> Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S4
>  by Banshee531
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Princess Twilight Sparkle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Its amazing what can happen in one year.

The return and defeat of four ancient threats, an attempted coup, a wedding turned invasion, the restoration of a long lost city, the reformation of two former enemies and of course, the coronation of Equestria's newest princess. Yes, Equestria certainly was entering a new era.

The first story of that new era begins in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle, as the ponies were now making preparations for this year's Summer Sun Celebration. This year, the celebration was being held in Canterlot.

And as the preparations made their rounds, we find our heroes watching their friend Twilight learn to use her new wings. Even though she had had them for a few weeks now, Princess Twilight Sparkle still hadn't properly yet learned how to fly. Her wings had now finally gained enough muscle to hold her up for more than a few moments, so she was now getting lessons from Rainbow and Flash. Right now, it was Rainbow's turn to give her directions while Flash watched to try and see what Twilight was doing wrong.

The rest of their friends were on the ground, simply watching as Twilight wobbled through the air. It was here that Rainbow floated right by Twilight as she said, "You're doing okay, but you gotta really flap 'em hard."

Twilight nodded, soon beating her wings as hard as she could. But as she did, she let out a yelp as control was suddenly lost, causing her to go spiraling towards a tree. "WHOA!" She screamed before crashing into it, getting a bird's nest as a new head piece.

"Uh...maybe not that hard."

Twilight rolled her eyes as she hopped back up, Fluttershy taking the bird nest off of her as Twilight took back to the air. Her wings started clumsily flapping again, her aerial balance barely existent as she tried to gain altitude. Flash just blinked at this, only to clap his hooves before flying up to her. "Alright, I think I see the problem. "

"You do?" Twilight asked, almost losing control as she tried to hover.

"Yup. Go ahead and land and I'll explain." He heard Twilight whisper 'thank Celestia' before following him to the ground, shakily landing with a stagger.

Twilight then patted her wings as she asked, "So...what am I doing wrong?"

Flash smiled at her before looking at Rainbow, "See if you can notice Rainbow." He turned back to the newest princess. "Flap your wings, but don't actually take off." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, but did as she was told as she spread her wings before beating them up and down as Flash asked Rainbow, "You see it?"

Rainbow stared at Twilight, but shook her head. "No, she looks fine to me."

Flash just rolled his eyes at this. "Alright then, come stand by Twilight and do what she's doing." Now, Rainbow raised her eyebrow before flapping her wings right by Twilight. Everypony watched this and slowly tilted their heads in confusion.

"Something does looks different between those two," Pinkie commented.

"Though I can't figure out what," Rarity finished.

"Me neither," Applejack added.

Fluttershy just blinked at it, soon clapping her hooves. "Oh! That's what it is!" everypony all glanced at her, causing her to gulp and blush before pointing at Twilight, "Um...its just that...Twilight's not synchronizing her wing beats."

Flash smirked and nodded. "Exactly." they turned back to the two, now seeing that Rainbow's wings were flapping up and down at the same time while Twilight had one wing going up while the other was down. The reason they could see it was because of how fast both wings were flapping. Seeing this, Flash continued, "Twilight's trying to fly the same way she walks."

Twilight then turned to Rainbow, a glum look on her face, "I see..."

"What's the difference?" Rainbow asked as she looked Twilight over. "Isn't that natural?"

"No. There are lots of differences of how you flap your wings compared to mine." Twilight replied as she watched Rainbow flap her wings. She then looked at her hooves, slightly sighing, "When you walk, you have one hoof moving while the other one isn't. I must be subconsciously doing the same thing with my wings."

"I guess that would make sense. You did go from being somepony who could only walk to somepony who can walk and fly." Flash commented as he tapped Rainbow, telling her to stop flapping, "Pegasi don't have this problem because we've been doing both since we were born. We're hardwired like that."

"So does that mean we need to rewire Twilight's brain?" Pinkie happily asked.

Everypony rolled their eyes as Twilight shook her head. "No Pinkie. It just means I need to learn to synchronize my wings before actually trying to fly."

"How ya'll gonna do that?" Applejack asked next.

"The same way a dancer learns how to dance, darling," Rarity replied as she waved at Twilight. "Constant repetition until its as simple as breathing. The same thing happens when we unicorns use our horns."

"Except I don't have the time for that," Twilight grumbled as she crossed her hooves in frustration. "My part in the Summer Sun Celebration requires me to fly."

"I'm sure you'll get it," Spike added as he patted her side. "Don't worry so much."

"He's right sugarcube," Applejack continued as she gave Twilight a half-hug. "Just wait, you'll show everypony what Princess Twilight can really do."

Twilight let out a low growl, "Applejack...you know you don't have to call me that."

"Why do you protest so?" Rarity asked next. "You've already given up wearing your crown all the time. The least you can do is embrace your new title."

Twilight shook her head at this. "If other ponies want to address me that way, I suppose it's fine, but...not my friends Rarity. It just doesn't feel right." She sighed once again before looking back at her wings. "And neither does all this flying business. The Summer Sun Celebration is only two days away and I'm never gonna be ready to perform my part."

"Not if you spend all your time down here, you won't!" Rainbow told her before pointing to the sky. "Now get up there and show everypony the big finish!"

Flash nodded in agreement as he started to hover, "And remember, beat your wings in sync."

Twilight nodded before leaping up in the air, her wings flapping as hard as she could beat them. She then slowly got higher, only to do a loop, "Woo-hoo!" She screamed in exhilaration, but doing so made her lose focus. That act alone made her wings lock, causing her to yell, "Aaaaahhhh!!" her form now losing control before nose-diving towards the ground.

Flash saw this and leapt at her, the two colliding midair with Flash being pushed back into the ground. They landed and slid along the grass, Flash being sandwiched between Twilight and the dirt as they dug a small trench. The duo then came to stop as Flash groaned, "Ugh...you okay?"

"Yeah...I think so." Twilight replied as she opened her eyes. Doing so caused them to blink at each other, now seeing their snouts right on top of each other. Their faces instantly turned red as Twilight quickly jumped off of him, "Aaahhh!" she yelped as she hopped out of the trench while Flash just laid there, his blushing face now turned and looking at the dirt.

"You two alright?" Applejack asked as they all started to walk over to the crash landing.

"We're fine!" They both replied, both at a louder volume than usual.

"Alright...though that didn't look like a mighty good landing."

Twilight shook her head at this, looking away from her friends as she did so. "I uh...I think that's enough flying for today."

"Seconded," Flash added, grumbling as he got up.

"So what do we do now?" Spike asked next.

"Our train to Ponyville isn't for another two hours," Rarity added before a bulb went off in her head, "Oh! I know what we should do! Let's go see the new stain glass window. We haven't had a chance to really see it since its unveiling."

Twilight groaned at this, but nodded anyways. "Alright." Rarity squealed before rushing off, the others following her up to Canterlot Tower.





Soon enough, the eight of them were in the stain glass window room of Canterlot Castle. The group were now walking down the hallway, seeing the major events of the past. There was Discord's reign and defeat, Nightmare Moon's banishment, them getting the Elements, the Wedding Invasion, the freeing of the Crystal Empire and the Royal Knights versus Doom.

Finally, they arrived at the newest window, one that showed Twilight as an alicorn. As they stared at it, Rarity put a hoof on Twilight, "You look amazing, darling. They've really captured your regality."

Twilight just bit her lip at this, "I...I suppose."

"Oh, don't be so modest." Rarity said with a tap on Twilight's shoulder, "Its everypony's dream to someday wear a crown and have their coronation ceremony preserved in stained glass for all to see!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes at this, "I don't know if that's everypony's dream."

"Most of my dreams are about frosting!" Pinkie chimed in before licking her lips, "Yuuuummmm…."

Flash just chuckled at Pinkie, waving his hoof at her, "Frosting's fine, but as soon as whipped cream shows up, you might wanna see a therapist."

Everypony laughed at this as Fluttershy stepped over to Twilight. "I'm sorry Twilight, but we'd better get going. We don't want to miss our train."

Applejack nodded at this. "Fluttershy's right. Don't know about y'all, but I've still got bushels to do to get ready. The official celebration may be here in Canterlot, but hoo-wee has the Mayor put us in charge of one heck of a party back home." It was here that Applejack saw Twilight frown, "Aw, don't look like that, sugarcube." She then hugged a hoof around Twilight's shoulders, "You get to be right there with the other princesses when Celestia raises the sun."

"And I'm honored. Really, I am." Twilight replied as her wings slumped down, "Its just...well, its just that the Summer Sun Celebration is what first brought us all together. It just doesn't feel right, you know? Not getting to spend such a special day with my Ponyville friends."

"It doesn't feel right to us either darling," Rarity told her as she batted her mane back. "If the Mayor wasn't so desperate for our assistance, we'd most certainly stay here in Canterlot. And of course, we understand that your royal duties must come first."

Flash nodded at this. "I'm also sad that I won't get to spend the celebration with Springer and Scootaloo, but my job is to keep an eye on you. Springer needs to keep things in order in Ponyville while Scoots' got school, so it can't be helped." Flash then winked at the princess, "Besides, just because we're not together doesn't mean we're not thinking about each other."

"Flash is right," Applejack told Twilight as she ended the semi-hug. "The Summer Sun Celebration may have brought us together, but it's something much bigger that'll always keep us connected." She then pointed at the glass windows. "Exhibit A: The seven of us are united by the Elements of Harmony. No amount of royal duties is gonna change that, right everypony?" Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity and Flash all nodded and mumbled their agreements. Only one pony didn't answer. "Right, Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie was to the side, drool spilling out of her mouth. "Creamy, creamy frosting."

Everybody chuckled at this as Fluttershy pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the party pony's mouth. "You should take that as a yes."





One transition to the train station later...

The gang didn't have to wait long for the train. Barely a minute after they arrived, the train pulled into the station and the girls began to load their luggage inside. "We're gonna write to you and give you so many details," Pinkie explained as they were saying their goodbyes. "It'll be like you're in Ponyville with us, right girls?"

Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow and Rarity all began to perform a familiar motion. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Twilight giggled at this as Rarity spoke up, "And you will be with us right after the Celebration." She then magicked out some measuring tape and a notebook. "After all, we already have an appointment on the books to discuss the royal upgrades to your loft and décor."

"Just stay away from my comics," Flash warned her. "Also, do me a favor and check on Springer, Iron and Lightning. With Springer's new abilities and Lightning still adjusting, I'm getting worried about not being there." He glanced at Fluttershy, "And you know, the usual with Iron."

"Of course." Fluttershy replied, nodding.

"We gotcha covered," Applejack assured them, only for the conductor to suddenly call out for everypony to board. Everypony quickly hopped onto the train, only for Pinkie and jump back out and give the duo a quick bone crushing hug. Moments later, the party pony got back on the train as it pulled away into the distance.

Seeing this, Twilight let out a long sigh as she turned to Flash and Spike. "Aww...they've only been gone a minute, and I already feel like I'm missing something." It was in that moment that a mail pony stepped out onto the platform, a letter in his hoof.

"For the princess," he said as he gave the letter to Twilight. She took it in her magic and gave it to Spike, who read it aloud.

"Dear Twilight, you aren't missing anything. Your friend, Pinkie Pie."

"THAT'S ME!" They heard Pinkie screamed from the still vanishing train. This caused them all to laugh as Flash turned to the mail pony.

"Let me guess, she gave you specific instructions not to show yourself until Twilight said she was missing something?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Because its Pinkie," Flash chuckled as the trio headed back to the castle.

But as they walked, Twilight's face returned to a frown. "But I am....I just know it."

Flash patted her on the back. "Probably best not to think about it. I'm sure all those duties you've been entrusted with will keep your mind off it."

"Maybe you're right," Twilight replied before turning to Spike. "You got the list?" Spike nodded before pulling out a scroll, which unfurled into an almost unending rolling piece of paper.

"Yup. That should keep the bookworm busy for a while." Flash commented, only for a get a magic tug on his ear. "Ow!"





Several hours later...

As Princess Celestia began to lower the sun, we find Flash standing outside Twilight's room. Ever since what had transpired at the Princess Summit, Flash had chosen to get off his flank and take his role as Twilight's protector seriously. He had kept his role as bodyguard to as far as possible, now standing in the hallway as both ears were spiked to hear any and everything.

At the same time, Twilight and Spike were inside, going over the duties they were going to do over the celebration. "Check, check, check, check, and...check! Huh, whaddaya know? We're way ahead of schedule! I credit your extremely competent assistant."

"So do I," Twilight replied with a giggle.

"The Celebration isn't until the day after tomorrow," Spike went on. "We could still fit in a quick trip to Ponyville and be back in plenty of time to finish off these last few things before the main event!"

Flash then heard Twilight let out a long sigh. "That would be nice Spike, but what if something else came up while we were gone? What if we were delayed getting back and I wasn't able to finish everything on that list? What if we lost the list on the way to Ponyville and then couldn't remember which things we'd done and which things we hadn't done, and then spent so much time trying to figure out what we hadn't done and what we had done, and we ruined the entire Celebration by not doing the one really important thing that we were supposed to do?!"

THUD!

Flash's head shot up at this sound, causing him to slam the doors open as he exclaimed, "Twilight?! You okay?!" He then started looking around, only seeing Spike, "Spike, where is-"

"Up here." interrupted a voice above them. Flash glanced up and saw Twilight, a pained look her face. She was slightly hovering, causing Flash to fly up and help her down.

"You okay?" He asked as they both landed.

"Yeah, just a little...frazzled. Thanks for helping me down."

"No prob."

"So I'm guessing that's a 'no' on the trip?" Spike asked in a glum tone.

Twilight sighed again, "Spike...These are the first royal duties Princess Celestia has given me. I can't risk letting her down!"

"And I'm sure you won't." The three spun around and saw Princess Celestia, standing at the door with a smile on her face.

"Your highness!" Spike gasped as he and Flash both bowed. But when Twilight went to, Celestia stopped her.

"You no longer need to do that now, Princess Twilight."

"Sorry..." Twilight replied as she stood back up.

Celestia then giggled, something Flash had rarely ever seen her do. "No need to apologize."

"Sorry! I'm sorry....so sorry." Twilight repeated as she stared at the floor, her whole form shivering as Celestia kept giggling.

Flash just facehoofed at this while Celestia stepped over to a nearby window. "I must admit, it is truly wonderful to actually be looking forward to the Summer Sun Celebration."

"What do you mean?"

Flash looked out the window and spotted Luna on a balcony across from them, raising the moon into the sky. Something clicked as he saw this and commented, "Of course. I can see why that would be upsetting."

Celestia nodded as continued to stare at her sister. "For my subjects, it has always been a celebration of my defeat of Nightmare Moon. But for me..." she let out a long sigh, "It was nothing but a terrible reminder that I had to banish my own sister."

Both Twilight and Spike gasped at this, now realizing what they meant as Twilight showed a glum frown, "I'm sorry Princess Celestia, I guess I never really thought about it that way."

Celestia shook her head at this, now shining a giant smile, "Don't apologize Twilight. This day has now become a wonderful reminder of her transformation back into Princess Luna, and our happy reunion. Not only that, I'm so pleased that you will be playing a role in the festivities," she said as she placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "I know it must have been difficult to see your friends return to Ponyville without you."

Twilight looked away. "Maybe a little...."

"You may no longer be my student Princess Twilight, but I hope you do know that I will always be here if you need me." Celestia then crouched down to Twilight's eye level, "Just as I hope that you will always be there when I need you." She rubbed her head against Twilight's, causing the two princesses to smile at one another.

Flash blinked at the sight, happy knowing that Celestia could always get Twilight out of her funk. But as this happened, Spike cleared his throat, causing them to turn and see another mail pony next to him. "I think this guy needs you."

"Uh...a message for Princess Twilight." Twilight took the letter as the mail pony flew off, soon opening it. What she got was a loud popping sound as confetti shot out of the envelope.

Celestia giggled at this. "A letter from Ponyville, I presume?"

Twilight did a low chuckle as she teleported the letter to who knows where, "Nevermind, its not important." She then looked down at her dragon assistant. "Spike, where were we?"

"About to call it a night?" He replied in a hopeful tone.

Twilight gave him a coy smile, "No. Actually, we should probably go over the checklist one more time."

Spike rolled his eyes as he pulled out the scroll again. "I knew you were gonna say that."

"I'll leave you to it," Celestia commented as she and Flash then left the room.

Once they were in the hallway, Flash turned to Celestia. "Thank you, your majesty. I'm not sure I would have been able to get her out of that one."

Celestia just shook her head at this. "No need to thank me Flash, and its no problem at all." She then patted his shoulder, "And much like Twilight, I hope you can also count on me to be there when you are in need and vice versa."

Flash bowed instantly, "Of course your highness. After everything you and Grand Hoof have done for me, I'll always be indebted to you."

"I wouldn't say that. The things you've done since helping to save my sister should put not just me, but all of Equestria in your debt."

Flash blushed at this, scratching the side of his head in embarrassment, "I was just doing my duty."

Celestia nodded again. "And that is why you'll one day make not just a splendid Royal Knight, but possibly one of the best." With that, the princess of the sun trotted off, leaving the young pegasus with a massive smile on his face.

For the next few hours, Flash continued to stand guard outside Twilight's door. It wasn't until the princess stepped out to use the bathroom, the fact that Flash intended to follow her was an issue for later, that she found that Flash was about to nod off. She then patted him and ordered, "Go to bed Flash. We've all been going all day. Go ahead."

"I'm supposed to keep an eye on you."

Twilight rolled her eyes at this, "You won't be able to do that when you fall asleep on your hooves. I'm not a filly Flash, I can look after myself. Now go to bed. Don't make me have to actually order you to do it....even though I kinda already have."

Flash glared at her for a moment, only to let out an unintentional yawn. That alone made Twilight smirk and Flash roll his eyes as he sighed, "Fine. But if anything happens-"

"I'll yell," Twilight interrupted as she turned around, now heading towards the bathroom before going to sleep.

Flash sighed again as went to his room, conking out the second his head hit the pillow. He didn't remember what time it actually was, so he wasn't sure how long he slept for when his bladder told him to wake up. And as he went to the bathroom in a slight sleepwalk, he did his...unmentionables before washing his hooves and heading back to his room.

It was here that his brain finally woke up, the cogs slowly turning as he passed a window. "What the-" he barely said as he looked back at the window, only to go wide eyed. "What in the name of..."

The sky was both day and night, with the sun and the moon floating side by side.

"What is...going on?" His question went unanswered, as another door suddenly slammed open and revealed Twilight and Spike.

"Flash! Where are-oh! Thank goodness, you're already awake."

"Twilight? What the-what's going on?"

"I don't know, but we need to find out. Come on, we have to find Celestia and Luna."

"Right!" Flash quickly grabbed his Celestic Gear and strapped it to his side, the trio now making their way out of the tower. And as they reached the exit, they found themselves in front of a horde of panicking ponies.

"What do you think it means?!" A pony Flash recognised as Primrose cried.

It was then that another pony, Royal Ribbon, spotted them and pointed. "Princess Twilight will know!" With that, the crowd quickly ran up to them.

Knowing Twilight would likely panic from all the attention, Flash flew above her and pulled out Lightbringer before illuminating it. This caused the ponies to stop, all blocking their eyes from the light as he yelled, "Listen! I know you're all panicking, but gathering around Princess Twilight will not help the situation. Please stay calm and we will tell you all what you need to know when it is the right time!"

The crowd quickly calmed down and began whispering between themselves, as Flash looked down at Twilight. She mouthed a quick thank you, which her replied with a nod as a royal guard ran up to them. "Your Highness! You must come with us!"

Twilight nodded at this, the trio following him to the main section of the castle. It was there that they spotted Flash's mentor Grand Hoof, along with another guard. "Twilight," he spoke up when he saw them, "I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Why wouldn't she be alright?" Spike asked with crossed arms. "And what the heck is going on with the sky?!"

Twilight blinked at this, expecting to see Celestia and Luna with Grand, only for him to sigh, "Twilight...I hate to be the one to tell you this but, Celestia and Luna...are gone."

The room went deathly quiet as the three of them processed the news. That is, till Twilight let out a shriek, "WHAT?! But that's....where are they?!"

"We don't know. It seems that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have simply...vanished."

"Vanished?!" Spike hysterically replied before fainting, Flash grabbing and slowly placing him on the floor with his wing.

"How can two ponies with like...a bazillion guards, just vanish?" Flash asked as he stood back up.

"We don't know," Grand replied before stepping up to Twilight. "I know this is a lot to take in, but you have to act. With Celestia and Luna gone and Cadance in the Crystal Empire, you are now the highest authority in Equestria."

"ME?!" Twilight asked in horror, only for Spike to wake up and faint again. "I can't be in charge!"

"Can't you do it Grand?" Flash asked before turning to his best friend. "No offense Twilight, but Grand has more experience leading a ton of ponies."

"None taken, and you're right," she said with a nod before looking back at Grand. "Can't you take command?"

Grand shook his head at this. "I can only take emergency power if all the princess are unable to lead. Otherwise, I-"

"Or a princess specifically orders you too," Twilight interrupted as she pointed at him. "And as princess of Equestria, I give you full command of...whatever you need to take command of."

Grand did a slightly glum frown before nodding. "If that's your wish. But as long as you're still in Canterlot, I'll still need to run the big decisions by you."

Twilight crossed her hooves at this. "Fine. I trust you to do what needs to be done. Though right now, we need to focus on finding Celestia and Luna."

"Agreed. I'll have the guards split up and search the city for clues."

"You might wanna do something about the crowd outside as well," Flash spoke up as he pointed to the hallway they had just gone down. Grand nodded and got to work, the trio all sighing in relief as he left. It was here that Flash decided to tempt fate as he asked, "Seriously, what else could go wrong right now?"

"Your highness!" Another guard cried as he rushed into the room.

"I had to ask."

"Yeah, you did meathead." Twilight grumbled before turning to the guard. "What's wrong?"

"News from Ponyville! It seems the...well, the Everfree Forest appears to be...invading."

"WHAT?!" Flash yelped as Twilight gasped and Spike fainted for a third time.





Ponyville...

Springer wasn't having a good day...night...whichever. First, Flash and Twilight were away, so he had to be in charge of Scootaloo again, which was a task in of itself. But he also had to make sure Iron and Lightning didn't kill each other, while also making sure Ponyville didn't end up being destroyed.

He felt that last job should have been the easiest, but here he was. The sky was split in two, while also being filled with weird clouds that were covered in spikes. The ground was also sprouting dark vines, all that were growing rapidly around the town.

"Steel Paw!" He yelled in his battle form, slicing up the vines along the edge of the forest. And as he kept cutting them down, he looked back at the weeds he just slashed, only to see more and more growing back. "Oh come on! Give me a break...." he muttered as he putt his paws together. "Aura Force!" He then unleashed a beam of energy, the beam vaporizing all of the roots in one go.

"HA! How'd you like that?" His answer came when more roots shot out of the ground, growing even faster than before. "Oh, COME ON!" He then slapped another vine away, "Iron...where are you to help me?! The town's under attack!"





As for Iron Core, he wasn't doing much better.

He had been awoken by the sound of animals rushing around just out outside of his house. The defender then walked out and saw all of them rushing by Fluttershy's cottage, all of them panicking as he then noticed the divided sky. "What the heck?!" he yelped before seeing a series of vines fly out of the ground. "Oh no!" he gasped as he pulled out Piecemaker and started doing some extreme weed whacking.

As he did this, he heard Fluttershy scream, "Iron!" She rushed over to her door, which was tricky considering how jam packed the place was with animals, and opened it up. "Get in! Quickly!"

"No! You and your animals need to get out of here! You'll eventually be trapped if you don't."

"But where can we go?"

"Get into town. At least you won't be alone there. I'll try and clear you a path." Fluttershy nodded before moving back in to inform her animal friends. As she did this, Iron pointed his Celestic Gear at the weeds. "Iron Force!" The metal laced tornado shot out the weapon, drilling through the invading foliage until a path towards town was cleared. "NOW!"

Fluttershy's door banged open before she and her many animals rushed outside. The creatures quickly made their way down the makeshifit path, Iron using Iron Saber to cut down anymore plants that tried to attack. As he did this, they soon got into town, Iron staying behind to destroy the last of the vines. And when he sliced the last one, he let out a growl, "What the heck is going on?! And why do I get the feeling Sentry will know?!"





Meanwhile...

Lightning was in the town center, having been awakened by the commotion, causing him to rush outside. "What's going on?" he asked as he looked up at the sky, now seeing both the sun and moon.

"Oh no you don't!" said another voice, which he turned to and saw Rainbow trying to chase off one of the strange clouds. "This is Ponyville territory, and we aren't due for rain until after the Summer Sun Celebration! You Everfree clouds need to just head on back to where you belong!" With that, she bum-rushed the cloud, only to bounce off like a ragdoll. The impact made her go sailing towards the ground, her hooves barely stopping her from crash landing. "Whoa!"

Lightning rat up to her with his horn flaring. "I got this!" With that, he unleashed a bolt of lightning at the cloud. Usually, this would cause the cloud to disperse, but this time, the cloud absorbed the bolt, causing it get bigger. "What the-"

KA-BOOM!

"WHOA!" The duo both yelped as they barely dodged a bolt from the cloud. Rainbow then glared at Lightning as she grumbled, "Nice one."

"How was I supposed to know it would do that?" Lightning growled back, only for his face to suddenly scrunch up. He then looked up, soon seeing his horn sparking, "What the-ah!" The next thing he knew, bolts of lightning shot out of his horn, blasting the streets.

"HEY!" Rainbow yelped as she took to the air. "What are you doing?!"

"I don't know!" Lightning cried as he closed his eyes, sweat now appearing on his face as he started to turn off his horn. "Ugghh….come on." It was here that the horn stopped glowing, causing him to moan, "Okay...that hurt. What is up with my magic?"

"I don't think its just your magic," Rainbow commented before pointing to something. Lightning followed her gaze and then went wide-eyed.

"Waahh! HELP!" A certain unicorn was yelling as five puppets were chasing him. It was Wild Smile, who's horn was also sparking. "Stop it buddies! Stop it!"

And as he ran up to Lightning, a pink blur suddenly shot out of nowhere with a large sack in hoof, scooping all five in one go. "Gotcha!" she said as she tied up the bag. "Sorry buddies, but its for your own good."

Wild breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Pinks."

"No problem," Pinkie replied with a half-salute.

"What the heck just happened?" Rainbow asked next.

"I don't know," Wild replied as he pointed at the bag. "They just...I don't know, lost control of themselves. They don't even know why."

"I get the feeling it has something to do with the weather and these weird plants," Lightning commented as he pointed a series of vines down the street. It was in that moment that the door of Rarity's shop flew open before she and her sister rushed outside while being chased by a floating curtain. "This is gonna be my whole day, isn't it?"





Back in Canterlot, Twilight had just ran out of the castle with Flash and Spike on her tail.

"Twilight! You need to slow down!" Flash called out.

"We can't!" Twilight screamed back, "the Everfree Forest is...'invading'. Whatever is going on, I'm sure we're going to need our friends and the Elements of Harmony to stop it!" She then past over a bridge as she came to a slight stop. "I just hope we haven't missed the train."

"Twilight!" A panting Spike said next as he ran up to her. "There is another way for us to get to Ponyville, remember?"

"There is?" Twilight pulled herself to a full stop in the middle of the bridge, causing Spike to crash into her side and almost bounce into the river before grabbing Twilight's wing.

"You can fly!"

Twilight's eyes went wide at this, "Oh...right."

Flash facehoofed before grabbing Spike and putting him on his back. "Come on, time's a wasting."

"Right...yeah." Twilight replied before shakily flapping her wings. "Synchronised wing beats, gotta remember that." she muttered to herself as she began to raise her wings up.

"Well, if anything, at least this'll give you plenty of practice." Flash then took to the air, motioning Twilight to follow, "Come on, we need to get going."

"Wait!" Twilight cried as she started flapping her wings, slowly taking to the air. "This is...really hard!"

Flash then went up to her and pulled her slightly up, "You'll be fine. Just try to keep your balance as much as possible."

"Okay..."

With that, the two began to make their way home to Ponyville...or what was left of it. The regular trip between the two in terms of a pegasi going at full-speed would be a half-hour trip. However, Flash couldn't go at full speed with Twilight being just a rookie flyer. As such, the trio took twice as long as they slowly made their way to Ponyville, avoiding the clouds as they got there.

And as the town came into view and their treehouse home was getting closer, they all saw how the Everfree Forest was slowly enveloping the town. Spike let out a glum sigh at this, "This is horrible."

"I agree Spike. That' why we need to get the Elements of Harmony and find the others now!"

Flash nodded in agreement. "Hopefully, we can find a way to stop this before its too late." Seeing the library coming up fast, Flash began to pull himself to a stop, only for something to click in his brain, "Uh-oh."

"What?" Spike asked as Twilight turned to him.

Flash looked at Twilight with an apologetic frown. "I just remembered something...me and Rainbow uh...well, we never got to teaching you how to do a high speed landing."

Twilight's eyes went wide as she turned back to the library, which she was seconds away from crashing into, before letting out a scream of terror.





Inside the library, we find Flash and Twilight's friends searching through every single book they could get their hooves on. However, nothing they read told them of a way to undo the forest's accelerated growth.

"Find anything?" Springer asked as he threw away another book.

"Not yet," Scootaloo replied as she and the crusaders were helping search.

"Nothing," Rainbow added.

"One of these has gotta tell us what ta do," Applejack grumbled as she started on her fourth book. Her entire farm was now covered in the weeds while Fluttershy's animals had taken refuge in the park.

"Oh...I hope we find something soon." the yellow pegasi moaned as she flipped through a fifth book. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

It was then that Wild stopped his search and looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Do you all hear that?" The others turned to him before lifting their ears.

"I don't hear-" Rainbow tried to say, only to stop at the sound of a screaming voice.

"aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

They all turned to the source of the scream and looked out the window, allowing them to see a purple comet heading straight for the building. Seconds before the meteor hit, it was suddenly enveloped by a bright flash, only to reappear inside the room to reveal a very frazzled and completely crash landed Twilight Sparkle.

"AUGH!" She cried as she flew into a bunch of books.

"Oh thank goodness, Twilight's here!" Rarity squealed as she moved over to the pile. Twilight's head then popped out, a book now impaled on her horn.

Fluttershy then walked up to the pile "Oh, um...I hope you know we wouldn't normally go through your books without permission. Sorry Twilight."

The library's door then opened as both Flash and Spike ran inside. "Twilight, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Twilight replied before pulling herself out of the pile. "Ow...stupid flying."

"Sorry about that." Flash added as he helped her up before turning to the others. "You all okay?"

In this moment, Pinkie stepped up next to Rarity. "I dunno if you've noticed, but the Everfree Forest is just a teeny-tiny bit out of control." In that moment, her tail twitched before she ducked down. Barely a millisecond later, a large black thorny branch shot in through the window and slammed Rarity to the side.

"I'd call this way more than out of control," Springer commented before he and Iron started cutting the branch off.

"Its gone completely nuts!" The apprentice knight told them as they severed the corrupted wood.

"Guess it turned out you were missin' something here in Ponyville after all," Applejack added as she shut the window to prevent the branch from getting back in.

Rarity, still reeling from her previous assault, picked herself up with Sweetie's help and looked over at the princess. "But perhaps you already know what's causing all of this calamity." She gave the three newcomers a hopeful look. "Has Princess Celestia sent you to dispel it posthaste?"

Twilight, Flash and Spike all glanced at each other with worry before Twilight replied, "Not exactly. You see, Princess Celestia is, well...she and Princess Luna are both..."

"MISSING!" Spike screamed before slapping his claws over his mouth.

Flash rolled his eyes as the others all gasped. "Way to break it to them gently." He turned to the others. "Look, this madness is happening all over Equestria and its not gonna get any better until we find Celestia and Luna."

Twilight nodded before turning to the case that contained Equestria's greatest weapons. "Flash is right. I don't know who has taken them, but I've got a hunch we're going to need the Elements of Harmony to get them back." With that, she removed the lid and lifted the elements before putting them around their bearers necks, or in Flash's case, on his head.

"Aw yeah!" Rainbow cheered. "Just like old times."

"A-boo-yah!" Pinkie cheered as she and Twilight hoof pumped.

Applejack smiled at Twilight as she placed her hoof on her shoulder. "I told ya we'd always be connected by the Elements. Now we just gotta figure out who to aim these bad boys at so we can get Celestia and Luna back and keep the rest of Equestria from becoming plant food!" A dark weed suddenly found its way into the library, only to get stomped on by the speaking pony. "Any ideas?"

"Hmm..." Twilight replied as she rubbed her chin in thought. "I'm not sure."

"I haven't found squat in any of the books I've been looking through!" They all turned to Pinkie, who was actually looking at a coloring book with a crayon next to her. "Oopsies! Missed a spot!"

Flash just shook his head and let out a moan, "Pinkie, please focus."

Twilight looked out the window, going over everything that had happened so far. "Half day, half night...strange weather patterns...out of control plants. I think I'm starting to get a pretty good idea of who we're up against."

Iron shined a big grin at this. "Great. Give me a name and I'll pound him into next week."

"And then I'll zap him into the next one," Lightning added.

"No. Who I'm suspecting is too dangerous for anypony other than the Element wielders." She turned towards the door and headed outside. "Come on, I have an idea." The others quickly followed, even the crusaders until they suddenly felt their tails getting pinned.

"Hey!" They all said before looking up at the one pinning them. "Flash! We wanna help!"

"You can help by staying out of trouble," Flash replied as he pointed at the house's main room. "You three stay in here and don't leave unless absolutely necessary."

"He's right sugarcube," Applejack told her sister.

"You three will be safe here," Rarity added.

Flash turned to Lightning. "Stay and watch over them."

"What?!" Why me?!" Lightning yelped as he pointed at the trio. "What, don't trust me enough to help out?!"

Flash leaned up to him with a flat glare, "I'm trusting you with my sister's life. That's a lot of trust from me." He then turned to the door, "Also, if anything happens, I'll need you to teleport them out of here."

Lightning let out a long sigh, seeing he wasn't escaping this. "Fine. But when I took this gig, I didn't think it'd include foalsitting detail."

"Call it part of your probation period," Flash joked as he followed his friends outside.

Lightning then turned to the three fillies, all of them slightly cowering at his presence. That is, till he asked, "So...read any good books lately?"





Twilight lead the group to the edge of town, mainly to a spot that had yet to be completely overrun.

"Alright, let's do this." She turned to the others as they all got in a circle, Iron, Wild, Spike and Springer watching from the side. They all closed their eyes and concentrated, causing their seven Elements to glow before they were lifted into the air. From the Element of Magic, a flowing rainbow flew out and bounced from one Element to the other before eventually connecting into a circle. The Elements then unleashed a burst of color, which spiraled into a tornado. No sooner had it formed, it faded to reveal one creature of chaos...currently in a bathtub.

"Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap-ooh!" Discord laughed as he continued to scrub himself clean. He then stopped singing when he realized what had happened, causing him to cover himself with his towel. He then stepped out of the shower, making it disappear. "Now Twilight, you know Princess Celestia said that you were to give me a heads up before you summon me with that little spell she gave you. In case you haven't noticed, I was in the middle of a particularly invigorating shower."

"Please let this guy be the culprit," Springer moaned as they watched Discord snap his claws, instantly drying himself.

Iron nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Anything to turn him back to stone."

"Oh come now Iron," Discord said as a halo appeared over his head. "Can't you let bygones be bygones?"

"Enough!" Twilight yelled, getting Discord's attention before he could provoke Iron. "Release Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and stop the Everfree Forest from invading!" In that moment, one of the black weeds wrapped around the alicorn.

But in a flash, it was replaced by the master of chaos. "Why, whatever are you talking about?"

"Don't you play dumb with us Discord!" Applejack growled as she pointed at the vines around them, "We know you're the one behind all of this!"

Flash nodded at this. "Who else could, scratch that, would cause something as crazy as all of this if its not you?!"

Discord unwrapped himself from around Twilight before disappearing, then reappeared on a nearby rooftop to overlook the town. "Don't get me wrong," he pulled out a camera and started snapping photos. "I absolutely love what you've done with the place, but I couldn't possibly take responsibility." He then moved over to Fluttershy, the halo returning. "I'm reformed, don't you remember?"

Rainbow flew up to him next, tapping his chest, "Yeah, right! This has got your cloven hoofprints all over it!"

Discord let out a pout at this. "I'll have you know that I have only one cloven hoof." To show his point, he detached his leg, the leg then booting Rainbow's flank before he teleported again. "My my, such accusations. And here I thought we were friends." He then turned back to them with giant puppy dog eyes.

"Drop the act buster!" Pinkie told him as she snarled. "We're onto you!"

Wild nodded. "After what you pulled the last few times you showed your face, we'd have to be crazy to believe you."

"Ponies, ponies," Discord once again gave an innocent face, now summoning a wooden sign that said 'Please believe me'. "I'm innocent. Would I lie to you?"

"YES!" Everypony replied in unison.

"Um....maybe." Fluttershy chimed in.

Discord stared at each other the ponies before sighing. "Well then, it seems we've reached an impasse. I'm telling the truth, but you think I'm lying. What do friends like us do in a situation like this?" he then moved over and poked Twilight on the nose, "How about it Princess Twilight? Oh, and congrats on the promotion. You totally deserve it."

"I say we blast him back to stone!" Rainbow said next.

"Works for me!" Applejack agreed.

"Hear, hear!" Rarity added.

"Lock and load," Flash told them as their Elements started to glow.

"Wait!" Fluttershy said as she flew between them and Discord, "We can't do that! What if he really is telling the truth?"

"Who cares?" Iron asked, only to get a powered down stare from the pegasus.

"Well, finally! Somepony willing to give me the benefit of the doubt." Discord grabbed Rainbow, seemingly mistaking her for the one he was talking about. "The rest of you could learn a lot about friendship from my dear friend Shutterfly here."

"Um...its Fluttershy. And that's not me."

Discord looked between her and Rainbow before tossing the blue pegasus away. "Oh, right." he pulled her into a hug, "Whatever..."

"All right then..." Twilight stepped up to Discord, steam blasting out of her nostrils. "If you're not the one responsible, then help us figure out who is!"

Flash nodded at this. "Yeah! Can't you make some kind of Celestia detector or something?"

Discord gasped, causing him to drop Fluttershy as he glared at Flash. "What kind of creepy stalker do you take me for?" He crossed his arms and looked away. "I may not enjoy following rules, but I do have standards you know."

"How convenient for you."

"Besides, after all the hoof pointing and besmirching of my good name, I just don't know if I'm up to it." He grabbed a nearby weed and started knitting it, causing Twilight to growl in frustration. "Why don't you ask your zebra friend if she knows anything?" To show his point, he knitted an arrow that pointed towards the forest. Everypony turned in that direction, soon seeing said zebra friend walking out of the forest while carrying a large pack pulling a cart.

"Zecora!" Twilight cried as they ran up to her, Fluttershy and Rainbow picking up her pack while Pinkie and Applejack removed her cart.

"You alright?" Flash asked.

Zecora panted as she replied. "From my home, I have had to flee! The forest has grown too wild, even for me!"

"Any idea why all this is happenin'?" Applejack asked, only for a weed to try and nab her hat.

"I'm afraid it is a mystery to me as well," she then turned to her cart. "But I may have something that, if combined with a spell." She pulled out a bottle, filled with a purple liquid that Flash recognized.

"No way! You have that?!"

"You know what that is?" Twilight asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Flash nodded again. "Yeah! Remember when I told you how Princess Celestia helped me learn about my cutie mark?"

"What are you-wait..." Twilight turned back to the potion, "Are you saying that's the potion Princess Celestia used? The one that lets you see the past?"

"Is it?" Flash asked, getting a nod from Zecora.

"That's perfect," Springer cheered, "Please tell me when can use it to see where the princesses have gone too."

"Indeed. Though I do not dare to use it myself," Zecora commented as she held the bottle to Twilight. "The results would be tragic, it only responds to Alicorn magic." She and everypony else turned to Twilight, quickly realizing what she had to do. "Princess Twilight, you can turn the potion from purple to white. After a sip, you may see why the sky is day and night."

Twilight nodded before turning to the bottle, soon sparking her horn as she let out several strained noises. Eventually, the white potion turned purple as her magic took hold of the potion.

"Oooh!" Pinkie gasped.

"Cool," Wild added.

Twilight took the potion in her magic before turning to Flash. "Now what?"

"Just drink it while thinking about what you want to see. That's what Celestia told me to do." He then crossed his hooves as a serious expression took over his face, "One warning though, you can only watch what happens, nothing else. Remember that."

Twilight nodded before taking a large gulp of the potion. Once she was done, she licked her lip and waited for several seconds. "Doesn't seem to be worki-" She didn't finish, as in that moment, she saw nothing but white.





"ing-huh?" Twilight gasped as her eyes went back to normal. She then blinked several times, soon spinning around as she saw she was no longer in Ponyville. Instead, her eyes were now looking at a castle, and she was in the throne room. Behind her were two thrones, one blue while the other was colored yellow and white. "What the-where am I? Is this really the past?"

"Not. Another. Step." yelled another voice, startling Twilight. She then turned around to see Princess Luna walk out from behind the blue throne, a look of pure anger on her face.

Twilight backpedaled at the sight as she asked, "Princess Luna! What's wrong? Why do you look so-"

"LUNA! Stop this madness at once!" screamed yet another voice, causing Twilight to hop in place. She then turned around again, this time seeing Princess Celestia enter the room. She was glaring up at Luna, a cold stare in her eyes as she continued to talk, "You must lower the moon Luna. It is your duty!"

"Princess Celestia…" Twilight whispered as she looked back at Luna, seeing the moon princess's face suddenly contort. Her expression still showed anger, but also...pain. This sight alone made Twilight go wide-eyed as something clicked in her brain. "Oh no. Don't tell me this is when-"

"DUTY?! Don't speak of such things to me!" Luna screeched back as she lifted her hooves up, only to slam them into a terrace. The blow caused the floor and wall behind her to crack, so breaking to reveal the sky. However, this time, the sun in the sky was now covered by the moon. Luna then pointed to the moon behind her, tears now dripping down her face, "I am done following your orders sister! I am done listening to you!"

Luna let out a mighty roar, her horn flaring as she shot a beam of magic at Celestia. The white alicorn then flared her own horn, quickly creating a barrier that nullified the attack. And as it disappeared, Celestia let out a small sigh, "Luna, please listen to me! You must lower the moon! I don't know why you're doing this, but-"

"WHY?! YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHY I'M DOING THIS?!" Luna interrupted, slamming her hooves down again as tears burst over her face. She then lowered her head, her chin almost touching the floor as she hissed, "Even now, you don't care. You don't care about me...about them...about anything!" She raised her head back up, her eyes slitting as she growled, "They're all gone sister! All of them!" The princess then rested a hoof on her head as she panted out, "I...I don't know who they are....but they're all gone! I know they're all gone and you don't care!!! You don't care at all!"

"They're all gone?" Twilight repeated, blinking at the now shivering Princess of the Night before turning to the Past Celestia, "I don't understand. If this is the past, I thought for sure this was when Luna-"

"Who is gone Luna?" Celestia asked next, causing Twilight to stop talking to herself as she noticed the anger on Celestia's face was now gone. Instead, it showed one that was trying to show nothing but kindness, "I don't understand Luna. Please...just tell me what happened. If you could just tell me what happened at your other place, maybe-"

"NO! You don't care!" Luna screamed back, causing both Twilight and Celestia to flinch. She then put both hooves to the sides of her head, her head now shaking back and forth as she repeated, "You don't care...you don't care...you don't care!"

"I do care about you Luna! I-"

"No you don't! All you care about is getting praised by others while I suffer! They're all gone Celestia, and I don't know who they even were! I CAN'T REMEMBER! I can't...remember...and you...don't care. You don't care and...I don't....you don't...I...I...RRAAAUUUGGHHHH!!!" And as this scream rattled through the room, Twilight and Celestia both backpedaled as darkness began to swirl around the Princess of the Night, soon consuming her completely. The darkness fully enveloped her, changing her form into one that Twilight was very familiar with. This form was adorned with light blue helmet on her head and metal shoes for her hooves.

"I...am now Nightmare Moon." she declared as her horn began to flare again, "And I will no longer let your precious sun sit upon the sky. Now, the night will reign supreme! The night....shall last forever!"
> The Tree of Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having lived with Twilight for over ten years, Flash had seen her in multiple emotional states. Happy, sad, annoyed, super caffeinated after that one time with coffee as a filly, angry, really angry, extremely angry, apocalyptically angry and turning into a rage-induced hair on fire pony kind of angry.

But he had never ever seen her in the kind of state she was in now. She was just standing there, her eyes glowing while mumbling something under her breath. He saw a small sob or two, and what looked like...confusion on her face. It was here that Springer nudged him and asked, "What's happening to her?"

"I...I'm not sure." Flash replied as he crossed his hooves at the sight, "I mean, I know the potion can't affect her, but...whatever she's seeing, it must be something bad. I've never seen her sob like that."

Rarity just sighed at this. "I just hope that whatever she's seeing will help us locate the princesses."

"We all do Rarity," Applejack added.

It was here that Twilight shuddered on the spot, her eyes now no longer glowing. After rubbing one of them with her hoof, she looked over at her friends and saw faces of confusion, "Um...why are you all looking at me like that?"

Everypony shared a glance, then turned to her. "It's just...you were mumblin' to yourself."

"Ooh!" Pinkie butted in, "and don't forget the weird sobbing!"

"We were really worried about you," Fluttershy added.

Flash then stepped up to her, "Are you okay? Was it something bad?"

Twilight shook her head, "I'm fine. Just a...well, a little frazzled after what I saw."

"I for one, found it delightful!" Discord cheered as everypony frowned at his comment, "It was a sort of...one-pony theater piece, if you will." He then warped over to Twilight and held up a poster, showing a moving image of the alicorn sobbing, "You should really consider taking it on the road."

"Not now," Flash told him before using Lightbringer to shred the poster.

Discord let out a huff. "Must you stifle my creative muse wherever you go?"

"Yes."

"Tch...party pooper, no cake for you."

The ponies, jakhowl and dragon all rolled their eyes at his antics before looking back at Twilight, Rainbow then asking, "So, did you find out whose rump we need to kick and where we can find them?"

Twilight shook her head again. "No. All I saw was something from a long time ago."

"What was it?"

"I...I saw when Celestia banished Luna to the moon." Twilight then looked away, "Its probably why you saw me crying. For a second there, I forgot I was in the past and...well, the battle wasn't the most pleasant thing to look at."

Her friends all frowned at this, Wild tilting his head in confusion as he asked, "But...why'd you see that?"

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought at this. "I'm not sure. Maybe I wasn't focusing enough on the time I wanted to see, and too much on who I wanted to see. That could be why I ended up seeing something other than the event I was looking for."

Springer thought about what Twilight said, then his eyes drifted up to her crown. "Or maybe the Elements affected the potion."

Twilight and everypony else looked at their Elements. "I guess that's a possibility. Maybe the Elements know what's going on and are trying to show us."

Zecora took the moment to step up to her with the potion again. "Perhaps farther back still are the answers you seek. Another sip of the potion will give you a peek."

Twilight took the potion in her magic again, looking at it in worry as Spike spoke up, "You sure about this?"

Flash saw the doubt in her eyes, causing him to step up next to her. "Maybe I should take the potion with you. That way, you won't have to see whatever horror you see alone."

Twilight smiled at Flash before nodding. "Thanks." With that, she took another sip while Flash did the same. Flash just hoped he did end up seeing the same thing as her, but figured if the Elements were causing their visions, then he would.

"Oh goody!" he heard Discord say as he drank, "I do hope they break into a song this time!"

Once the two finished drinking, they waited several seconds until their eyes flashed. Twilight's going white while Flash's sparked gold for a brief second before changing to match Twilight's. From the two's perspective, it looked like everything turned white before quickly changing back to normal. Scratch that, normal was the furthest thing from what they saw when the light died down. "Oh great, I know what this is." Flash grumbled as he saw several fish swimming in midair right in front of him. "We're gonna watch me and Springer get beat up again, aren't we? Blast it, why did Discord talk before we drank that?! It just messed this whole thing up!"

"Actually...I don't think it messed up Flash. Look!" Twilight pointed at three figures just over a hill, Flash following her gaze. It was here they saw that they were in a world similar to the one Discord had created when they had first fought him. The difference here was that Discord was sitting on a throne, only to see that Celestia and Luna were also there.

"Huh. I guess this is different." Flash commented as they watched the scene play out.

On the hill away from them, Discord spun around in his chair to face Celestia and Luna, laughing as he did. "Oh, this is so much fun." He then pulled out a familiar looking tail. "How about a game of 'Pin the Tail on the Pony'?"

Celestia's eyes went wide before she looked back to see her tail was missing, causing her to gasp. She then turned back to shoot the draconequus a dirty look. "Play time is over for you, Discord."

"Oh, I doubt that," Discord replied as he pulled out a bag filled with strange black balls. He started munching on the spheres before offering them to the alicorns. "Hungry?" He asked as several of the balls flew out and bounced off the mare's heads. Seeing Celestia and Luna were not interested, Discord continued to eat while spilling more on the ground. "Suit yourselves."

It was in that moment that the saddlebags that the two were carrying opened, six familiar jewels levitating out soon after.

"Are those..."

"Oh!" Discord gasped as he dropped his bag on the floor. "What have you got there?"

"The Elements of Harmony," Celestia firmly replied as The Elements began to spiral around her and Luna, creating a magic bubble of light.

"With them, we shall defeat you." Luna continued.

Twilight gasped at this. "This must be when they turned Discord into stone!"

"Of all the times to not have my camera," Flash added with crossed hooves.

It was here that Discord began to laugh. "You should see yourselves right now. The expressions on your face. So intense, so sure of yourselves." Celestia and Luna didn't seem wavered by this and placed their horns together. Doing so unleashed a blinding rainbow spiral, which flew up into the sky before arching back down towards Discord. "Hilarious!" Discord continued only for the rainbow beam to hit him, instantly turning him into stone, a prison he would live in for a thousand years.

But before Twilight and Flash could say anything, their vision was suddenly filled again by light. It quickly faded a second later, now transporting them to a new place. This one was a cave, where Twilight let out a loud gasp, causing Flash to turn and see a giant tree. It looked like it was made of crystal, and had five branches, each leading to a circular bed that held each one of the Elements. Flash and Twilight shared a confused glance as they stared at the tree, only for Celestia and Luna to appear.

Luna let out a gasp, "This is...the Tree of Harmony."

"The Tree of Harmony?" Twilight repeated, blinking at the sight.

"I think I might have missed this history lesson," Flash said as he turned to her. "Since when was there a Tree of Harmony?"

Twilight shrugged before taking a closer look at the tree, seeing that the trunk had a mark representing the sun, moon and- "My cutie mark." In the very center of the tree was a large star pattern that looked just like the one on her flank.

"This is too weird."

They then watched Celestia fly up to the tree and fire a spell at the star shape, causing it to glow before she turned to Luna. "Are you sure?" The princess of the moon asked as she flew up to her sister.

Celestia nodded at this. "We have managed to discover the only means by which we can defeat Discord and free the citizens of Equestria." She then magically removed the five revealed Elements, bringing them to her sister. "Even without these elements, the Tree of Harmony will possess a powerful magic. As long as that magic remains, it will continue to control and contain all that grows here."

As soon as the last Element was removed, the star shape began to open up. Flash and Twilight were expecting to see her Element, but were surprised when it instead revealed an empty slot. Not only that, it was shaped like a shield. The sight made Twilight gasp, soon pointing at the crystal on Flash's helmet. "Flash, that's-"

"What is this?" Luna interrupted while pointing at the tree.

Celestia hummed at the sight. "Legends speaks of a seventh Element, which will one day be forged when it is needed. I suspect that it will probably act as the guardian of magic, and help increase the power it and the other Elements wield." She placed a hoof on the groove. "It appears that this is where it will one day sit, protecting the magic so it might become strong enough to be without it."

No sooner had she said those words that the slot opened up to reveal the Element they were looking for. It quickly joined its siblings, spinning around the two alicorns as they glowed. No sooner had Twilight and Flash seen this, the world once again turned white. Seconds later, the light faded and the duo found themselves back in Ponyville, both shaking their heads as Spike and Springer rushed up to them.

"So what did you find out?" Spike asked.

"You see where the princesses are?" Springer added.

"No...we didn't."

"But we think we know why the Everfree Forest is acting this way," Twilight continued before turning to the others. "Something's happened to the Tree of Harmony."

This statement was met by nothing but confused glances and raised eyebrows. "The tree of what now?"

"Am I missing something?" Iron asked next.

Wild shook his head. "No. I think we're all in the dark."

Twilight nodded at this. "I'll explain. Its where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna found the Elements, and I think its in danger."

"Which would explain why our Elements wanted to show it to us," Flash added. "Who knows what'll happen to them if it dies."

"Well, all right then!" Applejack declared as she gave a reassuring smile. "Let's go save a...tree." She nervously chuckled before shooting Twilight a confused look. "Uh...where is it exactly?"

Twilight gulped before pointing at the Everfree Forest. "I think its in...there!"

Everypony flinched at seeing this, Discord laughing again. "Ooh-hoo! I'm going to need more popcorn!"

Iron shot the draconequus a dirty look. "Before you leave, can you turn him to stone so I don't have to listen to him? You can undo the spell when you get back."

Twilight let out a sigh as she turned to Iron, "Unfortunately, no. Though uh...could you hold down the fort while we're in there?"

Iron nodded in response. "No problem."

"Then let's get going," Twilight said as she turned and started to walk into the forest.

And as the group of friends made their way into the woods, Flash was reminded of the time almost a year ago when he and the six mares stepped onto this exact same path. He appeared to not be the only one remembering as Rarity spoke up. "Seems like only yesterday we were heading into these woods to find the Elements of Harmony."

Twilight let out a sigh at this. "Yeah...it also seems like only yesterday that I was foolish enough to think I should go after them on my own." She then turned to shoot a smile at her friend. "I don't know what we're going to face in there. But whatever it is, I know we need to face it together." Everypony nodded at this.

Flash let out a chuckle, "Plus, this time we've got Spike and Springer with us."

"You know it," Springer replied while putting his paws behind his head. "Anything shows up, I'll sense it and give you a heads up."

Twilight then looked up at Flash. "You've also got your Celestic Gear this time, so we shouldn't have any problems there either." Flash nodded at this and took the lead, remembering what Celestia had said in the vision. If he was meant to protect the Element of Magic, then that's what he would do.

For the next half hour, they proceeded through the dark forest. They would have been much further in, but Flash kept stopping them every time he heard a sound he didn't recognize. The others agreed with him at first, but after the eighth time Flash stopped due to a cricket chirp, they had had enough.

"Come on Flash!" Rainbow moaned, "I'd have found it by now if we didn't keep stopping!"

"She's right. Time is of the essence darling," Rarity added.

"Better safe than sorry," Flash told them as they spotted a river coming into view.

Twilight spotted several rocks littering the river, making a path they could use to get across. "We can use those to cross," she was about to step up to the first rock, only to feel herself being dragged away by the tail. "Huh?"

"Hang on," Springer said as pulled her to a safe distance. "I'm detecting a hostile aura pattern. I don't think those are rocks."

Everypony raised an eyebrow at this, only for the rocks to start moving. "Everypony, get up in the trees," Flash whispered, the others nodding as they quickly go up there. They waited and watched, only to then see the rocks rise out of the water and reveal that they were actually the humps of a strange creature that looked like Gummy's long lost cousin.

"It's a cragadile," Rarity explained. "Good thing it didn't see us."

"Yeah....nice save bud." Flash replied as he turned to his partner, Springer giving him a thumbs up in response. They waited until the cragadile lost interest in the area and walked off, allowing them to get down and cross the stream. Soon enough, they arrived at an area seven of them recognized.

"Isn't that?"

Twilight nodded. "Yeah. Its the cliff face that collapsed under us the last time we were here." They were currently in the valley below that spot, where Fluttershy had tamed the Manticore. They all looked up at the cliff as Twilight continued, "Its also where Applejack showed off her Element's virtue, which helped me realize what we needed when we used the elements that day."

Applejack blushed at this. "Aw shucks, nothing to it Twi. Couldn't have done it without macho pony up there," she pointed at Flash.

Flash smirked, remembering how he held back a boulder from crushing to two. "Eh, it was no problem back then." He then looked up and spotted a large boulder up above them, close to the edge. "That could be a problem."

Twilight looked up at the boulder and shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Better safe than sorry," Flash said before turning to Rainbow. "We'll fly up and push it away from the edge." She nodded and the two flew up to the boulder before beginning to push it, only to find its weight to be more than they could muster.

Twilight saw their struggle, only for a sigh to follow. "Ugh...this could take a while." She turned to her friends, "Come on, let's get moving while they're doing that."

"Twilight, wait a minute." Applejack tried to say as Flash and Rainbow had finally managed to push the boulder forwards a bit. It was here that they heard Applejack's voice and looked down, seeing the group passing under them. Unfortunately, this distraction was all the boulder needed, causing it to tilt slightly as they stopped pushing for that one second.

And as they did this, the rock rolled back into place, momentum instantly kicking in as it started to roll more and more, until it flew off the edge. "LOOK OUT!" Rainbow screamed as the two pegasi saw the rock move, causing everypony to look up and gasp. The event alone caused them to gasp and start to run back the way they came. That is, till gravity picked up the boulder, causing it to chase the group down hill.

"Come on!" Flash yelled before he and Rainbow flew ahead of the boulder and tried to stop it, only for its weight and speed to start pushing them back. "Not good...we're not..." he tried to say as his hooves grinded with the ground, only to look back and see that the forest was coming up. "Oh shoot! Move!" He and Rainbow jumped away immediately, dodging the rock as it crushed the trees a second later.

"Now what do we do?!" Rainbow yelped.





Meanwhile...

Twilight, along with the rest of the group, were now running from the boulder. As they did this, they all split up, only for Twilight and Spike to still be running away while the others successfully dodged the rock. And as they did this, the two soon found themselves coming to a halt in front of a large stone wall. "Oh no..."

"Can't you destroy that thing?!" Spike yelled as he pointed at the incoming boulder.

"I can try," Twilight replied before turning her horn towards the rock. She then fired off a magical blast, only for it to hit the rock...and bounce off. Twilight's eyes went wide at this, her ears dropping as she reflexively started flapping her wings, only to fall into the dirt immediately. "Oh boy, that's not good."

Spike watched the boulder get closer and closer, then grabbed hold of Twilight. "DO SOMETHING! NOW!"





At the same time, Flash and Rainbow were still chasing the tumbling rock, only to see Twilight and Spike huddled up to the stone wall. "NO!" Flash yelped as he flared his wings, darting forward as fast as he could go.

But it was too late.

SMASH!

The rock shattered against the stone wall, sending fragments everywhere. Flash and Rainbow both gasped at the sight, soon landing as Flash cried, "Twilight! Spike!" The rest of their friends arrived at this moment, quickly putting the pieces together and all gasping as Flash called out again, "Twilight?!"

"Up here."

Everypony looked up and saw Twilight and Spike hanging on a branch from a nearby tree. A collective sigh of relief followed as Rarity asked, "However did you get up there darling?"

"Teleported," Twilight grumbled as she let go of the branch, her wings flapping as she tried to glide down. But as she did this, they immediately stiffened, causing her to taste dirt a second later. "Ow!"

The others all walked up to them, Fluttershy helping Twilight up, "Are you okay?"

Twilight let out a long moan while Rainbow helped Spike down, Twilight then shaking her head in discomfort, "I'm fine. Just...frustrated." Twilight replied before flexing her wings. "I just can't seem to get these new wings to do what I want them to do when I want them to do it."

Rainbow just waved a hoof at her, "Eh, you'll figure it out eventually."

"Eventually isn't soon enough," Twilight grumbled as she folded them back to her side.

Seeing this, Applejack shined a glum frown, "Ya'll have been having an awful lot of trouble with those things. And, well, who knows what else is gonna to come after us? You know...." she came to a stop as she thought about what to say next.

"What?" Springer asked as he, Flash, Twilight and Spike turned to her.

Applejack let out a long sigh. "That maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for Twilight to go back to Ponyville and let us look for the Tree of Harmony without her."

Twilight's eyes went wide, anger now slowly building on her face, "What?! Why?!"

"For starters, ya just about got crushed by a runaway boulder."

Twilight then walked up to the farmer and hissed, "We all did Applejack. It wasn't just after me. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Sure....but uh...well, the rest of us aren't princesses."

"What's that got to do with anything?!"

Applejack just shook her head at this, "Twi....Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are gone," she placed her hoof on Twilight's chest. "If something happened to you, I...I don't think Equestria can risk losing another princess."

"Applejack does make a valid point," Rarity added. "Even if we manage to save the Tree of Harmony, it won't necessarily mean Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will return. Equestria will need somepony to lead in their absence."

The four all glanced at each, sad yet reluctant agreement soon showing on their faces as Springer spoke up, "They've got a point. Maybe you three should go back home. I'll stay with the girls and help them find the tree."

"But Flash and I are the only ones who have seen what the Tree of Harmony looks like."

This time it was Rainbow who countered her argument, "Huge tree, cutie marks on the trunk, probably being attacked by something hideously awful? Yeah, I'm pretty sure we'll know it when we see it."

Twilight's eyes started to water at this comment, causing her to slowly glance at each of her friends, "And...and you think I should just leave because of that?! All of you feel this way?! You really feel like I shouldn't be here?!"

Everypony looked away from her, not wanting to meet her eyes as Fluttershy spoke up. "It is probably for the best."

Twilight then turned to Flash, "Flash....you're with me, right? I have to go with you all!" But the unsure look on his face told her everything. "Not you too..."

Flash sighed at this, his mind now battling between friends and his new duty. "I'm sorry Twilight, but my job is to keep you from out of harm's way. And uh...the best way to do that is...well, its to keep you as far away as possible from any potential danger."

The dam behind Twilight's eyes finally burst, tears flowing down her face as she didn't reply. She had no need to, as her face said it all. Seeing this, Flash and Spike ran after her, leaving the others to continue onwards into the forest.





Back in Ponyville…

"RRAAUUGHHH!!! Will this ever end?!" Iron yelled as he sliced down another set of vines. He had been doing everything he could to stop the Everfree's expansion, Wild now having left him to keep an eye on the Cakes. (He thought this might help him score some brownie points with Pinkie) As such, Iron was working alone as the Ponyville's weed whacker.

Well...almost alone.

As the earth pony spotted a pair of ponies being tangled up by the weeds, he spotted Discord floating above them while filing his claws with...Gummy? "Iron Saber!" He swung his iron blade at the weeds, freeing the duo before they gave their thanks and ran away. Seeing this, Iron turned to the chaos monster, "Hey! Aren't you gonna do something?"

Discord looked down at him with a huge fake grin. "I am doing something. I'm providing emotional support."

"What support?! You're doing nothing!"

"Oh?" Discord then rubbed his chin and hummed for a moment, "Alright...maybe I need to be less subtle." A snap of a claw rang out next, causing him to reappear with four copies of himself, all of them dressed in cheerleader outfits. "Go Iron! You're the pony! Go Iron! You're the pony! Goooooooo, IRON!"

Iron let out a long, hissing eye-rolling groan, "I meant, aren't you gonna do something...useful."

The five Discords all flashed him an identical frown before all but one disappeared, that one holding up a tiny flag with Iron's Cutie Mark on it. "Iron, Iron, he's our stallion. If he can't do it, GREAT!"

"I hate you. I hate you so much." Iron growled as he turned around, Discord sticking his tongue out at him as he did this. And as Iron readied himself to take on another set of vines, he saw a trio come out of the forest, "What the-what are you three doing back here?!"

Discord placed a small 'kick me' sign on Iron's back before looking at three, "Yes, do tell. No luck finding your tree?"

Twilight looked away as she mumbled out, "We uh...ran into some trouble. And my friends decided it would be best if I returned to Ponyville while they continue the search."

"What!? That's ridiculous!" Iron yelped, almost hopping in place.

Flash shook his head, "No, its smart. Equestria needs a leader, and Twilight has to stay safe."

"That's the single dumbest-"

"I'm surprised that Twilight agreed to this plan," Discord interrupted, causing Iron to growl again as the chaos creature appeared in between the defender and the alicorn, "I must say Twilight, I never thought you'd be the kind of pony who would think she was better than everypony else."

Twilight's eyes went wide at this, only to let out a yell, "WHAT?! What are you-I don't think I'm better than anypony!" In response, the draconequus snapped his fingers, causing a royal gown and scepter to appear on the alicorn. "Huh?!"

"Oh my, how silly of me to assume that you would think that. All you did was choose to keep your precious princess self out of harm's way while your friends thrust themselves right into danger." He then pointed at the forest, only for a new of vines to appear. The sight made Twilight toss the scepter and gown away as Discord continued. "I'm sure you'll all be the best of pals again when they return from their terrifying yet deeply bonding experience that they're having without you."

"As much as I hate to agree with him...which I should really not say anything like that ever, Discord's got a point." Iron admitted as he walked around Discord and pointed at the princess, "You all taught me how important it is to work together. Maybe now you should take your own advice."

Twilight blinked at his statement, causing her to turn and stare at the forest. As she did this, Flash walked up to Discord and Iron, "That's enough you two. Twilight's staying here where she's safe. As much as I hate it, I have to put her safety above everything else, and that means keeping her away from anything that could put her in danger."

Discord just chuckled at this, "Well, it seems to me that you're not doing a very good job."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, only to then frown, "She's running back into the forest, isn't she?" Discord and Iron both nodded, causing him to turn and see both disappear into the tree-filled mass. "Of course they are. I'll be right back." Flash flared his wings and took to the sky, quickly flying over the duo before landing just a few feet away. He flashed a hoof as he said, "Stop! Twilight, we talked about this."

Twilight shook her head back, "You talked, I listened, and it was a mistake to do so. I...we, are going back and finding our friends!"

"You know I can't let you do that. Its my duty to-"

"To keep me safe, I know!" Twilight almost yelled. "Well, I don't care. I'm going to help our friends."

Flash just sighed at this, "Twilight, we've done this before. Remember the Wonderbolts Academy incident? You need to-urk!" he yelped as he felt himself being magically lifted and then pinned to a tree.

"No, you listen! If keeping me safe means you'll abandon the rest of our friends, then I don't want you as my personal guard anymore! I told you I didn't want my friends to treat me differently! I thought you of all ponies would understand that!" More tears began to form under her eyes as she said these next words, "But if you can't...then you can stay here where it's safe and I'll go find our friends on my own!"

"Twilight-" Flash tried to speak, only for his mouth to be magically locked shut.

"I get that you want to keep me safe, but I'm not a filly Flash. I'm one of the strongest magical ponies in Equestria, even more now that I'm an alicorn. I'm not gonna break the minute I get into a dangerous situation." She then walked up to the defender, a deadly glare in her eyes, "Now, I'm gonna let your mouth go, and when I do that, your next words better be either to tell me I'm right or to tell me that you're staying here!" Her horn stopped glowing, causing the pegasi to slump down to the ground, "Well?!"

Flash just looked up and stared at the princess, only to let out a long sigh, "Okay...maybe you're right. Maybe I've uh...been taking this whole personal guard thing a bit too far."

"You think?" Twilight asked as she helped him up. "You really are a stupid idiot meathead."

"Yeah...I am." Flash replied as he got up, "But...I still need to make sure you remain safe. So if you're really determined to go back into the forest, then I'm coming with you."

"Good." Twilight patted him on the back as the two looked at the path ahead, "But from now on Flash, I want you to just keep doing what your were doing before I became a princess. I was safe enough like that."

Flash smiled and nodded. "As you command, your majesty."

Twilight rolled her eyes at this, slightly laughing as Spike hopped onto her back before the trio went back into the forest, ready to find their friends.





Back inside the forest...

"Anypony else starting to think this is a lost cause?" Rainbow asked as she and Applejack walked in front of the group. "We're almost at Celestia and Luna's old castle. Maybe whatever Flash and Twilight saw when they took that crazy potion wasn't real. Maybe there's no Tree of Harmony and–"

"Maybe it's right down there!" Applejack called out as she pointed at cave in the distance. They had arrived at a cliff with the river leading to the castle of the two sisters, only for a ton of fog to appear in front of them, complete with a barrage of dark weeds.

Everypony else moved over to the edge as Rainbow gasped. "It can't be!"

Springer closed his eyes and sent out a wave of aura, soon reopening his eyes, "Hmmm...I'm definitely sensing something."

"I see. But...how are we supposed to get to it?" Rarity asked as she stared at the cave, only for her ears to hear a strange noise. She then turned and saw Pinkie with a huge grin, hopping down the cliff. They all blinked at this, soon seeing she was going down several stone steps.

"Ugh!" She moaned as she crash landed on the bottom step, only to pick herself up and yell, "Take the stairs, silly!" They all laughed at this, soon walking down the stone steps. It was then that Springer came to a stop, his paw rubbing his chin as he stared around the area.

Fluttershy quickly saw this in the corner of her eye and turned to the jakhowl, "Springer? What's wrong?"

Springer hummed back, tilting his head in slight discomfort. "I...I don't know. It feels like I've been here before."

Everypony almost hopped in place at this, Rainbow asking, "Wait...seriously? All the way here in the Everfree?"

"I...guess?" Springer replied as he closed his eyes, tapping the side of his head, "I don't know why, but this feels so....familiar."

Everypony all looked at each other in confusion, Applejack then remarking, "Well...ya'll were found in the Everfree Forest, right?"

Springer nodded at this. "I was. Granted, all I really remember from that is the Timberwolf attack and meeting Flash. Before that, all I remember is wandering around. I can't remember anything else, anything important that is." He turned to the cave walls, scanning them with his aura, "But I know this aura...I don't know why, but I know it."

The others all shared another set of confused looks before Applejack spoke up, "We'll have to focus on that later. For now, we've got a tree to save." They all nodded in agreement, soon making their way through the cave.

It was here that they came to a stop, as they found themselves staring at a massive tree inside the cave. It was the Tree of Harmony, only it wasn't the sparkling crystal blue that Flash and Twilight had seen. Now, the crystal was dark gray, and the dark vines were wrapping around it.

"Whoa..." Springer whispered, his eyes just blankly staring at the tree. "This is...the aura of this thing is unreal! Its like...something familiar, yet so much more. I just don't know what."

It was here that Fluttershy got him out of his trance as she gasped at the sight. "I think its dying!"

"So let's save it already!" Applejack shouted as she and Springer ran up to the tree, the pony grabbing a vine and pulling. But as she did, it refused to break, soon lashing her away. "Ack!"

Springer on the other hoof, took his battle form, "Steel Paw!" The metal claws appeared in his paws, soon slashing the vines. But like Applejack, it didn't do a thing, the vines instantly countering him, knocking him back into his regular form.

"Nice try," Rainbow commented as she flew past them. She then spun around, preparing a powerful kick, only for the vines to flick her away too. "Whoa!" She cried as she crashed into the ground. "Oof!"

As Fluttershy and Pinkie helped Applejack and Springer up, Rarity stared at the tree. "Valiant efforts on your parts, but the tree remains in jeopardy."

Applejack turned towards her with a growl. "And I suppose you've got a better idea?" She watched Rarity think for a moment, only to sigh and shake her head. "That's what I thought."

"I know who would know what to do," Fluttershy told them before sighing. "But we sent her home."

Everypony looked down at this, realizing all to late what a massive mistake telling Twilight to leave had been. It was here that Rainbow turned to give Applejack the stink eye. "It was your idea Applejack!"

Applejack just growled back, "We all agreed it was the best thing, Rainbow Dash! We were tryin' to protect her."

"Except she didn't want protecting," Springer spoke up in a glum tone. "I guess we got so caught up in her princess status that we forgot there was a pony under that crown."

Everypony sighed at this, only for their ears to suddenly catch a very strange sound. "Oof! Ow! Ugh!"

They all shared a confused glance before running back to the cave's entrance, only to see Spike falling down the stairs. As he reached the bottom, Applejack managed to catch him in her hooves. "You okay pardner?"

"Ooohhh…" Spike moaned as he blinked rapidly, soon recognizing the farmpony a second later as he gasped, "Twilight! Flash! Trouble! HELP!"





Rewind several minutes...

"Are we there yet?" Spike asked as they trekked through the forest.

"NO!" Twilight yelled as her and Flash both stared at their surroundings, having lost track their way half way through the forest. "Don't ask that again Spike, as I currently don't know where we are. We're lost."

"We'll be okay. We just need to stay calm."

Twilight growled back at Flash. "What we needed to do, was to never leave our friends in the first place! I still can't believe I agreed to that."

Spike and Flash both frowned at her, Spike leaping off her back. "We can't just give up," Spike commenting as he looked up one of the trees, "Maybe if I get up there, I'll be able to spot 'em." With that, he started climbing.

Flash smirked at his enthusiasm, "Did he forget that out of the three of us, he's the only one who can't fly?"

Twilight let out a small giggle, "Eh, maybe he'll get some wings one day."

And as Flash laughed along with her, Flash's ears twitched for a second, soon turning and tackling Twilight as he yelled, "GET DOWN!"

"Eep!" Twilight shrieked as both hit the ground, her eyes now seeing why Flash tackled her. It was a kind of living Venus flytrap that was the same color as the dark weeds, and it had just missed eating Twilight's head. And as they both picked themselves up, two more appeared out of the undergrowth. "What...what are those things?!"

"I'm guessing trouble," Flash replied as he pulled his sword, his eyes already blank as he entered Theta Mode. And as he went to this mode, the flytraps sprayed out a blue mist, causing him to grab Twilight again, hopping back several steps before firing a Flash Cutter. The energy blade sliced one of them half, only for two to appear afterward. "This isn't good."

"Let me try." Twilight yelled as she shot a beam from her horn, instantly destroying both of the flytraps. That is, till three more grew from the ground. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

"Its fine. We can take 'em." Flash added as he shot two more Flash Cutters, "Just keep firing your magic."

"Got it." Twilight said with a nod, soon firing magic like her horn was a machine gun. It wasn't long as they duo started taking down every plant possible. And as they did this, only flytrap slowly grew right behind Twilight, creeping up until it opened its mouth, spraying a blast of mist. "Aaah!" She cried, accidently breathing in the fumes. Doing so caused her to go light headed, her body slightly faltering.

"Twilight!" Flash yelped as he turned to her, only for another flytrap to appear, spraying him as well. Flash began to cough, trying to fight off the toxins. As he did this, a flicker of gold radiated from his eyes as he felt himself begin to recover, only for four more flytraps to appear, all spraying him at full force. "No...I..." he moaned as the spray consumed him. "Twi..."

"Aura Force!" A beam of blue light came from out of the woods, slicing half of the flytraps' heads off. And as they grew back, Flash looked up and, a small smile soon appearing on his face. It was their friends, all here to help.

Applejack was first, pulling out a lasso and wrangling a flytrap near Twilight as she yelled, "Listen here, you rabid rhododendrons! You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!" She, Springer and the other ponies then appeared and all stood together, the flytraps all letting out some kind of war cry in response.

Rainbow pumped her hooves at this as she took to the air. "Up here!" She yelled before riding a blast of wind, causing the plants to get tangled up from the gust.

"Yoo-hoo!" Pinkie bounced around, the flytraps chasing after her, "Come and get me!"

"Don't forget about me!" Rarity added as she did the same, causing the flytrap's vine to tie around Pinkie's. Fluttershy also had one chasing her and quickly got it to wrap itself around a tree, Applejack and Springer doing the same to the last of the evil plants. Eventually, the chain reaction of knots caused them to all be trapped together.

"Ta-da!" Pinkie cheered with confetti coming out of her mane, only for one stray flytrap to shoot out at her. But before it could get close, it was destroyed by an orange and purple laser blast.

Flash and Twilight then picked themselves up, both heaving and panting as Spike and Springer helped them up. "Ah sure am glad ya'll both came looking for us," Applejack told her as she patted her friend's back.

"Not as glad as I am that you found us," Twilight replied.

Flash nodded at this. "Yeah, that was a close one. Thanks."

"No prob," Springer told him as he reverted back to normal. "But why'd you come back?"

"Because even if it's dangerous, splitting up should never be an option." He looked at the others, "sorry I've been ignoring you guys and putting Twilight's safety above yours."

Pinkie just giggled at patted his back, "Its cool mister bodyguard. We get it."

Twilight shook her head, "Even so, I'd rather have things go back to the way they were before I was a princess. With all of us working together."

Everypony nodded at this, Rarity speaking up next, "Actually...the truth is Twilight, we're simply lost without you."

"Yeah," Rainbow added, "Equestria may need its princess-"

"But we need our friends," Fluttershy finished.

Twilight and Flash both smiled as their friends all gathered around and pulled into a hug. "Thanks girls."

Springer then pulled away. "Not to kill the mood, but we've got a tree that probably needs more than some water and sunshine to help it."

The others all nodded before leading Twilight and Flash towards the cave. As soon as Twilight saw the tree, she gasped before flying up to examine it, only to then dodge an attacking vine. It was here she landed back at her friends, an idea now in her head.

Seeing this, Flash knew what to ask, "So? You figure it out?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes. I know how we can save the tree." She then looked down as she continued, "I think...I think we have to give it the Elements of Harmony."

Everypony's eyes went wide at this, Rainbow flying up to the front of the group, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Did you not hear what you just said Twilight?! How are we supposed to protect Equestria if we give up the Elements?!"

"Not only that, how are we meant to rein Discord in if we can't use the Elements to turn him back to stone?" Rarity added.

Applejack then stepped up to the alicorn, "Twilight, the Elements of Harmony...they're what keeps us connected no matter what."

Twilight sighed at this, soon taking off her crown and staring at the jewel. Her eyes glared at the jewel, only to look up and glance at each of her friends as she replied, "You're right about one thing Applejack, the Elements of Harmony did bring us together." her smile then increased as she looked the group over again. "But it isn't the Elements that will keep us connected, its our friendship. And that...well, its more important and more powerful than any magic." Everyone smiled at hearing this, her words now sinking in as continued, "My new role in Equestria may mean I have to take on new responsibilities, and our friendships may be tested, but it will never, ever be broken."

Everypony nodded in agreement. "You're right Twilight. Besides, Equestria survived for a thousand years without the Elements before we found them. Its still got the Royal Knights, the guards, and all the other ponies who are willing to fight to keep it safe."

Twilight nodded back. "You're right. Though remember, I'm not saying that keeping Equestria safe without the Elements will be easy, but it is possible." She turned back towards the tree, "There's no time to lose. Everypony ready?"

"READY!" Her six friends all replied as they stepped up beside her.

Twilight flew up and turned around, her horn glowing as the Elements reacted and were surrounded by the magic aura before flying out of their holsters, up towards Twilight and spinning around her. Twilight's own Element did the same, joining the others as their speed increased. It was in that moment that several dark vines shot out from the tree, aimed straight at Twilight and the Elements. But then, a flash of orange cut them to shreds.

Twilight turned to Flash, who smirked back at her while holding his Celestic Gear. As more vines tried to attack, the pegasus slashed them away, allowing Twilight to put the elements within their rightful place. One by one, the Elements were placed in their slots, the Element of Magic and Courage being the last. Magic was then placed it its slot while Courage floated in front of it, crystals growing out of the sides as it enveloped the Element of Courage like a shield.

With the Elements in place, their magics radiated into the Tree's crystal bark, its color instantly turning back to its shimmering blue. The vines immediately reacted, only to be destroyed as a blinding light blasted out of the tree.

"Whoa!" Flash yelped as they watched the vine destroying magic fly out of the cave and head into the forest. "Here's hoping that spell reaches Ponyville."

"I'm sure it will," Twilight replied as the two landed next to the others. They then turned back to the fully restored tree and spotted two piles of coiled up dark vines. Barely a second later, the vines began to disappear and reveal a pair of alicorns that had been trapped inside. Everypony gasped at seeing Celestia and Luna be freed, the two picking themselves up and walking over to them.

Tears ran down Twilight's face as she threw herself into the two's embrace, the sun and moon princesses returning the hug as Celestia spoke up. "Thank you everypony. We know how difficult it must have been for you all to give up the Elements. It took great courage to relinquish them."

Twilight smiled at the praise as she looked up at the tree, only for her smile to change into confusion. The Elements were all radiating a pulsing glow, which then shot through the trees branches and into the Element of Magic. The Element's glow increased before it went down the trunk, through the sun and moon symbols, and into one of the trees roots. Everypony stepped up to the root as a single dark pink flower sprung out before growing into a giant bulb. Twilight stepped up to the bulb, as if drawn to it like a trance, before reaching out and touching it.

As soon as she did, the bulb sprang apart and bloomed into a flower, which summoned something new. It was a single crystalline chest, which had six sides, each side having a small key hole while a seventh hole could be seen on the very top. Twilight raised an eyebrow at this as Celestia and Luna moved up beside her. "What's inside? How am I supposed to open it?"

"Seven locks, seven keys." Luna noted as she stared it over.

The two then turned to Celestia, who shook her head in response. "I do not know where they are," she then smiled before stepping aside to bring Twilight's friends into view. "But I do know that it is a mystery you will not be solving alone."

"You...you're right. Thank you Princess Celestia." Twilight replied, getting a nod in return. Twilight then turned back to the box one more time before the group began to leave the cave, all ready to go back home.

But as they did this, Luna looked back as well, noticing an odd small groove in the Tree of Harmony. Walking back up to it, she looked it over, blinking as she whispered, "Hmm? This shape...this wasn't here when Celestia and I took the Elements, but it doesn't look recent. Strange..."

"Luna? Are you coming?"

"In a moment sister!" Luna replied back before glancing one more time at the tree, "I don't know, I just don't know..."





A little later...

When the group arrived on the edge of the forest, they were relieved to see that the dark weeds, strange clouds and the half day, half night sky were all gone. Everything was back the way it should be.

"Bravo ponies, bravo!" Discord cheered as banners with crudely drawn faces and streamers appeared. "How ever did you save the day this time? Blast the beastie with your magic necklaces, I presume?" He then came to a stop as he noticed something was missing, causing him to warp onto Applejack's back while dressed as a cowboy. "Say, where are those little trinkets of yours? You know, the ones you use to send me back to my extremely uncomfortable stone prison?"

Applejack sighed before replying, "Gone."

"Gone?" Discord asked in surprise, warping back to normal as an expression that screamed 'evil scheming' appeared on his face, "As in...gone for good gone?!"

Seeing what he was thinking, Fluttershy flew up to him. "But our friendship remains," she then poked him in the chest. "And if you want to remain friends, you'll stop thinking whatever it is you're thinking and help us clean up."

Discord, who had been shrinking in size the entire time this had been happening, let out a large huff. He and his decorations disappeared in a flash as a maid outfit appeared on his body. "Fine. But I don't do windows." With that, he walked off as Flash turned to Fluttershy.

"You go girl," Fluttershy giggled as the two hi-hoofed.

It was here that Applejack spoke up, "One thing ah don't get though. Why did all this happen now?"

"I have no idea," Discord replied nonchalantly. "Those seeds I planted should have sprouted up ages ago."

Hearing this, the group came to halt as Flash yelped, "Discord...you wanna run that by us again?"

Discord smirked at this before pulling out Zecora's potion. "Oh, well....why should I try to explain it when you can see for yourself?"

Twilight snatched the bottle from him before her and Flash both gulped down the last of the drink, their eyes turning white the next second. Once again, they found themselves watching the battle between Discord and the royal sisters.

"Play time is over for you, Discord!"

"Oh, I doubt that," Discord replied as he pulled out a bag filled with strange black balls. He started munching on the spheres before offering them to the alicorns. "Hungry?" He asked as several of the balls flew out and bounced off the mare's heads. Seeing Celestia and Luna were not interested, Discord continued to eat while spilling more on the ground. "Suit yourselves."

It was here that Flash and Twilight's vision followed the spheres go into the ground, only to notice they were now seeds. And as they touched the ground, all of them started to bury themselves.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Flash grumbled before his and Twilight's eyes went white, soon bringing them back to present day.

"See what I mean?" present day Discord said next, getting the duo's attention as they shook off the potion's effects, "Obviously, things didn't go according to my original plan. My plunderseeds should have stolen the magic from the Tree of Harmony and captured Princess Celestia and Princess Luna thousands of moons ago. Alas, it seems the tree had enough magic to keep the seeds from growing up big and strong....until now, that is."

Hearing this, the two began to show scowls on their faces as Twilight yelled, "You realise this is information we could have used HOURS AGO!!"

"And rob you of a valuable lesson about being princess?" Discord asked before moving over to her and grabbing her cheek. "What kind of friend do you think I am?"

Flash shook his head at this before turning to Twilight, "I can go back and get the Elements. I'm sure the tree can last five minutes while we deal with him."

Twilight let out a low growl, "As much as I'm tempted to say yes...I'm gonna let him off this once." Discord's face showed a huge grin, only for her to poke him in the chest. "One last chance Discord. Now go help clean up the town."

"Fine..." Discord mumbled as his grin half-disappeared, soon vanishing after a snap of the claw.

Flash gave a shrug at the sight, "Welp, I think that's settled. Think we should check and make sure everything's in order before heading back to Canterlot?"

"Sounds good to me. Maybe Scootaloo can come this time and spend some more time with my parents. I get the feeling that school's gonna be cancelled tomorrow anyway."

"I guess there's one good thing to come out of all of this," Flash chuckled as he patted Twilight's back.

"I just hope we don't regret giving up the Elements. Who knows what could happen without them."

"We'll be fine. After all, saving Equestria's only required the Elements two times out of six so far. I'm sure we can manage without them." Everypony nodded at this before walking into town. They didn't know what the future entailed, but they knew that no matter what, they could face it together.
> Lightning's Redemption
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

RRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!!!

Lightning's eyes cracked open at the sound of his alarm clock, a low moan following as he reached out to shut off the ringing devil. And as the alarm finished, his hooves stretched out as much as possible, cricks soon popping as he lifted himself out of the bed. A yawn came next as the unicorn fully hopped out, his hooves shifting side to side as he made his way into the kitchen.

There, a unicorn that was already pouring a bowl of cereal looked up at him, "Morning Lightning."

"Morning, morning." five little puppets repeated as they floated around the room.

Lighting's reply was another yawn, his hooves sleepwalking over to a counter as he started pouring a cup of coffee. "Morning Wild," he groaned as he turned around, now seeing a bag next to Wild. "You got a show somewhere today?"

Wild nodded, "Yup. Dodge Junction."

Lightning let out a small snort, "Fun place. If you run into a mare named Jubilee, tell her I said hi."

"Will do. Any idea what you're gonna do today?"

Lightning responded by taking another drink as he sat down at the kitchen table, "Patrol. That and training. Not sure what I'll do after that."

"Maybe Flash will have some work for you," Wild replied as he did one last gulp, both cereal and milk now down his gullet.

"Work?" Lightning asked, blinking. "What work?"

"You haven't been here too long, so you haven't had to do it yet. You see, Flash sometimes has himself, Springer and Iron help out around the town. They mainly do some odd jobs, or just help out with whatever is needed to keep the town going." Wild then hopped off his chair and started to put the bowl away, "Now that you're here, he'll likely have you doing it too."

Lightning raised both eyebrows at this. "You're pulling my leg, right? We're supposed to be protectors of the town, not handyponies."

Wild just shrugged at this. "You'll have to ask him yourself."

"Great...that sounds lovely." Lightning moaned as he leaned back in the chair, "First foalsitting and now this? What, am I gonna be painting houses or something?! Tch, maybe Sentry suggested this job because he saw it as an excuse to get payback for all the times I mocked him...." The unicorn slumped down, his chin almost touching the table, "Then again, I did do that for a whole lotta years..."

"Flash doesn't seem like the kind of pony who'd do that Lightning. Well, at least to what I've seen being here in Ponyville." Wild then put his bag on his back, "Anyways, time for me to get out of here. Gonna grab myself a snack from Sugarcube Corner before heading to the train station."

Lightning chuckled at this. "You mean you're gonna go have one last makeout session with your marefriend before leaving."

Hearing this, Wild's face went completely red. "We do NOT have makeout sessions."

"Do not, do not."

"Oh yeah? I noticed you didn't deny her being you're marefriend." He then burst out laughing as Wild's face got even redder, "See? Told ya!"

"Shut up," Wild growled before gesturing to his puppets. "Come on buddies, we're leaving."

"Just make sure you don't lose track of time while kissing her. You don't wanna miss your train!"

"SHUT UP!" This was followed by a door slam, the sound almost making the entire room shake. Lightning just chuckled some more, quickly finishing his coffee before returning to his room. There, he grabbed his bag of knives and headphones, ready to go to work.

The unicorn then stepped outside, his smile immediately vanishing as he did. In the first few days he was in Ponyville, he quickly learned that if ponies saw him smiling, they would stare at him suspiciously. An assumption soon entered his brain from there, making him think that ponies were thinking he was up to something bad because he looked happy. Because of this, a sigh followed as he started his patrol.

As for the patrol, Flash and Springer used to patrol the whole town in the mornings, which required them to get up at the crack of dawn and do only morning training. When Iron joined the team, they split the town up, allowing an extra hour of sleep and more time for training. However, now that Lightning was working with them and had memorized the town's layout, (Which Flash was truly glad that Lightning understood directions so much better than Iron) the town had been split into three for them to patrol, allowing more training and sleep.

Flash and Springer were on air support, flying around the edges of the town, along with any nearby areas. This left Iron and Lighting to patrol the inner parts of the town, checking anything and everything. Lightning had been given the more suburban part of the town, with only a few stores here and there that he would need to check.

The only problem was that most of the ponies didn't want to interact with Lightning. This was mainly due to most of them had close friends and family in Canterlot during his attempted coup. And while some ponies had been willing to forgive him and grant him a chance, most chose to ignore his presence unless he talked to them directly.

Lightning had quickly picked up on who those ponies were, but couldn't blame them for thinking that. Because of this, all of his patrols were quite standard. He would walk around, keeping an eye out from problems, and nine times out of ten, there was nothing to do. The most action he got that morning was when some foals were playing with a ball and accidently kicked it too hard, causing it to roll over to Lightning and he kicked it back.

"Thank you!" One of them cried before they all ran off, leaving Lightning with a quick smile that instantly faded. He then finished his patrol as the sun finished lifting itself into the air, meaning it was time to do some training. Getting to the training grounds was an easy feat, especially considering he had left a dagger there for instant teleportation.

He knew from their meeting yesterday that they would be meeting at the canyon training ground. As such, he teleported and was greeted by the sight of Flash and Springer talking. Flash had a sketch book in his hooves and a pencil in his mouth, causing Lightning to speak up, "Hey, what are you two doing?"

Flash looked up and spat the pencil out, "Working on our combo move."

"Combo move?" Lightning asked with a raised eyebrow.

Springer nodded rapidly, "Yeah! We wanna make a move that combines our two attacks together!"

Lightning just blinked at this, causing Flash to speak up, "When we were fighting against your nutcase of a father...no offense."

"Some taken."

"Ruby showed us how Skybreaker could combine his wind element with Springer's Aura Blast."

Lightning memory flashed back at this. "I remember seeing that. Didn't it make some kind of spinning blade of wind? The thing looked like it could shred anything."

Springer nodded again. "Yeah! Ruby called it the 'Aura-Shuriken'! It was awesome!"

"Which is exactly why we have to come up with our own combo move," Flash added as he looked back down at the paper, "We just got to figure out someway to combine Springer's Aura Blast with my light element."

Lighting tilted his head at this, "Is that even possible?"

"I have no idea." Flash replied as he tapped the notebook, "But it couldn't hurt to try."

"Unless it explodes in our face," Springer added with a huge grin. "Then it's gonna really hurt to try."

Flash smacked the jakhowl with his wing, "It could still be a useful attack if we can get it down Springer. We asked Twilight and she said its possible, but we need to get the 'exact theory of the attack' down...whatever that means."

Lightning rolled his eyes at this. "It means you've gotta understand every little detail of what's happening when you use it. How the attacks are combining and what effect it'll have on you."

Flash and Springer both gave dumb-founded faces, "Ohhhh…."

Lightning let out a groan. "You still don't understand, do you?" Their response was a unified nodding, causing him to facehoof. "How did you ever beat me?"

It was in that moment that Iron Core chose to make his appearance. From the look of his eyes, he hadn't got much sleep, causing Flash and Springer to snicker.

"What's up with you?" Lightning asked as Iron glared at the three.

"Didn't get much sleep last night."

"Yeah, he was probably too scared of the g-g-g-g-ghosts." Flash mocked before he and Springer burst out laughing, Iron growling at them while gripping Piecemaker.

Lightning raised an eyebrow at this. "Am I missing something?"

"No," Iron hissed as he walked away, deciding to start training without them.

Seeing this, Flash stopped laughing as he turned to Lightning. "Let me explain. Turns out that last night, everypony decided to head out to the castle of the two sisters. Iron went with Fluttershy and Rarity because she wanted to restore the tapestries there. They then ended up getting trapped in one of the castle's booby-traps, causing them to get lost and end up running around the place screaming at the scary sounds they heard."

Springer kept giggling as he added, "Which actually turned out to be everypony else, who were also running around the castle aimlessly! When Twilight, Spike and us found them, they were all in the throne room and Iron was wildly swinging his Celestic Gear around to try and get the ghosties to go away! HA!"

Lightning's smile had been slowly increasing at this, only for a snort and giggle to follow. "Okay, that's funny."

"Har har…" Iron growled as he smashed a boulder with his gear now turned into a hammer.

"Alright, alright. We'll stop for now Iron." Flash commented as he flipped his sketch book to another page, this one showing a list. "Now, before we start our training, there's a few jobs we need to go over for today."

Lightning blinked at the sight of the sheet, "Wait...Wild was actually serious? You actually do everyday jobs?"

Flash nodded in response. "Its usually not this many, but with what happened with the Everfree Forest-"

"That was days ago," Lightning interrupted.

"And we've only now just totaled up the damage done and what needs to be fixed," Flash answered as he tapped the list with his hoof. "Anymore questions?" Lightning didn't reply, causing Flash to nod, "Good. Now, let's decide who should do what."

The three others then looked at the list, the jobs ranging from simple chores to hard manual labor. Lightning frowned at the sight, groaning. "I didn't sign up for this. I thought we were supposed to be defenders of the peace."

"We are. But that doesn't mean we just fight bad guys all the time."

Iron nodded in agreement. "Keeping the peace means we have to deal with any situation that might cause the peace to be disrupted. Like for example...here! This one says: help Big Mac buck apples."

"How does that help keep the peace?"

"According to my little sis Scootaloo, Applebloom is sick. Granny Smith has to look after her, and Applejack has to setup at the market. That leaves Mac alone to buck apples and if he can't buck enough, they'll lose some of their income and that could effect Ponyville's whole economy."

"Seriously?" Lightning asked with another raised eyebrow.

"You'd be surprised how a seemingly little thing can affect a place like Ponyville," Flash told him as he pointed at Lightning. "Why don't you take that one since you've apparently worked on a farm before."

"I...guess? What else am I doing besides that?" They then quickly divided up the jobs, soon beginning their training. As such, Lightning pulled out his bag of knives for his spar against Iron.

"You really need a better way of storing those things," Iron commented as he twirled Piecemaker in his hoof.

Lightning let out a groan, "Tell me about it. I've been looking for a cloak that can hold this many, but can't find anything that'd work."

"Maybe you can see if Rarity can make you something custom?" Springer suggested, making Lightning glance at him before letting out a hum.

"That's not a bad idea. Just go ask her on your way to your first job," Flash added as he pulled out a cloth and began to wipe Lightbringer. "If she's not too busy, she might be able to get you measured and have it done by the end of the day."

"Just make sure you let her know you're looking for function over aesthetic," Iron finished as he pointed Piecemaker at Lightning, "Trust me, that's important when it comes to her."

"Right. Got it."

And so, the group of defenders got to work, Lightning and Iron sparing while Flash and Springer continued working on their own combo attack. It wasn't long till the hours passed, training ending with one last spar between all four. As such, Lightning decided to take Springer's idea and head to Rarity's boutique first after training, eventually finding himself outside the overly decorated building. The bell rang as he stepped inside, the unicorn looking around and not seeing anypony inside.

"Be out in a minute darling," he heard Rarity call from another room. Lightning stood there and exactly one minute later, the fashionista unicorn entered. When she spotted who her customer was, her eyes went wide before frowning. "Oh, its you. Can I help you Lightning?"

Lightning did a silent gulp, his eyes now remembering their first encounter in Canterlot. Trying to get his courage together, he stuttered out, "Er...yeah. I uh...I um uh, was wondering if you could make uh...let's just say, a custom order."

"I see," Rarity replied with a slightly raised eyebrow, "And what exactly are you needing?"

Lightning lifted his bag off his back and opened it up, levitating one of his knives out. Rarity's eyes went wide again and started to backpedal, causing him to shake his head, "Oh relax, I'm not gonna do anything with these. I just uh...need something I can use to carry all of these better." He then showed her the inside of his bag, displaying the variety of daggers, "Springer said you might be able to help me."

Rarity hummed as she took the dagger in her own magic and looked it over. "I'm not much into making....armor, but I suspect that's not what you want. What exactly are you wanting to go for with this? A cape? Perhaps a coat or cloak?"

"A cloak might work. I was thinking of something that had several pockets that I could put each knife in individually. That and uh...I was told to tell you that I need to specifically ask for function in this."

Rarity nodded as she moved over to her drawing table. "I think I can work with that. Get up onto my fitting stage and I can take the measurements now."

"Okay..." Lightning said as he hopped on stage. "Is this gonna take long? Sentry gave me a bunch of jobs to do."

Rarity put the knife on her table and moved over to him, a tape measure and note pad hovering in her magic. "It shouldn't take too long," she replied as she started taking the measurements. "So Flash has you doing work today? What jobs will he be having you do?"

Lightning opened his mouth, only to not respond. He glanced at the fashionista, seeing that the frown on her face had not changed. He wasn't sure to respond to this sight, but after taking a slightly deep breath, he responded, "Well first, I'm gonna help out at the apple farm, then I'm going to the bakery to help out before helping some scientist guy as he works on something."

"Sounds difficult," Rarity added before looking up to smirk at him. "Are you sure you can handle getting your hooves dirty?"

Lightning let out a small snort. "I've worked before you know. When I was travelling around Equestria, I did a lot of jobs to stay afloat."

"I'm sure that was very demoralising for you," Rarity said sarcastically as she went back to her measuring.

Lightning looked away at this. "Actually, I found the jobs to be quite the learning experience."

Rarity's horn flickered at hearing this, causing her to look back up at him with wide eyes, "Oh?"

"Yeah, I did." Lightning replied as a sigh followed, memories of that journey now floating in his head. "To be honest, I uh...I really learned what hard work was out there. Especially when I worked for Cherry Jubilee, as she taught me I couldn't use magic to help buck her cherry trees." He bit his lip as he said these next words, "I had no idea that magic could affect food like that."

"Indeed." Rarity added with a slight chuckle, "I remember when we helped Applejack during harvest time. Twilight spent twenty minutes working on the spell she used on the apples." She then gestured him to move his hooves, her horn now slightly flaring to write more notes, "Nice to hear that Cherry is doing well."

"Yeah, she is." Lightning mumbled as he looked back at Rarity, seeing the unchanging frown on the designer. The sight made him do another slight gulp, his nerves now telling him to pony up, "Um...say uh...do you not want to make this? I get it if you don't."

Rarity came to a stop at this suggestion, her pencil halting as she glanced back at his face, "No. I always make the product darling." she then moved over to her design table. "That's what I do, regardless of what I have to make."

Lightning sighed at this, "Look, I uh...I get you hate my guts, and I don't blame you. But...I really am trying to prove that I've changed."

Rarity's pencil came to a halt again, a small sigh releasing from her mouth, "I know. I know you've changed." Lightning raised an eyebrow at this, noticing she hadn't looked back up at him as she continued, "If you hadn't, you wouldn't have saved Flash or fought against your father. In fact, according to what Flash told us about that whole mission, I suspect the old you would have likely joined him."

Lightning looked away again, "Take out the likely in that sentence and you'd be right."

"But you didn't," she remarked as she finally looked up at him, the frown now gone, "You risked your own life to stop him. That at least makes up for most of what you've done."

Lightning blinked at this, confusion on his face as he turned back to the unicorn, "So...you've forgiven me for what I did?"

Rarity's frown returned. "I didn't say that. Flash asked us to give you a chance, which is what I'm giving you. Also, hood or no hood?"

"Er...hood."

Rarity nodded and jotted that down before moving back over to him, begining to measure him once again. "So, to continue to what I was saying, I'm going to ignore what I thought of you before you came to Ponyville. But that's all I can do for you, as I'm letting you show me how much you've changed."

"Er...thanks, I guess? That's all I want really, to show everypony I'm not the same stallion I was before." He then sighed again, "if only everypony would give me a chance. Some of them don't even act like I exist."

"Well, you can't expect everypony to be as forgiving as others," Rarity said as she stop measuring, now backpedaling and staring Lightning in the face. "You want some advice?"

"Um...sure?"

"Trying to earn everypony's trust at once is going to be next to impossible. Well, that is unless you end up saving the entire town from some major disaster, like Iron tried to do. Since I doubt that would happen, try and earn ponies' trust one at a time." She then stopped as an idea popped into her head. "In fact, since you'll likely be working with them today, why don't you just focus on Big Mac, the Cakes and Mr. Time Turner. Just focus on them and show how much you've changed."

"I...guess that could work?"

"I'm sure it will. If you can earn their forgiveness, then other ponies might see you've changed." She jotted down the last few notes and nodded. "And...done. I think I can have this finished by the end of the day." She then held up the dagger from before, "Can I hold onto this? I'll need something to work the pockets around."

"Sure," Lightning replied as he got off the stage. "And...thanks...for the advice that is. And for giving me a chance."

"No problem. Just don't make me regret trusting you."

"I won't." With that, Lightning picked up his bag and headed for the door. "Guess I'll see you later."

"I guess you will."





A little while later...

When Lightning arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, his mind instantly flashed back to his time at the Jubilee farm. That is, till a voice spoke up, "Can ah help yah young-in?" He looked up and saw Granny Smith's head poking out of a window.

"I'm here to help with the apple harvest. Sentry sent me."

"Ah see..." Granny replied before pointing to the right of Lightning. "Big Macintosh is in the south field, he can show you what to do."

Lightning nodded before dropping his bag near the house and heading the way she pointed, eventually spotting the large earth pony bucking trees. "Hey," he called out, making Mac turn and go wide-eyed. Lightning grimaced at this, scratching the back of his head as he continued, "Yeah...you probably weren't expecting to see me here."

"Eenope," Mac grumbled.

"So...I uh, I'm here to help with the apple bucking. Is that okay?"

Mac stared at him for a moment, obviously having an internal conflict in his head. That is, till he asked, "Ya'll ever bucked apples before?"

Lightning hopped in place at the question, slightly gulping as he replied, "No...but I have worked on a cherry farm, and I had to buck cherry trees there. I know I can't use magic, so I'm sure I can get the hang of this."

"Eeyup. You're not wrong about the magic." Mac mumbled as he pointed at a tree, instantly telling what Lightning had to do. Lightning nodded at this, his horn glowing as he levitated a nearby empty barrel to the tree. He then turned and used all the strength he could muster with his back legs, both thrusting into the tree trunk, causing several apples to come loose.

Looking up at the sight, his horn shined again as he magically grabbed the barrel to catch all the apples. And as he caught them, he levitated the apples over for inspection to Mac, who found that not a single one had been bruised or battered despite Lightning's work.

"So...do I pass?"

"Eeyup," Mac replied with a nod, quickly turning and bucking another tree.

That one word was all that needed to be said. As such, the two worked in a half awkward, half comfortable silence for a good hour. Lightning found that apple bucking was actually kinda fun, though he expected he would get bored of it if he did it for days at a time. His magic even helped load the full barrels onto the farm's carts, which Mac didn't mind the convivence.

Once the carts were loaded, Mac lead them through the fields towards the storehouse. As they walked, Lightning remembered what Rarity had advised and spoke up, "Hey um...could I say something?" Mac's eyes turned towards him, the look giving him his answer. Gulping, Lightning continued, "I know you probably won't believe this, but uh...I'm sorry for what I did to you during the Fantasia Festival."

"Ya'll mean turning mah sister into a stone statue, forcing me to hurt ponies ah didn't even know, and then threatening to destroy Canterlot, which also caused me to get electrocuted?"

Lightning stared at the ground, mumbling, "Yeah...that." After a minute, he looked back up at Mac, seeing him just staring at the unicorn with pure anger in his eyes. The sight made Lightning squeak out, "I'm sorry. For that, and more."

Mac blinked at this, only to look away from the unicorn before saying, "Yah know...when ah saw her like that, do yah know what the first thought was that entered mah head?"

Lightning did another gulp, "No...I don't."

"It was that ah was gonna lose another member of mah family, and ah couldn't do a thing to stop it."

Lighting's brain zapped itself at this, causing him to look up at the stallion. His mind went over all the family members of the farm in terms of who he had met, mainly due to Flash. This alone made him realize that he had never met two ponies in particular. "You don't mean...your parents?"

Mac nodded. "They...yah know. It wasn't long after Applebloom was born. When that happened, ah swore ah was gonna do whatever it took to keep the rest of mah family safe. But then you-"

"I get it," Lightning interrupted, only to feel a loud stomp shake the earth.

"Do yah?" Mac harshly growled, his hoof now grinding the dirt he had just stomped.

"I...I think I do." Lightning sighed as he looked away, "I lost my mom when I was about the same age you were when...you know."

Mac raised an eyebrow at this, his glare slightly fading as he asked, "It hurts, doesn't it?"

"More than anything. It sucked so much when it happened," Lightning replied as he looked up at the sky. "My father ended up becoming obsessed with his research while my grandfather tried to be there for me. Then when my nutcase of a father was arrested, I lashed out and pushed my grandpa away." He sighed again, closing his eyes. "I guess...I guess the loss of mom was too much, and my dad getting arrested made it worse. The pain...the pain of losing her just hit me so hard then."

Mac let out a snort, a frown appearing on his face again, "So you decided that instead of feeling the pain, you'd be the one to cause it."

Lightning came to a halt at these words, gasping as he stared back at the ground, "I...never thought about it like that. I mean, its no excuse for-"

"Ah get it," Mac interrupted as he walked up and tapped Lightning's shoulder, "If ah hadn't had mah family after ah lost mah parents, ah might have ended up the same way." Mac then gestured to Lightning, causing them both to continue moving as the storehouse started to come into view. "Ah guess we're a lot alike, with how we both lost our parents."

"Except I let the pain turn me into a monster," Lightning finished.

"We all make mistakes. Maybe that's why the princess gave ya'll a second chance." He turned to Lightning, the frown now gone, "and ah say yah used it well. Ah can see that now. Yer trying, and that's what matters."

Lighting looked back up at the stallion, now seeing a smirk on his face. The sight made Lightning stare in disbelief as he asked, "Does that...does that mean you forgive me?"

"Eeyup."

Lightning smiled back at the earth pony, the duo soon reaching the storehouse and carefully unloading the apples. Once that was done, they put the carts up and headed towards the house. There, they spotted Granny Smith poking her head out of the window. "Ya'll boys hungry? I got some tomato and broccoli soup on the stove for ya'll."

"Packing the vitamin C for Applebloom I'm guessing?" Lightning joked.

Granny laughed at this, "With lots of OJ. So, wanna join us colt?"

Lightning turned to Mac, "you okay with that?"

"Eeyup."

"Then sure, I'd love to." With that, the two stallions stepped inside and enjoyed Granny Smith's delicious lunch.





Forty five minutes later...

After finishing the meal offered to him, Lightning was now making his way to Sugarcube Corner, one of the few places he had kept away from since arriving in Ponyville. Despite knowing Wild loved to hang out there for 'obvious' reasons, Lightning was afraid of disturbing the place. After all, he knew it was a place where everypony he knew didn't trust him, loves to hang out. Including Iron.

Despite this, he saw the building in the distance, a small sigh escaping his breath as he looked down at the list Flash had given to him, "Hmmm...maybe this is a bad idea." He looked back at the building, the frown on his face now increasing, "I'm starting to think I should ask Sentry to swap this job with me. Wonder what he's doing right now..."





Meanwhile...

"WHOA! Get down!" Flash yelped as he, Springer and Zecora hit the floor, barely dodging a swinging slimy tentacle that shot out of Zecora's cauldron. He then glared at Springer, "This is the last time I let you near anything magical!"

"Sorry!" Springer replied as he got up and swatted away a tentacle with his Bone Breaker, "How was I supposed to know mixing those two ingredients would create an interdimensional portal that could unleash a horror that wants to wipe out all life in Equestria?!"

"You used a potion that was glowing dark red! Everypony knows dark red glowy stuff is bad!" Flash barked back as he blocked another tentacle attack. "Haven't you read my comics that feature supervillain mad scientists?!"

"Uh...if I lie and say no, will it change anything?" Springer squeaked out, only to get a death glare from Flash. "I guess not."

"You two, we are far from through." Zecora commented as flattened herself against the wall, "Be careful, my pony friends. One false move could be our end."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Flash groaned as he pointed Lightbringer at the cauldron before charging forward. "Well, here goes uh....something! GERONIMO!"





"Then again, he's probably doing something boring. Maybe I should just skip this job and go to..." Lighting looked back at the list, "Time Turner? Guess that's who I'm helping-"

"LIGHTNING!" yelled a voice, causing him to hop in place before glancing up and seeing Pinkie walking out of Sugarcube Corner. "You made it!"

Lightning raised an eyebrow at this. "You...were expecting me?"

"Kinda. When Wild came to grab his train snack, he told me about you doing some random jobs. Then my back got itchy, my eyes fluttered and my tail twitched, which means somepony that either me or somepony else is talking about will show up later."

Lightning's eyebrow raised even further. "Come again?"

Pinkie tilted her head, "You don't know about my Pinkie Sense?"

"I don't. And I'm kinda scared to ask now."

Pinkie shrugged at this before walking around the building, gesturing Lighting to follow. "I don't know why Wild didn't tell you, and I would love to explain it, but I need to get these deliveries done."

"Deliveries?" Lightning asked as he turned the corner, only to see a cart full of different dessert boxes.

"Yup. I'm on delivery duty today. Mr. Cake threw his back out and can't get out of bed, so I'm doing his deliveries."

"Oh...that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"Why Sentry sent me to help out here, but-" Lightning didn't get to finish, as Pinkie suddenly let out a massive gasp before throwing her hooves around his neck.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cheered before pulling away. "With you here, Mrs. Cake won't have to bake anything on her own and watch the twins. That is, unless you know how to bake. Do you?"

"I did it once..." Lightning replied before looking down wistfully, "With my mom."

"Okay...well, how are you with foals?"

Lightning let out a shudder. "Horrible. Wild asked me to babysit his cousins once, and it uh...didn't go well. Turns out, electricity magic isn't...entertaining to foals."

"Oh yeah! I think I remember Wild telling me about that!" She then tilted her head in thought before a light bulb popped out of her hair and lit up. "I know!"

"How did-" Lightning tried to ask, only for Pinkie to suddenly remove his bag before strapping the delivery cart to his back. "What the heck?! What are you-"

A piece of paper was then shoved into his face, causing him to go silent as Pinkie spoke up, "Just deliver the desserts to these addresses. Each box is numbered, so all you gotta do is deliver them in order of the numbers."

"Uhhh…." Lightning mumbled as he looked down at the addresses, "Okay. Seems easy enough."

"It's super easy! Box one is the closest house, with box two being the closest to that house. Just follow the numbers and you'll be done in no time."

"And you're willing to trust me with this task?" Lightning asked her as he looked up from the map. "Without anypony to keep an eye on me?"

Pinkie replied with a massive smile. "I trust you. Wild told me all about you, you know...when you're not a evil maniacal power hungry dictator. And if Flash can forgive you for all the horrible things you've done, especially since he told me how you used to bully him all the time in the past and he still forgave you, then so can I."

"Wow...uh, thanks." Lightning said as he did a slight backpedal, "I um...yeah. The ponies of this town are way more forgiving than I thought they would be. Especially compared to where I've been."

Pinkie's smile increased as she nodded rapidly. "That's what makes Ponyville the best place EVER!" She then pointed in the direction of his first delivery. "Now Lightning Claus, go deliver some smiles!"

"Err...huh? I mean, sure." With that, Lightning headed off.





Delivery one...

Lightning walked up to the house address on his list. He then opened the cart and pulled out the first box before moving over to the door and knocking. A minute later, the door opened, causing a wave of water to suddenly flow out and dampen his hooves.

Lightning raised an eyebrow at this before looking up, right into the face of a saddened pink earth pony mare with green hair. It was here that he spotted a tap in the kitchen behind her that had been broken and was spraying water all over the place.

Lightning turned back to the mare and gave her a sympathetic smile.

Thirty minutes later...

Lightning's face was a combination of both exhausted groans and pure focus as he magically turned a bolt connected to the tap of a water pipe. His hoof slowly wiped his brow as he did one last turn, the water then flowing the way it was supposed to go.

He smirked at the sight before turning the tap off, glancing to the mare that had just finished mopping up the water. She quickly thanked the unicorn, nodding and apologizing again for the inconvenience. The defender told her to stop saying sorry and proceeded to leave, only for the mare to appear in front of him with the original delivery he had came to give.

She opened the box and offered Lighting a piece of pie as thanks, which he accepted with a quick two-step munching. As such, she thanked him one more time before he headed out for his next delivery.





Delivery five...

Lightning was a bit confused when he got to his next destination. When he had arrived at a large house and knocked at the door, he was greeted by a barrage of foals. Turns out, he had just arrived in the middle of a filly's birthday party, with his delivery being her birthday cake.

Seeing this, he quickly rushed the cake in, apologizing to the filly's mother for being late. The mother didn't mind, apparently having bigger troubles at the moment. When asked what was wrong, Lightning was shown an area with a bunch of deflated nylon fabric littering the ground of the house's backyard. Apparently, the party was supposed to have a bouncy castle, but the device that kept it inflated wasn't working.

Lightning soon saw the disappointment in all of the fillies and colts faces, causing him to frown. This made him go over to the inflating device, soon seeing a dead battery inside. He knew what to do next, his horn sparking as his signature electric magic charged the battery with ease. In mere seconds, the device was fully powered, ready to inflate the castle.

Seeing this with widened eyes and giant smiles, the foals all cheered as they started playing on the bouncy castle, screams of joy soon erupting from their mouths. Lightning's smile increased at this sight before making his way back to the cart, only to suddenly find his leg being grabbed by something. Looking down, he spotted the filly whose birthday it was, complete with her hugging his leg and thanking him for saving her party.

Lightning's grin grew twice as big as he patted the filly on the head. That is, till his ears started to hear what sounded like a stampede. Looking up, his smile vanished as he spotted almost every colt and filly from the party rushing towards him. And before he could even react, he found himself at the bottom of a dog pile of hugs.





Delivery twelve...

Lightning knocked on the door, which opened to reveal the ponies Lyra and Bon Bon. He gave the next box to them, which they nodded their thanks before shutting the door.

Glad that this delivery didn't have any shenanigans, he turned to make his way to his next delivery. But as he did this, he spotted a trio of ponies trying to hoist a piano up onto a cart. One was pushing it while the other two were pulling on a rope that was tied around it and hooked around a winch.

Seeing their struggle, he hopped onto the cart behind the winch ponies and grabbed the rope with his teeth. As he began to pull, the trio smiled at their new helper before they began to pull again. Within moments, they had the piano on the cart, ready to move the giant instrument.

And as they prepped the rest of the cart, Lightning rubbed his cheek, his teeth and gums sore at the task. The pain was quickly forgotten though as the three ponies all gave him their thanks.





Delivery eighteen...

Lightning had now arrived at a house that was split in half design wise. One half looked like a traditional, old style house, while the other looked more modern. And as he got closer to the building, his ears picked up on the sound of music.

Knowing that regular knocking might be useless, he smacked the door extra hard, causing the music to come to a stop. Seconds later, the door opened to reveal a white unicorn mare with shades and headphones. He then gave her the box, only for the mare to spot his headphones and smile before inviting him in.

Turns out, she wanted to get his opinion on a new track that she was working on. Soon seeing her choice in music, Lightning listened to it with pure bliss, but felt it was missing something. He made his suggestions and the mare's eyes, though they were blocked by the shades, went wide. She added his suggestions and the track just seemed to click into place, turning the test into a rave.

Before Lightning knew it, he was dancing and mixing to the music. That is, till the house's other resident came home, stopping the music and making Lightning realize he had lost track of time.





Delivery twenty...

"Okay, this one is a...Time Turner?" Lightning commented as he looked at the last address on the list. "This guy is who I was gonna help after helping that Pinkie mare. Did she know I was gonna do that next, or is this the weird stuff Wild talked about with her?"

"I've learned not to question it." said a new voice, causing him to spin around and see Equestria's newest princess walking up to him.

Lightning quickly bowed his head, "Hello princess."

Twilight let out a low groan as she flashed a hoof at him, "Please don't. I'm still not used to everypony doing that."

Lightning blinked at this, slowly lifting his head as he replied, "Um...okay. I figured you'd love to have somepony like me bow to you every time you see me."

"Then you really don't know me," Twilight growled as she gave him a flat glare, causing him to shiver slightly. Another sigh following her glare, she continued, "Anyways, what was I talking about?"

"That you shouldn't question anything about Pinkie."

"Oh...right. Like I said, Pinkie has a way of knowing how to help ponies without them even realizing, so you shouldn't question it. I've learned that questioning it doesn't matter."

"I see..." Lightning did a slight gulp before looking down, a big frown now gracing his face. "Can't believe she'd be willing to do that for me, even with my friendship with Wild."

Twilight rolled her eyes at this. "Still feeling sorry for yourself?"

Lightning looked back up at her, the frown on his face slightly tinging towards anger, "I've stopped feeling sorry for myself the day your coltfriend beat me." He watched as Twilight's face went completely red, causing him to chuckle. "I'm just surprised anypony in this town didn't run me out the second I stepped off the train."

"Everypony deserves a second chance." Twilight remarked, her blush now gone as she stared directly into his eyes. This alone made his frown disappear, his face now showing a blank expression combined with slight curiosity as she continued, "You know, when I first met Flash, I thought he was just a thief and nothing more. But then I looked past that and saw how amazing he was." Pure sincerity was in her eyes now as she glared at him. "I will say that I don't approve of you completely Lightning. I know all about the years you tormented Flash, and I still remember every moment of me and my family trying to help him find his place as you did that to him."

"I-" Lighting tried to say, only for Twilight to flash her hoof in his face.

"Let me finish, Lightning Blitz." Getting a silent nod from the unicorn, she continued, "As I was about to say, that's in the past. I, along with several other ponies, are willing to give you a chance. I know you've made mistakes, and I know you're not the best pony. However, I will gladly admit that I make mistakes as well. Nopony here in Ponyville is perfect, especially me and Flash." She let out a long sigh as she said this next part, "For example, I once hypnotized the entire town into fighting over a doll. There was also a time where Pinkie Pie cloned herself a thousand times and wrecked the place, or there's the incident where Fluttershy unleashed a horde of parasprites on the town. Even my assistant Spike is guilty of massive mistakes here with he turned into a raging greed monster a while back. And I'll also never forget the incident we truly believed would be the end of Ponyville..." Twilight shivered at her next words, "The 'Wild Raging Flash and Springer triple sugar incident', which was caused by Pinkie's triple deluxe sugar cupcake muffin surprise." She then leaned over and whispered, "Trust me, you really don't want to know. Especially the part where the two fought off an army of...." she gestured with her hooves, "Imaginary yellow electric rats. Took us forever to clean up that mess."

Lightning went wide eyed at this, his eyebrows almost raising above his head.

Seeing this, Twilight knew what he was thinking as she continued, "The point is Lightning, we all make mistakes and have caused trouble because of them. But that's only the first part of those mistakes." Lightning's face still showed confusion, causing her take a calm breath before proceeding, "Every mistake has two parts. The first is the mistake itself, while the second is how we deal with those mistakes. If you're sorry for what you did and work to fix it, then the mistakes you made won't matter." She then placed a hoof on Lightning's chest and smiled. "You might've made a mistake, but everything you've done since then has more than made up for it. Well, at least compared to what Flash told me you did for him." She tapped his chest next, a more serious expression appearing on her face, "I too believe you can start anew, just like anypony else. I will admit that I am leery at the idea, but I also know that you can show everypony the real Lightning."

Lightning was now shining a huge smile as he heard the princess's words. But as he readied a reply, Twilight's eyes went wide as she asked, "What happened to you two?" Lighting saw she was no longer looking at him, causing him to turn and see Flash and Springer walking up to them. The unicorn had to fight back a laugh as he saw that both were covered head to hoof in green slime, the smell of what could only be described as a combination burnt fish and skunk now on their bodies.

"Its a long story," Flash grumbled as he wiped some slime off his face, "Can you do us a favor and teleport us into the library bathroom? I don't wanna have to clean this stuff up off the floor."

Twilight giggled at the question before nodding. "Sure. One teleportation to a bath coming up." She then turned to Lighting, "Just remember and think about what I said, okay?" Lightning quickly nodded, Twilight giving an approving smile before sparking her horn as the trio were suddenly warped away.

Lightning chuckled at the sight before heading to his final destination. When he arrived and knocked on the door, he was suddenly greeted by the sound of a loud explosion. He leapt back and got into a battle stance, only to remember Pinkie had taken his knives. That is, till the door opened to the sight of Time Turner, his face covered in soot along with the goggles over his eyes. He then pulled his goggles up, "Oh, sorry about that. Experiment went a little wrong. Can I help you?"

Lightning raised an eyebrow at him. "Errr...special delivery."

Lightning held up a box, which the pony instantly recognized. "Ah, yes. I had forgotten about that."

