Castle Sweet Castle

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In the rocky canyon outskirts of Ponyville, a group of ponies were pulling a series of large carts down a certain gravel filled path. They were traders, all ready to reach the town, as they knew it had been in the limelight very recently. Ever since Nightmare Moon was defeated a year ago, event after event had been taking place in that little village, only for an incredibly new situation to happen recently. It was the Castle of Friendship that suddenly appeared, which housed both the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle and the newly knighted Knight of Friendship.

With this landmark, the town was sure to get a new influx of ponies. Most would probably be nobles, wanting to have an audience with the princess while traders knew the publicity would be more than enough for business. But as they tired to do this, they first had to go through the nearby canyon.

"How much further?" An earth pony halfway down the convoy asked the unicorn leading them.

"Almost there," the stallion called back while staring at a magically levitating map. "Don't worry, we'll be in town before sunset."

"Good..." another unicorn moaned, "I've got a lot of goods to unload, and I wanna do it now."

"What do you trade in again?" A pegasus mare asked as she pulled up next to him, only to see the unicorn's horn flash before a small rocket flew out his cart. "Fireworks?"

"Some of the best fireworks this side of Fillydelphia. These bad boys are gonna put me on the map once I sell them in Ponyville. I hear they have a party there every other day."

"I think you might be over-exaggerating," the pegasus countered as she took a rocket out, "So these things are really that great, huh? I can't help but notice it doesn't a fuse."

"Doesn't need one." the unicorn replied with a smirk. "It has a special enchantment on it that makes it voice activated. All you have to do is say a special phrase."

"Which is?"

"Blast off...." as soon as these words left his mouth, wide eyes followed.

It was here that the rocket the pegasi was holding lit. "Whoa!" She yelped as the firework shot out of her hoof, flying up to the nearby wall of the canyon before-

KABOOM!

Everypony stared up at the large explosion that the firework produced, causing the entire wall to shake. The vibrations spread throughout the canyon and made the entire place shake. But as the shakes stopped, cracks began to appear...and spread across the canyon wall. "Oh, that's ain't good." the fireworks seller said with a giant gulp. In that second, the crack made a loud noise, only for a series of rocks to start falling off the canyon wall.

"RUN!" The lead pony yelled before pulling his cart as hard as he could. The rest followed suite, all now showing nothing but fear as they started moving. But as they tried, it wasn't long till they saw that the rock slide was about to hit another section of the wall, quickly breaking it apart. Their eyes shrunk at this, now seeing the rubble ready to crush them as the wall began to tip over, a large shadow covering them as the rocks fell. And as they all closed their eyes at this-

"FLASH DRIVER!" Their eyes shot open at the roar, all looking up to see a shining drill of light fly into one of the boulders. The blow shattered the hunk of rock into dust, only for the drill to disappear, now revealing a shining gold armored pegasus.

"The Knight of Friendship..." they all gasped as a pair of light swords appeared on the knight's back. The pony quickly spun into the air, slashing another set of rocks before doing a back-kick into a boulder, shattering it to pieces.

"MOVE!"

The ponies didn't need to be told twice as they got back into a full sprint, Flash flying over them as he cut down another rock. This was followed with Flash turning into a drill of light again, his form flying through a line of boulders, turning them all to dust. It was here that they reached the end of the canyon, Flash slicing the last piece of rubble down before landing in front of them. A burst of light followed, the knight's armor disappearing along with the swords as he asked, "Everypony okay?" A barrage of murmurs happened, all saying they were okay as Flash continued, "Good. Now, does somepony wanna tell me what that big boom was?"

The fireworks seller did a huge gulp at this, the other traders staring at him as he started his tale. As he did this, Springer, Iron Core and Lightning appeared, only to see Flash giving an lecture.

"I'm sorry..." the unicorn replied with a bow.

Flash nodded. "Well, nopony was hurt, so I guess I can overlook it. Just be more careful next time."

He did a small nod, Flash then gesturing to the convoy to go ahead and go to town. As they did this, Iron spoke up, "Sentry."

"Hey. Don't worry, I managed to get the situation under control."

"We noticed," Iron growled with a deadpan stare.

Lightning nodded in agreement, "Your Sacred Light form come in handy again?"

"Sure did," Flash replied with a satisfied sigh. "It's great to have that whenever I need it."

Springer crossed his arms at this, "Maybe...but don't get carried away. I seem to remember a little talk you had with me about becoming too reliant on my powers."

"Yeah, yeah..." Flash barely responded as he began to walk after the convoy. "So since that's out of the way, you guys up for another patrol lap around town?"

The others all raised an eyebrow, "But it's almost sunset."

"So? Just because the sun's going down doesn't mean trouble's going to sleep."

"But aren't you exhausted? You just flew through a rock slide."

Flash's response was to run on the spot while flapping his wings, "I'm still pumped with adrenaline. Plus, Scootaloo's sleeping over at her friends again, so I don't have to be home for her. Now come on, let's do something. If you don't wanna patrol, we could always do some training. Springer, we can try and get you back into your mega form."

Springer just shook his head. Ever since his battle against Shade, the young jakhowl had been unable to access the form that helped him win. Despite all his attempts, he didn't seem close to the power. Not only that, when he tried to use Velocity Strike, it always ended in him being in severe pain due to aura overload, causing Flash to make him stop trying that move till Springer could increase his aura amount.

Springer's reply was a loud yawn, "Sorry Flash, I'm just too tired. Maybe tomorrow..."

Flash turned to Iron, only to a flash of a hoof, "Nope. Fluttershy should be done cleaning her animals, so when I get there, she'll be done cleaning herself up and we can spend some time together." With that, he began to walk off.

"Don't forget about the pancake breakfast tomorrow!" Springer called out, Iron just giving him a grumble in response.

With him gone, Flash turned to Lightning with a big grin. "Come on! Let's go a round!"

This made the unicorn roll his eyes, his cloak flapping as the daggers began to levitate out. "Fine. One thirty minute sparing session, but no Sacred Light. I wanna enjoy the pancakes tomorrow, and that's a lot easier without a bruised stomach."

"Yes!" Flash hoof pumped, pulling out Lightbringer while his tail started wagging.

Rolling his eyes at the sight, Springer started to walk back into town. As he did this, he saw a very muddy looking Twilight fly over, only to see her shift direction to Sugarcube Corner. "Huh. Wonder what she's doing?" But before his curiosity got the better of him, he let out another yawn, "Eh, I'll ask her tomorrow."

The next morning...

The ringing of an alarm clock was the first thing Springer heard as he woke up. A long yawn followed this as he started to look around, a small grin about to appear on his face. His happiness was for one reason: He now had his own bedroom. Thanks to the castle's extra amount of rooms, he was finally given his own place. Inside, he was able store all his comics, (All that survived the Tirek attack), along with the basket he used to sleep in with its blanket.

Leaping out of bed next, he turned off the alarm clock and put on his usual bandana around his neck. Doing a few stretches, he walked into the hallway, now looking at the six rooms around him. Four were in use, his being opposite of Scootaloo and a little way down was Flash and Twilight's both also opposite of each other. Releasing a quick pulse of aura, he noticed only one of the rooms had someone inside, namely his best friend Spike.

"Did Flash and Twilight not come home last night?" He asked himself, only to pick up Flash's aura a second later...and find it was outside. "Huh?" A few minutes later, he was outside, only to sigh as he found his partner. The pegasi was in a nearby tree, loud snores coming out of the branches. "Seriously?! Not this again..."

The jakhowl clenched his paws, firing an Aura Blast at the tree. Branches and twigs fell next, causing a certain pony to fall headfirst into the dirt, "AUGH!" he yelped as he lifted his head with wide-eyes, "Who-what-where?!" He began to rapidly blink as he started to get up, "Where am I?! What happened?!"

"You were taking a nap...in a tree." Springer deadpanned, "May I ask why?"

Flash yawned in response, "Not sure. Last thing I remember, Lightning warped away after our spar and I was flying home. Can't remember anything after that."

Sighing, Springer shook his head as he grabbed Flash's hoof, "Come on, let's get you inside." Flash pulled himself up, only to wobble as the jakhowl tried to keep him stable, "Careful."

"Sorry...just really tired buddy."

Springer shook his head again, knowing what this meant. Despite this, he just helped Flash inside, only to see Pinkie and Twilight walking up to the castle. The duo were carrying what looked like giant towers on theirs backs and in Twilight's magic, large table cloths covering them.

"Good morning!" Pinkie cheered as she reached the castle, "Who's ready for some pancakes?"

"Me!" Springer replied while licking his lips.

"And me," Flash yawned before turning to smile at Twilight through half closed eyes. "Hey you."

"Hey..." Twilight moaned back, Springer now noticing she was still covered in mud, her mane having several stick and leaves poking out of it.

Pinkie and Springer blinked at the exchange, the party pony tilting her head, "Huh. I was expecting something more..."

"Mushy," Springer finished as his ears flared up, making him turn around to see Lightning and Wild walking up next.

"WILD!" Pinkie screamed as she leapt at her coltfriend, the tower on her back flying off.

"Whoa!" Springer yelped as he caught the tower, wobbling back and forth in an effort to make sure it didn't topple over. He then glanced at the couple, groaning at the sight of Pinkie nuzzling herself into Wild's neck. "Like that..."

Lightning took the tower in his magic as he looked down at Springer, "Did Sentry come home last night? He was practically begging me for a second round...which I had teleport to get out of."

"Not exactly," Springer grumbled as he brushed himself off. "And thanks."

"No prob. Come on, let's get these inside."

The group soon headed in, now entering the dining room as they found both Flash and Twilight asleep at the table. Twilight's head was leaning on Flash's shoulder as they snoozed.

"Aww..." Pinkie cooed.

Wild chuckled at the sight. "Gotta admit, that's kind of cute. Sad I forgot my camera."

Lightning just rolled his eyes, sighing as he took a deep breath, "YO! LOVEBIRDS!"

"EEP!" Twilight gasped with flared wings, knocking Flash out of his seat. Lightning snorted at the sight, only to get glares from the rest as Flash stayed on the floor, still snoring. Twilight on the other hoof, let out a yawn as she looked around, "Huh? What's going on?" Her eyes glanced down at the defender, "Flash? What are you doing down there?"

Flash's eyes slowly opened at the sound of her voice, his form shakily getting up, "Wha...what's going on? Am I in the tree again?"

"Uh....no? At least, I don't think so." Twilight responded as she patted the seat by her, "Here, sit down."

"Thanks." Flash replied as he slumped into the chair, another yawn following as Twilight mirrored him.

"Wow...they are really out of it." Lightning commented as the doors behind them opened, now showing Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Iron and the CMC.

"Morning darlings," Rarity greeted as they all took their seats.

The CMC were almost drooling at the sight of the towers, Scootaloo moaning, "Those smell sooooo good!"

"Well, don't worry about waiting! Its time to dig in!" Pinkie cheered as she pulled off the sheets, revealing several towering columns of pancakes.

"Alright!" Rainbow exclaimed as she sat down, Fluttershy and Rarity sitting on either side of her. Iron sat next to Fluttershy, while Lightning next to Rarity while Wild was between him and Pinkie with Applejack next. The CMC sat next to Iron with Springer taking the last open seat between Scootaloo and Flash, Twilight right by him. The unicorns then used their magic to dish out the pancakes before everypony began to dig in, enjoying the meal.

"Mmm!" Applejack gulped before licking her lips, "These are delicious, Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkie looked up from her plate, her face now covered in cream as she used her tongue to slurp it all up, "Thanks! Twilight spent all night helping me pick the flavor!" She started building a new pancake tower as she continued, "I kept thinking we had found the right one, but she insisted I make even more to try." The party pony now stuffed one pancake in her mouth as she kept adding to her tower, "And more and more and more and more! It was like she never wanted to-"

"Leave?" Fluttershy finished, to which Pinkie nodded.

Exactly!" She then took a bite out of her tower, "Eventually, we ran out of time, so we just went with every-berry-any-chip-surprise!" She popped up between Rarity and Lightning, whispering to the unicorn mare. "The surprise is I lost a measuring spoon in the batter. Somepony's gonna get a very special pancake!" She ran back to her seat while Rarity began to inspect her pancakes, Lightning prodding his with his fork.

"Up all night, huh? Is that why she's so, uh...out of it?" Rainbow pointed at Twilight, now showing her fast asleep again.

"She's not the only one," Springer gestured to Flash, all seeing that it looked like he was eating, only for a snore to come out of his mouth before he reflexively stuffed a pancake inside.

"Oookay." Scootaloo said with a grimace, "That's just weird."

"Tell me about it," Lightning added.

It was here that Fluttershy raised a hoof, "Um...I don't mean to sound unappreciative, but has anypony else noticed that Twilight has been a little...too helpful lately?"

Applejack was the first to answer. "Now that yah mention it, she was lendin' a hoof at Sweet Apple Acres the other day and stuck around 'til near midnight. Dug up fifty tree-plantin' holes when all ah needed was ten."

Rarity nodded in agreement, "She spent an entire afternoon rearranging a single gem drawer at the boutique. An entire afternoon!"

"You think that's weird?" Rainbow chimed in, "She raced me like, a hundred times the other day. And she lost every time! She just kept goin'! Best out of ten, best out of twenty, best out of a hundred! I mean, I know hanging out with me is awesome, but it was like she'd rather keep losing than-"

"Leave?" Fluttershy finished.

"Yeah," Rainbow nodded as Twilight's head fell into her pancakes, the mare rubbing her mane in it with a small snoring smile.

"What about Flash?" Sweetie asked as they turned to the still sleep eating knight. "Is he being like Twilight?"

Iron let out a snort, "Well, I guess he has been a little overenthusiastic with his work."

"No kidding," Springer added. "Remember when he had us investigating the road to make sure there weren't any holes or stray pebbles on it?"

"Or when he had us doing one thousand sit ups," Lightning finished, "I was so damn tired after that."

Iron rolled his eyes at this, "Okay, so he's been really overenthusiastic. But I'm sure it's just because of he wants to show how serious he's taking being a knight."

Springer hummed before he connected his aura to them, now sensing some form of unease. "I think it's more than that. They're hiding something...or trying to avoid something."

"Oh no!" Fluttershy gasped. "You don't think they're avoiding each other, do you?"

"Oh dear...that could be bad." Rarity grimaced, "And in more ways than one. Imagine what would happen if Princess Cadance found out! Why, that could be a disaster!"

"But they just started dating," Rainbow chimed in.

"That's usually when couples start having issues," Rarity told her. "They're still in the transitional period from friends to lovers. Plus, Flash has been so busy with all those interviews from magazines, so they haven't spent any time alone together. They haven't even been out on a date yet."

"But we all went out on a picnic together last week," Scootaloo added.

"Yes, but the two of them weren't alone." Rarity started to slump into her seat, "Oh, I do hope we can fix this before it's too late."

"Now hold on, we don't know for sure if that's the problem." Applejack countered, "It could be something else entirely. Soon as they wake up, we'll find out what it is."

As soon as she said that, Pinkie suddenly started coughing loudly. Wild quickly patted her on the back, only for a spoon to go flying out of her mouth and whack Fluttershy's head, the tool then landing in her pancakes. "I win!" The earth pony cheered, causing both Flash and Twilight to wake up.

"Huh?!" Twilight gasped while Flash fell out of his chair again, "I'm pancake!" The princess announced while having the breakfast item now stuck on her horn, "I mean...awake."

Flash moaned as he picked himself up and sat back down, smacking his lips as he blinked at the others. It was here he saw the blank stares, causing him to raise an eyebrow, "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No...but is there somethin' you two wanna tell us?" Applejack asked next.

Rarity got off her chair and moved over to Twilight, using her magic to remove the pancake from her horn. "You know how much we appreciate all you do for us," Pinkie suddenly shot up and snagged the pancake, "And we simply adore having you around...but...we um...we worry you might be...ahem...avoiding something else?"

"You too Sentry," Iron added as he glared at the half-dead pegasus. "You've been running yourself ragged for weeks now."

Both Flash and Twilight shared a glance before Twilight replied, "Oh uh...has it been that obvious?" Everypony nodded back, making them both sigh.

"Guess we weren't exactly subtle about it." Flash responded, only to feel a tug on his leg. Looking down, he saw a teary eyed Pinkie staring up at him. "Pinkie? What are you doing?"

"Please don't break up! You just got together! You're not even giving this relationship a chance."

"Break up? What are you talking about?" Flash grumbled as he wiggled his leg free.

Hearing these words, Pinkie retreated back under the table, only to pop her head up on the other side. "Aren't you two avoiding each other?"

"No..." the two replied in unison, making almost everypony sigh in relief.

"Well...what are you two avoiding then?"

Twilight started twiddling her hooves as she looked around the room, "Um...you see...we've been...the thing is...I know it's silly, but...we've been avoiding..." She pointed upward, "This place."

The ponies all blinked at this, Rarity gasping, "Why in Equestria would you want to avoid such a gorgeous castle?!"

"Yeah! This place has everything!" Pinkie cheered as she started pointing at the room, "This place has though big tall ceilings that make you feel tiny and shiny new floors that are cold to the touch!" She laid down, only to feel a chill run down her spine, "Brrr!" She then got up and opened a nearby door. "And it even has loooong empty hallways!" That last statement was repeated by a loud echo, only to pop up right by Twilight, "Isn't that neat?!"

"The castle is amazing, Pinkie...but it just...it just..." Twilight let out a long sigh, "It doesn't feel like home."

Flash raised a hoof at this, "Same. Plus, I can't seem to get any sleep here. My bed is super comfy, but no matter what I try...I don't know. I just can't fall sleep."

Twilight nodded in agreement, only for Scootaloo to speak up, "So I'm not the only one."

They all turned to her as Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow at her statement, "Wait...is that why you been wanting to stay over so much?" Scootaloo did a small nod.

Flash let out a long moan, "Yeah...why couldn't the Tree of Harmony make something smaller?"

"But then we wouldn't have our training room," Iron countered.

Flash turned to him with half-dead eyes, "And I do like that, but...well, would you be up for living in this place if it didn't have that?"

"I..." Iron tried to respond, only for his mind to catch up as he let out a hum, "Yeah, I see your point. This place is too flashy for me. Though don't you Canterlot types like places like this?"

"Eh, we're not all like that." Lightning chimed in, Wild nodding in agreement.

"Same here. This place still doesn't feel like someplace I'd want to live in by choice." Flash added, Twilight and Scootaloo now nodding.

Seeing this, Rarity started chuckling. "Oh, is that all? Why, you simply need to decorate darling. Make this space your own!"

"And you'll need to add in some defensive measures," Iron added. "Like I said, this place is so big that an assassin could easily sneak in unnoticed...which already happened with that stinking fox Shade!"

Everypony ignored him as Twilight spoke up. "But...it's just so daunting! Look how big it is! I-I don't even know where to start!" She slammed her face into the table, Rarity managing to pull her uneaten pancakes out of the way just in time.

"You can start by letting us do it for you. We will make this the castle of your dreams while you all go to the Ponyville spa for some much needed rest and relaxation." Rarity then held up a mirror. "I'm saying this with love, but...have you looked in a mirror lately? I've never seen you look this...mmmm-"

"Frazzled?" Fluttershy chimed in, to which Rarity clapped her hooves.

"Yes! That is absolutely the word I was going to use!"

Lightning turned to Flash, "You need to relax too. The Sacred Light might heal you, but I doubt it's gonna help you if you keep pushing yourself so much."

The three troubled ponies all shared a glance, only for Twilight to speak up, "I guess I do need a little help...and so does my castle. And I just know you'll do a great job because nopony knows us better than you all."

The others all nodded, Sweetie and Apple Bloom patting Scootaloo on the back. "Don't worry," the youngest apple told her. "We'll get to work on making this place perfect for you."

Sweetie nodded, "And maybe we'll get our cutie marks in decorating!"

"But that means I won't get one." Scootaloo countered, only for Sweetie to grimace.

"Oh...yeah. Nevermind. We'll just get the stuff good and ready for ya, alright?"

"Thanks." Scootaloo gave her friends a hug at this.

Springer raised a paw next, making everypony turn to him, "If you don't mind, leave my room alone. I already got it how I want it."

"Of course darling." Rarity replied, everypony else nodding.

Applejack then spoke up, "Don't worry, we'll make this place feel cozier than hot cider on a rainy day."

"There's gonna be cider?!" Rainbow gasped, causing Applejack to glare at her, "Uh...I mean, let's decorate!"

"Oh no!" They all turned to see Spike, blanket and Rarity toy in claw. "Did I miss the pancakes?!" He threw the objects away before rushing over to the table. "I sleep like a baby under that cold, cavernous ceiling."

He started putting some pancakes on a plate while Rarity squealed at his entrance, "Spike, I'm so glad you're here!"

The little dragon stopped himself from taking the first bite as he gasped, "Really?"

"Yes! You're taking Twilight, Flash, Scoot and Springer to the spa!"

"Great! I've been meaning to get my claws done!" He took a bite out of his pancake, only to see everypony now staring at him. "Oh...you mean now." He finished off the pancake in claw, soon scoffing down several more before he and the rest of the small family headed out the door.

Once they were gone, Applejack let out a 'yeehaw' before saying, "Come on, y'all! We've got work to do!" The others all nodded and headed out the dining room, Rarity suggesting they start in the throne room. Iron replied by saying he would work on the entryway while Apple Bloom and Sweetie decided to do Scootaloo's room and the ramp room. Lightning and Wild agreed to just follow directions, both following Pinkie and Rarity as the renovations began.

Meanwhile...

The rest were now trotting down Ponyville, Flash looking down at Scootaloo as he asked, "Why didn't you tell us you were having trouble adjusting to the castle?"

Scootaloo countered with raised eyebrows, "Why didn't you two tell us?"

"She's got you there Flash," Springer chuckled, only to get smacked by Flash's tail.

"That's different. Twilight and I are the ones in charge. You don't need to know what issues we're having, but we need to know if you're having problems."

"Right...sure you do." Springer replied while rolling his eyes.

Flash just sighed as Twilight spoke up, "Alright, maybe we should have told you all. We just didn't want to make you all feel uncomfortable in the castle."

"I know. I mean...I like the ramp room, but..." Scootaloo started rubbing her front hoof, "The rest of the place just feels...cold."

"Yeah...I know what you mean. But you still should have told us."

Scootaloo shrugged at this. "I guess I didn't want to make you all feel uncomfortable in the castle, just like you."

Twilight groaned, rubbing her face in frustration, "Ugh...if we had just been open, we could have fixed this problem sooner."

"Better late than never," Springer chimed in, "Though uh...why don't we all agree to be more open about this from now on? Deal?"

"Deal," they replied in unison, now seeing they had arrived at the spa.

Spike opened the door to allow them all in, Aloe now greeting them, "Hello everypony, princess. What can I do for you all today?"

Spike pointed to Twilight and Flash, "These two need every relaxation and beautification treatment you've got." The two growled at the comment while Spike grabbed a nearby pamphlet. "Let's see here...start them off on the six-steps-stress-buster treatment. After that, Twilight should probably get the super deluxe mane blowout."

"Very well," Aloe turned to Scootaloo and Springer. "And what will you two be having dearies?"

"Oh...I'm not sure."

"Spas ain't really my thing," Scootaloo added.

"Nonsense. Everypony needs a spa day every now and then. Come along, I know the perfect treatment for you both." Aloe around them and started pushing them to the treatment rooms while Flash, Twilight and Spike followed. The masseuse lead them to the hot tub that they had used when the girls got poison joked, "Step one of the six-step-stress-buster treatment. A good fifteen minute soak to get the muscles loosened."

The group hopped in, all happily moaning as they felt the hot water consume them, "Ahh...that's nice."

"This was a good idea," Scootaloo sighed as she laid back.

"Aw yeah..." Flash did the same as he closed his eyes, "I feel like I could just fall asleep right here."

"That's probably more to do with your lack of sleep than the hot tub," Springer reminded him, only to turn and see a snoring Flash, "Typical."

"Just leave him. Having a nap isn't gonna hurt anypony." Twilight commented as she spread her wings. "Ahhh…" She then turned to Flash, now seeing he was sliding further into the water. Here, his whole head slipped inside, all blinking as bubbles began to appear on the water's surface...until they stopped. "Forget I said that!" She yelped as she sparked her horn, Springer diving under to get him.

Back at the castle...

The group had now returned with carts of items. Applejack was pulling one filled with apples, hay, and a few blankets while Rarity had a saddlebag of fabrics and other materials. Pinkie had a bunch of balloons strapped to her back, while Fluttershy was covered in animals. Rainbow was also carrying a saddlebag, this one rolled up posters inside while Apple Bloom and Sweetie were pulling wagons filled with cans and brushes. Finally, Iron was pulling a cart with similar items to the Crusaders, along with some other odds and ends. Lightning and Wild didn't have anything, instead just along for the ride as they helped some carry some stuff.

With the castle now in sight, each pony was beginning to imagine how the final product would be, each shivering at how amazing it would look.

What could go wrong?

Several hours later...

Flash let out a relaxed sigh as they left the steam room, the last step of hair stress buster treatment. "Have to admit, I think I am now one hundred percent stress free."

"Same..." Twilight and Scootaloo added as they both stretched their wings.

It was here they heard a disapproving growl, making them turn and giggle at a certain angry jakhowl. "I knew I should have joined Spike for the claw treatment." Due to the humidity, his fur had puffed up, making him look like an oversized heated hairball. The ponies all hid their mouths behind their hooves, trying to hold back their laughter. In response, Springer started to shake his whole body, soon turning his form into a dripping un-puffed up mess. "Ugh...I need more towels."

"Hey everypony!" they now saw Spike walk up with his claws all filled, "You done?"

"Yup," Twilight replied while patting the towel she was wearing, "Now I just need to have that blowout you ordered me."

Flash nodded before turning to Scootaloo, "And we...have no idea what to do until she's done."

Spike hummed before pulling out his pamphlet, "Hmm...how about a sensory deprivation treatment?"

"What's that?"

"It's where you're placed in a soundproof tank of water that is completely blacked out. It's supposed to be great for clearing the mind."

Flash and Scootaloo shared a glance before Flash shrugged, "Eh, why not?"

"Could be fun," Scootaloo added.

"Great! And why you're doing that, Springer and I can go see how things are going at the castle."

"Sounds like a plan," Twilight replied as Aloe came over. They each announced what they wanted and she began to show them the way while Springer and Spike headed out.

"I can't wait to see what they did with the place," Spike commented as they arrived.

Springer nodded as he opened the front door. "Hope they didn't go into my room. I just got it the way I wanted it." But as they entered, they saw the place looked no different. "Guess they didn't get to this place yet."

"Eh, they're probably busy doing the throne room or the dining room, or-" He didn't finish, as in that moment he felt his foot tap something. "Huh?" Looking down, he now saw some kind of string, "What's this?" He got his answer when he raised his foot and the string snapped, causing one end to retract into a wall before something else flew out from the shadows. What followed was a swinging paint can, which Springer tackled him to dodge the incoming attack. "Thanks..." Spike moaned as they got back up.

"Don't mention it," Springer replied as he started to dust himself off, "Was that there when we left?"

Spike shook his head, "If it was, I don't remember it." And as he took a step back, he felt himself step on another string. "Uh-oh." He leapt away, only to land on another string...along with a few more.

From several different directions, paint cans started to appear, both friends now hopping around as Springer created a Bone Breaker, "What is going on?!" he yelled as he knocked a few away, Spike trying to burn the strings holding the cans. And as they did this for a minute, Springer breathed a sigh of relief as no more seemed to be coming. "That's the last of them."

"You sure?" Spike asked with a small gulp.

"I'm sure. Trust me, I know these things." Springer grumbled as he took another step, only to look down and see a wire. "Aw crap."

KER-THUNK!

"Whoa!" they both yelped as the duo felt themselves being yanked up into the ceiling.

It was here that everypony walked into the hall, "What it tarnation is going on out here?" Applejack asked as they looked up and saw a net with both Spike and Springer trapped inside.

"Somepony cut us down!" Spike cried out.

"How in Equestria did you get up there?" Rarity asked, only to receive two growls in response.

"Talk later, release now!" The others began to debate on how to get them down, only for the traps' designer to walk in.

"Hey! Who set off all my traps?!" Iron yelled with gritted teeth. "These things weren't easy to set up you know."

"You did this?!" Springer screamed back. "Seriously?!"

"What?! They're pretty good! Granted, these'll have to work until I can get some better traps. I was thinking of some laser guided crossbows, bottomless pits and I'll probably get the net electrified." He then blinked as he saw nothing but glares from surrounding ponies, "What? Too much?"

"Way too much!" Spike cried out. "Get us down!" Iron rolled his eyes and moved over to a nearby corner, kicking it before everypony heard a snapping sound. "AAAHHHH!" The two trapped non-ponies yelled as they fell back down, slamming into the floor.

And as the others helped them out of the net, Fluttershy turned to her coltfriend. "You need to take out all these booby-traps."

"Why?" Iron pouted, only to get a version of the stare from Fluttershy. "Uh..."

Rarity rolled her eyes as Springer and Spike crawled out of the net. "This is supposed to be a castle, not a scene from the next Daring Do book."

"Flash and Twilight are already having trouble sleeping," Springer growled as he dusted himself off again. "They'll never get any sleep if they have to navigate this stuff whenever they go to bed."

"But-"

"NO!" everypony yelled in unison, the response making Iron grumble as he turned away, mumbling about how all his hard work was going to waste.

As he did this, Spike started to go for the throne room. "I hope the rest of you did a better job." Springer suddenly sensed a wave of dread coming off everypony, making him grimace as Spike threw open the door. "SWEET CELESTIA!"

Springer, Sweetie and Apple Bloom rushed in after him, only for all four to now be wide-eyed at the sight. The throne room was a mess, filled with hay, apples, animals, balloons, posters and more. There was also a giant portrait hanging over the door that showed the seven ponies that made up the elements standing on clouds.

"What happened?" Sweetie asked.

"This place looks like a rummage sale gone wrong." Apple Bloom added.

Springer turned back to the group, raising an eyebrow as they all blushed while Wild asked, "It's that bad, huh?"

"This place looks terrible!" Spike moaned.

The girls all shared a look before saying one thing, "Phew!"

"Thank goodness somepony said something!" Fluttershy cheered.

Rainbow nodded in agreement, "It's pretty bad, right?"

Applejack just sighed, "This place looks like a mishmash of knickknacks."

Rarity hummed. "I suppose it is a little cluttered."

"What are you all talking about?" Pinkie asked as she hopped around, "I think it looks super fun!" But as soon as she said that, several hidden party cannons exploded, causing all the animals to get spooked. Following this was the animals running amok, knocking over everything in the process.

"Pinkie! Stop it!" Wild yelled as he ran after his marefriend

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy whimpered as she went over to a pair chipmuks, "Oh no, please don't do that. If you all just take a deep breath and calm down-" She didn't finish as a stone pillar was knocked down next to her, making her jump back as the chipmunks hopped over it and grabbed a pair of curtains.

"No!" Rarity screamed, "That's embroidered by hoof! Don't you dare move one more paw!" But as she said this, the chipmunks lost their grip and slid down the cloth. The sound of tearing fabric could be now be heard, causing Rarity's face to go pure red, "EVERYPONY STOP!"

The outburst made all the animals freeze, Pinkie coming to a stop as she blinked at the destruction, "Okay....now its a mess."

"What're we gonna do?!" Rainbow yelled as she rubbed her head in frustration.

"I dunno, but they'll be back soon." Spike groaned, "If they were avoiding the castle before, they'll never set hoof in here now!"

"Ugh..." Lightning moaned while facehoofing, "I knew this place looked bad."

"Then why didn't you say anything?!" Rarity barked back, only for Wild to walk in front of him.

"Don't yell at him! We don't know anything about fashion or design, so we were just following your lead. For all we knew, what you were doing was some crazy new fashion choice!"

"Seriously?!" Rarity hissed, Rainbow now flying down between them.

"Stop! We gotta stop arguing and do something! The others are counting on us!"

Rarity let out a sigh, shaken her head before turning to a certain small drake, "Spike, you and Springer have got to get back to that spa and stall them! Whatever you do, don't let them come home no matter what!"

"Like...forever? But we live here."

Rarity's mouth stayed gaping open for a few seconds before replying, "Uh, yes...well, um...maybe you could manage it 'til...sunset-ish?" She batted her eyelids, causing Spike to go into his puppy love form.

"Anything for you, Rarity..." With that, he ran out the door, Springer sighing at the sight.

The jakhowl turned to the group with a glare, "You all better get this good looking when we get them back. And like I said before, don't touch my room."

"We won't darling. Now get moving after Spike."

"Yeah yeah..." Springer grumbled as he left the castle.

And as the jakhowl disappeared, Lightning turned to Rarity with a low glare, "You know, leading that little guy on like that isn't a good thing."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Rarity replied with a wave of her hoof. "I know its not nice, but Spike is our best shot into getting us more time."

Applejack then spoke up. "Okay, we all agree the castle is too cluttered, right? So why doesn't everypony take one of their own decorations out and we'll see how it looks?"

The girls all gave their nods of approval while Sweetie and Apple Bloom began to leave, "You all do that, and we're gonna go finish Scoots's room."

"Yeah...we're almost done." Sweetie added as they left the room, Lightning and Wild wishing they could go with them instead of just being janitors for the rest. And as the cleanup started, a sense of dread waved over the group as they know time was slipping away.

Meanwhile...again.

As the spa came into view, Spike turned to Springer. "How are we supposed to keep them out of the castle until sunset?"

"We'll just have to tell them that's when the others want them back."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"We'll think of something." Springer replied as he opened the front door, both now seeing Flash and Scootaloo enter the room, "Hey you two, how was the sensory deprivation?"

"It was awesome!" Scootaloo cheered. "You should try it! It felt like I was swimming through a rainbow!"

"It was pretty cool," Flash added while cricking his neck. "I feel extra refreshed."

"Nice. Where's Twilight?"

"She should be done soon." Flash added as they entered a manicure room. There, they saw Twilight be fitted with a new mane style, the blowout just now coming to an end.

She turned to her friends with a huge smile, "Hey everyone, how do I look?" She got her answer when Flash's wings instantly shot out, almost taking Springer's eye out. The reaction made her and Scootaloo laugh while the jakhowl rubbed his face with a growl.

"You look great!" Spike responded, Scootaloo nodding in agreement.

"Good." Twilight replied as she got up, her eyes now fully staring at Flash, "I'm guessing I should try this look more often?" Flash just gave a small, dumbfounded nod that made the alicorn giggle, "I'll try. Now...how does the castle look?"

This made Spike and Springer share a glance, "Uh...good?"

Twilight clapped her hooves, "Great! I can't wait to go home and see it!"

"Hang on there," Springer interrupted. "The others don't you want there till sunset. They wanna...get the place looking perfect before you see it."

"Really?"

"Yeah.." Springer replied before looking away and mumbling. "Plus it'll give Iron enough time to get rid of all those traps."

"What was that?" Flash asked, only for Spike to interrupt.

"Anyways, let's not rush them. Why don't we all...have a massage?" He pulled out his pamphlet and pointed to a random part of it. "I was really hoping to get, uh...this thingy!"

Twilight bent down to read the article, "The extra-strength-hot-stone-deep-tissue massage?"

Hearing its name made Spike gulp, "Uh...yep!"

The alicorn raised an eyebrow in response, "I think I'll just have a traditional massage, but you go for it."

"Same," Flash and Scootaloo both added.

In that moment, Aloe stepped out of another room. "Did somepony order massages?" Before they could answer, the wall of the spa suddenly broke open to reveal Bulk Biceps in a masseuse's uniform.

"YEAH! Let's do this, little dragon!" With that, he grabbed Spike between his bulging biceps before crashing into the wall again.

"Oh, I hate it when he does that." Aloe moaned as she tried to show a smile to rest, "Now, come with me dearies."

Back at the castle, Apple Bloom and Sweetie were heading back to the throne room. The duo were covered in paint, both laughing with joy, "Scootaloo's gonna love what we did with her room!"

"I know!" Sweetie added. "I can't wait to see her face when she sees it. I'm just glad the paint we got worked. I wasn't sure if you could paint crystal."

Apple Bloom nodded as they arrived at the throne room. "Here's hopin' the others managed to make the place look less...yah know." Sweetie nodded as the door came into view.

But in that moment, they heard Applejack cry out. "Hey, those are mah warmin' quilts!" Seconds later, a bunch of blankets flew out the room, making the two grimace at the sight.

"Together!" They now heard Rarity and Rainbow cry out. The crusaders shared a look before glancing in, hearing the sound of balloons popping. The place was still a mess, the girls fighting each other while Lightning and Wild sat on the sidelines, all watching the carnage with a pair of giant frowns.

"Fluttershy! Tell your birds to stop pecking at my balloons!"

Fluttershy growled back at Pinkie, "I guess they must not like being scared out of their wits by exploding confetti cannons or something!"

"But we can't get rid of the cannons!" Pinkie cried out, "I don't even remember where I hid all of them." This was followed by another loud explosion, coupled with a blast of confetti.

"Allow me to help," Rarity began gathering everypony else's stuff in her magic.

"Oh no yah don't!" Applejack yelled with a growl, "Ah'll help you!"

"Not if I help you first!" Rainbow screeched as she got between the two.

Sweetie and Apple Bloom sat down beside Lightning and Wild. "This ain't gonna end well, is it?"

"Most likely," Lightning sighed.

"Should we do something?"

"Probably..." Wild replied while his puppets repeated the phrase, "But I don't think anything we could do will work right now."

Springer and the ponies were now happily trotting down the street, all having just left the spa. Twilight was especially happy as she let out a long sigh, "Oh...that massage was a great suggestion Spike. I feel totally relaxed."

Spike was now showing a look of pure pain on his face, his spine feeling like somepony had been doing the river-dance on it. "Ow ow ow ow ow..."

"So what do you all wanna do now?" Flash asked, seeing the sunset was still a few hours away.

"Why don't we just go for a walk? When was the last time we just enjoyed the scenery?"

The others all shrugged, the group now trotting up a few streets. It was here that they found themselves at a familiar sight: The destroyed remains of the Golden Oak Library. The five frowned at the sight, Twilight sighing. "I really miss this place. We had so many wonderful memories here."

Flash nodded, rubbing his face as he thought back on his fun times at that library. But as he did this, his ears now heard the sound of sniffing, making him look down and see Scootaloo fighting back tears, "Hey, what's wrong Scoots?"

Scootaloo just leaned down, the first tear now escaping her eye, "It's just...this was the first place I really called home."

"What about the orphanage?" Springer asked, only for Scootaloo to shake her head.

"I might have lived there, but it never felt like a place I belonged." She looked up at the destroyed remains of the tree, "This place was where I started really feeling like I was supposed to be there."

Flash let out a sigh, knowing he had no words to give her. Instead, both him and Twilight's wings hugged her, patting her side as he stared at the burnt pile of wood. But as he stared at it, his eyes went wide as he saw a small piece of cloth under the rubble, "Huh?"

Getting up, he walked over to the piece of lumber, making everyone blink at him as Twilight asked, "What are you doing?"

Flash didn't answer, instead pulling the burnt wood away before smiling as he picked up something. "Well what do you know...look at what I found."

Scootaloo's eyes went wide at the sight of a pair of red blankets, both looking completely fine. "No way," she ran up and grabbed hers'. "I thought it burnt up with the tree."

"Same here." Flash replied as he looked the cloth over. "Gotta give it to those alicorns, they sure knew how to make a fabric that lasts."

Flash then took Scootaloo's blanket and folded the cloths as they stared back at the library. All of them were starting to tear up, Spike especially, which made Twilight pull him close, "It's okay Spike. It'll be okay."

"I know...I know..."

Twilight leaned down with a tiny smile, "Say...I know our friends are helping us with the castle, but...why don't we have the girls add some things to make the castle feel more like your home as well?"

This made Spike gasp, "Really?!"

Twilight nodded before crouching down, "Hop on!" Spike did so before Twilight spread her wings, only for the drake to see a look of fear on Springer's face. Here, Spike grabbed Twilight's wings, making her flinch as she crashed landed, "Ow!" She turned to see Spike jump off, "What are you doing?!"

"I, um...I just thought of what I want!"

"Oh..." Twilight replied as Flash helped her up, "Okay. What is it?"

Spike started twiddling his claws, his mouth mumbling, "It's a...well, I want a...it's..."

"A what?!" Flash grumbled as he glared at the drake.

"A bed!" Spike blurted out, only to get a look of confusion from Twilight.

"I thought you said you sleep like a baby in the castle."

Spike scoffed while waving his claw, "Everypony knows babies are terrible sleepers."

"That's...not a bad point," Flash added, "But did you have to be violent to Twilight for that?!"

"I'm sorry! Now let's go right now!" With that, the dragon ran off, making the others share a glance before following the drake.

Meanwhile...one more time!

Back at the castle, Iron had just finished dismantling the last trap, a long grumble escaping his mouth as he headed to the throne room. There, he saw a Daring Do poster float out of the room before hearing Rarity speak up, "There! Now nothing is cluttering the castle!"

"You're right..." Rainbow deadpanned, "There is literally nothing cluttering this castle. Nothing at all!" True to her word, the room looked exactly as it was when they first started: Cold and empty.

"What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked.

Wild raised a hoof, "Is failure an option?"

"No, it's not."

Wild just shrugged, "Welp, that was my suggestion."

"Suggestion, suggestion."

Rarity then turned to a window and gulped. "I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but it's almost sunset. If we don't figure this out soon, it's going to look like we didn't lift a hoof to help them!"

"AUGH! Why is this so hard?!" Rainbow yelled while rubbing her head in frustration, "We're their best friends! This should be easy for us!"

"It was for me and Bloom," Sweetie countered.

"Yeah," Apple Bloom added, "We got Scootaloo's room done just the way she'd like it."

"Oh really?! Excuse me for being a little doubtful." Rarity hissed as she stared down at the duo, only for her glare to make Sweetie puff her cheeks up in pride.

"Oh yeah?! Go see for yourself!"

"This should be good." Iron commented as they all headed out of throne room, "This better not be another one of your disaster areas."

"Why would it be a disaster-"

"Everything is a disaster with you three!" Iron interrupted, "Need I remind you of the second and third 'Renegade Farming Equipment Incidents'?!"

The two fillies shared a glance before replying, "Well...at least we didn't make a bunch of unnecessary traps that nopony would ever want."

Iron was about to retort, only to feel Fluttershy's hoof pat his shoulder. "That's enough Iron. Just believe in them. They're Scootaloo's friends."

"Heck yeah we are!" Apple Bloom added as they reached Scootaloo's room, the filly pushing the door open. "Take a look at this!"

Everypony's jaws dropped at the sight, including Iron. Inside, the formerly purple walls were now bright blue and had images of ramps with scooters racing up them. It was also covered in posters of the Wonderbolts, Daring Do and other pegasi memorabilia. The sides were lined with pictures of Scootaloo alongside all her friends and family, as well as images of her and the crusaders' favorite moments.

"WOW!!!" Pinkie cheered, "It's awesome!"

"Thanks!" Apple Bloom responded with a huge grin, "We just put ourselves in Scootaloo's horseshoes and tried to think what she'd want the room to look like."

"Makes sense. It might not be something I'd want my room to look like, but I won't be the one living here." Lightning commented, only to see five ponies eye grow a big as dinner plates.

Fluttershy did a small sigh first, "Oh dear. Maybe we're all a little guilty of making ourselves feel at home instead of Flash and Twilight." Iron patted her on the shoulder, while the others all grimaced at just realizing what they were doing wrong.

Seeing everypony's frowns, Applejack crossed her hooves as she spoke up, "Come on y'all, my little sis was right. We just need to think about Flash and Twilight. What was it that they loved about livin' in the Golden Oak Library?"

"Well...I think Sentry only liked it because Twilight was there," Iron added, the others all nodded in agreement.

"So what did Twilight like about living there?" Wild asked next.

"Oh, everything!" Fluttershy chimed in, "The books, the smell of books, the joy she felt from organizing books..."

"So we just fill the place with books?" Lightning asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Isn't it already filled with books?" Iron replied. "She spent those first few weeks filling this place with books from Canterlot!"

Rainbow chuckled at this, "Oh yeah...remember that time I crashed into all those books attempting my sonic rainboom after you all had just cleaned up?" She let out a laugh before releasing a happy sigh. "That was good times."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Yeah, for you maybe."

Rarity let out a giggle here, "Oh, and Applejack? Remember when we were stuck having a sleepover there? That turned out to be so much fun!"

Iron let out a snort, "I guess that party you threw me when I first moved here was okay. You know, the one after I was stung by those Speed Stringers."

Everypony started to smile at this, only for Pinkie to blurt out, "Remember the time it got blown to smithereens?!" This caused a series of glares, making her gulp, "Wait...no, that was the worst."

"We had a lot of good memories there." Applejack added, "That's what made the Golden Oak Library home." This statement was met with a bunch of nods, only for the earth pony to let out a gasp, "Wait...that's it!"

"What's it?"

"Ah know what we gotta do to make the others feel at home!"

That night...

As the sun began to set, Flash, Twilight, Scootaloo, Springer and Spike found themselves walking up to the castle. The ponies couldn't wait to see how it looked while Spike and Springer were dripping buckets of sweat at the thought of going inside. Unfortunately, they couldn't stop this from happening as Twilight went in first, calling out through the main entrance, "Hello?"

"Anypony here?" Scootaloo added, only to see their friends suddenly run into the hallway.

"Welcome home!" They all cheered while the five just blinked at the sight, now seeing that the place looked exactly as it had that morning.

Flash raised an eyebrow, "So...are we going for the invisible decorations? Very...modern."

Twilight tilted her head at this, "Yeah. You did such a good job of...preserving the integrity of the original design."

"Oh, come on!" Spike cried in frustration, "It looks exactly the same! Do you know how hard it was to keep them from coming back here?!"

Springer let out a groan, "Ugh...I'll be having nightmares of dust ruffles for months."

This statement made Twilight stare at her friends with a slight glare, "Wait...they were keeping us from coming back here?"

Rarity let out a nervous giggle, "It took a teensy bit longer than we thought."

Applejack took off her her hat and placed it against her heart. "Yah see...what really makes home feel like home isn't what it looks like, it's the memories ya'll make when you're there."

The others nodded as Rarity continued. "So we've made something that celebrates the memories we've made with you all since you moved to Ponyville."

Now intrigued, the group walked into the throne room, only for the six to gasp. Hanging above the table was a giant wooden chandelier, all showing tons of shining crystal ornaments hanging off, the shine making the room look almost alive. Fluttershy and Rainbow flew up next, Fluttershy pointing to the crystals. "The ornaments on the chandelier are reminders of all the fun we've had together."

Flash went up to the chandelier, now staring at on the crystals, amazed to see an image inside that was him and Springer first meeting. As he started at it, Pinkie hopped up and grabbed one, "This one shows your welcoming party at the Golden Oak Library!"

Fluttershy showed another, "The time we were in the Fantasia Parade."

Iron tapped another, "When we teamed up to beat the Flim Flam brothers."

"Wow...how many of them are there?" Springer gasped as he stared at the chandelier.

"One hundred and thirty four," Lightning told him. "Pretty impressive, don't you think?"

Back on the ground, Twilight was still frozen as she stared at the chandelier. Rarity then spoke up, "We were hoping that being able to look at your beautiful old memories would inspire you to make new ones."

Applejack nodded in agreement. "And the best part, it's made from the roots of the Golden Oak Library, so ya'll never forget where you came from."

Flash landed next to Twilight, now seeing tears of joy go down her face. "Its exactly what the castle needed." She ran up to them as they all shared a hug, "And I am ready to make new memories here."

Pinkie shined a huge grin as she pulled away, "Then let's start right now with a new memory cake!" She zipped away before coming back while carrying a large multicoloured cake on her back. "Seven layer what's-that-flavor mystery surprise! They might be chocolate chips or they might be super-spicy black beans!"

"Let's go to the dining room. It's a little sparse, but at least there's a table and chairs." Twilight replied as they started to go to the dining room, only to gasp again, "Whoa!" They now saw flowers, drapes and everything else you'd find in a Canterlot Restaurant in the room. "What happened in here? Last I checked, this place was empty!"

"I couldn't help myself!" Rarity whined, making everypony stare at her. "It was just begging for the personal touch!"

Everyone giggled at this, Applejack shaking her head as she added, "Truth be told, ah couldn't either. Your kitchen might have some rustic farm decor."

"And there may or may not be some Daring Do posters up in your library."

"And some stuffed animals in your bedroom," Fluttershy whispered to Twilight.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie turned to Scootaloo with huge grins, "Just wait till you see your room! We know you'll love it."

Flash turned to the males of the group, only for them to all point at Iron. Grumbling at this, Iron looked away, "Alright...I may have set up a kind of obstacle course in one of the unused hallways." The other ponies were now all glaring at him. "What?! I worked really hard on those contraptions!"

Before anypony could say anything else, a loud explosion erupted above them, causing confetti to rain down. "What was that?!" Twilight yelped, making Applejack sigh.

"One of Pinkie Pie's confetti cannons." They all turned to the pony in question, her eyes darting away.

"What?!" She asked as Wild wiped some of the cake off of her and licked it off his hoof, his face going red as he swallowed a spicy black bean. "It's not my fault I hid them so well!" Everypony laughed at this, Pinkie now having to clean up the confetti as the rest finished the cake.

Later that night...

After the fun filled day, Flash was now back in his bed. He had a huge grin on his face as he stretched out on the covers, his whole body feeling fully refreshed from the spa. But as he did this, he felt something. He...still couldn't get to sleep. Despite everything that happened, accepting the castle and all...but sleep still evaded him.

"Come on..." he moaned with his eyes closed, "Why...why can't I..."

It was here his ears spiked up, now hearing his bedroom door slowly open. Glancing up, he now saw Twilight poke her head inside, "Hey. You still up?"

"Yeah..." he groaned as he sat up, "Guess you can't sleep either."

Twilight closed the door behind her as she slowly nodded, "Same...but I think I've figured out why. I was um...I was thinking of the last time I really slept well, and...I realized it was uh...you know, when we..." her face was now pure bright red, "You know....at the cave."

Flash's face was just as red, his mind now thinking about that night. Seeing her point, he began to shuffle his hooves, "So uh...what do we um...do?"

Twilight's horn started to shine as Flash's bed covers started to levitate, the alicorn hopping onto the bed. There, she snuggled up to Flash's chest, Flash's wings covering her as the quilt fell down over them. Flash felt his nose rest inside Twilight's mane, the princess now feeling his heartbeat as a wave of gentle slumber started to embrace the couple.

"Wow..." Flash commented as he wrapped his hooves around her, "I feel...so relaxed. Even more than our whole spa day..."

"Yeah..." Twilight mumbled as she rubbed his chest with her face, "Feels good."

Two smiles started to appear on their faces as Flash whispered, "So uh...looks like we're sharing."

"Yup. Guess we'll decide which room to share in the morning." Flash was too tired to say anything else, his eyes closing as he rested his head on his marefriend. Both could feel the warmth of sleep consume them next, small light snores following this as the lovers went into the realm of slumber.

Iron's Place

View Online

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville.

The ponies were enjoying their day to day life, including a certain gunmetal gray coated earth pony named Iron Core, who was currently on his midday patrol. A long sigh followed this as he continued to munch on a muffin he had gotten from an overly clumsy pegasus mare. He was currently going through the market place of the town, his patrol passing every stand as a bored look stayed on his face.

"Nothing ever changes..." he mumbled as he took another bite, pure boredom now consuming his mind. As for why he was like this, it was because nothing had been happening recently. After Tirek and Shade, no villain, disaster or...well, anything was happening to Ponyville. Even the crusaders hadn't made their usual once-a-week catastrophe for the past two weeks.

As such, he finished off the muffin as he sat down on a nearby vacant chair, thinking back over the past week. The usual had happened, mainly a sinkhole opening up in the middle of town, the nearby dam being damaged and several timberwolves deciding to have some town fun.

However, a long sigh followed these thoughts, remembering the events as one singular thing happened in each of them. And as he did this, he stared at the nearby streets. It was here he saw a trio of fillies walk by, all playing hopscotch. Iron looked up and now saw that they were actually at the bottom of a steep hill, the street now showing a merchant on top of the hill as they examined a few barrels. A reflex kicked into the knight as he got up, gripping his weapon as he saw one of the merchants accidentally tip one of the barrels over. The action made the object instantly fall, spinning as it picked up speed down that hill.

But as he hopped off his seat to save the fillies...something occurred. A flash of gold covered the sky, a pegasi inside that shining light appearing as he zipped past the knight, grabbing the fillies in one fell swoop. Iron felt a blast of wind from the motion alone, only to see the pegasi reappear in front of the barrel, his wings flapping as a huge gust of wind came out of them. The gale quickly consumed the barrel, causing it to come to a complete halt.

Only a minute had passed from the scene, the pegasi now transforming back to his regular pony form. The following few minutes were nothing but rounds of applause and chants of his name as the pegasi gave a wave to the crowd before flying off. And as they cheered, only one pony was not joining in.

It was Iron Core, sighing as he put his weapon away. He then began to walk away, grumbling to himself, "He did it again..." He began to rub the side of his head as he continued to trot down the streets, "No matter what I do, its always him."

His mind was now thinking about the events of this week, remembering each time Flash had appeared. For the sinkhole, Flash got there in seconds, pulling the ponies out of the collapsing ground like it was nothing. He created a wall of wind to stop the dam so Twilight could repair it, and then he turned the Timberwolves into a pile of sticks.

The Metal Guardian sighed at the memories, his legs wobbling back and forth as the thoughts kept replaying in his head. He gritted his teeth at the reflection, thinking about Springer and Lightning, wondering if they felt the same way. Despite this, his mind told him one thing.

"Maybe...maybe I should ask Skybreaker what I should do." he whispered to himself, the pony now showing a huge frown as he turned to walk down another street.

But as he did this, his face was seen by certain pony that spoke up, "Iron?"

"Hmm?" Iron muttered as he looked up, only to see the face of beauty in front of him. It was Fluttershy, his marefriend who was wearing a look of pure concern on her face. "Oh, hey Shy." The pegasus mare stepped up, the two beginning to walk side by side. "So what have you been up too?"

"Just helping Twilight up at the castle. She was talking about some special ancient tome Celestia wanted her to translate, but I didn't understand anything about it. Also, her and Spike's new beds finally arrived, so me and Rarity were helping put them in the right place."

"So they finally got settled? Even after that huge mess we all caused?"

Fluttershy did a small nod, "Oh yes. I must say, I never expected both Twilight and Flash to look so embarrassed to admit to sharing a room."

"Aren't they always like that?"

"Hmmm....I guess so." Fluttershy replied as she put her hoof over her mouth. She thought back to the moment the new couple had admitted to sharing room, both picking Twilight's room as the one they would sleep in. Flash had decided to use his old as his own personal stallion cave while Twilight preferred to not have one. (Flash then said Twilight considers her new room to be the library, which resulted in a bonk on the head)

"Guess everything's coming up Sentry." Iron grumbled, Fluttershy now seeing an expression of anger crossed with depression on his face. Blinking at this, the two passed a newsstand as its owner started yelling.

"Extra! Extra! Crimson Masquerade Gang strikes again!"

Iron turned to the pony and bought a copy, looking the paper over. It was over a gang of thieves known for wearing masks and capes that had been terrorizing Fillydelphia. They had just recently stolen a rare diamond from one of its museums. "Huh...wonder what their next target is..."

"Iron?" Fluttershy spoke up, but Iron just stared at the paper, "Iron? Is something wrong?"

"If only I was there-"

"Iron!" Fluttershy barked as she put a hoof on his shoulder, instantly getting his attention.

"Huh?! What is it Shy?"

"What's wrong Iron? I know that look."

"What are you talking about?" Iron replied as his eyes tried to dart away, only to feel her grip on his shoulder get tighter.

"Iron...I know you're depressed about something and you don't want to talk about it." She leaned up, their noses about to touch as they locked eyes. He was about to tell her not to worry about it, but he knew better. The glare she was giving was stronger than her 'Stare', it was one she used when she wanted something from him no matter what the cost. "What's wrong? Please...just tell me so I can help you."

Iron let out a long sigh, folding the paper in his hooves. "Let's go find a place to sit down." Fluttershy nodded at this, the two soon finding a nearby café to sit down at. There, Iron continued to sigh as he rubbed his face in frustration. "I uh...um..."

"Its okay Iron. Take your time." Fluttershy chimed in, showing her usual kind smile.

Iron slightly stared at her, just looking at her made her feel like he didn't deserve the mare as he said these next words, "I'm...not needed here. In Ponyville, that is." Fluttershy's eyes went wide at hearing this, but Iron continued, "I haven't done anything worth while in weeks. Every time something happens, Sentry swoops in and deals with it. I'm not needed."

"That's not true."

"It is. His new abilities give him the speed, strength and ability to handle any problem. Whenever something happens, he gets there within seconds and deals with it." Iron leaned back with a long groan, "I'm not saying I'm jealous or think he's hogging the spotlight, but...I don't know why I'm here now."

Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth, trying to hide the frown on her face, "Well um...have you thought about telling Flash about these worries?"

"I can't do that. As much as I hate to admit it, his new abilities make keeping the peace around her much easier. If I tell him what I told you, it might make him start pulling back and not use 'em at a point when he really needs it. You know how he is...do you want him to hold back because it makes me feel better? You know he'll do it, and we might need those powers."

"So...what are you going to do?"

"There's only one thing I can do, but I'm not gonna do it." This made Fluttershy just blink at him, "The town doesn't need my skills anymore. The smart thing to do...would be to go somewhere that does need my skills." This statement made Fluttershy gasp, only for Iron to reach out and grab her hooves before she could say anything, "Don't worry. I said I wasn't gonna do it." He continued to hold her hooves as he turned to stare at the town, sighing, "Though I uh...I won't admit it to anypony except you...I've really grown to love this town. For the first time since I was a kid, I felt like I was home. That I was somewhere I belong...or belonged."

"Oh Iron..." Fluttershy began to move her chair so she was right next to him, "You still belong here."

"I...I don't know. I'm a Royal Knight, the Metal Guardian. My whole purpose in life is to help deal with situations that cause ponies problems. But...if I can't deal with them here, then I...I don't belong here." He showed a big frown at his lover, one that made her mirror him. "Your purpose in life is to look after animals, but...what if all the animals that live in Ponyville suddenly moved to another town?"

Fluttershy opened her mouth, but no words came out. She instantly understood what he meant, the statement breaking her heart. The mare could see the conflict in his eyes, but couldn't find the words. As such, Iron sighed again as he got off his chair, "Like I said, I'm not gonna leave you. I'll just...deal with it. See ya later Shy."

With that, he walked away, Fluttershy's mane drooping down as she stared at the leaving defender. She wanted to go after him, telling him that they would find a solution and make everything right...but nothing came to her. Her mind was completely blank as she started to twiddle her hooves, "Oh dear...what am I going to do?"

She stared down at the table as her mind went over the options, "I don't want him to leave, but I can't have him just throw his life's purpose...oh, what do I do?"

The mare looked up and saw her friends' homes in the distance, blinking at the sight, "I need some help. I just gotta make sure Flash isn't there when I ask."

That night...

In the deserts of Equestria, the peaceful quiet of the night was shattered by the sound of a train rushing down the tracks. It was a freight train carrying supplies to Fillydelphia and Applewood. As such, in one of the freight carts was a group of ponies were huddled in the corner hidden behind a bunch of boxes. They were all wearing the same thing, a black full-body suit, dark red capes and a black hood with a red mask. Each mask was a different animal, there being a wolf, owl, gorilla and lizard.

Gorilla reached up and pulled his mask off, revealing a dark green earth pony stallion with a black mane. "Geez, it's freezing in here."

Lizard pulled off her mask and revealed herself as a dark pink mare with a silver mane. "Tell me about it. And its so cramped," her cape scrunched up as a pair of wings stretched out, grumbling as she turned to the one with the wolf mask, "Why couldn't we have just taken a normal train? It's not like they'd recognize us without our costumes."

Wolf took off his mask to reveal a light brown earth pony with a dark brown mane and scars covering his face. "And what would have happened when they scanned our luggage and found the diamond?" He pulled out the large jewel, which was almost half the size of his head. "This bad boy will fetch a small fortune, but it also means we have to be extra careful. With all the increased security, there was no way we were gonna be able to get away with taking a normal train. Even Owl's abilities wouldn't have been any use, not with the anti-magic fields they were using on the station."

The final member of the group said nothing, simply slumping back against the crates while Gorilla spoke up, "So...where we selling this bad boy? Please tell me we're not waiting until we get to Applewood to get off. That's a two day trip."

Wolf shook his head. "No, we're getting off at Ponyville."

"Ponyville?" The other two gasped as Owl leaned back in.

Wolf nodded. "Yeah. After all...we're gonna pull off our biggest hiest yet. We're gonna break into the town's newest landmark."

The two's eyes went wide as Lizard yelped, "Are you nuts?! You wanna break into the Castle of Friendship?!"

"Exactly. The castle's new, so it won't have that much security. I'm sure a princess will have something valuable we can steal and sell."

"But it's not like it's completely unguarded," Gorilla countered. "What about the Knight of Friendship? I've heard about him...he's got weird abilities."

Wolf just let out a laugh, "Oh please, I've been studying the recent news over what he can do. I'm sure Owl's magic will be more than enough to hold him off so we can get away."

"Are you sure?" Lizard asked.

"Trust me. When have I ever steered you three wrong?"

The next day...

Iron was now slumped over in the park, sitting on a bench as his mind kept going over his options. He glanced down at his weapon, a long sigh following as he looked back up and saw the many ponies in the park. The defender would never admit it, but he loved seeing this sight. The happy faces on everypony as they walked by, the colts and fillies playing with cheers of joy.

It was here he turned to see a pair of elderly ponies playing a game of chess, grins on their faces as well. And as he watched them play, he stared at the board pieces, memories of his colthood after he had met Skybreaker going through his head.

The past...

"Chess?" Iron asked as Skybreaker set up the board. The two were currently staying in a small town, as Skybreaker had just got back from a mission and was now currently on rest.

"That's right," the pegasus replied as he began to setup the game. "It's a great way to learn strategy and forward thinking, all the qualities an Royal Knight needs. Commanding these pieces is similar to ordering your troops. Every decision you make will affect how the game plays out."

Iron did a small nod, "Okay...but I don't know the rules." Skybreaker nodded back before explaining how each piece moved, Iron trying to commit everything to memory. "Wow..." Iron muttered as he stared down at one piece in his hooves, "The Queen must be the best piece in the game."

"I'll admit that the Queen does have the potential to do the most damage. But that doesn't make it the most powerful." Skybreaker held up another piece with a smirk, "With the right strategy, a piece such as this Pawn could do more damage than the Queen."

Iron raised an eyebrow. "How? It can only move like...one space at a time."

"One space can be all you need. Chess without the Pawns is a loser's game. The weakest looking Pawns shouldn't be disregarded, even if you have better pieces like the Queen."

"Huh...I don't get it." Iron replied as he stared at the row of Pawns.

"You'll get it. Let's start a game, shall we?"

The Present...

Iron stared at the board, sighing. "Guess I'm just a Pawn now." He then watched as the two elderly ponies finished their game before resetting the pieces, the duo leaving after that. Iron didn't know why, but he reflexively got up and walked over and sat down at the board. The knight started to play a game by himself, his mind replacing himself as the Pawns while Flash in his new form resembled the Queen.

A long moan followed as he felt himself slump over. He watched as 'Flash' zipped around the board, knocking every Pawn away while the ones that looked like him just limped across the board. And as he did this, he didn't notice sompony walking up to him, "Hello." Iron flinched as he turned to the pony, looking up to see a cream colored unicorn stallion with red hair and a cutie mark that was a mirror with smoke around it. "Sorry if I startled you. I just thought you might like to play against an opponent."

Iron shook his head as he got out of his slump, "Uh....yeah. Sure, I wouldn't mind a game. Gives me something to do." The unicorn nodded and sat opposite him, using his magic to reset the pieces.

"I'm Double by the way," he said as he moved his first piece. "Double Take."

"Iron Core," the earth pony grumbled as he moved a Pawn.

"I know who you are. I saw you in the papers back when you were first knighted."

Iron let out a small snort, shrugging as he responded, "Eh, I get around. So, you new in town? Haven't seen you around."

"My friends and I are just passing through. Business."

"I get ya." Iron replied as he moved another piece, the two starting to talk as they began to play, time slowly passing by.

Meanwhile...

Fluttershy had gathered the friends to the Castle of Friendship, all of them discussing over Iron. The mare had everypony frowning as they saw the worry on her face as she finished, "And...that's it. So um...what do you think I should do?"

Applejack chimed in first with crossed hooves, "Ah gotta admit, that is a toughy. If mah farm started running itself, ah sure wouldn't know what to do with mah'self."

"Me too," Pinkie added with her hoof slowly deflating, "Remember how I was when Cheese Sandwich came to town? Oh...Iron must feel so bad."

Rainbow leaned back in her chair, "Huh...well, there's gotta be something we can do to help him."

"But what?" Rarity asked while tapping the table, "He's right in the fact that Flash can't simply hold back in his duties just so Iron feels he's needed."

As they continued to talk, Twilight remained silent. Her mind was stuck between a tome Celestia had given her to decipher and her friends' problem. She knew as the Princess of Friendship that helping her friend came first, but as she reviewed the facts in her head....she couldn't find anything. As such, she raised her hoof to speak up, "Everypony...I would like to write to Celestia and ask for her opinion."

This made Fluttershy shiver. "Twilight...w-w-what if...she orders Iron to transfer?"

Twilight shook her head with a kind smile, "She wouldn't do that. And even if she did, it would probably just be on a temporary basis. Just filling in for an area that's low on pony-power for a week or two." She pulled out a scroll and began to write before letting out a low hum, "Oh right...Spike is out for the day, hanging out with Springer. I'll have to have him send it when he gets back."

As she put the scroll down, Rainbow spoke up, "You don't think Iron would really leave, do you?"

"I'm honestly not sure." Rarity answered as she looked over at Fluttershy, "I mean...sometimes a pony has to do something they don't want to do for their own good."

It was here Rainbow got up and hugged Fluttershy's shoulder, the rest all seeing the conflict in the pegasi's eyes. They knew she wanted him to stay, but didn't know what to tell her. "Oh...I hope Princess Celestia knows what to do." she whispered as Rainbow tightened the hug. "Iron..."

Back at the park...

Iron and Double had been playing for a while, playing game after game while the rest of the world seemed to disappear. Currently, Iron was about to win as he moved his Queen to take out one of Double's Knights. "Ha! You're just one move away from being in checkmate."

Double just chuckled at this, "Maybe." His horn glowed as it picked up a Pawn close to Iron's side of the board, "But you left yourself unable to defend against this move." With that, he placed the Pawn at the back of the board, "Now I can swap it for anything you captured. I think I'll pick...a Rook." Iron's eyes went wide as he watched the unicorn replace the two pieces, the Rook now taking the Pawn's spot. It was here he saw that the Rook was on the same line as his king, which he had hidden behind two Pawns. "Checkmate."

Iron's eyes darted across the board, soon seeing his mistakes. Iron had gone for a full offensive while Double had got his Pawns around Iron's straightforward tactics. The knight just shook his head at this, "No way..."

Double smirked as he reset the board, "I didn't think you would fall for that."

Iron let out a long sigh, "Skybreaker would have lost it if he had saw me do that."

"Skybreaker? Is he the one who taught you how to play?"

Iron nodded, "Yeah...he once told me that Chess without Pawns is a loser's game. That even the weakest piece looking Pawn shouldn't be disregarded."

Double shrugged at this, "The one who taught me to play said something similar. He said that Chess is the game of life and everypony fits an exact role and can only move a certain way, all in the name of protecting the King." He looked up at Iron, "It just depends on what your king is. Though I guess your King is obvious since you're a Royal Knight."

Iron chuckled back, "My King is Equestria and all the ponies who live here." He then gestured to Double, "So what about you? What's your King?"

Double opened his mouth to respond, but words couldn't form. "I uh..." He then darted his eyes, now seeing a nearby clock tower as he saw the time. "Oh no! I'm gonna be late!"

"Huh?" Iron barely responded as he saw Double hop off his seat.

"It was nice meeting you, hope we meet again sometime!" Double yelled as he went into a full-on sprint, leaving a blinking confused Iron.

"What's got him so rattled?" With that, Iron reset the rest of the board for the next ones who wanted to play. But as the day passed and he left the park, he couldn't help feel a little better. And as he walked through the town, he couldn't help but think about what Double had said, knowing he would stay as a protector, "But that means..."

He then found himself at the top of a large hill overlooking the town. The knight couldn't help but show a giant frown on his face, thinking about leaving both the town...and her.

The night...

Twilight was in her room, going over the translations she had managed to get done for the tome. It was here that the door opened to show one Flash Sentry, drying off from a shower after checking to make sure Scootaloo was asleep. Twilight looked up and closed her notebook, the action catching his attention. "You okay?"

"No. This tome is...tough." Twilight responded as she put the notebook away, "I uh...how was patrol today? Any issues?"

"Nothing I can't handle," Flash said with a shrug, "Ever since I gained the power of the Sacred Light, keeping the peace has never been easier."

"I'm sure it is." Twilight replied as she saw him get on the bed. "What about the others? Have they been having any problems?"

"No...at least, they haven't told me about it." He raised an eyebrow at this, "Is something wrong?"

"No! Er..." Twilight responded with more haste than she wanted, "Just...interested. Anyways, we should probably get some sleep. I have a long day of tome deciphering tomorrow." She magically switched off the light, "Good night."

She rolled over next, the pegasi now staring at her back, "Um...good night."

And as he laid down, snoring already coming from this mouth, Twilight's heart twisted at not saying anything. She closed her eyes next, her body slightly shivering as she thought about tomorrow.

Meanwhile...

Outside of the castle and standing on a rooftop of a nearby building, three of the four Crimson Masquerade Gang were staring at the tower. "Alright...the last light just went off."

Wolf put his pair of binoculars away, "Good. We'll give it an hour, and then you and Owl will head inside."

"If he's even here by then," Gorilla grumbled before glancing back, soon seeing a shadow sneak over a nearby rooftop. "Hmm? Wait...is that him?"

A few seconds later, the shadow got to the gang, revealing it to be Owl, "I'm here. Sorry, I lost track of time."

Wolf turned to him, "About time. Get ready, as you and Lizard are heading in soon. Be careful and if you see something you think might be valuable, get it and get out of there. Understand?"

"Understood," they replied in unison. It was here they waited for another hour before the two hopped off the roof, Lizard taking the lead as they got to the castle's main doors.

"We should see if there's a low window I can unlock," Lizard whispered as Owl went up to the front door. "Hey! Don't be stupid! They wouldn't leave the front-" Her voice was cut off by the soft creaking noise of an opening door. "Seriously?! Geez, it's like they're asking to be robbed."

The two ponies quickly tiphoofed inside, slowly going down a few hallways. But as they traveled through the rooms, all they could mainly find were just hallways and bedrooms, nothing else. "What the heck?! What kind of princess doesn't have a room full of jewels?! I was expecting at least a gold filled swimming pool or something."

Owl said nothing as he checked another door, only to blink as he saw he had now found the castle library, "Over here."

Lizard followed him inside, only to let out a sigh, "What's this supposed to get us?!"

"The princess is known to be a major book lover and magical genius. I'm sure she'll have some rare books that could sell on the black market. Just look for anything old." Old whispered as Lizard sighed again, soon following his lead. But as they snuck inside and viewed the bookshelves...they still couldn't find anything. The two couldn't even find much dust, making them think nothing was old in here.

"I can't believe it...a whole new castle and not a thing worth stealing." Lizard moaned while rubbing her face in frustration. "This is a princess's castle! Where's the lap of luxury items?! Where's the diamond-studded furniture that these slobs love having?!"

Owl was about to respond in agreement, only to spot a large chest in a nearby corner. He walked over to it and saw it had a large padlock, "Hmm...hey, take a look at this. There might be something valuable in here."

"Sure. Here's hoping for something." Lizard replied as she started to pick the lock. "Keep a lookout, would ya?"

"Got it." Owl responded as he kept watch, several minutes passing before hearing a small click, "Got something?"

"Yup. Took longer than I thought." Lizard added as she opened the chest, both looking inside as they now saw an old book with a thick green cover that had several symbols they didn't recognize. Owl took it in his hooves, now seeing it was wrapped in plastic. "Jackpot." Lizard commented as Owl gave her the book and put it under her wing. "Now let's get out of here."

Owl nodded, only to freeze up as they heard a new sound ring out in the library. The two shared a glance before hiding behind a bookshelf, listening to the noise...and noticing it wasn't hoofsteps, but they had the same rhythm. Lizard leaned her head a bit more as she saw glared at the library entrance, only to go wide-eyed.

It was Spike, the young drake yawning as he moved through the outside hallway with a plate of gems in his claws. The little one had just snuck into the kitchen for a late night snack, licking his lips as he stared at the dish, only to see that the library door was open. "Uh-oh...is Twilight still up?" The drake tiptoed over to the door, peeking in as he tried to see if Twilight was in there.

"Huh. Looks like the coast is clear-whoa!" he blurted out as he suddenly tripped, quickly recovering as one of the gems flew off his plate. "Oh no...no no no!" the drake yelped as he tried to grab the gem, the gem loudly pinging on the floor. He quickly put his plate down and got the gem, gulping it down as he looked back at the library. He expected Twilight to appear, ready to give him another lecture on how eating at night was bad...only for nothing.

Spike took a deep breath as he put his plate on a nearby table in the library, "That's strange. I thought for sure Twilight would be in here. Why would the library door-" his words came to a stop when he turned and saw a padlock sitting on the floor by an open chest. His eyes went wide before hearing the sound of hoofsteps behind him. He spun around next, only to see a blur zoom out of the library. But it was too late as the drake let out a scream.

"THIEVES!!! TWILIGHT, WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!!!"

Owl and Lizard were in a full-on panic sprint as they raced through the halls, trying to remember which way they had come from. It was here that they arrived at a four-way junction, both heads darting back and forth, "Which way do we go?!" Lizard asked, only for Owl to point at a hallway.

"Not that way!" Owl stated as he pointed at the sight of Flash, Twilight, Scootaloo and Springer all turning the same corner.

"Oh crap! This way!" Lizard yelped as her and Owl ran the opposite corridor, turning a hallway corner as quickly as they could.

"Get back here!" Flash yelled as he shot into the air after them. But as he turned the same corner they did, he pulled himself to a stop, "Whoa! What the-" He gasped as he now saw he standing in front of a wall of pure diamonds.

The others then arrived, Scootaloo asking, "Where'd this come from?"

"No clue," Flash replied as his body began to glow. "Let's find out after we get those creeps!" With that, the light exploded off his body before a set of familiar armor appeared on his form as he pulled out two light swords. "Stand back!" He spun around before slicing the wall with an enhanced sword strike, the wall shattering to pieces.

"Alright, now that's-huh?!" he yelped as the wall fell apart...only for the wall's pieces disappeared into a puff of smoke. "What the heck?!"

"Uh...does diamond usually do that?" Springer asked, Twilight shaking her head.

"No...but that's not important. We need to catch those thieves!"

"Got it. They're not getting away." Flash added as he flared his wings, his form turning into a bullet of light as he flew ahead.

While this happened, Owl and Lizard continued to run through the hallways, panic embracing their minds. "We gotta get out of here!" Lizard yelled as they turned another corner, only to gasp as they saw the main entryway right in front of them. "Yes!"

It was here a flash of light zipped past them, the blur's speed causing a tear in Owl's mask, "Ahh!" he hissed in pain as he put his hoof on the spot, both now seeing the light land in front of the door.

"Going somewhere?!" Flash growled as he rested a hoof on the sheathed light blades. "You got a lot of guts doing this. I'll give you one chance to give up and come quietly."

Owl and Lizard both remained still, sharing a glance as Lizard slowly took out the book. Flash tensed up at the sight, his eyes darting between the book and the thieves as a flame appeared near Owl's head. "One wrong move and this thing burns."

Flash blinked at this, his body scrunching up as the thought of Twilight losing it if the tome was destroyed, "You're bluffing."

"Are we?" Lizard asked before tossing the book into the air, Owl launching the fireball next. Flash quickly darted into the air, outpacing the fireball as he snatched the book in midair. But as he landed with the tome, he looked back at the door and saw the thieves were already gone.

"Shoot."

"Flash!" He turned around and saw Twilight running up to him, "Where are they?!"

"They got away...but I got this back."

Springer then zipped past Flash to get outside, closing his eyes as he released his aura. But as he did this, the scan got garbled, as the thieves had already got into town and were mingled with the rest of the townponies. "Darn...there's too many."

"Who were those two?" Scootaloo asked next.

"They must have been part of the Crimson Masquerade Gang," Twilight commented while glancing over at Flash. "Looks like they managed to get out of Fillydelphia and came here."

Flash nodded before looking down at the book. "Well on the bright side, at least they didn't get this." But in the moment, the book suddenly exploded into a cloud of smoke, making everypony gasp. "Or not. That's not good."

The next morning...

"And this is what happens when you don't set up security measures!" Iron yelled as he began to survey the castle.

"How long are you gonna milk that?" Flash barked back, only for Iron to glance back with a glare.

"Until you find a way to stop something like this from happening. That means setting up security!"

"We get it! Now can we just focus on the situation at hoof, please?"

"Yeah yeah...let's get started."

While they continued to argue, the rest of the usual group were examining the entryway, looking for clues. The only there wasn't Springer, as he had a different job. As such, Lightning turned to Twilight and asked, "So let me get this straight...these two masked ponies stole some old tome and somehow made a wall of diamond and a fake book appear?"

"Yes..." Twilight grumbled as she rubbed her chin in thought, "I think they were using some form of solid illusion magic."

"Like Trixie's magic?" Pinkie asked.

"Much more powerful. It's closer to the castle's training room, as these illusions are so powerful that they look and feel real. I bet that wall Flash smashed was as hard as real diamond. Who knows what else they can make...especially if they have that book."

Rainbow flew down to her. "How bad would it be if they get away with it?"

"Very bad. That tome was filled with ancient dark spells. I was translating it so they can be studied and have counters made in case something like this happened. If we don't get it back, who knows what dangerous hooves it could fall into."

The ponies all grimaced as Rarity gulped, "These thieves must be horrible if they wanted to steal it. I mean, their fashion sense is terrible! What kind of thieves wear something that tacky!"

"The Crimson Masquerade gang...." Iron huffed as he looked back at the group. "I read about them yesterday in the papers. There's supposed to be four of them, so we'll need to be careful."

"But how are we gonna find them?" Spike asked next, "We don't know what they look like and I doubt they'd wear that stuff in the middle of town."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Flash replied while patting the drake's shoulder, "We got Springer on the case. He's at town hall right now, scanning the whole town. If he detects an aura that's leaving the town, he'll contact me and we'll go check it out."

Twilight nodded at this, "That's good, but we'll need more. Luckily, I sent a message out saying that no trains are allowed the make station until we find out where they are."

"And I think I might have cut one of them last night," Flash added with crossed hooves. "Keep an eye on the right cheek of anypony you suspect."

"So what are we waiting for?! Let's get out there and find those creeps!" Rainbow declared, everypony nodding in agreement.

"YEAH!"

"This is a disaster."

Three of the Crimson Masquerade Gang were huddled between a pair of large buildings, all without their masks on as Gorilla turned to Lizard, "How could you let this happen?!"

Lizard hissed back, "Not my fault you all decided to just strike the place without checking it out. We were lucky to get out of there at all, so actually getting something was a miracle."

"It won't be if we can't get out of here," Gorilla replied.

"Stop arguing," Wolf barked as he crossed his hooves. "What's done is done. Let's just focus on getting out of here."

"That won't be easy." They turned and saw a pony that looked just like Caramel, the pony walking into the alleyway before being engulfed in a puff of smoke. It soon faded to show Owl, his mask now sporting a sown up cut. "I overheard some locals saying somepony named Springer is making sure nopony leaves the town undetected. From what I gathered, he has some sensor ability that lets him detect ponies. Using my illusions won't work this time...and they've shut off the trains, so no quick exits for us."

Wolf growled at this, closing his eyes. "Grr...alright, give me a minute." The others all stared at him as they watched him brainstorm, several minutes passing before he reopened his eyes, "Okay, I got it. We need a distraction, something that sensor won't be able to see through, then we split up to get out here. Here's my idea..."

As he started to explain the distraction, Lizard and Gorilla smiled at the plan while Owl grimaced, twiddling his hooves as Wolf finished, "Um...is that really necessary? I mean...that's going really far compared to what we usually do. What if somepony gets hurt?"

Wolf glared at him. "It's them or us. Do you wanna go to jail?"

"No, but-"

"Then shut up and follow my lead." Wolf stood up and pressed his hoof on Owl's head, "Don't forget who you owe your life too. I didn't need to take you off the streets, and I'm the one that made your talent flourish! That makes you mine, so you'll do as I say! Understand?!"

Owl looked away, sighing, "Understood..."

"Good." Wolf hissed as he gestured to the others, "Now let's get to work. The longer we stay here, the more chance the ponies of this town will have to catch us." He turned back to Owl, "You know what to do." He nodded and in a puff of smoke, the four were disguised as ponies he had seen around town. The three then left, leaving a frowning Owl as he sighed again.

"Got no choice...let's get this over with."

Iron and Fluttershy were travelling through the town, both glancing around as they tried to find anything out of the crowd. As they did this, Fluttershy turned to her boyfriend, now seeing his usual serious defender expression compared to the face he was wearing yesterday. And as he eyes darted back and forth, Iron noticed in the corner of his eye and asked, "What's up? Something wrong?"

"Oh! Um..." Fluttershy looked away as she did a small hidden gulp, "Nothing. Just uh...hoping we find those thieves before they get away."

"Same. But with that illusion magic on their side, it's gonna be tricky." Iron admitted before letting out a sigh, "Though I bet Sentry won't have any problem against it once we find them."

Fluttershy frowned at this, still looking away as she tried to think up a response. But as she did this, her thoughts were interrupted as another pony suddenly collided with her, "WHOA/EEP!" the two yelped as they bounced off one another, Iron managing to grab Fluttershy before she fell down. Once she was steady, they turned to the other pony as she whimpered out, "Oh dear. I'm sorry."

"No no...its my fault," the pony replied as he shook his head. "Sorry about that. Was in a hurry."

"Double?" Iron blurted, making the pony look up and gasp at the sight of the knight.

"Oh! Um...hey, Iron."

"You know him?" Fluttershy asked as Iron helped him up.

"Yeah. I played a few games of chess with him yesterday."

"You mean you lost a few games of chess to me yesterday," Double chuckled, Iron rolling his eyes as Fluttershy fought back a giggle. "So, what you two up too?"

"Looking for the criminals who stole something from the castle," Fluttershy instantly replied.

Double's eyes darted away for a slight second. "Oh...that. Yeah, I heard about that. It's making me and my friends leaving really difficult. Hopefully you'll catch them soon."

"Hopefully..." Iron grunted, his mind still thinking about Flash.

"Well....I'd better be going." Double responded as he started to walk around them. "Me and my friends are having lunch together and uh...I'm already late."

"Alright...." Fluttershy replied before putting a hoof to her mouth, "Oh...wait a moment please." She went over and pulled a large leaf off a nearby tree. "Your face is a little muddy. Must have happened when we bumped into each other." She held the leaf up to his face and began wiping it on the unicorn's cheeks.

As she did this, Iron blinked at the sight, the corner of his eye noticing the unicorn spark his horn. Once it was done, Double did a small nod, "Um...thanks. Again, sorry about running into you."

"Its okay. Go on ahead." Fluttershy replied as Double started to leave, the mare glancing back at her lover with a huge frown. "Iron..."

"Did he...just use magic?" Iron asked, only for a long sigh to come out of the mare's mouth. "Shoot. I was afraid of that. His horn sparked the moment you touched his right cheek."

"He was trying to hide the cut Flash gave him," Fluttershy added as she looked down, seeing the frown on Iron's face increase. "I'm sorry Iron. I'm guessing you were-"

"Its fine. I was...hoping it wasn't him, but he did tell me yesterday that this was his first day here. I uh..."

"You had a feeling he was one of them?"

"Yeah..." Iron grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head, "We need to tell the others."

"Agreed. Let's-"

KABOOM!

They spun around at the sudden interrupting sound, both going wide-eyed as they saw a large smoke cloud rise above some roofs in the distance. The duo quickly went into a full-on sprint, soon seeing the smoke's source as a series of house on fire.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy gasped, only for several more explosions to ring out as even more houses lit up. "This is horrible!"

Iron froze for a second at the sight, his hesistant moment soon ceasing as a flash of light shined above him. He looked up to see Flash with Springer and Twilight, Flash asking the jakhowl, "Is anypony in those?!"

The jakhowl closed his eyes, only to point at one of them, "That one! That's got somepony in it! The others are all clear."

"Got it! You all save that pony, I'll deal with the flames!" Flash yelled as he took the air, the pegasi flying around in a cone-like shape.

"What's he doing?" Fluttershy asked as they ran towards the building.

"He's creating a vacuum," Twilight replied, "That'll suffocate the fire."

It was here Lightning appeared with a flash of light, Rarity appearing with him. "What in the name of Celestia is happening?!"

"No time," Twilight responded before pointing at the building. "There's somepony in there!"

"Got it!" Lightning pulled out one of his knives and tossed it at Springer, "Here." The jakhowl caught it before the unicorn went inside, the smoke instantly consuming him. Everypony gasped at the sight as the flames grew over the top of the building, making them backpedal.

"Twilight!" They turned to see Rainbow and several pegasi pushing rain clouds across the sky, "Where do you need us?!"

Before Twilight could answer, a flash of light signalled Lightning's return as he appeared in front of his dagger while holding a mare. Fluttershy and Rarity quickly went over, scanning them for injuries. As they did this, Lightning quickly replied, "Don't worry. We're fine."

"But Lightning, the fire-"

"Didn't affect me." Lightning responded as he dusted himself off, "It was weird. I breathed in the smoke but...well, it felt just like I was breathing air. Heck, I don't have any burn marks."

The mare nodded in agreement as Fluttershy and Rarity continued to look them over. As they did this, another voice rang out, "Everypony!" they turned to see Flash floating while pointing at the houses behind him, all of them still ablaze. "I don't get it. I can't make them go out."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, glared at the fire, "I wonder..." Her horn sparked as her magic aura started to cover teh house. As she did this, the flames suddenly disappeared in an instant, all gasping as they now saw that the house didn't even have a singe. "It's an illusion!"

"I'm guessing this one is too!" They turned to see Rainbow standing on a cloud over a burning building, the rain not doing a thing to quell the flames. But as they saw this, another building's flames began to die down as a cloud's rain started to affect the fire.

"That figures. We shouldn't assume they're all fake," Twilight announced as she gestured to her friend, "Let's get to work!" They all nodded and began to spread out, Iron glared at the sight. As he did this, a click went off in his brain before turning around, staring at a certain direction.

Half an hour later...

Wolf and Owl were running through the canyon leading out of Ponyville. Lizard and Gorilla weren't with them, each going their own way to narrow the chances of being caught. A giant grin was on Wolf's face, his body feeling the diamond and tome in his cape's pockets.

As they ran, Owl was wearing the opposite expression as he stayed behind Wolf. He had hoped that Wolf would change his mind about setting the buildings on fire, using special rune stickers that could produce the flames, coupled with the illusions. However, his leader said it was the only way, the distraction more than enough to get the whole attention of the town off their backs.

And as the exit of the canyon came into view, Owl was about to show a tiny smile, only for the ground to start shaking. Both pulled themselves to a stop, as a large wall of iron suddenly appeared in front of them. "What?!"

"Look out!" Owl screamed as he pushed Wolf, an iron projectile missing the leader before hitting the side of Owl's head. "Augh!"

The unicorn fell to the ground, grimacing in pain as Wolf just shrugged him off. He then glared at the pony that had fired the shot, yelling, "How?! How did you find us?!"

Iron put his weapon on his shoulder as he briskly walked up to the thieves, "Wasn't that hard to figure out. The fires were all located in the south side of town, so it wasn't too hard to figure you go north." He pointed the spear at the duo, "I won't let you get away. Just give up."

"HA! You think you can catch us?!" Wolf laughed before glaring down at Owl, "Get up."

The unicorn's hooves shook as he slowly got up, his mask falling off while he did this. Iron sighed at the sight, now seeing Double Take with a cut down his face. "Why?" Iron asked the young stallion, "Why are you doing this Double?"

"I'm sorry..." Double muttered out as his horn began to glow. "I don't have a choice." Several puffs of smoke appeared around him, which faded to reveal several sharp buzz-saw blades.

A spark of the horn later, the saws flew at Iron, who quickly deflected them with Piecemaker. As he swatted the last attack, Iron pointed his spear at the two, "Iron Lance Fury!" A barrage of spikes flew out of the weapon, Double blocking them by creating a brick wall. But as this appeared, Iron charged while Piecemaker's head shifted to a hammer.

THOOM!

That was the sound of the wall shattering at Iron's hammer, the strike making Double backpedal. The unicorn now saw the long sad glare on Iron's face as the defender spoke up, "You don't have to do this. Just give up and I promise I'll work to make sure the court goes easy on you."

"I'm sorry," Double repeated as his horn created a large boulder above his head. "I have to do this, for Wolf." The rock was flung at the Metal Guardian, Iron sticking his weapon in the ground. An iron ramp was formed from this, taking the boulder and flinging it over the knight.

The ramp disappeared after this, Iron putting the spear on his shoulder again, "Double...you're not fighting with full strength. I've fought true fighting unicorns, and you're not trying." He pointed the spear at Wolf, "What does he have on you? Blackmail? I can help you with that."

Wolf just laughed at this, "Oh, I have nothing pedestrian like that. His life belongs to me, simple as that." Iron gripped his spear, his glare tightening as Wolf continued, "You see, if it wasn't for me, he would have starved to death long ago."

Iron raised an eyebrow, turning to Double as he saw a huge frown on his face. But before he could ask anything, Double began to explain, "My parents died when I was young. I had no friends, no family, nopony to look after me. Eventually, I was left on the street, no food till I was all skin and bones." He then created a bunch of pony sized rocks, all flying at Iron as his weapon began to turn into a sword, slicing them all in half.

"What does that have to do with him?!" Iron yelled as he struck each one down.

Wolf kept laughing, "I'm the one who found and took him in. I fed him, kept a roof over his head and helped him master his magic. I knew when I first found him and saw his cutie mark...oh, he was perfect. His magic is the real deal, able to make true illusions. And his power is all because of me." Iron then smashed the final rock, Wolf sighing as he saw the knight was unharmed, "Double...stop messing around and finish this."

Double flinched before creating a large puff of smoke, which faded to reveal a tatzlwurm. The snake slammed down at Iron, consuming the pony in one fell stroke. Seeing this, Wolf let out a long sigh of relief, "Finally. Now, let's-"

"Going somewhere?!" yelled a voice, an iron wall appearing in front of the two while the worm turned into a puff of smoke as Iron in armored form appeared. His tail spike turned into a sword as he charged straight at Wolf, only for Double to appear with a metal stick that he had just created. The two weapons clashed, both coming to a standstill as Iron glared into Double's eyes, "Don't do this Double. You know this is wrong."

Double flinched at this. "I...I don't have a choice." His eyes shook, his lips quivering as he replied, "Pawns like me do what we're told in order to protect the King."

"Pawn? What are you-" Iron's voice came to a stop as he now remembered their conversation from yesterday. "So...you're a Pawn to him?!"

Double did a slow nod, "That's right. As a Pawn, my life's only purpose is to serve him. My future...is his."

"I don't believe that!" Iron yelled as he leapt away and pointed his weapon at Double. "If that were true, you wouldn't react that way! You don't want to do this!"

"But I-"

"Oh stop! If you wanted to do this, then you would have made those flames you created to distract us real." Wolf raised an eyebrow at this. "I know you can do it, but you didn't. You don't wanna hurt anypony, and this fight proves it! You're holding back!"

"I-"

"He's right." Wolf interrupted, making Double glance back at him, "You're better than this. Summon something to fight him properly, or I'll find somepony who will."

"Oh, shup up! Stay out of this!" Iron yelled as he began to run at Wolf, only to feel his hooves come to a stop, "What?!" he yelped as he looked down and now saw he was stuck in a pool of tar. He looked back up at Wolf and pointed his tail at him, only for a vine of tar to shoot out and wrap around the end of his tail, slowly pulling it back. It was here that the tar began to creep up his body, covering everything but Iron's head. "No way..."

Wolf laughed again, "HA! So much for you! That was good Double...real good." Wolf's face shined a giant grin under his mask, "Now finish him."

"What?!" Double yelped as he turned to Wolf with pure panic on his face, "But why?! He can't stop us from escaping." To show his point, a staircase appeared next to the metal wall in a puff of smoke.

Wolf let out a hum, "Maybe...but he's seen what you look like. He'll tell everypony else what you look like and what your abilities are. No...he needs to be taken out." Wolf pointed at the knight, "Now do it. Finish him." Double did a small gulp, backpedaling as Wolf growled, "Double...do as I say."

The unicorn looked back at Iron, the Metal Guardian now feeling the tar begin to move up to his neck, slowly going up to his mouth and nose. Iron began to crane his neck as he muttered out, "No...don't do it."

"I'm sorry," Double replied. "I have to-"

"No you don't! You don't have to do anything you don't want to do! He doesn't control you!"

"Oh, yes I do," Wolf snickered. "I saved his life-"

"But that doesn't give you the right to decide how that life turns out! You fed and sheltered him...so what?! That's something any decent pony would do...and they wouldn't ask for a reward!" He craned his head back to Double, the tar almost covering everything but Iron's eyes and mouth, "You said you're a Pawn...and a pawn can only move in one direction."

"That's right. But why are-"

"But there's something you're forgetting!" Iron yelled as the tar began to slow down, "If a Pawn is brave enough...it can become something more! Just like in our game, it can become something even greater!" Double said nothing as Iron's eyes began to be covered, "Being a Pawn...doesn't make you weak! It means you have limitless potential, but only if you make the right choices." The tar had now covered all but his mouth. "You know this isn't the right choice! You can either keep following him and remain a Pawn, or chose to become something greater! You know what you have to do!"

Those were his last words as the tar covered his mouth and nose, a now tar knight statue standing before them. Wolf chuckled at this site, patting Double's shoulder as he held up his mask, "Excellent work. There's no going back for you...you're mine."

A snap inside Double's brain went off, those words making his horn spark reflexively. As the magic shot out of the horn, the tar statue disappeared in a puff of smoke. Wolf's eyes went wide as he saw a now free Iron fall over, panting for air as he shook his head.

"Wha...what have you done?!"

"I'm making the right choice," Double replied as he went over and helped Iron up.

Wolf's hooves clenched as a low growl came out of his mouth. "Why you-"

"Oh stop it." Iron interrupted as he got control of his breathing, "It's over. Come quietly, or this'll get ugly."

Wolf's reached into his cape, "I don't think so. You're not catching me!" He pulled out several pieces of paper, throwing them into the air. Double instantly recognized them as more rune tags, but these were different from the ones used in town. The runes glowed as they activated, only for a bunch of blast of magic to fly out, explosions hitting every side of the canyon.

A rock slide began to form, all three now seeing a pile of dirt about to devour them. All three began to grimaced at the sight, the rubble now burying them all. It was here the rock slide continued, a minute passing before settling down. And as this happened, a few rocks began to roll away before revealing a hole. Here, Iron and Double climbed out of the dirt, both coughing as they dusted themselves off.

Double then turned and saw that no rocks had landed on the staircase he created earlier, making him gasp, "No! He got away!"

The unicorn started to run at the stairs, only for Iron to call out, "Don't bother."

"But-"

"Don't. Trust me on this." Iron interrupted as he gestured for Double to follow him. "Let's get back to town."

Double opened his mouth to ask why he was giving up, only to see a sudden flash of light to fly overhead. The stream of light caused a small boom of sound vibrate the canyon, making Double flinch, "Whoa! What was that?!"

"That's why we don't need to bother."

Meanwhile....

Wolf was in a full sprint, no longer stuck in the rocky terrain of the canyon. His hooves could feel the grass under them as his face was half scowl, half smile. "Double...you traitor." he grumbled as he felt the book and jewel in his cape. "Then again, if my other 'teammates' get caught like him, well...more money for me."

But as he continued to run, a smile starting to fully form on his face, his ears began to spike up. He could feel the ground slightly shake as he heard a small boom. The pony looked back, now seeing a bright flash of light flying over him. And as it flew over, the light suddenly struck down instantly in front of him. The sight made him come to a screeching halt, his grin now gone as his eyes went wide.

Out from the light was one Flash Sentry, a slight glare on his face as he pulled one of the light swords off his back. He didn't say a thing as the thief started to backpedal, "Wait...no...NO!"

A few hours later...

With all the fires now put out, the town went back to normal...or as normal as Ponyville can be considered. Currently, our heroes were all at the town jail cell, Flash now tossing Wolf into a cell alongside Lizard and Gorilla. After taking care of the fires and illusions, Lightning and Springer caught Gorilla at the train station, believing he could catch one despite the trains being put on hold earlier. Rainbow had managed to find Lizard running off to the east side of the town, and fired off one of Pinkie's new fuseless fireworks to signal Twilight, which she teleported the girls too. With all six there, they had no problem capturing the mare, safely putting her behind bars.

It was here that Iron returned with Double, telling everypony what had happened. Seeing what Double was, Twilight wrote to Celestia over what had happened, asking for advice over a judge for the unicorn. As she did this, Double was apologizing to the princess. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. I know I helped steal that tome and-"

"Its fine." Twilight interrupted with a big kind smile, "You didn't hurt anypony, and that's what matters. Iron has vowed for you, and you helped us get the stolen property back." She then showed the book and diamond in her hooves, only to sigh as she saw the frown on his face, "However-"

"I know," Double muttered as he stared at the ground. "I still stole, and I'm gonna be sent to prison."

Flash shook his head, "Eh, you might get off easy. With the right judge, you could get off with community service."

"Maybe..." Double looked back up, only to see a confident smile on Iron's face. The sight made his frown try to disappear, "Whatever they decide...I...I'll accept. Once I've paid for my crimes, I can really start my life anew."

"And I'm sure it'll be a bright one," Fluttershy added as she patted his side. "I'm sure your magic has tons of uses instead of stealing."

Rarity nodded in agreement, "Indeed. Have you ever thought of going into show business? I just know your magic would work brilliantly for stage effects."

"Or you could become a party entertainer," Pinkie cheered. "Just think of all the fun things you could make to entertain everypony!"

Double's face started to show a smile at the mares' ideas, his gaze returning to Iron as he did a small bow, "Iron...Thank you. Thank you for showing me the right way to live my life. You were...you were right when you said that I decide how it turns out."

"It was my pleasure." Iron replied with a chuckling grin. "Come on, we'll setup something for ya so you don't have to stay in a cell with them."

Double shook his head at this, "If you don't mind...I'd like to talk with them." He pointed at Gorilla and Lizard, his face trying to express confidence. "You know...maybe I could help them. I know they'll be stuck in jail, but..."

"I understand." Iron responded while the others gave slight hesitation at the idea. Despite this, Iron quickly assured them that Double could be trusted.

As they agreed to this, the group decided to go back to the castle. While they trotted through town, Fluttershy spotted a frown on Iron's face. "Are you okay?" He just looked away, making a frown appear on her face.

"I just..." He turned to see if Flash was watching, his reply slowly coming out. "I just wish I could have been the one to take the leader down."

"Oh Iron..." Fluttershy put her head on his shoulder, "You should be proud of what you did. You helped Double do the right thing, and that's what matters."

"I know....I know." Iron responded as he thought back at the past two days, thinking how he saved Double. As he did this, he glanced back at Fluttershy, seeing a huge grin on her face. "Yeah...you're right. Who cares if Sentry got to have all the glory again."

"Excuse me?" They turned to see Flash, glaring with a raised eyebrow, "Did I do something to upset you?" This made Iron and Fluttershy sigh while the rest of the girls and Spike gulped at the reaction. The pegasi instantly noticed the reactions, making him growl at Iron, "Alright....come on, out with it. Don't think I haven't noticed you acting strange around me the last few days."

Springer and Lightning both blinked at this, their eyes glancing between the two knights before Twilight walked in front of them, "Alright, here's the deal."

One awkward conversation later...

Flash's eyes were now wide as he tried to glare at Iron, "Really?! That's your problem?!" He then turned to the other defenders, "Have you two been feeling like this as well?! That I'm butting in and taking all the glory?!"

Springer shook his head, "No...but I will admit I've been feeling a little...unchallenged the last few weeks."

"Same," Lightning added while scratching the side of his face. "Though I gotta admit, this is the first time in a while I've actually broken a sweat."

Flash let out a long sigh, "Why didn't you tell me?! Didn't we just go through talking about being more open?!"

"We did it because we were worried you'd feel guilty," Twilight instantly replied.

"And that you might start holding back," Iron continued while crossing his hooves, "Which we don't need you doing. You have your powers for this exact reason, and today proves how much we need you to use them."

"Maybe...but I don't want to make you feel useless. Heck, today proves how much I need you." Iron raised an eyebrow at this. "The only reason I was able to get Wolf was because you held him up. I never would have found him once he had gotten too far out of the canyon." He turned to Lightning and Springer, "And there was no way I was gonna be able to catch all three at the same time. Not only that, what about when I'm called out of town?! Like for the map or Royal Knight work. Somepony needs to keep this place in one piece."

The others all nodded at this as Iron spoke up, "Even so, stuff like that are few and far between. We'd just end up laying around waiting for something big to happen, which isn't a good use of my time."

"I..." Flash opened his mouth to reply, only to sigh, "Oh...yeah, that is a good point. Hmm....there's gotta be a way to fix this."

It was in that moment that Spike suddenly started coughing, a burst of magical smoke shooting out of his mouth. A scroll appeared next as Twilight caught and unfurled it. "Dear Twilight, excellent work on catching the Crimson Masquerades. I've already dispatched a guard troop to come and pick them up. I'll also help you with what you told me over the reformed member." She silently read the rest until she reached the last part. "Finally, I'm sorry for not responding sooner to your previous letter. Preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala and Fantasia Parade have been keeping me quite busy. As for your little issue, I was thinking it over and even told the problem to Grand. He had a suggestion that I think you might like to hear. Simply have the defenders work in shifts."

This idea made everypony raise eyebrows as Springer asked, "Shifts?"

"It does make perfect sense," Twilight replied while still reading. "Think about it. Celestia doesn't have every single one of her guards working at the same time. She spreads their work out."

"So...you're saying we could have Flash spend a day on patrol and the rest of us do it the next day?" Springer asked, which Twilight nodded at. "That sounds good to me."

Lightning clenched his hooves, "Yeah, and that'll give use all more time to train. Nice."

Flash nodded as well. "Not only that, if something happens that requires all of us, we can simply call each other."

Fluttershy turned to her boyfriend, "What do you think?"

Iron shined a big grin, "Let's do it. Starting tomorrow, we'll work in shifts." The defenders shook hooves and paw at this, everypony else happy the issue was resolved. That is, till Iron's grin got a cheeky twirl at it's ends, "But that starts tomorrow. Today..." he turned to Twilight and Flash, "We're gonna start working on some actual security features for your castle."

"Seriously?! After what happened to today?" Flash asked, only for Iron to lean in with narrowed eyes.

"Oh yeah. And you're helping me over every single bit Sentry. Remind me...who failed to keep the thieves out last night?!"

"Uh-"

"You! That means we need double security!" Iron gloated as Fluttershy prepared to rein him in before the knight went into full gloat mode. "Now come on, we need to setup everything."

Twilight poked her head in at this, "Iron, I have to decipher-"

"Everything!" Iron yelled as he restarted to trot back to the castle. "Let's go!"

The two sighed at the sight, Fluttershy apologizing at this. They told her to not worry about it as they followed him, smiles on everyponies' faces as they saw Iron shine a huge grin. Fluttershy had the biggest smile though, happy she knew the knight was not only happy, but his place in the village was secure

Ramen, Rain and a Hint of Romance

View Online

Ponyville Park. A relatively simple place, one that let ponies swim in the nearby lake, fly kites or have picnics. It was a best place for ponies to relax, but not always. As for the exception, it was the unicorn named Rarity. She was dressed in a trench coat, sunglasses, hat and scarf. She was constantly looking around, making sure no one was following her.

It was here she reached her destination, a bench standing beside a trashcan. There, she sat down as two more ponies trotted up to her, their identities being Applejack and Fluttershy. And as they sat down with her, Rainbow Dash's head popped out of a nearby tree before floating down to the bench. "Where's Pinkie?" The speedster asked as she sat down.

"I'm not sure," Rarity replied as her eyes darted around, "She was supposed to meet us-"

"I'm already here!" interrupted a voice, its owner popping out of the trash can. The party pony leaned over, a banana peel falling out of her mane as she asked, "So...we all set to do this thing?"

"Quite." Rarity opened her trench coat before magically pulling out an envelope. "Here are our targets," she opened it up, soon revealing pictures of Twilight and Flash, "It's absolutely crucial that this mission goes off without a hitch."

"Err...Rarity?" She turned to Applejack, "Why yah talkin like that? This ain't some top secret mission with the fate of Equestria on the line. It's Flash and Twilight's first date."

"That doesn't mean it's not important," Fluttershy added, "I mean, its two days away and...well, you know those two will need help."

"Ah ain't sayin it ain't important. Ah'm just saying Rarity doesn't have to make a performance out of it." Rarity let out a pout as Rainbow leaned her head in front of the fashionista.

"Anyways...why do we need to even get involved? This is Flash and Twilight's date. I know I'd hate it if somepony tried to butt into a date with me and Soarin."

"That may be true darling, but this is different." Rarity responded as she pushed Rainbow to the side, "Flash and Twilight are still transitioning from friends to lovers. That alone shows that if this date goes bad, it could have serious consequences. We've seen how they are when...well, remember just the other day with the whole 'moving into the castle' problem. That's why we need to make sure everything is perfect for the couple."

The girls all nodded, Pinkie speaking up next, "And don't forget, Cadance wants lots of pictures of their first date. If we're not there, who's gonna take them?"

"Agreed. Princess Cadance will not be happy if we don't get that." Rarity sighed, crossing her hooves, "She considers those two her greatest failure and we promised to help her with them."

"I guess you've got a point," Rainbow added, resting her hooves behind her head. "Geez, those two sure are a hassle."

"So what do we do?" Fluttershy asked next, "I'm guessing we can't actually let them know we're watching them during the date."

Rarity nodded at this, "Yes, we have to keep out of sight while making sure everything is under control."

"Oh, I know!" Pinkie exclaimed before her head withdrew into the trashcan. A puff of smoke then exploded beside Fluttershy, making her jump into Rainbow's hooves in surprise as it faded to reveal Pinkie in a jet black costume. "Like ninjas?!"

"In a way," Rarity tried to reply, "But not as...flamboyant."

Applejack chuckled at this, "Never thought I'd hear you talking about keeping things simple."

Rarity grit her teeth at the comment, "For Flash and Twilight's sake, I'm willing to hold back my natural urge to...peacock. Now, onto the details of the date. I've been explaining what one does on a date to Twilight-"

"But you've never been on a date," Fluttershy interrupted. "Only me, Pinkie, and Rainbow have done that."

Rarity gave her a glare, making the pegasi shrink in her seat as Rarity continued, "While that is true...I've read a great many romance novels, which Spike picked up for Twilight to look through for research. As such, I've already helped Twilight pick out a perfectly romantic restaurant for them to dine at and I already finished their outfits for the event."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, "That doesn't sound like something Flash would enjoy. I mean, remember when he told us he had to wear a monkey suit in that mirror world? I also know that if he's like Soarin, he's not into fancy food."

"He'll be fine darling," Rarity retorted. "If it's for Twilight, you know he'll put up with anything."

"Whatever..."

Rarity let out a confident snort. "Anyways, after the meal will be a romantic carriage ride through the park leading up to a hilltop gaze out at the sunset. Trust me, it'll be a night they'll never forget. All we need to do is be prepared to intercept any complication before it has a chance to cause issues."

"What kind of issues?"

"For starters Rainbow, you'll need to keep an eye on the weather. I checked the forecast and it says that Saturday is supposed to be a positively sunny day, but we need to know if there's any changes to the schedule."

Rainbow saluted, "You got it. I'll make sure not a drop of rain touches them."

"Good." Rarity then turned to Fluttershy, "You're in charge of the wildlife darling. We don't want another ladybug incident. Also, see if you can get any of your songbird friends to follow them during their carriage ride. I'm sure a romantic song will do wonders."

Fluttershy nodded, "Okay."

Pinkie then jumped up and down in front of Rarity. "Oh! Oh! Oh! What about me?!"

"You darling, are in charge of the fireworks." Pinkie gave her a curious tilt of the head, "Its for when they return to the castle after the sunset. I dropped a bunch of hints to Twilight about sharing a kiss at the end of the date, which will be when Flash and her get home. When they kiss, you'll launch a bunch of fireworks." She sighed happily, "It'll be glorious." Pinkie was literally vibrating at this, absolutely loving the idea as Rarity turned to Applejack, "As for us, we'll handle anything that comes up. No distractions like Sandbar was during our attempt to get them together."

"You got it," Applejack replied while tipping her hat.

Rarity shined a huge smile. "If we get this right, it'll be the best date any two ponies have ever been on. But to do that, it'll take a lot of work."

Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Then I'd better make sure to get all my weather duties done tomorrow. It's probably gonna take me all day to prepare tomorrow's formations, set them up, then prepare the Saturday's formations."

"I'll be busy too," Fluttershy added. "I'll need to spend the whole day with my animals tomorrow to make sure they don't feel neglected."

"I understand completely darlings. I myself have a big order to fill out before Saturday."

"Me too!" Pinkie chimed in. "The Cakes are gonna need my help with the store while they're working on an order."

"And ah'll need to work extra hard to get all mah chores done for the next two days." Applejack let out a long sigh, "This is gonna be rough."

"But it'll be worth it," Rarity finished for her. "Now come along, we've got work to do." She got off the bench and held out her hoof, "You girls with me?"

"WE'RE WITH YOU!" The four yelled as they all brought their hooves together before throwing them up into the air. They then headed off in different directions, knowing the next two days were gonna be hectic.

Meanwhile...

Back at the castle, we find Princess Twilight Sparkle in her library. She had a bunch of different books floating around her, speed reading each as her brain kept shifting between memory and magic concentration. The alicorn was also magically taking notes, her usually perfect horn-writing fallen to the wayside in her worries.

It was in that moment that Spike stepped into the room, a large stack of books in his claws. "I got those books you wanted to borrow off of Rarity."

"Thanks Spike!" Twilight replied without looking at him, now snapping three books closes as she levitated them to her 'read it' pile before replacing them.

Spike blinked at the sight, putting the books down before picking up the top one and almost gagging at the cover. "Yuck! Twilight...why are you suddenly so interested in reading these mushy romance books?! I've never seen you touch one of these before now."

"Because I've never been interested in romance until now," Twilight replied while taking a sip of coffee. "But my date with Flash is this Saturday, and I need to be ready for anything that might happen."

Spike raised an eyebrow before glancing back up at the tower of books, "And these things are supposed to help you learn?"

"Yes! I've compiled a list of every single thing that might happen on my date, and I've used it to make this." She then showed him a list of notes, only for a flash of purple light to appear next. There, a large sheet of paper appeared in front of Spike, one that almost blinded him due to the number of colors covering it. The paper was filled with colored lines, all going to different boxes.

"What is this?"

"A date flowchart. I made it to make sure Flash and I have an awkward moment free date." She pointed at a box filled with different sentences. "This is a list of topics we both enjoy talking about, which I can use to prevent silence. Each topic leads to a different way the conversation can go. That way, I won't say anything embarrassing that might screw up the date."

"What if something else happens?"

Twilight pointed to another line, "That's for this thread. It's a list of all possible disasters that could happen, including but not limited too an allergic reaction, choking and food spillage. The threads coming off that leads to a list of different counters to defuse the situation before they get out of hoof."

Spike could only blink at the sight as he took the chart in claw, "Wow...I gotta admit, you seem to have accounted for everything." He put the sheet down as he saw her take another sip of coffee, "But are you sure you need all this? You've hung out with Flash before-"

"Of course I need this!" Twilight interrupted before getting up and pacing around the room. "This is mine and Flash's first date! Our entire relationship could be shaped by what happens on it! We could end up miserable and never see each other again, or we could tell our grandfoals about it! I need to make sure it goes right. After all, our first dance could be a song we hear on...oh no! DANCING!"

"Huh? What wrong with dancing?"

"What's wrong?! What if Flash and I end up dancing together?!"

Spike rolled his eyes, "You two have danced before. At least, I think you have..."

"But not as a couple!" Twilight screamed before muttering to herself about all the things that might cause a problem, such as her tripping or stepping on Flash's hooves.

Spike watched as she began to pace again, now three quills magically writing notes. Sighing at the sight, Spike stepped in front of her and grabbed the alicorn's cheeks before pulling them to his face, "TWILIGHT!" The princess stopped muttering as she found herself staring at drake's eyes, "You need to calm down. If you keep going like this, you'll be a nervous wreck by the time the date arrives, and then you definitely won't enjoy it."

"But-"

"No Twilight. Stop panicking." Spike interrupted as he continued to grip her cheeks, "If you're not calm, the date will be ruined."

"I...I..." Twilight tried to respond, only for her brain to tell her to stop. Seeing this, Spike let her go as she leaned back and rubbed her cheeks, "Oh shoot..." her ears folded as she showed a big frown, "I'm already messing up, aren't I? What should I do Spike?"

Spike crossed his claws, thinking for a second before replying, "Well...how about starting tomorrow, you don't think about the date at all. The second you think about it, do something that'll keep you occupied."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Anything. Ponyville is filled with distractions."

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought at this, only to nod, "Yeah, that could work. Thanks Spike."

"That's what I'm here for." He turned around to leave the library, a pile of comics and gems waiting for him in his new room, only to hear the sound of flapping pages and scratching quills. He glanced back, scowling at the sight of the alicorn, "Twilight..."

"What? It's not tomorrow yet." Spike just rolled his eyes and shook his head, soon heading out as he bet Flash wasn't freaking out like she was.

Iron, Lightning and Springer had just entered the castle, passing through the special barrier spell that Twilight had erected around the place that only allowed selective individuals to enter without permission. The trio had all been enjoying their last day off, the new shift system now in place. They had to admit that the workload for them had gone down considerably, as they were in charge of keeping the town from blowing up today while Flash would be doing it solo tomorrow. After that, they would be doing the next day while Flash spent the day getting ready for his date.

The three had now just finished patrolling and were heading to the training room for their daily workout. As such, Iron chimed in first, "So...I'm thinking today we work on fire rescue training. I don't know about you two, but due to what happened the other day, I'm thinking we need to practice that."

"Sounds good to me." Springer replied while scratching one of his ears, "Too bad Flash isn't training with us. He'd probably love doing something like that."

Lightning let out a low grunt, "Tch. He'll probably be too busy preparing for his date on Saturday."

The door leading to the training room came into view as Springer asked, "What would he need to do to prepare?"

"Probably nothing," Iron added as they reached the door. "You know Sentry, he doesn't let anything get to him. He's probably in his room reading a comic or something."

But as he pushed the door open, the sound of romantic violin music suddenly hit their ears. Raising an eyebrow, the trio stepped inside and found that the room had been transformed into a fancy restaurant, coupled with tables full of what they assumed were illusions of ponies on their own dates along with waiters and bus colts. Sitting at a table in the center of the room was Flash Sentry, wearing a tuxedo and sitting across from a illusion of Twilight.

The pegasus didn't seem to notice them as he held up a bottle. "Wish for a top up?" He asked the fake Twilight, who nodded in response. Flash began to pour the liquid out, only for the corner of his eyes to notice somepony real looking at him. Turning, he froze up as he saw the other defenders staring at him.

Fake liquid from the fake bottle now overflowing on the illusionary table, the four stared at each other in pure silence. Flash's face started to turn more shades of brighter red as the others kept their brains completely switched off while displaying blank faces. That is, till Iron broke the silence by saying, "Oookay. This is literally the most disturbing thing I've ever seen."

"Uhhh...hey everypony." Flash nervously chuckled as he put the bottle down and started waving his hoof around for the control crystal. When he finally found it, the room returned to its normal state, though Flash's face kept getting redder.

"What the heck are you doing?!" Lightning asked before Flash could say anything else. "And why did we have to see that?!"

Flash sighed as he looked away, "I was...training?"

"What kind of training do you call that?" Springer countered, a look of worry now on his face.

"Okay, its not training. I guess it was more like...practicing."

"For what?!" Iron yelled, "Don't tell me this was for your date with Twilight?!" Flash nodded, making the defender facehoof, "Oh for crying out-why?!"

Flash started to twiddle his hooves, "Well...I've never been on a date before, and I'm never good at anything when I try it for the first time. So I figured, if I'm gonna mess this up-"

"You'd rather do it with an illusion of Twilight than the real thing?! Seriously?!" Lightning finished.

Flash did a slow nod, "This way, when I do something wrong, I'll know not to do it during my actual date on Saturday." He then saw three blank stares, Flash now shrugging, "What?! Call me creepy all you want, but I want this date to go well. If that means I have to practice with a fake Twilight, then I guess I'm a creep."

The three just continued to stare at him, only for Iron to let out a sigh, "Oh geez...so its that important to you, isn't it?"

"Its important to Twilight, so its important to me." Flash instantly replied, the trio sharing glances. It was here that they both stared directly at Iron, the knight catching on.

"Alright...guess I gotta help ya."

Flash raised an eyebrow, "You?"

Iron gave him a flat stare in response, "Yes, me. I've been dating my marefriend a lot longer than you've been dating yours. I've had both good and bad dates, so...guess I gotta show ya the ropes."

"Well...okay." Flash responded, only to feel Lightning tap his shoulder, "Hmm?"

"And I happen to have had my fair share of dates too. Granted, Canterlot mares are...a bit different compared to your marefriend, but let me teach you a thing or too."

"Okay..." Flash replied as he felt both stare at him. He looked over to Springer, who could only shrug at the matter.

"Listen up Sentry," Iron spoke up, Flash glancing back at him, "Now the main trick is simple. All ya gotta do is not even think about the date until the last minute."

"Why would I do that?"

Lightning gripped his shoulder next. "Because the more ya think about it, the more you'll panic. Eventually, it'll get so bad you'll start trying to come up with excuses to cancel, and that'll be a whole other can of worms."

Iron nodded in agreement. "So right until the very moment the date starts, you don't even think about it. Luckily for you, your shift tomorrow should help you keep your mind off of it." Iron then leaned in with a greasy grin, the sight making Flash's eyes shrink in fear, "Now, let's start with showing you how to properly treat a mare on a date. Lesson one...you don't matter compared to her. Trust me on this. Lesson two..."

Flash could feel himself shrink as Iron and Lightning dragged him out of the room, the pegasi whimpering as he had a feeling he had just made a huge mistake.

The next morning...

Twilight let out a long yawn as she felt her eyes try to open. She rolled over in her bed, reaching her hooves out as she tried to find a snuggle partner. But as she felt herself reach the edge of the bed, her eyes fully shot open, a big frown now on her face as she found herself alone.

Flash had left early for patrol. That very fact made Twilight let out a whimper, her body lifting out of bed as she instantly woke up thanks to her disappointment. She had gotten used to being in bed with Flash, snuggling up to him every morning she could. However, him being gone made her lose almost all motivation as she went over to her bathroom mirror, brushing her hair first.

As she stared at herself, her mind started to go over yesterday and her plans, soon thinking about tomorrow. "No!" she yelped as she smacked the side of her head, "Bad Twilight! You promised Spike that you wouldn't think about tomorrow...and the date...and everything that could go bad and-no!"

She then slumped over into the sink, sighing as she tried to think of something else. "Come on Twilight, you can do this...there's gotta be something you can do." The alicorn finished her hair and did her morning routine, her mind going over everything she could do. "Well, I could try and help anypony today. I just got to make sure it doesn't end with me losing it and using a spell on a doll again...." She muttered to herself as she went to calendar she had set up in the room, "There's also no events in Ponyville coming up...wait."

Her eyes blinked at the incoming dates, specifically the Grand Galloping Gala and Fantasia Parade. "That might work." She admitted to herself as her horn began to glow, now summoning some paper and quills. "Me and Flash are going to Canterlot Monday to help with the gala and festival after all. That alone will need a few check-lists and plans...its perfect!"

Twilight started to hum to herself as she walked down the halls with the papers, only to come to a stop as she saw Scootaloo, Springer and Spike all preparing their breakfast in the kitchen. "Oh! Good morning everypony."

"Morning," they all replied, Spike now pouring milk on his and Scootaloo's cereal while Springer was buttering some toast near an opened jar of strawberry jam. "Want some?" He offered, which Twilight nodded at while taking it in her magic.

She quickly made herself a jam sandwich and put some water on to boil for a cup of coffee. "So what's everypony doing today?" She turned to Scootaloo with a small smirk, "Let me guess, some hair-brained scheme to get your cutie mark with your friends?"

Scootaloo shook her head, "No. We're gonna spend the day trying to come up with one instead." She let out a long sigh, "The ideas are starting to run dry...we've tried almost everything."

Twilight patted her on the shoulder. "Don't lose heart. If you're running out of ideas, that just means you're getting even closer to what your mark will be. I bet by the end of the year, you'll be sporting a shiny new cutie mark." Scootaloo tried to smile as Twilight turned and took the water off the heater, soon pouring some coffee. And as she took a sip, she let out a long happy sigh, "Lovely. Just what I need to get to work."

"Twilight..." Spike growled, his eyes narrowing before Twilight glanced back at him.

"It's not what you think Spike. I'm going to spend the day preparing for our trip to Canterlot. The Grand Galloping Gala's coming up, remember?"

"And then it's the Fantasia Parade!" Scootaloo cheered.

Twilight nodded as she saw they were all finished in the kitchen. After informing them, the alicorn teleported them to the dining room as she continued, "There's a lot to do before those events Spike, even with Celestia's help. Me and Flash are going to Canterlot Monday, so I'm making plans for everything we'll need."

Spike rolled his eyes at this, showing a small smile, "Fair enough. Just...you know, don't stress out over that either, okay?"

"I won't. I promise." Twilight responded as she started to eat her breakfast, the others following suite.

Meanwhile...

"Ugh..." Flash moaned as he surveyed the town from the sky, "What a boring, peaceful day..." He then landed on a nearby rooftop, slumping over as he muttered, "Great....the one day I want there to be back to back emergencies."

He had been trying to keep his mind off of tomorrow like the guys said...but Ponyville said otherwise. Nothing was happening, making his brain go back to the subject of dating, "Come on! Can't I at least get a cat stuck up a tree or something?!" As he said that, he saw Rainbow fly by overhead. "Yo, Rainbow!"

The pegasus, who was pushing around a bunch of clouds, glanced back, "Oh, hey Flash. Sorry, can't talk. Lots to do." She then started pushing the clouds in place, Flash now seeing how dark they are.

"You making some rain?"

"Its for a light shower," Rainbow replied as she put another cloud into the pile. "It's set to go off just after lunch for about twenty minutes."

"Thanks for the heads up," Flash jumped off the roof. "Need some help?"

"Nah, I got this." Rainbow added as she began punching the cloud, "Sorry, I got a lot to do. Talk to you later."

"Alright. I'll uh...leave you to it." With that, he flew away, sighing as he rubbed the sides of his head, "I'm still thinking about it. This is gonna be harder than I thought...then again, maybe I can help another one of friends."

Back at the castle...

Twilight was not happy. She had been working in the library for an hour and a half...and she felt miserable. She had thought that making a list, one she was creating using a special scroll roller Flash had gotten her last Heart's Warming, would help her get her mind off the date. The roller was similar to a scotch tape dispenser, holding a large roll of parchment with a blade to easily cut off pieces when she was done writing.

But as she wrote out the list, her eyes caught sight of her date flowchart. Her horn sparked, quickly teleporting the paper away. "No!" she yelled to herself as she looked away, only to see her eyes now staring at the romance novel pile. "Augh! Ignore it!" She turned back to the list for the festival...but it had been changed with the date chart she just teleported away, "NO!" She yelped as she looked away, walking through the library as she muttered to herself, "Focus Twilight...you can do this. You just have to distract-"

Her words came to stop as she saw she had already gone in a circle around the library, the princess now standing right in front of the romance novel pile. "No! Oh...I gotta get out of here!"

