> Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S6
>  by Banshee531
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Crystalling PT1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The story begins in Ponyville, three weeks after the return of Flash and his friends from the Lost City of Faust. In that time, news of what transpired during their adventure had spread out all across Equestria. There wasn't a pony alive who didn't know about the heroic deeds of the group that defeated a cult of power mad ponies before they could try to conquer Equestria, or that there was a new alicorn in Equestria.

As for that alicorn, Shining Soul and her brother had really grown to like living in Ponyville, though they had been mainly interacting with their teacher's immediate friendship circle. This was to be expected, as the two had a lot to learn about the world before they could become proper members of society.

During the days the medical tests were being done, Flash and Twilight had talked with the princesses about what Heart and Soul needed to know before they were ready to begin their true lessons. It was agreed that the two should go to school, mainly so they could interact with ponies their own age, and knew they needed a basic education.

Despite being able to read perfectly, neither of them had ever really written a word. Their hoof-writing wasn't the best, though Soul had quickly learned how to make words readable since she enjoyed drawing and painting. However, Heart wasn't as good, though he found he could do math better than Soul.

This was followed by a crash course was Equestrian history. Both ponies found it quite interesting that they knew about the birth of the universe along with the rise and fall of the alicorns before Celestia and Luna's reign, only to now learn about the founding of Equestria. The forming of the Royal Knights and the Wonderbolts came next, soon seeing the amazing adventures that their teachers had done before meeting them. Both absorbed this information like a sponge, Flash and Twilight deciding they were ready to be their teachers after gaining this starting point.

As such, Twilight and Soul were now in the library. The two stood on either side of a table, which had a plastic cup in the middle. "Alright Soul, let's begin." Twilight said in a calming tone, "Just remember to be firm, but gentle."

Soul nodded, though she didn't really know how you could be both firm and gentle. Her horn began to glow gold, squinting her eyes as she stared at the cup. A magic aura began to form under the cup, making it slowly lift off the table. Twilight smiled at the sight, only to hear a crackling sound. "Careful." Twilight whispered as she saw part of the cup bend, Soul nodding back.

Her horn's aura began to spark, Twilight seeing a small sputter from the horn before the cup was suddenly crushed under the filly's magical grip.

"Ow!" she yelped as her horn quickly cut, the cup falling back onto the table. Her ears flopped down, whimpering, "No..."

"Don't worry, it'll be okay." Twilight responded while floating the crushed cup over to a bin. "You'll get it." She summoned another cup from a stack Pinkie had loaned them. "There's a reason we start this small. Just keep trying and you'll figure it out." Soul nodded and tried again, Twilight smiling as she saw her horn glow again before taking out a stack of papers. "Now for Starlight's first lesson."





Meanwhile...

The ex-villain was currently making her way through the many corridors of the large castle, looking for the library. "Is it in here?" She as she opened a door, "Nope." She closed it and tried another, a mop now falling on her head. "Nope." She then tried a third door, only to find a certain jakhowl.

"Oh," she said as he turned to her, "Sorry."

"It's cool," Springer replied before turning back to the eggs that were currently sitting on a table in their incubators. "Just looking after the eggs."

"Any uh...any idea when they'll hatch?"

"No idea," he took the glass off the blue one so he could rub it with a cloth. "Luna said every egg is different. Could happen today, could happen in a year."

"Well I hope I get to see it," she added before retreating out the room, letting out a sigh as she continued through the hallways. "Okay...I gotta find the library. Library...Library...where did they put the library?" She poked her head through another door, only to find it lead to another hallway. "You know, this castle looked a lot smaller from the outside." She sighed as she opened another door, only to find one Spike T Dragon currently brushing his teeth.

Spike noticed the door open and turned to smile at her. "Morning, Starlight!" He said in a muffled manner.

"Whoops!" She yelped as she shut the door, "Sorry, Spike! I guess I'm still trying to find my way around. You don't happen to know where the library is, do you?"

The door opened up, Spike's head poking out as he pointed, "Next door on the left!"

He then shut the door as Starlight replied, "Thanks!" She quickly trotted to the door and opened it, only to hear a moan of annoyance before needing to duck under a flying crushed plastic cup that soon hit a nearby trash can. She then saw Soul at a table, placing another cup on the table before turning to see her teacher at another table, looking over a scroll.

"Acceptance," Twilight hummed. "Altruism definitely...that's a good start." She then turned to the door, smiling as she put the scroll down. "Starlight! Good morning, please come in!"

"Sorry I'm late," Starlight responded while she trotted in, "I um...I got a little turned around." She started to blush as she continued, "I still can't believe you're letting me stay here...as your pupil...after everything I did."

"Well, I'm not one to dwell on the past, and neither should you. This castle is your home now, and as far as being my pupil goes, I was just trying to figure out what your first friendship lesson should be!"

She then showed Starlight the scroll. "Oh..." Starlight whispered as she looked it over, "Well, it um...looks like you're really narrowing it down!"

"Not quite. These are just the A's. After this, I move on to the B's!" Twilight giggled before pointing at another table, which had several stacks of paper covering it.

Starlight's face shined nothing but pure terror as she stared at them. She quickly shook her head next before going over and looking at one of the papers, "I know I'm just learning about friendship, but I didn't think there were this many lessons for anything." She turned back to Twilight, "How do we choose?"

Twilight took some of the papers, letting out another hum, "I know it looks like a bit much, but I know I can find something for you to start with." She turned back to Starlight, seeing the fear on her face. The alicorn quickly rushed to her side, placing a hoof around her shoulder. "Say, why don't you join the others in the throne room for now? They're planning our trip to the Crystal Empire when Shining Armor and Princess Cadance have their foal!"

"Throne room! Got it!" She spun around and ran to the door, only to see the trash can that was now currently buried in crushed cups.

"Aaaah!" Soul yelled as she destroyed the final cup, slamming her head down on the table.

Twilight trotted over and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll learn. It's all about persistence and patience."

Soul sighed as she mumbled into the table, "I wonder it Heart's having this much trouble?"





In the training room, Flash was now circling around his new student. The pegasus was bouncing a rubber ball on his wing while slowly trotting around the colt, Iron Core, Grand Hoof and Lightning Blitz sitting in the corner behind Heart.

"Alright Heart," he started, "As a Royal Knight, there are three rules you must always remember in any situation. If I manage to teach you anything, it'll be these three rules."

"Okay," Heart nodded while continuing to stand in battle ready position.

"Rule number one: Always be afraid."

The young pegasi raised an eyebrow at this, "What? Why would I wanna be afraid? Isn't that a bad thing?"

Flash shook his head, "No. Letting your fear control you is a bad thing...but not having any fear at all is even worse."

"But aren't you the Element of Courage?" Heart asked back, "How can you be scared?"

Flash chuckled at this, continuing to bounce the ball while circling him. "Courage is not the absence of fear, but acting despite being afraid. And as long as you have that fear, you'll remain alert, focused, and alive." As he said that, he bounced the ball high before spinning around and hitting it with his tail. Doing so sent it flying at Heart, the colt barely managing to duck under it before Grand caught it. "See?" Flash smiled as Grand tossed the ball back to him. "A true hero is one that listens to their fear and lets it keep them on guard, but doesn't let it decide everything for them."

"Always be afraid," Heart repeated as he stood back up. "Got it."

"Good." Flash started circling him again. "Rule number two," he once again batted the ball at Heart, the colt sidestepping it before Grand caught it again. "Never put all your focus on the enemy in front of you." As he said this, Grand batted the ball at Heart, hitting the colt in the back of his head.

"Ow!" He cried, rubbing it before glaring at Grand.

"You never know when another enemy might show up and try to take you be surprise."

"Got it..." Heart grumbled as Flash placed a wing on his back.

"And the third, which is the most important rule, is to always try your best, but also understand when that best isn't good enough."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Grand was the one to speak up, "Our goal as Royal Knights is to protect those who can't protect themselves. This means we end up facing many dangerous challenges."

Heart nodded as Iron continued, "And sometimes, the challenges we face are just too much for us to handle. The final rule is to understand that." Heart tilted his head at this, making him shake his head before pointing at the colt. "Let me give you an example. Do you think you could win in a fight against Sentry?"

Heart turned to Flash, the sight of the stallion standing over him making the colt slightly shiver. He glanced back at Iron, "Are you kidding?! With how strong he is, I wouldn't last five seconds in a fight with him!"

"Exactly. And let's say that in some crazy alternative world, Sentry was a criminal and you found yourself facing off against him."

"What would be the smarter option?" Lightning added, "Trying to fight him or trying to escape and get reinforcements?"

"I guess trying to escape?"

Flash nodded. "Exactly. Sometimes, you won't have a choice. You might find yourself trapped in a situation against an opponent you can't beat. That's when you need to be smart, but you also need to first realize your limits. Limits you can break, but require time to do so. An opponent you don't stand a chance against today won't stand a chance against you in ten years. It's just a matter of surviving those ten years."

"Huh. Okay...I think I get it."

"Good," Flash replied before walking over to the training room's control crystal. "Remember these rules you'll be fine."

"I will."

"Now, let's get started with your physical training." With that, he tapped the control crystal, causing a treadmill to appear. "First, we need to understand your limits. Get running." Heart nodded and jumped onto the treadmill as Flash switched it on, the belt beginning to move as he walked in place.

The others watched as Flash turned up the speed, Heart's pace increasing until he was running. After a minute, it was clear Heart wasn't having an issue. "Come on, I can do this in my sleep." Heart chuckled with a smirk, making Flash smile as he cranked the speed up, Heart matching the speed without issue. "Faster." Flash increased the speed again, "Faster!" Flash did it again. "FASTER!" Flash put it up to max, Heart managing to keep up...for about five seconds. "WHOA!" He yelped as his hooves were pulled out from under him, body-checking the treadmill before getting shot off the machine, "OW!"

The others flinched as they watched him hit the wall, the force causing him to be plastered while leaving a colt shaped indent. His eyes showed spirals before shaking his head and giving the group the pony equivalent of a thumbs up. "Nailed it!"

"Well, the colt can take a hit," Grand laughed as walked over to help pull him off the wall.





Back at the library...

Soul's eyes were squinting as her horn continued to glow. Before her was a floating cup, this one shaking in place despite not shifting in shape. "I'm...I'm doing it!" She turned to Twilight, "I did it!"

Twilight nodded back, "Good job. Now, the next part of the lesson is to have you hold the cup like that for ten minutes or more."

"What?! But that was hard enough!"

The princess patted the alicorn's shoulder, "I know, but this is how all unicorns start. Don't worry, after a little bit of practice, you'll have it down pat."

Soul grumbled at this, turning back to the cup as she made it float again. As she did this, Starlight trotted back into the room, "Hey Twilight, can I ask you something about the Crystal Empire?"

"Oh?" Twilight spun around with a smile, "Funny you should mention the empire." She took three sheets of paper in her magic as she continued, "Because I just narrowed your first friendship lesson down to three options, and one of them is in the Crystal Empire!"

"Really?" Starlight asked, a big smile adorning her lips.

Twilight nodded back. "Yes. You see, I found out that that's where the first pony you ever cared about lives!"

The smile quickly vanished, her eyes now going wide with a growing frown, "Sunburst?!"

"Yes. He lives there now, and that was one of my ideas of your starting point for friendship. Of course, we could also-" The rest of Twilight's speech was tuned out as Starlight's brain began to replay the day she lost Sunburst, leading to her backstory and shameful past. The very thought of seeing him against continued to send painful shivers down her spine, causing a single remorseful tear to appear in the corner of her eye. "Starlight?" She came back to reality as Twilight asked, "Is something wrong?"

"What?!" Starlight yelped before darting her eyes around, "O-oh, no, heh, those uh...all sound great!"

"I know!" Twilight cheered before looking down at the scrolls, "I guess you were right. It is gonna be hard to choose one!"

Starlight let out a nervous laugh as Twilight trotted off. "Yeah...real hard."





A little later...

Soul was now walking through the castle with the cup hovering in front of her without issue. She could now pick it up and put it down without damaging it, which was a marked improvement given this was her first real lesson. And as she turned a corner, she smiled as she saw her brother, "Heart!" She ran over to hug him, only to go wide-eyed before putting a hoof to her nose, "Whoa! You stink!"

Heart laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah...sorry. Knight training really helps you build up a sweat. How was your lesson?"

"Great!" Soul showed him the cup, "See?"

Heart raised an eyebrow, "It's...a cup?" Soul glared at him before purposely crushing the cup in her magic and throwing it behind her. The filly was about to explain, only to hear a loud crashing noise. Quickly walking over to it, they saw Starlight buried in brooms, mops, buckets and ladders. "You okay?"

"I'm fine..." Starlight grumbled as she shoved the stuff back into the closet before pushing it shut. She then opened another door, only to quickly close it and let out an annoyed cry. "Augh! I'm never gonna find my way around this place!" She walked away as Spike's head popped out the room she had just looked into, the dragon running after her.

"Gee Starlight, what's wrong?"

"You look like somepony let all the air out your favorite balloon," Heart added as he and Soul flew beside the two.

Starlight let out a defeated sigh. "I don't know. Twilight's figuring out what my first friendship lesson is, and I guess I'm not exactly thrilled with the options. Well...with one of them."

"Which one?" Soul asked.

"Reuniting me with my first friend."

This statement caused Spike and Heart to glance at each other while Soul spoke up, "That's Sunburst, right?" Starlight nodded back.

"What's so terrible about meeting him?" Heart asked next.

"Yeah!" Spike added with a nod, "Considering how close you used to be, I figure you'd want to see him really bad." Soul rolled her eyes, muttering the word 'boys' under her breath.

Starlight let out a sigh as she came to a stop, staring at the ceiling as the memories of a life long past flowed through her mind. "When we were foals, Sunburst knew everything there was to know about magic. He always knew just what to do, and he was always there to help me. I guess it's not surprising that Sunburst got his cutie mark in magic and...went off to Princess Celestia's school. But when he left..."

"You blamed cutie marks and stripped a whole village of theirs, and when Twilight and the others stopped you, you went back in time and almost destroyed Equestria." Spike finished, Heart and Soul both going wide-eyed as this piece of information had not been made privy to them.

"Not really stuff I'm super eager to tell Sunburst about," Starlight moaned before the two could ask anything. "I mean, he's probably some big important wizard now, and...I can't even find my way around Twilight's castle."

"Well, if Sunburst is that good at magic, maybe he'd appreciate your, uh..." Spike cleared his throat, "Exploits."

"But maybe you should wait a little bit," Soul suggested while landing. "At least until you feel you're ready. Maybe after you've got some simpler friendship lesson under your belt, you'll be more confident about reuniting."

Starlight sighed and shook her head, "I don't think I'll ever feel ready."

Spike patted her on the shoulder, "You should talk to Twilight about it. I'm sure she would want to hear what you have to say."

"I know..." Starlight replied while looking away, "But I don't want her to think I'm not ready to learn or that I'm not grateful for everything she's doing." The others were about to respond, only for-

"Spike!" Twilight's voice rang out, "Come quick!" They all turned to the voice, quickly running toward it before getting to the castle's grand balcony. There they found Twilight, Flash and even his sister Scootaloo staring into the sky. But it was soon revealed they were staring at something flying on the wind, a piece of paper shaped like a snowflake. Twilight shined a big grin as she held out her wing and caught the snowflake, which then opened up to reveal writing in the center.

"It's a Crystalling invitation!" Spike cheered, the twins gasping as Heart asked.

"Does that mean-"

"Shining Armor's a father!" Twilight turned to Flash, hugging him. "I'm an aunt!"

Flash laughed. "I guess that makes me an uncle."

"Yeah!" Scootaloo jumped up and down, "And I'm a..." She stopped and showed a semi-frown, "Wait...what does this make me?"

The others laughed as Twilight turned to Starlight. "Well this settles it! We're going to the Crystal Empire!" The group cheered, all but Twilight and Starlight walking away as the princess put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder, "And because we're going to the empire, your first friendship lesson is going to be...reuniting with Sunburst! Isn't that great?!"

Starlight looked away at these words, Twilight quickly spinning around to go tell her friends. And as she left, Starlight stood there while looking like somepony had asked her to do six hundred impossible things at once. "Great..." She whispered, her whole body now shaking like a leaf.





An hour or so later...

The Mane Seven, Spike and the CMC were now on a train to the Crystal Empire. The rest of the defenders had been invited, but Springer polity refused since he had to look after the eggs while Iron and Lightning chose to stay so the town wasn't left undefended. (Flash had a feeling it was more like they were worried about being put on foalsitter duty) As for Grand, he had to head to Canterlot in order to get a proper gift for the newborn royal.

And so, Flash, Twilight, Heart, Soul, Spike, Starlight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and the CMC were the only members of the group who were currently on their way to the crystal empire. And as the surrounding area changed from grass to snow, Rainbow woke up and stretched on her seat. She then turned to Applejack and Apple Bloom, now spotting something nestled under a sheet between them. "Um, Applejack? What is that?"

The Apple sisters giggled as the older one replied. "Oh, just a little somethin' for the young'un." Apple Bloom pulled the sheet off, revealing a wooden crib with apple designs on it. "Made from genuine Sweet Apple Acres apple trees. We make 'em for all the Apples, and anypony related to Twilight is practically family."

Applejack smiled at Twilight, who had a touched expression as Soul got a closer look.

"Aww..." she responded with stars in her eyes, "It's so cute."

Apple Bloom nodded back, "Ah know, right?" She patted it. "Ah helped make this one myself."

"You sure you got the right cutie mark?" Heart asked her with a chuckle as Rainbow got up and flew around her seat.

"Yeah, it's okay. But it's no Cloudsdale mobile!" She suddenly pulled the item out of thin air, "Bam!" The girls all went 'ooh' at the sight of it, Pinkie even calling it pretty before accidently knocking one of the pieces off.

Applejack simply smirked, "Well, a mobile is real nice...as long as you have somethin' to lay in so you can look at it."

"And a fetching blanket to keep you warm." Rarity added as she replaced the one in the crib with one she had just finished.

Twilight shined the biggest grin at all of them. "I'm sure Shining Armor and Princess Cadance will love all our gifts."

Heart then turned to Flash, who was sat back with his hooves behind his head and his eyes closed. "What did you get them?" Flash's eyes shot open, a long frown on his face as his student stared at him, "You did get them something...right?"

"Uh..." Flash's face turned red while the others rolled their eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Twilight added, "Shining and Cadance won't care about gifts. They're more happy we'll be attending the baby's Crystalling."

"Ooh!" Pinkie cheered as she jumped up and down on the spot, "I can't wait to see all that light and love make the Crystal Heart even more sparkly and shiny!"

"Sparkly and shiny?" Heart asked, "I'm clearly missing something."

Scootaloo turned to him, "Weren't you listening when Twilight explained what the Crystalling is for?"

Heart opened his mouth to respond, only to close it as Soul laughed, "There's your answer."

Twilight giggled before turning back to her pink friend. "Actually Pinkie, the Crystal Heart is an ancient and powerful relic. Without its magic, the Crystal Empire would be lost to the Frozen North."

"Wow..." Starlight said in an overt way, "This Crystalling sounds pretty important, so I'd understand if you wanted to..." She rolled her hoof, "You know, wait to do a different friendship lesson when we get back."

"Are you kidding?" Twilight replied, "This trip is perfect! Not only do I get to see the baby and take part in the ceremony that helps maintain the magic of the Crystal Empire." She then placed a hoof around Starlight's shoulder, "But I'm starting my new pupil off with the most amazing friendship lesson ever!" She pulled Starlight in close, "I can't wait!"

Starlight huffed before pulling herself free, a fake smile adorning her face. "Right...me neither..." As Twilight took out a foal book and started reading, Starlight turned to Spike. Both he and Soul sat side by side, Soul crossing her hooves while Spike gestured to Twilight. After a few seconds, she sighed before turning back to her teacher. "Actually uh...Twilight? I'm um...I'm a little worried about meeting Sunburst."

Twilight blinked at her words before putting her book down. "Oh trust me, I know what it's like to see old friends. But I'll be right there to help things along." She then pulled a scroll out of her saddlebag, "I've broken the whole lesson down into a few easy steps to ensure this reunion goes off without a hitch!" The scroll unrolled and began to unfurl...only to reach the door of the train cabin. This made Starlight give out a nervous chuckle as the conductor walked in and said they were coming up on the city.

Everypony grabbed their things as the train pulled up to the station, coming to a stop as Twilight talked to Starlight about her reunion schedule. "Step one, head to Sunburst's house and get you two started on the right hoof. Step two, get to the castle with enough time to visit the baby."

"You might wanna swap those steps." said a sudden voice, making them turn to see three ponies standing on the platform.

"Ruby!" Heart and Soul cheered as they ran over to the Crystal Knight and gave her a hug, the others turning to the two changelings standing besides her.

"Thorax!" Flash offered him a hoof, "Long time no see."

"Yes," Thorax nodded as he shook the hoof, "It's great to see you again."

"Hiveena," Twilight added as she shook the changeling's hoof, "How have things been here in the empire?"

"Good," Hiveena replied. "The ponies here haven't had any issue with us, so life's been pretty calm."

It was here that both Flash and Twilight saw something different about Thorax and Hiveena. The first was that Hiveena was no longer wearing the magic-suppression ring on her horn. But the most noticeable difference was on their backs, Flash pointing to them. "Hey, what happened to your wings?"

Their wings were now a bright blue, both having sparkles running along them as Thorax responded, "We're not really sure. They started changing about a week before Ruby came back."

"It's happened to me before," Hiveena added, "I don't remember when it started back then, or when it went away. But I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about."

"Well it's very pretty," Rarity complimented. "I'll have to remember how it looks for my next dress."

Twilight then turned to Ruby, "We weren't expecting a welcoming comity."

"Well, Shining Armor wanted to come, but with everything going on, I felt it was best somepony else come and get you."

Hiveena nodded in agreement. "Things have been pretty...hectic since the tyke was born. Your brother and the princess have been run ragged looking after the little hell-raiser."

Thorax did a small gulp, "The two looked so exhausted we were worried Shining might fall asleep on the way here, so we decided to come instead."

Hiveena grimaced at her own next words, "Plus, I'm not really a foal mare. If I stayed I might have gotten roped into foalsitting."

"I didn't even realize Shining and Cadance would be so overwhelmed. They probably need all kinds of help!" Twilight responded before turning to her pupil with an apologetic expression, "I'm sorry Starlight, but I guess combining your first lesson with this visit wasn't such a good idea."

Starlight shined a big smile, only to quickly try to hide it as she replied, "Oh uh...don't be ridiculous! You're an aunt now! That's way more important than some friendship lesson."

"Subtle..." Heart whispered to Soul as Spike finished rolling up the scroll.

"I just wish there was a way to do both," they then heard Twilight say, only for Spike to hold up the scroll.

"Maybe there is!" He turned to Twilight, "You've already done the work for Starlight's lesson with this list. All we have to do is follow it!"

Starlight face-hoofed while Twilight smiled down at her dragon assistant. "Spike, you're a genius!"

"Yeah..." Starlight grumbled while shooting Spike a death glare, "Genius."

"Then it's settled! The rest of us will head straight to the castle, and you two can head straight to Sunburst!"

"Aye-aye, Princess!" Spike saluted while Starlight let out a nervous laugh and nod.

"Wait..." they turned to the changelings, "Sunburst?"

"You know him?" Flash asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hiveena huffed. "Yeah. Thorax and I have been getting invites from him since he first moved here. He keeps questioning us about changelings. How we're born. How we extract love. All that stuff."

"I've been over to his house a few times," Thorax added, "He's pretty nice, though a little awkward."

"So you know where he lives?" Twilight asked, the changelings nodding back, "Great! Then maybe the two of you can show Spike and Starlight the way."

"Um...I guess that's okay," Thorax responded.

"Beats babysitting," Hiveena huffed before gesturing to the other two. "Follow me and try not to get lost." The two nodded as the four headed off while Ruby turned to the others.

"Come along. I'm sure you're all excited to see the newborn." They nodded back before following Ruby to the castle, Heart and Soul in awe at the sight of the Crystal Empire. "Beautiful, isn't it?" They both nodded again, "Perhaps you'd like to have a tour? I should be free later, and can show you around before the Crystalling."

"Awesome!" Heart cheered.

Flash chuckled at this, "And since we're here, I should probably show you the Hall of Knights."

Heart turned to him with a raised eyebrow, only for Twilight to suddenly exclaim at the sight of a certain unicorn stallion that appeared to be asleep standing up. "SHINING ARMOR!" Her brother shook, his eyes going wide before turning to Twilight with a tiny smile.

"Twilight!" He replied, his eyes going off in two different directions. The group now saw that he was super frazzled, his mane a mess and his eyes half closed. The siblings quickly embraced one another into a hug, Shining looking behind her and seeing Flash. "Hey bro. How's....how's....what was I about to say?"

Twilight pulled away and looked him over. "Are you sure you're okay? Ruby and the others told us you were having...issues."

"That's an understatement," Ruby whispered as Shining did a weak nod back.

"Never better!" He cried out, his eyes now spiraling, "Being a father is amazing! And wonderful, and amazing, and confusing, and amazing, but surprising too, you know?"

Everypony just stared at him like he had grown a second head. "Did anypony get any of that?" Heart asked.

"About every third word or so," Flash replied as Shining scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry. I haven't really slept since Cadance had the baby. Come to think of it, she hasn't either. It sure would be great to get a break."

"That's why we're here," Twilight responded, "Don't worry. We're happy to help while you and Cadance get some shut-eye."

"Though I might suggest hiring a nanny for when we leave," Flash added as Shining lead them into a castle.

"We already had a nanny lined up," Shining replied, "But she quit after her first shift. Something about being too stressful." This statement caused everypony to share a glance, frowns on every face.

"I constantly babysit two foals," Pinkie pointed out. "Sure it's hard, but its not worth quitting over."

The others nodded as they arrived at the room, Shining turning to his sister. "Before we go in, I should probably tell you this: Seeing the baby might be a bit of a shock."

Twilight simply smiled back, "Come on, big brother. I've met babies before." She pushed the doors open, "I expect meeting this one won't be any different." As they headed inside, they spotted not only Cadance, but Celestia and Luna as well. Blinking at the sight, she walked over to get a look at her newborn...she had no idea what it was. Upon closer inspection, she realized the baby was a unicorn filly with pinkish-white fur, her mane being a combo of purple and blue. She was wrapped up in a blue blanket and her horn seemed longer than most other unicorn babies.

Twilight's heart melted at the sight, Flash stepping up and mirroring his girlfriend's look. But that look turned to confusion when he saw something move under the blanket, only for the cloth to pull apart to reveal a pair of wings. Twilight gasped while Flash blinked, the knight being the first one to say it. "Alright, wasn't expecting that."

Everypony else continued to stare at the baby, who was cooing and flailing her legs around like a newborn usually did before Twilight broke the silence, "The baby is an Alicorn?!"

"It looks that way," Cadance nodded back.

Flash's gaze moved between the baby, Twilight and then Soul. "Geez. First you, then Soul, and now this. You alicorns are suddenly coming out of the woodwork. It's a good thing I turned down becoming one. Ponies would think anypony can jump onto the alicorn bandwagon."

"What's the big deal?" Heart asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rarity turned to Heart. "The deal is that alicorn wings have to be earned by accomplishing some great, princess-worthy deed!"

"Yeah!" Applejack added, "You're not just supposed to be born with 'em!"

"But aren't Celestia and Luna natural born alicorns?" The others turned to the princesses, remembering the day Flash and his friends returned from their mission and the movie they all watched.

"That's right," Soul chimed in, "Alicorns can be born from other alicorns. It just stopped happening for some reason."

"Well, Cadance is the first alicorn to give birth in like...two thousand years," Flash continued, "I guess it would make sense she'd have an alicorn."

Ruby nodded in agreement, "Cadance was a pegasus before she ascended, and Shining's a powerful unicorn."

"If the two of you have some earth pony heritage, it's possible your DNA could mix to form an alicorn." Celestia added as she stared at the foal, "Even so, the birth of an alicorn is something Equestria has never seen!"

"It is beyond even our understanding," Luna finished.

"That's not very reassuring," Fluttershy whispered to Rarity before Pinkie popped up infront of them.

"Wow!" She cheered, "So she could be a super-strong flyer and have crazy baby magic?!"

"Not to mention earth pony strength," Flash added, "I wouldn't be surprised if she could lift a fully grown pony."

Scootaloo let out a huff, "Is it bad that I'm starting to get jealous of somepony that isn't even potty trained?" She took this moment to spread her own tiny wings, comparing them to the baby's, which were at least three times the size of her's.

"I bet she'll get her cutie mark way sooner then we did," Apple Bloom sighed while Sweetie nodded, the others rolling their eyes at the fillies.

"Eh, it'll be fine. I know all about super-strong flying!" Rainbow did a loopy-loop. "I'm sure I can keep her under-wraps if she tries to make a break for it."

"And I can help keep tabs on her magic!" Twilight assured Cadance, only to hear the baby begin to breath weirdly. The less baby-conscious ponies in the room feared she may be choking, only to see she was about to sneeze. And sneeze she did. When the reaction occurred, a blast of pink magic exploded out of her horn, striking the ceiling.

The force of the blast made everypony brace themselves from her shockwave as the floor shook. And when the magic subsided, everypony looked up to see that the beam had cut a hole not just through the ceiling, but through several more ceilings above it. "Wow..." Soul whispered, "And I thought I had trouble controlling my magic." It was in that moment a crystal pony looked down from the next floor up, her mane having a large hole blown through it that was smoking.

Celestia began to stroke the filly's head. "It appears her magic is more powerful than that of a newborn unicorn!"

"You think?!" Flash yelped, "We're lucky a smoking skeleton hasn't dropped down!"

"The crowds have already started to gather," Luna added while looking out the window, only to turn back and see Pinkie inflating a balloon.

"This Crystalling is gonna be some party!" She smiled while letting the balloon carry her into the air, only to pop and make her fall down.

"Do you think we should call it off?" Cadance asked her husband while her daughter began sucking on her hoof.

Shining opened his mouth to reply, only for Rainbow to speak up, "Um, we've all faced a lot worse than baby magic."

Rarity nodded in agreement, "I can't imagine cancelling such a beautiful and important ceremony over something so potentially adorable!"

She leaned down to the foal with a smile as the others gave their general agreement. Celestia then turned to Cadance, the alicorn of the sun offering her sage wisdom. "In light of the little one's abilities, this Crystalling might be more important than ever. Perhaps you should address your subjects and remind them of that."

Cadance nodded and gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead, the baby gargling happily as she watched her mother leave the room with Celestia, Luna and Ruby. Once they were gone, Twilight turned to her brother and found he was leaning against the wall...asleep.

"Shining Armor?" She patted his shoulder, making him stir, "Do you have everything you need for the ceremony?"

"Huh?" The former captain let the question sit for a moment, only for a look of panic to appear on his face. "Oh no!" He jumped off the wall and began pacing back and forth. "I still have to interview the honor guards, choose the purity crystal, and pick a crystaller!"

He fell to his flank, looking like he was about to cry. "Geez," Flash whispered, "I haven't seen him this worked up since his first date with Cadance."

"Alright, take it easy." Twilight patted his shoulder, "Pinkie can stay here with me and keep an eye on the baby." Everypony turned to Pinkie, now seeing the baby clinging to her face and laughing every moment.

"And we'll help you with everythin' else." Applejack assured as they turned back to him, only to see the unicorn flat on the floor asleep.

"That is, if you can stay awake long enough to tell us how," Rarity pointed out.

Flash turned to his apprentice, "Heart, go find somepony that works in the kitchen and tell them the prince needs the strongest coffee they have." Heart saluted and flew out the room, Soul following after him as Flash moved over to Pinkie and reached into her mane. "Where do you keep your funnels?"

"They're in there deep. Third drawer." Flash nodded and reached into the mane until his shoulder was in there. "No, no, no, that's a bicycle, no, HA!" He pulled his hoof out, which was now holding a plastic drinking funnel with a long tube. "Perfect." He turned back to Shining. "By my oath, this crystalling will go off without a hitch." The others nodded as Twilight quickly smacked Shining awake before Rainbow and Applejack dragged him out of the room, Flash, Fluttershy and Rarity following him.

Twilight then switched her focus on her niece, "Let's have some fun and find out what else you can do so we don't have any more surprises." The baby laughed and giggled, clearly thinking this was some kind of game.





In another part of the city...

Starlight was now laid out on a beach chair with a bucket of popcorn, Thorax and Hiveena besides her. Thorax had a look of interest on his face while Hiveena looked bored. A crowd of crystal ponies were also there, everypony listening to Spike as he retold the tale of how he saved the Crystal Empire from the former tyrant known as Sombra.

"And that's how we found the Crystal Heart, defeated King Sombra, and saved the Empire." He finished as the crystal ponies cheered, screaming their love and admiration for Spike.

"Wow," Thorax added, "I had no idea Spike was so brave."

"He's missing out a ton of details," Hiveena deadpanned, "Like how Sentry and Scarlet were the ones that held the guy back so they could find the Crystal Heart."

"Tell the one about the Equestria Games!" A young crystal pony yelled while Spike pulled out the scroll he had been previously sitting on.

"Well, as much as I love reliving my heroic deeds, Starlight and I have an important lesson to do, by order of the Princess of Friendship!" The crystal ponies all moaned, Starlight's face now morphing into a look of pure terror.

"Aw, come on, Spike! I want to hear about the Games too!" Spike shot her a knowing look as he signed an autograph, then unraveled the scroll.

"I know you're nervous about seeing Sunburst, but it says right here in step three, to, uh, 'deal with your fears by facing them, not by putting them off.'" He smiled at her while Starlight moaned and threw her popcorn away.

"Let's go get this over with." She mumbled as she jumped off her chair, Thorax leading them through the streets.

"So what's the big deal about meeting this one guy?" Hiveena asked. "You almost look scared about meeting him."

"I'm not scared," Starlight replied, "Just...nervous."

"Why?"

Starlight sighed and looked away, "It's a...long story." The four then turned to head down an alley-like street, Thorax now pointing at a house at the very end.

"That's Sunburst's house."

"Alright..." Starlight took a deep breath, "Wish me luck."

She stepped up to the door, raising a hoof to knock-

"Wait!" She pulled her hoof back, turning to Spike.

"Huh?! What?!"

Spike looked down at the scroll, "Knocking on the door isn't the next thing on the list!"

"Seriously?!" Starlight asked while the changelings blinked at the dragon.

Spike shrugged back, "I know Twilight can be a little nitpicky, but this is your first lesson as her pupil, and it's important that we do it right!"

"Fine," Starlight sighed in defeat, "What's the next thing on the list?"

Spike cleared his throat, "Before they see each other, be sure to highlight the importance of the meeting."

"I'm pretty sure we can skip that."

"I don't know," Spike replied, "I mean if we skip it, the whole lesson could go south! And then you might end up taking a giant step backward instead of forward! Maybe you'll never be able to learn anything about friendship at all!" Starlight did a small gulp at this, only for Spike to grab her by the cheeks and pull her down so they were nose to nose. "It's almost like your whole future depends on this moment." Spike let her go as her eyes went wide, the dragon smiling as he ticked the scroll. "Highlight the importance of the meeting, check!" He turned back to her, "I can't believe you wanted to skip that!"

"Ponies are weird," Thorax told Hiveena.

"You're only just figuring that out now?!" She barked back as Starlight finally knocked on the door.

She waited for a few seconds, only for no response. The unicorn turned to Spike, getting a shrug from him while Thorax looked like he was expecting this. Then, the door opened a tiny amount, Starlight looking into the crack and seing a pony-shaped figure hidden in the shadows. "Sunburst?"

"Yes?" The pony responded before stepping into the light, revealing an orange unicorn with a red mane, beard and glasses. "What can I...do for you?"

"It's...It's me, Starlight. We used to be friends?" The unicorn blinked at those words, slowly opening his door as his brain put the pieces together. And as the door fully opened, he was revealed to be wearing a Starswirl styled cape.

"Oh, of course! S-Starlight! My goodness, it-it's been a long time!" He then noticed the others, "Thorax?"

"Hello Sunburst," the changeling waved.

"And Hiveena. Did you finally accept my invite?"

"No," Hiveena flatly replied, "We were just showing your friends where you lived."

"I see..." Sunburst frowned before turning to Starlight. "So what uh, what have you been up to Starlight?"

"Me?" Starlight responded while doing a small gulp, her eyes darting around, "Oh! You know, some of this, some of that, different...stuff." Sunburst raised an eyebrow at this, "Right now, I'm sort of Twilight Sparkle's new pupil." Sunburst's eyes went wide at hearing this, both shock and awe on his face.

"Really? The Princess of Friendship?"

"Heh...yeah." Starlight slightly nodded, "Yeah...that's actually kind of why I'm here. I mean, I know you're probably very busy."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..." Starlight looked away, rubbing her hoof, "I figured after magic school, you'd go on to do important wizard work, but..."

"Oh," Sunburst said without thinking, "No." He then went wide-eyed before gulping, "I mean yes! Uh, y-yes, that's me, yup." He let out a nervous chuckle, "Important wizard! Really busy with lots of, uh, wi-wizarding...stuff." He adjusted his glasses as they all just stood there, the changelings feeling the cringe fill the air. "Right..." Sunburst started to backpedal, "Uh, well...it was good to see you again." He then jumped back inside and pushed the door close, Starlight turning back to the others.

"Huh," Spike looked down at the list. "Maybe we should have skipped highlighting the importance of the meeting after all."

"Well, I guess that's that!" Starlight yelped before moving away from the door. She shined a half smile, only to see Spike glare at her.

"Starlight," he pushed her back, "Come on! We have to at least explain what Twilight wants!" Starlight let out a groan before turning back to the door, knocking again before Sunburst came back to the door.

And after a minute of small talk, Sunburst let them in and Starlight headed inside. At the same time, Spike turned to the changelings. "You all don't have to stay anymore. I'm sure you've got plenty of other things you'd rather be doing."

The door then closed as Thorax turned to Hiveena, a smile on the changeling princess's face.

"What are you thinking?"

"There's no way I'm missing this train-wreck." She suddenly morphed into a fly, "Come on." With that, she flew toward the door's keyhole, Thorax sighed as he morphed into a fly to follow her inside.

"This isn't gonna end well," he buzzed.





Back at the castle, Cadance was addressing her subjects out on the main stage. Behind the curtain that had been put up to block the castle entry way from view, Shining, Flash, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Heart were watching as Cadance spoke. When the crystal ponies began to cheer, Shining stepped back from the curtain.

"Shining?" He yelled out in surprise, turning to Flash as the pegasus stood in front of several crystal pegasus guards. "You okay?"

"I'm not ready!" He cried, once again pacing in a mad panic.

"Maybe we overdid it with the third pot," Flash commented as Rainbow flew up to Shining carrying a pair of helmets.

"Take it easy!" She told him before offering the helmets, "Just pick whoever looks the most like honor guard material."

"Right...right." he nodded before taking the helmets in his magic and turning to the pegasi in line, "Here." He threw the helmets forward, accidently hitting the chosen guards in the face and blocking their vision. The others looked terrified as they watched their squad-mates struggle to remove them, all retreating back with scared whimpers.

"Get back here!" Flash yelled as he chased after the guards while Shining let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry," he turned back to the girls. "Fatherhood is way more stressful than I could ever believe."

"I can only imagine," Fluttershy nodded as Rarity walked up to the prince and showed him a box.

"Now, I know choosing the crystal of purity is a very important decision." she opened the box, "So, I have gone through the trouble of arranging them in order from incredibly pure to outrageously pure." The others glanced into the box, seeing each crystal. While they were all beautiful, each looked identical.

"Um, Rarity," Fluttershy spoke up. "Don't they all sort of...look the same?"

"Oh well, to the untrained eye perhaps." Rarity held the box out to her fellow unicorn. "What do you think, Shining Armor?" Shining stared at the box, trying to pick one, only to shake in place at the choice.

He let out several incoherent stammers before yelling, "I DON'T KNOW!" He fell to the floor and appeared to get close to the fetal position, covering his face with his front legs while constantly shaking.

"I hope Twilight and Pinkie are having better luck with the baby!" Rarity whispered to Fluttershy, Flash and Heart nodding in agreement.

"Relax," the knight replied, "This is Twilight we're talking about. Looking after a baby alicorn can't be any harder then looking after a baby dragon."

"And they've got my sister there with them," Heart added. "I'm sure it'll be fine."





Meanwhile...

"Take cover!" Soul screamed as she leapt under a table to dodge a blast of baby magic.

She peaked out from the table, her eyes shrinking as she saw the foal flying around the room in a mad frenzy. Flash's theory about her possibly being able to carry a grown pony had been proved correct, since Pinkie had grabbed hold of her and was getting pulled along for the ride.

"Well at least she's having fun!" Pinkie screamed as the baby took a sharp turn, firing a blast of yellow light at the same time.

"Pinkie!" the princess cried, "Hold her still!"

"I'm tryiiiiiiing!" Pinkie yelled as she grabbed the baby's back legs and pushed hers into the floor, only to get dragged along.

"Soul, a little help!"

"What do you want me to do?!" Soul yelped as she dodged another beam from the filly.

"ANYTHING!"

As the two flew past her, Soul leapt out and grabbed Pinkie around the waist. She then used her own wings to fly in the opposite direction to the baby, causing the three to stop in one spot. "Hurry!" Twilight took this chance to engulf Pinkie and the baby in the bubble of pink magic, Soul letting them go and falling over. "How did my old home not get destroyed everyday?! Baby alicorns are walking...flying disasters."

Twilight did an agreeing nod, "No kidding. I just hope Starlight's having better luck."





At the other side of the empire....

Starlight, Spike and the two transformed changelings were still in Sunburst's house, which was basically one giant book fort. Every wall either had a bookshelf or was covered in piles of books, the four knowing they wouldn't be surprised if the walls were made of books. Spike was watching the two unicorns from behind a book tower, seeing them sitting at opposite sides of a table with awkward stares on their faces.

The dragon's eyes darted between the two as Sunburst broke the silence, "So...the Princess of Friendship wants you and I to be friends again?"

"Heh, yeah." Starlight let out a nervous laugh, "I know. Weird, right?"

"Uh...I don't understand. Did something happen to you after I left for magic school?"

"What?" Starlight yelped, knocking the table and almost causing a tea pot to fall over. "No!" She quickly grabbed the tea pot and started pouring the liquid into a cup, "I-I-I don't see what that has to do with anything. W-w-why would you even ask that?" Sunburst's reply was to look down at her cup, Starlight now glancing down to see the liquid overflowing, "Sorry! I mean, did something happen to you after you left for magic school?"

"What?!" Sunburst yelled before looking away, "Um...no. L-l-like you said, I'm a..." he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, "I-I-important wizard."

The two once again fell into an uncomfortable silence, Spike gulping as he grabbed the scroll. "I'm sure there's something on Twilight's list that can help here."

He then saw a fly land on top one of the smaller book piles. "The tension between those two's so thick you could cut it with a spoon."

"Hiveena?" Spike asked as he inspected the fly, only to see another one land beside her.

"Sorry Spike," Thorax's voice came from it. "I couldn't stop her."

"Shush! I wanna hear the next part." The males rolled their eyes as they turned to the unicorns, Spike letting out a gulp.

"I hope Twilight's having's better luck with the baby."





Back at the castle, the group had finally gotten Shining Armor to calm down. Rarity was currently brushing his mane as he took deep breaths, doing whatever it took to keep himself from going nuts with worry. And as Rarity finished, Cadance, Celestia, Luna and Ruby walked off and moved behind the stage.

"Alright, it's getting about that time." Ruby spoke up, "Is everything ready?"

"We think so," Flash nodded as Shining was talking to Cadance.

"I chose the honor guard, picked the purity crystal, and I know exactly who I want to be our crystaller. So, all we need is..." He came to a stop, unable to say any words as Cadance gave him an 'are you serious' look.

"The baby?" Shining's eyes went wide before they heard Twilight's voice.

"We're here!" They turned to see Twilight and Soul trotting out of the castle, Twilight pulling a magic bubble behind her that contained the baby flying in circles while pulling Pinkie around.

"She's a really strong flyer!" The party pony told the loving parents as Cadance sparked her horn, causing the bubble to split in two with Pinkie in one and the baby in the other. However, the foal didn't appear to like being separated from its playmate, now sniffing with tears filling her eyes.

"Oh no..." Flash gulped as he the baby began to whine, the defender covering his ears. "SHE'S GONNA BLOW!"

And true to form, the baby started crying at the top of her lungs. In the worst possible scenario, she had also inherited the Canterlot Royal Voice as her cries were so loud that it could give Banshee a run for her money. Everypony else covered their ears to keep their drums from blowing, the force of her cries so strong that it caused Cadance's bubble to burst. The scream flew across the courtyard, hitting the Crystal Heart. Vibrations from the sound hit the artifact, making it stop from spinning. While this happened, the baby came to a stop as a new sound filled the air. The noise of cracking.

Everypony turned to the source as they saw millions of cracks appear across the ancient relic before finally shattering, the pieces falling to the floor. They all gasped as the foal's tantrum had tired her out, causing her to slowly float down and land in her mother's outstretched hooves. The group then gathered around the shattered remains of the crystal, Applejack being the one to break the silence. "Ah'm guessin' that's gonna make it harder to do the Crystalling."

"It's worse than that." Twilight yelled as she ran over to the curtain and pulled it open. "Without the Heart, the Crystal Empire's about to be buried under a mountain of ice and snow!"

Flash's eyes went wide at her words before taking to the air, staring at the edge of the city as they saw a bunch of dark storm clouds beginning to gather in the distance. A long sigh followed this, "Just once, can we go to a big event and not have our lives put in jeopardy?!"

The group knew that they were in serious trouble, now seeing that the entire Crystal Empire was in danger. Only time would tell if they could fix the Crystal Heart and save the day.
> The Crystalling PT2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flash Sentry had faced many challenges in his life. Most had tested his physical and mental will, while others trialed his character, defining everything he was. By now he had grown to a point where nothing would be an issue for him to face. But on the day of the newest princesses Crystalling, he learned just how wrong he was.

Currently, Flash and his friends were staring down at the shattered pieces of the Crystal Heart, all now sensing the oncoming doom brought by the frozen north. "So..." he turned to Rarity as she spoke up, "Not only can we not take part in a fabulous ancient ceremony, but we're also about to be frozen solid!"

Twilight nodded as a frown graced her face, "Without the Crystal Heart's magical protection, the entire city's about to become a winter wasteland!"

Heart turned to his mentor, "I don't suppose gluing it back together is an option?"

"Oh, it's an option," Flash replied, "Just not a very good one."

Sweetie Belle kicked one of the Crystal Heart shards, "I can't believe a foal was able to do something like this."

"And ponies wonder why I'm terrified of my magic," Soul whimpered as she tried to levitate two pieces of the heart, unable to push them back together. "How can one pony's power bring about this much trouble?"

"I'm just as shocked as you," Ruby sighed as she picked up one of the pieces, "I always believed the Crystal Heart was unbreakable. It was able to protect against the Umbrum, Sombra and the weather itself. But to be shattered by a mere scream..."

"There's gotta be something we can do to fix it." Apple Bloom chimed in.

"The Crystalling was in part designed to strengthen the Heart, and keep it from needing to be fixed," Ruby instantly replied.

"Well, it has been a thousand years since the last Crystalling," Flash added. "That's plenty of time for the power to fade." He then turned to Twilight, "There has to be some other way to keep the weather at bay."

"Yeah!" Applejack continued, "What about when King Sombra ruled the Crystal Empire and the Crystal Heart was missin'? The city wasn't covered in snow then!"

"The Heart wasn't missing," Twilight responded as Cadance, Shining and the baby trotted over to her. "It was still in the castle. Sombra had just hidden it."

"I'm afraid Twilight is correct," Celestia sighed, "And the storm clouds are already forming."

She opened the curtains so everypony could now see the black clouds, along with lightning crackling within them. Rainbow flew up to the window, a smirk of her face. "Aw, that's nothing! I can totally fly up there and bust those puppies, no problem!" She turned to fly out, but Celestia shut the curtains before she could.

"I wouldn't advise that, Rainbow Dash. Those storm clouds are not like the ones you know."

Luna nodded in agreement, "This is the far north, where the weather has a will of its own, and now it will only grow stronger, enveloping everything in its path."

"Including the Crystal Empire!" Cadance reminded them.

"And us along with it." Twilight finished as Pinkie ran over and threw her arms around the alicorn, shaking in terror. The same fear could be seen on everypony's face, Flash being the only one not terrified.

"Well then," they turned to the Knight of Friendship. "We're just gonna have to find a way to fix the Crystal Heart and save the empire...even if we have no idea what to do."





Meanwhile...

Sunburst and Starlight were still awkwardly staring at each other, pure silence filling the area as Spike was staring at Twilight's list.

"There's gotta be somethin'..." the drake mumbled as his eyes stared at the paper, the transformed Hiveena and Thorax sitting just beside him.

The unicorns had moved from the table, Sunburst now sitting on what they assumed was his work stool, the wizard now speaking up, "Listen, I know Princess Twilight is keen on the two of us rekindling our friendship, but...it's been so long. I don't see how anything on that list is going to help."

"I know, right?" Starlight chuckled, showing the first genuine smile she had worn since arriving in the empire. "It's not like there's some spell that would just...magically compel us to pick up where we left off."

"Well...actually, there's several." Sunburst replied as he got off his stool and moved over to one of the bookshelves, pulling several books, "Mistmane's Material Amity, Rockhoof's Rapport, Flash Prance's Fellow-" He stopped when he saw the look on Starlight's face, "Ship." He shut the books and let out a cough. "But I...I get the feeling the princess isn't looking for a spell."

Starlight giggled as she shook her head, "Definitely not."

"Got it!" They heard Spike yelled before he started reading. "And if all else fails, ask them to share an embarrassing moment from their past, maybe even something they regret!"

The unicorns glanced back at one another with wide-eyes, the two changelings feeling a pulse of panic explode off the two. "Uh...I don't see how that would help," Sunburst said first.

"Um, yeah!" Starlight added, her genuine smile fading into a fake one. "We should just...get out of your mane." She spun around and went to the door, grabbing Spike as she did this, "It's pretty obvious this isn't going how Twilight hoped, and I'm sure you have plenty of important work to do..."

"What?!" Sunburst yelped as his eyes darted around, "Oh!" He nodded and floated a book over. "Uh...yes! Heh...um, no rest for the...wizardly."

Starlight's ears folded as she ran out the door, "Come on, Spike." The dragon groaned as he was pulled outside, Starlight shutting the door and running down the street until she was firmly out of sight of the house. And as she got there, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Dude-"

"AUGH!" Starlight screamed as she fell over in surprise.

"That was painful." Hiveena added as her and Thorax appeared in a wisp of green flames.

"Sorry Starlight," Thorax said as he helped her up.

"Seriously, that was hard to watch." Hiveena grumbled as she crossed her front hooves, "I have never seen a more awkward conversation. And I once had an affair with a stallion whose wife walked in on us."

"Lady Hiveena!" Thorax barked back, making Hiveena shrug.

"What?! I was just being honest."

Thorax rubbed a hoof down his face, Spike patting his side before turning to Starlight. The unicorn showed the biggest frown, slowly looking away. Her hooves began to move on instinct, trotting away from the scene as Spike began to follow her.

And as they left, Thorax felt himself shiver, "Geez, it's gotten cold."

"Yeah...it has." Hiveena added as she felt herself shake as well before looking up and seeing a barrage of dark clouds, "That's not normal."





Back at the castle...

The harsh freezing winds of the far north blew into the building, sending a chill up everypony's spine. And as they shook, Twilight turned to her mentor, "There must be a spell that can restore the Crystal Heart!"

"Perhaps..." Celestia replied while glancing over at her sister.

"But it isn't something that either of us know."

Cadance handed her child to Shining. "The library here at the castle is nearly as extensive as the one in Canterlot. There's a good chance we can find something there!"

Twilight nodded in agreement before looking back at the Royal Sisters. "Can you hold off the storm?"

"Yes...for a time." Luna responded, "But even our magic will eventually succumb to the power of the Frozen North."

Celestia took to the air. "We will do what we can, but you must hurry!"

"Then I'm coming with you!" Flash suddenly yelled, making everypony turn to him.

"Are you nuts?!" Shining yelped, "Didn't you not hear what Celestia just said? That storm is way more than any normal pegasus can deal with." In that moment, he was blinded by a light that exploded off of Flash. When the light faded, the pegasus was revealed to be wearing his new Shining Guardian form.

"I'm not your average pegasus," he replied while taking out Lightbringer. In a flash, it morphed into it's evolved form. "In this form, I've got just as much power as any alicorn."

"But your new powers are still untested," Twilight reminded him, only to see a certain determined stare on the pegasi's face. The sight made her sigh as she added, "Be careful and don't overdo it."

Flash nodded back, only to feel a suddenly spike of warmth. "Yeah! Let's do this!" Heart roared as he morphed into his fire form.

"Heart, you're staying here."

Heart's face fell as he turned to his new teacher, "What?! Why?! I can shoot fire out of every part of my body. Name one other pony here that could do a better job of keeping that storm away from the city!"

"Heart..." Flash tried to make sure to not raise his voice, kneeling down as he put a hoof on the colt's shoulder, "This isn't a game, and you're far from being ready to take on something like this."

"Oh please! Compared to what I faced in the war, how is this any worse?"

"Because back then, I didn't have to worry about you getting killed," he instantly replied, "But now, there's no super healing in place. If you get hurt, badly hurt, it's not going to magically heal overnight."

"I'm willing to take that chance," Heart responded.

"But I'm not." Flash turned away from him. "Besides, your power has more important uses."

Heart blinked at this, "It does?"

"Absolutely. We need a safety net. If the weather gets too strong for us, your fire abilities could mean life or death for the ponies here." He turned back to Heart, "I can't have you exhausting yourself until it's absolutely necessary for you to use your powers." He winked at his student, "Remember the third rule?"

Heart let out a long sigh, nodding as he changed back to normal. "Alright."

Flash nodded back before flying up to the princesses. "Flash Sentry, reporting for duty." The two nodded as they took to the sky, Twilight watching them head into the storm. Celestia and Luna were firing magic from their horns while Flash used Lightbringer to slash the clouds back, pushing the storm away as Twilight turned to the others.

"I don't know how long it will take to find the right spell, but we should probably tell the crowd outside to get somewhere warm!"

They all nodded as Cadance told them spoke up next, "And try not to mention the Crystal Heart. We don't want to start a panic."

Applejack did a small salute. "Yes, ma'am! Come on girls!" With that, she headed out with Fluttershy, Rainbow and the CMC.

Once they were gone, Twilight did a long gulp. "I'm gonna need all of your help. The crystal library is enormous!"

"You can count on us, Twily!" Shining added as his daughter giggled, her horn sparking before she vanished in a bright flash. Seconds later, she reappeared clutching onto Pinkie's face.

"AAAHHH!" She screamed in surprise, her reflexes causing her to pull the baby off before she realized what she was doing. But before she could stop herself, the foal was thrown off her face and flew through the air. Shining gasped and dived to catch her, but before she could hit the ground, she puffed away.

"What the-where'd she go?!" the stallion yelped as he and Cadance then heard a giggling noise coming from inside the castle.

"This way!" The Princess of Love cried out as she ran into the building, everypony else following after her.

Heart let out a groan as he helped chase down the foal, "I'm really starting to not like babies."

"How do you think I feel?" Soul barked back, "I might end up giving birth to one of those in a decade or two."

They then saw the foal flying through one of the corridors, her magic flaring as she lifted several vases off their pedestals. She giggled when she saw them float around, clearly thinking this was some kind of game. A spark of magic came next, dropping the furniture as Rarity and Ruby dove to catch them. And as the rest continued to chase the foal, she found herself cornered in a dead-end hallway.

"Gotcha!" Heart cheered before he and Soul leapt at her, only for the baby to suddenly vanish, making them both faceplant the wall. Another light made them turn around, now seeing the foal laugh at them before flying away again.

"Darn it." Soul added, "I wonder if Starlight and Spike are doing better."





"Well Spike, looks like my biggest fears came true." Starlight whimpered as she and Spike trotted through the streets, "I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight decides to give up on me entirely."

"Aw, its not your fault." Spike patted her on the shoulder before holding up the scroll, "I'm the one who said all we needed was this list."

He quickly destroyed it with a burst of fire while Starlight shook her head and replied, "It's not the list, Spike. Or you. Or Twilight. I'm the one Sunburst doesn't want to be friends with."

"I don't remember him saying he didn't want to be friends."

Starlight came to a halt and sighed, "He didn't have to say it." She stared down at the ground, shame on her face as she let the cold chill of failure wash over her.

Spike's face shined a small frown before it morphed back into a smile, "Well, Twilight obviously thinks you're worth being friends with, and I do too!" He hugged her, "And don't forget about Heart, Soul, Flash and all the others."

Starlight barely moved at his gesture, a smile slowly forming on her face as she responded, "Um...thanks Spike." The dragon pulled away. "At least I have a few friends, even if one of them has dragon breath." She winked, causing Spike to raise an eyebrow before he exhaled.

Seeing the air in front of him, Spike's eyes went wide, "Uh...that's not dragon breath! It's freezing!"

Starlight blinked at the breath, making her shiver before a voice called out, "Took you long enough," They turned to see Hiveena and Thorax walking up, both also shaking from the cold, "It's been getting colder and colder by the second since we left Sunburst's house."

"But I thought the Crystal Heart was supposed to keep the cold weather out," Starlight replied.

"It is..." Spike said with a long gulp, "Unless something's happened!" He quickly cut into a sprint for the castle, "Come on!"

The others began to follow him, only for Hiveena to look up and point at a bunch of bright lights flashing from within the clouds. "What's that?"





"Flash Cutter!" Flash swung his sword, unleashing an extra powerful blade of light that cut through a dark cloud, only for it to almost instantly reform. "Augh! They just keep coming!"

"Stay strong Flash!" Celestia responded she blasted a cloud away. "We must try and buy as much time as we can!"

"Easier said than done," Flash replied as he pointed his sword's crossguard at the clouds. "Flash Force!" The laser struck the cloud, carving through it and destroying half a mile of the oncoming clouds. With that done, he lowered his weapon and looked back, noting the metal currently covering his wings. "Let's see what these can do." As he said that, the lights on the wings began to glow before the tips suddenly opened up. Before Flash could say anything, light exploded out of the opening, propelling Flash forward at high velocity. "WHOA!" Flash yelped as he was sent flying into the clouds.

Celestia and Luna went wide-eyed as they saw Flash zip into the clouds. The light was so bright that it illuminated them, allowing the two to watch as he shot through the dark clouds. And as he flew through them, the clouds vanished due to the heat given off by his wings.

Flash then popped out of the clouds, swerving everywhere as he yelled, "Augh! Somepony stop this crazy thing!" The alicorns nodded to each other before flying up to him, both managing to grab him in their magic. Feeling his body being yanked by their magic, Flash tried to cut the power to his wings, the light vanishing before the tips closed and he turned to the rulers. "Thanks." He said before seeing the clouds behind them start to get close again. "Look out!" As he yelled this, his horn started glowing, unleashing a beam of magic that appeared similar to his Flash Force, the laser cutting the cloud in half.

And as the beam ended, Flash suddenly felt a pulsing feeling in his head, making him clutch it with his hooves, "Ooooow," he moaned.

"Are you okay?" Celestia asked, Flash shaking his head in response.

"A little woozy...but I'm fine." He looked up at his horn, "Looks like Twilight might have been right about this thing."

"And it looks like it takes a toll on you," Luna noted as she blasted away another cloud. "Best not to test the limits of your new powers right now. Stick to using your Celestic Gear."

"Yes ma'am," Flash's saluted as he pulled out Lightbringer, "But the three of us might not be enough."

"Then how about four?" The three turned to the sudden voice, now seeing a blast of green magic shoot past them and hit down another cloud.

"Hiveena?" Flash yelped as they saw the changeling princess fly up.

She gave them all a flat stare, "So...mind explaining what the heck's going on?"

"No time to explain," Celestia retorted. "For now, just know that if we don't hold these clouds back, the whole empire could be buried."

Hiveena shined a big grin at this, "Finally, something exciting to do here." With that, she started blasting away the clouds, laughing every second as she did this. The others shared a glance, only to quickly shrug as they got back to work.

"I hope Twilight finds a way to fix the heart soon," Flash commented as he slashed away at the clouds.





Back at the castle again...

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and the CMC were now trying to convince the ponies gathered to leave to non-successful results. "We're just saying that it might not be the best idea to stay outside!" Rainbow Dash yelled out at them.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo added, "I mean, it's freezing out here. Just go home so I can go inside and warm up!"

"I camped out all night for this spot!" An older crystal pony told her while sitting in a deck chair. "I'm not about to just give it up!"

"Still, when you think about it, the view is just as good a little further back." Fluttershy chimed in.

"Like inside your house," Sweetie finished for her. "With a nice open fire, a cup of hot chocolate and a good book to read."

The crystal ponies blinked at her, one of them wearing a jacket covered in badges now speaking up, "The Crystalling ceremony is one of our most sacred traditions!" He yelled, "And when that foal is held before the Crystal Heart, I plan to be as close to the action as possible!"

"Honestly, ah don't know if there's gonna be a Crystallin'." Applejack responded, the crowd glaring at her as she let out a sigh, "The truth is, the baby's an Alicorn, and her magic's plum crazy. So ya'll might not wanna be that close after all."

"A baby Alicorn?" Deck chair mare suddenly screamed with stars in her eyes. "Wow! I can't wait to see that!"

"Oh, those little wings are probably so cute!" the jacket pony exclaimed.

A tall crystal pony with a large moustache was standing beside him, his eyes showing a smile that was hidden by his moustache. "I know, right?"

"Well that didn't work," Apple Bloom sighed, "Any other ideas?"

"Look, I am a hundred percent sure the Crystalling isn't happening." Rainbow yelled out, only for a golden beam of light to shoot through one of the castle walls. This was followed by another, filling the darkening skies with light.

The crystal ponies watched in amazement as moustache stallion turned to Rainbow. "No Crystalling, huh? Then why are they starting the fireworks show?" The crystal ponies began to cheer while the girls watched in continued horror, Rainbow face-hoofing before covering her face, Fluttershy patting her on the head.

"Come on Twilight," Applejack whispered. "Find that spell."





Twilight had barely started looking, having been too preoccupied by her niece's constant games. She and Ruby were currently speed reading through several books while Cadance searched the shelves. At the same time, Shining, Pinkie, Rarity, Heart and Soul were chasing after the foal as she flew around. "Young filly," Shining cried as he chased her into another row of shelves. "Come back here!"

The baby flew over another shelf as Pinkie appeared in front of her, "Come to your Auntie Pinkie Pie!" The earth pony cooed as she bounced after her, but the baby quickly zipped past her.

Heart was huffing in exhaustion as he and Soul kept running, "I thought...newborns....weren't supposed...to do anything...but cry!" The foal stopped in front of a bookshelf as Heart accelerated, only for the baby to pull another disappearing trick, causing him to smash into the shelf. "Wow wit WHOA!" He cried as he slammed the book wall, though luckily they were fused to the ground, not knocking it over but instead burying him in books. "Awww..." he pushed his head out, spitting out a book, "I think I'd rather face Shadow again then this thing."

Soul watched as the baby continued to fly around, giving the older ponies a run for their bits before glancing at Twilight and Ruby. "Please tell me you found something."

"I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be looking for," Ruby replied as she slammed another book closed. "I know Princess Amore must have anticipated something like this happening, so I'm sure she looked up ways to fix the Crystal Heart if it ever got damaged." She let out a long moan, "If only she'd told somepony where she kept it." She turned to Twilight as the mare slammed another book shut.

"Bridle Buck's Boat Chants," She put it down before grabbing some more and reading their covers. "Hayhoof's Intonements, Mystic Maps and Mazes." She goaned as she looked up at Cadance. "Anything up there?"

"Not yet!" Cadance replied as her daughter popped up beside her, "I'm not even sure how these are organized!" She started skimming the shelves until she reached a spot that didn't have any books, only for the empty space to be filled with the teleporting foal. The princess smiled at her, slowly reaching out to grab her-

"BABAA!" She sneezed, causing her to shoot out a blast of magic that Cadance ducked under while the foal was thrown through the bookshelf before teleporting away.

She reappeared behind Twilight and circled her three times before flying off as her father chased her. "Shining Armor," Cadance called out. "I thought you were taking care of the baby!"

"I'M TRYING!" Shining screamed as he chased her around a corner, only to see she had completely vanished. "Huh?" A popping sound signaled the baby appearing behind him before flying off, right as Rarity jumped out from behind the bookshelf.

"Gotcha!" She yelled while magically holding a net, only for the foal to teleport again. "Oof!" She slumped down and sighed, "Or not..."

It was at this moment that Spike, Starlight and Thorax arrived at the library, now seeing the chaos. "Whoa!" They heard Pinkie cry as the mare slid into a pile of books, then ducking down to avoid one of the baby's blasts.

"What's going on?!" Starlight asked before Pinkie was suddenly dragged passed them by the baby.

"You want the long or the short version?"

"Short?" Starlight replied as she watched Pinkie now flying while holding the foal.

"The baby's an Alicorn and she accidentally destroyed the Crystal Heart, so Twilight and Cadance are looking for a spell to put it back together and save the Crystal Empire from turning into a giant wasteland of ice and snow."

"Oh....okay." Starlight responded as Shining leapt at the baby, but the alicorn flew up, the stallion now slamming into Pinkie.

Cadance flinched at the sight before looking back at the shelf, her eyes now landing on a thick black book with a golden trim. "What about this?" She flew down to Twilight and Ruby with it, "Trotter's Tome of Reliquary?"

Ruby's eyes went wide at the sight of the book, "I think I remember seeing Amore with this a few times." This made everypony grow hopeful as Twilight opened it up and flipped through the pages, a frown on her face until she landed on a particular page.

"I think this is it!" She showed the page to the others, Cadance and Ruby reading it.

"Spell of Relic Reconstitution! I can't believe we found it!"

"It's a good thing, too!" Twilight closed the book. "Without this, I don't know what we'd do!"

It was in that moment the baby appeared above the table and flew through the books, knocking them over as Pinkie leapt after her, this time catching her. But as she did this, the foal sneezed again, unleashing a blast that headed straight for Rarity. Luckily, the mare pulled a mirror out of nowhere, deflecting the beam toward Soul and Heart. Both managed to duck under it so it flew over their heads, straight for Shining Armor. He then created a shield that deflected the blast at Starlight, Spike and Thorax, the unicorn reacting with her own barrier that the beam bounced off to Twilight.

The princess quickly ducked down so the blast didn't hit her, only for the beam to hit the book. Twilight gasped as she saw a big gaping hole in the book, the others all wide-eyed as Pinkie squeaked out, "Oops."

Twilight's brain blew a small fuse as she yelled, "NO! That spell was the only thing we found in the whole library that was even close to what we needed!"

Starlight shrunk back at the statement, making her tear up, "I'm so sorry Twilight!"

Twilight turned to her and shook her head as she opened to destroyed book. "No, it's not your fault Starlight. None of us were expecting any of this."

"So...what do we do now?" Heart asked.

"Panic?" Soul suggested before Cadance turned to Twilight.

"Do you think you can remember the spell?"

Twilight slammed the book shut and turned Cadance in disbelief, "I only read it through once!"

Ruby then took the book from her hooves, "And by the looks of things, the spell had several complicated steps. There's no way anypony could remember every detail of it that easily."

"Well then, you haven't truly seen Miss Twilight Sparkle in action," Rarity told the knight. "If anypony can exactly remember something she read for the first time two minutes ago, it's her."

Twilight glanced back at the burnt book and sighed, "I'll try...but I'm not sure how long it'll take."

It was at that moment that a harsh wind blew into the room through a hole the baby had made, causing them all to shiver until Heart went into his fire mode and let out a soft heat. They glanced at the hole, now seeing the dark clouds filling the sky as Pinkie turned to Twilight, "Is quickly an option?"

"I'll help if I can," Cadance told her before turning to Shining. "But we should evacuate the city just in case!" She took the baby in her magic and flew her onto her back. "You need to lead everypony to the train station before the tracks freeze over!"

"We will." Shining replied before nodding, "But between you and Twilight, I'm sure you'll remember the spell." He and Cadance crossed horns before he rushed out of the room, Rarity, Pinkie and Ruby following after him.

"Heart, go with them." Twilight added as she turned to the colt, "They may need your abilities to keep them safe." Heart nodded and flew after the group, Soul staying behind as she was suddenly given the baby to hold while Cadance and Twilight gathered around the table. "I only hope this spell is the one we need."

She took out a scroll and started writing as Starlight trotted up to her. "Is there anything I can do?"

Twilight looked up at her. "I don't think so. Though uh, I'm just sorry about your lesson."

Starlight shook her head, "Oh, that doesn't matter now. Sunburst and I don't have anything in common anyway. He's a big important wizard, and I'm re-learning everything I ever thought I knew."

She leaned against the table and sighed as Cadance turned to her. "Sunburst? I don't recognize the name."

"He's that guy that keeps sending me and Hiveena invites," Thorax reminded her as the baby turned to him, the changeling quickly morphing into a dog, making the foal clap.

Cadance rubbed her chin in thought before saying, "If he's an important wizard, you should bring him here. Maybe he'll know what to do if the spell fails."

This caused Starlight to gasp. "Of course!" She quickly rushed out the door while Twilight turned to her dragon assistant.

"You better go with her, Spike." Spike nodded and ran away just as thunder sounded out through the castle, making them turn to the hole in the wall, "There's no way they can keep this up." She looked back down at the scroll. "We've gotta figure this out now."





"YEAH!" Hiveena screamed as she fired a barrage of magic beams, "WOOHOO! This is the most fun I've had in months!"

"Glad you're enjoying yourself," Flash told her. "But can you please stay focused on the situation at hoof?!"

"Right," Hiveena sighed before taking down another bunch of clouds.

"We won't be able to keep this up much longer sister," Luna added.

"Don't give up Luna! We must persevere!" Celestia called back as she cut down a cloud, "Please hurry Twilight!"





Back on the ground...

The others were now trying to evacuate the crystal ponies, Applejack screaming, "Ya'll can't stay here!"

"What's it gonna take ta make ya'll listen ta us!" Apple Bloom yelled as the moustache stallion ignored her and turned to deck chair mare and jacket pony.

"Did I mention this was a Royal Crystalling? When the crystaller holds the young one aloft, all of the Empire will share their joy and light, and the Crystal Heart will beat stronger than it ever has before!"

"It really is a moving ceremony!" Jacket pony shed a tear, which instantly froze.

"I really don't think it's going to happen," Fluttershy told them as Rainbow shivered.

"Come on, it's freezing out here!"

"JUST GO INSIDE ALREADY!" Scootaloo screamed while deck chair mare rolled her eyes.

"Uh, this is the Crystal Empire. We've seen snow before."

"Not like this!" Everypony looked up to see Shining Armor atop the stage with Ruby. "We don't have time to argue! Princess Cadance has decided to evacuate the city!"

This statement caused the crowd to gasp, moustache stallion beginning to cry, "But the Crystalling...!"

"I don't know if we'll ever have another Crystalling again!" Shining responded with a deep frown gracing his face, "The Crystal Heart...is shattered."

Another more powerful gasp filled the air, the crowd turning to one another in fright, deck chair mare yelling, "It's not safe here!"

Applejack face-hoofed as she barked, "That's what we've been tryin' to tell you!"

"Everypony listen," Ruby called out as Heart flew above them, showing off his flaming form. "Follow this young pegasus. He'll light the way to the train station and keep you from getting too cold." She nodded up at Heart as the colt flew down and began to unleash a constant stream of fire that hit the ground and melted the snow and ice. Shining teleported to the front of the group, leading the colt as Ruby and the Ponyville ponies took the back of the crowd, making sure nopony got left behind.





At the same time...

Starlight and Spike had now arrived at Sunburst's house, the two jumping inside and pushing the door shut, which wasn't easy due to the heavy winds battering against it. The mare then turned to see her former friend organizing his books. "Sunburst!" He looked back at her, "Haven't you looked outside?!

Sunburst raised an eyebrow before looking out the window, "Snow?" He dropped his books, "That's...not right. The Crystal Heart-"

"Is gone!" Starlight interrupted, "The baby, Shining Armor and Cadance's baby...it's an Alicorn!"

This statement made Sunburst's eyes go wide as his glasses slipped down his nose. "Really?" He pushed them back up.

"Really!" Starlight nodded. "And her magic is a little berserk and well, I guess she destroyed the Heart! But Twilight thinks she can fix it and Princess Cadance thought you could help!"

This statement made Sunburst pale, his eyes shrinking as he yelped, "Me?!"

"Yes, you!" Starlight replied as a smile appeared on her face, the mare trotting up to him as he began to backpedal, "You're an important wizard in the Crystal Empire, aren't you? It just makes sense that you could help!"

Sunburst's back then hit his bookshelf, knocking several books off. "Right," he looked away and picked up his books. "Right...right right right." As he shelved them away, he turned back to Starlight. "You know, I'd like to help, I-I-I really would. I just...I just have so much, um, important wizard work to do around here."

"Huh?!" Starlight yelled as her and Spike went wide-eyed, the mare now trotting up to him, "Sunburst, I know you're busy, but didn't you hear what I just said?!"

"Oh, I heard you, but-but like I said, when you're an important wizard, the work just piles up."

"Sunburst!"

The unicorn sighed before turning back to her, removing his glasses and cleaning them. "Look Starlight, I want to help. I really do....but I can't. I wish I could, but I just can't help you."

"What do you mean?!" Starlight replied while placing a hoof on his shoulder, only for Sunburst to glare at her and pull away.

"Are you serious?! Fixing an ancient relic?! I-I-I can't even come close to doing something like that!"

"But I thought you were an important wizard!" Starlight instantly replied.

Sunburst's eyes narrowed, making him yell, "Well you're wrong, okay?! I'm not an important wizard! I'm not even a wizard at all!"

With that, he ran out the room, leaving a very shocked Starlight and Spike behind. The room went silent as they let the information sink in, with the only sound being that of the category five blizzard raging outside. And as Starlight stared at the room Sunburst had ran into, she slowly walked inside, now seeing Sunburst sitting on the other side of the table, his back turned away from them.

He glanced back at her for a second before turning away, "I know it's hard for you to understand, but not all of us end up achieving greatness."

"What?!" Starlight yelped as she trotted up to the table and sat down, "Why wouldn't I understand that?"

"Really?!" Sunburst growled as he turned to her, "You're the protégé of the Princess of Friendship! I don't think she picks just anypony for that!"

Spike chose this moment to chime in, "Technically, she's more of a student than a protégé."

Starlight quickly glared at him, making the dragon shrink back as Sunburst rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He turned back to Starlight, "I'm sorry I'm not the big important wizard you were expecting."

"Sunburst," Starlight tried to reach out to him, "I don't care if you're a wizard or not. I'm just surprised. You always knew so much about magic. I mean, look at all these books!"

Sunburst looked away, sighing as he replied, "Yeah well, reading about magic is one thing, but you don't know what it was like at magic school! To know so much and not be able to do any of it!" He slammed his head onto the table, Starlight letting this info sink in before her face slowly turned into a frown.

"Well, you don't know what it was like to be left behind!" Sunburst looked up at her. "And then getting so bitter that you steal the cutie marks from an entire village and then get defeated by Twilight and her friends, so you travel through time to get back at them, but they beat you again and teach you about friendship, but you're so terrified ponies will find out what you did that you can't make any friends!" Halfway through this outburst, Starlight had started crying, now completely blinded by the water in her eyes that she didn't see the shocked look appearing on Sunburst's face.

The unicorn stared at her as she wiped away the tears, his glasses sliding down his nose. "You traveled through time?"

Starlight went wide-eyed at his question, unable to believe that was what he was focusing on, through Spike chose this moment to elbow her in the ribs. "See? I told you he'd be impressed." She let out a nervous smile as Sunburst got off his stool.

"I'm sorry we lost touch." He said as she got off her chair, "Maybe if I had reached out, you could have helped me at magic school, and I could have helped you to..."

"Not become totally evil?" She sighed before looking away, "Yeah...let's just say I know what it's like to have something you're not exactly proud of."

Sunburst frowned as he replied, "When you showed up thinking I was some big wizard, I...I just couldn't tell you. I'm sorry. I should have told you the truth."

Starlight nodded back, "Its...its fine. At least we worked it all out. I think Twilight would be proud of us."

"Well..." They turned to Spike as he looked out the window. "If you ever want to tell her about it, we should probably leave right now!"

This made Starlight gasp as she turned back to the stallion, "I forgot to tell you! They're evacuating the city!" She jumped up and started pushing Sunburst toward the door. "You need to get to the train station unless you've got a spell here that will drive back the Frozen North and fix the Crystal Heart so the baby can have her Crystalling!"

"The crystalling?" Sunburst whispered as he heard her words, only to go wide-eyed, "Of course!" With that, he jumped away from Starlight and ran to his bookshelf, quickly pulling books off as the two shared a glance.





Back in the skies...

The four ponies fighting the storm were now starting to get onto their last legs, Flash asking Hiveena, "Still having fun?"

"Shut up!" Hiveena barked back while destroying a cloud, only to shiver as she felt some ice creeping up her hooves and wings.

Flash then turned to the royal sisters, seeing they were also getting overwhelmed, Celestia yelling being blocked out by the heavy wind racing past his ears. He looked down next, now seeing Shining and Heart leading the citizens of the empire out of the city, Heart unleashing as much fire as he could make to help keep the path clear and dry. But that image was soon blocked out by the clouds surrounding him, the weather growing worst by the second.

"Ahh!" He heard Luna cry.

"GYAH!" Hiveena yelled.

"FLASH!" He heard Celestia scream, appearing to be using her royal Canterlot voice to be heard. "We must fall back!"

"No!" Flash replied as he continued to swipe at the clouds. "I'm...not...giving...up!" Unbeknownst to him, the gems on his armour were beginning to glow. "Twilight...will find a way." The light spread around the rest of his body and armor as he closed his eyes. "She needs more time. That's why...I WON'T QUIT!" He opened his eyes as the the light exploded off his body, vaporizing the clouds around him and the three mares. Celestia, Luna and Hiveena suddenly found themselves inside an orange construct, a warmth embracing them while also melting the ice off their bodies.

At the same time, Heart melted more of the road while Ruby tried to make a crystal barrier on either side of the path. But as this happened, Heart's flames began to shrink, the snow around him not evaporating. As he did this, the snow around him just turned to water instant of being vaporized, making him damp.

"I won't be able to keep this up much longer!" He told the others as his flames grew weaker.

"Just keep trying!" Shining yelled as a frozen Rainbow landed next to him, her wings now almost fully cover in ice.

And as she appeared, a bright light suddenly exploded out of the clouds. Everypony flinched at the sight, closing their eyes for a second, waiting for their sights to adjust before looking up and going wide-eyed.

While this happened, Twilight and Cadance were standing in front of the shattered heart, both trying to remember the spell to fix it. Soul and Thorax were continuing to keep the baby occupied, Thorax jumping between multiple different animal forms to keep her from getting bored. But as Twilight continued to scribble on the scroll, a bright light suddenly flew through the curtains surrounding them. "What's that?" Soul asked before Cadance opened the curtains and let the light in, blinding most until their eyes adjusted at a new sight.

Twilight could barely believe her eyes, the alicorn reminded of something from when she, Flash and the Rainbooms defeated the Sirens. Flying above the Crystal Empire was a giant alicorn made entirely out of orange light. It was around the same height of the one that had defeated the Dazzlings, maybe even a little bigger. Within the avatar was Celestia, Luna and Hiveena, all glancing around as they floated inside the beast's main body.

"What the heck is going on?" Hiveena asked before looking up at the head of the alicorn, now seeing Flash hover there.

"Is this one of his new powers?" Celestia asked.

"Incredible..." Luna whispered.

Flash opened his eyes, blinking as he stared at the clouds surrounding the empire. As he did this, the horn on his head glowed, now unleashing a light into the avatar's horn. Magic then exploded out of the horn, striking the cloud and cutting into it before completely evaporating that part of the cloud for a good mile.

The avatar then spun around, dragging the beam of light with it as it destroyed more clouds surrounding the empire. As the light flew overhead, it heated the empire, making the snow and ice melt, warming everypony up as many began to sigh in relief at the sight.

But as the avatar did a full circle to destroy every cloud surrounding the city, Flash's body suddenly ceased up. An overwhelming feeling of exhaustion overcame him as the avatar suddenly exploded, its light vanishing. He let out a long moan next, his armor instantly disappearing as his wings gave out.

And as he began to fall, a black blur swooped under him, "Gotcha!" Hiveena said as he let out a groan, "Not bad Sentry. Not bad." Celestia and Luna then hovered over, both asking if he was okay.

At the same time, Shining Armor looked up at the clouds and saw that despite Flash's efforts, they were still growing closer. "We're not out of this yet! This way!"

"Just a little bit further, y'all!" Applejack added, "The station's just ahead!"

But as she said this, she turned to see Starlight, Sunburst and Spike stopping in front of them, blocking their escape as Hiveena and the sisters flew down, "We have to go back!" They heard Starlight cry out.

"I know how to stop this!" Sunburst added, the group blinking at the unicorn as Celestia smiled at them, seeing the confidence on their faces.





After the avatar had vanished, Twilight had gotten back to work, knowing she had no intention of letting Flash's hard work go to waste. "Um..." she stopped writing and looked it over, "I think that's everything."

Cadance looked the spell over, showing a slight grimace, "It looks right to me, but..." She turned to her sister, "There's only one way to find out!"

Twilight nodded and turned to Soul. "We may need some help with this."

"Me?!" Soul yelped, "B-b-but you know I can't control my magic! How could I cast something like that?!"

"You won't need to cast it," Cadance replied, "Just keep your mind clear and fire your magic at the heart after us. The blank magic will mix with ours and help power them up." Cadance could still see the unsure look on the filly's face, the princess moving over to place a hoof under her chin. "I know how you feel. I was a pegasus before transforming just like you. Having all that magic completely out of nowhere can feel daunting, but I realized the first step to learning how to control your magic is believing you can."

Soul shrunk away at her words, "But I...I can't...." Her eyes darted to Twilight, seeing a calm smile and nod from her teacher. Looking back at Cadance, she took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. I'll...I'll try."

"That's all any of us can do," Twilight told her before she and Cadance sparked their horns. Twilight was the first the fire her spell at the shards, causing them to glow and slowly float into the air. Cadance then began to mix magic in, Soul closing her eyes as she cleared her head before shooting a thin stream of magic out at the shards were starting to slowly put themselves together and began to take shape.

Thorax turned back to normal as he held the baby in his hoof, both him and the foal intrigued by the light show. The three pumped as much magic as they could into the Crystal Heart as it slowly came together piece by piece. And as the last part connected to the rest, they kept the spell up for a few more seconds to make sure it was properly repaired before cutting the magic.

They then saw the repaired relic, smiling at the sight before the magic faded. And as it did, the crystal fell apart, its pieces hitting the floor.

"No...the spell failed," Twilight gasped as her ears drooped down.

Soul let out a sniff, tears trying to appear in her eyes, "I'm sorry Twilight. I didn't do enough magic and-"

"It's not your fault," the Princess of Friendship interrupted. "This was my spell, and it failed."

"But-"

"Don't blame yourself for this." Twilight said as she put a hoof on the filly's shoulder, shaking her head, "We just have to figure out a different solution."

"So...what do we do?" Thorax asked as Cadance took the baby. "Keep trying, or get out of here while the getting's good?"

"I wish there was another way to repair the Heart," Twilight sighed. "But I don't know what else to do."

"An old student of mine believes he does." Twilight turned to the voice and saw all her friends trotting in, Celestia and Luna stepping aside to reveal Sunburst. And as he moved over to the shards, Twilight spotted Flash riding Hiveena and gasped.

"Flash!" She yelped as she ran over and levitated him off the bug. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," he moaned out, "Just...tired."

As he said this, Sunburst turned to Twilight, "The baby did this?!" Twilight nodded and showed him the scroll she had been working on.

"We tried putting it back together with-"

"The spell of Relic Reconstitution," Sunburst finished before scrunching up the scroll and throwing it. "No, that won't do it." He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a book and a scroll. "The Crystal Heart's been around for millennia. Restoring a relic like this is way beyond one spell." He showed the book to Twilight, "You need to combine it with something else. Something unique to the relic itself." He paused as he said this, only to see the alicorn just staring at him, "Something that strengthens it and provides it with power?"

Twilight blinked at him before a bulb went off in her head, "The Crystalling!"

Sunburst nodded back. "Combining that spell with the light and love of everypony gathered for the ceremony." He turned to the window, seeing the weather now getting closer. "Thanks to Flash, we don't have to worry about the weather for a bit." He then handed the scroll to Cadance and Shining. "This is a spell named Fledgling's Forbearance, which should curb the little one's power fluctuations." He smiled down at the baby, who giggled and started playing with his beard.

"You must be Sunburst," Cadance responded, "Starlight said you were a powerful wizard."

Sunburst shook his head, "Oh, I'm no wizard." This statement got a bunch of gasps and cries of 'What?!' from those around him, Hiveena laughing.

"What, you're surprised?!" Ruby glared at her as Starlight spoke up.

"But he studied magic his whole life! You should see his house! And since nopony has any better ideas, what do we have to lose?!" Celestia nodded in agreement as Shining took the baby in his magic and smiled at Sunburst.

"I had planned on asking Twilight to be our crystaller, but since it seems like she'll be busy..." He floated his daughter over to Sunburst, his eyes going wide as he took her in hoof.

"Oh! I would uh...I'd be honored!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Twilight added as she pointed to the window.

"Let's get out there and save the Empire!" Flash yelled as he tried to gallop, only to trip due to his exhaustion. Luckily, Heart was there to catch him.

"Maybe let the rest of us handle this," Cadance told him before she, Shining, Sunburst, Spike and the rest of the Mane Seven, changelings and CMC all ran outside. At the same time, Twilight, Starlight, Soul, Celestia, Luna and Ruby gathered around the Crystal Heart fragment. Twilight started using the spell again with Celestia and Luna helping, the Crystal Heart once again taking shape.

Soul took a deep breath as she fired a blast of blank magic while Starlight grabbed the scrunched up scroll and opened it up, she and Ruby reading it through and nodding before the two unleashed the spell. Flash and Heart sat there, watching in amazement as the spell put the relic back together, both praying Sunburst's plan would work.

Outside, the group ran onto the stage with Sunburst in the center holding the baby. Cadance and Shining kissed their daughter before casting the spell Sunburst had given them, the baby now glowing and floating out of Sunburst's hooves. At that moment, Rarity took out the box holding the purity crystals that Sunburst took in his magic before holding it aloft. "Citizens! May I present the newest member of the Crystal Empire!" Everypony looked up at the baby as she spread her wings and giggled, the glow from the spell exploding off her, causing the crowd to cheer.

"She's beautiful!" Moustache stallion cheered.

"Oh!" Jacket pony wiped away a tear, "It's just so moving!"

As he said this, he bowed, causing the ground around him to glow. The rest of the crystal ponies did the same, the street soon shining before making the city start to glow. Sunburst lowered the purity crystal to the ground next, touching the making the light on the streets absorb into the crystal. The unicorn then galloped off the stage through the curtain, running up to the Crystal Heart as the six mares worked to keep it together.

"I can't...hold it...much longer." Soul whimpered as Sunburst ran up to the relic.

"You don't have to!" He yelled before stabbing the crystal into the Crystal Heart. As soon as he did this, the crystal was sucked inside, completing the spell. The magic users ceased their spell, stepping back as the light from the Crystalling spread throughout the Crystal Heart and caused it to glow. It shook for several moment before spinning.

Faster and faster it spun, becoming a blur. "Is it supposed to do that?" Heart asked, the adults nodding back.

"Oh yeah," Flash replied, "Just watch. You're gonna like this." As he said that, the Crystal Heart unleashed a shockwave of magic the flew out in all directions, turning everypony it touched into a crystal form. Even Thorax and Hiveena were transformed, the wave continuing to fly out and get rid of the snow and ice that were beginning to build up once again. Within seconds, the clouds approaching the borders of the Crystal Empire were pushed back, all vanishing thanks to the magic of the repaired Crystal Heart.

At the same time, the baby began to float down and land in her parents hooves before the two rubbed their heads against hers. "Best Crystalling ever!" They heard Deck Chair Mare announce before they walked back inside, seeing Twilight and Flash at the bottom of the stairs while Heart and Soul were examining their new looks.

As this happened, Starlight glanced back at Sunburst with a smile, "For a pony who isn't great at magic, you did pretty well."

"Indeed," the unicorns turned to Celestia. "I'm glad to see you've found a way to share your unique gift, Sunburst. You may be more of a wizard than you think."

Ruby then bowed to him, "You just saved the Crystal Empire and its ponies. You have my never ending gratitude."

Sunburst blushed as he saw the thanks from Celestia and Ruby before turning back to Starlight, the two smiling at one another as they saw everything had turned out alright.





Everything after that was a complete blur for the group. After the excitement of nearly being frozen alive, everypony was happy that the rest of their visit went smoothly. Flash and Ruby had even got to show Heart the Hall of Knights. And as time passed, it soon began the time to return home. As this happened, it was the exact same moment Grand and Twilight's parents arrived by train.

"Sorry we're late," Grand told them while holding what looked like a birthday present. "Next time I'm shopping by mail so I don't miss anything."

Night Light nodded in agreement, "You would not believe the crazy weather that delayed our train. Came out of nowhere."

Velvet giggled as she trotted over to Shining, staring at the foal in his arms. "But it was all worth it to see this peaceful little angel!" She looked the baby over, now being overwhelmed by her cuteness. "Awww, so sweet!" She reached out, "Come to your grandmare!" The baby giggled and reached out to her, the others chuckling.

"Eeyup," Applejack added, "Peaceful now, anyway."

Twilight nodded back, "I suppose that spell really did the trick!" In that moment, the baby started charging up a sneeze. This caused everypony to scream and duck for cover, Heart and Soul jumping onto Flash's back and trying to hide behind his wings.

But then the baby sneezed...and it was just a normal sneeze, the ponies un-clenching as Shining looked down at her.

"We have Sunburst to thank for that."

Cadance let out a sigh of relief, "I just hope he takes his role as crystaller seriously. Something tells me that the baby will need a pony like him to look to for magical advice."

"Cadance, darling," Velvet took the foal in her magic and floated her over to her hooves. "Aren't we gonna name the poor little dear, or are we gonna spend our entire visit just calling her 'the baby'?"

Cadance and Shining shared a smile, both nodding as Cadance replied. "We were thinking...Flurry Heart."

Shining turned back to everypony. "You know, to remember the occasion."

"Oh, goodness," Rarity sighed, "How could anypony forget?!"

Scootaloo nodded in agreement, "Yeah! I'm gonna be having nightmares about it for weeks..."

Twilight then trotted over to her niece, "I think it's lovely."

She kissed Flurry as Flash let out a chuckle. "But it's probably best of keep that spell on hoof in case she needs another tune up. Or heck, keep it for the next one."

The new parents were surprised by this statement while the others laughed, Cadance and Shining clearly not planning to extend their family any time soon. After that, the group said their goodbyes before getting on the train. The last one to board was Starlight, Twilight checking on her through the window to see her and Sunburst talking until they hugged. And as Starlight headed for the train, Twilight pulled her head in and frowned.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" Spike asked from the seat across from her.

Twilight shook her head. "I don't know Spike. I think I have a lot to learn about being a teacher."

Flash and Spike shared a glance before the dragon asked, "What are you talking about? Your lesson went perfectly! Starlight and Sunburst got over their past and rekindled their friendship!"

"No thanks to me. I know a lot happened. I just...I wish I could have given my pupil the attention she deserves." She looked back as Starlight walked into the carriage and sat down beside Soul and across from Fluttershy and Sweetie.

Flash then placed a hoof on her shoulder, "Hey, this is your first time being a serious teacher. I know I've still got a long way to go before I'm ready to properly teach Heart." He turned to his student, who was talking to Rainbow and Scootaloo. "But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try."

"He's right," Spike added, "I know she needed to be put on the right path, but giving her the space to make her own decisions worked pretty well." He sat back and smirked, "Isn't that how Celestia taught you?"

Twilight blinked at him, only to remember how Celestia taught her. The memories made her go over Starlight in her head, knowing that simply giving Starlight the answers to her problems would have taught her nothing. If Starlight was going to learn about friendship, she needed to learn the same way Twilight had originally learned about it: Experiencing it.

The alicron glanced back at Starlight, seeing her stare out the window, waving at Sunburst as the train began to pull away. She then smiled back at Spike. "You know, I never thought about it that way...but I guess you're right."

Flash and Spike chuckled back, "Maybe you're a better teacher than you thought."

"And you'll get better in time," Flash finished as the train chugged down the tracks. Their adventure in the Crystal Empire had been an exciting one, but there were many more adventures awaiting them back home. And no matter what these now trials were, together they would have no trouble overcoming them.
> The Heart and Soul of Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Delivery!" 