"I'm also meant to help you with something, I was sent by Sentry."

"Of course. I'm always happy for the help. Come inside please." Lightning removed the cart and stepped into the house, Time Turner soon directing him down into the basement. There, he spotted a bunch of different machines, all in different states of completion.

"Wow..." he commented as he looked around, "You some kind of inventor?"

"Oh yes. These are all my own creations. Would you like to see some of them?"

"Sure. What cool stuff have you got?"

Time Turner chuckled at his reply, soon gesturing to the unicorn, "Well, how about we start with this?" He picked up a device that looked like a metal cullender, with lights and a whisk stuck to it. "Behold," he placed the device on his head with the whisk pocking out of his forehead, "the Mag-U-Lator three thousand and one!"

"Three thousand and one?"

"Well, I had a three thousand model, but it got stolen. All I could find was a silver feather quill."

"Oh...well, what does this one do?"

"Allow me to show you," Turner turned towards his work bench and glared a spanner on it. Seconds later, the whisk glowed brown along with the spanner, only to suddenly levitate.

"No way..." Lightning gasped as he saw the earth pony make the wrench float. That is, till the device started to spark, only to explode a second later as the spanner fell back onto the desk.

Time Turner laughed as he removed the device. "Still in the experimental stages."

"That was amazing," Lightning told him as he turned back to the inventor. "You did like...unicorn magic despite being an earth pony!"

"You flatter me. But, I'll keep working on it, along with my many other devices. After all, they're all designed to help the ponies of Equestria."

Lightning shuddered at that statement. "I've heard those words before. My old stallion used to say them all the time, but then-" He saw Time Turner give him a quizzical look. "Let's just say, he made a really big mistake."

"We all make mistakes my boy."

"Yeah...Princess Twilight just gave me that lecture." He went on to explain what the alicorn had told him, with Time Turner nodding as he listened.

"She's a smart mare, but she was a little wrong." This made Lighting tilt his head, causing Time Turner to nod as he continued, "There are three steps to a mistake. The first is, yes, making the mistake. But trying to make it right is the third. The second step is learning from mistake. That, is the most important step of all."

"I..." Lightning tried to say, only for his brain to instantly agree. "Yeah, you're right. You do need to learn from your mistakes."

"Of course. How else are we to prevent ourselves from doing them again?" He held up his Mag-U-Lator. "Take this for example. I made a mistake while building it, but I can use that mistake to help me make it right."

Lightning nodded at this. "Well, my old stallion didn't learn from his mistake."

"And I'm guessing he went on to make a few more mistakes?"

"More than a few."

Time Turner nodded again. "Those who don't learn from their past are doomed to repeat it. That's why, no matter how hard it may seem, we can't simply ignore our own mistakes. It is our past that helps shape our future, but how its shaped depends on what we learn from the past."

Lightning nodded again, completely understanding now. He hadn't learned anything from his father's past, which lead him to repeating it himself. "Thanks. This uh...this helped me. A lot."

"No problem my boy," Time Turner replied before giving him a confused glance. "Say, what did I help with again?"

Lightning laughed and waved his question off. With that moment done, he began helping Time Turner repair several of his inventions, all of them mainly being damaged by the Everfree Forest incident. Once the work was completed an hour later, Lightning headed off. He returned the cart to Sugarcube Corner and got a thank you muffin from Pinkie, though she refused to tell him how she knew his favorite flavor was vanilla along with telling him it wasn't Wild that told her. Seeing this, he grabbed his bag and made his way to Rarity's boutique.

As he made his way there, he noticed a lot more smiles from ponies that had previously given him frowns. Seeing this made him slightly smile, his eyes now seeing some of the ponies were with the ones he had helped while out on his deliveries.

And as the sun began to set, he arrived outside the extravagant building and knocked. A second later, the door opened to a certain beautiful fashionista, complete with a giant smirking smile. "Just in time. I was about to close up shop."

"Sorry. I had a...let's just say, a very busy day."

"So I heard," Rarity replied as she gestured to him a following motion, "So, how did getting ponies to forgive you one at a time go?"

"Good, I think. Big Mac forgave me for...you know, the whole thing in Canterlot. I didn't talk to the Cakes, but I did end up helping them by making their deliveries. Also, Time Turner doesn't seem to be mad at me."

"So all in all, a good day?"

Lightning thought back on the day, a smile soon gracing his face, "Yeah, definitely a good day."

"Excellent," Rarity said as they arrived outside of the changing room. "Then what better way to end such a good day than with a new piece of fashion." With that, she opened up the curtains to reveal a mannequin wearing a certain cloak. Lighting's eyes went wide at this sight, a look of pure bliss and shock on his face.

It was a light gray cloak, complete with his Cutie Mark on the back along with some yellow lightning bolt shaped stitching. It also had a hood along with several dozen pockets on the inside. Rarity magically removed his bag before putting the cloak on the unicorn, clicking the lightning bolt shaped neck buckle before stepping back. "Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous darling." she commented as she floated a mirror over to him, "What do you think?"

Lightning stared at the mirror, looking himself over with a slightly vain smirk. It was here he remembered that he was looking for function, not aesthetic. He opened his bag and levitated out his knives and sent them into the pockets, impressed that Rarity had made the perfect amount necessary. He then started jumping around, seeing if any would fall out due to the sudden movements. Rarity giggled as she watched him, but he didn't care as he saw that none of the knives were falling out.

"Wow...its perfect."

"Thank you darling, I'm quite proud of the product." Rarity commented as she went up and tapped his side. "I knew you would love it."

"Yeah...I really do." He turned to her with a huge smile, "How much do I owe ya?"

Rarity shook her head at this, "Nothing darling, its my gift to you. Also, the first one from me is always free. It helps the business." She then leaned up with both eyebrows hopping, "Just make sure you stay as the pony I made it for, and not the jerk you used to be."

Lightning couldn't help but laugh at that. "I will. I promise."

"I know you will darling."

With that, he stepped out of the store and began to walk home with a large smile on his face. He didn't care if others thought he was up to something, he wanted them to know he was happy. And as he did this, he stared at the town he was now living in, a small chuckle following, "Sentry was right. This town really is someplace where somepony can put their past behind them. Heh...I can't believe I just said that."

And as those words left his mouth, the unicorn knew that the old Lightning was gone. But even though he knew that getting rid of that old version of himself, the new Lightning was here to stay. And this version of the defender wouldn't stop until everypony in Equestria knew that.
> Family Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was yet another beautiful day in Ponyville.

Things had been rather peaceful in the little town for the past few days. As for what had been recently happening, the Ponyville's Equestria Games flag bearers had recently been chosen, and the ponies of Ponyville had finally finished the repairs from the Everfree Forest incident.

As for today, the story begins inside the Golden Oak Library, where Princess Twilight Sparkle was busy shifting through various books. Currently, she was reading the special journal she and her friends had decided to write in after the events of their overnight stay at the Castle of the Two Sisters. She had it open to the page Scootaloo had written in after she had gotten back from the Crystal Empire.

Twilight giggled as she remembered how Flash had been shocked when Rainbow told her about Scootaloo's little freak out about not being able to fly. This was followed by Flash going to Filthy Rich and giving him a piece of his mind about disciplining his daughter for bullying the physically challenged. Thankfully, the issue was diffused by his little sister, as she convinced Flash it just wasn't worth it when it came to Diamond Tiara.

As for Twilight, she was reading a book because she had just given up for the day over her most recent puzzle she was trying to solve. This riddle was the mysterious puzzle box that the Tree of Harmony had gifted her, which she was now going over several old tomes from the Castle of the Two Sisters. Unfortunately, this also gave no clues, not even close to what she was looking for.

The alicorn then let out a calm sigh as she sat back and continued to read, enjoying the peace and quiet that was very rare around her home. With Flash and Springer out training, Scootaloo having school and Spike out getting the supplies he needed to bake a new cake recipe Pinkie had lent him, Twilight was having no trouble tuning out the rest of the world. "Most ponies would use this rare opportunity to read a storybook. What fools these mortals be," she giggled to herself at her own little joke, remembering one of the first questions she had asked Celestia. Twilight might now be an alicorn, which did result in a mild longevity, but she was far from immortal. "Now let's see, where was I? Ah yes, nothing to spoil my me time. Me and my books."

That is, till she flipped that next page.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Of course," Twilight groaned as her book went below her eyes, soon turning to the door. A long sigh following, she hopped off her chair and went to the wooden frame, opening it to be met with the image of two cloak wearing ponies standing side by side. "Can I help you?"

"I hope so," the first said as the ponies removed their hoods. Doing so revealed a silver unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail, which quickly bowed, "Greetings Princess Twilight. I apologise for interrupting anything you were doing, but we're new in town and was hoping for your assistance in locating our children. We believe you know them very well."

"Um...okay?" Twilight blinked at this, soon backpedaling, "Err...please come in."

"Thank you," the second pony remarked as he removed his hood. As soon as he did, Twilight almost mistook him for Flash. He was an orange pegasus stallion with a blue mane and tail, his wings hidden inside the cloak. But unlike Flash, this stallion was not muscular, while also being a few inches taller. The duo then stepped inside and took off their cloaks, revealing the mare's cutie mark to be a triquetra-like symbol while the stallion's was a map that appeared to be on fire. Twilight gestured to a nearby coat-rack, which they put their cloaks on before walking over to a table.

"Please take a seat."

"Thank you princess," the mare replied as the stallion pulled her chair back for her to sit on.

Twilight sat down opposite of them, "So...first things first. Introductions. I'm Twilight Sparkle, as you already know. And you are?"

"I'm Misty Veil," the mare then gestured to the stallion. "And this is my husband."

"Trail Blazer."

"It's very nice to meet you both." Twilight gave a small nod after this, her eye on the stallion in particular. She just couldn't stop staring at him, just seeing the resemblance between him and Flash being purely uncanny. Regaining her focus a moment later, she turned to Misty, "So, if you don't mind me asking, why come to me?"

"Because we believe you know them both very well. In fact, we are sure of it."

"You are?" Twilight tilted her head in slight confusion, her brain not sure what to make of the statement. "Okay...can you tell me something about your children? Anything that might help me locate them, like when was the last time you saw them?"

Trail spoke up next. "Well, we haven't seen our son in over twenty years, and our daughter in over ten years."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "How old our your children?"

Misty slowly tapped the table. "Our son turned twenty-two a few months back, while our daughter is going to be thirteen soon."

Twilight stiffened at this. Her brain told her that she knew those ages. But as she thought about this, she glanced at Trail Blazer again, causing her to go wide eyed. "Um...when you say you haven't seen your children in over ten and twenty years...well, what do you mean?"

Both Misty and Trail exchanged glances, unified sighs following as they soon stared down at the table, "Its...hard to explain. We had to...we had leave our children at orphanages when they were foals."

Trail looked back up, a tiny combination of smile and frown on his face, "But we know they recently found one another, and thanks to...circumstances, we believe we're able to see them now, if we can find them."

Twilight did a slight gulp, her brain now putting the last piece of the puzzle in her mind. She had a feeling she knew the answer to her next question, but asked anyways, "Uhhh...what are your children's names?"

Misty stared into her eyes, a small tear going down the unicorn's face, "Their names are Flash Relic and Scootaloo."





Meanwhile...

In their canyon training ground, Flash stood beside Springer as they faced a large boulder. Iron and Lightning were standing off to the side, both yawning at the sight. As they did this, Flash spun his Celestic Gear in his hoof as he glanced at Springer, "You ready bud?"

"As I'll ever be," Springer replied as a blue flame consumed him, his battle form soon appearing. "Let's do this."

"Alright....step one, GO!" Flash yelled as Springer created a large Aura Blast, both paws now making the sphere despite being in battle form. "Good. Now, let's do step two. Throw it!"

"Hiyah!" Springer spun like a top, slinging the orb straight up into the air.

Flash crouched down onto his back legs, pouring all his power into his legs, "Step three...go!" Flash kicked off into the air, his blade flaring with light. He then lifted the blade above the aura ball, a roar following, "Flash Cutter!"

He swung the blade at the Aura Blast, slashing it with all his strength. Time seemed to slow down as the spinning ball of aura grinded against the shining sword's sharp edge. But as it hit this, the orb suddenly flustered, and-

KABOOM!

Springer, Iron and Lightning all flinched as they watched the combo attack fail, sending Flash rocketing across the canyon while letting out a less than stallionly scream. "AUGH!" Flash yelped as smoke flew out of his mouth, his form crashing into a garden of rocks with a loud thud.

The trio soon went over to Flash, the defender now laying face down in a spread eagle position. "Flash? You okay?"

"I feel like a rainbow!" Flash mumbled into the dirt.

"He's fine," Iron chuckled as they watched the pegasus roll over.

Lightning titled his head while biting his lip, "That's the third time today. Maybe you should stop trying this before you get yourself killed."

"No..." Flash groaned as he slowly lifted his head up, shaking it as he flared his wings. "I'm not giving up. It took me forever to master the theta state, but I kept at it. Besides, if I gave up every time I tried to do something I couldn't get right away, I would have never made it this far. We just have to keep trying."

Iron shook his head at this. "You've been trying this all week Sentry. Maybe your element just isn't compatible with Springer's attack. You ever thought of that?"

Flash rolled his eyes as he hopped up to his partner. "I know, but I also know that we can get this right. Springer just has to make his Aura Blast perfectly, throw it up at the perfect angle while I hit at the perfect time and in the perfect spot with the perfect amount of power." He finished, a giant goofy grin on his face. "See? Nothing to it."

The three just gave him a series of flat stares. "You do realize adding the word 'perfect' to something usually makes it ten times harder, right?"

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic," Flash picked up his sword and turned to Springer. "You ready to try again bud?"

Springer just shrugged, now back in his regular form. "Hey, you're the one getting blasted and I'm getting more training on keeping my battle form going. I'm game."

Flash nodded at this before they got back into position, Iron and Lightning now watching the fourth try. That is, till Iron let out another chuckle, "You know, you're lucky Sparkle has more important things to do then come watch you train. If she saw you do this, you'd be having a three hour lecture before getting royally ordered to not do it."

Springer and Lightning both started laughing as Flash glared at Iron. "Well luckily, she doesn't come watch me, which is also thanks to you when you ran her ragged back when we switched bodies." Flash then pointed his blade at the defender, "And until we get this attack down, she's not gonna know about these training sessions. Got it?"

"Got it." Iron added before pointing behind Flash, "Though you might want to ask her."

"Huh? What are you-" Flash then turned around, only to see a purple flash of light. When it faded, a very frazzled and highly hyperventilating Twilight stood a few feet away. "Twilight? What are you-"

The alicorn looked up at the pegasus, "Flash!" She teleported again, this time putting herself in mid-air as she grabbed his shoulder, "Flash! Come...quickly! Reading...knock...door...open! Looking...children...YOU!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Flash grabbed the twitchy princess by the hooves and pulled her back to solid ground. "Calm down for a sec Twi." Twilight just stood there, heavy pants now expelling from her mouth, causing Flash to put both hooves on her shoulders, "Twilight, you're scaring me. Please, just calm down and tell us what's going on...slowly."

Unfortunately, his plea fell on deaf ears as Twilight's horn began to glow, making Flash yelp out, "Wait Twilight! Don't-"

But it was too late. A second later, they were gone, consumed by a blast light before disappearing. After a series of blinking from the aftermath of the teleportation, Springer, Iron and Lightning turned to one another. "What was that all about?"

"I have no idea."

Lightning did a small gulp, now remembering what Twilight had told him about disasters that just one pony can cause in Ponyville. He then turned to the two with a grimace, "So uh...what's the protocol here?"

In response, the two simply shrugged. "No idea."





It was well known that Twilight, the main librarian of the Golden Oak Library, would use teleportation outside of the building. As such, flashes of purple light would constantly appear around the library, mainly at the front. However, that was a bit different today, as a yell of pain followed from the recent flash of purple.

"TWILIGHT!" Flash yelped as he rubbed his eyes, "Warn a guy the next time you're gonna do that! I prefer my retinas un-burnt, thank you very much!"

"No time for jokes Flash," Twilight tapped her hoof as she started to pant. "I need to go get Scootaloo from school and you need to stay here!" The alicorn's horn flared, an aura gripping his neck as she leaned up to the defender's face, "And whatever you do, don't go into the library until I get back!"

"Uh....Twilight? You okay?" Flash gulped as he slightly backpedaled, "You're kinda freaking out and....why can't I not go in-"

"No time!" That last scream was all Flash heard before she disappeared, the purple light once again burning his already irritated eyes.

"AUGH!" Flash moaned, the defender now rubbing his eyes, "Alright....not the worst freak out she's had, but definitely somewhere in the top twenty." He then turned to library, blinking at the sight. "Now, what's going-"

"Flash!"

"Ack!" Flash yelped, hopping in place at the sudden voice. It was here that the pegasus turned to see Rainbow, Fluttershy and Rarity walking up to him. "Hey girls. What's up?"

Rainbow landed in front of him, "You tell us. We spotted Twilight's magic flashing all around town and got worried."

"Ya'll weren't tha only ones. She popped up on my farm asking for you, and then teleported away before I could reply!" they turned to see Applejack, Pinkie and Spike coming up from the other side. "So what's Twilight freaking out bout this time?"

Flash scratched his head, sighing at the same time. "I'm...not sure. She just showed up at the training field before warping us both here, then she said she's gonna go bring Scootaloo."

This got everypony to raise an eyebrow as Rarity spoke up, "Twilight, as in Twilight Sparkle, is planning on taking somepony out of school?" Flash's only reply was a quick and simple nod. "This must be serious."

Before anypony could say anything else, another flash of light appeared in front of them, fading to reveal Twilight and Scootaloo. "AUGH!" Scootaloo screamed as she covered her eyes, "Seriously Twilight?! I already can't fly! You trying to make it so I can't see either?!"

Twilight blushed at this, "Sorry, but this is an emergency! I need both you and Flash to go inside and-"

"Twilight, calm down!" Flash interrupted, putting his hooves on Twilight's shoulders. "Take a deep breath." The alicorn did so, a long exhale following, "Good. Now, will you please just tell us what's going on already?"

"Yeah Twilight," Pinkie added. "You're acting weird."

Rainbow nodded. "And you know that's the truth when Pinkie of all ponies says so."

Twilight let out a low growl, knowing she didn't have a retort to that. A long sigh following, she pointed to the library's front door, "I think it'll just be easier to show you." With that, her magic opened the door before nodding at Flash and Scootaloo.

The two pegasi stepped inside first, looking in to see what had put Twilight in such a state. It was then that they heard hoofsteps, which made them spot Misty and Trail walking towards them, only for the duo to freeze up as they saw Trail Blazer. But while they stared at the older mirror image of Flash, Misty's eyes filled with tears as she whispered, "Oh...oh my goodness. Look how big you two have gotten...."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "Do uh...do we know you?"

Misty wiped her eyes as she replied, a small sigh following, "No. The two of you were only foals when you last saw us. But I must say...its so good to see you both face to face, Flash and Scootaloo."

Scootaloo's eyebrow raised to match her brother's as he spoke. "Flash?"

"Scootaloo?"

"How do you know our names?"

Trail Blazer chuckled at the question. "How? Well, that's because we're the ones who named you two."

That statement, mixed with Trail's similarities to Flash, caused a click to go off in their brains. Before they knew it, the siblings froze up while outside, the rest of the group were also wide eyed as they figured it out.

"No way..." Rainbow whispered.

"This is gotta be a trick," Applejack added.

Rarity shook her head, "I don't think so darling."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy finished, covering her mouth with her hooves.

Flash felt his heart racing a mile a minute. "No...you can't be."

Misty gave them a small smile, "Oh, but we are. We're your parents, Misty Veil and Trail Blazer."

Flash couldn't breathe. He could feel a turn in his stomach, his whole body churning as a mix of emotions swirled in his head. Scootaloo wasn't doing much better, her whole form shivering at her parent's words. Flash's eyes then flicked towards Scootaloo, the defender noticing the pure confusion on her face. This made Flash blink as his breathing started to increase in pace, causing him to turn back his parents.

It was here that Trail started to walk up to the siblings, "Now, I know this is a lot to take in."

"Indeed. We have waited so long for this moment, the moment to be with you two."

"And there's a long story with that. As such, we would like to sit down and explain why-BLAUGH!" Trail's eyes went almost completely white as the wind was knocked out of him, his pupils looking down to see Flash's hoof now in his stomach.

Everypony gasped at this sight, Flash himself staggering slightly back in disbelief as well. His body had just moved on reflex, causing him to shake as he stared at his hoof. The sound coughing could be heard next, causing him to look up and see Trail putting his hoof over his mouth, "Wait...we can...explain-"

"Explain.....EXPLAIN?!" Flash screamed as that word came out of Trail's mouth. Before he knew it, another hoof came for the stallion, this time dodging it by a hair. "Are you freaking serious?!"

"Flash!" Twilight yelled as her horn started to glow, "What are you-"

"Shut up Twilight!" Flash barked back, causing her backpedal. She had never heard Flash say that to her before, the words making her freeze up. As for Flash, he glared back at Trail while steam poured out of his nostrils, "You want to explain why you threw me and Scootaloo away?!"

"We didn't throw you away, we-"

"Shut up!" Flash interrupted as he shot forward, instantly tackling the stallion into the wall. The sight made everypony gasp as Flash pushed him into the wood, "You threw us away when we were foals!"

It was here that Twilight shook her head, now refocusing as her horn started to glow again, "Flash, you need to-" but before her magic activated, she felt a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to look up and see Misty Veil.

The unicorn was shaking her head. "Don't. We expected this."

"But-"

"She's right! Don't-grk!" Trail yelled as he saw the exchange from the corner of his eye. He then stared at Flash as he felt the defender's hoof pressuring him into the wall, "I'm...sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Flash barked as he threw a punch, this one smacking Trail across the face, "Why were the first few years of my life nothing but pain and loneliness! Why did you throw me away like trash to burn?!" Another punch smacked the stallion's face, "Why didn't me and Scootaloo even know we were brother and sister until she almost DIED?!" Flash readied another punch as he screamed, "HUH?! TELL ME! TELL ME YOU-"

"STOP!" Flash's hoof stopped mere inches from Trail's face.

He turned and saw the voice's owner. It was Scootaloo, completely recovering from the earlier shock. "Scoots...why are-"

"Because I have questions Flash, and I'd rather not have to guess what he's saying through broken teeth."

This statement alone made Flash come to a stop. A large sigh followed as he stared back at his father, a glare of pure anger on his face as he stepped away and trotted over to Scootaloo. "Alright...I can at least agree to that."

Trail breathed a sigh of relief as Misty went over and placed a hoof on his shoulder, making sure he was alright. When he nodded, the two walked over to the room's table and sat down. It was in this moment that the rest of their friends started to speak up, Rainbow going first while wearing a face of pure skepticism. "So....you're Flash and Scoots' deadbeat parents?"

Trail let out a hiss at the jab. "I wouldn't call us deadbeats."

Applejack slammed her flank down at the table, rattling the furniture as she growled, "Oh really? So what would yah call parents that abandon their foals before they can even walk? Ah know it sure ain't family."

Rarity nodded in agreement as she sat next to Applejack. "I couldn't agree more. In fact, according to what we've been told, you didn't even stick around to make sure they were found." She batted her mane back as she gave the duo a death stare, "We were told you just left them on a doorstep. They could have frozen to death back then."

Misty growled at this as well, "Hey! We waited until the door opened before we left!"

"Oh, and that makes it so much better," Fluttershy spat, a surprisingly low hissing tone in her voice. "You should be ashamed of yourselves for just abandoning your young! I know animals more responsible than you!"

Pinkie was the last to sit down, her hooves crossed with a big frown on her face, "You know, if I was throwing a party for world's worst parents, you'd be one of the first ponies I'd think of inviting. And even then I wouldn't do it, because ponies like you don't deserve parties!"

Both Trail and Misty wanted to reply, but they knew they couldn't say anything. In response, both stared down at the table, unable to respond. It was in this moment that Twilight chose to interject. "Alright everypony, we need to calm down."

"You're defending them?! Seriously?!" Rainbow demanded, only to get a glare from the princess.

"No, I'm not. I'm honestly fighting internally over just throwing them out right now, but I know better, and I also want answers. Besides, if we want to know why they did what they did, we need to give them a chance to speak. So, let's all calm down..." The princess gave everyone a quick glare, a long one especially at Flash, "And we also need to make sure we don't use any more violence, got it?!" Flash let out a sigh before nodding, his form sitting down with Scootaloo right by him. "Good. Now, please explain yourself you two."

"Thank you princess," Misty said with a bow.

"Don't." Twilight growled as she crossed her hooves, "I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, but don't think for a second I approve of any of this. That being said, please....begin."

"I understand." Misty replied before turning to her children. "Now, before we begin...I know I have no right to call myself your mother yet, but I want you two to know that we have always loved you."

Scootaloo's face morphed into a huge frown, even when Rainbow's wing patted her side, "Then...why did you give us up?"

"Because we had to," Trail responded as he put his hoof in Misty's, "In order for what your mother foresaw to come to pass."

"Foresaw?"

Misty nodded at this. "Ever since I was a foal, I've always had a strange ability. I...well, I could see the future."

Everypony's eyebrows slowly rose at hearing this, some not sure what to think after hearing this as Twilight chimed in, "No offense, but that's impossible. Even basic unicorns know that spells over time, specifically futuresight, are...dangerous. Even if they know the consequences, the ability to even cast the spell would mean the unicorn would have to be at a incredibly high level of skill and magic power."

Misty just chuckled as she waved her hoof at the princess. "I used to think the same thing, but my ability is no unicorn magic spell. Its something I've always had within me." Twilight was about to reply to this, only for Misty to lift her hoof, "Let me explain. When it started, I just shook it off as déjà vu. At first, I would only see a few seconds into the future. But as time went on, I could see further and further until now, where I can see exactly two minutes ahead."

"Only two minutes?" Spike asked next. "That's not very long."

"Long enough in most circumstances," she turned back to Flash and Scootaloo. "Like the circumstance of when I met your father."

Trail laughed at the memory. "Ah, I remember that day. I was walking under a piece of construction equipment when the rope snapped. A whole ton of metal was ready to bury me..." He stared at his wife, a small kiss following this. "If you hadn't intervened, I'd be a dead stallion."

Misty kissed him again, "And after that, things just happened until we were eventually married."

Seeing a now third smooch, Flash tapped his hoof in frustration. Twilight noticed this, now seeing the defender grit his teeth in irritation before Flash almost yelled, "So...what does this have to do with why you threw us away?!"

Misty looked back at her son and sighed. "I was getting to that, and we didn't throw you away. You see, your father and I are both archaeologists. We live to study the weird and wonderful of this world, my premonitions being one of the many mysteries we've tried to solve. We've travelled all over Equestria, searching for the answers. It was on one of those expeditions that I discovered I was pregnant with you."

Flash took this moment to interrupt. "Let me guess. You didn't want a kid cramping your style and stopping you from going on more wild adventures?!"

"Of course not!" Trail barked back. "We loved you and were excited to become parents!"

"Then why did you leave us?!" Scootaloo asked as she almost slammed her hoof on the table.

"Because when Flash was born, I had a vision like nothing I had ever had before!" Misty quickly spoke, causing everyone to hop in place. A small sigh followed as she stared at her son, "Listen, like I said before, I've only ever been able to see about two minutes into the future." she then pointed her hoof at Flash, the frown on her face trying to turn into a smile, "But...but when you were born Flash, a saw a barrage of visions like no other. I saw almost everything!" the smile started to grow, "I saw an incredible life for you Flash! The first vision was of us leaving you at the Canterlot Orphanage, then it showed you meeting Twilight and living with her family. I saw you become Grand Hoof's apprentice, come here to Ponyville, become the Element of Courage….all the adventures you've had!" She turned to Scootaloo as tears started to fall down her face, "Even meeting your sister."

Scootaloo looked away, unable to stop herself from smiling.

Misty turned back to Flash. "Your battles against Nightmare Moon, Lightning, Discord, Doom, and the others. I saw them all...that is, till I was shown the last image. It was...well, you giving up your Element."

Twilight spoke up at this. "So you gave Flash up because you saw him becoming the pony he is today?"

Trail nodded. "That's right. If we hadn't left him there at the orphanage in Canterlot, he might not have ever met any of you. He wouldn't have become the pony that has helped save Equestria so many times."

The group of friends all glanced at each other, looks of both discontent, disgruntlement and slight anger on their faces. Flash was especially showing anger, his once tapping hoof now shaking instead. All were soon in agreement that they weren't convinced, Rainbow piping in next, "You don't know that."

Rarity nodded. "Indeed. I'm sure Flash would have met us eventually."

Misty shook her head in response. "How? Trail and I were both born and raised in Manehatten. If we did keep Flash, we would have raised him there. Were any of you living in Manehatten when you were younger?"

Applejack raised her hoof. "Ah was, at least for a little bit."

"And did you ever go to the Museum of Equestria while you were there? Or maybe in its surrounding neighborhood?"

Applejack lowered her hoof, "No....ah didn't."

"Exactly," Trail replied as he slightly glared at the group. "If we didn't leave Flash, none of you would have ever met him. And even if you did, do you think you'd have forged a bond like the one you have now?"

Everypony glanced at each other again, unable to reply to this. "I guess you have a point," Twilight admitted as she crossed her hooves in thought, "I honestly never left Canterlot till I had to go to Ponyville." She looked back at the parents, "But that doesn't justify what you did."

"But it does princess. We had no choice." Misty remarked as she sighed again, "What I saw...I knew I had to make the visions come true. If I hadn't-"

"Hold on!" Rainbow interrupted, slamming her hoof on the table, "What about Scootaloo?!"

"Yeah!" Scootaloo yelled in agreement, "Why'd you leave me here?!"

A new stream of tears went down Misty's face. "That's...that's because when you were born, I instantly recognised you from my visions. One showed you and Flash outside the orphanage we left you at. When I first saw it, I figured Flash just got close to a random filly and later took her in. But...well, let's just say the second pregnancy came as a surprise." Misty admitted while staring at her husband, a light blush on both faces before Misty looked back at Scootaloo, "When you were born, I knew you were the one from the visions, the filly I saw Flash adopt. Seeing this, I knew that in order for Flash to become the pony he is today, you needed to be in his life as well."

Scootaloo tried to reply, only for no sound to come out of her mouth. She didn't know what to say as she glanced at her older brother. However, there was no comfort there, as Flash continued to glare at the duo, "So...you foresaw everything I went through?!" Flash barked back. "Including all those years I was forced to live on the street?! Or perhaps when I was almost burned to death at the orphanage?! Was that in your visions?!"

At this, Misty and Trail looked down in shame. "I...I never said I saw everything. Its true that I didn't see those years on the street for you Flash...and the fire. It um...it wasn't until a few years later that we learned about what happened to the orphanage." Misty gave a shivering glance at Flash's scar-ridden chest. "And because I suspect you'll ask about what else I didn't see...I also never saw your battle with Sombra."

"You mean when I almost died." Flash hissed as he kept trying to hold himself back. It was here that he slammed his hoof down again, "So let me get this straight...if you really foresaw all of this, why didn't you try and stop the disasters?! You could have gone to Princess Celestia! She would have believed you when you warned her about Nightmare Moon, Lightning, Discord and all the other stuff that almost killed us!"

"We thought about that..." Trail added.

Misty nodded again, "But we realised that I must have been shown those images for a reason." She reached her hoof out, only for Flash to flinch away from her touch. Seeing this made her rub her hoof as she continued, "You...you're a very special pony Flash, but you might have never achieved your full potential if you didn't go through all those events I saw."

Flash leaned back, his eyes now closed as he grit his teeth. "This has got to be some kind of trick." he whispered to himself, his brain hurting from all the new information.

However, his mental questions came to an end when the library doors opened and revealed Springer, Iron and Lightning. "Does somepony wanna tell us what the heck is going on?" Iron asked as he walked inside, pointing at the two newcomers, "Who are these two?!"

Before anypony could speak, Lightning shined a huge grin with wide eyes, "No way! Its you two!"

Misty and Trail tried to give him two small smiles, "Hello Lightning. It is good to see you again."

"Same here. How you two been?"

This caused many eyebrows in the room to raise in confusion as Rarity spoke up. "Hang on darling. You...know these two?"

"Heck yeah I do!" Lightning replied, a happy nod following a big grin on his face, "They were the ones who gave me my teleportation spell and sent me after my father." This caused a new wave of shock and confusion to spread through the room as they turned back to Misty and Trail.

"Another one of your visions?" Twilight asked.

Misty nodded. "Yes. I saw Lightning saving Flash while facing his father. We gave him the spell to help."

"Oh really?!" Flash spoke up, "I see you don't mind helping him. You know, somepony you also saw me fight!"

Misty turned back to her son. "Flash, we had to stay away. If we hadn't-"

"I wouldn't have fulfilled my great potential. Yeah yeah, I know." Flash interrupted, venom now in tone. "Say, what was stopping you from being there for me between those events you saw? If you knew they were coming, you could've still been there and made sure you were out of the way for the visions." He then leaned forward, anger burning in his eyes, "Or am I right from the start, and you actually don't care."

"How dare you! We love you Flash Relic!" Misty barked back, more tears bursting down her face, "You may not believe it, but-"

"I don't believe it!" Flash interrupted as he hit the table again, "You two threw me away instead of facing your problems head-on! You could have gone to Celestia and told her all this crap about my destiny! Heck, you could have just gone to Canterlot and made sure I met Twilight around the age you saw her in the visions! After all, I'm pretty sure you could just use the 'orphanage vision' as an excuse to get rid of me! Instead, you threw me away because you 'didn't see everything', which sounds like the biggest load of horseapples I've ever heard in my entire life!"

Before the two could reply, Twilight chimed in as well. "Wait a minute, you did say you didn't see everything. If that's the case, how do you know about Flash's fight with Sombra? That information wasn't exactly made public, so how do you know about it if you didn't foresee it? And how did you know to come here now?"

"She's got a point. That's another question on the books." Flash grumbled as he crossed his hooves again, "Well?!"

Misty and Trail glanced at one another, both nodding as Misty's horn glowed purple. In a flash of purple light, a silver dish-like object appeared onto the table. Everypony stared at the device before Flash picked up and examined the dish, "What's this?"

"A relic we discovered several years after we left you at the orphanage," Misty explained before turning to Twilight. "Princess, please think of somepony who isn't here and channel some magic into the dish."

Twilight blinked at the device, slightly taken back by the request. A second later, a simple streak of magic was fired into the dish, only for it to show the image of Princess Celestia. She was sitting on her throne, writing on a piece of paper that hovered in front of her. "How in the-"

"This dish allows you to watch what anypony you can think of as long as you have a strong enough connection to them."

Misty nodded in agreement. "When we found this, we used it to keep track of Flash and Scootaloo. We've been watching the two of you and everything you've done over the last few years."

Flash stared at the dish as these words entered his head, clicks and pieces assembling in his brain. Before he knew it, the anger consumed his face as he jumped to his hooves and tossed the dish away. "LIARS!" Everypony flinched at the sudden outburst, Twilight especially wide-eyed. She had never seen him this angry. It was here that Flash turned to his friends, screaming at the top of his lungs as he pointed to the dish, "Don't you see?! They're lying to us! She didn't have some vision-seeing garbage! They've just been spying on us!" He turned back to the duo, his wings flared as his hooves trembled in rage, "Let me guess, you just finally decided I was worth something since I'm an apprentice knight and decided to come up with this whole story to get back into our good books. That's it, isn't?!"

Trail let out a low sigh before flatly staring at Flash, "We're not lying son."

Misty stood up next. "Flash, please." She lifted her hoof out again, only for Flash to swat it away.

"I'm not listening to anymore of your wild stories about seeing the future and abandoning me for my own good! You say you want back in our lives?! Well too bad!" He then pointed to Twilight, "I already have parents! Their names are Twilight Velvet and Night Light, which are definitely not you!" the defender then turned around, steam blasting out of his nostrils, "You lost the right to be part of our family when you threw me away!" With that, he hopped off the table and headed for the door.

Misty quickly went around the frame, "Flash Relic-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Flash screamed as he spun around and stared into her eyes, hatred burning in his pupils. "MY NAME IS FLASH SENTRY! FLASH RELIC IS DEAD, AND HE DIED WHEN THE ORPHANAGE YOU ABANDONED HIM AT BURNT DOWN!" Misty and Trail both backpedaled at this, shame and fear obvious on their faces. "If you think I'm ever gonna forgive you and let you back into our lives just so the two of you can hurt us again, then you're insane!" He pointed between himself and Scootaloo, "You don't get to have this family! You don't deserve it, so why don't you just do us all a favor, and leave!"

"NO!" Flash turned to his sister, who had been oddly silent during their conversation. "I don't want them to go. I admit I'm mad at them, but I don't think they're lying."

"How can you say that?! Did you not just hear all that stupid crap they just said?!"

Scootaloo just shrugged. "I...I don't know, I just do." She then turned to Springer. "You can tell when ponies are lying, right?"

Springer nodded. "Yeah. It causes their auras to darken."

Scootaloo pointed at her parents, "Well, are their auras dark? Have they been lying?"

Springer turned to Trail and Misty before closing his eyes and scanning their auras, being very precise as he checked. Eventually, he stopped and opened his eyes. "Their auras are clean. Neither of them has said a lie all day."

Scootaloo turned back to her brother. "See? They're telling the truth." She stepped up and gave him her most pleading eyes. "Please, let them stay. I've waited for this moment my whole life."

He looked back at his parents, his teeth gritting as he hissed, "I still think you're lying. No, I'm sure of it, even if Springer says otherwise." The defender then stared down at his sister, seeing how much she wanted this. A loud groan followed as he glared back at Trail and Misty. "One day. That's all you two deadbeat parents get. Do whatever you want with Scoots, but after that, I never want to see the two of you ever again." With that, he walked out the door, his form instantly taking to the sky.

As he did this, the duo Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were trying to get to the library after school, both wanting to know why Scootaloo was taken out earlier. However, as they arrived, they were pushed back by the sudden draft of wind from his takeoff, causing Applebloom to yelp, "What in tarnation?!" She soon got back up and walked into the library, only to see everypony inside wearing giant frowns on their faces. "What's going on? Who are they and why did Scootaloo leave class early?"

Iron just shrugged. "I'm still not sure about that myself."

Twilight's horn flared at this, her magic now engulfing everypony except Scootaloo and her parents. "We'll explain properly outside Applebloom. Right now, let's leave them some space while I'll go see if I can get Flash to calm down."

"You don't have to do that princess," Misty told her as she wiped away her tears. "We...we were afraid this would happen, yet we were also ready to accept it if it did. Flash...Flash has made it quite clear that he wants nothing to do with us." Another tear appeared, causing her to sigh again as she wiped it away, "I just wish it didn't happen, but he is not wrong. This is all our fault."

Twilight shook her head at this, giving the mare a sympathetic smile as she put her hoof on the unicorn's shoulder. "Mrs. Veil, while I...I don't fully agree with what you did, I now believe I understand why you did it. As for Flash, I've been with him for a long time, and I know he's not in his right mind right now. Granted, I don't think I've ever seen him this angry...but that doesn't mean I can't calm him down." Her grin grew as her words made Misty start to smile again, "Don't worry, I'm going to make sure and see if I can speed up the calming down process."

Before anypony could say anything else, they all vanished in a flash of purple light. As such, the three ponies stood quietly in the library, Scootaloo then turning to Misty and Trail, "Wanna go up to my room?"

The two gave looks of surprise at the suggestion, only for them to smile as Misty replied, "That would be lovely."

Trail nodded in agreement. "Lead the way squirt." Scootaloo gestured form them to follow, the three soon entering as Trail commented, "Cool style." he glanced at the many Wonderbolt posters and spotted several of them were either torn or crinkled. "What happened here?"

"Don't ask," Scootaloo grumbled.

Misty then spotted something on her bed, a red blanket with a stylized sowing of Scootaloo on it, along with dates that showed her birth. "I haven't seen this in such a long time," she picked it up in her magic and looked it over, "Looks as good as the day I finished making it."

"You made that?" Scootaloo asked her, getting a nod from her mother.

"From the same material I made your brother's out of. We discovered it on one of our adventures," she turned to Trail. "Which one was it again?"

Trail rubbed his chin in thought, "I...can't remember. Sorry."

"Strange...neither can I." She looked down at the blanket again, "The material is like nothing I'd ever seen before. Completely indestructible, which is why I made them into the blankets we...left you in."

"Right...yeah." Scootaloo whispered as she watched as Misty put her blanket down.

Misty then turned back to Scootaloo, "Scootaloo...I know that we have no right to ask for your forgiveness."

"But all we want is to really get to know you," Trail added.

Scootaloo looked away, thoughts racing through her head. She knew they would want her opinion, and as she folded her non-flying wings, she started to say, "For the longest time, I wondered why you left me at the orphanage. Ms. Blossom would tell me it was because you thought you wouldn't be able to look after me, so you gave me to her to keep me safe. I believed that for so long, but then..." She didn't answer, instead turning her head around to glance at her wings.

Both Misty and Trail's eyes went wide as they realised what she was thinking. "Oh sweetheart," Misty's horn flashed before pulling Scootaloo towards her. Before the filly could react, she found herself in her mother's embrace. "Never, ever, think we wanted to give you up. There wasn't a day that went by that my heart didn't break from thinking about all the things we missed. After we watched the doctor tell you about your wings, I cried for a week straight. I...I wanted nothing more than to come comfort you." More tears began to flow down her face, some of them now dropping on Scootaloo's mane, "Flash was right...I should have came to comfort you."

Trail then placed his wings around them. "She's right Scootaloo. We love you. Never...please, never forget that."

As the warmth radiating off her parents consumed her, Scootaloo's eyes began to water. Something inside her clicked into place in that moment, something that had always felt out of place her entire life. The tears finally broke free as she began to sob in an uncontrollable manner. "Mommy...daddy, I forgive you."

The amount of joy that the two ponies felt after hearing that was like nothing they had ever felt. Both parents began to cry more and more after this, now knowing they had their daughter back. And as time melted in those moments, Trail soon pulled away from the hug before using his wings to wipe his daughter's eyes. "So kiddo, what do you wanna do together?"

Scootaloo thought for a moment, then smiled. "You two are archaeologists, right?" The reply she got was a pair of nods, "Then I know exactly what I want to do."





After teleporting everypony out of the library, Twilight directed that everypony else go to Sugarcube Corner to explain the situation to the latecomers before heading out to find Flash. Luckily, Springer was able to locate him with his aura, and found him at the forest training ground. Deciding to walk instead of flying or teleporting, she did this in hoping it would give Flash more time to calm down.

When she finally arrived, she spotted her best friend slamming his hooves into a tree. "What'd that tree ever do to you?" She let out a small laugh at her own joke, as Flash came to a stop but didn't look back, "What? No witty come back?"

"Go away. I'm not in the mood right now Twilight," Flash growled as he began to hit the tree again.

Twilight let out a huff as she got closer to the defender, "I figured." she then crossed her hooves with a slight glare, "Flash, I think you might have been a little hard on your parents."

Flash once again stopped hitting the tree and turned to her, a look of shock and anger on his face. "How...how can you say that?! Didn't you-"

"They did what they thought was for the greater good." Twilight interrupted, flashing her hoof at the defender. "That was their choice."

"Oh please! How can leaving their children on the street be for the greater good?"

"They never left you on the street, and they didn't know about what happened at the orphanage."

"Then why didn't they come get me when they learned?!"

"Maybe they did," Twilight deadpanned as she crossed her hooves again. "Maybe when they found out where you were living, they came to get you, but by then you were already living with us."

"You don't know if that's what happened."

"And you don't know if that's NOT what happened because you stormed out of there before you could get all the details." Twilight's horn began to flare, pulling the defender over with her magic before staring him straight in the eyes, "Listen, I don't agree with what they did either...but I know what they said was genuine. If they really didn't care, they wouldn't have come here, and they wouldn't have gone through their own hardships on giving you and Scootaloo up." She put her hooves on his shoulders, "Flash...they've suffered too, and...you need to at least try and forgive them."

Flash swatted her hooves away, growling as he looked away, "How can you say that? Heck, how I can do that? What if I forgive them and let them back into mine and Scootaloo's lives, but they just leave us again. It'll break Scoots heart, and I don't want that to happen to her."

Twilight just shook her head at this, her magic spinning him back in front of her, "You really are a meathead, you know that? What you really mean is that you don't want that to happen to you." She watched as Flash raise his eyebrows in surprise, "Don't try and hide it. I can see it in your eyes, and I know how you are when it comes to family." She looked down at the grass as she admitted, "I know you've always felt out of place in my family, all of us being unicorns and everything." She glanced back up at the defender, "But I know you Flash. You're scared to forgive them and let them into your life because you're scared they'll leave you again."

Flash pulled himself away from her magic as he grumbled, "I'm not scared."

"Yes, you are," Twilight sternly told him. "And you're letting your fear dictate your actions. That doesn't sound like something a knight or the Element of Courage should ever do." Flash glared at her for this, his hoof shaking in anger. He wanted to scream and tell her she was wrong, but he could feel a horrible pain in his chest. Despite this, Twilight continued to speak, "I know you might hate me for saying this, but..." She looked hesitant at her next words, but took a deep breath and spoke. "I've been thinking while I was making way here and...though I will admit I don't agree with what they did in the slightest in terms of...abandoning you on a whim. But despite that, I'm...I'm glad for what they did." Flash froze at hearing this, his eyes going wide as he saw Twilight's eyes fill with tears. "Because...because I don't want to imagine my life without you in it."

Flash blinked at the sight, gasping as he saw the tears start to form on the princess's face, "Twilight?"

"Don't deny it Flash. If they hadn't left you like they did, we might have never met. And even if we did, we might not have the same bond we share now. You would have never met Grand and become a knight, or come here to become Ponyville's defender. Springer would have likely been killed by the Timberwolves, Iron might not have been sent here. Lightning, if he did get banished, wouldn't have been offered a place here to repay his debt, and Scootaloo would've never known her friends."

Twilight's words echoed through his head, causing Flash's imagination to run wild as he thought about what might have happened if he hadn't been there in those events.

"And its not just that," Twilight's tears finally broke free as she continued. "Think about how all of our fights would have ended if you hadn't been there. We defeated Nightmare Moon because you forged the Element of Courage. You kept Discord occupied so I could reverse his spell on our friends. If you hadn't been with me and Cadance, we would have had to fight the Scorpentine and might not have made it to the wedding in time to stop Chrysalis. You saved Ruby from Sombra and stopped him from entering the Crystal Empire. And you helped me when I went after Sunset Shimmer." Twilight panted heavily after listing all the events, Flash's silence letting her catch her breath and wipe her eyes with her wing before continuing. "None of that would've happened if they hadn't left you at the orphanage. What they did may have seemed selfish at first, but in the grand scheme of things....well, they selflessly gave you up for the good of Equestria." She placed a hoof on his chest. "So please, at least try and spend some time with them before shutting them out of your life for good. You might think not having them here is right, but...but down the line, you might end up regretting it."

Flash remained completely silent, unable to respond as Twilight got up and walked away. He felt his legs give out before he fell back onto his flank, leaning against a tree as the alicorn's words ran through his head once again.





Meanwhile...

Flash's sister was leading her parents through the town now. Scootaloo hadn't yet told them where they were going, but they honestly didn't care at the moment. They were too busy watching her zoom through the streets on her scooter, showing them several of her stunts before coming to a stop. Trail chuckled at the sight, "Wow...I gotta say, you got mad skills kiddo."

"Thanks," Scootaloo replied with a slight blush. "I might not be able to fly, but nopony can beat me on a scooter."

Misty giggled at this. "Seems I was right to name you Scootaloo then. My vision was bang on."

Scootaloo blinked at this, her head slightly leaning back, "You named me after a vision?"

Misty nodded. "We had no clue what we were gonna call you before you were born. But when you were, I instantly recognized you from my visions. I remembered seeing you on that scooter and the name just popped into my head."

"Cool...." Scootaloo smirked at this new piece of info, "What about Flash?"

Trail spoke up this time, "I always wanted to name my son Flash, mainly due to a distant ancestor of mine named Flash Magnus."

"Flash Magnus?"

"I'll tell you the story some other time," Trail remarked as he leaned down with a wink, "Its a long one, and I bet you wanna show us something more interesting."

"Okay!" Scootaloo cheered before turning around, a big smile on her face as she saw the sight in front of her, "Oh hey, we're here!" The two older ponies looked up and saw they were now on the edge of the Everfree Forest.

"Scootaloo….why are we next to this death trap?" Misty asked with a slight gulp.

Scootaloo's tail started to wave in excitement, "You said you two were archaeologists, right? If that's true, we're gonna do some archaeology! Maybe I'll get my cutie mark...though maybe I should go get the other crusaders..."

Trail raised an eyebrow at this. "Alright, but why are we doing that here?"

Scootaloo just giggled at the question, "Because in there is probably the oldest building in Equestria, The Castle of the Two Sisters! Me and Twilight and Flash all went there a few days ago and they've been going over there a bunch!" her wings began to beat. "Now, follow me!" With that, she shot into the trees and left her flabbergasted parents standing there.

They both blinked before Misty said, "She gets this from your side of the family." Trail wanted to reply, but the mare rushed in after her daughter and he quickly followed. The two of them moved through the trees at their top speed, hoping to find Scootaloo before anything else could. It was only about ten minutes in of searching that they spotted her standing beside her scooter, the filly now looking for them.

"Scootaloo!" Misty cried as she hopped in front of the filly, anger now evident on her face. "What were you thinking of running away like that?! You know what this forest is!"

Scootaloo looked down in shame, "I'm sorry. Its just, I was so excited to be with you all and go on an adventure and...I guess I got a little overexcited."

Trail sighed before smiling, using his hoof to ruffle her mane. "It's alright kiddo, we're excited too. But take it from ponies who've been on lots of expeditions, you need to keep a clear head and make smart decisions before anything else."

Scootaloo nodded. "Alright. Sorry about that. Let's get out of here." She then spun around, blinking, "Though uh...which way leads back to Ponyville?"

Trail and Misty started to looked around, trying to remember from which way they had come. "I'm...not sure," Trail turned to his wife. "I could fly up and see which direction the town's in."

Misty looked up and saw how thick the tree's canopy was, "I don't think you can. But...I have a compass we can-" She stopped as her eyes went wide, causing Trail and Scootaloo to stare at her, blinking.

"What's going on?" Scootaloo asked.

Trail just chuckled in response, "Only one thing kiddo. She's having a vision."

"She is?"

"Yeah. It won't take long, as its usually-"

"Aaah!" Misty gasped, her body shivering as she came out of her frozen state, "We have to get out of here, NOW!"

"Why? What's going on?" Scootaloo didn't get an answer, instead finding herself enveloped by her mothers magical aura and lifted up into the air.

"No time to explain!" Misty and Trail began to run in a random direction, only to stop when they spotted a pair of glowing green orbs floating in shadows of the trees. "Oh no...."

"A Timberwolf," Trail whispered as the orbs moved closer, revealing themselves to be the eyes of the growling wood beast. They backpedaled at the sight, only to hear another growl, confirming a second Timberwolf behind them.

Another wolf then appeared from the left, then one from the right. With each passing second, more and more Timberwolves appeared until the three found themselves surrounded. Misty turned to Trail, "What do we do?"

Trail took in a deep breath, gesturing to his wife to get behind him, "Whatever happens, keep Scootaloo safe." The mare nodded, her horn flashing as a magical bubble encased her and Scootaloo. Seeing this, the pegasi into a fighting stance, hissing at the wooden beasts.

It was here that the first monster charged ahead, Scootaloo letting out a scream at the sight. Seeing this, Trail slammed his hooves into the beast, smashing it into pieces. But as he did this, two more slashed their claws at Misty's shield, both bouncing off in response. Trail saw this and flew into them, turning them into toothpicks. He then looked back at his wife and daughter, seeing they were both safe, but could tell Misty was straining to keep the shield up. That is, till he saw another Timberwolf ready to strike, only for an orange blur to pass by and destroy the monster.

Scootaloo shined a huge grin, recognizing the blur, "Flash!"

Flash Sentry pulled himself to a stop, analysing the situation as he cricked his neck. "Okay....looks like we're surrounded." This was lead by a growl, causing Flash to enter Theta Mode as he dodged a wolf's claw. This was met with a spinning kick, smashing another wolf with ease. The sight made the other wolves backpedal for a second, causing Flash to close his eyes for a second. "Come on...got it." Flash reopened his eyes and turned to the trio, "I sent a mental message to Springer. He'll be here soon with the others, so we just have to hold them off."

Trail nodded as they turned to the Timberwolves, only to notice that the broken pieces of wood were now floating up before reconstructing themselves back into the monsters. "That might be tricky. Especially since you don't have your Celestic Gear."

Flash let out a groan, remembering he had left Lightbringer at the library when he stormed out. "It'll be fine. Let's just do what we can." With that, he and Trail dove into the Timberwolves's mob, both smashing through five more each with a single bum-rush. But as they turned to take down another few, the others started to reassemble themselves.

Meanwhile, Misty felt her legs give out as she fell onto her flank. The shield she was creating flickered for a moment, causing her to gasp as she redoubled her efforts to keep it solid. Scootaloo saw this and gasped when she spotted blood coming out of her mother's nose, making her even more scared. "Mom..."

Misty turned and gave a weak smile. "I'll be fine sweetheart. We have to...believe in them."

Back outside of the bubble, Flash and Trail were still going strong. All but three of the Timberwolves had been smashed, but this trio simply stared at them before looking over the remains of their fallen brethren. They then unleashed a powerful howl, causing the debris to float up and fly towards them.

"What now?" Flash asked through his panting. The family of four watched as the debris stuck to the wolves, causing them to grow bigger and bigger. Eventually, a trio of Timberwolves three times larger than usual stared down at them.

"Oh, come on!" the two male pegasi yelled in unison. One of the giant Timberwolves then raised a paw, soon slamming the ground, forcing the two to leap back. Flash then flexed his wings and kicked off the ground, rocketing at the beast in a vain hope to rip through it. But all that happened was him bouncing off, falling back to the ground with a thud.

Trail saw this and gasped as the Timberwolf readied a claw at the fallen defender. "FLASH!" He screamed as he ran up to his son, soon pushing him out of the way. A second later, the giant paw struck him, knocking the pegasus into Misty's shield. The crash caused the shield to finally give out, Trail dropping like a rock next to the two mares.

Flash shook his head and picked himself up as he heard Scootaloo call out. "DAD!" He turned and saw Misty laying next to Trail, the mare still bleeding as she tried to get up. But then he saw Trail, now seeing a giant bleeding claw scar down his back.

And as the large Timberwolves slowly walked towards the three, Flash zoomed over and whispered down to his father. "Why? Why did you..."

Trail moaned as he opened an eye, staring up at his oldest child. "Because...you're my son."

Hearing this caused something in Flash's heart to shift, as if all the resentment and fear he had been holding onto just vanished. In that moment, a single beam of light managed to find its way through the canopy, the light shining down on the four with a refraction that seemed to make them glow a rainbow sheen.

And as this happened, Flash eyes went wide before a rainbow reflected in them.

But before he could do anything else, the growling of the Timberwolf caught his attention. He turned to the beast, his whole body shivering as he tried to figure out what to do. He could only stare at the sight, trying to get an answer, only for his brain to suddenly be filled with pain, causing him to close his eyes and clutch his head as he cried out.

He heard Scootaloo cry out to him, but then nothing. Nothing but silence was all that followed.

It was here that the pain disappeared, Flash opening his eyes to find he was no longer in the forest. Now he was in a white void, the same one he had found himself inside during his fights against Discord, Sombra and the Scorpentine. "This place again. What am I doing here?"

A flash of golden light was his answer, causing him to hold his hoof up to block the light before he squinted at the source. That source turned out to be a giant golden sun like orb that floated above him, letting out a radiant glow that pulsed like a heart beat.

"Flash."

The pegasus hopped in place, surprised at the calm sudden voice as he looked out at the void. Unable to see any figure except the orb, he asked, "Who's there? What is this?!"

"Flash." He looked up this time, realising where the voice was coming from now.

"Who...who are you?"

"The time has finally come for you to unleash the full power that dwells within you. But be warned, this power comes with many great challenges. With it, you will have the power to protect everypony you care about, but there will be trials if you choose such a destiny. Do you accept?"

Flash's mouth stopped for a second, not able to figure out what he should say. But the memories of his current situation made him make up his mind. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you can help me keep those I love safe, than sure. I accept!" The mysterious voice didn't reply, the floating sun simply lowering itself before him.

As soon as it got within range, Flash's hoof moved without thought, touching the sphere. As soon as he made contact, the sun exploded, releasing an explosion of light that surrounded the pegasus, floating into his eyes, mouth and nose. New power flooded into him as the light blinded him.





Twilight was running as fast as she could towards the area Springer had detected Flash. As soon as the jakhowl had gotten Flash's message, she and Lightning had teleported them to forest's entrance. With this, they were now rushing through the forest, Springer on Twilight's back as he pointed ahead, "We're close. They should be beyond that clearing."

"Then what are were waiting for?" Rainbow exclaimed as she doubled her speed, the others nodding in agreement.

Within the second they broke through the trees, they spotted Flash and his family along with three giant Timberwolves. Twilight's focus turned to Flash, who appeared to be clutching his head in pain. "FLASH!"

Flash's eyes shot open as he looked up at the Timberwolves, all of them snarling at the ponies. He lowered his hooves and quickly glanced back at Scootaloo, Misty and Trail, then at his friends before turning back to the monsters. A weak glow of golden light started to radiate off his body, which began to grow in strength by the second. Everypony stared at him in worry and confusion as his calmly spoke up. "Get...away...from my...FAMILY!" And with that last exclamation, it happened.

The slowly brightening light exploded off of him, causing everypony to look away in fear of going blind. Twilight was the only one who tried to see through it, watching as the light started to wrap around Flash's body and form a tornado of sorts. As this happened, Flash felt something encase his hooves, chest and head. He was wearing armor.

It was here that the most of the light died down, though the tornado remained and covered his body, allowing the others to see Flash's new state. They all gasped as the tornado of light shined all around his form, the pillar of light going up into the canopy as he stared at the wooden beasts. As for the monsters, the Timberwolves had recovered from their initial shock and once again started their stride towards him.

Flash then opened his eyes, not phased at all by the light surrounding him, and rushed the beasts.

To everypony else, it looked like the tornado had morphed into a golden bullet. It shot through the far left Timberwolf first, shattering it to pieces instantly before doing a midair curve. The next target was the far right beast, the golden bullet blasting the wolf's back, splitting him in two. It was here that he landed, the tornado now towering over the central Timberwolf. Said Timberwolf raised its paw to slash at Flash, only for the claw to bounce off it like it was bubble. The tornado then shot up into the air, hovering above the monster before reversing its course. Like a shining golden meteor, Flash slammed into the last Timberwolf, shredding it to bits.

Everypony was silent as they watched the golden blur hop away from the remains and land in front of Scootaloo and her parents. The tornado formed again, but quickly exploded to reveal Flash's glowing body. The light then faded to show Flash was back to normal, only for him to stagger onto his flank, his mouth now panting.

"Flash!" Twilight and the others ran over to them, now finally out of their states of shock, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Flash turned to the remains of the monsters he'd defeated. "Let's get out of here before they reform." Twilight nodded as her horn sparked, enveloping them in a veil of purple light before they disappeared.





Back on the edge of the forest, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Spike were waiting for their friends to get back. That is, till a sudden purple flash caught their attention, announcing their friends return. Spike was the first to run up to them, "Twilight! Are you all okay?!"

"We're fine," Twilight grumbled as she stared down at Flash. "What...what did you just do?!"

Flash just let out a series of pants. "I...I have...no idea. I just...did it."

"And it was awesome!" Rainbow cheered before trying to reenact what had happened with her hooves. "You were like, wham! And they were like, smash! And then you were like, kabang!"

Flash laughed at this, only for his eyes to fall on Scootaloo and his parents. Managing to pick himself up, he walked over to the two older ponies. "You two alright?"

Misty and Trail both nodded, "We're okay."

"I've had worse," Trail grumbled as he slowly picked himslef up. "Though I think we might need to get myself to the local doc here."

"Good...I'm glad." Flash replied, now helping his father up, "Sorry I messed up back there."

"Don't. It wasn't your fault."

"You know that's not true." Flash admitted as Twilight started to help Misty up. "Come on, let's get you some first aid. That and uh..." It was here that Flash let out a sigh, feeling a lump in his throat as he said, "Um...could I say something to you two first?" Misty and Trail glanced at each other, both nodding in silence. Seeing this, Flash sighed again and mumbled out, "Listen...I uh....I'm....sorry."

"You...are?" Misty whispered, blinking at the words.

Flash nodded this time. "Yeah. I uh...I shouldn't have reacted like that before. I...I don't know. I guess I was just...just scared that you didn't really care about us. About me."

Two huge frowns appeared on the duo's faces, Misty replying, "After what we did, we don't blame you. We fully understand you would think we didn't care about you and-"

"But I was wrong," Flash interrupted as a small tear went down his face. "You risked your lives to protect Scootaloo and you took that hit for me. Granted, I want to know why you were in the Everfree Forest-"

"That was my fault." Scootaloo chimed in, causing Flash to turn to her with a big frown. The sight made her shrink back, "Um...yeah. Sorry."

"Okay. We'll defintely talk about that later." Flash grumbled as he looked back at his parents. He could feel the lump in his throat returning as he continued, "Anyways, as I was saying...I understand now. I...I see that you really do care about us." He glanced at the ground, his tone staying in a glum mood, "I...I still don't accept the vision stuff, but...I don't know. I don't know what to think. But even if I don't know, I do know one thing." He looked back up with a half-smile, "I think I understand what you meant when you felt it was the right thing to do."

Both Misty and Trail gasped at this, Misty putting her hooves over her mouth, "Flash...are you-"

Flash gave a slow nod. "I don't...I don't know if I'm ready for this, but...I forgive you."

The parents' eyes began to fill with tears as Misty ran up and enveloped him in a hug. "Thank you! Oh thank you Flash!" Scootaloo soon joined the two, Trail then pulling his wings over them to complete the quartet.

Everypony watching this smiled, some having tears in their eyes at the reunion between the family. Today marked a very special day, and was one that none of them would forget for a very long time.





The next day...

After the events of the previous day, complete with a doctor visit and bandages, Trail and Misty had stayed with their children at the library. Twilight had sent a letter to Celestia, telling her about Flash's parents and what had happened with the Timberwolves. To say she was interested was an understatement.

Now, it was time for Misty and Trail to leave for Manehatten. They were currently at the train station, Scootaloo whimpering at this, "Do you really have to go?"

Misty sighed as she placed a hoof on her shoulder. "We have to sweetheart. We still have much to do in Manehatten, but we'll see each other soon."

Trail nodded as he turned to Flash. "After seeing what you did, we need to find out as much as we can about these unusual abilities of yours. Manehatten is the best place for us to find that information. That and we have a few ideas from...well, earlier expeditions."

"I understand," Flash replied before smiling. "But if you ever find yourself close to Ponyville, come and visit alright?"

Misty gave them a hug. "We'd love that. And if you're ever in Manehatten, we can show you around and spend some time together."

Scootaloo shined a huge grin. "We'd love too!"

Misty and Trail both nodded before turning to Twilight. "Look after them."

Twilight giggled at this, "Of course."

It was in that moment the train arrived, causing them to give one last hug. The two ponies then nodded to each other in agreement before Misty's horn flashed, the dish from yesterday soon appearing. "Here. Before we leave, we want you to have this."

Flash took the dish and looked it over before glancing at them, "Um...okay. Why though?"

"We used to use it as a way to stay connected with you, but we don't need it anymore. Now whenever we miss you, we can actually come see you in person."

Flash and Scootaloo both smiled as Twilight took the dish, allowing the four of them to share one final hug. As they did this, Trail whispered into Flash's ear, "And kiddo, don't ever stop being yourself. Though you should figure some things out with you and Twilight already."

"Huh?" Flash tried to reply, his father's words confusing the young stallion.

It was here that the hug ended, Misty and Trail now hopping onto the train. And as the train pulled away, they popped their heads out of the window and waved their goodbyes. Flash and Scootaloo waved back, yelling 'goodbye' at the top of their lungs until the train was out of sight.

Flash then looked down at his sister, seeing the frown she now wore, and put a wing around her. "Don't worry, we'll see them again."

Scootaloo glanced up at her brother, the frown quickly changing to a smile. "Yeah, we will." With that, the group headed home.





That night...

Flash was in his bedroom after having tucked Scootaloo in. Springer was already asleep, but Flash was busy writing in the journal he shared with his friends.



Growing up as an apprentice knight, I was taught how to control my fear. Since then, I've faced a lot of scary situations in my life, monsters that were beyond anything that a normal pony should face. I've probably been scared more times than I've had baths, but I've always been able to keep that fear from controlling me. But no danger, no matter how scary, has ever made me more scared then I was to let my parents back into my life.

But that's the thing. You can face life threatening dangers and not bat an eyelash, but when it comes to emotional fear, you can't help yourself from cowering. But thanks to my friends and a couple of Timberwolves, I was finally able to look past my fear and open my heart to my mom and dad. Only time will tell what'll happened between us, but something tells me it'll be alright.



Flash stopped writing as he closed the book, placing it on his desk next to the dish his parents had given him. He smiled one last time at it, then switched off the lamp before rolling over to go to sleep.

A second after he did, a rainbow colored shine reflected off the dish
> Kamen Pony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another beautiful morning in Ponyville. As the morning dew began to evaporate in the heat of the sun, we find our young hero and his trusted partner flying through the skies. Flash and Springer had just finished their patrol and were heading to the forest training ground, but one of them wasn't looking particularly energized at this moment in time.

Springer's mouth stretched out wide as a loud yawn flew out. The young jakhowl then rubbed his eyes, trying to keep himself from nodding off. Flash heard this and rolled his eyes. "This is your own fault Springer. I told you we'd be getting up early last night, but you refused to go to sleep!"

"I couldn't help it," Springer moaned as he pulled out a comic from his backpack. The comic's cover showed three figures in suits and helmets that appeared to be insect themed. "The Kamen Ponies are about to stop the Grand Commander Zapper's ploy to take control of the world!"

"Kamen Ponies...Grand Commander Zapper?"

"It's an awesome Neighpanese comic series that's been rewritten into Ponish that Spike got for me when you all were in Canterlot. It depicts a trio of costumed ponies who have powers over the forces of nature. Their enemy, Zapper, uses magic and technology to turn normal ponies into mindless monsters, and the Kamen Ponies have to stop him."

"Sounds like the average Tuesday for us," Flash chuckled as Springer rolled his eyes.

"Well, I still think its cool. In fact, in this issue, Zapper's managed to get their paws on two of the three pieces of the legendary Zenith Medal. If all three pieces are brought together, they'll imbue him with unlimited power!" A huge grin shined on the pup's face, "I gotta find out how it ends."

"Well you can wait until we get home. We've got training, and then we're helping Twilight and the others clean up the Castle of the Two Sisters."

"I know, I know..." Springer groaned as he slumped back. "But I can't help it Flash...the story's so good! The Kamen Ponies have barely been able to keep up with Zapper, so I really wanna see how they manage to pull off the win this time!"

Flash just shrugged at this, "Maybe the answer's just too obvious to realise."

Springer mimicked his partner. "I guess, but its still fun to..."

Flash blinked at the sudden stop of his partner praises, making him turn back with a raised eyebrow, "Fun to what?"

Springer didn't reply, the jakhowl now putting his comic back in the backpack before pointing to another part of town with a smirk, "Go there. Now."

"Why?"

"Just do it, trust me." Flash rolled his eyes but did so anyways, soon finding himself flying to the town's train station. He then landed on the train's platform, seeing the most recent locomotive coming to a stop.

"Alright bud," Flash remarked as he scanned the train's opening doors. "I'm guessing somepony we know is coming here, right? Who exactly are we looking for?"

Springer hopped off and pointed to one of the carriages, "Her!" Flash followed his paw just in time to see a certain mare come off the train. A giant grin graced his face as he galloped to the mare, Springer following suit.

"Trixie!"

Trixie Lulamoon turned to the voice and smiled, "Flash, Springer, its so good to see you!"

"Same here," Flash told her while Springer ran up and gave her a small hug.

As she returned it, she blinked at Flash, "How you'd know I was on the train? I wanted it to be a surprise."

Flash laughed at this before pointing at the jakhowl hugging her, "Bit of advice Trixie. When you're planning to sneak into Ponyville, Springer is the constant."

Trixie glared down at Springer, breaking the hug as he gave her an innocent smile. A huff soon followed, "Well, there goes that plan."

"Sorry."

"Its fine..." She leaned down and smirked at the defender, "I'll forgive you if you help me surprise the others."

"Deal!"

They all grinned and laughed as they stepped out of the station, the trio now walking into town. As they did this, Flash asked, "So Tricks, what are you doing here? Not that we're not happy to see you, but I thought you'd be a little too busy as Luna's student to just come for a visit."

Hearing this, Trixie let out a long sigh, "Princess Luna sent me here for a...vacation. I've been having problems focusing on my magic lately, so she wanted me to take a week off to rest and....pull myself back together. That and Ruby Scarlet came for another visit and...I don't want to go on another 'night on the town'." Another sigh followed this as a huge frown now graced her face. "Though, I really don't wanna do this either..."

"What's wrong with a vacation? Everypony needs time to themselves every now and again."

"Yeah!" Springer nodded in agreement. "And if you're having trouble, then its smart for you to have some time off."

Trixie turned to Flash, the frown still on her face. "Did Twilight ever take a break during her studies when she was Celestia's student? And I'm talking voluntary ones you didn't force her to take."

Flash had been about to tell her yes, only for his voice to die at that last condition. It was here that a particular memory popped into his head. It was him helping Shining pull Twilight out of her room by her tail, the filly screaming, 'I don't wanna go play! I wanna study and go to school!'. That and Shining telling her that it was weekend, which meant no school. Flash then shook his head, "No, but that's just Twilight." He turned to Trixie with a half smile, half frown, "Nopony can match her when it comes to studying stamina....and studying comas."

Trixie sighed yet again, her pace increasing as the two tried to keep up with her, "I was afraid of that. I thought I was catching up to her, but now look at her. She's an alicorn princess, and I'm-"

"An amazing pony who's Princess Luna's student," Flash interrupted while patting the mare's back with his wing. "And before you go any further, I'll go ahead and tell you that it doesn't matter that Twilight's an alicorn now. That doesn't make you any less special." He leaned over with a cheeky grin, "You are the great and powerful Trixie after all."

Trixie turned to him, a half death stare on her face, "Oh really?! You wanna know what the great and powerful Trixie was doing when her mentor disappeared?! She was panicking! By the time I managed to calm down enough to go looking for you and Twilight, you two had already left to solve everything!" She barked, her tone repeatedly increasing before staring at the ground, "See? That's how great and powerful I am..."

Flash and Springer gave each other knowing glance, nodding before Flash looked back at Trixie, "So that's it. You think you can't measure up to Twilight."

"Its true, isn't it?" Trixie sniffled, wiping her eyes with her hoof. "Its not like I'm ever gonna become an alicorn, so how am I gonna be able to keep up with her?"

Flash wanted to instantly respond, but this brain made him stop. His mind grinding gears, a few thoughts hopped in place as he remembered the amount of years he was with Twilight, seeing how long she was Celestia's student. Remembering this, he placed a hoof on her shoulder, "Trixie, I'm not gonna lie to you. The odds that you'll become an alicorn are a million to one. Even if being the Princess's student means you have a better chance of it happening, Twilight was Celesta's pupil for years." He then extended the hoof to a shoulder hug, "But just because you're not gonna be an alicorn doesn't mean you're weak."

"Then why was I never chosen to take down some great evil? I mean Twilight's taken on Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra….she took them all on and-"

"Had help," Flash assured her. "And you're just starting out as a student. One day, you'll find yourself in a situation that only you can solve. But...you gotta believe that you can, or you'll always fail."

Trixie let what Flash told her sink in, a small smile slowly forming, "Yeah...I guess. Thanks Flash."

Flash tightened the semi-hug. "No problem! Now come on, Springer and I have got training, but after that, we're heading to the Castle of the Two Sisters. I bet you'd love to see that."

"Sure would," Trixie replied as the made their way to the training ground. Once they got there, they spotted Iron practising with Piecemaker.

When he saw them, he let out a low growl. "You're late."

"Sorry about that," Flash pointed to Trixie. "Ran into an old friend."

Iron let out a snort, smirking at the sight as he remembered her from the Battle of Canterlot and the Royal Wedding. "Guess I can let you off the hook."

"So kind of you," Flash joked as he took off his saddle bags. "Say, where's Lightning?"

Iron hissed while looking away, "After he almost impaled my flank, I told him to go practice his knife throwing far, far away."

Springer shrugged at this, "Harsh, but fair." He placed his bag on the ground, only for it to fall over, its contents spilling out. "Aw crud."

Trixie moved over and used her magic to help, soon lifting up Springer's comic. "What's this?"

Springer smirked up at her. "That's my Kamen Pony comic."

"I see," Trixie commented as she magically flipped through the book, "Cool..." she then skipped to the last page and saw it was blank. "Is it one of those draw your own ending books I've heard about?"

Springer raised an eyebrow at this and took the comic, flipping between the last page and the one before it. "What the heck?! It cuts out in the middle of the story! What a rip off!"

Flash looked over that jakhowl's shoulder and blinked at the last page, spotting something tiny written in the corner. "What's that?"

He, Springer and Trixie all squinted at the sight as Iron walked up to them. "Hey, what's the hold up?"

"Anypony got a magnifying glass?" Springer asked, getting an 'oh' from Trixie before she picked up a rock.

"Allow me!" she fired a magic blast at the rock, transforming it into a magnifying glass.

"Thanks," Springer took it and held it over the words. "Let's see...you may return...from your quest...when the Kamen Ponies are...victorious. Take a closer look...to enjoy the adventure...in this book."

The four all raised an eyebrow at this, all blinking in confusion at the words.

It was then that the comic exploded with light, causing Springer to drop it as he and the ponies stepped back. Before any of them could ask what was going on, they suddenly felt a sucking force pull them closer to the shining graphic novel. "What...is...happening?!" Flash yelped as they tried to pull away, only for their hooves to touch the comic.

As soon as they did, they felt themselves be pulled down, as if the book was a black hole. Springer was the first to be pulled in, followed by Flash, Trixie and finally Iron. And as soon as Iron's tail was pulled inside, the book flickered shut.





"Oooohhhh...that hurt." Springer moaned as he slowly lifted his head, groaning as he rubbed his face. "What just..." he tried to say, only to feel something under him. He looked down and saw he was laying on a piece of hard concrete. He then blinked at the sight, picking himself up as he started to look around. It was here that he noticed he was on a rooftop during the middle of the night. "What the heck?! Where am I?!"

"I have no idea." Springer spun around and gasped. It was Flash, Iron and Trixie, which wouldn't make him regularly be surprised. However, it was what the three were wearing that surprised him. Flash was wearing a black buttoned up vest over a white shirt and black tie along with a black hat on his head that also had a white stripe around it. Iron was wearing a crimson red leather jacket with orange zippers over an orange shirt. Trixie was also wearing a white turtleneck jacket that had a light blue trim.

"No way..." Springer exclaimed as he stared at this sight.

"What the heck is going on?" Iron asked as he stared at his new clothes.

Trixie shrugged, "I have no idea."

Flash turned to her. "You think we might've been teleported?"

Trixie rubbed her chin in thought, only to shake her head. "No, that didn't feel like teleportation. This is something else..." She then saw the huge grin on Springer's face, "What?"

Springer looked slightly away, "Well...you three look just like the characters in my comic."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "What are you talking about?"

Springer pointed at the trio, "You're wearing the exact same clothes the characters of my story are wearing in the civilian identities. Its almost...freaky on how similar you all look."

"Well, what about you?" Iron huffed as he pointed at the jakhowl, "Who in your comic wears that?"

Springer looked down at himself, now seeing the gray cloth overcoat and scarf he was wearing. "No way! I'm dressed like Textbook...." The name got three odd looks as he continued, "He's the character who acts as the audience surrogate...you know, the one that get's everything explained to him."

"Oookay..." Flash commented as he fiddled with his new hat, "But why are we all dressed like this? And where are-"

BOOM!

Flash's question was left unanswered as the three rushed to the edge of the roof, now seeing an explosion coming out of a building across the street. "Now what?!"

From out of the smoke rushed out a horde of ponies in black cotton body suits, all of the suits showing off skeleton designs. Their heads were completely covered, say for four holes that showed their eyes, nose and mouth.

"Zap Fighters?" The three ponies turned to give Springer a questionable look.

"The what fighters?"

"Zap Fighters. They're the minions of Zapper." Springer looked up for a second, rubbing his chin before snapping his paw, "I get it now! We're inside the comic!"

The three raised an eyebrow at this. "Come again?"

"Don't you see?! You were right Trixie! The comic is a make your own ending comic, except instead of writing it, you get sucked inside and have to actually become the characters! You aren't just dressed like the Kamen Ponies...YOU ARE THE KAMEN PONIES!"

The trio stared at the jakhowl, blinking in unison before the stallions turned to Trixie. "Is that even possible?"

Trixie gave them a slight grimace as she tried to think, "Well...if the comic is made from a magic conductive material, then it might be possible to create a small pocket dimension. But why would somepony do this?"

"We'll have to find out later," Iron told her with crossed hooves. "Right now, we've gotta find a way out of here."

Springer shook his head at this, "We already have a way Iron, it said so on the comic. We'll return from our quest when the Kamen Ponies are victorious. That means that all you have to do is beat the bad guys and we'll be free."

Flash nodded, catching on quickly. "Springer's right. That thing told us to do this, and I have a feeling it could work. You two up for it?"

Iron slammed his hoof into the other one, a smirk gracing his face. "I still think this is weird, but I'm always up for a situation that has hitting things as an answer. I'm in."

Trixie stared down at the roof, clutching her hoof, "I...don't know. I don't think I can do this." She then felt a hoof on her shoulder, making her look up to see a smiling Flash.

"Stop that Trixie. You can do this."

Trixie's insecurity remained as she did a small gulp, nodding soon after. "O-o-okay...I'll um uh...do my best."

Flash patted her should with his wing as he looked down at the crime taking place. "See? Everything's good. Now, as for that down there...let's do this!"

"Right!" Iron hopped over the edge, landing onto the street while Flash carried Trixie as he flew down. The Zap Fighters instantly noticed them, sneering at the sight as Iron reached for his Celestic Gear, "An Iron Lance Fury will cut these losers down to size." But his smirk quickly disappeared when he then noticed Piecemaker wasn't there. "What the-"

"You two don't have your Celestic Gears." Trixie commented as her horn started to glow, "But a little fireworks show should blind them enough to let you all take them down." But as she cast her spell, all that happened was her horn sparked a few times before firing off a small ember. "Huh?"

Springer blinked at this as a small gulp went down his throat, twiddling his paws as he commented, "Um...the character you're portraying Trixie is uh....well, she's not really good with magic. All she can do is levitation."

"Seriously?!" Trixie asked in horror.

"Alright, we'll do this old fashioned way!" Flash got into a battle stance while pounding his hooves and closing his eyes, "Theta Mode!" But as he opened his eyes, only to feel nothing. His eyes remained normal no matter how many times he tried to activate his heightened senses. "Awww...not again! No Celestic Gear, no Theta Mode, not even basic magic! This is just like that blasted human world! How are we supposed to beat these guys if we can't fight with our usual stuff?!"

Trixie saw the Zap Fighters getting dangerously close and began to panic, her eyes now twitching as sweat started to pour down her face. She then looked down at her costume, only for a bulb to go off in her head. "Wait a minute..." she turned to Springer, "Springer! How do we change into our costumes?"

Springer's hopped in place, seeing where she was going with this, "Yell Henshin."

The three raised an eyebrow at this, "Henshin?" No sooner had they said that, three different colored auras covered their bodies. Flash's was yellow, Iron's red and Trixie's light blue. Seconds later, the light exploded off their bodies and knocked the Zap Fighters back.

At the same time, Flash was consumed by a cocoon of lightning, while Iron's entire body ignited into flames. Trixie was surrounded by snow, which froze into ice the second it touched her skin. The cocoons then faded away, revealing all three now wearing head to hoof in full body spandex suits, all that had armoring in some places along with helmets that resembled insect heads.

Flash wore an all black spandex suit with yellow armoring on his chest, shoulders and boots. His wings were encased in yellow armor that made them look robotic with blades on the very ends. His helmet looked like a lightning bug's head, being mostly black with a yellow mouth guard. It had large blue eye-like visors and a pair of yellow antenna and around his neck was a yellow muffler scarf.

Iron's suit was more bulkier than Flash's, being dark crimson and having orange streaks running down it. The entire style made him look like a being made of molten rock, lava leaking out of the cracks. His helmet was red, with orange eye visors and a large stag beetle horn.

Finally, Trixie's suit was light blue with white armor that had snowflake designs. Her helmet was light blue and had white visors along with large butterfly wings on the side.

The three looked themselves over, all gasping, "Wow..."

"Look at us," Trixie added as she tapped her hoof.

"We look awesome!" Flash cheered.

Iron chuckled, pounding his hooves with a smirk. "Well, more than usual."

"You did it! You're now the Kamen Ponies!" Springer cheered before pointing at Flash, "Kamen Pony Storm." He turned at Iron, "Kamen Pony Magma." and finally Trixie, "Kamen Pony Blizzard."

The three smirked as they glared at the now recovering Zap Fighters." This is gonna be fun." Flash chuckled as he gestured to the Zap Fighters, "Now...count up your sins."

This got a confused look from not only the enemy, but also Trixie. "Huh?" the magician yelped, only to get a nudge from Iron.

"Its the Royal Knight catchphrase," Iron grumbled as he stared at Flash. "But why'd you say it now?"

Flash just shrugged, "I don't know. Something about this situation made me feel like saying it."

Before anypony could say anything else, the Zap Fighters charged at the heroes. Flash and Iron met them with smiles on their faces, ready to use the weaponless fighting styles they had learned in their training.

Flash flew around, picking up speed before thrusting his hooves into the enemy. He then used his tail to grab one around the neck and spun the minion, slamming the Zap Fighter into the ground. At the same time, Iron charged his opponents like a raging bull, slamming them head first and pushing them back until he was surrounded. But that was just what he wanted, spinning around to deal kicks, punches and tail whips that sent the Zap Fighters flying.

The only one not having an easy time was Trixie, who was trying her best to dodge the attacks thrown her way. "Aaaaahhhh!!! How am I supposed to beat these guys without my magic?"

"Use your Snow Bow!" Springer yelled out from the roof.

Trixie looked up at him, "My what?!"

"On your belt." Trixie glanced at her belt, raising an eyebrow as she saw a strange object attached to it, which she magically took off to examine. It was a box with two inch long circular tubes on the top and bottom, along with a triangular ripcord like attachment on the back.

As soon as she focused on the object, two curved ice like spikes shot out of tubes to make it look like a bow. "Wow..." she magically pulled back the ripcord to reveal a long rope connecting it to the rest of the weapon. On the other side, an arrowhead made purely out of ice appeared. "I get it," she released the ripcord and it retracted back into the bow as the force fired out not just the arrowhead, but an entire arrow. The arrow struck one of the Zap Fighters, turning him into an ice sculpture, making Trixie smirk. "This, I like." With that, she started firing arrows willy nilly.

Flash and Iron saw this and looked at their belts, Flash pulling out a sword handle while Iron had a metal stick that quickly extended into a staff. Seeing this, Springer yelled, "Iron! Slam the end into the ground!" Iron did as he was told, and when he tried to pull the pole free, it brought out a large square slab of molten rock. "That's your weapon, the Magma Masher!"

"Awesome!" Iron started swinging the hammer around, taking out even more Zap Fighters than before.

Flash tried channelling energy into his weapon the way he would with Lightbringer, happily seeing the results as a bolt of lightning shot out the handle before taking the form of a blade. "Say hello to the Lightning Blade!"

"Sweet..." Flash started swinging the blade like he would Lightbringer. However, instead of cutting, the blade would pass through his opponents and electrocute them.

With these weapons, the three masked ponies quickly cut through the Zap Fighters with ease, soon leaving just a tiny group of Zap Fighters. There, Springer called out, "Flash, use your finisher!"

"How?!"

"Supercharge you sword and slash them with it. Its called Static Slash!"

Flash nodded and held up the sword, pumping as much energy as he could into it. The blade suddenly grew until it was twenty foot long, Flash lumbering to swing it around. "Static...SLASH!" The lightning sword came down, annihilating them all in a single strike.

A dust cloud soon kicked up, making them cough. The three of them then watched as the cloud faded, revealing the little remains of the Zap Fighters. Trixie let out a sigh of relief at the sight, "Alright, looks like we win. Can we go home now?"

They looked around, but found that nothing was happening. "Hello? We done here or not?"

"I'm thinking not," Flash added.

Springer nodded at this, "The comic was supposed to be the ending of the season. I don't think we get to leave until the big bad is beat."

"Great...just great..." Iron grumbled, "So where do we find-"

BOOM!

The Kamen Ponies suddenly found themselves flying through the air, soon crashing as they let out a bunch of groans. Trixie held her head as she tried to pick herself up. "What just happened?"

Her answer came in the form of a series of laughs that filled the air. The ones laughing were two figures, the first being a gray earth pony stallion with a black mane and tail. He was wearing a gray army general uniform and had an eye patch over his left eye. The second was a crimson unicorn mare with a black mane and tail that was also wearing a white lab coat with a pair of goggles over her eyes.

Up on the roof, Springer gasped at the sight, "That's General Wolfang and Doctor Terrachnid! They're the second in command of Zapper."

Trixie shivered at seeing them. "They look a lot stronger than the Zap Fighters."

"We can still take them," Iron grumbled as he picked himself up and got into a fighting position.

"HA!" Wolfang guffawed, "Like you losers could ever beat us."

Terrachnid nodded in agreement. "You three have stood in our way long enough." It was in that moment that a Zap Fighter ran out of the building, holding something in his teeth. He moved over to the two, Terrachnid smiling as she saw it. "Ah! Finally, the last piece is ours."

Flash saw this and remembered what Springer had told him earlier. "The last piece of the Zenith medal."

"Yes...and with it, our grand commander will become the all powerful god he was destined to become."

"Not if we can help it!" Flash charged, Iron following close behind. But before they could reach the two, Wolfang and Terrachnid smirked before veils of light surrounded their bodies. Flash's eyes went wide seeing this, only for a beam of light to suddenly be shot at him. "Whoa!" He took to the air to dodge, only to then look down and now see a web of some kind. "What the heck?!"

He looked back as the light faded, revealing Wolfang and Terrachnid, complete with new forms. Wolfang was now much more bulky and hairy, while his head was now that of a wolf while his hooves had large claws at their ends. Terrachnid now looked like the cross between a pony and a spider, with four spider like legs sticking out of her back while her head was now that of a spiders. Her tail had also been replaced by a spider's silk sack.

The three ponies all went wide eyed at seeing this, Iron's face scrunching, "What am I looking at?!"

"Their mutant forms," Springer commented as he gagged at the sight.

"Who cares," Flash pulled out his Lightning Blade. "They'll fry all the same," the sword sparked again, the hero now charging at Terrachnid. "Let's finish this!"

The monster smirked. "Nice try." She shot several blasts of webbing at Flash, who cut through them all. But as he tried to stab her with his sword, she simply used her spider legs to lift herself up, another shot of webbing coming out of her rear as Flash flew under her.

"Oh crud!" Flash yelped as the webbing caught him, soon trying to pull away.

At the same time, Iron was swinging his hammer at Wolfang. But as he swung it straight down, the wolf pony monster reached up and actually grabbed the stone mallet. "What?!"

"Wimp," Wolfang chuckled before pushing the hammer away. He then slashed at Iron, making him cry out as he staggered back. And before he could recover, Terrachnid shot another load of webbing that hit his hoof, sticking the defender to the ground.

Wolfang laughed at the sight, "You two suddenly got way less powerful. Not that I'm complaining." He and Terrachnid stepped past the two and focused on Trixie, who was shaking as they got closer.

"What's the matter Blizzard? Scared?" Trixie didn't answer, raising her Snow Bow and pulling back the cord. But as she tried to fire an arrow, the shot went sailing above the two, making them both laugh. "Looks like I was right! HA!"

Trixie's magic gave out at the laugh, causing her bow to drop. Seeing this, Flash yelled, "Run away Trixie! You and Springer need to save yourselves!"

"Get out of here!" Iron added.

Trixie didn't need to be told twice, quickly turning before running as fast as she could. Wolfang and Terrachnid both laughed again, changing back to normal as they watched her flee. "That's right, run away little filly."

Wolfang turned to Terrachnid. "Should we go after her?"

"Nah." she glanced at the male Kamen Ponies, "We have what we came here for, along with a nice little bonus." In that moment, more Zap Fighters arrived. "Bring these two to the hideout and contact the Grand Commander." She lifted up the piece of the medal, "he'll wanna see what we have."





Springer was now searching for the unicorn as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. He soon came to a stop when his highly powerful ears caught the sound of crying. Following the sound, he arrived at a rooftop and looked down into an alleyway. There he spotted Trixie, out of her suit and curled up behind a dumpster as tears poured down her face.

"Trixie!" He quickly parkoured down the alleyway and went over to her, kneeling down and placing a paw on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Of course not!" Trixie hid her face into her front legs as she continued sobbing. "I let everypony down...again."

Springer shook his head, "You didn't let anypony down."

Trixie looked up and glared at him, tears messing up the stare, "I freaked out and let my fear get the better of me! I abandoned my friends and left them to who knows what!"

"Flash told you to run."

"I could have ignored him and kept fighting."

"And you would have been captured. This way, you can save them and help stop Zapper."

Trixie rolled her eyes. "Yeah...right. Like a failure like me can do something like that..." A few sniffles followed as she whimpered out, "Can't you do something? You've fought stronger opponents before, right?"

"I can't," Springer placed his paws together and did a deep breath. However, nothing happened, not even a spark of blue flame in his paws, "See? No aura. I can't fight in this world Trixie, as its not my role. Textbook doesn't fight, but..." He tapped her chest next, "You can fight. You're Kamen Pony Blizzard, master of ice. Only you can save them."

"No...I can't! Let's face it," she looked back down at her hooves. "I'm a worthless nopony who couldn't live up to anypony's expectations. I was an embarrassment to my father, I couldn't help when my teacher needed me, and now I let Flash and Iron get captured."

Springer opened his mouth, ready to tell her that she was wrong, but couldn't. His mind went blank as he tried to think of what to say to encourage her. That is, till he looked her over, reminding him of what she was right now. "Trixie...listen. You gotta calm down. You need to chill out because...well, you're Kamen Pony Blizzard."

"I'm not Kamen Pony Blizzard. I don't even know what that is."

"But you are her," Springer told her as he patted her shoulder. "Listen, this comic made you into Blizzard for the exact same reason I think Flash became Storm and Iron became Magma. Because out of all of us, you're the one most like Blizzard."

Trixie turned to him with confusion sprayed all over her face. "What do you mean?"

"Well...I think Flash is Storm because the two are snarky goodhearted ponies who only want to help others. And Iron is Magma because...they're both angry hotheads who love to hit things. That's why I'm betting you got made into Blizzard because deep down, you're both similar."

A small sniff followed as Trixie asked, "What's Blizzard like?"

"She can be a ditz and scatterbrained most of the time," Trixie let out an angry snort at this, only to change back as Springer continued, "But in battle, she's super chill and always knows what to do when the moment requires it."

Trixie huffed and looked away, "I'm definitely nothing like her then. You saw me crack back there."

"You are just like her," Springer assured her. "You just need to believe in yourself."

Believe in yourself.

Those words echoed in her brain, causing a memory to swim into Trixie's mind. One that happened back when she first started learning under Princess Luna.





The Past...

Trixie was sitting on a bench in the corridor of Canterlot Castle. She was soaked from head to hoof, the door next to her open and spewing out a thin cloud of smoke. In that moment, Luna stepped out, also soaked and coughing, "Well, I think I have managed to switch off the sprinklers. I also cast repair and drying spells, so the place will be good as new soon."

Trixie looked away as she whimpered out, "I'm sorry."

Luna did a small giggle as she patted her apprentice's shoulder, "Its alright. Accidents happen after all."

"They happen around me more than most."

"You are just starting out Trixie. You just need more practice."

Trixie's ears couldn't comprehend these words, causing her to sigh as she continued to stare at the ground she was dripping water on. "Maybe...maybe this was a mistake. You should just kick me out already, I'm just wasting your time."

"Don't be ridiculous. If my sister and I kicked a pony out after one mistake, then nopony would last a week here."

Trixie just shook her head, "I'm just gonna end up embarrassing you eventually, like I did my father. He had the right idea, ignoring my existence. He saw what a failure I am."

"Then you're father is a very blind pony!" Luna nearly yelled, forcing herself from going into her Royal Canterlot voice. "You're not a failure, and you never were!"

Despite being slightly rattled and shivering from her mentor's yell, Trixie didn't look up as she muttered, "What if you're wrong?"

A blast of steam poured out of the princess's nostrils, her eye twitching in irritation. "That's it! Trixie Lulamoon, look at me!" The screech made Trixie shiver even more, but she still didn't look up. Seeing this, Luna's horn sparked as her magic forced Trixie's chin up, making them see eye to eye. "You are not a failure! You made a mistake, but you can't let that stop you! I, more than anypony, know what its like to make mistakes with horrible consequences! I am not and never will give up on you, no matter how badly you screw up." She then tapped Trixie in the chest, her glare intensifying, "But all my belief is meaningless if you do not believe in yourself!" Her stern expression softened as she smiled at the mare, "You have much greatness buried within you Trixie Lulamoon. Together, we will unearth that greatness and show the whole world that Trixie Lulamoon is a pony to respect. Understand?"

Trixie stared into Luna's eyes, seeing no doubt or falsehood in them as she spoke. For the first in a long time, Trixie started feeling something in her heart that she had never gotten from her father. Pure unfounded belief and acceptance. The cheers she had received from her show audiences didn't come close to this, nor did the praise she had gotten from Flash and his friends. For the first time in her life, somepony wanted to take a shot on her.

In that moment, she swore she would prove her teacher was right to believe in her.

The Present...

The memories of that time flooded back to her, reminding her of the promise she had made. Luna had trusted her to become her student, and now Flash and Iron had trusted her to save them.

Springer watched as Trixie picked herself up, wiping the tears from her eyes as she said, "Thank you Springer. You're right, I...I can do this! I'm going to find those Zapper freaks, save Flash and Iron, and get us out of this comic!"

Springer shined a huge grin, giving her a thumbs up. "There ya go!" He then pointed to himself, "And I know exactly where to look! Zapper's hideout in the comics is an abandoned weapons storehouse."

Trixie nodded. "Then that's where we're going." She marched out of the alleyway with a confident smile, stopping once she was out on the street. "HENSHIN!"





Meanwhile...

Flash moaned as his eyes began to flicker open, pain still stinging through his skull as the world around him started to form back together. It was here he realized what was going on, making him yelp out, "Oh no...that's not good."

He was stuck to a wall, his hooves and wings glued onto it by Terrachnid's webbing. He turned to his left and spotted Iron, unconscious and stuck to the wall just like him with a strange helmet on his head. His eyes moved up and allowed him to see that he too was wearing the device.

"Iron...Iron, wake up."

Iron moaned at the voice, mumbling as he opened his eyes, "Sentry? Wh...what happened? Where are we?"

"We're stuck in Springer's comic, remember?"

"Oh...right. We're still in that mess." Iron grumbled as he started blinking, him and Flash now seeing that they were now in some kind of warehouse that had several crates piled up all around. Before the two could ask where they were, they heard hoofsteps, causing them to look down.

There, they saw Terrachnid and Wolfang back in their pony forms, while a third pony stood between the two. Whoever this pony was, their entire body was covered in a dark blue cloak and hood, making it impossible to see what was beneath. Flash and Iron might not have read a single page of this comic series, but they knew enough that Flash asked, "Let me guess. You're Grand Commander Zapper?"

The hooded pony laughed, "Its nice to finally meet the annoyances that have been slowing down my organization's plans. I look forward to crushing you myself once I've gained the power I've been seeking." From out of his cloak, he levitated three metal shards that looked like they fit together into a single circular shape.

Iron growled at this, "The Zenith Medal."

"It wasn't easy getting them, especially with you three ponies destroying my mutants. But now, that no longer matters. Unlimited power is now mine!"

"Not if we can help it!" Flash took a deep breath. "Hen-AAAHHH!" Flash's pained cries came out as electricity suddenly funneled into him, the helmet he was wearing now sparking. Once the shock stopped, he went limp and started panting.

Zapper once again laughed. "Nice try, but you two aren't going anywhere." He turned to Terrachnid, "See to it that they remain out of the way. I'll be back once I've gained ultimate power." With that, he and Wolfang walked off.

Terrachnid laughed at this, smiling at the heroes, "Such a shame I won't be allowed to perform my experiments on you. I'm sure you both would have made excellent mutants."

"I think I'll pass," Flash replied while sticking out his tongue, "Never been much of a mutant kinda guy."

"Just you wait until we get out here," Iron growled as he tried to pull himself free before getting zapped himself. "AAAHHH!"

Terrachnid laughed again. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere. Once Commander Zapper has gained the power, he'll be back to destroy you." She then clapped her hooves giddily, "And there's nopony able to save you! HA!"

"You're forgetting about Blizzard," Flash deadpanned. "She'll be coming any second to kick your flank."

Terrachnid's laugh evolved into a cackle, "You must be kidding! That filly can't help you."

Both Flash and Iron smirked, "You'd be surprised."

SMASH!

Terrachnid spun around just in time to see somepony break through the skylight, the figure landing in the center of a Zap Fighter group. It was Trixie, completely masked with a big smile on her face, "Sorry to barge in on you like this, but my ears were burning and that's not a good thing for me." Before anypony could respond, she pulled out her Snow Bow and began firing it while she spun on the spot. A flurry of ice arrows froze all the Zap Fighters around her, the mare then using the edges of her bow to shatter them.

Terrachnid growled before transforming into her mutant form, only to start spitting webbing at the Kamen Pony. "Trixie, watch out!" She spun and fired an arrow at the web, freezing it solid. And as the frozen web crashed to the ground, Terrachnid and Blizzard charged at one another.

Trixie shot another set of arrows at Terrachnid, but the spider pony hybrid used her long legs to hop over the volley. "HA!" She cheered as she landed on top of Trixie, pinning her to the floor. "I always knew you were weak. You can't even aim right."

Though she couldn't see it, Trixie was still smiling under the mask. "Who said I was aiming at you?"

Terrachnid blinked at this, only for her ears to hear the sound of ice smashing. Spinning around, all eight of her eyes went wide as she watched Flash and Iron break the now frozen webbing, the two chuckling as they removed the ice and helmets.

"Much better. So much better," Iron commented as he dusted the last part of himself with his tail.

Flash shined a huge grin at the two mares, "Now we can settle the score."

"HENSHIN!" the two yelled in unison, a flash of lightning and fire shining around that as their suits appeared. They then drew their weapons, Flash quickly swinging his Lightning Blade as he unleashed a bolt of electricity that flew right at Terrachnid.

The spider pony was forced to release Trixie and leap away, but as she landed, Iron swung his hammer, shaking the ground. Seconds later, the spot beneath her ripped open before unleashing a barrage of fire. "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!"

After a minute, the flames went out and Terrachnid stood swaying with burn marks covering her body. Trixie then pulled the ripcord of her bow, channelling all her power into the weapon. "Frostbite Barrage!" She released the cord, firing multiple ice arrows, all sticking and freezing the spider completely.

Trixie wasn't done there though, as she charged at the ice statue with the blades of her bow glowing. With a mighty battle cry, she forced the blades into the ice, causing both it and the being sealed within to shatter. The Kamen Pony then started to pant as she looked over the remains of her opponent while Flash and Iron moved over to her. "Great work Tricks."

Iron nodded in agreement, "Yeah! Even I gotta admit, that was amazing."

"Thanks," Trixie replied as she wiped her brow, "I still can't believe I did it."

Flash patted her back with a huge grin. "Just goes to show you how wrong you were Trixie! You've got great potential hidden within you."

Trixie smiled back, a great feeling of accomplishment filling her heart. "Thanks. I guess I'm better than I thought. After all, I am the great...and powerful Trixie."

Flash and Iron both rolled their eyes at this, only for a buzzing sound to interrupt them. Flash looked down, seeing it was his belt, which looked like a walkie talkie of some kind. Removing it, he answered, "Hello?"

"Flash?"

The pony raised an eyebrow, "Springer?"

"Yeah, its me. You all okay?"

"We're fine thanks to Trixie. Where are you?"

"I'm outside. I just spotted Zapper and Wolfang heading into the building next to the one you're in. They must be heading to the roof."

"Why?" Iron asked next.

"The Zenith Medal can only be reforged in the light of a full moon. That's tonight."

Flash turned to the others, "You hear that? If he does that...."

"We'll be trapped here forever," Trixie finished.

Iron slammed his hooves together, "We ain't gonna let that happen. Come on, let's go kick some flank!" Flash nodded before the trio ran to the exit.





Zapper, Wolfang and several Zap Fighters were standing atop the roof of the skyscraper. As the clouds parted to reveal the moon, Zapper lifted the three pieces of the medal and bathed them in the light. The three pieces started to glow, only to touch as they slowly began to merge together. "Finally, the ultimate power shall be mine!"

Wolfang chuckled at this, only to look down and see the three Kamen Ponies running out of the warehouse. "Commander, we have company."

Zapper glared down, growling, "Then deal with them."

Wolfang nodded and headed for the door, half of the Zap Fighter legion going with him.





Flash, Trixie and Iron raced to the building, soon spotting Springer standing by a door. "Over here! Zapper went in here!" Springer called out as he pointed to the door. Iron stepped in and saw the door lead to a room with both a spiralling staircase and an elevator.

Flash flexed his wings while staring at the roof, "You two go that way. I'll take the express way." With that, he shot up as the three moved to the elevator. But in that moment, it pinged before opening up to reveal a mutated Wolfang and the Zap Fighters.

"Fancy meeting you here," Wolfang roared as charged with his claws drawn. Iron swung his staff, catching Wolfang's stomach as he knocked the mutant out of the building. Seeing this, Trixie and Springer turned to the Zap Fighters, Trixie's bow now primed.

"I'll take care of him! Get rid of those punks!" Iron yelled as he ran out to face Wolfang.

"Got it!" Trixie replied as she shot down three Zap Fighters with one arrow.

Iron then leapt at Wolfang, the mutant dodging the next blow before slashing at the Kamen Pony. Iron managed to block the attack, his hoof spinning to thrust the end of the staff into his stomach. "Augh!" Wolfang staggered back, growling as he glared at Iron. "You'll pay for that."

Iron chuckled and gestured a 'come on' stance, "Add it to my tab furball."

"Grrr….I'm gonna tear you apart limb from limb!"





Flash flew at mach speed, Lightning Blade in hoof as he reached the top of the building. "Alright Zapper," he yelled as he landed on the roof. "Give up before I'm forced to hurt you."

Zapper laughed as the rest of the Zap Fighters hopped between him and Flash. "You'll have to stop them first."

"With pleasure," Flash charged, slicing the foot-soldiers down with ease. Not a single one could even get close, Flash spinning like a lightning tornado as electricity took down all of the Zap Fighters. With the cannon fodder neutralized, Kamen Pony Storm turned to Grand Commander Zapper. "Its over."

Zapper laughed as he lifted his hooves in the air, now showing the fully formed Zenith Medal. "It is now. Behold...ultimate power!" Before Flash could say or do anything, the medal let out a brilliant flash of light, making Flash shield his eyes.

"Ahhh!"





Back on the ground, Iron and Wolfang were still fighting, the two now in a horn-lock with Wolfang's claws and Iron's staff. Iron was now pushing Wolfang back, his staff turning into a hammer as he gave one last push. After being knocked back, Wolfang charged once again, only to duck under a hammer swing. "Hey! Watch it!"

"I am watching it," Iron swung the mallet once again.

Wolfang leapt back just in time to dodge it, only to feel his hoof slip out from under him. "Whoa!" He yelped as he slipped, his eyes now seeing patches of ice under his hooves. "What the heck?!"

Kamen Rider Blizzard giggled as she leaned against one of the multiple Zap Fighter ice sculptures that she had created, the entire army no frozen solid. "Problem?"

"Grrr...I'll get you, you stinking-blaugh!" Wolfang screeched as he tried to pick himself up, only to slip on the ice again.

Trixie giggled again as she aimed her bow. "Here, let me help you stay in place." She fired an ice arrow, this one encasing his leg in ice.

"Grrr...oh come on!" Wolfang yelled as he tried to pull away, but the ice was too much for his claw. "Blast it!"

"He's all yours Iron!"

"You got it! Now, Molten..." Iron's hammer caught fire as he leapt into the air, holding it above his head before swinging it down. "IMPACT!" The piece of blazing earth shot out of the staff, now turning a fiery comet.

"Wait! No no no!" Wolfang screamed as he tried to pull himself free, only for the projectile to continue rocketing towards him.

KABOOM!

Iron, Springer and Trixie watched as he was consumed by an explosion, hearing his cries of pain as he faded away. The three all cheered at this, Iron gesturing to the others, "Come on, let's go help Sentry kick that-"

"AAAAAHHHHH!" yelled a voice as he landed in front of them, creating a small crater.

The three ran over to sudden fallen figure, only to see Flash trying to pick himself up, "Uuuggghhhh...that hurt."

"You okay?" Springer asked as he helped Flash up.

Flash moaned as he got back to his hooves. "Sorry. I couldn't stop him in time."

They all looked up, now seeing a blast of light before fading to reveal Zapper's new form. Atop the building was a giant serpent, with many smaller but still quite large serpents making up it's tail. Around it's neck was a piece of bronze armor with a giant version of the Zenith Medal attached to the front. "Behold..." the serpent hissed, "My ultimate form! AHAHAHA!!!"

"This is bad," Flash groaned as he shook his head.

"How are we supposed to beat that thing?" Iron asked next.

Trixie turned to Springer, "Springer, you've read this comic. Is there anyway we might be able to win?"

Springer blinked at her question, his mind now cycling through all of his Kamen Pony knowledge. "Uhhhh...I got it!" Springer snapped his paws, "You can use Galaxy Storm!"

"Come again?"

"Galaxy Storm. Its a power up Kamen Pony Storm used in an event comic," he then frowned as he remembered the next part, "But...that won't work either. When he used it in the comic, he was being supercharged by a special comet."

The others stared at each other, unsure what to do next. "So...is there nothing we can do to do this...Galaxy Storm?" Flash asked as he tilted his head, "Springer?"

"Um...I'm not sure." the jakhowl replied, rubbing his chin in thought. "This is bad."

It was here that a click went off in Trixie's head, "Say Springer....what if we lent Flash our powers?" The others turned to her, confusion on her faces as she continued. "If Iron and I channel our Kamen Pony powers into Flash, he might be able to enter this...Galaxy Storm thing."

"Would that even work?"

Trixie just shrugged. "Probably not in our world, but the rules here might not be the same."

"Sounds like worth a try to me." Iron commented as glanced at Trixie. "But how do we do it?"

"I guess...we just will ourselves to do it? I don't know." Trixie replied before Iron nodded. He and Trixie then closed their eyes and focused, red and blue auras beginning to surround them. Those auras flew into Flash, wrapping around him, only for Trixie and Iron to fall to the floor, reverting back to normal pony form as they watched Flash.

"Hey, I think its working! I feel...stronger!" He was suddenly engulfed in a cocoon of light, his Kamen Pony Suit beginning to shift to a new form. As the light faded, he showed now bulkier armor that had star and constellations patterns on them. His muffler was now gone and his helmet's design was now more regal looking. Finally, his armored wings had doubled in length, large blades now gracing the tips.

The three stared in marvel at Flash's upgrade, "Let's do this!" Galaxy Storm cheered as he spread his wings, taking flight to the top of the building.

Zapper saw his opponent coming and hissed, "Pathetic. You cannot harm me!" His tail's snakes coiled out and launched at him, but Flash's new form spun in the air, easily outmaneuvering the volley of snakes.

"We'll see about that!" Flash yelled as he landed on top of the snakes, doing a barrel roll to dodge another as he used his blades on his wings to cut off the heads of four more attacking snakes. He eventually arrived at Zapper's head, the monster hissing before trying to take a bite out of him. Flash hopped back, performing another barrel roll as he ducked under the snake's snapping mouth.

"Stop moving!" he hissed as he swatted at Flash with his tail, knocking Flash into the roof. A yelp of pain followed as Zapper laughed at Kamen Pony. "HA! Looks like your power-up is nothing to talk about!"

"Oh yeah?" Flash replied as he looked up with a smirk, "Wanna bet I won't beat you with my next attack?"

Zapper grinned back, "I'll take that bet. Bring it!"

"Wrong choice!" Flash then curled into a ball, dodging Zapper's tail as he tried to swing at him again. Flash then spun around, only to straighten out as he flew at the snake with one of his back hooves pointed forwards, "Galactic Pony...KICK!" With that out attack, he slammed into the Zenith Medal on Zapper's chest, shattering it into pieces.

"NOOOOOO!" Zapper cried as the medal faded before him. Seeing this, he let out a scream of pain as his body began to slowly turn to stone. Once fully petrified, the statue shattered just like the medallion had.

Springer, Trixie and Iron all cheered as they watched Flash land, soon reverting back to his normal pony self. Springer then leapt onto his back, "Nice one Flash!"

"Thanks," Flash replied as he turned to the others, "but I couldn't have done it alone. Thanks you two, especially you Trixie. You saved our hides."

Iron and Trixie smiled back, but before they could say anything, a flash of white light caught their attention. A second later, a familiar sucking force pulled the them to the light.





"WHOA!" The next thing any of them knew, they were now eating a load of grass. As the four picked themselves up, they looked around and saw they were back at the forest training ground.

Iron looked to his side and saw Piecemaker was right where it should be, at his side. Picking it up, he quickly made sure it still worked. "Celestic Gear, check."

"Magic..." Trixie's horn sparked before she teleported several feet away, "Check!"

"Aura..." Springer created an Aura Blast and smiled, "Check!"

"And Theta Mode," Flash entered and exited said state several times before breathing a sigh of relief. "Check. Looks like we're back."

"That's a relief," Trixie added.

Iron nodded, "Tell me about it." He then turned to the comic they had just escaped from, picking it up with a frown. "Now to make sure this thing doesn't cause any more trouble."

"Hey!" Springer snatched it back, "Its my comic, and I'll say what happens to it!" But before anything else could be said, the comic disappeared in a flash of light. "What the heck?!"

"Looks like it was a one time use comic," Flash told him as he scratched his head. "Now the story's finished, it went bye-bye."

"Awwww...no fair." Springer crossed his arms and pouted.

Flash chuckled at this before patting Trixie's side, "So...I'm guessing our little adventure wasn't exactly what you were expecting in a vacation to Ponyville?"

Trixie laughed as she nodded, "Definitely not. But still, I'm glad it happened. This little event helped me remember a few things, especially about how much my friends believe in me."

Flash shined a cheeky smile back, "Glad to hear it. I told you that you'd know what to do when the moment called for it."

"Yeah, you were right." She then turned to Springer, "But I gotta ask, where did you get that comic?"

"Spike got it for me. He got it from a comic shop in Canterlot," he scratched his head as he tried to remember the name. "The house of something..."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, only to facehoof, "It wasn't the House of Enchanted Comics, was it?"

Springer snapped his paw. "That's it. How'd you know?"

"I always saw it in Canterlot when Shining and I went to get comics back in the day, but he said the comics they sold there were too dangerous. Now I know why."

Iron blinked at this, clicks going through his brain now, "Wait a minute...if Spike got you that comic from that shop, you think he might have gotten one for himself?" They all nodded in agreement, only for their eyes to go wide.

"Oh ponyfeathers…"

One race to the Castle of the Two Sisters later, they would soon learn that they were too late. When they arrived, they found Spike along with Twilight and the rest of the girls dog-piled with a comic on a podium called 'Power Ponies.'

After the mares got over the surprise of the arrival of Trixie, along with some hugs and smiles after that, one group would be telling the other group about their adventures into the comic book world for the next few hours. By the time it was over, Twilight decided to write a strongly worded letter to Celestia about inspecting that comic shop
> Daring Don't
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was yet another day in the town of Ponyville, this one having Flash and Springer flying over the park after finishing their morning training. Flash was once again covered in dust and a few bruises, curtsy of their attempts to master a combo attack. The end results were clear from how Flash appeared, having been blasted across the canyon six times.

"I'm starting to think we should stop with this whole combo move thing," Springer grumbled as he plopped his head on top of Flash's mane. "I mean, Skybreaker and me were able to pull it off the first time. If it was possible to do it that quickly, then don't you think we would've made a little progress?"

Flash let out a snort, "That's quitter talk. Just because its not working now, doesn't make it impossible. Besides, we can't just stay where we are now. If we do, we'll eventually come across an opponent we can't beat, and we need to keep improving if we want to keep the ponies we love safe."

"Maybe..." Springer hummed with a glum frown, "But wouldn't it be better to try and use that thing you used against the Timberwolves before?"

Flash groaned at this suggestion, remembering that incident and knew he was also trying to trigger that moment. "I've been trying, but I've got no clue where to even start." Before they could say anything else, Flash looked down and spotted somepony in a tree besides a bird's nest. Seeing this, he landed and said, "Hey Shy."

"Oh! Hello Flash, Springer." Fluttershy replied before blinking at Flash's torn-up shape, "Did something happen? You look like you've been beaten up....it wasn't Iron, was it?"

"Oh this?" Flash pointed to his fur. "Eh, this is nothing. Just some good old fashioned hard as hooves training. What's going on with you?" He then noticed the chicks in the nest, all who were tweeting loudly and flapping their wings.

Fluttershy smiled as she pinned a piece of paper to the trunk, which unfurled to show birds flying. "I'm explaining the basics of flying."

"Sounds like fun," Springer commented as he raised up his head. "Need some help? I'm sure Flash would love too."

Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply, only for a familiar rainbow colored blur to suddenly shoot past them. It moved at such a speed that Springer was blown of Flash's back, yelping as his head hit the dirt. "Ooooh!" Flash flinched at the sight, leaning down to try and help the now swirly eyed jakhowl, "You okay bud?"

Springer moaned as his head started to wobble back and forth, "I can't feel anything below my eyebrows."

Flash was about to respond, but the blur returned and started spinning around the tree. "Four more months, four more months, four more months!" With that last proclamation, the blur tackled the two pegasi and pushed them into the air, revealing itself to be Rainbow Dash, "I bet you're both excited, huh?"

"Oh my," was Fluttershy's reply as she pulled away and started stroking her hair, "I...uh...I could be excited? But I don't really know what you're-"

Rainbow flew back in front of her, interrupting as she exclaimed, "Come on, you gotta be excited!"

Flash then peeled Rainbow away from the shy pegasus, "Rainbow, a little context please. What are we supposed to be excited for?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Duh!" she clapped her hooves as wonder filled her eyes, "The next Daring Do book is coming out exactly four months from today!"

"Oh..." Flash and Fluttershy replied in unison before Flash rolled his eyes, "Sure, I guess that's exciting. Though your level of excitement is more of a two weeks from today amount. You're reminding me of Spike during Heartswarming."

"That's because of how awesome the book's bound to be!" The two watched as Rainbow's imagination when into overdrive. "So what amazing, incredible, awesome adventure do you think Daring Do will have in her next book, huh?!"

Flash and Fluttershy glanced at one another, knowing that whatever they say would likely be drowned out by Rainbow's out loud daydreaming. And just like they thought, she start imagining what the next book could be while doing exaggerated areal stunts. "Will she cower?! Turn tail and run maybe?!" Rainbow asked at the end of her story. "Or will she fly at full speed, knowing full well that she's going against all odds! For the greatest challenge she ever faced was still surely be no match for-"

"Look out!" Fluttershy screamed before she and Flash flinched, a loud crashing sound filling the air. They opened their eyes to see one dazed pegasus now slumped over at the tree she just hit. At the same time, the birds Fluttershy were teaching were now flying around her head. "Oh dear...I'm not so sure she's gonna last another four months."

"Eh, I don't know about that," Flash replied as he started to help the dizzy pegasi. "We've seen her in worst states before. There was the best young flyers contest, cider season...I could go on."

"I guess you've got a point," Fluttershy replied as she picked up the birds.

Flash then patted Rainbow on the head, "Why don't you head home and rest up? Then it'll only be three months and twenty nine days until the book comes out."

"Yeah...you're right," Rainbow stated as she started to shakily fly away.

After Fluttershy put her bird friends back in the nest, she turned back to Flash. "You think she'll be okay?"

Flash shrugged. "She's Rainbow. How much trouble can she cause over a book?" He began to make his way back to his library home, only for a moan to catch Fluttershy's ear and make her look down at the semi-conscious Springer.

"Err...Flash. You forgot Springer."

Flash laughed as he picked up the jakhowl. "Knew I was forgetting something." With that, he started making his way back to the library while Fluttershy and her birds restarted their flight lesson.





Four days later...

Flash loved having Pinkie for a friend. Not only was she a ton of fun to have around, but she also knew how to keep things interesting.

Like right now for instance. If Flash had normal friends, he'd probably be sitting around bored due to the nothing state Ponyville sometimes put itself into. But Pinkie's amazing ability to know when a pony was gonna be bored somehow kicked in two days ago, so she had arranged a party for today. And the party was everything he could need, the pegasi chuckling at the sight in front of him. It was all of his friends in different hats, an umbrella hat on his own head. Even Lightning, Wild and Iron were there, the three wearing a bowler, windmill and top hat. However, the only one of the trio that seemed to like the hats was Wild, but that didn't faze the other two defenders.

However, as things continued to amp up, the party came to a sudden stop when the main door slammed opened, revealing one Rainbow Dash, "Hiya Twilight! Aren't you excited that-" She didn't get to finish, as both Pinkie and Wild blew party horns in her face.

Twilight shined a huge smile at the athlete. "Rainbow! So glad you finally made it!"

Rainbow's eyebrows raised at the sight of the funny hats. "What's everypony doing here?"

A fez wearing Pinkie blew another horn in her face, "We're having a holiday party!"

"What holiday?"

Wild then slung his hoof around the mare with a giant grin, "National Random Holiday Party Day! Its one of my favorites!"

"Favorite, favorite!" his puppets repeated, all of them wearing different hats.

Lightning then glared at his old friend, "Didn't you say earlier that this was the first time you've ever heard of it?"

Wild nodded. "And already it's shaping up to be the best holiday ever!"

"Ever, ever!"

Rarity, cup in magical aura, stepped up to Rainbow. "I've never heard of it either." She took a sip, "but the punch is quite tasty."

Pinkie giggled at this. "You might say the secret ingredient is-" She looked around before whispering into Rainbow's ear, "a secret!" She shot the pegasus one final look before jumping off to have more party fun.

"How come nopony bothered to invite me?"

Applejack, her normal stetson replaced by a comically large red one, trotted to her side with an annoyed look in her eye. "I came to invite you personally, but you were a speck too busy reading that last Daring Do book for the twelfth time."

"I don't see why you bother," Flash added with rolling eyes. "At this point, you could probably recite the dang thing from memory."

"That's a scary thought," Iron joked as he took a sip, the defender also trying to ignore the glare Fluttershy was giving him.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as well as she picked up a cup of punch. "Yeah, well, in three months and twenty six more days, I'll be able to read the next one."

Upon hearing this, Twilight Sparkle turned to her. "Oh, haven't you heard? The release of the next book got pushed another two months."

Flash almost facehoofed, now thinking about how he should really start carrying a camera. If he did, he'd have probably would have been able to capture Rainbow spitting her punch into Twilight's face. "TWO MORE MONTHS?! I've already been waiting so long!" They watched as the mare's body shook like a leaf. "I don't think I can take another two months! I'll never make it!" She fell to the floor, spread eagle and face down.

Fluttershy gulped at this, "Yeah...I can vouch for that."

After Pinkie reached down from the ceiling and put a party hat on Rainbow's head, Rainbow glanced up at Twilight. "Did they give a reason?"

"The publisher just said author A.K. Yearling won't be able to finish the book for another two months." She then levitated a plate of snacks, "Cupcakes?"

As Pinkie and Springer grabbed one off the plate, Rainbow picked herself out while releasing a low growl. "How could you possibly know that before me?! I'm the series' biggest fan!"

Twilight looked insulted by that claim. "I'm just as big a fan as you! In fact, I'm the one who first introduced you to the books. Remember?!"

Flash facehoofed at this, "Anypony else getting the urge to yell continuity in front of some fireworks?" The only one who nodded was Pinkie while the others just gave him an odd stare.

"You're a weird pony," Iron told him. "You know that?"

Flash just shrugged, "Beats being boring."

Twilight giggled at this as she got back to the main topic, "A.K. Yearling might be my favorite author. I know everything about her. Where she grew up, where she studied literature, where she wrote the first Daring Do book..."

A bulb went off in Rainbow's head as she leaned up to the new princess, "Where she lives?"

Twilight hummed as she searched her database-like brain, eventually receiving her answer. "No...though I could probably find out somehow. Why?"

"Don't you get it?!" Rainbow yelled as she grabbed Twilight's shoulders. "The new book is obviously being delayed because she needs help dealing with whatever everyday nonsense is distracting her from spending her every living breathing second writing! So I...I mean, fans like me, can get to read the new book ASAP! Think about it! We could help her with her laundry, buy her groceries, cooking her meals, whatever! Now, who wouldn't appreciate that?"

"Hmm, I don't know Rainbow." Twilight mumbled, "What she probably wants most of all is respect for her privacy."

Flash nodded in agreement, "Yeah Dash, what you're suggesting is usually how restraining orders are born."