The alicorn lit her horn as she put the Canterlot plans away, then teleporting herself outside. As she felt her hooves touch the soft grass, she turned and shut the castle doors before letting out a sigh, "Calm down Twilight, calm down...maybe you can find something to do in town. Maybe the girls need help."

Turning away from the castle, she slowly trotted into town as she saw a familiar building in the distance. It was Sugarcube Corner, the sight making her lick her lips. "A snack might help." she whispered as she made her way to the shop, politely replying to other ponies as she walked down the street. And as she did this, she spotted a certain pegasus flying overhead. "Flash!"

He looked down, raising an eyebrow before landing next to her. "Hey bookworm, what're you doing out of your environment? Run out of books to read?"

"Oh, ha ha..." she groaned before rolling her eyes. "I just...felt like stretching my legs. Even I need to get out of the library every once in a while. What about you? Managed to stop any disasters today?"

"Not yet. Was just gonna see what Pinkie's up to."

"Same," Twilight added, only for both to give each other sneaky smiles.

"First one there gets to lick the spoon!" With that, they both cut into a sprint, neither using magic or wings to get there. Laughs abound as they were neck and neck, the building now only a few feet away.

Both hooves of each pony reached the door at the same time as they cheered, "I WIN!" the duo quickly shot a flare at each other, "What do you mean you won? I won!" They both growled at each other, only to break out in a laughing fit.

"Come on, let's get inside meathead." Twilight ordered as Flash opened the door for her.

"After you, bookworm."

Twilight lightly smacked the defender with her tail before they went inside. It was here they saw nopony at the counter, making Twilight call out, "Hello?"

"Pinkie?" Flash added, only to hear a loud bang come from the kitchen. Sharing a glance, the two ran past the counter, the duo gasping as they now saw pots and pans covering every inch of the kitchen.

"Pinkie?! Are you okay?!" Twilight gasped as she saw the party pony suddenly zip by, the sound of a ringing egg timer going off next.

"Oh, hey you two. Sorry, can't talk." Pinkie responded as she rushed to the oven, pulling out a tray of cupcakes. "Big order to fill out."

"And...where are Mr. and Mrs. Cake?" Flash asked as they saw Pinkie pull out a big icing tube.

"Pound and Pumpkin both broke out in a fever last night, so they're at the hospital." Pinkie replied as she then put the now frosted cakes into a box, only to pull out another box.

"Oh no..." Twilight gulped as she saw Pinkie try to catch her breath for a second. "So, you have to do this big order all on your own?"

"It's not so bad. I mean, I wanted to get Wild's help, but he's out of town for an entertainment gig," Pinkie added as she barely waved her hoof at the couple, "I just got five boxes down...and twenty five more to go." Flash and Twilight both blinked as they saw her shake her head before going over to some mixing bowls. The duo then glanced at each other, quickly making a mental conversation before nodding.

"Uh Pinkie...you want some help?"

Pinkie turned to them with stars in her eyes, "Yes please!"

The two giggled at her expression, Twilight's horn flaring as she levitated several pans. She soon started five mixing bowls while Pinkie did just one. As they did this, Flash started making some icing, though only after Twilight instructed him while she kept doing the mixing. It wasn't long before the batch was ready, six now coming out of the oven while Pinkie went out to deal with a customer.

As Flash finished frosting his last cupcake, he turned to see Twilight carefully glazing her second. This made him shine a huge sneaky grin, his hoof slowly pressing on the tube before squirting some icing right on Twilight's face. She let out an 'eep' before glaring at him, her magic grabbing the tube and blasting a large dollop of sugar paste into his face. The princess began to laugh at the sight while Flash licked the frosting off his face.

But as he did this, he leaned over and grabbed a box of sprinkles. Quickly tossing them at the mare's face, her horn activated, catching every single fiber before firing them back. The condiments spread all over the defender's face, a few going up his nose as Twilight's magic gripped a bag of flour. Flash then let out a might sneeze, the force making Twilight lose focus of her grip. The bag then exploded, covering both in white powder.

And as Pinkie chose this second to come back into the kitchen, she went wide-eyed as she saw the white-plastered couple now laughing at each other.

One hour later...

"And...done!" Pinkie closed the last box of cupcakes, wiping her brow as she turned to the couple, "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much time you saved me."

"No problem Pinkie. We're always happy to help."

"You know it," Flash added as he stared at the boxed. "So what ya gonna do now?"

Pinkie looked at a nearby clock, humming as she did so. "Well...there are a few packages I need to deliver, but that would mean closing the shop. Gosh, even with the help, I'm not sure I'll get them done before the lunch time rush."

Flash and Twilight both shared a glance before nodding, "Pinkie...leave the deliveries to us. We'll get them done in no time."

This made Pinkie turn to them with her signature grin before bouncing over and throwing her hooves out for a big hug. "Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Flash let out a laugh, "No problem."

Pinkie then led them outside to a delivery cart, which they started loading as Pinkie went back in to get the list of customers. Once loaded, it was strapped to Flash's back as Pinkie gave the paper to Twilight, "Here are the addresses. They're in order of closest to your last delivery spot."

"Got it," Twilight nodded before Pinkie gave them both one final hug. They waved goodbye as Pinkie ran into the bakery, the two lovebirds starting their trot into town. Over the next hour, they easily got all the deliveries out, mainly being greeted by looks of shock as the customers were surprised their desserts were being delivered by such important ponies.

And as the last package was given, the clock struck noon. Seeing this, Flash let out a long sigh, "Phew, glad that's over. That cart was heavy."

Twilight snickered at his statement, "What, the big strong knight can't handle a few itty bitty packages?" Flash growled back at her, only to be cut off with a grumble from his stomach. His face went bright red as Twilight laughed, "Hungry?"

Flash looked away, trying to hide his increasing blush, "Baking builds your appetite."

"Sure it does." Twilight giggled before putting her head on Flash's shoulder, "Come on, let's get some lunch."

Flash replied while adjusted the cart's strap, "I'm up for some grub, but don't we need to get the cart back to Pinkie?"

"No problem," Twilight added as she pointed her horn at the cart, magic soon firing out that enveloped the wagon in a burst of light. "There, just teleported it back to Sugarcube Corner."

Flash ruffled his back with his wings before giving her a blank stare, "Wait a minute...why didn't you just teleport us to all the delivery spots? I wouldn't have had to haul that heavy thing around town!"

"Where's the fun it that? Now come on, let's go eat." She happily trotted away with a mumbling Flash following. They soon began to look around for someplace to eat, only to come to a stop at a new building. It was square shaped, looking like a garage but with a modest house built on top. The front was open with a quintet of curtains covering the top, with having a strange symbol on it. If it wasn't for the open sign and the strong smell wafting out, you wouldn't have guessed it was a restaurant.

"What's this place? Is it new?" Flash asked as he looked the building over. "And what's with the weird writing?"

"It's neighpanese. Come on, let's see what's inside." Twilight told him as she walked in. Flash blinked at the sight before shrugging, slowly following her as they found themselves behind a counter with stools.

"Anypony home?" Flash asked, hoofsteps soon being heard as a door opened behind the counter.

A peach colored unicorn around their age stepped out, complete with a brown mane and tail. She was wearing a robe, one that covered her flank. "Greetings," she bowed while speaking in an accent that made both ponies raise an eyebrow, "Welcome to our establishment. My name is Shichimi."

Twilight bowed back, "Hello, nice to meet you. Forgive us for asking, but-"

"You're wondering what we serve here?" The unicorn interrupted, getting two nods back. "This is our ramen stand."

"Ramen?" Flash replied with a tilt of the head, Twilight instead going wide-eyed with a big grin.

"You serve ramen? I've always wanted to try that!" Twilight quickly sat down and grabbed a menu. "Come on Flash, let's eat here!"

"Eh, why not." Flash responded as he sat down and asked, "Since we're new, what would you recommend?"

Shichimi did another bow, "Our special today is the Thunder Root broth."

Flash licked his lips at the name, "Sounds good to me. I'll have that with a side order of spring rolls."

"Same," Twilight placed her menu down, "But make my side tamagoyaki."

Flash blinked at this, turning to his marefriend, "Tama...what?"

Twilight just giggled at his reaction, "Its neighpanese egg rolls."

"Oh."

Shichimi turned to the door she had come through, "Papa!"

"Coming!" Another accented voice called out before a purple middle-aged unicorn with a brown mane and tail walked in, a robe covering his body, "Ah! Customers! Welcome, my name is Wasabi."

"Nice too meet you, I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"Same. And call me Flash." The two then glanced over the counter, now watching the duo cook before Shichimi floated a pair of plates containing their rolls to them. Both shrugging at the sight, they took a bite in unison before-

"So good!" they moaned before continuing to feast on the new food. It wasn't long till their plates were empty, Flash staring at the cooks, "Wow....how have I not heard of this place before?! If this your specials, you should be having a line around the block!"

Twilight's horn shined as she levitated a napkin to her mouth, "I agree, but I don't think I've ever seen you two around town before."

"My daughter and I just moved here a few weeks ago."

Twilight shook her head, "Even if that's the case, I'm sure we would have heard about you all. I'm surprised Pinkie didn't throw you all a party."

"Same." Flash added as he leaned back in his seat, "Though uh...we've been busy Twi. I mean, portal jumping to Shade to that trip to the cutie mark-less village."

"And your knighting." Twilight finished as she crossed her hooves, "You're right. Past few weeks have been crazy."

"Our apologies for not introducing ourselves sooner," Wasabi told her as he began the finishing touches to the broth.

Twilight waved him off, "No, it's more our fault. I'm the Princess of Friendship. I should really be keeping an ear out for any new residents in my town. Still, it's nice to meet you."

"I should be saying the same thing as a defender of the peace. Also, expect to meet a hyperactive party pony in the coming days," Flash added, making the two foreign ponies shared a confused glance before Wasabi floated the two steaming bowls over.

The duo licked their lips at the meal while Shichimi gave them a small wooden spoon and a pair of chopsticks. They both took the spoons and took a full thing of the soup. And as it went to their lips, a certain tinge of flavor hit them, making a shock to their systems. Following suit, they poured the soup down their mouths, now feeling a mild kick as they felt it enter their gullets.

"Wow!" They both exclaimed as the two chiefs chuckled at the sight.

"Don't be too shocked. The Thunder Root comes from a special tree that is known for being struck by lightning," Shichimi told them as took another bite. "The root then absorbs the charge and, when made into a broth, gives the food an electrical...zing."

"Fascinating..." Twilight gasped, aweing the broth like a rare book.

"Zing sure is the right word," Flash commented as they both put their spoons down. They then tried to use the chopsticks, Twilight easily handling them like a pro with her magic. But as for Flash, the wooden sticks immediately fell out of his hooves and into the floor, "Dang it!"

The others all laughed as Shichimi pulled out a bigger version of the wooden spoon, this one looking like a ladle. "Would you like to use this instead?" Flash meekly nodded, taking it in hoof before both bowls were soon emptied.

"That was so good," Twilight sighed while rubbing her slightly overfed stomach. Flash just nodded, not sure he was gonna be able to talk for a few minutes. The two chefs gave their thanks as they placed a plate with two sticks on it, each stick having a trio of orb-shaped snacks. Despite being so full, the duo decided to try them, now founding out they were call dangos. A few more happy sighs later, they gave their thanks and pay before leaving, all promising to come by again.

"That was good." Flash moaned as they slowed their pace, their stomachs telling them to be extra slow, "Almost too good."

"No kidding. I could eat there all week."

"They did have a big menu." Flash added as they now found themselves at the Ponyville Park. But as they entered the area, Flash's memories caught up to him, "Uh-oh."

"What?" Twilight replied, only to feel a drip of water fall on her nose, "Hmm?" Before any other reactions could be made, a downpour of rain began to descend on them. Twilight let out a gasp before summoning a magic bubble. "Oh no...let's get out of here."

"Over there!" Flash pointed at a large oak tree, the duo running under it before Twilight cut her spell. The couple then slumped over, Flash's back at the trunk while Twilight laid down on his chest.

They both looked up at the rain, listening at the pitter patter as Twilight spoke up, "You know, I could just teleport us back to the castle."

"Nah," Flash responded while putting his hooves around her, holding her tightly, "I'm happy here. Besides, Rainbow told me earlier that it was only gonna last a few minutes."

Twilight shined a warm smile as she embraced him, only to shiver as the cold water began to drip on her body, "Flash...this is really cold. Maybe we should go back, else we could catch a cold."

"Yeah..." Flash added as he closed his eyes, an idea popping into his head. Before he could tell her, he channeled the energy of the Sacred Light, his body shining as a warm glow enveloped them both. Twilight let out a small gasp as the heat, only to sigh as she felt the water covering her body evaporate, feeling like she was sitting next to a well-lit fire.

They both stared out at the park as the water barrelled down, spotting several animals reacting to the change in weather. A mother quail was running across the damp field with her chicks in pursuit, the parent hopping over a tiny stream of water with them struggling to follow. Next was a squirrel, which rushed up the tree and crawled into a hole. Then there was a group of ducks, all happily waddling to a nearby pond.

"Huh...I've never done this before. This is pretty cool." Flash commented as Twilight nodded in agreement.

"As long as there wasn't any lightning in the forecast."

"Yeah..." Flash continued as his gaze drifted over the park, only for her words to ring his head, "Lightning..."

Twilight looked back at him, "What?"

"Nothing. Just uh...thinking about how hectic our life is right now."

"What brought that to mind?"

"Well...next week is the Grand Galloping Gala, followed by the Fantasia Parade. That's when Lightning's trial is set to commence."

Twilight quickly caught on, looking back at the park as she commented, "Oh yeah...forgot about that. Has it really been a year? Everything's changed so much since then."

"No kidding. Heck, it still feels like yesterday he would pick on me when I was colt. Now we're gonna have to help him at his trial." Flash slumped down, "I still can't believe I wouldn't be here if he hadn't saved me and the knights at Omniara."

Twilight shook her head, "Don't say that. You and him have both grown up since coming here, same as me. We're all different ponies now."

"I just hope we can help him convince everypony else next week." Flash added as he rested his wings over the alicorn, "But I'm sure he'll be fine. He'll probably have an easier time then I did with my knight exam."

"Isn't that the truth." Twilight grumbled as she snuggled up to him, the two becoming silent as the rain began to end. As it did this, weather pegasi began to bust the clouds, Rainbow also above them before flying off. Seeing their athletic friend fly away, Twilight turned to Flash, "Wanna fly back home?"

"Nah. Follow me." Flash shook his head before getting up, gesturing the princess as they made their way to a field of puddles now inside the park. "After all, this is the perfect opportunity to do something we haven't done since we were little."

"What's that?" Twilight asked before seeing Flash flap into the air...only to come crashing down in a puddle. The force of the fall shot the water flying out, soon drenching the alicorn in a sudden shower.

Flash burst out in laughter as her mane flopped down, Twilight growling at the defender, "Oh, so you want a splash fight? Well...game on!" She leapt into the same motion in another puddle, soon causing a blast of water to drench the defender.

Flash shook the water off before glaring at her, the two now hopping from one puddle to the next, sending water everywhere. It was here that Flash saw a particularly large puddle, making him flap his wings into the sky before falling like an arrow. But as he descended...he suddenly phased into the water, disappearing in an instant. The sight made Twilight gasp, the mare running over as she yelled, "Flash? Are you okay?" She stared at the puddle, not seeing anything, including bubbles. But before she could panic, the sound of splashing water and a gasping for breath made her turn to see Flash's head sticking out of another puddle.

"Where was I?" He asked as Twilight walked up to him.

"You okay?"

Flash whipped his head around to get the water out of it, "No idea...but I think I saw a manatee." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, only to break out into giggles before pulling him out of the water.

"Now that you've apparently seen the ocean, are you actually okay?"

"Yeah...I hope." Flash added as he shook his body. "But uh...now we might actually catch a cold."

Twilight's horn lit up as she showed a giant smirk, "Don't worry, I got us covered. One heat spell coming up."

A little later...

With the rain over, Flash told Twilight he would have to go on his afternoon patrol. However, Twilight told him he couldn't get rid of her that easily, so she decided to accompany him. Now, the duo was flying over the village, "So...you just fly around, looking for anything that might be an issue?"

"Pretty much. Its the same as when you girls filled in for me. Only this time, there shouldn't be any mishaps."

"Yeah yeah..." Twilight grumbled, pouting as she looked away.

It was at that moment they heard a loud cry, making them look down and see a wagon wheel rolling down the street. Blinking at the sight, Flash swooped in and grabbed the wheel while Twilight saw where it came from. It was Granny Smith, yelling at a one-wheeled wagon that had apples spilling out of it. Flying down next to her, Twilight's horn sparked as she carefully lifted the apples in her magic. "Here Granny Smith."

"Oh, thank you dearie," the old earth pony thanked her as Flash arrived with the wheel. "It's just mah luck that the wagon would break on the one day Applejack asks Mac to stay home and help her out."

Twilight used her magic to lift the cart up before Flash pushed the broken wheel into position, using some added strength to punch it into place. Twilight then lowered the apples inside, Granny Smith giving them a big smile before taking two apples out of the cart. "Thank you both. Here, a little thanks from me to you."

They both nodded before taking the fruit. And as the farmer left, the couple agreed to eat later due to their still full stomachs. As such, they took the skies, flying over the town for another few hours. But as they did this....nothing happened. No disasters or problems, just a calm peaceful day.

And as the sun began to set, Flash announced, "Welp, that's it. End of patrol."

"Huh..." Flash turned to Twilight as she almost sighed, "I was half expecting...something to happen."

Flash just shrugged, "Chalk it up to good luck."

"So what do we do now?"

"Whatever the heck we want. Any ideas?"

Flash watched as Twilight rubbed her chin in thought, only to glance back at the defender, "Say, remember when we were younger and you'd drag me out of the library when you said I was in there too long?"

"Like it was every other Thursday. Go on."

"Well...remember what you made us do whenever it was really sunny?" Flash's eyes sparked before nodding, the two flying up till they could find the highest hills just outside of town. In the time between when it had rained and now, the pegasi ponies had replaced to dark clouds with the standard white ones, all blocking the sun in certain areas.

The duo landed and watched the clouds float by, Twilight muttering, "Wow...I haven't done this in forever. You?"

Flash sighed as he remembered doing it when he had gone up into the mountains. "It's not been that long. Though I didn't really get the chance to enjoy it much."

And so, the two simply stared up at the sky, both calling out different shapes. Flash pointed out two bunnies, an owl and a train while Twilight noticed a flower and a wolf. "Wait for it," she commented as the wolf cloud got closer to one of Flash's rabbits. "Boom!" she laughed as the wolf's mouth connected with the rabbit's head, the cloud dispersing after that.

"Ouch. You're brutal, you know that? What'd that rabbit ever do to you?"

"You're just jealous my cloud beat your cloud."

"Whatever," Flash muttered as he stretched out his wings, Twilight rolling over into one of them. The pegasi quickly caught up, hugging her in the wing as they continued to watch the sky. Time melted away as the sun started to set, the two calling out all sorts of things now, including Flash calling out a cloud that looked like one of those sports cars from the other world. "I still want one of those."

"Yeah well, if your notes didn't keep disappearing in the...portal thing, then maybe we could get something going."

"Why does it do that?"

"No idea." Twilight turned to him with a flat stare, "Also, you can fly. Why would you need such a thing?"

"Its cool."

"Figures." Twilight added, rolling her eyes. Seeing this, Flash pulled his wing, causing their hug to get tighter, "Hmm?"

"I love you Twilight." Flash admitted, making Twilight suddenly blush. She glanced back up at him, his face completely red. Blinking, a big smile appeared on her face as she snuggled even tighter into him.

"Yeah...I love you too." It was here Twilight rested her head on his shoulder, "You know...its hard to believe it took us this long to figure out how we feel about one another."

"Definitely took us a while."

"Cadance was apparently trying to make us get together for years...and the girls have been trying for a long time as well. That and Pinkie said she thought some other power was interfering."

"Sounds like her." Flash said with a low chuckle, "Though to be fair, we were really busy. You were stuck with tons of friendship lessons and becoming a princess."

"And you were focusing on knight stuff."

Flash looked back at her, smiling as her happy face, "With everything we've been through, I guess we were just too distracted to notice we were falling for one another."

"Good thing we had some pretty great friends that wanted us to see the truth." Twilight added before rubbing her chin in thought, "Though...I wonder what they're doing right now? Applejack must have been super swamped if Mac had to go home and help her, and Spike said Rarity was really busy too...though he probably just wanted an excuse to go hang out with her."

"Who knows. Maybe they're all just having a rough day like Pinkie."

Meanwhile...

Pinkie joyfully hummed as she skipped along with a large box balanced on her back. But as she reached one of Fluttershy's picnic blankets, she was greeted by four exhausted ponies, "Hey girls! Wow, you all look wiped."

Rarity let out a whimper, "We are...I had to make twice as many dresses as usual due to filling out extra orders. My hooves feel like they have a hundred needles in them."

"And mah legs feel like they're made of jello. Ah'm also gonna owe Mac for a week for helpin' me..."

"Ugh...my wings feel like they're gonna fall off." Rainbow moaned as she glanced over at Fluttershy, "How'd your day go?"

"Not too bad. Angel was a little annoyed that I wasn't gonna spend tomorrow with him."

"That's one spoiled rabbit ya got there," Applejack told her. "Hate to see what he'd do if yah ever got too busy to pamper him."

Rainbow started chuckling, "Maybe the same thing that happened to Flash and Twilight when they had that little potion mix-up?"

"You mean they switched bodies?"

"Like that'd happen," Rarity commented before they all laughed. "Now then Pinkie, do you have everything?"

"Yup!" Pinkie bucked the box off her back, the crate opening to show an array of fireworks inside. She bounced on her tip-hooves, "Ooh, I can't wait to see Flash and Twilight's faces when these go off!"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You do remember you'll be here...lightning the fireworks. You're not gonna be able to see them."

Pinkie let out a gasp, only to grin as she pulled a camera out of her mane and gave it to Rainbow, "You're right! You'll just have to take a picture of it for me!" She then grabbed the athlete's shoulders, "Promise me you'll photograph it!" She started shaking the pegasus, "Promise me!"

"Okay, okay!" Rainbow yelped, causing Pinkie to let her go. "Ow..."

"Alright! Let's get things set up!" Pinkie exclaimed as she started pulling the rockets out.

"We'll need to hurry," Rarity told them. "It'll be dark soon."

Flash and Twilight watched as the sun began to draw closer to the horizon. They had spent the last few hours just laying on the ground watching the clouds. Time seemed to be a blur, sitting in silence with the exception of eating the apples Granny Smith had given them. And as the blazing orb disappeared behind the skyline, the two got up to go home.

As they headed there, they watched as fireflies began to fly around them. "Beautiful..." Twilight sighed as she watched them spin in the air.

At the same time, Flash was watching the fireflies float over Twilight, the lights intensifying her radiant beauty, "Yeah...beautiful." Twilight raised an eyebrow at the slow response, turning and seeing a dopey smile on his face. The sight made her blush, looking away as she suddenly cut into a sprint. Flash followed after, the two soon reaching the town fountain.

Flash hopped onto it first, walking on the side while using his wings for balance. Twilight giggled at the sight, only to laugh as he lost focus and fell over. But as he popped out of the water, he glared at his lover with a huge sneaky grin. The alicorn's eyes shrank as she saw him ascend, the mare running away as he tried to give her a soaking wet hug.

Twilight quickly dodged his first attempt, soon going over a nearby bridge. Once there, she found herself in a large patch of flowers, their petals alternating between orange and purple. Smiling at the sight, she turned to see Flash leaping at her. A flash of the horn later, Flash found himself dive-bombing into the flowers, Twilight laughing at the sight as she teleported behind him.

The defender spat out a chunk of grass before sitting up, now seeing several flowers fall out of his mane. Sighing as he shook his head, Twilight kept laughing at him as he turned to glare at her. However, the happy grin on her face made his glare melt away, causing him to look down and pick up a flower. Walking over to her next, he gave her the flower before putting it in her hair, Twilight showing a bit surprise at Flash's uncharacteristically romantic gesture.

But that moment passed as she rubbed her head into Flash's neck, the couple remaking their way to the castle. As they did this, Twilight rested her head on Flash's shoulder again, "Thanks for today. I had a lot of fun."

"Me too. And I haven't even thought about our-" He quickly put his hoof to his mouth, Twilight raising an eyebrow at this.

"Our what?"

Flash opened his mouth before looking away, knowing he couldn't lie to her, "Uhh...well...here's the thing. I've kind of been...worrying about our date tomorrow." Twilight's eyes went wide, about to reply as Flash continued, "The guys told me to do something that'll keep my mind off of it...and you did that. So...thanks." He then looked back, now seeing Twilight giggling, "What's so funny?"

"What's funny is I was having the same problem."

"You were?"

Twilight nodded in response. "I was freaking out, trying to plan out every little detail so nothing could go wrong. And when Spike saw I was about to have a breakdown, he told me to not think about the date today." She put her head on his shoulder again, "And thanks to you, I haven't thought about it once today."

Both ponies came to a stop, the information sinking in...only for both to burst out laughing. This lasted for almost a full minute before stopping, Flash even needing to wipe his eye. "So that's it. Talk about irony. But at least we managed to keep each other from thinking about it."

"Yeah..." Twilight added as she kept giggling, "I mean, it makes sense that I would do that, but..."

"I know, right? Totally not my style." Flash admitted as he felt Twilight put her head back on him. As she did this, thought about the day they just had, only to speak up, "Hey..."

"What?"

"Wouldn't what we did today...be a date?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at this as he continued, "I mean, think about it. We did an activity together by helping Pinkie, then we ate together and played around...heck, we ended the thing with a moonlight stroll. This was totally a date."

Twilight blinked at the statement, only to almost facehoof, "Oh my word...this was totally a date. I can't believe we went on a date and we didn't even realize it." She did a small gulp, "Cadance is not gonna be happy. We don't have any pictures..."

Flash started to chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, but you gotta admit it's kind of funny. We thought we were just hanging out like we used too, but I guess dating is pretty much just that. Well, for us that is."

Twilight did a small shrug, "I guess it is, though with some...added benefits."

"Oh? And what would those benefits be?" Flash replied with a coy smirk, only to get his answer as Twilight slowly leaned up to his face.

Meanwhile...

"Almost there...and...done!" Pinkie cheered as they positioned the last piece of fireworks.

"Perfect," Rarity added while clapping her hooves, "When these go off during their kiss, it'll be spectacular!"

"So how are they gonna go off?" Applejack asked while inspecting the rockets, "Ah'm not seeing any kind of fuse."

The rest glanced at Pinkie, who just waved a hoof, "Eh, don't worry. They're special fuseless fireworks I got from these venders a few weeks back. I was saving them for a special occasion."

"So how do you light them?" Rainbow asked next.

"You just need to say a special word. Blast off!" Pinkie yelled as she swung her hooves around...only to go wide-eyed in horror, "No wait!"

The rest all turned to the rockets, only for them to all launch at the same time. "NOOOO!!!"

As Flash and Twilight's lips met, the sky was suddenly filled with colorful lights. They pulled apart and turned to the display, both gasping at the sight. The rest of the town all seemed to run to their windows, watching as the fireworks lit up the sky.

While this happened, Flash pulled Twilight into his wing, the alicorn's head on his shoulder as the show continued. "Whoa..."

"Yeah...its beautiful." Twilight added as they began to snuggle, admiring the accident that was giving them the tremendous display of color. As they watched this, they both admitted in their minds that this was the best first date they could ever ask for. Every minute was worry free, complete with happiness every second of the way.

And as the last explosion faded into the darkness, Twilight turned to Flash. "So...what are we gonna do tomorrow?"

Flash just shrugged, "Eh, guess we could still go on that date and say it's our first one. That way, the others won't feel like they missed out...and we can get the pictures." Flash's eyebrows hopped up and down, "Let's only give Cadance one pic though, and we have to make sure its not romantic at all."

"Oh, that's mean...and we should totally do it." Twilight giggled, Flash chuckling as well. "Though considering today, I don't think it'll matter if anything goes wrong during our second date." Flash nodded in agreement as they reached the castle doors, only for Twilight to wrap her wing around him, "Now come on, this date isn't over yet." She gave him a sultry smirk before walking in first, Flash blushing as a giddy smile began to form on his face. With that in mind, the castle doors closed as the defender disappeared inside, the last part of date finally commencing.

Lightning's Fate

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The outskirts of Canterlot...

It was midnight upon the city, everypony entering the land of sleep as a group of dark figures made their way across the fields outside the city. They were a group of four ponies, three pulling carts as a golden coated unicorn with a purple mane and tail, complete with a cutie that was a bunch of books, lead them. The group soon arrived at the side of the mountain, a large pile of rocks covering a section as the unicorn spoke up, "Here it is."

A green pegasus stallion with a blue mane and tail, his cutie mark being a bunch of math symbols, walked up first to the unicorn. Next was an orange unicorn mare with a black mane and tail, her cutie mark being a needle and thread while the final pony was a bulky dark blue earth pony stallion with a light blue mane and tail along with a piece of bread cutie mark.

"You sure this is it?" the pegasi asked first.

"Yes," The unicorn replied, nodding. "This opening leads into the underground caves beneath the city."

"But how do we get through?" The mare added while putting her hoof to her mouth, "Its buried."

"I could try and dig my way through it," the earth pony suggested.

"No need," the unicorn stallion responded as he reached into his saddlebag. He then pulled out a quartet of tubes with different words and symbols on the labels. The three others watched him place it up to his neck before pushing down on the plunger end. He let out a gasp next, a small sound hissing out of the tube.

"Bomber!"

In that moment, the unicorn's cutie mark began to blur, soon turning from a pile of books to an image of a bomb. The stallion grinned at the sight, his horn flaring before firing a red blast. Magic struck one of the rocks, making it glow before spreading to the nearby rubble as the light began to intensify. And as they glow got stronger, the first rock flared and-

BOOM!

The pile exploded, the four grinning at the sight as a blast of smoke covered the now open mountain hole. Seeing this, the Bomber unicorn took the tube off, putting it back in his bag as the others began to pull their carts inside. Chuckling to himself, the unicorn went in last as he commented, "Canterlot's not gonna know what hit 'em."

The next day...

It was time. One of the most anticipated events in Canterlot was about to happen, an event loved by all who go there. Everypony who attended had something about it that they enjoyed, whether it be the lights, the conversations or the many events that took place. Yes...the Fantasia Festival was something beloved by all. But unfortunately, it wouldn't be until tomorrow, as the Grand Galloping Gala always came first.

"Gah!" Flash yelped as a magic aura twisted his top button, the tug gripping the defender's neck. He was currently wearing the official Royal Knight garb, the same thing Grand had worn the previous year. This one was a blue version of the suit Shining had worn at his wedding. And as soon as the button was done, he stuck his tongue out, gasping for air. "I don't like this."

"Oh, grow up," Twilight growled as her magic pulled his collar, giving him extra breathing room. She was currently wearing a light blue dress with a yellow belt around her waist. Her mane had been pinned up, a hair style that made Flash blush like crazy.

The two were in the same castle room they had been in the previous year, both getting ready for the big event. They weren't the only ones in the room, as the rest of their friends were also trying to look their best for the gala. This year, everypony was going to the party, including the Crusaders. The trio, despite Iron's protests that they would create a disaster, were there as the plus ones for their big sisters. Springer was also there, wearing the suit he had worn to Flash's knighting.

There were also five ponies less associated with their group. First was Fluttershy's new friend Tree Hunger, a very...free-spirited pony she had met during her trip to see the Breezies. Along with her was Pinkie's older sister Maud, who was the party pony's plus one. Finally, there was Solid Script, Gorgenia and Wild Smile. The last three weren't going to the party, mainly due to Solid convincing them it wasn't worth it thanks to the usual Canterlot snobs, but they were there to help a certain somepony.

As for who that was, the door slid open as Iron walked in, followed by Lightning. The knight was wearing a similar garb to Flash, though with different colors, while the unicorn was in a bit more casual wear. However, everypony grimaced as they saw that the unicorn was wearing a very large frown.

"That's not good." Flash commented first, "What happened Lightning?"

Script walked in front of the defender, nothing but worry on his face, "Did your meeting with the princesses not go well?"

Lightning looked away, a low gulp following as he muttered out, "I wouldn't say it went...perfectly. Or uh...even good."

"What happened?" Rarity asked next, crossing her hooves, "Don't hide it from us darling."

"Well..."

A little bit ago...

Lightning was sitting in front of a desk, twiddling his hooves as he stared at thee empty chairs. Sweat was pouring down his face as his eyes stayed glued at the seats, knowing that this meeting would decide his fate. And as he stared, the gaze quickly shifted at the sound of a door opening, his nerves sparking themselves as Celestia, Luna and Cadance began to walk inside.

He quickly stood up, his body shaking like crazy as he squeaked out, "Your highness...es," he quickly bowed, almost hitting his head on the desk.

"At ease Lightning Blitz," Celestia replied as she and the two alicorns sat down, Lightning immediately following the command. A calm smile graced her face as she looked him over, "It's good to see you again."

Lightning nodded, gulping as his mouth went on auto-pilot, "It's uh...nice to see you as well. And may I add you're all looking particularly trim. Have you lost weight?"

"Don't push it Blitz," Luna growled, making Lightning shrink into his seat.

"Sorry."

Cadance then magicked up several files, placing them on the table before opening one. "Well Lightning, we've been reviewing the reports Princess Twilight, Flash and Iron have written for you...and I must admit we're very impressed." Cadance looked back up at him, seeing the smile Lightning was trying to make, "So...enjoying your life in Ponyville?"

"Yes."

Luna lifted up a file as well as she glared at him, "Having any issues reporting to Flash or Iron?"

"No."

"And are you giving back to the community?" Celestia asked next.

"Yes."

Cadance leaned in after this, "Gotten any mares in trouble?"

"No."

Luna grit her teeth as she asked her next question, "Still wanna take over Equestria?"

"Yes..." The three alicorns all glared at him, his brain now catching up, "Wait, no! I meant no! NOOOOOO!"

"LIGHTNING!" Everypony yelled except Tree Hugger and Maud.

"It was an accident!" Lightning replied. "They kept giving me yes and no answer questions and I...I just got into a rhythm. I...I couldn't think."

"Ugh...seriously?!" Twilight let out a long sigh, facehoofing as she shook her head, "I'll see if I can smooth things over with Celestia during the gala."

"Thanks..." Lightning whimpered out as his friends helped him over to a bed. "Sorry about all this."

"Its fine. We knew you would nervous darling. Anypony would." Rarity added as she patted his side, "Though...you should really try to pace yourself in situations like that."

"I know. I'm sorry." Lightning moaned as he held his head, "Aww...what am I gonna do?! If they say no, gramps is gonna be so disappointed in me."

Solid shook his head at this, "Don't think that Lightning, we know you can do this. Besides, Grand-"

"Don't Solid." Lightning interrupted, "I don't wanna hear it."

The rune making unicorn let out a hiss before sitting down beside him, "Fine...but remember this: Whatever happens, we'll be there for you."

"You know it," Wild added as his puppets on his back nodded in agreement. "We're with you through thick and thin."

"Thick and thin, thick and thin."

Gorgenia jumped onto the bed beside him, patting his side as well, "We'll help you make the princesses see just how much you've changed. After all, the three of us are all for the better now. A year ago, I hated Cadance…but now, well...well, I like to think of her as a close friend."

"You've all grown," Rarity assured them. "And I'm sure tomorrow, Celestia, Luna and Cadance will realize that you've made up for the mistakes you've made."

Lightning let out a long sigh, "I hope you're right."

"Well, we better be off," Applejack added as they all made their final preparations. Pinkie and Wild shared a kiss before she left, the crusaders following while yelling the same five words they had been yelling since finding out they were going to the gala.

"I just hope Discord doesn't cause any problems," Rainbow groaned, "I mean, didn't he know he had an invite? He's not gonna cause a scene, is he?"

Fluttershy shook her head, "Oh, I'm sure he'll behave himself."

Tree Hugger nodded in agreement. "Besides, a problem is only something you see as a thing that needs to be attacked. I'm sure that whatever happens, it'll be easier to work with a clear head."

"Right..." Iron said as he stared at the mare, his eyes going between her and his marefriend, "Anyways...if Discord pulls anything, I'm sure I can handle it. I mean, what's he gonna do? Bring some kind of chaos monster with him?" They all laughed at this as they left, leaving Lightning and his friends.

The three all looked back at him, all speaking in unison, "We know."

"Gorgenia and I barely get to see you," Script added.

Gorgenia patted his side, "And we'd much rather do that than go to a boring old gala."

Lightning shared a hug with his friends, a smile starting to reform on his face. Despite having made new friends in Ponyville, he was glad his first friends were still that...his friends. He could feel how much he missed them, even if Wild practically lived in Ponyville alongside him. And as their embrace ended as he thought about his possibly last night as a free stallion, getting off the bed as he asked, "So...how about we go out and see the town? It's been a while since I was last here. Love to see what's changed."

The three all shared a glance, Solid biting his lip, "Is that a uh...good idea?"

"Why not? Nopony said I had to stay in the castle. As long as I'm back before my final judgement, I don't see what the problem is."

Gorgenia began to twiddle her hooves, "Well...we're just not sure it would be...good if anypony saw you."

"It'll be fine. Now come on, let's go enjoy ourselves." Lightning added as he hopped off the bed, his friends all sharing a glance and gulp at the idea. Sighing, they walked behind him as they moved through the castle hallways. It wa here that they saw First Aid and Heather Bloom, both wearing the same suits Flash and Iron had worn, followed by Cherry Jubilee and several more well-known ponies.

Lightning said hi to his old employer before they got to the main gate, only to for a puff of smoke to appear in front of them. They all backpedaled at the sight, only to tense up as it revealed to show a certain suited draconequus. "Oh, hello there. Coming to enjoy the gala like the rest of us?"

Lightning darted his eyes away before replying, "No...we're not. We're just going out on the town."

Discord just shrugged, "Well, I guess not everypony can have such a great relationship with the princesses." The four all rolled their eyes, Wild tilting his head at the chaos monster.

"Hey...where's your plus one? Did you not find a friend to bring?"

"I have a plus one. I'm just waiting to get inside before warping him here. Now, if you'll excuse me." With that, Discord flipped upside-down before walking over them. The sight made the unicorns shrug before heading into town.

The entire city was almost completely transformed, ponies from far and wide all ready to make booths for the festival. As such, Lightning commented, "Practically nothing's changed..." The unicorn then saw several ponies staring at them, seeing nothing but frowns, "Though I don't remember this many glares back then."

"Give them time," Script assured him. "They'll realize how much you've changed."

"Yeah...sure." Lightning muttered out as they continued down the street. But as they did this, a blast of dust suddenly shot down the street, making everypony cover their eyes. "What the-" Lightning blurted before glaring at the storm, his form quickly rushing into the smoke.

"Lightning, wait!" Script yelled before they began to follow him. The four were all soon consumed by the dust, only for it fade as it revealed several collapsed booths, complete with ponies covered in wreckage. Lightning directed them to start helping, Solid asking one of the ponies, "What happened here?"

The reply was shrug, "I don't know. The whole thing just collapsed."

"I saw what happened!" a pegasus announced as she flew down. "A unicorn rushed passed here and used her magic to undo all the ropes holding the booths up, then ran off with them."

"But why?" another pony replied, only to turn and see Lightning. "Wait...it must have been them!" He pointed at the four, more eyes soon staring at them. "Trying to ruin another festival, huh?"

"What?!" Lightning yelped, quickly shaking his head. "No...we didn't do anything. We just got here."

"And that pegasus said it was a mare who ran by," Script added.

"Which you have!" another pony pointed at Gorgenia, the three quickly shielding the mare as the pegasi hovered over them.

"No...she doesn't look like the mare I saw." the mare responded, "This one was...orange."

"See?! We didn't do anything!" Lightning yelled as he pointed at his friends, "In fact, to prove it, we're gonna bring the real culprit to justice!"

"You are?" The ponies all gasped in unison.

"We are?" His friends repeated.

Lightning firmly nodded, "Yes. Now, which way did she go?"

"That way. I saw her turning left." They quickly followed the direction, the rest all staring at the fleeing group. As they left, they took the turn like she said, only to find it was alleyway with a dead end.

"That was a quick wrong turn." Wild commented, his puppets repeating his dialogue.

Gorgenia tilted her head at this, "Did she see the wrong thing?" But as these words left her mouth, her eyes saw a small pink crystal, which she picked up, "Oh? What's this?"

Script's eyes narrowed at the object, only to yell, "PUT THAT DOWN! NOW!" A blast of magic shot out of his horn, knocking the crystal away as it then hit a wall. And as it made contact, the gem broke, a green gas coming out before-

BOOM!

The four were pushed back from the explosion's force, all shielding their eyes as a puff of smoke filled the area. And as it faded, Lightning turned to Solid, "What the heck was that?!"

"It doesn't have a name. It's a very rare crystal that forms around highly explosive gases. The crystals themselves are really strong, but a small break tends to cause a spark that will ignite the gas."

"Sounds dangerous," Gorgenia quivered, patting her hoof. "And it was kinda pretty..."

"They're all dangerous. We're lucky that was just a small one. But the real question is, where did it come from?"

"You think that unicorn mare might have dropped it?" Wild asked next.

"But then where'd she go?" Lightning responded before looking around, soon spotting a piece of paper in the dirt. Picking it up, he scanned it over before giving it to Solid, "Any idea what this is?"

Script rubbed his chin as he looked it over, only to go wide-eyed, "This is...a teleportation rune. It must have been hidden and the explosion knocked it over here."

"So the mare did come down here...but she just warped away after that. Does that mean she could be anywhere?"

Solid shook his head, "No, this rune is...crude. Amateur hour at its finest. It's likely just a two-way gate connected to another marker just like this one."

Lightning raised an eyebrow at that, "So if we use it, we'll be sent wherever that mare went?"

The all shared a glance, Wild speaking up, "Maybe we should go find the guard."

"Find the guard, find the guard."

Lightning shook his head, "No, I get the feeling this is more than just a rope thief...and time might be of the essence." He looked down at the marker, "I'm going. You all can stay here if you want to." But when he glanced back up at his friends, he saw nothing but smiles.

A few minutes later...

Lightning felt like his entire body was being squeezed through a hole the size of a pinhead, unable to do so much as breath as he felt his everything being compressed. His vision was also filled with nothing but green light, making him squint as he felt pressure hit his back, knocking him into a nearby wall. As he crashed into it, he let out a moan before turning around, now seeing a green floating bubble. "Huh? What the-"

"Whoa!" yelled one Wild Smile as he flew out of the bubble, Lightning quickly dodging the stallion. Next was Gorgenia and Script, both flying out of the bubble as well as they crashed into the entertainer, "Augh!" He cried as the wind was knocked out of him, "Get off!"

"Sorry," they both said in unison as they got up, Lightning helping Wild. It was here they noticed that they were in a chamber made almost entirely out of crystal. "What the heck?! Where are we?!"

"I think we're in the crystal caves below Canterlot," Gorgenia replied. "Cadance told me all about them."

"So why did that the mare come down here?"

"Only one way to find out." Lightning responded as he pointed at the marker, the green bubble now gone, "Take that with us." Script nodded and picked the paper up, the four beginning their trek through the caves. It was here they started to pick up some voices with their ears, Lightning gesturing them to slow down as they got closer to the noise.

"No! Not there, you moron!" a stallion's voice yelled, "I told you to tie it there!"

"Hey, get off my back!" a gruffer voice replied, "I think I know how to tie a knot. Besides, we wouldn't have this issue if a certain somepony had managed to get more rope."

This was followed by a female voice, "You told me I needed to be quick and make sure I wasn't followed. If I had tried to get anymore, I would have been caught."

Lightning's group slowly peeked their heads out of a nearby wall, all staring at the four ponies now arguing. They were three stallions and a mare, all standing next to a large collection of pink crystals. Lightning and his friends went wide-eyed at this, Gorgenia whispering, "Are they insane?"

Script did a small gulp. "If you're thinking that they're going to make those crystals ignite...yes. Not only that, the explosion could cause this whole place to collapse."

"And Canterlot would come crashing down with it," Wild added.

"But why? Why do something so pointless?" Lightning finished as he glared at the group, "Are they gonna hold the city ransom? If they are, why haven't they announced it?"

It was in that moment that the gold unicorn started to stumble, almost falling over as if he had lost all strength. Lightning then saw the pony's bomb cutie mark start to blur before changing into a bunch of books. "What in the...wait..." Lightning gasped, his friends speechless at the sight.

"You okay?" The mare asked the unicorn, getting a nod in response.

"Just need to take my medicine," he replied before pulling out a tube and putting it to his neck. "Gimme a sec."

Pressing the plunger down, he let out a moan as the device yelled, "Bomber!" He began to gasp as the mark on his flank blurred again, returning to the bomb symbol.

"No way..." Lightning whispered before backpedaling, his friends mirroring his movements. "How is that possible?!"

"You know what's going on Lightning?" Script asked, only to get a nod in response.

"Yeah, I know what's wrong with them. They're using Cutie Markers."

"Cutie...Markers?" Gorgenia asked with raised eyebrows, the others mimicking her.

"What the heck are they?"

"What the heck, what the heck."

"Gramps told me about 'em. They're a device that started circulating around the time he first became a knight. They let the user actually change their special talent for a short time." Script, Wild and Gorgenia all went wide-eyed at this. "There were supposed to be hundreds of them, each one having a specific talent they gave the user. But...there was a catch. There were a ton of side effects, especially if you keep using 'em. It makes your mind go unhinged, and...I'm guessing that's what happened to them. Not only that, gramps told me it was super addictive, like...they become really violent if you try to take it from them."

"That explains why they're doing all this. They probably don't understand the consequences." Script commented with crossed hooves. "But I've never heard of Cutie Markers before. Was it something considered confidential?"

"No...its more because they're not around anymore. Gramps said he spent the first few years of his knight career tracking down all the dealers."

"Looks like he missed one," Script said as he looked back at the four, "So those four are suffering from mental backlash, and they're about to do something really idiotic. What do we do?"

Lightning didn't even need to think as he responded, "Simple. We take 'em down before they can finish their little scheme." the others nodded as they stood up and walked into the chamber, "HEY!"

The four criminals spun around, all shocked faces before the Bomber unicorn smirked at the sight, "Looks like we have a few uninvited guests."

A gasp happened next as the pegasi pointed at Lightning, "Hey! That's the guy that made everypony fight last year!"

"And all his little cronies!" the earth pony added.

The unicorn let out a laugh next, "So what are you all doing here?! Come to see how real villains destroy a city?!"

The eight ponies all got into a fighting stance, Lightning growling as his horn began to spark, "We're here too put an end to your insane plan."

"Is that so..." Bomber hissed as the other three pulled out their own Cutie Markers. Before their opponents could do anything, the trio slammed them into their necks.

"Shift!"

"Gemini!"

"Kinetic!"

Slowly, the three's cutie marks all blurred. The pegasi's changed into two overlapping squares, the unicorn's turning into a pair of ponies side by side while the earth pony's was now two circles crashing into each other. The four Cutie Markers all grinned at their opponents, the two teams staring each other down as Bomber spoke up, "Last chance. Leave or be beaten."

Lightning continued to glare at him, "You should take your own warning."

Bomber tutted before turning to the pegasus who used the Shift tube, "Do it!" The pegasi nodded as it went into a sprint, zipping past everypony before they could react. It was here Shift grabbed Script, pushing both into a wall…only to phase right through it.

"SCRIPT!" They all yelled before spinning back to the remaining three. "What did you just do to him?!"

"You'll find out." Before they could say anything else, Shift flew back through the wall and tackled Gorgenia.

"NO!" Lightning and Wild roared, both trying to rush at him. However, she faded with the pegasi into another wall. The duo quickly came to a stop after seeing this, only for Wild to let out a yelp as he felt something grab his hooves, "Whoa!" he cried as he pulled down into the ground, his puppets grabbing his side and falling in with him.

"Wild!" Lightning screamed before glaring back at the criminals, "Bring them back!"

"I don't think so." Bomber replied as Shift reappeared, soon grabbing the mare and earth pony before disappearing into the ground again. A huge smirk shined on Bomber's face as he pointed at Lightning, "Now...ready to begin?"

"Heck yeah, I am!" Lightning barked back as his horn began to spark, Bomber's doing the same. A beam quickly shot out of the criminal's horn, Lightning greeting it with a bolt of electricity. And as the two collided, an explosion filled the chamber with smoke. As it did this, Lightning pulled out the knives in his cloak, flinging the daggers at the walls around them.

Bomber just laughed at the sight, "Ha! You can't hit the broadside of a barn!"

"Don't be so sure!" Lightning responded as his form lit up, vanishing before reappearing to Bomber's side, "Gatling Spark!" a barrage of electric bullets flew out of his horn, only for Bomber's horn to flare as it fired a beam at the ground. An explosion followed this, knocking up rocks that blocked the bolts with ease.

"Grrr...alright, try this!" Lightning growled as he warped to another knife, "Lightning Spear!" A straight bolt of lightning flew out of his horn, Bomber spinning around and firing another beam as well. The two collided, making another blast of smoke that consumed the area. And as it did this, Lightning warped away, hiding behind a rock pillar as he tried to catch his breath.

"So pathetic." Bomber commented as he began to walking into the smoke cloud, "Marco..." The sound of light hoofsteps graced Lightning's ears, making him see a shadow slowly walk around the chamber as he stayed hidden. "Polo..." Lightning slumped over, panting as he tried to get his concentration back, feeling slight fatigue from doing so many moves so quickly. "Marco..." Bomber said again, only for his horn to glow red, "Polo!"

Another explosion shot out of his horn, destroying a nearby pillar while making the whole chamber shake. Lightning's head leaned out of another pillar, watching Bomber's face shine a huge twisted grin, "Come out little pony...come out and face your doom."

Lightning leaned back, sighing, "Gotta concentrate on this guy first...oh, I hope the others are okay."

Script let out a long moan as he shook his head, now seeing he was in a different room, "This isn't good." His ears then picked up the sound of a rock skipping across the ground. Spinning around, his horn started to spark as he saw Shift step into the light, "You!"

"Oh, this should be fun." Shift replied as he Script fired a beam of magic...only for it fly right through Shift's head.

"What?!" Script yelled as he saw his beam hit the wall behind the pony. Firing another beam, the same result happened before backpedaling. Solid blinked at the sight, putting his hoof to his mouth, "How did you...wait...you said your mark was shift. That means-"

Shift flared his wings, slowly walking up to the unicorn as his grin started to get bigger, "Ready for some fun?"

"Stay back!" Solid barked back as he fired another beam, the same thing happening again. "No...don't tell me that the 'shift' was you shifting your density?!"

The pegasi flexed his hoof as he turned into a sprint, "Ba bye!" he cheered as he slammed his hoof into Solid's face, knocking him back.

"Augh!" Script yelped as he rubbed his face in pain, only to now see Shift happing back with taking several large breaths. "You coward!"

"Who cares. We're gonna win and that's what matters." His eyes began to shift, darting around everywhere as he yelled, "Now...let me see you bleed!"

Solid quickly tried to brace himself, only to see the pegasi take a deep breath...and fall right through the floor. The sight made him go wide-eyed, only to feel a hoof uppercut his chin, "Blaugh!"

"Surprise!" Shift laughed as he reached up and gripped Script's neck, only to pull him into the floor. Solid soon found his face slamming into the ground, pain covering his face as he felt his whole body fall over. The unicorn moaned as he closed his eyes, whimpering in pain as he clenched up into a feeble position.

"Oh...that really hurts..."

"AHAHAHA!!!" the pegasi laughed as he reappeared, only to let out a long breath, the pony now rubbing his chest while panting, "Oh...oh yes..."

"Ungh…" Solid groaned as he looked up from the floor, now seeing the pegasi's face morph into a vile grin. "Oh no."

"Oh yes. This is gonna be fun."

In another chamber, Gorgenia shook her head as she tried to regain her focus. She then stared at the crystals on the walls, this area being filled with them. "Hmmm...this place isn't as pretty as Cadance made it out to be."

"Oh, is somepony scared?" She spun around, only to see a mare step into a crystal's light, making Gorgenia get into a fighting stance.

"Don't worry," Gorgenia's ears spiked up, making her spin around again, only to blink as she saw an exact duplicate of the mare appear.

"I'm here to keep you safe," yet another copy of the mare said as it appeared to Gorgenia's side.

"What is this?" She asked before turning back to the first mare, only to see the fake cutie mark shine on her flank, "Gemini...does that mean-"

The Gemini mare shined a huge grin as her horn began to glow, only for her body to seemingly split in half, two perfect replicas soon standing where one was before. Gorgenia gasped at the sight, only for one of them to rush at the mare, quickly spinning and bucked Gorgenia in the face.

"Augh!" The unicorn yelped as she was pushed back, only to see two more running at her. She quickly retaliated with a magical blast, hitting one that made it fade back into nothingness. But as this happened, the other one swung a hoof into her face. "Oof!"

As that blow happened, Gemini split into two again before one of the duplicates split again. Two then rushed at her, both now showing twisted smiles as the third continued to multiply. "Soon you'll be crushed under my hoof!" The duo yelled as Gorgenia fired another beam, destroying another before the other hit her side. "HA!"

"Ugh!" Gorgenia winced as another Gemini appeared, grabbing her neck with her tail before swinging her across the chamber. "Aaah!" she cried out as she was flung around, another bucking her back before the mare went flying into a wall. "Augh!"

Gorgenia let out a moan as she slumped over, her eyes barely opening up as she turned to see an entire army of Gemini army walk up to her. The Gemini all let out a sinister laugh, the sound echoing throughout the chamber. "Did I say you would be crushed under my hoof?" They all asked at the exact same time, Gorgenia gulping at the sight. "No, you'll be crushed under our hooves."

Wild was rubbing his head as his puppets rested on his back, "Oh...that hurt. Where are we little buddies?" he asked as he looked around, "Anypony here?"

"Anypony here, here, here?"

There was no response, making Wild shiver on the spot. That is, till the sound of heavy hoofsteps could be heard shaking the ground. Wild quickly spun around, only to feel a hoof slam into him, knocking him into a wall, "Augh!" he slumped over next, his flank instantly scratching the ground, "Oh...anypony get the number of that carriage?"

"Number, number, carriage, carriage."

His vision started to return as he looked up and went wide-eyed. It was the earth pony, scarping his hoof along the ground like an angry bull. "Uh-oh. Uh...nice to meet ya!" A loud snort of air blasted out of the pony's nostrils, making Wild gulp, "Ooookay. Not the talkative type. I guess I can dig that...maybe."

"Dig that, dig that!"

"Take this!" Wild ran up to the pony and threw a punch at the pony's cheek, a loud slapping sound filling the chamber. But as this blow happened, Wild just pulled away, not feeling pain in his hoof while the earth pony just stood there, motionless. Wild blinked at the sight, only to see the earth pony's face now glowing light blue, "Huh?"

The light then started to move down to the earth pony's hoof, the pony lifting it up as he pointed it at Wild. Seeing this, Wild started to backpedal, only to see the earth pony punch the air. Doing so caused a pulse of blue energy to fly out, the force slamming into Wild, knocking back into the wall again.

"Blaugh!" he yelped as his back scratched the wall, moaning he slid down the rocks, "Oww...what the heck?!" He then looked back up and saw the pony's cutie mark, Wild gulping as he whispered, "What did he say again? Kinetic? But what does that-"

His puppets then floated in front of him, Wild gasping as he saw them charge at the earth pony, "No, wait!" But they didn't, each one slamming into the earth pony. As they did, spots of light blue light appeared around Kinetic before travelling to his hooves. There, he smirked as he punched the air, three quick punches shaking the very air around them. And as each punch struck the area, each pulse destroyed one of Wild's puppets, soon destroying every single one.

Wild's ears flopped down, almost tearing up at the sight as the earth pony turned around and walked over to a nearby wall. There, he started to punch the wall, knocking several rocks loose from the ceiling. And as the rubble pelted his back, more and more blue lights began to cover his body.

"That's not good...that's not good at all."

Back to Lightning, he was still hiding as Bomber continued to turn the place into a minefield. "Come out unicorn!" He yelled into the cave, "Do you truly fear me that much?"

"Not on your life!" Bomber turned around, now seeing a revealed Lightning as his horn charged before vanishing into a bolt of light. "Plasma Anchor!" A string of lightning suddenly latched onto the criminal's neck before Lightning reappeared, swinging the pony into a wall.

"Augh!" the criminal yelped as he tried to pick himself up, only to look up and see Lightning with now electrically charged hooves.

"Smashing Volt!" He slammed his hooves directly into Bomber, electricity flowing through them as Lightning followed up with a barrage of punches. Sparks could be seen as Bomber felt every blow, his horn flaring as he made a small explosion around him. However, Lightning just teleported away, only to reappear and hit him again.

"Gah!" Bomber growled as he tried to counter, Lightning zipping away before delivering another teleporting punch to the face, "Bluagh!" the criminal spat as he tried to retaliate with a left hook, Lightning dodging again. "Grrr...how are you doing that?!"

POW!

Another blow shook his head, the unicorn's eyes now going bloodshot as he yelled, "ENOUGH!!!" With that roar, his horn fired a volley of blasts, covering the areas as explosions went off everywhere. Lightning tried to warp away, but as he got to one of knifes, Bomber's spell hit the dagger. His eyes went wide as an explosion hit him full-on, knocking him flying across the room. Bomber watched as Lightning landed, only for the unicorn to warp away to one of his knives. The criminal blinked at the move, now seeing Lightning hop to another, "So that's it..."

Bomber shined a small smirk as his horn sparked, a series of beams firing out to hit every dagger. Lighting quickly grimaced at the sight, grabbing one of his knives before it could be struck before the rest exploded. Seeing this, he jumped away as smoke covered the area, soon hiding behind another pillar. Bomber just laughed at the sight, "HA! Face it little unicorn, you signed your own death certificate by coming down here."

Lightning slumped over, catching his breath as he whispered to himself, "Gotta buy some time..." He took a deep breath before echoing out, "Why are you doing this?!" His voice bounced around the cave, Bomber unable to pick up where the noise was coming from. "What could you possibly gain from destroying Canterlot?!"

He heard Bomber growl, "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

There was no response for several moments, only for a low grumble to start speaking up, "Do you know what my real special talent is? It was being a librarian."

"So?"

"SO?! My whole life, I wanted to be something great! Somepony who you'd recognise just by looking at him. How many famous librarians do you know of?!"

"Well...there is the Princess of Friendship." He heard a spark of magic spurt out of Bomber's horn, a hiss following this, "But I get your point. You wanted more."

"Of course I wanted more! Who doesn't want to be known by all?! Our lives are nothing but dust in the wind! Unless you do something big, you'll eventually be forgotten once you're gone. That's why I wanted my cutie mark to be something that would allow me to become a pony nopony would ever forget. But then...I got stuck with this stupid mark."

"And I'm guessing your friends felt the same way?"

"Of course!" Bomber yelled, "Again I ask, how many famous bakers, seamstresses or accountants can you name?!"

"So that's why you got yourselves those Cutie Markers?"

He then heard Bomber laugh. "Exactly. For the first time in our lives, we had power that made us feel like we could do anything. Like the world was ours for the taking....we spent months figuring them out, using them to live the lives we always wanted. But...we still weren't gonna be remembered. That's when it hit us-"

"Destroy Canterlot?"

"You can't deny that has some staying power to it. Nopony will ever forget about the ponies that destroyed Equestria's capital. Our names will live on for all eternity!"

Lightning just sighed, peeking his head out as he stared at the unicorn. Reason was gone, that sentence being plastered all over the stallion's face as Bomber started manically laughing. The defender went back to hiding, taking a deep breath as he felt pity for the unicorn, knowing that the Cutie Marker must have affected the guy's brain. "Don't got a choice. I gotta beat him." he whispered to himself before walking out of his hiding place, speaking up, "I won't let you destroy Canterlot."

Bomber turned to him, his smile twisting as he chuckled, "Oh? Why not? You were gonna do it, weren't ya?!"

"Yeah, I was...and it was the biggest mistake I ever made." Lightning's horn replied as his horn began to glow, "You know, a year ago I probably would have been down for your little plan. As far as I was concerned, I didn't have anything to lose. My mom was dead, my dad got arrested and I hated almost everypony around me. I even saw my friends as nothing more than pawns."

Bomber let out a laugh, "HA! They're obviously not very good pawns! They're gonna die down here, just like you!" Bomber's horn began to light up as well, "They don't have the power to stop my friends. Their special talents are nothing compared to us."

Lightning just glared at him, "Don't underestimate them. They're stronger than you think."

"Is that so?" Bomber then fired a blast, Lightning quickly hopping away as the pillar behind him exploded. "Then why did you have to power them up last year?!" Another beam shot out of horn, Lightning barely dodging the it, "Everypony knows about it. You used the Alicorn Amulet to give them the power to beat all the guards with those forbidden spells. Heck, I heard you brainwashed them!"

He then fired another blast, only for Lightning to spin on the spot and unleash a string of electricity at the beam. Both collided, an explosion instantly happening as it pushed both back. Lightning let out a cough as he swung himself behind another pillar, panting as he spoke up, "Yeah...I did do that. We all wanted power, and we really didn't care what we were gonna do to get it, just like you." Lightning slumped down, taking a deep breath, "But...its different now. I'm...we're stronger now. We don't need the amulet." He stared at his last knife, then spotting a chunk of explosive crystal on the floor right by him. "I don't need a quick and easy way out anymore, and neither do they. They won't lose...and neither will I!"

"Augh!" Script cried as he was thrown against another wall, slumping over as he felt pain surge throughout his body. He had been trying multiple barrier runes, but Shift easily got through every one. Unfortunately, he could feel the pain fully taking him over as Shift phased into the floor again, only for his hooves to reappear inside the wall behind Solid. The pegasi then grabbed Solid's neck, trying to choke him. Gasping to get some air, Solid's horn flared as he started firing random shots around, one beam hitting Shift's hoof. The blow made Shift phase back into the wall, Solid gasping as he got up from the hold. He put his hoof to his chest next, moaning as he tried to get away from the wall.

"You can't escape me," he heard Shift's voice. "No matter where you try and hide, I'll be there, and you'll have no idea where I'm coming from."

"Don't be so sure." Solid replied as he spun around and fired a magical blast at the ground, Shift going wide-eyed as he had to go back into the floor. Script's eyes narrowed next as he started to shoot beam of magic at parts of the wall, slight blur appearing in each blow before Shift came out, panting heavily.

"How?" Shift gasped, his hooves shaking as he saw Solid lift his hoof. Mimicking his action, Shift looked at his hoof and gasped, now seeing some markings on his leg. "This is...a rune?"

"A tracking rune specifically," Script clarified. "Now I can follow you wherever you come from. You can't surprise me anymore."

Shift let out a low growl, "Oh yeah?! And what, you think you're so smart to beat me now?!" The pegasi pointed at the unicorn as he continued to pant, "You think...you're so smart....but I'm not beaten. You've barely been trying."

Solid just shrugged, "That's true. I'm a pacifist by nature, but...due to recent events over this past year, I've put more investment into self-defense for myself. I also know that I'm smart enough to catch onto your tricks. I know all your limits."

"And what are those so called limits?!"

"Simple. For instance, I know you obviously can't fly when you're completely shifted." Script almost smirked as he saw the look of surprise on his opponent's face. "It's obvious when you know how both your powers and how flying works. Even if you beat your wings, the air would just go right through them instead of being pushed down. It's also obvious to note you can't breathe in that state, given how much you've been panting during this fight. It's likely that even if you took a breath, you wouldn't be able to get any oxygen into them. That also leads me to believe you can't see or hear anything either, as your actions are direct, yet I noticed you only keep track of me based on where I was before you phased. Nothing can hurt you, but you can't feel anything at the same time. That's the flaw that'll defeat you."

"You little...and how is that gonna beat me?!"

"Look around and you'll see." Shift's eyes began to dart around, only to go wide-eyed as he started to see several runes litter the chamber, both on floors and walls, "I started placing these around when I realized you weren't, or couldn't, pay attention. With these, you're done for."

"How?! What can a bunch of scribbles do?!"

"These runes are all designed to attract energy, specifically...electrical energy." With that, his horn sparked as a sphere of electricity appeared over his horn, the ball now blasting out lightning.

"What?!" Shift yelled as he saw the runes all react to the sphere, the orb now floating to the center of the chamber. Bolts began to fly everywhere, Shift now backpedaling at the sight, "How? Your cutie mark means you can only use rune magic."

"That might be what I'm best at, but it doesn't mean I can't learn other kinds of magic. My special talent doesn't define me. Besides, my best friend is one of the best electric type users in Equestria. You really think he couldn't teach me?"

Shift watched the lightning began to consume the whole room, only to smirk at the sight, "So what?! All you've done is trap yourself! As long as you're in here, I don't have to worry about you. I can just escape and your...electric thing won't hurt me! I'll just leave and Bomber will destroy this whole place!"

Solid's face just formed a giant smile, "Oh really? And what about this?" he asked as he held up a familiar piece of paper.

Shift's eyes went wide at the sight, "That's-"

"Your only way out of here. Without it, I'm guessing you can't pull off your insane plan to blow Canterlot up without burying yourself. I also doubt you could hold your breath long enough to get out of here with all your friends before the crystal goes off."

Shift growled as he rushed into the lightning field, going mostly intangible as the bolt flew through him. Seeing this, Script started to pull the orb back, making the lightning strikes fly closer to himself. Shift came to a halt at this, taking in a huge breath before sinking into the ground. Solid just blinked at the sight, quickly running back to the center of the room with the orb.

"Alright, let's direct the lightning there." Solid whispered to himself as he repositioned the orb, the bolts now aiming at his tracking rune. Shift then popped out where Solid was previously standing, only to jerk back into the ground as a barrage of lightning zapped the spot. Solid's eyes stared at the position Shift vanished into, quickly moving back to it as Shift reappeared in another part of the area. His face was red from holding his breath, but he couldn't get any air as another bolt instantly struck where he was trying to phase out of.

Shift went back into the ground, Solid rubbing his chin at the sight. "Looks like he's out of air. Here's hoping he runs out of energy soon." He stared back at the orb, "I can't do this forever either."

Shift then popped out of another wall, gasping despite no longer having a red face. Solid guessed he got some air by phasing into another chamber. As for the orb, more bolts shot at Shift, going through him as he charged at Solid. But as he did this, he suddenly felt himself slow down. "Huh?" Shift gasped as he accidentally opened his mouth. He started to feel something on his back, making him glance at his flank.

His mark...was changing. It was slowly morphing back to normal. The sight made him go wide-eyed, only to turn back as he saw he was just about to get his on Solid. But as he did this, a single bolt slammed into him, his hooves just inches away from Solid as he could feel the electricity now surge through his body.

"AAAAHHHHH!!!" he screamed as the bolt shot him across the room, Solid gasping as he saw the electrified hooves that were about to touch him be sent flying back. And as a second bolt hit the pegasi, Solid cancelled the spell, the orb fading as the criminal slumped over in defeat.

Solid almost did the same, his hooves shaking as he gripped his head in pain, "No way...I did it. That...was too close."

"Augh!" Gorgenia yelped as she was punched again, staggering back as she tried to blast another away, only for three more to take its place. The stonemason had lost count of how many she had destroyed, the Gemini mare seemingly multiplying more and more.

"Awww...what's the matter? Can't keep up?" the mares laughed as another socked Gorgenia in the stomach.

And as another hit knocked her back, Gorgenia's eyes squinted as she felt the pain. Again and again the mares kept hitting her, Gorgenia trying to fight back as she looked around the room. But as she did this, she went wide-eyed at a certain sight. It was a mare way in the back, heavily panting as exhaustion covered her face. "The original..." Gorgenia whispered as she looked back at the others. "That's it!"

As the Gemini charged at her, Gorgenia's horn flared, a barrage of blasts flying out. A stream of Gemini were vanquished by the attack, only to see more Gemini appear. As she did this, she whispered, "That it...keep making them." She continued to fire beams, more and more beginning to fade. And as she did this, a smile graced her face as the mare in the back suddenly fall over.

"YES!" Gorgenia cheered as the clones looked back at the original mare, all gasping at the sight. As for Gorgenia, she started to catch her breath as she commented, "I had a feeling that would work. All those clones have to take a lot of magic...and you just hit your limit!"

Gemini growled as she slowly lifted her head up, "Even so. It's still enough to beat you." Just as she said that Gorgenia felt something grab her neck from behind. Another clone then grabbed her legs, more clones restraining her till she was pinned to the ground, her horn touching the dirt. The clones all laughed at the sight as another pointed its horn at her. "Its over stonemason!"

The clone began to charge at her, ready to impale her with it's horn. But as Gorgenia looked up at the incoming attack, an idea dinged in her head, "You're right!" Her horn began to flare, firing a spell into the ground. A crystal suddenly shot out of the floor, instantly destroying the charging clone. The others gasped at the sight, their grip loosening as Gorgenia kept firing spells in the ground. More crystals then shot out, blasting each clone into nothingness.

Soon, all that was left was the original, who had got back onto her hooves. The mare was shaking in pure fear as she whimpered out, "B-b-but...but...your talent is making statues! H-h-how did you do that?!"

Gorgenia just showed a small smile, "You're right, making statues is my talent. However, its not my only skill. I started off making stone statues, but then Cadance invited me to learn to make crystal statues in the empire." She began to walk up to Gemini, the criminal slowly backpedaling. "Then I decided I wanted to learn to make crystals just like Ruby Scarlet could. But I couldn't just wait for a great big crystal to form, so..." Gemini now hit a wall behind her, her cutie mark shifting back to normal. "It was hard, and took months of practice, but I eventually learned how to do it."

Gemini's eyes continued to grow wide, gulping as Gorgenia's horn began to shine again.

"Gyah!" Wild yelped as he was slammed into a pillar, slumping over as the earth pony stared the unicorn down. The towering pony began to pant as Wild's horn sparked, his buddies' spirits going into some nearby rocks. Seconds later, the rubble flew through the air, bum-rushing into the earth pony and colliding into his chest.

However, the earth pony didn't move, the rocks smashing into him. And as they collided, a blue light appeared on each blow, the lights soon streaming to his chest as the criminal spoke up, "Did you really think you could beat me? You're no warrior. You're just some dumb entertainer."

Wild groaned as he picked himself up, "So what? I...can still fight." Wild looked down, now spotting a large flat rock that had been knocked out of the pillar. He quickly jumped onto the rock as he transferred one of his buddies into it, just as the earth pony fired a kinetic blast from his hoof. As the burst of force happened, his puppet's soul flung Wild up into the air, letting him ride the rock like a surfboard.

Kinetic watched him float around, the blue swirling around his hooves as he swung another punch, a blast of air flying out as Wild dodged in on the board, "Grrr...get down here and fight!"

"No thanks pal. I might be an entertainer, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to kick flank when I need too!" Wild barked back as he flew around Kinetic, now looking down at the earth pony before going wide-eyed. It was here he saw that the criminal's body was covered in bruises, showing that his power didn't cancel the damage being done. "That's it!"

Wild glanced up and saw a cracked section of the roof above the earth pony. Smiling at the sight, Wild pointed to the rocks around the criminal and yelled, "Get in those buddies! Give him everything you got!"

The souls slithered inside, soon firing in all directions at the earth pony. As the rocks charged into the earth pony, he didn't move, more and more energy building up as the rocks pelted him. And as the barrage finished, every piece of soul-possessed rubble had turned to dust, Kinetic now brushing off the rocks as his whole body glowed blue. Seeing him distracted, Wild flew just above the earth pony and yelled, "That all you got?! I bet I can take ten times more than you!"

Kinetic growled before opening his mouth, the blue light flying up his neck. With that, he let out a mighty roar that shot a sonic laser, making Wild gasp. Reflexes kicked in as Wild leapt from his surfboard, the beam annihilating the rock before hitting the roof. But as it hit this, Kinetic's eyes went wide as he saw the cracked roof fall apart, a shower of rocks following this.

But as he tried to escape the rain of rubble, Wild slung an extra rock at the criminal, distracting him long enough to get him buried by the rubble. And as it covered him, Wild let out a long sigh of relief, his buddies hovering around, "Thank goodness that's-"

THOOM!

"Blaugh!" Wild screamed as a blue shockwave shot out of the rock pile, knocking the unicorn back into another pillar. Wild could feel pain surge through his whole body as he slumped over from the blow, his eyes squinting as he looked back up and saw Kinetic pull himself out of the rubble.

And as the criminal walked over to him, Kinetic began to heavily pant, his hooves swaying back and forth. But as he did his, his eyes began to falter as his hooves loss their strength. "Ugh..." he moaned as pain rushed through his body, making him fall over as his cutie mark began to turn back to normal.

Wild shook his head at this, slowly getting up as he commented, "Told ya I'm more than just an entertainer. It's what I love and its what I'm best at, but it's not all I am."

Kinetic growled as he looked back up at him, trying to get up, only to slump over again.

"Over the last year, my friends all worked hard to become the best ponies they could be. Unlike you criminals, they didn't let their cutie marks trap them."

"Tch. What would you know?!" Bomber barked back. "You don't know what kind of lives we've been stuck with all because we were forced to have those marks!"

"I know that cutie marks are just a representation of who we are. If they decide how our lives turn out, we'd be born with them. But we aren't, because a cutie mark is only born by how we live our lives." Lightning stopped talking as Bomber got closer, waiting for him to pass by. And as he walked to another pillar, Lighting continued, "If you wanted your cutie mark to be something great, then you should have gone out and tried something great. Let me guess...you liked reading books all day, and that's what you got." He heard Bomber growl, making Lightning chuckle, "That's why my friends will beat yours. They're more than their cutie marks."

In that moment, the three beaten ponies all pulled out their Cutie Markers. But as that happened, Lightning's friends all sparked their horns, beams of magic striking each. The lasers blasted the criminals, rocketing through the walls, shattering the rubble as they all landed into the chamber with Bomber and Lightning. "AAAAHHHHH!" They all cried out as they flew through the walls, all flopping over as the blasts destroyed their Cutie Marker as well.

"What?!" Bomber yelped as he now saw his compatriots all laying on the floor, completely unconscious with the remains of their Cutie Markers scattered around them. Script, Gorgenia and Wild all stepped through the holes, smiling as they sa each other while Bomber yelled, "How?! How is this possible?!"

"Because they're stronger than you could ever dream of being!" He spun back around and saw Lightning jump out before tossing his last knife. The unicorn reflexively firing a beam at the dagger, only for Lightning to spark his horn and direct the knife to dodge the beam. As this happened, Lightning held out the piece of explosive crystal as the dagger sailed past Bomber's head, slicing off a few strands of hair while his spell then struck the crystal in Lightning's hoof. Lightning vanished after this, warping to the dagger as spun around and thrust the crystal at Bomber.

"Now, COUNT UP YOUR SINS!" Lightning yelled as the crystal hit Bomber's horn, Lightning vanishing again. He then reappeared on the far side of the chamber, gripping his mouth as his ears heard a certain explosion.

BOOM!

The crystal exploded in the unicorn's face, making him scream out in pain as he was sent flying into a wall. His Cutie Marker fell out of his clutches next, shattering as it hit the floor. Lightning sighed in relief as he fell on his flank, only to hear a certain three voices call out, "LIGHTNING!"

He looked up and saw Script above him first, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lightning replied as he took Solid's hoof and got up, "Just a little tired." He then saw the bruises covering his friends, "How about you?"

"Nothing we can't handle," Wild added with a large grin as the rocks containing his buddies spirits repeated him.

Gorgenia giggled at this, "Honestly Lightning, we can look after ourselves."

"I know. Come on, let's finish this." He groaned in pain before walking up to where the explosive crystals were tied up. "Now...what do we do with these things?"

But as he said this, Bomber's eyes started to open, his cutie mark beginning to return to normal. And as he felt his flank shiver, Bomber grit his teeth, "No...no..." he whispered as his horn began to flare, "I WON'T LET YOU STEAL MY GLORY!" The four spun around to see the beam coming right for them. Reflexes kicked in as they all jumped away, only for the magic to strike the crystals.

"NO!" Lightning screamed as Wild had one of his buddies slam into Bomber, knocking him out for good. They then saw the crystal start to glow red, all of them gulping at the sight, "This is bad. This is really really bad!"

"It's gonna blow!" Gorgenia cried out, "If there's that many, it'll destroy this whole cave!"

"And Canterlot will collapse with it," Wild added before turning to Script. "Can't you do something? Maybe a rune barrier to contain the explosion?"

Script shook his head, "That could take me a whole hour if its that kind of explosion. I don't know how long we have before it explodes."

"At least a few minutes. When I fought that guy, the larger the object, the longer it took to blow." Lightning replied as he looked down at his last dagger before glancing at Script, "You still have that transport rune?"

Script nodded before pulling out the paper, "Right here."

"Good. I got a plan." he handed the dagger to him, "First, open that and get out of here."

"WHAT!?" The three yelped in unison, "We're not leaving you here!"

"Yes, you are. It's the only way." Lightning replied with a glare, "Get back to the surface and find a way to get that dagger as far from Canterlot as you can, then come back and tell me so I can warp this bunch of crystals to the dagger."

"Wait...can you warp something that's not you to one of those daggers?"

"It takes a lot more energy, but I can do it." Lightning put his hoof on Solid's shoulder, "I believe in all of you. Now go, and one of you get to the castle and tell the princesses what's going on. If this fails, they're the only ones who could possibly stop this."

The others nodded as Script took the dagger and opened the portal, each jumping through. Each groaned in discomfort until they shot out of the bubble, now finding themselves back in the alley. They quickly got up and ran back to the streets, now seeing even more floats and balloons before Gorgenia turned to the boys, "I'll go tell the princesses! Good luck you two!"

"Got it!" Solid replied as Gorgenia ran off, the unicorn turning to the puppeteer, "Any ideas on getting this dagger out of here?"

Wild glanced around, soon spotting a beach themed float. "Yeah. Gimme the knife." Solid gave it to him as he ran up to the stand by the float, grabbing a surfboard that was on the stand before starting to climb onto the float.

"Hey!" the owner yelled as Wild put one of the puppet souls into the surfboard.

Hopping on the board, he began to hover upward, glancing down and yelling at Solid, "Give me thirty seconds before telling Lightning to do it!"

Script nodded and jumped back into the portal as Wild continued to fly higher and higher. As for Solid, he reappeared in the chamber, now seeing Lightning in a meditative stance. The unicorn glanced at Solid, asking, "We ready?"

"Not yet," Script added as he mentally counted in his head. As he did this, Wild kept going, his body, swaying as he felt the fatigue catching up to him. And as he felt this surge throughout his body, he leaned his hoof back before flinging the dagger into the sky.

"Twenty nine, thirty!" Script mentally counted before yelling, "NOW!"

Lightning nodded before placing a hoof on the crystal, the crystals almost completely red. But as his horn began to glow, he turned to Script, "Hey bud...thanks for everything. Thanks for being my friend, even with how our families are..." He saw Solid just blink at him, making Lightning show a small smile, "Tell Flash and the rest of our friends I'm glad I came to Ponyville. And tell my gramps...thanks for never giving up on me."

"Lightning...what are you-" Script's eyes went wide as his brain caught up, only to see Lightning and the crystal vanish. "NO! LIGHTNING!!"

The unicorn quickly pulled out the paper, warping back to the street. And as he did this, Wild fell back to the street, his puppets slowly descending the board. The puppeteer saw the rune maker, soon asking, "We good? Where's Lightning?" Script didn't reply, instead looking up as Wild quickly caught on and did the same, "Oh no...NO!" But as he tried to spark his horn, he saw Lightning reappear in the sky, way too far out of his reach, "LIGHTNING!"

Both Lightning and the crystal appeared in midair, the city far below them. Gravity swiftly kicked in, Lightning now seeing that it wouldn't be long till the crystals reached the streets. Knowing he couldn't let the explosive get any closer, Lightning sparked his horn, firing an electrical blast directly into crystal. A crack quickly appeared, gas blasting out of the hole before the whole thing ignited.

KABOOM!!!

Lightning watched as the flames of the explosion stuck him, the shockwave of fire now embracing the defender, "AAAAAUUUGGGGHHHHH!" He cried out as he was propelled back, his whole body surging in pain as he started to blackout.

But as he closed his eyes, he felt something soft grip his back, his ears now hearing the words, "Gotcha!"

Then, the world went dark.

The unicorn didn't dream. Instead, his ears kept fidgeting as a barrage of voices began to flood through the darkness around him. He could feel himself float in an empty void, not able to tell if he had been there for a few hours or a few days. But as he remained there, a speck of light appeared in the darkness, only for it consume him, light blasting his eyes.

And when the light faded, Lightning found he was laying on a soft bed, staring straight up at a ceiling. Slowly blinking at the sight, he tried to get up, only for his body flinch. He couldn't move, the unicorn unable to do anything except moan in pain. But as he did this, his eyes tried to move around, soon noticing a familiar orange pegasus looking down at him.

"Hey there sleeping beauty."

"Flash? What are you-"

"Lightning!" He heard hoofsteps rush into the room, his eyes moving to the door as he now saw a bunch of ponies come into his blurry vision, Rarity's voice speaking up first, "Thank goodness you're alright."

"Everypony? What is..." Lightning moaned as Flash leaned over and helped him sit up. Pain kept surging in his body as Lightning looked down, now seeing his body wrapped in bandages. Not only that, he looked back at his friends and saw his three friends also in wrappings, "I don't...I'm...alive?"

"Yes." Grand spoke up as he, the Defenders, Mane Seven and even most of the Royal Knights walked to the side of the bed, "Despite that stupid stunt you pulled, you survived thanks to Flash. When the explosion occurred, Flash flew up to investigate and found you. Thankfully, he was able to get you out of that fiery mess before it was too late." Grand then pointed to a certain knight, "First here managed to heal you up before your injuries got real bad."

Lightning nodded as he turned to Flash, "Thanks..."

Flash just shrugged, "No problem. Heck, we should be thanking you for saving our flanks. Gorgenia showed up after I landed with you and told us everything."

"And we couldn't be more thankful." His ears spiked up as he then saw Celestia, Luna and Cadance step into the room. The three surrounded his bed as the others stepped back. "Lightning Blitz, you did a very selfless thing last night. Not only did you stop four unstable criminals from destroying Canterlot, but you were willing to give up your own life to do so."

Lightning tried to smile, his face aching as he asked, "So...what's gonna happen to those four?"

"Several guards arrested them after Script and Wild arrived at the castle with the teleport rune. They'll be receiving treatment for their mental damage, but they won't be seeing the light of day for a long time."

"That's good." Lightning muttered out as he slumped back into the bed.

Grand sighed at this, "I'm sorry Lightning, I can't believe I let those Cutie Markers slip past me. I thought I'd gotten them all back in the day."

"Eh, it's not really your fault." Solid suddenly said, "There were thousands of them from what I've been able to gather, so it makes sense one of them would slip under you." Over half of the room was now staring at him in shock, making him raise an eyebrow. "What?"

Celestia shook her head at the sight before glancing back at Lightning. "So...how are you feeling?"

"Numb...but other than that, I'm okay."

"Do you think you could handle leaving the bed? There's something I'd like you to see."

"Uh...I think I can? I don't know if I can walk though."

"We'll get a wheelchair for you." Celestia replied as one of the knights called for a nurse. A few minutes later, Lightning was slowly lifted onto a wheelchair, Solid pushing him out. As they made their way to the main hall, Lightning soon noticed the many ponies standing inside, most he recognized from last year. However, there were no glares or frowns, just neutral stares as Lightning was wheeled into a circle in front of a stage.

The four princesses flew onto the stage, Celesita speaking up first, "Lightning Blitz. A year ago, you committed many heinous acts. You kidnapped several mares, one of which is a princess, and threatened the entire city with an illegal weapon."

Luna spoke up after this, "Due to the influence of the Alicorn Amulet, we couldn't know for certain how much of that was your own doing. That is why we chose to postpone your punishment until now."

Cadance chimed in next. "In that time, you've travelled Equestria and even helped save it from your own father. After that, you began to work as a defender of the peace in Ponyville."

The attention went back to Celestia as she finished the lecture. "Princess Twilight and both Sir Flash and Sir Iron have told us how hard you've worked to keep the town safe. And now...you've saved the very city you once tried to destroy." The crowd all began to murmur at this as Celestia continued, "Tell me, what drove you to willingly sacrifice your own life in exchange for the lives of the ponies you were willing to disregard only one year ago?"

Lightning took a small breath as he tried to speak up, his eyes slowly looking down, "I can never truly make up for the things I did. I don't even think I deserve to be forgiven. I didn't do it in some vain attempt to make up for everything, I just...I just did it because...well, it was the only thing I could think of to save everypony." He looked back up at Celestia. "For the longest time, I felt like I was alone. My mom was dead and my dad was....lost. I didn't feel like I had anything to live for, that's why I...tried to gain power. I just...I just wanted to fill the void they had left in me. But then...you sent me out to see Equestria and I learned just how much I didn't understand about this great land. I saw everypony work harder than me, and..." His head slowly moved over to where Flash and the others stood, "And when I went to Ponyville, I...I made friends and connections that filled that void. I...I knew I had to save them cuz...I don't think I could live without them now."

The alicorns all smiled at his reply, Celestia speaking up again, "Lightning Blitz, due to your selfless deeds last night and over the previous year, we have come to a decision about how you will repay for what you did last year. You shall do community service until such a time is determined that you have made up for what you've done."

Luna spoke up next, "You will put your fighting skills to work protecting Equestria. You shall also be called in on command to fight for certain situations we deem necessary. In short, you will have all the responsibilities and duties of a Royal Knight, without any of the added bonuses. Do you accept?"

Lightning tried to nod, "I do."

The princesses all nodded back as Celestia announced, "Then you may now remain in Canterlot if you so wish."

"Actually, I think I'll stay in Ponyville. I've...grown really fond of the place. Besides, the defenders would be lost without me." Most of the Ponyville ponies all laughed, Flash, Iron and Springer growling in response. "But if Canterlot or any other city in Equestria needs me, I'll be there."

"Very good. I hereby call this meeting over, as everypony here has a parade to prepare for." With that, the ponies of the room headed out, Solid helping Lightning back to his room.

Hours later...

As the sun and moon swapped places, Lightning sat at the window of his room. He looked down at the city, the parade about to begin in an hour. He had had several visitors over the last few hours, most of them being his friends checking up or thanking him. The majority of the Royal Knights also came in, all saying they were looking forward to wokring with him despite him now being basically an apprentice with zero chance of promotion for now.

A knock on his door made him turn away from the window, "Come in." The door opened to show Rarity with a box.

"Hello darling, I'm sorry I haven't been to see you. Been busy with my sister and getting ready for the parade." She then placed the box in front of him, "And making this."

Lightning raised an eyebrow before his horn started to glow, opening the box with his magic as he then saw a familiar-looking cloak inside. "This is-"

"Your old one was destroyed in the blast, so I made you a new one to say thank you for saving me and everypony I care about. Granted, I don't much care for seeing my work burned to bits, but..." She shined a big grin before walking over and kissing him on the cheek, "You've really come a long way. When you first came to Ponyville, I wasn't sure what would happen. But I now know for sure that you've truly changed."

Lightning's face began to glow red as he put the cloak back in the box, "Thanks Rarity. This...this really means a lot to me. I'll make sure to cherish it."

"Think nothing of it, darling. You've earned this, and I'm glad you like my new work. I tried to make it even better than the original, though it is hard to beat perfection."

"Eh, I know the feeling. Don't worry, I know you can beat perfection." Lightning replied, the two chuckling as Rarity put the box on a nearby desk. She looked back at Lightning, both smiling at each other as she opened her mouth, only to hear the door being knocked on again.

"Lightning, I need to speak with you." spoke out a voice as the door creaked open, revealing Grand. He quickly noticed Rarity, blinking at her as he asked, "Sorry, but do you mind if we have a moment alone?"

"Not at all." Rarity responded as she gave Lightning on final glance, "See you later darling."

"Later." Lightning added as Rarity left the room, his eyes now looking at Grand as he pulled out a box as well, "What's that gramps?"

"This is..." Grand paused as he put the box down in front of Lightning before looking up with a huge smile, "You see...your mother, and your grandmother...they would have been so proud of you for what you did today. Granted, they probably would've chewed you out after seeing those injuries, but...you know. Families are always filled with worrywarts." Both Lightning and Grand laughed at this, Grand then saying, "And I'm proud of you too kiddo. You've grown a lot...and I'm glad you managed to find your way. I just...I'm sorry I couldn't help you find that path."

"Its fine gramps, don't worry about it."

"No, its not. Solid...is right in a way. I should have set you on that path. I realized it when I talked to Cold back at Flash's test. I...I failed you." Grand admitted as he let out a sigh, "I should have been there for you more. Instead, I focused on the wrong things."

"Gramps...don't." Lightning muttered out, shaking his head, "Just...don't."

"Sorry kiddo."

"Its fine." Lightning moaned as he gestured to the box, "What's that?"

"Something else that's my fault. Something I really wish I had given you yesterday. It definitely would have prevented you from almost killing yourself." Grand opened the box, Lightning now seeing it was a neck guard, similar to the one he had saw Cold Steel wearing. On its front was a yellow gemstone. "This crystal is specially designed to store electrical magic. Once synchronized with your system, it'll start pulling magic out of you until its full. When fully charged, it'll be able to store enough electrical magic to power Canterlot for a week."

Lightning just stared at it, "Whoa...why are you giving me this?"

"Because your challenges are only just beginning. With how much power your lightning magic needs, what happened last night could happen again." He placed a hoof on Lightning's shoulders. "I don't want to lose you. Hopefully, this'll help prevent that."

Lightning smiled as he placed the necklace around his neck, his horn already channeling magic into the gem. He could feel the energy being drawn out, though it was just a bit of magic at a time. "Nice...thanks gramps." he hummed as he slumped back into his bed. "Here's hoping this thing will be charged after I'm out of this bed."

"No problem kiddo. I love ya." Grand replied as they then both shared a hug. But as it ended, Grand leaned back with a smirk, "But why are you saying something that depressing as staying in this bed?"

"Huh?"

Grand edged closer to his grandson, his smirk increasing, "If I remember correctly, my grandson loves a good party, and that includes the Fantasia Festival."

Lightning just blinked in response, "Gramps, I would love to go to the festival...but I can't walk right now, remember?"

"I know." Grand added as he pointed to the door, "That's why I brought that wheelchair from earlier to help you get out and see the whole thing. Now come on, let's go have some fun, like a family should."

Lightning shined a huge smile at this, "Okay, I'll say you convinced me...but on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Get one of my friends to put me in the chair and push me."

Grand raised an eyebrow at this, "Oh? What, you don't trust this old stallion with helping you around?"

Lightning's reply was to stick out his tongue, "No, I trust you to make one wrong move and crush the wheelchair with your super knight strength."

"You little...fine! I won't let you see the festival then!" Grand grumbled as he looked away with a big fake frown.

Lightning just rolled his eyes, "Gramps...I'm joking. Listen, let's go see the festival, alright? You can come along with my friends. I just...I wanna go with them as well, because...they're my family too."

The statement made Grand glance back with a smile on his face, "I understand. I'll go get one of 'em. Just stay put, okay kiddo?"

"I ain't going anywhere." Lightning replied as Grand left the room. The defender let out a long sigh of relief after that, laying back into his bed as he thought about the past two days. He now knew he wasn't alone anymore. He had his friends...and they were his true family.

Slice of Life

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Today was a not a normal day in Ponyville. The village was known for crazed disasters and rampaging chaos, but this day was a different occasion. It was the wedding of Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda, a couple that had met decades ago and had finally found each other again thanks to Pinkie Pie. (Which events including a musical number, various misunderstandings and other complications) As such, the couple were about to take the next step in their relationship.

Unfortunately, thanks to the disaster area that is Ponyville, certain circumstances caused everypony to receive invites for the wrong date for the wedding. Matilda had discovered the error in the invites, and now found everypony was doing the wedding today when it should have been tomorrow, which made Cranky go and chew out the pony responsible for the mix-up.

Hopefully, that would be the only problem facing today's big even-

"RRRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" Everypony looked up into the sky, now seeing an orange blur descend to the earth before slamming into the dirt, skidding along the ground as his body dug a trench.

"Ugh..." he panted while slowly excavating himself out of the dirt. "Where do these things keep coming from?"

"Yo Flash!" He turned to see Thunderlane and his brother Rumble, the bigger pegasus giving the colt a ride. "What's going on?"

"Is Tirek back?" Rumble asked, his trembling body now making his brother shake.

"Nah, nothing that bad." Flash said as he shook his head, "Just your average, run of the mill monster attack. Nothing me and my friends can't handle."

The pegasus brothers raised an eyebrow at his calm face, the bigger one then asking, "What kind of monster is it?"

His response came with a nearby building exploded, revealing a bear-wasp looking hybrid. It was mainly colored black and white with some streaks of yellow. It had four arms, two black and two white, bright red eyes and antenna-like ears along with a pair of bug wings and instead of a tail, it had a long pointed stinger. The brothers gulped at the sight, Flash keeping a somewhat calm smile as he whispered, "You uh...might wanna take the long way home."

"Right!" The two quickly exclaimed before running away, Flash switching to a fighting stance.

"Alright bug boy, let's dance!" Flash flexed his wings before zipping into the air, only for the bugbear to dodge his incoming bum-rush. And as Flash turned around to strike again, a tornado of light appeared as armor began to form on Flash. "Flash Cutter!" the defender yelled as two energy blades struck the creature, only for no damage to be done. "Huh?! What the heck?!" The bugbear then charged at the pegasi, Flash dodging each swipe as the sound of running hooves could now be heard under him.

"Flash!" he looked down to see his friends climbing the wreckage.

"What took you so long?!" He barked back as he dodged another attack. As this happened, Rainbow bum-rushed the monster, only to be knocked away, Twilight magically summoning a net to catch her.

Iron, Lightning and Springer, now in his battle form, now all leapt at the creature, "Iron Saber!" Iron roared as he swung the sword at the beast, only for it clang off its skin, "What?!"

"Gatling Spark!" The crystal on Lightning's necklace shined as he unleashed a barrage of lightning bullets, the attack also bouncing off of the bugbear's hide.

"Aura Force!" Springer fired a beam of aura, no damage also happening. The creature turned to its attackers next, charging with its stringer thrusted out. Seeing this, Springer pushed both paws out, "Aura Guard!" A dome of blue energy appeared around his body, the bugbear's stinger bouncing off the shield.

The bugbear growled as it flew back, only to for a lasso to wrap around its arm. "Gotcha now!" Applejack grumbled through gritted teeth as she started trying to pull it back. But the monster simply roared as it swung its arm around, the earth pony now being pulled away, "Whoa nelly!" she yelped as she was flung away, Flash and Rainbow quickly catching her. "Thanks..."

The two gave her a nod before taking her to the rest of the mane seven, the defenders working to keep the beast at bay as Flash stared at his lover, "So what's the plan to take down ugly?!"

"I'm not sure yet. So far, nothing seems to be affecting it."

"Yeah, we noticed!" Iron grunted as he made a large spike of metal shoot out the ground, the bugbear instantly destroying it. "Oh, come on!"

"We can't do this forever!" Lightning yelled as he warped away from an attack of the bugbear's stinger, "This thing won't stop!"

Twilight let out a long sigh, "For now, we just need to keep it from doing too much damage until we can figure out a way to stop it."

"That won't be easy!" Flash responded as he took to the air, spinning like a drill as light consumed him, "Flash Driver!" The bugbear merely turned around and backhanded, "Yow!" Flash yelped as he swatted away, crashing into a nearby fruit stand. The pegasi let out a moan as a banana fell off his head while getting up, turning around to see a trio of frowning fillies, "What are you three doing here?!"

"Oh, nothing." Scootaloo replied, making Flash roll his eyes.

"Well do nothing away from here."

"But we wanna watch," Apple Bloom moaned.

"No! Now go!"

The three pouted as Flash shook off the rest of the fruits, only for Scootaloo to ask, "Hey, why aren't you using Lightbringer? Wouldn't an actual sword be useful right now?" This made Flash go red, the defender looking away, "Flash?"

"I may have...left it at home."

"What?! Why?!"

"I can use all my moves with the Sacred Light. I haven't really needed it."

"Until now," Scootaloo said with a raised eyebrow, only to get a glare from the defender, "We're going." With that, the three ran off as Flash grabbed one of the crates and threw it at the bugbear. The wooden box shattered upon impact, splattering a bunch of peaches on the creature.

"Of all the days for this to happen," Flash moaned as he stretched his wings. "Why'd it have be on Cranky and Matilda's wedding day?!"

"What are you talking about?" Pinkie asked as she fired her party cannon at the bugbear, "The wedding's not until tomorrow!"

This made the others all glance at her, Rarity asking, "Pinkie darling, did you not look at the wedding invitations?"

"No," Pinkie jumped up as the bugbear tried to sting her, hopping onto the monster's head, "Why?"

"Because they said the wedding's today," Rainbow replied, making Pinkie let out a gasp.

"Oh....that's not good. Alright, we need to finish this quick. I've got a lot of work to do."

"What do you think we're trying to do?" Iron barked back as he fired some iron lances at the beast, the knight then turning to his marefriend. "Can't you can talk to it?!"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Whatever this creature is, I can't seem to understand it. All I'm hearing are growls."

"Great..." Iron moaned as pushed her away to dodge an incoming attack.

"Let's just focus on damage control until we can come up with a plan to beat it," Twilight ordered as she fired a beam, the others nodding at her orders.

"I wonder how everypony else's day is going?" Flash asked as charged at the beast, only to be swatted away again, "Augh!" he yelped as he landed right by a garden, his form eating dirt as he skidded past a ton of fruit.

Inside the house connected to the garden was a light pink coated filly with a darker pink mane was sitting in her living room, reading a book. This was Piña Colada, daughter of the town's resident berry farmer and distributer, Berryshine. She was brought out of the book's world as a knock at the door happened, making her trot past a window that showed Flash get up and fly away. A second later, she opened the door, now seeing a certain unicorn, "Oh, hey Amethyst. Is something wrong?"

"Hello Piña, is your mother home?"

"She's down in the basement, working on the punch order for Matilda's wedding tomorrow."

"Please tell me she's almost done."

The filly shrugged before moving to a nearby door and opening it up. "Mom! Amethyst is here to see you!" They blinked as they could hear several hoofsteps, soon revealing an earth pony mare who's coat and mane were darker than her daughter's.

She let out a big yawn, "Hey Star. Sorry, can't talk much. I have a big order to fill out for tomorrow's event."

"That's actually why I'm here," Amethyst added as she started to twiddle her hooves, "You uh...well, would you be able to get it all done today. Like...around this afternoon?"

This question caused the mare to go glassy-eyed. "Come again?"

"There was a mix-up and uh...turns out, Matilda's wedding reception is actually today."

The mare's jaw dropped as her eyes grew the size of dinner plates, "Are you serious?! I can't make the amount she required this afternoon! I haven't even gotten half of it done!"

"You'll have to think of something," Amethyst replied, only to let out an 'eep' as an explosion rang out in the distance. "Just uh...make as much as you can and get it to the town hall before the ceremony begins. I got a few more ponies to inform about the...change in plans." With that, she ran away, the mother and daughter duo blinking as they both spotted Applejack riding the bugbear's back in the sky.

Berryshine moaned as she closed the door, slowly trotting back to her workshop. "Oh no...I can't get all that done before this afternoon!"

Piña watched as her mother head back downstairs, the filly frowning as she knew her mother would be tempted after hearing such news. Following her, she looked down the stairs and saw the giant machine filled workshop her mother worked with. The mare was using the juicing machine, a barrel of freshly picked fruits beside her as she worked to pluck or peel them. Piña then turned to see three full barrels beside the machine while five empty ones were right by it.

And so, the little filly hopped up and began to mimic her mother, Berryshine turning to her in surprise. She had always tried to keep Piña away from her life's work, afraid she may end up suffering from the same control problems she had when she was younger. Even now, she had the occasional lapse, something she knew her daughter should never see.

"Piña..."

"Let me help you mom." the filly instantly replied, the daughter glaring up at her with pure confidence on her face. "You need help."

"I don't need..." her daughter's glare didn't falter, making the mare sigh, "Alright. I know I can't tell you no right now. Just...keep doing that and make sure not to get any twigs or peels in it." With that, her daughter showed a big grin before nodding, Berry putting the fruit down as she then she leapt onto a treadmill that ran the machine. She began trotting at a brisk pace, a giant wheel now spinning as it sucked in the grapes and crushed them into a liquid that was poured into a barrel. The duo smiled as they watched the fourth barrel slowly fill up.

As they did this, a particular peach colored unicorn with a brown mane and tail was walking past their house before getting to the town's marketplace, soon trotting past the many stalls while wearing her usual neighpanese robe. This was Shichimi, daughter and employee of the town's new ramen restaurant. She was currently restocking their vegetable supply, needing twice as much as usual due to a recent business boom. This was mainly thanks to the Princess and Knight of Friendship, the duo having told everypony in town about them.

Since then, their restaurant almost couldn't keep up with the amount of customers they were getting. This included one of their best patrons, the jakhowl Springer. He had already become their most known regular, seemingly eating everything they had on their menu. As such, the mare was thinking about a next new item for the menu when-

"Watch out!" yelled a sudden voice, making her look up and see her best customer fly right by her, ready to crash into a nearby carrot stand. Seeing this, Shichimi's horn sparked, her magic catching the defender before floating him down. The flinching Springer opened his eyes as he was ready for the pain of slamming into Golden Harvest's livelihood, only for it to not happen. "What the heck?!" He yelped as he got up, now seeing what had happened, "Oh. Thanks, Shichimi."

"No problem Springer," the unicorn replied as she took some carrots off of the stall she had just saved. "But what in Equestria sent you flying like that?" The answer came from a mighty roar that filled the air, the bugbear flying by as three ponies chased the creature across the street.

"There's your answer." Springer moaned as he scratched his back, "Guess I gotta get back in there."

"Hold on there." Shichimi took a carrot out of her saddlebag and gave it to Springer. "Don't forget to keep your strength up."

"Thanks again."

"Of course. Now, I believe I need to get to my shop before...you know, that monster gets there."

"Got it. Stay safe Shichimi."

Giving the jakhowl a nod, she ran off as Springer chomped down on the orange vegetable. The mare started her way by going through an alley, only to suddenly find herself being blinded by a pink flash of light. A light blue mare with a silver mare and tail flew out of the burst, letting out a yelp as she crashed into the neighsian pony.

Both fell over, the world spinning around for the duo as produce and a large box wrapped with a golden bow now littered the street. "Ow...what happened?"

"Ugh...did somepony get the number on that carriage?"

"That carriage was me," Shichimi told her as the world refocused around her, "Where did you come from?! You just flew out of nowhere!"

"Owwww..." the mare replied as she started to get up, "Sorry about that. I'm still working on the targeting for my teleportation spell. Here, let me help you up."

"Thank you." She gave her hoof to the mare, helping her up. In response, Shichimi shook her head as she asked, "Um...not to be a bother, but who are you? Oh, and I'm Shichimi, nice to meet you."

"Me? I'm Trixie, and nice to meet you too." Trixie replied as she started to dust herself off. "Again, sorry about that. Now, I need...wait..." The mare began circling around, only to let out a sigh of relief as she spotted the large box from earlier, "Thank Celestia."

She picked it up, shaking it before giving a small smile as she heard nothing from the box. Blinking at the response, Shichimi asked, "Is that important?"

"Very much so. It's a wedding present my teacher forgot to bring, so Trixie's delivering it to her." In that moment, a loud explosion roared in the distance, making both hop in place. And as they turned to the sound, Trixie went wide-eyed as she saw the bugbear fly over a few houses. "What the-what in Equestria is that?!"

"Its a monster attack."

"I can see that. How long has it been going on?"

"No idea. I just found out about it." In that moment they saw Springer and Iron leap at the beast, the two using a combo of Bone Breaker and Iron Hammer into the monster's head.

"Maybe I should lend them a hoof," Trixie commented as they now saw Rainbow grip Applejack's lasso while flying around the bugbear at high speed, tying it up.

"I think they're good," Shichimi added. "You going in there might trip them up. Too many chefs can spoil the broth after all."

Trixie hummed at her statement. "True, though many hooves make light work."

"Don't you still need to deliver that present to your teacher? Why don't you find her first, then if they still need help, you can offer it."

Trixie rubbed her in chin in thought before nodding, "Yeah...that works." She then blinked at the half-destroyed town. "Though how am I going to find Princess Luna in all this?"

This statement made the ramen pony's eyes go wide. "Wait, your teacher is one of the princesses?" Trixie nodded back, making the other pony almost backpedal in shock, "Incredible...er-I mean, are they here for the wedding?"

"Yes."

"Then they'll probably be at town hall. That's where its happening."

"Got it. Thanks." With that, the unicorn ran off with her delivery in hoof. And as she left the ramen pony's sight, the bugbear got free of the lasso before smacking Rainbow across the sky.

The sight made Shichimi gulp, "Oh dear. Maybe I shouldn't have suggested she wait to help."

As Shichimi ran back down an alleyway towards home, she sprinted past a pair of barrels. Seconds later, the barrel lids were lifted off, revealing a pair of unicorn colts. It was Snips and Snails, the duo staring at the battle as Iron and Applejack bucked the bugbear into a building. With this blow, a young pony accidentally walked onto the scene, which led to Rainbow flying in and saving the poor thing from being crushed.

Snips growled as Rainbow got the kid to safety, watching the pony give the hero a thank you before running away, "Look at that Snails! All those heroes are getting all the love and admiration, just like always!"

"Yeah!" Snails added with rapidly nodding his head, "They're getting all the add-me...add-more...whatever you said."

Snips let out a long sigh, "Must be nice to be adored anywhere you go. Colts wanting to be you, mares wanting to be with you."

"Shouldn't that be the other way around? I mean...ain't there more mares than stallions in that group?"

"You know what I mean!" Snips snapped at him, "The only reason they get all the praise and attention is because they're always saving the day," he glanced back at his friend before beating his own chest. "I bet if we saved the day, we'd be loved by everypony in town! Heck, maybe the princesses will make us knights!"

"But I thought there was a reason we didn't put ourselves in unbelievable danger. Aren't the monsters really dangerous and they're trained professionals?"

"That don't matter! We can still try."

"Aren't we also unbelievable cowards?"

Snips growled at the statement, glancing back at the battle as Lightning hopped onto the bugbear's back before sending several hundred thousand volts into it. All it did was make the beast angry, the creature now frantically flying around to shake the unicorn off. That sight alone made Snails point at the battle and say, "See? Ain't that scary?"

"Oh please. We're not cowards Snails. We're just smart enough to not purposefully put ourselves in danger."

"Weren't we gonna go and find an Ursa Major last year? That didn't seem very smart."

"Whatever. We're way smarter now. All we gotta do is find a way to beat that thing without actually getting near it."

"How we gonna do that?"

Snips just smirked as he gave one final glance at the battle, "I have a plan. Follow me." With that, the two's heads descended back into the barrels before two sets of legs appeared on the bottoms before tip-hoofing away.

As this happened, Flash jumped onto his front hooves before beginning to spin like a top, "Flash Vortex!" He yelled as he formed a tornado of light at the monster, creating a sucking force that began to pull the bugbear. But before it could be overtaken, the creature's bottom arms reached inside and clawed the pegasi's hooves. "YOW!" Flash yelped as the tornado vanished, now giving a nervous chuckle to the beast, "Hey...lovely day, isn't it?"

"RRROOOOAAARRR!!!" it screamed before throwing the pegasi in a rage, the defender now slamming into the side of the town's bowling alley.

"Augh!" He cried as he landed in the bushes as the building's doors opened.

"Wait!" He heard the voice of Time Turner cry. "The flameless fireworks are extremely volatile! Without knowing what the trigger is, they could go off at any moment! That and...my word! Is that a bugbear?!"

"Yes, it is," Flash moaned as he pulled himself out.

"Flash! Are you okay?!" Twilight yelled as she ran over and helped him up.

"I've been through worse," Flash grumbled as he cricked his neck. "But seriously, I've been through worse. God-like creatures, insane supercharged unicorns and magic sucking centaurs. We beat all of them, so why are we having so much trouble with this thing?!"

Twilight just shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure if this thing was created naturally or by somepony, but whatever it was, they did an incredible job."

Flash grit his teeth as he flared his wings, "Yeah yeah...come on. Let's focus on stopping it before we decide to admire it. Besides, we've still got a wedding to get too."

"Point taken. Let's go!"

As the couple ascended to the sky, ready to get back in the battle, they flew over the house of Berryshine and Piña. The family had just completed their last barrel, Berry letting out a long sigh, "Thank goodness that's over." She then hopped off the treadmill before putting the lid on the barrel. "Now all I gotta do is get these to town hall."

Piña nodded as she moved the bucket she was working with, gasping as she commented, "That was a lot. I need a drink."

"Same," Berry added as she headed for the door.

"Mom..." Piña instantly responded, "You can't-"

"Its fine." Berry interrupted with a laugh, "We have some grape soda in the kitchen. That's what I meant." She saw Piña raise an eyebrow before following her, Berry getting to the fridge before taking out two bottles of purple liquid.

Moving over to the table, she placed them down in front of Piña, the duo drinking in silence before the filly spoke up, "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you...still make punch?"

The question made Berryshine blink at her daughter, "Because it's my special talent."

"But aunt Cherry Berry said your talent was mixing different fruits. You could have made smoothies or jams. But...all you do is make punch, even after your...issues with it."

Berry shook her head, "Sweetheart, I'm not gonna fall off the wagon."

"But you just had a glass last night."

"And that was all I had. One cup isn't gonna make me fall back into how I used to be."

"But why have the temptation? What if one glass leads to a second...and a third?" The little filly looked down at the table, "I heard you and auntie talk about how you used to be before I was born. You were in a really bad place. Your work was always late and ponies would find you asleep in loads of weird places."

"Yeah..." Berry sighed. "Sometimes I can still hear the ringing from that bell." She then started patting the filly on the head, "But that part of my life is over now. I never drink more than one or two cups every now and again."

"But...why have the temptation?"

"Because it's better than going completely cold turkey," Berry responded before taking a sip of her juice. She then pulled her chair around until she was right next to Piña. "Honey, I know you think completely avoiding something like that isn't responsible....but its really not. The uh...the responsible thing is learn to enjoy the thing you like in moderation."

"Moderation?"

Berry did a small hum in thought before asking, "Let me give you an example. You um...you really like candy, don't you?" Piña did a slight nod, "But what would happen if you ate nothing but candy all the time?"

"My teeth would go bad...and Miss Colgate would be super angry at me."

"So would it be the responsible thing to simply never eat another piece of candy again?"

Piña looked horrified by this, "NO! I mean, it's okay if I only have a little candy every now and again-" she stopped talking as something clicked in her head. "Oh."

"Exactly. It's alright to have something that would be bad for you in large amounts as long as you can show the restraint to stop. That's the healthy, responsible thing to do. If you spend your whole life trying to avoid something you like, then it'll always control ya. But what I'm doing, it shows I have control, and...that's moderation."

Piña did another nod, "Alright mom, I understand."

"That's my girl," Berry gave Piña one last hug before finishing off the juice. "But if you ever think I've had too much, be sure to tell me. Moderation might be the right thing to do, but that doesn't mean it's always easy. That's why we have to rely on those we care about to help us see when we've gone too far."

"I will mom," Piña then turned to the kitchen's clock, "Shouldn't you be getting the punch to the hall?"

"Yeah." Berry put the glass up before going to her transport cart...only for the bugbear to suddenly crash down onto it, crushing the wooden device. "Well, that's gonna make things a lot harder." She quickly sprinted downstairs, grabbing the first barrel before heading back up, "Guess I'll just have to take them one at a time."

"You sure you can do that? Those things can be pretty heavy."

"As long as I pace myself, I should be good. Moderation, in everything." She gave her daughter a kiss before heading back outside with her punch barrel in tow.

As she ran down the main street, she passed by Snips and Snails, the colts putting their finishing touches for trapping the bugbear. "Perfect!" Snips exclaimed as he finished tying the last piece of rope. At the same time, Snails was preparing a barrel above them, which Snips smirked at, "With this trap, our road to fame and glory is assured!"

"Yeah..." Snails replied, only to look down with a half frown. "But how's this gonna work?"

This made Snips facehoof before yelling, "Let's go over this again..." He pointed at a rope he had just tied up. "Once the bugbear comes this way, I'll cut this rope, which will make several anvils swing down and hit it. That'll make the bugbear fall into the pit."

"What pit?"

"The pit that you just spent several minutes digging and then filling with super sticky super glue!" Snips screamed after facehoofing again.

"Oh yeah."

"Anyways....once it's in the pit, we'll come out and celebrate. That barrel you just tied up is filled with confetti, which will rain down on us as they accept our thanks and give us knighthood offers!"

"Wow...that sounds cool."

In that moment, the rampaging beast's roar filled the air, making them turn and see the charging monster, several ponies chasing it. "Yes! Here's out chance!" Snips announced as he covered the pit with a blanket, "Hide!" They jumped into a nearby alley as it got closer, Snips whispering, "Almost there. Just a little more, and...NOW!"

His horn glowed before the rope snapped, causing the several anvils that he had set up to swing down. The bugbear saw the first one coming and dodged it, only for second to smack him. Reeling from the blow, the next few slammed into the beast, knocking him into the blanket before falling into the pit.

"We did it!" Snips cheered before the two leapt out of hiding, "We're heroes!" He then used his magic to pull the rope connected to the barrel lid, "Now for the-"

SPLAT!

Before they knew what had happened, Snips and Snails found themselves consumed by a sticky white paste. "What the heck?!" Snips looked down before glaring at the sight, "Wait...this is the glue! Snails!"

"Yeah?" Snail asked, unable to blink thanks to the glue.

"What did you put in the pit?!"

"Uh...the stuff that was in the barrel you gave me."

"That's the one with the confetti! I gave you the one with the glue in it!"

"Yeah...but you gave me two barrels."

"What...I told you which one had the glue in it!"

"You did?"

Snips started to growl at him, only for a bigger growl to sound out. The two then turned to see a confetti covered bugbear with several bumps on its head. "Uh oh." The two tried to move, but the glue kept them in place. "SNAILS!"

But before the beast could enjoy some pony flavored toffee, Flash and Rainbow slammed into its head, knocking it away. "What are you two doing?!" Twilight asked as she used her magic to teleport them out of the glue. "You need to leave, right now!" The bugbear let out another roar as it lunged its stinger at the colts, only for a beam of magic to blast it back. "You heard me! Leave!"

"Yes ma'am!" they both replied in unison as they began to run away.

"Well that didn't go so well," Snails commented as they found another hiding spot.

"Well we're not done yet," Snips told him. "We're gonna catch that bugbear if it's the last thing we do!"

As he announced this, Iron thrust his spear into the ground, "Iron Pillars!" A barrage of metal spikes shot out and made a cage around the beast. As it struggled against the steel, Lightning ran up with electrical energy surging through his hooves.

"Double Smashing Volt!" He yelled as he slammed the two hooves into the cage, a storm of electricity blasting the prison. But as they did this, everypony watched as the bugbear grabbed two of the electrified poles and began bending them as it was zapped.

"Oh no you don't!" Flash held his hoof out, the light swords exploding off his back before spiraling into an orb that Flash caught. "Ultimate Final Move!" Flash pulled the sphere back before tossing it like a buck-ball. And as the bugbear pulled itself free, it backhanded the sphere away. However, Flash merely flew back, spinning like a wheel before kicking the orb with a rear hoof. The strike caused the orb to explode, causing a light to cover Flash as he charged at the bugbear with a huge grin on his face. The light began to spark off his hooves like lightning as Flash turned into what looked like an arrow of light. "SHINING IMPACT!"

The action took barely a second to perform before it smashed into the bugbear, causing a spectacular explosion. But as Flash leapt out of the cloud of dust created, him and his friends gasped as they all saw the bugbear still floating in piece. "Oh, come on!" Flash yelled as angry steam shot out of his ears, "What's it gonna take to finally take this thing down?!"

Another explosion shook the town as Flash went flying over town hall. While he flew over, Berryshine was bringing in the seventh barrel of punch, soon placing it down as she kept panting, sweat pouring down her face, "Heh...just...one left. I should...just make it...in time."

With that, she started to make her way to the door, passing by a certain light blue unicorn that was walking up to her teacher and Celestia. "Thank you Trixie," Luna said as she took the present from her student's hooves, "We appreciate you taking the time to bring us this. Definitely saved us a lot of embarrassment."

"Its no problem," the unicorn replied. "Trixie is happy to help, and it gave me the excuse to come to Ponyville." The roar of the bugbear made the whole building shake, the unicorn gulping at the sound, "That doesn't sound good. Teacher, shouldn't we go-"

"I can't believe you left it on the counter!" Celestia yelled at Luna.

"I thought you were bringing it!" Luna barked back before letting out a 'hmph'. "I handled the gift for Cadance and Shining Armor! You were supposed to do this one, remember?!"

"Well, we're just lucky you actually managed to teach your student a few good spells so I didn't need to think up an excuse!"

"Excuse me?!" Luna growled before leaning up to Celestia's face, "Are you trying to say me teaching Trixie teleportation was just luck?!"

"Well, now that you bring it up, I never thought you really had the patience to teach anything that isn't combat. I guess one non-combat student isn't too hard to mess up."

Luna glared back as her face started to turn red in anger, "I can teach more than combat! Besides, I teach plenty of ponies how to overcome issues that cause them to have nightmares! I'd like to see you try and do that."

"Oh please, like nightmares are anything to worry about."

"I'll remember that the next time your alektorophobia flares up." This made Celestia go wide-eyed, Luna chuckling as she continued, "Oh, how I wish I had a camera during that last nightmare of yours. Watching you be chased by a twenty-foot-"

She didn't get to finish as Celestia thrust her hoof into her mouth. "That's enough Luna!" she barked in a hushed whisper. "I mean it!"

As Luna's face now showed a giant smirk, Trixie had walked away form the argument. She reached out to open the town hall doors, only for them to swing wide-open. Backpedaling at his, the doors revealed Cadance and Shining Armor, the princess shining a small smile, "Oh, hello Trixie."

Trixie did a small bow, "Hello. I didn't know you two were gonna be here."

Cadance did a small giggle, "Oh, Cranky's been a friend of Celestia for a long time, so I've known him since I became a princess."

"Makes sense." Trixie commented before glancing at the outside as she asked Shining, "Aren't you gonna go help your sister deal with the monster out there?"

Shining smirked before shaking his head, "Eh, I think they've got it. They got two Royal Knights, the Elements of Harmony, and a three pretty strong fighters. I don't think there's anything I can add to help the situation."

"That doesn't sound like a very captain-like thing to do...or prince-like. No offense."

"That's because you're not seeing the big picture. While it's true that stopping something like that should be top priority, you should never put all your eggs in one basket."

Cadance nodded in agreement. "If we go out there and join them, they'll be nopony to act as a safety net in case it beats them."

"Huh...I never thought of it like that."

Shining patted her on the shoulder. "I know you wanna help, but sometimes the best way to help is to not help."

"Yeah...maybe you're right." Trixie began to walk to the door, "Well, I'll see you later."

"You're not staying for the wedding?"

"Oh, I wasn't actually invited. I was just delivering something the princesses forgot." She pointed at the two alicorns, who were now sitting back to back with crossed hooves. "Though uh...maybe I shouldn't have if they're gonna argue like that."

"Well, I'm sure nopony would mind if you stayed." Cadance added slinging her hoof over Shining's shoulders, "And you'll get to see Shining do his usual...emotional crying fit."

"Cadance!" Shining whined, the alicorn laughing.

"Oh come on, you know you're gonna do it. The only wedding you didn't seem to cry at was ours."

"Oh, I cried at that one too."

"When?"

"When I got the bill." The two broke out laughing at this, Trixie appearing to be forgotten as they moved to the seats.

Trixie just blinked at the couple, glancing back at the town hall doors. Soon trotting out, she now saw a cream colored earth pony wearing shades jumping from one building to another, a nervous look on her face. Another was a bulky pony covered in jelly that was walking beside a pony with a...questionable fashion sense. Many more ponies were soon filling the streets, looking strangely calm as Trixie saw the bugbear fly over the village again, "I'll never understand this town."

In that moment, she turned a corner only to find something sprinting at full speed, "Whoa!" She quickly grabbed whatever it was with her magic, lifting it above the ground.

"What the?!" She heard as she looked up at what she had levitated, now seeing it was a donkey mare...wearing a wedding dress. "Put me down!"

"Sorry," Trixie put her back down, "I uh...didn't want to get run into again today."

"It's fine," the donkey replied while patting her dress. "You actually did me a favor. Running into somepony else might have knocked me down and my dress would have been ruined."

"Glad to help," Trixie added, only for both to hear a roar. Turning, they now saw the bugbear staring down at her, "And let me do it again!" she yelped as her horn flashed, the two vanishing in a flash of pink light.

They then reappeared on a different street, both breathing a sigh of relief. The donkey turned around next, now seeing where she was. "Thank you, dearie. I'm actually closer to town hall then I was before. You've saved me quite a bit of time."

"As Trixie said before, glad to help."

The donkey let out a long sigh, "That's the one bit of good luck I've had all day. First the wedding invitations got the wrong date, then that monster came to town, and...who knows what else." She looked like she was about to start crying, "This wedding's gonna be a disaster."

Trixie blinked at this, trying to find some words, "Um...I uh....I'm...sure it'll be fine," she gently patted the mare's shoulder. "I mean, so what if a few things go wrong? Isn't the whole point of this so you can be with your future husband?"

"Well, that's what I thought," Matilda moaned. "But then somepony reminded me about all the ponies who took their time to come here, get dressed up and find gifts for us. If the wedding is a disaster-"

"Then I'm sure they won't care," Trixie assured him. "If they only cared about the wedding, I don't think you could call them real friends. I know if ponies came to my wedding and only cared about all the fun stuff, I wouldn't want them there."

Matilda blinked at this, tilting her head at the statement, "Doesn't that sound a little...selfish? I mean, what if they're your family?"

"Isn't it your wedding, though?" Trixie replied with a shrug. "Don't you think it's the one day you can be forgiven for being selfish? As long as you don't take it too far, then you can be forgiven for wanting things done your way. Sure, it's okay to try and make everypony else happy, but don't let it distract you from your happiness. That's the whole point of today, right?"

Matilda opened her mouth, trying to respond. But as she did this, her brain fully processed Trixie's words, now realizing that she could be married in a cornfield and she wouldn't care as long as they were married. "You're right. Thank you for calming me down."

"No problem. And hey, just because everything else isn't as important as you getting married, that doesn't mean we can't try and get it ready. Just don't panic over everything."

"I will," Matilda nodded as they arrived at Sugarcube Corner. "Well, I'd better get my wedding cake. Not sure if I'll be able to get it to the venue in time though. Not that it really matters."

"If it helps, I'll lend a hoof." The donkey gave her thanks as they headed inside, now seeing Mr. and Mrs. Cake finishing the layered dessert.

The two whistled at the sight of the cake, Matilda turning to the unicorn, "Do you think you could teleport us all the way to town hall?"

"Maybe. My aim isn't perfect, and it might make us drop the cake. Probably best to carry it."

As they began to take the giant dessert out of the store, Berryshine walked by, the last barrel tilting on her back. Her body was moving at a snail's pace, sweat pouring down her face. "Oh, sweet Celestia!" She cried as she put it down, wiping her brow, "There has to be an easier way of getting this blasted thing there!"

She slumped over as she looked around, trying to see if anypony around might help her. But all she saw was Pipsqueak and Filthy Rich, knowing the first didn't have the strength while the other would likely charge a small fortune. A long sigh happened after this, only for her body to feel a sudden rhythmic beating. Feeling it in the ground, she turned around and let out a gasp.

It was a literal DJ system on wheels, complete with a sofa on top. The machine was zooming through town, holding a bunch of shocked town ponies. Within seconds, Berry found herself knocked into the air, soon landing on the side with the last barrel. However, the mare couldn't even comment on the event as the machine turned a corner, the passengers now all spotting Matilda, the Cakes and Trixie walking down a alleyway. Mr. Cake had the large cake on his back, Trixie helping him keep it sturdy with her magic. She then turned to see the sound shattering device come for them, reflexes kicking in as her horn flared.

SHING!

A flash of pink light appeared at the wedding venue, four ponies and two foals now landing as the dessert on Mr. Cake's back began to tilt. And as it began to fall over, Trixie's horn flashed again, her magic gripping the cake just before it could slump over. Seeing this, Mr. Cake got his grip on the cake again, helping Trixie take it to a nearby table. "Phew!" they both sighed as they placed the sweets on the table, only for Trixie to feel the donkey next to her pull her into a hug.

