both work at the postal service. While I help move and teleport heavier objects, she goes out and delivers standard mail."
“Shade, mail delivery is not a basis for TEK."
“IT'S NOT HER MAIL DELIVERY SKILLS THAT I CARE ABOUT!"
“Then what is it?"
“Look, Jet, you see her eyes?"
Jet squinted to see the mailmare's eyes. It was easy because she wasn't really moving. Currently she was at Sugar Cube Corner, munching on a muffin.
“Huh... Yeah, I see them."
“Well, ever since I met her, I've always wondered how she could deliver mail with such a... disability. Well, I found out that she does it with... great difficulty. But even so, she always delivers her mail. And after asking around, I found out that she has impeccable memory."
“Memory?"
“That's right. Even though her vision is impaired, she remembers every detail of her mail routes. She practically has this whole town memorized."
“Whoa, that's incredible."
“Indeed. And she could also be our saboteur. Due to her vision, she can be quite the klutz. She's very clumsy and can often beat the odds when it comes to destruction. And more practically, she could be our messenger in case we need to send messages to Celestia or something."
Jet took another look at the peculiar Pegasus enjoying her lunch. There just seemed to be this spark about her, an inner flame.
"Her name's Ditzy Doo, though everyone calls her Derpy."
“Ditzy, huh?" _________ Present _________
Thinking about that story made her smile. Who would have thought that she would ever be a part of a secret organization dedicated to the safety of all of Equestria? After they had spoken with her, she was more than happy to join. This super-spy and agent stuff sounded like a lot of fun!
Soon after she joined they received a letter from the Princess telling them about numerous Timber Wolf sightings in a particular area. Celestia presumed that there was a nesting site there, and she assigned TEK the task of finding the truth. Jet assigned himself and Ditzy to investigate. He reasoned that it could be beneficial for her training, and that they could both fly if things got too dangerous. Besides, Shade was still working on his therapy with the whole Everfree situation, and Bulk and Zecora were still training in Canterlot. Jet also reasoned that it would be a nice team bonding exercise for the two of them.
Ditzy gave no resistance. She didn't know why, but she was drawn to the orange pegasus. He was always so nice to her, and he was one the very few ponies who called her by her real name. Jet really respected her and treated her as an equal. He never scolded her when she made a mistake, like that time she burned his favorite book. He simply shrugged it off and never brought it up again, as if it didn't matter. He also never asked about her eyes. That's something NO-PONY had EVER done. It was almost like he didn't notice. He treated her like any other pony, and he was super nice. He even took time to train with her, and bought her a muffin from time to time. For the first time in a long time, a pony saw her for who she really was, and not just her outward appearance or constant accidents.
“Things are looking up for you Ditzy.",
She spoke to herself in the darkness.
"I wonder what's taking Jet so long. It's been about an hour..."
Suddenly a cold breeze blew by her side, sending a shiver up her body. She then realized just how alone she was. All alone, in the most dangerous place in the country. Yellow eyes began to pop up all over the place, just outside of the fire's light. If she listened carefully, she could hear the steady breathing of multiple creatures.
Like lightning, one of the creatures jumped from the bushes, revealing itself to be a large Timber Wolf. Ditzy, paralyzed by fear, couldn't even scream or call for help. She couldn't even move her wings to flee. She could do nothing as the ravenous being slowly crept its way towards her, green slime sliding down its mouth in a feral way.
*But how? Wait... could it have been... CRAP! THE AROMA COMING FROM THE FOOD FIRE ATTRACTED THEM!*
She could almost feel its breath on her as she watched in horror as two more joined the one. They were now cornering her, making sure there was no escape. Ditzy knew there was no point in yelling for help. She was all alone, about to be eaten. She closed her eyes and began to think about her life. Never did she think it would end like this. Now here she was, about to be devoured like common prey. Ditzy thought of all the pleasant memories she'd made since she joined TEK, one very specific memory she had of her and Jet talking after a particularly unsuccessful training session.
*I don't know Jet. Maybe I'm not cut out for this stuff. Everyone knows I'm useless... all my life I've been worthless. Just-*
She had been cut off by a warm hoof on her shoulder. She looked up to see a very serious look on Jets face.
*Don't you ever say that again, Ditz. You're special, you're not like other ponies.*
*Oh...*
*Your better than most.*
She looked up in confusion.
*How? Whenever I try to do what's right, I always end up doing the opposite.*
*That's just it though. No, you're not perfect, but then again, no-pony is. You're better than most because no matter how many mistakes you make, you always get right back up. You always try your best to do the right thing. You're strong, Ditz. Your strong in here.*
Jet pointed at her heart.
*And don't let anypony ever tell you otherwise.*
Ditzy smiled at that memory. If only Jet was here, she thought. He could protect her. But he wasn't here, and she was going to die. She closed her eyes, and prepared for the worst. But, one thought kept passing through her mind. Something Jet said right before they left for this mission:
*I believe in you.*
Jet believed in her. He knew she could overcome any trial. She had to live, she had to prove that Jet was right about her. No, she wasn't going to die! She had to live to see Jet's proud face!
With new-found power, Ditzy got on her hooves and prepared for battle. There was no running away from this fight. The Timber Wolves seemed amused at her show of courage. But it didn't matter to them, they liked playing with their food anyway.
The first one jumped at her, aiming his massive claws at her throat, but she was too quick, and she dodged to the left.
*C'mon eyes, don't fail me now!*
Ditzy thought to herself as she leaped back and forth, left and right to avoid being torn into ribbons by these Wolves. She had to think fast, or it was going to be all over soon.
*Hmm... They don't look at where they jump. They just try to get at me.*
Ditzy smiled a bit as a plan began to form inside her mind. After avoiding the next jump, she ran and grabbed her sleeping bag. She then used her wings to open it, spreading them to reveal the inside of it. The sleeping bag was so big that if you were looking in front of her, you couldn't see what was behind her, and that was exactly what Ditzy wanted. She positioned herself in the small clearing, and growled.
“Jet assigned me the task of watching over the camp, and that's just what I plan to do!"
With a mighty growl the Timber Wolf pounced once again, and this time Ditzy was ready. She quickly moved out of the way, revealing the fire behind her. It was too late for the Wolf to turn, and he landed face first into the flames. His yelps of pain echoed throughout the night. He pulled his now burning face off the intense flames and ran into the woods, whimpering all the while. The other wolves seemed shocked at the sudden retreat of their companion. Full of rage, the other two began to close in on her. Out of ideas, Ditzy had no choice but to take to the air. She opened her wings to flap, but something was holding them in place. She looked back to see that sleeping bag was now tangled around them, making flight impossible.
“OH C'MON!"
The Wolves seemed amused by this pony's clumsiness. Seeing their opportunity, they began to close in for the kill. Helplessly looking around, Ditzy realized that she had done all she could and closed her eyes once more.
“I'm sorry Jet..."
She whispered, tears starting to stream down her face.
Then, all of a sudden, a sound similar to a hundred branches breaking all at once burst throughout the clearing, and Ditzy felt a strong wind rush past her. Risking to open her eyes, she was amazed at what she saw. Only one Timber Wolf remained. The other lied in pieces on the ground, it's entire upper half decimated. She looked to the other Timber Wolf and noticed that it's attention was no longer on her. She followed its gaze to none other Jet Fly walking his way into the clearing. He had scratches on his back, legs, and neck, but by the way his face looked, he was totally calm.
“You thought you were clever by trying to ambush me, didn't you? You thought that we would be easy pickings if we were separated."
Jet said to the remaining Wolf who was now in an attack stance, growling like crazy.
“But I knew Ditz wouldn't just let you take her. I knew she would fight."
He looked at her reassuringly.
“It's okay Ditz. You can rest now."
Looking back at the Wolf he continued.
“Now, I am your opponent."
The Wolf had enough of this pony and decided to finish him off first. Pouncing in the air, the Wolf aimed himself at the stallion.
“JET GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
“It's alright, I got this. Your not alone."
Jet's attention remained focused on the airborne predator. He made a lighting fast forward flapping movement with his right wing, and Ditzy could just make out a wind-like essence coming from it. It was almost scythe-like, and traveling fast. In the blink of an eye, the Wolf's legs were no more, and he crashed down on his stomach. Immobile and hurt, the Wolf started to realize just what he had gotten himself into. Jet calmly walked up to the stump-like wolf.
“You can attack me, hurt me even. But when you hurt my friends, you pay."
The Timber Wolf was now terrified. Maybe he should have left with the first Wolf. But he wasn't going down without a fight. The Wolf opened his mouth wide, revealing his razor-sharp wooden teeth. Then, in the blink of an eye, there was a massive gust of wind, which caused Ditzy to close her eyes to shield them from the turbulence. But the wind disappeared as quickly as it arrived, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw that the Wolf looked the same, other than the fact that it wasn't moving. He seemed to be stuck in that same open-mouth position.
Then, before Ditzy could say anything, the top of the Wolf's head slid off onto the ground. The top half of his body was soon to follow. Once all the sliding had stopped, all that was left were the cleanly cut halves of a Timber Wolf.
"Whoa..."
With his job now done, Jet looked to see how his companion was doing. He was greeted with an open mouth, wings-tied-by-a-sleeping-bag pegasus. He couldn't help but smile.
“C'mon, let's find somewhere else to spend the night before these guys regenerate themselves. I don't know about you, but this area is really starting to bum me out." ______________
“So then, I jumped out of the way and he landed face first into the fire!"
Ditzy recalled as she and Jet sat inside a cozy cave on the side of a mountain. “Wow! I'm so proud of you Ditz! I just knew you would be fine!"
Ditzy blushed a little at the sudden praise.
“Yeah... well I was really scared. I kept thinking that this was the end. And it might have been if you hadn't come when you did."
“After I fought off the ones that jumped me, I knew that there were probably some coming after you as well. I would have died if it meant that you could have lived."
Ditzy was shocked considerably.
“Wha... Really? You'd do that... for me?"
Jet nodded without hesitation while looking out into the night sky.
“Yes. Your my teammate, and I'd never let my teammate die."
Ditzy couldn't believe her ears! On impulse she jumped into the air and gave Jet a giant hug, wrapping her forelegs around him tightly.
“Thank you... thank you so much..."
Ditzy muffled into his fur. All her life ponies had looked down on her, making her feel insignificant. But Jet wasn't like that. He cared for her, so much that he'd be willing to give up his own life for her sake. Jet looked at the mare with understanding and rubbed her head.
“I was so scared, Jet... I was all alone in the darkness..."
“It's okay Ditz. You'll never be alone again. I'll always be here for you. Always..."
Looking up, sniffling and teary-eyed, Ditzy nodded and laid next to Jet's side, curling up next to him. Next thing she knew, she felt a warm wing wrap around her body, holding her close. She took a peek to see what Jet was doing, and the last thing she saw was him staring out into the endless night sky before she drifted asleep.
Jet and Shade's afternoon wasn't exactly going as they planned. As TEK began moving further along, Celestia started supplying them with new equipment on a regular basis, which would later be moved to whatever location they ended up establishing themselves. The newest addition to their equipment was a new screen projector, and now it wasn't working.
"I don't understand, Shade, how do I technology?"
Jet incoherently complained as he failed to comprehend their device's current malfunction. Shade continued to examine the projector as he too could not solve the problem.
"Lousy thing won't even start up anymore! It was working just fine two days ago!"
"You would think the Princess would be able to get us properly working equipment."
"I'm sure it's not her fault, Jet. No, there's something else wrong that we just haven't figured out yet."
Both sat on their haunches as they tried to come up with a solution or any other ideas. Shade was the first to give a suggestion after a few minutes of silent thought.
"Think we should ask for help with this?"
"Probably. We need someone more skilled with technology on TEK anyway."