"She can always just say no," Rainbow replied before turning to the other girls. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy all nodded, obviously agreeing with Rainbow.

Twilight let out a glum hum, now relenting, "I suppose you're right."

"No she's not," Iron almost yelled.

"All you're gonna do is tick her off." Lightning added.

"I'm with them girls," Flash said as he hopped down to Twilight. "It'd be bad enough if you did this on your own, but think about the new position you're in now Twi. You think it'd look good if Equestria's newest princess got stamped with the creepy stalker label?" He crossed his hooves at this, "I'm sorry girls, but I'm putting my hoof down."





Three days later...

"Remind me to never put my hoof down ever again." Flash grumbled as he rubbed his still very sore ear. The defender was now making his way through one of Equestria's jungles with the girls, which made him let out a long sigh, "Ugh...I still can't believe you all roped me into this. Why am I your bodyguard again Twilight?"

Twilight rolled her eyes as she shook her head, only to see Pinkie painting a red line on the ground as they walked. "You see what I mean? Why would she live in this remote part of Equestria, except to keep folks from intruding on her privacy? We should respec-"

"I think I spotted the house!" Rainbow interrupted after leaping out of the bushes. "We're super close! Follow me!" She then flew off like a rocket, all but Flash and Twilight following after her.

"Wait!" The alicorn yelled.

Flash huffed as they began to follow. "What's the point of you being a princess if nopony's gonna do what you tell them?"

Twilight rolled her eyes again, "Just come on already."

Flash stayed still and crossed his hooves. "Oh yeah? If they can ignore you, and you ignore me putting my hoof down, then I can ignore you too." However, a purple aura enveloped his ear and twisted it. "OW! Ow, ow, ow! Alright, I'm coming!"

The two soon caught up with the others, only to come to a stop as they and the others saw the sight in front of them. It was a simple stone brick cottage, but it had its front door beaten along with several broken windows. "Oh no..." Twilight gasped as she put her hooves over her mouth. "What happened?!"

"Apparently, somepony has intruded on her privacy pretty hard already." Rainbow replied as she cricked her hooves.

"This doesn't look good. Come on...." Flash pulled out his Celestic Gear and gestured for the others to follow. Rainbow went next, flying up to the door and knocking. However, the one tap made the wooden construct break off its hinges and fall to the floor.

"Hoo-wee, somepony really trashed the place." Applejack commented as they looked inside.

Pinkie hummed as she walked into the house. "Maybe..." she then disappeared before reappearing atop a pile of junk, "or maybe A.K. Yearling's just a terrible, horrible, unbelievable slob!"

Rarity spotted a nearby mirror, looking into it to see the glass broken. "Oh my...I hope A.K. Yearling's alright."

Twilight gulped at this, "Oh no! What if something terrible happened to her?!"

"I know!" Rainbow jumped out of a pile broken chairs and balled up paper, "There might be no more books!" She then saw the stink eye from the others, "Uh...but of course, I'd be worried about her too. Heh...."

"Right...sure you do." Flash commented before his ears twitched, picking up the sound of hoofsteps. "Hmm? Somepony's coming."

Fluttershy gulped, "Oh dear...what do we do? What if its the somepony that ruined this place?"

Flash wanted to tell them to hide, but the hoofsteps were too close. Instead, he simply jumped in front of the door, only to come to a stop. Standing before him was a frowning brown mare with black hair, and she was wearing glasses, a hat and a purple cape. "What are you doing in my house?"

Rainbow's jaw dropped at the sight, her eyes now the size of dinner plates. "A...K-K...Yearling?!" This question was followed by a low squeal, which was getting close to only being heard by dogs.

At the same time, Twilight's face started show nothing but panic, "Now hold on! We didn't do this, we swear!"

"Its true," Flash added as he stepped in front of A.K. Yearling. "We showed up and found the place like this."

The mare seemed to only be half listening, more focused on Flash's appearance. "Trail? Is that you? Did you...lose weight...and work out a bunch?"

Everypony blinked at the question, Flash shaking his head, "Uh...no. My name is Flash Sentry."

"Oh..." Yearling replied as she blinked at him, "Huh. You sure do look like him. Though I guess you can't be Trail since Misty isn't with you."

Those names clicked in everypony's heads, Pinkie then speaking up, "Hey! Those are the names of Flash's parents!"

The look on the mare's face told them all one thing, "You know my parents?"

A.K. Yearling shrugged, "I may have met them a time or two. You definitely look like you could be Trail's kid...." She then walked inside, ignoring everypony as she started to shuffling through a pile of papers. "But that's not important right now. I'm busy..."

As she passed by Twilight, the princess let out, "Well...we're awfully glad to see you're alright."

A.K. Yearling then pushed Rainbow, who had been looking through some papers on a desk, aside and started doing the same as Rainbow whistled. "Okay, clearly this isn't the best time, but I've just gotta say how much we all really love your books." She let out a nervous laugh.

The author pony turned to her, only for her eyes to widen when she spotted what Rainbow was standing on. One quick yank later, the strange mare then pulled out a strange contraption along with a book. Placing them on the floor, she tapped the contraption, which was showing three rings, all of them now spinning. Once the third ring stopped spinning, the emblem on the cover glowed as she spun it before a loud clicking noise could be heard. The book opened, a gold ring now sliding out. Miss Yearling signed as she looked it over, "Its safe. Thank goodness." With that, she placed the ring inside her cloak.

"Great!" Rainbow trotted over to the mare, "maybe now would be a good time for me to ask her how we can help move the new book along a little faster." Miss Yearling turned to shoot a glare at the mare, "Chop chop!"

A.K. Yearling rolled her eyes at this while Twilight grabbed the pegasi in her magic. "Rainbow Dash, a minute please!" One pull out of the house later, Twilight released Rainbow and went straight into lecture mode. "Rainbow...A.K. Yearling has made it pretty clear that she wants to be left alone! We need to respect her wishes!"

It was in that moment that Pinkie popped up between the two. "You should tell that to those guys." They followed her hoof and looked up at the roof, spotting a trio of earth pony stallions sneaking in through the roof's window.

"What the heck?!" Flash yelped as the group went up to the first floor window. There, they spotted A.K Yearling being surrounded by the three, but before Flash could do something, the mare threw off her three pieces of clothing onto the stallions to blind them. Doing so revealed a new set of clothes that looked strangely familiar. She was now wearing a safari shirt and hat, the ring she had been worried about now on her wing.

Flash heard Rainbow and Twilight gasp. "A.K. Yearling is Daring Do!"

"Well....wasn't expecting that."

"A.K. Yearling and Daring Do are one and the same!" Twilight repeated as she continued watching, "My mind is officially blown!"

Rainbow slightly chuckled at this. "Aw come on, I knew it all along."

Flash shot her a deadpan stare, "Right. Sure you did." He looked back at Daring, only to see her easily fend off all three stallions. "Not bad."

"Amazing!" Applejack added in awe.

"Incredible!" Rarity finished.

One of the stallions then managed to get a lucky hit it, knocking the ring from her grasp. It landed in a lit fireplace, heating it up to the point where nopony could touch it. But as the stallions tried to think up a way to grab it, a whip snapped passed them. The leather weapon pulled the ring over to a table, knocking a water jug that spilled over the ring, cooling it.

"Wow!" Pinkie cheered as they watched Daring whip the ring to her side, "So much action! Whee!"

"That's nice, but I'm not gonna just sit here." Flash commented as he jumped into the house, "Flash Force!" A beam of light shot out of the sword's crossguard, cutting between Daring and her attackers. "Mind if I...cut in?!" With that, Flash fired a Flash Cutter at the three, forcing them back.

As Flash leapt to Daring's side, a glare now graced her face, "I don't need your help. I can handle this on my own."

In reply, Flash turned to smirk at the mare. "Oh I know, just call me added insurance." He looked back at the stallions, readying his blade. "Now, count up your sins."

The three blinked at the statement, unable to respond. That and Flash had just rushed the three, socking the jaw of the middle one with his knee. With this attack down, Flash then did an aerial split kick, knocking both into the walls.

Now finally deciding to help, the girls ran inside, Rainbow at the front of the group. "Don't worry Daring Do, I'll-ahh!" She then let out a yelp, tripping over her own hooves before falling into the ring holding mare.

Daring grunted as she was knocked to the ground, the ring being flung free and going soaring over the ponies' heads. It landed by the door, where a brown stallion with a black mane and skull cutie mark was waiting. The stallion picked it up with a smirk. "Many thanks, Daring Do. As you've probably surmised, our earlier search for this treasure was...unsuccessful. So kind of you to find it for us."

Daring stood up and glared at the stallion. "Give it back, Caballeron!"

"That's Doctor Caballeron to you."

Rainbow was about to say something, but Flash hushed her as they watched Daring speak up. "So let me guess: Ahuizotl put you up to this?! You're stealing the ring to give to him so his hold on the Fortress of Talacon will be good for eight centuries as foretold by the prophecy!"

"Close....but no. I'm going to sell this to him, make a bundle, and retire from archaeology in splendor."

Daring let out a long growl. "Caballeron, you fool! You're dooming the valley to eight centuries of unrelenting heat!"

"Not if I can help it!" Flash leapt at the stallion, only for him to pull something out of his pocket before tossing it to the ground.

Bang!

A cloud of smoke suddenly appeared, pushing Flash back before flapping his wings at the fog. As the smoke cleared, Caballeron was gone. "Dang it!"

Daring turned to glare at Rainbow, who laughed nervously. "Err...sorry."

Daring just rolled her eyes before making her way to the door, passing Flash as she did. "Come on, you're with me. The rest of you stay here."

Rainbow hopped in place with wide eyes, "Hey! Why does he get to go?!"

Daring shot another glare at the mare, "Because from what I can see, he can actually be of some help. Plus, if he really is Trail and Misty's son, then I know I can trust him." With that, she spread her wings and kicked herself into the air.

Flash turned to Twilight, only to get a nod as the princess said, "Go."

"Got it." Flash took the air, soon flying side by side with Daring. And as the both glided through the air, Flash slowly asked, "So...you know my folks?"

"Sure do. Never said anything about a kid though."

"Yeah....please don't ask about that. So, what's the plan?"

"Get the ring back and hide it someplace nopony will ever find it."

Flash let out a chuckle, "Now that's a plan I can get behind. But wouldn't it have been easier if the girls came with us? Twilight's a powerful magic user and Rainbow's got major skills."

Daring rolled her eyes at this. "And where were these skills before? Besides, I work better alone. The only reason you're with me is because I'd be an idiot to not have a Royal Knight helping me." She gave him a slight glare, "You are a Royal Knight, right? Your weapon wouldn't work like that otherwise."

"Right...yeah." Flash gulped, knowing he really shouldn't tell her the truth of still being an apprentice. "But you know, the others do have skill. I've read....okay, I've only listened to Twilight when she read them, but I have heard your books, and I know for a fact that what you've gone up against can't hold a candle to the stuff they've faced together."

Daring just looked away, shaking her head as she started to land, "No. My work always involves secrets, and since you never know who you can trust, its best to never trust anypony."

Flash flew down after her, the two landing side by side. "You seem to trust my parents."

"That's different."

"How?"

"It just is!" She slapped her hooves over her mouth, now glaring at Flash. "Alright, enough talking. We need absolute stealth from here on out. You can do stealth, right?"

Flash smirked at the question, "You kidding? I can be as quiet as my friend Fluttershy when I want to be," he saw Daring's face turn to one of confusion. "It means I can be really really quiet."

"Good. Then let's go." Daring got down onto the ground and started crawling, Flash following after her.

It wasn't long till they managed to locate hoofprints. Following this, several minutes passed before the two came to a stop, now hearing rustling behind them. Flash glanced at the sound, whispering, "You think they doubled back on us?"

"Possibly...." Daring turned towards the noise, ready to pounce.

"Wait. Let me do it." Flash then pulled out his blade, "I'm the one with the sword, remember?" Daring frowned, but nodded all the same as Flash pointed his weapon at the bush. And as the sound started to get louder, Flash crouched down and yelled, "Gotcha!" he ran into the leaves, tackling and pinning a pony to the ground. That is, till he saw who it was. "Rainbow?!"

"Ow!" The pegasus mare moaned as she rubbed her head. "What was that for?!"

"What's going on?!" Daring asked as she got up, only to see Rainbow, "Oh, its just you." She then turned around to walk away again.

"Wait!" Rainbow yelled as Flash waved his wings in front of her.

"Hang on. What are you doing here Rainbow? Where are the others?"

Rainbow just shrugged, "I don't know. Left them back at the cabin," she watched as Flash facehoofed. "And I'm here so I can help Daring Do!" Her face became one of glee and wonder. "Going on an adventure with her, its a dream come true!"

"This isn't a game Rainbow," Flash told her in a harsh whisper. "And if you're gonna be here, keep the noise down!"

"Who says you can give the orders?! Just because Daring asked you to help-"

"She asked me to help because I showed her that I'm competent. You wanna impress her, then stop fangirling. Geez, you're acting worse the Rarity." Rainbow let out a small screech, anger and rage on face at the insult. However, before she could reply, the two caught up with Daring.

"Why is she still here?" Daring asked.

"Because she can help us..." Flash turned to glare at Rainbow. "If she doesn't go overboard."

Rainbow looked at Daring pleadingly, causing the explorer pony to sigh. "Fine. But she has to do exactly what I tell her."

Rainbow's face became one of absolute joy, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I won't let you down!"

"You'd better. Now, let's-"

"Let's go!" Rainbow raced into the air, leaving Daring to stare daggers at Flash.

Flash in turn, let out a nervous chuckle. "Trust me, she can help us."

A few hours later...

The sun and moon had now began to swap places, the trio finally locating Caballeron and his goons. Hiding in the bushes, they peeked through to see the group camping out and eating a bale of hay.

"Looks like they decided to have an early dinner before making their way back down the hill to the marketplace in town." Rainbow commented as Daring moved over to the side, scraping up some mud to stick to her face. "Oh...I see! You're gonna ambush them like in book four at the Horavian caves! Or maybe-" Her rant was stopped as Flash covered her mouth, shushing her.

"Be quiet!" Flash growled, "Stop fangirling and let's just follow her plan, okay?"

Rainbow blinked and then slowly nodded. And as Flash removed his hooves, Rainbow turned back to Daring. "So...what's the plan?"

Daring turned back to them, now wearing a beard made of leaves while holding a bag of bits. "Just sit and watch."





Caballeron and his companions were enjoying their dinner, only for their attention to be changed as the sound of bits jingling made them look at the nearby bushes. It was here they spotted Daring, who was now coughing to speak like an old fogey. "Hello fellars...I have been led to believe you have in your possession an item of significant importance that might be...for sale."

As she said this, Caballeron moved closer to check the bag's contents as he replied, "Oh uh, well...I did have another buyer lined up, but he's not here." he held up the ring, "So...sounds like we have a deal."

But as the schemer was about to give the ring to the mare, a loud suddenly shook the air. Caballeron's group shook in fear at the sound, the ground now beginning to shake.

"What's that?" Flash asked with a slight gulp.

"I think I know," Rainbow replied as she lifted herself slightly up. "And I know it isn't good."

The sound of falling trees happened next, only for a new figure to appear. It was a giant cat-like being, who's skin was a combo of dark and light blue while wearing a bronze Aztec necklace and arm bands. "CABALLERON!" It roared. "Where are you?!"

Daring glared at the beast, "Ahuizotl!"

The monster held out its tail, which showed a hand. The sight made Flash shiver, reminding him of his time as a human. "Uh...what is that Rainbow?"

Rainbow's expression became of mix of excitement and fear, "That's Ahuizotl, Daring's main archenemy! I...I can't believe he's real too!"

"You gotta be kidding me. That thing is way too ugly to be real."

Ahuizotl then walked up to the group, his tail-hand now pointing at Caballeron, "The ring! Now!"

To say Caballeron was scared would be an understatement. He was down right petrified, his hooves dropping the ring before grabbing the bits and turning tail a second later. And as the ring hit the ground, Daring and Ahuizotl glared at each other. The cat monster then shot his tail at the accessory, Daring leaping at the ring as well. But as the two clashed, Daring was a second faster, snagging the accessory in her mouth while dodging the tail.

Flash and Rainbow both gasped at the sight, Rainbow chanting to herself, "Be cool, Rainbow Dash, be cool...she's got this!"

"Who cares if she's got it," Flash grumbled as he gripped Lightbringer. "She needs help!"

"The ring, Daring Do! Give it to-AAAHHH!" The beast cried out as Flash slashed him in the back, the defender then flipping over the monster to land by Daring.

Daring took the ring out of her mouth and put it around her neck, "Now Ahuizotl, you know I love you, but I can't give you the ring till I've properly proposed." Daring remarked as Flash pointed her weapon at the beast.

"You realize if you put that in your next book, you're gonna be fuelling a ton of slash fiction."

Ahuizotl laughed as he straightened up. "Interesting, because my friends here have a proposal of their own." With that, he snapped his tail hand's fingers and was joined by a tiger, panther, cheater, lynx and...a house cat. The five growled, or hissed in one case as they stalked towards the two pegasi.

Flash and Daring shared a glance before nodding, the panther using this moment to pounce, only for the explorer pony's hoof to be placed into its jaw. It fell back, the tiger taking its place as it attacked. But as it tried to strike, Flash used Flash Grinder, knocking it away with ease.

Rainbow watched with baited breath as the two fought side by side. The familiar pang of jealously returned, making her frown. It was them that she noticed her idol's hat on the ground, which she grabbed before waving in the air. "Daring Do! I've got your hat! You want me to toss it?" Daring was a little to busy to respond, though Rainbow's eagerness prevented her from seeing that. "Daring Do! Daring Do!"

But as she did this, Flash and Daring kept fighting at the beasts with ease. That is, till a familiar terrified cry quickly caught their attention, making to turn and see Ahuizotl. The monster was now holding Rainbow in his tail hand, making them both come to a halt, Daring then getting pinned under one of the feral cats.

Flash, who had been in Theta Mode, dodged another slash of claws before pointing his blade at Ahuizotl. "Let her go!"

Ahuizotl laughed as he grabbed some dirt and tossed it into Flash's face, making him cry out as he was blinded. With this, Ahuizotl punched Flash in the face, knocking him into a tree as Lightbringer flew out of his hooves. And as he felt the wood embrace his back, the defender slumped to the ground, moaning as he lost consciousness.

"Flash!" Rainbow cried before turning to the now tied up Daring do. "Don't worry Daring Do! I'll come help you!" Ahuizotl however, had different ideas and simply tossed her back into the bushes. "Whoa! Ow!"

"Don't bother!" Daring told her as she and Flash were dragged off. "I'd say you've already helped plenty."

Rainbow then pulled her head out of the bushes, her wings flaring as she started to chase Ahuizotl. But as she followed him, she soon halted as she saw the enemy go into a large temple with Daring and Flash. Seeing this and an assemble of guards out of the temple, she slumped onto her flank, "What have I done?"





As the sun began to rise, Twilight and the girls had finally managed to locate Rainbow. The mare hadn't moved a muscle the entire night, even when the group appeared, Rarity getting to Rainbow first, "Rainbow! Thank goodness you're alright!"

Twilight came up next, now blinking as she looked around, "Where's Flash?"

Rainbow barely moved her hoof, pointing it at the temple. "In there. He, Daring Do and the ring have been captured by the dreaded Ahuizotl, and its all my fault." Another round of gasps filled the air as Rainbow's hoof slumped back down. "I'm a failure..."

Twilight let out a long gulp, a tearing feeling ripping through her heart. "We've gotta go save him! Err...them!"

"Why?!" Rainbow moaned out as she flopped down into the grass, "They've probably already got an escape plan. All I'll do is mess it up."

Twilight leaned her head back at Rainbow's reply, her head shaking a second later, "We can't be sure of that. If Flash was in your hooves right now, do you think he'd just sit back and do nothing?!"

Rainbow sighed back. "No...but he's different. Daring Do obviously admires his skills."

"And Flash admires yours," Fluttershy added as she patted the blue mare with her wing. "Just because you've messed up doesn't mean you should give up."

"Daring Do doesn't think so," Rainbow mumbled as she slowly got up, turning to walk away. "My hero's way better off without me."

Applejack took this moment to jump in front of her, "Hang on there pardner! This don't sound like you."

Pinkie threw her hoof around the mare's neck, "Where's the Rainbow Dash who would help anypony at the drop of a hat?"

Rarity giggled at this, "Or pith helmet as the case may be..."

"She's here, where she's got no business being," Rainbow pushed Pinkie away and started walking. "She should be at home."

Twilight let out a loud huff, "Rainbow Dash! Are you really going to abandon one of your closest friends?! Its fine to look up to Daring Do, but you've put her so high up on a pedestal, you can't even see your own worth anymore!" She trotted up in front of Rainbow, glaring at the athlete. "Flash and Daring need our help whether they want it or not! How would you feel if you were trapped and Flash or any of us didn't come to save you?!" It was here that Rainbow came to a stop, her eyes drilling holes into the ground. Twilight just shook her head at this, "Rainbow Dash, you once told Flash you'd never leave your friends hanging. Well, I'm sure he remembers....but do you?!"

Rainbow's brain flashed back to when they went after the Elements, how she had given up a chance to be leader so she wouldn't abandon her friends. She then looked back at the temple, her face slowly morphing back to her usual self. The very sight made Twilight smirk, "So...are you with us or not?"





Flash let out a long moan as he felt himself coming around. The first thing he noticed was that he was hanging by his hooves due to him being bolted to a stone wall. This alone made him blink, soon trying to pointless move before glancing down, now seeing a pool of water that was swimming with much hungrier looking ugly goldfish.

"So...you finally awake?" asked a voice, making him look up and see Daring hanging opposite him.

"What happened?"

"Your little friend got us caught. I knew she'd be trouble." Before Flash could say anything, she then yelled, "Surrender now Ahuizotl, or I'll be forced to take you down!"

The explorer started to struggle, trying to break the bonds as laughter filled the air. The laughter soon showed itself as Ahuizotl, who was on a ledge above them with the ring in his tail. "Oh Daring Do, I will so miss your amusing laughter-jokes. Now, I must leave to commence the ring-placing ceremony to unleash eight hundred years of unrelenting, sweltering heat! AHAHAHA!!!"

"You won't get away with this!" Flash barked back, "Even if we go down, my friends will stop you."

"Ah. Thanks for the warning," Ahuizotl replied with a slight chuckle. "I'll be sure to be ready to greet them with a whole army of spears and arrows!"

"Do'h!"

Ahuizotl then pulled a cord, causing a drain below him to open and unleash a torrent of water. It spilled into the pool, causing the fish-infested water to rise before walking off, laughing as he left the two to their fate. The two watched as the water rose, causing them to frantically pull at their restraints.

"You know...I always knew it would end this way."

Daring gave him a raised eyebrow look, "really?"

Flash just shrugged. "The details aren't exact, but yeah, pretty much."

Daring rolled her eyes before pulling at her shackles, her eyes going wide when she felt one of the stones connected to it wiggle. Seeing this, she shook it some more, causing it to get loose enough for her to slide out. Flash saw this and followed her lead, now wiggling at his own restraints. It came loose as well, the two soon pulling all four hooves free. However, as they did this, the added weight of the rock began to pull them down into the water.

The two flapped as hard as they could, Flash able to lift himself away from the water. However, Daring didn't seem to have the same amount of strength, and began to get dangerously close to rising torrent. Flash saw this and tried to push himself closer to her, his wings now starting to strain himself.

"Darn it...I can't-"

"I gotcha!" a new voice yelled as it came and grabbed the Daring Do. It was Rainbow Dash, her wings now flapping with all their might as she pulled Daring up, Flash following suite. It wasn't long till both managed to fly up to the edge, Flash and Daring then breaking the rocks that had been weighing them down.

"Thanks Rainbow." Flash grunted as he patted his wings. "That was close."

"No prob."

"Tch." Daring grunted as she cricked her neck, "I was just about to save myself, y'know."

"Yeah right," Flash barked back, only to get a glare from Daring.

However, Rainbow just ignored the comment as she pulled out a familiar sword and hat. "I just thought you might need these."

Flash smiled as he took Lightbringer, while Daring simply huffed as she put her hat on. "Have I mentioned yet that I work alone?"

"Have I mentioned yet that you're lucky I don't?"

"And we love you for it," Flash finished as he gestured them to follow, "Now come on, unless you want eight hundred years of heat."

"Don't worry about that. Twi and the others are dealing with Ahuizotl as we speak." Rainbow commented as the three made their way to the cat monster. And true to her word, as they reached the end of the corridor, a purple flash indicated Twilight's location. They reached the door and now saw that Twilight and the others had managed to get the ring, the group now playing keep away with Ahuizotl and his minions.

Daring then noticed a tower of rings behind the whole mess, causing her to tap Rainbow's side. "You, come with me." she then turned to Flash, "Can you keep them distracted?"

"No prob." The apprentice knight replied as he jumped into the fray, soon seeing that Rarity currently had the ring, "Over here!" The fashionista nodded before tossing it, which he caught just in time to dodge an oncoming spear.

Ahuizotl saw him and looked over at Daring and Rainbow, watching as they began to take the tower of rings off of the obelisk. He turned back to Flash, "Enough! I have thank you for the warning, as it made me realise that this was in order." He snapped the fingers of his tail hand, causing holes to open in the wall, more earth ponies soon appearing out of them. Each were holding a bow, all soon firing a storm of arrows. Everypony gasped at this, Flash's eyes going wide at the barrage of attacks heading his way. He then raised his sword, swatting away the shots while Twilight created a forcefield to protect the others. At the same time, Daring and Rainbow hid behind the obelisk, unable to get the next ring thanks to the arrow-filled mess.

"What do we do?! We can't fight them like this!" Pinkie asked Twilight, only to be ignored as Twilight just stared at Flash.

The pegasus was still deflecting the arrows, his sword cutting them like butter until one grazed his shoulder. "Ahh!" The pain made him drop both Lightbringer and the ring, which rolled along the floor to Ahuizotl.

The beast laughed as he grabbed the ring, lifting it up. "HA! Its mine! Now, I achieve my destiny!"

And as Flash saw this, his eyes went wide as a click went off in his brain. A mighty roar soon followed, his body suddenly exploding into a tornado of light. As this happened, glowing armor surrounded his form, though this time everyone could see it unlike the blinding light from before.

Ahuizotl shocking;y blinked at the sight, only to point at the defender, "Don't just stand there! SHOOT HIM!" The earth ponies nodded and once again started firing, every arrow aimed at Flash.

Flash stared at the barrage of approaching arrows, but almost hopped in place at the next sight. The arrows seemed like they were going in slow motion for the pegasi, causing him to easily hop away, dodging each with ease. Everypony watching was amazed, but that amazement was quickly outdone by what happened next. As he dodged another arrow, he jumped to another spot, only for a second Flash to appear where he had just leapt from. The two Flashs then hopped to different places, creating two more Flashs as they continued to hop around. It happened again and again until the entire room was filled with the light encased Flashs.

"What happening?" Applejack asked.

"Is he...copying himself?" Rarity added.

Twilight shook her head. "I don't think so. This must be something else."

However, despite her confusion, there was one that could tell what was happening. It was Rainbow, as the athlete could keep up with the defender, now seeing he was moving so fast that it looked like he was in multiple places at once. "Awesome..."

Daring was also amazed, but she quickly shook that shook off as she whispered to Rainbow, "Come on! While he's got him distracted, let's get rid of these rings!"

Meanwhile, the many Flash's easily dodged the arrows, some of the fake defenders just standing while arrows flew through their light bodies. This was just what Flash needed, and in a split second, the multiple versions of him leapt at the minions, punching each one out with ease. As they did this, they disappeared and left only the original Flash as he landed in front of Ahuizotl, the tornado once again forming as the two stared each other down.

"I don't know what this is, but I don't care! I will beat you and Daring Do!" The beast growled before charging at the glowing pegasus, a punch soon following. But as he did this, Flash disappeared in a flash of light, only to reappear under the beast. Ahuizotl let out a whimper as he saw what came next, his jaw now feeling one super-powered uppercut. "BLAUGH!" he cried as he sent flying, his form soon crashing into a stone wall.

Seeing the beaten monster, the tornado exploded off of Flash, his glowing form now disappearing. His legs gave out as he landed, causing him to stagger before Twilight ran up to him, managing to catch him at the last second. The two smiled at each other with slight red starting to appear on their faces. That is, till Rainbow yelled out, "Ponies, run! This place is going down!"

She and Daring were now on their final ring, both raising it up as the obelisk kept glowing. At the same time, the temple was starting to shake, its own ceiling now starting to collapse. "I think that's our cue to leave," Flash commented before the six raced to the nearest exit. Rainbow and Daring at the same time took the last ring, only to look up and see a brand new sunroof from the temple's collapse.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled a voice behind them, both turning to see that Ahuizotl had already regained consciousness. "I won't lose this time!"

"So long Ahuizotl. Its been fun." Daring remarked back as both blew raspberries at the monster. The pegasi then flew up into the sunroof, the beast unable to catch them.

"CURSE YOU DARING DO! CURSE YOU!"





Outside of the collapsing temple, the ponies were now slumped over, all panting heavily. "Ohhh...don't wanna do that again." Twilight moaned as she let out another groan. "Daring Do has quite the crazy lifestyle."

"I agree darling." Rarity added as she wiped her brow, "That was a lot of exercise for one adventure...but uh, where is Daring and Rainbow? Are they okay?"

It was here that their ears flickered, now hearing the sound of two approaching flying ponies. They all looked up, now seeing the duo with the giant ring in hoof. And as they got closer, the two dropped the ring, shattering it as it hit the ground.

With that done, Daring turned to Rainbow. "Thank you. I could have never done this without you Rainbow Dash." She held out her hoof, but Rainbow took it a step further and threw her hooves around Daring, hugging her. The explorer pony was shocked at first, but quickly recovered and hugged her back. Once they pulled away, Daring began to fly off. "Now...I've got a book to finish!"

Rainbow waved her off until the explorer pony was out of sight, then landed next to her friends. Flash shined a cheeky grin at her, "So...finally managed to get over the fangirling?"

Rainbow looked away and waved her hoof, "Oh please, like I would ever do that. I only acted that way because it was all part of Daring Do and mine's awesome plan. I let her to get captured so she could get into the temple and destroy it from within."

The others all laughed at this as Twilight spoke up. "I admit that's a Daring Do move, but I doubt she told you that."

"She didn't need to," Rainbow replied as she puffed out her chest. "We're so awesomely similar that we don't need to tell each other the plan, because we've already come up with the same one."

"Right...sure you two are." Twilight giggled as she moved over to Flash, "Now, let's get that cut of yours cleaned." She then stopped as she looked at the spot the arrow had hit, only to see that the wound was now gone. "Amazing..."





Several weeks later...

Rainbow was in her house, writing in the friendship journal when she suddenly heard a knocking at the door. Putting her pencil down, she opened the door to see a mail pony who handed out a parcel, "Package from A.K. Yearling."

A huge grin graced Rainbow's face as she took the parcel, "Sweet! Thanks pal!" She then closed the door and ripped the parcel open, "Its the new book, and its a week before anypony else gets it!" Once she finished unwrapping the book, she gasped as she saw the book's cover, "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!"

She clutched the book to her chest, squealing with glee. And as she opened it to start reading, it was here that the cover showed itself, showing the usual picture of Daring Do. But as the hero was front and center, flying on either side of her were ponies that looked suspiciously like Flash and Rainbow.
> Bats
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Everfree Forest, several shadows were racing through the trees. The dark beings moved like the wind, shifting around the leaves as they made their way through the valley of wooden pillars. These shadows continued on their way, only for the sun to peek out of the ceiling of trees, revealing their true forms. It was a horde of Speed Stingers, a set of velociraptor-like creatures, all hunting for food. Though they were primarily nocturnal predators, they had failed to find food last night, and thus continued their search as the sun rose into the sky.

And as they kept to the shade, their eyes suddenly screeched in pain as a bright light illuminated the whole area. They came to a stop as the light continued to shine, the group now backpedaling as a figure appeared before them. It was Flash Sentry, his Celestic Gear showing itself as the light's source.

"That's as far as you go." Flash commanded as he pointed the sword at the beasts. They just growled at him, only to hop back as a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of them.

Lightning appeared next, Iron and Springer by his side as he asked, "I know you told us you sensed these things coming mutt, but uh...what do these things do again?"

"They're fast and have a stinger that'll put you to sleep," Springer explained as he crossed his paws. "But they hate light, so that's why you two are dealing with them."

"Alright. That definitely works for me." Lightning chuckled as he started to double the brightness of his electricity. One of the Stingers shut its eyes and dashed at Lightning, only for it to slam into an iron wall that appeared between them.

Iron watched as the dazed creature staggered back, the defender retracting the iron wall and pulling Piecemaker free. "Just don't try and hurt them too much. All we need to do is steer them away from Ponyville."

Lightning turned to him with wide eyes, "Didn't these things almost kill you once?! Why are you being so kind with them?!"

Flash shook his head with a smirk, "Don't mind him. Fluttershy's just...rubbing off on him." Iron was about to make a snide comment, but the sounds of bells ringing caught everypony's attention. "That's coming from Sweet Apple Acres."

Iron gave him a hard nod. "You go see what's happening. We'll handle the rest of these invaders."

"Once these things are gone, we'll come help." Springer added, Flash nodding back before running off. As he exited the forest, he spotted Fluttershy and moved up next to her. The mare smiled back before refocusing her efforts on getting to their destination, the two arriving at the same moment as Twilight, Spike, Rainbow, Rarity and Pinkie did.

"Attention!" Applejack called out as she continued to ring a bell. "This is a Sweet Apple Acres code red! I need all hooves...and claws, on deck!"

Rarity was the first to reach the farm pony, a glum frown on her face. "Calm down Applejack. Its much too early for this."

Applejack replied to the fashionista by getting right up into her face. "Calm down?! How can I calm down at a time like this?! Vampire fruit bats are attackin' Sweet Apple Acres!"

Twilight tilted her head at this. "But I thought the fruit bats usually stayed put in the west orchard?"

Applejack nodded as she moved in front of the group. "The fruit bats do, but these aren't just your everyday ordinary fruit bats." She spun back around, trying to give off as much intensity as she could. "They're vampire fruit bats!"

Flash raised an eyebrow, "There's a difference?"

"A big difference!" She turned to glare at him. "And where's Springer and the others? We need all hooves working on stopping these varmints!" She stepped over to a nearby tree, which had a big white sheet hiding something large underneath. "I'll be darned if they think they're gonna sink their fangs into my blue ribbon apple." With that, she pulled the sheet away to reveal the biggest apple any of them had ever seen. It was so large that it actually made the tree bend over, the fruit now reflecting off the sun in a way that made it gleam. The group all marveled at the sight, whispering their amazement as Applejack continued. "This here's our entry into the Appleloosa State Fair's produce competition." She exhaled onto the fruit before polishing the spot. "You know how much TLC goes into getting an apple to grow like this?"

Rarity stepped up to the apple, smiling as she saw her reflection in it. "Oh my, Applejack! When you go big, you really go big!"

Applejack nodded before patting one of the trees. "Ah know. That's why this is a problem. Them vampire bats want to shrivel it up like a raisin!"

Fluttershy put her hoof over her mouth, "Oh, I'm sure if we just let them know how special that particular apple is to you, I'm sure they'll leave it alone."

Applejack raised an eyebrow at Fluttershy's suggestion, pointing at the trees, "Yeah, right. Be my guest."

Fluttershy smiled before flying over to the tree with one of the bats, "Um...excuse me, Mr. Vampire Bat?" She then backpedaled as an incoming apple carcass hit the ground in front of her. "Uh...we were just wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind leaving that really big apple alone?" She looked up at the tree expectedly, only for a barrage of appleseeds to start hitting her.

She gasped before shielding her face with her wings, floating back to Applejcak at the same time. "Well? What'd he say?"

Fluttershy brushed the seeds out of her mane, humming, "Yes."

"Huh?!" Was all the earth pony could say, surprised that they had actually agreed.

"But...it could've also been a no."

"Oh..." Applejack happy face faltered.

"This is the first vampire fruit bat I've ever met, and...well...it might take some time for me to really understand their language."

Applejack raised a single eyebrow at this, "Uh-huh. And in the meantime, this pest and his vermin friends are gonna go after my prized apple, and while they're at it, every other apple in the orchard!" She glared up at the tree with a look they had only ever seen her give to villains...and maybe the Flim Flam Brothers. "These vampire bats are nothin' but a bunch of monsters!"

"MONSTERS?!" Fluttershy gasped. "Oh, that's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"No, I don't."

Flash then leaned over to Twilight, "I'm sensing a song coming on."

"Same here," Twilight replied as the inbuilt musical sense all Equestrians had kicked in as they watched Applejack and Fluttershy turn to the trees.


(Applejack)
Those vampire bats will give you a fright.
Eating apples both day and night.
They rest for a minute, maybe three.
Then they're eating every apple in your apple tree.
They don't care about nada, not zilch, no, nothing.
Except bringing about an orchard's destruction.


Everypony nodded in agreement, starting to get behind Applejack in this argument. However, Fluttershy wasn't about to let the bats to be subjugated without first speaking her peace.


(Fluttershy)
Now wait just a minute, there's another side to this.
And if I did not defend them, then I would be remiss.
These bats are mamas and papas too.
They care for their young just like we ponies do.


As Fluttershy sung, the others slowly started seeing it from the bats point of view. They needed food, and that's what the orchid was full of. It wasn't there fault what they needed to do caused the problem.


(Applejack)
Oh, give me a break, you're being too kind.
These creatures have a one-track mind.
The orchard is not their restaurant.
But do they ever think what others may want?.
No! They don't!
And that is just a fact.
These bats, they simply don't know how to act.

(Fluttershy)
That's where I have to disagree.
They're loyal to their family.
Spreading seeds both far and wide-

(Applejack)
You see one coming, you'd better run and hide!


The farm pony turned to the others, now wearing a cape that made her shadow look like a bat. Doing so, she started skulking towards the others.


(Applejack)
They're big and ugly and mean as sin.
Will you look at the state my trees are in?

(Fluttershy)
They'll help your trees, they'll grow stronger, faster.

(Applejack)
They've turned my life to a total disaster!


The group all looked around the orchid, seeing what the bats had done to the trees. As much as they wanted to agree with Fluttershy, they couldn't risk Sweet Apple Acres losing business. The farm was one of their towns economical corner stones and if it fell on hard times, so would the rest of Ponyville. Turning to Fluttershy, they began to tell her their choice.


(Rarity)
Well, I for one don't have a doubt.
These vermin must be stamped right out.

(Rainbow)
I second that, they've got to go.
These bats, they've got to hit the road.

(Applejack)
It comes down to just one simple fact.
They've crossed the line, it's time to fight them back!


Six of the Mane Seven began to circle their remaining teammate, singing to her with a serious look on each of their faces...except maybe Pinkie, who just liked singing.


(Everypony except Fluttershy)
Stop the bats! Stop the bats!
Make them go and not come back!
Stop the bats!
Stop the bats!
Make them go and not come back!
Stop the bats!
Stop the bats!
Make them go and not come back!


Applejack turned to Fluttershy and stared her down, making the mare slowly shrink into the ground.


(Applejack)
Yes, it comes down to just one simple fact.
They've crossed the line, it's time that we attack!


On the final beat of the song, the others all nodded their heads to signal that they now sided with Applejack. Fluttershy frowned as she stared holes into the dirt, making the others realize that maybe they'd gone a bit too far. Rarity then helped her up. "I'm sorry Fluttershy, but I believe Applejack has made the better argument. These vampire fruit bats sound downright dreadful."

"What sounds dreadful?" They all turned to see Iron, Lightning and Springer trotting into the orchid.

Flash grinned at the sight, "Hey guys, Speed Stingers gone?"

Springer smirked with a thumbs up. "You know it. Not a single Stinger around for a hundred miles."

"Than ya'll can help us deal with another group of pests," Applejack remarked as she gestured them to follow. "Let's get to roundin' these things up so they don't destroy the rest of mah orchard."

Pinkie giggled as she started bouncing along the ground, singing to a tune the town had once sung during the end of last winter. "Fruit bat round-up, fruit bat round-up!"

However, the one pony who was against the idea piped up at this. "Um...excuse me? What if instead of rounding them up, we...uh....we let them have part of the orchard?"

Hearing this made Applejack come to a complete stop, letting out a whinny noise before spinning around to glare at her friend. "Have you lost yer pest-lovin' mind?!"

"They're only here because they're hungry!" Fluttershy barked back. "If we build a sanctuary for them, they could have their own apples to enjoy!" She stepped past Applejack as she continued, "After a while, they could even help the rest of your orchard! The vampire bats don't eat the seeds of the apples, and when they spit them out, they grow into even more productive apple trees!" She pointed to one of the remaining apple trees, "See?"

The others all gave each other glum frowns as Applejack growled back, "Listen Fluttershy, that sounds real nice 'n' all, but every second we spend buildin' this so-called 'sanctuary' is a second they'll spend destroyin' mah orchards!" She turned to everypony else. "You don't know what it was like the last time there was an infestation, but Granny Smith has told me enough stories about it that just the thought of it gives me nightmares! Granny says we lost a huge section of orchard that year, and it was so bad that they had to ration out apples all winter!"

Hearing this caused a wave of fear, Rainbow then gulping as she asked, "What about the cider?! There was still cider, right?!"

"Not...a...drop!"

Rainbow's eyes went wide in horror, "No cider?! NO CIDER?!" She flew above them, now fuelling her authoritative persona. "We need to round up these monsters, and we need to do it now!"

Applejack nodded in agreement. "If Granny Smith wasn't with Apple Bloom an' Big Mac checkin' out our produce competition in Appleloosa, she'd be here tellin' us to do just that!"

Flash turned to Twilight, "What do you think? I'm not one for making animals go hungry, but I'm also not a big fan of making ponies go hungry."

Twilight had been weighing the pros and cons of her two friends arguments, only to shake her head as she looked at Fluttershy, "I'm sorry Fluttershy, but I think Applejack is right." Fluttershy frowned at hearing this, "I just wish there was another way we could convince them to not eat them in the first place." Hearing herself say that, Twilight's brain clicked as a grin shined on her face. "Wait....maybe there is."

Flash facehoofed at this. "Oh geez. That's your, 'I'm gonna fix it with magic', face, isn't it? We're so doomed."

Springer blinked at this, "What's wrong with that?"

Flash dodged a wing-smack from Twilight as he replied, "When has magic ever fixed a problem we've had?!"

Pinkie, being Pinkie, used her mane to count. "Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra..."

Flash shook his head. "Those were last resort kind of situations. May I remind you of the parasprites, Smartypants, Mirror Pool and time travel incidents?! Magic didn't exactly help in those."

Springer nodded at that, "You got a point there."

Twilight, who had only been half listening, waved their comments away. "Don't worry, that won't happen this time."

Flash frowned, Twilight's over dependency on magic to solve problems making him visibly twitch. "Fine, but don't come crying to us when this comes back to bite us in the flank." Twilight's reply was a roll of the eyes before she teleported them to the library. When they appeared, the first thing they heard was the sound of somepony eating something crunchy. They turned to see Scootaloo with a bowl of cereal and an open Daring Do book. The filly looked up, only to gulp as she now saw Twilight glaring at her.

"What have I told you?" Twilight growled as she glared at the young pegasus.

Scootaloo chuckled as she swallowed her breakfast whole, "To not eat in the library."

"Exactly. Here, I'll take you to the dining room." Twilight's horn lit up and teleported the filly and her cereal out of the room. Once she was gone, Twilight began pulling several books off the shelf, scanning them over before coming to a stop. "Hmmm...so, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that I found a spell that can get the vampire fruit bats to stop wanting to suck the juice from the apples."

"Okay...." Flash interjected, "So what's the bad news?"

Twilight turned to Fluttershy, gulping at the mare, "The bad news is that in order for the spell to work, I need the bats' full and complete attention."

Fluttershy gasped, realizing what Twilight was thinking. "Oh no."

"Fluttershy, I need you to do your Stare on the bats."

Both Flash and Springer shuddered, memories of that event coursing through their brains. "Oh gosh..." they heard Fluttershy say. "I don't know."

"What's the problem?" Rainbow asked as she landed in front of her, "You've used the Stare plenty of times before!"

"Yes," Fluttershy nodded before looking away, "But its not something I take lightly. I've made a vow not to use it except in dire circumstances."

Applejack just hissed at this, "This circumstance is plenty dire to me Fluttershy!"

"Me too!" Rainbow fell to her knees as she literally started crying. "Think of the cider! Won't somepony please think of the cider?!"

"Drama queen..." Iron mumbled as he went up to Applejack and tapped her chest. "Look, Fluttershy doesn't wanna do it, so you can't make her."

Fluttershy smiled at Iron before turning to the others. "I'm sorry. I just don't like the idea of taking away the thing that really makes the vampire fruit bats, vampire fruit bats! It just feels wrong!"

"She's got a point," Springer added as he scratched his head. "Now that I think about it, isn't this like what happened with Discord? He forced you guys into being something you're not, so wouldn't doing this make you no better than him?"

"This is totally different," Twilight countered as she glared at the jakhowl. "Discord did it to cause chaos, disharmony, and trouble. We're doing it to help everypony."

"Except the fruit bats," Lightning replied as he crossed his hooves. "What the heck are they gonna eat if you take away their desire for apples? Won't they just move on to some other pony's fruit farm and cause them problems?"

"Then they can decide how to deal with 'em," Applejack hissed as she pointed to herself, "At least mah apples will be safe."

"So you'd let some other ponies suffer?" Iron asked with a raised eyebrow. "Kinda mean, isn't it?"

Applejack growled again, shaking her head. "Ah'm sorry, but I gotta put my family's well-being first." She turned to Fluttershy, glaring at the pegasi, "So you gotta put your love of these little vandals aside and help."

Fluttershy let out a whimper, backpedaling at her angry friend. Iron then walked up to her, comfort in his tone, "Fluttershy, you don't have to do this."

"Stay out of this Iron Core," Applejack interjected as she tapped the defender's side. "Let the girl make her own decision."

Iron turned to glare at the mare, but before he could say anything, Fluttershy spoke up. "Alright...I'll do it."

"Good choice Fluttershy," Rarity told her. "I knew you wouldn't side with those icky bats!"

"They're not icky!"

Having not heard her, Rainbow flew around the library with a huge grin. "Yes! First round of cider's on me!"

"Hold it right there!" Applejack called out, "We've gotta round up those beasts with wings first. Time's a-wastin'!"

"Then let's get to work."





Once Twilight had teleported them back to the farm, everypony split up and started gathering the bats. Applejack strapped a bunch of apples to Pinkie's head and had her bouncing around to attract the bats while Rarity had donned a hazmat suit, now trying to capture them in a net. Rainbow took the more direct approach, simply snatching the creatures out of the trees.

Flash and Springer were flying overhead, the jakhowl scanning the place to see if they had missed any. As they did this, Flash managed to get a proper look at the bats. While they didn't appear to be the blood sucking monsters Fluttershy sang them to be, Flash would hardly consider them cute. They were either grey or dark blue in color, with messy smelly hair and ugly looking fanged faces.

The two watched as the others managed to herd the bats towards a single tree that was filled with buckets of apples. The beasts quickly began to feast on them, Springer landing with Flash to tell them they had got them all.

"Good work everypony," Applejack glanced over at Fluttershy. "Now all we need is for you to do is your Stare."

The anxious pegasus began to mumble as she looked between the bats and her friends. "Are you sure I really need to?" she stopped when she saw the others happily nodding. "Okay..."

As she began to make her way to the tree, Iron continued to grumble at the peer pressuring group. "When this is over, don't think I won't be telling Princess Celestia about this."

Twilight rolled her eyes at the earth pony. "I'm sure she'll agree that this is for the best."

Fluttershy reached the tree and watched the bats enjoy the fruit, "I really, really, really hate to do this to you," she told them as she fought back tears. "I just hope you can forgive me." With that, she shut her eyes, a long deep breath following. Seconds later, she opened them and unleashed the almost hypnotic gaze that was usually her last resort. The stare's power instantly hit the bats, all of them hissing at the mare before they froze with wide eyes.

Applejack grinned at the sight. "Yes! Good job Fluttershy! Now, your turn Twilight!"

"Alright..." Twilight trotted up to the tree and sparked her horn. The light of her magic increased as the aura engulfed the bats, slowly rewriting their natural desire to eat apples. It wasn't long till her spell stopped, a big smile gracing her face as she turned to Fluttershy, "You can stop staring Fluttershy. I'm done."

Fluttershy, who had been staring with all her focus, broke out of her trance and shook her head before frowning.

"Did it work?" Spike asked next.

"Only one way to find out for sure," Applejack nodded up at Rainbow.

The pegasus nodded back before offering one of the few remaining apples to the bat. The bat took a close sniff, only for its face to cringe in disgust before flying away. Seeing this, Rainbow cheered, "Ye-he-yeah, whoo!"

"My crop is saved! Yee-haw!"

"We'll be drinking cider all winter long!"

Applejack turned to the others, showing the first smile they had seen her wear all day. "I wanna thank you all for your help. I couldn't have done it without you."

"Aw, don't mention it Applejack," Spike said while puffing his chest up. "It was my pleasure! Really!"

Flash shot him a glare, a raised eyebrow following, "What exactly did you do that was your pleasure?" This was met by Spike twiddling his claws, whistling as he tried to think of a reply.

Applejack laughed as she patted the ground. "Now all we gotta do is sweep up these apple cores so I can start buckin' fresh tomorrow mornin'!"

The others all nodded before heading off to get some brooms, Iron then noticing Fluttershy not going for one of the brooms. She was just staring at the dirt, a slight sigh following. "Hey shrimp, you okay?"

Fluttershy quickly turned to Iron, surprise on her face, "What?"

Iron raised an eyebrow as he almost tilted his head. "You alright?"

Fluttershy nodded. "I'm fine, just a little...hungry."

"I'm guessing this little emergency made you miss breakfast?"

"Maybe..."

Before they could say anything else, Applejack's voice entered the air again, "You two coming or not?" Not wanting to have to listen to the mare complain, the two followed after the others and their earlier conversation was left forgotten...for now.





Sunset had been an hour ago and now Iron was walking home after his evening patrol. He was still a little annoyed at the others for reassuring Fluttershy into doing what she did, but he was more annoyed at himself for not trying to talk her out of it. His memory flashed back to when Discord had been around, and how he'd gone over the line trying to keep Fluttershy safe from him. He knew he shouldn't wrap the mare in bubble now, but he still wished he had done that today.

It was here that a rustle of a nearby bush caught his attention, making him take a defensive stance. That is, till a certain figure hopped out of the leaves, revealing one Angel Bunny. He had a worried look on his face, one that the earth pony hadn't ever seen on him before.

"Hey fuzzball, what's up?" Angel frantically hopped over to Iron and tried to push him, making the apprentice knight raise an eyebrow. Iron then looked up and saw where Angel was pushing him to. "Wait...is there something wrong with Fluttershy? That's what you're saying, right fuzzball?"

Angel gave him a quick nod, causing him to lower his hoof, "Hop on." Angel took it and got on his back, the two making their way to the cottage. There, they got the house's door, knocking it as he Iron called out, "Hey squirt! You in there?!"

There was no answer, prompting Iron to open the door and look inside. The place was deserted, not even an animal inside. Not only that, the inside was a mess, complete with a table knocked over, a sofa flipped upside down, and one of the back windows flung open. And as he blinked at this, he said, "Fluttershy? You in here?"

Angel hopped off his back as Iron got no response. He let out a little whine as he saw his owner was missing, making Iron turn to him. "Hey, Fluttershy was here when you left, right?" Angel nodded, "And...was anything wrong with her?" Another nod, "Did see appear to be in pain?" That third and final nod was all he needed before bolting outside, looking to the ground to search for tracks. However, Iron couldn't find a single one. He knew this was bad, as Fluttershy didn't usually fly unless absolutely necessary. "I might need some help."





Flash yawned as he rubbed his eye with his wing, the defender now following Iron with Twilight, Spike and Springer. The earth pony had come knocking before they were about to go to bed, telling them that Fluttershy was missing. He then asked Springer to track her aura, only to for the jakhowl to tell him that he couldn't find her through a regular scan.

Thanks to this, they made their way to Fluttershy's cottage. And as the building came into view, Iron turned back to them. "Anything?" He asked the jakhowl, only to get a shake of the head as a response.

"Sorry Iron. I can't seem to pick up her aura anywhere."

Iron let out a long groan, rubbing his face as Twilight started to pace at this. "Oh no. Its not like Fluttershy to just disappear like this! I know she was upset about using her stare on the bats, but I didn't think she'd run off like this."

"I don't think that's it," Iron replied as he told them about what Angel had said, making them grimace. "See? I'm guessing this isn't going to go well."

"Agreed. I'm gonna go get the others." Twilight's horn flashed as she disappeared, Flash and the others blinking at the sight.

"Okay...now what?" Flash asked as he rubbed his eyes again. "We gonna split up and look for her?"

"Looks like that's our only op-" Iron stopped when he saw Springer's ears flare up, making him almost smile, "You got her?"

"I think so," Springer replied as he rubbed his chin. "I got a trace of...something. I don't know what it is, but its similar to Fluttershy's aura. Though...it feels kinda weird."

"Weird how?" Flash asked next.

"Its a lot more...feral. Almost like the kind I'd sense from an animal."

"Well, it is Fluttershy's aura," Flash shrugged. "There's the animals she looks after, which Iron said wasn't at her cottage, so you're probably just sensing them being with her."

Springer shook his head. "I don't think so. Whatever it is...its heading to Sweet Apple Acres."

That was all Iron needed, the defender turning to the path that would take him to the farm. "You two stay here and tell the others when they get here." Flash and Springer nodded as they watched Iron leave.





As the earth pony got closer to the farm, his path was blocked by another earth pony. It was Applejack, tilting her head at the defenders's appearance as she asked, "Wotcha doin here? Shouldn't yah be lookin for Fluttershy?"

"I am. The jakhowl sensed her here." Applejack blinked at this, only to nod and gesture to the orchid.

"Then let's get goin," the two ran into the farm, both calling out, "Fluttershy! You here?"

"Hey, Shrimp...you out here? You alright?"

But there was no reply.

It was here that it started getting darker, making Applejack to take a quick detour into her house and return with a pair of flashlights. "Here, these should help."

"Thanks," Iron switched it on and took it into his mouth. "Let's split up. That should speed this search up." Applejack nodded before the two headed down different routes. Iron followed the light of his torch as he moved between the apple trees, his eyes constantly scanning the trees. He searched for half an hour before suddenly coming to a stop. A squishing sound below his hooves made him stare down to see he had stepped on an apple...one which had been sucked dry like the bats had done earlier.

"What the heck?" He picked the fruit up, looking it over, "Hmm...this thing is still fresh. If that's the case..." His torch's light then fell on something a few feet away, making him see another drained apple. He waved the light around the area, seeing even more absorbed apples. "That's not good. This is definitely not just one bat."

It was in that moment that he sensed another presence, making him pull out his Celestic Gear. A low breath exhaled out of his mouth as he pointed the spear around, his eyes and flashlight trying to find anything. "Who's there!?" Iron yelled as he backpedaled slightly. The defender then directed the light around, his ears now hearing a hissing sound, "Hey! Where are you?!"

It was here a shadow flew over him, making him flinch back. "Whoa!" Iron yelped a he fell onto his flank, only to spin around and swing his weapon at the shadow. "Iron Lance Fury!" The projectiles shot out at the figure, barely missing it as they embedded themselves into the trunks of trees. It was here that the shadow hopped back into the trees, shrouding itself into the night again. "Dang it...it got away." he groaned as he picked himself up. He then shined the light at the trees he had hit, illuminating the shards as he saw the pieces had struck something. A pink tail hair.

"Iron? You okay?" yelled a voice, making the earth pony turn to see Flash and the others.

"What the...what are you guys doing here?"

"We were following that weird aura," Springer told him as he hopped off Flash's back. "It led us here."

Rainbow landed in front of him, "Did you find her?"

Iron blinked at her, then looked back at the hair he had found. His heart started beating faster as he started putting the pieces together. "Oh no..."

"What is it?" Rarity asked next.

"Yeah," Lightning added, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Before Iron could say anything, a section of the orchid illuminated as a loud cry filled the air. "AAAHHHH!!"

"That's Applejack!" Twilight gasped.

"Come on!" Flash pointed at the light, the group soon running to the orchid. There, they spotted Applejack staring up at a tree. "Applejack, what is it?" Applejack didn't reply, instead dropping both her jaw and her torch.

"Hello? You okay?" Lightning asked as he waved his hoof in front of her.

"Look!" Springer pointed at the tree and the others followed, seeing something hanging from one of the branches. "What is that thing?"

Iron did a large gulp, "I think I know." With that, he raised his torch and illuminated the tree. What was revealed was a dark yellow thestral with pink hair, its wings wrapped around its upper head. As soon as the light shined on it, the thestral unfurled its wings, a loud hiss following. It was Fluttershy, her eyes now blood red as she glared at the group.

It was here that Pinkie jumped up and grabbed the branch Fluttershy was on with her tail. "Fluttershy...woohoo! Is that you?" The bat pony hissed once again, causing Pinkie to let go in fright.

Rarity put her hooves over her mouth, "That's not Fluttershy, that's Flutterbat!"

"We've gotta get her down from there!" Twilight added.

"I don't know," Flash said as he put his wing in front of Twilight. "The last time I face off against a thestral, it wasn't exactly painless."

The others shivered at this as Rarity spoke up. "Fluttershy, sweetness, please come down, and...do stop being a vampire bat." In reply, Flutterbat hissed before using her newly extended tongue to grab an apple and drain it with her new fangs.

And as Flutterbat spat the drained fruit away, Rainbow flew up to her. "Fluttershy! It's me, Rainbow Dash! Why don't you cut the bat act and come on down?!" In response, Flutterbat spread her wings and flapped them with such a force that it sent Rainbow flying back.

Flash flew up and caught her, "You alright?"

Rainbow nodded as they floated back to the ground, "Maybe we should just let her come down when she's ready." But as she said this, Flutterbat flew over them, forcing them to duck down. Once she passed by, Lightning and Springer stood up before reading a dagger and Bone Breaker.

"Hold it you two! We can't hurt her!" Iron ordered as he pointed his gear at them. "Even if she is a...bat pony now, she's still Fluttershy."

Twilight nodded in agreement, "He's right. She's our friend, so don't hurt her, and I'm sure she won't hurt us." She looked back at the tree and saw Flutterbat hang herself upside down again. "See? She's back on her...branch."

Pinkie chose this moment to throw one of her wild theories into the mix. "Maybe she's just biding her time! Waiting for the right moment to pounce and gobble us up!"

"Pinkie Pie..." Applejack moaned as she resisted a facehoof. "Bats don't eat ponies, not even vampire bats."

Pinkie, still looking terrified, continued adding to her wild theory. "But maybe vampire ponies eat other ponies! I'm not taking any chances!" With that, she started drilling into the ground with her mane.

The sight made Lightning blink as he mumbled, "Yeah...she's perfect for Wild."

As he continued to watch this, Rarity asked a more important question. "What I would like to know is how did this happen? That's what I don't understand."

Twilight looked down, a look of shame appearing on her face. "I think this was actually our fault."

Rainbow turned to her, "our fault?"

"And how'd yah figure that?"

Twilight's horn glowed before a magical screen appeared near them, the board soon showing a grid pattern. On that screen appeared an image of a purple alicorn, black bat and yellow pegasus. "Okay, so this is me, these are the bats, and this is Fluttershy doing her Stare." Screen Twilight then fired a red line at the bat. "The spell was supposed to go right onto the bats like this...." Screen bat glowed purple, but then the red waves flew out and hit the Fluttershy symbol. "But somehow the spell must have backfired," the bat symbol was then absorbed into Fluttershy, replacing her with Flutterbat. "It took the vampire fruit bats' desire to be vampire fruit bats and transferred that desire into Fluttershy."

Flash took this moment to interject. "So what you're saying is, this whole thing came back to bite you on the flank." He rubbed his chin and hummed, "That sounds awfully familiar."

Twilight sighed at this, "Fine...you were right."

"I'll save the victory dance for later," Flash commented as he turned back to Flutterbat, "We need to find a way to turn Fluttershy back to normal first."

"Agreed. I suspect that all we'll need to do is reverse the spell."

"Meaning we gotta catch her," Springer guessed before the ground beside him opened up, Pinkie's head popping out.

"Then what are we waiting for?" She pointed at Flutterbat, "let's save Fluttershy, BEFORE THAT THING EATS US ALL!"

It was in that moment that Flutterbat dive bombed them, Rainbow yelling, "Hit the deck!" Everypony yelped as they threw themselves to the ground, Flutterbat flying over head before disappearing into the night.

"Follow that bat!" Pinkie roared as she ran into the trees, the other following. But as they tried to follow, ten minutes passed until they all came to a stop, frowns all around.

"I can't believe we lost her," Rarity commented. "Its too dark, even with our flashlights."

"You feel her Springer?" Flash asked as he turned to the jakhowl.

"No...I'm trying, but her aura keeps changing."

"It must be the bat personality taking over. Her aura is probably fluctuating due to it." Twilight let out a long sigh. "Oh Fluttershy, where are you?" She soon got her answer when the sound of beating wings filled the air, making them spin around to see the thestral hissing above them.

Flash was the first to respond, jumping in front of Twilight and raising his Celestic Gear to unleash a burst of light. As he expected, Flutterbat recoiled from the light, making her float back. She then swooped down, grabbing an apple off the ground before sucking it dry as she flew fight in front of the moon.

She then dive bombed again, this time unleashing a barrage of apple seeds. "Look out!" Applejack warned them as they shielded themselves, the apple carcass landing in front of her.

When they opened their eyes, Rainbow Dash spotted the apple before turning to Applejack. "If she keeps this up, your whole crop will be gone in no time!"

"That's the least of mah worries," Applejack looked up at the sky in time to spot Flutterbat flying over them again. "Ah just want my friend back."

"Oh really? Now ya care about her?!" Iron growled, making Applejack glare at him.

"Hey! Ah do care mah friend!"

"Obviously you don't!" Iron barked back. "This never would have happened if you hadn't forced Fluttershy into doing her stare, something you knew she didn't want to do!"

Applejack was going to yell, only to sigh, "Ah...ah know."

"You don't know," Iron almost yelled, his hoof now hitting the dirt, making the ground shake. "How can you even call her your friend if you're willing to force her to do something she didn't want to do! She never would've tried to make you do something against your nature!"

"Ah know, but-"

"You don't! You-"

"That's enough!" Twilight commanded as she got between the two. "Yes, we were wrong. But dwelling on that now isn't gonna fix anything. If we don't work together, then we'll never be able to catch her so I can reverse the spell!"

Iron growled at this, only to sigh. "Alright...fine."

"Let's get our friend back." Applejack added, tapping Iron's side. "Come on."

Twilight nodded at this, gesturing them to follow. There, they started trotting through the orchid in search of any sign of Flutterbat. After twenty minutes of this, they eventually spotted a curled up shadow a ways off. Twilight whispered at the sight, "There she is!" They stepped to one more pace, only for Flutterbat to flare her wings, flying off again a second later. "There she goes!"

"This is gonna take forever," Flash added before turning to Twilight. "I don't suppose there's a chance she'd turn back to normal on her own, then we could reverse the spell on her."

"Maybe...but she might also change permanently. Then it'll be...well, it'll be too late."

"So what do we do?" Springer asked next. "We've obviously can't catch her, she's to unpredictable."

It was here that a click went off in Iron's head. "Maybe not. She's acting like a vampire bat, so we just need to do what we did to catch the other vampire bats."

Twilight quickly caught on. "You're right! We need to lure her in with some kind of bait."

Everypony all smiled at this, that is till Applejack spoke up, "But even if we can lure her to us, how're we gonna get her to stay still long enough for you to do yah to do that reverse spell?"

"Yeah...that's not gonna work." Pinkie moaned, "If only we had Fluttershy to do her stare on the Flutterbat."

It was then that Twilight gasped, an idea popping into her head. "That's it!"

Flash grinned at this, "Ah...there's your 'I've got a solution' face. About time. What's the plan Twi?" Twilight quickly explained her idea, others all nodding before breaking up to get what they needed. One hour later, the group were walking through orchid whilst Twilight magically carried something covered by a tarp.

"Okay, let's get our friend back." Rainbow and Flash removed the tarp, revealing Applejack's prize winning apple. "Action stations!" The others headed out as Applejack and Iron stood by the apple.

As Iron readied his Celestic Gear, Rainbow spoke up. "So much for having the winning apple in the Appleloosa State Fair, huh?"

Iron rolled his eyes at this, Piecemaker now about to cut the fruit, only for Applejack to say, "Wait. Hold on Iron."

"What?!" He asked a little too harshly, turning and glaring at the farmer.

Applejack held out her hoof, "Let me do it. Please." She saw Iron's glare and sighed, pulling her hat down over her eyes. "You were right. I was putting mah own needs over that of mah friends, not even thinking about how it would effect her, and then this is what happened." She pushed her hat back up, showing a fiery determination now within her eyes. "Please, let me put this right."

She and Iron had a small staring contest, Iron growling at her words. Despite this, Iron nodded before handing his Celestic Gear over. "Alright."

Applejack smiled as she took the weapon, "Thanks partner." With that, she dug the spearhead into the apple, making a small slice. The apple juices immediately began to pour out, unleashing an aroma that would attract any apple loving creature with a good nose. Rainbow and Flash started flapping their wings, sending the smell off in a hope of catching Flutterbat's attention. The unnatural thestral hissed as it flew to the source of the smell, the giant apple quickly coming into view.

"She's coming," Rainbow whispered to the earth ponies.

"Remember, you need to wait until the very last minute."

Iron and Applejack both nodded as they watched Flutterbat approach. She got closer and closer, only for Iron to yell, "Now!" He and Applejack then bucked the apple away, seconds before she could get her fangs on it.

Kicking it away revealed Spike and Springer, the two holding up a mirror that reflected Flutterbat's image. Doing so made her gasp, the bat pony soon floating backwards. She then turned, only to run right into Pinkie as she held a mirror as well. Moving away again, it saw Rarity and Lightning, the two holding up mirrors that now trapped her in a circle of stares. Unable to escape, Flutterbat found herself being mesmerised by her own ability, freezing up as hovered in place.

Seeing her target incapacitated, Twilight sparked her horn before unleashing a purple light. The aura wrapped up Flutterbat in a cocoon. Everypony watched as the spell was undone and after a full minute, the cocoon exploding into bat shaped lights that flew away.

Flutterbat was gone, replaced with her true form. Fluttershy floated to the ground and collapsed, everypony watching her with baited breath. Eventually, she opened her eyes. "Oh....where am I?"

Everypony cheered as they crowded around her, Applejack pulled her into a hug, "Thank goodness ya'll are okay!"

Iron nodded in agreement, "Don't ever scare us like that again."

Fluttershy blinked at the hug, her head tilting as she asked, "But...what happened to me?"

Before the more logical members of the group could say anything, Pinkie hopped in front of the pegasi and exclaimed, "You turned into a vampire pony!"

Fluttershy gasped at this, "I tried to eat ponies?!"

"Of course not!" Pinkie rolled her eyes.

Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief, "So, I wasn't a vampire?

"Yes."

"Yes I was, or yes I wasn't?

"Yes you were!"

"But I didn't try and eat ponies?"

"Yes!"

"I did?!"

"No!"

Fluttershy scratched her head at this, "I'm confused."

"Me too," Rarity added as she giggled, "And I was there!"

"That doesn't matter right now," Applejack stepped in front of Fluttershy. "Listen Fluttershy, ah...ah'm sorry. It was wrong of me ta pressure yah into doing something yah didn't wanna do. If I hadn't, then none of this would have happened." She stared at the ground, trying to hold back her tears. "Can yah ever forgive me?"

Fluttershy just blinked at this, her confusion still on her face. Despite this, she threw her hooves around the earth pony, "Of course Applejack. I could never stay angry at my friends. Besides, I shouldn't have been so easily persuaded into doing it."

Everypony smiled as they watched the two make up before Flash turned to Twilight, "So...since you've undone the spell on Fluttershy, what'll happen to the bats?"

Twilight sighed at this. "They'll go back to being the apple loving creatures they were always meant to be."

"So we're right back to where we started with the bat problem?"

"Pretty much."

"If that's the case, what do we do now?" Lightning asked next.

Applejack was the one to give the answer. "Simple. We do what we should have done in the first place."





Several days later...

Once all the details had been thought out, our heroes finally managed to finish the new Vampire Fruit Bat sanctuary. Fluttershy had gotten the hang of their language, the kind pony now able to explain to the bats that they were being given a part of the orchid to do with as they liked. Everypony watched as the bats flew into their new permanent home, Applejack placing a sign in front of the fence surrounding it. Once that was done, the farm pony turned to her friends "Fluttershy, ah'm real sorry ah didn't take yer suggestion in the first place."

Seeing her friend about to go all depressed again, Fluttershy lifted her head up and smiled. "And don't forget, now you'll get seeds that will grow into even bigger and better apple trees."

Rainbow Dash took this moment to get between the two, putting a hoof around their necks. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Yup! More cider too!"

"Yea-he-yeah, WHOO!" Everypony laughed as they watched her do a midair dance, happy that this little episode was finally coming to a close. There was just one thing left to do.





Later that day at Fluttershy's cottage...

Spike was laying on the floor, the friendship diary open as he wrote in it. "Okay, got the part about the spell, Fluttershy turning into a bat, building a sanctuary..."

Applejack crouched down next to him. "Be sure to put in there that I came to see that my short-term solution was a little short-sighted."

Fluttershy then crouched down on the other side of him. "And that you shouldn't let anypony pressure you into doing something that you don't think is right." She saw Applejack blush as the two stood back up. "Sometimes you have to tell even your closest friends 'no'."

"Well said," Flash added as his stomach grumbled. "Though, being around all these apples and not eating any sure can build up an appetite."

"Ah got just the thing," Applejack pulled out an apple and held it in front of Fluttershy. "How about we celebrate our stronger than ever friendship with a nice, ripe, juicy apple?" They watched as Fluttershy stared at the apple, her tongue about to flap out of her mouth.

But as everypony stared at the sight, Pinkie suddenly jumped between the two, "Stand back!" She spoke in a strange fake accent before she grabbed the apple, a pair of fangs appearing out of her mouth. "I vant to suck its juuuice!" She took a bite out of the apple, only for her fangs to come out and show they were fakes. She looked up at the others and gave a sheepish grin, all soon laughing at her antics. Yes, this would certainly be an event many of them would remember. Even if none of them noticed the oddly sharp fang Fluttershy was still sporting in her mouth.
> Jakhowl-Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We open today's story in the canyon area just outside of Ponyville, where a trio of stallions were pulling a wagon while making their way through the rocks. The wagon puller, an earth pony, showed a glum frown. "I don't like the looks of this place. Those rocks up there look like they might fall any minute."

"Oh, grow a pair," another earth pony added. "You looking nervous ain't gonna help us stay undetected."

The final pony, a unicorn, nodded in agreement. "Just act natural until we get through the next town. As long as we're cool, we'll be fine." They continued on for a few more minutes, only for the sound of new hoofsteps to catch their attention. There, they saw three ponies and a certain jakhowl walking up to them.

"Hey there," Flash greeted as he waved his hoof, "Can I ask what the three of you are doing headed for Ponyville?"

"Who's asking?" The unicorn asked back.

Iron replied with, "the town's Defenders of the Peace."

Springer jumped up onto a rock next to them and crouched down. "I sensed you all coming a mile away. I also sense fear and nervousness, so you obviously have something to hide." The trio had different reactions. The unicorn glared at jakhowl, the second earth pony gave a glance of confusion at the sight of the speaking animal, and the wagon pony just looked terrified.

"We've got nothing to hide," the unicorn firmly stated as Springer scanned the stallion's aura, seeing it grow a touch darker.

"That's a lie," he jumped down with crossed paws. "But if you really don't have anything to hide, you won't mind if we check your wagon." He sensed a hint of fear at this statement, making him jump into the back of the vehicle. There, he saw a bunch of boxes, his nose picking up an odd smell. "This place could do with some washing out," he commented as he opened up a random crate. There, he found a bunch of tape recorders. "Huh. What're these?"

"See?! There's nothing in there!" the unicorn barked as his horn started to glow, picking up Springer in his magic aura and pulling him out of the wagon. "Now please, let us go about our business."

Springer raised an eyebrow at this, then pointed at the tape recorders. "Wait, just let me take a closer look at that." But as he said this, the unicorn just threw the jakhowl back, making him land on the dirt with a thud. "Ow!"

"I said, let us go about our business!"

"Hey! Now hold on there." Flash interjected as he helped Springer up. "There's no need for-Springer? What are you doing?"

The defender slightly hopped in place as Springer took his battle form. "Don't worry Flash, I got this," Springer made an Aura Blast in his paw, only for the unicorn to flare his horn. Before anyone could say anything, the unicorn fired a magical blast, causing Springer to yell, "Aura Blast!"

SHING!

Both attacks hit, the laser deflecting up as it hit the sphere. As it did this, the magic beam flew up into the rock face above them, exploding as a barrage of rocks started to tumble down the cliff.

"Everypony move!" Flash yelled as they began to run away from the collapsing canyon wall.

Springer soon followed, only to yelp as he felt his foot trip on a rock. "Ow!" he cried as his face kissed dirt. Feeling this, he tried to get back up, turning to see a pile of rocks ready to squash him. "Whoa!"

THOOM!

A cloud of dust picked up as the rocks finished their marathon, Flash quickly flapping his wings to blow the dust away. And as the rocky fog settled, Flash's eyes went wide in shock as he saw a pile of rocks now bury his partner. "Springer!" he screamed as he started digging, Iron following suit as his Celestic Gear transformed into a pickaxe.

Lightning was about to join them, but his ears caught a certain voice say, "Quick! Let's get out of here!" he turned to see the trio running away, making him growl. One spark from his horn later, three lightning bolts struck them in the back, knocking them all out.

Flash and Iron continued digging, panic setting in about Springer's fate. And as they got to the final layer of the rocks, their heads leaned back in surprise as a blue light shot out of the rocks. "What the?" Iron asked as they stepped back, the rocks surrounding the light falling away to reveal a strange blue glowing bubble. Inside the bubble was Springer, who slowly opened his eyes.

"Whoa...that was weird," he commented as the bubble disappeared, making him plop down on the ground. "Huh. How did I?" He looked at his paws, only to close his eyes and concentrate. A second later, the bubble reappeared, making the jakhowl smile with glee. "Awesome! I got a new move!"

He then dropped the shield and climbed out of the rock pile, only to see the three defenders giving him the stink eye. "What?"





Meanwhile...

Back in Ponyville, the Mane Six were having lunch, laughing at a story Pinkie had just told them. It was about her, Wild and several batches of cupcakes that had decided to turn eight different colors in one cooking session.

"How does something like that even happen?" Twilight asked with one last giggle.

Pinkie tolled her eyes again, "I don't know, but it did. You should have seen Wild's face."

They laughed again as Rainbow finished up her milkshake. "Well, I gotta get going."

"And where might I ask are you going darling?" Rarity asked.

"Nowhere important enough to explain."

"So than why do yah need to go there then?" Applejack added with a raised eyebrow.

Rainbow bit her lip at this, only to see something in the corner of her eye. "Look, literally anything else. Let's pay attention." Rainbow declared as she pointed to something behind them. The others turned to see the Defenders walking passed them, the three other stallions tied up beside them.

Twilight went wide-eyed as she saw Flash covered in dust, causing her to go up to him, "Flash, what happened?!"

"Oh, you know," Flash grumbled as he batted his body with his wing for the fourth time. "Standard interrogation turned disagreement turned almost getting crushed by a landslide because a certain somepony decided to go overboard."

"Hey! I didn't go overboard!" Springer barked back.

As Flash turned to glare at him, the others all gulped at the sight of the obvious argument about to happen. "Well...I've got somewhere to be." Rainbow commented as she disappeared into the sky.

"Same here..." Applejack began to walk backwards. "I've got apples to buck." She stared at Rarity and Fluttershy, seeing the fear in their eyes. "Didn't you two say ya'll were gonna help me?"

"Yes...we did." Fluttershy whispered as she began to follow her.

Rarity nodded and did the same. "We'd best be going."

"Come on..." Iron began to direct Lightning and the tied up ponies to the jail.

The only ones left were Pinkie and Twilight. That is, till the pink earth pony pulled a shovel out of her mane and began digging herself into a hole. With that, they were now alone as Flash spoke up, "Springer, you went way too far back there. You didn't have to go into your battle form. Heck, you could have taken him down without any of your attacks. So why did you do it?!"

"I wanted to get the fight over with," Springer barked back, crossing his paws. "Doesn't it make sense to use my best attack to end the situation as quickly as possible?!"

"Ever heard of the word overkill?!" Flash growled as he put his nose up to Springer's. "You wouldn't use a fire hose to water your garden, would you?! You went too far!" Springer would have rebuttaled, but his words died in his mouth. Seeing this, Flash huffed as he crossed his hooves now, "Ever since you got that form, you've become more and more dependent on it."

"So what?! I like using it."

"And I like using Lightbringer, but I don't use it unless it's absolutely necessary."

Seeing things beginning to take a turn, Twilight decided to step in. "Alright guys, let's just take a deep breath and try to calm do-"

"You just don't get it!" Springer interrupted, his paws almost igniting in blue flames. "You don't get what it feels like to use that form! When I first used it against Shade, I...I saw the jakhowls!" Springer let out a low sigh as he stared at his paws, "They were the ones who gave me my abilities, and when I use that form, I can...I can hear them."

"Hear them?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

Springer nodded. "Whispering in my ear, assuring me and telling me to be careful when I'm up against somepony dangerous. I can barely hear them for the little amount of time I can use that form, but...using that form, feeling the other jakhowl...they make me feel safe."

"Well, you weren't very safe back there," Flash growled as he tapped Springer's chest. "You almost got yourself crushed!"

"I'm fine," Springer replied as he swatted Flash's hoof away. "Besides, if I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have discovered that cool new power!"

"Cool maybe, but what if that ability hadn't activated?! If it hadn't, you would have gotten buried for the second time today!" Springer stared down at the ground at hearing this, "Not only that, but because of that little accident you caused, we might not be able to hold those three we caught." Flash pulled out the tape deck, "This is the only evidence of what they had. The rest is now crushed under a load of rocks."

"I'm...I'm sorry," Springer whimpered out, "I just thought-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it Springer!" Flash interrupted as his eyes almost went bloodshot in anger. He then felt Twilight put her wing on him, causing him to look at her. He saw her expectant face, causing him to take a deep breath before glancing back at Springer and putting his hooves on the jakhowl's shoulders, "Listen, I know these abilities make you feel closer to the jakhowls, but...but you're being too reckless with them. Because of that, from now on, you're not allowed to use them unless I give you permission too."

"You can't do that!" Springer cried as he grabbed Flash. "Please! I'm not even at a minute with maintaining my battle form while in a fight!"

"I can and I will. And If you don't like it, then that's too bad. I'm the one in charge, and unless Twilight says so, you do what I say. Understand?" Springer turned to Twilight, seeing her slowly nod. He then let out a small angry snort as Flash asked again, "I said, do you understand?!"

Springer sighed, "Yes....I understand."

"Good." Flash took his hooves off his partner. "Now, how about-"

"No thanks." Springer interrupted as he looked away. "I...I wanna be left alone."

"Springer-" Flash tried to say, only for Twilight to put her hoof in front of the defender. He then saw her shake her head, causing him to go silent as the jakhowl walked away. And as Flash watched him, Twilight gestured him to follow her home.

As for Springer, he kept his slow pace as he made his way through Ponyville, barely paying attention to what was around him.

"I swear," Lyra Heartstrings's voice caught his ear. "I didn't have any of those sweets."

"Stop lying!" Bon Bon replied with a slight hiss. "I know it was you, because you were the only one who knew where I hid them!"

"I am?!"

It was at this point that their voices went out of range, only for the jakhowl's ears to pick up Thunderlane's voice, "Happy birthday kiddo."

"Thanks big bro," Rumble replied before the sound of munching filled the air.

"Whoa! Slow down kiddo! You're gonna give yourself a brain freeze."

Once again, the voices went out of range as Springer continued to make his way through town. He kept walking for roughly forty-five minutes, only to look up and see had wandered onto the edge of the Everfree. Blinking at this, he decided he knew where to go next.





Knock, knock, knock...

Zecora looked up from her cauldron as the sound of knocking filled her hut. With that, she opened the door to one young jakhowl. "Why hello my friend Springer, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Hey Zecora, you mind if I hang around here for a bit? I'm not really in the mood to be in Ponyville right now."

Zecora smiled and nodded. "Of course my friend. Come in indeed, feel free to stay as long as you need."

"Thanks." Springer went in and sat down near a wall, his eyes lazily watching Zecora get back to work.

After a minute or so, the zebra glanced over at the jakhowl. "Forgive me if I seem unrefined, but I sense there is something on your mind."

A small sigh escaped the jakhowl's mouth, "Flash and I had a bit of a...falling out."

Zecora nodded as she continued her work. "Even those with friendships strong, can sometimes find it hard to get along. But no disagreements exist without, a subject for the two to fight about."

"Flash wants me to stop using my new powers just because he thinks I'm using them too much." He stared at his paws as a thin blue flame covered them, flexing the fingers as he continued, "He just doesn't understand. These powers...they're the one thing that connects me to the jakhowls. He wants to cut that off, and I...I might never get to really know what it means to be a jakhowl without the connection. After all, I uh...I hate to admit it, but I seem to be the last of them." He looked up at Zecora, "You must understand. I mean, you're the only zebra around, so doing what you do must give you a connection to them."

Zecora shrugged. "It's true my work was born from zebra tradition, but I choose to perform it because it is my ambition."

"And protecting other ponies is my ambition."

"But are those powers necessary to achieve that ambition, or are they simply a distraction?"

A low growl came from the jakhowl, "You're not gonna be on my side about this, are you?" Zecora just gave him a knowing smile, causing his face to twist into anger. "Great! Just great!" He moved his head back, accidently hitting the wall behind him. The reaction caused a round bottle on a shelf above him to tilt over, its glass form now slightly sliding to the edge. And as it moved, Springer continued to rant, "You know, sometimes I wonder if I should even remain in Ponyville. I mean, I'm the only jakhowl here and I still gotta go find that blasted fox Shade at some point! Augh!" More blue flames started to ignite in his paws, "Sometimes...sometimes I just feel like I'm the odd one out! I feel like a barely know any of the ponies here, and I'm not even a pony!" He glared back at the zebra, "What do you think, huh?!"

"An answer to that question, I cannot provide. It is only you, whose fate you can decide."

"Yeah...I guess." Springer moaned as the fire in his paws started to die down. But as it did this, the bottle reached the end of the shelf. As such, it tilted again, only to then fall on one jakhowl's head.

Smash!

"Ow!" Springer clutched his head as Zecora turned back to him, seeing the bottle break and the green liquid spread all down his head.

"Springer, are you alright? That loud smash gave me quite a fright."

"I'm okay," Springer replied as he rubbed his head. "Bit of a headache though." He pulled his paw back and saw the green potion, "What is this stuff? I hope its not toxic."

Zecora laughed at that. "Have no fear, it is of no danger to you or your hair. The liquid that compressed on you, it is one that is merely shampoo."

"That's good," Springer stood up and began to help Zecora pick up the broken pieces of the bottle. But as he did this, two suddenly felt something new. The earth beneath them had begun to shake, causing the two to almost lose their balance. "What's happening? What the-"

KABOOM!

The two ran to the door, trying to see Ponyville. However, the sight shocked them, as a giant mushroom cloud flew up into the sky. "No way..." Springer whispered, only to look down as his eyes continued to widen. It was a wave of fire, and it was moving so fast that he couldn't hope to defend himself. And before he could even say a single thing, he and Zecora were consumed by the flames.





"I'm the one in charge, and unless Twilight says so, you do what I say. Understand?!"

Springer's eyes shot open, the first thing his vision now seeing was an annoyed looking Flash with a worried Twilight. The young jakhowl blinked at the sight, his eyes trying to scan anything around him. Despite this, he soon saw that everything...looked normal. "What the-"

"Springer!" he looked back at Flash, "I said, do you understand?!"

"Understand what?"

Flash rolled his eyes, "That you're not allowed to use your battle form and increased abilities without my permission."

Springer raised an eyebrow at this. "Didn't we just have this conversation?"

"Yes, we did. But you don't seem to be listening." Flash grunted as he grabbed the jakhowl by the shoulders. "Listen, I'm doing this for your safety, alright? You need to-" the defender came to a stop as Springer just looked away, pure confusion on the jakhowl's face. Unfortunately, there was still anger in Flash's mind, causing him to groan and pull his hooves away, "Nevermind. You're not listening."

With that, Flash walked away, Twilight following after him. And as they left, Springer just blinked at the sight, watching as Twilight glanced back at him before looking back at Ponyville. "What the heck?! Didn't this just happen?" he asked himself before starting a walk into Ponyville, his ears soon picking up some familiar sounds.

"I swear," Springer turned to see Lyra and Bon Bon. Lyra was chasing after Bon Bon, who had a sour look on her face. "I didn't have any of those sweets."

Bon Bon spun around to shoot daggers at the unicorn. "Stop lying! I know it was you, because you were the only one who knew where I hid them!"

Lyra's face slightly shrunk back, a small gulp following, "I am?" Bon Bon rolled her eyes before walking off, making Springer scratch his head as he continued to walk down the street.

"What in the..." he tried to say, only for another sound to prick his ears. He turned to see Rumble sitting on a bench, his brother Thunderlane walking over with a pair of ice cream bowls on his wing.

"Happy birthday kiddo."

"Thanks big bro," Rumble replied before taking the bowl, his face already in the treat.

"Whoa! Slow down kiddo! You're gonna give yourself a brain freeze." Rumble simply shrugged before continuing to eat rapidly, causing Thunderlane to chuckle and shake his head.

Springer stared at this for a second, only to turn and walk down the same route he had done before. It was here that he saw everything he had only heard the first time play out, eventually arriving at the edge of the forest again. But as he readied himself to go to Zecora's his feet stopped in place. "Okay Springer, you need to relax." he told himself as he put his paws together, a low long calm breath following. "You're not going crazy. It's probably...something you ate, or something like that."

He then felt a breeze above him, causing him to look up. Here, he saw Soarin Skies, Flash's Wonderbolt friend, fly above his head. Springer blinked at the sight, sensing the bolt's aura, which was very happy. But before he could question it, another voice spoke up, "Hello Springer."

Springer turned to see it was the town's resident scientist, Doctor Time Turner. "Hey doc."

"You okay my boy? You seem a little...out of sorts."

"I'm...not sure. I'm having the weirdest sense of déjà vu."

"Ah, we all get that from time to time."

"I...guess? Uh...sorry, but I gotta go" Springer spun around, his form quickly moving away. He didn't know where to head to, but as he walked, he started to feel something familiar. The ground was shaking, so much so that he lost his balance, his face soon kissing dirt. And as he tried to get up, memories of the last time this happened flashed before his eyes. "Mama mia..."

KABOOM!

He spun around to see a wave of fire coming straight for him. "Here I go again..."





"Understand?!" Springer blinked again as he slightly backpedaled. Flash was still glaring at him, causing the jakhowl to raise one of his eyebrows before his eyes started to glance around. "Springer! I said, do you understand?!"

"Not again..." he mumbled as he turned back to Flash and Twilight. "Uh....Flash? I know this is gonna sound super weird, but I just died twice."

Flash and Twilight leaned their heads back in confusion, glancing at each other before Flash gave Springer the stick eye. "Trying to change the subject isn't gonna work....even if I don't know where you're going with it. Are you even listening to me?!"

"Um..."

"You're not." Flash grumbled before tapping Springer's chest. "Listen Springer, this is your last warning. You will not use your powers until I say so, got it?!"

"Yeah...I got it." Springer barely replied, a low nod following.

"Good. Now, I'm going back home. You coming?"

"Errr...no. I'll catch up later." Springer said as he backpedaled away. It wasn't long till he took the same path as before, only to once again witness the scene involving Lyra and Bon Bon, Thunderlane and Rumble, and everything else he had seen and heard the last two times. "What the heck his going on?" He asked himself as he once again arrived at the edge of the forest.

"I don't understand. What could possibly do this to me?" he rubbed his chin in thought, "I mean, this definitely isn't Shade's work, as he would have already revealed himself while laughing and monologuing. If it isn't him, then...wait..." a bulb went off in his head. "Discord! He could totally do something like this!" The jakhowl's face turned into an angry glare, only for him to yell, "Alright Discord, you've had your fun! Now come out already!"

No response.

"Grrr….Discord!"

Five minutes of pointless yelling later...

"Okay Springer, its not Discord. If it was, he'd probably come out to brag the moment I spoke out to him...like Shade. Why didn't I think of that at the start?!" Springer moaned before rubbing his head in frustration. "Augh! What is happening to me?! Why is this happening to me?!"

"Springer?"

The jakhowl spun around, now seeing Time Turner standing a few feet away, "Are you alright my boy? You seem a little-"

"Out of sorts?" Springer finished for him. "That's because I am out of sorts. I've relieved this exact same hour three times now, and every time I have, the whole town explodes!"

Turner raised an eyebrow at this, "Come again?"

Springer moaned as he facepawed, "Three times now I've had an argument with Flash, then walked through town where Bon Bon argues with Lyra, Thunderlane celebrates Rumble's birthday and then a massive explosion blows me to kingdom come! The next thing I know, I'm back at the end of my argument with Flash!"

Time Turner hummed at this, tilting his head, "Sounds like you're living your own personal Hedgehog Day."

"Huh? Hedgehog Day?"

"Yes, a Hedgehog Day." Turner said with a nod, "Its a novel by Robin Danhoof. It's about an arrogant, selfish stallion that is stuck in a time-loop. He keeps living the same day again and again until he learns to be a better pony. Its quite an interesting read."

"Huh...is that what's happening to me?"

But before another word could be said, the ground began to shake, causing everyone to lose their balance. "What the-what's happening?!"

Springer let out a long sigh. "This is what happened last time. The town's about to explode."

Turner's eyes went wide at this. Crawling over to Springer, he grabbed him by the shoulder, "Listen to me Springer. If you find yourself in the loop again, come find me and say the words Hedgehog Day. Understand?"

KABOOM!





"Understand?!" Springer blinked again as he saw Flash glaring at him, "Springer! I said, do you understand?!"

"Yeah...I understand perfectly Flash." the jakhowl quickly replied before fiddling with his paws, "Um...can I go now? I uh...wanna go think about today."

Seeing the frown on Springer's face, Flash nodded before walking away, Twilight following him. And as his partner left, Springer ran to Time Turner's house at top speed. It wasn't long till he started to rapidly knock on the door, the doctor soon opening the door, "Oh, hello Springer. What can I-"

"No time!" Springer pushed his way into the house as he yelled, "Groundhog Day!"

"Um...come again?" Doc replied, blinking in confusion.

"Oh, come on! You told me that you'd understand if I said that. Groundhog Day, like that book by Robin...something or other."

Turner rubbed his chin with a slight frown, "Wait...do you mean Hedgehog Day?"

"Yes! Hedgehog Day! You said if I told you about it, you'd understand that we're in a time-loop and that the town's gonna explode!"

"I...see. So, the town's gonna explode?"

"Yes."

The earth pony then gave him a coy smile. "Very funny Springer, but something like a time loop is impossible."

"But it is! I'm living in it!"

Time leaned down, the smile still showing, "Alright then, what number am I thinking of?"

Springer's jaw dropped at this, "Are you serious?! I don't know that!"

"Ha! It was eighty-one!" The Doc puffed his chest, "If you really were in a loop, you would know that."

Springer growled at this. "Fine. Give me an hour."





Fifty-nine minutes and forty-five seconds later...

"What number am I thinking of?"

"Eighty-one," Springer smirked when he saw Doc's surprised expression.

"Lucky guess. What number am I thinking of now?"

Springer slumped over with a sigh, "This is gonna take a few tries, isn't it?"





Several explosions later...

"Eighty-one."

"Lucky guess. What number am I thinking of now?"

"Fifteen."

"And now?"

"Twenty-seven."

"How about now?"

"Three thousand, four hundred and seventy-six."

"Hmm...not bad. But what am I-"

"Pancakes. And if you're wondering about the next three answers, they're: 'extra maple syrup', you lost your fifth scarf over an accident with a metal yelling trash can, and you're current on-and-off project is just a favor for Derpy about creating the perfect muffin."

Turner's eyes went wide, blinking. "We really are stuck in a time-loop."

"Finally!" Springer moaned as he raised his paws in the air. "Augh! I can't believe how many times I had to do that..."

"Now hold on there Springer." Turner interrupted as he patted the jakhowl's shoulder, "The town's going to explode?"

"It already has exploded, several times. Are you gonna help me or not?!"

Turner nodded. "Of course. What's the plan?"

"Honestly...I have no idea."

"Alright then," Doc tapped his chin in thought, "Let's start with this question: Who would want to blow up the town?"

Springer tapped his head before snapping his paw, "Oh! The guys we brought in! I'll bet you anything that they managed to escape the cell and caused the explosion so they could get away."

"If that's the case, we should defintely tell Flash," Turner replied, only for Springer to shake his head.

"He won't believe me. Our only hope is to stake out the jail and wait for them to make their move, then stop them."

"Alright, then let's get going." Springer nodded and the two headed out, running all the way to the jail. Once the building came into sight, Springer pulled them to a stop.

"I can sense them in there. If they think we're onto them, they might not do it and we'll never learn how they did it."

"Good plan. We can wait and see how they cause the explosion, then we'll know how to stop it."

Springer nodded at this, the two now sitting and waiting...and waiting...and waiting some more. Eventually, over forty minutes passed and Springer could still sense them inside the cell. "Oh come on! They haven't moved an inch this whole time."

"I'm sure they will soon."

"But how the heck are they gonna get out and cause an explosion in the short amount of time until the explosion?"

"Maybe they figured out we're onto them?" Turner guessed.

"I mean...maybe?" Springer placed his chin into his paw. "Hopefully this means I don't end up doing all this again." Barely a second after those words left his lips, the ground started shaking. "What?" He stood up and stared at the jail, sensing the three were still in there. "But that means-"

KABOOM!

He spun around and saw the flames heading his way, "It wasn't them."





"So those three are in the clear."

Springer, who was sitting in one of Turner's comfy armchairs, sighed. "Then who was it?"

"Good question," Turner sat in another chair as he began to hum. "If it wasn't them, and there isn't anypony else new in town, then it has to be somepony who's here."

Springer sat up at this, feeling uneasy about the thought of one of his friends causing such devastation. "If that's true, there's no way they did it on purpose."

"Good point. But if it's an accident, who caused it?"

Springer laid back in the chair for a second. "Hmm...well, I remember sensing Rainbow having a twinge of nerves earlier. Maybe she's up to something that's goes out of her control."

Turner nodded at this. "Then let's go check out her place."

"How? Unless you've got an invention that allows you to fly, there's no way we'll get into her house."

Turner shined a huge smile at the question. "I think I might have something."

Springer raised an eyebrow at this, "Huh?"





A little while later, Springer was staring up at Rainbow's house. He then turned to Turner, the doctor now currently filling balloons with a special helium he had been working on. Five of those balloons were now tied around Springer's waist, the only thing keeping him from floating up being a piece of rope tied to a bush branch.

"Okay....here we go." Turner tied a sixth balloon to Springer, "Now you can float up and look into the house through the windows." He pulled out a pair of headphones attached to a mic, which he put on the jakhowl's head before taking out a walkie talkie. "If you see anything suspicious, describe it to me and I'll tell you if its an explosive."

"Got it," Springer replied as he started to let go of the rope, only for his ears to spike up. "What the-" The jakhowl turned to the doctor, "Hide! Now!" Turner nodded and pulled the jakhowl behind a tree. They then looked up at the sky and spotted a light blue pegasus flying towards the house.

"I feel like I've seen that pony before."

"Its Soarin, from the Wonderbolts. I remember spotting him in town during some of the loops."

The two watched him land in front of Rainbow's house, looking around with a nervous glare before knocking. A minute later, Rainbow opened the door and gestured him inside before shutting the door.

"Interesting. Why is Soarin here?" Turner asked next.

"Only one way to find out." With that, Springer released the rope and began to float upwards. It took the jakhowl a few minutes to get to the right height, Turner pulling him closer to the house as they adjusted themselves so Springer could peek inside. As he did, he whispered into the mic, "Okay...they're going to the living room, and now they're...wait, they left the room and they're...what is-"

It was here that Time Turner heard what could only be possibly described as the most unintelligent noise he had ever heard. "Springer?" Turner spoke through the radio, "You okay?" Springer didn't reply, instead creating a Bone Breaker that he used to pop the balloons. Turner gasped at the sight before hopping to where Springer would have landed, breaking his fall and getting the wind knocked out of him at the same time. The doctor let out a long moan as he looked up at the jakhowl, now seeing what could only be described as a cross between shock and discomfort on Springer's face. "Springer...what did you just see?!"

"Its not Rainbow. Or Soarin."

"What is-"

"IT'S NOT THEM!" Springer yelled before helping Time Turner up while hissing out, "And don't ask why."

"Okay...I won't ask why, but what did you see?"

"Something I could have gone my whole life without seeing," it was in that moment that the ground began to shake, "Seriously?! You couldn't have been a few seconds early?"

KABOOM!





Once again, Springer and Turner were in his living room, trying to go over the possible suspects. "So Rainbow's clean as well."

"Not the word I would have used," Springer mumbled to himself, "Memory, please fail me now."

"So...who do you think we should check next?"

"No idea. The only thing I can think of is maybe Lightning, Wild....or Iron."

Time Turner raised an eyebrow at this. "Why Iron?"

"Well...he lives alone on the edge of town. If he did have a bomb, nopony would be there to notice. I just don't know why he would have one."

"That's a good point Springer, but we also established that this explosion is probably part of an accident. That being said, we should still check."

And so, the two headed out. Springer scanned the town for Iron and located him at Sweet Apple Acres, obviously having gone there after dropping off the criminals. As such, when the two arrived at his shack, they found it empty. After making sure nopony was nearby with another aura scan, they sneaked inside.

Ever since Iron had came to Ponyville, the run down shack had evolved in to quite the cosy little hideaway. Now it was filled with all sorts of nick-knacks that Iron had attained over time, along with several flowery pillows and some curtains that Fluttershy had given to him as a gift.

As the two looked around, Turner noticed something sitting on a table beside the window. "Hmm...suspicious looking box."

"Careful doc, it could be the source of the explosion."

Turner nodded at this. "Understood. We'll just take this nice and slo-AUGH!" He screamed as a loud snapping sound echoed through the shack, an intense pain now shooting up his leg. The two's eyes went wide before looking down, now seeing a bear trap biting into Turner's leg.

"Sweet Celestia!" Springer cried.

"Sweet Celestia!" Turner repeated as the two screamed at one another, "SWEET CELESTIA!"





One hour later...

Springer flinched at the memory as he watched the bear trap slam shut around his Bone Breaker.

"Wow. Nice save Springer." Turner commented as he watched the aura bone snap in half before disappearing, "Can you imagine if I tripped that?"

"Yeah...I don't have to imagine it." He then heard the earth pony groan at his former incarnation's pain before tapping the box, "I uh...I think its locked."

Turner pulled out a blue screwdriver, "No problem. There's nothing me and this bad-boy can't unlock." With that, he placed the end of the screwdriver into the lock. But as the metal tapped the lock, a jolt of electricity shot into the twisting device before going to Turner's body. The scientist let out a gargled cry as he fell backwards, landing with a thud.

Springer sighed as he watched smoke escape Turner's mouth, "Seriously?!"





One hour later...

Springer watched as Turner, now equipped with insulated hoof gloves, picked the lock and opened the box. He then turned to the jakhowl, "That's the last of the traps, right?"

Springer's only response was to shrug. "Don't know. Never gotten this far before." He did a slight gulp as he slowly lifted the box's lid with his paws. The jakhowl was ready to feel anything, ready for a true surge of pain. But as he did this, he looked into the box and saw...a typewriter.

The two stared at the writing device in confusion, right before the box's last booby-trap sprayed a bunch of gray paint into their faces. They both cried out as they wiped their faces, "Why would Iron go to all this trouble to protect a typewriter?"

"I don't know," Springer took a piece of paper out of the tool. "Maybe he's writing a list of accomplishments down or something." His eyes flicked over the paper, "Never mind. This has the word kiss on it way too many times to be any of his accomplishments."

Turner took the paper and read aloud. "As the twin suns set off the Calabraien horizon, Zar wrapped his hoof around his queen's neck and pulled her succulent lips towards his own." The two turned to each other with wide eyes as Doc slowly said, "It seems Iron is writing a...sci-fi romance novel."

"Yeah...seems like it," Springer replied with a look of disgust.

"That's definitely not the last thing I thought I'd see before I die." Doc commented as the ground beneath them began to shake.

Springer sighed at this, "Speaking of which."

KABOOM!





Springer and Turner's heads stuck out from behind the fence of Sweet Apple Acres, Turner holding a pair of binoculars. "You really think it could be one of them? I thought you said you haven't tried Wild or Lightning yet."

Springer, who now had bags under his eyes, sighed. "I keep messing up with them, so now I'm just picking ponies at random. I'll get to them next...again." He had already investigated half the population of the town, only for no success in terms of anti-explosion plans. Now, they were watching Iron, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy carry some buckets of apples into the barn. It was here that Turner switched the binoculars to infrared so he could watch the insides of the barn.

"What are they saying?"

"No idea. I can see them, but I can't hear them. Reading lips isn't on my list of skills."

"Well, what are they doing?"

"It looks like they're sorting through apples...and standing around talking."

In that moment, the ground started shaking, making Springer sigh again, "Looks like they're in the clear too."

KABOOM!





The two leaned around the corner as they watched Lightning and Wild walk down a street. Springer had told Time that Wild and Lightning repeatedly discovered them thanks to Wild's puppets, causing him to keep resetting. But after memorizing the duo's full path, Springer and Turner were now at the exact distance from both puppet and the two ponies.

"So...did you see that notice in the paper?" Wild asked as they turned a corner, "They're looking for competitors to join the Ponyville's Equestria Games team."

Lightning nodded. "Yeah, I saw it."

"You gonna compete? I've seen how good your aim is. You'd definitely get gold if you played in the ice archery or other shooting events."

Lightning laughed at this. "As much as I'd love too, my schedule's pretty packed that day."

"Come again?"

"You know how many prestigious ponies are gonna be there. They need all the security they can get, so I'm on guard duty with the other Defenders and Royal Knights."

"Can't you do both?"

"Nope. And before you ask, Sentry was a little annoyed that he wasn't allowed to compete."

"Huh...Too bad you can't compete."

"Too bad, too bad." Wild's puppets repeated.

Lightning shrugged at this. "Eh, I doubt anypony would want to see me playing right now. Maybe in the next games...if I'm still free then."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...I am on probation. Come the next Grand Galloping Gala, the princesses might decide I shouldn't be allowed free."

"But they're the ones who sent you out to see the world! Plus, you've done so much since then. I'm sure they'll see you've changed."

"You've changed, you've changed."

"Except they weren't there to see all anything I've done, so-" It was that moment that the ground began to rumble, making Lightning look around in confusion. "What's going on?"

"I don't know."

"Don't know, don't know."

KABOOM!





"Lightning?"

"He's innocent."

"Vinyl or Octavia?"

"The only thing they're hiding is this awesome new cello, dub-step combo album I heard them working on."

"I really don't want to even consider it, but...Derpy?"

"Watched her the whole hour. She was eating muffins the whole time."

"That's a relief."

Springer groaned as he slumped back into the arm chair, "This is getting ridiculous. We've check almost everypony in town, and none of them seem to be the cause."

"But we haven't checked everypony," Turner told him as he marked down another name on a list. "Say...who are we missing?"

"There's Pinkie, but I have no idea where she is."

"Okay. Who else?"

The jakhowl started to sink into the chair's cushions. "Um...Flash and Twilight."

Turner looked up with a glum frown. "I'm guessing you've been putting that off until now."

"Maybe...but I know Flash and Twilight wouldn't do something like this." Springer mumbled as he kept trying to make the chair devour him into its cushions.

"Maybe not intentionally, but remember who they are." Turner remarked as he started writing on the list again. "Twilight is a newly ascended alicorn, so there may be a new magic she has access too but is unable to control. Then there's Flash and this strange new ability I've been hearing about."

"He's controlled that power before."

"I suspect he does when he was calm and focused. Am I right?"

"Mmm...yeah, probably."

"Your glum response doesn't help Springer, but I'll ignore it for this question: What would happen if he taps into it when he's frustrated or angry?"

Springer's head popped out of the chair, his frown increasing in size. "You mean like after our argument, don't you?" he smacked his paw into his forehead. "I caused him to go nuclear, don't I?"

Time Turner just shook his head at this, soon walking up and patting him on the head. "This is only a theory Springer. We can't know for sure."

"So...what do we do?"

"The same thing you said we've been doing from the start my boy. We keep an eye on Flash and Twilight to find out if either of them is the cause." Springer nodded at this, the two soon going to the building. There, Springer scanned the tree and saw that Flash was in the kitchen while Twilight was in her room. Doc rubbed his chin at this, staring at one of the windows, "Now...the issue with this situation is that we have no way of spying on them without being noticed. After all, they'll hear us if we walk into the library."

Springer waved his paw at this. "No problem. This one'll be easy." He closed his eyes and focused, soon establishing a mental connection with his partner without him realizing. There, the sounds surrounding him vanished as they were replaced with a new set of senses. Opening his eyes, he saw he was now in the library kitchen. He tried to look around, but his head wouldn't move. It was here that the jakhowl knew he had succeeded, now looking through Flash's eyes despite the fact that he couldn't dictate where he could look.

It was then that Springer heard hoofsteps, which Flash looked up to see Twilight walk into kitchen with a smirk on her face. "Hey, you finished sulking?"

Springer watched as Flash rolled his eyes. "I'm not sulking. I'm just...contemplating my decisions as of late."

"So...sulking." Springer could tell Flash was frowning as he watched Twilight take the empty cup in her magic along with another one out of the cupboard. "Want another drink?"

"Sure..." Flash grumbled before Twilight filled the cups in silence, soon sitting down opposite of him with the cups.

"Okay. Now...what are you contemplating?"

Springer watched Flash glance down at the cup, sighing as he looked back up at Twilight, "Do you think I was too hard on Springer?"

Twilight frowned at this question, humming as she tried to reply, "I don't know. I think you were right about him growing too dependent on his new abilities, but I'm not sure if banning him from was the right choice. He should focus on increasing his own skills out of that form Flash, but...that doesn't mean he shouldn't use it at all."

"I guess..." Flash took a sip of his drink. "But-"

Twilight shot him a knowing look. "Your issue isn't just a combat one, is it?"

Flash sighed but nodded. "I'm...well, I'm worried what will happen if he grows to attached to these powers. I mean, he doesn't have another jakhowl here to teach him Twilight." Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but he waved his hoof, "I know, you told me when he went on that mission with Princess Luna that he wouldn't leave me. But...I can't help but feel scared for him. Especially because last time he went looking for other jakhowls, he almost got killed by his race's arch-enemy!"

"I hardly doubt that'll happen again."

"Shade's still out there Twilight, and he can make himself look like a jakhowl." Flash grumbled as he took another sip, "And even if we forget Shade...well, what if Springer does find another jakhowl?! What happens then?!"

"So you don't want him to find one?"

"No! I do want him too! I do want him to meet other jakhowls..." Flash replied as he placed his hoof on his forehead, "I just...I know its selfish, but I'm still scared that he might not decide to come back."

Twilight rolled her eyes at this. "Don't be silly Flash. Of course he'd come back." Flash put his hoof down as he saw Twilight's smile, "Flash...you're his best friend. I know he's probably upset right now, but its not like he hates you. The two of you share a special bond."

"But for how long?" Flash whimpered out, making Twilight tilt her head in confusion. Seeing this, Flash continued, "One of the things that made Springer and I bond was because the two of us had something in common. Neither of us knew where we came from, why we were here...but now my parents are back in my life. That means that connection between us is gone..." He looked back down at his drink. "What if...what if because of this, Springer decides he and I aren't friends anymore?"

Flash waited for a response, only for silence to be the answer. Flash blinked at this, Springer also wondering why there was no response. But as Flash glanced at the mare, he saw a giant smile on her face. "You meathead. Of course Springer's not gonna stop being your friend." She got up and sat down beside him. "Not knowing where you came from might have been one of the things that bound you together, but its something much stronger that keeps you two as friends. Think about everything the two of you have done together, putting your life in others' hooves. You two have risked your necks for one another more times than I can count. You really think a bond that strong can just be broken like this?"

Flash went silent this time, tapping his chin in slight thought before replying, "Huh. I guess you've got a point."

Twilight shook her head again, "Good grief. You two should know that there's still a bunch of things you have in common. Your love of comics, music, keeping others safe....all sorts of thing. Not only that, there's also the most important thing you share."

"Which is?"

"The two of you were alone, but you found a place with others that wanted to help you. Because of that, you both have been able to reach your full potential. You think Springer feels out of place because he doesn't have a family, but what you both seem to forget is that he has a family. Its the same one you found when we met all those years ago, all back on those streets in Canterlot."

Springer felt Flash smile at this, the defender unfurling his wing and wrapping it around Twilight. "Thanks Twi."

Springer saw Twilight turn red at the embrace. "No...no problem." It was a beautiful moment, something that made Springer smile. He could feel tears about to appear, only for his body to suddenly shake. The ponies also felt this, causing Twilight to look down at the vibrating ground, "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Springer felt Flash pick himself up and go to the window, "But it sure feels weird. Why is there an earthquake-"

KABOOM!





Knock, knock, knock...

When Time Turner opened his door, he was greeted by the sight of a very exhausted looking Springer. "Oh, hello Springer. What can I do for you?"

Springer trudged into the house with a long moan, "Hedgehog Day, town explodes, personal tartarus." With that, the jakhowl landed face first into the armchair as Turner put the pieces together.

"We're stuck in a time-loop?"

"Yup," Springer mumbled into the couch, "And please don't ask me about what number you're thinking. My head hurts too much to remember."

Turner blinked at this, biting his lip as he asked, "You don't look so good. How many times have we done this?"

Springer moaned again, his head barely rising as he spun around to stare at the doctor. "You mean how many times have you asked how many times have we done this or how many times have we all been blown up."

"By your tone, I'm gonna say you've been at this for a while," Springer's only response was a nod. "Okay...maybe you should do something different. Perhaps you could use a break and have a little fun."

"Fun?! What fun?!" Springer tried to bark back, only to slump back into the chair, "All I do is blow up every single hour, and I'm sick of it!"

"Exactly." Turner remarked with a huge smirk. Springer then looked back up with a glare, only for the doctor to wave to his hoof, "Hang on there Springer. What I mean is this: If you're stuck in a time loop, that means something like consequences have no meaning."

"So you mean...no consequences? At all?" Doc nodded at the question, casuing a smile to appear on the jakhowl's face, "Ohhhh...you're right."





Cue the music...

Springer was in Sugarcube Corner's kitchen, stuffing his face with whipped cream. But as he did this, he noticed Pound and Pumpkin crawling up to him, both looking annoyed with crossed hooves. Springer smirked at the sight, the jakhowl winking as he slid a can to them, the two smiling as Pumpkin took it in her magic.





Springer was now sitting in the room of the colt named Button Mash, who was supposed to be doing his home work.

Instead, the two were playing a video game that Springer was being thrashed in. The jakhowl had already lost twice, but with a third now happening, Springer demanded one more game. Thankfully, Button Mash was a lover of victory, and he nodded for the rematch. That is, after turning the volume down for fear of his mother finding out.





Back in Sugarcube Corner, the customers were enjoying their desserts as a calm, serene mood floated around the store. But as this somber tone continued, a small flying cupcake flew through the air, striking an occupant on the back of his head.

Turning to the source with a glare, they all spotted Springer on a table with a box of the tiny cakes in paw. The jakhowl smiled before declaring a food fight. What followed was a barrage of treats zipping through the air, the rest of the ponies inside soon retaliating as the bakery became a battlefield.





Springer was back in Time Turner's house, having snuck into his lab to play with the doctor's many gadgets. He had learned that the good doctor was not very keen on others tampering with his work, so it took a few tries to get in.

Now, he was currently wearing the Mag-E-Lator three thousand and one, which he was using to shoot fireballs. That is, till its flames turned on the sprinkler system. And as the water rained on the building's insides, every single invention began to short circuit. The sight made the jakhowl gulp as he ran out the door, a miniature explosion following as the devices started to explode.





A low calm breath followed as Springer sat in Vinyl and Octavia's house, the jakhowl now listening to the earth's pony instructions over playing the violin.

But as his paws strung the bow over the instrument's strings, a screeching sound struck the whole building. The noise alone made Octavia flinch and Vinyl to put on her headphones.





Now in Iron's house, Springer stuffed a donut into his mouth as he read another page. A long snort followed as the next paragraph made the jakhowl shake his head.





Springer cheered as he won three matches in a row against Button Mash. The colt then asked him how he was so good at playing a video game he'd never played before, only to get a tap to his nose and be told that it was a trade secret.





Back in the musician's house, Springer began playing the violin as if he had been playing for years. He then turned to them with a huge smirk as he saw Octavia's jaw drop while Vinyl's shades fell to the floor.





Springer looked up from the book and nodded, "Not bad Mr. Core. Not bad at all."





At the Apple Family Barn, Iron, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy were currently delivering some buckets of apples. What they didn't know was that Springer had already snuck inside. It was here he looked down at a bunch of cards, all of them showing different colors to indicate who was talking.


"I'm just saying, it wouldn't hurt to make your barn look a little more...glamorous."

"I think mah barn's fine just the way it is."

"Yeah. As long as it does its job, then who cares what it looks like."

"I agree with you there, but there's nothing wrong with having form and function. What do you think Fluttershy?"

"Oh...um...I don't know."

"If the Apples let you remodel the place, you wouldn't be able to see it because the place would probably make you go blind."

"How?"

"By the sunlight bouncing off all the shiny stuff you'd stick to it."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic."

"Grunt."


It was at this moment that the four turned and saw Springer standing, now showing a card that read: 'Confused stares'. He then dropped it to reveal the last card, which read-


Town goes boom!


The ground began to shake as Springer spun around, a big grin on his face as another sound graced the area.

KABOOM!





Knock, knock, knock...

Time Turner opened his front door, only to be greeted by the sight of a zombie-like Springer. "Oh, hello Springer. Are you-"

"No, I am not okay! Hedgehog Day, town explodes and I have no idea how to stop it!"

"Wait....Hedgehog Day? Are you saying-"

"A time loop! And yes, its real and don't ask me what you're thinking. I already did that...I don't how many times ago!" Springer moaned as he rubbed his face, "I can't keep doing this. I feel like I'm going nuts."

"Oookay. Well Springer, if this is a time loop, have you tried-"

"Finding a culprit? Yes, did that already. Got nothing."

"And-"

"Checked all the suspects twice? Yes, did that too."

Time Turner opened his mouth again, only to slowly close it. He blinked at the sight, now seeing true misery on the jakhowl's face. "Well...if we really are stuck, did you try relaxing and-"

"Doing a fun montage? Yeah...I did. Thanks for that. You're a good friend." He continued to rub his eyes before spinning around, "But nothing's fun anymore...and I don't know what to do now."

With that, he walked away, causing a frown to grace Turner's face. "This doesn't look good." Turner commented as he followed after Springer. The doctor kept asking what he was doing, but Springer didn't reply until they reached the library.

There, he slammed the door open as he mumbled, "I'm ending this." Turner was about to ask when he meant, only to see Springer spot what he was looking for.

"WHOA!" Turner exclaimed as he saw Springer pick up Lightbringer and hold it to his neck, "Now hold on Springer! Let's not do anything crazy."

"It's the only thing I haven't tried," Springer moaned as the blade got closer. "Maybe it'll stop the loop."

"But Springer, you don't-"

"Hey!" the two hopped in place, turning to the voice to see Flash and Twilight enter the room, "What the heck is going on?"

"Don't come any closer," Springer pointed the end of the blade at his chest now.

"What is-what are you doing!?" Twilight almost screamed.

"I'm putting an end to this!" With that, Springer pushed the sword into his chest...but nothing happened. "Huh?" Springer looked down to see the sword's blade was passing through him like a ghost. "What the heck?!" He turned to Twilight and saw her horn was glowing, obviously casting whatever spell that was making the blade transparent. "Why?!"

Flash then quickly moved over to Springer, snagging the Celestic Gear away from him. "Alright bud, something's obviously wrong." The defender put the sword back into its sheath before placing both hooves on the jakhowl's shoulders, a huge glum yet worried frown on his face, "Now, do you wanna tell us what this is all about? Come on, let's figure this out."

Springer sighed as he looked away, tears filling his eyes. "It doesn't matter. You won't believe me."

Flash shook his head before grabbing Springer's head, turning him back to the pegasi, "Try me."

Tears began to flow as Springer let out a sniffle, "This is gonna sound crazy, but...I keep reliving the same hour over and over again, and its horrible! I can't stand it!" he screamed, tears now hitting the floor, "No matter what I do, the town explodes in the loop! It kills us all and I can't do anything about it!" The jakhowl's vision became blurred at this, his head looking at the ceiling as he kept crying, "And I'm completely alone in it because for some reason! I'm the only one whose aware it's happening! I just...I can't take it anymore! I can't save anypony. I...I CAN'T DO ANYTHING!" With that, the jakhowl fell over, Flash pulling him into a hug as sobs covered the defender's shoulder.

"Its okay bud, its okay." Flash replied as he started rubbing the jakhowl's back. "I understand. This must have been really hard for you."

"Yeah, but you're not gonna....huh?!" Springer pulled away from him with a face of pure shock, "You...you believe me?!"

Flash smiled and nodded. "Of course I do bud. I know you're no liar, and you wouldn't just break down like that."

"Flash....oh Flash! Thank you! Thank you for believing in me!" Springer screamed as he hugged Flash again, Twilight now walking up and embracing the two as well.

"Of course bud. We're always here for you." Flash replied again as he pulled away, Twilight just over the defender's shoulder.

The princess then patted the jakhowl with her wing, "Now, sounds like we don't have much time. Tell us everything, and quickly."





It didn't take long for Twilight to teleport everypony they needed to the library. There, Flash, Springer and Turner had a map of the town open. "Okay ponies," Flash spoke up to the Mane Seven and Defenders. "For reasons too complicated to explain, we need to search the town. Springer says that there's a bomb somewhere, and it's gonna wipe out the town in thirty minutes."

Everypony backpedaled at this revelation, only for Springer to speak up next as he continued marking spots on the map. "Alright, I've checked every single building and they're all clear."

"Wait, what?!" Iron exclaimed as he slammed his right hoof into the table, "You went into our houses?"

"Yeah....sorry about that."

Rainbow shuffled her hooves at this, "You uh...didn't see anything in my house, did you?"

"Yes, but your secret is safe with me," he watched as her fright slightly lessen before returning to the map. "Though I have to say, I'm pretty sure I looked everywhere, but...I couldn't find anything."

Seeing the returning sad look on his face, Pinkie hopped over to the jakhowl, "Don't worry, we'll find it Springer." She pulled him into a hug, only for the mud on her to cover him as well.

Springer winced as he felt the mud grace his side, "Pinkie...where'd you get so muddy?"

"In the underground gem cave," Pinkie watched as Springer raised an eyebrow at this.

"What underground gem cave?"

"The ones we first see in season six, but don't learn are under Ponyville until season seven." Pinkie then saw the confusion on everypony's faces, causing her to wave her hoof, "Don't worry about it. Its over your heads for now."

Rarity tapped her hoof on the table next. "Ignoring Pinkie's...I'm not sure what you would call it, I can safely say that I know that cave system quite well thanks to my gem seeking magic. I can lead us through it quite easily."

The others all nodded at this as Flash then said. "Sounds good to me. Everypony, time to do some spelunking!"





One rushed trip into the caves later...

Springer, Flash, Twilight and Lightning were now following Rarity as she lead them through the gem-filled caves beneath Ponyville. It was here that Flash nudged his partner, "How much longer do we have?"

"I'd say about ten to fifteen minutes."

Twilight spoke up next, "Then we can't waste any time. We've got a lot of cave to cover, and barely enough time to search it all."

"So what's the plan for when we do find it?" Lightning asked next.

"If the bomb is as powerful as Springer's says it is, then our only option is to teleport it to a place that's completely devoid of life."

Twilight saw the others nod in agreement, only to arrive at a junction with several tunnels. "Hmmm...which way now?" Rarity asked as she glanced at the corridors. "Perhaps we should split-" But before she complete her sentence, a new sound rang out in the caves. It was a rhythmic knocking, one which sounded like a song they all recognized.

"What is that?"

Twilight raised her ear while closing her eyes, "It sounds like...somepony banging against a wall."

As if on instinct, the group followed the sound down one of the tunnels. It wasn't long till they arrived the sound's origin, Rarity commenting, "I've never been down this tunnel before."

"I'd say we're somewhere below the Everfree," Twilight added.

Springer placed his ear to the wall and felt the vibration that accompanied the knocking. "Whatever it is, its coming from behind here." He jumped back and created an Aura Blast, "Hold on, I'll-"

"No," Twilight interrupted as she flared her wing in front of him, "If you do that, you could bring the whole place down on top of us." Her horn sparked and hit the wall, causing it to glow violet. "Okay, come on through. The wall's been intangified." They then blinked as four hooves walked through the rocks, soon revealing a familiar looking mare.

"Trixie?"

Trixie Lulamoon shined a giant smile, "Oh thank Celestia! You all finally found me!"

