> TEK: The Series
>  by Jet Fly
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Wolf
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ugh, we've been out here for two days. Lets go home!"

"C'mon Vinyl, we're almost to the nearest town. Plus, this was an assignment given directly from the Princess. We have to do our best to see this mission through."

Jet explained as he and his small team traveled through the dense Everfree Forest. Ditzy was forced to walk due to the cramped space on the trail they followed.

"Why couldn't Shade teleport us again?"

Shade sighed.

"For the third time, I've never been to this town. I'd have no idea where to even teleport us to. And we don't wanna risk teleporting into some Timber Wolf nest or Dragon cave or something."

Shade batted a mosquito away and grunted.

"Curse this dang forest! I'm just getting over my phobia and we end up traveling in it for two days, all because of some mysterious disappearances. Why doesn't Celestia just use her 'sun powers' or whatever to burn this entire Forest to a crisp?"

Ditzy shook her head disapprovingly.

"Its not so bad! The Everfree Forest has a lot of cool animals!"

She gasped as a green centipede crawled by. Jet nodded.

"Ditz is right. The Everfree holds many indigenous species. Like that Speed Demon Flyer Centipede for example."

Jet pointed a hoof at the now winged, hissing, incredibly fast and giant green centipede.

"KILL IT! KILL IT SHADE!"

Vinyl yelled while holding Shade, who was also freaking out while firing lasers from his horn at the fast-paced, expertly-dodging insect.

"I'M TRYING! IT'S TOO FAST!"

"HISSS!"

"Will you two stop that!?"

Jet yelled at the scared duo.

"Besides, this is a serious case. Ponies have been disappearing from this upcoming town. They're scared to even leave their houses. This town profits off of trading their natural herbs to other towns and villages. If they can't even walk through the Everfree to trade goods, this town will suffer greatly. Its our job to help these ponies. Lets go." 
_______________

"What the heck happened here?"

Shade exclaimed as the present TEK members looked at a destroyed cart. After reaching the town and talking to some of the townsfolk, they followed a trail back into the Everfree where they claim the strange disappearances had been happening. After only ten minutes of walking, they spotted what appeared to be a cart. Whatever its cargo was, and whoever was using it, were both gone.

"Whatever did this was a powerful beast. Vinyl, use your shades to see if you can find any hoof prints or anything else."

Doing as she was told, Vinyl touched her shades and activated their special features.

"No hoof prints. All I can tell you was that this happened a while ago. All traces of who it was and what they were delivering have been lost due to rain and other elements. It must have been weeks since this happened."

"Do you think their okay?"

Ditzy asked nervously. Jet only shook his head.

"I don't know, we can only assume the worst. At this point, all we can do now is try our best to stop this madness. There have been 12 reported disappearances in the past month, all in this general area."

Shade angrily stomped on the ground.

"To think this crap has been going on for so long! I'll make whoever or whatever did this pay!"

Jet placed a hoof on Shade's shoulder.

"That's why we're here. We'll solve this mystery and help these ponies."

"Uh, Jet?"

Jet looked to Vinyl

"Yes Vinyl?"

Adjusting her shades, Vinyl explained.

"I'm picking up a weird aura. Its all over this cart, and it leads into the forest. I think whatever did this left this intense aura."

Jet nodded.

"Then we have a lead. Lead the way Vinyl."

While Vinyl began walking, closely followed by Ditzy, Shade and Jet fell slightly behind to privately discuss the matter.

"Shade, I don't want to scare Vinyl and Ditzy, but whatever did that wasn't alone. All over the cart were giant claw marks of different sizes. That was a group attack."

Shade took in this information and came up with a possible suspect.

"Do you think it was Timber Wolves?"

"I thought about that, but I'm not sure. There are packs in this area, but they usually stay away from the towns. Plus, I don't know how to describe it, but back at that cart, I felt something."

Shade looked intently at Jet.

"What was it?"

Jet's pupils suddenly shrank and his eyes became glossy.

"Although that happened weeks ago, I could still feel it. That incredible murderous intent. That crazed, unaltered hate. Shade, whoever was in front of that cart is gone. No normal pony would stand even the slightest chance against such demented hate. That mysterious feeling, it freaks me out."

Shade began to sweat a little bit from seeing his fearless leader so shaken.

"So what do we do?"

Jet shook his head, returning to normal and looking Shade straight in the eye.

"A fight is inevitable. But when it happens, teleport those two out of danger."

Jet said while tilting his head in the direction of the two chatting mares leading the way. Shade nodded.

"Understood. But what about-"

But he was cut off by a call from Vinyl up front.

"Hey guys, check this out!"

Walking up, Jet and Shade where both shocked by the site that awaited them. 
Before them was a large clearing in the forest, but mostly dark due to the treetops blocking the light. But the few streaks that did pierce their way through the thick canopy showed a chaotic scene. All around the area, covering nearly the entire clearing, were what appeared to be broken logs and sticks. Large scratches covered the surrounding trees, and large holes were dug around the area.

"A fight?"

Shade asked as Vinyl analyzed the scene with her shades.

"As crazy as it might sound, yeah, it looks like our mystery beast got into a brawl with something else."

Jet stepped forward.

"Timber Wolves. I've encountered them enough to know their aura. The kidnapping creature got into a fight with an entire pack of Timber Wolves."

Now Ditzy was frightened. Biting her hoofs, she managed to squeak out the million-bit question.

"What could stand up to an entire pack of Timber Wolves? And it looks like the wolves lost..."

Vinyl nodded.

"Ditzy's right. I'm sensing a whole lot of both creatures, but only the cart napper keeps going. The Wolves' aura stops here."

Ditzy was now visibly shaking.

"Uhh… I just remembered! I left the oven on! I'll see you guys later!"

She yelled as she took off into the air. Jet merely sighed as he almost immediately moved in front of her and brought her back. Wrapping a wing around the shaking pony, he reasoned with Ditzy.

"Ditz, the only reason I let you come on this mission is because you wouldn't stop bugging me about it. So now, when things get tough, you'd abandon your team mates?"

Ditzy now looked embarrassed and looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry…"

Jet nodded and looked at Ditzy seriously.

"Trust us. Believe in us. We'll all get out of here safe, I promise."

Now slightly blushing, the mare only managed to whisper.

"Okay…"

"What is up with those two?"

Vinyl asked. Shade just looked at her and shook his head.

"For somepony with all kinds of vision, you sure are blind."

"HEY! What's that supposed to mean!?"

Vinyl yelled at the now walking and chuckling Shade.

"Lets get a move on if we wanna get this done before sundown."

Jet and Ditzy agreed and began making their way through the forest too. 
Vinyl stood still and yelled at the walking trio.

"HEY! Shade get your flank back here! Plus you fools are walking in the wrong direction!"

A few hours more of walking led the team to a huge clearing in the forest. But what was in the clearing made everypony tilt their heads in confusion.

"Vinyl, are you sure that this is the place?"

Jet asked as he observed the area. Looking out into the space, one would see what appeared to be large boulders all around it. There where about 15 huge boulders, although some where larger than others. In the middle was a large, rectangular one. But besides that, the clearing was empty. Vinyl nodded, although she herself seemed confused.

"Uh-huh. The aura is all over this place. And its fresh. Whatever it is, its here somewhere."

Jet concentrated all of his magical energy into his eyes, and looked intently at the area. He didn't see anything other than the boulders. Next was his ears. This time he picked up something that made him stop dead in his tracts.

"Guys…I hear 12 heartbeats besides ours… And from the rhythm, I can tell they're pony heartbeats..."

Everypony's mouth dropped.

"You can't possibly be implying that the 12 kidnapped ponies are still alive!?"

Jet nodded to Shade.

"That seems likely. Each is coming from that giant rectangular stone in the center, but let's approach it cautiously. This is most probably a trap. Stay low, and stay quiet."

Each team member nodded, and with that, they cautiously navigated through the big boulders towards the big stone in the middle.

*Something about these large rocks... It seems... familiar. I just can't put my hoof on it…*

Jet thought to himself as they drew closer to the center. They were almost there when suddenly a large *crack!*
echoed throughout the forest. Shade, Vinyl and Jet all turned around instantaneously, prepared to fight whatever would jump out, only to find a blushing Ditzy standing over a large stick now broken in two.

"Hehe... My bad…"

Everypony let out a large sigh as they continued on. Although it probably took only 30 seconds to get to the center, it felt like hours for them. They had no idea what awaited them.

Finally there, TEK walked to the other side of the boulder to the most disturbing thing they'd ever seen.

"My God…"

Shade exclaimed as they reached a cave entrance inside the boulder. Inside were 12 filthy, starving ponies, each looking to be on the verge of death. The cave stunk of must and vomit, clear indications that these ponies where malnourished and starving. All 12 were located in the back of the cave, huddled together. What disturbed Jet the most was that they each had a horrified expression on their faces, as though they were terrified to see them. But one pony had the strength to make a simple gesture.

Lifting his left hoof up, he placed it over his mouth, making the "shhh" gesture. TEK, although confused, got the message and continued silent. Jet looked at his teammates and noticed that they looked like they wanted to break. Ditzy looked like she wanted to throw up, Vinyl was disgusted and looked really sad, and Shade looked so angry it intimidated Jet.

Silently making his way into the cave, Jet approached the frightened ponies, who grouped closer together as he got closer, as if they feared him.

"Hey hey, stay calm, we're here to help."

Jet whispered. This seemed to relieve them somewhat.

"Please, tell me what's going on."

Only one pony whispered back.

"Run."

Jet was officially freaked out now. 
What didn't help his nerves was another, louder crack, echoing throughout the forest. He and the rest of TEK looked to Ditzy again, who lifted her hooves up in defense.

*If she didn't do it, then what-*

Suddenly multiple rumbles could be heard throughout the clearing. Each and every boulder stationed in it began to shake and tremble. 
Jet froze in sudden realization.

*It...It can't be! They don't live in this area!*

The boulders were getting up, taking forms as they lifted themselves off the ground. 
The air was filled with the sounds of rock grinding against rock, and stones falling into place. TEK gathered together at the mouth of the cave to face this new threat. Finally, one of the sentient rocks stopped shaking, and before them all was a form unlike any other.

"Stone Wolves."

Jet whispered to himself. It was huge, averaging at at least two meters in height and three meters in length. Its entire body was composed of grayish rock, and it had the signifying features of a wolf. It had pointed ears, a long snout, and razor-sharp rocks for teeth. Its eyes were a glowing green, and they seemed to leave a trail of green light every time it moved its head. They were each of different sizes, but each was still bigger than a pony, and all 15 were growling madly and slowly creeping in on the four intruders.

Although shocked at first, Jet knew his number one priority was the safety of the other ponies. He looked to Shade, who quickly took the message and nodded. With a flash of blue from his horn, Vinyl and Ditzy disappeared. Jet looked back into the cave where those poor ponies were being held prisoner.

"Shade, how many can you teleport now?"

Shade, while keeping his attention on the upcoming hoard of strange wolf-like creatures, replied to his leader.

"About five now. It'll be a few minute before I can teleport the rest, along with us as well."

"I see. But I'm sure those guys aren't their target. I'm almost certain that they're being stocked up as reserves in case the Stone Wolf pack is ever in need of food."

Shade, who was clearly angry about his kind being treated in such a way, was still cautiously taking steps back each time the pack stepped forward.

"So, got a plan?"

Shade asked while stepping back once more. Jet, who was trying to keep a bold face amidst the intense growling and snarling, nodded.

"These are Stone Wolves, a practically extinct species only found in the Everfree Forest. Up until now, I thought that they only lived way up north, where their tough bodies could endure the cold, but apparently not. Basically they're Timber Wolves, but made of rocks. Why don't you try out that new technique?"

Shade scoffed.

"But that would take a while to charge up. Not as long as the Adrenaline Rush, but still. Plus, I'm tired from walking all this time."

"Shade, do you trust me?"

Shade looked kinda nervous now.

"Yeah but-"

"Then prove it."

Shade looked directly at his friend and saw his determined blue eyes staring back.

"I got your back Shade."

Shade was speechless, but not paralyzed. He knew now what he had to do. Running to the back of the cave, Shade began charging up a spell with a slight smile.

*That crazy jerk. Trying to hog all the fighting for himself.*

Jet looked back at the approaching pack of living rock as he prepared himself.

*Okay, so for a few minutes, I'm gonna have to protect Shade at all costs. If this works, we can rescue these ponies and leave with our flanks intact.*

The pack of wolves were only a meter or so away. Jet could feel their breath against him. Cracking his neck, Jet smirked.

"Okay, who's first?" 
___________

"THOSE JERKS! THEY JUST TELEPORTED US AWAY FROM THE FIGHT!"

Vinyl screamed in the canopy. While the angry vanilla unicorn stomped in a circle with steam bursting out of her ears, a worried Ditzy looked off into the depths of the forest.

"I hope their okay…"

Vinyl looked up at her concerned friend and scoffed.

"Pffff, please. Those jerks can get beaten to a pulp for all I care. It's like they didn't trust us enough to let us fight with them."

Ditzy looked down sadly.

"But…what WOULD we have done to help? We don't have any weapons. I don't have Jet's Wind Blades and you don't know any attack spells. All I have is this small muffin I hid in my mane..."

Reaching into her mane, and fidgeting around in it for a few seconds, she pulled out a small brown pastry in her hooves. While Ditzy happily munched on it, Vinyl looked at her with confusion, and then disgust as the realization dawned on her.

"...You've had a muffin in your mane for three days?" 
_________________

Jet was having a really hard time with these crazy wolves. He was constantly flying, trying to dodge their multiple attacks. Jet was a fast flyer, so keeping ahead of them was no problem, but the space he was in was very limited. Not to mention that these 15 stone wolves were everywhere! When he dodged one from the front, there were two more behind him. 

*Dang it! I'm starting to get tired! I can't keep this up for too long...*

Jet thought as he flew above three other Wolves.

*I can't just stay above them either! As soon as I reach a certain height they immediately turn their attention to Shade. I've had to tackle five who got too close to him already. And my wind blades aren't really doing any damage. Their rock bodies are much tougher than normal stone. All I can do is hold off until he's finished charging.*

Just then, two wolves jumped him from the front. to evade the airborn predators, Jet flew to the left, just to be attacked from the side by two more. Jet saw his chance and flew underneath them... right into the claws of another one. He dodged, but he wasn't fast enough, and Jet grunted in pain as the merciless wolf took off a large handfull of feathers from his right wing. Immediately his flight became erratic.

*Great. I've lost flight stability. All I can do now is take up a defensive position.*

Jet thought as he dropped and ran to cover the cave. The ponies inside had been watching intently and horrifically at the one-sided fight. Taking up the front of the cave, Jet looked back to see his friend in deep concentration. He still needed time.

The hungry wolves began to circle the entrance, while still wary of Jet's constant stream of Wind Blades. 
His left wing was moving faster than the eye can follow, unleashing a flurry of powerful air streams, while he held his injured right wing close to his body.

*I'm running out of juice, fast. I won't be able to keep this up much longer.*

The Wolves seemed to realize this, as they felt his weaponized air currents become weaker and weaker, until it became little more than a breeze. Seeing their chance, one Wolf took a chance and rushed Jet. Jet got into battle position and readied himself for physical battle, a fight he knew he couldn't win.

*I have to protect Shade and these Ponies... no matter what!*

The wolf pounced high into the air, baring his huge, sharpened fangs, ready to kill. Then suddenly, a giant red blur tackled it out of nowhere, sending them both flying into a nearby brush. Both Jet's and the Wolf pack's attention turned to the intensely rustling bushes and shrubbery. After about four seconds, a short, pained dog cry sounded throughout the clearing, and then silence. The bushes rustled once more, and out came a clawed foot, followed by a reptilian body, mostly red with a few black streaks, with a long tail and snout. Jet immediate recognized it.

"A VELOCIRAPTOR!?"

"Hey jerks, I don't particularly like those who kidnap ponies and keep them in conditions like that. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson."

The Celestia-sized dinosaur said to the angry Wolf pack. Jet was more concerned that 1) there was a dinosaur still alive, and 2) it could speak.

The Wolves didn't seem to care, so the 14 that were left rushed him, but it too didn't seem to care. It was actually slightly smiling. Immediately, the prehistoric beast was covered in bites and scratches from the Wolves, and it looked as though he was already done for until Jet saw his wounds heal automatically.

*What the mess is going on?*

Suddenly the raptor went on the offensive, slashing his claws against the swarm of wolves. Jet could hardly believe his eyes when he saw a Wolf's entire head blown to bits by a single swipe. While the Wolves swarmed over his body, desperately trying to rip him to shreds, the dinosaur too was slashing, scratching, and biting at them. Jet watched in awe as the intense, non-stop group fight continued.

The Wolves were all over the Velociraptor, but every time they did damage, it healed right back as if it had never been dealt. Slowly, the Wolf who had its face obliterated got up, reformed its body, and jumped back into the fray of claws, teeth, and bodies. The other wolf got out from the bush and also joined back in. For every bite they took of him, he destoyed one of them, but then they too would regenerate again, so the fight never lost its intensity. The entire forest seemed to be ripping with pained howls, growls, and other primal sounds. Suddenly, amongst the flurry, he heard the Velociraptor's voice.

"UH- *crunch* PONY GUY, I'M GETTING KINDA TIRED OVER HERE! REQUESTING BACK UP! OW! THATS MY TAIL YOU FLOPPING-"

And the fight continued. Jet, although confused, listened and turned back to his friend. His horn seemed to be like a flashlight, filling the whole cave with blue light. Reaching up and lightly slapping his friend, he called out to him.

"Shade, times up. You gotta use it NOW."

Opening his eyes, Shade began to pant and wheeze. Beads of sweat ran down both of their bodies.

"*Pant* It's * wheeze* finished..."

"Then nows the time to use it. C'mon!"

Leading his friend outside, Shade's eyes became as large as dinner plates when he saw the giant dinosaur fighting wolves.

"What the…"

"RAPTOR GUY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

The Velociraptor looked at them, and pushed away the Wolves that were on him and made an impressive leap to their position. The Wolves wasted no time as they ran back to the cave. But this time, Shade was ready for them. 
Lowering his horn, Shade fired a soccer-ball sized, white orb, right at the incoming pack. The Raptor simply looked at the small sphere and laughed.

"What the flop is that supposed to-"

Then one of the Wolves touched it. Immediately upon contract, the orb exploded… or more accurately, expanded. It quickly grew into a huge, white dome. It made the very earth tremble, and made the trees rustle like crazy. 
___________________
A kilometer away
___________________

"The heck is going on?"

Vinyl asked when she felt the ground tremble slightly under her hooves. 
_________________

The huge white dome created a torrent of wind around it, creating a powerful scene of destruction. After a few seconds, though, the white dome slowly faded away, and the wind calmed down. The living fossil was awestruck. His jaw dropped when he saw what was left. 
All that had been inside the dome of light was completely obliterated, and unfortunately for the Wolves, they were no exception. All that remained was a giant, scorched hole in the ground, with constant streams of smoke coming from it. 

"Whoa…"
_________________

After Shade took care of the Wolves, he, Jet, a Velociraptor, and the captive ponies made their way back to the town. Along the way they met Vinyl and Ditzy, who gave Shade and Jet an earful and a few bruises.

After dropping the ponies back off at their town, and getting them to the local hospital, TEK waited for Shade to regain his strength so he could teleport them back to Ponyville. While they waited though, Jet went to speak with the dinosaur who saved them.

"Hey, thanks. I don't know who you are, but you really saved all our lives back there."

The raptor, who clearly loved the praise, tried to play it cool, and held up a claw.

"No problem. I was also investigating the recent disappearances when I heard some fighting going on. Turns out some ponies beat me to the nest."

Jet was still curious about one thing, however.

"Do you know why there are Stone Wolves in the south? I thought they were only sighted up north."

The raptor shrugged.

"I've heard those guys where making a crazy comeback. They came from the verge of extinction to actually having an overpopulation problem. I heard they were pushing other species out to make more room for themselves. "

Jet thought back to the Timber Wolf remains TEK came across.

*So that's what that was. It was a battle for territory...*

"But, there can't be too many packs around here, though I wouldn't count it as the last. Welp, I gotta go. Later, pony."

Jet smiled and waved his hoof.

"Later dinosaur."

The raptor grew a smug smile.

"The name's Raptor. We'll meet again."

And with that, Raptor ran off into the forest, leaving no trace of his existence. Jet watched him go.

"Raptor the Raptor, huh?"

"Hey Jet! Ready to go home?"

Turning around Jet was greeted by his smiling team members. Shade was up and fully charged continued

"Because I sure am."

Jet smiled back and nodded.

"Yeah, I gotta get my wing treated."

He pointed to his injured right wing. Vinyl whispered to herself.

"...Well maybe you'd be fine if you'd let us fight..."

"I heard that."

"CURSE YOU JET!"

Jet sighed.

"Vinyl, will you ever let this go?"

"NOT UNTIL Y-"

Suddenly they were gone, leaving the small town behind.

~Mission Complete~
> Thief
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As time passed, the basement under Vinyl's club that served as TEK's base of operations continued to be renovated and updated with additional rooms and furniture, as well the latest technology, alongside Vinyl and Judy's own inventions. The base now had everything TEK needed to do... absolutely nothing.

"Ugh, I'm so BORED..."

Judy groaned as she laid sprawled out on the floor. Currently she, Bulk, Zecora, and Kae'lik were the only ones in the base at the time, with the others on a mission directly assigned by the Princess. Each of them sat around the base trying to find ways to keep themselves occupied, usually unsuccessfully.

"Did Jet say when they'd be back?"

"They did not give an hour or date. It seems we'll simply have to wait."

Zecora answered from the small couch she rested on. Judy groaned again.

"Nothing to do... So boring..."

Bulk agreed with a weak "yeah."

"How about we make ourselves productive?"

Judy and the others looked to Kae'lik with raised eyebrows. Kae'lik, who had been sitting at Vinyl's work desk, pulled out a file folder from the desk drawer.

"When Jet and Shade got their current mission, the Princesses gave them this folder of cases for later investigation. What do you say we make ourselves useful and check out a few of these?"

"Beats sitting around doing nothing."

Kae'lik turned to his right to see Judy, who was somehow already looking through the assignments.

"How did you-"

"Ooh! How about this one?"

Kae'lik recovered from his confusion and observed the case. Bulk and Zecora joined them at the desk.

"Hmm... 'A string of related thefts in Manehattan... Unknown thief stealing artifacts and textbooks'... Yada yada yada... Huh. Seems like an interesting case. You think the four of us could handle it?"

Judy of course nodded enthusiastically. Kae'lik looked to Bulk and Zecora, who shared Judy's answer.