"Yeah. We'll add 'technician' to the list of roles we need, then. Right along with 'improviser,' 'infiltrator,' and 'musician.'"
Jet gave Shade a puzzled look.
"Wait, 'musician?' Why would we possibly need a musician?"
"Who else is gonna write our theme song?"
Jet was unimpressed.
"You can't be serious."
The grin on Shade's face said otherwise. Jet facehoofed and sighed.
"Shade... we're not some sort of comic book superhero team. We don't get 'theme songs' in real life."
Shade frowned as Jet headed to the door.
"Now C'mon, we got some 'hiring' to do. Got the projector?"
"Yeah. Lets get moving."
Shade answered as he carried the projector in his magical grip.
Jet and Shade were now heading to the newly built workshop to see if they could find any possible TEK members. Jet suggested that they bring the projector as a test. With the technology industry booming, it was important that TEK had a capable engineer or technician.
"You really think we'll find somepony? All this technology stuff is relatively new to Equestria."
"Only one way to find out, Shade."
The workshop was on the northeast side of Ponyville, near the outskirts of town.
"There it is."
Jet pointed out with his hoof.
"Finally. Let's see what they can do." ____________
"GUH! I can't believe they weren't able to do anything!"
Shade exclaimed as they left one of the workshops in town.
"Hey hey, calm down. Keep that thing in your grip. Just because they couldn't help us doesn't mean that no-pony can't. We just have to keep searching."
Shade sighed as he eased his frustration. He still needed to work on his anger issues.
"Look, they told us to go the club across the street and talk to the owner."
Shade snorted.
"Pfft, please. What the heck can a club owner do for us?"
"This is the only lead we have right now. We have no choice but to follow it."
Sighing, Shade followed Jet across the street to the club the ponies at the workshop mentioned. Out of curiosity, Jet looked up to see what the name of this club was.
"'The Vine,' huh?"
Shade chuckled a bit.
"Hehehe... Does the music here grow on you or something?"
Thankfully, it wasn't quite so late in the day, so the club wasn't active. However, that also meant it was closed and the door was locked.
"Looks like we'll have to wait until it opens."
Shade was having just about enough at the moment.
"We don't have time for this."
*FLASH!*
Realizing what Shade just did, Jet was immediately worried, and started to whisper-shout to him.
"Shade! You shouldn't have teleported us in! This is breaking and en-"
"Oh quit your whining. If this doesen't work out, I'll just wipe their short-term memory of this experience. And since i teleported us in, we didn't break anything and there will be no trace of us being here."
"Oh yeah... I guess that makes sense. Well, since we're in here, we might as well try to find the owner..."
It was fairly dark inside, and there seemed to be no sign that anypony was even present besides the two of them. Shade activated his light magic to get a better look at the club's interior.
"I didn't know you could do that!"
"Old trick I learned a while back. And you don't really need to whisper still. I don't think there's anypony here."
What Shade did see was a cluster of empty tables, arranged and organized around a large open space that was most likely a dance floor. The floor separated the tables from a larger table closer to the wall, which was most likely where the DJ equipment would be located. The lack of such equipment suggested there was no-pony here to set it up.
"Maybe the owner won't be coming until sometime before the club opens. Which means we should probably get out of here..."
"Then we can check what time this place opens today. There was probably a list with the opening and closing times outside."
Within seconds, Shade teleported them back outside the club, which caught Jet a little bit off guard.
"What th- oh. Back outside. You know, if we had just waited for a while like I said, we could have checked the opening time earlier..."
"Shut up."
Shade growled as he headed over to the time sheet that was just to his right. Naturally, Jet was a little shocked by Shade's remark. He seemed to be losing his calm composure every minute today.
"Dang, Shade... you had all these flavors to choose from, and you chose to be salty."
Shade couldn't ignore the way he was acting either, and felt the need to apologize. Setting down the projector he was still carrying, he turned back to face his friend.
"I... I'm sorry, Jet. I've just been having a hard time with all this... starting to lose my cool a bit..."
"I know this is frustrating, bro. I get that. Just try to keep calm and power through it."
Sighing, Shade sat on his haunches, closing his eyes and attempting to clear his mind. The cool afternoon breeze blew through his mane gently. In all truthfulness, it was a fairly nice, peaceful day.
Jet saw that Shade was in his own tranquil state, and did not try disturb him. So, they both waited silently as time passed by. After sitting for what felt like hours, but was most likely about 20 minutes, Jet saw somepony heading towards them. He turned to alert Shade, who was leaning back against the wall of the club.
"Shade?"
"Yes?"
"Oh, you are awake. I think I see the owner coming."
Shade slowly opened his eyes, also seeing the approaching pony. He rose to his hooves slowly.
"Well then. Let's get this taken care of."
Soon, a light cream, unicorn mare with a wild blue and light blue-striped mane stopped in front of them, wearing magenta shades.
"Uh... can I help you two?"
"Perhaps. Are you the owner of this establishment?"
"Heck yeah I am! Vinyl Scratch, AKA DJ PON-3, at your service. Now why are you guys here so early?"
"Well miss Scratch-"
"Just Vinyl's good."
"-Vinyl, we have a bit of a technological problem, and we were told you were the pony to come to. My name is Jet, and this is my friend Shade."
Shade stepped forward, bringing forth the broken projector in his telekinetic grasp.
"There seems to be something wrong with our new projector, and we can't figure out what. We were kinda hoping you could take a look at it?"
Vinyl took the projector in her own aura, looking it over.
"I guess I can see what I can do. Got a bit of time before the place really opens up. Why don't you guys c'mon in?"
Jet and Shade both looked at each other for a second, then turned back to Vinyl.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, this shouldn't take too long. No biggie."
Both shrugged, and Jet spoke up again.
"If you say so, miss Vinyl."
"Just Vinyl." ______________
Shade and Jet sat at one of the empty tables away from the main table. At the moment, it was where Vinyl had been working for at least half an hour now. They had engaged her in a fairly simple conversation as she worked on the projector, asking about her club, how business was going, the basics. So far everything was going well, and she seemed to know what she was doing while she worked.
But the time for small talk was over. Jet gave Shade a simple nod to let him know it was time to start assessing her skills.
"So, you're pretty good with technology, eh Vinyl?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty skilled with it. Good with fixing and tuning a lot of equipment. It's also why I DJ, too."
"Really now?"
"Yeah, I've always been into music. Even classical sometimes. But I always loved the idea of mixing music and electronics, which I'm also really good with. It's a real art in my opinion."
Jet and Shade were liking what they were hearing. While it was good to know they had a possible technician for TEK, it was also interesting to hear about Vinyl's love of music.
"We just may have to come and hear your work someday."
Shade said with a smile.
"Come anytime you like. Well, that should just about do it. Your projector should be working just fine now."
Vinyl said, removing her shades to reveal her ruby red eyes.
Jet couldn't help but marvel at this mare's skill. He was expecting this to take some time, but apparently she wasn't joking when she said it wouldn't take long.
"That was... much faster than I expected. I guess you really are skilled with this kind of stuff."
"Yeah, like I said. I do a lot of this kind of stuff, fixing and inventing and whatnot."
Both Jet and Shade perked up.
"Wait, you *invent* stuff?"
"Every now and then. A lot of it's sound and music based, but each is a machine of my design."
Jet and Shade's interest levels were raising fast. They knew they were definitely going to get the results they were hoping for.
"You wouldn't mind showing us some of these inventions, would you?"
Vinyl chuckled a bit.
"I was hoping you'd ask." _____________
Jet and Shade followed Vinyl to the basement of the club. She had led them through a door to the far right of the main table, which took them to a staircase that descended to the left to another door on the left. Through this door, once Vinyl turned on the lights, was something that made Jet and Shade's jaws drop.
In the basement of the club, almost everywhere, was a whole gallery of gadgets and machines, some finished and on display, others still works-in-progress. Nevertheless, they were all breathtaking. The basement itself was decently sized, made entirely of concrete with a few light fixtures on the ceiling and a tiled floor. In the center was a wide table, most likely a workstation, and on the far sides of it were large metal shelves which held all of Vinyl's creations. In the back was a smaller shelf that stored various tools and equipment.
"Whoa... these are amazing, Vinyl!"
Jet stated in his amazement. Shade, meanwhile, still hadn't picked up his jaw.
"Hehe... thanks. My friend Octavia says I spend too much time on this 'junk,' but I say: if there's something you love doin', don't let anything stop you from doin' it."
Shade was still frozen in awe for another moment, observing all of Vinyl's inventions. He walked over to one in particular that caught his eye.
"What's this one right here?"
"Ah, one of my favorites. That's my Bass Cannon."
"Bass Cannon?
"Uh-huh. It's a device that emits sound waves in a constant stream. It also has different settings and tunes for maximum wubs!"
Jet raised an eyebrow.
"Wubs? You mean like dubtrot and techno music?"
Vinyl nodded.
"So you managed to weaponize music?"
Vinyl frowned slightly at Jet's question.
"Well, I guess it *could* be used as a weapon, I mean I haven't really found any other practical use for it, but I'm not really sure why anypony would use this as a weapon."
"I understand. That question was a bit odd, I guess, hehe..."
"In any case, Vinyl, we think it's really cool you showed us all of this. I'm sure you're very proud of your work. And thank you as well for fixing our projector. How much did you want for that by the way?"
Vinyl threw her hoof up at Shade.
"Nah, don't worry about it. It was nothing really, I like fixing stuff. I am glad that I got to show my inventions to somepony else, ponies who appreciate my work."
Jet and Shade both smiled sincerely. Realizing that Vinyl would have to start setting up the club for tonight soon, Jet decided to make this the end of their visit.
"Well Vinyl, we'll let you get to work with the whole club thing. Thanks for your help, and for showing us all of this. You really are quite talented."
"Yeah, I really should start getting the place ready soon... Hope I see you guys around sometime. You're pretty cool yourselves."
With their assessment complete and their equipment repaired, Jet and Shade left Vinyl's club while she prepared for the coming night. Outside, Luna's night was beginning to fall in its beautiful purple sky, stars appearing and shining by the dozen. On the way back home, the heads of TEK discussed matters.
"Well Shade, we not only got our technician, but we got your musician as well. Are you happy now?"
"Yes." _________________________ The next day, early noon _________________________
Vinyl Scratch was on her way home from a small trip to the café. She'd been in the mood for a milkshake today, which she was now carrying with her telekinesis. As always, Vinyl had her trademark headphones on as she walked. The beats and rhythm suited her just fine.
Finally reaching her home, Vinyl unlocked and opened the door with her magic, still bobbing her head to the music that only she could hear. When she looked up from closing her door, however, she jumped back and knocked her headphones off after being startled from seeing Jet and Shade sitting at her dining room table across the room.
"WHAT TH- What are you guys doing here!? How'd you get in my house!?"
Vinyl screamed after she almost spat out her milkshake.
Jet spoke calmly in his answer.
"Hello, Vinyl. Please forgive our intrusion, but there is something we must discuss."
Confused and somewhat angered, Vinyl picked up her headphones and sat on the couch next to the front door.
"This better be important."
"I think you'll be interested in hearing what we have to say."
A fourth voice spoke from behind a wall, and Vinyl watched in awe as Princess Celestia stepped from behind it.
"Vinyl Scratch, we have a proposition for you."
Vinyl slowly removed her glasses as her eyes widened in disbelief.
TEK was organized to protect Equestria from the most dangerous of threats, and each member had spent months training themselves to be able to face the most difficult trials. So when Jet told them that Celestia had assigned them to take care of an insect infestation in the Everfree Forest, it was understandable if the others were a bit underwhelmed by their current mission. That was until they actually got to see what kind of infestation it was.
"What ARE these things?
"These, Shade, are called Parasprites. They're a kind of insect that lives only to eat and multiply. And the more they eat, the more they multiply. "
Ditzy seemed infatuated with the small round creatures.