"What were you doing in there?" Flash asked, only for Lightning to step up and grab her saddlebag.

"And more importantly, what have you got in here?" He looked inside and saw a scroll, which he pulled out.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"So you can blow us up?! I don't think so!" With that, his horn sparked and shot a lightning bolt, striking the paper into dust.

"NO!" Trixie screamed as she watched it crumble. "You idiot! You've doomed us all!"

"What?!" Lightning barked back, "I just destroyed the spell that you obviously used to try and escape, but went overboard!"

"That wasn't an explosion spell you twit! It was Starswirl's Time Spell!"

This caught Twilight's attention. "The Time Spell?! What are you doing with that?!"

Trixie gulped as she looked down at the dust pile. "Well, you see...I'm from the future. Twenty four hours from now. At exactly one fifteen PM yesterday, or should I say today, Ponyville exploded and uh...killed you all." Everypony went pale at this, including Springer as she continued, "Everypony was devastated, including me...but I um...I remembered hearing about Twilight's use of the Time Spell. So I used it, but I guess my aim was a little off and I ended up stuck in that little chamber you found me in."

"Why didn't you just teleport out?" Flash asked next.

"I tried, but whatever that chamber is made out of made it impossible. I then realized I wasn't gonna be able to stop the bomb, but I still had the Time Spell. So I quickly rewrote it into a time-loop spell that I cast on me and whoever was closest to me. I wasn't sure where I was, but I knew I had to be somewhere under the town."

Springer let out a long moan at this, "Actually, you're under the forest. My guess, directly under Zecora's hut. I was the one your spell hit."

"But now that the spell's been atomized," Twilight grimaced. "And I'm guessing that probably means..."

Trixie flinched as she finished Twilight's sentence. "Yup. No more time-loops."

Flash glared at Lightning, "If we die, your probation is officially extended."

"Shove it Sentry. I'm sorry that happened, but we need to focus on the now!" Lightning barked back.

Rarity then spoke up. "So you're saying we only have about five minutes to find and stop this bomb before we blow up?!"

"Permanently," Trixie replied. "Including me."

Everypony gulped at hearing this, Springer now asking, "Please tell us you know where the bomb is."

Trixie just shook her head. "I'm sorry, we have no idea where the blast originated from. All we could determine was that the explosive used was an illegal compound called Mortebutio."

"Weird name," Lightning mumbled.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Mortebutio is illegal because of how volatile it is. A teaspoon of the stuff is enough to level a building."

Flash began to sweat as he heard that. "And how much would you need to destroy a town?"

Twilight frowned at this. "Not much. If the bomb uses it, it wouldn't have to be very big. Plus, it would give off an extremely funky smell, signalling its nearby."

"Funky smell?!" As soon as those words entered Springer's head, the million jigsaw pieces began fitting into perfect place. "Holy cow! I know where it is! We need to get back to town now, NOW!"

Hearing this, Twilight and Trixie's horns both glowed as they were all transported in a flash of light. Here, Springer turned to the library, quickly sprinting while the others followed, the others members of the Mane Six also seeing this along with Spike, Iron and Time Turner. The jakhowl slammed the door open, only to go to the main table where he grabbed a familiar tape deck with his paws. "I knew I smelled something funny coming from this thing." He pulled the front of the device off to reveal a bunch of wires wrapped around a pound of wrapped up explosive with a timer on the front. The timer showed the numbers: '4:45', which continued counting down.

"What's a bomb doing in a tape deck?" Rarity asked in shock.

Flash growled at the sight. "Who wants to bet those three were using them to smuggle the Mortebutio through towns!?!"

"I bet that wagon was full of them," Lightning added.

"But when'd this one get turned on?"

Springer gulped at this, a huge frown gracing his face, "The landslide! It must of knocked this thing into activating. This is...this is all my fault!"

"That doesn't matter right now Springer," Twilight grumbled as she and Turner looked the bomb over.

As this happened, a certain pegasus flew down next to them. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Soarin? What are you doing here?" Flash asked, causing both Soarin and Rainbow to glance at each other as nervous sweat began to appear.

"Uh..."

"Talk about that later!" Springer barked as they all turned back to the bomb, the timer now reading '3:23'.

"Can't we just pull a few wires out?!" Pinkie asked next.

"That could make it explode," Turner replied. "And I don't have the time or know how to disarm it."

Lightning glared at Twilight, "I thought you were gonna teleport it away."

Twilight nodded and took the device out of Springer's paws. But as she did this, the bomb fell to the floor, her horn fully lit yet unable to grab the device. "What the-" Twilight tried to grab it again in her magic, but the aura would not stick. "No...don't tell me. Its an anti-magic field!"

"Since when is that a thing?" Applejack yelped.

"Since always. The fact is, we can't use magic on the device. Not even a shield."

"So what can we do?" Fluttershy asked in a shivering, terrified tone.

"Evacuate," Iron suggested.

Twilight turned to him, "In three minutes?! That's impossible!"

And as the ponies started throwing around suggestions, panic settling in, Springer continued to stare at the device as it counted down to under two minutes. He glanced at his friends, his eyes staring at each one before looking out at the town through a nearby window. He stared longingly at Ponyville, the first and only home he'd ever known. "I...I know what I have to do."

The ponies stopped arguing when they saw a flash of light appear, turning to see Springer had taken his Battle Form and picked up the bomb. "Springer, what are you doing?"

Springer didn't rely, instead looking up at them with tears in his eyes. The next thing they all knew, a familiar aura shield appeared around him. "Sorry everypony, but this is the only way."

"What are you-what are you doing?!" Twilight exclaimed as she pointed at the bomb. "You can't contain that kind of explosion!"

"But you can contain my shield. Whatever's keeping you from stopping the explosion will be destroyed the minute it goes off, so I'll contain the explosion while you contain me. That why when my field drops, you'll still be able to save the town."

"Springer...you don't mean-"

The jakhowl did a small nod. "Yeah. I'll..."

"NO! Springer!" Flash yelled as he hit the sphere with his hooves. Tears were starting to form in his eyes as he said, "Springer, don't do this! There has to be a-"

"I HAVE TO FLASH!" Springer screamed as his own tears were now in full flow. "I...I have to. There's no other way. We're...outta time partner." He looked down and saw that they only had a minute left. "Put the shield up. Now."

Twilight, despite her ears now hearing Flash's protests, her horn started to shine. It created a shield as a flurry of yells graced the building, everypony telling Springer not to do this. But as she did this, Springer spoke up again, "Everypony! Please! Please...just stop. Can you all just listen and not interrupt me for fifty seconds!?" Silence started to appear as the others nodded. "Alright. I...I just want to say...thank you. Thank you, each and every one of you. You...you made me into the jakhowl I am. You taught me...you taught me so much about life and how precious it is."

Tears flowed down every face as Springer continued.

"Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack...thank you for accepting me when I first came here. I might not have wanted to stay if you hadn't." The four all nodded as he turned to Rainbow and Soarin. "You two, don't hide your relationship. You should be proud of how you feel." The two shared a look, but then nodded as he glanced at Iron. "Same with you big guy. If you like writing, then don't hide it. You're stuff's really good." He saw Iron slightly blush, but ignored it as he now stared at Lightning and Wild. "You two, don't go doing anything stupid. You keep helping others, alright?" They both nodded as well as Springer turned to Turner. "And I know you don't remember all of it, but thanks for helping me out through all of this. I wouldn't have lasted without you."

"No problem kiddo," Turner told him.

Springer then turned to Flash, Twilight and Spike. "Spike, you can have my comics. Thanks for getting me into them, it was fun while it lasted." Spike, who was bawling his eyes out, nodded as Twilight pulled him into a hug. "Twilight, you helped me learn so much about the world. I know you might not always think it, but you're gonna make a great princess. Also, do me a favor and tell Scootaloo that she's awesome and to keep reaching for the stars."

"I...I will." Twilight said through her sobs.

Finally, Springer looked at Flash. "Hey bud. Sorry it has to end like this."

"Springer..."

"I know you've been scared about us drifting apart, but you don't have to worry. Even if I'd found other jakhowls, my home is with you and the rest of our family. You did more then take me in, you helped me realize who I'm meant to be." He looked down as saw he only had ten seconds. "This is it..." five seconds. "I...I..." four, three, two, one. "I LOVE YOU ALL! GOODBYE!"





But as that last second ticked away, a life time seemed to pass in the jakhowl's brain. He could feel every tingle go off in his body, his nerves shaking. And yet, no pain. No explosion that rattled his ears. Nothing.

The very sensation confused him, causing Springer to crack an eye open. There, he saw he was still in Ponyville...but he was alone. He was back in his normal form and the bomb was gone, but so was everypony else.

"Hello? Anypony out there?"

No response.

"What in the name of-" Springer tried to say, only for a bright light to appear. The jakhowl guarded his eyes with a paw as a new voice spoke out.

"Its good to see you're alright," a familiar voice told him as the light died down. The sound of wing beats made Springer open his eyes and gasp.

"Princess Luna!"

The Princess of the Night landed in front of him. "Hello young jakhowl. It is good to see you once more."

"I...I don't understand," Springer mumbled as he backpedalled at this sight, his brain slowly clicking. An idea soon formed, causing him to glare at Luna, "Wait...please don't tell me I wasn't just dreaming this whole thing."

"My apologies Springer, but it is true. This is a dream." Luna interrupted, a small frown on her face.

"What?!" Springer yelped as he gripped his own face in disbelief, "Seriously?! But that's...all of that...how?!" he felt tears go down his face, "How long has this being going on?! How long have I been asleep?!"

"In the real world, roughly two hours. Princess Twilight sent me a letter and asked me to make sure you were alright."

"Two hours?! But that's-what is....why didn't you pull me out of this nightmare then?! Scootaloo told me about how you did it for her!"

"As much as I wanted to, I have little to no power over an artificial dream such as this one. It wasn't until now that I could do more than simply watch."

"Artificial...huh?! What do you mean, artificial dream? And when did I even fall asleep?!" Luna didn't reply, instead lighting her horn as the scenery changed around them. Here, it showed a familiar building, "This is...Zecora's hut."

"Indeed," Luna pointed at the inside of the home, "Now watch."

Springer looked inside and saw a copy of himself sitting against the wall, a familiar bottle of green liquid rolling off the shelf and hitting him in the head. "That's....wait a minute. That's what knocked me out?! I thought it was just a bottle of shampoo."

Luna chuckled at this. "That 'shampoo', is what's known as a Vision Quest Potion. Anypony who comes in contact with it while sleeping will enter a dream-like state that is designed to help them overcome any issues they might have."

"Issues?"

Luna turned to him with a small smile. "What were you thinking about before that bottle hit you on the head?"

Springer was about to reply, only to sigh as he remembered, "I...I was thinking about whether or not to stay here since I was the only Jakhowl in town."

Luna nodded at this. "Then when you were knocked out, the potion placed you in a scenario that would make you decide whether you should leave or not." With that, they teleported back outside of the library. This time, the ponies were there, acting completely normal as they went along with their lives. "You felt like you barely knew any of these ponies, but what do you think about them now?"

"Does it matter?" Springer replied as he slumped over, "If this was all a dream, then what I learnt about them wasn't real."

Luna shook her head, "Wrong again. When the bottle hit you, it caused your aura to connect to everypony in town. In doing so, their memories of the previous hour were flooded into your brain and made a part of this dream world. While none of this actually happened, everything you learned about them is very real."

"Really?" The world once again changed, this time showing Rainbow's house. The two looked up to see Soarin flying into view. "So how long has that been a thing?"

Luna hummed as she hid a tiny blush. "From their dreams, I'd say around the time Miss Dash entered the Wonderbolt Academy. It seems they've been keeping it a secret because Mr. Skies didn't want ponies to think she was being given any special favour with the Wonderbolts."

"Huh..." Springer said as the scene changed again, this time showing Iron's hut. He was now working away on his typewriter. "Now, I have got to be dreaming this up."

Luna chuckled again, "You'll have to ask Mr. Core about that."

The scene changed again, now in the library's kitchen with Flash and Twilight. The sight made Springer shine a giant frown, "He really thought I was gonna leave."

"Isn't that what you were thinking of doing before this all started? Your trust in these ponies began because you read their auras and knew they weren't a threat. And while that's been a strong jakhowl survival instinct for generations, the trust it forged wasn't true trust. It only happens when...well, when a jakhowl truly interacts with others. When they become true partners and protectors of others." She patted his side with her wing, "Now, doesn't everything you learned about the ponies of Ponyville make you feel closer to them?"

Springer smiled as he thought back to everything he had learned over these past few looping hours. "Yeah...I guess I do."

In the moment, the scene changed, and they were back outside. "Of course you do. If you didn't, you wouldn't have been willing to give up your life to protect them. You may have risked your life for them before, but actually doing it, knowing you'll die, it shows just how important they are too you. To how you truly feel."

"Yeah..." Springer nodded before his eyes went wide. "Wait a minute! That bomb....was that real too?!"

Luna nodded. "Yes, though you didn't accidently activate it. I have already informed Twilight and she has disposed of it." A small wink followed this, "Luckily, anti-magic fields don't truly exist."

Springer breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good. Then again, there was a whole lotta coincidences at the end there. I should have known it was the whole dream thing at that point..."

"Heh. I wouldn't bet on that. Dreams have ways of making sure you don't notice they're dreams. Granted, I do think you should have noticed since Flash did let you just sacrifice yourself though." Luna leaned down with a wink and a smirk, "I don't think he's that kind of pony, don't you agree?"

Springer chuckled back, nodding. "Yeah...he is."

In that moment, the world around them began to ripple. "It seems you're finally beginning to wake up." Luna flapped her wings and took to the sky, "Remember to talk to the others about what you have learned. You have found your place young jakhowl, never forget that."

"I won't. And thank you."

"Of course. Farewell Springer."

With that, Luna disappeared as the world began to fade around the defender.





"I think he's coming around."

"You sure?"

"Hmmm...I don't know."

"No wait, he is! Look!"

"Give him some room then."

As Springer's eyes flickered open, he looked up to see Flash, Twilight, Spike and Scootaloo smiling down at him. A yawn followed, "Morning..."

The others all laughed. "More like mid-afternoon," Spike joked as he helped Springer up.

"You alright?" Twilight asked next.

"I...no. Maybe. I don't know." Springer moaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Is this real? I'm...still not sure."

"It is bud," Flash commented as he leaned down and wrapped his wing around the jakhowl's back. "Don't worry, you're awake and everything."

"Really?" Springer's eyes started to water, "Oh...oh thank Celestia."

"Yeah, but what happened?" Scootaloo requested as she patted his side. "Princess Luna told us about you being stuck in a 'vision quest', whatever that means."

Springer sighed as he scratched the side of his head. "I...I don't know how to explain it." He wrapped his paws around himself, his form shivering as tears went down his face. "It was...pure tartarus. I kept relieving the same hour over and over again...and the town exploded each loop."

Everyone grimaced at this, Twilight gulping as she added, "That sounds...intense."

"It was. It was...horrible. So horrible." Springer then turned to Flash, only to hug him in a vice-like grip. "I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry Flash!" Tears started to pour down his cheeks, "Please forgive me!"

"Whoa! Springer..." Flash slightly shook at the sudden hug, but as he felt the water go down his chest, the pegasi wrapped his wings completely around the young defender. "Its okay bud, its okay. I forgive you."

"I'm so sorry! I should have never gone overboard with my new powers! I'm so sorry! I won't rely on them so much, I promise!" Springer cried as he buried himself in the pegasi's chest. "I'm sorry..."

"Its okay bud, calm down." Flash replied in a comforting tone, patting the jakhowl's head. He then looked up at the others, gesturing them to help the hug. Before long, all four were hugging him, their warmth and aura covering the jakhowl.

A few minutes later, the hug ended as Springer rubbed the tears out of his eyes. "Sorry about that."

"Its fine Springer. There are always time when somepony just needs to cry." Twilight assured, patting him on the head.

"Thanks..."

"And Springer?" Springer's focus turned back to Flash, "I also want to say I'm sorry. I was out of line as well. These powers are apart of you and I shouldn't try and make you ignore them. You can use them whenever you feel, just try to show a little restraint."

Springer shined a big smile before giving a firm nod. "I will. I promise."

"That being said, what else did this...'vision quest' do for you bud?" Flash asked next.

"A lot. Mainly, it helped me learn a lot about you all. According to Luna, my aura connected to everyone in town, so I found out a bunch of stuff." Springer then did a few stretches with his arms, "In fact, I need to do a few things in town."

"What?!" Twilight hopped in place, "Oh no you don't Springer! You should be resting."

Springer turned back to her, shaking his head. "Honestly, I feel fine. Heck, I feel like I could run a marathon." With that, he ran out of the room, leaving everyone speechless as they watched him sprint away.





Knock knock knock...

A bespectacled Iron looked up from his typewriter, quickly hiding it from view before moving over to the door and cracking it open. There, he saw Springer standing, making him grumble out, "I'm busy mutt."

"I should say so, you have a lot a writing to do."

Iron was about to close the door, only to slowly take off his glasses as he glared at the jakhowl. "How did you-"

"I know you're writing a novel, and its really good. But...that ending needs a rewrite." Springer interrupted as he crossed his paws with a smirk, "Zar...he's such a misfit that at the end, all we want to do is see him embrace his new family. There's no need for what you have him do at the end. Its just a thought though..."

With that, Springer began to walk away, Iron blinking at him. Seeing this, he turned back to the typewriter as new ideas flew into his head.





Springer's next stop was Rainbow's house, where he could sense two auras inside. He cupped his paws together and cried out at the top of his voice. "Hey...Rainbow!" A second later, the door opened and Rainbow flew out.

"Hey fuzzball, glad to see you're awake."

Springer shined a cheeky smile. "So, what ya doing up there?"

Rainbow almost looked away, her eyes darting slightly, "Uh...nothing."

Springer just shook his head. "You can stop trying to come up with an excuse. I know Soarin's in there with you."

Rainbow sighed and flew back inside, returning seconds later with Soarin as she said, "How'd-"

"Doesn't matter," Springer interrupted. "Listen, I know why you two are keeping this a secret and I just wanna tell you that I won't tell anypony. Even so, I still think you should tell your friends. Nopony's gonna care that you're together, they know Rainbow is gonna earn her spot on the Wonderbolts anyways. Trust me, I don't think you wanna have this relationship be built on lies and keeping secrets from everypony."

With that, he walked off while Rainbow and Soarin both turned to one another, the two giving each other slight frowns at they thought about their relationship.





That evening...

Springer sighed as he finished writing in the friendship journal before while on the library balcony, closing it while watching as the sun and the moon swapped places. Ever since waking up, Springer had been going around, helping ponies with the problems he had learned about in his vision quest. He had gone to Lightning and told him the Princesses would be idiots to not see he had changed, then helped fix the issue Lyra and Bon Bon had been having.

He also saw Rainbow and Soarin fly to the library, knowing that the others had just arrived as well. He didn't need to be there, and instead reached down for the violin he had borrowed from Octavia. He had been wanting to test something out, and after tuning the instrument like he had been shown, Springer took the bow and began playing. The song created lulled over the town, the ponies of Ponyville now bathed in the afterglow of Springer's help.





Iron was still working on his manuscript.

Once he finished typing, he looked over his new ending before reading aloud, "And so, Zar began to gallop into the horizon, the promise he had made to return once his mission was complete fresh in his mind. After years of endless wandering, he had finally found a place to call home. He had found ponies he could call his family, and nothing would stop him from returning to them." He sat back and nodded with a smile on his face, "Not bad."





Springer smiled as he heard the females in the library all squeal. It seemed Rainbow and Soarin had come clean, making Springer happy as he ended his song.

Putting the instrument away, Springer leaned back again the tree trunk while pulling out a familiar book. "Alright Mr. Danhoof, let's see if your ending is any different from mine." He opened the book and began to read, the doubts he had been feeling earlier in the day gone.

While he may be the only jakhowl in town, Springer was far from an outcast. He had as much a place as anypony else
> Rainbow Falls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Equestria Games, the greatest sporting event in all of the pony nation. It is a competition dedicated to showing one's own abilities, willpower and dedication to push their skills to the absolute limit. But in order to get to the games, you have to qualify. And thus, we find our heroes on a train heading to the qualifying grounds known as Rainbow Falls.

It was here that one athlete, Rainbow Dash, was now sitting beside Princess Twilight on the train while her teammates sat opposite of them. While they sat there, the pegasi known as Thunderlane and Helia walked past them and turned to Rainbow. "Good luck Rainbow Dash! Sorry we couldn't fly with you on the Aerial Relay, but the air sprinters needed us too."

Thunderlane nodded in agreement. "Too bad we can only compete in one event. But, rules are rules." He let out a sigh before he and Helia walked off.

"Good luck!" Twilight told them as they left the carriage before turning to Rainbow Dash, "It was nice of you to be part of the team that doesn't have...uh...the strongest flyers." She placed her gaze on Rainbow's teammates, Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps.

Rainbow let out a short laugh, "Nothing nice about it. I know that I can pick up the slack for anypony. With me on the team, we'll qualify. I'm sure of it."

Twilight gave a coy smile at the pegasi's confidence as the two looked out the window. "Ponyville is very lucky to have you."

"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome."

Fluttershy, who was sitting next to Bulk and getting squished between him and the window, let out a few strained gasps as she waved the flag in her hoof. "I am so proud to be representing Ponyville. Oh, it's such an honor to even try out for the Games. I just hope I don't let anypony down."

"We'll make them proud!"

It was here that Pinkie, who was dressed as a cheerleader, appeared behind Bulk and Fluttershy. "P' is for 'proud'!" This caused Bulk to yell out as he jumped away, freeing Fluttershy.

Before anypony could say anything else, a loud moaning sound made them all look at the seat behind Rainbow and Twilight. There, they saw a sour faced Flash, taking up an entire train seat while crossing his front hooves and leaning against the back window. "At least you all get to compete."

Twilight and the others all rolled their eyes. "Oh, stop whining. You know how important security is at the games, so it would make sense that you, one of Equestria's best fighters, would be tasked with making sure nothing goes wrong. Besides, you're not the only one working that day, so stop acting like a foal."

Flash's only response was to again groan as he stared out the window. A low growl followed as memories flew through his head. Flash had been a fan of the Equestria Games since Grand had taken him to one in Fillydelphia when he was a colt. (Though this was because Grand was doing security) He had always hoped to get a chance to compete, but now it seemed that dream was officially dashed. And to pour salt in the wound, Flash was not allowed to compete, but still had to go watch the others qualify while being charged with security detail for Ponyville.

Pinkie then hopped over to Flash. "Come on Flash, don't be a grouch. This is gonna be fun. We're gonna be the best fans anypony has ever seen!"

She started waving her pompoms in the air while Rarity and Applejack stepped into the train cart. "Ooh, I can't wait to see what everypony else is wearing." Rarity expressed with a knowing smirk, "Even though I am absolutely sure they won't be better than the Ponyville uniforms I'm designing for the Equestria Games."

Applejack nodded as she turned to the relay team, holding up a tray filled with some food. "And we'll make it to the Games once everypony carbo-loads on mah apple brown bettys."

"I can't wait!" Pinkie cheered as they entered a tunnel, which they exited a minute later. There, they saw that they had finally arrived at their destination, Rainbow Falls. It was a little village that sat atop a mountain peak, all of it being close to cloud height. It was from these clouds that the rainbow colored water that the town was named for came from, though Flash had no idea how that miracle of nature occurred.

Everypony gathered their things as the train pulled into the station. Once the doors opened, they stepped out onto the platform and looked around in amazement. The town sure loved the rainbow motif, as every building had some form of it on them. And as they stared at this, Flash shined a smirk and grabbed Rainbow, "Hey, check this out." He pushed her in front of a rainbow wall and moved her bangs away from her forehead, causing her mane to blend in perfectly. Everypony giggled at this, making Rainbow frown as she smacked Flash's hoof off.

"Heh...very mature kid," Flash froze before slowly turning to the voice, soon epping at the sight of the owner. It was a scar covered purple pegasus with a white mane and tail along with a robotic right wing.

"Skybreaker!" Flash stood up straight and gave him a salute.

Skybreaker chuckled and shook his head. "Relax Flash, no need to be so formal." He then turned to Twilight and bowed, "You on the other hoof, your majesty."

Twilight blushed at this and waved her hoof. "Please don't. I'm not here on any official business, so you don't have to be formal with me either."

"Very well," Skybreaker stood back up. "I assume that you're here to cheer for your friends in the qualifying rounds?" He saw Twilight nod before glancing at Flash, "And I'm guessing you've come as security since I know you aren't competing." He then saw Flash pout at this, the others giggling again.

"Sorry about him," Twilight told Skybreaker. "He's just a little miffed that he doesn't get to compete. Are you here for security as well?"

"That's right. I'm Cloudsdale's main security officer. With the Wonderbolt's competing, it makes them prime targets for sabotage."

This statement caught one particular pony's interest, "The Wonderbolts are here?!"

Skybreaker chuckled at the prism maned pegasus. "Yes, they are. Not only that, I've heard a tasty piece of gossip about apparently one of them has started dating a weather pony from Ponyville. I wonder who that might be."

Rainbow's face went full tomato red as she shrunk slightly back in embarrassment. She and Soarin had recently made their relationship public, which had sparked a lot of attention from many fans and media. Over the last few weeks, reporters had even been coming around to Rainbow's house. It was actually one of the few times Rainbow shied away from the spotlight, believing her relationship to be highly personal rather than something to brag about.

Skybreaker laughed at her expression, the others following suit. "You should see your face. Kidding aside, I'm happy for ya sweetheart. I've only known Soarin for a few months, but he's a good kid. You picked a good one and vice versa."

"Thanks..." Rainbow replied as she still tried to hide herself. With that, Skybreaker began to show them around the town, soon leading them to the hotel they would be using before getting to the main training field. When they arrived, they spotted many other pony teams warming up, stretching or doing practice laps. There was even a griffon team, which made Flash raise an eyebrow in surprise.

As the Ponyville crew made their way to find a spot to set up their training tent, Flash overheard the other ponies speaking up. "There's Rainbow Dash! She's an awesome flyer!"

"I heard that she's flying the last third of the relay, which means everypony else is gonna have to be way ahead to beat her!"

Flash and Twilight both smirked at the praise their friend was getting, only for a sonic-boom to catch their attention. Looking up, they spotted a trio of jumpsuit wearing pegasi shoot across the sky in perfect formation, the synchronisation in their movement making some think they were all mentally linked. Rainbow gasped at the sight, only for a huge smile to appear as she saw her coltfriend with them. The three then came in for a landing, perfectly touching down a few feet from the Ponyville team.

"And the game is on," Captain Spitfire smirked as she dusted herself off.

"Ha!" They removed their goggles as Soarin spoke up, "Nice to see there's some real competition here!"

He then turned to smile at Rainbow, only to hear a giggle from Fleetfoot, the third in command, "Alright lover colt, make sure to leave the making of goo goo eyes for when you're on the ground. Don't want your marefriend to feel bad that you crashed because of her."

Soarin rolled his eyes, "Ha ha. I'll have you know that when I'm in the air, I'm laser focused."

"Yeah," Spitfire laughed with a bit of spit, "and its that tunnel vision that earned you the nickname Clipper." She, Fleetfoot and even Rainbow giggled at this while Soarin blushed.

Fleetfoot then winked at Rainbow. "Two more days of practice, then we'll see you in the air Rainbow Dash!" She started walking off as she continued over her shoulder, "If you're lucky."

Spitfire followed while Soarin gestured at Rainbow. "Wanna meet up after practice? We can grab a bite to eat."

Rainbow smiled back at him before nodding, Soarin now shining a huge grin while running after his teammates. It was here that Rainbow sighed, "The Wonderbolts know a winner when they see one...." Flash and Twilight were about to reply, only for Rainbow to turn to them with fire in her eyes, "And we'll be winners too!" She glared at Fluttershy and Bulk next, "Right after we practice, right team?!"

"Right!"

"YEAH!"

Pinkie chose this moment to fire off a confetti bomb, "Hooray!"

Rainbow then turned to Flash and Twilight, a young princess giving Rainbow a nervous smile. "And...um, I'm with her!" She lazily waved her hoof in the air, "Hooray!"

Flash nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you got this." Rainbow shined a grin before walking off, allowing Flash to lean over to Twilight and whisper. "Alright, what's their real chances of doing this?"

Twilight gulped. "Honestly? Fifty to one at best."

Flash flinched at this, "Ouch."

"Give us some clouds!" The two turned towards to the voices, now seeing a pair of cheerleader ponies by the Cloudsdale tent. They were dancing while waving their pom-poms around. "Give us some dale! And what do you get? Cloudsdale!" In that moment, confetti shot out of the pompoms. "Woo-hoo!"

Pinkie gasped at the sight, "Where can I get pompoms like those?!"

Flash snickered. "Try looking on E-Hay."

"Right!" Pinkie shot off in a cloud of smoke, making the others all cough.

Fluttershy turned to Flash, "What's E-Hay?"

Twilight giggled, "It's something he learned about when we went after Sunset Shimmer." Before anypony could ask for more info, Rainbow called for Fluttershy and Bulk to prepare for practice.

The two then took the sky, Rainbow crossing her hooves as she glared at them. "So, do I need to remind you of what our goal is here?"

"Uh...maybe?" Bulk replied.

"We want to qualify!" She pointed to a rainbow colored ring in the sky, the finish line. "We need to be one of the first five teams to cross the finish line! Bulk Biceps, you're the first flyer, so let me see you flap it!"

Bulk nodded and started beating his tiny wings, which Flash still couldn't believe that it actually got him off the ground. He began to hover, though the look on his face showed it was taking tremendous effort. But as he started flying, a certain apple flavored projectile knocked him off course.

"What the-?!" Rainbow yelped as she flew back at the sight, only to nearly get hit by another flying apple brown betty. She turned to the launch sight, spotting Applejack with the treat in her tail.

"Sorry!" The farm pony nodded at the Wonderbolt tent, where a pair of baking ponies had their own snacks on some kind of catapult. "Got the idea from them, but-"

"Hooves down!" The two slammed their hooves into a catapult, "Cakes up!" The treats flew into the air, just in time for Fleetfoot and Spitfire to grab them in their mouths.

"It looks like they got better aim."

"Plus they actually told the flyers they were doing it," Flash added, making the farmer growl.

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she turned back to her team. "Okay," she held up an old horse shoe, "the passing of the baton needs to be seamless. You shouldn't miss a wing beat or drop a hair in altitude!" She flew over to Bulk and forced the baton into his grasp. "And whatever you do, don't let go of it!"

Fluttershy flew up next to Bulk and held her hoof out for the baton, only to pull back at the last moment. "Are you really, really, really sure you're ready? I mean, I don't want to take it if you're not super sure." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"READY!" Bulk screamed before the two slowly brought their hooves together, passing the baton from the stallion to the mare. Rainbow slightly smiled at the sight, that is till-

Thud, thud, click!

Rainbow flinched at the noise, now seeing the baton on the ground. Fluttershy had dropped it, which at that moment, Rarity was walked past them and saw the baton. Picking it up in her magic, "Ponyville could do so much better. I'll be back with a freshly painted one in no time!"

"Hey! We were using that!" Rainbow called out as Rarity walked away. "And its not like anypony else has color-coordinated horseshoes or anything!" As if the universe was out to prove her wrong, Spitfire flew past her before handing a color-coordinated horseshoe to Fleetfoot. The mare sighed as she floated down to the ground, "I guess some ponies do."

"Some ponies do what?" Rainbow looked around to see Twilight putting down a pompom before moving up next to her.

Rainbow sighed yet again, "Have a better chance of qualifying and going to the Equestria Games than others." Rainbow began to walk off with her head down, passing Skybreaker as she did so.

The Knight of the Wind raised an eyebrow at the mare's downtrodden look, "What's up with her?"

Twilight frowned and shook her head. "I think she's a little intimidated by the skill difference between the Wonderbolts and her team."

"Well that's silly. Of course the Wonderbolt's a gonna have more skill, they spend everyday of their lives doing this kind of training. This is probably the first time any of Rainbow''s team have even picked up a baton."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. "So you're saying we shouldn't even try against them?"

Skybreaker shook his head this time. "No, I'm saying they should try and be the best they can be and not focus on the competition. Even the Wonderbolts had to first learn how to fly, same way this team needs to learn the basics of the event."

Twilight pleasantly smiled at this, "Why can't Flash be as wise as you?"

Skybreaker let out a laugh, "Give him a few decades. He'll get there...eventually." With that, he headed off onto his patrol.





Rainbow had now regrouped her team and brought them over to the Wonderbolt training area. "Watch and learn. The Cloudsdales are Wonderbolts, and Wonderbolts are the best flyers there are." She then smiled back at the professional athletes, "And my personal heroes."

In that moment, Soarin flew overhead while doing several loop the loops around one of the banners. He was so focused that he didn't even notice Rainbow was there. This made Rainbow smirk as she looked back the team, "So, maybe you can learn something." The sounds of a jet engine made her look up to see Soarin begin the obstacle course, which made her grab the two's chins and pointed them upwards. "Please learn something."

"C'mon Soarin," Fleetfoot called out next. "Pick up the pace! You can do better than that!"

"I sure hope so," Spitfire said as she was being given a massage to keep from muscle strain.

And as the cheerleaders er...cheered, Soarin began to fly through the hoops. A swift upper wind then moved the clouds above him to a spot where they blocked out the sun. Because of this, Soarin pushed his goggles up onto his forehead as he approached the last hoop. But as he did this, a second wind suddenly whipped up and pushed the clouds back away from the sun. "Ack!" he yelped as the light blinded him, making him clip his wing on the side of the last ring. "Whoa!" He cried as the injury made him fly out of control, spinning as he started hurtling to the ground.

Everypony gasped at the sight, Rainbow's instincts taking over instantly. "Hang on!" She shot through the air, increasing her speed to easily pluck Soarin out of the ground. "Gotcha!"

The Wonderbolt and Ponyville teams all cheered at the sight, watching as Rainbow floated down with her coltfriend. Once back on terrafirma, Soarin climbed off Rainbow's back while she spun around to look him over in worry. That is, till he remarked, "Thanks babe."

Rainbow's worried face disappeared, a slight blush now showing. She was about to ask if he was alright, but then Fleetfoot appeared between them. "Awe-some!"

"As good as any Wonderbolt!" Spitfire added.

"Oh Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy spoke up as she walked up to them. "I'm just so proud of you. You scooped Soarin out of the sky and saved him and...now he's okay. At least, I hope he's okay." She turned to Soarin, "Are you okay?"

The Wonderbolt flexed the wing he'd clipped, only to flinch. "Urgh...my wing hurts." As soon as he said this, his eyes drifted over to his teammates and saw their horrified looks, "but I-I'm sure it'll be okay by the time of the competition."

Skybreaker walked up while shaking his head. "Don't push yourself lad." He then gestured to his metal wing, "You don't wanna end up with one of these, do you?"

Rainbow shivered at the sight, "I sure wouldn't."

It was here that the medical ponies arrived, Flash and Rainbow now helping Soarin onto the stretcher. The pegasi let out a sigh of relief as they put him on the moving bed, "Thanks. You're the best Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow smiled and nodded as Twilight walked up to her, "Maybe you should go with him."

Soarin saw Rainbow begin to consider it and shook his head. "No way. She's got more important things to worry about than me." He pointed at his marefriend, "In fact, you're not allowed to come visit me until you've qualified. Got it?"

Rainbow laughed at this, nodding. "Alright, I can accept that." With that, Soarin was carted away while Rainbow turned back to the other two Wonderbolts. "Tough break to lose a teammate right before the tryouts."

Spitfire and Fleetfoot both shared a look, a smile appearing on their faces before they put their shades back on, "You know, you grew up in Cloudsdale."

Spitfire nodded in agreement, "So that means you could fly with us."

Rainbow tilted her head at this, "Fly?"

"We mean...practice. You could practice with us until Soarin's better."

"What do you say?" Spitfire asked as she tipped her glasses down slowly. "Wanna be our third?"

Rainbow's jaw dropped, unable to think as she tried to reply, "Uh...I don't know." She looked back at her team, Fluttershy laughing as Bulk flexed his pecs. "My team really needs me to be at my best in order to qualify. Don't wanna be too worn out by the time the race comes around."

"We put you through some pretty intense workouts at the Wonderbolt Academy, and you handled those just fine."

Rainbow smirked at the praise. "Heh, I did kick some major tail at the Academy," her smirk then became a frown. "But I don't know how my teammates will feel about me practising with the competition."

"Who says they need to know?" Fleetfoot asked before grabbing the mare's checks. "Think about it, Rainbow Dash," she pointed at the goal ring. "This is your chance to fly with the winners!"

Rainbow stared at the goal, then back at her team. A few clicks went out in her head as she muttered, "Alright...I'll do it."

Spitfire chuckled and swung her hoof around the mare's shoulders, "Wise decision, Rainbow Dash."

And as the laughing continued, a certain steel winged pony let out a long, draining sigh.





And so began Rainbow Dash's training with both the Ponyville and Cloudsdale teams. However, she would soon learn that splitting her time between the two parties was gonna be a lot harder than she thought. This arrangement would also make her see the difference of skill levels that existed between the two teams, beginning on the second day when she and Fleetfoot practiced on the obstacle course baton pass. As soon as the whistle was blown, Rainbow began navigating through the moving rings, which had been put on the highest speed, before passing the horseshoe to Fleetfoot.

"Awesome!" She cheered as she immediately went through her section, the Cloudsdale cheerleaders flying up next to Rainbow as she left.

"Whinny, ponies, whinny! Fly on, fly on, fly on!!" Rainbow smirked at this before flying back to her team, passing Twilight as she held up some pompoms.

When she arrived, she handed Bulk the baton and had him do the course. She decided to keep the rings stationary, at least until he got the hang to flying through them. "Come on Bulk Biceps, you can do it!" However, a new problem revealed itself when the musclebound pegasus attempted to fly through the first ring. Notice the use of the word 'attempted', as when Bulk tried to fit through the ring...he got stuck.

Fluttershy chose this moment to come up to him. "Um...I'm ready to take the horseshoe, if you want me to." Bulk nodded and tried to pass the ring over, the ring's pole bending as he tried. It was here that Fluttershy grabbed the baton, only for the pole to reach its bending limit and bounce back, catapulting both Bulk and Fluttershy towards a nearby mountain. Luckily, Flash had been watching and was able to catch them before they made contact while Rainbow groaned at the sight, facehoofing at the same time.

Another skill gap was revealed when Rainbow was doing wing ups with the Wonderbolts. Not only could their wings lift their bodies with all four hoofs off the ground, but could also lift a whole other pony. Rainbow watched as Spitfire and Fleetfoot didn't even break a sweat doing this, showing her just how strong they were psychically. This was even more obvious when Rainbow returned to her team and had them do some wing ups. Fluttershy was having trouble with pushing herself up, while Bulk couldn't even get his tiny wings to touch the ground.

Rainbow moaned at the sight, the call of the Wonderbolts starting to grow a bit too strong. "You...uh, keep doing your wing ups. I'm just gonna get some...um, water."

She was about to fly away when Flash flew up beside her. "Hey, looks like you're having a little trouble."

Rainbow's brain went into overdrive, trying to come up with a way to end the conversation quickly. "Maybe a little, but what can you do? We-"

"You could try using wing weights for Bulk. Have them match his body weight and it'll work the same as a wing up."

"Sure...why don't you do that." Rainbow said while barely listening, "I'll be...um."

"Oh yeah, I went to see Soarin this morning. Looks like his wing will be fine by tomorrow."

"Great! Good to hear!" Rainbow yelped out as she put her hooves behind her back, "Now...I uh...gotta go." With that, she flew off, making Flash raise an eyebrow.





The next day...

Rainbow and the Wonderbolts were now flying in formation while carrying buckets of food. Eating while training may seem like a bad idea, mainly because of the cramps, but their bodies were used to it due to years of the treatment. However, the aftereffects were still something Rainbow was getting used to. As such, when she rejoined her team for lunch, her stomach was unable to enjoy the apple brown bettys she had been looking forward too. Probably for the best though, since both Bulk and Flash ended up in an eating contest a little bit later.

Later that day, Rainbow was with Spitfire and Fleetfoot when a bunch of ponies came up and began measuring them. It was then shown that those measurements are for the flight suits, which Spitfire told Rainbow that her's could be a souvenir and thank you present for helping them train. The cloud colored flight suit fit Rainbow like a glove, as if she was born to wear it.

The same couldn't be said for the Ponyville design. When Rainbow had returned to her team's area, she had discovered a nearly petrified Flash, complete with a dropped jaw. Following his vision, she quickly mirrored him when she saw both Fluttershy and Bulk, dressed in what she could only describe as a table cloth somepony had cut holes into it. That and it came with frilly pink hoof bands and flowers in their manes. Rarity turned to the two and asked, "Too much?"

Flash finally recovered enough to talk, saying, "Maybe it's not such a bad thing that I'm not competing." While Rainbow responded with a long, draining groan.





Twenty four hours now remained before the qualifying round began.

The Cloudsdale team had just finished another workout and were about to finish up. It was here that Rainbow waved Spitfire and Fleetfoot goodbye while making her way back to the Ponyville area. Changing out of her gear cartoon-style, an exhausted Rainbow heaved over to a nearby waterfall pond and began drinking up as much water as she could.

"It's not easy practising with two teams, is it?" Rainbow shot up, spitting the water out as she spun around to see Flash and Twilight glaring at her.

"You...know?" She asked with a loud gulp.

Flash crossed his hooves. "We know."

Rainbow began to sweat buckets, her form almost backpedaling into the water. "Does...anypony else know?"

Twilight let out a long sigh before shaking her head. "No. They're too busy practising to wonder why you keep disappearing."

"Well, I've seen the other teams practising, and we're still gonna qualify." To prove her point, she shot up into the air and stopped without any issue. "I can fly fast enough to make up the distance."

Flash rolled his eyes at this. "Don't underestimate the opposition. For all you know, they're holding back to lull you into a false sense of security. Instead of banking on your own skill alone, you should try getting the rest of your team up to your level."

Twilight nodded in agreement, "Flash is right. Ponyville needs your attention more the Cloudsdale does."

Rainbow frowned as she lowered herself to the ground. "But its so much more fun working out with the winners than...um-"

"The losers?" Flash said flatly.

"I didn't say that."

"You were thinking it though." Flash growled, a look of pure disapproval on his face.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Rainbow barked back. "Even if I'm working with the Wonderbolts more than the others, Ponyville will still qualify."

"Hey Rainbow Dash," the three turned to see Spitfire and Fleetfoot walking up to them. "You got a minute?"

"Uh...sure." Rainbow replied while Flash and Twilight glanced at each other.

"You could really be an asset to our team," Fleetfoot commented before gesturing her hoof out. "So...we want you to join the Cloudsdale team. Permanently."

Rainbow gasped as the other two looked on in confusion, Flash then speaking up, "Hold on there. What about Soarin? He said his wing would be better by now."

Spitfire shook her head and shrugged, "Turns out, he overestimated his recovery time." She looked back to Rainbow, "We want you to fly with us."

Rainbow's eyes went wider than they had ever gone. This was a dream come true, at least until Fleetfoot reminded her, "Of course, this means you won't be able to fly for Ponyville. But let's face it," She pointed to Ponyville's team area, showing Fluttershy and Bulk practising the baton pass. "Even with you on their team, their chances of qualifying for the Games-" Fluttershy accidently slammed the horseshoe into Bulks face, making him hit the ground. "-are pretty slim."

"That's a bit mean," Flash hissed back. A second later, Bulk's whimper made them turn back to see him running off teary eyed with Fluttershy chasing after him and apologising. This sight alone made Flash facehoof. "Seriously?!"

Spitfire smirked at this, "So, what's it gonna be Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow glanced back at the Wonderbolt captain, blinking and sweating at the same time. She could feel her nerves cover her spine as her head shift back and forth from the Wonderbolts to the Ponyville team. The very sight combined with the choices made her stomach turn, "Well, I...I..."

"Take some time to think about it," Spitfire told her as she and Fleetfoot spun around. "But don't take too long."

With that, they left while Rainbow just stood there. She then turned back to her friends, "They want me to fly with them!" She flew around the two before landing on her back, "it's like a dream come true!"

Twilight and Flash both glanced at each other, Twilight asking, "Want me to take this?"

Flash gave a firm nod. "Sure. You can go first, and I'll back you up to help prove a point."

"Sounds good to me."

"Go first for what?" Rainbow replied as she got back up. "What are you all talking about?"

Twilight crossed her hooves as she began, "If you fly for Cloudsdale, Pinkie Pie won't have anypony to cheer for. Rarity's uniforms will never be seen, and Applejack will have slaved over those apple brown bettys for nothing."

Rainbow's face started to change, no longer showing the amazement and joy she had before. Instead, it started to show a small frown, which Twilight gestured to Flash. Nodding, he continued the list, "There's also Fluttershy and Bulk. The only reason they're trying so hard is because they know how much you want to compete in the games. How do you think they'll feel when they learn that all their hard work wasn't enough for you? You know those two's confidence issues about their flying. This could cripple them."

Rainbow blinked at this, a frown now fully showing on her face, "But I...I..." She stared down at the grass as she started to rub her right hoof with her left, "I...I really wanna fly with the best team!" The athlete looked back up with quivering lip and desperation in her eyes. "What would you two do?"

Flash and Twilight both sighed at her question, Twilight responding, "That's a decision you have to make on your own," they then turned around to walk away. "The race is tomorrow, so you'd better make it soon."

Once they were gone, Rainbow's legs gave out and she fell onto her flank. "Awww...what am I gonna do?"

"Tough choice, huh?" She spun around to see Skybreaker standing by a tree while rubbing his metal wing with a cloth.

Rainbow let out a sigh as she stared at him. "You can't want me to stay with Ponyville as well, do you? If I do, Cloudsdale won't be able to compete."

Skybreaker just shrugged at this. "If that happens, it happens."

Rainbow leaned her neck back in surprise, "But...but you're from Cloudsdale."

Skybreaker let out a low hum, "True. I was born, raised and knighted there. I would have once given my life to make sure it saw the next sunrise, and when I was your age, I would have argued for you to join our team. But I'm a Royal Knight, so I must remain neutral in all matters."

"Neutral?"

Skybreaker nodded. "A Royal Knight's loyalty belongs to all of Equestria, not just a single city. Why do you think Flash and I aren't competing?"

"I thought it was because you two were on guard duty."

"That's just an excuse we use. The fact is, competing in the Games would show we care about that city more than anything else. Like I said, a Knight's loyalty can never be focused on one place. If Equestria was invaded tomorrow, I would have to head to the town or city under greatest threat, even if I want to keep Cloudsdale safe."

Rainbow went wide-eyed at this information, gasping, "Wow....I never knew it was like that. Gosh...being a Royal Knight must be tough if that's the case. Does Flash know?"

"Oh, he knows. He just doesn't like it. He'll learn to accept it one day, the same way I did."

"I don't think I could."

"Not everypony can. Its one of the reasons the title of Royal Knight is so difficult to obtain, even for the most loyal of ponies in the guard. Only a select few can detach themselves from their friends and family enough to see what must be done for the greater good. Its the same way you need to detach yourself from this situation in order to make a decision."

"Huh?!"

Skybreaker shook his head at this, soon walking up and patting her shoulder, "Listen, you need to look at your choice from every angle. If you join one team, then it appears the other will not be able to compete. Every single capable pegasus from both Ponyville and Cloudsdale are competing in other events, even the other Wonderbolts. No matter what happens, your decision will be causing somepony to not be able to enter. So the question is, which team needs you more than the other?" With that, Skybreaker spread is wings before jumping into the air. He hovered for a moment as he looked down to Rainbow, "Princess Twilight is right though. This is a decision that only can make."

And as he flew off, Rainbow slumped back into the grass to mull over her choice. But as her thoughts drifted, she soon made a choice.





The next morning...

The day of the qualifiing rounds had finally arrived. The time trials began at noon, and both Cloudsdale and Ponyville were one of the last, so their run wouldn't be until around three or four PM. That gave them seven to eight hours remaining until they were to fight for thier chance at the Games.

However, the question on four ponies minds was whether Cloudsdale or Ponyville would be the teams doing the run. And as Flash and Twilight arrived at the track, the pegasus turned to the alicorn. "You think she'll do the right thing?"

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "I'm not even sure what the right thing is now. No matter what Rainbow does, one team is not gonna be able to compete. Regardless of what happens, she has to decide whether to stand beside her friends, or her heroes."

Before Flash could say anything else, a familiar voice echoed throughout the field. "Woe is me! Oooh!" They all turned to source of the voice, soon spotting one Rainbow Dash sitting in a wheelchair covered in bandages.

"Oh, you have got to kidding me," Flash moaned while facehoofing.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked as she and the others started to crowd around her.

"Urgh..." Rainbow cried out before holding up a bandaged hoof, "I've hurt my hoof."

Pinkie and Rarity both gasped while Flash and Twilight glared at the mare, Spitfire also suspicious as she started inspecting her 'injuries'. Looking up at Rainbow with a cocked eyebrow, she asked, "What happened?!"

Rainbow began to sweat, the look on her face showing she's obviously forgotten to come up with an origin for her injuries. "I uh...tripped on a-a foam hoof and landed on a-" She then mumbled something unintelligible into her hoof, causing the group to just blink in response.

Pinkie growled as she stomped her pompom covered hooves into the ground. "If I get my hooves on that-" She mimicked whatever it was Rainbow said before stomping again, "it'll be in BIG TROUBLE!"

Rainbow moaned in pain again. "There's no way I can fly now."

"Do you think you'll be better by tryouts?" Fluttershy asked as she held her hooves over her mouth in fear.

Rainbow let out a long groan, now bening over the arm of her wheelchair. "I'll be lucky if I can ever fly again!" Flash and Twilight rolled their eyes as they heard her sigh, "I just need a little rest."

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy helped push the pegasus back up, "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash. We'll take care of you...or, at least, somepony will." She started pushing the chair, "like, a medic or-or a doctor, or a nurse."

The look on Rainbow's face told Flash and Twilight she obviously hadn't thought this through. "Twenty bits says this blows up in her face." Twilight turned to shoot him a glare, which quickly morphed into a smirk.

"Deal, plus an extra five bits if she comes clean and decides to fly for Ponyville."

Flash nodded as the two shook hooves in agreement.





Soon enough, Rainbow found herself in the town hospital. Once she was checked in, the doctor assigned her a room and found herself wheeled into a room with a very familiar pegasus laying in bed. Soarin gasped at the sight of her, "Rainbow?! Holy cow, what happened?!"

"We'll tell you later," Flash grumbled as they helped Rainbow into bed. Not too long afterwards, the doctor came in and ushered everypony out so he could examine her. He did so, asking her several confusing questions that caused Rainbow to fumble with her answers.

It wasn't long till he left, which he then talked to the group before going back to Rainbow. There, Twilight stared at the heart monitor beside her bed. "So...the medic pony isn't sure what's wrong with you."

"Everything!" Rainbow exclaimed, "Absolutely everything!"

Applejack moved up to the bed, holding an apple brown betty in her hoof. "This'll cure everythin' that ails ya!" She shoved the dessert into Rainbow's mouth, the pegasus munching at it happily.

"Thank you," she said through her stuffed mouth. "I couldn't have done that on my own."

Twilight sighed and Flash facehoofed again while Rarity stepped over to her. "Nothing says 'get better' like a little medical pizazz!" She levitated a piece of sparkly purple cloth out of her bag, tying it around Rainbow's hoof. "Silk slings and a glitter bandage?"

The hospital door then opened, Fluttershy and Bulk now walking in. However, the large pegasi got stuck on the door, which Flash had to help him get free. While he did this, Fluttershy asked, "And how is our patient doing?"

"I've been better."

Fluttershy then patted her on the shoulder. "We just wanted to let you know that we're so sorry you're hurt, but you shouldn't worry a bit about not being able to be in the tryouts. We'll be alright." She turned back to the door, "we even have a replacement." Everypony followed her gaze and saw Derpy appear in the doorway, waving a Ponyville flag.

Flash was about to say something, but his mouth was magically shut but a purple aura that made him glare at the only alicorn in the room. Thanks to this, Fluttershy continued. "We're so, so sorry that you can't compete. We all know how much you love to fly. And we promise-"

"CROSS OUR HEARTS!" Bulk's outcried, shocking Derpy into dropping her flag.

"That if we qualify and make it to the Equestria Games and all win gold medals, you can have ours, because we know how much a gold medal means to you."

Hearing her say that made something inside Rainbow crack, her eyes shrinking as she squeaked out, "Thanks..."

Seeing her expression, Twilight cleared her throat to get everypony's attention. "I think Rainbow Dash might need some more rest." The others all nodded and said their goodbyes, the group soon leaving until Twilight was the only one left. She let out a long sigh as she shook her head at the mare, "You know, choosing not to choose isn't really a decision." She then followed the others and shut the door, leaving Rainbow and Soarin alone together.

Soarin had been smiling the whole time as he watched the discussion, now turning to his girlfriend. "You sure have nice friends. Heck, the only pony who visited me was Flash, but I guess the team's just too busy practising."

Rainbow took note of Soarin's wing, which was currently in a cast. "Well, who knows. Maybe your wing will start feeling better before the trials."

Soarin glanced back at his wing and frowned. "Oh, its fine." He flapped it around, showing no pain whatsoever. "I'm just keeping it warm in case my team wants me back."

This made Rainbow's eyes go wide, "What?! What do you mean, 'wants you back'?! Spitfire and Fleetfoot told me that you were still too injured to fly!"

Hearing this made Soarin raise an eyebrow. "No...they told me that they were worried I wouldn't be one hundred percent by the tryouts, so they were going with somepony else."

"That somepony else was me!" Rainbow cried out as she pointed at her chest.

"You?! But...aren't you already on a team?"

Rainbow flinched at his question. Gulping, she tried to look away at his staring eyes. A sigh following this, she told began to tell him the past day, how his teammates had asked her to help them train until he returned. She also talked about how she had been juggling the two training routines until Spitfire had asked her to join, along with Flash, Twilight and Skybreaker talking to her afterwards. Then they got to the part she had been fearing.

"You faked your injuries?!" Soarin almost screamed, making his marefriend once again flinch. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Yeah...I know it was a terrible thing to do, but I just couldn't decide Soarin. I...I'm sorry."

"But..." Soarin tried to reply, only to let out a long sigh. He now saw the sadness on his marefriend's face, making him cringe as he laid back intp the bed, "So...I guess that's that. It's not like you can have a miraculous recovery, and I doubt my team will ask me to join."

"Really?! Spitfire won't do that?!"

"No." Soarin hissed as he turned away, "That mare is way too proud for her own good. Now Cloudsdale won't be able to qualify without three fliers, and Ponyville won't qualify without you. Its over."

As those final words sunk in, Rainbow shrunk into the bed. She felt her heart twist like a pretzel as she whispered to herself, "Way to go Rainbow. You let both teams down, and you pretty much did it for no real reason." She looked back to Soarin, "I failed Ponyville, Cloudsdale, the Wonderbolts....and him."

It was in that moment that a gentle wind blew into the room from the window, causing the blinds to open slightly. This allowed the light of the sun to shine in, which targetted a water jug beside her bed. The light then refracted onto the floor as a rainbow of colors. The 'injured' pegasus followed the light, seeing it move along the floor before hitting something. It was the flag that Derpy had dropped, which was now being illuminated by a rainbow-colored light.

And as this happened, Rainbow's eyes went wide before a rainbow reflected in them. Her whole form shifted as determination flared in her eyes. With a quick leap out of the bed, she caught Soarin's attention as she said, "Come on Soarin, let's get to those time trials."





Back at the training grounds, the group were now all sitting in Ponyville's area. Depression filled the area as they waited for Flash to get back from talking to Skybreaker about possibly joining the team for the qualifier. But as they turned to see the duo walking up to them, Flash's expression didn't help as he said, "Sorry girls, but I'm still not allowed to run, even if its only till Rainbow's healed."

Skybreaker sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but rules are rules."

The others all looked down in disappointment, Twilight speaking up. "Even with Rainbow Dash's replacement, I don't think we're gonna qualify." She turned to give Derpy a nervous smile, "No offense." The pegasus mare just shrugged in response, no offense obviously taken.

"Gah!" Pinkie spun around to look at a pile of pompoms behind her, "What am I gonna do with all these now?!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow at this, "Uh...what were you gonna do with them before?"

Rarity sighed as she levitated her 'creation', "Maybe my Equestria Games uniforms will still be in style next year." She dropped the dress, making it fall atop Twilight's head. "I mean, I am pretty fashion-forward."

"Is that so?" Flash replied as he continued to glare at the monstrosity, the idea of this Rarity being a fashion blind Changeling flying through his head.

But before he could double check his theory, Twilight spoke up, "Is that Rainbow Dash...walking?"

"Huh?" He and the others followed Twilight's gaze and spotted the 'crippled' mare trotting down the path, Soarin not too far behind wiht his bandages removed.

When Spitfire and Fleetfoot noticed her, their shades fell to their noses while Spitfire dropped the bottle she'd been drinking from. Fleetfoot then asked, "Does...this mean you're feeling better?"

Rainbow frowned, but shook her head and stood tall. "I-I feel great, because-" She flapped her wings and the bandages flew off, revealing no injuries whatsoever. "I was never hurt in the first place." This caused both the Wonderbolts and Ponyville team to gasp, Flash now groaning as he handed twenty-five bits over to a smiling Twilight. "I faked my injury so that I wouldn't have to choose between flying for Ponyville or Cloudsdale. I wanted to fly with you both, and the decision was too hard!"

"Oh Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy stepped over to her friend. "You don't have to choose us. I know you love to win, and you should go with the team that surely will."

Rainbow smiled at her friend, the decision she'd made now more clear than ever. "I know now who I should've been loyal to."

"Good choice," Spitfire nudged Fleetfoot with a giant grin. "Always stick with the winners."

"I'm sticking with Ponyville," this caused both Wonderbolts to raise an eyebrow as they watched her move over to them. "Because its not just where I live, but it's where my friends are. The ponies who really care about me, whether I can help them win a race or not."

Hearing this, everypony began to cheer at Rainbow's decision. That is, except Spitfire, who then got up into Rainbow's face with a glare, "Are you sure that's the right decision?!"

"You lied to me about Soarin's wing just so you could get a better flyer!" Rainbow yellled back as she pointed at her coltfriend behind her. As for him, he was crossing his hooves and glaring at his teammates, "You may be a winning team, but you're still not the kind of team I wanna be a part of."

And as everypony readied themselves for Spitfire to angrily retort back, they all backpedaled at the sight. That is, till nothing happened. Blinking at this, they watched as Spitfire mumbled out, "Huh..." She then reached up and removed her shades for the first time since asking the the mare to join. "Rainbow Dash, you are something. Saw it at the Academy, seeing it again here. We could learn a lot from a competitor like you."

"Think we already have," Fleetfoot added.

Spitfire nodded before trotting over to Soarin, "Ready to fly?"

Soarin's eyes went wide in shock, "Really?!"

Spitfire looked slightly away, biting her lip as she replied, "Yeah. I uh...sorry. I should have never lied and tried to replace you."

Soarin let out a laugh before shooting into the sky. "Go, Cloudsdale!" Spitfire and Fleetfoot followed after him as Rainbow turned back to her friends.

"Come on Ponyville relay team!" She leapt into the air, "We've got a race to get ready for!" She flew after the Wonderbolts, Fluttershy following not too far behind.

"YEAH!" Bulk cheered as he went after them.





A few hours of practice later, we now find both teams ready for their time trial.

The Wonderbolts were the first to go, Soarin as the starting pony and showing no problems as he completed the course and handed the baton to Spitfire. She also ran her section of the track perfectly and passed the baton to Fleetfoot before joining Soarin at the goal, watching as the final flyer raced to the finish line. Fleetfoot eventually shot through the goal, the others watching as the time keep stopped the clock before nodding at them. They all cheered at this before Soarin looked down at the track's starting line. "Come on Ponyville! You can do it!"

The others on the ground watched as Bulk began to fly, slowly and carefully so he wouldn't get stuck in the hoops again. Doing this burned up a lot of time, so when he reached Fluttershy, they only had half the time they began with. Fluttershy took the baton, fumbling with it a moment, before beginning her section of the course. Back on the ground, a very oddly dressed Twilight cheered. "Go, Fluttershy! Woo-hoo!" The others all followed suit and cheered as Fluttershy eventually passed the baton to Rainbow, who zipped off barely a second later.

The Cloudsdale cheerleaders did their own little Ponyville cheer, Pinkie helping them. "Qualify, Ponyville! Qualify, Ponyville!"

"Woo-hoo!" The party pony leapt atop their hooves, confetti shooting out of her pompoms. "Go Rainbow Dash!"

Only a few seconds remained on the clock as Rainbow took that baton. And as the prism painted mare flapped to her limit, the air around her coned so much that she was scared she would end up doing a Sonic Rainboom. With a quick readjustment to her speed, she finished the last obstacle and now aimed straight at the goal. The world seemed to go into slow motion as the goal grew ever closer, only to finally break through the cloud filled ring. Everypony turned to the time keeper, the pony stopping the device before raising his hoof, "Ponyville qualifies!"

For many weeks after, everypony who had been in Rainbow Falls on that day would talk about how they almost went deaf due to the sudden uproar that swept through the town. Rainbow couldn't believe it as Fluttershy and Bulk pulled her into a hug, the ground ponies and Wonderbolts all cheering for them.

An hour later, the five qualifying teams were standing on podiums as the time keeper presented each of them with ribbons. And as Rainbow received her ribbon, she felt somepony tap her shoulder. She looked up and saw Spitfire smiling at her before taking off a Wonderbolt badge she had been wearing and placing it on the ribbon. Rainbow stared it before smiling back at the Wonderbolt, Spitfire nodding with a salute.

The Wonderbolts all shot up into the sky, Rainbow watching them leave with awe before hearing Bulk cry out. "YEAH!"

"Yeah!" the Ponyville team cheered while Pinkie let out a, "woo-hoo!"

They all grouped up as the time keeper readied a camera so he could take a picture. Twilight put an hoof around Rainbow's neck as the camera flashed, "Equestria Games, here we come!"





As she got back to Ponyville, Rainbow headed to the library and grabbed their friendship journal. She took the photo and stuck it in the book, than began to write.



Dear Diary,

Training with Spitfire and Fleetfoot for the Equestria Games was totally awesome. I mean, they're Wonderbolts and really know their stuff when it comes to flying. And when they asked me to fly with them as part of Team Cloudsdale, I gotta say, I was totally tempted. But there's Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps from Team Ponyville. They may not be the strongest flyers—well, let's face it, they're not the strongest flyers—but they sure get an A for effort! And they represent the home team of Ponyville. And as Pinkie says, "P for Ponyville!"

Still, I can't deny it. I LOVE to win...really, really love it! But if I ever gotta choose between winning and being loyal to my friends...I'll always choose my friends. 'Cause as much as I love winning, I love them waaay more!



As soon as she finished writing, she saw her friends playing outside. She then took off her ribbon and put it on the podium. And after she left to join them, a rainbow colored shine reflected off the badge.
> Iron's Revenge PT1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heat and smoke filled the room as the flames within a forge burned. Next to the forge was a pair of earth ponies, a gray stallion with a brown mane and tail that was manning the bellow while a green mare with a black mane and tail was staring into the fire. She then used her teeth to grab a pair of metal tongs before placing them into the forge, retracting them a second later to show a metal cup that wielded a glowing liquid within it.

Carefully trotting over to a table, she lifted the cup over a metal box, tilting her head to pour the liquid. It was here that the stallion stopped the bellow and moved over to the table, his eyes scanning the box over. But as he did this, the corner of his eye spotted the door to the forge now cracking open, an eye now looking through its frame. The stallion pointed to the door, the mare following his gaze before sighing, "Iron...what did we tell you?"

The door started to move, now showing a gray colt with black hair, "My homework's done."

The ponies giggled at his young innocent voice before nodding, "Alright. If that's the case, come on in." The colt shined a huge grin as he trotted up to his mother, his vision switching between her and his father. His father then lifted the mold off the table and moved it to an anvil.

"Don't get too close son," his father commented as he opened the cast, revealing that the liquid within had been shaped and solidified into the form of a shovel head. He then lifted the metal with his tongs, his eyes scanning it over before turning to his son, seeing his intense stare at the metal. Looking back at his work, the stallion slowly asked, "Iron...what is the most important thing when forging any metal? Is it fire, or ice?"

"Fire," Iron replied without a second thought. But his father turned to give him a questioning look, "Or...maybe ice?"

"You sure?" His mother asked next, the colt soon nodding.

His father smirked as the mare took the tongs with gloved hooves, gripping the metal as the stallion started hitting it with a hammer. "It's both son. Fire is there to help us give it shape," he did the last hit before taking the tongs, soon dipping the metal into some water. "And the ice...the ice is there to freeze it into shape."

"And that's what makes it strong?" Iron asked.

The mare laughed as she leaned down and hugged him, "No dear. A piece of metal is made strong not by how it is made, but by the trials it goes through." She pointed at the shovel head as his father lifted it up. "That shovel was made here, but it won't truly become strong until it is slammed into a rock, showing that is undamaged while doing its duty."

Iron tilted his head at this, his small colt mind trying to think. But before he could ask anything, a knock at the door broke their conversation. Iron's parents then stepped over to the door, opening it, "Can we help you?"

Iron walked between his parents legs and saw who they were talking to. It was here that his small colt eyes stared went wide as he saw the individual's face, for it would be one that would forever be ingrained into his memory. "Yes. My name...is Longhorn."





Iron's eyes shot open, his body gripping the bed covers as he sat up. A series of pants followed as he let out a groan. Soon rubbing his eyes, he hopped out of bed before walking into his bathroom, quickly doing the basic morning routine. And as he finished, he let out another moan, "Ugh...why did I dream that?"

The defender grabbed his trusty Celestic Gear next, a long sigh following as he trotted out of his hut. He then started his usual everyday path, soon seeing a familiar cottage come into view. Outside the building was a particular mare, watering her plants with a certain bunny helping her. She soon looked up, both smiling as she said, "Good morning Iron Core."

"Morning," he stared up at the cottage, smirking at the sight. "Finally got that freeloader out of your house, I see." He was talking about a particular draconequus, who had taken up a temporary residence due to catching a cold. It also didn't help that this happened right after coming back from Canterlot, where he and Flash had been helping Grand track down a crime ring in the city.

"Now Iron, I couldn't just leave Discord sick like that."

"I guess. But you can be way too kind for your own good sometimes."

Fluttershy showed a small blush, causing her to try to hide behind her hair. "As long as my kindness helps those in need, I'll keep using it as much as I feel is necessary."

Iron couldn't help but smile at her reddened face, reaching out to push her hair away. "Just try and think about yourself sometimes. There's nothing wrong with being a little selfish."

The defender then turned around, starting to walk away from the animal caretaker. And as his form began to go away, she spoke up, "Um...Iron?"

"Yeah?" Iron asked as he looked back, only to blink as Fluttershy tried to hide behind her hair again. "What's up? Something wrong?"

"Oh...um..." She twiddled her hooves next, causing her to slightly backpedal. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Iron raised an eyebrow at this, only to shrug. "Okay. See ya later squirt."

With that, he continued to walk away, ready to begin his patrol. And as he disappeared into the distance, Fluttershy let out a long sigh, looking down in shame. "Coward..."





The day seemed to be like any other, Iron completing his patrol and heading to the canyon where Flash and Springer were busy trying to perfect their combo move while Lightning and Iron trained. After that, the defenders split up to go about their normal day, Flash and Springer now having lunch with Twilight and Scootaloo while Lightning went to find Wild.

It was here that Iron felt his own stomach growl, making him go to the first restaurant he came across. "Sprout and parsnip soup," he told the waiter as he put his menu down, the waiter nodding before heading off and leaving Iron to sit back and relax.

As he did, he couldn't help but overhear a pair of ponies talking about what a stallion was reading in the newspaper. "I can't believe there's been an breakout at Grand Stable." Iron blinked at this, his brain now pulling up information he had been told about over Grand Stable Penitentiary. It was Equestria's biggest prison, and was supposedly impenetrable. It was located on an island off Equestria's coast, and was where the kingdom's worst criminals were located. The only place more secure than that was Tartarus, where ponies who tried to destroy Equestria were kept.

"That ain't good..." Iron whispered to himself as his ear spiked up, now fulling listening to the two ponies.

The mare sitting with the stallion shivered like a leaf as she said, "I hope they don't come here. If they managed to get out of Grand Stable of all places, they must be really dangerous. What do you think the Princesses are doing about it?"

"They're probably already on it. My bet is they'll either send a whole guard division, or like...I don't know, two of the Royal Knights."

"Well, that's good. I hope they recapture them soon. Does it say who the escaped ones are?"

Iron heard the stallion hum. "Doesn't give any names. It does show some pictures though, probably to help ponies spot them. Looks like one of them's...a bull?"

This made Iron hop out of his seat, turning to fully look at the couple. It was here that he walked over and ripped the paper out of the stallion's hooves. "Hey!" the stallion yelped, but his voice didn't reach Iron's ears.

Instead, Iron's eyes saw the picture of a gray colored bull with a load of black hair and a long shaggy beard. The world around Iron faded away as he stared at the image, his breath becoming ragged as he growled, "Longhorn..." He then looked down, "Last spotted at...Dodge Junction."

The paper began to crinkle in his hooves, causing the stallion pulled the sheet from his grasp, "Hey! What the heck's your problem?!"

Iron didn't hear this either, turning to grab his weapon. And as he walked away, the waiter walked out and saw him leave, "What of your soup, sir?"

But there was no response. The defender was already leaving eyesight of the ponies at the restaurant, and anypony who saw him made them backpedal from the sight. There was anger now showing on his face, a low long growl coming from his mouth as he hissed, "I won't let you get away."





That night...

Fluttershy hummed as she and her animal friends sat on the floor of her bedroom, going through the many pictures that she had taken during her trip to see the Breezies. With everything that had happened when she got back, she didn't have time to properly sort them for scrapbooking. She then held up another picture, allowing her spider friend Fuzzy Legs to fire a shot of webbing onto the back of it. "Thank you," she placed it into the book, gently pressing down to make it stick. "There we go..."

She then flipped the page, now smiling as she saw another picture. It was an image taken at Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding, showing her and Iron slow dancing. She had wanted to dance with everypony else, but didn't have the courage to go out on the dance floor. Despite this, Iron agreed to help her and took her to a secluded part of the garden. It was here that they danced to the music, totally unaware that Pinkie had been hiding in a bush with a camera. As for when Pinkie gave her the photo, Fluttershy's face went pure red.

But now, looking at it only filled her with joy. She had to admit it to herself, ever since the tornado event, Fluttershy had begun to notice how her heart seemed to beat a little faster whenever Iron was around. She had been confused by this at first, but over time, especially after the reforming Discord event, she started to realize what it meant.

She had feelings for Iron Core.

He was everything she wished she could be. He was confident, out-spoken, and not one to let fear stop him from doing what he wanted to do. The stallion may have been angry and un-social when she first met him, but she could tell he had softened a little over the past few months.

There was no denying the fact that she liked him. She knew she did, but was worried it would be a mess thanks to seeing how Flash and Twilight are. But despite this, she soon found her answer. That answer had came after learning that Rainbow was in a relationship with Soarin. If she, the least girly of all her friends, could actually get herself a coltfriend, then she knew she could do it too.

Well, that had been her plan. Unfortunately, she didn't have Iron's confidence or Rainbow's guts. Over the last few weeks, she had been trying to confess to the stallion, only to chicken out at the last minute, the most recent attempt being this morning.

Now, she was staring at the picture with a red tint appearing over her face. Her mind started to show images in her head, all fantasies as she imagined herself dancing in another garden. There, it was only them, the stallion showing the biggest smile she had ever seen, his form easily lifting her up. And as they got closer, she could feel her real self shiver in excitement as she imagined a long, passionate kiss happening between the two. She could feel the butterflies now flying in her stomach, filling her with joy.

"Oh...if only I could tell him."

She turned the page again, now seeing her and Rainbow hugging each other in their filly days. The daredevil in the picture had a huge goofy grin while Fluttershy just showed a small smile. "Rainbow...she could always do what I couldn't. I remember when she helped me with flying after the Sonic Rainboom. She always had the strength I could never obtain."

A long sigh followed this, only to turn another page and see all of her friends. They were all smiling, happy after they had beaten Nightmare Moon. She remembered all the courage they had after going after the crazed alicorn, causing her to blink before lifting herself up. "Yes...all my friends are like that. They all have courage, and I...I need to have some too!"

The animals all went wide-eyed as she headed for the stairs. "I'm gonna tell him right now." She raced down the stairs, a look of confidence trying to show on her face, "I'm sure he'll accept my feelings." But as she touched the last step, she put her hoof over her mouth, biting it. "Or will he? It's already late. Maybe it's better to tell him tomorrow." She spun around, walking to the middle of stairs before turning around again, "No, I'll do it tonight." Once again, the animals saw her trot back down. That is, till she came to a stop and spun to go up the stairs. "Well...tomorrow." She turned around again, the pattern now repeating. "No! Tonight!" The pattern repeated again on the stairs, "Or...tomorrow."

Angel rolled his eyes at his owner's uncertainty. Turning to the other animals, he gave his orders and saw them all nod in agreement. As Fluttershy arrived at the top of the stairs again, she suddenly found herself being lifted off the floor by Harry. "Eep! What the-what are you doing?!" The bear didn't answer as he walked downstairs with the mare, soon reaching the door as the birds opened it up. "Wait! Don't-whoa!"

Before she could do anything, Fluttershy was dropped outside, the door shutting behind her. She picked herself up and tried to open the door, only to see it wouldn't budge. She then tried the windows and saw her animals are giving her expectant looks. A long gulp following as she mumbled out, "Oh...you're not gonna let me back in until I tell him, aren't you?" The animals all nodded.

A long sigh followed as she nodded back. "Okay. I'll...uh, I'll do it." She turned and stared at Iron's hut, a deep breath of preparation now expelling from her mouth. "Well...here goes nothing." She began to walk away from the cottage, only to fly back and try the door one more time. Another sigh happened as the door refused to move, causing her to turn and slump at the wooden frame. "Oh dear. I don't think I'm ready for-"

Before she could say another word, her ears spiked as she heard hoofsteps coming out of the darkness. The sound made her squeak in terror before jumping into a nearby bush. Her eyes soon peeked out of the grass, now seeing that it was Iron making those hoofsteps. She went wide-eyed as she saw the anger pouring out of his face, the sight making her feel uneasy. That and the saddlebag he was now carrying.

"Wait...is Iron leaving?" she whispered to herself as she saw him stare at her house. And as he stared, his anger disappeared for a second, showing an expression of sadness...and regret. A long sigh followed before he turned away, her eyes seeing the anger return to his face.

She blinked at the sight as Iron walked out of sight. The pegasi then climbed out of the bush, both confusion and worry now on her face as she stared at the path he'd gone down. But as she stared, determination filled her eyes as a decision rang out in her mind. Flexing her wings next, she took to the sky, the pegasi now following the earth pony.





The next morning...

Twilight let out a long sigh of comfort as sat back with a large novel in front of her face. She was so happy, glad that she knew nothing should interrupt her reading. After all, she didn't have any big plans today since Applejack was busy bucking apples, Rarity was working on her upcoming Summer Line, Pinkie was working on the final details of Rainbow's birth-a-versary while Rainbow and Fluttershy had plans to go to Cloudsdale and visit their parents. Also, Scootaloo was at school and Flash and Springer were out training, leaving the alicorn princess and her dragon assistant free to do a little reading.

The sound of grunting made her look over to see Spike atop a ladder, pulling a book from the shelf that he tossed onto the top of a stack he was carrying. "Here's...the last book."

"Thanks Spike. Just put them with the rest of the pile, then you can have the rest of the day off."

"Sweet!" Spike started climbing down the ladder. "Now I can start working on my new Ogres and Oubliettes character!"

Twilight giggled at her little brother's excitement. "Sure, have fun."

But all was not well. In that moment, the library door was slammed open, surprising Spike into losing his balance and falling off the ladder. "WHOA!" He yelped as he fell with a thud, the books he was carrying now burying him a second later.

Twilight's horn started to glow as she levitated the books off of Spike while turning to see Flash and Springer walk in with obvious worry on their faces. "Flash? What's wrong?"

"We got a problem," Flash placed his Celestic Gear on the table as he sat down. "Iron didn't show up for practice today. We went down his route, but everypony told us he didn't do his patrol today."

Springer nodded at this. "Not only that, I tried scanning for him the entire time, but I couldn't detect his aura!"

"You mean he's not in town? That doesn't sound like Iron. He usually at least tells us if he's going somewhere, like that time he and Skybreaker left for a mission a while back."

"I know." Flash muttered as he crossed his hooves, "I'm worried that something's-"

"TWILIGHT!" yelled a new voice, the door slamming open again. This time, it was Rainbow Dash as she asked, "Have any of you seen Fluttershy?!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "I thought you two were going to see your parents today."

"We were, but when I got to her house, the place was deserted. I figured that maybe Applejack needed her help at the farm, but when I went over there, AJ said she hadn't seen her all day."

"That is strange. Have you told anypony else?"

"Yeah. I asked the usual to help me and meet back here."

"When did you do that Rainbow?" Twilight asked as she put the last of the books away, her horn now levitating a list and a pen. "And where have you checked? I'll review what you haven't looked at."

Rainbow crossed her hooves at this with a glum frown, "I asked Pinks, Rarity and AJ to help me, but I mainly checked the north part of town. That and I told the girls to come here after they searched a bit."

"Looks like they're coming right now." Springer commented as his aura now saw Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity walking up to the building.

"Ah checked all over town, and she ain't been seen anywhere." Applejack added as she walked in first. "This ain't good."

"I agree. I'm starting to get worried," Rarity said with a large frown. "Its not like Fluttershy to simply wander off without telling anypony."

"Or Iron." Flash continued as he bit his lip. "I don't like this...." He turned to Springer, who was now using his aura to scan the entire town. "Anything?"

Springer sighed and shook his head. "No...I can't find her anywhere. Maybe I can pick up a trail at their houses."

"Then what are we waiting for? Come on, let's get to their houses lickety-split!" Rainbow declared as she gestured to the door. But before she could go to it, a slammed open yet again, revealing a tall pegasus stallion with a metal wing.

"Skybreaker?!" Twilight squeaked out, the others backpedaling at the sight of the knight. "What are you doing here?"

The pegasi was panting heavily, sweat pouring down his face before doing a quick bow, "My apologies your majesty, I...I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

Twilight and Flash shared a glance before she turned back to the knight, shaking her head, "You don't have to bow Skybreaker. Just tell us why you're here."

"I...well..." he put his hoof to his chest, catching his breath for a second. "Huff...huff...I need...to know...where Iron is."

Flash grimaced at this statement, causing him to blurt out, "He's uh...he's missing."

"Oh no." Skybreaker moaned as he rubbed his face, now getting his breathing under control. "I'm too late."

Twilight then moved in front of Flash, "Skybreaker, what's going on?"

"Something bad." Skybreaker then stood up before gesturing them to follow, "Its a long story, and I'll gladly tell it to you. However, we need to go find Iron now. If we don't..." the knight grimaced at his own next words, "I fear he may do something he will forever regret."





Meanwhile...

Iron was now slumping into a train seat, steam blasting out of his nostrils. After packing his things and getting hold of another newspaper, he was now scanning the page over inside in a lone train carriage. He was now looking at the other wanted posters, now seeing that three other familiar criminals had also escaped. "Big Score...Rickashay….Boulder." He muttered to himself as he looked below their pictures, "Last location: unknown. Tch…well, it doesn't matter. All I need to find is Longhorn."

One carriage over, Fluttershy was trying everything she could to not shiver in her seat. She was now hiding behind her own newspaper, her eyes glancing at the defender every few minutes. "Iron..." she whispered as she watched his angry expression. Worry filled her mind as she noticed that since he hadn't gotten on the train, he hadn't smiled once.

She then let out a yawn, quickly patting the sides of her face, "No, no! Stay awake Fluttershy! You need to...to..." she slumped back with a big frown, her eyes slowly closing as the soothing rhythm of the train tried to seduce her to sleep.

Thankfully, the overhead speaker started to speak up. "Next stop, Dodge Junction. Repeat, next stop is Dodge Junction." Fluttershy looked up from her cover and saw Iron put his paper away, grabbing his gear next. Blinking at this, she hopped off her seat, now seeing that Iron was about to leave the train, signalling her own stop as well. With this in mind, she slowly exited the locomotive, staring at the defender as she tried to keep her distance.

But as she did this, she blinked in surprise as Iron grabbed a worker at the train station, "Hey you! Have you seen this guy?!" he pushed a paper into the pony's face, "Well?! Have you?!" The pony did a slight gulp before shaking his head, making Iron growl before showing him several more slips. "What about any of these guys?" The pony whimpered at this, causing Iron to yell, "Come on! Stop wasting my time and tell me! You see'em or not?!"

The pony just shook his head rapidly, causing Iron to let out a long moan, "Useless." Iron then shoved him to the side, causing the pony to hit the ground with a thud.

As she watched him stomp off, Fluttershy hurried over to the pony and helped him up. "I'm so sorry. My friend's...I'm not actually sure what's wrong with him."

"Whatever..." the pony grumbled as he swatted her hoof away, turning around to walk away.

"Wait!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she trotted up to his side, "Can you tell me what he was showing you? Please?"

The pony growled at him, only to roll his eyes as he said, "It was a bunch of pictures, or wanted posters. The first one was a bull, while the others were a bunch of ponies I've never seen before."

"Wanted posters? A bull?" Fluttershy rubbed her chin in thought at the new information, not noticing that the pony had already walked away. "But why would Iron..." a few clicks went off in her head, now remembering when Iron told her the story of his parents, how they had stood up to an outlaw and ended up paying the price. "Don't tell me that the wanted poster was Longhorn?! But if that's the case...he must be a bull. And...oh no." a loud gulp escaped her breath. "He must have escaped prison."

Flaring her wings, the shy pegasi took to the air, now flying over the dusty little town. As she flapped her wings, she stared down at the village, soon spotting Iron, who was now pinning another pony to a wall.

"I'm telling you," she heard the pony say. "I've never seen that pony before."

"Well look harder!" Iron almost yelled, causing the pony to try to shake through the building. "Now, have you seen him?! HUH?!"

"I...I...I might have, I don't know." she whimpered, tears almost about to appear in her eyes.

"Well THINK!" Iron huffed, pushing the paper into her face, "Tell me now!"

"Iron! Stop that right now!"

Iron blinked at the voice, his ears twitching as he slowly turned his head. His eyes went wide, now seeing Fluttershy land beside him with crossed hooves. The defender then rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn't hallucinating. And as he did this, the other pony squeezed herself under Iron's gaze, quickly running off as Iron let out a long moan at Fluttershy, "What are you doing here?!"

"What am I doing here?! What are you doing here?!" Fluttershy asked sternly, walking up and tapping his chest with her hoof. "You just left Ponyville without telling anypony, and now you're scaring these ponies!"

"I don't care. I'm-"

"Looking for Longhorn, aren't you?!" she interrupted, allowing her to see Iron's eyes go wide before returning to a glare.

"That's none of your business."

Fluttershy gave him her own glare. "You're my friend, so that makes it my business." Iron just rolled his eyes at this, soon walking past her, which made Fluttershy start to follow him, "Where are you going?!"

"We're going to the train station, where I'm gonna put you on the next train to anywhere but here."

Fluttershy came to a stop, crossing her hooves again. "What?! No!"

Iron spun around with an anger-filled glare, trying to be as intimidating as possible. "This isn't up for debate squirt. You shouldn't be here."

Fluttershy quivered at the glare, but as she stared at him, a long deep breath followed as she felt a deep down courage appear within her, "I said...no, Iron. I'm not leaving you so you go on some revenge mission. You need me-"

"To be somewhere safe. You're getting on that train."

"No! I'm staying here, and-"

"Fluttershy, I'm not gonna argue with you! You are-"

"NO! I'm staying here Iron!"

It was here that Iron and Fluttershy just stared at each other, neither side giving an inch. They probably would have done this all day, if not for a voice calling out to them. "Well I'll be a beaver in a berry bush, is that you Fluttershy?" They both turned to see an earth pony mare walking up to them. "How yah been?"

"Oh my," Fluttershy gasped as she put a hoof over her mouth, "Hello Miss Jubilee."

"Howdy," she then glanced at Iron, "and who's your strong looking friend?"

"Oh, this is Iron Core. He's an apprentice knight."

"Apprentice knight?" She gave the stallion a look over before showing her hoof, "Glad to meet yah. I could actually use a knight like you right now."

Iron grunted as he spun around, "No thanks. Got more important things to do."

"Iron!" Fluttershy scolded, only to turn to Jubilee with a glum frown, "I'm sorry about him. He's...not having a good day. Anyways, what's wrong Miss Jubilee?"

"I've been suffering a few break-ins up at the ranch. Every day and night, different parts of the place are being broken into and messed up. I'd walk into a place and find everything on the floor. That or things broken. Don't know why, since nothing seems to be taken."

Iron blinked at this, spinning around again, "Find anything else unusual?"

Jubilee rubbed her chin in thought, "Hmmm...I'm not sure. There was just a bunch of hoofprints in the barn, though one looked like it didn't come from a pony."

That really got Iron's attention, making him trot up and get a little too close for comfort. "Would you say it looked more like a minotaur's hoof? Or...a bull?" He watched as Jubilee thought about the question, the seconds ticking by while his patience grew thin. "Well?!"

"Iron! That's enough!" Fluttershy scolded as she pushed him away, giving Jubilee another frown, "Sorry about him."

"Oh, screw it!" He pushed her away and started trotting off, "I'll check it out myself!"

Fluttershy and Jubilee shared a glance, Jubilee commenting, "Your friend seems a little...tense."

"He's under a lot of stress."

"You think he knows he's going the wrong way?"

"No...I don't think he does." Fluttershy said with a sigh, soon flying up to him before the three made their way to Jubilee's cherry farm.





Back in Ponyville, Skybreaker had finished telling Iron's story while they followed Springer. They had gone to Fluttershy's house, the jakhowl managing to pick up a faint aura signature that they were currently following as Skybreaker said, "When I learned about Longhorn's escape, I came here as quickly as I could. But...it seems I was too late to stop Iron."

"I can't believe Iron went through that," Twilight commented while rubbing her chin in thought. "I knew something must have happened since he never talked about his parents, but...to think it was something like that."

"Now we know why he wasn't so social when we first met him," Rarity added as she shook her head. "The poor dear."

"Ah know how he feels," Applejack said next. "Ah remember the day ah lost mah parents, but their death was an accident. Ah'd hate to think about how much worse it would feel if something like that happened."

Skybreaker nodded with a frown. "In some ways, all Royal Knights have a dark past they have to overcome. Iron has never truly managed to get over what happened to his parents, which has made him unable to reach his full strength."

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow asked as she floated over the knight, "Iron's one of the strongest ponies I've ever met."

"Yeah!" Pinkie added as she hopped to Skybreaker's side, "You ever try to pick up his Celestic Gear? That thing ways a ton!"

Twilight rolled her eyes at this. "I don't think he means physical strength."

Skybreaker nodded as they came to stop, now seeing Springer staring at the train station. Flash let out a long sigh, "Let me guess, the trail ends here?"

Springer gave him a frown and a nod, "Yeah, sorry. It goes down the tracks and fades away."

"That's not good. What do we do now?"

Skybreaker shook his head, "Longhorn was last seen near Dodge Junction. Iron's probably headed there to try and pick up his trail."

"And Fluttershy's probably following him," Flash finished. "If they run into this monster, they'll be in serious trouble."

"So what do we do?" Spike asked next.

Applejack tipped her hat with a smirk, "Ah'll tell yah what we do. We're gonna head to Dodge Junction and back 'em up. This Longhorn fella ain't gonna hurt our friends. Ya'll with me?"

"YEAH!"

It was in that moment that the sound of an approaching train caught their attention, making them smile at the perfect timing. That is, till Skybreaker walked in front of them. "My apologies, but its probably better if only Flash, Springer and I go. Iron is my apprentice, so he's my responsibility. Besides, catching this criminal is a matter for the Royal Knights."

The others all frowned while Twilight gestured to the knight, "Hold on there. Iron might be your apprentice Skybreaker, but he's also our friend. Even if it puts us in danger, we can't just sit back and wait to hear if he's alright." The others all nodded at this. "Besides, as a Princess of Equestria, I too have a responsibility to make sure this criminal is brought to justice, and there's no ponies I'd rather have be by my side than these ones." The group all struck a ready for battle pose, though Pinkie's looked more like she was taking a selfie, showing Skybreaker just how serious they were about this situation.

The Knight of the Wind stared at them as the train pulled up, a grin eventually appearing on his face. "Iron's made himself some pretty good friends. Alright...since I can't say no to a princess, you can all come. But remember, these are dangerous criminals we're facing. They won't hesitate to do whatever it takes, as long as they think it'll help them escape."

"It won't be the first time we've faced stuff like that," Flash assured him.

The others nodded as Pinkie spoke up. "After a super powered alicorn, psychopathic chaos lord, shapeshifting insects, mad shadow ponies and out of control weeds, this Longhorn guy's gonna be a cake walk."

Skkybreaker laughed at her statement, the group soon boarding the locomotive. As they did this, Flash assured Skybreaker that Lightning would be able to take care of the town in their absence. And as they took their seats, Springer turned to Skybreaker. "You said Iron wasn't able to reach his full strength. What did you mean by that?"

Skybreaker sighed as he looked out the window, memories of when Iron first became his apprentice flooding through his brain. "I think Iron partially blames himself for what happened to his parents. He thinks they died because he wasn't strong enough to save them, even though he was only a colt. That's why he works so hard to become strong, not realizing his obsession was holding him back."

The Past...

Skybreaker and Iron were in a desert, both wielding wooden spears with foam heads. It had been a year since Skybreaker had taken the young colt under his metal wing, training him in the ways of the Royal Knight. But as this happened, Skybreaker gestured to the colt, "Now remember, don't just swing your attacks wildly. Focus on what you want each of your attacks to accomplish. Only then will you be able to hold your own in a proper fight."

"Whatever," Iron mumbled as he charged ahead, "Raaaaahhhhh!" Skybreaker sighed at the sight, easily blocking Iron as he swung his spear down. The foam bounced off the wood with ease, making Iron stagger back. "Ah!" The colt yelped as he tried to hit his teacher again, only for another block to happen. This happened over and over, Skybreaker not even moving as he easily deflected every move. And with each attack, Iron showed more frustration on his face, eventually causing him to blindly charge the knight. "Raaahhh!"

The pegasus just sighed again, instantly sidestepping while pointing the head of his weapon at the ground. Iron, missing his swing, got his leg stuck on the spear, making him trip. He fell with a thud, his face eating dirt before skidding to a stop.

Skybreaker turned to his apprentice as the colt picked himself up, spitting out the sand that had gotten into his mouth. "You lost focus again, which made you lose this fight as well. Strength alone is useless without control, and control requires focus Iron." He started to trot away, "We're done for today. Look over this lesson and think about what you could have done better."

As the pegasus turned his back on the colt, Iron picked up the spear with a huff. He wiped his face of the sand as he growled, "We're not done yet." He galloped with a mighty battle cry, closing the gap between them within seconds. But when he was only a few inches away, Skybreaker spun like a top, easily knocking the colt's weapon from his grasp. Skybreaker then thrust the spear upwards, uppercutting the colt's chin. The blow knocked the colt back, only to spin around and smash the spearhead into the pony's chest. "AAAHHH!" He cried as he flew back, soon landing with a mighty thud.

"I SAID, THAT'S ENOUGH!" He yelled as the colt let out a moan, causing the knight to shake his head. "Iron...you need to understand control. If you're constantly angry, you can't focus. Letting your anger control you, guide you...it will only lead to your defeat."

"So what?!" Iron picked himself back up. "What, I'm supposed to just not be angry?!"

Skybreaker sighed, shaking his head again, "No. Anger can be a powerful tool, but only when you learn to control it. Right now, its controlling you." He then placed a hoof on the colt's shoulder. "Iron...I know you have greatness inside of you. Heck, there's enough in there to probably make you one of the best knights there ever was. But you'll never unlock that greatness until you learn to let go of the hatred that fuels you."

"Hatred...that fuels me?"

"The reason you joined me in the first place. Your hatred for Longhorn."

Skybreaker watched as Iron's face filled itself with fury, fire burning in his eyes as he yelled, "I'll never forgive that monster!"

"I'm not asking you to. But you have to let go of your hatred."

"Never..." Iron swatted Skybreaker's hoof away and began to walk off, "I'll hate him until the day I die. I'll grow stronger with that hatred, and use it to make those who use their strength for evil pay."

The Present...

"Over the years, Iron got a lot stronger physically. Unfortunately, that meant nothing in terms of his mental strength." A long sigh followed this, "Iron...he's still just like a colt. I could never stop him from solely focusing on building his physical strength, believing that was the only way to be strong. Because of that, he's never been able to achieve his true potential. That potential...it would allow him to become one of the strongest Royal Knights that there's ever been."

Nopony spoke as they listened to Skybreaker's story. As they continued to listen, they all remembered how Iron was when they first met him at the Grand Galloping Gala. He had cared for nothing but brute force, even if it was clear that wasn't the way to win.

It was here that Skybreaker showed a small smile, "But then...things began to change. During our mission against Doom, I noticed a change in Iron. He still acted gruff, but his barriers had come down a little. It seemed like he was finally letting go of his hatred." Skybreaker turned to them with an increasing grin, "And I think that's because I had him live in Ponyville, with all of you. I could tell there was a change in him after that, especially with this Fluttershy mare. He's talked about her a lot in his letters." The group all gave each other knowing glances at this, only to frown at Skybreaker's next words, "Despite this, my only hope is that Longhorn's escape won't make him forget the pony he is now."

"We should all hope that's not the case Skybreaker," Twilight added. "And even if he does, we'll help you get him back."





Back in Dodge Junction, Iron and the mares were up on Jubilee's barn roof. The defender was currently looking through a pair of binoculars, a snarl escaping his breath. "Where are you?!"

A few feet away, Fluttershy and Jubilee were watching Iron, both with glum frowns on their faces. The earth pony then turned to the pegasi, "I gotta say, your friend sure is...driven. I'm guessing whoever he thinks is breaking in did something to him."

Fluttershy did a slow nod, "Yes. That's why I'm afraid...and why I'm staying by his side."

"I see. You care for him, don't yah?"

A red tint flushed itself on Fluttershy's face, "Yes, I do."

Jubilee giggled at this before asking, "I see...if you don't me asking though, what did this...burglar, do to him?"

"Um..." Fluttershy muttered as she twiddled her hooves, "I'll uh...give you the short version."

She then whispered into the cherry farmer's ear, Jubilee's eyes soon going wide. "Oh my...how awful."

Fluttershy nodded again. "His hatred of Longhorn is making him care about nothing else. I'm worried he might push himself too far and hurt himself."

Jubilee let out a low hum. "Hatred has a way of blinding us, but very few have it within them to let the hatred go."

Iron, whose highly tuned ears allowed him to hear their whispers, frowned. He grumbled at their statements, whispering to himself, "They'll never understand. They'll never get it....that monster. I should've finished him years ago."





The Past...

A young Iron panted as he stood atop a tied up Longhorn's chest, Skybreaker's Cloudhacker in hoof as it was pointed at the bull's neck.

Longhorn just chuckled at the colt. "Go on, do it. You hate me, right? I told you kid, it was just business. Your folks refused, so they paid the price." Iron shook like a leaf as he struggled to lift the axe above his head. "What's the matter, weapon a little too heavy? You can lift it weakling, you just have to put a little hatred in ya. That's how I became as strong kid, I hate everything and everypony around me. Well, just the ones that won't cooperate with me, like these stupid knights or your parents."

"You...you..." Iron quivered out as tears poured down his face, his hooves now gripping the axe as it started to leave the floor, "I...I hate you! I hate you so much! I'll make you feel the pain you did to me!"

"Then do it," Longhorn whispered with a low hiss, only to gesture his head with a smirk. "I'll even make it easier on you. Oh Royal Knight?" Skybreaker, who had been watching with the rest of Longhorn's gang with baited breath, frowned at being called out. "Whatever happens, don't let this little guy get in trouble." Longhorn turned back to Iron. "There, no consequences now. Do it kid. Perform true business, just like I did." Iron lifted the axe higher, "Do it...DO IT!"

"AAAHHHH!" Iron swung the axe downwards, Longhorn not even flinching as it came closer. But instead of splitting his head opened like a grapefruit, the blade smashed into the floor beside him. A series of pants followed as Iron slumped over, tears still flowing down his face, "I...I can't."

Longhorn guffawed as he sat himself up, "AHAHAHAHA!!! I knew you couldn't do it, you stupid kid! You're weak, just like your parents!" It was here that Skybreaker walked over and began to drag the bull away, Longhorn still laughing, "Do yourself a favor and get stronger kid, or else you'll never be able to stop me for good when I get out. And I promise you, I will get out. After all, your parents and these blasted knights did this to me!" One final laugh echoed the room as Longhorn stared daggers at the young colt, "And I will finish the job. Count on it!"





The Present...

"I won't fail." Iron whispered to himself as the binoculars in his hooves shook, "This time...this time I'll do what must be done."

It was here that his ears spiked up again, causing him to turn and something by Jubilee's house. The farmer then stepped up to him, "If they're breaking into my house, you should be stopping them."

"If it's more than just this one guy, then stopping him here won't solve the problem. But letting him go back to his friends, that'll let me solve the problem." Iron replied as he followed the movement outside of the house, his eyes now seeing a pegasus he recognized come into view. "Rickashay."

The silver pegasus with a yellow mane and tail that worked for Big Score was about to take flight, the pony now carrying something. "Looks like he found what he was looking for," Iron commented as he grabbed Piecemaker and leapt off the roof. Performing a landing roll, he went into a sprint as soon as he hit the dirt.

"Iron?!" Fluttershy gasped, also now walking to the edge of the barn's roof.

"Stay where you are!" Iron yelled as he began his pursuit into the Jubliee's cherry trees as Rickashay started flying through them. As he ran through the wood, he was barely able to keep the pony in his line of sight. But as they reached the edge of the orchid, Iron slowed down as he started hiding behind rocks, making sure not to be seen by the thief. And as he continued to tip-hoof through the desert, he watched Rickashay slow down as he flew behind several boulders.

Following close behind, Iron soon spotted a small gap that would allow him to see into a circle of rocks. There, his vision landed on the forms of Big Score and Boulder. He watched as Rickashay held out whatever it was he just stole from Jubilee, which turned out to be a rolled up piece of paper. "I got it boss."

Score smiled as he took the paper in his magic, unfurling it with a smirk, "Finally! I was beginning to worry that the tip he got was wrong. But here it is, just like they said."

"Sorry it took so long, the blasted thing took forever to find. The broad had it locked in a safe, but there was nothing else in there."

Score nodded as he rolled the scroll back up. "That figures. Welp, we have what we came for, so let's meet up with Longhorn and get our prize."

That was all Iron needed to hear. He leapt out from behind the rocks, pointing his Celestic Gear at the three. "Alright, you three are coming with me!"

The outlaws turned to him in surprise, instantly recognizing him as they got into a battle position. "Well well well, if it isn't Flash Sentry's underling."

Iron let out a low hiss. "I'm nopony's underling. I'm giving you three one chance. Surrender peacefully and tell me where Longhorn is, or try to fight and end up with a lot of broken bones."

Score just laughed at this. "So, you're after Longhorn, huh? Shooting a little above your pay grade, aren't you? Either way, I won't be telling you squat. He and I have a good business deal, and giving him up would be very bad for business."

"Its always business." Iron grumbled as he spun the weapon in his hoof, "Fine! But don't say I didn't warn you! RRRAAAAAHHHH!" He roared as he charged, his weapon at full swing. But as he did this, Rickashay lifted Score into the air while Boulder leapt back, barely missing the blade as he hopped over to the circle's entrance.

"Well, its been fun," Score's horn glowed as he watched Boulder jump out of the formation. "But we're busy ponies, so I'm afraid we have to cut this reunion short." A magical blast then hit the ledge where the higher rocks were, knocking it loose with ease. Seeing this, Iron turned to find that the whole formation was about to collapse in on itself. And as he tried to escape the sudden avalanche, the criminals all laughed as a pile of boulders fell on top of the defender.





Meanwhile...

Back in the town, the train from Ponyville pulled into the station. As soon as the doors opened, two blurs that were blue and orange flew out of the carriage. They came to a stop to reveal themselves to be Rainbow and Flash, Springer on Flash's back as he was already in aura scan mode.

"I hope Iron and Fluttershy didn't leave town already," Rainbow said with a slight gulp.

"I'm sure we'll find them," Flash turned back to his partner. "Got anything?"

Springer continued to pulse his aura, only to shake his head. "Not sure. If they were here, they didn't stay long enough to leave a...wait!" the jakhowl then pointed to one of the buildings. "Over there! Take me there!"

"You got it." Flash fluttered over, landing as the group followed him. And as Springer touched the dirt, he placed his paw on the ground. Seeing this, Flash asked, "Got something?"

"I think so..." the jakhowl let out a long, deep breath. "Hmm...they were here...and they weren't happy about something."

"Both of them?" Twilight asked, Springer nodding in response.

Rarity bit her hoof at this, "Iron I can understand, he's not the happiest pony. But Fluttershy?"

"You think Fluttershy was trying to stop Iron, but he wasn't listening?" Pinkie added.

"That sounds about right Pinkie." Applejack finished with a glum frown, "And she's the only mare we know that can usually stop him."

Skybreaker looked down at Springer. "Can you find out where they were heading?"

"Gimme a sec." Springer did another deep breath, his senses now picking up every aura possible. And as he mixed through the crowd of life force, he glimpsed the trail he was looking for. "Got it. Follow me."

"You got it buddy." Flash added as they followed the jakhowl, soon running down a series of streets.

And as they made their way, all but Skybreaker started to notice something as Applejack commented, "This path leads ta Miss Jubilee's Ranch."

"Oh no!" Pinkie moaned, "I hope the cherries are alright. If Longhorn's there and squishing them all, where am I gonna get my supply to make Cherrychangas?!"

"I'm a little more concerned for our friends Pinkie," Flash told her with a small tail smack, the other rolling their eyes as Flash looked back at the road ahead, "Iron, you better not have gotten in over your head."





"You shouldn't have gotten in over your head," Score guffawed as the three laughed at the sight of the rock pile they'd buried Iron under. "Alright boys, time to-"

SMASH!

"What the heck?!"

"RRRAAUUUGGHHHHH!" Iron roared as he leapt out of the pile, landing with a series of pants as he held the hammer-headed Piecemaker between his teeth. "I'm done playing with you idiots."

"Uh-oh." Boulder gulped as he saw a drip of blood go down Iron's face. "Uh, boss?"

"Get him you morons!" Score yelled as he fired a magic beam, only for Iron to swipe his weapon, deflecting it right back into Score's horn. "Augh!"

As Score fell back from the sudden blow, Boulder charged at the defender. But as the earth pony tried to slam him like a rhino, Iron spun his weapon as it turned into a complete hammer.

BONG!

"Blaugh!" Boulder yelped as the hammer smacked his face, knocking him back with ease. Seeing this, Rickashay shot up into the air, spinning like a top as he charged at Iron like a rocket.

"IRON LANCE FURY!" The hammer morphed into a javelin head, which fired a flurry of metallic projectiles at the pegasus.

"Whoa!" Rickashay stopped his rush at the sudden bullets, causing him to try to fly back from the barrage. But as he did this, one hit his wing, causing him to cry out as he fell to the ground with a thud.

Iron then turned to his last opponent, Score almost gulping at how easily his lackeys had been taken down. That is, till he remembered the last time he had fought Iron. As the earth pony charged, Score's horn shined as it summoned a long magical chain which wrapped around Piecemaker. With this, he easily pulled the weapon from Iron's grasp, causing Score to laugh.

"HA! Not so tough without your-AUGH!" He wheezed, Iron now thrusting his hoof into his chest, only to spin around and wrap his tail around Score's neck. Before the unicorn could react, the tail flung his face into the dirt. The criminal let out a cry, moaning in pain as he tried to turn over and get up, only to open his eyes to find a sword inches away from his face. "Err...."

Iron let out a long deep breath, his eyes bloodshot with anger. "One last chance. Where...is...Longhorn?!"

Score just shook his head despite the blade now dangerously close to his neck. "Sorry, not talking."

"Then you're done." Iron growled as he pulled the blade back, only to thrust it towards Score's heart. But as the blade was about to cut flesh-

"IRON!" screamed a voice, causing the sword to stop inches away from the unicorn. Iron then turned to the source, now seeing Fluttershy standing beside a large rock.

Iron shook his head at this, a powerful snort escaping his nostrils. "I told you to stay back at the ranch."

Fluttershy glared at the earth pony, no fear in her eyes, "And if I had, you would have gone too far. What would Skybreaker, Celestia, our friends, or...your parents think if they saw you right now?! Do you not see what you were about to do?!"

Iron didn't reply, just looking away as he glared at the criminals. "It doesn't matter. As long as I can stop Longhorn, I have to-"

But before he could say another word, he felt something grab him around his sides. He wanted to resist, but his reflexes wouldn't allow it. Turning, he saw Fluttershy hugging him, tears leaving her eyes as she let out several weak sobs. "Please, stop this. Don't do it Iron. Go back to how you were before, the caring pony who helped ponies. The pony I...I-" her voice began to stutter, now becoming lost in her sobs.

Iron felt his heart crack at the sound of her crying, the sight making him shiver. He looked back at the dazed trio, he knew he could easily just put them into custody and go back to Ponyville. But as he glanced at Fluttershy again, he could feel his breathing going more off balance. "Fluttershy, I-"

Thump!

A sound vibrated the ground, instantly getting the defender's attention. He turned to see a cloud of dust walking up to them. And as the fog started to get closer, Iron glared at Fluttershy and pointed at a rock, "Go hide."

"But Iron-"

"NOW!" Fluttershy flinched before doing as she was told, Iron now reading his weapon as he stared at the dust cloud.

And as it got closer, it slowed down before coming to a complete stop between Iron and the crime trio. The fog began to fade, revealing a bulky figure standing at around seven feet in height. It was the same bull that Iron saw in the paper, though it's beard had been trimmed down to a more manageable level, along with a black hat now adorning the bull's head. Iron growled at the sight, his weapon now shaking as he gripped it with all his might. "Longhorn..."

Longhorn's head tilted at the sight of the defender, humming before glancing at Score, "Having a little trouble, I see."

Score chuckled as he picked himself up. "No trouble now that you're here. It seems an old friend of yours was looking for you."

"Really? Do we know each other?" Longhorn asked as he turned back to Iron, rubbing his chin before his eyes went wide. "Ah! I see...it is you. You've certainly grown."

If looks could kill, Longhorn would be a pile of ash. "So, you remember me?"

"How could I forget? You're the colt of those two idiots that got me caught." Longhorn replied before a huge malicious grin shined on his face. "Tell me, have you gotten stronger?"

Iron hissed while changing Piecemaker into a sword. "You're about to find out!" He charged with the blade, the bull dodging the first two swings before throwing a punch at Iron. The apprentice knight then held up his staff to defend, the fist bouncing off of it as he slid back several inches.

"Iron Spike Assault!" He thrusted Piecemaker into the ground and unleashed a wave of metal spikes, all of them blasting out of the ground around Longhorn, forming into a cage.

"Pathetic!" The bull grabbed one of the metal shards and bent it with ease. With this, he made an opening and hopped out of the cage. "That all you got?"

"Fat chance, you monster! Iron Hammer!" Iron yelled as he swung the weapon, only for Longhorn to hold up the shard in defense. The hammer hit the shard, shattering it as Longhorn spun around, kicking Iron in the chest. "Bluagh!" Iron yelped as he skid over the dirt.

"Iron!" Fluttershy screamed as she saw him fly back, only to see the defender hop back onto his hooves. "Be careful!"

"Don't bother telling him that." Longhorn barked as he lifted his hooves up, "Let me show you what true power is!" He slammed his hooves into the ground, a mini-earthquake happening from the blow. And as it did this, Iron's hooves lost their balance, causing the bull to turn and grab a nearby boulder. He then hoisted it above his head before tossing it, the defender holding up his Celestic Gear in response.

"Iron Guard Shield!" A defensive shield appeared between Iron and the rock, the rubble shattering a second later. Barely a second after that, Iron retracted his shield and glared at Longhorn. "I'm not done yet."

"Oh please. And here I'd hoped you'd gotten at least a little strong in all these years. I told you how to get strong, but you obviously weren't listening." He then cricked his hooves as a huge grin shined on his face, "You just need a little bit of hatred, let that anger in ya. Only then will your true strength appear."

Fluttershy looked out from the rock and saw Iron's breathing become ragged. "Don't listen to him," she barely whispered.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're so weak. After all, look at the weaklings you had for parents." Longhorn scoffed, Iron's breath now becoming even more frantic as the bull continued, "I mean, they barely put up a fight. When I threw your father into that wall and punched his face in, or kicked your mother through that table...tch, those two were so weak. They were just...pathetic!"

"SHUT UP!" Iron screamed as he charged with his hammer, slamming it into the bull, making him stagger back. But as he did this, Iron continued to scream bloody murder as he kept swinging at Longhorn again and again. "RRRAAAHHH!" With one final hit to the stomach, Longhorn was thrown into the rock Fluttershy was hiding behind.

"Augh!" The bull clutched his chest in pain as looked up at Iron, whose hammer was now a sword. "Not bad kid....not bad at all." He then put his hoof in his beard, chuckling as he pulled something out.

"This...ends...NOW!" Iron yelled as he ran at full fury, ready to impale Longhorn. But as he did this, Longhorn held up something above his mouth before crushing it, causing some kind of liquid to fall out of his hoof into his mouth. And as soon as he swallowed, his eyes shot open while his pupils went small. As this happened, time seemed to slow down, Iron about to stab him, only for the bull to suddenly disappear. "What the heck?!" Iron yelped as time returned to normal, his blade cutting into the rock as he came to a stop. "What just-"

"Surprise!" Iron spun around to see Longhorn's hoof smash into his face, sending him flying as Piecemaker fell off the rock. He then skidded, rolling down on the ground before getting back onto his hooves. But as he recovered, he looked up to see Longhorn stampeding on all fours.

"How did he-" Iron tried to say as he braced himself for the attack. And as Longhorn rammed into him, Iron thrusted his front hooves onto Longhorn's horns, gripping them as he was pushed back. Longhorn snorted as he swung his head upward, instantly flinging Iron into the air. "Ahhhh!!!" he yelled before hitting the ground with a thud. "Urgh...that's not good." He then looked back up, now seeing Longhorn charging again.

"Iron!" Fluttershy screamed as she tried to pick up Piecemaker. "Over here!" she cried as she pulled with all her might, her hooves suddenly flinging the weapon off the ground. The earth pony quickly reacted, snagging it with ease before turning it into a spear.

"Take this!" He thrusted it at the bull, hoping Longhorn would charge right in. But to his horror, Longhorn suddenly slowed himself, sidestepping before grabbing the end of the spear. Iron gasped at the sight, only to go wide-eyed at the sound of metal compressing, distracting him enough to allow Longhorn to pull it from his grasp.

"Goodbye," Longhorn backhoofed the earth pony in the face, a cry of pain following as Iron was sent careening along the ground. He bounced off it several times until finally crashing into a rock, actually causing it to crack as he slumped down.

"IRON!" Fluttershy screamed as she flew over to him, gasping as she saw blood flow down his face. "Iron, are you okay?! Iron!"

At the same time, Longhorn let out a long series of pants, falling to all fours as he moaned, "Damn, out of time already. That was barely over a minute...eh, it doesn't matter. I'll soon have a much more powerful source." He turned to Score and his flunkies, who had recovered enough to pick themselves up. "Do you have it?"

"Yes. I got it right here." Score showed the scroll, causing Longhorn to shine a huge grin.

"Nice. Then we're done here," Longhorn then turned back to the two ponies before smirking. "Actually...on second thought, maybe we should have a plan B just in case."

"Don't worry Iron," Fluttershy told Iron as she tried to wipe away the blood. "I'll...I'll get you somewhere safe." But as she tried to do this, her heart suddenly stopped when she found herself in a shadow. A long gulp followed as she slowly turned around, now seeing Longhorn staring down at her.

"Hello there. You seem to care about him a lot," he reached down and gripped the mare by her mane.

"Aaahhh!" Fluttershy screamed as he lifted her off the ground.

Iron heard her outcry and opened his eyes, a wheeze coming out of his mouth, "No....stop!"

Longhorn laughed before kicking Iron in the stomach, making him yelp as he collapsed again. "I told you before kid, you can't beat me until you give into the hatred. That's the main part of the business!" Fluttershy screamed again as he forcefully yanked her hair. "Then again, maybe you just need another reason to hate me."

"No! Don't do it Iron!" Fluttershy yelled as she grabbed the bull's hoof, "Don't listen to-mmph!" A hoof now covered her mouth, lifting her with just that before another hoof hit her stomach. "Aaah!"

"Be quiet. He lost, so you need to shut up."

With that, he dragged Fluttershy away, her screams no longer coming out of her. Iron saw the fear in her eyes, a few cries and whimpers entering his ears as he watched the soon blurring image of them getting further away. And as he watched this, he tried everything he could to pick himself up, but his body refused to move.

"No...no..." he whispered as time faded in his mind. He couldn't tell how long he laid there, pain now consuming him as he felt the memories of the flash in his mind. "I can't...I can't..."

But as he sat there, a new voice suddenly caught his attention. "He's over there!"

Seconds later, several figures appeared around him along with new voices he recognized.

"Oh Celestia, look at him."

"He needs help!"

"Lets get him back ta da ranch."

"Flash and I will carry him." As the earth pony felt himself be picked up, he finally let himself succumb to the darkness. And as he blacked out, he let out a single whisper.

"Fluttershy."
> Iron's Revenge PT2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a small city, ponies were enjoying their day to day lives in peace. 

But then, that piece was broken. "Halt!" The townsponies spun around to see a pair of earth ponies, one carrying a sack full of something, being chased by Skybreaker and Iron Core. The Knight of the Wind and his apprentice ran as fast as they could, Skybreaker glancing up to see the many washing lines and other obstructions that kept him from simply flying after them. 

As the two ponies rushed around a corner, they spotted some scaffolding infront of one of the buildings. Smirking, the two nodded at one another before reaching the construct. By the time Skybreaker and Iron arrived around the corner, the two were on the over side of the scaffolding and both kicked out two of the legs. 

Doing so caused the construct to begin collapsing. And what was worse, an earth pony labourer was on top of it. "AAAHHH!" He cried as jumped off the collapsing structure, grabbing onto the ledge of the building. By the looks of it, he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. 

Skybreaker saw this and turned to his apprentice, "save the worker." 

Iron looked at him in surprise, "but they're gonna get away." 

"Leave them to me. You focus on the civilians." He ran off after the two, climbing over the fallen metal pile, leaving Iron to growl as he looked up at the terrified pony. 

"What a waste of my time." He started looking around for a way to get him down, as the pony continued to call for help. "Stop whining you baby, you're fine." He grabbed the scaffolding and started putting it together, until he eventually made a think metal pole that he lifted until one end was leaned against the edge. He then pointed to one of the ponies around him, "you. Over here." The pony walked up to him as Iron put the end of the pole into his grasp. "Hold this until he's finished sliding down it." With that, he left the barely handled situation and chased after his mentor.  

But by the time he'd caught up, he found Skybreaker pinning one of the criminals to the ground. But the other pony and sack of loot were nowhere to be found, "where'd he go?" 

"I lost him when I got this guy." Iron roared in frustration as he kicked a trashcan over, causing Skybreaker to sigh. 

That night.

After turning the criminal in, Skybreaker and Iron had headed out of the city and were now camped out in the desert around a fire. As Skybreaker finished cooking their dinner, he looked up at a still fuming Iron. "What's up. I get we didn't get the guy, but we managed to catch his friend and we stopped a major tragedy."

"We would caught them both if you hadn't made me stay behind." 

"I made you stay behind, to help an innocent who was in danger."   

"Helping idiots who can't save themselves is a complete waste of my talents." 

"Waste of your talent? Iron, what do you think our roles are? What it means to be a Royal Knight?"

Iron raised an eyebrow at this, as unable to believe he had to explain it. "To stop villains and bring them to justice, making them pay for the wrongs they've done." He expected Skybreaker to tell him he was right, but instead his mentor just sighed. "What, am I wrong?" 

Skybreaker looked up at him. "Do you think you're wrong? Do you truly believe that that is what being a Royal Knight means? To simply fight against those who have done wrong?" 

Iron didn't reply, unsure what his next answer should be. He felt that was the right answer, what else could it be? But the way Skybreaker stared at him filled his heart with doubt, causing him to not say anything and stare into the flames.

But Skybreaker kept staring at him. "Your refusal to back up your claims shows you don't fully believe that decision. And you won't truly become a knight until you make that decision and believe it with all your heart." Iron remained silent as Skybreaker finally came to his own decision, causing him to reach into his saddle bag. Iron noticed this and raised an eyebrow at what he was doing, only to go wide when he saw him pull out a case he had heard about. "Is that." 

"An unbound Celestic Gear," Skybreaker placed it on the floor between them. "Your skills have reached the point where you're ready to wield it, but I have to wonder if you yourself are ready." 

"What?" 

"If I give you this, it'll make you one of the strongest warriors in Equestria. But the weapons shapes itself based not only on what the users best weapon skill is, but also on their own frame of mind. If you bond with this weapon before you're mentally ready for it, you could end up with something that can't keep up with the pony you might one day become. 

Iron frowned, wondering if what Skybreaker said was true. If he took this weapon now, then he might one day end up being held back by it. But even so, having now meant he could do way more then he could before. "I'm ready." 

"Are you sure?" Skybreaker asked, Iron nodding in response. "Very well, but promise me something. When you hold this weapon, it will be with the intent to protect the ponies of Equestria. Never swing this weapon with intent to do harm, and it won't ever fail you. Do you swear?" 

Iron nodded again, "I swear." 

Skybreaker nodded before opening the case, releasing the light of the crystal within. "Then claim your weapon." 

Iron reached out and touched the crystal, that burst into light and blinded Skybreaker. Iron meanwhile, remained unharmed by this light and watched as it broke down before reforming into the shape of a spear. His Celestic Gear.



Iron gasped as he awoke, rapidly sitting up before flinching in pain. "Ahhh!" He looked down at his body and saw he was covered in bandages. He then looked around and saw he was laying on a bed in a bedroom of some kind. "Where am I?"

"You're in Ms Jubilee's ranch house." Iron turned to the open door and saw Flash standing in the doorway, him stepping in followed by Twilight, Springer and the rest of their friends.

"Sentry...princess...how?" 

Flash laughed. "You can thank Skybreaker and Springer for that." 

"Skybreaker?" Hoofsteps caused him to look back to the door, where his mentor slowly trotted in. He did not look happy.

"You idiot," he said in a voice between a whisper and a growl. He then held up something Iron hadn't noticed before, throwing it onto the bed infront of him. 

Iron's eyes went wide when he saw what it was, Piecemaker. His Celestic Gear looked as it normally did, until you looked at the part connecting the blade to the staff and saw it had been crushed and flattened. "Oh no." 

"You found him, didn't you? You found Longhorn and tried to take him down." 

Iron looked down in shame, remembering how close he had been to beating the monster that had taken his parents from him. He then flashed back to the end of the battle, and who had been taken by Longhorn. He gasped as he looked up, "Fluttershy!"

Hearing him say this put the lot of them on edge, Twilight stepping up to him. "Where's Fluttershy?" She asked sternly, fearing for her friend's safety. Iron shut his eyes in shame. What had happened was his fault, because he had been so focused on stopping Longhorn. "Iron!"

"He has her!" Iron cried out, "Longhorn took her." 

The mares all gasped while Flash, Skybreaker and Springer growled. Rainbow flew up and pinned Iron against the bed frame. "How could you let them take her!" 

"Rainbow," Applejack grabbed the mare's tail and pulled her back, "calm down. Let him talk." 

Flash turned to Iron. "This better be good." 

Iron sighed and explained what happened. How he'd come to Dodge Junction and found he had been followed by Fluttershy, then ran into Jubilee and learned about her brake ins. How he had discovered the thief was Rickashay and followed him back to Score and Boulder, who he managed to defeat whilst Fluttershy had arrived. Then he told them about the arrival of Longhorn, who Iron had almost defeated until he'd consumed a strange liquid. And finally, he told them about how Fluttershy had tried to defend him, only to be taken by Longhorn for some reason. 

Once he had finished his story, everyone shock in fear of what had become of their friend. "Fluttershy," Pinkie whispered with a flat mane. 

Rarity turned to Twilight. "What are we going to do?" Twilight didn't respond, because she was unsure of what could be done."

Skybreaker moved over to Iron's bed, a hard look on his face. "This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gone after Longhorn alone. You should have told us when you learned about him."

Iron frowned. "Would you have let me go after him?" 

"Of course not. You're far to close to the situation." 

Iron growled, as he tried picking himself up out of the bed. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked. "You need to rest." 

"I need to find Longhorn," he was finally out of the bed and started limping towards the door. "I won't let him get away, not again." However, before he could reach the door he found it blocked by a familiar orange pegasus. 

"Are you insane. You can't fight him in your condition."

"Move," Iron growled.

"No," Flash stood firm, "you can barely stand. How do you expect to beat Longhorn in your condition?"

Springer then stepped in. "And even if you somehow pull of a victory, doing it would probably kill you."