"Alright then. Looks like we're off to Manehattan."
___________________

Getting to Manehattan had been a rather slow process. Without Shade to teleport them around, the remaining TEK members had to take the long way by train. It was a fairly lengthy trip, so TEK had plenty of time for conversation. Kae'lik, under his Burst Hurricane disguise, made use of this time to learn more about his teammates and how to fit into Equestrian society. However, it didn't quite prepare him for the city life of Manehattan.

"I don't understand it... I thought you ponies were a loving and peaceful kind? Why do I sense so much negativity here?"

"Eh, city ponies are a bit rougher around the edges than everypony else. All these big businesses and industries put a lot of stress on 'em. The whole city's pretty much in one giant bad mood most of the time. Isn't that right Bulk?"

A firm "YEAAHH" was Judy's answer.

"Their stress and anger makes them hot. But let that bother us, we will not."

The four of them journeyed through the streets of Manehattan to find their first lead. According to the file records, the most recent theft occurred at a fairly well-known museum.

"So what's this museum called again? I'm not too familiar with Equestrian culture and history."

Kae'lik asked as they turned a corner and crossed a street.

"We're heading to the Museum of Equestrian History. My parents used to take me here all the time when I was a little filly."

Kae'lik looked at Judy before nearly bursting out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

Kae'lik recovered, although still giggling, before looking Judy in the eyes and saying:

"They literally named it 'MEH...' It's like the founders themselves weren't all that impressed with it..."

Chuckling more uncontrollably, the silver pegasus eventually found himself on the concrete ground, laughing hysterically. Judy simply rolled her eyes as she and the rest of the group continued on.

"ANYway, this museum used to be a main attraction in Manehattan. But ponies just don't seem to appreciate it as much anymore..."

"....They just look at it now and say: 'meh.' Hehehehe..."

Judy ignored Kae'lik. 
_________________

The afternoon light of the sun broke into multiple thin rays through the window blinds. The cloaked stallion kept his apartment lights off as he worked, out of paranoid thoughts that somepony outside might see him. Not that it mattered anyway, no-pony seemed to notice or pay any attention to him nowadays. For now, that was for the best. Nothing could interfere with his plans.

He smiled deviously as he gathered all of his "acquired" artifacts and read through all of his gathered texts and journals on powerful spells. If he wanted his "reunion" to go exactly as planned, he needed to be at the top of his game...
__________________

It didn't take long for the remaining TEK members to get an investigation underway. Being the most recent scene of theft, there was still quite a bit of commotion between the security ponies at the Museum of Equestrian History.

Speaking with a few of the guards informed TEK on exactly what had been stolen: the Pakari Stone, an ancient stone amulet rumored to increase a pony's physical strength; and an old journal that once belonged to Starswirl the Bearded.

While in the museum's small cafe, TEK went over the gathered information.

"So what have we learned so far?"

Kae'lik addressed his teammates as they finished their brief lunch. Judy finished her daisy sandwich with one final bite and swallowed before sharing.

"Well, I talked to a few of the guards, and it turns out that the items stolen from other museums and shops were very similar: artifacts of rumored power, ancient texts, and advanced spell books."

"Interesting... So there's definitely a pattern in what our thief is stealing, now we just need to figure out how they're stealing it..."

Bulk suddenly surprised the group with an idea.

"Maybe we could look over the security footage from the night of the robbery?"

"That's a great idea, Bulk! Not only would we see how they're pulling off the thefts, but we may even get an idea of what they look like. Let's just hope they didn't think to take out any cameras..."
_________________

Convincing the museum's head of security to allow TEK to view their security footage turned out to be easier than they thought. The royal guards stationed there vouched for them as "hired investigators," and the museum's head was eager to accept any help in trying to catch the culprit.

TEK was led down a gray hallway behind the main service desk towards a door on their right. They entered into a dark room filled with bright screens that displayed images of various areas of the museum.

"Why are surveillance rooms always dark?"

Judy asked as everypony entered into the room.

"You try looking at screens clearly when there's a bunch of bright lights on."

The security officer remarked as he moved to the control desk.

"Now, when the theft occurred, we pretty much captured everything on video. All of our cameras are hidden precisely so they can't easily be taken out."

TEK watched as he switched to the footage from the night of the theft. The officer then gestured to the screen surveying the Ancient Artifacts exhibit. In the center of a room was a single pedestal with a glass casing over it. Inside it was a small, hexagonal grey stone attached to a necklace on an angled base.

"Here's where they stole the Pakari Stone..."

Almost immediately after speaking, a black-cloaked pony appeared on-screen from the left, walking up towards said stone. They slowly pried the glass casing off of the pedestal with telekinesis and simultaneously lifted the Pakari Stone into their cloak pocket. They placed the casing back onto the pedestal before leaving the room.

"So they're obviously a unicorn if they can use telekinesis. It's too dark to really gain a more detailed description, especially with that black cloak."

The officer nodded at the silver pegasus' observation, and moved to the screen focusing on the Starswirl exhibit.

"...And here's where they stole Starswirl's journal."

Again TEK turned their attention to the video screen. The journal was behind a large window alongside other items and findings of the legendary unicorn. That window was then magically unlocked as the thief slid it open and claimed the journal for themself. Sliding the window closed, they quickly turned around, turning their head side to side as if checking their surroundings, then vanished in a bright flash.

"They can teleport..."

The rest of TEK shared Judy's surprised expression.

"So there's your culprit. It's not really much to go off of."

"We can take it from here. Thank you for your assistance."

"Burst" stated as he motioned for the others to join him in the hallway.

"So... did you see something in that footage? 'Cause I didn't really get much aside from 'teleporting unicorn.'"

"I saw a bit of his face, Judy. In that split second when he turned around. He looked pale yellow with a blue mane, which had some yellow streaks in it."

Judy, Bulk, and Zecora all shared the same dumbfounded expression.

"...And you saw all that, how?"

To answer Judy's question, Kae'lik motioned for them to move closer so he could speak at a lower volume.

"Changelings have natural night vision, as we usually dwell in dark caves or underground. I could see very clearly in that room, and I've also been trained to pay close attention to detail."

There was a brief pause, and almost simultaneously, Bulk, Zecora, and Judy nodded in understanding.

"So what is our next move, now that we have more clues?"

"Burst" smirked before answering Zecora.

"I think it's time we did some shopping."
________________

TEK put their new details to good use. As was Kae'lik's suggestion, the small team of investigators went from shop to shop asking about the cloaked yellow stallion. Each shop confirmed the description as the same stallion who had either bought or visibly stole from them and teleported away. They even got a clear screenshot of his image from one of their surveillance cameras.

The next step was to find him. From the shops that he'd bought from, TEK learned the general direction the stallion headed after leaving. They were eventually led to an aged apartment building, with the help of Kae'lik's ability to sense the growing negativity the closer they got to it.

"You sure this is the place?"

"I can't say for certain, Judy. There's definitely a hotspot of negativity here, but it may just be the combined negativity of all the residents here. It can't hurt to check, though."

"If our culprit resides beyond this door, we shall find him here for sure."

With that, the four of them entered into the apartment. The place itself wasn't all that impressive, not that TEK expected much. The lobby was pretty generic, the service desk to their left, a few chairs and tables in the center, a couple doors leading to other rooms ahead, and a staircase to the right leading to the other floors. The group headed towards the service desk to find out if their culprit was listed among the residents. The attendant, a tan-coated earth pony mare with a pink mane, looked up from her magazine to address them.

"Can I help you four?"

"We're on a bit of an investigation..."

Judy said as she levitated the picture of the culprit from out of nowhere.

"Do you know if this stallion lives here?"

The attendant squinted at the image briefly.

"Give me a moment."

She then opened her drawer and pulled out a thick folder. TEK waited as she went through the files to find a matching image among the residents.

"Let's see... Yep, here he is. His name's Nova Orbit. Always thought he seemed a bit shady, always wearing that dark cloak around. His room's 23 on the second floor."

"Thank you, miss."

Kae'lik said before he again led the group to their destination. Heading to the right and up the stairs, TEK slowly approached the door of Nova Orbit.

"Well, this is it. I'm not sensing anything strong, though. Maybe he's not home yet. That'll make investigating a bit easier."

"You've led us this far, Kae'lik, but answer me this: how do we get in?"

Kae'lik almost laughed at Judy's remark. Locked doors were never a problem for him.

"Like this."

Instantly, Kae'lik shifted his signature disguise from a pegasus to a unicorn, then surrounded the group in a dome of bright green flames. When the flames faded, TEK was inside Nova's room.

"Oh yeah... Flame portal thingy."

"Let's get to work."

TEK moved swiftly. They found nearly every item that was reported stolen. Artifacts were piled up in a heap on one of the desks, and the texts, including Starswirl's journal, were laid out on a table with numerous sheets of paper with notes written on them.

"This guy's clearly up to something big, and I doubt it's any good."

"What should we do with all this stuff?"

Kae'lik pondered briefly as he looked at all of the stolen items.

"Confiscate it. We'll return them to their proper places later."

Suddenly the remaining TEK members stopped when they heard the sound of the door unlocking. Within seconds, the cloaked Nova Orbit opened the door. They all met eyes with him and there was a brief pause, and it was in that moment that Nova realized he messed up. Quickly, he turned and ran.

"Oh no you don't!"

Kae'lik shouted as he chased after him, the rest of TEK immediately following. The rushing ponies, Changeling, and Zebra almost blew the attendant's magazine out of her hooves. Nova rushed out the door and down the right of the sidewalk, TEK not far behind. They wouldn't lose him. They couldn't lose him.

And yet, they did.

They followed him around a corner into an alleyway, but when they reached it, he was nowhere in sight. Vanished.

"He... teleported..."

Judy barely got the words out as she and the others were breathing heavily from the intense pursuit. The four of them all sat down to take a moment to catch their breath. Kae'lik sat against a wall, taking breaths in between his speech.

"Well... we may have lost him for now... but now we know who he is, what he looks like, and what's he's after... This isn't over just yet..."
________________

TEK spent the rest of the fading daylight orchestrating their plan to catch Nova before more Equestrian relics could fall into his grasp. Kae'lik, having past experience as a commander, seemed to be taking charge as the mission progressed.

The false pegasus made sure everything was in order and that each of his fellow teammates carried out their part of the plan. At the moment, they had returned to the museum to discuss their next plan of action, specifically at the cafe so they could do so over a second lunch.

"Alright team, we gotta figure out how to catch this guy. Let's review what we already know."

Kae'lik kicked off the review of the collected information with these words. Piecing together what they knew about Nova Orbit - what he was after and what he was capable of - they had began to finally formulate a surefire way to catch him. But the day had already begun to end, so they decided to return home for the time being and put their plan into action the next day, fully equipped and supplied.
_______________

TEK returned to Manehattan the next day, fully refreshed and prepared to resume their mission. They had consulted with the Museum of Equestrian History's head of security and informed them of their plan to finally catch Nova.

The museum had a new installment it had been planning to add to the Ancient Artifacts exhibit, but it had been holding on to it since the string of robberies started occurring. TEK formulated a plan to use this new artifact as bait to draw Nova out and catch him in the act of theft. If they couldn't find him, they'd just lead him to them.

News of the museum's new release spread quickly throughout the press and the media, not so much because it was anything special, but because of the commotion over the museum risking any new releases so quickly after recently being stolen from.

TEK waited for a couple days for the news to fully reach all of Manehattan and frequently, patiently waited at the museum for Nova to take the bait. Currently, it was the third day since the new addition, and the museum had recently reached its closing hours. Kae'lik, Judy, Zecora, and Bulk waited in the shadows for something to happen.

"You really think he'll take the bait?"

Judy asked as she and the other three huddled in the dark a reasonable distance from the new artifact's display case.

"This darkness puts up a thick illusion... What if we cannot see this Nova's intrusion?"

"Not gonna happen, Zecora. My night vision will see to that."

"I *see* what you did there, Kae'lik."

"This is no time for puns, Judy. Now everypony quiet, you'll give us away."

Kae'lik had silenced the group just in time, for within seconds Nova teleported into the museum, and could be heard making his way to the exhibit. He approached the display case with the stealth he thought he still possessed, and TEK watched as his shadowy cloaked figure telekinetically slid the glass wall of the display case open. What he didn't expect was for this to trigger TEK's trap. Almost immediately Nova was assaulted by a cloud of spores. He began swatting and coughing for a few short seconds before collapsing, for the spores rendered him temporarily paralyzed.

"NOW!"

On Kae'lik's cue the hiding TEK members rushed to Nova's position and tied his hooves up with a rope.

"Ha! Got 'em!"

"YEAAHH!"
_______________

TEK had taken Nova to a makeshift interrogation room they had made from a small, empty storage room in the museum. It was practically entirely gray, with a black and white tiled floor similar to a chess board. Being that it was midnight, very few guards were on duty to be present for the interrogation. There was only the four TEK members and three security guards. Nova was still under the effects of the paralysis spores, but could now fully communicate. Despite this and the fact that he was tied up, the guards still remained unsure as to their ability to keep him detained.

"How do we know he won't just... poof outta here?"

One of the guards had asked before they had entered the room to begin the interrogation.

"Based on the moves I've observed him make, I've wagered that he's only an amateur teleporter, and that he needs time to 'recharge' if you will. Even if he somehow recharges in time, we can still get some info out of him, figure out what he's up to."

Kae'lik knew they probably wouldn't be able to hold him forever, at least not now. Their resources were limited and they didn't yet know enough about their new prisoner. But with this interrogation, the false pegasus hoped to change that. TEK entered Nova's "cell" as the guards stood, well, guard, by the door. Nova eyed the silver stallion's wings curiously.

"I thought you were a unicorn?"

"I'll ask the questions here, Nova Orbit. I'll start with what you intend to do with all the items you've stolen. Sell them? Personal gain?"

Nova smirked.

"It's a hobby. I'm a big fan of historical relics."

"Wise guy, eh?"

Kae'lik chuckled as he paced shortly from side to side.

"You know, we could drag this interrogation straight into the morning. But we're on a bit of a time table here, so I'll cut straight to the chase. Either you can tell us what you're up to..."

Kae'lik stopped and gestured to Bulk.

"...or my associate here can result to more... primitive methods of interrogation."

Bulk flared his nostrils before standing and flexing his ridiculous biceps.

"The choice is yours, Nova. I suggest you make the right one."

"Alright alright, no need for the scare tactics, not that you intimidate me anyway."

Kae'lik raised an eye while the rest of TEK gathered closer. If Nova was about to start talking, they didn't want to miss any crucial information.

"I can definitely tell you this: I have no intention of selling any of the relics. Most of them are useless anyway and are of little value. Their powers are myths and nothing more."

Judy, not unlike the others, seemed confused at this.

"Then why steal 'em if you don't plan on selling 'em? Isn't that the whole point of stealing?"

"I had planned to use the relics and Starswirl's notes to aid in my revenge against a certain gray unicorn, and his stupid spiky mane..."

The four TEK members' eyes simultaneously widened a bit. They all knew exactly whom Nova was referring to.

"That sounds like Shade! Oh wait-"

Judy blurted out before immediately realizing her mistake. Kae'lik only facehoofed.

*...I swear to Luna, Judy...*

"Hmph... So you know Shade Vortex, do you?"

"Maybe so, maybe not, Nova. And exactly what business do you have with him?"

Kae'lik made sure to quickly turn the focus of the interrogation back on Nova.

"Well you see, I used to be one of Celestia's top students... until Shade Vortex ruined my life. He took EVERYTHING from me, and soon I will return the favor..."

"So you two clearly have some history together... My question is, why tell us all this?"

Nova's smile grew bigger and more devious.

"Because..."

To everypony's surprise, Nova telekinetically tore apart the ropes that bound his legs together, and rose up to his hooves. His paralysis has obviously worn off.

"...This information I've given you won't do you any good... Once my plans have reached their completion, none of you fools will be able to stop me!"

And with that, there was a bright flash, and Nova Orbit was gone. The remaining ponies, zebra, and disguised Changeling were left with a look of both shock and fear on their faces. Kae'lik slowly turned to face his teammates.

"Guys... We may have a problem on our hooves..."
________________________
TEK base of operations,
'The Vine' basement
________________________

"You mean to tell us that not only did you irresponsibly take on a mission you didn't fully know about, but you also did so without supervision or permission?"

It was midnight by the time Kae'lik, Judy, Zecora, and Bulk had returned to their base in Ponyville. By now, Jet and the rest of TEK had returned from their own mission. Jet and Shade weren't particularly happy about the four members' little adventure in Manehattan.

"Anything could've gone wrong out there. You endangered yourselves and could've possibly jeopardized all of TEK!"

The four hung their heads low as Jet scolded them. Vinyl and Ditzy just sort of hung back silently, not used to seeing Jet so, disciplinary.

"...And, you also saved priceless articles of Equestrian history from falling into the wrong hooves."

Everypony's heads snapped up at the sudden change in tone of Jet's words.

"So... you're not mad at us?"

Judy fearfully asked. Shade stepped in to answer.

"While it was extremely risky and reckless of you to take on a mission by yourselves without first telling us, you did recover all that was stolen. In my book, that's a successful mission."

The sudden commendation put everypony at ease, and brought a feeling of relief to the four members receiving it.

"You all still need a bit of training and a little discipline, but you've clearly demonstrated you can handle yourselves on your own. Just, next time at least notify us before leaving on another mission."

"Yes sir!"

"Thank you..."

"YEAAHH!"

One by one, Judy, Kae'lik, and Bulk sounded off, while Zecora simply nodded with a sigh of relief.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but it's super late and I'm tired as mess. I'm going home. Probably crash on the couch or something."

And with that, Shade was gone in a bright flash, which only reminded the four TEK members standing side-by-side of Nova Orbit. A subject they needed to bring up but were afraid to while Shade was present.

"Guess I'll be doing the same. Good night, guys. We've all earned much needed rest."

"...Jet, wait."

Kae'lik stopped Jet just before he started to leave.

"What is it?"

The entire group hesitated before anypony found the courage to say anything.

"...About the thief... We managed to identify him."

Jet tilted his head in confusion.

"I thought you said you couldn't catch him?"

Judy nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, the thing is... We actually did..."

"And we got quite a bit of info out of him too, but then he teleported away."

Jet didn't know what to think of Kae'lik and Judy's responses. On one hoof, he was mad they hadn't said this earlier. Yet, he was also confused as to why they would hide this information in the first place, but reveal it now.

"...Who was it?"

Zecora gulped before answering.

"The name of the culprit is... Nova Orbit."

Jet's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Nova Orbit... Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time..."

"So you know him too... He said he was planning some revenge plot against Shade for whatever reason."

"Yeah... Nova and Shade have a bit of... history, together, none of it good."

Jet paced back and forth as he tried to process this information and think it over.

"I can see why you waited until after Shade left to tell me this. And it might be best if we kept this to ourselves, at least for now. I know Shade has been working on controlling his anger, but there's still no way of knowing how he'd react to this..."
___________________
Unknown location
___________________

"Hehehehe... Those fools... They think just because they've recovered their precious pieces of history that they've set my plans back..."

Nova chuckled to himself as he stood in the center of his current, dimly lit hideout.

"Well none of that matters. I don't need them anymore..."

Nova's horn began to glow with a bright, golden aura, and instantly projected a series of images circling all around him.

"...for I have perfectly memorized and recorded Starswirl's notes! Everything I need to destroy Shade Vortex and his pathetic friends is right here!"

Nova's smile grew more sinister until his maniacal laughter echoed throughout the night.
> What Do You Call Deoxygenated Blood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ugghhh, I'm so bored..."

Ditzy said while leaning her back over the couch.

"We haven't had a mission in a week. What's my purpose anymore?"

Currently all of TEK was inside of Vinyl's massive basement that served as their base of operations. Shade, who was also on the couch, was lying on his back with his eyes closed.

"Yeah, TEK hasn't had a real mission in a while. It's been so boring with nothing to do."

Judy, who was sleeping on the ceiling fan snored in agreement, and let her hoof dangle off of the wing she was on. Kae'lik flipped himself over on the carpet and sighed.

"I almost wish that some random crime or something would happen. I'm so bored I could die."

Bulk, who was lifting weights, gave his trademark "YEAAHH!"

Zecora was resting peacefully on her giant pillow. She seemed okay with the recent decline in assignments.

Jet sat on the floor, reading a book.

"Meh, I'm just glad that Equestria is safe. Although, it has been kinda dull around here..."

Together the seven bored TEK members all gave a large, collective sigh.

Vinyl popped her head into the room where her teammates where sitting around and grunted.

"Don't you bums have jobs? Or even better, all you ponies and others have houses. Just go home. All you do here is eat my food and sleep all the time."

The seven all sighed again.

"But home is so faaarrrrrr..."

Vinyl facehoofed at their laziness.

"Look, if you lazy bums are gonna stay here, your gonna have to start contributing. How about I assign each of you chores to do around The Vine? In exchange, all of you can stay as long as you like."

The room was silent for a moment...but then suddenly filled with snores from everyone.

"ARE YOU REALLY PRETENDING TO BE ASLEEP!? THAT'S IT! GET YOUR FLA-"

*BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP BEEEEEP*

A loud alarm sounded off, and a red light engulfed the room, immediately waking them up, and startling the ones that were pretending. It made Judy jolt up, and because she was already so close to the ceiling, she hit it and fell on the floor with a loud *thump.* Jet jumped up and yelled.

"The emergency alarm! And its a red alert! This is a message sent directly from the princess! Shade, teleport us to Canterlot!" 
________________

A few seconds later, all eight of the Taskforce of Equestrian Knowledge were running down one of Canterlot Castle's hallways. Jet looked to Vinyl, who was leading the group.

"Vinyl, are you sure this was where the transmission was coming from?"

Vinyl, who kept her eyes and shades forward, still following the signal, responded.

"Yep, this is definitely the source. I don't know why the Princess was in this area, but we're getting close."

Soon, TEK was in front of a large door with many intricately crafted designs and gold plates. Jet took a step forward, looked to his left where Vinyl nodded, and turned back to the large door. Thrusting his wings forward and unleashing an enormous amount of wind, Jet pushed the door open all the way.

TEK was prepared for allot of things: monsters, changelings, criminals, but what was before them was something they never could have planned for. Prince Blue Blood turned to see the barging ponies with clear disgust.

"Your late. But I suppose I can overlook your tardiness this time. Now that your here, make me a sandwich." 
________________

"Princess Celestia… y-you can't be serious… Please tell me the Goddess of the Sun is trolling us…"

Jet pleaded as Celestia, who was seated on her throne, accompanied by her sister, shook her head slowly.

"I'm afraid not. I realize that this is not a very promising mission, but please, I ask you to carry it out."

Jet and Shade, who where in the throne room, looked at each other, rubbed the back of their necks, and reluctantly conceded.

"...Fine…"

Celestia seemed very pleased with their answer.