That was the first thing Randolph heard when he answered the door that morning. The speaker was a bulky unicorn with a cart full of crates, two of which he magically lifted off the cart along with a clipboard. "Sign here." Randolph respondd by taking a pen out before the unicorn soon left, the elderly butler pushing the crates into the mansion.

While this happened, the owners of the mansion Filthy Rich, Spoiled Rich and their daughter, Diamond Tiara walked up as the butler said, "Delivery for you, sir."

"Ah," Filthy chuckled, "My shipment of lemons and oranges! And two days early! Perfect!"

Diamond began to trot toward the door, "Alright, I'm off." Filthy nodded back while her mother just walked away, making the stallion roll his eyes. Spoiled hadn't been too happy since Diamond chose to turn away from her bratty ways and embrace the true meaning of her cutie mark.

"Alright pumpkin, have a good day." Tiara gave her father a kind smile before walking off, Filthy now turning back to the crates. "Now, how do I get you to the store?" He let out a long sigh, "Of all the days to give my movers the day off."

He then walked away as well, trying to find somepony else as he left them alone in the hallway. The crates remained still for a moment until the lemon crate began to rattle, its top slowly opening as a small fur brown arm reached out and showed off a trio of sharp black claws.





"ONE...TWO...THREE...FOUR...FIVE!" This counting lesson was made by one Flash Sentry, he and Heart being in the training room as the pegasi pair were busy running through the rudimentary positions of a basic pegasus fighting style.

"One!" The two threw a single punch, Heart a few seconds slower than Flash, the colt much less stable in the technique. "Two!" They shifted their wings with a horizontal swipe, Heart still behind his teacher. "Three!" Both extended two hooves up while the back right leg was upward, now standing on one hoof. But as they did this, Heart found himself wobbling, "Four!" As Heart tried to change positions, his wings began to rapidly flap, panicking as he tripped and fell face first.

"Augh!" He yelped, the colt stretching his face off the floor, "Ow...sorry. I messed up again."

Flash laughed and shook his head, "Don't worry about it. It's fine." He then grabbed a towel, throwing it over to Heart. "Trust me on this, it'll be impossible to master this stuff over night. You should have seen Soarin teach me this stuff...my face hurt so much." Heart chuckled at this as he stood up, Flash patting his shoulder, "Don't worry, you'll get it. You've just gotta keep trying and it'll slowly become as easy as breathing." Heart nodded as he wiped his sweat off, right as the training room doors open to show Twilight, Scootaloo and Soul.

"Hey boys," Twilight chimed in before levitating a saddlebag over to Heart. "Time for school."

Heart gulped as the bag was placed on him, his body shaking like a leaf. Today was going to be his and Soul's first day of school, the sight of the shivering colt making Flash pat his shoulder, "Hang on there kiddo. You don't have to be scared, it's just school."

"Like you'd know," Twilight added while rolling her eyes, "You never even went to school."

"No, but you always seemed to enjoy it, so it can't be that bad." Flash replied, only to rub his chin with a cocky smirk, "Then again, it was you, and you are a abnormal bookworm...and we haven't had the best times with Sunset's school and-ow!"

"Stop scaring them." Twilight grumbled as she smacked him with her tail.

"Heh heh...sorry." Flash responded as they arrived at the castle's front door.

Twilight then turned to the siblings, "Now, just remember to do what the teacher tells you and try to stay out of trouble."

"We'll be on our best behavior," Soul instantly replied as Twilight grabbed a comb and tried to brush Heart's mane.

"Hey!" He cried while pulling away, Twilight giving him a smile.

"Just want you to make a good impression."

"They'll be fine," Scootaloo added as she pushed the door open. "They'll have me and the rest of the crusaders to keep an eye on them." The filly pulled her scooter out and jumped on it. "Now come on, you might have been told to be a few minutes late, but I don't get that luxury."

With that, she beat her tiny wings as she rode away from the castle, Heart and Soul taking to the air. "See you later!" Soul yelled back at Twilight.

"Have fun!" The princess replied, she and Flash waving goodbye while the three made their way through town. Heart and Soul followed Scootaloo as she weaved through the streets, narrowly evading ponies with incredible skill and precision.

"Wow," Heart whistled, "She's got skill."

Soul nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Think she gives lessons?"

The three soon arrived at the edge of town, now outside of the Ponyville Schoolhouse. There they saw several young ponies being gathered around the entrance with the pony known as Cheerilee ushering them all inside, ticking their names off the register at the same time.

"Alright," she told them, "Everypony take your seats. I have an important announcement to make." When all but one of her regular students were accounted for, she looked up to see Scootaloo rolling up with her newest students. "Just on time," she gestured to the filly, "You can head inside." Scootaloo nodded and went in as Cheerilee turned to Heart and Soul. "Nervous?"

The two exchanged glances before Soul replied, "Um...a little."

"Yeah..." Heart added while rubbing his hoof, "We uh...haven't been around many of our age till now."

Cheerilee shook her head, "Well, you don't have to be scared. All the kids in my class are friendly, so you shouldn't have any issues making friends with them. Just stay out here until I call you in." They nodded as Cheerilee walked inside, the teacher now seeing everypony in their regular seats. However, many of the students were puzzled by the two new desks and chairs that had be placed at the back of the room. "Good morning class."

"Good morning Miss Cheerilee!" The young ponies replied in perfect unison.

"Well class, I have a very special announcement to make. We have two new students joining our class today. A few of you will know them, and some more of you may have seen them around town." The classes eyes went wide, all having an idea of who it might be. "Now...they haven't had much contact with ponies their own age, so I want you all to do your best to make them feel welcome. Understand?"

"Yes Miss Cheerilee!"

The teacher nodded before turning to the door, "You can come in now." With that, the twins sheepishly tip-hoofed in, both slowly turning toward the students as Cheerilee spoke up, "Class, please say hello to Fire Heart and Shining Soul." The class gave their various ways of saying hello while the two said hello back. "Now, I'm sure you're all curious about them, so why don't we start with a few simple questions. Who has one?" Almost every hoof in the class flew into the air, Cheerilee picking Twist first.

"Are you a princess?" She asked Soul, the filly blushing before shaking her head.

"No..." she spread her wings. "I used to be a pegasus, but then I was turned into an alicorn by a...really powerful being. I don't know if that means I'll be a princess though."

Twist nodded her head as a few more hooves went down, Cheerilee pointing to a colt next, "Rumble? You have a question?"

"Is it true you're Flash Sentry's apprentice?"

"Heck yeah," Heart replied while puffing up his chest. "Future Royal Knight right here!"

The class let out several awes as Rumble spoke up again, "And is it true what Scootaloo said about you being able to set yourself on fire?"

"Rumble," Cheerilee warned, "You had your question."

However, Heart nodded back, "Yeah, I can do that. I'd show you right now, but..." He bit his lip as he said his next words, "Uh...maybe when we're outside."

The next hoof to fly into the air was that of a colt named Button Mash, Cheerilee choosing him. "Is it true you two are a thousand years old?" The rest of the class turned to him with raised eyebrows, making him bark back, "What?! I heard Sweetie say something to Apple Bloom about them being the same age as Princess Celestia."

The class turned to Sweetie, then the twins. "Well..." Soul rubbed the back of her head, "I guess...technically we are?"

"It's um....really weird." Heart added, "We were born like...two thousand years ago, but something happened and we got sent to this time without ageing." Half the class went wide-eyed while the others just gave them deadpan stares.

"Alright, I think that's enough questions." She turned to the twins, "Why don't you sit down at the empty seats in the back, then we'll start today's lesson."

The two nodded and trotted over to their desks as Cheerilee tapped a stick on the chalkboard. What followed was a few hours of learning, the two trying to remain quiet for the most part, not talking or answering a question unless asked. Luckily, the crash courses Twilight had put them through allowed the pair to answer a few of the questions, making so they didn't look like total idiots. But it was clear they still had much to learn about life in Equestria.

Eventually, lunch time came around, the ponies running out to the schoolyard to enjoy themselves. Heart and Soul were the last out, the two soon finding the CMC sitting at a bench, moving over to the three.

"Hey," Heart caught their attention, "Mind if we join you?"

"Sure," Sweetie replied before moving to make room for the two. "You don't have to ask. We're all friends."

"Thanks," Soul responded as she sat down and took out their lunches. Scootaloo, Heart and Soul had a lunch Spike had prepared for them, that being a simple daffodil and daisy sandwich along with a sweet potato muffin. Apple Bloom had a jam sandwich with an apple and Sweetie had a small salad.

"So how you liking school so far?" Sweetie asked while snacking on her salad.

"And don't worry if you say you're bored," Scootaloo added, "That's natural for school."

Soul gave them a sheepish smile, "Actually...I'm enjoying it."

"Meh, it's alright," Heart added as he gulped down his sandwich. "Though I think Flash's lessons are more fun."

"You just wanna do sweaty workouts and burn things." Soul giggled, making Heart roll his eyes.

"Hey, I like my fire powers, and I bet that Flash is doing something way cooler than what we're doing right now!"

"I wouldn't say that." Scootaloo chimed in, "My bro tells me the patrols he does around town are usually pretty boring."

"No way!" Heart barked back, "I bet he's doing something super awesome with the town's defenders!"





Meanwhile...

Flash, Iron, Lightning and Grand sat there in the middle of the town square, staring at the village as its inhabitants walk around while they had bottles of apple cider in their hooves. Pure peace and quiet embraced the area as the four stared out at the town, all of them beginning to speak up.

"Yep." Flash said first.

"Yup." Iron added.

"Yup." Lightning continued.

"Mhmm." Grand finished.

Flash turned to the group, "Hey, wanna play a round of Go Fish?"

"Sure. Its not like any monster attacks are happening today."





"I bet Flash is doing some crazy action-packed adventure of him fighting a bunch of monsters attacking the town right now!" Heart yelled while waving his hooves around.

"Ponyville isn't that chaotic." Scootaloo replied, "And that's even when Discord does visit us."

"But-"

"Hey dude!" interrupted a sudden voice, making Heart turn around to see Rumble, his tail wagging as he added, "Can you show us that fire stuff now?!"

"Rumble!" Apple Bloom yelled, "He's eating his lunch!"

"Aw, come on! Show us before Miss Cheerilee comes out and stops you!" The others glared at him while Heart simply wolfed down his food before wiping his lips.

"Alright," he then flared his wings, "But I'll have to do it in the air so I don't burn anything."

"Heart..." Soul grabbed his hoof, "That might not be a good idea."

"It'll only be for a minute." He quickly took flight next, flapping above them before morphing into his fire form. This caught the attention of the rest of the schoolyard, most gawking at him as he flew down and hovered above the ground so he didn't set the grass on fire. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"That's awesome!" Rumble cheered as Button Mash walked up and nodded, seeing Heart turn back to normal.

"Dude, you're like a video game character!"

This statement made Heart raise an eyebrow, making him ask, "Video...game? What's that?"

Button's eyes slowly went wide, "You...don't know what a video game is?!" Heart did a slow nod back, only to be suddenly hugged by the brown colt. "You poor soul!" Literal tears began to flow out of his eyes, "To never know the joy of playing a video game! Its too horrible!" Heart tried to push him off, but was no match for his earth pony strength, only for Button to suddenly release him and look him in the eye. "You're coming to my house after school! I'll show you all the best games!"

"Huh?!" Heart yelped before falling over, Rumble helping back up.

"Button, you can't just force him to-" Sweetie started, only for Heart to speak up.

"Okay." Everypony turned to the colt, seeing him sheepishly smile, "What? I wanna know what those video games are."

"YES!" Button cheered before turning to Rumble, "You wanna come?"

"Um...sure," Rumble replied, "I'm always up for playing video games."

Soul watched as the three colts broke into a conversation, happy to see her brother was starting to make friends. But as she did this, she turned to the crusaders and saw they were deep in conversation as well, already seeing she couldn't follow it.

"Wait! Come back!" yelled a sudden voice, the alicorn turning to see a gray earth pony with glasses running up to her. She appeared to be chasing a rolling orange, Soul spreading her wings to shoot a small breeze to stop the fruit. And as the filly got up to her, "Thanks." The girl took the fruit in her hooves, only to gasp at the sight of the filly, "Oh uh...you're Soul, right?"

"Yes," Soul nodded while the CMC turned to the two.

"Oh. Hey Silver Spoon." Apple Bloom said in a low tone, Soul turning to see uncomfortable looks on the four fillies faces.

"Hello...crusaders," Spoon replied while starting to backpedal, only for another filly to walk up.

This one was pink and wearing a tiara on her head, which she quickly spoke up as she stared at Soul, "Hey. Wow, you're even cooler up close!"

"Oh, um..." Soul began to shuffle her hooves, "Thank...you?"

The filly flinched at Soul's reaction, making her look away before saying, "Sorry, don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I uh...I'm still getting used to...being nice."

Soul raised an eyebrow at this while the CMC stifled a laugh, only for Soul to hold out a hoof, "It's fine. It's nice to meet you."

"You too," the filly shook her hoof. "I'm Diamond Tiara, and this is Silver Spoon." She then shined a big smile, "Hey, do you maybe wanna come over to my house after school?"

This made Soul go wide-eyed, the crusaders quickly hopping off the bench as Scootaloo spoke up, "Diamond...you're not trying another Twilight Time incident, are you?"

"No!" she rapidly shook her head. "Tell you what, why don't you all come to my house? We could go swimming." This made all four raise eyebrows, the fillies soon nodding back.

"Alright, we'll be there."

"Great!" Diamond Tiara clapped her hooves before the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

And as the young ponies made their way back to the schoolhouse, Soul turned to the CMC, "Did something happen between you and those two? You seemed a little...suspicious of them."

"Well...you could say we that." Apple Bloom tried to reply, "We have a...history."

"Diamond Tiara wasn't always the nicest pony in Ponyville," Sweetie added, "But she's really turned over a new leaf over the last few months."

Scootaloo nodded in agreement, "She's actually the reason the three of us have our cutie marks."

"Really?" The trio nodded back as they entered the schoolhouse and took their seats, Soul turning to Diamond and Spoon, seeing the calm smiles on their faces.





Meanwhile...

Filthy had just returned to his house while being followed by a pair of unicorns. "Sorry for calling you in today lads," Filthy added as he opened the front door, "But if we don't get these crates into storage, the fruit could spoil."

"It's fine sir," one of them replied as they stepped inside.

"We're happy to help," the other added, quickly going up to the crates...only to notice their lids were off.

"What?!" Filthy yelped as he looked into the crate, his heart almost exploding when he saw both were empty. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" He screamed as Randolph walked up to the door, "Randolph, were these crates empty when they arrived?!"

He shook his head. "No sir. They were definitely full when I pushed them inside."

"So then what happened to my oranges and lemons?!" He yelled before turning to his workers, both shrugging. "Well don't just stand there! They have to be somewhere! Let's get looking!" The three nodded before they all spread out into the mansion, unaware of a small furry shadow staring down at them from the staircase.





The school bell rang, signaling the end of the school day.

As soon as they were set free, Heart and his new friends headed toward Button's house while Diamond Tiara lead the girls to hers. The colts were the first to their destination, Heart now going to a quaint little two story house that wasn't too far from the school.

"Mom!" Button yelled as he threw the door open, "I'm home!"

"I'm in the kitchen!" A feminine voice called back, the three heading into the room. There they found a light brown earth pony mare with a brown mane and tail, her cutie mark being a heart and a baby bottle. "Oh," she turned to see her son's friends, "Hello Rumble, and..."

"Heart," he replied.

"Oh. Nice to meet you." She responded while showing a big smile and pointed at herself, "My name's Heart too. Cream Heart."

The colt went wide-eyed before sighing, "I'm Fire Heart...and my name is starting to get a lot more common than I thought." He began to whisper to himself, "First an alicorn foal, and now this..."

Cream then tilted her head, only to gasp, "I remember now! Haven't I seen you hanging around with Flash Sentry?"

"Yes ma'am!" Heart nodded as Rumble chuckled.

"He's Flash's new sidekick."

"Apprentice," Heart corrected.

"Same thing. You should see him when he lights himself on fire."

Cream raised an eyebrow at this, only for Button to speak up, "We're gonna be playing games in my room. Heart's never played video games before, so I'm showing him what he's missing out on."

"That's nice dear. Hey, why don't you boys stay for dinner? I can go get us a pizza from Mr. Domino." Button and Rumble's eyes went wide before licking their lips while Heart just blinked at her.

"What's a...pizza?" This statement made them all gasp, Rumble even appearing to faint at the question.

"Where have you been living your whole life?!" Button yelped. "How can you not have had pizza before?!" Heart just shrugged as Button turned to his mother, "He needs a pizza with everything on it!"

Cream laughed while Rumble seemed to be coming around. "Coming right up. Say, why don't you three help yourself to what's in the fridge and start playing while I go get it." The boys nodded as she headed out, Rumble heading for the fridge first.

"Let's see..." his eyes darted around, "We got soda, OJ, purple stuff and-aw yeah! Sunshine D!" He pulled the large container of orange liquid out of the fridge as Button got a few glasses out of the cupboard. "Wait until you try this. It's awesome."

Heart took a quick swig of the drink next, only to go wide-eyed with oranges in his eyes. "Wow...that's good."

"I know, right? Its awesome!"

"Come on! Let's show Heart everything!" Button chimed in, gesturing to them to follow. They soon went into Button's room, which was filled with a bunch of different toys, but more than anything, it was jam-packed with video games.

"Wow..." Heart whispered before accidently kicking something, the colt looking down to see a strange device with a screen and several buttons.

Button picked it up, "That's my Game-Colt. It lets you play video games anywhere." He switched it on and showed the screen to Heart, the colt squinting his eyes at the electrical device. "Right now it's got a game called Shopumon loaded."

"Shopumon?" Heart asked, taking the game and watching as it showed the game's menu.

"Yeah!" Button nodded. "It's a really fun game were you use monsters to battle other monsters. And sometimes, when you beat the monster, you get this cool medal that you can use to make your own version of that monster."

"Huh. Cool..." Heart replied as he pressed a few of the buttons, only to see it open a folder that showed six strange creatures. The odd thing was that they were all the same creature, except they were different colors.

Button slung his head over the pegasi's shoulder, "Right now, I'm doing a run-through using the same Shopumon but each one's a different element. It's called Serpentore, and I've got a fire, water, plant, electric, wind and earth element."

"Isn't that kinda boring?" Heart asked.

"Nope!" Button shook his head. "Because Shopumon evolve when you get them strong enough, and what they become is different depending on what element it is. Like, my fire Serpentore could evolve into a fire dragon while my water Serpentore will become a leviathan."

"Oh...awesome."

Button then went over to a TV and began plugging something in. As he did this, Rumble turned to Heart, "So what's it like to be Flash Sentry's apprentice?"

"It's great!" Heart cheered as he put the device down, "Flash is super awesome! I just hope I can be like him someday..."

"He is pretty cool," Rumble replied, "Especially since he got that cool golden armor that just appears on him."

"You mean the Sacred Light?" Heart asked, Rumble shrugging back, "Wait until you see his new look. It's even cooler now, and he can even make this giant alicorn out of magic that's as tall as Twilight's castle." Rumble's eyes slowly grew wide in amazement. "It's awesome."

"Wow..." Rumble whispered.

"Hey Rumble!" They turned to Button, "You should show Heart your Flash impression."

Heart turned back to Rumble, the colt now blushing. "I don't know..."

"Really? Show me!" Heart added, soon giving him puppy dog eyes. After a few seconds of staring, Rumble let out a sigh.

"Fine," he cleared his throat and took a deep breath while closing his eyes. When he opened them, he started speaking, his voice now exactly like Flash's. If Heart shut his eyes, he could almost believe Flash was in the room. "I'm Flash Sentry, the Knight of Friendship. Feel the might of my almighty Celestic Gear, Lightbringer!"

He came to a stop and coughed, Heart clapping at the impression. "Nice! I bet Flash would love to hear that!"

"Please don't tell him," Rumble replied while looking away, "It's embarrassing."

"Alright..." Heart responded while rolling his eyes. "But if they ever think of doing a play or a movie with Flash as a character, you should so try out for him."

Rumble continued to blush as Button finally got the game working, "Yes! We're in business!" He took out three controllers and threw them two of them. "Here, why don't we play one of my racing games? That way we can all play together." This sounded more Heart's style and took the controller Rumble gave him. He had a feeling he was gonna like this video game thing.

"Hope Soul's having as much fun as me."





Soul had the biggest smile on her face. Diamond and Silver had treated them all to a cupcake and milkshake as Sugarcube Corner. There she got to enjoy the two telling her about the many mishaps the CMC had gone through before they managed to get their cutie marks that they chose to leave hidden when they told her about the events.

"HAHAHAHA!" Soul laughed after hearing about an event involving renegade farm equipment, almost falling off her stool while the CMC all pouted and drank their shakes. "I can't believe that actually happened."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "Well, we were young and foolhardy."

"Yeah! Cut us some slack!" Scootaloo nodded as Soul picked herself up, "Now that we've got our cutie marks, that's not gonna happen anymore."

Soul glanced over at the fillies' flanks before a question popped into her head, "Say, you never told me how you got your cutie marks." This made the CMC smirk as they finished off their milkshakes and began to actually head for Diamond's house, all the while telling Soul the story of how they got their butt tattoos.

"And then we high-hoofed, and the next thing we knew, we've got our cutie marks!" Sweetie finished as they walked up the road to the mansion.

"Wow," Soul whispered before turning to Diamond Tiara. "So in a way, you helped them get their cutie marks."

Diamond shrugged back, "I guess I did. I mean, it was karma for me making fun of them not having marks." This made Soul tilt her head as she continued, "Though they did help me realize what my mark was meant for."

"So what's it for?" Soul asked next.

"Getting ponies to do what I want," Diamond replied, "I used to just do that for my own benefit, but it was the crusaders that helped me see I didn't want to do that. That's when I realized I could get ponies to do things that help others."

"Oh..." Soul put a hoof to her chin, "So how are you gonna make a career out of that?" This made Diamond turn to her with a raised eyebrow, "I thought cutie marks were supposed to help ponies find out what jobs and things they're meant to do. Like Apple Bloom's brother and sister have apple marks, so they work in an orchard. Sweetie's sister uses gems in the clothes she makes and Rainbow Dash is gonna be a Wonderbolt. So how is bossing ponies around gonna become a job?"

"Huh..." Diamond showed a small frown, "I hadn't thought of that."

"Neither did...we?" Scootaloo added.

"Ah'm sure there's something that yer special talent could become," Apple Bloom responded as they arrived at the gate of the mansion. "There's lots of jobs that require you to order ponies around. Like...um..."

"Being mayor!" Sweetie chimed in, "Mayor Mare's always giving out orders to the ponies that help keep the town going."

The others quickly nodded at this, Diamond humming, "Being mayor..."

"That sounds awesome!" Silver Spoon cheered, "And maybe I could be your deputy mayor." They all turned to Diamond, all imagining what Diamond being mayor of Ponyville would be like before Spoon pointed at Soul's flank, "Hey Soul, what does your cutie mark represent?"

The others turned to stare at the pink series of lines that formed a flower shape. Soul looked at it as well before replying, "Honestly, I'm not sure. I got it the day I became an alicorn, so I guess it must have something to do with that."

"I guess that makes sense," Diamond responded, "You are gonna be a princess one day, right?"

Soul sighed and shook her head, "Like I said in class, I don't know if I'll ever get that title. I guess it depends on what I'm able to use my magic for."

"What can you use your magic for?" Spoon asked.

"Well..." Soul sparked her horn and used it to pick up a small rock off the ground. "That's pretty much it. The bigger it is, the harder it is to hold it without losing control."

"I get that," Sweetie added, "I remember how hard it was when I was first learning to use magic. But with Twilight's help, I'm sure you'll figure the rest out."

As she said that, Diamond opened the door to the mansion, only to see her father and his employees running around the place. "Daddy?" Filthy came to a stop and stared at them, "What's going on?"

"Thieves!" Filthy yelled, "Something or somepony has stolen my supply of oranges and lemons! We've looked all over the place, but there's nothing!"

"Huh..." Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow, "Ya'll want some help looking?"

"If you wouldn't mind," Filthy replied, "Whatever's done this can't have gotten far." With that, the fillies spread out, Soul using her wings to fly up to the higher spots others couldn't check. And as they helped, a certain creature stared at the flying filly while hiding in a ceiling light's bowl.





"Go, go, go, go, go!" Button yelled as the three colts raced, he and Rumble unable to believe Heart had never played a video game before.

"Ha-ha!" The fire colt cheered as he pressed a button, "Fear my blue carrot of doom!"

"NO!" The boys cried as they were caught up in the explosion, allowing Heart's character to zip past them and cross the finish line.

"YES!" Heart leapt up and started doing a victory dance, his friends rolling their eyes. "I won! I'm the best! Me the winner, you the loser."

"How is he so good?" Rumble complained as Heart flew back down.

"Luck," Button guessed.

"Nah," Heart chuckled, "I just have better hoof eye coordination." He then turned to the other games Button had all over the room, stars in his eyes as he said, "I can't wait to show Soul all of these. I bet she'll love to play 'em."

The statement made Button growl, "You can't bring her to play. Girls ruin video games."

This made Heart turn to him while Rumble just rolled his eyes, "Don't mind him. He's just being a foal about something that happened a while back."

"Six hours wasted because of Sweetie Belle," Button hissed, "It should have been the greatest video gaming accomplishment of my life, but instead it was all for nothing."

"Boys!" they suddenly heard Cream call out, "Pizza's here!" Button and Rumble gasped and ran downstairs with Heart behind them, the three arriving in the kitchen to see Cream putting a box on the table. "You should have seen Mr. Domino's reaction when I told him you've never had a pizza before. He said he put extra effort into making this the best pizza he'd ever made."

"Huh." Heart sat at the table as Cream opened the box. The food he saw had several vegetables, including onions, red peppers, baby spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and black olives, all of which were covered in a layer of cheese. "So this is a pizza?"

"Uh-huh!" Button nodded as he pulled off a slice and gave it to him. "Try it."

"Alright..." Heart took the slice, blinking at the food before saying, "But I'm not sure if I'll even like it." The other three shared a knowing look as Heart took a bite out of the slice, a small one, but enough for the flavor to flow through him.

"Well?" Rumble asked as tears formed in Heart's eyes and looked up at ceiling, the three almost swearing they saw a heavenly light shine down upon his face.

"I have seen the face of Faust."

"Who?" Cream asked.





"Find anything?" Scootaloo asked as she and Silver Spoon returned from the library.

"Nothing in the kitchen," Apple Bloom replied after she and Sweetie walked into the room. She turned to Diamond and her father, "Anything?"

"Nothing," he sighed, "I might have to summon the police."

"For some stolen oranges and lemons?" Scootaloo asked, Filthy turning to glare at her.

"Those oranges and lemon were inventory for Barnyard Bargains! It'd be like somepony stealing a field of your friend's apples." Scootaloo flinched at his response, only to hesitantly nod, the stallion now sighing, "I hope Randolph and the boys are having better luck in the garden."

As he said that, Soul flew in from outside. "I didn't see anything on the roof."

"Thank you for looking anyway." Filthy replied before going wide-eyed at the alicorn, "Wait...aren't you Princess Twilight's new student?"

Soul did a small nod, slightly blushing as he shined a big smile at his daughter. He was about to tell her how proud he was of her of becoming friends with such an important pony, only for Soul to point at the ceiling's light, seeing a brown furball in it. "What's that?"

They all looked up, only to see a brown creature covered in brown fur staring down at them with its three large black claws on its hands and feet. It had large googly eyes and a large mouth that was constantly smiling, though the fur around its mouth was stained orange. On its back were several long black needle-like bristles.

The creature gave her the cutest face she had ever seen. "Aw..." Soul replied as she hovered up to it, "Hello little guy." She reached out for it, "What are you doing here?" But before she could grab it, the creature suddenly shot past her. "WHOA!" She yelped as the creature hopped onto the roof, clinging to it with its claws.

This allowed the others to see it, Spoon asking, "What is that thing?"

"Never seen anything like it," Scootaloo responded, only for Filthy to see the stain around the creature's mouth.

"Its the thief!" The others turned to him, "Look at its mouth! It must have eaten my oranges, and I bet it ate the lemons too!" The others looked back at the creature as it began to scurry along the ceiling until it reached the wall.

"How could that little thing eat two crates of lemon and oranges?" Apple Bloom asked as Filthy ran up to the wall.

"Get back here, you profit pilfer!" The creature then jumped off the wall, flying over Filthy's head and curling itself up into a furry ball as it hit the ground and rolled away. Filthy turned to chase it, "Grab it!"

"Sweetie," Scootaloo turned to the unicorn, "Try getting it in your magic!" Sweetie nodded and sparked her horn, only for the creature to suddenly zigzag all over the place.

"Hold it still!" She cried as the other tried to jump in front of it, only for the beast to zip past them.

"Gotcha!" Apple Bloom blocked it from escaping through a door, only for it turn to roll toward the stairs.

"No you don't!" Soul landed on the stairs, only for it roll away again.

"I don't think so!" Scootaloo ran to the front door as the creature went for it, "Sweetie!" The unicorn was able to grab the door in her magic and slam it shut, Diamond skidding up and turning the lock.

"There!" she turned to the beast as it stopped spinning and unfurled itself, now finding itself surrounded on all sides. "Now what do we do with it?"

"We should take it ta Twilight," Apple Bloom suggested as they moved in closer, "Or Fluttershy. They should know what it is and what we need to do with it."

"Err...girls?" they turned to Scootaloo as she pointed at the beast. "What's it doing?" They looked back at the animal and saw its entire body was shaking like a leaf, its pupils going small while the rest of its eyes stayed the same size and the tips of its mouth went up and down.

"It's just trying to distract us so we don't punish it," Filthy told them. "Don't let it-" He stopped when he noticed the creature curl up again, likely about to roll away....only to start glowing, "What in Celestia's name?!"

The creature quickly grew from a small furball to a furball larger than Filthy. Everypony began to backpedal, Diamond hitting the door and quickly opening it to jump outside. She turned back to the house and watched as the furball filled up the entire doorway, still growing as the ponies gulped at the sight as the beast hit the ceiling. But even when this happened, its growth didn't stop, the creature's sides beginning to push against the walls.

"Everypony out!" Filthy yelled before running to a nearby window and throwing it open, moving aside so the girls could jump out. First Spoon, then Soul, Sweetie, Applebloom and Scootaloo. As soon as they were outside, the girls ran around the side of the building and watched as Diamond continued to stare at her house.

The pink filly gasped as the front of her house suddenly broke apart, freeing the creature but sending tons of debris flying at her, "AAAAAHHHHH!" She screamed as concrete and wood was about to hit her, only to feel something grab her and pull her away.

"GOTCHA!" She looked up to see Soul had grabbed her and flew her safely out of the debris' line of fire. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Diamond nodded, "Thanks." Soul smiled back before flying down and dropping her into her father's hooves.

"Oh sweetheart!" He hugged her tightly, "Thank Celestia you're alright."

He then glared up at the beast that had destroyed the front of his house and almost crushed his daughter. And as he did, something began to unfurl from around the furball, soon showing a long skinny arm with black claws three times the size of a pony. It reached out and grabbed the ground, sinking its claws into it as another arm unfurled and did the same. The creature then pushed itself up next, unfurling itself to reveal its now giant eyes and mouth. It appeared to have an almost drunk expression on itself as it completely unfurled, placing its large feet in the wreckage of the Rich's mansion before pulling itself along the ground using its arms.

"It's heading into town!" Scootaloo yelped as the creature pulled itself a good twenty feet before needing to stretch out its arms again. And as it did this, Scootaloo turned to the others, "What do we do?!"

She got her answer when Soul began to fly after it. "SOUL!" She stopped at Diamond's cry and turned to her, "What are you doing?!"

"We have to stop that thing!"

"You should leave this to the defenders!" Filthy instantly replied, "You're just a child. What can you do against something like that?"

Soul gaze shifted between them and the creature, Filthy's words echoing in her head. Her mind then flashed to Twilight and Cadance when they stayed behind to try and repair the Crystal Heart while Celestia and Luna worked to fight off the deadly storm clouds. Her eyes shifted up to look at the horn on her head, and then down at her cutie mark.

"Whatever I can." With that, she flew off as fast as she could, knowing she would either find a way or somepony that could help.





Back with Heart, he was stuffing another slice of pizza into his mouth and crying every second.

"Why!?" He almost screamed between bites. "Why did I have to go so long without knowing the beauty of this delectable fusion of dough, sauce, cheese and veggies?" He glared up at the ceiling. "Why is everything here so good?! Why didn't me and Soul have this kind of heavenly food?! Pizza, Pinkie's cakes and cookies...even that ramen stuff Flash showed me yesterday was awesome! Why didn't we have all these awesome, sweet tasting food and was stuck with salads and milkshakes back at the city?!"

Button and Rumble exchanged glances before Button raised a hoof, "Aren't milkshakes really sweet food?" Button then flinched as Heart glared at him with wet eyes.

"You don't understand!" He cried before gulping down another slice. "You don't understand!"

Cream, Rumble and Button simply stared at the colt, barely eating their food as Cream commented, "Somepony's clearly had a very sheltered foalhood. I'm sure if you let Flash and the princess know about your new love, they'd be willing to let you have it more often."

Heart nodded while sniffing, "Yeah...I'm gonna do that. How many more amazing foods does this modern day have that I haven't experienced?! I must try them all!"

"You might wanna pace yourself," Rumble chimed in, "Eat too much and you might get a stomachache." Button and his mom nodded in agreement.

"I'll be fine," Heart replied while waving his hoof, "And trust me," he held up the last slice. "This is worth a stomachache." But as he went to take another bite, the entire house suddenly shook, knocking them off their chairs. "WHOA!"

The shaking lasted a good few seconds before settling down, Cream speaking up, "Is everypony okay?"

"I'm okay," Button muffled out, his face kissing the floor.

"What was that?" Rumble asked, only for the ground to shake again. "Whoa!"

Heart leapt up and ran to the door, only to see a cloud of dust in the distance. "That can't be good." He flared his wings, about to take off before something grabbed his tail and pulled him back. "Hey!"

"Where do you think you're going?!" Cream told him as she let him go.

"There's something happening," he pointed to the fading cloud. "I'm going to go check it out."

"Absolutely not," Cream replied while shaking her head. "I've lived in this town long enough to know that when something bad is happening, and that right there is a 'Stay inside and keep your children safe scenario'."

"But ponies might be in trouble," he instantly responded.

"If they are, Flash and the rest of the defenders will handle it. You might be his new apprentice, but you're also a child. I'm sure Flash wouldn't want you putting yourself in danger like that. That and you just ate, and you don't wanna go out there and throw up what you just ate. Now come inside and let the grownups handle this."

Heart frowned as he looked back at her, only for the ground to shake again. Screams followed this, making him look back at the town before glancing at Cream, "Sorry ma'am." His body suddenly exploded into flames, shocking Cream. "I just can't sit here and let other ponies get hurt. That's not who I am, and that's not the pony Flash chose to make his apprentice." With that, he took to the air, flames bursting out his back hooves and rocketing him toward the scene of the crime.

Cream watched in both shock and awe as the colt flew off, Button and Rumble cheering for their new friend as they watched him fly off like a superhero.





Main street was in turmoil as the creature dragged itself through the town, the ponies screaming as they ran away from it. As this happened, Grand, Lightning and Iron galloped up to the creature, Lightning yelled, "Where'd this thing come from?!"

"Doesn't matter," Grand responded before raising his hammer. "What matters is stopping it before it hurts anypony." With that, he slammed his hammer down into the dirt, causing a crack to shoot out toward the beast splitting to form a circle around the creature. The ground then collapsed, dropping the beast into a hole that was the perfect size to hold it.

"Iron! Do it now!"

"Got it! This should hold yah until we figure out what to do with yah!" He thrust his spear into the ground, metal spikes coming out of the side of the hole before meeting in the middle to form bars.

"Nice," Lightning added as they all stared inside, only to see the creature beginning to shake...and start growing, "What the heck?!" The monster soon became too large for the hole, the metal bars bending. With a single spurt of growth, the beast got free, thrusting its arms out and grabbing a pair of nearby houses to pull itself out of the hole.

"No way," Iron whispered as the beast was freed, pulling itself through the town again. "Oh, no you don't!" He pointed his spear at the beast and started firing a round of Iron Lance Fury. But as the blades struck the creature, they simply bounced off its body without even giving it a hair cut. "What?!"

Lightning took this moment to pull one of his knives out of his cloak and throw it at the creature, the dagger soaring over it. But before it could completely miss it, Lightning appeared where it was and caught it in his mouth before landing on the creature's back. "You're big, strong and apparently hard to cut. So let's see what a couple million bolts does to you." With that, his horn sparked before the electricity surged through his body and into the beast.

Grand and Iron watched as it was electrocuted, only to see the creature not even be fazed by it. As this happened, it jerked its head up, knocking Lightning off, "Whoa!" He yelped before quickly teleporting back to the defenders. "Shoot! That didn't work either!"

"Wait...what's it doing?" Iron asked as the beast started sniffing the area, only to turn toward the town's market place.

It was here that Soul arrived on the scene, landing on a roof to see the beast dragging itself along. The creature then grabbed the top of a house, trying to pull itself forward...only to rip off the top of the building. Screams followed this as it threw the debris back, making Soul gasp as she flew down with her horn sparking.

The ponies on the ground flinched as they saw the rubble coming down at them, closing their eyes just as the roof was about to hit them. However, no impact happened, making them open their eyes to see a golden light wrapped around the falling roof. Sounds of grunting caught their attention next, making them turn to see Soul, the group amazed at the sight of the little alicorn holding up something this heavy. "Hurry!" She moaned, "I don't know how long I can hold this!"

They nodded back before running away, quickly getting away before Bon-Bon turned to her, "Okay, we're safe. You can let go now."

Soul nodded, taking a deep breath as she tried to turn off her magic...only for her horn to spark, the pieces of debris suddenly starting to fly everywhere while still in the golden light. "No!" She cried, closing her eyes as she tried to cut off her magic, only to feel a surge of pain in her head.

Feeling the reaction, her eyes shot open, only to see a large chunk of broken roof in her magic now flying right at her. She screamed as she closed her eyes again, bracing herself for impact. But then...nothing happened. "Huh?" She cracked her eye opened, now seeing the rubble floating in front of her, completely still as the a blue magic aura covered the debris.

"You okay?" Soul turned to see Starlight standing behind her, a smile on her face as her horn glowed the same blue color. "You looked like you were having trouble."

"You don't know the half of it," Soul breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

Starlight nodded back before slowly putting the pieces down, "Just be glad I was out buying haycakes when I saw what was happening. No offense, but you're not ready to lift that kind of stuff with your magic."

"I know...I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Starlight replied before patting the filly's shoulder, "You were just trying to help." She turned to the creature dragging itself through town. "Now, I don't suppose you know what the heck that thing is?"

Soul shook her head, "No, but I know where it came from." This made Starlight raised an eyebrow as Soul began to trot toward the beast, "Come on. I'll explain on the way."





The creature was still pulling itself through the town, Grand, Lightning and Iron following after it. Everything they had tried to do to slow it down had been useless. It was at this point the creature arrived in the market place, which had quickly been deserted when the ponies saw the monster coming.

And when it came to a stop, it sniffed the air again before reaching out to a certain stand. The defenders then saw it lift up a market stand filled of limes, which it held up as its constantly smiling mouth cracked open, the fruit dropping in with ease.

Lightning blinked at the sight, glancing at the other stands and seeing them packed with more food. "Why'd it go after that one?"

"Who cares?!" Iron barked back. "All that matters is finding a way to stop it."

"ARMORIZE!" They looked up as a bright flash of light signaled the arrival of the Knight of Friendship. Flash dove down in his Shining Guardian form, flying past the beast while slashing at it with his evolved Celestic Gear...only for the blow to do nothing, not even cut the hair. "What?!"

It was here that the rest of the Mane Seven arrived, Rainbow and Applejack running up with Rainbow kicking it while Applejack threw her lasso at it. But the pegasus simply bounced off it while Applejack was pulled around, almost swinging into a building before Flash caught her.

"You okay?" Applejack nodded as he put her down, then turned back to the creature. As he did this, a barrage of fireballs suddenly hit the creature's back. The defender looked up to see a flaming colt flying above the creature, unleashing a stream of fire with little effect on the beast. "Heart! That's not working, so come down here!"

The colt turned to his mentor, quickly landing beside him as he asked, "What the heck is that thing?!"

"It's a screebit," Twilight responded while walking up to them with Fluttershy.

"A what?" Rainbow yelped.

"It's a very rare creature," Fluttershy added. "It's usually very gentle and wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Main street would beg to differ," Lightning deadpanned while pointing at the creature. "That thing keeps growing and destroying everything!"

Twilight shook her head at this, "It's not intentional Lightning. Its using a defense mechanism it has to ward off predators. When it feels threatened, it transforms into this thing. In this state, it's almost indestructible."

"It's mind also gets overpowered," Fluttershy continued, "It won't notice anything that happens to it. It doesn't even know where it's going. It's being driven by its base instincts."

"And what are those instincts telling it to do?" Iron asked.

"Find fuel," Twilight replied. "Screebits can't undergo this transformation on their own. They need a certain type of chemical to cause the reaction, and once transformed, they'll start searching for that chemical so they can remain in that form as long as possible."

"What's the chemical?"

"Citric acid. Screebit are usually found in places that grow citrus fruits like oranges, lemons-"

"Limes?" Grand interrupted, Twilight nodding. "That explains earlier."

Fluttershy turned back to the creature as it sniffed the air, obviously trying to locate another source of citric acid. "I just wish I knew where it came from."

"I know where," they turned to see Soul and Starlight walking up. As they got close, Soul explained what had happened at the Rich Manor, Twilight going wide-eyed at her explanation.

"It ate two crates worth of oranges and lemons?!" Twilight yelped, Soul nodding. "That's not good...." As she said that, the screebit began to drag itself away again. "That much citrus will take days to burn through."

"Seriously?!" Heart asked as they raced after the Screebit. "We can't let that thing run around for days!"

"The Screebit has a very slow metabolism. From what I've read, one orange could keep it at this size for about an hour. And if its eaten two crates worth of it, it's got tons of citric acid stored up."

"So it's like a train," Grand commented, "Once it burns through one piece of fuel, it'll replenish it with stuff from its stomach."

Twilight nodded, "Exactly!"

It was here that they realized where the screebit was going, the sight making them gasp. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Pinkie screamed when she saw it reach for Sugarcube Corner, the mare now remembering the amount of citrus they used when making desserts. Twilight quickly sparked her horn, putting a large bubble around the cake shop. The screebit tried to claw at the bubble, making Pinkie sigh in relief. "Thanks Twilight."

"No problem," Twilight replied before grunting, "But I can't keep this up forever. We need to find a way to get it away from here until the citric acid wears off."

"We could teleport it somewhere," Rarity suggested. "Someplace it can't harm anypony. Ghastly Gorge maybe? That's large enough to hold it."

"Then what?" Lightning replied, "It'll just keep trying to escape and find more citrus. If it's gonna take days, we'll be too exhausted to just keep it in Ghastly Gorge."

"Well, we have to do something!" Pinkie barked back, "If we don't, it could destroy all of Ponyville."

As the adults discussed what they could do, Heart rubbed his chin while thinking about what Twilight and Fluttershy had told them. And slowly, an idea formed in his head. "We can't hurt it, and it won't notice what we do to it..." he whispered.

And as he did this, Soul noticed a certain look in his eye. "Heart....what are you planning?" Heart turned to smile at his sister, Soul's eyes shrinking at the sight.

"Twilight," the alicorn turned to him, "I have a question. What happens to the acid the screebit isn't using. Where's it kept?"

Twilight hummed. "Well...since it mostly replenishes using juice from fruits, I guess it's possible the acid is stored where the rest of its body water is. Why?"

Heart's reply was a big stupid grin as he turned back to the screebit. "I have..."

"Oh no," Soul moaned.

"A plan!" With that, he leapt up and flew toward the screebit. The older ponies gasped at the sight, the pegasi preparing to take off after him.

"HEART! What are you doing?!"

"Put a barrier around us!" Heart called back.

"What?!" Twilight yelped as Flash spoke up next.

"Heart, you need to tell us your plan!"

"No time!" Heart yelled as he flew above the screebit, the beast still clawing at the shield around Sugarcube Corner. "Just put a barrier around us, the strongest one you can make." He saw the unsure expression on Flash's face, "I know what I'm doing. This'll work."

Him and Flash stared at each other for a few seconds, Flash smirking before turning back to Twilight and nodding. Twilight nodded back and turned to Starlight, the two quickly teleporting themselves to the opposite sides of the screebit. Once there, Twilight cut the spell protecting the bakery before she and Starlight unleashed a blast that formed a bubble around Heart and the creature.

The others watched as Heart smiled down at the screebit. "Alright you overgrown hairball, get ready to feel the heat!" With that, he unleashed a mighty burst of fire from every hoof while swiping his tail around, shooting fireballs at the creature. Like before, the screebit didn't seem at all bothered by the flames, instead just trying to trying to escape the bubble.

"What's he thinking?" Iron asked, "He knows his flames won't hurt it."

Flash was thinking the same thing, only to notice something new. It might have been the coloration from the magic bubble, but the screebit's fur was beginning to look...shiny. Almost as if the fur was damp. The others soon saw this, Grand gasping, "Of course! So that's his plan!"

"What do you mean?" Iron replied.

"He's making it sweat!" Grand responded as he pointed at Heart, the others catching on as Flash just smiled at his apprentice.

"Huh." Lightning added, "So he's making him sweat out all the juice from the fruit."

"And the citrus along with it," Rarity finished.

"That's assuming the acid hasn't been sent to some other part of that thing's body," Iron pointed out.

"All we can do is watch and hope," Flash sighed as he saw the heat wasn't just making the screebit sweat, but Heart as well. If he gave out before it, they knew it would be trouble.

And as this happened, the ponies of Ponyville that had scattered slowly came out of hiding. They watched as the young colt they barely knew was putting himself through the ringer, burning the beast with a plume of flames. A spark of respect ignited within them, all gasping at the sight.

Then, as Heart's flames were about to give up, the screebit slowly began to grow smaller, making everypony smile. It kept shrinking until it reverted back to its old form, Twilight and Starlight dropping the shield as Heart cut his flames. "Ooooh...I don't feel good." Heart moaned as sweat poured down his face, his wings folding as he started to drop like a rock.

"Hang on there, I gotcha!" Flash said as he flew up and caught Heart, slowly lowering him down as the others looked the screebit over.

"Is it okay?" Soul asked Fluttershy, the pegasi nodding back at her.

"He's fine," she assure the filly. "A little dehydrated, but he should be fine once he's gotten some water in him."

"You might wanna get some for this brave colt here too," Flash chuckled as he patted the colt's head, Pinkie quickly zipping into the bakery before returning with a pair of water bottles. She gave one to Fluttershy as she she bottle-fed the screebit while Pinkie poured some of the other bottle's contents onto Heart's face.

"Hey!" he moaned before opening his eyes. When he saw the water bottle in front of him, he gasped before taking it and sucking the liquid down his throat. "Ahhh…thanks." he sighed as his thirst had been quenched, only to turn to others, "So uh...did my plan work?"

"You bet it worked!" Twilight happily cheered, "You and Soul should be very proud!"

Heart smiled while Soul raised an eyebrow, the ponies of the town now walking up to them as she asked, "Why me? I didn't do anything."

"You told us where the screebit came from and how much citrus it had eaten." Twilight replied, "If you hadn't, we would have been trying to keep it away from everypony until the fruit wore off."

"Plus you saved those other ponies," Starlight pointed out. "You might have lost control at the end, but you still saved them."

"You two saved Ponyville," Grand assured them. The young ponies blushed, only to flinch when they heard a round of clapping and cheering. They turned to see the rest of the town was cheering, Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Cream Heart, Rumble, Button Mash and the CMC were all there, along with Bon-Bon, Lyra, Time Turner, Derpy, Octavia, Vinyl and many other ponies. They all cheered and clapped for them, making the two blush even harder.

They couldn't feel more strange. Ever since arriving in Ponyville, they hadn't been feeling the warm feeling they had when living in the Lost City of Faust...but now it was here. The feeling of belonging someplace, of joy about being there. The feeling of home.





The next morning...

Ponyville was now back to normal. Thanks to Twilight and Starlight, many of the houses that had been destroyed were magically repaired, the rest fixing the holes and trenches the screebit had created in its rampage. Twilight had contacted Celestia about the incident and the sun princess had replied by sending some guards to pick up the screebit and transport it someplace it wouldn't be a danger to anypony.

It was here that the doors of the castle of friendship opened up, Heart, Scootaloo and Soul walking out with Flash and Twilight behind them. Soul then turned to their caregivers, "Well, time for school."

"Have fun," Twilight replied, "And Soul, we have magic practice after school."

"Same with you Heart," Flash nodded before smirking. "But I think you'll have time for a small hangout with your friends. Just don't be late."

"We won't," Heart replied before he and his sister took the to skies and Scootaloo shot off on her scooter. The three made their way through the town, the ponies waving at the two newcomers as they flew past them. Heart and Soul smiled back, feeling really comfortable as they traversed their new home.

When they began to pass Sugarcube Corner, a window opened up and Pinkie stretched out of it holding paper bags with their cutie marks on them. One by one, the three grabbed their designated bags while giving their thanks before looking inside, licking their lips at the delicious treats inside before putting them into their saddlebags.

They soon arrived at the schoolhouse, getting greeted by their classmates as they came to a stop. The three split up, Heart talking to Rumble and Button while Scootaloo joined the CMC as Soul went up to Diamond and Spoon. Smiles and laughs were all around as they conversed with their friends until Miss Cheerilee called them inside.

All the nervousness Heart and Soul had been experiencing the previous day was nowhere in sight. The two had found their place in Ponyville and in Equestria too. Though there were many uncertainties about their future, they knew that they now had friends they could look to for support. Life was good.
> Spike's Heartbreak
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville.

All the damage that had recently been done by the screebit's 'attack' had been repaired, and the ponies were once again living their normal everyday lives. This also included one member of the populace that wasn't a pony.

Young Spike T. Dragon was making his way through town on one of his precious days off, one without any work needing to be done for Twilight or chores inside the castle. As such, he was free to do one of his favorite things, paying Rarity a visit. And when Carousel Boutique came into view, he smiled before spitting into his hands and smoothing down the green scales on his head. He then noticed a lone flower on the ground and picked it up before going up to the front door and knocking it...only to get no answer. Raising an eyebrow at this, he checked it to see if was locked.

"Huh?" he whispered as he found himself able to open the door. "That's weird." He peeked his head in, "Hello? Rarity?"

He began to tiptoe inside, eyes darting around before hearing a noise above him. Looking up, he started to hear another sound, making go wide-eyed before turning to the stairs. Worry now on his face, he jogged up the stairs, quickly getting to the second floor. It was here he saw a table at the landing of the stairs, the vase on it on the side, strange since Rarity usually had it perfectly placed in the center. The sight made him realize that somepony had knocked the vase off before lazily putting it back on.

Spike's attention was then pulled away from the vase by another sound, this one coming from the room at the end of the hallway: Rarity's bedroom.

The drake began to tiptoe, now hearing more noise before the sound of a pony's voice caught his attention. And it was one he knew better than any other. "Rarity?" He was about to knock, only to hear Rarity cry out.

"No! Not that!" She screamed, Spike's overactive imagination going into overdrive at the sound as he now feared his precious Rarity was in danger. All thoughts of knocking flew from his mind as he grabbed the door handle and twisted it. It a burst of motion, he shot through the door and slid into Rarity's room. This got a cry of surprise from the pony he had come to save, allowing him to locate her and turn toward the bed....only for his heart to come to a stop.

Rarity was laying on her back with somepony on top of her. It was Lightning Blitz, who's head jerked up from Rarity's neck as the two stared at him. "Spike?!" Rarity yelped, both frozen in their positions. "What are you doing here?" Spike barely heard her, instead focused squarely on Lightning.

Rage, the likes of which he had never felt, surged through his body and caused it to shake. "GET OFF OF HER!" He suddenly roared before leaping at Lightning, the unicorn unable to react as he found himself instantly pushed off the bed.

"Whoa!"

"SPIKE!" Rarity screamed as she saw the young drake clawing at Lightning, the unicorn trying to push the dragon off. The mare quickly lit her horn next, encasing Spike in her magic before pulling him off Lightning, the dragon now floating in the air while wildly flailing his arms and legs around.

Lightning coughed as he picked himself up, "What is wrong with you?"

"I can't believe I thought you'd changed!" Spike cried before breathing fire at Lightning, the unicorn quickly making a small shield, "But to do...this! Forcing Rarity to do...that! YOU WILL PAY!"

"SPIKE!" Rarity turned him towards her, "Stop it!" This statement made Spike go wide-eyed as she then said, "Lightning wasn't forcing me to do anything."

"What?"

Rarity sighed and put him down, her horn still glowing as she replied, "Spike, I didn't want you to find out this way...but I guess we have no choice." She got down off her bed, and moved over to the stallion. "First off, Lightning wasn't doing anything terrible to me. In fact, I invited him up here."

"What? What do you mean he...he..." Spike's mind slowly began to put the pieces together, his gaze shifted from one unicorn to the other until the last gear clicked, "You two are...together."

Rarity sighed again, "That's right darling. I'm sorry you found out like this, but I guess it was inevitable." Rarity continued to speak, but Spike didn't hear her. His head was spinning, a pain now appearing in his chest as it began to surge more and more. The world around him seemed to vanish, the feeling of being sick embracing his stomach as the thought of Rarity being with Lightning entered his brain. "Spike?" He then turned to Rarity as she walked up to him, "Are you alright?" It was here that she noticed tears appearing in Spike's eyes, only for the drake to suddenly spin and run out of the room. "SPIKE!" She yelled before she began to give chase, "Come back!"

However, she and Lightning found themselves surprised at how fast the dragon was running, almost instantly out of the building before running toward a certain castle.





At the Castle of Friendship...

Most of its inhabitants of the castle were currently in the library as this was happening. Flash was standing in his Shining Guardian armor while Twilight placed a rubber ball on a table between them. Starlight, Heart, Soul and even Springer were sitting off to the side. "You ready Flash?"

"As I'll ever be," Flash gulped before closing his eyes. "Let's do this."

"Alright," Twilight nodded. "The first step is to focus on the object." Flash opened his eyes and focused on the rubber ball. "Now imagine that object floating in the air. If it helps, try to visualize a hand holding the ball."

"Psst," Starlight whispered as she leaned over to Soul, "What's a hand?"

"Twilight says its like a paw," Soul pointed to Springer as he held it up. "But they're thinner and they don't have fur."

"Isn't that just a claw?" Starlight replied with a raised eyebrow.

Heart just shrugged at her, "I asked the same thing, but Flash says they're called hands."

They all then turned back to Flash, the defender grunting as he tried to imagine the ball being picked up by an invisible hand. The horn on his helmet started to glow at this, showing off an orange light. That same light soon wrapped around the ball, slowly beginning to float off the table.

"Oh, come on!" Soul yelled, breaking Flash's concentration and making him drop the ball. They all turned to glare at Soul as the ball rolled toward her. "What?!" She pointed to her horn, "I've had this thing for months, and I've only just started learning the same thing Flash just mastered on the first try!"

Everypony opened their mouths to respond, only for a loud banging sound to suddenly echo throughout the castle.

"What was that?" Starlight asked.

"The front door," Twilight replied before sparking her horn, soon teleporting the group to the entryway. When they arrived, Flash and Heart were almost knocked down by a running Spike, both taking to the air before he collided into them. "Spike?" Twilight called out, only for the drake to rush past them and up the stairs without saying a word.

"What's up with him?" Heart asked, Soul turning to her brother.

"He looked upset."

"It's worse than that," Springer added while shaking his head, "When he ran by, I got an overwhelming sense of sorrow coming off of him. Like...some great tragedy had just befallen him."

The others exchanged glances, frowns on every face before Rarity and Lightning suddenly ran up to the door. "Oh! Everypony!" They all turned to Rarity, "Have you seen Spike?!"

"Yeah," Flash pointed to the stairs, "He just ran by. Like, really fast."

"What happened?" Twilight asked next, "Springer said he's feeling really sad."

Rarity grimaced at her words, sighing as she replied, "It's...a long story." She turned to Lightning, "I guess we'll have to come clean."

"Looks like it," he added with a nod.

"Come clean about what?"

Rarity's eyes looked away from everypony for a second before saying, "Well...if you don't mind Twilight, I would prefer to wait until everypony important is here. I'm sure they will have questions, and..." she turned to Lightning, getting another nod from him. "It'd be best to answer everything at once."

Twilight blinked at this response, only for her horn to spark as she responded, "Oookay. Give me a minute."

One minute of teleporting around town later...

"YOU'RE DATING?!" Everypony yelled as almost every jaw in the room dropped.

"Yes, we are." Rarity replied while sitting on her throne. A slight blush was on her face as she slightly looked away, "And well...Spike walked in on us...expressing ourselves."

More blushes appeared in the room as Flash commented, "I'm not even gonna ask what that's supposed to mean."

Twilight smacked him with her tail as Grand spoke up next, "So...no offense, but how long has this been going on?"

"Yeah!" Pinkie and Wild asked in unison before Pinkie went on, "When did you two get together?!"

Lightning twiddled his hooves at this, "Well uh...remember that time when the girls joined us in our training?"

Everypony else searched their memories before Flash replied, "Seriously? That was months ago."

"You've been dating that long?!" Rainbow yelped, "And you kept it from us?! What gives?!"

"First off, Miss Dash," Rarity hissed as she pointed at her. "You weren't exactly truthful about your relationship with Soarin from the very start." Rainbow blushed and looked away, "And secondly, we've only just recently made it official."

Lightning nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Before, we were just going on dates and seeing how things turned out. We didn't tell anypony so that if things didn't work out, we could just go back to normal and everything would be fine."

"But clearly things did work out," Twilight added.

"Oh yes," Rarity responded before rolling her eyes, "I'll admit I was a little...skeptical at first, but it turns out Lightning and I have quite a few things in common. We like similar types of music, a lot of the same foods and a few other things."

"Well, we're happy for ya'll," Applejack chimed in, showing a big smile as the others all nodded in agreement.

"I always thought you'd make a cute couple." Fluttershy said next, "I just didn't want to say anything in case you didn't like the idea."

"That's fine darling," Rarity replied with a wave of a hoof, only to sigh, "I just wish Spike hadn't found out the way he did."

This made the others grimace, Twilight looking up at the ceiling in the direction of Spike's room before turning back to Rarity. "You know, Spike's had a crush on you for a long time-"

"That's an understatement," Rainbow interrupted.

"Yeah." Flash added, "Its been like that since day one. Even before he actually knew you. He took one look at you, and his heart was beating out of his chest."

"Anyways..." Twilight growled while glaring at them before turning back to Rarity. "You need to do something about this. The problem won't just fix itself. You need to go up and tell Spike the truth."

Rarity sighed again, "I know. I just...well, its not easy."

"Stuff like this rarely is," Grand chimed in. "And even if you go up there and tell him, things won't just magically repair itself. Heartbreak isn't something that just vanishes overnight. But it'll take a lot longer if you don't address the issue now."

Rarity and Lightning shared a glance, the mare's ears folding as she got off her throne, "I hate to say it...but you're right. No time like the present, as they say."

"Want me to go with you?" Lightning asked, Rarity shaking her head.

"No, I think it's best if it's just me. Don't want him to lash out on you again if I accidentally say the wrong thing." Lightning nodded in agreement before Rarity turned to head out of the throne room, everypony watching her leave as she prepared to make things right with their favorite dragon.





In his room, Spike was curled up in his bed with his blanket wrapped around him. Both bed and blanket were soaking wet from his tears, the drake only slightly calming down as he stared at a picture of his heartache's source. "Why? Why Rarity?" He asked, sniffing loudly as he wiped his eyes.

It was here he heard a knock at the door, "Spike?" The dragon froze at the voice, "Can I come in?" He wanted to tell her to go away, but his voice had completely vanished. Rarity seemed to take the lack of response as an okay, slowly creaking the door open to peek inside, "Oh Spike," she whispered when she saw him, the mare trotting into the room as Spike pulling his head and the picture of the unicorn into the blanket cocoon. "I'm sorry about what happened. I never wanted you to find out like this."

She waited for a response, but Spike stayed quiet.

"I know what you discovered must have come as a bit of a shock, but please talk to me." Again, there was no reply. "I just want to make sure everything was alright. You have to understand, I never really expected this to happen. When Lightning and I started dating-" That word sent another stabbing pain through Spike's heart, "I didn't think anything would come from it. I thought we would go on a few dates, have a bit of fun, and then move on with our lives. I just...I didn't expect anything more would develop."

This seemed to resonate with Spike, his face slowly shifting out of the cocoon with his eyes staring at her. "You...you didn't?"

"No," Rarity responded while shaking her head, only for a small smile to appear on her face, "I'll admit I was attracted to him at the time, but...but it wasn't until we actually started spending more time with one another, getting to know one another that I...I started developing real feelings for him."

This sent another shot of pain through Spike's heart as he squeaked out, "Feelings?"

"Yes." Rarity could see the look of pain in his eyes, but kept going, "Spike, I'm sorry." This made the dragon wide-eyed as she continued, "I won't apologize for having feelings for somepony else, that's my right. But I am apologizing for not talking to you about this stuff earlier." She walked around the bed and sat down, now noticing it was soaked through. "Oh dear..." she ignored it for a moment, only to wrap a hoof around Spike and pull him up to her. "Spike, you have to understand that nothing could ever truly happen between us." This made him freeze up. "I mean, we're not even the same species. Who knows what could happen if we were together. Not to mention, you're still a child. It'll be another decade before you're truly ready to be in a relationship."

"I'm really mature for my age," he tried to argue.

The mare shook her head, "Spike...please don't do this." She looked down at him, forcing the drake to look up at her. "I know this is hard, but you have to accept it. I'm with Lightning and I'm happy. And one day, when you're older, you'll find yourself somepony, er...some...dragon to be with, and you'll be more happy than you could ever be with me." Spike stayed silent and looked away, Rarity letting him go and hopping off the bed. "I'm sorry this had to happen like this. But then again...maybe it's for the best." She patted his head before turning away, "I'm sorry Spike."

With that, she walked out of the room, not looking back as she stepped outside. As she did this, Spike curled up again as the tears began to well up again. Rarity shut the door with a long sigh, soon going down the hallway and to the stairs. And when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found all her friends staring at her, "Well?" Twilight asked, pure worry on her face, "How'd it go?"

"I...I don't know. I think I got through to him," Rarity replied, sighing while shaking her head, "But like Grand said, this will take time for him to really heal."

"So what do we do?" Pinkie asked.

"Nothing," Grand instantly responded, "This is something he has to work through himself. Leave him alone for the rest of the day and see how he's doing tomorrow, then try to keep his mind off it. In time, he'll be okay."

"But...should we be trying to help him?" Twilight said as she turned back to the stairs leading up to Spike's room. "I mean, he shouldn't just be alone. If I know Spike, he'll take this hard. He's never had to feel something like this."

Flash then wrapped a wing around the alicorn as he added, "I agree. The little guy has never been the strongest. Though..." he stared at the stairs now, "Maybe we should give him some time..."





The next day...

Spike was still in his room.

He hadn't left since yesterday, his stomach growling at him. However, his heart was responding more, telling his gut to be quiet as the little dragon refused to get off his bed, instead simply staring at the ceiling while his blanket was bunched up on the floor.

The drake barely registered a knock that came from the door before it opened, Twilight and Flash looking into the room. "Hey buddy," Flash said in a calmest tone he could give, "How we doing today?"

Spike's reply was an unintelligent grumble.

"We thought you might be hungry," Twilight added as she held up a large bowl of gems. Usually, the rattle of the crystal rocks would have Spike's face inside the bowl within seconds...but instead, he remained silent, just staring at the ceiling. "I'll just...put it down so you can have it when you're ready."

"We've also got ice cream," Flash chuckled as he held the tub over Spike so he could get a whiff. "Your favorite flavor." Again, Spike said and did nothing. "Alright. Well, it'll be in the fridge if you want it."

The two then headed for the door, both glancing back at Spike as Twilight whispered, "I wish there was something we could do."

"We can't force him to get over it," Flash reminded her, Twilight sighing in agreement as they walked away, leaving Spike to wallow in self pity. Hours passed without him even noticing, only for the door to open again.

"Hey Spike." Starlight said as she tiphoofed into the room, the drake letting out a grumble. "I thought I'd let you know that I'll be doing your chores today, so you can just lay back and enjoy yourself." She floated something over to his bed, "Maybe enjoy this brand new Power Ponies comic I got for you." She dropped the comic and it landed on his chest, Starlight expecting him to react...only for nothing to happen. The sight made the mare frown as she slowly pulled her head out of the room, "Um...alright then. I'll see you later."

She shut the door, time instantly passing again without Spike even noticing. The comic remained exactly where it was, indicating the lack of movement from the dragon.

Eventually, the door opened again as Heart, Soul and Scootaloo trotted in. "Hey Spike!" Heart flew up and hovered right above him, looking into the young dragon's eyes. "We're heading over to Button's for a video game tournament. You want in?" Spike's half-dead stare was all the reply he got, making him glare at the drake, "Come on Spike, you can't spend the rest of your life moping like this. So the mare you like is with somepony else, who cares? Dragon up already!"

This finally seemed to get a response from Spike, who glared at the colt before breathing fire. The flames touched the colt, unfazed since he was completely immune to fire. "You don't need to be so snippy about it," Heart grumbled as he flew away.

"Come on Spike," Soul added as she moved up to him. "We hate seeing you like this."

"Just go away," Spike spoke, the first words in twenty four hours. "I wanna be left alone."

"Being left alone is the last thing you need right now!" Scootaloo barked back, "You need to get out of this room! Get some fresh air! Do something!"

"What's the point," Spike moaned, "Nothing matters anymore." The three young ponies all sighed as he continued, "I just don't get it." They now saw even more tears appear in his eyes. "Why him and not me? What does he have that I don't?"

Heart chimed in first, "Well for one thing, he's actually old enough to date her without getting her arrested."

"And Rarity said they have a lot in common," Soul continued.

"And he's a pony," Scootaloo finished, "Not that there's anything wrong with being a dragon, but is it even possible for the two species to mix. I mean, ponies give birth and dragons lay eggs...at least, I think that's what Twilight told us."

Spike let out a small groan, "Aw...why couldn't I have been born a..." He stopped, his eyes going wide as an idea popped into his head. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Heart asked, only for Spike to hop off his bed and run right past them.

"Gotta go, bye!" The three followed him, leaning out the doorway as the drake ran down the hallway.

"Well...he's up and out of his room." Heart turned to the others, "That's gotta be an improvement, right?"

"I guess?" Soul responded while tilting her head, "But what did we say that made him leave his room?"





"Please!" Spike asked as he clutched Twilight's tail, the pony rolling her eyes as she trotted through the library and dragged the dragon along the floor. "I'm begging you."

"Spike!" Twilight gripped her tail in her magic and pulled it free from his grip, "I'm not turning you into a pony."

"You did it before!" Spike whined, "Back when you changed yourself and the others into breezies! You even turned a frog into an orange!"

"That first time was only because it was an emergency, and the other was an accident. I'm not changing you into anything, so forget it."

"But it's my only chance!" Spike added. "If I'm a pony, then Rarity might realize we're perfect together."

Twilight let out a sigh at this, shaking her head, "Spike, that's enough." She turned back to him. "I know you're upset about what happened, but you're being childish. If Rarity wanted to be with you, it wouldn't matter if you were a pony or a dragon. Just accept her choice and move on."

With that, she spun around and walked away, leaving Spike as she stared at the alicorn. He looked down at the floor, his body shaking before he clenched his fists, the dragon now showing a scowl on his face. "I'm not gonna lose that easily."





The next next day...

The defenders, minus Springer, were now gathered in the center of town, all talking to Mayor Mare and Derpy. "Are you sure this is what you saw?" Grand showed Derpy a book with many creatures inside, pointing to one that looked like a blue furball with light blue skin on its revealed face and paws.

"That's right," Derpy nodded. "But the one I saw was pink. I was making my delivery and I saw one running through the street. When it noticed me, it shot a bunch of pins at me." She then showed them a package, which was covered in sharp pink needles.

"It's a pukwudgie," Iron replied while sighing, "They're pretty short tempered, but not super hard to deal with."

"You've been spending way too much time with Fluttershy," Flash laughed.

Iron rolled his eyes, "I'd just like to know what it was doing here. They're supposed to stay in the Everfree Forest."

"Just tell us the truth," Mayor Mare asked while eyeing the highly pricked box, "Are they...dangerous?"

"One or two of them shouldn't be an issue," Grand assured her. "If there's more though, then we might have a problem."

"We'll be sure to keep an eye out for them," Flash added, "If it looks like it'll be a problem, we'll let you know." Mayor Mare nodded and walked back into Town Hall while Derpy flew off to deliver the prickly package. Once they were gone, Flash turned to the others. "Alright, I'm open to suggestions."

"This would be so much easier if Springer wasn't on maternity leave," Lightning sighed. "I didn't even know we actually had that...and he's male!"

"Stop complaining about that Lightning." Flash replied while crossing his hooves, "Those eggs are important to him. We can figure out a way to find these creatures without him."

Grand nodded in agreement. "He's right. For all we know, that one pukwudgie was alone and has already returned to the forest. But, we should still act like there's more here."

"I'll go see what Fluttershy knows," Iron chimed in, "She might know what kind of food they like, then we'll know the best place to look for 'em."

"And we might be able to lure them into a trap," Lightning suggested. "Then it's just a matter of releasing them somewhere far from town."

"Alright defenders," Flash took to the air. "Let's roll out!" They all nodded before going in separate directions. Once they were far enough away, a bush they had been standing next to suddenly sprouted purple legs and started walking down the street following Lightning.

After a few seconds, Spike's head popped out as he glared at the unicorn. "Alright lover boy, show me your secrets. What is it that allowed you to steal her from me?!" He continued to follow Lightning as the unicorn marched through town, not really doing anything of note. "Come on...do something!"

Then, Lightning stopped and began staring at a table located in front of a shop. Spike saw he was looking at the table's leg, the dragon pulling out a pair of binoculars to watch. He didn't know what Lightning was so fascinated by, only for the owner of the store to come out and the unicorn pointed at the leg, Spike focusing on that spot to see a crack in the woodwork.

The owner thanked Lightning and headed inside to find some superglue, the unicorn then walking away. Spike continued after him, pulling out a notepad at the same time. "Okay...so he's observant. I guess I can see why Rarity would be impressed by that. But I can be just as obser-WHOA!" He yelped, tripping over a rock he hadn't seen. The loud cry seemed to catch Lightning's attention, Spike just managing to pull his legs into the bush as he looked around.

And after a few seconds, he shrugged and continued onward. At the same time, Spike peeked out of the bush, growling as he continued to follow again. It wasn't long till the chasing stopped, Lightning now at Sugarcube Corner. Spike quickly left his bush, now going over to a window and glancing inside to see Lightning snacking on a muffin he had just bought. Wild was also there, the two chatting until Pinkie walked in with Mr. Cake holding his back. "What happened?" His wife asked as Mr. Cake sat down. "Did you throw your back out again?"

"I'm fine," he assured her while trying to stand back up, only to cry out a silent scream, the others pushing him back down. "The delivery cart was just a bit too heavy, that's all."

"You need to rest," Wild responded.

"Yeah!" Pinkie added with a nod, "I'll do the deliveries."

"But what about that big order?" Mr. Cake replied, "There's no way Mrs. Cake can do it alone, even if Wild watched the twins."

The others frowned at this, only to slowly turn to Lightning. The unicorn shrugged back, "Sure, wouldn't be the first time." With that, they headed outside as Lightning was hooked up to the cart. Pinkie looked in the back and was surprised by the number of pies and cakes stuffed inside.

"Wow, he wasn't kidding. This must be the most deliveries we've ever had." She turned to Lightning, "You sure you can pull all of these?"

"I'm gonna give it a try," he said before pulling the cart. He grunted and groaned for a few seconds, but the cart was moving. And once it started rolling, the effort appeared less strenuous.

"Okay," Spike whispered as he watched him leave, "I'll admit he's willing to help out when he doesn't absolutely need to. Not as generous as Rarity, but enough to catch her eye. And I guess the strength he has is pretty noteworthy. But that can't just be the reason."

He continued to follow as the unicorn trotted around town, deliverying the packages. With each delivery, the weight lessened, making Spike have to speed up as his bush zigzagged through the street. And when Lightning delivered his last pie, a loud scream caught their attention.

They both ran toward the source of the scream, turning to a street filled with ponies running all over the place, all of them being chased by the spiny creatures that Iron had told him about earlier. Multiple pukwudgies of differing colors were rolling around, firing their quills around.

Lightning then saw Octavia surrounded by several, being backed up against a wall. Pulling one of his daggers out of his cloak and striking it in the ground, he teleported over to Octavia and grabbed her before warping back as the pukwudgie fired at the wall. "Get out of here!" Octavia nodded and yelled back her thanks as she ran into the nearest house.

The defender turned back to the pukwudgies as they glared at him, "Bring it!"

The creatures hissed before spinning around and firing their quills, Lightning leaping to the side before pulling out his daggers, tossing them all over the place. Not a single one struck a pukwudgie, who kept firing at him. "Ha!" Spike laughed, "Can't even hit one tiny little hedgehog." He slowly moved closer to the nearest dagger, intending to use it to fight off the pukwudgies himself.

But as he did this, the last dagger hit the ground and Lightning's horn began to spark. "This is sure to give you a jolt!" With that, he unleashed a burst of electricity that struck the nearest dagger. It bounced off the metal and split into several streams, hitting each dagger and creating a web of lightning all over the street.

Once the web was created, every dagger unleashed a pulse of lightning that struck everything within two feet of them. This included the pukwudgie and sadly, Spike. "GYAAAAAH!" The little dragon cried from within his bush.

The lightning soon faded, many of the pukwudgies slumping over. None of them were badly hurt, but they would be out of action for a while. Lightning smirked before spotting four of the little creatures that were still up and kicking. They quickly charged at Lightning, leaping up and spinning around to prick him.

But before they could, he caught the four in his magic, only to teleport between them. The creatures straightened their spines at this, the unicorn warping again as they fired...only to hit each other. As this happened, Spike pulled himself out of the bush, moaning as smoke came off his body. He turned to see the unicorn let the pukwudgies go, the four now running away while pulling the spines out of their own backsides.

It was here that the rest of the defenders and mane seven arrived, seeing the many hedgehogs littering the ground. The other townsponies came out, having watched the situation and cheering for Lightning. Spike growled at the sight, only to grimace as he saw Rarity trot over and give Lightning a kiss on the cheek. He wiped his eyes as tears appeared, running away with his eyes staring at the ground.

Once he was a good distance away, he leaned against a wall and slumped down with a long sigh, "Alright...so he's keen eyed, can be generous when he wants to be, and is pretty good at fighting." Spike hissed as he let out a roar, "RAAAGH!" He then tired to kick a box, only to scream out in pain, "Ow!" He hopped on one foot while clutching the other one, only to trip and fall over.

And as his head hit the ground, a click went off in his brain. "Wait..." he moaned as the memory of his first day he met Rarity appeared in his head. "Wait...Rarity was interested in Flash when she found out he was gonna be a Royal Knight. And now she's dating Lightning, who's pretty much a Royal Knight in all but name." His mind slowly put the pieces together, "THAT'S IT!" He jumped up, "Of course Rarity's attracted to a heroic kind of pony. Maybe if I show her I can be heroic, she'll realize I'm the perfect boyfriend."

His mind flashed back to the time when Rarity had been captured by a bunch of Diamond Dogs. Back then, Spike had wanted to save her, but Rarity had ended up saving herself. However, the heroic image Spike had envisioned himself as still swirled around in his mind.

"I just need to figure out a way to show I can be just as heroic as Lightning!" He puffed up his chest...only to slump over, "But...how do I do that?" He crossed his arms with a sigh, only for his eyes to see the Everfree Forest in the distance. "Wait...those pukwudgies went back to the forest. I bet if I get them, everypony will see me as a hero. Heck, I'll have cleaned up Lightning's screw up and stopped those things from spawning and coming back in greater number!" He turned to the castle, knowing him was gonna need some certain equipment if he wanted to catch those runaways. "Just wait Rarity! I'll show you how awesome I can be!"





One hour later...

"Is this the last of them?" Flash asked as he lifted a cage onto a cart filled with cages. Each had a pukwudgie in it, each having plenty of room to move when they woke up and had been enchanted with a magical barrier to keep their spines out.

A few more cages could be seen on the ground, Fluttershy being the one to carefully place each into them. "It's okay little guy," she stroked the furball. "This won't be for too long." She placed it in the cage and shut it. "I already know of a good place that we can set you free, not too far from here and with lots of food and a large canyon between it and us. We won't be bothering you anymore."

"You do realize they were the ones bothering us," Rainbow told her before lifting the cage onto the cart.

"I'm sure they didn't mean it," Fluttershy replied before hearing a loud scream of pain coming from a pony currently getting quills pulled out of their flank.

"That looks painful," Wild commented while flinching.

"Yeah," Pinkie added with a nod, "I sure hope Spike didn't get pricked."

"Spike?" Twilight turned to Pinkie, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, didn't you know? Spike was following Lightning around all day. He was hiding in a bush." She pointed at a certain piece of foliage, "That bush actually."

The others stared at the bush as Lightning asked, "Why was he following me?"

Flash then walked over to the bush, only to pull something out, "What's this?" Flash opened up a notepad, now seeing a page with Spike's hoof...claw writing on it. "Keen eyes, generous when he wants to be, and is strong." He turned to Lightning, "I think he was taking notes on you."

Lightning raised an eyebrow, "I'll ask again. Why?"

Rainbow laughed at this, "Easy! Twilight's corrupted him into being a note-taking egghead."

Twilight glared at her before taking the notebook herself. The sight made her sigh before glancing over at the defender, "I think...I think he was trying to figure out why Rarity is attracted to you."

"What?!" Rarity yelped, "What are you talking about?!"

"Well...think about it," Twilight replied as she turned to her. "Spike found out you weren't into him, and so he wanted to see why you fell for Lightning instead. He probably thinks that if he can imitate whatever it is, you'll fall for him."

"That's ridiculous," Rarity replied, rolling her eyes while waving her hoof. "Spike wouldn't do something that silly..." She then saw everypony glare at her, making her start to shrink back, "Would he?"

"He's young," Grand responded, "Young ponies, and especially young dragons, have a hard time letting go of things they care about."

Rarity blinked at his explanation, sighing and shaking her head, "Even if you say that, I thought I'd made it clear to him."

Lightning grimaced at her, knowing what he had to say as he grabbed her shoulder, "I hate to tell you this, but this is kinda your fault."

Rarity instantly turned to him with wide eyes. "Lightning! How you can say that?!"

The defender sighed as he continued, "Rarity...I know you might have never encouraged his crush on you, but you didn't exactly do anything to stop it either." Rarity leaned back at this, "Honestly...it always kinda felt like you were just leading him on."

"That's...not true." She turned back to her friends, "Is it?" Everypony shared a glance, all not speaking "You all don't think that too, do you? Surely that's not true."

"Well..." Applejack spoke up, her mouth mumbling her words, "Kinda. You do seem to have a habit of getting him to do stuff for yah...a lot."

Rarity waved a hoof at this, "Oh please. I might have asked him to do a few favors for me, but I always pay him back." This statement was followed by several glares, making Rarity blink, "What?"

"Do you really pay him back? Really?" Flash chimed in, Rarity going silent this time as he pointed at her, "You know Spike would do whatever you ask of him in a heartbeat, even without a reward. The only reason he does it is because he thought it would get you to like him back." The unicorn started to backpedal as she saw the others nod in agreement, "I hate to say this Rarity, but you've been taking advantage of his feelings for you...and this is the result."

The unicorn's eyes darted around, seeing confirming nods and glares. She bit her lip at this, the information sinking in. Before she knew it, memories went through her head, thinking back to the many times she had asked Spike for help and he had agreed without question. Every time he would have this puppy dog look on his face and always looking embarrassed every time she thanked him. She sighed as she now remembered all the times she had gotten up close to his face and looked him straight in the eyes, a tactic she had developed during her many years as an entrepreneur in order to get what she needed. But when she used that on other ponies, those ones were always adults, all eventually realizing what she was doing....but Spike was just a naïve lovestruck child.

"Oh dear...what have I done?" She fell to her flank as tears began to fill her eyes, "I've been so cruel to him."

Twilight sighed and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Rarity, I know you didn't mean to hurt Spike, but you have. And as much as I want to keep him from getting hurt more than he has, it'd be worse to let him keep thinking he has a chance with you. You need to set things straight and tell him that nothing can ever happen between you." Twilight cringed at her own next words, "And...well, you need to not be gentle, and definitely not beat around the bush. You have to be firm and tell him the truth. If you don't...he'll never accept it, and he'll never move on."

"She's right," Fluttershy added with a nod, "Remember back when I was helping the breezies? It wasn't until I was firm and direct with them that I was able to truly help. Sometimes, the kinder thing to do is to not sugarcoat something and get it out there."

Rarity sighed again, wiping her eyes. "You...you're right." She stood up, wiping away the tears, "I can't allow this to go on any longer. Its time to give Spike the hard truth." She then stared at the bush he had used, "Though um...where is he?"

"He can't have gotten too far," Flash told her as Fluttershy and Iron lifted the last pukwudgie up onto the cart. "You two take these things to their new home. The rest of us will search for Spike." They nodded and separated, each heading off in a different direction.

And as they got searching, Lightning stopped for a moment as he hummed a thought into his head. "Wait...if he's trying to be me, would he do that?" His mind went back to the four pukwudgie he had let go, only to shake his head, "No, he wouldn't be that stupid." The defender's gaze then slowly shifted to the forest, "Would he?"





Meanwhile...

At the edge of the forest, Spike began his walk into the forest with a fully decked out suit of armor. And by armor, it was a football helmet, knee-pads around the knees and elbows, a small pillow taped to his stomach and a large net in his claws. He checked his equipment and nodded to himself, "This is it." He clutched the net in both claws, "Time to be a hero." He raised the net high as he charged in, yelling at the top of his lungs, "FOR RARITY!"

With that, he disappeared into the foliage, his little dragon legs going through the trees. He had no idea where to go, resulting in about ten minute run before his less then physically fit body to start reminding him his flaws. "Ugh..." he gasped as he slowed to a near crawl while dragging the net behind him. "For...Rarity," his legs then gave out, falling face first. "Ow!"

He stayed like this for a few seconds before rolling onto his back, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." His eyes turned to the many trees around him, "How the heck am I supposed to find those tiny things in this massive place?"

It was here that a rustling sound caught his attention, making him turn to see a bush moving until something jumped out. A pink pukwudgie. Spike's eyes slowly grew wide, grinning as he slowly reached around and grabbed his net, being sure not to startle the thing. "Hey little guy," he raised it above his head. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Just...stay...STILL!" He swung the net down, but the pukwudgie jumped to the side. "Horse apples!"

Feeling threatened, the pukwudgie spun around to fire its quills at Spike. But the little dragon just lowered his head, the quills bouncing off his helmet and padding. Seeing it was useless, the beast chose to retreat. "Hey! Get back here!" the drake yelled as he got up and gave chase, continuing to swing his net at the same time. The pukwudgie kept itself just out of reach as it ran, making Spike say, "Just get in the net! You can't run forever!"

What followed was a hunt that felt like it went for hours, the pukwudgie easily evading Spike as the dragon kept on its tail. And when the pukwudgie leapt through a bush, Spike then jumped as high as he could while swinging the net down. "I...GOTCHA!"

Now caught in the net, the pukwudgie growled as it tried to pull itself out, only for Spike to scoop the ropes off the ground. "Ha! Not so tough now, are you?" He smirked as he pulled the creature up to his face, "Now, where's your friends?"

The pukwudgie hissed at him, only to suddenly stop and smile. Spike raised an eyebrow at this, but his ears soon told him something else as the sound growling entered them. Looking up, his heart stopped when he saw tons of pukwudgies in the trees. He was surrounded on all sides and they did not look happy. "Oh...there they are." Was all Spike could say before the beasts began to fire at him. Several quills struck the net, cutting through the string and freeing the captured pukwudgie.

They then focused their quills on Spike, the drake now trying to defend himself. "Ow!" He cried as one pierced his toe, "Yow!" Another struck his tail, and then his butt. Some of the quills struck the straps of his pads, cutting through the tape that held his pillow shield.

"STOP IT!" He screamed while randomly swinging the remains of the net, the ropes doing nothing. He began to run away, only to trip on a rock, knocking his helmet off. And as he began to pick himself up, the pukwudgies began to climb down the trees, making him do the one thing he could in this situation. Quickly jump up and sprint off while crying like a little filly, "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

He zipped through the foliage, the pukwudgies on his tail as he kept running. It wasn't long till he took a glance back, gulping at the sight before tripping on a root. "AUGH!" he yelped as he hit the dirt, stumbling to get back up. And as he did this, he saw the creatures surrounding him again, all pins primed at the dragon.

But as he closed his eyes, preparing to get stabbed in every part, a bolt of lightning suddenly shot down, hitting the ground between them. The force of the attack knocked the closest pukwudgies away while blinding the others, Spike opening his eyes to see who had saved him. "Lightning?"

The electric unicorn stood between them, his horn sparking. The pukwudgie quickly recovered, all spinning around to fire pins at him. But as they did this, Lightning quickly swung his cloak, the wind just strong enough to push quills off target enough to miss him.

"Gatling Spark!" He began to unload a barrage of weak lightning bolts, all hitting the many pukwudgies, pushing them back. The creatures began to climb up the trees at this, all leaping and curling up as they tried to stab Lightning with a more direct method. "Plasma Anchor!" He shot a thin stream of lightning that struck the closest pukwudgie before he flicked his head around, pulling the creature around as he began using it like a mace, slamming them into the others before throwing it at the closest group.

Electricity surged everywhere, knocking down tons of pukwudgies before Lightning used this opening to build up a electric ball on the tip of his horn. "Thunder...BAZOOKA!" He fired the ball, hitting the ground before an explosion followed the impact, knocking them all flying. But despite this, more kept rolling after him as Lightning built up some more power. "Lightning...FORCE!" The electricity exploded in a single beam, passing over the pukwudgie and zapping almost the rest.

And as they fell, Lightning began to slump over, panting as he saw several fallen pukwudgie getting up, making him grimace, "With this many, the fight could go on forever."

He turned to Spike next, the little dragon raising an eyebrow before he felt himself grabbed by Lightning's magic, "What are you doing?" He asked as Lightning wrapped his hoof around him before sparking his horn, the two vanishing before another pukwudgie could attack.





In a flash of light, Spike and Lightning appeared on the edge of the forest. As soon as Lightning let him go, Spike fell to the floor, gasping as the fear that had been flooding his body slowly faded away. He turned to see Lightning pull one of his daggers out of a tree, the unicorn now glaring at Spike.

Spike growled and stood up, turning away. "I didn't need your help."

"Clearly," he hissed back, "Your strategy of screaming at the top of your lungs was clearly doing wonders against those things."

"I didn't ask for your help," Spike barked, "If you think you're gonna get a thank you, forget it."

"I didn't do it to get some appreciation. I did it because you were in trouble. Not to mention Rarity would have been devastated if you had gotten hurt trying to impress her."

That statement made Spike's glare slightly fade...only to growl again, "Oh?! But its okay for you to fight against these things to impress her?!"

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Firstly, I actually know how to fight. Secondly, I don't do what I do to impress anypony. I do it because I wanna do it. Unlike you, I'm not playing hero."

"Just shut up!" Spike screamed, "Everything was perfect until you showed up and stole Rarity from me!"

"Stole her from you?!" Lightning yelped with a raised eyebrows, "She wasn't 'yours' to begin with. And even if I never showed up, she never would have been with you anyway!"

"You don't know that!"

"Oh, grow up!" Lightning barked back, "You're acting like a spoiled brat whose parents didn't get a toy for them. You really think Rarity would want to be with somepony so jealous he'd start following his competition around like a creepy stalker?!"

Spike went wide-eyed at this, shrinking back as he said, "But how did you-"

"You left your notepad behind."

The dragon grimaced at this, "Oh...right." He turned away, "I was...I was just trying to learn how I could get Rarity to like me."

Lightning let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "Spike...Rarity does like you, but not that way. She feels for you the same way Twilight feels for you, or how she feels about Sweetie Belle. You're like a brother to her, and you should be happy she likes you that way."

Spike glared back at him, "But why can't she like me the other way?!"

Lightning rolled his eyes at this, "You're not gonna quit, are you?"

"No, I'm not!"

"Listen, this isn't gonna work and..." Lightning came to a stop as a certain though entered his brain, "Spike, think of it like this: What if Rainbow, Applejack or even Pinkie suddenly developed feelings for you. Would you start liking them the same way?" Spike opened his mouth to reply, only for silence to be his answer, making the defender smirk, "You can't, can ya? And that's not because you don't care about them at all. They're just not the kind of pony you want to be with. And that's the same thing with Rarity."

"B-b-but I could be," Spike replied quietly. "That's why I was watching you. That's why I went in there. I was trying to be what Rarity wanted."

Lightning crossed his hooves, "What if Rainbow and Applejack suddenly started acting like Rarity? You wouldn't start liking them, would you?"

"Well...no," Spike sighed and looked away. "I guess not."

The defender took a deep breath, air coming out of his nostrils as he bent down and put his hoof on the drake's shoulder, "Spike, you shouldn't try and be somepony you're not to get somepony else's attention. Even if it got them to start liking you, it wouldn't be you they liked, it would be some fake character that you started playing. You'd be living a lie." Spike reached up to push his hoof away, only to find no strength as Lightning continued, "You need to be who you are, and hope that the pony you care about likes that version of you. And I'm sorry, but sometimes a pony won't like you like that, and...well, you simply have to accept that and move on."

Spike was now staring at the ground, these words now sinking in, "I...I guess you're right. But it still hurts."

"I'm sure it does." Lightning responded before looking up and seeing a certain group of friends running up, Rarity and Twilight at the front, "But you're gonna have to live with that pain. It'll go away someday, and when it does, you'll realize it was for the best." The defender smirked at this, grabbing both of Spike's shoulders, "And for the record, I think Rarity already sees you as a hero."

"She...she does?"

"How many times have you helped her and the others? You did save the Crystal Empire, twice. If that doesn't make you a hero, nothing would."

A smile was starting to form on his face as the group reached them, "SPIKE!" Rarity and Twilight both yelled in unison. "Where have you been?!"

Spike looked back up at Lightning, expecting him to talk...only for silence to be his answer. Sighing at this, he turned back to the group, "Um...nowhere." he squeaked out, "Just...taking a walk, and thinking a few things through."

Rarity let out a long sigh, walking up and leaning down, "Spike, we need to talk. Really talk. I-" She stopped when Spike held up a claw.

"No, it's okay. I get it now. I was just deluding myself. Nothing's ever gonna happen between us." He looked up at her, "Can you forgive me for being such an idiot?"

"Oh, Spike." She pulled the dragon in for a hug, "I'm the one that should be asking you to forgive me. I'm the one whose been playing with your feelings. I see now that that was wrong of me." She pulled back and made him look her in the eye, "Can you forgive me?" The two stared at one another for several seconds before Spike hugged her again, Rarity surprised at his silent response before she reciprocated the hug.

Everypony else smiled, happy this little event was behind them. They all knew Spike still had a crush on Rarity, but knew those feeling had the chance to fade and let him move on with his life. It might take time, but it would happen.





Several days later...

Rarity and Spike had made amends, the dragon finally staying out of his room, (And having to get new bed covers due to his tears ruining the blanket) and now he was still doing his regular routine with the unicorn. He could still feel his heart slightly hurt, but he was still happy to spend time with Rarity.

"Thank you for doing this Spikey," Rarity said as the two made their way through the gem cave under Ponyville. "I promise that as soon as we're done here, I'll treat you to all the ice cream you can stomach."

Spike shook his head as he carried the basket. "You don't have to do that Rarity. I'm happy just helping out."

"I know," Rarity replied, "But I know now it isn't right to expect you to do everything I ask without being willing to do something in return. I know friendship shouldn't require payment, but it does require equal respect."

"Oh...well, I hope you don't mind several tubs." Spike responded with a cheeky grin.

Rarity leaned down with a smirk, "If you're playing that way, you'll be eating strawberry."

Spike stuck out his tongue, "Ew! I don't want that! I want vanilla and chocolate!"

The unicorn rolled his eyes, "Then you only get one tub."

"Fine..." Spike sighed before both started to giggle. It was here that they arrived at the part of the cave they were looking for, one filled to the brim with sparkling jewels of every variety. The sight made Spike lick his lips, Rarity telling him to keep his appetite back as she walked up to the wall and took several gems out. A crumbling sound came next, both looking at the ceiling to see a large cauldron of bats.