Iron simply stared at the bare of them, the anger he felt at both Longhorn and himself continuing to bubble over. "I don't care what happens, as long as I can bring the monster who took Fluttershy and my parents to justice. I don't even mind dying!"

This last outburst was all Flash could take. Before anypony could say or do anything else, Flash's hoof came up and slammed into Iron's face. They all gasped as they watched Iron fall to the ground, Skybreaker holding up his wing to stop the girls from interceding. 

Flash stepped over to where Iron had fallen and knelt down to look him in the eye. "You're the only one who thinks that." Iron growled at Flash, who in turn glanced over at the others in the room. "Look around," he looked back at his fallen comrade. "There are ponies here who care about you. If you died, think about how they would feel."  

Iron looked around the room, seeing the faces of the first ponies he had ever called his friend. The ones who had made Ponyville into a home, the first home he'd had since losing his parents. Then there were those not in the room he cared about, including one that was currently in danger because of his actions. 

Memories of the pain he had felt when he had lost his parents came flooding back, a pain he would never wish on anyone. If he died, would they feel that pain? 

Flash turned away from Iron and stared out the window, watching as the sun and moon began to switch places. "You've always worked to become stronger, but why?" Iron raised an eyebrow at this. 

Twilight then spoke up. "What reason do you have for being strong. Are you working to be strong just for the sake of having strength, or is it for a greater purpose." 

"In other words," Flash looked back at him. "What does being a Royal Knight mean to you?" 

Iron's heart stopped, as he remembered Skybreaker once asking him that exact same question. Even after all this time, he still wasn't sure. Everything he had been through, all the fights he had fought and all the villains he had faced alongside Flash and the other knights. Had they not been fighting to stop those villains?

Before anypony could say anything else, a new pony ran into the room. 

Cherry Jubilee panted as she arrived, seeing Iron on the floor and raising an eyebrow. But she quickly dismissed this as she turned to the others. "We got big trouble dearies!"

Applejack spoke up. "What's wrong Ms Jubilee?" 

"Ah know what those varmints stole and it ain't good news." 

"What is it?" Twilight asked. 

"The safe they broke into only had one thing in it, a map." Everyone raised an eyebrow at this. What would Longhorn want with a map? "But not just any map, but a map that'll show them how to find the Cursed Fruit."

"Cursed fruit?" Flash asked. "What is that, a kiwi somepony bewitched or something?" 

Jubilee shock her head. "No, Cursed Fruit is just a nickname. It's real name is something to complicated to say. They call it cursed, because of what happens when you eat it." 

"What happens?" Twilight asked.

Jubilee's face turned to one of worry, as she told them the legends. "It's said that consuming a Cursed Fruit will grant you incredible strength and speed. In fact, one legends states that the Ghastly Gorge was created when an earth pony ate the fruit before performing a single punch into the ground." 

This statement made the lot of them go wide eyed. 

"That's can't be real," Rainbow said before turning to Twilight pleadingly. "Right?" 

"I'm...not sure." 

Iron frowned as he remembered his fight with Longhorn, which had been in his favour until the bull drank something. What if it had been this fruit's juice? I would make sense that drinking it would give him a watered down version of what Jubilee was suggesting. "I am." He explained his theory to the others, who all turned pale at this. 

"Then it must be real," Twilight said. 

Flash turned to the cherry farmer. "Why is something like that not more common knowledge. A fruit that gives you the strength to crack the ground open, everypony would want that."

"Well for one thing, this fruit is rare. It only grows in very remote locations, like in this area. It's the whole reason ma'h family set up shop here so long ago. We were hoping that whatever was in the soil that made the fruit grow, would give our cherries a similar affect." The others nodded, "then there's the risks to eating the fruit."

"Risks?" Rarity asked. 

Jubilee nodded. "It's said that the fruit is highly poisonous, that even eating more then one can be enough to kill ya'h."

"That's not so bad," Springer said. "Just be careful not to eat more then one and-"

"That's just the thing, the fruit is as addictive as it is poisonous. One bite can leave ya'h hooked and unable to resist eating another." 

Hearing this made the lot of them gulp. No doubt Longhorn intended to find this fruit, either to consume or sell on the black market. Either way, him getting one was bad news. 



The first thing Fluttershy heard was she woke up was voices. 

As her eyes flickered open, she caught sight of a fire through the darkness. When her vision began clear she was able to look around the fire and saw Longhorn along with the three criminal ponies, sitting there eating canned beans. As soon as she saw them, she remembered what had happened and began to quiver. 

She tried to move, only to discover her wings and front hooves were bound to her body whilst her back hooves were tied together. All she could do was wiggle, but that was hardly and excellent escape method. 

Her movements had caught the other's attention, making them turn to see her and laugh. "Looks like someponies finally up," Score mocked.

Longhorn snorted as he threw his can into the fire before stepping over to the mare, who began panting heavily to show her intense panic. "Relax little one," he crouched down to her eye level. "I won't hurt ya'h." He then held up a flask of water, "drink. Ya'h no good to us if you die of exhaustion."  

Fluttershy didn't want to accept anything from this lowlife, but she also couldn't deny how thirsty she was. Swallowing her pride, she also started swallowing the water. Once she was done, she looked up at Longhorn. "P-p-please, let me go." 

Longhorn shock his head whilst drinking his own water, "a'h can't do that. If others like ya'h boyfriend try to come after me, a'h need some kind of leverage. Ya'll make an excellent hostage, considering ya'h one of the Elements of Harmony." Fluttershy looked down in fear, making Longhorn chuckle before returning to the three. On the ground next to the fire was a black breath case, which Longhorn opened before pulling out a syringe and a jar of the same liquid he had used to defeat Iron before. 

Score watched in intrigue as the bull open the top before using the syringe to extract a portion of the liquid.  "Is that the juice of the Cursed Fruit?"

Longhorn nodded as he emptied the liquid into a small flask. "Yes and it's power was well worth what I had to do to get my hooves on it. This jar holds the refined remains of the fruit and sells for half a million bits a jar. Imagine how much a dozen of the actual fruits would earn us." 

Score smirked before pulling out the map. "And with this, they'll be all ours." He unfurled it and began looking over the directions, humming as he did so. "It seems it's leading us to a series of landmark that'll eventually end with us at the fruits growing spot." 

Longhorn nodded as he put the jar back into the case. "Then we'll head out at first light."

Rickashay then spoke up. "What if we get there and don't find anything? That maps pretty old, so what if the trees it's leading us to died out."  

Longhorn snorted. "You'd just better hope it's not." He turned back to Fluttershy, seeing her glare at him. But once she found him looking at her, her glare turned to a frightened frown. "You got somethin to say missy?" Fluttershy mumbled something under her breath, "what?"

Fluttershy took a deep breath, then repeated what she had said. "Y-you'll never...g-get away with t-this."

"Won't a'h now," Longhorn stomped over to her. "And why not?" 

"I-Iron...will s-stop you." 

This declaration caused Longhorn to laugh. "Iron? Iron is dead. Either from the beating I gave him, or from dehydration."

Then for the first time since meeting her, Longhorn watched as Fluttershy's stare became as solid as a rock. "You're wrong!" The force of that declaration, combined with the lack of stutter, took Longhorn by surprise. 

"Am a'h now?" 

"Yes. Iron would never fall to a monster like you. He'll...he'll be back. And when he does, you'll be...you'll be sorry!" 

Longhorn smiled down at the mare before crouching down to her eye level, using his hoof to keep her gaze locked on him. "Iron...will never beat me, I made sure of that when he was young. His hatred for me will keep him from fighting me at his full strength." 

Fluttershy's eyes went wide. So that's why he was goading him before.  

Longhorn stood back up and returned to the fire. "If you're right and the earth pony does come, then you'll have the pleasure of watching me break him once and for all." He said nothing more to the pegasus, who just started crying and praying for somepony to help her. 



The next morning.

As soon as Celestia and Luna began to swap their celestial bodies, the ponies were up and ready to save their friend and stop Longhorn once and for all. Luckily, they wouldn't have to walk as Jubilee had something that would help them. 

"It's in here," she said as she directed all but Iron to one of the barns. Opening it up, she stepped aside and allowed the light to flood in, revealing a black and brown carriage with front wheels half the size of the back wheels. The only thing it was missing was the front part that the earth ponies would be strapped into. "Bin workin on this for a while. It's in all terrain cart that'll make it through anything that deserts gonna throw at you." 

Flash laughed as he flew over to inspect it. "Awesome. With this, we'll be able to make up the distance between us and them." 

Jubilee nodded. "All it's missin is the rain rack." 

"Actually," Skybreaker said, "I think our purposes won't require them. Rainbow, Flash, you two are with me at the front." 

"Got it," the two pegasi nodded as Twilight used her magic to tie some ropes around them and to the cart. As everypony else climb aboard, Jubilee handed something to Twilight. 

"Here, a'h hope this helps you." 

Twilight saw she was holding a scroll, which she took in her magic before opening to reveal a crudely drawn map. It might not have been a masterpiece, but it would work to lead them towards the location of the Cursed Fruit. "This is...but how-"

"That map's been in my family's possession for a long time. And whilst I never had any desire to find it, curiosity has had me look over the map enough times to have memorised the design. A'm no artist, but this should lead you there as well as the real one." 

Twilight smiled before pulling Jubilee into a hug. "Thank you." 

"No need to thank me. Just save your friend." Twilight nodded and climbed up onto the cart before the pegasi began to pull it out the barn. But as soon as they were clear, they found Iron standing their weakly as he pulled off his bandages. 

"What are you doing?" Skybreaker asked. 

Iron looked down and sighed as the last bandage was removed. "I know I messed up, but...please, let me come with you." He looked back up at them, seeing they were all looking at him unsure. "You were right, I let hatred make me remember everything I'd lost before and forget about everything I'd gotten after. I'm sorry, that I let Longhorn take Fluttershy." 

"Iron," Rarity said, "in your state." 

"I won't try and fight him directly, only assist you lot. Just let me be there, that's all I ask for." He watched and waited for them to make a decision, until finally Flash spoke up. 

"Alright, but don't do anything stupid. And don't leave our sides." He others looked at him questioningly, "Everypony makes mistakes." 

Skybreaker sighed. "And we shouldn't judge them on those mistakes, but what they do once they make them." The others nodded and made room for Iron, who smiled before jumping up into it. Once he was seated, the pegasi flexed their wings and began to pull the cart through the orchid whilst picking up speed. 

As the entered the desert, Twilight looked down at map and saw where they had to go. "Our first landmark is griffon's peak, north of the orchid." She turned to the sun and used it as a compass. "Right, sixty five degrees." The pegasi raised an eyebrow at this but just turned until Twilight said to stop. They were finally on their way towards the Cursed Fruit and Fluttershy.



Several miles away.

Fluttershy looked up at the large rock that was shaped like a griffon's head. She was still tied up and currently  being carried over Boulder's back. 

"Here it is," Longhorn said as he placed his hoof onto the rock. He then looked back at Score, "what now." 

Score looked over the direction of the map, nodding as he understood. "We head in the direction of the beak, until we reach what looks like a Manticore." Longhorn raised an eyebrow at this, but Score just shrugged. "I'm sure we'll find out what it means."

"We'd better," Longhorn growled before walking off in the direction the beak was pointing. As the ponies followed after them, Fluttershy looked back at the griffon shaped rock and prayed that her friends would be there soon.



A ways back, the cart was speeding along the desert as the pegasi pulled it along through flying. 

Within the cart the flightless ponies, and Twilight, enjoyed the comfortable right and praised the suspension system on this thing. Using several pairs of binoculars, they scanned the horizon around them for any sign of Fluttershy and the criminals. 

The only one not looking for them was, strange enough, Iron. He instead was simply sitting back and staring at the crushed part of his trusty weapon. To think a little juice could give Longhorn the strength to do this, just goes to show how dangerous letting him in get his hooves on the whole thing would be. 

"What's up Iron," he looked up to see Pinkie looking at him quizzically. 

"I'm just thinking how we're gonna stop Longhorn. I doubt that little vial was all the juice he had. If he has more and drinks it, we might not be able to stop him." 

"Don't worry about him," Flash called back. "He won't find fighting all of us as easy as just you." 

Skybreaker nodded. "He's right. Even if he happen to have some more of that juice, he and his cronies will have a difficult time fighting against an alicorn magic scholar, four skilled ponies and two and half knights." 

"Two and a half?" Twilight asked. 

"I'm counting Iron as a half due to his condition." 

"Even if that's true, you weren't there. You didn't see how much stronger a few drops made him. He he drink more then that." 

"We'll handle it," Twilight assured him. "Nothing's gonna stop us from saving our friend." 

"Got that right," Rainbow said back. 

Applejack nodded. "He messed with the wrong ponies." 

"Indeed."

"Yup, yup, yup."

"Besides," Flash said, "you could have beaten him if you'd been at your best."

Iron turned to him in confusion, wondering what the heck he was talking about. "Did you not see me yesterday?" 

"I did." 

"And he's saying you only ended up like that because you weren't fighting Longhorn at your full strength." Iron turned to his mentor, obviously lost. "You were angry, weren't you? When you thought Longhorn, you were attacking in a mindless rage."

Iron sighed. "Yes."

"That's what made you lose. Whilst your anger gave you a mild boost in strength, it stopped you form thinking clearly. Had you been calmer, you might have found a way to overcome his strength." Skybreaker watched as Iron looked down in shame. "I've told you before that anger can be a great tool, but only if you can control it." 

"Control it?" Springer asked, "how are you meant to control it. I thought anger was something your suppose to stop yourself from feeling." 

Skybreaker shook his head. "No, it's something you need to accept but not let control you." He looked up at the sky, watching as the clouds took shape. "In this world there are three types of emotion. Positive emotions like joy and love, or negative emotions like hatred and despair. Then there are the emotions that are completely blank, until they are effected by positive or negative emotions. Anger is one of those emotions. If fuelled by love and joy, then it can be an anger you can control and help make you stronger. But if fuelled by hatred, like when Iron fought Longhorn-"

"It'll make you weaker," Twilight finished. 

"Exactly," Skybreaker nodded before looking back at Iron. "Only when you abandon all negative emotions, will you be able to let your anger flow without worry." 

Iron took in what his mentor said, letting the thought roll around in his head.

As he did this, Skybreaker continued. "You'll find the greatest sources of power in this world are ones powered by anything but hatred. The Crystal Heart, the Elements of Harmony, even the alicorn magic that make up our Celestic Gear. They're all powered by positive emotions like love, friendship and the drive to do good. But to those who have given into their hatred, Nightmare Moon, Sombra and even Doom and his followers, only pain and loss await them." 

"Look!" Everypony turned to where Applejack was pointing, seeing a rock in the distance that was shaped like a griffon's head. 

"We've reached our first landmark," Twilight said before looking down at the map. "Just two more before the fruit's location." The others worried when they didn't see any sign of Fluttershy and the others, so either their had missed them or arrived ahead of them. 

That question was answered when Springer's ears pricked up. "Fluttershy?" The others turned to him, "I can sense Fluttershy. She was here." As soon as the cart was meters away from the rock, he leapt out and landed with a skid. Touching the ground and reaching out for Fluttershy's aura, he turned before pointing. "That way." 

Twilight looked at where he was pointing before glancing up at the rock, seeing the beak pointing the same way. "We're on the right track." Springer jumped back up into the cart as the pegasi pulled it once again, regaining speed in the renewed chase. 

"Hold on shrimp," Iron whispered. 



Meanwhile, Fluttershy was watching as her captives began arguing. 

"We've been walking in a straight line for almost an hour," Longhorn stated to Score. "How long until we reach this Manticore?" 

"I...I don't know," Score looked down at the map. "If anything, we should have found it by now." 

Longhorn leaned down to glare at Score. "Ya'h better not be lying to me." 

"I'm not," the unicorn turned to Rickashay. "See if you can get a birds eye view of this thing." 

Rickashay saluted before flying up into the air, but saw nothing of the sort. Once he said this to the others, Longhorn's glare intensified. "A'h brought ya'h with me because ya'h said ya'd be valuable. Well a'm not seeing a lot of value in ya'h losers right now." He pushed Score, making him stagger back into Boulder and causing him to rock Fluttershy off his back. 

"Ahh!" She cried as he hit the ground, only to notice she was not being payed much attention since they were arguing. Seeing this as he best chance to escape, she reached down and started biting at the ropes. After a solid thirty seconds, she had gnawed them enough for her hooves to slip out and until her back hooves.  

Still unnoticed, she rolled to her freed hooves and began to run as fast as she could. It was another ten seconds by the time she was noticed. 

"Well why don't you just take the mare and leave us tha map," Score turned to Boulder and saw his back was now minus one pegasus. This made his eyes go wide as he looked around, spotting Fluttershy a ways off. "The...the mare." He turned to his underlings, "after her." They gave chase and quickly began to close the distance. 

Fluttershy looked back and saw them gaining, making her redouble her efforts as she cried. But then the ground below disappearing, and with her wings still bound she could do nothing but fall. "Arrrhhh!" She tumbled into a ditch and landed on her front hoof the wrong way, causing pain to shoot up her leg. 

Once the pain had somewhat faded, she opened her eyes and looked up to see her captors smiling down at her. 

Longhorn chuckled, "nice try pet." He then looked around at the ditch, noticing it went on for quite a bit until it seemed to be suddenly filled with sand. Curiosity getting the better of him, he glanced at Rickashay. "Fly along this ditch and blow away the sand. 

Though confused by this, the pegasus did as he was told began to skim the trench. A minute later, he returned from the other direction and looked at them in confusion. "It's on big loop, well actually it's to bendy to be a loop." Catching onto what Longhorn was thinking, Score ordered Rickashay to fly up and see what shape it made. He did so, flying a mile high to see the whole thing and gasped before returning. "It's a manticore!" 

The unicorn and bull smiled at one another, then at the now retied up Fluttershy. "Thank you little lady. If ya'h hadn't run off, we might never have found this." Fluttershy's eyes went wide when she realised her mistake. If she hadn't run, they might have still been arguing until her friends arrived. She watched as Longhorn turned to Score. "What now." 

Score smirked. "The map says to follow the tip of its tail until we reach a cave, which leads to an underground maze that leads to the spot the fruit can be found." 

"Then let's go," Longhorn picked Fluttershy up and placed her back onto Boulder's back before they continued. Rickashay showed them to the tail and once there, they headed the way it was pointing. After a while, the group came across a pile of rocks with a flat slab on one side. "This must be it," Longhorn removed the vial from around his neck and drank the juice. 

The ponies watched as he tensed up, veins beginning to appear on his muscles, then stepped up to the slab. With a single outcry, he thrusted his hoof into it and turned the rock to dust. Once the dust cleared, the five of them looked inside and found a downward tunnel. 

Score looked down at the map, but found nothing that would tell them how to navigate the map. That was until he spotted something around the edge of the map. But before he could show the other this, Rickashay spotted something. 

"Guys, we got company." Everypony turned their gaze to where Rickashay was looking, seeing a cloud of dust coming there way. 



Yes, Flash and the others had caught up. 

Springer had followed Fluttershy's aura trial and doing so had taken them to and passed the manticore nazca line, allowing them to now come into visual distance. "There they are!" Twilight screamed as she looked through the binoculars, "step on it." 

"YES MA'AM!" The pegasi cried as they kicked their wings into overdrive, speeding the cart up. 



"This is bad," Score said. He turned to Longhorn, "trust me. Dealing with them right now will not end well for us, even with a hostage." 

Longhorn nodded, "into the maze." The ponies stepped in as Longhorn followed, watching as the cart came within a hundred feet of them. Knowing he only had a few seconds of strength left, he put all of it into a single hoof and used it to smash into the top of the rock pile. 

The ponies watched as the entrance collapsed in on itself. 

"NO!" Iron cried as the cart came to a stop next to the pile before leaping out, raising his Celestic Gear in preparation of digging the rocks away. 

"Iron!" Skybreaker grabbed his spear before he could change it, "bad idea. We don't know what the damage it took has done. Using it too much could result in irreversible damage." 

"But we need to get after them!"

"Don't worry," Twilight told him. "I got this." Her horn glowed alongside the rocks, which began to float up and reveal the tunnel. "Quickly!" The others didn't have to be told twice, trotting into the underground passage before Twilight dropped the rocks. 

With the light blocked off, Flash ignited his sword whilst Twilight and Rarity lit their horns. They headed down the tunnel until their reached a three way junction. Springer moved to the front of the group and reached out until he picked up on Fluttershy's aura. "This way!" He pointed to the right tunnel. 

"I wonder how are the others are finding their way?" Rarity asked. 

"That's a good question," Twilight looked down at the map but found nothing she could use to find their way. "Looks like Jubilee forgot to add something, but what?"



What Jubilee had forgotten was a string of arrows around the end of the map. Those arrows were pointed either left, right of straight ahead. So as long as Score didn't lose his place, he would be able to lead them through the tunnel without getting lost. 

"Left," they turned that way. "Right," they turned that way. "Straight ahead," they kept moving forwards. Eventually they came into a chamber with with five tunnels, making it harder for Score to figure out where to go. It didn't help that the sounds of hoofsteps echoed through the caves, even while they weren't moving. 

"They're catching up!" Rickashay cried. 

Score grumbled as he turned to the tunnel they needed to go down, "how are they following us?" 

"It doesn't matter." Longhorn grabbed Fluttershy and hoisted her up on his shoulder before dropping his case and taking the map, then headed down the tunnel. "You three deal with them."

"Us?" Rickashay asked in shock. 

Score glared at Longhorn, "that wasn't the deal." 

Longhorn shot back his own death glare. "I'm changing the deal. Stop them or forget about your cut." He then nodded at the briefcase, "that should give you lot a fighting chance." With that, he ran down the tunnel and disappeared into the darkness. 

Score growled, but knew he had no choice as the sound of the approaching enemy spurred him into action. Opening the case and levitating the jar out, he undid the top and turned to his flunkies. "We all drink a third," Rickashay and Boulder nodded before he brought the jar to his lips. 



"I'm sensing somepony close," Springer told them as they ran down the tunnel. 

"Is it Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked. 

"No, but they are aura's I recognise." The answer to who they were was revealed as they ran out into the chamber and spotted the three criminals, right as Boulder finished off the last of the juice and Rickashay wiped his mouth. 

As our heroes came to a stop, they stared at the trio confoundedly. "You three?" Flash asked. 

"Yes," Score said smugly, "us three."     

Rainbow laughed. "What, did Longhorn leave you behind to slow us down?" Hearing this got the three to frown. 

Score's horn sparked. "No, he left us to take you down." With that, he fired off a magical blast. 

Flash was the first to respond, leaping forwards and deflecting it with his sword. However, the force behind the attack made him stagger back. "Wow, that was stronger then expected." 

Skybreaker also noted this and looked down at the jar on the floor, quickly putting the pieces together. "Looks like Iron was right about them having more of the fruit's juice." 

"Yes," Score laughed, "and I've had more then Longhorn did when he beat your little friend. Show'em lads!" Boulder and Rickashay had been waiting for him to say that, the two shooting forwards ready to fight. The hoofsteps from Boulder were so strong that they made the whole cavern shake, whilst Rickashay's speed an increased tenfold.

This speed meant that when Rickashay slammed into Applejack, the earth pony farm was sent hurtling back. The others gasped as Twilight used her magic to catch Applejack before she could break her neck by smashing into the wall, whilst Skybreaker glared at the criminal pegasus. 

"Come here!" He swung his Cloudhacker at Rickashay, who leapt back and was up on the ceiling within seconds. But before Skybreaker could even think about chasing him, heavy hoofsteps made him turn to see Boulder getting close.  

The earth pony unleashed a battle cry as he thrusted his hoof forwards, Skybreaker barely having enough time to raise his axe to block. Though pushed back several inches, he was able to hold firm as the others attacked. 

"Bone Breaker!" Springer had taken his battle form and created his energy staff, which he swung down on Boulders head only to see it shatter with no damages appearing on the target. "What?" 

Flash raised his sword, ready to slash at the earth pony, but before he could a magic blast sailed passed him while making Rarity cry out as she barely managed to dodge it. Flash turned to the source, Score, only for his distraction to allow Rickashay to shoot down off the ceiling and body check him to the ground before jumping away again. 

Rainbow had had enough of this and flexed her wings, flying after Rickashay as he jumped around the chamber. But with the room's confinement, she couldn't reach her full speed before having to slow down so as not to crash into a wall. Rickashay didn't seem to have this problem, able to bounce from surface to surface without issue. At certain points he pointed himself at one of the ponies and body slammed them. 

"Flash!" Skybreaker cried before ducking Boulder's punch. 

Flash nodded and entered his Theta Mode, looking up and seeing Rickashay about to tackle Pinkie. He kicked off the ground and met him midair, his heightened data input allowing him to see how the speedy pegasus was about to move and counter.  

And so the battle truly began. As Flash and Rainbow tried to take Rickashay down, the others split up and began battling the other two. Skybreaker, Springer, Applejack and Iron fought Boulder in close combat, whilst Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity fought Score in a long range battle of magic...or a party cannon in Pinkie's case. 

This battle seemed to be a complete stalemate. Despite it being one again many for each of the criminals, the juice they had consumed was allowing them to keep up. Along with Rickashay's increased speed, Score's magical power was also able to hold Twilight's back whilst Boulder seemed to take no damage from any attack he was hit with. 

"This is ridicules!" Rarity cried as she fired a spell at Score's hooves, the unicorn seeing it and managed to sidestep before the magic hit the ground and caused a small crystal to sprout out. 

Twilight had to agree as she launched a magical beam at Score, who respond with his own and the two locked up. 

The two pushed at one another as Pinkie and Rarity jumped around Score, aiming their attacks. They both fired, Score seeing them both coming and smirking before cutting his magic and docking down. Doing so caused Rarity's and Twilight magic to collide with the confetti, causing an explosion that blinded the three mares and allowed Score the case to blast them. 

Luckily, the three recovered in time for Twilight to shield herself, Pinkie to bounce up and let it fly below her whilst Rarity made a crystal shield sprout out the ground to deflect Score's blast upwards.

Rickashay had been up on the ceiling when he saw that blast coming, making him jump away at the same time Flash threw a Flash Cutter. The two magically lasers missed him and instead hit the cave roof. 

BOOM!...CRACK!  

Those two sounds made everypony look up in horror, as the smoke cleared and showed a large crack in the ceiling. The sounds of more cracks followed as the breakage spread, linking up with over cracks. 

"Not good!" Flash said as he watched the first rock break free, falling towards them as more crumbled down. 

"Everypony scatter!" Skybreaker cried as the twelve ponies and jakhowl began jumping around to avoid the rocks. Twilight and Springer had managed to put a shield around themselves and the ones around them, But Flash, Iron and Rainbow hadn't been close enough to get in it, whilst the criminals tried to run for one of the tunnels but found them getting blocked off. 

"Wow!" Iron yelled as he jumped back to evade a rock, tripping up and falling into the last of the tunnels before it's entrance was finally buried. 

Twilight watched as Rainbow and Flash continued to dodge, seeing Rainbow get close to her. "Get in!" She cut the shield for a moment, allowing her to jump into her range before she recast the spell. 

"That was close!" Rainbow breath a sigh of relief before turning back to watch Flash cut away the rock. She and the others all panicked when they saw him slice one boulder before another almost hit him, forcing him to jump away and trip as he laded. This caused Lightbringer to slip out of his grip and be buried by more falling rocks.

"FLASH!" They all screamed. 

CRACK! 

Looking up, they saw the largest rock break free. It was huge, roughly twenty feet in diameter, and would crush them no matter how strong the shield they had. 

It was at this point that Flash recovered from his fall and looked up to see the boulder, causing his eyes to go wide as a click went off in his brain. A mighty roar soon followed, his body suddenly exploding into a tornado of light. The other watched in amazement as the armour appeared on his body, Skybreaker and the criminals slack jawed at what they were seeing. 

From within the tornado, Flash looked up at the falling rock before the spiralling light around him morphed into a bubble. It was in this form for a millisecond before Flash jumped upwards, rocketing towards the rock at intense speed. Once he was within a few feet of it, he let out a mighty battle cry before swinging his hoof forward. 

SMASH! 

Everypony watched wide eyed as the rock not only shattered, but was disintegrated into dust by that one punch. "No way," Skybreaker whispered. 

As the dust cleared, they all looked up to see the bubble of light attached to an undamaged part of ceiling. Flash looked down from above and saw the three criminals staring up at him, causing him to smirk before he kicked off the rock. Like a bullet he shot down, his trajectory revealing his target as Boulder. 

But before the earth pony could react, Flash was atop him and threw his hoof into his back with such force that it made the ground below Boulder crater as his body smashed into it. "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" He cried before losing consciousness. 

Flash then leapt away from the earth pony, just as his danger sense detected something and made him spin around to see Rickashay flying at him. The criminal pegasus threw a punch at Flash, only for the apprentice knight to grab it easily in his own hoof. Rickashay's eyes went wide before feeling a tremendous force slam into his stomach and knock the wind out of him, Flash having kneed him into falling back and crashing into the ground unconscious.

"Two down," Flash turned to his last opponent. Score was trembling at the sight of the glowing pegasus, sparking his horn as he knew he was next. But before he could fire, Flash disappeared. 

"What?" Score asked before feeling a presence behind him, which made his spin around just in time to see a back hoof coming right at him. 

WHAM! 

Score was forced into flying backwards whilst doing multiple back flips. Eventually he slammed into the far wall, which left a pony shaped crater that he found himself stuck in. He let out one final moan before blacking out. 

His opponents beaten, the tornado exploded off of Flash's body, his glowing form now disappearing. He panted heavily as he swayed, just barely keeping himself on his hooves. "Man that's tiring." 

"Flash!" He looked around to see the others rushing to his side, "are you alright." 

"I'm fine," Flash assured them. He noticed Springer wasn't there, making him look around and saw his partner was retrieving his sword from the rubble. "Thanks bud," he said once he handed it to him. 

"No problem." Springer then looks around at the now blocked tunnels, "okay...problem." 

"I hope Iron's alright," Pinkie said. 

"He'll be fine," Skybreaker assured her. Only then did he look at the tunnel Iron fell through and frowned, "I hope." 



Iron panted as he dragged himself down the passageway. 

He hated leaving the others, but he was now the only one who had any chance of getting to Longhorn and Fluttershy. He had to hurry before it was too late, even though he had no idea if they had come down this tunnel. "Hold on shrimp, I'm...I'm coming."   



Fluttershy was very uncomfortable. At least Boulder was gentle when he carried her, Longhorn didn't seem to care how she felt as long as she remained on his shoulder. They had been running at fulled speed through the tunnels, all the while rumbling echoed through the cave. 

No doubt it was being caused by her friends, making her worry that they might be in trouble. However, she soon had bigger things to worry about. 

"There it is." Fluttershy re-positioned herself enough to see over the bulls shoulder, spotting a speck of light that signalled an exit. "Come along lass." Longhorn hit his tops speed and soon enough, the two exited the caves and were bathed in sunlight. 

They flinched at the bright light, but when they adjusted they opened their eyes and saw they were now within a beautiful garden that was hidden from the world by a circle of thirty meter rocks. 

Fluttershy marvelled at the wondrous oasis, whilst Longhorn search for the only thing he cared about. Then he saw it, in the center of the garden, atop a high hill covered in rocks was a single tree. It held no leaves, but growing from its branches were three milky green pear like fruits. 

"Finally," Longhorn trotted to the hill and began to climb, "they're mine." When he reached the top, he dropped Fluttershy before reaching up to pick one of the fruits. "Finally, ma'h ticket to the easy life." 

"LONGHORN!" 

Both the bull and Fluttershy froze before slowly turning to the source of the voice. There they saw Iron trotting out of the cave, glaring up at the bull as he drew closer. When he saw Fluttershy, he breathed a sigh of relief seeing she was okay. 

Longhorn's laughing brought his attention back to his adversary, who was lazily walking down the hill whilst tossing his precious fruit through the air. "So, ya'h came back for another beating." 

Iron frowned before pulling Piecemaker off his back. "The only one getting a beating is you." 

"Is that so." As Longhorn reached the base of the hill, he showed off the Cursed Fruit before bringing it to his lips. Iron saw this and went wide eyed before firing several Iron Lances at it. But it was to late, that one bite was all Longhorn needed. His pupils went small and his muscles became veiny, as he started to evade the projectiles and finish consuming the fruit. 

"Oh no," Fluttershy whispered. She watched as Longhorn unleashed a mighty battle cry before slamming his front hooves into the ground, causing an earthquake that almost shook Iron off his feet. This was followed by a powerful wind that threatened to blow the off balance pony away. 

Luckily, Iron managed to dig his spear into the ground and hold on until the wind died down. But as he pulled it out of the earth, he couldn't help but notice the slight bend that the weapon had on the damaged section. He didn't get to threat over this long, as a rumbling sound made him look up to see Longhorn charging on four hooves. 

The apprentice knight leapt out of the way just in time, Longhorn missing him by inches before pulling himself to a stop. 

The bull got back on two hooves and turned to Iron, throwing himself forwards before thrusting several fast punches. It was all Iron could do to block and evade them as he stepped backwards, trying his hardest to stay calm. "What's the matter, scared? A'm not surprised, after what a'h did to ya'h last time." 

Iron growled. "I'm not sca-AUGH!" His distraction had allowed Longhorn to get and punch in on his shoulder, making him flinch and be unprepared for the tail that soon swung around and slapped him in the face. "Ahhh!" He fell back, sliding along the ground. As soon as he stopped, he felt a presence behind him and rolled over to see Longhorn above him. 

The bull pulled his hoof back, as Iron managed to grip Piecemaker and before holding it up in its shield form. A second later, a punch made contact and created a minor dent. This was followed by several more punches, each causing the dent to grow bigger. 

Iron knew he wouldn't last long, so when Longhorn pulled back for another punch he changed his weapon into a hammer and swung it for all he was worth. "Urgh!" Longhorn staggered back and few steps, allowing Iron the freedom the shift the hammer into a long rod and use it to see the bulls hooves. 

As Longhorn came crashing down, Iron rolled away and jumped back to his hooves. Stepping back slowly, Iron watched as Longhorn began pulling himself up. "Iron Spike Assault!" He thrusted his spear into the ground and seconds later, metal spikes shot ready to impale the bull. 

But Longhorn saw this and tensed up before the spikes struck, the metal snapping on contact. "PATHETIC!" The bull bellowed before charging forwards, Iron barely managing to hold up his weapon in time to block. Longhorn pushed him back, causing Iron's back hooves to dig into the ground. 

Iron and Longhorn locked eyes, only for Iron's gaze to look down when he felt the pole of his Celestic Gear bend. This made Longhorn smirk before hooking Piecemaker with his horns and swinging his head back, pulling Iron along with for the ride. 

"IRON!" Fluttershy screamed as she watched him go flying. She then looked down at the ropes and struggled to pull herself free, chewing at them in an attempt to break or even loosen them enough. 

Iron moaned as he tried to pick his body up, but the damage done by the fall had irritated his previous injuries and made it so he couldn't even pick himself up. Lifting his head, he spotted Piecemaker and few feet away and tried to crawl to it. Then when it came within reach he tried to grab it, only for a hoof to stamp down on it. 

Iron looked up to see Longhorn smiling down at him before kicking him in the face, making him roll away from him. "Again and again ya'h disappoint. How many times do I have to tell you that your hate is the only to to beat me?" 

Iron groaned as he stopped rolling, looking up at Longhorn through a black eye and busted lip. "You're-err...lying. Hate, doesn't make you strong." 

"Is that so?" Longhorn bent down to pick up Piecemaker. "Then explain how I'm the one winning, whilst you are the one barely conscious?" He started bending the spear. "Face it, ya'h goody goods are so weak because ya'h spend all ya'h time trying to help others. The only ones that matter in this world...IS YOURSELF!" With that, he bent Piecemaker beyond its limit.

SNAP!

Iron's eyes both went wide as he watched his precious weapon break in half, Longhorn tossing the pieces away as he stepped towards him. Once he was close enough, he raised one of his back hooves up in preparation of stamping Iron into dust. "GOODBYE!" With that, he pushed his hoof down. 

But before he could make contact with Iron, a yellow blur shot by and rolled him to safety. "What?" He looked over at where the blur had rolled them and saw it was Fluttershy, who had escaped her bonds and had saved Iron. 

"Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked him as she jumped off of him. 

"Fluttershy?" Iron asked. 

Fluttershy looked around and saw Longhorn coming. She knew they barely had any time and looked back at him. "Listen, he is lying to you. He knows if you give into your hate, you'll be easy to beat. You have to stay calm if you want to stop him." 

Iron, breathing heavily from the pain, looked over at where the remains of his weapon lay. "I...I can't beat him. He's too strong." 

"Maybe, but you're stronger." Before she could say anything else, she felt her mane be grabbed and pulled. She cried out as she was lifted into the air by Longhorn, who snorted as he glared at her. 

"FLUTTERSHY!" Iron tried to pick himself up, but his body failed again. 

Fluttershy gasped in pain, but opened her eyes and looked down at Iron through her tears. "You're stronger then him, because you have a reason to be strong. Remember-AAAAAWWWW!" She screamed as Longhorn tossed her away, making her hit the ground and go limp.  

"FLUTTERSHY!" Iron's heart beat as he stared at her motionless body, his eyes glaring up at Longhorn. But seeing the smile on the bulls face made him remember what she had said, along with what the others had said before. Hatred would not win this fight. Fluttershy told him to remember, but what was he suppose to remember? 

"What a load of nonsense," Longhorn said as he glared at Fluttershy. "But, what else would a weakling say." 

"She's...not weak." Longhorn raised an eyebrow as he turned back to Iron, surprised to see him back on his hooves. "She's...the strongest pony I know." He opened his eyes and glared at Longhorn. "She has overcome more obstacles in her life then I can count, growing stronger no matter the trial. So don't you dare call her weak!" Memories of those trials flooded through his mind, but they weren't the only memories.

Iron remembered when he first met his friends at the Grand Galloping Gala. He remembered fighting alongside Flash in Canterlot Cathedral. He remembered arriving in Ponyville and finding a place there. He remembered fighting against the Changelings, and the Doom Quartet. He remembered standing side by side with the other knights as they stared Doom down. 

Then he remembered other moments. Training with Skybreaker, helping save Sweet Apple Acres from the Flim Flam Brothers, meeting Fluttershy's parents and helping her train for the tornado. 

Then another memory flashed. This one being when Iron had been in Fluttershy's house during a rainstorm, where he told her his story. And finally, a memory of his parents flooded through him. But unlike the other memories, this one held no comfort. 

Then it happened. A something within Iron clicked into place, as a mental wind washed over him mind and blew away the fog of hatred that had clouded him for so long. He knew why he had to be strong. 

His mental realisation came to and end when he noticed Longhorn stepping closer to him. "What a load of dribble. She is as weak as you, and I'll prove it." He got down on all fours and shot forwards, ready to impale Iron on his horns. But Iron was ready, thrusting his hooves up and catching the horns. Longhorn expected to simply push him back, but was surprised when he actually felt resistance. "What?"

"You're...right!" Iron forced out, "I was weak. But not...anymore." He started pushing back, shocking Longhorn as they came to a stop. "Because now...I know...what I need to be strong for." Longhorn's surprise increased when he felt himself begin to be pushed back. "You took...my parents. You hurt...so many others. I will not let you get...away with it...ANYMORE!" With that he thrusted his hooves forwards and actually made Longhorn stagger back. 

"What is this?" Longhorn asked, only to flinch when a bright light began to surround Iron. 

Fluttershy was beginning to come around when she felt this light, making her open her eyes and see Iron glowing. A similar glow was coming from something close to her, making her looks around to see the pieces of Piecemaker letting out a shine. 

Iron seemed completely unaware of the light, focusing entirely on Longhorn. "I understand now, what it truly means to be a knight. My parents taught me how true strength is forged from the trials we go through. Skybreaker taught me discipline and how to fight. Then I met Fluttershy, Flash and everypony else. They taught me about friendship." The light increased. "You took away my bonds once, but I won't let you take them away again. I'll fight...not to get revenge...but to protect...EVERYPONY!" 

With that, the light enveloped his body as Piecemaker's remains exploded into millions of shining particles that flew towards Iron. Fluttershy and Longhorn were both bewildered by this, and they weren't the only ones. 

Skybreaker and the rest of the Ponyville crew had finally arrived in the garden, running out the cave just in time to see the light show. "What's going on?" Flash asked. 

Skybreaker only had a theory. "Iron." 

Finally, the light died down and revealed Iron. Only now, he was armoured up. The armour he wore looked like a grey variant of the standard royal guard armour, only with Iron's cutie mark on the chest. Under the armour was a form fitting black rubber suit that covered everything except his head, even his tail. On the armour section between his neck and his legs were spikes, which pocked out before curving in the direction he was looking. And finally on the end of his tail was a metal end with a spearhead like attachment. 

Iron opened his eyes and looked down at his new form, barely feeling the weight of the armour. 

"What...just happened?" Twilight asked. 

Skybreaker stepped forwards. "I'd heard stories, of knight's whose Celestic Gear change when its knight grows stronger then its current form. Could it be that...Iron has unlocked his full potential?" the others heard this and were surprised, wondering what could have caused Iron to do that. 

Longhorn had finally recovered from the shock, glaring at Iron as he snorted. "You think a costume change will scare me, think again Do you honest think you can beat me!" 

Iron looked to Longhorn, the flames burning in his eyes. But unlike before, these flames were not fuelled by hatred and revenge. Instead, by love and determination. "I don't think...I know." He raised a hoof and pointed at the bull. "Now, count up your sins." 

Longhorn roared before charging forwards and throwing a punch at Iron, who smiled with no fear on his face at all. Instead, he easily knocked the attacking hoof away before throwing his own punch into Longhorn's chest. The force of the attack made the bull stagger back. "What?" 

It was at this moment that the spikes on Iron's armour glowed. "Iron Lance Fury!" Metal projectiles shot off the spikes, flying at Longhorn and smashing into him whilst cutting his body. 

"AUGH!" The bull staggered back before getting down on all fours, charging at Iron with his horns ready. 

Iron smiled as he stopped his barrage before raising his tail, the spearhead glowing as it morphed into a hammer. Spinning on his heel, Iron swung his tail and slammed the hammer into Longhorn. The bull cried out as he flew to the ground, as Iron then slammed his armoured hooves into the ground caused a cage of metal spikes to shot out and surround Longhorn. 

"Talk about power!" Springer cried. 

Flash nodded. "Iron's unlocked a whole new level of power now." 

As Longhorn picked himself up, Iron stepped towards him whilst shifting the hammer to a sword. The bull saw this and roared before charging, only for Iron to easily sidestep him as he delivered a slash to his foe. And before Longhorn could cry out, Iron had shifted to another spot around him and dealt another slash. Longhorn soon found himself enduring slash after slash after slash, until Iron leapt back after delivering the final cut to him. 

Longhorn fell to his knees, unable to believe he was being beaten with the Cursed Fruit. That was it.

He looked up at the hill and saw the other fruit, which he started galloping towards. Iron saw this and knew he had to stop him, slamming his hoof into the ground and causing a metal loop to come out of the ground. He watched as Longhorn tripped over it, crashing to the ground and giving him an opening. It was time for his families souls, and that of all of Longhorn's over victims, to be put to rest. 

As Longhorn picked himself up, Iron raised his tail above his head as the blade reverted back to its spearhead form before glowing. "This ends now. Iron Force...EXCEED!" At the sound of this outburst, a shrapnel laced tornado bigger and more powerful then any of the ones seen before blasted out of the spearhead. It flew over Iron and rocketed through the air, eventually striking Longhorn and shredding up his body before pushing him into the air.

"AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" The outlaw screamed before being thrusted into the Cursed Fruit tree, ripping it out of the ground and shredding the wood into splinters. When the tornado finally ended, Longhorn and the sawdust fell to the ground and landed face down with a thud.   

Iron stood there, watching as Longhorn remained motionless. He had done it, he had beaten Longhorn. 

In that moment, his armour glowed before turning into dust, that dust reshaping into a fully repaired Piecemaker. Iron smirked as he looked over his trusty weapon, only to feel a presence moving closer to him. "IRON!" He spun around, just in time to see Fluttershy throw her hooves around him. "You're okay." 

Iron smiled as he pulled her into a hug, "I wouldn't have been without you." The two pulled back, staring into each others eyes. Nothing else in the world matter in that moment, until Rainbow ruined said moment. 

"DUDE!" The pegasus punched him in the shoulder, "that was awesome." 

"Err...thanks." 

"No," he turned to see his mentor, "thank you. You managed to defeat Longhorn and save Fluttershy. You should be proud my boy." 

Iron looked at the others, seeing them all smiling at him with pride. He smiled back, only for a groan to make him turn back to Longhorn. 

The bull had come around, his body in agony as he tried to pick himself up. When Longhorn shifted his gaze, he spotted one of the Cursed Fruit. Somehow it had miraculously survived, and if he ate it. Through the pain be began to shimmy himself across the ground, before before he could get within a few feet of it a pair of hooves appeared next to the fruit. 

He looked up, seeing Iron staring down at him as his friends stepped up besides him. "Did your hatred for me...really make you this strong?" 

Iron frowned as he picked up the fallen cursed fruit. "I became strong," he dropped it back to the ground before crushing it. "Not through hatred." Everypony else smiled at his statement. No, he hadn't achieved this through the path of an avenger. He finally defeated Longhorn, through the resolve and conviction to protect others. The path...of a Royal Knight. 

The next few hours seemed like a blur. Once Twilight had teleported the lot of them back to Jubilee's ranch, a draining effort on her part, Longhorn and the three criminal ponies were sent off back to prison as the fruit's power would get out of their system before they woke up. 

Iron and Fluttershy were both checked out by a doctor, who was surprised to find both of them having only minor injuries. It seemed Iron's level up and healed his wounds, meaning the two could leave with no issue. 

Now our heroes were back on the train heading home, as Iron watched the scenery fly by with Fluttershy sitting next to him. Skybreaker and Flash sat opposite him, his mentor happy to see the smile Iron had gained from his time in Ponyville back on his face. "So, how do you feel?" 

Iron looked towards his mentor and thought about his question. "I feel...light. Like a great weight has finally been lifted off me." 

Skybreaker smiled. "That weight was your hatred. Though you still have it, it is no longer weighing you down. Now you can truly move on with your life, because you've obtained closure." 

Iron nodded as he glanced down at Fluttershy, who smiled up at him, before looking out the window. "And I'm going to use that life to keep all of Equestria safe. If I can help it, nopony will have to feel the pain that I felt for so long. I swear it." 

Everypony nodded, glad that Iron was back to being the pony they had all come to love and respect. But nopony was more happy then Skybreaker. "Iron...I think you're ready." 

Iron turned to his mentor in confusion, "ready for what?" Skybreaker didn't reply, only continued to smile as he let Iron figure it out himself. And figure it out he did, making him go wide eyed. "You don't mean." 

"Yes." 



"Arise," Celestia spoke as she tapped the royal sword on his shoulders, "Sir Iron Core. Royal Knight of Equestria."

Iron raised his head, looking up to see the four alicorn princess step back. They were dressed in their finest robes, each holding a sword they had used to knight him. A great round of applause erupted behind him as he turned to the sight of the great hall, now seeing the ponies of Ponyville and Canterlot cheering for their newest knight.

He then glanced down the stage as saw all of his fellow knights. Tidal, Ruby, Heather, First, Grand and Skybreaker were all there, all smiling up at him. He grinned back as he looked at the rest of the ponies in the hall, spotting Flash next to Shining Armor with the Royal Guard. They were all standing at attention around the edge of the hall while the civilians continued to clap. Springer, Spike and the remaining members of the mane seven were among the civilians, all next to members of their family. Three of the five mares were sobbing their eyes out, the ponies next to Pinkie needing umbrellas.

Finally, the clapping ended as everypony waited for their newest knight to say a few words. As such, he almost coughed into his hoof before he spoke out, "Thank you, all of you. I have always known the value that life has, even more so after losing my parents, but I never truly understood how precious it was. That was until I came to Ponyville, where I learned that a life without love and joy is no life at all. And now, as your newest knight, I swear to protect that love and joy...to my dying breath."

The hall exploded in applause again. And once the noise died down, Skybreaker marched up to him with a huge grin. "Well said Iron. I know you will not falter in your vow, and as such, I now dub thee Iron Core...The Metal Guardian."

Shining took this moment to call out to the guard. "Company...SALUTE!" The guards, including Flash, all saluted at the Metal Guardian. Iron nodded as they finished the maneuver, now stepping down between the six knights. He was now a part of that group, no longer the simple apprentice of Skybreaker, but a full on member with equal say.

Soon enough, the ponies in the room moved over to the gala chamber as a full blown Pinkie party broke out. The ponies of Canterlot and Ponyville all enjoyed themselves, chatting about whatever conversation they enjoyed. And as Iron stepped through the crowd, a flurry of congratulations fell upon him. "Thank you," he said as he passed another.

"Well done my boy," Fancy Pants replied back.

"Thank you."

This went on for a while, only for the knight to leave the room. There, he went the one place he knew he had to go: The Canterlot Royal Garden. He remembered the last time he was here, the night of the gala. That had been when he had first truly met the pony he was looking for, and hoped this conversation went very differently from that first time.

But as he did this, a certain orange pegasi was watching him leave the building. A glum frown graced his face as he watched the new Royal Knight disappear into the outside. It was here that he felt a purple wing tap his side, making his head turn to see one familiar purple alicorn.

"Something wrong Flash?" Twilight asked him with a tilt of her head.

"Hmm? Um...no." Flash replied as he slightly looked away. "Just...thinking."

Twilight did a small snort, "Well, don't stress yourself too much."

"Gee thanks." Flash grumbled back, only to see Twilight sticking her tongue out at him. "Hey!"

And as the two started to playfully argue with each other, Iron made his way to the garden. It was here that he finally spotted her sitting in the same spot he'd seen her in a year ago, only this time Flash wasn't there. It was just her, alone. Taking a deep breath, Iron stepped into the clearing, his footsteps catching her attention as she looked up and smiled at him.

"Hello Sir Iron Core," she bowed.

Iron chuckled back, waving his hoof, "None of that. I might be a knight now, but I'm still no different from who I was this morning."

Fluttershy nodded as he sat down next to her. "Congratulations. You deserve it."

"Thank you." Iron turned to smile at her, "For more than you know. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be the pony I am today." He then saw Fluttershy blush, making him smirk as he continued, "You have no idea how thankful I am to you."

Fluttershy's blush increased, making her almost hide into her hair. But as she did this, a small frown appeared on her face, "So...what now? Will you have to leave Ponyville?"

Iron tilted his head in confusion, only to smile as he realized what she was worried about. "As a knight, I'm allowed to go wherever I want. As long as I come when called upon, I can choose to live anywhere."

"And...where are you gonna choose to live?"

Iron just grinned at his own answer, "In the place I've made my home."

Hope shined in Fluttershy's eyes. "Ponyville?"

Iron shook his head, "No." The look of disappointment in her eyes was priceless, but not as priceless as the look she gave him when he took her hoof in his. "My home...is wherever you are."

Fluttershy's eyes went wide, only to tear up as she threw her hooves around him in a hug. "Oh Iron...I-"

"I know." Iron hugged back, the two embracing each other for a solid minute.

Then when they finally pulled away, they looked into each others eyes before drawing their lips together.
> Pinkie Pride
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The desert of Equestria, a usually peaceful place during the night. While there may be the occasional coyote howl, the dark evening was mostly soundless. But not this night. On the end of this day, the desert wind carried the sounds of music and explosions, the usually black star lit sky now filled with a multitude of multicolored fireworks.

The source of this commotion was the town of Appaloosa, where the ponies and buffalo were busy partying into the night. But the story does not begin in the town, but a mile away. There, a light brown earth pony wearing a poncho and cowboy hat was standing alone, watching the party take place as a rubber chicken flopped over on his back.

"Well Boneless, looks like our work here is done." The rubber chicken didn't reply, but the pony nodded all the same. "Yep," he placed a party favor in his mouth and started walking through the sand, "Those ponies never partied so hard, all thanks to me: Cheese, Cheese Sandwich."

In that moment, he came to a stop, his whole body vibrating and his skin wobbling. It eventually ended as he hopped into the sky, his poncho parachuting him back to the ground. "Woo-hoo-hoo!" He exclaimed out of excitement, "That was a doozy!" As soon as he landed, his face turned to one of pure seriousness as he picked up his hat that had fallen off, "Well Boneless, looks like our next party is gonna be in...Ponyville."





Several days later, on the outskirts of Ponyville...

The sun was shining and the birds were chirping as Wild and Lightning travelled down a dusty, gravel-filled road. They would soon be arriving at the canyon where the defenders usually trained, which would lead them back into town by noon at the latest.

As for why they were walking this route, their friend Gorgenia had been doing an art show in Manehatten. Having moved to the Crystal Empire to study crystal sculpting, she had caught the eyes of an art museum director who wanted to spread the Crystal Empire's beauty to all of Equestria. As such, the two had gone to show their support along with Solid Script. The show had gone off without a hitch, but problems started to appear on the way home. They had missed their first train home, meaning they had sleep on the uncomfortable platform benches of the train station until the next morning. Then when they were one town away from Ponyville, all trains were stopped due to damage to the tracks.

Now, they had to walk to Ponyville.

"Almost there," Wild gasped as the canyon came into view, his puppets repeating his lines.

"Great...just great." Lightning mumbled. "Core's gonna be having a field day with me being back a day later than expected." The unicorn then gulped down a bottle of water as he thought about the situation in Ponyville. Now that Iron had been 'knighted', he had been declared leader of Defenders of the Piece. This fact alone made the unicorn irritated, as Iron was nowhere near as casual as Flash when it came to rules. "Ugh...I just wish he wasn't so damn stiff when it comes to stuff like this."

Wild shrugged as he took a drink out of his own water bottle. "Hey, its not like its our fault. Besides, at least we'll have a fun party to arrive back to."

"I guess..." Lightning then smirked as a thought came into his head. "Though you're gonna use it as an excuse to ask Pie out."

Wild's face went beet red as his puppets laughed. "Hey! Would you guys knock it off?! Besides, I can't ask her out during somepony's birthday. That's like, the cardinal rule of all entertainment ponies. Don't let anything distract you from the party, period."

Lightning nodded in understanding. "I guess that's true. But there's nothing stopping you from asking her out afterwards. What, is there gonna be another party you can't ruin the next day?!"

"If Pinkie had her way, there would be a party everyday," Wild replied before they both started laughing. It was here that they started to enter the canyon, Wild letting out a sigh, "You know...I'm not sure if I should try and pursue a relationship with her. I mean, look at how we met. If we do end up going all the way, twenty years from now I might have to tell our kids how the first time I met their mother. Do you honestly think our kids would accept me attacking her and trying to help their psychopathic uncle take over Equestria?! Err...no offense."

"None taken." Lightning slightly grumbled, only to tap Wild's shoulder, "But you know, you can't let the fear of what might happen stop you from doing something you really want. Who cares how you two met. I'll tell you who doesn't, Pinkie Pie."

"But what if she doesn't want to be in a relationship?! I could totally end up ruining our friendship...." Wild looked away as he mumbled his next words. "I don't...I don't want to lose that."

"Maybe, but if you do nothing, you'll end up bursting from keeping it in. Eventually, you won't be able to stay in the same room as her." Lightning took another swig of water, "Besides, if you leave it too long, she might find somepony else."

"What?!" Wild yelped as he came to a sudden stop, his puppets flying into the back of his head one by one. "Who else?! Is there somepony I don't know?!"

Lightning came to a stop as well, shrugging at the sight of the now panicking Wild, "I don't know. She's an attractive mare, both physically and in her attitude. I'm sure somepony will eventually want to ask her out. And if she doesn't know about how you feel, she'll have no reason not to say yes."

"But...but..." Wild stuttered as his brain went into overdrive, his mind now imagining a scenario involving Pinkie and an all black figure. They were holding hooves, drinking milkshakes out of the same cup, watching the sunset together. He then envisioned the two staring at one another, their faces drawing oh so close to each other, and- "NO WAY!" Wild swung his hooves around to break up the imaginary cloud above his head. "That can't happen!"

Lightning just laughed at the sight. "Well, it will happen unless you stallion up and ask her first."

A huge frown showed itself on Wild's face, pure fear in one twitching eye while a deep blush covered his snout. With this expression, he looked away, "I...I don't know."

Lightning rolled his eyes at this, only to sling a hoof around his friend's shoulders. "You know, being in an actual relationship ain't a bad thing. Look at Core and his marefriend. Everypony accepted that with ease." Hearing this, Wild rubbed his chin in thought. He remembered when he found out that those two became official after Iron's knighting. The very fact it happened had become as natural as anything else in Ponyville. Lightning then used this moment to use his other hoof to poke Wild in the chest, "Look, you've got two options buddy. Either tell Pinkie Pie how you feel, or move on entirely and let her be happy with whoever she decides to be with."

"But I...um...." Wild muttered out as his frown got bigger, his mind now going over both situations. The first caused him to feel both fear and excitement, while the other made his stomach roll. "I...uh...."

"Excuse me?" The two unicorns' ears spiked up, making them turn around to see a poncho wearing earth pony walking up to them, a serious look on his face. "Did I hear right when you said the name...Pinkie Pie?"

"Yes..." Wild replied very slowly, "but what does that have to do with you? And who are you?"

"Cheese, Cheese Sandwich. Party pony extraordinaire," the pony replied as he walked past them, tipping his hat. to and then passed the two. "I'm heading to Ponyville, for there is a party that needs my help being planned."

"How do you know about that?" Lightning asked next, knowing that they only knew about it because it was the only thing Rainbow and Pinkie had been talking about for the last few weeks.

"What, did somepony put out an article in poncho monthly?" Wild added, making his puppets laugh.

"No, my Cheesy Sense was tingling."

Both Lightning and Wild raised an eyebrow at this. "Cheesy Sense?" Lightning asked.

"That's not a thing," Wild told him.

Lightning turned to him with a deadpan frown. "Hey, if there can be a Pinkie Sense, than a Cheesy Sense doesn't sound too far-fetched. Especially after you showed me what it does." Wild pouted at that, but nodded anyway before turning back to Cheese.

The party pony tilted his head at the two. "Anyways, you said something about Pinkie Pie. Is she the one planning this party?"

Wild almost growled at his next words, "Yeah, she is. So I'm pretty sure she's got this covered."

"Covered, covered, she's got this covered."

However, Cheese didn't seem to listen, instead turning back towards Ponyville. "Well Boneless, looks like fate has brought us and the pink one back together."

Lightning and Wild glanced at each other over this, the defender then asking, "Wait...you and Pinkie know each other?"

Cheese glanced back to him and nodded. "I know her, though I doubt she knows me." He then started walking away, leaving the two unicorns to just stare in confusion.

Seeing this, Wild leaned over and whispered, "What the heck is he talking about?"

Lightning shrugged again. "No idea." It was at this moment they arrived where the defenders trained, meaning they were in range for Lightning to teleport them back to their house. "Finally. Wanna lift?"

Wild shook his head, his eyes now staring daggers at Cheese. "No thanks. I'm gonna see what else I can learn from this guy." Lightning nodded before disappearing, allowing Wild to take a deep breath. There, he quickly trotted up to Cheese. "What did you mean before? Do you know Pinkie or not?"

It was here that the two arrived at the exit of the canyon, Ponyville now in sight. Cheese stared down at the town, still not looking at the puppeteer. Despite this, he recounted his tale. "When I was a colt, I was very shy. So shy, that nopony even knew my name. But then I left home and found myself in Ponyville, stumbling into a party thrown by the mare in question. When I saw how much fun everypony was having, I made the decision to spread the same joy I felt that day. And ever since then, I've been honing my craft."

"Wait..." Wild went wide-eyed at this, pure shock now on his face. "So...Pinkie inspired you to become a party pony?!"

Cheese nodded before pointing to the chicken on his back, "She even gave me Boneless here. And now it seems the cosmos has decided that the two of us must work together to throw the ultimate party." With that, he started walking away, not even looking back at the unicorn.

At the same time, Wild just stood there, simply staring at the earth pony. "That guy...and Pinkie...working together on a party?! And if Pinkie learns about the backstory they had....oh no." the knot in his stomach returned as he remembered what Lightning had said. The imagination cloud started to form, now showing Pinkie and the blacked out figure on a date, only for the figure to slowly morph into Cheese Sandwich. They were holding hooves, drinking milkshakes out of the same cup, watching the sunset together. Then, they stared at each other, both slowly leaning, their faces drawing oh so closer and-"NOOOO!" Wild destroyed the cloud with a blast of his horn, heavily panting with sweat now dripping down his face. "I can't let that happen! I can't!"

"Can't, can't, can't let that happen!"

"But how do I stop it? If this party's as epic as that guy says, Pinkie's sure to fall for him!" He fell to his stomach and covered his head with his hooves. "What do I do?! What do I do?!" He started to bite his hooves, "Maybe I could sabotage the-NO! Not gonna do that Wild!" As appealing as the mental image of Pinkie glaring at Cheese because the party was ruined was, his entertainer side of his mind refused to be part of destroying a party.

And as more conflicting thoughts filled his mind, he smacked the side of his head. "Augh! I can't just sit here!" He stood up next, glancing back at his puppets, "Let's go buddies!"

"Let's go, let's go!"





One transition back to Ponyville...

"Come on boys, we're almost there!" Wild exclaimed as he reached the town's borders. There, he galloped at full speed to Sugarcube Corner. And as he got closer, his ears picked up on the sound of music. Looks like somepony was having a song, which when he arrived on the bakery's street, he caught the last line of it.

"As our super party pony Pinkie!" sang a crowd outside of the sweet shop. There, Rarity and Twilight were putting up a banner showing a picture of Rainbow Dash.

Seeing this, Wild pushed his way through the crowd and found Pinkie shaking Rarity with a huge grin. "Ooooh! I am so, so, SO excited, because today I'm planning the birthday bash of...RAINBOW DASH!" They all looked up to see Rainbow hovering in front of her image.

"Yeah!" The pegasus cheered.

The others all laughed at the happy pegasi while Flash caught sight of Wild. Smiling at the sight, he trotted up to the puppeteer, "Hey Wild! Finally made it back, huh? Is Lightning with ya?"

"Back at our place. He should be on evening patrol."

Flash released a long sigh of relief, "Thank Celestia! Now Iron can finally have somepony else to yell at."

"That bad?" Wild asked back with a raised eyebrow, "I mean, I know Lightning told me it was bad, but-"

"Yes, its that bad." Flash interrupted, a low growl following this.

It was here that Pinkie bounced over to Wild, hopping onto his back before hugging him around the neck, causing him to blush. "Hey you! Ready to part-tay?!"

"I...I guess." Wild sputtered out, his blush increasing as the hug's strength did the same.

"Great! With you here, this'll be the best party EVER!" Rainbow took this moment to fly down and high hoof the party pony. "Aw yeah!"

Wild felt the release of the hug and took a deep breath, trying to tell himself to raise his voice. "Yeah...listen Pinkie, on the way here-"

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie interrupted as she hopped off of Wild.

"Yes, Pinkie?" Rainbow replied, only to backpedal slightly as a look of pure seriousness graced the party pony's face.

"You realize that by enlisting me as your party planner, I guarantee that this is going to be the funnest, most fantabulous, superbial parties ever in Ponyville?!" As she had been saying this, she was putting her face closer and closer to Rainbow, making the Pegasus soon fall onto her back.

"Uh...yeah? I guess?"

"No guesses!" Pinkie shoved her hoof into Rainbow's mouth, "Parties are no picnic!"

"Oh! I like a nice picnic party." Fluttershy piped in, only to whimper as Pinkie shot her a glowing glare. "Um...sorry."

"Hold on there. Maybe you should relax a little Pinkie," Flash suggested as he grabbed Pinkie's shoulder. "You don't wanna be stressing yourself into a nervous breakdown."

"He's right," Twilight added in agreement. "Remember what happened at Flash's birthday party?"

"Of course I do!" Pinkie barked back as she puffed out her chest in confidence, "But that won't happen this time, as I'm not leaving anything to chance!"

Springer then stepped up. "Aren't you going a little overboard? I mean, its just a party-" This statement was met by Pinkie getting right up into his face, a really uncomfortable glare following this. "Errr-"

"Parties...are...serious!"

"Okay..." the jakhowl whispered back.

Pinkie hopped back from the defender, only to zip back to Rainbow before performing her trademarked Pinkie Promise maneuver. "And you have my certified Pinkie Party Promise-" she pulled out a cupcake and shoved it into her eye, "That you will have the best birthday party ever!"

Rainbow, still a little freaked out by the mare's intensity, just nodded. "Okay Pinkie."

"Great!" Pinkie's mane shot out a blast confetti, the pink pony now bouncing around with her friends. "Now, who's ready to join this super duper party pony to plan this super duper part-tay?!"

"I am."

Wild flinched at the voice, the rest of the group now turning to the source. It was here that they saw Cheese leaning against a building, his hat covering most of his face. He then blew his party horn. One long gulp went down Wild's throat as he stared at the stallion, only for sweat to start pouring down his face as he saw Pinkie rush up to him, "Who are you, stranger?"

"Name's Cheese Sandwich," he replied as he stood upright. "I plan parties."

"Really?! What an amazing coincidence!" She pointed to herself, "I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm planning a party!"

Cheese just chuckled at this, "Oh, its no coincidence my little pony. My cheesy sense was a-tingling, telling me a party was in the works."

"Cheesy sense?" Flash asked, tilting his head.

"That's not a thing," Springer added as he pointed at Cheese.

But before the party pony could reply, Wild interrupted, "I said that too, but apparently...it exists."

The group all turned to Wild, Rainbow asking, "You know this guy?"

"Met him outside of town."

"Neat!" Pinkie exclaimed before looking back at Cheese, "This is double amazing! I have a Pinkie Sense!"

Cheese nodded at this, "Yes, I sensed you did."

"Or you just heard me and Lightning talking about it," Wild whispered under his breath.

"And I happen to be the premiere party planner in all of Equestria." He looked up at the Rainbow Dash party banner. "If there's a party in need, there I'll be. Be it wingding, hoedown, hootenanny, or shindig, I'm your pony."

Pinkie started bouncing up and down at this, a grin now shining on her face, "A pair of party pony planners in Ponyville?! What can be more perfect?!"

Wild's eyes shrunk at this. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid, the images of losing Pinkie now returning. And as a small imaginary cloud began to form over his head, he could feel sweat now touching his chin. "Uh...Pinkie-"

"I'll tell you what's perfect!" Rainbow interrupted, his day-nightmare imaginary cloud suddenly breaking as the athlete flew into the middle of the group, "Making this party epic! 'Cause this isn't just any birthday. It's also the anniversary of when I moved to Ponyville!"

This caught everypony's attention, making them go wide eyed as Rarity gasped, "Good heavens Rainbow Dash, it's your 'birth-iversary!'"

"Exactly!" Rainbow floated down between Cheese and Pinkie, "So what do you say, party planners?"

Pinkie bounced up and down again. "Oh, I think we can do it!"

However, Cheese shook his head. "Oh, I don't think so." This statement caused both Rainbow and Pinkie to frown, only for the stallion to suddenly toss off his hat and poncho to reveal a yellow shirt beneath. "I know so! After all..." The inner music maker that all ponies possessed began to play as Cheese started singing-


(Cheese)
The super-duper party pony–that pony is me
I always knew that was the kind of pony I would be


"Me too!" Pinkie cheered.

"Come on, ponies! Who here likes to party?" He moved over to an older pony and threw his hooves around his neck, "Ha-ha! You do! I can tell!"


(Cheese)
When I was but a little colt, I just wanted to play

(Pinkie)
Like me!

(Cheese Sandwich)
But everypony told me, 'Cheese, that fun just wastes the day'

(Pinkie) 
As if!

(Cheese Sandwich)
But when I threw a party and I busted out some moves

(Pinkie) 
Uh-huh!

(Cheese Sandwich)
The ponies finally saw the light and got into the groove

(Pinkie)
You know it!


Wild raised an eyebrow at this, now confused at what Cheese was talking about. "What is...going on?" Wild whispered to himself, now wondering why Cheese wasn't telling Pinkie about how she inspired him.


(Cheese Sandwich)
The super-duper party pony–that pony is me

(Pinkie Pie)
And me!

(Cheese Sandwich)
You'll never meet another party pony quite like Cheese!

(Pinkie Pie)
Uh, Pinkie?


Cheese began explain how he did things, the ponies listening now showing shining eyes as they imagined what he spoke about.


(Cheese Sandwich) 
My parties are all off the hook
I never plan them by the book
I start out fun, then whoopsie-daisy
Everybody just gets crazy!

Bored of snacks made by your mom?
How about a giant party bomb?
Huge pinatas filled with cake
Or dive into my fruit punch lake!


A townpony named Goldengrape imagined himself jumping off a diving board, causing him to yell out. "Geronimo!"


(Cheese Sandwich)
The super-duper party pony–that pony is me.
You'll never meet another party pony quite like Cheese.


He then pulled out an accordion and started playing. It was here that he started telling more stories, including the time he got a colt the chance to ride a hippo.


(Cheese Sandwich)
Oh, when I throw a Cheese party, its sure to not be lame
And miss my pie fights, wacky kites, and streamers in your mane
Fizzy drinks, Hawaiian shirts, and brie fondue delight
You know that with Cheese Sandwich, you'll be partying all night!


To say the rest of Ponyville was soaking up the joy of Cheese would be an understatement. They loved it, Rainbow now speaking up, "C'mon, everypony! Let's party down with Cheese!" The next thing Pinkie knew, she was almost trampled by the rest of the town as they gathered around him.

"You're really a certified party pony?" Fluttershy asked next.

"That's right! That's my guarantee!" Cheese replied as he continued playing, the crowd now lifting him into the air before parading him down the street.


(Cheese)
The super-duper party pony–that pony is me-e-e-e-e


As the group disappeared, it left only Pinkie and Wild. The unicorn and his friends turned to her, Wild now seeing a look of betrayal on her face. He then leaned down to help her up, "You okay?"

"Okay, okay, you okay?" his puppets repeated.

Pinkie just ignored his question, her eyes now staring at where the crowd had been as their inner music makers played one final tune. "But what about the super party pony named Pinkie?" she whimpered, her mane starting to deflate. Seeing this, Wild opened his mouth, only for nothing to come out.

Thanks to this hesitation, Pinkie started following after the crowd, the puppeteer soon trying to keep up with her. And as he caught up to her, he then heard Rainbow speak up, "Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about! I'm so stoked you're here, Cheese Sandwich!"

"Yeah," Applejack nodded in agreement, "You sure did come on the right day."

Rarity released a happy sigh, "Your party sounds simply divine."

Flash then flew above him, "Yeah! Now Pinkie won't have to do all the work."

"I agree. We're so lucky to have you here," Twilight added.

Cheese smiled as he placed a straw hat atop his head. "Just doing my job, little fillies."

But Rainbow chose this moment to continue. "I mean, Pinkie Pie's parties are fun and sweet and all, but now this party's gonna be-"

"Epic?" Cheese guessed, making the pegasus smile.

"You said it!" The two high hoofed before Rainbow looked back, seeing the party pony they were talking about at the back of the crowd. "Uh...heh. No offense, Pinkie."

If they had been as close to Pinkie as Wild was, they would have spotted the tears she was currently wiping away with her tongue. "Um....n-none taken." She quickly forced a smile that would fool almost anypony. But as soon as everypony looked away, it vanished as her mane deflated like a balloon.

The sight made Wild do a small gulp, surprised at how quickly she got depressed. He then raised his hoof to pat her shoulder, "Pinkie...are you-"

"I'm okay Wild," the earth pony interrupted, batting his hoof away. "You should go have fun at whatever party Cheese is throwing. They obviously don't need me there."

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Wild and his puppets to stare at her with dumbfounded surprise. And once she was out of sight, Wild couldn't help himself from unleashing a small grin. He then glanced at his puppets, "Okay buddies, Pinkie might not be happy right now, but that doesn't mean we can't cheer her up. Not only that..." He looked back up to where the crowd had disappeared to in the distance, "Looks like Pinkie won't be getting with him."

"Won't be, won't be!"

The puppeteer then crossed his hooves, his mind now racing over what had happened earlier that day, "Thought...why didn't he tell Pinkie about how he met her?" He looked back up and saw his puppets gesture to the town's park, a nod following. "You're right buddies! Let's go find out ourselves!"





One transition to the park later...

As soon as Wild arrived at the park, he was greeted by the sight of a half constructed stage covered with streamers and flags with Rainbow's cutie mark printed on them. After ducking under a low hanging flag cord, Derpy calling out her apology as she grabbed it, he spotted Cheese on the stage directing Twilight and Rarity on positioning a new banner. This new banner showed the image of a more realistic Rainbow compared to Pinkie's hoof drawn but still impressive design, surrounded by stars, balloons and other stuff.

Once the banner was placed, Rainbow cheered at the sight. "My birth-iversary's already looking way cooler! You are my kind of party pony, Cheese Sandwich!" She and Cheese turned to one another and butted heads, Wild amazed the hardhat Cheese was wearing didn't cause a headache.

"You got that right, Rainbow Dash!" Cheese looked back to the rest of the group. "All right party ponies, I've got some planning to do!"

With that, he hopped off while looking over a clipboard. As he disappeared into a crowd, Wild stared at the stage with wide eyes. And as he did this, Twilight walked up to him, "Hey Wild, have you come to help?"

"Err..." the unicorn glanced up at the decorations, rubbing his chin in thought, "Where'd all this stuff come from?" He asked as he pointed at the banner.

A strumming of a guitar rang out next, making him glance at the stage. There, Flash was sitting in a chair, tuning his electric guitar. The pegasus then smiled at him. "We've all decided to use the same rule as when Pinkie does something strange." He did another strum as the ponies around him spoke in unison.

"It's Cheese Sandwich, so don't question it."

"Right..." Wild said slowly as looked back at Flash. "So what are you doing?"

"Wotcha doin, wotcha doin?"

"Cheese asked me to play some of Rainbow's favorite guitar songs, so I'm getting ready."

"Huh." Wild almost stuttered, only to feel a purple hoof tap his shoulder. "Hmm?"

It was Twilight, who was tilting her head as a pair of flags magically levitated over her. "Hey Wild, where's Pinkie? Doesn't she wanna help? She was so serious about it before."

Wild shrugged at this. "I'm not sure. Maybe back at Sugarcube?"

Twilight frowned at his response, only for her horn to start glowing, "I'm gonna go look for her." With that, she disappeared in a flash of light, slightly blinding the puppeteer.

"Ugh...to many things happening right now." Wild muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

"Okay, I'm done!" Flash piped up next, the defender now grabbing one of the sheet os music Cheese had given him. When he saw what it was, his smirk doubled in size. "Oh yes, this one's a classic."

He then started strumming, playing a song everypony knew and loved. As the music played, Wild turned to where Cheese had gone off, soon heading into the crowd. It wasn't long till he found the planner, as he kept making plenty of noise. The party planner was now writing on pieces of paper, which he was now pinning to trees. "Okay....and once Flash has finished playing, I'll bring in the party howitzer. Then I'll-"

"What is all this stuff?" Wild asked as he ripped a piece of paper off the tree, now seeing that it had a bunch of scribbles on it. It was letters and numbers, all with no meaning on them. "Super weird."

"Weird, weird, super weird."

Cheese turned to him with a giant smile, one that made Wild almost backpedal. "Well howdy once again! I'm so glad you're here! You do puppet shows, right?"

Wild gave him a look that said: 'Are you seriously asking that?' before pointing a hoof up at his puppets. The red and pink dolls were dancing while blue and green mimicked a karate fight. At the same time, yellow was doing some meditation. A low almost growl happened next as he replied, "What do you think?"

"Great! I've got a small open spot, and a puppet show would fit into it perfectly!" He leaned over with hopping eyebrows, "Don't suppose you can have a Rainbow themed show ready by tonight?"

"I have a closet filled with puppets of every pony in Ponyville." Wild deadpanned, only to blink at his own words, "Its uh...not as creepy as it sounds."

"Perfect! Thanks, you're a big help."

Cheese then grabbed Wild's hoof, rapidly shaking it. "No...problem." Wild replied before pulling his hoof back, "Say uh...I need to ask you something."

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Why'd you lie to Pinkie?" Wild asked, now seeing Cheese slightly freeze up as he continued, "Why didn't you tell her how you really became a party pony, instead of that dribble you were spouting before?"

"Oh...you heard that." Cheese did a small gulp, her hooves starting to twiddle, "Say uh...thanks for not blabbing before. It's just that...when I saw Pinkie and heard how serious she took planning parties, well..." he started to shiver, "I um...got nervous."

Wild raised an eyebrow at this, almost slack-jawed at the words entering his ears. "You...got nervous?"

"Yeah. I thought that if I told her the truth, she might see me as some crazed stalker who does party planning to get closer to her." Wild held back a smirk, knowing that if Pinkie found out the truth, it would likely make his and Pinkie's day. That is, till he continued to talk, "So...I decided I'd hold off on the truth until I showed her just how dedicated I am to parties. So after the party's over, I'll tell her the truth."

Wild did everything he could to now frown. His eyes shrunk as a new imagination cloud started to form in his brain, this one showing Pinkie see Cheese's amazing the party, only to hear his tale as well. And as the story finished, the two looked into each other's eyes and-

"So thanks again for not blabbing!" Cheese interrupted, the cloud now fading as the party planner unpinned his papers from the trees, placing them back onto his clipboard. "If you don't mind, could you do me a solid and keep this to yourself? We wouldn't wanna ruin Pinkie's surprise."

"Sure..." Wild monotoned as Cheese yelled a 'thanks' before disappearing into the party making crowd. And as he watched him vanish, the unicorn started to make yet another imagination cloud. This showed Pinkie and Cheese on a date, slow-dancing before the image of church appeared behind them. There, Pinkie was in beautiful wedding dress, Cheese in a tux as hearts shined inside Pinkie's eyes. Then, their union was sealed as the sight of foal carriages appeared and- "NOOOOO!" He screamed as the thought cloud was destroyed by his puppets.

His red and blue dolls floated down next, both poking him back into reality. Patting the two, he moaned, "I know, I know. I've gotta stop this party...without stopping it." He then rubbed his face down, "Oh, what do I do?! I can't ruin a party! Even if Cheese stole her party, she'll hate me if I did that!" The puppets all sighed at him before stroking their chins. It was here that yellow whispered into Wild's ear. "Get Pinkie back as the main party planner?" His eyes went wide at that. "Of course! If Pinkie's in charge again, then Cheese won't be able to show her how dedicated he is, and she'll never learn the truth! That's genius little buddy!" He flexed his hooves, pumping them. "And besides, Pinkie's probably gonna do a way better party planning than this Cheese."

With that, the unicorn and his five puppet buddies raced to Sugarcube corner. Along the way, he spotted Iron and Lightning walking down the street. The two were covered in streamers, popped balloons and other party products. "Hey!" he walked up to them, "You two alright? And more importantly, you seen Pinkie?"

The two glared at him as Iron pulled a popped balloon out of his mane. "Oh, we saw her alright."

Lightning nodded in agreement. "Your little marefriend has been causing trouble all over town."

"Really?"

"Yeah..." Iron grumbled as he tore a streamer in half, "She stuffed a bunch of mailboxes with streamers and confetti."

"Then she replaced the support of a building being built with a tower of balloons. And they weren't even the good balloons I've seen her use, but some cheap garbage. If she's gonna play a prank, can she at least put some effort into it?!"

Wild blinked at the sight, knowing Pinkie seemed far to bummed out for that. He then put his hoof on his old friend, "Don't worry, I'll look into this."

"Be sure that you do," Iron huffed as he ripped the last steamer up. "Come on Lightning, let's go patrol this party."

"See ya later Wild."

"Later." Wild replied as he started his walk back to Sugarcube Corner. There, he saw the upper half of the door leading to the kitchen was open. "Knock knock..." He muttered out as he looked inside, soon finding Mr. and Mrs. Cake working on a blue cake with seven different colored icings, their twin foals on the other side of the room playing.

"Oh, hello Wild." Mrs. Cake replied as she finished a layer of icing.

"Hey Mrs. Cake," the unicorn then moved over to the foals, gesturing to his puppets to entertain them as he asked, "You two know where your foalsitter is?" Pound let out a garble as his sister chewed on a piece of her play pen, the two both pointing at the ceiling.

"She came home a few minutes ago," Mr. Cake answered with a frown. "Though she seemed a little out of sorts."

"Really? How so?"

Mrs. Cake slight bit her lip, "Well...she walked in. Walked, not bounced, and said her hello with less enthusiasm than she usually does."

"And she seemed to ignore the twins when they wanted play with her. It's very odd."

"If we didn't need to get this cake done, we'd go check up on her." Mrs. Cake gestured to the ceiling, "Could you-"

"Say no more," Wild replied as he pointed to his dolls. "Buddies, keep watching them please." They all nodded as he left, soon hitting the third floor. There, he found the door to Pinkie's room, noticing the massive sign saying 'come in' with around a hundred 'pleases' between it and her name. Taking a small breath, he knocked on the door, "Pinkie, I'm coming in."

No response came, making Wild slowly open the door. There, he put the door ajar as he silently stared inside. He had never been in Pinkie's room before and had often imagined what it would look like. Most of the time, he came up with the image of balloons and streamers everywhere, pictures of parties she had hosted on every wall.

But that wasn't what he found. In fact, the room was slightly barren, the pink pony now deflating several balloons. Seeing this, he stepped inside completely. "What are you doing?"

Pinkie glanced behind herself, showing surprise on her face before frowning as she replied, "I'm getting rid of all my party equipment."

"WHAT?!"

Pinkie deflated another balloon, "I'm not going to need them anymore since Cheese'll be taking my place as Ponyville's super super pony party planner."

"But...but...since when is that happening?!" Wild babbled out as he rubbed the side of his head.

"Isn't it obvious? Everypony else likes his parties better than mine, so why bother even trying?" She let out a long sigh before laying back on her bed, "All I can do now is try and find something else I can be good at."

A click went off in Wild's brain, "Wait...is that what the stuff I heard about earlier was about? Like the confetti in mailboxes?"

Pinkie did a slow nod. "I tried being a surgeon, a mail pony and a construction worker, but none of them fit me."

"Wait....what?! You did all that since I last saw you?" His question was met by a half-hearted nod. "That was only an hour ago!"

Pinkie sat up with a deadpan stare. "That's ten years in montage song time." She then hopped off her bed, staring at the door, "But anyways, thanks for stopping by. I'm glad at least you remembered me."

Wild opened his mouth to reply, but his mind told him to stop. His brain said that if he told Pinkie the truth behind Cheese, she'd likely perk up. But if he did that, then she might still think Cheese is better anyways, even making her think she has no place no matter what. Wild started to rub his head, sparks almost flying off he tried to think. "Oohh...what do I do?!" he whispered to himself, "I gotta think of something."

He then started to blink as he saw Pinkie go up to the door, her hoof now grabbing the door. Seeing this, Wild went up and spun her around, "Pinkie! Don't do this!"

Pinkie just swat his hoof away, ready to turn back around, "Give it up Wild, I'm-"

"No you're not!" Wild interrupted, "Party planning is what you were meant to do! Heck, what other profession could you do?!"

"I don't know," Pinkie shrugged. "Maybe a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker."

"Pinkie!" Wild gripped both of her shoulders. "You...were born to be a party planner. Remember when you told me about how you got your cutie mark?" Pinkie did a tiny nod, her eyes slightly drifting away as Wild continued, "Pinkie, you're the best party pony out there! You can't just give like that! Don't you remember all the parties you've thrown here?!"

Wild then gestured to the room, Pinkie looking up to see the pictures all hanging on her wall. One was her first party, showing the joy on her parents and sister's faces. Next was one with Flash and Twilight's welcome to Ponyville party, followed by the party she'd thrown for Gummy. And of course, one of her most well known parties, Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding was there.

Wild saw her smile slowly returning, music now beginning to play again.


(Pinkie)
Oh, look at those happy faces
All the parties that I had thrown


She then put on a pair of comical glasses.


I made them laugh, had such a blast
A smile that's all their own
They loved seeing me, the real Pinkie


She left the room and pushed open a door at the top of the stairs, revealing a balcony which she jumped onto before looking out at Ponyville.


Show them the time of their life like they've never known
Like they've never kno-o-own!


"So, what are you gonna do?" Wild asked with a smirk, only for Pinkie to hug him before racing into her room. She then hopped into a chest, all sorts of party gear flying out of it.


I've got to get back out there, have to show them that I've tried
For there's only one great party pony -- that is Pinkie Pie!


She was soon dressed in the same outfit she had worn when facing off against the dragon before racing downstairs. There, she went into the now deserted kitchen where she made and crushed a snack with the same name as her foe.


Won't let Cheese Sandwich beat me, won't let him get me down
For I am Pinkie, the best-est party pony around!


"That's my girl!" Wild told her as he pointed to outside, "Now go out there and show Cheese Sandwich who's boss!"

"Who's boss, who's boss, you da boss!" Wild's puppets chanted as they came back to their puppeteer.

"Thanks Wild!" Pinkie gave him a small hug, only to zip out of the store. Wild quickly raced behind her, the two soon reaching the center of the town. There, they found the citizens of Ponyville already enjoying themselves. "Talk about professional," she gasped as she saw their happiness, her confidence already waning. "It's clear Cheese has a much bigger budget than I do."

"Maybe..." Wild told her as he tapped her shoulder, "But it doesn't make him the better party planner. Everypony knows it's not just the party itself that shows the planner's skill, but also the limitations they overcome to make them. Cheese may be able to do bigger, more extravagant, but where's the soul?"

Pinkie tilted her head at this, only to nod in agreement. "Although, that's still gonna make it tricky to get my title back." It was in that moment that she noticed Cheese walk by, wearing a large cowboy hat while being followed by Rarity and Applejack.

"I must say, I marvel at your superior party planning expertise, Cheese Sandwich."

Applejack nodded at this, "Ah agree. They don't call him the super duper party planner for nothin'."

Pinkie groaned at hearing that, rubbing her face in frustration. "That's it! This pony has gotta get her title back!" She then slowly off her glasses, "And I know just what to do!"

"Oh? Do tell." Wild asked as a sinister smirk appeared on both their lips.





A few minutes later...

Cheese and the rest of the Mane Six and Defenders were now looking over the nearly finished main party stage. The cutie mark balloons were all pumped up and several washing lines with bolt shaped reflectors hung around the trees. Cheese was busy working on an ice sculpture while Applejack finished setting up a bunch of spotlights.

"Totally awesome!" Rainbow cheered as Applejack switched on the lights, the machines now showing a rainbow projection of her cutie mark.

"Huh. Best I've ever seen."

Twilight and Flash both gawked at the sight, "Wow...I can't believe it."

"I'll say," Flash nodded in agreement before turning to Rainbow. "Hey, when's Soarin getting here?"

"His practice runs late, so It'll be nighttime when he gets here."

"Oh...well, at least he told you." Flash hummed as he glanced at Twilight, "Remember all the times he wouldn't tell us when he's coming to Canterlot?"

"Oh yeah."

Cheese chuckled as he tapped away at the ice. "Well, there'll still be plenty of party left of him to enjoy, I assure you." He then hit the ice one last time, this one making a crack that surrounded the ice before breaking away to reveal Rainbow's cutie mark.

Everypony, including Lightning and Iron, were in awe at this sight. That is, till a voice right behind them called out, "Freeze, Cheese!" Iron, Fluttershy, Lightning, Rarity and Spike leapt away, revealing a glaring Pinkamena Diane Pie. "I challenge you...TO A GOOF OFF!"

Hearing this, caused the ponies to all gasp, Fluttershy slightly fainting, "Oh, no! Not a goof off!"

As Iron helped up her, Applejack leaned down and whispered, "What's a goof off?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "I have no idea," she chuckled nervously as Applejack rolled her eyes.

"I'm guessing its a contest," Flash suggested next.

"Probably a dumb one," Iron mumbled.

Lightning then turned his head, now seeing Wild staring at Pinkie while rubbing his hooves together and smirking. "Oh no....what are you up to, Wild Smile?" He asked in a whisper.

Cheese Sandwich climbed down the ladder he had been on, turning to Pinkie while placing a fez on his head. "This Cheese has stood alone a long time, Pinkie Pie. You think you can out-goof me?"

"Oh, I don't think so..." Pinkie said in the same tone as Cheese, slamming her hooves as she glared at him, "I know so!" The two brought their heads together. "And the stakes are high, Cheese Sandwich! Whoever wins will be dubbed the ultimate super duper party pony AND HEADLINE THE RAINBOW DASH BIRTH-IVERSARY BASH!"

"And the loser?"

Pinkie's eyes went narrower, "Doesn't!" This caused everypony except Iron and Lightning to gasp, Springer going so far as to actually fainting, which Flash shook his head at. Pinkie then started poking her nemesis in the chest, "So...are you in Cheese? Or are you...boneless?"

Cheese cricked his neck, "Nopony calls me boneless." He then turned to the chicken still on his back, "Right, Boneless?"

The chicken didn't respond while Pinkie raised her hoof up high, "Then the goof off is on for high noon!"

"Um...Pinkie?" She turned to Twilight and saw her pointing at the town clock tower, "Its already three o'clock."

"Oh! Well then, make it three ten-" she shot Cheese a death glare, "to goof off!" With that, she spun around and trotted off.

"What...just happened?" Flash asked next.

Rainbow then floated down, a look of disappointment on her face. "I'm about to lose one of my party planners, that's what!"

As the rest of the group began to make their way over after Pinkie, Wild was about to follow suit, only for something to pin his tail down, making him fall. He grunted as he hit the floor, then looked up to see Lightning glaring at him, "Wild, can I have a word with you?"

"How about pepperoni? Its a funny word." Lightning simply raised an eyebrow at this, making Wild chuckle for several seconds. "So anyways..." he started pulling his tail free from Lightning's grip. "We'd better go. Don't want to...miss the goof-off." He only had a few strands left before freedom, only to yelp as he saw Lightning's horn spark. "Wait!"

A flash of light found them and the puppets now back in their apartment, Wild being thrown headfirst into the couch. "Blaugh!" he muffled out before freeing himself from the cushions. He then glared back at Lightning. "Not cool bro."

"Not cool, not cool."

Lightning simply sat down on an armchair and crossed his hooves, "What's going on Wild?"

Wild's eyes darted back and forth as he sat down on the couch. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why were you just standing there letting Pinkie interrupt Rainbow's party? Don't you realize that this whole goof-off thing is complete nonsense?! Even you've gotta see it's only going to lead to trouble."

Wild just rolled his eyes, "There's nothing wrong with trying to show you're the best. Pinkie's just trying to take back what's rightfully hers. She started planning the party way before this guy showed up and its not fair that he can just walk in and take over."

Lightning raised an eyebrow at this. "From what Sentry told me, they were supposed to be working together to plan it. The only reason Cheese took the reins was because she just disappeared."

"She doesn't need his help. She's-"

"Wild!" The unicorn flinched back from his friends yell, seeing a bit of the firmness he hadn't seen since the Battle of Canterlot. "What is this really about?! I've known you for a long time and I know for a fact that you would never condone this kind of behavior. Granted, I know that I was the worse of us, but out of us four, you were always a pony that didn't try to go out of the way to ruin things." A spark of electricity slightly started to appear on the tip of Lightning's horn, "So I'm asking you...what's really going on?!"

Wild was silent at this, a small gulp going down his throat. It was here that music and fireworks began to sound out from across town. "Looks like they started early," Lightning commented as he got up, "You can go if you want to." He then headed for the door, "I just thought friends told each other everything." The handle glowed as he was about to turn it-

"Pinkie was the one who inspired Cheese."

Lightning blinked at this, his horn sputtering as he looked back at Wild. "What?"

Wild let out a long sigh, Lightning going to sit back down. There, Wild started to explain everything he had learned about Cheese, about how he had first been inspired by Pinkie before going out and planning parties all over Equestria.

"And then I went back to Sugarcube Corner to try to cheer up Pinkie. There-"

"Why didn't you tell Pinkie all this?" Lightning interrupted while tapping his hoof. "If she learned about Cheese, she would have-"

"I know," Wild muttered out, his eyes looking away.

"He knows, he knows."

"Then why didn't you tell her?!"

Wild looked away, a look of pure guilt on his face, "You heard what I said. Cheese is trying to impress Pinkie, and if that happens, then they might..."

Lightning just sighed, facehoofing next, "Oh Celestia. I can't...augh!" Lightning's horn started to spark, "Wild, you're trying to ruin Rainbow's party because your jealous, aren't you?!"

"I'm not trying to ruin it!" Wild barked back, "I'm just trying to get Pinkie back as head party planner so Cheese can't show her his skill and tell her the truth about their past. How is that ruining the party?!"

"You persuaded Pinkie to challenge Cheese and have it so only one pony can work on her party, which Rainbow doesn't want, you moron! What happened to the party being the most important thing to focus on?!"

Wild was about to reply, only to stop as his puppets floated to his shoulders, "Oh...yeah. I didn't think of..." He leaned back, moaning, "Sorry Lightning. I messed up, didn't I?"

"Its not me you should be sorry to, it's Rainbow and Pinkie. Go stop this stupid contest and tell Pinkie the truth about Cheese...and about how you feel." Wild looked back up with wide eyes. "Yes, you're gonna tell her, because this is getting ridiculous!" Wild opened his mouth, but Lightning flashed his hoof, "Don't. You're gonna tell her Wild, and there's no argument against it, alright?"

He then crossed his hooves with a low growl, "What, you gonna try and stop anypony whoever shows affection to her while hiding your own feelings?! You realize how insane and selfish that is, right?!"

Wild blinked at this, slowly nodding, "Yeah...you're right," he got up and moved to the door. "I know Pinkie will probably hate me for it, but I have to tell her the truth."

"That's my boy. Now go on, before that goof-off gets out of hoof." Wild nodded and rushed out the door, his ears easily hearing the music and fireworks. Following this, he arrived at the back of a crowd as he saw a giant birthday cake being dropped down from a crane. He pushed through the ponies and arrived at the front, where he saw Rainbow pulling herself out from under the giant sweet. He then looked back at Pinkie, the party pony frowning as she stared at the athlete. The puppeteer put his hoof out, ready to go to her until-

"STOP!" Pinkie screamed, making Wild come to a stop. "The goof off is off!"

This statement was meet with murmurs of confusion, along with questions as Rainbow pulled herself free, turning to Pinkie in annoyance. "But I haven't named a winner."

"You don't have to," Pinkie put her hoof on her chest. "I forfeit. Which means..." she pointed at her opponent, "Cheese Sandwich wins."

Cheese started to laugh, only to come to a stop as he stared at her in confusion, "I do?"

"Yes," she performed her certified Pinkie Promise, "you get to headline Rainbow Dash's party."

"But..." they turned to Twilight as she tilted her head at the pink pony, "What about you, Pinkie?"

Tears began to fill the earth pony's eyes, now sniffing as she replied, "I...I don't."

With that, she ran off crying, Wild hopping out of the crowd and yelling, "Pinkie, wait!"

"What is up with her?" Flash asked next as he watched her disappear, "She's been acting weird all day."

Springer then poked Flash, the jakhowl pointing at Wild. The others saw this and turned to Wild, Springer speaking up, "Wild...why am I picking up guilt and shame in your aura?" Wild slightly backpedaled at this, Springer continuing, "What did you do?"

Wild did a small gulp, a huge frown on his face as he began to explain.





One hour later...

Pinkie was now at the edge of the town, pulling a cart filled with her belongings, her party cannon tied to the back. A long sigh followed as she made her way. "Goodbye Ponyville….goodbye-"

"Pinkie wait!" She looked back, only to see Rainbow fly up to her before the others arrived behind her. "I'm sorry I got all swept away by Cheese Sandwich."

"We all are," Twilight said with the others mumbling in their general agreement. "We're sorry Pinkie."

Pinkie shook her head. "No, I'm sorry I let my pride get in the way of you having the best birth-iversary ever. Cheese Sandwich really is a super duper party planner, and he'll be a terrific headliner." She turned around with a long sigh, "I should've been a big enough pony to admit that and let you have your day."

"Pinkie! Don't you get it?!" Rainbow asked as she flew in front of her, getting nose to nose as she poked Pinkie's chest. "You're both super duper party ponies! Sure, Cheese Sandwich is a great guest party pony, but you're Ponyville's permanent party pony!" She pulled her friend into a tight hug. "Nopony could ever take your place, and we could never have a party without you."

The rest of the gang came up to hug her as well, tears going down Pinkie's face as they did this. And as this continued, a voice spoke up, "Rainbow Dash is right," they turned to see Cheese, the pony removing his travel hat with a sheepish smile, "I never meant to take your place in Ponyville. I just wanted to show you what a great party pony I am, Pinkie."

"You did? But...why me?" Pinkie asked with a tilted head.

Cheese rolled his eyes in embarrassment. "Well..." The music began as Cheese retold his story, this time giving her all the details. He told her about the party that showed him how to express himself, earning his cutie mark and got him Boneless. Then when it was time to name the pony responsible for that party, Pinkie got a look of shock on her face.

"Me?!"

"Yes!"

Like how Wild had expected, Pinkie's eyes lit up in amazement. "Really?!"

"Really!"

Pinkie began to bounce around Cheese. "So I was the pony that threw the awesomely spectacular party that inspired you to become an awesome spectacular party thrower?"

"Swear on Camembert!"

Pinkie opened her mouth as wide as possible, ready to sing. That is, till Rainbow flew up to them, "Enough with the warm fuzzy stuff you two! It's my birth-iversary, and you gotta throw me a bash!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered.

"Let's go!" Cheese added.

They were just about to start singing again, but this time it was Pinkie who stopped it. "Wait....if Wild knew about all this, why didn't he tell me when he saw how upset I was?"

Cheese hummed as he tapped his chin. "That's a good question."





Wild was back in the park, slumping down on one of the trees. His puppets were all sitting beside him, all moaning with him. There was no doubt in his mind that Pinkie now knew the truth, her heart now gone. "I lost. Serves me right, eh buddies?"

"Serves you right, serves you right."

"What serves you right?" He almost hopped in place at the voice, making him look up to see Pinkie. The pony had a look of confusion and worry on her face. "Are you alright? You definitely don't look happy, and this is a party!"

"I'm fine..." Wild lied as he looked back down at the grass.

Pinkie just shook her head, sitting down by him next as she asked, "Wild, why didn't you tell me the truth about Cheese? You knew about him and me, and saw how upset I was, so why didn't you tell me?"

Wild let out a long sigh, ready to gulp at this. "Because...because I uh...um..." he started to twiddle his hooves as he squeaked out, "I like you." Pinkie's eyes went wide, a slight blush appearing over her nose as he continued, "I really really like you. More than I've liked anypony ever."

"R-really?" Pinkie stuttered out, Wild nodding in response without looking at her. The gesture made Pinkie blink, tilting her head next as she asked, "But...what does that have to do with this?"

Wild slumped down even more. "I was scared. Scared that you finding out the truth about Cheese would make you like him. I mean, you and him have way more in common, so of course you'd pick him over me."

"Wild...you-"

"You don't have to say anything else. I know you probably hate me now, so go be with Cheese." Wild curled up and hid his face in his legs, "I get it. I'm sorry Pinkie. I'm so sorry I-"

"Hahahahahaha!" Wild looked up and saw Pinkie on her back, holding her stomach as she laughed her head off. "Oh Wild, hehehe, you're so silly!"

"Huh?!"

Pinkie stopped laughing instantly, her body tilting back to Wild while waving her hoof, "Just because Cheese and I are alike, doesn't mean I'll fall for him. I hardly know him."

Wild just looked away, "Maybe now, but in time-"

Pinkie shook her head again. "Nah, I don't think so." Wild glanced at her again, only to see a huge smile on her face, "Cheese and I might be similar, so much so that if somepony was watching us, they'd think he was just created to be a male me, but that doesn't mean he's my soul mate. I don't think I want to be with somepony whose exactly like me."

"Really?!"

Pinkie's smile went sheepish before slowly shuffling over to him. "You know, Mrs. Cake once asked me what I'd want in a stallion."

"She did? When?"

"Hearts and Hooves day, right after we put the twins to bed. She wondered what I'd need to see in a stallion for them to be my very special somepony. I thought about it and said I'd want them to be a little like me, but not a lot." Wild raised an eyebrow at this. "I don't want to date a carbon copy of myself. I want somepony who shares my interests, like making ponies happy, but has their own way of doing it." She started to blush again, her hooves slightly twiddling, "Somepony...like you."

The world around Wild and Pinkie seemed to disappear, the two squarely focused on the other. Wild's breath had hitched when he heard her say this. "You...you mean it?" Pinkie nodded, making Wild squeak out, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Pinkie smirked with hopping eyebrows, "Maybe I wanted to see if you'd find the guts to ask me out yourself." This made Wild blush, cursing his own cowardice. "But that doesn't matter anymore." Pinkie stood up and gestured him to follow, "You coming? We got a birth-iversary to get ready for. Then tomorrow, you can take me out to do something really fun."

Wild smiled as he got up, "You got it." Pinkie giggled back before getting on the tips of her hooves, only to kiss him on the nose. The gesture made Wild go full tomato on his face, his puppets going 'oh la la' at the sight.





Night soon fell as the main party finally began.

It had everything. Punch pools, hippo rides, getting blasted out of a party howitzer into a cake shaped bouncy castle. In a small corner, Wild's puppet show featuring the Rainbow styled puppet was currently being a smash hit with the younger audience. And of course, there was the roller coaster, which Soarin had shot out of at the second he arrived.

Now everypony turned their attention to the stage, where Cheese stepped out in a top hat and bow tie as he spoke into a microphone. "All right everypony, we're here to celebrate the birthday..."

"And anniversary of-" Pinkie butted in with the same costume before they both spoke in unison. "RAINBOW DASH!"

A large present was catapulted into the sky before ripping open, revealing the birthday mare hovering above the crowd. "Hey everypony! Who's ready to get their party on?! Hit it!" Flash nodded at this, he and Iron both started playing their instruments alongside the prerecorded music. Pinkie then started singing, everypony else joining in.

It was here everypony started to truly party, one being more like a carnival than anything. Lightning and Iron were enjoying doing strength games while Springer played in a fun house with chute slides and ball pits. Flash and Scootaloo teamed up together, demolishing all opponents at bumper carts...until Twilight got into the competition. There was pizza, piñatas, dancing and even being skydiving with parachutes somehow. No doubt it was a night none of them would forget.

Halfway through the party, Rainbow spotted one of her party planners leaning against a tree, eating a muffin. "Cheese Sandwich! Oh, I gotta tell ya, you and Pinkie have totally made this the best birthday anniversary super combo ever! It's totally-"

"Epic?" Cheese asked.

Rainbow nodded, "Yeah, it is!"

Cheese chuckled as he put his travel hat back on. "That's all I needed to hear, little filly." He stepped behind the stage, where Pinkie and Wild were sitting side by side as she wrote in a journal. As she finished, a wooden box was slid in front of her. "Just a little memento of my visit." The box opened to reveal Boneless inside.

Pinkie gasped at the sight, watching as a rainbow seemed to reflect off of it. "You're giving me your special rubber chicken friend?!"

Cheese nodded before pulling out an identical copy of it, though this one had a red two painted on the stomach. "Oh, he's not the only one." He turned to Wild, giving him a nod as well. "Look after her for me, will ya?"

Wild shined a huge smile, "You got it."

"You got it, you got it."

With that, Cheese turned towards the sunset...which had actually set several hours ago, but I'm sure Celestia and Luna know what they're doing, as he spoke to Boneless Two. Pinkie and Wild followed him to the edge of town, waving goodbye as he faded into the horizon. They both smiled as the rest of the Mane Seven and Defenders gathered around them as Pinkie quoted, "I never did get that pony's name."

The others all glared at her before yelling, "CHEESE SANDWICH!"

Pinkie giggled as Wild put his hoof around her. "Oh yeah!"

Another day, another great party. Along with the blossoming of another new relationship, our heroes would remember this day for a long time.
> How to use your Flash Sentry 101
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Almost a month had passed since the Rainbow Dash's beyond amazing birthday. Since then, a barrage of different events had happened, all within a span of a few weeks. It had started with Rarity's band, the Ponytones, which its main singer Big Mac had lost his voice. In response, Rarity tried to get Lightning to help, but found his voice wasn't deep enough. Due to this, Lightning asked Iron to convince his marefriend Fluttershy to sing for them while under the influence of Poison Joke, which led to the mare joining the group.

But this wasn't enough for this month, as a few days later had an even crazier event. Twilight was now being seen as the princess of the town, which ended up having the library filled with foals all wanting to be with her. This unfortunate event was made mainly by Flash's little sister and her friends, which he had to teach wasn't allowed to use Twilight like that.

After this, Fluttershy told all her friends that a group of creatures called the Breezies were coming to town. Everypony wanted to help her with the event, only for everything to go wrong. Thanks to a huge blast of wind, the Breezies were unable to get home, and started to stay with the pegasi. This continued until Iron found himself getting kicked out of Fluttershy's home due to his angry expressions, all of them frightening the creatures. Because of this, Iron convinced Flash to have Twilight help them get the Breezies out of town, which ended up with the alicorn using a spell to turn all of her friends into Breezies. And as they returned home, Flash asked to never be turned into a Breezie ever again, being way too embarrassed of the form. (Unfortunately for him, Rainbow asked Pinkie to take a secret picture of Breezie Flash, all as a later prank.)

Now, it was a new day in the town of Ponyville. The sun was shining, birds were singing and the ponies of the town were busy enjoying their day to day lives. It was here that two of those ponies, Twilight and Dr. Time Turner, were currently working on a new project, now staring at something on a table.

"Screwdriver," Spike handed the doctor his tool, tweaking sounds following this.

"Wires," Spike held said wires up, Twilight's magic aura taking them.

"Soldering iron," again Spike gave Turner a tool.

"Lunch," Twilight licked her lips as Spike held up a daffodil and daisy sandwich, allowing her to take a bite out of it. As she did this, Turner wiped his brow as a big grin appeared on his face.

"Done."

"Finally." Twilight and Doc stepped back, allowing Spike to look up at the table. There, he saw a black dog collar like item with several boxes attached to it, making him raise an eyebrow. "Once the programming and connection is installed, it'll work perfectly."

"So....what is it?"

Twilight rolled her eyes before picking the collar up. "This Spike, is what's going to allow us to get to the bottom of one of the biggest mysteries we've come across since moving to Ponyville."

Spike tilted his head, scratching this chin with his claw, "You mean...the chest that the Tree of Harmony gave you?"

"No."

Spike kept thinking, only to feel a familiar twisting in his stomach. Seconds later, he unleashed a burp as green smoke and flames shot out of his mouth. It then formed into a scroll, showing Twilight's cutie mark on the paper. "It's a message from Princess Celestia." Twilight commented as she took the scroll, soon reading it as her eyes scanned the paper. And as she did this, her eyes grew larger and larger until she slowly looked up.

"What's up?" Spike asked her.

Twilight's pupil's shrunk as she started to shivering, "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They're both coming here...today!"

"What?!" Spike shrieked while Turner's eyes went wide. "Why?! When?! Okay, I know when is today, but when are they gonna actually arrive?!"

Twilight reread the scroll, then looked up to a nearby clock Time Turner had set up, "They'll be here...in an hour."

"An hour?!" Spike gulped at this, knowing Twilight would be one second from panicking at Celestia coming. "Oh no, that's not enough time to get the library cleaned and a proper meal ready! Couldn't they have given us a little more warning before coming for a visit?"

"It's not just a visit Spike," Twilight told him as she rubbed her face, sweat now appearing on her forehead. "They say they're coming on business."

"What kind of business?" Turner asked next.

"I don't know." Once again, Twilight looked over the scroll. "But is says to meet in the town square and have Flash there. I guess this has something to do with him." She let out a long sigh, "I just hope that doesn't mean anything too bad..."

Turner blinked at her with a glum frown, "But if that's the case Twilight, where is Flash right now?"





Meanwhile...

Flash was standing by a Battle Form Springer, Iron in front of him while spinning Piecemaker in his hooves. "You two ready for this?" The Metal Guardian asked as he stopped and pointed it at the two.

"Ready," the two replied as Springer created an Aura Blast, tossing it into the air. Flash then followed, his blade glowing as he swung through the sphere. "Flash Cutter!" With this, the aura attack rocketed toward Iron.

"Iron Guard Shield!" The spearhead morphed into a shield seconds before the Aura Blast struck, exploding and pushing the Royal Knight back several feet.

Everyone except Flash seemed surprised by this, the apprentice knight smiling at the accomplishment. "Yes! Score!" He cheered before flying down and giving his partner a hoof bump. "We did it! Combo move in the bag!"

"Don't go celebrating to soon Sentry," Iron told him as he reverted his weapon back, Lightning now hopping off the sidelines as he did this. "I wouldn't go calling that a combo move."

"What are you talking about? Springer's Aura Blast and my Flash Cutter came together, fused into a single attack. How is that not a combo move?"

"Because they didn't fuse," Lightning spoke up with crossed hooves. "You just batted the attack like a baseball and changed its trajectory. The Aura Blast and your light didn't meld into one."

"I'm with them Flash," Springer added as he reverted back to his smaller form. "Think back to when me and Skybreaker fused our attacks. That one actually turned my Aura Blast into a spinning blade. How is what we did any different from me just tossing the attack at Iron?"

Iron nodded. "Just because it went a little faster than usual doesn't mean it worked as a combo move."

Flash pouted and sat on his back legs, crossing his hooves. "You guys really know how to kick a guy when he's up, you know that?"

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Look, do you want us to be honest or to let you go around looking like an idiot announcing you have a combo move when you don't?" Flash opened his mouth to respond, only to quickly shut it. "That's what I thought."

"Fine...let's try it again," Flash held up his sword again, "This time we'll get them to properly merge. I know it." The other three all sighed, all resisting the urge to facehoof/facepaw. But before Springer could reply, a bright flash of purple light shined in front of them. "Bluagh! What the heck?!" Flash yelped as they all started blinking, the defender then yelling, "Twilight, if that's you, I told you to stop doing that!"

Twilight just shook her head, "We don't have to time to listen to your complaints. You four need to get to town, now!"

"Why?" Iron asked as he rubbed his eyes. "What's the problem?"

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are gonna be arriving soon."

"WHAT!?" The four's jaws dropped.

"Why?!" Springer asked next.

"The scroll they sent didn't explain why, but whatever it is has something to do with Flash."

"Me?" Flash pointed to himself, "What'd I do?!"

Springer let out a gasp. "Maybe they've decided you're ready to become a Royal Knight!"

This made Flash's eyes go wide, only to hear a snort from Iron, "I doubt it. That sounds like something they'd talk to Twilight and Princess Cadenza about before announcing. Not to mention Grand would be the one to tell Flash if he was gonna be knighted." This made Flash slump down, a huge frown now on his face.

Twilight rolled her eyes at this. "Whatever it is, we'll find out when they arrive. So come on, I'll teleport us there." The others then flinched, all almost backpedaling as her horn started to glow.

Lightning's own horn sparked, "I'll go on my own. Thanks." With that, he disappeared before the others could say anything.

"Awww....can't we just walk?" Springer asked next, trying to show puppy dog eyes at the alicorn.

"No time," Twilight horn pulsed as they were surrounded by her magic. A flash of light followed this, the ground changing from rock to grass as they appeared back into Ponyville. And as they landed in front of town hall, both stallions let out a series of moans.

"Oww," Springer groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Twilight! I know I can see through my aura, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with almost being blinded."

Twilight rolled her eyes again as she looked away, now spotting Spike running up to them with the Crusaders. "Twilight! I did what you said and told the others."

"All of them?! Already?!"

Spike fiddled his claws at this, "Well, I found Rainbow first and told her. She said she'd gather the others and I came across Scootaloo, who had Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with her. Then..."

"That's enough Spike, I understand." Twilight commented as she patted his head, "Good job." It was here that they spotted Rainbow and Fluttershy flying to them while Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity and Wild ran in from the opposite direction. "That's everypony," Twilight nodded after her head count.

That is, till Wild asked, "Wait...where's Lightning?"

"Here!" Lightning yelled out as he ran up into the square. "Sorry. Probably should put a mark here."

"So what's this about Twi?" Rainbow asked, the others all nodding as they mumbled the same question.

This made Twilight raise an eyebrow before turning to Spike, "I thought you said you told them."

The baby dragon crossed his arms. "I said I told Rainbow. Well, I only got as far as to tell her about meeting in the square. She flew off before I could say why." The others frowned at the pegasus, who laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head.

A long sigh followed as Twilight rubbed the side of her face. "Princess Celestia and Luna are coming here."

"The princesses are coming here?!" Rarity repeated in horror, "But I'm not presentable! Look at me, I'm a mess!"

They all blinked at her, Applejack speaking up next, "Ya'll look fine ta me Rare."

"Are you blind?! I'm in need of a serious hooficure! My mane needs a proper conditioning and I need at least fifteen hours of beauty sleep before I can even begin to look presentable!" She then started hyperventilating, Lightning asking Pinkie for a paper bag, which a second later he gave to the fashionista.

Fluttershy put her hoof over her mouth as she walked up to Twilight, "Did the princess say why they were coming?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, but it has something to do with Flash."

"Really?" Scootaloo asked before turning to her brother. "What did you do?"

Flash tilted his head with a glum frown, "I didn't do anything. I'm in the dark as much as the rest of you."

Twilight nodded at this. "Hopefully they'll explain when they arrive."

"Well, you won't have to wait too long," Pinkie pointed at the sky. "Here they come now!"

"What?!" Twilight screeched as she looked up to see a familiar pegasi drawn chariot flying into view, beginning its descent to the ground. A minute later, the chariot touched down, allowing them to spot three ponies sitting on it. The first two were the alicorn princesses they had been warned about, while the third was Luna's apprentice, Trixie.

"Hello my little ponies," Celestia announced as she disembarked from the chariot. She watched as almost all the ponies, along with Spike and Springer, bowed to her. The only one not bowing was Twilight, who remembered her now equal status and simply nodded.

Luna then climbed down as the ponies remained on the ground, causing her to lift her hoof, "Raise ponies." They did so while Trixie walked up and gave them a group hug.

"Hey everypony! Its so good to see you!"

"Hey Trixie," Flash replied before whispering into her ear. "Any idea what you and the princess are here for?"

Trixie shook her head as she pulled back, only to flinch as she now noticed Lightning was there as well. Despite this, Twilight then trotted around her as she went up to the Royal Sisters, "Princess, not that we're not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

Flash walked up next, pointing to himself, "And why did you want to see me?"

Celestia and Luna both smiled down at the two, the older sister speaking up. "We're here because we wish to investigate something that we can no longer overlook without addressing."

Twilight tilted her head at this, "What do you mean?"

Luna then pointed at Flash. "You all remember the events surrounding the return of Mr. Sentry's parents, along with your fights against Ahuizotl and the three criminals that were working alongside Longhorn?"

The ponies who were at all those events all looked at each other, Flash then speaking up, "Yeah...why?"

"The power you used there Sentry..." Luna's gaze hardened as she stared right into Flash's eyes, "Such power can not go uncontrolled. What Princess Twilight has told us in letters has us deeply concerned, as we believe it could be part of something greater..." She then tapped Flash's chest, "We must learn as much as we can before it develops to a point where you can no longer control it."

As they others all heard this, Applejack spoke up next, "Ya'll really think that could happen?"

Twilight turned to her. "Well...they're not wrong. Unless we have some proof that it won't happen, we have to let that assumption exist." She then looked back at Luna, "But Flash has been able to control it before."

Celestia nodded at this. "And I hope he will remain capable of that. However, both me and Luna have debated over this and believe this is a truth that must be revealed." She placed a hoof on the defender's shoulder. "Flash, I have known for a long time that you are more than just your average pony. More than your average Royal Knight even. You remember the time we discovered the origin of you cutie mark?"

Flash's mind flew back to that day, many years ago when he drank the zebra potion and saw visions of his past. He remembered when he saved that filly from the collapsing rooftop, and what happened next. "I remember...you're talking about the lightning that covered my body back when I saved that filly, aren't you?"

Celestia nodded again. "It is my belief that that lightning was merely a watered down form of the power you seem able to wield. It's possible your younger body was incapable of properly using it, resulting in the lightning."

Everypony remembered when Flash told them this story, Rainbow now asking, "So...if he could use that lightning back then, why haven't we ever seen it?"

"It's likely that Flash hasn't had a need to use it," Twilight guessed.

The others looked at her, Pinkie giggling next, "You cray cray Twily! I can think several times super powered lightning could have come in handy. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra...that's just to name a few."

Celestia smiled at the mare's enthusiasm. "And who's to say Flash hasn't had help from his power, just in different forms?"

"What do you mean?"

Flash crossed his hooves next, deciding to answer this one, "She's saying this power I have might have has been helping me in those fights. Like....when we faced off against Discord. He tried brainwashing me, but something saved me." He then retold the story of him remembering the past after Discord had corrupted him. "And a similar thing happened when I fought against the Serpentine. I was shown images of my past that gave me the will to keep fighting."

Twilight began counting off the instances, "Poison Joke, the age barrier, fighting off Chrysalis's mind control...heck, even being able to keep fighting when Sombra drained all of your strength."

"There's also where you somehow cured yourself of Toxic's poison," Lightning added.

"And likely many others," Celestia finished as she pointed at Flash. "All of this is coming from the same source. And if we can discover this source, we will know all its dangers and risks in use."

Twilight then raised her hoof, "If I might wage an opinion," Celestia nodded back. "I've been curious about Flash's strange powers as well, and I think I have a way to find out what it is."

Flash glared at her. "You are NOT putting me in that scanner machine again. Last time, you had me on it for six hours! You didn't even let me go to the bathroom!" The others flinched as Twilight blushed.

"Small oversight on my behalf. But...I've been working with Time Turner on something else. And this time, I'm sure it'll work."

Flash grit his teeth at this, "You do realize that doesn't inspire any confidence, right?!"

"It's almost done meathead, and it'll be fine. I left Time Turner to finish it off. One moment." Her horn sparked, everypony except the princess covering their eyes as she teleported away. A minute later, there was another flash as Twilight reappeared alongside a partially blinded Time Turner while holding a collar in her magic. "Taadah!"

"What's that?" Springer asked.

"This, Springer, is a portable scanner. It works the same way as the bigger one, except this one's wireless." She levitated it over to Flash and fastened it around his neck, the pegasus gasping when she started to tighten it. "The trouble with his ability and the Pinkie Sense, was it was something that wouldn't occur while they were just sitting around doing nothing. But with this, Flash'll be able to do what he usually does, and when he does start to transform, this thing will pick it up."

"Yah sure?" Applejack added. "That's an odd lookin thang yah got there."

Twilight nodded assuredly, "You know it. This scanner will record any changes in his body, including heartbeat, magical output and UMAs."

"UMAs?"

Time Turner piped in for this, "Unregistered magical anomalies."

Celestia clapped at the sight, "This is excellent Twilight. I'm sure this will help us learn about this strange magic."

Trixie pointed at Flash, "Alright, let's see it Flash. Bring on the shiny tornado!"

Everypony turned to Flash expectedly, the apprentice knight blinking several time in discomfort. "Yeah...about that." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I...have no clue how to actually use this power."

This made Celestia, Luna, Trixie and the CMC sigh as Trixie replied, "How can you not know how to use it?! You've done it three times already!"

"Those were all spur of the moment things Trixie. I didn't mean for it to happen when it did. It just sort of...did. I can't control it."

Luna rubbed her chin and hummed. "Then our first priority will be to find the trigger."

This made the others gulp, Springer speaking up next, "That....might be a problem."





One transition to the library later...

"Okay...let's start with what we know first." Twilight said as they sat in the library, all staring at a blackboard Twilight had brought. On the board were crude drawings of timberwolves, Ahuizotl and his henchponies along with Big Score and his lackeys. She then tapped the first image. "The first time Flash used this ability was when Scootaloo and his parents were being attacked timberwolves."

"Which he turned to toothpicks," Scootaloo added with a smirk.

Twilight then spun the blackboard to show a sketch of a pony in a tornado, "From what we can tell, this power wraps him in what is likely meant to act as a cocoon. This is either for his own protection, or another reason we have yet to realize. Then there's the armor-"

"Armor?" Spike interrupted. "What armor?"

Rarity patted the drake's side, "You weren't there the last two times he changed."

"And the first time that twister blinded us all." Applejack added.

Rarity nodded and continued. "Flash seems to be wearing armor whenever he transforms. It seems to just...appear once he's in the light."

"Again, what this armor is for is something we have yet to discover." Twilight turned the board back and pointed to Ahuizotl. "The second time was when we were being shot at by an army of archers. This time when he transformed, he showed off an incredible amount of speed. So much so, that from an outsiders' eyes, it looked like he was duplicating himself."

Rainbow raised a wing at this, "I was able to keep up."

Pinkie then spoke up with a giggle. "Don't forget, it also healed a booboo he got in the fight."

Twilight nodded again. "Yes, a cut he received in the battle vanished without a mark. And finally," she pointed to the blackboard's final image. "During our battle against the supercharged criminals, when an accident caused a cave-in that sent a massive boulder flying down to crush us, this time Flash showed an incredible amount of strength. He punched the rock so hard that it didn't just break it, but it also turned it to dust."

This statement made Spike and the CMC's eyes all go wide, causing Applejack to laugh at their reaction. "Ah doubt any earth pony would be able to do that."

Scootaloo turned to her brother, "You're awesome Flash!"

The pegasi laughed as he ruffled the filly's mane. "And don't you forget it."

"These abilities are amazing," Trixie commented as she stared at Flash. "Whatever this magic is, it seems to be giving you physical traits that rival an alicorn."

Twilight shook her head. "It's true that alicorns possess the unique traits of all other pony species, but Flash has yet to show any magical abilities associated with unicorns in this form."