"Thank you very much! You have my eternal gratitude! Now, let me explain the details." 
________________

Prince Blue Blood was not pleased at all. Although there were five ponies and a zebra in his living quarters, none of them seemed to know how to make a proper sandwich.

"NO!"

He shouted as he slapped the plate out of his face.

"Too many pickles! A Prince must have a balanced diet, or else his image will wither."

Zecora looked down in shame, picked up the plate, and walked away, whispering to herself.

"He is such a spoiled brat. I can't tell the difference between him and a rat."

"NEXT!"

Blue Blood commanded with an authority only he believed he withheld. He had already dismissed Burst's (A.K.A. Kae'lik), Bulk's, and Vinyl's sandwiches, none of which where "Prince-worthy."

Up next was Ditzy. She had tried her best to make what she thought was the perfect sandwich, and though she knew her vision didn't come out EXACTLY as she planned, she figured that it was still good enough. She smiled as she happily presented her "sandwich" before Prince Blue Blood.

She knew the sandwich would have this kind of effect. Not only was Blue Blood shocked so much he couldn't speak, but all of TEK was awestruck at her masterpiece. Everyone's mouths fell to the floor, and all eyes where on her godly sandwich. It was so amazing that it glowed in certain places! Even the nearby flies wanted a taste as they flew around it. But Ditzy knew better. She couldn't share with the hungry flies, so she shooed them away.

Blue Blood's mind was completely empty. All he could think of was the atrocity of the nuclear abomination presented on the plate before him. He completely ignored the bright smile on the cook's face. He lifted his hoof, and was about to explode when his door suddenly burst open once again.

Shade and Jet stepped in, and Jet called an emergency meeting in the hallway. Ditzy, who realized her job came before her cooking, placed the "meal" on the table and ran out into the hallway. After a few seconds the rest of TEK gathered their senses and also ran out into the  hallway.

Blue Blood slowly backed away from the now pulsing plate, and retreated to his bedroom, closing the door slowly.

Out in the hallway, Jet and Shade gathered TEK closely together to discuss the mission. Jet stepped forward to fully explain the sad news.

"Guys, I'm sorry to say this, but… our mission is to watch after Prince Blue Blood. "

A large gasp and a couple exaggerated "no's" sounded off throughout the hallway. Jet lifted up his hoof.

"I know I know, I don't like it either, but apparently, some strange things have been happening around Blue Blood. He's been waking up with moustaches and extra eyebrows on his face, tacks have been found on his toilet seat, and his entire room has been TP'd a few times."

TEK just looked at each other, and then back at Jet confused. Judy spoke up first.

"Sounds to me like somepony's being pranked!"

Jet nodded once again.

"Yes, that's exactly what these are. Although these pranks haven't hurt him at all, they're nuisances to him. He's been complaining to Celestia to take action for a while now. He's gone as far as asking for the pranksters to be publicly executed. So, instead of making a giant fuss about it, Celestia hopes we can catch the prankster and peacefully ask them to stop. She doesn't want to imprison somepony for such petty things, so she just wants us to take care of it quietly."

TEK sort of seemed to understand. Kae'lik stepped forward.

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard. Jet, you can handle this one solo right?"

"Yeah! Jet can handle anything, riiiiiight?"

Judy giggled while the rest murmured in agreement.

*So that's how it is, huh? Trying to abandon your leader with a job that no-pony wants? Nice try, fools.*

Jet thought to himself before speaking.

"Actually, I was hoping Shade could handle this one. He could teleport and find the crook. Riiiiight?"

Shade began to sweat nervously.

*No WAY am I babysitting that brat! I've heard the stories! I don't want nothing to do with this mission!*

"Actually, Vinyl would be best suited for this mission. Her shades could easily find the suspect. I'm unqualified for this mission."

Vinyl smirked.

*Hehe, I was ready for this! I'll be the one going home!*

"Nah, I actually have a lot of work to do back at The Vine, and I just don't have the time today for much else. Plus, all you guys were bored anyway, so this'll be something to keep you occupied."

All of TEK took a step back from Vinyl's expert remark. Vinyl's red eyes narrowed under her glasses, and began to glow menacingly.

*HAHAHA! I PUT THE PRESSURE ON ALL OF THEM! I'M TOTALLY OFF OF THE HOOK NOW!*

The pressure was indeed on. Kae'lik tried to back away, but found Zecora behind him blocking his way.

"A Changeling's skills at camouflage are great. I think Kae'lik should do this mission for Pete's sake."

Kae'lik's pegasus form was visibly shaking.

*NO NO NO NO NO! This is bad! I don't wanna stay with this guy! Good thing I have a plan!*

"Act-tually,"

Kae'lik said with added emphasis.

"Bulk is obviously ready to take on this assignment. Look at him, his muscles are begging for a fight with the prankster!"

All eyes turned on Bulk. He opened his mouth, but then looked at one of the only ponies who weren't called out yet. 
Ditzy smiled in her usual derpy way. She obviously had no idea about the mini-mind war that was going on. He realized he would be a fool to pin the responsibility of the assignment on her. Looking to Judy, he saw her upside down, hooves in the air, looking up at him. No way would she even know what to do. Bulk only saw one way out.

*CRASH!*

Suddenly, Bulk jumped and hurled his massive body through a window and he escaped out into the open air. TEK gathered around the window as they watched Bulk struggle to stay airborne and slowly hover to the ground.

"Okay, what? Look, let's just draw sticks. Whoever gets the shortest stick gets the job."

Jet compromised. 
_________________

"Shade Vortex and Burst Hurricane, was it? You should be honored to work for me. Thank me."

Kae'lik was confused.

*I've only spent a short amount of time in pony society, but even I know that the ones working should be thanked, right?*

Shade shared his thoughts, while also planning on how he would kill Jet and the others for dumping him with this stupid job.

*Jet freaking rigged that thing. I KNOW IT!*

"Look buddy, we're only here to stop this prankster or whatever. Don't get the wrong idea. We're not your maids."

Blue Blood was taken back by Shade's remark.

"Well I NEVER… Fine. Capture this hoodlum, then behead them."

This time Kae'lik spoke up. He was sure of himself this time.

"Actually, Jet told us not to harm the pony if it's not necessary. We're just supposed to get them to stop."

Blue Blood was clearly disappointed.

"But one who disrespects royalty must be made an example! To teach the commoners who their masters are!"

Shade wanted to get angry at this arrogant pony, but he realized that such blinding pride and pure stupidity were not worth his time. He merely sighed instead.

"Burst, while I set up a perimeter and set some alarm spells, you go find some places you can stealthily monitor where the prankster might strike next."

"Burst" understood and headed into Blue Blood's room.

"HEY! You cannot simply waltz into my private quarters uninvited!"

Blue Blood yelled as he ran after him. Shade decided to take advantage of being alone to analyze his surroundings. The room was large, quite fit for a Prince. He looked to the kitchen table, and found its marble surface spotless besides one empty plate.

*I wonder what was on that plate...*

Walking around Shade saw three couches that took up half of the main room, and there was a large fireplace on one side. There was a center table made of granite, sided with gold on the edges.

Walking to the window, Shade placed some alarm spells. He made it so that if anypony opened that window, the disturbance would signal him in his mind. No-pony was getting in, or out, without his knowing so.

After setting all the windows in the main room, he walked into Blue Blood's room where currently he and Burst were arguing… or more like Blue Blood was yelling at "Burst" to stop touching stuff.

"HEY! DON'T TOUCH THAT! That is a priceless vase found from ancient ruins! NO NOT THAT EITHER! That's a family photo of aunt Celestia!"

All the while Kae'lik was ignoring him and whispering to himself.

"Hmm, maybe here? I'd have a good view of the window, but I won't have a lot of space to move. Let's try the closet..."

"Are you even listening to me!?"

"No."

"Then why- wait, what?"

Shade called Kae'lik over.

"Don't just walk away from me! I command you to come back! "

Kae'lik ignored as Blue Blood yelled after him.

"Yeah Shade?"

Shade looked out into the window and explained the plan.

"We're going to have a steak-out tonight."

Kae'lik looked confused.

"We're going out to eat? AWESOME!"

Shade facehoofed.

"NO! Ponies don't even eat meat! Anyway, we're going to stay hidden overnight and wait to see if the prankster comes. I set up alarm spells on all the windows so I'll know when they arrive. When they do, I'll give you the signal and we'll jump them. Got it?"

Kae'lik was silent for a moment, then quietly asked a question.

"Soooo... we're not going out to eat?"

Shade sighed heavily.

"Fine... Let's go before it gets dark."

Looking back at the highly annoyed Prince, Shade yelled to him.

"We'll be back."

Blue Blood wanted to yell back, but he thought about it and ran after them.

"Wait! I want dinner too!"

Once the door was shut and all was silent, something suddenly stirred in the corner above the fireplace. 
It's odd, goopy form was green colored with black and grey spots on it. It was about the size of a plate, and looked like a giant booger. Suddenly, two spots started to glow a faint yellow, and they began to move around, as if examining the room. It slowly oozed down the fireplace and crept under the table to rest. Becoming sentient was a lot to take in. 
________________

"That is the LAST time I EVER eat with you again."

Shade grunted as he telekinetically flung opened the door to Blue Blood's room. Blue Blood was close to follow and scoffed.

"Oh please, you should feel honored to pay for my food. Besides, I forgot my wallet in my other pants."

"YOU ORDERED AN 89 BITS MEAL! AND IT WAS TINY! PLUS YOU DON'T EVEN WEAR PANTS!"

Blue Blood merely lifted his nose in the air and walked off into the bathroom. Shade's eye twitched.

*I make good money working for the Princess, but geez, I will never eat at that restaurant again! Plus Kae'lik stupidly ordered "fresh love!" What even is that!?*

Kae'lik, still in his Burst Hurricane disguise, walked off into Blue Blood's room, preparing to hide for the night, as the sun had already set. Shade followed Kae'lik's lead and made camp in the hallway leading to Blue Blood's private quarters.

Kae'lik chose to shapeshift into a large chest next to the main bed. Taking position, Kae'lik was momentarily covered by a flash of green flames. As they quickly dissipated, a large wooden chest stood in the silver pegasus' place.

Blue Blood walked out of the bathroom and into his room wearing his blue pajamas. He saw Shade in the hallway, but looked around and couldn't find Burst. He also noticed his room looked slightly different.

*Was that chest always there?*

"Vortex, where is Hurricane?"

Shade looked up and thought for a moment.

"Don't worry about it. He's somewhere close by."

Blue Blood did not seem satisfied with the answer, but realized he would get nowhere asking questions to THIS pony.

"Whatever. Just know that if you succeed, you will be graciously rewarded. If you fail however, I will personally make sure that you are publicly reprimanded and fired."

Shade just looked at him, irritation evident in his expression. His mind was currently going through an intense civil war. One side wanted to teleport Blue Blood to the Stone Wolf den, and the other half urged him to try and finish the mission.

*DO IT! KILL HIM!*

*NO! You must see this mission through!*

*He disrespected you! He made you pay for his food and didn't even thank you! Now he's threatening to get you fired!*

*That may be so, but it's not about him, it's about doing what's right. Besides, everypony knows this fool has no real power. Just tough through it for a little while longer, and then you can go home, bake some oatmeal raisin cookies, then give them to all of TEK and say they're chocolate chip.*

*You diabolical genius!*

Back to reality, Shade just turned his head and scoffed, deciding not to teleport the Prince into a volcano… yet. 
_______________

Luna's starry night had fallen, and all was silent in the dark room. All that could be seen was a small portion of the floor, which was illuminated by the moonlight breaching through the window.

Blue Blood was fast asleep, while Shade sat in the hallway in a state of meditation; not really asleep, but not really awake either. Kae'lik was silently awake, watching the window intently. He'd designed his disguise so that he could still see. His night vision was just one of the perks of being a Changeling. He was used to camouflaging for long periods of time, so staying awake and silent was no big deal.

All had been going smoothly for most of the night, but suddenly, a black shadow obscured the glow of the moonlight. Kae'lik noticed this, and, looking to the window, spotted a figure cloaked in all black, standing right outside the window.

His guard immediately went up. This had to be the pony they where looking for. He wanted to jump them now, but knew he had to wait for them to open the window and alert Shade.

The figure stood for a few moments, examining the room, checking the surrounding area. All that was seemed different to them was the chest next to the bed. Other than that, they thought, the coast was clear. Shade sat just out of view of the window, and so the prankster didn't notice him. Cautiously, the figure opened the window.

Immediately, Shade opened his eyes, aware that something had tampered with the window. Gazing at the shining moonlight on the floor in the room ahead, he saw the shadow of the being opening the window. Looking to the disguised Kae'lik, he prepared to give the signal. That's when it dawned on him: they had no signal, because Shade never made one!

*Crap! Think, THINK! Signal… Uhhhhh... I GOT IT!*

Shade then waited patiently for the right time to act. For what felt like hours, the figure, indeed a pony, slowly crept up to Blue Blood's bed, telekinetically pulling something out of their saddle bag as they moved closer. Kae'lik saw it clearly as the figure unwittingly moved closer towards him as well.

*Permanent marker, the ink of evil... How diabolical!*

Shade could begin to see the cloaked unicorn clearer also, as they moved within view from the hallway.

*Just a bit closer…just a little but closer…*

Shade anxiously watched as the pony uncapped the red marker. Kae'lik was getting worried.

*Is Shade awake? Should I make a move now? No, Shade's definitely awake. I must have faith in my commanding officer.*

Kae'lik chose to patiently maintain his position. The prankster was almost right next to him now. Shade was beginning to sweat.

*Come on scum, just a little closer...*

The scarlet tip of the marker was almost touching Blue Blood's face now. It was only a millimeter away before Shade made his move.

Shade took a deep breath, and then emitted what he believed to be a fairly spot-on crow impression before jumped into the room, suddenly startling the prankster. They immediately pulled the marker away and made a break for the window. Kae'lik was confused.

*There are hawks in this area? How strange.*

While he was thinking, the prankster jumped out the window. Shade ran to the window after it, yelling back to his partner.

"Kae'lik! Come on fool! Didn't you hear my signal?"

Kae'lik got out of his disguise, changing into his Burst Hurricane form.

"What signal? All I heard was a hawk. Whatever, all we can do now is chase after them."

Shade could only grunt and sigh heavily before teleporting away. Kae'lik looked to his side where Blue Blood was laying in bed. Somehow he was still asleep. Shaking his head, he ran to and flew out the open window.

Once outside, Kae'lik spotted Shade on the rooftops, closely tailing the mysterious figure on the ground below. 
He immediately flew down after them.

Shade could only think one thing while pursuing his target.

*My crow impression was the perfect signal. No way it sounded like a hawk. Kae'lik's just crazy.*

The cloaked pony looked behind them and saw two ponies on their tail, one in the sky, one vigorously jumping from rooftop to rooftop. They started to wonder that maybe this was a bad idea. In a panic, they darted into an alleyway leading into another street. Shade and Kae'lik followed.

A few twists and turns throughout the different streets of Canterlot led the racing trio into another alley. Unfortunately for the prankster, this alert was a dead end, dimly lit by a single, flickering street lamp. 
When the prankster finally reached the brick wall blocking the way, they turned around, preparing to fight the ponies following it. However, they only saw a silver pegasus. While wondering where the other pony went, they suddenly heard a voice behind them.

"Surprise..."

Then they watched as their entire body was enveloped in Shade's telekinetic aura. After a few seconds of struggling to get out of the strong grip, they felt their limbs and body stiffen, finding their legs were completely locked against their body. Shade came from behind them and chuckled.

"That was some chase... But I'm afraid it's come to an end. Don't bother trying to move, I've placed a paralysis spell on you from your neck down. Now, lets see who's under that hood..."

Reaching out his hooves, Shade pulled back the hood of the pony's cloak, revealing the white fur and distinct purple mane of the prankster. Shade backed away slowly as he realized that the prankster was more familiar than he could have ever imagined.

"No way, Rarity!?"

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!"
______________

"So, let me get this straight. You prank Blue Blood to get back at him for the Grand Galloping Gala incident?"

Rarity nodded.

After revealing the prankster to be Shade's friend, and the Element of Generosity, Shade made her explain the reasons behind her little "practical jokes."

"Yes. That spoiled brat ruined my entire night, and utterly humiliated me. To get back at that cruel brute, I prank him and his room every time I visit Canterlot. Now, if you don't mind explaining why you where watching over Blue Blood, please do."

Shade put up his hoof.

"No no, I'm the one asking the questions."

Rarity scoffed.

"Shade, whatever the reason, you've spent time with him too. You know how he is!"

Shade nodded.

"Yeah, I do. He is a total jerk with no empathy or respect for others whatsoever."

Rarity smiled and nodded.

"Yes, Yes! He is! Don't you agree I'm simply getting justice for the wrongs he has committed?"

Shade thought for a moment, but only a brief one.

"Probably. I mean, I was tempted to throw him in a volcano, but still-"

"Shade?"

Shade looked behind him where Kae'lik had been silently sitting the entire time he had been interrogating Rarity.

"Shade, come here for a second."

Shade walked over to his friend and made sure they were out of earshot of Rarity.

"What's up?"

Kae'lik put his hoof on his chin.

"Something doesn't add up... She said she pranks him every time she visits. But before we came, didn't we see Rarity in Ponyville? The reports say that these incidents have happened many nights in a row, including yesterday. She could have visited yesterday too, but is pranking someone really worth that train ride twice a day, two days in a row?"

Shade thought for a moment. If he remembered correctly, Rarity was in her shop all day yesterday working on a difficult order. No way she could have made that long train ride here, twice at that. Shade understood where Kae'lik was coming from, but didn't understand where he was leading.

"Yeah, your right. But what's your point?"

"I think that-"

"HEY! What are you two whispering about!?"

Shade looked back.

"HEY! The only reason your flank isn't in the slammer yet is because you're a friend. Don't make me change my mind!"

That shut Rarity up really fast. Looking back to Kae'lik, Shade saw that he looked confused.

"Didn't Jet tell us not to harm the pony or throw them in prison?"

Shade smiled a bit.

"Yeah, but it's fun giving them a scare every now and then. Plus I needed to vent my irritation from 'his highness.' Anyway, what were you saying?"

"I think that there's more than one prankster."

Shade considered this, and realized that it was highly probable.

"I think you might be right. Let's see."

Turning back, Shade walked over to the still paralyzed Rarity.

"Okay look, the jig is up. Tell us where your partners are, or ALL of you are gonna be in a lot more trouble than you already are."

Rarity looked highly nervous, but remained silent. Shade smiled.

*Bingo.*

Rarity's clear fear at the mention of accomplices had confirmed that there were others involved. Now all he had to was find who they were and where they were. But being rough with Rarity would get him nowhere further. Besides, Shade didn't truly like hurting mares, especially his friends.

"Look... I'm sorry I've been mean to you. I totally get why your doing what your doing. Blue Blood is a gigantic tool who deserves the despise of others. However, breaking and entering is illegal, and punishable, especially with vandalism added into the mix. I really don't wanna have to throw the law at you, so if you just tell me where the others are, I'll make sure all of you are let off easy."

Rarity could tell Shade was being absolute truthful, and this calmed her down a bit. It also loosened her tongue.

"Okay…I'll tell you…"

After a few minutes of walking and magically carrying a complaining mare later, Shade, "Burst," and Rarity found themselves in front of a small store that appeared to be closed. By the looks of it, it was a dress-making boutique, but its windows were pitch black. Shade was a bit skeptical.

"This is the place?"

Rarity nodded while still levitating in midair.

"You know, you don't have to restrain me. I have nowhere to run to or hide anymore."

"Oh yeah."

Letting Rarity down gently, Shade nudged her to the door of the building.

"Go on. Let's get this over with so we can all go home."

Rarity took a deep breath, and opened the door with her own telekinesis. 
Once she opened it, Shade and Burst took a step back.

"Whoa..."

"Whoa" indeed, as the the entire shop was filled with chattering mares. There were large couches all over the room the door led to, and in each one about  three mares were seated. In all, Shade estimated there where at least thirty mares in the room.

There were mirrors lining one side of the room, like how you would find behind stage of a play, perhaps what used to be the fitting room. On the other side of the room were dozens and dozens of black cloaks, similar to the one Rarity was wearing.

When all the mares spotted Rarity, they all smiled, then they saw the two stallions behind her, and their faces all turned to the opposite expression.

"Ladies, we need to talk..." 
________________

A loud "awwwwww" echoed throughout the entire building, originating from the many mares sitting in the main room of the small Boutique. Shade lifted his hoofs in defense.

"I know, I know. I wanna make him pay as much as the next pony, but unfortunately, it's illegal to break in and enter. I get that he hurt each and every one of you, but I can't change the laws, no matter how bad I wanna throw him in the nearest dragon cave."

One of the mares stepped forward to speak.

"So if we can't get justification for his insolence, is he just gonna get away with all the crap he pulls?"

Shade smiled deviously.

"Now now... Who said anything about that?" 
________________
Ponyville, next
morning
________________

"Hey, thank you, Shade. For not getting me and my comrades in trouble."

Rarity said as she, Shade, and Fluttershy all sat in the steam room of Ponyville's spa. Shade nodded.

"No problem. I'm just glad we were able to find a solution that both sides could agree on. And I got some revenge of my own. It all worked out in the end."

Fluttershy looked confused.

"Umm… if you don't mind, could you tell me what you two are talking about?"

Shade looked really sly and grew an evil smirk.

"Lets just say everypony got their… JUST DESSERT!"

Rarity and Shade burst out laughing while Fluttershy looked even more confused than before. 
_________________
Canterlot Castle
_________________

Blue Blood couldn't be happier that those peasants were out of his life. He was also quite happy that they caught the hooligan who'd been harassing him, although they did not name, nor execute them. Whatever, as long as his life was back to its rightful place. And even better yet, he found a donut in front of his door on a silver platter.

*Well... I can indulge every once in a while, can't I?*

He engulfed the entire pastry in one bite. He chewed for a moment, then slowed down. But something wasn't quite right. Was it him, or was it getting really hot? His face soon turned red as the heat of the jalapeno-filled donut began to take its toll.

He began to run around inside his room frantically as he desperately searched for water. Finding himself in the bathroom, he turned on the cold water and dunked his entire head in. After a while his body temperature cooled down from the triple digits and he wiped his face. While he did so however, he was unwittingly being watched.

After he finished wiping his face, he turned around, only to have his mouth drop to the floor. 
"What…WHAT IS THAT!?"

"HISSSSS!"

Ditzy's sandwich had returned with a vengeance. And this creature in front of him was intruding on his territory. 
The small, head-shaped, nine-legged creature pounced on Blue Blood's face, sending him into a panicked flurry. 
All that could be heard from his room was a loud scream that echoed throughout all of Canterlot. 
___________________
TEK Headquarters
___________________

"Hey guys look! Shade made some cookies before he left!"