"They're so adorable!"
Jet shook his head.
"They may look cute, but they're a dangerous species. They've been known to devour entire crops in a matter of hours. If they were to spread across Equestria in a swarm, we'd all be screwed."
"Dang, I guess that's why Celestia told us to take care of these things."
Jet nodded to Vinyl.
"Yes. We need to get rid of these vermin before they destroy anything else."
Shade laughed as he finished gathering them all in a large telekinetic bubble.
"I can't believe that the Elements thought that simply leading them into the Everfree would solve the problem."
"Yeah, definitely not one of their smarter moves. Apparently, Twilight even tried a spell on them that would make them stop eating all the food, but it only led them to start eating everything else. Hopefully it's worn off by now."
Jet stated with a sigh.
"Jet, what's our next move? Or shall we try and rid these things with our own two hooves?"
Jet thought about Zecora's question for a minute, but eventually shook his head.
"I'm not too sure. I don't really know too much else about these things. For now, Shade will just have to keep them all in his magical grip."
Shade began to wince a bit.
"Better think of something fast. It's a lot of strain trying to contain them all like this..."
Jet, Shade, Ditzy, Vinyl, and Zecora continued through the forest only to stop by a large rock they saw nearby. TEK was only a little ways away from Ponyville, having just spotted the swarm. Jet pulled out the records on the Parasprites, which was given to him by Celestia.
"Let's see here... Parasprites will eat any type of food, and they have weak flying capabilities. They reproduce by continuously eating, and then spitting a special kind of saliva. The more they eat, the more they reproduce... There isn't really much else. The only thing I can really think of is…"
The others all looked to Jet as he trailed off.
"Yeah...?"
Jet looked away, covering his face with his mane.
"The only thing I can think of is to…"
TEK leaned in even closer.
"...Is to dispose of them..."
All the mares gasped, while Shade took a step back.
"...Are you sure?"
Shade asked, a hint of fear and disbelief in his voice. Jet kept his head turned as he began to explain.
"There are already too many to simply contain. And they multiply too fast. Given another day they could infest half of Equestria. They'll cause massive starvation throughout the country. Thousands will die if we don't get rid of them now..."
Zecora stepped forward.
"To actually take away their life will simply not suffice. We need to come up with another plan to save our land. It will be hard, but I know we can."
Vinyl nodded in agreement.
"Zecora's right. It's not cool to just kill them off. There has to be another way…"
"Yeah, that's pretty harsh bro. Can't I just teleport them deeper into the forest?"
Jet finally looked at Shade and eventually the others with clear turmoil in his eyes.
"And then what? They'd just spread further within a few days, in larger numbers, no matter how far away you teleport them. I know its cruel, and its definitely not my first option, but it all comes down to this: Equestria, or them."
Everyone present looked at the magically imprisoned Parasprites, and then to Shade, who was now visibly straining to hold the struggling swarm.
"Look, Shade can't hold them much longer. We have to make a decision now."
Silence fell heavy over the land surrounding the large stone.
"...How do we do it, then?"
Vinyl's head snapped at Shade's words.
"Shade! You can't be serious!"
Shade rubbed the back of his head both out of nervousness and from the mental strain.
"It's not like I WANT to do this, but Jet has a point. I remember when these things took over Ponyville months back. It was nuts. If all of Equestria were to fall victim to these things..."
"I know, but… there has to be another way!"
Ditzy pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Ditz... We're only trying to do what's necessary..."
Jet tried to explain.
"Is taking the lives of these creatures really necessary? Its not like they purposely harm others!"
"I know but-"
"We can't just go around killing innocent creatures just because there a bit of an inconvenience!"
"I know that. Just let me explain-"
"Its wrong! Taking lives isn't right! I can't acce-"
"DITZY STOP IT!"
Everyone jumped back, noticeably startled by Jet's sudden outburst.
"I don't want to kill them either! But if we don't do something now, Equestria will starve and thousands will be gone forever!"
Ditzy dropped down sadly and fearfully. Jet had never, ever raised his voice at her, so his outburst frightened her considerably.
"I… I-I'm sorry… Its just that…"
Jet sighed and raised his hoof.
"No, no its my fault... I'm sorry for yelling. I can't say killing them would be right, or wrong. But what I do know is that protecting Equestria is our number one priority."
Ditzy seemed to understand, although she was still hesitant. Shade also understood what was at stake, so he was prepared to do what was necessary to protect his home.
"Let's make this as merciful as possible. I'll slowly close off the air in the bubble I'm holding them in. It'll be like their falling asleep. Painless and gentle."
Jet nodded and he drew Ditzy in close to himself. She buried her face in his fur. Zecora and Vinyl also turned their heads.
"Shade... do it."
Jet ordered with painful regret. Shade nodded as his horn began to glow brighter.
"Sorry little guys…"
Just before Shade could begin the process, however, bushes near the clearing began to rustle, and all of TEK present jumped on guard, preparing to battle anything that jumped out.
"Hey, what're you guys doing out here?"
A light brown unicorn mare with a scarlet mane asked as she stepped out from the bushes. Shade was caught a bit off guard, but maintained himself with a calm response.
"I could ask you the same question. Who are you, and why are you here?"
"The name's Judy Swirls! I sensed a lot of magical flow in this area, and I heard talking when I walked by. I decided to check it out. I didn't think I'd walk in on such a weird scenario."
"Well listen, there's nothing to see here. There's nothing concerning you here so go on with your business."
Jet ordered, only for Judy put her hooves up in a defensive gesture.
"Hey hey, I only came by because I overheard what you were talking about. And I think I may have a solution to your problem."
"What?"
"Yeah, I heard you say that these guys have weak flying capabilities and how they eat pretty much anything."
"What th- How long were you listening?"
"That's... not important... Anyway, what if you moved them to an island?"
As confused as he was, Jet was intrigued by the idea.
"Why an island?"
"Well, because of their weak flying, they wouldn't be able to fly too far from the island or handle any intense current winds. If this island were to be full of crops and plants, their would be enough food for them all."
Jet rubbed his chin in thought.
"That could work. But they multiply too fast. Wouldn't they eventually overrun the island?"
Judy thought for a second.
"I'm not sure. But don't most animals and insects only grow as large as their environment?"
Jet nodded.
"Yeah, that's true. Tortoises are a prime example. Even though most grow to be large, if kept in a small cage, they'll stop growing."
Judy smiled brightly.
"See? Wouldn't that work?"
"It might... but it might not. All we can do is guess."
"Well, wouldn't it be better to work on a hunch than to kill them?"
Jet considered the given options. While Judy's suggestion was a long shot, it was certainly a better alternative to the Parasprites' extermination.
"I think… it's worth a try."
Judy jumped up in victory.
"Yes!"
Jet waved his hoof dismissively though, catching her attention.
"We may have an idea, but we don't have a plan. Don't get excited just yet."
Judy looked down to think.
"Well, are there any empty islands near Equestria?"
Ditzy stepped forward to answer this question.
"Actually yes. There's a small one south of Equestria. Its about 250 acres of land, although a good three quarters of it is hills and prairies."
Everyone looked at Ditzy in amazement at her response. No-pony had expected her to know something like that. Ditzy blushed from the sudden attention given to her and decided to explain.
"I, uh... kinda memorized a map of Equestria and everything around it. I thought it might be helpful."
Jet smiled with an impressed look.
"Excellent work, Ditz."
She began to blush even more, but thankfully for her Jet had already turned his attention back to Judy.
"Okay, so we have the island. All we need now is the permission, which I'm sure won't be a problem. But even if we do get them there, what will they eat? Ditz just said that it's mostly prairies."
Judy thought for a moment, trying to come up with a plan. In reality, Jet had already thought of a few things they could do now that the topic of an island was in the air. But he wanted to see what this pony could do. Judy suddenly smiled brightly once she had her next idea.
"What if we planted a bunch of seeds? If we make the entire island a giant garden, they'd have plenty of food. And with a little magic, the process could be sped up a bit."
Jet thought about the idea for a moment.
*That might work, but that'll take a lot of work and time, even with magic. We'd need some helping hooves to pull that off.*
He looked to the Parasprites and decided that they just might be of use. Walking to the large bubble prison, Jet gathered their attention.
"Hey, listen up. If you can understand what I'm saying, clap your wings together."
Simultaneously a few hundred little claps sounded off in one mass hum of tiny buzzing wings. Jet was quite surprised.
*They responded without even hesitating. These things really are smart. I owe Judy for saving these guys. I would have been responsible for the death of intelligent beings.*
"Good, then you can help us. Do you like the idea of living on your own private island? Where you don't have to worry about anypony harming you and you can eat as much as you like?"
Instantly the buzzing got louder and more excited. Jet smiled and continued.
"Excellent. We'll give you your own island, but in return, you have to help us cultivate it. We need you guys to help us plant all the seeds and to make whatever else we'll need. Deal?"
He got excited buzzing and claps as his response.
"I'm also gonna need you to remain in this forest until it's done."
They seemed to agree, although hesitant. Jet nodded to Shade and he let them go, much to Shade's relief. Everyone watched as the Parasprites flew off in every direction.
"We'll meet back here in a few hours. We'll take you to the island then."
Jet said to the excitedly buzzing insects just before they spread out into the forest. Judy seemed excited too.
"Alright! Lets get started! We can do it!"
Shade raised an eyebrow brow at her statement.
"'We'? There is no 'We'. There is only us. We'll handle it from here. We appreciate your help Judy but you're no longer needed."
Judy stopped mid-cartwheel and just stood on her front hooves looking sad. She plopped down in a saddened state. Jet took note of this and decided she may still be of use.
"Actually, this was her idea. Because of that, I think she should come. She can help in the planting."
Judy immediately jumped back up into the air in triumph.
"HURRAY!!!!!"
While everyone watched Judy both in awe and confusion, Jet moved over to Shade, who was still taking time to recover from the mental strain.
"Shade, let me talk to you for a second."
Once alone, Jet told Shade the plan.
"I need you to go to Celestia and ask about the island. This whole plan is garbage if we don't have the permission."
Shade turned his head curiously.
"That's all? Why did you need to tell me that in secret?"
Jet motioned towards Judy.
"She still doesn't know about us. All she knows is that we found a horde of Parasprites. We still need to keep our cover, at least for now."
"Oh yeah, I see. I almost forgot. I'll be on my way then."
And with that, Shade teleported away and Jet walked back to the now chattering group. As he neared them, Judy noticed Shade was no longer with him.
"Hey, where'd your other friend go?"
"Oh, Shade headed back to town. He needs to take care of some business."
Judy nodded.
"I see."
"Oh, he probably went to go see Cel-*mmph!*"
*Just in time*
Jet thought to himself as he held his hoof in place over Ditzy's mouth.
*One second later, and things could have gotten out of hoof.*
"...Cel? Who's that?"
Judy curiously asked. Jet decided to come up with a story after he let go of Ditzy.
"....Celia. That's Shade's marefriend. Very serious."
Judy still seemed suspicious.
"...So why did you stop her mid-sentence?"
Jet chuckled nervously as a small bead of sweat ran down his face.
"Oh, uhh... Well he's very shy about it. Top secret. He doesn't want too many ponies to know about it. Isn't that right, Ditz?"
Jet asked as he looked directly into the grey pegasus' walleyes.
She took the hint and nodded slowly. The rest of TEK also took the hint and nodded and backed Jet up.
"Oh yeah, very shy"
Vinyl said.
"Embarrassed he is not, but tell everypony he cannot."
Zecora added.
Judy nodded slowly, her eyes still squinted.
*Crisis averted*
Jet thought to himself.
"Let's go, then." ________________
After TEK got permission from Celestia to use the small island called Abiju, Jet flew at mach speeds while Shade teleported back and forth to gathered the seeds necessary from the store houses on the docks near the west ocean. It took a bit of explaining and a few cover stories to convince Judy that they had all put together the money to buy all the resources, but eventually she bought it.