"Not yet anyway," Springer added.

Luna stepped up to the board and examined the images. "From what is being presented, it seems the trigger is some form of danger or emotional stress. Both of which will be difficult to recreate in a controlled environment."

Celestia nodded in agreement. "Our best course of action is to try and find another stimulant. But where to start?"

Everypony all frowned as they tried to think, only for Fluttershy to raise her hoof, "What about Zecora? Maybe she has some kind of potion that can help Flash."

Twilight clapped at this, smiling, "Fluttershy, that's brilliant!" This caused Fluttershy to blush as Iron nudged her playfully. "And even if she doesn't have anything, she might have some knowledge about what's happening to Flash."

"Does she actually know about this transformation thingy?" Lightning asked next.

Flash hummed, "I don't think so. I haven't spoken to her about it. Anypony?" They all shook their heads no.

"Well then," Celestia stood up. "We'd better go see her."

Iron raised a hoof at this. "Maybe it's better to bring her here, your majesty."

Celestia giggled at the knight. "Your concern for us is admirable Sir Iron, but we will be fine. Luna and I used to live in the Everfree Forest, so we know it like the back of our hooves."

Iron shook his head. "It's not that princesses. It's just that, Zecora's hut is kind of small for a group this big."

Sweetie then spoke up. "And we wanna see Flash transform, but we're not allowed to go into the forest."

Celestia rubbed her chin at this, "Ah, I see. Yes, maybe bringing Zecora here would be the better option."

Twilight nodded and turned to Rainbow, who saluted back before zipping out the library. Twenty minutes later, she returned with the zebra herbalist on her tail while carrying a pair of saddlebags. They quickly explained the situation to her, Zecora surprised by the revelation...but had nothing in terms of answers.

That is, till she asked to head outside with a kettle in hoof, "Perhaps this will help, it may show something that can be felt." she rhymed as she mixed some ingredients into the device. "This elixir will grant its drinker energy tenfold. And for you within, the answers it may hold. It is meant to help with therapeutic revitalization, but in you it may cause this transformation."

She finished the mix and poured in the water, properly stirring it next. Here, she gave it to Flash, "Huh...ten fold energy?" He then sipped it, licking his lips at the taste, "Not bad. Bottoms up!" With that, he took it in one gulp, Spike having a camera ready that was prepared by Twilight and Time Turner.

"Well?" Twilight asked, only to see Flash's right eye twitch. "Did it work?"

One minute later...

"IsitworkingisitworkingamItransformed.You'llhavetotellmebecauseIdon'thaveagoodviewofmyself.ButseriouslythatteaisamazingcauseI'mfeelingreallypumpedandjazzedandwhydoesnoponysayjazzedanymore.It'sareallyfunword.Jazzedjazzedjazzed.AmItalkingtooloud?"

Everypony watched as Flash flew around in a circle endlessly, talking a mile a minute like a colt on a sugar rush. Springer then tugged Twilight's side, "Is that what I'm like when I take a super sugar muffin?"

Twilight shrugged. "Half as terrifying, but about as equally as annoying...though this has way less property damage. No offense."

"None taken."

"We're gonna need to try something else," Celestia said as she watched Flash zip about.

Luna let out a giggle, her eyebrows hopping up and down, "I don't know sister. Can you imagine setting that on our enemies?"

"Yes...and I'm not that cruel." Celestia commented as she looked back at the group, "Any ideas on how to get him down without violence?"

"I got one!" Springer announced with a raised paw before turning to certain pink pony, "Hey Pinkie, you wouldn't happen to have some nets and rope stashed around Ponyville for net and rope emergencies, would ya?"

"You know I do!"

One caught and tied-up Flash until the elixir wore off later...

"Okay...what's the next idea?" Flash groaned as he flexed his wings, now stiff from the ropes.

Pinkie and Wild stepped up next, the unicorn sticking his tongue out, "Maybe we can surprise you into transforming."

"Surprise you, surprise you." his puppets repeated.

"Surprise me?" Flash asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, being surprised or scared might be what makes you go gold," Pinkie added with a giggle. "We talked about it while you were in sugar high mode."

"And its worth a shot Flash," Twilight said as she covered Flash's eyes. A minute later, she uncovered them to allow Flash to look up and see Wild and Pinkie dressed as a doctor and nurse, Wild magically holding a comically large syringe.

"Surprise!" He thrusted it at the pegasi's face. It stopped inches away, but Flash hadn't moved a millimeter. Wild and Pinkie raised an eyebrow at this, "You're not scared?"

Flash rolled his eyes. "I spent five hours a day, five days a week for over ten years in an armory. You honestly think an oversized novelty needle is gonna scare me?"

"Um....maybe?"

"Its not." Flash deadpanned as he scratched his side with his wings, "Besides, I've never had a fear of needles. Twilight's family insisted I get a full-check up when I joined the family and the docs were....a bit overboard with needles back then." He stretched his wings again, "Good way to get rid of that fear."

Wild and Pinkie both sighed, "Phooey. So much for that plan."

"A valiant effort," Celestia added. "However, scaring Flash may prove to be harder than others."

Flash smirked at the praise, which made the others roll their eyes and silently vow to make him yell out in surprise. And so, for the next few hours, they tried everything in their power to scare Flash. They attempted showing him scary movies, making him think he was seeing Scootaloo fall to her death and threatening to destroy his favorite comics. Scootaloo pouted when he actually cried out at this compare to her 'death', but it still did nothing.

After this event, the ponies were now all slumped over on the ground, Twilight grumbling, "Alright...it's official. We can't surprise Flash into transforming."

Trixie, who was laying face up on the ground, nodded. "In hindsight, we should have expected as much. He's an apprentice knight and has faced off against some pretty scary stuff."

"And don't forget he knew the surprise was coming," Celestia commented as she rubbed her chin. "That decreased the surprise value by about half."

"Sorry everypony," Flash added with a small frown, "Guess uh...dealing with constant life and death stuff makes getting scared hard."

"But if that's the case, what do you think would make you scared?" Trixie asked next.

"Hmm..." Flash tilted his head at this, "I guess...I don't know. Closest thing I can think of would be...." he slightly shivered at his next words, "Fighting Sombra again. I'm pretty sure I was scared there."

Everyone frowned at this, knowing there was no way to replicate something like that. Seeing the sadness now embracing everyone, Fluttershy spoke up, "So...what do we do now?"

Nopony answered, that is except a certain princess of the night. Luna snapped her hoof as she pointed to Twilight's home, "I have an idea. Come, follow me."

That idea led them back inside where Luna closed all the curtains, lit several candles and asked Twilight to get a record player with the most calming record she had. "Alright Flash," Luna started playing the music as she and Flash sat in the middle of the library. "I want you to close your eyes." Flash did so as Luna raised her hooves up, "Now, I want you to remember what you told us about how you first accessed this power."

Flash took a long deep breath. "Let's see...I was inside some kind of void...and a voice said I was ready to unleash the full power within me."

"Exactly, young Sentry. It's possible you have some form of mental link with whatever is giving you this power. As such, we're going to try and contact it." Her horn then unleashed a thread of magic, which flew up to Flash's forehead. Scootaloo opened her mouth at the motion, but Twilight put up a hoof and shook her head as Luna continued, "Alright, I want you to start by imagining a hallway." Flash did so, his imagination going into overdrive. Soon enough, he found himself in a hallway with checkered floors and brown wooden doors lining the walls. "What do you see?"

"I see a hallway, like you said."

"Describe the hallway."

"It's long, dark, and with flooring that I'm guessing came from a chess board." The others all laughed at this. "There's also some doors, loads of them."

"Describe these doors."

"They're just...doors. Like, a bunch of....wait." a new image began to materialise onto the doors, making Flash blink inside of his mind. "The doors...they're showing a bunch of cutie marks."

"Whose cutie marks?"

"Everyponies. Twilight's, Rainbows, even the Cakes."

Luna did a slight giggle. "Just as expected. You are beginning to slip into your subconscious, which is beginning to reshape the hallway into an image you can understand. Each door will lead into a mental room that you keep your thoughts and feelings about everypony you know within."

"Interesting..." Twilight whispered as she rubbed her chin in thought, "Very interesting..."

Luna's horn slightly sparked as she continued. "For now, focus on finding one door in particular Sentry. Yours. It is likely where you will find the source of your power."

"Okay, I'll try." Flash began to mentally walk through the corridor, his eyes skipping on each wooden frame. After what felt like an hour, he came to the end of the hallway. There, the door with his cutie mark emblazoned on it stood, its very presence making Flash feel like he was shrinking. "I think I found it."

Luna glanced over at her sister, who nodded to say they should continue. "Very well." She pumped more energy into her magic, increasing the connection. "Let us truly begin."





In Flash's mind, the pegasus continued to stare up at the door, only to hop in place as he suddenly felt the presence of another. Looking around, he saw Luna standing next to him. "Princess?"

"I am here Sentry. I have used my magic so we may both see this together." Flash nodded at this, knowing he shouldn't question her abilities. Seeing this, she smiled back, "Now, are you ready?"

Flash gulped, nodding all the same. "Let's do this." He reached out and grasped the handle, slowly opening the door. He let it swing inward, the duo glancing inside. There, they saw nothing but darkness, filling Flash with even more dread.

"Go on Flash. This is your world inside of your mind. Nothing within can harm you unless you let it." Flash gulped again before stepping inside, Luna following as they walked through the darkness. But as soon as they went inside, they noticed there was nothing, nothing but a blank dark void. "Hear me!" Luna called out, almost in her Royal Canterlot Voice. "Being of unknown power, we come seeking answers and demand them at once!"

Seconds passed, no answer coming from the inky black void. "Huh. I guess there's nothing-" But before Flash could finish his words, a sudden explosion of light blinded the two. The next thing they knew, what felt like a powerful gust ploughed into them, pushing both off their hooves. Before they knew it, they went flying out of the door, the frame shutting as both were blown down the hallway until-





"WHOA!" The two screamed as they fell back, Luna's magic cutting out as they returned to reality.

"Luna/Flash!" The others yelled as they ran up to them. Celestia scanned her sister over while Twilight tapped Flash's side.

Then, Flash opened his eyes, and they saw they were nothing but gold light. The sight made them all lean back, all except Twilight, who crouched down and asked, "Flash? Are you...okay? Can you hear me?"

Flash shut his eyes, scrunching them up before opening them to show they were back to normal. "Yeah, I'm okay...I think."

Everypony sighed in relief before helping the two back to their hooves. "What happened?" Spike asked.

"I am..." Luna hesitated for a moment, "I am not sure. Somehow, we were forced out of Flash's mindset, but that shouldn't have happened. Whatever this entity is, it's power far exceeds anything we've seen before. It may even outclass we alicorns."

Hearing this made the group all stare at each other in disbelief, especially Flash. "I don't understand." Celestia added, "You're saying this....whatever Flash is, is something that defies your magic Luna?"

"I don't know sister. Whatever it is, the magic it contains is not ordinary. Especially in terms of power."

Hearing these words, Twilight blinked for a second as her brain shined a lightbulb inside. Her horn then sparked, soon summoning a machine by her, which started spitting out paper. "What's that?" Rainbow asked as Twilight grabbed the paper.

"This is the computer the scanner's linked to." Twilight began to go over the data. "Hmmm....huh. Strange...it seems that Flash's heart-rate is slightly elevated, but nothing else out of the ordinary."

Flash tilted his head at this, "What about that U...M...errr..."

"UMAs?" Twilight finished for him as she looked over that section. "The scanner did detect something, but not enough for a proper analysis. We need more data, which means we actually need you to transform."

"Only that seems to be impossible."

"Not necessarily," Twilight put the paper down and turned to Celestia, "Princess, I have a plan, but I'll need some help."

"I'm happy to help Twilight. What do you need?"

"I'll explain on the way," she turned to Luna and Trixie. "You two mind helping too?" The two nodded, "Great." She looked at the others, pointing at the defenders of the group, "Meet us in the park in an hour. Flash, Iron, Lightning, bring your fighting equipment." With that, the three alicorns and single unicorn walked out of the library, leaving the others to just stare at the door.

"What do you think that was about Flash?" Scootaloo asked next.

Flash gave her an all-knowing smirk, "Knowing Twilight? Probably something painful for me."





One hour later...

When the group arrived at the park, they found Twilight and Trixie sending some kind of magic into the ground while Luna and Celestia were busy clearing the skies above them.

"Err...Twilight?" Flash spoke up as he suppressed a gulp of fear, "You mind explaining what this idea of yours is?"

"In a minute," Twilight responded, not looking up from her work. She and Trixie shuffled along the ground, getting closer and closer until they stopped next to each other, their magic linking up. "Done." They looked back up as the royal sisters landed nearby. Twilight then did a slight cough before speaking up, "Okay everypony, here's the plan. It appears Flash's transformation will only occur when he's in a battle-like scenario. So, we're gonna invent one."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, pointing at Twilight and then himself, "You...who hates having me fight, are gonna have me fight?"

"Yup." Twilight smiled with a nod. "To make sure we get the results, we're recreating one of the times you transformed before."

This made Flash's eyes shrink, knowing what it would take to make Twilight go this far. As he started to backpedal, Scootaloo chimed in next, "Wait...you're not gonna have my brother fight off a trio of timberwolves, are you?"

The four laughed at her question, Celestia walking over to her and patting her shoulder. "No my little pony, we aren't. We're going to have your brother fight a unicorn, a pegasus and an earth pony, like when he fought against the criminals we mentioned before."

Lightning and Iron both blinked at this, Iron pointing to himself and the other defender, "Wait...you mean we get to fight him?"

Twilight nodded in response, "Yes. And Flash needs to be under pressure for this to work, so make sure you push him as far to the extreme as possible. Go all out."

Those last three words made the two shine giant malicious grins, their heads slowly turning to Flash. The sight made Flash's ears drop, lip quivering as he did a long gulp, "Do uh...do I get a say in this?"

"Nope!" Twilight teleported behind him, pushing him with her head up to the spot she and Trixie had been working on. "And don't you dare complain, you musclehead!"

"Wait!" Flash yelped as he started to push back, "What about the pegasus?! Don't tell me I'm fighting Rainbow."

The prism maned pegasus smiled as she rubbed her hooves, only for Luna to speak up. "We've arranged a skilled fighting pegasus to come lend his skill to our endeavor. With his speed, he should be arriving-" A sonic boom caught their attention next, making them look up just in time to see a familiar light blue pegasus land in front of them. The sight made Rainbow Dash blush, the pegasi winking at her for a split-second.

He then bowed before the princesses, "Soarin Skies, reporting for duty your majesties."

"At ease," Celestia waved him off. "Thank you for getting here so quickly."

"No problem ma'am. Always happy to help."

"So I'm gonna be fighting Iron, Lightning and Soarin?!" Flash yelped as he flared his wings, only to feel a familiar magic tug on his ear.

"Yes, you are." Twilight grumbled as she then magically lifted him into the circle, "And they're gonna be going all out, so you'd better do the same."

"Don't you think this is overkill?!"

"No, I don't." Twilight remarked as her magic threw Lightbringer to Flash's side. "Now start fighting."

"Twilight, I'm not-"

"What's the matter Sentry?" he turned to see Iron, Lightning and Soarin step into the circle. "You scared?"

Flash's face twisted up at this, a low glare appearing as he unsheathed Lightbringer. "You forget I've fought each of you before, and won."

Lightning gave a small shrug as his horn started to glow, "Maybe...but you've never actually beaten us on your own, and now you're fighting all of us at once."

Twilight just shook her head at their conversation before her and Trixie's horns shined, causing a circle of words to appear around the four before a magic barrier materialised. "Rune magic?" Rarity asked as she looked it over.

Trixie grinned back. "Solid Script's been teaching me."

"Really? Huh..." Wild remarked back as he started at the words, "Does look like his work....even if it has a bit less in the finesse department."

"Its fine. Neither of us are masters of the art, but this will be enough. Thanks to this barrier, they can fight without fear of doing any damage to Ponyville." Twilight turned back to the fighters, "You guys ready?" They all nodded as Flash sighed before getting into a battle stance. "Then...start!"

As soon as she said that, Soarin charged ahead, Flash immediately jumping out of the way from the bum-rush. Seeing this, he flared his wings and took to the sky, Soarin following right behind him. A glow of magic came next, Lightning now firing a series of knives at the flying defender. And as they came for him, Flash spun his sword, knocking them all away with two swings. But as he did this, Soarin sucker-punched Flash's face, causing him to falter back.

The attack made Flash go back down, dodging a kick from the Wonderbolt. As he did this, Lightning threw another knife, this one hitting a branch of a tree. Lightning then disappeared in a flash, warping over to the wood before leaping off it, flying up to throw a statically charged hoof. Flash saw this and raised his sword, the unicorn's hoof bouncing off the sword while the electricity zapped the pegasi. "Blaugh!" he yelped, only to then feel a kick in the back from Soarin. "Oof!"

The blow knocked him to the ground, everypony watching in worry as he fell, only to break his descent as he flared his wings. Steadying himself, he blocked another punch from Lightning, only to fire a Flash Cutter back, causing the unicorn to jump back. "Iron Spike Assault!" Flash spun around to see a line of spikes coming at him, forcing him back into the air as they covered the ground. But as he did this, Soarin bum-rushed him, slamming the pegasi into the dirt.

"Augh!" He cried as he tasted the grass, Iron, Soarin and Lightning standing in a line while smiling at him.

"What's the matter Sentry?" Iron asked as he pointed Piecemaker at him, "This too much for ya? Please tell me it isn't."

Lightning laughed at this, "Don't tell me you're ready to give up! We love beating on ya, ya know!"

Flash cricked his neck next, picking himself up as he glared at the trio. "I'm just getting started." He blinked as he reopened his eyes, both now blank to show he had entered Theta Mode. "Flash Force!" He fired the laser at them, Soarin and Lightning hopping out of the way while Iron formed a shield against the attack. And when he retracted the shield, he saw Flash flying straight for him, sword glowing, "Flash Cutter!"

"Iron Saber!" The spearhead reshaped into a sword as the two blades clashed, pushing at one another as Soarin and Lightning appeared on opposite sides of the apprentice knight.

"Gatling Spark!" The unicorn unleashed a wave of electric bullets, Flash taking to the sky the moment they came into view. It was here that Soarin appeared again, this time with a series of jabs. Flash put up both hooves, blocking the blows before flapping his wings, pushing the Wonderbolt back with his air pressure. Flash then exchanged the barrage of punches with his own, these forcing Soarin to go into Theta Mode as well. And as they danced in mid-air, Iron and Lightning nodded to each other as Iron pointed his weapon upward.

"Iron Lance Fury!" he yelled, making both look down as a flurry metal projectiles came at them. Both began evasive maneuvers, barely managing to keep ahead of the sudden iron bullets.

"Plasma Anchor!" And as those words reached Flash's ears, he suddenly felt something bite onto his back leg and zap him. The next thing he knew, he felt his back slam into the ground, a cry of pain following. His eyes turned back to normal as he felt pain surge through his body, only to look up and see Soarin charging into him.

"Aw crap." Flash commented as Soarin came crashing down, pile driving him back into the earth. "Blaugh!"

Everypony flinched at the sight, watching as Soarin jumped back after dealing the blow. It was here they saw Flash try to pick himself up, staggering as he did. "Maybe this has gone too far," Twilight suggested as she bit her lip. "He's being pushed to his limit, but its showing no results. We should stop this before something bad happens." The others all nodded, Trixie and her horns starting to glow.

"This isn't over yet!" Flash yelled out, making their horns sputter out. He then leaned on his blade for support. "I might be down, but I'm far from my limit." He turned to the fighting trio. "You heard what she said, don't hold back! So stop already....and hit me with your best shot!"

Iron was the first to smirk, his Celestic Gear shining. "Alright, but remember...you asked for this." The spear morphed into a light that surrounded Iron, solidifying into his battle armor. He pointed the spearhead on his tail at Flash, "Iron Force!" The shrapnel laced tornado shot out of the spearhead, Flash directing his blade at the pony.

"Flash Force!" The beam of light struck the tornado, the two pushing at each other.

At the same time, Lightning began tossing blades in every direction. As the two attacks died down, his horn sparked, disappearing in a flash of light. There, a blade of lightning strutted out of his horn as he appeared behind Flash, "Static Spear!"

Flash then hopped back as the electric javelin shot out of the horn, "Flash Vortex!" The tornado flew out of his blade, nullifying the spear. But as he did this, Soarin appeared on his six and grabbed his neck. "Hey!" He yelped as he tried to move, but the Wonderbolt tightened his grip in response.

"Sorry bro, but you asked for this."

"And I'm sorry too."

"Sorry for what?"

"For this!" He thrusted his elbow into Soarin's gut, making him cry out. Flash then grabbed Soarin's hoof, throwing him over his back and slamming him into the dirt.

"Iron Lance Fury/Gatling Spark!" A barrage of lightning bullets and steel blades flew at him, the lightning being absorbed into the metal, electrifying them.

"Whoa!" Flash quickly activated Theta Mode, now weaving back and forth from the barrage. But as he did this, static flew through the air, zapping Flash's wings. The blow made him land, only to see he was now surrounded by Lightning's knives. But before he had a chance to breathe, the unicorn appeared next to him, punching him in the side before vanishing. The blow turned Theta Mode off, but Lightning wasn't done. He reappeared again, punching the pegasi with increasing speed as he vanished and reappeared with each blow.

Flash soon found himself being hit everywhere at once, his body tensing to endure the strikes. That is, till the attacks stopped, causing Flash to open his eyes to see Iron running at him. "Iron Saber!" He spun around as a blade appeared on the end of his tail, which Flash barely managed to block. The clang of metal on metal rang through the air as Flash and Iron pushed one another. That is, till Iron changed the shape of his blade with a huge smile. The sword shifted into a pair of prongs, which he used to hook Lightbringer and knock it away.

"What?!" Flash yelped, only to see Soarin and Lightning appearing beside him. Time seemed to slow down as they pulled their hooves back, only for both to hit his stomach with full power. A scream of pain followed as his body went flying, flipping into the air.

"Ooh!" Everypony flinched as they saw Flash crash into the barrier, sliding down it slowly before slumping over.

"Flash!" Scootaloo called out, "You okay?"

"I think this match is over," Celestia commented as they all saw Flash not move.

"You think he got knocked out?" Sweetie asked next.

Springer shook his head at this. "No way. Flash doesn't go down that easily."





Flash opened his eyes, only to see he was back inside the hallway, the door with his cutie mark standing before him. He reached out and gripped the handle, remembering what Luna had told him before opening it.

He walked into the darkness, dread in his mind as he still saw nothing inside. Despite this, he did a small breath before saying, "Hey...I know you're in here. I want to talk to you. I don't know who or what you are, but I want some answers."

No reply came. Just pure silence followed.

"Oh, come on! You're in my head, so you better start doing what I ask! You can start by giving me some of that power, just this once when I want it!" Flash yelled as he slammed his hooves down, "I don't know what you are, but I need to know! It doesn't even have to be a lot, just enough for me and my friends to learn something...anything!"

The silence remained, causing the pegasi to let out a sigh. But as he turned around to leave, a burst of light filled the room. Looking back, Flash stared at the source, the light not hurting in the slightest as he felt himself be covered by the golden glow.

"I see...thank you."





Flash's eyes shot open, a gold shine pulsing out as a new strength filled his body. Everypony watched as he picked himself up, as if he hadn't taken any damage whatsoever. "This...isn't over...YET!" With that one outcry, his body exploded into a tornado of light, a set of armor now appearing on his form as Trixie and the princesses gasped.

"Extraordinary..." Luna whispered, Celestia nodding in agreement.

"That's so cool!" Trixie exclaimed as Twilight turned to Spike.

"You getting this?"

Spike chuckled as he stared through the camera, "You bet I am."

Flash cricked his neck as he stared at his three opponents, smirking, "Hey...still wanna go?"

The three, though slightly intimidated, got back into their battle stances. "Try us!" The spikes on Iron's armor started to glow. "Iron Lance Fury!" The projectiles shot out like bullets, but Flash simply disappeared before they could even start moving. And as this happened, Flash reappeared in front of defender, having dodged the entire attack with one swift motion. "Scatter!" Iron yelled as Flash stood in front of him, Lightning and Soarin hopping to the side as the armored earth pony raised his tail as it morphed into a hammer. "Iron Hammer Slam!"

As he spun the hammer at Flash's face, the pegasi simply raised his hoof, catching it with ease. Iron's eyes went wide as Flash gripped the weapon, his wings flaring with pillars of light coming out of them. "Goodbye." was all Flash said before suddenly spinning like a top, Iron instantly pulled by the defender into the shining tornado. And as a yell came out of Iron's mouth, Flash's hoof let go.

"Iron!" Fluttershy cried in horror as she watched her coltfriend go flying, crashing into the barrier as the armor reverted back to Piecemaker. With this blow, he fell like a rock, landing with a violent thud.

"One down." Flash deadpanned as he turned his head, his eyes now seeing a bolt of lightning coming for him. Flash vanished before the bolt struck, his form reappearing in front of Lightning. The unicorn took one step back as his horn flared, himself teleporting away before Flash could strike. There, he shot another bolt behind Flash, only for Flash to vanish again.

"Oh come on!" Lightning yelled as he warped himself to another dagger. But as he warped a third time, Flash reappeared in front of him before the unicorn could finish materialising. "What the?!" Lightning felt a glowing hoof fly into his gut, a volley of spit slinging out of his mouth as he was sent soaring into the barrier.

"And then there was one." Flash commented as he looked up, not even staring at where Lightning fell over like a sack of bricks. There, Soarin was hovering with a small gulp going down his throat. The two pegasi stared at one another before the one within the shining tornado shot up, the light morphing into an arrow.

Soarin crossed his hooves, hoping to endure the attack. But the second before Flash made contact, he disappeared again. "Wha-where'd he go?"

"Soarin!" He heard his girlfriend call out, "Behind you!" He spun around just in time to see Flash's hoof sock his face. The blow broke his bracing hooves, his wings going limp as he felt the punch knock his nerves and the wind out of him. With this, he fell as well, crashing into the dirt. It was here that everypony watched Flash land beside the crater Soarin had made, the tornado exploding off of him as his armor disappeared. Flash staggered in place after this, but managed to keep his footing while not feeling as drained like the last few times.

The barrier then came down, everypony rushing over to the fallen trio. Fluttershy was first as she went to her coltfriend, "Iron! Are you okay?!"

"Soarin!" Rainbow smacked his cheek, "Talk to me!"

"Wake up buddy!" Wild said to Lightning.

"Wake up, wake up!"

The three moaned as they opened their eyes, Soarin looking up at Rainbow as he groaned, "Wagnar loves chicken." He and the others conked out again, everypony else turning to glare at Flash.

The pegasus then chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Uh...sorry. Guess I got carried away."

Twilight shook her head as she trotted over to him. "Good grief...well, at least we'll have some scan da-" She stopped when she saw smoke coming off the collar, her magic soon taking it off as a moan came out of her mouth. "Seriously?!"

Flash blinked at her reaction. "What? What's wrong?"

Twilight glared back at him, "You broke it! Whatever that magic is, it overloaded the device!"

Flash slightly backpedaled, slowly chuckling again, "Sorry. I didn't know it was gonna do that."

"Flash, this is expensive equipment, and-"

"That's enough Twilight." Celestia interrupted as she put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "It seems this magic is more powerful than we realised."

Twilight let out a long sigh. "Yeah...it probably is. It might've gotten some data before overloading though. We should head back to the library and check...and develop the photos." The others all nodded as they made their way back to the Golden Oaks Library. When they got there, Iron, Soarin and Lightning were soon bandaged up by Fluttershy, Rainbow and Rarity.

"There you go," Rarity said as she tied a bow with the bandages.

"Thanks," Lightning replied as he flexed his hooves. "Ow...that was rough."

"I will agree with you there darling. That was quite the....violent show."

At the same, Flash was waiting next to the door of the basement, his wounds now healed after the transformation. It then opened up as the three alicorns, Spike and Trixie stepped out. "Well?"

Twilight sighed in response. "Nothing. The scanner didn't pick up anything."

Flash slumped over, "Rats."

"It's not all bad," Spike held up a stack of photos. "These came out looking great." Trixie used her horn to lift the photos up, all floating around to show everypony.

"But they don't tell us anything bout Flash's powers," Applejack commented.

"But at least they look nice," Pinkie added.

At the same time, Rarity stared at an image of Flash standing in the tornado. She let out a hum, which caught Twilight's attention. "What's the matter Rarity?"

Rarity turned to the princess, "Do you have some paper and a pencil I could borrow darling?" Twilight tilted her head but nodded, going upstairs to get the items she asked for. Getting the materials, Rarity went to a nearby table and began to draw. The others gathered around and watched as she drew the outline of a pegasus, soon drawing the armor over the pony. "And...viola!"

She held the drawing up for all to see. It showed an armor that was similar to the royal guards armor, but had several key differences. The armor on Flash's hooves went all the way up to his knees, appearing like armored greaves. His chest armor only went around his chest, his back and flank left completely exposed while the helmet was much smaller than the royal guard ones. It had no back, making them wonder how it stayed on, and seemed to resemble a mask more than anything. Above the eyes were a pair of triangular horns, which when looked at from the front created a V shape.

Everypony marvelled at the sight, Flash commenting, "So...that's what I look like. Huh."

Celestia nodded with a curious smile. "I must admit, it does look exquisite."

Iron let out a huff, "I say my armor's cooler."

"Sure it is metalhead," Flash retorted back, the two now glaring at each other.

Twilight sighed as she planted her chin on the table. "All this work and the only breakthrough we get is knowing what Flash looks like in the form. I was hoping for more answers." She then felt a hoof on her shoulder, making her look up to see her mentor.

"I understand you're frustrated, but there is nothing more we can do. We must accept that this is a phenomenon we must let happen naturally, and try to learn as much as we can when the opportunity presents itself." Twilight nodded, the others all following suit.

With this, they decided they day of research was done. Soon enough, the chariot to take Celestia, Luna and Trixie back to Canterlot arrived, Celestia then announcing, "I hope to be seeing you all again soon."

"We do too," Twilight replied.

Luna gave them all an authoritative glare. "If you discover anything else, please inform us immediately."

"We will," Flash assured her as Luna's chariot began to pull away, everypony waving the three off. Once they were gone, Flash turned to Twilight. "Sorry you couldn't get the answers you were hoping for."

Twilight shook her head back. "I'm the one who should be sorry. You're the one going through this change, and we need to know as much as possible. But...well, I couldn't get you the info you needed."

Flash just chuckled as he placed a wing around her. "Don't worry about it." He looked back up at the sky. "I might not know that much about these powers, but I'll learn. I'm sure if I just let it keep happening, something will eventually click."

"I hope you're right..." Twilight blushed as she felt his wing hug her, her eyes staring up at the sky with him. "I just...wish we knew."

"Me too...me too."
> Testing Testing 1, 2, 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today's story begins on the balcony of the Golden Oak Library, where Flash was enjoying the sun while strumming on his guitar. Several days of hard training had severely worn him out, mainly due to a five day marathon of 'Iron's armored dodge-a-thon'. Thanks to this, he and the rest of the Defenders had chosen to take the day off to rest...and Iron was planning for a date with Fluttershy tonight.

As for Springer, after the morning patrol, the jakhowl had left to join Scootaloo and the rest of the Crusaders over something about 'cupcakes with sprinkles'. Flash had let him go, but told him and Scootaloo that they could have only one, and for him to lay off the sugary ones. Thankfully, Flash met Pinkie before all of this, having her Pinkie Promise that she wouldn't serve it to him, along with the Cakes.

Due to all of this, Flash was now doing his other hobby, music writing. It was his third work now, one he had been making ever since he had first moved into Ponyville. And as he did this, his ears picked up Twilight reading aloud outside the front door. "The magical properties of this spell will only have lasting effects if you focus on-"

"YEAH!" A streak of rainbow light shot past her, creating a gust of wind that knocked the pages in Twilight's book out.

"No!" She cried as she watched the pages flee, making her glare up at the pegasi. "Rainbow Dash!" She started to flap her wings as she tried to hover, her horn shining as the pages began to be covered in her magic aura. "How in Equestria does that pony expect to pass her history of the Wonderbolts exam tomorrow if she's wasting time flying?! I'm just gonna fly right up to her and tell her what I think about her lackadaisical approach to studying! Won't she be surprised?!"

"Surprise!" Rainbow exclaimed as she suddenly appeared in front of Twilight.

"Ahh!" The alicorn yelped, making Flash chuckle as he watched her drop her pages again. He put his guitar down and flew up to them as Twilight continued. "How did you-"

"Puh-lease Twilight," Rainbow replied before landing on a cloud. "That was the worst sneak attack ever."

"Wha?!" Twilight landed unsteadily onto another cloud, "But-"

"I saw you giving me the stink-eye from the ground and heard you flying up to me and muttering from a mile away."

Flash chuckled again, "She's got you there Twi. Oh and uh, impressive eyes and ears by the way."

"You're welcome," Rainbow smugly giggled. "I am the best."

Twilight rolled her eyes at the two. "Well, if you heard me 'muttering', then you must know what I was 'muttering' about!"

"Yeah, yeah, the Wonderbolts history test." She then rolled over to the side of the cloud, "Its no big deal." With that, she flipped off the cloud, hovering down without a care in the world.

Twilight glared down at the pegasus, opening her wings to follow after her. "No big deal?! Its a really big deal!"

Flash chuckled at the sight, leaning over the cloud he was on, "Ohh...I wish Pinkie was here to make me some popcorn. This is gonna be good."

"It's a test Rainbow! A test that will determine if you can join the newly-formed Wonderbolts Reserves, and being part of the Wonderbolts Reserves means you'll have the opportunity to live your dream as a Wonderbolt! This is the most important test OF YOUR LIFE!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Twilight, not everypony gets all freaked out about tests like you."

"I do not get 'all freaked out' about tests!" Twilight almost screamed.

Rainbow raised a single eyebrow at this, "Uh, seriously? Your freak-outs are so epic, you sing whole freak-out arias about freaking out!"

Flash took this moment to start humming said aria, causing Twilight to shoot a glare at him, the pegasi then doing a generic whistle instead. Letting out a huff next, Twilight turned back to Rainbow. "Fine, I may tend to take my tests a little seriously, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be studying for yours!"

It was in that moment that her eyes began to go wide, making Flash roll his eyes, "Here we go. Rainbow is officially doomed."

"Oooh! I know just the pony who can help you!" Rainbow facehoofed, but then gave Twilight a 'go on' gesture. "ME!" Twilight grabbed her hoof as her horn started to glow. "This is gonna be so much fun!" With that, the two mares disappeared in a bright flash.

"Ahh! Not again!" Flash covered his eyes, flinching in pain before wobbling off the cloud. There, he spread his wings as he started blinking, only to crash into the library window.

Bang!

"Ow!" Flash yelped as his face collided with the glass, his dazed brain managing to process the image of Twilight in front of a blackboard with Rainbow was sitting at a school desk. That was all he could see before sliding down, his chin now hitting the sill before slipping off. "Augh!" He then shook his head, "Oh great, I get the feeling this is gonna get out of hoof really quickly. I better go in there..."

The defender picked himself up next, walking through the front door just in time to hear Rainbow's outcry as something was dropped onto her desk. Flash's brain finally recovered enough for him to see Rainbow staring at a large blue book as Twilight did a small 'ahem' and began to explain, "This is the most complete-"

"And ginormous!" Rainbow interrupted.

"-book on the history of the Wonderbolts," Twilight finished as she tapped the board behind her. "It is a tome of true Wonderbolt knowledge."

"Ooookay..." Rainbow stared down at the giant novel. If Flash didn't know any better, he'd say she looked intimidated by it. "But how am I supposed to get what's in there, into here?" She pointed from the book to her brain, making Twilight smile.

"With my handy-dandy study checklist, of course!"

"Of course..." Rainbow shrank into her desk before slowly opening the book.

Flash leaned against one of the book cases, placing his hooves behind his head. "This is gonna be fun."

Twilight turned to him with a glare. "Don't you have something better to do?!"

Flash chuckled back, "Better than watching you try to reach Rainbow history? Yeah...no."

Twilight rolled her eyes before magicking a yellow marker over to Rainbow, who took it in her mouth. "First up, reading and highlighting." She began to pace as Rainbow started to highlight the book. "Reading and highlighting is the foundation of any good study method. It allows the student to hone in and boil down on what's really important, separating the good from the bad, the wheat from the chaff, and getting to the crux of things." She turned back to her, "let's see what you've got so far!"

Flash moved over as she took the book, opening it up as his eyes went wide. He now found himself being nearly blinded by the amount of gold covering the page. "MY EYES! Seriously, twice in one day?!"

On the other hoof, Twilight flipped through the book with a frown on her face. "Huh? Hm...by highlighting everything, you don't really separate the wheat from the chaff...or the good from the bad." One page then showed a doodle of Rainbow doing...something. Then she flipped over to another page, which was a fold out of a crude image of the alicorn. "Hey! I am not that tall!" she yelled as Flash stared at the picture, only to fall over laughing. "And stop laughing Flash! This is not funny!"

The alicorn then highlighted a part of the list, Flash now walking up to her and slinging his hoof around her shoulders, "Twilight...this isn't gonna work for Rainbow. She's a pegasus, and we don't come with long attention spans."

Rainbow nodded in agreement as Twilight turned to him, condescension burning in her eyes. "I happen to remember these study tactics worked wonders for you whenever Grand gave you a test! Your history score average was eighty nine percent!"

Flash just nervously laughed in response, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah...so, confession time Twi. Your study techniques didn't actually help me...at all."

Twilight's jaw dropped to the floor in horror. "WHAT?!"

"They helped with the reading and the writing, though mainly with the stuff with Shining's comics. As for stuff like history...I did horribly. Like, really really bad. So bad that Princess Celestia said I shouldn't show you."

"They were...you did...but-but-but...but how?!" Twilight screeched, her jaw finally leaving the floor. "How did you do well on those tests?!"

"I had to come up with my own studying method." Flash replied as he slightly looked away.

Twilight's horn started to glow, gripping the defender's ear as she made him look back at her, "And what, pray tell, was this method?!"

Flash rubbed his ear. "I made up songs I'd sing in my head. I did the highlighting thing you'd show me, and then make a song with it. I'd sing it over and over, and then bam! The info just stuck."

"Songs?! How did you come with that method?"

Flash just shrugged. "Grand. He suggested I use it for math, history and whatever else I had trouble remembering. You do remember he was the one who gave me my guitar, right? He was the one who realised how good I was with music." Flash then rubbed his chin in thought, "Though now that I think about it....so did that human Grand as well in that mirror world."

"But...but...I taught you all of those subjects." Twilight slumped over, her lips quivering, "I remember making a log about it and everything. I thought for sure you were my student and...and...I failed as a teacher?! I had no idea!"

Flash cringed at the sight, "Sorry. Princess Celestia said I shouldn't tell you back then due to your....confidence issues."

Twilight glared back up at him. "You meanie! I can't believe you lied to me all that time!"

Flash shook his head at this, "Twilight, I didn't lie to you. I did what I was ordered to do." He then gave her his hoof, "Now come on, let's get Rainbow studied up. You can complain to Grand about stealing me as your student later."

Twilight sighed but nodded, taking his hoof, "Grr....fine! I'll make Grand pay later..." She then grabbed her checklist and looked it over. "Let's see if we can't find a study method she can use....ah! Here's a classic! " She used her magic on a piece of chalk, quickly drawing the Wonderbolt emblem with it, "History lecture." It was here that she turned back to the pegasi, only to notice Rainbow's hoof was up. "Yes Rainbow?"

Rainbow miraculously pulled a lunchbox out of thin air, "Is it snack time?"

"No," Twilight replied with a shake of her head. The next thing she knew, the mare was outside holding a soccer ball.

"Recess?"

"No," Twilight replied with a little more irritation.

Rainbow sighed as she just dragged herself back into the library. "Can't we just watch the history of the Wonderbolts movie?!"

"There's a movie?" Flash added, "I wanna see it...and get some popcorn. I need popcorn stat!" He then tapped one of the bookshelves, "Pinkie has got have some popcorn stashed for 'popcorn emergencies' around her somewhere...probably."

"Flash, if you're not going to help, go away." Twilight growled, causing him to slump over and slowly nod. "Good. Just sit there while I start this." She then turned back to the blackboard, "Now, just get comfortable Rainbow, and get ready to experience the magic of learning." She cleared her throat before beginning. "Prior to the great Celestia/Luna rift, there was no need for the Earth, Unicorn, Pegasi, or E.U.P., or the Guard."

"Mainly due to the Royal Knights killing it," Flash said with a smug smile, putting both hooves behind his head.

Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yes, yes, partly because of that, mister apprentice knight. Anyways, as such..." She continued as her lecture started to fade away, completely unaware of Rainbow now ignoring her while rocking back and forth on her squeaky chair. Flash frowned at the sight, only to notice Owlowiscious fly into the room and start hooting with the squeaks. This made a rhythm Flash had to admit was pretty catchy, which was helped when Spike suddenly showed up with a drum.

Still completely unaware that she had lost the pegasi's attention, Twilight continued her lecture. "Headed by General Firefly, a member of the Royal Knights at the time, an elite team of aerial performers were chosen to help celebrate this auspicious occasion. The first performance was so full of energy, so highly charged, that magical lightning showered down on the crowd. Everypony was so filled with amazement and wonder that General Firefly dubbed them 'The Wonderbolts!'" She spun around and projected said teams insignia with her magic, only to cut it and drop her ears when she saw Flash dancing to the trio's music.

Flash, Spike and Owlowiscious then noticed the alicorn now staring at them, making them nervously smile as they started to backpedal away. Unfortunately, there was the still goofing off Rainbow Dash, who was still bouncing around on her stool, unaware she had been caught.

"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight growled, her left twitching, "Can you repeat any of my lesson?!" Rainbow ignored her, still trying to make the chair squeak more. That is, till Twilight's horn started to glow, teleporting the stool away.

"Augh!" Rainbow yelped as her flank hit the floor, "What was that for?!"

"Because you're not listening!" Twilight yelled back as she walked over to her desk. There, she sat down, only for-

HONK!

"Eep!" Twilight shrieked as Rainbow burst out laughing, the alicorn turning to see a horn now in her chair. Rainbow then lifted her hoof up for a hoof bump to Flash, only for him and the others to start backpedaling again.

"Hey, what gives-"

"Rainbow..." Twilight hissed, making the athlete turn to see pure anger about to consume the alicorn's face. "Come on, we're going outside." She then grabbed her checklist, grumbling as she crossed out another entry, "History lecture...nope." She sighed before turning back, "Okay Rainbow-" She came to halt, now seeing that Rainbow was gone. "Rainbow? Rainbow Dash!"

The next thing the two knew, Rainbow landed on the library sign. "Over here!"

"What are you-nevermind." Twilight put her clipboard down, "Let's move on to my favorite style of learning." From out of nowhere, a pile of paper appeared in front of her. "Flashcards!"

Flash suddenly let out a snort, trying to contain his laughter. Rainbow then floated above him, asking, "What?"

"Oh nothing," Flash replied while fighting back a laugh. "Just remembering the first prank Spike and I ever pulled on Twilight."

Twilight rolled her eyes at this. "You mean the one where you replaced my flashcards with...well...Flash cards."

Rainbow blinked at Flash in confusion, causing him to chuckle as he replied, "We took a bunch of pictures of me in different poses and swapped them out."

This caused Rainbow to burst out laughing, making Twilight roll her eyes again. "That's awesome! I wish I could have seen that!" Flash glanced back at Twilight, now remembering her panicking face back then. Within seconds, he fell over, laughing at the memory.

"Can we focus please!" Twilight called out, making the two stop their extreme chuckles. She pointed at Flash. "You, up on the library balcony, now!"

"What?!" Flash yelped, only to get a scowl from his best friend. "Fine....geez, I was just trying to-"

"Now!"

"Okay, okay!" He grumbled as he flew up to the balcony, grabbing his guitar with slight discontent. "I was just having a little fun..."

Twilight took a breath before holding the first card up in front of her face. "Colonel Purple Dart, the leader of the Wonderbolts in the Fourth Celestial Era, was known for his-" She didn't get to finish, as something suddenly struck the card, knocking it from her magical grasp. "Wha?!" her eyes darted around to see where the attack came from, "Rainbow! Did you see what happened?!"

"What?!" Rainbow yelped before waving her hoof, "No! I was...riveted by your captivating cards!

"Hmm..." Twilight turned around, looking up as she heard the strums of Flash's guitar. She glanced back at Rainbow, giving her one last suspicious glare before lifting up another card. "After becoming the official flying squadron for Princess Celestia, she honored them with-" Once again, somethin knocked the card away, making Twilight spin around to glare at Rainbow, "Gotcha!"

Rainbow just blinked at her, her form laying across the sign while looking completely innocent. "Got what?"

Twilight continued to glare at her, only to raise another card, "The original Wonderbolts lightning bolt insignia was-" She lowered the card, just in time to see a spit wad coming straight for her. She yelped as her magic flared, catching the projectile that was sent from one straw mouthed pegasus. "Rainbow Dash...you could've hurt me!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes as Twilight yanked the straw out of her mouth. "With a spit wad? Really?"

"A spit wad to the eye would have been no laughing matter!" The alicorn broke the straw in her magic. "You need to take this seriously, or-"

"Twilight...I don't think that's gonna work either." announced Flash as he flew down to her. "Flashcards might be your favorite study method, but it's also the easiest method to ruin."

Twilight glared at him before turning to the pegasus currently hiding behind the sign. "Well, if you can horse around like this, then you clearly must be ready for the test."

"Clearly," Rainbow replied with a smug grin.

It was here that Twilight got that look in her eyes, the look that told Flash she was going to enjoy knocking Rainbow off her high horse. "Well then, I guess you're also ready for a-" She suddenly teleported right next to Rainbow, placing her inches away from the mare. "Pop quiz!"

Rainbow put her hoof to her chest. "Bring it!" Twilight's horn sparking before the two teleporting away in a flash, the light once again burning Flash's eyes.

"Augh! Oh, come on Twilight!" He rubbed his eyes again, trying to get the blurriness to go away. "If I end up needing glasses Twilight, you'll be in trouble! Princess or not!" He then started aimlessly trotting around, trying to find the door to the library, "Marco...polo...somewhere?!"

"Flash?"

The pegasus turned to the source of voice, his eyes squinting. "Fluttershy? Is that you?"

"Over here num-nuts," Iron's voice called out.

"Where?" His question was answered when he felt a hoof grab hold of him, "Shy?"

"I'm here. What happened?"

"Let me guess," Iron's voice asked. "Sparkle's teleport spell to the eye?"

"It's like she's doing it on purpose." His eyes blinked rapidly next, his vision slowly returning to normal as he could now see his friends, "So...about to go on your date?"

Fluttershy blushed while Iron rolled his eyes. "Actually, we were hoping to ask Twilight for a favor. We got invited to my parents house for lunch, but Iron won't be able to walk on the clouds in Cloudsdale."

"So you were hoping Twilight would cast that spell she used during the Best Young Flyers competition?" Fluttershy nodded. "I'm sure she will, but you'll have to wait. She's currently helping another pegasus with a problem, though it isn't going too well."

"Rainbow?" Fluttershy guessed, Flash nodding in agreement. "But why is Rainbow-"

BLAM!

That was the sound of the library door slamming open, Rainbow running out with a look of horror on his face. "I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail!" Her horror then turned to a glare as she stared at Twilight. "And it's all your fault!"

"My fault?! I'm the one helping you!"

"Maybe your famous study methods aren't all they're cracked up to be," the irritated pegasus accused while tapping Twilight's chest, "Eh, teacher?!"

Flash flinched at those words, a gulp now going down his throat. "Oh, I don't see this ending well."

"Should we stop them?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean, Twilight looks like-"

"Or, we watch it play out," Iron interrupted as he nudged his marefriend, only to get a glare back.

"Excuse me," Twilight told Rainbow as she pulled the athlete back. "I've used them to study for many a test and passed!"

"Yeah right," Rainbow looked away.

Twilight then flew up behind her. "Do you know the name of the premiere Wonderbolts choreographer?"

"Uh...well-"

"Commander Easyglider," the alicorn barked as she flew in front of her. "Do you know how many Pegasi flew in the original squad?!"

"Um-"

"Seven!" Twilight almost screamed, "Do you know Princess Celestia's favorite flight pattern?!" She didn't let Rainbow reply, now flaring her wings as she tapped her own chest, "The Icaranian Sun Salutation! See?! I could pass the test!"

"Fine!" Rainbow yelled back as she floated to the ground, "Rub it in, why don't ya? Besides, I don't see why I have to take this lousy test anyways." She started flying around Twilight, "I've proven I'm one of the best flyers around."

And so began the true argument, Twilight defending the merits of knowing the history while Rainbow scoffed them off as something eggheads used to keep the 'real' flyers down. This was followed with both Flash and Iron wanting popcorn while Fluttershy rolled her eyes at them. Twilight then made a joke about possibly becoming a Wonderbolt herself, causing Fluttershy to finally intervene.

"Girls," Fluttershy spoke out a she walked up to them, only to be drowned out as Rainbow made fun about Twilight's lack of flying skills. "Girls..." Twilight let out a gasp, her horn sparking as she glared at Rainbow. And as her mouth opened, "GIRLS!" Fluttershy finally screamed, "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

The two hopped in place, both slowly turning to her as Fluttershy crossed her hooves, "Now is that any way to talk to a friend? Well?!"

The two looked down, Twilight glumly replying, "Yeah...sorry Rainbow."

"Right..." Rainbow agreed with a slight gulp, "Sorry about that Twilight."

As the three flew back to the ground, Fluttershy continued. "Don't you have more important things to do? Like preparing Rainbow for her big test?"

Twilight let out a long groan, "I've been doing that! I've tried everything Fluttershy, but none of my study methods work for her!"

"I told you, we pegasi don't have your kind of attention spans," Flash declared as he and Iron trotted up to them. "You should try my method, music." As those words came out of his mouth, a new thought hopped into his mind, "You know, if we're doing music, we really need Pinkie."

"You called?" Everypony except Flash jumped when they heard the earth pony's voice, turning to see her head poking out of the bushes beside Flash.

The defender shined a huge grin at her, turned to her, "I need a musical history lecture, asap."

Pinkie pulled out a notepad and pencil from her mane, "Subject?"

"History of the Wonderbolts."

"Genre?"

"Umm....Surprise me? Though it probably might be best to use one Rainbow would actually listen to."

"No problem," Pinkie pushed the writing items back into her mane before retracting into the bush.

Flash smirked at the sight before glancing back at the others, only to see confusion on her faces, "What? Do you really wanna question Pinkie?" Several shakes of the head followed. "Welp, since we have some time on our hooves, anypony else wanna see if they can help Rainbow learn history?" Fluttershy raised a hoof, "Go for it."

"Alright. Meet me at the park in thirty minutes. Can I borrow Spike?" Twilight nodded, the drake following her as she trotted away.

"Okay...guess we gotta wait on that too." Flash commented as he looked back at Twilight, "Any other ideas?"

"Simple. Lesson drills." Twilight replied, making Rainbow gulp. This was followed with Twilight dragging the athlete back into the library, Flash already knowing success was far away for the alicorn. As for Iron, he let out a long sigh, knowing his date might be delayed today, causing Flash to pat his back. Flash then tried to teach him a game his mirror world's counterpart had taught him called Rock-Paper-Scissors. Unfortunately, their hooves made it impossible to do anything other than rock.





Thirty or so minutes later...

The time had come for them to head to the park. There, they found Fluttershy, Spike and the mane six's pets on the stage they had used for Rainbow's birthday party, now tricked out as a production stage. She motioned them to sit on the benches, as Angel and Opal stepped on stage wearing wings and crowns.

"Okay..." Rainbow spoke up as she pointed at the two, "Who's that, and who's that?"

Fluttershy nodded at this, "Celestia and Luna back when they were happy."

They watched as Opal and Angel reenacted the battle between Celestia and Luna, ending in Opal falling back before Owlowiscious flew onto stage to grab the cat. They watched as Opal was deposited on the cardboard moon, followed by Tank and Winona coming onto stage while Spike pushed Gummy into position. The three stood in front of Angel, two of them bowing.

Rainbow just blinked at the sight, confusion clearly on his face, "Now what?"

"Gummy's an Earth pony, Winona's a unicorn, and Tank is a Pegasus."

Twilight leaned over to her. "They're the E.U.P., helping to protect the Princess."

Rainbow looked back at the stage, still completely clueless. "Uh, how are you getting all this?"

"Common sense mostly," Flash remarked as they watched Owlowiscious fly Angel up onto a wooden sun, Spike giving the rabbit stage directions. But as Tank tried to act out the pegasus airshow, he accidently knocked the sun out of place and sent Angel flying.

"Oh, no!" Fluttershy gasped before Owlowiscious caught the demon bunny, only to fly into the moon. The collision sent it and Opal flying, the cat falling onto Spike as ran away from a rolling moon.

"Stop, stop, stop! That was aw-"

"Awesome!" Pinkie interrupted as she suddenly appeared in front of them. "I give it three woohoo's! Woohoo, woohoo, woohoo! And an extra "woo" for good measure! Woo!"

Flash smiled back at the sight, "So I'm guessing you finished up the musical lecture?"

"You know it!" Pinkie replied before turning to Rainbow. "Listen up Dashie. Some ponies learn through theatrical presentation, but other ponies learn through musical intervention!"

"Hit it Pinks!"

And with that, Pinkie started beat boxing...and rapping, "Well, back in ancient times, there were the Wonderbolts of old. A general named Firefly, amazing and so bold. She brought them all together, spreading unity in flight. Performing at their very best with wonder and with might. There's Admiral Fairweather and the Colonel Purple Dart, gave Wonderbolts a bit of steel along with lots of heart. An admiral named Fairy Flight and a general called Flash, helped the 'bolts fly super high with style and panache! Commander Easyglider was the real cream of the crop! For with her wicked moves, the Wonderbolts soared to the top! Wonderbolts, yeah! Wonderbolts, huh! Wonderbolts, yeah! Wonderbolts ,unf! That is my rappin' history of the Wonderbolts!"

With that, Pinkie struck a pose as she stopped, Flash clapping while Pinkie turned to Rainbow. "So, d'you get it?"

Rainbow nodded back. "Yes, Pinkie Pie!" She then started imitating Pinkie's beat-boxing, poorly, "General This and Colonel That, they're the Wonderbolts, something that rhymes with that!" She struck her own pose, looking to the others with expectant eyes.

Everypony just stared at her, barely willing to blink until Pinkie spoke up. "That...was pretty terrible."

"What?! But I've gotta learn this stuff now!"

"Well, its still bad." Flash added while putting his hooves behind his head, "This is starting to become...not fun anymore."

Hearing this, Rainbow started to fly away, only to see Rarity walking up to them. "Rarity? What are doing here?"

Rarity was dressed in a weird marching band like uniform, making the ponies all stare at her as the fashionista announced, "I am the pony to help you Rainbow! I hope you're ready for a history lesson!"

Rainbow just raised a single eyebrow, "Rarity...you look ridiculous."

Rarity glared back at her, pointing at the athlete. "I'm going to ignore that comment out of my desire to help you."

Rainbow turned back to the others, Flash just shrugging. "Good luck."

Rarity spun around, gripping Rainbow by the hoof, "Come along dear."

And as the two walked off, Flash put his hoof into Pinkie's mane, pulling out a thing of popcorn. He then popped a kernel in his mouth as he asked, "She's gonna show Rainbow a bunch of old Wonderbolt outfits, isn't she?"

Twilight replied with a shrug. "Probably."

"That's gonna take a while too." Iron grumbled as he took a piece of the popcorn, "Though I would love to see Rainbow's horrified face over all of this."

"True. Wanna get there before them and try on the outfits?" The others all nodded in agreement, even Iron as he didn't mind modeling for military outfits. Twilight's horn then started to glow, Flash finally managing to shield his eyes as she teleported them away.





When they arrived inside the boutique, the ponies all blinked at a barrage of costumed manikins, Twilight pointing at one, "Hey! That's Commander Easyglider's uniform."

"Dibs," Flash replied as he tried to grab the costume...only for it to magically disappear. He spun around to glare at Twilight, who was now wearing said ensemble.

She smirked as she pushed her shades down to her nose, "Nice try. Why don't you try the one belonging to a pony whose name you share instead?"

Flash growled at her, then glanced at the outfit as he saw the bell bottoms on it. "No thanks."

"I'll do it!" Pinkie chimed in as she put the costume on.

"Hey y'all," they spun around to see Applejack step into the boutique. "What's going on?" They quickly explained the situation to the farm pony, Applejack thinking it was a silly idea. Despite this, she decided to try it out, all of them soon dressed in replica costumes.

And as soon as they were finished, Pinkie looked outside to see Rarity and Rainbow. "Places everypony!" She switched off the light as everypony got into position.

"Get ready Rainbow Dash," Rarity exclaimed as they began to walk into the shop. "For I am going to take you on an historical adventure in fashion!" As soon as she said that, a spotlight shot onto her. "I am now currently modelling the rather unattractive, and frankly-" She resisted the urge to scratch, "itchy, original Wonderbolts flying costume. Fortunately, thanks to the vision of Flair d'Mare, the Wonderbolts ensemble became more streamlined in a wonderfully breathable fabric. Of course, there were fashion hits... and misses." It was at this moment they arrived infront of Pinkie, a spotlight illuminating her as Rarity pointed out the costume's flaws. "Just look at those dreadful bell-bottoms. What were ponies thinking?"

"I dunno," the earth pony said. "I bet General Flash rocked these things!"

The baker's outburst caused Rainbow to yelp in surprise. "Pinkie, you're real!"

"Of course I'm real!" Pinkie announced with a giggle, "I mean, I'm not the real General Flash, the tenth leader of the Wonderbolts, but I, Pinkie, am really real."

Fluttershy and Iron then came out of the shadows, "And I'm Admiral Fairy Flight, from the seventh squadron."

Iron flexed his hooves next, showing off an uniform that was similar to what the bolts wore today, but had thick dark blue armor around the chest and hooves. "What do you think of the Wonderbolt's first warfare suit? It's a little unbalanced, as they obviously realized the defensive flaws later...and it has wing holes that I can't use."

Rainbow turned away from the two, only to hop in place as Twilight appeared, "And of course you recognize Commander Easyglider."

Flash took this chance to drop down from the ceiling, wearing an all black version of Iron's costume. "Don't forget about General Silent Night, who attempted to form a Wonderbolt off shoot designed for infiltration and sabotage. It didn't last long."

Finally, Applejack stepped out of the shadows as well, "And I'm sportin' some sort of getup worn by Colonel Purple Dart."

Rainbow's eyes hopped from one pony to the next, her eyes twitching at the sight as Rarity commented, "My my, just look at us."

"Look at us," Flash and Twilight chanted.

"LOOK AT ME!" Pinkie screamed, "LOOK AT ME!"

"AUGH! NOOO!!! It's too much for my eyes!" Rainbow screeched as she hopped out of the pony circle before curling up into a corner, hiding her face in her hooves as Applejack walked up to her.

"Now, don't you fret, Rainbow." She pulled her hat off her head, "This fashion show nonsense wouldn't help me learn nothin', either." She tossed the hat away, right past a pouting Rarity.

"Really?" The pegasus came out from behind her hooves. "Well, what special study trick do you have, AJ?"

"Who, me?" Applejack asked as she and Rainbow began to walk to the door. "Oh, I got nothing." This statement caused Rainbow to sigh, only for the farm pony to continue, "Why, I could tell you every little thing there is to know about the history of apples, but I picked all that up over years in the field as a labor of love." She turned back to the pegasus, "Say, how much time you got?"

Rainbow flinched, "Twelve hours."

"Oh," Applejack showed a glum frown, "Then you're up a creek."

Rainbow sighed again, falling onto her flank as Flash walked out while pulling off his costume. "You know, that's a good point."

"What is?" Twilight asked.

"What AJ said about learning this stuff over time. I mean, think about Daring Do. Rainbow can recite those word for word without issue."

"So? What's that got to do with my test?!" Rainbow barked back, "I'm gonna fail!"

Flash just shook his head, "Rainbow...you've told us that you've been a Wonderbolts fan years longer than you've been a fan of the Daring Do books. Isn't this stuff you should have already learned?"

This got Twilight humming, "That is a good point. Maybe it's not the actual team she cares about."

"What are you talking about?!" Rainbow hissed as she got up into Flash's face, "I love the Wonderbolts!"

"One more than others," Rarity said below her breath.

"Really?" Twilight asked back while pushing Rainbow away from Flash, "So what if the Wonderbolts weren't a flight team? What if they were the exact same ponies with the exact same history, but instead of being flyers, they were all...pretzel benders?" Rainbow was about to retort, but her mouth let out zero sound. "Exactly. Rainbow, you want to be a Wonderbolt purely because they're the best flight team in Equestria. You want to join to because it's the best way to be seen as the best flyer. They're a means to an end for you."

Rainbow wanted to object, but her mind told her to stop. Memories flooded her brain as she remembered back when they first all met and went after the Elements of Harmony. Nightmare Moon had disguised herself as a bunch of dark Wonderbolts named the Shadowbolts, which tried to convince her to join them just because they were the fastest. A sigh followed this as she slumped over, "I...I guess you've got a point."

The others all frowned at the sight, Twilight then patting her side as she showed the athlete some more flashcards, "Come on Rainbow, cheer up. We can still help you pass your test. I think we should just go back to old-fashioned studying."

Rainbow ducked out of the circle of cards, walking backwards right into Fluttershy and the animals. "What about our play?" Fluttershy asked Angel and Opel continued dancing, making Rainbow backpedal into Rarity.

"Just look at these costumes! Surely something resonates with your inner Wonderbolt!"

Applejack pushed in front of Rarity. "And Granny Smith discovered the first granny smith in Fillydelphia when she was just a filly!"

Pinkie and Flash then jumped in front of them, Pinkie now wearing a hat and chain while Flash started beat boxing. "Commander Easyglider was the real cream of the crop-"

Twilight's magic pulled Flash's ear, making him stop, "Pinkie, Flash, stop rapping! That isn't gonna help Rainbow!"

"Well, I suggest you put down your silly cards of flash, for I know that they cannot help our good friend Rainbow Dash!"

And so, a full on argument broke out between all of Rainbow's friends, the only ones not involved being Iron and Flash. As for Flash's case, this was because Twilight's magic was still pulling his ear. Rainbow continued looking from pony to pony, her breath getting more ragged by the second until- "ENOUGH!" The ponies all grew quiet as they all looked at Rainbow, seeing pure panic on her face. "No rapping, no cards, no costumes, no play, and no apples! I am never gonna pass this test! Never ever!"

Flash then raised his hoof, "Rainbow-"

"Just forget it!" With that last outcry, the pegasus shot into the air.

And as the group watched her fly away, they all sighed as Iron asked, "Great...that went perfectly."

"Not now Iron." Fluttershy glared at him, smacking his side with her wing, "You didn't even try to help!"

"That's because I don't have anything to help with this!" Iron replied as he crossed his hooves, "Sometimes you gotta just make your own study method."

"Hmmm...Iron's got a point." Twilight admitted as she looked at each of her friends, "What do we do now? She needs to figure this out on her own...but she's out of time. We need to make a method for her, and fast."

Flash rubbed his chin at this, "Yeah...but we need Rainbow here first. Anypony wanna go talk to her?"

"I'll go," Twilight flexed her wings before flying into the sky, Flash following her. It wasn't long till they found Rainbow, who was slowly flying over the town. Twilight hovered next to her, a series of pants following as Flash watched her pace. "Rainbow, I'm sorry about all that! We didn't mean to overwhelm you!"

"Yeah," Flash added, "We're really sorry."

"It's okay," Rainbow moaned as she looked down at the ground, "You were just trying to help. It's just too bad that I'm too dumb to learn anything."

"You are not dumb!" Twilight said firmly. "You just...learn differently!

"If by 'differently', you mean 'not at all', then you're totally right."

Twilight shook her head, "No, that's totally wrong."

"See? Wrong again." She then started to fly away, making Twilight sigh.

"This isn't working," Flash said as he patted Twilight's back, "We need a way to cheer her up."

Twilight nodded and increased her speed to catch up. There, she started to fly next to Rainbow, "Rainbow, listen to me...please." The athlete slightly slowed down, her ears perking up as Twilight continued, "Remember what Flash said about you being able to recite the Daring Do books? You think somepony who's dumb could do that? If you're really passionate about something, you can learn it no problem."

Rainbow sighed again. "And it seems being a Wonderbolt isn't something I'm passionate about. You were right Twilight, all I care about is being seen as the best flyer. If they weren't known for that, I wouldn't care at all."

"But that would mean you would have never met Soarin," Flash countered. "See? Some good came from it."

"Maybe..."

"And your knowledge of jokes and pranks is only rivalled by Pinkie," Twilight added.

"Great...just great..." Rainbow moaned. "My years of being a class clown prevented me from actually learning how to learn!"

"That's not what I meant," Twilight replied as she began listing off a bunch of different positives about Rainbow. And as she did, she didn't notice a helicopter flying towards her. Flash was about to call out, but Rainbow reacted first, and shoved the alicorn out of danger. Twilight cried out as she flew back, managing to pull herself as Flash helped catch her, "Rainbow! I know you're upset, but you don't need to-" She stopped when the helicopter flew by, "Whoa," she stopped flapping and floated down onto a cloud, "I almost slammed into that!"

"I know," Rainbow laughed as she flew a circle around her. "You were jabbering on so much, you didn't even notice."

"But how did you notice? You were listening and talking to me the whole time!"

This statement caused Rainbow to roll her eyes. "You're such a rookie. An experienced flyer like me knows how to multitask."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "While you fly?"

Flash took this moment to chime in. "It's one of the first things they teach you, or at least one of the first things Cadance and Soarin taught me." He looked to Rainbow for confirmation, getting a nod from the Pegasus. "See? Its one the skills we all learn as flying pegasi."

"Yeah! I mean, I was paying attention to you, but I was also scanning the sky and the ground for any problems."

"Really?" Twilight asked while tilting her head. "But...how did..."

"Flying is not just flying Twilight!"

Flash nodded in agreement, "Yeah. There's a ton of other things you need to master when you start flying." the defender nudged her side, "Don't worry, once you get the hang of it, you'll do it on instinct."

Rainbow took his moment to flip over while still flapping her wings. "In order to stay safe in the sky, I've got to hear and see everything down to the littlest details. For instance, I just saw Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Springer come out of Sugarcube Corner, and from the looks of it, they had carrot cupcakes with sprinkles."

"Yeah, and I'm betting that's not their first round," Flash cut in, "Remind me to not get them anything for dessert tonight. They'll have a stomach ache, and I'll have to deal with it."

"And I'm thinking Big Mac sold a huge order of apples to Filthy Rich, 'cause I heard him give a very hearty eeyup. I always make note of everything when I fly. No biggie."

Twilight's eyes shrunk as her mind started to go a mile a minute. The sight alone made Flash smile, as he knew she was getting an idea. "Okay Twilight, what have you-"

"Oh my gosh, I got it!" Twilight exclaimed as she suddenly spread her wings, "I gotta go!"

With that, she zinged off the cloud, making both Flash and Rainbow blink at the sight. Rainbow then let out a sigh, her hooves starting to gather the busted bits of cloud. "Yeah, I get it." She sat down on the cloud, which suddenly changed into a rain cloud. "I wouldn't want to hang out with a loser like me either."

She let out a sad groan as she curled herself up, causing Flash to sigh. "Guess I better find out what that was about." Flash whispered as he floated down, soon flying over to the alicorn, "Mind letting me into the loop?"

Twilight turned to him. "Gather the others and bring them to the library. I'll explain there."

Flash wanted to press, but he knew better when Twilight was in this mode. One trip around the town later, he brought their friends to the library, only to spot Twilight on the balcony. There, she gestured them to her telescope as she said, "Thanks for meeting me, everypony."

"What is it Twilight?"

Twilight tapped her telescope, "We have to help Rainbow Dash." She looked through it, spotting the pegasus they were talking about sitting on a rain cloud.

"I agree Twilight...but how?" Fluttershy asked next.

"We've tried every kind of studying," Rarity continued. "My way, your way-"

"But we haven't tried Rainbow Dash's way," Twilight turned back to them. "We need to try that method next."

"Hmm...I'm intrigued." Pinkie pulled out her rapper hat and placed it on her head. "Go on..."

"Okay. Listen up ponies, here's the plan." And so, she started her plan, the group nodding as they saw her logic. That is, except Flash, who smacked his face for being so stupid as to have not thought up the method. "You girls up for it?" They all nodded, "Then let's get to work."





An hour later...

"So...explain what we're doing again?" Springer asked as Flash stared through a pair of binoculars.

"We're teaching Rainbow history buddy."

"How?"

"Rainbow, like most skilled flyers, automatically uploads anything she sees and hears while flying into memory. That's how we're gonna teach her. Twilight will keep her focused on her so Rainbow doesn't consciously notice us. That way, her subconscious will catalogue everything she sees."

Springer blinked at this, his mind trying to keep up. That is, till he rubbed the sides of his head, "I still don't get it."

"Just trust me buddy, and-there!" He spotted Rainbow and Twilight flying through the sky, Twilight talking the pegasi's ear off so she wouldn't notice what was about to happen. "Here goes nothing." He and Springer flew ahead of them, into a spot in the park where Fluttershy and Rarity were dressed as Celestia and Luna. "And we're live in five, four, three..." he mouthed the words two and one before pointing at them to go.

Fluttershy began to enact their play. "I, Princess Celestia, banish you, Princess Luna, to the moon."

"Noooooo!" Rarity cried, her hoof on her forehead.

Flash then went to where Big Mac and the Crusaders were standing. "Go."

"Earth!" Applebloom cheered.

"Unicorn!" Sweetie Belle added.

"Pegasus!" Scootaloo hopped in place.

"E!"

"U!"

"P!"

Applebloom and Sweetie stood side by side as Scootaloo jumped onto their backs, the three then lifted up by Mac. "Eeyup!"

As they came to the edge of the park, Fluttershy flew past while Flash signaled the ponies in town. "Let us celebrate our first Celestial year of peace!"

"Yeah, let's party!" Pinkie cheered in one of Rarity's outfits, Wild next to her while aiming an old fashioned cannon. "I'm General Firefly! Gee, my costume is itchy and unattractive, but I'm gonna assemble an awesome flying team!" Wild fired the cannon, the weapon shooting out a bunch of lightning bolt shaped confetti. "I'll call them...The Wonderbolts!"

Rarity, now dressed back in the costume, stepped out into view. "Streamlined style by Flair d'Mare!"

In that moment, a pegasus Flash didn't recognize flew out dressed in the same costume Fluttershy had worn earlier. "Admiral Fairweather!"

Another pegasus, who Flash actually knew as Downdraft, came out in another costume. "Colonel Purple Dart!"

"Admiral Fairy Flight!" The pegasus, Sassaflash, then flew out.

"General Flash!"

"Commander Easyglider!" High Note cheered.

As Twilight and Rainbow continued to fly overhead, unicorns and earth ponies held up banners and drawings featuring images from Wonderbolt history. Applejack had even cut a hedge into several Wonderbolt insignias, ending as they flew over Rarity's boutique while a flag showing the current emblem was positioned there.

Fluttershy then delivered the last line of their lecture. "The history of the Wonderbolts!"

Flash smiled at the sight as he flew up to Rainbow and Twilight, just in time for the two to arrive there. "Flash?" The prism maned pegasus asked, "what are you doing here?"

"No reason."

"So...." Twilight said as she landed behind her, "What do you remember about that flight?"

Rainbow let out a long sigh, "Nothing important. Except after Luna was banished to the moon, Celestia needed protective forces, so Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasi formed the E.U.P. Guard of the Protective Pony Platoons." As soon as those words finished leaving her mouth, her eyes went wide. "Wha…"

Flash and Twilight smiled at one another, then looked back at her. "Go on..."

"And then, at the celebration of the first Celestial year of peace, an elite flying squadron performed headed by General Firefly, who later named the group the Wonderbolts!" All through that statement, Rainbow's voice grew happier and happier.

"Keep going."

"And Commander Easyglider established the flight choreography that is still used by the Wonderbolts today!"

"Yes!" Flash and Twilight cheered.

Rainbow looked shell-shocked by this revelation, " I...I know the history! I know it all! But how in Equestria did that happen?"

Twilight giggled and put her hoof around Rainbow's shoulders, "You learned it!"

"Like a boss," Flash finished.

"Yeah, I got that!" Rainbow rolled her eyes, "But how?"

Flash turned to Twilight as she began to explain how she'd done it. "Well, on our first flight, I discovered that you catalogue everything that happens all around you when you're flying without even thinking about it!" Rainbow just blinked at this, confusion obvious on her face. "Rainbow...don't you see? I made use of your special skills by enlisting everypony to help you learn the history of the Wonderbolts!"

And so, she went over everything they had done to help teach Rainbow the Wonderbolts History. Rainbow was so focused on the story that she didn't even notice the three of them arriving back in the town square, where the rest of their friends were waiting. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Rainbow exclaimed as they landed, turning to everypony. "Thank you! Thank you all so much!"

"You're welcome," Twilight told her as she gave the athlete a hug. "But it all came from you. You learned without knowing you're learning. Your main focus is flying, but then your brain is also absorbing lots of other information! It's actually really brilliant!"

Rainbow laughed at this, "I always knew I was brilliant!" This statement caused the others to break out laughing as well.

"Alright Rainbow," Flash added. "Just make sure not to forget any of it. I doubt we could pull this little caper off again...at least at this scale."

Rainbow smirked as she crossed her hooves. "Well, it's not like I need to know everything. I only need to get a sixty eight percent to pass."

Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. "You should aim for one hundred percent, but I guess foal steps are what's needed. After all, we just discovered your study method." This made the others laugh once again.





The next day...

Flash and Springer walked into the library after the midday patrol, only to find Twilight putting their friendship journal away. "So...Rainbow's test should be getting graded about now."

"I know," Twilight replied as she let out a small sigh. "I just hope she didn't actually forget anything."

"I'm sure she didn't," Flash assured her.

"Yeah! She's not that much of a block head." Springer added before the door behind them started to knock. The jakhowl turned around, only to see the rest of their friends walk inside. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Waiting for Rainbow," Pinkie replied. "Duh!"

"We figured this is where she'd show up first," Applejack added.

Rarity looked around next. "We didn't miss her, did we?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, she's not here yet. Even with her speed, it'll take a while for her to get from Cloudsdale to here."

It was in that moment a loud booming noise shook the ground, making them all grip the floor with their hooves. "Unless she goes Sonic Rainboom," Flash commented as he looked to the door, "Five, four..."

"I PASSED!" exclaimed one Rainbow Dash as she zoomed through the door, the others all gasping before clapping their hooves, "Check it out!" she held up her test, the paper showing a gold star. "One hundred percent!"

Twilight took the sheet before frowning. "Rainbow, this says you got seventy five."

"What!?" Rainbow took the sheet, glaring at the sheet. "But...I could have sworn it was a hundred."

"You probably let your eyes deceive you," Rarity told her.

"But a seventy five is still a wonderful score," Fluttershy added.

"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered, "Besides, you passed! That's what counts!"

Rainbow sighed with a small smile, "You're right! I'm now an official Wonderbolts reserve, which is awesome!"

"And that calls for a celebration," Flash replied as he went to the door. "Come on everypony, the cupcakes are on me."

Everypony cheered at this while Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You honestly think you have the bits to pay for all of us?"

Flash did the math in his head, singing while he did this. His face quickly faulted as he realised the eventually price outcome. "And by me, I mean the cupcakes are on Twilight." This got a wave of laughter, the princess shaking her head as everypony headed out to Sugarcube Corner.
> A Pirate's Life for Me
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The oceanic winds blew a gentle breeze, the gust rippling the surface water of the Equestrian Ocean. Today was perfect sailing weather, and even better submarine weather. And as we dive into the water, past the schools of fish and other aquatic life, we find a familiar wooden ship sitting on the seafloor. But despite thoughts of it being sunk, a bubble of air was covering the deck, preventing the water from getting in.

This was the Mighty Leviathan, the pride of the Equestrian navy. Captained by Royal Knight and Ocean Soul, Tidal Wave, and was run by his crew of navy ponies. But those ponies weren't the only ones on the ship today. Through invitation, Flash, Springer and the rest of their Ponyville friends were all enjoying a day on the ocean...and under it.

Arriving at the front we see Springer, Spike and the CMC, all sitting on the Leviathan's head. There, they gasped as the many different sea life swam by, especially a large sea turtle going over their heads. "Whoa...wow..."

Sweetie then looked to the side, only to see a goblin shark swim by. "Ahh!" She cried before falling back, Applebloom and Scootaloo trying to catch her. But as they did this, all three fell off the figurehead, crashing into the deck, "Oof!"

Spike and Springer crawled over to the edge, looking down to see the three moaning in a dog pile. "You okay?"

Scootaloo, who had fallen face first, let out a long moan. "I feel like a rainbow."

Springer rolled his eyes, "Flash's snark is rubbing off on her."

Applejack and Rarity walked past the three, Rarity dressed in a gem colored sailor suit and hat, chuckling as they watch their sisters try to untangle themselves. "Need a little help sugarcubes?"

"No!" Applebloom called back, "We're good."

Rarity giggled again. "Well, if you're sure." Rarity then looked up, now seeing a some shining fish swim by. "What beauty. So much inspiration."

"Never was a big fish fan," Applejack admitted as a school of salmon swam by. The next thing they knew, said school formed into an exact replica of the boat's shape. "But this, ah can get behind."

Further up the deck, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rainbow were now seeing the school pass by, Fluttershy now having stars in her eyes, "It's all so beautiful."

"Yeah!" Pinkie almost screamed, "it's fish-tastic!"

Rainbow crossed her hooves, rolling her eyes in boredom. "It's okay, I guess." It was at that moment a long electric eel swam by, unleashing an electrical charge that illuminated the darkness of the sea. "I take it back. That's awesome."

Fluttershy nodded at this. "It's too bad Iron couldn't come. Who would have thought he'd be called to help Skybreaker the day after Tidal invited us."

Pinkie nodded rapidly, "Yeah! He seemed so happy when we got the invite! His face even turned green with excitement!"

Up on the top deck, Flash laughed at the three talking about Iron. Only he and Springer knew the truth over Iron making up the Skybreaker request so he wouldn't have to go on the boat. He even ordered the apprentice knight not to blab. Flash then turned to the other four ponies on the top deck. Tidal Wave was busy showing Twilight, who was more interested in the Leviathan's workings than the underwater beauty around them, what each of the levers next to the wheel did. Beside them were his parents, Trail Blazer with his wing wrapped around Misty Veil, and the two were watching an octopus swim by.

When Tidal had invited them onto this little trip, the group had decided to come a day early. This had allowed them to spend time with Flash and Scootaloo's parents, who had given them a behind the scenes tour of the Manehatten Museum.

It was here that Trail commented, "Never got to see sights like this during our adventures."

Misty laughed at this. "What did you expect? We didn't exactly go exploring undersea temples."

"Does Equestria even have those?" Flash asked as he sat beside them, his parents shrugging in response.

"If they did, we haven't heard about them."

"There may have been some kind of civilization that had existed on a part of Equestria that was unstable, with tectonic shifts pulling the land and cities underwater. But no records exist of any such civilization, so who really knows."

Flash took his mother's words and nodded, "Guess you've got a point."

While this happened, Twilight was still inspecting the mechanism of the ship. "This is amazing. I can't believe this little switch can make a mast fly out of the deck and unfurl it. The main structure of this must be designed precisely. Just astounding..."

Tidal chuckled at the praise his ship was being given. "Gracias Princesa Sparkle. It is the product of many brilliant ponies coming together to make it work."

Twilight nodded at this as she stared at the bubble surrounding them. "And this air seal....the spell for it must have taken some serious coding, especially since my basic analysis shows it isn't rune magic. That truly surprised me, as that would be easier in certain aspects....I'd love to see the formula."

"I'll have one of the engineers send it to you." This statement caused Twilight's eyes to go wide.

"You'd let me see it?! I would have thought it'd be trade secret!"

"It is," Tidal replied as he tapped the wheel. "But the Equestrian Navy reports to the princesses of Equestria. Now that you've ascended, you are entitled to any information that intrigues you."

Twilight's eyes went even wider. "Really?!"

Tidal nodded. "Though since you are newly ascended, you do have some limits that Princess Celestia told us about. Anything above those limits requires permission from one of the other princesses, but the air lock spell is not one of them."

Twilight was about to faint at the idea, "Oh...that's wonderful! Thank you Tidal, and thank you again for inviting us!" She looked out and saw the smiles on her friends' faces over this underwater adventure. "I'm sure this'll be a day to remember."

"No problem, your highness. I'm just glad you're all having fun and that I get to share in this moment." He placed a hoof onto the ship's wheel. "Truthfully, I invited you all here because I realized I was the only Royal Knight Flash knew who wasn't amigos with his amigos."

"You are?"

"Of course. We have only met twice, have we not? At your coronation and Sir Iron's knighting, both times in which I haven't said a single palabra outside of formal greetings. Can you honestly call somepony a friend if you know nothing about them?"

Twilight hummed for a moment, "Hmmm...yeah, you have a point. Sorry, we were busy Tidal."

"Don't apologize. I hold nothing against you and have no right to." he rubbed his chin for a second, "That's why I invited you all here, to enjoy this event together so we can all be amigos."

Twilight smiled back. "Well, we appreciate it. Thank you."

Tidal nodded again as he turned to Flash, who was laughing alongside his parents. "I respect Señor Sentry a great deal, especially after everything we went through back in Omniara. So to makes friends with the ponies closest to him truly makes me happy." Tidal then looked at a gauge on the wheel and sighed. "Time to bring this adventure to an end I'm afraid."

"Why?" Twilight asked, only for Tidal to point at the gauge, its needle showing it was close to the bottom.

Tidal took a small breath before announcing to the deck, "Attention all passengers. We will now be surfacing for a short time." This statement caused a round of moans from the civilian ponies.

"Why?" Pinkie groaned. "Its so pretty down here!"

Tidal smiled, happy they were enjoying themselves enough to complain. "Oxygen, señorita. The tanks are almost empty, so we need to refill them." The others all nodded at this, the ship soon floating up to the surface.

"So, your ship can only hold an hour's worth of oxygen?" Twilight asked, getting a nod from Tidal.

"It all depends on how many ponies we have aboard. More ponies, more air being breathed. We've been working on upgrades that would allow us to stay submerged indefinitely, but its still in the early planning stages." He looked back at Twilight, seeing a 'go on' look on her face, "The plan is to install a device which would intake the water around us, then separate the hydrogen from the oxygen. The oxygen would be placed into the air tanks while the hydrogen is expelled back into the ocean."

"Fascinating…" Twilight gasped as her eyes shined like stars, "That's a marvelous idea. I'd love to help out over that."

"I'll have the plans sent over to you."

Seconds later, the ship broke the surface of the water. The air seal vanished, letting the fresh sea air blow across the deck. Rarity batted her mane at the breeze, "Glorious! Being underwater was fun, but so is feeling the fresh sea air blowing through your mane."

Rainbow laughed at this as she spread her wings, soon hovering above them. "Ahh...I don't think I've ever gone so long without flying like that. WOOHOO!"

Tidal chuckled at the sight, "Don't get too used to it. It won't take long to refill the air tanks, so we'll be back underwater soon."

Misty then flinched as the sun got in her eyes, "Geez that's bright after being underwater."

Flash looked up with a raised eyebrow, "Really? I can't tell. Guess my eyes are just used to bright lights, especially after the amount of times Twilight's almost blinded me." This made Twilight let out a low hiss, her magic then pulling Flash's ear while his parents chuckled at the two.

And as this happened, a bulb went off in Trail's head. "Speaking of bright Flash, any luck mastering that strange power you have?"

Magic left his ear as Flash shook his head with a sigh. "No. We've been trying, but whatever it is...well, it seems to only activate when it wants to. I've only been able to get it to appear on command once, but since then....nothing."

"It is a little mystifying," Twilight added as she sat down by the couple, "If only we had a little more information, then we might be able to figure out how it works. You two said you were gonna look into it as well. Find anything?"

Trail and Misty frowned as they shook their heads. "No. Nothing we've found seems to have any clue about what kind of magic it could be." They then looked at one another, seemingly having a mental conversation before nodding. Misty's horn sparked next, causing a photo to appear that she handed to Twilight. "This is the closest thing we have to clues."

Flash and Twilight look the photo over, seeing it was a black and white Polaroid of a wall with something carved onto it. It showed a crude image of a pony that looked like an alicorn, but it was wearing some kind of armor. There were streaks of magic lines surrounding it, all symbolizing light itself. Both Flash and Twilight stared in awe at the photo. "Where'd you get this?"

This caused Trail and Misty to sigh, frowning. "That's the thing. We...can't remember. We've had it since the day we left you at the orphanage."

Twilight looked up at them in pure confusion, "You don't remember taking it?"

"I know. We're as confused as you are," Trail replied with crossed hooves. "What's stranger is, we don't remember anything for a long while before it. The only thing we can remember is Flash's birth...but our memories around it are a complete haze. We don't even remember where we were when he was born."

"Strange," Twilight whispered while Flash just stared at the photo. The carving wasn't exactly Leonardo Da-gypsy, but even he could tell it was showing the same armor he wore when he powered up. "The more we try and find out about you, the more questions we end up asking."

Flash just shrugged. "Wish I knew what to tell you."

Twilight turned back to his parents. "So...you can't remember anything from before you left Flash other than his birth?"

Misty nodded. "Every time we try to remember, we just get a headache. We don't know why."

"Sorry kiddo," Trail added.

"Its cool, it's not your fault," Flash assured him before looking down at the picture again. "I just wish I was given at least one answer instead of more questions." The others all frowned at this, seeing the glum look on his face. But as they were about to speak up, Rainbow's voice caught their attention.

"Look!" They glanced up and saw what she was pointing at, their eyes now seeing a stream of smoke raising up from the ocean in the distance. Everypony then moved over to the edge of the boat, Tidal holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Spike asked.

"It's a thing. We won't know more until we go to inspect it." Tidal replied before turning to Twilight, "Your orders, ma'am?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Me? You're the captain."

"But as princess, that makes you the highest ranked official here."

"I see..." Twilight rubbed her chin before asking, "What would you recommend?"

"That we go to investigate, but have the civilians remain below deck for safety."

Twilight nodded at this, "I understand. We'll do that then."

Flash turned to his sister and her friends, "You heard the stallion. You three get below deck."

The CMC all moaned, "But we wanna see!"

"Absolutely not!" Rarity told her sister. "If it's nothing dangerous, we'll bring you back up. But until we know for sure, get down below."

"Ya'll heard her sugarcube," Applejack added as she lightly pushed her sister. "Now come on."

It was here that Misty and Trail walked in front of the crusaders. "We'll keep an eye on them."

"Thanks," Flash replied as the two disappeared down below with the fillies.

Once they were gone, Tidal gripped the wheel, turning it towards the direction of the smoke. "All hands on deck! Get to your stations! Prepare for both rescue and battle! Until we know what we're dealing with, be ready for anything!" The navy ponies all nodded and got to work as Flash went to his bag and pulled out Lightbringer.

"You brought your Celestic Gear on vacation?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'd bring it anywhere Twi," Flash replied as he swung the blade in his hoof, "Just in case something like this ever happens. Can't be too careful."

"My sentiments exactly amigo," Tidal added as his magic pulled Wavefang out of thin air. He placed it onto the deck and killed the magic, everypony surprised it didn't fall over until they noticed its end was stuck in a small hole. "Time to ride the waves."

In that moment, the wind picked up and began pushing the ship ahead. It didn't take long to sail over to where the smoke was coming from. The wind was strong and the ocean calm, so the distance only took about half an hour till they could see what was causing the smoke.

And the source wasn't anything good to look at. It was a pile of ships, all ripped apart and ready to sink. It was a literal ship graveyard, some of which were still wearing flames. The ponies all gasped at this, Fluttershy close to tears at the mere sight of the devastation. "It's horrible..."

"What could have done all this?" Spike asked next.

"It doesn't look like there's anypony left to tell us." Flash commented as the others flinched at his words.

Tidal shook his head, glancing at some of his crew, "Pegasi, to the air. See if you can find any survivors and bring them aboard." The pegasi nodded and took to the sky, Flash and Rainbow following suit. At the same time, Springer hopped onto Flash's back, all three soon hovering over the wreckage.

"See anything?" Rainbow asked as she waved her hoof, trying to fight some smoke.

Flash just shook his head, "Nope. Sense anything Springer?"

The jakhowl pulsed his aura as far as he could, his paws in a praying position. "Hmm...no. Nothing yet." He opened his eyes and looked down in shame. "It feels like....nothing's here."

"Don't worry bud. Just because you can't sense them, doesn't mean there isn't somepony out here. We just have to keep looking..." Flash replied, the jakhowl nodding. And so, another few minutes passed, only for Flash to look down at the fifth broken boat. "Dang. This place is really...wait..." He blinked as he squinted his eyes, something now gleaming in the corner of his eye, "There! Springer, scan that!"

Springer flared his aura and directed it at the pile of wood below them. The wave then bounced back, making him hop in place, "They're alive, but the aura's fading fast!"

That was all Flash needed to hear, quickly flying down to lift the wood off the pony. Doing so revealed a light blue earth pony stallion with a yellow mane and tail. His body was covered in scratches and burns, obvious from what was around them. Flash then signaled for one of the navy ponies that he was returning to the ship, Springer hoisting the stallion on the Flash's back before they went back to the ship. And as they flew back, Flash heard the pony muttering something. "The fog. The...fog."

"Fog?" Flash asked nopony.

Soon, he landed back on deck, a team of medical ponies then taking the pony to the ship's medical bay. As for Flash and Springer, they went back and continued the search...but found nothing. It wasn't long till they and Rainbow eventually returned to the ship alongside the rest of the navy pegasi.

"All those boats and only one survivor. This is horrible." Twilight commented as she looked at Tidal, "What could have done this?"

Tidal's face morphed into a hard, stern expression that was only visible to Flash and Springer. "I can think of only one cause. Pirates." Hearing this made the others all gulp, others showing surprise at the notion of pirates being anywhere near Equestria.

In that moment, the medical ponies arrived on deck, the head doctor turning to Tidal, "Captain, the patient is stable and awake. You can talk to him if you wish, but please keep it brief and try not to excite him."

"Understood." Tidal glanced at Flash and his friends, "Ready amigos?"




When they arrived at the medical bay, Tidal was the first to see the pony from before. He was shaking like a leaf as he laid in bed, "The fog...the fog..."

"Fog?" Twilight asked as she walked behind Tidal.

"He was muttering that when we found him," Flash replied as he went around her. "Guess it hasn't changed."

The doctors shook their head at his comment as Tidal sat down by the bed, "Hola." The pony yelped out in surprise, his hooves curling up. Tidal raised his own hooves, trying to calm him down. "Sorry. I'm Tidal Wave, captain of this ship. Can you please...tell us your name?"

The stallion just stuttered at the sight, his lips quivering as he blinked at the captain, "P-P-Pool. S-S-Shallow Pool."

Tidal did a small smiling nod, "Nice to meet you Pool. Now, I know you don't want to talk about this but...we need you to tell us what happened to all those ships."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Pool's eyes grew wide, his breathing ragged. "The fog! S-s-so much fog!" He let out a sharp yelp, curling again as he screamed, "It's coming! IT'S COMING!"

Tidal put his hoof on his shoulder as Fluttershy and Rarity rushed over, both trying to pat him to calm him down. As they did this, Rainbow turned to Twilight, "What's happening to him?"

Twilight let out a long sigh, "P.T.S.D. Whatever happened must have been so horrible, the mere thought of it is making him relive whatever's happening."

"Pool..." Tidal pushed the earth pony down, trying to make sure he didn't try to escape, "You're alright. You're on my ship. You're safe."

"We're not safe! We won't be safe until we're back on land!" His panting increased, making the others fear he may have a heart attack. "Its over! The fog!"

Flash glanced at Twilight, "Can't you do something to help him calm down?"

"I have a spell that might work, but I don't know what effect it'll have on him in this state."

"Better than nothin," Applejack told her, Twilight nodding as her horn started to shine. The stallion was enveloped in a purple aura, his breath soon returning to a slower pace. But as she did this, the fear on his face didn't vanish.

Tidal breathed a sigh of relief, "Excelente. Now, I know you've been through a traumatic experience, but you need to tell us what happened so we can stop it from happening to anypony else. Please."

Pool shaking increased again, but his mouth started to move, "Alright...I'll tell you." He did a long gulp next, "I...I was working on a cargo ship, which was part of a convoy shipping building supplies to Applewood. Everything was going smoothly, but then...but then...it appeared."

"What appeared?"

Pool's panting returned, Twilight upping the juice in her magic to calm him. "The fog." The ponies all blinked in response as he continued, "We thought it was just a normal fog, though we did wonder why it was there since there wasn't a cloud in the sky. But...it wasn't normal. Once we were deep enough...." Twilight's horn flared, Pool's breathing trying to increase despite the alicorn's magic, "It attacked. It...was horrible! Before we knew it, all the ships were destroyed! The ship I was on was ripped apart, my friends and crewponies' lives lost before my eyes!" Tears started to pour down his face, "I thought....I was a goner myself when the ship I was on exploded."

He curled back into the bed as the others remained silent in shock and horror. A small whimper followed, "I'm sorry...that's all I know."

Tidal patted his side, "It's fine. You've been a great help. If you're up for it, I can have you sent back to land on the Mini Leviathan."

Pool turned to him, shock in his eyes. "But what about you? Don't tell me you're going after that...that fog monster."

Tidal shook his head, a strong glare on his face. "I assure you, that was no monster. I've spent my entire life on the sea and not once have I come across a creature that can create fog." He looked out the window at the clear skies. "On a day like this, there's no doubt in my mind that that fog didn't appear naturally. That only leaves one alternative...magic."

The others all gasped, Twilight asking, "You...you think it was caused by a unicorn?"

"Or multiple unicorns, either is possible." Tidal turned back to Pool, "I have only one more question. Which way did the fog originate from?"

Pool thought for a moment. "We were travelling south when it first appeared port side."

"So it came from the east," he looked back at the group. "I understand if you don't want to get involved, but as a Royal Knight, I can't let this stand. This fight could be dangerous."

Flash smirked as he punched on hoof into the other. "What, are you kidding? You think I'm gonna let you have all the fun?"

Rainbow laughed as she pumped her hooves, "Aw yeah! I'm all for kicking some pirate flank."

"Same here," Applejack starting kicking backwards like she was bucking apples.

"ME TOO!" Pinkie cheered as confetti flew out of her mane.

Rarity nodded at this, "We can't allow those ruffians to keep doing what they're doing."

Twilight crossed her hooves. "Agreed. As princess, it's my duty to protect Equestria in any way I can."

"We're in too," Springer mimicked Flash as Spike blinked at him.

"We are?" Springer shot him a frown, "I mean, of course we are."

It was here that they turned to Fluttershy, who was shaking as much as Pool was. She then took a deep breath before nodding, "I'm...in."

Tidal nodded with a big smile, "Thank you."

Rarity then tapped her hoof, "I'm glad you're happy, but before we head out into this dangerous situation, we have to make sure three little fillies are safe and sound."

"Agreed," Flash and Applejack both nodded before Flash asked, "Can we borrow your little boat?"

"Very well," Tidal replied with a nod. "That is one of the reasons it exists."





A few minutes later...

The ponies watched as Pool, the CMC and Flash's parents sailed off in the Mini Leviathan, the fillies once again pouting about being forced out of the action. Despite this, safely out of the way, which led to Tidal turning the ship eastward in hope of hunting fog pirates. Thanks to this, Flash and Springer flew up to the crow's nest with binoculars, while the others kept watch from the deck.

"Anything?" Twilight asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"Nothing yet." Spike replied while continuing to gaze through the binoculars.

"Everything's too far away to tell," Pinkie added before Twilight spun her binoculars around. "Oh. Still don't see anything."

"Maybe we're heading in the wrong direction," Rarity suggested as she wiped the lens of her binoculars. "Just because these ruffians appeared from the east, doesn't mean they retreated that way. They might have been heading west when they happened upon the ships."

Applejack turned to the others, "She's got a point."

"So we've gone the wrong way."

"No," they all looked up at Tidal, "They didn't head west. We arrived at the shipwrecks from the west, so we would have seen a ship or massive cloud of fog passing if they went west."

Twilight hummed at this, "That is true...but they may have headed north or south after attacking."

But before a reply could be made, Spike let out a yelp, "Over there!" They turned to the dragon and saw him staring off at the horizon. All putting their binoculars on, they saw a small but now noticeable cloud of fog in the distance.

"Ya'll think that's it?" Applejack asked next.

"Only one way to find out," Twilight replied before looking to Tidal. The Royal Knight nodded as he steered the ship into the mist. And as they sailed closer and closer, they gasped as the saw just how large the cloud of fog was. The ship was entirely dwarfed by it, causing Fluttershy, Spike and several crew ponies to shiver in fear.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Spike added.

"I'm sure it isn't," Fluttershy whimpered.

Flash and Springer landed on the deck, the defender turning to the jakhowl, "Sense anything bud?"

Springer pulsed his aura into the fog, everypony waiting several moments for him to reply. "Sorry, but I can't sense anything."

"Please say that means its empty," Spike and Fluttershy prayed.

"The place is just to big too scan entirely. I can't sense anything, but it doesn't mean there isn't anything in it."

Tidal nodded as he looked back at the fog. "Then we'll have to find out for ourselves." With that, the ship moved into the fog, the blinding mist covering everypony. Several of them began grouping up at this while others looked around anxiously.

"There's something strange about this fog," Twilight commented as she rubbed her chin.

"You mean how creepy it is?" Spike asked, only for the alicorn to shake her head.

"No. I mean the air feels...charged. I think Tidal was right. This fog is unnatural."

Flash continued to stare into the graying cloud. "Meaning there's somepony in here making it."

"Steady," Tidal told the anxious ponies. "Hold your nerves everypo-" He stopped when he spotted something coming out of the fog, his reflexes kicking in next. With instinct born through years of experience, the Ocean Soul spun the wheel to move the ship just in time to miss it. "Que diablos."

With the danger gone, the ponies moved to the side and saw a large jagged rock that was sticking out the water. They had just dodged this, only to feel the ship tumble as a smaller rock scrape one side of the ship. The ponies on board began to shiver, Twilight taking action and using her magic to put up a shield around the ship. Doing so was enough to protect the vessel, but it wasn't enough.

"This is nuts!" Rainbow yelled.

"It's suicide!" Rarity corrected her. "The sensible thing would be to turn around and head back out!"

"How?" Applejack asked.

Flash nodded in agreement, "I don't think ships do three point turns. Especially in a space this dangerous."

"Our only hope is to keep going," Twilight added.

"And hope we don't sink," Fluttershy finished.

"Don't worry," they all turned to Pinkie and saw she was covered in several inflatable floaties. "I'm prepared for just such an emergency."

The ponies all opened their mouths, ready to ask about the sight, only for a new voice above them to call out. "Land ho!" They looked up at the crow's nest, then ahead as they saw new shape leave the fog's masking. It was an island, small at being only a few miles in diameter, with cliffs and beaches surrounding the edges while the rest was covered in forest.

"What's that place?"

"I don't know," Tidal replied with blinking eyes. "Its not marked on any map I've seen." Then before he could say anything else, his looked up before his eyes went wide. Flying towards the ship was a giant boulder, which bounced off Twilight's force field and shattered. Seconds later, another boulder appeared in the air, causing Tidal to spin the wheel to dodge the next rock. "We're in trouble here!"

The others ponies ducked low against the deck. "Are we under attack?!"

"No Pinkie," Rainbow replied in a dripping, low tone, "rocks falling from the sky is just really common around here."

"Oh...okay." Pinkie then stood up, only for Applejack to pull her back down by the tail.

And as another boulder broke against Twilight's bubble, Flash turned to her. "Please tell me your shield can hold out."

Twilight looked up at the shield as more rocks hit it. "Not if it keeps sustaining damage like this. Everything has a limit."

"So what do we do?" Rarity asked next.

"Keep sailing," Tidal stated as he kept spinning the wheel. "They're likely using catapults, so if we get close enough to the island, we'll be out of the range of fire."

Springer grabbed a pair of binoculars and glanced over the side of the deck, spotting a bunch of ponies on the cliffs. "I see them."

Flash glanced at the direction he was looking, then up at a crack that appeared it Twilight's shield. "Enough of this." He unsheathed Lightbringer and shot into the air.

"Flash! What are you doing?!" Twilight yelled, only to get no reply. Instead, the pegasi flew through the crack, dodging a boulder along the way. There, he spun like a top, his body slipping past the flinging rubble as he got to the cliffs.

"Flash Cutter Barrage!" He swung his blade like mad, unleashing a flurry of light blades that collided with the catapults, explosions soon following this.

"He got them!" Springer cheered as he watched the ponies run for it through his binoculars.

"Excelente! Smooth sailings ahead." And true to his word, the rest of the journey to the island was without incident. The Leviathan hit the shore, just as Flash arrived at the beach carrying somepony.

"Let me go, ya filthy scalawag!" yelled the pirate. It was a gray earth pony, wearing a white shirt, stripped bandana and eye-patch.

"With pleasure," Flash joked before dropping the pony headfirst into the sand. As he pulled himself free, he suddenly found himself staring down at the pointed end of a spear held by Tidal's crew. "After taking out the catapults, the ponies firing tried to escape. I managed to catch this one before he could disappear into the forest."

"Good job Flash," Tidal replied as he stared down at the pirate. His eyes became cold and joyless as he gripped the pony's neck, the sight making the mares all feel uneasy. "Now, you will tell us the name of your captain."

The pirate growled back at the Royal Knight. "Ye'll get nothing from me!" He then spat in Tidal's face, the spit slowly going down the unicorn's nose. "Ha!"

But Tidal didn't reply. Instead, his cold stare continued as his horn started to glow, causing a blue sphere of magic to appear around the pony's head. The pirate blinked at this, only to gasp as he suddenly found he wasn't getting any oxygen.

The others gasped at this action. "Tidal!" Twilight almost screamed as she watched the pirate try to break the bubble. "What are you doing?!"

Tidal didn't answer, his horn no longer glowing as the bubble disappeared. The pirate then took a huge gulp of air, gasping and panting as Tidal tightened his grip on the pony's collar, "That was ten seconds without air. You wanna go twenty?"

"Alright, alright!" The pirate cried, "Ah'll talk! We all work for a pirate named Dreadbeard, Foggy Dreadbeard! His magic lets the captain make magic clouds of fog!"

"Which you use to attack ships..." Twilight surmised.

"It's a dog eat dog world lassie! Ye gotta find someway to make a living!"

"You're disgusting," Rarity told him.

Tidal tightened his grip again, "Where can I find this...Dreadbeard?"

"Through the forest in the middle of the island! There's a clearing with an abandoned castle where we made our hideout! If he's not there, he might be on his ship...it's docked in a cove on the other side of the island." The pirate then shook his head, "Don't go after him...you'll be given no quarter."

Tidal nodded before turning to his crew. "Take him to the brig, and make sure there's room for all his pirate buddies. Then take the ship to this cove and make sure their ship doesn't escape."

"Yes captain!" The navy ponies saluted before dragging the pirate back to the Leviathan.

While they did this, Twilight hopped in front of Tidal, a look of anger on her face, "Tidal...what was that?!"

"What?"

"You, cutting off that pony's oxygen! That could be considered straight up torture! What were you thinking?!"

Tidal just shook his head. "I did what I had to do to get information. Trust me, he wasn't talking any other way." He started to walk past her as he continued, "I've learned how to deal with these lowlifes over the years. They only understand one thing, force. And force is what we must use to stop these scum, entender?" With that, he disappeared into the forest.

"What's with him?" Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "He's starting to act like Iron did when he went after Longhorn."

"Makes sense," Flash replied as he and Springer began to follow Tidal. "Especially after what happened to him."

The mares all looked confused by this, Twilight running up beside him. "What happened to him?" Flash let out a long sigh, knowing he would have to tell a story next.





In the middle of the island, a clearing in the forest revealed an old castle. It wasn't as big as the ones in Equestria, but it more than enough to be considered as a pirate fortress. And within the castle's main hall, there were piles and piles of gold, some of it stolen while other exchanged from stolen goods.

In the center of the room was the largest pile of gold, and atop it sat a large throne. There, a black unicorn with a gray mane, tail and beard sat while wearing a red coat with gold trim and buttons. His right hoof had been replaced with a golden hook, while his horn was glowing a gray colored aura.

This was the pirate Dreadbeard, who was not in a particularly good mood. Despite a successful attack on a fleet of ships, the bounty they had gotten was nothing more then movie props. Not something he could sell for a high price. All he could do now was break down the bigger props and use them in repairs to his ship. What a waste of time.

His moping was then interrupted by the hall doors being thrown open, many of his crewponies rushing inside. "CAPTAIN!" They all screamed.

Dreadbeard growled. "What?! Can't ye see I want some alone time?!"

"But captain! A ship appeared from out of the fog! Its landed on the island!"

Dreadbeard went wide eyed at this, "What?!"

"A ship! Its a big one, not like the cargo ships we usually see. It appeared out of the fog and-"

"Why didn't you sink them?!" he interrupted, slamming his hoof into the throne.

"We tried. It had a magical barrier around it, and before we could break through it..." the pirate did a large gulp, "A pegasus came ashore and...took out the catapults."

"WHAT?!" Dreadbeard screamed, "Are you telling me that one pegasus….got rid of all of our catapults?!"

"He had a weird weapon captain! Somehow, he was able to use magic with it...."

Dreadbeard slumped down in his seat at these words, a large groan following, "Royal Knights..."

"There's...also more."

"WHAT?! What else is wrong?!"

"That pegasus...he caught Shipwrecker."

"Ugh...not that scallywag. That means those rats will know where we are..." He rubbed his face in frustration, "Get the rest of the crew in the castle ready to defend. And send a message to the lubbers at the boat. A battle has begun."

"YES CAPTAIN!" They all replied before rushing out, Dreadbeard tapping the throne with his hook.

"Come and get me Royal Knight. I'll be waiting for you."





"Wow..." Rainbow gasped as the ten of them trekked through the forest, "I can't believe he went through something like that."

Twilight looked to Tidal, who was leading the group. "It would explain his hatred of pirates...but to go to such extremes against them."

"You saw what they did," Flash added as he patted her side with his wing. "Tidal's just trying to make sure something like that doesn't happen again."

But before anypony could say anything else, Tidal came to a stop, holding up a hoof to tell them to come to a halt. "We're here." They then stood beside him and peered through the bushes, spotting the castle that the pirate had told them about. That sight alone was bad, but they also spotted a bunch of pirates, all armed to the teeth and on high alert.

"Looks like they we're expectin us," Applejack commented.

Rarity nodded at this. "After our little display on the beach, what would you expect?"

"So what now?" Spike asked next.

Fluttershy shook her head, "Not sure. That's a lot of pirates."

"Eh, its nothing we can't handle," Springer assured her, only for Tidal to flash his hoof.

"Sostenlo. Let's be smart. They have home field advantage, meaning it'd be silly to just wage a frontal assault on them."

"I agree," Twilight replied. "What we need to do is find a way to put them on an even playing field."

"How?"

Tidal turned to Flash, "You'll need to lure them away."

Flash raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"Yeah, why him?" Rainbow added as she pointed to herself. "I'm the fastest."

"Yes...but they've seen Flash already," Twilight replied with a knowing nod. "If somepony else goes, the pirates will still be expecting Flash, and won't send their majority."

Flash crossed his hooves at this, smirking, "I get ya. Alright...but where do I lead them?"

The others all looked at each other, only for a bulb to shine in Twilight's brain. "I got it. Here's what we're gonna do..."





Dreadbeard was standing atop the outer wall of the castle, his pirates now all ready for anything. The ones on the ground had swords, spears and other hoofheld weapons, while the wall ponies had crossbows and other ranged weapons ready. He then turned to a pony with a telescope, "Any sign of 'em?"

"No captain. There doesn't appear to be any-wait!" Dreadbeard stared at where the pirate was looking, both now seeing a new sight. From out of the bushes, Flash and a Battle Form Springer ran out, a shining Lightbringer in hoof while Springer created a Bone Breaker. The two were speeding across the clearing, the pirates on the ground ready to fight. "That's the land lubber who destroyed the catapults!"

Dreadbeard let out a laugh. "HA! The scallywag's suicidal! Fire!" A volley of arrows followed this, all raining down on the defender. He just looked up, unleashing a Flash Force that vaporized them all while Springer summoned his aura shield. Dreadbeard's eyes twitched at the sight, his hoof pointing at the approaching knight and yelling, "Reload and fire again!"

As they reloaded, Flash and Springer reached the first wave of pirates on the ground. They all raised their weapons as the two neared, several charging as well. The two forces then met, Flash and Springer breaking through their opponents' weapons with ease. But as he knocked back the first group, a barrage of arrows sunk themselves in front of him. "Whoa!" Flash yelped as he dodged another projectile, only to slash another pirate's sword in half.

"There's a lot of 'em!" Springer added as he shot off two Aura Blasts. "Should we retreat?!"

"Yeah...let's go!" Flash replied as Springer used Aura Force into the ground. The blast shot up a cloud of dust, shielding both from eyes. And as it did this, Flash bolted out of the dust and into the forest, the other pirates shocked at his speed.

"After them! I want them brought back alive so I can cut them myself!" Soon, almost all of his crew were running into the forest, Dreadbeard and a hoofful of pirates remaining behind to guard the treasure.





In the forest, Flash and Springer were still airborne as they flew through the wooden land. The sounds of many hooves rang out behind the duo, making them smile. "Looks like our plan worked. Now let's hope Tidal can pull the rest off."

"I know he can," Flash replied as he slipped under a bunch of branches. "Come on, let's hit the beach and knock these out!"

"Yeah!"

And as they disappeared into the foliage, the pirates followed suit. Once the last pirate was out of sight, Tidal's head popped up out of a bush. "Good luck amigos." He then turned to the castle, a low glare now showing on his face, "And now...it's my turn."

As for Flash and Springer, they leapt out the forest, sliding along some sandy ground to a stop. The pirates soon caught up, the small army all breaking through the trees and smiling as they saw the two alone. "What's the matter?" One of the pirates asked, "Did your ship leave without you?"

Flash just gestured a 'come on' stance with his hoof. "No, it's off dealing with your ship. It'll be here to pick us up after we've finished kicking your flanks." This statement caused a roar of laughter to escape the pirates.

"Are you kidding? You honestly think you can take us all down? Did you forget you were just running for your life not one minute ago?"

"Yeah, about that....I did say we would do it, didn't I?" The pirates blinked at his words, only for a bright flash of orange to appear on either side of the two. When it died down, Twilight, Spike and the rest of the mane seven were standing besides Flash and Springer. "And that is the lesson known as 'luring pirate morons for dummies'."

The group then got into a battle stance, the pirates yelling curses as they gripped their weapons. "We'll tear yer hides to nothing! You hear me?!"

"Somepony's a bit too angry." Flash remarked as he pointed his sword at them, "Now, count up your sins."

"That's it! Time to keelhaul 'em boys! CHARGE!"

And so, both group rushed at each other, the two hitting head-on. First was Flash, whose blade zipping in to break their swords and spears. As he did this, Twilight removed the rest with her magic, beams of magic knocking each back with ease. But as they did this, the pirates decided to just use their hooves. It was here that Applejack and Rainbow came in, their speed and strength easily fighting the criminals back.

As these two groups continued to clash, Rarity directed the others. She was firing several beams of crystal magic, all on the hooves of the pirates, sticking them to the ground. Pinkie was firing pie from her party cannon, all to be used on pirates trying to make a run for it. Any that did get away was dealt by Springer, who was still destroying the weapons like Flash. As for Spike and Fluttershy, the drake was riding on her back, spraying fire on every pirate he could.

"Come on girls!" Flash called out as he de-speared a pirate. "The more of these guys we take out, the easier it'll be for Tidal to take down their captain!"





Dreadbeard was slumped over in his throne, a low grumble escaping his breath. A piece of gold fell off his hoof as his other tapped his throne. "What's taking those seadogs so long?!"

But as he did this, a loud banging sound rang out. The captain walked to the door next, his eyes now seeing Tidal wielding Wavefang against the remaining pirates. Despite their number, they were proving little difficulty for the Royal Knight. As one pirated tried to slash him with a cutlass, Tidal blocked it with his trident before pushing him back. "Tidal Whip!" Water shot out the end as he swung it through the air, the stream knocking the pirate away. He then spun around to see three pirates aiming crossbows at him. "Tidal Bullet!" Pointing his trident at them, three water projectiles blasted the pirates, instantly knocking them out.

The knight cricked his neck, "Pirates...all the same." He turned back to the corridor, now seeing the final pirates charging at the Ocean Soul. His hoof leaned down, pointing the Celestic Gear at them. "Tidal Force!" A high powered stream of water shot out of the three prongs, smashing into the group all the way into the wall behind them.

With all his enemies defeated, Tidal turned to the throne room's door, his hoof quickly knocking it aside. There, he saw Dreadbeard, standing in front of his throne with sword drawn. "Captain Dreadbeard, I assume?"

The pirate let out a low, long growl. "I am. And who might ye be?"

"Tidal Wave, captain of the Mighty Leviathan and Royal Knight known as the Ocean Soul." He pointed Wavefang at him, "and I'm taking you into custody. Entender?"

Dreadbeard let out a laugh at this. "Oh you are, are you? And how do you intend to catch me, when you won't be able to find me." With that, the glow from his horn flared, a fog consuming his body before spreading to the rest of the room.

Despite this, Tidal didn't backpedal. He stood tall as his visual prowess with nullified, his ears now perking up to try and replace them. "Too scared to face me head on? You pirates are all the same, cobardes!"

"Oh, is that hatred I hear in your voice?" Tidal spun around and fired a trio of water projectiles, only to hit a pile of gold. "Now...what did I ever do to you?"

"Not you," Tidal grumbled as he spun around, spinning Wavefang in his hoof. "Your whole despicable pirate kind. You attack families with no remorse, sinking ships like they're nothing."

"I see....did that include your family?"

Tidal's ears twitched, his mind telling him he could get his position if he kept talking...which meant he would have to answer the question. "It did. Your kind attacked my family's ship when I was a colt, killing my father. I only survived because he threw me overboard in a barrel." Tidal's ears twitched again, a small hoof tap appearing behind him. A long breath followed this as he continued, "I had to watch as the place I was born on sank....but that's when I vowed to hunt every single one of you monstruos down."

"Well, you won't be taking this monstruo in." The next thing Tidal knew, he heard a whooshing sound behind him. He then spun around, unleashing a Tidal Whip into the fog. But as a bunch of gold went flying, no a single drop of water touching another pony.

"You monstruo…"





Back on the beach, Flash and the rest of his friends continued fighting against Dreadbeard's crew. "Flash Cutter!" The energy blade Flash unleashed soared past several pirates, tearing each blade of their swords to shreds. "Flash Grinder!" A wheel of light spun into them next, bouncing from one pirate to another with ease.

Once the last pirate was flattened, the wheel reverted back to Flash. The apprentice knight smiled as he looked back, only to reflexively see an arrow coming for him. "Whoa!" He swung his sword to deflect it, only for it to hit his crossguard and twang his hoof. He hissed as he lost grip on his blade, the sword hitting the sand as he had to leap back to dodge another arrow.

"Flash!" Twilight yelped as she blasted another pirate back.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy gasped from above.

"Fluttershy! Look out!" Spike yelled as he pointed at two incoming arrows. The drake then blasted a fireball at one, only for the other to clip the mare's wing. Two scream followed as they fell to the earth, landing next to Flash as dodged another sword swipe. And as this happened, another pirate raised a blade over the pegasi.

"Fluttershy!" Flash exclaimed as he saw the sword swing down, his brain clicking at the very moment. "AAAAHHHH!!!!" And with that outburst, his body exploded into a tornado of light, the armor appearing on his form as the pirates all gasped. The pirate trying to stab Flash suddenly found his sword melt the second it touched the light, and before he could pull back, he was kicked away. A tornado of light followed this as it morphed around Flash before turning into a bubble. He then vanished and reappeared in front of the pirate over Fluttershy, a punch happening a second later.

"Bluagh!" yelped the pirate as he was sent flying, the rest of the pirates glaring at the sight as their crew member was knocked out. They then turned their weapons on Flash, the archers firing their crossbows instantly. But the volley of arrows meant nothing, as the arrows vaporized the second they touched the light. Flash in turn, looked at his friends and saw pirates close to them, causing him to disappear, multiplying and appearing to warp in front of his friends.

The pirates there soon found themselves flying back with burn marks, courtesy of the Flash's hooves. They all screamed out from the pain of the punches, kicks, and burns, landing on the sand with tremendous force. As for the currently unharmed pirates, they simply stared at their fallen shipmates before glancing at Flash, the light around him returning to the tornado form as he slowly stepped closer.

"What's the deal with this guy?" One asked.

"That's no guy," another replied. "It's a monster."

Flash smiled at their fear, his neck cricking as they slowly shuffled back as he got closer. "What, don't tell me you're afraid of one pony?" The pirates all started quivering, which made Flash even more happy. It was time to make these criminals pay for what they'd done. "RAAAAHHHH!" He shot like a bullet at the pirates, his form shining like a arrow.

That is...till something inside him snapped. It was like a fuse blowing in his brain, the strength he'd been feeling suddenly vanishing while his body went numb. Before he knew what was happening, the whole world went dark as he slumped into the sand.

"FLASH!" His friends all cried as they watched him suddenly crash, the light and armor disappearing. They quickly ran over to him, Twilight turning him over to see he was unconscious.

"Oh no..." Twilight whispered, only for her ears to perk up as she heard laughter behind them.

Their previously vanished courage had quickly returned as one pirate pointed at the group, "Well, this certainly got a lot easier." The mares all frowned at this, Twilight standing at the front of the group.

"If you think I'm going to let you hurt my friends," her horn sparked while her wings flared. "You've got another thing coming."

The sight of the wings and horn finally clicked for one of the pirates. "Hey wait....she's an alicorn!"

"So?" Another asked.

"Only princesses are alicorns." This statement made the lot of them go wide-eyed, only for smirks to slowly appear.

"Imagine how much ransomin' her will get us."

"And ah'm sure the other fillies will fetch a pretty bit on the slave market."

This statement made all but Twilight gasp, the alicorn's eyes twitching in anger. The sight of Flash unconscious and the threat made against her friends caused something inside her to snap, a large pulse of magic going through her. Before they knew it, a wave of magic hit the unsuspecting pirates, causing all of them to glow purple.

"Hey!" One of them yelled, "Ah can't move!"

"Me neither." The whole crew said something similar as they tried to move, but were completely paralyzed...that is, till their bodies started to float up into the air. Screams of fear followed this as one yelped, "Hey, wait a minute! Just let us go, alright! We can make deal!"

"Oh, I'll let you go alright," Twilight replied as she levitated the pirates over the water.

"Stop!"

"Ah can't swim!"

"Don't do this!"

The purple aura around them then faded, causing them to move while gravity took over. They all cried out as they fell into the water, soon surfacing as Twilight moved to the edge of the water. Her horn sparked as she unleashed an electric spell into the ocean, lightning spreading through the water. The others watched with wide-eyes as the pirates were all electrocuted, this going on for roughly a minute until the charge finally faded. Now, all the pirates simply floated in the water, alive but unconscious while the ones on land turned to the alicorn who fired the spell.

"Wow Twilight...." Rainbow gasped with a dropped jaw, "That was...brutal."

Twilight let out a long sigh, "Nopony, threatens my friends." With that, she turned back to Flash and looked him over. As she did, he let out a soft moan. "Flash, are you alright?"

Flash's eyes blinked open as he came around, moaning again while sitting up. "What happened?"

"Ya'll fainted partner," Applejack replied.

Rarity nodded. "We were worried something bad might have happened to you."

"Sorry to make you worry," Flash groaned while standing up, though his legs felt like jelly. Twilight and Springer then moved over to support him. "But why did I blank out?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not sure. It seems that power of yours isn't as flawless as we thought."

Flash nodded, only for his brain to click. "Tidal! He's still in there." He shook off the two, trying to run to the forest...only to wobble and fall onto his flank.

Twilight walked up to him, patting his side. "You stay here. We'll go help Tidal." With that, she, Springer, Rainbow and Applejack entered the forest while the rest worked to bring the pirates to shore, Rarity now encasing them in crystal.





Back in the castle, Tidal was still trapped within the blinding fog. "Raahh!" He swung his weapon around, hitting nothing. "Raahhh!" He did again, getting the same result. "Grrr!" And one more time he was met with nothing but foggy air. That and the pirate's laughter.

"Ye know, they say trying the same thing over and over is the first sign of madness. But that's not unexpected, a've sent many a pony out of their mind in this fog." The humming sound alerted Tidal, the unicorn leaping away as a sword came out of nowhere and cut his cheek.

He hissed as he put his hoof to the new wound as Dreadbeard's laugh filled the air. "Marco," the pirate called out, "polo. Marco..." Another humming drew Tidal's attention, making him spin around, "POLO!"

CLANG!

The sword met Wavefang, stopping inches from Tidal's face before pulling back and disappearing into the fog. Tidal gripped his weapon with a low growl, knowing the pirate was right in terms of winning this fight in this condition. It was Dreadbeard's domain...and not Tidal's. "That's it!" he whispered as he took a deep breath, focusing all his energy into his Celestic Gear.

Dreadbeard saw this and smirked, believing Tidal had given up. "This...ends...NOW!" He magically thrusted the sword towards Tidal, seconds before the Royal Knight cried out.

"TIDAL SURGE!" He slammed the end of the trident into the ground, unleashing a wave of water that spread out in every direction.