Jet and his fellow teammates swarmed to the plate of warm treats.

"Epic!"

"YEEEAAA!"

"Awesome!"

"A blessing!"

"YEET!"

Excited, Jet, Vinyl, Bulk, Ditzy, Zecora, and Judy all grabbed the delicious-looking chocolate chip cookies. 
They all munched happily for 0.5 seconds before they all spit them out and cried out in unison.

"BUCKING RAISINS!!!!!!!!!!"

Kae'lik, who was hiding at the top of the stairs chuckled to himself as his friends below all spat and tried to pick the horrid dried fruits out of their teeth.

"Shade, you diabolical genius."
> Date
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay, Bulk, you're on dish duty today; Zecora, laundry; Kae'lik, window washing; and Judy, you're the duster for today. I'm up for routine checkup around Ponyville, and Shade and Ditz have the day off."

"YES!"

"Siiiiiggghhhh..."

Ditzy's one "yes" was overpowered by the many sighs from those with assignments. Jet raised his hooves up.

"I know I know, but these are Vinyl's 'house' rules. Plus they rotate so you won't be stuck with the same chore two days in a row. We all stay here all the time, so doing a few things around the base is the least we can do."

They seemed a little more accepting at that. Kae'lik didn't seem to care.

"Back at the hive I had many more responsibilities than window washing. Consider it done."

Jet smiled and pointed at Kae'lik.

"See, why can't you guys be like him?"

Vinyl popped her head in from the kitchen next to the main room TEK was in.

"Hey, I'm making tacos for lunch. The faster your chores are done, the faster you can eat."

Judy seemed especially pleased.

"YAY, TACOS!"

Shade tilted his head a little.

"Where did you get that sombrero?"

Jet stood up and decided to finish the meeting.

"TEK, let's get to work."

As Jet made his way out, TEK slumped off the couches and made their way to the door. Before Jet could walk out, though, he heard Shade call out to him.

"Jet, can we talk for a sec?"

Jet looked back at his friend, and saw his nervous face.

"Yeah, what is it? Is something wrong?"

Shade looked around nervously.

"Uhh… no, not really. I just wanted to show you something..."

He then teleported a small, blue box in front of him, holding it in midair with his telekinesis. When he opened it, Jet could hardly believe his eyes.

"Whoa…"

Inside the box was a dazzling necklace. Its chain was golden, and skinny enough not to put too much weight on a pony's neck. Attached to it was a small silver heart with a pink diamond in its center. 
It didn't take Jet too long to figure out what was going on.

"Fluttershy is going to love it, dude. That's amazing, it must have cost you a hoof and a leg."

Shade calmed down a little and grew a proud smirk.

"Thanks... But expenses mean nothing to me when it comes to making her happy."

Jet could only smile to himself.

*He's come a long way since the academy.*

"So what's up? A special occasion?"

Shade thought for a moment before responding.

"You could say I'm making a special occasion."

Jet's eyes grew wide.

"You don't mean…"

Shade nodded.

"Oh I mean. Today I'm going to ask Fluttershy to be my marefriend. I already made special dinner reservations and picked out the perfect location."

Jet was impressed.

"Well, it looks like you have everything worked out. I'm happy for you bro, and I wish you only the best."

Before Shade could thank him, a voice chimed in from the top of the stairs.

"Hey Jet!"

Jet turned around while Shade fumbled to quickly teleport the necklace out of sight. 
Jet was greeted by the sight of Ditzy looking almost as nervous as Shade, if not more so.

"Hey umm… I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today…"

Jet quickly looked to Shade, who was only making this face: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). Jet rubbed the back of his neck.

"...Sorry Ditz, can't today. I have the routine checkup around Ponyville. That's gonna take some time. I'm afraid I'm just too busy today. Next time though." 
For a split second Ditzy looked very disappointed, but the next second she was back to her usual cheerful self.

"Okay! Next time!"

Quickly she disappeared out the door.

Shade looked at Jet curiously.

"Bruh, what was that all about? Routine checkup should only take a couple hours, not all day, especially with your speed."

Jet made no attempt to defend himself as he began walking up the stairs himself.

"I better get going. I have a lot to do. Talk to you later bro."

Shade could only chuckle to himself after his friend left.

"He always acts so weird around Ditzy... I totally ship it."

Vinyl walked in from the kitchen.

"Looks like somepony's in denial."

Shade turned around and smiled.

"So you heard that too, huh?"

Vinyl nodded.

"Yup. I could feel her disappointment from over there."
_____________________
A few hours later
_____________________

Jet thought silently to himself as he gently hovered over Ponyville. 
Currently he was using his pegasus magic to focus the wind and the sound waves traveling through it into his ears, enabling him to listen in on the conversations around Ponyville to see what was up and if there was a problem somewhere. All seemed peaceful for now; it was only the occasional gossip and bargaining. Shade had once questioned the privacy of others when Jet used this technique. 
Jet had to explain that it was for security reasons and he didn't really care about the secret lives of others.

But something was weighing on Jet's mind. Why had he refuse Ditz's offer?

*We've hung out before. Declining her offer one time isn't a big deal. I just want some space, that's all.*

Still, Jet felt odd.

Suddenly he picked up on something strange. He could faintly hear yelling coming from the other side of Ponyville. He glided his way over to the origin of the shouting.

*I swear if it's Berry Punch making a drunken rampage again…*

But it wasn't. Jet found himself hovering above a relatively tall building. It had three floors - tall for Ponyville - and was connected to a warehouse. It was a simple brown in color, and just above the door was the sign "Equestrian Postal Service".

*Ah, that's the place where Ditz and Shade work. I wonder what's going on.*

He flew a little lower and landed on the roof, directly above the source of the yelling. Jet assumed there was an office below him, and somepony was getting yelled at. As he landed on the roof of the building, Jet could clearly hear the argument below him.

"YOU'RE A USELESS BURDEN! YOU NEVER DO ANYTHING  RIGHT AND YOU'RE A WORTHLESS KLUTZ!"

Even Jet flinched a little at that. However, although it was harsh, Jet couldn't intervene in private matters like this unless directly ordered to.

The voice belonged to a stallion. It was a deep, gruff voice, so Jet imagined the speaker was a rather large stallion. 
But what Jet heard next made him freeze in horror.

"I-I'm sorry sir…"

Jet immediately recognized the small, female voice.

*Ditz!?*

The gruff voice continued in it's uproar.

"I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT! ALL YOU DO HERE IS SLOW US DOWN AND I'M SICK OF IT! YOU'RE FINISHED! YOU'RE FIRED!"

Ditzy gasped, and so did Jet.

"B-but... I love this job! How will I make ends meet!?"

The stallion scoffed coldly.

"That's YOUR problem. YOU'RE DONE! THROUGH! I want your area cleaned out by tomorrow. You are no longer a part of this postal service, effective immediately. Now, GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!"

Jet could hear Ditzy's slow hoofsteps walking away, followed by a door opening, hesitating, then closing. On top of this, Jet was absolutely sure he could hear Ditzy crying.

Up on the roof Jet was trying to control his urge to go down there and beat the living daylights out of that guy.

*HOW DARE HE TALK TO HER LIKE THAT! In reality she doesn't even need this job! The payment from TEK is more than enough to pay her bills... She just honestly loved delivering mail. It was her passion. I can't BELIEVE the nerve of that guy... I'll RIP OFF HIS-*

Jet's crazed thoughts were interrupted when he heard the front door to the building open up. Looking down he saw a depressed Ditzy walking out. Looking even closer, he could see the tears falling from her eyes.

Jet knew she couldn't know he was listening in on her being fired, so he laid low until she was far enough where he could fly away unseen. He quickly caught up with her after he had called himself down.

"Hey, Ditz, you alright?"

Jet's voice startled the sniffling mare, and in surprise she jumped up as she turned around.

"OH! Jet! Oh yeah, me? I'm fine, totally fine. I'm 100% O.K."

*She is a horrible liar.*

"Really? Your eyes are red, and you're sniffling... Tell me the truth, Ditz."

Ditzy stared at the hovering pegasus before her, pain resurfacing in her yellow eyes. Finally she confessed.

"No… I'm not alright... I just got fired from the post office. I messed up another order…"

She looked down at her hooves in shame. Soon after, more tears fell to the ground below her face. Jet landed next to her and wrapped his wing around the depressed mare.

"Hey hey, it's alright... I'm sorry to hear that. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Ditzy sniffled before explaining her tale.

"Well, I was making two deliveries to the library and the hospital, but I delivered the books to the hospital and the medical prescriptions to the library..."

*Wow.*

"Was anypony hurt?"

Ditzy immediately shook her head.

"No no! No-pony was hurt at all! I caught on after Twilight told me she got antibiotics instead of cook books and I quickly fixed the orders. But the hospital was really mad about the mix-up, and complained to my boss about it... I took responsibility for my actions and now I'm…"

Ditzy trailed off as more tears began to flow, heavier this time. Jet was unsure of what to do in such a situation. So he simply hugged his wing around her tighter. She leaned against his body and continued speaking through sniffles.

"I really messed up Jet… maybe he was right… I am a useless burden..."

Jet immediately intervened.

"NO YOU'RE NOT! Yes, you made a mistake, but you fixed it. That's not a liable basis for insulting you. In fact, you did nothing worthy of being fired!"

Ditzy calmed down at first but quickly started sniffling again.

"But he's right! I always mess stuff up! I'm just a big mistake!"

Jet's heart was burning with hatred for Ditzy's boss. To remain calm, Jet took a deep breath.

"Ditz, you made a mistake. I make mistakes too. You can ask Shade, I screw up allot of stuff. But you know what that means?"

Ditzy looked up to Jet, anxiously awaiting his answer.

"...What?"

"We're the same."

Ditzy looked into Jet's deep blue eyes as he continued.

"We're exactly the same. And it's not just us. Everypony makes mistakes. This is what connects us all, as a giant family. If you didn't make mistakes, you wouldn't be one of us. When you make a mistake, you're just further proving how alike we all are. Your boss is a fool if he would fire somepony who was only trying to fix their mistake. You're not useless, Ditz... and in my eyes, you're already perfect."

Ditzy loosened up at Jet's words and her tears slowly came to a stop. She grew a small smile and her usual derpy disposition returned.

And her stomach growled loudly.

Jet chuckled.

"Since we're the same and all, why don't we both get something to eat? My treat."

Ditzy looked up confused.

"I thought you were busy with patrol duty?"

Jet shrugged and smiled.

"I finished sooner than expected."

Ditzy smiled brightly and nodded.

"YES!" 
__________________

Because there was a fair in town, the two ponies decided to go there for the day. Soon enough The memory of Ditzy's decommissioning was lost in the far more delightful memories of her and Jet having fun.

While Jet went and ordered some caramel apples for them, Ditzy sat back and reminisced on their time together. She laughed every time she thought of the owner of the ball game.

The game was simple: knock down each of the stacked bottles and win a prize, but unknown to most ponies, one bottle was glued to the table. Jet figured this out when the second to last ball he had bounced off the bottle.

Unfortunately for the pony, he was messing with Jet Fly. Focusing a small amount of his pegasus magic into his hooves, he hurled the ball through a small but powerful air current, sending it flying straight through the bottle, and through the wall behind it, and finally stopping as it lodged itself within a concrete wall behind the booth.

Ditzy hugged the large pink elephant he'd won for her. Jet treated her unlike anypony ever had.

Jet walked back to the bench where Ditzy was sitting.

"Hey, whatcha thinking about?"

Ditzy quickly looked up and shook her head, slightly blushing.

"N-nothing!"

Jet shrugged and the two ponies began munching on their apples. Halfway through her apple, Ditzy stopped and looked to Jet.

"Jet... I-"

But she was cut off by a high pitched scream. Jet hopped up.

"What was that?"

Ditzy looked to the source of the sound.

"It sounded like it was coming from the Ferris wheel!"

Jet flared out his wings to take off but hesitated. He looked to Ditzy.

"What were you going to say?"

Ditzy looked down.

"...Nothing. Go ahead and help."

Jet nodded and immediately tossed his apple to Ditzy, who fumbled to catch it, before taking off. He took off at such incredible speeds that a small boom could be heard, followed by an intense wind trailing him.

It took no more than three seconds for Jet to arrive on the scene. Before him was a daunting problem: the giant Ferris wheel had stopped moving, and the gears that turned it were shooting sparks everywhere. Soon enough an electrical fire started, quickly overtaking the entire Ferris wheel.

Looking to his side was the controller of the ride, who was panicking and pressing random buttons on the sparking panel. He quickly got next to him.

"How many are on it?!"

Jet shouted to the skinny stallion, who looked over and answered him.

"Only two! Their in the highest seat!"

Behind him, Jet heard a loud siren. Firefighters were on the scene now, preparing to combat the fire with water. Jet quickly stopped them.

"NO NO NO! It's an electrical fire! It will only make it worse!"

The screams for help from the two trapped ponies could clearly be heard. One of the firefighters walked up to him and gave him a look.

"Then what do you suggest, hotshot?"

Jet looked around himself. A few pegasi were trying to get to the top box to grab the trapped ponies but the flames were just too intense for them to get close. Suddenly Jet had an idea.

"EVERYPONY BACK UP NOW!"

Jet's powerful voice echoed throughout the area, and everypony present did as they were told. He turned his attention to the ponies in peril.

"You might wanna hold your breathes!"

The two trapped ponies nodded.

Jet thrust open his wings and took off, even faster this time. He made a constant left turn, sending him in a speeding circle around the Ferris wheel. After about five seconds Jet was no longer visible to the naked eye. A fierce wind broke out around the surrounding area, forcing everypony to back up even further. The fire too retreated from the intense tornado that was forming around it.

In a few more seconds, the tornado had engulfed the entire ride, making everything within the storm invisible to the outside. The fire began to choke, having it's air supply quickly whipped away from it.

The two ponies inside the ride were terrified. All they knew was that they almost got burned alive, and now there was a tornado. Talk about a bad day.

But soon the tornado began to calm down, and the winds subsided. In only about four seconds the entire vortex was gone, revealing a non-burning wheel, but Jet was nowhere to be seen. One of the pegasi fire fighters flew up and got the two ponies down, who had finally let go of their breaths and were panting heavily. Cheers ran throughout the crowd, along with some murmurs.

"Who was that dude?"

Jet came back to find Ditzy happily munching on her Apple.

"Hey, weren't you worried about what was going on?"

Ditzy looked up and smiled.

"Yeah, but I knew you could handle it."

Jet chuckled to himself.

"Hehe... Hey Ditz, I really gotta investigate why that Ferris wheel caught on fire like that. It's honestly gonna take some time to find out who was responsible for that. Why don't you head on home and get some rest? You've had a long day."

Ditzy looked sad, but she understood that Jet had responsibilities to take care of.

"Okay… I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"Of course."

Ditzy smiled.

"I had fun today. Thanks for cheering me up!"

Jet waved it off.

"No problem. I was glad to spend some time with you."

Ditzy blushed a little at that, and Jet realized how gently he said that sentence.

"Uhhh... Anyway I'll talk to you later!"

Jet said before taking off, back to the scene of the incident.

After half a minute he made his way back to the scene... only to find Judy already on it. She was wearing a large trench coat and a hat like she was some sort of detective. She was also carrying a notebook with her telekinesis, asking witnesses questions about what they had seen.

"Hey, uh, Judy... What are you doing?"

She turned around and laughed.

"I knew it! I knew when I heard that an orange pegasus made a tornado it had to be you!"

Jet smiled and shrugged.

"Yeah, it was me. I had to do something. But it looks like your doing a pretty good job of investigating."

Judy nodded excitedly.

"Yup! In fact I've already found the cause! The Ferris wheel wasn't oiled correctly so the metal gears rubbing against each other caused sparks to fly, which in turn caught fire on live wires that make up the lights on the wheel."

Jet was amazed.

"You found all of that out in five minutes?"

Judy nodded again.

"Yessiree!"

"Well done... I guess I'm not needed then. Just remember to make a record of this incident so that we can make sure this never happens again."

Judy saluted her commanding officer.

"Aye aye, captain! Now you can get back to your date!"

All the color drained from Jet's face, replaced only with a bright crimson. If he were drinking something, he would have spat it out.

"No no no, you misunderstand-"

Judy giggled loudly.

"Haha! Whatever you say, Mr. Smooth!"

Jet never blushed, so the feeling of his entire face turning red was uncomfortable. He took off to avoid further embarrassment.

*S-she's just crazy, is all...*

On his way back home he saw that Sugar Cube Corner was open.

*I guess I can still make it up to Ditz...* 
________________

Ditzy was almost home. Night had just fallen. She would have made it home faster had she flew, but she found it easier to think while on the ground. Her thoughts were flooded with those of a certain orange pegasus.

When she made it home, her stuffed pink elephant on her back, she saw a small object in front of her door. When she got a closer look, she saw it was a muffin with a pink wrapper around it. Ditzy didn't even need to think about who it was from as she smiled. She simply grabbed it, took a bite and entered her home.

High above was Jet, smiling just the same.

"Goodnight, Ditz..."

And he flew off into the night.
____________________
Fancy Restaurant
____________________

Shade ran around frantically as he made sure for the 15th time that all preparations for his special night were perfect. Being mentally scarred from a traumatic experience created a tendency to imagine the worse-case scenario of any given situation. This was one of those situations he did not want to mess up. Deep down, he probably realized that there was really nothing to worry about; he had known Fluttershy since fillyhood, and she was his most closest friend other than Jet.

*But what if she just wants to stay friends?*

The fear of the unknown still ravaged at Shade's confidence. After confirming once again that all would go according to plan, Shade left the restaurant and teleported home.
________________

Shade was not prepared for this. He had been trained to fight off the most dangerous threats in Equestria. He had honed his skills at instantaneous travel and transportation. Heck, he even owned some fairly advanced technology back at base. But he didn't have a single tuxedo to wear for the most important day of his life.

"HOW HAVE I NOT BOUGHT A TUXEDO BY NOW?"

He searched his entire room. He even checked his father's old room's closet out of desperate hopes that he somehow left a tux behind. Nothing was all he found. Sure, he could easily buy a new tux now; he made more than enough working for TEK. But he wasn't sure if he'd be able to find the right one for the occasion. He only had one hope.

"...I need to find Rarity..."

Immediately Shade teleported to Rarity's boutique. It was a little after 6:00 pm and already getting dark, so she had most likely closed for the night by now, but this was an emergency. Hastily he ran up to the door and knocked as hard as he could.

"We're CLOSED."

Shade heard Rarity yell from inside. He expected as much, but didn't really care.

"Rarity I need your help!"

There was a still silence, and Shade anxiously awaited a response. His ears perked when he heard the click of the door unlocking. Rarity opened with a slightly tired and confused look on her face.

"...Shade? What brings you by so late?"

Shade took a deep breath, preparing himself to explain what was going on.

"Okay, here's the thing. I'm taking Fluttershy out somewhere nice tonight. I've made reservations and got everything set up how I want. The only problem is I don't own a single tuxedo to wear. I need your help..."

Rarity raised an inquiring eyebrow at Shade's answer.

"Somewhere nice, hmm?"

Shade chuckled nervously.

"Yeah... It's sort of a special occasion..."

"...You're going to ask her to be your marefriend aren't you..."

Shade hesitated, then nodded. Rarity's eyes grew larger than Shade thought physically possible before she burst out with excited giggling and squealing. Shade quickly grabbed the now bouncing mare to calm her down.

"Hey hey keep it down... I don't want the whole town to find out now."

"Alright, alright... So, you want me to make you a suit?"

Shade nodded.

"Yeah or at least help me pick one out. I haven't worn a suit since my graduation. I have no idea how to pick out anything that fits with the occasion."

"I see... How much time do you have?"

"I'm picking her up at 7:00 pm. Will that be enough time?"

Rarity smirked.

"Plenty."
_________________

Shade was now fully ready to carry out his plans for the night. After constantly reminding Rarity not to go overboard with his request, Shade's suit was finished with time to spare.

It was a dark blue jacket over a white button-up shirt, touched off with a black tie and a blue lapel flower pinned to his right collar. It was a simple outfit, yet at the same time it bore elegance and class. The jacket also had thin silver lining on the inside, as well as along the outer edges of the collar. For Shade, it was perfect, just like he needed everything to be tonight.

Having the extra time, he chose to casually stroll towards Fluttershy cottage rather than teleport straight over. It gave him time to think of what he wanted to say to the mare he loved, and in all honesty, he didn't mind showing off his fresh new look a little bit. Ponyville was actually fairly active at the time. There was a bit of chatter going on, from what Shade could hear with his heightened senses. Something about a fast pegasus stopping a burning Ferris wheel at a carnival.

*Jet or Dash must've pulled some heroic stunt or something. Probably Jet while he was on patrol.*

Before he knew it, Shade arrived at his destination. He stood at Fluttershy's door for a good minute and a half before he worked up the nerve to knock. When he did, he anxiously waited.

"Coming..."

Shade heard Fluttershy's soft voice from the other side of the door. Soon it was opened and the two of them were face to face.

"Hello, Shade!"

Fluttershy managed to exclaim while at the same time maintaining her soft, whisper-like speech. She was wearing a mild dress, teal in color, with a small white butterfly in her mane. Her outfit was nowhere near as fancy as the one she wore to the gala, but it was enough to almost turn Shade's normal gray face to a bright red.

"Y-you look nice..."

Shade tried not to stammer.

*Keep it together you fool. You got this. Just play it cool.*

"Shall we get going?"

Fluttershy nodded, and the two of them headed off.
__________________

Shade and Fluttershy arrived at the restaurant on schedule. So far everything had gone according to Shade's plans, and he and Fluttershy had been having a very nice time. The food was the best cooking he'd had in his life, second only to his mother's. And the view was amazing. Shade had chosen their seats in an area outside and behind the restaurant, where a beautiful garden surrounded them and Luna's starry night sky draped over them, washing everything in the glow of the moonlight.

The conversation had been surprisingly lively. Fluttershy was only this sociable around her most closest of friends, and knowing he was included in that group warmed his heart and made him feel happy. The whole night he made sure to keep the focus of their conversation on Fluttershy, for two main reasons. For one thing, there wasn't much he could say about himself, as most of his life revolved around the secret taskforce he was a part of, and there were other details he simply didn't want to bring up. The second reason was that Shade was genuinely interested in hearing what Fluttershy had to say. He liked listening to her speak her mind. He could feel himself growing even closer to her. Of course, he would still answer any questions she asked about him as truthfully as he could. He hated lying, especially to Fluttershy, but TEK had to be kept secret. All in all, the two of them were really enjoying themselves.

"Oh, Shade this was wonderful! I'm having lots of fun right now! Thank you so much!"

Fluttershy softly exclaimed as she and Shade continued talking. Shade smiled warmly.

"No need to thank me. I'm just glad you're enjoying yourself."