Rarity careful placed the gems into the basket, being sure to make as little noise as possible. "The last time I was here, I woke them and ended up with a mane full of bats!" She shivered at the horrible memory before smiling at her little protector. "Thanks for being my basket holder."

"No problem," Spike replied, "Though can we maybe add to the name. Maybe basket holder slash bodyguard? Bet that would look great on my resume." This made Rarity laugh, needing to stifle it behind her hoof.

"Of course, darling." With that, she turned back to the wall and continued pulling the jewels free. While doing so, she made sure her horn's light wasn't pointing up. Luckily, the hardhat she was wearing was blocking the light, so it only glowed in one direction. "Oh, for once I wish unicorn magic wasn't so...luminescent!"

But as she said that, the cave was suddenly filled with light, causing the bats to slowly stir. Rarity turned to her helper, only to go wide-eyed as she saw the little dragon's entire body was glowing. "Spike! You'll wake the bats! Turn that off!"

"Huh?!" he yelped as he looked down at his body, only to suddenly feel an itch. "Ugh...I can't!" he cried as he began to scratch, "Augh! Why am I so itchy?!" The itching began to increase, the light on his body getting brighter as Rarity looked up and saw the bats awakening and shooting off the wall. The next thing Rarity and Spike knew, a cloud of black winged rodents flew down and began to spiral around them.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" They both screamed in terror, the beginning to sprint out of the cave in terror and confusion. And as they ran, Spike continued to glow, unable to stop as they continued to flee.
> Gauntlet of Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another peaceful, yet unordinary day in Ponyville. The town was abuzz about what had taken place earlier that day, as Princess Celestia and Luna had arrived by chariot and landed in front of the Castle of Friendship. Everypony was wondering why they were here, many believing they were in for another Tirek situation.

But that was far from the truth, as they were just here for a visit. Currently Flash, Twilight, Springer, Heart, Soul and the princesses were in the dining room, enjoying lunch. As they ate, Luna found herself more focused on the eggs Springer had brought in. "Hmm..." she went on while putting her ear on the blue egg, "I'm hearing a heartbeat. That's a good sign."

Springer sighed and shook his head, "I just wish I knew when they're gonna hatch." He placed a paw on the other one, "I can sense a spirit within them...a small yet vibrant flicker of aura." He gave Luna a long frown, "So why won't they come out?"

Luna put her hoof on the jakhowl's shoulder, "Do not worry so much young Springer. Every jakhowl is different. Some take only a few weeks in the egg, some take many months. All we can do is wait and pray."

"They have been in there for over two thousand years," Flash added, "I mean, if they've been in that long, maybe they don't want to come out. You know how you are sometimes when you don't wanna get out of bed."

The others raised an eyebrow at this, curious at the explanation before Luna turned back to Springer, "Either way, I hope you are prepared for when they eventually hatch. You'll have a lot to teach them."

"I know," Springer replied, nodding, "But it shouldn't be too hard, right?" He glanced over at Flash, "I wasn't much of a problem when I first showed up."

"True."

Luna shook her head at this, "Well, a tradition for the jakhowl was that the first thing they learn is the Aura Blast. You should start preparing on how you're gonna teach that."

"Wait...I have to teach them that?" Springer asked back, "Won't they automatically know it? I mean, I did. I just hatched and I knew how to make one."

Luna tilted her head at this, "No...it's usually something taught. Though some jakhowl were able to get it first try."

"Huh." Springer crossed his paws at this, "I hadn't thought of that. I just thought it all naturally. I mean, most of my abilities have been like that."

"You're not an ordinary jakhowl, Springer." Luna chimed in, "You are both the son of Sharp Paw, and your egg was both bathed in my magic and sealed with the Tree of Harmony. That is no basic origin for a jakhowl."

"I guess..."

It was here that Flash remembered something, making him speak up, "Say...is it even gonna be possible for these two to learn any aura attacks?" The others turned to him as he continued, "Remember? Those eggs are thousand years before you, and Faust said the jakhowl of those days weren't able to do anything more than communicate with their aura. They didn't learn to weaponize it for a few generations after the city vanished."

"That's true," Twilight added as she remembered seeing that in the movie. "They may simply not have the evolved the capability to do that." She turned to Springer, "You might find it impossible to teach them anything."

Springer grimaced at this, staring at the eggs. Seeing this, Celestia turned to Twilight and said, "You shouldn't make things sound so hopeless. I'm sure we'll figure something out if that's the case."

Twilight and Flash shared a glance before looking back at the princess, both saying in unison, "Sorry."

"Its fine. There are times where being more realistic is necessary, but not always." Celestia replied before turning to the youngest ponies, "Let's change subjects. So, how are you two settling into living in Ponyville?"

"It's great," Soul responded while shining a huge smile. "Everypony here is really nice, and we've made a lot of new friends!"

"And it's never boring!" Heart added. "There's always something happening around here! Like the pukwidge invasion, the seventh and eighth 'Renegade Farm Equipment Incident', and then there was one day where Pinkie tried to-mmph!"

Flash's hoof was now shoved into his student's mouth, "We don't talk about that, okay?"

"Right...sorry." Heart replied as Flash removed his hoof.

The two princesses raised eyebrows at this, only for Twilight to speak up, "But not everyday is super exciting. A lot of the time, it's calm and peaceful, which is why I'm so glad you two could come!"

"Of course," Luna responded, "We so rarely get a chance to relax and just visit."

Celestia nodded in agreement, "There's usually some crisis we have to deal with. Somepony always needs our help, but today-"

"HEEEEEEELP!" The group froze when they heard Rarity's scream, making them turn toward to door as it flew open. An absolutely filthy Rarity ran inside, carrying a glowing Spike in her magic. "Twilight! There's something wrong with Spike!" She floated him over to the table and plopped him down, everypony gasping at the sight.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked as she saw Spike scratching at his glowing scales.

"I don't know!" Spike yelped as he sat up, "All of a sudden my scales just started glowing and..." He began furiously scratching himself again, "Burning! Make it stop!"

"Did you fall in poison joke?" Flash asked, Spike shaking his head as Luna and Celestia shared a glance before nodding.

"Little is known about dragon culture," the princess of the moon replied, "But this is a phenomenon we've seen before. It is the call of the Dragon Lord."

Celestia nodded in agreement, "Dragons glow whenever the Dragon Lord has need of them in the Dragon Lands."

"Great..." Spike continued to cry, "H-h-how do I make it stop?!"

"The only way to end the summons is to answer it." Luna pointed at Spike, "You must journey to the Dragon Lands and see what is expected of you."

This statement made almost everypony in the room gulp, all but Heart and Soul knowing what happened last time they journeyed there.

"B-b-but the Dragon Lands are full of...dragons!" Rarity shivered, "And they're ghastly creat-" she stopped and turned back to a certain drake, "Oh, um, not you of course, Spike." She then grimaced, "But remember that rotten Garble?"

Spike couldn't help but gulp. "How could I forget? He would have burnt us to a crisp if you weren't there."

"Not to mention he tried to throw me into lava," Springer added, "Though that was also Shade's fault..."

"Doesn't sound like the nicest of ponies," Heart chimed in.

"He's a dragon." Flash replied. "Though uh...I'll explain the Shade thing later."

Spike let out a whimper at this before turning to Twilight, "But...if I have to go to the Dragon Lands..." He twiddled his claws at this, "I...don't wanna go alone. Could you all come with me?"

Twilight's eyes turned into stars, "Oh my goodness, I'd love to! We are sadly lacking any information on dragon culture and customs." She shut her eyes as she thought about all the stuff she would soon be learning. "I could research them, maybe even write an article! This could be my chance to make a great contribution to the knowledge of Equestria!" She paused, expecting round of excitement from everypony….only to open her eyes and see nothing but 'are you serious' looks. "And...be there for Spike of course."

"It is good to be happy over learning knowledge Twilight, but you will need to be very careful." Celestia told them. "The Dragon Lands are particularly dangerous for ponies. It would be wise to be discreet."

"Maybe you shouldn't all go," Springer suggested. "The more of you there are, the more chance one of you could end up getting found."

"He's right," Luna added, "But which of you will stay, and which of you will go?"

"Well, I'm definitely going," Twilight instantly replied.

"I wish to come too," Rarity firmly stated. If they could all read minds, they all would have heard her think that this would be a perfect chance to make things up to Spike.

"Sorry, but I'm staying behind," Flash chimed in while waving his hoof, "Iron would probably throw a fit if I left Ponyville again for who knows how long."

Twilight nodded and turned back to Spike. "Then it looks like it's the three of us."

"Four," Heart added.

"Five," Soul corrected while the others turned to them with wide eyes. "What? We wanna come too."

"Yeah!" Heart nodded, "I'd love to see what a real dragon is like."

"Hey!" Spike barked.

"You two aren't coming," Twilight instantly told them. "It's far too dangerous."

"Awww," the twins cried, "But we wanna help Spike! We're small, so it wouldn't be hard to hide."

"Plus, I'm fireproof. Even if a dragon did spot us, I wouldn't be in any trouble. And I could fight against them myself." Heart added while puffing his chest, Twilight rolling her eyes as the two came together and gave her the saddest puppy-dog face they could create. "Pleeease?"

"Ahhhhh," Twilight grimaced, trying to resist, only to sigh, "Fine! You can come. Just stop that already." The twins cheered, high-hoofing as the others rolled their eyes. "But you stay close, and if things look like they're gonna get dangerous, I'm teleporting you both back here. Understand?"

They nodded back, both grinning in excitement. At the same time, Rarity turned to Twilight, "I'm sure I still have the dragon costume we used the last time we snuck into the Dragon Lands! The four for us should be able to fit inside it no problem."

She let out a giggle next, only to see Twilight staring at her, "No offense Rarity, but I think we might want something a little more practical this time."





After a day of preparations, and Spike taking an oatmeal bath to try and stop the itching, the ponies had everything they needed to hide in plain sight. Saying goodbye to their friends and family, which consisted of Rainbow complaining she didn't get to go while Heart and Soul did, the five teleported to the outskirts of the Dragon Lands. Once there, they found a bunch of other dragons flying in the same direction, each glowing as they began to gather at a single location. That location was a bunch of rock positioned in a circular stadium-like fashion, with a giant stack in the middle shaped like a throne. Many dragons were perched around this area, each properly spaced out so as to not be near another.

"Hmmm..." Spike hummed before being pulled from his thoughts as he looked down at the rock he was sitting on. The boulder wasn't actually real, but instead a cardboard box with four eye-holes, allowing the mares inside to see out of it.

"Well, this may be practical, but this disguise isn't flattering in the slightest!" Rarity hissed.

"It's not supposed to be flattering!" Twilight told Rarity in a hushed tone. "It's supposed to blend in!"

"At least you two have a big enough rock," Heart's voice came out of the rock next to theirs, a slightly smaller one with four more eye-holes. "Soul, your wing is poking into my sides."

"Ow!" Soul then cried, "That's my tail!"

"Hey!" Twilight barked, "Don't make me come in there. I'll send you back right now." The two went quiet at this. "That's better. Now, let's-" she didn't get to finish as Spike saw something that made him shush them all.

The reason was a certain group of dragons walking up, Garble leading the pack as he laughed, "Hey-hey, look! It's our old friend, Sparkle-warkle."

"It's Spike," the little dragon growled.

"Are you sure your pony friends didn't give you a pony name?" Garble cackled, his friends laughing while Spike simply rolled his eyes.

"It's nice to see you too, Garble."

"I didn't say it was nice to see you!" Garble hissed, "Cuz it's not." Before Spike could react, Garble slapped him off Twilight and Rarity's rock costume before jumping onto it. "I don't like you. Was I not clear about that?" Spike sat up and looked down at the fake rock, seeing through the eye-holes two pained looks on the ponies eyes.

"Hey! That's my rock!"

"Oh really? Then why aren't you sitting on it?" The other dragons laughed as Garble pointed at the rock Heart and Soul were hiding in. "A puny dragon should only sit on puny rocks. Like that one." One of his friends moved behind it as he continued, "So why don't you sit on it, away from me!" With that, the other dragon slammed its tail into the rock, sending it flying.

Heart and Soul did their best not to make a sound while Spike, Twilight and Rarity watched in horror as it bounced down the stone steps. They soon came to a stop when they accidentally crashed into a dragon, almost knocking him over. "WHOA!" He yelped, falling over at the blow.

Heart and Soul looked through the holes at the dragon they had hit, now seeing it was one as tall as Garble, though not as muscly. He was mainly grey with white running down his chest, along with spines and a tail spike that was navy blue. A pair of brown ram-like horns were coming out of his head, and the insides of his wings were also navy blue. The dragon growled as he got up, glaring at the rock before glancing up at the ones responsible.

Spike gulped as the dragon picked up the rock and flew up, Twilight preparing to teleport the kids if things got bad. But as he landed and dropped the rock, Heart and Soul barely managing to muffle a groan, he crossed his arms. "Do you mind?!"

"Actually, I do mind!" Garble instantly barked back, "What are you even doing here, Flicker? Shouldn't you be off digging up some old rock or something?"

"The dragon lord summoned me, just the same way he summoned you." He then glanced at the rock he was sitting on, raising his eyebrow again. "It was either come here or be a walking nightlight for the rest of my life."

"Whatever. Why don't you and this twerp get lost?! Maybe you can talk about useless boring stuff like friendship and old rocks."

Flicker and Spike glanced at each another, Flicker smirking while Spike just raised an eyebrow. But before they could say anything, the area was suddenly shrouded by something that blocked out the sun. They all turned toward the source, Spike and the ponies gasping at the sight.

"Now that's a dragon," Heart whispered as he stared at the largest dragon any of them had ever seen. He was a combo of orange and dark blue, wearing dark armor and had a ring around his horn. Spike stared at him while also glancing to his side and seeing Garble and his friends now shaking in fright. Flicker was the same, only for Spike to notice another dragon that was flying beside him, this one being light blue and about the same size as Garble. And it also appeared to be...female.

The giant dragon landed on a rock in the center of the rock circle, settling down before taking a deep breath, "Dragons of Equestria, hear me! I have been Dragon Lord for longer than many of you can remember, and my reign has been extraordinary!" A long pause happened after this, silence taking over as the dragon growled, "AGREE WITH ME!"

The dragons quickly began to yell and cheer, eventually chanting the same thing, "Torch! Torch! Torch! Torch!" The dragon named Torch raised his claw and they stopped.

"Who is that?" Spike asked, Garble rolling his eyes.

"It's Dragon Lord Torch, dummy."

Spike shook his head, "No, next to him."

"That's his daughter, Princess Ember. I wouldn't even look at her if I were you, unless you want Torch to eat you!"

Spike gulped at this, only for Flicker to roll his eyes, "He wouldn't eat you. At most, he'd tell you to never look at her again, and if you did, then he'd likely banish you someplace you wouldn't want to be. You know, somewhere without any gems to snack on or any lava to swim in."

"This is fascinating!" Twilight whispered, "Dragons are notoriously reckless, but they do whatever the Dragon Lord says!"

"Huh." Garble chuckled, "A place with no gems and lava would probably sound perfect for this loser. He's spent his whole life living around ponies."

This caught Flicker's attention, making him look down at Spike before his eyes blinked at the 'rocks'. "Is that so?"

"Unfortunately," their attention was pulled back to Torch, "According to dragon law, it is time for me to step down. Sad, I know." The dragons were quiet again before the dragon yelled, "BE SAD!" The dragons began crying and blubbering before Torch raised his claw again. "Now, this is why I have summoned you! To compete for the throne...in the GAUNTLET OF FIRE!"

"Of course," Flicker sighed while the others cheered, now seeing Torch hold up a strange looking staff made of rock that had a red crystal on the end.

"Whomever has the strength and fortitude to retrieve this bloodstone scepter from the heart of the flame-cano will be crowned LORD OF THE DRAGONS!" With that, he turned away before flicking the staff into the air.

Every...dragon, watched as it soared through the sky, over an area of ocean, then toward an island with a strangely shaped mountain on it. The staff fell into the opening of the mountain, which spewed out a stream of fire along with a red wave of energy. When that energy flew over them, the dragons were all reverted back to normal. Spike sighed in relief, his scales no longer burning.

"What just happened?" Heart asked.

"When the scepter disappeared, the dragons stopped glowing!" Twilight added before pulling out a book and a quill. "We are learning so much!"

She started writing, the feather of her quill beginning to tickle Rarity's nose. The unicorn tried to fight against it, but it was useless, quickly making a very weak sneeze. The sound was loud enough for the dragon to hear, all but Spike looking around as the little dragon panicked. "Uh..." he rubbed his nose, "Excuse me!"

"Ugh," Garble leapt off the rock, "You even sneeze like a pony!"

He and his friends began to walk off after that, Flicker staying as he kept his gaze on the little dragon. While this happened, Torch spoke up again, "The Gauntlet is dangerous, for I designed it myself! Only dragons with my ferocity, strength, and determination will be able to finish. We will gather at the cliff when the sun is at its peak!"

The dragons cheered while Spike slid up to Twilight and Rarity, whispering so as to not be heard.

"I don't want to be Dragon Lord or dragon toast, and I stopped glowing, so let's sneak out of here!" He grabbed Heart and Soul's rock, Twilight using her magic to make them levitate before he put it on top of the larger one.

The drake began to push both away, getting about ten feet before Torch called out, "Where do you think you're going, little dragon?!" Spike stopped as the other dragon leapt away from him, giving Torch a clear view of him. Spike spun around, looking up at Torch as sweat began pouring down his face.

"Oh, uh, hi, your Lordship. Uh, I was just going home!" Spike squeaked out, only for Torch to fly up and lean down, lowering himself to eye-level with the baby dragon. The sight made Spike wanna curl up into his stomach, now seeing that some of Torch's teeth were bigger than him.

"You don't get to leave unless I say you can!" Torch roared, Spike's body shaking from the sound of his voice. As this happened, Flicker and Ember flew down beside Torch.

"Dad, stop it." Ember chimed in as she ruffled his head spikes, "Look at him, he's just a runt."

"I wouldn't say he's a runt," Flicker corrected. "He's just young. Look," he picked Spike up and turned him around to show Torch his back. "He hasn't even molted yet." He stared at Spike. "What are you, ten?"

"Eleven," Spike corrected while crossing his arms, "Almost twelve."

"Exactly," Flicker dropped him, "He's only in his Tiny Tooth stage of life. Maybe you should have only summoned the dragons that are Short Wings or older."

Ember nodded in agreement, "Besides, he doesn't even wanna compete. Let him go."

Torch smirked while pulling his head back. "He is rather tiny, heh-heh. I could squish him with my pinky claw." He let out a chuckle, Spike nervously doing the same before Torch growled at him. "That wasn't a joke, it was a fact! When I want you to laugh, I will say BE AMUSED!"

"Of course, your Lordship!" Spike exclaimed, "I, uh, guess I don't understand dragon customs. Another reason why I shouldn't compete."

Torch sighed, "Very well then, little dragon. I release you."

"Thank you!" Spike nodded before turning to Ember, "And thank you." He winked while Ember rolled her eyes before flying off, Flicker turning to him.

"Why don't I give you a claw moving these?" Flicker asked as he began to push the rocks.

"Oh no, I got it."

Flicker shook his head, "Nah, I could use a workout. Besides," he then whispered, "Ponies can be quite heavy." This made Spike go wide-eyed, the ponies doing the same as Flicker began to push them away. Spike caught up and did the same, getting the fake boulders away as they then heard Torch yell something at Ember.

"I SAID NO!" They turned to see the princess getting thrown back by the force of her father's yell.

When Ember came to a stop, she growled, "I hate when he does that!" With that, she flew off.

And when she was gone, Spike turned to Flicker, "Why are you helping us?"

"Why did you think it was a good idea to bring ponies here?" Flicker replied, "You're lucky I'm the only one that noticed these disguises aren't actually rocks."

"How did you figure that out?" Twilight quietly asked next.

Flicker gave the rock a glare, "That part is simple. You see...I'm not an idiot." The ponies growled at this, "Seriously, these things have giant eye-holes. How many rocks usually have those? It's a miracle you haven't been found out."

"That still doesn't answer my question," Spike chimed in, "Why are you helping us?"

"Again, I'm not an idiot. If you all got found out and burnt alive and that got back to Equestria, what's to stop those all powerful alicorns from showing up slamming the sun and the moon down on us?" The ponies shared glances at the thought of Celestia and Luna doing that. "Besides, why should I help Garble? You saw that the two of us don't get along at all."

"I noticed. But uh...why don't you?"

"I guess he's just jealous," Flicker chuckled, "Unlike him, I'm not scared to be myself around others." Spike raised an eyebrow, "I'll be kind to him and keep what I mean a secret. Let's just say there's another layer to Garble that he keeps hidden. As for me, I guess you would call me an archaeologist. I've always been fascinated by dragonic past. You can probably guess we dragons aren't big on reading and writing, so much of our history gets forgotten. Heck, no-dragon even knows who the dragon lord was before Torch."

"Fascinating," Twilight whispered inside the rock.

"Ha!" their attention was pulled toward one of Garble's friends. "When I become Dragon Lord, I will make burps an official greeting!"

"Seriously?! You?!" another dragon laughed, "Oh please! When I win, I will pillage Equestria for all their pillows! Why should these ponies be comfortable while we sleep on rocks?"

"That's nothing!" Garble pushed past them, getting their attention, "When I'm in charge, the first thing I'll do is get revenge on those puny ponies!" Spike and his friends' eyes shrunk at this, "They'll regret they ever crossed Garble! We'll take whatever we want from Equestria, and burn the rest!"

The others laughed and cheered at this, all walking away as Spike and his friends just gulped at this. "Oh, my gosh!" Twilight whispered.

"What do we do?" Soul asked.

"Please," Heart laughed, "Those dragons wouldn't stand a chance. Flash could take them down in a millisecond."

"But that still wouldn't be good," Twilight added, "It'll only make the dragons more angry, leading to more problems."

Rarity gulped at this, "Oh, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope that burping dragon wins!"

"None of them can win!" They turned to Spike, "Equestria's in big trouble if any of them are in charge!"

"But what can we do?" Twilight asked before glancing at Flicker. "You could try. I bet you would make a great dragon lord."

"No thanks," Flicker instantly replied, "Being dragon lord sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Sure I'll compete, but only enough to keep lord Torch happy."

The ponies glared at him, only for Spike to speak up, "There's only one thing to do, and only I can do it!" they turned to him, "I have to win the Gauntlet of Fire!"

This statement caused all the ponies to go wide-eyed, the four leaping out of their disguises. "What do you mean you have to win the Gauntlet?!" Rarity yelped.

"It's the only way to protect Equestria from the dragons," Spike responded, "You heard them! They have horrible plans for ponies if they win! So somehow, I have to do it!"

"Hold on there Spike, that's seriously dangerous thoughts you're going for there. There has to be another way," Twilight chimed in, "Besides, if you win...you'd have to stay here!"

Spike grimaced at this, only to sigh, "I know, but there's no other way to keep my friends safe."

This statement caused Flicker to go wide-eyed, surprise on his face as he stated, "You're one odd little dragon."

"And that's why we love him," Soul giggled as she hugged Spike for what might be the very last time.

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Well, if you're staying to compete, then we're staying to cheer you on!" The others nodded as well, only to look up and see the sun was almost peaked. The ponies grabbed their disguises, following him and Flicker toward a cliff where Torch and the other dragons were waiting.

Torch raised an eyebrow when he saw the little dragon join the group, "I thought I released you, tiny one!"

"I decided to compete," Spike replied, "I am a dragon, after all."

"Are you sure?" Garble cackled, "You can't even fly!" The other dragons all laughed, all except Flicker, Torch, and a green dragon that was wearing golden armor.

"Neither could you when you were his age," Flicker added, the laughter now vanishing, "If I remember correctly, you were the oldest tiny tooth for a long time until you molted."

The dragons laughed again, Garble growling at Flicker until Torch spoke up, "All dragons are welcome to compete, but they do so at their own peril! Flying to Flame-cano Island is the first of many challenges you will face in your quest to find the bloodstone scepter!"

With that, he let out a roar and a burst of fire that seemed to signal the start of the challenge. The dragons quickly turned toward the island and took off, Garble turning to Spike and held out a claw. "Good luck!" Spike went to shake it, but Garble pulled away. "Just kidding. I hope you lose." He then slammed Spike with his tail, knocking him off the cliff.

The little dragon screamed as he hit the water, surfacing a moment later and spitting out some water. "Thanks, Garble!" He sarcastically yelled, "I was planning on swimming anyway!"

"You can do it, Spike!" He turned to Rarity's voice, now seeing a load of seaweed floating on the water, Twilight, Rarity, Heart and Soul sticking their heads out and smiling. But as they did this, the water in front of them suddenly exploded as a giant sea-snake like creature flew out and fired a hydro pump attack into the air. This struck the dragon right above it, sending it flying over the horizon.

"That could be a problem," Heart gulped before Flicker flew down.

"Need a claw," he picked the dragon up and began flying toward the island.

"Why are you helping me?" Spike asked.

"I might not want to be dragon lord, but I'd rather you be it then Garble." Spike blinked at him, staring to understand before looking down and spotting bubbles right beneath them. "Turn left!" Flicker quickly did this, avoiding a burst of water.

But as this happened, Garble was almost struck by a blast of water, but he managed to pull back before it hit him. Instead, he slammed into the armored green dragon, knocking him down toward the water.

"He's gonna drown!" Spike gasped before pulling himself out of Flicker's grip, quickly diving into the waves.

"SPIKE!" Twilight screamed as she saw the other dragon about to become fish food. But after a few seconds, bubbles appeared on the surface before it was broken by Spike as he pulled the dragon above the water. He gasped for air before starting to swim toward the island, Flicker flying down and grabbing the armored dragon's shoulder to help. As they did this, Twilight saw the water start to turn green, a trail soon going to the armored dragon, whose wet scales were now turning blue as the green slid off it.

"Paint?" Soul asked.

"Come on! We gotta help them!" Heart yelled, now seeing the other dragons getting further away. Twilight used her magic to teleport them onto the beach of the Flame-cano, now seeing Spike and Flicker dragging the half conscious dragon out of the water, now seeing the dragon turn into a very familiar shade of blue.

"Hey, you okay?" Spike asked as the dragon began to cough, the drake grabbing the dragon's helmet and pulling it off. As he did this, he and Flicker gasped, "Princess Ember?!"

The young dragoness glared at the two as she picked herself up. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Only saving your ungrateful scales!" Rarity screeched, only to put a hoof over her own mouth.

"Did that seaweed just talk?" Spike and Flicker's eyes shrunk as Ember moved over to the pile, grabbing the seaweed to reveal the four hidden beneath the pile. "Ponies?!" She staggered back, "What are they doing here?!"

"They're my friends!" Spike replied as he ran up to her.

"Friends?!" Ember raised an eyebrow, "Dragons don't do friends!"

"Well, this dragon does."

"It seems he was raised by ponies," Flicker added. "Not sure how a dragon egg found its way there, but I'm sure weirder things have happened."

"Whatever." Ember growled as she grabbed her helmet, "I don't care as long as none of you get in my way. I have a Gauntlet to win." She turned to leave, but Spike's words made her stop.

"But I thought your dad said that-"

"I don't care what my dad said!" She yelled while turning to glare at him. "I'll show him and every dragon who thinks I'm just a little princess! There are better things than being big and strong!"

It was then they heard a growling noise, looking up to see a large wingless dragon on a ledge of the mountain. It tossed a boulder upward, slamming it into Garble. He screamed as the rock flattened him, trapping him beneath it.

Ember was quick to put on her helmet while Twilight recovered the ponies with the seaweed and Spike tried to hide behind the pile. Garble tried to push the rock off of him, but was unable to move. As such, he looked up and saw Spike, Ember and Flicker. "Don't leave me here, Spike!"

Spike stared at him for a moment, only to sigh as he started to walk up to the dragon. "You're helping him?!" Flicker asked, "All he's done is insult you!"

"Maybe...but if I don't help him, I'll be no better than him."

The statement made Ember and Flicker glance at each other, only to see Spike push the rock off. Once he was free, Garble laughed as he picked himself up. "Knew you'd do it. Your pony friends made you soft." He swept the sand up with his tail and buried Spike, the drake glaring at him from under the pile.

"Uh-huh. You're welcome."

"For what?! I didn't say thank you!" He barked back, only to stop as he began to sniff the air, confusion appearing on his face. "Wow, you even smell like ponies." He turned away and sniffed again, "Or is it coming from over there?" He moved over to the seaweed covered ponies, the four beginning to shake.

However, Ember suddenly grabbed him by the snout and pushed him away. "That's just me. I uh, robbed some ponies on my way over here."

"Huh," Garble replied, "I like your style." He then squinted his eyes at the armor and helmet, the lack of paint now sticking out, "Say...have I met you before? You kind of look like-" He didn't get to finish as Spike leapt infront of her.

"My uh, old neighbor! Um..." He looked around for something to give him a name, "Sandy...Rockbeach!" Another grunt made them look up and see the catapult dragons throwing more rocks down.

"Stupid slingtails knocked me down!" Garble growled before glaring at Spike. "But I've wasted enough time making small talk." He laughed and poked Spike, "Get it? Because you're too small to win this!" He walked off, "I'm funny."

He flew off again, Ember removing her helmet to turn to Spike, "Why did you cover for me? You could've had one less competitor."

"I could ask you the same thing," Spike replied, "You could've told Garble about my friends."

Before Ember could reply, a scream made them turn back to see more dragons getting knocked down by the slingtails, Ember flinching at every hit. "Yikes. That looks rough. But that's what makes it a challenge."

"Are you kidding?! Those boulders are huge!" Spike yelped before turning to Ember, a new idea hopping into his head, "Say, what if we worked together?" Ember raised an eyebrow at this as Spike continued, "You could fly me up there, and I'll help look out for boulders, like a second set of eyes!"

"Pssst!" Rarity's voice hissed through the air, making him turn to the seaweed pile. He poked it in response, only for it to fall apart, "Spike!" Rarity's voice made him look up to now see Twilight and Rarity were now in a tree disguise while Heart and Soul were back in their rock getup.

"Seriously?!" Flicker yelled.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to team up with Ember?" The fashionista asked, "You don't know her too well."

"I do know she could've told Garble about you, but she didn't." He turned back to the princess, "I think we can trust her."

Twilight and her book popped out of the top of the tree. "Her behavior does seem contradictory to everything I've noted about dragons so far."

"Why not just stick with Flicker?" Heart asked next, "He's already willing to help."

"I'd prefer to stay away from those things," Flicker responded while pointing at the slingtails. "Honestly, I'm not the most agile of flyers. Even if Spike wants me to help, I doubt I could dodge them in time."

"Hey!" Ember spoke up, "You uh...little fella!" They turned back to her, "I've thought about it, and your plan makes sense. Let's do it."

"Really?" Spike ran up to her side, "Great!" He held out his claw, "it's a deal!"

Ember stared at him for a moment before grabbing a single finger and shaking it. "Just so you know, this doesn't mean we're gonna pick flowers or exchange necklaces or whatever pony friends do." She turned and walked away, Spike smirking as he followed her.

"Good luck! We'll meet you at the top." Twilight said as Spike leapt onto Ember's back, the two taking to the skies. As they left, Twilight spun around, "Alright, let's get up there."

"Are you gonna teleport us again?" Heart asked, getting a nod from Twilight.

But before she could, Soul spoke up, "Hey, what's that?" She then pulled Heart over to a wall, now finding an opening to a cave. They saw it would go deep inside, so deep there was nothing by darkness.

"Cool!" Heart yelled as his voice echoed into the tunnel.

"Huh," Flicker added as he walked over to them, "That's odd. I've never heard of a cave around here."

But as he said this, a slingtail launched a rock upward. The boulder hit part of the mountain, splitting the rocks apart before hitting the side of the mountain. A shake from the mountain came next, the smashing boulders causing parts of the mountain to crumble before forming a rock slide that began to fall straight for them. Twilight and Rarity gasped at the sight as Flicker looked up. Going wide-eyed, he quickly tackled the two into the cave, the three rolling down it as the rocks hit the entrance, covering the entrance.

"NOOOOO!" Twilight cried, leaping out of the disguise and running over to the rock slide as the final stone fell, "SOUL! HEART!"

"Oh dear," Rarity pulled the tree over to her, "Did Flicker get them inside in time?!"

"I don't know," Twilight replied as she tried to remove the rocks with her magic. But when she pulled one free, the whole thing started the shake until she put it back. "That's not gonna work." She let out a long gulp, "Heart...Soul..."





Flicker and the twins moaned as they opened their eyes, though it would have been just as effective to keep them closed with how dark the place was. "You two okay?" Flicker asked, both letting out a groan.

"I'll live," Heart muttered.

"I'm okay too," Soul replied, "But I can't see. What do we do?"

"Don't some ponies come with built in flashlights?" Flicker asked, making Soul gulp when she realized what he meant.

"That uh...might not be such a good idea," she responded, "If I try that, I might end up bringing more of the mountain down on us."

"Yeah...don't do that."

"I got it," Heart chimed in as his body ignited, Flicker leaning back at the sudden sight of the flaming colt.

"How did...eh, whatever. You ponies are already weird, don't need to know more." Flicker grumbled as he looked away, turning to see that the tunnel curved off a few feet away. Behind them, a large pile of rocks were packed together, all blocking the cave's entrance. The sight made the dragon sigh, "We must have fallen deep beneath the flame-cano. And it looks like the way out is blocked."

"Well then, let's unblock it," Heart added, only for Flicker to grab him.

"Hang on there. These rocks are packed together, and they're stopping the ones behind them from falling. If you remove even one, the whole thing could collapse and we'd be buried. Trust me, I've had problems with that before when digging."

"So what do we do?" Soul asked next, Flicker turning to the other side of the tunnel.

"The only thing we can do. Head down this cave and hope any other exit isn't blocked off." The ponies nodded and began to follow him, only for Soul to accidently kick something. She glanced down, now seeing their disguise on the ground. The fall had ripped it apart, Soul amazed she and Heart weren't actually hurt.

"I hope Spike and the others are doing okay," the alicorn whispered as they kept moving.

"Too bad we didn't bring any paper," Heart sighed. "Then Flicker could send Spike a message." Flicker turned to him with a raised eyebrow, "What?"

"How could I send Spike a message?"

"Well...you know," Heart shrugged, "Dragon mail."

"Dragon...mail?"

"Yeah! Spike does it all the time," Heart replied, "He uses his breath to burn something, and the ashes fly to whoever he wants. When they get there, they turn back to the thing he burnt." Flicker's eyebrow kept raising, making Heart ask, "You can't do that?"

"No. Heck, I don't know any dragon who can do that," Flicker responded, "Your friend Spike is a very curious dragon, especially if he can do something like that."

"Huh." Heart said before turning to Soul, the alicorn shrugging. "Guess we'll just have to do this the hard way and find a way out."





Several chambers up, Spike and Ember walked into a large cavern that was filled with lava pools. The two had managed to work together and get past all the traps and obstacles, their teamwork allowing them to get further then any other dragon.

"Oh," The two turned to see a pair of rocks with eye-holes, "you made it!" Rarity sighed in relief. "Oh, we were so worried!"

"About us?" Spike scoffed, "That tunnel was cake!"

That is, till he let out a groan and slumped over while Ember raised an eyebrow. "Wait....how did you two get through?"

"No time to explain," Twilight replied, "Flicker and the twins are in danger." This made Spike quickly get back up, "They fell into some kind of underground tunnel."

"What?! We gotta find them!" But as he yelled that, the cavern around them began to shake. This made Rarity lose her hoofing, her costume staggering back as she did this. Spike gasped as he saw the pony about to fumble towards the edge of a cliff. "RARITY!" He ran up and grabbed the rock costume, seconds before she could fall over the edge. And as he pulled her back, one of the lave pools exploded.

"Oh dear," Rarity gulped before turning to give Spike a smile despite her face masked by the costume, "Thanks, Spike!"

Spike let out a sigh of relief as Rarity and Twilight tried to give him a hug, though all they did was lean up against him. A blush graced his face as felt Rarity try, making him stutter out, "Aw...it was nothing."

"Nothing?!" They turned back to Ember, "You just risked everything to save her! And they're putting themselves in danger just to support you!"

"Well, that's just what friends do." Spike replied while shrugging, "Don't you have anyone who looks out for you?"

"No, not really," Ember looked away. "Unless I count you." She glanced back at him for a second, Spike showing a small smile as she glanced away again, "Which I don't! Because we were only helping each other get through the tunnel, and now we're through the tunnel, so that's it!"

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

Ember turned back to poke him in the chest. "Well, there's only one winner, one scepter, and one Dragon Lord. So I guess it's every dragon for themselves."

"Oh..." Spike slouched. "So we...aren't really friends?"

"Maybe if we were in Ponyland," Ember growled as she turned away. "But like I said, dragons don't do friendship." She took a few steps away, only to glance back at him, "I hope you find the others. Most of these caves are all one way, so they should find their way here...eventually." She took off next, Spike sighing as he watched her go.

After a few seconds, he turned back to his friends, "Come on," he headed in the opposite direction. "Let's go find Heart and Soul." Rarity and Twilight heard the hurt in Spike's voice, knowing they wanted to tell him to go after her and try to make things right...but they had bigger issues. The safety of their friends.





Meanwhile...

Flicker and the twins were still making their way through the underground tunnels, going down one path with no splits or alternate routes. Thankfully that meant they weren't technically lost, but they found no daylight in the continuous tunnels.

The dragon hummed as he held his claw up, the twins raising an eyebrow, "I'm not feeling a breeze, so this cavern probably doesn't lead outside." This made the foals gulp as he continued, "But we haven't had any trouble breathing...that means there must be some kind of air source replenishing what we've used up. As long as we don't run into any issues, we should eventually find our way out of here."

"I hope you're right," Heart added as he ran ahead of Flicker to light the way. "Twilight's probably worried sick." He turned to walk backward, "At this rate, she'll never let us go on another adventure like this."

"I think we have bigger issues than going on another adventure," Soul replied while giving him a flat stare, "Like, surviving to the end of this one."

"We'll be fine. It's not like we're in any real-DANGER!" Heart screamed as the ground beneath him suddenly vanished, Flicker and Soul gasping. He quickly spread his wings, stopping his descent before looking down and seeing he was now only a foot or so off the ground. "That was close." He stopped flying and landed, looking back up to see Flicker and his sister staring down at him from a hole in the wall.

Both flew down with Soul asking, "Are you okay?" Heart opened his mouth, only for Soul to not give him time to answer, "You see? This is what happens when you don't pay attention to what's around you."

Heart rolled his eyes while Flicker looked around, seeing they were now in a large cavern filled with holes. From what he could tell from the dim light, every wall had a certain number of holes, with the exception of one. It was the wall furthest from them, this one having some kind of carvings on it. Flicker walked up to it, causing Heart and Soul to follow him to light the wall up. This allowed him to see something attached to the far side of the wall, with was an unlit torch with a string coming off it that connected to a torch above it.

Flicker spat a fireball at the torch, lighting it and causing the string to burn. The flame went up it until it reached the other torch and set that on fire before moving onto the next one. This went on until every torch on the wall was alight, creating an archway with the highest being about fifteen meters off the ground. The light from the flames illuminated the entire wall, allowing them to see it in all its glory.

"Wooooow," was all the three of them could say, Heart changed back to normal as they stared at it.

The wall was covered in carvings that were filled with some kind of paint, allowing them to see the images brilliantly. On the wall was images of different dragons, seven to be precise. Each appeared to be a different shape and color. There was one with no arms, but very large wings. One with no wings that stood on four legs. One that appeared more serpentine then anything and a few more. Six of the dragons were circling one in the middle, this one being a black quadrupedal dragon with large wings and red eyes. The other six dragons were staring at it, Soul's artistic skills allowing her to see a look of anger on their faces.

Every dragon also had some kind of mark on it, some having two, being a series of lines that made up a bizarre, undescriptive shape. Similar shapes lined the walls, though these were much smaller and in groups.

"What is it?" Heart asked.

"Some kind of mural," Flicker replied. "It must be...hundreds of years old."

"I thought you said dragons don't chronicle their history?" Heart responded while Soul squinted at the images.

"Normally..." Flicker said with a nod, "Whatever it's depicting, it must have been considered important enough to make this."

"I think it's some kind of battle." They turned to Soul, the filly staring at every piece of the image, "You can tell from their eyes. These dragons are about to fight the one in the middle."

"You might be right," Flicker flew back to take in the whole image. "But I've never even seen dragons like these before. Whatever they are, the species must have left Equestria a long time ago."

"What do you think those symbols mean?" Heart asked while pointing to the marks lining the wall, Flicker flying up to them.

"These are...ancient draconic."

"Can you read them?"

"I can barely read normal draconic," Flicker replied. "But...some of the images look familiar." He focused on the larger marks, racking his brain as he continued, "I think..." He pointed to the serpentine dragon, "This one means tree." He turned to the one with no arms, staring at the mark. "This one says storm." He looked down at the wingless dragon, "This one means metal." He moved to the dragon at the top of the circle, "This one, I believe is light." He flew down to another dragon, which had two symbols. "Shining...earth?" The last two also had two symbols, the one at the bottom of the circle having the same symbol as the storm one, but the symbol in front of it was a very difficult word. "Err...that's a tough one. Maybe...magic or something like that?" He looked up at the dragon in the center of the image and saw it had the same magic symbol, but the one after that symbol was the ancient dragon word for night.

"I don't get it," Heart instantly responded.

"Me neither," Flicker added, "This warrants further investigation, but for now, let's focus on finding a way out." The two nodded and were about to turn away, but then Soul noticed something in the corner.

"Hey, What's that?" The two followed her hoof, now seeing another image at the bottom of the wall. It was a lot smaller than the others, this one showing a different shape. "Is that...a pony?"

It was a pony. A colorless unicorn with what appeared to be a stone tablet floating next to him. The pony had two symbols on him, the second one Flicker unable to recognize, but the first he had a vague idea of. "Spiraling? Strange...." He looked at the tablet and saw a symbol on it, "Being?"

"Being what?" Heart asked.

"No idea," Flicker shrugged. "That's just the word this symbol means." It was then he saw a bit of paint next to the tablet. It was faded, but it appeared to be a white...river of some kind that was coming off the tablet. He looked along the rest of the wall, seeing the similar designs while the paint had faded away. From what he could tell, it was meant to be one long stream connecting the book to...the central dragon. "Curious." He didn't get to think about it anymore, since the torch lights finally died down, engulfing them back into the darkness.

Heart was about to ignite himself, but before he could, something caught his eye. It was another light, this one coming from a ground level hole, though it was so dim he hadn't noticed it while the other lights had been there. And when he trotted over, they saw the source was at the other end of a long straight tunnel.

"Do you hear that?" He said as they walked over and listened into the tunnel, only to hear a muffled scream.

"Is that Spike?" Soul asked, Heart and Flicker nodding before the three ran down the tunnel.

When they reached the end, they found they were in a large cavern filled with stalagmites and stalactites. There was a large stone bridge above them, running through the center of it with a bunch of crystals piled up on the very end. And on that bridge were Spike and Ember, who appeared to be saying something to each other and smiling.

"We found them!" Heart cheered, only to then see Twilight and Rarity, but no longer in disguise. "What the-" They turned to see the two older ponies getting backed up to the edge of the bridge, Garble slowly walking up to them.

Heart reacted before anypony else, jumping out of the tunnel and taking off as his body ignited. Before anyone could say or do anything, he appeared behind Twilight and Rarity. "FIRE FORCE!" He thrust his hooves forward, unleashing a long stream of fire that hit Garble head-on.

"HEART!" Twilight and Rarity gasped as Soul and Flicker flew up, only to see Garble beat his wings, blowing Heart's flames away.

"Oh...right." Heart muttered, "Dragon." Garble hissed as he was about to charge at Heart, only to suddenly get body slammed into a wall by Ember.

Garble growled at this, only to see Spike running toward the crystal bed. A roar escaped his lips as he managed to overpower Ember, throwing her off him before flying after Spike. But as he got within inches of him, Ember grabbed his tail and pulled him back. Garble yelped in pain at the yank before spinning around and grabbing the princess, pushing her toward the ground.

Spike saw this, going wide-eyed as his gaze began switching between his friends and the crystal bed. His eyes narrowed at this, quickly running up to Garble's back before grabbing his ear and pulling.

"AUGH!" He roared before reaching back and grabbing Spike, instantly throwing him away. Spike hit the ground, rolling over to the edge, barely grabbing the side while Garble and Ember began to wrestle with one another. "I'm sick and tired of you two helping each other! Dragons don't do helping!"

"These dragons do!" Ember yelled back before she jumped over Garble and grabbed his wings. She then threw him with all her might, his body flying into the wall.

Garble groaned as he heard the ponies clapping, only to feel a weight land on top of him, pinning the dragon into the dirt. "Stay down!" Flicker cried before they all heard the chattering of other dragons that were coming up the tunnel. "Hide!" He told the ponies, Heart extinguishing his flames before jumping onto Twilight's back, Soul jumping onto Rarity's before they put their rock costumes back on.

As this was going on, Ember helped Spike up onto the bridge, Spike now seeing the prize across the crystal bed. "Whoa..." he whispered as he reached out and took the staff. Raising it high, he felt a sudden surge of energy before a beam of light exploded out of the crystal. That light flew through the hole in the roof and into the sky, signaling the crowning of a new Dragon Lord.

At this moment, Garble managed to throw Flicker off of him. Flicker fell to Ember's feet and as she got ready to fight another round. And as they were about to throw down, a sudden roar caught their attention.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Garble looked up, gasping as he saw who had said that...and what he was holding.

"What?!" He yelped, "You?! You have the scepter?! But that means that you're..."

"The Dragon Lord," Ember finished before bowing. "Dragon Lord Spike."

"Never a dragon more worthy," Flicker did the same, the rest of the dragons all bowing to their new king while Garble grumbled but did the same.

"Dragon...Lord...Spike..."

"That's right!" Spike said before grimacing, unable to figure out what to say. But as he did this, a certain thought entered his mind as he announced, "Uh...now, go start your long journey home. And give every dragon you see on the way a hug. Don't tell them why."

"Awww!" Garble cried, "But that'll be super embarrassing!"

"I command you to do it!" Spike pointed the staff at him.

"Does that count as an abuse of power?" Heart asked, only to see Garble hug a dragon and look even redder then he usually was. "Never mind. All hail Spike." They turned back to the little dragon as he jumped down, Ember smiling at him.

"Dragon Lord Spike. Hmm...has a nice ring to it." But then, Spike grabbed her claw and did something unexpected. He placed the scepter in her grasp.

"Dragon Lord Ember sounds a lot better." The energy that had been sent into him flew back into the staff, then flowed into Ember's body.

"What?!" She yelped as the power took hold. "No..." she held the scepter back at him, "You're the Dragon Lord now."

Spike pushed the scepter back, "The Dragon Lord is whoever brings the scepter back to your father! Besides, you'll make a great leader. I was just doing this to protect the ponies, but I know you'll protect them just as well as I would have."

Flicker laughed at this, "You truly are a remarkable little dragon." He turned to Ember, "Take it. Spike's still young. A tiny tooth like him shouldn't be burdened with all that responsibility, and he's right. You would make an excellent Dragon Lord."

Ember gave Spike one last unsure look. "You sure about this?"

"Absolutely," Spike nodded. "My home is in Equestria with my friends."

Ember smiled before holding the scepter tightly. "Well, you'll have at least one friend here too." It was then that Spike did something else she wasn't expected. He threw his arms around her waist and squeezed her tightly. "What are you doing?"

"It's called a hug!"

"Oh," Ember tried to reply, "I uh...don't know if I like it, but...okay." She blushed as Spike held her tighter, the new Dragon Lord patting him on the head while the ponies 'awwed' at the cute image.





Everything after that was a blur. Ember left with some of the other dragons to show her father she had won the title while Twilight teleported the ponies, Spike and Flicker back to the area that Torch was waiting. Her father hadn't been very happy to learn she had competed, but seeing as she had the scepter, he quickly got over it and announced Ember as the new official Dragon Lord.

Spike, Flicker and the ponies all smiled as they watched from the mountain top, Twilight turning to her number one assistant slash little brother, "You did well, Spike." The six turned to head back to Equestria as she continued, "With Ember as Dragon Lord, the ponies will be safe and you've gained us a powerful ally."

"And a new friend!"

"Think she can teach me some of those awesome throws she used on Garble?" Heart asked, the others laughing.

"Plus, she said I could write to her anytime I had questions about dragon culture!" Twilight cheered before turning to Flicker, "Though I guess you'd be a better source. I don't suppose-"

"I'm always happy to teach somepony what they want to know," Flicker replied, "Though it may take a while to get a response. Most dragons don't have magic mailing breath like Spike does."

This made Twilight, Spike and Rarity blink at him, now wondering why Spike could do it while others couldn't. "I'll have to talk to Celestia about that," Twilight commented before taking out her notebook. "But with this much information, I'll be able to write a whole book on dragons!"

Rarity nodded in agreement, "And I gained tons of ideas for a new line of camouflage clothing! I think I'll call it, Camo-Maud!" They all laughed as they got further away from the Dragon Lands, eventually reaching an area where they could safely teleport home without being seen.

"Well, I guess this is it."

"Indeed," Flicker replied, nodding, "I hope you all have a safe trip home."

"What are you gonna do now?"

"You're gonna go study that mural, aren't you?" Heart chimed in, Flicker nodding back.

"What mural?" Twilight asked, Heart and Soul replying with a long explanation. Twilight was now looking just as curious about it as Flicker was, debating whether or not to go back and look for herself. She eventually decided against it, Flicker promising to send whatever he learned about the mural to her when he could. And with that, Spike and the ponies gave their final goodbyes before teleporting home.





Several days later...

Flicker smirked as he used a rock to hammer up his last lamp, which was a glowing crystal with rope tied around it that was nailed into the wall. With that done, he turned back to the now well illuminated cavern that had a lamp nailed into several sections of the wall.

He had set up a campsite inside the cave, smiling as he knew he was about to spend several days studying the ancient wall art. "Alright, time to reveal what secrets you hold." Flicker chuckled before he began to record the ancient writing, hoping to reveal the truth behind the mural's inspiration.
> The Next Generation of Aura
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few months since Flash and his friends had returned from the Lost City of Faust. In that time, Springer had spent almost eighty percent of his time in the room they had designated for the sole purpose of keeping the eggs that he had received. Every day he would sit and stare at them, both sitting on a table, laying on the cushions that kept them safe. The jakhowl's eyes had several bags beneath them, the defender having very little sleep in the last few weeks.

"Must...stay...awake," he moaned as he sat cross legged with his chin in his paw. "Can't afford...to miss them." Slowly, his eyes began to drift shut. He blinked once, twice, three times before his eyes fell down, slipping into a gentle slumber...only to be instantly awakened by the door opening.

"Springer?"

His head shot up. "What the-I'm awake! I'm..." he let out a yawn, "Awake." He turned to the door to see Flash, Twilight, Heart and Soul.

"Hey bud," Flash replied as he walked into the room. "We were just...wondering how things are going?"

"Oh..." Springer glanced back at the eggs, "Things are going great. The eggs haven't exactly shown any signs of hatching, though that's not exactly out of the norm by now." He sighed, "Why won't they just hatch already?!"

"They will," Twilight assured him before noticing the bags under his eyes. "By the way, when was the last time you had a proper night's sleep?" She then heard a grumbling sound, "Or a proper meal?"

"I had an energy bar yesterday," Springer replied while weakly waving a paw at her, "And I had a nap earlier. Twenty minutes, plenty of time."

Flash and Twilight shared a glance at this, the alicorn's horn now shining, "Springer, you need to give yourself a break before you kill yourself."

"I'm fine..." Springer moaned before a magic aura grabbed him, levitating him upward, "Hey, stop! I can't leave now! What if they hatch while I'm gone?!"

"I highly doubt that'll happen," Flash responded, "If they haven't hatched yet, what are the odds that they pick right this second to hatch?"

"But what if they do?!" Springer yelped as he tried to move, "I don't want them to be alone when they hatch like I was!"

Those words made Flash and Twilight shiver, knowing what he meant. And as these words hit the others ears, Soul spoke up, "Hey, what if Heart and I keep an eye on them?" They turned to her at this, "We don't have anything to do today. We could watch them, and if they do anything, we'll call you."

"Yeah! Leave it to us!" Heart added while nodding.

Springer gave them a long glare, his eyes shifting between them and the eggs. "I don't-"

"I promise we'll keep a close eye on them, and even talk to them if you want us to do that." Soul interrupted while showing a big grin, the sight making Springer turn to Flash and Twilight, both nodded back at him.

Looking down to see he still couldn't move due to Twilight's magic, he let out a long sigh, "Fine...but I wanna be told if they even so much as shake." The two gave him a wing salute before he was pulled out of the room by Flash and Twilight, the two planning to shove as much food as they could down him before sending him to bed.

And so, Heart and Soul got comfortable, both looking over the eggs. It started with Heart flying to their rooms to get some of his comics and Soul's art supplies, the two deciding to take turns watching the eggs while the other did whatever they wanted.

Three hours later, Soul was now staring at the eggs while Heart was reading a comic. She took a cloth and began to slowly wipe the shell as she spoke up, "You know, there's a whole wide world out here just waiting for you. It has so many amazing sights and sounds, and so many kind ponies just waiting to meet you."

Heart chuckled at this, putting his comic down as he moved over to the blue one. "She's right. It's...ace out here," he didn't know why, but he just felt like that was a good word to describe it. "There's lots of great food and fun games to play, and there's always something happening to keep you on your hooves...er, wait-Springer said you have toes. Anyways, it's gotta be way cooler than sitting in your egg all day." He couldn't help but say it again, "It's ace."

Soul laughed before putting the cloth down and gently placed her hoof on the egg. "And there's somepony out here who really wants to meet you. Springer's spent almost every day waiting for you to hatch, because to him, you represent something super special. He's been alone in the world for a long time until now, and now you can be somepony to share his life as a jakhowl with." She pulled the egg closer, "You're more than just an egg. You're a new hope for the jakhowl species. You're a...miracle." Like Heart, she felt that was the perfect word to describe everything.

Then, as she began to rub the egg more...both suddenly began to glow.

"What the-what's happening?" Heart asked as he stared at the blue egg.

"I don't know," Soul whispered, blinking at the sight. "You don't think-"

"Yeah, it might be!" Heart yelped before running up to the room's door and yelling, "EVERYPONY! THE EGGS ARE GLOWING!" He knew he should go get them, but like Soul, he didn't want to look away from the eggs. "GET OVER HERE!" He ran back to the egg, staring at the blue one as the glowing continued on and off for several moments, the time between each glow getting shorter. And as they heard loud hoof-steps coming up the hallway, the glowing stopped pulsing and became one long glow.

The door flew open before Springer jumped inside, now wide-eyed as Flash, Twilight, Spike, Scootaloo and Starlight entered behind him. They all began to gather around the table as the glow got brighter, only for the sound of cracking suddenly filling the room as the egg shells slowly began to break apart. And as the light exploded off the eggs next, blinding them all for a second until their eyes adjusted, the group all gasped at the new sight on the table.

A pair of young jakhowl sat curled up in the egg cloths, both back to back with their faces tucked into their knees and their arms wrapped around their legs. The sight made them all gasp, seeing a mixture of black and blue like Springer on one while the other jakhowl was gold and black with a blue collar around its neck.

They didn't have time to question this new sight, as both began to unfurl themselves from their balled up shape and opened their eyes. Doing so revealed the golden one had blue eyes while the blue one's were green, both in contrast to Springer's normally orange eyes.

For the newly hatched jakhowls, their vision was blurry at first, focus barely solidifying as they began to stare at what was right in front of them. And that was a young pony's face smiling at them, Soul speaking up first as she stared at the golden jakhowl, "Hello there."

"What's up?" Heart added as he shined a smile at the blue one.

The two tilted their heads before speaking together. "Hello."

Heart, Soul and Springer smiled while the others raised an eyebrow, Starlight asking, "Um...did those things just bark? Why aren't they talking?"

Heart and Soul turned to her, blinking as Springer replied, "Oh...right. I forgot about that. When they're young, you can't understand them until their auras are stronger."

"What are you talking about?" Heart asked before pointing at the blue jakhowl, "It just said hello."

"That one did too," Soul added as she pointed at the gold one.

"You understand them?" Flash asked, Heart and Soul blinking at him.

"You don't?" Heart replied before seeing them all shake their heads, "Why?"

"They couldn't understand me when I first hatched either," Springer responded, "It was a while before I was able to communicate with anypony except Flash." His gaze then went to the two hatchlings, both of them looking around before glancing at each other. "If you two can understand them, your auras must be linked."

"Wow..." the twins whispered before turning back to the jakhowls. As they did this, the two jakhowls focused on Springer as he kneeled down and looked them in the eye.

"Can you two understand me?" The two stared at him for a moment before slowly nodding. "Good. My name is Springer. I'm the one who's been entrusted with your safety. Don't worry, I'll look after you and teach you everything you need to know about being a jakhowl."

The two just blinked at him, unsure looks on their faces. As they did this, Twilight spoke up, "Hang on there, there's still a few things we need to decide. First, I think Princess Luna will want to meet them." They all nodded at this, "Secondly, we're gonna need names for them."

Everypony turned to Springer, the jakhowl leaning back, "Uh...me?"

"Yeah. Didn't Princess Luna or Ruby tell you what usual traditional jakhowl names are?" Flash asked, only to get a shake of the head in response.

"No. I have no idea what to name them."

"Name?" The gold one asked, both hatchlings tilting their heads at this as Heart turned to the jakhowl in confusion.

"That's right," Soul responded, "A name is something you give to somepony to help you talk to them. My name is Soul, so if you wanted to get my attention, you would just say Soul, and I'd know you were talking to me."

"And I'm Heart," the colt told the blue one. "Pretty cool word, huh? I'm sure we'll think of something cool to call you two." The blue one tilted its head as a word seemed to echo in its head.

As that word spiraled around in his mind, Scootaloo spoke up. "Do we even know what they are?" The others turned to her as she continued, "I mean, are they both male or female or one of each? How do you tell?"

"That's...a good question." Twilight replied before glancing at Springer. "Is there a way to tell?"

"Hmmm...give me a sec." Springer added as he placed his paw on the blue one, making it shiver as his paw lit up with a calm blue aura flame, "This one's male," he commented before putting his paw on the gold one, "And she's female."

"How do you know that?" Heart asked, Springer smiling.

"I can tell through their auras." He replied before rubbing his chin, "Now about your names..."

"Ace," suddenly said a voice, everypony turning to the blue one.

"What did he say?" Soul asked, having only heard a bark.

"You didn't hear him?" Heart responded, Soul shaking her head. "He said the word ace." He turned back to the jakhowl, "Why did you say that?"

"It...is...familiar," the blue one slowly said. "I...do not...know why."

"Ace..." Flash whispered, "Anypony else feel like that's a good name for him?"

The others exchanged glances, low hums and nods coming next as Springer kneeled down at the blue jakhowl, "Is that what you want to be called?" The blue jakhowl blinked at him, slowly nodding back. "Then Ace it is. I just wish I knew why you picked it."

Heart's brain then clicked, "I think I know." They turned to him. "I was speaking to Ace's egg just before it hatched. And when I did, I used that word once or twice."

"So it heard you from within the egg?" Starlight asked with a raised eyebrow, "That's possible?"

"Must be." Twilight added, "It is said that some animals have been discovered to be able to hear from within their eggs. I guess jakhowls can do it too."

After hearing this, Springer turned to the golden one. "Now, what to call you?"

Soul wagged her tail as she leaned up to her, "Is there a word in your head you like? Anything at all?" The golden jakhowl turned to her before closing her eyes, shifting her head from left to right.

And in the next few seconds, she started to stutter something out. "Me...meer...Mira-"

"Mira?" Soul interrupted, "Is that what you want to be called?" The jakhowl gave her a frown, Soul seeing this before remembering a word she had told the egg. "Miracle?" The jakhowl's eyes went wide before nodding, "That's what you wanna be called?"

"Miracle?" Twilight whispered before smiling, "That's a beautiful name."

Springer looked into her eyes, "Is Miracle the name you want?"

Miracle slowly nodded, "Yes. But...Mira sound nice too."

Springer shined a big grin, "Alright then. Miracle will be your proper name, and Mira can be a...nickname. Sometimes my friends call me Spring."

"They do?" Spike asked, only for Twilight to hit his head with her wing, the look she gave him saying 'don't ruin the moment.'

"Okay," Springer stood up, "Then that's your names. Ace and Mira, welcome to Equestria."

The two blinked at him, both replying in unison, "What's...Equestria?"





What followed was a barrage of experiments and other things for the two. Like Springer when he first came to be, they didn't have any understanding of the world around them, curiosity taking over as they tried to find out any new thing they could get their paws on. They could also talk to Springer and the twins, their speech slowly improving. The others quickly realized Heart could understand Ace but not Mira while Soul could understand Mira and not Ace, while Springer could understand them both. But unlike Springer, they didn't seem to be overly cautious around anypony. They had expected the two to scan the group's aura like Springer had done in the past...but they didn't. They didn't appear to be scared of anything.

The ponies quickly taught them several key needs to survive, such as where to get food, drink and how to use the bathroom. However, the two's lack of caution soon proved to be an issue when met with their boundless curiosity. This mainly happened when they had been shown a window, allowing them to see the big open world. Of course, the two had wanted to run outside and explore, but the older ponies decided that wasn't such a good idea. This lead to the two crying, almost throwing a tantrum until they managed to calm them down with a promise of going out once they were ready.

Now the two young jakhowls in the throne room, sitting on the table while being introduced to the rest of their friends. Fluttershy became star-stuck at the sight of the two, Iron having to hold her back from tackling and hugging them. After this, she was asked to medically examine them, which was easy since she could understand them as well.

"Say ahh."

"Ahh," Ace opened his mouth as Fluttershy placed a stick on it while pointing a light into his mouth. She stared inside for a few seconds, only to nod.

"All done," She pulled the stick out. "I'm happy to say that these two are in perfect health."

"That's good," Twilight added before seeing Mira scratching herself behind the ear the way a dog would.

"Oh, aren't they precious." Rarity cooed.

"I guess they do class in what most ponies call cute," Rainbow grumbled, looking away as she tried to not admit how adorable they looked.

"But why is that one yellow?" Lightning asked, pointing at Mira. "I thought jakhowls were supposed to be blue."

"The ones in Springer's tribe are blue," Twilight chimed in, "These two aren't from that tribe. Remember the movie? The jakhowls were all different colors there."

"Oh yeah," Lightning nodded.

"I'm just glad they hatched," Iron grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Now Springer can get back to work."

"I doubt it'll be that quick," Grand responded, "These two still need to spend time bonding. It'll probably be another few days before he can leave them alone."

Iron let out a long sigh at this as the rest of the CMC moved up to them. "Hey there, it's nice to meet you." Sweetie said, only for Mira to let out a yip that only Soul and Springer recognized as a hello, making Sweetie frown, "She can't talk?"

"She'll learn. Remember, it took me a while before I could talk with you all." Springer replied, memories of his adventure up the mountain and the storm he and Flash had been in. He really hoped the two didn't have to go through something like that to learn how to talk.

"This is so exciting!" Pinkie cheered, "We have to have a party to celebrate!"

"Party?" Ace asked.

"Celebrate?" Mira tilted her head.

Heart spoke up at this, "A party is when a bunch of friends get together and have fun. They dance, play games, and eat a bunch of delicious food."

Soul nodded as she continued, "And celebrating is when something happens that's so great you can't help but be happy about it, so you do a party or something else."

Ace and Mira went wide-eyed at this, both clapping while repeating the word party and celebrate over and over.

"Looks like they're on board with the idea," Flash chuckled before turning to Springer, only to see the older jakhowl grimacing at this, "You okay bud?"

"Well...maybe a party's not the best idea," he whispered, trying to make sure the younglings didn't hear. "They're not even a day old yet. They need to learn a lot more before they can start interacting with so many ponies at once."

"You didn't have a problem," Flash responded, "I mean, I know you kept scanning everypony, but-"

"That's just the point. They're not doing what I did. They don't have their guards up like me. If something happens, they won't be able to look after themselves."

Flash waved his hoof at this, "I think you're getting a little paranoid. Sure, a lot of bizarre stuff happens in Ponyville, but not every day. And even if something might happen, you can't let that stop you or them from living your lives."

"But they don't know about anything. If a Speed Stinger suddenly showed up, what do you think they'd do? Run? No, they'd probably go up and try to pet it."

"Then show them what a Speed Stinger is and tell them why they shouldn't do that. If you keep them hidden away in here all the time, they'll never learn about the world."

"That's...." Springer let out a long sigh, "You're probably right." He then turned to Flash with a serious glare, "But if I'm going to show them the world, then I'm gonna make sure they're safe no matter what."





The next day...

As Ponyville prepared to get a good start on the day, the doors of the castle opened before a trio of jakhowls walked out, one wearing a smile while the other two were pouting.

"Why do we have to wear these?" Mira asked while pulling at the baby leash she and Ace were wearing. The two had finally gotten the hang of speaking without much issue, Heart and Soul having helped them learn a series of new phrases they had grown to enjoy.

"To keep you two from running off," Springer replied as he attached the leashes to the belt he was wearing. "This way I'm not exhausting myself by running after the two of you." The two continued the pout, making Springer cross his arms, "We can go back inside if you don't wanna be seen like this."

"Fine..." Ace moaned as he began to walk down the stairs of the castle, "But this is so lame." Springer sighed, wishing Heart hadn't taught him that word.

"Alright then, come on." he and Mira followed him down, the two younglings soon staring in awe as they made their way through the town. The leashes kept them from getting to close to whatever caught their eye, instead asking Springer about everything they could.

Springer explained as much as he could, mainly over what a market and shop was, what Rainbow was doing with the clouds up in the sky and why it wasn't such a good idea to just walk into other pony's houses. Half the time was also spent introducing them to the rest of the town's folk, which usually meant the mares would start hugging, petting and scratching the two behind the ear. If there was one thing Springer missed about being in that form, it was the behind the ear scratches. (For some reason, ponies didn't appear to find his new permanent form scratch worthy.)

But Springer didn't tell them about everything.

At one point, they spotted a mouse scurrying across the street and before Ace and Mira could do anything, a bird swooped down and picked it up. When the two asked Springer where the bird was taking the mouse, he suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to lie. Thankfully, he was able to change the subject when he heard Ace's stomach growl.

"Let's go get something to eat," he told them before spotting Sugarcube Corner not too far off. "Why don't I show you one of my favorite places in town?" He pulled the two to the bakery, only to find a few ponies inside the usually busy shop.

Ace and Mira's noses started twitching here as they sniffed the air, their mouths watering at the smell inside, "What is that?" Mira asked as Springer lead them over to the counter.

"That would be the greatest invention in the history of Equestria," Springer chuckled while sitting down. "Sugar." While losing him his scratching privileges, Springer's permanent body had one upside: He could handle sugar a lot easier now. No more sugar rush induced hallucinations of yellow rodents for him.

"Hey there!" Pinkie cheered while bouncing out of the kitchen, "Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!" She leaned over the counter to scratch the two behind the ear, "What can I get'cha?"

"Something sweet but...not too sugary." Pinkie saluted before zipping back into the kitchen, and soon returning with a tray of cupcakes.

"Here you go," she placed them on the counter. "Try our new honey-filled cupcakes." Ace and Mira took one each, biting in before going wide-eyed at the sweet taste of the slimy liquid hidden within. The two quickly began to scarf down the rest of the desserts while Springer enjoyed his more slowly.

He talked to Pinkie as they two finished theirs, sighing at the taste before hearing a noise that made them look down and see the Cake Twins crawling along the ground. "Oh, hello," Mira got down and picked Pumpkin up, "Who are you?" The baby let out a load of gargles in response, making Springer laugh as the jakhowl replied, "Huh?"

"Now you know how the others feel when you try to talk." Springer responded as the two young jakhowls now understood what they must sound like to the other ponies, though the mental gargles were replaced by barks and yips in their mind.

It was here that Pumpkin's face scrunched up, tears appearing next as Mira raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" Springer turned to her and saw the look on Pumpkin's face before hearing a grumbling sound coming from the foal.

"Uh oh." he yelped before trying to grab the baby, but it was too late. Pumpkin opened her mouth, a projectile of vomit hitting the jakhowl. She let out a yell of disgust here, now accidentally letting go of the foal. Luckily, Springer was there to catch her.

"Ugh..." Pinkie gulped while Mira continued to let out girly cries of disgust. "Sorry." the party pony apologized before taking Pumpkin. "Why don't you come upstairs and I'll help her get cleaned up." Springer nodded and the three followed her up to her room, Pinkie placing Mira into the tub before fetching some paper towels.

They removed Mira's baby leash and plopped that in a bucket to wash the sick off while Springer began wiping Mira's front to do the same. As Mira was getting sprayed by the close up shower, Ace moved over to the window, opening to view the town. From this height, he could see a lot of Ponyville, now seeing the town hall and the road leading toward the schoolhouse. He could also see the top of the Apple homestead and its surrounding orchards...but what really caught his eye was the large forest off the the side of the town. No matter how far he looked, he couldn't see the other side of it.

"Hey Springer." The older jakhowl turned to him, "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That large group of trees. Is that the park thing you told us about?"

Springer's eyes went wide as he realized what he was talking about. "That's the Everfree Forest. It's not part of Ponyville."

"Forest?" Mira replied, blinking at the word, "Can we go see what's in there?"

"No," Springer told her before spraying her again with the showerhead.

"Why not?" Ace asked next.

"Because I said so. You two are only allowed in Ponyville, and you're not allowed the leave the town." He knew he should tell them the forest was dangerous, but his gut started to turn at the thought of telling them about the timberwolves, cragadiles, pukwudgies and other mysterious creatures that would want to gobble them up for breakfast. "You two are going to stay away from those woods and that's final." With that, he pulled Mira out of the bath and reattached her still wet baby leash before they could say or do anything. "Now come on, we've spent enough time exploring the town. Time to go home."

The two moaned before being pulled along, now leaving Sugarcube Corner while giving Pinkie a thank you and goodbye before heading back to the castle.





That night...

Flash, Springer and Twilight were walking through the hallways as Springer explained what had happened during the day. "I see," Twilight commented with a long frown, "Springer....I'm glad you told them not to go into the forest, but why didn't you tell them why?"

"Yeah!" Flash added, nodding, "I think they'd understand and not be so annoyed. I mean, they were pouting a lot when they came home."

Springer let out a sigh, "I know I should tell them, but whenever I think about telling them about...anything dangerous, I get this weird feeling in my gut."

"Sounds like you're worried," Twilight instantly responded, "And you're really taking it far."

"Worried?"

"My parents were the same way when Shining left to join the royal guard, and I'm betting they also felt that way when Flash, Spike and I moved to Ponyville. You want to keep them happy and oblivious to the dark and dangerous world outside this castle."

Springer turned to the alicorn, now seeing a glare on her face. He wanted to growl, only to look away, "You...might be right."

"I thought you wanted them to be on guard." Flash asked as they arrived at a pair of doors. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I don't know," Springer sighed again. "What if...what if I show them how dangerous the world really is and it changes them completely? What if it makes them so scared of the outside world that they never want to even try and live their lives?"

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "So you're going to keep them from becoming scared of the outside world...by keeping them away from the outside world?"

"I'm not going to keep them away," Springer barked back, "I just need to keep them from seeing anything too bad until they've grown to love the great things about the world so much, that nothing would make them want to stay away. Then I can tell them about the world's dangers and how to deal with them."

Flash and Twilight shared a glance before Flash admitted, "I'm still confused."

"Eh, what else is new." Twilight giggled before they turned back to the doors. "Well, here it is. I hope they like them."

They opened the doors and looked inside, seeing a pair of bedrooms that Ace and Mira could have all to themselves. The group had quickly realized the smaller room they had kept the eggs in wasn't going to cut it, so they quickly worked to get these rooms ready. There wasn't much yet, but this way Ace and Mira could decorate it how they wanted. Each room had a basket they could sleep in, gifts from Fluttershy, and some empty bookshelves and toy chests. They weren't the lap of luxury, but they were better then the basket Springer and Spike had at the beginning.

"I'm sure they'll love it," Springer added before letting out yet another sigh. "Hopefully, it'll stop them from being upset with me."

"Don't feel bad Springer," Twilight chimed in as she patted him on the back. "You're just starting out. It'll take time for you to learn what you need to do in order to help Ace and Mira understand the world around them. Just wait, they'll be calling you dad in no time."

This caused Springer's eyes to go wide. "Dad?!" he yelped, "I'm not their dad!"

"You pretty much are," Twilight replied, "You've been looking after their eggs, you helped them hatch and now you're raising them. How is that not a father?"

"But I...I can't be their father!"

"Why not?" Flash asked.

"Because if they see me as their father, they'll start seeing each other as siblings."

"So?"

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"No!" Springer yelled, "They're the last hope our kind has for survival! How are they supposed to rebuild our species if they start seeing each other as siblings?!" Flash and Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, only for their brains to connect to what Springer was going for. "Just do me a favor and don't refer to me as their father. I'm their caretaker, guardian and teacher. That's all I'll ever be. Now come on, let's show them their new room."

Springer walked away at this, Twilight and Flash exchanging glances as Flash commented, "This isn't gonna end well, is it?"

"Well...I mean, we can't really stop him Flash. This is something he'll need to learn for his new role in this."

"True..."

A few minutes later, they found Ace and Mira in the library, playing with Twilight's pet Owlicious. After this, they were shown their rooms, both awestruck at the simple places. "WHOA!" They cheered as they ran inside, Ace instantly going to lay in the basket while Mira looked inside the toy chest, only to find it empty.

"Don't worry," Twilight replied, "We'll get you some stuff the fill this place up with. This is your room, so you get to decide how it looks." The two shined big smiles as Twilight turned to Springer, "Maybe you can get them some stuff tomorrow."

Springer shook his head, "I was actually thinking of going on patrol tomorrow. It has been a while since I've done it, and I'm feeling a little rusty." This got a frown from the two, Springer seeing this and knowing his choice wasn't the best. Despite this, he knew he wanted to show them responsibility, which meant he had to lead by example.

"Maybe you can take them after your patrol," Flash suggested.

"We'll see," Springer responded, the two smiling before starting to move things around the room, trying to get it just right. They pushed the baskets to different spots, Mira wanting hers to get a perfect view of the sunset when she lay in it while Ace wanted his in a place there the morning sun wouldn't disturb him.

The rest helped move everything else around until the bedrooms were perfect, this being the time Heart, Soul and Scootaloo returned from school. As for the rest of the day, it was spent with the six younglings, Spike joining them as they played a series of games while the older ponies went away for their own free time. They found some games to be quite a challenge since Ace and Mira couldn't be understood by everypony, so question and answer board games proved difficult. And before they knew it, it was time for bed.





The next next morning...

With the kids off to school, Springer and Flash were preparing to head out on patrol. They made their way through the castle, now arriving at the library to find Twilight and Starlight working on a new spell. "Alright, we'll be heading out."

Twilight turned and nodded at him, "Okay." She glanced at Springer, "You sure about this? It's not too late to change your mind."

Springer waved his paw, "Eh, it's not like I'm going far. I'll still be in town, and I can come back to check on them at any time. Just keep an eye on 'em."

The two nodded, only for Twilight to reply, "Oh, before you go..." Her horn lit up to summon a scroll, "We got a letter from Celestia and Luna. They're happy about the eggs hatching and are looking forward to meeting them. They're trying to shift a few things around so they can come as soon as possible, especially Luna."

The two nodded back and properly headed out of the room, splitting up so Springer could go check on the two before he left. He then went and knocked on their doors, both voices telling him he could come in. Going inside, he found Ace playing with a toy train Heart had let him borrow while Mira was playing solitaire the way Starlight had shown her. "Alright, I'm heading out. You two stay in the castle and if you need anything, Twilight can help you."

"How?" Mira asked, "She doesn't understand us."

"Yeah," Ace added, "How are we supposed to communicate? Miming? Come hither stares?"

Springer glared at the jakhowl, seeing Heart's snark which he had learned from Flash already getting into Ace. "You'll figure something out," He deadpanned, "Just remember-"

"Don't leave the castle," they interrupted together in a bored tone. Springer rolled his eyes and spun around, the two waiting for him to be gone before moaning. "Why can't he just let us have fun outside?" Ace asked, rolling the train away and laying back on the floor.

"He thinks we're babies," Mira sighed.

"But we are babies. We're younger than those Cake Twins that spat up on you."

Mira grimaced at this. "But we're smarter than those babies. We just need to prove that to him. Then there'll be no more staying in the castle."

"No more leashes," Ace added.

"No more babysitters," Mira finished before standing up and looking out the window. "If we go out, do something and then come back, he'll realize we can look after ourselves."

"So where do we go?" Ace moved over to his own window, his gaze quickly landing on the Everfree Forest. A smile slowly appeared on his lips, "I have an idea."





Three hours later...

Twilight and Starlight walked out of the library, done with a spell before seeing Spike. The drake was carrying a try of cookies, which he turned to them, "Hey you two, wanna snack? I had a serious baking urge."

"What's in them?" Starlight asked, picking one up with her magic.

"Nothing special. Just normal chocolate chip cookies."

"Sure," Twilight took two. "Can't have too many though. I'm having lunch with Fluttershy and Rarity."

"I'll have a few," Starlight stuffed some down her throat and moaned happily. "Anyways, I gotta get going. A letter from Sunburst should be showing up today, and I'm gonna see if it's at the post office."

"You okay to look after the jakhowls?" Twilight asked Spike, the little dragon suddenly thinking back to his last time looking after a bunch of animals.

"Uh...I'll be fine," Spike replied, "I'm sure a few cookies should keep them occupied, no sweat."

"Great," Twilight and Starlight spun around, heading for the exit. "See you later."

With that, the two magical ponies left while Spike turned to head for Ace and Mira's rooms. He soon knocked at their doors, "Hey you two, I've got cookies." He was expecting to hear before come running and throw open the doors...only for nothing to happen. "Uh...you in there?" he asked before creaking the doors open. But as he did this, the cookies hit the floor as he whispered, "Oh no." Inside was nothing but a card tower, making him gasp, "Oh no, no no no..."





The young jakhowls laughed as they snuck over to the Everfree Forest. Thanks to most ponies never wanting to look at the place, they got there undetected. And now they were staring up at the large mass of trees, the forest looking a lot bigger now that they were closer to it. The pillars of lumber loomed over them, the forest's shadow consuming them as fear began to hit them.

"Freedom, here we come." Ace spoke up before turning to Mira, "Ready?" But as he asked this, he saw and felt a sense of dread coming off her. "Mira?"

"I...I don't know," she whispered. "Now that we're actually here...it doesn't feel so good not having anypony here with us."

"Come on, we'll be fine." Ace replied, "I mean, look at Ponyville. It's awesome. I bet the forest will be just as awesome." Ace turned back to it, "Springer probably just wanted to hog this place all to himself."

Mira took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah. Or he's just scared of nothing. He seems to worry about everything."

"Hope we don't grow up to be that cowardly," Ace laughed before walking into the forest, Mira following behind him as the two were soon consumed by the darkness of the trees.





"ACE!" Spike yelled as he ran through the castle, "MIRA!" There was no answer, "This isn't funny anymore!"

He zigzagged through the hallways, checking every room he came across. He eventually came to a stop, huffing and puffing after running for almost a mile. "Oh...just my luck." he moaned as he tried to get his breath back, "Springer's going to kill me when he finds out."

"When I find out what?" Spike had a mini heart attack before spinning around, now seeing Springer walking down the hallway, sweat beginning to pour down his head. "Spike?" Springer crossed his arms, "What's going on?"

"Well..." Spike took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Ace and Mira are gone." Springer said nothing as Spike kept his eyes shut. "I went to check on them after Twilight and Starlight left, but their rooms were empty and I can't find them anywhere." He continued to wait for Springer's response, but there was none. Instead, he slowly cracked an eye open...only to see nothing. Springer was gone.





What could only be described as a blue blur, the jakhowl burst out of the castle, quickly landing in front of the building's front. He looked up before going into full Velocity Strike, his speed allowing him to zip up to the top of the castle. There, he clapped his paws, closing his eyes as he took the deepest breath of air.

"Where are they?" He sent a pulse of aura out in every direction, scanning the entire town. "They're not there...if that's the case-"

His body shivered as he sent his aura to the Everfree Forest. "No!" His eyes shot open, instantly jumping off the castle before his body glitched out, suddenly landing before running straight for the forest.





Meanwhile...

Ace and Mira were still making their way through the forest, Mira now speaking up as they climber over a log, "Maybe we've gone far enough." They jumped down next, landing in a muddy puddle that made her scowl before kicking it off her feet.

"This was your idea," Ace reminded her. "We'll just walk through this forest, then go back. Maybe we can bring something back to prove we were in here."

Mira hummed at this, "Okay...but where are we going anyway?"

"How should I know?" Ace asked as they continued to trod through the forest. "I've never been here before." His nose then caught something that made him stop, "Hey," He took a sniff, "Do you smell that?"

Mira sniffed and caught onto what he was smelling, "Honey," she licked her lips before the two followed their noses and moved deeper into the forest until they found the source of the smell. It was a hive hanging from a tree several feet up, the two smiling at the sight.

"I got this." Ace chuckled as he leapt at the tree, quickly wrapping his arms around the trunk and gripping it with his paws' nails. Now firm, he used his feet to push himself upward, managing to get about half a foot up before he suddenly felt his grip break. "No, no, no, no, no!" He yelped as he slid down the tree, carving a bunch of lines until he reached the bottom. "Okay, I don't got this."

Mira giggled before shining a smirk, quickly leaping up while using Ace's head as a springboard. "HEY!" He yelped as she jumped upward, doing several flips until she landed on the lowest branch. She then started jumping from one branch to another, easily climbing the pillar of lumber. "Wow..." Ace whispered as she reached the branch under the hive.

The jakhowl held onto the trunk while balancing on the branch, slowly making her way on the thin branches. Ace was impressed she didn't lose her balance, Mira now reaching the hive. She looked for a hole, only for time to pass a little too much. The branch she was on had been suffering under her weight, now snapping as Mira gasped at the sudden loss. She instinctively gripped the hive, only for that to be too much for the hive's branch as well.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" She screamed as she began to fall, Ace gasping as he ran up to slide under her.

"GYAH!" He yelped as he broke her fall, getting pinned under her as the hive hit the ground and shattered. "Ow..."

"Sorry," Mira pulled herself off him before helping him up. "You okay?"

"I'll live," he moaned before turning to the hive's remains, both licking their lips in anticipation. But before they could try anything, the two were bombarded by a powerfully dark aura. Not one, but hundreds of angry auras. And the source became apparent when from out of the hive came a swarm of bees, all priming their stingers.

The two glanced at one another before turning to run, the bees chasing after them as they screamed at the top of their lungs. They kept running as fast as they could, not even looking where they were going as the bees drew closer. But as they did this, the ground beneath them suddenly vanished, the two now finding themselves falling over a cliff. Their screams intensified as they clutched one another, looking down to see a muddy lake beneath them.

And with a mighty splash, they hit the surface, both sinking beneath the water for a moment. They then broke the surface of the water, gasping for air before feeling the aura of the bees again. Both tried to start moving, only to feel the muck pull them back. All they could do was hold one another tightly as the bees started to charge, bracing for the stinging of a lifetime...only for nothing to happen.

Instead, the buzzing grew weaker, making the two open their eyes to see the bees flying away. "Huh..." Ace raised an eyebrow, "That's weird."

"Why'd they leave?" Mira's question was instantly answered when they both felt another aura approaching, the two slowly turning to see the muddy water behind them rippling. "What is that?" She slowly asked before something began to rise out of the mud.

It towered above them, but most of it couldn't be seen due to the mud that covered it. But as the slimy goop began to slide off it, it revealed a beast that sent absolute terror through them. A cragadile.

"Whatever it is, it's not friendly." Ace gulped, the cragadile simply glaring down at them. And as it did this, the two felt more presences approaching, now turning to see several more cragadiles appearing out of the mud. "What do we do?"

"I...I don't know," Mira replied as the lead cragadile came to a decision. Time seemed to slow down as it opened its mouth and began to lean in, planning to swallow them both in one bite. The two wanted to escape, but the mud kept them in place, both closing their eyes as they held each other tight, waiting for the end.

"Velocity Strike!" The two's eyes shot open at that outcry, making them look up just in time to see Springer appear between them and the cragadile. And with one mighty kick to the beast's chin, it's head was knocked back at it fell underside up into the swamp. Springer landed on its stomach next, spinning around to glare at the other cragadiles.

He turned back to the younglings before forming a small Aura Blast in his paw, flicking it at them. It struck the spot right in front of them, exploding and sending them flying over to the shore. The two groaned at the impact, but were unharmed as they picked themselves up to see the beasts attack Springer.

The older jakhowl reacted as fast as possible, jumping straight up, which caused one cragadile to crash into the first before he landed on top of it. He did this three more times, forming a cragadile pile before he leaped over to the young jakhowls. "You alright?" The two quietly nodded, still in shock as he replied, "Good," a growl made him turn back to see the cragadiles approaching, "Stay behind me." He got into a fighting stance and stared the beasts down. "I'll protect you."

The first cragadile charged, Springer responding by creating a Bone Breaker and slamming it into the beast's mouth, smacking him away. This was followed by him hitting the others as well, knocking three more down before having to hop back as a fourth cragdile tried to swing his tail at him.

"Steel Paw!" He summoned his claws and slashed into the cragdile's back, cutting through the rock-like hide, making it roar in pain. The defender hopped back to the kids next, slapping his paws together before pulling them apart, creating a line of Aura Blasts that he then sent flying in all directions.

"Wow..." Ace whispered, "He's so cool."

"I wonder if we can do that?" Mira asked before a trio of cragadiles charged at them in a triangular pattern, the two younglings shaking until Springer glowed blue. That light shot off of him, passing through the jakhowls before solidifying into a dome of energy that the cragadiles just slammed into. Springer kept his focus on the shield up now, the cragadiles now increasing in number of attackers. Every one of them was now clawing and bashing their tails at Springer's shield, leaving them no room to escape.

"We're trapped!" Mira cried as Ace hugged himself and fell to his knees.

"We're doomed!"

"Hey," they turned to Springer as he stared down at them, "I told you I'd protect you, didn't I?" The two slowly nodded as they noticed Springer's body beginning to glow again. "And that's a promise I'm going to keep." He turned back to the largest cragadile, which appeared to be the leader, the two glaring at each other. "I won't let them, or anything, harm you two. EVER!"

With that, his entire body exploded with a rainbow of light. Ace and Mira gasped as they saw his body shift and change, lightly shooting off his body to reveal his mega form. Despite being only a few days old, the two knew they would likely never see a sight as amazing. Springer roared as his shield began to reshape, morphing into his own head before taking the form of his upper body and arms. The arms began to swing around, colliding with the cragadiles and knocking them away.

"WOW!" The two gasped with stars in their eyes. "I can't believe he has this much power," Mira whispered as Ace nodded in agreement. And as they watched, they stared at the jakhowl's back, both now able to see he was a thousand times stronger than they originally thought he was.

But before they could say anything, the cragadiles began to attack the avatar, showing incredible jumping abilities as they leapt up and bit into the arms. Springer flinched at this, surprised he could actually feel the pain though he wasn't receiving any actual damage. He began to swing his arms around, throwing them off before one of them bit into the avatar's neck.

"Augh!" He flinched while falling to his knees, the kids gasping.

"Springer!" Ace cried.

"You have to stop!" Mira added, both now feeling Springer's aura waver. She began to tear up as she felt pain in the aura.

"No way," Springer grunted while pushing himself back up. "I said I'd protect you, and that's what I'm gonna do." He was now back on both feet, his aura arms reaching around and grabbing the cragadile to throw it away. "We're all that's left. We owe it to those that came before us to survive. My parents, who fell protecting me and Equestria from the tricksters. Your parents, who chose to find a way to save you instead of themselves from the virus that killed them, and all the others that fell before us." The avatar began to glow brighter, "Our race is counting on us to survive. And no matter what, I'LL MAKE SURE THAT HAPPENS!"

With that, the avatar's light exploded to a blinding degree as it grew larger. The jakhowls also began to float, Ace and Mira feeling something beneath them that kept them in line with the avatar's head. Some kind of invisible floor, which kept them safely out of the cragadile's reach. Soon, everything but the legs of the mega jakhowl had formed while the backs of its paws grew the spikes Springer had. This seemed to re-energize Springer as he let out a mighty roar before swinging his arms and headband appendages around, knocking the cragadiles away with even more force.

Using his avatar's new spikes, he smashed through the cragadile's armor, exposing the softer under-skin. "This ends...NOW!" Springer brought both the avatar's hands together before slamming them, creating an aura shockwave that hit every single cragadile, knocking them all away.

And as they all went flying, the jakhowl grabbed the younglings and dispersed the avatar, jumping away from the water right as the flooring vanished. Landing on one of the branches, he leapt from one tree to another while holding the two under his arms. By the time the cragadiles recovered from the shockwave, there was no trace of the three in any direction.





As Springer reached the edge of the forest and leapt out of the trees, he landed and slid to a stop before dropping the kids and falling to one knee. Ace and Mira turned to Springer, just in time to see him return to his true form, panting heavily as he slumped over.

They were about to ask him if he was okay, only to see a seriously angry glare on his face, making them freeze in place. "What were you two thinking?!" They both flinched, "Going into the forest alone?! Going anywhere alone when we told you not too?!"

"We just wanted to explore it," Ace whimpered out, "You never let us do anything alone."

"And look what happened when you tried to!" Springer yelled as he pointed at the forest. "Did it ever occur to you that we didn't want you going anywhere alone for a reason?!" The two looked away at this as he continued, "You're only a few days old. You don't know anything about the world. Ponyville is a peaceful place, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world is safe."

It was here he saw the two just shrink away, making him sigh before sitting down on a log. He gestured to them to sit down, both slowly coming over to him, "Listen...I'm sorry that you felt trapped, but you're not ready to be alone in the world. You don't know the first thing about it."

"But...we can learn," Mira replied, only to flinch as she expected him to yell again.

However, Springer just nodded back, "Yes, you can. In fact, that's what I want you to do." She turned to him with wide eyes, only for the defender to lean down, "But how do you expect to learn anything if you keep getting yourselves into trouble? It's better to have somepony with you that can show you what something is and tell you why you should be careful around something." He pointed to the forest. "I was gonna show you the forest in a few days, when you understood something very important."

"What's that?"

"That the world isn't as bright and beautiful as Ponyville makes it seem. Like I said, the rest of the world isn't as safe as this town. Heck, this town can be dangerous sometimes. Monsters that are both big and small, threats from a thousand years ago, heck even ponies can't be trusted all the time. The ones in this town are all good, but there are ones out there willing to do whatever they want to fulfil their goals, even hurting others."

Ace and Mira glanced away again, only for Mira to look back up at him. "If the world is so dangerous, why wait to tell us? Why not let us know right away?"

Springer let out a long sigh, "Cuz...you're young. I...I didn't want you to start your life the same way I did." The two raised an eyebrow at this, making him sigh again, "I didn't get the start you two did. I wasn't surrounded by ponies that cared about me when I hatched. Heck, I wasn't surrounded by anypony at all. I was alone in those woods," he pointed to the forest once more. "I didn't know what I was and where I came from. I just started wandering around, using my aura to keep me safe. It wasn't for long, but it affected me. Made me paranoid. And then, like you, I was attacked and had to be saved, which ironically was how I met Flash. Even when I met him, I still felt the need to check the aura of everything I met. It was a long time until I didn't feel the need to always do that...and that's not what I wanted for the two of you."

The three of them remained in silence for almost a full minute until Ace spoke up, "The world's really as dangerous as you said."

"It is." Springer said with a nod, "But there's just as many good things about the world. It's all about balance. For every good, there's a bad. You just have to be able to handle the bad stuff."

"And being with others helps deal with the bad?" Mira asked, getting another nod from Springer.

"We care about you. That's why we want to help you learn everything you need to know about staying safe in the world, so you can enjoy the good things."

"Is what you did one of the things we'll learn?" Ace asked, "You know, that cool aura fighting stuff you were doing?"

Springer chuckled at this, "Yes. Jakhowls were once protectors of Equestria before they disappeared. They had many incredible abilities like the ones you just saw, and I'll teach them to you both." They went wide-eyed at this as he continued, "I know it sounds great, but you need to remember something. What I'll be teaching you isn't something like your toys. Using aura is a responsibility, one you need to use the right way. Understand?" The two nodded back. "Good." With that, Springer stood up. "I hope you understand now why we were so strict with you. It's because we don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"We understand," Mira added, "And...we're sorry."

"We won't do anything without your permission again," Ace continued.

"Good. Now, I know you hate being restricted, but it won't be forever. We'll do our best to help you learn everything you need to know to stay safe without us around." He turned away, "Now, let's get back before anypony notices we're gone."