Dreadbeard's eyes went wide as he saw the incoming wave, barely able to brace himself as the water pushed him back into the wall. But it didn't stop there, as the Tidal Surge continued to fill the room with water. Eventually, the entire place was flooded, the gold, throne and Dreadbeard now floating. The pirate's lungs felt like they were on fire as he tried to hold his breath, looking for anyplace still filled with oxygen. And as he frantically swam up, he suddenly felt himself break through the water and fall to the ground. Breathing in the precious air, he looked up to see Tidal standing a few feet away.

The Royal Knight had created a small air pocket, just big enough for the two to stand...or fight. "And ye called me a coward."

Tidal just chuckled. "I'm just levelling the playing field. I won't drown you if you don't make any fog. Let's fight like real warriors, eh capitana?" Dreadbeard growled as he tried to fill the air pocket with cloud, only to find his portion to be suddenly underwater.

It only lasted a few seconds before Tidal pulled back, the pirate once again gasping for air. "Fine, ya' lily livered swine." He magically pulled his sword out of the water and pointed it at Tidal, "We'll fight yer way." He roared as he charged, swinging vertically as Tidal's Wavefang blocked it.

The two weapons clashed, both blocking as they started to block each other. A minute passed as they found themselves perfectly even, neither striking the other's body. Then when Tidal swung down at Dreadbeard, the pirate blocked with his sword before pushing it up. With the weapon out of the way, Dreadbeard raised his hooked hoof and tried to gouge Tidal's eye out. But the Royal Knight leaned back, dodging the hook as he disengaged his Celestic Gear from the sword and pointed it down before magically pulling it to them. The trident hit the hook and cut through it, shocking the pirate enough for Tidal to elbow him in the gut.

As Dreadbeard staggered back, Tidal grabbed his weapon and started spinning it, slashing the pirate in the chest. Dreadbeard cried out again as he found himself being slashed again and again, only for Tidal to thrust the other end into Dreadbeard's gut.

"AAARRRGGHHH!" The pirated yelled as he fell on his back.

As he did, Tidal took his weapon in his magic and held it up. The water filling the room began to spiral around the tips, forming a sphere on the middle prong. Dreadbeard then stared at the giant water sphere, his form trembling, "No..."

"It's over Dreadbeard." Tidal pulled the orb behind him before swinging it, "Tidal...FORCE!" The sphere exploded into a high powered stream of water, which shot at Dreadbeard like a tsunami.

"NOOOOO!" Dreadbeard was sent flying, the force of the water so intense that his entire body felt like it was being stabbed by billions of microscopic needles. And when Tidal finally killed the water, he saw at where Dreadbeard had landed. The pirate was now slumped over on his throne, his clothes a wreck and his body covered in scratches. He was still conscious, but it was clear he was done.

The doors of the room then ripped open, Tidal looking back to see Twilight and the others had arrived. "Tidal! Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine princess." Tidal replied before gripping Dreadbeard's collar, "Dreadbeard, you're under arrest. Entender?"

Dreadbeard moaned before letting out a reply, "Entender."





Several hours later...

Scootaloo hissed as she paced in the Mighty Leviathan's warehouse. Ever since returning with her friends and parents, she couldn't help but worry. "AUGH! What is taking so long?!"

Misty walked up and patted her mane, "Scootaloo...you need to relax."

"How can I relax?!" Scootaloo barked back, "For all we know, Flash and the others might be stuck in some pirate dungeon! Aren't you worried?!"

"Of course," Trail told her as she directed the filly to sit down. "But worrying about it will do nothing. As long as we have no information, it's just as likely they're okay." The other members of the CMC nodded in agreement despite being just as worried about their siblings as Scootaloo was.

Scootaloo let out a long sigh. "Fine...but I just wish I could have some sign that they're okay! It doesn't even have to be a big one, just something to tell me they're fine. Right...now!"

As soon as she said that, the pool behind her exploded as the Mighty Leviathan burst up out. The water then fell down, drenching the orange filly. The others all laughed at this as Applebloom asked, "That a good enough sign for yah?"

Scootaloo, who was trying to blow her wet mane away from her eyes, growled. "It'll do." They looked up as the air seal disappeared, their friends appearing over the side of the ship.

"Hey! You all okay?"

"We should be asking you that," Misty told them ask they stepped down the gangplank. "Did it go alright?"

"Did you find the pirates?" Sweetie added.

"Did you kick their flanks?" Applebloom finished.

"Ya'll know it," Applejack replied as she rubbed her sister's head.

"Those ruffians didn't know what hit them," Rarity added as the families all came together for a hug, Tidal smiled down at them.

"So...what happens now?" Scootaloo asked her brother, with Tidal answering instead.

"Me and my crew will take all these pirates to Grand Stable, then we'll head back to that island and see to returning the stolen goods they had."

Twilight nodded at this. "I already sent Celestia a notice about what happened. She'll be wanting a report when you get back."

Tidal did a salute. "I'll have it written out and ready for her eyes by the time I'm back in Equestria. Promesa."

"Thanks Tidal. Hope to be seeing you soon."

Tidal nodded before disappearing around the edge of the ship. The others vacated the hanger before it could flood, heading out to the busy Manehatten streets. It'd been a day full of adventure and excitement, no doubt one none of them would likely forget. And as the group walked through the city's roads, Trail spotted a frown on Flash's face. "What's up son?"

Flash let out a long sigh. "It's just that...I transformed again."

"You did?"

"Yeah...but I also blacked out. I don't get what happened. Everything was going well, then I suddenly....collapsed. I don't know what caused it or anything." his frown increased as he added, "And...that kinda scares me, you know. I don't know what it is, and it failed on me."

Twilight then patted his back with her wing. "I don't know, but we'll find out together. I promise."

Flash's face started to turn back into a smile, his hoof slinging over her shoulders as he hugged her back. "Thanks Twi."

"No problem." Twilight replied as a tint of red appeared on her face, her hoof slowly hugging him back. "I'm always there...to help that is."

"I know. Thanks." Flash added as he pulled away, his smile now on full force as Twilight looked away.

Everypony smirked at the sight before turning their attention back on the city. They'd be returning home tomorrow, so they might as well enjoy themselves for the rest of the day.
> Detective Discord
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Equestrian city, Fillydelphia. While not as big as something like Manehatten or Canterlot, the place was still a bustling metropolis, the city filled with many wondrous places for those who lived there or were simply visiting to entertain themselves. Within this was an underground marketplace that was the biggest in all of Equestria, and a large park dedicated to the public, one where ponies of all ages could enjoy themselves. It also contained its own the museum district, each block being a different building for exhibits and shows.

This is where the story begins, outside the Fillydelphia Museum of Art.

Standing on the museum's steps were Flash and Lightning, both looking up at the building. They were here due to the building currently housing an exhibit that showcased a collection by the famous artist, Leonardo De-gypsy. This collection included the Mona Lipizzaner, which was every art thief's dream steal.

Due to this, the museum's security was top of the line. However, a recent bout of flu had rendered several guards unable to assist in its protection, which Flash and Lightning had been asked to come lend a hoof. Springer also wanted to come, but he had been chosen to stay behind to look after Scootaloo. Twilight and Spike had been called to the Crystal Empire to go over the final proceedings for the Equestria Games and a Royal Summit soon after, making the jakhowl stuck at home to watch over the filly.

Now, Flash and Lightning were staring up at the building, an awkward silence happening as the two knew there was some tension due to their past. They had been scheduled to be here for three days, which would be enough time for the museum to find some other security staff. Their friends were also all planning to show up on that third day, a few curious about the art display.

"So....what now Sentry?"

"Not sure," the pegasus pulled out a scroll. "It says that the curator would meet us and explain what we need to do."

"But we've been waiting for-"

"Mr. Sentry?" called out a voice, the duo looking up to now see a unicorn stallion at the top of the stairs. He had a brown coat with a black mane and tail, wearing a formal plaid suit and spectacles.

"That's me," Flash nodded before pointing at the unicorn. "And this is Lightning, my assistant."

"Hey!" Lightning yelled as he readied to smack Flash's shoulder.

"Good. I'm Walking Tour, the curator of this museum. Please follow me, I'll show you to your post." Stopping Lightning's punch, the two walked into the building behind Tour. There, they found themselves going past the main desk, soon reaching a basic art display exhibit. There were the usual paintings and sculptures, along with dioramas, tapestries and even a room with an exhibit you could walk on. But as they did this, the duo then found themselves outside of a room with De-gypsy written above the entrance. "This is the room you'll be guarding." He trotted inside as they followed, both feeling a tingle as they stepped through the arch.

"What the?!" Flash yelped as Lightning passed back through the arch, his body shivering again. He did this one more time, only to blink as he felt it once more.

"There's some kind of magic here." Lightning then looked up and spotted a bunch of glowing symbols lining the arch. "This is...Rune Magic!"

Tour nodded, "Yes. They're designed to prevent certain types of magic. It includes teleportation, shrinking magic, and any other spell that might allow art thieves the chance to make off with our exhibits."

"Cool..." Flash replied as he rubbed his chin at the sight, "They must have been made by a really skilled unicorn."

"The best in Canterlot."

Lightning hopped in place at those words, "Wait...you didn't by chance get-"

"Hello Lightning," they all turned to see the unicorn known as Solid Script walk into the room.

Lightning's jaw dropped as he trotted over to the scholar. "Script! Buddy, its good to see you!"

"And you," Script replied as the two shook hooves. "I was unaware you'd be here."

"Same. Last minute call to action."

Script nodded before turning to Flash, giving him a simple nod and thin smile. "Sentry..."

"What's up?" Flash cheerfully asked, only to get a deadpan stare in response. "Errr….good to see you."

"Same."

"Right..." Flash then turned to the curator, "So, wanna show us the rest of our job here?"

"Indeed. Let me tell you the main rules of this museum." The pony motioned to the room, "Now, if you see anypony suspicious, you're to apprehend them immediately. Other than that, just make sure the visitors stay at least three feet away from all of the exhibits...and especially make sure to keep an eye on the main exhibit." He pointed to a portrait at the very end of the room, showing a white earth pony sitting on a stool while smiling.

The three all stared at the picture, Lightning whispering, "The Mona Lipizzaner."

"Truly a masterpiece," Script added.

Flash just blinked at the sight, "I don't get what's so important about some old painting." The other three all gave him a horrified look, only for the curator to see on the nearby clock that it was time to open.

"I'll be back later. Just stay alert and make sure nothing's damaged." Tour commented before walking away.

"Don't worry sir," Flash assured him. "This place is in safe hooves."

"Are you sure about that?" Script asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Flash pointed to himself. "Of course. I might not get this art stuff, but its my job to keep it safe and secure. Nothing's gonna happen without me knowing about it." In that moment, a pair of rabbit ears appeared on his head. Both Lightning and Script went wide eyed, while Flash appeared to not have noticed. "My eyes are peeled for anything that might happen, and even an ant isn't gonna get in here without me knowing." His mane was then replaced by a green afro as he continued. "Not a single thing's going undetected. Not one...single...thing." And finally, a pink dress materialized around his form.

Both Lightning and Script stared at him with their jaws dropped, which made Flash raise an eyebrow. "What? What are you looking at? Do I have something on my face?" The two shook their heads, "Then what?" They pointed up, making Flash look up to notice the floppy ears and green curls. "What the heck?!" He then tried to move his hooves, only to now notice the fabric against his skin. "How did-"

"Hahahahaha!" the three heard the laughter, making them look up to see an amalgamation of different animals parts floating in the air. "Love the new look Flashie. Is that your fashion friend's newest line?"

Flash's eyes narrowed, a low growl following this, "Discord..."

"Discord?" The draconequus eyes popped out of his head, spinning around to look around the room, "Where?! Oh, I'm so flustered to meet a celebrity!"

Script slightly backpedaled at the sight, "Th-th-that's the legendary Discord?!"

"Unfortunately..." Flash replied as he pulled off the wig and ripped himself out of the dress. "What are you doing here?!"

Discord huffed, crossing his arms. "I'll have you know that I'm a big fan of art. I am an artist myself, so looking at others' work is a great way of finding inspiration. That and Iron is taking away my hangout time with Fluttershy."

"You're an artist?" Lightning asked, only to see Discord suddenly warp into an artist's smock, complete with a blank canvas floating in front of him and wearing a large brown afro.

"Of course." he started painting despite not having any paint on his brush. "I'm sure you've all seen my work. That is, till a certain seven ponies ruined it all by turning me into a statue."

Flash rolled his eyes, "You call that art? It was just chaos."

"A masterpiece of chaos," Discord barked back. "Do you have any idea how much hard work you rainbowed out of existence in ten seconds?!"

"Cleary not enough," Flash replied as he hovered up to the being of chaos. "Now, would you please leave before somepony sees you?!"

Discord stuck his tongue out while crossing his arms. "I'll have you know that I have as much right to be here as anypony else! In fact, who else in this boring city could appreciate a piece of art more than a being who spent a thousand years as one of them?!"

Flash raised his hoof to object, only to let out a long sigh. He knew arguing wouldn't do much, making him land as he asked with a glare, "Alright....let's say we believe you, mainly because I know you'll being annoying otherwise....you swear you're only here to look at the exhibits?"

Discord shined a toothy grin, "I swear. In fact, I'll prove it." He started doing a familiar motion, "cross my heart of hope to pie." He snapped his finger and caused a cupcake to appear out of thin air, "Stick a cupcake in my eye." He did so, causing pieces of the cupcake to splatter all over the room.

"DISCORD!" The ponies yelled, seeing the mess now drip off the walls.

"Oops," the draconequus snapped his fingers, the mess disappearing, "There. So, can I stay?" He put his claws together and gave Flash the most innocent face he could muster, complete with a halo over his head. "I promise to be good."

Flash and Lightning stared at each other, Lightning giving a slow nod. "Fine." Discord did a little dance of joy, only for Flash to point at him, "But you have to do something about your look. Ponies are here to look at art, not to be scared out of their skin."

Discord growled back. "That's harsh Flashie...but fair. I am a most magnificent monster." He snapped his fingers and in a flash of light, he was replaced by a gray unicorn with a black mane. He still had his goatee and eyebrows, along with a white tail. "How do I look?"

"It'll do," Flash replied as the first of the visitors entered the room.

And so, the hours began to pass, Flash and Lightning keeping watch over the exhibit while Script and Discord simply hung around. Flash was constantly needing to keep one eye on Discord each time he moved on to look at another piece of art, meaning he was only half focusing on his actual job. This left Lightning to pick up the slack, reminding guests not to touch the art and keeping an eye on anypony who he felt was acting strangely.

Eventually, the curator returned to check on things. "Any issues?" He asked the two.

"No sir. Everything's gone perfectly." Flash then shot Discord yet another glare, "for the most part."

"Good," Tour said as walked through the exhibit, "Everything appears to be in ord-" He stopped with widening eyes, "What is this?!" He galloped over to one of the tapestries on the wall, pointing at a spot on it that looked like somepony had spilt something onto it...which looked suspiciously like a cupcake.

Flash turned to shoot Discord a dirty look, only to see that the chaos lord looking at stain in genuine confusion. But as Flash blinked at this, Tour screamed, "This is a disaster! If we can't fix this, the museum will have to pay a fortune!" He turned to the duo, "What happened?!"

Flash opened his mouth, only to realize that saying it was Discord could go horribly wrong. After all, the monster could easily warp out of the place. As such, he just shrugged. "No idea sir. Must have happened before we arrived."

Tour glared at him, only to pull out a walkie talkie. "Clean Whistle, to the De-gypsy exhibit...now!" A few minutes later, a cream colored unicorn mare with a white and pink striped mane appeared.

"Yes sir?" She asked politely, Tour pointing to the stain. The mare nodded at the sight before inspecting it. "Oh, this won't be any trouble. Nopony will ever know it was here." Her horn sparked a pink light which enveloped the stain, only for the patch to suddenly disappear.

Tour breathed sigh of relief. "Thank you my dear. You're a life saver."

This made the mare blush. "No problem sir."

Script blinked at the tapestry. "Incredible...you weren't kidding. You'd never suspect a stain was there."

Tour smiled as he patted the mare, "That's Whistle's specialty. No matter the mess, she can always make it disappear."

The mare's blush intensified at the praise, but before anypony could say anything else, a highly obnoxious voice filled the air. "Out of my way!" They all turned to see a finely dressed silver pegasus stallion push past the other ponies, a light blue unicorn mare on his heel. He then moved over to the Mona Lipizzaner, marveling at it's glory. "Ah! There it is....it is truly beautiful, a fine work of art." Stars shined in his eyes, "I must have it."

"Excuse me," Flash interrupted as he lifted his wing in front of the stallion, "But can you please keep at least five feet away from the exhibit?"

The pegasi's gave him a death glare back, "You do not tell me what to do! Do you have any idea who I am?!"

Flash rolled his eyes. "Somepony who thinks very highly of himself, I'm sure. Either way, you need to take a few steps back, all of it away from the art."

The pegasus's face went red in rage, ready to talk the apprentice knight's ear off. That is, till Lightning spoke up. "Still having trouble with that anger Slip?"

The pegasus turned to Lightning, his glare showing slight surprise before changing it into a grim smile, "Well, well, well...I never thought I'd see you around here after your little Canterlot-conquering stunt failure."

Lightning rolled his eyes as he turned to the others, all obviously wanting answers. "Everypony, this is Sparkling Slipstream. He's the heir to the Sparkling estate, making him one of the richest ponies in Fillydelphia." He then turned to the mare, "That your marefriend?"

"Fiancée. Her name's Moonlight Dazzle, and she's the heiress to the Dazzle fortune. A worthy wife, if a bit quiet for my liking." The mare looked down at the floor, obviously embarrassed from the insult.

Flash's wing went up a little higher in front of Slipstream's face, "Well, whoever the two of you are, you still can't be that close to the picture. And you should also probably apologize to the ponies you just pushed out of the way."

Slipstream glared back at Flash, steam blasting out of his nostrils, "You dare try to order me?! All it would take is one word, and I'd ruin you forever! I could buy this museum and everything in it and it wouldn't even dent my bank account!" He looked up at the portrait once again, "A masterpiece like this shouldn't be on display for all these filthy street rats to gawk at! It should be hanging in my private gallery, where only I and those I find worthy may gaze upon it!"

The ponies in the room all just stared at him like he was insane, Discord going so far as to burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at peasant?!" Slipstream screeched.

"Oh, nothing. Just a pompous windbag." This insult caused Slipstream to growl even more, his face getting redder and redder.

Before Discord could say anything else, Flash tapped Discord's side. "Can I talk to you outside?" He began to push the transformed chaos lord to the other room, many other ponies doing the same. Once outside the room, Flash growled at Discord. "What are you doing?!"

"What am I doing?! Oh, come on Flashy-boy! You can't tell me that guy isn't hilarious." He morphed into an exact copy of Slipstream and started doing an exaggerated mimicry of him. "A masterpiece like this shouldn't be on display for all these filthy street rats to gawk at! It should be hanging in my private gallery, where only I and those I find worthy may gaze upon it!" He burst out laughing as he reverted back to his disguise. "Oh, that was hilarious!"

"Knock it off!" Flash told him as he smacked him with his wing, "I get the feeling this guy can actually back up his threats, so we have to play nice."

"Seriously?!" Flash's glare intensified at this question, making Discord flinch, "Okay, okay...fine. But if I can't make fun of somepony, I'm going to end up very bored. You'd better hope something interesting happens to entertain me." As if on cue, the room they had just left was suddenly filled with blindingly bright light.

The two flinched at the sight, Flash turning to glare back at the draconequus. "Discord!"

"This isn't me," he replied as a pair of sunglasses appeared on his face.

A few seconds later, the light died down as the two ran into the room. "What happened?" Flash asked as he saw Lightning, Script, Tour, Whistle, Slipstream and Dazzle rub their eyes.

"No idea," Lightning replied as he started blinking. "We were just talking, and then the room was filled with light. I couldn't see where it came from or what caused it."

Script was the first to recover, only to let out a gasp, "Uhh...I think I know why it was caused. Look!" He pointed at the Mona Lipizzaner, or more accurately...where it had been.

"No!" Tour screamed as he pointed at the now blank wall.

Flash gulped at this. "This...is not gonna go well, is it?"

"Nope. I definitely need some popcorn though." Discord added, only for a wing to smack his head.





An hour later...

"Weeee--ooooo, weeee--ooooo, weeee--ooooo, weeee--ooooo."

The sounds of the police sirens filled the air as the Fillydelphia police arrived at the museum. The ones leading this investigation were a pair of unicorn stallions, one being green with a graying mane, tail and moustache while the other was yellow with a red mane and tail.

"Greetings all," the green one said. "I'm By the Book, and this is my partner-"

"Hard Case. Now, can you tell us what happened here?" The ponies all began frantically talking over the others, Flash, Lightning and Moonlight being the only silent ones. "Alright, one at a time please. We'll start with you," he pointed to Tour, who started to explain the situation. Apparently, after Flash and Discord had left, Slipstream had started badmouthing Lightning and it broke into an argument with Script barking back at the pegasi. While that was going on, the light occurred, finishing the story.

"Alright..." Book commented as he pulled out a notepad. "We'll be sure to take statements from all of you, but until we find the culprit, nopony will be leaving the city."

"Excuse me sir," he turned to a blue unicorn stallion wearing a police uniform.

"Yes Officer Ride Along?" Hard Case was presented with a strange looking stone.

"We found this strapped to the ceiling. It may be what caused the light."

"How?" Slipstream asked in a low, hissing tone, "How can a stupid rock cause the blinding light?"

Ride Along pointed at the rock, "Turn it over." Hard Case did so and revealed a bunch of strange symbols on it, which several ponies recognized.

"Rune magic?" Script asked.

Hard Case touched the rock, only to pull his hoof back. "Whoa!"

"What happened?"

"It felt like I just got zapped. These runes must have been designed to activate when they come in contact with some form of electricity."

"Runes and electricity?" Slipstream turned to Lightning and Script, "Aren't those your specialties?" The rest of the room turned to the unicorns, both eyes now slowly going small at the sight.

"Ooh, this should be good." Discord conjured a bag of popcorn, "And I just got this popped."

"Is that true?" Hard Case asked the two.

Sweat started to appear on Lightning's forehead, "Well...yes, but-"

"It has to be them!" Slipstream yelled while pointing at the duo. "They're already criminals! Everypony knows what they did in Canterlot! A leopard can't change its spots!"

Tour then spoke up. "And Script was the one who checked the security runes before this all happened. He could have nullified the anti-teleportation one, letting them take the painting."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Wait a minute there!" Flash interrupted as he moved in front of Book, "This is all circumstantial."

"Maybe..." Book pushed Flash to the side, "But it's more than enough evidence for me to take them into custody."

"What?! That's ridiculous!" Script cried as his horn started to glow, but Lightning held up a hoof.

"Don't. It'll only make it worse for us." Script's horn sputtered out as Lightning looked back at the police, "Do what you want, but we didn't do this."

Hard Case rolled his eyes at this. "We'll let the judge be the judge of that."





One transition to the city's precinct later...

Both Lightning and Script were now sitting in a prison cell, both with looks of annoyance on their faces. There, Flash stood behind the bars, "Don't worry, I'll find a way to get you out of there."

"How?" Script asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know, but I will. Just...sit tight and answer any questions they ask you." With that, he walked into the office where Hard Case and By the Book were sitting, both going over some kind of report. "Excuse me officers, but don't you think you should be investigating the crime?"

"No point," Book scoffed with a slight snort of air. "We have the suspects in custody, and we'll soon have them confessing to the portrait's location."

Flash almost went wide-eyed at their laziness. Crossing his hooves, he responded, "You do realize there might be somepony else who did it, right? And if they did and get away with the painting, then you'll have let them escape."

The two officers looked up at the pegasus, rolling their eyes, "That may be, but until we have proof, we'll be sticking to these two being the culprits."

Flash shook his head, sighing. "Fine...but I'm going to start my own investigation."

This got a surprised reaction from the two. "You don't have the authority for that."

Flash just smirked. "I'm the apprentice knight of Grand Hoof and close personal friends with all four alicorn princesses. With just one letter to any of them, I could have the authority to do any kind of investigation." He then glared at the two, "Now...do you want the princesses knowing about your lazy approach to the law?!"

The two police ponies glared at him for several seconds, only to sigh. "Very well, you may investigate. But I don't see what good it'll do ya."

Flash smiled back, though silently thanking Celestia that had worked. "I'll find the truth, no matter what. I promised my friends I would. Now...err...I'll need info on all the others witnesses and a place to work."

By the Book nodded and handed several folders to him, "You can use conference room number three."

Flash nodded and headed over to the door to the room, soon sighing as he shut the door and sat down. "Okay Flash...now what are you gonna do?"

"What indeed?" Flash let out a yelp as he heard that voice, making him look up to see one floating, laughing Discord.

When the pegasus managed to regain his breath, he growled at Discord. "Don't...do that." He then took a closer look and realized Discord was back in his true form, "Are you crazy!? If somepony sees you-"

"Oh, relax. I've made it so that only you can see and hear me, alright?" In a flash of light, he was dressed in a Sherlock Hooves outfit, complete with a pipe. "So...what's our plan for finding the culprits?"

Flash gave him a raised eyebrow, "Our plan?"

"Of course." Discord took a poof from his pipe, multicolored bubbles coming out. "You didn't expect to do it all alone, did you?"

"Well...yeah. Kinda..."

"You're cute." Discord remarked as he began to pace around the room. "But to truly crack this case, you'll need the help of a genius super sleuth."

"And let me guess, that's you?" Flash asked with a waved hoof, "Yeah right. You'll just do everything in your power to make this impossible for me. In fact, for all I know, it was you who stole the painting!"

"Oh please, you're as bad as those cops. I was with you when that flash of light occurred."

"You were also with Fluttershy when those beavers starting making a mess. You don't have to be somewhere to cause trouble."

"Flash, Flash, Flash...you have my utmost promise that I had absolutely nothing to do with this." He crossed his heart, "Promise."

Flash glared at the draconequus, "Then...why do you want to help me?"

"Honestly, I think this'll be fun. And I swear on my name as the lord of chaos that I will only help in this investigation."

Flash opened his mouth, ready to tell him to get lost...only to close it. Remembering time was of the essence, he let out a long sigh. "Fine...but you do what I tell you to do, and no funny business!"

Discord nodded and put a fake monocle on Flash's face. "Very well. Now, shall we begin this investigation, my dear Watson-er…Sentry?"

"I guess..." Flash replied as he took the piece of glass off and placed the folders on the table, "Alright, where do you think we should start first?"

"If you want my suggestion, we should start with lunch."

Flash shot him a glare, "Discord..."

"Hear me out. You haven't eaten in hours and working on an empty stomach is only gonna make this trickier." Flash opened his mouth again, only for his stomach to start rumbling. "See? Now..." he suddenly morphed into a waiter outfit, "may I take your order monsieur?"

"Oh, you have got to be-fine! I'll have a...quesadilla."

Discord blinked at the order, only to snap his fingers as a dish with three of them appeared, "Very well. An unusual choice, I must admit."

"I guess..." Flash took one in his hoof. "But I promised myself I'd have one while I was here. Never get to have these at home."

"May I ask why?"

"Topic for later," he finished the first and looked back at the folders. "Now, onto business."

"Yes," Discord snapped his fingers to create a white board with a layout of the museum on it. "Read out our suspects please."

"Okay..." Flash opened to first folder, "First off, we have Walking Tour." Discord created an image of the pony and pinned it to the wall. "Age, forty six. Been working at the museum for twenty two years, been the curator for eight of them. Before that, he was an aspiring artist who couldn't make it big."

"And has no obvious motive for stealing the portrait," Discord assumed.

"Got that right," Flash replied before opening the next folder. "Next is Clean Whistle. Age, twenty six. Been working at the museum for three years on the janitorial staff. Used to work in a family run dry cleaning service before it went under."

Discord nodded as he placed her picture next to Tour's. "Again, no motive for the theft."

"Well, the next one does. Sparkling Slipstream. Age, twenty five. We already know his some of his backstory, but it also says here that he's actually the nephew of Wind Rider."

"Who?" Discord put up another picture.

"Retired Wonderbolt. Soarin's a big fan of his. Seems the skills are genetic, because this file is filled with a list of races he won as a colt. By these times, he'd probably be able to give Rainbow a run for her bits. Guess he's got something to gloat about." He continued reading, "Seems he also had several charges of assault and harassment dropped against him."

"Oh? Why were they dropped?"

"Seems the family payed off the victims."

"And we know he really wanted that picture. But he's also not a unicorn, meaning he couldn't cast the lightning spell to activate the runes."

"But his fiancée is," Flash held up another folder. "Moonlight Dazzle. Age is twenty one, and is the heir to the Dazzle fortune."

"She didn't leave much of an impression," Discord said as he placed the final picture onto the board.

"Yeah, but for all we know, its an act to remove suspicion." He then continued to read, "This says she was actually a student at Celestia's School for gifted unicorns, meaning she could know how to use both rune and lightning magic...though what Twilight and Lightning have told me, most don't touch rune magic."

"Interesting..." Discord commented as Flash put down the folder and looked over the pictures. One by one they scanned them over, Discord then snapping a few sentences on the board. "Perhaps we should go over the crime?"

"I guess. The main thing that's the problem here is that whoever stole it, removed it in a few seconds."

"And they can't teleport it because of the runes." Discord added as another sentence appeared, "That and the painting is still missing."

"Yeah..." Flash groaned as he looked back at the folders, "Ugh...my head hurts. This is not my thing."

A knock at the door then drew their attention, Book and Case stepping into the room despite not being able to see Discord and his white board. "Excuse us, but we just got the tape from the surveillance cameras. We figured you'd want to see it."

Flash raised an eyebrow, "There was a surveillance camera in there?"

Case nodded as they pulled a TV into the room. "It was placed there this morning as an extra security feature. It should shed a little light." The TV came on and showed a black and white image of the room. There, they saw Script casting some rune magic. "There. Our suspect is doing his crime."

Flash rolled his eyes. "This just proves Script was in there alone. It doesn't mean he planted the rock."

Discord then whispered into his ear, "Ask them where the rock was found."

One question later, Book pointed to a corner of the room which wasn't in the camera's view. They continued to watch, but Script didn't go anywhere near that part of the room. "He still could have planted it before the camera came online." They kept fast-forwarding up to the point Flash and Lightning arrived in the room.

"What the heck?!" Case yelped as they watch Flash soon be humiliated, followed by the draconequus's appearance. "But that-" They both turned to Flash, a sigh releasing itself from his mouth.

"You can show yourself now." Discord smiled before snapping his fingers, nothing appearing to happen except the police's eyes going wide.

"Hazzah! Thank you, thank you....you're welcome. I'm always here to cause chaos, confusion-"

"Stop it." Flash interrupted as he pointed at the officers, "And before you say anything, he was with me when the theft took place and has promised to help me." He turned back to Discord, "Which I'm hoping I won't regret accepting."

"Well, now that that's sorted out," Discord snapped his fingers and changed the room into a movie theater, the four now sitting in pews as the TV morphed into a flat-screen. "Shall we continue?" The movie did so, watching as Discord caused the mess with the cupcake. Flash and Lightning then had him change form, Tour returned to the room, Whistle came to clean the stain, and finally, Slipstream and Dazzle's arrival.

"Alright. Switch to normal speed Discord." The footage slowed down as Flash pushed Discord outside. Seconds later, Slipstream said something that seemed to get under Lightning's skin, causing both him and Script to light their horns.

"This must be when they activated the runes," Case theorized.

"Hang on there. Look," Flash pointed at Dazzle. The mare's horn was also glowing, along with Tour's and Whistle's. They watched as all their horns remained lit, only for the screen to suddenly go white before erupting into static. "What the-"

"The light damaged the camera, forcing it off." Book answered with a low sigh. "So much for evidence..."

Flash turned to him. "Not only that, there's nothing here that proves those two did this. It could have been Script, but it also could have been Tour or Whistle. They have access to the room before this all started."

Hard Case opened his mouth, only to sigh. "I guess you've got a point."

By the Books nodded, "Let's bring the suspects in for more questioning...but the other two remain in their cells until proof of their innocence appears, got it? Even if they didn't plant it, they could have payed somepony else to do it. Though if that's the case...who else could use these runes?"

"Hmmm..." Discord said as he looked down at something in his paw, "I'd say anypony could learn to make these runes rather easily." The three stared at him, only to see the rock that had been used to make the light was now in his possession.

"What the-how did you get that out of evidence?!" Discord gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look.

"Whatever," Flash grumbled as he glared at Discord, "Are you sure?"

"Puh-leaze! Look at who you're talking too! Rune magic is kindergarten level for a being such as I, and I'm telling you that if a unicorn was focused, they could learn this level of rune magic in a week. Its just a few letters. That and the lightning spell they'd need wouldn't be too difficult to pull off either, as its a small amount to activate it."

"So any of the unicorns could have done this," Hard Case grumbled as he got out of his pew. "Now we definitely need to bring the others in for questioning."

By The Books nodded, "Make it so." Hard Case headed out the door as Flash stared at the four pictures on the wall.

"So...here's the question. If it wasn't Lightning and Script, were their magics being used as a coincidence or planned?"

"That's a good question," Books added in agreement. "Everypony knows of their past, so they'd probably know suspicion would fall on them if those magics were used. But if that's the case, who'd have the know-how to pull off a frame job like this?"

Flash looked over at the folders again, Books also glaring at the evidence. That is, till Discord hovered over them and asked, "You're missing a question buddies. How did they manage to get the painting out of there if all forms of magic capable were nullified?"





As soon as the suspects arrived at the precinct, each were brought into a different interrogation room. Tour was first as Flash and Hard Case walked into the room. The curator was shivering like a leaf as he asked, "Wh-wh-what is this about?! Shouldn't you be working on getting the Mona Lipizzaner's location out of the thieves?!"

"We're getting to that," Hard replied as he sat down and Flash leaned against the wall. "But first, we have a few questions."

"Like?"

Hard held up a still image of the group when they their magic flared. "What spell were you casting at that moment?"

Tour raised an eyebrow as he stared at the picture. "I was preparing to cast a defensive spell on the artifacts. I feared those two were about to start a fight and damage something."

"Shield spell?" Flash asked as he crossed his hooves, "That's quite a difficult spell to pull off. I should know, I grew up with an expert in that field."

Tour turned to him with a long frown, "You'd be surprised what magical requirements being curator entails. I have to be ready to protect my exhibits no matter what."

Flash smirked at him. "With that kind of magical learning ethic, you must have come across rune magic before."

"With the museum's defenses based around them, I needed to know enough to notice a fault."

"I'm sure that little bit of knowledge would be enough to create the runes used for the light."

Tour's eyes went wide, "What are you-what are you insinuating?!"

Flash held up a folder. "Aspiring artist who just couldn't get his hooves off the ground and had to start working at a museum to earn a living. It also says that the museum's board was partitioning for your dismissal on the grounds of badgering other museums."

"The ones that were in possession of the Mona Lipizzaner at the time," Hard Case finished as Tour slightly shrunk in his seat. "You've been obsessed with this picture for years, and when you realized you were being fired, you decided to finally make the painting yours."

"No..." Tour squeaked out, "That's...not true."

Flash stepped up to the table, "When did you discover Lightning was going to be one of your guards?"

"This morning," Tour replied quickly. "I received a letter with yours and his name on it."

"And Script. When was he confirmed to be coming?"

"A week ago."

Flash glared at him. "A week's long enough to figure out how to make a rune light bomb. and as soon as you saw Lightning's name, you made a last minute alteration to the runes to react to lightning based magic. After that, all you had to do is wait for your moment to strike."

"That's a lie!" Tour screamed back, "I admit I was close to being fired, but this exhibit was meant to change all that! Yes, I'm what you'd call obsessed with the painting...but its only because that portrait is what inspired me to try and become a painter! I wanted to display it to show a new generation of Fillydelphia foals that could be inspired to be the next De-gypsy! I...I don't even know any lightning magic!"

Flash and Case both frowned at glared at each other, knowing they had no real way to verify that claim.





"Why am I here?" Whistle asked as Flash and Case stepped inside.

"We just have a few questions for you miss," Case replied before showing the picture to her. "What spell were you casting at this moment?"

Whistle blinked at the image, "Um...I was going to levitate the objects around those two in case one of them pushed the other into the stands."

"Except Tour was gonna use a shield on them," Flash told her with crossed hooves. "That would have protected them."

"Oh...right..." Whistle replied with a blush, "I didn't know."

Flash held up her folder. "We did a little background research on you miss. It seems you have quite a bit of debt."

Whistle's blush faded as she looked away, "My father...liked to gamble. A lot. And he wasn't very good at it. When he died, his stupid debts passed onto my mom and me and it ran our business into the ground."

"And even after selling, you weren't able to pay it back." Flash remarked as he smacked the folder down on the table. "Makes me wonder just how desperate you are for money."

"What?!" Whistle yelped as she hopped in place. "Wh-what are you talking about?!"

Case then tapped the table, "When did you know that Lightning and Script were going to be in the museum?"

"Script...a few days ago. And Lightning, I didn't know he was in the building until I met him."

Again, Flash and Case looked at each other with another frown.





"This is ridiculous!" Slipstream cried as Flash and Case stepped inside. "I demand to be released this instant!"

"You can go after you've answered our questions," Flash told him.

"Don't you order me around, you peasant!" Slipstream growled as he slammed his hooves into the table. "What am I even doing here?! I already solved the case for you idiots! Lightning, that worm, did it!"

"Yeah....about that." Flash sat down while pointing a folder at the stallion, "We have reason to believe he and Script are being framed. Now, you don't seem to get along to well with Lightning, and you weren't that secretive about wanting that picture all to yourself."

Slipstream let out a long hiss, "So, do you think I'm the one who did it?"

"Maybe."

"Except you're forgetting one thing. That light bomb was triggered by magic," he pointed to his head. "Do you see a horn? Well?!"

Case shook his head, "No, but your fiancée does. Maybe you told her to do it while you nabbed the painting."

Slipstream just rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah? How do you suppose I got the painting out?"

Flash opened his folder and pulled out the list of race victories, "Seems you're quite the speedy pegasus. Your uncle teach you?"

Slipstream looked away, "Tch, he may have given me a few tips. What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying that for a fast pegasus like you, it would only take a few seconds to grab the painting, hide it someplace secure, and return to the exact same spot."

"That's ridiculous."

Flash smirked while crossing his hooves. "We live in a pretty ridiculous world."

"It's a nice theory and all, but until you have proof, I'm out of here." He got up and headed for the door, Flash attempting to stop him, only for Case to hold up a hoof.

"Let him go kid. He's right about us not being able to hold him."

Flash growled before calling out, "When did you find out Lightning and Script were in town?"

Slipstream stopped at the door and smirked back at him, "Earlier today when we all met at the museum." With that, he headed outside, leaving one growling Flash.





Moonlight Dazzle shivered like a leaf as Flash and Case stepped in. "Please let me go," she whispered. "I...I didn't do anything wrong."

Hard Case sat down. "If you didn't do anything wrong, then you have nothing to fear." He showed her the photo, "can you tell us what spell you were using at this moment?"

"I was just going to put up a barrier between Sparkling and his friend. That's all I was doing, promise."

"Oh?" Flash showed her the info about her schooling. "I happen to know for a fact that this school covers all the fields needed to pull off this little heist. You have the knowledge, skills and the act to make you look completely innocent. What do you say to that?"

"I-I-I..." Dazzle mumbled, her lips quivering. "Um...er…"

Flash leaned up to her, "Did Slipstream put you up to this? If you tell us now, it'll make thing a lot easier for you. And if you don't...you'll be in a lot of trouble."

"He...he...he didn't!" Dazzle cried out, her body stopping its shaking, "He's a lot of things...but he's not a criminal!"

Flash then opened Slipstream's folder. "He's had seven assault charges and four charges of harassment."

"Those were just misunderstandings. He didn't do anything, and neither did I!" Flash and Case both shared a glance at her sudden courage, only to see determination in her eyes, "Besides, he wouldn't risk his fortune like that! Well...especially since he's on thin ice with his parents."

This made the two raise an eyebrow. "Come again?"

Dazzle put her hooves over her mouth, blushing as she realized her mistake. But as she did this, the duo glared at her, making her slowly mutter out, "Um...with all the trouble he's been making, his parents have put him on a probation-like thing. His allowance is cut off, and if he gets into any more trouble...he'll be disinherited."

"Meaning his fancy high flying lifestyle would go away," Case finished. "Thank you Miss Dazzle, you've just given us even greater motive for him." With that, the two stood up and left.





Soon, all four suspects left the precinct. Flash, Discord and the police ponies were back in their room, going over the info. "There's still the question of how the suspect managed to get the portrait out of room."

Flash nodded in agreement. "The rune and lightning magic might have been simple, but teleportation is a whole lot trickier. Plus, Script's runes made it so teleportation wasn't even possible."

"If they were actually designed to stop teleportation," Hard added.

"Only one way to find out," Flash turned to the fourth being in the room. "Discord-" He stopped as he now saw Discord pouting, "what?"

"You didn't let me interrogate them."

"Because you're not a cop," Case told him. "I'm still not even sure why you're here."

Discord turned to bark back, only for Flash to speak up, "He's here because we need somepony with knowledge of magic, and you arrested the only other one. Besides, he has his uses. Discord?"

"Yes?" the draconequus moaned.

"Warp us to the museum. If the runes are working, we shouldn't be able to teleport into the exhibit." Discord sighed before snapping his fingers. A flash of light followed, the officers blinded as Flash closed his eyes just in time. "Still got it." Flash remarked as the light died down. Not only that, but just like Flash figured, they were outside of the room. "Perfect."

"Don't go patting yourself on the back just yet," Book remarked as he rubbed his eyes. "Your friend might not be as good at teleportation as he thinks he is."

Discord gasped in horror. "How dare you! Nopony has greater teleportation skills than me! Watch!" He snapped his fingers and they were teleported to a beach where Book was hit on the head with a beach ball. They were then teleported to the spa in Ponyville, right into a sauna. There, a group of mares screamed and tried to cover themselves before they were teleported underwater, the three ponies finding themselves without air. And finally, they were teleported into the mouth of a volcano.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Book and Case cried as they fell towards the lava, Flash turning to the draconequus.

"DISCORD!" Said chaos master rolled his eyes before teleporting them back into the museum, the cops hitting the floor while shaking like leaves.

"So...have I made my point?"

"Yes...you have." Book squeaked as Flash helped him up. "But it doesn't mean Script couldn't have designed it to block anything except Lightning's teleportation."

Discord chuckled before turning back into his Sherlock Hooves outfit. There, he went to the arch where Script's runes still stood and pulled out a magnifying glass. He then actually pealed one off the wall and licked it before putting it back. "Yes...very good."

"Well?" Flash asked.

"One moment," Discord snapped his fingers and pulled out tuba out of thin air. He started playing it, causing the ponies to cover their ears.

"What are you doing?!" Flash screamed over the sound.

Discord stopped playing with a raised eyebrow. "What?! All the best detectives play instruments to help them think!"

"Yes, but they're usually quieter. Like a violin!"

"I can't play the violin," Discord confessed.

"You can't play the tuba!" Flash almost yelled, "Now, will you please just tell us what you found already?!"

Discord growled as he threw his tuba away, making the ponies gasp as it almost hit an exhibit. "Party pooper. If you must know, those runes would stop teleportation of any kind from occurring here."

Flash crossed his hooves with a grumble. "Meaning that portrait couldn't have left the room with teleportation. That means the other pony fast enough to get it out was Slipstream..."

"Maybe..." Case replied as he pointed at the display, "But where did he hide it? Even with his speed, he couldn't have gotten it out of the building in that time, and not without anypony seeing it."

"Good point..." Flash remarked as he rubbed his chin, only for a bulb to go off in his head, "Say Discord...can you warp us back in time?"

Discord raised an eyebrow, "Come again?"

"Warp us back to when the picture was stolen and let us see through the light. Then we can see who took it."

"What makes you think I can travel back in time?" Discord asked as a fez appeared on his head.

"You've done it before. Back after we escaped the maze when you stole the elements."

Discord rolled his eyes. "That was just a recreation I made from my memory. I can't actually go back in time." He snapped his fingers and a titanic book appeared, "Read the rules." He dropped said book onto Flash, almost flattening him.

Flash moaned as he pulled himself free. "Fine...guess we'll just have to search the place from top to bottom. That painting's gotta be here somewhere." They nodded as they started a second search. And as they did this, the cops left the room, leaving Flash and Discord back in the exhibit.

"So Flash, what do we do if we can't find the painting?"

Flash looked behind the tapestry Whistle had cleaned, only to find nothing. "Then we look for anything else that might help us find the culprits. Prints would be the best."

"Oh, okay." Flash continued to search, only for Discord to speak up again. "Found the prince." Flash spun around to find Discord holding a very confused Prince Blueblood.

Flash rolled his eyes, "I said prints! You know, like hoofprints!"

Discord blinked twice, then looked between Flash and Blueblood several times. "I see." Blueblood disappeared as Discord continued looking, Flash sighing and facehoofing at the sight. For over an hour, the two did this as the sun slowly began to set. But no matter where they looked, nothing came to light. Eventually, the two simply sat in front of the spot the painting had been.

"Nothing...nothing at all." Flash moaned.

"It must not be here," Discord added as he stroked his chin.

"Then where is it? If it wasn't teleported, it has to be here somewhere...but where?"

Discord shrugged. "Vents?"

"Too small," Flash pointed up at the grate on the ceiling, seeing it was only half the width of the painting.

"Then I have no idea," Discord told him before conjuring a glass of orange juice...only to sip the glass and not the drink.

Flash let out a long sigh as he stood back up. "I have to find it. I can't let Lightning and Script down."

Discord raised an eyebrow at this. "I'm surprised you're going to all this effort to clear them. Didn't those two try to kill you once? Or...at least that Lightning guy?"

"Maybe...but they've changed."

"You think so?"

"I know so. You might not think so, but they're very different to the ponies that did all that stuff before. We gave them a chance to redeem themselves and they haven't let us down...especially Lightning." He then shot Discord a smile, "Just like the same chance we gave you."

Discord rolled his eyes, "You ponies are too forgiving for your own good."

"Be thankful we are. If we weren't, you'd still be a statue."

But as he said this, Flash's ears twitched. Discord saw this and tilted his head, "What?"

"You didn't hear that?" He rushed over to the arch, Discord floating after him. They then arrived in the other room, just in time to see the shadow of a pony disappear around a corner. "After them! They might be the culprit!"

"This'll stop'em!" Discrod clicked his fingers and before Flash could react, the entire floor was covered in ice.

"What the heck?!" Flash yelped as he almost slipped before jumping into the air. "Discord!"

"What?! It'll make capturing them easier." Flash just rolled his eyes at this, soon turning back to fly after the pony. With the stairs turned to ice, it seemed the mystery pony was having to be far more careful not to slip. But despite this, they three ran through a series of exhibits, only for the culprit to run into the ancient Somnambulan exhibit.

"Hah! That's a dead end." Discord caught up as they flew into the room, looking around for any sign of life. "Guard the door Discord!"

Discord growled before snapping his finger, creating a clone of himself, "Guard the door." He followed after Flash, only for the sound of a knock to draw their attention to behind a stone table. The two nodded before slowly flying around either side, only to jump at where the culprit should be.

"Got...you?" Both Flash and Discord raised an eyebrow at the now blank spot, "Where'd they go?"

"They didn't teleport," Discord assured him. "We would have seen it."

"What's going on in here?!" they turned to see Book and Case enter the room. "Why are the floors frozen?" Before they could answer, Book slipped on the ice. "WHOA!" He cried as he slid across the floor, right into an exhibit of rare vases. Everyone flinched at seeing them fall to the ground, Discord taking this moment to return the floor to normal. "YOU!" Book yelled as he pulled himself from the now broken pottery, "You did this!"

A collar appeared around Discord's neck for him to pull, "Maybe...."

"That's it!" he marched over to the two. "Out! Both of you!" The duo's eyes went wide, "I was foolish to let a stupid kid and an idiot monster into this investigation!"

Flash hopped in place. "What?! You wouldn't even be investigating without me!"

"Maybe that was a mistake as well! Now leave!"

"But-"

"Leave! We're going back to the station and you're leaving! NOW!"

Flash let out a long sigh at this, shooting Discord a dirty look while the cops exited the room. Despite this, Flash hung his head and walked out of the museum.





Hours later...

Flash was now in the hotel room he and Lightning had been given, laying face up on the bed. "What do I do?" he muttered as he grabbed a pillow and pulled it over his head.

"Oh, buck up chum." Flash removed the pillow and glared up at the ceiling, Discord now floating over him while wearing blue and white pajamas.

"And why, pray tell, should I buck up?" He got up and moved into the bathroom as Discord sat down on the bed. "My friends are looking to be spending the rest of their lives in jail, and I can't help them because you decided turning the floor to ice was a good idea." He looked back into the room, "You just had to make it ice. You couldn't...I don't know, made it glue?!"

Discord rubbed his chin, only to shrug, "Huh. I didn't think of that."

"Of course you didn't. You don't think about anything. You just do the first thing that pops into your head without even considering the consequences." Flash then splashed a bunch of water on his face, "And even if you do, you'd probably still do it because you don't care how your actions effect those around you! I knew having you help was a mistake!"

Discord stood up with a low growl. "Well, if you thought it was a bad idea, why'd you let me help anyway?!"

"Because if I didn't, you would've just stuck around and made the whole thing harder for me. I thought at least this way, I could maybe keep you under control." Flash rubbed his face with a towel, "But...it was my own fault for thinking you might actually want to help. No...you were just looking for something to entertain yourself. That's your problem, everything's just a big joke to you. And sure, I like a laugh as much as the next guy, but only when it's funny to more than just me. And when the situation calls for it, I can at least be serious."

Discord didn't say anything, simply sitting there as Flash moaned while walking back into the room.

"Ugh...and now I don't know what to do. Lightning is gonna go to jail, and Grand'll kill me for not saving him!" Flash slumped over into a chair, slowly staring up to Discord. His eye started to twitch at the quiet draconequus, causing him to suddenly yell, "Well?! Don't you got anything to say about your screw-up, along with screwing me over?!"

Still, Discord remained silent. 

"Of course you don't, because you don't care about anypony but yourself. If somepony isn't paying attention to you for five minutes, you think it's a crime against nature. You're like a toddler, throwing a tantrum when you don't get your way." Discord still remained quite. "Here's a tip. If your instincts tell you to do something, don't do it. If you instincts tell you not to do something, IT'S PROBABLY THE RIGHT THING TO DO!" Flash panted heavily after his rant, the room remaining in an uncomfortable silence. 

It was here that Discord broke his silence. "You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better. I'm an easy target. Yeah, you're right, I talk too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold hearted cynic like you, but I don't like to hurt ponies' feelings. Well, you think what you want about me, I'm not changing. I like...I like me. My friends like me. Chaotic beasts like me cause I'm the real article! What you see is what you get!"

Flash just sat there, jaw dropped as what Discord said sank in. And as this happened, the draconequus raised his hand. "Discord, wait-" He snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving Flash alone in the room.

"Aw crap...I just messed up again, didn't I?"





The next morning...

Flash groaned as he dug into his breakfast, which were several grilled cheese sandwiches. He had had a rough night, tossing and turning as the guilt from what he had told Discord burrowed into him. Now, he was sleep deprived as kept thinking about finding a way to get By the Books to let him back on the case.

That and he also had to find Discord and apologize, which made him moan even more. It was here that one of the hotel's waiters came by to fill up Flash's OJ, the pegasus not looking up from his breakfast. "Rough night?"

"You have no idea," Flash replied as he drank. "I may have said something that I didn't mean."

"To a friend?"

"I wouldn't call us friends, at least not yet." He moaned as he put his head on the table, "To be honest...I would like him as a friend, but every time he's around, something serious is happening and I have to focus on it. And his joker attitude in those situations make it seem like he's not caring."

"Maybe he thinks a good laugh is what you needed to help relieve the tension."

"Yeah...but I already have a friend for that. It's just, he could be a real force for good if he just acted a little more mature. And I know it'd make him happy because everypony could learn so much from him if he didn't give them a reason to fear him." Flash sighed one more time. "Why am I even saying this?"

"Eh, sometimes you need to unwind. Keep going."

"Err...okay." Flash moaned as he continued to stare at the table, "I think the reason he acted out before was because nopony wanted to be near him...which I kinda get from my old life. Its probably why he did all those pranks. He wants attention, even if its through anger and fear. I just wish I could tell him he doesn't need to do that...and to tell him I'm sorry."

"I think he already knows."

Flash raised an eyebrow and looked up, only to go wide eyed when he saw it was Discord in his pony disguise. "What the-how long have you been there?!"

"Long enough," he replied as he sat down. "Did you really mean what you said?"

"I...I did," Flash replied as he shrunk in his seat. "I'm sorry about last night. You were right...you should still be who you want to be. I just..."

"Want me to tone it down sometimes?"

"I...I guess?"

"I make no promises."

Flash sighed and shook his head while chuckling, "Fine. Despite everything, you do have your positives...even if I can't see...them." His eyes slowly grew wider and wider, as a million piece jigsaws fell into perfect place. "See. Can't see. That's it!"

Discord raised an eyebrow, "You figure something out?"

"I think I did, and all I need to do is check something, but..." a big smile appeared on his face. "I might need your help."

Discord shined a toothy grin, "What do you need?"

"First, get us back to the museum." That was all Discord needed before snapping his fingers and warping the two away.





Thirty minutes later...

By the Books, Hard Case, Walking Tour, Clean Whistle, Sparkling Slipstream, Moonlight Dazzle, Lightning Blitz and Solid Script were quite fazed when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by light. And when that light faded, they all found they were back in the De-gypsy exhibit.

"What the heck?!" Case yelped as he rubbed his eyes, "How'd we get back here?!"

"I had you brought here," they turned to see Flash standing in front of the spot the painting had once stood.

"Sentry!" Book almost yelled, "What is the meaning of this?! I told you-"

"The meaning detective, is that I'm am going to solve the case. So please everypony, sit." Flash interrupted as wooden chairs suddenly appeared behind them, their flanks quickly shoved into the seats. It was here that Flash started to pace, pointing at each pony, "Now...each of you had a reason to steal this portrait. Tour, who had idolized De-gypsy's painting for years. Whistle, whose debts could be erased by stealing and selling the painting. Slipstream, who was close to being disinherited and needed a way to keep up the lavish lifestyle he'd had his whole life."

The ponies in question all shared a glance, wondering which of them it could be.

"Whoever it was had to know that Lightning and Script were going to be in the museum so they could try and frame them. There was also the reason this case was so difficult, us having no clue how the thief managed to get the picture out of the room in the short time everypony was blinded. Script's runes prevented it from being teleported, shrank or any other way to steal it. So the question was, how'd they manage to get it out of the room."

The ponies all grumbled, mainly the officers as Slipstream spoke up, "Alright, since I know it isn't me, I'll definitely bite. How did they manage to get it out?"

Flash shined a huge smirk at the question, "Simple. They didn't. In fact, the picture never left this room." This caused looks of confusion to appear on every face as Flash looked from pony to pony. "It was pretty smart actually, wasn't it..." his gaze fell on one of them, "Whistle."

Everypony turned to the cleaning pony, the pony now nervously shrinking back. "I...I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh cut the act, I know it's you. You were the one who hid the picture, and last night when you thought nopony would see you, you came back to try and retrieve it before it could be found."

"You've got no proof of that," Whistle told him.

"Actually, my assistant and I have all the proof we need." Flash replied with a clap of his hooves.

"Assistant?" Dazzle asked, only for a giant poof of smoke to appear, soon revealing Discord.

"Greetings everypony!" Discord announced as fireworks appeared behind himself, shock gracing a few of the ponies faces.

"Oh relax, he's not here to cause problems. It's thanks to him I was able to solve this case." Flash walked over to the tapestry, "Exhibit A: the stain you 'removed' yesterday. Did you know Discord has the power to remove any enchantment on something?" He looked up at the draconequus, "if you would."

Discord nodded before conjuring a sponge, wiping it on the spot that had the stain on it. When he pulled it away, everypony gasped as they saw that the stain had returned. Flash saw their faces, making him point at Whistle with a big grin, "You didn't remove the stain, you made it invisible. The same way you made the picture invisible." He pointed back at the stain, "We assumed that stain was caused by Discord messing around with his cupcake, but we were wrong. In fact, I'm betting it was on there long before we arrived. No doubt you would have heard about Lightning and Script coming, Tour probably mentioning it when he didn't know you were there." Tour turned to Whistle with wide eyes, shocked as he saw the cleaner kept sinking into their seat. "The runes and lightning spell weren't too complicated according to Discord, which means you could have just planted the light bomb when nopony was around. All you needed was a reason to be in the room, so you stained the tapestry with something."

Discord pulled out a syringe and used it to remove the stain from the cloth, "Seems to be...food coloring. Blueberry if I'm not mistaken." He turned to Whistle while he summoned a cupcake in his paw, "My cupcakes were strawberry flavored."

"Then all you had to do was wait for Tour to call you. After you made the stain invisible, you waited for your opportunity. When Lightning and Slipstream were arguing, you activated the bomb and while everypony was blinded, you cast the same invisibility spell on the stain to make the picture vanish from sight. Then all you had to do was move it someplace nopony would look twice at if the painting couldn't be seen."

"Then...where's the painting?" Tour asked in a low, depressive tone.

Flash gestured to Discord, who lifted up the tapestry to reveal a blank wall. "I admit, I missed it the first time too." Flash reached up and seemed to grab something they couldn't see before pulling if off the wall, Discord holding up his sponge and wiping the air between Flash's hooves.

Everypony gasped as the Mona Lipizzaner slowly reappeared in Flash's grasp. Tour then ran up and took the painting in his magic, looking it over with a long sigh. "It's...it's the real one! It's real!" He exclaimed with tears in his eyes. He then returned it to its original place as everypony else turned to stare at Whistle.

"When you came back for it yesterday, you weren't expecting us to be there and ran. Then when we gave chase and cornered you in the Somnambulan exhibit, you cast your invisibility spell on yourself and we fell for it."

Clean Whistle continued to shrink as their stares intensified, "Um...uh..." and before she could form a word...she vanished.

"She's gone!" Dazzle yelped as she pointed at the now empty chair.

"Not gone," Flash said as he crossed his hooves.

"Just invisible," Case caught on. "But how do we find her?"

Discord just chuckled at his question, "Oh, don't worry about that."

A snap of the fingers followed, only for a shriek to suddenly fill the room. Everypony hopped in place at this, Flash looking up at the chaos monster, "Discord, what did you do?"

"Oh, let's go into the next room and see." he remarked as they walked they left the area, only to see the next exhibit's floor covered in a white paste.

"What is that?" Script asked, blinking.

Flash simply smiled, "Well what do you know...it's glue."

"An excellent idea, if I do take the credit myself." Discord added as he materialized a bucket of pink paint and threw it into the room. It covered everything, including the struggling to escape Whistle. Discord then snapped his fingers, causing all the glue and paint, except on Whistle, to disappear.

Book cricked his neck at the sight, soon walking up to the thief, "Clean Whistle, you're under arrest."

Whistle gave her hooves one final pull, only to sigh in defeat. Flash then turned to Discord, holding up a hoof. "Pound it." Discord smiled before doing so, everypony else applauding the two.





The next day...

We now find our four heroes standing on the city's train platform, all waiting for the locomotive carrying their friends to arrive. They had spent all of yesterday writing police reports, so now they could finally have a day to hang out with their friends. The only one not sticking around was Script, who had to get back to Canterlot after being in Fillydelphia a day longer than he had too.

"Well, I guess I'd better be off." he said as his train approached, the unicorn turning to hug Lightning. "Good to see you friend."

"Take care of yourself Script," Lightning hugged him back. "And tell gramps I said hi."

"I will," Script replied as the train pulled up to the station. He then turned to Flash and Discord, "Thank you...Flash. I'm sorry I was so cold to you. I just..."

"Its cool. I understand." Flash remarked as he reached out his hoof to shake his, "Besides, any friend of Lightning is a friend of mine, alright?"

"I...yeah." Script shook the hoof. "Thanks."

Lightning then slung his hoof around Script's shoulders, "Buddy, you got to let that stuff go. I told you this already."

"I know, and I will...its just hard." Script replied as he shrugged off Lightning's hoof, his eyes now looking at Discord, "And thank you too. I don't know what might have happened if you didn't clear our names."

Discord conjured his detective hat again, "Nonsense my dear Solid Script, its all part of the job."

Flash just chuckled at the sight, "Eh, don't worry about it Script. Just try and stay out of trouble."

"I will." With that, Script stepped onto the train before it pulled away.

And as they waved the train off, Discord did a small cough, "Welp, I'd better be off too. I doubt any of your friends will want me around while they're having fun." He was about to snap his fingers, only for Flash to tap his side.

"Actually, I want you to stick around."

Discord spun his eyes at the defender, both about to fall out, "Wha...you mean it?!"

Flash nodded, "Yeah. After all the help you gave us, it'd be wrong to send you off. And if the others have a problem, they'll have to deal with us."

Discord shined a big goofy smile, only to look at Lightning, who shrugged, "Eh, I've got nothing against you. Then again, this is my first time meeting ya, and you've been pretty cool." Tears than began to appear under Discord's eyes, "Are you...crying?"

"Of course not," he pulled his eyes off and rubbed them. "Just...got something in them. Or allergies, lots of allergies."

"Sure you are..." Flash joked as the sound of a train approaching filled the air. "And by the way, if you ever feel bored, I'm pretty sure Ponyville will have something to entertain you."

"You...you really mean it?!"

"Sure. Just make sure to ask the ponies if you can join in and respect them if they say no. Especially with Iron, but you know why with him. Deal?"

A giant mischievous smile appeared on the creature's face, "I make no promises."

Flash laughed as the train came to a stop. And as the doors opened, Flash suddenly found himself being tackled by Scootaloo and Springer. "BLAUGH!"

"FLASH!" The two exclaimed as they tightened their hug, making the others laugh as they stepped onto the platform. And as they did this, they spotted Discord, causing everypony to tense up except Fluttershy.

Twilight then glared at Flash, "What happened?! And why is he here?!"

Flash just laughed as he looked up at his friend, "It's a long story, and I'm sure Discord would love to tell you. In his own way of course."

The draconequus smiled back before snapping his fingers, a load of puppets now appearing in his paw. "Socket or string anypony?"
> The Equestria Games
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day had finally arrived.

The Equestria Games would begin today and every city in the kingdom intended to take gold home. That included Ponyville, whose team was currently riding the train to the Crystal Empire. Within one of the train cars, the team was busy doing the last minute training they felt was required. The only ones in the car who weren't in the team were Spike and Springer, Spike having rode there to keep an eye on everypony's luggage while Springer was keeping an eye on the CMC. Once they finished their flag waving presentation, Springer would then be dropping them off with Scootaloo's parents before joining the Royal Knights on guard duty.

It wasn't long till the Crystal Empire came into view, Springer then hearing Rainbow speak up, "This just got real!" She looked away from the window and at the team. "Listen up gang! We're almost there, so I've got a few things to say. First off, who here besides me thinks this is the best Equestria Games delegation in Ponyville history?!"

The ponies all began cheering in agreement, Bulk Biceps even giving a hearty, "YEAH!" as he bench-pressed a dumbbell that Fluttershy was sitting on.

Rainbow nodded before continuing, "And no matter what your sport is, we gotta give it our best, because we've all got a genuine shot at Ponyville gold!" This was met with yet another cheer as the pegasus turned to her team. "With the possible exception of Bulk Biceps, Fluttershy, and me. I mean, we're good and all, but we're up against the Wonderbolts in the aerial relay. So, gold's kind of a stretch. Let's not kid ourselves."

Springer chose this moment to pipe in. "Truly, a motivational speech which would stir even the coldest of hearts."

Rainbow rolled her eyes before hearing Scootaloo speak up from across the carriage. "Don't feel bad Rainbow Dash! We have absolutely no shot at getting gold either!

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this. "Uh, that's because you're carrying the flag for Ponyville in the opening ceremony. There are no winners."

"Winners or not, we still have the chance to be awesome!"

"That's the spirit!" Rainbow told her before pumping her hooves up, "You hear that everypony?! Winners or not, we all still have the chance to be awesome!"

"Now that's inspiration!" Springer cheered, the rest of the car following suit.

"But...uh...let's still try to win lots and lots of stuff too, 'kay?" Rainbow added next, causing the rest to restart their training as the train continued to move.

A few minutes later, it reached the station where the ponies all began to filter out while Spike worked to unload the baggage. He huffed as he carried the last heavy bag out and tossed it onto a trolley with the others, "It's all in there gang! Leave it to Spike, champion gear-carrier for all your gear-carrying needs."

"And the Ponyville flag?" Applebloom asked, Spike nodding back as he patted the cart. "You sure? And what about the flagpole?"

"In with the portable ramp!" He leaned against the trolley, only for it to roll back slightly and make him loose balance. "Whoa!"

Scootaloo took this moment to turn to her friend. "Give it a rest Apple Bloom, we're fine."

"Ow..." Spike picked himself up and brushed his scales off, "Its okay Scootaloo. She's just nervous, that's all. Perfectly understandable." He then patted the filly's side, "Heck, whenever I'm afraid I'll forget something or start to panic, I have a simple trick. I count to ten, and by the time I'm done, I've calmed myself enough to get the job done right every time. Easy-peasy, cider-squeezy!"

Springer rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms. "Mind if I use that trick next time I'm fighting for my life?"

"Go for it," Spike replied as he went back to look over the baggage. Springer was about to say something, only for the sudden rumbling of hooves to catch his attention. He turned to see a pair of crystal pony guards zoom by, scooping up Spike and strapping him into a chair. "Hey! Put me down!"

"What the heck?! What's going on?!" Scootaloo yelped as Springer took this moment to scan the two's aura, but felt no ill intent coming from them.

"Stick with the team!" Springer told the fillies before giving chase. And as he pursued them, he soon found himself going straight to the Crystal Castle. It was here that the ponies finally stopped, Springer doing the same as he noticed Flash, Twilight, Cadance and Ruby standing in front of the Crystal Heart. The guards bowed, causing Spike to slip out of his chair with a thud and a groan.

"Spike!" Twilight called out, "are you all right?!"

The guard gasped and bowed again. "A thousand pardons, O Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious."

"Huh? Who the what now?!"

"Yeah," Springer added as he walked up to them, "I never thought the words Spike, brave, great and glorious could go in the same sentence."

"How dare you! Bite your tongue this instant!" One of them almost yelled, causing Springer to flinch and jump away. "You dare mock our kingdom's savior?!"

"Err...I guess?" Springer replied, only for the guards to hiss at him. But as they readied to attack him, Ruby walked in front of them.

"That's enough. Let's not get into a fight." The guards backpedaled at this, the Crystal Knight turning to smile at the jakhowl, "Hello Springer, its good to see you again."

"Hiya Ruby!" Springer shined a big grin as the two hugged.

"Its so good to see a jakhowl." Ruby then pulled away from the hug, "Let's talk later, alright?"

"Sure."

Cadance took this moment to walk up to Spike and the soldiers, "Thanks for bringing Spike to us." The two guards bowed before retreating, Cadance now turning to the still very confused drake. "It's okay, Spike." She placed a hoof around his neck and pulled him towards the castle, "We'll have our hoofponies go back for your bags."

Seeing this, Springer turned to Flash as the others walked away, "Say...could you tell me what's going on? Why are they treating Spike like that?"

"I'll explain in a second." Flash replied with crossed hooves. "Where's Scootaloo?"

"With the team. I'll go back and get her after I learn what the heck's going on."

Flash just shrugged. "Spike's being given a special job thanks to what happened here last time. Anyways, we'd better be getting back to work. Go watch over those three, alright?" He spread his wings, "See you at the games." He took to the air as Springer ran off, flying onto a crystal balcony and heading inside as Twilight was busy explaining what was going on to Spike.

The dragon was currently being fed gems by a crystal mare. "Mmmm!" He moaned in pleasure, "So the ponies here think I'm some kind of hero, huh?" He looked up at the crystal pony, "More of the green ones, please? I like the green ones." The pony panicked as she tried to find one of the green gems.

Twilight gave a small smile as she continued, "Last time you were here, you got the Crystal Heart to Princess Cadance in time to save this entire empire from destruction. This is why they're doing this."

Cadance nodded in agreement. "You are known throughout my empire as 'Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious'."

"Isn't that amazing Spike?" Twilight asked him as she walked over to the balcony, Spike following after. "You're a big shot here, Spike!" She then pointed down at the courtyard. "See that?" Both Spike and Flash looked down, only to go wide-eyed at the sight of a Spike shaped statue holding a remake of the Crystal Heart. "That's you!"

Spike smiled at his look a like before speaking in an accent Flash didn't recognize. "Hello, gorgeous!"

Flash grumbled at the sight. "Never mind the fact that me and Ruby were the ones who held back Sombra long enough for you to do so." He slumped over and rubbed the scar on his chest, "But do I get a cool title and crystal statue? No."

Ruby rolled her eyes at this. "Oh quit being jealous. It's quite unbecoming of a knight."

"I'm not jealous, I'm envious!" he looked away and crossed his hooves, "There's a difference."

Everypony rolled their eyes or shook their heads before Cadance turned to Spike, "This is why we all hope you do us the honor of lighting the torch at the opening ceremony. You'd be the very first dragon in the history of the Equestria Games to do so."

Spike barely let a second pass before announcing, "Of course I'll do it! And, bonus, I can do it with my fire breath!" To prove his point, he unleashed a stream of fire, only for it to torch a leaf fan a crystal pony had brought out for him.

"Smooth..." Flash told him as he took to the sky. "Just try not to blow it. Wouldn't want to make a fool out of yourself in front of thousands of ponies," Flash took to the sky right before Spike or Twilight could reply, the princess espiecally wanting to lecture him. He then headed for the Crystal Stadium, arriving and managing to get through the checkpoint effortlessly while everypony else had to stand in line. With an hour before he was meant to meet up with the others for their positions, he chose to look around and get a good understanding of the place for future refence of his duty.

That is, till he walked up to a certain area, "Sorry sir," a crystal guard told him with a raised hoof, "Restricted access."

Flash raised an eyebrow, "I'm an apprentice knight. Unless a princess ordered this, it ain't restricted to me."

The guard just shrugged. "Sorry sir, rules are rules."

"What's even in there?" Flash asked as he tried to look around him.

"It's the commentator box. Announcers from the different kingdoms are in there preparing."

Flash's eyes went wide with stars, "Ooh! Is EqSPN here? I love their sports magazine?"

"Sorry sir, confidential." The guard saw Flash's pout before looking around, then motioned Flash to come closer. Once their faces were inches apart, he whispered. "I can't say anything officially, but I happened to spot two earth ponies and a strange looking griffon heading into one of the rooms."

Flash smirked at this. "Describe the earth ponies."

"One was blue with a goatee, while the other had a brown and green mane."

"Nice..." Flash shook his hoof and walked away, grabbing a carrot-dog and quickly eating it on the way as he ran up to a nearby hall. There, he found himself with Grand, Skybreaker, Tidal, First, Heather, Iron and Lightning. "Hey everypony, I'm on time, right?"

Grand nodded at his apprentice. "Ten minutes early. We're just waiting on Ruby and Springer."

"We're here," they turned to see the two walked into the room, "The princesses have arrived and are all heading up to the royal box."

"And Scootaloo and her friends are with the other flag bearers," Springer turned to Flash. "We ran into your parents on the way here. They're gonna watch Scoot's show, then rush over to take them to the seats."

"Good," Grand pulled out a pile of papers, "here are your schedules and a map of the stadium. Memorise and destroy them," the younger of the group raised an eyebrow at this. "Security reasons. We can't afford anything from going wrong. We have many dignitaries here, so let's not make Equestria look bad."

"This would be a lot easier if my magic hadn't been suppressed," Ruby complained.

"Tell me about it," First added as he looked the paper over. "But this is to make sure nopony can be accused of cheating. Besides, it is not our magic that makes us Royal Knights."

"It's our skills," Heather finished for him.

"True," Ruby continued, only for the speaker system above their heads to beep into life. It suggested that everypony in the stadium head to their seats, as the flag waving ceremony was about to begin.

"Alright ponies-" Grand stopped when he heard a cough from a certain non-pony, "and Springer. Let make Equestria proud!"

"RIGHT!" With that, the group split up and filtered through the halls, Flash and Ruby heading into the same direction as both were being stationed at the royal box.

Ruby then turned to Flash. "You know, your little dragon friend was having a panic attack after what you said to him."

"Oh really? That's good."

"Good?!" Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Since when are you the mean one?"

"I'm not being mean. I'm just saying if he was panicking at the very thought of it, he'd probably panic when he actually had to do it. Having it happen before is good. I'm guessing Twilight gave him one of her signature pep talks?"

"I did." They turned to see Twilight walking down the hall, the three meeting now in front of the stairs leading to the royal box.

"Shouldn't you be with the other princesses?"

"Bathroom," Twilight replied before giving him a glare, "Now, you were saying..."

Flash did a slight gulp as he readied to grip his ear, "Well, if he hadn't panicked before, than you wouldn't have pepped him and he'd be panicking on stage with nopony there to help. Tell me I'm wrong."

"You aren't," Twilight's horn started to glow. "But do you really mean all that, or are you just making it up to try a make yourself look better?"

"Well...that depends."

"On what?"

"On whether it's working or not." This got both Twilight and Ruby to roll their eyes before heading up the stairs, leaving Flash behind. "What?!" He ran up after them, all entering the box as they took a moment to see the other ponies there. Besides the princesses of Equestria, there was also the dignitaries from Saddle Arabia, the royal Maretonia family and...Blueblood. Looking away from the spoiled prince, Flash looked down at the other occupants and spotted Trixie, Fancy Pants and his wife, Mayor Mare and...Cherry Jubilee. How'd she nab a seat?

Flash shook his head to rid himself of the question as the three turned to Princess Celestia and bowed, the princess of the sun nodding before pointing to Twilight's seat. Twilight sat in the seat while Flash stood beside her, Ruby moving over to stand beside Cadance as the proceeding began. One by one, the competing cities teams came into the stadium as their flag bearers performed.

Then it was time for the very last team, one they'd been waiting for, to have their moment. Shining Armor raised his hoof and announced, "Now, please welcome the delegation from Ponyville!" He pointed to the entryway where Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were holding up a circular banner with Ponyville's flag on it.

"Ponyville forever!" They cheered before Scootaloo ripped through the banner on her scooter. "Yay!"

"Awesome!" Rainbow yelled as she flew after Scootaloo, followed by Fluttershy.

"Yay!"

"YEAH!" Bulk added as he flew behind her, Derpy following him.

The citizens of Ponyville all let out a great cheering roar, including one citizen in the royal box. "Woohoo!" Twilight screamed, only to catch eyes with Celestia and instantly quiet down with a huge blush. Flash chuckled under his breath at his, free of the fear of being ear twisted while Twilight glared at him.

They looked back and watched as Scootaloo placed Ponyville's beside the others before returning to the teams as everypony stared at the ceremonial torch. There, they watched as Spike climbed the ladder up to it. Flash, who had better vision than most, focused on the little dragon and noticed something that made him lean over and whisper to Twilight, "Hey uh...I thought you gave him a pep talk."

Twilight blinked in response, "I did."

"Then why is he shaking like a bowl of jelly?" This caused Twilight to wide-eyed as Cadance spoke up.

"What's wrong?" They turned to back to the torch, Flash seeing Spike attempting to breath fire but having no luck.

When he told this to Twilight, she gulped. "Equestria, we have a problem."

They continued to wait and see if Spike could get it right, but as time began to drag on, Flash could just feel the cringe oozing off the crowd. And when Luna let out a yawn, Cadance turned to Ruby. "Somepony go down and help him!"

As they watched Ruby nod and climb down, Flash turning to Twilight. "We have to do something. Now!" Twilight was way ahead of him and sparked her horn, the torch erupting into flames. "That works." Flash added as Twilight sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from her brow.

As they watched Spike climb down the ladder, they heard Shining announce. "Let the games...begin!" And the crowd went wild, the competitors returning to the entryway while everything was set up for the first events.

Flash then turned to Twilight. "You do realize Spike's gonna wonder how that thing lit on its own?"

"I know, but I'm sure he's figured it out." She got up from her throne, "Let's go find him."

Flash nodded and followed her out of the box. "But knowing Spike, he's probably thinking he lit the torch himself somehow."

This made Twilight giggle, waving her hoof, "I doubt he's that delusional."

"I refer you back to when Rarity was captured by those Diamond Dogs."

"Touché."





Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, they found the corridor jam packed with ponies. As such, the two had to fly over the crowd and out of the first window they could find. Flash did a quick overview of the place and spotted their friends aways off. As they approached, they heard Rainbow say to Scootaloo. "Ya done good, squirt!"

"You three really were wonderful," the princess assured them as they landed.

Flash pulled his sister into a hug. "What she said."

Twilight walked between them and asked, "But does anypony know what was going on with Spike?"

"He sure seemed to be havin a tough time of it out there."

Rarity nodded in agreement, "He put things right in time, though."

"Actually, that was me." Twilight said abrasively, "I didn't want him to be embarrassed, so I cast a secret spell to light it for him."

Hearing this made them all frown as Rarity replied, "Oh dear. That's not good."

Misty Veil stepped up to Twilight, "Have you told him?"

"No," Twilight shook her head as she let out a sigh, "But he might have figured it out on his own."

"Ya'll gotta tell him just in case." Applejack added.

"I know. I'm just afraid of how he'll take it. I know what pride he takes in a job well done."

"But letting him live in denial isn't healthy," Flash told her.

"Psst! Here he comes now!" Rainbow whispered as she sat back a pulled out a pair of shades. "Act casual!" She crossed her hooves next as Spike began to walk by. "Sup?"

"Spike!" the little dragon looked up at Twilight, "Is everything okay?"

"I guess," Spike replied before slumping. "I don't know. The weirdest thing happened down there."

"Yeah...about that, I-"

"I mean, there I was, trying to light the torch with all of Equestria watching and feeling like the hugest failure ever, and then the thing just lit!" He snapped his fingers for emphasis, "It was amazing!"

"Oh," Twilight sighed in relief, "I was afraid you'd be upset."

"Upset?" Spike asked in confusion, "Are you kidding? Why would I be upset to discover I can light fire-" He placed his claws onto his temple, "With my mind?"

"What?!" Everypony except Flash and Pinkie yelped, Flash silently facehoofing.

"I knew it...only way this could get worse is if somepony comes up and-"

"Look! Look!" they turned to see a pair of crystal ponies running up to them. "It's the Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious!"

"Can we get your autograph?!"

"Sure!" Spike replied before being handed a pencil and some paper.

The first pony looked at Spike starstruck. "How you saved our Empire last time you were here was really amazing!"

"Awww...thanks." Spike placed the pencil behind his ear. "You know what else is amazing?" He held up the autograph, "Watch this!" He began to stare at the paper, obviously expecting the set it a light. The crystal ponies blinked in confusion at this as Spike let out a strained noise. "Don't worry. Once it bursts into flames through brainpower, I'll sign another one for ya. Promise." He placed the paper on his forehead and let out more noises.

"This is just sad," Flash added while Twilight nodded in agreement.

She then stepped up to the baby dragon and whispered into his ear. "Spike, may I have a word with you for a moment?"

Spike nodded and gave the autograph back to the crystal ponies. "You'd better be careful with that! It might burst into flames later! Delayed reaction." He ran off, leaving a pair of very confused ponies.

"That Spike, always the joker. Don't worry, you're safe." Flash assured them, the ponies nodding before walking off. Seeing them leave, Flash walked up to Twilight and Spike.

He saw Spike once again had his claws on his temple. "And I predict that you are about to ask me...to set fire to something with my mind!"

"No, because you can't!" Twilight barked back, her hoof resisting to hit her face.

"Oh really?" Spike pointed at the stadium, "So how do you explain what happened down there in front of thousands and thousands of-"

"I did it, Spike!" Twilight interrupted, "I cast a spell to do it for you."

Flash watched as Spike let what his adoptive older sister said sink in, causing his entire body to lose all enthusiasm. "In front of...thousands and...thousands...?" He stopped speaking as his whole body slumped over.

"I'm sorry Spike," Twilight bent down to his eye-level. "I just couldn't stand to see you stuck like that!" She placed a hoof under his chin, "You understand, don't you?"

Spike's eyes filled with tears, "I...I..." he looked away and started to walk off, "I need to be alone right now."

The drake then trotted past Flash as Twilight called out. "Spike?" But the little dragon didn't reply, "Oh no..."

Flash patted Twilight on the shoulder, "Um...maybe we should give him some time to himself. We can check on him later."

Twilight let out a long sigh, "You're right. We need to get back to the royal box anyways." She began to walk off as Flash followed her, the defender giving Rainbow and Fluttershy a look for their event before they split. He then caught up to Twilight, the princess now have gone through the magic suppressor. Once there, Flash had to bid Twilight goodbye as he was scheduled to patrol the corridor with Iron before keeping an eye on the market outside the stadium.

"See you later," Flash told her as he walked away.

"Try to stay out of trouble!" This caused Flash to turn back and give her a 'you know me' shrug before disappearing down the stairs. Luckily, the stadium hallways weren't as crowded as they were before, allowing him to zip through without flying.

A minute later, he found Iron, who was giving him the a slight glare, "Hey Sentry, mind explaining what happened to the pincushion back at the torch lighting?" Flash nodded and explained as they began their patrol.

"And now he's super depressed," Flash finished.

"Geez, talk about choking under the pressure."

"Spike's always had issues over that," Flash added with a small moan. "He's an overachiever, goes with being raised by Twilight, so finding out he messed up can really knock his confidence."

"Guess it doesn't help that these crystal ponies are putting him on such a pedestal. Going from somepony, or dragon, who only a few ponies rely on, to a dragon with thousands of ponies expecting something great can be too much for most. Especially if its so out of the blue."

"Tell me about it." Flash was about to start something else as they turned a corner, only to see the roar of many ponies filling their ears. They looked ahead and saw a bunch of ponies trying to get snacks from the vendors. "What the heck?!"

"They must be trying to get served before the next game begins," Iron replied as he ran up to the crowd "Hey!" He yelled, "HEY! EVERYPONY STOP!"

But as he screamed, his voice was drowned in the ponies' roars. Seeing this, Flash took out his Celestic Gear. "Allow me," he lifted the blade and activated it, the light filling the room that almost blinded everypony. They all moaned in surprise and slight eye pain, which Flash then cut the power. "Now everypony, are you gonna be orderly, or do I need to double the brightness?!"

The ponies all mumbled as they finally got into an actual line. Iron chuckled at the sight. "Nice to see that lightbulb sword of yours is good for something." Flash smirked as he re-sheathed his weapon. The rest of their patrol was thankfully, uneventful. So when they came to the end of their shift, Flash pulled out his schedule to see where he needed to meet Lightning and Springer. It was then he noticed what he figured was a printing error.

"This says I've got twenty minutes gap between shifts."

"Same here. Wonder why?"

His answer came in the form of Shining's voice, which was being echoed through a speaker system. "Our next event...the aerial relay!"

"That's why!" The two said in unison before running to the stands. It was here they saw Rainbow, Fluttershy and Bulk in line behind the Wonderbolts.

"Flash, Iron!" They turned to see their friends all sitting close by, two open seats by them.

"Come over here. We were worried you wouldn't get to watch," Rarity told them.

The two sat down as Trail blinked at his son, "You ain't playing hooky, are you?"

Flash shook his head, "No." He then helped himself to some of Pinkie's popcorn, "I think Grand knew when this event was and gave us this gap to watch."

"Good on him."

"We'll probably have to head out before the medal ceremony though," Iron pointed out.

Misty nodded at this. "Well, as long as you get to cheer for them as they play, that's what matters." They looked back at the field to watch the competitors all take their positions, Shining blowing the horn that signalled the event's start.

It was here that all the training since the qualifier proved itself, as Bulk effortlessly moved through the rings. Even if he was in last place, he wasn't as far behind compared to a few months ago. He then linked hooves with Fluttershy and passed the baton with ease, allowing her to bolt away instantly. Her as well was doing better, as she didn't seem phased at all of the crowds of ponies cheering her name.

Pinkie took a mouthful of popcorn as she watched, deciding this moment to be the exposition pony. "If Ponyville medals here, we'll have eight medals so far, putting us tied for the lead with Cloudsdale!" She then gasped, throwing popcorn everywhere. "Unless Cloudsdale medals here too!"

Flash, who was currently pulling kernels out of his mane, glared at her. "Hey, whatever happens happens. Nothing we can do about it. This is all about who's trained harder, wants it more, and maybe even has the most luck." The others nodded at this as Fluttershy completed her run, passing the baton over to Rainbow.

"YEAH!" Iron screamed at the top of his lungs, his friends all turning to stare at him. The stares caused the Metal Guardian to turn red before sitting back down. "Shut up..." he told a snickering Flash and Pinkie.

"Don't worry darling, we fully understand." Rarity added, only to get a scowl from the defender.

Back at the race, Rainbow was zooming past one opponent after the other. The team that had been in last place at the start of the match were now in second place, and quickly closing the gap between them and the first place Wonderbolts. Spitfire looked back and saw that Rainbow was catching up, causing her to push herself to her limit as the goal drew closer and closer. The two mares flew side by side, mere inches of one another. Rainbow then pulled ahead, only for Spitfire to retake the lead before losing it again. They kept doing this repeatedly, only for the winner to break through the cloud goal with the second place pony following after her.

The crowd burst into a roar of applause at the close match, Applejack calling out, "We got silver!"

"Nice work Ponyville!" Flash cheered with clapping hooves, right before feeling a tap on his shoulder. He turned to Iron, who gestured his head towards the entry way. "Right...five minutes left, huh?"

Iron nodded, the duo now picking themselves up. Scootaloo saw this and grabbed Flash's hoof, "Hey! Where are you going? You're gonna miss the medal ceremony!"

Flash smiled back, patting her head, "Sorry sis, but I gotta go. Heck, I was lucky to get the chance to watch."

Iron gestured to the rest. "This job is one of sacrifices. But tell Shy I'm proud of her."

"We will daring," Rarity assured him. "Now get going before you're late."

The two nodded and began to make their way down the stands and into the stadium halls, where they split up next. It was here that Flash arrived in the stadium's commerce area, spotting Lightning and Springer waiting for him. "Hey, you two ready to go?"

Springer gave him a thumbs up. "You know it."

And so, the three began to patrol the outside of the stadium, keeping a look out for anything. But as with all things, it wasn't too long before they found something odd. It wasn't a pony acting suspicious or a stall selling a shady product, but a giant sheet covering the what appeared to be a large building. There was a tall fence surrounding it, keeping the public from getting to close.

"Huh. Wonder what they're doing there." Flash commented as he looked it over.

"There's a sign here," Springer said as he pointed to something on the fence. "Says...construction in progress."

"Huh...wonder what they're building?"

"Something you'll really enjoy when it's done Lightning." The three looked through the fence to see a pony on the other side of the fence, the mare now trotting up them with a big grin.

Lightning chuckled back, "Gorgenia. I was hoping we'd run into each other."

"Great to see you too Lightning." She then turned to smile at Flash and Springer, "Hello you two. Its been a while."

"Sup," Flash gave a casual salute while Springer waved. "So, wanna tell us what this is all about?"

Gorgenia shook her head. "Nope, sorry. Trade secret until its finished and ready to be shown to the public. But I'll tell you this, when you see it, you'll be blown away."

"Well now I really wanna see it," Springer added, only for his entire body to suddenly shiver. He seemed to be knocked off balance at this, Flash reacting quickly to catch and prop him up.

"You okay bud?"

"I don't know," the jakhowl replied as he rubbed his arms. "I felt a great disturbance in the aura, as if thousands of voice cried out...in cringe."

The three ponies all looked at him in confusion, Flash turning to Lightning. "We should go check on the stadium." He put Springer on his back before running off, Lightning following after saying his goodbyes to his friend.

They soon made it to the front door, just in time to see them burst open with a crying baby dragon rushing out. "Spike?" Flash asked as he saw the little guy running up to him, tears blinding the drake. Seeing this, Flash opened his wing to stop the running dragon.

"Augh!" He cried as he fell onto his rear, wiping his eyes to see the three staring down at him.

"Spike, what's wrong?" Spike didn't answer, his eyes instead refilling with tears before he got back up and ran past them. "SPIKE! WAIT!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" The baby dragon barked back as he disappeared from sight, only for the trio to turn and see the rest of their friends running out the stadium.

"Did you three see Spike?" Twilight asked as they came to a stop.

Springer nodded, "Yeah. We tried to stop him, but he just ran off. His aura was horrible though...it was filled with shame, embarrassment and guilt."

Flash blinked at this, "What the heck went on in there?"

The others all cringed as Rainbow, now wearing a silver medal, asked, "You mean you didn't see...or hear?" The three shook their heads.

Applejack then spoke up. "Maybe that's fer the best. The less ponies know, the better it is fer the little guy."

"Will somepony please tell us what the heck is going on?!" Lightning nearly yelled in frustration.

Rarity shook her head, patting the unicorn's shoulder at the same time. "Let's just say...Spiky wikey was trying to redeem himself from his little mishap and it backfired a little."

"A little?!" Pinkie yelped as kernels flew out of her mane, "Were we listening to the same song?! It was horrible! I just hope there weren't any cameras there."

"What a scoop!" they all turned to see a reporter pony walking past them. "I can see the headlines now! Celebrity dragon makes fool of himself at Equestria Games. Ponitzer prize, here I come!"

As he walked away, everypony sighed, Twilight groaning as she rubbed her face, "Ugh...What was Spike even thinking?"

"That's what I'd like to know," it was here that they saw Ms Harshwhinny trotting over to them. "That dragon has been nothing but a nuisance all day. First he has trouble lighting the torch, then this. This is why I hate celebrities. If he still wants to do some good for the games, he won't show up for the remainder of them."

With that, she walked off as Twilight stopped moaning, "Oh dear. Come on everypony, let's go try to cheer Spike up." They all nodded and headed to their hotel. But when they arrived outside Spike's room, they found it locked, causing Twilight to knock, "Spike? Are you in there? Please open this door."

"Go away," was the response they got. "Leave me to wallow in my shame."

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Acting a little over-dramatic, isn't he?"

Flash just shrugged. "That's what happens when you hang around Rarity to much."

"Hey! I am not over-dramatic!" the fashion pony objected before placing a hoof on her chest, "I am merely enthusiastic about everything."

"Please Spike, just let us in." Twilight knocked again, only for no response.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy added as she put her hooves over her mouth. "You don't think he'll stay in there for the whole time we're here, do you?"

"I hope not," Applebloom continued while crossing her hooves. "He'll miss everything, like the fireworks show during the closing ceremony."

"I'm sure he'll come out eventually," Flash assured them. "We'll just...have to wait and see."





But Spike didn't come out. For the next three days, the room remained locked up tight. His friends tried on several different occasions to try and get him to open up, but there was no success. It wasn't until Springer threatened to simply bust the door down on the fourth day, having spent the last three nights sleeping in the lobby since he and Spike had been sharing a room, that the dragon finally relented and unlocked the door.

But even with the door open, Spike continued to mop around and hardly ate a thing for the remainder of the week. It didn't help that with Spike gone, hardly anything had happened to hamper the games. The only occasion was a small incident that caused the javelin event to be called off.

Now, it was the final day of the games and the CMC looked into Spike and Springer's room. Inside, they spotted the jakhowl enjoying a comic before having to go on duty while the baby dragon was busy pulling clothing out of drawers. "Spike? You comin'?"

"Nah Applebloom," Spike pointed to his suitcase, "I got this stuff to pack up."

"But...you've been moping in here for almost the entire Games."

"And tonight's the closing ceremony!" Sweetie added.

"Which means we leave tomorrow," Spike pointed out as he packed several towels away. "Ergo, the packing." The three fillies sighed at this before slowly leaving, Springer having watched the exchange over his comic.

As Spike continued to pack, he felt the jakhowl's eyes boring into him, causing him to glare at the defender, "What?!"

Springer closed his book and glared back, "You're taking this way too far. So you messed up, who cares?"

"I care," Spike replied as he looked away. "You wouldn't understand."

"And why, pray tell, wouldn't I understand?"

Spike let out a huff, "Because you're respected all over Equestria. We used to be the same, the sidekicks to pony heroes, but now you've made a name for yourself. You protect Ponyville, helped save Equestria from that Doom guy, and even have your own arch-enemy! No matter what you do, ponies are always gonna see you as a hero."

"So?"

"So, I finally had that. For once, I wasn't just the guy who was there to watch as his friends got praised for their heroic deeds. I was actually seen as a hero, but now...now everypony knows what I really am. A failure."

Springer sighed as he walked over to Spike, looking like he was about to put a comforting paw on his shoulder. That is, till he balled it up into a fist and hit the back of his head. "Idiot!"

"OW!" Spike held his head before glaring at Springer, "Why'd you do that?!"

"To knock some sense into you! You are not a failure! Sure, you might not get as much praise for your work, but it's still important! When Twilight was having her little breakdown, you were the one who wrote to Celestia while I was stuck under her spell. When you all got sucked into that magic comic, you were the one who saved the girls when they were captured. You were there to help Twilight get the Crystal Heart to Cadance! You were the hero in all of those situations, even if only one of them got you recognized as one!"

Spike just looked at the floor in response, making Springer sigh.

"You know why ponies see me, Flash or Twilight as heroes?" Spike shook his head, "Because we don't try to be seen as heroes. We just do what we think is right. We don't care what other ponies think of us, or try to be this vision of perfection that others see us as. We just try and be who we want to be." With that, he walked up to the door. "I gotta get going. Just...please come to the stadium." With that, he walked out the door...only to pop his head back into the room, "And don't think for a second that having an arch-enemy is a good thing! It sucks, and it doesn't help make you a hero!"

With that, he left Spike to wallow in his misery while what Springer said echoed in his head.





Later that day...

The final day of the Equestria Games was as action packed as the previous days, the competitors giving their all to earn a medal. And now as Celestia and Luna swapped their celestial bodies, the final event of the games came to pass. Flash and Grand had just finished their patrol and walked up to the stands as Shining announced. "And so, the Games conclude as they always do, with the ice archery finals! Ice archers, take your places!"

This got the crowd cheering as the competitors took their places. "Too bad Ponyville doesn't have any ice archers competin," Flash heard Applejack say as he and Grand stood next to them. "We don't have anypony to root for."

"That's okay," Pinkie told her with a mouth full of popcorn, "Ponyville has thirty seven medals, and Cloudsdale thirty six, so it looks like we'll be medal champs of the Games anyways! Woo-hoo!"

Rainbow took this moment to deflate Pinkie's enjoyment, "but Cloudsdale has two ice archery finalists down there now!" The event began as the archers started firing their arrows. "If they both place, Cloudsdale wins the medal count!"

Pinkie gasped as kernels flew out of her mouth, "So you're saying that it all comes down to this one event?!"

"Pretty much," Applejack added as she flicked a kernel off her hat.

"Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh!" Pinkie cried out, hopping so high that you could see her do it from anywhere in the stadium. Flash chuckled at the sight, only to spot Twilight coming down the stairs behind him. "Twilight!" Pinkie yelled while waving her hooves, "Come take this extra seat next to me and freak out over the medal count! I'll show you how!" She started bouncing up and down again. "Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh!"

Twilight shook her head, "Actually, I was looking for Spike. Have you seen him?"

The CMC all frowned as Applebloom replied, "He wouldn't come."

"We tried to talk him into it," Sweetie added.

"But he wouldn't listen!" Scootaloo finished.

"You can have his extra seat though," Pinkie said next before looking back at the spot Twilight had been, only to blink at the empty space, "Uh...Twi?"

"She left as soon as Scootaloo finished talking," Flash told her. "Now I think that stallion would like it if you vacated your current standing area." Pinkie shot him a confused look before looking down, seeing the crystal pony who's head she was standing on frowning at her.

"Oops," she hopped off him, "Sorry about that."

Once Pinkie returned to her seat, Flash and Grand continued to patrol the stands as the ice archers drew closer to the end of the match. A few minutes later, the knights walked onto the field near one of the entryways. There, they heard Twilight's voice. "Honestly Spike, I don't see why you're being so hard on yourself." They looked around the side of the entryway and saw them, the two raising an eyebrow when they saw Spike dressed in a hat, coat and shades.

"I let everypony down. Twice. You never let anypony down, so you don't have any idea what that's like."

"Oh please," Flash said to catch their attention. "You have no idea what you're talking about buddy."

"But-"

Flash put his hoof on Spike's mouth. "Stop. Let me tell you how Twilight really is. You were too young to remember, but once when I was first living with Twilight, she fell asleep while working on a diorama and ended up crushing it under her head. You should have seen how embarrassed she was to ask for an exten-OW!" He flinched as his ear was twisted in Twilight's hoof.

"The point," Twilight hissed sharply, "is that the torch got lit, and the aerial relay teams got their medals." She released Flash's ear, "There's no harm, no foul."

"Speak for yourself," Flash grumbled as he rubbed his ear.

Grand then patted Spike's shoulder. "They're right kid. Nopony's perfect. I've made more mistakes than I can count, and some nights I still wake up feeling ashamed about them." He saw Spike was about to say something, "and I'm not just talking about what happened with my son and grandson. I've made even greater mistakes then that before they were even born."

"But...how do you deal with the shame?"

"You accept it," Grand replied as he took the hoof off. "You don't just try and ignore your mistake, you embrace it. You learn from it, and do your best not to make that mistake again."

Spike blinked at the words, but before he could say anything-

"NO!" They all turned to the field and saw what Shining had yelled at. One of the archers had accidently launched an ice arrow into a cloud that was floating above the stadium, slowly freezing it. The process made it heavier, pulling it down to the ground.

The ponies all gasped at the sight, Flash unsheathing his blade before pointing it at the cloud as it illuminated. But before he could fire a Flash Force, Twilight grabbed it the pointed it away from the cloud. "Don't! That thing's a giant prism! It'll just refract your attack back into the crowd!"

Flash growled as he saw a barrage of pegasi fly up to it. "Steer it towards the field, away from the crowds!" Rainbow ordered as she waved at the flying ponies.

"Somepony cut the disabling spell!" Shining commanded.

"There isn't time!" A security guard replied.

Flash removed his blade holder so it wouldn't slow him down. "We really need a knight with fire abilities!" He was about to take off, only to suddenly feel a weight appear on his back. Looking back, he saw Spike sitting on him and looking up at the cloud. He saw determination in his eyes, making him nod before taking off.

"Dash, Fluttershy! Move!" Spike yelled at the pegasi, who all saw him coming. The quickly broke formation as Flash grabbed Spike off his back.

"You got this bud! Do it!" And with all his strength, he threw Spike at the cloud.

Spike took a deep breath, not even noticing everypony in the stadium was watching him, before unleashing the largest stream of fire he had ever released in a single breath. Everypony gasped as the flames struck the ice, melting it with ease as the stadium was now filled with steam.

When the cloud passed, they saw Flash catch Spike on his back. The little dragon then pulled an umbrella out Pinkie style and held it up, seconds before the melted cloud rained down upon them. They landed as the quick downpour ended, the stadium being filled with cheers and applause. Flash looked back to smile at the little dragon. "Hear that Spike? That applause is for you and you alone. You earned it bud." Spike blushed as Flash walked them back to the entryway, all of their friends now waiting for them.

"That was awesome!" Rainbow cheered while the rest gathered around to give the dragon praise and thanks.

Spike then felt himself be tapped on the shoulder, turning to see the three princesses standing behind him. Cadance spoke up first, "I just wanted to thank you personally for saving those ponies and the Games," she then actually bowed as Celestia and Luna nodded. "O Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious." She looked up at him with a smile, "You must be very proud."

Spike turned away, staring at the ground, "I guess."

"YOU GUESS!?" Everypony around yelped in unison.

Spike shrugged. "I just saw what needed to be done and reacted. Just so happens I can breathe fire and...if any of you could do that, you would have done the same." He looked away, his face still one of shame.

Applejack chose this moment to trot over to the dragon. "Forgive me for bein' blunt Spike, but you're not makin' a lick of sense."

Spike shrugged again. "Well, it's just how I feel."

"Wait a second, I think I get it," Twilight tapped his chest. "You keep saying you let everypony down, but we all keep saying you didn't. You know who's disappointed in you, Spike? You. And only you can make it right with you again. What would that take Spike?"

Spike let out a long sigh, "I don't know....can you turn back time? 'Cause I'd sure like a do-over on that opening ceremony." Twilight tapped her chin in thought, only for Flash to step in.

"Nope! Don't you dare Twilight! The last time you messed around with time magic, I ended up with a broken nose and needing a new mane style."

This made Twilight pout as Cadance spoke up. "We can't turn back time, but would you do me the great honor of lighting fireworks in my place at the closing ceremonies tonight?"

Twilight clapped at this, "That's a great idea! Come on Spike, you saved the Crystal Empire twice! I think you can light some fireworks!"

Spike blinked in response, only to nod, "Hmm...I guess I have to at least give it a shot."

"That's the spirit!" Flash told him. "And hey, this time we'll sneak you a match in case you choke again." This statement was met with a burst of flames to the face, resulting in Flash being covered it soot. He coughed out a black cloud, "Or not."





Later, after the field had been dried out, the announcement for the medal count winner was proclaimed. Everypony watched as the flags were raised up their poles, the higher up, the higher the medal count. "We did it!" Pinkie cheered when Ponyville's flag was shown at the very top, Cloudsdale's being only an inch lower. "Ponyville won the medal count, and only by one medal!"

"Hmm...wonder which medal that was?" Rainbow hummed before holding up her silver medal, "Bam!" Fluttershy did the same, the two smiling at one another.

Everypony cheered again as Applejack pulled her little sister into a hug. "How does it feel to have opened the best Equestria Games in Ponyville history, squirt?"

Applebloom giggled back, "Probably as good as it feels to close them!"

Down on the field, the Royal Knights were marching in front of an array of crystal guards. Flash, Springer and Lightning were watching from the sides, Flash a little sad he couldn't be a part of the parade. But this moment wasn't about him, it was about Spike. He watched as the little dragon moved up to the fireworks, a look of concern on his face. "You can do it Spike," he said despite knowing he was too far away to be heard.

However, Spike's face quickly became one of serious determination before unleashing a burst of green fire. The fire lit each fuses, the ponies soon watching as one by one, the rockets taking to the sky. The display was amazing, not a single pony able to look away as the lights illuminated the sky. Flash glanced at the dragon and nodded, Spike nodding back with a smile as he looked back at the sky.

Later that night once everypony was back in their hotel room, Spike would ask to borrow the friendship journal. He would write about how praise from others was worthless if you didn't think you deserved it. Hopefully, Spike would carry this lesson in his heart for a long time.
> Shipping
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville, the citizens still in a euphoric state of bliss due to the town's victory in the Equestria Games that had ended only a week ago. Now, the townsponies were back to their day to day lives. This included the town's resident princess, who was currently helping her friend Pinkie look through several books. "How about this one?" Twilight asked as she levitated another in front of the earth pony, the party pony humming at the sight.

"That could work. Put it in the maybe pile." Twilight rolled her eyes before closing the book and levitating it over to a pile that was twelve books high and had roughly six towers. Beside it was another pile, this one only three books tall with two towers.

"I think this is the first time I've ever seen a pile that's bigger then the no pile. You do realize putting almost every book in that pile doesn't make your search any easier."

"Maybe...but I can't risk missing the perfect recipe because I threw the book it was in away after overlooking it."

Twilight giggled at her response, impressed by Pinkie's enthusiasm. "I have to admit, it's kinda sweet how serious you're taking this. You must have made thousands of cakes before now-"

"Twenty three thousand, seven hundred and eighty two to be exact," Pinkie interrupted as she scanned another book.

"Exactly. So to see you so focused on this one cake is kinda adorable."

"Of course! As with all things involving a party, I have to take it seriously! This is Wild's first birthday in Ponyville, and I need to make sure everything's perfect!" Pinkie let out a long sigh with a warm dreamy look on her face. "He puts so much effort into other ponies' birthdays, so it's only right his own is great!"

Twilight rolled her eyes again with a smile on her lips. Ever since the two had started dating, whenever Wild entered Pinkie's head, she'd get this goofy grin that was usually only preserved for when she saw something delicious for the first time. "Well, we'll just have to keep looking. Luckily, we've got plenty of time. Wild's birthday isn't for another two months."

"Are you kidding?!" Pinkie barked back as she threw another book into the pile, "That's hardly any time at all! I should've started planning this party over a year ago at the latest!"

"But you didn't even know Wild a year ago."

"That's no excuse!" Pinkie yelled as she took another book, pointing at the princess, "When it comes to parties, you need to be prepared, and then prepared again! That is why-" her voice stopped as they heard a click, their heads turning to see Flash and Springer walk into the building. "Hey guys, have fun training?"

"About the same amount of fun as usual," Flash replied as he pointed his head at his partner, "Would have helped if a certain somepony had his head in the game." Pinkie and Twilight saw what he meant when they saw Springer, a pouty expression now on his face.

"Oh dear, that's not good." Pinkie put the book aside and bounced over to the jakhowl, patting his head, "What's the matter? Tell your auntie Pinkie Pie all about it."

Springer let out a long huff and growled, "Magma and Blizzard are getting together." This statement caused Twilight and Pinkie blink at each other.

"Err...come again?"

Flash rolled his eyes. "He's talking about his Kamen Pony comic. Two of the characters are about to get together."

"That's...good, isn't it?" Twilight asked with a half-frown.

"No!" Springer almost yelled, "It's coming completely out of nowhere! Blizzard obviously belongs with Storm, so why are they pushing this angle!"

A look of realization appeared on Twilight's face, Flash giving her a nod that confirmed her suspicions, "Oh. You're angry because your ship is sinking, aren't you?"

"Ship?" Pinkie turned to Flash, "Nopony told me Springer has a boat! And what does it have to do with comic book characters?"

Twilight released a gentle chuckle, "Not that kind of ship Pinkie. A ship is what you call the idea of a pair of fictional characters getting together."

Pinkie blinked at this, her head tilting, "But why call it a ship?"

Flash and Twilight both opened their mouths, only for no sound to come out. They gave a worried expression next, Twilight rubbing her chin as she started to explain, "Um...well...think of it like this. What do you think would happen if you put a mare and a stallion, who have a lot in common and get on really well, onto a boat in the middle of the ocean?"

Pinkie tapped her chin, a nod following. "Umm...they'd starve?"

The others all anime fell, Flash moaned as he got back up, "And they have enough food and water to last them until they get back to shore Pinkie. That part doesn't matter."

"Oh....okay!" Pinkie tapped her chin again, an imaginary math equation appearing above her head, "Hmm...I guess they'd try to sail home."

"And what would they do while they're sailing home?" Twilight added.

"Err...are there games?"

"No."

"Books?"

"No!"

"Musical instruments?"

"There's nothing on the boat other than the ponies and their food!"

"Oh...then I guess they'd have to talk."

Twilight let out a long sigh, glad to finally get somewhere. "Exactly. And what do you think would happen if two ponies who had a lot in common spent several days talking to one another?"

"They'd...become really good friends." Twilight's head slumped, her hooves on her head.

Flash tapped Twilight's shoulder, "Let me give it a try." He turned to his party loving friend, "Pinkie?"

"Flash?"

"Imagine if the ponies on the boat were...Soarin and Rainbow before they got together."

"Don't they have wi-"

"Their wings are broken! Now, if Soarin and Rainbow had been stuck on a boat before they become a couple, then what would have happened if they had to spend several days on a boat."

"Or Fluttershy and Iron," Twilight interjected. "Or...even you and Wild before you started dating."

Pinkie did as she was told, imagining what would happen it the three groups of ponies they were talking about were stuck on a boat. One by one, the scenarios played out in the exact same way. "Oh...Ooooh."

Both Flash and Twilight sighed in relief. "Thank Celestia," they said in union.

"So shipping means putting two ponies on a boat and making them make-out?"

"Not in that literal of an extreme," Twilight explained as she patted her friend with a wing. "Its a couple you think would end up falling for each other if they were in that scenario."

"And it doesn't even have to be fictional characters. Remember the Big Mac, Cheerilee problem on Hearts and Hooves Day?" Pinkie laughed at that memory, remembering the massive hole she came back to find at the bakery. "My point is, it happened because my sister and her friends were shipping those two."

This statement made Pinkie blink, her brain starting to go in overdrive as she thought about all the ponies she knew. As she did this, Flash walked over to the large pile of books she and Twilight had created. He then noticed one at the bottom and started sliding it out, only for the tower to start rocking.

"Flash!" Twilight yelped as she tried to stop him, only for him to pull the book out. This was followed by a loud assortment of thuds, the book pile collapsing on the duo. And as they struggled to get out of the pile, both heads popped out with spirals in their eyes. Twilight then took this moment to shoot Flash a dirty look, the apprentice knight replying with his own trademarked smirk that caused Twilight to roll her eyes with a smile.

Pinkie slowly dropped her jaw at the sight, a steady gasp following as her brain drew a pink crayon heart around the two. She started envisioning the ship scenario, the two standing alone on the deck as the boat sailed across the ocean. The sun started to set below the horizon, their lips leaning closer and closer...

She let out a high pitched squeal at the mental picture, catching the attention of the three others in the room. "Pinkie, you okay?"

Pinkie's mental bubble popped as she looked back at the two. "Oh...yeah. Right. I'm fine. Listen, I uh...gotta get going."

"Going?" Twilight asked with a tilted head, "But what about your cake recipe search?"

"Oh..." Pinkie quickly snagged one of the books that had toppled over, "This one'll do. So anyways, I got places to be and ponies to see. Bye!" With that, she shot off so fast that she left a Pinkie Pie shaped dust cloud that quickly faded.

Flash, Twilight and Springer all shared a confused look, soon shrugging it off as Pinkie being...Pinkie. "Right...welp, now that that's over, you two can help me re-shelve these books." This caused Flash and Springer to both moan.

"I wasn't even the one who knocked them all over!" Springer complained.

"Maybe, but you're still helping." Springer shot his partner a dark look, the pegasus replying with a nervous smile as they started grabbing and shuffling books.





Later that day...

Applejack and Rarity were walking towards Sugarcube Corner, the two having received a message from Pinkie Pie to meet her in her room. And as they arrived at the bakery's doorstep, they spotted Fluttershy and Rainbow flying down to the building.

"You two get a message to show up as too?" Rainbow asked.

"Eeyup. Any idea what Pinkie wants to talk about?"

"It must be important if she called us all here," Rarity added as she batted back her hair.

Fluttershy put her hooves over her mouth, "Oh dear, you don't think she and Wild broke up, do you? Oh, that would devastate her."

"I doubt its anything that serious," Rarity replied as she let out a small cough. "If that had really happened, I don't think her message would have been written the way it was. I suspect it was the same for the rest of you?"

Earlier...

Rarity had been enjoying a calming cup of tea, having slept-in due to needing to work late on finishing her next order. There, a pink paper airplane flew in through her open window, landing right in front of her. The unicorn raised an eyebrow at this before putting down her tea and picking up the paper, unfolding it as she rubbed her chin in thought.



Dear Rarity,

I need to talk to you about a matter most urgent. Meet me at my place as soon as you can.

Signed, Pinkamena Diane Pie.

PS. This message will self destruct fifteen seconds after ope-



BOOM!

A puff of smoke now covered Rarity's head as the letter faded away. It soon vanished to reveal a deadpanned look on Rarity's face, along with a sheet of soot. A cough followed this, "Oh dear..."

The Present...

The others all nodded, confirming they had gotten the exact same message and suffered through the exact same explosion. "If Pinkie and Wild had broken up, I doubt she'd have the energy to rig four exploding paper airplanes."

"You're right," Fluttershy added as she wiped her forehead. "Thank goodness."

"So...what does she want us here for?" Rainbow asked next.

"Only one way to find out," Applejack stepped into the bakery and found the Cakes along with their twin foals. "Hay y'all."

"Hello dearies. Pinkie told us you'd be dropping by."

"You know where she is?"

Mrs. Cake pointed to the ceiling, "Up in her room. She said something about serious planning." The four nodded and headed up the stairs.

Rainbow knocked first, "Hey Pinkie, you in there?" Seconds passed with no answer. Rainbow was about to knock again, but the sound of several loud crashes made them stop and jump back. Then, the door opened with Pinkie's head popping out through the gap.

"Oh good! You're all here!" she opened the door fully, "Come on in." She stepped aside and allowed them in, the four all going wide eyed when they found her room's walls were plastered with drawings, timelines and other detailed papers.

"Err...Pinkie?" Rarity spoke up. "May I ask what all this is?"

Rainbow nodded, "Yeah. And why did you send us those messages?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Pinkie asked, the four all shaking their heads no. "I'm making a detailed plan for Flash and Twilight's relationship!"

"RELATIONSHIP?!" The four yelped in unison. "WHAT RELATIONSHIP?!"

"The one we're gonna help them realize they want to be in, duh!"

The four all glanced at each other, looks of uncertainty on every face before Rarity went up and patted Pinkie's shoulder, "Pinkie darling, what are you ever talking about? We can't make Twilight and Flash into a couple."

"Why not? Hooves up who thinks the two belong together more than cake and frosting?" This question was met with dead air. That is, till Fluttershy raised a hoof. This was followed by Applejack's hoof, then Rainbow's. Finally, Rarity sighed and raised her hoof. "Exactly! The two are perfect for each other. One, a bookworm who started off anti-social, the other, a great knight who follows his heart. Alone they are nothing, but together they bring out the best in each other. They're a match made in heaven!"

"Even so," Rarity interrupted while shaking her head. "We can't just make them fall in love Pinkie."

"Oh please, they're already in love. We just have to make them realize it. I have it all planned out." Pinkie went over to a long piece of paper that was stuck to the wall, taking it off and showing it to the four. Taking a closer look, they saw a line with dates connected to it, all with several crayon drawings surrounding them. "First, they fall in love. Then, Flash asks Twilight out and they share their first kiss during a beautiful sunset. They start dating for several months before getting engaged, followed by a huge wedding on par with Cadance and Shining's-"

"Minus the changelings," Rainbow pointed to a drawing of a changeling with a red X drawn over it.

"Yup!" she then pointed to the picture of a foal carriage. "After that, a little prince or princess is born and they become best friends with our foals."

"Ain't ya'll overthinking all this?" Applejack asked while tipping her hat upward. "How do yah know they even want foals?"

"Who doesn't want foals?" Pinkie replied.

Rarity then spoke up. "And do you really think Flash would propose after only a few months? He may want to wait a year or two before popping the question."

"We can burn that bridge when we get to it. Right now, we just have to get this ship sailing."

"Ship?" Fluttershy asked with a tilt of the head.

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "The terminology used when you mentally pair one pony up with another, duh."

"Oh..."

Applejack shook her head as she placed a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder, "Listen sugarcube, ah want Flash and Twilight together as much as the next pony, but ya'll can't just...force two ponies together like that. It has to be somethin' they figure out fer themselves."

"Applejack's not wrong." Rarity added as she rubbed her chin in thought, "But...to be completely honest, I guess it couldn't hurt to at least try and help them realize their affection for one another."

Rainbow flew up next to her with crossed hooves, "You can't be serious. You do realize what you're implying, right?"

Rarity replied with her trademark smile. "Oh, but I am serious. I'm not saying we do it to an extreme that Pinkie is suggesting, but we could at least put the two into a situation where they can finally realize how much they care about each other."

"Exactly!" Pinkie cheered as she pointed at her list. "If we leave it to them, they might never figure it out! Then when they're old and gray, they'll figure out their mistake, but it'll be too late to do anything about it! No foals, no grandfoals, no great grandfoals….all because we didn't help them get together!" She placed both hooves on Applejack's shoulders and began to shake her, "Do you want that Applejack?!" Her shaking became more violent, "Do you want that?!"

"Alright, alright!" Applejack barked back, making Pinkie release her as the farm pony backpedaled from the shaking. "Alright...we can try if ya'll really want. Though ah can't help but think this won't be easy."

"Yay!" Pinkie exclaimed while jumping six feet into the air, Rarity now turning to Rainbow and Fluttershy.

"What about you two? Do you wish to help us in this little endeavor?"

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders, "Sure, why not?"

Fluttershy's face turned to a shade of light pink, "It would be nice to know we helped them finally discover how they truly feel."

"Yeah...and maybe we should get Princess Cadance to help!" Pinkie suggested as she floated back to earth. "She is the Princess of Love. She must have tons of idea for getting two ponies together!"

Rarity crossed her hooves at this, "Maybe...but even if she wanted to help, I doubt she could. There's supposed be a royal summit taking place next week, so I'm sure she'll be extremely busy with its preparations."

Pinkie's mane slightly deflated at this, "Oh...yeah, you're right."

Applejack took this moment to chime in. "Now hold on there. Ah don't see why we can't write to her for advice."

Rarity nodded at this, "True. We just need a quick way to get in touch with her."

It was here that a knock at the door sounded out, the wooden frame opening to reveal a certain purple dragon. "Hey, sorry I'm late. Twilight wouldn't let me leave until all the books were properly shelved. So, what's the urgent matter?" His question went unanswered as the four girls all gave him a knowing smirk. "What?"





The next day...

It was another beautiful day at the defenders' canyon training ground. At this moment, Flash and Springer were sparing against Iron and Lightning.

"Gatling Spark!" Lightning yelled as he unleashed a barrage of electric bullets, only for Flash to jump behind Springer.

"Aura Guard!" The protective bubble appeared around the duo, blocking the attack with ease. But as the shield dropped, Iron charged ahead with Piecemaker in hoof.

"Iron Saber!" He swung his blade at the jakhowl, causing Flash to block it with his own sword.

Flash smirked as Lightbringer began to glow before he pushed Iron back, "Flash Cutter!" The light blade shot out, only for Iron to change his sword into a shield seconds before the attack hit. Flash then leapt into the air, "Now!" Springer nodded before creating an Aura Blast, which he tossed up at Flash. "Here goes...special combo move!" He slammed his glowing blade into the Aura Blast, propelling it back down at Iron and Lightning.

The two watched as the sphere was enveloped by the light, making them tense up, only for the two forces to completely vanish. They all raised an eyebrow at this, Flash then letting out a huge sigh, "Augh! Its another goof....and I was so sure we'd have it this time!" And as Flash started to flutter down, everyone's eyes noticed something flying over the canyon. Seeing this, Flash grabbed the object, revealing it to be a paper airplane.

"What that?" Springer asked as Flash flew down, the pegasus opening it up.

"Let's see...Dear Flash, the girls and I are all going to have lunch together at Café Sabot. If you're not busy, feel free to come too. P.S-"

Boom!

Flash blinked as his face was now covered in soot from the explosion. He then released a cough, letting out a cloud of smoke. "Should have seen that one coming."

Lightning raised an eyebrow at this, "Café Sabot, huh? That's gotta be the fanciest dinning place in all of Ponyville. And that's saying something since I'm a Canterlot colt."

"Huh. Well, you guys wanna come?" Flash asked next.

Springer nodded, "I could eat."

"Same," Iron and Lightning agreed as the four picked up their equipment and made their way back to town. But no sooner had they stepped hoof back in Ponyville, Wild and his puppets suddenly showed up.

"Lightning! Hey bud!"

"Hey bud, hey bud."

"Hey, what's up?"

"We just got a letter from Script. Figured you'd wanna read it."

"Cool," Lightning added as he leaned up to his friend, "Where is it?"

"It's right...huh?" Wild reached into his bag and kept fumbling around. "Hmm....must have left it at home."

"Of course." Lightning huffed before turning to the others, "You three go ahead. I'll meet you at the place." They nodded before his horn sparked, making him disappear as Wild began to walk off.

"Hey Wild, wanna join us for lunch? Pinkie's gonna be there."

"Sorry, but I've already got plans. I'll head over there as soon as I'm done." With that, he ran off, making them glance at each other before shrugging.

Continuing on their way, when the group was only a few blocks away from the restaurant, Fluttershy suddenly flew around the corner, a look of pure worry on her face. The sight made Iron tilt his head, "Hey shrimp. Something wrong?"

"Oh...hello everypony," the pegasus did a small bow, "You haven't seen Angel anywhere, have you?"

Flash shook his head, "No. Why?"

"Well, I was gonna give him his monthly flea bath, but he ran off. I've been looking all over for him. I need to find him because if he doesn't get his bath, he'll spread his fleas all over Ponyville." She turned to Iron, "Can you...um-"

"I'll help look for him," Iron replied before Fluttershy hugged him back. As this finished, she turned to Springer.

"I'll look for his aura."

"Me too," Flash added. "Let me help ya."

"Oh, no!" Fluttershy responded, a little more excited than she should have been. "I mean...somepony needs to tell the others the rest of us might be late."

"Oh, alright. If you're sure you don't need my help."

"I'm sure. Feel free to order without us. If it takes too long, I'll treat them to something at my place." With that, the three left Flash on his own. The Pegasus blinked at the sight, a small lonely sigh following this.

"Huh...guess I'm going solo today." he shrugged as he made his way to the restaurant, soon spotting Twilight at a table. "Hey."

"Hey," Twilight smiled back before looking around, "Springer and the others aren't coming?"

"Soon," he responded as he started to explain where the others were.

Hearing this, Twilight nodded, "Huh. That's too bad. But I'm sure they won't be too long. We'll just have to save them a seat."

"Yup."

In that moment, Savoir Fare stepped up to their table. "Can I take your order?" he said in an exaggerated French accent.

"Oh, sorry but, we're still waiting for our friends to show up." The pony nodded before turning away.

While this happened, behind several bushes a bit away from the place, four of the mane seven were now watching the two. "Oh goodie!" Pinkie almost squealed, "Things look like they're going good."