"No, really Shade! Frankly I'm surprised you were even able to afford this place."

"I got a bonus at work. I don't get to see you as often anymore, so I figured I do something nice for you."

She thought he wouldn't notice, but Fluttershy slightly blushed at Shade's words.

*Aww yeah. Game too strong.*

Shade's thoughts were interrupted when their waiter arrived from inside the restaurant. He spoke to Shade holding a black checkbook in his hoof.

"Your bill, sir."

He left shortly after setting the bill down on the table in between Shade and Fluttershy. Fluttershy got to see the bill first, and her expression quickly changed.

"Oh... Shade, I didn't expect it to be so high..."

Shade quickly came to her rescue.

"Don't worry about it, I've got it covered."

Fluttershy perked up at Shade's offer.

"A-are you sure? I don't want to be a burden..."

"No, it's fine. I'll take care of it."

Fluttershy couldn't help feeling a bit confused. Shade was going through so much trouble for her, and she wasn't sure why he was showing such generosity that rivaled that of Rarity's. And Shade could tell from her expression that this was what was going through her mind, and he prepared himself to answer the question he knew would eventually come.

"...Why are you doing so much for me?"

Shade could feel his stomach drop. The moment he prepared for for so long was now here, and he was absolutely terrified.

*This is it, Shade... The point of no return...*

He briefly held onto the gift he'd been keeping in his suit's interior pocket, then he took a deep breath, and gave his answer.

"Because... there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. We've been friends for a long time, and I enjoy every moment we spend together. Seeing you happy makes me happy, and I've always wanted to repay how kind you've been to me."

Fluttershy's expression slowly grew more surprised the more Shade spoke. Taking another deep breath, he pulled out Fluttershy's gift and revealed the golden necklace, the pink diamond within the silver heart shimmering in the moonlight.

"I had gotten this for you..."

Fluttershy had no words. Her widening eyes and gaping mouth said enough. It was truly beautiful, and completely unexpected of Shade.

"...I love you, Fluttershy. I have since before I left town... And when I was stuck in the Everfree Forest, when I felt like giving up... the hope of seeing you again was what kept me going."

Tears were starting to form in Shade's eyes now, a moment of weakness he only allowed this one time. He was pouring his heart out, and Fluttershy almost couldn't bear it.

"...Shade..."

"Fluttershy... Will you... will you be my marefriend?"

A single tear had the audacity to streamline down Shade's cheek. Ponies around them were starting to stare at him now.

*...Curse you, emotional weakness...*

Fluttershy wasn't sure what to say. All of this was a bit sudden, though for a time, especially since Shade's return, she did have her suspicions.

"...I don't know what to say... I... I didn't think you'd ever ask..."

Her voice grew ever softer, and her face increasingly red by the millisecond. Shade paid attention to Fluttershy's words and confirmed one of his greatest fears.

"So... you knew, then..."

Fluttershy waited for what felt like an agonizingly long time before deciding to nod "yes."

"...I see..."

Shade wasn't sure how to read Fluttershy's current expression. No smile or frown to indicate yes or no. Just that same blank, shocked stare. He could hardly look at her anymore, turning his head away and covering his eyes, which were stinging from holding back tears.

"If that's not what you want, I won't be mad... I'll understand... Just... just know I'll always be your friend..."

Shade was almost about to lose it before he felt a warm hoof over his still free one. He risked looking back up, and was welcomed by Fluttershy's signature reassuring smile.

"Stop crying, silly. I can't be happy for you if you're not happy for me..."

Shade's demeanor quickly began to change. A sliver of hope was revived in him.

"So... you'll be my marefriend?"

Fluttershy gave him the same warm smile.

"...I think I'd like that."
> Enemy of Old
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shade didn't know what to make of this day. It had been about a month since he'd finally asked Fluttershy to be his marefriend, and today was their third date. However, Fluttershy also already had plans with the rest of her friends to go to some movie in Manehattan that Rarity picked out, one in particular that Shade found to be quite... agonizing. While he always enjoyed spending time with his friends, especially Fluttershy, he never could stand dramas.

"Oh Shade, it wasn't that bad. I think you're just overreacting."

"I dunno Twilight, I gotta agree with him. That movie was sooo... BOOORIIINNG."

"Now Rainbow Dash, just because you can't appreciate such an emotional masterpiece does not mean you have to act so childish. That's was very rude of you to fake-snore like that during the movie."

Rarity's scolding did somewhat amuse Shade. It was always funny to see when his friends argued over their likes and dislikes. They were such simple and trivial matters as opposed to the difficult decisions he often had to make as a member of TEK.

He walked beside Fluttershy as the group continued to travel around the city, going to different shops occasionally. While he wasn't exactly the "shopping type," Shade did enjoy spending time with his marefriend, even helping her pick out different items at times. Overall, he was having a nice day as long as he was with her. She also wore the diamond-heart necklace he had given her nearly a month ago.

Eventually, Rarity and the others went on their way back home, and Shade and Fluttershy stayed for a while more to spend more time together. They talked as they traveled down a sidewalk.

"So, have you been having fun today, Shy?"

"Yes, I've been having a nice time! I appreciate that you adjusted your plans for our date today and came with us to the movie, even if you didn't quite like it."

"Anything for you. As long as you're happy, I'm happy. Besides, I've endured worse."

Fluttershy giggled a bit as they continued down the sidewalk to nowhere in particular. While Shade was busy losing himself in Fluttershy's beautiful teal eyes, he accidentally bumped into another pony as they were walking.

"Ooh, I'm so sorry. Should've watched where I was go-"

Shade stopped mid-sentence as he got a better look at the stallion he collided with. Something about him was very familiar...

"Wait, do... do I know you?"

The stallion, still facing down at the ground, emitted a sinister chuckle.

"You should know me, newbie... after all, you are the one who ruined my life..."

Shade's eyes widened as the realization dawned on him. He knew that blue and yellow mane. Fluttershy, however, was naturally confused.

"...Shade? Is something wrong?"

"...Nova?"

The stallion looked up to reveal the face of Nova Orbit, Shade's old enemy from Canterlot's School for Gifted Unicorns.

"Hehe... so you do remember... I've waited to run into you again for a long time..."

Fluttershy was clearly getting worried.

"Um, Shade? What's going on?"

"I knew him... a long time ago. Nova, I just wanna say... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything that happened between us. I had problems then, and I'm sorry for what I did to you... and for getting you kicked out."

Nova laughed maniacally.

"'SORRY!' Oh, it's FAR too late for sorry... About five years too late... Now I'm gonna take everything away from you, just like YOU took everything away from ME!"

Shade started backing away slowly before taking a defensive pose, turning himself into a wall between the dangerously hostile Nova and the worrying and quivering Fluttershy. As much as Shade didn't want to fight, he had to be ready just in case.

"Nova, it doesn't have to be like this between us anymore. We can start things over... Talk things out, you know?"

Nova responded with another sinister, louder chuckle.

"I don't think so..."

Almost instantly, Nova started charging at Shade with his horn lowered and glowing with golden energy. Before he could attack, however, Shade thought quick and fired a warp beam at Nova, teleporting him far away enough so he could get Fluttershy safely back to the train station. She was already terrified enough as it was, and he feared for anything to ever happen to her.

Immediately he teleported himself and Fluttershy to the train station. He would have warped straight home, but the distance between Manehattan and Ponyville was simply too great. Shade could see that Fluttershy was feeling a mix of confusion and terror, and that her mind was filled was questions.

"...Shade, w-what just happened? Who was that? And... what exactly did you do to him?"

"I'll try to explain everything later. Everything should be fine now. I sent him across the other side of the city."

"You... What?"

"...I'll explain it all later."

Just then, Shade sensed a massive surge of energy in their area. He stopped and turned around to see a white and golden flash of light, and then Nova reappeared.

"Did you REALLY think putting a little distance between us would stop me?"

Shade's face was serious as opposed to the near look of insanity on Nova's. Fluttershy's own worries and confusions only intensified as she cowered behind Shade, her body shaking.

"I see you've picked up a few new tricks, Nova."

"Same to you. But you'll find mine are a bit more..."

Nova paused as he summoned multiple orbs of golden energy, circling around Shade and Fluttershy.

"...Lethal."

Everypony around the area at the train station gasped and exclaimed in a mass panic. Nova acted quick, but Shade thought quicker. Just when Nova hurled the orbs at his target, Shade created a portal beneath him, and he and Fluttershy escaped before the orbs collided in a massive explosion. Nova chuckled as the dust cleared away, revealing no trace of his enemy.

"Hehehehe.... Run, Shade, run... You have only prolonged the inevitable. You, and your little marefriend, will suffer..."
_______________

Shade warped himself and Fluttershy as far as he possibly could from Manehattan without putting too much mental strain on himself. They emerged from the portal in a large, hilly grassland area. A few miles to their left would be the train track heading from Manehattan back to Canterlot. Shade rose and helped Fluttershy to her hooves, then immediately began to think of how to get back home. Fluttershy was rather eager to get some answers.

"Um... Shade? Do you mind telling me what that was all about?"

Shade was dead silent for a good minute or two. He hung his head low before speaking, his tone grim and his voice faint.

"...His name is Nova Orbit. A long time ago, back when I left Ponyville, I eventually made it to Canterlot, where I enrolled in the School for Gifted Unicorns... Nova and I used to be in the same class."

"What happened between you two?"

Shade looked up to the sky, closing his eyes as memories of his rough history with Nova were recalled to his mind.

"Nova and I never quite got along... I'm still not sure why, but he would always pick on me and bully me..."

Fluttershy felt saddened from hearing Shade's tale. She could only imagine what he must have gone through.

"That's awful..."

"Yeah... At the time I was a bit... unstable, still dealing with the fresh mental scars my time in the Everfree left on me, and one day... I lost control of myself..."

Shade's head dropped back down, and for another short moment he was silent. He turned around to face Fluttershy, and she could see the pain in his eyes.

"I regret what happened between us. And it's because of me that he's dead set on revenge against me, and most likely, anypony close to me... I'm so sorry you got mixed up in all of this..."

Fluttershy gently hovered over to Shade and drew him in closely.

"I'm sure it wasn't your fault, Shade..."

As reassuring as Fluttershy's words were, deep down Shade knew that wasn't entirely true. Yes, he was a victim of Nova's constant bullying, but he had also retaliated and nearly killed Nova. Shade withdrew from Fluttershy's embrace and gave her a look of determination.

"As long as I live, I won't let anything happen to you. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."

"Um... speaking of... do you mind telling me how you did everything you did back there?"

Shade paused again, trying to find the right words that answered her question truthfully, while also not revealing too much. She already knew about his teleportation; he had showed her and the rest of his new friends when he first returned home. The warp beam and the portals, on the other hoof, were complete surprises.

"Let's just say... I have more tricks up my sleeve than I let on..."

It wasn't much of an answer, but there wasn't much else Shade could tell her, at least not now. He feared how all this secrecy would affect their relationship as time went on.

"So, um... how do we get home?"

"Well, we're pretty far from home, and I can only warp us so far... The best I can do is get us back to Manehattan, and from there we'll just have to bolt for the next train to Ponyville ASAP."

Shade could tell how much this concerned Fluttershy. He felt the same fear of going back, the fear that Nova could still be there, waiting.

"Shy... I'm gonna need you to trust me through this."

Hesitantly, Fluttershy nodded. Shade's horn glowed as he gathered his remaining power, and soon enough, there was a spark of energy before a blue, swirling portal opened in front of the two of them. The suddenness of it made the easily-startled Fluttershy jump. Shade outstretched his hoof to her to ease her nerves. Still hesitantly, she eventually took hold of it, and after both nodded, they entered the portal together.

They emerged directly at the train station, with no sign of Nova anywhere. As he planned, Shade wasted no time in arranging their departure, ignoring the mass attention they were drawing to themselves, and he and Fluttershy immediately rushed to board the train once the arrangements were made. They were safely on their way back to Ponyville.
_______________

Shade said nothing for the duration of the trip back home, which really concerned Fluttershy. He only sat in his seat silently, staring out the window into the sunset, alone in his mind with his own thoughts and fears.

When they reached home, Shade took Fluttershy home, thanked her for the time they spent together, and apologized again for the following chaos. He hugged her goodbye before ensuring she entered her cottage safely. When she closed the door behind her, he set up an alarm spell throughout the entire cottage, just to be safe. Then, he teleported home.

He arrived at his front door, and telekinetically opened the door as he slowly stepped inside. Jet was lying on the couch in the living room just in front of the doorway, reading a Daring Do book.

"Oh hey, Shade. How'd it go?"

Shade said nothing, hanging his head low as he shut the door behind him, still standing in the middle of the room. Jet put his book down and sat upright.

"Whoa... Dude, are you okay? What happened?"

"Well... everything was going fine... until Nova Orbit showed up..."

Jet didn't say anything. He was afraid this would eventually happen, especially since he was actually aware of Nova's return, and his plot for revenge.

"...So he's finally made his move..."

Shade looked up at Jet when he heard him.

"...You knew?"

Jet paused, sighed, and hesitantly nodded.

"...Yeah. Kae'lik and the others told me that Nova was the thief stealing all the ancient artifacts and texts a couple months back."

Shade's entire expression was filled with disbelief. He was feeling a mix of different emotions, cycling between confusion, anger, and fear.

"...Why didn't you tell me?"

"We... were afraid of how you'd react... I was afraid you would do something... reckless."

Shade didn't know what to say. He was completely at a loss for words, and felt a degree of betrayal.

"Jet..."

"...I mean the last time you saw him, you almost tried to-"

"I KNOW WHAT I DID!"

Shade stomped on the floor as he shouted in anger. He reeled back a bit from his outburst, looking back and forth between himself and Jet. He could feel himself hot with building rage, and he started to understand better why Jet was hesitant to tell him about Nova's return. He looked at where he stomped and saw that he actually cracked the floor.

"I... I know what I did..."

Shade closed his eyes as he sat down. He was fighting back tears and rage as his thoughts were racing at hypersonic speeds. It hurt Jet seeing Shade like this. He slowly got up off the couch and sat next to his friend.

"I regret what I did that day... what I almost did... It would have sent me father down a dark spiral I'm already dangerously close too..."

Jet remembered that day too. He could see himself trying to snap Shade out of his enraged state, unsure and afraid of what would happen next. He was brought back to reality by the sound of Shade sighing as he continued speaking.

"...But I can't change the past. All that's in my control is what happens now, and right now, the future of everypony I know and care about is in danger, because a crazed maniac with newfound power is out for revenge."

"We'll stop him, Shade... We've faced far worse than him, right?"

Shade gave no response, and for a while they both continued to sit silently. There was a lot on both of their minds, and neither knew what else to say. Then suddenly, Shade's eyes snapped open and he quickly rose to his hooves. Jet turned to look at him and saw there was
a deathly look of shock on his face and terror in his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"...The alarm spell's been triggered..."

"What?"

"When I took Fluttershy home I set an alarm spell around her cottage. I just felt a disturbance indicating something's very wrong..."

Immediately, Shade was gone in a flash of light. Jet wasted no time in bursting out the door, flying at sonic speeds to Fluttershy's cottage. No way was he going to let Shade handle this alone.
_____________________
Fluttershy's Cottage
_____________________

Fluttershy slowly backed into a corner in her living room, shaking with fear as Nova slowly crept his way towards her. He was flashing a sinister grin, his eyes filled with malicious intent.

"...Please... please don't hurt me....."

All her animals and critters had fled to various corners and crevices of the cottage in fear as well. Her bear had tried to come to her aid, but Nova telekinetically hurled it against the wall, and it now lay unconscious on the floor, broken furniture and decorations sprinkled around it. Before Nova took another step, there was a bright blue flash behind him, and a familiar voice yelled out to him.

"NOVA!"

Nova and Fluttershy looked to see Shade, stern-faced and eyes filled with determination and rage.

"Well you're just full of surprises, aren't you Shade? You got here a lot quicker than I'd expected."

"Nova, don't."

There was a bit of a standoff between the two stallions. Soon Jet came bursting through the front door, skidding to a halt. He quickly analyzed what was going on, and took his place beside Shade.

"Well isn't this just perfect... Now the gang's all here! Me, Shade, his little marefriend, and now his geeky best friend."

"Nova, this is between you and me. No-pony else has to get hurt."

Shade's building rage was evident in the death glare he was giving Nova, but his words were spoken as calmly as ever. But then again, there's always a calm before a coming storm.

"You know, there's about five different ways I could kill you and your pathetic friends right now, but that'd be too easy... No, I want to make you suffer, slowly, as I rip away everything you care about from your miserable life, and THEN, I'll rip THAT away too..."

Shade merely closed his eyes and sighed.

*Guess he wants to do this the hard way. Shame...*

"Jet, look after Fluttershy and help her clean up this mess."

And without another word, Shade opened a portal underneath Nova's hooves, which he then fell into. Then Shade charged in after him.
_________________

Nova tumbled out of the portal and into the middle of the grassland outskirts of town. The area was darkened from nightfall. Nova had just gotten to his hooves when Shade came rushing out of the portal and body slammed right into him, sending the two tumbling even further. Shade quickly got up while Nova was still recovering from the double impact.

"Gah... Well played, Shade... hehe, well played..."

"Listen here you miserable excuse for a stallion..."

Shade slowly walked over and stood tall above Nova.

"...You can come after me, hurt me, do whatever you want to me, I don't care. I've endured far worse than whatever tricks you could pull out. But leave my friends out of it."

Nova finally rose and stood, rivaling Shade in their continued standoff. He bared his teeth and went into an attack pose, Shade doing the same.

The next thing either of them knew, they were charging at each other full throttle. Nova leaped into the air and unleashed a barrage of homing lasers, which spread out in different directions at first but all converged on one point: their target, Shade. The force of the blasts kept Nova in midair as he continued firing. Shade halted his run, digging his hooves into the ground before forming a blue, spherical barrier to shield himself against the golden arrows of energy.

Nova landed with a grunt, and lifted Shade upwards with his telekinesis. Shade's shield shattered as Nova slammed him into the ground, crashing Shade hard on his stomach. He rose with a great deal of pain, but stood as if he felt nothing at all. Pure rage overpowered his feelings of physical injury.

Nova summoned his multiple energy orbs again, encircling Shade in a slowly spinning ring of the volatile spheres. Nova figured he had Shade trapped.

He'd obviously forgotten Shade can teleport.

Shade waited until Nova commanded the orbs to hurl towards their target and explode before he disappeared in a bright blue flash, appearing next to him and delivering a powerful kick to his side. Nova yelled as he was sent flying and skidding across the ground. Nova winced as he glared at Shade, who was giving a similar glare as he breathed heavily.

"Stay... Down..."

Nova refused, rising with an evident amount of difficulty. Soon he was charging at Shade again. Shade stood still and launched a telekinetic pulse wave, but Nova avoided the attack by teleporting into the air above Shade. Nova then grabbed him with his telekinesis, pulled him off the ground, and hurled him around himself as he spun in the air, throwing him forward.

Shade landed with a hard crash on the ground bouncing once before rolling across the grass a short distance. Nova slowly approached Shade, standing over him with a gloating grin.

But Shade wasn't done just yet.

Shade pulled one last trick by shining his light spell, blinding Nova momentarily. He used this small window to rise and hit Nova with another pulse wave, once again sending him flying back, tearing up grass with a rough skid across the ground. Shade wanted to hold him down with his telekinesis so he wouldn't start fighting again, but he was afraid he wouldn't let him go and do what he almost did a long time ago. So Shade only ordered him not to get back up.

"Stay. Down."

The burning rage and frustration that Shade's voice carried would've made anypony in their right mind carefully reconsider their current course of action. Nova obviously wasn't in his right mind. He rose to his hooves, grunted and winced from the pain, and stared Shade in the eyes defiantly.

"Never! I won't stop until you've lost everything like I did, when you ruined my life!"

Shade's irritation only continued to rise, along with his voice.

"WHAT THE HECK DID I DO TO RUIN YOUR LIFE? WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH?"

"YOU got me expelled from the most prestigious school in Canterlot! Do you have any idea what kind of humiliation I faced? My own FAMILY kicked me out of the house. I couldn't stay in Canterlot, so I moved to Manehattan with the money I had left, got a crappy apartment, and struggled to survive."

Shade was once again conflicted in his emotions. As much as he wanted to impale Nova right now, it was kinda sad hearing about the turn his life had taken since his expulsion. Still, there remained the fact that Nova didn't view himself responsible for any of it.

"You can't seriously blame ME for all of that. You got expelled because you tormented me for months. Did you really think you'd get away with that kind of behavior in that high-class of a school?"

"It doesn't matter anymore... All I knew was that I had to settle the score... One day, Shade, you will pay."

"So this is what you want? Just continue this pointless fighting until only one of us is standing?"

Nova flashed his villainous smirk, shaking his head and chuckling.

"All in due time... You'll continue breathing for now, but you'll be seeing much, much more of me..."

Nova backed away casually, though still wincing from pain, as golden energy started surrounding him, kicking up a small windstorm on the ground below.

"Until next time, Shade Vortex..."

And in a final flash of golden light, Nova was gone.

Shade was alone in the darkness. With his rage fully reaching its apex, Shade let everything out as he yelled at the top of his lungs into the nothingness around him, firing a massive blast of energy and scorching the earth in a blaze of azure fury. When he was done, he was breathing heavily and rapidly, his body aching and beads of sweat trickling down his face. He could think only of how much he wanted to hurt Nova, how angry he was that he could never seem to catch a break, and how afraid he was of the danger Fluttershy and everypony else was in now.

*Fluttershy...*

The realization quickly came to Shade. He needed to go back and make sure everything was alright. But he couldn't go back in the state he was in now, he still needed time to get his emotions together. So Shade sat alone on the grass as he attempted to clear his mind and calm his nerves. He decided he would check on Fluttershy as soon as he was ready to.
__________________

When Shade returned to Fluttershy's home through another portal, the scene was a bit different than when he left. For one, the broken furniture and decorations had been cleaned up, making that particular area of the living room seem a little empty. The second thing was that Fluttershy was absent. Jet was the only one present, and he was lying next to Fluttershy's bear, gently rubbing it's back. Both looked tired. When Jet saw him, he immediately noticed Shade was in pain.

"You're back... I was getting worried for a second there..."

"Where's Fluttershy?"

"She went to bed not too long ago. She's had quite a day. I stayed to make sure everything was okay, and in the meantime I tended to this big guy over here."

"I see... So everything's taken care of for now."

"Yeah... You look really hurt, bro... You okay?"


"Never."

"...And Nova?"

"He's gone for now... He told me I'd be seeing a lot more of him before he teleported away..."

Jet only nodded. He was glad to know both of them were still alive.

"I just can't believe all of this happened... It was such a good day at first..."

"That's how days like this usually start off. But hey, you can't blame yourself for what happened today."