The two nodded and followed after him, now happy to stay close to him and not wander off. Today might not have been a perfect day, but now the two understood that the world wasn't perfect. This knowledge would just be the start, both understanding the difference between something that was dangerous and something that was safe. And until then, they had many close friends willing to help show them the way.





As Celestia lowered the sun and Luna raised the moon, the castle's residents were now in the library/living area. Heart, Soul, and Scootaloo were on the floor around a board game called Forbidden Island, which they were teaching Ace and Mira how to play. Flash and Springer were up on the couches, both reading comics.

"Alright," Heart moved his black pawn one space, "I shore up Howling Gardens and Lost Lagoon." Soul used her magic to pick up the tiles to the pawn's left and right before flipping them over, then put them back down. She took two cards from the top of one of two decks next and gave them to Heart, who smirked at them, "Yes, that's just what we needed to get the last treasure!" The others smiled, Mira clapping as Soul drew three cards from another deck of cards.

"Twilight Hollow, Dunes of Deception and Copper Gate." She used her magic to flip three of the tiles over before Ace started his turn.

Flash and Springer chuckled as they listened in, happy to see they were enjoying themselves. But as they did this, they heard the door open, Twilight then peeking her head inside. The princess gestured to the two, making them raise an eyebrow before slowly walking over while not getting the kids' attention.

Once outside the library, they found Twilight, Spike and Starlight all with frowns on their faces, "What's up?" Flash asked, only for Twilight to lift a scroll in her magic.

"We have a new problem. Celestia just sent this over," she replied before floating the parchment over to Springer. "You might wanna take a look. Its for you." Springer took the scroll and opened it up, his eyes shifting over the words. Flash watched as the jakhowl froze up, only to growl as suddenly ripped the paper in half.

His eyes slowly shifted up, a blue flaming aura consuming his paws as he hissed, "Shade..."
> Fluttershy's Marvellous Medicine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day opened at Fluttershy's cottage, the gentle pegasus busy tidying up her house in preparation of one of her favorite weekly traditions: Tea with Discord. She was humming a chipper melody while dusting the window, right as a certain pony arrived, "Oh, hello Iron. How was your patrol?"

"Fine," Iron replied while closing the door, "Doesn't look like there's anything out of the ordinary today."

"That's good," Fluttershy flew down and landed on her sofa. "Do you maybe wanna stay for tea with Discord and me?" Fluttershy had been trying to get the two to interact more, hoping they would bury the hatchet. "I've got your favorite tea."

Fluttershy pulled out a box of teabags, Iron staring at it while trying to hold back from drooling. "Maybe... depends on how annoying he plans on being today." She let out a long sigh at this, knowing that probably meant 'no'.

"Well, he should be here soon," she responded as she put the box down. As she did, a flash of light occurred behind her. "Discord!" She spun around with a big forming grin...only to see no sign of the draconequus. "Discord?" She got off the sofa, her eyes darting around till she saw what appeared to be a music box on the ground. "What's this?" She picked it up and opened the lid, a green bubble suddenly expanding from within.

Iron backpedalled while Fluttershy just stared at it, only for it pop, "EWWWWW!" She cried as green slimy goop splattered all over her, none somehow getting on the carpet.

"You okay?" Iron yelped as he saw her starting to pull the slime off of her face. But as she did, it grew more sticky and began to stick her hooves together. "What's that idiot playing at?" As he said this, the music box began to light up and formed an image of Discord made entirely of light.

"Hello, my dear Fluttershy!" They watched the hologram bow, "Sorry I couldn't be there. I'm afraid Smoozie has come down with a rather mad cold."

"Slime creatures can have colds?!" Iron asked.

"I'm afraid I'll have to cancel our tea party today. If I don't keep an eye on him, he'll start scarfing down copper, thinking its gold, and that'll cause a whole bunch of issues. Why don't you send the box back with a date you're free and we can convene then. Ciao." With that, the hologram vanished, but with Fluttershy still stuck in the green goop.

"I'm guessing the Smooze sneezed into the box when Discord wasn't looking," Fluttershy muttered before grabbing a pen and paper to write the next time she was free. She placed it in the box and shut it, the box vanishing as soon as she did. "Now, how do I get this stuff off?"

"You should have told him about the slime," Iron grumbled, making Fluttershy glare at him as he shrugged, "Hindsight's twenty-twenty."

"With that kind of attitude, I'm not making you a special dinner tonight!"





Meanwhile...

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she glared at two very upset young ponies. "Stop scratching!" She told Heart, magically pulling his hooves away from his face. His face was covered in large red spots, along with the rest of his body. Soul was in the same boat, the two both having an affliction known as the horsey hives.

"I can't help it!" Heart tried put pull at her magic to scratch his spots, "It's so itchy!"

"I don't care!" Twilight instantly replied, "If you scratch them, you'll end up scarring yourself. Trust me, fighting through the itch for a week or two is way better than spending the rest of your life with scars all over yourself."

The three were currently in a room that was as far away from the rest of the rooms as possible, having teleported their beds into it so they could remain there. Until the two were better, they would need to be quarantined to prevent the wrong pony from catching it. It was here that Twilight turned to Soul, "How are you feeling?" Soul simply sat in her bed, Twilight seeing her entire body was vibrating. "You're trying to not scratch, aren't you?" She nodded, "It's driving you crazy, isn't it?" She nodded again. "Well hopefully, we should have something that'll help fix that."

In that moment, Starlight teleported into the room carrying two bowls of oatmeal. "Salvation has arrived!" She exclaimed while showing them the sludgy porridge. "My dad's original recipe. He might be a little annoying at times, but he knows a thing or two about remedies."

"How is eating oatmeal supposed to help us?" Soul asked, only for Starlight to put her hoof into it before slapping the oatmeal onto her face.

"You're not supposed to eat it. You're supposed to wear it like a mask." The twins moaned as she placed the masks on them, both shivering as the mask touched their fur. "I know it feels nasty, but it'll help with the itching. Trust me."

"if you say so," Heart groaned as Starlight started applying it to his chest and legs. Twilight magically pulled a pair of old sheets out of nowhere next, floating the twins into the air before putting the sheets over their beds, allowing them to lay there in the paste while not needing to worry about ruining their beds. "How long do we need to wear this stuff?"

"At least a week," Twilight replied, "The itching will stop when the spots start to vanish."

"ARGH!" Heart yelled as he laid back. "I thought the point of all those injections we had to take was to stop us catching stuff like this!"

"The injections were to keep you from getting seriously ill from stuff like this. As bad as you feel now, you'd be a lot worse off if you hadn't had those."

In that moment, the door opened as Flash poked his head in, "Hey, how are THINGS?!" He yelped as Twilight used her magic to throw him back out of the room, shutting the door as he let out a yelp of pain, "Okay...that hurt."

"Flash..." Twilight called through the door, "I told you to stay away from these two! We don't know if you've had horsey hives before, and it's not safe to catch them as an adult."

Flash sighed while shaking his head, "I'm sure I'd be fine."

"Its better safe than sorry." Twilight grumbled while teleporting herself out of the room, "If you want to be useful, go see if Zecora has a way of getting rid of this stuff. I'm sure the hospital would love to know about it too, as I know one of them can help."

"Alright, alright..." Flash stood up, "I'll see what she's got."

With that, he flew through the hallway until he found a window and headed out.





Back at Fluttershy's house...

Iron was leaning against a wall with his front hooves crossed, the sound of the shower filling his ears. He then knocked on the bathroom door, "Any luck?" Seconds later, the door opened to show Fluttershy was still covered in green goop.

"Nope," she shook her head. "I've tried every kind of soap and shampoo I own. It still won't come off."

Iron let out a long sigh, "Even when he's trying to be a good friend, he's causing problems."

Fluttershy opened her mouth to counter him, only to gasp as an idea formed in her head, "Say...why don't you go see Zecora? I'm sure she knows of a way to get this off."

"Hmmm...not a bad idea." Iron replied as he got off the wall, "I'll head over there and you keep cleaning up. Even if you can't get it off, you might be able to loosen it and help whatever Zecora gives me."

Fluttershy nodded and walked back into the bathroom while Iron left the house. It didn't take him long to reach the forest and the hollowed out tree, arriving just in time to see Flash land in front of it. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Seeing if Zecora has anything that might help Heart and Soul with their horsey hives." Iron hissed, clearly remembering when he had the affliction. "You?"

"Discord's Smooze friend sneezed over something he sent Fluttershy and she can't get the stuff off of her." Flash raised an eyebrow at this, Iron now tapping the door, which opened a moment later to reveal their zebra friend.

"Flash and Iron, what a welcome surprise. I wasn't expecting to see you guys."

"Sorry for not calling ahead, but we could really use your help."

"Say no more and step past my threshold," she moved aside and the two followed her in. "Now what brings you to my humble abode?"

Flash and Iron soon explained their situations, Zecora nodding as she began to gather ingredients. "So, do you think you got something that could help?" Flash asked as his wing accidently extended, knocking a table, which made a few empty vials roll off and onto the floor. Iron and Zecora turned to him, Flash shrinking back, "Sorry."

"Luckily, I've just what you need. A pair of simple concoctions I can brew up with speed." She threw the ingredients into her cauldron and began to stir, Flash and Iron watching as she did so. "For Fluttershy, I have the perfect brew. That slime will vanish thanks to this shampoo." She took out a spoonful of the liquid and poured it into a chemistry set, the potions flying down wooden slides before dripping into a small potion bottle that was being held over a candle to heat up. "But to cure your ward's terrible affliction, we require a potion with many a restriction."

"What do you mean?" Flash asked as she threw some more plants into the cauldron, one of which he recognized as poison joke.

"There is no cure that they can simply drink, but with this creation, their swells will shrink." She took another spoonful out and poured it into the wooden shoots and slides, the three watching as it then dropped into a potion bottle that was in a bowl of ice. "Apply this directly to their spots, then watch as the shrinking solution turns them to dots."

"Sweet." But as he was about to grab it, Zecora held up a hoof.

"But beware, this potion requires much common sense. To misuse its magic would have a dire consequence."

"Huh?"

"She means you don't let idiots like you use it." Flash growled at Iron as he said that, the defender turning to Zecora, "I'm guessing it would be a good idea to wear gloves or have a magic user handle it? And don't get it on anything except their spots, right?" Zecora nodded back before taking out some tongs, using them to lift the bottles away from the fire and ice. She put them on the table, all watching as the liquid inside both turn the same white color.

She placed a cork in both of them, making the bottles look identical. She then pushed one towards Flash and another to Iron. "I hope these brews will be your salvation. But if there are issues, please come tell me of the situation."

"Thanks Zecora," Flash replied, "But I don't see any problems. Your remedies always work a treat."

"I'm sure Fluttershy will be over with something to thank you later," Iron added, Zecora nodding as she turned back to her cauldron, the stallions now heading for the door.

But in that moment, Flash stepped on a vial that he had knocked over earlier, causing him to slip, "WHOA!" he yelped, staggering into Iron, knocking him over as they both dropped their potions. They gasped at this, but the bottles proved stronger than they thought, both easily surviving the fall.

"Watch it!" Iron pushed Flash away before grabbing a bottle.

"Sorry," Flash picked his up before the two left the hut, going their separate ways. Iron ran as fast as he could back to Fluttershy's house, zipping through the town, only to find a bunch of Fluttershy's animal friends standing outside her door.

"Okay, okay." he carefully pushed past them. "I know she's been in there a long time." He knocked on the door, which opened to reveal the very wet and still gooey pegasus. "Zecora said this special shampoo should help."

"Thank you." She reached out and took it, only for her hoof to graze Iron's, causing some of the goo to get on him. "Oops," she pulled away, the goop still on him, "Sorry." She turned and pointed to a sponge on a nearby counter, Fluttershy uncorking the bottle and tipping a few drops of the soap onto it before offering it to Iron. "Here."

"Thanks." He took it before Fluttershy shut the door, the defender going to the kitchen counter. The pony put the sponge on the side, starting the water as he began to get it to his temperature he liked. But as a minute passed, he mindlessly reached for the sponge...only to find nothing.

"Huh?" He turned to where the sponge was supposed to be, only to look down and raise both eyebrows at the next sight. It front of him was a super tiny sponge, one only big enough for a mouse to use it. Iron squinted his eyes at the sight, his brain trying to understand why it would shrink.

His eyes slowly went wide as he put the pieces together. "The bottles. Did I pick up...but then...if that's the case...oh no." He looked up at the ceiling, "FLUTTERSHY!"

One minute ago...

Inside the bathroom, Fluttershy had her eyes closed as she rubbed the soap into every part of her body. She was humming as she put the cleansing liquid into her mane, the slime beginning to slide off. But if she had opened her eyes, the pegasi would have noticed herself getting further away from the shower head. She did seem to notice the water drops hitting her were starting to get bigger, only to suddenly hear Iron's scream.

"Huh?" She opened her eyes, turning to the door...only to see the white acrylic of her bathtub. Her eyes began to go wide as she looked up, now seeing everything around her suddenly growing ten times as big...and getting bigger by the second. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Iron burst into the bathroom, ripping the shower curtain off before looking down into the tub. His eyes slowly grew wide as his fears were confirmed. "Oh no."





Back at the castle...

Flash, Spike and the jakhowls were outside the quarantine room, the defender returning from Zecora while Spike and the jakhowls had gotten some ramen to go from lunch for everypony. Inside, Twilight and Starlight emptied the contents of the bottle into a bowl that Twilight had enchanted not to shrink. She had also enchanted a bunch of cotton swabs the same way, the mares dipping them into the bowl. "Alright," they turned to the kids, "Now hold very still. We don't want to get any of this on you." With that, she started poking at the spots on Heart's face while Starlight did the same to Soul.

"Huh?" Soul sniffed the air, "I thought this was gonna smell weird. It actually smells...nice." She sniffed again, "Smells like lavender."

"Zecora must have added it so you don't have to suffer a bad smell." But as Twilight continued to rub the potion onto her spotty face, she couldn't help but notice how shiny the spots were starting to get. "That's odd." She squinted at the spots, not seeing any change in their size. "Zecora's potions usually kick in by now."

"So why isn't it?" Heart asked.

"No idea," Starlight replied before looking back at the bowl.

"Everything okay in there?" Flash asked, "How's the treatment going?"

"It doesn't seem to be working," Twilight called back as she took the bowl from Starlight. "All it seems to be doing is making the spots squeaky clean." She smelled it and also detected the lavender smell. "Honestly, if I didn't know any better, I'd say this was just soap."

"Soap?" Flash replied, blinking at the statement before his brain shifted a single gear and his eyes went wide. "Uh oh. What if its...shampoo."

Everypony raised an eyebrow at this, only for Twilight to teleport in front of him, glaring at him, "Flash...what did you do?"

"Well...I might have-"

"SENTRY!" yelled a voice, the sound of the front doors now being slammed open a split second later. Flash gulped at this as Twilight teleported them downstairs. As they appeared, they found a growling Iron as he roared, "You're in for it now!"

"Why?" Spike asked.

"What did he do?" Springer added.

"This is what he did!" Iron turned to the side, allowing them to see his back, the group going wide-eyed at the sight.

"Hello everypony," the tiny creature on Iron's back replied with a miniature wave of a hoof. stated. The lot quickly recognised the voice and gasped as they realised what it was.

"FLUTTERSHY?!" They all yelped, now seeing the gentle pegasus was no bigger than a mouse. Every mouth almost hit the floor. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"





One hour later...

After a quick explanation and Spike sending letters to all their friends, the group was now in the throne room just as the doors opened to reveal Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. "We got here as soon as we could," Rainbow replied as she flew in, now seeing Fluttershy on the table. "Wow. You really are tiny."

"Blimey!" Applejack yelped, "Ya'll are about dah size ah was when ah fell in that poison joke." Fluttershy quickly tried to hide behind her mane, shivering at the number of ponies staring down at her. "How yah feeling Shy?"

"I've been better," Fluttershy squeaked back.

"You're so small," Pinkie added, "I better everything must seem really really big to you."

"Yeah..." Fluttershy replied with a tiny nod, "It's kind of...intimidating."

Rarity turned to glare at Flash and Iron, "Honestly you two! How could you be so foolish that you'd take the wrong potion?!"

Flash pointed at Iron, "He's the one who grabbed the wrong bottle." This made Iron growl at him, "What?! You can't deny that!"

"I might have picked up the wrong bottle," he got so close to Flash that their foreheads touched. "But if you hadn't knocked us both over, we wouldn't have dropped the bottles, and I wouldn't have picked up the wrong one!"

"So..." Flash looked away before glancing back at Iron, "Split the blame fifty-fifty?"

Iron growled back, about to raise a hoof before Twilight spoke up, "It doesn't matter whose fault it is." She knelt down so her eyes were level with Fluttershy, "What matters is getting Fluttershy back to normal."

At that moment, Zecora ran into the room, "I came as soon as I received your scroll," she moved up to the table, grimacing at the sight, "I see you weren't jesting about the potion's toll."

"Please tell me you can turn me back to normal," Fluttershy begged her, the others wanting to frown at the sight, but unable to go 'aww' at the cute sight due to Fluttershy looking absolutely adorable at this size.

Zecora simply smiled back before carefully patting the tiny Fluttershy's head, "My shrunken friend, have no fright. I've just the potion to fix your height. By the time of the next sunrise, we'll have you restored to your proper size."

"Sunrise?" Iron asked, "Why do we have to wait that long?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow added, "Why not just make the potion now?"

"Please calm your impatient state," Zecora replied, "The fix Fluttershy, we must first wait. Though this may cause you great frustration, the potion will require a day's fermentation. Though this may seem problematic, to not do so could end up tragic."

"So...we have to wait until tomorrow for Fluttershy to be turned back to normal?" Twilight asked next, Zecora nodding in return. "Well, if there's no other choice."

"But what will I do until then?" Fluttershy tried to say, having to yell, "I can't do anything at this size! My animals will need looking after..."

"Well," Flash chimed in while rubbing the back of his head, "Since this is partly my fault-" Iron whispered something about an understatement, "Why don't I look after the animals?"

They all turned to him, Rainbow asking, "You sure that's a good idea? Those fuzzballs can be a major hassle. I mean, you forget to feed them once, and the next thing you know, you're tied up in a cauldron about to be cooked alive."

Those not aware of the situation she was talking about shared raised eyebrows as Flash shined a smirk, "Eh, I'll be fine. I've fought monsters and ego-maniacal tyrants. I think I can handle a couple of cute and cuddly critters."





One hour later...

"WHOA!" Flash yelped as he ducked under a flying bowl of food that had been kicked at him, "Hey! What was wrong with that food?!" He then turned to a cat that was trying to jump onto Fluttershy's curtains, the pegasus grabbing it before it tried to claw his face, "Ack!" he cried before pulling the cat away, only to hear a munching sound next. He put the cat down before turning to a goat munching on the paper of an open book. "Gyah!" He grabbed the goat by the tail and pulled it outside. "How does Fluttershy do this?!"

As for the Element of Kindness, she was currently sitting on her sofa, Angel Bunny beside her as they watched the commotion being caused. "Oh dear," she whispered. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Angel squeaked and clicked his response, "I know we don't have any choice, but even if it's not really my fault-" Fluttershy rolled onto her back, "I still feel bad having somepony else doing my job."

In that moment, another of her animal friends jumped up onto the sofa. It was Mr. Mousey, who lived in the wall of Fluttershy's cottage. He walked up to her, Fluttershy rolling over to greet him, "Oh, hello Mr. Mousey." She said before noticing the mouse not getting any bigger in her vision as he got close. In fact, he was the exact same size.

"You know...I don't know how you live like this. The world seemed big enough back when I was my normal size." She commented as she looked away, "Now it feels more terrifying than ever."

Mr. Mousey squeaked, Fluttershy understanding perfectly what he was saying. "Being small can have its disadvantages, but it can also open up a world of opportunities."

"What opportunities?" Fluttershy asked, the mouse smiling before gesturing her to follow. She flared her wings before flying off the sofa, Mr. Mousey scurrying down it. Once they were on the floor, Mousey led her over to the hole that was the entrance of his home. "Ooh," she whispered as they walked inside, "I've never been able to fit in here before."

They then went into the tunnel, soon reaching a room with Mrs. Mousey, "Oh, hello Fluttershy. Fancy seeing you here."

Fluttershy nodded back, "Nice to see you too. It won't be for long though, I'll be back to normal by tomorrow." Her eyes glanced around at this, "Say, where's Cheddar?"

"He's playing with the other young mice." She pointed to another hole, "Just take that tunnel and you'll find them."

Fluttershy turned to Mr. Mousey, the mouse nodding back before she walked down the hole. She soon reached a large, at least for her, chamber that she recognized was somewhere under her back garden, likely about a meter and a half down. The place had several tunnels along the side, each most likely leading to another mouse hole.

In the center of the chamber was a playground like structure made out of household objects. There was a seesaw made from a popsicle stick and a bobbin, a slide made out of a straight mirror, a roundabout made of a hamster wheel on its side, swings made from thread and cotton and so much more.

Multiple small mice were playing in the chamber, all cheering until they noticed the newcomer. When they turned to her, Fluttershy was able to recognize each and every one of them. Cheddar was the first to run up to her, the others following suit as they realized who she was.

She quickly explained what had happened to her, the mice children understanding most it before pulling her over to their playground equipment. The pegasi soon found herself playing with them, a big smile on the pegasi's face as she did this. One game that really amused her was having her stand atop the slide, playing the role of a fair princess. The mice were all playing knights, using toothpicks as swords and buttons as shields, each play fighting for the hoof of the princess.

Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at the sight, unable to deny she was enjoying this as she thought, 'Maybe Mr. Mousey was right. I definitely couldn't have done this in my normal size.'





A Little Later...

Iron Core slowly walked up to Fluttershy's house, creaking the door open to find the inside devoid of life. "Anypony home?"

"IN THE BACK!" Flash yelled back, Iron soon moving through the house and into the back garden, now seeing Flash use a rake on Harry's back. "Hey, give me a minute. He's having a bad day."

"Bad day?" He replied before seeing Harry hold his mouth, clear indicator that he was suffering from a severe toothache. "Ouch. Would have thought Fluttershy tried to fix that."

"She did try," Flash responded, "She told me the bad tooth's right at the back and she couldn't get the pliers to grip it at the right angle." He then finished the back scratch and let out a long sigh, "Done." He patted Harry's head, the bear moaning at the pain. "I think that's the last thing Fluttershy needed me to do."

"Where is she?" Iron asked, "I figured she'd be observing you."

"Isn't she still in the living room?" Flash replied before both headed inside, only to not see hide or hair of her. "Fluttershy?"

"You here?" Iron added before seeing Angel hop down from upstairs. "Hey Fuzzball, where Shy?" Angel replied by pointing at a nearby mouse hole, Flash and Iron leaning down as he asked again, "Fluttershy?"

"Iron?" Fluttershy's voice called out from the hole, a few seconds later the shrunken pegasus flying out of the hole with a smile on her face.

"What were you doing in there?" Flash asked next.

"Oh, exploring the tunnels beneath my house," Fluttershy replied while grinning, "There are so many passageways my animal friends use that I never got the chance to see because I was too big. But now I'm the perfect size! Its so lovely!"

"Well, it's nice to see you making the most out of a bad situation," Flash replied before a load roar suddenly rang out, all three glancing at the back door.

"Oh dear, is Harry's tooth acting up again?" Flash and Iron nodded back, making the mare sigh, "I figured. I just wish there was a way to remove it, but with where the tooth is, it's almost impossible to get it out. If only..." her words came to a stop as Mr. Mousey's echoed through her head. She glanced down at her smaller then normal hooves. "Opportunities."

Flash and Iron raised an eyebrow at her, "Come again?"

Fluttershy responded by flying up to their level, "Go into the bathroom and get me some dental floss." The two just blinked at her, making her yell, "GO!" Iron was quick to react, running upstairs as Fluttershy landed on Flash's back. "Take me to Harry!" He nodded back, trotting over to the bear as she flew off him. "Oh Harry..." She flew up and rubbed his nose, "It's okay. We'll have that tooth out soon. Now, say ah."

Harry roared as he opened his mouth, allowing Fluttershy to do something that gave Flash a heart attack. "Fluttershy!" He yelped as he saw her fly inside, "What are you doing?!"

Fluttershy's voice echoed back out. "At this size, I can get a much better look inside his mouth."

Moments later, Iron arrived carrying a case of dental floss. "Where's Fluttershy?" Flash pointed at Harry's mouth, Iron having his own heart attack when he saw his girlfriend poke her head out.

"Floss?" Iron kept his mouth open, unable to respond as he slowly held out the case. The tiny pegasi flew up next, grabbing the end of the rope before flying back into the mouth. Inside, she wrapped the floss around the bad tooth and tied it as tightly as she could. Once done, she flew back out and gripped the string. "Alright," she said before pulling, Flash and Iron watching her grunt as she flapped her wings, clearly unable to pull the tooth out with her miniature body.

As such, they both grabbed the floss and gave it a quick yank. The combined strength of the defenders was more than enough to pull the tooth out, Harry flinching at the second of pain before letting out a sigh of relief. And as the bad tooth flew out, Fluttershy landed by it, huffing at the task before whispering, "Wow...I did it."

"Heck yeah, you did," Flash added as Iron picked her up. Fluttershy then turned to Harry, seeing him hold his cheek for a moment before turning to her and scooping the mare up with his claw.

"Eep!" She cried as she was pulled into Harry's tight bear hug, "You're-ah...welcome." Harry let her go, letting her fly over to Iron, landing on his head. "I thought I was completely useless as this size, but it actually helped me look after one of my animal friends."

"I guess there's a use for something of every size," Iron replied, Fluttershy humming at the statement before a bulb went off in her head.

"You're right," she responded as she flew off his head.

"Where's she going?" Flash asked, both now watching her fly up to the many bird houses that were littered around her house, the mouse sized pony flying into each of them.

It wasn't long till they saw her begin to help every flying creature possible. "There you go," she commented as she finished wrapping a bandage around one of her bird friend's wings. At her normal size, it would be a difficult procedure, but shrunken down it was foal's play. "Now be careful about how much you use it for the next few days and it'll be as good as new." The bird chirped its thanks before flying off, "Next."

The next patient wasn't a bird, but a bee. "Oh no," she whispered when she saw the drone's bent stinger. "That does look bad. Don't worry, I'll get you all fixed up."

Both defenders smiled as they saw her get to work, Flash leaving as she began to spend the rest of the day helping her smallest friends with injuries she couldn't properly fix at her normal size. By the time she went to sleep in a makeshift bed, Fluttershy had helped fifty-seven patients, a new personal best.





The next day...

As soon as the sun was up, Iron took Fluttershy over to the castle. Stepping into the throne room, they found Flash, Twilight, Spike and the jakhowls, Twilight galloping up to them, "Fluttershy, Flash told me you've been having fun with your new size."

"Oh yes," Fluttershy replied while nodding, "And it's been fun, but I'd like to get back to my normal size."

"Well, Zecora should be here soon," Twilight assured her while levitating her onto the map. "So just hang tight."

"I will," Fluttershy replied before sniffing the air. "What's that strange smell?"

"That would be Starlight."

In another part of the castle...

Starlight placed a plate of odd looking sandwiches down in front of the two, Heart and Soul sniffing the air, "What are those?"

"Seaweed, cucumber and beetroot sandwiches," the unicorn replied, "My dad always fed them to me when I was sick." She took a slice off each of their plates and stuffed them into their mouths, making them choke at the horrible taste. "If this doesn't cure you, nothing will."

Back at the throne room...

"Thank Celestia I haven't caught the horsey hives," Flash sighed as the doors opened.

"Did we make it?" Rainbow asked as she, Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity trotted in, soon seeing Fluttershy still on the table. "Good, we didn't miss it."

"How are you doing darling?" Rarity asked as she got to the table next.

"I'm alright. Just impatient to get back to normal."

"That patience shall grant thy reward." They all turned to see Zecora walking into the room, "For now your true height shall be restored." She reached into her saddlebag and took out a teeny tiny bottle, the perfect size for Fluttershy to drink from.

"Are you sure that's gonna be enough?" Iron asked as Zecora put the bottle down.

"The amount I've given is far from wrong, the power in that potion is incredibly strong."

Fluttershy took the bottle and uncorked it, "If Zecora says this'll make me big again, then I trust her." She began to gulp it down, everypony watching as she finished the drink. And as she did this, Fluttershy's eyes went wide. "Oh...I can feel it. Something's happening." Everypony's heads drew closer as Fluttershy's entire body began to shake. And then...she burped.

The ponies all pulled their heads back and groaned, Fluttershy gasping and covering her mouth. "I'm sorry," she blushed, nopony saying anything as she suddenly began to glow. They all gasped as the pegasus began to grow in mere seconds, the pegasi exclaiming, "It's working!" She jumped off the table as she added, "Wow...I'm already almost at my normal size." And within seconds, she was back to her full height. The ponies around her were all smiling, about to hug her...only to see she was still glowing. That and she continued to grow, "What?" she looked down, now seeing her friends shrink, "W-w-what's happening?!"

"Zecora?" Flash turned to the zebra, "Is it possible you made a small error when you made the potion?"

Zecora gulped as she watched Fluttershy continue to grow. "There is the slightest possibility, that I used four henus petals and not three."

Fluttershy's head then began to bang into crystals hanging from the root chandelier, Iron yelling, "We need to get her outside! Now!"

Twilight's horn sparked in response, instantly taking the whole group outside. Out there, the pegasi continued to grow, soon stopping at the height of eleven meters high. "Oh no." Fluttershy said in a loud booming voice, looking down as she tried to take a step, only to almost step on Spike by mistake.

"Look out!" Spike yelped as Fluttershy pulled her hoof back, her larger size causing her to lose her balance. With many cries of shock, she fell onto her side with enough force to make the ground shake. Everypony yelped as the tremor began to rattle the hills, the mini-quake instantly hitting the town. Every house began to rattle, several trees at the Apple Family Orchard now losing their apples while at Fluttershy's cottage, the roofs of the underground tunnels began to rain down dirt.

"Oh...." the giant Fluttershy tired to whisper, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Twilight replied, "It's not your fault." She turned to Zecora, "Please tell me you can fix this."

Zecora nodded back, "The potion to reverse this is easier to make. About an hour of time the brewing will take. Though if you wish for Fluttershy to stay out of the lime light, I suggest you apply a way to keep her out of sight." She pointed to the town and everypony saw the townsponies trotting up to them.

The zebra began to take her leave as Grand and Lightning arrived on the scene. "What the heck is going on?" Grand asked as he stared up at the giant pegasus, "What happened to her?"

"Small...potion mishap," Twilight tried to reply.

"Small?!" Lightning yelled before pointing at Fluttershy, "I'd hardly call that small."

"We'll fix it," Flash responded before pointing at the approaching crowd, "For now, let's keep the townsponies from getting too close. The last thing Fluttershy needs is getting stared at like a carnival attraction."

Grand and Lightning nodded before they and Springer ran up to the crowd while the others turned back to Fluttershy. "You still okay up there?" Rainbow asked her first.

"I'm alright," Fluttershy replied before wiping her brow. "Though at this size, the sun's feeling extra hot."

"That's not just you," Rainbow added as she wiped her own brow. "The Cloudsdale Weather Factory sent a message yesterday afternoon. There was a malfunction at the cloud production center and they won't be able to fix it for a few days. Unfortunately, that means we won't be getting any new clouds until then."

"Is that why there's no shade?" Spike asked, pulling a piece of paper out of nowhere and using it to fan himself.

"Sorry," Rainbow shrugged, Fluttershy sighing before looking down and seeing Flash and the others were directing away from her. She could see they were the same, most going back to town while grabbing whatever water they could, even from the fountain.

Certain words went into her head again as she whispered, "Opportunities..." A small idea formed in her head next, making her open her wings.

Iron saw this and called out, "Shy, what are you doing?"

"I'm not sure yet," she replied, "But I think I have an idea on how to help ponies stay cool." With that, she spread her wings and began to softly flap them. Doing so sent a powerful wave forward, hitting the group like whirlwind.

"AAAAHHH!" They all cried out as they grabbed the ground, trying to hold themselves in place while Fluttershy gasped.

"Sorry. Maybe you should get further back....or behind me." The group glanced up at her before running behind her as she began to slowly beat her wings. A low gust of wind began to hit the town next, this one weak enough to be just a weak breeze. Feeing the wind hit them, the townsponies began to cool down, some turning to her and giving waves of thanks.

"Oh...um, you're welcome." She tried to say while waving back.

"Wow Fluttershy," Twilight added as she flew up and landed on her head. "Great idea using your size to cool everypony down."

Fluttershy giggled back. "Thanks."

"And you're helping us too," she heard Spike say before looking down to see him laying in the shadow that Fluttershy was casting on the grass. "This is great. It's still warm, but not sweltering." Ace and Mira slid over to lay besides him, the three putting their paws/claws behind their heads and crossing their legs.

Twilight rolled her eyes while Fluttershy continued to giggle. Over the next hour, Fluttershy turned into a giant play-set, continuing to cast a cooling breeze over the town while one of her legs turned into a giant slide, with her friends swinging from her mane hair, and her tail had become a river of hair.

"Marko!" A blindfolded Pinkie yelled as her head popped out of the tail, Rainbow's head poking out behind her.

"Polo!" She barked before diving back into the tail, Pinkie spinning around and swimming after her.

"Too bad Heart and Soul can't be here," Ace commented as he and Mira slid down Fluttershy's leg. "They'd love this."

"Oh well. We'll just have to have enough fun for them." Mira added as they ran up to a strand of Fluttershy's hair that Applejack and Rarity were currently swinging from.

Back in the castle again...

"I hear laughter," Heart whispered as he tried to quietly get out of bed and move toward the door. But before he could grab the doorknob, Starlight grabbed him in her magic.

"Not happening," she pushed him back into bed before using her magic tuck him in so tightly that he couldn't move.

He grunted as he tried to free himself, but only his head could move. "But there's something fun happening!"

"No." Starlight replied before turning to Soul, giving her an 'are you gonna try anything' look.

She responded by holding up her hooves in defense, "I'm good."





An hour or so later...

Flash and the others wore faces of surprise as they saw Fluttershy laughing, the rest all climbing over her. "Clearly we missed an interesting time," he commented as Twilight flew down.

"We were just helping Fluttershy keep her mind off her problems."

"Sure you were."

"I'll admit it was pretty funny to watch," Iron added as Ace and Mira swung past him on a strand of hair.

"I must admit," Rarity chimed in while feeling the texture of Fluttershy's mane. "At this size, a single strand of hair would be enough to make entire new line of dresses."

"And it just got weird," Flash finished as he turned to Zecora, the zebra trotting out of the forest with a saddlebag.

"I've completed the potions that'll shrink Fluttershy down. Though by the looks of things, that'll send annoyance through the town." She put the saddlebag down, now revealing one side had lots of normal sized bottles while the other had a tiny bottle in it. "With these we'll have her back as quick as a blur, though I brought another growth potion should an error occur."

"I see," Twilight replied while taking one of the normal sized bottles. "So you made multiple shrinking potions?"

Zecora nodded back, "Trust in the power of these elixirs of mine, each will make her shrink a few feet at a time."

Twilight responded by taking flight, going up to Fluttershy's mouth as she said, "Bottoms up." She poured the potion down Fluttershy's throat, her size causing her to lack the need to even swallow. Everypony watched as the liquid disappear, Fluttershy's body quickly beginning to glow before it started shrinking. They all gasped at this, only for Fluttershy to stop at about eight meters.

"Perfect," Twilight commented before grabbing another bottle out of the bag and repeating the process. Fluttershy gulped it down, shrinking about four more meters, now being at thirteen feet tall. "Almost there." Twilight turned to Zecora, giving her a bottle that was only half full. "It's just a matter of fine tuning until you're the right height."

"Okay..." Fluttershy took the bottle, "But I don't even know how tall I originally was."

"You were taller than me," Rarity spoke up as she stood next to the large pegasus.

"And you were shorter than me," Pinkie bounced onto Fluttershy's other side.

"Alright," Fluttershy drank down the potion, shrinking only a meter, now being just above Pinkie. Twilight gave her another potion, slowly turning to the same height as Pinkie.

"Almost there," Twilight took out another half filled bottle and tipped half into another half filled one. "This should fix you." Fluttershy nodded and took the vial, gulping it down. After another few seconds, she shrank once more, this time getting to the height exactly between Rarity and Pinkie. "You're back!" Twilight cheered as they all ran in to hug the mare.

"Thank you," Fluttershy replied as she embraced them all. "I'm...happy to be back to normal." But despite saying this, a frown appeared on her face.

"What's the matter?" Flash asked as he pulled back, "You still look kinda down."

Fluttershy looked away at this, about to speak up, only for a bird to suddenly fly down and land on her head while tweeting up a storm. "Oh! Hello Merry-Weather, what's wrong?" The bird continued to squawk, Fluttershy gasping before turning to Twilight, "You need to teleport me to my house."

"What?" Twilight asked, "Why-"

"NOW!" Twilight hopped at this, her horn sparking before suddenly teleporting both them and the rest of the group.

Soon appearing at the cottage, Fluttershy ran in with the others following. There they saw Fluttershy lay down in front of a mouse hole. "What's going on?" Rainbow asked as Fluttershy turned back to them.

"Merry-Weather just told me that some of the underground tunnels have collapsed." This made a few raise some eyebrows as she continued, "She said some of the mice managed to escape, but a lot more still haven't shown up." she stuck her eye right inside the hole, "Oh, I hope they're all alright in there."

"Well it's not like there's anything yah can do," Applejack replied while shrugging, "There's no way ya'll can fit in that hole."

Fluttershy turned to her, then moved her gaze over to Zecora's saddlebag. A thought appeared in her mind, only for instinct to take over as she ran over and pulled out four bottles of shrinking solution. "Fluttershy, what are you-" Twilight tried to ask, only to see Fluttershy down all the drinks at once. "Fluttershy!"

"I'm saving them," she responded as she started to glow, the pony shrinking down. Within seconds, she was once again the size of a mouse, turning to the mouse hole.

"Whoa, hold on there Shy! You can't be serious!" Iron yelled as she flew down to the hole. "If that tunnel's collapsing-"

"I'll be fine," she replied.

"Maybe one of us should come with you," Flash suggested as Rainbow reached for a shrinking bottle.

Fluttershy shook her head. "No. The more of us that come, the more chance of somepony getting buried alive. I'm the only one that knows the tunnel layouts, and I can talk to them. It has to be me."

The ponies all frowned at this, not happy at the normally timid pony being so brave. However, Twilight knew better as she took out a tiny bottle, "Here. If things get bad, drink this. You should be able to grow right through the soil." Fluttershy nodded again, the other ponies feeling pride at the confidence on her face. "Good luck."





Despite how calm everything looked on the surface, the underground was a mess. The tunnels were constantly raining dirt as Fluttershy ran through, quickly arriving at Mr. Mousey's home. And as she got there, she found the two mice huddled in a corner. "Mr. Mousey!" She cried, he and his mate turning to her. "Please, you have to run!"

"But Cheddar!" Mousey replied, "We can't leave him!"

"Where is he?"

"He was playing with his friends," Mrs. Mousey pointed down a tunnel. "We tried to go find him, but the tunnel will collapse the second we step foot in it!"

Fluttershy smiled as she flared his wings. "Well luckily, I don't have to step foot in it." She began to hover as she added, "Go ahead and hurry out. I'll get Cheddar." They nodded and ran toward the mouse hole, the mare turning to the tunnel.

This corridor was even worse then the one she had gone though, parts of already half buried. The mare quickly zipped into the dirt tunnel, squeezing through the gaps before getting to the area she was aiming for: The playground. It was also half buried, several exits collapsed and many of the homemade play-sets crushed or hidden under the dirt. It wouldn't last much longer.

"Cheddar?! Are you here?!"

"Fluttershy!" She turned to the mirror slide, making her float over to see the young white mouse child hiding under with several others. "Please help us! We don't know what to do!"

"Don't worry, I'll help you." she responded, her mind racing on what to do. She knew that if it was just Cheddar, she could pick him up and fly him out with ease. But with all these mice, there was no way to get out without getting crushed by the collapsing tunnels. But as she thought this, she turned to see the tunnel she just used get buried, "NO!"

The mice all shook at her reaction, fear beginning to well up in the mare as well. But as she turned back to the mice, she knew only one thing, "I have to save them...but how?" Her eyes glanced around, only to remember the potion she was holding, "Maybe...that could work."

Normally, she would start thinking about what might happen if it didn't work, but then a large piece of dirt fell to her right side. Letting out an 'eep', she looked up before dodging another clump of falling ground. "No time to think." She undid the cork, "I have to do something." With that, she drank down the entire bottle before throwing it behind her. "When I'm big enough, get under me."

The mice raised an eyebrow, only to see her start glowing as she began to get larger. They all gasped at this, but a rock falling from the ceiling, shattering the mirror. Screaming at this, they ran up and hid under her just as Fluttershy's head began to hit the ceiling. Her head then began to push against the roof, slamming her down as she felt the weight hit her legs. Despite this, her eyes looked down at the mice under her, making a determined stare appear on her face as she continued to get larger. She continued to grow, forcing her legs to take the weight. More and more pressure was put on the roof, which had already been weakened by the collapsing...

Only to give out.





Above the surface...

Springer had been using his aura sense to follow Fluttershy through the tunnels, the group now in the back garden while he patted the grass. "She's definitely under here," he commented, the ponies following him after the two mice that were currently riding Iron's back ran out of the hole, the group unable to understand why she had gone all this way due to not being able to speak mouse.

"What do you think she's doing down there?" Rainbow asked, the others shrugging until the ground suddenly started shaking.

"What's that?" Applejack asked, only for the ground where Springer had patted to suddenly explode.

"AHH!" They yelped as dirt went flying everywhere, the group gasping before seeing Fluttershy's head sticking out of the ground.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked before seeing Fluttershy continuing to grow, the hole around her neck beginning to choke her.

"AUGH!" She grunted out, "Potion! POTION!" The others quickly grabbed the remaining shrinking potions from Zecora and poured them all down Fluttershy's throat. She continued to have trouble breathing for several seconds until she started to once again shrink, allowing her to take deep breaths. But before she shrunk too much, she reached down and grabbed the mice below her.

"Pull me up!" Twilight grabbed Fluttershy in her magic and lifted her out of the hole the second she was small enough to fit through. And as the sinkhole collapsed in on itself, Twilight placed Fluttershy and the mice she was holding back on the ground. By this time, Fluttershy had shrunk to the size of a cat and was still going.

"Fluttershy!" Iron yelled as he ran to her side, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Fluttershy replied before turning to Cheddar and his friends. "Are you all okay?" The mice all replied, telling her they were unharmed as Mr. and Mrs. Mousey crawled down Iron's leg and ran to their son. They then thanked Fluttershy, the mare nodding back, "I'm happy to help." She shined a small smile, only to look down at herself, "But I'm small again."

"Don't worry, Zecora can just make you another growth potion." Flash responded before turning back to the zebra, "You must have loads of it left with how much she's drunk."

Zecora shook her head, "While your statement is quite true, I won't be able to make another shrinking brew. I have used the last of the ingredients I need, and it may take several days for my hunt for them to succeed."

"So I'm stuck like this for a few more days?" Fluttershy asked, Zecora nodding back with a frown. The sight made Fluttershy let out a long sigh, "It's okay Zecora, I can stay like this for a few days." She turned to her many mice friends, "I'm just glad all my friends are okay."

The mice smiled back as almost everypony returned to Fluttershy's cottage, Zecora heading off to begin her hunt and Iron placing his shrunken girlfriend back on the sofa.

"Don't worry Fluttershy," Twilight assured her. "Zecora will have the ingredients she needs soon enough. Then we'll have you back to your normal size."

"I know she will," Fluttershy replied, "I'm just sorry I'm causing so many problems for everypony."

"It's no problem at all deary," Rarity responded, "We're happy to help with whatever you need." The others all nodded in agreement.

Flash then let out a sigh at this, "You know, It's too bad there isn't a way to clap our hooves and turn you back to normal."

It was in that moment that a sudden flash appeared within Fluttershy's cottage, startling the group until they saw a certain creature, "Huzzah!" Discord exclaimed, "I'm here, so let's get..." He stopped when he noticed the number of ponies in the building. "Oh, is this going to be an extra large tea party?"

"Tea party?" Flash asked, Iron's eyes going wide at this.

"Wait...Fluttershy said she was free today?"

"That's right!" Discord hummed, "And Smoozie's feeling much better, so I was able to come." He then began to glance around, "So, where is Fluttershy? I hope I didn't leave her hanging too long."

The other ponies shared a glance before moving away from the sofa, letting Discord get a look at the tiny pegasus sitting there. "Hello Discord," she waved at the larger than normal draconequus.

Discord's eyes went wide, soon falling out and rolling along the ground until he snapped them back into his head before getting closer to Fluttershy. "My dear Fluttershy, what happened to you?"

Fluttershy blushed and looked away. "It's...kind of a long story. You see-"

"Hold it!" Discord interrupted before snapping his fingers, summoning a card with a few words on it. "If we're doing an explanation, we don't need to bore the audience. Let's do a time skip."

One complete chapter explanation later...

"And now I'm stuck like this again until Zecora can brew up some more potion." Fluttershy finished, the amalgamation of creatures listening intently with a look of curiosity on his face.

"My my, it seems you've had quite the chaotic time, even without me here." He chuckled before cracking his knuckles and his noodle body, "Well then, I'd better get you back to normal."

The others gasped at this, Twilight flying up to him. "Wait, you can change her back to normal?"

Discord made a sound of disgust as he turned to her, "I'm insulted you even have to ask. Changing the size of something is entry level chaotic magic. One snap and she'll be back to her ever elegant size."

They all smiled at this, turning to Fluttershy...only to see her frown again. "What's the matter darling?" Rarity asked, "You look like you're upset that you'll be your normal size again."

"Oh. Um uh...." Fluttershy began to twiddle her hooves, "I am happy that I'll be back to normal, but..."

"But what?" Pinkie added.

"But it's just been so much fun going back and forth between small and big. I'm gonna miss being able to see things from my animal's point of view, and being able to smile down on everypony from up high. I just wish...I could have spent a little more time at those sizes."

"Oh, if that's all you want, then so be it." Discord responded with a bow, "Your wish is my command." Before anypony could ask what he meant, he snapped his fingers, Fluttershy being suddenly consumed by a bright light that filled the room.

When the light faded, Fluttershy was revealed to still be the same size. The pegasus blinked as she looked herself over, only to glance up at Discord, "There. Perfect."

Everypony glared up at him, Iron speaking up, "What the hay?! I thought you said you were gonna turn her back to normal!"

"But she didn't want to be turned back to normal. She wanted to be able to enjoy being both small, big and her normal size. So that's what I did." The ponies blinked at this before turning to Fluttershy as Discord spoke up, "Alright my dear, close your eyes and think about being your normal size."

Fluttershy shut her eyes, thinking extra hard. As she did, a soft pink glow appeared around her before she began to grow. The group all gasped as she got to her regular size, Twilight exclaiming as the pegasi opened her eyes. "Fluttershy! You...you're back to normal."

"She's better than normal," Discord chuckled, "Try thinking about being small again." Fluttershy closed her eyes again, the pink glow returning as she shrunk down to the size of the mouse. The group watched her gasp, quickly returning to normal with a giddy look on her face.

"Wait..." she gasped before flying outside, the others following as she glowed pink again before turning to almost ten meters tall. "YAY!" She cheered before changing back to normal and flying over to hug Discord. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"My pleasure," Discord added as he embraced her back before pulling her away. "Now, I have put some limits on you. We don't want you accidently shrinking yourself microscopic, so mouse size is the limit of your shrinking. Same with your growth. Ten meters in height is a good maximum there."

"That's fine," Fluttershy replied before landing, "In fact, why don't I make us all some tea and we celebrate with a tea party?" Everypony nodded back as the mare ran into the kitchen, Discord sitting down on her sofa as Iron walked up to him.

"That was a pretty nice thing you did for her," Iron told him. "I guess you're not all that bad after all."

"Well, she's my friend. Isn't that what you do for your friends?"

"It is," Iron sighed as he sat down beside him. "But thanks anyways." Discord smiled back as everypony sat down as Fluttershy flew in while carrying a tray of cups and teapots.

Seeing Iron and Discord sitting beside one another, her joy hit its zenith as she put the tray down. "This really has been an amazing day!" She giggled with joy and clapped her hooves as she closed her eyes, right as the pink glow returned.

The others flinched as they saw her begin to grow, "Uh...Fluttershy?" But Flash couldn't say anything else before he and the others suddenly found themselves getting squished between the giant pegasus and the closest wall. They all grunted as the air was pushed out of them, Fluttershy only now realizing what had just happened.

"Oh....sorry."

Discord managed to snap his fingers at this, teleporting them all outside, the group hitting the dirt before the giant pegasus landed on top of them. After a few seconds, everypony pulled their heads out from under her, Flash letting out a sigh, "Clearly she's gonna need a little practice controlling her new power."

Fluttershy blushed back before shrinking herself down to mouse size, everypony gasping for air as she landed on top of Iron. She then gave them all a nervous smile, the others unable to deny how cute that looked and forgave her.





Several days later...

The Mane Seven were now at the castle of friendship, all enjoying one of Pinkie's latest creations. "How big a slice do you guys want?" The baker asked while cutting the cake.

"As big as you can make it," Flash replied while licking his lips.

As she began to cut it up, Twilight turned to Fluttershy. "So how's the training been going?"

"It's been going really well. I have a lot more control over my abilities now. I shouldn't accidently grow anymore unless I'm really really really excited."

"That's good," Rarity responded as Pinkie passed her a slice of cake. "Now you can enjoy your new powers without any problems."

Applejack nodded in agreement. "Darn tootin'. And think of all the possibilities ya'll have with those powers. Ah bet ya'll could harvest a whole apple field with one stomp of yer giant hooves."

"And imagine racing against something that big," Rainbow added, "Now that's a challenge."

Fluttershy giggled back as she gave her size order to Pinkie, the mare raising an eyebrow at this as she responded, "My new powers have lots of benefits, but this is my favorite one." The others tilted their heads at this as Pinkie put a tiny piece of a cake on a plate, which was just the tip of a normal slice, and passed it to Fluttershy. The pegasus licked her lips as she suddenly shrank down to her mouse size before landing next to the tiny bit of cake, which was now the same size as her. "Smaller body, bigger portion sizes."

She started enjoying the cake while the others watched on in jealousy. But in that moment, the doors opened up with Starlight and the twins trotting in, "WE'RE CURED!" The two exclaimed, showing they were completely hive free.

"That's great," Twilight replied as the two ran up to the table to grab a slice of cake. "I hope you thanked Starlight for taking such good care of you."

"We did!" They responded as Starlight walked over to Twilight.

"It's wasn't a problem," she told them all. "Happy to help."

"I'm just glad I don't have to keep away from them any more," Flash added as he scratched his chin. "Now Heart and I can start training again." He then started scratching his cheek, getting everypony's attention, Twilight spotting something on his cheek that made her moan.

"Flash!"

"What?" He asked before Rarity gave him a mirror, allowing him to see a red spot on his cheek. There was also one on his chin and around his snout.

"Oh no..." he gasped, only for a flash of light to happen next. He then noticed that Starlight had vanished, the unicorn soon teleporting back with a bowl of oatmeal paste and a tray of disgusting sandwiches.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
> Trixie's Trial
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ponyville was lively as ever, day to day lives going on as no alarms were going off. This was mainly because Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry were not in town right now. It was well known that the townsfolk loved those two, though they did seem to be the magnet for insane situations. Both had been sent by Celestia to settle a dispute in Fillydelphia, the finer details not known to the general public. Hopefully some big misunderstanding would occur before getting worked out and then it would fill Equestria's weekly quota for insane events, which was usually followed by an event free week.

It was at this moment that Springer was in the training room with Ace and Mira, the trio each holding a broom handle without a head. "Again!" Springer yelled before swinging his stick around, "One!" Ace and Mira swung the piece down, "Two!" They swiped the broom horizontally, "Three!" And as they swung the stick the other side, Ace let out a long sigh.

"This is boring!" He moaned before spinning his staff around, "Why are we even doing this?" He got his answer when the stick smacked his head, "Ow!"

"That's why," Springer responded, "If you do that with a Bone Breaker, you're likely to cut your own ear off." He pointed his stick at Ace, "I want you two to be masters of all my attacks before you actually learn them. That way, there won't be any accidents."

"But why can't we start learning those attacks now? You know, like an Aura Blast!"

Mira rolled her eyes while Springer sighed. "Alright." He spun the stick around before thrusting it down, making it stand up straight, "From where you're standing, fire a pulse of aura. If you can knock the staff down, I'll teach you the Aura Blast."

"Ha! Really?!" Springer did a small nod, "Too easy." He brought his paws together before thrusting them forward, "HIYAH!" But as he did this...not even a bit of aura appeared in his paws. Instead, there was a tiny layer of aura in surrounding his paws, but not a speck was flying out, "Wait..." he tried again, only to get the same results, "No, that's not right. Give me a sec-"

"Your aura's not strong enough yet," Springer interrupted.

"What?! Why?!" Ace yelped, Mira rolling her eyes again.

"Weren't you listening when Springer explained what aura is?" Ace turned to her, tilting his head in response. "Figures."

Springer shined a small smile at the female jakhowl, "Mira, mind explaining to him what it is?"

Mira nodded back, "Aura is a spiritual energy created by combining one's mental and physical energy. The stronger the wielder is both mentally and physically, the stronger their aura is."

"Good girl," Springer pulled a brown bag out from behind his back. "Have a cookie." Mira gasped before taking the treat as Springer turned to Ace, "Ace, you're not gonna be able to wield your aura unless your mental and physical energies reach a certain point. You're young and inexperienced, so your mental energy isn't very strong yet. That'll grow with age, so I want to make you physically stronger first. That's why we're doing this, to build your physical energy, which will build into your aura."

Ace let out a long sigh, "Alright." He picked up his stick, "But how long do we gotta do this?"

"Until you're ready," Springer grabbed his staff. "Now, follow my directions and don't ad-lib. Flash will have a field day if he comes back to find one of my students managed to poke his own eye out while training."

The two nodded before following Springer's movements again, Ace grumbling, "Aww...I bet Heart and Soul are having more fun than we are."





Over in the castle's library...

Heart and Soul were currently sitting around a table reading books, Starlight one table over, reading her own tome and look content while taking some notes. As for the filly and colt, looks of boredom were on their faces as Heart yelled, "AUGH!" He slammed his face into the book he was reading, "This is so boring!" He pulled his face back up. "It's bad enough Flash had to leave me here, but what was he thinking making me write this stupid essay?!"

"Well...what's the essay about?" Soul asked.

"I have to pick a Royal Knight from the past and write a detailed history of their life and what they did during their time as a knight."

"That doesn't sound so bad. Twilight is always saying that learning about the past is a great way to improve one's future. You know, learning from the mistakes of the past and stuff."

"It's still boring," Heart groaned, "Why couldn't Flash and Twilight have taken us with them instead of leaving us with all this homework?"

The question made Starlight laugh, causing the two to turn to her. "There's no way they were gonna take you with them. For one thing, you would have missed a flank ton of school." Heart glared at her at that. "And as bored as you think you are now, you probably would have been ten times as bored going with them. What do you think they're doing in Fillydelphia?"

"I thought they were settling some kind of dispute?" Soul asked.

"Exactly. That means they'll probably in some meeting with nothing but yelling and arguing. If you came along, you'd either be sitting in the corner, not allowed to talk, or trapped in a hotel room. Trust me, you're better off here."

"Still wish Flash didn't give me such a boring assignment," Heart huffed as he looked back at the book.

"You would have had to learn this stuff sooner of later," Soul added, Starlight now going back to her own book.

But despite the smile on her face, it soon morphed to a frown as she remembered the assignment Twilight have given her while she was away. Now that her old friendship with Sunburst was stable, the princess had decided it was time for Starlight to try and make a new friend.

She had already tried yesterday, her other friends all willing to help. Pinkie had introduced her to Mrs. Cake, but Starlight ended up getting her angry with a magically created cake. Applejack tried Big Mac, only for Starlight to cause him to have a panic attack by magically getting him to become a big blabber mouth. Rainbow, Rarity and Fluttershy had also tried to help...but there seemed to be no answer for Starlight.

In the end, she just went to the spa, but there wasn't anypony there to open up to either. No matter what she did, the mare couldn't seem to find anypony she could make a real connection too. A small part of her felt like the ponies in town were still judging her for her...past. "Great," she sighed, quiet enough for the twins to not hear, "I'm gonna end up letting Twilight down."

It was here that a loud knocking sound suddenly echoed through the castle. This brought the three out of their own little worlds, all turning to the library door. "What was that?" Heart asked as Starlight got up.

"The front door. You two stay here and keep working." With that, she teleported to the main entryway. She trotted over to the door, opening it up to find a familiar unicorn as she asked, "Hello?" It was a certain light blue unicorn with silver hair, complete with a saddlebag on her back as Starlight squinted at her, "Wait...you're Flash and Twilight's friend, Trixie...right?"

"That's right," Trixie Lulamoon nodded back. "Its nice to meet you again."

The sight then made Starlight's memories click into place, now remembering the movie she had watched when the group returned, and how hard Trixie had fought in the war, especially her battles against Terror Card.

"You're Twilight's new student, right?" Trixie then asked, "Starlight...Glamour?"

"Glimmer," she corrected before stepping aside. "You wanna come in?"

"Thanks!" Trixie replied as she trotted inside.

"So...what are you doing here?" Starlight added while closing the door, "Aren't you Princess Luna's student?"

Trixie nodded. "I am, but is it so wrong for a pony to come a visit her friends?"

"Oh. Um...no." Starlight responded while looking away, "You're right. Sorry."

"It's fine," Trixie turned back to her. "But honestly, this isn't a social call." Her smile instantly vanished as she zipped up to Starlight, their faces inches apart as she placed her front hooves on Starlight's chest. "Trixie needs Twilight's help! Is she here?!"

Starlight blinked back, slowly replying, "Uh...actually, she and Flash are in Fillydelphia."

"Oh no..." Trixie let out a groan while pulling away, "Any idea when they'll be back?" Starlight shook her head. "Augh! I knew Trixie should have come sooner! She just had to leave it to the last minute!" She fell back onto her flank, "I'm doomed...Trixie is doomed!"

Starlight frowned at this, trying to form words before twiddling her hooves, "Um...Trixie?" Trixie looked back up at her, "Listen, uh....I don't know what's going on, but I'd hate for you to have come all this way for nothing. Why don't I take you to Heart and Soul? You can catch up and I'll get us some snacks." Trixie blinked at this, getting back up as Starlight flashed her horn, teleporting them to the library. Starlight then opened the doors and said, "Hey you two, look who just showed up."

They turned to her, only to gasp, "TRIXIE!" They immediately charged at the unicorn, tackling her in a mad rush.

"Soul! Heart!" Trixie giggled while hugging them both, "Oh, I've missed you two so much! You all been having fun in Ponyville?" The two nodded back as Starlight's horn shined, ready to teleport to the kitchen. But right before she could vanish-

"I thought I sensed a familiar presence." They all turned to see the jakhowls walking into the room, Trixie smiling as the twins let her up.

"Springer!" She and the bipedal wolf moved over and hugged for a second, Trixie then pulling away to see at the youngest members of the group. She covered her mouth with her hooves, "My goodness, are these them?"

Springer nodded. "Yup." He placed a paw on each jakhowl's shoulder, "This is Ace and Mira."

"Aww...Hello there," she waved to them while they waved back. "I'm Trixie."

Two barks followed this, Springer responding, "They would say hello back, but they can't talk yet."

"Ah, that's right," Trixie nodded back, "I remember when you were like that. Gosh...that feels like a lifetime ago."

It was at this moment that Starlight returned holding a tray of drinks and snacks, the group moving into the library and clearing a table to enjoy them. "So what brings you here?" Springer asked as Trixie sipped on a cup of tea.

The unicorn let out a long sigh, "Well...I was hoping to get Twilight's help with a spell I'm working on, but it looks like I'm on my own."

"What kind of spell is it?" Starlight asked, her interest instantly sparking.

"It's an age spell," Trixie replied, "One that will allow you to force something to become older or younger depending on how you use it."

"Wow!" Soul gasped, "A spell like that exists?!"

"Cool...." Heart added.

Starlight nodded in agreement, "I've heard about those spells, but I always heard they were impossible. They're something only for the highest level of unicorn."

"They are," Trixie responded, letting out a sigh next. "Even Celestia and Luna can't do it."

"So why are you trying to use it?" Heart asked, everyone nodding in agreement as Trixie grimaced at the question, Springer and the younglings all sensing fear from her.

"Well...my father is coming to see me," she muttered out, "He'll uh...he'll be arriving in Canterlot tomorrow."

"So why do you look like someone just cancelled Hearts Warming?" Springer asked, only for a certain memory to suddenly shine in his mind, making him remember the day he and Trixie first met. "Oh...right." The others turned to him, "So that's why your aura is like that."

"What do you mean?" Starlight added.

Trixie let out another sigh, "Did Flash or Twilight ever tell you how we first met?" All but Springer shook their heads, "So...before Trixie met them, she was a travelling showpony, going from town to town performing basic magic and dressing it up to look like something far grander then it really was. And a lot of the time, ponies ate it up and she reveled in the attention."

"That doesn't sound like you," Heart chimed in.

"The pony you know is a fairly new persona. Actually, the pony I was before was really a persona. The pony you know is the real version of Trixie, who had been hidden so well that even she believed the persona was the real her. That is, til she came to Ponyville and tried to trick the town into thinking she was some great sorceress. She even tried to trick them into thinking she had once defeated an Ursa Major."

Soul and Heart glanced at each other, both wide-eyed in shock as Starlight asked, "So what happened?"

"Flash happened," Trixie replied as she took a sip from her cup. "He and Springer saved me from a bunch of thieves right outside of town...and we talked. The fear of the attack caused my persona to slip, letting them see the real me, then during the show, they saw right through me, calling me out on the lies I was telling."

"And you left in a huff," Springer chuckled.

Trixie nodded. "The truth about me is...I wasn't always the skilled unicorn I am now. That's why I relied so much on parlor tricks. It wasn't until those criminals returned that I was able to unlock my true magical might, all thanks to Flash and Twilight. But before then, I was just an ordinary pony....and that's what caused the problems between me and my father."

"Why?" Soul asked.

"He's a very powerful unicorn. He's a teacher at the Manehatten Institute for Magical Learning and has mastered many spells in his time. He's considered to be a genius in their school, so to have a daughter like me, who couldn't do anything more than the most basics spells..." She looked away, "Trixie was a source of great shame to him." She put the cup down, her mane drooping down to hide the tears trying appear in her eyes. "I dropped out of the institute, unable to keep up with his demands...and now he refuses to even acknowledge my existence."

Everypony shared a glance, frowns on every face before Heart turned back to her, "So...why's he coming to visit?"

Trixie lifted the cup to take another sip, only to put it down, "I...sent him a letter when I first became Princess Luna's student, telling him about it. I never got a reply. At the time, I figured he didn't believe me...but now I think he did believe me, but expected me to get dropped by now."

"But you haven't." Starlight pointed out. "So what's the problem? If anything, it sounds like he should be proud of you. Maybe he's coming to congratulate you and say he was wrong and he's sorry."

This caused Trixie to let out a quick laugh. "You don't know him. My father's never wrong. At least, that's what he thinks. If he decides something, it's set in stone. And he never apologizes...ever."

"He sounds like a real jerk," Ace added, the others turning to him as Trixie glanced at Springer.

The jakhowl shook his head, "Don't worry about it. So, why do you think he's coming?"

"I don't know," Trixie replied, "That's why I've gotta be ready with something that can show him how much I've grown since leaving home."

"Seriously?!" Heart yelped, "Why would you need that?! You're awesome! You've got both illusion and ice magic!"

"That won't mean anything to him," Trixie instantly replied, "He teaches magic like that at his institute. I need something bigger than that to impress him."

"So that's why you're trying to learn an ageing spell," Starlight chimed in, "I'm guessing none of his students have ever been able to use it."

Trixie weakly nodded, "I knew it was a long shot when I started studying it, but I was determined to try. But with each passing day, I haven't even been able to make the flower I was using on it to de-bloom. That's why I came to Twilight."

The statement made them all exchange glances again, Springer crossing his arms as he felt the despair pouring off the mare, the aura making him feel nauseous, "No offense Trixie, but why do you even care what this guy thinks?" She glanced up at him, seeing a determined stare in his eyes, "He doesn't sound like he deserves your time. You're his daughter and he disowned you just because he didn't realize what your talent really was. That doesn't sound like somepony I'd want in my life."

"Maybe...but he's still my dad." Trixie let out a long sigh at this, "Sorry. I guess I should get back to Canterlot."

"Now hold on Trixie, we don't want you to leave already!" Soul chimed in.

"I'm sorry Soul, but I need to be prepared for him."

"But-"

"Why don't you stay here?!" Heart added, making them turn to him as he pointed at Starlight, "If he's coming tomorrow, you could stay until then. Heck, I bet Starlight could teleport you there so you don't have to get the train."

"Well...I mean-" Trixie stopped herself as she saw the kind smiles on every face in front of her, "Thanks. Though I can just teleport myself."

"Trixie, you know you're always welcome," Springer replied, "Why don't you stay? In fact, let's go get a room ready for you."

Trixie opened her mouth to respond, only to know she couldn't reject him. She got up and followed Springer out of the library, Starlight and the youngsters frowning when they were gone. "Poor Trixie," Soul whimpered, "I'm glad our parents weren't like that."

"Well, we don't really remember them," Heart pointed out. "They could have been like that and we don't know...but you're right. It's too bad Twilight isn't here to help."

"I doubt Twilight could help her," Starlight responded, "Ageing spells are the hardest spells to cast. It's not just a matter of magical knowledge, but pure power as well."

"What do you mean?" Heart asked.

"Ageing spells aren't just a matter of making something younger, they're a form of time travel. In fact, they could be considered to be the most advanced form of time travel. It works by locking onto something and travelling forward or backward through its timeline. Once you find the part of their timeline that's the age you're sending them to, you're then dragging them into the present and merging the two into one. Basically, its the same as doing three high level spells at the same time, and if you lose focus while doing even one of the steps, the whole process is undone."

"Yikes," Mira replied, "And I don't even understand half of that."

"No kidding," Soul whispered. "But couldn't you just team up with two other ponies and combine your magic to do each step?"

Starlight shook her head, "It's not that simple. Even I don't understand everything about this kind of magic. Its why I always steered clear of spells I knew I wouldn't be able to do...even if I have time traveled."

"So it's really impossible?" Heart asked.

"I'm...not sure. But I'm afraid it probably is."





Upstairs...

Springer opened a door, gesturing Trixie to enter, "This okay for you?" He asked as Trixie sat down on the room's bed.

"It's fine," she replied, "After years of living in a wagon, any place with an actual bed is amazing."

Springer nodded back before speaking up, "Hey Trixie," She glanced up at him, "You shouldn't let what your father tells you get to you. You're amazing."

"Thanks Springer."

"I mean it," he added, "How many ponies have gone up against Tirek and actually put up a fight, or defeated a horde of Zap Fighters dressed in a suit designed after a butterfly. Heck, you actually fought in a war and won a lot of battles. You shouldn't have to try and impress him. If anything, he should be trying to impress you."

Trixie chuckled at his words, only to shake your head, "Maybe...but it's hard not to want your father's approval." She gave him a half frown, "You never needed to earn Flash's approval, but you wanted to, right? Because he was the first pony you ever respected."

Springer opened his mouth to reply, only to sigh, "I...I guess. Just...don't beat yourself up while trying to earn the respect of somepony that doesn't even deserve your respect."

Trixie nodded back before Springer left, the mare laying down next as she stared at the ceiling. She then closed her eyes, her mind calling back to a time long ago.





Years Ago...

A young Trixie was happily skipping downstairs into the kitchen of her house in Manehatten. The fact it was an actual house and not just an apartment was proof of her family's wealth, all earned due to her father's many accomplishments. It was here she spotted her mother, an orange unicorn with a blond mane and tail that had a sunflower cutie mark, which was standing at the stove making breakfast.

When she heard Trixie's hoofsteps, she turned to her with a smile, "Hello sweetheart." She moved over to kiss her on the head, "Happy birthday."

"Thanks mom!" Trixie cheered before glancing around, "Where's da-...father." She grimaced at her words, knowing all the time he had told her that was the correct, respectable term to use.

"There was some kind of special delivery." Her mother replied, "Probably a birthday present for a certain somepony."

Trixie gasped at this, a big grin appearing on her face before turning to run out of room, only to come to a stop as a certain stallion appeared in the doorway. He was practically a male version of Trixie, having a blue coat and white hair. His cutie mark was an open book with mist coming out of it, and he wore a white shirt under a black coat with a black bowtie. He was staring at a large pink box wrapped in blue ribbon, a long frown on his face. "Father?" He turned to her before letting out a sound of disgust.

"Worthless," he grumbled, "Leave it to my brother to send such a worthless gift."

Trixie let out another gasp, "Something from uncle?!" She then flinched as he glared down at her, making her shrink back. She wanted to tell him how she always loved her uncle's gifts, but she knew they didn't get along despite being identical twins. "B-b-but father, he always sends great stuff."

"He does not!" he barked back.

"But...you haven't even opened it."

"I don't need to." he instantly replied, "If you actually focused on your studies, you wouldn't even need to unwrap it to know what's inside. I could do a simple X-ray spell at your age, which means you need to start taking your magic lessons seriously. And this worthless gift will just cause more distractions."

He then spun around, heading to the front door with the present, making Trixie ask, "What are you doing?"

"Putting this in the garbage where it belongs. It's stuff like this that caused my brother to become nothing more than a Las Pegasus fool. He wasted so much time with this instead of learning to do real magic like a real magician."

"Dear," Trixie's mother chimed in, "Don't you think that's a bit harsh. It's her birthday present."

"It's a danger to our daughter's future success. I'm doing it for her own good."

With that, he walked outside and threw it into the trashcan, Trixie's ears flopping over at the sight as the biggest frown graced her face as she whispered to herself, "Aww..."

That night...

The little filly was sure her parents were asleep, Trixie now opening the window of her bedroom. She poked her head out, staring down at the trashcan holding her present. She took a deep breath next, knowing if she went for it by hoof, she would get caught. Instead, her horn began to spark as she focused on the trashcan, slowly lifting it before placing it in the grass. After that, she floated the present upward, her face clenching at the sight.

It was a strain with her current magic level, but she knew what she had to do. Determination screaming off her face, she levitated the present up to her window before grabbing it with her hooves, "Gotcha!" She cheered before pulling it in, glancing back as she used the last of her magic to replace the trashcan lid.

"Here we go...let's see what uncle got me." She whispered to herself as she closed the window before using her mouth to pull at the ribbon holding the present together. Once it was off, she took off the lid and stared inside, her eyes going wide at the sight of a bunch of magic equipment. There was a wand, cards, cups and a ball along with a book of beginner magic tricks.

The sight of it was caused Trixie to grow a giant goofy smile.





The Present...

A knock at the door pulled Trixie from her memories, opening her eyes to see Starlight walk inside, "Hey there."

"Oh...hello Starlight."

Starlight twiddled her hooves at this, "Say uh...you wanna go somewhere?"

"Huh?"

Starlight glanced away for a second, "Um...do you wanna go somewhere? You know, do something that'll take your mind off of everything. I know I tend to learn spells better when I'm relaxed, so maybe a good stress reliever will help you with your spell."

Trixie blinked at this, humming before nodding, "Alright, what do you have in mind?"

"Well, what do you enjoy doing?" Starlight asked, "There must be something in Ponyville you'd enjoy doing."

Trixie laid back at this, "Honestly, I'd rather do nothing at all. Laying on a comfortable bed and maybe apply a mud mask? Faust knows I could use one with all the stressing I've been under. I must have added a good five years to my face alone. A hot bath would be nice too."

Starlight shined a big grin at that, "Oh, I know just the thing for that." Her horn sparked next, teleporting the two into the library, forgetting Trixie was a good few feet off the ground without a bed.

"AHH!" She yelped as she hit the floor, Starlight flinching as she sat up and rubbed her head before raising an eyebrow at Starlight.

"Sorry," she whispered before turning to the six others in the room, Scootaloo having returned home. "Hey everypony, who wants to join Trixie and me at the spa?"

One transition to the town's spa later...

The answer to her question was Soul, Mira and surprisingly, Scootaloo. The boys chose to stay behind while Starlight teleported the girls outside of the Ponyville Day Spa. "Welcome," Aloe waved as they walked inside. "What can we do for you fillies today?"

Scootaloo turned to Soul and Mira. "You've gotta try the sensory deprivation pods. They're awesome."

Soul shook her head. "No thanks. I've heard of those, and it sounds a little too much like when Faust was possessing me." She magically grabbed a pamphlet and opened it up. "I think I'll try a mud bath. Those sound fun." Mira nodded in agreement, all three walking off that area while Aloe turned back to the older mares.

"And for you darlings?" She asked, Starlight patting Trixie on the shoulder.

"This girl's stressed out. What's your most relaxing treatment?"

"Oh, we have just the thing."

And so, the two were put through a gauntlet of soothing baths, steams and massages. With each one, they felt the tension they were carrying melt away. They soon found themselves sitting back to back with face masks and cucumbers on their eyes, both wearing bathrobes and had their manes up in towels. Trixie sighed as Lotus began a hooficure. "Thanks for suggesting this, Starlight. You were right. I'm not feeling nearly as stressed as I was before."

"I know how hard it is to try and live up to the expectations of somepony."

"You do?" Trixie turned to her.

"I'm Twilight's student, remember? I'm always terrified I'm going to do something to let her down and make her look bad."

Trixie sighed as she sat back. "I hear that. Luna's put so much faith in me and I'm glad I've been able to represent her properly...though if I'm honest, I was terrified at the beginning. Especially because of my fellow princess student."

"Who's that?"

"Twilight. She wasn't always an Alicorn, you know."

"I know," Starlight nodded. "I just find it hard to believe she's only been one a short time."

"You know...when she ascended, I wondered if might do the same one day."

"Do you want to be a princess?"

"I used to think I did," Trixie chuckled, "But have you seen how much paperwork Celestia has to do? I'd work myself into an early grave."

Starlight let out a giggle, "Good point. But still, it's hard being the student of a princess sometimes. Like right now. Twilight gave me an assignment to complete before she gets back and I haven't made any headway."

"Why not?"

Starlight sighed, slumping over "The assignment's to make a friend, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to connect with anypony. I think they're still a little hesitant with me given my...history."

"You mean your ego maniac hatred of cutie marks, leading you to brainwash and take over an entire town and when Twilight beat you, you travelled back in time and ended up making Equestria go through one hellish timeline after another until you ran into another version of Flash?"

"Uh...yes? How did you-"

"Luna told me all about it. And I wouldn't be so worried about what the other ponies in town think. Honestly, this is one of the most forgiving places in Equestria."

"Doesn't feel very forgiving."

"It takes time. But it'll take a load less time here. They forgave Lightning Blitz after all, and he almost blew them all up. They let Discord hang around here, and heck, Flash let a former tyrant king free. You just have to keep at it and show them you're not who you used to be."

"Maybe...but I doubt I'll have a new friend to show Twilight when she gets back."

Trixie removed her cucumbers from her face, turning to the unicorn, "Well, there's me." Starlight removed her cucumbers and turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"But...you're already friends with Flash and Twilight."

"If the requirement was that your new friend couldn't already be friends with those two, I think that would make the whole of Ponyville off limits." Starlight chuckled at this as Trixie continued, "Besides, it's not like the two of them introduced us to one another. I don't think we've directly talked to one another before today."

"No...I guess we haven't." Starlight nodded, a small frown on her face, "But do you really wanna be my friend?"

"I don't see why not. You were nice enough to treat me to a day at the spa and it's clear we have a lot in common, like being princess students and having pasts we're not proud of."

"That last thing isn't something to be proud of for having in common," Starlight pointed out. "And are you sure my past isn't a problem?"

Trixie waved her hoof, "Oh please, everypony has a past, and a lot of ponies that think they were unforgivable actually aren't." She slumped back into her seat at this, "Celestia knows what might have happened to me if Flash hadn't tried to help me show the pony I truly was."

Starlight shined a small smile, "Thanks Trixie."

"Anytime. Now, let's finish our spa treatment and try to relax. I've still got a spell to work on when it's done." Starlight nodded back as the two began to rest as their treatments neared their completion. And as soon as they were done, the girls returned and they all headed back to the castle before stopping at Sugarcube Corner to pick up some dinner treats.

Once in the castle, Starlight and Trixie headed up to Trixie's room. Trixie then took three things out of the bag she had brought with her, a potted flower, a scroll, and a strange black rock with a circle of runes etched into it. "What's that?"

"A little something I borrowed from Solid Script. The runes that are carved into it can measure the age of something you connect it too magically." She flipped it over and Starlight saw the flat round rock had runes on both side. "One side shows it in years, and the other shows it in days. For example." She fired a blast of magic at it, magic flowing through it before flying out and hitting Starlight. After a few seconds, a number appeared inside the rune circle, showing the number seven thousand, four hundred and fifty eight. "That's how many days old you are."

"Cool." Starlight replied while looking the stone over before shining Trixie a cheeky grin, "You ever think of using this on Luna or Celestia to find out exactly how old they are?"

"The thought had crossed my mind," Trixie giggled, "But I'd rather not be sent to the moon. Or who knows, maybe I'd get sent to the sun." They laughed for a good minute before turning back to the flower, using the stone on it. The number one hundred and two appeared in the circle. "Alright, now I've got to try and lower that number."

She took a deep breath next as her horn ignited. Starlight watched as the flower glowed the same color, right as Trixie grunted and moaned while sparks exploded out of her horn. And slowly, the flower began to close up. Starlight gasped in joy until Trixie's horn gave out, the light fading from the flower seconds before its petals flew open again.

Starlight used the rock and saw it was still the same number of days as before. "You never know. You might have de-aged it a few hours," Trixie glared at her, making Starlight stutter out, "Er...one hour?" Trixie leaned in, the glare still there, "A few minutes...or just one minute." Trixie didn't move, a long glare still showing itself, "One second?"

Trixie turned away before letting out a moan, "Augh! This is impossible!" She opened the scroll, growling at the words, "I'm never gonna get this, and I'm sure I'm doing the spell right!"

"Trixie...no offense, but it's not just a matter of doing the spell right," Starlight chimed in, "It's also a matter of power. You don't have the power needed to do an age spell. Nopony alive does."

The mare's eyes glanced over the paper, letting out a sigh, "I know. Even Luna can't do this...but I want to."

"But maybe that's a good thing that you can't." Trixie turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "I mean, shouldn't this spell be this hard? Imagine if it was easy. Every villain in Equestria would use it. If Luna knew this spell, Nightmare Moon might have used it to turn Celestia into a foal. Or if Sombra knew it, he would have aged Flash and Ruby into dust."

Trixie looked back at the scroll, letting the paper slump in her hoof, "But...but..." She let out a long sigh, "I guess you're right. The only one who likely could have ever used this spell was Tirek after he stole all of Equestria's magic. Good thing he didn't think to do that."

"Exactly," Starlight nodded before taking the scroll, her eyes glancing it over before gasping, "Geez, this is a complicated spell. No wonder nopony can use it."

She had been right about the ageing spell being a combination of three different spells used together, all of them high level spells. Time Travel spells were A rank magic while Magical Transportation spells were roughly B rank. But a Fusion Spell like this was a high S rank. Putting those all together was what made this kind of magic unthinkable, only for Starlight to gasp, "A-ha!"

"What?"

"The magic amount required to de-age something doubles for every year you go back." She replied, humming, "Maybe instead of making the flower younger, you should start by trying to make it older. It doesn't look like that requires as much magic...though it is still an insane amount."

Trixie took the scroll again, letting out a low hum, "Huh. You might be right." Her horn began to spark again, magic pouring out as the flower started glowing pink. Starlight stared at the plant, now seeing its begin to droop. A smile appeared on her face, seeing the flower about to drop a petal...only for Trixie's magic to give out, staggering back as the flower's petals instantly de-wrinkled.

"I can't do it," Trixie moaned as Starlight checked the age, now seeing the same number as before. "This is hopeless."

Starlight then patted her shoulder. "Even if you can't make it permanent, the fact you can even change the flower is pretty impressive. Shows you've got the technique down."

"Maybe...but it'll take more than that to get my father to accept how strong I am."

Starlight frowned at this, opening her mouth before hearing a knock at the door. They turned to the frame, Heart's head poking in, "Springer says dinner's almost ready."

"Okay, thanks." Starlight replied as Trixie turned to Starlight.

"Springer can cook?"

"Somepony has too. Twilight won't let Flash anywhere near the kitchen. Something about a gastrointestinal monstrosity. Though when she said that, I think I heard Spike say something about a quesadilla."

"Huh."

"Yeah...and its a shame really. I like quesadillas."

A few minutes later...

The two headed down to the dinning room, now seeing the others around a table as Soul was using her magic to carry a boiling hot pot that had a shepherd's pie. "Hey there. I see somepony is getting more comfortable with her magic."

Soul let out a sigh as she put the dish down in the center of the table, wiping her brow next, "Thanks...though I still can't do much. Just doing that exhausted me."

"But you have gotten really good at levitation magic," Starlight added, "You might not be able to lift anything too heavy, but you can lift them up without thinking about it."

"I guess Twilight really is a good teacher," Trixie chimed in as she and Starlight sat down. "I wonder if I'll ever be able to teach somepony like that."

"Sure you can," Heart nodded. "You helped Soul with her magic back in Faust."

"That was more like simple tips," she pointed out. "And it wasn't just me alone. Ruby and Cold were also there. I mean I wonder if I'll ever be able to teach somepony from scratch, all on my own."

"Who knows," Springer responded as he used a large spoon to dish out the pie. "The future isn't always clear. I always thought I'd be the last jakhowl, but look at me now." He handed Ace his food. "You could be an absolute train wreck of a teacher, or you might be the best one whoever lived. What matters is what you want to do and how you want to do it...that and don't let anypony try and judge you otherwise."

"I guess you're right," Trixie replied while folding her hooves, "I mean, I'm not really serious about being a teacher right now, so I think I'll stick with just being a student and see what the future holds." She then turned to Starlight, "But can you imagine what being a teacher would be like? Or maybe being the principal of an entire school?"

"Sure," Starlight laughed. "I'll be the principal, and you can be my vice-principal." The two giggled at this, the others doing the same before they all dug into their meal, enjoying the combination of different vegetables mixed into the mashed potato. After they were done and enjoyed the desert acquired from Sugarcube Corner, the group headed into the library for some after dinner fun.

Springer had to go out on evening patrol as the others had fun, Trixie showing the younger ones a few simple magic tricks. She showed them her secret to smoke teleportation, simply throwing a smoke-ball to the ground and running as fast as you can. The mare spent the night amazing the children with her incredible slight of hoof, some so amazing that the kids kept wondering if she was just using her magic to do it despite her horn not glowing. Trixie couldn't help herself and kept entertaining the kids, completely forgetting about trying to master the ageing spell.

And as she did this, her mind was pulled back to a time long ago. A time when she did this kind of stuff merely for the fun of it.





Years ago...

"BEHOLD!" A teenage Trixie exclaimed as she appeared on the Manehatten park stage in a puff of smoke. Several ponies were gathered to watch her as she began the show, "Fillies and gentlecolts, please watch as the amazing Trixie performs feats of amazement that'll have you pulling at your mane as you ask, 'how did she do that?!'" She took her cape off her back and held it up in front of the audience before pulling it away to reveal a table that had appeared behind her.

The mare then took her hat off, placing it on the table before removing it to reveal a large box. "Please, hold your applause....until you see the doves fly free!" The box opened before a bunch of doves exploded out of it, mystifying those watching before the group broke into applause.

Trixie continued to dazzle the crowd, showing them practicals and illusions like none had ever seen. They all laughed and cheered, Trixie smiling as she knew none of them would ever forget her show. And that was what really made her happy. Not just the applause, but the fact she had made lasting memories that would stay with her audience.

Hopefully, when times were tough, they would look back on this day and crack a smile.





The Present...

Trixie couldn't help but grin at those memories. It had been years since that day, and she had all but forgotten how much she loved making ponies smile back then. That love had been overtaken by a need for praise and admiration, causing her to forget how to make ponies smile, and only focus on making herself look good.

Her mind then told her how bizarre it was on how much of her true self she had buried away for so long. The very thought haunted her, thinking about what could have happened if she had remained that way. She knew that it would have probably ended with her losing her true self forever.

And it was all because she wanted to be like her father.

"Why? Why am I still afraid of him?" She whispered to herself as the hours began to pass, the kids soon growing tired and being sent to bed, Trixie deciding to call it a night as well. "I better get going," she gulped. "Big day tomorrow. Need to be ready for it."

"Sure," Springer and Starlight replied as she got up, "Trixie?" She turned back to Springer. "Do you remember what happened when we were at the Lost City of Faust?"

"Of course," Trixie laughed. "How could I forget an experience like that?"

"Well...do you remember the first time you beat Terror Card?" Trixie nodded back as he continued, "It just...I think you're letting this thing with your dad make you forget what you learned when you were there."

"What I learned?" she replied, only for her mind to go to a certain memory of a battle with a fortune teller.

"Even if it's already been decided...Even if it's set in stone...I'LL SMASH THAT FUTURE!" Those words echoed in her head, followed by even more. "Let others believe in destiny and fate. My future is whatever I choose to make it."

Springer said nothing more as he walked away, Starlight then asking Trixie, "What's he talking about? A lot of stuff happened in that movie, so I can't remember all of it."

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Trixie said before faking a yawn. "Anyway, gotta get to bed. See you." She flashed away in a burst of pink light, making Starlight backpedal before shrugging and heading for her own room.

As for Trixie, she flopped down on her bed and let out a sigh, the words Springer reminded her of still rattling around in her brain.

'He's right,' she thought, now knowing that this whole event with her father had made her forget the promise she had made for herself. 'But...its still him. He's was always disappointed me. Always hating my magic shows.'

She let out a long sigh as memories of her sneaking out of the house to do her magic shows swam through her mind. Next was her pushing herself to the limit to study up on all the magic he tried to make her learn...and then looking disappointed when she got anything other than a perfect score, something she never got.

"I can't keep doing this," she whispered, "I have to free myself from his control, once and for all." As she said that, she reminded herself of the last time she had tried to free herself. The day she dropped out of her father's school.





The Past...

"TWENTY PERCENT?" Her father yelled in her face before throwing the balled up piece of paper at Trixie, hitting her on the head, "That's the worst score you've ever gotten! That's the worse score any of my students have ever gotten! Do you know how embarrassing it is to have such a failure for a daughter?!"

"I'm sorry father," Trixie whimpered, "It's just...that test was really hard and-"

"HARD?! It would have been easy if you had spent your time studying instead of doing those PATHETIC magic shows!" Trixie's eyes went wide at this, her father then leaning up to her face, "Yes, I've known about it for a long time. How stupid do you think I am?!"

"B-b-but if you knew, then why didn't you stop me?"

Her father rolled his eyes, "If I had tried to stop you, you would have kept wanting to do it more than ever. I had hoped you'd get bored of it." He let out a long breath, "But now it seems I have no choice. You will bring me all of that pointless equipment, and I will burn it. Right. Now."

Trixie's eyes went wide, her pupils shrinking. Her whole body shook in fear...only for anger to suddenly burn. Rage took over her brain as she glared at him, "No."

"Excuse me?!" He roared, "What did you just say?!"

"I said no!" She screamed, "I'm done letting you boss me around, and I'm done going to that school!"

Her father leaned back, letting out a snort, "So you're dropping out?" He shook his head, "I should have expected as much. Honestly, the only reason you haven't already been expelled is because my name has such high standing in the school. If it wasn't for me, you'd have been out on your flank months ago."

"Well thank you very much," she deadpanned.

"Don't get snippy with me! It's not my fault you're such a failure! Even the greatest teachers in the world can't teach those with no skill."

And as those words left his mouth, the last straw broke in the mare. "Okay...fine." Trixie spun around before walking up to her room, going to a drawer and pulling out a sack of bits. They were the earnings for her magic shows, which wasn't much, but enough as she grabbed all of her belongings and packed them up as best she could before returning downstairs.

"What are you doing now?" Her father asked.

"The same thing mom did. Leaving you."

Her father let out a cackle, "You won't last a week."

"I'll show you how long I last," she growled before heading toward the door. "I'll show you." She took her first step as she yelled back, "I won't just survive! I'll learn more about magic than anypony else, more than even you! I'll become known Equestria wide for my magical abilities. I'll become so...so great and powerful that you'll be forced to accept that you were the one who failed!" With that, she slammed the door, ready to walk off toward a new future.





And what a future it had been.

It began with four years of wondering Equestria, growing more and more arrogant. Resorting to lies in order to get other's admiration, she had got to the point that she began to believe them herself. Then she had arrived in Ponyville, meeting Flash and Twilight, only to realize her true future.

She had tried to outshine her father on her own, but wasn't able too until she had made true friends, now able to see a truly bright future. And now her father was attempting to cast his shadow over her again.

"No," she shook her head, "I'm done letting him decide how I live my life." She sat up and stared at the flower, "I'm going to master this spell. But not so I can impress you...I'm going to master it because I want to master it."

With that, she moved up to the flower, her horn shining as the gentle light of the moon filled the room through the window. She now felt like her mentor was watching over her. Trixie sighed as she did this, knowing she was used to working in the darkness, even before she had become Luna's student.





Years ago...

A young Trixie was hidden under the sheets of her bed, reading her magic book by the light of her horn. She also had a deck of cards, her hooves shuffling them around. "And is this your card!" She turned it around, only to groan when she saw a card other than the one she had originally picked. "Aww..." She shuffled the deck again, growling as she did this, "Grrr...I'm not going to bed until I get this right!"

That was the way most of her nights went, constantly practicing until she perfected the trick.





The Present, the next day...

It began with a bright flash of blue light, signaled the arrival of Starlight and Trixie at the Canterlot Castle. Starlight had offered to come with and support Trixie, Springer and the others not able to come due to patrols and school.

"Good aim," Trixie commented as they stared at the room. She had told Starlight where her room was, and Starlight was able to get there in one go, mainly so Trixie didn't have to waste magic.

"I'm a little surprised we were able to just teleport inside," Starlight added, "Would have thought a castle like this would have some kind of security."

"Eh, that's just how it works." Trixie shrugged, only to feel Starlight's hoof on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, you'll be okay. I'm here to support you all the way."

"I...I know." Trixie replied, sighing at the statement. "I'm just...nervous."

"You'll be fine."

Trixie nodded at this before trotting out of the room, Starlight following as they made their way through the castle until they arrived at the royal throne room, the two being allowed in by the soldiers. Stepping inside, they found the Royal Sisters on their thrones.

"Ah, Trixie." Luna spoke up, "I hope your trip to Ponyville was helpful."

"It was very...educational," Trixie nodded.

"My apologizes for not telling you about Twilight," Celestia chimed in, "Had I known you were planning to go see her, I would have informed you of her duties in Fillydelphia."

"It's fine your highness. Twilight might not have been there, but I got to get to know Starlight really well." Starlight waved at the two, still a little intimidated by them. "And now I'm ready to face my father."

And as she said that, a guard entered the room. "Your majesties, Regal Burst from the Manehatten Institute of Magical Learning has arrived. He says he has an appointment."

"He does not." Celestia sighed, "But send him in anyway."

The guard nodded before exiting the room, Starlight then turning to Trixie, "Regal Burst?"

Trixie rolled her eyes, "That's not his real name. Mom said he changed it before I was born, though I never found out what his real name is."

Celestia giggled at this before the doors opened, revealing an older male version of Trixie. He had his head held high, posture perfect as he slowly trotted in. His eyes glanced over at Trixie, only to dart away before squarely focusing on the princesses as he bowed, "Your majesties."

"Greetings, Dynamo Dazzler." Trixie's father's eyes went wide, his form shattering for a second as the others blinked at his reaction.

"With all due respect, your highness, I don't answer to that anymore."

"And with all due respect, I don't take kindly to ponies walking in stating they have an appointment when they clearly do not. The only reason you're not being thrown out on your flank is due to Trixie wanting you to be here."

Regal, or Dynamo, frowned before turning to his daughter, the mare speaking up, "Hello...dad." He hissed at this as she continued, "You surprised me when you sent that letter. What brings you all the way to Canterlot? I've been here for a while, so I doubt it's really to see me."

"Despite what you think, it is," he responded, "When you told me about Princess Luna taking you on, I thought it was a lie. Then, when I saw you in the paper alongside her after the Battle of Canterlot, I figured you had tricked her or something. Or that the princess had simply misjudged your skills. I'm sure after a thousand years away, any simple magic would seem advanced."

Luna's eyes narrowed at the stallion, about to yell before biting her tongue.