The island itself was magnificent, composed of white, sandy beaches and tropical trees and plant-life right outside the reach of the sand. But true to Ditzy's word, nearly the entire center of it was hill's and prairies. It was only about two miles in diameter, but to the Parasprites, it was heaven. They were more than happy to help, flying around, planting seeds, and providing water to the workers.
After multiple weeks of work and cooperation through magic, hard work, and air support, the island preparation was complete. The royal guard decided to build an observatory on a gull to observe the Parasprites and use it as a way to monitor the surrounding area.
Nearly half of the island was converted into crops and other fruits and vegetables. Thankfully, Twilight's spell had indeed worn off, so the crops had not been planted for nothing. With their job done, everyone got one final look at the garden island before heading home on a boat.
"Gah... that was NOT as easy as I thought it would be..."
Vinyl huffed as she wiped her brow of sweat.
"Yeah, but it was worth it, wasn't it? I mean c'mon, look at all those happy faces."
Ditzy pointed back to the receding island. There, gathered on the white beach were hundreds of happy Parasprites. Even at this distance, TEK could still clearly hear the hum and buzzing of the joyous creatures. Vinyl couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah... Guess it was..."
Jet turned to Judy, who too was smiling brightly at the shrinking island in the distance.
"I want to thank you for saving us from making a grievous mistake. And to thank you, I'd like to make you a proposition."
TEK had been progressing rather well as the year continued. Princess Luna, now regaining a majority of her privileges, had also joined in its development from time to time. Along with both Princesses, Jet and Shade had been supervising the new recruits' training, which was finally nearing completion. The basics were getting covered each week, progressing at a rather substantial rate. Each member had something special about them that particularly aided them in training and the minor missions they were assigned, allowing the team to grow into something remarkable. All in all, TEK was pulling together quite well. Vinyl and Judy were especially helpful to its growth, as Vinyl provided TEK with various equipment and gear she had designed as well as a base of operations - the basement under her club - and Judy had designed TEK's insignia, one that everypony, even Celestia herself, took a liking to: two golden pegasi wings protruding from a bright cerulean orb on opposite sides, with a unicorn horn protruding out from the top of the orb. In front floated a tan banner with the name T.E.K. inscribed on it. All of that slapped onto a dark gray, circular background formed a symbolic work of art that was no less than impressive, to say the least.
Now, with TEK finally ready for what Celestia worked to prepare them for, it was time for them to start working on their first big mission. TEK gathered together with Celestia in a secluded area in the castle as she prepared to brief them.
"Before we begin, I'd like to commend you all for how well you have progressed, and for everything you've endured. Now it is time to really put that training to work."
Celestia moved to the projector that was on her right, turning it on to project an image onto the wall behind her, revealing the same image of a Changeling that Jet and Shade remembered seeing when they first accepted this responsibility. The others, however, were not as sure as to exactly what they were looking at. Vinyl slowly removed her shades.
"What. The heck. Is THAT?"
"This is a Changeling. These creatures are insect-like shapeshifters that feed off of love, disguising themselves as somepony you love and gaining strength from your love for them."
Ditzy shuddered a bit.
"That's... unsettling."
"Indeed. Long ago, their hive infiltrated countless lands using fake or stolen identities, feeding off of the residents' love and draining their strength until they were too weak to defend themselves from being dominated. A little over a century ago, I banished them to a faraway land, and there has been no sign of them since."
Celestia stepped aside as Jet and Shade moved to the front of the room, Jet going on to explain further.
"That was the case until now. About a year and a half ago, the image you see now was taken somewhere within the Everfree Forest by two Lunar Guards. Over the past few months, more and more cases of reported sightings have been showing up all over Equestria."
The others gasped simultaneously at this revelation. Celestia then changed the image to the next slide, showing a map of Equestria with marked locations. Shade did the honors of explaining this time.
"On this map are all the locations of reported sightings of Changeling activity. At first we thought it to be random, seeing no clear pattern. Jet, however, noticed that all the marked locations have one thing in common. They are all centered around the... the, uh...*ahem* Everfree Forest."
Shade concluded, choking on his words when mentioning that particular location. Jet looked at him with concern, but Shade just shrugged it off.
"So I'm guessing that's gonna be the first place we start looking?"
Celestia nodded.
"That is correct, Judy. TEK, this will be your first primary objective. For your first move, you are to investigate the Everfree and see what you can find. One of the Guards that spotted the Changeling there will lead you to that general area to begin your search."
"Once there we'll split into two groups. One will search the actual area while the other will stay behind and keep watch."
Jet finished. Celestia shut off the projector with everything explained.
"That is all the information I have for you right now. You may wish to head back to your base of operations to pick up any tools or equipment you feel might help you on your mission. When you return, the guard we mentioned will escort you to the sighting area. You'll most likely meet her in the halls when you leave this room."
With that, the group of ponies concluded their meeting, and TEK was dismissed to begin their mission. Celestia, however, asked for Shade to remain a little longer.
"What is it, Princess?"
"Shade... I understand this mission may be particularly hard for you..."
Shade looked down, somewhat facing away from the Princess.
"Yeah... I know I've been on missions in the Everfree before, but never that far into it... Even with all the therapy and everything, I... I still..."
"I understand. If you wish, you may be part of the group that stays behind, so you won't have to venture too far into the forest."
"...Th-thank you..."
Celestia gave Shade a warm smile, and Shade left to catch up with the others. ____________
Jet and the others stood around waiting on Shade, who for some reason had fallen behind. They needed his portal-making ability in order to get back to base quickly. After a few more seconds, they finally saw him walking towards them.
"There you are. What kept you?"
"Nothing much. Celestia wanted to talk to me is all. I'll be with the group that stays behind."
Jet nodded.
"Alright then. Well, we were waiting on you, but we're also waiting for this guardsmare to show up. We decided we'd check in with her first before going back to get any equipment."
As if on cue, the guardsmare finally arrived. She was an aqua-coated bat-pony, wearing metallic purple armor, though she had her helmet off. Her mane and tail were bright green with a streak of black, and her left eye had a black and white flame around it, which no-pony was sure whether it was a tattoo or not.
"Sorry I'm late, had to finish some reports. Guess you're the new 'special forces' ponies, huh?"
Jet nodded.
"Cool. Hope you guys know what you're doing. So you wanna go now or you wanna stop and gear up first?"
Jet looked to the rest of the team before they all nodded in agreement. Vinyl turned to respond.
"We're gonna head back to base and pick up some of the gear I created for us. We'll head back here and go with you to the sighting."
"Alright, sounds good. You guys need any transportation?"
Shade stepped forward from the group.
"Actually miss... I'm sorry, what was your name again?"
"Oh right! Name's Blaze, Private Blaze Fire."
"Well miss Blaze, I've got our 'transportation' covered."
Shade then turned to his right and closed his eyes, focusing his mind on the location he wanted. Then his horn began to glow, and within seconds a large, swirling blue portal opened in front of him. Private Blaze stood both shocked and amazed at what she just saw.
"Whoa... That's so cool..."
Shade sat down, rubbing his forehead from the mental strain.
"Yeah... Takes a lot of energy, though... and longer distances give me a headache..."
"That's what you get for showing off."
Shade didn't exactly appreciate Ditzy's comment, but he was too dizzy to argue at the moment.
"Just... ooh... get in the portal..."
While the others filed into the portal to base, Shade stayed sitting and holding his head, wincing from the pain.
"...You need some help there?"
Blaze asked with a look of concern.
"No, no... I'll be fine. Just give me a minute..."
"Okay, if you say so... Why aren't you going with them? You're not gonna grab anything?"
Shade paused before answering, still waiting for the migraine to pass.
"Well, the way my portals work is that they stay open until I go through them or I decide to cancel them, so that's why I'm staying behind. Besides, I don't really need any gear, since I usually just rely on my own strength and skills."
"Alright then, whatever works for you." ________________________ TEK base of operations, 'The Vine' basement ________________________
The base had everything they needed. Together, Vinyl's genius and Judy's creativity led to a variety of equipment for different situations TEK could face, with more inventions surely to follow down the line. At the moment, though, all TEK needed to focus on were minor tools for recon, as well as other supplies like first aid kits, food, and water. Stepping out of the portal, Jet wasted no time organizing the team.
"Alright everyone, let's make this quick. Vinyl, Judy, what do we have here for recon?"
Vinyl and Judy walked on opposite ends of the central work table, moving along through the different shelves and desks of equipment. Judy almost immediately levitated a small box with her telekinesis and set it on the table. She then pulled out several devices that looked similar to headphones from the box.
"In here we have headset radio communicators with built-in microphones. With these we'll be able to contact each other while we spread out through the forest."
"Excellent. Vinyl, what do you have?"
Vinyl pulled a box from the bottom shelf and set it down as well. Jet looked inside and was not as impressed.
"...Sunglasses?"
"Not just any sunglasses. These are specially modified to have different functionalities. They allow x-ray, thermal, and night vision."
That definitely sounded much better to Jet.
"Now we're talking. Ditz, could you grab a couple first aid kits?"
"I got 'em!"
"Zecora, Bulk, you mind grabbing the saddle bags?"
Both nodded.
"Alright. That should just about do it. Let's get this mission underway, team!"
With everything packed and ready to go, everyone headed back into the portal, meeting back up with Shade and Private Blaze, who was a bit surprised at their sudden return.
"Well that was fast."
"Yeah, we didn't really need much. This is only supposed to be a recon mission, so we just got what we would need over the course of a few days."
Shade perked up immediately when he heard Jet say "days."
"Wait, a few DAYS? How long do you plan on keeping us out there!?"
"It'll only be two or three days at the most. There's no guarantee that we'll find anything today, and half the day's already gone anyway. Don't worry, everything will be fine."
"...Two months of experience says otherwise..."
Shade muttered under his breath, though Jet only pretended not to hear it. Private Blaze and many of the other TEK members were looking mildly confused.
"...Is something wrong here?"
Shade only sighed, deciding to continue with the mission.
"It's... it's fine, miss Blaze. Let's just get this over with." ______________
TEK followed Private Blaze through the mountain path that led out of Canterlot and into the forest below. They occasionally had to keep stopping to force Shade to continue moving, especially once they reached the Everfree itself. A majority of the group wasn't sure why he was so resistant this time, and the two who did wouldn't say anything unless Shade did first, which he didn't.
Eventually, Private Blaze reached the general area of the sighting. She stopped and pointed.
"Alright, so we spotted the Changeling somewhere around that area, over where the trees and bushes start getting denser. We caught a photo of it just before it disappeared."
"It's a good thing you had a camera with you at the time. Alright, thanks for the direction. I think we can handle it from here."
Private Blaze nodded to Jet.
"Alright. Hope you guys find what you're looking for!"
With that, Blaze flew up and left to return to the castle.
"Well then. Let's get these sub-groups organized. Shade, you said your staying behind, and I know I'll be heading in. What about the rest of you?"
Bulk slowly raised his hoof before speaking.
"I think it's obvious I'm not the most 'stealthy,' so I'll stay behind."
Ditzy spoke up as well.
"And I think my clumsiness will only hamper the search progress, so I'll stay behind too. Plus, I'm a little scared to go any further, hehe..."
"Alright, so you three are staying here, so that leaves you three. You all with me?"
Jet said as he motioned to Judy, Vinyl, and Zecora. They all answered him in that order.
"I'm with you, Jet! I'm up for a little adventure."
"Yeah, we can handle it."
"Certainly."
Jet nodded to the three of them and faced the others.
"Okay then. Shade, Ditz, Bulk, watch this area and be on guard. Make sure you have some gear with you. And here, take one of the first aid kits."