Shade weakly chuckled.

"Fluttershy said the same thing..."

Jet stood and made his way over to Shade. He laid a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.

"She's right."

Jet walked past Shade and towards the front door. He opened it and stopped in the doorway, turning to Shade.

"You coming home?"

"I think I'll stay... Make sure everything stays alright."

"Alright then. See you tomorrow."

"...Jet, wait."

Jet stopped again, raising an eyebrow at Shade.

"...Who found out Nova was the thief?"

"Kae'lik, Judy, Zecora, and Bulk."

"Thanks. I'll have to ask them some questions later."

Jet nodded, then walked out and closed the door behind him. Shade was again alone, besides the bear of course. He took Jet's place beside it and resumed its back rub. Some time had passed before his heightened hearing heard faint hoofsteps upstairs.

*So she's still up...*

In time Fluttershy made her way downstairs. She was wearing a cyan robe and looked tired as well.

"...Hi..."

"Hey, Shy... You alright?"

"I'm okay... thanks to you..."

She came and sat beside him. Shade soon found it difficult to speak.

"I'm so sorry Fluttershy... I'm sorry I put you through all of this..."

Fluttershy put her foreleg around Shade.

"It's not your fault, Shade. Stop blaming yourself..."

Shade thought he had gotten all the emotions out of him earlier. His stinging eyes and the single tear trailing down his cheek said otherwise.

"...After all, we still had a nice time today, didn't we?"

Shade nodded, a smile fighting its way through his inner turmoil.

"Yeah... we did, didn't we?"

They sat smiling at each other, almost losing themselves in each other's eyes. But Shade's smile slowly faded away, and he turned away and resumed staring at the floor.

"Still... I'm... I'm worried, Shy... I really am..."

Once again, she drew him in close to her, hugging him gently.

"Everything will be okay..."

Surprisingly, her soft voice and warm embrace succeeded in calming him down a bit, even if just by a little. Shade let out a big sigh as he rested his head on her shoulder, and the gloriously comfy robe she was wearing.

"I hope so..."
_________________

TEK sat idly in their base as they awaited their next assignment. Mornings were always slow, but never this slow. Jet and Shade had informed them they had something for them to do, but they were beginning to wonder if there were any assignments at all. Jet and Shade weren't even there yet.

"Are they even coming? I mean we're just sitting here doing nothing."

Kae'lik just shrugged at Vinyl. Ditzy and Judy had busied themselves baking muffins in the kitchen, Zecora was reading, and Bulk was lifting weights as usual. Then, everyone's ears snapped when they heard the upstairs door open and hoofsteps following afterwards. Jet and Shade entered the base and everyone crowded into the central area to receive their assignment.

"There you guys are! So what's today's mission?"

Judy and everyone else eagerly awaited their answer.

"We have something for you guys to do, but it's not a mission."

All of TEK gave Jet a puzzled look. Jet stepped back while Shade stepped forward.

"So it has been brought to my attention that you discovered the identity of the thief a few months back..."

Suddenly, TEK's eagerness was replaced with a feeling of fear, and their perked ears flopped down. Judy gulped.

"...Now... tell me everything you know about Nova Orbit..."
> Cold
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shade practically interrogated the TEK members that had encountered Nova. He left no stone unturned in learning everything regarding the situation.

He learned the nature of the texts and artifacts Nova was stealing, and although all the stolen items were recovered, Nova had clearly gotten everything he needed from them based on what Shade saw he was now capable of. Shade also learned that Jet had in fact informed Princess Celestia of Nova's return, and that they currently had teams of guards searching for him. He's clearly been alluding them.

Knowing that not only his team, but also Celestia was keeping such a major secret from him was really getting to Shade, along with fears of what other tricks Nova might still be hiding up his sleeve. It seemed as though Shade could explode at any moment from the great deal of stress and anxiety currently weighing upon him, and everypony could sense it. Nevertheless, Shade was strongly convinced he needed to be a part of the search for Nova before he could finish whatever he was planning.

Much to Shade's disliking, however, his desire would have to wait, as Celestia had assigned him and other TEK members on a mission to Equestria's mountain range in the Frozen North.

The harsh air whipped all around the heavily-layered TEK members. The Frozen North of Equestria was a cruel and merciless place where only the toughest of creatures could survive, and anypony who wished to travel through it needed to be just as tough.

Thousands of miles above sea level, TEK struggled to force their way through the thick blizzard that they'd found themselves stuck in. Jet, who was leading the way, looked behind himself to the three ponies, zebra, and Changeling trailing him.

Shade didn't seem to be having too much of a problem toughing through the snow. Although his mind was troubled, physically he was A-OK. Only his horn was visible through his thick coat, scarf, goggles, snow boots, and snow pants.

Zecora, assigned the role of navigator, was a relatively strong zebra, moderately clad and trudging through the deep snow like it was a stroll in the park.

Ditzy wasn't initially assigned, but had insisted on joining. She was starting to regret that decision, however, as she was having a very difficult time. Ditzy wasn't weak, but the intense, freezing winds worsened her already unstable balance into a wobbly mess.

Then there was Bulk, who only wore goggles, a winter cap, and a sweat jacket, his thick muscle keeping his body heat insulated at a comfortable temperature. He laughed at the so-called cold his teammates struggled to endure.

Kae'lik was at the back of the party. Although he didn't appear to be having a hard time exactly, he did seem a bit… off.

Jet sighed to himself.

*Better find some shelter. This storm is gonna get even worse and we won't last much longer out here. Except maybe Bulk.*

He focused his gaze, peering far into the blizzard. In the distance he could make out a small dot. Using his pegasus magic he briefly cleared the view with a swift air current, allowing him to see that it was a cave opening. A few minutes later, TEK reached the cave and set up camp inside. Shade had started a fire from some wood he'd stored in his saddlebag and a small energy blast. He certainly came on this mission prepared.

Ditzy was the first to finish removing her gear.

"Gah... That coat gets really heavy after a while... I felt like I was gonna fall over the whole time."

"AAAACHOO!"

Everyone suddenly stopped and looked to Kae'lik, who smiled sheepishly. Jet raised a curious eyebrow.

"Kae'lik... did you just sneeze?"

Kae'lik spoke in sniffles.

"Hehe, yeah... Changelings don't really do too well in the cold... ahh.. ahhh.. AAACHOOO!"

Shade shook his head.

"Why didn't you tell us this before we brought you along? Celestia would've let you stay behind."

Kae'lik shugged.

"I wanted to come along. I knew that if I told you, you would have made me stay back at base, and I'm tired of staying there all the time."

TEK eyed Kae'lik curiously.

"...N-not that there's anything wrong with Vinyl's basement, it just gets boring after a while."

"...Uh-huh. Well hopefully our coming out here will be worth your little 'sniffles.'"

Jet nodded with a chuckle.

"It will be Shade, once we get what we came for. Zecora, care to explain once again?"

Zecora nodded.

"In these mountains grow a rare plant, and pass up this opportunity, we simply can't. It only blooms once a year, and it is so rare it can only be found here. If picked at the right time, It can be used for the good of all ponykind. Its number of uses is endless... This plant is truly stupendous!"

Jet chimed back in.

"The 'Cabracia,' as its called, can be used to cure tons of diseases. Its practically a wonder-plant. Unfortunately, like Zecora said, it only blooms once a year, and only in these mountains. And because these mountains are so hard to get through, it hasn't been picked in quite a while. We're hoping to get a nice harvest this year."

Ditzy cheered happily.

"Cool! Do you know where it is?"

After fully removing his gear, Shade stepped up again.

"Very little is known about these ridiculous mountains. But with Zecora's help, we've made a map of the general area where it's said to grow. Once we got it, I'll portal us as far as I can. Hopefully that'll be near the train station back to Canterlot or something."

Ditzy seemed like she understood the situation. She got up and looked out the cave entrance and into the storm. She could barely see anything anymore.

"Whoa, its getting pretty bad out there... Good call bringing us in here, Jet."

"Yeah, I'm not sure *sniff* how much more I could have taken *sniff.*"

Jet took off his saddle bags and rolled out the few sleeping bags he had. Bulk had carried the rest on his back.

"Alright team, let's call it a night. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow and we gotta cover a lot of ground if we want to reach the Cabracia."

And with that, everyone tucked in their sleeping bags and eventually went to sleep around the fire. 
_________________
Midnight
_________________

"GAH!"

In one frightened jolt, Ditzy had gone from sleeping comfortably in her sleeping bag to sitting up straight as an arrow.

*Stupid nightmares...*

Looking around she saw all of her teammates fast asleep except for Jet, who was now awake.

"Hey... is everything okay, Ditz? I heard you scream..."

Jet's manner and voice were both groggy and begging for more sleep. Ditzy raised her hooves up.

"No no, everything's fine... It was just a nightmare..."

Ditzy looked deep into the cave. TEK was stationed close to the entrance of the cave, and everything beyond the reach of the fire's azure light was unknown. When they first reached the cave Jet flew deeper into it, and returned claiming it was safe and that the cave was empty.

"You said this cave was empty right?"

Jet weakly nodded.

"Yeah, I didn't see anything... *Yawn* It's just a dead end..."

Ditzy nodded.

"Okay... I guess I'll go explore for a little while I'm up. Now go back to bed, sleepy head."

Ditzy giggled as Jet simply fell back down onto his sleeping bag pillow.

"You don't have to tell me twice... Just be careful..."

And with another yawn he was out cold like the others.

Ditzy grabbed a nearby stick and stuck one end in the now weakening fire. Once it caught the flames and began to burn with a blue light, she held it in her right wing and began her journey deeper into the cave.

She walked down the large tunnel that was comprised mostly of rock, covered with a only a few sheets of ice in some areas. The wall was rough and rugged, even sharp in some places. After walking for about three minutes she entered a larger cavern. It was dome-shaped and at the top were stalactites, some at least a meter long. The flame's light reflected wonderfully off of the ice-covered spires, lighting up the entire cavern.

"Whooooaaaa, this is amazing! Wait... Huh? What's this?"

Ditzy got closer to a portion of a wall. In a cave made of almost pure, slightly frosted stone, a wall of solid ice seemed odd. Placing her hoof on the cool surface sent a chill throughout her body.

"What is this doing here? How did an ice wall even form?"

Suddenly Ditzy heard a loud crack.

"What-"

The ice wall shattered and sent Ditzy crashing through the other side. She hit the cold, hard ground with a thump, dropping her torch.

"...Owww..."

Getting up and inspecting her surroundings, Ditzy discovered that it was just another smaller cavern. Unlike the larger cavern, however, this one was completely covered in...

"Snow? Why is this entire room covered in snow?"

Looking down in front of herself she saw that the torch's blue flame had extinguished in the snow. Further up ahead she saw something else strange.

"What's this ball thing?"

Sitting on the ground wedged - almost intentionally, it seemed - in the snow was a small, glistening orb of ice. Ditzy reached forward and tugged it out of the snow, almost dropping it.

"Whoops! It's kinda slippery, hehe..."

Upon closer inspection, Ditzy saw that its surface was rough with many edges, as well as tiny holes all around it. Its shape was a rough oval, rather than a smooth orb, almost like a hoofball or an egg made of crystalline ice. The easily-amused mare smiled at the strange object.

"This is cool! I'll keep it as a souvenir!"

She then placed it under her wing and headed back to camp.

Meanwhile the snow the "orb" was nestled in began to stir…..
_______________

"C'mooonnn Jet, can we take a break now?"

Jet raised an eyebrow at Ditzy.

"But we've only been walking for ten minutes."

"But I'm so tired... Cut me some slack."

Jet sighed.

"Sorry, but we need to cover more ground if we wanna get to the Cabracia on schedule. Besides, it's a nice day. We don't even have to wear our goggles."

It was true. The sun was shining through the clouds and the wind speeds were low. Perfect conditions for mountain climbing.

"Okay....."

Jet smiled and continued to lead the team up the mountain, until suddenly he heard Shade's voice.

"...Jet."

Jet turned back around to his friend, who displayed a serious expression. The look on Shade's face immediately told Jet something was wrong.

"Yeah?"

Shade paused, and looked around the area.

"...We're surrounded."

Jet's eyes narrowed.

"What is it?"

Shade waited a little while longer, still looking around before he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I have no idea. Never felt this kind of presence before. It doesn't even feel... alive."

Jet concentrated and listened closely to the wind in his ears, faintly picking up specific sound waves in the air.

"Yeah... I hear them... About ten of them; I can tell from the heartbeats, if they even are heartbeats..."

Shade nodded. The rest of TEK was busy trembling in suspenseful fear.

"Yeah... The air is resonating with their magical energy."

Jet took a deep breath.

"Anything could pop out. You ready?"

"Yeah. They're moving in closer now... If we're gonna do something we better do it now. Want me to teleport us outta here?"

"Let's hope that won't be needed. We'll see what they are and what they want first. They might be peaceful..."

TEK waited anxiously, anticipating any signs of something approaching or other sudden movements. Suddenly the snow in front of them exploded, clouds of white kicking up into the sky and raining down around them. Shielding their eyes from the chaotic flurries, TEK heard a deep, powerful growl of the most terrifying nature.

"...OR NOT!"

In front of Jet and the others was a roughly two-and-a-half-meter tall, hairy beast. Its pure white fur blended in perfectly with the white snow, and was so dense that it concealed any discernible features. Not even its legs or face. Its arms, however, were large and raised high into the air with clenched fists, ready to be slam down with great force.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!"

Zecora, Bulk, Vinyl, Kae'lik, and Ditzy did as Shade commanded and dropped down onto the snow-covered ground.

Suddenly, nine more of the hairy beasts exploded out of the snow, completely surrounding TEK. Deafening roars and growls filled the air.

Shade formed a barrier shield around them just in time as the first beast's meter-long arm slammed down. The force of the impact made Shade flinch.

"Gah! These things pack a punch! What are these things?"

Jet looked closely and then back to Shade and the rest of TEK, most of which was still laying on the ground in fear.

"They look like Abominable Snow, but that can't be possible... They where said to have gone extinct hundreds of years ago!"

Shade flinched again from another impact.

"Apparently not- GAH! These things are so strong! My shield won't last much longer!"

Jet took another deep breath and flared out his wings in pre-flap position.

Shade knew what was going on. He'd seen this before.

*...He's charging power...*

After about three seconds, Jet's wings started to glow a faint blue. Looking to Shade, Jet gave him the signal.

"Lower the shield."

Hesitantly, Shade lowered the shield, but only for a moment as he reformed it around everyone except Jet.

As soon as he was exposed, Jet raised his wings and flapped down as hard as he could. The force of the massive amount of energy being released through a powerful air gust sent a large boom throughout the mountain. The shock wave proved to be too strong for the Abominable Snow monsters, sending all of them flying at least five meters away, crashing down onto the snowy ground away from TEK. The snow beneath where they landed was sent flying in great quantities into the air, creating a misty cloud and giving TEK a nice snow cloak for a clean get away.

Shade once again lowered the shield and TEK retreated. Once a safe distance away, TEK stopped to catch their breath under the shelter of a large flat rock protruding from the mountainside that made a makeshift cave. Shade looked to Jet in exhausted confusion.

"What was that all about? Why'd they attack us like that?"

Jet rubbed his chin.

"I don't know... History describes them as very docile and even gentle creatures. There are no reports of them ever attacking ponies..."

Vinyl looked up from catching her breath, still panting and wheezing from the intense retreat.

"Perhaps the cave we slept in last night was enough to make their anger ignite. Maybe we were intruding in their land, and that's what caused hostility so grand."

"AH-CHOO!!! *sniff* Yeah, I think Zecora's right. Most animals are aggressive when they find intruders in their territory."

Jet still thought about it though. Something wasn't quite adding up.

"I'm not sure that was the reason... If it was, why would they wait until we left the cave, instead of ambushing us as soon as we entered? Nothing's really making sense here..."

Shade decided to share his own thoughts on the matter.

"Yes but the cave..."

And as the rest of TEK grouped up, discussing what could have happened, Ditzy sat alone in the back, thinking to herself.

*Could it be that weird thing I grabbed last night?*

Opening her bag she saw the oval of ice was still there.

*No, it can't be. Why would they even care about this thing?*

"Ditz?"

Ditzy snapped out of her concentration and looked up at Jet.

"Is everything okay? You spaced out for a second there."

Ditzy nervously smiled.

"Yeah yeah, everything's fine, nothing weird going on here. What's in my bag? Oh nothing, just some mountain supplies. What were you implying? I'm not acting strange, you are!"

TEK just stared at her before Jet just slowly nodded his head.

"Yeeaaaaah right, okay. Let's get a move on everyone. We still have a mission to do."

There were a few groans but they did as they were told. As they continued up the mountain, reaching a large plateau, the weather turned for the worst. The snowstorm from the night before had returned with a vengeance.

"JET!!!"

Shade called out to his leader, whom he could barely see through the raging snowstorm. TEK would have brought their multi-vision glasses, but they weren't designed for this kind of intense weather.

"IT'S TOO BAD OUT HERE! WE GOTTA STOP!"

Jet looked back at his team through his frost covered goggles.

*He's right... I shouldn't have made us go this far... This snow storm is so thick even MY eyes are having trouble.*

Turning around, Jet could just make out Shade struggling behind him.

"CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING WE CAN USE FOR SHELTER?"

Shade squinted as he scanned the area for a while. Suddenly his eyes widened in horror when he sensed something wrong.

"JET! WATCH OUT!"

Just then, the snow in front of Shade exploded just like before, this time separating Jet from the rest of the team.

Before Shade could even react, a giant, white, and hairy arm slammed into Shade from his right, knocking the wind out of him.

"UUUWAAAGH!!!!"

Shade was sent flying several meters away, far out of eyesight in the intense snowstorm. The Abominable Snow roared ferociously.

Suddenly snow all around TEK was exploding, revealing the ten huge and hairy beasts.

Jet instantly got serious.

*This is bad... This is very bad...*

They were surrounded. Jet alone was surrounded by five of the beasts, and they were constantly roaring and growling at him. All Jet could do was prepare for an attack.

Bulk, Zecora, Kae'lik, and Ditzy were surrounded by the rest of the Abominable Snow, but they seemed to be specifically focusing on Ditzy.

*What's going on? We have to be out of their territory by now... Why are they still chasing us? Does it have something to do with Ditz?*

Suddenly it dawned on him. He remembered the only reason an Abominable Snow would act so aggressively, and Ditzy's strange behavior earlier.

"DITZ! GIVE THEM THE-"

Jet was unable to finish before a giant limb the size of his entire body slammed down. He just barely managed to dodge, but the force of the arm sent a wall of snow shooting up on both sides of the limb.

The wall of snow forced Jet back, but then suddenly his hoof slipped on slippery ice. He placed his back left hoof further back to find some suitable ground, but instead found empty space. Instantly Jet's pupils shrank to the size of pin tips.

He tried to lean forward and pull himself back up but it was too late, and he found himself falling back off the ledge leading to the giant abyss below. Immediately he tried to open his wings and fly back to the plateau... except he had covered them up under his coat when the cold weather turned extreme.

*So… this is how it ends, huh?*

Finally, Jet began free-falling to his doom... until something suddenly grabbed him by the back of his coat collar.

Jet looked up and saw one of the Abominable Snow holding onto him. The only thing keeping Jet alive was this creature's grasp on him. Looking down all he saw was seemingly endless darkness, with no bottom in sight. As grateful as Jet was, he was also very confused.

Meanwhile, the rest of TEK stood in complete shock. Although Jet was alive in reality, from TEK's perspective he had slipped off the cliff and fell to his end. It didn't help that the Abominable Snow that had actually saved him was blocking all view of Jet.

Bulk and Kae'lik hung their heads down, Zecora's expression was that of pure shock, and Ditzy was completely devastated.

"No… No way… Jet… Th-this can't be happening..."

All of this was her fault, she was sure of it, and it was then she truly regretted her insisting on coming along on this mission.

Zecora looked to the team, and then back to the five enclosing Abominable Snow. As hurt and afraid as she was, she knew that Jet had told her that if anything ever happened to both him and Shade, she was the next one in charge. Jet had given her a command to protect TEK, and that's what she planned on doing now.

Zecora turned to her team and saw that they were broken. With both of their leaders gone, they were like sheep without a shepherd, and if they didn't do something soon, they would all end up like chopped lamb.

"Do not give up hope now, learn why our escape they cannot allow! Jet and Shade gave us a mission, and we will complete with or without these creatures' permission! Stand up and fight, and let your courage take flight!"

Zecora's speech seemed to motivate the remaining TEK members enough to enable them to face the present situation.

Kae'lik rose out of his gloom and readied himself.

"There's no way we can take on so many of these creatures, *sniff* but I know that they wouldn't keep attacking us for no reason. There must be *sniff* something they want from us."

All of a sudden an Abominable Snow was standing right above Ditzy, its fist raised and ready to strike. She could do nothing but be terrified as the giant fist came closer and closer.

Ditzy closed her eyes and clenched her teeth before she heard a loud boom and then a few loud growls. Opening her eyes she found Bulk's bulky figure in front of her. Amazingly he had caught and stopped the giant fist with his rippling, muscular biceps.

"B-Bulk…"

"YEAAHH!!!"

Bulk's coat was beginning to tear from the pressure as he grappled with the Abominable Snow, and he was clearly having trouble keeping it in check.

The other Abominable Snow nearby growled furiously, and before Bulk knew it, a giant fist crashed into his left side, echoing with another small boom, but like a boss Bulk still stood tall. In fact, it seemed to make him angrier.

In a swift movement Bulk swung the giant fist, and the entire Abominable Snow, to his left, slamming it into the one that had hit him. The two crashed into each other and fell to the ground in a mass of growls and hair.

Kae'lik, Ditzy, and Zecora were impressed.

"YEAH!"

"WAY TO GO BULK!"

"EXCELLENT WORK!"

Bulk gave a mighty "YEAAHH," but quickly backed up as the other three Abominable Snow surrounding them began moving in on him, more ferocious then ever.

By now, however, Kae'lik had finally built up enough energy to pull off a new technique he had been training to develop. There was a bright flash of green flames, and as they dissipated they revealed Kae'lik in the form of a dark gray, rocky carnivore.

"Stone Wolf..."

Ditzy whispered as she and Zecora witnessed the now Stone Wolf version of Kae'lik jump forward, snarling and growling with his ears pointed back. He was only half the size of the wolves Jet and Shade faced months ago, clocking in at about a meter in height and a meter and a half in length. Kae'lik's transformation seemed to make the Abominable Snow withdraw slightly. Two of the other Abominable Snow from over where Jet had been saw the commotion and came over. Now TEK had seven beasts to deal with.

There was now a standoff between a flexing Bulk, a snarling Stone Wolf, and seven outraged Abominable Snow. The cold air and blizzard was filled with growls and roars.