"I expected you to simply wash out like you did before, but it seems you've actually managed to keep yourself from getting expelled again. I'm here to find out whether that's through actual skill, or if Princess Luna's simply taking pity on you."

"Now hold on!" Luna yelled as she ascended from her throne, "How dare you speak to my student that way! She earned her place by my side, and has only proven herself more and more capable."

Dynamo shook his head at this, "I mean no offense your majesty, but I speak from experience that she is not capable. As both her father and her former teacher, she was always the worst student, getting the lowest scores and failing more than half her tests."

"Maybe that was more your fault than hers," Celestia spoke up, "You spent years trying to teach her, and with little success. And yet in a fraction of that time, my sister has helped your daughter become proficient in illusion, ice and even dream magic. I think it's clear the problem is with you."

Regal almost started to glare at the princess at this, only to shake her head, "If that's the case, if my daughter has actually grown into a respectable magician, then I wish to see it for myself."

"Why?!" Trixie yelled as she walked up to him, "Planning on telling everypony it was you who taught me?! That it was because of you that Princess Luna took me under her wing?!"

"I am not-"

"Don't dad." Trixie interrupted, making the stallion hiss as she continued, "I know you. It's clear you have some plan to make this situation benefit you."

Regal's eyes narrowed as he slowly replied, "Just show me something you can do. One of those illusion spells, or maybe the dream magic you apparently have."

Trixie gave him a deadpan stare in response, "I don't have to show you anything. I don't care what you think about me anymore. Even if you told me you were proud, it would mean nothing." The others all nodded, Regal glancing at the other three for a second as Trixie continued so speak, "There's only one pony in Equestria who gets to decide if my life has been well spent, and its me." She pointed to herself, her head slightly high, "I think I've had a pretty fulfilled life: I helped in the Battle of Canterlot, I actually stood against Tirek and put up a good fight. I also helped defeat the Tantabus and I helped Flash Sentry stop a mad unicorn from attacking Equestria."

As the accomplishments entered her father's ears, pure surprise was on his face. Trixie then saw this, grinning before pointing at him, "Compared to all that, your words mean nothing."

And as those words came out, his expression darkened once again, "You dare to defy me?"

"I dare," she instantly responded, "But if you're so eager to see something impressive, stick around for a minute." She turned to Starlight and nodded, the pink unicorn nodding back before teleporting away. She returned a second later carrying the plant and age rock.

"What is this?" He asked as Trixie placed the flower on the ground.

"An age spell," Trixie replied as she used the age rock to show the flower was ninety six days old. "I'm going to make this flower younger."

She looked back up at her father, shock on his face before suddenly laughing, "You foolish child. You can't use an age spell. Not even I know how to do that."

"Well I do," she told him before turning to the princesses. "If I may?"

Celestia and Luna both smiled and nodded. "Go ahead."

Trixie stared down at the flower, taking a deep breath before closing her eyes. Her horn began to glow, gathering energy upon power as she began to stream it into the plant. Instantly, she felt the rapid drain on her magic, grunting and groaning as her horn began to spark and sizzle.

Starlight smiled at the sight, hope on her face while the princesses squinted at the flower. Regal Burst on the other hoof, was simply waiting with a long stare. But as they watched, something happened that shook him to the core. The flower was beginning to close up.

"Impossible," Regal whispered as the petals continued to draw closer and closer together.

"Just...a little longer," Trixie groaned as the flower's bulb began to shrink down, "RRRAAAAAGGHHHHH!" She screamed as her magic gave out, unleashing a quick flash of light that made her stagger back and fall onto her flank.

She panted in exhaustion, her eyes a little blurry from the magic. But as it began to focus, she turned her vision to the flower....and what she saw broke her heart. "I told you you couldn't do it," Regal spat while tapping the pot of the unchanged flower. "An ageing spell is something only the elite magicians can perform. You can't even cast it on something as simple as a flower."

Trixie glared at him, her eyes shaking as she saw a smirking grin appear on his face. Her ears flopped down, depression starting to creep into her as she felt the disappointment from failing.

But then, Starlight grabbed the age rock. Without anypony noticing, she linked to the two and the number that appeared on the rock made her gasp. "SHE DID IT!" Starlight gasped before suddenly grabbing and hugging Trixie.

"What are you talking about girl?" Regal spat, kicking the flower. "Look at it. The flower's exactly the same!"

"Just because it's the same, doesn't mean it isn't younger." She held up the rock, "Look." He squinted at the rune circle on the rock, now seeing the new number on it. "Ninety-four. She made it one day younger."

Trixie's eyes went wide in shock while the sisters smiled at the sight. But as they did this, Regal just rolled his eyes. "One day. That's nothing!"

"It's one more day this flower has to live," Celestia instantly responded, "And given how hard it is, Trixie doing that is quite impressive."

"But by all means," Luna pointed at the flower. "If you think you can do it better, go right ahead."

Regal's eyes shifted between them and the flower, now seeing smirks on every face. Her horn began to spark, only to turn away, "Its seem I've wasted enough time here. It's clear there is still nothing special about my daughter."

"Oh, there's something special about her all right." Luna chimed in as she stepped up to Trixie, "Something so special that it's impossible for some pompous pony to see because he's got his nose so high in the air that all he can see is their own overgrown flank."

The mares all gasped before stifling a laugh, Regal glaring at her as he tried hold in his rage, only to quickly trot out of the room. Once he was gone, the four burst out laughing as Luna turned to Trixie, "Excellent work, my faithful student. You should be proud of what you've accomplished here today."

"I am," Trixie nodded before turning to Starlight. "And thank you. I can't believe I didn't think to see if the age had actually changed. That's the whole point of getting the rock."

"No problem," Starlight replied, "Helping one another out is what friends are for, isn't it?"

"That's right," Celestia nodded. "I'm sure Twilight would be proud of how much you've grown Miss Glimmer." Starlight nodded back before a cloud of ash suddenly flew in through an open window, appearing in front of Celestia and turning into a scroll. "Oh, speaking of which." She unrolled the scroll, "Looks like the situation in Fillydelphia has been sorted." She turned to the girls, "Twilight and Flash should be home tomorrow."

"In that case," Trixie put her hoof around Starlight. "Do you mind if I head back to Ponyville with Starlight? She's got an assignment to show Twilight, and I kind of need to be there for her to complete it."

Luna nodded back at this, "Of course my dear. After that display, I think you deserve a few days off from your studies."

"Thanks!" Trixie turned to Starlight. "Come on, I'll show you some of the best places in Canterlot to hang out before we head back to Ponyville."

The two then walked out of the room, Celestia and Luna glancing at one another, "You really picked a good student Lulu."

"I know," Luna responded, "And I look forward to seeing where her future takes her."
> Newbie Dash
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the town of Ponyville, we find young Rainbow Dash flying overhead with a copy of the Cloudsdale Chronicle in hoof. She smirked as she stared at the section that had a picture of her boyfriend standing on a winner's podium. The title above read: 'Skies Seven Straight Successes.'

"Hey!" She was pulled from her thoughts by a familiar voice, looking down to see Scootaloo rolling down the street, "Rainbow Dash!"

"Hiya, Scootaloo! What's up?" Rainbow asked as she flew down.

The Rainbow Dash Fan Club just decided-" She stopped when she spotted the newspaper, "Wotcha got there?"

"Oh this?" She showed her the paper, "My folks just sent it over. Pretty cool, right?"

Scootaloo read the titles and nodded. "Heck yeah it is. Soarin's been on the top of his game since he got back from the war with my brother."

"You know it," Rainbow rolled up the paper. "All that fighting really pumped up his flying skills. Every race he's been in he's won by a mile."

"I guess having Theta Mode helps with that," Scootaloo laughed.

Rainbow shook her head. "Not really. He hasn't been using it." This made Scootaloo go wide-eyed, making Rainbow laugh, "He said it felt like cheating. Since he got it by a magical power-up instead of his own training, he didn't feel right using it, so he's only using Theta Mode during shows like the Wonderbolt Tour."

"Huh. I guess that makes sense," Scootaloo replied before gasping, "Oh, right! Everypony's coming to see you when the Wonderbolts' new tour comes through Ponyville!"

Rainbow chuckled before rubbing the back of her head. "Well, it's great that you all are going to the show Scoots, but I won't actually be performing in it. Reservists aren't in the show unless one of the real Wonderbolts can't fly." She giggled and waved her hoof, "I'll probably be working crowd control or something."

Scootaloo's jaw dropped at this, only to smirk at her, "But you're a Wonderbolt! Wait....does that mean you're still gonna be wearing a Wonderbolts uniform though, right?"

"A Reservist one, yeah."

"Hmm..." Scootaloo hummed before giving her a toothy grin. "That's good enough for me."

Rainbow smiled back, only for a sudden noise to ring out in the distance. They turned to see a sonic-boom on the horizon, only to look up and see a trio of blue suited pegasi flying overhead. Rainbow saw a certain head of blue dark hair and blue wings, only for the trio to do a quick aerial maneuver before dive-bombing down. All three pulled up as they were about to hit the ground, the central pegasus coming to a stop with a super hero landing.

"Whoa!" Scootaloo yelped as the pony known as Spitfire stood up, lifting her goggles. At the same time, Soarin and Misty Fly were hovering with Soarin and Rainbow sharing a smirk at the sight of one another.

"Rainbow Dash!" Her attention was pulled back to Spitfire as she trotted up to her, "Glad we found you. We need you in the show when we get to Ponyville. Flying."

This caused Rainbow's eyes to go wide, Scootaloo blinking before pointing at Rainbow, "But she's only in the reserves!"

"Not anymore, kid." This statement made Rainbow's eyes go even wider, Soarin wondering if they might fall out in a second.

"You mean..." She couldn't even dare to say it, only for Scootaloo to let out a gasp and turn to Spitfire. Spitfire nodded, confirming what they both thought.

"Rainbow Dash!" She leapt up and hugged her older sister around the neck, "You're finally a full-fledged Wonderbolt!" She jumped off and started cheering, Rainbow Dash just standing dumbfounding as she let the information sink in.

"Heh...what she said." Spitfire added as Rainbow Dash's face broke out into the biggest smile anypony had ever seen from her. "You'd better come with me," Spitfire chimed in while spreading her wings. "I'll explain everything on the way." She expected Rainbow to reply, but the pegasus remained quiet. "You okay?"

"Mm-hm..." Rainbow nodded, the ponies all seeing her body vibrating, clearly trying to keep herself from exploding with excitement.

"Well then, let's get going," Spitfire took off while Rainbow began to flap her wings, following the captain while still shaking.

"Alright Rainbow!" Scootaloo cheered as the pegasus flew off. "I've gotta tell everypony!" With that, the filly leapt onto her scooter and shot off, racing through every street while screaming the same thing over and over. "RAINBOW DASH IS A WONDERBOLT!"

It wasn't long until the whole of Ponyville heard about the news, including Rainbow's friends. They ran over to Rainbow's house as soon as they were free, arriving to find the pegasus packing a suitcase.

"Rainbow! Is it true? Are you really a Wonderbolt?" Twilight asked first.

"You know it!" Rainbow laughed as she threw her toothbrush and paste into the suitcase. It was clear she had finally calmed down enough to make full-on sentences. "You're looking at the newest member of the elitist flyers in Equestria."

"That's awesome!" Flash cheered.

"We're proud of yah," Applejack added while taking off her hat and placing it on her heart. "All yer hard work has finally payed off."

"Thanks...but I'm not really a Wonderbolt until I do all that boring paperwork. Which means I gotta get to Wonderbolt's Headquarters ASAP." She continued to run around the house, gathering everything she could while the others got comfortable.

"So what did Soarin have to say about all this?" Rarity asked with a smirk, "I'm sure he must be excited."

"He was, though he wasn't able to say it." Rainbow replied while packing some sleepwear, "He had to head back with Spitfire before we could talk."

"Well that's a shame," Rarity sighed, "But now that you two are working on the same team, I'm sure that means you'll get to spend a lot more time together."

"AHH! This is so exciting!" Pinkie cheered, "Now every one of us have fulfilled our life goals! Twilight and Flash are the Princess and Knight of Friendship, Rarity has a store in Canterlot, Applejack is running her family farm, Fluttershy has her animals and I'm helping ponies smile and have fun." She began to sniff as tears appeared in her eyes, "And now you're finally a Wonderbolt….I'm just so happy."

Rainbow giggled back before zipping through the house, only to come to a stop, "Anypony seen my wing balm? I don't want to be stiff when I show up at Wonderbolt headquarters."

The others glanced around, only for Spike to pull something out from between the couch cushions. "Got it!" He said before getting tackled by Rainbow and thrown into the suitcase with the balm, Rainbow shutting the case and trapping him inside. "Help!"

Flash raised an eyebrow at this while the others continued to focus on Rainbow.

"Do you have time to tell us what happened, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked next.

"Oh, yes," Rarity nodded as a dizzy Spike lifted the case lid off of him. "We must know every detail!" Seeing what was coming, the knight grabbed Spike and pulled him out of the suitcase seconds before Pinkie shot down from the ceiling and slammed the case shut.

"Start from when you were a foal and you first knew your destiny was to become a Wonderbolt!"

Rainbow let out a laugh as she leaned against the wall. "Well, not much to tell really. Spitfire told me that the Wonderbolts need me to go on tour with them."

"That's really great," Fluttershy added, "I know how long you've been waiting for a spot to open up."

"Yeah, its been a long wait...but it finally happened. Fire Streak decided to retire and teach full-time." Rainbow trotted over as she continued, "Cloudsdale Flight School will probably be churning out Wonderbolts with him there...but guess who was at the top of the Reserve list."

"Ooh, ooh, I know!" Pinkie was swinging her hoof around like a mad mare, "Pick me!"

Rainbow giggled at this as Rarity walked up to her, "So what do you do now, Dashie?"

"I have to report to Wonderbolts headquarters this afternoon." With that, she grabbed her case and headed for the door. "It's only two days 'til tour starts, and I need to learn the routine." But before she could open the doors, they flew open to reveal Pinkie, a look of pure shock on her face while also carrying a bunch of presents, balloons and a large cake.

"You're leaving already?!" She gasped, "But we barely started your congratulations party!" She fell onto her flank, "I haven't even thought about your going-away party yet!"

"Pinkie, I'm not leaving Ponyville," Rainbow laughed, "I just have to train for this show."

"I sure hope everything goes well." Fluttershy added as she gave Rainbow her flight goggles. "Sounds like an awful lot of pressure, having to learn everything so quickly."

"Yeah," Applejack nodded. "Good luck, Dash."

"Luck?" Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Heh....save that for the rest of the team." She snapped her goggles on. "Now that my awesomeness has finally been recognized, the other Wonderbolts will have to keep up or eat my cloud trail!" She leapt up, doing a loop with a cheer.

It was here that Twilight spoke up, "Rainbow...Everypony knows you're a great flyer, but so are the rest of the Wonderbolts. It might be more challenging than you think."

"Aw, you're right! I mean, do I show up wearing sunglasses or not? Sunglasses are automatically cool, but anypony can put them on. Maybe I'd stand out more if I didn't." She turned to the others for their opinion, only to see deadpan stares, "What?"

Flash let out a long sigh, "Rainbow...you've gotta keep your ego under control. Don't forget, Soarin beat you in a race, and he's a lot better now then he was then. If you're not careful, you could end up making a fool of yourself and the Wonderbolts might never let you live it down."

"Oh please, like that would-" She stopped as her eyes went wide, her mind flashing back to a day long ago when Soarin had joined her and her parents at a café on Hearts and Hooves Day. She remembered what he had told her about the Wonderbolt's tradition to give nicknames to each other, usually as a reminder of something stupid they did. She did a loud gulp as she glanced back down at Flash, "Well...maybe you've got a point." The others went wide-eyed at the sudden shift in attitude. "What do you think I should do?"

"Just stay calm and don't do anything overly dramatic," Twilight instantly replied, "Show them you're willing to work as a team. and not showboat. Then when you get more comfortable in your position, start showing them why you were chosen to be a Wonderbolt."

"Got it," Rainbow nodded before opening her door again, "Huh, it is kinda bright out. Maybe I should wear sunglasses." She turned to the others, all giving another deadpan stare. "Alright, no shades." She took another deep breath before turning to fly off, "See you all later!"

She shot through the skies as the others waved her goodbye.

"Do your best!" Twilight chimed in.

"We'll be rooting for you!" Flash yelled, the others giving their own cheers, but Rainbow was too far away to hear them as she flew through the clouds.

"Okay," she whispered, "My life as a Wonderbolt starts now, and nothing's gonna stop it. Not even my ego." She put on the gas and soon arrived at Wonderbolt Headquarters, spotting Spitfire standing on the edge of the floating landmass.

"Nice to see you here on time," Spitfire commented as Rainbow landed. "I'll tell you Rainbow, everypony's excited to finally have you permanently on the team."

Rainbow nodded back, trying to remind herself to keep her ego in check. A pegasus then flew up and offered to take her suitcase to the barracks while Spitfire showed her around. She happily gave it over, soon going on the tour despite how pointless it was since she had been there before. There were some places she hadn't been allowed in before now, including the team locker room, showers and even the hot tub. Rainbow couldn't wait to try that out.

Once the tour was done, Spitfire showed her to the barracks. "Team briefings are every morning at-"

"Oh seven twenty because there were twenty ponies in the original E.U.P. Guard that became the Wonderbolts!"

"Right," Spitfire nodded before pointing toward a building. "And I know you've seen the academy bunks, but these are the official Wonderbolts barracks."

"Built by Admiral Fairweather himself!" Rainbow chimed in as she prepared to run inside, only to feel something pin her tail, making her fall over, "Augh!"

"Don't forget rule number one, newbie." She turned back to Spitfire, "Always check both ways before crossing the runway."

To show what she mean, she walked up to the runway and glanced left and right before flying across. Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this as she did the same, "Uh...okay? But nopony else is here."

"They will be," Spitfire instantly replied, "And most of the Wonderbolts like to make a flashy entrance, so stay alert."

"Right, no problem!" But as they entered the building, they didn't notice a trio of pegasi flying down, landing on the other side of the runway. They were all fairly older ponies, all with graying manes with a few wrinkles here and there. They were all wearing Wonderbolt suits, caps and aviator glasses.

"Is that her?" A green stallion with a graying blue main asked.

"She's the one," a dark blue mare with a clearly dyed pink mane added.

"What was Spitfire thinking?" A red stallion asked while shaking his head, his completely white mane ruffling. "We have to deal with this problem before it causes to many issues."

It was then that Spitfire exited the barracks, spotting the three. "Status, Azure, and Afterburn? What a surprise to see you three here. Let me guess, come to see our newest Wonderbolt in action?"

"We have come to see her," the green pony named Status replied, "But we haven't come to see her in action. You've made a grave mistake, and we now have to fix your mess."

"What?!"





"Lookin' good!" Rainbow told herself when she looked in the mirror. She was now wearing the Wonderbolt uniform, unable to help but feel it was meant to be on her. "Okay..." she turned away from the reflection, "You're about to take your first flight as an actual Wonderbolt." She took a deep breath, "Just be careful, or you'll end up with a horrible nickname."

She stepped out of the room, instantly spotting Spitfire alongside three other ponies, Spitfire's voice echoing out, "You can't do that!"

"We can, and we have," the other mare replied. Their arguement had caught a fair bit of attention, several more Wonderbolts flying down and landing beside Spitfire.

"She's proven herself more than enough," Spitfire responded.

"Has she though?" The red pony asked, "The fact is, we can't be sure."

"What's going on?" She heard Soarin ask as he pulled his goggles off of his eyes, the others turning to him before Spitfire let out a growl.

"These three have rejected Rainbow Dash's entry into the Wonderbolts."

"WHAT?!" The group spun around, seeing the shocked look on Rainbow's face. "What do you mean they rejected me?!" She trotted up to Spitfire. "I thought I was in!"

"So did I," Spitfire nodded before frowning. "But the truth is, your promotion to fully fledged Wonderbolt has to be approved by the board of directors before you officially join."

"Board of directors?"

"Us." He turned to the green pony, "I'm sure you're familiar with us."

Rainbow nodded. "You're Stratus Slipstream." She turned to the mare, "Azure Vortex." Then to the red stallion, "And Afterburn. You're all former Wonderbolt captains."

"Exactly," Stratus nodded. "And though we no longer fly on the team, we manage the Wonderbolt's appearances, funding, and even the approval of new members."

"And you're not approving Rainbow?" Soarin asked, "Why? What possible reason could you have to reject her? Especially now that she's here."

"That's not our fault," Afterburn replied, "Spitfire shouldn't have gotten her hopes up before we officially approved her."

"I didn't think it'd be a problem," Spitfire chimed in while crossing her hooves, "We only have two days until the tour begins, and I didn't see any reason to waste time waiting for what should have been an obvious decision."

"Well, your poor judgement doesn't change our decision," Azure hissed back.

"But why? Why did you reject me?" Rainbow yelled as she walked up to them, "Haven't I proven myself enough? I graduated from Wonderbolts Academy, I passed the history test and I've even been working as a reserve member for months. Heck, I replaced Soarin for the time he spent off on his mission with Flash Sentry! What else do I have to do!?"

Azure sighed and shook his head. "Here's the facts. How can we be sure the results of the academy and history test weren't falsified?" This statement made everypony go wide-eyed as they continued, "After all, you could have very well manipulated a high ranking officer into changing their results."

Slowly, the three director's eyes shifted over to a certain pegasus, followed by the rest of his team. "What?!" Soarin yelped before glaring back at Azure, "That's insane!" He turned back to the rest of the ponies, "I didn't change anything!"

"That's right," Spitfire nodded. "I can't believe you're even suggesting that!" The rest of the team nodded as well, Stratus shrugging and shaking his head again.

"Was he not working at the academy during the time Rainbow was there?"

"I was," Soarin replied.

"And was it also not true that you and miss Dash started your relationship during that time?"

"That doesn't mean anything. I was interested in Rainbow way before then."

"Exactly. That means she may have influenced you into helping her," Afterburn responded, "How can we be sure she really earned a spot in the academy?"

"I looked over her file," Spitfire chimed in, "Rainbow would have gotten in regardless of what Soarin thought of her."

"But we can't be sure of that," Azure replied. "The same way we can't be sure that her test results were not fudged. Besides, we've been getting word of incidents involving her that could put the Wonderbolt's reputation at risk. Such as the events involving my old teammate."

"You mean Wind Rider?!" Soarin asked, "That wasn't Rainbow's fault! He framed her!"

"But he did have a point when he said your relationship with her may have caused favoritism that influenced the results of her time as a reserve. There's also the decision of making her a team leader over the Lightning Dust debacle, which we suspect is your fault in terms of putting her as a leader."

"What?! Lightning Dust tried to put citizens in danger! You can't-"

"That's irrelevant." Azure interrupted, "We believe that Rainbow is dangerous for the Wonderbolts, and we believe that favoritism is one of the main reasons, something Wind Rider did show us after being removed. That and I trust his word, even if you don't."

Soarin opened his mouth to respond, only for Rainbow to walk in front of him and declare, "Fine. I'll gladly take all those tests again! You can grade them yourselves if you want!"

"No Rainbow," Spitfire shook her head. "You shouldn't have to prove yourself again." She turned back to the three. "Don't forget, I've been there during every one of those moments you're bringing up, and I can say with certainty that Rainbow Dash deserves to be here. She's passed more trials then any other Wonderbolt in the history of the team. She hasn't just passed the academy and the history test, she's also helped save Equestria countless times, not to mention she saved my life along with Soarin and Misty Fly during the best young flyers contest." The two ponies nodded in agreement. "She's every bit a Wonderbolt as you, me or anypony else here!"

"I'm sorry, but our decision is final." Rainbow shrunk back at this, her eyes shrinking as Soarin did the same. Azure then turned to them, "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Rainbow asked, seeing the trio glare at her.

"Unless you can prove to us you're worthy of being a Wonderbolt."

"How?"

"By defeating another Wonderbolt in a gauntlet," Afterburn announced. "We've already made the preparations. Tomorrow, you will compete in a series of challenges. Win and you'll be a Wonderbolt. Lose...and you'll be expelled from the academy."

Rainbow's eyes went wide again, fear now filling her entire being.

"But who's gonna be her opponent?" Spitfire asked, the directors turning to her. "Me?!"

Stratus turned to Soarin. "Usually, we'd pick the Wonderbolt whose been doing the best in the races, but since Soarin is part of the problem, it wouldn't be right to have him be her opponent." He turned back to Spitfire, "That's why you'll be racing her. And you'll be racing to win, understand?!"

"Now hang on-"

"Understand?!"

Spitfire backpedaled, only to sigh and shake her head, "This all feels pointless, but if it'll get you off our backs...fine." She turned to Rainbow, "Sorry newbie, but if we want to prove you're worthy of being here, I can't hold back."

"I understand," Rainbow nodded before turning to the three. "And don't worry. This time tomorrow, you'll be more than happy to accept me as a Wonderbolt."

"We'll see," Status replied before turning away to fly off. "We'll see." And as they disappeared into the sky, Rainbow's anxiety returned, feeling her dream now hanging by a thread yet again.





Rainbow Dash had been sent back to Ponyville after her run-in with the directors. Spitfire had said both of them weren't allowed near headquarters until the race so neither could see what they had to do. Rainbow had wanted to talk to Soarin, to tell him this wasn't his fault, but he had been put in charge of the Wonderbolts while Spitfire was off duty. And with her forced to leave the compound, she didn't get the chance to even say two words to him.

Now she found herself landing in front of her house, barely opening the door before suddenly getting blasted by a party cannon. "SURPRISE!"

"Huh?!" Rainbow yelped as confetti covered her face, wiping them away before seeing half of the place was decorated for a party.

"Hooray, Rainbow Dash!" The CMC, Heart, Soul and young jakhowls yelled, though she couldn't understand the last two. "Our favorite Wonderbolt!"

The seven were standing under a large banner with the image of herself in her uniform, though it was only half coloured in. As this happened, Twilight trotted up to her. "We know you're probably tired Rainbow Dash, but Pinkie really wanted to throw you a party."

"Your best day EVER PARTY!" Pinkie exclaimed through a megaphone.

Rainbow let out a nervous laugh "Yeah. It was somethin', all right."

"Sorry. I know the place isn't fully decorated," Flash chimed in, "Honestly, we were expecting you to be back a lot later."

"Uh...yeah." Rainbow muttered out.

"So how'd yer first day as a Wonderbolt go?" Applejack asked.

"Did you impress them?" Rarity added.

"I hope nothing bad happened," Fluttershy finished, only to see a giant frown appear on Rainbow's face.

"Rainbow?" the pegasus turned to Twilight, "What's wrong?"

Rainbow let out a sigh, shaking her head as she began to speak up, "Well...its a long story."

One half of a chapter explanation later...

"What?! That's horrible!" Twilight exclaimed, everypony now frowning or growling at the explanation.

"I can't believe they would do that too you!" Rarity screamed, "You go out of your way to prove yourself and now they say it doesn't matter just because you're dating a member of the team?!"

"That's horseapples!" Flash yelled, getting a few stares from the exclamation while the others pointed at the younger ones. "Well it is! I mean, what right do they have to steal our friend's dream?!"

Rarity turned to Twilight, "Isn't there something you can do? The Wonderbolts are a military organization. You must have some influence. Or maybe Celestia or Luna can help-"

"No!" Rainbow interrupted, making them turn back to her, "If I get somepony else to fix this problem for me, it'll just be one more thing they'll have to hold over me. My only hope is to win that race tomorrow."

"But what if you lose?" Scootaloo asked, a low tone in her voice.

Those words made Rainbow shake, sighing as she put a wing around the filly, "I...I don't know."

There wasn't much left to say after that, the group mainly just trying to give Rainbow encouragement and telling her they would be there to support her before going home. And as the moon was raised into the sky, Rainbow laid down in her bed, barely able to close her eyes. Sleep seemed impossible, making her shift around in her bed as she kept thinking about how her dream was once again put in jeopardy by somepony who only seemed to care about themselves.

And in that moment, a knocking sound came from her door.

She got up and flew downstairs, opening the door before blinking at the sight of Soarin standing on the other side.

"Uh...hey," he said in an almost whispered tone.

"Hey," she replied before stepping aside to let him in. "I didn't think I'd get to see you so soon."

"Yeah....sorry." he rubbed the back of his head, "With everything that's going on, I thought you might not want to see me right now, but...I had to see you. To tell you I'm sorry."

Rainbow sighed at this, "Soarin, this isn't your fault."

"But it is. It's because we're together that those old coots are doing this. And well," Soarin glanced away at his next words. "I'm the one that started it. It was me who kissed you that day."

"I didn't exactly stop you," Rainbow replied, a small scowl starting to appear on her face, "So what, you're regretting doing it?"

"No!" Soarin yelled as he looked back at her, "Of course not! But...if I had waited until after you joined-"

"So you'd happily toss the time we've had away?!" Rainbow interrupted, her eyes narrowing at this.

"Rainbow...I don't mean that. I just...with everything that's happening..." He let out a long sigh, "It's not like we could anyway. I just hate that this is happening and its all my fault." He slumped down, "I don't...I don't know what to do except say I'm sorry."

"Except it's not your fault, or mine." Rainbow added as she crossed her hooves, "We didn't do anything wrong. There's no rule against us being together, so there's nothing you have to feel guilty about." She reached out and put a hoof on her shoulder, making him look up at her as her scowl disappeared, "And if I could go back to the moment we first kissed, knowing this was gonna happen, I wouldn't have changed a thing."

"Neither would I...but this is your dream."

"My dream isn't dead yet. So what if I have to win a race to get in? That's what I'll do."

"But Spitfire's gonna be going for the win, even if she doesn't want to. I know you're just as fast as her, but she's got years of experience. And one wrong move and your dream could be up in smoke."

Rainbow shook her head, "It's like you said. We can't change the past, so all we can do is...focus on making our future a better one."

Soarin sighed at this, a small smile appearing on his face as he saw the confident expression on his girlfriend's face. "You're right."

"Besides, I'm way too awesome to let my dreams be destroyed that easily. I'm gonna win that challenge and show those old buzzards why I deserve to be a Wonderbolt!"

Soarin chuckled at this, getting back up as he added, "You really are amazing."

"And don't you forget it," Rainbow poked him in the chest before putting a hoof under his chin, "And even if I lose, you shouldn't feel guilty. Those old geezers might be able to ruin my dream, but there's no way I'm letting them ruin our relationship. Now come here..." Soarin nodded and wrapped his wing around her, the two hugging each other before doing a long kiss, their fears melting away with one motion.





The next day...

Wonderbolts Headquarters was abuzz with activity, every member of staff busy getting everything ready for the big race. Soarin was sitting on the stands with the rest of the team, none of them allowed to talk to Rainbow or Spitfire before the event.

"Augh!" Fleetfoot yelped, "This is so weird! I've never been in the stands and not wanted Spitfire to win!"

"We're all in the same boat," Misty Fly added, "But what can we do? They're the board of directors." She turned to the barracks that Spitfire was getting ready in. "I just hope Spitfire doesn't do something she'll regret. She can't throw the race, and if she wins, she'll think she's the one responsible for losing us the best new member we've had in years!"

"All we can do is hope," Soarin sighed. "Hope Rainbow is able to beat her."

As this was happening, within the reserve barracks was Rainbow sitting on a bench, trying to calm her nerves. "Okay," she took a deep breath, "You can do this." Another deep breath. "It's just one race. It's like any other race. Except this one has your entire future on the line. Everything you've worked for. All the hours training. Everything, coming down to this one race."

As she began to say this, her breathing got more and more rapid, about to hyperventilate until a pink hoof held out a plastic bag for her. "Breath!" Pinkie's voice told her, Rainbow grabbing the bag before turning to see her friends.

"What are you all doing here?"

"We told you we'd be here to support you," Twilight replied, "But if you're wondering why we're in the barracks, we came to tell you good luck."

"Yeah!" Scootaloo chimed in, "And check this out." She and Heart held up a large banner, Rainbow realizing it was the completed version of the one she had seen yesterday. "It's to help you remember you're not alone! If at any point you feel like you're going to lose, just look at this and remember we're right there with you!"

Rainbow let out a chuckle, "Thanks everypony."

"Eh, don't mention it." Flash responded, "Just remember, you're a Wonderbolt, no matter what those old geezers tell you. If they think you're not worthy of being on their team, then their team isn't worthy of having you on."

"And heck, if they still don't want you after this, just go start your own team." Heart added, "What was that team you told us about that you almost joined?"

"Shadowbolts?"

"Yeah, that's it! Rainbow Dash, leader of the Shadowbolts!" The others laughed at this before an announcement sounded to tell everypony the race was about to start.

"We'd better get going," Twilight finished, "Just remember Rainbow, relax and do your best. That way, win or lose, you'll have nothing to regret."

Rainbow nodded back before they all left, Pinkie running back to give Rainbow one final hug.





In the main barracks, Spitfire was busy stretching when she felt a presence and turned to see the cause of her problems standing behind her.

"What do you all want?"

"Just came to wish our captain luck," Azure replied before showing a low glare, "And to remind you what this race means."

"It means I might lose one of the best flyers I've ever trained," Spitfire growled. "Just because you all are being idiots."

"Spitfire!" Afterburn sternly yelled, "We will not tolerate insults!"

"But you are! You're just-"

"Try to see this from our point of view." Azure interrupted, "If we allow this mare into the Wonderbolts and it's revealed she did find a way to manipulate her way onto it, that'll look bad for the team. Besides, flyers come and go, but the Wonderbolts are eternal."

Spitfire sighed before looking away. "Wonderbolts are supposed to stand for loyalty and teamwork. We may try to be the best, but not at a cost. That's something I forgot once, twice even. But Rainbow Dash was the one who reminded me of it." She turned back to them. "And now you're forcing me to race against her, and try to steal something she's already earned more then any other pony."

"But she hasn't earned it." Stratus instantly responded, "We believe she is a fraud, which is against the Wonderbolts. We will not allow this unless she proves it." He then put a hoof on her shoulder, "This is for the best. Just make sure you race to win. Or else."

Spitfire hissed as she slowly pushed the hoof away, "Don't worry, I always fly too win. Besides, me holding back would mean Rainbow wouldn't have to give it her all. And it's clear you won't be happy until you see her best."

"Exactly."

With that, the three directors left the room, making Spitfire growl before putting on her uniform.





Outside, everypony had taken their seats while the Rainbow Dash banner was being held by Heart and Scootaloo. The directors arrived and sat down at a desk on the other side of the runway while the commentator from the best young flyer's contest flew down and landed. "Welcome sports fans!" He cheered to the audience as a balloon floated just above and behind them with a unicorn waiting inside, "Today's special event is a race between Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire, and her plucky young recruit Rainbow Dash." The crowd cheered at those two names. "Now, please welcome former captain Stratus so he can explain the rules."

The crowd booed as he stood on the runway, the unicorn unleashing a spell that created a magic screen. "The contest will start here. The racers must then make their way over to the Lightning Labyrinth." The screen changed to show a maze made entirely out storm clouds. "Somewhere in that maze is a chest. In that chest are two keys, each racer taking one to use in the second obstacle." The screen changed again, showing a mountain. "This mountain is five miles from the labyrinth. On that mountain are another two chests, each with a medal inside." The screen then showed a medal with the Wonderbolt symbol on it.

Afterburn walked up next, "Once they have that, they must make their way back here, but along the way, they must pass the spike tunnel." The screen showed a long cave that lead into a tunnel roughly seventy meters long. Inside that cave were a bunch of stalagmites and stalactites.

Azure then moved over to a podium with an coin shaped indent. "The first pony to make it back here and place their medal inside the podium will be the winner!"

At that moment, Spitfire and Rainbow walked onto the runway, both having goggles on with glares on their faces. "Alright competitors!" The commenter pegasus called out as the directors sat back down. "Do you both understand what you have to do?" They nodded back as they trotted up to the starting line, Rainbow hearing her friends cheering her on. "Then let's hear some final words from the organizers!"

They all turned to the three as Stratus spoke up from his seat, boos once again coming from the audience. Despite this, he kept a straight face, "I have only one thing to say to both of you. Fly hard, fly well, and most of all, fly fast." The other two nodded, signaling that was all they wanted to say.

"Then let's get this contest underway!" The announcer yelled. "In three!"

The two got into ready pose as the audience spoke up, "TWO!"

They shared one final look, "ONE...GOOOOOOOOOO!" With that, the two blasted off the runway at such a speed it sent a burst of air that threatened to knock everypony off their seats.

And as everypony had recovered from the wind blast, they looked to the magical screen to see the racers already racing to the labyrinth, Scootaloo cheering at the sight. "Alright! Rainbow's already in the lead!"

"That's only because Spitfire's letting her be in front," the others turned to Soarin, seeing him stare at the screen of Rainbow flying in front of Spitfire, "Both have about equal speed, but Rainbow's younger and has more stamina. If Spitfire tried to get ahead of her this early, she'd wear herself out long before the race was over."

"She's pacing herself?" Twilight asked.

"Exactly," Fleetfoot nodded. "But she's doing more than that. Look at where she is." They turned back, now seeing she was perfectly in line with Rainbow. "She's in Rainbow's slipstream. That means she doesn't have to fly as hard to keep up with her cause there's no wind resistance."

"Spitfire's playing to win," Misty Fly sighed, "Those old coots are really making her do this."

"Come on Rainbow," Scootaloo prayed as the pegasi reached their first obstacle.





Rainbow and Spitfire stared up at the electrically charged clouds that made the maze they had to navigate. The lightning would make it impossible to bust through the clouds, making them have to navigate it the old fashioned way.

They quickly found the entrance and flew inside, splitting up as they tried to find the area with the key chest. "Come on," Rainbow turned a corner. "It's gotta be around here somewhere." But then she turned another corner, only to come to a stop as she found an electrified dead end. "Dang it!"

"Looks like Rainbow took a wrong turn!" The announcer yelled as everypony watched the screen, which was now divided in two to show the two racers, "Meanwhile, Spitfire appears to be getting closer to her goal."

"Come on Rainbow!" Scootaloo cried before flinching when she saw Rainbow overshoot a corner and skim her wing on the wall, "Ouch."

"How is Spitfire finding her way?" Twilight asked while staring at the mare, seeing she was holding her hooves close to each wall. "She must have some kind of trick."

As for Spitfire, she had came to a X-shaped turn. She pointed her hoof down each tunnel and stared at the back of her leg, seeing how the hairs of her fur stuck up. Once she did that for all three, she smirked before turning to fly down the path that her hair stuck up the most. "Static electricity. The further in, the more there is."

She continued to use this trick while Rainbow kept going down random hallways, constantly finding herself hitting dead-ends.

As she did this, the directors all sighed, "Can't even find her way through a bunch of storm clouds. She must be a fraud."

"I thought she worked as a weather pony." Afterburn added while shaking her head. "If she can't locate a single chest, what'll she do if the Wonderbolts are called to save a pony lost in a storm? It seems Wind Rider was right. If only he hadn't done that..."

"She may yet surprise us," Stratus finished, "But so far, I remain thoroughly un-surprised. In fact, perhaps we should just cancel this at this rate."

"OH!" The announcer exclaimed, "Looks like Spitfire has found her key!" They turned back to the screen, now seeing Spitfire fly into the middle of the maze where the chest was. She landed on the only white cloud in the maze and opened up the chest, finding a pair of plastic keys with a rope tied to it.

Spitfire grabbed one and shut the chest before flying back the way she came, Rainbow's friends all gulping as the commenter added, "It looks like Spitfire will escape the maze before Rainbow even finds her way to the center."

"AHH!" Rainbow yelled at same time, now hitting another dead-end, "COME ON ALREADY!"

She turned to head down another route, only to realize she had be going in circles with all the left turns she was taking. "Where's the chest?!" She screamed in frustration, but then stopped to take a deep breath. "Can't let myself get angry. Gotta stay calm!" She then flew down another passageway, only to see Spitfire flying down it from the other direction.

The two locked eyes as they passed one another, Rainbow seeing the key around her neck. "I'm sorry Rainbow," she said before disappearing down a turn in the maze.

Rainbow shook her head at this, zipping down the corner she saw Spitfire head down. "She must have found it somewhere around here." she whispered to herself, taking another turn before seeing the white cloud and the chest sitting atop it. "Yes!"





The crowd cheered as they watched her grab her key, the announcer speaking up, "Rainbow has her key, but...Spitfire's already found the exit!" They all turned to see Spitfire fly out of the maze.

"Oh no!" Twilight yelped, "By the time Rainbow finds her way out of there, Spitfire will be at the mountain!"

"How's she supposed to catch up to her?" Pinkie asked next.

Rainbow appeared to be thinking the same thing as she placed her key around her neck. She then turned to the electrified wall, taking a deep breath. "No choice!" With that, she shot straight through the wall. "GYAH!" She screamed as she was zapped, surprising those watching as she began pushing her way through another wall, then another and another. Each time she was electrocuted, but she didn't let that stop her.

"What is she doing?!" Azure yelled.

"Clearly, she's finding a shortcut," Stratus replied.

"Is that even allowed?" Afterburn asked.

"We didn't say she couldn't do that," Status responded, "But to actually do that....she's got determination, that's for sure."

The others nodded as Rainbow blasted her way through the last wall, escaping the maze. Her hair was singed, eyes spinning before shaking her head and turning to the mountain. Spitfire already halfway there, and with another quick shake of her head, she shot forward after her hopeful future captain.

As for Spitfire, she glanced behind herself as she got close to the mountain, only to do a double-take when she spotted Rainbow coming up fast. She couldn't help but smile before turning back to the mountain and picking up speed. "Not bad kid. But I can't make this easy on you."

"Come on!" Rainbow growled as she kept beating her wings. Within a minute, Spitfire reached the mountain and Rainbow was several seconds behind her. The two began circling the mountain, looking for the spot that the chest was held. "This place doesn't look so bad. Maybe this should have been the first obstacle." But as she said this, she found herself flying past a bunch of holes, only to suddenly sense some movement. Turning to one of the holes, she yelped, "WHOA!" before flying back, just barely avoiding a pair of snapping jaws.

"RAAAAAAARRRRRRR!"

"Quarry eels?" She screeched before another red snake-like creature shot out of another hole, "What are they doing here?!"

"Don't they live in Ghastly Gorge?" Flash asked at the same time while the others nodded.

"They live anywhere there's good rock to live in," Fluttershy responded.

Scootaloo did a long gulp at this. "So not only does Rainbow have to find a chest, she also has to do it while dodging pony eating eels?"

"They're seeing how well Rainbow does under pressure," Soarin told her. "Being a Wonderbolt isn't always about flying really cool. Sometimes, we have to face danger. Remember that dragon that attacked Ponyville?"

Spike chose this moment to hide himself behind Twilight's wing. While this happened, the screens showed Spitfire now getting herself attacked by eels. She began showing exceptional skill as she weaved around them, all the while keeping her eye out for any sign of the chest. Another eel shot out after this, the captain dodging this before slamming her hoof into its face. Small cheers followed this before the audience focused back on Rainbow.





"Back off!" Rainbow roared as another eel tried to bite her. As she did, she suddenly spotted a chest on a nearby ledge. "YES!"

She shot down and hovered in front of it, placing the key inside the lock. However, the key didn't move. "Huh?" She grunted as she began to turn it, the chest not wanting to unlock. But as she did this, a growling sound occurred above her, an eel now sliding up to her.

Rainbow felt herself swearing as she continued to turn the key, the pegasus mare almost able to smell the creature's breath. Then, seconds before it could strike, the lock was undone. "YES!" She pushed to chest open, grabbing the medal inside just as the eel struck.

Those watching gasped until they saw Rainbow kick away from ledge and fly back, the eel now slamming into the chest and losing its grip on its hole. It began to fall down the mountain, chest in its mouth as it descended into the clouds below.

"HA! Take that!" Rainbow cheered while her friends applauded.

And as this happened, Spitfire found her own chest on another ledge. Hers opened without much issue, allowing her to grab the medal inside. She flew up while putting the medal around her neck, spotting Rainbow doing the same thing. Both flew level with one another, sharing a glance before turning toward the ground, seeing the entrance of their final obstacle.





"WOW!" The announcer exclaimed, "Both competitors are now neck and neck!"

Rainbow's friends all cheered at this, clapping and whistling as they watched the two begin to fly towards the cave. "Go Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cheered, "You're awesome!"

"Keep it up sugarcube!"

"You've almost got it!" Rarity added.

Soarin frowned, keeping his gaze locked on the two as they got closer to the cave. "This is your last chance to get ahead of her. You've gotta be careful."

As for the duo, they were side by side as they arrived at the entrance to the cave, both stopping and glaring into the darkness. In another second they saw the light at the end of the tunnel, only to see a large amount of spikes sticking out of the floor and ceiling. Both smiling at one another before heading inside, zigzagging through the spikes.

"If I can just get ahead of her," Rainbow whispered. "One Sonic Rainboom and this race is mine."

But when they were at the halfway point of the tunnel, something made them both raise eyebrows. The ground started shaking, causing small rocks and pieces of dust to come loose from the ceiling. "Huh? What's going on?" Rainbow asked when she was almost hit by a rock.

"I don't-" Spitfire didn't get to finish as the ground in front of them suddenly exploded, a giant eel slithered out next, "Well that explains that."

Rainbow wondered if that was the eel that she had sent falling to its doom, though she didn't get the chance to ask as she had to start dodging the eel's attacks along with the rocks that were falling down. "We gotta get out of here!"

"Right behind you!" Spitfire yelled as they flew toward the exit. But then, one of the larger rocks suddenly slammed down and hit her wing. Her cry of pain was drowned out by the shaking, Rainbow now hearing it as more rocks began to hit the Wonderbolt. As for Rainbow, she kept zipping back and forth to avoid the falling debris, all the while the eel was still trying to get to her.

And as its jaws opened to get her, the pegasi suddenly blasted out of the animal's range, zooming right out the exit. "YES!" she cheered before glancing behind her, "We did Spitfire! We-" She came to a stop at this, gasping as she saw nopony around her.

"Oh no..." she whispered as she looked down, now seeing the pony half-buried by rocks. "HANG ON!" The blue pony shot back inside, ducking under the eel as she began evading the rocks that were slowly filling the tunnel.





Back at the stadium, the audience gasped at the sight, Stratus getting up and pointing at the Wonderbolts, "This race is over! GO SAVE THEM!" The bolts nodded and took to the sky, Flash following after them.

"Let's go!" Heart cheered as he leapt into the air, only to be magically grabbed and pulled back by Twilight.

"Oh, no you don't. Leave this to the professionals." Heart grumbled as he yanked into his seat, the colt growled as he turned back to the screen.

"Come on Rainbow!" Scootaloo added, "You can do it!"

"RAH!" Rainbow roared at that moment, dodging a barrage of falling stalactites. She barrel rolled to evade them, another stalagmite now falling over before zipping around it. "Almost there!" She pulled back to keep from getting hit by another rock, her eyes still on Spitfire as the edge of a falling rock came down and cut the ribbon of her medal loose. But as this happened, she got to Spitfire and began to pull her out from under the rocks.

"Rainbow?" Spitfire moaned as she felt Rainbow tug on her.

"Hold on!" Rainbow yelled before looking up, now seeing the eel charge at them. "Oh, come on!" She then pulled Spitfire with one last tug, getting her out of the rocks before slinging her over her back.

"Just...drop me," Spitfire muttered, "You won't...make it-"

"No way!" Rainbow interrupted, "I am not leaving you behind!" She then took to the air, zipping through another barrage of rocks as the eel tore right through the rubble. Rainbow looked back at this, now seeing the eel about to get bite her. Glancing back at the exit, she whispered to herself, "Come on!" The eel opened its mouth, about to snap her tail, "Faster!" Several small rocks then hit her wings, making her flinch as she kept flapping them, "Faster!" She stared at the exit, not seeing the eel's mouth opening to chomp her in one go. Instead, all she saw was a new rain of rocks about to cover the exit as she screamed, "FASTER!"

And with that, the rest of the mountain fell on top of them.





"RAINBOW!" Scootaloo screamed as the footage suddenly cut, signaling whatever was sending the unicorn the images had been buried.

The screen vanished and everypony looked down, Fluttershy about to cry as Applejack slung a hoof around her. At the same time, the younger ponies were pulled into hugs by those closest.

In the sky, Flash and the Wonderbolts had arrived at the entrance to the cave, only to see it and the exit were both buried. All were in shock while Soarin simply shook his head, "No....this can't be real."

And as Flash hovered over to him, placing a hoof on his shoulder-

KABOOM!

The pegasi were blown away by a force that ripped the ground apart, a shockwave shooting out in all directions while a streak of light flew out into the air. The sight made all at the stadium gasp, now seeing a large rainbow spread across the sky.

"OH YEAH!" Rainbow cheered as she pulled Spitfire through the sky, only for her wings to give out. "Oh no." Gravity immediately took over, pulling them instantly as they both screamed. That is, till three blurs flew up and caught them.

"You okay?" Rainbow looked up to see Soarin, the pegasi holding her with a grin.

"Yeah...I'm good." Rainbow replied before turning to see Fleetfoot and Misty Fly had caught Spitfire, sighing in relief. "And so is she."

"Thanks to you," Spitfire moaned back, the group slowly descending to the airfield a few minutes later. There, the directors and all their friends were waiting, cheers of excitement happening next as they saw everypony cheering and waving banners.

"Way to go Rainbow!" Scootaloo yelled.

"Are you and Spitfire alright?" Twilight asked, Rainbow letting out a laugh as Soarin put her down.

"Are you kidding? I'm a hundred and twenty percent awesome, just like I always am."

"Yes," Everypony froze before turning to the directors. "We have a lot to thank you for Miss Dash. Now, about the race."

This statement caused everypony to growl, Spitfire hissing as she pulled herself out of her teammate's grasp. "Let me guess," she said as she marched up to them. "You're gonna say that Rainbow lost because she doesn't have her medal." Rainbow looked down at herself, blinking as she realized this fact. "Or that the race didn't count and now we have to do it all over again or something like that." Stratus tried to speak, only for Spitfire to raise a hoof, "Well forget it! I'm not gonna let Rainbow be denied anymore! She might not have won the race, but that's because she did the right thing and saved my life! There's more to being a Wonderbolt than winning every race, and Rainbow Dash proved that today. She risked her chance at victory, and even her own life, just to help the pony that was trying to take her dream away from her. And if that isn't enough to prove she's Wonderbolt Material, then I don't wanna be a Wonderbolt anymore!"

Rainbow's eyes went wide at this, only to hear Soarin speak up. "Me neither." He walked up to Spitfire's side, "After all, if the only way to be a Wonderbolt now is to risk your life in a race over things that are not your fault, I'll quit right now!"

"Same!" Fleetfoot yelled.

"I'm out too!" Misty Fly exclaimed as the rest of the team all did the same, shocking Rainbow Dash and making Spitfire smirk.

"So, what's it gonna be?" She asked while getting up in Stratus's face. "You gonna let Rainbow in or are you not gonna have a team to fly in your Equestria tour? And before you answer, I'll remind you that what just happened in this race is all. Your. Fault! You risked the lives of the Wonderbolts over a pointless race that should have never happened!"

She and Stratus stood for a few seconds after this, staring each other down as Stratus gave her a blank expression. "If you're done," he sighed, "I was merely going to say that you were right. This race was pointless."

Spitfire went wide-eyed at this. "Huh?!"

Stratus shook his head, "While Rainbow is young, brash, and possibly a little egotistical." Rainbow growled at this, "It's clear she has the skills needed to properly represent the Wonderbolts. And nowhere was that more clear then in her selfless actions to save you."

"You're right, my dear," Azure added with a nod, "Being a Wonderbolt is about more than just being a good flyer. It's about strength of character."

Afterburn scratched the back of his head at this, "And it's clear the only ones lacking any character in this situation was us. It seems...we were told wrong."

They all focused on Rainbow and spoke together, "We apologize."

Rainbow suddenly felt very self-conscious, looking away as she responded, "Don't...don't mention it." Her eyes then went wide as she glanced back, "Wait! Does that mean what I think it does?!"

They all nodded, "We officially endorse your entry into the Wonderbolts!" That was all they got to say before they were knocked off their hooves by the blast of wind Rainbow created when she shot into the air.

"YEAH-HEH-HAAAAA!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, everypony giggling at the sight. It had been a long road, but Rainbow had finally done it. She was a Wonderbolt.





The next day...

Thanks to the whole fiasco with the race, the Wonderbolt's tour needed to be rescheduled. Now they had two days to get the routine down before their first show. Luckily, the injuries Rainbow and Spitfire had been minor, and the two were ready for training right away.

As for the Wonderbolt's newest recruit, she was now walking out of the barracks wearing the uniform again. This time, she had more of a strut in her step as she spotted Spitfire standing on the other side of the runway. "Hey, Spitfire!" She flew up to the mare, "I was thinking about my nickname. How about, Mountain Crusher? You know, because I crushed a mountain in order to save you!"

Spitfire was about to say something when she noticed something and gasped. "STOP!"

Rainbow stepped onto the runway, only to suddenly hear a scream. "LOOK OUT!" She turned to see Blaze and Fleetfoot flying up, the pegasus letting out a scream before she leapt to the side. She found herself flying through some bushes, only to crash into a bunch of trash cans. The others all flinched at the several painful crashing sounds that echoed for several seconds until they died down. They each walked up to her, now seeing the new Wonderbolt laying in a trashcan with spinning eyes.

"You forgot to look both ways, didn't you?" Spitfire asked as Rainbow pulled herself free, the mare nodding her head.

"Are you okay Rainbow Dash?" Soarin asked while running up to her, pulling a banana peel off her head.

"More like Rainbow Crash," Fleetfoot laughed with the others following her, Rainbow's eyes going wide at this until Soarin patted her on the shoulder.

"Relax Rainbow," he chimed in, "We all have embarrassing nicknames. It was gonna happen eventually."

"I guess..." Rainbow sighed. "But does it have to be that one?"

"It's a reminder," Spitfire responded, "We may be Wonderbolts, but we're not perfect. If you don't have something humbling like a reminder of your screw-ups, you can get a little overconfident. Besides, there are worse things to be called."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow and looked at the others, each of them pointing to themselves. "Flatfoot," Fleetfoot replied, "My first day I misjudged my landing and came down right on Spitfire's hoof."

"Dizzy," Misty Fly added.

"Slowpoke."

"Hoof-in-Mouth."

Rainbow then turned to Spitfire, "You don't wanna know what they call me." She leaned over and whispered something into Rainbow's ear, the young pony's eyes going wide.

"Whoa! That is so much worse than Crash!"

"But if being called that isn't to your liking," Spitfire pulled a piece of garbage out of her hair. "We could always think of something else."

Rainbow blinked at this, only to rhyme with the word Dash. "Crash is good. Crash is perfect."

The others laughed before Spitfire spread her wings. "Alright Bolts, we've wasted enough time already! LET'S GET FLYING!"

"YES MA'AM!" The pegasi all screamed before leaping into the air, Rainbow lining up with the rest of her team. Her team. Her...team.

"This...is...AWESOME!" The other Wonderbolts giggled before they began their training, ready to break their newest member in.
> Quest for the Golden Apple Tree
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was barely beginning to peak over the horizon. As it did, it began to illuminate the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack smiling at the sight of the light of the sun moving closer to her hooves.

And as it touched them, she let out a cheer, "YEEHAW!" She got up and galloped the first tree, her voice now signing, "Ah'm gonna buck me some apples, a'll buck every apple in sight! Ah'm gonna buck me some apples, and everything's gonna be-" She came to a stop as she felt her hoof squish onto something, making her look down, "Alright?"

She picked up the object she had touched, now seeing to be an discarded apple. The fruit had a single bite taken out of it, but the rest of the fruit completely untouched. Raising an eyebrow at this, she glanced back up and went wide-eyed at the sight of an entire field of apples...all with one large bite taken out of each.

The mare tipped her hat down, growling, "Scrumpers..."





Meanwhile, at Twilight's castle...

"Thanks for letting us stay here," a certain royal knight guest said as Twilight put their breakfast down.

"No problem Heather," Twilight replied, "You and First are always welcome here whenever you need."

"You still have our gratitude," First responded before taking a cup of coffee, "And if there is anything you wish from us in return, do not hesitate to ask."

"I doubt there's anything really," Flash added as he bit into a pancake, only to turn to his girlfriend as she stared at Heather, "Twilight?"

"Well...there is something I was wondering about that Heather might be able to help with."

"Oh?," the royal knight replied as she took a bite of toast. "What's troubling you? I'm always happy to help princess."

"Well, I need help with this." Twilight's horn glowed at this, a flower pot filled with soil appearing a second later along with a bag of flower seeds. "It's about my earth pony magic. I've always been skilled with unicorn magic, and it's safe to say I'm proficient with my pegasus magic." She did a quick glare at Flash, making sure he didn't comment before glancing back at Heather, "But I haven't attempted to use my earth pony magic."

"Isn't that just being really strong?" Flash asked, Heather shaking her head before she grabbed a seed and plopped it into the soil.

"It's not just that." She covered the seed and rubbed the soil, "It also involves stimulating plant grow." She pulled her hoof away, the others raising eyebrows as a small sprout instantly appeared in the soil.

"Cool," Flash whispered as Twilight took another seed and placed it into the pot.

"So, what do I do?" She asked. "I've read something about the redirection of energy, but I don't really understand it."

Heather let out a hum, "In a way. Earth ponies can gather up the energy of nature, one that's given off by trees and rocks. We then store it within us the way unicorns store magic before using it to enhance our physical strength and even direct it into new plants. That's what lets us grow them."

"Interesting." Twilight responded as she summoned a notepad, "So, how do I direct this energy?"

"It's...hard to explain. It's really something earth ponies can do instinctively. I guess-"

"SPRINGER!" a sudden voice yelled, all four turning to the voice's owner, only to see Applejack, "They're ya'll are. Ya'll seen Springer?"

"He's...out on patrol," Flash slowly replied, "What's this about?"

"I need him to track a thief down." The ponies all exchanged glances, quickly eating their food while Flash contacted Springer through his aura.





Two hours later...

The mane seven, defenders, knights, twins and the Apple family were now at the farm. Springer crouched down and picked up one of the bitten apples, giving it a sniff while closing his eyes. "Anything?" Applejack asked as Springer's ear dangles flared up, only for the jakhowl to sigh as he opened his eyes.

"Nothing."

"What do yah mean, nothing?!" Applejack barked back, "Ya'll know everypony's aura! How can yah not pick up the thief's aura?"

"It's one I've never felt before," Springer replied, "And the spiritual imprint's degraded, so I can't pick up a trace of it."

"Think its him?" Flash added with crossed hooves, "We know he's stolen from the farm before."

"No." Springer responded while shaking his head. "If was that fox, there wouldn't be a trace of its aura. Whatever this is, it has aura...but I can't feel anything else."

"Augh!" Applejack yelped, "Well that's just great!"

"What's the problem?" Heart asked with a shrug, "So somepony took a few apples and bit into them."

"Them apples are our livelihood," Granny Smith barked as she, Mac and Apple Bloom began to pile the apples up. "Every one stolen is the time and care we took to make 'em perfect completely thrown down the drain."

"We've had scrumpers before," Applejack added, "But they usually only take one or two apples. Not an entire field's worth." She growled at the pile of bitten apples, "It's bad enough that they stole our apples, but to only take one bite out of each of them...it's just insulting!"

First Aid rubbed his chin at the sight, kneeling down beside Springer, "You really can not pick up anything?"

"Nothing," Springer replied as Grand walked past them, staring at the trees.

"Well, I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I think we might be looking for a pegasus. Or something that has wings." The others turned to Grand as he pointed at the trees, "From looking at the terrain, I don't see any hoof prints that don't belong to us. That gives me the idea the thief flew in." He picked up an apple and showed the bite marks. "These markings indicate the thief had teeth, meaning not a bird or griffon."

"Makes sense," Flash commented before glancing at Springer, "And if they're just flying in and biting, not much aura is gonna be left behind, is it?"

"Probably not." the jakhowl responded, "So, what do we do now?"

"Simple," Applejack chimed in.

"You're gonna say a stake-out, aren't you?" Iron huffed as Applejack nodded. "Great..." He turned to his girlfriend, "You're not feeling particularly batty, are you?" Fluttershy gave him a glare back, "Just asking."

And as Fluttershy was about to reply, Twilight spoke up, "Applejack's right. If they did it once without having any problems, they'll likely try again. But this time, we'll be ready."





That night...

With the sun setting, Applejack and her friends were all hiding in the orchard. She, Heather and First were behind a tree, while others were scattered out around the area. Springer's ability to connect the minds of several ponies was coming in handy right now, allowing them all to talk to one another without needing to make noise.

"Alright everypony," the farmer whispered, "Be ready for anything or anypony. We can't let it git away."

"We won't," Twilight replied as she, Flash and Spike were currently under an invisibility spell.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking out for?" Fluttershy asked in a half-terrified voice, she, Iron and Rainbow being on the other side of the orchard.

"Anything," Granny Smith responded, "If there's any movement, we check it out."

"And take it down!" Apple Bloom's voice called out.

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack yelped, "Why aren't you in bed?"

"I can't sleep knowing there's something out here destroying our farm."

Applejack let out a hiss, only to sigh, "Fine. But stay close to Big Mac. Ah'm guessing yer near him, right?"

"Eeeyup," her brother replied, Applejack nodding back before focusing on the one connecting them all, "Yah feel anything Springer?"

"Not yet," Springer responded, the jakhowl now sitting on the roof of the barn with Rarity and Lightning, the jakhowl in a meditative position. "The only auras I can sense are the ones I know. Nothing new yet."

"Well keep us posted," Flash commented.

"Can I ask a probably stupid question?" Wild asked as he, Pinkie and Grand were hiding in a covered pit they had dug. "If we actually manage to catch this thing, what the heck are we supposed to do?"

"That depends on what it is," Grand replied, "If it's some kind of animal, we'll relocate it far away."

"And if it's not an animal?" Pinkie asked, "What if-"

"I've got something!" Springer interrupted, "Seventh orchard!"

"That's us!" Grand whispered as they slowly lifted out of the pit as the others began to move to them. "Keep your eyes peeled."

"But I left my peeler at home," Pinkie joked, Grand rolling his eyes before jerking his head, his ears going up at a sudden noise.

"Over there!" Wild hissed, pointing at a tree, "Wait...it's gone."

"It's over there!" Pinkie yelped, "Er...nope. Vanished."

Grand then put his hoof over both their mouths, "Don't talk. Just listen. That's our best chance to locate it." The two nodded, the knight removing his hoof as they all just stared at the orchard. They listened intensely at this, only to hear a certain noise.

It was the sound of flapping. Not the gentle flapping of a feathered wing, but the floppy sound of leather on the wind. Like a flag, fluttering in the breeze. They followed the sound for several seconds, only to look up and see a shadow circling the area above them. And when it flew into the light of the moon, they saw the creature was pony shaped. But its wings looked more like that of a dragon...or a bat.

"A thestral," Grand whispered.

"A bat pony?" Pinkie asked before gulping. "Maybe Iron was right about Flutterbat."

"I don't think this one has anything to do with Fluttershy," Grand replied as they watched the thestral fly down onto a branch of a tree. It grabbed one of the fruits, pulling it off before beginning to bite into it. "Either way, it's definitely the cause of Applejack's problem."

"So let's stop it!" Wild exclaimed as he leapt out the hole, Pinkie behind him.

"Wait a minute!" Grand yelled, but it was too late.

"Take this!" Pinkie pulled a cupcake out of her hair and tossed it at the thestral, the bat turning to Pinkie's outcry before leaping from the branch to dodge the baked good. But as it did this, Wild's puppets suddenly appeared in front of the bat.

"Take him down!" He roared as the puppets tried to tackle the thestral, only to miss as the bat flew above them. Wild then fired a magic beam at it next, but the bat dodged again, "Blast it!"

"Figures...here goes nothing," Grand sighed before slamming his hammer into the ground, several rocks coming up from the dirt before he sent them flying with a swing of his hammer, "Grand Impact!" The rocks shot up at the thestral, hitting the bat as the pony let out a cry of pain, only to flap away, "Shoot! Its getting out of my range!"

"But not mine!" They then heard, making them turn to see Flash flying in, "Bat pony, huh?" He smirked before illuminating his sword, causing the thestral to cry out from the light.

"Oh, no you don't!" Rainbow yelled as she flew up behind the bat.

The thestral glared at the Wonderbolt, turning to fly another direction before Twilight teleported in front of it. This was followed by Fluttershy as she flew up to block its last direction out. And as they stared the pony down, they saw that the thestral was a stallion, its body being a combo of brown and light blue. its body was mainly brown with blue stripes across its body while its neck and lower legs were completely blue. Its mane and tail were blue with brown tips and its brown ears had blue tips. The wing-bones were also blue while the membrane was brown. As for the thestral's cutie mark, it was a golden apple.

"We don't want to hurt you," the animal caretaker whispered, "Just come down quietly."

And as she said this, Twilight created a magic barrier above them, all four flying down as the alicorn brought the barrier down with them, pushing it to the ground. At the same time, Applejack and the others arrived on the scene as the farmer glared at the bat, "So, this is the varmint that's been stealing mah apples." The thestral turned to hiss at her, Apple Bloom screaming and jumping behind Big Mac. But as it did this, it suddenly leapt and tackled Fluttershy to the ground, making her cry out as it jumped over her and tried to fly away. "Don't let it git away!"

Twilight was quick to create another barrier in the direction it was heading, the bat pony stopping it its tracks. "RAH!" It turned to see Iron running up with Springer while Grand and Lightning was now coming up from the other side.

"Don't let it bite you!" Flash yelled as they got closer.

But before they could even respond, the creature opened his mouth...and let out a mighty wail.

"BYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" It's scream roared, the sound unbearably loud and high-pitched, causing everypony to freeze on the spot and cover their ears.

"WHAT IN TARNATION?!" Applejack cried out the sonic scream, Twilight unable to keep the barrier up. At the same time, the apples in the surrounding trees suddenly exploded into apple sauce, all the ruined fruits falling into the dirt like a pile of muck. "NO!" She yelped as the thestral stopped the attack.

And as everypony was now reeling from the sonic scream, the bat pony began to escape. But as they tried to fly away, Heather's weapon suddenly swung out, grabbing its tail. The knight did a quick, full earth pony powered yank, slinging the bat to the ground. As it crashed with a thud, the sound of its landing didn't even hit the ponies' ears around them, all still unable to hear from the sonic scream.

Despite this, Iron, Flash and Springer leapt to dog pile on it, pinning it to the ground with a single tackle. Twilight then teleported in front of the bat, her horn glowing as she saw it begin to breath in. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" She screeched before firing a spell that hit its throat. And when the thestral tried to scream, not a sound could be heard. "PERFECT."

The bat pony kept opening its mouth after this, nothing happening as it kept doing this.

"WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT NOW?" Rainbow asked while rubbing her ears.

"WE HAVE TO PUT IT SOMEPLACE WHERE IT CAN'T CAUSE ANY PROBLEMS!" Grand yelled, "THEN MAYBE SEE A DOCTOR TO FIGURE OUT HOW LONG OUR HEARING WILL BE OFF!"

"BUT HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO MOVE IT?" Lightning asked as the thestral continued to struggle, "IT'LL FLY AWAY ANY CHANCE IT GETS!"

"NO PROBLEM!" Applejack leapt in front of the thestral before raising her hoof.

"APPLEJACK!" Twilight yelled, "WAIT-"

POW!





Several hours later...

Pain. That was all the thestral could feel as it began to wake up. It's mouth slowly moved as its eyes fluttered open, blinking as it looked up at a stone ceiling.

"I think he's waking up!" It tried to glance at the voice, his vision still blurry. And as it became more clear, the thestral saw the ponies from before, along with a set of metal bars separating them. The thestral was in the Ponyville jail, complete with an absolutely splitting headache. It pushed itself up at this, now seeing First walking up to the bars.

"Careful," First replied, "You had a concussion, but you should be fine for now."

The thestral growled at him, looking away before now seeing he was in the cell. It then took a deep breath, trying to scream....only to find he was still silent. "Nice try," Twilight responded as she trotted up next, "But unless you promise to not scream, you're not getting your voice back."

Hissing back at her, Flash then stepped up to the cage. "Can you understand me?" He asked, getting a nod in return. "And can you actually talk? Not just scream and hisses?" Another nod. "Alright. Twilight's gonna give you back your voice, but if you scream again, she'll take it away and we'll leave you in here a few days until you decide to be more civil, understand?" There was one final nod.

This was all Twilight needed, the princess using her magic to and hitting the bat pony's throat with it. They heard him cough and grunt, everypony preparing to cover their ears. But as this happened, the pony shook his head...and spoke, "Let...me...go." His voice sounded surprisingly young, making a few blink as they saw him glare at the princess.

"Not happening," Flash responded, "At least not until we get some answers."

"And until yah pay for all them apples yah stole!" Applejack almost yelled as she slammed her face right into the bars, "Ya'll made a big mistake messin' with our farm!" Her family nodded in agreement.

"What are you talking about?" The bat pony asked as he got up and walked up to the bars, "Pay? What the heck does that mean? If those were your apples, why weren't you protecting them? They were just asking to get taken."

"They were on mah land!" Applejack barked back, "Ya'll were the one who trespassed. Bad enough you stole mah apples, but yah didn't even have the common decency to finish them!"

"Not my fault you can't grow good apples. None of them were right." This made Applejack's face turn red, rage building as her hooves slid down the metal bars separating them. "I mean, you couldn't even get the color right."

"Color?" Twilight asked.

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow added, "Applejack's apples are the right color."

"No they're not," the thestral replied before pointing at his cutie mark, "They're supposed to be this color." The group all stared at the image of the golden apple, confusion and intrigue now on their faces as he continued, "I don't know what you're so mad about. I was hungry and I needed to eat. If you didn't want your apples taken, you should look after them better."

The Apples all growled, Heather taking this moment to step up to the cage. "Listen, I don't know how things work where you're from, but around here, stealing isn't something that's considered acceptable."

He gave her a deadpan glare back, "I call it survival of the fittest. I'm not gonna apologize for something I had to do, not that it did me any good. Not one of those apples were what I needed."

"Needed?" Twilight asked. "What do you need?"

"One of these!" He pointed back to his cutie mark, "I need one of these! I was hoping that the color was the only thing different about those apples, but they're not! I need one of these!"

"Why?" Applejack replied, "What the heck do you need a golden apple for?"

"I didn't even know apples of that color existed," Heart added from the back of the group, Soul and the young jakhowls nodding.

"Golden apples do exist," Twilight responded, "But they're magical trees, and very rare."

"Yes," Grand nodded. "There's only one golden apple tree I know of, and its the one in Princess Celestia's garden."

This caused the bat pony's eyes to go wide, making him turn to the earth pony, "Where is it?! You've gotta take me there! I need one of those apples!"

"You're not going anywhere," Iron barked back as he pointed at the pony, "At least not-"

"PLEASE!" He screamed, most reflexively putting their hooves to their ears as they thought he was about to sonic scream again.

But as he did this, Springer leaned over to Flash. "Something's wrong. I've been watching his aura and....he's scared."

"Scared?"

"Not just scared. Terrified."

Flash turned back to the pony, now seeing sweat starting to pour down his face, his form carrying itself less firmly then when he had first woke up. "You might be right." Flash whispered before leaning up to the bars, "Hey uh...are you okay? You look a little...queasy. And my friend says you're scared." The bat pony's breath slowly turned to a panting. "Just tell us what's wrong and maybe we can help."

"You can't help!" he cried back, "Not unless you get me one of those...one of those."

And as he said those words, the stallion slumped over, legs going out as suddenly fell to the floor. The group gasped, First turning to Flash, "Open the cell."

"Are yah crazy?" Apple Bloom asked as Flash grabbed the keys. "He's faking it!"

Applejack nodded. "If yah open that cell, he'll let out a scream and bolt before we can stop him."

"I cannot deny him medical attention if he needs it," First replied, both glaring at each other before Flash opened the door. The knight ran inside, leaning down as his horn scanned the pony...only to grimace, "He is not faking." First put his hoof on the bat's head, "He is burning up." A sigh came next as his horn shined, only to go wide-eyed, "He has been poisoned."

"Poisoned?" Twilight yelped, "How?"

"I do not know," First responded, "But I need to find a way to neutralize it, and fast. Please, I need help."

Twilight nodded as she helped move the bat pony onto the bed before he ordered everypony out, all but Heather leaving as he began to work.

Some time later...

The wait for recovery was a long one. Minutes had turned to an hour, which slowly turned to hours.

"Augh!" Rainbow yelled, "What's taking so long?!"

"He has to figure out what kind of poison is infecting him," Rarity responded, "That takes time."

Heart was about to say something, only to notice his sister looking into the cell through the window. "What are you doing?"

"Watching," Soul replied as she stared at First. He had set up a small chemistry set, now mixing several chemicals together. "Cool..." she whispered as he shook a vial in his magic, making it change color. "Wish I could be in there."

"Why?" Mira asked as she looked through the window, now seeing Heather draw some blood from the bat pony, "Gross."

Soul shook her head and patted Mira, "It's just blood. We all have it." She continued to watch as the two completed their medical tests, Heather and First moving on to creating some kind of serum that they quickly injected into the bat pony. After a few more minutes, his breathing became more stable and he stopped sweating. "Wow. They cured him." This caught everypony's attention as the two royal knights walked out of the jail cell.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Twilight asked.

"For now," First replied. "But if we can not find a way to fix him, he will succumb to the poison again."

"What do you mean?" Applejack responded, "Soul said yah cured him."

"This time," Heather sighed, "But there's something wrong with him."

First nodded in agreement, "I was able to cure him because I have seen this poison before. Back when Grand was bitten by the bat pony working for Doom."

"He was bitten by another thestral?" Grand gasped.

First shook his head, "No. That is what is wrong with him. He is poisoning himself." This made everypony lean back in surprise as he continued, "It is a birth defect I have read about. It is rare, but can occur. His own poison is being injected into his bloodstream. I have neutralized his poison for now, but it has already started building. By this time tomorrow, the levels will reach the point his body cannot handle it."

"But can't you just do what you did today?" Fluttershy asked next.

"The serum I gave him is very complicated to make, and even if I could make more easily, he would eventually grow immune to it."

"So...what are we supposed to do?"

"I've been thinking about that," Heather chimed in, "I've studied the legends of the golden apple, and several of them speak of their ability to cure any poison. No matter how deadly, a single apple can eradicate any toxin from the body of the one who ate it."

"Hold on," Applejack spoke up. "So yah saying the reason he was stealin' mah apples was because he was tryin' ta save himself."

"Most likely," Heather replied while nodding, "He either knew of their ability to cure poisons, or has already eaten a golden apple when he started feeling ill."

A groaning sound rang out next, making them turn to see the bat pony was waking up. "Only one way to find out," Flash commented as he walked inside just as the bat pony opened his eyes and sat up. "How you feeling?"

"Lousy..." the thestral moaned, "But I'll live." He stared down at his own body, "Somehow."

"You can thank First and Heather for that," Twilight responded, "They managed to cure you of the poison."

"Poison?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, getting several nods in return. "Is that what's been causing my pain?"

"Indeed. You have a genetic defect." First replied, sitting down as he began to explain the thestral's symptoms. But as he did this, the bat pony just blankly stared at the knight, every bit of science jargon going over his head before First finished, "And that is why you collapsed."

"Huh...okay." he responded before letting out a sigh, "I guess I should thank you."

"You can thank us by giving us some answers," Heather added with crossed hooves, "For starters, why did you think eating Applejack's apples would cure your poison?"

The bat pony shrugged at this, "It's worked before. Whenever I felt the pain or felt dizzy, I'd eat one of them and it would all go away....but it didn't work with her apples. I don't know why."

"That's simple. Its because those weren't magic apples," Twilight replied, "The apples you're thinking of are a rare breed of magic apples that can cure poisons. Normal apples don't have that same ability."

"Really?" the bat pony asked with raised eyebrows, only to let out a long sigh, "So that's it."

Seeing the thestral now completely calm, Grand spoke up, "Seems there's more going on here than we first though. What's your name son?"

The bat rolled his eyes. "What, are we family now?"

"Don't get snippy," Rainbow added.

The thestral groaned and got up off the bed. "Look, if you want an apology, then fine. I'm sorry I took your apples. Now, would you let me out of here?! I've got better things to do then sit around and play twenty questions."

"We just want to know more about you," Twilight responded, "Like where you apparently found a golden apple."

He shook his head, "Not a golden apple. A whole tree of golden apples."

"A whole tree?!" Heather gasped, "That's incredibly rare."

"It's in a cavern deep underground." He sighed, looking away, "It was my home,"

"Was? What happened?"

The bat pony let out another sigh as he sat back down on the bed. He glared back at them, only to see a group of expectant faces. Moaning, he leaned back and began to speak, "For as long as I could remember, I've lived in that cave. I woke up one day and I was there. I didn't know who I was, or where I came from."

"Amnesia?" Twilight chimed in.

"We seem to run into that a lot lately." Flash commented, only to feel Twilight's tail smack him.

As Flash said this, the bat pony shrugged. "I know I had to have lived a life before it. I mean, I can talk and understand words. That's not something you just know, right?" The others nodded. "Anyways..."





The pony opened his eyes, both slowly moving as he found himself staring at the underside of a tree. That was the first thing he remembered. Letting out a yawn, he saw that the wood was a light brown that seemed to illuminate the darkness of the cavern...and on its branches were the fabled golden apples, not that he knew they were fabled.

"The first thing I did when I woke up was eat." He flapped his wings, instinctively knowing how to fly as he landed on a branch and took a bite of the apple. "I might not remember eating any other food, but those apples were delicious. And when I was finished, I started wondering who I was."

The thestral hopped off the branches, blinking at the chamber around him, seeing several holes in the walls. "There were lots of tunnels that my home was connected too. But when I tried to investigate them-"

"AUGH!" He had been flying through a tunnel when his stomach suddenly started twisting in pain, a high fever and cold sweat coming next. Instincts kicking in, he pulled himself back to the chamber, going to the base of the tree. One of the apples had fallen to the ground, the pony picking it up and taking a bite. And as he did this, he felt the pain lessen with every bite until he found himself completely back to normal.

"That's when I realized the apples were what I needed in order to survive. Every time I went without them for a while, I suddenly felt myself getting worse and worse. I dare not leave the chamber in case I got lost and couldn't find my way back. So I stayed there, spending my days sleeping, eating and even talking to myself so I didn't forget how to talk. And as I got bigger, the time between when the pain started got longer and longer."





"Not surprising," First chimed in, "Thestrals gain a resistance and eventual immunity to poison as they get older. Eventually, you will no longer need to eat those golden apples."

"Really?!" He gasped, "How long?!"

First shrugged at this, "According to when I scanned you, you seem to be about twenty years of age. So...maybe five years or so."

The bat pony sighed. "Great...just great."

"So what happened next?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it wasn't long before I found out I wasn't the only one who wanted the apples."





The pony was in his tree, munching on an apple when his ears picked up a sound.

"Apples! Apples! Apples!" Was echoing through the caves, making him turn to a chamber as he saw a trio of creatures walk up. They were Diamond Dogs, the three all slobbering and howling at the sight of the tree.

But before they could get one, the thestral flew down and hissed. "Leave!"

"Silly pony!" One growled, "You no match for us!" It then charged and body checked him, the thestral thrown to the side as the dog laughed, "See? Apples ours!"

"That was the first time it happened." The thestral growled as he picked himself up and took a deep breath, "I...said...LEAVE!!!" With that, his voice suddenly exploded out of his mouth, hitting the trio with his sonic scream. The sound wave sent them flying through the chamber, all three hitting a back wall.

And as his screech came to an end, the dogs slumped over before one yelled, "ME CAN'T HEAR NOTHING!"

"PONY BREAK EARS!" Another yelled.

"RUN!" The last cried before they all ran out of the chamber.

The thestral chuckled at this, only to put a hoof on his mouth, "Huh...how'd I do that?"





"I don't know how I did it, but I was able to."

"Interesting. I've never heard of thestrals being able to emit sonic blasts," Twilight commented as she turned to Grand. He shook his head, soon getting the same reply from everypony. "Hmm...is it something special?"

"Maybe its another genetic defect," First suggested, "Or a side effect of eating the apples for so long."

"Either way, that's how I managed to protect my home from invaders...mostly."

"I'm guessing something went wrong?" Flash asked, the bat pony nodding back.

"Yeah...you see-"





As the years passed, more creatures attempted to steal the golden apples from the thestral. Maulwurfs, tatzlwurms and many more, all subdued by the power of the super scream.

"I might not have known who I was, but I was alive and that's what mattered. But one day..."

The thestral was eating an apple in the tree, only for his ears to pick up the sound of movement. He jumped down, turning to the many holes in the chamber. But as he tried to follow the noise, he saw that the sound was going from one tunnel to the other....only to go right beneath him.

"Huh?" He looked down, now feeling vibrations under this hooves.

And before he could react, the ground suddenly exploded, knocking him flying back, "AUGH!" He cried before slamming into the wall, sliding down instantly. His eyes spun as he tried to get up, only to gasp when he now saw what had attacked him. It was four large serpent-like creatures, all of them slithering out of four spots around the tree. They were mainly green with purple skin around the eyes and purple spikes running down their back. The strangest part was their lower jaw, which split in two right down the middle.

The thestral picked itself up, taking a deep breath before unleashing his sonic scream. But when the sound waves struck the creature, they passed over it without causing any kind of harm. "What?!"

One of the creatures responded by opening its triple mouth, firing a long green tendril-like tongue that wrapped around him before he could escape. "Hey!" He yelped before being pulled, "Let go!" He struggled against the tongue, unable to escape before letting out another scream...but it did nothing. "I said...let GO!" He bit down on the creature's tongue, making it roar in pain before letting go.

And as he got back to his hooves, he saw the other three beasts now staring at him, the thestral realizing he couldn't win. Spotting several apples near him, he quickly grabbed them before zipping down the closest tunnel, dodging three tongues as he continued to fly through the darkness.





"And...that is." he sighed, "I flew as fast as I could, and eventually found a tunnel leading outside."

"Wow," Flash whispered before turning to Twilight. "What was it that attacked him?"

Twilight hummed while rubbing her chin in thought, "Sounds like a drakeladon. A cross bred species descended from tatzlwurms and hydras." She turned to the thestral, "It would explain why his sonic scream wouldn't hurt it. Drakeladons are completely deaf."

"So what happened after that?" Grand asked next.

"Nothing much. All I could do was try and find someplace else to live. I thought I'd find another tree in no time, and when I saw that large group of trees-"

"It's called an orchard," Applejack interrupted.

The thestral rolled his eyes at this, "Fine. When I saw the orchard, I thought I hit the jackpot. But when I took a bite out of one, it didn't make the pain go away. None of them did. I was forced to eat my last golden apple last night, which is why I came back. I needed to find one that could help me."

"Well yah won't find a golden apple here."

"What about that tree you told me about?" He asked, "I'll go there."

"Yeah," Spike turned to Twilight, "Why don't we send him to Canterlot? I'm sure princess Celestia won't mind."

Twilight shook her head before rubbing the back of her neck, looking embarrassed. "Yeah...about that. The golden apple tree...doesn't actually grow golden apples."

"Come again?"

"It's a spell," Twilight replied, "Princess Celestia cast it on the tree so that the apples would look golden, but they're not actually golden."

"So it's a trick?"

Twilight shook her head again. "She said it used to grow golden apples, but it stopped doing so about thirty years ago. That's why she has to use magic on it."

"Huh." Grand added, "I don't remember that happening. Must have happened when I was on a mission."

"That actually fits with the legends I read," Heather chimed in, "It's said that golden apple trees only produce golden apples for the first fifty years of their life. After that, it just becomes a normal tree. And the seeds of that tree only grow golden apple trees if the apple is a golden one. That's why they're so rare."

"So you're saying the only real golden apple is the one the drakeladon's now guarding?" Iron asked Twilight, the princess nodding back, "Ouch."

"Grrr...fine!" the bat pony exclaimed, "Then let me out of here! I don't care if that thing's deaf," he rattled the bars. "I'll find a way to beat it and get my tree back!"

"Oh, that's a great idea," Applejack deadpanned while rolling her eyes. "And while you're at it, send us a postcard from that thing's stomach."

The bat pony hissed at her, only for Twilight to raise a hoof between the two, "Listen, I know you want to get your tree back, but there's no way you're gonna be able to beat those monsters on your own."

"So what am I supposed to do?! I'll die without my tree!" He yelled, only to blink when he saw smiles appear on the entire group's lips, "What?"

"Simple. We'll help," Flash replied, making the thestral lean back with wide eyes.

"Why would you help me?" He asked. "Didn't I steal your precious apples? I figured you'd want me to be suffering."

"We might not be happy about that," Applejack responded while her family nodded. "But we'd never want somepony ta suffer."

Heather nodded in agreement, "We understand now that you only took the apples because you needed them."

"So now we will help you get what you really need," First finished before opening the cell.

"You...you're really gonna help me?" He asked, getting another nod from the group.

"It's what we do," Flash finished, "Helping those that need it."

The bat pony gave him a skeptical stare, only to nod, "Alright, thank you...I guess." He turned to the door, "Now let's go get my tree back." He walked up to open the door, but the second he stepped outside, he suddenly cried out in pain. "AUGH!" The others gasped, thinking the poison was acting up, only to see him stagger back in while his wings covered his eyes. "Too bright!"

They turned to see the sun high in the sky, Twilight commenting, "I guess living underground for so long would make you sensitive to light."

"On it." Flash chimed in as he put a hoof in Pinkie's mane, "Sunglasses?"

"Hmmm...check drawer 7-C."

"Alright." Flash began to shuffle his hoof, "Got it." He pulled a pair of glasses that had red lenses and little jewels all around the frames, "Uh..."

"Oops." Pinkie blushed as she took the glasses and stuffed them back into her mane. "Those are for um...special musical occasions. Here, let me try." She pulled out another pair of glasses, only to find it was a headset with a red square that fit over the left eye. "No...those are for finding power levels."

"Really? What's mine?"

Pinkie quickly put the device back into her hair, "Sorry Flash, I'm not allowed to tell you for...legal reasons."

"Fine..." Flash pouted before putting his hoof back into the mane, "Maybe its drawer 8?"

"No, that's the stuffed animal drawer."

The bat pony watched them banter, the thestral leaning over and whispering, "Is that normal?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Twilight deadpanned before turning to Rarity, "Can you help us instead?"

Rarity's horn shined, summoning a box. "Here, this should help." She opened it up, showing a pair of black sunglasses. She put it over the bat pony's eyes, having him walk out of the building next, "Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Flash and Pinkie both frowned at this, their mood then shifting as the thestral asked a new question, "Say...where am I? What is this place called?"

"You're in a town called Ponyville."

"A town?"

"Its how most of the world works," Grand replied, "Ponies live together in communities and help one another out."

They began to walk through town, going by Bon-Bon's shop as Heather continued, "One pony focuses their efforts on mastering a certain field of skill, and other ponies go to them in order to make use of that skill. With everypony doing that, the world is able to move on and grow."

"Wow..." he whispered. "I've never heard of that."

Grand then turned to the others, "We'll need to decide who's going with him."

"Aren't we all going?" Heart asked.

"Well, you're definitely not," Flash instantly responded.

"What?! Why not?!"

"We're trying to save a tree...which is made of wood."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense."

"And I doubt we'll all fit in the chamber," Grand added, "There may be strength in numbers, but too many in a confined space could hinder us."

"You got a point," Twilight finished before focusing on the knight in question. "And no offense, but I think it's best if you stay here. Your attacks require earth."

Grand nodded back, "I know. I could end up weakening the chamber around us with my abilities." He turned to Flash and Iron, "I'm staying behind, so you two should probably go. Since we need to keep our numbers small, having you two in your powered up states should make up for it."

They both nodded as Lightning spoke up, "Sorry, but I won't be able to help much either. Confined spaces are bad with electricity."

"Its cool. You two can watch over the town while we're gone."

"I'm going," Heather chimed in, "I can assess the tree's health once we get rid of the monsters."

"I will also accompany you," First added, "You may require healing or an energy boost."

"And I can teleport us out of there if anything goes wrong," Twilight finished, "I think that's enough-"

"Ah'm goin' too." The group turned to Applejack, the mare tilting her hat in response, "What? Ya'll really think I'd miss the chance to see a real golden apple tree up close?"

"Right...and I'm sure the thought of getting one of those apples for yourself hasn't crossed your mind." Flash chuckled as Applejack looked away.

As this happened, the thestral tilted his head at her, making her glare at him, "Hey, yah still owe us for taking those apples. One of yours is a small price ta pay for getting even and for me helping ya'h."

"One apple for a whole field of apples?" He asked.

"Ah'm thinkin' long term," she declared, "If ah take that apple's seeds and plant 'em, we'll one day have our own golden apple orchard."

The bat pony frowned at this, sighing, "Fine..." he mumbled with a wave of his wing, "One apple and then we're square."

"Deal." Applejack held out her hoof, the bat pony staring at it until Applejack took his and shook it. Once that was done, the group of seven headed back to Sweet Apple Acres before the thestral began to lead them out of the woods as he retraced his steps.

Soon enough, they left the farm and were outside the town's borders. They found themselves in the rocky area close to Ponyville, the canyon the defenders used for training two or three miles away.

"So how much further is it?" Twilight asked.

"Not far," he replied as he pointed to a cave entrance in the canyon, this one very thin and not one the defenders were familiar with. "The entrance is in there."

"Gyah!" They heard Heather suddenly cry, "I didn't think there'd be any bugs around here." They turned to her to see only one buzzing around her, no other insects around.

"Looks like you have got the only one," First added.

"Lucky me," she sighed before yelping, "Ow! It bit me!" She then tried to swat the bug, only for it fly away. First moved over to her next, now seeing a small spot with a trickle of blood dripping out.

"You should be fine."

"Still annoying." She grumbled as they continued into the cave. As they did this, the seven soon found themselves walking in a single file line, the insides of the cavern now having them squeeze through a small gap of rock.

"Ahh!" Iron grunted as he squeezed out of the wall last, "Couldn't of mentioned this earlier?!"

"Sorry," the thestral replied, "But here it is." They all walked up to him, now seeing a hole in the wall of the cave, big enough for them to get through. "This is where I came out of." With that, he jumped into the hole, sliding down into the darkness.

"Welp, here goes nothing." Flash climbed into the tunnel before letting gravity pull him down, the pegasus finding himself sliding down into the darkness as well. The passage was pretty smooth, allowing him to drift down it without any pain. It was also straight, only shifting to the left and right a few times before he felt himself fly out the end. "WOO-HOO!" He cheered before hitting the ground, rolling without issue. "That was fun."

Twilight and Applejack soon followed with Iron and Heather behind her. And once everypony was underground, the thestral removed his sunglasses while everypony else put on helmet lamps. They looked around as saw the tunnel they were in went in two different directions.

"Alright, which way to your tree?" They all watched as the bat pony's gaze shift left to right, only to look away, "You do know which way to go, right?"

"Well...not really." He said with a blush, the others sighing. "Hey, cut me some slack! I was scared and in a mad dash! I wasn't in the right mind to take notes."

"Great...so how do we find this thing?" Iron groaned as Twilight closed her eyes and crossed her hooves.

"Hmmm....we need to direct way through the caves....that's it!" She opened her eyes and clapped her hooves, "Sonar!"

"Come again?" Applejack asked before Twilight turned to the bat pony.

"Bats use soundwaves to see where they're going in dark caves. If you use your sonic scream, you'll be able to map the cave and locate the chamber."

"Really?" He asked, getting a nod from Twilight. "Alright. What do I do?"

"Just scream down the tunnel and listen." He tilted his head at this, only to move in front of Twilight while the others stayed behind him and covered their ears. He then let out a loud scream, not so loud to caused the cave to collapse, but loud enough that it travelled down the tunnel.

He then listened and the others watched as his ears flicker, his eyes soon going wide. "I found it!" Before anypony could say anything else, he spread his wings and began to take off, only for Applejack to grab his tail with her teeth.

"Hold yer horses!" Applejack told him. "Ah get wantin' yah tree back, but going rogue and attackin' ain't gonna do a thing."

"So what am I supposed to do?!" He yelled before getting yanked back down.

"Simple. Let us handle the drakeladon," Flash replied, "We've tackled big monsters before....with alarming regularity, to be honest."

"Yeah," Iron nodded, "We're kind of experts on it."

Twilight placed a hoof on the bat pony's shoulder. "I know you're used to doing things alone, but that won't be enough this time. Only together can we get your home back."

The bat pony sighed, nodding back, "Alright..." He then started to walk down a tunnel, "So how are we gonna take this thing down?"

"We'll split up," Flash responded, "Two ponies for each head."

"But there's only seven of us."

Flash shined a huge grin, "I count as two."

"Ego much?" Twilight laughed as Flash glared at her, the group quickly making their way through the darkness.

And as they continued their trek, the bat pony turned to Applejack, "Listen, I'm sorry about...you know."

"What?" Applejack asked in a coy tone.

"Your apples," he sighed, looking away, "I'm sorry I stole your apples. I was just...desperate, you know."