"Thank you! You got us here just in time!" she then released the hug as she asked, "But...I thought you said it was too dangerous to teleport?"

"Well, when I saw that...thing coming at us, my instincts just took over. But what was that?" Before anypony could reply, a barrage of ponies started flying into the building, even the non-pegasi ones. As they did this, each one landed on one of the chairs that filled the room. The only ones who didn't were a pair of ponies that were carrying instruments, the two landed a little ways off from Trixie.

The whole group blinked at the sight just as the earth pony turned to the DJ unicorn, "Something like that might work."

As the ponies inside town hall started to get over the sudden event of them being flung inside, an orange blur could be seen just outside the window. It was Flash, now being hit into yet another tree. The rest of his friends were close by, all panting at the sight of the monster still flying over them.

"Good grief, how much punishment can this thing take?!" Lightning asked as he wiped his brow.

"I don't know," Flash replied as he got back up, "But I do know that if we don't finish this, the wedding's gonna be done and over with."

"ARGH!" Pinkie screeched at the monster, "Why won't you just be beaten already?! I GOT PLACES TO BE!!!"

"Wait!" Fluttershy pointed at the beast, the rest now seeing the bugbear start to pant, "Look....its tired."

"That means we can beat it!" Twilight declared with a big smile.

"But how?!" Applejack asked with a grimace. "Tired or not, that thing's one tough critter."

Flash nodded in agreement, "She's right. Even my best attack didn't hurt it."

"FLASH!" a sudden voice called, the group turning to see the CMC running up to them with a very familiar-looking sword. "Catch!" They tossed it into the air, Flash zipping up to put the sword into his hooves, a warm aura glowing off the blade.

Flash could feel the power radiating off it, Scootaloo's words going through his head, "Maybe..." he gripped the blade before turning to his friends, "I got an idea. Give me a few seconds."

They all nodded as they ran after the monster, firing a mass of attacks to distract the creature. And as this happened, Snips and Snails were watching the event from behind a bush. "Alright, here's our chance." Snips whispered as he turned to his partner, "Did you get the net?"

"I think it's got me!" Snails yelped as Snips saw that the colt was now upside-down, the net tangled on both his front and back hooves.

"SNAILS! We don't have time for this!" Snips yelled as he started to pull on the net, only for his hooves to get caught in the rope.

As this was happening, Flash let out a long deep breath before opening his eyes, "I'm ready! Everypony, stand clear!"

They all nodded as they fired one last attack, soon leaping away as Flash looked up at the beast. He let out a mighty roar as a burst of light exploded off his back, slamming his blade into the ground. Seconds later, the Sacred Light began to spiral around the weapon, forming a shining tornado.

Everypony went wide-eyed at the sight as they watched Flash reach into the vortex, pulling Lightbringer's handle out. But as he pulled it out, the blade now showed itself to be made entirely out of light. He then kept pulling back, the blade extending more and more before the tornado completely vanished, now becoming part of the sword. The blade was now roughly two and a half times longer than Flash was, but the pegasus had no trouble lifting it.

His friends awed at this sight as Flash leapt into the air. "Ultimate Final Move!" He roared while raising the sword above his head, "SHINING BLADE OF THE HEAVENS!" He then swung the sword down, the blade of light striking the monster with ease. The attack went right through it's body, a massive explosion following this.

"RRRAAAUUGGHHH!!!" it screamed before falling like a rock, swirls appearing in it's eyes.

Everypony stared down at the fallen monster, not noticing a certain earth pony smiling at the sight as they fell over in exhaustion. "I can't...believe...we did it," Rainbow panted.

Iron let out a long sigh, "That had to be one of the toughest battles we've ever faced."

"But it's over now," Flash told them before holding up his Celestic Gear. "And on the plus side, I now know I can combine my Sacred Light with Lightbringer." He patted the sword, "I guess I have been neglecting you a little bit. Sorry, bud."

As he did this, the others all stared at him, blinking as Springer whispered, "I think Flash might have hit his head one too many times today."

The others giggled at his statement as Flash turned to Scootaloo and her friends, smiling while patting her head. "Thanks sis, you were a big help. And just this once, I'm gonna overlook you disobeying me over jumping into a dangerous situation."

"Thanks bro," Scootaloo replied with shining a huge grin before pointing to the knocked out monster. "What are you gonna do with that thing?"

Twilight let out a long sigh. "I'll have Princess Celestia and Luna transport it to Tartarus after the wedding-"

"THE WEDDING!" They all screamed before running off to town hall.

As they left, Snips finally got the net off of Snails. "Alright!" He cheered as he spun around and threw the net in the direction of where the battle had been, closing his eyes at the same time. "Take this!" He yelled before waiting for a few seconds, already expecting his trap to fail and for the bugbear to roar at them. But when nothing happened, he cracked an eye open and saw the net was on top of the unconscious monster. "We...we did it. WE DID IT! Did everypony see-" He then started to blink as he now saw him and Snails were now alone, the entire town completely deserted. "Oh, come on!"

The group was in full sprint to the town hall, the clock striking the hour that the wedding was set to begin. "We're gonna make it!" Flash called out as the doors were slammed shut. "BLAGH!" He yelped as his face hit the doors, his whole form sliding down the frame, "Or not..."

Twilight walked up next, now seeing that the door was locked, "Hmm...looks like we're too late."

"Can't you teleport us inside?" Rarity asked as Twilight put her ear to the door.

The princess listened for a second before shaking her head, "Sounds like it's already started. If I teleport us in, we'll interrupt everything."

Pinkie's hair deflated at this, "So we won't get to enjoy the wedding?"

"Guess not," Applejack sighed as she turned around, "Blasted critter took the whole day away."

Flash moaned as he picked himself up, rubbing his nose. "We could just watch through the window." This comment got them all to turn around, all nodding before going to one of the windows.

They all looked inside, now hearing Mayor Mare speak up. "But I also see so many ponies from all trots of life, all brought together by love. Cranky searched all across this great land of ours to find Matilda, and no matter what obstacles kept them apart, love finally brought them together, just as it has brought all of us together now. It's remarkable to me how a story like Cranky's search for Matilda could fill this room with such a unique collection of ponies! It makes you realize that everypony is the star of their own story, and it's not just the main characters in our stories that make life so rich! It's everypony – those who play big parts and those who play small. If it weren't for everypony in this room and many more who couldn't be here today, Cranky and Matilda's lives wouldn't be as full and vibrant as they are."

The ponies outside all smiled in agreement. They may have been the ones who saved the day, all sitting in the limelight, but that didn't mean they weren't as important as other ponies. And without those ponies cheering them on, those obstacles made have never been overcome.

"And so, in front of all these loved ones," Mayor Mare turned to the male donkey. "Cranky, do you take this donkey to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"You bet I do!"

Mayor Mare suppressed a giggle before turning to the female donkey. "And do you, Matilda, take this donkey to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Matilda, who was beginning to tear up, replied. "I do!"

"Then I'm proud to say, I now pronounce you jack and jenny!" With that, the two donkeys stepped forward and shared a kiss, everypony cheering at the sight. In that moment, the strange flowers that were piled up beside them began to shake and glow before-

KABOOM!

They shot into the air and exploded, filling the hall with a spray of vibrant lights, making everypony gasp in awe. Back outside, the heroes watched the event unfold with smiles on their faces. Twilight gestured them to leave after this, all walking down the steps before looking out at the town, "You know something? We are so lucky to live in this town." Everypony nodded in agreement as they moved over to her, Twilight grabbing them in her magic. "I love you all!" With that, she pulled them all into a hug. "Thank you for being my-"

"Ow!" Rainbow cried, "That's where the bugbear bit me!"

"Sorry!"

With that, the hug ended, all of them moaning in pain before breaking out into laughter. As they did this, it truly showed that Equestria had many amazing ponies who risked their lives to protect it, but it also showed everypony was special in their own way. As long as they stood together and helped one another, Equestria would always be the land of harmony.

Building Bridges

View Online

The Equestrian North.

A small group of guards were trodding through the snow, their hoofprints slowly being erased by the falling fresh powder. As they did this, they came to a large snowy wooded area, their destination. They'd been sent there due to tales of strange occurrences, all told by travellers from the villages just south of the forest.

As such, Celestia had sent this platoon to investigate, "Alright stallions, let's get in there and stay together. We have no idea what might be lurking in these woods, so be on guard."

"ROGER!" They all saluted their leader before marching into the valley of wood pillars, spears at the ready. And as they made their way, their eyes darted around as one of the guards spoke up, "What do you think it is?"

"Don't know," another replied. "Maybe a ghost."

"Or a monster," a guard suggested. "Maybe the Everfree Forest isn't the only place with 'em."

The lead pony turned back with a glare. "Whatever it is, it's our job to stop it. Let's make Equestria proud." The ponies were about to yell roger again, only to come to a stop as they all suddenly heard a whistling noise fly through the forest. They all got into a fighting stance as they turned to the noise, the sound getting louder as a chilling burst of cold air flew through the wind.

"Something's coming..." a guard muttered as he shivered like crazy.

"Everypony, defensive formation!" They all huddled up in a circle as the air kept getting colder. It was here that the leader saw a massive cloud of spiraling snow moving up to them. "Here it comes!"

As the mist reached them, the ponies gasped as they realized what it really was. It was hail, ice shard so small that as it started to fall on the whole group, it pierced through the gaps in their armor. Yelps of pain followed this as they felt their skin being sliced, most shrinking into the circle as one of the stallions turned to the leader, "Sir, what do we do?"

"Hold on..." the leader replied as he squinted his eyes in the misty storm. His vision could barely pick up anything, but as he increased his focus, he started to see something in the snow white wall the powdery mist was creating. It looked like a thin shadow, a pony in the barrage of snow.

"Sir!" The guards all yelled as they saw the leader start to walk up to the shadowy figure, the pony flinching as the hail struck him.

And as he got closer, his eyes began to go wide. Before him was a light blue unicorn stallion with a snow-white mane and tail. He looked around the age of seventeen, his body practically skin and bone with his mane and tail completely unkempt. And his eyes...they were hollow and cold. The leader looked up and saw the colt's horn was now glowing, "You...you're doing this." He instantly dropped his spear, kneeling down as he pleaded, "Please, you have to stop. We don't want to hurt you."

The pony said nothing, no expressions on his face as he just gave the leader a blank stare. Seeing this, the leader got up and began to walk again, only for an icicle to form out of the ground. "Stay away!" the stallion cried as he a series of ice shards appear around him. "Stay....away...."

"It's okay." The guard took one small, almost silent step, "My name...is Noble Banner. I'm not gonna hurt you." More ice began to form as he kept closing the gap. And as he did this, the pony's horn sparked, the spikes flying at the stallion....only to come to a stop. The ice shards were now piercing Noble, but it didn't matter. He was now hugging the young one, his horn now no longer showing an aura, "We just...want to...help you..."

Feeling the warmth of the hug, the pony's eyes began to tear up. "Wha...why..."

"Its okay. Its okay..." Noble repeated as he rubbed the stallion's back, "You can stop now. We won't hurt you."

Tears began to fall down the pony's face as he rested his head in Noble's hooves. The rest of the guards all gasped at the sight, now seeing the mist and hail began to vanish. "Sir? What's going on?"

Noble looked up at them and shook his head, the motion silencing the group. After that, he looked back down and asked, "Listen, we can take you somewhere safe, I promise. Though...what's your name?"

"Cold..." he stuttered out, "Cold Steel..."

Many years later...

It was another beautiful day in the town of Ponyville, everypony having now just gotten up. That included the inhabitants of the Castle of Friendship, where we find Flash Sentry getting out of the shower. He was in the bathroom connected to his 'bedroom', which was actually more like an office than anything else. His old bed had been replaced by a large deck and chair, while his guitar, comics and other things that Twilight would prefer not to have in their room.

Flash didn't mind, mainly since his room was right across from Twilight's, along with having his own little stallion-cave. And as he finished bathing, he was in front of the bathroom mirror as he spread cream onto his face. "Shake your tail, cause we're gonna have a party tonight." He picked up a razor and slowly began to glide it across his face, still singing as he scraped away the cream.

But as he finished the first half of his face, his ears picked up an odd sound. Not only that, he felt something on his back, making him spin around. A few circles later, he looked down at his flank, gasping as he saw his Cutie Mark now glowing, pulsing as big smile hopped onto his face. "No way!"

The defender shot out of the bathroom, flying through the castle, "Twilight!" He yelled as he entered the map room, now finding her and the rest of the castle's inhabitants already there as he landed in his chair. "I'm being called!"

Twilight was looking over the map as she replied, "I know, and it's in a pretty remote location."

Spike turned to him, only to raise an eyebrow as he saw the cream on his face. "You shave?"

Flash rolled his eyes, "No, I caught rabies. Of course I shave! I'm a stallion!" He turned back to Twilight, "So where am I heading?"

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought as her horn shined, levitating a few maps into the room, "Hmm...it looks like you're being summoned to the very edge of the map, in the undiscovered west. It appears to be a small village, but...this location is very strange."

"Why?" Scootaloo asked.

"From the looks of things, the village is situated between a large lake and some gigantic mountains. Unless its a town full of pegasi, it's a strange place to live. Especially for earth ponies, as there's no way farmland would work in this location as well."

"Guess I'll find out when I get there," Flash said as he took another look at his destination, only to blink as he saw only one mark floating over the location. "Wait...I'm going alone?"

This made Twilight nod with a slight frown. "I know, I had to recheck it myself. So far, this is the first time the map has only summoned just one pony. Strange since its summoned all seven of us the first time and then Pinkie and Rainbow the second time. Though...I'm sure it has a reason for sending you on your own."

"Maybe I should go with him," Springer chimed in, only to get a shake of the head from Twilight.

"No Springer, you should stay here. If the map wanted somepony to go with Flash, it would have summoned them."

Springer growled back at her, "Aren't you giving this map a little too much credit? I mean...it just seems silly to blindly follow this thing without question."

"It hasn't been wrong before," Twilight countered as she tapped the table. "And don't forget it's connected to the Tree of Harmony, which has never made us do anything we couldn't handle before, and you owe the tree your life. Besides, I'm sure that whatever problem it's sending Flash on, he can handle it."

Springer was about to open his mouth, only to feel Flash's hoof on his shoulder, "I'm with Twilight. Don't worry, I got this. You just focus on keeping Ponyville in one piece while I'm gone." He turned back to the map, sighing as he saw the distance between the town and Ponyville. "Guess I'd better get ready right away."

Twilight nodded, only to then giggle. "Maybe after you finish shaving." This made Flash roll his eyes before returning to the bathroom. One shave later, he began backing a saddlebag as Twilight etched a route on a map for him. After he picked up his trusty Celestic Gear, Twilight told him that he shouldn't need it for a friendship problem, only for him to remind her about how he should have kept it during the Starlight incident. And as she wanted to argue against it anyways, he pulled the princess into one long kiss, ending the argument.

It soon became noon when Flash got to the train station, all his friends there to see him off. Iron and he had a quick discussion about his absence and that they would handle things in town until he got back. This included the usual 'don't let the town blow up' plan along with 'remember the CMC dynamite/firework/leftover party cannon worst case scenario' they had created over the past year for protecting the town.

And as the train pulled up, he gave Scootloo one last hug, Springer one last hoof bump and Twilight one last kiss before getting on board. "I'll see you all when I get back," Flash yelled with a wave through the window. "Don't have any fun adventures without me!"

"We make no promises!" Springer called back.

"And be sure to remember every detail of what happens!" Twilight barked back. "I wanna hear everything about what you did when you get back!"

"I'll try!" Was all Flash could get out before they left his line of sight, soon sitting back as he slumped down in the train's chair. Closing his eyes, he began to wonder just what kind of case he was about to solve. "I hope its something fun...maybe its a detective case like I did with Discord." he muttered to himself before doing a little stretch, "And here's hoping for so good old fashioned action."

Two days later...

Having arrived at the very end of the train line, Flash had disembarked and was now cutting his way through a thick forest. "Grrr...why does the map keep sending me to non-relaxing places?!" He grunted as cut another bush down, his eyes staring at a map in his other hoof, "Can't be too far now...just wish this stupid canopy wasn't so thick or I'd fly over this stupid thing already."

His ears spiked up as he caught the sound of running water, his hooves quickly walking through a pile of foliage. And as he did this, he found himself looking at a slow-moving stream. "Hmmm...this is the stream on the map...perfect!" He hopped in immediately, wading in the water with a big grin. "Aww...that's refreshing."

But as he did this, a large shadow effortless glided behind him, the hairs on his spine standing on end as he felt something coming. Flash glanced back, only to see a giant black snake standing over him, "Aw crap."

He instinctively dropped his map before reaching for his sword, only for the snake to lunge right at him. However, as he tried to draw the blade, he felt the snake's tail grab his lower hooves, making him trip backwards, "Augh!" he yelped as his sword slipped out of his hoof, only to fall into the water.

"Aw horseapples!" he yelled as he dodged the snake's fangs, the pegasi backpedalling from two different strikes. And as the snake opened his mouth for another lunge, Flash reached his hoof down into the water, only to find no sword. "No...I don't need to happen right-"

"Hissss!!!" the snake roared as it stretched its head back, cocking it like was a gun. But as it about to strike, Flash's eyes went wide as the snake came to a stop. As for why it had stopped, the snake was now consumed in a clear glass-like substance that was cold to the touch.

"Ice?" Flash asked as he picked himself up, "What in the name of-"

"You're starting to make me doubt whether I was right to allow you the title of knight."

Flash sunk his hoof into the stream, pulling his blade out this time as he turned to the source of the voice. "Who's there?!" A light blue unicorn came into view, making Flash gasp, "Cold Steel?!"

"In the flesh. Now, why are you here?"

One long-winded explanation later...

"I see..." Cold said as now walked down the stream, the knight's magic freezing the river. "I had heard of the Princess's Magic Table and its abilities, mainly due to you all doing a mission before we met. Didn't think it would lead to us running into one another."

Flash did a small shrug, "Yeah, but uh...what are you doing here? I figured the Frozen Wanderer would be someplace more...frozen."

Cold rolled his eyes at the comment, "For your information, I'm here in search of somepony who might be able to lead me to a group I've been after for the last few years."

"What kind of group?" Flash asked, but Cold just stared ahead, not responding. Letting out a long sigh, Flash continued, "Come on Cold, I'm a Royal Knight. Shouldn't I know about a group you feel the need to investigate?"

Cold looked away, almost growling, "Ugh...there's not much known about the group. They're a cult that's obsessed with some type of dark entity. I managed to find some information about some of their funds, which seems to be coming from this area."

"Wait...are you looking for the village I'm heading to as well?"

"That'll be my first stop. I'll interrogate the ponies there and find out who's suppling the funding."

Flash replied with a flat stare, "Hold on there. I've got my own job to do there, and you terrifying the locals ain't gonna make that easy." But before Cold could answer, the two found they had reached the end of the river. It was flooding into a large lake, one that Flash recognized. "Beanpot!" Flash cheered as he flared his wings. "This is the place!"

It was just like it had been depicted on the map, built on a piece of land trapped between a lake and a semi-circle of mountains. The town looked to be about half the size of Ponyville, with many houses built in close proximity to one another. Flash pulled out a pair of binoculars, staring out at the lake, "Alright, this looks good, but uh...how are you gonna get across?"

"Lend me your binoculars." Before Flash could respond, the unicorn's magic tugged them out of the pegasi's grasp.

"Hey!" Flash yelled as Cold glared through the device, only to go wide-eyed as he saw five ponies in the distance. It was here he saw four of the five ganging up on the last pony, each wielding some from of a crude weapon.

"We need to get over there!" Cold's horn sparked as he fired some magic at the water, forming a floating platform with a shopping cart like handle. He jumped onto the platform before turning to Flash. "Push! Do it now!"

Flash wanted to go for a 'magic word' joke, but seeing the glare on Cold's face made him shut up. Instead, he gripped the handle and started pushing, slicing across the lake with great ease.

As they made their way, a late-aged earth pony now found himself taking a blow to the chest. "Augh!" he yelped as he fell back, his flank now falling into some mud. He had a brown coat with a gray mane, tail and beard. The elder was wearing a pair of half-moon glasses and a towel-like scarf around his neck. As for what hit him, it was four rough-looking stallions, all staring at him with their weapons.

"We warned you about what would happen if didn't pay up." one with a crowbar said, chuckling, "And after we were so nice in letting you have more time."

"Wait...please!" the pony whimpered as he tried to get up, "I...I can get you the money."

"Too late!" A pegasus with a bat countered as he raised the metal stick to hit him. But as he swung it down, a resounding clang rang out as he felt his attack blocked. "Huh?!"

It was Flash, stopping the bat with the broad side of Lightbringer. The sight made the others all almost backpedal as another yelled, "What the heck?!" But as these words came out of his mouth, they felt a chill go down their bodies before seeing another pony appear, the ground beneath him freezing. "Who are these freaks?!"

Flash smirked as he pointed his weapon at them. "Flash Sentry and Cold Steel, Royal Knights of Equestria. And if you know what's good for you, you'll get out of here before you make us mad."

"Too late for that." Cold continued as his horn sparked, a spike of ice thrashing out in front of the criminals. A volley of screams happened next, all of them running away to a pair of boats on the lake. They soon climbed in and rowed away, leaving the two knights and the elderly pony alone.

With them gone, Flash put his sword away before holding out a hoof to the earth pony, "You alright?" The pony flinched back in fear, making Flash almost pull his hoof back, "Hang on...we're not gonna hurt you." The earth pony just stared at Flash, as if trying to judge him, only to let out a long sigh.

"Thank you." he replied as he took Flash's hoof. "Sorry about that."

"No problem." Flash then started to help the pony brush the dirt off of him, "But uh...why were they attacking you?"

The pony sighed again, "Because I...I haven't paid them what I owe."

"They're debt collectors?"

He shook his head before pointing at the knights, "No, they're just a bunch of thugs. And I don't know what you're doing here, but I'd advise you to not stay. This isn't the kind of place you want to live in if you're looking for a peaceful life."

Flash and Cold shared a glance, only to look back at the village. It was here that they saw the condition of the town, now seeing the street to be filled with dilapidated buildings, complete with wreckage everywhere. The sight made Flash blink as he commented, "Wow...this place is a dump. No offense."

"What happened here?" Cold added.

The earth pony looked away, not wanting to answer. But it was here he saw Flash and Cold glaring at him, now feeling the chill coming off Cold, "Well...you see, our town is currently being subjected by some...seriously bad ponies."

"You mean those thugs? Do they work for somepony?" Cold instantly asked, "What's the pony's name?"

"He's an evil pony...that's the only way I can describe him." a small sigh interrupted his next words, "His name is...Gold Hoof."

Flash and Cold both frowned at the words, now having the feeling they knew the reason they were here. "Can you tell us more?"

"Not here. Let's head to my house." He tried to start walking, only to stumble. Flash quickly went over to help him, Cold adding support as well. And as they did this, Flash glanced back at the lake the thugs had retreated to, only to notice the start of a large bridge...but only the first few feet had been built.

The four criminals had now arrived on the other side of the lake, soon abandoning their boats as they ran into the forest. It wasn't long till they reached a building, one that was made of logs and lumber...but if it was designed by a bunch foals. the top was lopsided, half of its right tilted over as part of the building wall was built on a stump that was never removed from the ground.

Soon entering inside, they found a whole bunch of ponies, all hoof wresting, drinking or playing cards. Their heads keep shifting back and forth, all four trying to find a certain pony. It wasn't long till they ran to the back of the building, soon seeing the pony the were seeking.

"BOSS! We got a huge problem!" they all yelled, only to freeze up as the saw the pony's hoof slam the table he was sitting at, making it hop in place.

"This better be good, as I'm not in a good mood today." the pony replied as his horn began to spark, a magic aura gripping all four thug's necks. They all gulped as the unicorn leaned back, now resting his backhooves on the table. It was here they could see that he had bulky gold-colored fur coat with purple spots all over his body. He also had a frizzy purple mane and tail, complete with a black shirt, red tie, and a pair of round shades covering his eyes. His mouth showed a half grin as it shined a gold tooth in his jaw, "And where's the money you were supposed to get?!"

Back at the village...

The earth pony, who's name was Rapid Growth, had lead the knights to one of the larger dilapidated houses. There, he walked in first as he yelled, "Azure, Swift, we have company!" A few seconds later, the sounds of hoofsteps could be heard as one pony ran up to the door.

It was a pink coated earth pony mare with blue hair. She gasped at the sight of the knights, her hooves trying to backpedal, "Who...who are they?!"

"They're friends sweetheart." Rapid responded before glancing at the duo, "This is my daughter-in-law, Azure Petal." He turned back to her, "Where's Swift?"

Azure looked away, "He's uh...still in his room."

"Of course." Rapid grumbled as he walked over to a rickety table, gesturing to the knights to follow. Azure soon left to get them drinks as Rapid sat down, "I suspect this is a good time to explain our town's situation to you."

"Please do," Cold instantly replied, a slight glare on his face as he crossed his hooves.

"Well, I guess the first thing to say is that our little village wasn't always the way it is now. Not too long ago, it was a thriving town, complete with happy ponies. Many of us are seaweed farmers, which we grew here thanks to the unusual environment our lake has. The soil it has is super rich, but only underwater, making it perfect for seaweed." He looked down at the table as he started the next part, "We've been able to enjoy a peaceful life here for five generations. However, that all changed when one day...the boats we used to cross the lake were destroyed in a storm."

Flash and Cold shared a glance, instantly picking up what happened next as Flash asked, "Let me guess, the only wood you can access to fix the boats is the forest across the lake?"

"That's right. And it was no ordinary storm. It lasted for over a week. When it finally passed, all our boats were gone, and that included our business. You can probably guess that we need the boats to do trade, as no trade routes would work with the mountains."

"Is this when Gold Hoof came into the picture?" Cold added as Azure placed three cups of tea in front of them.

"Yes. At first, we thought our prayers were being answered. He had a series of ferries, ones that could easily get us across. He had us pay a small fee, which we could pay to get everything we needed. But as we tried to use those ferries to get us the materials for our own boats...Gold decided to up the prices. And by that, I mean....we could barely afford them. It went to the point where he made us all in his debt, and if you can't pay..."

"He sends his thugs." Cold finished as Rapid did a small nod, "Tch. I'm betting Gold Hoof increased the prices just before you got the all the materials you needed."

"That's horrible," Flash added.

Rapid looked away next, "Its more than that now. His ponies have started taking their payment out of anything they can get their hooves on. And if you don't have anything...well, you get the picture."

"That explains the condition of this place." Cold commented as he took a sip, "Is this Gold Hoof-"

"That's ridiculous!" Flash interrupted as he slammed his now empty cup down, "Why don't you do something?! Why didn't you ask the princesses for help?!"

Rapid shrunk away from the knight's reaction, "Why would the princesses bother with us? We're not some big city."

"But you're still part of Equestria!" Flash almost yelled. "If they found out what was happening here, they would have helped you without question. Besides, why are you just sitting back and letting these punks destroy everything you have?!"

"What would you have us do?" Rapid instantly asked back. "No pony here is a knight or solider, we're farmers-"

"That doesn't mean you can't stand up for yourself!" Flash countered as he pointed at the elder, "Show them they can't push you around!"

"Hey, SHUT UP! Leave my grandpa alone!" The ponies all turned to stairs, a cream colored earth pony colt with a blue mane now standing on one of the steps. He was wearing a green hoodie and a white bucket hat, his form shivering as tears filled his eyes.

"Swift..." Azure whispered.

The colt growled at Flash, "What do you know?! We can't beat Gold, so what's the point of even trying?!"

Flash glared back at the colt, now seeing the obvious fear in his eyes. He wanted to yell back, but his brain caught up with him, telling him to go for something more...inspirational. As such, he lowered his tone as he said, "Because trying and failing is a lot better than just sitting back and doing nothing." He leaned back while crossing his hooves, "Its obvious this Gold Hoof isn't gonna go away unless you force him too, which means you gotta make things better with your own hooves."

As Flash's words ended, he scanned over all three ponies, only to see nothing but shock and pain on their faces. The sight made him almost grimace as the colt yelled, "You're wrong! Nopony can beat him expect a hero, and they don't exist!" With that, he ran upstairs, Azure chasing up.

"Wait Swift!" she cried as she disappeared into the second floor.

Rapid let out a low hum and took another sip of his drink, "Please excuse Swift Growth. He's...had a hard life."

Flash slightly looked away, "Sorry. I should've read the room more."

"Its fine. It makes sense that you would-"

"Who died?" Cold interrupted, the two glancing at him as he continued, "I can see it in the colt's eyes. They are...the eyes of a pony who has seen somepony they love die."

Both blinked at him, Flash trying to form words as Rapid replied, "He uh...he lost my son, which was his father, Strong Structure." he turned to stare at the window, the others following his gaze as they caught sight of the unfinished bridge out nearby the lake. Tears began to crack out of his eyes as he pointed at the lake, "He...was the light of this village. I was always proud of him, the boy always smiling and doing whatever he could to make those around him happy. Not only that, Swift was just like him, always smiling." he slumped down as he muttered out his next words, "But Strong wasn't just that. He was also the town's best builder, a skill he was unmatched with. And when Gold started charging his fees and attacking ponies...he came up with a plan to free us from Gold."

The past...

"A bridge?" Rapid repeated, staring at his son as the family sat around the dinner table.

"That's right," Strong replied as he crossed his hooves. He was a bulky cream colored earth pony with a brown mane and tail, wearing a blue vest with multiple tools sticking out. "We can't keep living under Gold Hoof's laws. Because we can barely get enough wood for boats, we'll do something different." He pointed to the window, specifically a nearby mountain, "So...what if we made a stone bridge across the lake? I mean, we got enough resources to spare thanks to mountains. Gold won't be able to stop us."

"But...would that really work dad?" Swift muttered out, to which Strong nodded.

"Of course it will!" He punched his hooves together, "We can't just sit around and hope Gold stops. The only way things are gonna get better is if we make it happen with our own hooves."

The present...

"Strong inspired the whole village. It wasn't long till we started working on the bridge, using rocks from the mountains that Strong could easily cut out. We started the bridge post-haste, hope beginning to return to our village..." Rapid's eyes clenched as he looked away, "But Gold wouldn't allow that."

The past...

Rapid and his family, minus Strong, were all leaving their house as the headed to the bridge. Strong had decided to get an earlier start, the rest of the town just now getting up. But as they arrived at the bridge, the family found nopony there. The rest of the town began to walk up to them as Swift yelled out, "Dad? Where are you?"

"Yoohoo!" They all turned to the voice, only for them all to see a boat just a few hundred feet away from the shore. It was just close enough for everypony to see Gold Hoof, a giant grin on his face, "Hello there, nice bridge you're building."

"What do you want Gold?!" Rapid barked at him. "We've paid off your last rides and don't intend to use them ever again!"

"I know...and that's the problem." Gold did a low chuckle as his toothy grin grew, "You see, I can't afford to lose your service. That's why I'm now taking some...extreme measures." With that, the ponies in the boat with him lifted something up into view, only for a barrage of gasps to follow at the sight.

"DADDY!" Swift cried out as he stared at the form of his tied up father. He had bruises all over his body, and the ropes wrapped around him had several rocks tied to them.

He groaned as his eyes cracked open, "Swift...be...strong."

"Such nice words." Gold chuckled as he gestured to his minions, all of them moving him to the edge, "Now remember everypony, please don't take this personally. Its just business." With that, the ponies pushed the beaten crafts-pony overboard, his body hitting the water with a tremendous splash.

"DADDY!" Swift screamed as he watched the rocks instantly sink the stallion, Azure trying to block his view as several over ponies dived into the lake.

"But...we didn't make it in time," Rapid's tears were now flowing. "Strong...was Swift's hero. Seeing that just broke him."

Cold said nothing as Flash sighed, "We're...sorry for your loss." But as Flash tried to comfort him, Cold stood up and turned to the door. Seeing him leave, Flash looked back at Rapid, "Uh...excuse us for a second." Quickly following the knight, he found Cold heading to the lake, "Hey! Where are you going?!"

"To find this Gold character. It's obvious he's the one I'm after." His horn began to glow as he prepared to freeze a path over the lake, "I'll take him and his ponies down, then I'll get the answers I need. I've wasted enough time already."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on there!" Flash yelled as he flew over the unicorn, landing as he flashed a hoof, "You can't just waltz in there! Stopping this Gold guy isn't enough to solve everything."

"What are you talking about? Once Gold is gone, we can give his boats to the ponies and everything will be fine."

"But if that was true, then why did the tree only send me? If the way to fix this mess was to fight, then it would have probably sent Rainbow, Applejack or Twilight here with me. There has to be something more to this, or the tree-"

"I don't have time for this." Cold pushed him aside, rolling his eyes.

"Hey! Don't just-"

"Be quiet. For all I know, those ponies we let go have already warned Gold and he's gonna make a break for it."

"But-"

"I have a job to do," Cold interrupted as he glared back at the pegasus. "I have to find out all I can about Gold, as for right now, he's my main suspect for the cult's funding. What I'm doing is for the good of Equestria, and that far outranks anything some tree wants you to do."

"Even if the princess told me to come?!" Flash countered, only to see Cold turn away.

"Oh please, like a tree outranks royalty." his horn began to glow again as he added, "You can stay here and fix...whatever you need to do, but I don't have time to play foalsitter." With that, head headed for the lake. But he and Flash both stopped when they spotted something on the lake.

It was a bunch of boats, sailing across the water as a frizzy maned golden pony appeared at the front of the wooden vehicles. Flash's ears spiked up as he looked back at the village, the sounds of doors and windows opening as he saw the townponies all now staring at the situation.

"So...I heard a rumor that a pair of morons had been causing issues for my boys. I'm guessing that's you two." the pony announced as he shined a big toothy grin.

Flash glanced back at the lake with a blank stare, "I'm assuming your Gold Hoof?"

"In the flesh." Gold replied as he tugged his shirt. "I suspect you've heard of me, and I must say...you two look like you could handle yourselves. I'll forgive you for interrupting my boy's work if you work for me."

Flash rolled his eyes at this, "I'm gonna give you a big old no for that. I don't beat up defenceless old stallions, and I don't see an issue interrupting an evil act like that."

"Tch...I can agree with that." Cold whispered before speaking up, "Gold Hoof, you're coming with me to answer a few questions."

Gold raised an eyebrow, "And what questions are they?"

"You'll find out once we're back at Canterlot. Now, are you coming?"

Gold just waved his hoof, "Eh, I think I'll pass. Unless you have a warrant to force me to come, I'm well within my rights to decline."

"That's fine, I don't mind doing this the hard way." Cold's horn began to shine as he yelled, "You're under arrest for the assault of the ponies on this town, and the murder of Strong Construct!"

A look of fear almost appeared on Gold's face, only for a big smirk to appear, "Oh really? And what pray tell, is your 'legal' proof that I did any of this? Perhaps a witness or two?"

Cold and Flash both shared a glance, soon turning back to the town. But as they did this, they now saw all the townponies were gone, all their doors and windows closed. "I think I've made my point," Gold chimed in as the knights glared back at him, "Do yourself a favor and leave. This village belongs to me in all but name, and there's nothing you can do to stop me from taking what I want."

With that, the boats turned around before vanishing in the distance, Cold growling at the sight. He turned back to the town, letting out a yell, "COWARDS!"

"Cold!" Flash jumped in front of him, "Relax. It's not their fault."

"It is their fault! They could have solved this problem if they had spoken up!" Cold barked back. "There's nothing that irritates me more than cowards! All I need is one of them to say something and I could arrest that piece of scum!"

"It's not that easy Cold. They're...scared." As he said this, Flash's eyes went wide before gasping, "That's it."

"What's it?" Cold hissed.

"Why the map sent me here," he looked back at the town. "These ponies have been living in fear, and what's the best way to beat fear?"

Cold was about to yell, only for his brain to catch up as he remembered what Flash's element was. "With courage. That's what you're going at, aren't you?"

"Yeah! And we need to help them find the courage to stand up to Gold!"

The other knight let out a snort, "And how are we supposed to do that?" Cold grumbled as he crossed his hooves, "If they're that afraid, why would they help us?"

Flash turned to him with a big smirk, "That's simple. They just need something to give them hope. Something like a...a symbol. Just like that Strong Structure pony." Flash's smile increased as he pointed at Cold, "And we can both do it, and get Gold arrested. Trust me on this, Frozen Wanderer." He pointed back to himself, "I'm the Knight of Friendship after all."

Cold let out a long breath, his calm emotionless nature returning, "I don't like this. I'm a weapon, not some counselor."

"I know you're not. You're here to show these ponies that Gold doesn't stand a chance against us." Flash remarked before turning away, "Now put on your usual calm face. First rule to making friends is first impressions, something you're gonna watch and learn right now."

Flash took to the air, taking in a deep breath before yelling, "Ponies, hear me!" His voice echoed out into the town, the windows and doors soon reopening as they saw the knight flight back down. "Please, don't be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you, I just wanna talk." He pulled out his sword and laid the blade on the ground. "Please...just come out and let's talk."

The ponies all glanced at each other, a few now slowly moving out of their homes as a small crowd soon gathered. Despite this, Flash shined a giant welcoming grin, one that made the group increase in number. Cold watched as this continued, Flash now hovering a few feet off the ground as he kept talking, "My name is Flash Sentry, and I'm a Royal Knight. I've come to help you, as I know you've all been living in fear of Gold Hoof." He put a hoof to his chest, "I'm here to tell you that you don't need to fear him."

One of the townsponies spoke up. "But...if you're gonna stop Gold, why didn't you do it back then?"

"Right now, we don't have anything that gives us the legal right to arrest him." Cold chimed in, Flash turning to him, "But if you ponies spoke up and acted as witnesses to his crimes-"

"Then Gold will do to us what he did to Strong!" Another pony yelled out. "If we speak up, we'll be as good as dead!"

"Yeah! He'll kill us!" screamed another. "We're all gonna-"

"We won't let that happen!" Flash interrupted as he landed, gripping his blade once more. "We'll protect you from Gold and his goons."

"How?! You're just two ponies!"

"Gold's got a whole gang! They'll tear us apart!"

Flash flew back up and pointed his weapon at the lake, a powerful laser firing out of the sword. The blast struck the water, making a giant explosion. Everypony gasped at the sight, soon glancing back at Flash as he floated back down. "That's what I can do, and my other knight friend over there can turn his goons into a bunch of ice sculptures. Gold won't stand a chance against us."

He looked out at the crowd, still seeing looks of fear. "Listen, I know you're scared, but do you really want to live your life like this?"

"We've heard this all before," a stallion spoke up, "Didn't turn out so great for the pony who said it back then. What makes you any different?!"

"I'm not different. I know who you're talking about, and I know I never met Strong...but I can definitely respect him." Flash replied as he rested his sword on his shoulder, "He wasn't afraid to stand up for what he believed in, and he put his life on the line to prove it. He might not be here...but I think he wants you to have better lives than this." He then pointed to the unfinished bridge, "Let's honor his memory by finishing the bridge he worked so hard to build."

This caused all of the ponies to murmur amongst themselves, some now sneaking glances at the bridge. As they did this, Cold just stared at the scene. His usual blank emotionless face was still there, with the exception of him rubbing his chin, as he whispered to himself, "Huh...so this is what you made, eh Grand?"

It was here he noticed that some of the ponies now staring at him, switching glances between the knights. Cold then saw Flash looking at him, Cold now seeing what the pegasi meant. Taking a deep breath, the knight spoke up, "Listen you lot! If you're that worried about Gold doing what he did before, don't. With us here, he wouldn't dare lay a hoof on you. And if he does...that'll just give us the proof we need to arrest him."

Flash smirked at the sight, glad Cold caught on before turning back to the crowd, "You all loved Strong, didn't you?" Everypony nodded, almost looking insulted at the question. "Well if you ask me, I bet he'd feel real bad that you let his death affect you like this. If you really loved him, you'd stop at nothing to make sure the one who took him away would pay for it." He sheathed his sword before punching his hooves together, "So come on! Let's make Strong's dream a reality and show that his beliefs didn't die with him! WHO'S WITH ME?!"

The ponies all stared at him, only to see Rapid walk out of the crowd, "I'm with you. I...I won't let my son's death go unpunished anymore."

Azure then stepped up, "I'm with you too. I want to make this village someplace my son can grow up safe again." Slowly, the other ponies began to speak their agreement, all saying they would help.

Flash shined a big grin, "That's what I'm talking about. Now, we'll start first thing tomorrow."

"There's just one problem," Rapid countered. "It'll take months to cut the stone we need to build the bridge. We don't exactly have the tools to do it quickly, and I doubt Gold will let us across the lake to get them."

"You leave that to me. We'll have that bridge finished in less than a week." Flash added as he pointed to himself, "Now everypony get some rest." The townsponies all soon dispersed, Flash now going up to Cold, "Thanks for the help back there. Together we can free these ponies from Gold's hold."

Cold just looked away. "I'm not doing it for them. This is the only way I'll be able to take Gold in legally. Let's just get that bridge finished."

The knight started to walk away, Flash sighing while shaking his head. "Its okay Flash...its okay." Flash whispered to himself, "You can fix this. You just need to get along with him."

The next morning...

With this new determination, the ponies of the small town were now getting to work on Strong Structure's bridge. The first thing they needed was building materials, which Flash went to the mountains to get. As the crowd followed him, they saw him step forward before he was surrounded in light, a tornado forming before being covered in golden armor.

"Let's do this!" He exclaimed as he leapt into the air, pulled the light swords off his back. The town gasped as they saw him turn into an arrow of light, one that flew into the mountain before dozens of sword slashes could be heard. Before they could even comment on the sight, a huge pile of a smoothly cut bricks began to fall off the mountain, Cold's ice magic making a path for the rocks.

The townponies went wide-eyed as they saw the materials scoot down to them, Cold extending the ice path to the lake as he yelled at the town to go to the lake. Quickly responding, everypony ran down to the lake, groups forming as they started to get to work.

"Pass me that two by four."

"A little to the left."

"The next patch of concrete's done."

"Great. We were just about to run out."

Flash, Rapid and Cold watched the ponies work, the knights done transporting all the materials. Rapid turned to Flash, nodding, "Thank you. You've brought life back to the village that I never thought I'd see again."

Flash chuckled as he stared at the group, watching them help each other, laughing and joking while working, "Don't mention it. You ponies should be able to live like this. No matter what, I'll help free this town from Gold's control."

"I see..." Rapid added as he watched Flash walk up and start helping the ponies. The sight made him feel like he was seeing Strong again.

While this happened, Cold was now looking over the blueprints Strong had originally designed for the bridge. With his ability to make sturdy ice objects, he understood how to visualize images like this. He didn't want to say it out loud, but the design of the bridge was an amazing one. If built right, it would stand for a hundred years.

They continued to work until noon, Azure and several other mares and young ponies arriving while carrying several steaming pots and bowls. "Seaweed Soup's on!" She announced as they placed the pots on several tables, everypony cheering as they flooded the buffet. Pure joy was on every face as they started to chow down, Cold being the last pony to get some food. "Here you go," Azure responded as she gave him a bowl.

"Thank you," he curtly replied before looking for someplace to sit. But as he looked it over, everything seemed a little...crowded. The ponies were all huddled up around every table, talking and laughing. He even spotted Flash, telling several ponies of differing ages about some of his adventures.

He couldn't help but notice how they were hanging on his every word, smiling and laughing as Flash continued to tell his tales, "So he asked if I ever shut up, which I replied saying: 'No, my fans expect a certain amount of quipage in every battle.'" This caused an uproar of laughter, several ponies almost spilling their soup in the gigglefest.

The sight made Cold's stomach twist, partially annoyed at how Flash was acting for a knight...but also surprised at how the ponies were compared to yesterday. It was like they were completely different, making him think back to his fight with Flash, "Before I met Twilight, I never truly lived. I was just...surviving. It wasn't until I met them that my life truly began."

Cold rubbed his head at that, groaning to himself as he found a place to sit down, "Why am I thinking of that right now?" He then slumped over as he stared at his soup, memories of when he asked Celestia the difference between living and surviving. She had told him the difference being the memories you make when you live. Those were ones that give you a warm feeling, one that makes you smile and wish you could relive them.

"Memories..." he whispered to himself, now thinking back even further. But as he thought about them...he found nothing. Nothing but a singular memory.

Years ago...

Cold and Noble Banner were both in the Canterlot Castle training ground, the two staring down a bunch of targets. Banner held a stopwatch in his magic. "And...go!" Cold's horn sparked as he summoned a bunch of ice spikes, firing each with a series of instant bullseyes. Noble clicked the watch with a big grin, "Nine-point-four seconds. That's a new record!"

"YES!" Cold exclaimed, a big smile on his face. It had been a year since Noble had found and brought him back to Canterlot. It wasn't long till he started training him to control his incredible power, Cold soon becoming a master of multiple weapons, all that he could create out of ice in the blink of an eye.

With that, the two unicorns started to head to the barracks, Noble commenting, "You're doing great Cold. I don't think any guard has ever taken to the training as you have. Only a year of training and you already got the skills of a ten-year veteran." Cold's tail wagged as the big smile stayed on his face. But as Noble saw this, Cold's father figure's face changed as he stated, "But remember Cold, the power you have is wasted if you're only using it for yourself. It'll only be when you've found something positive to use it for that you'll be able to push past your limits."

Cold's head tilted at this, now slightly frowning, "So...what positive use should I have?"

Noble was about to reply, only for another guard to suddenly appear from around a corner. "Noble! The princess and Sir Grand have requested your presence! It seemed quite urgent!"

Noble nodded before turning back to Cold, "We'll have to discuss this later."

With that, he went off, Cold looking up at the messenger, "I wonder what they want him for."

The guard just chuckled at this, "Haven't you heard? Noble's gonna become a Royal Knight." This made Cold's eyes go wide as the solider continued, "Well...almost. Apparently, Princess Celestia is sending his troop to check something out in the badlands. I'm not sure what, but if they're successful, then Noble's gonna be made into a Royal Knight."

Cold was almost giddy. "That's great! He deserves it!"

The guard nodded in agreement, "And with him as a knight, Equestria will be even more safe. After all, ponies come and go, but Equestria will outlast them all."

Cold blinked at his words, soon walking away as he began to imagine Noble's knighting.

Several days later...

A long resounding yawn came out of Cold's mouth as he went to get himself breakfast, heading to the barracks for the grub. But as he entered the mess hall, he saw a bunch of guards huddled together in discussion. "Hey, what's going on?"

The guards all turned to him with sullen expressions, one of them gulping as he spoke up, "Cold...it's Noble."

And as he began to talk, the next few words would forever change Cold.

Present day...

Cold put his hoof to his head, groaning as he whispered, "Noble...why am I thinking about that?" He shook his head, repeating the guard's words, "Ponies come and go...it doesn't change."

He slumped back, his eyes drifting over to Flash and the happy ponies around him. Laughs and tears of joy could be seen as he watched the knight continue to socialize. But as he stared at the masses, his mind began to show each pony disappear, reminding himself that it would be so easy for all that happiness to disappear. All it would take is one pony taken away.

"Hey, mister?" Cold's eyes blinked as he refocused back into reality, soon looking down to se a filly staring up at him, "You okay? Your soup's gone cold." He glanced at the bowl, only to shrug as he gulped it down. "Wow...the cold doesn't bother you?"

"No. I prefer it." Cold replied as he put the bowl to the side, only to see the filly still staring at him, "What?!"

"You seem nice." she responded, smiling. The comment made him almost lean back as she continued, "But you really shouldn't hide your pain."

"What...did you just say?"

"Your face is just like a friend of mine's, Swift." She looked down at the ground, "After his daddy...well, he started pushing ponies away. He doesn't play with me anymore, and my mom says he does it to protect himself."

Cold glanced away, "Well, she's right. After all, if you don't make any connections, then you won't feel any pain when you lose somepony."

The filly stared back up at him, "That seems kinda lonely. I love my family and wouldn't want to live without them."

"You're right. You haven't felt the pain of loss like others." Cold said in a low tone, making the filly frown before walking away. As she went into the crowd, Cold shook his head, "Tch. Why does everypony keep making me think about that?" He took a deep breath, "I need to keep my distance...its the only way."

It wasn't long till lunch was done, everypony soon getting back to work. And as they did this, a bunch of ponies started to stare at the now growing bridge.

Later...

"Damn it!" Gold yelled as he slammed his hoof into the table, "Those ingrates think because a bunch of knights are with them that they're safe?!"

"But what are we gonna do boss?" One of his goons asked. "These knights are said to have the power of a hundred guards! With two of them, that's two hundred guards!"

"We can't compete with that!" Another cried.

"Shut up!" Gold growled as he moved his hoof up to his chest, rubbing the fur over his heart, "I can't allow them to complete that bridge."

"But how do we stop them? If we try anything, those knights will arrest us."

Gold slumped over in his seat, a grimace starting to appear on his face. "Its fine. We just need to find a way to solve this issue..." he started to shiver, "Legally."

The other ponies all shivered in unison, one goon chiming in, "Boss...why don't we just call it quits? Let's find someplace else to shakedown."

"Absolutely not!" Gold screamed as he slammed the table again, causing a crack in it this time. "This place is an untapped goldmine! You have no idea how desirable the seaweed market is...." He groaned while holding his head. "I knew those ponies wouldn't agree to my plan of commercializing this place, the damn hicks. I was so close to getting this place for myself." He slumped back again, only to let out a long sigh before getting up, "Got no choice. I'm gonna have to do a chat with my business partners. Hopefully, they'll be generous enough to give me something I can use to get out of this mess."

The next three days passed with a flurry of activity, the bridge getting closer to the other side of the lake. And as it grew, so did the hope of the townsponies who now saw their freedom on the horizon. By the end of the third day, the bridge was close to completion as Flash, Cold, Rapid, Azure and Swift were now sitting down to dinner.

"To the bridge," Rapid cheered as he raised his mug.

"To the bridge!" Flash and Azure did the same, Swift and Cold remaining still.

After they gulped down their drinks, Rapid shined a big smile at Flash, "You have no idea how happy you've made us. By this time tomorrow, Gold's control over us will be gone."

"Eh, I'm happy to help," Flash replied as he put the glass down. "And once the bridge is done, you'll agree to be a witness to Gold's crimes, right?"

"I'd be happy too," Rapid assured him. "That pony's done enough damage to my life. I'll gladly make sure he never hurts another pony."

Flash turned to Cold with a smirk, "Bet you'll be happy to finally get him."

Cold said nothing as he started to eat. "I'll have the pony I want and hopefully the answers to several questions. So yes, I guess I will be happy."

Flash rolled his eyes at this, "Would it kill you to crack a smile for once?" Cold didn't reply, just chomping another piece of seaweed, "Right...anyways, if we really put our backs into it, we might be able to finish the bridge before lunchtime tomorrow!"

It was here that a loud slamming sound caught their attention, making them turn to a shaking Swift. "Why are you so giddy?! You're all pathetic!"

"Swift!" Azure hissed, "That's rude-"

"Who cares if you finish that stupid bridge?! It's just gonna get knocked down and you'll end up dead. That's what happens to idiots who play hero."

Flash just took another drink, "I doubt that. I've faced way worse than Gold. Even if he had all his goons attack me at once, it wouldn't matter. I'd take them down in, to quote a friend of mine, ten seconds flat."

Swift's eyes went red as he growled at him, "Is this supposed to be some kind of game to you?! This is our lives! You don't really care about us! You just wanna make yourself look good!"

"That's enough Swift," Rapid almost yelled. "Apologize to Mr. Sentry, right now."

"I won't!" Swift barked back, "He doesn't know what it's like to really live here! He doesn't understand the suffering we've gone through! That I've gone through!" With that, he ran away, shoving the front door before going outside.

Flash sighed at the sight, "Dang. I really thought that getting the bridge would help him understand."

"That's because he's right," they all turned to Cold as he finished his food, "You don't understand the suffering he's gone through." He turned to Flash, "you've never lost anypony close to you. And whilst I don't wish that experience on anypony, you'll never understand that situation until you felt it."

Flash leaned back and started to rub the back of his head, "Hmm...I guess you got a point. I mean, I never had anything until I met Twi." Flash then shined a small grin, "But since I don't know that, why don't you talk to him?"

"Huh?!" Cold yelped, his face actually showing a little hesitation and surprise.

"Well, you just said you have experience in that. You go help him."

"I'm not doing that." Cold instantly replied as he looked away, "I'm a knight and a weapon...not some counselor."

Flash crossed his hooves at this, "Seriously?! Geez, you really need to get out more." Flash then pointed at the knight, "But if you're gonna be like that, you should really help him. After all, if you don't...he might end up just like you." Cold turned back to him, a hint of anger on his face. Despite this, Flash just stared back, a no nonsense expression on his face. "Don't tell me you don't see that. Go help the kid."

Cold grit his teeth, only to sigh, "Fine. I suspect you'll just pester me if I don't."

"Oh, you're totally right about that. I'll keep pestering you right now." Flash replied as Cold looked away, getting up as he walked out of the building. He started to drift around, soon finding the colt sitting on a stack of wood near the bridge. But as he got close, he saw that the colt was crying.

"Daddy...why daddy?!" he whimpered out while shaking, Cold walking up as he stepped on a twig. The snap of the branch alerted the young pony, Swift turning to the knight glaring at him before looking away, "I...I wasn't crying."

"Good," Cold responded as he walked up to his side, "You shouldn't waste your time on tears. Crying does nothing to fix a situation." Swift just turned away from him, all while holding back his sniffing. "Wallowing in self-pity is also a waste of time. There are better things to do."

"How would you know?!"

"Because I've been in your position." Swift blinked at this, slowly turning to him as Cold continued, "My entire village was destroyed by ponies just like Gold. My parents were both killed and I spent years alone. Every day was a struggle because I couldn't relax for fear of something attacking me. But then one day...a pony finally found me and took me in. I thought everything would be great after that, but that pony was also taken from me." Swift's eyes went wide at this, unable to respond as Cold finished, "You're just like me. You're pushing everypony away."

Swift looked back down, the tears starting again. "It hurts too much. I...I don't want it to get worse."

"You push ponies away so that if they die, you won't feel the pain. Its a sound idea." He turned to Swift with a low glare, "But tell me, can you really go your whole life without any love in your heart? If your mother came up and hugged you, would you be able to push her away?" Swift didn't reply. "Life isn't fair. You can't just get rid of the bad feelings, without also losing the good ones. And if you do manage to purge all emotions...there'll be no coming back."

"But you've obviously done it. You seem fine."

Cold just shrugged, "We're different. I lost everypony important to me." He turned away from the colt. "You still have your mother and grandfather. Ponies who love you so much, they're willing to risk their lives to build this bridge and free you from Gold." He began to walk away, but not before glancing back at Swift. "Don't push them away. If you have something you love...you should do everything in your power to keep them from being taken from you." With that, the two separated with Cold heading back to the house, Swift staying where he was. And as he trotted through the town, he spoke up, "Eavesdropping isn't a very knightly thing to do."

Flash stepped out of the shadows, a frown on his face. "I...sorry. I uh...didn't know-"

"Because I never told you." Cold started walking again. "And you didn't read my profile. You should really do that, as that's a knight's job. Now, are you satisfied with my talk with that colt?!"

Flash rolled his eyes at this, "You're wrong, you know." Cold stopped and looked back at the pegasus. "You didn't lose everything. I'm sure there were still ponies that you could have turned to after...everything."

"You know nothing." Cold glanced away. "You-"

"I'm sure others tried to help you." Flash interrupted, "Maybe Celestia or Grand. And what about the friends of that pony who found you? Didn't they reach out to you?"

Cold growled at this, remembering the guards along with Grand and Celestia. The very thought made his face start to show anger as he responded, "Your point?!"

"You're right when you said I can't understand the pain, but you're not the only one who's suffered. Iron lost his parents, same with First, Heather and Tidal. Grand was an orphan from a young age and Skybreaker lost his mentor. Ruby...she lost her ruler, best friend and was forced to wait one thousand years before she was freed. They've all been through just as many bad things as you, but they managed to open up to others. They overcame their pain."

"So? Why would that matter?" Cold glanced back at Flash, pointing a hoof at the knight, "I am a knight of Equestria. I have no need for anything else."

"I beg to differ." Flash replied while crossing his hooves, "As a Royal Knight, you can't allow yourself to be overcome by your fears. So why don't you act like a knight and stop being afraid of feeling that pain again?! When you do, you'll find you'll have regretted not doing it sooner." With that, Flash took to the skies, leaving Cold with a final thought.

"I'm...afraid?"

As this happened, Swift continued to cry, his form now sitting at the edge of the bridge. Cold's words echoing through his head, "Daddy...why..."

His thoughts were then cut when he heard hoofsteps, a low chuckle following this that made him spin around. His eyes went wide as he saw who was on the bridge, "You..."

"Hello my little pony," Gold replied as two goons walked up beside him. Swift tried to step back in fear, only to feel his hooves slip off the edge of the bridge, "Can't get away from me, little one. Now, you're going to help me with a tiny business matter."

The next morning...

Everypony was up and out as soon as the sun came up, all heading to the bridge. "Is everypony ready to finish this bridge?!" Flash yelled, getting a mighty cry of agreement in response. But as they stepped up onto the bridge, they spotted several figures standing at the structure's end.

"Gold," Cold growled as the pony came into view, the townsponies now all going wide-eyed at the sight.

"Greetings," the unicorn chuckled.

"What are you doing here?!" Rapid barked back, "Get off our bridge!"

"Of course," Gold replied as his horn shined, a stack of papers levitating in front of him. "As soon as you all sign this."

Everypony raised an eyebrow as the papers began to float over, Flash asking, "What are these?"

"Legally binding documents that, once signed, will exonerate me from any crimes you think I might have committed." The ponies all just blinked in shock at this. "Signing these will also mean you'll be signing away your homes and the land it's on, meaning your entire town will belong to me."

"You're insane!" Azure yelled while slamming her hoof down. "Why would we do such a thing?!"

But this simply got a smile out of the unicorn as he pulled something out of his shirt. It was a slip of paper with symbols on it that Gold tossed into the air before sparking his horn.

KABOOM!

The symbols lit up before the paper exploding, shaking the whole bridge.

"Because if you don't, I'll ignite every single paper bomb that I stuck onto the supports of this bridge." This made the ponies all gasp, most of the town on the bridge right now.

The only ones who not scared were Flash and Cold, the pegasus rolling his eyes. "Oh please, you obviously haven't seen me at top speed. I could get everypony off this thing before you even finished casting that spell."

Gold's grin started to grow, "I did notice that. But luckily, a little extra insurance fell into my lap." He clapped his hooves, causing two pegasi to fly out from under the bridge while holding something.

"SWIFT!" Azure screamed as she saw the colt in the hooves of the pegasi.

"MOM!" The colt cried as he struggled against the ropes tying him up, the bindings also holding up a pair of large rocks.

Gold laughed at he pointed at the colt. "You might be fast enough to save all these ponies, but are you fast enough to do that and save the colt from sleeping with the fishes?!" To prove his point, more pegasi flew in front of the ones holding Swift, all holding weapons in their hooves. "I told you I always get what I want! Now choose, you damn hicks! Sign your home away, or lose this stupid colt and your damn bridge!"

The ponies all shared a glance, the hope and courage they had gained over the last few days vanishing. And as this happened, Rapid spoke up, "Alright." Gold floated a pen to the pony, the elder starting to write his name. The rest of the ponies all began to do the same, while both Flash and Cold glared at Gold.

"Don't think I didn't forget about you two," he floated another pair of contracts over to them. "These will make it so that you'll never be able to arrest me."

"This can't be legal," Flash growled back.

"Oh, but it is." Gold chuckled as he tapped the paper. "Do it."

"Please..." they turned to Azure, "Please don't let them hurt my son. I can't lose him too."

Flash let out a groan but did as he was told, signing the contract before turning to his teammate. "Cold, come on." Cold just stared at Swift, who's face was one of complete fear.

Then, he turned to Gold with the most blank expression possible. The sight creeped out Gold, unable to read the knight's face as Cold asked, "Why are you so desperate to make money off these ponies? It goes far beyond just greed."

Gold took a second to reply, a glare on his face before magically unbuttoning his shirt. "Let's just say that I got into a pretty big debt with some...unpleasant characters. They gave me a monthly quota, and if I fail to fill it-" he fully opened his shirt and revealed his chest was covered in the same symbols as the ones on the paper bomb. "This goes off."

Flash went wide-eyed at this while Cold's expression didn't change. "I see...who are those ponies?"

"Like I'd tell you," Gold growled before darting his eyes around, "After all...you never know who's watching. Now sign the damn paperwork!"

Everypony turned to Cold, the unicorn now finally looking at the paper. Flash grimaced as he couldn't read the knight's face, the unicorn staring at the piece of parchment. However, the knight suddenly shrugged as he said, "Alright, I'll sign it." He took the pen in his magic and wrote his name, Gold smiling as he took the documents back.

"Excellent!" Some pegasi began to fly over to pick Gold up, "Pleasure doing business with you."

But as they came down, Cold leaned over and whispered, "Flash, be ready to fly towards Swift."

"What?! But the bombs-"

"Trust me." Cold hissed before turning back to Gold. "Alright, enough messing around Gold. You're under arrest for kidnapping and possession of illegal paper bombs."

Everypony went wide-eyed at this, Gold now holding up the documents, "Are you insane?! You can't touch me!" But in that second, Cold unleased a small beam of magic that struck the papers. "What?!" He yelped as his documents were encased in ice, which made him reflexively drop the documents. But as he did that, he instantly realized his papers were now in the lake, already sinking beneath the water, "NO!" He then glared back at the unicorn, "Big mistake! Drop him now!"

As soon as he said that, his goons released Swift, "AAAAAHHHHH!" The colt cried, only for Flash to zip right past all the thugs. Before the thugs could react, the knight knocked all of them out with ease, quickly catching Swift before he hit the water.

"Gotcha!" Flash said as he lifted him up, "See? Ten seconds flat!"

As that happened, Gold growled before sparking his horn. "That's it! Time for this bridge to fall!"

Everypony grimaced at this...only for nothing to happen.

"Huh?!"

"Boss!" One of the pegasi Flash had kicked into the water yelled out, "The bridge supports are covered in ice!"

"What?!" He looked down and saw a thin trail of ice on the edge of the bridge, the trail leading up to Cold's back hoof, "You...what did you-"

As Flash landed, he saw Cold actually crack a smile as he glanced back at the town. "Sorry I took so long to sign it. Needed as much time as I could to cover the entire bridge support."

"But the bombs-"

"The ice caused them to go soggy, making them worthless." Flash commented as he floated down with Swift, his blade already slicing the rocks and ropes to pieces. "Nice one Cold."

Cold's smile vanished as he turned to Gold, "Now, let's end this. Come quietly, or do we need to do this the hard way?"

"Retreat!" Gold screamed as two pegasi thugs grabbed his shoulders, flying him over the lake as they others began to row away in their boats.

However, the sight just made Flash and Cold both sigh as the pegasi asked the unicorn, "Has anypony ever been smart enough to not do things the hard way?"

"Not during my tenure." Cold's horn glowed before firing a spell at the water, the lake instantly freezing up while shooting out spikes.

Gold saw them coming, but the pegasi didn't as both were struck by the ice, the frozen water quickly gripping both ponies' wings. Screams of pain could be heard as all three were soon wrapped in ice. "No...no!"

All the townponies gasped at the sight, most smiling as they saw the criminals now squirming in pain. "Nice." Flash said with a chuckle, "Now that's what I call a cool ending."

Cold rolled his eyes at that, "Really?!"

"Don't censor me. That's how creativity is destroyed."

Cold was about to reply, only to suddenly feel something grab his leg. Looking down, he saw Swift was hugging it, "Thank you. Thank you for saving me and our home."

The knight tried to form words, only to feel more young ponies come up and hug him. His horn started to spark, ready to push them away with magic...but he then saw the smiles on their faces. As such, he looked away as he replied, "It...was nothing. Just doing my job."

Flash suppressed a giggle at the sight, only for his ears to spike up as he heard a new voice scream, "AAAUUUGGGGHHH!"

They all turned to where Gold was, the unicorn's body now glowing. As by reflex, Flash grabbed Cold and flew him over to the frozen pony, Cold creating a platform to stand on. They both stared at the symbol, now feeling heat coming off it as Gold yelled, "Help me! It's gonna blow!"

"What do we do?!" Flash yelped.

"Please!" Gold screamed, "I'll pay anything! I'll tell you anything! Just stop it!"

Flash and Cold both shared a glance, only for Flash to say, "Uh...maybe I can short it out with my sacred light," Flash suggested as he closed his eyes, preparing to summon the power. But as he did this, Cold saw the symbol glow even brighter, making him do only one thing. He leapt off the platform, tackling Flash as they dove for the frozen lake. "Cold?! What are you-"

KABOOM!

Everypony gasped as the spike exploded, Flash and Cold both slamming into the frozen lake as chunks of ices rained down on them. Once the rain stopped and the smoke cleared, the two unshielded their faces to look up and see that the ice pillar was gone. Gold and the pegasi holding him were nothing but dust in the now destroyed ice spike.

"N...no way."

Meanwhile, in an unknown remote part of Equestria...

It began in a dark room, a single figure sitting on a throne. Their body was hidden in the darkness, the only thing that could be seen is two piercing bright red eyes. In front the eyes was a crystal orb, the sphere showing a vision of the bridge and the smoking ice spike. A dark aura wrapped around the orb next, the crystal glowing as it changed to show Flash and Cold. "Its that blasted ice-making knight again. And this time...there's something more. I don't like this."

"Oh? What's wrong beloved?" A female voice asked from behind, a silver coated unicorn mare soon peering out of the darkness. Her mane and tail were white with multi-colored tips, her cutie mark being a painting pallet. The mare's body was slender in frame, her height tall yet lithe as she slung her hooves over the other pony. "Is it somepony you need me to take out? You know I would always do it for you."

"This pegasus..." the pony replied, a deep masculine voice coming out as he rubbed his chin, "There's something about him. Something that makes my gut twist up when I look at him."

"Is that all my love?" the mare responded as she rested her head on his shoulder, "Surely some nopony isn't bothering you. Just give me the word, and-"

"That's enough Tempera." he interrupted as he stood up from the throne.

"Awww...but master-"

"Enough." the unicorn slightly glared back at her, "What I've seen here may change things. As such, I need to prepare." he clapped his hooves and yelled, "Armalum!"

The sound of heavy hoofsteps filled the room, clinks and clangs resounding off the walls. And as this happened, a pony with black armor covering every bit of his body walked into the room. A red trim displayed itself over the plates in the armor, shining in the darkness as the stallion bowed, "What do you need of me, my master?"

"You and Tempera will summon the rest of our forces. I need all of them here as soon as possible."

"Yes master!" Armalum responded before fading into the darkness, only for Tempera to sling her hoof around the stallion again.

"Is something wrong? You never summon them all here. Is it that knight again?"

"No. All I know is that its necessary. Now get going Tempera."

The mare shook her head, sighing, "Very well. I live to serve after all...but first-" She leaned in, giving him a long kiss on the mouth. However, the stallion didn't move, a dull look on his face as she did the whole kiss herself before pulling away, "Later master..."

She did a quick bow before disappearing, the unicorn now turning back to the orb as it showed another vision of Flash. "Now...who are you?"

The next day...

Despite everything that had happened, the ponies didn't want to wait on completing the bridge. Instead, they all pushed themselves to making a full finished product, soon making it just before sunset. The new bridge was perfect, just like Strong had imagined, with the townsponies practically running across it in joy.

Back at the village, Flash and Cold were both sitting on the edge of the lake, watching the ponies. Behind them was a cage made entirely of ice, all of Gold's goons trapped inside.

"Well, looks like your mission is complete." Cold commented as he looked back at the cage, "Too bad these idiots don't know who Gold was indebted too."

"Yeah...sorry your lead was a bust in the end."

"Its fine." Cold commented as he glanced back at the lake, "Considering how desperate Gold Hoof was, I suspect he couldn't tell me much."

"I could see that." Flash added as he looked back at his cutie mark, "Though I think I might have failed my job too. If my job was done, my mark's supposed to glow. But if it isn't..."

"I see..." Cold replied as he stared at the lake. "That's too bad. Guess its failures all around for us knights."

"Yeah..." Flash moaned as he slumped back, "Eh, at least we saved the town."

"Hey!" they then both turned to a new voice, now seeing Swift running up to them, "What are you all doing here?! Aren't you gonna come party with us?"

Flash chuckled at the colt, "You sure have cheered up."

The colt nodded back, "Well, I realized you were right. My dad wouldn't want me to be moping around." He turned to Cold while wagging his tail, "And I don't wanna push my family away." He turned back to the village, "I'm gonna make sure the village my dad loved remains the happy place you all helped make it. Even if it means I might one day lose somepony...I love my friends and family too much!"

With that, he ran back to the bridge, leaving the knights as Cold whispered, "If he's willing to risk feeling that pain again..."

Flash turned to him, blinking as he realized that was what he had told Cold yesterday, "What?"

Cold stared down at the ground, his face showing a tiny bit of a smile, "If he's able to find the courage to let others in...maybe I can do the same."

Flash blinked at this, only to go wide-eyed, "Cold...are you saying you want to...make a friend?"

The knight looked away, "I don't know. I...I've just done a lot of thinking."

"Swift helped you realize something?"

"Maybe..." Cold said as he started to glance back at Flash, "Though I...I have no idea what to do."

Flash shined a huge grin, "Oh, that's easy." He stood up and held out a hoof, "Here." Cold raised an eyebrow, but took his hoof as he was pulled up. But instead of letting go, Flash shook his hoof, "There. Now we're friends."

Cold raised an eyebrow, "It's...that easy?"

"Of course," Flash chuckled as he let go of the hoof. "All you need to do is be willing to accept somepony, no matter who they are, and they'll become your friend."

Cold looked down at his hoof, blinking at the sight, "I don't..." He then felt something strange, a warmth suddenly appearing in his chest. The stallion patted his fur, a memory flashing in his head, "Noble..." He could feel a tear start to form in his eye, forcing him to put his hoof over it.

Flash smiled at the sight, now thinking that Cold's frozen heart was beginning to thaw. But as he thought this, he heard a noise and glanced at his flank. There, his cutie mark was now glowing, "No way..." He looked back at Cold, gasping as he put his hoof to his mouth and whispered, "Cold...were you why I was...no way." Cold blinked at pegasi, only to see a big grin start to form on Flash's face as he pointed at the bridge, "Say Cold...I'm pretty sure they'd like to be your friends too. So would the princesses, the knights and all my friends." He saw Cold lean slightly back at this, making Flash shrug, "But uh...it doesn't have to be right away. Baby steps."

"I...maybe you're right." Cold admitted as he looked away again. "Thanks."

Flash chuckled back, "Great. Now, let's get to that party. I've got a long trip home and...oh no!" Flash clutched his head.

"What?"

"I forgot to take notes! Twilight's gonna kill me!" This statement made Cold blankly stare at him, only to suddenly burst out laughing. The laugh was low and gravely, one that came from something that had not laughed in a long time. Flash could only gulp at the noise, "That's...creepy."

But in the end, he didn't care. He knew it meant one thing: Cold was very slowly opening up.

Princess Spike

View Online

The Grand Pony Summit, an event that took place every several years in Equestria. Delegates from all over Equestria had come to represent their city, town or whatever they called the place they lived. Here, they would meet and discuss possible trade agreements, routes and other needs. It was a big deal, which was why the most organized pony in Equestria had been chosen to put it together.

"Hraaaaaaaaagghh!" Twilight yawned as she, Spike, Flash, Springer and Grand walked into the main hall, her magic holding a small mug.

Grand turned to her, "Twilight? You okay?"

"I'm fine," Twilight assured him as they got to the main hall, the delegates trying to gather into the room for the opening ceremony. "I'm just...a little tired."

"No kidding," Flash commented as he patted her with his wing, "You've been up for three straight days planning this. Though...that ain't healthy."

"I'll be fine," Twilight added before letting out another yawn. "Once I get through this ceremony, I can finally take a rest. Until then," she took another sip, licking her lips as her eyes started to open a bit more. "My reliable study juice will keep me awake and alert."

"Study juice?" Grand asked with a raised eyebrow, only to get a nudge from Flash.

"It's an energy drink she used to use whenever she had a big test coming up. It's supposed to have three times as much caffeine in it than coffee, and before you ask..." Flash let out a long sigh, "Its just at the legal limit."

Twilight took another sip with a smirk. "This beauty's gotten me out of some pretty important problems."

"Well, just remember our agreement," Flash told her. "No more than four cans worth within twenty-four hours." With that, they arrived at the stage where Celestia, Luna and Cadance were waiting. She quickly gulped down the last bit before jumping on stage with Spike.

As she did, Springer turned Flash. "How bad is the stuff she's drinking? I mean, her aura is struck between exhaustion...and pure unlimited energy."

"Don't worry about it. Right now, she's about on level with you on a sugar high. You know, except the yellow mouse part." This made Springer shudder as Flash continued, "Besides, I'm more worried about when she crashes. All that missed sleep is gonna hit her hard."

He would have said more, but it was this moment that the ceremony began. "Welcome to the Grand Equestria Pony Summit!" Luna declared as the crowd began cheering, Celestia stepping in front of Luna next.

"You delegates have travelled far and wide to represent your cities as we seek to celebrate and learn from all the unique places that make up our wonderful land of Equestria." As she continued, Flash could see what she was saying. He could see ponies of all kinds of shapes and sizes, even one or two griffon citizens. Celestia then pointed off stage, where everypony saw something large being covered by a sheet, which she magically lifted to reveal a pony statue made up of multiple jewels. "At tonight's welcome reception, Princess Cadance will dedicate this beautiful friendship statue made up of gemstones from each of your home cities."

The crowd began oohing and ahhing while Flash saw Spike lick his lips. He then whispered to himself, "Note to self, find something to keep Spike busy until the welcome reception."

"Now I'd like to turn things over to the one who organized the summit: Princess Twilight Sparkle!" The crowd cheered again as the baggy-eyed alicorn trotted up to the front of the stage.

"Thank you everypony. With delegates from over fifty cities attending three days of conferences, receptions, and meetings, this is the largest Grand Equestria Pony Summit yet. And let me tell you, putting it all together has led to more than one sleepless night. We're so excited to have you here to learn more about life all across this great land of ours." There was another round of cheering, Flash and Grand even clapping as they saw Spike get Twilight's attention. "And now, my faithful assistant Spike would like to say a few words."

She stepped back as the baby dragon took her place as he took a deep breath, "Um...hello, everypony! I'm here to help you all anyway I can. If there's anything I can do for any of you-"

"We love you, Princess Twilight!" A random pony interrupted.

"We love all the princesses!" Another yelled out as the crowd began to cheer again, making the little dragon sigh as he hopped off the stage.

"I guess everypony loves a princess. Hmph." With that, he walked away while the princesses had to answer any questions the delegates might have had. As he did this, Flash, Springer and Grand watched him leave before the pegasus pushed the jakhowl with his wing.

Springer turned to Flash only for the defender to gesture to the leaving drake. The jakhowl did a small nod before running after the dragon. He soon caught him as he headed up to Twilight and Flash's bedroom, "Hey buddy...you're not gonna sulk about this like you did at the empire a while back, are you?"

"No..." Spike moaned as he looked away, "I'm gona...go tidy this room so that at least I know I'm helpful."

"So you are gonna sulk." Spike shot him a glare, "Oh grow up. Who cares what those ponies think?" They then arrived at the top of the tower, Spike now beginning to pick up the papers that had been used in the planning of the events. "You know, Twilight never would have gotten this done in time without you there."

"So we both do the work and Twilight gets all the thanks." Spike grumbled, Springer sighing before shaking his head.

"Spike...listen buddy, Twilight appreciates you and that's what counts." He turned to around, ready to head for the door. "I gotta get to my guard posting. Do yourself a favor and actually go outside. You might be able to find one or two ponies that need help and you can show your stuff."

With that, Springer left, leaving the drake all alone. Despite this, Spike continued to clean as he picked up papers and books. It was here that a knock on the door happened, which he ran over too. But just as he was about to open the door, the frame flung out and slammed him into the bookcase behind it.

"SPIKE!" Cadance screamed as she trotted in, only to gulp as she saw no sign of him. As this happened, Spike pushed the door away, falling over as the books from case decided to dogpile on him. Hearing this, Cadance turned to the pile. "Spike?"

A single claw poked out of the pile as Spike moaned, "A little...help?" Cadance quickly grabbed him in her magic and pulled him out.

"Spike, we need you now!" She exclaimed as she placed him down beside her.

Spike shook his head before dusting himself off, "Of course! What can I do?" In that moment, the door opened to reveal Flash carrying a half-asleep Twilight. "Whoa...what happened to her?"

"Her study juice finally wore off," Flash added as he tried to keep her steady. "Now she's in full-on crash mode."

"Geez...that's not good." Spike commented as he knew this was extra bad compared to usual tired Twilight.

He then watched Twilight climb off Flash's back, trying to walk over to him with wobbling legs, "I'm sorry Spike, I just-" She let out another yawn, "Need a quick...nap." She began to stagger, Flash extending his wings as fell over a book pile. Before he could do anything, she slumped over and pulled the books like a love pillow, "Nice. Tell the delegates I'll..." She started to smack her lips before her eyes fully closed, trailing off as she let out a long snore.

"Never thought I'd see that again," Flash commented as he slowly picked her up.

"She's been awake three straight days preparing for the summit," Cadance added as she put a hoof over her mouth. "We need to make sure she gets some rest today. She'll never be able to attend the welcome reception in this condition." She turned to Spike, "Can I count on you to see that she isn't disturbed?"

Spike's vision fluxed between the two alicorns, only to shine a grin before saluting, "I promise I won't let you down!"

Cadance nodded before helping Flash put Twilight to bed. She then left the room, Flash ready to head for the door as well as he said, "Alright...Twilight's schedule is wide open until the welcome reception. The only issue will be ponies who come asking to solve any problems that might come up in the summit."

"What do we do if that happens?" Spike asked.

"If anypony asks for Twilight, just tell them to find me and I'll sort it out." With that, Flash was out the door, leaving a certain drake to blink at the leaving pegasi.

One hour later...

Springer was busy patrolling the streets, keeping an eye out of anything as he walked down another street, "Huh...we might actually get through an event without some major catastrophe. I don't know if that's weird or not. Definitely a first." But as he turned a corner, he then found one street completely empty. "That's weird," Springer commented as started down the street, slowly going along until-"Whoa!" he yelped as the ground suddenly disappeared beneath him. The jakhowl then felt his foot scratching something, looking down to see a cracked pipe. "What the...uh oh." He pulled his foot out next, rubbing his ankle before glancing around, "Nopony's around..."

He blinked back at the pipe, Springer soon running back to the Twilight's room. But as he reached the top, he found Spike sitting in front of the door, the drake sighing in relief, "Everything's good now. Princess Twilight will be rested, Princess Cadance will be proud, and Princess Spike deserves a little reward." He pulled out a gem as he laughed, "Ha! Princess Spike."

"Spike, I need to talk to Twilight!" Springer yelled as Spike hopped off his chair in shock.

"Wait, you can't!" He got up and stood in front of the door. "Twilight's sleeping and I was told not to let anypony disturb her."

"But this is important. I uh...I think I broke a water pipe."

Spike blinked at his statement, only to wave a claw, "Oh that? Don't sweat it. That pipe was already broken and I had to stop a guy from fixing it."

Springer tilted his head at that, "Huh? Why'd you do that?"

"He was making too much noise. There's no way Twilight was gonna be able to sleep through that. I also had to move a polo match and a pony from cutting down some trees....heck, you have no idea how loud this place gets." He then saw the look of disbelief on Springer's face, "What?"

Springer double-facepawed, dragged them down his face as he moaned, "Spike...did it occur to you that maybe instead of stopping ponies from causing noise, you could, I don't know, get TWILIGHT SOME EARPLUGS?!"

Spike opened his mouth to reply, only to close it as he snapped his claws, "Oh...yeah, I could have done that." But before the two could say anything else, new voices rang out as they turned to see a pair of ponies walking up to them. "Uh...hi. Can we help you?"

A mare spoke up first, pointing to the stallion next to her. "My friend here, the distinguished pony from upper Manehattan and I are in a bit of a pickle, and we need the Princess Twilight to resolve it."

"Uh...." Spike glanced back at the door before gulping, "Could you talk a little quieter? And maybe come back later?"

"Oh sure, gosh, I wish we could but uh....we're both supposed to give speeches about our local economies in five minutes, and we've been booked in the same hall! We can't-"

"I had the room first!" the stallion abruptly interrupted. "And let's be honest, my speech is more important."

The mare growled at this, "Point of order there sir, but I think you'll find that my speech is the more important one, don't'cha know?!"

"No, we don't know." Springer responded next.

The stallion turned back to Spike, "Look...youse is gonna have a lot of unhappy delegates on your hooves unless we get a ruling from Princess Twilight right now!" Spike's eyes shrunk at this, gulping as he tried to think of something...only for an idea to pop into his head.

"Flash!"

"Who?"

"Flash Sentry, the Knight of Friendship. He was put in charge of dealing with any issue that might come up while Princess Twilight is indisposed." The two ponies raised an eyebrow at this, making Spike continue to talk, "It was what the princess wanted, and Flash is the stallion she trusts more than anypony else in Equestria!"

The duo blinked, only to nod as the stallion said, "Alright. If the Princess trusts him, then I guess we can too."

"After all, the princess is always right." the mare added.

Springer had to put a paw in his mouth to stop himself from laughing, getting everypony's attention as he gestured at them to follow, "Come on, I'll take you to him." With that, the trio headed down some stairs while Spike breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good thing Flash is taking over for her. That would have been a disaster if Twilight had to be woken up." Spike commented as he pulled out a bowl of gems. As he snacked on them, Springer walked back into the room, "Hey, how'd it go?"

"Flash managed to solve the issue. Seems Twilight set a room aside for just this situation. Good thing you remembered he was meant to deal with the issues."

Spike let out a long sigh, "Yeah...imagine if we had to wake Twilight up. In her state, she'd probably have said something that made no sense."

Springer laughed as he sat down next to him. "Then you would have panicked and done Celestia knows what. Eh, I bet you would have probably given your own suggestion and pretend it was Twilight's."

Spike laughed at this statement, only to tap his chin in thought, "Come to think of it....would that be such a bad thing? I mean, I'm smart. I might have come up with a solution."

"Oh really?" Springer asked with a cocked eyebrow. "So...how would you have solved that?!"

"I would have...er...did what Flash did! Put one of 'em into a spare hall."

"Really? You sure that's what you would have done?" Before Spike could reply, they caught the sound of new voices and hoofsteps. They turned to see a bunch of ponies trotting up the stairs, all yelling at the loudest volume possible. "Now what?!" The group reached them next, crowding around as they kept screaming. Seeing this, Spike started to raise his voice, "Uh...by order of Princess Twilight, BE QUIET!" His voice echoed through the area, making everypony shut up.

Spike slapped his hands over his mouth as he heard his echo, a lanky blue Pegasus using this moment to walk in front of the group. "I was really looking forward to the 'Don't Spend All Your Bits' Speech, but when I went into the hall-" He fell on his flank while beginning to tear up, "A pony had taken my seat! He was a pony who used to be my friend!"

"Your friend took your seat?" Spike replied, trying to suppress a giggle, "Hah, big deal! Why don't you just-"

"No offense," the pony interrupted. "But I don't need some random dragon's opinion. I want to hear what Princess Twilight thinks!"

Springer then spoke up. "Well, Princess Twilight is a little too-mmph!" He didn't get to finish as Spike put a claw over his mouth.

"Princess Twilight is more than willing to help solve the problem. Just..." he tried to open the door, "give us a second."

He pulled Springer inside and shut it, the jakhowl turning to him. "I thought you didn't wanna disturb Twilight."

"I don't. At least not with a silly problem like this, and I'm not gonna waste Flash's time with it either."

"So what are you gonna...oh no."

Spike shined a small smirk while nodding, "Yup. It's princess Spike to the rescue!" He opened up the door and pointed to the pegasus, "The princess says no friendship should end over a seat. You should just forgive your friend!"

The pegasus gasped, "Of course! Oh, the princess is so wise!" With that, he flew over the crowd as the rest of the delegates started chatting about the smart decision.

Spike's eyebrows hopped at this as he turned back to Springer. "Not bad, eh? We could tell these delegates anything as long as they think it came from Twilight."

"Except you don't need to. Remember Flash?"

"I'll let him handle the big issues. We can focus on the smaller ones, and we'll go to him when necessary." With that, he turned back to the ponies. "Alright, who's next?"

As the ponies all tried to get the dragon's attention, Springer just sighed before facepawing. "So much for an issue free event. This is gonna end in disaster, I just know it."

Over the next hour and a half, Spike began giving his own advice to ponies that came asking for Twilight's suggestions. Springer remained behind to act as his shoulder angel, telling him when something would be too much and instead directing the pony into asking Flash. Eventually, the line came to an end with the last pony in need of advice being Fancy Pants. "So...how can Princess Twilight be of service?"

The suit and monicle wearing unicorn patted his chest as he responded, "Well, as city host, the Canterlot delegation feels it's only right that we should get passes to every meeting and party, yes?"

Spike showed a small frown, "Well, that doesn't seem fair-I mean, Princess Twilight doesn't think that seems fair."

"Ehhh...yes, yes, very well. It was worth a try though, wasn't it old chap, hm?"

With that, the unicorn went off as Spike turned to Springer. "This is great!" The dragon cheered. "I just took care of a whole bunch of stuff that Twilight won't have to worry about when she wakes up!"

"Unless you made the wrong decision," Springer flatly replied while leaning against the door. "Then she'll be in serious trouble and her credability will go up in smoke."

"Oh relax, you worry too much." Spike said with waving his claw again, only for a bulb to go off in his head, "Hmmm...wonder if anypony else needs the princess's help?"

He opened the door with a big grin, Springer now gulping at the sight, "Spike, what are you planning?"

Spike didn't reply, instead leaving the room while carrying one of Twilight's checklists. "If I can check a few of these meetings off Twilight's schedule, then when she wakes up, she won't have to think about anything but the reception."

"Seriously?! Shouldn't that be something Flash does instead of you?"

This made Spike tap his chin for a second, only to shrug, "Nah, I got this. Now let's see..." He scanned the papers over, Springer looking over his shoulder. "I have a meeting with the pony in charge of the crystal statue, then I'm meeting the worker pony who's fixing the broken drain."

"And again I remind you, earplugs."

"Right right..." Spike rolled up the list, "Let's get to work." The drake went off to get a pair of earplugs for the sleeping alicorn, the pair soon heading off to complete the extra work.

An hour or so later...

Flash and Grand both sighed as they sat down at a café, the two ordering a drink and something to eat. They were exhausted, having spent several hours on security crossed with Twilight's other problems Spike have given Flash. It was here that they finally found some spare time, using this moment for a well deserved break.

"Geez louise…" Grand sighed after taking a long sip of his beverage. "I can't believe this week. After this, I'm gonna need a long vacation."

"At least Twilight'll be well-rested," Flash added before taking a bite of his sandwich. "I can't wait for this week to be done..."

"Oh? Got a date planned with the princess?" Grand asked with a small chuckle, Flash's face barely blushing as he replied.

"No way. If I put a date on her already busy schedule, she'd lose it." Flash took another bite as he looked away, "We can always figure out something after this mess."

"Ha! Sounds like she's already got you around her hoof!" Grand guffawed, bonking his hoof on the table. "Then again, she's always owned ya if I think about it."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh nothing." Grand giggled as he finished his sandwich, only to turn and see a certain alicorn walking by. The duo saw a look of concern on her face, making Grand speak up, "Princess Cadance? Is something wrong?"

Cadance walked up in response, shaking her head as she glanced at Flash, "Well...you could say that. Flash, did I tell you about the meetings Twilight was supposed to have today?"

"Meetings?!"

Cadance did a small nod. "They got added to her schedule this morning while you and Grand were out on patrol. I meant to tell you after we put Twilight to bed, but it slipped my mind. If you're too busy, I might be able to-"

"I can handle them Cadance," Flash assured her before munching down the last bit of lunch and gulping down his drink. "So, when's the first meeting?"

"Half an hour ago."

Flash grimaced at that. "Okay...might need to circle back around to that one. Was it important?"

"I...think? Twilight was supposed to speak with the mare in charge of the crystal statue and learn what each piece was."

"Alright, that'd be pointless for me to do anyway. So what's next?"

Cadance motioned for him to follow, the pegasus jumping off his seat and waving goodbye to Grand. "Twilight was supposed to talk to a pony who was in charge of fixing a broken waterpipe on Castle Street."

"Castle Street?" Flash asked as he pulled up a mental map of the city. "Isn't that really close to Twilight's room?"

"It is...which would cause a lot of noise. But I'm sure Spike will have found a way to block it out for her. He would have told us if he didn't."

"Unless he somehow got the pony fixing it to stop," Flash joked, the two chuckling...only to come to a stop. Their eyes met as Flash whispered out, "Hoo boy...that's not good."

The two took off next, flying over the city before hitting Castle Street. There, they found a pony standing next to the broken pipe. It was a unicorn eating an apple, which gasped before bowing at the landing princess.

"Your majesty." The unicorn responded, "I was expecting Princess Twilight."

"She's indisposed," Flash chimed in, "I'm speaking for her for now." He looked down at the broken pipe, seeing the water now pouring out of it. "Can you explain why the pipe hasn't been fixed yet?"

"Well, I was fixing it...but then that dragon that works for the princess told me she wanted me to stop because of the noise." Both Flash and Cadance groaned at this as the unicorn turned back to the pipe. "I'm getting a little worried though to be honest."

"Well, get it done, and don't stop until it's fixed. Even if the dragon tells you to stop again, don't." The unicorn nodded as he pulled out his jackhammer.

"Got it. Though considering how much strain the pipes under, it might end up bursting before I can get it done."

Flash and Cadance both frowned at this, Flash now responding, "Just get it done please. We'll compensate for anything if necessary."

With that, they both turned away as Cadance whispered, "That's not a good sign. You don't think Spike has done anything else, do you?"

"Not sure. I just hope that-" Flash suddenly came to a stop as he felt his hair stand on end. Before Cadance could ask what's wrong, Flash turned around and yelled, "Springer! He's calling for me!"

"Springer? What is he-"

"Flash!" Springer's voice called out, the two now seeing the jakhowl and Spike heading their way.

As the four then united, Flash glared at the dragon, "Spike! Did you stop this pony from working on the broken water pipe?!"

Spike blushed as he looked away, "Maybe. He was just making so much noise and it was gonna wake up Twilight."

Flash opened his mouth, only for Springer to flash his paw, "Hold it. If you're gonna suggest earplugs, I already did. Twilight's as deaf as a snake now."

"Good," Flash growled as he turned to scowl at Spike, only to see he was holding a scroll, which he nabbed.

"Hey!" Flash opened it up and saw it was a list of the meetings, making him scowl at Spike harder.

"Were you gonna go to these meetings instead of me and Twilight?"

"Maybe..." Spike tried to look away, but the burning gaze in the back of his head made it obvious Flash was still glaring. "I was just gonna deal with a few issues so Twilight didn't have to worry about them."

"Except it's Flash's job to fill in for Twilight," Cadance told him. "We don't mind you wanting to keep Twilight's stress level down, but these meetings require diplomatic skills that you haven't been trained in like her and Flash."

"But I know Twilight so well!" Spike barked back. "It's easy to make decisions that are like her!"

"But how far ahead are you actually thinking?" Flash instantly responded.

"Huh?!" Spike yelped out, making Flash facehoof as Cadance sighed.

Cadance then shook her head as she replied, "Spike...every decision you make will have consequences. You need to think about how your choices affect not just the ponies involved, but the ones those ponies will come in contact with."

Flash nodded in agreement. "Exactly. And making half-thought out suggestions in her name can seriously backfire." He held up Twilight's list, "So I'll be handling these things while you get back to your real job. And no more speaking on Twilight's behalf."

Spike slightly backpedaled as he put his claws behind his back, "Alright...I promise I won't give out any more orders on Twilight's behalf." The three nodded before heading off, completely unaware that the drake had his claws crossed behind his back. He let out a cheeky laugh next, twiddling his claws as a sinister smile appeared on his face.

Flash and Springer were now flying through the city, the pegasus looking down at the list. He had gone through several over meetings, none of which needing Twilight's physical presence to go off without a hitch. As they travelled between locations, Springer told him about what Spike had done, Flash shrugging in response, "Huh. I guess Spike did make a few good decisions."

"That's mainly because we sent the bigger issues to you," Springer replied while sitting his head on Flash's mane. "How'd they all go anyway?"

"Fine. Like Spike said, I also know Twilight so well that it was easy to figure out how she would have handled those situations. But...unlike him, I actually know the best way to solve it instead of leading to complete and utter disasters. I mean, we live in Ponyville."

"True."

"Yeah...but as long as nothing out of the ordinary happens, everything should run smoothly."

"You know you probably just jinxed us, right?"

"Probably." The two landed near the area his next meeting was meant to take place, only to see Grand leading a group of young ponies around. "Hey Grand, what's with the short stacks?"

"Children of the delegates," he explained while pointing to the now glaring ponies. "Celestia asked me to give them a tour."

"Isn't that a little below your pay grade?" Springer asked, Grand shrugging in response.

"Well considering they're related to some very important ponies, this could technically be considered a bodyguarding job."

With that, he walked away as Flash and Springer went off to their destination. It was the city's grounds keeping department, a large warehouse that kept a bunch of lawnmowers, grass cutters and other gardening instruments. Flash was supposed to be meeting a pony to see how much trimming they had left from a job they did earlier in the day. "Hello? Anypony here?"

"I'm here!" They turned to see a green pegasus pony walking up to them, "What can I do for you?"

"We're here on behalf of Princess Twilight. Can you tell us how much of the...um..." he looked down at the list before raising an eyebrow, "Dragon Sneeze Trees? Wait...that's a thing?"

"Oh yeah. They were recently added to Castle Street, but grew faster than expected."

"The names just that, right?" Springer asked next.

"No, it makes dragons sneeze."

"What idiot thought putting those in was a good idea?! I mean, I know there's only one dragon that's only occasionally here, but it still sounds silly."

The pegasus just shrugged in response, Flash speaking up next, "Anyways...how much of the trees have you cut and collected?"

"None."

"None?"

"I got an order from Princess Twilight to wait. Something about noise complaints."

Flash groaned before turning to Springer, "Why didn't you tell me he did that?!"

"Sorry, I forgot. It's been a long day."

Flash facehoofed before turning back to the pegasus. "Look, forget about what you heard before. Just please go cut down those trees before something bad happens."

"No problem," the pegasi replied before walking off to get his equipment. "But I gotta warn ya, those trees are super top-heavy. Ain't gonna need much to bring 'em down."

"Great..." Flash sighed, only for his eyes to go wide. "Wait...did you say they were on Castle Street?"

"Yup."

"How...strong would you say the branches of the trees are?"

"Pretty strong. That's why I'm bringing this bad boy." He held up a chainsaw to show his point. "Though the trunk is a lot more bendable, which is why they're a health risk."

"Oh geez!" Flash took off with Springer now gripping his back, the pegasus soon following.

"Ack! What the heck Flash?!" Springer yelped, barely managing to hold on.

"We gotta hurry! If one of those trees fall, they might hit the broken pipe!"

"Which could lead to it bursting. But what are the odds of something like that-" He didn't finish when he saw Flash glare back at him. "Good point. Let's just hope nothing makes them tip-" He didn't get to finish as his ears spiked up, his aura telling him one thing. "Duck!" Flash did so, an object soon rocketing over their heads.

"What was that?!" Flash yelled, Springer doing a slight gulp.

"Uh...I think I remember Spike saying something about moving a polo match earlier."

"Of course he did. That better not-" No more words left his mouth as they now heard a large banging sound, both looking down at where the ball had fallen...which was right on Castle Street. "Oh no!" They zipped down, only to see the ball had just hit one of the Dragon Sneeze Trees. The force of the blow pushed the timber's weight, gravity kicking in as it fell over...right into another tree.

Like a stack of dominos, the trees began to collide, each falling as they made their way to the hole with the busted pipe. The unicorn worker didn't notice as the jackhammer along with his earmuffs blocked every sound around him, the falling lumber ready to crush him as he worked away. But before Springer could even blink, Flash's body shined gold as he zoomed into the unicorn, pushing him away a split second before the tree could claim a victim. As it did this, the tree flung itself in the hole, the unicorn now gasping as his earmuffs fell off his head.

"What the heck?!" He yelped as he saw his jackhammer fall over beside the hole.

Flash and Springer both let out sighs of relief, Springer adding, "Well, that wasn't so bad." But as those words left his mouth, the ground beneath them started to shake, making them all stare at the hole before a powerful stream of water shot out through the tree.

"You were saying?!" Flash growled as he watched the water fly up into the air, right into one of the castle windows. "Seriously?!" He turned to the unicorn and yelled, "Cut the water! Do it now!"

"I can't! That's why I was digging!"

"Oh, you have got to be-"

"Don't worry, I've got this!" Springer declared as he shifted into his battle form. Racing up to the pipe, he held out his paws as he formed bubble of aura around the broken piece of metal. The sprout of water came to a stop, only for Springer to let out a yelp of pain, "Augh! Flash, do something quick! I can't hold this!"

"Hang on! I uh..." Flash's brain started to burn as he glanced around for a solution, only to then see a pony fly out of the building's windows, "Cadance!"

"Flash! What's going on?!" She asked as she landed right beside him.

"No time to explain. We gotta shut this off!" Cadance turned to the sight and nodded, her horn glowing. Before anything could be said, crystals began to form around the open pipe. The jewels soon clogged the liquid, Flash sighing in relief as he turned to Cadance, "Thanks. You're a lifesaver."

"No problem."

Flash then looked up at the broken window that the water had created, "Oh uh...please tell me that wasn't anywhere important."

Cadance blinked at the building, only to gulp, "Um...that's the reception hall." This caused Flash to facehoof before opening his wings, flying up to the window. But as he got closer, he heard something.

"ACHOO!" This sound was followed by the noise of something smashing, causing Flash to flinch.

"Please don't be the statue. Please don't be the statue. Please don't be the statue." But as he looked inside, he spotted Spike standing next to a pile of gems that had once been in the shape of a horse.

Spike summed up Flash's thoughts exactly. "Oh...bless me!"

"Not the word I would use..." Flash muttered as he now heard the sound of hoofsteps run up to the room. "That's not good."

This signaled the arrival of Fancy Pants and several other dignitaries. "Oh my, what is the meaning of this?!"

"Oh, this should be good." Flash whispered as he watched Spike backpedal from the crowd. "Now I gotta decide to hop in or see him lie his way out of that."

Spike did a small gulp as he stuttered out, "Well uh...you see...that is...there was this polo game, and-"

Fancy didn't let him finish, turning to the pony that had been working on the pipe after he came in to check the damage. "How could you let a water main burst on Canterlot's most important day?!"

"Hey, don't look at me! Princess Twilight said to stop working on it!"

"What?!" Fancy yelped before glaring at a pegasi that was now holding up the remains of the Dragon Sneeze Trees that had been swept into the room. "Well, what about these trees?! I ordered them trimmed to avoid just such a situation!"

"But the princess told me to stop, bub!"

"Why would the princess make such horrible decisions?! This all could have been prevented!" Fancy Pants yelled as the rest of the delegates all cried out in agreement, crying slanders at Twilight's name.

Flash readied his to go down, now seeing Spike still not speaking up. But as he did this, the drake suddenly screamed, "Please everypony, listen! I'm so sorry all this all happened!"

"What are you apologizing for?! These were Princess Twilight's awful decisions!" Fancy barked back, the others all nodding in agreement. The pony then slammed his hoof down as he declared, "And besides, I'll not let Princess Twilight give Canterlot a bad name in the eyes of Equestria!" He turned to the rest of the mob, "Come on everypony! Let's go give her a piece of our minds!"

With that, the many delegates rushed out of the hall, Spike in hot pursuit. "Wait!" He cried as he tried to run, "You've got it all wrong! You-huh?!" He yelped as he now found himself being lifted into the air, looking up to see Flash with a long glare on his face, "Uh....hi Flash."

"Hello Spike. Whatcha doing?!"

Spike just looked down in response, muttering out, "I'm um...I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Naw...what gave you that idea?!" Flash growled as he forcefully threw the drake on his back, "But that can wait until we've saved Twilight from getting her head bitten off by that mob. Now come on, you gotta lot of explaining to do!"

"Okay..." Spike whimpered out as Flash kicked his wings into overdrive, the duo zipping across the sky.

Meanwhile...

Grand's tour was almost complete, the many colts and fillies having enjoyed their trip around Canterlot. He was now directing them back to the castle to meet their parents for the reception, but as they got closer, a rumbling sound caught his attention. Turning to the noise, his eyes went wide as he now saw an approaching angry mob rushing down the streets. "What in the name of-" His own words died in his mouth as he quickly turned and started pushing all the young ponies to the side.

As he shoved the last one away, the mob charged right in front of the children. The lot blinked at the sight, confusion on each face as Grand glanced back and now saw Flash flying after them, "Hey kiddo, what's-

"Can't talk!" Flash yelled as he flew overhead, "Gotta stop major crisis!"

"But-" Grand tried to say, but it was too late. The sight made Grand sigh, "Ugh...I'm too old for this-" He stopped himself as he saw the youngsters all staring at him, making him look away, "Uh...stuff. I'm too old for this stuff."

Back to Flash and Spike...

The two had finally reached the mob as it arrived at the tower, Flash going straight up to the door before they got there. "Wait!" Spike yelled as he jumped off Flash's back, now flashing his claws at the crowd.

"What is it now?!" Fancy Pants roared as the others glared at him, "There's an angry mob here that demands satisfaction!"

Flash flared his wings at this, "Yeah...about that. You do realize you're planning to storm the royal chambers, which the last I checked was an act of treason?" The group all stopped yelling as Flash lowered his wings, now walking in front of Spike as he continued, "Secondly, the princess isn't the one at fault right now."

"What are you talking about?! Of course she is!"

"No, she isn't. She hasn't even been conscious for the last few hours." The ponies all blinked at this, exchanging glances as Flash sighed at this sight, shaking his head, "Listen, she's asleep. And before you start yelling about that, I'd like to see you go through fifty-two hours of non-stop awakeness without needing a long nap after it."

"But if the princess has been asleep this whole time, who was the one giving out the orders that caused this huge mess?"

The reply they got was Flash using his wings to grab Spike, flipping over his head as the drake was now sweating waterfalls. A huge gulp went down his throat as every eye bored down upon him. "Uh...hi."

But as everypony opened their mouths for the greatest unified roar ever, the sound of doors interrupted the might screech. It was Twilight, pulling out the earplugs as a refreshed yawn left her. "Morning everypony...or should I say afternoon? Anyways, do you know...if the...water main...got fixed?" She rubbed her eyes as she now saw a horde of ponies standing behind Flash and Spike, a small frown creeping onto her face, "Um...did something happen?"

Before the duo could respond, Fancy Pants stepped up beside them. "Many apologies your majesty, but a bit of a situation has occurred and...well, we were all blaming you until a few seconds ago."

"A situation?" Twilight asked, turning to Flash and Spike with raised eyebrows. "What's going on?"

Once again, Flash used his wing to push Spike into the limelight, the defender adding, "Why don't you ask him?"

Spike tried to yell back at the knight, only to feel his mother figure's disapproving glare now glued onto him. Gulping at the sight, he twiddled his claws as he replied, "Well uh...you see...um...you needed to sleep, and Princess Cadance told me you weren't to be disturbed. And then there was this bird and, well..." He slumped over with a sigh, "Long story short, I made a few decisions on your behalf."

"A few decisions?! This a few?!" Twilight yelped as she now saw the destroyed reception hall, Flash expecting a full-on Twilighting panic attack any second.

The knight was now standing next to Cadance and Springer as Spike stared at the floor, "Well...maybe more than a few...but I had good intentions! Honest!" He felt the burning gazes on the back of his head as he looked back up, Twilight's face now directly in front of his, "That is...until I...didn't anymore." Twilight began to growl, Flash and the others ready to restrain her if necessary as Spike continued, "I'm sorry Twilight. I guess I got a little carried away. It-it just felt so good to have ponies caring about my opinions on such important matters. I guess I was just enjoying feeling like a princess."

Flash sighed as he watched Spike look down again in shame. "I guess I'm to blame too. I was supposed to be your actual stand-in, but I didn't act in time."

Twilight glared back at him, her eyes then glancing over to Cadance and Springer. The two simply shrugged, making her sigh before turning back to the little dragon. "Well Spike, one of the most important things a princess can do is realize when she's made a mistake, and fix it."

"How do I do that?"

"You could start with them," Cadance pointed to the dignitaries as they started to walk into the room.

Spike gulped as tried to backpedal away, only to feel Twilight's magic push him up to the stage. There, he began to twiddle his claws again as he spoke up, "Uh...hi there, everypony. So I guess I owe you all a pretty big apology. It's funny. Here we are at a summit that brings together ponies from all across Equestria, and all I could think about was myself. You all came here to celebrate the things that make each of our cities so unique and special." Everypony seemed to agree with this, giving small nods as he continued. "But instead of getting into the spirit of things like all of you, I used my friend's position to make myself feel good. And...I'm sorry for that."

It was at this moment he spotted one of the gems that had been a part of the statue at his feet, the drake now picking it up and staring at his reflection. Everypony watched as he jumped off the stage and moved over to the rest of the gems, trying to stack them together despite it continuing to fall apart. The mob all glanced at each other, only for Fancy Pants to step in front of them. Before they could react, he walked up to Spike and grabbed a gem, moving it to another part of the statue. "The Canterlot ruby goes here, old sport."

Spike gasped at this, only to see the mare he had talked to earlier walk up and put another gem in place, "And ours goes here, don'tcha know?" The rest of the delegates all began to follow suite, each taking their gem as they started to put the statue back together.

Before long, it was good as new, Spike marveling at the sight as he said, "Does this mean you forgive me?"

"Sure!" The stallion from Manehatten replied. "You know, the whole idea of the statue is that when each of us plays our own small part, it adds up to somethin' great."

"Quite," Fancy Pants added. "Just like how all our cities make up the beautiful land of Equestria!"

Everypony nodded in agreement as they looked back up at the beautiful statue. As they did this, Cadance spoke her declaration. "I hereby dedicate the Citizens of Equestria statue to everypony who plays their part, no matter how big or how small!" She turned to Spike as she said that, the little dragon smiling as one of the delegates gave him a bouquet of flowers.

He chuckled while accepting them, taking a big sniff before realizing they were the Sneeze Trees. "Aw, come on!" He slowly began to inhale, everypony gasping before Springer jumped in, placing a paw under his nose before knocking the bouquet away.

This halted the sneeze, making everypony sigh in relief as Springer growled, "Seriously, can we get rid of those things?! They're starting to become a health hazard."

Everypony laughed at this as Twilight walked up to Flash. "Thanks for covering for me."

"Anytime," he replied while pulling her in for a hug. "But sorry I let Spike take things this far."

"It's okay. As bad as things got, they probably would have been even worse without you here. I hate to imagine what Spike would have done with the bigger issues..."

"He probably would've asked you." Flash chimed in, "And in your exhausted state, you probably would have said something silly and they might have actually done it." For some strange reason, the image of a pony putting hay in an apple and eating a candle appeared at the forefront of his mind. "Eh, whatever. Next time there's a diplomatic event, I'll leave the politics to you and stick to my old standby of hitting things." This got Twilight to roll her eyes, making him pout, "What?! It's never failed before."

"You are such a meathead."

Flash tried to respond, but his words were drowned out by Cadance and Twilight laughing, making him sigh as they began to enjoy the rest of the reception. The Grand Pony Summit's opening hadn't been...perfect, but now it seemed things were back on track. Equestria was still united and stronger than ever, and nothing would ever change that.

The Ultimate Ponyville Diet

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Autumn time had come to Equestria as the ponies were preparing for the approaching winter. The many farms were conducting their final harvests before the snow arrived, the Running of the Leaves now happening. As for the other holidays, Nightmare Night was only a month away, Heartswarming right after that.

And as these events were coming on the horizon, a certain pony in the Carousel Boutique was busy storing her summer clothing lines, ready to make room for the winter wear. Years of experience had helped Rarity learn when exactly the best time to start selling the changing line, mainly the fashionable coats and thermal clothing.

As for today, she had to hurry since she was planning to meet Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie for lunch. Luckily, she had help. "Here you go Rarity!" Sweetie said as she levitated a mannequin into the room, only for it to bang its head on the doorframe.

"Careful!" She scolded as her horn lit up, gripping the statue as well, "Sweetie...what did I tell you about your magic?"

"Sorry..." Sweetie muttered as Rarity placed the mannequin down next to the rest. She then removed the rest of the clothing, putting them on hangers before storing them in an oversized closet for future sales.

"That's the last of it," the fashionista proclaimed once the last dress was on its hanger. "Thank you, Sweetie. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just want you to be more careful."

"It's fine. I'm happy to help." Sweetie then blinked at the wardrobe. "What the heck are you gonna do with all that stuff?"

Rarity shrugged at this, "Who knows? Maybe a pony will show up looking for something like it for some unknown reason. Its always good to be prepared, as that's the first rule of business."

"I thought the first rule of business was the customer's always right."

"Well...it is."

"Or give before you take."

"Yes...although-"

"Or surround yourself with the best. Or build on your strengths and hire for your weaknesses." Rarity turned to glare at her sister, only to see a big cheeky smile on the filly's face, "To be honest, you've told me so many first rules of business that it's hard to keep track of them all."

"Oh, off with you. Don't you have crusader things to do today?!"

"Yes, I do." With that, the unicorn filly ran out the door, Rarity shaking her head at the sight. She placed the last dress into her closet, sighing as she stared at all the dresses she hadn't sold, alongside her personal collection. The mare then took out one of her favourite dresses, the one she had worn at her first gala.

Taking a glance at the clock, she saw it was eleven o'clock, forty-five minutes before she was to meet her friends. Plenty of time. She then took the dress out and began to put it on, but something was...off. "Excuse me?" She asked herself as she attempted to do the belt around her waist. But as she tried, she saw the links couldn't reach. "Come on...why can't I...fit into this..." she flinched as she her horn flared, magic aura covering the dress as she kept trying to fit into it. But as she did this, her eyes shrunk as her brain told her one thing. "Oh no..."

Quickly removing the dress and putting it back in the closet, the unicorn ran into the bathroom before her eyes fell on the worst device in her house. One that existed only for dread and terror: The weighing scales.

Trotting up to it, she gulped before closing her eyes. Her heart beat a mile a minute as she opened her eyes, her pupils slowly descending down. And as she did this, a loud scream echoed throughout Ponyville. The screech shook the earth, a barrage of birds flying out into the distance thanks to the terrifying scream.

Meanwhile...

In a long winding stone corridor that looked like something out of a Daring Do book, a certain yellow unicorn named Lightning Blitz was running down the rocky place. His cape and necklace were missing, his eyes darting everywhere as sudden holes appeared in the walls, summoning a bladed pendulum. As it swung, Lightning managed to pull himself to a stop before leaping over a lower hole to dodge the blade.

After this, he began hopping like a rabbit, his hooves grazing several spiked sticks shooting out of the walls. As they did this, he dodged each impalement, quickly getting out of the chamber, only to come to a halt again. There he found himself now in front of a large chamber that had no floor, instead having a bunch of floating platforms hovering over a pit of lava.

A small gulp later, the unicorn began to leap around, keeping his footing as he hopped onto each platform. And as he got to the final one, he found himself falling short, now gripping it with his front hooves. Clenching the edge with his backhooves, he groaned as he scraped up and caught his breath. After this, he leaped again, now getting to a podium that had a big red button on it.

"Almost there..." he whispered before taking a deep breath, soon charging at max speed. But as he did this, movement in his peripheral vision made him jump to the side. A dart hit the ground next, followed by a volley of others, Lightning dancing around as one of them skimmed his shoulder. And as he felt the scratch, he leapt at the button, slamming his hoof into it.

"DONE!" He yelled as the darts froze in midair, the whole place now dissolving into the castle training room. Flash, Springer, Iron and Wild were sitting on a bench off to the side, Lightning turning to them. "What's my time?" Springer held up a stopwatch, which he took in his magic. "Let's see...three minutes and thirty-four seconds! Yes!"

"That was awesome bro!" Wild cheered, his puppets dancing at the same time.

"It was twenty-nine seconds," Flash told him. "Had to add five seconds since you were hit by that dart."

"It skimmed me."

"Which is why you got five seconds instead of ten," Iron countered. "Not only that-"

Lightning rolled his eyes at this. "Yeah yeah...that's why magic is forbidden in this, as this is physical only. I know Iron. Now, where does that put me?"

"One second after Flash," Springer replied while pointing at Iron, "You beat me by eight seconds and since Iron didn't finish..." this made the earth pony grumble since he fell in the lava. "Flash is still faster than you, at least without his wings and your magic."

"Oh yeah!" Flash cheered as he started doing a victory dance, the other three rolling their eyes.

Lightning then shined a cheeky grin, "Just wait Sentry, I'll catch up to you yet. And I won't rest until I do."

"Too right you won't," Wild added.

"Too right, too right."

"So...mind if I give this badcolt a try?" Wild asked next, only to get four surprised looks back, "What?"

"You do know this isn't the kind of thing the average pony could do, right?" Iron responded, only to get a shrug from Wild.

"Well, I'm not your average pony. Besides, ever since the gala incident, I've been wanting to learn a few combat skills. Gotta be able to protect what you love, right?" The others shared a glance, Wild chiming in again, "Let me use basic magic then? You know, if you're that worried."

They nodded in agreement at this, resetting the room as Springer got the stopwatch ready.

Meanwhile...

Rarity was now sitting outside of the café with Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie. They had all arrived at around the same time, chatting up a storm until the waiter arrived. It was Savoir Fare, pulling out a notepad as he asked, "Is everypony ready to order?"

Rarity turned to him first, "I'm not that hungry. I think I'll just...have an ice tea."

Twilight nodded in agreement, "Me too. My stomach feels kind of full."

"I wanna ice tea too!" Pinkie added as she tapped her hooves together.

Fluttershy looked down as she said, "I um...uh...want an ice tea. Herbal please."

"Very well." Savoir scribbled a few notes before walking away, the four blinking at the leaving figure before Rarity turned to her friends.

"Well...seems we're not eating much today, hmm?" Rarity chimed in, only for the three to look away.

"Yeah...I guess so." Twilight responded while twiddling her hooves. "I mean, I know I'm not hungry."

"Same here." Pinkie chimed before slumping over, "I uh...I've been..."

"Your drinks." Savoir interrupted, placing the glasses on the table. They all gave their thanks before Rarity took her drink in her magic. As she did this, her eyes jumped from one mare to another, seeing each handling their drinks differently. Pinkie was continuously sipping hers down, Twilight levitating it around but pushing it away when it got close to her lips. As for Fluttershy, she just stared at hers with an increasing frown.

The sight made Rarity want to sigh, her voice's tone soft as she spoke up, "Excuse me girls," they all turned to her. "Apologizes in advance for asking this, but....is everypony here...on a diet?" As those words left her mouth, Pinkie spat her drink out, Twilight's horn now flickering as the glass began to fall out of her magic. But when Rarity glanced at Fluttershy, her heart shrank as she saw tears begin to fall down the pegasi's face. "Oh dear..."

One transition to another location later...

After leaving the café, (They made sure to pay despite not drinking the tea) the four soon found themselves in the town square. Twilight and Pinkie were sitting on a bench while Fluttershy and Rarity opted to stand. Twilight spoke up first, her voice shaking as she admitted, "Between the gala, Fantasia Festival and the wedding...well, I think we might have been over-indulging ourselves a bit when it's come to unhealthy foods."

Pinkie nodded in agreement. "Though this might seem to be coming out of left field for some ponies who might be listening, since they probably weren't there when we were eating."

Rarity turned to her in confusion. "What in Equestria are you talking about, darling?"

Fluttershy then spoke up before Pinkie could comply. "What she means is that everything's so delicious, you can't help but over-eat."

"I have to agree," Rarity replied with a long sigh. "I myself have gained-"

"Greetings. It has come to our attention that most girls take issue with having their weight broadcast. Since these girls include a magical prodigy alicorn, a seamstress that could weave a suit out of your own blood, a pegasus with animals like tigers and bears for friends, and...well...Pinkie, we will not be announcing their actual weight and using certain censors for the time being. Until then, and after we made sure to build a bunker for safety, we will be showing the censored words.

Now, back to your scheduled reading."

"Fashion pounds."

"Oh please, you're fine." Twilight grumbled as she looked away, her face turning red, "I discovered I'm up to bookshelf pounds. Ugh...its so embarrassing."

Pinkie's hair went flat at hearing this, "Well, I've gained cupcake pounds." She turned to the last of their group, "Fluttershy?"

The Pegasus shrunk back, trying to hide her face behind her mane. "I um...I uh...last I checked, it was...puppy pounds, I believe."

All four's eyes shrunk at this, now seeing the horror that was this new reality for them. As they thought about this, Twilight crossed her hooves as she whimpered out, "Gosh...I never would have guessed this would happen. I mean, what if the boys found out?"

The others all gasped at the suggestion, a giant imagination cloud appearing over their heads. It showed Spike, Wild and Flash running through town, screaming their heads off.

"This is an emergency!" Fake Spike screamed, "Rarity has put on fashion pounds!"

Fake Wild clutched his head and cried out, "And I can't believe Pinkie has put on cupcake pounds!"

"It's horrifying!" Fake Spike continued, "We can't let anypony find out about this!"

"NOOO!!" Pinkie yelped as she went up and swatted the imagination cloud with her tail. "Bad imagination cloud! Bad!" She then turned to the others, now seeing panic on their faces. The sight made her gulp, "This is bad..." Pinkie pulled a bag out of her hair and started hyperventilating into it. "They'll...never...be able...to keep the secret."

Fluttershy's eyes began to tear up again, "Oh dear...what would Iron think?"

As they saw both now shiver like leaves, Twilight and Rarity exchanged glances before Twilight said, "I guess that settles it. We gotta lose this weight and quick."

"But how?!" Rarity asked as her lip started quivering, "You don't happen to have a spell that makes you burn off a hundred calories with each step you take, do you?"

Twilight shook her head, "No. I checked and there's nothing."

They all sighed at this, Fluttershy whimpering out, "It's so unfair. I surprised Iron with a big home-cooked meal a few days ago. He loved it and ate about three times as much as I did..." Tears began to go down her face, "So why am I the one who gained weight?!"

Twilight slumped over with a sigh, "Flash is the same. I've seen him eat enough food to feed Manehatten, but he never seems to grow any wider."

"That's because of all the intense exercise they do," Rarity added with crossed hooves. "Whatever they eat ends up getting burnt off because they're constantly active, just like Rainbow and Applejack. They probably eat just as much but work it off on the farm or during Wonderbolt practice." The fashionista blinked at her own statement, only to tap her hooves, "That's it! That's what we need!"

"To work on a farm?" Pinkie asked.

"To become Wonderbolts?" Fluttershy followed.

Rarity shook her head, "No! We need an extensive training regiment. We need to cut out anything fattening and push our bodies until they're back to their regular dress size."

Twilight and Pinkie blinked at her, their eyes shrinking at the idea, "Um...are you sure that'll work?"

Rarity nodded back. "We won't know until we try. How about it?"

Twilight and Pinkie shared a glance, only for Fluttershy to speak up, "I'll do it!" They turned to her, only to lean back as they saw the tears now gone as fire burned in her eyes, "WHATEVER IT TAKES TO LOSE THIS WEIGHT!"

Pinkie shined a big grin, "Then I'm in too! Whatever it takes to slim down!"

Twilight did a small gulp, but nodded anyways, "Alright. I'm on board too."

Rarity nodded and held out her hoof, "Right. Then let's all take the pledge." They all brought their hooves together, "We're gonna burn it all off!"

Together, they all announced the same thing. "WE PROMISE TO FIGHT TILL WE'RE RIGHT!"

One trip out of the town square later...

Now having their declaration of war against weight done, the girls all headed off to find their trainers. It wasn't long till they reached the castle, the group making sure to avoid the kitchen. "If I know them, they'll be in the training room." Twilight commented as she trotted down a hallway.

As she said this, the defenders walked out of the room, Flash seeing Twilight as he asked, "Oh, hey girls. You here to study the training room again?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, we need to talk to you all about something."

"What?" Iron replied, now seeing Fluttershy look away.

"Well..." the pegasus started to shift her hoof into the floor, "We were...um...wondering if you...uh..."

"We wanna train with you guys!" Pinkie chimed in, Fluttershy backpedaling as she hid her sigh of relief.

The boys all blinked in confusion, Wild now speaking up. "Why?"

His puppets repeated the question, Twilight this time replying. "Well...you all do it all the time, and...we thought it might be a great way to build our relationship. You know, understanding something what your other half does most of the time. To uh...you know, understand you better."

They watched as the boys all exchanged glances, both groups having different mental conversations. After this, Flash turned back to the girls and said, "I...guess that makes sense. I mean, I'm fine with it." They sighed in relief, only for Flash to stare at Twilight and add, "But are you sure about this Twilight? We've done this before. You know, the whole body swap we ended up doing a while back."

"Well...that was different, and I'm an alicorn now." Twilight replied, her eyes darting away for a split-second.

But as this exchange happened, Lightning turned to Rarity. "Wait...what are you doing here? You're not dating anypony here, and the last I checked, you were allergic to your own sweat."

"Oh, ha ha." she growled while rolling her eyes. "Is it so hard to believe I wanted to try something new with my friends?"

"It is if it involves the kind of serious physical exercise." Lightning flatly replied, "Seriously Rarity, are you sure you wanna do this?"

Iron nodded in agreement, "He's got a point. This might not be something you girls can handle."

This statement caused the girls to all frown, Fluttershy trotting up to her boyfriend with a glare, "Are you saying because we're girls we can't do anything you can do?!"

"No! Of course not!" Iron instantly replied as they shook their heads, "I'd be saying that if you were all boys! Er...I mean uh..."

Flash came to his rescue, "He means that our level of training isn't something you can just jump into."

"But you do it every single day," Pinkie pointed out.

"Yes, but that's only because our bodies have been conditioned from years of training. You're trying to do something like uh...Twilight trying to use the most difficult spell she knows, but while she's still a filly."

This made the girls all gulp, glancing at each other as Iron spoke up, "Right. We're not saying you can't do our training, as you probably could...but it could take weeks if not months of smaller exercises to get to that level."

Flash nodded in agreement. "I mean, when I first became Grand's apprentice, he didn't have me instantly train on the level that the guards trained. Most of the time it was studying, alongside simple exercises that helped build my stamina and muscles."

"Which were slowly made more intense over time," Iron continued. "You get the picture now?"

They all nodded at this, Rarity gritting her teeth at that. Taking a deep breath, she stepped in front of the girls, "Alright then, we want you to give us everything you think we can take. Put us through the most difficult regime you think we'll be able to handle."

"Yeah!" Pinkie added while bouncing up and down, "Push us to our limit!" Twilight and Fluttershy also nodded at this.

The boys all shared glances, Flash twiddling his hooves, "Well..." Rarity gestured to Twilight, the alicorn walking up to the defender in response, batting her eyes. Fluttershy and Pinkie did the same with their boyfriends, the three squirming under their gaze until- "Alright, you can train with us."

The mares cheered, all pulling the boys into a hug. That is, except Lightning as he rolled his eyes, "Pushovers." A small laugh made him turn to Rarity, the mare giving him a huge smirk. "What?"

"I look forward to training with you."

"Say that again after the first day. You probably won't last the first ten minutes."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, that's so." Lightning replied, only for a bulb to go off over his head, "In fact, tell you what...I'll make a bet with you."

Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Go on..."

"If you can get through a whole week of training, I'll agree to do anything you want me to do for a whole day without complaint."

Rarity shined a big grin at this, "Oh, I like the sound of that. Thought...you really think I can't last that long?"

"I'm certain of it."

"And if I don't last?"

"Then you have to do whatever I ask for a whole day without complaint. So, you still up for this?" He held out his hoof, Rarity blinking at it before thrusting her hoof and gripping it.

"It's on," Rarity replied with a shake. As this happened, everypony watched with raised eyebrows, surprised at the exchange.