While the standoff continued, Zecora and Ditzy stayed back. Both were watching, wondering what would happen next.
______________

Back at the cliff, Jet, who was still being held up by one of the Abominable Snow, could hear all the crazy growls and other animalistic noises.

*What the heck is going on up there? I've been screaming to them this entire time. I guess this storm is blocking out my voice. Those loud growls aren't helping either. I sure hope they know what they're doing...*
______________

"We have no idea what we're doing…"

Ditzy admitted as TEK had backed up so far that they were now backed up against the side of the mountain. With nowhere left to go, all the two mares could do was watch as Kae'lik decided to make the first move. The false Stone Wolf pounced up… only to be slammed back down with incredible force by one of the Abominable Snow who suddenly appeared. A dog-like yelp escaped Kae'lik's mouth.

Bulk tried to jump in and help but suddenly two Abominable Snow jumped him, blocking him from helping his friend. Bulk took a swing at the closest Abominable Snow, landing a solid hit in its gut, but it wasn't very effective. The second one punched him in the back, forcing him to the ground.

Another one raised its arm to slam down on Kae'lik again before a transparent blue wall appeared out of thin air, making the incoming fist bounce off and forcing the Abominable Snow back.

"ENOUGH!!!"

All sounds ceased. The very howls of the intense wind seemed to quiet themselves in fear. The entire storm was blocked out, and looking up, TEK could see a giant blue dome surrounding the entire plateau.

The air became calm and clear, revealing Shade approaching from the left. Zecora and Ditzy were filled with newfound hope and started cheering, glad to see Shade still alive.

Shade, however, was in no mood for such joyful celebration, his face full of anger. His head was pounding, his body half-covered in snow and scrapes.

His horn was glowing intensely as the wall he had created to protect Kae'lik began to shift around the seven Abominable Snow that were around TEK. He caged them together, and despite them constantly hitting his force field, Shade's intense focus kept them in check.

Shade looked back to TEK, who was all huddled together in fear, but Shade didn't see Jet. Looking around, he didn't see Jet anywhere.

"...Where's Jet?"

TEK all looked down in sadness. None of them knew how to break the news to Shade. Shade was confused until finally, Zecora pointed to the cliff a few meters away, where three Abominable Snow still stood huddled together. Shade stood still for a moment, until the realization dawned on him.

"WHAT!?"

Jet heard the enraged voice of his friend echo through the sky. He wanted to say something, now that he could tell the storm had died down somehow, but being held by only his coat collar was beginning to take its effect, and his collar was starting to choke him and make it difficult to breathe, let alone speak.

Back on the plateau, TEK watched in agony as Shade began falling apart. He dropped to his knees, his eyes shut tightly as they stung from hot tears of pain. His teeth clenched and he slammed a hoof down on the cold ground.

Watching Shade only added to TEK's grief and soon they too gave way to tears. Suddenly, they heard Shade's somber voice.

"...Continue up the mountain. Finish the mission..."

Ditzy looked to Shade with increasing worry.

"But, Shade... What about you?"

"Go... Leave, now."

Ditzy and the others hesitated, but reluctantly began continuing up the path leading further up the mountain. Kae'lik reverted to his normal self and he and Bulk got up to leave as well.

Shade sat alone in the snow, completely still and silent. The Abominable Snow watched him curiously as he appeared to be doing nothing. The barrier around them was beginning to weaken as well. The gray unicorn seemed to have given up completely.

But in actuality, Shade was diverting his power and focus from the barrier to plan something else...
______________

While TEK slowly made their way up the mountain, they kept thinking about the strangeness of the Abominable Snow's actions so far.

"I still don't understand... Why did they follow us again? What is it they want from us?"

Zecora didn't have an answer for Kae'lik, for she had her own questions. For instance, she found it curious that three of the creatures had remained by the cliff away from everyone else. Two of the Abominable Snow were blocking all view from the third, who didn't appear to be doing anything at all. Its "face" - you couldn't really see it but could tell its head was turned - had been focused on what was going on, however, like it was waiting for something to happen.

*Was he waiting for us to surrender, or for something else we need to render? There must be a reason they target us specifically, for they are not attacking critically...*

As they continued moving, Ditzy's mind grew increasingly troubled. She couldn't stop thinking about Jet, still struggling to believe he was gone, and seeing Shade's pained reaction only made her feel worse.

*...This is all my fault...*

Ditzy stopped walking and looked at her bag. She opened it and pulled out the glistening orb of ice, still trying to piece together why the beasts would want it so bad.

Then finally, the realization hit her like a train.

*...It's an egg...*

TEK realized she had not been following and stopped to turn and look to her. She was holding a strange object tightly, facing behind her to where they had left Shade and the Abominable Snow behind.

She knew what she had to do.

"Ditzy no! What're you doing!?"

Kae'lik yelled after Ditzy as she bolted back the way they came.

"Giving them what they want!"

TEK looked at each other and then quickly hurried after the fleeing mare.

Rounding a few corners along the mountain path, Ditzy made her way back to the scene of confrontation. She was not expecting what she ended up discovering.

The atmosphere had changed drastically as Shade's entire body began to emanate with a faint but sinister aura. Small electrical charges could be seen flashing in and out around his horn, and his blue eyes were glowing, filled with streaming tears and a burning rage.

Ditzy wasn't sure exactly what Shade was planning, but she knew it could hardly be anything good. She had to act quickly, so she sprinted over to the trapped and now huddled Abominable Snow.

When Ditzy was about a meter from the beasts, she skidded to a halt and took notice of the barrier. It was flickering weakly and looked like it could be easily shattered. Ditzy turned herself around and delivered a strong bucking kick against the shield as hard as she could. Her hind legs broke through with one forceful strike, sending glass-like shards of energy flying and fading away, as well as setting the creatures free. She turned around and pulled out of her bag the ice egg she found in the cave the night before. The Abominable Snow watched the mare carefully as Ditzy gently handed the egg over to them, and backed away slightly.

"DITZY, GET AWAY!"

Ditzy turned back to see that Shade now had his horn aimed directly at the beasts, with a deadly-looking orb of azure energy charging up at the tip. His shrunken pupils and clenched teeth conveyed all of his intense feelings of pain and hatred, and he was clearly intending to act on them.

"Shade stop! You don't have to hurt them! They only wanted their egg back that I took from them... there's no need to keep fighting!"

By now the others had finally caught up to Ditzy to witness the chaos she had just gotten herself right in the middle of, and they watched in horror, paralyzed with fear.

"THEY KILLED JET! THEY KILLED MY BEST FRIEND, AND I'M GOING TO MAKE THEM PAY!"

"Jet wouldn't want this, Shade! Please stop!"

"MOVE, DITZY. NOW."

Ditzy, terrified as she was, stood her ground. Her own pain swelled up within her, tears returning to her eyes.

At the same time, the Abominable Snow who were near the edge saw that the others had the egg now, and suddenly, Jet felt himself rise as the beast holding him lifted him up, bringing him back onto solid ground.

All Jet could do at first was cough and take a deep breath, but he quickly analyzed the situation, and his eyes widened in horror. To his left, he saw Ditzy standing in front of the other Abominable Snow, and to his right, Shade charging his aimed horn, and he knew exactly what was happening.

*Oh no... He's gonna fire a devastation blast... I gotta stop him before he kills the Abominable Snow, and Ditz along with them!*

Jet tore off his coat without hesitation. Being cold would have to wait for now, as he needed his wings now more than ever. Launching himself with great speed, Jet flew several meters directly towards Shade.

Time slowed as TEK saw a familiar orange blur speeding past them, and as Ditzy watched in shock as Jet grabbed Shade and pulled his head back to aim his blast away from the beasts and herself just a second before Shade fired the blue sphere of energy, causing it to fly off unguided into the sky while Jet and Shade fell backwards onto the ground.

Suddenly, high above among the gray clouds, a huge explosion went off. The shock wave evaporated a large portion of the clouds, revealing part of the pure white sky.

Ditzy fainted almost immediately.

At first Shade only experienced massive disorientation, but when he saw Jet beside him in the snow breathing heavily, he felt extremely confused.

*Jet...?*

And soon he too fell unconscious.

The rest of TEK quickly scurried to their leader and fellow teammates, while the Abominable Snow regrouped and made their leave.
________________

"Those creatures were smart. The second time they attacked us they first took out Shade, who they figured was the biggest threat. Next they tried to get me out of the picture, so they led me off the cliff. That one Abominable Snow grabbed me either as insurance or because he simply didn't want me to die. Or both. When you guys finally handed them what they wanted they released me. If you hadn't, he might have dropped me. Then, I saw what was going on and acted quickly to save the other Abominable Snow and Ditzy. After watching me save their own kind, the other Abominable Snow no longer saw me as a threat and left us alone, taking the egg Ditzy gave back with them."

Jet had explained all that had happened to his team, based on what he saw and figured out. It sounded almost unbelievable to TEK, even after just recently experiencing it. Kae'lik tilted his head in confusion.

"Wait, so that ice ball thing was... an egg?"

"Yeah. Explains why they fought so aggressively for it."

Jet then turned to Zecora.

"I'm proud of you, Zecora. You took the lead in the absence of both me and Shade and gave TEK the strength and will to keep fighting. Had you not done so, things might have turned out very differently."

Zecora nodded humbly.

Currently TEK was huddled together in a cave they found a little further up the mountain. They had each told their version of what happened and Jet was explaining everything. He looked to Kae'lik and Bulk.

"I'm also proud of you two. You both took action and defended your fellow team members as best as you could. Very well done."

"YEAAHH!!!"

"Thank you, commander."

Then Jet looked to Ditzy with a serious frown.

"Ditz, I'm highly disappointed in you. You put all of our lives at risk by taking something without knowing what it was, and then not telling us what you found. If you had shown it to me before, I could have told you that it was an egg. I understand that you eventually forgot it was in your bag for a while, but you still endangered the entire team."

Ditzy looked down in shame as she awkwardly clutched her rolled up sleeping bag. One could even see a small tear fall from her eye.

"However, you did eventually realize the problem, and put yourself at risk to protect the innocent creatures. I am proud of the courage you showed."

The sudden commendation made Ditzy's heart race slightly, her cheeks briefly displaying a hint of red.

Finally, Jet turned to Shade, who couldn't even face anyone, let alone Jet, and had been silent this entire time.

"And Shade… need I even say anything?"

Shade's already lowered head dropped even further down in shame. His tears were much more evident.

Jet shook his head and sighed.

"The past is in the past, and there's no point in sulking over things that already happened. But make sure this never happens again, understand?"

They all said "yes" in unison, some voices more faint than others.

"Excellent. Now, let's get back to this mission so we can go home. We've got a heck of a report to give when we return."
> Nightmare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been about a week since TEK's mission in the Northern Mountains. Ever since, Shade was acting much more closed off then usual. He'd still interact with everypony, but now he was quiet and always seemed down. His teammates were quite concerned about what might be going through his mind since a certain incident on their last mission. What he almost did certainly had an effect on how they saw him now, but they still recognized the painful regret he felt for his actions, and could see the turmoil within him growing each day. Though he had serious flaws, he was still their friend, and they decided to do what they could to find a way to help. They found a solution with the help of Princess Luna.

"Are you guys sure about this?"

"No, but it might be our only option, Shade."

Shade, Jet, the rest of TEK, and Princess Luna were currently gathered in one of the spare resting quarters for the royal guards, with Jet and Shade sitting upright in two separate beds next to each other.

"Indeed, Shade Vortex. Though I do not take liking to this any more than you do, my power over the realm of dreams may be the only way to enter your mind and solve what troubles you."

Shade didn't like it at all. Not one bit. No-pony should be in his head, he thought. Vinyl, however, seemed oddly fascinated with what was about to take place.

"So, run this by me again... Princess Luna is gonna do some kinda 'dream link' thing to let you enter Shade's mind? AWESOME!"

Jet shook his head.

"This is no game, Vinyl. As cool as it may seem, the mind is a dangerous and deceptive place. It's not gonna be a safe area."

"Yeah! Jet's gonna clean out Shade's mind so he doesn't go crazy again!"

Ditzy piped in with a hoof thrust up into the air. She met eyes with Shade, who was staring back at her with a bemused but slightly hurt expression. She felt extremely embarrassed.

"….Oh, yeah... No offense, Shade..."

Shade only sighed.

"None taken... I... I really am sorry about what happened on that mountain last week... My lack of self control, and fear of what I could do... it's the only reason I'm accepting your help. And whoopty-freaking-do, the Princess of the Night is able to connect minds through dreams, somehow. Have you ever done this before, by the way?"

Luna sighed softly.

"I will admit, it has been some time since I have performed a dream-share. But do not worry. I shall ensure that all will proceed without any complications."

Shade still remained skeptical.

*Great. Just great. This can't POSSIBLY go wrong...*

"I'm sure the Princess knows what she's doing Shade. We'll be fine."

Kae'lik walked up to Jet's bed and looked at him with eyes full of concern and conviction.

"Are you absolutely sure you won't need us? It doesn't have to be just you two, we can help!"

Jet looked at Kae'lik, and then to the rest of his team. Each had a look that said the same thing: begging to help, and ready to do whatever it took to help their friend. Jet thought back to when Shade and himself were first recruiting Taskforce members, and he couldn't help but smile.

*We made the right choice*

"I value how much all of you want to help. Really it's commendable. But Shade feels-"

"There should be as few ponies in my head as possible..."

TEK didn't agree with it, but they understood and respected Shade's wishes. Luna turned to the two stallions in the beds beside her.

"If you are ready, shall we proceed?"

Jet and Shade looked at each other, Jet's eyes filled with determination to help his friend, Shade's eyes filled with doubt and fear. But both looked back to Luna and nodded.

"Very well... Now, lay back and relax yourselves..."

Jet and Shade did as they were told and laid back on their individual beds. Luna then closed her eyes, and the spiraling groove in her horn began to fill with white light. TEK watched in awe as two tendrils of light slowly protruded from her horn and made contact with Jet and Shade's foreheads.

"Trippy..."

Vinyl's words were the last thing the three connected ponies heard as they slipped into unconsciousness.
______________

"Uggggghhh… Wha… where am I?"

"Hey. Hey bro, wake up."

Shade blinked heavily a few more times before he was fully awake… or dreaming awake… whatever.

"Wha... Jet?"

"Yeah, it's me. C'mon, get up... you've gotta see this."

Finally getting up on his hooves, Shade took in his surroundings.

"Whoa."

All around him was vast space, seemingly endless. But it was far from empty. The sky itself was covered with dark storm clouds, and there were dead trees all around them. On the trees where what seemed like hundreds of black crows, all of them staring at the two stallions with unblinking red eyes. There were mountains in the distance, and some kind of giant, red orb on the far horizon. The air was cold, and had an eerie feeling, as if something was always watching. There was a crackle of thunder in the sky every once in a while as well, followed by the caws of all the crows.

"This… this is my mind?"

Shade was awestruck. Jet took another look around and nodded.

"It's definitely not mine. Looks like Princess Luna's plan worked. Our manifested consciences have been transported into this... mindscape."

Shade wasn't listening though. His mind was fixed on a small gleam of light in the otherwise gray and bleak world. The small beam of light was breaching the darkness of the storm clouds, and shining on a single, small cottage.

"Is that… Fluttershy's house?"

Jet looked to where Shade was gazing.

"Looks like it. Huh, the one spot with light is your marefriend's house. Interesting. Now, let's get back to the task at hoof, because I don't wanna be here long."

"Then you must move quickly."

Jet and Shade looked behind them and up to the sky, and saw Luna descending downwards to their position.

"Princess Luna!"

Both stallions shouted in unison.

"There will be an entrance to the deeper parts of your mind. After you find it, you will have to find and face your greatest fears."

Jet nodded in understanding, but Shade looked around and scoffed.

"But this place is huge! Where are we supposed to find an entrance to anything?"

Jet thought to himself for a moment before coming up with a plan.

"Well, it's your mind and your fears. Where would your fears be lurking?"

"Hmm... Well, I'm not too fond of dragons or timber wolves."

Immediately they both looked to the mountains in the distance.

"Then it seems you know where you're headed. I now must take my leave. The journey ahead is yours alone."

Shade's head snapped back to Luna.

"Y-you're leaving?"

Luna smiled as she began ascending back into the sky.

"Fear not. I have faith that you will succeed..."

And in a bright light, Luna disappeared. Jet looked to his friend, who looked as nervous as the time when they were assigned to investigate the Changeling activity in the Everfree Forest all those months ago.

"I thought you wanted as few ponies here as possible anyway?"

"Let's just get this over with..."

Shade and Jet then turned around, facing the mountains.

"So... Guess this is where we're heading..."

As if on cue, the trees in front of Shade morphed out of the way, opening up a path in the forest-like area. The path seemed to lead to the mountains.

"Creepy..."
_______________

Luna's eyes reopened, and the light tendrils disconnected from her horn and merged into a single conduit linking the minds of Jet and Shade. She turned to the rest of TEK, still watching in awe and anticipation.

"It is done. They have successfully entered the mind of Shade Vortex."

"Will they be okay?"

Ditzy asked worryingly, her hoof to her mouth.

"It is too early to say anything for certain right now. There is no way of determining what they may encounter within Shade's mind. We can only wait and hope all goes well. I've separated myself so that I may monitor their physical condition."

"Don't worry, Ditzy! If Princess Luna's watching over them, I know they'll be alright!"

Kae'lik spoke with confidence. While the rest of TEK too remained hopeful, they knew Luna was right. They could only wait for time to tell if their leaders came out of their shared dream okay.

And they were going to have to wait a loooonnnng time...
________________

"Well that escalated quickly…"

"No joke. We've only been walking for like what, 30 minutes? And already we've run into-"

But Shade was cut off by a long and loud howl by one of the various Timber Wolves before them.

Shade and Jet were in quite the pickle. As they were walking on the path revealed by the trees, out of the blue came around ten Timber Wolves. Snarls, growls and the occasional howl filled the air.

"Uhhhh… so what do we do? If we fight them, we might damage your mind or something."

Shade shook his head.

"The very reason we came here was to destroy my fears from the inside. These wolves have put themselves here to block us from reaching the dragons cave."

"Ohhhh, I get it. You gotta face your fears in a kind of trial set-up. Wow your mind is cheesy as heck."

"Shut up and concentrate. I doubt we'll be able to beat them by normal means."

The wolves were closing in, getting ever so closer to the backed up ponies. As the wolves crept their way towards them, Jet closed his eyes and thought for about five seconds.

"Wait, this is YOUR mind. You're the master here. Just, I don't know, imagine them blowing up or something."

Shade closed his eyes for a few seconds as well before opening them again.

"I-I can't... I can't think straight..."

"Oh for pete's sa-"

The closest wolf charged forward and bared his jagged fangs, ready for fresh blood. Jet saw it coming, and using his lightning fast reflexes he swung a wing, sending a blue wave through the air. When it made contact it sliced the wolf in two, crumbling it's body to the ground.

*Huh, my wind blades DO still work here.*

Jet turned around to find another wolf already behind him, closing in too fast for him to react.

*HOW? WHERE DID THIS ONE COME FROM?*

Before it ripped Jet's body apart, the wolf's head exploded into burning splinters from a quick energy blast.

"Phew... thanks bro..."

Shade nodded.

"Yeah. But as we thought this isn't normal."

"I know, they're just popping out of thin air!"

Jet spoke as he sliced two more wolves in half. Shade had to teleport behind himself to avoid another wooden hound that tried to jump him from behind.

"Gah, how do they keep appearing in our blind spots? This is getting tedious."

"Whoa!"

Jet was barely able to avoid a slashing claw, which was only an inch from his eye. He flung open his wings and took a great leap backwards to gain some distance.

"That was too close. I can't hear them coming or anything, it's like their not even there."

Shade nodded as he crushed a wolf's head underhoof.

"No joke. They don't give off any kind of aura or energy so all I have to go off on is my own reflexes."

Jet and Shade were holding their ground, but soon enough the destroyed wolves would rebuild themselves. Combined with the fact that more wolves were appearing out of nowhere, their numbers were adding up quickly.

"Okay we gotta get outta here. I thought we would be able to defeat them, but they're doing nothing but multiplying!"

Shade yelled with frustration through the growls and yelps of the ongoing battle. Jet nodded and flew up high above the wolves.

"I'll buy us some time. Lets see how they take this..."

Jet spread out his wings to their full span, their feathers glowing brightly.

"...BLADE STORM!"

Jet gritted his teeth as he pushed his wings to the limit, flapping rapidly and unleashing a miniature hurricane of wind blades that obliterated anything that got caught in the gust. The air was fraught with crescent-shaped slashes of air currents. Not a single wolf was spared from destruction.

Shade managed to teleport away and watched from a distance.

"For a Pegasus, he has a ton of magical energy..."

When Jet calmed down and the wind stopped, the entire area was a pile of twigs, rocks, and roots from destroyed trees. Jet flew over to Shade and collapsed on the ground.

"*Wheeze* That took... *wheeze* a lot of energy..."

Shade looked back over to the graveyard of twigs to find them already moving, struggling to find their other pieces.

"We have to keep moving. They're already trying to regenerate."

Jet had barely enough energy to even stand.

"Okay... Although I won't be able to use Wind Blades or anything else for a while..."

Shade nodded and carried Jet along with his telekinesis, until Jet was strong enough to walk on his own again. They had only walked for about ten seconds before a loud howl sounded out behind them. Shade looked back and his pupils immediately shrunk to the size of pin tips.

"Crap."

Behind them were hundreds, if not thousands of Timber Wolves. They covered every inch of the land behind them, like a flood of wooden carnivores. This time, it was Shade's turn to do some critical thinking.

*We're not far from the cave, I guess I could teleport us there in two warps... But then I'll only be able to teleport one more time for a while…*

"Uhhh, Shade… they're kinda running at us…"

Shade looked at his friend, then at the wolves, and furrowed his brow as he continued to think.

*No other options. I gotta do it.*

*Flash!*

And suddenly the two ponies were a lot closer to the mountain. The wolves were catching up quickly though, hundreds of them rushing towards the two stallions. Shade looked back to the them and then back at the mountain. He closed his eyes in focus, and with great mental strain he got himself and Jet to the cave, lying right in front of it.

*Gah... I'm really tired now...*

Shade had used up most of his energy teleporting both Jet and himself such a distance, especially after doing so two times in succession.

Jet, on the other hand, was now strong enough to at least speed walk to the cave, with Shade not far behind.

The wolves weren't wasting time either, and were closing the distance insanely fast.

Although they were in the cave, the two ponies where still defenseless, and the cave was open and doing nothing to stop the wolves from simply waltzing in.

Shade went into panic mode.

*NO! This is just like the past! Only difference is there's WAY more wolves now!*

Suddenly a critical realization dawned on him.