"Ah know. But that still doesn't make what yah did right. Mah family and I worked hard to make them apples as good as they were."

"Yeah...and I'm sorry for insulting them earlier. They...were good," he slowly said, "Even with only one bite I could tell they were delicious. But I guess I understand why you were so upset. You must have felt the same way I felt when I lost my tree."

"Ya'll didn't seem all to upset before."

"Well, what do you expect?!" he replied while looking back at her with a glare, "For as long as I can remember, all I ever had to care about was myself. If I didn't, I wouldn't have survived down here. Everything that wasn't me was a threat!"

"Sounds like a pretty lonely way ta live," Applejack responded as they took a turn in the tunnel, "Ah don't know what ah'd do if ah had to spend every day jumpin' at mah own shadow. Especially if ah was alone."

"Well it's not like I've got much of a choice," he sighed, "Once we get my tree back, I'll have to stay there."

"Not forever," Applejack pointed out. "Yah won't need the apples forever. When that happens, ya'll be free to do whatever yah want and go wherever yah want."

He shook his head at this, "Where would I go? I don't know anything about the outside world. How am I supposed to survive?" Applejack opened her mouth to respond, only to close it. She turned to her friends, seeing the same response would come from them. After all, he had no skills other than eating apples and letting out sonic screams. There was very little chance he could make any kind of life for himself without something else.

But despite this, an answer came to her, "Ah know yer used to only carin' about yah-self, but hopefully one day yah can learn somethin' special. Sometimes when yah care about somepony else, yah don't care what happens ta yah-self."

The bat pony didn't reply to this, instead looking away as he began to think over her words. But before he could truly start, he yelled out, "We're almost there." They looked ahead of him, now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. "The chamber's right down there."

"Alright, I'll go in first and see how the situation is. I'll signal if anything's up." Flash chimed in as he flew up front, slowly going through the remainder of the chamber before going inside. Silence followed this, only for Flash to yell out, "Everypony! You might wanna come see this!"

The others raised an eyebrow before heading into the room, now finding Flash standing in the middle of the chamber. As they saw this, they also spotted the tree they had heard about, the six ponies in awe at the sight as the bat pony asked, "Where's the drake...thingy?"

"It's gone," Heather stated before noticing several golden apples on the tree. "It's possible its left to do something else."

"But it may return," First told the thestral before he could get excited. "I doubt it would just leave what it fought so hard to acquire."

"So what do we do?" Iron asked, "Wait for it to come back and set a trap for it?"

The others hummed for a moment, Twilight speaking up next, "Let's think about this. If we manage to drive it off or even destroy it, what's to stop something else coming and taking it as well?" She turned to the bat pony, "You might be able to beat somethings, but it's clear you're not invincible."

"So what am I supposed to do?" He responded.

Flash sighed and shook his head, "It's too bad we can't just pick the tree up and move it somewhere else."

As he said this, Heather gasped, "Of course! That's exactly what we should do!" The others turned to her, blinking at her sudden exclamation, "While the drakeladon's away, we'll dig up the tree and transport it someplace safe. Then we can just replant it and everything will be perfect."

"Wait...you want to move my tree?"

First nodded. "That way you will not have to defend it on your own. You would have others helping you."

Applejack smiled at this, "We can plant it at Sweet Apple Acres!" She turned to the thestral, "What do ya'h say? Ya'h wouldn't have to be alone any more."

Everypony turned to the bat pony, waiting for a reply, "Well-" He didn't get to finish as the ground suddenly began to shake, making him gasp. "Oh no...It's coming!"

Before anypony could say anything else, the ground beneath their hooves exploded. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" A loud roar echoed, its cause slithering out of the ground as the ponies now saw four snake like necks extend out of the holes they had made before beginning to coil around the tree trunk before noticing the intruders in its den.

"So much for that plan!" Flash yelled as he pulled out his Celestic Gear.

"We can still move the tree if we can make this thing retreat," Iron told him while doing the same.

"Royal Knights!" Heather pulled out her whip, "CHARGE!"

She, Flash and Iron charged as First pointed his crossbow at them. "Viribus Aid!" He fired a trio of red energy arrows, increasing the physical strength of the three. At the same time, the drakeladon's heads opened their mouths to launch out the multiple green tendril tongues at the group.

"Iron Hammer!" Iron swung his weapon as the head morphed into a hammer, smacking the tongue away.

"Flash Grinder!" Flash morphed into a wheel, grinding into the tendril, making it scream and pull it away.

"Bloom Coil!" Heather whipped her chain mace, grabbing the third tongue before pulling it, making the head scream as it was yanked into the ground. "Gotcha!"

Twilight and the thestral took to the air at this, wanting to stay away from the action as they heard Flash yell, "Flash Cutter!" The defender swung his blade, unleashing light waves that the drakeladon dodged...only to almost hit the tree.

"Hey! Watch it!" The thestral barked.

"Don't use any long range attacks!" Twilight added as Applejack charged, "We can't risk damaging the tree!"

"Yeehaw!" Applejack threw a lasso that wrapped around one of the beast's mouths, tying it shut. "Now ah gotcha!" But as she said that, the drakeladon pulled its head back, yanking her upward, "WHOA!" She yelped as it started wildly shaking its head, Applejack soon loosing her grip, "WHOA-NELLY!"

"APPLEJACK!" Twilight cried as Applejack slammed into the tree, knocking several apples loose.

"Ow..." She rubbed her head while picking herself up, only to hear a hissing. The mare slowly looked up, now seeing the head she had rangled glaring at her. "Oh boy..."

"No!" Twilight yelled as she tired to fly to her rescue, but another head got between them. As this happened, the knights all charged as well, but the other two heads knocked them away.

Applejack felt herself slowly moving backward, her back soon hitting the tree while the drakeladon opened its three-way mouth. But before it could get her, something suddenly landed on the back of its head and covered its eyes. "RUN!" The thestral yelled, doing his best to hold onto the beast's neck while his wings blinded it.

Applejack quickly grabbed her hat off the ground and ran away just as the thestral felt his grip slipping. "Hurry up and take this thing down!" He told the others.

"Time to power up!" Flash told Iron, both nodding as they raised their weapons. "ARMORIZE!" In a flash of light, the two where decked out in their armored forms, Flash's wings opening up and igniting, propelling him to the beast's neck before he slashed it. A cry of pain followed as the bat pony was able to leap away.

Iron galloped up to another, tackling it while Twilight fired a magic beam into the monster's eyes. While this happened, Heather found herself busy defending First as he checked Applejack, who luckily hadn't been injured by her fall into the tree. The drakeladon spat a tendril out, but Heather used her Bloom Lash to knock them away.

Another tendril shot out of another's mouth, managing to wrap itself around Flash's back leg, yanking him, "WHOA!" He yelped as the beast opened his mouth, intending to swallow him.

"FLASH!" Twilight cried as he was pulled into its mouth, only to stretch his legs as he pushed the jaw from closing, "Hold on!" The princess called out before her own leg was grabbed by another tendril, pulling her to another mouth, "Eep!" But before she could be swallowed alive, the thestral flew down and bit the tendril.

"RAAAH!" It roared in pain, letting Twilight go.

"Thanks!" She told him, only for the two to be attacked by another head. "There's no end to these things!" She screamed while firing another beam of magic.

At the same time, Flash continued to grunt as he tried to keep the mouth from snapping shut on him. He wanted to blast the creature's insides with his helmet horn, but he couldn't get a good angle. "Not...good." As he wished he had another way to hurt this thing, a new light caught his attention. "Huh?" He looked down and saw the light was coming from the gem on his chest armor. It was glowing brighter and brighter until- "WHOA!" He yelled as a beam of blue light shot out of it and flew down the drakeladon's throat.

"RAAAH!" It screeched, releasing the pressure on the Pegasus, allowing him to escape while smoke began to filter out of the mouth.

"What was that?!" Twilight asked as Flash stared at his chest gem.

"I have no idea." He replied, only for the other three heads to suddenly charge at him, forcing the defender to unleash a burst of magic from his helmet horn while Iron and Heather fired a barrage of metal spikes and razor leaves. They struck the heads, making them all cry out in pain. And as they staggered back, they soon found they had nowhere else to go in the chamber apart from where they had first come from. Straight down. The drakeladon heads then pulled themselves back into the ground, leaving the ponies to sigh in relief.

"Are they gone?" the bat pony whispered.

"Don't bet on it." Iron replied, only for the ground to explode again. "See?"

The four heads roared, their throats now filled with a pile of rocks. They soon spat the rubble at them, Twilight putting a forcefield up while Iron and Flash slashed the rocks away, Heather jumping in front of First and spinning her chain mace in every direction. As for Applejack and the thestral, they tried to get to Twilight's shield, but the onslaught was never-ending. The heads were taking it in turns spit rocks out of their mouths, when one mouth was empty, another would spit some while the other began to refill its mouth.

Applejack and the thestral then leapt into Twilight's shield, only to see her struggle against the boulder rain. Flash, Iron and Heather weren't doing much better, even with First giving them support.

The thestral watched this, his eyes darting between each pony as sweat began to go down his face. He saw they would soon be overwhelmed, Flash and Iron even crying out as they were hit by some of the rocks. They would all be hurt, just because they were trying to help him.

"Sometimes when yah care about somepony else, yah don't care what happens ta yah-self." The words Applejack had told him earlier echoed in his mind. Despite everything he had done to upset, anger and even hurt them, they were still willing to go through all this...for him.

He turned to the drakeladon and then at the tree behind it. His only lifeline in this world. The closest thing he could call a friend...until now. The bat pony took one final look at the others, Flash, Iron and even Heather all getting buffeted. Twilight's shield was starting to flicker, allowing some of the rocks to get through. And when one hit Applejack, he heard her cry out, "Augh!"

His eyes shrunk at this. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he took a deep breath and leapt out of Twilight's shield.

"What are you doing?!" the alicorn screamed.

His reply was to unleash a massive sonic scream, one so loud that it shattered rocks before it got close to him or anypony else. Some of the rubble was blown backward, slamming into the drakeladon and the tree, while others were knocked into the ceiling, causing it to crack.

The ponies gasped at this as the bat pony continued to scream, the pony wanting to make sure these monster wouldn't hurt anypony ever again. He was so focused on this, he didn't notice parts of the roof beginning to fall and slam into the beasts. "Hey!" Applejack yelled, "Yah can stop now!" But he didn't hear her, causing the farm pony to run out of Twilight's shield and throw her hoof over his mouth.

This made him stop and turn to her, the two staring eye to eye before a rock on the roof fell right beside them. "We gotta get out of here!" They heard Flash exclaim before he ran to the tunnel they had arrived through, Twilight behind him with Iron, Heather and First following.

Applejack and the bat pony ran as fast as they could, the thestral taking one final look at the tree as the chamber collapsed and buried it. He ran through the tunnel, seconds before the opening collapsed. The seven ponies kept running, the earth shaking as the rubble began to seal the chamber away.

And as the shaking stopped, they turned to the now sealed room. The thestral walked up to the rock pile and fell to his knees. "It's gone," he whispered, tears appearing in his eyes, "I'm finished."

The others exchanged glances, frowning as Applejack walking up and placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Ah'm sorry."

"Why did you do that?" Iron asked next, the bat pony turning to him.

"I had too. If I didn't...you would all be..." He muttered out, "I...I didn't want to be the reason you were all hurt."

Iron looked away at this, the group knowing what he meant as he said this. He had done a brave and selfless thing today, even though it probably meant his own doom.

"Thank you," Applejack took off her hat. "And don't worry. We'll find a way ta help yah." She turned to the others, "Right?" They all nodded back, Applejack doing the same as she was about to put her hat back on, only for something to fall out of it. "What the hey?" She stared at what had hit the floor, making her eyes go wide, "Look."

The others turned to her as she picked it up, the bat pony's eyes going wide. "Is that..."

It was a golden apple. Fresh and undamaged.

Applejack looked between it and her hat, "How did..." She then remembered when she slammed into the tree, causing several apples to fall. "One must of landed in mah hat and ah didn't realize it."

"That's great, but one apple isn't gonna sustain him." Iron commented, only for Twilight and Heather to exchange a glance as they both smiled.

"Maybe it can," Twilight chuckled as she took the apple from Applejack, "Maybe it can."





Once they had escaped the tunnels, Twilight teleported them all to Sweet Apple Acres. After that, Flash was sent to gather rain clouds while Applejack led them to an area of the farm that currently didn't have any trees. The others soon arrived and saw Twilight, Heather, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith standing side by side while they watched from the sidelines.

Twilight took the golden apple in her magic and pulled it apart, revealing the seeds within. Taking out those five seeds, she floated them to the ground as First used his magic to dig five holes. She dropped the seeds in and quickly covered them up just as Flash arrived with a rain cloud. She nodded and he bounced of the cloud, causing it to release the water down on the area.

"You ready?" She asked the earth ponies, all of them nodding as they each held hooves. Once that was done, Twilight sparked her horn, her magic beginning to spread through them. And as they were completely enveloped, the light turned green. "Here goes."

Twilight fired the green magic, striking the ground where the seeds were planted. Everypony watched as the dirt absorbed the magic, the earth soon shaking. They gasped as something suddenly shot out of the ground, which were a quintet of plants. Those plants quickly grew larger until the stems slowly began to harden into bark, transforming them into trees. All five began to sprout leaves, golden apples soon appearing as they grew larger and larger.

And as they trees were completed, Twilight cut the magic. She and the four earth ponies fell to the floor, panting while everypony stared in wonder at the glowing apple trees. And none were more amazed by it than the thestral.

"I don't believe it," he whispered before his stomach started turning.

First chuckled as he put a hoof on his shoulder, "Are you not going to enjoy?" The bat pony turned to the Apples and saw them all nodding, the bat smiling back before flying up to the tree. He grabbed one of the apples and instantly took a bite, sighing in relief as he felt the pain go away.

"Looks like it's working," Flash commented as he helped Twilight up.

"That's good," the alicorn gasped, "But now there's something that needs to be addressed,"

She turned to the Apples and the older ones nodded, Apple Bloom raising an eyebrow at this, "What needs to be addressed?"

Granny turned to her. "Since they're on our land, them trees technically belong ta us. And if we were wantin' too, we could say he couldn't eat 'em."

"What?!" The thestral yelped, "You're-"

"Hold yer horses," Applejack interrupted, "We'll let yah have them. Exclusively, if yah want. But in return, ya'll gotta do somethin' far us."

"What?"

"Here's the deal. You can live here and eat the apples whenever you need them, but in exchange, yah gotta work here and help around the farm. And when yah no longer need them, we get to keep the apples."

"That's it?" He asked, getting a nod from the four.

"So what da yah say?" Applejack asked while holding out a hoof, "Wanna be part of the Apple family?"

He stared at her hoof, only to smile and shake it, "Sure, why not?"

The others all chuckled as they shook hooves, only for Applejack to then say, "That's great...but now we got another problem."

"What?"

"What dah heck do we call yah?"

The bat pony blinked at the question, only to continue to smile, "Actually, I've been thinking about that. There's a word you said down in the cave that I liked the sound of." He turned to all his new friends. "Call me...Rogue." The ponies all nodded, most liking the sound of that name. It was clear Sweet Apple Acres was entering a new phase of its existence, with many wondering how that change will shape it's future.





Two days later...

It was late in the night when Snips and Snails sneaked through the apple orchard, both having snuck out of their homes, looking for trouble. "Alright," Snips laughed, "You know the dare. Grab as many apples as you can."

"Okay..." Snails turned to one of the trees and sparked his horn. But as he tried to pull an apple off the tree, something moved in the shadows behind them. "What was that?" They turned around, only to see...nothing.

"Its nothing," Snips told him, "Keep going." Snails nodded and tried again, only for both to hear a whooshing sound. "Did you hear that?"

"I heard something, but it might not have been what you heard," Snails said before they both heard another whooshing sound along with a rush of wind.

"What was that?" He got his answer when his eyes caught two red eyes suddenly looking at through the trees. Sharp teeth showed themselves next as both colts' eyes shrunk at the sight.

"RAAAH!" He roared while spreading his wings, causing the colts to scream and bolt out of the orchard. And once they were gone, the figure laughed as he stepped into the moonlight. Rogue smirked before flying onto the tree, leaning against it and biting into a golden apple. Life was good.
> The Saddle Row Review
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville, calm and peaceful...this is, except a certain storm on the horizon. The mane seven, minus Rarity, and the twins were running through the town as fast as they could, Rainbow leading the pack. "Come on!" She told the others. "If we hurry, we can get there before the paper's even delivered to Rarity's house!"

"Maybe she won't read the article," Pinkie added in a surprising timid voice for her.

"Ah'm pretty sure Rarity's gonna read any review of her new boutique in Manehattan," Applejack responded back.

"Augh! I still can't believe we all just blabbed everything that happened to that reporter!" Rainbow yelled while rubbing the sides of her head. "What were we thinking?!"

Fluttershy did a long gulp at this, "I just hope it doesn't end up being an article about how her friends almost ruined the opening."

"At least you were there to help," Flash added.

"It's not like it was your fault," Soul commented.

"Yeah! I mean, we managed to catch the bad guy!" Heart pointed out as they reached the shop. "Though I doubt Rarity will care about that if the review's bad."

Twilight was the first to reach the shop, stopping at the door before turning to give everypony a sympathetic look. "I think you're all overreacting. Rarity's our friend. If anypony is gonna understand, it'll be her." She then knocked on the door, only for it to open and reveal a grim faced Rarity.

"I was wondering when all of you were going to show up." Everypony gasped, only to then see a giant grin appear on Rarity's face as she held up a newspaper. "Now we can all read the review together!" She zipped inside as the others tried to follow, Flash spotting Lightning in the corner.

"How bad is it?" He asked the unicorn.

"Beats me." Lightning shrugged, "She hasn't put that thing down since it arrived. Too excited to see what it says about her store."

"We're dead," Heart gulped as Rainbow flew over to Rarity.

"Um, I have an idea....how 'bout we don't read it?" The fashion mare raised an eyebrow as Twilight spoke up.

"What she means is," She grabbed the paper in her own magic, pulling it away, "Before you read it, we should probably tell you about-"

"No, no, darling." Rarity yanked the paper back, "Please, no spoilers," she opened it up as Fluttershy spoke up.

"But-"

"NO SPOILERS!" She screamed, making the others backpedal in fear as she grabbed her glasses off a table. "Now, is everypony ready to hear what I'm sure is a stellar review that describes in stunning detail exactly how each of you contributed to the successful opening of Rarity For You?"

"You know," Flash and Heart backpedaled, "I think I hear Springer calling for some assistance. Maybe another timberwolf attack." But as they spun around, two magic auras covered their tails, yanking both back.

"You're not getting out of this that easily," Twilight whispered, Soul nodding in agreement before they all smiled back at Rarity.

Rarity then cleared her throat as she began to read the paper aloud, "Many a pony has tried their hoof at joining the ranks of the elite fashion trendsetters currently ensconced in the boutiques of Manehattan's famed Saddle Row." She let out a giggle at this. "Some might say it's the ultimate achievement in Equestrian fashion, and never before has a reporter been granted such unfettered behind-the-scenes access until now!"

Fluttershy took this second to shrink down to her mouse size, flying over to a nearby dress rack, the miniaturized pony hiding herself in one of the dress's pockets before poking her head out. "I wish it was more fettered."

Rarity continued to focus on the paper for several seconds, skimming through the rest of the intro before exclaiming, "Ah! Here we go...I sat down with..." She let out another girly giggle, "Rarity and her friends after the opening to get the inside scoop, and what a scoop it was!"





The night of the opening...

It had been a crazy day, but Rarity's third store was open for business. The grand opening had been a...well, it wouldn't be classed as a smashing success. Currently, Rarity was sitting in a diner with a news stallion that went by the name of Buried Lede.

"Okay, kid," He told her while taking out a notepad. "Ya successfully opened a shop in Manehattan, and that's no mean feat! Most ponies might wonder what it feels like." Rarity opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted, "Here's how it's gonna be: I'm gonna interview you and your friends so I can paint a picture of how it all came together. A word picture, mind you, not an actual picture. Any questions?"

"Well, I was wondering-"

"Let's get started!" He interrupted again, "Miss Rarity, you've got shops all over Equestria, but this was your first time trying to make it in the big city. What made ya think you could tackle it on your own?"

"Well, I wouldn't say all over Equestria. I just have two other boutiques: One in my hometown of Ponyville, and one in Canterlot. Uh, still, when I decided to open this one, I was nothing but confident."


---


Fast forwarding, Twilight now replaced Rarity in the seat, taking a sip of coffee. Once she was done, she gave Buried Lede a shaky smile. "Let's just say that if I could choose, I probably wouldn't do it that way again. Heh."


---


Fast forwarding again, Pinkie was now in the booth. "Well, it wasn't the funnest party ever..."


---


"It was a plum-puckered, pig-pushin' disaster!" Applejack announced in her interview.


---


"I was told it wasn't the smoothest set up," Flash commented during his interview. "But hey, we've met with tougher challenges."


---


Rainbow laughed as she leaned back in her seat. "After a lifetime of awesome, I think everypony's allowed to mess up every now and then, right?" She glanced back at the reporter, seeing him scribbling something on his notepad. "Wait, are you writing this down?"


---


"Manehatten's a tough place," Lightning added, "It's known to throw challenge after challenge at anypony trying to make it here. The only way to make it is to be tough and unyielding."


---


"Um..." Fluttershy muttered as she twiddled her hooves, "It didn't go exactly how I thought it would, but it, um, started out all right."





Even earlier that day...

Rarity was leading their group of ten through the street toward her new store. "Welcome to Saddle Row!" She announced as the rest glanced around, seeing ponies wearing differing styles of clothing as they strode down the road. "An entire street lined with the most fashionable boutiques in all of Equestria!"

Applejack raised her eyebrow at this, "If it's supposed to be the most fashionable block of shops, where's Stinky Bottom's Discount Hat Emporium?"

Rarity strained to hold back a frown. "I...suppose it didn't make the cut." She then gasped in joy, "Here it is!" She pointed to an apartment building with the store the unicorn had purchased situated at the bottom. "Rarity For You!"

"Huh..." Lightning commented, "This building looks familiar."

"It's really pretty," Soul whispered before looking away, "Especially compared to the rest of this city. This place is just so big." She felt herself shrinking, "It's kinda too much."

"Doesn't seem all that different from Canterlot," Heart added.

"Maybe..." Soul muttered, "But that place wasn't as...lively as this city."

"You get used to it," Flash chimed in before turning to the door of the shop, "But maybe you should stay inside until then." Soul nodded as Rarity opened the door, the filly walking in first before suddenly coughing at the dust that covered the area inside. The rest followed inside, now seeing a total mess inside with cobwebs covering every section of the place, shelves that barely hung onto the walls, and even a mouse or two.

"Great..." Lightning coughed, "A dust bunny paradise."

Rarity rolled her eyes while Twilight turned to her, "Rarity, it's...lovely, but are you sure you'll be ready to open tonight?" At that moment, Pinkie walked over to a dusty crate, accidently breathing some dust in. She then sneezed, blowing more dust all over the place...and covering everypony.

"No need to fret over a mere moderate amount of preparation," Rarity told them as all but Fluttershy shook the dirt off of themselves. "My clothes will arrive soon, my sales associate after that, and with a little...dusting, we'll be ready for the grand opening tonight." She grabbed a few brooms and passed them over to her friends, only to hear a voice call out her name in a Russian accent.

"Rarity!" They all turned to see a pair of ponies step inside, this one being Rarity's landlord. "So good to see you! Your store, it's going to be a very good place, I think!" He commented while letting out a laugh.





"Mr. Stripes owns the building," Rarity told Buried Lede. "He's a very pleasant landlord, although he can be pushy at times." The reporter raised an eyebrow, "Okay, all the time."





"You've met my daughter?" He asked while a younger female earth pony walked up to them, "The apple of my ear, the hay in my hoof? You will let her work with you?" Rarity blinked at this, only to quickly mask herself with a nervous chuckle.

"Well, I would like to but, I'm dreadfully busy preparing for tonight's grand opening, as you can see." She gestured to the rest of the store.

"Yeah," Lightning trotted past while sweeping up, "She doesn't really have time to train somepony from scratch right now."

Mr. Stripes glared at the Rarity, "There are only two things I love more than being pushy." He pulled the mare, Plaid Stripes, over to him. "One is my daughter." He then held up a hoof, showing Rarity a range of teeny tiny chairs and stools. "The other is miniature doll furniture. And I would sell my entire mini-furniture collection to make my daughter happy." He put a hoof around Rarity's neck, "You understand?"

Rarity stared at him for a minute, then glanced over at Plaid as she smiled back with ditsy ignorance. "I'm sorry but...I just don't think it's going to be possible."

Mr. Stripes let out a snort, "Let me say another way." He slammed his nose into hers, "Hire her or I raise rent until you no can afford!"

"Oh...well..."

"Hey! That's blackmail!" The Knight of Friendship yelled.

"No," Mr. Stripes shook his head, "That is business." The two began to glare at one another, Rarity fearing he might do something that could get her kicked out.

"Welcome...aboard," she told her new employee.

Plaid smiled back before gesturing her to move closer, "First idea!" She yelled into Rarity's ear, almost deafening the poor mare. "Instead of clothes, we sell glow-in-the-dark teeth! Like this." She made several biting motions, "But they glow in the dark!"

Everypony watched as Rarity's eye twitched. "Golly, what a...splendid idea!"





"Glow-in-the-dark teeth!" Rarity exclaimed to the reporter. "What was she thinking?!"

"Sounds like quite a conundrum," the reporter replied, "But with your friends there, I'm sure everything would be fine."

"Yes..." Rarity sighed before taking a sip of her coffee. "Unfortunately, a situation would mean I'd have two less friends."


---


"As a Royal Knight, sometimes I find myself pulled into situations beyond my control." Flash added while crossing his hooves, "And today was no exception."





The ponies continued cleaning, only for there to be a knock at the door. "Ooh!" Rarity giggled while trotting to the door, "That must be my stock from Ponyville."

But when she opened it, her eyes went wide at the pony outside, "Hola, mi amigos!" Tidal Wave cheered as he trotted inside, "It's great to see you all!"

"It's great to see you too, Tidal." Rarity replied while the others gathered around. "I thought you wouldn't be here until later. After all, I invited you for tonight's opening."

"I know." Tidal sighed, "Alas senorita, I am not here for your grand opening. I've come requesting help from Flash."

"Me?" The pegasus replied, blinking, "What's up?"

"We've been having a lot of bank robberies in Manehatten lately, all at the same time on the same day of the week. Today at three o'clock."

"Isn't that something the police should handle?" Lightning asked.

"They are," Tidal nodded. "But there's a lot of banks, and not enough officers to cover them all. That's why they've called in my assistance." He turned to Flash, "Mind lending a hoof?"

Flash was silent, unable to find words to reply. But as he did this, Rarity put a hoof on his shoulder. Turning to his friend, he saw her and the others nod, "You sure?"

"Of course darling," she replied, "This is important, and it's your job."

"Alright...but I promise I'll be back for the grand opening."

"That's all I ask," Rarity finished as Flash turned back to Tidal. The two knights shared a nod before heading out, only for Heart to jump on his back.

"I'm coming too!" he exclaimed as Flash almost lost his balance.

"Ah, is this the new squire I've heard about?" Tidal asked, getting a slow nod from Flash. "Well I'm sure he could be of valuable help to us."

"I don't know..." Flash responded as he turned back to Rarity as Heart got off his teacher. But before Flash could say anything else, Soul accidently brushed some dust into Heart's face.

"Hey!" He cried, only to sneeze...along with an accidental burst of fire that hit the floor.

Rarity gasped as Applejack was quick to stomp it out, shooting Heart a glare as the colt shrunk back, "Yeah..." Flash grabbed his apprentice by the tail, "Maybe it's best he comes with us."

As he dragged him out of the store, Rarity turned back to the others, "Alright, now that that's settled." She walked into another room, only to let out a scream, "Fluttershy, your assistance is required in the stock room, posthaste!"

Fluttershy ran into the room, Lightning staring at this before sighing, "I swear I've been in this building before." He slammed his broom into his head, "Augh! This is gonna drive me nuts if I don't remember!"

The others frowned at this, only to see Rarity and Fluttershy return from the stock room, Rarity looking even more frazzled. "No, no, no!" She shook her head, "I can't have a family of rubbish-scented raccoons living in my boutique!" It was then that they heard an odd beating noise and a muffled melody that caused the ceiling to pulse and the chandelier to shake. "Uh...did you hear that?"

This made Lightning snap his hooves, "That's it! Now I know why I remember this place!"





"Heh," Rarity added in an irritated tone, "Turns out there's a Club Pony Party Palace upstairs."


---


"Turns out there's a Club Pony Party Palace upstairs!" Pinkie screamed as confetti flew out of her mane.





Meanwhile...

Flash, Tidal and Heart had arrived at their intended destination, Heart asking, "I thought we were trying to stop a bank robber." They all walked out onto a roof of a nearby building. "Why are we up here?"

Tidal laughed as he showed Heart the edge of the roof, "The bank is down there," he pointed to the building in question. "But the thief isn't going to show themselves if we're there watching out for them."

"So we're on a stakeout?" Flash and Tidal nodded as the Ocean Soul handed them some binoculars before taking out a thermos.

"The thief's strike time is in forty-five minutes, but he may show up earlier to get into position." He began to look through the binoculars, "We must keep an eye out for anypony suspicious." The two nodded and stared down at the building, ready to find anything and everything.





Back at the store...

Twilight and the others were still sweeping the floor, Fluttershy and Soul were using their smaller sizes to get into the harder to reach areas while the others were all sweeping to the beat of the music booming down from upstairs. Lightning was the only one not sweeping to that beat, instead using his own music to drown out the muffled sounds from above.

But this came to a stop as Rarity walked back into the store, "Apparently, DJ Pon-3 has a residency at the Party Palace upstairs, but security won't let me speak to her." Before anypony could reply to that, a loud honking sound filled the room, making Rarity cry out, "What in the name of Celestia was that?!"

They turned to the doorway and saw that Plaid Stripes had stuck a large car horn to the wall next to the door, now making that everytime she tried to push it shut, it was squeezed down the horn and made a noise. "What do you think? Beats a dinky little bell any day."

"Aren't they supposed to make a noise when you open the door?" Soul pointed out.

Rarity's face scrunched up, Lightning seeing this and walking in front of her, "Err...kid?" Plaid turned to her. "I don't think you've thought this one entirely through."

"What do you mean?" She asked while pushing the door on the horn again.

"How are you supposed to close the door?" He asked, making Plaid raise an eyebrow. She then tried to close the door, but it bounced off the horn everytime.

"Huh. It might need a little fine tuning."

"Ya think?" Lightning deadpanned as Rarity watched Plaid begin to remove the horn.

"Oh, thank goodness," she sighed. "That's one disaster dealt with," she turned to her boyfriend as he gave her a salute. "Now all I need to do is think of a way to quiet down that music...right after I finish designing the window display!" As she said that, a loud crashing sound rang out, making them turn to the door and see a delivery pony dump a bunch of boxes on the floor.

"What's that?" Lightning asked as Pinkie flew up next to him, using her tail as a hovercraft rotor.

"Cookies?" She guessed while Rarity opened the boxes.

"Wait..." she looked inside and gasped, "Is this my merchandise shipment from Ponyville?!" She turned to the delivery pony, "It's completely disorganized!" The pony shrugged before leaving, causing Rarity to let out some unintelligent moans while staring into the boxes. As she did, she suddenly heard a loud sneeze, "Gesundheit!" She responded while looking up, now seeing who had sneezed, "Oh, Miss Pommel!" The pony in question was a cream colored mare with a mane and tail of two differing shades of blue while wearing a shirt collar and ascot. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Who is she?" Soul asked Twilight.

"That's Coco Pommel. We met her on one of our first trips to Manehatten," Twilight replied, "She's the one who gave Rarity her key to help open the chest I told you about."

"The one that made the castle?" Twilight nodded. "Huh. Our world is weird."

"Now, as the sole sales associate at Rarity For You, I hate to add to your already overflowing plate of responsibilities, but it looks as though we have just a tad more to do before tonight than I thought." Rarity said as she patted Coco's shoulder.

"Actually, I-" Coco couldn't finish that sentence as she let out a sneeze, "I can't work tonight."

"Oh?" Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Why not?" The others then saw the runny red nose and deep red blush that the pony was now wearing on her face.

"Maybe she should go home," Soul suggested. "I doubt her infecting all your clothes and getting your customers sick will be good for business." The others nodded in agreement, Rarity slightly flinching at the words before Coco accidently sneezed into her face.

"Feel better, my sweet." She used a handkerchief to clean her face. "We'll manage without you." Coco nodded and walked away as Rarity turned back to her friends. "Somehow." Gazing around the room, she was reminded of all the problems that had to be fixed before the opening tonight. "And we'll manage glowing teeth and disorganized clothes and dance music!" She fell to her flank while holding her head, "Am I forgetting anything?" It was at that moment the raccoons raced past her, making her eye twitch.

Outside the store, everypony passing by suddenly yelped as they heard a loud sobbing scream coming from the store. "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!"





Back to the knights and apprentice...

Flash, Heart and Tidal were staring at the streets below, Heart letting out a moan, "Augh!" his face slumped over the top of the wall, "Why isn't anything happening?!"

"Patience, mi hijo," Tidal chimed in, "Sometimes the perfect wind comes when you least expect it. That is why you must be ever ready to shift your sails, even if it appears like nothing will happen."

"What?"

"He means stop complaining and keep an eye out," Flash responded, "We're one of thirty possible targets. There's a good chance it won't even be this bank that gets robbed."

"But we must still be ready in case this is the one targeted," Tidal continued, "And we must not let anything distract us. Not even these annoying bugs." The two turned to Tidal and saw a single fly buzzing around him, Tidal doing everything to ignore it while focusing his gaze through the binoculars. "A knight's greatest duty is to the common pony. That is why nothing can be allowed to-OW!" He tried to swat the fly that had landed on his neck and bit him, but it flew away before he could hit it.

"You okay?" Flash asked as Tidal rubbed the area that was bitten.

"I'm fine," he replied, Flash nodding before looking back through the binoculars.

"Wait..." his eyes squinted as he leaned forward, now focusing a well dressed stallion making his way toward the bank. He was a slim unicorn, with red fur and a yellow mane and tail. The pony also had a blonde beard, and glasses over his eyes. "That can't be...could it?"

"Who?" Tidal asked as he relooked through his binoculars.

"What?" Heart added.

"Red unicorn, blonde hair, beard and glasses."

"What about him?" Heart asked, "Doesn't look any different from the others ponies around him."

"I don't want to jump to conclusions, but..."

"But you recognize him," Tidal chimed, Flash nodding back.

"He was the first criminal I ever caught on my own. Shake Shocker."

"Are you sure?" Tidal asked.

"He didn't have a beard last time, and he's a lot better dressed, but I'm sure of it." Flash let out a long sigh, "He must of escaped jail." He turned to Tidal, "How were the other banks robbed?"

"The ponies investigating aren't really sure. The witnesses said something struck them, and the next thing they knew, they were on the ground with everything blurry and their eardrums blown out. The police believed the cause to be a concussion bomb, but couldn't find any debris of the device."

"That's because it wasn't a bomb," Flash responded, "It was Shake Shocker. His magic allows him to unleash blasts of condensed sound. Not fun."

"You make a compelling case," Tidal told him. "But this is all circumstantial evidence. What if we attack him and he's not the real Shake Shocker?"

"Say sorry?" Heart chimed in.

"I don't think that would be enough," Tidal chuckled, "We need to prove he's Shake Shocker before we do anything."

Flash hummed as he watched the pony he had been focusing on enter the bank, then checked the time and saw they only had a few more minutes before the robbery was set to begin. As he did this, a light bulb went off in his head. "I think I have an idea."





"And what idea would that be?" Buried Lede asked as Flash took a sip of his drink.

The knight his cup down. "I don't really think this has anything to do with Rarity's opening."

"A good journalist is always on the lookout for a good story. I might be focusing on Lady Rarity's store, but that doesn't mean I can't sniff out another scoop while I'm at it. Heck, I can give these notes off to another journalist to write. And maybe I should talk to the colt that was there, the filly too. Where are they?"

"At our hotel. Asleep."

"Guess that makes sense. Now, about this idea..."

Flash sighed. "Alright. Well, I remembered that Shake Shocker was pretty vain and hated when I made fun of him in our last fight. It's how I managed to beat him. So, I used that against him again."





Flash, Heart and Tidal walked into the bank, catching the attention of the many patrons that were going about their business in the building. Everypony in Manehatten knew Tidal, and Flash was known by about ninety percent of Equestria, making the bank owners gasp, "Sir Tidal, and Sir Flash as well. This is an honor."

Tidal shined a small smile and waved his hoof, "Please, don't go thinking of us as anything special."

"May I ask why you are here?" The bank owner asked, "Maybe to open an account?"

"I'm afraid not," Tidal replied while Flash turned to see a certain pony in line. "There's been a lot of bank robberies lately, and we're just here to make sure there isn't anything out of the ordinary."

"Oh, thank you sir," the owner replied, "You honor us by showing such concern for our humble little business." The three started moving around the room, acting like they had no idea a possible suspect was there.

"You know," Flash chuckled as he turned to his student, talking loud enough for others to hear, "This reminds me of one of my first big assignments."

"Really?" Heart asked, "What was it?"

"Taking down a crook named Shake Shocker," Flash made sure to look away from the pony in line, "I gotta say, it was a hilarious experience."

"Huh." Heart played along, "I thought catching a criminal was supposed to be serious."

Those around them nodded, Flash sitting down on a nearby bench, "So did I, but I can't help thinking back on that time and not laugh about it. The guy was just so stupidly funny. Mainly it was the way he talked." The pony in question started shaking. "I mean, not even ponies from Appaloosa talk like that." He let out a cough before speaking again, doing a cartoony version of Shake Shocker's accent. "I really thought I'd ended you colt, but I see that you got more lives then a bag of cats." The whole bank started laughing, all except the pony in line.

"He didn't really talk like that," Heart asked through his laughter. "Did he?"

"Oh, he talked like that alright." He coughed again, "I do admire your spunk son." Everypony laughed again, "It really ain't wise to make a dangerous pony look foolish." The laughter got louder, the shaking pony in line now going red-eyed in anger. "Don't you mock me colt!"

"ENOUGH!" The pony snapped, turning to the defender before unleashing a green wave of energy, making the ponies around gasp as the blast struck Flash and Heart.





Back at the store again...

Lightning was carrying a trash-bag full of garbage out to the dumpster. Once his load was lifted, he walked around to the front of the store, now seeing Rainbow with a trio of ponies. "Rarity For You is only hiring the best of the best. And to me, that means the fastest. Now uh, before we begin, um..." She turned away from them, "Am I doing this right? What would Rarity want?" She then glanced back at the three, "New plan!" She suddenly zipped off, leaving Lightning and the three potential sales-ponies alone.

"So...have much experience working in boutiques?" Lightning chimed in, the ponies about to reply, only for Rainbow to suddenly appear while holding a purple stripe of cloth.

"Who can be the first one to tell me what fabric this is?"

A blue earth pony mare stared at the cloth, "That's organza."

"Are you sure?" Rainbow questioned before Lightning whispered into her ear.

"Are you?"

"It's a thin, plain weave," the earth pony continued, "Sheer fabric traditionally made from silk, so..." She shot them both a smile, "Yeah." Rainbow and Lightning shared a glance, both unable to reply.





"I don't know the first thing about clothes," Rainbow told Buried Lede. "Pretty much all I can do is look at something and tell you if it's clothes or not." She pointed at the couch she was sitting on. "This chair? Not clothes."


---


"I've spent most of my life living in Canterlot," Lightning added, "I know a thing or two about fine clothing, but not to the level Rarity or those ponies knew. I had no idea there was so much to learn about it."





Inside the store, Soul was continuing to sweep up while the others tried to fix the issues the store had. Rarity had begun work on the window display while Twilight was busy organizing the merchandise. Applejack was keeping Plaid Stripes from trying out too many ideas as Fluttershy was getting rid of the raccoons and Pinkie was dealing with the loud music upstairs.

"See if you can keep up with me here." She heard Plaid tell Applejack in the corner, "What are all clothes made of?"

"Uh, fabric?" Applejack asked, getting a nod from the mare.

"Bingo!" She then shook her head, "But not in this store. Uh-uh. Not anymore."

"Oh?"

Plaid put her hoof around Applejack's neck, "Two words for you: Spoon clothes." Applejack and Soul raised an eyebrow at this, "All our clothes will be made of spoons!"

"I'm not really sure the ponies of Manehatten would like that," Soul said loud enough so only she heard it. "That's just asking for Rarity to go out of business."

She watched as Applejack let out a sigh, "What would Rarity want?" She turned back to Plaid Stripes. "You know," She patted the mare on the shoulder. "I like you Plaid Stripes. If it were up to me, we'd have a spoon clothes store right next to Stinky Bottom's Discount Hat Emporium." She then took off her hat and frowned. "But it ain't up to me, so the answer is no."

This made Plaid begin to tear up while Soul turned to Twilight. The princess was busy placing the dresses on hangers and hanging them on racks, all appearing to have a spectrum style of organization. It went from green to yellow to orange to red and so on. "There," she commented while looking at her work. "Perfect. Although, what would Rarity want? Maybe she wouldn't like it done by color. Guess I have to start over!"

"Why don't you just ask Rarity?" Soul tried to say, but Twilight had already pulled the clothes off the racks, "Nevermind." She then turned around, now seeing Pinkie and Lightning walked into the store, Pinkie showing a big frown, "You okay?"

"I just violated every rule of the party planner's union!" she whimpered as a new sound blasted from the ceiling. This was a much more mellow beat, one that you could barely be able to notice if you didn't know there was music playing. "It feels so wrong!"

"It was all for a good cause," Lightning commented before pointing at the place, "Besides, we've still got a hundred other things to do before we're ready." Rainbow flew into the store with the three sales ponies, the pegasus holding a large bunch of clothes.

"I don't know which one of you to hire! Just," she threw the clothes at them, "keep guessing fabrics!"

"Daddy," they turned to Applejack, the mare now being hounded by Mr. Stripes and Plaid, backpedaling as they glared at her. "Rarity's friend doesn't like my ideas!"

"Listen, spoon clothes is good idea...but not with this store." Applejack tried to reply just as the music above them changed, causing Pinkie to cry out.

"Oh no!" She faceplanted into the floor, "Not a shopping music mashup!" As she said this, Fluttershy ran past them while being chased by some raccoons.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She screamed, drawing Twilight's attention away from the pile of clothes. This allowed her to see the mayhem that was going on, her eyes widening as she turned back to the door Rarity was behind.

And when she saw the handle glow blue and turn, she gasped and leapt over everypony. They turned to her, only to then hear Rarity's voice. "How's it-" Twilight body slammed the door, pushing her back inside, "Oof!"





Fluttershy did a slow gulp as she looked away from Buried Lede. "When you write the story, could you maybe skip over the part where we locked Rarity in the window display?"





Twilight quickly grabbed a chair and stuffed it under the door, preventing Rarity from escaping. "Hello?" The fashionista called out. "The door appears to be stuck!"

"Yep," Twilight yelled back, "We're working on it!"

"Well can't Lightning just teleport in and get me out?" The others went wide-eyed at this, Lightning opening his mouth to reply, only for Soul to put a hoof in his mouth.

"He's...not here right now. He had to...go get more trash-bags."

"Oh, alright. Well I guess I shouldn't let this time go to waste."

Everypony sighed in relief, Twilight turning to Soul. "Good thinking."

Soul fell to the floor in response, "This is awful. I wonder if Heart's having better luck than we are."





Meanwhile again...

Shocker stared at the dust cloud caused by his attack, the ponies around him running off in a screaming panic. But as the bank began to empty, the fog cleared to reveal Flash and Heart looking absolutely fine. Flash had armorized, and around him and his apprentice was an orange energy field that was in the shape of an alicorn head. "I knew it was you," he laughed at Shocker. "And I knew talking slag about you would make you break your cover."

"Very smart," the unicorn removed his glasses, yanking off his fake beard. "But it'll take more than some fancy armor and sparkly tricks to take me down colt."

"Oh, I don't need this stuff to beat you." Flash replied while gesturing to his guardian form, "I could beat you with three hooves tide behind my back, but I've got a party to get to later, and I really don't wanna waste any more time then I need to here."

Shocker let out a long hiss, "Yah sure like getting folks angry at yah, don't yah bub?!" He began firing a sonic blast at the two, but it bounced off the avatar head, not making the magical construct even wobble. "Okay, this may be harder than ah first thought!"

"And it'll soon get harder!" Tidal yelled as he ran up, now able to join the battle since the building had been evacuated.

Shocker spun around and fired a blast, but Tidal easy slid under the green shockwave, safely reaching the criminal. He then thrust his trident at the unicorn, Shocker dodging the blow as Flash lowered his shield. The defender charged in next, unsheathing his sword as Heart's body ignited.

"You know Shocker, you used to have class. But robbing banks? Talk about cliché."

"Nothing wrong with a good bank heist!" Shocker leapt back as Heart charged in and unleashed a stream of fire, "Especially when it gives me the chance to right a few wrongs!" He unleashed a blast of sound, striking Heart's fire attack.

"Whoa!" Heart yelped as the sound knocked him back.

"Tidal Shot!" A trio of water bullets fired out of Tidal's weapon, Shocker turning to he water as he tried to counter it with a sound shockwave. It collided with the first water bullet, but the other two flew past it, hitting their target.

"AUGH!" He cried as he was thrown back, slamming into a back brick wall. The thief let out a groan, opening his eyes to see Flash and Tidal still charging at him, "You two insects are really starting ta bug me."

"Buzz buzz," Flash replied as Shocker unleashed another sound blast. He quickly threw his hooves up, making a wall of magic that blocked the attack as Tidal tried to move around the defensive to get another shot. Shocker saw this coming, firing another shockwave at Tidal.

Tidal leapt to the side, dodging as he began to cast a Tidal Force attack, Shocker taking a quick breath as he prepared to attack the Ocean's Soul again. But as he did this, Flash dropped the shield and moved his legs away, revealing the glowing crystal on his chest armor. "Surprise!" He exclaimed as a magic laser shot out, Shocker hopping away just as beam struck the back wall and broke right through it.

"Tidal Force!" Tidal unleashed a blast of water right at Shocker, knocking him through the hole Flash had made.

As that happened, Flash ran over to Heart as he began to come around. "You okay?"

Heart let out a groan, "Did I get him?"

Flash chuckled as he helped him up, "Sure did kid. Now get up, we're not done yet."





Twilight was staring at the disaster zone that was Rarity's shop, slowing turning to the others. "How did this happen?!"

"I shut down the party," Pinkie chimed in first.

"I told Plaid Stripes no," Applejack added.

"I asked the raccoons to leave," Fluttershy quivered.

"I asked a lot of fabric questions," Rainbow stated before the four spoke in unison. "JUST LIKE I THOUGHT RARITY WOULD WANT!"

"I'm not sure this is how Rarity would have handled it," Lightning deadpanned.

"You think we still have enough time to fix all of this?" Soul asked, only for a raccoon to leap onto a nearby shelf and cause it to give, crashing it into some boxes below. "Maybe if we leave now, we can get new identities and be in another city before Rarity finds out what happened."

"We don't need to run," Twilight replied before staring at the filly, "And we need to work on your pessimistic imagination later." She turned to the others, "We just need to start doing things the right way. Rarity asked us to help her with everything because she knows all of us so well." She focused on Fluttershy, "She knows how much you care for animals. She'd trust you to solve the problem your way." She turned to the others, "And maybe we should all do the same. Doing this our way is what Rarity wants." The others all blined at this before nodding in agreement, "It's not too late. Let's all dig in and we can fix this." Her ears then picked up the sound of the chaos going on in the store, looking back to see the sales ponies arguing, Plaid crying, a large pile of unorganized clothes and raccoons swinging from the chandelier. "And let's do it before Rarity finds out how bad we messed up."

Lightning let out a long sigh, "I hope Sentry's having better luck then we are with whatever he's doing."





Back at the bank yet again...

The trio slowly walked up to the hole Shocker had been throw through, poking their heads in to see no sign of the robber. "Where'd he go?" Heart asked as they trotted inside, now see it was a room that lead to the bank's vault, complete with the stereotypical round door.

"I'm right here!" Shocker roared as he a sonic blast from their left, the pegasi leaping away while Tidal teleported.

As the knight reappeared in front of the vault door, a bulb went off in his head, "That could work." He turned back to the duo, "Keep him busy!"

"No problem!" Flash yelled as he and Heart flew around the room, Shocker unloading blast after blast at them. "Flash Cutter!" He swung his blade through the air, Shock hopping away, only to come to a stop as Heart swung his tail around, unleashing a wave of fire.

Shocker fired another shockwave, cutting the flames in half, only to see Flash to fly right up to him, slashing wildly at the criminal, "Ha!" Shocker laughed as he began to dodge the blade, "Ah would have thought ya'd have grown by now. But yer still the snot nose kid yah were the first time we tangoed."

Flash smirked as he leapt back, "And remind me how that dance ended again. I have the vague memory of you dropping a building on your head." Shocker growled as Heart leapt in, trying to giving him a flaming body slam. But as he did this, Shocker grabbed the colt in his magic, tossing him away before firing another blast at Flash.

However, the armored pegasus suddenly vanished at this, only to reappear behind thief. "And for the record!" Flash grabbed him around the middle, pinning his front legs to his side, "I have grown, in both strength and mind."

As he said that, Tidal opened the vault door. "Over here!" Flash flipped Shocker over, flinging him upward. He began to fly up to take him into the vault, only for Shocker to fire a blast right at the defender.

"Oof!" Flash yelped as Shocker began to fall back down. But as he landed, Tidal teleported behind him.

"Tidal Force!" Shocker was instantly struck by the burst of water, sending him into the vault. And as he hit the back wall, Heart flew over to the door and swung it shut, Tidal teleporting over to spin the locking wheel, sealing the vault. "Gotcha!"

"But won't he just blast his way out?" Heart asked, "Or what if he can teleport?"

"Relajarse!" Tidal ruffled his hair, "That vault was built to withstand an earthquake. And even if he can teleport, which I doubt, this vault was designed with anti-magic runes in order to prevent magical theft."

"So he's stuck?" Heart replied as Flash walked up, wiping some blood off his nose.

"Yup," Flash nodded. "And when the police get here, we can arrest him."

"But won't he just blast us the moment we open the door?"

"Before his magic can be restored, we'll slap a magic suppression ring on him along with some handcuffs," Tidal assured him. "We've won."

"Nice...but what do we do now?" His answer came with the sound of magic sirens, making the three turn to see a bunch of police ponies run in with unicorn horns glowing red and blue.

"Sir Tidal!" One of the officers yelled as he rushed over to them, "We came as soon as we got the call in." His eyes darted around, "Did the criminal escape?"

"No oficial," Tidal chuckled before patting the vault door, "He's right in there. Be ready to place a suppression ring on his horn as soon as these doors open. His magic is tricky to deal with."

"Yes sir," the police pony nodded. "Though if he's awake, he may attempt to resist before we can get it on."

Tidal hummed until Flash spoke up. "Don't these vault have a way to shut off ventilation?" The officers nodded, "I'm sure he'll be a little more cooperative if we tell him that."

"We can't do that to him," Tidal told Flash. "That goes beyond police brutality!"

"Who said anything about actually doing it?" Flash responded while chuckling, "I just said we tell him that it would be a shame to have to do it." He then winked at them, everypony nodding with a smile.

Not five minutes later, Flash, Heart and Tidal were leading a cuffed up and de-powered Shake Shocker over to the police wagon, multiple ponies watching and some even taking pictures.





"Not a bad day's work if I say so myself," Flash commented as he put his hooves behind his head, "Caught the bad guy, saved a lot of ponies' money and even got to sign a few autographs."

"I'm guessing you headed to the store as soon as it was over?"

Flash shook his head. "Nope. Heart, Tidal and I still had to fill out a report. Heart sure didn't enjoy that, but it's what had to be done, and he got a behind the scenes look at a police station. No, we actually didn't get to leave until much later. In fact, we were worried we'd miss the grand opening. Luckily, Tidal knows this city like the back of his hoof. Including a few short cuts."





By the time the three reached the store's block, the sun was almost completely set. Turning to the street, they spotted a long line of ponies standing outside. "Welp, here's the moment of truth." Flash gulped as they walked up to the building, right as the door opened.

"Flash!" Twilight exclaimed when she saw him, "You're back!"

"Just in time by the looks of things," he replied while trotting up to her. "How's everything in there?"

"Take a look for yourself," she responded before stepping aside, allowing the three inside. But with the lack of sunlight, the place was bathed in darkness.

"I can't see anything," Flash commented, "Did ya not think to put up some lights?"

"Working on it," he turned to see Lightning messing with some plugs and wires. "That goes there, and this goes here...alright," he grabbed two cables in his magic, "Here goes nothing." He stuck the two together, the room suddenly illuminating by the light fittings that filled the room, allowing them to see the changes.

The two knights and squire were amazed at the sight, the once dusty and drab building now transformed into a beautifully decorated room with freshly painted walls, racks of clothes and manikins placed on pedestals for all to see.





Twilight gave Buried Lede a smug expression. "The whole place organized by style, cross-referenced by size, and reverse-indexed by fabric. She'll be able to find anything in three seconds flat!" She showed a dreamy-eyed expression at the memory of her accomplishment. "It was some of my best work."


---


"I have to admit, the place looked awesome." Flash took another sip of his drink, "I should have known Twilight knew an instant decoration spell. And Lightning has shown himself skilled with almost anything electrical."





"Wow..." Heart gasped, "This place is awesome!"

"Hermosa," Tidal nodded, "Truly divine."

"Let's hope Rarity feels the same way," Twilight gulped as she walked over to the doorway and removed the chair. Flash, Heart and Tidal raised an eyebrow at this as Twilight used her magic to open the door. As soon as she did, Rarity fell out and faceplanted the floor. Twilight flinched at this, only to help Rarity up, "Wow...looks like we fixed that door just in time!"

It was here that Rarity began to look around, gasping at the transformation. "Oh!" Stars appeared in her eyes, "What's all this?!" Her eyes darted around, trying to give a closer inspection as the others stepped into the room. "Oh!" She then hugged Twilight, "Oh, I knew I could count on you!" She then turned to the store's clock, gulping before walking to the main door, "Alright...I suppose this is the moment of truth." The others nodded to her as she trotted over to the door, slowing opening it up. Doing so caused a bell to jingle, making her smile back at Applejack before calling out into the street of Manehatten. "Rarity For You is now open!

It was at that moment she turned to see the large line outside her store, then moved back to allow them entrance. "Wow..." Lightning commented as the store started to fill up, "That's a lot of ponies."

"Oh dear," Rarity gulped as she began to backpedal at the amount, "I wasn't quite prepared for such a crowd. How will I handle them all?"

In that moment, one of the sales ponies stepped up to a stallion, "My name's Blue Bobbin," she stated. "I'll be your personal shopping assistant this evening."

Rainbow smirked before pointing behind her, Rarity seeing the two other ponies Rainbow had interviewed. "Right this way everypony! One of our talented sales ponies can help you out!"

Rarity smiled at this, soon walking through the store to help anypony that needed it. It was then that the lights dimmed, a bunch of spotlights shining down on the floor, making Rarity now see mist fill the room. She then saw Vinyl Scratch at the back of the room, beginning to play a sick song that wasn't too loud.

She blinked at the sight, only to see three dancing ponies to appear in the mist. Terror tried to appear on her face, but it quickly faded to as she saw nopony had any issue with this, all enjoying shopping to the melody. Pinkie slid up next, waving her legs around while Heart and Soul leapt onto the dance floor and joined the three dancers with their own style of rocking out.





"The way I see it, Rarity designs fashion, DJ Pon-3 designs beats. What better combination than a boutique dance club?" Pinkie giggle until the waitress arrived with the bill, Pinkie looking up at the huge stack of plates she had amassed with all the food she had eaten.

She laughed before slyly moving the sheet of paper over to the journalist.


---


Lightning shined a big smirk at Buried Lede. "You'd be surprised how much you learn while working as an assistance in Applewood. You think it's just getting coffee, but it's also helping out anypony that needs help. That includes the lighting and special effects team."





Rarity and Lightning walked side by side, happy everypony was enjoying themselves.

But as she did this, the mare saw something that made her double-take. It was a raccoon dressed in a waiter's uniform that was carrying a tray of soups. She turned to Lightning, who gave her a shrug as the raccoon offered the soup to a stallion.





Fluttershy and her new animal friends all smiled as she pushed a pie in front of them. "After a quick bath, they were more than willing to help!"

The raccoons began to devour the pie, turning into a cartoon dust cloud with how fast they were eating.

"Though uh...I warned Rarity that she may have to feed them quite a bit for later services."





The stallion stared at the soup, a smile appearing on his face, "Ah, a blue corn reduction with shallot confit!" He then rubbed his chin in thought, "But how can I possibly enjoy it without a-"

"Spoon?" He turned to the voice, seeing Plaid dressed in clothing that was covered in spoons. She even had a hoof band that had a trio of the metal utensils strapped to it.





"Heh!" Applejack laughed, "Told ya spoon clothes ain't such a bad idea!"





"I think this is going well," Lightning told Rarity as the stallion took a sip of his soup.

"Mmm!" He licked his lips, "Exquisite!" He turned to the rest of the room, "This is the most whimsical and wonderfully fashionable boutique I've ever seen!" The other customers cheered and applauded, Rarity unable to keep a smile off her face while turning to the friends that helped her make it possible. Tears filled her eyes, knowing she couldn't wait to read the review of this event.





Present day...

"In the end, Rarity's grand opening was a smashing success!" Everypony smiled at this as Rarity continued to read. "True, it got off to a rocky start, but somehow this rag-tag group of ne'er-do-wells...Oh, heavens." She looked up from the paper, "I think he means you." They laughed as she continued reading. "...came together and created the perfect boutique. A vision of Rarity combined with the expertise of her friends! This reporter, for one, is a believer."

As she finished, Flash let out a sigh. "That was not as bad as I thought it would be."

Rarity shot the group a questioning look. "Why didn't you tell me there were so many problems?"

"We all figured you had enough on your mind," Twilight replied as they moved around the table to her.

"And we didn't want you to think that the opening wasn't perfect," Applejack added.

Rarity let out a giggle, "Ne'er-do-wells or not, I know I can always count on all of you." She held out her arms, "And nothing could be more perfect than that." Everypony, even Lightning, went in for a hug as everything seemed to end on a perfect note.

Flash then pulled away, "I'm just sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"Me too," Heart added.

"Oh, nonsense dearies," Rarity said with a wave, "My opening might have been important, but so was catching Shake Shocker. You saved a lot of ponies from getting hurt and getting robbed. Besides, you may have also done me a favor." The others raised an eyebrow as Rarity flipped to the front page. It showed Flash, Heart and Tidal leading Shake Shocker off to jail, only to shift to the page with the actual story, which Twilight sped read through.

"Flash Sentry and his squire were in Manehatten to attend the opening of the latest Rarity Boutique. See page fifty four for more details."

Rarity chuckled at this, "I knew they'd make a link to my boutique there. Lots of ponies will be reading about his arrest, and a good few of them will be curious about my store. If anything, you helped bolster my boutique's brand."

Flash and Heart smiled at this while the colt reached out to get another look at his image on the front page. "I hope they got my best side."

"Do you even have a best side?" Soul asked before they all laughed, Heart growling at her as Soul playfully stuck her tongue out.

Yes, their journey to Manehatten had been a lively one, but one that none of them would ever forget. And hopefully, Rarity For You would continue to grow more and more popular as time went on.
> Applejack's Day Off
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The street's of Ponyville's shopping district were bustling as the citizens of the town were working and buying from every store there. As this happened, the Carousel Boutique was currently experiencing a very quiet day, with not a single customer within its walls. This was for the best, as Rarity wasn't there and it was being run by Lightning...who was asleep behind the counter.

"Uhh…" he snored as he used his front legs as a pillow on the counter-top, "Yes, I'd like to return this printer."

"Lightning?" The voice was all he needed to wake up, his head shooting up.

"I'm awake!" He yelped, blinking as his head darted around, "Huh?"

"Down here."

The defender glanced down over the counter, now seeing a certain filly, "Oh...its just you." Lightning moaned as he rubbed his eyes, "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"School ended. Ages ago." Sweetie replied with crossed hooves.

"Oh," Lightning turned to a clock, "No wonder I feel so well rested. I guess my after lunch nap went on a little too long."

"What are you even doing here?" Sweetie asked. "And where's Rarity?"

"She had plans with Applejack to go to the spa," he replied as he began stretching his body out. "She was gonna close up for the day, but I said I'd keep an eye on things for her."

"And by keeping an eye on things, you mean being fast asleep," Sweetie giggled, making Lightning roll his eyes, "You might want to check to make sure nopony came in and took anything while you were asleep."

"Oh please. You think I wouldn't have noticed if something like that had happened?" Lightning responded before his eyes darted around, making sure everything was the same before he fell asleep. "Yeah, looks okay. See, nothing to worry-"

SLAM!

The two turned to the sound of a slamming door, only for Sweetie to scream, "GYAH!" She quickly leapt behind Lightning as he moved to grab one of his daggers.

But as he pulled one out, both of his eyebrows went up, "Rarity?"

Before the two was the unicorn in question, though her face was completely wrinkled, including her horn. Sweetie poked her head out from Lightning at this, gasping before Rarity growled at them, "Not. A. Word."

"But-"

"Not." she interrupted him, "A word."

"What happened to you?" Sweetie asked as she slowly walked out of the counter.

"I spent a little too long in the steam room," Rarity hissed as she began heading into the store's kitchen. "I was waiting for Applejack. She loves a good steam at the start of a spa treatment."

"Well, at least you two got to spend some time together," Lightning replied while he and Sweetie followed her, only to hear a low growl from her, "Uh...you did get to spend time together, right?"

"Not exactly," she moaned while sitting down at a table, her horn shining as she magically began to fill her kettle with water for a cup of tea. "She arrived just as the spa was closing. I mean, honestly. I know she has a lot of work on the farm, but she could have at least sent me a message saying she would be late!"

"I'm sure she feels bad," Lightning said as he sat down beside her, "I doubt you need to get too angry at her."

"Yeah!" Sweetie nodded, "Don't go getting to...steamed." She began to laugh as the two turned to stare at her, "What? Come on, that was funny."

Rarity let out a sigh and looked away, "I'm not as much angry as I am worried." She began to pour the hot water into the cup. "Applejack spends so much time working on the farm that she doesn't have any time to relax and enjoy herself. If she's not careful, she's gonna burn out, and things will get even worse for her. You remember that old saying: All work and no play."

"Kinda makes her sound like a dull pony," Sweetie commented.

"Well, what can you do about it?" Lightning asked. "She can't exactly not do any work on the farm."

"No...but I can make sure she has at least one day off for her own good." She stomped her hoof onto the table. "During our next spa day, I'll get her to that spa early, even if I have to drag her there." Lightning and Sweetie shared a glance, frowns on both faces.





Fast forward to a bit later...

Rarity was now trotting to Sweet Apple Acres, only to hear a rattling sound behind her. She turned to the noise as Twilight's voice rang out, "Hi, Rarity!" The mare now saw Flash, Springer and Spike walking beside the alicorn, Springer and Spike carrying two tall towers of pie tins.

"Morning darlings," she replied before raising an eyebrow, "Good heavens, that's a lot of empty pie plates."

"Uh...yeah," Spike blushed, "We were just heading to pick up some fresh pies. Heh...I don't know why we keep running out at the castle."

"Are sure it's nothing to do with the food fight you, Heart and Scootaloo had last night?" Flash chuckled, the mares giggling as Spike's blush continued to grow.

"What are you gonna get?" The little dragon asked Rarity, who let out a sigh.

"Applejack, actually. Although, I'm quite sure she'll be too busy once again."

"What do you mean?" Twilight added as they came up to the farm's entrance.

"Oh, nothing." Rarity groaned, "It's just that Applejack and I haven't had one of our spa days in ages."

"You two really should set aside some time."

"I think that's what she's trying to do right now," Springer pointed out.

"Exactly," Rarity exclaimed, "I have been trying for moons! But Applejack is so busy these days, it's next to impossible."

"Huh." Twilight responded, "I didn't realize Applejack had so much to do."

"I would have figured she would have more free time these days," Flash chimed in, "I mean, they have Rogue helping out now."

"I doubt Rogue is doing much," Twilight added, "Thestrals are nocturnal, so he probably sleeps most of the day and does a few things at night."

They then got to the farm house, now seeing Applejack putting a pie on the window to cool. "Hey, Applejack!" Spike cheered. "Another order of pies, please."

"Sure thing, Spike!" Applejack took the empty pie tins, pulling into the kitchen before returning a second later with two piles of pies that Spike took in his claws.

"I don't suppose those pies are the last chore on the schedule for today?" Rarity asked as she stepped up to the window.

"Gah! Land's sakes!" Applejack yelped while facehoofing, "Is it time for our spa day already?" Rarity gave her a deadpan stare as Applejack continued, "Rarity, why don't yah go on ahead and ah'll meet ya there?"

"Oh please, Applejack! Let's not kid ourselves!"

"Well, it ain't 'cause ah don't wanna." Applejack added, "But the work on the farm has just been takin' up more and more of mah time."

Flash and Twilight shared a glance, Twilight speaking up, "Applejack, Rarity, please don't fight. I hate seeing you two not getting along and spending time together."

"Yeah! There's gotta be something you can do to cut the time down," Flash chimed in, "And don't overwork yourself. I don't wanna get Apple Buck Season flashbacks," he shivered, the memory of those terrible muffins now appearing in his head.

Twilight nodded in agreement, "Can't you get somepony else in your family to take over for a bit?"

Applejack sighed and shook her head, "Wish ah could. But Granny, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom all have chores of their own, and today they're all busy takin' the harvest to market."

Twilight shined a small smile at this, turning to Flash as he nodded to her, "I know what you're thinking, and I'm in."

"Nice!" Twilight cheered as she spun back to Applejack. "I know we're not farmers, but I'm sure the four of us could handle things for a little while."

"Maybe..." Applejack muttered, biting her lip. "Ah don't know..."

"Is there one chore we could do?"

"Or heck, we could split up and do two things." Flash pointed to Springer, the jakhowl nodding in agreement.

"Well...ah suppose if two of you got started on feedin' the pigs and helped gather up the fallen apples, I could maybe leave for an hour."

"Oooh! An hour of spa perfection?!" Rarity clapped, "I can work with that!"

"Perfect!" Twilight added, "You head out to the spa and we'll take care of things here." Spike and Springer gave them a thumbs up, only for Spike to lose balance with his pie tower, almost falling over till Twilight caught him and the pies in her magic.

"Uh...yeah." he said while floating in the air, "We totally got everything covered."

Applejack let out a sigh, quickly scribbling out a list of instructions. The ponies then placed their pies back into the kitchen for safe keeping before heading over to the pig pen as Applejack finished the scrolls, "Okay, this list pretty much covers everything you need to know on how to feed the pigs." She then held up another scroll, "And this one explains everything you need to do to gather the apples." They both nodded, Twilight about to take the lists with her magic, only for Applejack to pull them back. "But uh, maybe I should go over it with you just to-"

She didn't get to finish as Twilight yanked the lists out of her grasp. "Applejack, please." She gave one list to Spike and the other to Flash. "If there's a list involved, I am one hundred percent on top of it."

"Uh, right." Applejack muttered before she and Rarity began to head off to the spa.

The others waved them off as Twilight called out, "And don't worry about things here! Spike and I have totally got this! I mean, it's just feeding the pigs. How hard could it be?"

She then felt somepony tap her on the side. "Uh, Twilight?" They turned to him, now seeing the unfurled scroll was as long as Flash and Twilight standing flank to flank, causing Twilight to gulp.

"Whoa."

"Twilight..." Flash added, "Why are you giving that face? I've seen you handle lists three times as long."

"Yeah!" Springer nodded, "That looks like your average Thursday...morning." He turned to Flash's list and gulped, "Now let's see how bad this is."

Flash took a deep breath and unfurled it, only to find it was a few feet long. "Nice!" Flash chuckled before turning to Twilight, "Alright, we'll handle the apples, and you feed the pigs."

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Sure, give us the fun job." Flash and Springer shined a couple of grins before walking away, now hearing Twilight speak to her dragon assistant. "Okay Spike, ready with that list?"

"Ready."

"Let's do this!

"Step one..."

Flash didn't hear anymore as he looked down at his scroll, "Okay, step one: Gather buckets from the barn." He and Springer walked over to the building after hearing this, the pegasi repeating the same words as he looked around, "Now...buckets...buckets...buckets." But as he said this, something swung down from the rafters, making him flinch before seeing what it was.

"Do you have to be so loud?!" Rogue hissed while rubbing his eyes, the bat pony hanging from a beam using his tail.

"Sorry," Flash replied, "We're just looking for some buckets." Rogue responded by spreading his wings and pointing to some crates, "Thanks." The defender said as he pulled the buckets out of the boxes, "Step one, complete."

"What do you need those for anyway?" Rogue asked, his eyes almost closed again.

"We're helping out Applejack so she can spend some time at the spa with Rarity."

"Huh," Rogue cracked an eye open, "I did wonder if she was gonna take a day off. From dawn till dusk she's constantly working, not stopping for a second."

"Everypony needs a break every now and again," Flash added, "Which is why we need to finish collecting all the dropped apples."

"Oh, that's easy," Rogue replied, "All you have to do is inspect all the orchards and pick up any apples that have fallen."

"We figured that," Springer chimed in before reading the list, finding that it said the same thing Rogue had just told them.

"Well, it's the part after that that's tricky." Rogue yawned.

"What next part?" Flash looked back at the scroll, only to find nothing.

"Eh, guess Applejack didn't think you'd finish before she got back," Rogue muttered as he closed his eyes. "Now go away...I want some shut eye."

"Got it." Flash and Springer whispered before tiphoofing out of the barn, slowly closing the doors. "I guess it would take a while for Applejack," Flash told Springer, "But with our speed, I bet we can check every orchard and gather every apple in half the time we have." Springer nodded as both grabbed a bucket, running off into the apple orchard.

Along the way, they saw Spike and Twilight back at the pig pen, Twilight making funny faces at them.





Meanwhile...

Applejack and Rarity were now about to reach the spa, the farmer putting a hoof to her mouth, "Oh...ah don't like this. Ah hope they can handle things until ah get back."

"Now Applejack," Rarity chimed in, "If we are really to enjoy this time together, you simply must give yourself over to the idea that you are off-duty and try to relax."

"I know...I know." Applejack sighed, "You're right. Ah really am glad we're doin' this. And as long as it's only an hour, ah'm sure everythin' will be just fine."

"Exactly," Rarity nodded as they reached the spa, "Now kindly step this way, as relaxation...awaits." She opened the door as they walked in, finding several mares and a few stallions in the waiting room. And one such mare made Rarity gasp. "Rainbow Dash?!" The mare in question jumped at the sound of her friend's voice, the pegasus currently wearing a purple gown and slippers designed to look like Tank. "What are you doing here?!"

A blush covered Rainbow's face that made the two to giggle before trotting over to her. "Yeah! Ah didn't think spa treatments were your thing."

"What?!" Rainbow quickly took her gown off and threw it away, jumping off the couch while trying to fling her slippers off. "Oh, they're totally not. At least, not the froufrou kind."

"Ah/Huh," the two replied in unison.

"Yeah!" Rainbow rapidly nodded, "I uh, I think I tweaked something at Wonderbolts practice the other day. I just came in for a deep tissue sports massage."

She then shined a huge grin, only for one of the spa ponies to walk up beside her. "Miss Dash? I am so sorry, but we are running just a tad behind, and we are not quite ready to start your pampered muscle massage and indulgent hooficure just yet."

Rainbow went wide-eyed at this, now seeing her grin get transferred to her friends, "Oh, uh...I-I-I'm pretty sure that wasn't what I signed up for."

The pony held up a clipboard, "But they are your usual-"

"And it seems like you're really busy today anyway!" Rainbow took to the air. "I'll just come back tomorrow," she shined a tiny grin to Rarity and Applejack. "Uh, see you two later! Have fun!" She then whispered something to the spa pony before shooting off, Applejack letting out a laugh once she was gone.

"Too bad Rainbow Dash just hates those 'froufrou' spa treatments. She could have joined us for a nice steam. Hoo-wee! I can't wait."

Rarity laughed into her hoof. "Indeed....although, if they couldn't fit Dashie in, I wonder just how far behind things are running." She then headed to the area the steam room was in. "Obviously, we're on a very tight schedule." But as she stepped through the curtain, she suddenly walked face first into the back of another pony. She and Applejack then looked around him, now seeing he was at the back of a very long line. One so long they couldn't see the end of it, due to it turning around a corner they knew lead to the steam room.

"Well..." Rarity gulped as she turned to Applejack, "Maybe not everypony is waiting for the steam room."

"Oh no," the pony she bumped spun around, "No, that's exactly what we're waiting for." He frowned as he looked back at the line. "I hope you're not in a hurry."

Applejack and Rarity exchanged a glance, both slightly gulping as the famer spoke up, "So everypony here wants a steam bath?" The ponies turned back to her and gave a mumble of agreement, making Applejack raise an eyebrow.

"It's one of the only reasons I'm here," a gruff voice called out, making them see a certain stallion in the room.

"Iron?" Iron Core was leaning against the wall, a towel around his neck. "I wouldn't have expected to see you here."

Applejack nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Rainbow ah can buy, but you?"

"What?" Iron growled, "A stallion can't enjoy a little stress relief now and again?" Applejack and Rarity raised an eyebrow at this, making him look away, "Besides, I need this. You think I'm grumpy normally, imagine how bad I am if I don't de-stress. Especially since Shy keeps trying to get me to get along with Discord more recently." He then glared at the line, "Although, looks like I won't be de-stressing today."

The mares sighed before Rarity spoke up. "Well, the solution is obvious. We'll simply have to start our short time at the spa with something else."

She spun around to walk off, only for Applejack to raise a hoof, "Nothin' doin'. Ah came here to have a steam, and that's just what ah'm gonna get!"

Rarity's eyes went wide at this. "But-but, it'll take most of our hour to just get through this line!"

As she said that, one of the owners walked up behind them.

"RRRRarity!" Aloe said with her accent. "My favorite customer!" She gave Rarity a pair of cheek kisses before turning to the earth pony, "And Appleyack?" She hugged her, Applejack rolling her eyes at the mispronunciation while patting her back. "Well," she pulled away, "it certainly has been a long time since you two were here together! So lovely to have you back."

"Well, I wish I could say the same." Rarity gestured to the long line, Aloe sighing at the sight.

"Yes, the wait time for the steam room certainly has been getting worse lately." She then tried to show a small smile, "But I'm sure we'll be able to accommodate your usual treatments."

"Not without my steam!" Applejack pouted, making Rarity sigh as she turned to explain the situation to Aloe.

"Apparently, Applejack won't consider starting her time at the spa without a steam...and we only have an hour."

"That is a problem," the spa pony replied.

"Sound more like somepony being a whiny foal," Iron added, making the farmer glare at him, "What? You got a limited amount of time and you're gonna waste it trying to do something you can't do? Tell me my last statement wasn't wrong."

Applejack growled at him in response, only to spin around and begin to trot off. "Applejack..." Rarity called out, "Where are you going?" When no response came, she glared at Iron, "Thanks a lot."

"What?" He replied as she and Aloe followed the farm pony. "Gaaah," he turned to the pony behind him, "Save my place." He trotted out of line and took a few steps before turning back to that pony, who had stepped forward to fill the gap. "Save it." He then glared at the pony, the stare making the pony gulp before backpedaling before Iron followed after the mares.

He caught up as they arrived at the front of the line, Applejack staring at them with a raised eyebrow. "Um, why are ya'll just standin' here?"

"Ugh!" The stallion who was second in line shivered, "Just waiting for the steam to build up."

The one in front, Spoiled Rich, turned to give her hoity 'look down at you' response. "Without steam, a steam room's just a room, and I've got plenty of those at home. Because I live in a mansion."

The ponies all rolled their eyes, Applejack walking up to the steam room's temperature gauge and tapping it. The needle was barely in the warm section of the gauge, Aloe speaking up behind her, "It has been taking longer for the steam to reach the Ponyville Day Spa quality."

"We've noticed," Iron shivered despite the fact he was technically wearing more clothes then he normally did with the towel around his neck.

Aloe sighed as she pointed to a close hallway entrance. "We even had to add a warm towel service." As she said that, a unicorn stallion stepped out of the hallway pushing a cart filled with warm towels. "So sorry for the delay everypony. Please help yourselves." And as the ponies began to get new towels, all getting out of line as they threw the ones they currently had on into a basket. Even Iron helped himself to a fresh linen while accidently throwing his used towel behind him and onto the unicorn's face.

As this happened, Applejack just glared at the temperature gauge. "So if you're not gettin' enough steam, that must mean there's not enough hot water." She looked up at the ceiling, seeing a large pipe coming out of the room while Rarity pulled out a pocket watch that she...apparently hid in her tail or something.

"Oh Applejack, can't we just start with a hooficure? We're going to run out of time."

But Applejack didn't reply, instead trotting down the hall while following the pipe. Rarity let out a sigh and followed along with Aloe and Iron doing the same from the back. The four made their way through the spa, Applejack's eyes squarely focused on the pipes above their heads. "You mind explaining where the heck you're even going?" Iron asked the farm pony, whose eyes didn't look away from the ceiling.

"Ah have no idea."

"That's comforting," he sighed as Applejack turned a corner and sped up. Picking up the pace, they followed her as Iron began to hear several pained groans coming from one of the rooms to their left. He poked his head inside, only to see Mr. Cake getting the spa's famous extra-strength-hot-stone-deep-tissue massage. "Ouch," he winced as Bulk Biceps stomped his hooves down on the older pony's back.

"Sup Iron Core!" The bodybuilder cheered before slamming both hooves down, Mr. Cake's eyes almost flying out of his head in pain, "You wanting to try this? I've got a free space once I'm done here."

"Err...I'm good. That and I might need something a bit stronger."

"Oh, I can do that!" Bulk replied as a resounding 'crunch' could be heard as he kept thrusting his hooves into Mr. Cake. "Wanna do it after your steam?"

"Yeah." Iron responded before going after the mares again, soon finding the three at a door. Applejack easily opened it, making Aloe gasp as they walked in, Iron seeing it was filled with the building's pipes. "Huh. You really need a sign or something on this door," he told Aloe, "What if a foal wandered in here?"

"It's supposed to be locked," she sighed as they continued to walk through the room, shaking her head as she continued, "Birch must have forgotten to lock it back up after coming through." The four then stepped out into a hallway that was much less decorated than the rest of the spa, or in other words, an employee only area.

Applejack began racing down it, her eyes still on the ceiling as the others followed her before she turned a corner and exclaimed, "Ah-ha!" She pointed upward, "Now what do we have here?"

They all looked into the room she was pointing at, seeing to be filled with pipes, washing machines and racks upon racks of fresh towels. Rarity rolled her eyes as she watched the pony they saw before throw the used towels into one of the machines. "The laundry room, of course." She took out her pocket watch again and saw the time, causing her to huff. "And at this point, I'm considering soaking my hooves in one of the machines so my time here isn't a total loss!"

"The Ponyville Day Spa prides itself on sanitary conditions, and fresh linens are integral part." Aloe commented, Applejack humming at this while tapping her chin.

"Well sure, but...have ya'll always run every single one of these here machines full bore all day, every day?"

"The answer is no," the laundry pony replied as he opened a machine that had just finished its wash. "But ponies sure do love the warm towel service." He used his magic to pull the fresh towels out, folding them in up in very precise skill and grace before placing them in the basket. He then pushed it back the way he came, Applejack watching him leave while nodding.

"Alright Sherclop Pones," Iron grumbled, "What are you thinking?" Applejack didn't reply and instead followed Birch down the hall, "I guess the game is a hoof."

Iron followed after her, Aloe turning to Rarity with raised eyebrows, "A hoof?"

"Starting," Rarity replied, "Or beginning. Either one."

"Then why not just say one of those?!" She asked as they turned to followed the duo.

Applejack quickly caught up with Birch, now spotting him trotting through the large pipe room and leaving the doors opened and unlocked. And as Birch made his way through the hallways, he began passing out towels to every customer before coming to a stop near the steam room line, turning to the ponies following him. "Uh, you all wanting a towel?"

Applejack simply pointed to the cart. "Looks ta me like ya'll don't have any left." He turned to the cart, only to see the ponies in line to help themselves while throwing their dirty towels onto it. One towel was even thrown into his face by accident...again.

He huffed while removing said towel. "Well, like I said, warm towels are big hit." He once again began to walk off, Applejack humming at this before staring at the pipes on the wall. The main one she was staring at had a wheel on the front while also giving off a strange hissing sound. She leaned up to it, now seeing several puffs of steam shooting out from the gaps of the pipe. 

This caused everything to suddenly click into place, Applejack's eyes going wide as she exclaimed, "Ah think ah've figured out the problem."

"Already?" Iron asked as everypony in line turned to her.

Applejack tapped the pipe. "Ya'll got a small leak, and that means the steam takes just a little longer to build up." They all nodded at this, "And while ponies wait, they get cold. Cold ponies start wrappin' themselves in towels, and all those dirty towels have to be cleaned because Ponyville Day Spa prides itself on cleanliness."

As she said that, Birch returned while pushing another cart full of hot towels. When he arrived, he saw everypony staring at him. "Hmm? What?"

Applejack shook her head as she continued, "Basically, losin' steam makes yah use more towels. That means yah do more laundry, which uses up the hot water yah need to make more steam, so the problem just keeps gettin' worse." Birch quickly retreated back around the corner before anypony could blame him as the rest of the ponies chatted amongst themselves as Aloe put the pieces together.

"Ah!" She gasped before nodding, "I had no idea."

"Seriously?" Iron yelped before pointing to the pipe. "You didn't notice eight puffs of super hot water that's literally a lawsuit waiting to happen?!"

The two then glared at him as Rarity let out a long sigh, "Wonderful. Now that we've solved the great steam mystery, we can finally get back to our..." She glanced at her pocket watch again, a look of pure defeat on her face, "Significantly less than an hour of relaxation."

"Rarity, are you kiddin'?" She turned to Applejack, "Ah can't just leave things like this." The farmer stared at the pipe, crossing her hooves as she gave a confident nod, "Ah'm gonna need mah tools."

This caused Rarity to sigh in utter defeat while Iron raised an eyebrow. "Why?" He asked the earth pony, "Don't you think this is something an actual plumber should look at?"

"Oh please," Applejack leaned against the wall next to the pipe. "Ah handle stuff like this all dah time back on dah farm. This is nothin'"

"There's a difference between DIY and being a licensed expert. You realize that the minute you start working on that pipe, you become liable for it. As in, you'll be blamed if anything goes wrong between you fixing it and somepony else looking it over." Rarity nodded in agreement. "Besides, I thought you two came here to relax. Fixing leaky plumbing doesn't sound very relaxing to me." Rarity's nodding became more vigorous. "Just leave it alone and have them call a professional."

Applejack growled at him before turning to Aloe. "What da you think? Wanna let me handle this, or call a plumber, even though that could mean days or even weeks waiting fur them ta fit yah in."

This seemed to catch more than Aloe's attention, mainly everypony waiting outside the steam room. "APPLEJACK!" They all screamed their preference, the spa pony nodding back.

"I think Applejack knows what she's doing." Iron and Rarity sighed with a facehoof, Applejack chuckling before turning back to the leaky pipe, her mind now going over out how to fix it.





Back at the farm...

Flash and Springer had just got done with the many apples that had fallen to the ground. In one orchard, Flash was zipping from tree to tree, his eyes focused squarely on the ground. He was carrying a bucket in his front hooves and when he spotted an apple, he smirked before flying low and sweeping his tail along the dirt. The apple was picked up into the tail's long strands of hair, all of it curling around before flipping up into the air and landing in the bucket.

In another orchard, Springer was using his Velocity Strike speed to rush through the field. He had a bucket full of apples under one arm and a Bone Breaker in the other. With this, he would easily run up to an apple on the ground before swinging the Bone Breaker at it, smacking the fruit upward before landing in his bucket. The jakhowl spun the aura weapon like no tomorrow, knocking apples up like crazy as one hit a nearby tree before bouncing off it and falling into the basket as well as Springer chuckled, "Three points."

They both shot around every single orchard, kicking up trails of dust as bolted across the fields. In a flurry of motion, they soon had every single apple picked up off the ground, all the fruit in their buckets. Both seemed to collect their final apple at the exact same time, the two laughing at this as they met up right outside the farm house.

"Woo! What a rush!" Flash whipped his head around, wiping the sweat off his forehead as he commented, "Now that was a workout!"

"Who knew collecting apples was so exhausting," Springer moaned as he put his bucket down before grabbing one of the dangles behind his head and twisting it. Drops of sweat splattered out, making him groan as he began to do the same to the other dangles.

"I think most apple collectors don't move at the speed we were going," Flash chuckled as they opened the barn doors. The sound of the frames moving caused Rogue to let out a yawn, unfurling his wings as he creaked his eyes open as Flash continued, "But we did it. Every fallen apple in the orchard, and it barely took us half the time Applejack gave us."

"Really?" Rogue asked as he fully opened his eyes, releasing the beam he was hanging on before opening his wings to glide down, "Huh. You really did collect them all."

"You know it," Springer replied with a giant grin and crossed arms. "There's not a single apple touching the ground out there."

"Unless more of them have fallen since we left," Flash added, "So what now? Applejack's list just ends there, but if we can do the next part of this chore, she might get some more free time."

Rogue began stretching his hooves as he let out another yawn, "Well, if you really wanna help...now she would give them to Granny Smith in order to sort 'em."

"Sort them?" Springer asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Rogue nodded before picking up one of the apples. "See this one? It's in pretty good condition." The two stared at it, seeing only a small bruise on one side. Rogue then picked up another one, this one being far more bruised and even had a piece missing. "Now this one's not doing too well. She'd put this one in a basket meant for the pigs."

"Huh." Flash and Springer both replied before putting down their buckets and grabbing the rest they had used to collect the fruits. In response, Rogue flew up to sleep upside down as they began sorting through the apples, seeing which ones were okay and which were beyond saving. As they did this, Flash stared up at Rogue, "Almost hard to believe you've only been here a short time. You already seem to know most of what you need to do here."

"It's not that hard," Rogue responded while yawning, "I just watch what the others do and remember."

"But aren't you asleep most of the day?" Springer asked, taking out an apple he thought was good until a worm popped out of it.

"Not really. When you live underground most of your life, you don't really have a proper sleep schedule. I normally just sleep whenever I feel tired. I don't even need that much sleep to be honest. Six hours and I'm ready to do whatever is needed for the remaining eighteen hours."

The two hummed at this before going back to sorting through the apples, both now wondering how Twilight and Spike were doing.

Meanwhile...

"That can't be right," Twilight told Spike.

The little dragon pointed at the scroll, "It says it right here. Do chicken dance." Twilight leaned down, glaring at the words while raising an eyebrow before turning back to the pigs. "Maybe she got distracted and accidently wrote it down."

"Even if it was, we shouldn't leave it out. Just in case it is meant to be on this list..." Twilight let out a long sigh, "Let's do it." With that, Twilight started dancing, Spike trying to keep back his laughter as he wished he had a camera.





Back at the spa...

Applejack had just finished fixing up the pipe while Rarity had enjoyed some treatments. The earth pony had tightened up a few bolts to stop the steam escaping and wrapped the whole thing in duct-tape so they wouldn't come loose again. Once this happened, the heat in the steam room shot straight up, allowing the ponies waiting in line to finally enjoy themselves.

"Phew!" Applejack wiped her brow before turning to Aloe. "Now that the leak's fixed, ponies won't get so cold when they use up all those towels!" As she said that, a still frowning Rarity trotted up to her. "And without all that laundry, there'll be plenty of hot water for all the steam anypony could want!"

"And I only have to be doing vash once a day!" Birch cheered before running into the steam room.

"Wow..." Aloe gasped, "Appleyack! Have you ever considered a career in the spa industry? I'm sure I can find something for you."

Applejack laughed at this, "No thanks. Ah'm just relieved I can finally relax in the steam." She turned to the still frowning Rarity, "What do you say, Rarity?"

Rarity shined a large frown, knowing what she was about to say, "It sounds lovely Applejack, but..." She took out her pocket watch, "Unfortunately, you spent so much time fixing the steam room that we don't have any time left to use it." She put her watch away before turning to Aloe. "Honestly, how in Equestria did it never occur to you to check for leaks?"

"There's just so many other things to worry about!" Aloe replied before looking away, "I suppose ve get used to the way things are, and ve don't realize there vas problem."

Rarity rolled her eyes at this, "You obviously need an outside eye to evaluate the situation. It's lucky for you that Applejack is just too stubborn to relax!"

Applejack glared at the mare, "Rarity..." Rarity glanced back at her, "Look, ah'm sorry, but we'll just have to do this another day. Twilight and Spike should be done feedin' the pigs by now and Flash and Springer should be checkin' the last orchard for apples."

"Flash and Twilight are very capable ponies. I'm sure they can figure out what to do next."

"Look, ah know Twilight's a princess and an alicorn while Flash is a knight that's saved Equestria a half-dozen times, but they ain't farmers. Ah've been doin' farm work mah whole life, and ah'm not sure it's somethin' ya'll can just 'figure out.'"

"Of course," Rarity sighed, only to let out a gasp, "Say, why don't we pop back so you could explain to them what to do next, and then we'll come back here and pick up where we left off?" Applejack's face showed a half-frown at this, only to slightly flinch as Rarity gave her a big grin. "Please? At least try it."

"Well..." the farmer looked away while tapping her chin, "Ah suppose ah could try...assumin' everythin' went well so far."

"Oh Applejack," Rarity laughed. "Honestly! How could it not?"

With that, the mares headed for the exit just as the steam room opened with a highly relaxed Iron Core stepping out of the room. "That hit the spot," he moaned with a look on his face that said 'all is right with the world.' He turned to head for the exit as well, only to come to a stop. his head shifted between it and the steam room, biting his lip for a second before trotting back into the room, shutting the door with ease.





"I think that's it," Flash said as he picked up the last apple and placed it in the beyond saving bucket. "I declare these apples sorted."

Rogue unfurled himself again, staring down at the two full barrels, one of which was filled with near perfect condition apples while the other was full of bruised, broken and very messy fruit. "Huh," he yawned before flapping down, "Not bad. I'm no expert, but I think this is about as well as Granny Smith would do."

Flash and Springer hoof-bumped. "Sweet," Springer picked up the basket of destroyed apples. "So these go to the pigs, right?"

"Actually, they'll be added to tomorrow's feed."

"So what do you do with these?" Flash pointed to the almost okay ones. "I know they're not too bad, but I doubt Applejack's gonna still wanna sell them."

"Not in their current form," Rogue chuckled, "But that's where I come in." He trotted up to the bucket, staring into with a giant smirk before taking a deep breath. Flash and Springer quickly covered their ears at this, Rogue then unleashing his sonic scream into the bucket. Doing so caused the apples to vibrate, the fruit now crumbling and turning into a pile of mush.

Now the apples were completely pulverized, Rogue stopping his scream as he lifted his head out of the bucket. "Pretty cool, right?" The defenders uncovered their ears, both leaning over the bucket and now seeing nothing but apple mush. "Apple Bloom thought of me doing this after seeing what I did to their apples when we met. This means they can make applesauce, apple pie and apple crumble filling much easier."

"So that's why they've been selling so many pies and crumble lately." Flash responded while rubbing his ears, "You're right, that is pretty cool. Though could you warn us next time?"

"Sorry." Rogue added as he grabbed a lid and put it over the bucket.

"Its cool. Come on, let's go see how Twilight and Spike are doing."

Rogue nodded at this before walking to another part of the barn, grabbing some sunglasses. Equipped for the day, they headed out into the farm. But when they arrived at the pig pen, they were met with Twilight hanging from a rope over the pen, holding a stick with a corn cob tied to it. Spike was holding the rope, which was connected to a pulley system that helped the mare suspend over the pen.

"Uh...Twilight....honey...what are you doing?"

"Feeding the pigs," Twilight replied while trying to balance herself, "Just like Applejack's list said so."

Spike let out a groan as he almost lost his grip on the rope. "Wouldn't it be easier to just fly?!"

"I told you Spike, we're following Applejack's list to the letter, and Applejack doesn't fly!" She then tried to fill the trough, only to lose her balance and fall off the post. "WHOA!" This made Spike lose his grip, the rope pulling upward while wrapping his leg, yanking him as well.

"WHOA!" He yelped before Springer caught him, keeping the dragon from getting too high and saving Twilight as she was about to be dunked in pig mud.

Twilight sighed in relief before heating hoofsteps and turning to see Applejack and Rarity. A large frown was on the farmer's face, "Ah'm sorry Rarity, but ah think ah'm gonna have to finish these chores mahself."