"Alright..." Flash turned to all four girls, "You all better rest up. Starting tomorrow, your training begins in earnest."

"Can't it begin in Ponyville?" Pinkie asked, "I don't like the cupcakes they make in earnest." A series of laughs followed this, everypony giggling before leaving the castle.

The next morning...

As soon as the sun rose the next morning, the girls were up and at the castle. There, they found the defenders standing behind the castle, which the girls started to do stretches in preparation. Pinkie was wearing a yellow tracksuit shirt and blue shorts, a blue headband, yellow leg warmers on her back legs and smaller striped ones on her front legs. The others were just wearing headbands and leg warmers.

They weren't the only ones there, as Spike, Rainbow, Applejack and the CMC had all heard about this little experiment and knew they just had to watch. Rainbow and Applejack were invited to join, but both chose not too since they got plenty of exercise in their day to day lives.

"This should be fun." Spike said while snacking down on some popcorn.

"Glad I brought a camera," Sweetie added while she held up the device. "I can't wait to see Rarity do this."

"I'm gonna want a copy of that," Rainbow told her next.

"Me too," Spike and Scootaloo said together.

However, Applejack was the only one not excited. Instead, she was sitting there with crossed hooves, glaring at the mares as she whispered, "Ah just don't get it. What are they up to?"

"Alright girls," Flash declared as he walked in front of everypony, "First off, are you sure you're properly stretched out? Trust me on this, you'll regret forgetting a muscle later." The girls all nodded as they stood in a line, Flash pacing in front of them like a general. "Then we'll get started. Now you wanted to be pushed to your limits, so we'll do just that...but if at any point you feel like you can't go on, just say the word and we'll quit. Alright?"

They all nodded again, remembering what the goal was. The girls had a very light breakfast, trying as best as they could not add any more calories to the pile they needed to burn off. As such, Flash continued, "Alright...Lightning will be doing your warm-up while the rest of us are on patrol. After that, the serious training begins." With that, Flash, Iron and Springer walked away, giving Lightning a knowing nod before leaving.

"Alright ladies," Lightning stopped when he saw Wild now standing beside Pinkie. "And stallion. Let's begin our warm-up. We'll start with...how about three whole laps around Ponyville?" This statement caused Wild and the girls to all go wide-eyed, only to see a big grin appear on the unicorn's face, "You've got an hour before the guys come back from patrol. Anypony who hasn't completed all three laps in that time won't get to rest, and they'll have to do push-ups instead until they show up."

"Isn't that a little...extreme?" Twilight squeaked out, her memory of being Flash back then not even suggesting something like this.

"You asked to be pushed to the limit," Lightning then smirked at Rarity. "Unless you wanna admit you can't handle it."

"We'll do it!" Rarity declared as the other girls glanced at her for a second, only to nod in agreement.

"Then let's go ladies. Follow me!"

Lightning began into a sprint, the mares and Wild quickly following as Applejack commented, "And so it begins." As she said this, Rainbow took to the air with Sweetie so they could follow, the rest sitting back and waiting to see who would be the first one back. Twenty minutes later, they got their answer when Rainbow and Sweetie floated down with Pinkie appearing on the horizon with Wild on her tail. As they reached them, Twilight and Rarity appeared with Fluttershy just behind them with Lightning by her side. Exhaustion was already on every non-defender face, Spike and Scootaloo sharing glances as they began their second lap.

"That's not a good sign." Spike commented as he finished his popcorn.

"Yeah...that looks pretty rough." Scootaloo added.

It was twenty-five minutes before they showed up again, Pinkie and Wild having now dropped back so they were now running beside Rarity and Twilight with Fluttershy and Lightning on their tails. "Come on girls!" Spike cheered.

"You can do this!" Sweetie screamed, the four nodding to show they had been heard as they began their final lap.

"You think they'll make it?" Apple Bloom asked Applejack, who just shrugged.

"Twilight might make it considering how she was back at the Running of the Leaves. Still...they only got fifteen minutes left."

They waited and watched with baited breath, ten minutes passing with no signs of the girls. With each minute that ticked by, it seemed more likely that the girls wouldn't be able to do it. But just as the last minute began, Lightning appeared in his traditional flash of light before picking up a stopwatch he had started almost an hour ago.

"What are you-" Spike didn't finish, as in that moment five different colored blurs appeared on the horizon and were coming up fast. With thirty seconds remaining, the girls pushed themselves as they shot past where Lightning was standing.

"Time!" He said, Wild and the girls all collapsing on the ground panting. Spike rushed over with a tray of water bottles, as Lightning checked the watch. "Three seconds under an hour. You just lucked out." The five sighed in relief before slurping down the water, Pinkie just throwing hers on her head. "Catch your breath and wait until the others show up. Then we can begin the real training."

They all froze as they remembered this was just a warm-up, Flash and the others returning just a few minutes later. Wishing the boys had taken their time on patrol, they felt a chill go down their spines as they saw Iron take over coaching, "Alright, time for some muscle-building exercises. We'll start with pushups." The boys got in line with the girls before they all got down, each having different levels of success. Pinkie and Wild seemed to be having no issue, but weren't going as fast as the defenders, Wild being a tiny bit quicker. Twilight and Rarity were much rougher around the edges, Rarity in particular letting out long pants while Twilight tried harder to regulate her breathing. Fluttershy was having the most issues, her body barely moving up and down. Seeing this, Iron turned to her. "You can do this Shy. Don't try to keep up with everypony else in this. Ignore 'em and do as much as you can do."

"Thank you Iron." she whimpered out as she now stared at the ground, her body refocusing. The animal caretaker's speed increased thanks to this, but it was still miles behind the others.

Eventually, Spike yelled time, making Iron get up and change to the next exercise. This time, they split into boyfriend-girlfriend pairs to perform sit-ups. Lightning and Rarity paired off as Spike announced for them to begin, half the group beginning the move while the other half held down their hooves. It wasn't long till they switched, the mares wishing it was longer time for the boys. That's how it went for the next hour, with the group performing multiple different exercises together. Inchworm, plank jack, mountain climber twist, plank to knee taps, corkscrews, wide mountain climber and the old favorite of the burpee.

By the time Flash called an end to the session, Wild and the girls were not in the best condition. Even the defenders were looking a little winded, but the others looked as if exhaustion had teamed up with pain to torture them. Despite this, they all gave determined stares as Flash cheered, "Well done. You girls all did great!" As these words left his mouth, his ears picked up a loud cough from a certain unicorn, "And you did great too Wild."

"Thanks..." he moaned as he laid back while Pinkie rest her head on his stomach. "I can't believe you do that every single day. Respect."

"Respect, respect."

The defenders all turned to one another, Springer now speaking up, "Uh...girls? That was just part one of today's training."

They all went wide-eyed at this, looks of horror covering their faces. Lightning laughed at the sight, kneeling down next to Rarity, "What, you already done?" This made the unicorn almost growl as she picked herself up, her legs shaking like jelly.

"I'm ready when you are. What's next?"

Lightning chuckled at the sight, backpedaling as shined a small smirk, "That's what we like to hear. Because of that, we've come up with a little challenge for you all to try. Follow me." The unciorn turned and walked into the castle, everypony except Springer heading inside. However, Wild and the girls found that they had to almost drag themselves, only to find that they were going to the training room.

Stepping inside, they found that the place had been morphed into what looked like a high school gym. On one side of the wall were a bunch of cannon-like devices that the defenders stood behind. "Welcome, to extreme dodgeball." Flash patted the cannons with a small grin, "These bad boys will fire high-speed balls at you. Your job...is to not be hit by them. If you're hit, you're out of the game."

Iron nodded while punching his hooves. "The game will last thirty minutes. Anypony still in by the end of it gets a special prize." He then saw the truly scared look on Fluttershy's face, making him walk in front of the cannons, "And before you think this is dangerous, its not. We're not gonna do something painful like this. Its about reflexes and agility, not pain endurance. Here, watch." Flash fired the cannon at Iron, a red ball smacking his face. However, as soon as it touched the tip of his nose, it exploded into a million specks of light that quickly faded away. "See? Perfectly safe." This made Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief, only to feel somepony land right beside her.

"Oh, I am so getting in on this," Rainbow added as she shifted beside Fluttershy, Spike, Applejack and the CMC all doing the same.

"Same. Let's do this thing," Applejack continued, the others nodding with big grins.

"Alright. And before we begin..." Flash turned to his lover, "No magic." Twilight rolled her eyes at this, only to see Flash switch the first cannon on. A ball shot out, the group scattering as it hit the wall behind them and exploded. The defenders all started their cannons as well, balls flying everywhere as they now began to bounce off the walls and floor.

At the start, the cannons weren't firing at fast or hard rates, making it easy to dodge. But with each passing minute, they began to increase in speed and power, Lightning summoning an extra cannon at the three minute mark. However, it wasn't until the five-minute mark that they had their first elimination, that being Spike as one of the balls bounced off the wall and rebounded into the side of his head.

"Whoa!" He cried as the ball exploded against his temple, knocking him off balance.

"Spike, you're out!" Flash yelled as he saw the pouting drake go to the side. He then turned back to the girls, a huge grin appearing on his face, "One down. Who's next?!"

Sweetie and Applebloom were next, both getting hit about the same time. Then Wild was eliminated, as Pinkie jumped to dodge a ball, only for it to bounce off the floor and hit him in the chest. Pinkie apologized after this, Wild not minding as they let him leave the field. After that was Scootaloo, getting hit in the back by a rebound from a ball hitting the wall.

Only the mane seven girls were left, ten minutes now passed as the balls began firing at max velocity. Despite this, the girls remained untouched...except a certain athlete, "HA!" Rainbow exclaimed as she dodged three balls at once, "I could do this all day!"

But as these words left her mouth, the universe decided otherwise as several cannons suddenly pointed in her direction and fired a volley of balls. "WHOA!" She yelped as she began making weird body shapes in the air, unable to fly out of her current spot. But as she did this, a ball clipped her wing, exploding.

"You're out!" Flash announced, Rainbow growling back at him.

"What?! That thing just clipped me!" She yelled, only for another ball to hit her face, "Blaugh!"

"Leave Rainbow. You lose." Flash replied, Rainbow grumbling as she floated down and walked off the field. "Now...who's-"

"Yeehaw!" Applejack cheered as she spun around, practically breakdancing to avoid a volley of spheres. But in that moment, Rarity spotted a ball incoming and gasped before ducking, the projectile flying over her head and straight for Applejack. The farm pony also saw it and instinctively did a matrix style backbend, though she had to use one of her front hooves to keep her balance. The ball went flying right over her stomach and head, passing by as she pushed herself back up. "Oh yeah!" She celebrated, only for the ball to bounce off the back wall and strike her head, "Yow!"

She fell over from the blow, everypony flinching as she mumbled into the floor, "Aw, donkey butter..." The farmer then picked herself up and joined the others.

"And then there were four," Flash said as they watched the girls continue to jump around the room.

Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy all felt like they were gonna collapse any minute, Twilight now thinking, "This is so hard."

"I don't think I can last much longer," Fluttershy was close to tears as her body moaned.

"So hungry...need food." Pinkie mentally groaned as her stomach kept yelling at her about the small breakfast.

"This'll be worth it in the end," Rarity assured herself. "I...I have to keep going!"

The minutes continued to pass as the four remained untouched, Flash checking the time and announcing they only had to last one more minute.

"I am gonna do it!" They all mentally screamed.

"Five, four, three, two...one!" The cannons stopped firing as the girls dodged the last ball, only for them to all collapse, dropping like rocks.

The training room returned to its normal state as everypony else ran over, claps and cheers following as Spike said, "That was amazing girls!"

"Dang. You actually beat me," Rainbow added as she put her hooves behind her head, "You must have really wanted to win that prize."

In actuality, the girls had forgotten about the prize. But as they remembered this, their ears perked up at a new voice, "Special delivery from Sugarcube Corner!" Springer announced as he arrived with a tray holding four cups. He placed the tray down and revealed it had four gorgeous looking sundaes with chocolate, whipped cream and other random toppings. The girls could feel their mouths watering at the sight, their very empty stomachs growling.

That is, till their brains all said in unison, "If I eat this, all that exercise will be a waste."

Tears tried to appear in their eyes as Twilight said, "Well...thanks for the offer..."

"But we don't want them," Pinkie added, only to see everypony else go wide-eyed.

"Uh...Pinkie? Are you okay?" Wild asked, "You never say no to sweets." He then put a hoof on her forehead, "You don't seem to have a fever."

"I'm not sick," she replied while looking away.

"Then what's with saying no to these things?" Rainbow asked as she picked up the sundae and held it up to Fluttershy's face, the mare doing everything in her power to not look at it.

"We're just...not in the mood for them."

"That's right," Rarity nodded as she picked up hers and levitated it over to Sweetie, who licked her lips as she took it. "We're just here to train, that's all."

"That's fine..." Flash told her with a raised eyebrow. "But you know, there's nothing wrong with a little carrot to go with the stick."

"We're fine," Twilight assured him before handing hers to Spike. "So what's next?"

Lightning raised his hoof at this, "That's it for today. We don't want you girls overdoing it. Rest for today and be ready for tomorrow." The girls sighed in relief, only for Lightning to say, "Though you've still got to do a warm down. You know, or else your bodies will be completely dead tomorrow." The girls all moaned but did as Lightning instructed.

A little later...

The girls were now at the spa, all four now in the hot tub. "Haaaaaaaah..." Twilight breathed as she lowered herself, her hooves feeling the water soothe her aching limbs. The Ponyville Spa was quiet today, which was perfect for them. "I knew this was gonna be hard, but I didn't think it'd be this hard."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "It's only the first day and we're already completely burnt out."

"But at least we'll lose the weight..." Pinkie pointed out, only to flinch as she felt the water prick her hooves. "Owie…"

"We might even lose a little extra. Trust me, all the pain and suffering will be worth it." Rarity added as she slumped over, now remembering her bet with Lightning. "Oh yes...that's gonna be fun." She whispered as she closed her eyes, "I can't wait. I have a whole range of new outfits I intend to have him model for all to see..."

"I just hope we can survive long enough," Twilight finished as she sank deeper into the tub. "And I really hope I can move tomorrow."

Tomorrow...

Turns, they were still able to move. Granted, it was while their muscles were screaming in unending agony, taking an hour before they could even get up to start the training. This made Lightning's warmup of running three laps around the town almost unthinkable, the girls now finishing the laps five minutes after the time limit. Of course, this meant they were forced to do push-ups until the others showed up, only to immediately go into sit-ups.

Once done, they headed into the training room for another challenge. This time it was an obstacle course, though they used foam padding and rubber balls, all replacing the spinning blades and projectile arrows that they usually used in these kinds of exercises. Rainbow, Applejack, Spike and the CMC joined again in this venture, each taking turns for the best time. Unlike yesterday, the girl's scores were not as good as Rainbow barely managed to take the top spot from Applejack, even with her not being allowed to user her wings.

That was how each day went, warm-up jog, muscle training and then the training room challenge. There were some minor changes along the way, such as Lightning adding an additional lap to their warm-up on the fourth day and Iron increasing the amount of time they had to do each exercise. The biggest changes were the training room challenges, one being laps in a pool, (Applejack was the winner, Fluttershy being a close second due to her experience with marine animals) another day was over competing how many barrels they could pull up a hill with a cart. (The CMC won this, as they were allowed to do it as a team due to their age.)

Before long, the sixth day rolled around and the girls were at their limits. As such, Rarity was once again at the spa relaxing in the hot tub. She had hoped the others would join her, but the training meant that the last few days had put their day to day chores to the wayside. Twilight had now received an old tome from Celestia that needed translating, Pinkie had to prepare for a colt's birthday party and one of Fluttershy's bird friends had arrived saying that an animal had been injured and needed looking after.

So now, the fashion designer pony that didn't have any urgent work to do, was alone in the tub, washing the pain away. Her body wasn't as sore has it had been before, but she still felt like she was at the end of her rope. There was also her stomach, which seemed to be constantly growling now. "One more day..." she moaned why patting her belly. "Then you can eat the way you usually do."

"I knew it." Rarity almost screamed at the sudden voice, turning to see Lightning leaning against the doorframe of the room. A smirk adorned his lips as he stepped inside. "I knew there had to be more to this than you just being interested." He saw Rarity's face began to turn red, most of it now hiding beneath the water. "Let me guess, you and the others put on a few pounds and now you're trying to lose it as quickly as possible."

"Maybe..." she muffled out, the water blocking the words.

"And I'm guessing you haven't been eating as much the last few days to help this." Rarity said nothing, making Lightning chuckle as he took off his cloak and hopped into the tub, sitting opposite Rarity. "You know, crash dieting isn't healthy."

Rarity glared at him, her head slowly lifting out as she hissed, "What would you rather I do?! Stay fat?!"

"I wouldn't call you fat. And even if you were, is that really so bad?"

"Of course it is!" Rarity growled, looking away, "Who's going to want to date me if I'm overweight?"

Lightning raised an eyebrow, "Is that what this is about?"

"Its not just that." Rarity mumbled as she started to sink into the water again, "I won't be able to fit in any of my old clothes if I don't lose some weight." Tears began to try and form in her eyes as she continued, "But yes, I do want to be...in a relationship. I mean, is that so wrong?! Most of my friends all have lovers! It's just me and Applejack who are single, and she's more focused on her farm than her love life....but I'm not opposed to courting somepony."

Lightning let out a snort, "Courting? What is this, the middle ages?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah yeah, I get it. You're jealous that everypony else is pairing up and you want it to be your turn."

Rarity whimpered at his statement, "Everypony's always saying how pretty I am, but nopony asks me out...I'm gonna end up an old maid."

Lightning rolled his eyes at that, "Well I doubt it's because of your weight. I mean, being overweight doesn't mean nopony will find you attractive. Look at Mrs. Cake. She's married with kids and she's a little on the plump side."

"I'll tell her you said that."

"The point is that if somepony's only gonna like you because of your looks, then they're not worth your time."

Rarity grit her teeth at this. "So you're saying if a me as I am now and a me that's three times my weight were to come up to you and ask you out, you'd pick the fatter version of me?!"

Lightning looked up at the ceiling, trying to think of a response, "Uh...I guess I'd probably say yes to the first pony that asked me."

"And if we ask at the same time?!"

"Then I'd agree to go out with both of you," He looked back down to see a blank glare from Rarity, "What?! There's no rule saying you can't go on a date with two different mares! You're not in a relationship yet!"

"That still sounds like you don't care!"

"I do too care!" Lightning barked back, "It's the best way to find out which one's the better fit for you!"

"Oh? And which would you pick?!" Rarity hissed. "You'd obviously pick the one you find more attractive."

Lightning let out a sigh, "Yeah...you're probably right. And if you had asked me back when I was my...naïve self, I probably would have picked the slimmer you." Rarity's eyes narrowed at this, only to see Lightning shrug, "But I'm not that shallow anymore."

Rarity raised an eyebrow, her expression slowly shifting. "Why not?"

"I've been all over Equestria, and everywhere I went, I saw families of ponies living happy lives and most of the couples were completely different. There were ponies I'd call good looking in relationships with ones I...wouldn't say that. Heck, when I was working in Applewood, there was this one gorgeous actress who was married to the nerdiest pony I'd ever seen. Glasses, bucked teeth, polka dot bowtie...the whole package. I asked her what she saw in him and you know what she told me?" Rarity shook her head, "She said it was because he made her laugh."

Rarity hummed at this, only for Lightning to say, "So yeah, I learned that being with somepony you find attractive doesn't mean you'll be happy."

The statement made the mare sigh, "Hmm...maybe you're right. I do want to be in a relationship, but not one that's held up by just my looks. Besides, being beautiful hasn't helped me thus far."

"Eh, it's probably hurting your chances more than anything," Lightning said without thinking, only to then see Rarity's turn to a scowl, "Uh...I mean um...I'm not saying it's a bad thing!"

"Oh?! And why is it hurting me?!"

"Well...it uh...gives off a certain vibe. You know, it makes ponies think...you're out of their league. Like you're...unobtainable."

Rarity's scowl disappeared, making her blink at Lightning as she replied, "Wait...really? You think I'm like that?"

Lightning shrugged again, "Yeah. It's like...Princess Celestia. She's considered beautiful, and she's not married."

"You don't think that's more to do with being a thousand years old?"

"Nothing stopped her when she was our age...probably. But she's a princess now, so most common ponies would probably think they don't have a shot with her."

"I see..." Rarity sighed as she looked up at the ceiling, "So I'm cursed to be...unobtainable."

Lightning's face now showed a small frown, knowing his words didn't go where they should have. "Rarity...I'm sure that somepony will one day gain the courage to ask you out. And if push comes to shove, you can just ask them out."

Rarity glanced back down at that, "Lightning, its usually the stallion's job to ask a mare out."

"Eh, who cares," Lightning replied while waving his hoof, "I'd rather have a mare ask me out. I mean, could you imagine a pony having the guts to ask me out? That would be some mare..."

Before Rarity could reply, Lightning lifted himself out of the tub, magically gripping a towel. "Anyways, I gotta go. Do yourself a favor and eat something before you pass out. And stop worrying about your weight. Heck, with all the training you've been doing, you've probably gained more weight in muscle then you've lost in fat."

Rarity said nothing as she watched Lightning finish drying himself off, staring at his body as he grabbed his cloak and headed through the door. She could feel her face heating up again as she turned back around, putting a hoof to her mouth as she whispered, "Ask a pony out myself..."

The next morning...

The final day of the girl's training was done. They had done the laps around the town, now up to five and just managing to make it in time, and were able to pass the endurance exercises. However, the final training room challenge was a grueling one, this one being a boxer style challenge. The ponies would be doing a series of punching bag routines, with a final weight lifting competition. (Spike and the CMC refused this one, the latter saying they've already tried boxing and weight lifting cutie marks) In the end, all four girls tied, unable to surpass each other while Rainbow and Applejack kept daring each other to do more heavier weights...only to both pass out way before anypony else.

Now they were all laying in the training room, Pinkie speaking up first as she moaned, "I can't...believe...we did it."

"No kidding. A whole week of intensive exercise," Twilight finished as Flash stood above her.

"So...what do you think?"

"I think I don't give you enough credit," Twilight groaned as she closed her eyes. "Oh...it still hurts..."

Fluttershy glanced up at Iron, "Do you really do this every week?"

The Metal Guardian just shrugged before helping her up, "More or less. Sometimes it's harder and sometimes it's not. Depends on what's going on in town." Fluttershy just leaned up against him, letting out a sigh of contentment.

Lightning smirked as he saw Rarity looking at her stomach, chuckling as a thought popped into his head. "You know, you girls have probably burnt off a ton of calories after what you've been through."

This caught the girls attention, all but Rarity giving him a look of hope. She just gave him a pout, knowing what he was getting at as Twilight picked herself up and moved over to the control crystal, "Let's see just how much we've lost." A quartet of weighing scales appeared on the floor, three of them wagging their tails at the sight.

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "Does it matter? You look fine to me."

"Yeah. Who cares how much you weigh." Wild added, only to get a gasp from Pinkie, "What?"

"You...don't care about how much I weigh?"

Wild tilted his head at this, "Not really."

Iron then turned to Fluttershy, seeing an expectant look on her face, "Uh...I mean, as long as you're not unhealthy. I honestly don't really see what's so bad about being overweight."

Fluttershy blushed at this, only to look back at the scales as Twilight spoke up, "I'd still like to see what all our efforts got us." The four all stepped onto a scale, their eyes closed as it calculated their weights. And as they opened their eyes, their faces freezing with dropped jaws.

All the boys shared a glance as Spike asked, "So...how's it look?" They watched as the four got off the scales and turned around, their eyes filled with happy tears.

"I made it!" Pinkie sobbed.

Rarity nodded in agreement, wiping her eyes, "It was really tough, but it was worth it."

"I set a goal and I achieved it!" Twilight cheered, Fluttershy now pulling them all into a hug.

"I'm so proud of myself!"

"You should all be proud of yourselves," Iron told the hugging quartet. "You didn't give up and kept pushing on, no matter how hard it was."

"Yeah. You survived training that would crush a normal pony." Flash added as the girls ended their hug. But as they did this, they saw a huge grin appear on the defender's face, "Time for a reward."

"And we're not letting you say no to this one," Wild finished as he gestured to them. "Follow me."

One small trip out of the castle later...

The reward turned out to be an all you could eat lunch at Hay-Burger Queen.

"Everypony, eat up!" Springer announced as Wild placed a massive pile of burgers down on their table. "After everything you've been through, go ahead and eat up! Our treat."

Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy's hearts all stopped, their stomachs yelling at them. Their guts were all screaming in pain, constantly reminding them about the week-long starvation. That and they were now watching Spike, Rainbow, Applejack and the CMC all now enjoying the feast, the defenders just chuckling at the sight.

"Mmm..." Scootaloo moaned with each bite, "This is sooo good."

"Thanks for letting us join in," Rainbow added as she gulped down a second burger.

"You should have some Twi," Spike replied while holding up a burger to Twilight's face.

As the smell of the burger wafted into the girl's noses, the four mare's eyes twitched in pain as they stared at the mountain of food. The very sight made their brains shake like crazy, the gray matter battling their stomachs as a new imaginary cloud appeared above their heads, this one showing a space ship.

The alarm was blaring on the S.S. Diet, Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie all sitting at their stations while Rarity slumped over in the captain's chair. On the screen was the image of the hay-burger mountain, with the whole place shaking as Fluttershy spoke over the alarm.

"The hunger meter's approaching max! It may blow!"

"Batten the hatches on the port side!" Rarity ordered, tears pouring down her face.

"The third line's been breached!" Pinkie cried, biting her mane as she squirmed in her seat.

"We're done for! The fourth line can't take the pressure!" Twilight screeched as her console blew up, "It's over! We can't hold out any more!"

"Bare down ladies! We just have to get through this meal!" Rarity finished, only for the S.S. Diet to explode in space.

And as the ship exploded, the imaginary cloud faded as the four just sat in frozen terror. Before anypony could even remotely react, the burger mountain vanished as the four mares began stuffing their faces. All were devouring at neck break speed, even Rarity, as everypony just watched in shock.

The only one not surprised was Lightning, who just rolled his eyes at the sight. "I told her to eat more." he whispered as he leaned back and put his hooves behind his head. "Here's hoping they don't do any more crash diets."

Later that day...

As the sun and moon began to switch places, Lightning was trotting through town for his evening patrol. The setting fire sphere illuminated the streets in an orange glow, not a single pony choosing to be out at this time. This had lead to a pretty calm patrol, which Lightning was all too happy to have.

But as he turned onto his street, he spotted somepony standing outside his and Wild's house. "Rarity?" The mare shined a big grin as he approached her, "What are you doing here?"

Rarity's smile began to grow, "What do you think? I'm here to collect on our bet, Mr. Blitz."

This made Lightning's eyes to go wide, trying to hide a gulp as he replied, "I...don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do." She tapped his chest as she leaned up to his face, her grin still getting bigger, "I survived a week of your training and didn't give up. That means I won our bet, and that means you have to do anything I tell you to do without complaint."

Lightning started to backpedal, fear now consuming his mind as he saw Rarity's mischievous smile. Despite this, his brain told him to come to a stop, the unicorn letting out a sigh as he looked down at that ground, "Fine...you won the bet. I won't deny that." He glanced back up, a frown now fully on his face, "What do you want me to do?"

"Oh? You don't wanna run away?" Rarity asked while batting her eyes.

Lightning shook his head, "No. I'm no coward. But...before you tell me what you want me to do, can I say something?" Rarity did a small nod, making Lightning rub the back of his head as he replied, "Um...I just want to say I'm sorry about starting this bet. I uh...shouldn't have made fun of you so much."

Rarity leaned back at this, putting a hoof to her mouth, "Is that all?" Lightning nodded this time. "Oh...then you're forgiven. In fact, I'm glad you did the bet."

"Because you won?"

"Much more than that. Let's start my reward, shall we?" Rarity added as Lightning did one last gulp. That is, till Rarity tapped his chest and said, "You, Lightning Blitz, have to ask me out on a date."

"HUH?!" Lightning gasped, his eyes now as wide as dinner plates.

"You heard me. You can't say you're not interested, especially since you've asked me out before."

Lightning opened his mouth to reply, only to facehoof, "Yeah...that's true. And sorry for that back then. I was a sleaze and-"

Rarity interrupted him by putting her hoof over his mouth, "Just ask me out."

Removing the hoof, Lightning did a tiny nod before taking a deep breath, "Okay...Rarity, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

The mare let out a giant gasp, "Why Lightning, this is so sudden." The defender growled back, the mare giggling at his response, "Well...I accept. But I should warn you, a date with me isn't cheap."

"I figured that." Lightning grumbled as Rarity turned around and put her tail up to his chin.

"I'm free this Saturday. I'll meet you at my house at eight." she then started to walk away, looking back and giving him a wink. "Got it?"

"Got it..." Lightning replied as he watched her walk away, now whispering to himself, "What did I just get myself into?"

But as she disappeared into the night, both carried a smile on their lips. They both knew one thing for sure, that this Saturday was gonna be a truly interesting event like no other.

Party Pooped

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Yakyakistan, a northern kingdom that exists beyond the Crystal Empire. As the name implies, its a country entirely populated by Yaks, a proud, powerful race that was very simplistic in their life choices. Equestria and Yakyakistan once had friendly...ish relations, but unknown factors had brought that friendship to an end.

Until now.

In the Castle of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Friendship Council were waiting for the arrival of their new allies, or at least hoping they would become friends. But the look on Twilight's face showed she was currently at a Level Two state of Twilighting, now getting closer to hitting Level Three.

Pinkie went over to the alicorn and patted her chest as Twilight muttered to herself, "There's no reason to be nervous Twi. Everything's gonna be fine!"

Pinkie then tapped the alicorn's stomach, "Twilight...tell those butterflies in your tummy to beat it! Don't worry so much! Making new friends is always fun."

In response, a new fresh wave of sweat began flowing down the princess's face, "Ohhhh...I don't know about that Pinkie."

Fluttershy came up next, patting her wing on Twilight's back, "It'll be okay Twilight. They're probably just as nervous as you are."

Applejack nodded in agreement, "Ya'll been plannin' this shindig for weeks. Yah know everything about these fellers, so it's gonna be dandy."

Flash leaned back in his chair with a shrug, "No kidding. I mean, what's the worse that could happen? So they don't like us. It's not the end of the world."

Twilight began to perform the breathing trick Cadance had taught her, the mare replying as she rubbed the sides of her head, "You're right. Remember, Equestria and Yakyakistan haven't opened their borders for hundreds of moons. In fact, Yakyakistan is so far north of the Crystal Mountains, nopony's even been there!"

Flash stopped leaning as he blinked at that statement, "Wait...if nopony's been there, how do you have research on their food, dwellings and culture?"

"Imagine the look on Princess Celestia's face when she finds out we made friends with a yak prince!" Twilight exclaimed as her eyes shrunk in fear, her breathing increasing in pace. Seeing this, Flash continued to talk as Twilight put her hoof on her chest, "I'm calm! I'm calm..."

"And I can transform into a hydra that breathes sunshine and daisies," Flash said before Twilight gave him a deadpan stare. Flash shrugged at this, "We can all say things Twilight. Doesn't mean it's true."

Twilight started to growl, only for attention to be taken as Spike blew into a trumpet. They all turned to the now opening door, which was right in Spike's face, before a red carpet unfurled. Once done, three large hairy yaks trotted into the castle, stopping halfway as the two at the front stepped aside to show a yak wearing gold jewelry and ornaments. It was the ambassador of Yakyakistan, the honorable Prince Rutherford.

"Ponies!" The yak called out in a near yell, "Greetings, ponies!"

Twilight quickly teleported, bowing as she appeared. "Prince Rutherford, your Majesty." Rutherford nodded as she stood up. "On behalf of all of us, I welcome you to Equestria."

"Me honored. Yaks hope for great friendship between ponies and yaks." He then got right up in her face, "FRIENDS FOR A THOUSAND MOONS!" The force of his yell was on par with the Royal Canterlot Voice, only with an extra layer of spit.

Twilight, after rubbing her ears, gave a small smile, "You must be hungry after a long journey." She singled for Spike, who pushed a table of strange-looking food in front of the yaks. "We've prepared a banquet of traditional yak food."

Everypony watched as Rutherford began to inspect the cart, growling at the sight, "If things not perfect, yaks get mad. Yaks always get mad when things not perfect!"

Twilight did a large gulp, Flash walking up in front of her, "A fine standard, but we in Equestria prefer to think that it's the thought that counts." He suddenly felt Twilight elbow him in the gut, "What? I'm just explaining how our culture work. Best way to build relations is to understand what makes us different and what makes us alike." Flash shined a grin at this, hoping that quoting a diplomacy book Twilight had gotten him after the Royal Pony Summit would help keep her stress down.

But those happy thoughts were all but destroyed as Rutherford spat out the food he had just tried. "This no taste like yak food! Fake pony food make yaks mad!"

"Uh oh..." Flash commented as Twilight instantly hit Level Three. Before they could say or do anything, Rutherford tipped the table over as he and his yaks began rampaging through the castle. They slammed into pillars, ripping down the decorations Rarity had put up, which made her faint as they rest began to destroying anything they could get their hooves on. Everypony simply stared as the three wrecked the place, knowing they couldn't do anything due to the yak's diplomatic immunity.

Pinkie then stepped up to Twilight, "Is it okay to be nervous now?"

Flash shook his head, "Nervous? Feel free to be terrified."

About an hour later...

Iron, Lightning and Springer were now heading back to the castle after finishing their morning patrol. They had wanted to see how things were going with the yaks visit, only to meet Wild on the way, the stallion now carrying several bags. "Hey bud," Lightning said as he took some of the bags in his magic, noticing their contents, "Pinkie got ya running errands?"

"Yup," Wild replied with his puppets repeating his words. "She asked me to pick up a few things for the friendship party later."

"A few?" Springer replied as he looked the bags over, "Seems more like a lot." But as he said that, they walked up to the castle's doors, opening them to see quite a sight. The place was a total wreck, not one unbroken object in sight. "What happened in here?"

Flash and the girls were busy cleaning up as Springer asked this, his partner responding, "Our guests got a little...overexcited."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "After we calmed them down, Flash was able to distract them with the training room's battle simulator. Hopefully, that'll hold their attention long enough for us to fix all this."

"If we can..." Flash held up a broken part of a bannister while Applejack hammered it into place.

Once the farm pony was done, she wiped her brow, "Them yaks sure have a funny way of sayin' "howdy."

Rarity, who was currently gluing a broken vase back together, looked up at her. "They're different, that's all." She put the fixed vase back on the table, "Very...different."

Rainbow sighed as she flew up to Twilight, broom in hoof. "I think they broke my record for most stuff broken in under a minute. I mean-" she pulled out a busted ornament, "They even broke the trophy."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this. "I can't tell if that's ironic or not."

Wild and Lightning put the bags on the floor before the entertainer turned to his girlfriend. "So I'm guessing the first impressions weren't...perfect."

As Pinkie shrugged, Flash flew down. "Perfect seems to be the issue with them. If it's not perfect, they hate it. I get the feeling they'd probably jump off a cliff if somepony said they weren't perfect."

Seeing worry on everypony's face, Twilight gestured them into a group, "All we have to do is show them how great it can be to have friends before Princess Celestia arrives for the friendship party tonight. Now, who read the seven-volume cross-indexed history of Yakyakistan I recommended?" She then stared at each face, only finding one nod.

"I did, I did!" Pinkie exclaimed before hopping over to Fluttershy. "Did you know they live so far north of the Crystal Empire that it's cold all the time?" She wrapped herself up in Fluttershy's mane. "Yaks have yak fur to keep them warm."

Applejack giggle from up on the balcony. "Pretty sure that's what fur's always for, Pinkie Pie."

"I know! Yaks are so cool!" Pinkie screamed as she suddenly materialised from under Applejack's hat, shocking her into dropping a hammer. Flash managed to catch the hammer before it smashed Rarity's vase, the unicorn giving him a thankful nod as Twilight looked up at Pinkie.

"Pinkie Pie, can you show them around town? I know you have to plan the friendship party too, but it would really help to make them feel welcome."

Pinkie shined a huge grin as she and Applejack arrived at the ground floor, "Don't worry. They'll be in good hooves with me."

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, "Good. Remember, we want to make sure Equestria feels like home. That means doing everything we can to make this place feel like Yakyakistan."

"No problem!" Pinkie chimed in with a salute.

Flash shook his head at this, "You say that now, but I get the feeling these guys aren't gonna be so easily swayed."

"We still have to try." Twilight replied before turning around, "Let's get out there and make some new friends!" Everypony gave their own cries of agreement, Pinkie heading to the training room with Flash and Wild going with her to make sure the training room wasn't trashed.

Luckily, the yaks managed to keep the place clean, happy fighting some random generated goons. After this, Pinkie and Wild took them out for a tour of Ponyville while Flash cleaned up. After a lengthy town montage, Pinkie brought them to Sweetapple Acres, Applejack suggesting they visit as she said, "We know y'all are noble warriors who avoid the so-called finer things, so me and mah family would be honored if ya'll rested here in the barn during yer visit."

Pinkie bounced over to some large hay bales with pillows. "Applejack and I made hay beds like you're used to back in Yakyakistan."

Prince Rutherford stepped up to the bed, snorting as Wild took a deep gulp that his puppets mimicked. "Hmm...This perfect."

Wild sighed in relief as Pinkie pointed to the beds. "You can snooze here all afternoon, 'cause you're gonna need a lot of energy for my party tonight!"

Applejack then whispered, "That wasn't so hard."

Wild was about to agree, only for Rutherford to yell, "Wait!" They turned to see him licking the hay before yelling, "This not yak hay!"

"Of course..." Wild sighed.

"Well..." Pinkie tried to explain as Applejack began pulling her back, "We didn't have actual hay from Yakyakistan." Wild followed after the two, spotting Big Mac and Applebloom already running off, "But we tried our best to make it just like yours."

"Not perfect! Yaks destroy!" With that, he and his entourage began stomping on the hay beds. The ground shook, the three running out of the barn while avoiding flying pillows.

"Flash weren't kidding about them being picky."

Applejack turned to her fellow earth pony. "Pinkie Pie, what do we do?!"

Pinkie looked back at the half-destroyed barn, a quick bulb appearing over her head, "I have an idea. I need to go talk to Fluttershy. When the yaks are done...you know, bring them to the park." With that, she ran off as Applejack and Wild just stared at the barn.

"I hope Pinkie's next idea works way better," Wild added while gulping. "If not, these guys are gonna destroy half of Ponyville before this visit's over."

"Me hope ponies next surprise is better the last ones," Rutherford growled as they headed through the park.

"You and me both brother." Wild muttered as he spotted his girlfriend in the distance. She was standing next to a tree that had a bunch of sheets hanging from it, Fluttershy and Iron also there as the two were putting a picnic blacket down with cups of tea.

"And now, for your entertainment pleasure. Presenting animals, Yakyakistan style!" Pinkie cheered as she lifted the sheet to reveal Angel and a bunch of other animals scuttering out all wearing horned helmets.

Everypony stared at Rutherford, all gulping before he responded, "Animals cute."

Fluttershy let out a soft sigh, "Oh thank goodness."

Iron also seemed to relax, taking his hoof off his Celestic Gear. However, he would soon regret this as one of the ducklings, whose head was stuck in a horn hat, tripped over a pebble and fell headfirst into the ground. The horn became stuck in the dirt, the duckling managing to pull itself free by taking off the hat. Prince Rutherford saw this and growled, "These antlers lie! These not Yakyakistan animals! YAKS DESTROY!"

Fluttershy gasped and grabbed the animals, getting them up a tree as the yaks smashed the picnic table. The mare watched in horror, Wild now pulling Iron away before he did something that might make things worse. Pinkie was also up in the tree, gulping as she mumbled to herself, "Okay, well...there's still other things we can do...I think."

Once the yaks calmed down again, Pinkie and Wild took them over to Rarity's house. There, the unicorn showed them a few rolls of fabric. "Yes! These are some of my favorite materials. Very rare, imported from the Crystal Empire to match your northern sensibilities. I hope you'll find them-" She didn't get to finish as she now saw the yaks were eating her fabric. "Delicious?"

"Seriously?" Wild yelped with a raised eyebrow.

The yaks then spat out the fabric as Rutherford growled, "This no taste like yak fabric!"

"We never said it was," Wild added.

"YAKS DESTROY!" Once again, the three giant creatures began stomping around, Rarity screaming in fear.

As they tried to calm the creatures down, Pinkie muttered to herself, "Everything's gonna be fine...you'll just...make it up to them. Somehow."

"Maybe trying to replicate Yak stuff is a bad idea. Face it-" Wild then dodged a flying mannequin head, "These guys aren't gonna be satisfied with anything we do."

Those words went into Pinkie's ears before she exclaimed, "That's it!"

Pinkie's plan involved them returning to the park, the party pony confident as she announced, "Listen up! Tell your faces to hold onto their frowns, 'cause they're about to get turned upside-down!"

Rutherford, who Wild was starting to think wasn't the brightest bulb in Equestria, shook the bangs out of his eyes before staring down at his mouth. "Hold your frown, face!"

Pinkie smirked before looking up at the sky. "Hit it, Rainbow Dash!" Wild looked up and saw the pegasus push a large cloud, kicking it before the cloud covered them in four feet of snow. "Just like Yakyakistan snow, right? Because snow is snow, no matter where it comes from."

"Alright, I'll give you this one." Wild grabbed a trio of snowballs and playfully tossed it at the yaks.

But as Rutherford felt the snow and slurped it up, "This not yak snow!"

"Oh no..." Wild deflated with his puppets repeating as they both shrunk back. The yaks started smashing the snow now, the puppeteer turning to Pinkie as she slumped over in utter defeat.

"SERIOUSLY?!" She whimpered as she face planted the snow, honestly feeling like doing the exact same thing.

"This isn't good. We need help...fast. Maybe the snow they have back home is different."

Turns out, it wasn't. That's what Wild learned when he and the others met up in the Friendship Map Room. Once everypony was there, Twilight asked for a report, only for Applejack to mutter out, "Y'know, it's goin...uh..."

Rarity looked away, "satisfactory..."

"It could definitely be better..." Rainbow added.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane before whispering, "It's not very good."

"IT'S A DISASTER!" Pinkie screamed, faceplanting the map.

"Yeah! These guys don't like anything we do!" Wild finished as he mimicked Pinkie, his puppets all giving frowns.

Iron shook his head at this, "Honestly, I'm starting to wonder why we're even bothering to try and become friends with these things. All they do is yell, destroy things and almost harm any living thing around them. Do we really want to become allies with a species like that?"

Twilight turned to him with a soft glare, "We can't judge an entire kingdom on the actions of a few select individuals. Imagine if the yaks invited Equestria to Yakyakistan and we sent Big Score and his cronies."

Everypony shivered at this, but Iron just crossed his hooves, "Fair enough. But that doesn't solve our problem."

Lightning nodded in agreement, "No kidding. These yaks don't seem to be very advanced. Sure, they have a lot to gain from becoming our allies, but what does Equestria stem to gain from them? I'm not seeing anything."

Twilight shook her head now, "Making friends with the yaks isn't a matter of gains or losses. We're not doing it to try and get some strategic advantage."

Flash tapped his hoof on the map at this, "She's right. Judging a pony squarely on what they can offer is the exact opposite of friendship."

Twilight shined a big smile at his statement, "I'm the Princess of Friendship and Flash is the Knight of Friendship. Holding those titles gives us the responsibility to try and spread the magic of friendship to all living things. Because every...er, creature, has a right to be our friend. Rainbow and Pinkie have already made great strides in building relations with Griffonstone, helping slowly spread friendship there. We also helped the town get along Zecora, who was a zebra. If we can get the yaks on our side, that'll be another culture that we've helped teach. Then, who knows? Maybe the dragons, or..."

"Maybe even the changelings," Flash spoke up, only to get nothing but stares, most asking 'are you serious.' "What?! They're not all bad. Remember Thorax?"

The others didn't reply, Twilight chiming in as she turned to a certain pony. "Pinkie Pie, tonight's Yakyakistan theme party is more important than ever!" She nervously tapped her hooves together. "You'll make them forget about all of this afternoon, right?" Pinkie said nothing, her eye twitching as everypony else turned to her expectantly. But before she could reply, Twilight kept talking, "Because if it's not perfect, they're gonna smash everything! And I'm not sure how much more smashing this visit can take!"

Wild watched as his girlfriend began sweating as she stood up in her throne. "I definitely will...I think," she shrank into the chair. "Maybe?"

"You're the best gosh-darn party planner in Equestria!" Applejack told her, Rainbow rapidly nodding in agreement.

"You'll show 'em a good time!"

"You can do it!" Fluttershy added.

Rarity chimed in next, "We have absolute confidence in your abilities, Pinkie Pie."

Unfortunately, the many friends didn't notice Pinkie now fighting back a Level four Twilighting attack. Trying to hide a gulp, she replied, "It's going to be my most happy-tacular party ever! I hope!"

Her eyes started moving like they were watching a very fast game of ping-pong, Rainbow now asking, "Why are your eyes darting around like that?"

Pinkie forced her eyes to stay in one place, her face now cracking one of the most deranged smiles Equestria had ever seen. "It's what I do when I'm not nervous!" She let out a hysterical laugh before leaning on the table with her psycho smile in full view.

As she did this, Twilight pulled her into a hug, "Pinkie Pie, I don't know what we'd do without you-"

"Me either!" The earth pony screamed right in her face. "Gotta go!" With that, she leapt out of her throne and galloped out of the room at top speed.

The others all shared a glance, unsure about the reality they were looking at. Only Wild chose to go after her, heading off to Sugarcube Corner as Flash and Twilight took over giving the yaks the Ponyvillle tour. As he walked into the shop, he spoke up, "Pinkie?"

"Wild!" His attention turned to the kitchen, where he spotted Mrs. Cake working on a special dessert. "Glad you're here." She quickly cut a slice of the large cake, "Taste this!" The unicorn took a bite, only to freeze in place, "Well? Good, bad, too much vanilla?"

"Are you kidding?" He replied as his puppets flew around him dressed like angels. "I feel like I died and went to dessert heaven."

"I'm glad you like it. I just hope the yaks find it up to standard."

"They'd be idiots to hate this thing," Wild replied while licking his lips, only to frown at his own statement, "So yeah, they'll probably hate it. Anyways, you seen Pinkie around?"

"She ran up into her room a few minutes ago. Didn't even have time to ask if she wanted to try it."

Wild nodded and went upstairs, arriving to see Pinkie talking to Gummy. "They're just too sensitive! Even Fluttershy made them mad! FLUTTERSHY!"

"Truly, they are a species on the brink of madness."

"Wild!" She gasped as she turned and ran up to hug his chest, "What am I gonna do?! I told Twilight I could handle it, but I know the yaks are gonna hate all the ideas I had for this party!" Wild just patted her on the back, unable to say anything as she continued, "Oh...I need a new idea, and I need it now." She turned to Gummy as she ended the hug, "How am I supposed to make this party feel like Yakyakistan without actually going there and bringing something back?!"

Gummy said nothing, instead shooting out a tongue that hit her face. This caused Pinkie to gasp before hugging the baby alligator. "Gummy, you're a genius." She gave him a quick kiss before turning to Wild, who raised an eyebrow.

"Pinkie...what are you planning? Is it something so insanely brilliant that it can't fail?"

The earth pony gave him a sudden deep kiss, making him blush as she pulled away, "You know me too well."

"And this is Sugarcube Corner," Twilight announced as she pointed to the building. "They're working hard to make your traditional Yakyakistan cake."

Rutherford hummed while rubbing his chin, "Vanilla extract balance very tricky."

"Uh-huh," the other two added.

"Well, I'm sure they'll get it right," Flash nervously finished. "They're the best bakers in Equestria. Next time you come, you should try a taste of their MMMM." The yaks glared back at him, Twilight tapping his shoulder.

"Do you mind...um...waiting here for one moment?" She didn't give them time to answer as her horn sparked, teleporting her and Flash to Pinkie's room, "Pinkie, how's tonight's party coming? I'm doing what I can, but it's really up to you at this point!" There was no answer, making them look around, "Pinkie?"

"Calling all party ponies!"

"Pinkie's not here." They both cried out in shock as they spun around, seeing Wild and his puppets standing behind them with party supplies in their grasp.

"Where'd you come from?"

"Nowhere important," Wild smirked.

Flash frowned at that answer, while Twilight stepped up. "What do you mean she's not here?! Where is she?!"

"Yakyakistan."

Flash and Twilight blinked at this, the information slowly sinking in. Then, the entire building shook as they exclaimed in unison, "WHAT?!"

One explanation later...

"So, let me get this straight." Flash grumbled while rubbing his forehead, "Pinkie, knowing the yaks would hate anything she tried for the party, decided to go to Yakyakestan and bring something back something that the yaks would like?"

"Pretty much," Wild replied, nodding.

Twilight stood completely frozen, the two not surprised if they saw smoke come out of her ears. "But...but...but that's impossible! How does she expect to get all the way to Yakyakistan and back before the party is meant to start?! Just getting there will take days."

"Don't worry so much, this is Pinkie," Wild responded as he was now rummaging through one of the mare's trunks. "She'll pull it off. We just have to keep the yaks distracted until she gets back." He turned while wearing a pair of Pinkie's googly-eyed glasses. "Piece of cake."

Twilight sighed, using Cadance's breathing technique before suddenly gasping. "CAKE!" She disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Flash and Wild to glance at each other.

The Pegasus groaned as he went over and opened a window, "I'll tell the others Pinkie's plan...you just do whatever you can to keep those yaks from getting too angry." With that, he shot out into the sky, Wild grinning as he also left the room.

"And so, the valiant showpony's quest began." He took off his glasses to show a serious expression, his puppets now humming some background music, "His mission, to keep the yaks entertained until the fair maiden Pinkamina returns with the answers to all their problems. The fate of two great kingdoms resting on his shoulders." He arrived at the bottom of the stairs, "Will he be able to achieve his destiny?" He pushed the door open, only to duck as he a cake flew over his head. The unicorn now saw that the yaks were making a mess of the place, causing him to a long gulp, "That's a good question."

He looked over at Twilight, pure panic on her face. Wild then leapt in front of Rutherford, "Your majesty! Why don't the princess and I show you some of Ponyville's best attractions? You know, to help you see just what you could gain from an alliance between our two kingdoms."

This got the yaks to stop, Twilight leaning over and whispering, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to mimic yak stuff is not gonna work. So until Pinkie gets back, the best way to try and distract them is with all the Equestrian things they've probably never seen before."

Twilight was about to reply, only to get interrupted by Rutherford. "Yaks looking forward to seeing what ponies have to show us. Lead us, funny horned pony with floaty toys."

Wild guessed that was him. "Right....out we go then." he gestured to the door, the group soon heading into town. They all then saw many of the townsponies leap out of the yaks' way, the details of their visit now obvious to the village. The unicorn's brain was running a mile a minute, trying to come up with something for them to do. But as he did this, they now heard the yaks' stomachs growl. Grinning at this, Wild pointed a certain new restaurant, "Your majesty! Might I suggest trying a new delicacy that's growing in popularity?"

Twilight quickly caught on, warping over to the stand. "Hey you two, can you give our new friends three servings of the special order? I'll pay." Wasabi and Shichimi nodded while eyeing the yaks, quickly working on the broth. It wasn't long till they were done, levitating the bowls over to the yaks.

The three looked down at the meal before taking a sip of the soup, the ponies all shaking in fear as the prince spoke up, "YAKS-" They flinched, ready to cover their ears, "Find this very tasty!" The other two nodded as they dug into the ramen, the ponies all sighing in relief.

"Can't believe that worked," Wild added.

Twilight nodded in agreement, "I hope Pinkie gets back soon. I don't think this'll last much longer."

"Don't worry. Pinkie's probably already arrived at Yakyakistan and finding something interesting to bring back. She won't stop for anything."

Meanwhile...

"STOOOOOOP!" Pinkie screamed as the cart she was riding in with a sleeping Cherry Jubilee got closer to an oncoming ravine. She was currently pulling on the reins connected to Jubilee's cart pullers, all waking up from their sleeping gallop.

Digging their hooves into the dirt, managing to pull themselves to a stop right over the edge. "Huh?!" Jubilee gasped as she woke up, "Whoa...ah was dreamin' about a ravine." She then looked down, only to go wide-eyed, "RAVINE!"

"That's what I said," Pinkie watched Jubilee leap to the back of the cart. But before she could say anything else, a cracking sound made her freeze as the edge of the ravine started to break off. "AAAAHHH-"

Back in Ponyville, Wild was still entertaining the yaks. He had spent several hours doing whatever came to mind, but even now he was at his last straw. Now at his very last idea, he was doing a recent history lesson portrayed through puppetry. The yaks were sitting in front of a large stage, watching a reenactment of the Royal Knight's battle against Doom Raizer.

"It's over Doom!" He mimicked Flash's voice as a Flash puppet slammed into a large horse pony. It then crumbled over, the Flash puppet doing a pose. The yaks all clapped as Wild did a long sigh of relief, "And so, Flash and the rest of the knights retrieved the orb from Doom and broke it apart once more. The pieces were scattered by them so that nopony could use it to endanger the land again. The end."

The yaks continued to clap as Wild came out from behind the stage. "Floaty toy pony very entertaining. Make history come alive." Rutherford then picked himself up. "Yaks ready for party now."

This made Wild's eyes shrink, gulping as he saw them all get up. That is, till Twilight appeared in a flash of light, "My apologies," she told the yaks. "We're just putting the finishing touches on the party preparations. In the mean time," she sparked her horn, making Wild's puppet theatre disappear. In its place, Spike and Springer appeared alongside a grand piano and violin. "Please enjoy the musical stylings of Spike the Dragon!" She then flew off stage as Spike jumped up onto the piano chair and Springer grabbed the violin. The dragon cracked his claws as the jakhowl made sure the instrument was tuned before they began to play together.

As for Twilight, she landed next to Wild, who leaned over to whisper into her ear. "So...is Pinkie back?"

"Not yet," she muttered back. This should buy us another thirty minutes. If Pinkie's not back by then, we're done for."

Wild nodded in agreement. "She can put a party together in under a minute. Don't ask me how. I just hope she's back soon. I'm completely out of ideas."

"I just hope the yaks enjoy the music." They turned to see their guests listening to the music, all drifting their heads back in forth with smiles.

"They're pretty good. I know Springer can play violin, but when did Spike learn to play the piano?" He looked over at Twilight, who in turn looked away.

For the next thirty minutes, Spike and Springer played their pieces, the yaks now even crying as Rutherford said through his tears, "Music beautiful. Much soul."

Twilight wiped her brow with her wing, "Phew!" Wild was just as relieved, only to gulp as he noticed Spike and Springer reaching the end of the song.

The dragon sighed as he jumped off his chair. "When Twilight told us to stall-I-I mean, entertain you, I thought there's no way we could-" He didn't finish, as in that moment the piano began making music without even being played.

"Huh?" The yaks gasped as they watched Springer kick the piano, trying to switch it off. However, it was too late as the yaks went up and spun the piano around, showing it was actually a self-playing piano.

"Spike!" Twilight screamed, signaling him to cut it.

"Piano play itself?!" Rutherford screamed. "Music a lie!"

"Not all of it," Springer held up his violin again, only for Rutherford to let out a roar and body-slam the piano, smashing it into pieces.

Rutherford growled as his yaks stepped onstage beside him. "We demand party! Party now or yaks no friends!" They then hopped off the stage, Twilight flying after them.

"No! Just give us a little longer!"

"No more longer!" Rutherford yelled as he got up in Twilight's face. "We leave now! Yak go to train, return with more yaks! We declare WAR!"

This caused Twilight and Spike to gasp, only for the group to cut into a sprint, leaving the princess. Once they were out of sight, Twilight began flying to Sugarcube Corner, only to find the place was clumsily decorated in a manner that certainly wasn't a Pinkie Pie creation. "No Pinkie Pie? What is this?!"

Applejack let out a nervous laugh, "W-we panicked and tried to plan our own party."

Rainbow then fell down, tied up in a bunch of streamers. "It's sort of panic-themed."

"The yaks are going home!" Twilight cried as Flash and Iron tried to free Rainbow. "This is awful! I wanted to surprise Princess Celestia, and now the only surprise is that I may have just started a war."

"Come again?" Flash asked as he cut Rainbow free.

"The yaks said they're gonna bring back a whole army and declare war on Equestria." The ponies all looked went wide-eyed at this, Fluttershy even looking terrified. But then, Iron and Lightning suddenly burst out laughing. "This isn't funny!"

"It kind of is," Iron said through his laughter.

Lightning nodded in agreement. "I mean, come on. Look at what they'd be up against if they declared war on us. We have the Royal Knights, four alicorns, Discord and Flash's Sacred Light. They wouldn't stand a chance."

"It's still nothing to laugh about," Twilight almost yelled before Flash flew up to her.

"Calm down. We'll think of something. We just need...um-"

"Pinkie," Twilight interrupted. "But who knows where in Equestria she is right now."

Meanwhile...again.

The snowy peaks of the mountains around the Crystal Empire were at temperatures one could only call...freezing. Despite this, Pinkie had no qualms at walking through the frigid winds biting into her body. She was too focused on her task.

"There we were, face-to-face with Falling Pony Ravine. Down, down, down! And then, suddenly...Pow! We were rescued mid-air by the Wonderbolts! And then they gave me a ride to Manehattan, I joined a travelling band, we played some shows here and there, got popular, almost made it big until creative differences tore us apart. And that's when I knew I had to get back on with my journey to the Crystal Empire, the gateway to Yakyakistan! And so here I am. It was a major adventure that took most of the afternoon." She turned to Ruby and Cadance, who had been escorting her up the mountains. "You know what I mean?"

Cadance just blinked at this, Ruby muttering to herself as she checked to make sure she wasn't asleep or hit by a spell, before Cadance pointed up at the mountains, "This is it. The northern boundary of the Crystal Empire. Beyond lies Yakyakistan."

Ruby nodded as she continued to explain. "It's a frozen wasteland, with many dangers that could take you by surprise. Nopony who's attempted this climb has ever returned."

Cadance gave a small frown, "Are you sure you have to do this?"

Pinkie nodded, "I do."

"Then at least let me come with you," Ruby suggested. "I've never been this far, but I know these mountains can be perilous for those who don't have any knowledge of them."

Pinkie shook her head, "No, this is my quest. I must do this alone, for the sake of Equestria."

"Why?"

"It's more dramatic that way." With that, Pinkie headed up the path, the two horned ponies watching her leave.

"Good luck, Pinkie Pie." As she disappeared over the mountains, the two turned to one another.

"Maybe we should send a few ponies from the project to keep an eye on her."

Cadance shook her head. "No. If there's one thing I've learned about Pinkie, it's to not underestimate her. She'll be fine." She turned away as she gestured Ruby to follow, "Speaking of the project, we should probably schedule an inspection before the transfer."

"Understood."

Back in Ponyville, our heroes were all in Pinkie's room waiting for her return. "How could she be so late to the party?" Twilight asked, looking out of Pinkie's window before turning to the others. "This isn't like her."

"I'm sure she's trying her best," Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Pinkie Pie's tougher than she looks."

"No kidding. you can't stop that mare when she wants something." Iron added before shivering, "It's almost...terrifying."

Twilight sighed as she trotted past them. "I know you're right, but...I wish she was here. I put too much pressure on her. I...I let everypony down because I did that."

Flash shook his head at this, "You haven't let anypony down Twilight. You've been an amazing host. I doubt even Celestia herself would have been able to not make the yaks blow their tops."

"Maybe...but she'll be here any minute and see that I haven't made new friends. Instead, she'll see I've made new enemies." She let out a sigh as her head moved to lean against one of Pinkie's cupcake shaped bannister holds. This caused Wild's eyes to go wide.

"Twilight, don't-" A clicking sound interrupted him as the cupcake started to fold in on itself, everypony watching in confusion as the sound of gears clicking beneath them echoed. Then, before anypony could ask what was going on, the floor beneath them was gone. Flash and Wild watched as everypony else sank into the floor, Wild hopping out of the way while Flash's instincts had him spread his wings, stopping his fall. "What the heck?" He looked over at Wild, raising an eyebrow. "What is this?"

Wild shined a small grin, "Come see for yourself." With that, he leapt into the hole and disappeared into the darkness. Flash gulped but stopped his wings as he let gravity take hold, falling into the tunnel and going blind into the shadows. He felt like he was flying down a foal's slide, eventually coming to a stop as he felt the floor smack his face. "Blaugh!"

"Ugh..." Flash heard Twilight moan in the darkness, "Is everypony alright?"

"I can't tell if my eyes are open or closed," Fluttershy whispered.

"Where the heck are we?" Lightning asked next.

"I think I can see a little bit," they heard Rainbow say before the sound of clattering and her crying out in pain filled the room. "Nope."

"I got it," Flash's hoof ignited with his Sacred Light, filling the place with enough light to at least see. There, they saw balloons, streamers and party hats in every direction, making Flash gasp, "I knew it! Pinkie's an interdimensional visitor from a universe made up of party supplies and we've finally found the wormhole connecting our two worlds!" He turned to Twilight, "HA! I was right!"

"Not exactly," they heard Wild say before the sound of a switch flicked. The next thing they knew, they were all inside a large cave with party supplies and filing cabinets scattered all around the place. Not only that, they then turned to see a swivel chair...swivel around, revealing Wild stroking Gummy like he was a cat. "Welcome, to the party cave."

Everypony continued to stare at the place in wonder before Flash turned to Wild, "You knew about this place?"

"Oh yeah," Wild got off the chair and put Gummy on it before trotting over, "Pinkie showed me it when we first got together. She has hidden entrances to it all over Sugarcube Corner."

Flash whistled at this, "Wow. Love to know how she got the Cakes to agree to that remodel."

"Look at these!" They turned to Applejack, who was looking inside one of the filing cabinets. "Pinkie Pie's made files for everypony in town!"

Fluttershy took a few in her hooves, "And they show exactly what kind of parties we like." She then opened one and read aloud, "Twilight Sparkle likes vanilla ice cream, red balloons, dancing..."

"That's right!" Twilight gasped over Fluttershy's shoulder, "She knows all of those?!"

"But she's afraid of quesadillas." The princess's eyes went wide, now seeing everypony smirk at her.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!" They all replied in unison.

"Well, they're just so..." she shuddered, "cheesy."

Flash chuckled at the sight, only to see another file. "Hey, its mine! Let's see here...I like spongecake, video games and orange fizzy juice. Nice. That's a perfect party right there." He closed the folder, "Pinkie, you never stop surprising."

Back outside, the ponies of the town were all going about their normal day to day lives. With the yaks gone and the party apparently cancelled, it looked to be just another normal day in the town of Ponyville. That is, till-

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Everypony turned to the sound, now seeing Pinkie sliding backwards along the ground on some kind of sled. They watched as she slid into view, only to disappear in the distance. Yup, just another normal day in Ponyville.

Pinkie continued to scream as she flew into Sugarcube Corner, up the stairs and eventually back into her room. "No!" She screamed, "I'm all the way back where I started!" She turned to her pet alligator that had somehow gotten back up to the bedroom, "Gummy, I was this close to helping Twilight befriend the yaks! Now I've just let everypony down!" She laid down on her bed, tears going down her face, "Waaaahhhh!!!"

That is, till she heard a bunch of voices under her, "Huh?" she then looked down, now noticing it was in her party cave, "What is-"

One transition to Pinkie sneaking into the party cave...

"Looky here," she heard Applejack say before leaping behind some balloons. "It's notes for the party she wants to throw for her folks' fiftieth anniversary...but they ain't nearly that old!" She then blinked at this file, "Huh? She's already plannin' their one-hundredth too. And their five-hundredth?"

Twilight glanced around, putting a hoof over her mouth, "I had no idea she worked so hard on her parties."

This made Rainbow laugh, "HA! She may be more organized than you, Twilight."

"Let's not get carried away."

"Of course Pinkie works hard," Wild took the file off of Applejack and stored it away. "This is Pinkie's passion. It's no different from how hard you work on your farm or to make a new dress or to keep Equestria safe. Throwing parties ain't some hobby she does to pass the time."

"Nope, nope, nope."

"They're what gives her life meaning." Wild finished as everypony else realized he was right. Pinkie didn't plan parties just for something to do, they were her very reason for living. Asking her not to plan a party would be like asking Rainbow not to try and beat her fasted flying time. She did it not for glory or recognition, but so somepony else would be happy.

Rarity sighed at this, "I just wish Pinkie Pie were here so we could tell her how much we all appreciate her hard work."

"Thank you!" They all spun around to see a pile of balloons, which had not been that close before, float away to reveal a crying Pinkie Pie. "Thank you! I love you too! All of you!"

"You're back!" Twilight cheered as Pinkie pulled her into a hug.

"I know!" she then pulled away with a frown, "I'm sorry everypony. I was so close to bringing something back from Yakyakistan, but at the last second, I made a mistake." She let out a long sigh, "I worked harder on this party than any party ever....but I'm still just a big failure."

Everypony frowned as she fell on her flank, Wild beginning to run his hoof through her mane as Twilight spoke up. "Pinkie Pie, you're not a failure."

"What matters is how hard you tried," Fluttershy added.

Rainbow nodded in agreement again. "Who else would've gone all across Equestria to plan one party?"

"That yaks could seriously learn something from you," Flash finished. "Besides, being perfect is overrated. It's the flaws that make us who we are."

Pinkie stared at her friends, now remembering back to her journey and all the ponies who had helped her along the way. "You know...the trip was really hard, but everypony I met along the way was so helpful. I just wish the yaks could see how friendly and wonderful and great Equestria really is!" But upon saying that, a bulb appeared over head...which she swatted it away with her hoof, "I don't need that! I just got the best party idea ever!"

Twilight shook her head, "It's too late. The yaks left on the last train."

"Um, no, they didn't." She squealed, "Trust me!" She ran up to the slide, "There's a whole lot of sheep out there!" With that, she jumped onto the slide and somehow slid up it.

Once she was gone, Fluttershy turned to the others. "So, um, do we walk back up the slide or...or what?" Nopony was sure how to answer, even Wild having no clue how Pinkie pulled that one off.

"Yaks stuck here?!" They heard Rutherford yell as they arrived at the train station. "Why trains not work?!"

"I never thought I'd say this, but...thank you sheep!" They yaks turned around, now seeing Pinkie bowing, "And now, if it's okay with you, it's PARTY TIME!" She threw on a pair of star-shaped shades and smiled at the confused yaks, who all blinked at her in confusion.

"Trust me," Wild added. "You'll love this. It's the most perfect party."

This seemed to get the yak's attention, the yaks following her to the barn. There, they were astounded to find the place had been transformed. There were several booths that each showed a different aspect of Equestria, like a Wonderbolt autograph booth that Soarin and Spitfire were running with Rainbow's help, and several Appaloosa booths. Cherry Jubilee was running a cherry stand, while Wild was entertaining the younger ponies with a puppet show. Celestia soon walked up and helped the yaks enjoy the party.

The sound of Rutherford's laughter made Twilight smile, making her and Flash turn to the pony responsible. "Wow Pinkie, this came together quickly, even for you."

Pinkie gave them a coy smile. "What can I say? I'm good at what I do." She trotted over to the yaks. "Prince Rutherford, every time we tried to make something in Equestria feel like Yakyakistan, we couldn't get it right. When I got back from my adventure, I realized something. We shouldn't try to make Equestria feel like your home. We should try to make you feel at home in Equestria, and that means showing you why we love it here, so you'll love it too."

Rutherford looked around, seeing all the ponies enjoying themselves before nodding, a tear dropping down his face as he turned to Pinkie, "Pink pony work hard to make yaks feel at home. Now yaks happy. No declare war."

Twilight sighed in relief, only to now remember she was standing next to a very confused Celestia.

"Ponies and yaks...friends?"

Pinkie shined a big grin, "For a thousand moons?"

"FOR A THOUSAND MOONS!" Rutherford yelled, making everypony cheer in celebration before Celestia turned to Twilight.

"I am very impressed, princess."

Twilight shook her head. "No, this wasn't me. Pinkie was the one who figured out how to win the yaks over. She's the one you should be impressed by." Celestia nodded back, clearly happy at the humility the young alicorn possessed.

Wild, after finishing his show, trotted over to Pinkie and pulled her into a hug. "You did it again Pinkie."

"Aw..." she kissed his cheek, "Thanks for helping keep the yaks entertained while I was gone. What would I do without you?"

"That's what we should be asking you," Flash added as he walked up, "You're one amazing pony Pinkie. Though, you could do with some working on your planning skills." Pinkie blinked at this as he continued, "I mean, you could have just messaged Cadance to send somepony like Ruby to Yakyakistan and magically mail you the gifts." Pinkie thought this over, only to go wide-eyed before facehoofing, a small squeaking noise following this. This caused Flash to laugh, only to feel Twilight smack his head with her tail.

"Pink pony," they turned to Rutherford. "You understand yaks now."

"Aww," she leapt onto him, "Come here you!" She then remembered what she was doing, hopping off before messing up the yak's fur. But instead of getting angry, Rutherford just smiled before pulling her into the tightest hug she had ever experienced. "Whoa! Too strong! Okay, okay, okay!"

Everypony else laughed at this as Rutherford let her go, before all returning to the party. There was a lot of Equestrian attractions the yaks wanted to experience and very little time to do them

Retirement

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The Crystal Empire.

The usually busy streets of the Empire were like a ghost town, almost as bad as it had been when the empire had just returned from its banishment. This was due to a royal decree of Princess Cadance, telling the citizens to stay inside until further notice.

As for the reason, it was a large scale prisoner transfer. Over the last few months, a secret prison had been built up in the crystal mountains. With the Empire now part of Equestria's borders, it had to do its part to keep the kingdoms safe from its many captured enemies. As such, several criminals that had been previously held in Grand Stables were going to be moved.

This new prison was quite an ingenious design, being built in a location surrounded by large mountains. Even if the prisoner escaped, they'd freeze to death before reaching anywhere safe. As such, the prison was also connected to the empire through a two-way teleportation rune circle located in the empire's jail. Not only that, every cell was designed to absorb the magic of the pony inside it, as the designs were made after studying the data retrieved by the Royal Knights during their adventures in Ominiara.

Now the prison was ready to start accepting guests, which was why the streets were empty. At the train station, multiple guards were waiting on the platform, Shining and Ruby were amongst them. And as they waited, they now saw a dark metal train, its design more like a tank than comfortable transport. It pulled up to the station, the doors opening to show several guards that saluted Shining and Ruby. "Sir, the prisoners are ready for transport. The first batch is ready."

Shining nodded as his horn sparked, "Bring 'em out." As he said that, a magic bubble appeared around the open door before extending out into the street to form a corridor like construct. Seconds later, the first prisoner walked out, Ruby smirking at the sight.

"Hello, Hiveena."

The former Changeling Princess turned to glare at the unicorn, her horn trying to spark with no avail. She was currently wearing a collar around her neck that had multiple runes, all of which were cancelling out her abilities to shapeshift or use any magic. "Don't think your little prison will hold me. I'll find a way out."

"Sure you will," Shining barked back. "And after you do, maybe you could come have dinner with me and Cadance up at the castle. I'm sure it'll be a delightful evening."

Hiveena giggled at the prince, "It's a date."

"Hey! Can you hurry it up?!" a voice from in the train called out, "Some of us would like to get there before all the good cells are gone." Hiveena rolled her eyes before walking away, the voice's owner now revealing herself as Electra. She was followed by Banshee, the two glaring at Ruby as they remembered their last time in the Crystal Empire. "Ugh...its you again. Here to gloat, Miss Crystal Knight?!"

"Get moving you two, you won't be robbing anypony in the empire today." Ruby replied as she gestured to them, "You'll all be following us to the city jail, where you'll be transported to our new prison. Come along now."

The rest of the prisoners soon filed out of the train, travelling down the magic corridor with the guards marching beside them. They all trotted through the city, following the magical tunnel as the jail soon came into view. But as the guards got close to the jail, walking past a row of houses, something happened. A green blast of magic shot out from one of the alleyways, hitting the ground. One guard looked down at it, but before he could inform anypony, he felt himself sink into the ground. "Whoa!"

"What the heck?!" Shining yelped as he began to sink as well, trying his best to keep the shield up. Ruby then stared at the ground, now seeing they weren't sinking. Instead, the street seemed to be shifting and wobbling, as if it was turned into the floor of a bouncy castle. The guards all tried to regain their footing, but with each movement, the ground jiggled and they were knocked back. As they did this, one misstep made Ruby stumble into Shining, causing him to lose focus as the shield vanished around them.

"We're free!" One of the prisoners yelled as they all began jumping around, bouncing on the rubber floor to get away from the still recovering guards.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ruby declared as she got up, her horn shining like a star. Several blasts flew out of the horn, each hitting one of the prisoners and encasing all but their heads in crystal.

"Gah!" Electra cried as she barely managed to dodge a beam, she, Banshee and Hiveena now close to getting away. Another blast came close to hitting Banshee, but at that moment, another green spell shot out and hit it. A flash of light revealed a crystal shard appear in the air, which fell to the floor as they turned to its source.

"Over here!" A voice yelled out from between an alleyway, the three running to the source.

"Not happening!" Shining responded as he sparked his horn. Seconds later, a barrier appeared at the entrance of the alleyway. Electra and Banshee managed to get into it before it came up, but Hiveena instead found herself slamming face-first into it.

"Augh!" She yelped as she staggered back, only for another beam to hit her body, encasing her in crystal, "Oh, come on!"

As for Electra and Banshee, they continued to down the alleyway, only to come to a stop. Before them was now a green unicorn mare with a mane and tail that was both pink and yellow. Her mane was styled in a braid that created a pink and yellow spiral, which went over her shoulder. She also had a white muzzle, a large golden earring and her cutie mark appeared to be a bent metal sheet.

"Who are you?" Banshee asked, only to get a big grin in return.

"The pony who got you out of prison." She then placed something on the floor, "Now grab this." They were gonna argue, but their ears heard the approaching voices and they quickly grabbed what they now saw was a sheet of paper with some runes on it. The mare's horn sparked, causing the runes to glow as the light quickly consumed them.

It was here that Shining and Ruby managed to get to the end of the alleyway, only to be blinded by a pillar of light. And when it faded, they found a blank empty alleyway exit in the light's wake. The sheet of paper was still there, but it quickly caught fire and incinerated itself before they could even try and grab it. Shining bit his lip at the sight, "Well...this isn't good."

Meanwhile...

Electra and Banshee both flinched at the bright flash, their eyes clinching before a freezing wind embraced his body. Both opened their eyes, their pupils shrinking as they saw they were now a mile or so outside the city, nothing around them but rocks and snow.

"Aw, great..." Electra moaned as she wrapped her hooves around her body, "Now we get to freeze to death."

"Don't be so melodramatic. My plan worked perfectly after all." the mare replied as she leaned down and moved over a certain rock. "Granted, I was hoping to get more than two of you, but this can still work."

"What can still work?" Banshee asked as her violently chattered in the freezing wind. "And who the heck are you?!"

The mare grinned back as her horn sparked, "You can call me Slushy." The rock began to glow as it and a pile of snow was moved away, revealing a sheet. She then yanked it with her hooves, now revealing a snowmobile connected to a small trailer. "And together, the three of us will be pulling off the biggest heist Equestria has ever seen." Slushy then turned around and leaned on the vehicle with a big cocky grin, "So, wanna freeze out here, or do ya wanna get rich right after ya get out of slammer?"

Banshee and Electra shared a glanced before Banshee shined a huge grin, "We're listening."

Several days later...

Two long happy moans exited out of Flash and Twilight's stomachs. They had just finished a lunch date together and were now enjoying a leisurely stroll through town. "That Wasabi sure knows how to cook."

Twilight nodded in agreement, "I'm just glad they had a diet dish."

Flash rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he still couldn't believe how concerned Twilight had become about her weight lately. He then opened his mouth, only to raise an eyebrow as he saw a look of surprise on the alicorn's face. "What's wrong Twilight?" He followed her gaze and let out a gasp, "Grand?"

His mentor was standing in front of a recently vacated cottage alongside a yellow unicorn with green hair wearing a green tie. They appeared to be having a conversation, and as Flash and Twilight approached, they shook hooves. "Grand!" He turned around and went wide-eyed, "What are you doing here?!"

"Oh...this is awkward." the earth pony muttered as he looked away, "This was supposed to be a surprise."

"What's a surprise?" Twilight asked, tilting her head at this.

Grand took a deep breath. "Well...I've decided to...move to Ponyville."

"WHAT?!" They both yelped in unison, Flash now walking in front of Twilight.

"But....why?! What about your work in Canterlot?! You know, training the guard, being a Royal Knight, etc."

"Well..." Grand began to twiddle her hooves, looking away as he grumbled out, "I'm...retiring."

"WHAT!?" Flash and Twilight screeched now, their brains now started to burn.

Seeing this, Grand let out a long sigh. "Listen you two, why don't we meet up with Lightning and everypony else so I only have to explain this once?" The two shared a glance, only to do a small nod.

One gathering of all the characters montage later...

Now at the castle, Grand found himself staring at everypony around the map table. Everypony was wearing fear on their faces, Lightning showing the worst expression as he spoke up first, "No offense gramps, but what's this about? Since when did you decide to retire from the Royal Knights?! Heck, since when could you retire?!"

"I'm not retiring from the Royal Knights," Grand assured him as he leaned down in a chair, rubbing his face as he grumbled out, "I'm just...retiring from my active duties as part of the Royal Guard. Training the new recruits and other tasks are gonna be shifted to the most experienced members. I'll still be there if anything big occurs, or as a guard for special events, but other than that...I guess I'll be enjoying my golden years."

"I can't believe you're retiring," Rainbow replied while putting her hooves behind her head, "We figured you'd be working until you kicked the bucket."

"Rainbow! Don't be so crude!" Rarity scolded before looking back at the earth pony knight, "But...she is right. You don't seem the type to want to stop working."

Grand grit his teeth at this, "I'm not. This wasn't my idea."

A few days ago...

"Grand Hoof," Celestia said from her throne. "You have served this kingdom for many a decade, risking your life on multiple occasions in an effort to keep the peace."

Luna nodded in agreement before continuing, "As such, it would be cruel of us to expect you to continue working as hard as you do after everything you've been through. That is why we have decided you should step down."

Grand's eyes went wide at this, his voice almost squeaking before going back to his regular deep voice, "Your majesties, are you...firing me?"

Celestia shook her head, her expression unchanging, "Of course not. This is an honorable discharge. You've sacrificed enough to help keep Equestria at peace, so now it's only fair that you get the chance to enjoy that peace."

Grand started to backpedal before doing a small bow, "No offense your highnesses, and thank you for your generous offer, but I can't just stop doing what I'm doing. I still have much I need to do before I can even think of retiring."

"You are not the only guard Grand, and you are not the only Royal Knight." Luna instantly replied, "A new generation of guards and knights are ready to take the mantle."

Luna's words made something click inside Grand, making him sigh as he muttered out, "So that's it. You think I'm too old to continue my work."

The alicorns frowned, the sisters exchanging glances before Celestia responded, "We mean no disrespect Grand. However, there comes a time when a pony must step down and allow others to take their place. It's better to let that be eased onto a pony, instead of suddenly dropped on them with no preparation."

"You are not immortal Grand," Luna added before he could reply. "And you are not as young as you once were. Eventually, you will come up against an opponent you can not defeat. Should that happen, we would need to reassign your duties quickly, and that may make us make a mistake over who we pick. We do not wish to rush somepony into your duties when they would not have the time to process such labor."

"That would also mean we would rush mourning your loss," Celestia finished, shaking her head, "That is something that I will not have be improper." She saw the long frown addressing the knight's face, making her sigh as she walked up and patted his shoulder, "This is not only for your benefit Grand, but the benefit of Equestria. Please...understand our decision."

Grand just looked away though, muttering out, "I...understand, your majesties."

Back to the present...

"And that's that," Grand sighed as he slumped over in his seat. "My official retirement ceremony isn't for another few days, so I came out here to find a place I can relax and uh...you know, do all the stuff you're supposed to do when you're retired."

Everypony turned to one another, Pinkie now chiming in, "Huh...I can't tell if what they said was mean or not."

Grand sighed again. "I understand where the princesses are coming from. I mean, honestly...I haven't been the most useful knight recently."

They all turned to him with wide eyes, Flash yelling, "Don't say that! You're a great knight."

Grand shook his head in response, "But I haven't really done anything to help in most situations recently. Nightmare Moon, the Battle of Canterlot, Discord, the Wedding...even when it was my own son who was causing issue..." His eyes glanced over to Lightning, "Even my....grandson. Somepony else always had to step up, even though I'm the most experienced knight."

"That's not fair," Twilight told him. "You've done your fair share of hard work over the years."

Iron rapidly nodded at this, "Yeah! I mean, you're Grand Hoof! You singlehoofedly took down the Cutie Marker distribution, defeated countless criminals and stopped Doom the first time he acted out!"

"But I'm also the cause of Doom acting out, along with what happened with Lightning."

"That was me," Lightning added, shaking his head. "Don't take what my dad and I did as something you did wrong. We chose to do what we did, not you."

"You know you're wrong about that Lightning." Grand replied, crossing his hooves, "I'm the cause of it because I didn't do anything about you and Doom. I ignored you both and focused on the wrong things. You know that's why Solid hates me. I used him as an excuse over not fixing my own problems."

"But-"

"Its true Lightning. I-"

"Hang on there!" Flash interrupted, "You trained me to be the very best knight I could be. Everything I know about protecting ponies is from what you taught me. So every single good thing I did, you can take partial credit for."

Grand wanted to smile at this, only to shake his head. "Flash...you do realize that me taking you in also helped instigate all that with my family, right?"

Flash opened his mouth, only to shut it as he looked away, "Yeah...I uh-"

"Gramps..." Lightning tried to say as well, only to feel Rarity's hoof pat his shoulder.

Glancing at her, she gave him a nod as she started to walk around the map, "Now now darling, you need to stop looking at the wrong things. The princesses obviously did this because they believe you deserve to finally rest," Rarity then patted his shoulder now. "After all, you've been doing this...um...I'm sorry, but how long have you been in this job?"

Grand tapped his chin in thought, "Well...I joined the guard as soon as I was of legal joining age, then spent five years in the guard before Celestia decided to make me a knight. I've been one ever since."

Everypony blinked at this, Twilight doing the math as she said, "Wait...that means you've been a knight for over forty years!"

"Wow!" Rainbow added, "You must have some serious vacation time saved up."

"He's retiring," Applejack replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh yeah."

"Yeah...I apparently am." Grand grumbled as he crossed his hooves, "I'm guessing that I'm gonna spend my golden years here, enjoying my retirement."

"Well good for you," Rarity assured him.

Pinkie let out a loud squeal. "This means I can throw you a big welcome to Ponyville party. I'M SO EXCITED!"

Grand chuckled at her, only to look away again, "Yeah....but there's just...one small problem."

"What?" Springer asked next.

"I'm not really sure...how to spend my retirement." Everypony blinked at the old pony as he continued, "I never really thought I'd actually retire, so I...don't know what I'd do." He looked back at them and asked, "What do most ponies do when they're retired?"

Everypony began to exchange glances, Spike chiming in first, "You could...play golf?"

"Paint fruit," Pinkie added.

"Spend time with your grandkids," Flash said without thinking, all eyes now suddenly shifting over to Lightning.

The unicorn almost shrunk, scratching the back of his head, "Um....I'm happy to spend time with yah gramps, but you might wanna look at alternatives for when I'm busy."

Grand sighed again at this, only for Pinkie to appear next to him. "Hey, don't pout. Smile! You said we've got a few days before you officially retire, so we'll use it to find something you wanna do!" She then gave him a big hug, Grand not really reacting as he resisted another sigh. He had a feeling this would be his biggest trial yet.

Canterlot...

Inside an old warehouse, Slushy, Banshee and Electra were sitting around a table that was covered in maps and hayburger wrappers. Banshee and Electra were no longer wearing the rune collars as they looked over a giant map and list, "So that's the plan," Slushy said before taking a slurp of her milkshake.

Banshee hummed as she scanned over the map, staring at the layout with the two red X's drawn on a pair of locations that were quite close to one another. "You sure this is gonna work?"

Slushy rolled her eyes at this, "Of course it's gonna work, it's the perfect divergence. You two sneaks cause havoc on the far side of the city, drawing the guards to you. And while they're all trying to stop you, I'll sneak into the castle from underground. I already know where they keep their valuables, so all I've got to do is get there and use my magic."

"How is your magic gonna help us?" Electra asked next. "All you do is make things go bendy."

Slushy waved her hoof as she took another slurp, "I can do so much more. My magic let's me polymerize something's atoms, causing them to elongate."

Electra just blinked at her, the mare's brain not following, "So?"

"So...I can also reverse it. You see, the vault is on the ground floor, right above the sewers. Once I use my magic on the floor, the weight of it will drag it down, and then when I reverse it, the floor will rip apart and the vault will fall right into my lap."

Banshee took a bite of a hayburger, "Then you'll use your magic to make the vault's door floppy-"

"Allowing me to easily open it," Slushy nodded before finishing her drink. "Of course, it would have been better if I had several more distractions, but you two are all I've got."

"We're all you need," Electra added as she leaned back in her chair. "I'm in. Just make sure you don't forget to cut us a share of the profits."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Slushy replied as she twirled the drink in her hoof, "We're all partners here. Whatever I manage to get my hooves out, we'll split it. Fifty-"

"Fifty," Electra continued.

"Fifty," Banshee finished, only to go wide-eyed, "Hey! Wait a minute-"

"A toast!" Slushy held up her milkshake, "To our new partnership!" Electra and Banshee did the same with their drinks, knocking them together. "Now...let's make the finishing touches on the plan."

Several days later...

The day of Grand's retirement was just a day away. In response to the ceremony, Cadance, Shining and all of the Royal Knights had been invited, but wouldn't be arriving until tomorrow. As such, only Grand, Flash and the girls were in Canterlot, all making their way to the castle. Iron, Springer and Lightning would be arriving later after finishing their day's patrol.

And as they arrived, the guards at the gate came to attention and saluted as Grand passed. "At ease." They continued in, only to come to a halt as they saw a certain pegasi knight.

"So it is true," Skybreaker chuckled as he walked up to the old knight, "You really are calling it quits."

Grand shook his head, "Not completely. Just letting others lighten the load."

"Sounds like you'll be bored out of your mind." Skybreaker commented as they all stepped inside. "What are you even gonna do with all your new free time?"

"Well..." Grand muttered as he scratched the back of his head, "Let's just say I've already tried a few things..."

The past few days...

Grand let out a long sigh, wiping his brow as the sun beamed down on him. His hoof gripped a certain metal pole, its end showing an odd bit at the end. It was a golf cub, and his hoof was almost crushing it as he stared at a ball below him.

"Fore!" another pony yelled, Grand looking back up to see the pony smack the ball with his golf club, sending it across the green and near a pole with a flag in the distance.

"So that's all I do? Doesn't seem hard." Grand whispered before starting back at the ball. He pulled the club up, mimicking the previous pony's form and swung the club. "Five!"

THWACK!

The ball went flying at the hit of the club, ascending to the sky....and straight pass the green and far over the horizon. Blinking at the sight, he looked back at the others, "Do I get points for that?"

His next activity he tried was bird watching.

Grand was hiding under a tree, wearing a bush disguise he had gotten from Rarity. Binoculars in hoof, he stared up at a tree, one that Fluttershy said a certain rare bird was supposedly living in. However, after an hour of waiting, "Come on....its same thing. This is worse than the waiting for enemies on patrol."

And so he waited, the hours passing by until-

A tweeting of the rare bird filled the area as it flew up to its nest. It began to sink into its nest to take a rest, only for a loud snore to ring out. The noise made it flare its wings, quickly fleeing as the noise continued.

"W-what?" The earth pony muttered as heard a tweet in the distance. Putting the binoculars back on, he found himself still staring at the tree. "Gah! The thing's never gonna show!"

He even tried bingo.

"B three!"

"You sunk my battleship," the player sitting next to Grand said. The rest of the bingo house broke out into laughter...except Grand.

He sighed, that joke having stopped being funny after the fifth time. "G twenty-eight."

"You sunk my battleship." Laughter filled the room again, Grand groaning as he slammed his face into the table.

"I'll find...something to do."

"If you say so," Skybreaker replied with a shrug, "I don't ever plan on ever retiring."

"Say that again when you're my age." Grand growled as they walked into the throne room, Celestia and Luna now waiting for them.

"Hello everypony," Celestia greeted as she shined her usual smile, "Grand, I trust things went well in Ponyville?"

"Yes your highness," Grand nodded with a small bow. "I've found a place to live, and will be moving in after the ceremony. I've also gone over the list of possible replacements and have narrowed down the ponies I think would be the best ones to take on my duties." He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out several sheets of paper, which Celestia took in her magic.

"I see," she scanned them over before handing them to Luna. "I see nothing wrong with this selection."

Luna did a small nod, "I concur. These are all excellent choices. It may take them time to figure out the best way to perform the tasks, but I agree that they will do well."

Celestia's smile increased as she stared at Grand, "I hope you're looking forward to your retirement."

"I am...curious to see how it goes," Grand muttered, trying to look away.

"I can only guess," Celestia then turned to Luna. "Almost makes me wish we could retire."

Luna giggled at this, "I think we're a long way's off from that happening, sister." It was here that the two's gaze shifted over to Twilight, only Grand and Skybreaker noticing.

"Anyways," Celestia got up off the throne, soon trotting off, "Everything is ready for tomorrow's ceremony. You would be surprised how many famous ponies RSVP'd."

"Of course," Twilight added. "After all, Grand's helped so many ponies during his time as a knight. He's almost as beloved as the princesses."

Grand blushed at hearing this, now glancing back up at Celestia, "Did you send the invites to the ponies I asked for?"

"Of course. They were some of the first ones that I sent out. Not only that, most were the first to reply yes."

Grand chuckled at this, Flash stepping up to him. "Who are they?"

"Ponies I've made friends with through my many missions. Its the ones that have always helped me, which I'm sure you've made a few of those on your missions." Flash nodded in agreement, only for Grand to sigh, "Maybe this ceremony won't be so-"

BOOM!

A shockwave suddenly shook the air, causing everypony to try to keep their balance. "What the heck?!" Flash yelped as Twilight stumbled over, the defender catching her. "You okay?"

"I'm okay. But what was-"

BOOM!

"What in the world?!" Celestia gasped as she felt another shockwave. She then floated over to one of the room's windows, only to see a cloud of smoke appear in the city. Not on that, a cloud of dust was on the other side of the city, her eyes drifting between the two, "What is this? Why attack there?"

Skybreaker chimed in next, "Is there anything over there that might be important? A building with something worth attacking?"

Celestia put a hoof to her chin, only to sigh, "Over there is one of the magical research laboratories. It's filled with multiple rare magical items that are currently being studied."

"Sounds like something we need to get to now!" Flash announced before running to the door, everypony except the princesses following.

"Hold on. There should already be guards around that area," Grand added as he came to a stop. "Not only that, considering where those attacks are happening, we'll need to split up."

"If that's the case, I have just the spell!" Twilight sparked her horn before the whole group started to glow, the light quickly dying down.

"What was that?" Rainbow asked next.

"A spell to mentally link us. It'll only last about an hour and its range is limited...but with it, we can hear anything anypony else says."

"That'll help," Skybreaker finished as he turned to the group. "Alright, here's how we'll split. Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow are with me. Flash, Grand, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie are together as well. Got it?"

"Got it!" With that, the two groups split up, soon out of the castle.

It wasn't long till the two teams found what they were looking for. Both saw the a barrage of citizens all screaming in fear, running away from two blast zones. And as they arrived, both groups gasped as they saw several guards being laid out in the dirt, others now being blasted back by the cause of the shockwaves.

"No way," Flash whispered as he reached for his blade. "Electra?"

The unicorn looked up and smirked at the sight of the defender, another guard trying to hit her from behind, only for a bolt of lightning to fly out and zap him back with ease. He fell to the street like a rock, twitching as the electricity flowed through him.

"You know this pony?" Grand asked as he pulled out his Celestic Gear.

"Yeah. She's one of the ponies that attacked the Crystal Empire a while back. And if she's here-" he put his hoof to his head, "Hey Twilight, did you find the perp?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" the alicorn responded mentally.

"Cuz I'm guessing your opponent is a silver unicorn with a black and white mane and tail who attacks with a sonic scream."

Over at Twilight's group, the princess was simply stared at the unicorn in question before asking, "How did you-"

"Its the two me and Ruby fought back at the Crystal Empire. You know, when we preparing for the games."

"Oh...yeah, she does look familiar now."

"Yup. Be careful Twilight, they're tough."

"Well so am I!" Rainbow added as she charged at the unicorn, only for her horn to start glowing.

"WWWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Banshee screamed, the sonic blast instantly knocking Rainbow back.

"YAAAAAAAH!" She screamed as she almost slammed into a nearby building, Skybreaker managing to put up a wind cushion to stop her before she crashed. "Oww..." she moaned as she caught herself, getting her balance back as she rubbed her ears, "That hurt."

"We can't just attack her blindly," Sky pointed out as he stared at the guards she had already taken down, most beginning to pick themselves up. "If her scream gets any louder, she could end up causing somepony serious harm."

"That somepony's you gramps!" Banshee yelled before taking another deep breath, her horn sparking.

"Sky Force!" The knight unleashed his tornado attack, striking the soundwaves that came out of her mouth.

Banshee went wide-eyed at this, only to start growling, "You cheat."

"Says who?" Skybreaker barked back as he charged at her with his axe, only for the unicorn to hop back as she shot out a small blast, making him fly above her attack to dodge it.

"Says me!" Banshee replied as she glared up at the steel-winged pegasus knight, only to then take another deep breath, "Now...WWWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Back with Flash's group, they were still battling Electra. The unicorn's magic let her go at high speed, frustrating Flash as he fired another Flash Cutter, "Oh, come on!" he yelled as another missed, only to dodge two bolts from her.

The unicorn was alternating between the ground and the air, firing singular bolts as Grand and Flash both dodging each as Grand found himself unable to get close. Seeing this, Flash was about to go into Theta Mode as his next attack missed as well. Noticing that, Grand gave him a glance and asked, "Any ideas kiddo? She ain't hitting us, but she's definitely keeping us back."

"I know. I just..." Flash stuttered out as he spun like a top, firing three more Flash Cutters. "Something doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" Rarity added as she shot a beam of magic as well.

"These two are just thieves." Flash replied as he blocked a bolt this time. "I mean, they're not even trying to steal anything according to Twilight."

Grand's brain chimed in a bulb as he turned back to the castle, "You saying this could be a distraction?!"

This caught everypony's attention, Pinkie looking away from Electra just as her party bazooka fired, the confetti now covering a downed guard. Pinkie then asked, "Wait...does that mean we shouldn't fight her?"

"No, he means this isn't what we should be doing." Grand explained as he smacked a bolt away with his hammer, "They're thieves, right? If they're doing a distraction away from the castle, that means they'll be after one thing-"

"The castle vault!" Twilight gasped.

"Didn't the Smooze clear that out?" Applejack asked next.

"Discord replaced it all after the gala," Fluttershy replied while twiddling her hooves, "He even made a little extra to apologize for the situation he made."

"Which means there's even more valuables to steal," Rarity added with a gulp.

"Along with several dangerous items that have been collected over the years," Grand finished before dodging another of Electra's lightning blasts.

Twilight created a magic barrier around herself, Banshee's sonic blasts not even phasing the shield as she started to monologue, "But even with most of us here, there'll still be guards at the castle. It'd be too risky to try and break into the vault."

Grand blinked at this, slamming the earth to summon a rock wall to block a barrage of thunderbolts. He then put his hoof to his chin, "If that's the case...they'd have to use the sewers." Electra's eyes went wide at hearing this, only for Grand to continue, "There's a tunnel running right under the vault."

"How?!" Electra yelped, firing another bolt at Grand, this one destroying the wall but missing the knight.

"I've spent forty years working security in this city. You really think you're the only one that's thought of using the sewers? Heck, the tunnels under the castle have magical shielding that prevents anypony except those with special permission to pass. Whoever is with you won't get within a mile of that vault."

Electra growled at this, her horn now blasting out a huge sphere of electricity, "You little..."

"We should still warn the princesses," Skybreaker spoke up. "Rainbow, you're the fastest."

"On it."

Seconds later, they saw a rainbow blur shoot off to the sky as Skybreaker turned to the recovering guards, "You stallions get back to the castle too. There's no telling how many of these criminals there are."

Grand turned to the soldiers that had just recovered from their fight with Electra, "Get to the castle. We'll handle this mare."

They nodded and began to march off, only for Flash to speak up, "Grand, go with them. You know this city better than anypony. You'll be able to intercept them no matter where they go."

"Flash-"

"We got this. I've fought her before, remember? We'll be fine."

Grand let out a sigh, nodding as he saw he was getting pushed to the side again. "Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned to run away, only for Flash to block another bolt that tried to strike his back.

"Oh no you don't." Flash added as he fired another Flash Cutter. "Get going Grand!"

"I'm going!" he barked back as he started to get out of the unicorn's range. But as he turned a corner, a bulb went off in his head, "This is too easy. They wouldn't just make an easy distraction for the vault, unless..."

The stallion then came to a stop, gasping as he turned around, "That's it!"

"Sky Cutter!" Skybreaker swung his axe through the air, sending blades of wind at Banshee.

She quickly blocked them with another sonic blast, the shockwave pushing Twilight and Applejack back as well. Twilight then fired a beam of magic, Banshee sidestepping as Applejack got up close and tried to buck her in the face. But as she tried this, Banshee hopped back, Applejack's hooves catching a few stray hairs of her mane.

"You can't dodge us forever," Skybreaker yelled as he fired another wind blade.

Banshee just giggled as she fired another sonic blast, "Maybe...but I don't have to."

"I just have to keep you all occupied until our friend is in the vault," Electra finished after Flash told her the exact same thing Skybreaker had.

"That's not gonna happen!" Flash charged at her, Electra firing another bolt as he swatted it away with his blade, "Grand and the others will stop whoever they are. Count on it!"

Meanwhile...

At the castle, Rainbow, Celestia and Luna were now standing outside the castle's vault with a couple of guards. "So how secure is this thing?" Rainbow asked as Celestia opened it up.

"Very secure. Not only are there magical defenses, but I've also sent Trixie down through the tunnels with some guards to keep that area secure." Luna replied as she sparked her horn to cast the same mental spell Twilight had used before, "Trixie, are you there?"

Down below, Trixie was leading the group of guards as she heard Luna's voice. "We're almost there. We should be reaching the vault in about a minute or so. Hopefully, we'll get there before the thieves."

"They won't be able to even get close thanks to the barriers. You're down there just in case."

"I won't let you down," Trixie finished as the spell cut out. And as she did, the group reached the last corner turn, "Almost there..."

But as she made her way, another mare was going through the tunnels, Slushy staring at a map, "Hmm...it should be just...." she turned a corner, looking up before a big smile graced her face, "Hello there. Just what I was looking for."

A few minutes later...

Rainbow was floating, her hooves behind her head as she let out a yawn. "Darn. I really want to get down there for some action."

"Just wait a little longer Miss Dash." Luna replied as she slumped back into her throne, "Though I must say, Trixie should have arrived any-"

"Princess, I'm here." Trixie interrupted with her mental spell, all three now getting up at her voice. But as Trixie chimed in, her voice then echoing in their heads as she then said, "Princess, whoever's coming...isn't here yet. The whole place is deserted."

Luna let out a long sigh. "That's good. Stay there and be ready for anypony that shows up."

"Will do."

As the spell cut out again, Celestia hummed to herself, "Strange. With how much of a headstart they had, I would have thought the thieves would had have gotten there by now."

"What about the barrier?" Rainbow asked next.

Celestia shook her head. "That's the thing. If they wanted to get to the vault, they'd have to know about the barriers and found a way around it...but they're not there. Not only that, the barriers are setup to inform us if somepony had tried to break in....wait a minute."

Luna turned to her sister, now seeing Celestia's eyes going wide, "What's wrong sister?"

"We've been tricked," Celestia replied as her eyes narrowed. "They're not after this vault."

Slushy's smile grew as she stared at the ceiling of the sewer tunnel, her horn sparking. "Like taking candy from a foal." She fired a blast at the roof, turning it to rubber as the top slowly dripped down. A few seconds later, the mass fell to the floor, the mare firing another spell as the mass of concrete solidified, only to start cracking. The pile of concrete then fell apart, revealing a metal safe.

"Perfect. So....let's see what's inside." Slushy added as she began to walk up to the safe. But as she did this, the ground began to shake, making her come to a stop, "Hm? But I just ended my spell, what is-"

THOOM!

A pillar of pure rock spiked out of the ground, pushing the safe away. The sight made her backpedal, gasping, "What in the-"

"You're not getting that safe lass." The unicorn spun around, only to narrow her eyes as she now saw Grand, holding his Celestic Gear with the head sunk into the dirt.

"How-"

"How'd I know you were here?" Grand pulled his weapon out, "I'll admit, you almost had me. But this isn't the first time somepony's tried the double distraction trick on me kid. It's practically a cliché to try and keep forces distracted far away from your actual target, making it easy to figure out and counter ya. But you knew that, so you planned on it, as with our forces focused on the battle and the castle, you were free to sneak into your real target. The research lab."

Slushy grit her teeth, growling as she replied, "Damn you."

"Don't think you're anything special," Grand told her as he rested his hammer on his shoulder. "I've been in this job before you were born. I've seen every trick you criminals could ever dream up, which I'm guessing Electra and Banshee were meant to take the fall for you. They don't know you're actually attacking this place, do they?"

"So what if they don't?"

Grand just shook his head, "So boring....and naïve. You're exactly like all the other criminals I've put away. Even your magic's nothing new. I faced a pony with elastication magic my first year as a knight. Now do yourself a favor and turn yourself in."

"And what if I don't?" Slushy sparked her horn, leaning down a she got into a battle stance.

"Then I'll stop you."

"Really?" Slushy let out a snort, "Aren't you a little old for this grandpa?"

Grand smirked as he swung his weapon around before pointing it at her, "I may be old, but I can still pull it off. Now, count up your sins."

Slushy growled as she fire a quick beam, Grand slamming his hammer into the ground. The blow made of block of dirt fly up and block the beam, causing the concrete to now mimic a plate of jello. "Why you-You're not getting me!"

"You're not getting away lass!" Grand barked back as he did a horizontal swing of his hammer, the mare quickly hopping back. She then shot another beam, Grand ducking under this attack as he kept his hammer away from the magic blast as well. He then glanced back up, knowing he shouldn't roughhouse, as it could damage the sewer system. "This ain't gonna be easy."

"Die!" She yelled as she fired another beam, Grand spinning as he danced around the blast. "Grrr...stand still, ya old geezer!"

"I won't be slowing down for you!" Grand countered as he swung again, the mare firing as well as both dodged each others' attacks. "Now give up!"

Meanwhile...

Back on the streets, the two battles raged on. "Flash Driver!" Flash charged in his drill form, Lightbringer pointed squarely at Electra. Seeing this, the electric unicorn began to evade, only for her tail to be singed.

"Gah!" she hissed as she landed, "You'll pay for that!" But as she said that, she let out a long breath, her horn's aura becoming thin. "No....I gotta-"

"Time to end this!" In the blink of an eye, Flash entered his Theta Mode and flew at Electra as Rarity and Pinkie both nodded to each other.

"Surprise!" Pinkie fired her party bazooka at the unicorn, Rarity also flinging some debris from Electra's earlier assault with her horn. Fluttershy was also there, but hiding behind a building as she didn't know how to help.

"Back off!" Electra screeched as she shot two bolts at the mares, Pinkie dodging the first blow.

"Augh!" Rarity screamed as the second bolt hit her in the chest, knocking her flying back.

"RARITY!" Pinkie and Fluttershy yelling, Flash shooting a glare at the criminal as Fluttershy flew over to her friend.

"Oh no..." the pegasus began to help up the unconscious unicorn, "Please be okay."

"You big MEANIE!" Pinkie barked as she launched a barrage of confetti.

"Get lost!" She fired another blast, Pinkie ducking as she as fired another bunch of decorations. As she did this, the confetti in the unicorn's mane was hit by the heat, causing it to catch fire. "AUGH!" She yelped as she started swinging her head side to side, "Put it out!"

"FLASH GRINDER!" Flash yelled as spun like a wheel, which instantly hit the panicking mare.

"AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" She screamed as the light wheel slammed into her, burning her with both friction and the light. This lasted only a second, as the force of the impact sent her flying across the street, slamming into a nearby building...and slumping over with swirls in her eyes. "Owww…"

Flash then flew over, taking a second the make sure she was breathing. After confirming this, he went over to Fluttershy and Rarity, asking, "Is she okay?"

Fluttershy nodded, "Yes. I don't think that blast hit anything bad." Flash sighed in relief, turning back to where the other battle was happening.

"I hope the others are having better luck than us."

"Sky Cutter Barrage!" Skybreaker unleashed a barrage of wind blades, Banshee countering with a long sonic blast. The knight then flapped his wings back to keep balance, Banshee glancing at the others before firing another sonic boom.

"Whoa!" Applejack yelped as she was thrown back, only for Twilight to catch her in her magic. Seeing Banshee about to scream again, she teleported away, hiding behind a nearby building. After putting AJ down, the farmer adjusted her hat, "This ain't workin' Twi. You got any ideas?"

"Hang on, I'm still thinking." Twilight pulled her head out of the corner, watching Banshee finish another scream. As she did this, her face looked like it was in pain, the mare now placing her hoof over her chest. The sight made Twilight's eyes go wide, "That's it!"

Applejack liked that look on the alicorn's face, "Ya got somethin'?"

Twilight nodded back, "I think I do...but I gotta get close. Can you distract her?"

"Ah sure as sugar can!" Applejack replied as she charged at the unicorn, Twilight staying back behind the building.

Seeing the farmer charge, Skybreaker held up his axe. "Time to push this girl to her limit. Sky Force...EXCEED!" He pointed the axe before a tornado flew out of the weapon, the unicorn taking a deep breath as she unleashed the most powerful sonic blast she could create. The two attacks connected, cancelling each other out as Applejack grabbed a bunch of fallen over bricks.

"Here ah come!" Applejack yelled as she flung the rocks up, only to spin around and buck the bricks flying at the criminal.

The unicorn saw the projectiles coming and gasped, accidentally cutting her scream, which allowed the last of Skybreaker's attack to hit her. "Augh!" She yelped as she was pushed back, her body now dodging the bricks due to the pegasi's attack.

She then hopped back on her hooves, instantly recovering as she started to take another deep breath. But as she did this, Twilight appeared in front of her in a flash of light. Before Banshee could finish, the alicorn shot a tiny beam down her throat, smirking at the sight, "Gotcha!"

"Oh yeah?!" Banshee screeched as her horn flared, taking an even deeper breath.

"TWILIGHT!" Applejack and Skybreaker screamed as they saw Banshee about to scream...only for nothing.

The unicorn blinked at this, her eyes going before trying to scream again, but no sound came out. She then began moving her lips, but no sound could be heard. And as she kept trying to speak, she suddenly found herself being lifted up by Twilight's magic, making her try to scream as she squirming in the alicorn's hold.

"What did you do to her?" Skybreaker asked as he landed, Applejack now trotting up to the princess.

"I realized her magic increased the power of her voice, meaning that without her voice, she's harmless. So, I hit her with a muting spell I used to use on Spike back when he was younger and started learning to curse. And if you're wondering, I also used it on Flash, as he thought it was funny to teach Spike those words." The others giggled before looking up a Banshee, the mute mare now flailing around as she kept trying to struggle against the magic hold. "Though...she seems really panicked now. Guess losing your voice does that."

"Girls!" They looked up to now see Rainbow flying over to them.

"Rainbow? Shouldn't you be helping stop the crooks at the castle?"

"That's the thing," the pegasus replied as she landed. "The castle's not being attacked. The whole place is on alert, but they haven't found anypony."

"What? But why would they-" Twilight closed her eyes as she went back to her mental spell, "Flash? Are you done with your fight?"

"I am Twilight. We managed to take down Electra, though Rarity got hurt. I'm gonna get her to the medical ward. How are you doing? I'm not hearing any loud screams anymore."

"We've got Banshee, but Rainbow says the castle isn't under attack."

"What? Then why were these two trying to distract us?! What did Grand say?!"

"Grand?!" Rainbow raised an eyebrow, "I thought Grand was still with you."

"We sent him back to the castle. Don't tell me he didn't go there?"

Skybreaker hummed at this, "That's not like Grand. The only reason he wouldn't return to the castle...is if he figured something out." He turned to Twilight, "Try and connect me to him." She nodded and opened the channel to the one she hadd given Grand. "Grand! You there?"

"Yeah!" the earth pony's voice called out, "I hear yah."

"Where are you?" Flash asked next.

"Fighting the one who tricked us all, even her own friends."

Down in the sewer, Grand was now heavily panting as he found himself in a tunnel filled with jellified rocks, the knight dodging a new set of magic blasts. As he continued to do this, he kept talking to the mental spell, "She just wanted us to think she was attacking the castle, but her target was actually the research lab. She almost got away with whatever was in a safe."

"How'd you know she was going after the research lab?" Twilight asked.

"Call it a hunch," Grand replied.

"Then why didn't you tell us?"

"In case my hunch was wrong. But it wasn't."

"Alright, we'll be there soon." Skybreaker chimed in, "Just hold out a little longer."

"No problem."

"Hey! Stop muttering to yourself and fight me!" Slushy yelled as she fired another beam, Grand countering by summoning another rock shield. "Ragh! Stop doing that!"

"I ain't stopping lass! Not till you're behind bars where you belong!" Grand barked back as he spun his hammer with one hoof. As he did this, he glanced up and saw that their fight had now loosened some rocks in the ceiling. "Gotcha!" He then leapt out from behind the elastic rock, slamming the ground with his hammer, "Grand Impact!" A singular rock flew up, the knight spinning like a top as he smashed it with his hammer. The rubble shattered into a barrage of fragments, all ready to hit Slushy.

"You'll have to do better than that!" she countered, a wide spread beam flying out of her horn that struck every piece. But as she did this, Grand continued to spin, leaping at her with his swinging hammer like a tornado. Slushy could only hop backwards, only for hammer's head to smack her face, the unicorn yelping as was sent flying into the wall. "AUGH!"

Grand then leapt back to a fair distance and raised his hammer. "It's over."

"Like heck it is!" Slushy screeched as she immediately picked herself back up. But as she did this, Grand smashed his hammer into the floor, the entire tunnel now shaking at the blow. The rattling quickly shook Slushy over, making her lose her balance as her face now kissed dirt. "Eep!"

And as she tried to get back up again, her ears picked up a new sound, making her look up and see a giant rock falling right for her. She yelped as she fired a spell at the rubble, rubberising it seconds before it bonked her head. "Argh!" She cried as it bounced off her face.

She then tried to rub her face with her hooves, only to let out an 'eep' as Grand's hammer slammed into the ground in front of her. The mare quickly tried to scramble back onto her hooves, only to see Grand push off with his back legs, using the hammer to polevault as he thrust a hoof right into her stomach. Spit flew out of this mouth as he slammed her back, the knight now on his hooves as he pulled the hammer out and pointed it at her.

"Grand...FORCE!" From out of his weapon fired a tornado of dirt and rock, instantly striking the still-recovering mare.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" She screamed as she went flying down the tunnel, soon striking a wall as it started to crack behind her.

It wasn't long till the attack stopped, Grand lowering Grand Slammer as he watched Slushy slide down the wall, her body slumping over in defeat. Shaking his head at this sight, Grand put the hammer on his shoulder, "That's the problem with most unicorns. No physical stamina. One good hit, and it's all over."

But as these words left his mouth, he started to fall over as well, his flank hitting dirt as he started panting heavily, "Ugh...that took more than I thought."

"Grand!" His ears spiked up as he turned to see Flash and Skybreaker, Flash kneeling down beside him while Skybreaker checked on Slushy. "You okay?"

"Yeah...just tired."

Skybreaker chuckled at his reply, "Maybe you should retire if you're tired after fighting just one pony."

Grand glared back at him as he pulled himself up, "I might be tired, but I can still kick your flank. Now come on, let's get this mare in prison before she wakes up." They nodded before Slushy was hoisted onto Skybreaker's back.

"Talk about a great way to end your career," Flash told him as Grand put his hoof over his shoulders. "Stopping a major theft, complete with catching the criminal mastermind. Talk about ending on a high note."

"Yeah..." Grand nodded as Flash and Skybreaker ran ahead, Grand staring at his Celestic Gear, the battle playing back in his head. "Maybe..."

The next day...

Despite all the chaos that had occurred the previous day, Celestia decided to keep the event on schedule. Now Flash stood beside the rest of the knights, minus Grand and Cold, in front of the stage with several guards all lining the walls. He was reminded of his knighting, now seeing a full crowd a ponies while the four princesses stood behind him.

Before he could think anymore, trumpets caught his attention as the back doors opened to reveal Grand, the stallion in his blue suit the rest of the knights also wore. As he approached, the knights and guards all stood to attention. And as he reached the stand, he stood between Flash and Skybreaker.

And as the trumpets came to a stop, Celestia now speaking up. "We're here today to commemorate the efforts of one special pony, who has spent forty years of his life protecting both Canterlot and Equestria. Now, it's time for him to finally rest and allow others to take his place." Twilight held up a pillow with a scroll on it, Celestia taking the paper and floating it in front of Grand. "Grand Hoof, I hereby grant your honorary discharge and relief you of all your guard duties."

Grand took the scroll and tried to form a smile as he stared at the princess, "Thank you, your majesties. But even though I'm no longer a member of the guard, I am still a knight. If Equestria is ever in need of me, don't hesitate to ask."

Celestia did a small nod, giving her usual kind smile as she announced, "Fillies and gentlecolts, please give a warm round of applause for Sir Grand Hoof, the Great Mountain!" Grand turned to the crowd, the room now filled with applause. He smiled at all of them, spotting many faces he hadn't seen in a long time, seeing many old close friends.

Everything after that seemed like a blur, hours passing in what felt like minutes, all filled with many conversations about all his adventures as a guard and knight. Time only seemed to slow back down as the party ended, the stallion back in his room as he laid his suit down before walking up to the balcony, now looking out at the night sky.

A knock on the door then caught his attention, "Come in." He looked over his shoulder and saw Flash step in, the defender quickly making his way up to his mentor, "Hey. What's up?"

"Just wanted to see how you were doing." Flash started staring up at the night sky as well, "Hard to believe you're actually retired."

Grand chuckled at this, shaking his head, "I honestly never expected to make it this far. Always figured I'd end up...you know, in the field."

"Ah, you're too stubborn for that."

"Yeah..." Grand let out a long sigh, "I don't want to be retired." Flash turned to him with wide eyes, "I'm not ready yet. I still have so much to do."

"What are you talking about? You've done more than your fair share."

"I don't feel like I have. Yesterday, when I took that mare down, it made me feel like I was thirty years younger. And it uh...it made me remember that I still have a lot to atone for."

"Atone for?"

Grand turned to him with a low, deep glare. "My catchphrase, count up your sins, I didn't just come up with it. It...came from something that happened to me, a mistake I made."

Flash leaned back on the balcony, remembering an old conversation, "Is this the same mistake that made you not want to be a knight?"

Grand replied with a small nod, "After it happened, I felt like I had no right to even live. I probably would have ended it all right there, that is if a friend of mine hadn't made me realize doing so would have meant that what happened would have been for nothing. He told me to keep that mistake in my heart and spend every waking moment atoning for it. And so....I've been doing that everyday, counting my sins to atone."

"And after forty years, you still don't think you've atoned enough?"

"Maybe for what happened back then, but I've made more sins. Doom and Lightning, despite what you say, were my fault. I didn't watch after them when I should have and...others paid the price, including you. Don't deny what they did to you."

"Grand..."

"Its true Flash, and you know it. Heck, I've made many more mistakes you don't even know about. I don't think I have enough time left to make up for all of them."

Flash groaned at the statement, facehoofing, "Grand, I don't think it's healthy to treat your life like a set of scales, constantly trying to balance things out like that. It's not fair to always try and punish yourself for the mistakes you made. You'll drive yourself crazy."

"Maybe."

"And don't forget what I said before about everything I did being thanks to what you taught me. And I'm not the only one. You brought First and Heather into the Royal Knights, so anything they've done as knights is thanks to you. You've helped so many ponies, who in turn helped a load more. You might not have been directly involved, but you are responsible for more good than you could possibly know, and far more than all the mistakes you've made."

Grand gave him a small smile, chuckling as he replied, "Well...maybe you're right." He gave the defender a playful nudge, "When did you get so wise?"

Flash laughed, "I had a good teacher....or I've been reading too much sweet stuff to help me with dating Twilight."

"HA!" Grand guffawed, a big toothy grin on his face now, "I gotta say, it sure took you two a long time! Heck, we called it way back when, and I still couldn't believe you finally got together after becoming a knight!"

Flash rolled his eyes at this, "Oh yeah? What, we're you betting we'd never get together?"

Grand let out a mocking hum, "Hmm....yeah. I mean, I told Princess Cadance to not try to get you two together back when you were still training under me. Told her it would never work, and I was right! HA!"

"Yeah yeah..." Flash muttered as he looked away, trying to hide a blush.

Grand then let out another long sigh, looking back up at the sky. "Even so, I still feel like I'm not done helping Equestria Flash. It's just...who I am. Out of all the things I'd like to do now that I'm retired, helping others is still at the top of the list."

Flash took the words to heart, rubbing his chin in thought before a bulb shined above his head, "Well...I might have an idea."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It'll allow you to help ponies, and you'll get to relax and enjoy life as much as you want."

A few days later...

The sun was rising over Ponyville, its many residents now beginning to awaken. But as they did this, it's newest resident had already been up for an hour. The little cottage door opened, Grand stepping out with his Celestic Gear attached to his back. He took a deep breath of the country air, a big smile gracing his face.

The knight soon calmly trotted through the town, smiling and giving hellos to anypony he passed. He then spotted Flash, Lightning, Iron and Springer coming up to him, the four gathering around as he said, "Morning boys."

"Morning," they all replied in unison.

Flash then walked up to his side with a smirk, "So, how's Ponyville's newest defender of the peace enjoying his first day on the job?"

"Pretty good so far. I also got a letter from Celestia saying I can come give lectures to the new guard trainees whenever I feel like being back in Canterlot. Though I gotta say....thanks for this idea Flash."

"Glad you like it. Now come on," Flash then took to the skies, "Knowing this town, there'll likely be five potential disasters for us to stop before lunch."

Grand nodded before the five ran off, all ready to keep Ponyville safe. His life as a guard may be over, but his role as a protector was one he would keep until his dying day. And there was nowhere he would like to spend that time than in Ponyville, alongside his student, grandson, and so many friends.

Retirement was gonna be good

Do Princess's Dream of Magic Sheep

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Canterlot, close to sunset...

Trixie let out a yawn as she finished doing her mane, ready for the night ahead. Since she became Luna's student, she had slowly changed her sleeping habits to one of a nocturnal pony. As such, sunset had become her sunrise as she had awoken just an hour or so ago. After finishing her clean up, she teleported down to the kitchen in order to grab breakfast/supper, along with her teacher's.

"Evening," she told the cooks as she headed over to the fridge.

"Evening..." the completely drained looking chefs replied as they were finishing cleaning the kitchen.

In response, Trixie opened the fridge while licking her lips at the sight of the pancakes that had been made for them that morning, courtesy of Celestia. A simple heating spell later would have them back to being freshly cooked, "Here we go. Bye boys..." She waved to the cooks after taking the two plates in her magic, the ponies all waving back before she warped away.

She then reappeared outside her room, now going to Luna's private chambers despite knowing the princess would still be asleep. With her duty to raise the moon, add the stars, and watch over the ponies in their dreams, not to mention the lessons she gave Trixie, the alicorn always ended up sleeping all the way from sunrise to sunset. But hopefully, the spell Trixie was working on would help lighten that load. It was here that she arrived at Luna's door, knocking on her door before opening it up, "Princess, I'm-"

"No..." she heard Luna moan, "It's gone!"

"Princess?" Trixie stepped inside, placing their food on the table as she went to the bedchambers. There, she found Luna asleep in a moon-shaped bed, only for the princess to shoot up with a look of horror in her eyes. "Princess? Are you alright?"

"What?!" Luna yelped as her eyes darted around, gasps escaping her mouth as she began staring at her bedsheets.

"I asked if you were alright. What happened?"

Luna continued to pant as she put a hoof to her forehead, "No...my dream...my dream ended...happily."

Trixie tilted her head at this, "Um...isn't that a good thing?"

Luna just shook her head, "No. It is a very...very bad thing."

The next day...

Flash let out a yawn as he squirted shampoo onto Springer's head, the jakhowl sighing as the stallion rubbed the soap into his fur. They and the rest of the mane seven were all in Carousel Boutique, each one grooming their pets with love and care. Not only that, Soarin was also there, visiting his marefriend, which he was now helping her clean up her pet tortoise.

Springer let out another sigh, "Ahh...this is the life."

"Speak for yourself," Flash mumbled.

"Ooh, this is so much fun!" Pinkie cheered as she bounced past Rainbow, who let out a yawn right into her boyfriend's face as she scrubbed Tank's shell while Soarin was busy cleaning the turtle's propeller.

"Yeah Rarity, thanks for setting all this up."

Fluttershy shined a small smile as she sat on a table, Angel in her lap. "A grooming day for our pets really was a great idea."

"Not getting any complaints from me," Springer added while lying back in the tub.

Flash growled at the jakhowl, "Remind me why I'm doing this again. You're not my pet, and you can clean yourself up just fine on your own."

Springer chuckled back, "But I am your partner. Isn't this what partners do?"

Flash let out a grumble as he was about to squirt shampoo into the jakhowl's eyes, only to hear the sound of Opalescence howling. This made him turn to see the cat jump onto the wall as she glared down at her owner. "Oh my!" Rarity yelped as she let out a yawn, "Oh...I'm sorry Opal. I um...I didn't get my normal beauty sleep last night."

Opal let out a hiss as Twilight spoke up, "You know..." She yawned as well while brushing Owlowiscious. "I didn't sleep well either."

This was met with a bunch of nods of agreement from every pony in the building except Soarin as Pinkie cartwheeled past them all. "I'm totally beat too!" She chimed in as she landed in front of Soarin.

"If this is you beat, I'd hate to see what you look like fully rested and full of caffeine."

"Oh, I've done that." Pinkie giggled as she put her hooves behind the back of her head, "It was like the world's most intense game of musical statues."

Before she could go into detail, Winona let out a bark. "All right Winona." Applejack tiredly reached around the table, looking for a brush but grabbing Gummy by mistake. "Time for yer brushin'." But as she held Gummy out, the alligator bit onto the dog's ear, making her yip in surprise before swinging her head around. She then dislodged the fangless reptile and sent him flying across the room, landing on Owlowiscious's head. The motion spooked the owl, making him hop out of Twilight's hooves, knocking the princess into Tank's bath.

"Blaugh!" Twilight yelped before her head rose out of the water. "Applejack!"

"Oops," the farm pony lightly chuckled, "Ah guess ah'm too plumb tuckered out to do this right."

"What is up with you all today?" Soarin asked as he saw that each of them had bags under their eyes. "You look like you're one bad night away from becoming the living undead."

"We're just...tired." Flash let out another yawn, Fluttershy doing the same.

"Iron and I even went to bed early last night." She then started shivering, "But then I had a really...scary nightmare."

This statement caught everypony's attention, except Flash and Soarin. The girls all leaned over to the animal keeper as Pinkie exclaimed, "ME TOO!"

"Same here." Rainbow added before looking away, "Except uh...you know, I didn't think mine was that scary. Just a run of mill nightmare."

"Well, mine sure was." Twilight groaned as she looked over at Flash, only for the defender to roll his eyes at her. "There was this blue smoke monster and..." She didn't finish as she now saw the others all staring at her, "What?"

"I dreamed about a blue smoke thingy too!" Fluttershy gasped before putting her hooves over her mouth.

"Me too!" Applejack continued.

As the other girls confirmed this, Soarin turned to Flash, noticing he wasn't talking, "What about you? Any bad dreams?"

Flash shook his head. "Nope. My dreams were the usual form of awesome and fun." He turned to Twilight, who was now getting out of the tub. "I just didn't get any sleep because a certain somepony kept screaming, kicking and levitating me out of bed every time she had a nightmare."