Shade levitated the red and white box to him and put it inside his saddle bag, while Vinyl gave them each a headset communicator and a pair of modified glasses.
"Everypony else, we're heading in. Make sure you have your gear as well."
And so, Jet and his group proceeded on their way into the depths of the Everfree Forest, a thought that worried Ditzy and Bulk, and terrified Shade.
"Be careful!"
Ditzy yelled out to them as they disappeared through the trees.
"So... what do we do now?"
Bulk asked as he looked around.
"Now we wait, and hope we all survive this..."
Shade spoke with a tone that implied he wasn't very confident that they would, which didn't really help ease the lingering fear in his teammates. Ditzy put a hoof around him.
"I kinda noticed you seemed a bit... tense. Your not a big fan of this place, are you? I mean, no one likes this place, but you REALLY don't like this place."
"Let's just say I've... experienced, the worst of this forest firsthoof..." ____________
The Everfree Forest got thicker and darker as Jet's group continued their search. The massive trees blocked out virtually any sunlight. Each passing moment they felt as is they were being watched, and something could jump out at them at any moment.
"Watch your surroundings, guys. Might be a good idea to put on those glasses and switch to night vision."
Vinyl, Judy, and Zecora heeded Jet's words and pulled out the glasses. The frames were black with green lenses, and the right side held a small switch box for the different functions. The glasses themselves were designed to be able to connect to the headsets as well. Once each member put them on and activated the night vision, the forest area became clearer and washed with a greenish hue. Vinyl looked around the area as her own glasses activated.
"You guys see anything?"
"Nothing over here."
"I see nothing with my eyes alone... Jet, perhaps you see something we don't?"
Jet continued to move bushes and branches around, looking for anything of significance.
"Nothing so far on my end. Keep searching, I'm sure we'll find something."
Jet was just about to move to another area when he saw something peculiar a slight distance away.
"Now what do we have here...?"
Jet moved past a cluster of plants and branches until he found a small pathway, with numerous hoof prints along it.
"Guys... you might wanna see this..."
The other three ceased their searching and walked over to Jet. When they saw what he'd found, numerous questions arose.
"Okay, how'd you even see this from over there?"
"I have very sharp eyes, Vinyl."
"Do you think these are from the Changelings?"
"It's very possible, Judy, though we can't be too sure."
Jet followed the path with his eyes carefully. His mind was working out countless possibilities and explanations.
"I say it's best to see where this path leads. Let's split up and see what we find down either direction."
"Actually, I have a better idea."
Judy then stepped onto the path and switched to her x-ray vision.
"I'm just gonna use the x-ray function to see past all these trees, and hopefully find something significant."
"Good thinking Judy. Thinking outside the box as usual."
Judy looked down one direction and saw only more trees. When she turned to face the other direction, however she found something else.
"I think this way leads to some sort of mountain. Think that could be something?"
Jet rubbed his chin in thought. From everypony else's viewpoint, he looked like he was onto something.
"If I remember my studies correctly, Changelings usually establish themselves in either underground tunnel systems or in rocky terrain... the interior of a mountain definitely sounds possible."
"So, shall we meet back with the others and tell them what we have discovered?"
Jet nodded to Zecora.
"That sounds like a good idea. I'll radio them and inform them of our progress."
Jet positioned his headset's mic in front of him. Then he remembered he didn't even know how to use it.
"Hey, Vinyl... how does this thing work again?"
"Oh, you see what you do is you press and hold the button on the mic side of the headset while you talk, and let go when you finish speaking. Pressing the button opens the radio channel your using, and letting go closes it and allows you to hear what somepony else is saying."
Jet did as she described and contacted the others.
"Guys, this is Jet. We found something that might give us a lead. We're heading back to you now. Oh, and to speak into the mic, you gotta press and hold the button on the side, and let go of the button when your done."
There was a short pause, and then the four of them in turn received a distorted response.
-Okay. Hurry back then. It's starting to get dark out here...-
"You know you have night vision glasses, right Shade?"
-Not my point. It's very, VERY dangerous here at night. Trust me.-
-We'll be here when you guys get back. We'll be fine.-
Ditzy chimed into the radio. Jet and the others then started back on the way they came.
Little did anypony realize that they were being watched. Hidden in the shadows of the trees, a Changeling scout observed as the ponies started closing in on there whereabouts. He escaped unnoticed as he took the long way back to the Hive. He knew he needed to get back and alert the Queen... _____________
TEK reported their findings back to Celestia after regrouping and returning to the castle. It was decided they would return the next day. Apparently, there was an upcoming wedding scheduled this month, and Celestia wanted this situation handled ASAP, as the bride was her own niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.
The plan was to have TEK gather whatever information they could on their possible lead. If the Changeling hive was indeed located there, they would return, and a legion of guards led by Princess Luna would work to drive them out and into another land away from Equestria.
Currently, TEK was getting the info-gathering underway. Jet led the team to where the search group found the pathway yesterday. Once there, he wasted no time in orchestrating his strategy.
"Alright so here's the plan: we'll split up into the same groups as yesterday, with the same roles. Shade, Bulk, and Ditz will stay here and be on guard, while the rest of us inspect the mountain. Keep your communicators on. We'll notify you on our progress as we work."
Each member equipped themselves as instructed and got into their positions. As Jet's group started down the path, Jet turned back to the others.
"Remember, this is a recon mission only. If you see anything, notify the Princesses. Do NOT engage."
The watch group nodded, and the search group continued down the path. _________________ Underground, Changeling Hive _________________
Far below the Everfree Forest, within the rocky depths of a complex system of tunnels and caverns, the commanding officers of the Changeling Hive have gathered in the dark cave that served as the throne room.
"So the ponies are closing in on our location, are they?"
One hissed as they stood together, forming a plan.
"That is what the scout has reported. From what he has gathered, a highly organized group has found our little trail. I kept telling Queen Chrysalis we needed to cover our tracks better."
The other five officers looked at the sixth questionably.
"Are you questioning her rule, commander Kae'lik?"
"All I'm saying is we need to be more careful, especially during her absence. If her infiltration plan is to work, we cannot afford any ponies to discover our location."
The officer beside him scoffed.
"What do you suggest, then?"
"I will work to divert them from the mountain. I'll have a few squads stand by should anything go wrong." ____________
Jet, Zecora, Vinyl, and Judy followed the pathway slowly. Stealth was key at this time, as the Changelings could very well be located nearby. Any words were spoken as a whisper, and their movements were cautious and silent. Once the mountain had gotten within sight, Jet stopped, motioning for the other three to do the same. Pressing the button on his headset, he contacted the others.
"Guys, we have a visual on the mountain. When we reach it we'll have a look around the area to find any sign of an entra-"
Jet stopped mid-sentence when he saw something far down the trail, something that appeared to be heading their way.
"Hang on, something's heading our way..."
-What? What's going on over there?-
Jet didn't answer Shade as he prepared himself for whatever was about to come. The others did the same, a bit unsure of what was going to happen. Upon closer inspection, however, Jet realized it was a stallion running towards them.
"Stop! Don't come any further!"
The stallion yelled out to them as he got closer. Everyone remained somewhat suspicious.
"What seems to be the problem?"
Jet asked the stallion as he finally stopped in front of them. He was a light grey pegasus, with a dark grey mane and tail with black and silver stripes, and he was wearing the royal armor of a Solar Guard.
"This entire area is restricted. For your own safety you must leave immediately!"
Everyone looked at this guard with a raised eyebrow.
"On whose authority?"
Jet asked suspiciously. Something just didn't seem right.
"By order of Princess Celestia, this area has been classified as a danger zone. I implore you to please return the way you came."
*Oh yeah. Something's DEFINITELY wrong here. Time to get some answers.*
"There must be some kind of mistake here. We're here on official business. Celestia herself has permitted us to search this area."
Jet simply pushed passed the guard and continued down the pathway, motioning for the others to follow. He didn't make it far before the guard ran past him and blocked his path again, which left Jet mildly annoyed.
"Step ASIDE, soldier."
The guard looked Jet dead in the eyes.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that..."
Jet, Judy, Vinyl, and Zecora all jumped back in shock as the Guard became engulfed in a shroud of green flames.
"WHAT THE HECK???"
The flames disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, and standing in the Guard's place was a snarling, dark blue-armored Changeling. And before Jet could react, dozens more appeared out of the trees.
"It's a trap!" ______________
Shade, Bulk, and Ditzy sat by the pathway, checking the surrounding area every few minutes. They were all a bit on edge after Jet hadn't responded for a while.
"Do you think something happened to them?"
Ditzy asked with a clear look of concern. Shade shook his head.
"All he said was something was heading their way. We can't be sure what or who it was at this point. I just hope that-"
-Guys! Guys come in!-
Jet suddenly broke in on the radio channel as Shade was speaking. Relieved to hear his voice again, Ditzy responded immediately.
"Jet? What happened? Are you okay?"
-Gah! Ambush! It - ngh! - was a trap! The Changelings ARE here! Warn Celes- *kzzzzzt*-
Just like that, Jet's signal cut off. None of the others responded either. All they heard was static. Ditzy slowly looked at the others speechlessly, a look of horror covering her face.
"...What do we do now?"
Bulk asked as they all looked at each other helplessly. Shade then reached into his saddle bag and pulled out a roll of paper and a quill, holding them in front of him with his telekinesis. Ditzy wasn't exactly sure what he was doing.
"What could you possibly be writing right now?"
"I'm sending a warning to Celestia. She needs to be informed of this immediately."
Shade soon finished writing and sent the message away with his warp beam. He finished just in time, too, because in a matter of seconds they started hearing mass buzzing sound, which got louder and louder. Ditzy's face grew even paler than before.
"...Is th-that..."
"...Changelings?"
Shade finished as his heart sank. ____________
Princess Celestia anxiously waited on the balcony to hear of TEK's progress. They had been gone for quite some time now, and it was starting to get late. Just when she was about to send them a letter, she received one herself. Its contents were not to her liking.
-Princess Celestia, the Changelings are in the mountain. They may have captured Jet, Judy, Zecora, and Vinyl. We may be next. Don't worry about sending guards in, protect the city first.-
As much as Celestia hated the idea of leaving her subjects to fend for themselves, she knew they were right. Canterlot needed to be protected in case the Hive moved to attack the city next. Heading back through the castle, she ran to the nearest guard around.
"Guard! Notify Captain Shining Armor! Tell him to raise the shield and double the security!"
As Celestia continued running through the halls, Queen Chrysalis, disguised in the form of Princess Cadence, stood hidden in another hallway, listening and watching. She silently sneaked away to return to her room. She needed to take care of something. __________________ Changeling Hive, Throne room cave __________________
Commander Kae'lik was not liking the current situation at all. He had failed to lead the ponies away from their location, and they claimed to work for the Princess as well. Sure, they'd successfully captured them, but there was no doubt their absence would not go unnoticed, only leading to more problems. He continued to pace around the dark, crystal-filled cavern as he dreaded each passing moment. The other Changeling guards in the cavern were starting to get annoyed.
"Sir, are you seriously going to pace around for eternity? Your making me dizzy just watching you."
"You joke now, soldier, but this only spells disaster ahead of us."
Kae'lik's racing mind was interrupted when one of the crystals in the cavern starting glowing and humming.
"What in Tartarus-?"
The humming ceased, and a pony's face appeared in it.
"What is the meaning of this!?"
"It's ME, you fool. Princess Cadenza possesses crystal-related magic, which I can manipulate while in her form."
Commander Kae'lik eased slightly upon realizing it was the Queen. However, he had a feeling that he knew why she had contacted him.
"Now, would you mind explaining to me why Celestia is doubling Canterlot's security now?"
Hesitantly, the Changeling officer answered her.
"A group of ponies started closing in on our location... We captured them, but they claim to work for their Princess. If they speak truthfully, their absence might have alerted her and... led to... the increase in... security........"