In that moment, Wild and Lightning walked up to them, all while being careful to not draw attention to themselves. "Alright, I got him here." This resulted in Pinkie giving Wild a kiss on the cheek.

"You're the best!"

"What the heck is going on?" Lightning asked.

"That's what we'd like to know," they turned to see Iron, Springer and Fluttershy. "Fluttershy just said something about boating Sentry and Sparkle."

"Shipping dear," Rarity corrected before explaining what they were doing. "And then we sent Princess Cadance a letter, which resulted in-"

Yesterday...

After the girls explained their plan to Spike, they had him write and send a letter to the princess of love.

"So how long do you think it'll be before she writes back?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, who knows darling. Cadance is a very busy pony. She might not even get to read our letter for days, let alone-"

"BURRRRP!" Spike belched out a load of ash, which spiraled into a scroll.

"Then again, "Rarity grabbed it in her magic, unfurling it. "Perhaps not. Let's see here..."



Dear girls.

I'm so happy that you all want to help those two figure out their feelings. As you know, they're so hopelessly oblivious-



This made Rainbow, Pinkie and Spike all snicker, causing Rarity to shush them before continuing to read. She then skipped ahead to the point where the advice actually started.



The biggest issue the two are facing is that they don't have any time to actually spend alone together. Whenever the two are together, it's usually when somepony else is there or they're in a situation that requires the two to focus on something else. It also doesn't help with Springer, Scootaloo or Spike being there, which may also interfere. My advice would be to find a way for them to be alone together for an extended period of time. Either have them be out for a romantic dinner, or a picnic. Granted, I've done this in the past...but I will admit I did when it was too early. They were too young at the time to figure it out...and they still had Celestia and Grand to interrupt them, mainly Grand. As such, as long as they only have each other to talk to, then I see no reason why it can't work.

Yours sincerely, Princess Cadance.

P.S. Please tell me the results as soon as possible. I've wasted too many years trying to get those two together! In fact, they're the only couple I had to give up on, and you will not believe how many-



"I think that's enough." Rarity added as she furled up the letter. "Alright, we have a plan. We need to get them alone together, with no Spike, no Springer, no Scootaloo, no everypony. Just the two of them, on their own, in a romantic setting." She looked down at the drake, "No offense darling."

"Its cool."

"Alright, we have an idea now." Applejack piped in, "But how are we gonna get them in that kinda shindig?"

Rarity hummed for a moment, only for a light-bulb to appear above her head. "Idea!"

The Present...

"And this was your idea?" Lightning asked with a raised eyebrow, Rarity nodding back before returning her focus to the two.

"Time to put the plan into phase two," she nodded at Pinkie. The earth pony gestured back before pulling out two flags, which she started waving in rapid succession.

Further down the street, three little fillies spotted the flags and started heading down the street. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom spotted their targets, Scootaloo trotting up to them, "Hey bro!"

Flash smiled at the sight of his sister, "Hey Scoots. What's up?"

"Rainbow asked me to tell you she couldn't make it to lunch. Wonderbolt reserve meeting just came up."

"Oh, that's too bad."

"And Applejack's busy too," Applebloom added. "Granny Smith threw her back out, so everypony's gotta do her chores."

Flash cringed at this, "Ouch. Welp, tell her we hope she gets better soon. And make sure Applejack doesn't overexert herself, especially since we don't want another bunny stampede." The three giggled before Sweetie handed a note to Twilight.

"Rarity asked me to give this to you." Twilight nodded and took the note as the three ran off.

"Sorry darling, but a large order came in moments before I was about to leave. Don't worry about me, just enjoy your luncheon. Sincerely, Rarity."

"What are the chances all our friends would end up busy?" Flash asked as he put his hooves behind his head. "What's next? Pinkie sending another of her airplanes?" In that moment, said object landed in front of the two. Flash's eyes went wide before pushing it towards the princess, "Here you go."

Twilight gave him a confused look before opening the note. "Sorry everypony, but I've come down with Pinkie Pox. No need to worry, will get over it quickly but won't be able to make it to lunch. Have fun and don't bother researching Pinkie Pox." She looked up and saw Flash was shielding himself with a menu, "What are you doing?"

Flash just did a small shrug, "Hearing that makes me just want to eat, so I'm just seeing what their special is. Oh, sweet! Onion spring rolls...sounds nice."

He licked his lips while Twilight opened her own menu, her own shrug happening, "Guess you're right. Might as well order something."

Over in the bushes, the group watched while snacking on the treats Pinkie had packed for them. "Phase two is working. Onto phase three."

In that moment, the CMC walked over to them, Applebloom asking, "How's it going?"

"Give it a moment," Applejack told her as they saw a certain pony and her violin arrive right on cue.

"Hello Octavia," Twilight added as she looked up at the musician. "Are you playing here today?"

"Oh yes," the musician replied. "The restaurant often invites me here to play." She unpacked her instrument and started playing a particular song, Twilight and Flash both smiling at the tune.





"I know that song," Spike piped in. "It's Twilight's parents' wedding song."

Rarity nodded at this. "Cadance suggested it. She figured hearing her parents' song might get Twilight in a romantic mood."

"Smart," Springer replied as he scanned their auras. "It definitely seems to be working. I can feel her getting...a mushy feeling."

"What about Flash?" Rainbow asked next.

"He's just enjoying the music."

"Give him time," Rarity said while turning to Pinkie. "Is the listening device ready?" The earth pony put her hoof into her mane, pulling out a pair of headphones and a speaker.

"Of course," she plugged the headphones into the speaker, Flash and Twilight's voices caming out of it.

"So how was training today?"

They heard Flash sigh before saying, "Not bad. Springer and I still can't seem to get that combo move right. The light is mixing with the attack, but it seems to just make it vanish quicker."

"Eh, you'll get it. Eventually."

"Maybe, but I'd like to have it ready before I really need it. With our luck, we'll probably end up fighting some super big bad soon enough."

"Don't remind me."

"Sorry. So, how's the research with the chest going? With all the stuff that's been happening, I can't imagine you've gotten much done."

This time, Twilight was the one sighing. "No, I haven't made any progress. The tree must have given it to me for a reason...but nothing I do with it works. I even tried casting a locksmith spell to create keys that fit perfectly into the keyholes, and that didn't work. Not only that, any research on the tree resulted in even less clues. All I found was some weird groove in the tree."

"Really? Why would that be there?"

"Not sure...there's no evidence of...well, anything related to the box."

As they continued to talk, the ones listening in all frowned. "This ain't sounding very romantic," Applejack commented. "In fact, its kinda boring."

"Give it time darling," Rarity told her. "The date's just started. I'm sure they'll go onto more romantic topics soon enough. Trust me-"

"AAAHHH!" The group flinched as Twilight let out a high pitched scream, which blasted through the speaker. They looked back at the duo and saw Twilight had fallen off her chair, looking absolutely terrified. The ponies all raised an eyebrow at this, until Spike released an exhausted sigh and pointed at something Flash had just picked up off the table.

"A ladybug?" Fluttershy asked in confusion as Flash released the insect into the air.

Spike let out a long groan, "Twilight's terrified of them. A swarm apparently got into her house when she was a filly. Shining also said their black spots were extra eyes as a joke that Twilight...took way too seriously."

"But they're so cute." Sweetie whimpered, to which Spike just shrugged.

Rarity tapped her hoof, getting everypony's attention, "More to the point, look what getting rid of the bugs did." They turned back to the two and saw Flash help Twilight back into her chair, comforting her as she shook like a leaf. His words seemed to sooth her, making her smile as their food finally arrived. "Thank you ladybug. I'm sure they'll be kissing any moment."

And so, they watched as the two ate, spoke, ate, laughed and ate some more. Things seemed to be going well, till a light green earth pony colt that appeared to be only two or three years older than the crusaders trotted past them. It was here that his eyes spotted Flash, causing him to gasp before racing over to the defender.

"What's he doing?" Rarity asked as she squinted her eyes. "This isn't one of the phases." They listened to the speaker as the pony wagged its tail in front of Flash.

"Wow! You're Flash Sentry!"

"Err...yeah, I am."

"Hi, I'm Sandbar! My family just moved to Ponyville and I've heard all about you. You're an apprentice knight, the one who won The Battle of Canterlot!"

"Well, it wasn't exactly a competition," they watched as a smug expression appeared on his face. "But yeah, I guess I technically won it."

"You also helped stop that Changeling invasion and took down Doom Raizer!"

"He had help you know," Iron mumbled while Springer nodded.

"Can I have your autograph?"

"Uh...sure." Flash wrote on a napkin and handed it to the colt, who hugged it to his chest before running off while saying thanks.

Rarity shook her head, "Oookay. That was a little setback, but I'm sure that's the only-"

"Wow!" They turned to see a pair of fillies run up to Twilight, "Its Princess Twilight!"

Twilight giggled at the sight, "Hello little ones."

"You're so amazing!"

"How can we become princesses like you?"

"You can start by studying really really hard," Twilight replied, only to get a moan from the pair.

Lightning turned to Rarity. "I think I spotted a small flaw in your plan."

"Oh dear. I believe I see your point Lightning." Rarity moaned as they continued to watch more and more ponies come up to the pair, distracting them the entire time. And as they finished their lunch and paid, the group were hoping they would take a romantic walk....only for them to give goodbyes and walk off in different directions.

"Well that was a disaster," Applejack commented as she crossed her hooves.

"Those two are too popular for their own good," Springer moaned while Pinkie's mane deflated.

Rarity stomped her hoof, "Well, I don't give up that easily. There has to be a way!"

"So what do we do?" Wild asked as he re-inflated Pinkie with an air pump.

Everypony opened their mouths...but nothing came out. That is, till a certain voice spoke up from above them. "Well, if you ask me, you weren't going extreme enough." They all looked up, right into the eyes of a certain draconequus.

"Discord?!" Iron growled as the others backpedaled at the sight, "What are you doing here?!"

"Is it so wrong of me to come pay my good friends a visit?" He asked as he floated down. "Besides, Flash said I could come whenever I want as long as I don't annoy ponies."

"Well...that's true," Lightning replied as he reached for one of his daggers, "But-"

"You just straight up surprised us, and now I'm guessing you want to annoy us." Rainbow interrupted as she pointed at the creature of chaos, "We're busy Discord. Leave us alone."

"Yes, I saw." He snapped his fingers, changing into a cupid guise, "You're trying to get the love birds together." He fired a heart shaped arrow into the sky, only for it instantly hit the earth. "How fiendishly manipulative....and fun."

"And let me guess," Applejack grumbled. "Ya'll wanna help."

"Is that so wrong?" Discord asked as he changed back to normal. "And you have to admit, my powers would make it a lot easier for you to ship them."

"How'd you know about that phrase?" Pinkie asked next.

"I read the chapter title, and I'll show you how to do it later Pinkie. Now..." he put both hands under his chin and batted his eyes, "Do you want my help or not?"

The group glanced at each other, uncertainty on most faces until Fluttershy gave them a passionate nod. Seeing this, Rarity let out a sigh as she turned back to Discord, "Alright Discord, you may assist us. But you have to run everything you plan on doing by us, we clear?"

Discord morphed into a crystal statue of himself, making them roll their eyes at the sight. "But of course!" He morphed back, only to start multiplying himself as he whispered into each individual's ears, "You were on the right track, but lacked a little foresight. Here's my idea..."





The next morning...

Flash let out a soft yawn as he raised his head up, his eyes cracking open. "Mmmm...morning Springer." he moaned out as he blinked his eyes. The sound of soft waves graced his ears as he felt them twitch, causing him to stretch out his hooves, "Springer? Are you...huh?"

His eyes shot open as he put his hooves down, now feeling a hammock instead of his mattress. The defender then felt the boat rock, causing him to twitch slightly as he started darting his eyes around, "What the heck?!"

He then turned his head and saw another hammock, now seeing a snoozing occupant in it. "Twilight? What is..."

She let out a small snore, her hooves moving like she was turning a page of a book. Small mumbles followed, all about lockpicking spells she had just read. Below her was several wooden chests, along with some covers that had fallen off of the princess during her tossing and turning. After a minute of pulling himself free from the hammock, he trotted over to Twilight and began to shake her. "Twilight! Twilight, wake up!"

Twilight moaned as her eyes slowly fluttered open. "Flash?" They opened a little more, her head lazily lifting off of the hammock. "What are you doing in my room?"

"We're not in your room, and before you ask, we're not in the library. Sweet Celestia, we're not even in Ponyville right now."

"Huh?" Twilight muttered out as she stared at him like he was insane, only to turn and see what he meant. "WHAT!?" She leapt out of the hammock, remained in the air for a good five seconds before falling to the floor with a thud. She moaned as she picked herself up, rubbing the back of her head while Flash trotted up to her.

"You alright?"

Twilight nodded as he helped her up, "I'll be even better once I find out where the heck we are."

"Well, it's some kind of ship."

"I can see that. Come on, let's get above deck." The duo trotted up the starts, soon seeing they were on a mid-sized sailboat that was anchored in the middle of the ocean. The was no clear vision of land in sight, showing it would take days to sail back to Equestria.

"Welp, this is bad."

"Don't be so sure." Twilight's horn started to glow, "You're forgetting who you're with. I'll just teleport us home, and then we can figure out who put us here." With that, the two were enveloped by her magic, blinding both in the purple light.

But when it faded and they opened their eyes, they saw they were still on the boat. "What?!" Twilight tapped her horn a few times before attempting the spell again, only to result in the same outcome. She tried three more times, all failures as well. "What the heck?! What's happening?!"

"Looks like we're flying home," Flash spread his wings and took to the sky. But a he flew just a few inches from the boat, he yelped out as he a sudden invisible wall. "OW!" He cried as he face was smushed into the barrier, his body peeling itself off with the sound of ripping duct tape before falling back down to the deck. "Well, that didn't work."

Twilight stepped over to the edge of the boat and held a hoof out, feeling the barrier that Flash had hit. "This is...runes. And a lot of them. Stacks of rune magic...I can't tell how many."

"That probably explains why you can't teleport," Flash said as he rubbed his head. "Think you can undo it?"

Twilight shook her head. "I'd need to see the formula. But if it was placed on the ship's hull, then there's nothing I can do."

"Great...so we're stuck here without anyway to get home."

"Don't be so sure." Twilight responded as she went up to the ship's wheel. There, she spotted a compass weighing down a folded piece of paper. She took the compass and unfurled the paper, revealing a map that showed the Equestrian coastline and a small red dot with the words 'you are here'. "Well, it seems whoever put us here wasn't trying to make us lost."

"Dats ood," she looked up at Flash with a raised eyebrow, only to see him chowing down on a chocolate bar.

"Where'd you get that?" Flash pointed at a nearby chest, which Twilight now saw was filled with chocolate bars. "Well, at least we won't have to worry about starving. Are there any more food chests?"

Flash rubbed his chin, shrugging afterword, "I'll go below and see what we've got to work with."

"And I'll start plotting a course."





Back in Ponyville, Discord and the rest of the mane seven were in the library along with Spike, Springer and the CMC. They watching what was happening on the boat, via magic movie projector that the draconequus had rigged up with a live feed.

"This is going great," Pinkie commented as she snacked on a bunch of nachos.

Rarity let out a glum hum, "Don't you think we've taken this a bit too far?"

"Oh, don't be such a party pooper," Discord replied as he 'sipped' up a cup of chocolate milk. "You wanted them alone, and how much more alone can they be?"

Applejack shook her head, "Ah guess. They've got enough food and water to last, right?"

"Of course," Discord replied before snapping his fingers and materializing a scroll. "Here's a list of everything on that ship."

Applejack took the scroll and began reading the contents out loud. "Over a hundred bottles of water, fifty chocolate bars, one hundred Sweet Apple Acres apples-" She stopped and gave Discord a dirty look, "You'd better have paid for those." She looked back at the list, only to go wide-eyed, "Uh-oh."

"Problem?" Discord asked, only for the scroll to be shoved in his face.

"Why'd you put those on the boat?" Applejack asked as she pointed to the item in question.

Discord cocked an eyebrow. "What? Flash said he doesn't get to have them very often."

"There's a reason for that, and that reason is on the boat with him!"





"AAAAAHHHHH!" Twilight screamed as she saw what was in one of the chests.

Flash was beside her in a...flash, "What?" He looked into the chest, gulping at the sight, "Uh-oh."

"Get them off this boat!" Twilight engulfed the chest in her magic, screaming as she tried to toss them overboard, only for the chest to bounce off the forcefield. The following motion made the box spill its contents, showing a mess of quesadillas.

"Don't worry, I'll get rid of them." Flash admitted as he started shoving them into his mouth. Ten minutes later, the chest was empty as Flash laid on his back with an oversized stomach. "Ooooh...that's a lot cheese."

Twilight giggled at the sight, stroking his mane. "Thank you."

"No problem," Flash replied while releasing a cloud of cheesy breath right into her face. The alicorn took a whiff of it, making her go green as she put her hoof in her mouth. "Sorry."

Back at the library...

Everyopny was laughing, tears starting to appear in their eyes as Scootaloo clapped her hooves, "Okay, that was funny! Though...I do wonder what those things even taste like..." Her question was answered when a silver platter appeared in front of her, covered in the cheesy delicacy. She and her friends, including Spike and Springer, took one and all moaned in delight. "Not bad."

"Don't see why she has a problem with these," Springer added as he took a bite. "These are good."

"A question for later," Rarity interrupted as she pointed at the screen. "I think they're about to start talking."

Back at the boat...

Once Flash had recovered, he unfurled the sail of the boat while Twilight lifted the anchor. A quick wind spell into the sails and they were off, Twilight having plotted a route home thanks to the map and compass. Thanks to this, they had nothing to do except sit back and watch the clouds above them take shape.

"Alright," Twilight said once the wheel was locked in place. "That should do it. We're good to go."

"Good..." Flash sat down while taking a sip from a bottle of water. "Now all we have to do is wait."

"Waiting....yeah, that's the fun part." Twilight sat down beside him, letting out a small sigh, "Sure wish I had a book with me."

"Eh, don't worry about it. We'll soon be back to the house."

"Yeah..."

It was here that they laid down, looking up at the sky in comfortable silence. And as they did this, the ones watching to slowly become bored, now seeing that Twilight and Flash...wouldn't talk at all. They just laid there, nothing happening at all. Seeing this, it wasn't long till a few were about to ask Discord to make the boat do something that would break the silence.

Thankfully, Flash broke it as he turned to his shipmate. "You ever stop and think and...realize that our lives are kinda freakin' weird?" This question got a confused look from Twilight while their viewers all anime fell.

"That came out of left field," Twilight commented as she raised an eyebrow.

Flash just shrugged. "Not really. Its just this whole scenario's got me thinking. When we first met, I was just a thief and you were the princess's newest student. Can you honestly say that back then you knew you were gonna end up fighting against demented alicorns, psychotic chaos spirits, shape shifting insects or malevolent shadow ponies?"

Twilight thought back to when she was the little filly who bumped into Flash that day. Back then, all she cared about was learning everything she could about magic, not seeing anything else being as important. If somepony had told her about all the adventures she'd go on, she'd call them crazy and probably ask them to let her do a scan on their brain. "Guess you got a point. Even so, I wouldn't want to change anything about it."

"Me neither," Flash admitted as he let out a long, happy sigh. "But imagine if something did change. Imagine if on that day, I wasn't in the park at that time. We never would have become friends."

"You never would have come to live with us," Twilight continued.

"I'd never have become Grand's student."

"And you wouldn't have come with me to Ponyville and met all our friends. Springer might have been eaten by the Timberwolves, Scootaloo would still be living in the orphanage and...Celestia knows what else would be different."

"Yeah..." Flash stared at the sky, "it's been was heck of a crazy ride. But like you said, there ain't one thing I'd change about it. Heck, if I woke up tomorrow ten years in the past, I'd do everything exactly the same."

"Everything?" Twilight turned to give him a quizzical look, "Even the mistakes?"

Flash chuckled back. "Of course! I mean, why wouldn't I? They're what made me who I am. Like what Grand told Spike at the Equestria Games, you don't just try and ignore your mistakes. You embrace them, learn from them, and do your best not to make them."

Twilight rubbed her chin, only to giggle, "You know...you're right. What's that old saying? Wisdom is just the name we give our mistakes?"

"Truer words were never spoken." The two laughed at this, silence soon following again. It was here that Twilight leaned her head against Flash's shoulder.

"You know...if I could relive my whole life knowing what I know now, there is one thing I would change about it."

"Oh yeah? What?"

Twilight lifted her head off his shoulder, a big smile on her face. "I'd try and meet you sooner. Try to make you apart of our family sooner."

"I...thanks Twilight." Flash barely replied as the two now stared into each others' eyes.





"This is it!" Pinkie cheered with pom-poms.

Rarity shot a glare at Discord. "Please tell me you're recording this."

"Every second," the chaos lord replied as the rest glued their eyes to the screen, watching as Flash and Twilight unconsciously drew their faces closer and closer. And just as they were inches away, the viewers' hearts beating a mile a minute, the entire ship violently rocked against something, knocking both away from one another.

"OH, COME ON!" Sweetie screamed.

"What just happened?" Fluttershy yelped with her hooves over her mouth.





"Whoa! What the heck was that?!" Flash groaned as he picked himself up.

"I don't know..." Twilight went to the side and looked as far over the side as the barrier allowed. "I think we might have hit a reef...but I don't think there's any damage."

"That's good," Flash added as he walked up to her. It was here they remembered what they were talking about, a small tint of pink appearing on Twilight's face. That is, till the princess looked away as Flash tried to say, "So...anyways..."

"We should probably focus on not hitting anymore reefs."

"Yeah, good thinking Twi." Flash replied as he went to the front of the boat, Twilight going to the wheel and unlocking it. And as this happened, the duo kept pure focus on getting home and nothing else.





"NOOOOOO!" Pinkie bellowed through the library, the others facehoofing or banging their foreheads into something.

"Five more seconds," Rarity growled. "Five more seconds and it would have happened! Why?! Why did that have to happen?!"

Rainbow flew up to Discord's face, "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?!"

Discord huffed as he crossed his arms and looked away, "Of course not. I didn't put that reef there and you were the ones who chose where I warped them to. If you had told me to account for reefs, maybe I would have moved it away. So don't go blaming this on me."

"He's right Rainbow," Fluttershy told her as she flew up to the pegasi, "It's not nice to accuse somepony without proper evidence." Rainbow let out a groan and flew back down, Discord blowing a raspberry behind her back.

"Ah guess this is just the world's way of sayin' we shouldn't be messin' with ponies hearts," Applejack added as she watched the couple continue to work on the boat.

"It's not all bad," Springer commented as he pointed at the screen. "Flash and Twilight might get another moment."

Rarity shook her head, "I doubt it. The way they're blushing and trying to keep out of each others way...they're just too awkward around each other right now." Everypony slumped at hearing this. That is, till Pinkie flared up with a fiery determination now in her eyes.

"We have to fix this!" She turned to Discord, "We need a hundred candles and the most romantic song in your arsenal playing!" Discord nodded and was about to snap his fingers, only for Rarity to grab them in her magic.

"We can't do that. If candles and music just start appearing out of nowhere, they'll know what we're trying to do and that they're being watched. That'll do the exact opposite thing we're trying to accomplish."

"Then...what do we do?"

Rarity sighed. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do Pinkie. We'll just have to let nature take its course and hope they figure it out on their own."

The others sighed at this, but nodded. It was here that Springer lifted his paw, "So...question. What do we do when they get back and found out we haven't sent a search party out to look for them? They'll figure out we were the ones behind this."

"Leave that to me," Discord said as he floated down next to him. "I just need something with Twilight's horn-writing. Know where I can find it?"

"You could use our friendship journal," Pinkie suggested as she pulled the book out of her hair.

Discord took the book and flipped through it, nodding as he did so. "Yes, yes...this'll do nicely. Thank you."

"You're welcome!"

"Discord...what are you gonna do?" Fluttershy asked next as Discord replied with a simple yet strangely unsettling smile.





That night...

A flash of light filled the room, quickly fading to reveal a pair of very tired looking ponies. Both Flash and Twilight had bags under their eyes, exhaustion embracing them as they had spent the last few hours making sure the boat wouldn't sink to anything. And when they'd arrived at a port, the ship's runes disappeared, allowing them to teleport home.

"Hey you two!" they turned to see Scootaloo, Springer and Spike sitting around the table playing a card game. "How were things in Canterlot?"

"Canterlot?!" Twilight yelped as her almost started to flare in magic, "What are you talking about?! We were kidnapped and placed on a boat in the middle of the ocean!" She pointed at the trio, "Why weren't you all wondering where we were?!"

The three glanced at each other before Spike held up a piece of paper, which Twilight taking in her magic before reading aloud.



Dear Spike,

If you're reading this, then Flash and I are still busy in Canterlot. Celestia summoned us last night while you were asleep, needing our help in a small political matter. We'll be back as soon as we can. Tell the Defenders where Flash is and keep an eye on the library.

Signed, Princess Twilight



"Signed Princess Twilight...what the heck?! I didn't write this!" She almost screamed.

"You didn't? But it's in your horn-writing." 

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, scanning at the letter while blinking, "How did...did whomever do this got their hooves on something else I wrote and used a spell to copy the words?! That's...really smart."

Flash glared at the three. "So...none of you thought for a second that something might be up with any of this?"

The trio shook their heads, trying to look as innocent as possible. "No/nope/na-ah," they watched as Flash glared at them, sweat pouring down their foreheads.

That is, till Flash shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, whatever. I'm going to bed," he headed for the stairs. "Too tired for this garbage."

"Same." Twilight added as she followed him. "Nopony wake me up before noon."

Once they were gone, the three all sighed a breath of relief and fell onto their backs.

"They fell for it," Scootaloo gasped. "I can't believe it."

Spike clutched his chest, "I think I almost had a heart attack."

Springer nodded, "Same here. Next time somepony tries to ship somepony else, let's just stay out of it."

"Agreed," the other two replied in unison.





Over at Sugarcube Corner...

"Done," Pinkie said as she finished writing and closed the book. "There. A whole chapter about not trying to force something you think should happen to other ponies and just letting things play out naturally."

"Why'd yah say it like that?"

Pinkie shined a cheeky grin. "Just a little background for anypony who just arrived in the conversation when I finished writing."

"Oookay." Applejack commented before tapping Pinkie's shoulder, "But uh...what are we gonna do about Princess Cadance. She wanted an update on this, right?"

Everypony grimaced at the question, only for Rarity to wave her hoof, "I'll handle it darling. I'm sure she'll understand if we explain it to her...in every detail."

"Yeah...come on girls!" Rainbow headed for the door. "Let's go see how those two are doing now that they're back." They all nodded, Pinkie placing the journal on a desk before switching off the lights and following the pegasus out of the room.

And as soon as they were gone, the journal suddenly started floating. A cunning laugh filled the room as Discord materialized with the book in hand. "Now...let's take a closer look at you."
> Twilight's Kingdom PT1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day of the royal summit had arrived.

The Crystal Empire was paying host to many dignitaries from all Equestria's allied kingdoms. The Royal Knights would be working the security, while the four princesses would be going over issues with the other royals.

Well, three of them would. The fourth was simply there to be there, at least that's how she felt. And as the train whistle filled the air, we find the mane seven, Spike and Iron walking through the streets of the empire. Of course, Spike couldn't be in the city without gloating about a specific detail, "Seems like only yesterday I was saving this place from being totally destroyed," he leaned against his statue with a huge grin, "Hey, you girls remember that?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "You only mentioned it about fifteen times on the train here."

"Yes..." Rarity told the pegasus in a dripping sarcastic tone, "And we never hear a peep out of you and your exploits."

Rainbow let out a quick laugh of embarrassment, "Point taken."

Twilight giggled at their interaction. "I must say, I'm glad you all wanted to come, but I don't think it's gonna be that exciting. I pretty much just have to smile and wave as the dignitaries arrive."

Flash nodded in agreement. "And all I've gotta do is announce who's here. Not exactly photo album worthy."

"Buck up Sentry," Iron added as he nudged the defender, "The princesses could have simply asked one of the Crystal Guards to do that, but them wanting you to do it should make you feel proud."

Flash looked away, slightly sighing, "I guess? Sure don't seem like much worth doing."

Rarity then stepped up beside Twilight, "Don't forget, you get to smile and wave like a princess."

The others raised an eyebrow at this as Applejack asked the obvious question, "How exactly is that different than smilin' and wavin' like...not a princess?"

"It isn't," Twilight moaned as she stared at the ground.

The others all frowned at the action. "What's wrong, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked as Pinkie jumped in front of Twilight and pulled her face.

"Why the looooooooong face?" She let go, snapping it back into place.

Once she'd recovered from that, Twilight let out a long sigh, "I...I've just been feeling a little unsure about things lately." She turned back to her friends, "It doesn't seem that my new role as a princess equates to all that much."

"That's just silly. You've got a real important role in Equestria."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "Princess Celestia wouldn't have asked you to come today if she didn't think so."

Twilight forced a smile, "I...I guess you're right."

"Of course we are," Rarity continued while patting the princess's shoulder, "Now hurry along! You don't want to risk having that important role diminished because you were tardy for your regal meet-and-greet."

The mares then began to walk off, and as Iron followed, he stopped and looked back at Flash. The apprentice knight had the same uneasy look that Twilight had as he stared absently into dead air. "You okay?"

The Pegasus blinked back, only to shake his head to get his brain back into gear. "Yeah...I'm fine." He strode after the girls, a little quicker than his usual walking speed.

"Obviously not Sentry." Iron whispered as he trotted behind him.

Once they reached the castle, the Royal Knights and three princess greeted them before giving Flash and Twilight their assignments. Spike and the rest of the Mane Seven headed inside while Flash stood beside the Crystal Guards. The guards then began to play their crystal trumpets as Flash made the announcements. "The Duke and Duchess of Maretonia!"

The four dignitaries stepped down the street, the sound of something unfurling catching Flash's attention. A millisecond glance upward allowed him to see Twilight had unfurled a banner with Maretonia's royal crest emblazoned on it. It finished unfurling right as the dignitaries arrived in front of the three alicorns, the group bowing to one another before heading into the crystal castle.

Once they were inside, Flash took another quick glance up and saw Twilight had a very forced smile as she waved. Flash then felt a similar kind of expression on his own face. It was here that Flash saw the rest of the Royal Knights as they headed in along with the royals. He let out a long sigh as he stayed with the guards, knowing this shift wouldn't compare to actually getting to be in the room where all these important matters were being discussed.

For the next few hours, he and the guards patrolled outside the castle. It wasn't until the sun and moon started to shift places that the dignitaries exited out of the castle while being lead by the knights. Flash and the guards bowed as they passed, the dignitaries nodding back before heading towards the train station.

Once they were out of sight, the knights all relaxed as Flash trotted over to them. "Any problems?" He asked.

Grand sighed happily. "No, thankfully."

First then spoke up. "Considering all the problems that usually circulate around events such as this, its a relief to have one go off without issue."

The others all nodded, while Flash just frowned. "Yeah...fantastic."

He turned to walk away, causing the other knights to glance at each other before Heather spoke up, "Flash? Are you okay?"

Flash glanced back at the knight, "I'm fine."

"That so?" Skybreaker asked as he crossed his hooves. "So the glum look Iron told us you had before the meeting was what, change in the wind?" Flash shot Iron a death glare, the Metal Guardian simply shrugging back.

Flash let out another sigh before looking away, only for Tidal to place a hoof on his shoulder. "Amigo, it isn't good to keep your problems bottled up. Tell us what has you upset."

"Yeah kiddo." Grand added as he stepped in front of the defender. "If you tell us, I'm sure were can help."

Flash stared at the ground, now seeing his reflection in the crystal floor. Blinking at this, he took a deep breath before saying, "Well...when's it gonna be my turn?"

The question got looks of confusion on everypony's faces. "Your turn for what?" Ruby asked.

"My turn to be knighted." The looks of confusion vanished instantly as Flash continued, "Ever since Iron was knighted, I keep wondering what's keeping me from achieving the exact same thing. Haven't I proved myself by now? After everything I've been through, every threat I've faced, what's keeping me behind?"

The knights all shared glances at one another, all unsure what to tell the pegasus. That is, except Grand, "Flash, being knighted doesn't come down to how many times you've saved Equestria." He placed a hoof on his chest, "It's about what's inside you. You might be skilled enough to be a knight, but you're still missing a key component within you to hold that title."

"What?" Flash asked his mentor, "What am I missing?"

Grand removed his hoof. "That's...well, that's something that can't be taught, only learned. Me telling you would be meaningless. You have to figure it out for yourself."

Flash's ears folded as he showed a huge frown. "But...I don't get it. I've done everything I can...but its not enough?! I mean...what if I never figure it out? What if I'm stuck as an apprentice for the rest of my life?"

"Is that so bad?" Ruby asked while tilting her head.

Heather nodded at this. "Yeah. You're life seems pretty great right now."

"Well...it is, but after everything I've been through, not becoming a knight would make it feel like a waste." He gave Grand the biggest frown possible, "Remember that week you had me spend blindfolded so I could learn to live without sight if I ever found myself blinded in a fight?" Grand smiled and nodded while Flash only remembered nearly falling down the stairs everyday. "My point is...I did that because I thought doing it meant I was worthy of being a knight." He looked away from everypony this time, "I'm not questioning your teaching methods Grand. I...I'm questioning myself as your student."

The knights all sighed at this, Flash walking away before anypony could say anything to stop him. The pegasus slowly strode down the dark streets of the city, soon stopping when he came across a small lake. Instead of simply flying over it, he stayed where he was before picking up a small stone.

As he jiggled it around in his hoof, his inbuilt music maker began to play a tune. He skipped the stone before beginning to sing.


(Flash)
I have often dreamed of a far off land
Where a hero's welcome would be waiting for me
Where the crowds will cheer, at the ground I stand
And a voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be

I will find my, I can go the distance
I'll be there someday, if I can be strong
I know every mile would be worth my while
When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong


Flash felt a hoof on his shoulder, making him turn to see Grand with a reassuring smile on his face. "Come with me. There's something I think you need to see."

Flash nodded and followed his mentor. There, they soon arrived at a building Flash had, or hadn't, seen before. It was the sheet covered building he, Springer and Lightning had come across during the Equestria games. As they walked through a gap in the fence, Flash noticed the rest of the knights standing by the edge of the sheet. "What is this place?"

The knights just smiled as First and Ruby used their magic to lift a portion of the sheet, allowing Flash to step under it. As he did, he looked up and saw that the building was designed like a museum. Over the top of the doorway were words carved into the crystal.


Hall of Knights.


Flash went wide-eyed at the words, "Is this-"

"Yes Flash," Ruby answered as the rest went under the sheet. "It's a museum dedicated to the Royal Knights and all they've accomplished."

"But...why?"

Ruby giggled at his question. "It seems Princess Amore was planning this before the Empire's fall. Cadance discovered the plans for it a while back and after talking with the other princesses, they agreed to have the place built and the plans undated after the millennia. It'll be ready to open in just a few short weeks."

Flash was slack jawed at the sight, only to be pushed inside by Grand. And as soon as he was in, the first thing he noticed was that the inside appeared to be much larger than the outside. "Undetectable extension spell," First quickly explained, "There have been many knights over the centuries. A building would need to be the size of the empire to show them all enough respect."

Flash nodded at this before actually looking around. As he did, he noticed that the place was filled with large crystal statues of different ponies, all of them obviously Gorgenia's work. Earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, even a few thestrals, all in no particular order. The large statues all had metal plaques on the base that showed their names and titles along with their dates of birth, death and knighting.

Flash noted them all as he continued to walk further into the hall. But as he did this, he then came across a statue that wasn't made out of crystal. Instead, it was made out of stone. Flash raised an eyebrow before looking at the plaque. There was a name, along with the date of birth and death, but no date of knighting. He then glanced at the title part, now seeing two words.


Apprentice Knight


He blinked at the words, only to continue on. There, after a long while of searching through the statues, he came across the ones depicting his friends. Grand, Skybreaker, Ruby, Tidal, First, Heather, Iron. And as he saw this, he saw another statue that looked just like himself. However, it wasn't made out of stone like the other apprentice statues, but instead made out of the same crystal as the actual knights. He looked down at his plaque and read the spot that should have said apprentice knight.


Future knight


"I...I don't understand." Flash felt a hoof on his shoulder and turned to see Grand smiling at him before they looked back to the statue.

"Seemed like a waste to make a statue out of stone since we know we'll have to replace it." Flash gave him a look of shock, making the earth pony chuckle back, "You will become a knight Flash. I know it, the rest of the knights now it, the princesses know it. Heck, everypony in Equestria knows it." They pointed at the plaque, "One day that future knight part will be replaced with a title. I don't know when, or what it'll say, but I know it will change."

Flash smiled at his mentor as the music he'd previously sung to began to play once again.


(Grand)
Down an unknown road to embrace your fate
Though that road may wander, it will lead you true
And a thousand years would be worth the wait
It might take a lifetime but someday you'll make it through


Flash gasped at this, his smile increasing as he took the next verse.


(Flash)
And I won't hold back, I can go the distance
And I'll stay on track, no I won't accept defeat
It's an uphill slope, but I won't loose hope 
Till I go the distance and my journey is complete


The duo's moment was broken as the sounds of five more voices joined the song. They looked around to see the rest of the knights trotting over, all beginning to circle the apprentice.


(Knights)
But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
For a hero's strength is measured by his heart


Flash heard these words, making him pat his own chest as he let out a sigh. They were right. Being a knight wasn't about fame and glory, it was about doing what was right. He didn't need to be knighted to do that, he just needed to be himself.  


(Flash)
Like a shooting star, I will go the distance
I will face the world, fearless, proud and strong
I don't care how far, I can go the distance
'Till I find my hero's welcome right where I belong!


As the song began to wind down, Grand stepped over to Flash and placed a hoof over his heart.


(Grand)
You will face the world, and will show you're strong
'Till you find your hero's welcome right where you...belongggggg!


He pulled Flash into a hug, "Your time will come."

Flash smiled back, showing he was content with his unknightly status for now. "Thanks." The two pulled away before turning to leave the hall.

And as they headed for the castle, Ruby noticed the crystal guards going out of their patrol shifts. Seeing this, she grabbed one of them and yelled, "Guard! Why are you not on your patrol! Explain at once!"

The guard nodded rapidly. "Princess Celestia has just announced an Equestria wide high alert!" This statement made all the knights jump in place, Ruby then telling the guard to get back to work.

"That ain't normal! Come on!" Grand yelled as he gestured the rest to follow him. They soon marched to the throne room, opening the doors to find the four alicorns sitting around a crystal table. "Your majesties! What's happening?!"

Celestia let out a long sigh, a giant frown on her face, "Luna and I both had a vision of a danger that is now loose in Equestria. Tirek."

"Tirek?!" Ruby shrieked in horror. "But...but he's in Tartarus!"

"He was, but it appears he has escaped."

Ruby's eyes shrunk at the news, her form slightly shaking, "Oh now...this is bad! Truly, utterly bad!"

Flash tilted his head at this. "Uh...does somepony wanna tell me who the heck this Tirek guy is?"

This statement caused Ruby's horn to flare, her eyes now glaring at Grand. "You didn't teach this to him in your history lessons?!"

Grand shook his head. "Honestly, I've never heard of this Tirek."

"Me neither," Twilight added as the other knights all nodded in agreement, making Ruby turn to the princesses.

Celestia released another long sigh. "With all the other historical events of that time, it's not unlikely that an event as...trivial as this would be left forgotten by all but a few."

"But...don't you remember what he did?!"

"We do Ruby, but that doesn't mean history will."

"Princess Celestia...you can't-"

"Hold on! Who is this Tirek?! Please explain that first!" Twilight interrupted, only for Celestia's horn to glow and conjure a book onto the table. As the knights gathered around the table, the sun princesses opened the book and showed a pair of creatures all but four of them recognized. The first three were Celestia, Luna and Ruby, who had all been there. The fourth was Flash, who recognized the shapes from the vision he and Sombra had seen.

One creature looked like the cross between a pony and the humans he and Twilight had become in the other world, while the other seemed to be a hairy brown monkey like creature with bat wings.

"Tirek and his brother Scorpan came here from a distant land, all on the intent of stealing Equestrian magic. But Scorpan soon came to appreciate the ways of Equestria, even befriending a young unicorn wizard."

Luna continued to narrate. "Scorpan urged his brother to abandon their plans, but when Tirek refused, Scorpan alerted us of Tirek's intentions."

"That must have been hard," Grand added as he thought back to his own son.

Celestia nodded at this. "After a mighty battle, Scorpan returned to his own land, and Tirek was sent to Tartarus for his crimes."

Ruby shivered at these words, "Ugh...I remember that battle. Tirek drained several of our unicorn guards...I was so glad I didn't get drained."

"How did you stop him?" Twilight asked next.

"The jakhowls," Ruby replied with crossed hooves. "Unlike our magic, Tirek was unable to drain them of their power. Tirek drains magic, not life force, which aura is made up of. Sharp Paw lead an attack that was able to injure Tirek to a degree that we were able to defeat him, releasing the magic he had stolen and allowing us to lock him up within Tartarus."

"But it appears he has found a way to escape," Celestia finished.

"We believe it happened when Cerberus left his post at the gates," Luna explained with crossed hooves. "This truly is a disaster."

"But that was a long time ago," Twilight noted. "Why is he just now starting to steal magic?"

"His time in Tartarus left him very weak," Celestia replied while rubbing her chin. "He has just now gained enough strength to use his dark powers."

Luna nodded in agreement. "But with each passing moment, he grows stronger still."

It was in this moment that Cadance turned to Twilight, smiling a knowing smile at her. "And I know just the princess who can stop him."

Twilight let out a small gasp, only to nod, "Yes! I'll find him and–"

"No, Twilight!" Celestia interrupted while stomping her right hoof. "I'm afraid I must call in another to stop Tirek." She took a deep breath, "Discord."





"As in, Discord, Discord?" Applejack asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Flash and Twilight had returned to Ponyville the next morning. There, they explained everything to their friends as the rest of the Royal Knights had gone to Canterlot with Celestia and Luna to make preparations in case their 'brilliant' plan failed.

"Yes!" Twilight replied with a moan, still unable to believe it herself.

"I don't think it's that big of a surprise," Fluttershy added as she stepped between the two groups. "He can be very helpful." She looked back at the others, all giving her an 'are you serious' look.

Flash crossed his hooves, "Yeah...though I gotta admit his abilities do have their moments to shine. I mean, if it wasn't for him, Lightning and Script might still be locked up in jail."

"And I'm quite thankful for that." They turned to see Lightning and Springer walking up to them, fresh off patrol.

"So what's going on?" Springer asked next, with Twilight again gave a rundown of the situation. This explanation alone made Springer raise an eyebrow, "So they're sending a guy with magic that, in the wrong paws, could destroy Equestria, after the super bad guy who can steal magic?"

"Seems like it," Flash replied while putting his hooves behind his head. "Celestia doesn't think Tirek has enough power to drain Discord right now, so he should be safe."

"Even so, I wouldn't mind trying to face this guy. If I'm immune to his powers, I could take it him down lickety split. I'd be like," he start waving his arms in a karate chop motion. "Then I'd be like, Aura Blast, and have him down for the count."

The ponies all chuckled at this, Flash patting his partner on the head. "Love the enthusiasm bud, but the issue is finding him. Discord's the only one who can do it."

Twilight nodded. "He can sense when there's a magical imbalance. The next time Tirek steals magic, Discord will be able to track him down."

Rainbow hovered over Twilight, "So...what are you supposed to do in the meantime?"

This question got a sigh from Equestria's newest alicorn. "Nothing," she turned away before glancing back. "Unless of course one of you needs me to smile and wave." With that, she started walking off.

"Where are you going? Spike asked.

"To the Castle of the Two Sisters. I'm not really needed anywhere else. Might as well catch up on some of my reading."

The sight of her leaving made the others all share a look of worry and concern. That is, till Rainbow fluttered over to her, "You want some company?"

"It has been a while since we visited the castle," Applejack added. "Might be fun!"

Twilight gave a small smile back. "Well...maybe I could use a little company right now."

"Always happy to help," Flash told her as he flew backwards beside her. "But we need to have a serious talk about you trying to hide stuff from me."

Twilight tilted her head at this, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

This statement was met with a glare from Flash, "Hall of knights."

"Oh..." the princess blushed as she let out a tiny giggle, "You learned about that. Er...surprise?"

Flash gave her a deadpan look. "You know the other knights were the ones who told me about it. Not a very good surprise if the ones it's directed at already know." Twilight let out a nervous laugh as the others asked what he was talking about, Flash explaining all the way to the ravine leading to the castle.

Rainbow looked down at the cave that housed the tree they had found several weeks ago, sighing at the sight. "I still can't believe we had to give back the Elements."

Rarity looked up at her. "It had to be done, or the Tree of Harmony wouldn't have survived."

"But Twilight was right," Fluttershy added with a big smile. "Even without the Elements, our friendship is as strong as ever."

Applejack nodded before frowning, "I just hope another 'friend' of ours never makes us sorry we had to give them up."

"Oh?" They looked up and saw a familiar looking draconequus, flying down towards them while using an umbrella as a parachute. "You're talking about me, I presume?"

"How'd you guess?" Applejack growled, only for Discord's ears to catch fire.

"My ears were burning." He materialized a glass of water and threw it over his ears, dousing the flames.

"What are you even doing here, Discord?"

"Yeah," Flash nodded in agreement, "Don't tell me Tirek's around here."

"If he is," Springer once again started doing karate moves.

"Oh, relax Danial-san." Discord told him before putting on a pair of reading glasses and held up a familiar looking book. "I was just doing a bit of light reading before I head off on my extremely important mission." His body poofed into a general's uniform before pulling down an Equestrian flag, "I suppose you all know that I've been tasked to capture a certain escapee." He pulled out a pipe and began to smoke it, unleashing a barrage of bubbles.

"Big deal...." Spike rolled his eyes, only for Discord to get right up in his face.

"You're right, Spike! It is a big deal." He blew an extra large bubble, this one completely encasing the little dragon and lifting him into the air. Once he was a good twenty feet up, the balloon popped, making Rainbow catch him before he could hit the ground. 

"Stop messing around Discord," Flash barked back. "Remember what we talked about? You being serious in these situations?!"

"Oh, but I am serious. It seems I possess a magic that gives me quite an important role in Equestria." He turned to smile at Twilight, "Maybe they should make me an Alicorn princess." In a flash, he was now wearing an oversized crown while his horns and wings were replaced with pony ones. The sounds of cheering echoed through the forest as Discord began making exaggerated waves.

"In your dreams!" Rainbow kicked the crown off of Discord's head.

"Oh, I never dream of such things." Discord pushed the fake pony horn into his head as the real horns and wings reappeared. "Ask Princess Luna."

Flash scrunched up his eyes. "No mental images...push them out."

Lightning cringed as he backpedaled, "Don't give'em to me."

"Don't you have a creepy magic-stealin' villain to track down?" Applejack asked next.

"Yes, yes, of course." Discord then stretched his arms around the group before pulling them into a hug, only for them to be suddenly teleported inside the cave. "It's just that I couldn't help but notice that Twilight hasn't opened this little chest of hers."

The others stared at him before turning to look at Twilight, Flash adding, "It's not like she hasn't been trying."

"Yeah! And we've been busy." Springer started counting his fingers off. "Family reunions, getting sucked into comic books, turning Fluttershy into a vampire bat, the Equestria Games..."

"So true....and I would have loved to see Flutterbat! She's sounds like so much fun...I need to look back at the previous chapters later." Discord agreed as he sat on the chest. "But I've been thinking...what if what's locked inside is something that could help her prove her royal worth?" He jumped off and started knocking the chest, "I only bring it up because she said that she's been feeling like her role as a princess doesn't equate too much." His head then stretched over to lean above the alicorn, her lips quivering at the sight.

"Wait a minute!" Pinkie asked in a banshee-like voice, "How do you know how she's feeling?!"

"Oh my," Discord said in a mock sad tone. "Is eavesdropping not the way you're supposed to find out what your best pals are up to?"

"Not usually, no." Flash growled with cross his hooves. "That's a good way to lose friends."

"Woe is me," Discord's head retracted back as he snapped his fingers, causing violin music to play, "Oh, will I ever learn the intricate nuances of being a good friend?" He looked back at them, now seeing all but Fluttershy giving him a deadpan stare. The sight made him get up and clear his throat. "Well in any case, I suppose now is as good a time as any for me to make my exit."

They watched as he walked over a polka-dot moped, who knows how long had that been there, and revved the engine before disappearing. "And good riddance!" Applejack yelled, only for another flash of light to appear, signaling the draconequus's return.

"Oopsie-doopsie," he said eccentrically. "I almost left with the little journal you've all been keeping."

"How'd you get that?" Flash asked with a raised eyebrow, as everypony except him and Twilight began to sweat under the collar.

"How is truly irrelevant," Discord began flipping through the pages. "But what a fascinating read. Haven't you girls just learned so much?" He reached over to Twilight and showed her several colored paper slips, all of them poking out of the book. "I've bookmarked a few of the more interesting passages. You really should take a look." He balanced it on the alicorn's horn, Twilight trying not to drop it before turning to Fluttershy, "We're still on for tea later, aren't we, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy shined a huge smile and nodded, "Of course! I wouldn't miss it."

Discord let out a happy laugh as he walked over a the floating doorknob, "Well, I'll bring the cucumber sandwiches." He gripped the doorknob before pulling it towards him, revealing a door into a white void that he stepped into before slamming the door, causing the frame to fade out of existence.

With that finally done, Applejack turned to the others. "Sometimes I think the 'reformed' Discord is more obnoxious than the 'before-he-was-reformed' Discord."

"Indeed," Rarity added.

"But he could be right, couldn't he?" Fluttershy glanced at the plant chest, the others following her gaze. "What if there is something important in that chest?"

Twilight tapped her chin before smiling, "There's only one way to find out."

"Library?" Flash guessed, Twilight nodding in response before heading out of the cave. Soon they were within the Castle of the Two Sister's Library, where hundreds of thousand year old book lived. When they'd first come to this library, Flash had half expected the books to crumble to dust upon contact. But to his pleasant surprise, the only signs of age they had were the three inches of dust that had been covering them.

But even with all these books, it seemed the answers to opening the chest continued to elude them. Twilight pulled another book out of the shelf, opening it up and flipping through the pages with scanning eyes before turning to the others, "Anything?"

Her question was meet by a loud chorus of no's. "I've found loads on the Lost City of Faust," Flash mentioned as his had surfaced from beneath a pile of books. "But I doubt any of it would help you right now."

Twilight released an exhausted moan. "There must be something in this library that can help me figure out how to open it. The answer's in one of these books, I just know it." It was then that her gaze fell upon their friendship journal, making her recall what Discord had told her. With no other leads, she decided to bite the bullet and opened up the book.

Flipping to the first bookmark, an orange one, led to the page describing the day Flash's parents returned. She read through what Flash had put, nodding before turning to the next bookmark. This one was green and highlighted an event where Applejack had lied about a tonic the Flim Flam brothers sold. She raised an eyebrow at a correlation between it and Flash's before skipping to the next bookmark. As she read through the entries, her eyes slowly grew larger as she saw what Discord must have been hinting at.

"Achoo!" Her concentration was broken when Fluttershy released a weak yet noticeable sneeze. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"You know what they say about sneezing," Flash said as he pulled himself out of his pile. "Somepony must be talking about you."

Before Fluttershy could have a panic attack about that prospect, Twilight spoke up. "I think I found something!" The others quickly walked over to her. "I've been reading our journal, and there's something interesting about the sections that Discord bookmarked." She turned to a certain apple farmer. "Applejack, do you remember when you had to tell everypony that the tonic Granny bought from the Flim Flam brothers didn't really work?"

"How could I forget? It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do." She went on to recall how granny had almost dived into a bucket of water. "And in that moment, I knew I had to be honest. I just knew it." The farmer then shot Twilight a confused look, "but what's that got to do with openin' the chest?"

Twilight tapped her hoof in the book. "I've found that each of you has had to face a situation where living up to the Element of Harmony you represent wasn't easy." She flipped over to another page, this one showing a yellow bookmark. "Fluttershy, it was when you realised that the way to show kindness to the Breezies was by forcing them to leave your home."

Fluttershy frowned at that memory. "Oh, the looks on their poor little faces! But I knew that, as difficult as it was, pushing them away was the kindest thing I could do."

"Rarity," Twilight turned to her while flipping the page. "Even after Suri took advantage of your generosity at Fashion Week in Manehattan, you didn't let it cause you to abandon your generous spirit."

Rarity scowled at the mention of that name, only to smile at her friends, "I simply couldn't have lived with myself if I didn't do something special for the friends who have always been so generous to me!"

They all nodded, Lightning even giving a salute as he did.

"Rainbow Dash, you had the chance to fly with the Wonderbolts at the Equestria Games, but instead you chose to compete with your friends."

Rainbow smiled with pride. "Sure! But being loyal to my friends was way-"

"Ooh!" Pinkie interrupted, "My turn, my turn!"

Twilight smiled at the party pony before flipping to her section. "Pinkie Pie, you realised that seeing your friend laugh was more important than proving you were a better party planner than Cheese Sandwich."

Rainbow chuckled as she put her hoof around Pinkie's back. "Best party I've ever had."

And finally, everypony turned to Flash, only to him tilting his head at Twilight, "Um...do you mind recapping? I don't really remember when I was scared."

Twilight gave him a questioning smirk. "Oh really?" She flipped back to near the front of the book, "You don't remember when your parents showed up for the first time? You know, the real reason you really got super angry and violent against them?"

"Oh....yeah." He then sighed as the memories came flooding back. "It wasn't that I was angry, more that I was scared. Scared of letting them back into my life, only to see them walk away and hurt both me and Scootaloo. It wasn't until my dad saved me from the timberwolves that I finally found the courage to forgive them."

Springer gave him a pat on the wing while Rarity spoke up. "It's clear we've all had our moments to shine Twilight, but I'm with Applejack. What does any of this have to do with the opening of the chest?"

Twilight just giggled back, "All of you had tough choices to make. But when you made the right one and embraced your element, it helped somepony else make the right choice too. Each of you received something from the pony whose life you helped change."

Upon hearing that, they each remembered the item they were given, Lightning speaking up at her logic, "Wait...you think these objects might help you find the keys you all need?"

Twilight just shrugged. "I know it sounds crazy, but maybe there's something special about those objects that could lead us to the location of the keys." Twilight closed the journal and began to walk around the table. "The chest is connected to the Tree of Harmony, the tree is connected to the Elements, and the Elements are connected to all of us. There must be a connection between them all!" She looked towards the journal with raised eyebrows. "I hate to admit it, but maybe Discord was trying to be a good friend after all."

"It wouldn't be the first time," Flash added.

"Alright," Twilight began to head to the door, "Let's all grab those items and bring them to the chest. Maybe the Tree of Harmony will show us how to use them." The others nodded and began to head out of the library, only for Flash to stop as a strange tingle travelled throughout his body.

"Whoa...."

Springer turned back to him, "You okay?"

"Yeah...just got a strange sense of foreboding." He shook his head, "I'm sure it's nothing. Come on, let's get that dish."

And so, they left the castle, each returning to their homes in order to retrieve the items they needed. Flash was the last one to get his, the dish having been knocked to the floor before getting buried beneath a mountain of junk in his room. After getting a lecture from Twilight, they returned to the cave and placed the six items on the ground. Aside from Flash's dish, there was also a bit that Silver Shill had given Applejack, the coil of rainbow thread that Coco had given Rarity, the Wonderbolt pendent that Spitfire had given Rainbow, the flower Seabreeze had given Fluttershy and the rubber chicken named Boneless that Cheese had given Pinkie.

The alicorn princess looked them over, tilting her head as she did. "I don't see anything on them that would give us a clue as to where the keys might be. They're just...ordinary, everyday objects."

"Except for Flash's," Springer reminded them. "His is a legendary relic with magical abilities."

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Well unless one of its abilities is to show us how to find the keys, it's as useless as the rest of this junk."

It was in this moment that Pinkie gripped the rubber chicken that Cheese Sandwich had given her. "Come on, Boneless!" She started shaking it, causing a barrage of squeaks to fill the cave. "Give us that key!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, "I don't think that's going to work." Before she could say anything else, Boneless slipped out of Pinkie's hooves and went flying at her. She ducked, causing the rubber chicken to sail over her head and slam into the chest.

Then it happened.

As soon as Boneless bounced off the chest, the keyhole it touched shot out a beam of pink light. That light engulfed Boneless, causing him to reshape into a golden key with three balloons on the end. Everypony gasped as they watched the newly made key float into the keyhole, Lightning speaking up, "These items aren't meant to help you find the keys..."

"They are the keys!" Flash finished before picking up the dish and flying over to the chest. The others did the same, all simultaneously placing them onto it. And as soon as they made contact, the objects were engulfed in a rainbow of light before floating up into the air. One by one, they each began to reform into its key form. The bit became one with an apple shape on the end, the thread become one with three diamonds, the pendent became one with a cloud, the flower became one with a butterfly and the dish became one with a shield. They watched as each of the keys slotted into each of the keyholes, Flash's being the one to slot into the top, leaving only one hole unfilled.

"There's still one key missing," Twilight pointed out. "The key that represents the element of magic. My element."

The others all shared uncertain looks, not sure what to say. Fluttershy was the one to break the silence. "Oh, but I'm sure that if we've gotten our keys, you have too, Twilight."

Rarity nodded as she walked over to the alicorn. "Think, Twilight. When have you completed a difficult magical task, and in doing so encouraged another pony to do the same?" She patted Spike on the head, obviously expecting Twilight to think of an answer right away.

That is, till her ears flopped down, "I...haven't. If I had, I would have written about it in the journal."

Spike then placed a reassuring claw on Twilight's leg. "Don't worry, Twilight. I'm sure you'll get your key eventually." No sooner had he said this, his mouth tripled in size before he unleashed a large burp, which conjugated into a scroll that Twilight grabbed in her magic.

She opened it and did a quick speed read, the others growing worried. "What's it say?" Spike then asked.

Twilight looked up from the scroll in shock. "That Flash and I are needed in Canterlot at once!"

"You sure? This could just be another fake message. Remember the one left behind after we got teleported to that boat?!" This caused the others eyes to shrink as Springer tapped Flash's side.

"But what if it isn't? You should go anyway, just to be sure."

"Springer's right," Twilight re-rolled the scroll before running out of the cave. "Come on Flash!" The pegasus nodded before flying after her.





It wasn't long till the duo arrived at Canterlot, soon landing outside of the castle. There, they spotted Trixie waiting for them with a look of worry on her lips. The sight made Flash yelp out, "Tricks? Everything alright?"

"No," Trixie told him as they began to run into the castle. "The princesses and knights are waiting for you in the throne room."

Twilight then threw the doors open to the room, "We came as quickly as we could! Is something wrong?!"

"Is it Tirek? Don't tell me he actually got Discord." Flash couldn't believe he was actually starting to worry about that goof.

"Worse," Grand told him as the other knights all had looks of anger and worry on their faces, Flash noticing they were all appearing to ready themselves for battle.

Celestia spoke up. "I'm afraid I put too much trust in Discord and the effect that friendship would have upon him."

"What do you mean?"

Luna let out a long sigh, "Discord...has betrayed the ponies of Equestria, and joined forces with Tirek."

"WHAT!?" Flash asked in shock.

"How could he do this?!" Twilight added. "I thought our friendship meant something to him!" Her look of shock changed to one of anger and hatred, "I...I thought he had changed."

"I can't believe I actually trusted him," Flash stomped his hoof in frustration.

Celestia shook her head at this. "Tirek has stolen enough magic that he now has the strength to steal flight as well. Without Pegasi to control the weather, there will be no rain in Equestria. There is word he has gone after Earth ponies as well. Without their strength, they will not be able to tend the land."

"To think one being could bring the whole of Equestria to its knees," Trixie added as she stared at the floor in despair.

Ruby placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Dark power has the potential to do things that were said to be impossible, but it always has a cost."

"We have to stop this guy." Iron spoke up next, "No matter what."

Luna nodded in agreement. "If he isn't stopped, ponies will no longer be in control of their world. That power will belong solely to Tirek."

Celestia turned to Twilight. "There is no doubt that Tirek is after Alicorn magic. With Discord by his side, we will not be able to stop him from taking it."

"And once it is in his possession, his power will know no bounds, and all hope will be lost." Luna added with a grumble. "That must not happen."

"But what do we do to stop them?" Flash asked. "We don't have the Elements anymore, so we can't turn Discord to stone."

Grand turned to him. "The Royal Knights will face off against him. This isn't the first time we've faced magic stealing entities."

Flash nodded and gripped his blade, "I'm ready."

But Grand simply shook his head. "No. You have an even greater task ahead of you." Flash raised an eyebrow at this as the princesses flew down from their throne and landed in front of Twilight.

Celestia walked up to her student. "Should the Knights fail, Tirek will have nothing standing in his way of us. That is why we have come up with another solution. It is only by making this sacrifice that Equestria and the lands beyond it might be saved. We must rid ourselves of our magic before Tirek has the chance to steal it from us."

This statement got a gasp out of Flash, Twilight and Trixie. Flash was the first to recover, rubbing his hoof into his ear. "I'm sorry your highness, I must have had something in my ear. Could you repeat that, because it sounds like you said you wanted to GET RID OF YOU MAGIC!"

Celestia nodded as Luna stepped up to Twilight. "Tirek is set on possessing Alicorn magic. When he comes for us, we cannot have what he is looking for."

Flash turned to Twilight with a grimace, knowing this wasn't going to be easy for her. That is, till Twilight took a deep breath before nodding. "I'm more than willing to do my part and give up my magic."

However, the princesses all shook their heads, Luna speaking up, "You misunderstand. Our magic can not just disappear into thin air. Somepony must keep it safe."

Cadance, who had been oddly quiet throughout this transgression, stepped up to her sister-in-law. "That somepony is you, Twilight."

"Me?! Why me?!"

"We do not believe that Tirek is aware that a fourth Alicorn princess exists in Equestria. If we transfer our magic to you, Tirek will not know where it has gone."

Cadance looked Twilight straight in the eye, "Do you understand what we're asking of you?"

"Yes. It's just..." She looked back at her wings. "I'm only now learning how to control my own Alicorn magic. To take on even more-"

"Twilight..." Cadance placed a hoof over the mare's heart. "You represent the element of magic. If there is anypony who can do this, it's you."

Twilight saw the look of trust in her former foalsitter's eyes, then turned to the other princesses and watch them nod in agreement. She then looked back at Flash and Trixie, the two smiling at her. "You've got this Twilight," he told her.

Twilight sighed before walking over to a nearby window. "Taking on this task will be one of the most difficult things I'll ever do, but with the help of my friends-"

"I'm sorry, Princess Twilight," Celestia interrupted. "But you must keep your new abilities a secret. I fear that your friends being aware of your new power could put them at great risk. Do you still think you can take on this responsibility?"

Flash could see the worry on Twilight's face, but that was quickly replaced with a look of determination. "This is the role I am meant to play as a princess of Equestria! I will not fail to do my duty!"

"Then we must begin at once," Celestia said proudly as Twilight stood in front of the sun princess, the other two alicorns standing around her in a triangle formation.

Flash and Trixie walked back to the knights as the alicorns began to charge their magic. "You understand your role in this as well, don't you Flash?" The pegasus turned to his mentor, nodding back at him.

"My mission is to protect Twilight, no matter the cost. I'll face Tirek alone if I have to. I won't let him anywhere near her."

Grand smiled at his apprentice, "Good."

A bright flash of light drew their attention back to the princesses as Celestia, Luna and Cadance fired a beam of magic above Twilight. The three magics unified into a sphere of magic, which grew larger and larger by the second. Soon it was so big that it almost filled the entire throne room, Twilight now realizing just how much magic she had to absorb and control.

Before she could even think about having second thoughts, the sphere fired a beam of light at her horn. The light that was unleashed next was blinding, the knights and Trixie forced to shield their eyes. And as the light died down to a tolerable level, they looked up and gasped at the new sight. What they saw were the three now magicless princesses, all laying on the floor. Ruby and Trixie ran to Luna's side, while Heather and First moved over to Cadance. Grand trotted over to Celestia, who had recovered enough to open her eyes and see what the others were staring at.

Twilight, still glowing and floating in place, her hair was now waving like Celestia and Luna's usually did. The magic surge then died down, allowing her to land back on her hooves as Flash ran up to her. "You alright?"

Twilight held her head, which was slightly pounding, but opened her eyes and nodded before turning to Celestia. They had never seen them in such a weakened state before, Twilight instantly running over to give her a hug. And as she did, she saw that Celestia's flank was now bare. A quick look at Luna and Cadance revealed that they're cutie marks were also gone, meaning only one thing.

"It is done," Celestia announced.

"What now?" Trixie asked next.

Luna turned to her apprentice. "You must return with Twilight to Ponyville."

"What?! NO!" The former travelling magician yelped while shaking her head, "No...I...I won't leave you alone to face that monster!"

Luna placed both hooves on Trixie's shoulders, "You must. Staying here will only lead to your magic being stolen. You'll be safer with Twilight, and she will be safer with you there to protect her."

Trixie opened her mouth, only to close it. Nodding back to her teacher, she walked over to Flash and Twilight as the defender commented, "I still can't believe its come to this."

Grand nodded in agreement, "This truly is Equestria's darkest hour. But I'm sure that together, the light of hope and friendship will break through it. As long as a single pony continues to fight, Equestria will never truly be defeated." The ponies in the room all nodded, knowing he was right.





Manehatten...

The ponies of the metropolis fled in terror, only to find themselves trapped in a red and black aura before being dragged back the way they came. And as they flew back, the creature pulling them revealed itself.

Tirek was a centaur that looked just like his images in the picture book showed. His upper body was red, though the black shirt her wore prevented the ponies from telling where it turned into same black that his lower half was. His arms were giant and bulky, while a white mane and beard surrounded his red face. A pair of large black horns could be seen growing out of his head while he wore a gold triangular pendant around his neck.

Once the ponies were close enough, Tirek opened his mouth and breathed in. As he did, different colored auras began to flow out of the ponies and down his gullet. The centaur laughed as he feasted, the ponies all growing weaker as the centaur began to grow again. And as the draining finished, the ponies were tossed away like ragdolls as Tirek turned to walk off.

"You...won't win." Tirek came to a halt at the voice, turning back to see a whimpering drained pegasi. It was Trail Blazer, who was trying to pick himself up, only to find his body collapsing under him.

"And who's going to stop me? You?"

"No...." he looked away, now seeing his slumped over wife, Misty Veil, "Not us. But there are ponies in Equestria with more power than even you can stomach. They won't stand for this."

Tirek simply laughed at this, "AHAHAHA!!! There's no magic in this world that I cannot consume!" He started walking away. "Enjoy the last few days of peace in Equestria, for soon the whole world will be under my hoof."

And as he trotted down the street, he found himself staring at his newest partner. "Not a bad evil villain speech. I give it a six point five, though it could have used more maniacal laughter."

"Whatever. Just go find me some more ponies. I know there are more hiding from us." Discord saluted before disappearing, Tirek chuckling at the sight. "Excellent. Enjoy that magic while you can Discord. Soon, it will be mine as well."
> Twilight's Kingdom PT2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The outskirts of Canterlot...

Tirek smirked as he trotted up to Equestria's capital city, the moon high in the air. He knew he could have had Discord teleport him there, but he had sensed a strong concentration of magic on its outskirts. After all, he would need every bit of magic he could get his hands on if he wanted to stand a chance against the princesses.

And as he trotted over the hill, he found what he was sensing. The Royal Knights stood in a line between Canterlot and the mad centaur, each one gripping their Celestic Gear, ready for battle. He smirked as he looked the knights over, scanning them one at a time till his eyes landed on Ruby.

"Now this is interesting. I remember you..." Tirek started as he pointed at the crystal pony, "How are you here after all these years?"

"Its a long story, and its not worth telling scum like you." Ruby replied as her necklace began to shine, "You're going back to Tartarus."

"HA! Is that so?!" Tirek laughed as he stroked his beard, "So tell me, what do any of you hope to accomplish by trying to stand against me?"

Grand raised his hammer. "We will defeat you, return the magic you've stolen, and return you to Tartarus! That is the duty of the Royal Knights!"

"Oh my!" They all turned to see Discord sitting in a movie chair, scarfing popcorn, "This is gonna be fun."

Iron growled at him, "I always knew you never changed. To think that Fluttershy actually trusted you." He pointed his weapon at the draconequus, "After I'm done with Tirek, you're next!"

"I'm fine with that," Discord said as his chair and popcorn disappeared. "But first you need to beat...him," he pointed at Tirek as the centaur created a ball of energy between his horns. "This is gonna be good."

Grand rested his hammer on his right shoulder, "This is your last warning Tirek, surrender now or face the consequences."

"Funny, I was about to offer you the same ultimatum. Either way, I will not surrender to you weaklings."

"Then it's decided." The knights all got into a battle stance. "Now, count up your sins!" All this did was make Tirek growl.

"Aw yeah!" Discord cheered as he morphed into a wrestling announcer costume. "Now," he pulled a microphone down from the sky, "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!"

No sooner had Discord said that, (And a bell ringing out of nowhere) Skybreaker leapt into the air. "Sky Force!" He unleashed a tornado straight at Tirek. But the monster shot a blast of power from between his horns, the two attacks meeting dead center, cancelling each other out. While this happened, Ruby, Iron and Tidal ran all full charge, Ruby creating a pair of crystals swords while Iron changed his weapon to an axe, as the three of them leapt at Tirek. Despite this attempt, the centaur saw them coming and cut his attack before jumping backwards, only to slam his hands together with all of the earth pony strength he had stolen. Doing so created a powerful shockwave, the blast striking the four knights back.

Tirek chuckled as he watched them stumble, only to suddenly feel something wrap around his neck and pull him back. Slightly turning his head, he spotted Heather pulling at him with her chain mace. "Little worm. You believe this will stop me?"

Heather let out a dark giggle, "Am I the one you should be focusing on?" Tirek raised an eyebrow at this, only to turn and reflexively raise his arms, flinching as several energy arrows pierced them. He let out a low growl at this while Heather pulled back some more. Doing so made Tirek look up, allowing him to see Grand flying down at him with his Celestic Gear above his head. The centaur gritted his teeth before reaching around and grabbing Heather's chain mace, easily pulling it back before swinging the chain around. Heather let out a scream as she slung off her hooves, First seeing her coming and managing to brace himself right before she collided into him. This impact alone caused her grip to loosen enough for Tirek to pull himself free, allowing him to punch upwards, meeting the head of the Grand Slammer.

The force created by the strikes instantly made a shockwave, knocking both back. And as Tirek staggered, he suddenly felt something in case his hooves. Looking down, he found his legs were now trapped in a pile of metal and crystal, causing him to blink before looping up to see Iron and Ruby using their magic to keep him stationary while Skybreaker and Tidal rush him.

"Sky Cutter/Tidal Whip!" The air blade and water lashes struck his body, Tirek unable to dodge. But as these attacks hit, his horns fired their own blast of magic, carving the ground with ease. The explosion made the duo hop back, only for their backs to feel bolts striking them, First's weapon now restoring their energy.

"Grand Impact!" Grand slammed his hammer into the ground, sending rocks flying up out of the ground before smacking them at Tirek. The centaur saw them coming and began trying to pull himself free from Iron and Ruby's hold, only to then shield his head with his arms while the rocks rained down. A low growl followed as his horns began to glow, another magic blast soon firing at his legs. The attack made the metal and crystals explode instantly, sending him up into the air.

The knights saw him fly up, preparing to strike as he landed. But as they did this, Tirek suddenly thrusted down with all of his earth pony strength, smashing the ground instantly. Doing so created a small earthquake that knocked all but Skybreaker off balance. And as this happened, the pegasi rushed at the monster, "Sky Grinder!" Spinning into a wheel, he spun at the centaur, only for the centaur raise both hands and attempted to grab the wheel, only to fail out as a ton of scratches struck him.

It was here that Skybreaker began to slow, only to kick off of Tirek to fly back to a safe distance. Tirek growled at this, only to feel something wrap around his hooves and pull them off the ground. "Augh!" He yelped as he tripped, giving the knights their opening.

"Aid/Sky/Tidal...FORCE!" First supped up Skybreaker and Tidal as they unleashed their force attacks, which combined into an ice cold water hurricane as it struck the centaur. The force of this combo sent him sliding back across the ground, the rest of the knights chasing after him.

First, Iron equipped his Celestic Gear Armor as he, Grand and Ruby continued to run. "Iron Saber!" He flew past him as he slashed Tirek with his tail sword.

"Crystal Axe!" Ruby conjured her weapon and did the same as Iron.

"Grand Slam!" Grand swung his hammer right into Tirek's chest.

"AAAAHHHH!" He screamed as he was sent flying back, crashing into the ground and skidding to a slow stop. And as he tried to pick himself up, the knights regrouped and prepared for their next attack.

"It's over," Grand told Tirek.

Tirek struggled to raise his head, shooting a deadly glare at the knights "Not...yet." The second those words left his lips, all the knights suddenly found themselves to be a hundred times heavier. They cried out as one by one they were forced to the ground.

A mocking laughter filled the air as Discord floated above them, "What's the matter?" He asked sarcastically, "You're looking a little...weighed down."

The knights all groaned as they turned to see Tirek pick himself up, panting from the pain, "Took you...long enough."

"Apologies. Didn't want to step on your toes. But, now you can enjoy your lunch without issue." He morphed into a waiter and held up a dispenser, "Pepper?"

Tirek didn't reply, instead walking over and picking up First and Tidal. With one quick breath in, he drained the two before tossing them away. He then did the same with Ruby, Heather, Iron and Skybreaker. Finally, he picked up the last knight. "Looks like I won't need to count up my sins," he told Grand before draining him as well.

Once filled, Tirek dropped the earth pony and stepped over him as if he was nothing. As the centaur and draconequus left, Grand dragged his weakened body over to his Celestic Gear before struggling to lift it up and point it at Tirek. "Grand...Force." But nothing happened, his gear didn't respond. "No...." He dropped Grand Slammer and slowly rolled onto his back. "Flash...it's...up to you...now." With that, he and the other knights blacked out.





Ponyville...

Having left Canterlot, Flash, Trixie and the newly supercharged Twilight returned home. As the train pulled up to the town, flying back being off the table with Trixie's lack of wings and Twilight's fear of losing control, they got off and began trotting through the town. Here, Flash turned to Twilight, "You okay?"

Twilight was about to answer, only for her horn to suddenly spark again, forcing her to focus and subdue it. She then shook her head, "I'm...I'm okay. Don't worry about it."

Trixie turned to Twilight while biting her hoof, "I can't imagine trying to control that much power. Casting a spell will probably be like trying to water a plant with a fire hose." Flash couldn't help imagining that, holding the hose over a flower and slowly turning it on, only for the image to end with him finding a large hole where the flower once was.

"Don't worry about me. Let's just get to the library." And as they passed the clock tower, Twilight noticed the time and turned to Flash. "You'd better go get on patrol."

Flash raised an eyebrow. "I'm supposed to stick with you."

"We also can't do anything that might raise suspicion. Go on patrol, or everypony might think something's up."

Flash sighed but nodded. "Alright, I'll see you later." He flapped his wings and took to the skies, flying overhead before beginning his usual travel route. As he did this, he saw Springer walking through the streets and shot down to pick him up.

"What the-?" The jakhowl yelped as Flash suddenly landed, "Flash? You sure weren't gone long. Everything okay in Canterlot?"

"Yeah," Flash said a little quicker then he should have, "Nothing to worry about."

This alone made Springer raise an eyebrow. "Alright, what's going on? You know you can't hide anything from me. Aura powers, remember?" Flash sighed before tossing Springer onto his back and explaining what was happening. Once the story was finished, Springer glumly crossed his paws, "I can't believe that guy. I thought he'd really started changing, his aura seemed to appear so."

"It's not easy to change who we are. With certain pushes, anypony can revert back to the way they used to be. Let's just hope the knights can end this before it gets worse."

"I guess," Springer replied before looking up at the sky. "Hey...why isn't the sun up right now?" Flash raised an eyebrow before looking up, now noticing that the sun should have risen. It was here that the moon suddenly shot down before the sun zipped all around the sky before flying back down below the horizon. The moon then shot back up before shooting back down and being replaced by the sun, only to be replaced by the moon again. Sun, moon, sun, moon, sun, moon, then finally the sun was slowly and shakily lifted up into the air and left in its place.

"That was fun to watch," Springer commented.

"Could have been worse. With all the powers she now possesses, Twilight could have probably blown them up instead of moving them. Pray to Celestia she doesn't sneeze." Flash commented as they started flying along their usual patrol route, hoping to get it quickly done so they could return to Twilight.





Back in Canterlot...

With the knights defeated, Discord and Tirek had nothing standing in their way. They had already defeated Shining and the rest of the royal guard, Tirek allowing Discord to head off and have some fun while he got what he came for. Now stomping through the castle, draining any unfortunate pony that happened to get between him and the alicorns. And with a thunderous crash, he ripped the doors to the throne room open and saw the three sitting on their thrones.

Marching up to them, he grabbed Celestia in his stolen magic and opened his mouth. But when he tried to drain her, he found her magical reverses bone dry. "What?!" He yelped before dropping her and trying to drain Luna, only to be met with the same result. He then tried Cadance, only to scream, "What is...WHERE IS YOUR MAGIC?!" The three alicorns could only smile at his frustration.





Back in Ponyville, Flash and Springer were coming to the end of their patrol. And as they started their way back to the library, Springer told Flash something that made the defender growl, "You let Lightning borrow my guitar?!"

"He said he wanted to make sure he could still play! He hasn't had the chance since leaving Canterlot, and he didn't wanna get rusty."

Flash let out a long moan, rubbing his face in frustration, "You do realize he could have just asked Octavia or Vinyl, right? They got loads of guitars he could borrow!"

"Well..."

THOOM!

That was sound of a mighty burst of wind, one that knocked Flash back. "WHOA!" he yelped as he started to spiral to the ground, Springer grabbing his ears to try and pull him back up. And as Flash managed to regain control, he came to halt a few inches from the ground, allowing the duo to look up and see a purple blur shooting across the sky. "Was that...Twilight?"

Flash's wings flared as he shot back into the air, following the streak. But as they got up, they found the streak suddenly go down and dig a small trench before coming to a stop. Now stationary, Flash could see it was a now dirt covered purple alicorn.

"Oww!" she groaned as he landed right by her.

And as he was about to ask she was okay, he turned to see that they weren't the only ones who had chosen to investigate. The rest of the mane seven, Trixie, Wild, Lightning, Spike and the CMC were all trotting over to them. "Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy gasped as she covered her mouth, "Are you all right?"

"Jumpin' junebugs, Twilight!" Applejack added, "When did you learn to fly that fast?"

Flash was about to come up with an excuse, but noticed the electricity crackle out of Twilight's horn. It didn't go unnoticed by Lightning though, despite the others seemingly missing it. "I must have caught a particularly strong breeze-" Twilight replied as she disappeared in a flash before reappearing behind Applejack and Rarity, "Or something."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this. "Must have been 'or something', because there wasn't any breeze up there."

Twilight, seeing her excuse wasn't flying, began to walk away. "I don't know what happened, but I don't really have time to figure it out right now." Lightning surged around her body once again, causing her to hop in place.

Spike then noticed an unusual addition to the group, "Trixie? What are you doing here?"

"Oh," Trixie stuttered out before twiddling her hooves, "I uh...thought um...well..."

"She came to try and help Twilight find her key," Flash interrupted. "You know, figured another magically skilled pony might be able to notice something Twilight didn't."

Twilight and Trixie glanced at each other before nodding, "That's right!" Twilight motioned for Trixie to follow her. "We should get going."

Rarity then spoke up. "Another visit to the Castle of the Two Sisters, I presume?" She and the rest of the Mane Seven gave her big smiles, "We'd be more than happy to accompany you!"

Twilight did a small gulp, quickly shaking her head, "Not today!" Another electrical surge surrounded her body, "Tirek may still be a threat. I need you all to stay here and encourage everypony to remain inside." She spread her wings but stopped herself before she could take off, folding them back up before trotting into the forest with Trixie following.

"What's up with her?" Wild asked.

"What's up, what's up?"

Lightning hummed while rubbing his chin. "Looked to me like she was having trouble keeping her magic in check."

Spike let out a laugh. "Don't be silly. This is Twilight we're talking about. The magic of all four alicorn princesses wouldn't be enough to make her lose control."

The others all nodded at this, "She's just too good."

"Too good, too good."

Flash and Springer both tried to hold their laughter at the irony before heading into the forest. "Where you going bro?" Scootaloo asked him.

Flash turned back with a smaller grin, "Just gonna go keep an eye on those two. Twilight was right about Tirek, so it's not safe for her to be on her own. Even if Trixie is with her, better safe than sorry. You all do what she said and stay indoors. Scoots, stay at Applebloom's or Sweetie Belle's. I don't want you in the library alone."

Scootaloo slumped with a long sigh. "Alright..."

With that, Flash raced into the forest while the others spread out to keep the ponies of Ponyville secure. The only one still staring at the forest was Lightning, blinking at the sight as his brain kept ticking.





Back in Canterlot, Tirek was now sitting on Celestia's throne. The three princesses sat before him as Discord was now working on redoing the stained windows. "Getting rid of your magic so that I cannot take it from you? That was your plan?" Tirek asked them, the three saying nothing as he stood up. "How does it feel, knowing that soon, every pegasus, unicorn and earth pony will bow to my will, and that there is nothing you can do to stop it?!"

Celestia shot the centaur one final stern look. "You will not prevail, Tirek."

Tirek simply stared back before raising his hand and creating a portal behind them. "Give my regards to Cerberus," he pushed the three into the portal to Tartarus, soon shutting it.

"You meant our will, didn't you?" Discord asked as he turned back to him, his artist afro sagging slightly.

"Of course," Tirek replied as he walked over and pulled the necklace he was wearing off his neck, "Here, I want you to have something." He tied it around Discord's neck, "This was given to me by someone very close to me. I give it to you as a sign of my gratitude and loyalty."

"Oh, my!" Discord gasped as he looked the pendent over, "I do love a good accessory! I suppose that's Rarity's influence."

Tirek nodded before looking over the window Discord had redone, laughing at the image in front of him. "Amusing...but we have no time for such things. With the princesses out of the way, we can now-" He then stopped at another window, gasping as it was the one depicting Twilight's coronation. "Is this meant to be humorous?!"

Discord looked over the window and saw the confusion. "Oh, no, I haven't touched that one yet."

Tirek looked between Discord and the window several times, then shot the draconequus a glare. "There's a fourth?! And you didn't tell me this?!"

Discord did a small shrug, "I just needed some assurance that you truly considered this a team effort." He held up the pendent, "And now I have it."

"Then where can we find this fourth princess?! Where is her castle?!"

"Castle?!" Discord asked before bursting out in laughter. "No, Princess Twilight lives at a library in Ponyville."

"Not for much longer," Tirek growled before heading to the door.





Back in Ponyville, Flash watched as Twilight and Trixie worked to help her improve her control over her Alicorn magic. Currently, Twilight was trying to levitate several pine-cones.

"Careful...careful." Trixie repeated, "Careful..."

Twilight grunted as she tried to focus. "You telling me to be careful isn't helping me be careful!"

"Sorry..." Trixie said sheepishly.

"No, it's alright. But I think I-" She stopped talking as one of the pine-cones shot straight up into the air, disappearing into the stratosphere.

"Home run," Flash joked.

Springer nodded, Flash having told the other two about him knowing. "You ever considered a career in Hoof-ball?" Twilight shot the duo a deadly gaze, reminding them that she now had the power to literally blast them into next week. "We'll be quiet."

"Thank you," Twilight turned back to the pine-cones and levitated them again. She seemed to have them floating perfectly, only for another surge to happen.

"Ahh!" she yelped as the cones flew around, Trixie ducking down immediately.

"Whoa!" Flash yelled as he and Springer deflected the projectiles. And once the last one was destroyed, they slumped over as Twilight let out another sigh.

"I'm never gonna get this."

"Come on Twilight," Trixie told her as she placed a reassuring hoof on her wing. "You can do this. The princesses believed you could control their magic, and we do too."

"So that's what's going on." The four looked up at a branch of a nearby tree and spotted Lightning, who was leaning against a trunk.

"How long have you been up there?"

Lightning smirked. "I got here right before the dodge-pine game started. So..." he leapt down, "You all wanna tell me why Twilight has the princesses magic? I'm guessing they didn't just lend it to you because you asked nicely." They all let out a long sigh before beginning to explain.





"Alright y'all," Applejack said as she stared at the deserted town. "Ah think we've warned everypony to stay inside."

Rarity then turned to the CMC. "Now we'd better get these three inside," this was met with moans from the fillies before following orders. As they did this, Rarity gave everypony a questioning look, "Did anypony see where Lightning went?"

Wild nodded in response, "He said he needed to check on something. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"Back soon, back soon, he'll be back soon."

The group then headed towards Sweet Apple Acres, where the CMC would be staying. As they did this, Fluttershy spoke up, "I'm sure Discord will catch Tirek and this will all be over soon."

"I'll bet he's gonna take his sweet time," Rainbow added.

"Or perhaps these things just take time." They all came to a stop and saw Discord walking up to them, Fluttershy gasping before flying up to him.

"You're back!" She pulled him into a hug before pulling away, "Did you bring the cucumber sandwiches?

"I did," he summoned a plate with a snap of a finger. "I imagine they'll be your last decent meal for quite some time." Before anypony could ask what he meant, he dropped the plate before snapping his fingers again. In a flash, the ten found themselves trapped within a steel cage. They all began yelling out in confusion and annoyance as Discord turned to look down the street. "Ta-da!"

The caged ponies and dragon followed his gaze, gasping when they saw Tirek step out from behind a house. "You've gathered up all of them?"

"Almost all of them. It seems some are still at large...and they're the ones that could be the real trouble."

Tirek rolled his eyes, "Nopony can cause me any trouble."

Within the cage, Fluttershy held onto Applejack while crying. "Why are you doing this?! I thought we were friends!"

Discord gave her a small, slim smile, "Oh, we were. But Tirek offered me so much more than just tea parties. Surely you saw this coming."

Fluttershy's crying increased. "I didn't..." she held Applejack tighter. "I really didn't!"

Tirek took this moment to start inhaling, stripping them all of their magic. They all cried out as they felt their powers being drained, Wild's eyes going wide as he watched his puppets fall to the ground. When he was done, Tirek turned to Discord. "You really think she'd do anything for them?"

Discord nodded. "If Twilight has magic to give, it will be yours. The only thing you need to worry about are the ones that are still free, especially Flash Sentry."

"What is so important about this Flash Sentry?! He sounds pathetic and weak."

"Well, that's just the thing. I don't know. Whatever his power is, it's something even I can't regularly manipulate or affect. It's highly possible you won't be able to drain his power either."

Tirek simply laughed at this, "If he is in possession of a type of new magic, then I will have it. That is my right Discord. Now, where is he?"

Discord stroked his beard, "If I know Flash, he'll be here pretty soon."





"And that's everything," Twilight finished.

Lightning simply stared at her, going over the info in his head, "So...Discord betrayed us?" They all nodded, Flash showing a full frown, making Lightning sigh. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised given his past. But given my own, I guess I figured it wasn't so hard to change. I wonder what Tirek said to make him change back."

"Why Discord betrayed us doesn't matter." Trixie barked back. "Right now, our main goal is to get Twilight's control back to its original level. If Tirek comes looking for us, and he likely will if Discord tells him about Twilight, then she needs to have the strength to fight him off."

Twilight nodded at this, "You're right. I just hope I can learn to-" She didn't get to finish as another surge erupted out of her. And in a flash, she was gone.

"That's not good," Flash commented.

"Where'd she go?" Springer asked. "I can't sense her anywhere nearby."

Trixie showed a glum frown. "With her magical power, probably Griffon Stone."

"So what now?" Lightning asked.

"Well, since we don't know where she went, we'll just have to wait and-"

"AAAHHH!" Springer clutched his head and fell to his knees, the ponies turning to him in shock.

"Bud!" Flash rushed to his side, "Are you alright? What happened?"

Springer lowered his paws and cringed in fear, tears flowing from his eyes. "Fear. Tons of it. Its...its all coming from Ponyville."

"Ponyville?" Trixie asked.

"Look!" they all followed Lightning's hoof and saw a bunch of smoke rising above the treetops.

They all went wide-eyed before Flash turned to the unicorns. "Get us back to town, now! NOW!" The unicorns immediately flashed their horns and teleported everyone. And when the light died down, they saw that they were indeed in Ponyville...or what was left of it. Many houses had been torn down, several sections of the town now littered with craters.

"This is horrible," Trixie whimpered out.

"Who did this?" Lightning asked, only for his question to be met by the ground shaking.

Flash did a small gulp, all of them turning to see a giant centaur come into view. "I'm guessing that's your answer Lightning. You're...Tirek, I assume?"

Tirek let out a low and dark chuckle. "And you must be Flash Sentry if I am not mistaken."

"The one and only," Flash pulled out his sword while Springer changed to his battle form, the unicorns also taking a fighting stance. "Now, if you know what's good for you, you'll return the magic you stole and give up!"

Tirek just bellowed with laughter, "Do you know how many times I've been told that today?! Now if you know what's good for you, you'll hand over your magic and tell me where I can find Princess Twilight."

"Not happening!" Lightning called out.

Trixie nodded. "We won't let you get anywhere near Twilight."

"Just give up already!" Springer barked, Tirek staring down at the jakhowl. A long growl followed this as he felt his hands clench into fists at the sight.

Then, before anypony could say anything else, another set of laughter made them look up and see Discord sitting atop a floating cage. "I told you they wouldn't simply give up. That orange one doesn't know the meaning of the word quit."

Flash gritted his teeth at the monster, "Discord! How could you do this! I trusted you! I would have put my life in your claws, but then you go and do this!"

Discord simply stared down at him, the two locking into a staring contest of the soul. That is, till Flash looked away when he heard somepony call his name. "Flash!" He gasped as he saw Scootaloo in the cage, along with the rest of their friends.

"RELEASE THEM NOW DISCORD!"

"Discord will release them once they're of no more use to me," Tirek told him as a red and black sphere began to spiral between his horns. "Now, SURRENDER!" He unleashed the blast of magic, the four quickly leaping away from the attack.

"Aura Force/Static Spear!" Springer and Lightning yelled as they unleashed their attacks, both firing from opposite directions. Tirek raised both hands at this, unleashing a wave of magic force that acted like a shield to block the attacks.

"Flash Cutter!" Flash fired an energy blade at the centaur, who simply leapt back, dodging the strike with ease.

Trixie then charged, her horn glowing as duplicates of herself started to appear. Tirek began firing at the fakes, but kept missing the real one as she got close enough. "Time for you to chill out!" she fired a burst of light blue lightning out of her horn, striking Tirek's hooves before moving up, leaving a bunch of ice in the spots it struck. Eventually, Tirek's entire body was frozen as she leapt back.

"Ice magic?" Flash asked.

"Our little comic adventure got me interested in it," Trixie replied, only for her joy to be short lived as the ice cocoon suddenly shattered, Tirek now releasing a mighty roar.

"ENOUGH!" He unleashed another magical blast at the two. But as this attack came, Springer leapt in front of them and formed an aura shield, blocking it with ease. While that was happening, Lightning tossed one of his knives at Tirek. The magic thief saw it coming and effortlessly ducked, the blade shooting right through his horns. "Nice try, you little-" He stopped talking when Lightning disappeared.

"Gatling Spark!" He spun around to see the unicorn in the air, knife between his teeth while unleashing a barrage of electric bullets. Tirek fired his own magic blast back, destroying the electricity as Lightning teleported away.

"Flash Cutter/Steel Paw!" Tirek screamed out as his back was suddenly slashed in four places, making the centaur spin around as the two pointed their sword/paws into his face. "Flash/Aura FORCE!" They unleashed a twin beam of light, the attack smashing right into the centaur's face.

And as he staggered back, Trixie summoned a pair of magic chains, quickly tying Tirek's legs, "RAAUUGGHHH!" Was all Tirek could say as he fell back while the heroes landed side by side.

"Alright!" Scootaloo cheered.

"That's how you do it!" Spike added as the others all gave their cheers of support.

"SILENCE!" yelled Tirek as he quickly shot back up, the force of his scream making the cage shake, causing them to shut up.

Flash crossed his hooves with a smirk, "Hey now, don't go having a hissy fit just because you're losing."

Tire's eyes narrowed at the comment, "You think I'm losing?! Silly pony, I was merely seeing what you could do. Discord told me about this strange power that you posses, so I wanted to see it for myself. But so far, I see nothing of importance...which means I was right all along. You're magic isn't even worth taking...but I think I'll take it anyways."

"Oh yeah?!" Flash barked back, "Can you back up those words, ya wimp?!"

"Oh, I will," A big grin shined on his face as he lifted his hand up to the cage, "Discord told me you weren't a Royal Knight, and I can see why. A weakling like you will never be accepted." His words made Flash growl, gripping his sword as his eyes started to twitch. The centaur saw this, chuckling at the sight, "But perhaps its still too early. Maybe you simply need the...proper incentive." He slowly closed his hand, causing the cage to start to shrink. The ones inside cried out as their spare room began to get smaller and smaller.

Flash's grip slightly lessened as he let out a gasp, only for Springer to run in front of him. "Stop it!" He created a pair of Bone Breakers and started slamming them into the centaur, who either dodged the swings or blocked with his arms.

"You jakhowls were a lot stronger back in the day. Its too bad you're all gone." Tirek commented as he swatted Springer back, the jakhowl leaping back for a second. "That was the one piece of news I loved hearing back in Tartarus. Such wonderful news about the fact that I wouldn't have to fight another army of you mutts." Springer only growled before slamming the bone shaped aura weapons into him again.

The others followed suit, Flash flying into a Flash Driver while Lightning and Trixie unleashed a barrage of electric and ice attacks. Tirek saw them coming and grabbed Springers Bone Breakers before tossing him at Flash, who was forced to stop as Tirek fired another blast of magic at the unicorns' attacks. The combined forces caused an explosion, filling the area with smoke. Tirek was blinded by the smoke, but then used his stolen pegasus magic to create a burst of wind out of his mouth. This blew the fog away, allowing Tirek to see a bunch of knives flying at him. He raised his arms and used his earth pony strength to prevent the daggers cutting into the flesh, the knives bouncing off and falling to the dirt.

But this was what Lightning wanted, as the unicorn suddenly disappeared before reappearing in front of Tirek and giving him an electrified sucker punch. And as the centaur tried to recover and blindly swat at the unicorn, Lightning warped to another knife and struck Tirek again before disappearing. This went on for several seconds, Lightning's hit and run tactic proving to much for Tirek. But as he did a twelfth strike, Tirek caught onto Lightning's subconscious pattern. "Gotcha!" He yelled as he spun around and struck a spot right as Lightning warped there.

"Augh!" He yelped as he was sent flying back, crashing into a still standing house. He grunted as he felt dirt now touching his back. The unicorn then tried to get up, only to feel a giant hoof stomping down on his stomach. "Blaugh!"

"LIGHTNING!" His friends cried, the still free ones trying to get to him, only for Discord to create a wall between them.

Tirek breathed in, draining Lightning of his magic with ease before Discord warped him into the cage.

"You okay bro?" Wild asked as he and Rarity held him up.

"Yeah...sorry." He then motioned to them to help him look out of the cage.

"Flash Vortex!" A tornado of light shot out at Tirek, who fired a magical blast that struck hit head on, sticking the two into a stalemate. This gave Springer and Trixie the chance to get close, only for Tirek to slam his front hooves into the ground, creating a powerful shockwave. The wave of power caused the ground to erupt under them, sending the two flying up in along with the rocks. Flash saw this and killed his attack before shooting at them, reaching Springer first while seeing Trixie teleport to safety.

And as Flash and Springer started flying through the rain of earth, Trixie reappeared right behind Tirek, seeing her friends trying not to be crushed while her opponent turned to her. He unleashed yet another magical blast, Trixie firing her own magic back. Everypony watched as the two engaged in a magical pushing contest, neither appearing to outmatch the other. This was impressive considering Tirek had the magic of every other unicorn in Equestria, but it soon showed it wasn't enough.

Trixie's head was beating in pain as she tried to keep her spell going, a trickle of blood coming out of her nose. But as she did this, her horn started to sputter out...only for her magic to completely cut out. She shut her eyes as the attack came for her, "I'm sorry Luna."

BOOM!

"TRIXIE!" Everypony screamed as they watched the unicorn be sent flying back, rolling on the dirt with a one last whimper.

Flash and Springer had finally made it out of the rock rain and turned to Tirek, only to see him trotting over to Trixie. "No!"

Tirek heard them and spun around before slamming his hands together, another shockwave now happening as it sent them flying back. With that out of the way, he turned back to Trixie and levitated her up before draining the nearly unconscious unicorn of her magic. Once done, he tossed her aside before she was teleported away to the cage.

"Trixie...." Fluttershy whimpered as she tried to help her up. She was badly burnt all over, several scratches all over her body due to the ground sliding.

"Please say something," Pinkie asked while devoid of her usual humor.

Trixie opened her eyes, tears coming out, "I'm sorry, I wasn't...strong enough."

"It's okay sugarcube," Applejack told her. "Ya'll did great."

Lightning nodded before turning back to the battle. "It's up to them now."

Flash and Springer had finally regained stability before flying back, Tirek calmly trotting towards them. "Is he even bigger now?" Springer asked, noticing the centaur looking slightly taller.

"Must be because he drained Lightning and Trixie's magic," Flash replied as he picked Lightbringer back up and closed his eyes. "If he gets mine and Twilight's, who knows how much bigger he'll be." His eyes shot open, revealing he was now in Theta Mode. "I won't let that happen!"

"Aura Force!" Springer provided cover fire, unleashing a beam as Tirek did the same.

"Flash Grinder!"

Tirek stopped his attack as he saw the light wheel coming at him, making him grin before trying to catch it. But as the hand grew closer to Flash, the pegasus stopped spinning and ducked under the hands before shooting past him. "Flash Cutter!"

Tirek yelled as he clutched his side while Springer charged while preparing a Steel Paw. The centaur leapt up onto his back hooves before thrusting the front ones, Springer seeing this and cutting his attack while forming a shield. Tirek's hooves bounced off of it, shattering the orb while the force pushed Springer back.

"Flash Cutter Barrage!" Tirek looked up and saw Flash unleash his multi-slash attack, Tirek spinning around to fire his own magic to counter. The two made contact, causing an explosion that covered the area. And when the smoke cleared, Tirek could be seen with Flash in his grasp.

Springer gasped as he watched Tirek about to drain his partner, "Not this time." He tried to form another Aura Force, only to stumble. "I...don't have enough. Fine! Aura Blast!" He shot the sphere at the centaur, Tirek growling as he saw it in the corner of his eye, his horns glowing as he fired his own blast at the attack.

And as another explosion occurred, Flash struck his blade into Tirek's hand, forcing him to release the pegasus as he jumped back to a safe distance. Tirek let out another growl, only to see Springer was powering up another Aura Blast. "Not this time." He fired another magic beam, this one striking the ground around Springer, knocking the jakhowl back.

The Aura Blast he had been making was also sent flying as Springer crashed into a nearby house. Flash saw this and flew up to it, his hoof gripping the Celestic Gear before smashing it into the attack. "Flash Cutter!" The sphere went flying at Tirek as Flash's light wrapped around it.

The centaur saw it coming and smirked before raising his hands, emitting his magic shield as it grew closer. "Pointless."

"Please..." Flash whispered to himself. Everypony else simply stared at the Aura Blast, only to gasp when is disappeared a few feet from Tirek. Flash's eyes went wide while the centaur merely chuckled before lowing his arm.

Boom!

"Blaugh!" Tirek yelped out as something struck his side, exploding with such force that it made him stagger for a moment. "What?! What was that?!"

"What just happened?" Rainbow asked.

"I think..." Trixie said as she leaned on the cage's bars. "I think that Flash's light caused Springer's Aura Blast to change out of our visual spectrum. It literally became invisible." Everypony gasped at this before turning to look at Flash, the pegasus smiling as he saw their combo move finally working.

"Awesome...that was awesome! It was like a...Vanishing Aura Blast!" Flash dubbed it, only for his joy to become short lived as Tirek stood up again with a mighty roar.

Springer was also recovering, trying to pick himself up. "Oh, I think you're done for today." He looked up to see Discord's smiling face before he snapped his fingers. Springer then found himself enveloped by a blur light before it faded to show he was in the cage with the others.

"No!"

"You okay Springer?" Spike asked.

"I'm fine," Springer replied while crawling over to the edge of the cage, watching as Flash flew down to the ground.

The two enemies stared each other down, Flash gripping Lightbringer while Tirek charged up his magic. "So...now it's down to just you and me."

Flash just continued to glare at him, "Guess so."

"Fighting me is pointless. You hold no power that can overcome mine. To continue battling would be foolish."

Flash just smirked, "Sorry to say, but foolish actions are my speciality!" He shot up at Tirek and began performing an onslaught of slashes, which Tirek blocked with his arms. Tirek then tried to punch Flash, but the pegasus dodged with ease. And as this happened, Flash went for Tirek's heart with his blade. However, Tirek saw this coming and grabbed the blade inches from his chest. Flash's eyes went wide before suddenly finding a fist flying at his face.

Everypony flinched as they watched Flash be smacked several feet through the air before hitting the earth and rolling to a stop. Tirek tossed the Celestic Gear away before trotting over to Flash. "Give up. You're only prolonging your suffering."

The others watched as Flash tried to pick himself up, but his legs and wings kept giving. "Don't give up Flash!" Scootaloo screamed to her brother.

"You've beaten tougher opponents than him!" Lightning yelled. "You beat me!"

"We believe in you!" Springer cheered, the others following suit, voicing their own words of encouragement.

Flash heard the cries of his friends and stared at the cage, seeing the trust they had in their eyes and the conviction in their hearts. "Everypony...I...I..."

"I said, give up. Your magic is nothing." Tirek added as he lifted his hand. "You've lost."

"Don't listen to him! You can win!" Scootaloo screamed again. "Kick his flank Flash!"

And as these words reached his ears, he glared up at the monster. "I...can't give up. I won't!" Hearing them reminded him of everything he had to fight for. To free his friends, save Equestria...to protect Twilight from this monster. "I'll beat you!"

With this declaration, something within Flash began to spark, now feeling a new strength surging through him. And as Tirek was about to yell at the ponies for making noise, he raised an eyebrow as he saw Flash get back to his hooves. "Hmm...you really want to keep going? You do know its pointless, right?"

"I don't care!" Flash declared, "I refuse to let you hurt the ones I care about! I...won't...LOSE!!!!!" And with that outburst, his body exploded into a tornado of light, armor appearing on his form while Tirek backpedaled in surprise.

The ones in the cage awed at the sight while Discord raised a curious eyebrow. "This is new."

Tirek just tilted his head at the sight, "I don't know what this is, but it won't save y-AUGH!" He yelled out as Flash suddenly warped into the centaur's face, a hoof smashing his cheek. Tirek slid back due to this, only to let out a roar as he unleashed another magical attack. Flash quickly dodged the blast by flying up and back, soaring in the air above the monster. It was here that he started spinning, the others watching Flash seemingly performing his Flash Driver attack without his Celestic Gear.

But Tirek wasn't intimated, and instead fired yet another blast. Flash's drill struck the beam, instantly cutting through it like butter. And as he did this, the centaur reached out and grabbed the defender, only to feel a swirl of heat. He quickly let go as he felt the burning sensation, allowing Flash to charge right into his chest. The strike from the pegasi pushed the centaur back, the monster now astounded at the pony's strength.

That is, till he lifted his hooves. There, his earth pony strength struck the dirt, smashing the earth as a barrage of rocks went flying into the air. Flash saw them coming and continued to increase his speed, only to zip through the rubble, shattering any rock that came near him with a multitude of punches. And as the rock storm came to a stop, Flash stared down at Tirek before suddenly multiplying into twenty copies of himself. Those copies the charged at Tirek, the centaur now trying to blast them all, but was unable to keep up.

And once they got close, he started swinging his arms around, destroying each fake with every swing. But this was meaningless, as the real Flash would always hit him after each swing, dodging each blow after each punch.

That was, until Tirek finally got a lucky shot in, smacking Flash like a fly, sending him rocketing back while his duplicates disappeared. And as Flash's hooves hit the ground, Tirek fired another blast of magic at the pegasus. Flash saw it coming and took to the sky, only for the explosion's force to knock him back.

"Give up!" Tirek roared before firing again.

And as Flash stabilised himself, his body having just hit the ground again, he looked up at the incoming beam. But as it came closer, he glanced over at his friends in the cage. His eyes were entranced by the sight, only to suddenly see Twilight in his mind. "No...I can't...not yet!" he yelled as he flared his wings, leaping over the blast of magic.

"I won't give up! I'll never give up!" Flash screamed as the armor continued to shine around him, "Do you hear me Tirek?! I'll never give up! I'll....I'll....AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Then it happened. The tornado of light exploded off of him, allowing them all to see Flash's armor without issue for the first time. It was just like how Rarity had previously drawn it, it all being gold in color. The light that had shot off of Flash flew behind him, striking his back to form a light bubble, which morphed into what appeared to be a pair of swords that were crossed between his wings.

Everypony gasped at the sight as Flash fired himself like a rocket at Tirek. The centaur just growled at the sight, firing another beam of magic. And as the attack came, as if on instinct, Flash reached back and drew his light swords before crossing them. Tirek's blast of magic struck the swords, which seemed to cut through the magic as he got closer. Then with one mighty cry, Flash reached Tirek and slashed him with the swords.

"RAAAUUUGGHHH!" The magic thief screamed as he felt his flesh now burn. As this happened, Flash jumped back as the light swords in his hooves morphed into a pair of bubbles that he slammed together. Doing so caused them to merge and shift into a giant sword, which Flash swung at Tirek with a mighty battle roar. Tirek looked up and thrust his hands forward, creating a protective shield. But as Flash's sword struck, the shield quickly began to crack.

"What is this?! How are you-" Tirek stammered, only for the shield to shatter, the centaur now flying back from the sword's blow. "AAAAHHHHH!"

It was here that the centaur finally fell to the ground, Flash landing while the light returned to being a pair of swords on his back. Flash smirked at the victory in front of him, as he slowly trotted forwards. "And now we're done. Game over Tirek!" It was time to finally make Tirek pay for everything he'd down. Flash let out another roar as he charged at the centaur....only to suddenly freeze up. "Wha-"

The defender tried to move his hooves, then his wings...but nothing. He couldn't move. "What is going on?! Why...can't I...move?!"

"Something's wrong," Lightning commented.

"What's he doing?" Rainbow asked next.

"Move Flash!" Spike yelled, "You gotta move!"

And as the others yelled at the defender, Tirek looked up and saw the frozen solider. A huge grin appeared on his face as his horns started to glow. Flash looked up and saw the incoming magic, gulping as he saw the orb of magic over Tirek get bigger and bigger. "Twilight...I'm sorry..." was all he could say at the beam came straight for him.

KABOOM!

"FLASH!" They all screamed as they watched their friend rocket across town, smashing through three buildings before coming to a stop on the edge of the forest. And as Flash laid there, beaten, burnt and bruised, the light consumed him again before exploding off to reveal he was back to his normal form. He tried to pick himself up, only to feel someone grab him around the neck and lift him into the air. The defender opened his eyes to see Tirek, who started breathing in to drain his magic.

But as he did, something else happened. Flash, struggling to escape, felt another surge of power. His eyes suddenly shot open, revealing they were glowing gold as a magical wave went out of him. "Raaawwwrrrr!" Tirek screamed as he felt a fire in his throat, "Blaugh! What is this?!"

Flash dropped like a rock, only to feel himself chained up thanks to Discord. As he realized this, Tirek started to cough, "Ugh! That was...what was that?!" the centaur glared back at the defender, "I don't know what you just did or...why I cannot drain you of your power, but it ends here!" Tirek yelled. "I will win this day, and I will look forward to finding out and eventually seizing that power for myself. Discord!"

"Yellow!" Discord appeared beside him.

"Cage him! And make sure its away from the others!"

"Righty oh," Discord snapped his fingers as a cage appeared around Flash.

And as Tirek walked away, Flash looked up at Discord. "He's using you Discord. You must know that. Once he has all the pony magic, do you really think he's gonna be satisfied? Sooner or later, he'll come for you."

Discord let out a laugh. "Oh please, like that's gonna happen." He held up the pendent Tirek gave, "See this? This is a symbol of our friendship." He turned back to Tirek, "Right buddy?" And as this question entered Tirek's ears, he turned and laughed. But not a normal laugh. It was a roaring, uncontrollable laugh, one that would make your spine shiver in fear, including Discord, "Hey...er...wanna...wanna share the joke there...pal?"

"The joke...is you." Then, before anypony could do anything, the centaur grabbed the draconequus in his magic. "You've helped me grow strong, you've provided the means by which I can obtain Princess Twilight's magic, and now you are no longer any use to me." With that, he opened his mouth and began absorbing Discord's chaotic magic. As he did, Tirek once again grew in size.

And when Discord was drained, Tirek tossed him away like a ragdoll. But as Discord flopped onto the dirt, he waekly looked up before grabbing the pendent. "But you said this was a sign of your gratitude and loyalty. A gift from someone close to you."

Tirek let out a scoff, "It was from my brother who betrayed me." He turned back to Discord, "Its as worthless as he is." With that, he once again began to walk off.

"Surely you saw this comin'?" Applejack asked the weakened Discord.

"I didn't," Discord replied before looking down at the pendent. "I truly didn't."

Flash started trying to pull himself free from the chains, but his injures made it impossible. "Discord...you can still make this right. Get me out of here!"

"How?" Discord asked as he limply looked up, "I don't have any magic."

"There has to be something you can do."

Discord tried to pick himself up, only to suddenly find himself trapped in his own cage. "No!" Discord yelped as he tried to rattle the cage's door, but it remained shut.

"PRINCESS TWILIGHT!" They all looked up at the sound of Tirek's voice, "YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME!"

"Oh no..." Flash said as he tried to free himself. Up in the cage, Springer was trying to destroy the cage with his aura, but in his weakened state, he couldn't build up the power. And as he did this, they all felt a sudden force and looked up to see one of Tirek's magical blasts rocket through the sky. It's destination...the library. "NOOOOO!"

KABOOM!

Everypony's eyes went wide as they watched the treehouse library be consumed by flames, Flash, Springer, Spike and Scootaloo horrified at the loss of their home. Soon enough, the ground began rumbling as explosions covered the land. It seemed Twilight had seen what Tirek had done and was now using everything in her power to make Tirek pay.

As this happened, Flash continued to struggle against the chains, only to feel no hope. He couldn't get free. But as he did this, his attention soon shifted when he heard everything go quiet.

"What happened?" Spike asked.

"Please tell me Twilight won," Rainbow pleaded.

Before Flash could say anything, the word around him suddenly blinked out of existence while his chains disappeared. And when the world returned, he found he was no long trapped in his cage. Instead, he was now trapped in a bubble that floated above Tirek along with ones that were holding each of his friends. He looked down at saw Twilight gasping at the sight, Tirek now speaking, "Their release for all the Alicorn magic in Equestria." Twilight gasped again as Flash and the others starting screaming in protest for her not too. "What's it going to be, princess?!"

As Twilight looked over her options, the others continued yell: "Don't do it, Twilight!"

Flash nodded in agreement. "If Tirek gets your magic, he'll be unstoppable!"

"We aren't worth it!" Fluttershy cried.

"Oh, but you are, Fluttershy." The pegasus turned to see Discord, slumped over in his bubble. "You're the pony that taught me that friendship is magic. I had magic and friendship, and now I don't have either." He placed his hands over his eyes. "Its over, and-"

"ENOUGH!" Tirek slammed his hooves into the ground. "I want an answer, and I want it now!"

After one more long pause, Flash noticing Twilight's eyes going wide as if she saw something, she gave her answer. "I will give you my magic in exchange for my friends." Everypony gasped at this, Tirek now wearing a massive grin.

"As you wish." He snapped his fingers, causing the bubbles to fall to the ground and pop on impact. The only one remaining was Discord, but Twilight shot another glare at Tirek.

"All of my friends."

Tirek raised an eyebrow at this, pointing at Discord. "After the way he has betrayed you, you still call him a 'friend'?"

"Release him!" Twilight said firmly.

"If that's what you want." Tirek snapped and Discord's bubble did the same, the draconequus staring at Twilight.

"Thank you, Twilight." He then turned to Fluttershy and spoke in a hushed whisper, "I'm sorry."

Fluttershy looked away, "I know."

Tirek then turned to Twilight, an evil smile on his face. "Your turn." With that, his horns began to glow.

Twilight's horn did the same, shooting at her magic as she unleashed a series of pained screams. "Twilight!" Flash slowly got up, but Twilight held up a hoof. He instantly stopped, knowing there was nothing he could do. And when Twilight was finally, completely drained, she wobbled on the spot. But before she could fall, Flash caught her, "I gotcha," he said as he held her up. "That was reckless."

Twilight weakly turned to him and smiled. "Look who's talking."

It would have been a nice little moment, if there wasn't a power mad centaur currently growing five times as tall as he was before. "YES!" He roared as he now towered above everything else in Equestria.

"Twilight!" Spike and the others yelled as they ran to their side, "What were you thinking?!"

Before Twilight could reply, Discord walked up to them, the look on his face now showing nothing but regret. "Tirek tricked me into believing that he could offer me something more valuable than friendship...but there's nothing worth more." He slumped before gripping the pendent, "I see that now. He lied when he said that this medallion was given as a sign of gratitude and loyalty." He began to remove it from around his neck. "But when I say that it is a sign of our true friendship, I'm telling the truth." He placed it around Twilight's neck, the alicorn looking down at it.

As she did, she and the others noticed a rainbow shine off of it. Twilight gasped as the color she had lost from being drained seemed to return.

"You think that might be the last one we need?"

"Only one way to find out," Flash told them.

"We have to get to the chest." Twilight exclaimed as they raced to the Cave of Harmony. Once inside, the Mane Seven went to their keys, a small part of Flash wondering if the chest knew he'd be the only one able to fly, so it had placed his key in the top part. But this quickly went away as Twilight placed the medallion onto her keyhole. As she did this, the pink light shot out and morphed the pendent into a star shaped key.

Twilight smiled at this, only for the cave to suddenly shake. "Its Tirek!" she yelled before turning to her friends, "Together! I think we have to do this together!"

The others nodded and grabbed their keys before turning them, making the whole chest glow. The keys sank into the box, Flash's keyhole spinning around before opening the top of the chest. It was here a rainbow shot out, striking the Tree of Harmony, causing the whole thing to glow.

All seven Elements began to radiate before firing a beam of light towards their wielders. And as the orange light struck him, Flash felt his injuries fade before new strength filled his body. The next thing they knew, all of them shot a beam of light into the chest before disappearing into it. The chest then exploded with a new light, that light creating seven differently colored bubbles, which popped to reveal the seven friends in a new light.

Flash opened his eyes and looked himself over, now seeing his hooves were now covered in blue shield shapes while the tips of his wings were also blue. His mane had grow to resemble a large version of his old style, while his tail was longer and both being complete with orange tips.

Flash looked at the others and saw he wasn't the only one with a new look. All six mares had received a similar makeover, making them all stare in awe at each other as they were wrapped in a giant magical bubble before floating up out of the cave.





Tirek had been busy reeking havoc, pure joy on his face as he did so. Well, joy was a face pure anger for him, but that was despite the point. But as he did this, a light caught his eye and made him turn to the source. As he did, he gasped as he saw the Mane Seven float up out of the ravine. "What?!" He growled before firing a blast of magic at the bubble, only for the magic to bounce off like nothing. He then fired another blast, but the same result happened, "How...how is this possible?!" He pointed at them, "You have no magic!"

Twilight smiled back and pointed to herself, "You're wrong, Tirek! I may have given you my Alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all!" With that, she fired a purple blast of light at him. This was followed by Flash shooting an orange one, Pinkie a pink one, Rainbow a blue one, Fluttershy a yellow one, Rarity a violet one and Applejack a green one. The blasts collided with Tirek, draining the magic he had stolen instantly and returning him to the form he had once held.

"NO!" he yelled as he became a shriveled up husk of a being, who the Mane Seven used their new magic to warp back into Tartarus. "NOOOO!!!"

With their enemy now taken care of, the seven flew higher into the sky before the bubble exploded, sending a wave of magic all over Equestria. They were now returning all the magic that had been stolen to its rightful owners.

And as Flash, Twilight and Rarity flew to Canterlot, he looked down and spotted a familiar group laying on the ground. He smiled before flying down, landing in front of his mentor as the Royal Knight's magic returned to them. Grand moaned as they all regained consciousness, all looking up to see the shining form of the apprentice knight, "Flash," Grand whispered as the others just stared in awe.

Flash just chuckled before shooting back up into the air. And as they returned the magic across the country, the seven felt themselves being guided back to the Cave of Harmony. Once there, they landed in front of the chest before their magic shot back into the crystal box. It did a resounding shut, the keys returning before flying up into and breaking through the ceiling while leaving a rainbow in its wake.

Our heroes and their friends stared at the sight and ran after the rainbow. Twilight quickly teleported them out to town, all of them then seeing the chest hit the ground on the edge of the Ponyville and phase into it. Barely a second passed before something shot out. It was a crystal spike, which was followed by more spikes as it slowly took the shape of a building. It was a magnificent crystal castle, complete with windows, balconies and a star shaped spire at the very top.

Before anypony could say anything, the Mane Seven suddenly found themselves being teleported to the very front of the castle. Once there, they were each enveloped by a light and were reverted back to normal. But if they had noticed, they weren't showing it as they stared at the castle.

"Sweet Celestia!" Rarity chimed in. "Are you all seeing what I'm seeing?!"

Flash was the only one to reply. "If you're seeing a giant castle that was grown out of a lock box gifted by a magic crystalline tree, then yeah, we're seeing what you're seeing."

"But...who's castle is it?" Twilight asked as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"I believe it is yours, Princess Twilight." They all turned to see Celestia, Luna and Cadance walking inside, Springer and the rest of their friends behind them. Twilight gasped before rushing over to Celestia, pulling her into a hug. The alicorn laughed as she hugged back, "I knew you could do it."

Twilight nodded back before Celestia motioned for her to head inside the castle. She did, the others following to see that the place seemed a lot bigger on the inside. The whole place was made of crystal, including the floors, windows and crystal lights hanging from the ceiling. And as they walked through it, Celestia looked down at Twilight. "You've been wondering what you are meant to do as a princess. Do you know now?"

Twilight glanced back and nodded again, "As princess, I believe I have the power to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria! That is the role I am meant to have in our world! The role I choose to have!" She suddenly teleported between her friends, smiling at them all. "But I didn't defeat Tirek on my own," they all pulled each other into a tight hug. "It took all of us to unlock the chest!"

Celestia smiled as he magic enveloped a nearby door. "Then it is unlikely you are meant to take on this task alone." She opened the door and allowed them all to look inside, all gasping at the sight. It was a beautiful throne room, complete with nine crystal thrones that sat around a yellow circle with Twilight's cutie mark on it. Seven of the thrones had one of their cutie marks emblazoned on them, while two smaller thrones sat beside the ones with Flash and Twilight's mark.

"You are now Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship." The seven ponies ran over to the throne wielding their cutie marks, Spike and Springer taking the last two seats. "But what is the princess of friendship without her friends?"

The whole group grinned as they jumped off their thrones and stood around each other, Lightning, Wild, Trixie and the CMC joining them. Twilight then noticed Discord standing a ways off, hiding behind a crystal pillar. She smiled before grabbing him in her magic and levitating him over to them. Discord gave a glum grin back before pulling them into a hug....until he did a series of blinks, "Wait a minute! Where's my throne?!"

"I don't think you're quite there yet," Fluttershy told him.

Discord pouted, but nodded. "Yes, well, I suppose not."

The others all giggled as Springer sensed something. "I think we're about to get our first visitors."





Outside the castle, everypony in Ponyville marveled at the new structure they were currently walking up to. Once at the front, they saw the doors open to reveal Flash and Twilight, the two smiling as they motioned everypony inside while their inbuilt music makers began to play. And as they headed for the throne room, the two began to sing.


(Twilight and Flash)
Each one of us has something special
That makes us different, that makes us rare

(Fluttershy)
We have a light that shines within us
That we were always meant to share

(All)
And when we come together
Combine the light that shines within
There is nothing we can't do
There is no battle we can't win

When we come together
There'll be a star to guide the way
It's inside us every day


The seven walked into the center of the room as their cutie marks started to glow.


(All)
See it now! See it now!


The light of their cutie marks shot up into a rainbow, which hit the ceiling and radiated throughout the castle. Though they couldn't see it, the light shot out of the castle and spiraled across Equestria. One by one, the ponies that had given them their keys saw the rainbow and suddenly knew their gift had been put to good use.


(All)
Let the rainbow remind you
That together we will always shine
Let the rainbow remind you
That forever this will be our time


The rainbow shot back into the castle, wrapping around Discord and reminding him of how he too was able to help save Equestria. He smiled before turning to Celestia, offering a bouquet of flowers. The alicorn was surprised by this, but took them with a wink.

Meanwhile, Twilight watched as her friends gathered around her while Photo Finish pulled out her camera.


(Twilight Sparkle)
Let the rainbow remind you
That together we will always shine


They all huddled up as the picture was taken, immortalizing what was hopefully the first of many new happy memories. Yes, the road leading to this point had been a long and difficult one, but with her friends, Twilight had been lead true. Now she has finally gotten to achieve her destiny, one which her friends would be by her side to help accomplish.

Her destiny was a simple, yet important task. To spread the word, that friendship was magic.


<The End>