Twilight looked away, whispering, "I said I was sorry."

"You flung me out of the window." Flash growled back before rubbing his sides, "And it still hurts..."

Before Twilight could reply, Spike handed her a towel as he spoke up. "Huh. I wonder why I didn't have that nightmare. I slept great!"

"Me too," Springer added. "It's only the girls who had a nightmare. Wonder what links them together?"

"Well...they're all the Elements of Harmony?" Soarin suggested as he put Tank's propeller on him.

Flash waved his hoof at this, "Eh, so am I, and my dreams were perfectly fine."

Rarity let out a 'hmph', "Even if you boys are fine, the rest of us still saw this creature haunt our dreams! That could be a serious problem, as I need my beauty sleep....then again, is it only for girls? That's some sexist nightmare if that's the case!"

Twilight shook her head as she started toweling down, "That does sound a little out there...though that doesn't mean it isn't true."

"I'd hate to see the reverse then." Flash added as he started brushing Springer's tail, "I mean, a big old smoke monster? Sounds like some throwaway plot device for a mystery show...and not in the least bit scary."

"Tell that to when you have something suddenly interrupt your sleep." Twilight hissed as she finished drying before giving the towel back to the little drake, "Speaking of sleep though, I have an idea. Spike, could you send a scroll to Princess Luna?"

"Sure!" Spike tossed the towels back over his head, all of them landing and burying Flash as he pulled a scroll out of nowhere. "All set!"

Twilight nodded as she began to pace around the room, "Dear Princess Luna, last night my friends and I all dreamt of a creature made of blue smoke. I'm sure you're very busy, but-" She let out a yawn, "when you have the chance, please let me know if you have any idea what it could mean. Yours-" Another yawn escaped her, "Princess Twilight Sparkle." She turned back to Spike, "You can leave out the yawns."

Spike quickly crossed out a few sections before rolling up the scroll and sending it off in a burst of fire.

Watching this, Flash opened his mouth, "So..."

BLAM!

That was the sound of the boutique's doors being thrown open as the alicorn of the night appeared, gasping as she asked, "Which of you saw the creature of blue smoke in your nightmare?!"

Fluttershy's' eyes went wide as she commented, "Wow...that was fast."

Flash nodded in agreement as he pulled the rags off his head, "No kidding. If you ever get bored being a princess, I bet any pizza delivery place would be happy to have you."

"Now is not the time for jokes Sentry!" Luna screeched as she walked inside, "Now, who saw the creature?!"

Twilight was the one to answer, "We all did."

"Not us!" Spike pointed to Springer and himself, the jakhowl rolling his eyes as the girls all said they know.

Flash then spoke up. "I didn't have nightmares either."

"I see..." Luna hummed as she began to bit her lip, everypony seeing sweat now go down her face, "This is troubling."

"So you've encountered the smoke monster too?" Twilight asked her, Luna nodding back.

"The Tantabus is a creature of my nightmares. It escaped from my slumber yesterday."

Fluttershy shivered at the description. "But how did it get into ours?"

Princess Luna opened her mouth at this, only to sigh as she looked away, "The Tantabus is...like a parasite. My dreams must no longer be enough for it. Now it seeks others to infect and corrupt...and it must have learned of you all from seeing you in my dreams."

Soarin spoke up next, "What were you dreaming about?"

"The nightmare it created was of me reverting back to...Nightmare Moon." They watched as she took a moment to form her next words, the princess mumbling as she then said, "As...her, the nightmare then showed me being freed from the form by....you seven."

"Huh. So it went after the heroes of the nightmare. Interesting..." Twilight commented as she rubbed her chin in thought, "That explains why it was just us."

"Uh, hello?" Flash waved his hooves around, "I'm one of the elements and I didn't have the nightmare. You saying only the girls saved you?"

Luna shook her head, "No, you were there. The Tantabus should have gone after you as well."

"So why didn't it?" Flash responded, "You saying this...smoke thing doesn't like how my dreams taste? Should I be insulted?"

"That does sound kinda silly." Pinkie chimed in, Flash shivering at her words.

"If you're saying that, I'm in trouble." Flash added as he looked away.

While he did this, a bulb went off above Twilight's head, "If Flash wasn't affected....it must have been because of the Sacred Light! It protects him from all manner of magic. Well, that is if the Tantabus is a creature of dream magic. If it is, the Sacred Light would have shielded Flash."

"Yes, it is made of dream magic." Luna replied as she crossed her hooves, "And that makes sense. It is not the first time Flash's dreams have been inaccessible, as I couldn't get to them back when we searched through his lost memories. Though...the Tantabus could enter Sentry's dreams....but only if he allows it to."

"Which I doubt I'll be doing," Flash stated with a shrug.

It was here Rainbow floated in between Twilight and Luna, "Oookay. So uh...what's the problem here? Smokey gave us some bad dreams. That's no biggie, right?"

Luna shook her head, "I saw that the Tantabus had grown more powerful, but I did not realize that that power was enough to enable it to escape my dreams. If its power grows, it could very well find a way to escape into the real world. It...it could turn all of Equestria into a living nightmare!"

Everypony else now saw the look of fear on the princess's face, Rainbow responding, "Okay, I take it back! That does sound bad! Really bad!"

"What do we do? How do we stop it Princess Luna?" Twilight asked next.

Luna put her hoof to her chin, "Well...now that I know where it is, I can fight it by entering your dreams. Hopefully, that'll allow me to destroy it once and for all."

"Sounds like a plan," Soarin added as he leaned on the side of the wall with a smirk. "And we'll be there to help."

Luna shook her head again, "No. This is something I must do alone. After all, I am the only one that has the power to enter another's dream."

Twilight walked in front of the princess, "Princess Luna, surely we can help you someway else than just-"

"Hold it!" yelled a new voice, interrupted the alicorn as everyone turned to the door. There, they saw a certain light blue pony standing in a heroic pose with bright lights illuminating her from behind.

"Trixie?!" Flash gasped as he squinted at the bright light, "What are you doing here?"

"To help." Trixie used her magic to shut off the spotlight behind her, teleporting it away before walking in.

"How did you know I would come here?" Luna asked, eyeballing her student before Trixie held up the letter Spike had sent.

"I saw you were gone and found this, then asked around in town. A colt named Pip told me he had seen you zoom through town to this place. Anyways, I'm here to help."

Luna sighed. "I applaud your eagerness to help, but you cannot. For as I said, I am the only one capable of entering dreams." She then saw a sheepish smile appear on Trixie's face, raising an eyebrow in response. "Bellatrix?"

"I...may have been secretly studying your magic and learned to do it herself." She saw Luna's eyes narrow at this, "Please don't be mad."

"Trixie....the magic I use is very dangerous. Even my own sister would be a fool to try and learn to use it." Luna leaned down as her eyes glared at Trixie's eye level, "The dream realm is a place where no normal pony should just waltz into. You can easily trap and lose yourself there. Not to mention-"

"I know!" Trixie interrupted, making Luna growl. The sight made her student shiver, but she continued, "Princes...I had to. For you. I...I've seen how exhausted you've been whenever you finish your dream walking. Night after night, along with your other duties and helping me study. I...I know I shouldn't have done it, but....I uh...I figured that if I learned how to use your magic...I could help lighten the load."

Luna stared at her student for another minute, only to sigh as she pulled Trixie into a hug, "Oh, my dear student. I'm thankful you'd go so far for me."

Trixie returned the hug, her eyes soon glancing over to see everypony smirking at the bond. Growling, she mouthed, 'shove off' as the hug ended and she looked up at her mentor, "Princess...I want to help you the way you've helped me. I won't let you face the Tantabus alone."

Luna shook her head one last time. "Well...I get the feeling that even if I said no, you'd still end up doing it. Very well. I will allow you to join me in this trial, but you must do exactly what I say." Trixie nodded as Luna turned back to the others. "The rest of you, prepare for tonight, for it will be a long one."

As they waited for night time, they began preparations by telling the rest of the defenders about what was happening. Iron did not take to the idea of something invading his girlfriend's dreams, but Fluttershy convinced him to go along with it. The rest of the group then prepared Flash and Twilight's room by adding several more beds that they could sleep in while Trixie and Luna went to sleep in a guest room for some extra energy. It wasn't long till Luna had woken up and raised the moon to the sky as the others watched, "There...now it is time to get to work."

"We've prepared everything exactly as you requested." Twilight opened the door to her and Flash's room.

"Excellent. This will do nicely." Luna commented as she flew around the room. "As you seven slumber here, I will pursue the creature into whichever of your dreams it infests."

"Yeah, about that..." They all turned to Lightning, who had a raised eyebrow on his face, "Wouldn't it be better for only one of them to fall asleep? Then there'd only be one dream for this thing to hide in."

Luna shook her head in response. "No, I'm afraid it's not that easy. The dream realm exists even while you're awake. It simply takes a blank form that awaits for your next dream to give it shape, which the Tantabus will be waiting in. My magic only allows me to enter the dreams of a pony that's sleeping, a limitation the Tantabus does not possess."

Trixie nodded in agreement. "That means unless all of you are asleep, Luna and I won't be able to follow it anywhere it could hide."

"That's also why Flash needs to be asleep as well," Luna pointed to the knight. "We can't rule out the possibility of the Tantabus finding a way to get around your defenses and hide in your dreamscape. I suspect you don't want to do this, but I need you to lower your guard and allow us access to your dreams. The Sacred Light should drop that protection if you want it too."

Flash shrugged at this, hopping into the bed first as the rest of the defenders, Spike, Wild and Soarin all sat down before Grand spoke up, "We'll be here, ready to react in case the Tantabus does manage to escape. I don't know how much we'll be able to do against this thing, but we'll be ready either way."

"Thank you," Luna added as she turned to the others now getting into bed. "Now, are you all ready?"

They all nodded as Pinkie went, "Ooh!" She bounced on her head. "It'll be like a princess sleepover!"

"Speaking of princesses," Twilight and Flash pulled the covers over them as she stared at Luna. "Aren't you gonna ask Celestia for her help as well?"

Luna shook her head again, "No. As I told Trixie, my magic is extremely dangerous. My sister knows this and has never tried to learn it. Only I can walk in the dreamscape without issue." She then turned to Trixie, "Which is why you must do exactly as I tell you. One wrong move and you could end up trapped in the ponies' subconscious forever. That or you might accidentally do serious mental damage. When we're in there, your job will be to help protect the others from whatever nightmares the Tantabus will throw at them. I alone must fight the creature. No pony else can help."

"Even us?" Applejack asked.

Luna sighed at this, "Especially you. You have all suffered so much because of me. You need only slumber while I hunt the Tantabus in your dreams."

"We got it," Flash added as he let out another yawn, "Guess it's bedtime. Good thing I had Scootaloo sleepover at Sweetapple Acres. If that thing got out and appeared here..." He didn't say anything else as he blinked at Luna, "Not that I think you'll let it."

Luna giggled at this, Applejack rolling her eyes at the comment, "She'll be fine with my little sis. Not only that, one good thing about not sleepin' well last night..." She rolled over to her side, "shouldn't be too hard to fall asleep now."

"Are you kidding?!" Pinkie cheered as she suddenly appeared from under Applejack's blanket. "This is so exciting, I don't know how I'm ever going to-" The earth pony didn't finish that sentence as she fell back onto the pillow, loudly snoring at the rest chuckled at the sight....and Applejack had to go over to Pinkie's bed due to the party pony now sleeping in hers.

The rest of the defenders sat back as they saw everypony fall asleep, each soldiers now drinking several large coffee cups in preparation for the long night. As they did this, Luna and Trixie both sparked their horns before summoning several strings of light, all of them latching onto seven pony heads. Connections now made, Luna selected the first dream to head into with Trixie following behind her.

"Whoa!" Trixie gasped as she found herself flying through a tunnel of light before a myriad of doors popped into existence. Each one had a symbol on the door, Trixie guessing them to be cutie marks, "This...this is the dream realm?"

"It is the void between dreams. It is here that we can enter the dreams of others." Luna replied as she sparked her horn, all but seven doors disappearing, "There, I've separated their dreams from the others. As long as they don't dream of other ponies, the Tantabus cannot get to them." She then closed her eyes, soon turning to the diamond image door. "In here!"

She opened the door and flew in, Trixie right behind her. In a flash, the two found themselves in a room filled with windows and...living dresses? "This is gonna take some getting used too."

Luna's eyes darted around the room, only to point at a corner. There in that space was a strange black and purple cloud of wispy smoke, the being now flying into the dresses before transforming them into fanged monsters. "It's here!" She yelled as they saw one of the dresses destroy the others, ripping them to shreds.

Trixie gulped at the sight. "Trixie's heard of killer fashion sense, but..." She watched as Rarity move over to the remains of the dress, tears in her eyes as she cried.

"It was such a pretty little chiffon." She fell to her knees, "What kind of monster would do this?!"

"The Tantabus," Luna replied as her horn began to spark.

Rarity shot the creature a death glare as she picked herself up, "Then let's stop it! You'll pay for what you've done here!"

"Aw yeah! Let's do this!" Trixie cheered as her started to glow.

"No!" Luna held her wings up in front of them, "I don't want you to suffer anymore because of me." While she said that, Trixie began to see that the Tantabus started to double in size, "I will catch it. Trixie, help Rarity fight off these beasts!" She then started firing a series of beams at the Tantabus, destroying several dresses as the monster kept dodging each attack.

"Couldn't you have dreamed up something with less grabby bits?" Trixie asked as she used her magic to slice off a ribbon that was now wrapping around her leg.

Rarity fired her own magic, pushing it away. "It's not like I have control of what I dream."

"It has jumped into another dream!" The two looked up and saw Luna pointing to a now bricked up window. "I am sorry, but if I am to stop it, Trixie and I must follow it where you cannot."

"Go!" Rarity yelled as she destroyed another monster dress, Trixie now using her magic to float up next to Luna as she destroyed the wall and jumped out the window. Trixie followed through, soon finding themselves back at the door corridor.

"In here." Luna added as she opened another door, only for both to see what appeared to be Cloudsdale.

"Is this Rainbow's dream?" Trixie asked as she tried to look back at the door, only for the two to be suddenly hit by what felt like a wave. "WHOA!" The unicorn fell over, shaking her head as she looked back up, hadn't had time to see which cutie mark was on the door, but then heard Pinkie's voice as she trotted by. "What the heck just happened?"

"Seems Miss Pie is a vivid dreamer." Luna replied as they saw Pinkie now hop by, the scene changing as she bounced around, "Until she focuses on a single dream, neither I or the Tantabus will be able to do anything."

Trixie shook her head, getting back up as she commented, "Sounds good to me. Maybe Smoky'll get bored and we can catch it leaving her dream."

But as she said that, the dream shifted into the image of Pinkie's room...and stayed there. "Now!" Luna declared as they ran into the room, Trixie following to find herself in a location that was filled with tons of cakes and desserts.

"Good thing I'm not that much of a sweets eater." Trixie muttered until they saw a puff of smoke hop into a big cake, only for it to grow eyes and a big angry frown. "I make my point."

"Take it down!" Luna yelled as she fired a beam directly into the dessert, the cake exploding in one shot. Its parts splattered all over her, the frosting now covering her face, "Ugh..."

"That was fast." Trixie added before seeing the smoke monster fly out of the plate the cake was on. "There!" But as she yelled at this, the Tantabus flew into a box and shut the lid.

Luna leapt at the box, only for the world to shift to the Crystal Empire, the Tantabus now gone. "No!"

Pinkie flinched at the sight, "Sorry! My mind is just too...jumpy."

Luna shook her head at this, quickly creating a door that she and Trixie went back to the corridor. Here, Luna summoned a door with butterflies on it. "Hopefully this one won't be too hard...though it is Fluttershy." Trixie prayed. "The Tantabus will probably be using something only she's scared of."

But when they arrived in her dream, they both went wide-eyed at the new sight. "N-n-n-n-nice...giant...evil Angel," Fluttershy quivered as the sight of a giant version of her pet now morphed into a horned, fanged, red-eyed beast.

"Never mind!" The two flew down, Luna grabbing Fluttershy as she screamed while Trixie started shooting beams at the new monstrosity.

"Phew! Oh, thank you princess!" Fluttershy replied as she hugged Luna, the princess putting her down as she turned to see Trixie defeating the monster bunny before firing a beam at the Tantabus, only for the smoke to dodge it. In response, it flew into a birdhouse, making the unicorn growl as Luna summoned another door.

"Trixie!" Luna called out as she followed after her mentor, the two now finding themselves in a orchid.

"Okay...that thing is getting faster."

"We have no choice but to keep chasing, my dear student. We just have to catch it once...." Luna muttered as she stared at the trees, "Though...where is it?"

Trixie crossed her hooves at this, "I'm assuming this is Applejack's dream, though she's nowhere to be found. Did it hop to another dream?"

"No...I can sense it-there!" Luna pointed to a wisp of smoke fly over the trees, only for it suddenly descend into the pasture. Gasping at the sight, the duo ran through the garden, trying to follow the smoky menace as it made its way to a certain earth pony.

It was Applejack, who was cleaning a giant apple, "Ah...this is the life." As she did this, the Tantabus hopped into a nearby tree, its roots instantly rotting away. The sight made Applejack look up, now seeing several apples shrivel up before falling off their branches, "What the-"

"Over there!" Trixie yelled as she fired a beam at the tree, the smoke monster phasing out of it as it then leaped into the giant apple. Before anypony could react, the fruit limped over, quickly turning into a mushy mess. "Gross!"

"Mah apple!" Applejack yelped as a hole now appeared in the fruit, the monster sucking itself right through the new entrance, "No!"

"Blast it!" Luna growled as she summoned another door, "Come Trixie, we need make chase now!"

"Right!" Trixie added as they hopped into the wooden frame, only the two quickly closing the door behind them. There, they saw a light blue blur fly around, the pony kicking what appeared to be a changeling, "Huh?"

Luna grimaced at the sight, seeing Rainbow Dash punch two changelings in a row, "I see the Tantabus has already turned Rainbow's slumbers into a nightmare! How is it going this fast?!"

Rainbow turned to the voice, punching a changeling behind her without looking, "Hey Princess Luna. Sorry, haven't seen that uh...Tanta-thing yet. Having too much fun."

"Too much fun?!" Trixie exclaimed, now seeing Rainbow dodge another bug before kicking three more.

"Yeah! This is my favorite kind of dream!" She then spun like a top, knocking out five changelings in a row, "Yahoo! I am awesome!" But as she hit another foe, the world suddenly began to shift. The invasion of bugs instantly disappeared, the three blinking as the background changed to a big flower field. "Huh? Why are we here?"

"Did her dream shift like Pinkie's?" Trixie asked next, only for her mentor to shake her head.

"No...I suspect this is the work of the Tantabus."

"But why would it be a flower field?"

As Trixie asked this, she turned to Rainbow, only to see a look of horror on her face. Following her line of sight, Trixie began to backpedal at a new sight.

We are such happy flowers

It was here that they all saw the source of the sudden song, finding it to be...sunflowers?

We will now sing for hours

More and more living sunflowers appeared around them, all singing and dancing with giant eyes and girly grins.

Aren't we unbearably cute?
Watch me solo on jazz flute

One of the flowers pulled out a flute and began to play, causing Rainbow to scream in horror at the sound. It was here that Luna spotted the Tantabus fly up into the clouds, both ponies firing at a blast at the monster. But as it hit the clouds, it vanished.

"It's getting faster," Trixie commented as Luna summoned another door.

"Which means it's getting stronger. Come." Luna added as they went to another room, this one being filled with books. As they walked inside, they quickly noticed a certain purple alicorn, her eyes scanning through a queue of flying books. Trixie watched as more books flew by, some showing huge magic equations while others showed pictures of Twilight's friends and family.

"What a nice dream." Trixie responded as she watched more books fly by. But as another book landed onto Twilight's lap, a shriek came out of her mouth.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Twilight screamed as the book grew fangs, biting at her as Luna fired a beam right at the evil novel. The book fell with a thud, the pages now encased in crystal. It was here that several others began to surround Twilight, only for Trixie to fire a volley of blasts, all turning the novels into ice cubes.

"This isn't working!" Trixie yelled as the books all fell to the ground, the crystalized book now shattering as the Tantabus flew away again.

"It doesn't matter! We must keep pressuring it!" Luna announced as a new wave of books flew in front of her, "Get out of my-"

BLAM!

A new beam of magic blasted the tomes away, both turning to see Twilight fighting back the books, "You two go on ahead! I'll be fine!"

"Thanks." Trixie replied as Luna summoned one final door, Trixie grinning at the sight, "We're done to one pony left. We have it cornered."

"Indeed. The only one it hasn't been in is Flash's."

"That should be good. I mean, how's it gonna give the Element of Courage a nightmare?"

"Do not underestimate the Tantabus."

Flash happily sighed as he slumped over, his form resting in Ponyville Park as he started to play his guitar. Around him was the whole town of ponies, all mainly blank looking...but you could see the smiles. The sight made him relax, his hoof slowly strumming the guitar strings.

"This is the life..." he muttered as he pulled out a guitar pick, "Now, what should I play next? Maybe some-"

His mouth came to a stop as he saw something now sitting right in front of him, staring the defender down. It was the Tantabus, the sight making him feel a chill go down his spine. Before he could say anything, the misty being shot into the sky, only for a mass of black clouds to form.

"What the-" he tried to say, only for a lightning bolt to strike down, instantly destroying a nearby house. The explosion knocked him off his hooves, his form rolling down the hill as he tried to come to a stop. But as he did this, he looked back up and gasped at the next sight. Before he could do anything, a volley of bolts blasted the town, explosions consuming every house and pony.

"NOOOOO!!!" he screamed as he flared his wings, trying to fly before a bolt suddenly struck him. His wings stopped moving as he felt the electricity surge his body, slamming him into the dirt as pain overtook his body. And as he felt this surge, he tried to look back up, only to go truly wide-eyed at the next sight.

It was his friends, all of them running up to him as bolts began to dance around the defender. Before he could say anything, a bolt hit Applejack, instantly turning her to dust, "NO!"

"FLASH!" Twilight cried as another bolt hit Rainbow and Rarity, "Help us Flash!"

Two more bolts struck next, blasting Fluttershy and Pinkie to bits, "NO!" he yelled as he tried to get up, tears forming in his eyes.

But as this happened, Twilight appeared right in front of him, inches away from his face as she whispered out, "Help...me..."

"NO!" He screeched, but it was too late. Another bolt struck her, the explosion knocking him flying back.

And as his form slammed into a building, his body slumped over as Twilight's voice echoed in his head, "You failed."

"Why couldn't you save us?" Fluttershy's voice asked next.

"You were supposed to protect us," Rarity added.

"Some knight you are," Rainbow continued.

"What a failure," Applejack said after that.

"Why Flash?" Pinkie whimpered out as Flash began to cover his ears.

"No...stop it! You're all I have! I can't lose you!" Flash yelled as tears began to drip down his face, "No...I...I..."

"Flash!"

"No...no..."

"FLASH!" a new voice screamed, a flash light now revealing Luna and Trixie. The unicorn quickly leaned over, shaking the defender as she said, "It's okay, its just a dream."

"Trixie?" Flash muttered out as he looked up at her, "What is...what are you-"

"Its okay. You didn't fail." Trixie then put her hoof in his, helping him up, "Don't worry. Twilight and the others are all fine."

"But...but they..." Flash muttered out before putting his hoof to his forehead, "Right...that's right. This...is a dream."

"One the Tantabus has infected," Luna added. "Do not worry, young Sentry. Your friends are safe."

"Thank goodness." Flash gasped before fully standing up, "Thank you, you two."

"No problem." Trixie replied as Flash looked up at the sky.

"Hey Tantabus! That's a dirty trick you just did, but it won't work again. You don't scare me!"

"But there are things you do fear!" A voice called out from the flames of one of the destroyed houses, making them turn to see a snake-like figure appear inside. "Things you've been afraid of since before you even met Twilight. The one fear you've never been able to conquer." Several more serpents appeared in the flames, shaking their heads as they began to create a strange rattling noise.

The two mares watched as Flash's eyes grew wider, his entire body beginning to shake as started to backpedal. "No....not that! Anything but that!"

Luna and Trixie watched as the serpent creatures slithered out of the flames, revealing themselves to be...sock puppets?

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Flash fell onto his flank and started scooting backwards, "Get away!"

Trixie raised an eyebrow at the sight, "Seriously?!" The unicorn turned to Flash, "You've faced unknown horrors without even blinking, but sock puppets have you cowering like a little foal?!" As she asked that, a sock puppet hopped at Flash, the unicorn quickly freezing it in place with ice magic.

"Those eyes," Flash whimpered out. "Those soulless, empty eyes." He then saw one puppet appear right in his face, shaking its head to make its googly eyes rattle. "GAH!" Trixie fired another beam, this one turning the puppet into a pile of ash.

But as she began to fight more sock puppets, Luna was now chasing the Tantabus in the sky. As she did this, the smoke monster hopped cloud to cloud, Luna firing beam after beam to try and strike it down. Despite this though, the misty menace dodged every blow, only to suddenly drop like a rock out of the sky.

"What?!" Luna yelped as she saw it go straight for Flash, "NO!"

And as the pegasi was still frozen in fear, he looked up, only to see the monster about to fall right on top of him.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" The mane seven cried as they all shot up awake, each showing nothing but fear on their faces. Spike, Soarin and the defenders all hopped in their seats at the sudden outburst.

"What happened?" Spike asked as he and Lightning ran over to Rarity.

"Are you all okay?" Springer asked Flash, who was now clinging to Twilight with a face that looked like he had a serious case of PTSD.

"That...was horrible!" Fluttershy whispered as Iron pulled her close. "I...I never want to have that nightmare again!"

"Me either!" Rainbow whimper as she started rocking back and forth, Soarin stroking her mane.

"You've all obviously been through a lot," Grand told them. "This Tantabus creature must be very serious. I hope you all caught it."

"I am so sorry, my friends." They all looked up to see Luna flying down, Trixie floating beside her. "I failed." They touched down before Luna before letting out a long shameful sigh, "It will be back to infect your dreams the next time you sleep."

"Oh no!" Fluttershy screamed as she tried to hide under her covers, Iron being suddenly pulled under as well, surprised at his marefriend's strength.

"I'm not letting that thing back in my dreams," Flash chimed in next. "Sacred Light...please do your thing."

"We don't all have that luxury," Applejack barked back, "Ah reckon' ah could live without seeing that thing ever again."

"But you will!" Luna yelled as everypony turned to her, "Again and again, every night until it grows powerful enough to infect the waking world!" Everypony frowned at this as Luna moved over to a nearby window. "After what I did as Nightmare Moon, the fact that I am once again responsible for harming others is...it is more than I can bear."

She then felt a hoof on her shoulder, now seeing Trixie shaking her head, "Princess, this isn't your fault. The Tantabus might have been born in your dreams, but that doesn't mean you asked it to start terrorising others."

"She's right," Pinkie added. "It'll be okay! Everypony makes mistakes!"

Trixie nodded in agreement. "We might have failed this time, but we're not gonna give up. That's something you taught me, to not stop trying until there's absolutely nothing left to do."

Luna sighed as she shook head, turning back to the others, "As long as none of you dreamed about another pony, the Tantabus should remain confined to your dreams. I still have a chance to catch it before it's too late."

"Phew..." Pinkie gasped as they all breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good to hear!" She then clutched her pillow. "Although after you left, I did happen to dream that I was eating a giant ice-cream cone with all of Ponyville while taking a test we hadn't studied for." The party pony shined a huge grin next, ignoring the looks of horror on everypony's faces. "See, what'd I tell ya? Everypony makes mistakes!"

Facehoofs happened all around as Twilight spoke up, "If that's the case....that means the Tantabus could be turning every dream in Ponyville into a nightmare!"

"It is far worse than that," Luna continued. "Infecting all those dreams gives it more power. Soon it will be able to escape into the real world and infect Equestria with its nightmare plague!"

Everyone gulped at this, all turning to give Pinkie a death glare. The earth pony giggled at the sight before hiding away in her bed blanket, Lightning now chiming in, "This is really bad now."

"Eh, what's done is done," Grand added. "What matters now is stopping the Tantabus before it grows too strong. Every second we spend talking is a second it has to grow stronger."

They all nodded as Rarity turned to Luna, "You must let us help you fight against this creature!"

"But how?" Fluttershy asked next, "The Tantabus was able to escape Luna when it only had seven dreams it could get to!"

"That is true," Luna commented. "With so many dreams to hide in, I do not know how I can catch it."

"Maybe we could trap it in one of the dreams?" Springer suggested.

"How?" Wild responded, "How the heck are we supposed to trap something in the dream realm?"

"We could try and lure it into my dream," Flash chimed in, "If my Sacred Light could keep it from getting in, then maybe it could keep it from getting out."

Luna shook her head, "No, I won't take that risk. Once it knows it's trapped, it would likely start attacking you in the dream. That could cause serious damage to your psyche, if not worse."

This made Twilight reach out and clutch Flash's hoof, knowing he would gladly take that risk. But as she saw this, a thought hopped into her head as she turned to Luna, "Princess Luna, if this thing got to our dreams based on who it sees....what if everypony in Ponyville were having one singular dream? Would that trap it?"

This question made Luna go wide-eyed, only to start rubbing her chin in thought, "A wide spread shared dream? Hmmm...well, I can create shared dreams, but...for so many ponies at once? I've never done anything like that. The amount of power it would take-"

"Maybe I can help?" Trixie interrupted, Luna shaking her head in response.

"No. This level of magic is beyond what you've learned. If I am to do this, then I must do it alone. The question is...can I actually do it?"

"Well, it is worth a try, isn't it?" Fluttershy asked.

Luna bit her lip at this, Grand now walking up to her, "Princess, if there's one thing I've learned in my time as a knight, it's that there a some things that can only be done together. I wanted to stop Doom on my own, but I never would have been able to without the help of the other knights."

"Didn't you try to take him one on one and lost gramps?" Lightning countered, only to get a glare from the old pony.

"Quiet you!"

Luna sighed at this, looking away, "I...suppose you're right. I will do anything to end this, including accept your help. I cannot allow the Tantabus to escape into the real world." She stared back at the group, "All of you must now go back to sleep, including those who were not asleep before." They all nodded and began to lay down, Iron, Soarin and Wild getting in bed with their girlfriends while Lightning and Grand took to the floor and Springer got in Spike's bed.

Trixie then turned to Luna, "I'm ready."

Luna shook her head again. "You've already used too much magic. It will take time for you to learn to dreamwalk without having me to help you. I need full concentration to link the dreams after all." She placed a hoff on Trixie's shoulder. "Sleep my student, join the others in the shared dream." Trixie sighed at this, nodding as she laid down. "And hope that I can create such a dream."

The group slowly drifted back into the realm of sleep, Luna's horn sparking as she flew above the room. A sphere of light appeared next, a multitude of strings flying out as they flew across Ponyville, filling the whole town with a array of bright lights.

When Trixie opened her eyes, she found she was now standing in Ponyville's main square. But as she began to look around, she gasped at the sight of the 'town'. There was now muffins with wings flying by, walking street lamps, floating rowboats and a kaiju sized pegasus trotting around. There was no doubt about it, this was one big dream.

Twilight gasped at this, "Princess Luna did it!"

"Nice!" Flash cheered as he punched his hooves together, "So, where is this thing?"

Everypony began to survey the area next, Applejack shivering at the sight of Opalescence chase a pony the size of a mouse, making her shiver in memory of Poison Joke. But as she saw this, she then noticed somepony walk up to her, smiling at the pony, "Big Mac! Boy, ah'm glad to see somethin' familiar!" But her sentence was soon contradicted when she saw this Big Mac now had a horn, which began to glow yellow.

"Eeyup!" He yelled as he flared some wings, soon flying over the group.

As they watched this, Lightning scratched the side of his head, "Oooookay. Maybe we should look for Princess Luna first. Any ideas where she is?"

"PONIES!" Everypony turned to the square, now seeing the night alicorn descend among them. The whole group gasped at the sight, all bowing in unison.

"Princess Luna!" They all yelled, only for Luna to shake her head.

"There is no time for bowing my friends! There is something coming, something terrible!" She would have said more, only for her eyes to look up and see a giant cloud monster floating over some houses. "No, it is already here!" The Tantabus let out a mighty roar as it approached, the townponies beginning to scream in terror. "I am so sorry! I brought this upon you...but I will end it now!" She fired a blast from her horn, the Tantabus being pushed back before smacking it away.

The ponies screamed at the sight, the mane seven and defenders rushing over to Luna. "Are you alright?" Trixie asked her mentor.

Luna grunted as she shook her head, "It...is taking all my strength just to hold this massive dream together! You all will have to stop it!" Everypony's eyes shrunk at this, gulping as Luna muttered out, "I...I truly wish I did not have to ask this of you!"

They all turned back to the Tantabus, now seeing it terrorize other ponies. The group shared glances before Twilight spoke up, "Then you're in luck."

Flash nodded in agreement. "Because we'd do it even if you didn't ask."

"Yeah!" Rainbow flew up alongside Soarin, "We're already on it!" They flew at the monster, the others charging as well. But as they got close, the Tantabus flew into a nearby house, causing it to grow two giant legs, fiery eyes and a fanged mouth, making them all come to a stop.

Flash blinked at the sight. "That's something you don't see every day."

"It's night," Springer deadpanned.

"Oh...then it makes perfect sense." He then saw the house start chasing after Octavia and Vinyl, the sight making him shake his head, "Ugh, I wish I had Lightbringer. If only I could....wait a minute." He closed his eyes, a smirk appearing on his face as a flash of light appeared in front of him. There, his guitar materialized, his hooves slinging it over his form, "Aw yeah!"

He strummed the instrument, causing the lines of sheet music to fly out of the strings, notes now swimming on the lines. The lines wrapped around the house and tied it up, allowing the two musical ponies to get away as Twilight to fire a beam at the building. It soon slumped over, its mouth opening as a stallion flew out of the door before being caught by Applejack. Fluttershy then saw Time Turner trapped between its toes, which she closed her eyes before a light consumed her body. A second later, she reappeared as Flutterbat, letting her go down and bite the house's foot. This allowed Time Turner to escape, freeing Lightning up to fire a good ten million volts into the house.

The others were also facing off against corrupted dreams, Grand creating a sinkhole to knock monsters in while Trixie helped Applejack against living plants by freezing them in place. Springer now clad in battle form, slashed apart a street lamp that had been attacking the CMC. "You three alright?" They nodded, Apple Bloom looking up and raising an eyebrow.

"Is that...Mac?" Springer now saw what appeared to be an alicorn Big Macintosh flying overhead, Rainbow flying by next with Soarin.

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it." Springer commented as he smacked away another street lamp. "Just keep moving."

"Okay!" the trio replied in unison, all running away as Springer turned to see Applejack run by, the jakhowl soon following her.

"How are we even gonna know when it's able to escape?" Applejack asked as she grouped up with the others, only for all of them to gasp as they now saw the Tantabus suddenly manifest a sword from its body and slice open the sky. Doing so made a giant white tear, which unleashed a radiant light.

Rainbow gulped at the sight. "Oh, I think we'll know." Twilight shot a blast next, which hit the Tantabus, recoiling it fromt he tear. As she did this, Luna fired a beam as well, this one to seal the tear before slumping over.

"Luna!" Trixie cried in horror.

The alicorn looked back up, gasping for air as she said, "Hurry my friends! You must stop it now!"

"You got it!" Rainbow yelled as she flew after the cloud, only to miss it as it morphed into a ring that she flew through. "Huh?!"

"I got it!" Soarin added, only for the Tantabus to turn into a series of rings, all which he went through, "What the-"

The two began dancing in the air, all trying to catch the cloud as it floated around, zipping around each attack. Watching this, Flash turned to his friends, "This is bad. If this thing can keep up with Rainbow and Soarin, I know I can't catch it." He then pointed to his marefriend, "Any suggestions?"

"I'm not sure. I honestly don't know what I can do here in the dream world." Twilight replied as she shook her head, "I mean, even if we combined all our powers, I suspect the Tantabus could still get around us. There has to be another solution we're not seeing." Twilight then fired a beam at the monster, the attack bouncing right off the smoke. "Yeah...that didn't work either. We need something else and quick."

But as she said this, Flutterbat flew over the group, "We need help Twilight."

"We know that Shy," Iron responded as he stared at his batpony marefriend, "But-"

"That's it! Fluttershy, you're a genius!" Twilight interrupted before she took to the air, flying over a group of panicking townponies, "Everypony, listen to me!" Most came to a stop, all staring at the alicorn as her horn began to shine, producing a giant light as she said, "Listen, we need your help destroying that monster! We can't do it alone!"

"But how can we help?" Mr. Cake asked first. "Nopony in Ponyville has your magic or your speed!"

Rainbow nodded at this, "That's true...in Ponyville!"

"But this here isn't Ponyville!" Applejack yelled next, "It's a dream!" As she said this, Big Mac flew by while firing blasts at a bunch of monster dream muffins.

"Eeyup!"

"And not just any dream!" Twilight continued, "This is your dream! Anything you can do in your dreams, you can do it now!"

The ponies all blinked at the declaration, unable to comprehend her words. But as they did this, they then saw Spike snap his claws. Looking down at the drake, his was consumed in a flash of light, only to reappear eight feet tall with a cape, armor and bulging biceps. "Well...if you're gonna dream, might as well dream big, right?" Spike added as he leapt onto the kaiju Derpy, kicking her sides, "Hi-yah!"

"Whoo!" Derpy cheered before flying off, the rest of the town gasping at the sight. This was followed with the Tantabus trying to rip another hole in the dreamscape, only for Spike to dream a lance, which he sliced at the monster. This made the beast recoil, only for Filthy Rich to fly up on a floating cloud of bits, firing them like a beam at the smoke monster.

"My turn!" Wild leaped up as his puppets appeared and grew beside him, all now ten feet tall. "Have at him, giant buddies!" The puppets then all fired lasers from their eyes, Wild cheering with fans in his hooves.

Springer shined a big grin at the sight, only to clinch his eyes close, "Its a dream...that means I should be able to reach that form again..." He reopened his eyes, his body now morphed into his mega form. "Yes! It worked!"

"Whoa....is that what I think it is buddy?" Flash asked as Springer summoned a giant Aura Blast.

"If you're thinking of the form I used to beat Shade, then yes." Springer replied as he threw the sphere at the beast. The cloud tried to reply, whipping at the attack, only for it to explode into hundreds of normal-sized orbs that now all hit the monster. "Aw yeah!"

Trixie stepped up next, transforming into her old stage costume as she threw a bunch of eggs at the Tantabus. In a puff of smoke, they morphed into giant doves, all pecking at the cloud.

As this happened, Flash's body blasted off a beam of light, his Sacred Light armor appearing on his body. There, he formed a sphere in his hooves, smacking it with his sword right into the smoke cloud. "NOW!"

Iron, Lightning and Grand rushed in, Iron and Grand's Celestic Gears growing three times their size as they struck the beast while Lightning fired off a lightning blast that morphed into what looked like a chinese dragon. The three attacks struck the Tantabus, sending in flying through three houses.

The defenders smirked at the sight, only for Flash to see his sister fly past him with giant wings, "Scoots?!" he yelped as he saw this sister reach the monster, summoning a large gust of wind at the beast, "Nice one sis!"

Rainbow and Soarin flew up next, Rainbow morphing into the Power Pony Zap while Soarin changed into his Wonderbolt uniform. The two began spinning around the cloud, creating a tornado as sparks flew off the two's hooves, zapping the cloud in submission.

"It's working!" Rainbow cheered.

The others all nodded, only for the Tantabus to pull itself out of the vortex. "But it's not enough!" Twilight yelled as they now saw the beast flick Soarin and Rainbow away, only to start trying to make a tear again.

"Then do more!" Pinkie screamed. "This is a dream, remember?" Twilight nodded as she summoned the Golden Oaks Library, the treehouse appearing in a flash of light. She then pointed at the Tantabus before the doors opened, a barrage of books flying out after the monster.

Applejack galloped with the novels, morphing into Mistress Mare-velous as she used her magic lasso to pull the Tantabus away from the tear. Doing so allowed Rarity to conjure up a needle and thread, which she used to seal the tear. The unicorn shined a huge grin at this, only to go wide-eyed as she now saw Fluttershy stride by while riding a giant monster Angel bunny.

As the bunny began to hold back the smoke cloud, Trixie then summoned an Ursa Minor, the giant bear roaring as it charged at the Tantabus. "Alright...we're almost there." she looked back at Luna, the alicorn panting as sweat poured down her face, "Just hold on princess. Just a little longer.

Luna let out a strained groan, tears leaking from her eyes. "I cannot hold this dream together much longer! Equestria will fall because of me!"

And then it happened. The Tantabus let out a mighty roar before it suddenly doubled in size, knocking away everything around it. "Look out!" Flash yelled as he grabbed Scootaloo, leaping away as the Ursa Minor almost landed on them.

Spike and Derpy almost slammed into a building, the giant pegasus just barely managing to regain control as the drake muttered, "Am I crazy, or did it just get even bigger after Luna said that?"

Twilight shook her head at this, "No...that's exactly what happened. But if that's the case," she turned to Luna, "I think it's feeding off your guilt, Princess Luna!"

Trixie's eyes shrunk at her statement, now thinking back to everything that had happened, "Oh no...don't tell me that's why it was able to beat Princess Luna before!"

Luna saw her student turn to her, the huge frown on the mare's face. The sight made her cry, making her look up at the monster as it kept growing, "If that is so...then perhaps that is how it grew strong enough to escape in the first place."

"Say what now?!" Applejack asked as she leapt up onto a building, the Tantabus manifesting a horn that it used to slice the sky open again.

"Oh no you don't!" Flash created a giant sword of light, hitting the beast in with a full swing before slicing off the horn, "Back off smoky!"

Luna's tears were in full flow now as she watched the battle, "No...I....I...I created the Tantabus to give myself the same nightmare every night..." Her panting increased, her breath staggering as she slumped over, "I...I created it to punish myself for the evil I caused as Nightmare Moon!"

"But why would you do that?!" Fluttershy asked as she flew by.

"I...I..." she tried to say, only for everypony to look up at the Tantabus again. This time, it began to take a new shape, this one being...Luna.

"WHOA!" The beast smacked Flash away, Soarin and Rainbow managing to catch him before he hit the ground.

"The Tantabus was created to make sure I never forgave myself for how much Equestria suffered because of me! Its there because of my failure....how I failed my country....and the jakhowl. I failed as their leader and...and I thought I could move on." She slumped down again, putting her wings over her face, "But...but it seems I have not learned my lesson, as now I've only made you suffer more!" She began to cry more, the Tantabus couniting to grow in size at every tear.

Twilight gulped at the sight, only to turn to Luna as she yelled, "Princess Luna...you have to stop. If you do, it just might be the key to stopping all this!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow added as she Soarin flew around the Tantabus, trying to get it's attention, "If it gets strong because you feel bad about what you did as Nightmare Moon, then you just gotta stop feeling bad!"

"How can I forgive myself?! I am no better now than I was then! I keep failing! My creation, which is another failure, is about to turn the world into a living nightmare!"

"But look at what you're doing!" Twilight barked back. "Nightmare Moon would've wanted the Tantabus to turn Equestria into a nightmare! You're doing everything you can to stop it! Don't you see?! That proves you're not the same pony you were then!"

"And look at all the good you've done since coming back!" Flash called out flew back into the fray, slashing at the creature as he tried to keep it from entering the portal. "You've helped so many ponies grow and become better. You helped me learn about my past, you've helped Scootaloo and her friends. You even helped Springer learn to understand his people!"

Trixie then knelt down to Luna's eye level. "And you've helped me more than anypony. You saw the potential in me that I never would have thought possible. You taught me to believe in myself and keep trying to become the best pony I could be....something you know I couldn't have done before being with you." She put her hooves to Luna's chin, "You once said you'd never give up on me. Well...I'm not giving up on you, because you're not Nightmare Moon. If you were, you wouldn't have tried to help me grow. You would have tried to keep me from becoming stronger."

Luna opened her eyes, meeting Trixie's gaze as Twilight continued, "Everypony who knows you knows that Nightmare Moon is in the past! We all trust you Princess Luna! Do you trust us enough to believe we're right?"

"I...I...." Luna tried to say, only for yell of pain to ring out.

"GYAH!" Flash screamed as he smacked down into the dirt, landing right in front of Luna.

Luna blinked at him, soon standing up as she stared at all her friends around her. A teary smile began to form as she declared, "I do! I believe!"

With those words, it happened. The Tantabus started to shrink, the tear doing the same. But before it could try to still hop into tear....the monster stopped. It no longer went for the tear, only to instead take to air as it turned around. Everypony saw it was coming for Luna, all ready to fight it as it landed in front of her.

However, this didn't happen. Instead, Luna walked up to the smoke monster, its body merging with her in a flash of light as she declared, "Thank you! Thank you all!"

And as they tried to reply, they all found themselves being engulfed by a bright light.

The light of the sun hit Twilight's face as she awoke from her slumber, making her sit up with a gasp, "Luna did it!"

The others all woke up at his, rubbing their eyes and yawning as Applejack chimed in, "She sure did! Only...ah'm not exactly sure what she did."

Iron rubbed the side of his forehead, "Yeah...I don't get it. Did the Tantabus...possess her?"

Twilight shook her head. "Luna created the Tantabus to punish herself. The worse she felt, the more power it had, but once she finally forgave herself for what Nightmare Moon did..."

"Poof!" Spike finished, only for Fluttershy to shush them all. She pointed at the floor, everypony seeing the princess of the night now fast asleep, laying on a bunch of pillows that had mysteriously appeared below her. "Huh...wonder what she's dreaming about now."

Trixie just chuckled, now placing a blanket over her. "As long as it's a good dream, that's all that matters."

Flash nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she definitely deserves one." He then let out a yawn. "Don't know about you all, but I wouldn't mind a few more hours rest."

The others all let out chimes of agreement, Soarin laying back. "I think this is the first time I've woken up more tired than when I was asleep."

The rest of the group all laid back, some snuggling up to their special somepony. None of them fell asleep, but they did relax as they let their troubles disappear. Thirty minutes later, the sound of the door opening made them open their eyes to see the CMC walk in. "Here they are," Scootaloo commented as she entered in last. "Hey bro. Crazy night, huh?"

"Yup," Flash closed his eyes again, "Pretty crazy. You have fun at Sweet Apple?"

"You bet," he heard her say before she reached into her saddlebag. "Check it out. Granny Smith found some of her old socks that didn't fit her anymore, so she showed us how to make them into something super fun."

Flash cracked his eyes open, only to see something that made his heart stop. "Pretty cool huh?" Scootaloo said as the trio each waved a sock puppet in front of him.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Flash suddenly crawled over Twilight before flying out the window at max speed, the ponies he left behind blinking at the sight of his retreating form.

"What...just happened?" Soarin asked as Trixie giggled at the sight.

"Hmm...should I tell them or not?" she whispered to herself before tilting her hat over her face, "Nah. I think I'll keep that one for a rainy day...for now."

Rarity Investigates

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A month had passed since the battle with the Tantabus, everything in Equestria now quiet. The most noteworthy thing that had happened in this time was Rarity's life long dream of opening a boutique in Canterlot finally having come to fruition. It had been three weeks since the grand opening, the mare now alternating between it and her home base of Ponyville.

That boutique was where one particular pegasus named Rainbow Dash was heading, having decided to take the much slower train so she wouldn't exert herself. She needed to be in top form for the royal garden opening tomorrow, an event the Wonderbolts were going to do a performance for. Even though there was only a ninety-nine percent chance she'd actually need to fly, she had to be at the stadium where the Wonderbolts were practicing in forty minutes, mainly to see the routine and memorizing the steps in case of an emergency.

Knowing she had time, she went over to the boutique and threw the doors open, "Hey Rarity, how's it-"

BAM!

That was the sound of the usually well-sorted boutique now in utter shambles, mannequins, multiple rolls of fabric and a few other stay bits and bobs now littered all over the floor. Rarity was laying face first into the carpet, her assistant Sassy Saddles now picking herself up as she Rainbow let out a small chuckle, "Oops. My bad." She quickly began to pick the mannequins up, "Sorry I messed up your dress thingy."

"Nothing we can't fix in a stitch," Sassy replied as she began magically grasping some fallen fabric before heading for the counter, "What are you doing in Canterlot?"

"I'm here for Princess Celestia's royal garden opening tomorrow."

"Oh, yes! I heard about that!" Sassy gasped as she placed the fabric down, "Rumor has it that the gardens are especially lush this season. I heard that the Wonderbolts will be kicking things off with an aerial display."

"You heard right!" Rarity cheered while spinning in mid-air. "And Rainbow Dash is here to fly with them." She gave her friend a smirk, "So exciting!" But as she said this, she then did a slight huff while scratching the back of her head.

"Well, kind of exciting. Technically I'm not flying, as I'm just the lucky reserve who was called in to be the backup flyer in case a Wonderbolt can't perform."

"Oh, don't be so modest." Rarity responded as she pointed at the pegasi's chest. "Out of all the reserves, you were the one chosen."

The look on Rainbow's face showed her ego starting to flare, crossing her front hooves as she leaned back in midair. "It is pretty sweet. And I do get to stay in the castle, hang out with the Wonderbolts, and eat awesome food at the dinner tonight." She then turned to Rarity. "Speaking of the dinner, you're still coming, right?"

"Heavens, yes!" Rarity cheered as she began to dance around the room, making both Rainbow and Sassy giggle as she stroked her dresses. "A chance to dress up, be charming and show off my newest femme mystique couture?" She grabbed a hat off a mannequin and placed it on her head, using it to pose, "I wouldn't miss it for all of Equestria."

"Great!" Rainbow flew over to the door, "See ya tonight!" With that, she slammed the door shut, the pegasi now flying over to the colosseum.

Twenty minutes later, she arrived as she walked inside, now spotting many costumed pegasi flying above while other ponies were sitting in the stands. It was here she saw the one pony she was looking for, that being Soarin as he was doing some stretches in midair. After a quick spin, he spotted his girlfriend flying over, "Dash!"

"Hey Soarin!" Rainbow replied as they met in midair, almost kissing before pulling back as they saw how many eyes were watching. After recovering from the reaction, Rainbow asked, "You ready for the big show tomorrow?"

"You know it. Plus, we've got a special guest player coming in to make it extra special."

"Oh? Who is it?" Soarin smirked and tapped his nose, which was his way of saying it was a secret. "Aw, come on. Tell me."

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Not happening."

Rainbow grit her teeth, ready to grip his shoulders to shake him with all her might. Unfortunately, a certain pegasi flew between them, "Alright lovebirds, enough flirting. We got work to do here."

"Ma'am!" Rainbow gasped before stiffening up and saluting. "Reserve member Rainbow Dash, reporting for duty Captain Spitfire!"

"At ease," Spitfire instantly replied while waving her hoof. "Rainbow, just head down to the stands and watch our routine. We don't foresee any issues, but I want you to have our flight routine memorized by the time of the dinner tonight."

"Yes ma'am, I won't let you down." She then smirked before looking around. "So, will I be seeing this special guest flyer by any chance?"

"He got held up on his way over from Cloudsdale, so he won't be here until the dinner tonight. But don't worry, we're doing one of his best routines. He won't have any issues with it during our final flight practice tomorrow. For now, relax and enjoy the show while trying to stay focused on our moves."

"No problem." With that, Rainbow flew down to the stands while the Wonderbolts began to get into position. They then started to perform their aerial stunts, Rainbow watching every second. Her eyes were like in a trance, entranced by the performance that not even a foghorn blasting into her ears would have disturbed her.

In fact, she was so focused that she didn't notice three hours passed by as the Wonderbolts began to finish their final run. "Alright team, we're done for today!" Spitfire flew down and landed on the stands before turning back to the bolts, "Now, let's hit the shower and then change for the dinner." The other bolts nodded before heading off, Spitfire now turning to the reserve, "Rainbow!"

Rainbow was beside her in a flash, "Ma'am!"

"Your room's besides mine in the east tower."

"Sweet. What about the rest of the team?"

"They're in the west tower. I asked for private rooms for us, away from where Soarin's staying." Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this. "Don't take this the wrong way, as I'm happy you and Soar got together. However, I can't have you exhausting one another before tomorrow."

"How the heck would we-" Rainbow didn't finish that sentence, her face turning bright red.

"Exactly. Now come on. I gotta get out of this suit before the sweat really soaks in." She then flew off, a still red Rainbow following after her. When they arrived at their rooms, they were greeted by a bunch of guards before heading into Spitfire's quarters. The Wonderbolts captain quickly changed into a clean suit while a maid came and collected the one she had flown in, the two mares soon heading down to the dining room.

As they arrived, Rainbow spotted a certain friend, "Rarity!" She flew over to her as the mare stepped passed the guard, Rainbow noticing she was wearing one of the dresses she had knocked down earlier. "Any trouble back there?"

"Oh, not at all." Rarity pointed at the guard, "He was just making sure I was on the list. Glad to see the standards around here haven't dropped since Grand left."

Rainbow nodded before they headed into the castle, soon seeing a room filled with chatting nobles. It was here they decided to first go to the food table, Rarity gasping as an odor struck her nose, "Mmmm...is that Juniper Phoenix I smell?"

"No, it's broccoli!" Rainbow replied while gulping down the veg.

"Yes, it is. Juniper Phoenix is one of my favourite colognes." said a new voice, making both turn to see an older pegasus with light blue fur and a greying brown mane and tail. He was also wearing an aviator jacket and a silk scarf.

"Oh, its mine as well." Rarity responded, Rainbow's face showing pure shock as she accidentally dropped the plate she was carrying.

She then leaned over and spoke in a hushed whisper at her friend, "Rarity! Don't you know who that is?!"

Rarity blinked at the pony, humming as she tapped her chin, "A gentlepony with fabulous taste in colognes and scarves?"

Rainbow shook her head, flying between them before pointing at the stallion, "No! That's Wind Rider!"

"Oh!" Rarity gasped while Rainbow facehoofed. "So nice to meet you-"

"You didn't let me finish!" Rainbow interrupted, looking her in the eye. "He's a living legend." She grabbed one of his wings, "He holds the Wonderbolt record in the Mustang Marathon!"

Wind Rider chuckled at them both, Rarity smiling back while Rainbow looked like a foal on Heartswarming Eve. "Well, that was a long time ago. Honestly, I can't believe I still hold the record."

"Wind Rider," they all turned to see Spitfire and Misty Fly walking over, "I see you met Rainbow Dash! She's one of our most promising Reserves." She then gently nudged him in the side, "She just might beat your record."

This made Wind Rider raise an eyebrow, making him turn back to the reserve. "Really now?"

"Oh, uh..." Rainbow let out an tiny laugh, "I'm nowhere near as good as you." Rarity suppressed a giggle as she saw Rainbow stutter her words, "I mean, I'm fast, but I don't have the endurance to go long distances."

Spitfire just guffawed, "Ah, don't be modest. A little practice and you'll be beating records in no time."

Wind Rider let out a soft chuckle before walking off, platter in hand. "Well, it was nice to meet you fillies."

"Not as nice as it is to meet you, sir!" Rainbow gasped, only to put both hooves on her mouth as he disappeared into the crowd, "Oh my gosh! I can't believe I just met Wind Rider!"

Misty Fly nodded. "Yeah! He's coming out of retirement to take the spot of honor in the center of our aerial flower formation tomorrow."

The next thing she knew, Rainbow shot up in front of her, the two now almost nose to nose. "Really? You mean he's the guest flyer?! That's incredible!" She looked over at the pegasus, who was now currently sweet-talking Celestia and sighed. "Thank goodness Soarin kept it a secret. I'd be too nervous to memorize the routine if I knew he was coming."

"Yeah, he definitely thought ahead there!" Spitfire chuckled before her and Misty walked away.

The sight made Rainbow slump over, "Ugh...guess I'll just watch Wind Rider be awesome from the sidelines...tomorrow's practice is gonna be so boring."

"Hey now!" She turned to see her boyfriend, a half-eaten pie in his hooves. "You trying to say watching me fly ain't fun?"

"No!" Rainbow stuttered before looking away, only to smirk as she glanced back at him, "But it's not gonna be as fun as watching you fly while talking to somepony about how awesome what you're doing is."

Soarin chuckled back, Rarity now interjecting as she took a sip of her punch, "Well Rainbow, I don't suppose I could keep you company?"

"You sure could!" She pulled her into a hug, "They always let friends and family come watch practices!" A splashing sound then caught her attention, making her pull back to see she had accidentally spilt Rarity's drink onto her dress.

"Eep!" She yelped, now seeing the liquid seep into the fabric.

"Oops....sorry about that." Rainbow did a small gulp, "Here, lemme help you clean that up." She looked like she was about to spit into her hoof, making Soarin smirk while Rarity's eyes went wide.

"Uh...no need dear." Rarity began to trot backwards, "It's uh...almost impossible to get stains out of silk." Her horn then glowed as a large chest suddenly slid out from almost thin air. "But not to worry." She opened the chest, a twister of fabric spinning around her before revealing her to be dressed in a completely new ensemble. "I've come prepared!"

With that, she trotted off with a new piece of fabric as Soarin asked, "What...just happened?"

Rainbow shrugged, "I've learnt not to question these things when Rarity and fashion is concerned."

Soarin looked back her, blinking rapidly, "Wait...so you don't question Pinkie, Rarity or Flash when you didn't know what his powers were. Do you ever question anything?"

"Nah. Too much thinking involved." Rainbow replied as she began to walk away, Soarin laughing as he finished his pie before following her.

The rest of the night was filled with conversations between nobles, bolts and a quick talk with Celestia. It wasn't long till it got close to half eleven when Spitfire reappeared beside Rainbow. "Alright Dash, the dinner's gonna be winding down. Time for us to head to bed."

"Yes ma'am," Rainbow saluted before the Wonderbolts and Rarity began to leave. Once they were out of the main hall, the Wonderbolts all began heading in one direction while Spitfire took another. Since nopony except Rarity was watching, Rainbow gave Soarin a kiss on the cheek before he headed off with the other bolts.

"You two aren't sharing?" Rarity asked while Rainbow followed after Spitfire.

The pegasi's face turned red as she replied, "Its uh...captain's orders."

Rarity wondered what she meant as she followed Rainbow, only for her romance novel history started placing the pieces in her brain, making her blush as well. "Oh my." She giggled, Rainbow hiding behind her wings as they got to the tower, "I didn't know you had it in you Rainbow."

"Shut up." Rainbow muttered back. "Its not like I make fun of your dating life."

Rarity giggled into her hoof, "You're right. I'll stop in respect of your relationship. To change the subject, that dinner was absolutely divine. Thank you for inviting me!" It was here she saw where they were staying, "Ooh, you're staying in the east tower? Those rooms have the best view of Canterlot!"

"How lucky are we?" Spitfire chuckled before opening her door. "Well, we better get some shuteye before practice." With that, she headed inside while Rainbow turned to her unicorn friend.

"See you tomorrow, Rarity!"

"Goodnight!" Rarity waved goodbye, turning to the exit as a certain figure watched her walk by, the being hidden behind the curtains.

The next day...

It was a beautiful day, perfect weather for a flight performance despite a big downpour being scheduled for later that day, mainly for the garden's flowers for the show. Everypony was out, enjoying the sun as most went to the stadium to watch the Wonderbolts practice. Among them were Rainbow and Rarity, the pegasus watching the bolts fly around while the unicorn placed suntan lotion on her hooves. Rainbow sighed before turning to her friend, "Thanks for keeping me company, Rarity. If you weren't here, well...I don't know who I'd be talking to right now." Rarity giggled back, not saying anything as she tapped her hoof to her nose.

Rainbow chuckled back before a certain stallion landed behind her. "I'm pretty sure you'd be talkin' to me." Soarin pulled his goggles up, he and Rainbow now smiling at one another. "Rainbow Dash, Spitfire's mom sent a message that she was sick. She had to leave to take care of her."

This revelation caused Rainbow to gasp, "Oh no! I hope her mom's okay!"

"Me too. In the meantime, we need you to fly in her place."

Rainbow's eyes slowly grew, "L-Like, in the actual show?"

"Unless Spitfire comes back, yes." He would have said more, but Rainbow suddenly let out a squeal as she shot into the air.

"This is the best thing ever!" She quickly began repeating 'oh my gosh' several times dancing in the air while singing, "I'm gonna get to fly with Wind Rider and the Wonderbolts, 'cause I'm the bestest and I'm awesome and they know it!" She kept going, catching a lot of attention from the rest in the stadium.

"Uh...Rainbow Dash? You-"

Soarin suddenly found himself being shushed by Rarity, "Let her have this, darling." Once Rainbow had finally calmed down ten minutes later, she joined the rest of the team, all working to get in sync with the routine. She was taking Soarin's original spot in the formation, the stallion taking Spitfire's as she quickly got the hang of the routine without issue.

While this happened, Rarity moved over to the box seat to avoid the rain. And as Rainbow flew by, waving at her, Rarity noticed a late aged pegasus mare that seemed to have a striking resembles to another pegasi she knew. "Hello there! Friend or family?"

"Family," the mare said with obvious pride. "My daughter's a Wonderbolt, but I don't see her up there." She blinked at the team, only to then ask Rarity, "Do you know where Spitfire is?"

"Ooh, are you Spitfire's mum?" The pony nodded back, making Rarity tilt her head. "But I thought you were sick."

"What?"

"Well, Spitfire got a note from you saying you weren't feeling well, and she went home to take care of you."

"I didn't send a note."

"That's strange." Rarity commented, only to see Soarin fly past the box before quickly u-turning back to the two.

Coming to a stop, he rubbed his eyes after pushing his goggles. "Stormy Flare? Aren't you supposed to be sick?"

She shook her head, "No. I also know I didn't send my daughter a note."

"What?! But why?!"

Rarity hummed at this, "Could somepony have sent Spitfire a fake note?"

"Who would do such a thing?" Misty Fly asked as she and rest landed, all turning to Soarin.

"Somepony who wanted her out of the show, I suppose."

It was here that Rainbow reached the group, looking just as confused as the rest of them. "Why would anypony want that?"

"Maybe so they could take her spot," Wind Rider suggested while glaring at Rainbow, the athlete quickly catching at his comment. She then turned to see everypony glaring at her, soon seeing Soarin...and he was glaring the most. Before she could say anything, the rumbling sound of thunder caught their attention, looking up to see pegasi beginning to move rain clouds into position.

They all flew down into the stadium's changing room in response, Wind speaking up next, "So, you gonna make this difficult, or will you save us a lot of time and just confess."

"Hang on there!" Rainbow barked back, "I would never do that to Spitfire! Why would you think it was me?!"

One of the Wonderbolts, Blaze, stepped up to her. "I did see you and Spitfire leave the dinner together."

"We were room neighbors in the castle!"

Misty Fly then flew past. "And you did say you'd do anything to fly with Wind Rider."

"Yeah, but I didn't mean anything."

"But you said-"

"That's enough!" Everyone turned to Soarin, the stallion taking a deep breath as he glared at everypony, "We can't just go throwing accusations around without proof. Besides, this is Rainbow Dash we're talking about. She'd never do something like this." He turned to Misty, "I'll remind you that it's thanks to her we're not pile of mush right now."

Misty began to blush as she turned to Rainbow, "Sorry. Guess I let myself get carried away."

"It's okay," Rainbow nodded while turning to the others. "I'm telling you, it wasn't me."

"A likely story," Wind spat as he walked in front of her. "There might not be proof that you did it, but there's no proof you didn't do it either. Plus, you have the most reason for her to be gone. All evidence points to you." Rainbow tried to say something, only for no words to come out. The sight made him shine a big smirk, "Well then, that's settled. Since it's obvious you're the culprit, Wonderbolt bylaws state you are now banned from the team forever." Rainbow gasped at this, her eyes going wide as she heard her whole life dream about to go up in smoke.

"But-"

"That's enough Wind Rider." He stepped between the two. "You don't have the authority to banish somepony, as only the captain can make that call, with her second in command taking the responsibility should she be absent. That means only I can ban Rainbow, which I'm not gonna do."

Wind let out a grunt as he rolled his eyes. "Of course you aren't. I knew a Wonderbolt dating a reserve was a bad idea."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Face it kid, you're emotionally compromised. The evidence is right in front of your eyes, but you refuse to see it because you don't wanna get the mare you're knocking boots with in trouble."

This statement caused many gasps to occur from Stormy Flare and the Wonderbolts, Rainbow turning red at the words as Soarin got up into Wind's face, "That was out of line."

"Doesn't change the fact that I'm right. Heck, maybe she didn't really make it into the reserves. Maybe she's only in because she sweet-talked you into pulling a few strings."

Soarin let out a low guttural growl as he held back his hooves, ready to punch the stallion right in the teeth. Instead, he let out a long sigh before turning away, his eyes now glancing at Rainbow, who showed nothing but a blushing frown. The sight made his heart twist, his mouth slowly opening, "Okay....since we have to do something this stupid without evidence-"

"There is evidence! She's the-"

"There is none!" Soarin barked back, interrupting the old pony as he glared at him one last time, "Since there is no evidence...we'll have Rainbow Dash get some." He glanced back at his lover, "Rainbow Dash, if you can prove that somepony else is behind Spitfire's disappearance before the start of the show, you can still fly with us." Rainbow's eyes grew, making Wind's face twist in growling anger as he continued, "In the meantime, Misty Fly and Blaze, head over to Stormy Flare's house and try to find Spitfire and bring her back."

"Got it." The two replied before nodding, quickly flying out of the room.

"The rest of us, go ready to practice the routine again. We need to get this perfect." Soarin commanded, gesturing to Wind to leave, but he wouldn't budge. He just stood there, glaring at Soarin. Sighing at the sight, Soarin shook his head as he looked back at Rainbow, "Sorry about this Rainbow."

"It's okay," Rainbow responded, only to sigh as well, "But how am I gonna prove I didn't send a letter that I didn't send?"

"With me!" The two pegasi turned to the voice, now seeing Rarity step around a corner. She was wearing a red trench coat with a black hat. "Detective Rarity is on the case, and we are going to get to the bottom of this faster than my costume change!"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow before rubbing the back of her head, "Ooookay. What's with the getup?"

"Obviously," Rarity tipped her hat, "I am channeling Shadow Spade through these gorgeous garments. And she would say that the best way to prove that you didn't send the letter is to find out whomever did. Now, do we know anything about when Spitfire got this letter, Soarin?"

"Hmmm...that's a good question." Soarin added before crossing his hooves. "If I remember right, Spitfire came by my room and told me she had to go see her mom at around midnight."

"Then that's our timeframe!" Rarity exclaimed before turning away, "Now we just need to find out what happened around that time. First stop," she pointed to the door, "The scene of the crime!"

With that, the two mares ran off, Soarin turning back to glaring at Wind Rider. Both stared at each others eyes, the other Wonderbolts coming back in to tell them that the rain wasn't done yet. The sight between the two made most stay quiet, Soarin resisting to growl at the old stallion as he remembered when Wind told him to follow his dream.

Years ago...

"YAHOO!" Soarin cheered as he flew through the air, a younger Wind Rider flying just ahead of him. Soarin was enjoying a day of flying with the team, the first-place prize for winning the best young flyer's contest.

The older pony smirked as he glanced back at Soarin, only to fly up to a nearby cloud. "Alright kid, let's see if you can do this one." Soarin followed as they started flying all around it in a spiral, the motion causing the cloud to be morphed into a screw shape, the two flying out soon before landing on the fluff. "Not bad kid."

A panting Soarin shined a big smile, "Thanks! But I gotta say, I don't think I've ever flown this hard before."

"Well, this is the kind of intense training we Wonderbolts do on a daily basis. If you can't cut it, then you'll never be able to be part of the team."

Soarin frowned at the statement. This wasn't news to him. He had always been told that he wasn't Wonderbolt material, his teachers at flight camp, his classmates and even his parents always telling him to try to pursue other career opportunities.

"Hey, um...Wind Rider?"

"What's up kid?"

"Do you...do you think I might be able to one day become a Wonderbolt?"

Wind raised an eyebrow at this, soon glaring at the colt with a look of pure judgement, "Well, do you think you might be able to become a Wonderbolt one day?"

"I...I don't know. That's why I was asking you."

"Doesn't matter what I think kid. What matters is what you think. Me telling you that you could be one won't make it happen. Only you can do that. Only you can do what it takes to earn a spot on the team. As long as you believe you can become one, then you'll make it one day." Soarin's eyes went wide at this, gasping as Wind turned and got up, "Alright, we should be getting back. Come on."

He leapt off the cloud and flew off, Soarin staying behind as muttered to himself, "If I believe...then I'll make it." He slowly picking himself up next, "I...I do believe. I'm Soarin Skies, future Wonderbolt. No matter what happens, I'm gonna keep pushing until I'm the best. I vow it!" It was in that moment that a bright flash of light shined in the corner of his eye, making him to turn to gasp as he saw a shining image appear on his flank. "No way..." The light then died down, revealing the image of a familiar insignia that was now printed proudly on his rump. "MY CUTIE MARK!"

The Present...

It had been Wind Rider's words that had inspired him to make that promise, which lead to him to this moment. But as those memories began to fade, he now found himself glaring at the pony he idolized. And as he did this, Wind Rider trotted past him while saying, "I'm going out for lunch. I'll be back in an hour."

"Hold it Wind!" Soarin barked, making Wind glance back at him, "About what you said to Rainbow-"

"You want me to apologize to her?!" Wind interrupted, growls in his words.

"Yes. Rainbow's one of the best flyers the Wonderbolt's ever had in the reserves. When she and Rarity prove her innocence, I want you to give her a sincere apology."

"Yeah, sure....but you really need to wake up. I taught you better than that."

"You taught me to fly Wind."

"I know." Wind replied, rolling his eyes before walking up and tapping Soarin's chest, "You know as well as I do that there's just as much chance she's gonna get kicked out of the team. Maybe next time you decide to play house with the reserves, trying looking past the good looks."

Soarin grit his teeth, clenching his hooves in anger, "I'm not with Rainbow because of her looks."

"Really? So if she suddenly became the most hideous pony you've ever seen in your life, you'd still be willing to go out with her?"

This made Soarin stop for a second, only to shake his head, "It wasn't her looks that first attracted me to her. It was her courage, confidence and most of all, her sense of loyalty and fair play. That's what made me like her, and that's why I know she didn't do this. And she's gonna prove it."

"Yeah, sure she is. You're lovestruck kid, and that's something a Bolt shouldn't be." With that, Wind walked out into the rain while Soarin sighed at the sight.

"He's not a very sociable pony, is he?" He turned to Stormy Flare, who had been watching the whole thing.

"He's always been that way. Even back when I was in the academy."

The past...

"AUGH!" Soarin screamed as he slammed through a cloud, the world around him still spinning as he pushed his goggles up. "That hurt..."

Hoofsteps made him look up to see Wind Rider glaring down at him, a scowl on his face. "If that's the best you've got, you've got a long way to go before you're ready to become a Wonderbolt."

Soarin groaned as he rolled over in response, "I know."

"You giving up?"

"No way."

"Good," he pointed to the Dizzitron, "Then let's try again. And this time, I expect you to actually stay in the air."

Soarin nodded and got up, soon getting in as it the device spun. Throwing him a few seconds later, sending him spiraling out of control. "WHOOOOA!" He did everything he could to try and stabilize himself, only to coming crashing into a cloud, "Unf!"

"Again!"

"Augh!" He smashed into another cloud.

"Again!"

"Gyah!" He then slammed into a storm cloud, electrifying himself.

"Again!"

"AAAHHH!" Soarin was sent flying once again, only to flare his wings just in time front hitting a cloud. Gasping at the sight, he flapped back before turning around, now seeing Wind Rider smirking at him, "Ha...ha...I...I did it!"

The Present...

"He's a really forward pony. He doesn't sugarcoat anything because he believes that harsh words are sometimes the only thing that can work."

"I guess..." Stormy Flare shrugged before heading out, the rest of the Wonderbolts soon following.

It wasn't long till Soarin found himself alone, deciding to not fly through the rain to go get a bite. But as an hour and a half passed, the water continued to pour down. Sighing at the sight, he went to the building's kitchen, pulling out some ingredients that he had stashed, mainly stuff for after the show. Unfortunately, his hunger said it was time to eat, making him pull out his old faithful: A delicious pie.

He warmed his lunch up before heading back into the room, seeing Wind Rider, Stormy and the other bolts were returning from their lunch. Soon sitting down for the treat, a certain shake of head followed this as Fleetfoot asked, "Can't you go one day without eating a pie?"

Soarin rolled his eyes at the comment, groaning as he replied, "I'm stressed. This helps."

"Whatever you say." Fleetfoot responded as she sat down, watching Soarin scarf another piece. "So, do you think Rainbow-"

"Everypony!" two voices screamed as the door suddenly burst open, making them all turn to see Blaze and Misty Fly, "We looked everywhere, but Spitfire wasn't at her mom's house!"

Eyes shrunk at the statement, Stormy Flare now biting her hooves, "Oh no! Where could she be?!" Before anypony could answer, the sound of another opening door made them turn to see Rarity and Rainbow Dash standing in the frame as a bolt of lightning cracked behind them.

"I have found the culprit!" Rarity announced, trotting into the room as Soarin gulped down a mouthful of pie.

"Oookay. That was sudden." Soarin added as he licked his hoof, "Who is it?"

"Somepony sent Spitfire away and framed Rainbow Dash for it! And that pony was none other than...Wind Rider!" She pointed at the pegasus in question, who just rolled his eyes while the rest of the Wonderbolts let out shocked gasps.

Rainbow at the same time, just facehoofed, "Rarity, I can't believe you would accuse Wind Rider of framing me! He's a living legend for pony's sake!"

Rarity kept pointing at Wind as she let out a confident 'hmph!', "All the evidence points to him!"

"Peh!" Rainbow rolled her eyes before flying around the room, "What evidence could you possibly have? All you did was ask about cake, admire décor, and change outfits a gazillion times!"

She flicked the hat off Rarity's head, though the fashion pony didn't flinch. Rarity kept her grin as she began, "Let me explain," She began to pace around the room, going into full noir explanation mode. "I never believed you would send Spitfire away. When we found the rainbow hairs in Spitfire's room, I could tell they didn't fall out." She pulled a plastic bag that were full of Rainbow's hair, "They...were cut!"

The ponies all took a closer look at the hair, as Rarity continued, "Nopony loses hair in a chunk. And look at the ends, it's in a straight line! They were clearly cut with shears, which means somepony planted it!"

"Huh...I guess that makes sense. That is a bit strange." Soarin as he blinked at the hairs.

"That still doesn't prove I'm the one who did it," Wind spoke up, stomping his hoof.

"I'm getting to that," Rarity added as she put the hair away. "When we were examining Spitfire's room, I smelled something on the envelope. Juniper Phoenix, Wind Rider's cologne of choice! Then, in the castle hallway, I noticed some of the damask curtains fell out of their velvet rope-holder, indicating that somepony had been hiding behind them! Perhaps after they dropped off the fake letter?"

Everypony all glanced at each other, the bolts showing looks of pure surprise while Wind Rider walked in front of Rarity, "Hold it! That means nothing! Juniper Phoenix is a very popular fragrance, and anypony could have moved those curtains. You have no proof!"

Rarity's eyebrows hopped up and down as she turned away and put a hoof to her chest, "That's precisely why I questioned the castle guards! They were at their post at the entrance to the hallway all night, except for a small window of time when somepony brought them cake."

Soarin rubbed his chin at that, "Huh. Somepony should look into better security."

"That's what I said," Rainbow added while putting her hooves behind her head, "But why does that prove anything Rarity."

"Simple. A cake that was ordered by a girl pony with a raspy voice!" She then turned to Wind Rider, staring down at one particular piece of his clothing. "Whomever ordered the cake got a chocolate stain on her ivory scarf, and I couldn't help but notice that Wind Rider's scarf is tied in a tight Windsor knot instead of its usual loose slipknot! And why is that?" Her horn glowed, the scarf instantly being undone. "Is it to hide...this chocolate stain?!" As she said that, the scarf opened to reveal a giant dark brown stain.

Rainbow, Stormy Flare and all the Wonderbolts gasped at the sight, Rarity shining a huge confident grin. As for Wind Rider, he pushed Rarity away as he leapt off his seat and flew over the team, "This is preposterous! Wonderbolts, you don't believe a word of this, right?!"

"Just admit it!" He turned back to Rarity, the mare glaring as she pointing at the flying pony, "You're as guilty of framing Rainbow Dash as you are of ruining that ivory scarf! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Grrr..." Wind Rider growled, only to cross his hooves and look away, "Fine! You caught me! I did it!"

Rainbow's eyes teared up at this, gasping as she asked, "You...but...why?! Why, Wind Rider?!" A frown began to grow on her face, "Was it because I took the last broccoli at the dinner last night and you really, really wanted it?!"

Wind Rider turned to her, glaring at her like she was crazy before Rarity jumped in between them, "No! It was because he was afraid that you would break his long-distance Wonderbolt record, wasn't it?!"

Everypony gasped again, Soarin gritting his teeth as his eyes narrowed, "So that's why you were so adamant about her being kicked out. You coward!"

Wind growled back, "I didn't intend on saying that much after putting the suspicion on her." He pointed at Soarin, "You lot were supposed to turn on her the second I suggested it! Some team you turned out to be, believing some rookie nopony over a legend like me."

Soarin's eyes twitched, putting his face right in Wind's, "We are a team Wind, and Rainbow's a part of that team! If we turned on her the way you said, we don't deserve to have her as a member! She might be a reserve, but she's got as much of a right to have our trust as you have...had."

Rainbow shined a huge smile at this, a blush on her face as the other bolts all nodded in agreement. However, Wind just hissed back, "How dare you! I did this because if Rainbow Dash is kicked out of the Wonderbolts forever, my record could be preserved! That's why we ponies are in the Wonderbolts!"

"Really? That is so not cool! And I thought you were the coolest Wonderbolt ever." Rainbow countered while looking away in disgust, "Until now."

"I did what I had to do to protect my record!" Wind crossed his hooves, "Sometimes you gotta play dirty to be the best!"

Rainbow spun back, glaring down at him, "That's not what being a Wonderbolt is all about."

"She's right!" Soarin added as he stepped up between them, "Wonderbolts look out for each other! Which reminds me, where is Spitfire?!"

Wind Rider's frown turned to a cheeky smirk, "I sent her a letter pretending to be Stormy Flare. I told her I had Pegasitis, and the only cure is the ice iris in the Crystal Mountains."

"No wonder she's been gone so long!" Rainbow gasped as she turned to Rarity, "Ice irises are almost impossible to find this time of year!"

Soarin's eyes shrunk at this, "The Crystal Mountains are too far for anypony to make it there and back before the royal garden opening!" He turned to his girlfriend, a smirk slash frown appearing on his face. "Rainbow Dash, we need you to fly in Spitfire's place!"

"No way! Spitfire shouldn't have to miss this!" A look of determination appeared on her face, "I'm gonna get her!"

"But you'll never make it in time!"

Rainbow just turned to the nearby window, flaring her wings, "Then there's no time to lose!" With that, she shot out into the rainy sky. Soarin stepped up to the window, watching her disappear into the clouds with a small gulp.

"Well, I think that's my cue to leave." Wind commented as he spun around, only for Soarin to jump right in front of him. "Hmm?"

"Where do you think you're going?!"

"You said it yourself. There's no way that mare's gonna make it in time, which means the team's performance is cancelled, so I'm heading home before it gets too late."

"You're not going anywhere. Even if they don't get back in time, you're still staying so Spitfire can decide on your punishment."

"Punishment?"

Rarity stretched her head between the two stallions, "You don't really think there aren't gonna be consequences to your actions?!"

"Oh please, what's she gonna do to me?! I'm one of the most decorated Wonderbolts that's ever lived."

Rarity rubbed her chin at this, "Hmm...I wonder about that. You said it yourself that you're willing to play dirty to be the best. That opens your entire career up for scrutiny, doesn't it?" Wind growled at the insult, only for Stormy Flare to grab his shoulder.

"Hey!"

"You're staying here till my daughter returns." She hissed as she locked her hoof with his. "And that's final."

He was about to hit her off, only to see every bolt glaring at him. Growling, he sat down as everypony just started to sit around, all waiting for Rainbow and their leader. It was only two and a half hours until the show was set to begin, which was barely enough time to get to the Crystal Mountains to begin with. Seeing this, Soarin sighed as he back down, now staring at the half-eaten pie he had been munching on. His favorite food suddenly didn't look so appetizing, making him push it away. "You okay?" He looked up to see Rarity, "I'm sure Rainbow will be here with Spitfire before the show."

"Maybe..." his gaze then shifted over to Wind Rider, "I don't know."

Rarity shook her head at this, "I see. I guess it's hard finding out your teammate would do something like that. I'm sorry Soarin."

Soarin's eyes never left Wind Rider. "It's not that. He was the pony that inspired me to become a Wonderbolt, when everypony else told me it was just a pipe dream. He was the one who taught my year at the Wonderbolt Academy, pushing me past what I thought I was capable of. He...he made me the pony I am today." He curled up at this, "But now I've found out all of that was based on a lie."

Rarity sat down next to him, sighing as she put a hoof on his, "Soarin...I'm sure it wasn't all a lie. Maybe back then he really was the pony that inspired and taught you. It's not uncommon for somepony with his level of fame to have it change who they are."

Soarin just looked away, his words mumbling out as he fought back some tears, "How am I supposed to find out if that's right? Ask him if he wasn't always a cheating jerk?!"

"Well...no. But maybe this should be a lesson for you. It shows that you shouldn't put anypony up on a pedestal."

"She's right Soarin." They turned to see Stormy Flare trot over to them. "Wind Rider might be considered a living legend, but he's still just a pony. That means he can make mistakes and do selfish things. Just because he was your idol doesn't mean he's perfect."

Soarin sighed again, "But every great I've done in my life is because of him."

"Was it really?" Stormy asked as she sat down. "Wind might have inspired you to become a Wonderbolt, but it was you who chose to take what he said to heart and follow your dream. He might have taught you everything you know, but it was you who put the work in to take what he taught you and apply it to what you know. He showed you the path, but you were the one that took the steps."

Those words actually hit Soarin's heart, making him look back with a small smile. His eyes glanced between the mares and his former mentor, now remembering the times Wind had worked Soarin to make him a Wonderbolt. Every time he was knocked down or fell short, he picked himself back up because of what Wind Rider had said. That alone made him look back with a tiny smile, "You're right. Who cares about Wind Rider?! I'm me, not him."

Rarity and Stormy both giggled, the older mare continuing to talk, "And you can still learn a thing or two from him, such as his mistakes. He tied everything about himself to his record and the fame it brought him. But when Rainbow breaks that record, he'll be forgotten because he didn't do anything else worth while with his life." She said this a little louder than necessary, obviously wanting Wind Rider to hear as she added, "You won't make that mistake."

"You know Mrs. Flare, you might be a little wrong." The two pegasi turned to Rarity as she crossed her hooves while smirking, "Wind Rider will be remembered for something after his record's broken. He'll be known as the Wonderbolt who cheated and lied to try and hold his fame, which is kind of ironic now that you think about it. He'll get his wish of never being forgotten, but for all the wrong reasons." Soarin and Stormy both laughed at this, while Wind Rider just growled under his breath while crossing his hooves.

Two hours soon passed, but the ones there were waiting for were nowhere to be seen. It was here that the rain came to a stop, the weather ponies beginning to clear the clouds away. They finished fifteen minutes before the Wonderbolts were set to perform, Blaze looking out the window and sighing at the clear sky. "This isn't good. Rainbow Dash is still gone!"

Rarity shook her head at this, "Oh, don't panic. If I know Rainbow Dash, she'll come through." It was here that the universe decided to prove her right, the sound of an opening door making them turn to see a pair of panting pegasi standing in the frame.

"Spitfire!" Soarin exclaimed as he hopped off his seat, "You're back! I can't believe you made it!"

Spitfire took a deep breath, rubbing her chest as she tried to reply, "I wouldn't have if Rainbow hadn't found me so fast! Gave me just enough time to fly back..."

Rainbow gave a sheepish smile at this, blushing at the praise before turning to Rarity, "Rare, thank you. I couldn't have done it without you...and I'm sorry I doubted you. But why didn't you tell me what you were doing?"

Rarity chuckled at this, "Well, I didn't want to get your hopes up until I was sure. And I couldn't be sure until I saw that chocolate stain."

Rainbow let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for believing in me, even when I was doubting you." She looked away in shame, "I'm some friend, huh?"

Rarity just placed a comforting hoof on the pegasi's shoulder. "Actually, you're quite a good friend. You went to get Spitfire, even though it meant you couldn't fly today."

Rainbow shrugged at this, "Eh, I'll get my chance one day."

"Or today." She turned to Spitfire, who had flown over to Wind Rider. "How'd you like Wind Rider's spot in the show?"

Wind Rider's eyes went wide, only to scream, "W-w-what?! Y-You can't do this to me! I'm one of the greatest Wonderbolts that's ever lived!"

Spitfire turned back to him, glaring at the old pony, "Not anymore." She grabbed the Wonderbolt pin on his jacket and ripped it off. "For attempting to frame Rainbow Dash, I hereby strip you of your Wonderbolts status!"

Wind Rider gasped at this, his face morphing to pure anger as her was about to yell back, only to for Stormy to put a hoof over his mouth, "Don't. You've said enough. Get out of here."

"Thanks ma." Spitfire commented as Wind got up and slowly trotted out the door, everypony looking away as he disappeared.

Soarin then patted Rainbow with his wing, getting her attention, "So, would you like to fly with us?"

"Would I?!" Rainbow exclaimed before leaping into the air, "Woo-hoo!" She started dancing in the air, the others all raising an eyebrow at her performance.

"Uh...Rainbow Dash?" The pegasus stopped before looking down at them, only to quickly land.

"Coming!" She flew after them next, Rarity waving to her as she began to show Canterlot what she could do.

That night...

The show had gone off without a hitch, the royal garden opening being a huge success. Now the Wonderbolts had all returned to their rooms, Spitfire having no issue with Rainbow sharing a room with Soarin now that the show was over. And so, Rainbow had let Rarity enjoy her room while she and Soarin spent the night together.

"Whew..." Rainbow sighed as she stepped out of the bathroom while drying herself off, "I'm seriously beat."

"Not surprising," Soarin added as he laid on the bed. "You must have flown over a thousand miles today."

"A thousand and one..." Rainbow corrected before jumping on the bed beside him. "Are you doing okay? I know Wind Rider was important to you."

"I'm okay." Soarin pulled her towards him. "Yeah, I was upset before....but Rarity and Stormy helped me realize that his actions have no bearing on who he helped me become. I'm not gonna deny what he did was wrong, but I'm also not gonna deny what he did was right. I'm...I'm done looking up to him now, but I won't forget what he taught me before. I'll just make sure to not fall the way he did."

"Yeah, I guess you got a point." Rainbow added as she snuggled up to him, "And don't worry. If I ever see you slip, I'll be sure to kick your flank until you get back into line."

Soarin chuckled as he began stroking her hair, "And I'll be sure to do the same with you."

"Yeah, like you would even stand a chance against me." The two laughed at this, both holding each other as sleep slowly overtook them. It had been a long day, but they had gotten through it together. Because they were a team, both as Wonderbolts and a couple. And thanks to Rarity, they still got to be in both teams.

The Day Flash Sentry Died

View Online

Ponyville Park didn't have many visitors this time of year. The temperature had dropped to the point where you would need to wear something warm to be outside, yet there was no snow yet. Due to this, there wasn't anything really fun in the park, making no reason for ponies to go there unless they use it for a jogging track or a place to walk their pets.

Today was not one of those rare exceptions, nopony around as the grassy plain of the park was experiencing something. Within a wilted flowerbed, the plants were trying to hibernate as the cold drifted in. But as they did this, a pitch-black coloured flower began to sprout. It stood alone over the curled up flowers around it, its life on full display as its bulb opened to show a dark purple head.

It stood there, the wind lightly pushing its stem as a ladybug began to fly down. It wings beat the flower's tip for a split-second, making the plant shake before a cloud of black dust suddenly shot out of it's head. The ladybug was engulfed in the mist, its body tumbling in mid-air as soon as cloud consumed it.

And as it tried to fly away, the bug suddenly fell like a rock, smattering the ground before its body stopped moving altogether. As for the flower, it stopped shaking, the plant towering over the flowerbed as the black dust around it disappeared.

Meanwhile...

At the castle of friendship, Twilight and Spike were busy cleaning up one of the formally empty rooms of the castle. The two had spent the better half of the morning dusting the room, Spike now walking out of the bathroom with mop and bucket in claw. "All clean. Those floors are so clean, you could ice skate on it."

"Thanks Spike," Twilight replied as she magically fluffed a pillow. "But did you put the toiletries in alphabetical order?"

Spike raised an eyebrow at this, "Alphabetical? I thought you said you wanted them in size order?" This made Twilight's eyes go wide, only for Spike to start laughing. "Gotcha! Don't worry, they're all lined up from dental floss to toothpaste."

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, shooting Spike a quick glare next. But before she could reprimand him, the sound of voices outside caught their attention, making the princess walk out of the room. "Misty, Trail, it's so great to see you!" She exclaimed as her boyfriend's parents walked down the corridor with their children, Twilight then pulling Misty into a hug.

"It's great to see you as well Twilight," Misty responded before pulling away.

"Thank you for letting us stay during our visit," Trail added as Twilight hugged him as well.

"It's no problem, as you're always welcome here. This castle might technically be mine, but it's Flash and Scootaloo's home as well. Of course their parents are welcome to stay whenever you want."

The two older ponies smiled at this, Scootaloo now jumping around them. "So what are we gonna do during your visit?! We've only got a week to do everything we could possibly want to do before you leave!"

They all laughed at her eagerness, Misty ruffling the filly's mane, "Don't worry sweetheart, we can do whatever you want."

"But I'm guessing they'll probably want to get some rest after their long journey from Manehatten." Flash commented as he carried his parent's luggage through the room.

Trail shook his head at this, "Actually, we're pretty well-rested from train ride. Not much to do except sit down and relax, though I wouldn't mind something to eat. Due to past circumstances, I know to...never trust station food."

Flash and Twilight exchanged at glance before replying, "Don't worry, we know a great please to get some lunch."

Twilight nodded, "You ever try Neighponese food?"

"Um...no?" The two older ponies replied.

"Then you're in for a treat. Follow us."

With that, the five ponies and one dragon all headed out the castle, soon making their way to Shichimi and Wasabi's stand. "Welcome," the male unicorn said as they all walked in, "May I take your orders?"

A round of orders and getting food later...

"Wow," Trail commented after taking the first bite, "This stuff's great."

"You honor us," Shichimi replied, the statement soon earning them a free plate of spring rolls.

It wasn't long till the meal was over, all of them moaning in satisfied fullness. "I don't think I'll need to eat again for a month," Misty added as they all tried to walk off their lunch.

"Yeah...but it's worth it. Though its too bad that Springer is out on patrol. He loves that place." Flash responded as they began to lazily stroll through the park's grassy meadows. "So, how's life treating you two in Manehatten?"

"Pretty good. It took a while to get used to living in one place after years of wondering, but it's not as hard as we thought it would be."

Misty nodded in agreement. "We've even been giving lectures at the Manehatten school of history. Turns out our years of research into the Sacred Light was the perfect resume."

"Speaking of the Sacred Light," Trail turned to Flash, "Anything new happen with your abilities since the last time we saw you?"

Flash just shrugged, "Nothing much. Other than being able to combine my light with my Celestic Gear to pull off a new super move...eh, nothing else."

"What about you all?" Twilight asked next, "Weren't you trying to decipher all the text you got from the temple?"

"We have..." Trail grumbled while crossing his hooves, "It's been slow going, but we've made some progress. The rest of the text has been brief history lessons about some original pony kingdom, which seems to be the Lost City of Faust."

"Seriously?! But that's just a legend!" Twilight gasped, her eyes now wide as Flash just blinked in confusion.

"Of what we've researched, it exists." Misty added while rubbing her chin, "According to the scripts, long before the creation of Equestria and the three tribes, there existed a single city of Alicorns known as Faust. It was said to have been named after the god of creation."

"Interesting..." Twilight commented, scratching the side of her head, "I've read very little texts over that city, but...I didn't know the name had that kind of significance. But if what you're saying is true, does that mean this god was the original magic that the Sacred Light first came from?"

"Yes. Along with its exact opposite, the Corrupted Shadow."

"Huh. If that's the case...that could reveal a lot more in terms of new magic! That's so exciting!" Twilight exclaimed, clapping her hooves. The parents giggled at her expression as Flash and the others all rolled their eyes at this.

Flash slung a hoof around is marefriend, "Calm down Twi, there's no need to get worked up."

"Flash! You should know that the pursuit of knowledge, especially magic, is super important!"

Flash rolled his eyes again, "Uh-huh. And I'm not more important?"

Twilight stuck her tongue out, "Compared to new magic for me, the Element of Magic? Yes."

"Oh really?" Flash playfully hissed before put his wing on her side, soon tickling her.

"Hee hee! Stop it Flash!"

Scootaloo and Spike both gagged at the sight, the filly moaning as she turned away, "That's it, I'm gone."

"Scootaloo?" Misty tried to say, only for her daughter to look back and shake her head.

"I'll be back later. I don't wanna see any more lovey-mushy junk."

"Yeah! They do it way too much already." Spike added before following after her, the group giggling as they watched them left.

"Kids..." Trail commented, shaking his head.

"Don't worry about them." Twilight replied before clapping her hooves, "Please, let's continue! I still can't believe we know so little about the Sacred Light and Corrupted Shadow."

Trail shrugged at this, "Not much else I'm afraid, as the information was lost to time. Even the temples scrolls we've been researching are...well, it feels like there's not many answers. Unless you have a way to travel back to that time and see for yourself, we're not sure how much else we can learn."

"Well, we're definitely not doing that," Twilight assured him. "Time travel has way too many issues involved with it, and I know from experience."

"No kidding." Flash added before rubbing his forehead, "I don't wanna do that mess again."

"Not only that, if we went back as far as you're suggesting, who knows what damage we could end up doing."

Misty nodded in agreement, "I couldn't agree more there, and I'm someone that sees the future from time to time. The past is best left the way it is. You'd have to be an idiot to try and change-" and as she said those words, her mouth suddenly stopped moving. Instead, her eyes went wide before staring straight ahead.

"Uhh...Misty?" Flash asked before turning to Trail, "Is she-"

"Having a vision? Yes." Trail replied, only for Misty's eyes to start blinking, her head shaking rapidly next as a frown appeared on her face. "Misty? What happened? What did you-"

"Where's Scootaloo?!"

Meanwhile...

Scootaloo's mouth released the largest sigh possible in her filly's long life, "I'm so bored."

"Same." Spike added as he and her walked over a field of flowers in the park. "Makes me wish I brought one of my comics."

"Yeah...that's got to be something fun around here." Scootaloo continued as she started to scratch the side of her head, "Maybe we could go see if Sweetie Belle or-hmm?"

"What?" Spike asked as he turned to the filly, only to see her staring at the ground. "Scootaloo, what's....what is that?"

"I don't know." Scootaloo replied as she leaned down, now blinking at the ground below her. In the flower patch they had been walking over was now a long black and purple flower standing straight up. Around it was weeds and dead plants, the sight making both shiver as Scootaloo squinted her eyes, "Weird. What is that?"

Spike looked over her shoulder, "No idea. Though uh...maybe it'd be better to leave that thing as it is. I don't like the look of it."

"Oh relax, what could a little flower do?" Scootaloo added as she rolled her eyes at his comment. Her faces was only inches away as she was about to take a sniff-

"SCOOTALOO!" The filly jerked her head back, both turning to see Flash charging right at them. "Get away from that flower!"

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at this, then turned back to the flower as she tried to ask why. That is, till she saw the flower's bud contract. The sight made her mutter out, "What the-"

And as the flower opened its bud, time began to slow down. Before she could do anything, Flash channeled his Sacred Light into his wings, covering the distance instantly. Within a split-second, he shoved the filly out of the way, just as the flower shot out a black cloud of dust. He then fumbled over, coughing as he tasted dirt.

"Holy gems!" Spike yelped as he saw both pegasi hit the ground.

"Ugh..." Scootaloo moaned as her eyes now showed swirls. "Oww…"

"Scootaloo!" yelled Misty as her and Twilight ran up to them, tears in her eyes, "Are you okay?" She took the filly in her magic and pulled her over, the unicorn now examining every inch of her.

"I'm fine. My head hurts though..."

"Oh, thank Celestia!" Misty pulled her into a hug. "I had a vision of you being hit by that plant's pollen. Then you...you..." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, tightening her grip.

Twilight's horn shined as she summoned a magic shield around the flower, "What is this? I've never seen a plant like this before."

"Me neither," Trail replied, now looking down and saw the many dead plants and insects around it. "But whatever it is, I get the feeling it's toxic."

"Good thing I got Scootaloo away from it then," Flash commented as he got up, shaking his head. But as he did this, he put his hoof on his head, "Uh..." He rubbed his face as his hooves began to shake, "What is...what the..."

"Flash? Are you okay?" Twilight asked as she saw him sway around.

"I...I'm not sure." He replied, only for his eyes began to blink rapidly, "Wha…"

THUMP!

That was the sound of the defender's legs gave out, his face instantly eating dirt. "FLASH?!" Twilight yelped, running up to him and putting her wing on him, "Flash, what's wrong?! Please don't tell me you inhaled any of that flower's pollen."

"Twi...light..." Flash moaned out, only for his eyes to shut close.

"Flash!" Scootaloo screamed as she went up and shook him, but got no response from her brother. "Wake up! Please wake up!" Tears began to fill her eyes as Misty pulled her close.

"What's wrong with him?" Spike asked next.

Trail and Twilight turned back to the flower, "He's been poisoned."

"We have to get him to the hospital." Twilight commanded as she used magic to teleport a glass jar into her hooves, pulling out the plant next before putting it inside. She then sent it away before turning back to Flash, "Meet us there."

With that, she teleported herself and Flash away, Scootaloo and Spike jumping on the older pony's backs as they began rushing to the medical facility.

One trip across town later...

By the time the rest arrived, they didn't like the sight of Twilight pacing inside the hallway leading to the operating room. Misty spoke up first as she asked, "How is he?"

Twilight turned to them, a huge frown on her face, "Still being examined. The doctors said they've never seen anything like this before."

"That sounds bad," Spike replied as she leapt off of Trail's back. "What do we do now? Wait?!"

"No, there's something we can do." Twilight responded as she put a hoof on his shoulder, "Go tell everypony what's happened. They'll wanna know." The dragon nodded and ran down the corridor, the rest sighing as they knew they would have to do the worst thing of all: Waiting.

And as they did this, the defenders soon came over. Rainbow and Fluttershy were next, Pinkie and Wild following this before Rarity and Applejack arriving last. "How is he?" Rarity asked as Twilight just looked away, unable to respond.

Seeing this, Trail spoke up, "The doctors still haven't found anything."

Scootaloo let out a sniffle, tears in her eyes. "This is all my fault."

"Oh sweetheart, it isn't." Misty pulled her into a hug. "You couldn't have known that that flower would do this."

It was at that moment that the doors opened before a group of doctors walked out, pushing a bed with Flash on it. His eyes were closed with a breathing mask over his mouth, one of the unicorn doctors casting a shielding spell around him. Everypony got up, only for the lead doctor to motion for him to be put into another room. "I'm afraid I can't let any of you near him." He pulled his mask down, "We need to get him into quarantine."

"Quarantine?!" Grand gasped, "He's contagious?!"

"We don't know. We've never seen this illness before. We have no idea if it can spread, so it's better to be safe than sorry."

"We understand," Twilight responded as she pushed Scootaloo back, "Do you have any idea how to treat him?"

The doctor shook his head, "I'm sorry. But unless we figure out what's poisoned him, there's no hope of curing him. The good news is that he doesn't seem to be in any danger right now. His vitals are stable...but he's in a deep coma over what this poison did."

Twilight's horn sparked as she summoned a jar with the flower inside, "This is what did this. Do you know it?"

The doctor took the jar, only to shake again, "No, but I'll look into it."

Trail then put his hoof on top of the jar, "Just don't open it. It seems to fire the pollen when something gets to close." The doctor nodded before walking away, locking the door behind him as the rest crowded to a window they could use to see inside. Flash was the same as before, his breathing heavy as sweat poured down his body.

"Why isn't his Sacred Light doing anything?" Rainbow asked as the others turned to her, "Doesn't it heal him from being sick?"

"Not always," Fluttershy replied, "Remember when he caught the Feather Flu?"

"That was just a basic cold for a pegasi, darling." Rarity responded, "This is a poisoning. He's been protected from stuff like this before, so why not now?"

Before anypony could reply to that, a loud beeping sound made them turn back to see Flash's breathing increase, the machines now blaring. "FLASH!" Several cried out as the doctors all rushed to his body.

"He's crashing!" A mare cried while another doctor prepared a defibrillator. But before they could try it, Flash's body suddenly started glowing. The doctors all backpedaled as the Sacred Light consumed Flash's form, soon fading to reveal a still panting Flash.

The doctors then checked him over, one gasping "He's...stable. Amazing."

The watching ponies all sighed in relief as Pinkie commented, "That wasn't fun."

"What just happened?" Wild asked next.

Misty's eyes began to water as she frowned at her son, "I think...I think the Sacred Light is fighting back against the poison. It's possible whatever's attacking him is something it can't fully fight back against, but it's just able to keep him alive. Whatever this plant is...it's powerful."

And as those words left her mouth, the doctor returned with the plant, Twilight speaking up, "Doctor? Did you find out what that thing is?"

The doctor shook his head, now giving the plant back to her, "I'm sorry, but I can't find anything that mentions this flower. No pony on staff has any idea about what it is. It's...a mystery." He then turned away, "They need my help in there. I'm sorry princess."

As they watched the doctor go in to join the rest to staff, Twilight now glaring at the plant, "I don't get it. What is this thing?!" She then grit her teeth, crossing her hooves, "We don't have time to just research this thing. We need to help Flash."

"Then what do we do?" Rainbow added.

"I don't know. We need an expert..." Twilight responded as she rubbed the side of her head, only to gasp, "Wait...Heather Bloom!" Twilight turned around to Grand, "She might know what flower this is! And maybe First knows a way to treat Flash."

Grand shook his head, "That's a good idea lass...but the issue is them getting here. Their last report said they were on the other side of Equestria right now. Getting here could take several days and..." he turned to stare at his student, "Flash might not have that long."

Twilight crossed her hooves at her hooves, "If that's the case....there's only one other pony we can ask!"

"Who?"

"Oh...yeah, this makes sense. She could definitely help." Rainbow commented as they entered a certain zebra's house. The potion maker inside was quite surprised when Springer and the Mane Seven mares were now walking inside her house. The Defenders had wanted to come, but the numbers were too great for the little hut, so they chose to hang back.

They all watched as Zecora took off the lid of the plant. As she did this, the plant instantly began to shake, its bud preparing a blast of dust. But as the bud spat out the poison, Zecora pulled out another jar and grabbed the pollen with a single swipe. Quickly placing lids on both, she squinted her eyes at the jars, "Yes...I've heard of this deadly plant before." She put the jars down and headed over to a bookshelf. "A dangerous flower that shoots a deadly spore." She pulled out one of the books and opened it up to a page, holding it out for Twilight.

The alicorn took it and read it over, "Flos-Mortem. One of the world's deadliest plants, extinct since the sixth Celestial Dynasty. Was systematically hunted and destroyed after it rapidly spawned and wiped out a third of the pony population. This says...its a magical flower that can instantly kill anything that breathes its spores in!"

"But Flash didn't die," Springer added.

"Flash's Sacred Light must be protecting him," Rarity guessed with a small shrug.

"But that doesn't mean he's safe." Twilight responded as she kept reading, "Should the spores infect something with some form of magical protection, it'll begin to slowly attack the mind, causing nightmares that can cause the infected to die of heart failure or other methods. The longest recorded case of survival after infection is...three days."

The others all went wide-eyed, Applejack turning to Zecora, "Now hang on! There's gotta be a remedy! Somethin' to cure this."

Zecora put a hoof to her chin, humming as she responded, "There may be a way, but it's a long shot." She took the book and flipped it to another page. "A legendary plant that may hold the key that is sought."

Twilight stared down at the paper, now seeing a flower with golden petals. "The Golden Acanthus? It says its a rare plant that grows in enchanted soil. This plant has the power to cure any ailment, but only when creating a tea from its leaves. However, once picked, the plant will only last two hours before it wilts and dies."

Everypony else all stared over her shoulders, Springer then asking, "Where does it say it grows?"

Twilight just shook her head, "It doesn't say. Just says it only grows in enchanted soil. But who knows where that could be."

"Well, we need to find it," Rainbow responded, "I don't know about you, but its obvious Flash doesn't have much time."

"I know," Twilight turned back to the zebra. "Thank you Zecora."

Zecora nodded before taking a potion and beginning to pour it in her cauldron. "I will prepare the tea for when you find the plant, and hope your search shall not disenchant." The others nodded and headed out the hut, ready to return to the castle to research for the Golden Acanthus.

Meanwhile...

Back at the hospital, Flash's body shook like a leaf. He had suffered two more attacks since the others had left, both times having been saved by the Sacred Light. But as this happened, Flash's body poured sweat as the poison began to do something more.

And it began as Flash opened his eyes, "Uh....where am I?" he muttered out, his eyes blinking before looking up, now looking at his surroundings. He was in a kitchen, ovens and shelves all around, with most of them filled with doughnuts, "Huh?! Why am I-"

"YOU!" screamed a unicorn that slammed a door open, a familiar looking baker now pointing at the defender, "So you're back again, eh little thief?!"

"Little?" Flash replied, only to look down at his body. The sight made him gasp, now seeing he had colt sized wings along with tiny hooves, "What's-"

"Put those down!" Donut Joe yelled as he charged at the colt, Flash's instincts kicking in as he quickly hopped over the baker. And as he did this motion, he noticed his mouth suddenly had a bag in it. "Huh?" he said despite the bag in his mouth, "Is this-"

"Get back here!" Flash's body began moving on its own, the colt sprinting out the kitchen and into the street, Joe screaming at him, "You'll pay for steal from me!"

Flash couldn't help but get a sense of deja-vu, his mouth trying to respond before taking another corner.

THUD!

"Ow!" he yelped as him and another pony hit each other, the colt falling back from the blow. He then began to rub his head, only to look up and see what he had ran into, "Twilight?"

It was a familiar purple unicorn filly, who was currently rubbing her flank. Seeing this, the world around him began to fizzle out of focus, turning to a black void before coming back into want looked like a familiar-looking park. "This is-"

"My books!" He turned to the sound of that voice, now spotting the unicorn filly being bullied by a trio of teenage colts. They were tossing her bag around, the memories of this day going through his head.

But as he started to move towards her...he stopped. His mouth opened as he said, "Why should I help her?" He then turned around, the colt now starting to slowly walk away as he commented, "Nopony's ever helped me, so why should I have to help her?"

'No, this isn't supposed to happen. I'm supposed to...to...what am I supposed to do?' his mind said to him, the park fading around him.

'Wait...why am I thinking about that?'

Back at the Castle of Friendship...

Everypony was now in the map room, the whole place surrounded by books. Pages after pages were flying by as each pony kept trying to find anything. It was here that Spike spoke up, "Hey Twilight?" Everypony turned to him, "What about the Everfree Forest? That place is enchanted. Maybe it's there."

Twilight shook her head, "No. The Golden Acanthus doesn't just need enchanted soil to grow. It also needs large amounts of sunlight and clean water, two things the Everfree Forest doesn't have."

"Rats!" Spike moaned, slamming his book shut.

Lightning, who was staring at the Flos-Mortem, raised an eyebrow, "What I'd like to know where this thing came from. If it was supposed to have been destroyed years ago, how'd it get to Ponyville park? Heck, how did nopony notice?!"

"I've been wondering the same thing," Twilight added as she glanced at the flower, "It's possible a seed survived but laid dormant until recently, though I'm not sure what caused it to start growing now."

"Maybe something that happened recently," Iron suggested. "Some kind of magical contaminant that affected the park."

"What about the Everfree Forest?" they all turned to Pinkie's comment, "That's not too far from the park, and it did overgrow recently."

"You mean Discord's plunderseeds." Twilight replied as she hummed into her hoof, "I suppose its possible the vines sent some enchanted soil into the park, contaminating to allow the seed to grow." She shut her book and moved over to the Cutie Map, "But that doesn't help us now. We need a Golden Acanthus, which means we need to find a place with enchanted soil, lots of sunlight and freshwater. But where could that be?"

"We know." They all turned to the new voice, now seeing Trail, Misty and Scootaloo at the door.

"What are you all doing here?" Springer asked, "You should be with Flash."

"We couldn't just stand in that hospital and do nothing," Trail responded while walking over to the map. "We came to see if you have a way to save him...and by the looks of things, you have one."

Twilight nodded before doing a small explanation, "You said you knew a place where we could find the flower."

Misty trotted over to the map, glancing it over, "Years ago, we came across a mountain with rocks on it that had a strange quality that negates magic. It also has a large river of freshwater that runs down from the top, which lets it have rich nutrients for its soil. At least, I suspect it does."

Everypony smiled at this, Twilight gasping as she asked, "Do you remember where it is?"

Trail smirked before pointing at a mountain several hundred miles east of Ponyvile. "Right there."

Everypony stared at the distance, Grand grimacing as he commented, "Sweet Celestia...it'd take a week to get there."

"Not if I teleport us," Twilight instantly countered, making everypony turn to her.

"Twilight..." Spike muttered out, "You've never teleported that far before."

"I teleported us here from the dragon lands. This is just as far."

"But that was only a few of us," Rarity added. "That means you'll only be able to send what...four ponies alongside you?"

"I guess..." Twilight replied while rubbing her forehead, "I mean...I wasn't an alicorn back then. But that doesn't mean I can't do it."

"I'm going," Trail chimed in. "I know that mountain and where the river is. You'll be wandering around aimlessly without me."

Rainbow spoke up next, "I'm coming too. With my speed, searching for this flower will be a walk in the park."

"Ya'll can count me in too," Applejack added while tipping her hat. "This place is gonna need ponies with major kickin' experience."

"Alright, that just leaves-"

"Me." They all turned to Grand, "I'm coming too. I'm not gonna let this plant take my student from me."

"Are you sure?" Misty asked as she put a hoof on his shoulder, "The mountain's rocks will likely make your Celestic Gear useless."

"I'm more than just my Celestic Gear. I'm going."

Twilight wanted to tell him no...but it was pointless. Letting out a long sigh, she looked back at the mountain, "Alright, we have our team. Let's get ready to move out."

"Hold on there." Misty chimed in, raising a hoof, "You'll have to prepare for a long journey. This mountain is treacherous, so you'll need a lot of gear to climb it."

Grand nodded in agreement, "Then we'll head out tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" Scootaloo yelped, "But Flash needs the cure now!"

"I know," Grand patted her on the shoulder. "But if we rush, then we could make a mistake and that could lead to Flash never getting the cure." He turned to the princess, "You said this thing has a time limit when using it, right?"

"It does. We only get two hours when we get it. That means we have to be careful." Twilight growled at her own words, turning to the rest as she crossed her hooves before sitting in her throne, "I don't want to say this, but...we need to rest up and do this tomorrow. As such, we'll leave at the crack of dawn. Until then, let's gather everything we need to scale this mountain."

The others nodded and all headed off to get what was needed. Applejack went to her farm to get as much rope as she could find, Rarity now going to her boutique in order to make some clothing for the mountain climb. Everypony else was getting food, water and whatever else Trail and Misty suggested they might need.

The only one who didn't help with the preparations was Twilight, the alicorn now back at the hospital. She stared at the bed, seeing Flash began to moan again as the Sacred Light continued to shine all over his body. Twilight could feel her heart clench as tears went down her face, "Flash...please stay strong." she began to sniff as she wiped away some tears, "We've found a way to cure you. Just hold on a little longer..." She then let out a long sigh, her mouth continuing to move, "You've been there for us whenever we've needed you. Now it's our turn to save you."

Meanwhile...

A fifteen-year-old Flash was flying through the streets, a bunch of pegasi guards now on his tail. He had a duffle bag on his back, the sound of metal clinking inside the container, "Get back here!" He heard the guards yell, only to look back and blow a raspberry. They continued to fly all over the city, Flash dodging each guard attack before seeing the castle in front of him, an open window straight ahead.

"Catch me if you can!" He flew into the window, zipping down an empty corridor as the guards tried to get inside in single file. He let out a laugh as he rushed around the corner, only to feel something smack the side of his head, "YOW!" He moaned as he staggered back, holding his now throbbing nose.

"So...we meet again." said a low voice, Flash looking up to see a familiar white and blue unicorn in armor.

"Shining Armor. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Shining eyed the duffle bag, growling, "What'd you steal this time?"

"Me?!" Flash did a small gasp, "Does that sound like something I'd do?"

"Yes!" Shining's horn began to glow, summoning a barrier around Flash, "Your little crime wave ends now."

"Hey! Let me out!" Flash yelled as he slammed against the barrier, only to slump over. But as he tried a third charge, he came to a stop and sighed, "Alright. You got me." He held out his hooves, "Take me to jail."

Shining raised an eyebrow, slowly pulling out some cuffs as the rest of guards now walked into the corridor, "Nice work Armor," one of them said.

Seeing the many guards, Shining dropped the force field. But as he did this, Flash quickly kicked off the cuffs, slamming another hoof into the unicorn's nose. "AUGH!"

Flash then hopped over the guards, quickly zipping across the hall before spotting another window, "See ya!" He leapt out with a glass shattering kick, spinning in mid-air before taking to the sky. He let out a chuckle, only to suddenly feel a painful surge of electrical energy flow through his body. "AAAAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!" He instantly fell to the ground, landing on his wing with so much force that he felt it break in several places. "GYAH!"

As he laid there in pain, he heard hoofsteps and rolled over to see a pair of blurry ponies looking down at him. "Nice shot Lightning."

"Thanks gramps. Too bad this guy is such a waste."

Grand shook his head, pulling out some rope next, "Yes...all those skills and he chooses to use them for crime." The two began tying him up, being...semi careful with the broken wing. "It's clear you don't have anypony waiting for you back home. If you did, you wouldn't attempt such crazy stunts."

Flash said nothing, pain straining every part of his body as Lightning chuckled. "No kidding. Bet if you died tomorrow, nopony would miss you."

And as they picked him up, only one thought went through Flash's head, 'Miss me? Who...who would miss me if I was gone?'

The next day...

As soon as the sun rose, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Trail and Grand appeared in the map room. All were carrying full saddlebags, climbing gear on every piece of their bodies. The rest of their friends were also there, the only ones absent being Springer, Misty, Scootaloo and Fluttershy, as they were all at the hospital.

"You all ready?" Lightning asked first.

"We are," Twilight replied as she looked over the map.

Trail then held out a photograph. "Here. This is a snapshot of the mountain."

Twilight took the image, blinking at an image of a grassy forest-like area. "You just had this lying around?"

"It was actually in a scrapbook Misty wanted to show you all of our journey around Equestria. Guess it came in more handy than we figured."

Twilight nodded and took the picture, her eyes focusing on it as she began to close her eyes. Her horn began to spark, soon summoning a bubble of magic around her that the other four walked into.

"Good luck," Spike added.

"We know you can do it," Pinkie continued.

"And be careful," Lightning finished. "Flash would never forgive himself if any one of you got hurt trying to help him."

They all nodded as Twilight upped the power in her spell, soon causing the bubble to vanish in a blink of an eye. The others all stared at the spot, the castle shifting into silence as they stood there. "So..." Wild chimed in as he turned to the others, "What now?"

Spike pulled out another book, "We keep looking for places this flower could be. If it's not there, then we need to be ready to head to another spot as soon as they get back."

They all nodded again, all soon picking up tomes to get to work reading, all the while praying they had been right about the Golden Acanthus on this mountain.

In a flash of purple light, five ponies appeared inside a wooded area, all surrounded by rocks. As they got their bearing, Twilight nearly collapsed as Applejack and Grand caught her. "You okay?" The knight asked the princess.

"I'm fine," Twilight panted as she leaned over, "That was...quite a lot."

"Don't push yerself sugarcube," Applejack commented as she helped Twilight back up. "We can't have yah having trouble this early."

Twilight just shook her head, only to go wide eyes as she saw the area around them, "Wait...this isn't where I was trying to teleport us! Where's the mountain?!"

Rainbow quickly zipped above the trees, spinning around while putting a hoof over her eyes. As she did this, she saw the mountain they were looking for, seeing it was about a mile away and was covered different trees, though the top was strangely barren. "There it is!" She pointed at it before flying back down, "I found it, but uh...you sure the flower's gonna be there? The top doesn't look like something a flower can live on."

Trail nodded despite this, "The magic in this area's rocks are very strong. That's probably why Twilight's spell dropped us here."

Twilight then used her magic to pick up a rock, seeing she wasn't having any issues. But as she took a few steps, her magic suddenly cut out, dropping the rock. "What the-he's right." She tried to lift the rock again, now seeing her magic having trouble even forming, "Strange. It's like an anti-magic barrier. And if it's strong enough to nullify my magic, the rocks must be really powerful."

"Well, it's not so much nullifying it as its more...sucking it out of you. At least, that's what Misty and I theorized when we here last."

Twilight just growled at this, "I'd usually say that's fascinating, but we don't have time for this. The Golden Acanthus requires highly wet soil to grow, so it can't grow far from a constant source of water. That means we need to find the river this mountain has."

Trail nodded and flew up, "The good news is that we're on the side of the mountain that has the river. Let's get going." He then zipped across the sky, the others chasing him as a quick hour passed on the trail to the mountain. And as they got near, the sound of running water caught their ears. They changed course and followed it, soon finding a small river running down the hill away from the mountain.

"This is it?" Grand dipped his hoof into the water before sniffing it, only to give his hoof a lick. "Wow! That's...the best water I've ever tasted. Definitely clean enough for the plant to grow here."

"So the flower's here?" Rainbow asked as she glanced around.

Twilight shook her head, "No. Don't forget, it needs sunlight as well." They all looked up, now seeing the thicket of trees laying on the mountains. "We need to head upriver to find it."

It was here that time began to pass, all going through every canopy opening they could find. Despite this, there was no Golden Acanthus to be found. And by the third hour, five openings and three miles up the mountain, they saw that Twilight was starting to break down.

"No!" she yelled as they searched a sixth opening, only for no results. "We're wasting time! Its got to be here somewhere!"

"Twilight..." Trail gripped her shoulder, "You need to stay calm."

"But Flash needs us!" She cried, turning to him as Trail saw tears in her eyes. "The higher we go, the further we'll have to retrace our steps to get back to the base. That means it'll take longer to get it to Flash, not to mention that the plant can only survive being picked for two hours. For all we know-"

"Don't finish that sentence!" Grand interrupted, slamming his hoof into the dirt. "Flash isn't gonna to lose to some stupid flower! He's stronger than anypony else in Equestria. I don't care what that plant does to him, he isn't gonna let it kill him."

"Yeah!" Rainbow added, "You gotta trust him!"

Applejack nodded in agreement, "Ah'm sure he trusts yah ta not give up Twi. That plant is on this mountain, ah can feel it. We just gotta keep looking."

Twilight sniffed, using her wing to wipe her eyes. "I'm just...I'm scared we'll be too late."

Trail sighed and shook his head, "So am I. That's why we can't waste a second wondering about what might go wrong. We just need to keep going."

The group then left the opening, continuing their journey upstream. But as they did this, they soon found themselves in front of a waterfall, its sides being smooth thirty meters high cliffs.

"That'll take a while ta get around," Applejack commented before turning to Twilight, "Any ideas?"

"Maybe." Twilight grumbled, rubbing her chin as she replied, "Applejack, how much rope did you pack?"

Five minutes later...

Twilight, Trail and Rainbow were now flying up, the pegasi carrying two lines of rope tied around the waists of the earth ponies. Once at the top, Twilight found a large rock and gestured to the winged ponies, "Over here."

Trail and Rainbow tied the ropes around it, giving them both a good tight tug, "Alright," Trail looked back down the cliff, "You all ready?!" Grand and Applejack nodded before the three flyers began pulling on the ropes, the two trying to help shift the weight.

It was slow going, the two earth ponies proving to be quite heavy. And as five minutes passed, they began to hit the thirty-meter mark as Twilight called out, "Almost there!"

"Alright!" Applejack replied, only to look back up and went wide-eyed, "Uh-oh."

Grand did the same, gulping as he saw the rope began to show signs of snapping, "Stop!" he yelled, the others stopping their tugging, "Applejack's rope is about to break!"

"It's fine!" The farm pony barked back, "Keep going!"

"Are you crazy?!" Rainbow called down to her, "We're sending you back down."

"Don't! That'll make the rope fray even more." Grand yelled before reaching out his hoof, "Grab onto me. If you fall, I'll be able to catch you." Applejack nodded and tried to reach out to him, Grand soon having to swing over as well, "Hang on, we're just about-"

SNAP!

"AAH!" Applejack cried as she began to fell, Grand's hoof just missing her.

"APPLEJACK!" The others all screamed, looking away from the next sight. But as this happened...there was no sound of impact. "Applejack?" They all looked back down and sighed in relief, seeing Applejack being suspended just above the ground. Grand hadn't been able to catch her, but he had managed to catch the torn end of her rope in his mouth.

"Nice catch!" Rainbow cheered, "You okay Applejack!"

"Just dandy!" The earth pony barked back, making sure her hat didn't come off. "Ya'll mind getting us back up before Grand's jaw gives out?" They nodded and continued to pull, eventually getting Grand and Applejack up onto the cliff. As they recovered from the round of danger, Applejack tipped her hat at Grand, "That was close. Thanks pardner."

"No problem," Grand said while rubbing his jaw. "But I don't think I'll be able to eat solid food for a week."

"It could have been worse. Now come on, we gotta a lot left to climb."

The whistle of a train awoke Flash from his slumber, making him yawn as he pulled his head out of a train bench. As he did this, the conductor walked by him. "Next stop, Ponyville!" This made Flash blink before hopping off his seat, ready to leave the train as he felt the engine come to a stop.

And once the doors opened, he flinched at the bright sunlight. After spending seven years in jail, he wasn't used to such shine, the sight making him slightly uncomfortable. "Ugh...that's hot." he muttered as he walked into the station, "Best not complain though. After all Flash, you're in a new town, a new place. I'm ready for a new start!"

He pumped his hooves as he walked up to the main street of the town, only to find himself standing in front of a pink earth pony, "Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie, wanna be friends?!" Flash began to smile as he began to speak up- "Well, you can't! I don't wanna be friends with a criminal!"

Flash's face morphed back to a frown, only to feel something slam into his side. The next thing he knew, he was laying face first in a puddle of mud. "Blaugh!" he yelped as he pulled his head back up, the sound of laughter making him look ip to see a blue Pegasus glaring down at him from a cloud.

"Hey loser. Just so you know, I'm keeping my eye on you. The second you try and steal something, you're gonna get sonic rainboomed."

"I'm not gonna steal-"

"Yeah right. Thieves like you never change. Do the town a favor and get lost."

Flash shook his head as he started cleaning himself with his wings, patting the mud down. As he did this, he walked away, only to find himself now standing at an apple cart with an orange earth pony standing behind it. Feeling a twinge of hunger, he pulled out a few bits from his bag.

"What do you want?!" Applejack barked, slamming her hoof into the cart.

"Can I have an apple?" he put the bits on the cart, only for the earth pony to just growl.

"Mah apple's twice that."

"What? But-"

"If yah ain't gonna pay, git lost. Yer holding up the line for real customers." Flash took out some more bits, the mare quickly taking the money before tossing an apple at him. He soon took a bite, only for his face to shrivel up, his tongue aching at the taste.

"This is...rotten."

"Ya'll don't deserve a good, clean apple. Now git lost!"

He the walked away from the cart, slowly moving to the edge of town. It was here he heard somepony gasp, making him turn to see a bunny running down the road. "Stop Angel! Come back here!" Flash's reflexes kicked in, quickly grabbing the bunny.

He turned to the bunny's owner, a pegasus mare with yellow fur. "Here."

However, the pegasi now showed a look of pure terror on her face, fear consuming her form as another voice yelled, "Put him down, you brute!" He felt something wack him on the head, making him hiss and drop the rabbit. He turned to see a unicorn mare holding several rolls of fabric, only for her walk over to the pegasus. "Are you alright darling? He didn't hurt you, did he?" The pegasus shook her head before the unicorn turned back to him, "Stay away from us. Don't think we'll let you take advantage of poor Fluttershy."