He trailed off fearfully, as the Queen's expression grew angrier the more he spoke.
"Your incompetence will make the plan far more complicated now. Once again, Commander Kae'lik, you have disappointed me..."
Kae'lik bowed low, more so to avoid Chrysalis' piercing gaze than to humble himself.
"Forgive my error, my Queen."
"I've forgiven quite a number of your errors, Kae'lik, and I grow tired of it. You are hereby relieved of your duties as commander."
Kae'lik quickly shot up.
"What!?"
"Guards, remove this failure from my sight."
On cue, two guards buzzed to his sides and took hold of him, a sinister smirk on both of their faces. Kae'lik looked around helplessly and back to Chrysalis, who shared their smirk.
"In fact, throw him in with the captives."
"You're insane! They'll tear me apart!"
Chrysalis chuckled maliciously.
"I know. Gotta go now!"
The image of the disguised Queen faded, and the guards dragged Kae'lik away to the prison cave, Kae'lik struggling and shouting furiously.
"CHRYSALIS!!!!!!!!!!" ______________
Shade awoke to darkness. He was lying on his side on hard rock, and his entire body ached. The last thing he remembered was himself, Bulk, and Ditzy fighting an entire army of Changelings. As hard as they fought, they were significantly outnumbered and outmatched. Shade remembered an armored Changeling surrounding the three of them in green flames that shrouded them in a dome, fading everything to darkness. As his eyes adjusted, he realized he was in a rock cavern with a large, pulsing blue crystal embedded in the ceiling. He also saw that he was in here along with all of TEK, who were all sitting around throughout the small cave.
"Guys... where are we?"
Jet looked to him, glad to see his friend had finally awoken.
"Oh hey, you finally woke up... we're apparently in some kind of prison. We all tried using our abilities to find or make a way out, but..."
"Our abilities don't seem to work in here."
Judy stated. Shade could only sigh. He was exhausted, sore, and stuck in a prison with no way out. He felt like a failure. He agreed to be a part of this TEK specifically to protect those he cared about, but how could he now?
"Perfect..."
A short moment later, the rusty iron gate to the cave prison opened, and TEK watched as two Changelings threw another prisoner, also a Changeling, into their cell, chuckling as they slammed the gate behind him. The Changeling immediately got up and ran to the gate, shouting after them.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, YOU HEAR ME!?"
Shade immediately started growling once he heard his voice. This was the very same Changeling that sent him and his friends to this prison. He didn't know why he had been thrown in here with them, nor did he really care. All he knew was that he wanted to tear him apart.
".....You......"
The Changeling turned to face him, and almost seemed afraid as Shade, Bulk, and Vinyl slowly approached him.
"Stop."
Shade and the others' head snapped back at Jet's sudden command.
"We'd gain nothing from attacking him. Besides, if he's in here, then he's merely a prisoner like us now. He's no longer any threat, so leave him be."
They gave Jet a hesitant look, then turned to the Changeling who had since slowly sidestepped them and backed away. A short moment passed before the three aggressors obeyed Jet's command, returning to where they were each sitting, while the Changeling sat by himself in a corner of the cave.
"So now what?"
Shade was answered only with silence, which lasted for what seemed like forever. Then Zecora broke the silence.
"Well, since we have thrown all our options of escape out the door, why not take this time to get to know each other a little more?"
Everyone began to look at each other from one team member to the next, waiting for someone else to speak.
"...I'll go first, if that's fine."
They all looked to Ditzy as she began to speak.
"My name is Ditzy Doo, and this is my story.......... I know everypony has always judged me and questioned my intelligence because of my eyes. But the truth is, my eyes weren't always like this.......... When I was very young, I tried to fly, far before I was ready to... I went to the top floor of my home, opened a window... and I jumped out. For a couple minutes it was working. I was actually flying, and I was so happy........ but then I... I started to fall......... I suffered serious head injuries, and my parents immediately rushed me to the hospital...... the doctors did the best they could, but the impact left permanent damage to my eyes... they've been this way since, and my life has been miserable ever since then, especially after my parents died in an accident......... That all changed when I joined TEK. You guys have helped me to see I'm not worthless, and you have really made me feel loved again......."
Ditzy finished speaking with tears in her eyes, which she started wiping away with her hoof. She was not the only one, either. Many of her fellow teammates had teared up from her story. Seeing Ditzy pour her heart out like that was very moving, and they couldn't help but feel somewhat closer to her. All of this left a significant impression on Shade.
*It must have taken a lot for Ditzy to talk about something like that... She must really trust us...*
Shade looked around the cavern, observing all of his teammates.
*...Can I trust them like she does?*
Ditzy spoke up again after pulling herself together.
"That's my story... Would anypony else, maybe... want to go next?"
After another pause of silence, Shade finally spoke up.
"I will."
Everyone looked to Shade in shock. Through all the time they'd worked together, Shade never talked about himself. He was the last pony they'd expect to open up next.
"My name, is Shade Vortex... and this is my story..."
Flashback Bonus: The Journey to Nowhere (Final Part)
Shade's heart raced faster than the speed of sound as he fled for his life through the forest night. Dodging through trees, bushes, and branches, he ran restlessly as the dragon tracked him down. The pale beast roared ferociously as it stalked its prey. Shade dived into a ditch and quickly crawled under the large log that stretched over it. He did his best to contain his rapid, heavy breathing as the dragon stepped over the log. Seeing that his next meal had eluded him, the dragon began to hunt him down elsewhere. Believing he was safe for now, Shade slowly crawled back out and ran the opposite direction.
Where exactly he was running to, he didn't know. Nowhere in this forest was safe, he realized, and finding shelter was getting harder and harder every day. His body ached, sore from numerous scratches and bruises, and as badly as he wanted to stop and rest, he knew that wasn't an option.
As he was running, however, Shade unfortunately took a bad step, slipping and tumbling down a slope and into another ditch. He was far too weak to rise. He was tired, in pain, and felt lower than ever before in his life. Here he was, all alone in one of the most dangerous places in Equestria, lost in the dark, and lying on his side in the cold dirt. Hope seemed close to nonexistent at this moment, and Shade feared he was going to die here alone, without ever seeing his family and friends again.
*....I'm sorry........ I should never have left......*
Shade wept as he lied on the ground, thinking of everything and everypony he left behind. He lied there for quite some time, the nighttime sky growing darker as the shadows of the forest shrouded him in his own misery. However, it was those memories of everypony close to him that gave him the strength to get back up on his hooves.
*No..... I'm not going to give up like this..... I made them all a promise, and I can't let them all down. I need to be strong for them..... for her...*
Back on his aching hooves, Shade risked activating his light spell to check the surrounding area. Climbing out of the ditch on the other side, he continued down a path that he could only hope led to shelter... __________________ Three weeks later __________________
Just when things started looking better for Shade, it was not long before things went from good to bad to worse, all in a matter of a few weeks. He had managed to stumble upon a less dangerous section of the forest, as well as more caves that were free of hungry, fire-breathing reptiles. What he did find here, however, was that food was quite scarce. There was a nearby river that was fairly clean for drinking, but that was about it. Shade knew that if he didn't want to starve to death, he'd have to search for food elsewhere, back into the frightening unknown.
The morning sunlight barely breached the density of the treetops, allowing only thin rays of light to illuminate Shade's path as he cautiously wandered deeper into the Everfree Forest. After nearly an hour, he finally came across a bush bearing what he recognized as wild strawberries.
*Thank you, Botany class...*
Immediately he picked a cluster of the small red fruits with his telekinesis, consuming them one by one, until eventually he was shoving all of them in his mouth at once like he'd never seen food before. Their taste wasn't quite so sweet, and it was certainly no three-course meal or anything close to his mother's cooking, but it would have to suffice for now. Wiping his mouth with his hoof, Shade took a moment to survey his surroundings, listening closely for any sort of sound or movement. Believing the coast to be clear, Shade continued through the forest. As he began pushing through more bushes and branches, however, he stumbled upon numerous piles of logs in a small clearing. He knew exactly what they were.
*Timber Wolves... Better just back away slowly so I don't wake them. Really don't feel like dealing with these pests.*
Slowly stepping back, Shade was almost in the clear until he stepped on a twig. The small snap sounded off in his head like thunder, and he froze as he watched the piles of logs enveloped themselves in an emerald aura, rising and forming half a dozen ravenous wooden hounds.
*....I really hate this place....*
Shade wasted no time in running the opposite direction, the Wolves quickly picking up his scent and racing to track him down. Shade could easily fight them off, but he didn't feel like wasting his energy. It was still the middle of the morning, and he wanted his full strength and energy to last the whole day. Darting through trees and leaping over trenches and fallen logs, Shade fled from the pack of Wolves, which weren't showing any sign of stopping.
*These things aren't letting up... They must be really hungry... or angry...*
Shade ceased his running and slowly halted to a stop when he was faced with a mountainside rock wall, cutting off his escape. He turned to see the Wolves had caught up to him, halting to a stop as well. Shade stared each one down defiantly.
"So it's a fight you want, huh?"
The Wolves began to slowly close in on him, savage hunger glazing their green glowing eyes. Shade began gathering up his energy inside of him, that same look of determination and slight anger in his eyes.
"COME ON THEN!"
The Wolves began to do just so, and Shade was getting ready to hit them with all he had. But something beat him to it. In a split second, each of the Timber Wolves were consumed by an explosion flames, leaving a black, ash-filled, smoldering crater in their place. Shade was both confused and absolutely terrified, a feeling that magnified after the resulting familiar roar.
*Oh no....... Oh please no......*
Shade's eyes widened in horror at the sight before him. Through the fading smoke appeared the face of a ferocious Dragon. And as if that wasn't bad enough, it was the same Dragon that sought to make a meal out of Shade three weeks ago and continued to haunt his nightmares. Shade slowly crawled backwards, finding himself pinned against the mountain.
*I'm trapped...... I have nowhere to run this time....*
The fearsome predator grumbled as he approached his prey, slowly and menacingly.
*It's over... I'm going to die here after all......*
The lavender Dragon stared down at Shade with his horrifying cyan eyes, enjoying this pony's fear like it was an appetizer. But in that moment, Shade no longer felt fear. He felt something else. Frustration. Anger. Defiance.
*....Well if that's the case....*
Shade rose back to his hooves, rage quickly building inside him.
*....THEN I'M NOT GOING DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT!*
Shade's mind completely snapped. Driven only by pure adrenaline and anger, he charged straight at the Dragon, his horn pointed at his face... only for the Dragon to spin around and smack Shade back with his tail, scratching him across his face and sending him tumbling and rolling across the ground and against the mountain. Shade was in serious pain, and was completely exhausted physically. He looked up weakly as the Dragon drew nearer, going in for the kill. Shade simply dropped back down and pulled his cloak's hood over his head. He didn't want to watch whatever was coming next. He could hear the Dragon's growling growing louder. He wished he were anywhere else right now. He didn't care where. Home, Canterlot, anywhere. All he could think about was escaping his imminent death. He waited for what felt like an eternity for it all to be over. But then, just when the Dragon was about to unleash a blast of flames to cook his prey to perfection, Shade disappeared in a flash. _________________
Shade was a bit confused. Just a second ago he was fearfully awaiting his end. But then he heard a flash, and he felt this odd feeling. He then heard two voices speak simultaneously in a demanding tone.
"Who goes there?"
Risking to look up, Shade saw just beneath his hood two Solar Guards standing in front of him, both aiming their spears at him. Slightly rising, Shade removed his hood before speaking up.
"Help... m-me..."
Shade dropped back down with those words, completely exhausted and feeling himself slipping into unconsciousness.
It has now been two days. TEK has been stuck in the Changeling's underground prison for two days now, without any food or water. They were slowly dying, and they all knew it. But if you looked at them, you couldn't tell. Kae'lik watched in confusion as TEK sat there, talking and laughing among themselves as if it were some kind of party.