This got a grumbling response from Rarity as Flash grabbed the rope so Springer could unfurl it from Spike's leg while Rarity spoke up. "Twilight, darling! How in the world did you end up there?"

Once Spike was free, Twilight used her magic to untie the rope around her and spread her wings. "Spike and I were just trying to follow Applejack's list as closely as possible."

As she said that, Spike let out a growl and held up the list, "Maybe not the best plan."

"I'm sorry, Applejack," Twilight landed next to her. "But we never even got started feeding the pigs."

Applejack nodded at this, "That's alright Twilight." She trotted over and picked up the dropped bucket of food, which she placed on the fence post. "Ah know yah did yer best. Ah guess a list can't really capture all the ways ah have of doin' things."

"Though me and Springer completed our task without any problems," Flash added as he leaned up against his partner as they folded their arms, "And Rogue helped us sort them for Granny Smith."

"Ya'll did?" She turned to Rogue, who nodded at this. "Well thanks. That's sure to take a load off for her. But the rest of mah chores ah'll need to do fer mahself."

"At least you two got to spend some time at the spa together," Twilight chimed in.

"Yeah," Spike said while nodding, "That must've been super relaxing!"

However, Rarity let out a long sigh, "Well, if watching Applejack fix plumbing counts as relaxing, then yes."

"What do you mean? What about your hour of spa perfection?" Twilight asked, "Don't tell me the place was closed."

"As it turns out, the Ponyville Day Spa had a few problems with their steam room." She then shot Applejack a long glare, "And somepony refused to relax until she had fixed them."

In response, Applejack grabbed the rope and moved over to the fence as she started to speak up, "Ah'm sorry, but ah just couldn't let those spa ponies go another minute puttin' up with problems they didn't even know they had! Somehow, they just got used to a huge bottleneck of ponies standin' around waitin'." As she said that, she opened the gate before closing it for no reason. "And ah took one good look at that spa jam and ah knew ah had to do somethin'!" She then moved over to the other side of the pen. "Sometimes the simplest things can just derail a whole operation." After saying that, she suddenly gave the pig a strange look. She googled her eyes, waved her hooves and stuck out her tongue to make babbling sounds.

"What's she doing?" Springer asked Rogue.

"I have no idea," he replied. "I've never actually seen her feed the pigs before."

"Whether it's a leaky pipe or doin' too much laundry." Applejack moved back to the other side, "Yah can't just stick to the same old way of doin' things and expect them to get better." She then started doing the chicken dance, everypony raising an eyebrow as she clucked and mimicked the winged beast. "I mean, thinkin' you can is just plumb ridiculous, right?" She let out a short laugh before grabbing the rope and jumping up onto the pulley system, wrapping the rope around it. "It's funny when yah realize the extra work they were doin' was actually makin' things worse!"

With that, she leapt off the beam, the pony now suspending herself above the pig pen. She waved the corn around, finally catching the pig's attention. They picked themselves up and ran toward the corn, Applejack swinging it away so they shot past the trough. This caused the bucket to fall over, making the food land in the metal bucket right in front of the pigs.

And as the beasts began to feast, Applejack continued to speak, "Ah mean, ah guess it's possible to get stuck in a routine where yer doin' all this extra stuff and not realize it, but ah can't for the life of me think of how!" She turned to the others, now seeing them all giving her glares or raised eyebrows, "Why are y'all starin' at me like that?"

"I think you're about to get an extra special lesson on irony," Flash replied as Twilight and Rarity shared a glance.

The fashion pony let out a long sigh as she turned back to the farmer, "Um...are you certain everything you just did is entirely necessary to feed the pigs?"

"What?" Applejack threw the corn stick away, "Of course!" She began to untie the rope and fell to the ground. "Why would ah be doin' it if it weren't?" She then moved back over to the fence. "See? This gate here used to squeak so loud that the pigs would run to the other side of the pen and never come out!" She repeated what she had done earlier, "So ah open and close it to let them know it's safe."

"But it doesn't squeak anymore," Twilight pointed out.

"Of course not! I fixed that ages ago."

"So why are you-" Springer didn't get to finish as Applejack ran over to the other side and repeated the face.

"Then ah realized puttin' a little fright into 'em got 'em all hustlin' out of the pen."

"They don't look scared to me," Spike chimed in.

"Well, no." Applejack responded while moving away, "They got used to it. Which is why I started doin' the chicken dance!" She then repeated the dance as she continued, "To show 'em that if they didn't get to eatin' their food, the chickens would." She came to a stop, running out of sight as the six tried to follow her, only to hear her voice coming from the pulley. "Course, bein' a chicken, I couldn't very well open the gate." She jumped off again and began to hang from the rope. "Gettin' the food bucket to spill into the trough was just a happy accident because one time I left it there by mistake."

She shined a big grin at this, only for her smile to disappear as they all just stared at her.

"My brain hurts," Springer moaned while rubbing his head.

"Uh...Applejack? It seems like everything you're doing is to fix things that aren't really problems anymore."

"Yeah," Flash added with a nod, "I mean, the gate I can probably get continuing to do. But the face and dance thing...that just a little..."

"Stupid," Rogue deadpanned, making Applejack flinch.

She then watched the others continue to stare at her, making her rub her chin in thought, "Well ah'll be..."

"Hmmm," Rarity hummed as she walked up to her hanging friend, "Maybe it isn't so hard to get stuck doing extra work after all."

"Huh." Applejack dropped down, "Ah wonder if ah've been doin' that around here with anythin' else."

"Well, there's only one way to find out!"

"But first, there's something I've been dying to ask." The others turned to Flash, "Why exactly do you have pigs on a farm? I mean...what purpose do they serve?"

The others shared a glance, curiosity on every face before turning back to Applejack as she spoke up, "Well, yah see-"





Several hours later...

It turned out that Applejack had been doing a bunch of extra work without realizing it. She was feeding chickens one at a time to collect their eggs, trying to patch holes in wire fences instead of replacing the whole thing, and using the pipe sprinklers to water only one patch of vegetables at a time instead of all at once.

With the help of her friends, Applejack managed to finish her chores not only on time, but actually early. She let out a long sigh of relief as she said to them, "Thanks ya'll. I guess I just got so used to doin' everythin' a certain way that I didn't realize there were any problems."

"Having a friend look at what you're doing with an outside eye can really help!" Twilight added with a giant grin.

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Agreed. And I suppose if it weren't for our unsuccessful time at the spa, none of us would've realized it."

"But maybe Rogue can help from now on," Flash chimed in while slapping the thestral on the back. "Maybe whenever he sees you doing something, he can ask what you're doing and see if he can't find a better way to get it done."

"Yeah," Rogue chuckled, "Maybe I can."

Applejack gave a small smile at this, Twilight then walking up to her, "Well, now that your chores are streamlined, what are you gonna do with all the extra time?"

Applejack turned to Rarity, "Ah think ah have a few ideas." This made Rarity squeal in excitement as she began to trot in place.





A half hour later...

The two mares were now back at the spa, both ready for some quality time together. "Ahh..." Applejack sighed as they walking inside, "Think ya'll can come up with enough things for us to do now that we have more time to relax?"

"Oh, please." Rarity giggled while waving a hoof, "I could plan a week's worth of treatments!"

Applejack laughed at this, "Well, let's just start with the rest of the day for now. After all, with all that work we just did on the farm, ah'm ready for some serious relaxation!"

It was here they heard a sigh that they both recognized, the two turning to see Rainbow walking into the room wearing her gown and slippers. "Thanks for letting me know there was an opening," she told Aloe. "I don't know if I could make it without my pampered muscle massage."

"Don't vorry about it," the spa pony replied, "Shall I put you down for another one tomorrow?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Rainbow tapped her cheek, "Sometimes a girl just has to pamper herself. Am I right?"

"You certainly are!" Rainbow's eyes went wide hearing Rarity's voice, the pegasus gasping as she slowly turned to her friends.

"Oh! Hey! I was just, uh..." She stuttered out.

"Gettin' a 'sports' pamperin'?" She and Rarity giggled as Rainbow's face kept getting redder.

"Don't worry Rainbow Dash, we were just heading in for some pampering ourselves. You could always join us."

Applejack nodded in agreement. "That is, if yah don't mind sufferin' through one or two of those 'froufrou' treatments."

"Um..." Rainbow let out a small squeak, "I suppose I could take it. You know, for you two." The three all laughed as they headed back into the treatment area, Applejack and Rarity changing into some robes before they all moved over to the steam room.

But when they opened it up, they found somepony was already in there. "Iron Core?!" Rarity asked as the knight was laid out against the back seat, "You're still here?"

Iron looked up at them, a serene look on his face that none of them had every seen before. "What?! Can't a stallion spend over six hours relaxing in a room full of evaporated water?!" The three all laughed again, joining him as they intended to get as much relaxation in as they could before the spa closed.
> All's Fair in Love and War
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was late evening in the town of Ponyville, everypony beginning to house themselves up for the night. The sun was still up, but the streets were almost entirely empty. Only Grand, Lightning and Iron were outside, preforming their final patrol of the day while at the Castle of Friendship, many of its occupants were enjoying a new addition to the training room. A video game option.

"Turn left! Turn left!" Spike told Heart as the colt spun the wheel of the controller he was using, causing the cart to take the turn and grab the power up the dragon had pointed out.

"Ha!" Heart cheered, "You're going down!"

"I don't think so!" Flash laughed back.

Ever since Heart had been shown how amazing video games were by Rumble and Button Mash, he had been wanting to play with his sister, mentor and many others in the castle. And since Button had a 'no fillies allowed' policy with his games, Heart had tried to convince Flash and Twilight to get him his own.

And while the two had been open to the idea, Twilight realized they already had a game system thanks to the training room's ability to create anything. So now Heart had near-unlimited access to any game he and the others wanted to play, leading to their current situation: Him and Flash playing a racing game with Soul, Springer, Scootaloo, Ace, Mira and Spike watching from the side.

"Come on Flash!" Springer barked at the pony at the other wheel, "You need a power up to stop his!"

"I know that," Flash replied, "But there isn't one-THERE!" He sharply turned, his cart drifting seconds before Heart's attack hitting him, making him go spinning, "Hey!" Heart laughed as he sped past him, Flash quickly regaining his bearings as Heart got to the finish line, only to say, "Take this!"

"No, no, no!" Heart cried as he was hit by a lightning bolt, causing him to shrink as Flash shot past him, crossing the finish line. He and Springer began cheering, Heart slamming his head on the controller. "Not fair...."

"Totally fair," Soul responded before using her magic to lift him into the air. "Now move, I play winner."

"You're on," Flash chuckled, only for the group to hear the doors opening, all turning to see Twilight trot into the room.

"Flash?" The pegasi smiled back at her, only to grimace as she saw the look on her face.

"What's wrong Twi?"

"It's your turn to do the dishes, remember?"

"Oh, come on!" Soul barked, "I wanted to cream him in a race."

"Can't he do it later?" Heart asked next, Spike and the young jakhowls all nodding.

The princess shook her head, "No. You should never hold off on something that needs doing. Get it done, then you no longer have to worry about it. Besides, leaving those dirty dishes could attract flies and other insects, and then it's everypony's problem."

"Alright, alright...I'll do it." Flash sighed as he got up, putting his controller in Springer's paws, "Win for me bud." Springer nodded back, Flash then leaving the room with Twilight.





Later that night...

Twilight was in her and Flash's room. She was sitting in bed, reading a book on the different types of mineral compilations. Despite the apparently boring subject, her eyes were squarely focused on the material, ready to read for hours...if it wasn't for the blaring music beating from across the hall.

She let out a sigh at this, knowing it was Flash practicing his guitar in his office. She wanted to ask him to stop or go find someplace else to play, but she quickly decided on a better option. The alicorn cast a spell, creating a sound proof bubble around her. But as she did this, she found her now split focus starting to disturb her reading. She couldn't absorb the info as much, or read as fast as she tried to maintain the magic.

An hour or so later, the door of the bedroom opened, Flash slowly walking inside. Twilight noticed this and dropped the barrier before he could see it, now noticing the defender let out a yawn before climbing into bed with her. "Good night," he muttered before kissing her on the cheek.

"Good night," Twilight replied, seeing him roll away so he wasn't facing the lamp light she was using to read. She summoned a pair of earplugs next, already hearing some snores from the pegasi before going back to her book. It wasn't long till she finished a chapter, putting a bookmark in the novel after this.

She clicked the lamp off next, laying down despite not feeling the least bit tired. Despite this, she knew Flash needed to be up for an early patrol tomorrow. She closed her eyes and after about forty minutes of laying on the bed, she felt herself finally drift off.





The next day...

Flash and Springer had just finished their early morning patrol, now leisurely trotting for the castle as the defender spoke up, "So...how long do you think it'll be until Ace and Mira are ready to learn Aura Blast?"

Springer shook his head at this, "I don't know. I think their aura still needs a little more strengthening...though its different for both."

"How so?"

"Well...Mira has the principles down, but she doesn't have the amount of aura. Ace is the opposite though. He has the aura, but he's..." the jakhowl let out a long sigh. "Lazy." Springer then rubbed the side of his head, "At least they're starting to learn to sense and distinguish different auras from ponies they know really well."

"That's good...I think."

"Yeah. Luna and Ruby have already given me a bunch of tips about ways of getting them to understand the principles of the attack, but its not enough. I just...I want them to be able to defend themselves against Shade. When he finds out about them-"

"I know, and you'll be ready." Flash interrupted, patting the jakhowl's shoulder with her wing, "Say, is there anything I can do to help?"

Springer opened his mouth to answer, only for a cloud of green ash to suddenly fly up to them. The ash spiraled around, morphing into a note with a loud pop. Flash quickly caught it, opening it up as Springer asked, "What's up?"

"Twilight needs me back at the castle ASAP," he replied, taking to the skies with Springer hopping on his back.

And as they got to the building, Springer scanned it over, "Map room!" They flew through the corridors, getting to the room to find Twilight, Spike and Starlight staring at the map.

"Twilight! What's wrong?!"

"The map!" Twilight instantly replied, "It's not working!"

"What?!" Springer hopped off of Flash as he stared down at the crystal table, which would have normally activated by now since it could usually sense if anypony wanted to see it. "What happened? Did somepony spill grape jelly on it...again?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. I just realized it now, but the map hasn't worked since..."

She hesitated at this, Starlight letting out a sigh, "Since I used it to travel back in time?"

The group exchanged glances at this, Twilight slowly nodding before Springer asked, "So the spell you used damaged it?"

"Maybe," Twilight responded, "Or the amount of times I used it to go back in time drained its energy. Either way, the table won't work."

"Now that you mention it," Flash commented, "None of us have been summoned for a friendship mission since I got back."

"Exactly. I hadn't realized it either until just now," she then held up a scroll and floated it over to Flash. "Princess Celestia sent this."

Flash took the scroll, reading it out loud, "Dear Princess Twilight, I am writing in regards to a recent discovery involving a small town south west of Ponyville. In the recent weeks, the productivity of the town's outgoing products have drastically fallen. I sent an envoy to see what caused this and their report was...worrying. While I was originally planning to solve the issue myself, I realized the cause was close in nature to a friendship problem you and your friends usually find yourself going on."

"That's what made me realize the table wasn't working," Twilight chimed in, "Even if she's wrong and this isn't a friendship mission, it still got me thinking that the map hasn't been working since our little adventure."

Flash nodded and kept reading. "As I cannot call myself an expert in determining these things, I would like for you to go and see for yourself whether this would qualify as a friendship problem. If it does, please find a way to solve it so that the town may return to normal. If it isn't, you may decide whether to stay and deal with it, or allow somepony else to get involved."

"She wants you to go?" Springer asked, Twilight nodding back.

"Not just me." Twilight replied as Flash continued to read.

"I would suggest taking Flash with you. If you want to take the rest of your friends, I understand, but I have a feeling this is a matter best solved by the two of you."

"So what do you say?" Twilight added. "I know it's not an official friendship problem-"

"If Celestia wants us to go check it out, then I'm in."

Twilight showed a small smile at this as Spike turned to her, "You gonna bring the others?"

The alicorn shook her head, "Not right now. Flash and I will go on our own to check things out, and if we decide we need help, then we'll call the others in."

They all nodded in agreement before Flash and Twilight began to make preparations to leave. Within an hour and a half, they were all packed. Springer, Starlight and Spike saw them off at the train station, Heart, Soul and Scootaloo still being in school, with Flash and Twilight thanking them for looking after things before climbing onto the train. The two got to a compartment as it pulled away, Twilight taking out a map and a few scrolls specifying the little information known about the town.

"Blinkermane…a small farming community known for its yarn distribution. First built by the late Mister and Mrs. Blinker a hundred and fifty years ago. The farm that the town originated from started off as a small plot of land that the two were gifted as a wedding present. Through their hard work and team unity, they managed to make their business grow into a bustling town."

"So it's kind of like how Sweet Apple Acres helped create Ponyville," Flash commented.

"Exactly," Twilight responded, "I wonder what the problem is that's causing the town to not have any outgoing distribution."

"No point is speculating," Flash replied while laying back on the seat, putting his wings and hooves behind his head. "If this is a friendship problem, it'll turn out like the other ones we've been on. Either the problem will be obvious when we first get there like when you went to the smokey mountains, or we'll have to look around and solve as many problems as we can find until our cutie marks glow."

"Our cutie marks aren't gonna glow Flash," Twilight reminded him, "This isn't a map quest, remember?"

"Oh yeah."

"Besides, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. We'll figure it out a lot quicker if we make a list of possible problems we could find in this town." She took out a scroll and quill, Flash rolling his eyes at this before closing them to take a nap.

He didn't get to rest too long. Ponyville wasn't far from Blinkermane, the duo soon hitting the station by the town. And as the conductor announced the station, the two walked off the platform...only to see there was nopony else there. "Not a lot of hoof traffic," Flash commented while Twilight checked the map.

"The town's just down that path." She pointed at the path, the adjusting their saddlebags as Twilight took the lead. They found themselves walking into an empty forest, just a few stray birds flying around as Twilight chimed in, "Huh. This place is...kinda cozy. Surprised there's an issue."

Flash nodded at this, "I don't think the problem's wildlife based. Might not need me, at least for fighting."

"Don't worry meathead. We'll find something for you to exercise on by the end of this."

The defender rolled his eyes again, both walking into a clearing next. And as they went through it, they saw an entry sign arch for the town...only to see it had two signs. They stared at them, both hanging side by side from the arch, the two focusing on the left one. It was a simple brown wooden sign with words that looked like they had been written by a five year old.


Welcome to Stallimane
No Mares


They shared a glance before turning to the right one. The letters on this one looked much more professional, with well done calligraphy and a pretty pink backdrop and flower patterned trim.


Welcome to Blinkermare
Stallions Prohibited


"Stallimane?" Flash asked.

"Blinkermare?" Twilight added with a raised eyebrow before looking back and forth at the signs. "And what's with the rest of the signs? Stallions prohibited?"

"That means banned, right?" She nodded back. "So...both sides have a certain type of pony banned? Why?"

Twilight shrugged before they looked past the arch, now seeing a white line painted on the ground, one just like on tennis courts. The grass on either side of the line was very different. On Stallimane's side, it was short and well kept, but there was little to no flowers on this side. Meanwhile, the Blinkermare side of the grass was so long it went up to their knees...but while it was unkempt, there were several flower beds filled with beautiful flowers.

They stepped past the archway, now noticing the place was like looking at two sides of the same coin. The Stallimane side had buildings that had filthy windows and trash cans overflowing with bags, while the Blinkermare side's houses were falling apart, though their streets were clean. And at the center of the town...towns, a lone tree stood on the dividing line. The duo turned to the stores that lined the streets, Flash reading the labels out loud for Stallimane, "Sports pony outfits and equipment emporium? Fast Food Taco Stand? Hey, and there's a batting cage!"

Twilight stared at the stores in Blinkermane. "Shoe store, perfume store...Oh, chocolate!" As she said this, she then saw several spas and hooficure buildings.

"What is with this place?" Flash asked. "One side looks like it's taken right out of Bulk Bicep's wet dreams while the other side-"

"Looks like it's out of Rarity's," Twilight finished before holding up the map. "There isn't anything about two towns being here."

"And where's Blinkermane?"

"Blinkermane is no more!" They turned to one of the buildings in Stallimane, only to spot an olive green earth pony with an orange mane and tail that had a shearing razor for a cutie mark. "It has been dissolved to create something better."

"Better?"

"That's right!" he replied, nodding, "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Blinker, Woolly Blinker. Mayor of Stallimane."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. "Blinker? As in, the Blinkers who first founded Blinkermane and-"

"STOP!" Woolly yelled, quickly running up to Twilight and flashing a hoof up to her face, "Not another step further, please." They raised an eyebrow, only to look down and saw that Twilight was one step away from entering Stallimane. "I'm sure you've seen the sign when you first arrived here."

"Yeah..." Flash commened, "No mares. Very clear message."

"Then please abide by it. As mayor of Stallimane, I have declared this town a colt's only location. Should you enter the town now, you'll be breaking that law."

"Like she'd ever want to step hoof in that pigsty!" a voice rang out, the three turning to it to see a reddish orange unicorn mare with a bluish green mane and tail. She was wearing a blue woollen cardigan and half-moon glasses with a spinning wheel for her cutie mark.

She trotted up to them, only to gasp at Twilight's horn and wings, "You...you must be a princess!"

"Err...yes," Twilight replied, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship."

"Oh," she trotted on the spot, "It's such and honour to have you here!" She ran up and placed a hoof around her neck, "I'm Lace Blinker, mayor of this sweet village. And welcome, your majesty, to the most serene town in all of Equestria!"

"Um...thank you," Twilight slowly nodded. "It's...very nice to be here." But as she said this, Twilight realized something, "Wait, your name's Blinker too?"

"Yes," she sighed before turning to Woolly, "You've met my husband already." The two shared a glare at one another, Flash and Twilight's eyes darting between the two as Lace added, "I apologize for him not realizing your royal status. Stallions, am I right?"

Twilight slowly opened her mouth at this, "Well...I can understand his haste. I was about to break a law, though it's quite a confusing one."

"I'm guessing it's also against the law for me to enter your fair town?" Flash inquired.

"Finally," Lace groaned, "A stallion with brains."

"Well uh..." Twilight giggled before the two mares laughed.

Flash rolled his eyes with a smile while Woolly growled at this, "Like he would want to be anywhere near your overly girly town when he can spend all the time in the world in the stallionliest town Equestria." He threw his hooves around Flash's neck. "Come on bro, let me show you around." He began to drag Flash over to the building he had come out of, Lace gesturing to Twilight to follow her.

"Right this way princess. I'm sure the rest of the girls will be excited to meet you." Twilight followed after her, only to glance back at Flash.

He did the same, the two locking eyes and having a mental conversation one could only have with somepony they've known and trusted for years. "Try and get back here in an hour?"

"In an hour," Twilight silently replied, the two turning back to their new...friends as they were dragged into the houses.

Flash stared at the building, now seeing that Woolly wasn't kidding about the place being stallions only. Every inch of the place was filled with the kind of things one would only see in a colt's room. Posters from action movies and comics on the wall, cider signs and framed sports clothing and sports equipment beside them. There were tons of vending machines lining the walls, along with popcorn, nacho, and churro machines. Speakers systems were in every top corner, blasting out awesome rock music.

He spotted a bumper, pool, ping-pong and air-hockey table around the room and one corner was filled with arcade machines. Flash would have thought it was awesome, if not for the stains covering the walls and loose pieces of trash scattered along the floor.

"Hey guys!" Woolly yelled out to the multiple stallions using the facilities, "We got us a new stallion in town!" Everypony quickly turned and ran up to Flash, introducing themselves by slapping him on the back or hoof bumping. Once that was done, they asked what he was doing here.

"We actually got called here to find out what's going on in this town," he replied, "Apparently, you haven't been distributing your product like normal."

Several of the ponies all sighed. "Typical of a princess to come and try to spoil everything," one of the stallions sighed, "Why can't there be any male alicorns? They would get us."

Flash chose not to say anything at this, now remembering almost becoming that very alicorn a few months ago. But as this happened, Woolly placed his hoof around Flash's neck again, "My friend, we're still in a transitional period. You see, the sheep farms are all here in Stallimane. We can sheer all the sheep we want, but it's a manner of finding somepony who wants that wool."

"Can't you just sell it to the ponies that normally buys it?"

"Well...that's the thing," another stallion replied, "All our previous clients only want...yarn."

"So?"

"So, we can't make yarn," another responded, "Everything we need to make 'em is over in that girly town."

Another one nodded at this, "And even if we had what we needed to make it, making yarn is a mare's job. We only do stallionly jobs here in Stallimane."

Flash blinked at this, "Well that's a bit cliché. So you're saying any job you see as something mares are supposed to do...you don't do?"

"Now he's getting it," Woolly chuckled, patting Flash's back.

"And that includes...cleaning up?"

"Who wants to waste their time cleaning up?" One asked, "When we could be playing video games instead. I'm racing the new guy." With that, they pushed Flash to a couch with a console set up in front of it. Before Flash could say anything, he suddenly found himself racing against one of the stallions and being offered a drink from the mini-fridge and some pizza.

He had to admit though, this was kinda fun.





"Welcome to our mare's only paradise," Lace announced as she and Twilight walked into a large building full of mares.

The place was spotless, pink painted walls that were covered in fine art and many bookshelves. Calming classical music was being played by a record player that was perfect to listen to while reading. To Twilight, it was perfect...though she couldn't help but feel like it was a little...stuffy. Like all the excitement had been sucked out of the room.

"Girls, we have a special guest." Lace called out, everypony looking up from their books or knitting to see Twilight. And the moment they noticed her wings and horn, they shot up and one by one, Twilight was greeted with bows and hoof-shakes.

"Very nice to meet you all," Twilight replied, trying to give big smile, "I have to admit, this is a very nice place you have."

"You honor us princess," Lace commented while showing to over to a couch. "We have everything a mare could possibly need to survive in the stallion run world."

"I wouldn't really call it stallion run," Twilight responded before sitting down. "The rulers of this land are all mares after all."

"Maybe so, but most of the ponies in the royal court are stallions. And if enough of them agree, they can over turn any law the princesses can make." Twilight opened her mouth at this, but didn't say anything despite knowing that was true but didn't think that meant anything really. "Now princess, what brings you to our fair town? Come to see how amazing everything is when colts are taken out of the planning process?"

Twilight shook her head, "No. Princess Celestia sent me and Flash because apparently this town's product quota hasn't been fulfilled."

This caused Lace's smile to drop, sighing at this, "Yes, that has been a problem. Please tell the princess we're sorry, but we've been unable to fill that quota due to...circumstances."

"You mean the town's gender split?"

"No. That has had nothing but positives for us. We're talking about those ruffians across the border who refuse to sell us their wool."

Twilight raised an eyebrow as another mare explained, the unicorn pouring Twilight a cup of tea, "You see princess, Blinkermare has all the equipment needed to make all the yarn Equestria needs. But we've run out of the wool needed. And since the wool farm is on the stallion side of the border, we have no way to secure more."

"Can't you just buy more wool from someplace else?"

"We considered that," Lace replied, "But the closest place that produces wool is miles away, and the cost of buying and shipping it here over and over means we wouldn't even be able to break even on our best season."

"You could always buy some sheep and make the wool yourselves."

"Absolutely not!" Lace yelped, "Do you know how much dirt and sweat that would drench us in?! Sheering sheep is a stallion's job, and we mares will not partake in it."

"Well that's a bit old school," Twilight responded while taking a sip of the tea, "Mares can do anything a stallion can."

"Just because we can do all that stuff, doesn't mean we should have to." She gestured to several ponies that were either reading or knitting, several looking like they were having trouble doing the latter. "Some of these mares were once workers on the farms. Day in and day out they would toil away feeding, cleaning and shaving the sheep. And by the end of it, they were so exhausted that they didn't have the energy to do anything until the next day when they repeated the process."

"Sounds like normal farm work," Twilight added.

"Except the stallions didn't have this issue." Lace hissed, "They would work the same hours and do the same work, and afterwards they would still have the energy to do foalish things like play silly games or hit a ball on a table with a stick!"

"So...the stallions have more stamina than mares?" Twilight replied, "So what?"

"So why should they get to enjoy free time while the mares barely have the energy to walk home afterwards?!" Lace exclaimed before leaning up to the alicorn's face, "And do you know what those stallions said when we brought this up to them?! That maybe the mares shouldn't be doing as much work as them!"

Twilight leaned slightly back at this, "Well...they might not be wrong."

"Nonsense," Lace scoffed, waving a hoof, "The mares can do just as much work as any stallion. They just need to be doing the right work. That's why I had all the mare farmers quit their jobs and had them join us at the yarn factory."

"But won't that mean the farms are understaffed?"

"That's why I sent the stallions who worked at the factory to work on the farms." Lace smirked as she said that, Twilight trying to hide a frown as she heard those words. She then remembered back to the incident that resulted in her ascending into an alicorn, when Applejack was given Rarity's cutie mark. She doubted a pony used to working on a farm would have much luck doing something as delicate and refined as spinning yarn.

She also started to imagine what it would be like if Rarity had to work on Applejack's farm, the bookworm doubting Rarity could ever handle the more rough and tough jobs needed to be done on a farm. The alicorn let out a small gulp, "Are you sure doing that was a good idea?"

"Of course! This way the mares aren't exhausted, so they have the time to have fun reading or even trying new things they've never got to try before."

"But you still have the issue of not having any wool to make anything."

"Only temporary. Pretty soon those silly stallions will come to their senses and start selling us the wool. Then, Blinkermare will be truly independent." The rest of the mares cheered at this, the group offering Twilight more tea and biscuits. And despite the very serious situation, Twilight couldn't help but let the calm atmosphere of the place overwhelm her into a state of serene bliss.





"Go! Go! Go! Go! GOOOOO!" Woolly cheered as Flash overtook his last opponent before crossing the finish line. "YEAH!" He and the other stallions howled while his opponent looked away, pouting.

"Right on bro!"

"Thanks!" Flash laughed before another stallion offered him a fizzy soda. Flash took it and gulped half the drink down, only to suddenly burp before he had a chance to put his hoof over his mouth. The others heard this, staring at the defender as he slightly blushed, "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about," Woolly chugged his own drink before letting out his own burp. The rest of the stallions did the same thing, everyone laughing once the round of belches came to an end. "Aaah..." Woolly laid back on the couch, "This is the life. With the mares gone, there's nothing to get in the way of us being who nature intended us to be."

"Slobs," another stallion added while the others cheered at that. Flash turned to the stallion that said, now seeing a disgusted look on his face...though that was possibly because he had just stepped in some cheese pizza somepony had dropped on the floor.

"Is being a slob really the best thing?" Flash asked, "I mean...it kinda smells in here."

"Smells like stallions," a pony yelled.

Flash turned to the kitchen, seeing a bunch of dirty plates in the sink with tons of flies over them, "And those bugs flying around can't be healthy."

"It's fine," one of the ponies exclaimed. "The bugs are helping us. They can eat all the leftover food and leave the plates free and clean."

"And possibly filled with eggs," Flash added.

"Those mares have really brainwashed yah," Woolly told him. "You're sounding just like Lace used too." He then started speaking in a high pitched voice, trying to mimic his wife. "Don't leave that plate in the sink. Clean it up and put it away. If those chips fall on the floor, don't eat 'em, throw them away! The floor isn't where your coat goes, hang it up!"

He and the others laughed, Flash blinking as he remembered Twilight telling him the same in the past. However, these thoughts made him stand up and slowly go over to the door. But as he did this, Wooly turned to him, "Hey, where're you going?"

"Err...just need to stretch my legs. Plus, I haven't seen...all of your amazing town yet."

"Oh!" Wooly replied, "Would you like me to show you around?"

Flash shook his head, "No, I'd rather see for myself and um...while I'm out, find out which of you is the best racer. I wanna play 'em when I get back." They all nodded and looked back at the game, letting Flash get outside.





Twilight was on her third cup of tea and had already gotten through half of her book. With no distractions and a surprisingly calm atmosphere, she was really getting into the reading groove. Not since her days studying in Canterlot had she been able to really focus on a book without needing to rush for fear of somepony interrupting her. But despite this, something seemed...off.

She looked up from the novel, seeing all the mares surrounding her were focused squarely on a book, knitting, drawing or whatever else was considered girly enough to be allowed. And because of that focus, none of them appeared to even be acknowledging the pony right beside them. None had said a word to one another in the near hour she had been there.

The sight made Twilight blink, remembering that when her and her female friends were hanging out, they would always be chatting when they were together. Even if they were doing things completely separate from what the other was doing, they would always be talking. Was ignoring each other considered mare-like or was it just a byproduct of living in this town?

The music was also starting the sound boring as well. Every song sounded almost exactly the same, the same melody, the same rhythm, the same shift in keys. There was no variety.

Twilight's gaze went around the room at this, catching one or two mares acting...differently. Unlike the other mares, who were sitting perfectly still as they focused on what they were doing, these ones were fidgeting. They kept shifting the way they were sitting, looking away slightly and even one of them yawning.

She had seen this many times before. Flash, Rainbow, Applejack and many of her other active friends would find certain work boring, unable to sit still as they needed something to keep them active. The 'phrase ants in their pants' was a fitting example of their current issue, knowing that if those mares didn't do something soon, they would likely go stir crazy.

Twilight shut her book and stood up, catching the mare's attention. "Princess? Is something wrong?"

"No," Twilight lied, "I just...need to continue my inspection so I can send a proper report to Princess Celestia."

"Of course," Lace replied as she began to stand up.

"No, no!" She told her. "I'd like to look around for myself without a guide. Help me draw my own conclusions. I'll come find you if I need any help."

"If that is what you wish," Twilight nodded before heading outside.

As she did this, she saw Flash stepping out of a building across the street. Both locked eyes, quickly trotting up to each other before going to the town's borders.

"So let me guess. Everything considered girly or un-stallion-like is banned?"

"Yup," Flash nodded. "And the mares over there refuse to do anything they see as uh...un-mare-like?"

"Unfeminine is the best word." Twilight sighed, "But it's all dialed up to eleven. It's like these towns have been thrown back a few hundred years to a time before any gender equality."

"Only instead of one gender forcing the stereotype on the other gender, they're forcing it on themselves. I guess Celestia was right about this place having a friendship problem."

"I'm not so sure," Twilight hummed, "I'd say this is more Cadance's field of expertise then us. Too bad she's not here. She could fix everyone with a single wave of her horn."

Flash's eyes shrunk at this, "Um...don't tell her this, but I've never been a big fan of her love magic." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "How is it any different from what Discord did to you girls when we met him? Like, remember when we were young? The three of us were walking through town when she noticed a couple arguing about something. She didn't know anything about their situation, but she just dove right in and used her magic on them."

"And it stopped them from arguing."

"But it didn't solve whatever problem they were arguing about," Flash pointed out. "I bet you anything the moment the magic wore off, they went right back to fighting."

"Maybe, but Cadance is a lot older now! She had just become a princess back then. Cadance would probably know how to fix this without resorting to magic, just like how most of our friendship missions are fixed."

Flash tilted his head at this, "Yeah...that is true. She did go a bit love crazy back then compared to now. You think her failing to put me and you together made her calm down her love magic?"

"Probably. Especially since magic doesn't work on you, that's why she did all that stuff like the-" Twilight stopped and shook her head, "We're going off topic! We need to figure this out Flash!"

"Sorry."

"Its fine." She put a hoof to her chin, "Now...I doubt she'd be able to come, mainly because I'm betting she wouldn't want to be away from Flurry too long."

"Yeah..." Flash turned to point at a smashed soda bottle on the ground, "And we can't just wait for her. If we don't do something soon, some of these stallions are gonna get really sick because they're not cleaning up after themselves."

"And a house is either gonna fall down or the grass on this side's gonna grow long enough that you could reenact a Viet-neigh scene."

"So what do we do?" Flash asked as he turned to the tree in the center of the line. A sign was also stuck in the ground, this one also on the border.



The seed of this tree was planted by the founders of our great town. May it stand forever as a monument to their love, which is what birthed this amazing community.



"We've got to find a way to help the mares and stallions see this is insane," Flash commented, Twilight nodding before the two hoof-bumped, breaking off and heading back to their gender's chosen houses.





"So..." Flash asked a few hours later, "What got you all to split off from the mares?"

He and three other stallions were tending to the sheep farm, herding them over to a padded fence filled with grass, one of the stallions looking up, "Oh, it was Woolly's idea."





"So what prompted this exodus?" Twilight added as she helped a few of the mares with cleaning the dishes while others were dusting.

"Ah, that." a mare who was drying replied, "It was Lace's idea to ban all stallions."





"He made us realize just how constricted we were with the mares around," another stallion explained to Flash as he came in while pulling a sheep dog behind him. "We work really hard all day, only to go home and have to do a bunch of chores that eat up the rest of our energy."

"Don't the mares have to do the same thing?" Flash asked.

"That's what we asked Woolly," another told him. "But then he brought up a good point. None of us cared that there were a few dirty dishes in the sink, so why should we waste time cleaning them?"

The stallion with the dog whistled, the animal running off to gather the stray sheep. "It's like this: If you wanted the ceiling of your house to have a mural on it, would it be your girlfriend's job to paint it?"

"No," Flash replied.

"Exactly!" the other stallion responded. "So if the mare doesn't want there to be any dirty dishes, then why is it suddenly our job to clean them?"





"You should have seen the graphs and pie charts she showed us," a mare said while Twilight was helping re-shelf some books. "Did you know that seventy-three percent of the waste Blinkermane put out in its last year came from stallions?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "That's a lot."

She nodded at this, "Exactly. And that thirty-eight percent of the recyclable waste was thrown in the trash. Do you realize what that means for our planet."

"I can understand that."

"And they have no intention of going through that trash and finding out what can and can't be recycled. It's always up to us mares. That's one of the reasons Lace suggested we get rid of the stallions. No stallions in Blinkermare, less waste created."

"But aren't you just shifting all that waste over to Stallimane?" She asked while passing her another book. "And if they're not going to sort the trash and the recyclables, doesn't that just mean there's gonna be even more trash than before?"

"Why should we have to clean up after them?" the mare shrugged, "If global warming destroys the world, we're making it clear that it wasn't our fault."





"It's like we're their slaves or something," a stallion sighed as Flash gave him some sheers. "If we're not doing something constructive, they automatically think we're wasting time. Every time I would sit down to try and play a game, she'd walk into the room and tell me about some new chore she wants me to do. It's like she waits until I'm comfortable and about to start playing before giving the job to me."





"It's like we're their mothers or something," a pegasus mare complained as she and Twilight vacuumed. "They can't think for themselves. The minute they finish a task, their brains switch off and then try to sit down and play those silly games. Then they get annoyed when we come in and tell them to do a job they should have realized needed doing. It's like talking to a six year old."





"We were going insane from all the work they were making us do."

As he said this, a loud scream caught their attention, all turning to see a pony being chased by a charging sheep. Flash saw it was the colt who had accidently stepped in the slice of pizza before, this one being a cream colored unicorn with white beneath his knees and running from between his eyes down to his nose. His mane and tail were a slightly light cream with strands of green, while his cutie mark was a ball of yarn.

"Help!" He yelled before Flash flew over and grabbed the sheep, allowing the young stallion to hide behind another.

"Geez Fibre," the stallion sighed while rolling his eyes, "What is this, the eighth time?"

"Sorry," he whimpered out, "I'm just...not used to them yet."

The stallion rolled his eyes again. "This is another thing Woolly made us realize. Fibre Stitch here used to work in the yarn factory, but all that time away from doing stallionly work has made him soft!"





"All those years letting the stallions treat us like maids, and that isn't even the worst part!"

She took Twilight over to another area of the building, the alicorn now seeing an etiquette class going on. There a brown earth pony mare with a short blond mane and tail that had a sheep cutie mark was trying to balance a book on her head, Twilight recognizing her as one of the mares she saw fidgeting as she read a book.

"Come on Harvest," another mare yelled, "Back straight!"

"This is hard!" She cried while trying to walk forward, only to lose her balance and drop the book on the floor.

"Blooming Harvest!" The mare barked, "Haven't you been practicing?"

"No," she whispered, looking away.

The mare from before pointed at the earth pony, "You see, that young one was working in the field until the split. She'd always come home muddy and exhausted and decide to cut her mane and tail so the sheep wouldn't get to it. She was more of a stallion than a mare, having absolutely no manners at all. But we helped liberate her from that work and now she can become a proper lady as she learns to spin yarn and walk properly."





"Thankfully, Woolly opened our eyes and helped us realize we didn't need any mares bossing us around and turning us into prissy wimps."





"Fortunately, Lace helped us realize the stallions were just holding us back and turning us into unrefined brutes."





"That's why we formed Stallimane."





"And so, Blinkermare was born."





Some time later...

Flash and Twilight were now sitting with their backs to the tree, making sure nopony could see they were talking to one another. "So by the sounds of things, Woolly and Lace are the ones responsible the town's split."

"Looks like it," Flash added, "By the sounds of things, they had some kind of big fight and that lead them to getting everypony to split between their genders. So if we wanna fix everything, we need to find a way to get them to make up."

"Good luck with that," Twilight sighed, "By the sounds of it, Lace isn't happy about all the trash and filth Woolly leaves behind."

"Same. According to him, Lace isn't a picnic to live with either." As Flash said this, he spotted one of the stallions tiphoofing around. It was Fibre Stitch, the young stallion carefully drifting from building to building. He had yet to notice Flash, leaning up against walls as he dodged passing stallions.

"That looks suspicious." Twilight commented as she saw the stallion as well, both now seeing him enter the woodlands. They shared a glance before going into the forest, Flash going first before Twilight joined a little later, making sure both weren't seen together.

Both let out a sigh as they now got the chance to stand side by side, now noticing some broken twigs. "Looks like he went this way." Flash commented as they continued through the woods. As they did this, a certain noise made both prick up their ears. They knew the sound from their own experiences, slight blushes on their faces. Pushing past some thick tree leaves, they found they were right as they came across Fibre Stitch making out with the mare Twilight knew as Blooming Harvest.

The motion of Flash and Twilight moving the branches caught the two's attention, making them pull away and turning to the duo. Both were wearing full blushes, Fibre whimpering, "Oh...its you. Um...uh..."

"Hey there." Flash slowly replied, raising a hoof.

Fibre flashed a hoof in front of Harvest, the mare slightly hiding behind him, "Um...please don't tell anypony!"

Twilight and Flash shared a glance, only for Harvest to blurt out, "Yeah! Especially not Lace or Wooly!"

The duo bit their lips at this, Twilight replying, "Don't worry, we won't. But uh...why are you out here?"

Fibre sighed and looked away, "You've seen how everypony is. The insane idea they've all started following about mares and stallions being separated."

"If anypony found out we were meeting like this, we'd be in serious trouble."

"Why?" Flash asked, "Why does it matter that you two clearly care about one another?"

"Anypony caught fraternizing with a pony of the opposite gender is seen as a traitor," Fibre gulped.

"We're not the only ponies who don't believe in this stupid ideal of Woolly and Lace," Harvest added, "So instead of being forced apart, they just left the town."

"But you didn't?" Twilight asked.

"This is our home," Fibre responded, "No matter how messed up it gets, we don't want to leave it. Although, I do wish I could go back to my real job at the yarn factory. It might not be not be very stallionly to say, but sheep freak me out. And I hate living in that pigsty the others created."

"And I'm so sick of all those etiquette lessons," Harvest growled. "I don't want to be able to balance a book on my head, I wanna do an honest day's work for once. Just because I got a little dirty, I'm suddenly not allowed to work on the farm with those cute little sheep. And all that cleaning we have to keep doing....what is this, the early Celestia era?!"

Flash let out a chuckle at this, "Heh...it is kinda weird." They all turned to him. "You love sheep while you're terrified of them and you hate cleaning while you can't stand things being filthy. You're almost the exact opposites, but you still care about each other enough to sneak off."

"Of course," Fibre nodded. "Harvest might be a little messy, but she's also a lot of fun to be around."

"And Fibre might be a little uptight at times, but he's also really reliable and caring."

They smiled at one another, making Flash and Twilight smile back as well. Twilight did a small nod at this as she chimed in, "You're right." the couple glanced back at her, "Me and Flash here are the same way. He may be messy and plays his music way to loud sometimes, but he's brave, caring and his determination is something I really admire."

"Same," Flash laughed. "Twilight spends way to much time with her nose in a book and she's really quick to go to the worst case scenario. And sure, she can be a little uptight and strict...almost to an infuriating degree. She also has a tendency to fixate on things to the point of driving herself insane, causing headaches for me and the ponies around her at times, and-"

"Please get to the point!" Twilight hissed, causing them all to laugh.

"My point," He skillfully slung his wing around the alicorn, pulling her into a hug, "Is that despite all that, she's an amazing mare to be around, and I wouldn't be who I am without her."

Twilight returned the hug before looking back at the town, "A lot of couples find happiness in having so many things in common, but it's the differences that truly make them special." She turned back to the couple, "Being different can also be a key part of a relationship. Whether it's a friendship, romantic or even work relationship, being different from that pony means the two of you can learn to grow and change."

"But none of these ponies want to change," Flash commented, crossing his hooves, "They're happy staying who they are, even if it means losing ponies they loved." His smile vanished as he asked the young couple, "How did those two do this?"

"Well...things weren't always like that," Fibre replied, "It wasn't until Lace and Woolly starting having troubles that the problem started. Woolly would keep complaining and complaining about things Lace made him do and while the others comforted him...and then they started seeing the same problems with their relationships."

Harvest looked away at this, "The same thing happened with Lace. The mares heard her complaining and started getting more short tempered about their stallion's behavior. Soon enough, almost everypony was arguing."

"And that led to the split?" Twilight asked, the two nodding. "So if we can help Woolly and Lace make amends, then maybe everypony else will see reason and the two towns can return to being one."

"How?" Harvest asked with a raised eyebrow. "What are you gonna do, trick them into having a romantic dinner and get them to remember that they love each other?!"

Twilight bit her lip at this, "True. That would be a good solution...but both have gone to the extreme for this. We need something stronger to make them realize."

Flash closed his eyes at this, only for a bulb to go off in his head, "I've got it." the others turned to him as he opened his eyes, "This idea sounds crazy, but hear me out."





The sun was starting to set when Flash and Fibre arrived at the stallion's hangout. When they walked into the building, they both had to duck in order to avoid a flying slice of pizza. They then rolled forward, avoiding some donut shurikens before jumping behind an upturned table to dodge several baguette javelins. There they found Woolly filling a slingshot with frozen peas.

He turned to them, "Ah, there you two are! Where yah been?! You've been missing an awesome food fight!"

"Nowhere special," Flash replied, "But we are glad you haven't eaten." He took out a blindfold, "We've got a surprise for you." This made Wooly raise an eyebrow, only to shrug as Flash told him it was 'stallion surprise'. Happily letting them blind him, he called a halt to the chaos so they could leave the room.

"So where're we going?" He asked as Flash and Fibre pushed him through the town.

"You'll see. Just keep your eyes closed and don't say anything until we get there."

And as they drew closer to the border, the un-blindfolded ponies saw Twilight and Harvest leading an equally blindfolded Lace Blinker toward them. They got closer and closer to the tree, right as Twilight sparked her horn and caused a clothed table to appear on the line with a pair of chairs sitting opposite one another. The two blinded ponies were sat down before Twilight and Fibre took off the blindfolds.

"SURPRISE!" The four yelled as the two stared at one another, both going wide-eyed at the sight.

"What is he/she doing here!" They yelled while trying to stand up, only for a magic aura to cover both, keeping them locked in place.

"Hang on there! You two aren't going anywhere just yet!" Flash yelled as flew above them both, turning to glare at both towns as the stallions and mares began to exit the buildings. "Same with the rest of you! Stay where you are! Please!"

"He's right! Just hear us out!" Twilight added before walking between Lace and Wooly, "I know your towns aren't getting along right now, and as the princess of friendship, it's my duty to help solve that issue. That's why we've set up this meeting." She sparked her horn again, this time summoning several lit candles as the light from the sun grew weaker. "Simply eat one meal together and try to work out your differences."

The two glared at one another, Lace turning to Twilight as the alicorn glared back at her. A silent nod came next, making Lace let out a long sigh, "Well, if the princess believes this is a good idea, then I'll be a grownup and give it a try."

"Ha!" Woolly barked, "Well, I'm even more of a grownup! Alright, let's do this!" Fibre and Harvest let out silent sighs of relief as Twilight teleported away, returning a few seconds later carrying two platters of food.

"I asked around and learned you're both a big fan of this recipe." She placed the platters down as Fibre walked up to them with two glasses and a bottle of fine wine.

"Would you care for a glass?" Lace nodded while Woolly glared at the drink, only to sigh as he did a small nod. Fibre slowly poured him a drink, Lace glaring at the stallion's reaction.

While this happened, Harvest leaned up and whispered to Twilight, "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Well, I asked around and this is how their first date went, including the meal."

"Hopefully we can spark some old embers of romance between them," Flash added, "And if it doesn't work, we go to plan B."

"You mean plan bomb," Harvest gulped, "Since that's a good chance it could blow up in our faces." They watched as the pair removed the dome covering off the top of their meals before their eyes went wide. The meals consisted of mashed potato filled with cheese and onion, along with a side order of beans and a fried egg.

"That's what they ate one their first date?" Fibre asked, "Not very romantic."

Twilight giggled at this, "To be fair, me and Flash had ramen on our first date, and I was already a princess at that point." Fibre and Harvest went wide-eyed at this as she continued, "I mean, that's not romantic, but the food still reminds me of the time."

"Same," Flash chimed in. "And it looks like they feel the same way."

Everypony turned to the two, seeing them focus on the food, their eyes filled with memories of times long ago. "Been a while since I had this," Lace commented as she dug into the food. "It's such a messy dish."

"And it takes forever to cook," Woolly added, both taking a first bite. And as they did this, they sighed at the taste and continued eating.

The sight made the four smile, Twilight whispering, "That's a good start."

"Now for phase two," Flash commented before flying up and sitting on one of the tree's branches, the pegasi seemingly pulling out an acoustic guitar from out of nowhere.

"Where'd he get that guitar?" Fibre asked as Flash began playing a calm song. Woolly and Lace heard this and looked up, seeing Flash and smiling at the music. They ate together as other ponies walked outside of their houses, all now hearing the music.

Woolly let out a sigh, "This takes me back."

"Yes..." Lace replied, nodding, "The two of us, here, eating this food."

"Yeah..." Woolly whispered as he glanced up at the tree they were under. Lace followed his gaze, both feeling memories surface at the sight.

"Why was this tree so special?" Lace asked, Wooly shrugging. But as he did this, Lace clapped her hooves, "Oh, that's right! Now I remember...it was because of your father."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do! You getting yelled at by your father because you carved my name into one of the branches with a heart around it."

"I did not," he barked back.

"I bet it's still there."

Flash heard this and looked away, now spotting an old carving in the bark of a larger branch that had the words 'Lace Ivory' carved into it. Flash couldn't help but smile at the sight.

The 'date' continued for several long minutes, the pair eating slowly while talking to one another. Lace let out a sigh as she started cutting up the egg. "I admit, this has been fun. Most fun I've had in a long while."

"Yeah..." Woolly added, nodding, "And I gotta admit, I missed the intelligent conversations."

Lace smiled as she took a bite. "It's strange. I've spent the last few weeks saying I'm better of without you, but now that I'm spending time with you..."

"You're only now realizing you missed me?" Lace nodded, "Me too."

And as if something in their heads clicked, they looked around at the divided town before bursting out laughing.

"What have we done?"

"I know," Woolly folded his egg up. "We must have been completely mental." With that, he shoved the whole thing into his mouth. This made Lace's laughter die down as he chewed the mouthful, bits of the egg yok dribbling out. She couldn't help letting out a sigh, catching Woolly's attention before speaking with his mouth full. "What?"

"I know you have a big mouth, but that isn't a license to try and stuff as much food as you can in it."

Woolly rolled his eyes as he swallowed, "Here we go. You just can't help yourself, can you?"

"Excuse me?!" Lace yelped, frowns now appearing on the others' faces at this.

"Pointing out every little thing wrong with me. You just can't leave it be."

"Well excuse me for wanting you to be the best version of you that you can be."

"Why does everything have to be perfect with you?!" Woolly yelled while slamming his hooves into the table.

"Why can't you ever try and improve yourself?" Lace hissed before let out a 'hmph' and looking away, "When you were younger, all these annoying little habits were okay because I thought you'd grow out of them. But instead you've actually gained more of them."

"Oh please, like you haven't gotten worse-"

"I haven't! I'm still as I was back then." Lace interrupted before pointing at the stallion, "Its you that's gotten worse. What happened to the stallion I loved back then? Why did he become a slob?!"

Wooly crossed his hooves at this, hissing out, "I've always been like that. I've never changed, meaning that stallion you loved was something you thought I would become." He looked away at this, "You know what, I just remembered why Stallimane doesn't need any annoying mares in it."

"And you've only reaffirmed to me that Blinkermare would be better without you disgusting stallions!"

"Why you-"

Flash and Twilight shared a glance at, both nodding as they knew it was time for plan b. "Alright then," Twilight yelled, getting both ponies' attention, "Before you two decide to go into a full argument, I'm going to solve this problem right now!"

Before either could react, she summoned a scroll on the table between them, unfurling as she gave the two quills. "This is a document for divorce. Simply sign here and it'll fix everything."

This made both go wide-eyed, the rest of the town gasping as Lace stuttered out, "D-d-divorce?!"

"Why?! Wait...you have that kind of power?!" Woolly yelped.

"As a princess, I hold as much legal right as any judge. And since neither of you want to be around one another, I see no reason you should remain married." She placed an ink pot on the table. "Now if you'll just sign here, we can make it official."

The two shared a glance, unmoving at the command the princess had given them. As they did this, Flash hopped off the tree and landed beside the princess as he spoke up, "Don't just stand there. You two are responsible for what's happening in this town. This will separate the town for good, just like you two want."

Wooly and Lace shared another glance, as if asking if this was what the other wanted. They then dipped the quills into the pot, moving over to the paper...only to stare at it. Everypony saw them freeze up, the quills shaking as ink splattered onto the document.

And in unison they both pulled away and yelled, "I can't do this!"

Twilight and Flash shined big smiles at this as both froze and looked at each other in shock, the princess asking, "Why not? If you can't stand to be in the same as one another-"

"Separating from him is one thing," Lace interrupted, twiddling her hooves, "But..."

"I don't want to lose her," Woolly finished. "I...can't lose her."

They stared at each other at this, for Harvest to speak up, "Why do you two get to stay together if we have to be apart?" They turned to her, watching as she and Fibre stood side by side.

While this happened, Flash glanced at both towns, "She's right. How many more of you are regretting letting yourself get swept up in these two's argument?"

Everypony shared several glances, all having minor mental conversations. And as they did this, Twilight stepped up to the pair. "If you can't be apart from one another, what right do you have to separate others?" Woolly and Lace looked away at this, only to hear Twilight tap the table with her hoof. And as they glanced back, she asked, "Do you want to stay married?"

"Yes," they both said in unison.

"Then you've got to work past these issues, Consider this your wake-up call." Twilight told them before turning to Lace. "You've got to accept that he is who he is. He decides the kind of pony he wants to be." She then glanced over to Woolly. "And you've got to grow up and act your age at least some of the time. Washing a dish isn't going to kill you."

"Heck, it'll probably save your life in the long run." Flash added. "Trust me on that one."

Twilight's gaze shifted between the two. "So what's it gonna be?! Are you gonna keep acting like foals, or are you going to put aside your pride and agree to try and accept the little things about them that annoy you?! Because as much as you hate those things, it's clear you hate being apart even more."

Woolly and Lace shared one last look, both thinking the same thing. And then, both stood up from their chairs and passed the line so both were standing in the other's town. "I have missed you," Lace told her husband.

"And I've missed you," he replied before the two kissed one another. This caused the other members of the town to cheer while others crossed the line to be with the one they loved. Twilight and Flash smiled at one another, Flash pulling Twilight close with his wing.

Twilight then sparked her horn and in a flash, the white paint separating the town vanished. Stallimane and Blinkermare were gone, with Blinkermane in its place.





The next day...

It was amazing what a single day could do to change a place.

As soon as the mares and stallions made up, they got to work fixing their damaged town. The stallions began cleaning up their side of the border, Twilight swearing she speed counted almost a thousand trash-bags while the mares cut the grass and fixed the houses. All the wool that had been sheered without selling had been sent over to the factory, and soon enough, it was turning out ball after ball of yarn.

And as this happened, the mares and stallions spent time discussing ways to improve their relationships, what they were willing to let slide and what they really wanted the other to improve on. It was difficult for everypony, but compromises were being made.

Now Flash and Twilight stood side by side, under the archway leading into the town. The two signs had been removed and replaced with a single sign showing the town's true name. "Well..." Twilight said to the two couples they had gotten to know well, "It's time we were off."

"Thank you for all you've done," Lace replied.

"Sorry for making you have to come out here," Woolly added.

"It's no problem," Twilight assured them.

"Just remember there are other ways of dealing with relationship issues," Flash chimed in, "Maybe you should see a relationship counsellor or something. Maybe have one move here, as I think they'll get a lot of business."

"We'll look into it," Fibre said as Flash and Twilight gave the group one last nod before turning away.

"Goodbye!" Harvest yelled as they waved goodbye, Flash and Twilight mirroring the action. And once they were out of sight, the two let out a two long sighs.

"Well, that was an unexpected adventure," Flash moaned.

"I'm just glad we were able to fix everything," Twilight added before coming to a stop. Flash did the same, seeing his lover turn to him, "Flash, I want you to promise something for me. Promise me that if I start doing anything that really, really annoys you, you'll tell me. Don't keep it locked up. Tell me about it."

Flash smiled and nodded, "Okay, but only if promise the same thing. If I do anything you absolutely despise, tell me. Even if you think I'll get upset."

"Promise," Twilight replied before they shared a kiss. And as this loving motion was done, she let out a giggle, "Though...are you asking me to make a list?"

"No." Flash deadpanned, both then laughing out loud at this. And as they continued on, the defender then asked, "By the way, I didn't ask before cause we had other issues, but can you legally divorce somepony if they signed a document?"

Twilight did a small shrug, "I have no idea. I'll look into it later...but I do know I can legally marry somepony. I wonder who my first wedded couple will be?" The two hopped onto the train as they began talking about which of their friends would be the first to tie the knot, all the while wondering about a possible future in which they were standing at the aisle.

But something like that was a long ways off for them...right?
> Flutter Brutter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cloudsdale, the floating city of pegasi. Within this is a suburb filled with homes of those working at the Weather Factory or any other profession in the place. It is in within one such home that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were sitting down with Fluttershy's parents on the other side of a table. Fluttershy's mother Posy Shy, smiled as her husband Cirrus Breeze, placing a gelatin dish on the table.

"We're so happy you could come have lunch with your father and me, Fluttershy."

"I'm so glad you asked," Fluttershy replied, "I'm just sorry Iron couldn't come."

"So are we." Despite Iron's gruff demeanor, the two did like him, both happy when the two got together. "Were you not able to get that spell cast on him so he could come?"

Fluttershy shook her head, "No, he just had patrol duties. I think he said something about a band of thieves or something."

Rainbow sighed at this, "Yeah, the defenders are tracking some thieves that their sources told them were gonna try and sneak through Ponyville."

"Oh dear," Posy gasped, "Then maybe it's a good thing you came to lunch."

"And it was super awesome of you to invite me too!" Rainbow giggled as Cirrus walked up to the table carrying a plate of salad. "Things have been so busy with the Wonderbolts lately, it's great to get a chance to relax someplace quiet."

"That's exactly what I intend to do now that I've retired," Cirrus added as he put the plate down. "In fact, I converted the back house to showcase my cloud collection." He pointed to a window, all turning to see a small building that was filled with tiny jars of cloud pieces. Around the building were several long flower pots filled with different plants. "I have my clouds, your mom has her flowers, you've got your animals, and your brother..."

Everypony shared a glance at this, Posy letting out a tiny laugh, "Zephyr Breeze has his...interests."

"I'll say!" Rainbow exclaimed, "Remember when he was convinced square clouds were gonna be the next big thing?!"

She let out a cackling laugh at this, the others grimacing as Posy muttered, "He's matured a lot since then."

Cirrus moved over to her, "Actually, it's funny you bring Zephyr up..." The older pegasi shared a smile before pointing toward their daughter, Fluttershy's gaze shifting between them.

"Oh no!" She cried in horror and annoyance. "Not again!"

Posy did a slow nod, "It's just for a little while, dear. 'Til he gets back on his hooves."

Rainbow's eyes went wide, "Wait...you don't mean-"

"Guess who's home!" yelled a voice as the sound of a door slamming open rang out. They all turned to the noise, now seeing a tall, greenish blue pegasus stallion with messy blonde hair and a bunch of wavy lines for a cutie mark. He had a five o'clock shadow and a large dufflebag over his shoulder. "That's right big sis, it's your one and only favorite little brother, moi!"

The four other pegasi had very different reactions. His parents showed shaky smiles, Posy even waving, while Rainbow rolled her eyes and Fluttershy slammed her face into the back of her chair.

Zephyr threw his bag onto the table, causing it to land in the gelatin before turning to Fluttershy. "Hi, Flutter-butter!" He pulled her in for a hug, "How's the bestest big sister ever?!" But Fluttershy didn't return the hug, making him frown. "Hey, where's the love? How about a little excitement to see your baby brother?" He battered his eyes before ruffling the top of her hair, causing it to go messy and cover her face.

"I'm just surprised," Fluttershy hissed as Zephyr moved over to hug his parents. "When you left, you said mane therapy was your calling."

"Oh, it is sis, it is." He let his parents go, "You would not believe how much stress ponies hold in their manes." He ran up and held up her mane, "Everything gets limp and unmanageable." He began kneading her mane into bun like the one he had. "No offense, but brushing alone won't solve the problem. " But once he was done, he let go of her mane, the hair falling apart and covering the mare's face.

She pulled her mane away, glaring at her brother, "What went wrong?"

Zephyr's eyes twitched, glancing away, "Nothing went wrong...per say." He reached into his bag and pulled out a book, which he plopped in front of her and opened up. "It's just the powers that be were so locked into their required styles." Fluttershy saw it was pictures of different mane styles, "And you know me." He shut the book, "I've got my own style, and I think they were a little threatened." He reached into his bag again and pulled out a mannequin, placing it on the table.

They all looked at it, seeing the horror show that was Zephyr's mane-style creation. Despite the clearly terrible work, Posy and Cirrus forced a smile. "O-Oh, this is...lovely, dear."

Rainbow couldn't resist looking away, sticking out her tongue while making a sickened sound. This caught Zephyr's attention, making him smile at her. "Welllll, if it ain't Rainbow 'The Best Flyer There Ever Was' Dash!"

She let out a long sigh, "Oh, this ought to be good."

Fluttershy raised a wing in front of her brother, "Zephyr, don't. Rainbow's in a committed relationship, so don't even think of trying anything."

This made him gasp, pushing the wing away as he stared at Rainbow, "Oh Rainbow, how could you be so cruel?! I hope this colt's in on your plan to make me jealous or you might end up breaking his heart! Even though you don't have to go to such lengths to try and impress me." Rainbow went fully wide-eyed, horror striking in her face as Fluttershy let out an infuriated groan. "Still, thanks for showing up for my homecoming." He patted her hoof, "Its so sweet."

"Her-rururu," the Wonderbolt shivered in disgust as Zephyr looked away.

"You know, I kinda thought there would be more ponies here. I mean, what about your party planner friend, um...Sprinkle Pie! She could've turned this into a real house part-aye, am I right? I mean, this place could use it. So drab!" That last word was spoken in a singsong way, Fluttershy glaring at him before turning to her parents.

Both were shrinking back, showing they were upset at his words, "Heh. I-I, eh..." was all Posy could say.

"We have been meaning to redecorate..." Cirrus added, Fluttershy and Rainbow frowning at this.

Zephyr, who had been sticking posters of himself up on the walls, let out a laugh, "Dad, please." He headed for the living room, "When I get all my stuff back in here, you won't even remember what this boring old place looked like!" But as he did this, he came to a stop and turned to Fluttershy, "Though uh...that reminds me. That scary dude isn't around...is he?"

"Scary dude?" Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If you mean Iron Core," Fluttershy added, now seeing his scared expression increase along with some sweat pouring down his face, "He's not here."

"Phew," Zephyr wiped his forehead, only to shine a small grin, "I mean, oh. Finally got rid of him, did yah? I figured he'd scare you away eventually. Though I hope he wasn't too mad when you broke up with him...but I also wouldn't be surprised if he got carted away by the guard or something."

"Iron is a guard," Rainbow deadpanned, "He's actually the highest class of guard one could get. Because he actually did something meaningful with his life."

"And we haven't broken up," Fluttershy chimed in, "He's just busy...working."

"Oh," Zephyr's scared expression returned, "Well that's...too bad. The he's busy part, and not the you haven't broken up part. Anyways..." He ran out of the room, Fluttershy letting out another cry of frustration before taking a deep breath and turning to her parents.

"Mom, Dad, can I talk to you for a second?" Her parents nodded and the three walked into the kitchen.

"What is it, honey?" Cirrus asked, Fluttershy giving them a serious glare.

"I'm not so sure letting Zephyr move back home is a good idea," Fluttershy instantly replied, "I know you both want to help, but don't you remember last time?"

Posy shined a small smile, "Zephyr's just trying to find his place, dear."

"I know he is." Fluttershy leaned up to them, "It just seems like his place, always ends up being your place! And then he...sort of makes...you do everything for him!"

Cirrus slightly looked away, "Well, we may not be as bold as you Fluttershy, but don't you worry. We know how to stand up for ourselves."

Fluttershy sighed at this, the three soon walking back into the living room to find Rainbow and Zephyr sitting in an armchair. Though mainly Rainbow was sitting in it reading a book while Zephyr was sitting on the arm...until Rainbow pushed him off after he said something.

Rainbow then turned to Fluttershy, "Zeph was just telling me all about the ins and outs of mane therapy school."

"It's all so political," Zephyr whined as he got up. "I just could not take it!"

Fluttershy couldn't help but glare at Zephyr, "Well, maybe if you stuck with it for more than a few weeks..."

Her parents shared a glance, gulping at an incoming argument as Zephyr moved over to the fireplace, "Sorry sis, but when something's not the right fit, this pony's gotta fly!" He then took out a framed picture of...himself, which he put on the fireplace while knocking off several nick-knacks. He then let out a yawn while moving over to the sitting Wonderbolt. "Anyways, good talk Rainbows. I am so touched you came to see me, really. I hate to deprive you of my presence, but this breeze needs his Z's."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, "You know it's the middle of the day, right?"

"I know," Zephyr replied before saying the next word in such a way that they could almost hear the maracas in the background. "Siesta!" He zipped up to the stairs before turning to Posy, "I'm just gonna assume you made up my room the way I like it, right, Mom?" He trotted up, only for his head to poke back downstairs. "Oh, I almost forgot! All my stuff is out front. Wanna grab that for me, Pops?" He let out a short laugh, "Thanks." His head shot back up as Rainbow let out a sigh.

"Same old Zeph." This statement got Fluttershy to groan, knowing the next few weeks were gonna be a nightmare for her parents until Zephyr found something else to get him out of the house...for a month or so. Then it would all start over again.





Later...

Iron Core was now trotting through Ponyville. He was keeping his eyes open, glancing around as he tried to find anything. However, the criminals they had been tipped off about had yet to arrive, or weren't even coming. As such, he walked out into the main square, seeing Lightning talking to some locals as they shook their heads.

"Anything?"

"Nopony's seen anything," Lightning replied as he turned to Iron.

"Alright. Let's do another round."

"Sure." Lightning responded before waving the townponies off. After this, they trotted down a street, only to see an approaching Pinkie, Wild and Applejack.

"Yo!" Wild waved, "What's up you two? Found those crooks yet?"

"They don't appear to be in town yet," Lightning replied. "Either that or they decided to skip us."

"Well if yah need any help," Applejack responed before a pair of pegasi flew overhead.

"Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy! It's me, Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie exclaimed at the passing ponies, "YOUR FRIEND!" However, they didn't seem to hear her, making Pinkie tear up. But as she did this, Applejack let out a whistle loud enough to catch Rainbow's ear, making her come to a stop before Fluttershy ran into her.

They both looked down, gliding to the ground as Fluttershy said, "Oh...um, sorry about that."

"You okay?" Iron asked as he saw the giant frown on her face, "You look a little...upset."

She looked away, Rainbow speaking up next, "We just had lunch with Fluttershy's parents, and you'll never guess who showed up."

"Ooh!" Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out a wallet full of photos. "Mayor Mare?

"Cranky Doodle Donkey?" Wild added.

"Cheese Sandwich?" Pinkie guessed before she and Wild yelled together, "Ms. Harshwhinny?!"

Rainbow smirked as Pinkie threw the photos right in her face, "Zephyr Breeze."

That name got an exhausted groan from Iron while Pinkie began to frown, "Oh...that makes more sense."

Lightning and Wild raised an eyebrow, "Who's that?"

"He's a lazy, selfish, annoying waste of space that always takes advantage of ponies and makes them do all the work while he sits back and does nothing...and he's also Fluttershy's brother." Iron commented, both surprised Fluttershy wasn't speaking up saying 'he wasn't that bad'.

Instead, Applejack sighed as she spoke up. "And from the look on yer face, ah'm guessin' it's for another one of his 'extended stays?'"

She gave Fluttershy a smirk as the pegasus facehoofed, Rainbow nodding before speaking as quietly as she could. "She's a bit peeved." Despite trying to be quiet, her statement was heard by a mother and her foal. The mother shot them a glare before pushing the foal away.

Fluttershy let out a long, moaning sigh, "Zephyr's my brother, and I love him, but he's never learned to do anything for himself! I don't know why my parents keep letting him trot all over them!"

"Because they're more mild mannered and timid than you were when I first met you," Iron added as Lightning turned to her with wide eyes.

"Wait..." He pointed at Fluttershy, "Did you just say that in her family...she's the bold one?!" The others nodded back, "Mind...blown."

Applejack shook her head at this, "Well, if yer parents won't stand up for themselves, maybe you need to stand up for them."

Fluttershy blinked at her, only for a serious look to appear on her face. "You know, you're right!" She shot into the air and flew back in the direction of Cloudsdale, Iron smirking as he watched her go.

"Oh yeah. That's a look you don't want to be on the receiving end off."

"I haven't seen her this determined since she befriended Discord," Rainbow added. "Zephyr's gonna see just how Fluttershy defeated a dragon."





Fluttershy soon got back to her parent's house, landing at the door and taking a deep breath. But before she could knock, a crashing sound from the backyard made her run around the side. And when she got there, she gasped at the sight before her. Her brother was in the back house, throwing their father's cloud jar out the windows and letting them loose while crushing some of their mother's flowers.

"ZEPHYR BREEZE!" she screamed, the pegasus turning to the window before shining a smile.

"Oh hey, sis!" He stepped out the building, "Come to see me work...my...magic?!" He came to a stop as he saw his sister suddenly grow to the size of an elephant. His now big sister, in all cases of the word, glared down at him with a look of disgust. "Wow. Mom and dad told me you'd gotten this power, but I didn't really believe it until now."

"Can't you see what you're doing?!" The giant pony asked, pointing to their parents.

"Yeah!" Zephyr moved back into the small shed, "I'm getting rid of this old stuff so I can turn the back house into my art studio!" He pushed several more jars outside, "I've decided I'm gonna be a sculptor!"

"I'm talking about Mom's flowers!"

Zephyr glanced back, "She's gonna move them so I can have my meditation patio here. She loves replanting stuff." He turned to Posy, "Don't you, Mom?" He gave her his best puppy-dog eyes, Posy looking at one of her bent flowers as the head fell off before smiling at her son.

Fluttershy shrank back down to normal, picking up one of the surviving cloud jars. "And Dad's been collecting his favorite bits of cloud from the factory since before you were born."

Cirrus nodded as he managed to trap one of his escaped clouds in another jar. "The very best from every production run since my first day on the job." Unfortunately, he accidently dropped the jar again, the container shattering. The sight made him sigh and turn back to them, "But why hold onto the past, really?"

Fluttershy shot her brother a glare, trotting up to him with the same tone that had once caused a dragon to cry. "You can't just fly in and change everything Mom and Dad have built here."

"But this is the only place big enough for my studio slash meditation garden. Ooh! Unless I do it in the living room!"

Fluttershy facehoofed while her parents shared a glance, only to see her daughter look back at them, "I know speaking up for yourself can be hard, believe me, but Zephyr will never stand on his own if he can lean on you."

Zephyr, who had been making his way over to the house, rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, sis!" He put his hooves around his parents, "Mom and Dad just wanna let me be me, right? I can do plenty on my own."

"I agree," Fluttershy nodded before flashing a hoof into his face, "Which is why you should move out."

"Oh. Well...I mean, I-I totally would, but...I don't think that's what Mom and Dad want!" He gave them both another puppy-dog look, "It's not, is it?"

"Ehhh..." was all Posy could say before she and Cirrus pulled away from him.

"You know we love you son, but your sister has a point."

To their surprise, Zephyr actually began to tear up, speaking up as he muttered out, "Sure...I mean, I really just came back here to keep you all company, but...whatever's best for the family." He started picking up some lawn ornaments. I just...I just gotta grab a few essentials."

Posy Shy grimaced at this as she asked, "And...y-you definitely have somewhere else to go?"

Fluttershy shook her head at her, mentally telling her not to open that window.

"Of course!" Zephyr replied. "There's plenty of ponies who'd love for a little breeze to blow their way..." He headed back inside, their parents now beginning to tear up as Fluttershy let out a sigh.

"Oh, I really hope this doesn't come back to bite me."





Several hours later...

As the sun slowly set, Iron Core was making his way towards Fluttershy's house. Due to the possibly criminal incursion, the defenders had chosen to take up a day and night watch. Flash and Springer would be taking the night shift while he, Lightning and Grand would be on the watch during the day.

He arrived at his girlfriend's house, walking inside as the many animals of the house chirping, purring and whatever other happy sounds they made when seeing him. "Hey everypony, you know if Fluttershy's-WHOA!" He suddenly found himself tripping on something.

The defender let out a groan before getting up, "What the-" He now saw he had tripped on one of Fluttershy's hoof-stools, which she usually kept near the couch. "What's going on?" It was then he heard the bathroom door open, Iron now seeing Zephyr Breeze walking out while wearing a robe and a towel wrapped around his mane.

"Zephyr's so great," he sang as he began to descend the stairs, only to go wide-eyed as he saw Iron.

The two were silent and blinked at one another until both yelled out in unison, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Breaking and entering's illegal pal!" Zephyr barked back, only for Iron to growl at him, making the pegasi stumble back, "J-j-just get out of here before I call the authorities."

"I am the authorities, Zephyr." Iron hissed, "Would you like me to arrest you for breaking and entering?!"

"Y-y-you can't do that!"

"I can, and-"

"Iron?" said a small voice, making him look down and see a shrunken Fluttershy, the mare staring up at him as she flew out of a mouse hole. "You're early." She returned to normal size, "I wanted to explain everything to you before you arrived."

"What's going on?" He asked before pointing at Zephyr, "What's he doing here?!"

Fluttershy let out a long sigh, "My brother's going to be living here for a while."

"WHAT?!" Iron's eyes went wider then his mouth could open, making Zephyr laugh.

"You heard her," he smirked, only to be on the receiving end of his sister's scowl.

"Don't." She turned back to Iron. "I've agreed to let him stay here-" She put a hoof on Iron's lips at this, "But with some conditions. He has to get a job." Iron raised an eyebrow at this while Zephyr shot him a childish grin behind her back. "Just...give this a chance."

Iron glared at him, only to see conflict on Fluttershy's face. Sighing at this, he replied, "Fine. But I'm not happy about this."

"I know." She turned to her brother, "And you have to stay out of Iron's way. Don't do anything to try and get a rise out of him."

"Moi?" Zephyr asked, "I wouldn't try anything of the sort. Though why is he here?"

"Iron is allowed to be here whenever he wants," Fluttershy replied.

"What?! Why?!" Zephyr yelped, "You're not...living together, are you?!" This question got a blush out of Fluttershy and a scowl from Iron. "Do mom and dad know about this?!"

"We're not living together. Iron lives in a hut down the road."

"But he might spend the night?"

"If he wants to stay, that's none of your business. Just stay out of his way and he'll stay out of yours, understand?!"

Zephyr did a small nod back before running upstairs, Fluttershy letting out a groan. "Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Iron asked as Zephyr left, "Do you actually think he's gonna go looking for a job? He'll probably just go out tomorrow and come back saying nopony wanted to hire him, even though he didn't try anything."

The question made Fluttershy blink, sighing before doing a small nod, "You're right. If that's the case...I'll have to help him."

Iron raised an eyebrow at this, the royal knight now seeing her rarely used scheming face. "Oh, this'll be fun."





The next day...

Iron had been trotting through the town on patrol for almost three hours now, having started at sun up. He had been surprised when Fluttershy had gotten up at the same time, telling him she had plans for her brother which required being up early.

He had left the house, fighting the temptation to roll the sleeping Zephyr off his couch bed, and began his search for the criminals. But as the ponies of the town started waking up and opening their stores for the day, Iron had yet to find anything remotely suspicious.

"Hey Iron!" He spun around, half reaching for his weapon until he saw the voice's owner was Fire Heart. The apprentice knight smiled up at him while Ace sat beside him, using his back leg to scratch behind his ear. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Shouldn't you be in school?"

"It's Saturday."

"Eh, that's just an old excuse. What do you want?"

Heart shinnied a big grin, "Well, Flash and Springer are sleeping, so there's no training for us today. So we thought maybe we could help you guys catch the criminals."

"You thought that," Ace corrected him, "I wanted to use the free day to sleep in and read a comic." He let out a yawn as Heart rolled his eyes.

"What did he say?" Iron asked, only for Heart to shake his head.

"Nothing. Anyways, can we help out? I could fly up and do some aerial recon-against?" He did a small cough, "Uh...re-consequence?"

"Reconnaissance?" Iron asked, getting a nod from Heart. "Fine. But if you see anything, don't intervene. Just tell me, Grand or Lightning. Whoever's closest."

Heart nodded again and was about to say something else, but Iron spotted a pair of mares in the distance. It was Fluttershy and Rarity, both walking through the town while carrying some shopping bags. He also noticed a particular lack of one annoying pegasi, making him wonder where Zephyr had weaseled off too. "Hey," he trotted over to the pair as they turned to them, "So how's the job hunt going?" He asked as Heart and Ace joined them.

"Hopefully, it's going well."

"What's he doing?" Ace asked, Heart translating.

"I asked him to die some fabric. It's so easy a child could do it. In fact, it's one of the jobs I give Sweetie whenever she want's extra allowance. If she can do it, it shouldn't be any issue for a grown pony like Zephyr."

"I don't know about that," Iron grumbled. "He may be a grownup in the physical sense...but mentally, I think your sister's got him beat." Heart and Ace laughed while Rarity rolled her eyes, Fluttershy sighing at this. "I just hope you've got a backup plan if this goes badly."

"You could always send him to the castle," Heart chimed in, "There's always a bunch of chores Twilight gets us to do. Like washing the windows. She usually has me, Flash or Soul do that because we can fly."

"I'll keep that in mind," Fluttershy replied as they got to the boutique before turning to Rarity, "But thanks for giving my brother a job. I just hope he's up to the task."

"Oh, darling," Rarity laughed while opening the door. "Dyeing fabric is the simplest thing!" They both headed inside, and as much as Iron wanted to see the undeniable disaster that was awaiting them, his own work took precedent.

"Alright kid," he turned back to Heart. "Let's get to work." He pointed at Ace, "Can he scan for negative auras?"

"Um...kinda." Heart replied, "Springer says Ace needs more training."

"No I don't!" Ace pouted back.

Heart then leaned up to Iron, whispering, "Honestly, I just want Ace to get out more. He's been getting really lazy recently."

"Reminds me of somepony…" Iron sighed before pointing upward, "Alright, fly him up and see if he can scan anything."

Heart put Ace on his back, taking to the air. As he did this, Iron heard the sound of the boutique's doors open, turning back to see Zephyr trot out of the store looking satisfied with himself. Iron wasn't sure at first if that look was for a job well done, or finding a way to get out of a considerably easy job.

He soon got his answer when Fluttershy flew out store, chasing after him as he growled at his girlfriend's wasted efforts. "Maybe I should get him signed up for the guard. Then when he gives up, he'll be arrested and won't be a bother to anypony." He chuckled to himself as he imagined Zephyr wearing a guard's uniform, knowing something like that would never happen.

The hours soon passed as Iron continued to patrol, questioning several local ponies, but still not finding anything. He had also spotted Fluttershy and her brother heading for the castle an hour ago, now guessing his lover was taking up Heart's suggestion to get him a job there. While he wanted to see how things were going, he had to met up with Grand, Lightning, Heart and Ace to compare notes. But so far, there was nothing to suspect.

"So what do we do?" Heart asked Grand, "How long will it be until it's decided they're not coming?"

"Protocol dictates we continue our patrol until we get word that the criminals have been seen. If they're spotted somewhere out of the town's way, we can determine they aren't going to head to Ponyville. But if they're located close to the town, then we'll continue to up our security until we know anything new."

"Is the furball sensing anything?" Lightning asked, getting a head shake from Ace. "Dang it."

"Cut him some slack," Grand told his grandson. "Ace is still young. It'll be a while before he's able to sense auras to the level Springer can. For now, we just need to focus on doing this the old fashioned way."

They nodded and broke apart again, Heart taking to the skies while Iron trotted through town. It was around one PM by the time his stomach told him it was time to fill it, quickly grabbing a roll of bread from a bakery and snacking on it while continuing his march. And as he did this, he saw Zephyr strolling through town with a smirk on his face.

"What are you looking so happy about?" He spoke up, catching the pegasi's attention. "What happened? Weasel your way out of another job?"

"Zephyr Breeze doesn't weasel his way out of anything," the stallion replied, "But if you must know, I managed to find a shortcut to finish a job Fluttershy gave me. Not my fault they're jealous they didn't think of it."

"What did you do?" He groaned.

"Nothing you need to worry about. All that matters is I finished the job and now, I can get back to what I'm truly meant to be doing."

"Lazing around doing nothing until something catches your eye, only to get bored with it five minutes later?!"

Zephyr glared back at him, "You know, I think it's high time you started showing me a little respect!"

This statement got Iron to laugh, making the pegasi growl at him. That is, till Iron shined a long glare at the stallion, "You want me to show you respect?! Why should I?! What have you ever done to earn respect from...anypony?!" He then pointed up, "You see that pegasus up there? The red one in the hoodie that's looking around." Zephyr stared up at Heart, seeing him hover around, "That's Fire Heart, an apprentice knight. Usually he would be spending this day training to one day become a knight."

Zephyr let out a huff, "Foal cruelty much?"

"The point, is that he got the day off today. He could have done anything he wanted to do, but you know what he decided to spend the day doing?" Zephyr shook his head, "Helping us track down criminals. He didn't have to help. He's under no obligation too help, and if he quit right now, he wouldn't face any punishment because he originally volunteered. But he's not going to quit for the same reason he offered his services, because he cares about other ponies aside from himself. That kind of dedication has earned him my respect. Because that's how one gets respect, by earning it. What have you done to earn it?"

Zephyr frowned as he continued to stare at the young colt in the sky.

"I'll admit Heart has a long way to go, but earning respect is one of the first steps. If you want ponies to respect you, give them a reason. Because nopony's gonna respect a lazy, arrogant, selfish do nothing that only ever cares for himself and doesn't care that he's making other pony's lives harder with his attitude." Zephyr remained quiet, Iron unsure if his words had sunken in or if he was just coming up with some excuse.

"IRON!" The two were pulled away from their conversation to see Heart pointing in one direction. "Grand's chasing somepony!" Iron quickly ran off, telling the pegasi to find Lightning. He ran as fast as he could, eventually jumping out onto a street in time to see the Great Mountain chasing after a trio of unicorns.

And as he charged, Grand saw him and yelled, "It's them!"

"Got it!" Iron pulled out his Celestic Gear, spinning it in his hoof. The three unicorns turned back at this, now seeing they weren't getting away.

"Out of our way!" One yelled before they all started firing magic blasts, Iron dodging them with the slightest of movements.

However, a girly scream made him look back, now seeing Zephyr taking a strange pose with scorch marks on the wall behind him. Iron let out a sigh, mentally asking why he had followed and why he wasn't running. And as another wave of magic came barreling at them, Iron began to swing his weapon around to deflect those attacks. As this happened, Zephyr stared at him, gasping at the sight of Iron's skill.

But as the last blast was deflected, Iron quickly slammed the end of his spear into the ground. Seconds later, a large wall of metal shot out of the ground right in front of the criminals. The three couldn't stop themselves in time, all crashing into it, all groaning as they bounced off the wall. Seconds later, Grand slammed his hammer into the ground, making three more walls that trapped the three.

"Hey!" One of the unicorns cried, "Let us out!"

"Don't worry," another said, "I'll blast us out."

"Oh, I don't think so." The three looked up to see Lightning atop the wall. His horn sparked before he sent a bolt of lightning flying into the prison, zapping them all. Once he was done, he hopped off the walls as they retracted back into the ground.

The three criminals were laid out now, twitching with smoke coming out of their ears. The defenders smirked as Heart and Ace landed beside them, Lightning ruffling the colt's hair while Grand thanked them for their hard work. "Let's get these three behind bars." the older pony told the rest.

And as they worked to get them over to the jail, Zephyr continued to stare at Iron until he noticed, "What?!"

"That...was so cool!" He exclaimed, "How the heck are you able to do something like that?! You dodged those blasts like they were nothing and then deflected them with barely a look at what you were doing." He shined a big smile, "If I was able to do stuff like that-" He didn't get to finish as Iron bonked him on the head, "Ow!"

"You're a million years away from doing something like that."

"Really?"

"Yes. You know how I'm able to do that?" He shook his head, "Because I worked hard, failed a ton, and I kept trying. And even when I failed all those times, I didn't give up. It took years of time and discipline."

Zephyr let out a long sigh, "Then what's the point?! Life's too short to waste it like that!"

"Waste it?!" Iron yelped before pointing at the criminals they had caught. "I wouldn't call my time training as a waste. Because of that time, I'm a Royal Knight, and have the respect of many ponies."

"I could be a Royal Knight if I didn't have to waste all my time with that silly training all those other ponies would have to do! Seriously, why can't the less talented ponies get it that they're dragging us truly skilled ones down?!"

Iron sighed while rolling his eyes, "That's another thing. I don't blame other ponies for my shortcomings."

"Shortcomings?!" Zephyr barked, "I don't have shortcomings!"

"I'd call always giving up without even trying a pretty big shortcoming."

"Maybe I'm just smart enough to realize something isn't worth doing."

"You'd think breathing wasn't worth doing if you could survive without it!" Iron almost yelled before letting out a huff, "I'm done. Go annoy somepony else. I've got more important things to worry about than you."

"Now who's the one giving up!" Zephyr smirked before another voice caught his attention.

"Zephyr!" They both turned to see Fluttershy, "Are you bothering Iron again?! He doesn't have time to waste with you!" Both ponies now saw the glare on her face as she continued, "It's bad enough you made Spike do the work you were supposed to do!"

"Seriously?!" Iron yelled, "What are you, Hoofleberry Finn?!"

Zephyr shrunk back at this, "Oh, come on sis. I had to ask Spike to make sure I was doing it right."

Fluttershy jabbed a hoof into his chest. "You didn't do it at all!" Iron could see she was seconds away from going supersized, only for her to take a long deep breath before looking away, "Well, I guarantee there won't be any fooling around on the next job."

"Next job?" Zephyr yelped, only for something to shoot past them.

"That's right, Zeph!" They looked up and saw Rainbow, "You're coming with me!"





At Wonderbolts headquarters, Soarin was sitting on a cloud with both a stopwatch and a clipboard.

He looked down at Fleetfoot as she shot through the air, passing a checkpoint as Soarin quickly wrote down the time. But as Misty Fly began her run through the course, Soarin restarted the stopwatch before seeing something else that drew all of his attention.

It was his girlfriend flying to the base with somepony else in tow. A stallion to be precise.

Now Soarin didn't consider himself a jealous stallion. Rainbow could hang out with anypony, whether male of female, and he would be perfectly fine with it. But the look this stallion was giving her as he followed Rainbow was sending a shiver up the Wonderbolt's spine.

"So how'd I do!?" Soarin yelped out in surprise, almost falling off the cloud before turning to Misty Fly, "I think that was my best time yet."

"Err..." Soarin looked down at the watch, only to see the clock still going. His eyes then shifted between her and Rainbow, then passed the watch and clipboard over to Misty. "Do me a favor and take over."

"Wha-" Was all she could say as he flew off.

He glided over to Rainbow as she landed with the stallion. "Now remember what I told you. Don't think I wasn't bluffing when I said it."

"Alright alright..." the stallion replied while waving his hoof, "No need to get your mane in a knot Rainbows. Can't you see this is destiny at work?" He suddenly put a hoof around the mare and pulled her up close, "You and me, together like nature intended."

Rainbow's face scrunched up at this, only for her heart to stop when she heard a voice. "Rainbow?" She looked up to see Soarin floating down.

"Soarin!" Rainbow slammed Zephyr in the chest, making him stagger back, "This is not what it looks like!"

"I don't even know what it looks like," Soarin replied before pointing at Zephyr. "Who's this guy?"

"Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy's little brother. We've been trying to get him a job, so I thought maybe he could do something here."

"Don't let her fool you," Zephyr responded while trying to get up, "Dashy here just can't stand being away from me for too long. Ain't that right Rainbows?" He was about to lean against the mare, but she quickly stepped out of the way, making him fall down with a yelp.

"Zephyr..." Rainbow growled before pointing to Soarin, "Let me introduce you to Soarin...my boyfriend."

This statement made Zephyr gasp, only to start glaring at the Wonderbolt, "Him?! Doesn't look like much."

"Neither do you," Rainbow barked back, "Now enough of your games and let's get to work."

"Any idea what you want him to do?" Soarin asked, "I'm guessing something simple."

"Super simple," Rainbow sighed, "And I know this sounds stupid, but I need it to be something so basic that even he can't find a way to mess it up."

"I think I have a few ideas," Soarin replied with a smirk.

"Good. I'm gonna go grab a storm cloud." Soarin raised an eyebrow as she saw her fly off, only to look back at Zephyr...and see him now making an armchair out of clouds.

"Alright boring," he chuckled. "What's the first job?"

"It's Soarin," he deadpanned, "Now get off that chair and follow me."

And before Zephyr could reply, he was dragged off to the first job. It was trash pickup, Soarin showing him where they kept a large wheelie-bin and claw stick. Zephyr looked horrified at the prospect of picking up trash, but when Rainbow arrived carrying a large storm cloud with her, he quickly grabbed the items, but refused to wear the jumpsuit Soarin had offered.

And so he started lazily pushing the bin around and picking up the trash, putting in just enough effort so Rainbow wouldn't zap him. The bin slowly filled up with more trash that somepony had either dropped, or which had blown onto the runway by the wind. Soarin had returned to taking speed notes, but kept an eye out to make sure Zephyr didn't slack off. But after an hour, he seemed to almost be done...only for a new problem to occur.

"Hey ladies," Zephyr smirked as Blaze and High Winds trotted past him, "You two were flying pretty well out there," he tried to show his 'sexy' smile while pushing the bin forward. "But why don't we meet up later so I can give you some flying tips?"

"ZEPHYR!" Rainbow yelled, "Look out!" Zephyr turned his head, only to now see another pony pushing a bin full of freshly cleaned uniforms. The pegasus had just pushed the bin in front of Zephyr, trying to go faster but Zephyr was going too fast.

The sound of two bins hitting each other came next, trash flying everywhere along with freshly cleaned uniforms, "Oops." Blaze and High Winds gasped at this while Soarin and Rainbow facehoofed.

"Eyes on where you're going!" Rainbow screeched before threatening to electrocute him.

Once they had cleaned up the mess and apologized, well...Rainbow and Soarin did, they had Zephyr do a less messy task. The job was to collect any cloud that was blown away by the Wonderbolts as they shot by and return it to the circuit, since they acted like cushions in case a pegasus flew out of control and needed to be stopped.

However, Zephyr soon found himself molding the clouds instead of returning them. He was so busy making rabbits and ducks that an area he was supposed to reinforce wasn't strong enough when Silver Zoom took a turn to sharply and slammed into it.

"GYAH!" He cried as he flew through the air, crashing into the side of a building, Soarin and Rainbow gasping at the sight.

"Somepony get him some ice!" Soarin screamed before he and Rainbow shot Zephyr a scowl.

"HIGH-AYE-AYE!" Zephyr screamed as he was zapped by Rainbow's storm cloud as the medics ran over to check on Silver.