"But I wasn't-"

"Save your excuses! Just get out of here!"

With that, the two walked away, making Flash sigh as he slumped over. He could feel tears began to go down his face, only to rub them away. As such, he continued his journey through the town, now seeing everypony glare at him and doing their best to avoid him. Eventually, he came across a large tree-like structure with windows and doors, alongside a sign saying 'Golden Oaks Library.' Blinking at the sight, he knocked on the door, only for it open by itself.

Blinking at this, he slowly stepped inside, his eyes scanning the room over. As he did this, his heart suddenly came to a stop. In front of him was the most beautiful unicorn he had ever seen...and locking lips with some random pony he couldn't even identify.

But as he stared, the act of opening the door caught their attention and made them turn, the unicorn growling, "You mind?! You're interrupting our makeout session."

"I just-"

"Just nothing." Her horn began to glow, a magic aura now gripping his body. "Just because you don't have anypony special in your life, it doesn't mean you can ruin other's times with theirs. Now get lost and don't let me see you here ever again!"

She threw him flying out of the library, the pegasi now slamming into another mud puddle. "Augh!" He moaned as he felt pain strike his body, only to slump over in the messy liquid. And as he tried to get up, he put a hoof to his chest...only to think, 'Why? Why did hearing those words from the mare hurt so much?'

BEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!

The sound made a flurry of doctors race to Flash's side, ready to charge the defibrillator. But as they did this, another flash of light consumed his body...only to barely shine. It was dim, making them grimace as Flash began to breathe normally again.

"Looks like he's stable." one commented as everypony else frowned at this sight.

"What's happening?" Scootaloo asked while turning to Misty and Springer. "Why's the Sacred Light taking so long to react?"

"I...I..." Misty tried to reply, but no words came to her.

That is, till Springer yelled, "That does it!" The jakhowl ran up to the door, kicking it open with a single blow.

"Hey! You can't be in here!" One of the doctor's barked, but Springer just ran past him, hopping on the bed before placing her paws on Flash's face.

"Flash...wake up already!" he yelled, a blue aura consuming his body, "We're linked Flash, you and me are connected! So please...just talk to me! Whatever's attacking you, you have to fight it!" But as his aura began to go into Flash's, the jakhowl suddenly let out a high pitched scream. "AAAHHH!" He cut the connection, staggering back as he clutched his head.

"Springer!" Scootaloo cried as she and Misty ran inside, now seeing Springer keep his balance.

He let out a hiss as he stared back at Flash, "No way. I don't...something's blocking me from making a connection. Whatever that plant did to him, it's more than just a poison. It's almost like...it's alive."

Misty turned back to her son. "Trail...Twilight...please hurry."

"Is this good or bad?" Rainbow asked as the five ponies walked out of the wooded area of the mountain. They were now nearing the peak, looking up to see the sun slowly heading to the horizon.

"I'd say it's good," Trail told her. "More sunlight means a better chance of finding the plant we're looking for."

"Huh...wonder why there ain't any trees here though. The soil seems pretty good." Applejack commented as she tested the ground. She would then get her answer when Rainbow decided to land, only for her hooves to start slipping.

"WHOA!" She yelped as she slid down the hill, only for Applejack to grab her by the tail.

"Guess that explains it. Its all but mud." Applejack added as she pulled her up, "Anything bigger than a flower would just slip down the hill."

"Makes sense," Trail continued as he helped Applejack, "The spring is feeding the river right at the top, coming all the way through the mountain from the base. This section of the mountain's so small, the water's bleeding into the soil."

"If that's the case, that means we'll need to go higher." Twilight said as she crossed her hooves, "Let's keep move-"

THOOM!

The sound of rocks rumbling made them look up, eyes going wide as multiple cracks appeared on the cliffs above them. Water erosion had created on these, and the motions of the group had finally made them give away. It was here that the largest rock snapped off the cliff face, now turning into a rolling boulder bowling for the group.

"MOVE!" Twilight screamed as the rock began to pick up speed, Rainbow and Trail taking to the air. This proved to be a mistake, as the rock hit another that let it shatter a small one, knocking a barrage of rubble at the pegasi. They quickly began to dodge them, Twilight now flying as she tried to dodge the main boulder. But as she did this, a large rock spun into the air-

"AUGH!" Twilight yelped as the rock sunk into her wing, her form instantly dropping. Seeing this, Grand and Applejack quickly dove, catching her in a quick sliding motion.

"Ya'll okay?!"

"I'm fine!" Twilight barked as she began clutching her wing, the pegasi now flying down beside her.

"Stay behind us," Applejack and Grand both said as they stepped in front of them, the two spinning like tops as Applejack began bucking the boulders, Grand doing the same with a tornado of punches. They continued to do this for a full minutes, the rockslide starting to come to an end before both collapsed in pure exhaustion.

Rainbow tried to help them as Trail leaned over at Twilight, focusing on her wing, "Yikes..." he stared at the wound, now seeing a clump of rock sticking out of it. "This is bad. We need to fix this, now."

"How?" Rainbow asked, trying to hold back her vomit at the sight of Twilight's injury.

Trail took off his saddlebag and handed it to her, "First aid kit and matches." Rainbow raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told. As she did this, Trail slowly pulled the rock shard out of Twilight's wing.

"Ahh!" Twilight hissed as the rock moved.

"And...there. Now, it looks like it didn't hit anything vital, but we still need to stitch it up before you lose too much blood." Rainbow then gave him the items requested, "Take out a needle and light a match to sterilize it." Rainbow and Applejack did as they were told, Applejack lighting a match while Rainbow held it over the flame.

Once Trail was sure the needle was ready, he took it and knotted a thread through it before beginning his work. She hissed at the pain, squirming as Trail started to operation. As he did this, she moaned out to the others, "Keep looking for the flower. I'll be fine."

They all nodded, knowing not to argue as they began to look around again. But as minutes began to pass, soon turning to another hour as Trail finished the stitches and made Twilight lay and rest. He knew she wanted to get up and starting searching, but he made sure to keep her still. And as the hour passed, Rainbow flew back to them with a moan, "There's...nothing."

"Nothing at all?"

"Sorry sugarcube," Applejack added as she walked up and took her hat off. "Looks like it ain't growing here."

Twilight felt herself tearing up again, only to look back up at the mountain, "Grr...stupid mountain! Why don't you...you..." her eyes went wide before glancing back at Rainbow, "Rainbow...did you check the top?"

"The top?"

"Right at the top, where the spring starts." Twilight got up and began to stumble up the muddy hill, "That's where the water would be cleanest." They all followed after her, but as she began to get close, yet another cliff-like structure stood in her way.

"Ah gotcha sugarcube," Applejack commented as she grabbed Twilight and began helping her up.

"Thanks!" Twilight replied as she began to climb, the others joining her as they made their way to the top. And as they got to the last step, they suddenly found themselves staring at a beautiful oasis-like area filled with a large pond surrounded by many flowers. And one of those flowers...was a Golden Acanthus. "IT'S HERE!" She scrambled over while the others arrived at the top, watching as she carefully picked the flower before taking out a jar.

She placed it inside as they gathered around her. "Finally, a way to save Flash. But..." Trail then blinked at Twilight's wing, "How do we get it to him? You can't teleport us from here, and it'll take hours to get back down to the bottom."

Twilight stared at the flower, sighing as she looked back at Trail. "You're right. I didn't expect getting injured. We need something else..."

"What if I took it?" They turned to Rainbow, who was taking off her saddlebag in preparation of flying at full speed.

"Are you sure?"

Rainbow patted her chest, "I'm the best around Twi. You know I am."

Twilight giggled at this, everypony noticing it was the first time she had shown any kind of happiness today, "You're right Rainbow. That might be our only chance," She then handed her the jar. "You have to get this to Zecora before it dies."

"Alright," she took it, only to glance back at Twilight, "But how do I find my way home? I've got no idea where we are."

It was here that Trail spoke up, pointing to the setting sun. "We're east of Ponyville. Follow the sun until you see something you recognize." Rainbow nodded and flexed her wings, ready to go all out as fast as she could to save her friend.

"You got this sugarcube."

"We know you can do it."

"Please," she turned to Twilight, "Save Flash."

"No problem." Before anything else could be said, Rainbow shot off the mountain top and rocketed towards the sun at max speed. Any faster and she would go Sonic Rainboom. Pumping her wings as fast as she could, she zipped across the ever-changing landscape, her sole direction being where the sun was setting. She flew over forests, lakes and even a desert.

By the time the first hour passed, she arrived at an area she knew. And just in time, as the sun was now completely set with the moon taking its place. "Stay with me!" She told the flower in the jar, "My friend needs you!" She then felt herself beginning to grow tired, her wings starting to go slower as she saw a certain town on the horizon. "Almost there!" She said with only half an hour to go, the flower already starting to wrinkle.

Ten minutes later, Rainbow found herself flying over the Everfree Forest. "Come on!" She dodged a few Everfree clouds before dropping into the canopy, finding herself standing in front of Zecora's hut. The athlete slammed the door open, Zecora gasping at the sight as Rainbow gave her the jar. She didn't even talk, just slumping over at the zebra took the container in her hooves.

"You've brought the flower. It's hard to believe," Taking the plant out, she moved over to an elaborate chemistry set. "I'd begun to think this task was impossible to achieve." She plucked the petals off the flower and placed them in a beaker of water, soon setting the beaker over an open flame while placing a plastic tube on the top. "The journey to get it must have been filled with strife, but now we have a chance to save Flash's life."

Rainbow just panted as she watched the water with the petals turn gold as it evaporated and flew up the tube. That tube lead to another beaker, mixing with a new clear liquid. The gas then sank into the solution, turning it golden as Zecora took it off the holder. She then held it out to Rainbow, "Take this to Flash and have him drink. It should clear the poison...I think."

"Got it."

"Blaugh!" Flash yelped as he was thrown out of a building, rain pouring down on him as he fell into a puddle. "Ow!"

"It'll hurt worse if I see you near my store again!" Bon-Bon screamed before slamming a door behind her.

"But I didn't do anything!" Flash yelled back, but there was no response. He could only sigh as he lifted himself from the puddle, once again jobless and in trouble. This always happened. No matter what Flash did, even agreeing to the most demeaning of jobs, he always got blamed and would be fired without a second's thought.

All Flash could do was slump over, tears pouring down his face as the rain continued to shower him, "Why?! Why can't the world just give me a break?!"

"Because the world is a cold and heartless place." Flash opened his eyes, gasping as he suddenly found himself in a dark void. The ground below him felt wet, like he was standing on the surface of water.

"Huh? What is...going on?"

"Simple. I'm here to help you." called out a voice, making Flash's eyes dart around, only to see nothing.

"Who's there?"

"A friend. Somepony who wants to help end your suffering."

The words made Flash's eyes twitch, sniffing as another batch of tears began to fall down, "End...my suffering?"

"Yes. I can help you. I can give you that break you want from the world."

Flash went wide-eyed, his lips quivering as he responded, "You...you can? How?"

"Let me handle that. You just need to relax and let me do all the work. After all, what have you got to lose?"

Nothing. That was what Flash had to lose. Nothing at all. "Finally...somepony will help me!" Flash slumped over, more tears going down his face. "Thank you. Please...please help me!"

And as he sat down, the dark void began to warp around him. As it did this, his body began to slowly sink under the black water beneath him.

"And this time, you won't escape."

Everypony was standing outside Flash's room, watching the pegasi continue to deteriorate. Nothing but looks of sadness were on their faces, exhaustion on every face as they had spent the rest of the day studying over any location for the flower. And as they watched, another loud beeping sound shook the room as Flash began to crash again...only for something new to happen.

As the doctors rushed in, the Sacred Light began to kick in...only for just a small dim light to consume him. "What's happening?!" Scootaloo screamed, the light fading as her brother continued to convulse.

"Something's wrong!" The nurse yelled, "His stats are continuing to drop!"

"Get the defibrillator!" Another nurse quickly chucked the machine on him, charging it up. "Clear!" They zapped him, only for his body to have no reaction.

"His heartrate's still dropping!"

"FLASH!" Scootaloo screeched, Misty now pulling her away from the window. The others were all just as shocked, the mares beginning to cry while the guys all shook in anger.

"Damn it, Sentry!" Iron barked, "Don't you dare lose to this thing!"

Lightning nodded in agreement. "Don't make me come in there and zap you myself."

But their words meant nothing. Their friend just laid there, his body completely still as the doctors continued to zap him. The sight made them all grimace, knowing what it could mean.

And as began to look away, a powerful gust of wind suddenly shot through an open window, something slamming into the wall next them. They turned to see Rainbow, the pegasi laid out, red-faced and panting. "Rainbow?" Fluttershy and Rarity gasped, "Are you alright?"

"What happened to the others?"

Rainbow didn't answer their questions, instead holding up the bottle with the golden liquid contained within it. "Flash...cure...drink....hurry." The others blinked at the bottle, only for Springer to snatch it up and charge into the room.

"Hey! I told you before! You can't be in here!" A doctor yelled, only for Springer to hop on the bed and tear off the mask on Flash's mouth. "What are you-" He didn't finish as Springer poured the potion into Flash's mouth, the pegasus subconsciously swallowing it.

"Come on Flash." They all said as they watched, only to smile as Flash's Sacred Light reappeared around him a few seconds later.

However, its glow was only a tiny bit brighter, the defender still completely knocked out and deteriorating, "What's happening?" Scootaloo asked. "I thought that was supposed to cure him!"

"I...I don't understand," Misty whispered.

It was here that one of the doctors spoke up, "Its...its possible you were too late. Or maybe...maybe he's just lost the will to live."

Hearing this, Springer just growled before placing his paws on him. "I won't let that happen. I have to try again." He reached out with his aura, only to feel a surge of pain. The jakhowl began to scream in pain...but then something new happened. The Sacred Light began to shine once more, consuming Flash and now Springer. Feeling this, he switched to his battle form, pouring more aura into Flash as he said, "Flash...Flash, can you hear me?!"

Flash was almost completely below the water, his eyes closed as he let out a comforting sigh. "Its over...its finally over. No more suffering. I'm...I'm free."

"Flash!"

"Huh?" Flash's eyes began to open, his ears twitching at the voice, "Wha-"

"Flash! Flash, can you hear me?!"

"Who-"

"Ignore it." his own voice said back to him.

"But...they know my name. Nopony knows me."

"So? The only ones that know your name hate you. All they want to do is make you suffer."

"I..." Flash tried to reply, only to sigh as he began to close his eyes, "You're right. They'll-"

"Flash! Please, answer me! I'm here!"

Flash's eyes opened again, this time his head pulling out of the water, "Wait...do you hear that?"

"Ignore it. They only want you to suffer."

Flash shook his head, "But...I've never heard that tone of voice before. They don't sound like they want me to suffer." Flash's body began to ascend out of the void, "They sound...worried. Worried...about me."

"FLASH!" An explosion of light happened next, soon taking shape to form a bipedal dog. The creature opened his eyes and shined a big grin, "Flash!"

"What...are you?"

The dog tilted his head at this, "Huh? What are you talking about Flash? Its me, Springer!"

Flash just blinked at him, "Springer? I'm sorry but...I don't know you."

Back in the real world, the other ponies saw a look of worry appear on Springer's face. "What's wrong?" Iron asked, Springer opening his eyes with a grimace.

"He said he doesn't know me. It's like...his memories have been wiped."

"What?" Misty asked, "You can't wipe somepony's memories."

"Then they've been blocked or something. He doesn't recognize me. And if he doesn't recognize me-" He didn't have to say anything else, the others all gulping at the conclusion.

That is, till Pinkie bounced up to Springer, putting her hoof on his paws. "Then let's remind him what to fight for!"

"Remind him? But-"

"No buts Springer! We gotta save Flash!" Pinkie responded as she gripped his hoof, "Can't you just do what we did for you back when you fought that Shade meanie? Let's see if we can do the same for Flash!"

"You mean...link all your auras into Flash?" The pink pony nodded back, making Springer gasp, "Huh...okay, let's try it! Let's make him remember us!"

"Then link us too!" Scootaloo put her hoof on the pile, alongside Misty with the others all doing the same. They closed their eyes and began to think back to their favorite times with Flash, the jakhowl slowly connecting his aura to theirs. The doctors watched as they all glowed blue, gasping at the sight.

Flash watched as Springer seemed to fade away for several seconds, only for a new explosion of light to appear. "Here. If you can't remember me or your friends, then watch as they remember you." With that, balls of light floated out of the jakhowl, all of them beginning to fill the void.

Flash backpedaled at the sight, his eyes looking slightly down as the first orb floated up to him. He went wide-eyed as he saw one of the ponies that had previously pushed him away together. Inside, he saw himself smiling and laughing with others, a sight he couldn't believe was happening. He saw himself helping set up a party with Pinkie, apple bucking with Applejack, wearing a suit Rarity had made for him, racing against Rainbow Dash and playing with animals with Fluttershy. After this, he was reading a story to a filly he didn't know, fighting alongside Lightning and a gray earth pony in various battles.

"This...is me?" Flash muttered as he watched more images fly past him, "I'm...I'm..."

Another image then showed itself, this one revealing a unicorn holding him as a foal, kissing his forehead. The sight made tears flow down his face, "Is that...is that really me?! I...have parents? Somepony...somepony actually cares about me?!"

Springer nodded with a big grin, "That's right. This is who you truly are."

"That's...that's..." Flash put his hooves to his head, tears streaming down his face, "That can't be! I'm...I'm just a...just a worthless criminal that this world hates! My life...its nothing but suffering!"

"Its not." Springer instantly replied, cracks beginning to form around the void. "You're so much more Flash. I don't know why you can't remember, and I honestly don't care. What matters is that you're really important to so many ponies." The cracks continued to grow and connect, white light now flowing through them. "You're Flash Sentry, a defender of the peace. The Knight of Friendship. OUR FRIEND!"

As he yelled this, the cracks all linked up before the void shattered, now revealing a white void filled with Flash's memories. The pegasus gasped as these images flowed into his mind, making him relive his whole life. His whole...incredible life.

"No!" The disembodied voice cried as the shattered darkness turned to a slime-like entity, the darkness massing together into a blob of shadows, "I will not let you escape me!" The shadow shot several spikes of solid slime at Springer, instantly making him disappear. It then shot them at Flash, but before impact could happen, the pegasus was suddenly surrounded by a tornado of light.

"Not happening," Flash replied as he spun around as the tornado exploded, now showing him in his armor. "I remember everything now. You tried to make me forget so I wouldn't fight back, but I know who I am now. I am not letting myself be taken down by you...because I have way too much to live for!"

The shadow let out a scream in response, now firing several more spikes, only for more light to block them. The light was coming from the memories that surrounded them, the sunlight-like beams evaporating the shadows as the light flew down and began to take shape.

"WHAT?!" the shadow screamed as the light began to morph, now showing Flash surrounded by images of all his friends.

"Getting a little crowded in here roomie," Flash said before charging at the shadow, swiftly cutting the blob in half with his light swords. A scream of pain came from the shadow as he asked, "Sure you don't wanna vacate?"

But as the shadow heard these words, it disappeared into the ground as it yelled, "Vacate?! Where do you think we are?!" In that moment, shadow vines shot out of the void, instantly wrapping around Flash's legs, wings and waist. "You pathetic little worm! Don't you remember?! I am the one that will end your suffering from this world! I have taken root in Flash Sentry, mind, body and soul! I will not stop until your light is extinguished!"

As these words left its mouth, the vines began to tighten, Flash now screaming, "AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Flash!" Scootaloo screamed, now seeing Flash's body shake. "What's happening?! What happened in there for Springer?"

As for Springer, he had been knocked to the floor after the shadow hit him, the others helping him up as he replied, "Flash...is fighting. We gotta-"

"FLASH!" They all turned to see Twilight, Grand, Trail and Applejack standing at the door, the alicorn rushing to the side of the bed. Everypony watched her grab his hooves, putting her head on his chest as she cried, "Please...stay strong. You can beat it. Don't...don't leave me."

Those words rang through Flash's ears, the memories around him all changing to show pictures of the alicorn. As they did this, the light around Flash glowed brighter.

"What?!" The shadow screeched, hissing in pain as its vines started to burn from the light. "No!"

Flash opened his eyes, which were now glowing, as he started pulling at the vines. "I think you'll find that my light isn't so easy extinguished!" With that, he let out a mighty roar before pulling himself free.

"NO!" The shadows yelled as Flash's light began to form into a orb.

"It's over!" Flash then spun around, back-hoofing the orb as he yelled, "GET OUT OF ME!"

"I will not be defeated!" The shadow screamed as it fired a spiral of vines, the orb morphing into an arrow as it collided with the vines. And as the two forces began to push against each other, an explosion of light began to fill Flash's mind.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

The hospital room fell silent at the noise, the long beeping of the machine now filling the room. All everypony could do was stare at Flash's still form. Scootaloo, Misty, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie all covered their mouths while Trail, Iron, Lightning, Rainbow, Applejack and Spike stood shaking in horror.

And as for Twilight, she was white as a ghost.

Flash's heart has stopped, the light had faded, and his breath...was non-existent. He was...gone.

"No...please no." Twilight's face fell onto his chest as she cried into his fur, "Flash...no. Don't leave me! Please...please..."

Nopony said anything as they saw her cry, the doctors also silent as they watched the scene. And as the first minute began to pass-

Beep...beep...beep.

Twilight's eyes shot open at the sound, everypony looking over at the machine as they watched a line began to hop up and down. She then placed her ear on Flash's chest, gasping as she heard a rhymical thumping, followed by a sound of a slow intake of breath from the pegasus. "Flash?"

The princess turned to the face, now seeing his eyes crack open as a weak smile appeared on his face, "Hey. How's it going?"

Twilight's tears began to stream down her face again, soon letting out a cry of joy as she quickly hugged him, the rest doing the same as tears fell from every face.

Flash was alive.

Meanwhile, in an unknown remote part of Equestria...

"RRRRAAAAAAUUUGGGHHHH!!!" yelled out a voice, a figure now clutching his chest as grunts of discomfort escaped his mouth. The being started to stumble out of his throne, heavy pants escaping his breath.

The sound of doors slamming open came next, a certain unicorn running into the room, "Beloved?!" She gasped at the next sight, running up to the figure as she rubbed his chest, "My love, are you alright?! Do you need medical care? Just say the word and I'll go find the best doctor in Equestria and kidnap them right away!"

"No!" he yelled back, making her backpedal, only for him to start hacking again, "Just...no. I'm...I'm fine, Tempera."

"But master-"

"Stop." he moaned as he pointed at the mare, "Just...I just...felt something. That's all."

"What?"

"It felt like...like something that's not me, but connected to me has died. The pain it caused hurt like hell, but then...it stopped. It was as if it died again."

"I don't understand master." Tempera replied, going back up to put her hoof to his face, "Are you sure you're alright? I've never heard of anything like that."

The figure growled, swatting her hoof away, "It doesn't matter. How long until the others arrive?"

Tempera sighed, backpedaling as she replied, "Salix and Wingill will be here tomorrow while Storm and Terror should be here by the end of the week. Apparently, a recent deal went south and-"

"That's enough. I don't need to know what happened, just when they're arriving. Now...leave me be."

"But-"

"GET OUT!" he screeched, Tempera quickly backpedaling and nodding before turning around. There, she gave him one last glance before walking away, soon exiting the room as the figure sat back on his throne. As she left, he rubbed his chest as he moaned, "Why?" He summoned a crystal orb next, which changed to show the pegasus he had seen a while back. "Why did you appear in my mind when I felt that? Just...what did you do to me?!"

And as he stared at the orb, a small eye spied on him past the doors. It was Tempera, her form squirming as she saw him slump back into his throne. But as he did this, a pitch black magical aura consumed the sphere as he let out a long pained hiss.

THOOM!

That was the sound of a huge crack appearing under the throne, a pitch black magic field embracing the room as a large crack went through the crystal orb, shattering the image of Flash in two. The sight made him growl as he said, "Whatever you are...my shadow will consume you."

A day had passed since Flash's near-death experience, the defender still in his hospital room, which was now filled with flowers and 'get well soon' cards. Since his revival, Flash had gotten visits from almost every citizen of Ponyville, the only ones being the Rich Family and Silver Spoon, but Flash was fine with that. He was more than happy to sit there, reading his comics as he considered it to be a small vacation from defending.

It was here that a knock of the door made him look up to see Twilight, walking in with a box from Sugarcube Corner, "Hey Flash, I got your favorites. Special treat from Pinkie herself."

"Thank Celestia," Flash put his comic down. "Food here ain't bad, but it ain't good either."

Twilight giggled as she put the box on his bedside table, soon hopping on the bed with him as she replied, "Speaking of Celestia, she's coming with some floral experts to inspect the Everfree Forest to make sure there aren't any more Flos-Mortems hanging around. She said she'd also come visit you, and see how you're doing."

"Eh, she doesn't need to worry about me. I'll be out of here in no time." Flash responded while flexing his hooves, only for Twilight to show a big frown in return. This made him lower his hooves, Twilight now laying down and snuggling up to him, "Twi..." he then put his wing around her. "Twilight...I'm okay."

"I know. I know you're okay, but...I was so scared I'd lost you."

"Yeah, I know you did." he then started rubbing her head, "But it was thanks to you all that I was able to stay." His eyes drifted to her wing, which was wrapped in bandages. "Though uh...I'm sorry you went through all that for me."

"You don't have to apologize." Twilight muttered before looking up at him, "I mean, wouldn't you do the same for any of us?"

Flash chuckled back, nodding in agreement. "I uh...yeah, I would."

"Then of course we'd do the same for you." She then laid her head on his shoulder, "No matter what, we'll always be there when the other needs them. That's just how we roll."

Flash shook his head before putting his head on hers, the two relaxing as both closed their eyes. "Yeah...and let's keep rolling just like that."

The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows

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Today was a rare peaceful day in Ponyville, the town now having gone through several exhausting events these past few days. The first had been Flash Sentry's near-death experience, the event shocking the town before throwing a big party for his release from the hospital. Then there had been the Sisterhooves Social, which had been a major spectacle due to the antics of one Orchid Blossom.

And the final big event had occurred just a few days ago. It was the cute-ceañera celebration of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, the crusaders finally discovering their life's purpose, which was to help ponies discover their life's purpose. This had come around thanks to them helping Pipsqueak become pony class president for their school, along with helping their old enemy Diamond Tiara discover what she was supposed to use her special talent for. Now the three girls were enjoying the afterglow of gaining their cutie mark, the rest of the town also taking a well-deserved break from partying. But that break wouldn't last long, as Nightmare Night was only ten days away and Heartswarming wasn't too far off after that.

It was here that one pony was not having a day off. It was Wild, who was preparing for two big parties that were scheduled for today. The first was a birthday party for the CMC's classmate, Shady Daze, along with the school having an end of term party to celebrate the start of the Nightmare Night and the Heartswarming holiday that afternoon.

Now Wild and his puppets were heading to Sugarcube Corner, the stallion ready to meet his girlfriend for the day. She had Pinkie-Promised to be the balloon modeller for the kids, while also being the one to plan Shady's party. "Hello?" He asked as he opened the backdoor of the bakery, "Anypony home?" The sound of foal gargles caught his attention next, making him turn to see the Cake Twins playing in their pen. "Hey you two," he floated his puppets over them, only to turn to see Mrs. Cake walk into the room carrying a basket full of ingredients.

"Oh Wild, hello there. Looking for Pinkie?"

"Yeah. She here?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm afraid not. Twilight called her to the castle for something. Seemed very important, so she headed off right away."

"Alright." Wild was about to recall his puppets before he commented, "Big order?"

"Oh yes. Very special request."

"Who's it for?"

"That's a surprise. Now off with you. I'm sure Pinkie could use your help with whatever Twilight needs her for."

"Yes, ma'am." Wild did a small salute as his puppets imitated him. As he headed out the door, the twins waved goodbye as he trotted to the castle, soon spotting Rarity and Lightning walking by. "Yo!" The two turned to him, smirking as he joined them. "What are you two up too?"

Rarity just waved her hoof, "Oh, we just ran into one another while I was on my way to the castle."

"My patrol's over, so I thought I'd see what Twilight wanted her for. I'm also hoping she'll agree to let Sentry back on patrol."

All three sighed at that. Ever since Flash's near death incident, Twilight had been extra mother hen-like with the defender. She had given him 'royal orders' to not go out on any patrol or training...which was driving the pegasus nuts. In fact, it had taken him some serious convincing to let Twilight let him go watch Scootaloo and Rainbow in the Sisterhooves Social, or let him party at her cute-ceañera.

"With Iron and Gramps out of town, me and Springer could really use a hoof with patrols." Lightning continued, the two now remembering about the mission Celestia had given Iron and Grand. It was a job where they had to hunt a dangerous pony that was holding ponies and buffalo up for the few bits they had. That was two days ago, which is a long time for defenders trying to make sure Ponyville doesn't explode.

"Don't be too hard on her. She did almost lose her true love. Of course she'd be a little overprotective of him."

"There's being overprotective, and then there's wrapping the pony you care about in bubble wrap. I get the feeling we're close to that bubble wrap moment." Lightning moaned, the two continuing to banter back and forth as Wild just watched. Blinking at the sight, he wanted to speak up, only to turn and see his girlfriend talking to her alligator as they approached. And as they got in earshot, they heard her say something about babies.

"What's all this about a baby?" Rarity asked, causing Pinkie to let out a 'eep' before putting Gummy behind her back.

"What?! Who?!" She began to backpedal, Gummy now holding onto her tail. "Who said something about a baby?!"

Rarity raised an eyebrow while Lightning and Wild exchanged glances, Wild shrugging in response. "You did Ms. Pie, just now." Rarity added as she leaned in, "What were you talking about?" Wild then walked in front of her, Pinkie now backpedaling even more as her eyes began to dart around. It was here that she pulled a pacifier that Gummy had been strangely sucking on and put it on her mouth, quickly turning to trotting away with an extra bounce in her step.

Wild tilted his head at this, "Huh. That was weird."

"How can you tell?" Lightning asked, then getting glares from the two before they followed after the party planning pony. It was here that they all arrived at the castle, now finding the whole friendship council there along with Springer and the CMC. Scootaloo, Sweetie and Apple Bloom were all brandishing their newly acquired cutie marks, which were all almost entirely identical, all being pink, red and purple shields, but all had different symbols.

"Great! Everypony's here!" Twilight cheered as Rarity sat down, "Now I don't have to wait any longer to tell you all the wonderful news!" Spike opened up a scroll, which she took in her magic to read out loud. "Somepony special is coming to visit Ponyville, and I need your help getting everything ready!" This statement got everypony chattering in excitement, "It's-"

"Shining Armor and Princess Cadance!" Pinkie said at the same time as the alicorn, Twilight glancing at her with wide eyes.

Pinkie just gave a big wide smile in response, making Twilight turn back to the scroll, "Yes, and they're coming-"

"Tomorrow!" Twilight turned to Pinkie again, the pony still showing the same smile.

"Yes...on the-"

"Friendship Express rather than the Crystal Empire train so as not to cause too much of a scene when they skip town to come visit!" Pinkie interrupted, Twilight now glaring at her as Flash leaned over and started whispering.

"She's finally evolving. First she'll be reading minds, then she'll start controlling them!" Twilight rolled her eyes at Flash's joke, only to find Pinkie had jumped up onto the table.

"Annnnnd?" The earth pony asked next, Twilight shrugging in response.

"And that's it."

"Oh..." Pinkie's mane slightly deflated at that, Wild raising his eyebrow at the sight.

It was here that Rainbow spoke up, "Uhhhh...how did you know all that?"

Pinkie started laughing, her eyes darting around again. "Um...Pinkie Sense?" With that, she slowly backtracked to her throne, her head remaining in the same spot with her neck extending.

Once her head snapped back into place, Rainbow turned to Twilight, "So, you said you needed our help with something?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes. Follow me." She flew out off her throne, Flash, Rainbow and Fluttershy flying after her while the others followed on hoof. It was here they went to the guest hallway, arriving at a door next to the one Flash's parents had stayed in. As they walked inside, the group found themselves in what looked like a young teen's room. Aside from the double bed, everything was what you would expect a colt to have in their room. Train set on the floor, posters on the wall, and a chest of toys alongside a stack of comic books.

Rainbow flew over to the wall, "Sweet posters!" She pointed to one showing a unicorn, "Is that Smash Fortune?"

"It sure is!" Twilight replied as Pinkie and Wild opened up the toy chest before the mare climbed in.

"I always loved his movies," Lightning added.

"Same," Flash continued as he started singing. "Smash!"

"Aaaah," Lightning and Rainbow joined in before the three sung, "Savior of the universe!"

The others all giggled at their antics, Twilight turning to the group, "When Shining Armor said he wanted to come to the castle and visit, I started collecting things he liked when he was a colt as a surprise."

"Surprise?!" Pinkie yelped as she shot her head out of the chest with a toy helmet on. The group glanced over at her, making her laugh before spinning the helmet around and leaning on the edge of the chest.

Twilight blinked at this as she then spoke up, "Anyways...I've been so excited that it's been hard to keep it to myself!"

"I have no idea what that's like!" Pinkie muttered out, her voice muffled by the helmet on her head.

Wild went up and patted her shoulder, "Pinkie, are you okay? You seem a little...overly Pinkie."

"I'm fine!"

"You're vibrating," Lightning deadpanned, everypony now seeing Pinkie's entire body now shaking the whole chest.

"Still fine. Just...ate one too many cupcakes." The group all looked at each other, most showing shrugs as they turned back to the room.

"Cool train," Sweetie said as she and the CMC laid down to look at the track set. She even used her magic to push it along, Scootaloo making the choo-choo noise as she did.

"Aww..." Fluttershy gasped, "Look at the cute little ant farm!"

Flash stepped up to her, looking down at the bugs. "Hopefully this one doesn't meet the same fate as Shining's old one."

Fluttershy turned to him with big puppy dog eyes, "What happened to his old one?"

The defender looked away while twiddling her hooves, "Um...remember the fifth 'Renegade Farm Equipment Incident'?" Fluttershy's face turned pale at the words, Flash doing a small nod, "Yeah...think that kind of accident, but on small scale. Really small...ant-sized scale."

"Oh dear..."

"Check out all these old comic books!" Spike interrupted as he held one up, Springer taking a closer look next.

Twilight saw this and took it out of his claws, "Be careful with that! They're mint-in-bag!" She then turned around to see Pinkie taking out a doll from the chest.

"What's this?"

"That's Brutus Force. Shining Armor used to carry him around like his baby." Pinkie immediately dropped the toy, putting back in the chest.

"Yeah..." She let out another nervous laugh, "That's uh...really cute."

"It is a bit juvenile for castle décor," Rarity added as she pulled Twilight's attention, "But it is very sweet of you."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, "I'm sure Shining Armor will love it."

Twilight shined a big smile, "I'm really hoping so, but there's a few more things I'd like to add before he gets here. If you all don't mind, I could really use a hoof collecting them."

"Whatever yah need sugarcube, we'll help yah get it." Applejack finished, the rest nodding in unison.

Twilight's face looked as giddy as a filly on Heartswarming, "Thanks everypony! I can't wait 'til they walk in and see everything!"

"Totally understandable. Watching somepony else be surprised with something is almost better than being the one who's getting the surprise!" Rainbow chimed in, her statement striking a chord with Pinkie as she climbed out of the chest.

"But...uh...what if the surprise is something so incredibly exciting that a pony can't keep it in any longer, and she has to tell the pony standing next to her what it is or she might explode?!" That last word was accented by her wrapping her hooves around Fluttershy and squeezing them tightly, almost cutting off her air.

She quickly saw her error and loosened her grip, allowing Fluttershy to breathe before speaking up, "I would say...no." This made Pinkie completely let her go, Rarity slowly creeping along the floor to her.

"The pony who ruins a surprise for somepony else has to live with that guilt...forever!" She slammed her nose into Pinkie's, the party pony seriously sweating as she picked herself up.

She let out several tiny chuckles before saying, "Gotta bounce!" She then curled up into a ball and began bouncing around the room, pinball noises following her with ever ricochet until she crashed right into a far wall.

Everypony stared at the hole she'd made, which the castle would soon magically fix, as Rainbow turned to the others, "So, I know the bar is set pretty high, but does anypony else think Pinkie Pie was acting weirder than usual?"

Springer nodded. "Her aura does seem a little...frazzled. Almost like she was keeping something hidden."

"She did seem to be acting strange when we met up with her earlier," Lightning added.

"Maybe she's having some kind of issue but doesn't wanna us to know?" Apple Bloom guessed next.

Twilight shook her head, "That doesn't sound like Pinkie Pie. If it was something bad, then Pinkie would tell us, her friends." She then rubbed her chin at this, "But....we also need to prepare for the visit. So, we'll do this: We'll keep an eye on her while the rest of us will get the stuff. Also, if you can, could one of you ask Pinkie to bring some snacks to the castle?"

"Sure thing Twilight. Anything in particular?"

"Baby carrots are Shining's favorite." They all nodded, the alicorn soon giving them a task to complete before turning to Flash, "And Flash..." Flash gave a big smile, his tail slightly wagging, "Go...take a nap."

Flash's face fell, "Twilight...can we please cut the overprotectiveness?! I'm not made out of glass, you know."

"I know that. But you've been through a lot, and there's no need to rush things."

"A pony that doesn't have my healing abilities would have been back to their normal life by now." Flash deadpanned with a low growl, but the words went in one ear and out the other for Twilight.

Seeing this, everypony sighed as Applejack spoke up, "Ah'm with Flash sugarcube. Ya'll probably been takin' this whole keepin him safe thing a mite too far." Apple Bloom took this moment to let out a strangled cough, making her sister glare down at her, "What was that?!"

"Nothing..." Apple Bloom replied with a cheeky smile.

Rainbow then leaned her head in front of Twilight, "Come on Twi, lay off of him. Flash is probably going stir crazy being stuck in here."

"You have no idea," Flash moaned, only to see a terrified look on Twilight's face. Facehoofing next, he grumbled out, "Twilight...you do realise I could send a message to Celestia or the other princesses and have them veto your order?!"

This got Twilight to sigh in defeat. "Fine. But if at any point you start getting tired-"

"I'll be sure to take a break. Now if you'll excuse me," he spread his wings and turned to the almost filled hole. "I'm getting out of here before you change your mind." With that, he shot through the hole right as Twilight was about to speak up again...only to let out another long sigh.

"Twilight darling..." Rarity added as she put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder, "He'll be fine. You need to stop worrying about him so much."

"But Rarity, he-"

"He's a grown stallion. Please Twilight....you need to realize this."

The others all giggled at the exchange, most now heading out while agreeing to meet up for lunch. As this happened, Wild went to the park, wanting to get his stand ready for the party. It wasn't long till the rest of the older ponies chaperoning the event arrived as he continued to set things up.

"Wild!" Thunderlane waved as he and Bloosomforth landed while Shady's mom trotted into the scene, "Got everything done?"

"Just about," Wild replied as he kept putting the finishing touches to the stage. As he did this, he noticed the three were holding a bunch of party supplies. "What are those for?"

"Oh uh...Pinkie gave them to us. It was weird. She shot up to us and gave us everything she had prepared for the party, saying she couldn't make it to the actual party before running off."

Wild raised an eyebrow. "That's not weird, that's downright out of character for her. Pinkie never let's anything stop her from attending a party. Heck, she once told me she forced herself to go to a party while she had food poisoning."

Thunderlane just shrugged, "She's your girlfriend. If anypony knows what's happening, I thought it'd be you." Wild just shrugged back, only to see a bunch of young ponies entering the party. Seeing this, Wild put his queries aside as he began his show, entertaining the kids as the older ponies put up the decorations and neatly stacked the presents. The show was filled with great laughter and smiling faces, something Pinkie would have loved to see if she was here.

The show ended after an hour or so, the audience all thoroughly entertained as they began playing in the water or on the shore. While Wild was packing up, he suddenly heard a delighted gasp and looked over to see Shady staring at a toy boat that was carrying a birthday cake on it. Gut telling him who had done that, he then spotted the Cake's delivery cart on the far side of the lake before seeing his very soaked girlfriend climbing out of the water with a mask and snorkel.

He wanted to call out to her, but she quickly hooked the cart to her back and ran off. "Ooookay, something's definitely up with her." He quickly put away his equipment next, the partygoers thanking him as he headed off to another part of the park. There, he found the rest of his friends sitting at some picnic tables as Rarity placed some food down. "Hey everypony."

"Hey Wild," Twilight replied, "Have you had a chance to talk to Pinkie since we left the castle?"

Wild shook his head, "No. I spotted her earlier, but she ran off before I could say anything."

"Same thing happened to us," Flash noted as Wild sat down. "She ran past us and didn't even say hi. It's very unlike Pinkie."

"Maybe she just had a lot of deliveries," Applejack guessed.

"Maybe..." Wild took a bite out of a sandwich, "But she'd still take time to just say hi. It's almost like...she's avoiding us."

"Why ever would she avoid us?" Rarity asked.

"Good question," Twilight hummed. "Reasons Pinkie would try to avoid us. Any ideas?"

"She's got a cold and doesn't wanna pass it on," Rainbow guessed.

"Possible."

"She's playin some kinda game where she can't talk to anypony for the whole day."

Twilight frowned at Applejack's suggestion, "That doesn't really sound like Pinkie."

"Guess yer right."

"Didn't Springer say she was probably hiding something?" Flash added while finishing a spring roll. "Maybe that's the problem."

"But why would she keep something from us?" Fluttershy asked. "If it was bad, then she'd surely tell us."

Lightning spoke up next, "Well, maybe it's not a bad thing. Maybe it's the exact opposite." The others turned to him as he continued, "What's Pinkie always focusing on?"

"Making ponies happy," Rainbow deadpanned while rolling her eyes.

"So what if, for some reason, being around us would cause us to not be happy?" Everypony stared at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head. "What?! Don't act like it doesn't make sense, especially considering the pony we're talking about." Everypony shared a glance, only for Wild to sigh.

"I guess you got a point. But what could be so important that she'd force herself to avoid us at all costs?"

This got everypony thinking until Flash spoke up. "Remember how weird she was acting when we were talking about surprises? What if its that?"

"You think Pinkie has a big surprise she's keeping to herself?"

"It's possible."

Twilight nibbled on her sandwich as she rubbed her chin, "Well, it would explain everything."

"And it does sound like something Pinkie would do," Wild added. "But it's gotta be one heck of a surprise if she's having trouble keeping it in. Wonder what it is?"

"Wonder, wonder, wonder."

Twilight just shrugged, "Guess we'll have to wait and find out."

The others all nodded before finishing their lunches, all soon heading out to complete their afternoon tasks. It was here that Wild went to the school, now seeing Cheerilee and the school ponies setting things up for their party. "Hello Wild," the teacher chimed in before pointing to a section of the schoolyard. "You can set up over there."

"Aye aye," he saluted.

"Aye aye! Aye aye! Aye aye!"

As Wild began to set things up, he spotted Pinkie trotting to the school with a large chest on her back. Cheerilee giggled at the sight before pointing to a nearby tree, Pinkie knowing she could use it to work her magic. Wild smirked as he watched Pinkie sit down and make herself a balloon hat, showing the school ponies her skills. This got them all excited and started lining up to get whatever animal they wanted as Wild continued to stare at her, "What surprise are you hiding Miss Pie?"

As time went on, only a few ponies remained in line to get a balloon. These included the CMC and Featherweight, with Sweetie arriving at the front. "Ooh! I want a flamingo!" Pinkie nodded and pulled out the balloons of that animal's color, quickly wrapping them into the particular bird.

Sweetie cheered as she took her balloon animal, Apple Bloom stepping up next, "Ah want a goldfish!" Once again, Pinkie molded the balloons into the marine animal's shape.

Scootaloo was next, the young pegasi now showing a struggled look on her face, "Um...surprise me!" Pinkie nodded and got to work, pulling out several balloons and slowly folding them around one another. But in that moment, both she and Wild's attention were caught by the sound of a crying foal as it and its mother walked by.

"Is that a...baby bottle?" They both looked back at Scootaloo, then at the balloon construct.

Pinkie let out a scream, almost sending the balloon floating away before quickly catching it and holding it close to her chest. "No! It's a...a...puppy!" She let out a nervous laugh, "Woof woof, haha! Eh..."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? Because it looks like a-" She didn't get to finish, as Pinkie shoved the end of the balloon bottle into her mouth.

"Next!" Scootaloo just glared at her before pulling the bottle out and walked off, Wild just staring at the situation.

"Okay, that had to be connected to what she was hiding. But...babies?"

"Uh..." Featherweight chimed in, "A baby pony, please! Uh, unless of course that would be a royal pain..."

Pinkie leaned in, glaring right in his eye. "Interesting choice of words, Featherweight."

"They are?" He asked, looking half confused and half scared.

Pinkie suddenly shifted her head back, "I don't know, was it?"

"Um...maybe you'd better just make me a giraffe."

Pinkie Pie did so, Wild still staring to her. "I don't get it." He then walked up to her as the last kid walked away, the stallion now tapping her shoulder, "Pinkie?" she spun around, going wide-eyed at the sight of her coltfriend, "You okay?"

"Of course!" Pinkie squeaked, looking away as she replied, "Why wouldn't I be?!"

"I don't know. You've been acting more...Pinkie-ish than usual."

"No, I haven't!" She put the box on her back. "Sorry, can't stay. I've still got two more Pinkie-Promises to keep." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking off, Wild rubbing the spot as he stared at her.

"Baby." Pinkie suddenly froze, beginning to pant before turning to him with twitchy eyes.

"What did you just say?"

"I said...maybe. Maybe we can meet up later."

"Err...sorry, I can't. Promised the Cakes I'd look after Pound and Pumpkin. Maybe tomorrow."

"Well, maybe I-"

"BYE!" With that, she shot off like a rocket, practically leaving a Pinkie shaped cloud in her wake.

"Oookay, something's definitely up."

"Something's up, something's up."

"Baby?" Wild crossed his hooves, his mind going over several baby-related scenarios. "Is it the twins? No, she knows she can ask me to help with them. Who else does she..." His eyes began to shrink as two puzzle pieces fit together in his head, "On no..."

"Wild?" The unicorn spun around to see Cheerilee looking at him, "You ready to start the show?"

"Erm...almost," Wild slowly backpedaled before gulping, "Just uh...excuse me a moment. I um...need to uh...go get in the zone." He didn't let her say anything else, the unicorn quickly zipping to the other side of the school. Once there, he started panting as Red Puppet floated by with a bag in hand. He took it to get his breath back under control, only to heave as he moaned out, "Oh sweet mother of...I'm gonna be a dad."

"What do you mean, you're gonna be a dad?" Lightning yelled as Wild kept twiddling his hooves. They were at their place, (Lightning still hadn't gotten a house in Ponyville yet) and it was evening.

"I mean, I think Pinkie's pregnant."

"Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant."

"Seriously?!" Lightning screeched as he sat in an armchair opposite of Wild's with wide eyes.

"Look at the facts. Pinkie's been avoiding us, Springer said she's hiding something and she seemed to freak out every single time a baby was so much as mentioned. What else could it be?"

Lightning tried to reply, only to sigh as he slumped into his chair, "It's just...hard to believe. I mean, I didn't even know you two were-"

"It's not like we wanted to advertise it. Besides, it was only a few times and...well, we thought we were safe. Mrs. Cake even gave her a special tea that's meant to prevent this from happening." He then put a cushion over her head as he let out a whimper, "Oh Lightning...what am I gonna do?! I'm not ready for this!"

"Um...maybe you could start by talking to her about it?"

He muttered back into the cushion. "I tried...but I couldn't find her. As soon as my show ended, I ran off and looked everywhere. Sugarcube Corner, the Party Cave, everywhere! It's like she vanished off the face of the planet."

"Well, you'll probably see her tomorrow. She's supposed to be bringing snacks to the castle, and since she's been so elusive, she probably doesn't know Cadance and Shining are gonna be late." Wild lifted his head at that fact, Lightning shrugging in response, "Something came up, don't worry about it. Instead, you just need to pull her aside and...talk to her."

Wild sank back into the cushion, moaning in response, "Oh no...I can't avoid this, can I? I'm...I'm too young for this. I can't be a dad!"

Lightning was about to get up to give him a pat on the shoulder, only for something to chime in his head, "You also realize you'll have to let her family know, right? I get the feeling they won't be too happy with you. Remember what Maud did when Pinkie was in danger?" Wild's eyes shot open as he remembered back to when Pinkie's sister atomized a giant rock, the sight switching the rock to an image of him...and a certain part of his stallion self.

"I'm so dead."

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead!"

"You're not helping!"

The next day...

The castle was looking exceptionally neat and tidy today, Fluttershy and Springer cleaning up the map table while Rarity was giving Rainbow vases of flowers to place on higher levels. Applejack was sweeping while Flash was busy cleaning the windows, finishing the last one as he spotted Lightning and Wild walking into the room.

"Whoa...you okay Wild?" he asked while pointing at the large bags in Wild's eyes, "You don't look so good."

"I...er...didn't sleep too well last night," Wild let out a yawn as he moved over to the table and sat down in Pinkie's throne. The others all glanced at Lightning, the unicorn shrugging back as if to say 'I'll tell you later'.

Everypony nodded and got back to work, Wild slowly dropping into sleep until he heard Twilight say: "Those look yummy, Pinkie!" He spiked up and turned around, now seeing the party pony carrying large plates of cakes. "Here, let me help you." Wild got out of his seat as he tried to move to the pony as Twilight added, "But we better cover them up so they don't get spoiled."

"Why would they get spoiled?" Pinkie asked as Twilight covered them in a pair of clothes, "We're all gonna eat them super soon!"

Applejack walked up with a frown, "Didn't anypony tell yah? Shining Armor and Cadance are held up. They may not arrive 'til Saturday."

"Hey Pinkie-"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Everypony watched as Pinkie shot into the air, landing on the root chandelier as she started to hyperventilate while fanning herself with her hoof. "You mean-*gasp* I have-*cough* to wait-*pant* another whole day?!" She let out a strangled cry as she hugged the root, "I don't know if I can wait!"

Everypony just stared at her, Lightning now seeing Wild really hesitating as they watched her shiver as she clung to the chandelier. But before he could do anything, Twilight spoke up, "Pinkie Pie, do you have something you need to say? You seem like you've been keeping something in."

Pinkie covered her mouth as Fluttershy flew up to her. "We're here to listen."

She shook her head in response, Applejack sighing as she said, "Come on sugarcube."

"We're not going to judge you, darling."

Spike nodded in agreement, "You'll feel so much better once you get it off your chest!" Pinkie then pulled a balloon out of her mane and started using it to regulate her breathing.

As she did this, Rainbow flew up, "Come on-" The balloon finally popped. "Whatever it is, you can tell us! We're best friends!"

Pinkie looked like she was close to having a full-on mental breakdown, placing her hooves on her head and letting out short rapid pants. "Okay, okay, you win!" Everypony was taken aback by this outcry, Pinkie now taking one last deep breath.

Wild did a long, giant gulp as he watched her open his mouth. The sight made him go pale, Lightning putting a hoof on his shoulder as Pinkie started to say, "Shining Armor and Cadance are gonna have a-"

"An awesome weekend with the best little sister in all of Equestria!" Everypony spun around at the sudden voice, now seeing the couple in question as they stood in the doorway with suitcases beside them.

Cadance let out a giggle while she waved her hoof, "Hi everypony." They all gasped at the sight, only to hear a thud behind them. Turning around again, they found Pinkie laying on the floor, letting out a long happy sigh.

Once they were sure Pinkie wasn't hurt, Twilight went back to her brother and sister-in-law. "Shining Armor, Cadance, you're early! I thought something had come up and you weren't gonna make it until Saturday!"

"We did too. Turned out, we weren't needed in Maretonia until next week, and the summit we were supposed to attend today had to be rescheduled, so...we got here even sooner than planned!"

"Surprise!" Shining cheered as he pulled Twilight into a forehead rub, then turned to give Flash a hoof-bump.

Cadance giggled at the sight before turning to the others, "It's wonderful to see you all again!" This was met with hellos and 'great to see you' from everypony except Pinkie.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Twilight added before trotting away, "I have a big surprise for you!"

In return, Shining shot her a knowing smile. "Oh yeah?" His gaze then turned to Pinkie, Wild also staring as both saw she was sweating up a storm while her eyes darted all over the place.

The ponies then all made their way through the castle, Cadance moving up to stand beside Flash and Twilight as they lead the group, "How are you feeling Flash? You have no idea how worried Shining and I were when we heard what happened."

Flash rolled his eyes, "I'm fine. I admit, it might have been touch and go near the end, but I'm doing well now."

Cadance nodded back, "Alright. I trust you."

Flash then glanced at Twilight with a cheeky grin, "At least somepony does."

"You almost died Flash." Twilight growled back, "I have every right to be worried about you after that."

"Uh-huh. And that includes not trusting me." Flash replied while sticking his tongue out.

"Flash..."

It was here that Cadance put her hoof between them, "Oh no you two don't. I don't want you fighting right after we arrived. Right Shining?" Silence followed this, making them turn back as she repeated, "Shining?"

"I think I saw him talking with Pinkie," Spike noted as he dropped all the cases he was carrying.

But before they could ask anything, Shining and Pinkie then walked into the corridor, Flash responding, "What took you so long?"

"Sorry. Just wanted to ask Pinkie about how you're supposed to properly prepare a souffle."

"Since when did you bake?"

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Shining replied with a giant smirk, "Now, what's this surprise you had for us?" This got Twilight to shine a huge grin before opening a door. And as Shining walked inside, everypony was suddenly subject to watching him geek out as he looked around the whole room.

It took ten minutes for him to eventually calm down, the prince now staring at his sister, "This is amazing Twily!" He pulled her into a giant hug, "You're the best!"

"Thanks, BBBFF." Twilight responded before seeing the clock on the wall in the corner of her eye. Ending the hug, she said, "You two must be hungry. How about we all go out to grab a bite to eat?"

Cadance shook her head in response, "Sorry Twilight, Shining and I need to take care of something before we have lunch."

"Oh? Do you need some help?"

"We've got it. Why don't you go on ahead and we'll meet up with you at the town square once we're done. Okay?"

"Sure," Twilight and the others nodded before heading out of the castle, Shining and Cadance soon leaving as everypony else trotted to the town square. Lightning and Springer went off for midday patrol, (Flash still not allowed due to Twilight) while Twilight and the others made their way to the town square's fountain. Pinkie was the first to arrive, gnawing at her hoof as the others walked up and found that Cadance and Shining were nowhere in sight. "That's odd. Their usually quite punctual."

"Ughhh!" Rainbow moaned as she flew over to the statue in the fountain, "I need a hayburger in my belly right now!" As she said this, she hit the statue's head, caused something in its mouth to come loose.

"What's this?" Twilight took it out and saw it was a scroll, which she unfurled to read before gasping.

"What does it say?" Rarity asked next.

"A scavenger hunt!" She cheered while wagging her tail, "Shining Armor used to set these up for me when I was a filly!"

"Oh yeah...I forgot about those." Flash added before chuckling, "He usually made them for you whenever you lost sibling supreme, all so you would stop pouting." Twilight turned to him with a long glare, "Just like that."

Twilight rolled her eyes before turning back to the scroll, "Anyways...at the end, there was always a big prize, like a new book, or several new books, or-"

"We get the picture!" Pinkie yelled, "You like books!" She then shoved her face into the scroll, nopony knowing if she could actually read it like that.

"So what's the first clue?" Applejack asked while Rainbow crossed her hooves.

"I hope it's something about eating lunch!"

Pinkie then quickly read out loud. "You've got a scroll, you're on a roll, why don't you take a peek where young ones spend their week? A piece of paper will continue this caper."

Flash tilted his head, "Huh. Wonder if they asked Zecora to write this?"

"I've got it!" Twilight announced while clapping her hooves, "Where the young ones spend their week!"

"Ah'm not quite followin'," Applejack replied, only for Twilight to motion them to follow her.

As they walked after her, Wild went up to his girlfriend, "Pinkie, I think we need to talk." Pinkie whipped her head at her, quickly pulling out a zipper and using it to strap her mouth shut. "Alright..." he to a glance back at the others before whispering, "I'll talk and you nod your head if I'm right. I know the secret you're hiding." Pinkie's eyes went fully wide at this, "And I understand why you kept it from the others...but why would you keep it from me? I deserve to know." Pinkie raised an eyebrow and opened the zipper, but as she opened her mouth-

"It's the Ponyville Schoolhouse!" Twilight announced, the two entertainment ponies glancing at the princess.

Before anypony could do anything, Pinkie shot past the group, "That's good enough for me!" She then started to zip around the area, "Now where's the next clue?!" She panted like a dog next, sniffing along the ground before hitting a bush. The pony fell back on her flank with a leaf on her nose, soon sneezing it away before scratching the back of her ear like a canine.

"Extra, extra!" Everypony turned away from Pinkie's mental case, now seeing Featherweight carrying a bag of newspapers. "Get your Ponyville news! Read it in the paper! Extra, extra!"

As he continued to announce this, Twilight hummed to herself, "A piece of paper will continue this caper..." She let out a gasp next, "It's in the Foal Free Press!" She quickly ran up to Featherweight and bought one before opening it, the others all gathering around her.

"Ooh, look at that dress Mayor Mare is wearing in the social report! Why, it's stunning!" Rarity cheered, everpony glaring at her.

"Uh...didn't you make that, Rarity?"

"Why yes I did." she flipped her hair back with a grin, "What's your point?"

They didn't get to say their point as Pinkie suddenly ripped her head through the paper. "FOCUS EVERYPONY!" Her eyes started to scan the unripped parts, everypony raising an eyebrow at this.

"Oookay." Flash said with a slight cringe, "You might wanna cut back on the sugar Pinks."

Twilight nodded in agreement, "There's really no time limit on these scavenger hunts."

"Aha! There!" Pinkie replied, pointing as a piece as Twilight began to read the section aloud.

"Though this hall is rather small, in it you'll find files of all kinds. Take a look on the back of the birth certificate of Applejack." This statement made everypony turn to Applejack, the earth pony about to backpedal.

"Ah don't like where this is goin'."

One transition to the town center later...

As they got to main part of town, they found Mayor Mare panting outside of a large building. Pinkie was the first one there, zipping into the place as the others followed. And as Wild was the last through the door, his ears picked up the mayor saying, "Baby!" But before he could do anything, Pinkie shot past him and slammed a hoof over her mouth.

"A-hem?!" Mayor Mare then gave her a nervous smile, Wild raising an eyebrow at the sight.

"Does anypony know where the birth certificates are kept?" They then heard Twilight ask, Pinkie swiftly reappearing right in front of her.

"I do!" She exclaimed as she then pointed at a curtained off doorway, "Go down that hall, then you take a left, then a right, then another right, then a slight left, and it's the third door from the right!"

She began to trot to door next, only to hear Fluttershy say, "Wow Pinkie, I never knew you knew so much about town hall."

This caused Pinkie to freeze up, turning back with a twitching eye, "There's a lot of things I know, that you don't know I know!" She then shot through the curtain, leaving the rest blinking at the sight.

"What do you think she knows?" Flash asked as Wild walked past him.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's entirely her business and we have no right to ask."

"No right, no right." his puppets repeated as everypony shared a glance, a volley of shrugs soon following this. Agreeing with him a few moments later, they went down the corridor before getting to Pinkie, the party pony now holding up a file labelled 'Applejack'. She pulled out the birth certificate and handed it to the others, Flash, Twilight and Fluttershy gushing over the image of baby Applejack.

"I am so asking for a copy of that," Flash added.

"Well yah ain't getting' one," Applejack grumbled as she turned to document over, now seeing a sticky note attached to it.

Twilight read it aloud. "This next place is where you can buy a table or chair, or some comfy beds to rest little heads?"

Pinkie suddenly shot out of the room in an instant, everypony else humming in thought. That is, till the pink earth pony returned with a cringe, "Really?! None of you figured it out?!"

Flash shrugged in response, "This is a hard one."

Letting out a huge groan, Pinkie quickly zipped behind them, seemingly pushing the whole group with ease. "IT'S OBVIOUSLY THE FURNITURE STORE!" she yelled as they found themselves outside the store faster then Rainbow could chug down a mug of cider. "Go in, go in, go in!"

"I don't know..." Twilight responded, rubbing her in chin in thought, "That seems kinda off-"

"Daagh, fine! I'll do it myself!" Pinkie roared before bolting into the store, sounds of rattling, chicken squawks and an elephant call now being heard.

And as they waited, Lightning and Springer walked up to the group as the jakhowl asked, "Everypony okay? We saw you all shooting across town in a cloud of dust."

"We're fine. Pinkie's just taking this scavenger hunt a little to serious-" Flash didn't get to finish as Pinkie suddenly flew out of the store riding in what looked like a large baby crib.

The pony landed right in front of them and pointed at the sticky note attached to the crib, Rainbow whistling in response, "Wow! You're scary good at this, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie glared at the upside down sticky note, reading aloud despite its position, "It seems we've saved the best for last. We hope that you have had a blast. Now it's time to take a break where you can get a slice of cake!"

"Sugarcube Corner!" Everypony cheered barely a second after she had finished reading.

Pinkie scoffed with her tongue out, "Eh, that was an easy one."

The group started to make their way to the restaurant, Lightning and Springer joining them on the last leg of their journey. As they did this, Lightning started walking beside Wild. "You talk to her yet?"

Wild shook his head. "No dice. She won't stay still long enough for me to get a word out. Hope all this excitement is okay, given her condition."

"Alright. Just remember, I'm here to help you-"

"Surprise!" They heard Shining yell, the two turning to see they were outside of the shop. Quickly shuffling in, they now saw that the store was decorated for a party. It was here that Shining came over and ruffled his sister's mane, "Twily, did you like the scavenger hunt?"

"It was perfect!" Twilight replied before giving him a hug, "It was just like old times, except even better because I got to share it with my best friends!" She then released the embrace, her friends all smiling as she asked, "Though uh...there is one thing missing, isn't there?"

"What's that?" Shining asked, only to see Twilight give him a knowing look.

"The book prize at the end!"

This made Shining laugh, "Oh Twiliy...there's still a prize, but it's a little different this time."

"Oh? I don't understand."

Wild was just as confused, only to hear Pinkie let out a giggle as Cadance spoke up, "All the places we sent you today had something in common."

This statement got Twilight and everypony else humming in thought, Twilight being the only one who could really focus since the others were now distracted by a vibrating Pinkie Pie. "First we went to the schoolhouse, and then we read the Foal Free Press." Pinkie seemed to be in almost physical pain, her face inflating and deflating. "After that, we found Applejack's birth certificate....and the last clue was under a crib." Pinkie suddenly pulled Pound and Pumpkin out of nowhere, though her efforts to get Twilight to see them were in vain a she continued. "Hmmm...school...foal...birth certificate...and crib?"

Wild's eyes went wide as he began to say, "Wait-"

"Can it be?" Twilight gasped as she put a hoof to her mouth, "Are you two-"

Cadance and Shining both shined a huge grin, stepping aside to reveal a large baby-themed cake behind them. "WE'RE HAVING A BABY!"

And thus, the hammer dropped as Pinkie suddenly screamed out. "A baby, Twilight! It's a baby! Woo-hoo!" They all watched as Pinkie curled up and bounced around the room, the information now sinking in.

"So...Cadance is the one who's pregnant?" The princess nodded at Wild's question.

"Who else would it be?" Wild's face went pure red, Lightning snickering at the sight.

Twilight then spoke up, "You mean...I'm going to be an aunt?!" The couple nodded, Twilight's smile now widening till she exploded with joy. "This is the best prize ever!" Shining and Cadance both laughed as Twilight flew over, throwing her hooves around the two. "Oh, I love you two! I can't wait to meet your little foal!"

"Neither can we," Shining replied before the others all gathered around, all soon giving their congratulations.

The only ones who didn't were Pinkie and Wild, the unicorn watching as the earth pony dance around, "I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it!" It was here that she froze in midair before somehow exploding into a ton of tiny pieces that fell to the floor. Wild rushed over to see if she was alright, but Pinkie continued to smile as one of her hooves floated up as her mouth said, "Go Pinkie."

Wild couldn't hold back and let out a mighty laugh, then began reassembling the poor mare.

One convoluted conversation later...

"What?!" Pinkie yelped as Wild put her last leg into place, "You thought I was the one who was pregnant?!"

The party was now in full swing, Flash, Shining and Mr. Cake all chattering while the others were enjoying their own conversations. "Yeah..." Wild said with a long sigh, "It uh...it just made sense. You were keeping everything from us and freaking out every single time you saw anything baby-related. Sorry if I jumped to conclusions."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry."

Pinkie just shook her head before pulling him into a hug. "Don't worry about it. I get what you're saying and I'm sorry I made you worry." She then ended the embrace, "Though...what would you have done if I was pregnant?"

Wild's face went red again, "Uh....I'd be ecstatic, but I'm glad I won't be a dad for a while. You and I have still got some wild times ahead of us before we even think of having kids. Heck, we've still gotta meet each other's family."

Pinkie giggled at this, slinging a hoof around his shoulders, "How about you come to my family's place for Heartswarming? You could meet my whole family. Applejack's family's coming too, since we're related."

Wild did a small nod, "Sure. Looking forward to it." Pinkie then gave him another hug, Cadance walking over to get them back into the party.

Later...

Once the party had calmed down, everypony headed off home with the royal family arriving at the castle as the sun began to set. "So let me get this straight," Flash said as they entered the library, Twilight carrying mugs of hot cocoa as the group began seating themselves. "Pinkie knew about your surprise and kept it to herself the whole time?"

"That's right," Cadance snuggled up to Shining while sipping her drink. "She said it was a piece of cake, but I think she was having trouble."

Springer slumped into a beanbag, "Wow. I don't think I could keep that in. Pinkie's tougher than I gave her credit for."

Twilight nodded while taking a sip, "I've gotta make sure to come up with a way to thank her for everything she must have gone through."

"Same," Shining added. "It's partly our fault she had to go through all that."

Flash put his hooves behind his head, "Yeah. One of the things I've learned is that when you're planning a celebration, Pinkie Pie is the constant. Always take Pinkie Pie into consideration, even if you don't think she's gonna have anything to do with said celebration."

"That would have been nice to know last week," Cadance huffed. "We really need to do something to make it up to her."

Scootaloo spoke up next. "You could get a cake, or whatever her favorite dessert is, with the words 'thanks Pinkie' written on it."

"That's a great idea. Flash and I can go get one tomorrow."

"Twilight...I'm back on patrol tomorrow."

"But Flash-"

"No. We talked about this." Flash interrupted, putting his hoof over her mouth as she glared back at him.

Cadance couldn't help but giggle at the interaction, "Leave him be Twilight. Never try to stop a colt that's trying to show off how stallionly he is. It never ends well and they just start whining like colts."

"Hey!" Both Flash and Shining barked, making the others all giggle.

"Anyways..." Cadance's eyebrows started hopping as she said to Twilight, "I bet you're looking forward to being an aunt."

"You bet I am. I can't wait to meet her...him...whichever it is."

"Any idea which?" Flash asked, Shining shaking his head.

"Nah. We've decided to keep it a secret until it's born. Heck, we won't even know what it is before then. Probably a unicorn."

"It could be a pegasus," Cadance noted. "I was one before I became an alicorn."

"Well, couldn't it be an alicorn?" Scootaloo asked, causing the two awaiting parents too blink before glancing at one another.

"That's not possible...right?"

"How should I know?" Cadance replied with a shrug, "It's not like I know any alicorns that have given birth."

"You're probably fine. As far as I can remember, there hasn't been any mention of alicorns giving birth to other alicorns. I mean, for all we know, Celestia and Luna weren't always alicorns. They could have been made into them before Starswirl found them and don't remember the transformation."

Cadance hummed at this, "I'd still like to be sure though." She stared down at rubbed her stomach, "But you know what, I don't care what it is. Alicorn, unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony...heck, even bat pony. As long as it's happy and healthy, I'll be fine with it." She then put her head on her husband's shoulder, "Though I wouldn't mind if it grew up to be as strong as its daddy."

Shining kissed her forehead, "And as loving as its mommy." He glanced over at Twilight, "And as smart as its aunty."

"And as brave as its uncle," Cadance added, Scootaloo and Spike now sticking their tongues out at the 'mushy stuff'. The ponies then took another sip of cocoa as Cadance continued, "And who knows, maybe in a few years, it'll have a little cousin to play with."

It was a good thing that the seating area was placed far away from any of the bookshelves, as Twilight spat out a blast of brown spew on Flash. "CADANCE!" The Princess of Friendship screamed, everypony else laughing themselves silly at the couple's faces.

"Oh Twilight, you know I'm kidding...mostly."

Twilight's face was now fully red as she looked away, Flash wiping off his face before putting his wings over his lover. And as they cuddled, the family began to talk into the night, all ready to spend more family time with Shining and Cadance. Knowing a new addition of family was on the horizon, the future was looking bright for the heroes.

Scare Master

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Nightmare Night, many ponies of Equestria's favorite night of the year. The night where you get to dress up in whatever you want to be, all for getting candy. It was a thing of beauty, ponies everywhere in Ponyville helping make the last few preparations as the sun began to set.

Everypony...except Fluttershy.

The pegasus mare was known for disliking the holiday, and today was no different. As the moon began to go into the sky, she was walking through the normally very unscary town. Balloons with ghosts, pumpkins with carved scary faces and posters of skeleton ponies were now gracing every bit of the village, the sights making her shiver as she slowly trotted around.

"Nightmare Night, what a fright! Give me something sweet to bite!" She turned to the sound of the voices, now seeing a trio of young ponies. There were nothing but smiles, only for the mare's eyes to see fangs peeking out of their mouths. The sight made Fluttershy scream, quickly spinning around before running away, leaving a cloud of dust for the foals.

As always, this day would be a true trial for the mare.

Big Mac and Granny Smith were busy filling a cart with hay, Mac picking the bales up before looking up and seeing a very frightened pegasi walk by. "Fluttershy?" The mare opened her eyes, shivering as they continued, "What're you doin' out and about? It's Nightmare Night, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Fluttershy whispered as she twiddled her hooves, "Oh, um...I don't suppose I could borrow a few pieces of hay from you? I forgot to stock up on food for Angel, and you do seem to have quite a lot."

Granny chuckled in response, "Well, we need it for the Apple Family Haunted Maze." Her voice started to shift as she waved her hooves around, "The scariest maze that there ever was." She then shot up to Fluttershy's face, the two now nose to nose. "Who knows what lurks inside?"

Fluttershy's face shook like a leaf, a long gulp down her throat, "Oh...I'm sure I don't wanna find out."

She then froze as Granny pointed behind her. "Is that a mummified pony that just leapt out at ya?" Fluttershy screamed as she fell to the ground, grabbing a hay bale to hide under. Granny then started to walk over, her hooves cracking against the hay, "And what's that crunchin' sound beneath yer hooves?" Fluttershy let out a whimper as she tried to open her eyes as Granny continued, "Maybe it's the bones of ponies that didn't make it out alive!"

"B-B-B-B-Bones?!" She jumped back to her hooves, ready to take flight as Granny leaned up to her again.

"And are those peeled grapes or a thousand slimy eyeballs starin' at ya from beyond the grave?!"

"Please tell me they're grapes!" Fluttershy covered her face with her wings, vibrating so much that you'd think an earthquake was occurring below her.

But Granny just giggled at her, "Oh, I'll never tell." She then let out a fit of maniacal laughter, which was highlighted by a crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning exploding behind her. This caused Fluttershy to let out a cry before running off, Granny just blinking at her speed, "Huh. I wonder what got stuck in her craw."

Mac just gave her a deadpan stare, the look saying: 'are you serious' before getting back to work with the cart.

Fluttershy kept running, not even looking where she was going as she let out a barrage of weak sobs. She didn't stop, only to hit by something, knocking her to the ground. She let out a 'eep' as a voice called out, "Shrimp?"

This made her eyes slowly open, her hooves parting her mane as she looked up to see her boyfriend staring down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh..." she began to crawl under him, "Hello Iron." She tried to disappear into the shadow he was casting, her teeth chattering as she put a hoof to her mouth.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he tried to move away, only for her to yelp and crawl underneath him again, "What are you even doing out here?"

"I ran out of food for Angel," she whimpered as she hugged one of his hooves.

"Ran out of food?" he then went wide-eyed as he smacked his head, "Ooooh. I was supposed to pick some up yesterday, wasn't I?"

"Yes, you were." It was rare for Fluttershy to glare at Iron, but she was definitely doing it here...for just few seconds before hugging his hoof again, "I-I-I shouldn't be out here because of that Iron! I should be hiding away in my safe space right now instead of being out with all the g-g-ghosts and g-g-ghouls."

"You mean all the fake ghosts and ghouls," Iron pointed out as he shook her off and tried to help the mare up, "Fluttershy, don't you think it's a little silly to be scared of this foal stuff? I mean, you've faced off against scarier stuff than a few kids in costumes."

"B-b-b-but what if there's a real m-m-monster out there?!" she shook again as she started pushing herself back along the ground. "Hiding amongst all the fake monsters, it's the perfect opportunity to sneak up and attack me!" It was here that she felt herself push against a tree, letting out a scream as she leapt away. "Aaaah! Its got me!"

"No it doesn't." Iron sighed as he trotted up and slung his hoof around her neck, "Come on, let's get you home."

"But I need to get some food for Angel. He-"

THOOM!

Another burst of thunder and lightning crashed through the air, making her scream before zipping into the sky in fear. "Fluttershy!" Iron yelped as he saw her fly away, "Wait!"

What followed was a long chase scene across the town, soon reaching the edge of town, the pegasi now running up to Castle of Friendship. "Oh, I'm sure Twilight will have something I can get Angel." But as she reached the castle's giant doors, she felt a small shiver go down her spine. Her hooves tapped the doors, only for Iron to come up to her side. He put his hoof over her shoulders as she pushed the frames open, only to gasp as she saw that the castle was now pitch black inside. "Twilight? Hello?"

As her words echoed into the castle, a loud scraping noise replied, also echoing through the crystal halls. They turned to the source, now seeing a large shadow come out from around the corner, the silhouette of a hunched over creature with spikes and a clawed arm that grew bigger with each passing second. Fluttershy let out a scream before leaping behind Iron, expecting him to pull out his Celestic Gear.

But the knight remained perfectly calm, letting out a snort of air as the shadow walked out to reveal Spike. Like last year, Spike was wearing a dragon costume, but this one was trying to portray a twin-headed dragon with a muppet style fake head coming off his left shoulder. "You think it's scary now, just wait until it's done." Spike chimed in as the fake head then fell to the floor, making him lean down and try to rebalance it on his shoulder.

"That's okay," Fluttershy squeaked out, "I'll take your word for it."

After a few failed attempts to keep the fake head up, the baby dragon suddenly gasped before pointing at the mare, "Hey, wait a minute! It's Nightmare Night and you're here and not holed up in your cottage!" A bright smile appeared on his face, "Does this mean what I think it means?!"

"I wish," Iron grumbled as he pointed at the drake, "Sorry short stack, but she's only out because I forgot to get some food for the fuzzball. She got spooked in town and ran all the way here."

Fluttershy did a small nod, "I was uh...hoping you might have some lettuce I could give Angel. And maybe Twilight would be willing to teleport me back home so I wouldn't need to go back outside with all those horrible monsters."

"Oh..." Spike's form began to deflate at the statement, "I thought you might have decided to come out with us tonight."

This made Fluttershy's eyes go complete wide, "Goodness, no! I couldn't be out tonight!" She shut her eyes as tightly as she could, "I...I just couldn't!"

Spike and Iron both shook their heads out, only for Spike to snap his claws, "Well...technically speaking, you already are out right now."

He then made the fake dragon head nod as Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes, "Oh...I guess that's true."

"So what if you stayed out a little longer with your friends? I know they'd be super excited."

Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth, "You...you think so?"

Iron hugged her shoulders, trying to show a big smile, "You know they will. I mean, you've faced the actual embodiment of Nightmare Night and came out victorious because you were with them. Not to mention all the other terrifying things you've fought against."

"Huh..." Fluttershy looked away, her body shivering as her mind started to battle over what they had just said.

Seeing this, Spike walked up and shined a huge smile, "You would make everypony so happy if you joined in. They wouldn't believe their eyes! Come on Fluttershy, what do you say?"

Fluttershy bit her hoof, her eyes darting around before glancing at Iron. He did a small nod, making her sigh as she started to twiddle her hooves, "Um....alright. I uh...I'll give it a go."

"That's my girl!" Iron patted her back, quickly trying to nudge her away from the door, "And who knows, you've never really given Nightmare Night a try. You might find you actually really like it."

"M-m-maybe..." Fluttershy muttered as she looked back at the castle's doors, her head shifting between it and Iron. But as she did this, her ears picked up the sound of her friends' laughter down the hall, making her glance back at the hall. The noise made her shaking slow down, Iron noticing this and taking his hoof off her back.

It was here that they got into the library, finding the lights turned off and her friends in a circle with only a firefly lantern keeping them illuminated. The mane seven where there, alongside Springer, Lightning and Wild. Pinkie let out a mild scream as she fell onto her back, Fluttershy gasping before reaching out to turn on the lights.

Everyone screamed at the sudden light, turning around to see Fluttershy. She did a small wave, "Um...hi everypony."

"Fluttershy?!" Twilight gasped before she and Flash stood up, "What are you doing here?!"

"Yeah!" Flash nodded in agreement as they started to walk up to her, "I thought you were allergic to Nightmare Night."

Both Twilight and Iron shot him a glare as Twilight then asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine. In fact, it's more than fine." She replied before trotting over to the others, a bright smile illuminating her face. "I've decided to join you in your Nightmare Night festivities."

The statement caused them to go wide-eyed, Rainbow scoffing as she flew over the pegasi, "Seriously?! You?! Out tonight?!" Rarity trotted over and nudged her in the side, but Rainbow continued to look like she was about to burst out laughing.

"She has a point." Lightning chimed in, "The others say you usually just hide away whenever this night comes around. What's different about this time?"

Fluttershy blushed as she twiddled her hooves, her voice trembling as she said, "Well um...every Nightmare Night, I shut myself in my cottage and refuse to come out until morning. But...well...it's just like when I was afraid to sing in front of anypony. If I...if I hadn't given it a try, I never would've found out how much I enjoy it."

"And we would have missed out on how great you sound," Applejack added, Fluttershy's face growing redder at her comment.

"Fluttershy with us on Nightmare Night?!" Rarity gasped, tapping her hooves in anticipation. "Why, that's positively the most wonderful news I've heard in ages!"

Fluttershy nodded before Pinkie zipped up next to her, cheering as she started hopping in a circle around her. "Hooray! You can get dressed up in a costume with us and play Nightmare Night games with us and eat candy apples with us!"

"Don't forget the best part," Applejack continued as she wrapped her hoof around Pinkie's neck. "Goin' through my family's corn maze!"

Fluttershy's eyes shrunk at this, everypony noticing as she muttered out, "Oh...right. The maze."

Applejack's face scrunched up, quickly trotting over to her, "Uh, only if ya'll are up for it."

"Oh, I am!" Fluttershy immediately replied, everypony seeing sweat come down her face while there was a blaze in her eyes, "I...I am ready to take on Nightmare Night!"

This statement caused a loud cry of joy to come from all but her, though the sudden outcry startled her into diving to the floor defensively. Springer blinked at the sight, asking, "You okay?"

Fluttershy turned to them, letting out a nervous giggle. "Just practising."

The others all shared a look, Rarity being the one to walk over and help her stand up, "Come along darling. The first step to enjoying Nightmare Night is finding you the perfect costume to wear."

"Costume?"

"Yeah," Wild chimed in, "Think of it like this, if you're wearing something that hides what you look like, you'll be extra well hidden from all the scary things you want to avoid."

"Oh...okay. That sounds good."

Seeing Fluttershy's understanding, Flash stepped up to Iron, "You know, if Fluttershy's getting into the spirit of the holiday, maybe you could lighten up and put on a costume too."

"No way Sentry, I'm not-"

Iron's words fizzled out as Lightning put a hoof on his shoulder and whispered into his ear, "Come on dude, it might help her if she didn't have to do this alone."

The defender let out a low growl, gritting his teeth as he replied, "Fine..."

"Hurrah!" Rarity cheered before glancing over at Twilight, "Twilight, could you?" The alicorn nodded before warping them all to Carasoul Boutique, everypony except Fluttershy and Iron running over to where their costumes were waiting. All except Spike, who was already in costume, who decided to going candy collecting with the CMC.

Rarity was the first to return, wearing a long blue and purple dress with seas shells on it. She quickly moved over to a rack of costumes, "Mummy? No," she pushed it aside. "Headless pony? No. Vampire fruit bat? Ugh, definitely no." All throughout this, Fluttershy shrunk at the sight of each piece of clothes.

Iron rolled his eyes as Rarity pushed the rack away. "Isn't there something a little less...terrifying you can give her?"

"Of course," Rarity replied, putting her hoof to her chest, "You see Fluttershy, the beauty of Nightmare Night is that you don't have to dress up as something scary." She spun back around, pulling a new rack of costumes into view as it accidentally slapped Fluttershy with the tail part of her dress. "Ooh! This will work!" She pulled a large fluffy dress off the rack. "This one will look gorgeous on you." She held the dress up to Fluttershy, Iron actually thinking it would look great on her. "Period costumes are all the rage this year." But she then saw Fluttershy, the mare flinching at the costume, "What? No good?"

"What if we encounter something terrifying and need to get away quickly? All those layers could slow me down, or worse, make me trip!" Fluttershy's eyes started to tear up, Iron and Rarity exchanging frowning glances.

"Oh. I never...considered that." She spun back around, her tail slapping Fluttershy again. "Never fear!" She hummed as she looked through the rack, "Ooh, now this is a real stunner!" She showed Fluttershy a black dress with a fancy looking mask and feathers. "I call it Masquerade!" She floated it over to Fluttershy, placing it over her, "Just a simple black dress underneath, but with this ornately decorated mask!"

Fluttershy looked through the headgear as it floated in front of her face. "A mask?"

Rarity did a tiny sigh as Fluttershy pushed it away, "No?"

"Its just...they can be so difficult to see out of."

"Yes, but..." Rarity floated it back in front of her face, "This one has eyeholes."

"W-w-what about being able to see what's to the left or right of me?"

"I suppose your vision would be somewhat obscured." Rarity placed the mask to the side, "It's your first Nightmare Night out and about, and we'll do want you to be comfortable."

"What if I just wear the dress?" She held up the article of clothing, only to turn around and go into the changing room.

Rarity sighed at her decision, "Oh um...sure dear. That's...fine." Once Fluttershy was inside the changing room, she whispered to Iron, "To be fair, it's so plain it's frightening."

Iron just shrugged, "Eh, whatever makes her feel comfortable."

"Yes...I guess you're right." Rarity sighed before looking back at the costume rack, "Now, what should we put you in? Anything in particular you'd like to go for?"

Iron let out a low growl, "Just...make it something nopony will be able to recognize me in."

"Aw, come on Iron! Where's the fun in that?!" Flash barked as he and Springer walked into the room. Flash was wearing the same thing he wore every year, a white-sheeted ghost costume. As for Springer, he was dressed like his battle form. It was a hoodie Rarity had made or him, which was mainly yellow in the centre and had blue sleeves that were black at the end. The arms had spikes on the back along with having a spike on the zipper. He pulled his hood up, showing it had fake ears and black lines where they'd be in his battle form. It had taken Rarity many days to get the costume right, Springer glad his aura could heal Rarity's needle pricks when making clothes.

Soon enough, everypony else revealed themselves in their costumes. Pinkie was dressed in a roller disco costume, Twilight in golden gladiator armor. There was also Rainbow, who was in an astronaut costume while Applejack looked like the cowardly lion. Wild was dressed in a suit of dark blue armor with a knight helmet covering his eyes, each of his puppets having been replaced by knight puppets. Finally, Lightning was dressed like a wolf with lightning bolt patterns running down his body.

Rarity clapped her hooves at the sight, "Oh my, look at all of you! My costumes fit you to a T!"

"Hoo-wee!" Applejack cheered, "We're gonna have the best time!"

It was here that Fluttershy stepped out of the changing room, now wearing the black dress. "Uh...Fluttershy? Where's your costume?" Rainbow asked as her voice was distorted due to the helmet she was wearing.

"I'm wearing it," Fluttershy answered, the others just staring her as they tried to figure out what she was supposed to be.

But then, Pinkie let out a gasp. "I get it!" She used her rollerskates to fly past her, "You're a robber escaping into the night!" Fluttershy shook her head, Pinkie then skating past her again. "You're a ninja escaping into the night!" Fluttershy shook her head again, Pinkie now rolling right up into her face. "You're black liquorice escaping into the night!"

"Close..." Fluttershy pushed her back to a safe distance, "I'm going to a masquerade ball...without the mask."

"Oh...that's great." Twilight muttered out before nudging Rainbow in the side, "Isn't that great everypony?" Everypony began mumbling their words of agreement, not one of them willing to look Fluttershy in the eye. Fluttershy just smiled in response, soon turning to Iron as everypony started smirking at him.

Iron took a deep breath, "Alright, let's get this over with." The boys grinned before pushing him into a nearby changing room, Springer following them while carrying a box.

"What's in the box?" Rainbow asked Rarity, the mare shrugging in response.

"Just a little something Springer asked me to make a while back. I had no idea it was meant for Iron."

"What can I say?" Springer's voice called out from the changing room. "I thought he looked good in it the first time. I sent the other one to Trixie and Flash is...well...too attached to the bedsheet."

A few minutes later, Iron was pushed out of the changing room, everypony now getting a good look at him. He was wearing a yellowish-orange bodysuit, which was covered in dark crimson sleeves that had orange streaks running down them. The entire style made him look like a being made of molten rock, lava leaking out of the cracks. His face was masked by a red helmet, which had an orange eye visor and a large stag beetle horn.

"Wow..." the girls all whispered as they stared before Rainbow asked, "Is that-"

"Kamen Pony Magma," Flash replied as they stepped out of the changing room. "Pretty sweet looking costume Rarity."

"Thank you darling, it was quite fun working on it. The helmet was tricky, but I managed to get it done." She then turned to the others, "Now then, shall we get on with the Nightmare Night fun?"

They all nodded before walking out of the boutique, only to spot Grand trying to pull toilet paper off of a nearby tree. "You okay?" Flash asked as he watched his mentor try not to rip the paper, now glad his costume was hiding the smirk on his face. But there was no hiding the laughter that almost everypony let out when a large amount of the TP fell out of the tree and buried the pony, making him grumble as he pulled his head free.

"When I find the hooligans who did this..." Twilight's horn began to remove the paper off the defender, placing it in a pile as Grand got up, "Thank you."

"You sure you're okay doing solo detail?" Lightning asked him, Grand scoffing back.

"Please. Compared to what goes on in Canterlot on Nightmare Night, this'll be nothing. You kids just enjoy your night."

They all nodded and continued their journey, soon reaching Sugarcube Corner. As they went there, Fluttershy made sure she was surrounded by the others the whole time, shivering as Iron stayed by her side. And as they entered the bakery, Pinkie hopped in front of them, "First thing's first everypony, its time for pre-maze entertainment!" she took out a roll of paper and unfurled it onto the wall, revealing a cartoon version of Nightmare Moon, this one without her horn and a goofy face. "We'll start with 'Pin the horn on Nightmare Moon'! Who wants the first go?"

"I do!" Springer cheered as he took a fake horn from Pinkie, the mare now tying a blindfold around his head before spinning him around.

As he spun, everypony else started singing. "Round and round and round you go, where you stop nopony knows!" Springer now came to a stop, now extremely dizzy as he began to stagger to the wall. Once there, he stuck the horn on the wall before removing his blindfold. A big frown began to form as he saw that the pin was not on the poster, but just outside pointing at her flank.

This got a bunch of childish snickering out of Flash, Rainbow and Wild while the others just rolled their eyes, Spike and Springer both raising an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" The little dragon asked, Twilight butting in before Flash could say anything.

"Nothing. Nothing's funny at all." She shot the perpetrators a glare, the trio quickly zipping up. Twilight took her turn next, followed by Applejack, Wild, Flash, and then Lightning.

"Not that I'm complaining," the electric unicorn said after taking his turn and getting out of the way for Rarity. "But isn't this a little...tame for a Nightmare Night party?"

"I know," Pinkie started the blindfold Rainbow. "I figured I'd save the really scary games for next year when Fluttershy's more used to it." Fluttershy blushed at this, Twilight now putting a comforting hoof on her back as Pinkie spun Rainbow around and they all sang the song again. "Okay..." Pinkie grabbed Rainbow and stopped her from spinning, "GO!"

Rainbow did so, doing some mission improbable stunts that made the music begin to play in everypony's head. She eventually reached the poster and slapped the horn down, taking her blindfold off to see it had landed on the alicorn's nose. "Yes! Good luck beating that, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy did a large gulp, now twiddling her hooves as she replied, "Well...um...it's just that...if I'm blindfolded and somepony were to leap out in front of me, I'd never have the chance to defend myself."

Everypony shared a glance, Springer then chiming in, "Would you even be able to defend yourself if you could see them coming?" This question was met a wing slap from Flash. "Ow!"

Rarity took it upon herself to speak up, pushing Pinkie away and making her roll into the wall. "That's fine darling, you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Twilight nodded in agreement, "We're just glad you're here."

Pinkie took this moment to roll by again, a bucket of apples now appearing on her back. "We don't have to finish that game. I have another one I know you'll love! Bobbing for apples!" She dropped the fruits into a large bucket filled with water, Fluttershy gulping again at the sight.

"Fluttershy?" she turned to Twilight, "What's wrong?"

Flash spoke up next, "If you're scared you'll end up drowning, we won't let that happen."

"It's not that. It's just that, um..." She looked into the bucket, shivering at the sight of her own reflection. "What happens if, when my head is deep down in the water, some kind of scary monster appears? How would I even hear to know I was under attack?"

"Oh, come on!" Lightning barked before getting nudged by Iron. "What?! She's blowing this way out of proportion!"

Fluttershy shrunk at his statement, only for Pinkie to appear at her side, "Forget that Fluttershy, its time for candy!"

"It is?" Fluttershy watched her roll over to the counter before taking out some paper bags.

"I made candy bags," she dropped them on the counter and they saw each had their faces drawn on with crayon. "Each bag has been made with you in mind, complete with each of your favourite candies!"

Everypony looked inside, Rainbow letting out a laugh before saying, "Awesome!" They each took their bag and began snacking, Flash licking his lips when he saw Pinkie had packed his with turkey delight, his favourite.

The only pony left was Fluttershy, Pinkie pushing the bag up to her. "Here, take it. What are you waiting for?"

Fluttershy shivered as she stared at the bag, "Well, it's just...what if when I'm eating one of these chewy taffies, my mouth becomes glued shut and I can't scream for help?" She looked over at the others, seeing each had stopped their candy munching. Lightning was about to yell again, but karma chose this moment to glue his mouth shut with the taffy he had been eating. Fluttershy put a hoof over her mouth as she continued, "Oh goodness, we've only just started to celebrate Nightmare Night together and I'm already taking all the fun out of it, aren't I? I...I better just leave."

She then started trotting to the door, Pinkie trying to roll after her. "You're not taking out all of the fun."

Rainbow nodded, "You're just taking like, ninety per-" She didn't get to finish as a piece of candy clanged off her helmet, now seeing everypony glaring at her before she whispered out, "...some of it."

"I really wanna do this." Fluttershy muttered at the door. "But there's just so many things that terrify me about tonight. I couldn't possibly predict what might upset me."

Iron moved over to comfort her, Twilight rubbing her chin to think at Fluttershy's statement. That is, till a bulb shined over her head, "Unless...you were the one doing the scaring!"

"Her? Scaring us?" Rainbow replied before bursting out into a fit of laughter. But as she did this, she quickly realized she was alone in her laughter. "Oh. You're actually being serious."

"I'm with Rainbow," Flash spoke up. "How's that supposed to help her enjoy Nightmare Night?"

Twilight shook her head before turning to her friend, "Fluttershy, the thing you hate is being scared, but if you're the one doing the scaring, then..." She rolled her hoof through the air, Fluttershy quickly gasping as she caught on.

"Then I can help you all have fun and I can still be a part of Nightmare Night!" This caused the first genuine smile to appear on her lips of the night, everypony else happy seeing this.

"So, you like that idea?"

Fluttershy nodded in response. "I think I do! And I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think I have the perfect idea for how I'm gonna do it!"

"Really?" Pinkie asked, practically vibrating with excitement. "Oh, this is so exciting!"

Fluttershy then tried to put on a sinister expression before speaking in a spooky voice, "Meet me at my cottage in an hour!" She slowly trotted backwards out the door, only to them lean back with with a big grin, "Oh, I'm so excited to see everypony soon!" She pulled back as everypony else shared a smile, Lightning finally pulling his mouth open.

"You know, I'm actually curious to see how this turns out."

"I'm sure Fluttershy'll surprise us," Flash added. "Heck, maybe she'll ask for Discord's help."

"Now that sounds scary," Iron grumbled, wanting to follow after her...only for Flash and Lighting to pull him into other games that Fluttershy would be too scared to enjoy.

One hour later...

When they got to the cottage, Twilight tapped the door, the door slowly opening in response. Glancing inside, they saw just a set of table and chairs. "Welcome..." their ears perked up at the sound of their friend's echoing voice, "to Fluttershy's tea party!"

"Of terror?" Flash added.

"Err...sure. Fluttershy's tea party of terror!"

"Seriously?!" Rainbow asked, Twilight shrugging in response.

"It sounds like it's a...scary tea party?" This caused Rainbow to sigh before heading inside.

"Have a seat. Don't be scared of what awaits you." They all took a seat that had their names written on them, blinking at the sight. "Go on. Pass the sugar." Rarity stared at the sugarbowl and picked it up, moving it over to Applejack. "Oh no, there is none!" Applejack turned the bowl over and saw it was empty, "You're a terrible host!"

"Well this is terrifying..." Lightning grumbled.

"I'm sure she's building to something," Rarity whispered, nudging his side.

"Rarity, put your coat on!"

Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Why would I do that?"

"You need to cover up because no one has complimented your dressssssss!"

Lightning turned to smirk at Rarity, "Is this meant to be a slow build-up?"

"Pinkie Pie, look to your left and ask your best friend to pass the cucumber sandwiches!"

"Huh?" Pinkie looked over and spotted the one empty chair at the table, "I can't. There's nopony there."

"That's right. Because she didn't care to show uuuuuup."

"What?"

"A friend who didn't come through. That must scare you to the coooore."

"Not really," Wild replied. "I mean, yeah that's sad, but it's hardly scary."

Springer nodded in agreement, "You're gonna need to do better than that to scare us Shy."

"Quick!" Everypony jumped at the sudden outcry, "Everypony, look behind you!"

They all turned around, now seeing several cardboard cutouts fall down from the ceiling, each one having the image of a pony drawn on them. "Uh...what are those?"

"They're unplanned guests. Your woooorst nightmare. You don't have enough food for them!"

"Err...Shrimp?" Iron took his helmet off, "Maybe you wanna quit while you're-" He didn't get to finish, as something suddenly whacked him before falling onto the table. "Huh?" He turned to see a wind-up cat toy, which was laying on its side moving its legs back and forth.

"Oh, no! There's a tiny kitten that needs a home! But you are over-scheduled right now. You don't have time to help!" They heard Fluttershy pause as if waiting of something. "I said, 'You don't have time to help!'"

Everypony just stared at each other before Flash broke the silence. "Erm...ahhhh."

The rest looked over at the source of Fluttershy's spooky voice, the mare hiding behind a couch, "Why don't you look terrified?" She then stepped out, "You showed up to a party and everypony was extremely disappointed in you. Can you imagine anything more upsetting?"

She shivered at her words, Lightning being the one to answer her. "I can probably imagine about half a dozen worst things than that." He felt his head being hit by two different teapots, one from Rarity and the other in Iron's hoof.

"It was a really good try, darling, but the scares at Nightmare Night are of an entirely different nature."

Twilight nodded as she walked over to Fluttershy, "It was really creative though. I never would have thought of..." She looked around the cottage at all the 'spooky' decorations, "All this."

The mare just let out a sigh in response, "Oh, I'm just not cut out for this." She pointed to the door, "Just...just go on without me."

Rarity shook her head. "Oh, no darling. We couldn't possibly-"

"You have to," Fluttershy interrupted as she went to the door. "This is the night you look forward to all year long."

"We could...stay here?" Rainbow glared at Pinkie's suggestion, only for Fluttershy to shake her head.

"It's okay. I really want you all to have fun. This is how I spend every Nightmare Night." She opened the door, "Please go. I'll be fine." Everypony sighed before heading out the door, the only one staying behind being Iron. "Iron-"

"I was only doing this for you," Iron took off his helmet. "I'm not really a big fan of this stuff anyway. I just...wanted you to try it."

Fluttershy gave him a weak smile as Applejack pushed Pinkie to the door. "Eh, it's funny." The party pony told Applejack, "I actually thought she had an idea for something really scary for a second there."

"She definitely tried her hardest," Applejack replied before Fluttershy closed the door.

"I did try my hardest," the mare muttered as she leaned against the door. Iron was about to go comfort her, but a rapid thumping sound made him turn to see Angel on the table with crossed arms. "Or...maybe not." he looked back at his girlfriend, "I suppose I could have gone with something a bit scarier."

Angel nodded in agreement, Iron smirking as he picked up his helmet again, "Don't think that way shrimp. Do you really want to scare them?" Fluttershy looked away at his question, only to do a tiny nod. "Good. Then let's show them that you can be just as scary, if not the most scary of the group."

Fluttershy stared back at the defender, seeing the confidence on his face. Her eyes narrowed as she replied, "You're right! I've been taking baby steps! I think it's time for grown-up ones!" But as she said this, she hid behind her mane, "But um...I don't suppose you have any ideas on how I could do that?"

The Metal Guardian and rabbit from hell shared a smile, Iron pointing to himself, "First, leave the guys to me. If they end up getting scared, they'd probably try blasting whatever you threw at them."

"Oh...that makes sense. I don't wanna be blasted." She put a hoof to her chin, "I'll just try and scare the girls then. So...what do we do first?"

"First, it's time for a costume change." Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at his statement, only for her eyes to go wide as she heard Iron and Angel's plan.

"Oh...oh my."

Meanwhile...

As the town clock struck ten, everypony watched as the younger ponies were ushered home. It was here that they met up with Spike on their way to the corn maze, the dragon announcing that the CMC were all at the castle enjoying the candy they hadn't offered to Nightmare Moon. Applejack shined a huge grin at the sight of the corn maze, seeing a line at its entrance. "Everypony's linin' up for the corn maze, ya'll! Let's go!" The others followed suit, arriving just as the line was nearing its end.

"Yes! I can't believe we're finally doin' this!" Spike cheered as they walked up and saw a hooded figure at the entrance. The hood soon went down, revealing Granny Smith wearing a dead-eyed horse's head mask.

They all let out a scream, then started laughing as Granny pointed them into the maze, Rainbow now saying, "It's a good thing Fluttershy isn't here, she would never be able to handle this!"

They spent the next few minutes aimlessly wandering, Springer asking Flash, "See anything?" while tuning out his aura to not spoil anything.

"Nothing yet," Flash replied.

"Guess it makes sense," Lightning added. "Give us a few minutes to feel like we know the maze, then-"

"Boooo!" The lot jumped as something leapt out of an indent of the maze, only to step into the light and reveal itself as Big Mac in a mummy costume. "Eeyup."

Everypony laughed at the sight, continuing through the maze as Mac got back into position. They kept walking for another two minutes before something new caught their attention, that being a loud crackling sound coming from all around them. "What...is...that...sound?" Rarity asked, her eyes darting around.

"That would be the sound of something cracking," Flash pointed out with the others rolling their eyes.

"I meant what's making the cracking sound?" Rarity growled as Pinkie rolled in front of her, the sound repeating again under her hooves. "There it is again!"

Pinkie looked down an gulped, "It looks like...bones!" This statement was met with a volley of screams from the group, only for Rainbow to take a closer look at the 'bones'.

"Looks like a bunch of dried sticks painted white to me."

Applejack then nudged her, "Hey! Try to keep up the illusion, would ya?"

They all took the next turn, Lightning, Rarity and Spike at the front as they came upon a kind of corn cave. A few steps in, they found themselves now completely blind. "Looks likes somepony forgot to pay the electric bill," Lightning joked as he and Rarity lit their horns. In doing so, they spotted a bunch of spheres hanging down from the ceilings.

"AAAAHHH!!! They're floating eyeballs!" Rarity screamed before running ahead, the others following her while making their way out of the cave.

As they did this, they began to start laughing, Pinkie cheering as she rolled across the ground, "Whoo! This is so much fun!"

"Fun, fun, fun," Wild's puppets repeated as Pinkie bumped into him.

Quickly helping her up, they continued through the maze, only for Applejack to suddenly feel a whoosh of wind flow behind her. "Huh?" She spun around, but saw nothing in sight. "What was that?"

Spike looked back at her, "Don't you know?"

"Uh...o-of course I do." Applejack replied as she began to backpedal. The group had all gotten into a huddle now, looking around for any sign of something. "It was, uh..."

She didn't get to finish, as in that moment, a bunch of luminous ghosts floated towards them. The groups' eyes shrunk at the sight, seeing no strings or anything that could have a body inside the ghosts. A bluster of wind then flared up the ghosts' bottoms, now showing nopony inside before they charged at the group.

"YAAAAHHHH!" They all screamed before running away, rushing blindly through the maze as the ghosts were in hot pursuit. At one point, they thought they had lost them after looking back, only for the ghosts to reappear in another corner. "AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Keep going!" Flash yelled as he, Springer, Lightning and Wild stood at the back of the group. As the girls turned another corner, the boys looked back and saw the ghosts had disappeared again. "Where'd they go?" The boys came to a stop, only for the ground below them to suddenly disappear.

"WHOA!" The four yelped as they fell down and hit a slide like construct, which they quickly began rolling down.

After what felt like an hour of rolling, the four came to a stop and landed in a heap inside the pitch-black tunnel. "Ugh..." Springer moaned as he pushed somepony away, "Get your flank out of my face."

"Sorry..." Flash moaned as he moved around.

Wild grunted as Flash shifted his weight, then tried to move his back hooves...but they wouldn't budge. "What the-" He reached out until he touched the hooves, but he didn't feel the touch. "I can't feel my hooves." He started shaking them around, but felt nothing. "I CAN'T FEEL MY HOOVES!"

This was met by a groan from Lightning as he sat up behind Wild. "That's because they're my legs." He pushed the puppeteer off him, Wild's legs having been stuck under him.

"Sorry..." The four then picked themselves up, Lightning and Wild both banging their heads on what appeared to be a low ceiling.

"Where are we?" Springer asked, only for Flash to light his hoof with his Sacred Light. It was here they saw it was some kind of tunnel, but as they looked up, they also saw that the slide opening was gone.

"Ooookay, this probably wasn't part of the maze. Be ready." Flash added as they started to trot down the tunnel, only to soon find themselves in a large chamber that had several other tunnel entrances.

"What now?" Wild asked as a whistling sound whizzed into the chamber. The four all got into guarding positions, their eyes darting around as they looked the chamber over, "What...was...that?!"

Lightning gulped, "That was...obviously the wind. Must be blowing in through an entrance and rocketing through the tunnels."

"That makes sense," Wild added, only for the ground to start shaking.

"Whoa!" Springer yelped as he almost lost his balance, "What was that?!" The others didn't have a chance to come up with an excuse as another shake occurred, this one even stronger than the last. This was followed by another shake, then another.

"Are those...hoofsteps?" The rhythmic stomping grew closer now, the four turning to the tunnel it sounded like it was coming from. And as they stared, a green mist began to flow out, now filling the chamber.

Flash pulled off his ghost costume while Springer removed his hoodie and took his proper battle form, the green mist now taking semi-humanoid shape before large black eyes opened up and stared down at them. "GET IT!" Flash launched a burst of his Sacred Light, only for the light to fly right through the creature. "What the-"

"Aura Force!" Springer shot an aura laser, the attack flying through the creature as well.

"Static Spear!" Lightning launched the electric javelin while Wild fired a burst of magic, both flying right through the creature and hitting the back wall. "What the-what is this thing made out of?!" Lightning didn't get his answer, as at that moment, the creature began to charge, making Flash yell out only one thing.

"Run away!" They spun around and ran down the opposite tunnel, the creature hot on their tails. The four ran as fast as they could, going through every bend and turn they came across. But as they glanced back, the monster remained close behind. "Keep going!"

It was here that they reached an upward-sloping tunnel, spotting moonlight peak out from above. "Come on!" They ran up it and out of the cave, right in front of another entrance that had echoing screams filling it. And as they flew out, Spike and the girls ran out with similar looks of terror.

"Flash!" Twilight screamed as she ran up and hid behind him, Pinkie doing the same with Wild while Rarity jumped behind Lightning and Spike behind Springer.

"Something's in there!" The dragon yelled as he pointed at the cave they had run out of.

"There's something in there too!" Springer did the same with their cave, only to then hear another voice echo through the night.

That voice came in the form of a sinister laugh, which made them all look up at the source. There, they saw a something hanging upside down from a tree, the figure spreading a pair of bat-shaped wings before taking to the skies. The defenders all prepared for battle, only to suddenly feel the earth under them sink, consuming them until they were knee-deep. "What the-" They all started trying to pull themselves free, but couldn't break the ground's hold. It was at this moment that the figure dive-bombed the group, ripping off Spike's fake head before flying back up.

Screams of terror followed this, the group all huddling together around the trapped defenders as they shook. But as they this did...a new voice spoke up, "Oh my!" This statement made them all look back up, watching as the thestral flew down and landed. Doing so allowed them all to get a better look at her as she said, "I'm so, so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Fluttershy?" Applejack gasped, Rainbow's jaw dropping to the ground in shock.

"It was you the whole time?!" Fluttershy did a small nod in response. "I...I can't believe it!"

Rarity just stared at her with a gaping mouth, "That...was..."

"THE BEST THING EVER!" Pinkie screamed, Wild nodding in agreement.

"That was totally WILD!"

"Wild! Wild! Wild!"

"It wasn't just her," they all turned to the cave, now seeing Iron and Grand walking, the older pony smirking as he tapped the ground with his Celestic Gear. The ground instantly let go of the other defenders, letting them stand back up.

"That was totally nuts," Flash added.

"Heck yeah it was!" Springer cheered.

"It was way more terrifying than the most terrifying thing I could have thought of!" Rainbow continued.

"Ya'll out-nightmared the scariest part of the corn maze!" Applejack finished.

"How did you do all this?!" Twilight asked next.

Fluttershy giggled as she pulled the fake bat-wings off of herself, "After you left, I realized that I wasn't ready to give up on Nightmare Night. So I asked Granny Smith if I could try to make the maze even scarier for my friends."

"You came up with all of this?" Rainbow asked, causing Fluttershy to blush.

"I had some help." The ghosts from before floated into the area, the sheets flying off to reveal a bunch of birds beneath them. "Angel was the scary figure that kept scurrying after you in the maze," The bunny in question leapt onto her head and did a bow. Fluttershy then pointed at the spider on her side, "Fuzzy Legs made the sticky wall that made it difficult for you to see and move." It was then that a large monster stomped out of the cave, making everypony get into battle positions. "And, of course, Harry was the especially scary monster." The monster reached up and pulled its head off, revealing the friendly bear they all knew.

"What about us?" Flash asked, the others nodding as Iron and Grand chuckled.

"Oh, that was us."

Grand nodded in agreement, "Iron came over and asked if I could lend a hoof scaring the fur off you kids. He asked me to construct this tunnel system and to trap you in it."

"That makes sense..." Lightning grumbled. "But what about that monster that attacked us?"

Iron laughed before taking out some green powder, "You mean this monster?" He blew on the powder, which puffed into the shape of the earlier monster. It just stood there for a minute, only to then fade away. "Gift from Zecora."

"Wow!" The Princess of Friendship started clapping, "That was incredible! I would have never guessed!"

Lightning crossed his hooves, "I've gotta admit, you really surprised me. Who knew you had it in ya."

"You have to do this every year!" Pinkie cheered, everypony else agreeing wholeheartedly.

Iron then patted Fluttershy's back, proud she managed to find a way to enjoy the holiday with the others. But when he looked at her face, he saw nothing but...doubt. And as he was about to ask why, she spoke up, "We could celebrate Nightmare Night together every year. But the truth is..." she started removing the rest of her costume. "I really don't want to."

This statement made everypony gasp, Pinkie asking, "You don't?!"

"But you've done it!" Rarity added, "You found a way that we can all have a fabulous time together."

"Yes...but I've also realized something. You all may love Nightmare Night and I may be good at being a part of it, but it's no fun for me to see my friends feel like they're in danger, even if I know they're not. I...I really don't like it. It's just not my cup of tea."

Pinkie took this moment to roll up to her, flashlight in hoof. "Spoooooooooky tea?"

"No," Fluttershy turned to light off. "Just regular tea." She pushed Pinkie back over to the others, only to shake her head, "We do lots of fun things together, but I'm afraid this just isn't gonna be one of them. Actually, I'm not afraid. I'm perfectly fine with it."

"Then we are, too." Twilight instantly replied, the group of friends surrounding the pegasus before giving her a hug. It was here that Barry came up and pulled them into a tight bearhug, which lasted a good few seconds as some of them started turning blue from no air.

"What about you?" Flash asked Iron, "You wanted Fluttershy to enjoy Nightmare Night more than anypony."

"I wanted her to give it a try," He pointed out. "She has, and has decided she doesn't like it. That's all I wanted. Besides, I know something better to do tonight."

A little later...

Once everypony had finished asking about each detail of Fluttershy's plan, the group all split up to enjoy the rest of the night their own way. This included Fluttershy and Iron, who had returned to her house with the animals to enjoy Nightmare Night their way.

They were currently under Fluttershy's bed, the pegasus leaning against Iron as she read a book aloud for everypony. "I don't know why I doubted myself for a second," she said between chapters. "Now this is what I call a perfect Nightmare Night."

"You said it," Iron agreed as he laid back, the two cuddling as the moon continued to shine over the night.

Time for a Changeling

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"Flash Cutter!"

"Steel Paw!"

"Iron Lance Fury!"

The three defenders all launched their attacks at the advancing timberwolves, Flash and Iron's long-range attacks shredding several to pieces while Springer raced up past the remaining ones, slicing them up before they could react. Off to the side, Lightning and Grand were standing still, Spike on the older pony's back.

"Spike!" Flash called out, "Get ready!"

"Okay!" The drake gave him a thumbs-up as the three continued to slash their way through the horde. But as they did this, Spike saw another timberwolf leap out from behind a bush, this one charging at Lightning at full speed. "Look out!"

The two ponies turned to the monster, Grand leaping away as Lightning charged a blast of electrical energy into his front hoof. "Take this!" He punched the timberwolf in the chest, sending him flying but still in one piece. "Time to try out a new move." His body tensed up as lightning surged around his body, the timberwolf now beginning to pick itself up. But as it did this, the defender went into a full gallop. "Lightning Sonic!"

The unicorn zipped into the air, spinning into a sphere of lightning. And as the timberwolf turned to him, Lightning straightened out and thrust his back hooves into the beast's face, a surge of electricity ripping into the wooden wolf. The blow shattered the beast, making him explode into twigs.

"Nice shot!" Grand cheered as the rest of the defenders finished off the remaining timberwolves. "My turn!" He held up his hammer and slammed it into the dirt, causing the parts of the timberwolf remains to shoot up while the ground formed an elevated bowl of rock that soon held the twigs inside. "Alright Spike, burn 'em!"

"Got it!" Spike raced up to the bowl and spat out a fireball, lighting the timberwolf remains ablaze. The stone basin kept the flames inside, leaving the forest safe from the dragon's fire.

Everypony smiled at this, only for all of them to sigh in relief. Over the last few days, the Timberwolves of the Everfree seemed to have had an uprising, a sudden almost army now appearing at Ponyville's side of the forest. Knowing that an invasion would be coming next, the defenders came up with the idea of Grand and Spike's combined powers to get rid of the wolves for good. Hopefully, fully getting rid of this batch of wolves would be a good warning for the beasts to stay away.

Flash then walked up to the little dragon and rubbed his head. "Thanks for the help Spike."

"No problem," the purple fire-breather replied. "Always happy to lend a flame."

"You wouldn't have to if we had a fire-type Royal Knight," Lightning added as he turned to his grandfather. "Any idea when we're gonna get one?"

Grand shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows. It's not like we pick which element the knights wield. Instead, it's all a matter of what element they best attune to. Heck, we could get another light, iron or earth knight before we get one with fire abilities."

"But luckily," Spike pointed to himself. "You've got me to help out until you find one."

"And we appreciate it," Springer said as he changed back to his smaller form.

"But you should probably get back to town before Twilight freaks out," Flash told him before turning to Lightning, "Mind warping him back? We're gonna double-check the area in case we missed a piece of a timberwolf."

Spike shook his head, "Nah, I can walk. It isn't that far."

"You sure squirt?" Iron asked him, "It might not be far, but this forest has a tendency to turn you around. You might get lost along the way."

"I'll be fine," Spike puffed up his chest. "I'm not a little kid you know. I can find my way home without issue."

The defenders all shared glances, Flash scratching the back of his head with a frown, "Well...if you're sure."

"I am."

"Alright. We'll see you back in town when we're done. But if anything does happen, launch a fireball to the sky."

"Sure." With that, the little dragon began to trek through the woods as the defenders turned away, all now working to see if they needed to look out for anymore wolves. As they did this, Spike grumbled as he walked down a forest path, "Like I need a warp. I've been through these woods a ton of times. I can navigate it like the back of my-WHOA!" His bragging came to a stop as he suddenly found himself sliding down a large hill, rolling like a ball until reaching a cliff, flying off instantly, "AAAHHHHH!"

THUD!

"Ow!"

After falling a good ten feet, Spike now found himself face first into a deep mud puddle, his form now sinking below the surface. Seconds passed before his head broke through the mud, gasping for air as he began to frantically swim through the boggy liquid. And as he did this, he let out a moan, "Aww....gross." he then looked down at his muddy body, starting to wipe himself as he kept trudging through the mud.

And as he stopped trying to clean himself, he looked up to see he had no idea where he was now. Growling at this, he sat down on a log right by a big tree that had a big hole in it, now grumbling to himself, "Oh, great. Now what do I do? I don't wanna ask for help. I mean, I can get home all by...my...self?" His words began to titter off as he turned to the nearby tree, now looking in the hole to see...himself. "Whoa!"

He began to backpedal, seconds passing in his brain before a click went off, "Oh. Its just my reflection. Though why is it in a tree?" He blinked at the image, only to shrug, "Eh, its the Everfree. I'm not gonna try to figure it out."

The drake turned from the mirror as he tried to start thinking, growling as he bit his lip. But before he could comment to himself, his head zipped back to the tree, now noticing something in the corner of his eye. "Huh?" He looked back at the reflection, which was staring back at him in the exact same pose he was in.

His head moved back and forth next, the reflection now matching his movements perfectly. He then stuck out his tongue, waggling it around as the mirror image did the same. Blinking at this, he put his claw into his right eye and stretched it down, the refection doing the same. And as each moment was copied without flaw, he did another shrug, "Weird. Just my imagination, I guess." He turned away to walk off, only for the reflection to stay exactly where it was.

"Achoo!" The reflection went, now being covered in blue flames.

Spike spun around at the sound, his eyes going wide at the sight before him. As the flames disappeared, he saw his reflection was replaced by a familiar black bug pony hybrid. "Cha-cha-cha-CHANGELING!" He screamed before spinning around into a sprint, his ears hearing the changeling call out to him.

"Wait!"

But Spike didn't listen, continuing to run as he ran into another treeline….only to immediately find himself on the edge of another cliff. "WHOA!" He yelped as he tried to pull himself to a stop...but it was too late. His form fell right off the edge, "AAAAAAHH-blugh!" his face splatted into a yet another puddle, this one just as deep as the last.

"Ungh…" he moaned as he tried to pick himself up, "Awww...not-huh?" He tried to pull his body upward, only to feel himself stuck. Looking down, he tried to pull and pull, but to no avail. He couldn't move except his tail, which wasn't in the mud. "What the-what is this stuff?"

It was here that a growling noise hit his ears, making him look up to see a pair of glowing orange eyes appear in the darkness. That darkness was the mud, which slowly lifted to show a large cragadile.

"Oh no..." Spike whispered as he continued to struggle, "I gotta get out of here!" he yelled as he kept pulling, only to feel a blast of air come out of the cragadile's nostrils and into the drake's face. "Um...please don't-"

"Hold on!" A voice from above called out, Spike now suddenly feeling something pull on his tail. The jerking of his back ripped him out of the gunk, all seconds before the cragadile snapped his jaws at the dragon.

And as Spike glanced up to see who saved him, his eyes went wide as he saw it was the changeling, the bug flying him above the treeline, "Huh. This is different."

A little later...

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE SPIKE IS?!"

The whole town violently shook to the loud scream that originated from the Castle of Friendship. As for the owner of the outbreak, she was panting, anger pouring down her face as she fought hyperventilation. Everypony else in the room were backpedaling at the sight, knowing it was about to be a level five Twilighting episode. "I can't believe you guys!" She screeched as she glared down at the defenders, the stallions now feeling very small as they huddled together. "The one time I let you take Spike into a fight...AND YOU LOSE HIM?!"

"Well technically, we didn't actually lose him during the-hrk!" Flash's words came to a stop as Twilight magically shut his mouth, daggers glaring out of her eyes.

"How could you all be so irresponsible?!" Rarity added while stomping her hooves, "The Everfree Forest is no place to let somepony so young go!"

"He's been in and out of there tons of times," Lightning barked back, "You all have had to pass through it every time you head to the Castle of the Two Sisters."

"That's because we made a path right to it," Twilight growled, her horn now flaring. The sight made them backpedal again, only for her to let out a sigh. "Ugh...come on." A flash of purple light followed this, the group now seeing they were standing on the outskirts of the forest. Using her magic to now pull the defenders apart, she started pointing at the ponies as she put them in pairs, "We'll need to split up. Applejack and Rarity, you take the eastern side of the forest while Flash flies over it. Pinkie and Wild, you take the western with Rainbow flying overhead. Iron and Fluttershy, you stay on the outskirts if he comes back. Fluttershy, think some of your animal friends can help?"

"Oh yes, of course."

"Right. As for the rest of us, we'll check the center of the forest by heading to the castle ruins. If he can't find his way out, he'll likely try to find his way there. Remember, if you find Spike, try and send out some kind of signal to let the rest of us know." She then noticed Pinkie raise a hoof, "Yes Pinkie?"

"Do I need to send up a signal now? I found him." She pointed behind Twilight, the alicorn spinning around to see Spike trudging out from the trees with mud all over his body.

"SPIKE!" Twilight cheered as she ran over, grabbing the drake in her magic and pulling him into a hug. "You're alright! Thank Celestia!"

"I'm fine," Spike squeaked out, now feeling Twilight's earth pony strength squeezing him like a doll, "Twilight...air..."

"Oh," Twilight instantly released him, "Sorry." As she did this, her horn sparked, taking off the mud from the hug with a touch of magical teleportation.

"It's cool," Spike pushed into his spine, clicking something back into place as everypony else gathered around him.

"Are you sure you're alright Spiky?"

Spike shined a big smirk at Rarity's concern, "I'm fine. I mean, sure I got lost, but...I'm fine now."

"So what happened?" Rainbow asked as her eyes scanned over the mud covering him. "You look like you went on an adventure."

"I guess." the little dragon replied, everypony now noticing that he was nervously scratching the back of his head. "I uh...well, I kinda ran into something that I thought was dangerous, but it actually saved me when I was being attacked by a cragadile."

"What was it?" Applejack replied, "If it saved yah, it can't be too bad."

Spike shook his head, "You say that now, but when you see him...you might not be so open."

Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder. "Spike, if you trust him, then I don't see what issue we'd have."

Everypony else nodded in agreement, Spike sighing in relief. "Alright...but just remember to stay cool when you see him. In fact, he says he's met one of you before."

"Who?" Pinkie asked, Spike not replying as he turned to the woods.

"Alright, you can come on out." Everypony glanced at the trees, blinking at the bushes. It was here that something illuminated out of the forest's darkness, that being a pair of bright blue eyes.

"What the-what's that?!" Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow, only for the eyes' owner to step out into the light.

"CHANGELING!" They all screeched, most flinching in fear while the defenders reached for their weapons. But before they could go on the offense, Spike leapt between them and the bug-pony with his claws raised.

"WAIT!"

"Get out of the way Spike!" Twilight yelled as she sparked her horn, "If there's one changeling, then the rest of the swarm can't be too far away! Chrysalis is probably around too, waiting for this drone!"

"That's not what's going on-"

"Oh, Spiky-wikey! The changeling must have brainwashed him, just like Shining Armor was!"

"I'm not brainwashed!"

"That's exactly what a brainwashed victim would say," Iron barked back, Spike faceclawing at his response.

"Will you all just listen?!" Spike yelled, "Everypony, this changeling isn't with the rest of the hive, and he helped me!" He then turned around, "Help me out here. Could you tell them?"

The changeling, who was now shaking like a leaf at the glares, did a long gulp as he tried to talk, "H-h-h-hello..." he squeaked out, trying to wave a hoof, only to get nothing but glares in response. Slightly backpedaling from the stares, he continued, "N-n-now, I know you're not very trusting of changelings, a-a-and I don't blame you for being."

"Of course we don't!" Rainbow barked back, "You're part of a bunch of invading bugs!"

"But I-"

"Hold it Rainbow." Flash interrupted, flaring his wing in front of her.

"Oh, come on Flash! Don't tell me you're also falling for-"

"Stop." Flash growled as he turned back and glared at her, his face shutting her up. And as he looked back at the changeling, he began to slowly walk up to the bug, "Now, I know this sounds weird, but I know that voice. Who are you?"

The changeling's ears spiked up, a big smile now gracing his face, "You remember me?!"

"Um...should I?"

"Oh yes, Flash Sentry! We met during the invasion!" the bug replied, nodding rapidly. "I did what you said and left Canterlot. Don't you remember?"

Flash began to blink at his words, only to slowly say, "Thorax?"

"Yes!" The changeling nodded frantically again, "Its me, Thorax!"

"But...weren't you thrown away from Cadance and Shining's love magic?"

Thorax looked slightly away, twiddling his hooves as he replied, "Oh...yeah. Well you see, I did get hit by the blast...but not like the rest of the hive. I managed to get to the edge of the city limits when it went off. Because of that, I wasn't...you know, launched into the horizon. Instead, I was knocked a few miles away." The bug started to rub his back, "But geez...that blast was no joke. It really hurt."

"Huh," Flash added, putting a hoof to his chin.

But before he could say anything, Twilight walked up and put a hoof on his shoulder, "Flash, is this really the changeling you met before?"

Flash did a small nod. "Yeah, I think so. He's the one that warned me about the ambush-"

"Like it did us any good," Rainbow interrupted. "Seriously Flash, are we actually listening to this?!"

"Wait!" Thorax spoke up, everypony turning back to him as he continued, "Look, I know you all have a bad history with my race...but if you give me a chance, then I'm sure I can prove to you that you can trust me." He stared at the many ponies, hoping his words would show them he was sincere. And as he watched, they all shared a look at one another, as if having a mental conversation before turning back to him, "Well?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to get a phone call!" He called out from within the Ponyville jail.

"What's a phone?" Pinkie asked while tilting her head.

"Eh, I'll tell you later." Flash replied while crossing his hooves, his back now leaning up to the outside wall of the jail. "Now...what do we do about him?"

Lightning raised a hoof first, "I say we send him to Grand Stable Penitentiary before he tries to replace one of us."

"Seconded." Iron added.

"Now hold on there Iron," Fluttershy responded as she put her hoof in, "We can't just assume he's bad because he's a changeling. What if he's actually good?"

"Its a changeling. We shouldn't-"

"She's right," Grand interrupted, stomping his hoof, "We can't prosecute him without proof, or his species. He alone shouldn't be judged for his whole race."

"No offense gramps, but why shouldn't we?" Lightning asked with crossed hooves, "I know I haven't fought changelings before, but didn't they attack Canterlot?"

"And you're saying you didn't?" Grand countered with a slight glare, "Lightning, if we do something like that, it'd be the same as if we prosecuted you for every crime committed by every criminal in Equestria all at once."

Lightning tried to reply, only to look away, "Yeah...I guess so."