*This makes no sense. These ponies are dying and yet their sitting there laughing. Maybe they've gone insane...*
No, they hadn't gone insane, but they did appear to be having a good time. Instead of focusing on their bleak situation, they decided to instead enjoy each other's company. In the process, TEK was growing closer as a team.
"And then I just teleported us to the other side!"
TEK burst out laughing.
"Haha! The looks on everypony's faces were hilarious!"
Jet chuckled as he retold of the experiences he and Shade shared.
"Ha! You two totally cheated on that challenge!"
Judy giggled, whereas Shade only shrugged.
"Whether or not that was cheating is still debatable. The Princess did say that 'any magic' is legit. Teleportation is magic. Plus, if I hadn't, we might have never been chosen TEK, and none of us would be here."
"Actually, I'm not so sure that would be a bad thing, considering where we are now."
Everyone started laughing.
"Yea, I suppose your right, Vinyl."
Shade chuckled. Among the commotion, Ditzy thought about something that suddenly gave her a bit of hope.
"Hey Shade, can't you teleport us out of here?"
Shade shook his head slowly.
"I'm sorry Ditzy, but something in this cell is absorbing or blocking my magic. Otherwise I would have broken us out long ago."
".....Oh....."
There was silence until Jet decided to keep the positive mood going.
"Hey Ditz. Tell them about that time you fought that TimberWolf."
Suddenly everyone perked up a bit at the prospect of another story.
"ENOUGH!"
All eyes turned to the angry Changeling marching over to them.
"WHAT IS WITH YOU FOOLS!? Do you not realize that we're all going to DIE!?"
"Yeah, we know."
"...Huh?"
Kae'lik asked in confusion as he looked to the orange Pegasus the others called "Jet". He assumed this was the leader of the group.
"We all know it's quite likely that we won't leave this place. But we also know that we'll accomplish nothing by just sitting there sad and mopey like you."
Kae'lik still didn't understand.
"But what do you gain by being happy and cheery? Who are you trying to be strong for?"
"Each other."
Kae'lik was taken back by this.
"Each… each other?"
Jet nodded.
"Yes. By looking at the positive as a team, no one of us has to endure this alone. We have to be strong for each other. We're in this together, no matter how bleak the situation may be."
"Wait, so… so you'd be willing... to die for each other?"
"In a heartbeat."
Kae'lik was visibly struggling to comprehend any of Jet's words.
*This… this makes no sense. In the hive it's every Changeling for themselves. And that makes sense. You can't trust anyone, and no one can trust you. That's how it should be... isn't it?*
But what Jet was suggesting contradicted everything Kae'lik knew about the way life worked. So, he decided he needed to understand more.
"But… how can you know you can trust them? How can you be sure they won't betray you, then leave you behind to rot in a dungeon…"
The sad Changeling dropped down to the ground.
"Because I rely on them. And each has come through for me time and again. I trust them, they trust me. Its a mutual bond."
Kae'lik's fin-like ears perked up at this.
*A mutual bond? That means that everyone involved gives something to the other, and in return they gain something from everyone else.*
"What do you gain?"
Jet had to think for a second, as the question was unexpected.
"I gain friends, peace of mind, and power."
"...Power?"
Jet nodded.
"Yes, power. Anything is stronger when it has something to fight for. Knowing that I have these guys to fight for makes me stronger than I would be without them."
Zecora chimed into the discussion.
"If a healthy friendship you can maintain, then strength and peace you will attain."
*Friends? I've never had one friend. The closest thing to companions I've ever had were my fellow guards, and look at how THAT turned out... Having someone I know I can trust might be nice. Peace of mind sounds good too. My mind has always been flooded with thoughts of this hive. I'm sick of them, and I hate that Queen! As for power, if I have something worth fighting for, I'll become stronger than I ever was. But how can I attain all these things?*
"How?"
Jet looked at him in confusion.
"How can I be like you? How can I gain these things?"
Jet thought to himself for a moment. He wasn't quite so sure why he was being so helpful to this Changeling. But the more he spoke with him the better he began to really understand him. He no longer saw him as some vicious and deceptive monster, but as someone misguided and lost. And he knew just how to guide him in the right direction.
"Well, I suppose you could help us break out of here. Then I'll give you everything you seek."
Kae'lik was understandably surprised by Jet's response.
"Are... are you sure?"
"Your already considered a traitor anyway. Plus, I'm guessing Changelings don't keep prisoners for too long, considering this room."
Kae'lik sadly agreed.
"Yes. Given another day or so, we'll all be dead. This isn't a holding cell, it's an execution room. I was put in here with the hopes that either you, or this room would destroy me."
Ditzy gasped.
"That's terrible! How can they do that to one of their own kind!?"
Kae'lik looked down in sorrow.
"In the hive, there is only the Queen and her pawns. I, Kae'lik, a former commanding officer, am a disposable resource..."
There was a moment of silence after that, until Jet finally spoke up again.
"So, what'll it be, Kae'lik? Die here, or help us?"
Kae'lik' thought deeply for a moment, but only a short one. He already knew his answer.
"I'll help you... but on the grounds that you teach me to make friends."
"Deal. Now, tell us everything you know about this room."
Kae'lik nodded.
"This is a high level execution cell. Purposely designed to slowly end its prisoners. It works off of an ancient, highly magical crystal called 'Avsa.' Look up."
All of TEK turned their gaze towards the rocky ceiling. Like the ground it was made of smooth green crystals and black stone. The only difference was a red, diamond-shaped crystal hanging from the center. It was giving off a bright light, and a somewhat strange aura. Vinyl seemed confused.
"That thing? I thought that was just a light fixture or something."
"While it does provide light, its main purpose is to absorb the life force of any hosts within 10-meter radius. That's why you can't use a lot of your magic. It's slowly eating away at your life, draining you of your energy."
"Dang…"
"Indeed, white unicorn."
"My name is Vinyl."
"Whatever."
Jet interrupted the pair by asking another question.
"Is there a way to stop it?"
Kae'lik sighed.
"Not normally, no. Only the Queen is truly able to neutralize it without being drained herself."
Jet began to think deeply.
"What separates a Queen from the pawns?"
"You mean what makes her different from an average Changeling? Well for starters, her magical abilities far surpass anyone of us."
"That's it!"
Everyone looked to Jet curiously.
"I found a way to break out."
"You have? But how?"
"If a Queen can stop that Avsa, that means that she somehow uses her magic. And since I know Changelings can't preform high level spells, it means that she must use raw magical ability. The only way to break out is to overload the crystal. Since it slowly absorbs energy, that means it can only handle so much at one point."
Kae'lik was awe-struck.
*These ponies might actually have found a way out.*
But then, he suddenly remembering something important.
"I forgot to tell you, but… your country is in grave danger."
"What do you mean?"
Shade asked.
"...There was to be an invasion on your capital soon..."
This new information caused everyone to gasp.
"Yes. Chrysalis, our Queen, has been disguised as one of your Princesses for some time now, slowly planning our assault. Many of our troops are already there, masquerading as other ponies."
Jet was horrified, but he knew that panicking would get them nowhere, so he tried his best to keep his cool.
"When was this invasion supposed to take place?"
"Judging from how long we've been in here, and from my time before this... it should be taking place in a few hours..."
All of TEK gasped even more.
"Why didn't you tell us this earlier!?"
Kae'lik shrugged.
"...I kinda hated you guys..."
The room instantly got hot as everypony began to panic. But Jet knew that panicking would do nothing, so he knew he had to calm everyone down.
"Enough!"
Everyone in the room looked to Jet as he ordered silence.
"Let's take this one step at a time. Shade, can you still use magic?"
Shade nodded and proved himself by levitating a small rock off the ground. Jet saw the struggle he had doing so.
*It took a lot of effort for him to simply lift that rock. And even so, it was sloppy and iffy, like it was his first time. We're running out of time.*
"Good. Our only option is to overload that crystal. Then, we'll rest until we regain our strength."
Shade was visibly nervous.
"But... but this room has taken so much out of us… I'm not sure I have the energy to match a Queen's, even if I was at my full strength..."
Jet looked serious.
"There's always your 'Adrenaline Rush.'"
Shade's eyes widened in a horrified shock.
"But… but..."
"I know. We both know the risks. But it's our only option."
Shade hesitantly nodded.
"Okay… I'll try..."
"Don't worry, we'll have your back. Trust me."
"I'm confused... what's this 'Adrenaline Rush' you guys are talking about?"
"Just sit back and watch the show, Ditz."
Shade then slowly rose and charged up his horn, concentrating all of his power into this last spell. Suddenly, little sparks of energy began to fade in and out of the air around him. The wind picked up and Shade began to sweat. Then his horn produced a blinding light, forcing everyone to close their eyes and turn away. When they opened their eyes, TEK saw an amazing yet terrifying sight.
Shade's pupils had shrunken and were like a blazing fire, and his body was wrapped in a cloak of blue aura. Small sparks of energy flashed in and out around him, and his mane and tail flowed wildly in the small energy storm.
Everyone except Jet remained frightened and speechless.
"Shade, destroy that crystal."
The now powered-up Shade turned his attention to the Avsa, gritted his teeth, and aimed his horn. Then, a massive amount of energy began to stream out of his horn and into the Avsa. It was visibly struggling to handle all of the energy it was taking in, and Shade screamed as he painfully struggled to keep the stream flowing.
*I was right... It can't handle all this power. Its having a hard time, but Shade still needs more power. He won't be able to keep this up much longer.*
Jet walked up to Shade, fighting the intense winds that now engulfed the room, and placed his hoof on His shoulder. Suddenly the beam got bigger, and turned a brighter blue. All the while, TEK was amazed and wondering how all of this was even possible.
"Vinyl, Kae'lik, focus your magic on the crystal!"
Jet yelled through the massive power cyclone. Doing as they were told, they both took aim and fired at the Avsa. It was slowly beginning to crack under the extreme pressure.
*Still... not enough... Needs something more...*
Jet thought before looking behind him to see the rest of his team, gazing in pure awe at the intense light show.
"Ditz! Bulk! Zecora! Judy!"
The ponies in question looked to their leader through the miniature storm.
"Come! Touch my shoulder! I'll do the rest!"
They immediately obeyed their commander. It took a while for them to make it through the intense winds from being thrown left and right, but eventually they reached Jet and all placed their hooves on his shoulder. Immediately, they each felt their energy flow out of their bodies and into Jet, and in turn, into Shade's massive beam. It felt as if it were being carried away in a stream leading to a massive river.
In effect, the blast from Shade's horn tripled and turned pure white. It formed rings of energy around itself and the winds ran rampant throughout the entire cell, kicking up dust and loose rock everywhere.
Suddenly, Vinyl fainted. She had given it everything she had, but she was drained. Kae'lik was soon to follow, and all the other members soon after. But Jet and Shade wouldn't give out. Their bodies were beading sweat like crazy but they continued on.
The Avsa was clearly at its limit, and finally, in an amazing burst of color and light, it exploded into a million scarlet shards which completely disintegrated. The last thing Jet saw before he passed out was Shade dispersing the last of his energy and collapsing. ______________
"...Ughhh........"
"Oh good, he's awake."
"Everyone, give him some space."
Shade's eyes finally opened to the greeting sight of his friends and a Changeling surrounding him.
"...What… what happened?"
Jet approached his drowsy friend to give him his explanation and due commendation.
"You did well Shade. With all of our combined effort, we managed to destroy the Avsa."
"So... we did it?"
"You bet."
Ditzy was confused about one thing, however.
"What happened just then? As soon as I touched Jet I felt my energy begin to leave, and then Shade's beam got bigger. Did all of our energy transfer into him or something? How does that even work?"
Jet took the liberty to explain.