*Wait... If this is just like the past, then that means...*

Looking to his left, there it was, a large rounded stone, large enough to cover the cave mouth. Jet followed Shade's eyes and he saw the boulder as well.

"How did we not notice that?"

Shade got up and lowered his horn.

"C'mon, that stone is our only hope. We gotta use it to cover the entrance!"

Jet thought about it and hesitated.

"Yeah but, isn't a dragon supposed to be  in here?"

"...We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there. For now we gotta worry about the present. Besides, which would you rather deal with: one dragon, or THAT?"

Jet looked back at the thousands of Timber Wolves that literally covered every inch of the land before them.

"...Yeah, dragon. No contest."

While Shade struggled to use his telekinesis to try and pull the stone towards him, Jet was behind it pushing physically. It was steady going, until they noticed that they had to speed it up, because the wolves were dangerously close now.

"SCREW IT!"

Shade concentrated as hard as he could, and suddenly his body was enveloped in a blue aura, his eyes glowing brightly and extremely focused.

With a massive boost in power, Shade lifted the stone in the air and pulled it flying towards the cave. Jet was barely able to fly in front of it and into the cave before the stone slammed into the entrance with a loud and echoing thud, kicking up a small cloud of dust and tiny chips of rock. Only about three seconds afterwards, the two ponies could hear feral growls and scratches on the other side.

Shade closed his eyes, and the blue aura disappeared. When he opened them again, his eyes had lost their bright glow. He wasn't standing for too long before he collapsed on the ground. Jet rushed up to his friend.

"Did you really need to use your Adrenaline Rush?"

Shade wanted to respond but he could barely even stay awake. Jet noticed and laid Shade's head down.

"You need to rest. Going into Adrenaline Rush so fast when you were already pretty drained took way too much out of you. I'll keep watch."

Shade weakly nodded before falling out cold. While Shade slept, Jet thought to himself.

*This is only the beginning…* 
_______________

"GAH!"

Shade jerked awake, violently flailing in response to whatever was touching him.

"Dude calm down it's just me!"

He saw it was only Jet standing above him, and eased his nerves.

"Sorry... This place is bringing back old habits... What's up?"

"You've been out for maybe an hour. I had to move us because the growls and stuff were making me uncomfortable. I did my best to carry you through the cave."

"I see... So why did you wake me again?"

"That."

Jet pointed a hoof behind him to what seemed like a giant hole in the cave wall in front of them.

"What is that?"

"It appears to be an entrance to another cavern. It's most likely the lair of the dragon."

Shade looked back at the huge "doorway." It was pitch black, preventing any visibility of what was inside. It had an eerie presence to it as well, providing a sense of danger, warning about whatever lay beyond the darkness.

"I... think your right..."

"You should be fully recovered right? I am."

Shade nodded hesitantly.

"...Yeah, I think I've regained all my strength..."

There was a pause as Jet and Shade continued to stare at the dark entrance for what felt like an eternity.

"...You... You wanna take this head on?"

Jet sighed.

"Well, we don't really have too many options... All we can do is try and finish this as soon as possible."

It was faint, but Jet was sure he heard Shade gulp.

"You ready?"

Shade hesitated again, but eventually nodded.

"...Ready."

Taking a few steps forward, the duo entered into the unknown. As they stepped through the entrance, the darkness faded away as if it was never there, an illusion concealing the cavern itself.

Once inside, they noticed that the cavern was oddly empty. There was nothing more than a huge cavern with a number of large rocks scattered near the walls. The middle of the cavern was especially void of anything.

"Huh, there's nothing in here. Guess it was just a false alarm."

Shade shook his head.

"I don't think so… I don't know how to explain it, but I can feel something's in here..."

All of a sudden, small chucks of rock and dust started falling from the ceiling. Shade and Jet instantly froze before looking at each other, and then slowly looking up at the ceiling.

When they did, Shade instantly recognized the massive, purple-spined, pale-lavender dragon with cyan eyes staring back. Its muzzle was displaying a vicious smile of ivory fangs. Its claws were sunken deeply into solid stone as it clung upside down to the ceiling, and the stallions watched in terror as it released its hold and dropped onto the ground with a loud explosion of dust and rock, landing perfectly on its claws.

Jet and Shade covered their eyes from the dust clouds while the Dragon stood up to it's full height, it's head spines almost reaching the ceiling. It then emitted a deafening roar that shook the very cavern to the core.

"……"

"……"

The dragon opened his enormous jaws and did not hesitate to unleash a wave of flames.

Before Shade could even think, Jet had already flown both of them behind one of the rocks to their right to use as cover. Shade immediately scurried to back up against the boulder, panting as he stayed low. Jet was already forming a plan.

"Alright Shade! I'll keep him occupied above, you handle him from the ground!"

Before Shade could object, Jet was already flying back into the heat of battle. Shade fearfully peaked over the boulder to see Jet flying around the dragon, assaulting him with wind blades and avoiding fire blasts. One blast ended up heading straight towards the boulder Shade was behind, and he ducked quickly as it exploded on contact, leaving the opposite side of the boulder smoldering and red hot. Shade huddled closely against his side of the rock in fear, his body shuddering, his teeth clenched, and his eyes shut tightly.

Meanwhile Jet was wondering where his support was, as his attacks were doing jack squat against the now irritated predator.

"Uhhhh Shade, I could use a little help here!"

From above, Jet could see Shade cowering behind a half scorched rock. Shade peaked up and awkwardly met eyes with Jet.

"C'mon Shade! Pull yourself together!"

Jet just barely dodged a quick claw swipe from the angered dragon. At the same time, Shade struggled to move at all.

*What is wrong with me? Why am I so... paralyzed with fear? If I can't get past this, how will I be able to deal with-*

"GAH!!!"

Shade's thoughts were interrupted when he heard Jet scream in pain. He looked up to see he had been knocked out of the air by a powerful tail swipe, just like what had happened to him back in the Everfree.

Jet collided against a cave wall and fell to the ground unconscious. The dragon flashed a toothy grin as he slowly crept towards his prey.

"JET!"

Shade's body froze briefly, but his mind was racing at supersonic speeds.

*...I can't let this happen...*

He took some time to refocus himself, and to build up some extra energy. He was determined to save his friend, and no amount of fear was going to hold him back this time.

*...I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!*

"HEY!!!"

The lavender dragon stopped and turned to his left. There he saw the gray unicorn standing atop a charred boulder, wrapped in a bright blue aura with small sparks of energy phasing in and out around him, his eyes glowing just as brightly.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIEND!"

The dragon accepted Shade's challenge, a decision he would later regret. Shade, with boosted power from another Adrenaline Rush, proceeded to effortlessly lift a good forty percent of the boulders within the cavern, telekinetically hurling every single one at the overgrown lizard. The large stones were too numerous, too fast, and coming from too many directions for the dragon to successfully evade, chunks of rock crashing and crumbling against his body.

The beast roared in a pained fury, and returned fire with actual fire. A blazing hot flamethrower streamed out from his maw, but Shade blocked it with a quick barrier shield. The dragon stared Shade down with its piercing cyan eyes, but Shade stared right back with his determined sapphire eyes, refusing to be intimidated this time.

Shade's attention was briefly torn away from the standoff when his ears picked up Jet groaning, and he looked over to see him getting back up, clearly in pain. He teleported over to his side, the dragon turning his head to keep his attention on the now regrouped ponies. Before he could do anything, however, Shade completely immobilized him, holding him in place with his strengthened telekinesis.

"Ugghhh... You seem to have a handle on things..."

Jet finally got up to his hooves ready to get back in the action. Still keeping the dragon at bay, Shade turned to his reawakened partner.

"You ready to finish this?"

Jet nodded, and he and Shade both turned to face the struggling dragon. Jet, with the remaining strength and energy he had, ignored his pain and flew up into the air, while Shade aimed his already glowing horn.

"HERE WE..."

Jet's wings were outstretched to their full span and winding back slightly, before he flapped them both hard and rapidly at the same time Shade fired his horn.

"...GO!!!"

Shade released all his energy into one highly concentrated beam, while Jet unleashed a forward cyclone of energized blades of wind. The combo attack struck against the dragon hard with multiple hits, severely weakening his strength. He emitted a final, angered roar as it collapsed onto the ground falling on his side with a mighty crash that shook the very ground.

The intense assault of energy and air slashes dissipated, with Shade's Adrenaline Rush fully depleted and Jet landing back on the ground, breathing heavily.

"You... You did it bro... You overcame your fear and came out like a champ..."

Shade wiped the sweat from his brow, breathing hard himself.

"I... I honestly don't know what came over me there... I saw you in trouble and I just... I couldn't let anything happen to you... Adrenaline Rush probably helped me overpower my fear too."

"Yeah, no doubt..."

Shade suddenly found himself smiling.

"But hey, Jet... thanks. Thanks for believing in me, and having my back there. I don't think I could've done that without you."

"No prob-"

But Jet was interrupted by something very unexpected. The dragon's large jaws opened up once again. Jet and Shade jumped into battle positions, but what they saw led them to lower their guard.

Instead of the fire infested maw of a dragon, there was a door, oddly enough. The dragon's mouth was huge, so the door sat comfortably inside it, with steps leading up to it in place of where its tongue normally sat. It's silver lining accented its red face.

Shade and Jet looked to the door, then back at each other.

"Wait, I thought the Dragon was your biggest test?"

"Apparently not. But I'm sure that my truly greatest test lies beyond this door."

Jet nodded and made his way toward the door. He reached out his hoof to open it, but he was stopped. His hoof was unable to pass further than about a third of a meter from the door, blocked some sort of invisible wall. Shade noticed and decided to try as well. He, however touched the door with no problem.

They both understood what this meant. Jet spoke up first.

"I guess your mind wants you to take this one solo."

Shade nodded.

"I guess so... You gonna be alright here?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. But Shade, listen to me."

Shade turned around to see a very serious look on Jet's face.

"No matter what you find beyond that door, remember: this is YOUR mind. YOU have control here. And if all else fails, remember us."

"'Us?'"

"Me, TEK, Celestia, Fluttershy, and everypony else. We're all with you, backing you up."

Shade was touched by the sentiment, and paused before nodding.

"...Thanks, Jet. Sometimes I forget that... It means more to me than you realize..."

Jet nodded, and Shade turned to the door.

"I'm gonna go through this door... and defeat whatever lays ahead of me so we can go home."

Pushing through, Shade walked into the unknown, the door sealing behind him.

"I know you will, Shade..." 
_________________

Shade knew the dragon wasn't his greatest and final obstacle. Not by a long shot. In fact, he already knew what lay ahead of him as he walked the dark, winding pathway. Everywhere was darkness, but Shade could see everything clearly. The ground was cold, made of smooth obsidian rock. It arched over him like a tunnel, and the light at its end was faint and barely broke through.

*Ironic how the path to the darkest part of my mind leads to an area of light, even if it's faint.*

Upon reaching the tunnel's end, Shade found himself in another forest-like environment, even more eerie than the first one. The sky was pale white, and a fog engulfed the dead trees around him. Shade could feel himself growing colder, unsure if from the temperature or from fear, if not both.

But Shade wasn't going to back down. Not when he'd already gotten so far.  Jet's words filled him with determination and strength, and he stared defiantly, although nervous, into the shrouded mist. Without a hint of wavering in his voice, Shade called out to his final test.

"I know you're there! Show yourself already!"

There was a chilling silence, which lasted much longer than Shade would have liked, his limbs feeling weaker and his stomach starting to sink. Then he saw a shadowed form approaching through the fog.

"I knew you'd show up eventually..."

Its shape became clearer as it drew closer, taking slow, almost careful steps.

"...After all, the one thing I fear more than anything else..."

The form's appearance was visibly clear to Shade now, although he didn't need to see who stood before him to know his identity.

"...Is myself."

Shade was facing a near-perfect reflection of himself, aside from some very key differences. The Shade from the shadows was much more rough looking, as if he had been living in this forest for his entire lifetime. His mane was frayed and untamed, and he also wore the same cloak Shade had worn while in the Everfree. It, too, was torn and raggedy, its shredded ends flowing in a wind that did not seem to be present. This other Shade emitted a sinister chuckle.

"Not surprised to see the real you?"

That got under Shade's skin. He refused to accept such a comparison.

"You are NOT the real me... I... I refuse to become anything like you..."

"Still you choose to ignore me... How hurtful..."

Shade's "shadow" reflection was walking around and began circling Shade slowly, an evil grin shaping his face.

"...But while you pushed me aside and tried to forget me, I only grew stronger. And one day, when you least expect it..."

Shadow Shade stopped directly at Shade's left, facing the opposite direction.

"...I will consume you..."

Shade remained determined to keep that from happening. Defiantly, he replied to Shadow Shade as he was walking away from him during his circling motion.

"Then I'll just have to rid myself of you... become even stronger than you, so I can destroy any chance of becoming anything like you!"

Shadow Shade looked back with a sarcastically amused expression. Then he gave way to chaotic, maniacal laughter. He closed his eyes before speaking in a malicious, echoing voice.

"You idiot..."

The sky was growing rapidly darker, black clouds spreading from behind Shadow Shade and closing in above Shade, choking out all light.

"...Do you honestly believe..."

Shadow Shade's gray coat darkened vastly, and his mane and tail became black flames of darkness. He opened his eyes, which were now completely blue and glowing brightly, contrasting with the surrounding darkness.

"...That you can defeat yourself!?"

Shade was already in his battle stance. Preparation was crucial now, because he knew he was about to face his greatest test yet.

The determined unicorn charged forward, his dark counterpart following suit. Shade's horn began charging with bright blue energy as he rushed towards his enemy. He jumped into the air and fired a massive energy blast, but Shadow Shade teleported out of the way, reappearing in front of Shade. Shadow Shade then engulfed Shade and everything around him in thick, pitch-black darkness.

Shade could feel himself growing colder as he was oppressed by all of his darkest thoughts, fears, and memories. He saw visions of ponies he cared about meeting with terrible fates, traumatic scenes from his past, and worst-case scenarios of him losing control of himself, causing pain to those closest to him. The series of images flooded his mind, and he tried closing his eyes to avoid them, but to no avail. He screamed from the mental agony.

"Don't you see? I'm not just you... I'm the darkest parts of you!"

Shade could hear his own voice mocking him, taunting as Shade struggled and screamed in the darkness.

"All your fear... Your pain... Your hate... I am your worst Nightmare!"

The word was truly fitting for what Shade was enduring. Shadow Shade - his "Nightmare" self - was throwing every bit of negativity that lurked within Shade. But Shade wasn't going to take it any longer.

"...SHUT UP!!!"

By sheer willpower, Shade overcame the darkness surrounding him, blasting it away from him mentally and physically with a telekinetic pulse wave. Nightmare Shade, too, was pushed back by the wave, recoiling on the now brightening ground. Shade took a few seconds to gather himself together, shaking his head to clear away the horrible images from his mind.

"Now..."

The shadowy form of Nightmare Shade rose to his hooves, looking to see Shade boldly standing in opposition, ready to attack.

"...Let's try that again."

"Impressive... But if you think you can simply overpower me, you're gonna have a bad time..."

Both stallions - if you could call Nightmare Shade a stallion - prepared themselves for round two. Then, both suddenly charged at each other. They also both teleported at the same time, something Nightmare Shade hadn't expected but which Shade was counting on.

As both reappeared facing away from each other, Shade trusted his hind legs out in a powerful back kick, knocking Nightmare Shade onto the ground once again. Nightmare looked up, his glowing sapphire eyes meeting with Shade's.

He faded into darkness, his shadows spreading across the landscape and rising into the shrouded sky. The dark cloud it formed began firing bolts of darkness at Shade, who dodged each strike with swift agility. He stopped only to return fire with blasts of azure energy, tearing through the black sky and Nightmare Shade's form with their light. Successful hits produced an echoed scream from the shadowy cloud, and it swirled into a vortex of darkness, swooping down and rapidly approaching Shade.

Its speed overpowered Shade's reflexes, colliding with him and carrying him through the forest, crashing him through dead trees with great force. It flung him outwards and he was sent skidding on the cold ground. Nightmare Shade reformed and watch Shade struggle to get up. He shook his head and spoke in a voice that almost sounded pitiful.

"You still don't get it... You only grow tired and become exhausted as you try to fight me... Yet I only grow stronger!"

Shade got halfway to his hooves, pain felt all throughout his body.

*He's right... My strength is wearing down fast, yet he's barely even breaking a sweat...*

"The more you try to push me back, the weaker you make yourself to me... I'll take over you at your weakest moment, and it will be your own fault!"

Shade's efforts to rise failed, dropping back to the ground in pain and breathing heavily.

*I can't beat him...*

Shade could hear Nightmare Shade's sinister laughter again, echoing throughout the forest. He could feel the cold again as well, and opened his eyes slightly to see streams of darkness coming from Nightmare Shade, wrapping around Shade and pulling him into the dark void of misery he had experienced earlier. Shade wasn't even trying to fight this time. He was tired, and all hopes of overcoming the final challenge of his own mind began fading away. He had accepted this test alone, and he was going to fail it alone.

At least, that's what he felt until what happened next.

"...Shade!"

Shade could hear a faint voice, and he felt the warmth of light breaking through the cold darkness. He opened his eyes with the last glimmer of hope he still possessed. From the ground he lay on, he saw a bright light approaching him through the thick shadows around him. As it drew closer, Shade could see a familiar form within the bright gleam.

"...Fluttershy?"

Shade slowly rose, about halfway, as Fluttershy - or rather, his mind's projection of her - hovered towards him.

"You can't give up now, Shade..."

She landed in front of him, offering her hoof to help Shade get up. Shade, however, hesitated, his demeanor grim and full of pain, physical and emotional.

"I... I can't, Shy... I can't defeat the darkness inside me... It just keeps getting stronger the more I try to fight it..."

Fluttershy's projection sat down in front of Shade, placing her warm hoof of light on his shoulder.

"We all have our own dark side, Shade... It's not something you can simply remove or destroy. You have to learn to accept and control it."

Shade didn't quite understand.

"...Control it?"

"By accepting that it's there within you, you'll make the effort to control the anger you feel. But if you just keep telling yourself it's not there, you'll only give it a chance to grow, and eventually take over you..."

Shade thought about Fluttershy's words, and how similar they sounded to what Nightmare Shade himself said.

*"While you pushed me aside and tried to forget me, I only grew stronger..." Nightmare was telling the truth. All this time I've been trying to push my darkest thoughts and emotions deep down inside me, but I've only been making it worse...*

Shade looked back up and saw Fluttershy's projection smiling warmly.

"And Shade, always remember that you're not alone..."

Shade looked around, and saw that in place of the vast darkness around him we're memories of all his friends, TEK and otherwise. He saw scenes of the lighthearted interactions he had with the elements of harmony, the teamwork and loyalty he shared with his fellow TEK members, and the love he felt for and received from the mare whose projection sat before him. These memories returned the feelings of hope and happiness into Shade's heart, as well as tears to his eyes. Looking back at Fluttershy's projection of light, he got up and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you, Fluttershy... Thank you for showing me this..."

"I'll always be here for you Shade..."

As Fluttershy said these final words, her form of light shone brighter, and then it faded away. Shade's eyes reopened, filled with determination and the knowledge of what he needed to do next. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he focused all his remaining power, and drew further strength from the memories of his friends. He could feel his energy starting to flow through him, until it began surging and enveloping in a glowing blue aura. His body lifted slightly off the ground, and he drew himself in close before thrusting his limbs outward, sending a massive spherical pulse of positive energy, completely dispelling Nightmare Shade's darkness around him. Shade saw that Nightmare Shade was surprised at this, as his own glowing azure eyes were filled with fear.

"WHAT!? How did you break free!?"

Shade landed back on the ground, standing with newfound confidence in himself.

"I was reminded of a very important fact..."

Shade waved his hoof to the side, and the dark clouds filling the sky cleared away. Nightmare Shade cowered at Shade's sudden control over his mental environment.

"You see, 'Nightmare Shade,' you were completely right about the two of us. You are all of my negativity, the darkest side of my emotions and thoughts, and I have been trying to push you away and pretend you don't exist."

Shade walked towards Nightmare Shade as he spoke, and in the process he cleared away the dense fog that was spread across the forest.

"But your dead wrong if you think I'm gonna simply allow you to take over me."

Nightmare Shade could feel his own strength and power quickly dissipating like the fog and clouds before him. His hold over Shade was failing, and Shade was well aware of it.

"You see, I'm not alone in this struggle against you, against myself. I have my friends, old and new, a team I consider to be like family, a best friend who's the brother I never had, and a loving marefriend who's been by my side since fillyhood. They're what give me the strength to go on each day, to do the things I have to do."

Shade stood right in front of his dark reflection, whose shadowy form was visibly starting to disintegrate into flames of darkness. He stared back at Shade with a combined expression of fear and anger, his teeth clenched and eyes filled with a fiery hatred.

"You're not gonna take control of me, Nightmare... I'm the one that's taking control of you!"

Nightmare Shade screamed as his form of darkness was absorbed into Shade, his hate-filled "no" echoing throughout the forest. Shade let out a deep sigh of relief and exhaustion. And turned to the reopened pathway returning to an awaiting Jet Fly.
__________________

Shade emerged from the door within the dragon's mouth, and was greeted by the patiently waiting Jet and, surprisingly, Princess Luna.

"Shade! You made it out!"

Shade stepped out of the reptile's jaws and stood on the cave ground in front of his friend and the Princess of the night.

"Yeah. That was... something else. Didn't expect to see you here, Princess."

"Luna showed up not too long ago to check on our progress. I told her how you were facing your last trial and she agreed to wait with me."

Shade nodded in understanding. Princess Luna smiled at both stallions.

"If you two are ready, shall we return to the realm of reality?"

Both nodded, Shade with much more enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I'm ready to get out of my own head for a while..."

Luna nodded, closing her eyes as her horn began to glow. Soon the three of them were engulfed in a bright, white light. When Shade reopened his eyes, he was once again laying on the bed in the spare resting quarters, Jet reawakening on his bed next to Shade's, and Luna and the rest of TEK standing before them. Shade could see the shared look of worried anticipation on the faces of all his teammates.

"Did it work?"

Shade looked to Ditzy, and to the rest of his team, and nodded slowly.

"I... I think it did..."

What followed was a collective outburst of cheering and rejoicing. Luna chuckled as all of TEK swarmed Jet and Shade with a massive group hug, only for them all to nearly be crushed by Bulk. Shade received a hoof-full of encouraging words from his friends, and TEK was  happy to once again have their friend back to normal. 

After a while, the room had cleared substantially, leaving only Jet and Shade remaining. As Shade was about to leave, Jet stopped him.

"Shade... I hate to ask, but... What did you see in there? Behind the door?"

Shade paused and took a deep breath, then looked back to Jet.

"I... I saw myself..."