Iron then spoke up again, "Even if that's true, what if this is a trick, and he's here under the queen's orders?"

Spinger shook his head in response, "I don't think so. I didn't sense any negative intentions coming from him, and when he said he had left Chrysalis, I didn't feel his aura darkening. He didn't tell a single lie."

"So he is on our side," Pinkie added.

"Unless Chrysalis hypnotized him," Twilight chimed in, "He could be under a spell to make him believe he's against her, only for it to be reversible when she needs information."

"Oh, come on!" Flash barked while rolling his eyes. "Listen, I'm gonna go with my gut on this and just believe him."

"Yeah!" Spike added with a rapid nod, "He did save my life!"

"Possibly as a way to make us trust him," Rarity pointed out. "If we allow him to stay here, who knows how much that could come back to bite us in the end."

"So we should just lock him up because he might be a threat?!" Spike growled, pointing at Lightning as he then said, "If that's the case, shouldn't we also lock Lightning and Wild up, or turn Discord back to stone?! They've done far worst things than Thorax has, and we've forgiven them!"

"Um...well..." Rarity shuffled her hooves, looking away from Spike's counter.

Spike saw this, making him do a small gulp, "Uh...sorry. I shouldn't have yelled."

Rarity shook her head, "No, you're right. You do...have a point."

Iron huffed at the exchange, "I still think we should keep him locked up."

"Why?" Flash asked with a shrug, "Can't he just like, turn into a fly and escape at anytime?" He then pointed to the jail's main door, "I mean, he's stayed in there this whole time. Don't you think we should at least find out why he isn't already escaping?"

Iron growled in response, only for Grand to flash his hoof in front of the defender, "That's enough Iron. Flash has a point, and we must remember, we're only a few ponies. We don't have the right to judge a race."

Fluttershy put her hoof on Iron's shoulder, making him calm down as he replied, "I...guess you're right. I still don't like this." He turned to the building, "But...why is he here?"

"Good question. Let's ask." Flash replied before opening the jail's main door, walking up to the cell and grabbing a stool to sit on. "Alright Thorax, we want some answers. What do you want?"

Thorax's eyes went wide at the question, "What?"

"Why are you here? You must have a reason. Why were you in the Everfree Forest?"

Thorax shrunk at the slight glare trying to appear on Flash's face, "I was just...just trying to keep myself hidden and away from ponies."

"Why?" Rainbow asked as she floated over Flash, "Can't you just can disguise yourself?"

Thorax looked away, a big frown forming on his face, "That's true, and I did do that to start with. But over time...it was just too tempting."

"Tempting?" Applejack asked, "What'cha talkin' bout?"

"Being around all those ponies, who had so much love and friendship...it made my instincts kick in. Every fiber of my being wanted to...to...to-"

"To drain them of their love," Twilight finished in a deadpan tone, the words making Thorax shiver as he slowly nodded. But as he looked back at the ponies, he saw glares now appearing on the faces, making him gulp.

"But I didn't do it! I...I hate that I have to do that." He squeaked out, only to look away again, "But it's just...its just so hard. I haven't fed on love since I left my hive."

"That was at the wedding, right?" He nodded at Flash's question, "That was almost a year ago. You've really survived that long?"

"It hasn't been easy. And it got even harder to be around ponies when I started getting more and more hungry." He flinched as his stomach started grumbling, the changeling clutching his gut as a look of pain appeared on him. "Sorry."

Everypony exchanged glances with frowns all around, Rainbow looking back at the bug, "Can't you uh...you know, just eat something else?" Pinkie nodded in agreement before pulling out a cupcake from her mane, holding it through the bars.

Thorax took the treat, only to sigh, "I appreciate the gesture, but it's not that simple. Changelings do eat normal food like ponies...but it doesn't help our need for love. It's like having two stomachs. One we need to fill with food and the other we need to fill with love." He flinched again as he said these words, his stomach letting out a roar that tried echo in the building.

Hearing the noise, the others all stared at him before turning to a certain pony. It was Flash, the defender walking up and opening the jail cell door with the stool in his hoof. Before anypony could say anything, he sat down in front of Thorax as he said, "Alright then. Feed on me."

"What?!" Thorax yelped, everypony gasping as they stared at Flash as if he had just grown a second head.

"You need love, so take some of mine."

"Flash!" Twilight screeched before marching over to him, "You can't be serious! We don't know what'll happen if he drains you!"

"Twilight, I'll be fine. This is me we're talking about."

"That doesn't matter!" Twilight barked back, "You know what's happened to you recently, as your Sacred Light doesn't protect you from everything."

"Twi-"

Thorax's head darted between the two, only to chime in, "Um...I'll hold back." Twilight's eyes jerked over to him, a glare now on her face as he shrunk back from the sight, "Uh...you see, if I do it, it'll just er…exhaust him a bit. And make him unable to feel any positive emotions connected to love for a while."

"You mean like what happened to my brother with Queen Chrysalis." Twilight countered before crossing her hooves, "I don't like this."

"And I don't want to do it." Thorax added, making Twilight's glare soften a little.

"Now hang on there," Flash said as he waved his hoof between the two, "You just said you hated stealing love from ponies, right?" Thorax did a small nod, "If that's the case...would you mind if somepony was willing to give it to you?" The changeling opened his mouth to respond, only to close it with a frown. But before he could say anything, Flash then added, "What if it's just a little bit? Barely enough for me to be affected and everything. How much would that help?"

Thorax looked away as he replied, "It'd uh...it would be like giving somepony who hasn't eaten in a month a single dandelion."

"Oh."

Thorax glanced back at him, "Why are you so willing to let me feed on you?"

Flash leaned back in the stool, rubbing his chin in thought, "Well...if I had to take a guess, it's because I've been in your situation. Before I met Twilight, I had to do things I hated doing to survive. I stole from a lot of ponies and upset many others." He crossed his hooves as he continued, "I didn't want to steal, but I didn't have much of a choice. Not only that, due to...recent events, its helped me realize how much that could have affected me in the long run if I had kept doing that." He stared back at Thorax, "Just like you don't have much of a choice."

Thorax tried to shrink back at those words, but nothing came to mind. As such, he let out a long sigh, "Alright...but just a little bit." He leaned forward as his horn began to glow green, a similar green aura now appearing around Flash. Everypony tensed up at the sight, but Flash held up a wing as if to tell them to not do anything. They responded, now watching as a cloud of pink smoke flew out of Flash's chest and flew into Thorax's mouth. He did this for a few seconds before cutting the magic, causing the pink cloud to snap in the middle. One end flew into the changeling's mouth, Thorax gulping it down while the other end flew back into Flash.

Flash let out a small gasp, his form wobbling in the stool before Twilight grabbed his shoulders, "Are you alright?"

Flash rubbed his head, shaking it before rapidly blinking, "Yeah...I think so. I feel like I just ran a marathon, but I'm good." He looked back at Thorax, "How are you feeling?"

Thorax rubbed his stomach, only to sigh, "A little better, but that barely made a difference. I um...sorry."

"Then just take a bit of mine," spoke a new voice, everypony turning to Springer as he walked into the cell. "What? If he takes a little bit from all of us, it's gotta add up."

"I...I guess that's true." Twilight hummed in response.

"No way! I'm not letting this creep feed on me!" Rainbow growled.

"And we're not gonna make you," Twilight told her before looking Flash over. "But I'm starting to think we can trust him. After all, he didn't do any damage to Flash." She then turned to Thorax, "You can take some of my love too."

It was here that new hooves walked into the cage, Iron gasping as he saw Fluttershy step up to the bug, "Um...you can have of mine too."

"Fluttershy-"

"Ooh! Ooh! Me too!" Pinkie interrupted as she bounced in, "I don't mind being a snack. Sounds like fun!"

"Same here," Wild added.

The others all started staring at the line forming for the changeling, Applejack chuckling as she got in next, "Ah guess ah can lend ya'll a bit of love."

Rarity giggled at her words, "I suppose so. Alright, I'll gladly give some...as long as it's only a little bit." She then turned to Lightning and Spike, the two nodding in agreement.

Grand laughed at the sight, walking up to pat Flash's shoulder, "You make an old pony proud Flash, you really know your way to make new friends. Alright changeling, I'm in."

They then turned to the last two, Iron giving a deep glare until Fluttershy came up and put a hoof on his shoulder, "Its okay Iron, you don't have too."

Iron's eyes shifted away for a second, trying to not stare at the pegasi before replying, "I'll do it. Just...you know, I don't like it."

"And that's fine." Fluttershy responded as she hugged his hoof, "Thank you."

The others all smiled at the exchange, smirking as they saw the blush Iron was trying to hide before turning to Rainbow. A slight hiss was coming out of her mouth as she hovered over the crowd, the Element of Loyalty not liking the sight before her as she slowly landed, "Listen, I don't like this sudden leap of trust going on here. I know I should side with you all, but can't at least one of us be a bit more cautious?! You do realize what you're doing, right?!"

"We do Rainbow." Twilight replied, "But we're willing to take the risk."

As she heard those words, Rainbow let out a sigh, knowing she couldn't convince them any further, "Fine...but only a little." She then pointed at the bug, "And you owe me."

Thorax did a small nod before his horn started to glow, everypony except Flash beginning to glow before a pink cloud flew out of each of them and into Thorax's mouth. Flash watched as Thorax seemed to gorge himself for a good few seconds, only to then cut the magic. As that happened, everypony began to wobbl on their hooves, Flash trying to help a few steady themselves, "You all okay?"

"Yeah...I think so." Twilight responded as she rubbed the side of her head, "That wasn't so bad."

They all then turned to Thorax, the bug now glowing pink with a happy smile on his face. "That felt great..." Thorax sighed before his grin began to grow, "Thank you. I haven't felt this full in ages. And you know, that felt different from when I've eaten love before. It felt...more pure."

"Really? Why?" Flash asked with a tilt of his head.

"I uh...don't know. It just...did."

Twilight started rubbing her chin in thought, "Maybe because we gave you the love instead of having it ripped out of us?" Thorax's eyes went wide at this, his expression making Twilight show a small smirk, "I might be right, aren't I?"

Thorax looked away while shuffling his hooves, "I...don't know. I don't know any pony that willing let a changeling take love from them till now. I've never even heard of stories about it."

"But that doesn't mean its impossible." Twilight added while clapping her hooves, "After all, if what you've shown is possible with changelings, maybe we could show them how to share love instead."

The changeling shook his head at that, "No...its not that easy. The changelings are very loyal to the queen. Once they swear that loyalty, it's almost impossible to say no to any order she gives."

"Then why are you able to do it?" Spike asked next. "I mean, if you can do it, maybe others can too."

Thorax's head drooped down, shaking it as well, "I wish I knew. It's weird. I've never really felt like Chrysalis was the one I was supposed to follow. Even back at my hatch group's droning."

"Droning?"

"It's the time when we drones are old enough to leave the nest to hunt and patrol. Before then, we have to declare our undying loyalty to the Queen. But when it was my group's turn..."

The Past...

Thorax was standing in a group of changelings, his brother Pharynx beside him. The older changelings were gathered around the edge of the chamber, all staring up at the giant black throne their queen was sitting in.

"Subjects, today marks the day you have all reached the maturity needed to finally leave the hive." She spread her wings before flying in front of the group, "But before that, you must each pledge your undying devotion to the hive and she who leads it." She reached the first of the group, now holding up a hoof.

The drone kissed the hoof, "I pledge myself to the hive and she who leads it." Chrysalis nodded before moving to the next changeling, the bug repeating the process. This happened repeatedly, Thorax turning to stare at the changelings in the corner of his eyes. In doing so, he saw that all who had given the pledge were now standing firm like the changelings around the edge, cold and soulless looks on their faces.

Chrysalis then reached Pharynx, the changeling kissing her hoof. "I pledge myself to the hive and she who leads it."

Thorax gulped as Chrysalis stepped in front of him, offering him her hoof. And as he leant down to kiss it, his gaze caught sight of someling walking out from behind the throne.

It was a changeling that looked like a younger version of Chrysalis, her height halfway between her and a drone. The only difference between her and Chrysalis was that instead of green eyes and blue hair, hers were both bright red. It was Hiveena, the princess of the changelings. Thorax gave her a small smile, his heart filling a warmth inside that was always there when he was around her. But a cough pulled him out of it, making him look up and see Chrysalis glaring down at him. "I..." He kissed her hoof while his eyes glanced back at Hiveena, "I pledge myself to the hive and she who leads it."

The Present...

"And that's basically it," Thorax finished, "But after doing that...I didn't feel any different. Unlike everyling else, I didn't feel compelled to follow the queen's orders without question."

"Fascinating..." Twilight added as she summoned a piece of paper and pencil with her magic, "So the changelings that give their pledge to the queen become completely subservient."

"They're like bees," Fluttershy pointed out before frowning, "But why didn't Thorax fall under the spell? If he is like a worker bee, there's no way he should be able to go against her orders."

"Hmm..." Twilight rubbed her chin as she finished writing down the information, only for her brain to shine a small bulb above her, "How about this? If the pledge is some kind of magic, then it would require the one doing it to be completely serious about taking it. If they aren't, the pledge's magic won't take root."

"So because he didn't want ta be a mindless drone, he didn't accept this pledge doohicky and protected himself?" Applejack asked, "Is that right?"

"Its possible," Twilight responded, "The only thing I can think of that could interfere with that...is if he already made some other pledge that he cared for more than the one he made to Chrysalis. After all, there are a lot of ways magic oaths can go wrong."

Those words made Thorax's eyes go wide, the face of a certain changeling now appear at the forefront of his mind. "Hiveena..."

The name made the defenders all tense up, Grand immediately asking, "You know Hiveena?!"

Thorax quickly turned to the old knight, "I should be the one asking that. How do you know Hiveena? Did the queen mention her when you fought her?"

Flash shook his head, "No, we've met her. She's kind of...doing hard time."

"WHAT?!" Everypony leapt back at the outcry, Thorax's jaw fully dropping, "You know where she is?!"

Springer did a small nod, "Yeah, we just told you. She's in jail."

"Wha...why?!"

Grand was about to reply, only for Lightning to lift a hoof in front of him, "She was trying to help my psycho father rebuild a dangerous artifact that he was gonna use to conquer Equestria. And no, I'm not joking."

Thorax's expression switched between confusion and surprise, "What is...what?! She wouldn't do that!" he began to yell, his voice starting to rise before he put a hoof on his chest, trying to calm himself down, "Hiveena…she's a kind changeling."

"Yeah right," Iron huffed. "I've still got a few bruises from when we met. That mare was pure evil."

"I don't believe you!" Thorax yelled, everypony now seeing the first hint of anger on the bug's face. But before they could tell him to calm down, he looked away and muttered out, "Hiveena...she was always nice. Sure, she could be strict, but she always cared about the changelings of our hive, unlike the queen. She...she saw us as family until...until..." Thorax's words came to a stop as click went off in his brain.

"Until she what?" Grand asked.

"Until she was forced out of the hive."

Everypony exchanged a glance, soon asking Thorax what he meant. Knowing he had no choice, he began to tell him the full tale of Hiveena. He told them about how as she was Chrysalis's daughter and had unmatched abilities, but this caused Chrysalis to fear her and turned the whole hive against her. "And then...I managed to run into her and snuck her into a tunnel that she used to escape."

"You sided with her over the queen?" Twilight asked, Thorax nodding back. "I see...then maybe the magic oath did work on you."

"It did?" Thorax asked with a raised eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you just told us that Hiveena is like the queen, right? That means you could have pledged to her instead."

"I...I did?" Thorax put a hoof to his chin, "Hmm...I guess that could have happened. After all, I know Hiveena would have been a great leader. She always cared about the little ones, and would have found a way to keep our clan fed without a doubt." He then let out a sigh, "She never really seemed power hungry like the queen back then. She might have even found a way to keep the peace between our two nations...if Queen Chrysalis hadn't done that to her."

Everyone frowned at this, the defenders especially grimacing at his words. The others saw their expressions, a mental debate going between them all. But before they could really get started, Thorax spoke up, "I need to see her."

A whole group of heads shifted back to stare at the bug, Twilight exclaiming, "Excuse me?! Did you just say you want to talk to her?!"

Thorax nodded again. "Oh yes! If Hiveena was willing to team up with a pony before, maybe I can convince her to do the same!"

"Now hold on," Iron spoke up as he walked in between the bug and the alicorn, "Trusting you is one thing, which a few of us are still having problems with. There's no way we're gonna team up with somepony that's tried to kill us and would gladly sell us down the river for the chance to help herself."

Thorax turned to Twilight and Flash, only to suddenly kneel down, his face in the floor, "Please! I must see her!"

Twilight and Flash exchanged glances, Twilight then asking, "Even if we did, why do you think she would help us after what's happened with her?"

"Because you need her!" This statement made everypony raise eyebrows, only for the changeling to continue, "If there's one thing I know about the queen, it's that she won't take her last defeat laying down! She'll be back, and you need somepony who understands changeling tactics!"

"Aren't you that pon-er, changeling?" Spike asked, Thorax slightly raising his head in response before shaking it.

"No. I know very little about planning an attack or countering it. But Hiveena, she was trained for that purpose. She'd know the best way to defend against any changeling attack."

Flash and Twilight turned to one another, Twilight asking, "What do you think? I mean, I don't know if I like this."

The defender responded with a shrug, "What he's saying does make sense...but I'm with you. I have no idea if we can trust Hiveena, especially since she seemed pretty unhinged the last time we met." He then turned to his mentor, only to get no answer from his expression, "Then again, this might be out of our league now."

Twilight hummed before looking back at Thorax, now seeing nothing but a look of pure pleading and honesty, "You're right. Our group shouldn't determine if Equestria makes peace with changelings. Let's ask Princess Celestia what she thinks first."

A Few Hours Later...

After a quick letter exchange, Celestia thought it was an interesting idea and was open to it, but told them they needed to take precautions. With a few adjustments later, Flash, Twilight, Springer, Spike and Thorax were now on the train heading for the Crystal Empire.

"We'll be there soon," Twilight told Thorax as he nervously shook in his seat. The changeling was disguised as a random earth pony, mainly to not attract any unwanted attention. They had sent a message to Cadance explaining the situation, the alicorn of love agreeing despite the fact that both Shining and Ruby were not thrilled with the idea of having a changeling in the empire. So to keep them calm, Thorax had agreed to wear a rune collar that could paralyze him with the flick of a horn.

The transformed changeling was now shuffling his hooves, "Oh, I can't wait to see her again! I wonder if I'm meant to bow? If she was kicked out, does that mean she's not a princess any more?!"

The others just shrugged, only for Spike to ask, "That's something I don't get. Why was she a princess and the rest of you aren't? Aren't you all siblings since Chrysalis is your mom? Last I checked, any child of a queen is a prince or princess."

Thorax shook his head, "I'm not Chrysalis's child."

"You're not?" Everypony asked with raised eyebrows.

"No. I'm more like her...great, great, great, great, grandson. My parents are descendants from two of Chrysalis's offspring."

"So Chrysalis isn't the only one who gives birth to the changelings?"

"She can only lay about ten to fifteen eggs every three years. She doesn't need a mate to do so, which other changelings can't do. And even when she lays eggs, they usually hatch into changelings like me that reproduce that way. But on a rare occasion, changelings like Hiveena or the queen are born, those ones having the ability to reproduce on their own. That's what makes them royal changelings."

"Fascinating..." Twilight added as she wrote down the information. "So that makes Hiveena your great, great, great aunt." Thorax nodded as the overhead announcer called out to say they were about to arrive at the Crystal Empire.

Five minutes later, the train pulled up to the station as the five walked off the locomotive. "Twilight," they turned to see Shining and Ruby standing a ways off.

"Shining!" Twilight quickly gave him a hug before turning to the Royal Knight, "Hello Ruby, its so great to see you!"

"Your majesty," Ruby bowed before glancing at Flash. "Nice to see you again, Sir Sentry," Flash chuckled at this, the two shaking hooves before she turned to the only member of the group she didn't know. "Is this him?"

"Yup. This is Thorax."

"Uh...hello," the disguised bug-pony waved, "Nice to meet you." He then saw the glares on their faces, making him shrink back while gulping, "Um...uh...I understand why you're cautious to have me here, but I assure you, I have no intention of causing trouble. All I want is to help bring peace between our two races."

"And you think Hiveena will be the one to do that?" Ruby asked in a low dark tone, "You do realize what you're saying, don't you?"

"I know she's done some pretty bad things," Thorax muttered out before looking down at the ground, almost bowing to the two, "But...but please let me talk to her! I...I know if I do...I think I can convince her to work with you."

He looked back up, only to see two glares as Shining replied, "We'll see about that. Come on, Cadance wants to talk to you as well."

Thorax did a giant gulp at his statement. However, it was here that Spike nudged his side, showing him a big smile. Thorax tried to smile back, the two now following the rest as they made their way to the castle. And as they did this, Thorax's eyes went wide as he marveled at the sight of the empire. "Wow...this place is amazing." he began to sniff the air, "There's so much love here."

This statement made Shining and Ruby turn to glare at him, Spike now grabbing his shoulder. "Err...Thorax-"

"That's not what I meant. There's so much love here, the air's practically supercharged with it." He took a deep breath in, "I just fed myself with nopony getting hurt." He turned to the ruler and knight of the city, "I get the feeling this place might be the queen's next target. Just being here would make the army strong enough to beat anyone."

"We'll be sure to keep that in mind," Ruby growled as they walked up to the stairs for the castle. A few rooms later, they found themselves in the throne room, Cadance now laying in the middle of it while on a large bed-like chair.

"Hello everypony!" She exclaimed without getting up, the newcomers all noticing a bump where her flat stomach used to be. She then turned to Thorax with a kind smile, "You must be our special guest." He did a slow nod in response, "It's okay. You don't have to hide who you really are here."

"Um...are you sure?" Thorax asked as his eyes shifted between Shining and Ruby's glares.

Cadance's smile grew at his question. "Absolutely. Go right ahead and show us."

His being was then consumed by flames, the fire disappearing to reveal his true form before he bowed, "You are too kind princess. I feared you would be the most against my idea."

"I know what you're planning has risks, but many times, the ways to achieve peace require a varying degree of risk. I can't allow fear of a previous experience stop me from opening an avenue to prevent future changeling attacks." She then rubbed her stomach, "I owe it to the future to make sure we have as few enemies as possible." Everypony nodded at this, Cadance now readjusting herself on her bed. "I apologize for not getting up. Doctor's orders."

"It's fine Cadance," Twilight assured her. "We should be getting to the prison anyway."

"Good point. Ruby, please show them the way."

"Of course your highness." The Crystal Knight turned and directed everypony outside, Thorax retaking his disguise as they went down the street until reaching a building with crystal bars on the windows.

"This is the prison?" Spike asked, Ruby shaking her head in response.

"No, this is the city jail. Any prisoners we catch are kept here until they can be moved to a more...permanent location. But it's also our way into the prison."

"So where is the prison?" Thorax asked, only for Ruby to point at the distant mountains. "Oh."

"Which is why we're taking the shortcut." She opened the door and everypony stepped inside, a bunch of crystal guards waiting inside.

"Your highness," they all bowed.

"Is it ready?" Ruby asked, the guards nodding before they pointed to a door that appeared to be made of pure diamond. Ruby opened it up with her magic, all seeing it led to a downward staircase. They all soon headed down, now reaching a new door, Ruby opening it as well. This continued until they hit the tenth door, this one showing a small room with a rune circle on the floor. "Alright, everypony in the circle."

They got in, Ruby being the last to enter before sparking her horn. In that moment, the symbols around the edge of the circle began to glow, the light filling the air before forming a pillar that trapped everypony inside. It continued to grow brighter, forcing them to shield their eyes before the glow dissipated. And as it did this, they reopened their eyes...to find the same room and circle.

"Well that was an exercise in futility," Spike commented, only for Ruby to giggle as she walked over to a door and open it, now revealing a large open space made of crystal. They soon walked into it, now seeing they were in a large building that was octagonal in design, which had seven levels with eight walls that had three diamond doors with small windows to the right of them. Each level had a large bridge connecting one side to the other, along with a staircase leading down to the next level's bridge.

"Welcome to the Crystal Pen," Ruby told them.

"Wow..." Spike and Springer gasped, Flash taking to the air before spinning around to look through the window of each cell.

He then chuckled as he saw a certain criminal, "Hey Score," he waved to the unicorn, only to get a growl in return, "What, not happy to see me?"

"Get lost Sentry!" The criminal yelled through his window.

"Alright, alright...jerk. I just wanted to say hello."

As the others rolled their eyes at this exchange, Springer spun around, his aura scanning every bit of his surroundings. But as he did this, Ruby patted his shoulder, "Don't bother. Shade's not here."

"Hmm?" Springer replied as he looked up at her, "What do you mean?"

"You were looking to see if you can't sense somepony in one of these cages, weren't you? That's the only way you could find him."

Springer looked away at this, "Uh...yeah. Sorry. I was just...you know-"

"I know." Ruby interrupted, "And if you're wondering, the reason he's not here is because we can't transfer him safely. Unlike everypony else here, we can't seal his abilities. They're not magic, just like yours."

"Oh...that make sense. Thanks for telling me Ruby."

"No problem."

Flash then landed in front of them, "So where's Hiveena?"

"She's being kept in our more...secure wing." She would have kept talking, only for Thorax to start to trotting away, "Where are you going?"

"I don't know," Thorax replied as he suddenly morphed back into his true form. "It's almost like...something's calling me." He stared up at one of the doors, the others gathering around him. "She's through here."

They all exchanged glances, Ruby asking, "How did you-"

"I just know." Ruby didn't say anything else, opening the door as the changeling walked right in, "She's close." Thorax trotted through the hall, taking two turns down different corridors until he came to a stop in front of a crystal door. "Here."

The others caught up with him and stared up at the door, seeing only a number plate on it. "Are you sure?" Twilight asked while Ruby pulled out a piece of paper, reading it and nodding.

"Cell two eight three. This is it. Impressive how you were able to find it on your own."

Thorax just shrugged, Flash now walking in front of him, "Hang on Thorax. If you don't mind, let us talk to her first. I wanna see how she feels about this idea before you try. We'll call you when we're ready for you to come in."

Thorax nodded and stepped out of the door's view, Flash turning to Ruby as she opened it. And as a loud creak rang out, Flash, Twilight, Springer, Spike and Ruby all stared inside, coming face to face with the former changeling princess. Hiveena was laying on a bench with a collar around her neck that had a chain connected to it that went up to the ceiling. Her horn had a magic suppression ring on it while also wearing a jumper-like garment that kept her wings strapped to her sides.

The former changeling princess opened her eyes, only to squint at the visitors, "Flash Sentry...to what do I owe the privilege?" Flash stepped into the cell, all but Thorax following him. "What is this? Are we having a party?"

"Nope. We're here to talk to you about a possible...partnership."

"Oh?"

Twilight then stepped up, "Hiveena, how would you like to retake your throne?" This question made Hiveena's playful face completely disappear, a glare now replacing it as she sat up on her bed.

"What are you talking about?!"

Ruby was the next to speak up, "We're talking about maybe helping you retake your nest and having you be crowned the new queen."

Hiveena's head leaned back at the statement, her glare shifting into half confusion, "Why would you help me? Last I checked, we weren't on very good terms."

"It's...complicated," Flash responded as he started to walk up to her, "Before we answer, I want to ask you what you would do if we did help you retake your hive."

Hiveena sat back against the wall of her cell, closing her eyes as she replied, "I'd rule it of course. The same way my mother would. It's...who I am after all. If I had one of those silly little cutie marks, it'd probably be of the throne I'm meant to sit on."

Everypony grimaced at that answer, Twilight trotting up to Flash's side, "Well...if you did, would you be willing to form a truce with Equestria?"

Hiveena's eyes reopened, a long glare now expressing itself, "Why would I do that?! Changelings need love to survive, and this kingdom has more of it than any other place. Goes to show how grumpy the rest of the world is when a land of ponies becomes the all source of constant love." She then looked away, "That's...that's just survival of the fittest."

Twilight shook her head at the response, "Hiveena...what if we were able to find a way to feed you without needing to drain others?" Hiveena glanced back at her, raising a single eyebrow as she continued, "If you help us, we could study your biology and see if there's a way to substitute love with something else."

Hiveena blinked at the alicorn, "What? Why would you try to do that? In fact, why would you go to such lengths?" She turned to Flash, "I've heard about your power. If you wanted to, you could just nuke the changelings and never have to worry about us ever again."

"Because that's not how Equestria does things," Ruby told her. "We fight, but only in self-defense. And killing is never an option."

Springer did a firm nod, "She's right! It's not who we are."

Twilight then spoke up, "We always search for the peaceful solution. Even if it's the harder solution."

Hiveena didn't say anything, looking away while letting out a sigh. Seeing this, Flash took the moment to step back to the door, "Listen, there's somepony here who wants to see you. He's the one who convinced us to give this idea a try." He tapped the door, "Come on in."

Hiveena's head slowly turned to the door, her eyes going wide as she saw a certain young changeling walk in. Her jaw dropped at the sight, gasping as she said, "Thorax?!"

He gave a small smile back, "Hello Lady Hiveena. Um...long time no see."

"What is...how is...what are you doing here?!"

"I uh...left the hive. I just...couldn't live there anymore. Not after seeing how amazing Equestria is." He stepped in front of the group, the two now locking eyes. "Hiveena…I know this sounds strange, but...I want to help our race by doing peace with the ponies. They...they can help our race."

"Thorax..." she barely replied.

Seeing the hesitation, Thorax began to twiddle his hooves, trying to get his words. But as he did this, Spike went up and patted his side, making the bug turn and see a big smile on the dragon's face. Spike then gave him a firm nod, Thorax seeing this and looking back at the other changeling, "Hiveena...our race is in trouble. You said it yourself that Flash has the power to wipe out any changeling that faces him. The queen might not know that, and...you know what she'll do in the future. You know she'll attack again." He then walked up and put a hoof on hers. "But...you can prevent that."

Hiveena just looked away, growling at the suggestion, "What you're asking for is impossible. Mother would rather the hive die before losing control of it. You know she'd have them fight to the death."

Thorax shook his head, "Not if we showed them how much better life would be with you as their leader."

Hiveena glanced back at him, only to growl, "I'm...I'm no leader Thorax. Not after what happened."

"You know that's not true." Thorax instantly replied, "You're royalty, just like her. In fact, Pharynx once told me that the reason you were cast out is because the queen feared your power, which she believed could even change the hive. That means-"

"No." Hiveena interrupted, "I might be more evolved than mother is, but...it won't change anything."

Thorax's ears flopped down at the sight, a huge frown on his face as he muttered out, "Hiveena...have you given up on the hive?"

"I...I can't go back Thorax. That's not what I am anymore." She then let out a long sigh, "Look at me Thorax, look at what I've become after I left the hive. I'm...I'm a prisoner in this...snow jail in the middle of nowhere. Why would the hive ever accept me back?"

"Because they need you." Thorax looked back at the ponies, all but Ruby nodding back with smiles on their faces. And as he turned back to Hiveena, a huge smile graced his face, the sight making Hiveena's eyes go wide at the happiness on his face, "Hiveena, you could change the hive. You could evolve us beyond what we are now, maybe to where we don't need to feed on love."

Hiveena just looked down, biting her lip as she tried to not look at the brave bug. But before she could do this, Thorax put his hoof to her chin, slowly pushing her up to look at her eye to eye, "They told me what you've done before this. I know that things went wrong after leaving the hive for you...mainly meeting that Doom guy. But, these ponies are nice, and will care for you if you show them the real you. The you that was always kind to us younglings, even when she had to be forceful."

They continued to stare at each other, the ponies now seeing Hiveena's face finally begin to soften before letting out a long sigh. That, and a tiny laugh, "You always were different."

"Hiveena, does that mean-"

"Yes," she nodded before turning to the others. "Alright ponies, I'll help you if you help me." Everypony smiled back as she continued, "However, it isn't going to be easy. You're going up against an army that can transform into anything, including your own troops. Facing off against them won't be easy."

"We know," Twilight assured her. "But we don't intend to attack them right away. You need to tell us everything you know about Chrysalis and the changelings, and we'll do our best to come up with an effective countermeasure against her."

"I can do that. But first," she jiggled the chain that was connected to her neck. "You'll kind of need to get me out of here. There's no way I'm telling you all of this and stay in here."

This statement made everypony exchange glances, Ruby looking back at the bug, "No offense Hiveena, but you need to understand that given your past, we can't just let you go without some form of assurance that you don't stab us in the back the first chance you get. Just because we've agreed to work together, it doesn't mean we trust you without question. That takes time to build."

Hiveena let out a long sigh, "Fair enough." She slowly stood off her bed, "What do you suggest?"

What they suggested was that Hiveena wear the same collar that Thorax was wearing, but also keep the magic-suppression ring on her horn. She didn't agree with this, but caved in after Thorax asked her nicely. Once the collar was on her, Hiveena was finally allowed to be released from Crystal Pen.

After teleporting to the empire jail, Twilight warped them all back to the castle. When they arrived, they found the royal couple had prepared a nice dinner. The sight shocked Hiveena, but soon got over it as she sat down next to Shining, "Well well, seems I can't say you're not a pony of your word. I'm out of prison and now having dinner with you and your wife."

Shining rolled his eyes as Cadance giggled, the princess turning to her sister-in-law. "So what now? Are you gonna take them back to Ponyville?"

"Maybe..." Twilight hummed, "Though it might be difficult for them to fit in there since a lot of the town were in Canterlot during the invasion."

"Who cares about fitting in?" Hiveena grumbled while crossing her hooves, "I'm trying to take my throne, not make friends."

Thorax shook his head, "Hiveena...this is something we need to do, as we'll need friends after taking back the throne for you." He then tapped his chin, "Though it would probably be best to start with someplace ponies won't hate us at first glance."

"Exactly," Twilight added, "We need someplace for you to live that won't have any prejudice."

"What about here?" Spike asked, everypony else turning to him in surprise. "I mean, the empire wasn't around when the Changelings attacked. Unless they had them back a thousand years ago, the ponies here shouldn't have any problems with them."

Cadance hummed at this, "He does make a good point."

"You can't be serious!" Shining yelped.

"Shining, we just said they need to be in place without prejudice first." Twilight replied, making Shining glare at her...only to get a glare back, one that made him look away, "I believe this would be the most effective decision. Plus, they wouldn't need to worry about collecting love." Hiveena had also found the love charged air quite satisfying, agreeing with Thorax that just breathing would fill her love food requirements. "And look at it this way: if Hiveena makes a break for it, she'll likely freeze to death before making it anywhere she can hide."

Hiveena huffed at the statement, making Cadance giggle before declaring, "Then it's settled. Until we're able to get your hive back for you, the two of you will stay in the Crystal Empire. I'll inform Celestia of this after we eat."

Thorax smiled at the warm welcome, Hiveena just showing a coy smirk as she snacked on a spring onion. "I'm happy to be welcomed anywhere," Thorax turned to Spike. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. And don't worry about the ponies here not liking you. I happen to be quite the popular dragon in the Crystal Empire. Once they see you hanging with me, they'll be more than happy to make friends." Thorax's smile increased, Hiveena actually smiling as she saw how happy he was.

"I'm glad for you," she told her future subject. "Looks like you won't be needing that little gift I left you."

This statement got the attention of everypony else at the table, Thorax now asking, "What gift?"

Hiveena chuckled at his question, "Do you remember when you helped me escape the hive? Well back then, I decided to leave you a little something."

The Past...

"This leads to the edge of the territory. You can use it to get out." Hiveena nodded and began to climb in, only to hear the guards getting closer. "I'll hold them off."

"Thank you Thorax," Hiveena replied before pulling Thorax into a tight hug.

As she did, her horn sparked as a small sphere of green magic flew out the tip. The orb soon phased into Thorax's back, the spell not even being noticed by the changeling.

The Present...

"It was actually a small portion of my royal magic. I left it as a thank you, and to act as some insurance in case they found out you helped me."

"You really did that?"

Hiveena just shrugged, "You were willing to help me, so it only seemed right that I give you something in return. I have no idea what a drone having royal magic would do, but it's probably better than not having it. Though by the looks of things, you haven't been able to access it."

"No, I haven't." Thorax shook his head, "I've never felt any different since you gave me it to me."

She shrugged again, "Oh well, guess drones can't use it. Still, I'm sure with a little practice, you should see some improvement in a way. We'll get to work as soon as we can." Thorax nodded before she turned to the princesses, "So what now? An attack against the changeling hive isn't something that's easily done."

"Let's give the two of you a little time to get used to life here before we start planning. That and you might want to work on getting back into shape. Months spent in a jail cell likely curved your physical abilities."

"Guess you have a point. Well then..." she looked back down at the food in front of her. "I'd better start eating better." With that, she began to munch down on the food, everypony else focusing on their own meal as well.

Later that night...

"This is where you'll be sleeping," Shining told Hiveena as he showed her an empty room. "Cadance and I are just down the hall and we've put Thorax two halls over." He stepped aside so she could trot into the room, the changeling looking impressed by the luxury of the place. "Well...if you need anything, don't hesitate the ask." Shining cringed at his words before saying, "Good night...I guess."

And as Hiveena got settled on the bed, she sighed before laying back, feeling the mattress sink in. But before she could truly relax, she felt a tinge go down her spine, making her look up and see Ruby standing at the door. "Can I help you?"

"I may have said that killing wasn't our way, but I know how dangerous you and your kind are." Ruby growled with gritted teeth, her form slowly walking inside as Hiveena stood up, "So let me make one thing perfectly clear. You make one step backwards, one slip up, give me one reason to think you might harm the princess or anypony I care about...you won't have to worry about taking back your throne, because I'll cut you down without a second's thought. We clear?"

Hiveena stared at her for several long seconds, completely unmoving before slowly replying, "Crystal." Ruby said nothing as she turned to walk out the door, leaving Hiveena to stare at the door.

And as she laid back down, she muttered out, "What have I gotten myself into? Could I...could I really get it back?" A small tear went down her face as she let out a sigh, "Thorax...thank you."

A Wild Wild Heartswarming

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The Town of Ponyville looked a bit different from usual, the place now covered in snow and many decorations. Multiple fillies and colts were having fun in the snow, doing snowball fights and building snow ponies as the adults were working hard to get ready for one of the best holidays of the year: Heartswarming.

A holiday that was basically Equestria's birthday, it was a day that commemorated the time when the three pony races learned to put aside their differences and come together to push back the evil Windigos before building a near-perfect kingdom. So now every year, the ponies celebrated by giving gifts to one another, singing carols and enjoying the many other great events.

It was now three days before the big event, but even now everypony in town was in a festive mood. At Sugarcube Corner, Wild Smile and his puppets were walking out of the bakery with a big smile on his face. He had a saddlebag on his back with everything he would need for the next few days away from home, for he wouldn't be back until after the heartswarming holiday. He had just dropped by to wish the baker family a happy heartswarming, also dropping off their presents while asking if Pinkie was ready. Turns out, the party pony had left earlier to drop off all her presents and had asked the bakers to tell him she would meet him at the station.

Now, he was walking to the town square, the unicorn spotting a bunch of ponies standing just outside town hall. They were singing a familiar holiday song.

The fire of friendship lives in our hearts
As long as it burns, we cannot drift apart
Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few
Laughter and singing will see us through
We are a circle of pony friends
A circle of friends we'll be to the very end

Wild smirked at the sight, only to turn to see Lightning and Rarity trotting through the market, "Hey you two," he called out with his puppets mimicking him.

"Hello Wild," Rarity replied before gesturing to his saddlebags, "All ready for a holiday with the in-laws?"

"I guess," Wild muttered out while biting his lip. The reason his saddlebags were packed was because he was going to go spend the holiday at Pinkie's family farm, where he would finally get to meet the rest of her family beside Maud. To say he was a little worried about how they would react to him would be an understatement, especially if the rest of them were anything like Pinkie's older sister.

"Wild?" The puppeteer was pulled out of his thoughts by Lightning's words, "You okay?"

"I'm good." The puppets mimicked him as he continued, "Just...excited to meet the rest of Pinkie's family. So..." his eyes darted between the two, "What are you two doing out together?"

Lightning instantly replied, "She's...helping me with my heartswarming shopping. As you know, I don't normally do this much...just like you've been doing."

"Yeah, I understand that." Wild admitted with crossed hooves, "What was the usual stuff from you? A book for Script, some sculpting gear for Gorgenia and a puppet for me?"

Lightning did a small nod, "Yup. Now we got what feels like...half of Ponyville."

Rarity swatted him with her tail, "Now now darling, its not that many. You should be glad we have so many friends to celebrate with."

Lightning shined a pure smile back at her, "Yeah, you're right."

"Well, don't force yourself to get something too extravagant for me," Wild added while waving his hoof, "I won't even be able to get it until after the holiday's over. That being said...is Script and Gorgenia gonna come to celebrate?"

"Script is," Lightning responded, only to sigh, "Ugh...I'm not looking forward to Heartswarming dinner. With him and gramps at the same table-"

"I'm sure they'll be able to put their bad blood aside for one day," Rarity told him while patting his back with her hoof. "And if not, the rest of us will be there to help keep them occupied."

Twilight had offered to have the heartswarming dinner at the castle, following a large Heartswarming Eve party that she would be holding the night before. Script had been invited, along with Trixie and both Flash and Twilight's parents. Not everypony was attending though, as Rainbow, Fluttershy and Iron were going to Cloudsdale to spend the holiday with their families. Soarin was also going to be there, along with Fluttershy's little brother Zephyr Breeze.

The Apples were also not going to be there. They were going to be spending the holiday with Wild and Pinkie at her family's farm due to a recent discovery of the Pie and Apple families being related. Pinkie had invited them to arrive on Heartswarming Eve, with her and Wild going two days beforehoof so he would get the chance to really bond with them before the Apples arrived.

As for now, a nearby clock's chime caught Wild's attention, "Welp, its almost time for the train. I'd better get going. Happy Heartswarming."

"Happy Heartswarming!" Rarity and Lighting replied as he began to run down the street until the station came into view.

And as he stepped onto the platform, his eyes darted around for any sign of his girlfriend, only to see he was the only pony there. "Pinkie? You here?" He checked every single corner of the station, even looking in the trash cans and under small rocks, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Not the best time to be playing hide and seek..." he muttered as the train's whistle could be heard in the distance. And as it got closer to the platform, he turned to the town and yelled as loud as he could, "PINKIE!"

"You called?" Wild yelped as he spun around, coming face to face with his girlfriend. She giggled back at his surprised expression, "Gotcha!"

Wild chuckled as he kissed her on the nose, "Yeah, you did. And don't think I won't try and get you back for it," the train's whistle went out again as it pulled up next to the platform as Wild continued, "I was worried I was gonna have to meet your family without you."

"I wouldn't do that to you," Pinkie replied as they climbed onto the locomotive. "I just had to drop off everypony's presents. Did you know Flash, Twilight and Spike open their presents the night before Heartswarming?"

"They do?"

Pinkie nodded, "It's a tradition they have."

"I guess that makes sense. Everypony celebrates the holiday a little differently."

"I guess so." Pinkie added with a nod. "Say, does your family do anything different than others wouldn't on Heartswarming?"

Wild slumped into his seat, rubbing his chin before replying, "No, we were a pretty standard holiday family. Presents, carols, sacrificial offerings...you know, the usual stuff."

Pinkie nodded before looking out the window, only for her eyes to go wide. "Wait a minute..." she turned back to him in near fright, "What was that last one?!"

Wild raised an eyebrow in response, his face blank...only to burst out laughing. "Gotcha!" Pinkie's brain quickly caught up before laughing herself, now knowing they were even. And once they had both calmed down, Wild then asked, "What about your family? Any crazy traditions I should be aware of?"

Pinkie turned and bopped him on the nose, "Maybe. I'll leave them as a surprise." Wild rolled his eyes before sitting back again, suddenly feeling very tired since he hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Before he could do anything, his eyes closed themselves asleep.

Several hours later, the train came to a stop before Pinkie and Wild stepped out onto the platform. The two trotted down a small lane until they found themselves staring at a place Wild had only seen in pictures. It was a large wooden house with a basic fence around the edge along with a silo and windmill near it. The only difference from the photos was all the snow covering the place.

Pinkie shined a huge smile before bouncing around, Wild following as they trotted up to the fence. Once there, he spotted five other ponies standing in front of the house. There was Maud, but beside her was a tall brown earth pony stallion with a gray mane, tail and beard that was wearing a black hat and tie. Next to him was a gray mare with a dark green mane and tail wearing a black...something around her neck and glasses over her eyes. On his other side were two other mares, one being a grayish blue with a gray mane and tail while the other was gray with a mane and tail that was both a darker and lighter gray.

"Wild..." Pinkie hopped up to them, "Meet my family!"

Wild smiled and waved, "Hello there, great to meet you."

"Great to meet you. Great to meet you."

The five ponies just stared at him before the stallion walked up with a slowly morphing angry look on his face. "You are not worthy of my daughter. Begone!"

"What?" Wild muttered out as he saw the rest of the family start to trot up as well.

"What he said," the older mare added. "Your relationship with my daughter is over. You will never see her again."

"But-"

"Didn't you hear her?!" the light gray mare barked, "Beat it loser!"

"Get lost!" The bluish-gray mare almost yelled.

"I agree," Maud said in her usual deadpan voice. "Begone."

Wild turned to his girlfriend, "But Pinkie..."

She turned to him, her face showing no shock or sadness. "I'm sorry Wild, but if my family don't like you, I can't be with you." She placed a hoof on his chest, "Goodbye." With that, she pushed him away and the next thing he knew, he was floating into the sky.

"PINKIE!" He cried as he flew further away, unable to stop himself as he tried to spark his horn. But as he did this, the image of Pinkie and her family faded into a pitch black darkness with the rest of the world following this. "What the-what's happening?!" The next thing he knew, gravity started to work, making him start to fall into the darkness. "AAAAAHHHHH!"

"YAH!" Wild's eyes shot open as he fell off his seat, hitting the train floor with a loud crash, catching everypony in the carriage's attention.

"Wild?" Pinkie leaned down with a frown, "You okay?"

He moaned as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head as reality settled in. It was here that he saw his lover looking at him with a worried frown, making him mutter out, "I'm uh...I'm fine. Just...shouldn't have had those extra cheesy snacks earlier. They always make me have bad dreams."

"Oh," Pinkie put a hoof around him, "What was your bad dream about?"

"Err..."

"Next stop, Rockville!"

"That's us!" Wild yelped as he quickly grabbed their bags and moved to door, Pinkie raising an eyebrow at the sight. Doing a small shrug, she hopped off the seat and joined him out of the train. But as they steeped onto the platform, Wild noticed it was just like his dream...except Pinkie was this time vibrating right by him with a huge grin.

"I'm so happy! I need to make up a new word for how happy I am. What about...rooftastic?!"

Wild raised an eyebrow, only for his brain to click, "Let me guess, that's where you jump onto a roof and yell at everypony-"

"How rooftastic this is!" Pinkie cheered as she somehow warped to the station's roof. She then leapt down and landed in a snow pile, her head popping out as she noticed a presence next to her. "Maud!" She exclaimed before leaping out of the snow and pulling her into a hug.

Maud, like always, showed zero emotion at the sight of her sister before hugging her back, "I'm so excited to see you, Pinkie Pie." She then turned to the unicorn. "You too, Wild."

"Sup Maud," he waved.

"Sup, sup, sup."

Pinkie then pulled away from Maud, "So...how's school going?"

Maud turned away to trot off the platform as she replied, "If you thought quartz was high on the Mohs hardness scale, wait 'til I tell you about corundum."

Pinkie and Wild both blinked, Wild's brain trying to get anything as Pinkie just yelled, "I missed you so much!" She bounced after her sister, Wild and his puppets following soon after. They all trotted down to a hill, only to soon see the same structure that Wild had seen in his dream. It was almost exactly the same, though Wild prayed that it would be the only similarity to that nightmare.

The sisters arrived at the front door, Pinkie spinning back around as Maud reached for the door. "Wild Smile...meet my family!"

Maud opened the door and the four ponies he had only seen in pictures stepped outside. Wild gulped at the sight, unable to respond as the stallion began to first walk up to him, "Surely thy name is not but Wild Smile." Wild had to resist tilting his head in confusion, unable to comprehend what had just heard as the stallion continued, "I am called Igneous Rock Pie, son of Feldspar Granite Pie."

The mare spoke up next, "Thou shalt know me as Cloudy Quartz."

"Err...greetings." Wild responded, now having a feeling that he needed to talk very posh right now, his foalhood in Canterlot helping with that. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He held out his hoof, Igneous taking it.

"We have been most eager to meet thee, young Wild. The chance to become acquainted with thy stallion to who our daughter is greatly besotted."

Cloudy nodded in agreement, "It is our greatest hope that your courting is a long and pleasant one."

"Me...too." Wild slowly replied, doing a long nod. He had no idea what 'besotted' or 'courting' meant, but hoped they were good things. He then turned to the two remaining mares, the light gray one appearing to hide behind the bluish-gray one. "Hey there, I'm Wild."

"Whatever," the blue-gray one grumbled while rolling her eyes, "Guess you can call me Limestone." She moved aside the reveal the hiding mare, "This one's Marble." The mare let out an 'eep' before trying to hide again, causing Limestone to roll her eyes again before keep moving out of the way.

"Hello," Wild replied, but Marble kept backpedaling away. "Uh..."

"Come on Marble!" Pinkie exclaimed before hopping behind Marble and pushing her up to Wild, "Don't you want to meet my boyfriend? He came all the way here to meet you!" Marble didn't resist, though she kept trying to hide her face behind her mane. Seeing this, Pinkie put a hoof on Marble's shoulder, "Anyways, as you can see, Marble's actually my twin."

"Seriously?" Wild's eyes shifted between the two, only to let out a hum. "That...actually makes a lot of sense." His words came out reflexively, though his brain told him that if Pinkie sucked up all the social genes for herself, it would explain why she was so happy all the time while Marble wasn't. "Um...that being said," He then turned to look at the house, "You all have a really lovely home. I can't wait to see the rest of it."

"Lovely home, lovely home." The Pies, minus Pinkie and Maud, all stared at his puppets.

But before he could explain, Limestone trotted up and tapped his chest, "Just be sure not to mess anything up. I've put a lot of work into keeping this farm running and I don't need some city colt messing things up. So don't go touching anything that you shouldn't...especially Holder's Boulder!"

Wild did a low gulp, turning to Pinkie as he asked, "Holder's...Boulder?"

Pinkie sighed before pointing at a large boulder in the distance. "That's Holder's Boulder. It's super important to the family, so Captain Grumpy Pants over here can get a little overprotective of it."

"Oh. So is it a...magic rock?"

Pinkie shook her head, "Nope. It's just an ordinary giant rock."

"Oh...okay."

"Come," Igneous spoke up, "You and Pinkamina must be both tired and hungry after your long trip. You may both settle in your rooms until dinner is ready, then be off to bed."

"Bed?" Wild raised an eyebrow, turning to look at the horizon. It was here he saw that the sunset wouldn't be for another three hours. "But-"

"Hang on there Wild." Pinkie interrupted as she slung a hoof around his shoulders, "You see, we're getting up super early tomorrow so we can get the chores done before getting the farm decorated for Heartswarming."

"Ah," Wild nodded as he followed the Pies into the house. It was here that he, Pinkie and Cloudy headed upstairs, Pinkie rushing over and throwing a door open.

"Hello, old room! It's so great to see you!" She leapt inside while Wild glanced in, taking notice of how different this room was to the one she had in Sugarcube Corner. The walls were painted in a very bland color, alongside everything else in the room.

Wild was about to step inside, but Pinkie's mother walked past him, gesturing him to follow, "Come along."

Wild didn't reply, mainly in fear of not wanting to make a bad first impression as he followed her up to the attic. It was here that he found two bunk beds and a standard single bed. "This is where you and the Apples will reside during the length of your stay." She turned to give him a low, deadly glare, "At no point are you and my daughter to remain alone in the same room. Is that understood?"

Wild and his puppets nodded vigorously before Cloudy Quartz instantly spun around, heading back downstairs. Seeing this, Wild threw his bag onto the bed before flopping down, finally letting out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding since arriving. "I think that went okay..."

As he laid there, he went over each of Pinkie's family members in his mind. For her parents, he probably just needed to act as politely as he could. Marble...might have already liked him? It was hard to tell, but just have to make sure not to try and overwhelm her. And Limestone...even more not sure. Just keep distance, while also making sure not to touch Holder's Boulder.

"This Heartswarming is gonna be...interesting." he said to himself as his puppets floated above him.

"Wild!" Pinkie's voice called down from the bottom of the stairs, "Dinner's ready!"

"Coming." Wild headed down soon after, meeting Pinkie and Maud on the second floor before they trotted into the dining room. It was here he saw the meal, that being a large metal pan with a large rock inside it. There were many bowls around the side of the table, Cloudy filling them up with some kind of soup that had chunks of rock inside it.

Not even responding, they all silently sat down as Wild stared at his bowl, seeing the liquid was filled with gravel and a single large rock in the middle of it. He gulped, unsure if he should say anything or just start eating. But as he did this, he looked back up and saw the Pies all staring at him intently, Limestone even smirking at him.

Trying not to bite his lip, he picked up his wooden spoon and dipped it into the soup. He pulled it out and brought it to his mouth without even looking, stuffing it in and draining the gravely substance down his esophagus. The soup's flavor hit him pretty quickly, though slightly diminished by the many small rocks it came with. He was not looking forward to his next bathroom visit.

Pinkie and her family all seemed to accept this and began eating their own soup, Wild taking his time as he carefully looked at each one. He almost dropped his spoon when he saw Igneous bite into his rock while Marble simply crushed her rock into more gravel that she then slurped up. Marble and Cloudy both rotated between drinking the soup and eating the rock while Limestone and Pinkie gobbled theirs down in speedy succession.

In the end, everypony finished their meal with a quick cut of speed, Wild being the only one left. "Ain't ya gonna eat that?" Pinkie asked, pointing at the large stone that sat in the bowl.

"I'm good," Wild told her. "This stuff's so filling, I couldn't eat another bite."

"Not another bite. Not another bite." his puppets repeated as Wild put his hooves over his stomach, hoping it wouldn't growl.

"Well then," Igneous stood up as Cloudy began to pick up the bowls. "It is time we rest in preparation of the morrow."

They all nodded, Wild smiling as he saw Pinkie's mother slowly grab all the bowls. "Here." He used his magic to lift all the bowls and pile them on top of one another, "Let me lend a hoof."

Cloudy blinked at this, only to quickly nod as she gestured him to follow her into the kitchen while the rest of the family all headed upstairs. She pointed to a sink that Wild placed the bowls and pan in before she switched on the tap, filling the sink as she began to clean them. She and Wild worked in silence, her cleaning the bowls while Wild dried them off and placed them in their designated space.

But as they did this, the silence was broken when Wild's stomach let out a growl, making Wild's eyes go wide. "You say you were filled by dinner, yet your stomach speaks otherwise." Cloudy instantly said, Wild looking away with a nervous laugh. "Would you rather starve than eat the meal we prepared for you?"

"No!" Wild turned back to her, "It's just that...well..."

"Well?"

"The soup was nice, but I doubt eating that much rock is good for me."

Cloudy just stared at him blankly, only to slowly nod, "I understand. My apologies, as we feast on rocks so much, we sometimes forget that few others can consume them."

Wild scratched the back of his head, "Nah, its okay. Heck, I wish I could eat it. It's impressive how easy you all are able to bite through them. I'd probably chip a tooth if I tried." Cloudy did a small nod as he continued, "So can all earth ponies eat rocks, or is it just your family, cause I don't think I've ever seen anypony eat one before."

"There may be others, but our family has been eating rocks for many generations."

"Wow. Well...that's really impressive and...I'm sorry if I upset you. The soup was nice."

"I am sorry that we did not realise that others have not our tolerance when it comes to rocks. I will be sure to remember that during the rest of your visit."

Wild did a small gulp, "Wait a minute! Please, don't push yourself on my account."

She shook her head in response, "You are our guest. It is our responsibility to make sure you are as comfortable as possible during your stay."

"Um...okay," Wild looked away a he began to dry the last bowl, "If you insist."

"I do. Now, we must begin our time of rest. The morrow promises to be a challenging day."

Wild nodded and headed back upstairs, soon hopping into bed. He let out a sigh as his puppets floated over him, "Okay buddies, I think first impressions were okay. Here's hoping tomorrows goes even better..."

And as his eyes began to close, sleep began to drift into his body.

...

"WILD!" The unicorn let out a yelp as his eyes shot open, now seeing Pinkie smiling down at him as she stood on his bed. "Time to get up."

"Huh?!" Wild's head turned to the window, now seeing the sun barely beginning to rise above the horizon. "What time is it?"

"Ten minutes later then we should have been up," Limestone told him, the mare leaning to the side of the attic's door. "Don't expect that luxury again."

She turned to leave, Pinkie helping him up. He then let out a yawn and stretched, only to blink as he turned to his marefriend, "Hey, what do you even do here?"

"We're a rock farm," Pinkie replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yes, but what do you do on a Rock Farm?"

"All sorts of things. There's a mine that grow special crystals that glow when they have an electrical charge in them which we sell to places that make lightbulbs. We've also got a query where we gather rocks that can be turned into building materials, but the most important part of our farm is the mineral fields."

"Mineral fields?"

"Yup. You ever heard about laylines?"

"I've...heard about them at Celestia's School. Never really understood it."

"Well, our farm was built on top of a magic layline that carries magic through the earth. The magic it carries helps keep the soil fertile, but that magic can also become dirty. It can pick up different minerals and other things that could make the ground go bad, so we bury rocks into the ground so they can soak up all the bad stuff."

"Oh...so what do you do to the rocks after they soak them up?"

"It depends. If the rocks mostly soak up the metal minerals, we sell them off to be used to make different metals objects. But if they're toxins, we crush 'em into dust."

"Cool."

"HEY! What's the hold-up?!" They both turned to the stairs, Limestone's voice now calling out, "Get the lead out! Do not make me have to come up there and pull you two off one another!" The two blushed at the statement before heading down, now seeing Limestone at the end of the hall with a glare on her face.

When they arrived at the bottom, Wild was surprised to find plates of daffodil sandwiches. He glanced at the others, now seeing that everypony was having a normal breakfast this time. "Yum," Pinkie exclaimed as she began to eat hers, "So what are we doing today? Wild's really excited to see how things work."

"Is that so?" Limestone instantly responded, "Then maybe he'd want to help me with the division!"

"Division?" Wild asked, about to take a bite of his sandwich.

Maud spoke up here, "That's where you break open the rocks and find out if they have any minerals or toxins inside. We then divide them into three groups: Rocks that go to the metal works, rocks that go to the crusher and rocks that go back into the ground because they didn't absorb anything."

"Alright!" Wild rubbed his hooves together before munching down his breakfast and gulping down the water, "Then let's get to work."

Limestone let out a dark chuckle, "You've got spirit." She swallowed her sandwich whole with a big grin, "I look forward to crushing it." She headed out the door, Wild following after. They headed around the back of the house and found a pair of old-looking carts, the two strapping them to their backs as Limestone grabbed a pair of pickaxes and tossing them into the carts, "See if you can keep up city colt." She instantly went into a sprint, Wild quickly trying to keep up with here. A few minutes later, they arrived at a large field filled with rocks sticking out of the ground.

"That's a lot of rocks," Wild commented.

"Yup," Limestone grabbed an axe, "And we've gotta check each and every one of them." She trotted over to the closest one before slamming it with her tool. The sound of clanging metal could be heard as she continued to hit it, a piece soon breaking off as she picked it up, looking it over and nodding before throwing it over at Wild. "Metal!"

Wild caught it and looked it over, only to find himself unable to tell the difference. As such, he and Limestone spent the next ten minutes pulling the rocks free, Wild now seeing it was like an iceberg with only ten percent of it being above the ground. And as they took the rock out, they put it in Wild's cart as Limestone went to another rock, repeating the process as she knocked off a chuck before tossing the piece to Wild. "Toxin."

Wild took it and scanned it over, unable to see a difference before throwing it in Limestone's cart. But as he did this, a bulb went off in his head, "Wait at minute..."

"Hey! Come on!" Limestone turned to him, "Quit standing there and get to work!"

"Hold your horses," Wild pulled the two small pieces out of the carts and showed them to her, "I can't tell the difference between these two rocks. They look exactly the same to me."

Limestone smirked in response, "Oh? Well, I guess everypony can't be as awesome as me. Years of practice have given me the power to tell the difference between any rock."

Wild rolled his eyes, "Well, I might not be able to tell the difference." He held the rocks up to his puppets, Red and Blue tapping the rock before going limp and slowly falling onto Wild's back. "But my little buddies can." Limestone raised an eyebrow at she watched Wild stared at the two rock pieces, nodding before moving over to the rock she was about to check. He tossed the two rocks back into the carts as the Blue puppet flew back up, the Red one staying immobile, "This one has toxins in it."

This statement made Limestone blink before she hacked off a piece, picking it up before her eyes went wide, "Huh. Lucky guess."

"Not quite." Wild added as he lifted to more rocks, "Watch. This one's also got toxins, and this one has metals."

Limestone cut off two pieces and saw he was right both times. "What the-how the heck are you doing this?! Can you see the future?!"

Wild let out a laugh, "I wish. Nah, I'm just using the help of my little buddies."

"Come again?"

"I'm linked to my buddies' spirits. If I want to, I can feel whatever they feel, including the materials of whatever their containers are made from. I just memorized the texture and feel of the broken rocks and moved my buddy into each rock." The look on Limestone's face showed she only understood about fifty-five percent of what he told her, making him chuckle, "Basically, I can tell you which rocks are which without the need to break them apart."

Limestone actually showed a small smile before they got back to work, the two managing remove the rocks at a much quicker pace. "So what's the deal with those puppets anyways?" She asked as they worked to pull their twelfth boulder out of the ground, "You talk about them like they're actually alive."

"They are alive," Wild told her while the remaining four puppets flew around her.

"Yes, we are. Yes, we are. Alive! Alive! Alive!"

"Get off!" The earth pony waved her axe around, the four flying back to Wild.

"Sorry about that. They get pretty annoyed when somepony questions if they're alive or not." He then shot the four a glare, the puppets now flying over to the cart and sitting there. "Basically, they're imaginary friends made real. They started appearing in my head when I was a colt. I thought I was going nuts until I learned how to move them into items, like my puppets."

"So they're just...bits of you that you stuffed in something else?"

Wild shrugged in response. "Not sure. I mean, I honestly don't care, as they were my biggest friends when I was younger. And if you're wondering, they're not dangerous as long as you don't annoy them. Toxin."

The two then pulled the rock out of the dirt, Limestone now saying, "You're one weird pony, you know that?"

Wild chuckled back, "What's wrong with being weird? Who would want to be like everypony else?"

"Hey, I've got nothing against weird ponies. You forget who my sister is? Honestly, I'm glad Pinkie was able to find a guy as crazy as she is. Certainly takes a weight off my mind."

This struck a chord with Wild, "What do you mean?"

Limestone gave a sheepish smile, not daring to look him in the eye as she responded, "I...I love Pinkie, but I've always been worried nopony would be able to see past how...lively she is." She then started to roll another rock to the cart, "I haven't said it, but I'm pretty sure the rest of my family all worried about Pinkie. Pa was probably close to making her use the pairing stone."

"The what?"

"Doesn't matter," they lifted the rock onto the cart. "You're here now, so I guess our worries were just us being stupid." She turned to give Wild to give him a low, dark glare, "I can tell Pinkie really likes you, so you'd better not do anything to hurt her. Cause if you do..." She slammed a hoof into the toxic rock, Wild's eyes going wide at the sight of the thing cracking into dust and burying the rest of the rocks in the cart. "We clear?!"

"Crystal."

"Crystal. Crystal. Crystal."

"Good," Limestone's face turned back to a mischievous smile. "Now come on, we've still got a bunch more rocks to dig up." They got back to work, Wild's buddies making quick work as they cleaned the field a whole hour sooner than Limestone expected. "You're not bad, city colt."

"Thanks...I guess." He replied as they began to leave the field, now passing by Holder's Boulder as they did. "So what's the deal with that thing?"

Limestone showed a proud grin. "That bad boy is the whole reason this farm's here. There was once a large dragon's nest right here, and it was where our great, great whatever grandfather, Holder Cobblestone, found it. It might just be a plain old rock, but he built the family farm around it and it's always brought us good luck.

"Wow...awesome." Wild whispered as they arrived at a pair of sheds, the two dumping the two types of rocks before returning the carts. It was here they went to another shed, now finding Pinkie, Maud and Marble there.

The three were busy untangling a bunch of large lights, Pinkie smiling when she saw them. "Hey you two!" she bounced over to Wild, How was it? You have fun?"

Limestone let out a chuckle as she elbowed the unicorn, the nudge sending him staggering a few feet. "I gotta admit, he's not a totally incompetent loser. He can actually be of use."

This made Pinkie laugh as Wild stood himself back up and turned to the large bundle of lights. "So these are the decorations we're putting up?"

"Yup," Pinkie bounced back over to it. "They're really pretty to look at once they're up." She then pouted as she picked up a line of the lights, only to feel a tug from a knot. "The unfun part is getting them untangled."

Limestone rolled her eyes, "I keep telling you we should just keep them up all year."

"But that wouldn't make them special!" Pinkie whined before turning to her twin. "Right Marble?" The mare said nothing, hiding behind her mane and the light pile.

Wild smirked at their interaction before moving over to help, Limestone doing the same. They worked in silence, only for the unicorn to remember Limestone mentioning the Pairing Stone, which prompted him to ask Pinkie about it. The mare just laughed as she explained before Wild's jaw dropped in response, "Hang on, there's a rock...that ships ponies?"

"Yup," Pinkie giggled as she dived into the pile of lights.

Wild and his puppets all shared a glance as he replied, "That would probably upset a certain community. Might I suggest you don't let Princess Cadance know about it."

"Why?" Maud asked, Pinkie's head popping out of the pile with the light cord's end in her mouth.

"She's the princess of love, not the princess of fair competition. If she found out her job was being done by a rock, she would probably order it to be smashed to bits." The Pie sisters all blinked at him, Pinkie's face breaking out in a massive grin before she burst out laughing. Limestone also let out a chuckle while Marble giggled, Maud's usual deadpan expression now showing a tiny smile.

They kept that happy expression as they continued to unwind the lights, soon getting them completely untangled before threading them through the farm. It was here that Limestone went off to do a section of the farm while Pinkie and Maud headed over to do the silo. That just left Wild and Marble to do the fence before everypony worked together on the house.

And as the two worked, Wild saw that Marble was still trying to not look him in the eye. "I'm not gonna bite you, you know." Wild said, Marble letting out an 'eep' in response. Wild grimaced at her reaction, but kept going anyways, "Sorry. But uh...you don't talk much, do you?" Marble did a small nod, still looking away, "That's okay. I guess with a sister like Pinkie, you don't get a lot of chances to really talk. I just...really want to get to know you better. If you're Pinkie's twin, you two probably share an even closer bond than anypony else." Marble did another nod, making him sigh as she still didn't say a word.

Wild looked back at the lights as he looped them around, another idea popping into his head, "Say, how about...I just ask questions? All you have to do is nod or shake. Does that work?" He watched as Marble did a small hum, only to turn and nod, "Alright. Let's get cooking."

"Get cooking. Get Cooking."

"Do you like...books?" Marble nodded, "Books about rocks?" She shook her head. "Okay, now we're getting somewhere. I'm guessing you don't like action books," Marble nodded. "If you ever meet Pinkie's friend Rainbow, she might try and get you into a book named Daring Do. If that happens, I'll try and explain it to her." Marble showed a small smile, her mane still covering up her face. "Alright, do you like...romance books?" Marble's face now fully showed itself, a big smile on her face as she eagerly nodded. "That's nice to know. Maybe next heartswarming I'll get you one for a present."

This went on for another hour, Wild asking Marble question after question as she continued to respond with nodding or shaking. He soon learned that Marble not only enjoyed romance books, but also mystery and fairy tales. While she didn't get to have it a lot, she liked ice cream and her favourite flavor was rocky road. But the thing she liked more then anything was drawing, which she apparently had a secret cave nopony else knew about with her art.

Knowing he shouldn't indulge into where it was, they finished the fence and started to head back to the house, only to find Pinkie, Maud and Limestone waiting for them. "About time!" Limestone huffed. "Doing the fence should be the easy job! Why'd it take you so long to finish?!"

"Sorry about that. I was getting...more acquainted with Marble." Marble did a small nod, her mane no longer hiding her face. "So, we doing the house now?"

Before the girls could answer, the door opened as Igneous and Cloudy stepped outside, "We require some light gems from the mine. I will get them, but I will require some assistance."

"Ooh!" Pinkie rushed over to her boyfriend, "Wild can help. I'm sure he'd love to see the mine."

Wild gave her glance, only to shrug, "Sure. Sounds like fun." He turned back to Igneous, "Wild Smile reporting for duty." Igneous nodded before walking off, Wild trotting after him as Pinkie waved them goodbye.

A bit of a walk later...

Wild now found himself standing in front of a cave, a long track running from the inside in it. On the track was an empty minecart, which Wild guessed was what they were going to put the gems in. "So..." Wild said as he stared into the mine with his voice echoing, "The gems we're looking for are in here?"

"That is correct," Igneous tied a pair of saddles to the cart before placing one of them on his back. "The gems we require are in one of the deepest parts of the cave. Only two ponies are allowed in that area at any one time."

"Why?" Wild asked as he magically grabbed the saddle and put it on.

"That section of the cave has a weak foundation. Too much talking and too many hooves can cause it to collapse. That is why we must be as quiet as possible once inside."

Wild gulped at the sound of that, a small nod following, "Alright then. I'll be sure to zip the lip." His Green puppet flew down and pulled its hooves across his lips while Yellow made the sound of a zipper zipping.

Igneous showed no emotion at the gesture before pulling an old fashioned gas lamp out of nowhere, lighting it before beginning to pull at the cart. Wild did the same and were soon rolling the metal construct into the mine. It took ten minutes of traversing through several mineshafts before the two reached the entrance of the area they were looking for, Igneous turning to Wild and giving him a shushing gesture.

Wild nodded as they stepped inside, the light of the gas lamp illuminating the chamber as Wild now saw all the different sized gems that were littering the wall. He had to put his hoof over his mouth to stop from going 'Wow', turning to Igneous and watching him pull a pickaxe and a file out of the cart.

He moved over to the closest crystal and placed the file next to it before slowly and carefully grinding the wall around it, doing so for about three minutes until he had created a sizable indent next to it. Once that was done, he placed the tip of the axe blade into the indent before using it like a crowbar to pull the gem free. Wild used his magic to catch the crystal before it hit the ground, Igneous seeing this and nodding as the unicorn gently placed their prize in the cart. The two kept at this for several long minutes, Igneous forgoing the axe since Wild gripped the crystal in his magic and pulled it free once the wall surrounding the gem was filed loose.

The two worked for an hour in silence, the cart slowly being filled up. But as they reached the last crystal, they found it to be really stuck. Wild magically pulled as hard as he could, but it wouldn't come loose. Igneous then put his axe behind the crystal and pushed down, the two combining their forces as the crystal decided to pop out. But as it did this, it shot out like a cannon and slammed Wild in the face.

"Ow!" He couldn't help but yell as he fell back, his voice echoing through the cavern as it made the place begin to shake. Both Wild and Igneous stood perfectly still next, both looking around to see if they were about to be crushed. But after a few seconds, the cavern settled down, only a few small rocks falling off the wall.

They both sighed in relief, Igneous turning to see if Wild was okay. He responded with a firm nod, the earth pony doing the same as they turned back to the cart, picking up the crystal that had hit Wild up and placing it inside. But as Wild picked himself up, he breathed in...only to realize he just breathed in some dust from off the wall that had just been shaking.

The powder was now in his nose, making him start to say, "Ah...ah...AH!" Igneous turned to him and actually appeared to have a look of shock on his face. He quickly kicked the minecart out of the chamber before moving over to Wild, who was still holding back the sneeze. But just as he was about to let it rip, one of his puppets flew up and placed its hoof under his nose. This seemed to stop the sneeze in its tracks, Igneous watching him carefully as the puppet pulled away. They stayed perfectly still as they waited, a minute passing before Igneous sighed in relief and turned away.

Wild smiled as he was about to follow, only to-

"ACHOO!" The sound echoed through the chamber, Igneous turning to glare at Wild. The puppeteer did a slow gulp, only for both to look up at the ceiling. And as the last echo of his sneeze disappeared, the whole place started shaking, the sound of cracking now breaking the ceiling apart.

"We must flee!" The elder stallion ordered before charging to the exit as the rocks began to fall. The two jumped from side to side as they ran down the cave, but as Igneous got within feet of safety, the rock above it broke apart and fell towards him. Wild saw this and pulled himself to a stop as he sparked his horn, grabbing Igneous and pulling him back. The rock slammed milliseconds later, blocking the entrance as Igneous flew back and knocked into Wild, the remaining rocks falling as the world went black for both.

...

"Uhhh..." Wild moaned as he opened his eyes, now seeing he was blind as a bat. Another moan made him turn to his side, now seeing a dark outline of another pony beside him. "Mister Pie?" He sat up and sparked his horn, creating a dim light that allowed him to see that the earth pony hadn't been buried. And as Igneous began to move, Wild pulled himself closer. "You alright?"

"I am...unharmed." He then turned around, his face now illuminated by Wild's magic. "And thou?"

"I'm fine. Just a little-urgh!" He put both hooves to his head as a sudden explosion of loud voices ringed out inside his brain.

"What is wrong?"

Wild's eyes squinted open as he started glancing around, only to sigh, "Shoot. Looks like my little buddies' containers were destroyed."

"What does that mean?"

"It's my magic that allows them to jump into a new container. If it's not active when their containers are damaged, the only place they can go is back inside my head."

"I doth not understand. Is thy in trouble?"

"No...but all those voices are giving me a migraine. Hang on." He started shifting his hooves along the ground, soon finding five decent-sized rocks, which all began to glow before floating up, "You guys okay?"

"Yep."

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Yepper."

"Randy dandy."

Wild nodded as he let out a series of pants, "Good." He then started to increase his horn's light, now seeing that they had fallen into a small pocket between the rocks. A bunch of the crystals were littered the rubble, but aside from that, it was rocks in every direction. "We're trapped. How long would it take us to dig ourselves out of here?"

"I doth not know. I have no knowledge of which direction will lead to freedom. We could spend hours digging, only to go deeper into the mine."

Wild sighed at that, "And how long do you think it'll be until the others come looking for us and start digging us out?"

"Many hours, if not days."

"And how much air do you think we have?"

"An hour, if not less."

"Argh!" Wild picked up a rock and started hitting his head with it, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! And everything was going so well! Why'd I have to mess it up?!"

Igneous quickly grabbed the rock out of his hoof, "Thou should not berate oneself so cruelly. This was an accident."

"Yeah..." Wild slumped over as he said this, "But making your mine collapse isn't the impression I was hoping to make." He sighed again, moaning as his head slid against the rocks behind him. "So much for getting you to like me. Guess you'll want me to leave as soon as we get out of here and never talk to Pinkie again."

Igneous raised an eyebrow at this, "What makes thou think I would make thou do that?"

Wild looked up at him with a huge frown, "Oh come on, I've trapped us in what could be our tomb! You're really going to let your daughter remain in a relationship with somepony like that?!"

Igneous tilted his head as he replied, "Thou speaks as if thou wishes to have thy's relationship with my daughter terminated."

"Of course not. But you have to admit this isn't a great way to get you to like me."

"And why should it matter if I like thee?"

"Because...you're her family. If you don't like me...Pinkie will feel like she'll need to choose between being with me and being with you all, and I...I don't want to give her that choice."

"And what would one do if my daughter did have to make that choice?" He knocked on one of the rocks, getting an echo back.

"I'd make it for her. Losing me wouldn't be as bad as losing you. But like I said, I didn't want to make her have that choice."

"So thou's been trying to gain our approval?"

"What boyfriend doesn't try to gain the approval of their girlfriend's parents? Didn't you try and gain the approval of your wife's parents?"

"Cloudy Quartz and I were matched by the pairing stone. I had no need to earn her parent's approval, as you have no need to earn mine." Wild's eyes went wide, trying to respond as Igneous continued, "My daughter is many things. Rambunctious, overeager, and has a tendency to act without thought in certain situations. But the one thing Pinkamina isn't...is a fool. If she trusts thou enough to give thy her heart, then it means thou is a pony worth having it."

Wild's jaw began to tremble, tears beginning to appear in his eyes, "Seriously? You...I...thank you."

Igneous nodded back, "More than anything, thou makes my daughter happy. That is more than enough to convince me thy is the right stallion for my daughter."

"Um...thank you." Wild blushed at those words before glancing back around, "But I'm not gonna be making anypony happy while I'm stuck in here."

"Agreed. I've been searching, but am unable to locate a way that might help our escape."

Wild sighed as he picked himself up, slowly trotting around before he felt something tickle his skin. "Huh?" He began to move around the feeling, soon feeling it hit his chest as he walked up to a certain part of the cave pocket, "Do you...feel that?"

Igneous turned to him before holding up his hoof, feeling the same sensation, "Wind."

"A breeze," Wild continued. "And where there's a breeze, there's a way out." He slowly followed the breeze until he reached a rock wall, now finding a hole that the wind was coming from. Both he and even Igneous smiled at one another before they began pulling the rocks away.

For the next thirty minutes, they dug their way through the rubble, following a small trail of wind as it zigzagged. It was here that they found themselves at the edge of the chamber, finding the source of the breeze to be a small hole with light flooding into the area. Igneous then looked through and announced, "This leads to another mineshaft."

"Perfect!" Wild cheered, "Then let's break through it and get out of here!"

"I can not. Unless I break through this wall in the exact right spot, the whole mineshaft will fall upon us and trap us once more. There is not enough light to see where I must strike."

Wild sighed at the statement, only to look up and see a crystal above him. "Wait...not enough light! I can fix that!"

Igneous raised an eyebrow as he turned to the unicorn, now seeing him staring at several crystals in the cave, "What does thou mean?"

"Simple. I can do a little something I picked up from a friend," Wild replied as he summoned a small surge of lightning magic, quickly shooting them into the rocks. They both watched as the electricity surged through the rubble all around them before passing into the ground, quickly turning the pitch dark tunnel into a cave as bright as the sun.

Both stallions smiled as Igneous turned back to the wall, inspecting it for several minutes before nodding and smashing his hoof into it. One hit was all that was needed to make the crack spread along the rest of the wall, forming a perfect archway of cracks that quickly fell apart to make a doorway.

Cloudy Quartz and her daughters were all heading to the mine now. Wild and Igneous had been gone for a long time, and Igneous was not one to miss dinner, so they had gone down to see what was taking them so long.

But as they arrived outside the mine, they found the two stallions pushing a minecart out while being covered in dirt. "Dad! Wild!" Pinkie bounced over, a huge worried frown on her face, "What happened to you two?"

"Err..." Wild muttered out, only for Igneous to speak up.

"There was a mild accident in the mine. Nopony's fault. It is thanks to young Wild Smile here that we were able to escape with our lives." Pinkie's eyes grew three times as big, stars appearing in them as her smile increased to the same amount. She quickly bounced over to Wild and threw her hooves around him.

"Thank you so much!"

Wild put his hoof around her, now looking up to see the rest of her family. In doing so, he saw something he had been hoping to see since first arriving: Acceptance.

Each of them nodded at Wild, showing they were happy he and Pinkie were together. The young puppeteer had earned their friendship and agreement for him to keep dating Pinkie.

Despite everything, today had been a good day.

Two days later...

Heartswarming had come and was now coming to an end. On the top of the Pie house, Wild was sitting on the roof while watching as the sun began to set.

It had been an interesting few days at the farm. The day after Wild and Igneous's incident, Heartswarming Eve, the Apples had arrived and had not been all too keen when they learned about the Pie family's way of doing the holiday. Wild had been expecting it though.

Applejack wasn't so open-minded, secretly redecorating the place the way she liked, which led to an accident that had sent Holder's Boulder rolling down into the quarry. This then went to the Apple Family being asked to leave, which lead to them coming back with a sudden better understanding of the Pie's way of doing Heartswarming. After that, everything went much better for everypony, and were now in the living room enjoying things.

"There you are." Wild turned to see Pinkie's head poking out of the skylight she had climbed out of before moving over to him, "What are you doing up here?"

"Just...partaking in my own little Heartswarming tradition. Every year since I was a colt, I've always watched the sunset and say goodbye to a great Heartswarming."

"Oh? Mind if I join in?" Wild nodded as she sat down and placed her head on his shoulder. "This really has been a great Heartswarming."

"Yeah...though I think I pulled something pushing Holder's Boulder up the hill." Pinkie laughed at this as he continued, "I'm just glad your family likes me."

"I told you not to worry about it."

"Maybe. But I'm still relieved." They continued to watch as the sun sank below the horizon, both content to just be in each other's company. "I wonder how everypony else's Heartswarming is going?"

"I bet they're going great. Heartswarming's always a great time, no matter who you are. I bet right now, every pony's having an awesome time."

Ponyville...

Flash, Twilight, Spike, Springer, Scootaloo, Grand, Lightning, Rarity, Sweetie, Trixie, Script were sitting around a large table along with Flash and Twilight's parents. They were all laughing. singing and exchanging gifts as they ate. They were also pulling on crackers, Grand and Script currently tugging at it until it broke in Scripts favor.

Everypony clapped as Script took out the party hat along with the novelty comb. He put it on and read the joke that came with it, everypony laughing next Script showed a small smile. It was clear everypony was happy to be there.

Cloudsdale...

Rainbow, Fluttershy, Iron and Soarin were all at Fluttershy's parent's house, Rainbow's parents also being there alongside Fluttershy's younger brother Zephyr Breeze. Iron had even invited Skybreaker, and everypony was more than happy to have the decorated hero join them.

Angel was also there, enjoying a carrot in the kitchen as everypony hung around the living room. As he did this, he noticed Zephyr sneak through the kitchen with a clove of mistletoe in his hooves. He smirked as he saw Rainbow lay beside Soarin as they both read a Daring Do book. It was here that he was about to put the plant under himself, but Angel had other ideas.

As he was about to call for Rainbow, Angel jumped up onto the counter. The pegasus turned to him, the bunny grabbing a pepper shaker and cranking it in front of him. A burst of the flavoring flew into his face, making him sneeze and send the mistletoe flying.

It landed on the lights in the living room, catching and hanging right above Rainbow and Soarin. The couple looked up and smiled, quickly turning to share a kiss. Zephyr began to cry while the other three couples all decided they didn't need mistletoe to show affection. Skybreaker was the only one in the room not doing this, but instead took a drink as he leaned back in his chair with a smile.

The Crystal Empire...

The city was having a big party in the courtyard under the castle, the entire kingdom enjoying themselves as they danced or enjoyed the buffet being offered. Cadance and Shining were both dancing, Cadance only able to do slow dances in her condition. While they did this, Gorgenia was showing off a statue of the dancing couple, others complimenting her work. Thorax was also there, happily dancing alongside every young crystal ponies before morphing into an array of cute animals they got to pet and ride.

Over by one of the castle legs, Hiveena was simply leaning against it watching the festivities. She could feel the amazing amount of love coming from the celebration, knowing it was something truly special. Changelings didn't have these kinds of events, and she had never gotten this close to ones during her travels.

But as she watched, she suddenly found a glass of punch floating in front of her, making her turn to see Ruby. The Crystal Knight was magically moving the glass to the changeling, the bug taking the drink with a small smile. They both sipped their drinks as they watched the festivities, both content to just stay where they were while enjoying the sights of the happy ponies in the party.

Canterlot...

Luna and Celestia stood side by side on a balcony, Celestia finishing the setting of the sun as Luna began to lift up the moon. As she did that, Celestia headed back into the tower before returning with a blanket. She placed it on her sister's back, the moon princess smiling back as she finished her work.

"Yeah...you're right." Wild nodded as he and Pinkie snuggled up closer as they watched the moon float up. "Bye Heartswarming. Thanks for being another awesome holiday. See you next year."

Heartswarming was a time of many things. It was a time of being thankful for everything you have, and everypony you care about. It was a time of forgiveness, putting all the bad blood you have with somepony behind you. It was a time of family, sharing many happy moments with those closest to you. And most of all, it was a time of friendship. A time when all the coldness of the world was melted away by the flames of friendship.

Happy Heartswarming Everypony.

The Lost City

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It had just struck midnight in Ponyville, everypony in the town were fast asleep as Luna watched over their fun and imaginative dreams. And as this happened, there was one dream that was different. This dreamer was within the castle of friendship, a certain defender named Flash Sentry. He was asleep in bed with Princess Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn snuggled up to his chest as his wings and hooves were tightly wrapped around her.

But as they slept, Flash's dreams began to play out, the young pegasus now standing in a black void. "Hello?" He echoed into the distance, his eyes darting around as he tried to find anything in the abyss. "This is...way too familiar."

He let out a sigh as he slumped over in the void, his eyes scanning the place over before seeing a speck of light to appear in the corner of his eye. "Hmm?" he muttered as he watched the mite fly over to him, only for its light to grow brighter. As it did this, the light suddenly shot at him like a bullet. Unable to react, the light consumed his body, making him close his eyes.

And when he reopened his eyes, he found he was back in his room. He blinked at the sight, only to find he was floating in the air...while his wings were completely stationary. "What the-" Flash looked down, expecting to see Twilight casting a levitation spell, only to see her still fast asleep while snuggled up to...him. Flash's eyes went wide, scanning over his lying body before trying to touch his body with his hooves, only to for them to go right through. "WHOA!"

The defender flexed his hooves next, now seeing they were transparent before looking back at his body, seeing and hearing air come out of his nose, "Ooookay, I'm breathing, so I don't think I'm a ghost. Is this like Shade's machine?" A certain memory then chimed into his head, making him say, "Well, my body is still there, so maybe its like Zecora's potion. That or-"

His words came to a stop as the world around him move. Quickly looking around, he saw the walls start to get closer, "Hey! What the-" He reached out to the wall, only for his hoof to phase right through it. "Oh. Right..."

The defender then found his body start to float upward, soon zipping through the ceiling before leaving the castle entirely. He then found himself in the sky, the clouds swaying around him. "Now what?!" He growled, only for a bright flash of light to shine in front of his eyes, making him rapidly blink. "Augh!"

And when his eyes reopened, he found himself looking at five lights in the sky, all of them turning into four very familiar ponies...and one jakhowl. It was Springer, Trixie, Soarin, Ruby and Cold, all floating in front of him, "Guys? What's going on? Are the rest of you having an out of body experience as well?!" His question was given no answer, causing him to raise an eyebrow before he stared into their eyes, only to see nothing but a spaced-out expression on their faces. "Guys?"

He then floated in front of them, waving his hooves as he started yelling their names. But as he did this, the world began to move again, this time flying over Sweet Apple Acres before turning into a blur. The landscape swiftly started to change, Flash's eyes staring down as he found he was suddenly able to follow every inch. Before he knew it, he couldn't turn his head as he watched the land burn itself into his memory. Eventually, they reached the edge of the Equestria's western border, only to fly past it. The town he and Cold had saved was passed next, now switching to unfamiliar territory as he continued to watch. But despite never seeing any of these areas before, all he needed was a glance for it to be printed to memory.

The miles flew past in seconds, Flash's brain burning as he watched the mountains go by...only for it to finally come into a stop. All six were now floating over some mountains, Flash flexing his stiff joints as he began to look around, "Finally...that hurt my eyes. Now, why am I-"

His words came to a stop as he saw his answer. It was a city sitting at the base of a mountain. The place was ancient-looking, the designs being some he had only seen in a few of Twilight's oldest books. But the buildings inside looked like they were brand new, no signs of ageing, erosion or weather damage. They didn't have any plants or moss growing, though the area around the buildings were certainly overgrown. The city also had an impressive waterway, a river from the mountains flowing into a series of canals that bled throughout the city and filled several large pony-made lakes.

Flash's mind went blank at the image, unable to do anything except marvel at the spectacle before him. But his attention was soon drawn somewhere else as the corner of his eye saw something else. Turning to his right, he now saw a brilliant flash of...darkness.

His eyes shrunk at the sight, the shadows then splitting into seven shapes, each strangely more different from the last. But as he blinked at the shadows, one stood in front of six others, its form morphing to what Flash could only guess was a unicorn. Not only that, the unicorn was the only one moving while the others just stood there perfectly still...just like his friends.

"Who are you?" Flash asked, only for silence to be the answer. "Hey! Can you hear me?!" Again, there was no reply from the figure, but then Flash saw that the unicorn's mouth began to move...but no sound came out.

Before he could think of another way to communicate, he suddenly felt gravity take hold, yanking him to the ground, "WHOA!" he yelped as he tried flapping his wings, but they were useless. And as he saw his body fling to the earth, he looked up and saw that the figure was also falling with him.

He cried out as he watched the ground grow closer to him, flinching in preparation of the inevitable collision. But as they reached the ground, both suddenly phased through the dirt, darkness consuming them before dropping into a new vision of light. There, their bodies finally slowed down, Flash's eyes reopening before gasping as he saw a new sight.

It was a sight of pure beauty, a chamber filled with reflective crystals, all of them bouncing around the light that hit them. And as his eyes scanned over every inch of the room, he saw that the light came from a single round crystal with rainbow-colored lights spiralling around inside. As for the rock, it was standing on a crystal podium, which went up about ten-meters. Flash couldn't take his eyes off the crystal, feeling a sense of...familiarity while gazing at it.

"--ash." The pegasi's ears shot up as he heard a voice echo through the chamber. It sounded muffled and coupled with the static noise, soon speaking up again, "--ash Sent--, --ur ---tiny a----- you. --me. -in- -- an- ---cover wh-"

Flash's ears tried to hear the last words, only to feel something grab him again. His body was yanked again, this time right through the chamber's ceiling. He wanted to yell out to the voice, asking it to repeat themselves, but before he could even try, he was above the city again.

"Augh! What's going on?!" Flash yelled, only to see his five friends stand in front of him. "Guys?" The five suddenly started to emote, each one adopting a scowl before getting into a battle stance. Blinking at the sight, he saw that they were looking behind him, making him turn around to see the other figure's team also getting into battle-ready positions.

But before Flash could even ask what was going on, everyone except him and the unicorn figure exploded, his body suddenly feeling himself flying back the way he came, "WHOA!" he yelped as he saw the unicorn flying off in another direction.

He quickly picked up speed and soon found himself moving twice as fast as last time. Despite this, he could still make out the world that was zipping past him. In no time at all, he found himself back at Ponyville, his body phasing right back down to the bedroom.

"GYAH!" He screamed as his eyes shot open, his body jerking as he accidentally threw Twilight to the edge of the bed while landing on the other edge. Both ponies felt themselves tip over, Twilight gasping as she woke up before both were succumbed to gravity's cruel grip.

"WHOA!" They both cried as they fell off the bed, two thuds echoing off the floor.

"Owww…" Twilight moaned as she started to rubbing her head, soon picking herself up before looking at the bed. "What the-what happened?" Her eyes squinted as she saw Flash's back legs laying up the side of the bed. "Flash? You okay?" She crawled over to him, now seeing him staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes, "Flash?"

Flash didn't respond, his breath frantic as he just stared at the ceiling. Twilight repeated his name again, reality starting to settle in as he turned to the sound, now seeing the worry on his lover's face, "Twilight?"

"Flash? Are you okay?" Her horn began to shine as she picked him and plopped him back down on the bed. She then started to rub his chest with her hoof as she asked, "Flash? What's wrong?"

"I...I..." Flash tried to talk but his mouth could barely move. But as his breathing began to slow down, he put his wing around Twilight, "Twilight...I..."

"What's wrong Flash? I know that face. What happened?" His eyes slowly drifted over to her, a mix of confusion and worry on his face before he did a small nod.

Twilight was silent as he began to explain his dream, trying to go every detail. She listened with pure intrigue, a mixture of emotions gracing her face before he finished, "Then I...I woke up." He then saw Twilight's face, nothing but confusion in her expression, "Well? What do you think?"

The alicorn just blinked before replying, "This...this was just a dream, right?"

"I don't know," Flash responded before getting off the bed. "It felt like a dream...but at the same time, it felt so real. And...and I remember it. I remember every single detail. I can remember the exact route we took, I can describe every inch of the city I saw, and I remember exactly what those other ponies looked like. How many dreams have you had that you could remember so vividly?"

"None." Twilight instantly replied, "I...can't." She then crossed her hooves as she continued, "Flash...do you think this was a vision?"

"I don't know!" Flash groaned as he spun around and fell back, his breathing increasing again. "I...I just don't know."

Twilight sighed at the sight, cringing at the pain now showing on the pegasi's face, "Flash..." She laid down and put her head on his chest, "It's alright Flash, we'll figure this out. If you think this dream was more than just that, I'll believe you and help you figure it out. But...do you want to think this was just a dream or something more?"

She waited for his reply, listening to his heart's beat start to go steady before responding, "I do. I don't know why, but something in my gut's telling me to not ignore what I saw."

"Then...let's start with telling the princesses." Her horn began to shine, summoning a scroll and quill, "Dear Princess Celestia…"

As soon as the sun was up the next morning, Twilight had Spike send the letter to Celestia before she gathered their friends to the castle. Once there, Flash went over the dream, only to get varying responses from his friends. Those like Springer, Grand and Fluttershy believed him when he said he thought it more than just a dream, while ponies like Iron, Applejack and Rainbow told him it was just a dream and nothing more. Pinkie and Wild also asked if he had just eaten something weird before going to bed, which didn't amount to anything.

But then Celestia's reply came, showing she believed there was more to this dream then meets the eye. She requested for them to come to Canterlot, the decision slightly changing everypony's opinion of the dream. And as they got on the Friendship Express, being all the CMC, the defenders, Mane Seven and Wild, Grand asked Flash to recite the whole experience.

"So who do you think those ponies you saw are?" Scootaloo asked, the rest of the CMC nodding at the question as the defender finished his explanation.

Flash slumped back in his seat, rubbing his chin, "I don't know. I don't think I've ever seen them before...though they were just shadows, so it's not like I could really tell who or what they were."

"Well, what did they look like?" Rarity asked. "Could you tell what species of pony they were?"

Flash hummed as he closed his eyes, biting his lip as he replied, "Three of them were definitely unicorns, maybe a fourth."

"How can you not be sure?" Rainbow responded with crossed hooves, "Didn't you see if they had a horn or not?"

"That's just the thing. They did have what looked like a horn, but I think they were wearing armor."

"Armor?"

Flash started waving his hooves, gesturing to his head and hooves, "Their body was really bulky and had a lot of sharp edges. It looked like they were wearing a full set of armor from head to hoof."

"Oh, I get it," Lightning spoke up, "You can't tell if they're a unicorn because they might either be wearing unicorn armor or just spiky armor. For all you know, they're an earth pony or zebra." Flash nodded in response.

"So what about the other three? Can you tell what they were?"

"Well...one kinda looked like a griffon, but not like Gilda." Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this, gesturing for more details. "They had wings, talons and a beak, but...they were a lot slimmer and seemed to have hooves on their back legs instead of lion paws." Rainbow and Pinkie exchanged glances, neither remembering seeing a griffon like that when they visited Griffonstone.

"The other two?" Springer asked next.

"One was a pegasus, I'm sure about that. But the last one..." Flash paused as he tilted his head back and forth, "They kinda looked like a unicorn, but their horn was way longer...and it was curved backwards. And it was like...in a Y shape at the end."

"Oh my," Fluttershy gasped, "I've never heard of a creature like that."

"Neither have I," Twilight added with crossed hooves, "It's one of the reasons I think there's more to this dream than just that. No offense Flash, but you have a lousy imagination."

"None taken," Flash grumbled, looking away as Twilight continued to talk.

"Basically, I don't think he made it up. I'm sure the princesses might have some idea about what this creature could be." She then looked out the window, "And we won't have to wait much longer. Everypony, get your stuff." They all nodded before gathering their things, soon disembarking as the train came to a stop.

"Princess Twilight!" They turned to see one of the guards standing on the platform, bowing as the alicorn approached, "Princess Celestia sent us to collect you. Your carriages await." Twilight nodded before the group followed him outside, now finding a bunch of pegasi drawn carriages waiting for them. They all got in, Rainbow and Flash deciding to make room by flying themselves as they enjoyed a quick trip to the castle. There, they spotted Trixie waiting at the entrance.

She waved as they landed, soon moving over and pulling Twilight into a hug. "It's so great to see you all."

"It's great to see you as well," Twilight told her, both pulling away as Trixie turned to give Flash a smirk.

"So...I hear I've been showing up in your dreams." She tapped him on the nose, "Naughty colt. The only mare that should be in your dreams is that one," she pointed at Twilight, everypony laughing at this as the two blushed at her comment. Trixie then told them to follow, explaining Celestia and Luna were in one of the libraries.

A few minutes later, they walked into the room, only to see the princesses, along with Soarin and Cold. Everypony's eyes went wide at the sight as Celestia greeted them, "Hello my little ponies." She turned to Flash, "Flash, we were intrigued to hear about your strange dream. That's why we called everypony involved here."

"Hey everypony!" Soarin flew over and landed next to Rainbow, "So what's the deal? Why'd I get called here?"

"It's...hard to explain," Flash replied before turning to Cold. "Surprised to see you got here so quickly. With all your wandering, I figured we'd have to have this meeting without you."

Cold just shrugged, "Actually, your dream had some pretty good timing. I arrived in Canterlot yesterday to give the princesses my latest report. I should have already left, but then we got your letter."

"Well...that's a creepy coincidence," Scootaloo commented, a few others nodding at her words.

"So, we're just waiting for Ruby?" Twilight asked, everypony sitting around a large table the others were already around.

"Not just her," Luna responded with a small smile, "Given the strangeness of this event, we decided it was best to call in a few experts. We sent some guard carriages to Manehatten to collect them, so they should be here soon."

As if on cue, the library doors opened to reveal Ruby alongside Flash's parents. "Mom! Dad!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she hopped out of the seats and leapt into Misty's hooves, both hugging tightly.

"Hello sweetheart," She turned to Flash, a slight giggle following this, "The princesses called us when they got your message. They thought we should be here, in case this had something to do with your Sacred Light."

"Of course," Flash smacked his head. "This has got to be connected to that."

"I can't believe we didn't realize it," Twilight added.

"Well, as long as somepony did, its fine." Trail replied as they sat down. "Alright son, tell us everything."

Flash nodded before for what felt like the hundredth time that day, he went over his unusual dream and everything that happened. While he talked, Misty and the alicorns got up and started pulling books down from the shelves while continuing to listen, soon covering the table with tomes as Flash finished his story.

"You were right to be suspicious of this dream," Trail told him. "I don't think it's just a dream."

"Agreed. This sounds like a type of vision." Misty added. "Would you not agree Princess Luna?"

The princess didn't respond, instead going over some books on ancient architecture. "No...no..." she flipped through several pages, "Not that. Not that either."

"Luna? What's wrong?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow as she watched her sister put away another book.

"The city Flash described...I swear it sounds familiar. I know I've seen something similar to it before, but I can't for the life of me remember where."

Celestia hummed at this, reviewing the facts internally before a bulb went off in his head. "Wait, I know!" Her horn ignited, the princess disappearing in a golden flash before returning a second later. And as she reappeared, she held up a small wooden chest, "In here."

"A chest?" Spike asked, Celestia placing the box on the table.

"Yes. You see, this chest has a stasis spell cast upon it so that anything placed inside is protected from the flow of time, preventing it from aging." She stared down at it, a wistful look on her face. "I haven't opened this box in a few centuries."

Her horn shined as she opened it, revealing a small sketchbook inside. Luna gasped at the sight, "Is that-"

"Starswirl's sketchpad, yes." She took the book out, opening it to show everypony several drawings of many different ruins. Twilight's eyes went wide as she appeared to be close to drooling at the sight, unable to believe she had one of Starswirl's actual notepads in front of her.

As for Flash, his eyes narrowed before going wide-eyed as Celestia stopped on a particular page. "There! That's it!" Celestia came to a stop as Flash pointed at an image, "That's exactly what the city in my dream looked like!" Everypony blinked at the design, Flash then asking, "What is that city? Do you know?"

"That's the Lost City of Faust," Celestia announced without even looking. "This was one of Starswirl's life goals: To find the city of the alicorns."

"The Lost City of Faust?" Twilight whispered, turning to Misty and Trail, "Didn't you once say something about finding a reference to it?"

Misty nodded in response, "The city named after the creator of our world. The place where the alicorns called home before they divided into the three races and spread across the land...at least, that's what the legends say."

Luna shook her head, "It's more than just that. This city is where Starswirl first found Celestia and I when we were young."

Everypony went wide-eyed at this, but Celestia continued despite their reactions, "He spent decades searching for it, only to find it and us in the process. Realizing our potential, he returned to Equestria and raised us to be who we are now."

Luna let out a huff as she then said, "However, before you ask what we know about the place...well, when we were older, we tried to take a journey back to the city. But when we arrived where the city had been, the place had completely vanished."

"Vanished?!" Sweetie gasped.

"How does a whole city vanish?" Apple Bloom added.

"We don't know," Celestia replied while biting her lip. "Starswirl spent the rest of his life trying to relocate it, but found nothing before he disappeared. After that, nopony has ever mentioned finding the city again." She then turned to Flash, "Until now."

Flash said nothing as he stared at the book, "The Lost City of Faust...this is the place where the first alicorns lived after they were created by the Sacred Light, right?" He looked up at his parents, both nodding before he said, "If that's true...I have to go there."

Everypony now turned to him, blinking at him while Twilight exclaimed, "What?!"

Flash stood up from this seat. "I have to go to this city. I don't know why...but I think that voice was telling me to come to that city." He glared back at the picture, "There must be something there for me...and maybe I can figure out why I was given the Sacred Light."

"I thought we knew why you had the Sacred Light?" Pinkie asked.

Rainbow nodded in agreement, "Yeah! Didn't your mom like...absorb it while she was pregnant with you?"

"But what if there's more to it than that?" Flash replied as he pointed at himself, "The Sacred Light is alive. It chose to let me use its power...so maybe it also chose to enter me when I was born. If that's the case, it has to have a reason." He stared back down at the book, "I have to know."

Applejack raised an eyebrow at this. "So ya'll wanna take a who knows how long trip to a city yah not even sure will be there, facin' Celestia knows what along da way, out of idle curiosity?"

Flash nodded, "Yes."

Soarin pumped his hooves at this, "Awesome! Sounds like fun!" He got up and moved over to Flash, "Count me in. If I was in your dream, it means whatever's calling for you wants me there too."

Flash smirked back before slapping wings, the knight then turning to the others in the dream, "What about you all? I won't make you come if you don't want to, but-"

"Say no more," Springer replied as he gave him a thumbs up. "I'd be coming even if you didn't ask. Anywhere you're going, I'm going too."

"And don't think you'll be leaving me out of this," Trixie told him while tilting her hat. "If you want Trixie there beside you, then Trixie will be there to help however she can."

Flash nodded at them before turning to the last two candidates, now seeing both just stare at him. Seeing this, Flash spoke up, "Ruby, I know you're not one to spend a large amount of time away from the Empire, but whoever it is calling to me, they must want you there for a reason. So-"

"Enough," Ruby huffed before flashing a hoof, "No need for a big speech. I'll come."

"You will?" Flash asked with raised eyebrows, Ruby nodding back.

"After all the times you've helped me, it wouldn't be very knightly of me to not help you."

"But what about the empire?" Twilight asked, "And Hiveena. If you're not there-"

"While I admit I was hesitant around the changelings at first, I've since grown a bit more comfortable with them, especially Thorax. He is way too kind for his own good. And even if Hiveena acts out, I'm certain Thorax and Prince Shining Armor can keep her in line."

Flash nodded, then turning to Cold. "How about it Cold? Wanna make it five for five?"

Everypony watched as Cold crossed his front hooves, a blank expression on his face before replying, "As interested as I am to see what this is all about, I'm currently in the middle of a mission assigned to me by the princesses. I couldn't stop that to go off on a new adventure even if I wanted to." He turned to Celestia, "Only a princess can grant me that permission."

Celestia did a small nod, "Permission granted Cold. If you wish to accompany Flash, then you have our full support."

Cold shrugged at her words, "Very well. If that's what the princesses wish, then I will accompany you."

"Alright!" Flash cheered.

"Don't forget about us!" Rainbow added while tapping the table with her hoof, "If you all are going, then so are we!"

"That's right," Rarity nodded.

"We're part of the team too!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I'm...in," Fluttershy muttered while twiddling her hooves.

Applejack let out a long sigh before saying, "Ah still think this whole thing's crazy, but don't think ya'll can leave me outta the crazy."

"Don't think you're leaving the defenders out," Iron added while pumping his hooves.

Lightning nodded in agreement, "No kidding. You'll need some real muscle to stand a chance against whatever's waiting for you."

"I'm in too!" Wild cheered as his puppets flew over him. "Unknown locations and countless danger awaiting? Talk about WILD!"

"WILD! WILD! WILD!"

Grand laughed at the sight, his face beaming at his student and his loyal friends, "I'd agree to go with you, but Ponyville will need somepony to keep the peace. Though I'm pretty sure I have nothing to worry about."

"Of course," Twilight replied with a single clap of her hooves, "When we work together, nothing can stop us." She turned to smile at Flash, "It'll be a long journey, so we better start getting prepared! We'll need lots of scrolls and cameras so I can document everything we find there..." she started vibrating as her grin began to grow, "Oh, I can't wait!" But as she said this, she saw a frown start to form on Flash's face, "What? What's wrong Flash?"

Flash sighed as everypony else looked at him, "I...I don't think you all should come."

Everypony went wide-eyed, Twilight gasping, "What?! Why?! Why don't you want us to come with you?!"

"I do want you to come," he told her. "But...something in my gut is telling me you shouldn't."

"So we should just listen to your gut?!" Rainbow asked in a low tone, "What if your gut told you to jump off a cliff?!"

"Then it probably wants me to fly somewhere," Flash flexed his wings for emphasis. "But that's not the point. I just...have a feeling about this. That dream showed me those five...and it didn't show me you." he gestured to the five standing in a group. "Why would it do that if it wanted you to come with me?"

Everyone exchanged glances at his statement, frowns and uncertainty on their faces before Pinkie spoke up, "It could have just been showing you the ponies it wanted you to bring along that usually wouldn't join us on this kind of adventure."

"Then why did it show me Springer?" Flash asked as he pointed at the jakhowl, "He said it himself that he'd come, even if I didn't ask." He shook his head next, "No, I think whoever's calling out to me only wants me to bring these five."

"So we should just listen to whoever it is that's calling you?" Iron deadpanned, "That's stupid. Heck, what if this is a trap? What if it only wants you to leave us behind cause it knows it can't beat the rest of us."

"Hey!" Trixie barked with a pout, "Are you saying we can't protect Flash if we need too?!"

However, her statement was ignored as Lightning spoke up next, "I agree with Iron. If this is something it wants this group, it may be based on who wouldn't be suited. What if those unicorns you saw can counter ice, illusions or crystals? Heck, they might even have a way to counter aura."

"I don't think this is a trap," Flash replied with crossed hooves.

"Let me guess," Applejack spoke up. "Another gut feeling?"

"Yes. Don't ask me how I know, but...I just know we can trust this thing."

"But you don't know that for sure," Twilight instantly responded, her tone now changed to a low, dark tone. "Flash...this is reckless what you're suggesting. What if this is some ploy to steal your power from you?"

"And what if it's not?" Flash countered, "What if whoever's calling me out wants, or needs, me to bring just them? What if bringing somepony else angers it and causes it to warp the city away?"

"Warp the city away?" Wild asked, raising an eyebrow.

Flash shrugged, "It's possible. If it wasn't there when Starswirl went back, it had to be somewhere, and it had to get there somehow. All I'm saying is, I trust this thing. The Sacred Light's never done anything to put me in danger, as its trusted in me to wield its power...so I have to trust in it."

Twilight's mouth kept opening and closing, her brain showing a bit steam coming off it before turning to Celestia and Luna, "Princesses! Please tell him how crazy this is!"

Celestia and Luna both turned to one another, having a mental conversation before Celestia walked around the table. Flash had to admit in that moment that it had been a long time since he had seen how tall Celestia was. The alicorn stood over him, his form almost shrinking as he looked up at her and saw a stern look on her face. Flash couldn't feel any smaller...till Celestia's expression turned into a smile, "Flash, do you truly believe this is what the one calling to you wants?"

Flash took a deep breath and clutched his element's meaning before nodding, "Yes princess, this is what I believe."

Celestia nodded in response, "Then we shall follow it." She turned to everypony else, "Flash will be making this pilgrimage with only those he saw in his dream. The rest of you will remain behind and await their return." The look on everypony's faces weren't exactly happy, Twilight's face morphing between confusion and anger. As for the rest, they didn't reply, unable to go against Celestia's order as she added, "Now, we have much preparation to do."

Luna spoke up next as she turned to her student, "Come along Trixie. I wish to make sure your battle skills are in top form before you head out. Ruby, please help me with this."

"Yes princess," Trixie and Ruby replied before they followed their mentor out of the library. As they did this, the others all split up into groups, most leaving the library until only Flash and the two remaining alicorns were left.

Twilight had a dark expression on her face, her form looking away from the two. "Twilight..." Flash tried to say as he reached out to touch her shoulder, only for her to suddenly cut into a sprint. And as she ran out of the library, the defender could only sigh as he saw she was holding back tears.

"Give her time," Celestia told him. "She's scared."

"Scared that I won't come back?" Celestia nodded, Flash moaning as he rubbed his face, "Shoot...oh, I hope she'll forgive me for this."

The hours passed with everypony working to prepare for the journey. Applejack and Pinkie were working on a bunch of different foods with the help of the castle staff, Spike and two-thirds of the CMC. Rarity was quickly working on some fashionable, yet effective, travel gear for the group to protect themselves from the weather.

Meanwhile, Rainbow and Soarin decided to spend some time together. It was likely they weren't going to be seeing a lot of each other for a while, so they wanted to squeeze as much time as they could. "Spitfire ain't gonna be happy," Soarin said as they calmly flew across the sky. "This'll probably be the longest leave of absence any Wonderbolt's ever taken."

"Well, it's not like she can stop you from going," Rainbow replied as she flew right over him, "Royal Knights outrank her, and Princess Celestia can always help out with that."

"Good point. Still doesn't mean she won't be mad. Though this does mean somepony's gonna need to fill in for me while I'm gone," he shot her a smirk, making her laugh as they both landed on a nearby cloud. "Why me though? Why'd I get called to this city? I'm not a Royal Knight, or a defender of the peace or even one of the princesses students." He let out a long sigh, "So why me?"

Rainbow let out a hum, crossing her hooves, "I don't know." She then smirked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Maybe they saw how awesome you are and really want to come along so you can show it."

"I just hope I can keep up with everypony. I mean, unlike them, I don't have any fancy abilities. I don't have Sacred Light, Celestic Gears, aura or magic. I'm just...fast."

"Then be fast." She instantly replied, tapping his chest, "Don't keep up with them. Be ahead of them. Be the first one to charge forward against whatever you all face. Don't stop moving, even for a second. After all, having cool magic and aura is pointless if they can't hit their target."

Soarin's face started to show smile, now nodding as he thought about what he could do with his flying abilities and techniques, "I guess so..." He slowly moved over to his lover's side, "Thanks Dashy."

"No problem," Rainbow leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. The two continued to remain in one another's company while staring down at the city, watching as the ponies went about their daily lives.

"HIYAH!" Cold slammed an icy sword into Iron's shield, pushing him back slightly before dodging a swing of Grand's hammer. The three were in the training field, Fluttershy watching from the side as Cold faced off against the two. Following Luna's lead, the Frozen Wanderer had asked the two knights to spar with him and make sure he was in top shape.

Fluttershy stared down at a stopwatch they had given her, watching as it hit the twenty-minute mark. "Time." The three pulled themselves to a stop, their weapons inches from one another before retracting them. Three sighs exhaled from their mouths, all soon moving over to the stands where Fluttershy was holding out bottles of water.

"Thank you," Cold said while drinking his ice-cold water, cooled by his magic.

Iron spun the bottle in his hoof, "No problem. I've been hoping to get the chance to test myself against you after I saw you fight Sentry."

Grand chuckled at Iron's statement, "Eh, always happy to help a fellow knight. Anything to keep you alive."

Cold nodded before noticing somepony trot into the field, turning to see Flash's parents and sister move over to them, "Can I help you?"

"Yes," Misty replied, "First, we want to thank you for agreeing to go with Flash."

"I didn't agree," Cold deadpanned, "I was ordered by-"

"Celestia told you to do what you wanted," Trial interrupted. "You could have said no if you wanted to. The fact you said yes means you wanted to go with Flash and help him."

"Don't be absurd." Cold countered, "According to what discussed, this will involve the Sacred Light, which is something that is part of my investigation of the Corrupted Shadow. That is part of my mission-"

"You can stop acting so high and mighty." Trail interrupted again, this time crossing his hooves, "You're not fooling anypony."

"What are you talking about?" Cold asked, a now completely blank expression on his face.

But before Trail could respond, Grand shook his head as he spoke up, "Mister Trail, I suggest don't bother. Cold here is too dense to figure out what you're talking about."

"Excuse me Grand?" Cold turned to him, his tone and face unchanging despite everypony could tell he was annoyed, "What does that mean?"

"Don't worry about it." Grand glanced back at the trio, "Now, what did you three want to talk about?"

"Right..." Trail said before Cold turned back to the couple, "Anyways, we wanted to say thank you for coming along on the mission with our son...and we want to ask you something."

Cold raised an eyebrow at this, only to see Scootaloo step up to him, "Please, look after my brother." Cold was now raising both eyebrows as she continued, "Flash might have the Sacred Light and be really strong, but he can also be really reckless and usually doesn't care what happens to himself. I just know during your adventure he'll end up doing something stupid."

Misty nodded in agreement, "That's why we're asking you to look after him. And if he starts being reckless, you have our permission to smack some sense into him."

"No offense, but why me?"

Misty giggled at this, "Because after Flash, you're probably the strongest pony in your group. Plus, you've been able to get a point through his thick head before."

Cold did a small shrug, "Very well, I'll be sure to do that. You have my word that I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

The family all then said in unison, "Thank you."

Cold nodded as Grand put his hoof on the knight's shoulder, "I would also like to express my wish for you to watch over him. Thank you."

"Yes," Fluttershy added as Iron nodded, "Please keep Flash safe and bring him back in one piece."

"Again," Luna commanded as Trixie did a firm nod. The light blue unicorn was currently blindfolded, her horn shining as she levitated a rock in front of her. A flash of pink light engulfed the rock, which was soon replaced by a thin sheet of paper that started folding itself. Ruby and Luna smiled as they watched the paper slowly took shape until it looked exactly like a swan, Trixie quickly lowering it onto a table next to twenty-five others.

"Excellent work," the alicorn told her student as she removed the blindfold.

Ruby nodded in agreement, "Agreed. Perfect transfiguration and sightless origami. That takes some serious control."

"Thanks..." Trixie gasped as she sat down around the swan-filled table. "To think, when I first came here I could barely had any magical skill at all."

Luna shook her head, "Nonsense. You had as much skill as any student I've seen at my sister's school." Trixie started to show smile as Luna continued, "But I will admit you've grown much stronger since I met you, though that was all because of your own hard work and determination. I'm very proud to call you my student." Tears started to appear in Trixie's eyes, Ruby giggling as she saw sight of her old teacher showing a proud smile...only to see it start to morph into unease. But before she could say anything, Luna spoke up, "However, I can't deny I will worry for you. Whoever it is you are to meet, and possibly face, they must be of great power if they are able to contact Flash the way they did. That fills me with fear."

"We'll be fine Luna," Ruby assured her, walking over to put a hoof on her shoulder.

Luna turned to her, "I lost you once Ruby, I do not think I can take losing you again....especially not after I regained my memories of the jakhowl." She then turned to Trixie, "And you Trixie, I have grown to see as my daughter...and I do not wish to lose that." Tears started to flow as Trixie got up and hugged her mentor, Ruby doing the same, "Promise me you two...promise me that you will protect one another, and the rest of your companions."

"We promise," the two said as they pulled away, Ruby using her magic to wipe their eyes, "We'll stick together and protect one another no matter what the threat."

"You'll see us again," Trixie assured her.

Luna shined a small smile, "I'd better."

"Don't worry, you will." Ruby added as she patted Luna on the back, "Though uh...could you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Could you have Princess Celestia assign one of the knights in Ponyville to the Empire while I'm gone? I know I said I trust the empire is in good hooves...but-"

"I understand. I'll gladly do this..." Luna's face turned into a mischievous smirk, "On one condition."

Ruby raised an eyebrow at this, "What's that?"

Luna giggled as she reached out her hoof and yanked Trixie into a half-hug as she responded, "When you come back, we're going out for drinks again."

Trixie's eyes shrunk at this as Ruby's face shined a giant grin, "Oh, yes! I am so down for that!"

"I had a feeling you would." Luna replied as they both started to giggle, Trixie trying to shrink in Luna's grip as fear covered her face.

"Oh dear. Not again."

That Night...

As the sun began to set, Flash was walking down the corridor to the room Celestia had granted him and Twilight. They would be setting out tomorrow, Flash now making sure he settled things between him and his girlfriend before then. And as he opened up the door, he found Twilight laying on the bed while reading a book she had gotten from his parents, one over the lost city. He did a long gulp before saying, "Hey, uh...Twilight?" Twilight said nothing, instead closing the book before glaring at him. "I um...I know you're angry."

"I'm not angry," Twilight instantly replied.

"Okay. I know you're scared-"

"OF COURSE I'M SCARED!" Twilight leapt off the bed screaming, tears now streaming down her eyes. "Why?! Why Flash?! I thought we were past this! I thought you weren't gonna try and push me away anymore!"

"You think I'm pushing you away?" Flash barked back, "You think I want to leave you behind?! If I had a choice, you'd be the first pony I asked to come with me! But I...but I don't have a choice."

"Says who?!" Twilight cried, "You're just following the orders of some strange voice you have no idea about! What makes you think you can trust it?!"

"Probably the same thing that makes you trust a map that sends you Celestia knows where, given to you by a tree you know just as much about as I know this voice!"

"That's different!" Twilight screeched.

"How?! How is that different?! How can you put trust in the Tree of Harmony and not my Sacred Light?!"

"Because you don't even know if this is the Sacred Light! I could just be a trick somepony's playing on you, trying to get you to come to who knows where with barely any help so they could kill you!"

"The Sacred Light wouldn't let that happen! It's protected me from mental attacks and tricks before."

"But it's not one hundred percent effective, is it?" Twilight growled as she walked up into her face, "We found that out the hard way when...when..." She stopped, looking away from the pegasus.

Flash slumped over, moaning as he rubbed his face with his hoof, "You're worried what happened with that flower might happen again, aren't you?"

Twilight's tears were now back in full force, "I thought...I thought the Sacred Light would protect you from anything. But when...but when that happened, it barely managed to keep you alive. If we hadn't been able to find the cure, you..." She sniffed, "It's clear there are things out there that can stop the Sacred Light. If you face it and something happens to you..."

"Nothing's going to happen to me," Flash interrupted as he started to move over to her. "I'll be fine."

"You don't know-"

She didn't finish, as Flash pulled her into a hug. "Yes, I do. I know that no matter what I face out there, I'll beat it and come back to you. We all will."

"How...how can I believe that?"

"Because I never go back on my word. And I promise, I will be back," The sincerity in his voice pierced Twilight's heart, her fear starting to fade as her face embraced his chest. But as she did this, Flash then pulled away and looked her in the eye, the two staring at one another for several long moments.

This destroyed the last clouds of her worries, making her sniff as she wiped away her tear. "Why did you have to go without me?"

Flash let out a long sigh, "Because it's my destiny." Twilight tilted her head as he continued, "Twilight, our fate has been entwined since the day we met. Escaping those bullies, becoming friends, living together, studying in this castle, going to Ponyville and all the insane stuff we've done...we've been side by side the whole time." He sighed again, "But now my destiny is pulling me down a path you can't walk right now...but I know I'll come back. Because even if we aren't together, that doesn't mean we won't be supporting one another."

Twilight sniffed as Flash pulled her into another hug. "Flash..."

"I know that no matter what I'm up against, as long as I know you believe in me, I'll be able to handle it. Even if I'm alone, I won't be alone."

Twilight started to giggle, "You just love your cheesy speeches, don't you?"

"Well, I do like to-"

"Stop. I believe in you. I always have, and always will." She pulled back and put her hooves on his face, "If you're making promises you absolutely have to keep, then promise me you'll be careful. Promising to come back alive isn't gonna cut it. You need to promise me that you'll come back in the exact same state you leave in...that means no missing limbs, no new scars. Not even a black eye."

Flash let out a chuckle and nodded. "Alright, I promise I'll be back in mint condition."

"Oh, you lost your mint condition a while ago," Twilight countered, "Also, I want to hear detailed findings of your experience when you get back. Write down as much as you can about the place, and your cultural and historical discoveries need to be properly categorized and labelled for me to look over. Understood?"

"I understand. In fact, watch this." Flash laughed before he pulled her into a kiss, the embrace soon morphing into a full make-out session before moving to the bed.

The next morning...

The sun was barely rising as everypony stood outside the castle, the quest taking ponies now standing at the train station. Each were wearing stylized travelling cloaks and saddlebags, backpack in Springer's case, that held all the supplies they needed for the long voyage.

"Well...I guess this is it."

The six nodded as Cold spoke up, "We'll try and contact you whenever we get the chance."

"Be sure that you do," Luna replied as everypony else said goodbye to their friends and love ones. Rainbow and Soarin shared one last hug as Ruby and Trixie did the same with the princess of the night. Springer fist-bumped Spike as Flash did his own set of hugs for all of his friends and family.

"Be good squirt," he said as he ruffled Scootaloo's mane. "Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."

"I'll try...and you do the same."

Flash laughed, "I'll try." He went to his parents next, he and Trail sharing a quick guy hug while Misty wanted a much longer and tighter embrace.

"Take care."

"I will," Flash added as she kissed his forehead before pulling away, the defender then turning to Twilight. "Well, this is it."

"Stay safe." Twilight instantly responded, only for Flash to pull her into a kiss, the others giggling at the sight. And as he pulled away, the group began to get on the train, Twilight yelling, "We'll be waiting to hear from you!"

"We'll miss you darlings!"

"So long!" Rainbow added with a wave.

"Be careful!" Fluttershy continued.

"Ya'll got this partner!"

"We'll have a big party for you when you all get back!"

"It'll be WILD!"

"Wild, wild, wild!"

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Lightning called out.

Iron huffed at him. "Don't do anything he would do either. There's a little grey area, and that's you."

Grand laughed at Iron's statement as he just waved, finding no need to say anything. And as the group disappeared into the distance, the old knight turned to the group and said, "Everypony...don't worry about them. They'll be fine."

"We know." Twilight replied with absolutely no doubt in her heart. "After all, look who they've got on their team. Three Royal Knights, a Wonderbolt, two ponies trained by Luna, and two Defenders of the Peace. It'll take a lot to match a team like that."

A jungle on the other side of Equestria's border...

The standard sounds of the forest were interrupted as squeals of pain shook the ground, the sound of tall grass rustling as something rushed through it. From out of that foliage leapt a Canterlot guard, painted red with drops of blood that wasn't his own. He then pulled off his helmet and threw it away, trying to get any weight off that was slowing him down.

But as he tried to run, his ears spiked as he heard a loud stomp shook the ground again, his eyes not daring to look back. It wasn't supposed to be like this. His squad was made to only patrol the borders, but the more glory hungry ponies wanted to check out what was past the territory lines. They were hoping to find a chance of some great achievement, a singular event that perhaps make them viable for becoming a Royal Knight.

However, that didn't happen. Instead, the guard now found himself running out of the forest, the sounds of trees being ripped out of the ground behind him. As for what was doing this, it was a ten-meter tall minotaur, the creature glaring at the fleeing pony while snorting out a loud puff of air.

The guard looked back and went wide-eyed at the sight, only for another minotaur to appear on his right. A third then showed itself on his left, followed by another. This last one was carrying something on its shoulder, a silver unicorn mare with a white mane and tail that had multicolored tips and a painting pallet for a cutie mark.

A sinister smile graced her face as she stared down at him, "You know, it was very rude of you to run off while your friends were having fun with me."

"Fun?" The unicorn gasped, his eyes glancing down at the blood splatters on his body, "What kind of psychopath would call what you did fun?! You're insane!"