"It's simple really. I did the same thing I did to myself when I touched Shade. I transferred my flow of energy into him. When you all touched me I tapped into your flow of energy and brought it into myself. Thus, into Shade."
They seemed convinced, but still confused, as none of them quite understood what that meant.
"Look, think of it this way: each pony has a flow of magical energy in them, similar to a river. It courses all throughout the body. Because of my intense training I have almost complete control over my own energy. That's how I use my wind blades. When you touched me, I made a 'canal' connecting our energies, combining them into one flowing stream. And remember that spell Shade used, the 'Adrenaline Rush?' It increased the flow of Shade's 'river,' allowing him to use every ounce of power his body has to perform at peak magical and physical levels."
Everyone seemed to now understand. Shade attempted to stand up, but he immediately felt an incredible pain all over and fell back down. Kae'lik noticed this and came to a conclusion.
"It lets you use all your power, but it takes an incredible toll on your body, doesn't it?"
Shade nodded with a wince.
"Yeah... If I had held it up any longer, I might have died... I used up every last drop of my power. It didn't help that I didn't have much to begin with."
Vinyl chuckled lightly.
"Well, good way to commit! Talk about going all out!"
"YEEAAHH!!!"
Jet chuckled at his team's reclaimed enthusiasm before wrapping up his explanation.
"Unfortunately, it was too hard to concentrate on focusing all of our power inside me, so I wasn't able to use all of your potential before you fainted."
Kae'lik took all of Jet's words to mind and thought deeply about all that just happened.
*This, Shade... was willing to die to help his companions... Is… is this. friendship?*
"Well, now what?"
Everyone got quiet when Ditzy brought up the question on everyone's mind. Jet decided to answer.
"We escape. And I've got a plan..." _______________
It was almost too easy. All TEK and Kae'lik had to do was rest for a few hours until they each had enough strength to bust the door open. That was a piece of cake now that the Avsa was gone. And although they were prepared to fight, only a few changeling guards were present. It was easy for the escapees to sneak past them, easily taking down any of the few that had spotted them.
After they had gotten out of the prison catacombs and reached the pathway which Kae'lik confirmed led to the exit, TEK had split up. Jet, Shade, and Kae'lik went off to retrieve their confiscated gear and any Changeling intel, while the others went on to wait for them at the exit. Currently, they were hiding in a cluster of bushes outside the mountain's entrance.
"That was crazy easy! It was just like Kae'lik said! Because of the invasion just a few guards were present! That explains why none of the guards came to check on our cell when we made all that noise!"
Judy said gleefully. Zecora still remained a bit worried, however, for it was taking the others quite a while to come out of the hive.
"I hope our friends make it here before night. Otherwise we'll have to go back and fight."
"Yeah. I know when we split up they told us to wait for them once we got out, but I'll go back to find them if it gets too dark."
"They said they wouldn't be long, Vinyl. They said they were only going find some intel. That's why Kae'lik went with them. He knows this place inside out! I wouldn't worry about them!"
Judy said, still maintaining her positive and gleeful attitude. ___________________ Changeling Hive, Storage room cave ___________________
"Well, lets make our way out. We got what we came for."
Jet said to Shade and Kae'lik as they wrapped up their operation. They were deep within the hive, in a small room with white sacks that Kae'lik informed them to be where Changelings stored information. Once Jet and Shade had grabbed a few they started to head out, while Kae'lik had stayed behind a little while longer to grab the confiscated gear.
Little did they know they had been spotted. Hidden in the shadows and rock spires of the cave outside the storage room, a Changeling soldier charged his horn with all of his energy, preparing to use the most fatal spell he knew, specifically designed for terminating ponies.
As Kae'lik gathered all of the gear and started to exit the storage room, he thought to himself about how one thing was off about this entire situation.
*This is easy… too easy. I remember there were supposed to be 30 changelings on duty when the invasion took place. I only counted 29. Either the other ponies encountered one outside, or…*
Kae'lik stopped in the middle of the storage room entrance and watched as the Changeling jumped from his hiding place, firing a green bullet of pure energy towards Jet. By the time Jet saw it, it was too late, and he could only stare wide eyed in horror as emerald death drew closer and closer.
"DIE, PONY SCUM!"
"JET!"
Shade yelled as time seemed to slow down around them. But before the bullet of dealt energy could strike its target, a black blur jumped in front of Jet just in time to take the full force of the blast.
"GAH!!!!"
Kae'lik yelled in pain as he was knocked back and tumbled across the ground beside Jet. Shade turned his attention to the Changeling that ambushed them, and wasted no time in blasting him through the wall with his own blast of sapphire energy. He then looked back to make sure his friend was ok, but saw him next to a wounded Kae'lik.
"KAE'LIK! ARE YOU OK?", Jet yelled.
A few coughs and pained groans where all he got for an answer.
"Shade! We need to give him medical treatment now! Lets get him to Zecora immediately!"
"Right!" ___________________
When Kae'lik awoke, almost his entire body ached. He was also lying in a white bed in strange room with the ponies he had aided in escaping.
"Hehe... You finally woke up. I gotta say, I'm impressed you survived."
Kae'lik looked to Jet and chuckled.
"Heh... Thanks to our shell-like exterior, we Changelings are a lot tougher than we look... Besides, that spell was intended specifically to kill a pony, not another Changeling. Thankfully he hadn't seen me at the time..."
All of TEK was gathered in the castle's personal hospital. When they rushed back to Canterlot through a quick portal to get Kae'lik some emergency care, they arrived to find the city in ruins. But TEK was just glad it was still standing. After hearing what had happened from Blaze and Celestia, TEK came to the conclusion that they had failed this mission. Celestia was at first hesitant to let an injured changeling in one of the castle's personal hospitals, but after hearing what he had done, she was more than willing to help Kae'lik out.
"Why would you risk your life for me?"
Jet asked as Kae'lik finally mustered the strength to sit upright.
"I'm not entirely sure why... It just felt... right."
Jet couldn't help but smile.
"I guess its time I held up my end of our agreement. You wanted friends. Well, you've already made seven."
Kae'lik was confused by Jet's words.
"What do you mean?"
"All of us, Kae'lik. We want you to be a part of our team."
"What!? Even though I'M the one who captured you? I put all of our lives at stake!"
Jet nodded.
"Yeah, you did. But without your help, we would be dead by now. And you also risked your life for mine. I owe you that much, Kae'lik."
Shade nodded in agreement.
"It would be an honor to have you as a member of the Taskforce of Equestrian Knowledge."
Kae'lik gasped at this offer.
"Wha... Are you sure?"
Vinyl stepped forward to speak her mind.
"Heck yeah! You saved all of our lives, dude! That's a friend in my book."
"YEEAAHH!"
The others agreed as well. Kae'lik was shocked. Never had he actually been thanked for anything. All his life his hard work had gone unappreciated and criticized. This reaction he was getting now was different. This was genuine praise and commendation. He could tell because he could feel the rush of energy from the love being directed to him.
"I... I don't know what to say… All my life I've been a mere pawn without any real purpose or reason to live..."
Shade pitched in this time.
"Let us give you a reason. You fight for us, we'll fight for you, and together we'll fight for Equestria."
Kae'lik felt a new sensation, one that was warm and refreshing. He also felt something wet trickle down his cheek.
*Is this… Is this happiness? Is this what having friends is all about? Have I finally found peace?*
"...I will join you, not like I have much of a home to go back to anyway."
Everyone happily cheered, though Jet and Shade only nodded.
"Well, if your going to live here, your going to need a disguise."
Shade stated. Kae'lik flashed a fanged smile.
"I have just the one." ___________________ Changeling Hive, Throne room cave ___________________
"So, the little runt decided to run off with the ponies, did he?"
"Yes, my queen. He also took some data sacks as well."
Queen Chrysalis' eye twitched.
"Well done, Kae'lik. Well done. Not only have you abandoned your hive, but you've successfully ticked me off."
The queen groaned. This day had not gone as planned. As she sat on her throne, something on the ground nearby caught her eye.
"What's this?"
Using her telekinesis, she picked up the small black box and brought it before her.
"It looks like-"
And the box exploded ______________________ Canterlot, Castle halls ______________________
"You think Chrysalis found the gift we left her?"
"Yeah. It's just a minor shock wave bomb, so it's not strong enough to kill her. But it'll at least send her through a wall or two."
Both Jet and the light grey pegasus with a grey mane and tail with silver and black streaks and a cutie mark of a swirling vortex of wind he was walking with fell to the floor as they burst out laughing.
"If she didn't before, she'll totally want my head for that now."
Jet got back up and smiled.
"Kae'lik, your crazy, you know that?"
"Hey hey, I'm not Kae'lik in this form, remember? I'm Burst Hurricane. Keep it on the down-low."
"Oh yeah. C'mon, the team's waiting on us. "
"Right."
Kae'lik rose to his hooves as well as he thought about how far he'd come at this point.
*I've finally found them: happiness, friends, power. Jet kept his word. I've left behind my old, meaningless life to live this one. A life where I matter. Where I have friends, and something to fight for. Good going Kae'lik, you finally made the right choice.*
"C'mon scrub, the team's still waiting!"
Jet called out to "Burst."
Kae'lik looked out the window to the sky and noticed how beautiful a day it was before jogging after Jet.
Calling Princess Celestia's day "stressful" would be an understatement. Numerous reports were coming every second, none of them good, far too much for her to handle on her own. She had been sitting at her table on her personal balcony, lost in her racing thoughts when her lunar sister knocked at her door.
"Sister? Are you inside?"
"Yes, come in..."
Princess Luna telekinetically opened the door as she entered.
"I have been searching for you everywhere! I have not seen you for quite some..."
Luna paused as she got to notice the look of anguish on Celestia's face.
"...time... Sister? Is everything well?"
Celestia sighed deeply.
"I... I've just been having quite a stressful day, is all... Do not worry, my sister. I do not wish to throw all of my burdens upon you..."
Luna frowned with a look of concern. Celestia was clearly more troubled than she let on.
"Sister... I have been away from you for a thousand years. I am more than willing to listen to you now. Tell me, what troubles you?"
Celestia looked to her sister as her fake smile faded, the anguish refilling her eyes. Luna gave her a reassuring look to affirm that Celestia could confide in her. She took another deep breath, rising from her table and walking over to the balcony rail that gazed over the country as it basked in the afternoon sunlight.
"I fear Equestria may be on the brink of chaos... I've been receiving troubling reports all day; the rumored return of The Crystal Empire, strange reports of citizens disappearing in the Everfree Forest, and various other things are seeming to become greater threats. I worry if TEK will be up for the trials ahead of them..." ______________________ New Changeling Hive, Area unknown... ______________________
"Karodis, report."
"Everything is moving as scheduled, my Queen. The hive construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year, and nearly all of our troops have regrouped."
Queen Chrysalis smiled deviously.
"Excellent work. In your time as Kae'lik's replacement as Commander Six, you have proved most efficient. Soon we shall have our revenge on that traitor, and those wretched ponies he has made his allies."
"Indeed, my Queen..."
Both Changelings gave in to sinister chuckling as the buzzing of the growing hive continued around them. _____________________ >Unknown Territory< >Information not yet revealed < _____________________
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
"Yes, master. It has been over 1,500 years since your last visit to Equestria."
The shadowed figure laughed and moved to a more comfortable position on his throne.
"Ah, yes... That takes me back. Back to simpler times. Nowadays I hear that old friend Celestia has modernized her kingdom and set up an army of her own. How cute."
"Yes master. Very cute."
The enthroned figure sat upright and snorted.
"I think it's about time I go for a 'friendly visit.'"
"Shall I prepare the troops?"
"No, that won't be necessary. I think I'll go alone."
"Yes, Lord Drezner."
The giant creature smiled upon hearing his name, revealing a long line of sharp fangs.