The mare looked away, pouting before clapping her hooves, "And you're mean. I'll just have to teach some manners. Boys...teach him what I mean."

The first three minotaur started to walk around him, the guard getting into a battle stance as his horn began to glow. A quick magic blast fired out of the horn, hitting one of the minotaurs in the chest. And as the blow began to sink into the beast's chest...its whole body suddenly destabilized, melting into a puddle of black liquid.

Seeing the opening, the guard hopped over the liquid and cut into a sprint. But as he did this, the mare sighed while pulling out a sketchpad and pencil, "If you can't play nice, I'll stop giving you playmates." She then giggled as she ripped the page off, "Just kidding." She threw the page up before firing a pink blast from her horn, the page now exploding into a giant cloud of dust.

And when the smoke cleared, a new minotaur now stood beside the other three before they all gave chase.

The guard continued to run, hearing the sound of loud footsteps behind him. And as he ran through some bushes, his escape suddenly came to a halt as he found himself at the edge of a giant lake, which appeared to be feeding into several rivers. This made him smirk as he took off the rest of his armor before diving into the water, swimming a good few feet as the mare and her creations caught up.

The mare saw him swimming out into the lake, rolling her eyes at the sight, "Oh? You think you can escape that way? You poor little boy." A big smile began to grow on her face as she said, "You're up, Wingill."

As the guard continued to swim, he took a glance back to see that the mare wasn't following. But as he did this, a shadow appeared under him, a tug soon gripping his leg, "What the-" He tried to say, only for another tug to happen...which pulled him all the way underwater. He gasped as he tried to hold his breath, his body instantly being pulled twenty-feet below the water.

His eyes began to dart around, spinning around as he felt the water ripple behind him. But as he tried to start going back to the surface, he let out another gasp, this one accidentally letting the air he was holding go as he saw a new creature. It was a half pony half-fish being, its top half appearing pony-like while its bottom half was replaced by a fishtail. But as he saw this, his lack of oxygen hit his throat, making him thrash around before retrying to get to the surface. And as he did this, the creature just laughed at his struggle before swimming around him, moving through the water like it was air.

And as the creature swam around the guard, a whirlpool began to form. The force of the spinning water instantly gripped the guard, making him swallow more water before suddenly being shot up to the surface. He let out a cry of pain as he sent flying, his body rocketing out of the water...and then falling into the lake's muddy shallows, his body eventually sliding up to the edge of the surface as he started coughing up water.

A loud splash was heard next, the guard turning to see whatever had attacked him leap into the air before getting consumed by a cocoon of light. The shell soon broke open, a pony shaped creature with wings and a beak appearing next. Its front hooves had talons on the end of them like a griffon while its body had mostly black fur while its head and chest was colored blue. The bottom half of its head was light blue, flowing from its beak down to its lower jaw and the front of its neck and chest, while the rest of its head and back of its neck were dark blue. Its mane was light blue with dark blue tips while its legs turned from black to light blue halfway down. Finally, its tail was entirely light blue while its wings were black but had dark blue tips. It was wearing a silver collar around its neck, which had a small purple crystal shard embedded in it.

The creature laughed at the guard, now seeing the pony slide himself backward through the mud. "You shouldn't even bother. You have no chance of escape." The guard screamed as he fired another blast, but it simply moved its head to the side to avoid it. "It's hopeless."

Gasping, the guard continued to crawl back, only to feel the back of his head tap something. He slowly turned around at this, his eyes shrinking at a new figure. This one was wearing silver cloak, which spoke in a slow, feminine voice, "Now now, the future isn't always set in stone my dear."

She pulled her hood back to reveal a brown unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail that also wore star-shaped earrings. Her cloak fluttered in the wind, revealing the inside to be colored like the night's sky, complete with stars in it. The inside of the cape also had several pockets, all of them appearing to be filled to the brim. The cape fluttered, revealing a cutie mark that showed a fan of purple cards with an eye on the back of them.

"One can always change their future." Her horn glowed purple before several cards flew out of her cloak's pockets, getting shuffled around until she presented one to the guard.

The pony, barely able to think straight, saw one land into his hoof before he turned it around. The card showed a pair of ponies, one male and one female.

"Though just because you can change the future, it doesn't mean you will." The card began to glow before the light flew off and formed a dome around the guard. "Arcana of the Lovers." The next thing he knew, the guard's entire body felt heavier, his hooves grinding into the dirt as he felt a weigh push him down.

"Wha..." he muttered out as he struggled to push himself up, "What...did you...do to me?"

The mare giggled at his question, "It shouldn't be a surprise, as the card you just received dictated your fate. The card of the lovers halves the stats of anypony of the opposite gender to the caster."

"Terror Card, stop playing with your food! End this!" But as the griffon-like creature yelled this, the guard pushed himself back up, cutting into another sprint as he ran into the woods again. "Hey! He's getting away!"

Terror Card held up her hoof as he tried to fly after him. "Relax. The cards have told me he won't get far. I left Searing Salix there." The griffon-like creature glared at her, "Oh please, its fine. You know how annoying he gets."

The guard ran as fast as his exhausted body could move, his body trudging through the forest. He took a split second to glance back, noticing the two weren't following him. But as he looked back, his hooves came to a halt, gasping as he found a wall of fire now appearing before him, "WHOA!" he yelped as he hopped back, the cinders almost falling on him, "What the-where did this-"

"Hello!" yelled a happy voice, making him look down and see a figure standing inside the flames. The being then walked right through the fire, revealing a red-colored pony that had a kind of shell running from its flank. It had a flame colored lion mane, which ran down its forehead and ending at its nose while its forehead had a long curved horn that split at the end to make a Y shape.

"Hey, nice to meet you! So what are you doing in this part of Equestria? Me, I'm here with the rest of my gang. I probably shouldn't tell you that, but you seem like a nice enough pony to talk to." The figure then saw the guard slowly shuffling backward, making him frown, "Oh, you want to leave. Yeah...I get that a lot. It just seems to be the way it is for me." His body then suddenly burst into flames, the fire consuming him before quickly extinguishing. And as the flames disappeared, it now showed a new creature, this one having a pitch black body while its mane and tail were now actually made of fire. He also had flaming eyebrows over his now pure white eyes. "Most ponies find me too hot to handle."

The guard's eyes went wide at the sight, the creature now spinning around to flick its burning tail. As it did this, several fireballs flew out of the tail, the guard quickly getting up and running as the flames struck the trees. His hooves then scrambled up a few trees, only for the fire beast to strike the tree the guard was trying to get a grip on. A blaze of flames struck his back, making him cry out as he fell off the pillar of lumber.

Laughing at the sight, the fire beast ceased his flames as he saw the guard start to climb again, hopping branch to branch as fire creature said, "He's all yours, Storm Blade."

The now burnt guard continued to jump from branch to branch, his entire body starting to fail him as he continued to climb. "How many of these psychos are there?!" he said to himself as he landed on another tree. "I gotta-"

"Storm Cutter!" yelled out a new voice, a blade of wind instantly appearing before striking the branch the guard was on. The pony instantly went down, his body slamming through from some branches before landing into the dirt, a deafening snap now bracing his ears.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" He cried out, cradling his now broken front leg. The beating of wings made him crack his eyes open, seeing the cause of his pain floating above him.

It was a dark blue pegasus stallion, who's body was covered in yellow streaks with a green mane and tail. His wings had several green tips and his cutie mark was a spear surrounded by a tornado of wind. He was wearing what looked like a pair of headphones with a light blue visor on his head, the shades covering his eyes. In his hooves was a long black bladed staff with a spinning dial on its that was spilt into three sections, one blue, one yellow and one green.

The unicorn rolled onto his back, panting through the pain, "Who...are you?"

The pegasus said nothing as he reached out to spin the dial on his weapon, the blue section now pointing towards the blade. "We are the ones who don't exist." He pointed the blade at the unicorn, "Storm Shot!" In the blink of an eye, a blast of water shot out of the blade, striking the guard and sending him into a tree.

"BLAUGH!" he screamed as blood spat out of his mouth, the water blasting his chest like a hammer. But as he started to cough up more blood, he stared at the sword, "That weapon...is that...a Celestic Gear?"

The pegasus slowly flew closer while spinning the dial, this time moving the yellow section before pointing at the unicorn, "Storm Shot!" Instead of water, this time a bolt of lightning flew out the weapon, striking the guard.

With his body soaked, the force was even greater. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as his whole body was deep fried, sparks now flying off his body as the attack finished.

He just lay there now, his body smoking as he was barely conscious. It was here that he felt something sharp press against his throat, his eyes cracking open to see his neck now pinned to the tree by a red bladed black scythe. From around the tree, the weapon's owner stepped out to revealed itself as a pony in black unicorn armor that had a dark red trim all over. The figure just stared at him, unable to see any part of the figure's body, including its eyes, as it was just dark red glass eyepatches.

A low gulp went down the guard's throat, only to go wide-eyed as the four from before appeared out of the clearing, "What do we do with him?" The griffon-like creature asked. "Leave him here? It doesn't look like he'll last much longer anyway."

"We shouldn't assume anything," the brown mare replied while shuffling through her cards. "The future's never what you assume it is. He may look like he's on death's door, but for all we know, he could find the will to survive and find help."

"So do we do it ourselves?" The fire creature asked while wagging his tail, "I'm happy to help if you want. I've always wanted to see how long it takes my flames to burn something to ash. But if you guys wanna-"

"Salix," the pegasus pointed his blade at him, "Shut...up."

"Got it. Zipping the lip. Won't hear another word out of me. Nope, not one more word."

"SALIX!" The others all yelled, the creature now motioning his hoof over his mouth. Sighing at this, the pegasus then turned to the armored pony, "Armalum? What should we do?"

The pony didn't respond, instead turning before bowing at some trees. Following the pony, the other five bowed as well as a lone figure walked into the clearing,

"Master," they all spoke together as the figure walked up to the guard. The injured pony's eyes squinted at the newcomer, now seeing it to be a dark gray unicorn with blood-red eyes that matched his mane and tail. His body was covered in bright red scars, all that looked very old and deep. His cutie mark a black sun with a outline around the circle and the spikes.

The unicorn stared down the guard, the look on his face one many would mistake for pity, "I'm sorry you had to come across our little operation. Please understand that this is nothing personal, but I can't risk leaving any witnesses."

The guard just shook, his eyes glancing back at the collection of strange creatures around him, only to look back at the one they bowed to, "Who...are you?"

The unicorn's face didn't change as he closed his eyes, a dark aura beginning to glow off his body. "My name...is Shadow Corrupter." He reopened his eyes, the aura exploding off his body before spiraling around him into a tornado, a set of dark armor now appearing on his form as the tornado exploded. The armor was black in colors, stationed on his chest and hooves. Covering his face was a black X shaped mask, which ran along the contours of his face. The shadows then flew onto his back, morphing into a pair of bat wing-shaped appendages, "The most powerful pony in Equestria."

The guard could do nothing as the unicorn drew closer, his horn glowing black as a sword with spikes appeared out of thin air. Seconds later, an earth-shattering scream of pain exploded through the jungle, scaring the many birds out of the trees.

And as time began to pass, the group of seven reappeared as they walked through a new clearing in the jungle. The black unicorn was no longer wearing the armor, a blank stoic look on his face as he walked through the foliage. As he did this, the silver mare from earlier appeared, running up and throwing her hooves around his neck. "Oh, that was amazing master." She rubbed her head into his neck, only to feel his magic pull her away.

"Enough Tempera. We have more important matters to deal with." He turned back at the group, "You said nopony would find our base."

They all bowed in response, Armalum speaking up, "Our apologies master. We did not foresee these more foolheartedly guards desire to seek glory. It won't happen again."

"No, it won't." Shadow growled as he turned away from them, "It won't be long before those guards' absences are noticed. We're abandoning the base."

The others nodded and got up, Salix asking the question on everypony's mind. "So...where are we gonna go now?"

Shadow stared up into the sky, a long deep breath escaping his mouth, "We're going on a journey."

"Anywhere specific?" Tempera asked, walking up and patting her tail on his chest. The look on her face was the most seductive thing anypony would see. "Maybe someplace...romantic?"

"Where we're going is none of your concern." Shadow deadpanned, his eyes now glaring at each one, "All you need to know is that you're to follow me wherever I chose to go without question. Is that understood?"

The six all replied in unison, "Yes, master."

"Good. Now come." He turned around before trotting off again, "We have a long way ahead of us, and I want to get there as soon as possible." His eyes looked up into the sky again, "For my destiny may have finally revealed itself."

The Cutie Re-Mark

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It had been a month since the Flash and his team of adventurers set out to the Lost City of Faust. Not much had happened in that time, Ponyville experiencing one of its longest peaceful stretches since Flash and Twilight had first arrived in the town.

As this happened, Twilight and Spike were currently out of town, just now flying to the village after having done some business in Canterlot. She had been giving a lecture about the connections between cutie marks, talking about how Rainbow's rainboom had helped her and her friends get their cutie marks. But as the princess flew back, there was no happiness on her face. She always loved to spread knowledge to others, but this was different. Her expression was one of anger...and uncertainty.

"Starlight Glimmer?" Spike asked as they landed, jumping off and pulling a suitcase with their lecture material behind him.

"I'm sure I saw her Spike, but when I looked again, she was gone!" Twilight moaned as she rubbed her face with her hoof, "This isn't good. I'm worried about what she could be up to."

"Nothing good, I bet. I heard she wasn't very happy the last time you saw her."

Twilight shook her head, "That's an understatement. Forcing everypony in her village to have the same cutie mark wasn't right...we had to do something!"

"And now she's coming back for revenge?" Spike replied, only to look up and see Twilight shake. Doing a small gulp, he tried to find words, knowing Flash would usually giver her some words of encouragement. In thinking this, his words stumbled out, "Uh...maybe she was just really interested in your speech?"

Twilight sighed and shook her head again, "Honestly Spike, I'm not really sure what I saw." She then stared at her castle in the distance, remembering what Flash had said the night before he left. Even if they weren't physically together, as long as they had faith in one another, they'd be able to stand against anything. "But as long as I have my friends, I know everything will be all right."

"That's right," Spike added, "After everything we've been through, nothing can beat us."

It was here they opened the front door, Twilight groaning at the sight. Despite the princess truly considering the building to be her home now, it felt lonely with just her and Spike living there. Flash and Springer were still out on their quest and Scootaloo had been spending a lot of nights at her friends' house, the filly not even currently in town as Misty and Trial had taken her to spend the weekend in Manehattan. The alicorn sighed again as she placed her saddlebag on a hook with Spike placing the case below it. "Maybe I was just more stressed about that speech than I thought."

"Bet that's not the only thing you're worried about," Spike continued as they headed to the map room, "You're still worried about Flash, aren't you? He hasn't contacted us at all since he left." This made Twilight sigh once more, her head drooping down as her walking slowed down. Seeing this, Spike then said, "Errr...but that's okay! We know he'll be fine. I mean, that's better than Starlight Glimmer coming back with an evil plot for revenge."

Twilight shrugged, trying to show a tiny smile while opening the map room doors as she replied, "Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kinda silly."

Spike opened his mouth to reply, only to go wide-eyed before gasping, "Or it's totally true!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow before glancing up, her eyes narrowing as she saw a particular pony sitting in Fluttershy's throne. The sinister unicorn mare just smiled at her, giggling as she laid back, "Welcome home, Twilight!"

Before the alicorn and dragon could respond, she lifted a familiar-looking scroll into view before hitting it with her magic. Twilight watched as the scroll flew into the air before unleashing a bolt of blue lightning down on the table, causing the map to activate and show all of Equestria. Twilight gasped at the sight, trotting over the map and glaring at the unicorn. "What are you doing, Starlight?!"

Starlight let out a laugh, "I'd tell you, but I don't want to ruin the surprise!" The scroll floated down before Starlight scrunched it up and threw it away, "Won't be needing that anymore."

As she did this, the map began to glow pink before unleashing a ring of light into the ceiling. Seeing this, Twilight fired a blast of magic at the rings, only for it to bounce off. A powerful gust of wind followed this, blowing both Twilight and Spike back as the drake held onto the alicorn's wing. They watched as a portal suddenly opened up above the table that let out a clock sound along with several bolts of lightning lashing out.

Twilight looked down at Starlight, about to ask what she had done before seeing her be enveloped by her own magic before lifting herself into the air. All the two could do was stare at the unicorn as she flew into the portal, the wormhole quickly vanishing as soon as she went through it.

"What the-where'd she go?!"

"I don't know Spike, but I think we better find out!"

Spike nodded and walked up to the scrunched up scroll Starlight had thrown away. "I guess we could start with this."

Twilight turned to see him reach out to the scroll, "Spike, no! Don't touch that!"

But it was too late. Spike's claws gripped around the paper, only for the map to reactivate at the touch. A second portal appeared above the table, a blast of wind sucking the duo into the hole. Both screamed as they were pulled through it, being dragged by the scroll through a bright green tunnel of light. Time seemed to blur, the two unable to tell if they had been flying for a second or an hour, only for a bright light to suddenly consume them.

And as that light hit, the two suddenly found themselves in the sky, gravity instantly taking hold. The duo began to scream as they started to fall, Twilight spreading her wings on instinct. As for Spike, he kept falling, Twilight's horn shining as she grabbed him in her magic, pulling him to a stop right before he hit the ground. Spike let out a sigh of relief as Twilight let him go, dropping down the last few inches before finding that the ground was a cloud.

"Cloudsdale?" Spike exclaimed before seeing a few pegasi fly by. He turned to Twilight, who had just landed beside him. "Starlight doesn't even have wings! Why would she come here?"

Twilight shook her head. "I don't know Spike, but it looked like she could fly with just magic!" She then turned around, "Keep your eyes open. We don't know what she has planned."

In that moment, a small blue blur zipped past them, the two blinking at the figure to see it had a unique mane and tail color.

"Isn't that Rainbow Dash?"

Twilight hummed at Spike's comment, "Did Rainbow Dash look really young to you?" Spike reached into his backpack and pulled out a pair of binoculars, looking through them as the alicorn went on. "And I didn't see a cutie mark. You don't think..."

"We travelled back in time to when Rainbow Dash raced the bullies who made fun of Fluttershy and performed her first sonic rainboom?"

Twilight looked down at Spike, glaring at the drake. "Spike, only Starswirl the Bearded could do something like that, and even his spell went back just a week! How could Starlight do more than the greatest wizard in Equestria?!" It was here that they heard the rustling of paper, looking down and spotting the scroll from before.

Spike grabbed the paper and looked it over, "With this."

He gave it to Twilight, who let out a gasp, "This is...Starswirl's time spell!"

Spike took this moment to stash the scroll in his backpack, "If that's the case, we gotta go!"

"Go where?"

"To watch the race! I don't wanna miss the rainboom-whoa!" Spike yelped as he began to walk away, only to fall off the runway. Twilight quickly grabbed him and put him on his back. The two soon ran over to Rainbow Dash, seeing her challenge some bullies as a young Fluttershy stood a distance away.

And as they watched, Rainbow began the race, all shooting off the finish line. Doing so caused Fluttershy to be knocked off the cloud, Twilight's instincts almost kicking in before Spike grabbed her wings, keeping her from flying. Realizing what this meant, she kept still, nodding as she watched the race continue.

Rainbow started off in the lead, one of the bullies crashing before another bully slammed into her. The tiny pegasi growled at him, quickly pumping her wings as she chased after him. "This is it. Any second..." Spike whispered as they watched the air current form around Rainbow, the rainboom seconds away from occurring.

But as it was about to go off...Rainbow stopped. "What?!" Twilight yelped as she saw Rainbow completely freeze in midair. She then saw that the filly was covered in blue magic, the same color as the sky, making it hard to notice. The alicorn turned around, now seeing the bully shoot pass the finish line as Twilight flew over to Starlight, "What did you just do?!"

Starlight giggle before pointing upward, "Don't worry, you're...about to find out." In that moment, the portal reappeared above them, sucking Twilight and Spike back inside. Starlight just laughed at the sight, clapping her hooves, "HA! I did it!"

And as she floated there, another figure was watching. It was a being under a dark blue cloak that covered everything except their face, which was hidden by a black mask with red eyes. "Interesting...very interesting." The figure then pulled a scroll out of a pocket in its cloak. "Let's see what we can do here."

Twilight and Spike were back in the tunnel, shooting straight down before finding themselves hitting the ground face first. The alicorn let out a moan as she sat herself up, her eyes now gasping as she saw the castle map was right by where they landed. But as she stared at the map...she went wide-eyed. Equestria was now portrayed very differently, this one covered in black crystals, all spread out from the Crystal Empire.

"What in the...what did Starlight do? Did she-"

"Um...Twilight?" She turned to her number one assistant, the drake scratching his head as he got up from the crash landing, "Where's your castle?"

Twilight's eyes got even wider, her vision darting around as she saw they were just on an open field with a lake and the map. Nothing else was around, making her gulp, "Oh no...the map pulled us back to the present, but whatever Starlight did in the past changed things here!"

"But why? And how did we get here? Where's here?" Spike's many questions were answered when Twilight pulled Starswirl's spell out of his bag.

"More like when."

"What do you mean?" Spike asked as Twilight looked over the scroll.

"Starlight altered Starswirl's spell, then somehow used it on the map to travel into the past and change something! Once she did, the map pulled us back to the present!"

"So we're back where, I mean, when we started?"

"Not exactly." Twilight looked back at the map, "Everything's different. Look." Spike pulled himself up to look over the map, now seeing the changes to the topography. "The map doesn't even make sense anymore! The Crystal Empire takes up half of Equestria!"

"Plus there's the whole missing castle thing."

"Right!" Twilight added while nodding. She then began to rub her chin, only to sigh, "This isn't good. This is too big to handle on our own."

"You think?"

Twilight nodded again, "We need to find our friends and get help!" Spike nodded back before the pair headed off into town...only to frown at the sight of Ponyville. The town was almost deserted, the duo now seeing what looked like a ghost town, buildings and ponies all broken and destroyed. They then saw both Sugarcube Corner and Rarity's shop closed up, the duo grimacing at the buildings.

The two sighed before Twilight suggested they would try Sweet Apple Acres. Agreeing to this, they went to the farm...only to find that every building at the place had a giant chimney stack spewing black smoke into the sky. When the two arrived, they slowly made their way to the barn, now seeing that the windows were filled with soot. Wiping them clean, they both glanced inside and saw that the place looked like a factory. Several machines were being used to turn apples into apple sauce, which were then squirted into cans.

A rolling sound caught their attention next, making them look over to see Applejack rolling a barrel to a wagon. Her hat was nowhere in sight, her hair now in a mane-net while also wearing overalls. She may have looked different, but she was still Applejack, and Twilight proclaimed this as she rushed over to give her a hug.

Applejack however, just pushed her away with a raised eyebrow. "What can I do for yah?

"It's so good to see you!" The alicorn proclaimed as she watched Applejack continue to roll the barrel over to the cart. "We couldn't find Pinkie or Rarity or Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash, but I just knew you'd still be here!"

"Of course ah am. This is mah home." She turned back, now grumbling, "But who in tarnation is Pinkie Bow and Flutterdash?" She trotted back to the barn, "Or you for that matter?"

Twilight's eyes went wide at hearing this, her heart gaining a small crack in it. "You...don't know who I am?"

Applejack pushed another barrel toward the cart, "Nope." The crack was getting bigger. "Honestly, the only name ya'll said that ah recognize is Rarity, but she left for Manehattan years ago."

Spike smirked at the comment, "Probably to become a world-famous fashion designer, I bet."

"Not that ah know of," Applejack closed the cart. "Last ah heard, she went to help with the cause like everypony else."

"The cause?" Twilight asked, her confusion making Applejack glare at her with a raised eyebrow.

"The war against King Sombra and the Crystal Empire?"

"WHAT!" The time travelers screamed, looking at one another in horror.

"Where have you two been?" Applejack added.

"Actually, it's when." Spike let out.

As Spike said this, Twilight put her hooves on her head, "This can't be...this is what Starlight did?!" She then looked back at Applejack, "Listen, I know this is hard to believe, but you and I and those other ponies I mentioned are friends!"

Applejack just tilted her head at this, "Did yah bump yer head on a crate of cider or somethin'?"

"I'm telling you the truth!" Twilight told her, turning to run back to the map, "And if you come with me, I'll prove it." With that, she and Spike began to run away...only to look back and see Applejack now working on the wagon again. "Oh boy..."

One round of dragging Applejack to the map later...

"Well, ah'll admit it. Ah've lived in these parts my whole life and ah've never seen this before."

"There's also supposed to be a castle that goes with it," Spike added as Applejack turned to Twilight.

"But ah'h still don't see what this has to do with you and me bein' friends."

Twilight frowned, shaking her head, "I'm...I'm not completely sure how yet, but another pony named Starlight Glimmer used this map to travel through time and change things in the past. For some reason, the map's here, but everything else is different!"

"Different how?"

"Well for one thing, where we came from, there's no war with King Sombra." Hearing this made Applejack glare at her, making Twilight stumble on her words, "Sorry....I know this sounds dumb, but you could tell us how the war started? We need to figure out what changed!"

"Ah guess that's easy to do," Applejack told her, sighing as she started to explain, "When the Crystal Empire returned, it brought King Sombra back with it. And it didn't take long for him to force every one of his subjects to fight for him against Equestria. The Royal Knights were da first to be sent to counter him, but one by one they were wiped out by Sombra and her."

"Her?"

"Da Crystal General."

On a battlefield far away, two great armies were in pure unending war.

The ponies under Sombra's control were facing off against the Royal Guard, Celestia and Sombra giving commands from the back. As this happened, two of the guards charged at a group, only for a bolt of lightning to strike the ground around the group. The thunderbolt struck the dirt, electrifying the crystal slaves as the other guard went in and slashed the slaves with his spear.

Iron Core smirked as his opponents fell, turning to Lightning Blitz and nodding. Lightning nodded back, only to suddenly let out a scream of pain. Looking down, he saw a bunch of crystal arrows piercing his body, making him fall like a rock. And as Lightning fell, Iron turned to where the arrow had come from, only to go wide-eyed. It was a moving cloud of red smoke, the figure soon taking shape into a red unicorn mare with a curved horn. She wore the same armor as the rest of the slaves, but wasn't wearing a helmet. The mare then opened her eyes, which were bright red with green instead of white and purple smoke coming out the sides.

Iron growled at her, but she just smiled a chaotic looking grin before breaking out into laughter. From the snowing ground around her, red crystals shot out in all directions, one of them instantly piercing Iron along with several of Sombra's ponies.

And as this happened, in another section of the battlefield, several other soldiers were sneaking around a cliff upon the side of the mountain the battle was being waged. They moved over to the edge and saw Sombra, who had just created a large crystal tower to defend himself against some more guards. "Now's our chance," one of them said before looking back. "Ready Flash?"

A certain orange pegasus with a blue mane took a deep breath, "Ready," he replied before pulling out a crossbow and loading it. He knelt down in the snow and took aim, the rest of his platoon looking all around as he got the umbrum king dead in his sights.

But as he was about to pull the trigger, several pained voices suddenly rang out, making him spin around. There, surrounded by the bodies of his fallen comrades, was a cloaked and masked figure. "Wha...who are you?!"

The figure just stared at him, "Nopony you need to worry about anymore." His cloak then flapped in the wind, revealing his coat was dark grey and black armour around his chest and hooves. From out under the cloak, a cloud-like shadow appeared before shifting into the shape of an arrow. Before he could react, the arrow had pierced Flash's chest, impaling his heart directly. All he could do was let out a soft exhale, the arrow soon fading away to leaving a black hole in his body, only for him to stagger backward...and fall off the cliff.

"And even with Princess Celestia leadin' the charge, it still takes every last pony in Equestria doin' their part, workin' day and night, to keep up the fight."

Twilight and Spike both stared at Applejack in horror, Twilight then exclaiming, "I just can't believe it! We stopped King Sombra!" She put her hoof on Applejack's chest, "You and me and all of our friends!"

Applejack pushed her hoof off, "But we aren't friends. At least not here."

This made Twilight frown, the cracks in her heart growing more before sighing, "Right..."

Applejack looked between the two, Spike leaning his head against the table while Twilight just sighed. "Look...ahh hope all this helped, but ah really need to get back to cannin' those apples." She then began trotting away, Twilight nodding as a new look of determination appeared on her face.

"Thank you. We're going to set things right."

Applejack sighed before looking back, "Ah hope you do."

Once Applejack was gone, Spike turned to Twilight, "So...how are we gonna set things right?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Twilight screamed before slamming her face into the table, Spike flinching until she looked back up. "The only thing we know for sure is that Starlight stopped the rainboom."

"And that the map's still here." Spike added, Twilight going wide-eyed at his words.

"Spike, that's it!"

"It is?"

"Yeah! The map is connected to the Tree of Harmony! It must sense that something isn't right, that's why it's still here!" Twilight shined her horn before magically opening Spike's bag and pulling out the scroll, "I'll just use Starlight's version of the spell and go back a little earlier and stop her before she even knows we're there!"

She quickly read through it and nodded, hitting it with her magic next as it started to glow again. They watched as the scroll fly up before firing off a beam of light at the map, the portal then opening and sucking the two up. Spike made sure to grab the scroll the stuff it into his bag before they entered, both travelling through the tunnel of time as Twilight put Spike on her back and exited the tunnel.

Once through, Twilight landed on a cloud and said, "All we have to do now is find Starlight and-" She didn't get to finish, as a familiar colored magic struck the duo, encasing both within a giant block of crystal.

"Well, finding her will be easy!" The two looked over at the voice, their eyes being the only thing that could move, and saw Starlight fly out from behind a cloud pillar, "But stopping her is gonna be harder than you think."

Twilight and Spike both glared at her, the crystal now sinking into the cloud as Starlight floated around them, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I created that spell to send myself back in time. So even when you cast it, I still get sent back here. It wasn't that difficult to change Starswirl's spell, He had already done the hardest part. But figuring out I could use the map to go to any time or place and pull you along with me? I even impressed myself with that."

She heard grunting sound and looked down, now seeing Twilight try to break through the crystal with her magic and earth pony strength. "I knew you would try to stop me. You're so predictable. Why else would I leave the scroll behind? Touching it triggered the map to whisk you here and watch me erase the one thing that linked you with your friends!"

Her brow then narrowed, growling at the two as she cut off her magic and landed on the crystal. "My village was a sanctuary of equality, where nopony's cutie mark allowed them to feel superior! It was a special place, and you and your friends took it away!"

It was here that she saw that Twilight had fallen below the cloud, making her roll her eyes before floating herself under the cloud, "Now it's my turn to take something special from you! Without the rainboom, you and your friends will never form your special cutie mark bonds! CUTIE MARKS FOR CUTIE MARKS! Sounds like a fair trade to me!"

With that, she tapped the crystal, making it sink through the cloud, gravity instantly taking hold. As this happened, Twilight summoned a burst of magic, unleashing a fury of power that shattered the crystal. But as she did this, Spike was flung off her back.

"TWILIGHT!" he screamed, making her look down and gulp.

"Oops!" Spreading her wings, she zipped down and grabbed him before flying back up to the city.

"Thanks!" Spike sighed in relief.

"No problem, Spike. At least now we know exactly what we have to do!" Once they got back to the city of clouds, the two found no sign of Starlight, "Okay, keep your eyes peeled."

"Right!" Spike took out some binoculars and looked around, spotting something as Twilight kept talking.

"We have to stop Starlight as soon as Rainbow Dash and those bullies race by!"

"Um..." Spike lowered the binoculars, "Twilight?"

"So be ready."

"I know, but-"

"Because she could pop up anywhere!" She then felt a tapping on her shoulder, turning to Spike as he pointed at a lower cloud.

"Like over there?" Twilight took the binoculars and gasped at the sight of Starlight, along with the younger Fluttershy and bullies. She quickly flew down and landed next to the group, glaring at the unicorn.

"What's going on here?"

Starlight just shined a big cheeky grin, "Oh, I was just reminding these two colts how hurtful teasing can be."

"Well, don't!" This statement got some confused looks from the younger ponies, Twilight soon registering what Starlight had said. "I mean...you were?"

"Of course!" Starlight smirked before patting Fluttershy's head. "In a world where everypony is unique, some are bound to feel more special than others." She then got right up into Twilight's face. "But that isn't a license to be cruel, is it?"

"No, of course not..." Twilight muttered out, raising an eyebrow at her statement.

"Oh..." Starlight sighed while pulling the three into a hug, "Isn't it a shame we don't live in a world where everypony is equal? No one would ever tease anyone there! Wouldn't that be nice?" This suggestion got three nods from Fluttershy and the colts, Twilight gasping at their actions.

"No, it wouldn't!" Once again, the younger ponies gave her an odd look. "I mean, it'd be nice not to be teased of course, but that's not the same thing!"

"Come on, Fluttershy." One of the bullies told the taller pegasus, "Maybe I can help you get through the course this time."

Fluttershy blushed as she followed him, "Um...okay. I mean, I sure could use the practice."

The three then walked off, Twilight turning to glare at Starlight. "I know you only convinced those bullies to not tease Fluttershy to stop the rainboom!"

"Oh, that's not true." Starlight waved her hoof, "I convinced them to not be bullies because everypony should be equal." She then shined a huge grin, "Stopping the rainboom is just a bonus."

Twilight glared back, Spike now hearing a whooshing sound and turning to see the young Rainbow fly past them, "Twilight, look!"

Twilight turned to see the filly, only to growl back at Starlight, "This isn't over yet!"

"If you say so!" She watched as Twilight caught up to Rainbow, the two stopping to talk for several moments until Rainbow flew off with Twilight behind her to continue their discussion. By the look on young Rainbow's face, Twilight was creeping her out. "Oh, this is too good." Starlight then floated over, seeing Rainbow fly off while Twilight shined a huge frown.

"No! Wait!"

Starlight just laughed. "Gee Twilight, what's the matter? Couldn't convince her to do the impossible?! That's too bad."

She watched as Twilight turned back to the unicorn, only for a time portal to open and suck the two back in. Starlight began laughing again, unaware of a figure standing above her on a cloud, "I see...so that's why this is happening. Interesting."

And as these words left the being's mouth, a new portal began to appear behind the figure.

Twilight and Spike had fell out of the time portal again, this time slamming and bouncing off the table. "Blaugh!" they both moaned before Spike said, "Well, that didn't work."

Twilight groaned as she pulled the scroll out, "This is gonna be harder than I thought. We'll have to try again-"

"Hey Twilight?" Spike tried to interrupt.

"I don't want to live in that awful future we saw earlier!"

"I don't think you'll have to!" Twilight looked away from the scroll, just in time to see a bunch of hoof-made spears pointing at her face. She gasped and shrunk at the sight, now seeing the ponies currently pointing sticks at her were ones she knew, including a pair of special friends, "Pinkie? Fluttershy?"

"Silence, changeling!" Pinkie yelled as Twilight and Spike both let out silent gasps, Fluttershy speaking up next.

"All servants of Queen Chrysalis found in these woods must be...destroyed!" The two exchanged glances, fearing they may be in for a worst fate than the last alternate future.

Meanwhile...

Far away, the rocky area of Ghastly Gorge was filled with screams as ponies ran through it. Behind them, a bunch of changelings chased them all down. It was here that one of the changelings spat out a blob of green goop, which hit a young filly's hoof and stuck it to the ground. She screamed as she and her mother tried to pull herself free, but the slime wouldn't give.

But before the bug could get close, it was slammed by a blur, knocking them away. The mother and daughter gasped at the blur, seeing a pegasus carrying a bog-standard sword and dressed head to hoof in rusted armor, "Flash!"

Flash glared at the approaching swarm before turning to the two, using his sword to slash away the goop, "RUN!"

They didn't hesitate and rushed off, Flash turning back to the swarm as several changelings attacked. He quickly slashed two down, three more taking their place. But as they tried to attack, Flash zipped past them, cutting each one down with a single stroke.

"You stinking bugs aren't gonna win today!" he roared as he took two more down.

"Flash!" He glanced back and saw Wild Smile, Gorgenia and Solid Script running up to him as he slashed another bug.

"Go back!" The pegasi yelled as he spun around and punched a changeling in the face, "The others need you!"

"You can't beat these things alone!" Gorgenia told him as she fired a magic blast, knocking away two bugs beside Flash.

"I don't need to. I just need to hold them off long enough for you all to get away."

"Flash-" Wild started, Flash then raising a hoof.

"Don't let Lightning's sacrifice be in vain!" The mention of their friend made them go stiff, only for Flash to say, "If we're all captured, he gave his life for nothing." He looked back at them, "Keep everypony safe! GO!"

They quickly nodded, turning away as Flash continued to fight more of the changelings. But as he did this, he began to slow down, knocking down a full group before taking a quick breath, gasping as he started to slump over, "There's too many...but I have...to keep...fight-BLAUGH!"

He let out a pained cry as he felt something stab into his back, slowly looking down to see a black spike sticking out of his chest. The warrior gasped before seeing some blood spit out of his mouth, making him look around to see a cloaked figure standing behind of him.

Blinking at the sight, a group of changelings charged at the figure, only for a barrage of pitch black tentacles to come out of the cloak. The tendrils pierced all the bugs, instantly killing them all before the figure pointed at the down pegasi. As this happened, the spike in Flash's chest retracted out, going back into the figure's cloak as Flash slumped over, blood splattering out on the dirt.

As he felt himself fading, he glanced up to the figure, "Why?"

"Because there can only be one."

And those were the last words Flash ever heard.

Back with Twilight, she, Spike and the forest-dwelling ponies were travelling through the woods. Twilight and Spike had been in real trouble until Zecora arrived, smearing them in a strange paint that revealed the truth and made them trust the duo. After that, the zebra went on to explain how changing time worked and that each timeline she returned to if she failed could be significantly different from the last.

The group then arrived at an area of the wood which Zecora spoke of, "This part of the forest is dark and damp, but it's done well to hide our camp."

She pulled aside some leaves, revealing a campsite filled with mud huts and ponies. They all trotted inside, Twilight and Spike noting the other ponies now glaring at them, "This is cozy," Spike said before hearing a loud scream.

The group all turned to the sound, now spotting three ponies. Twilight gasped and smiled at the sight of Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack. "Please!" The white unicorn spoke out, "You have to help us!"

"The changelings attacked Ponyville!" Rainbow added, "We barely escaped with our lives!"

Twilight was about to rush up and hug her friends, but Zecora put her hoof in front of the alicorn, "The only changeling attack I see is the one that came here looking for me!"

Twilight blinked at her statement, only to turn to Applejack as she spoke up, "It's taken quite a while to find you, Zecora." The farmer's eyes began to be consumed in flames, soon consuming her body before reappearing as Queen Chrysalis. "What a lovely village you've chosen to stage your little resistance." She and Zecora glared at one another as she continued, "It looks absolutely delicious!" She licked her lips as the other ponies pointed their spears at her. "Oh, come now Zecora. You're vastly outnumbered." To prove this point, the Rainbow and Rarity fakes returned to normal as more and more changelings appeared out of the woods. A young filly was even revealed to be one, explaining how they were found. "I know you don't want your charges hurt. Come quietly to the dungeons of Canterlot and I promise to leave the others alone."

"Why would she ever trust you?!" Fluttershy asked while Twilight trotted up to Zecora.

"Even if there's a chance Chrysalis will honor her word, shouldn't you try?"

In a hushed tone, Zecora whispered to Twilight, "Race to the map while we hold off their attack. Stop Starlight and put the whole world back on track!"

Twilight nodded and turned to run back the way they came, Spike leaping onto her back. A group of changelings instantly appeared, but Twilight's horn flared, blasting them all away. The duo then jumped into the foliage, more bugs charged at them before Twilight consumed her body in her magic. A flash of light followed this, teleporting the two to the map as the changelings slammed into each other from trying to tackle her.

And as they got to the map, Twilight pulled out the scroll. "Let's get out of here now!"

"Agreed! Cast the spell!" Spike exclaimed as the scroll began to be gripped in Twilight's magic aura, a portal soon appearing above them.

One time jump later...

As the duo landed in Cloudsdale, Twilight cast a shield spell around her body. A split second later, a beam of magic struck the shield, Twilight turning to the attack. Growling at the sight of the attacker, she fired her own beam, which Starlight sidestepped with ease.

"Not bad," She told the princess, "But it's gonna take a lot more than that!"

"Lucky for you, there's more where that came from!" Twilight roared before unleashing a volley of magic, Starlight dodging each as she began firing her own beams.

This continued to for a few minutes, beams flying everywhere as Starlight just dodged each with ease, "You've really gotta work on your aim." She then shot another blast, Twilight just managing to teleport away from the attack. But as this happened, the two flew down to a cloud, both forming magic shields before firing beams again.

"Hey, come on! Go fly and fire those magic beams again!" cheered a new voice, making them turn to see Rainbow and the bullies watching their fight, Rainbow eating some popcorn.

Twilight went wide-eyed at this and teleported over to her, "What are you doing?! You have to finish your race!"

"No way! This is way more exciting!"

"See?" They all turned to Starlight as she shined a huge grin, "You can't stop me no matter what you do."

Twilight glared at her, only for the portal to reopen, sucking her and Spike back up. Rainbow growled at the sight, tossing her popcorn away. "Aww..."

"Don't worry kid, I get the feeling she'll be back pretty soon." Starlight added as she patted the filly's back. "Just watch." From her point of view, it was only a minute or so between being pulled back. That had to mean Twilight and Spike only spent a minute in the future, right?

Wrong.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Twilight and Spike cried as they ran through the Everfree forest, a horde of timberwolves on their tail.

When they had arrived, Spike had noted how it was now nighttime. But as they began to question this, a pack of Timberwolves appeared, making them run away as Twilight was too exhausted to fight the monsters. It was here that the pair then found themselves on the edge of a cliff into a familiar gorge that Twilight barely managed to stop herself from falling into. They blinked at the sight, only to see a certain building, "The Castle of the Two Sisters!" she exclaimed before hearing the howling of timberwolves behind them, causing Spike to leap off her back.

"Well don't just stand here!" He screamed as he ran across a stone bridge, Twilight following until they reached the castle.

But as they arrived, their eyes went wide at a new sight. The castle was no longer in disrepair, and there were statues decorating the path to the front gate,

"Grand?" Twilight commented as she looked over the first, seeing it was in the likeness of the old knight. "Why is..."

"Hey! This one is Skybreaker!" Spike added as she turned to the drake, the little one now pointing to the others, "And look, there's First, Heather...oh! Tidal and Iron too!"

"What are they doing here? And why do the statues all look..." Twilight was about to say, only for her eyes to shrink as her brain caught up. She now saw that the ponies were not in usual positions for statues, Skybreaker looking like he had been thrown backwards while Heather looked like she was only half-conscious. Grand and Iron were slumped over, their hooves twisted in pain while Tidal and First had new scars along their chests.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." She added before turning to the castle door, soon going wide-eyed as she saw an even newer sight.

Like the outside of the castle, the inside was also no longer destroyed. Torches lit up the entire place, making Spike mumble out, "This place looks a lot cleaner than I remember." Twilight nodded at Spike's statement, just as the rug they were about to step on flew into the air.

This was caused by a unicorn's magic, Twilight smiling as she saw the unicorn step into the room. "Rarity?"

Rarity, who was dressed in a dark blue maid outfit, turned to them, "The castle isn't open for viewings today. The tapestries all need changing. Again."

Spike rushed over to her with a huge smile, "Rarity, it's me!"

He held out his arms, only for her to look away in disgust, "I don't socialize with dragons," she spat, "I don't know anypony who would."

Spike whimpered at the insult like a sad dog, Twilight jumping over him before yelling, "Rarity, you have to listen to me! The future of Equestria's at stake!"

Rarity glared back at her, "I don't know how you know my name, but I am far too busy to entertain some tourist's ridiculous fantasies."

"Listen, I need your help. I have to get back to the map so I can stop Starlight from changing the past, because every present I come to is worse than the last!"

"Time travel, you say?" Twilight and Spike both went wide-eyed, gulping at that voice. Their heads slowly turned to the direction of the sound, both now backpedaling at a new sight. It was a pony sitting at a large throne at the end of the room, the figure now being illuminated by the light of the moon. It was Nightmare Moon, a grim frown on her face, "Now that's something I would like to see."

Twilight and Spike began to shrink at the statement, only for a bunch of guards to appear out of nowhere around them. Seeing this, Twilight could only say the one thing her boyfriend liked to say, "Aw crap."

Back in the forest, the timberwolves were now sniffing around the table, only to hop back as several sudden bolts of lightning appeared around it. Inside the lightning, a figure flicked in and out before stabilizing into a certain cloaked figure.

"Finally." The being groaned, "Now...where'd he get too?" A low growling caused him to look around, now seeing the timberwolves all staring at him. "Time for you pups to play dead." Shadow tendrils shot out its cloak next, shattering the group in an instant.

"There. No more distractions-" the figure's words didn't go any further, as his ears picked up some voices a bit away. Turning to the voice's origin, he quickly leapt into the trees just before Twilight, Nightmare Moon and the others arrived at the map.

"How does it work?" The dark alicorn asked.

"A pony from my time used this spell to travel back and change the past." Twilight replied, only to see Nightmare Moon smirk before walking over to the map.

"And now you will give this spell to me! With it, I will ensure that the Elements of Harmony are never found, and my reign will last forever!"

"But it won't." This made the alicorn glare back at Twilight, a proud smile on the younger alicorn's face.

"What did you just say?!"

"In my world, my friends and I found the Elements and used them to defeat you!" She flared her wings and charged her magic. "And I will do everything in my power to bring that world back!"

"NO!" Nightmare Moon tried to blast her, but Twilight teleported herself and Spike away. They then reappeared on the map, ready to warp back to the past, only for Nightmare Moon to cast her own spell, this one forming a barrier around the table.

"What?!" Twilight yelped, staring at the barrier as the dark alicorn just laughed.

"Did you really think I didn't expect a double-cross?!" Nightmare Moon growled, stomping her hooves, "What kind of fool do you take me for?! Guards, seize them!" The guards began to trot around them, Twilight's horn beginning to charge, "Don't bother." The barrier began to glow again. "Try anything and I'll transport that relic to a distant part of the ocean. If I can't use it, then neither can you."

Twilight and Spike both gasped, Nightmare Moon laughing as the guards began to surround them, "I commend you on your bravery, but nopony is allowed to defy me without punishment. Just ask the Royal Knights. They tried to side with my sister, and now they're spending their days as lawn ornaments!"

This got another gasp out of the pair, unable to reply at the statement. But as they began to backpedal from the guards, a brilliant light exploded above them. Looking up, all the guards shielded their eyes as Nightmare Moon screamed, "No! Not now!"

A new figure suddenly landed in front of the group, knocking away all the guards before charging at Nightmare Moon. The dark alicorn reflexively hopped back, accidentally dropping the barrier around the map as she dodged an attack from the figure.

Twilight's eyes adjusted as she stared at the figure, now recognizing the being fighting Nightmare Moon, "Flash?"

The pony stood between the dark alicorn and the map, now standing in a tornado of light while wearing very familiar armor. Nightmare Moon growled at him, her horn sparking, "You've opposed me for the last time Lightbringer. This night, you die."

"I'll mark it on my calendar." He replied before he glanced at Twilight, the two locking eyes as she felt her heart leap. "I don't know who you are, but I can't allow Nightmare Moon to have the power you wield." He turned back to his foe, "Leave! Now!"

Twilight nodded as she and Spike leapt back onto the table, casting the spell. And as the portal opened, Twilight smiled at her love. "Thank you." Flash nodded before charging at Nightmare Moon, the alicorn unleashing a blast of magic that was shielded by the light around him.

Twilight and Spike both flew up to the portal, only for Twilight to look down and see something in the corner of her eye.

"LOOK OUT!" she screamed...but it was too late.

Flash's ears heard this, but unable to react as a black arrow suddenly shot across the field, striking Flash's side. "FLASH!" Twilight yelled as she saw blood spat of his mouth, her eyes scanning the area as she then saw a cloaked figure standing beside a tree, "Wha-"

But her words were shut off as she disappeared into the portal, Flash now collapsing as blood began to leak into the dirt under him. Nightmare Moon just blinked at the body of the long-time nuisance, (She refused to call anypony a foe since that would mean they were equals) then glanced over at the cloaked figure. "Who are you?"

The figure said nothing, a portal just like Twilight's now appearing above him. And before Nightmare Moon could say anything, the figure was pulled up into the wormhole.

Back in the past, Twilight and Spike shot out the portal yet again.

Twilight didn't waste any time, spreading her wings and firing a blast of magic that struck Starlight and encased her in crystal. The unicorn was completely frozen as she fell onto a cloud, Twilight flying over to her. "Now more than ever I know how important it is to stop you!"

Starlight glared at her through the crystal before lighting her horn, unleashing a shockwave that shattered the crystal instantly, "Well, good luck!" she barked back as they began to fight again, "I won't quit! You'll never have your cutie marks!"

And thus it began. No matter what Twilight did, Starlight kept managing to prevent Rainbow from performing the Rainboom. As she did this, Twilight and Spike were pulled back into the future, greeted by more horrifying sights.

One future showed Tirek's unstoppable rampage, another being a world where Doom Raizer was never stopped and reached Equestria, stealing all the magic from everypony there. There was then a future where both happened, Doom's giant pony colossus from the Omni sphere fighting Tirek, causing unending destruction across the land from their battle.

Next was a future where Discord reigned supreme, turning the land into a dystopia of chocolate rain and candyfloss buildings. There was also a future where Lightning Blitz destroyed all of Canterlot and everypony in it. Not only that, there was a future where Big Score took over Ponyville, turning it into a broken gangster paradise, the town hall now a giant casino. After that was a future where Shade had conquered Equestria, his abilities turning the ponies into lifeless husks, all of their aura completely sucked out. There was even a future where Flim and Flam had somehow seized control, though mainly just Sweet Apple Acres.

And as the duo witnessed a future where half of Equestria was covered in Flos-Mortem flowers, the pair landed in Cloudsdale again, dodging Starlight's first attack once more.

"Up for another race-ending fight, Twilight?" Starlight asked while landing on a higher cloud.

Twilight flew up to another cloud, landing with a sigh before shaking her head, "No...you were right. I can't stop you." Starlight took the chance to fire a beam at Twilight, the alicorn blocking it with a shield. When it faded, Starlight saw a new determined look on the princess's face. "But you can't stop me from trying, and we could be stuck doing this for all eternity!"

Starlight just shined a cocky grin back, "If that's what it takes to keep you and your friends from getting your cutie mark connection, then I'm game!"

She fired another blast, Twilight blocked her again as she yelled, "What you're doing goes way beyond cutie marks!" She grabbed a piece of cloud and held it up, forming a hill-like shape with a cloud-ball at the top and a cloud building at the bottom. "Everything we do here in the past, even the smallest change, can snowball into an avalanche of trouble for the future!" To show this, she released the cloud-ball and let it roll down, growing bigger until it was the size of the house before smashing into it.

Starlight rolled her eyes before firing a blast, this one vaporizing the cloud. "Oh please, next I suppose you'll tell me that the fate of all of Equestria hangs in the balance."

"It does!"

"Spare me your overblown ego!" Starlight barked back, "No group of friends, not even Princess Twilight's, is that important!" She fired a spell that hit Rainbow, sending her flying before making the portal to open up again.

Twilight looked up at the portal, only to yell at Starlight, "I don't know how important other ponies' friendships are to the future...but I can show you what the world is like without mine!" With that, she leapt over to Starlight and grabbed her, the unicorn unable to react before they yanked up into the portal.

And as this happened, upon a higher cloud, a cloaked figure watched as Twilight was pulled back into the portal while dragging Starlight along. "Interesting...looks like I might have to intervene next time." With that, his form began to slowly turn into mist, his body flickering before vanishing like smoke.

Starlight could barely see anything in front of her, a blast of sandy wind hitting her face. The three were now in a wasteland, not a building or pony in sight. Wherever they were, it wasn't Equestria anymore. "Where are we?!" She asked as she turned back to Twilight, the princess showing a giant frown as she stood next to the map.

"The future. Or rather, the present."

Starlight spun around, glaring at the nothing before yelling, "But there's nothing here!"

"I wish I could say I was surprised...but every world I come back to is worse than the last." Twilight sighed as she looked back at the map. "I don't know why my friends and I are so important to Equestria, but we are."

For a moment, Starlight's eyes went wide, only to shake her head as she pointed at the alicorn, "You can't be serious! I don't believe you!"

Spike, who was standing on the map, gestured around them, "Come on Starlight, look around!"

"Like I said, everything in the past affects the future." Twilight picked up a piece of dirt, which was quickly blown away by the wind. "Even the tiniest act...can lead to this." Starlight simply stared at the wasteland, her eyes twitching at the sight as Twilight continued, "I know I can't stop you, but I thought showing you this might change your mind."

This statement pulled Starlight out of her thoughts, a look of anger returning to her face. "Change my mind?!" She growled and stomped her hooves, "You don't know anything about me! I was perfectly happy before you and your FRIENDS ruined what I built!"

Twilight did another sigh, "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened that led you to make your village without cutie marks, and I'm sorry my friends and I had to take it away." She shook her head, "Starlight...taking cutie marks is wrong. This...this wasteland is proof of it."

Starlight's face began to contort, her horn sparking as Twilight continued, "Starlight...don't. I'm done fighting." Twilight tried to show the most pleading expression possible, "Why are you doing this? What happened to you that made you hate cutie marks?"

"You...you're wrong! You want to know what happened to me?!" Starlight screamed as she floated onto the table before firing a spell at the map, causing it to light up. "I'LL SHOW YOU!"

With that, the portal opened again, sucking all three inside. It wasn't long till the came out of the portal again, this time all three finding themselves on solid ground...and not Cloudsdale. Instead, it was a small village, smaller than Ponyville.

"Where are we?"

Starlight rolled her eyes at her question, "My hometown. That map of yours is connected to every part of Equestria, and this part is my original home."

She then trotted over to a nearby building, Twilight and Spike following before Starlight gestured to a window. There, they looked inside and saw a pair of young ponies playing book Jenga. One of those ponies was a filly Twilight and Spike recognised, being pink with a purple and blue mane. But as they moved their eyes, they now also saw an orange unicorn colt with an orange mane and tail with white on his nose and hooves. It was here they turned back to Starlight, now seeing a heartbroken frown on her face.

"Who...is that?" Twilight asked, but Starlight just sighed in response.

"Sunburst...my first and greatest friend. Sunburst and I did everything together. In fact..." She gave Twilight a somber look, "I don't remember us ever being apart."

But as she glanced back at the young ponies, a dark glare appeared on her face, "Until today."

Twilight and Spike raised their eyebrows before looking back at the scene, seeing the younger Starlight pull a book out of the tower's base. As she did this, it caused the whole thing to shake and wobble before starting to tip over. Starlight gasped as the tower of books began to fall in her direction, only for Sunburst's horn to spark, grabbing the pillar in magic.

Young Starlight gasped at the sight, watching as the books began spinning around Sunburst, the colt suddenly floating as well before a burst of light to appear. The light engulfed his body, the books then flying onto some shelves in perfect alphabetical order. As this happened, Sunburst stopped glowing, making him float down before another flash of light to go off. He turned around next, letting out a celebratory whinny as he now saw a cutie mark on his flank.

The colt quickly ran out of the room, young Starlight unable to say anything in pure shock. But before she could recover, Sunburst's parents took the colt in their magic, quickly running out of the house in a parade of cheers. And as this happened, filly Starlight tried to follow him by looking out the window...only for Sunburst to disappear in the crowd, tears forming in her eyes as she watched.

"And just like that, my friend was gone." The older Starlight was fighting back her own tears as she continued, "His family recognized his magical talent and sent him off to Canterlot within the week. I...never saw him again."

"Well, why not?" Spike asked, only for Starlight to spin around with fire in her eyes.

"Because of his cutie mark!" She pushed her hooves into his chest. "He got his, and I didn't!" She did the same with Twilight. "He moved on, and I didn't! I stayed here and I was never able to make another friend, all because of those blasted cutie marks! No matter how many ponies I met my age, I knew as soon as they got their cutie marks, the marks would take them away as well!"

Twilight just blinked at her, unable to comprehend what Starlight had said. All she could think about was all the dark futures that had been created by this, making her spit out, "That's...that's ridiculous! A cutie mark can't take your friends away!"

Starlight growled back at her, "Not everypony's lucky enough to get her cutie mark at the same time as her friends!" She sparked her horn as the portal formed again, sucking the three up. Before the other two knew what was happening, they were back in Cloudsdale as Starlight used her magic to teleport Spike's bag to her. "You don't know what it's like to lose a friend because of a cutie mark. But once I stop the rainboom, you will!" She opened the bag and pulled out the scroll. "And when I destroy this scroll, there'll be no way for you to change it!"

With that, she began pulling at the scroll and slowly formed a tear in the paper. Twilight gasped, her body trying to think as she said, "Starlight, you're right! I don't know what you went through! But I do know you can't do this! I've seen where this leads, and so have you!"

"I only saw what you showed me!" The embittered unicorn hissed, the scroll tearing even more. "Who knows what'll really happen?"

Twilight's ears heard the race begin, Rainbow and the bullies flying around the course as she replied, "Please Starlight...I've seen it a dozen times! Things don't turn out well in Equestria without my friends!"

"Oh, please!" Starlight groaned and rolled her eyes, "What's so special about your friends?!" The scroll tore more, "How can a group of ponies that are so different be so important?!"

Twilight slowly moved over to her next, her words barely releasing through her mouth, "Starlight...I don't fully understand you, we are different...and that's okay. The differences between me and my friends are the very things that make our friendship strong!"

Tears appeared in Starlight's eyes, steam pouring out of her nostrils, "You're wrong...I thought Sunburst and I were the same, but we turned out different, and it tore our friendship apart!"

Starlight's horn was now sputtering, teeth grinding as she was about to rip the scroll in half. Seeing this, Twilight took to the air as she declared, "That's enough Starlight! Friendships aren't just determined by one singular event! They're things that develop over time! If what happened to you is so bad...then you need to try again! You have to keep trying!"

"You're wrong...those blasted cutie mark always destroyed my friendships!"

"No they didn't!" Twilight zipped up to Starlight's face, "You're the one that gave up! Even if you lose a friend, that doesn't mean you have to give up on having them! You can make new friends! And if something that you can't control happens that changes things, work through it together! That's what friendship is!"

Starlight backpedaled at Twilight's words, tears streaming down her face as she tried to say anything. But no words could form, her mind a mess as she thought about Sunburst compared to the town she made. However, as she did this, Twilight continued, "And it's not just my friendships that are important to Equestria! Everypony's are! When yours ended, it led us here. But just imagine all the others that are out there waiting for you if you just give them a chance!"

Starlight glanced at the scroll, seeing that one last tug would be enough. Long exhales came out of her mouth as she glared at her hesitation, only to look back at the princess, "You're wrong...you have to be. How...how do I...how do I know they won't all end the same way?"

Twilight just shined a huge kind grin, holding out a hoof next, "I guess it's up to you to make sure they don't." Starlight's eyes shifted between the scroll and Twilight, the princess then saying, "Starlight...will you let me be your friend?"

Starlight's form broke at those words, tears now seeping through the clouds below them as she dropped the scroll. Spike caught the paper as Starlight reached out to take the hoof, the sound of Rainbow building up the speed needed for the rainboom rippling in their ears.

"Twilight...I-"

"AAAAAHHHHH!" The three jolted at the sound of Rainbow's pained voice, turning to see a heart-stopping sight. Rainbow, almost suspended in midair, had a singular black arrow piercing through her heart.

Rainbow's eyes rolled into the back of her head as gravity took hold, the filly's body instantly falling into a cloud. "RAINBOW!" Twilight screamed, only to look up and gasp at a new sight, "You!"

Spike and Starlight followed her vision and now saw a cloaked pony standing on a higher cloud, a black bow in hoof that vanished a second later. Twilight was about to scream again, only for another time portal to appear above them, sucking the trio up immediately.

The figure watched them leave, the rest of the Cloudsdale ponies all wide-eyed as the figure just laughed at the sight, "Now, let's see how things turn out."

All three slammed into the map, bouncing off the platform before tasting dirt. "Owww..." Spike moaned as they all picked themselves up.

Starlight also groaned, turning to Twilight. "Who was that?"

"I...I don't know," Twilight replied as she shook her head, "I saw that pony once, in another alternative world. I don't know what they were doing in the past, but it can't have been anything good."

"Er...girls?" they turned to Spike, now pointing at the area around them. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Ponyville..." Twilight gasped, her eyes shrinking at the sight. The entire town looked like it had been obliterated, now a single building standing unless it was just a pile of rubble. Smoke billowed across the ground, large holes covering what little amount of dirt could be seen on the streets. "What...what happened in this timeline?! What happened to Ponyville?!"

"If you think this is bad, wait till you see Canterlot," the three slowly turned to the direction of the voice, "I'm particularly proud of what I did to that place."

There, sitting lazily on a pile of rubble, was the cloaked figure. The figure's voice was low, a dark masculine tone to it. The trio all got into a battle-ready position, glares being fired as Twilight yelled, "Who are you?!"

"And why did you do that to Rainbow?!" Spike added.

"And...and how the heck did you even get to the past?!" Starlight finished.

The figure laughed before reaching into a pocket of his cloak, "I have you three to thank for that." He then pulled out a familiar-looking scroll, chuckling as he did this, "Did you really think you were the only ponies affected by your little spell?"

Twilight gasped before looking at their own scroll, "No...that's impossible! There's only one scroll!"

"You're right," the figure nodded, "There's only one scroll...in each future. But as you've seen, there's more than one future out there."

Everypony gasped, Twilight stuttering out, "You...you can't be. You're from an alternate future that's been using that scroll along with us?!"

The figure nodded again, "That's right. Your escapades of creating timelines has greatly helped me by the way."

"But...but that can't be! There can only be one future at a time!" Twilight barked back, only for the figure to shake his head.

"Oh, how wrong you are. Just because you can only experience one timeline at a time, doesn't mean all the other timelines don't still exist." The figure picked a rock up off the pile and balanced it atop an edge of another piece of rubble before letting go. The rock tipped for a second, only to fall to the left before rolling down. "We're experiencing a future where the rock fell left, but a future where the rock fell right still exists somewhere out in the multiverse."

The three blinked at his explanation, Twilight then asking, "So...are you saying you're from a timeline where the Rainboom didn't go off, and was pulled back by the time spell?"

"That's right. I was searching through the ruins of the Canterlot library for something to help me gain more power, and found this." He pointed at the scroll, chuckling as he continued, "I just happened to be holding it the second your little scuffle happened, pulling me back into the past. It was some surprise." He then turned around, laughing at the sight of the destroyed town, "But I gotta say...I sure did miss this place."

Looks of despair graced each face as they saw what he meant, "This...this is the future you're from?"

"Yes. I was as surprised as you are when I realized what was happening." He sighed again, "It's so good to be back after all these years."

"Years?!" Starlight asked next, "We haven't been travelling for years."

"Maybe you haven't, but I have." He held up the scroll again. "It might be because this scroll isn't exactly like yours, but it didn't allow me to skip between the past and future as you did. All it did was pull me out of phase with the world. Every time you returned to the future, I became like a ghost, unable to talk or interact with the world. All I could do was watch as the world changed from the one I knew."

"Wait...but that means..." Twilight whispered, "The time we skipped over was-"

"Over ten years," the figure finished. "Yes, but it was more than that. Tell me, how many times did you travel back in time, pulling me back with each use?"

Twilight's eyes shrunk at the question, gasping as she stared at the pony, "We...I...I've lost count how many times we've done it." Even so, she knew it had to be in the double digits. That means he'd been trapped like that for over a hundred years. "But...are you saying you've been unable to do anything for that long?"

"Yes. I've been nothing more than a ghost for over a century, all thanks to you three." His tone became even lower, his raspy voice now making Starlight shrink back as he pointed at her, "You have no idea how much you've done, the years of torture that was done to me. This is all your fault."

Starlight wanted to respond, but Twilight quickly stood in front of her, flaring her wing in front of the unicorn, "That's enough. I'm sorry that happened to you, but there's no way we could have known-"

"That doesn't matter." The figure interrupted as he began to stand up, "After all...I'm finally home now." He then clenched his hoof, "But I won't be staying. Give me your scroll."

This made all three go wide-eyed, Spike asking, "Why? You're home, aren't you?"

"He's right. Just drop the scroll and let us leave," Twilight added, "We'll go back to our own time, and you won't be stuck in time if you're not touching the scroll. It won't affect you."

"I can't do that. Now that I've seen the timelines, I can't stay in my home." the figure responded as he slid off the pile of rubble, "I have work to do. There's a certain somepony I must destroy."

"Destroy? But who-"

"You know who. You've seen my work, alicorn." The figure interrupted again, Twilight's eyes going wide as she heard those words.

"You mean...when you killed Flash?" Twilight replied, the two others gasping at her guess.

"That's right."

"But why?! What do you have against Flash?"

This question was met by maniacal laughter, "You can't be serious! You really haven't figured it out?!" The figure pulled back his cloak and spread his wings, revealing himself as a pegasus as he took to the air and hovered above the trio, "In every future, every timeline...Flash Sentry is a pony who stands for justice, courage and protecting others. Every future...except one." he reached for his mask, swiping it off with his hoof in one swift motion, "MINE!"

Everypony gasped at the sight. Staring down at them was Flash, but different in every way. His coat was bleach gray, face covered in scars and his still blue mane was cut so short you could barely notice it. But the most noticeable change was his eyes. Gone were the sky blue eyes that constantly burnt with courage and determination, and were instead bright red with green instead of white.

"No...you can't be..." Twilight whispered as the two behind her continued to backpedal.

"Oh, but I am." Flash laughed as a pitch-black aura began to smoke off his body. "I am the undisputed ruler of this land, of this timeline. This Equestria...it is mine. I am everything those weaker versions of me could have been, had they not wasted their time caring about others." He glared at their scroll, a giant sinister grin on his face, "Before I was pulled into the past thanks to you, I thought I was the only one. But once I have that scroll of yours...I will be." Before anypony could say anything else, black tendrils sprouted out of his body, all of them covering the sky above them. "Now...GIVE IT TO ME!"

Twilight's body froze as the one she loved unleashed the tendrils towards her, the spiked tips ready to impale her. Was this how it ends? Was Twilight gonna die at the hooves of the pony she trusted more than anything.

A Flash of Darkness

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Canterlot, ten years ago.

On the streets of Canterlot, most would consider it to be a quiet city at the end of the day. The high-class ponies were busy living their luxurious lives when something caught their ears. They turned their heads to see a screaming earth pony run down the streets.

"GET BACK HERE!" He roared, the others now seeing he was chasing a young foal who was quick on his hooves. He was a pegasus pony with an orange coat and a dark blue colored mane and tail. In his mouth was a brown bag, obviously filled with delicious food, "When I get my hooves on you, I'll tear you limb from limb!"

The young colt said nothing as he zipped into an alleyway, only to find that it was a dead end. The wall wasn't very tall, but it was at least double the height of the young pegasus colt. He leapt up to grab the edge, but it was just out of reach, as his wings were currently useless.

"I've got you now," the earth pony said in a low, menacing tone. The colt looked back at the towering adult, only for a bulb to go off in his head. As the earth pony charged at him, the colt slid through the ground, going right between the earth pony's legs. This caused the earth pony to look down, unable to stop himself as he then kissed the dead end wall with a resounding 'thud'.

The colt smirked before hopping onto the earth pony, using him as a springboard to reach the top of the wall. As he began to scramble his hooves to try to get over the wall, the earth pony slowly getting up while rubbing his head, "You...you won't get away that easy brat!"

"You think this is easy?!" The colt yelped as he got over the wall, throwing the bag over the concrete. He then stuck out his tongue, spitting raspberries, “Later jerk!”

With that, he hopped down and ran down another alleyway. It wasn't long till he reached a small park area, hopping down on a bench as he pulled out a slice of pizza out of the bag. "Nice one Flash. Here's to lunch."

Cloudsdale...

Rainbow huffed as she stood on the starting block, leaning down as she readied herself to begin her race against the bullies. She watched Fluttershy in the corner of her eye, the filly waving the flag to begin the race. And as soon as the flag went down, Rainbow shot off through the course.

Up above her, a cloaked figure stood watching, his eyes darting around as he switched between the race and a group of ponies. He watched as he saw the unicorn known as Starlight Glimmer hold out the key to his future in his magic. She was talking to the alicorn Twilight, her magic slowly beginning to tear the scroll.

But as he watched, the unicorn began to put the scroll down, making him sigh. Shaking his head next, he looked back at the speeding filly as a shadow consumed his hooves. The darkness soon took the shape of a bow, which he pulled back as he formed a shadow arrow.

And as he released his hoof, the projectile shot through the air, instantly piercing the racing pegasus filly through the heart.

Meanwhile, back at Canterlot...

Flash moaned as he finished off the slice of pizza, licking his lips while sitting back on a bench. The park was no different from any other time he had been there, nothing out of the ordinary happening. He then spotted a green unicorn filly play off in the distance, not a care in the world.

Shrugging at the sight, Flash threw the bag away before heading off to find his dinner. His flank was still completely bare, free of any distinguishing marks. Once again, time had been rewritten.

Two weeks had passed since that day, Flash the colt now walking to his treehouse home after another successful day of swiping food from another restaurant. He had already eaten his bounty, now taking a leisurely stroll through the park with not a care in the world.

"My books!" He stopped at the sound of the voice before turning around. There he spotted a purple unicorn filly who's saddlebag was being tossed around by a bunch of older colts, tears pouring down her face.

There was one universal constant in the world. You could simulate this exact scenario again and again over a million times, and each time, you'd get the same outcome of Flash seeing this. With or without a cutie mark, the colt would rush over and try to help the filly. And in over a million different universes and timelines, the number of times Flash walked away from this situation without helping...is one.

"Nah. Its not like its my problem." Flash whispered to himself as he spun around, walking away as a long yawn escaped his breath. In his mind, he knew that helping her wouldn't change anything in his life. There were more important things to worry about in his life after all.

Oh, how wrong he was.

Two months later...

"AUGH!" Flash yelped while rubbing his stomach, groaning as he trotted through the town. He hadn't eaten anything in five days, as the restaurants had all gotten smarter. They had all employed some brainiac to use some kind of magic he couldn't even pronounce: rone, run, ron, whatever it's called, to make a barrier that Flash couldn't get through. As such, food was unobtainable, and without it would mean the end of his little colt life.

Reality was now settling in, the colt seeing that he had overstayed his welcome in Canterlot. There was no way of getting any food, which meant he needed a new solution. But as he wandered around, a new idea came to mind. It started with the blowing of a whistle, making him turn and see a train come into the local station.

Flash blinked at the site as he snuck into station, wondering if there was any food there, only to see a barrage of ponies boarding a train. He then noticed a line of children getting onboard, likely part of a school, "Perfect." He slowly snuck up to the line and spotted the teacher ticking names off her clipboard as they got onboard. Seeing this, he went over to a large pile of suitcases near the line and pulled one loose, quickly zipping back to the line. The noise of the pile's collapse soon caught everypony's attention, allowing him to sneak behind the distracted teacher.

"And now...I'll just pretend to be a schoolcolt." he said to himself as slipped into a carriage and began to go to the very back car. It wasn't long till the train pulled away from the station, the colt now successfully sneaking to the final carriage's balcony. Here, he watched his former house get smaller in the distance, "See ya Canterlot. When I come back, it won't be as a street rat. I don't know what I'll be, but it'll be somepony important."

And so, Flash began a new life as a travelling wanderer.

Instead of simply staying in one town or city for a long period of time, he chose to stay for about a month at a time while experiencing as much as he could. He did everything he could to stay alive, starting off by returning to his old ways of sneaking into restaurants to nab food. But as the years went on, he found himself unable to just be a small food thief. As such, he became a pickpocket, purse thief and whatever else he could do to get money while travelling around Equestria. He had hoped by travelling all over the kingdom, maybe he could finally find the place where he belonged.

But no matter where he went, he still couldn't find a place he felt comfortable spending the rest of his life. Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, Applewood and so many small towns not worth mentioning....none would satisfy him.

The cold, frozen north...

The Friendship Express cut through the snow until it reached the northern most station, coming to a stop in a frozen wasteland before one of the carriages opened up. "End of the line!" The conductor yelled as he and several train workers tossed something out, that being a pony as he slammed into a pile of snow on the station while letting out a loud, "Blaugh!"

"Don't let me catch you riding without a ticket again!" The conductor told the pony in the snow, the figure revealing to be an older Flash.

"Hey, come on!" He yelled back at them, "You can't leave me out here! I'll freeze to death!"

"You got any bits for a ticket?"

"No."

"Then you're not riding." With that, the conductor shut the doors before the train pulled away to reverse back down the track. Flash cursed in the wind, causing snow to fall off the station roof and bury him.

"Dang it!" he screeched as he pulled himself out of the snow. Now being older, hiding in trains had gotten harder, and as such...his luck ran out. Now he was stuck on a blank station in a frozen wasteland, no other pony around for miles.

"Aw crap..." the stallion whispered as he folded his wings over his body, the chilling snow wind now embracing his body. He then spun around, seeing nothing but snow...a pure white land everywhere.

"So cold..." he said as an hour passed, his body now going numb as he sat at the station. His eyelids were growing heavy, the stallion slowly beginning to drift in and out of consciousness. "Am I...gonna die?"

As he asked this question, something suddenly appeared in the corner of his eye. Turning to the sight, he saw a bright light shine in the distance. His eyes went wide next, now seeing a beautiful crystal city appear in the horizon. "What the heck?!" Flash gasped as he picked himself up, his eyes twitching as he wondered if he was hallucinating.

However, the chills of icy wind hit him again, making him realize only one thing. The city in the distance might be his only savior. As such, he began to trudge through the snow, his body barely moving as most of his energy was already sapped. But as he did this, time seemed to slow down, his body somehow going through the snow with ease. And as he got halfway between the station and the city, he felt something. It was like a presence, a dark ominous shiver down his spine as the snow swirled around him.

It was here that he heard it, a sound that made him feel like death was close by. The noise sounded like a beast in the blizzard, one that made his hairs stand on end, "Who's there?!" He yelled into the storm while spinning around, "Come out!"

But as he asked this, the ground around him began to shake. Flash's body froze at the shake, only for his eyes to go wide as he saw a new sight appear right in front of him. Before him was a giant pitch-black cloud, the fog spinning in a tornado shape as a pair of eyes lingered over the top of the mist. The eyes were red and green with purple smoke around the edges, a red curved horn now appearing along with a giant sinister smile.

The creature laughed as the tornado flew at him, Flash screaming as he tried to run away, only for the smoke to quickly engulf him. "AAAAHHHH!" He screamed as he felt something grab him, pulling him into the dark cloud, "Lemme go!"

"No."

The voice was booming, the sound making Flash's eyes go wide as he looked back at the eyes in the dark fog. "Wha…"

"Hello young one, I am Sombra, Equestria's rightful ruler."

"Som...bra?" Flash whispered, only for a black tendril to appear and slam into his chest. He spat out a blob of blood as Sombra threw him into the snow. "BLAUGH!"

"Be silent. You are before a king."

"Uhn…" Flash moaned as he just stared up, now seeing the dark fog morph into a dark unicorn. The unicorn's body wasn't fully formed though, his back hooves and tail still like a dark mist. The sight made him go silent, fear consuming the stallion as the dark pony shined a huge smile.

"Excellent. Now young stallion, with your help, I will retake my kingdom faster than I was expecting."

Those words made Flash's eyes go wide, "My help?! What are you-mmph!"

A black tendril smacked his face, Sombra stomping a hoof on Flash's chest, "Be silent! You will help me by giving me your body. With it, I won't have to spend days rebuilding mine, and then I can take the Crystal Empire back with ease."

Flash wanted to respond, but he couldn't even breathe. Sombra's black tendrils had now stabbed his chest, black veins covering his body as Flash felt his consciousness slip away, "No..." was all he could mutter out as his orange fur began to morph into a bleached gray color. As for his mind, the flame of his life grew dimmer until it was just a single ember.

But before that light could extinguish, something happened. Flash's eyes shot open as a bright light appeared within, Sombra screaming as the light spread up and began to infect the tornado, "WHAT?!" he yelped as the light grabbed him, "RAUGH! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

The light then reached his face, screams echoing across the wasteland as the light began to consume him. His mind quickly melted, only to fall over as the light sucked him into Flash's body. Both light and shadow then appeared within the snow, creating a pillar of power that made both dance around the ice.

And as the shadows and light fought...the darkness slowly ate the light, soon consuming the light as a singular body sunk into the snow. It was here that a full minute passed, only for a certain pegasi head to suddenly lift up. Pain was nonexistent as Flash began to pick himself up. His eyes were closed as he got up, the feeling of the cold snow not even affecting his body.

There was no pain. Instead, there was something else going through the pony's body: Memories. Knowledge and ideas of a whole another life flashed before his mind. His eyes opened next, reveling them to be bright red and green while purple smoke steamed off to the sides. He then looked down, whispering, "What...is happening to me?" As he asked that, black smoke appeared on his hooves, making him gasp.

He then saw the smoke swirl around his hoof, soon pointing it down as the shadow shot out of his hooves and blasted the snow beneath him. "Whoa..." he gasped, glancing back at his hooves as the shadows began to morph around it. They then turned to a claw, the pegasus chuckling at this. "Cool."

The pegasi began to play around with the shadows, making swords, shields, tendrils and even arrows with ease. "Wow...this is awesome. This power..." He clenched his hooves, "I can't believe it."

But as these words left his mouth, a new thought popped into his head. This one surprised him, the idea swirling in his mind as something new came to mind. Desire. As this happened, a giant grin began to grace his face.

However, this would be interrupted as a flash of light caught his attention next, making him look back at his flank. The back had always been blank ever since he was a foal. But now, an image proudly displayed itself upon his rear. That image was of a shield what had been broken into four by a shadow arrow.

Flash smirked as he looked back at the city, more of Sombra's memories appearing in his head. Ruby, the Crystal Heart, everything. He knew what he had to do.

"I know what I am now...my desire...I will conquer all there is."

And so it began.

"AUGH!" Ruby screamed as Flash pinned her against the wall of the castle's throne room, his shadow claws wrapping around her neck.

Flash laughed as he began to tense up the shadows, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. I'll ask you again Ruby, will you stand beside me as I take Equestria for myself?"

Ruby gargled out a breath, still weak from waking up just like the rest of the crystal ponies. If she was at her full strength, this colt wouldn't stand a chance against her, but now she was helpless, her horn covered in the black crystals Flash had learned to create from Sombra. "I'll never...join you."

"I see. Such a shame." With that, he tossed her across the room, her body smashing into a wall before slumping over. A bunch of crystal ponies ran over to her next, all of them having been in the room with her when Flash had arrived. "Well don't just stand there," Flash trotted over to the throne, "Bring me your strongest chains. If she isn't chained up in the next hour, I'll find a more permanent method of preventing her from getting in my way...and you will join her." The ponies all ran off in fear, Flash smirking as he sat down, his back feeling the smooth cushiony throne, "Ahh...this feels so good. I could get used to this."

That was just the beginning. Ruby spent two days chained up until Flash found Sombra's control mask, the knight now being the first to have one placed on her. The rest of the Crystal Empire soon followed, quickly enslaving the whole populace by the time Cadance and Shining Armor arrived with a small army. Flash just laughed at the sight, cocky enough to meet them on the battlefield with his own army.

The pegasus had also found Sombra's wardrobe along with the helmets, haven taken to wearing Sombra's armor but finding the cape tacky. Instead, he had one of the city's blacksmiths build him a mask. It was made of the empire's toughest metal, ultra-strong and had light special ruby lenses to protect his eyes and a filter system to fight poison gas. The Crystal Empire was seriously advanced for being a thousand years behind the times.

The battle raged for three days before concluding, Flash being victorious. It hadn't been easy, but his shadow powers were something Shining and Cadance couldn't find a way to stop. Having inherited Sombra's knowledge of battle tactics, he easily gained advantage by having Ruby create a wall of crystal, Flash using this to get to one on one fight with Cadance. And after a long fight with the alicorn, he emerged victorious, complete with her as his new hostage.

Shining Armor was eager to surrender after that, Flash's army capturing and planting control helmets on them all. Flash might have lost a good portion of his army, but he now had new Equestrian soldiers. Cadance was then locked in the castle, Flash knowing she would have other uses. He then began his conquest by going south, gaining more experience and control over his shadow magic with each fight. The more he fought and conquered, the more he recruited to his ranks.

The biggest obstacle had been the Royal Knights, each one proving difficult in their own rights. But as each came, he slowly defeated them all. The last knight, Grand something, had fallen by his hooves on the eve of Flash's attack on Canterlot. It wasn't very much an attack though, more like a simple march through his former home.

And what a joy it was for him. He would never forget the sight of his hometown being leveled, leaving only the castle as Celestia began to face him. Flash knew she would be his toughest opponent, but that was why he had kept Cadance safe. Celestia heard his ultimatum, surrender or she dies, knowing the fear of losing her niece to be just enough for Flash to land a hit in their battle. With this strike, Celestia's horn was encased in crystal, sealing her magic as Flash beat her down.

And so, Equestria had fallen to a pony barely over the age of twenty.

Celestia and Cadance were both kept under lock and key, their horns remaining crystalized and their wings bound. Flash now had complete access to all of Canterlot's knowledge, spending many of his early days reading through the books and scrolls to amass more power. He had to admit, Sombra's memories were quite helpful in teaching him to be literate.

The pegasi also spent much of his time dealing with potential threats. He shattered a certain draconequus statue before heading down to Tartarus to slay all the prisoners. Griffons, changelings, yaks, minotaurs...these races were all nothing to his army. He had even learned that Celestia had recently resealed Nightmare Moon back in the moon, so she wouldn't be a problem for a while, but he wasn't worried. All that was left was a few small token resistance groups, which he went on a march to snuff them all out.

Destruction was everywhere he touched, towns and cities turned to burning rubble as he continued to roam the land. And as he destroyed that last town he could find in Equestria, he found a nice blue cloak in a clothes shop that he took for himself before levelling everything.

Flash's life was everything he had ever wanted. He had left Canterlot a filthy street rat, and returned a king. He couldn't be more happy.

But he always felt like he could have more. It was here that he went back to the ruins of Canterlot, searching through the Royal Library as he wanted to see if there was anything he had missed. He had all the time in the world after all, and as he went through some scrolls...one of them lit, covered in a weak blue light.

"Hmmm? What's this?" He asked while removing his mask and picking up the scroll, unfurling it, "This is...time travel?"

As these words left his mouth, a bright light blasted into his eyes, "AUGH! What the-" he could respond to what happened next, the scroll summoning a portal above him. Looking up, he felt his body start to be sucked up into the wormhole, "What is...NO!"

And in a blink of an eye, he was gone.

The Present...

"GIVE IT TO ME!" Flash screeched as his shadow tendrils shot at Twilight, the alicorn staring in shock at the sight of her boyfriend's dark counterpart.

"Twilight!" Spike cried as he saw this, "Move!"

But she couldn't. The alicorn could only stare as the tendrils got closer, only for something to slam into side, knocking her aside. She then felt a blue light consume her, teleporting her away as she saw where she once was now being covered in shadow spikes.

"You okay?" She turned to the voice, now seeing Starlight pick herself up.

Twilight's brain finally turned on as she asked, "You...you saved me?"

"Yeah," Starlight panted as she helped her up, "I uh...I guess I did." Her ears spiked up next as shadow arrows flew through the air, making her summon a domed shield. And as the attacks bounced off the dome, she added, "But I can't do it forever! Please wake up Twilight!"

Spike then grabbed the alicorn's shoulder, "Twilight, what's wrong with you?! Why were you just standing there?!"

Twilight didn't answer, instead just glancing at Flash, "But...that's Flash. How could he do this?"

Spike looked between her and Flash, only to grab Twilight's face and pull it in front of his, "Twilight, that's not Flash." Twilight just frowned at his statement, making the drake sigh, "Okay, it is Flash. But it's not our Flash. He may look...sorta like him, but he's not the same pony our Flash is."

Starlight nodded, though she quickly looked back at Flash as he attacked the shield again, "You heard what said before. In every other timeline, Flash Sentry is good. He's the one exception!"

Spike nodded back, turning back to Twilight, "You know Flash, our Flash, wouldn't try to attack you. That's...not...Flash."

Twilight stared at Flash, the pony now close to shattering Starlight's shield while seeing the sinister look emblazoned on his face. There was pure hatred, violence inside those eyes. Nothing that would be on her Flash's face. "What am I doing?" she whispered, now seeing that this Flash was no different from the Rarity and Rainbow Dash that had followed Nightmare Moon. These ponies were nothing like the ones she knew.

Starlight groaned as she felt another crack appear in her shield, Flash's shadow claws beginning to slowly pull it apart. "I'll say it again. Give...me...THE SCROLL!" Starlight didn't respond, all her focus on the shield.

"Here's your answer!" The alicorn screamed as she fired a blast at Starlight's shield, repairing the cracks and pushing Flash's shadow claws away. She then teleported out of the dome, reappearing in front of Flash as they both stared each other down.

"You...you want the scroll to travel back to the past, change things, then return to the future so you can kill that world's Flash Sentry?!"

Flash shined a huge grin, "That's right. It sickens me to think there are versions of me out there that waste their time looking after others. I won't stop until every last one is gone. I won't rest until I am the only Flash Sentry."

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she replied, "You can't seriously think you can wipe out every other Flash in the multiverse. Every action anypony has ever made creates a new future. You could keep travelling through the multiverse until the end of time and never even go to over one percent of the worlds out there."

"I have to try," Flash growled before more shadow claws formed around of his body. "Now give me that scroll."

He started firing shadow arrows at Twilight, the alicron taking to the sky as she dodged each before starting to block them with her magic. She then unleashed a barrage of magical blasts, but Flash summoned a wall of shadows, blocking her attacks as well. The pegasi formed a sword of darkness in his hooves next, sprinting at Twilight as a blast of blue magic suddenly flew at his side. His shadows blocked the magic, making him turn to Starlight as she started attacking him, "Oh? Have you come to give me the scroll?"

"No way!" Starlight fired another blast, Flash deflecting it with his shadow sword, "I brought you into the past, meaning I need to be the one to put an end to you!"

Flash let out a mighty laugh, "You think you can stop me?! I've defeated entire armies, the Royal Knights, and even alicorns! You think a basic, simple unicorn can stop me on her own?!"

"Except she's not alone," Flash turned to Twilight as she launched another beam of magic, Flash smirking as he held out a hoof as shadows shot out and blocked both ponies' attacks. The mares quickly glanced at one another and nodded before flying around Flash erratically, launching blast after blast at him that he began blocking with ease.

"USELESS!" Flash screeched as he shot up to hit Twilight with a shadow claw, the alicorn just managing to dodge him. But as this happened, Flash summoned a ball of shadows, firing it next.

"Twilight, look out!" Spike yelled, but it was too late. Twilight was struck by the sphere in an instant, which exploded into shadows that wrapped themselves around her.

"YAUGH!" Twilight screamed as her wings and front hooves were pressed into her body, preventing her from flying before gravity took hold, "AAAAAHHH!"

Starlight and Spike gasped, Starlight unable to help her as Flash launched a stream of shadows at her like a flamethrower. All she could do was form a shield, the force of the shadows pushing her back. And so, Twilight was helpless as she fell towards some rubble. She tried a teleport spell, but the shadows came along with her, making her wings still useless. And seconds before she hit the rubble, her horn shined as she casted a wind spell, slowing her down until hitting the pile. "Ow!" she yelped as scratches covered her body, "Owwwww…"

"Twilight!" Spike cried as he ran over and started digging into the pile of rubble. Twilight groaned as she tried to pull herself free, the shadows pulling on her body. She then started to summon her magic to push the darkness away, but her horn could barely get a spark.

As this happened, Starlight now found herself buckling against Flash's attack again, her shield cracking once more, "Too...strong." And as the shield came close to breaking, Starlight quickly reacted, teleporting away as Flash's shadow claw cut the shield in half.

Flash growled at the sight, "You can't hide forever..." He then turned around, now seeing Spike digging on top of the pile of rubble, Flash grinning as he summoned a shadow arrow before aiming at the drake.

"Hang on!" Spike as he pushed the last bit of rubble away, now seeing the shadows binding Twilight. He then grabbed hold of the shadow, his claws now pulling at the darkness as Twilight began to get out of the rubble. As they did this, Twilight glanced over to Flash, now seeing him aim the arrow.

"MOVE!" Twilight screamed as she grabbed Spike in her magic and tossed him away, the arrow striking the pile and knocking both into opposite directions. "Aaahhhh!" She cried as she started rolling down the pile, soon flopping in front of a certain somepony.

A black tendril pulled Twilight's back hoof before pulling her up, now face to face with Flash as he tapped her chin, "I thought you looked familiar. There was a pony who looked just like you that worked in the Canterlot Library...but she didn't have those pretty little wings." He smirked before whispering in her ear, "I wonder if you'll scream the same way she did." Twilight's eyes went wide before narrowing, the alicorn roaring as she summoned a blast of magic, making Flash quickly leap away, "Oh? Feisty, aren't we?"

"Spike was right! You're nothing like the real Flash!" She screamed as she fired another blast, Flash smacking the beam away.

As he did this, anger covered his face as he yelled, "I am the real Flash!" He then formed a shadow claw and slashed at Twilight, the alicorn teleporting before he could strike. Flash growled at this, quickly taking to the sky before looking down to see Twilight now on the other side of the pile.

She had teleported over to Spike, helping him up. "Now, you're going to-RAUGH!" Flash yelped as a blast of magic struck his side, making him to turn to see Starlight flying at him with a sharp piece of metal in her magic. She swung it at him next, Flash simply blocking it with his shadow sword. Starlight tried to push through, but then saw the metal was beginning to melt, forcing her to pull back.

"AUGH!" Starlight screamed as he thrust the sword next, the sword's tip now hitting her shoulder, causing a burn that made her fall to the ground. But as she fell, Twilight swooped in and caught her, her magic now gripping the rubble around her before tossing them up at Flash.

The pegasus's hooves became wrapped in shadows that formed giant fists, shattering them with ease as Twilight put Starlight down. "You okay?"

Starlight hissed as she held her shoulder and nodded, "I'll be fine." She looked up at Flash, the pegasi now finishing the barrage of rubble. "He's so strong. We...we have to get out of here! We have to get back to the table!"

"That won't work." Twilight replied, only to teleport her and Starlight away as Flash unleashed a wave of shadow arrows, the stallion roaring as he saw he missed. While he did this, they reappeared by Spike, the drake hiding behind a pile of rubble. There, she continued, "If we go back to the past, he'll just be pulled back with us and stop the Rainboom again." She glanced over the rubble as saw Flash destroying a bunch of rubble with some shadows, now spotting his time scroll in his cloak's pocket, "Our only hope is to get our hooves on his scroll."

The two nodded, but before they could even get to a strategy, a shadow beam shot from the distance. It carved a trench along the ground as it got close, Twilight grabbing Spike before she and Starlight teleported out of harm's way second. An explosion came next, Flash taking a deep breath as he stared at the now forming smoke cloud.

"Hmm...did I get them?" he commented, only to turn around and see Twilight hop from behind a large rock, the alicorn unleashing a burst of magic right at him. "Tch, how pointless." He raised a hoof, shadows now forming a protective shield to block her magic. The two forces clashed, Flash quickly finding Twilight's magic push his barrier. "Hmm? Now this is a surprise. Are you actually trying to overpower me?"

Flash chuckled at this, his eyes soon seeing something in the corner of his eye. It was Starlight, firing a beam as well, which Flash summoned another wall of shadows to block it. All three were now pushing and pulling, Twilight and Starlight's magic now pushing back Flash. His relaxed face began to fade, feeling his hooves twitch as he kept his shields formed.

"You...can't win." Twilight growled as she kept pushing her spell, Flash now fully holding his focus between the two.

As he did this, a certain dragon slowly creeped around behind the rubble, tiptoeing as he whispered, "Almost there..." he hopped behind a piece of broken wall next, glaring at Flash, "There it is." He was now staring at the pegasi's cloak, the scroll now poking out of a pocket.

The three ponies were now beginning to sweat, Flash showing a bit more strain due to splitting his focus. But as he did this, his shadows began to strengthen, anger now appearing on his face. However, before he could say something, the sound of a tiny piece of rubble fall over entered his ears, making him turn to see Spike breathing in for the biggest fireball he could make.

"NOW!" Twilight yelled as her and Starlight poured all the magic she could, Spike spitting out a sphere of green flames. Flash quickly shifted the shadows into a cocoon, protecting him from all sides. "Don't let up!" Twilight added as she kept firing her magic beam, Starlight doing the same while Spike breathed a long stream of fire.

Inside, Flash closed his eyes as he felt his shadows shrink from pressure, "These scum..."

"This can all be over!" Twilight told him. "Just give us your scroll!"

And as these words hit Flash's ears, his eyes narrowed as he growled, "What did she just say?!" he hissed, his tone at the sound of a whisper, "These insignificant...how dare they think they can beat me!" He then clapped his hooves, shadows swirling around his whole body as he yelled, "ENOUGH!"

A wave of black shadows poured out of cocoon, an explosion following this as the darkness knocked all three back. And at the center of the blast, Flash appeared while panting. He quickly spun around, now seeing the two mares groaning on the ground before seeing Spike also kissing dirt. And there, hanging out of the drake's open backpack, was the ripped scroll he had been seeking.

"So..." he began trotting up to him, "You had it."

Spike slowly looked up at him and went pale as the pony began to summon a shadow sword, "SPIKE!" He heard Twilight scream, Flash now putting the sword to the drake's neck.

"Give it to me, or I'll turn you into a quartet of boots." He watched the dragon shiver, his eyes shrinking...only for him to yell:

"Bite me!"

Flash growled, raising the sword. "Very well. I'll enjoy wearing you." But as he lifted the blade, he could feel something coming. Making him turn, a giant rock was magically thrown at him, making him slice it half with his sword.

And as he did this, a purple flash appeared behind him, Twilight now appearing to grab Spike before warping away. Flash turned around again, this time seeing Twilight and Spike appearing beside Starlight, Twilight's horn shining one more time for teleportation. The three vanished in an instance, Flash now glaring at an empty space.

But as readied for another attack...nothing happened. They were gone.

"RAAAAAAAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!" He screamed as his shadows started thrash the area around him, tearing what little was left of the town.

Meanwhile...

Twilight, Spike and Starlight all groaned as they reappeared, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop. Spike rubbed his head as he moaned, turning to smile at his adoptive big sister, "Thanks for the save."

"No problem," Twilight replied as she picked herself and shook her head. She then looked up and her eyes shrunk at a new sight, which was nothing but a giant pile of rubble, "No...even this place?!"

"Where are we?" Starlight asked as she rubbed the side of her head.

"The first place that popped into my head to hide out in: The castle of the two sisters." Her head drooped as she continued, "But...it looks like not even this place was able to survive him."

"So what do we do?" Spike asked, "He might come looking for us. We need to go somewhere far away and safe."

"Except we don't know what place is safe in this world," Starlight replied, "He said he did something to Canterlot, so that place is out."

"No kidding." Spike added, "I mean, if this Flash is that powerful...it makes even the Everfree not seem safe from him."

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought, only to clap her hooves, "I got it. Follow me." She put Spike on her back before spreading her wings, Starlight following as they flew through the forest and into a gorge. There, they soon found themselves in front of a giant cave.

"What is this place?" Starlight asked as they went inside.

"The home to the one thing I know that can protect us." She commented as they continued inside, only for the alicorn to come to a stop as she gasped, "No...it can't be."

In front of her was the Tree of Harmony, which was once bright and beautiful, was now...dark. Its crystal structure was full of cracks, its shades of colors no longer visible.

"What's wrong with it?" Starlight asked.

"It's dying." Twilight turned to them with a huge frown, "In this timeline, my friends and I never found the Elements of Harmony....that means we never returned them to the tree, so now it can't survive on its own."

"Hey, look at that." Spike commented as he moved past the ponies, now pointing at the trunk of the tree. Inside was a gray egg-shaped rock, the drake leaning down and placing a claw on it, "Is this-"

But as he touched it, the rock instantly crumbled to dust, making him gasp. Starlight just blinked at the exchange, now seeing tears form in both Twilight and Spike's eyes as the dragon said, "This future...it's the worst one of them all."

Twilight could only sigh in agreement, only to then hear Starlight also sigh as she moved over to the cave wall and sat down. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't created that stupid spell, we wouldn't be in this mess." But as she said this, Twilight's shadow loomed over her, making her look up to see Twilight giving her small smile, "Don't bother." Starlight replied as she looked away, "You're just gonna tell me this isn't my fault and I shouldn't blame myself, aren't you?"

"No, this is your fault." Twilight responded while shaking her head, making both Spike and Starlight glance at her in surprise, "If you hadn't used that spell, none of this would have happened. That is definitely true." Starlight looked back down, only to feel Twilight's hoof grab her shoulder, "But that's in the past, and you can't change-" She stopped before shaking her head, "Err...anyways, what matters now is how you'll react to the consequences of your mistakes. You can stay here and wallow in your own misery, or you can help me fix it." She then released her grip on Starlight's shoulder, making the unicorn glance up as Twilight shined a huge smile, "Now, what'll it be?"

Starlight blinked at the princess, only to nod as she took Twilight's hoof, "Okay. What's the plan?"

"That's why we're here," Twilight replied, "This place will be safe for a while so can come up with something to get that scroll from that fake Flash and return to the past without worry."

"But how?" Spike asked. "This Flash is insanely strong. If he was able to conquer Equestria, who knows how much power he was holding back."

Twilight shook her head, "No, I don't think he was holding back. I think we came close to overpowering him at the end. Besides, we don't need to be stronger than him. We just have to be smarter."

Starlight nodded in agreement. "We don't have to beat him to win, we just need to get that scroll."

"That's the idea." Twilight added before shining a huge smirk, "Now, let's get started..."

One hour later...

Flash was now sitting on the map table, a low growl coming out of his mouth. He was rubbing his hooves, his mind thinking about all the other versions of himself and how he would kill them. But as he thought about this, he began to tap his hooves on the map, "Where are they? They'll have to come back here...they can't get home without this thing."

"Hey!" The dark pegasus blinked at the voice, turning to see Spike standing on top a pile of rubble. The little dragon was just sitting there, waving the object of his desire. "Looking for this?" he unfolded with a cocky grin, a dark aura instantly consuming Flash as he saw the scroll.

"Give that to me!" Flash roared as he leapt off the table, Spike rolling the scroll back up before jumping down the other side of the rubble. A shadow quickly zipped above the drake, the pegasi almost near the pile, "You think you can escape me?!" He flew down to the dragon's level, encasing his hooves in shadow claws, "You won't get away!"

Spike looked back and saw how close Flash was, pulling his tail to protect from Flash's swiping claws. Seeing this, he spun around, "Fine. You want it?!" He then threw the scroll over Flash's head, "Go get it!"

Flash pulled himself to a stop, spinning like a top before lashing out a shadow whip to grab the scroll, only for a purple blur to fly by, snagging the paper, "Thank you kindly." Twilight added as she flew away with the scroll, Flash growling as a blue light behind him teleported Spike out of harm's way. He spread his wings to take to the air, quickly zipping up to Twilight.

But as he got close, Twilight turned and shined a huge aura of magic on her horn. Flash swiftly tried to counter with a tendril of shadows, only for Twilight to vanish in a blast of magic. Seeing this, Flash saw Twilight now in the distance, making him roar as he charged after her. This continued with Twilight teleporting again, this time getting to the destroyed remains of Sweet Apple Acres, only to hear another roar from Flash, "GIVE IT TO ME!" He screeched as he unleashed a shadow beam into the deceased farm.

"Whoa!" She yelped as she narrowly dodged it, an explosion following this as he fired another beam. He kept unleashing one shadow blast after another, Twilight swiftly flying around the attacks. But as she did this, one blast caused a gust that pushed her out of flight control, "Eep!" She screamed as the scroll slipped out her grasp, "No, no, no!"

"YES!" Flash laughed as he divebombed at the scroll, his vision now squarely focused on it. But as he was about to grab it, the scroll became wrapped in blue light before vanishing. "NO!" he yelped before instantly seeing dirt, his face eating the ground before slamming into a tree. "Blaugh!"

"AHAHAHAHA!" giggled a voice, making him growl as his shadows quickly destroyed the tree before getting back up. Here, he turned to the voice's owner, now seeing Starlight with the scroll floating in her magic beside her.

The pegasus kept growling before yelled, "ENOUGH!" A flare of darkness consumed his back, the pegasi instantly flying at her, but the mare teleported away instantly.

"Yoohoo!" He turned around, now see Starlight a distance away, which he charged at her again. But as he did this, she kept teleporting around, Flash almost getting her everytime. And as this happened, Flash began to notice Starlight starting to pant.

"Give up!" He laughed as he landed in front of her, the unicorn now seeing him summon a barrage of shadow tendrils, "Teleporting isn't a spell you can spam without drawbacks. I doubt you have enough in you for any more than one or two teleports. Now...are we going to keep doing this, or-"

Starlight just gripped the scroll before flinging it behind her, making Flash stop talking as he tried to grab it with a shadow hoof, only for Spike to appear on top of Twilight, catching it in a claw, "Keep away!" The little dragon cheered, Twilight laughing as they flew off.

Flash slammed his hooves into the ground in anger, the ground trembling as Starlight teleported to safety. The evil pegasus took to the skies again, chasing after the two as Spike spun around. A volley of fire came from the dragon's mouth next, making Flash block it with a shield of shadows. And as Flash tried to counter, Spike kept firing flames.

"Enough!" Flash roared as he unleashed a shadow beam at them, Spike's flames nowhere near enough to fight it.

"TWILIGHT!" The alicorn glanced back, her horn reflexively summoning shield. But as the blast hit the barrier, the attack pushed both back, making Spike lose his grip and fall off.

"SPIKE!" Twilight cried, only to feel a burning impact in her back. "AUGH!" she screamed, barely glancing back to see Flash had kicked her with a hoof covered in his shadows.

The pegasus laughed before kicking off the alicorn, sending her flying upward while rocketing towards Spike. Gulping at the sight, Spike glanced at the scroll, only to show a look of confidence as he thought up one thing. Running behind a pile of rubble, Flash quickly zipped around, only to go wide-eyed as the pegasi saw what happened next. It was Spike now taking a deep breath, "Wait...NO!" he yelled, only to now see the scroll turn to ash in the dragon's fiery breath.

"YOU BLASTED LIZARD! Do you have...any..." he came to a stop as he saw the scroll's ashes began fly around, quickly drifting away into the wind. He then blinked at the sight, now seeing the ashes were...sparkling, "Magic..."

Flash took to the sky after the ashes, Spike now feeling his back fall onto Twilight's. "Ow." he moaned as Twilight helped him stabilize himself, "That was scary."

"You okay Spike?"

"I'm fine," Spike groaned while shaking his head.

"What did you do with the scroll?"

"I sent it to Starlight."

Twilight nodded before looking over in the direction the scroll and Flash flew, "Then let's hope she can finish this."

Flash continued to follow the ashes, though they moved much faster than even he could fly. And as he followed, he saw where it was headed, that being the one piece of Ponyville Flash decided to leave untouched, the Ponyville dam. He blinked at the sight, only to glare as he saw a certain unicorn standing on the dam as the ashes floated over to her before reforming the scroll.

"Give that to me." Flash instantly demanded as he landed on the other side of the dam.

"Sorry to say, but no." Starlight replied, only to float the scroll over to the water with her magic, "Instead, how about I give you a choice?"

Flash's eyes went wide, now noticing what she was going for, "You wouldn't."

"Try me," Starlight countered, "Give me your scroll or it goes in the drink."

Flash's face turned back into a glare, only to smirk, "Oh please...you don't have the guts. You have far more to lose than I do." He started to step forward, but Starlight remained still as she lowered the scroll close to the water.

"Don't test me. You might be fast, but not fast enough to stop me."

Flash came to a stop, sighing before shaking his head, "Alright...then tell me this: Why are you doing this? Why risk your only way home?"

"Because there's no way I'm letting you mess up the past."

"Like how you messed it up?" Flash barked back, pointing at her, "You know this is all your fault. You wouldn't even be in this situation if you hadn't been messing around with forces you can't possibly understand."

"I know," Starlight sighing as a look of shame now appeared on her face. "But if this is what I have to do to make up for it, then so be it. You said it yourself, my timeline still exists. The only difference is it won't have me or Twilight in it."

"And you're okay with that? You're okay with being trapped in this world, even though you could be living in a world where you have everything you could ever want?"

This made Starlight's magic stop lowering, her eyes twitching, "What?"

"Think about it. You have the power to go anywhere in time, change anything you want, and create any future you can imagine. Why not create one for you and Sunburst?"

"Sunburst?" Starlight gasped, her face switching to a glare, "What do you know about Sunburst?!"

"You're forgetting, I was pulled back to any time you've travelled to. That includes when you showed the alicorn your past. I saw how you lost your friend." Flash's face began to morph to a big smile, "But it doesn't have to be that way." He could see a look of intrigue on her face, the pegasus restarting his movement up to her, "Every possible future exists somewhere in the multiverse. Including one where you and Sunburst are together."

Starlight glanced back at the scroll, her mind now going over what she had just heard. Images of Sunburst now going through her head, happiness in those thoughts. "That's..."

"Join me," Flash held out a hoof. "I'll give you everything you could ever want. We can travel back to the past and work together to create a world you can be happy in. All you have to do is give me the scroll." Starlight pulled the scroll back over to her, holding it in her hooves.

"But Twilight-"

"Do you honestly think that princess cares about your happiness?! After everything that's happened to you, what do you think she'd do if you returned to your world." He didn't give her time to think as he continued, "Lock you up and throw away the key." Starlight looked away, now not seeing Flash getting closer, "Oh don't be so naïve. Do you honestly think she sees you as a friend now? Face it, she'll never be willing to forgive you for what you've done...But I would."

Starlight spun back around, confusion and shock on her face.

"You haven't done anything to me. In fact, you gave me something I didn't know I needed. A new purpose." He held his hoof out again, "Join me, and we can both have what we want. Twilight Sparkle be damned!" Starlight glanced back down at the scroll, her hoof shaking as Flash took another step. "Just give me-"

"Starlight!" They both spun at the voice, now seeing Twilight and Spike landing on the dam just a ways off. "Starlight, what are you doing?"

"Stay out of this! This has nothing to do with you!" Flash barked back turning back to Starlight, "So, who will you side with? The mare that has every reason to hate you, or the stallion that can give you everything you've ever wanted."

Twilight and Spike glanced between the two, their eyes shrinking as she whispered, "Starlight...please don't..." Starlight gave Twilight one last glance, only to slowly hold out her hoof to Flash. And as this happened, Twilight screamed, "NOOO!"

Flash's face shined a huge grin, his hoof thrusting out for the scroll. But as his hoof came within inches of the paper, Starlight jerked her hoof back, spinning around before tossing the spell out into the water, "NOOO!" Flash screeched as he pushed Starlight and leaped at the scroll, grabbing it seconds before it hit the water.

"NOW!" He heard Starlight scream, spinning around to see both she and Twilight unleash a giant magic beam. The pegasus barely managed to summon his shadow, forming a shield before being slammed into the drink. Water tried to go down his mouth as he quickly used his shadows to push him back up to the surface, making him cough up some water as he got back to air.

Starlight smiled as she wagged her tail, Twilight walking up to her as she asked, "What, did you think I'd actually take his offer?"

"I'll admit, you had me a little worried for a moment." Twilight replied, only for a giant splash made them turned to see Flash ascending from the water before flying back to the dam.

Now soaked to the bone, Flash stared down at the soaking remains of the scroll, the paper turning to mush as he growled, "What...have you done?!"

"We stopped you from getting anywhere near our timeline or any other timeline," Starlight instantly replied.

Flash glared at her, a dark aura consuming his back as he growled, "I wasn't lying. I would have helped you. You could have had everything you ever wanted!"

"Maybe...but I don't think I could live with myself if it meant helping you." She turned to Twilight with weak smile, "I...I can't ignore what I did, or the pain I caused. I can't just...forget that it all happened. I have to live with my mistakes and learn from them."

Twilight did a nod back before turning to Flash, "You see? That's the difference between you and the other Flashs in the multiverse. Unlike you, they don't use the bad things as an excuse to do worse. They were able to become something more than what they were at the start, all of them pulling themselves up from the mud and finding ways to help ponies. They let their past teach them what was right, just like Starlight." She put a hoof to her chest, "The Flash I know...is a true hero, just like the rest. But as for you..." she just sneered at him. "You just became bitter. You became a monster."

"Everypony is a monster!" Flash screeched as dark tendrils shot out of his back, "Give ponies enough free range, and they'll always turn out like me!"

Twilight shook her head in response, "No, they wouldn't. Sure, there are bad ponies in the world, but not everypony is destined for evil. Only those too weak to resist doing bad things, like you." Flash hissed as he pointed a tendril at her, making Twilight smirk, "Don't think you can hide anything from me. I grew up with a pony just like you. I can tell exactly what you're thinking, and I know why you're so obsessed with destroying every other Flashs in the multiverse. It's because you can't stand being the worst version of him."

Those words made his eyes shrink in rage, "Worst?! WORST?! I am the best version of him! I have more power than any other Flash! I am the pony who vanquished Sombra, the pony who conquered the Crystal Empire and the rest of Equestria! I am the one that defeated Celestia! I-"

"Am nothing but a sorry excuse for a pony that needs to hurt others just to make yourself feel better. You wanna destroy all those other Flashs because you're just jealous that they were able to become the amazing ponies they were. Each of them faced the same hardship you faced, living on the streets and needing to do things they regretted to survive. And like I said before, they all managed to become something more. Maybe they didn't all become beloved heroes that saved Equestria, but they all chose to protect it in some shape or form. All of them...except you." Flash continued to growl as she pointed at him, "I've seen all the timelines you have, and even if I didn't see every version of Flash there...I know they're better than you."

"Nopony is better than me..."

"Everypony is better than you. You may be a Flash, but you're no Flash Sentry. You're just some...sick, twisted copy of him that could never stand a chance against the real thing!"

"I AM THE REAL THING!" Flash roared as he created a giant shadow sword, this one the size of half the dam, "And I will prove it..." He then pointed the sword at Starlight. "You created that spell once. You will do it again."

Starlight smirked as she and Twilight grabbed hooves as the alicorn sparked her horn, "Not gonna happen. We're leaving this accused world forever."

This made Flash come to a stop, blinking as he asked, "What are you talking about? The spell is destroyed."

"Who said that was the spell?" Spike replied with a cocky grin, "We just needed to get you in the water."

"What?" was all Flash could say before looking back at his cloak, only to go wide-eyed. "No..." he whispered as he put his hoof into his soaked cloak...and found that his scroll was nothing but a lump of paper mache. "NO!" he quickly glanced back at the trio, only for a flash of light to consume them all, vanishing in an instant. "NOOO!!!"

Back at the map, a flash of purple light announced the return of the three. "Phew," Twilight panted while shaking her head. "I am so tired." She then turned to her assistant, "Spike, do you have it?"

"Right here," Spike crawled under the table and returned a second later with the real scroll. "Right where I sent it. He never saw me switch it to the fake behind that pile of rubble, just as planned. Gotta say, I'm glad that distraction worked."

"Good. Let me see it." Twilight replied while taking the scroll in her magic, Starlight walking over to help. But as she was about to speak up-

THOOM!!!

The earth shook as they heard that sound, Spike stuttering out, "Um...w-w-what w-w-was t-t-that?!"

They all turned around, now hearing the faint sound of water rumbling in the distance. Gulping at that, Twilight responded, "I uh...I think he just destroyed the Ponyville Dam."

As she said that, they all looked up, now seeing a dark figure in the horizon getting closer, "He's coming!" Spike screamed, "Hurry! Do the spell!"

"Got it!" Twilight slung Spike onto her back, "Let's go Starlight!"

"I hope this works," Starlight replied as they both sparked their horns.

And as they summoned the portal, Flash was now about to be above them, "NO!" He yelled as the portal opened, the trio now being sucked inside, "You're not getting away!" He then sent his shadow at the wormhole, the dark cloud-like entity taking the shape of a hand as it flew into the portal.

Inside, Twilight, Starlight and Spike were all holding onto the scroll as they flew through the tunnel, sighing in relief. "Thank goodness that's over." Spike commented as he slumped over on Twilight's back. "I don't wanna ever-"

"AAAAH!" Starlight suddenly screamed, her hooves now loosing hold of the scroll.

"Starlight!" Twilight yelped as Starlight grabbed her back hoof. They all looked back, the three soon seeing Flash's shadow now pulling Starlight's back leg. "Oh no..."

As the shadow continued to hold its grip, Flash appeared out of the portal they had just created, now climbing his shadow like a rope. "Give...me...the scroll!"

"Hang on!" Spike told her.

"We're almost there!" Twilight added as they glanced ahead of the tunnel, now seeing the end just a little bit away.

"Don't you dare! Only I have the right to control time!" Flash screeched as his shadow continued to tug on the unicorn, "Give me the scroll! Give it to me so I may take my place in time as the only Flash!"

Starlight kept looking between the exit behind Twilight and Flash, a huge frown now appearing on her face. A single thought came into her head, making her slowly loosen her grip with Twilight's hoof. The alicorn instantly felt what she was doing, speaking up next, "Starlight...what are you-"

"It's the only way," Starlight replied as she fully released her grip on Twilight. "Goodbye." With that, both she and Flash began to fall down the time tunnel. Without holding onto the scroll, there was nothing pulling them through it. And as she did this, she began to close her eyes while a look of acceptance appeared on her face. She was okay with this.

"NO!" Starlight suddenly felt something grab her hoof, the unicorn reopening her eyes to see Twilight, Spike now holding onto both the scroll and her wing, "I'm not letting you go."

"Twilight, this is the only way."

"Abandoning your friends is never the way!" Twilight yelled, Starlight's eyes widening a she heard a certain word, only for Twilight to repeat it, "You're our friend Starlight, and you're coming back with us! You still have so many new friends to make back in our world." She then glared down at Flash, the pegasi now growling as shadows began to form off his back, "But you're not welcome there. Get OFF OF HER!" She then fired a magic blast, Flash quickly shaping his remaining shadows into a shield. Her eyes narrowing at the sight, she glanced back at the unicorn, "Starlight! Help me!"

"I'm...your friend? Really? Even with what's happening here?" Starlight whispered, Twilight doing a quick nod in return.

"Of course I am. Now...help me get rid of him!"

Starlight's face quickly morphed into a confident grin, making her nod back before turning and firing a magic beam at Flash's shield, "GET OFF ME!" She roared as she fired beam after beam, only for the shield to remained unbudged by their efforts.

"Girls!" Spike yelled, "We're almost there! HURRY!"

The two stopped their attacks and looked at one another, Twilight nodding again at Starlight. "Together." She pulled Starlight closer until their horns were touching, Starlight nodding back.

"Together!" With that, they both surged their horns, purple and blue magic wrapping around them. Their magic now synchronizing, Flash let out a roar as he summoned every shadow he could into his shield. But as he did this, the two girls yelled, "GET OFF!"

They unleashed their combined magic right into the shield, the magic instantly breaking the barrier. "AUGH!" Flash screamed in pain, the magic searing his entire body. But as it did this, his one shadow kept its grip on Starlight, the pegasi holding on as the duo saw what he was doing. Quickly shifting their horns' positions, the magic beam zapped the shadow, snapping it like a rope.

"NO!" Flash roared as he felt himself falling back. But before he could counterattack, one last beam of magic slammed into him, sending him flying back through the tunnel. And as he felt himself fall, he yelled out into the timestream, "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I WILL-"

His words were then cut off, the trio now flying through the end of the tunnel. They didn't have time to process what had happened, all three screaming, "WHOA!" Twilight then spread her wings, catching Spike while Starlight used her magic to float onto a cloud.

Spike started to hyperventilate as he asked, "Do you see him? Did we do it?" They all glanced around, Twilight spotting a still alive Rainbow about to start her race.

"I uh...I think we did it. He's not here. We...we won. We beat him."

"That's a relief," Starlight sighed, only to do a small gulp, "Though um...if he's gone, where do you think he went?"

Twilight did a small shrug, "I don't know. It's possible he was knocked out into a later point in time, sometime between now and the present...but we can't know for sure. We'll have to wait until we get back to the future to be sure."

Starlight nodded back, only to grip her own forehoof, giving Twilight a big frown, "Um...Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Starlight whimpered out, "I...I can't believe you did that for me...you risked the future for me, even after everything I did."

Twilight shook her head with a big grin on her face, now placing a hoof on her shoulder. "It's like I told you, friends don't leave friends behind."

Starlight looked away at this, "So...we're really friends?"

"If you wanna be."

"Same here," Spike added from the alicorn's back.

"I would uh...I'd like that." Starlight replied, Twilight pulling them into a hug. As they did this, a familiar boom and explosion of color went off before the portal formed above them. They were pulled back through next, smiles on every face as they went through.

That is, till they landed.

"Blaugh!" they all said as they fell onto the map, the scroll pulling out of Spike's grasp as they did this. They all looked up at the sight of the paper suddenly being consumed by a blue light, a new portal appearing before sucking the scroll into it.

"Uh...what just happened?" Spike asked, Twilight shaking her head at the sight.

"The spell must be fixing the timeline." Twilight replied, only to see Spike let out a cheer as he saw his surroundings, hopping off the map and started kissing the floor.

"YAY! One Castle of Friendship, check!"

"What in Equestria was that?!" They heard as the doors to the throne room opened, revealing five very familiar-looking mares.

"Is everypony okay?" Fluttershy asked while Applejack just showed a frown, now seeing Starlight with the two.

Her question was halted when Pinkie let out a squee, "Can you do it again?"

Spike cheered again, "One group of amazing friends, check!"

"Yeah, Spike," She patted his shoulder, "It looks like we're home! Thank-"

"Uh...what's she doin' here?" Applejack interrupted while pointing at Starlight, the unicorn mare flinching at her tone.

Twilight then put a hoof on Starlight's shoulder, shining a reassuring smile as she spoke up, "Hang on there Applejack, it's kind of a long story." Twilight then went on to explain their little adventure through space and time, Starlight asked to wait outside while they discussed it. As they did this, she paced nervously around, biting at her hooves as they went over everything.

"Wow!" Rainbow exclaimed once the story was over. "I mean, I knew my rainboom was awesome, but I never thought all of Equestria depended on it!"

"Or on us!" Pinkie added.

"I think it's more than that," They all turned to Twilight. "Friendship connects all of Equestria, and undoing one group of friends made its magic less powerful."

"I just can't believe there's an evil version of Flash," Rarity continued with a shudder, "Of all the ponies in the world, he's the last one I would guess becoming something like that."

"Maybe, but he was only one in a billion, trillion quadrillion versions of Flash. Everypony has darkness within them, and given the right circumstances, anypony could turn to the dark side. Each of us probably have an evil doppelganger somewhere out in the multiverse."

Everypony shivered at that thought, Applejack now commenting, "Ah just can't believe y'all were able to travel through time like that."

Pinkie nodded, "That Starlight must be pretty magical!"

Twilight nodded in agreement, "She has more talent for magic than almost anypony I've seen. I mean, my magic couldn't stop her, so I had to convince her to stop on her own. Once I realized that, everything fell into place."

They all nodded as Applejack went on, "But if she's as powerful as all that, we can't just send her on her way, can we?"

"Actually..." Twilight and Spike shared a smile, "I have something else in mind." Spike jumped out of his throne before running over to bring Starlight in.

As she walked inside, she saw all the stares, gulping as she began, "Um...I uh...I know there's no excuse for what I did...but I want you all to know that I'm ready for whatever punishment you think is fair."

"We know, and I've been thinking a lot about how badly Equestria fared without just one group of friends," Twilight replied, "Because even when one friendship dies, the results can be disastrous."

Starlight nodded back, "I know first-hoof how true that can be."

Twilight then got off her throne and trotted over to her, "And that's why I've asked you here." She placed a hoof under her chin and pushed her head up, Starlight and Twilight both locking eyes. "If you're willing to learn, I'm willing to teach you what I know." She then pointed to her friends, each one smiling, "You'll have the power to make Equestria an even better place."

Starlight's eyes shrunk at this, gasping as she realized what Twilight meant, "You mean...I can...how...how do I start?" She asked her new teacher in a hushed whisper.

"Starting is easy! All you have to do is make a friend!" She pulled her into a hug, "And you've got seven of them right here." The rest of the mane seven, at least the female members, gathered around to once again introduce themselves to the new pony.

Thus began Starlight's new life.

Over the next few days, she began to get settled into Ponyville and get to know her new friends better. She and Rarity made a dress together, Fluttershy introduced her to all her animal friends while the unicorn had a race against Rainbow with her flight magic. She then helped Applejack with bucking apples and made some delicious cupcakes with Pinkie. Finally, she began to learn magic under Twilight, the princess soon inviting her to meet Celestia and Luna and introduce her as her first student.

A little later...

"An evil version of Flash?" The alicorn of the sun asked as they sat around a table while enjoying some tea, "Hard to believe something like that is possible."

Luna nodded before turning to Twilight, "I had wondered what would have happened if you'd never taken Flash in. Seems now we know."

"But that was only one possible future," Twilight told them while shaking her head, "There were millions more where Flash remained the amazing pony he is. According to him, he was the only Flash that turned evil."

"I can believe that," Celestia nodded before taking a sip, "And you have no idea what happened to him?"

Twilight shook her head again, "No. I hate to say it, but my knowledge of time travel is too limited to know what happened to him. We may never see him again, or he might show up next week. We'll just have to be prepared for when he does show back up."

"Understood," Celestia added before turning to Starlight. "So Miss Glimmer, I understand you caused a lot of trouble for a lot of ponies." Starlight gulped as she nodded to the alicorn. "You understand that under normal circumstances, your actions would be met with severe penalties."

"I...I know your highness."

"However, since your actions were mostly based around Princess Twilight, I can accept her decision to deal with what happened in her own way."

"Thank you, princess. I promise you, Starlight won't disappoint." Twilight replied, only for Luna to tap her hoof on the table.

"Hold on there. Even if you feel good about this sister, I still think there should be at least some form of punishment. Even something as simple as community service would suffice."

"I can live with that," Starlight added. "I mean...it could be so much worse."

Twilight slung a hoof around her and patted her shoulder, "It'll be okay. I can talk to Mayor Mare when we get back...but it'll have to wait until after we get back from your old village." Starlight did a huge gulp at that, now remembering what Twilight had said before. The princess had told her that in order to start over anew, she needed to wipe her slate clean...which involved returning to the town she had taken over and apologizing for everything.

But before Starlight's imagination could start creating multiple scenarios of her old friends yelling at her, they were interrupted by the sound of a guard bursting into the room. "Your majesties!"

The four mares and one dragon all turned to him. "What's wrong?" Celestia asked, "Breathe and tell us calmly what's going on."

The guard nodded and took a moment to catch his breath. Once that was done, he stood to attention. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight-"

"Get on with it!" Luna barked, making him hop in place.

"A bright flash just occurred in the castle gardens! Several guards and I went to investigate and found the light to be some kind of teleportation magic, as a group of ponies could be seen there!" He then turned to Twilight, "One of them was Sir Flash Sentry!"

Twilight gasped, Luna then asking, "Who else was there?! Tell us now!"

"I do not know all their names," the guard replied, "All I know is that seven others were with Sir Sentry when they appeared."

Everypony glanced at one another, Celestia then ordering, "Bring them all here at once."

"Right away your majesty." With that, the guard ran out of the room, the five exchanging glances.

Twilight wanted nothing more than to rush out and hug Flash, but then the guard's words hopped into her head, "Wait...did he just say seven? Flash left with five ponies."

Celestia let out a hum, "He did say that. Just what happened to Flash and the others?"

"Whatever it is, I just hope they're all okay. I hope nothing has happened to Ruby or Trixie." Luna replied while slowly ascending from her seat, "Come, I have a feeling this is going to be a long explanation."

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S5

by Banshee531

Castle Sweet Castle

Iron's Place

Ramen, Rain and a Hint of Romance

Lightning's Fate

Slice of Life

Building Bridges

Princess Spike

The Ultimate Ponyville Diet

Party Pooped

Retirement

Do Princess's Dream of Magic Sheep

Rarity Investigates

The Day Flash Sentry Died

The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows

Scare Master

Time for a Changeling

A Wild Wild Heartswarming

The Lost City

The Cutie Re-Mark

A Flash of Darkness