Once they made sure the Wonderbolt wasn't to badly hurt, a mild concussion and some bruised ribs, the two put Zephyr on one more job. One so simple that they were convinced he couldn't mess it up: Dish washing.

They threw Zephyr into the kitchen, where a mountain of dirty dishes, pots and pans were waiting to be cleaned. They locked him inside, telling him he wasn't leaving until every pan dish was spotless, then went to go check on Silver Zoom. That took about an hour, plenty of time for Zephyr to do a proper job.

"Ten bits says he's not even half done," Rainbow commented as they returned to the kitchen.

"We both know that's a sucker's bet," Soarin laughed as they opened the doors. And when they walked inside, they found the dirty dish mountains...were completely gone. And on the other side of the sink were stacks of clean dishes.

Zephyr was sitting next to the sink eating a bag of popcorn that he had gotten out of the fridge. "Finally." he moaned, "Can I go now?"

The Wonderbolts shared a glance, Rainbow guarding the door before he could escape. "Hold it. We need to check these dishes first." Zephyr sighed as Soarin moved over to grab a plate off the top of the pile and inspected it, seeing not a spot on it. The same were said for the pans and cutlery.

"You see? Spotless. So can I go now?" Rainbow and Soarin shared a look again, only for Soarin to turn back to the sink. "What are you doing?" Zephyr asked as the Wonderbolt moved several dishes aside to get to the ones at the bottom, the lazy pegasus sweating as Soarin picked one of the plates up...and turn it over to reveal dried bean sauce on it.

"Zephyr..." Rainbow growled, "Did you really think you were gonna get away with this?"

"Um...maybe?"

"Do them all again," Rainbow hissed while pointing at the dish mountain.

"Again?!" Zephyr yelped before glaring back at Rainbow, "You know what, no! I've got better things to do then slave away doing something so pointless."

"How is this pointless?!" Soarin replied, "The dishes need to be cleaned!"

"They're only dirty because you Wonderbolts ate off of them! Same with those other tasks! There wouldn't be any trash to pick up or clouds the grab if you weren't wasting time doing this silly Wonderbolts stuff. There are a million things more important then flying really fast, and I refuse to be apart of such pointless things!"

"Zephyr..." Rainbow growled as she and Soarin glared at him.

Seeing this, Zephyr pushed past Rainbow and took to the air. "I'm leaving!" He yelled back, only for Rainbow to zip right past him, pulling out the thunder cloud at the same time. But before she could use it, he then barked, "Here's what I think of your stupid Wonderbolts!" With that, he slammed his hooves into the cloud, trying to bust it. Alas, he had no clue how to properly buck a storm cloud, and his hooves were still wet from the sink, making him now get zapped, "GYAH!"

Rainbow and Soarin flinched at the sight, both looking away until the sound of lightning faded and Zephyr's screams died down. They looked back at the pegasus, now seeing his mane and tail going frizzy, while also being burnt at the ends. "You okay?"

Zephyr didn't say anything back, simply flying off as Rainbow let out a sigh. As she did this, Soarin asked her, "That guy is really related to Fluttershy?"

"Unfortunately."

"Is he...adopted?"

"Nope. I asked that very same question and then had to suffer through an hour of photos from his birth." The pegasi both shivered in horror.

"So what do you think's gonna happen to him now?"

"Best guess, Fluttershy's gonna either find another job for him or she's gonna throw him out of the house. Maybe being homeless will finally teach him to be self-reliable." She turned to Soarin, "Wanna go see what happens after practice?"

"Only if you make a bet on it."

"Oh, you are so on!"





When the pegasi arrived at Fluttershy's house, they discovered Fluttershy had done the latter and kicked Zephyr out. Iron Core was also there, and together the three helped Fluttershy clean up the mess Zephyr had made in the twenty-four hours he had stayed there. Iron and Soarin were moving Fluttershy's furniture back where it was supposed to be while Rainbow helped Fluttershy sweep up the kitchen. But as Fluttershy emptied her dustpan into the garbage, Rainbow saw the big frown on her face.

"Aw, cheer up Fluttershy. I know it was hard, but you did the right thing." She pointed at her with the broom, "You couldn't let Zephyr pull the same stuff on you that he's always pulled on your folks!"

"She's right," Iron added, "He's had plenty of chances to straighten up and fly right, but instead of doing the right thing, he chose to do the Zephyr thing. Well these are the consequences for it."

Soarin nodded in agreement while Fluttershy sighed. "I guess so...I just wish I could straighten him up."

As she said this, a tweeting sound caught her ears, making her turn to an open window. There a red bird landed and continued tweeting. "Oh, hello Constance!" She held an ear to the bird as it chirped, Fluttershy gasping, "Oh?" She spun around to the others in the room, "Oh dear. That's not good."

"What now?" Iron asked with a sigh, Rainbow and Soarin raising an eyebrow.





It turns out that after Zephyr was kicked out of Fluttershy's house, the only place he could find that would let him stay rent free...was the Everfree Forest. Despite only being there for maybe an hour or so, Zephyr wasn't looking so great. He was covered in mud, his mane filled with sticks and leaves, and strangest of all, he was talking to his mannequin head.

"See, Wigford?" He told the mannequin, "The Breeze needs nopony!" He turned to his camp, which consisted of a poorly made shelter, a bowl of salad and an unlit fire-pit filled with rocks, leaves and sticks. "We've got food, shelter...just need to put the old kettle on." He grabbed a pot and put it onto the fire-pit, then started throwing rocks into the pit.

Those watching him weren't sure if he expected that to actually light the fire at first, but Zephyr's impatient face soon answered that question. "Come on, sticky-sticky," he told the fire-pit. "Make with the sparks!" He grabbed a stick and tapped it onto the pan, only for the stick to break and knock over the pan. "Ugh!" He groaned as the water spilled out, "What's a pony got to do to find a decent stick around here?!" He then kicked the stick, only for it to rebound off a rock and hit him in the face.

This seemed to be the last straw as he started ripping his camp apart with yells of frustration.

"Is it wrong that I'm enjoying this?" Iron whispered.

"Why didn't I bring a camera?" Soarin laughed while Rainbow and Fluttershy shared a glance.

"I know he needs to learn to do things for himself, but..." Rainbow added.

"Oh, I can't let him live like this." Fluttershy moaned as Zephyr cried out in pain, his shelter collapsing on him after kicking one of the supports. It was only leaves and sticks, but it was enough.

Rainbow turned back to Fluttershy. "Actually, I don't think he'd make it through the night."

Fluttershy sighed before walking into Zephyr's camp, the mare knocking a pile of leaves over as Zephyr's head poked out. "Fluttershy!" He gasped, "Hey! I was just um...cozying up in my sleeping bag!" He pulled the leaves and sticks around him, "Ready to call it an early night!" He let out a mock yawn. "Such an exhausting day, y'know?"

"The sun's still up," Soarin added while Zephyr smirked at the girls.

"You know me! Siesta..." But before anypony could say anything, one of the branches fell down and conked him on the head. Zephyr flinched in pain, tears now appearing in his eyes, "Ugh...I can't do this." He covered his face with his hooves, "I can't do anything."

Fluttershy sighed as he removed the branch from his head, then started stroking his mane. "Zephyr, you're smart and talented. You could do anything if you just tried!"

"And what if I give everything I have and still fail?!" He asked before looking away. "Honestly, I think it's better to not try at all."

"But then you won't ever do anything," Rainbow added.

Zephyr just growled back, "I don't expect you to understand. I mean, when have you ever failed?! You've literally helped save Equestria like, a dozen times."

"And I was worried that I'd fail every time!" Fluttershy instantly replied, "Sometimes you have to do things, even though you might fail."

"But failing is the worst!" Zephyr groaned.

"And quitting doesn't feel much better, does it?"

"I..." Zephyr tried to say before glancing away, "No."

"And failure isn't always a bad thing," Soarin responded, "I've failed tons of times, but I didn't let it stop me. In fact, I used those failures to help me realize what I had to do to get better. I've never failed at the same thing twice because I learned from the first failure."

Iron nodded in agreement, "You only ever really fail if you give up. Being good at something isn't just doing it right every time. Its also about picking yourself up after you mess up and trying again."

Fluttershy smiled at her friends before looking back at Zephyr. "Zephyr...I'm going to help you, so here's the deal: You can come back with me, but you have to do exactly what I say. No exceptions."

Zephyr glanced back at his new home, only to stare at his sister and say, "I will literally do anything you ask of me if it means I don't have to stay here."

They all nodded back, smiles on their faces as they thought they had finally gotten through to him.





The group soon returned to Fluttershy's house, the yellow pony leading her brother to an empty room where he could finally do something on his own. The plan was simple: Get Zephyr to complete a proper mane-style on his mannequin. If he could do that, he could do anything.

"Okay," Fluttershy turned to Zephyr and pointed to the door, "You know what you have to do, right?"

Zephyr put a hoof to his chin in thought, "Beg for help, then quit when I get frustrated?" They all glared at him at this, the pegasus chuckling. "Just kidding! Total opposite of that. Got it." He opened the door and headed inside, putting his mannequin on a table.

Rainbow let out a sigh, turning to Fluttershy. "You think he can do it?" As she asked that, the inbuilt music maker all ponies appeared to have started playing.


(Fluttershy)
Everypony has times in their lives
When their hearts are filled with doubt



(Zephyr Breeze)
Frustration builds up inside
And it makes you want to shout


Rainbow and Fluttershy walked into the room and put a supportive hoof around him.


(Rainbow)
But if you just take that first step
The next one will appear


Before either of them could sing anything else, Iron shut the door so all he and Soarin could hear were their muffled voices. "Hey!" Soarin yelped, "Watcha do that for?!"

"I don't sing, and you can't sing," he grumbled before leaning against the wall. "Probably best to let them deal with this." Soarin pouted and listened at the door, the song going on and on until Zephyr let out a mighty cry.


(Zephyr)
I can do it on my own


Soarin took this as the cue to open the door, poking his head inside. There he found Zephyr holding his mannequin, this one sporting an actual mane-do. And Zephyr was more shocked than anypony. "I did it!" He exclaimed, "I actually finished something! By myself!"

"And it looks exactly like it's supposed to," Rainbow added.

Fluttershy almost smiled and patted his shoulder, "I knew you could do it, Zephyr."

"I didn't!" The tall pegasus replied, his face softening at this, "But I do now. Thanks for believing in me, sis."

The two shared a hug as she responded, "That's what big sisters are for."

"So Zeph..." Rainbow commented once they had pulled apart, "Now that you've accomplished this, what's next?"

"Anything I want!" Zephyr yelled, "I mean, the sky's the limit, right?" The four glared at him, Zephyr letting out a chuckle. "But, y'know...I've got some baby steps in mind."





A few months later...

Fluttershy's parents had invited Rainbow and Fluttershy to dinner again. This time, Iron and Soarin had joined for the meal. Rainbow was the first to finish, the mare letting out a delighted moan and licking her lips. "Thanks for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Shy! It was great as usual."

"Of course." Posy replied before turning to the rest, "And thank you all for not giving up on Zephyr. I know he seems to be more trouble than he's worth but-"

"That's an understatement," Iron chimed in while the others laughed, Fluttershy giving them all a hopeful smile.

"Have you heard from Zephyr? Is he doing well?"

"I tell you," Cirrus smirked. "He's a brand new pony! So full of drive and determination."

"Heh, that's great." Rainbow replied while putting her hooves behind her head. And as she said that, the door was suddenly thrown open as Zephyr trotted in wearing graduate's clothing.

"Guess who graduated from mane therapy training?" He sang before throwing his cap over to Rainbow, the mare laughing as it landed on her head.

"Awesome!"

"Congratulations, son!" Cirrus and Posy moved over to hug him as Rainbow placed his cap back on his head.

"You look so handsome!" Posy added while tearing up as Fluttershy stood up.

"I'm so proud of you, Zephyr."

"Yeah," Iron nodded, "Now you actually have something to boast about."

Zephyr let out a small laugh, "It was only a matter of time before they recognized my true genius!" Fluttershy and Iron both gave him a glare at this, Zephyr backpedaling, "But...actually doing the work probably helped, and I wouldn't have if it weren't for you."

Fluttershy waved her hoof with a blush on her face, "Oh, I just gave you some encouragement. You did this on your own."

Zephyr nodded back, "And honestly, right now I feel like I can do anything...except find a place." He chuckled before pulling his folks in for a hug. "I can still crash here for a few days, right?" Everypony rolled their eyes while Soarin let out a laugh.

"You know, the royal guards always have a spare bunk to share if you want to place that's rent free. I'm sure they'll let you stay if you help them out with a few things." Everypony let out another laugh at that, all happy Zephyr had finally found his place in the world. And who knows what crazy adventures await him in his future, along with everypony else. Only time would tell.
> Set Me on Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"FLASH FORCE!" The Everfree Forest was illuminated by a brilliant beam of light, followed by loud howls of pain.

"Iron Lance Fury/Grand Impact!" Shards of iron and jagged rocks shot through the air, knocking back a pack of Timberwolves, as the beasts had once again gotten to close to Ponyville.

"Aura Force!" Springer unleashed an aura laser, Lightning zipping around the attack as he slashed a wooden wolf as the beam hit it.

As this happened, Flash dodged a timberwolf's claw before slashing the beast down the middle, the sticks falling around him as a voice cheered, "Alright!" He looked up to see Fire Heart sitting on a branch, cheering at the sight, "That was awesome!" He said before gasping, "Look out!"

Flash spun around to see another timberwolf leaping at him, the defender blocking it with his sword. "Augh!" He groaned as he pushed the wolf back, "Geez....couldn't you have made yourself out of something a little less smelly?! There are mint leaves in this forest, you know!"

"Hold on!" He heard as the timberwolf was suddenly jostled by something landing on it, "Gotcha!" Heart laughed as he grabbed the creature's back, "Now get off!"

"HEART!" Flash yelled, "I told you to stay in the trees!"

"I've got this!" Heart replied as his body ignited, the heat making the timberwolf cry out as began to try and buck Heart off. "Yeehaw!"

The others turned to see this, Iron groaning, "Why did we bring him again?"

"Twilight wouldn't let us borrow Spike," Springer responded as he smacked a wolf away with a Bone Breaker.

"WHOA!" Heart yelped as he was thrown from the wolf, Flash gasping at this before three other wolves suddenly leapt at the defender.

And as Heart hit a tree, his body slid down the pillar of lumber before looking up and seeing a prowling timberwolf walking up to him. A low hiss came from it, Heart seeing the wolf open its mouth as it was about to pounce. The sight made Heart's eyes narrow, flames beginning to swirl around his body.

"Heart!" Grand yelled as he saw this, "DON'T!"

"RAAAH!" Heart roared as he unleashed a stream of fire that struck the timberwolf. But as the flames flew out, the attack also hit a few trees, causing them to ignite upon contact. The fire instantly spread, lighting up the grass and bushes next as the flames began to scare the wood wolves away.

"Heart!" Flash yelled, "You've gotta stop!"

Heart went wide-eyed at this, seeing his fire now going out of control. He closed his eyes, clenching them as he tried to concentrate. "Grr....no!" He yelped, feeling the flames on his body continuing to burn, "I...CAN'T!"

"Hang on!" Flash said as he tried to fly over to him, only to flap back as he felt the heat from the flames. "Shoot..." He then turned to Lightning, "Lake!" Lightning nodded before teleporting away, soon returning with a big ball of water in his magic. The liquid then hitting the colt, it completely drenched him, cutting out his flames, but not fixing the building wildfire.

"What do we do?" Springer asked.

"We need rain," Iron responded, "Lots of it."

"I can't get that many storm clouds at once," Flash told them. "And it'll take too long to get some more pegasi."

"Why don't we let it burn?" Lightning added, "Thin out some of the rest near town. Would help dealing with the timberwolves getting too close."

"MY GIRLFRIEND LIVES NEAR THE FOREST!" Iron barked, making Lightning flinch.

"And Zecora lives in the forest," Flash chimed in, "We can't risk her getting hurt, not to mention the castle of the two sisters and the tree of harmony. We've gotta stop this blaze."

As he said that, Grand spoke up, "We need a vacuum." Flash's eyes grew at the suggestion, only to nod as Grand turned to Lightning. "Get us out of here." Lightning nodded and grabbed all but Flash in his magic, the group vanishing in a flash of light.

"But Flash-"

"Will be fine," Grand assured Heart as they appeared outside the forest.

And as he said that, the knight of friendship's body began to glow, "Armorize!" The light exploded off him, forming the Shining Guardian armor, Flash spreading his wings as the ends opened up to unleash an energy that propelled him upward. He then began to circle the area that was aflame, circling the place as he began to form a tight air seal around it.

From the edge of the forest, everypony watched as a tornado appeared around the smoke. This caught the attention of the ponies in town, all watching as the tornado formed in the flaming forest.

"What's happening?" Twilight asked as she teleported over to the defenders, the rest of the mane seven following, "Where's Flash?" The defenders replied by pointing at the forest, all soon seeing the tornado vanishing along with the smoke and flames.

Above the trees, Flash glided down, his body covered in soot as he landed in front of Twilight, "Fire's out."

"Good," Twilight replied, "You need a bath. But before you take one, where'd the forest fire come from? You went in there to fight timberwolves, not start wildfires." Flash grimaced as his armor vanished, the knight turning to the defenders...and now seeing the cause of the blaze not with them.

"Heart?"





One bath later...

The colt had retreated to the castle and with Springer's help, Flash found him in his room. "Knock, knock." Flash opened the door, poking his head in before seeing Heart curled up in his bed. "Hey bud. You feeling okay?" There was no response, the colt tightening his curl as Flash moved inside, sitting on the bed, "You know, it's a beautiful day. You really wanna waste it cooped up in here?"

Heart let out a sniff, "Just get it over with."

"Huh?"

"You're gonna drop me as your apprentice. Just get it over with."

Flash let out a chuckle, "What are you talking about? I'm not gonna drop you as my apprentice." Heart uncurled himself at this, wide-eyed as he turned to the defender, "You made a mistake Heart. That doesn't mean you deserve to be abandoned as a knight. If that were true, Grand would have dropped me a long time ago. Heck, if anything, it's me that messed up."

"What?"

Flash patted the colt's shoulder, "I promised Faust I'd help you learn to control your fire powers, but we haven't done a thing to help you learn since we returned." He crossed his hooves, "I'll admit, I wanted you to go to school first and make friends. Show you what it means to be a colt and a defender...but I should have done more."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm gonna help you with your fire powers."

"Really?!"

Flash nodded, "Yeah." Flash began rubbing the back of his head, "Now, I know there isn't exactly a manual to your powers, so it'll probably be a process of trial and error. But I promise that we're not gonna stop until you're a master of your powers!"

"YES!" Heart cheered, Flash chuckling as the colt began hopping up and down. That is, till a knock came to the door, "Yeah?"

The door opened to reveal Spike with a scroll in his hands. "This came for you. It's from Princess Celestia."

Flash raised an eyebrow and held out his hoof, taking the scroll before reading, "Huh. Well this complicates things."

"What's up?" Heart asked, Flash grimacing at his next words.





"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE TO LEAVE?!" Heart screamed as he, Soul, Flash, Twilight and Lightning were in the castle's throne room.

"Sorry Heart," Flash help up the scroll. "Lightning and I have been summoned to Canterlot."

"What for?" Soul asked, Twilight now taking the scroll.

"It doesn't say. She just wants them in Canterlot. She'll explain everything there." She furled up the scroll, "The next train to Canterlot's not until this evening."

"Then we've got a few hours to get ready," Lightning responded.

"But...but...but you were supposed to help train me!" Heart cried out, "You promised!"

"Yeah...I know." Flash put his hoof on the colt's shoulder, "I'm sorry Heart, but this is an order from a princess. That's the one thing a Royal Knight can't refuse. Our training will just have to wait until I get back."

"But who knows how long that could be!" Heart whined, "I don't wanna be stuck here since you defenders told me to not do anything because of my accident!" He spun around and began to march out of the room, "This bites!"

Once he was gone, Flash let out a sigh. "This isn't fair for him."

"Well it's not like you can't not go," Lightning added, "He'll just have to suck it up. Its actually a pretty good lesson for him. If he wants to be a knight, he'll have to deal with these kinds of situations all the time."

"Maybe..." Twilight hummed while tapping her chin, "But maybe he doesn't have too. There's nothing stopping him from starting his training while you're not here. If he uses the training room and makes it fire proof, he can train to his heart's content."

"You've got a point," Flash replied with a nod, "But I don't like the idea of him training on his own..."

And as he said that, an imaginary light-bulb appeared above his head.





That evening...

Flash and Lightning were at the station with Twilight, Rarity, Springer, Spike, Scootaloo, Heart and Soul. The whistle of the approaching train caught their attention, Rarity and Twilight stepping up to give their special someponies a kiss. "Good luck darling."

"Try not to get too badly hurt," Twilight added as Scootaloo and Soul gave Flash a hug.

"We'll do our best," Flash replied before turning to his apprentice. "Hey, where's the love?" Heart just glared at him, making Flash chuckle, "Guess it's a good thing you won't miss me too much. Might distract you from your training."

This made Heart go wide-eyed, "Training?!"

"Yup. I found somepony who's willing to help you start. They're gonna do everything they can to help you control your powers, so be sure to listen to them. Understand?" Heart's reply was a hug as the train pulled up.

"I'll listen and train. Promise." He then pulled back. "When you get back, I'll be an expert with my powers!"

"Sounds good," Flash replied, "You start tomorrow as soon as you wake up. You'll meet your trainer in the training room."

With that, Flash and Lightning walked onto the train. Heart smiled as both their heads appeared at a window, only for the colt to gasp, "Wait!" he yelled as the train pulled away, "Who am I training with!?" But the train's whistle blared at this, muting his voice, "Flash...FLASH!"

But he got no answer as Flash pulled his head back inside. As this happened, Heart turned to the others, "I don't suppose you all know who my trainer is?" They shook their heads, "Well that's just great."

Following this, for the remainder of the day Heart wondered who it was going to be. His mind went over the Royal Knights, his brain picturing somepony like Cold, Ruby, Tidal or Heather. He went to bed night anxious to find out, so excited as he barely managed to get to sleep with how excited he was. But no sooner that his eyes were closed, his alarm clock went off.

He leapt out of the bed as before the first ring was completed, the colt zipping up to the training room. "Oh...who could it be? Iron maybe? Or maybe Springer's gonna be the one. Ruby...Cold?" He shivered in excitement as he reached the door, "I can't wait!"

He threw the doors open, only for his smile to vanish. In front of him was Grand Hoof sitting in a chair...fast asleep.

"SERIOUSLY?!" The outcry caused the older pony to wake up, turning to the colt.

"About time." He groaned before stretching his hooves, "I've been waiting for a while. Thought you'd only be a few minutes, but I had time to have a nice dream while waiting for you."

Heart raised an eyebrow at this, "Princess Celestia just raised the sun."

Grand let out a chuckle, "You're just a kid, so I wouldn't expect you to understand...but do yourself a favor and try to wake up early now so that when you're older, it won't be such a shock when you have to wake up for early patrol or whatever else you need to do."

Heart frowned as this as Grand walked over to the control crystal. 'I can't believe this old coot's gonna be teaching me. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since he taught Flash...but he's an earth pony. How's he supposed to help me with my powers?!'

"Why don't you start by launching a blast of fire at me." Grand asked as the training room changed into a walled arena.

"What?!"

"Shoot some fire at me," Grand replied as he turned to face Heart, "If I'm going to help you learn to control your powers, I need to understand them, and there's no better way then in battle."

"Uhh...are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, my attacks can be pretty powerful and I don't wanna hurt you."

"Don't take me too lightly kid. I've been in this game a long time, and you won't be the first fire wielder I've fought."

"But you don't even have your Celestic Gear," Heart added.

Grand started laughing at this, "Yeah, I left it at home to make things a little more even. But if you're really worried about that," he touched the control crystal and a wooden staff appeared in his hooves. "This should be enough."

"A wooden staff? But won't that burn easily? I don't wanna burn you and-"

Grand let out a long heaving sigh, "Good grief kid, I didn't realize you were such a chatterbox." As he said that, his smile disappeared as he began to glare at Heart, "I'M LOSING PATIENCE!" And in that second, Grand was suddenly in front of Heart, thrusting the staff into the colt's chest.

"Augh!" Heart yelped as he was thrown into the wall behind him. Slumping down, he let out a moan, "Okay...that hurt." He then looked up, now seeing Grand charging with the staff raised. Laughter filled the air as Grand swung the staff down, Heart barely managing to jump away. As he did this, flames appeared around his body, "Fine! You wanna play?!" He created a fireball between his hooves, "Get ready to feel the heat! Fire Force!"

The steam of fire shot out, Grand still laughing at the colt. "Ha!" He quickly slid down, ducking under the flames.

"No way!" Heart gasped as Grand reached him, hitting him with the staff again. "Ahh!"

As Heart hit another wall, Grand chuckled as he spun his staff around, "What, you're surprised I was able to do something that basic? I may be old, but that doesn't mean my skills have dulled." And as Heart began to pick himself up, Grand continued, "Against the adversaries I've faced in the past, you're a total novice. If this is all you can do, we've got a long way to go before you're ready to call yourself a Royal Knight."

Heart growled as he then spun around and swung his tail. This unleashed a sweeping stream of fire, making Grand sigh, "Basic." He raised his staff and swung it down, the force sending out a wave of air that cut Heart's flame wave in half. He began to shake his head as he continued, "If this is what Flash is able to create after all this time, then I'm sorely disappointed in his teaching methods."

This made Heart hiss, the colt not noticing his fire beginning to burn brighter. "Take that back!" He yelled as he unleashed a burst of fire from his back hooves, propelling him up to Grand as he threw a blazing punch. But as he did this, Grand easily ducked at this, making Heart fly over him and crash into a wall.

"He might be the Knight of Friendship and a hero of Equestria, but Flash is an amateur when it comes to teaching. What happened in the forest is proof he's not training you properly."

"SHUT UP!" Heart screeched as he charged again, throwing a flurry of punches. But as he tried this, the Great Mountain easily backpedaled as he dodged every attack, not even putting any effort. And as he evaded the fifth one, he swung his staff down on Heart's head. "Augh!" He yelped, his eyes glowing red as he felt this blow. He then jumped back and created a giant fireball. "FIRE FORCE!"

Grand sighed at the sight, shaking his head as fire exploded out of the sphere. He threw the staff upward, pulling a hoof back as it fell down and punched the end of the staff. The blow sent the staff rocket through the flames, slicing through it with ease. Flames split out of the fire orb, the staff then hitting Heart in the chest again.

"GYAH!" He cried as he was knocked back, allowing Grand to run up to him.

"You have power, but no control." He grabbed Heart around the neck, the earth pony lifting the pegasus up. "It's not just your abilities you have no control over, but also your emotions." With that, he threw Heart down, causing the colt to cry out in pain, "That's why I bested you."

Heart let out a groan as he squinted his eyes open, only to see Grand's gaze, feeling like it was piercing his very soul. This seemed to calm him down, but he was letting out loud pants as Grand continued to hold him. 'He's so fast and strong. Even without his Celestic Gear, he completely thrashed me.'

He then saw that Grand didn't have a scratch on him as the defender spoke up, "Listen to me. The way you used your fire power in the war and during your time here shows you're still adjusting to your abilities. You understand its fundamentals," he then tapped Heart on the cheek. "But your admiration for Flash and sense of loyalty to him are shackles on you."

"Shackles?" Heart asked as Grand let him go.

"Flash may be the one teaching you, but that doesn't mean you have to emulate him. You're both pegasi, yes, but the elements you wield are very different. Your fire won't behave the same way as Flash's light, which is something you need to understand if you ever want to master it. If you're not careful, even the weakest flame could do cataclysmic damage. You need to understand that, just as you need to understand that the fighting style you will develop may end up being completely different from Flash's."

A growling sound filled the air next as Grand looked down at Heart's stomach, the defender chuckling, "Clearly, you need something to eat before we go any further." He turned to the door as the room returned to normal, "Just rest here and I'll go get us some grub. And think about what I told you."

And as he left, Heart didn't get up. He just laid there, sighing, "My admiration for Flash...are shackles?" He continued to simply lay there, only for Grand to return with a plate of buttered toast and milk.

He sat down in front of Heart, the colt sitting up and taking the plate. "So..." Grand commented as Heart began to eat, "You've had some time to think it over. Now why do you think you lost to me?"

"You're really strong...and fast." Heart muttered while looking away, "I couldn't keep up."

"Surprised because I'm an earth pony?" Heart nodded back, "I understand. We'll start with why you lost though. You lost because you weren't able to control your fire. All you're able to do is throw it around at hundred percent of the power." Heart nodded again, only for Grand to shake his head, "It's understandable that you would develop this quirk. The city of Faust was made of stone and marble, which doesn't catch fire. You could go all out without having to worry about burning the place down. But here, your power is much more dangerous."

"I know..." Heart whimpered, "That's why I'm trying to learn to control it."

"Well if you wanna do that, you need to deal with the second reason I beat you. Your temper."

"Temper?"

"You got angry very easily, which meant you weren't thinking clearly. You're young, so controlling your emotions isn't easy. But if you don't learn to keep your temper in check, you'll end up causing more harm than good. Especially since your anger is the fuel of your flames."

"Fuel of my flames?"

Grand nodded. "Remind me, how did you get your powers?"

"Soul gave them to me using Faust's power."

"Yes, but she gave you the power by having you absorb the flames of Searing Salix, a nirik. And while watching your adventures there, I saw that Salix's firepower increased whenever he got angry. Since your powers are the same as his, you also grow stronger when you're angry."

"Huh..." Heart looked down at his hooves, "I guess that's right, like when I tricked him to free Flash."

"But that's a double-edged sword. The angrier you get, the stronger you get. But the angrier you get, the less you'll think, meaning it would be harder for you to control your power."

"So what do I do?" Heart asked, "Try and never get angry?"

Grand chuckled at this, "Oh no kiddo, definitely can't do that. Anger is an important emotion, the same as joy or even fear." He shined a small smirk, "Do you remember what Flash told you about fear?"

"That's it's something I should always have," Grand nodded and told him to go on. "He also said I should listen to my fear, but also question it."

"Exactly. Anger might sometimes make us do or say something we wouldn't normally, but it's still necessary. There are times when we have to let ourselves get angry. If we didn't, then Sombra, Discord, Tirek and who knows what else would have invaded Equestria long ago. It's simply a matter of controlling one's anger, and if you can learn to control it, then you can use it to boost your fire without losing control."

"But that doesn't make any sense. How am I supposed to get angry but not let the anger control me? If I let myself get angry, isn't that letting it control me?"

Grand shook his head. "Close your eyes." Heart raised an eyebrow, only to do so. "Now...imagine yourself swimming in the ocean. Imaging you're still close too the shore that your hooves reach the seabed. You're floating there...then a large wave comes your way. That wave...is your anger."

"Oookay..." Heart barely replied.

"There are three things you can do when that wave hits you. The first is to let it wash you away, meaning you let your anger free and have it dictate your actions. The second is to try and fight the wave, meaning you try to bottle your anger up and ignore. But no matter what, you'll reach the point where you can't fight it any more and all the anger will wash you away."

Heart did a long gulp, "What's the third option?"

"The third is to let the wave wash over you. Dig your hooves into the sand and brace yourself. Let the wave of anger hit you, feeling the force of that anger flow through you. And then...let it go. The wave has washed over you, but you remain exactly where you want to be."

"So you're saying I'm supposed to let the anger wash over me?"

Grand did a small nod. "Exactly. Every time you feel like you're getting angry, you need to take a moment to feel that anger and then let it go."

"How?" Grand replied by getting up as Heart finished his breakfast, moving over to the control crystal. In a moment, a table appeared in front of Heart with a deck of cards. "Huh? What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Your first task will be to build a house out of these cards."

"That's it?" Grand nodded again. "Ha! Easy." Heart took the cards and began to position the cards. But as he managed to make two triangles and put the roof on it, the whole thing collapsed. "Ahh!"

"Try again."

Heart began again, only to fail at the same point. As he did this, he felt anger start to surge. Grand's words went through his head at this, making him take a deep breath. And as he began to calm down, he made the first triangle and began to make the second layer-

HONK!

Heart screamed as he flinched from the sudden sound, causing the cards to topple over. He spun around next, seeing Grand holding a gas horn. "Seriously?!"

"Rise above the anger. No matter what, don't let it overtake you."

The colt took a deep breath and turned back to the table, working on the house again while tensing up to prepare for the horn. But Grand remained silent instead, Heart now seeing the defender leaning against a wall with the horn nowhere in sight.

Turning back to the cards, he got a second layer done, only for Grand to press a button on the ground, making the table suddenly jerk back and fourth. The cards toppled over instantly, making Heart yelp, "Hey!" He glared at Grand next, only to take a deep breath.

"Good," Grand responded, "Don't let yourself be overwhelmed. Take all the time you need." Heart took a few more deep breaths, but nodded and tried again. The card tower fell twice after this, Heart constantly calming himself every time. "Keep it up," Grand whispered. "This is only meant to be an intro to your lessons. It doesn't matter if you fail here."

And as Heart was about to complete the house, muttering, "Almost there..." He then held up the final two cards, only for Grand to press another button.

A section of the far wall opened up, Heart looking up to see a cream pie slam splat all over his face. Cream flew everywhere, causing the card house to fall. Heart wiped the cream from his eyes, now seeing the destroyed house. He began to pant, steam beginning to haze off his head. He tried to take a few deep breaths, but it was just too much.

"RAAAAAHHHH!" he roared as the entire room was filled with fire, the colt now unleashing a raging scream that would put Donald Duck to shame. This lasted for a few good seconds before Heart found himself getting blasted by a bunch of foam from Grand, who was carrying a fire extinguisher.

He continued to hose Heart down until he was completely out, stopping for a moment until Heart's head ignited again, making him blast it more. The fire now completely put out, he stared at the still panting Heart. "Better?"

"Not really."

"That was probably a little mean of me, but it was a good first attempt. You see now how difficult controlling one's temper can be, even if it's the single thing you're trying to do. What you just did is something we need to avoid when you're in a public place."

"Yeah...I know." Heart moaned as he shook his body, "I get what you mean."

Grand nodded once more, "Good. Then here's how this is going to go. For the rest of the day, we'll work on you learning to control your anger. Then tomorrow, we'll get started on your actual training. I'm hoping that by the time Flash gets back, you'll be able to at least launch a single burst of fire from your hoof."

Heart nodded as he continued to clean himself off. The day soon continued, slow going as it was filled with Heart going through a variety of anger inducing exercises. They stopped for a quick lunch halfway through the day, Grand telling him about certain meditation techniques he could look into.

Heart had to admit, Grand was a very different teacher to Flash. Flash had simply been showing him the moves and helping him perfect them, but Grand seemed to prefer a more theory based teaching style. This confused the colt, as Flash had told him that his teaching was all physical back in the day. But this wasn't anything like what Flash had been doing with him.

After lunch, they continued on with the exercises. But as they did this, Soul walked into the room a few hours later, "Hello?" They turned to the alicorn filly, "Twilight said dinner's ready. And you're free to join us if you like Grand."

"Sounds good to me." Grand chuckled as they left the room. A few moments later, they were in the dinning room with the castle's residents. Twilight, Spike and possibility Springer had made an entire spread of different foods that they could chose from. And as Grand and Heart sat down and everypony did a quick grace, they started digging in.

"So how's the training going?" Twilight asked as she passed the peas.

"It's only the first day," Grand replied, "Controlling power like this isn't something that can be learned in one or two lessons. It could be years before Heart can call himself a complete master."

"I just wanna be able to use my powers without worrying about hurting ponies," Heart added as he helped himself to some mash.

"I don't think that's something that'll ever go away," Starlight chimed in, "I mean, fire's pretty dangerous. If-"

"I'm careless, even the weakest flame could do cataclysmic damage," Heart sighed. "I've already been told that."

Starlight shrunk back at this, twiddling her hooves, "Oh...right. Sorry."

"Its fine." Heart muttered as he took a sip of his drink.

"Don't worry Heart," Grand assured him. "You're not the only pony that worries about losing control of their powers. Every time I use my Celestic Gear, the thought of causing an earthquake always appears. I just don't let it control me."

"Same here," Spike added, "You're not the only one that uses fire. When I was younger, I was always terrified I'd set something on fire. Guess most dragons don't have that issue since they grow up around rocks and volcanos."

"And it's not just elemental magic," Twilight continued, "Lots of unicorns grow up fearing that they might lose control of their magic. I know after my first magical surge I was worried about turning ponies into plant pots, but Celestia helped me learn to control it."

"Exactly," Grand nodded. "Honestly, learning to control your powers should have been the first thing you learned. Not trying to insult Flash or anything, but he's been doing it all wrong."

"But Flash said he's been teaching me the same way you taught him," Heart responded, "How can it be wrong if it's how you taught him?"

"Simple," Grand replied before taking a spoonful of carrots, "You're not Flash." Heart raised an eyebrow at this, the others staring at Grand as he took another bite, "you're much stronger than him."

This made everypony go wide-eyed, Heart yelping, "Are you kidding?! Have you seen what Flash can do?! How the heck am I stronger if he can create a giant energy alicorn?"

Grand chuckled at this. "Yes, Flash is strong now, but he wasn't always that way. When he was your age, he didn't have any of the amazing abilities he has now. No Sacred Light, no Theta Mode, not even his Celestic Gear. He only got those things after moving to Ponyville a few years ago. But when he was your age, he was no different from any other pegasus his age. Yes, he was skilled enough to grab my attention, but if you were to fight Flash when he was your age, you would have creamed him."

"Really?" Heart asked, turning to Twilight as she nodded back.

"He's right Heart. You're way stronger than Flash was at your age."

Grand spoke up next, "If Flash had access to his Sacred Light when he first became my apprentice, I would have started his training by helping him learn to control that power. Only after I was sure he wouldn't kill anypony with it, then I would have started teaching him what Flash has been teaching you."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "Grand...if you knew Flash was teaching Heart wrong, why didn't you tell him?"

Grand shook his head. "Flash needs to learn it on his own. Its his first time as a teacher, so he needs to figure out when he fails at teaching and when he succeeds."

"Oh." Twilight took a bite of her dinner, "That makes sense with Flash. He only asks for advice when he knows he needs it."

"I know. He's always been like that." Grand replied, "This is a learning experience for him as much as Heart. I expected him to make mistakes, and if he asked me for help, I would help him. Although, after Heart's little accident in the forest, I had every intention of telling him he needed to help Heart learn control his power, but thankfully he realized it himself."

"Anypony would have realized that Grand." Twilight deadpanned, Soul giggling as Grand just shrugged.

The rest of the dinner was the group discussing Heart's training, Twilight and Starlight giving a few ideas in as well. And once the meal was done, Twilight and Starlight headed off to the library while Springer headed out on patrol. Soul, Ace, Scootaloo and Mira went to play games and Heart was planning on joining them, only for Grand to grab his shoulder.

"We're not done yet Heart. There's one more lesson I wanna complete before the end of the day." Heart raised an eyebrow at this, but followed after Grand.

"Where're we going?" He asked as they climbed some stairs.

"To the balcony," Grand replied as they got to the top, "Here we are."

Heart walked up to the edge of the balcony, the pair staring out at the town. "Why'd you bring me up here?"

"I'll answer that question with one of my own." Grand pointed at the village, "If you shot a stream for fire out, which way would it go?"

"Uhh...straight ahead?"

"Correct," Grand nodded, Heart blinking at him as he saw the smile on the stallion's face. He opened his mouth to ask why he asked this, only for Grand to ask, "And what about...now?"

"Straight ahead."

"Wrong."

"What?" Heart glanced between the town and Grand, "How could it be wrong when you said it was right just a moment ago?"

"That...is the lesson," Grand replied before moving over to a potted plant Twilight kept on the balcony. "What's different between now and when you gave your first answer?" Heart blinked at this as Grand plucked a leaf off the plant, "You'll quickly find the answer is staring you right in the face." As he said that, he dropped the leaf, Heart watching it be pulled into the air.

"The wind..." Heart responded, "It changed."

"Well actually, it picked up," Grand chimed in, "But yes, a strong enough wind can effect the trajectory of any flame, including yours. When unleashing your flame, always pay attention to the wind. If it's to your back, it can be your ally and help boost the power of your flame. But if you're facing the wind, it could be your worst enemy and weaken or even push your attack back at you. And if it's to your sides, you might accidently miss your target and set something or somepony on fire."

Heart groaned as he clutched his head, "I didn't think this would be so complicated."

Grand chuckled and shook his head, "Nothing worth having comes easy. And your powers are definitely worth having. Now you can go off and join the others," Heart nodded and hopped off the balcony, only for Grand to speak up, "But before you go, a bit of homework." Heart turned to him, Grand continuing, "Aside from water and wind, I want you to think of three things that could effect how well you control your attacks by tomorrow. Think you can do that?" Heart did a small nod. "Good. Now off you go." Heart ran off, Grand smirking as he watched him go. "You've got a good one here Flash."





The day completed and turned to night, which quickly passed to the next morning. And as the first specks of sunlight broke over the horizon, Grand was making his way to the castle. The older pony let out a yawn as he headed there, the buzzing of insects filling his ears. He then felt one land on the back of his neck and seemed to bite him. "Ack!" He groaned, swatting it away, only to find it was already gone. "Stupid mosquitoes."

He slowly walked into the castle, making sure to not make too much noise in this early hour. But when he arrived at the training room, he was surprised to find Heart sitting in a chair half asleep. Not expecting the colt to be there, he smiled at the sight before trotting over and covering his nose, causing the pegasus to snort as he woke up. "What the?!"

"Morning," Grand chuckled, "How long have you been here?"

"I...don't know. A while I think."

"Well don't push yourself. You've gotta give your body time to adjust to being an early riser. Wanna hear a tip?"

"Sure."

"Set your alarm clock to five minutes before you usually get up. Keep doing that until your body naturally adjusts, and then set it another five minutes early. Eventually, you'll reach a point where you're waking up early and your body's not totally shocked by it. And try to go to sleep earlier. You need a good night's sleep if you plan on waking up early."

"Got it," Heart replied as he got out of the chair.

"Do you remember your homework?" Heart nodded, "Good. Now, other than water and wind, what over things could make controlling your fire difficult?"

"Sand." Heart responded, "If I'm in a sandstorm, I won't be able to see what I'm shooting at and I could accidently hit something or somepony I don't want too."

"Good. Plus the wind could make it difficult as well, and the sand could take your fire out. You should test that before you find yourself in that situation."

Heart nodded back. "Another one is snow. If I'm in a blizzard I might not be able to see and ice and snow can easily put me out."

"True. Though I did hear from Flash that you did quite well during the snowstorm in the Crystal Empire. And the last one?"

"Um...gas," he slowly said, "If there's gas in the air, I could set the whole place on fire."

Grand raised an eyebrow at this, "I'm guessing Twilight helped you with that one." Heart blushed and looked away, "That's fine. That's what older ponies are there for. But yes, gas is a very dangerous thing to mix with fire. You may one day find yourself in an area which expels natural gas, so be careful if you ever smell something like rotten eggs."

"Got it," Heart replied, "So what's on the board for today? How are we gonna get me to control my fire?"

Grand moved over to the crystal in response, "I've been thinking about that." He manipulated the room to morph back into the fireproof arena, this one showing a bunch of targets on the wall. "First, fire a blast at the central target. Don't bother about power, just shoot."

Heart nodded and ignited his body, thrusting his hooves next, "HYAH!" A long blast of fire exploded out of his hooves, hitting the target as the stream lasted for a few seconds.

"Good. Now, what are you thinking about when you fire?"

"Huh?"

"What thoughts are going through your head when you did that?"

"Well...nothing really. I just point and shoot."

"I was afraid of that." Grand sighed, "That might be why you can't control the flames yet. It's like unicorn magic. You need to give your flames instructions in order to get it to obey you. You require a medium to focus your power so you can adjust it."

"So what do I do?" Heart asked, "What medium should I use?"

"Well, that's really something you decide. It's you who's using the power, so you need a medium you can easily visualize." Heart closed his eyes, crossing his front hooves as he tried to think of something. Grand watched him think, a full minute passing as he then asked, "Well?"

Heart shrugged as he opened his eyes, "I got nothing."

"Oookay," Grand sighed while rubbing his chin, "Let's think about this." He began to pace, only for a bulb to go off in his head, "That could work." He turned back to Heart, "Here's what I want you to visualize. Close your eyes." Heart did so, "Now, I want you to imagine a tap. Any type will do. Bath, sink, garden, take your pick."

"Okay...now what?"

"That tap is your power. Currently, the faucet is always completely open, so the water, or fire in your case, is exploding out at max power. But if you turn the faucet, the power will go down and you'll have more control. Understand what I mean?"

"I guess..."

"Maybe a visual stimulate will help." Grand created a sink with the room, turning its dial as water began blasting out, splashing everywhere. "See? Image this water is actually your fire."

Heart did this, his brain slowly managing to overlap flames with the water. He saw it like it was the other day, all of it out of control as he muttered, "I see it..." The colt began to slowly turn the faucet, the water's pressure dropping as it became a more controlled stream. But as he turned it, the stream turned into a weak trickle, then into rapid drops....only to completely close.

"You get it now?" Grand asked, Heart nodding back. "Good. If you can mentally link the image of the tap to your powers, you'll slowly learn to adjust the output. Eventually, you'll be able to control the intensity of your fire without even thinking."

"Got it...I think."

Grand patted his shoulder. "Now remember, that kind of control won't just happen. It may take years before you can adjust the firepower without effort."

"And that means I've gotta start practicing right now!"

The knight chuckled at this, "Well, we need to actually link your powers to that image first. Turn to the target." Heart spun around as he re-ignited his body. "Now image that tap shooting out the water, and then use your flames."

"Alright..." Heart built up the power as the image appeared in his head. "FIRE!" He unleashed a stream of fire, Heart imaging his hooves were at the tap.

Once it ended, Grand nodded. "Again."

"FIRE!" He unleashed another stream, the same image still there.

"Again."

"FIRE!"

The two ponies continued this for felt like hours, Heart needing to take breaks to re-hydrate every now and then. And as the day passed, they came to a stop for lunch. "Not bad," Grand commented as he put a plate of sandwiches down, "Do you think your brain's mixed using the powers with that mental image?"

"I think so," Heart replied as he bit into the sandwich and drank down an extra cold soda.

"Good. Then once you're done, we'll start working on you trying to power down your attacks. Just remember to visualize the faucet as you unleash your attack, then start turning it. Hopefully, your brain will register this as you wanting to power your attack down."

"Okay...but I get the feeling my brain's not a very fast learner."

"Don't feel bad if you can't do it straight away. We're in uncharted territory, so there's no telling how long it'll be until you gain the control needed." Heart nodded as Grand stood up. "You know, I once heard Celestia tell Twilight something that might be a good thing to remember."

"What?"

Grand shined a small smile, "That the power you wield is a part of you, no different from your leg or your wing. Just as you don't need to think to move your leg, you don't need to force your power to work. Just focus on your goal and the power will come naturally."

"Huh. Okay."

Heart stood up next as Grand pointed at a target. "Alright, let's give it a try. Unleash your flame and imagine the tap."

The colt visualized the image before unleashing a blast of fire, the long stream hitting the target. As it did this, Heart imagined the faucet of the tap slowly turn, picturing the flaming water weakening. But instead of powering down, his fire completely powered off. "Whoa!"

"It's okay. Try it again." Heart nodded and did it again, unleashing the fire while attempting to lower the power again. But as he did this, the flames instantly stopped. "Again." Heart did it a third time, and again the attempt failed.

Grand passed him a drink at this, Heart hydrating himself before trying two more times. And on the sixth attempt, Heart let out a low growl, "Come on! Turn the faucet!" He hissed as the flames exploded out of his hooves at full power. But as he did this, the heat coming off him suddenly decreased as the fire seemed to get less intense. And it remained at that weaker power-level, not going out at all. "I...I did it."

Grand clapped his hooves, "Atta-colt!" But then the flames went out without Heart's command, making the colt groan. That is, till he felt Grand slap his back, "Ah, don't feel bad kiddo! Just remember how that felt and trying again. See if you can keep that level up for as long as possible."

Heart stumbled for a second before nodding, unleashing a burst for fire at one hundred percent, then imagining the tap again. And to his joy, the flames grew weaker before stopping at a certain intensity. "I'm doing it..."

"Good. Now see if you can make it stronger again." Heart took a small breath before imagining the tap, opening it as the heat of the fire began to grow. "That's it. Now lower the power again." Heart did so, the flames slowly simmering. The colt continued this back and forth, weak and strong flames appearing in front of them. And after five minutes had passed, Grand called for him to stop.

"Gyah!" Heart yelped as he fell to his flank, the colt leaning back on his front hooves. "I'm beat."

"Take a break," Grand threw him another drink. "You certainly deserve it. It appears that once you did it once, you were able to do it easier."

"But I still need to focus really hard," Heart mumbled while guzzling down the drink.

"Like I said before. The more you do it, the easier it'll become. This is only your first day and you're already starting to get the hang of it."

"Maybe..." Heart finished half the drink and poured the rest on his head, "But I'm betting it'll be a while before I'm allowed to help out again."

Grand chuckled, "You're more like Flash then you realise. Always wanting to help out, even when you don't need too." Heart smiled at this, "I'll tell you the same thing I told him back then. Don't be in such a rush to grow up and have more responsibilities. Enjoy being a colt for as long as you can."

Heart did a small nod before taking another drink. After this, the two began to train, several hours passing as they kept trying to get Heart's power as low as possible, though he was only able to get a little weaker than before.

"Okay," Grand stated as he pulled out the last drink he had, "I think this should be enough for today. Too much training could have negative effects." Heart nodded, "But before we end it, there's one more think I wanna try."

"What?"

"Instead of starting strong and powering your flames down, I want you to try and unleash a small blast from your hoof."

"A small blast?"

"Just imagine your slowly turning the tap on and off again and see what happens. I'll be ready in case something goes wrong." He moved over to the crystal and summoned a fire extinguisher, Heart raising his hoof at the targets.

The image played through his head several times before he opened his eyes, trying to unleash the flames. But as he did this, an explosion suddenly shot out of the tips of his hooves, knocking him flying back, "WHOA!" he cried as he hit a nearby wall, making Grand flinch at the sight.

"Ouch. You okay kiddo?" He asked, getting a moan from Heart.

"What...what happened?" Heart groaned as he sat up and looked down at his hooves.

"Guess you built up to much power and it blasted all out at once." Grand replied as Heart picked himself up, "That could actually be quite useful. The blast was mainly smoke, meaning you could use it to blind an opponent without actually hurting them. Could come in handy if you every find yourself pinned."

Heart nodded as his brain started formulating his own ideas on how to use it. Specifically, when he was in the air. A smirk appeared on his face as they left the training room.





Over the next few days, Heart and Grand fell into a changing routine. During the morning, Grand would have Heart undergo more anger management training. Every time it would be a different task and a different method of ticking him off, Heart wondering if Grand spent the rest of his day after their training coming up with new ways to make him mad...and make the earth pony laugh. Everyday would have Heart getting his anger getting the best of him, but Grand told him he was making progress.

Then they would stop for lunch, Grand telling him stories about Flash when he was first starting out. After that it was Heart's fire control training.

And by the end of the third day, Heart had managed to get the power of his fire blast down to a thin stream of fire. One he could easily control and position. After a little practice, he managed to unleash a blast without needing to power it down, even managing to hit the target's bullseye.

On day four, Heart learned how to start his fires small. It was strong enough not to cause a flameless explosion, but not so weak that it died out the second it was shot off his hoof. In the end, he managed to create a fireball that he could throw without it exploding in his hooves.

The fifth day had Heart deciding he wanted to try something, trying to use the explosion to help him change direction at high speed. However, while he could change direction with an explosion, the force caused him to lose control every time. At first, he just figured he needed more practice, but Grand suggested he just try upping power of the blast just a little, and try to keep it constant.

Heart did so, finding with a little practice that he could create a highly condensed flame that had some incredible force behind it. He would jump into the air and with all four hooves ignited, he found he was able to move around with incredible dexterity by positioning his hooves.

He was reminded of a comic Rumble had lent him, about an earth pony who wore a suit of armor and used it to fly and fight crime. That way that character flew was very similar, Heart trying to emulate the hero despite not knowing if it was at all scientifically accurate. He still crashed a few times, but by the end of the day, Heart had some control over his projectile flying.

"Nice Heart!" Grand clapped as Heart flew a figure eight through the air, "Looks like you've gotten the hang of it."

"Maybe..." Heart replied by flying down, "But its still really hard. I have to think about only that when I'm using it. I don't know if it'll help during a fight."

"You make a good point. I can't exactly fight you in the air to help you practice. You'll have to have Flash do that for you."

"Like how Soarin did for him?"

Grand nodded, "Yup. Though maybe we can use the room to make an obstacle course..."

"Okay, let's-"

"Hello?" said a voice as the room's door opened, revealing Springer, "Hey you two, you'll never guess what just happened. We just got a letter from Canterlot saying Flash and Lightning have returned."

Heart turned to him first, stars appearing in his eyes, "Flash is coming home?!"

"He'll be back tomorrow after he and Lightning finish giving a report."

Grand chuckled at this before turning to his temporary student, "Well it looks like our time together is coming to an end. I like to think we've made some headway."

"Some?! Are you kidding?! I'm on a whole other level now thanks to you!" Grand laughed at this, thanking Heart for the praise. "Still, I still wish we could have tested how well all my training's sunk in. That way I can tell Flash all about it when he gets back."

Grand let out hum, "Hmm...why don't we do one final test before Flash gets back? You know, to see just how far you've come along."

"Okay. Are we gonna fight again?" Heart asked, slightly gulping at the memory of the beating the older pony had given him before.

"No, not me. I think it's best I act as a judge and see how you react. But you do need somepony to face...though I don't think a simulated villain would work with this."

They then turned to the other occupant in the room, Springer blinking back, "What?"

"You'll do. If you don't mind."

Springer glanced at Heart for a second before replying, "Um...no offense Grand, but are you sure?"

"Why not? As long as you don't go mega, Heart should be able to handle fighting you for a bit."

"But-"

"Please Springer!" Heart cried as he ran up to him and gave his best puppy-dog eyes, Springer backpedaling at the sight.

"You taught Ace that, didn't you?" Heart did a slight nod, making the jakhowl sigh, "Figures....alright Heart, I'll do it. But only if Twilight allows it."

Heart let out a loud cheer and shot off to find the princess, the two following. They soon found Twilight in the middle of a lesson with Soul, who was practicing sightless telepathy. When Heart burst into the room, the surprise caused her to accidently pull every book off the library's shelves, almost crushing them until Twilight put up a shield.

After apologizing, Heart asked for permission for the test. Twilight didn't like it, but agreed as long as Grand promised to stop the match if she told him to. Word soon spread about Heart's fight against Springer, and by the next day, all of the female mane seven along with Spike, Soul, Starlight, the CMC, the jakhowls and Iron had decided to come watch while giving Heart their support.

And as they got started, Grand used the crystal to create a seating area for them that was separated from the rest of the room by a fireproof barrier.

"Just remember," Twilight told him. "The minute I think this has gone too far, I put a stop to it."

"I plan on doing that myself," Grand replied, "This is just a simple test to see how much control Heart has in a real life situation. You and I both know that if he sees something bad happening, he'll try and jump in to stop it. He needs to be ready for when that inevitability happens."

Twilight grumbled at this, going to the seats as Grand walked up to Heart and Springer as they finished stretching. "Alright, are you two ready to begin?"

They both nodded as Springer turned to Heart. "Hope you're ready," he created a Bone Breaker and started twirling it around. "Because I'm not going to be holding back."

"Neither am I!" Heart yelled as his body ignited.

The two got into a battle stance and stared each other down, the audience all on the edge of their seats with Pinkie taking a bite of popcorn that she had pulled out of nowhere.

"Alright then!" Grand moved over to the control crystal and touched it, the room transforming to an illusion of Ponyville, one being a perfect recreation of the town and it's ponies. "This will be your battleground. In this fight, Springer will be acting as the villain. He'll attack you with no disregard for anything around you. Not the town or its population. The same won't be said for you. If you cause any major damage or accidently hit one of the fake ponies, you'll fail this test."

"Huh...okay." Heart cricked his neck at this, 'So I need to be careful with my attacks, just like Flash and the others do in real life.'

"Very well. Then let this battle...BEGIN!" Grand yelled, Springer instantly charging with his Bone Breaker. But before he could make contact, Heart raised his hoof, unleashing a small explosion of fire. The force of the explosion pushed him back, allowing him to escape before spreading his wings.

Grand smirked at the sight. 'Good. He's already showing improvement from his fight against me.'

"Hey!" Soul yelled, "That's cheating! You were supposed to give him a countdown!"

"There are no countdowns in real life," Iron responded, "In a fight, the opponent won't give him time to prepare."

"Not bad," Springer dissolved the Bone Breaker and created an Aura Blast in both paws. "But let's see how well you do against these!" He started throwing the spheres, the colt now sending out small bursts of fire from each hoof. Shifting his legs around, the pegasus used the flames to push himself around, avoiding the orbs.

"Wow..." Rainbow gasped, "Now that's flight control!"

Springer glared at him, only to spin around, "Fine. If you're gonna stay up there..." He pointed to one of the buildings, this one carrying a fake Lyra and Bon Bon staring out the window.

Heart gasped and shot down, as Springer unleashed an Aura Force at the building. He propelled himself in front of the attack before pointing his hooves at the aura laser. "Fire Force!" He unleashed a burst of fire that struck the beam, causing an explosion on impact.

And as this happened, Springer's voice yelled out, "Steel Paw!" The jakhowl leapt out of the smoke, about to swipe at the colt.

"Whoa!" Heart yelped, firing another explosion to push him away from Springer. But as he did this, Springer's body suddenly began to glitch out, only to reappear right in front of the colt. A foot slammed into Heart's face, knocking him back as he screamed, "Augh!"

Everypony flinched at the sight, now seeing Springer chasing the stumbling colt. Heart scrambled to his hooves at this, now seeing Springer about to him again, only to ignite his body. The small burst of flame made Springer come to a stop, summoning an Aura Blast instead.

But as he summoned it, Heart thrust a hoof at the jakhowl. "Hyah!" A fireball came next, Springer quickly shifting his aura orb in front of the fireball.

BOOM!

An explosion came next, the force hitting Springer in the face. Smoke covered the jakhowl, making him cough before summoning another Bone Breaker to swat away the fog. But as he did this, Heart charged through the smoke, his flaming hooves hitting the aura weapon. A burst of flame came next, knocking Springer back.

"Augh!" He yelped, his form skidding back from the blow.

"Go bro!" Soul cheered, "You're doing great!"

"He can't hear you," Twilight responded, "These walls are soundproof."

"Won't stop me from cheering," Soul giggled as the others her age nodded, all continuing to yell out their support.

"Springer's not down yet," Iron added, "He's just warming up, pardon the expression."

As he said this, Springer dusted himself off, showing no real damage had happened to him. Heart glared at him, "Try this!" He yelled while charging at Springer with two burning hooves. But as he did this, Springer pumped his paws together, creating an Aura Guard. The shield instantly blocked the colt's punch, making him yelp, "What?" He then began to throw rapid punches, all failing to even damage the shield, "Come on...come on!"

Springer smirked at this, cricking his neck before snapping his fingers. The action caused the shield to vanish, Heart suddenly finding himself falling before getting hit by a kick to his stomach, "Blaugh!" he cried, the colt flying back into the side of a building, breaking and crashing through it.

Everypony flinched again as Springer turned to Grand, "Does that count as a fail?"

"I'd consider it more as collateral damage. You can't deny stuff like that hasn't." Springer nodded back as the others yelled at Heart to shake it off, everypony seeing the colt pull himself free of the debris. He growled as this, his flames growing as he glared at Springer. But as he did this, Grand whispered, "Don't let that get you kiddo. Stay in control..."

Heart didn't hear this, only to see his fire now turning some of the rubble black. Taking a deep breath, he muttered to himself, "Gotta stay calm..." His flames began to weaken, causing Grand to smile as Heart took to the air, "I'm not done yet!"

Springer then leapt at him, swinging an extending Bone Breaker. But as he did this, Heart's hooves flared, pushing him away from the attack at the last second. The jakhowl landed on a roof next, quickly racing after the colt as Heart began to fly away, hopping roof to roof to follow him.

Heart saw an area up ahead with less housing and grass, flying down to it as Springer caught up to him. The colt turned to him with a smirk, "Now lets have some real fun!"

"Alright." Springer replied as Heart thrust his hooves, fireball flying out of them.

The jakhowl began to smack the flames with his Bone Breaker, "Not bad kid, but how about this?" He then put his bone weapon in a bat stance, smacking one of the fireballs. Heart saw the fireball now going for one of the houses, quickly zipping up to it and catching the flames with his tail. Asborbing the fire, he spun around and swung his tail down. A barrage of fireballs came for the jakhowl, Springer hopping back as the flames hit the dirt. And as he did this, a fireball exploded right in front of him, knocking him back. "Whoa!"

Grand smiled at the sight, the others all cheering as the Royal Knight commented, "He's definitely got more control and he's keeping an eye on his surroundings." He smirked as Springer glanced over at him, the earth pony nodding. "Alright!" he yelled, "It's time for phase two!"

"Phase two?" Fluttershy asked as they watched Grand take out some kind of remote. At the same time, Springer pulled out a pair of ear plugs that he stuffed into his drums.

"What are you-" Heart tried to ask before Grand hit the button, a loud screeching sound to suddenly echo through the room. "AUGH!" He screamed, covering his ears. "What in the name of Celestia?!" And as he yelled this, Springer appeared in and threw a punch into the colt's chest. "Augh!"

"That's not fair!" Soul cried. "That's gonna throw Heart off his game!"

"Exactly," Iron chimed in, "This is meant to be a test. They're adding more and more pressure to see how long he can hold his temper in check."

Heart groaned as he picked himself up, only to see Springer spinning a Bone Breaker in his paws. His hooves ignited as he began to form a fireball, only for Grand to hit the button. "Augh!" He yelped as the noise made him accidently send the fireball upward, the flames exploding before the embers began to rain down on the nearby houses. Heart gasped, about to take flight just as Springer reached him. The jakhowl swung the aura bone at him, Heart ducking under it before slamming his hooves down. A plume of smoke appeared next, making Springer backpedal as Heart took to the air.

He flew over to a roof that an ember had landed on, stomping it out as Springer turned to him with an Aura Blast in paw. "Don't forget about me!"

He fired the orb at the house as Heart spun around, "Fire Force!" He yelled, firing the flames at the sphere before it could hit the house. An explosion came next, blocking Springer's vision as Heart stomped out the rest of the embers. And as the smoke faded, Heart glared at the jakhowl as he leapt off the roof, propelling himself with his flames. But before he could get to Springer, Grand pressed the button, making Heart cry out as he was bombarded by the screeching sound.

Springer smirked as Heart found himself crashing into the dirt, reforming a Bone Breaker at the sight. And as Heart looked up to see a charging Springer, the sound rang out again. Heart tired to put his hooves to his ears, only for Springer's weapon to hit the colt's head before spinning around and thrusting it into his chest.

"AUGH!" He screamed as he was thrown back, slamming into the wall of another building. "Blasted noise..." he groaned as he began to pull himself free, the screeching echoing again at this. "Ahhhh!" He moaned, covering his eyes as his flames began to flare around his body.

"No...I gotta calm down." he whispered, trying to take a deep breath. But before he could, Springer charged at him with an Aura Blast in paw. "Whoa!" Heart yelped as Springer thrust the orb, the blow causing the wall to explode. And as he dodged the blow, the screeching sound hit his ears again, making him flare his flames.

"Stop it..." Heart growled as he put he put his wings' tips into his ears, squinting as he saw Springer split a Bone Breaker in two. The screeching sound kept hitting Heart's ears, scrambling his hooves as Springer swung his weapon at him. Heart started hopping back, his mind trying to focus as the sound kept blaring into his brain.

And as he felt his flames flaring on his back, the screeching noise let out again. "Raaah!" Heart screamed, unplugging his ears and spinning around to try and slam his burning tail into Springer, but he blocked it with a Bone Breaker. Another burst of sound came next, making Heart scream again before feeling Springer kick him. The colt went rolling at this blow, quickly getting back onto his hooves before the noise blared again. "Augh!" He hissed, only to see Springer summoning a white orb in both paws. It was an Aura Force attack, the colt getting ready to dodge it, only for the noise to play again.

"GYAH!" Heart cried as the aura laser hit him a second later, knocking him flying. His form rolled along the ground, not hitting a house this time. But as he tried to get up, the noise blared again. "Aaah! Stop it!" He screeched, his eyes going red as the fire in his blazing mane and tail grew more intense.

"He's gonna blow!" Rainbow yelped.

"Come on Heart," Twilight whispered, turning to Grand, only to notice the remote had vanished from his hooves. His vision was solely focused on Heart, seeing the colt glare at Springer as the jakhowl walked up to him.

"What are you gonna do now, hero?" He asked as he formed an Aura Blast and threw it at another house, destroying part of its wall. "Looks like you fail-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Heart screamed as he finally snapped, unleashing the biggest blast of fire he had ever done. It rocketed toward the jakhowl, turning the grass below it to ash. The sight made Springer sigh, his body glitching before suddenly vanishing and reappearing behind the giant fireball.

The flames never touched the jakhowl, Heart now seeing the flames about to hit a new target: A house that was behind Springer.

"NO!" Heart cried as he saw the fire strike the house, causing the whole thing to explode. The sight made him slump over, knowing what this meant. He had failed.

"Test over," Grand commented as he began to put his hoof on the control crystal. But as he did this, he saw Heart was still on fire, the colt unable to put himself out. Grand tapped the crystal, summoning some rain clouds that poured water on the colt.

Heart gasped as his body returned to normal, the colt slumping over as sweat began to drench his body along with the rain. The rain then vanished as the room turned back to normal, Grand and the others walking up to him.

"I'm sorry," he told Grand. "I guess I blew it."

"I think you did quite well for the most part," Grand replied, "You were aware of your surroundings and adjusted your power accordingly. You used what you had available to you to your advantage, and until the end there, you were able to keep a handle on your anger and not lose control."

"But I did lose control."

"I told you that that level of control would take years to master. You've only been doing this for less than a week, and you've shown incredible progress."

"Oh...right. Thanks." Heart replied, trying to show a smile.

"He's right Heart," Twilight added, "If Flash were here, I'm sure he'd be saying the same thing." The others all said the same thing, giving Heart their own praise and support. "Speaking of Flash, his train should be getting in soon. Why don't we all go greet him and Lightning?"

Everypony nodded in agreement and once they had Heart dried off, they headed to the train station.





That night...

With the sun replaced by the moon, the ponies of Ponyville were heading off to dreamland. One of the only ponies that wasn't there was Grand, the knight on the castle balcony while holding a leaf in his hooves before letting it go. As he watched it be whipped into the air, Grand sensed another presence, but didn't move an inch as the pony walked up to him.

"That was quite an adventure you went on," he told his former pupil.

"Yeah...though it seems things weren't exactly boring around here while I was gone." Flash replied, "Thanks for helping Heart out. I can't believe how far he came in just a few days."

"He's a smart kid. With proper instruction, I think he just might be able to learn any skill with ease." He turned to Flash, "But don't think you can keep pawning him off on me. You promised to teach him, and that's an oath you must stick to."

"I know," Flash replied, "Though it's clear I've still got a long way to go before I have your level of teaching skill. I never would have thought of the visualizing idea."

"Eh, that's fine. You and Heart will probably help teach each other. You can teach him how to be a knight and he can teach you to be a teacher...and you'll both grow from this experience."

"Yeah, though it'll be a while before I've got your level of teaching expertise."

"And it took me a while to get that level myself. I was the same way back in the day, but I kept trying until I found something that works." Flash nodded back. "Now come on, I want you to tell me all about your mission. Lightning was a part of it after all. And don't skimp on the details like you did with the others."

"I may have PG'd it so I don't traumatizes the kids," Flash laughed as the two headed back inside. "Well, it started with me and Lightning-"

Ponies learn something every single day, whether it be by somepony teaching them or simply through their experiences in life. And though many ponies can learn the same thing at once, each of them will interpret and use those lessons in their own unique way. They take them in and grow as ponies, helping Equestria grow stronger too.
> Amber Alert
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Equestrian Express was chugging through the badlands of Equestria, an area known for its small settlements like Dodge Junction and Appaloosa. Inside was Flash and Lightning sitting in a compartment, both waiting for their stop to come up as they thought back to their meeting with Celestia.

Yesterday...

As soon as they arrived at Canterlot, they had been escorted to the castle's throne room, the royal alicorn waiting for them as they bowed before her. She shined her usual smile as she spoke up, "Flash, Lightning, thank you for coming. I apologize for the sudden request, but I require your help in investigating a matter at one of Equestria's newest settlements."

"What seems to be the problem?" Lightning asked.

"The ponies living there have been experiencing a strange string of disappearances revolving around their livestock. Sheep, goats and the occasional cow have been found missing."

"Sounds like poachers," Flash replied.

"Or wolves," Lightning added.

Celestia let out a sigh at this, "That's what they thought as well, but some ponies have also gone missing when they went out searching for the livestock. This is why I want you to go help them discover the cause of these disappearances. I've also called upon some rare creature specialists that will also be meeting you there."

Flash and Lightning shared a glance at this, Flash then asking, "Okay. No offense Princess Celestia, but why us?"

"Quite simple. Its because this settlement is called New Omniara." Celestia responded, seeing both defenders' eyes going wide, "Now, do you understand your tasks?"

"Yes, your majesty." They responded before bowing, soon leaving the room.

The Present...

"Hard to believe they're having trouble already," Lightning sighed while polishing his knives. "First my dad captures them to work as slaves, and now this. They just can't catch a break."

"Which is why we have to make sure we solve their problem." Flash replied, Lightning nodding back just as the overhead announcer exclaimed that New Omniara was coming up. The two instantly grabbed their things, heading for the door as the train pulled to a stop.

And they walked out onto the platform, the train pulled away to reveal the town on the other side of the tracks. The place looked exactly like it was when they had once saved it from utter oblivion, almost like the ponies had picked up those buildings and dropped them on this spot. Every building was exactly where it had been before, though Flash and Lightning did notice several new ones behind the originals.

"Wow," Flash whistled, "Can't believe they rebuilt all of this in such a short amount of time."

"No kidding." Lightning added, "Looks just like Omniara...except no ocean in the distance."

"Yeah...I wonder if-"

"FLASH!" a voice called out, making them turn to see a pair of young ponies running up to them. Flash smiled at the sight, seeing they were Salt and Pepper.

"Hey you two," he waved as Salt ran up and tackled him in a hug, "Okay..." he groaned, "I'm happy to see you too."

"Dad said one of the Royal Knights was coming to help us!" Pepper exclaimed, "We were so hoping it'd be you!"

"Happy to help," Flash chuckled as he picked himself up. "Now, who do we need to talk to about getting more details?"

"Dad's waiting for you at the inn," Salt replied before wrapping his tail around his front leg. "Come on." He pulled the knight along, Flash following along as Lightning and Pepper laughed at the sight. And as they got to the kid's homes, the four walked in to see their old friend Great Taste, along with two other ponies.

One was a brown earth pony stallion as bulky as Big Mac, with dark purple hair while wearing a black hat and a white shirt. His cutie mark was a camera and map. The other was a pink pegasus mare who was quite tall, with blonde hair that wore a green shirt and her cutie mark was a compass and a gust of wind.

Great turned to them with a huge grin, "Flash! Lightning! It's so good to see you again!"

"Same," Flash replied as he went over and shook Great's hoof.

"Flash Relic," he heard an aussie accent say. "As I live and breath." He turned to the couple, the stallion getting off a stool as he walked up to the defender, "Always hoped I'd get the meet'cha. You've certainly grown since the last time I saw ya."

Flash raised an eyebrow, "Uh...sorry, but should I know you? And my name is Flash Sentry."

The mare giggled at this, "My word. It's almost like looking at a young Trail Blazer."

Those words made Flash blink, "Wait...you know my dad?"

"And yer mom," the stallion replied, "Trail and I were roommates back at school and got on like a house on fire. Name's Snap Shutter."

"And I'm Mane Allgood," the mare added, "We've been close friends with your parents for years. By the way, how's Scootaloo? Oh, she was the most adorable filly when she was young."

"She's...fine," Flash muttered out, almost backpedaling due to the duo knowledge, "But uh...how come I've never heard of you before? Mom and dad never said anything about you."

"HA! That's Trail for yah," Snap guffawed, "He's like a dog. Happy when yah come back, but won't even remember yah when yer gone."

Allgood nodded at this, "And we've never met before because Snap and I are always on long voyages. Luckily, we just got done with an expedition when Celestia contacted us."

"Wait..." Lightning spoke up, "You're the animal experts?"

"That's right," Allgood giggled, "We're some of the best experts on all creatures great and small, not to brag."

"Hence why you're here," Great Taste added as he unfurled a map on a large table before pointing at a spot, "We're here." He then moved his hoof to the west, "And the disappearances occur around here."

Flash and Lightning hummed at this, Lightning pointing to an area slightly west of that area. "What's that place? It looks like a ton of rocks."

"Yup. It's a series of canyons and rocks that make up a natural maze. We try to keep out of that area since we could easily get lost in 'em."

"Sounds like a good place for bandits to hide," Lightning grumbled while crossing his hooves.

"Ah can also think of half a dozen predators that would love to make their home there," Snap continued.

"Then we'll check them both out," Flash replied, "We'll start with the areas they disappeared in, then check the rocks." He turned to Snap and Allgood, "Don't suppose you know anything about tracking?"

"Of course," Snap responded, "It's half me job. But it would be good to have somepony that knows the area. It'll make tracking easier if we're informed about what we have to look out for."

"I think I know somepony who can help with that," Great assured before gesturing to them to follow.

Leaving the inn, they walked through half the town, soon finding a blue unicorn with a yellow mane and tail, wearing a red leather jacket and red stetson. His cutie mark was a lasso, and he had a belt around his waist with the same piece of rope.

"Flash, Lightning, meet Rancher. He grew up in this area and knows it better than anypony."

The unicorn tipped his hat, "It's a pleasure to meet you." He was then shown the map as Flash pointed to the area with his wing.

"We're trying to solve the mystery of the disappearances. Don't suppose you wouldn't mind showing us these areas, would you?"

"We'd be happy to pay of yer services," Snap told him.

Rancher looked over the map, blinking before responding, "Sure can. Follow me." He spun around and walked away, the group following them as Great went back to his inn.

"This seems a bit too easy." Lightning commented, making Flash roll his eyes.

"You're being paranoid." Lightning gave him a slight glare, making Flash wink at him, "Just be glad we might be seeing some real action."

"I guess." the unicorn said as they got to the end of the town. But as they got there, they saw a cart that was attached to a certain creature.

"Speed Stingers!" Flash gasped as the defenders went for their weapons, the beasts growling at their reaction while raising their tails.

"Wait!" Rancher yelled before jumping between them, "It's okay! They aren't gonna hurt you."

"Are you crazy?! Those things are super dangerous! They..." Flash's words drowned out as he glanced back at the Speed Stingers, now remembering his last encounter with them, "Wait...how are they not riving in agony?" He looked up at the sun, the ball of fire beating down as he glanced back at the Speed Stingers, now noticing they were bigger than usual and their skin was dusty yellow color.

Snap laughed at this, "Yah must be used to forest dwelling Speed Stingers." He moved over to them while holding out his hoof, "Yah don't need to worry. Desert Speed Stingers are a lot less hostile then their green cousins." He started petting one of the five lizards, who seemed to purr at his touch. "They only use their stingers in self defense."

"You sure?" Flash asked, Rancher and Allgood moving over to do the same. Lightning and Flash shared a glance, grimaces on both faces as Flash put away his weapon, "Well...alright then."

"But just to be safe," Lightning threw one of his daggers to a nearby house, embedding it into the wall.

Once that was done, the five ponies climbed into the cart as the Speed Stringers hooked up and got in formation. Now seated, Rancher flicked the reins, the five lizards running at high speed as they began to pull the cart. "Into the great beyond!" The unicorn cheered.

"Into the great beyond!" Snap and Allgood repeated while Flash chuckled as Lightning rolled his eyes.

The group quickly left New Omniara, heading to the desert around it, Allgood using her map skills to direct them in the direction that Great Taste had told them about. Flash and Lightning remained on guard, both ready for any attacks....only for nothing to happen as they got there.

"Alright," Rancher commented as he pulled the Speed Stingers to a stop, "This is as good a place as any to start looking."

The others leapt off the cart, Flash and Lightning looking around as they saw nothing but a few trees, medium-sized rocks along with some occasional bushes. The rest was nothing but sand and dirt, the defenders frowning at this. "I don't like this." Lightning added while Flash nodded back, "There's nothing here, so I'm guessing the ponies that came looking were probably thinking the same thing, then got caught when they least expected it."

"Same." Flash responded as he slowly pushed the sword out of his sheath.

"You make a good point Lightning." Snap said as he got down close to the ground, rubbing his hooves over it.

Flash got down next to him, "Is this tracking?"

"You betcha mate," Snap chuckled as he picked himself up. "The ground around here is too hard for anything ta leave footprints."

"But without any tracks, how will we know if anything's been around here?"

Rancher smirked at this while pointing to one of the nearby trees. "See that tree over there, next to the rock?" Flash glanced at it, raising an eyebrow.

"Look at its base." Snap added as Flash stared down, now seeing several broken branches. "These tell us that an animal pushed through here," he picked a stick up and gave it a sniff. "Not too long ago either. Smells like some kind of canine creature, maybe a coyote or fennec fox."

"I've seen a lot of those creatures around these areas," Rancher commented as a frown appeared on his lips. "But now that I'm thinking about it, the sightings have been decreasing as of late."

"Poachers don't usually go for creatures like that," Lightning added, "Let's keep looking around."

The others nodded at this, Snap gathering the sticks and putting them in his saddlebag. After this, the five continued their investigation, walking around the desert. But as they did this, they found no other tracks or signs that anything had been area for the past week or so. The only sign of life they managed to find in their three hours of searching was a rattle snake Flash accidently upturned, the defender letting it go before sighing, "This is nuts. How is it that an un-populated area this big has little to no life?"

"That in itself is a clue," Allgood told him. "If there aren't any animals around, that means there's either something their instincts are telling them to keep away from, or..."

"Or what?" Lightning asked as he spun around, his hooves walking over an area of undergrowth. But as he did this, the ground beneath him suddenly vanished, making him yelp, "WHOA!"

The others turned to him, only to see him gone, "Lightning?!" Flash gasped, quickly taking to the air. And as he tried to fly over to where Lightning was, he now saw a hole in the ground that the brush had hidden from ground sight. Looking straight down, he saw Lightning laid out on the ground about five meters down. "You okay?"

Lightning groaned as he picked himself up, "I'm fine," he growled while looking up, now seeing the others arriving at the side of the hole. "Would have been nice to know there was a hole around here."

"This is the first I've heard of it," Rancher commented as he reached down and rubbed his hoof against the side of the hole, "It's not wet. Maybe its some kind of water hole that dried up. But if it did, it must have happened a while ago."

Lightning looked back down, now seeing nothing but a long dark tunnel. As he told them this, Snap replied, "Do you see anything down there? Puddles of water or animal bones?"

Lightning shook his head, "No, there's noth-" His words came to a stop at this, the unicorn pulling back while glancing down, "Hello..." His horn lit up, trying to pick up something, making him frown.

"Find something?" Flash asked as he saw Lightning looked back up.

"You might wanna stand back." He then threw a dagger, Flash quickly kicking it to the side of the hole. A second later, the unicorn appeared in a flash.

"You think this is what's causing all the disappearances?" Flash asked while looking back down the hole.

"One easy to miss hole couldn't be the complete cause," Snap added, "The chances of every single one of them falling down it is slim ta none."

"Well maybe this has something to do with it," Lightning responded as he threw something at Snap. The earth pony caught it, now seeing it was some kind of amber, orange in color and slightly clear.

"Weird..." he commented while showing it to Allgood, "None of the trees around here look like they could make this stuff. So where'd it come from?"

"That's not the weirdest part," Lightning grumbled, "Watch." He sparked his horn as he tried to pick up the amber. But as soon as the light shined around the rock, it was suddenly absorbed, the amber's inner core glowing for several seconds before returning to normal.

"Magical absorption?" Allgood asked, "Incredible."

Flash took this moment to fly up, surveying the nearby area. And after about five minutes, he called out, "Over here!" The others turned to him, soon walking over to another hole. Flash flew down at this, the defender going inside and finding a pair of tunnels on either side. And as the others investigated this one, Flash took to the air, soon finding another hole half a mile away that also had two tunnels beneath it.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." Rancher growled, "One hole I can buy not knowing about, but three?!"

"Yah fellas notice anything else?" Snap asked, getting shakes of the head from the others. "Look at the holes." They glanced back down, seeing they were just round holes. "See? They're all perfectly round. One hole that's that shape is unlikely, but three..."

"And they're the same size," Allgood added, "The tunnels as well. They're all the same size and shape."

"No way that could be done naturally," Lightning responded, "Something dug these holes."

Snap nodded, "Exactly...but what is it?"

As this question was asked, Flash stared down at the hole before looking back up, "Wait a minute..."

"Hmm?" Snap asked as he saw the defender glance around, "Yah figure something out?"

"Yeah, I think I did." Flash replied as he pointed his hoof at another hole, "Look. All the tunnels are leading in that direction." They all followed his hoof, now seeing the large bunch of rocks that Taste had told them about earlier in the distance. "If something's using these tunnels to get around unnoticed, then it would make sense that it would have to be connected to the rocks."

"Good eye mate," Snap chuckled before looking up at the sky. "But it's getting' late. Why don't we set up camp and check the place out tomorrow."

The others nodded back, all returning to the cart to collect some camping gear. And as the sun began to set, they worked to set up camp, Flash grabbing the sleeping bags while Allgood filled a pan with water so she could cook some beans. Lightning was keeping an eye for anything while Rancher unhooked his Speed Stingers and started feeding them.

"You sure it's a good idea to let them off their leashes?" Flash asked as he laid a sleeping bag out next to him, Rancher smirking as he scratched one under the chin.

"You've got to relax around them more. These guys won't go anywhere. I've done this a hundred times, and every morning I'd wake up and they'd be in the exact same spot."

"If you say so..." Flash replied before slowly walking over to another part of the camp. As he got there, he saw Snap was building a fire using some sticks. Once the pit was properly constructed, he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a large jar filled with a strange clear slime. "What's that?" Flash asked as the adventurer poured some of it onto the branches, then made a small trail off of the pit.

"Fire Snail Slime," Snap responded while taking out a match, lighting it before dropping it onto the end of the trail, causing the slime to combust. The flames shot up to the pit, the wood instantly catching fire while the slime began to dissolve.

"Cool," Flash whispered as he pulled out the last sleeping bag. Soon after this, the five were sitting around the campfire eating cooked beans, Snap and Allgood now telling Flash more about his parents.

"That's when Trail accidently drank the wrong tea," Snap chuckled, "Instead of getting a refresher, he ended up spending the next month speaking backwards."

The others laughed at that, Flash adding, "That's what you get for messing with Zebra potions without knowing what you're doing."

"You've made that mistake enough times to know," Lightning joked while the others laughed at Flash glaring at him.

"That's more Springer than me, and you know it."

"You're so much like Trail," Allgood commented between spoonfuls of beans. "Though I can also see a bit of Misty within you as well. The perfect fusion of the two."

"I still can't believe they never told me about you," Flash sighed, "Kinda makes me wonder how they feel about you....I know I had some problems when I finally met them."

"Oh, they care about us," Snap chucked, patting Flash's side, "After all, they entrusted us with the two most important things they ever had."

Flash turned to him, blinking as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Simple. You and your sister's future." Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "You looked confused. You see, when they came back to Equestria, before leaving you at the orphanage, they came to us and told us all about Misty's prediction."

Snap nodded at this, "And while they believed everything she saw would come true, they feared something might happen to them and both you and Scoots would never get to learn the truth. They lived a very dangerous life, exploring and searching for undiscovered secrets. That's why they asked us to be your...godparents if you will."

"If anything every happened to them, they asked us to take you in an look after you." Allgood chimed in, "To adopt the two of you and keep you safe. Of course, that never happened."

Flash sat back at this, slightly frowning, "I can't believe they trusted you with something so important. But if that's the case...why didn't you ever reveal yourselves after my parents did?"

"We uh...had a lot to do at the time. Unlike your parents, we kept in touch with Equestria a lot."

"Oh."

"Sounds like they thought highly of you though," Rancher chimed in.

"We like to think so too," Snap replied before staring right at Flash. "Sorry we were never there for yah in the past, champ."

"That's okay, I um...kinda expect it from this family." Flash responded, shrugging, "My life might have been hard, but I don't regret anything that happened to me. I wouldn't be the pony I am today without it." Everypony slightly smiled at this as they finished their supper, Rancher doing one last check up with his Speed Stingers before they all went to bed.

Despite laying on the hard ground, Flash found himself falling to sleep surprisingly easy. He quickly entered a dream of a world made entirely out of chocolate and marshmallows, drool pouring out of his mouth. But before he could start eating his own pillow, he suddenly found himself getting shaken.

"Sentry!" Lightning's voice called out, "Get up!"

Flash's eyes shot open, instantly getting to his hooves. "What is it?! Are we under attack?!"

Lightning shook his head, "No, it's the Speed Stingers!"

"They're gone!" Rancher cried out as he searched his cart over, "This isn't right! They wouldn't leave!" He spun around, "Zippy! Swift-Claw! Blur! Streak! Peppermint! Where are you?!"

"I thought you said they wouldn't run away?" Flash asked, Rancher turning to him.

"They wouldn't!" he repeated. "Something must have took them!"

"All of them?" Lightning asked, "What the heck would be fast enough to grab five Speed Stingers?!"

"And why didn't it take us?" Flash added as he took to the air.

"No idea." Lightning commented before looking up at the defender, "See anything?"

"No, but-"

"I got tracks!" Snap called out from a nearby tree, the others turning to him as he pointed to some broken branches. "Something hit this tree."

Flash descended down, humming at the sight, "But if something's been here, why didn't hear anything?"

"Not sure. Maybe-"

"Hey! Look what I found!" Allgood yelled, making them to turn to see her flying down while holding another clump of the amber stuff Lightning had discovered the day before.

"Where'd you find that?"

"That way," Snap pointed west to the rocks. "Looks like Flash's theory about the cause was right on the money."

"Then let's get going!" Rancher exclaimed as he quickly started to throwing stuff into the cart, "The longer we wait around here, the less likely it is to find my Speed Stingers before something happens to 'em!" The others nodded at this, soon packing up their camp before Flash and Allgood grabbed the reins and pulled the cart to the rocks.

"So what's the deal with this place?" Flash asked Rancher, "Any idea what might be waiting for us in there?"

"Could be anything," Rancher replied, "I haven't been to Swiss Canyon in a long time. Not my favorite place."

"Swiss Canyon?" Lightning asked as the rocks drew closer, "Weird name."

Rancher chuckled at this, "When you see the place, you'll instantly know why it's called that." He pointed ahead, "There's an opening into the canyon that way. We'll have to leave the cart out here. Some of the walls can get pretty narrow."

Half an hour after leaving their campsite, the five got to the entrance, pulling the cart to a stop. Once there, they glanced at at the walls of the canyon, estimating that they were roughly thirty-five meters tall. And as soon as their eyes shifted over those walls, the reason for the name became quite clear. The rocks was covered in round holes that were both big and small, some that could fit a pony in while others wouldn't barely fit their hoof. It looked just like a block of swiss cheese, and one of those holes was halfway through the ground, creating a tunnel that allowed the five to walk into the canyon.

Flash was the first to enter, the knight readying his sword as Lightning walked behind him. The two saw that the inside walls were just as high as the outside with just as many holes. But before they could start to explore, the group suddenly jumped when they heard a loud banging sound, spinning around to see Rancher hammering a metal nail with a ring on the end into the rock.

"What are you doing?" Lightning barked before seeing him tie some rope around the ring.

"This place is a natural maze. If we don't have some way to find our way back, we could be lost in here forever." They decided to not mention the fact they had two pegasus and a teleporting unicorn on their team, all now heading inside. With no tracks or signs of light to lead them, they began to wander aimlessly through the rocks.

"This is gonna take a while, isn't it?" Lightning grumbled, Flash giving him a deadpan stare.

"Its part of the job."

"I know." Lightning sighed, twirling a dagger in his hoof, "Just don't care for this much earth. Makes my magic less effective."

"You'll be fine." Flash replied before they took a turn and found a dead end. The fifth one since they started.

"I'm starting to think there's nothing in here but dead ends," Lightning growled as they spun around.

"Maybe it'd be better if I look over the place from the sky," Flash suggested, "Maybe I can find a clue or something."

"There's also a chance you could lose sight of us and can't find us again," Snap pointed out as they turned another corner.

But as they did this, they all went wide-eyed while gasping. A giant pile of spike white rocks lay in front of them, filling the entire canyon.

"Are those what I think they are?" Flash asked.

"Bones," Allgood gulped, nodding as Snap walked up to them.

"So many different creatures here," he commented as picked up several skulls, "Coyote, fox, meerkat. There's even a few cow and sheep bones." He then gasped and threw one of the bones away, getting the others' attention.

"What? What is it?"

He turned to them with a long grimace, "I can uh...I can safely say this is the cause of those ponies disappearing."

They all went wide-eyed at that statement, their eyes slowly going to the bones he just threw away. But as they did this, Lightning walked up and picked up a chunk of amber, "This stuff again? Why is-"

But as he said this, a loud scream filled the air, coming from the other side of the bone pile. The group turned to it, Flash asking, "Okay, what was that?"

"That mate, is a creature in trouble."

Rancher quickly ran into the bones, Flash flying after him and picking the stallion up. "What are you doing?!"

"That might be my Speed Stingers! I need to help 'em!"

"You're not gonna help them like that!" Flash yelled as he began to fly up, gliding over to the top of the mountain wall behind the bone pile.

"Let me go!"

"Just stop squirming and I'll help you over this, alright?" Flash said as Rancher tired to move, the sound of animal screams ringing out again. As this happened, Lightning teleported the group to where Flash was flying up to. And as a flash of light made them appear, they saw that beyond the bone pile was the center of the maze. Inside was a small mountain-like rock that was roughly twenty to twenty-five meters tall and had several large hole scattered around it.

But as they saw this, they went wide-eyed again as they saw a ton of amber of multiple types and sizes scattered around the ground, animals inside every piece of amber. All but their heads were encased within the large amount of amber. There didn't seem to be a single pony amongst them, but several loads of New Omniara cattle were obviously there.

"What the heck is this?!" Lightning asked.

Snap hummed at the sight, "Well...Ah'm certain now that this amber isn't naturally generated."

Allgood nodded, "Real sap wouldn't harden this fast. And there's no way the trees around here could make this much."

"So what are you saying?" Flash added as he landed with Rancher.

"We're saying that something or somepony is producing this amber, and using it to trap whatever living thing it can find." The others turned to her as she grimaced at her next words, "And...I'm guessing whatever it is....is eating them."

The others gulped before Rancher responded, "But what is it that's doing all this?"

And as that question came out of his mouth, a loud roar echoed out of one of the holes in the rock, making them turn before jumping behind either rocks or a trapped cow. Seconds later, the owner of the roar exploded out of the hole. It was a giant brown slug or snail creature, but it had a mouth with razor sharp teeth and three long tentacle-like whiskers on either side of its head. Everypony glanced out of their hiding places, Snap and Allgood gasping at the sight as the creature stared around before using one of its whiskers to reach down and grab a cow. Once it did that, it retracted the whisker, pulling its body and the cow back into the hole.

When they were sure it was gone, everypony stepped out of hiding, Lightning speaking up first, "Ooookay, does anypony wanna tell me what the heck that was?!"

"It's a loucarcolh," Snap whispered, "But that's impossible."

"What's a loo...car...coal?" Flash asked next.

"A creature that's supposed to be extinct. I can't believe there's a living loucarcolh here in Equestria."

"And it's what captured everything here?"

Snap nodded at this, "Studies have shown it was able to shoot some kind of substance from its whiskers, but what that substance was has been left undetermined...until now."

Lightning stared at the loucarcolh's hole, "Well, if you ever want to update the scientific community, I suggest we get out of here."

"Oh, no we aren't!" Rancher barked back, "I'm not leaving without my Speed Stingers!"

With that, he cut off into a sprint, the others sighing before following him. He began to yell their names, Flash turning to the group as he asked, "So did the loucarcolh make all these holes?"

Snap shook his head, "No, it couldn't have. Loucarcolh were believed to be diggers, but they could only burrow through soft soil. Rock and hard soil should be impossible for them."

Allgood nodded at this, "It was believed to act like hermit crabs, searching for places to act as a defensive home to protect its fragile body. If these holes are all interconnected, then it would be the perfect place for it to live. And the holes we found yesterday must have also been natural underground rivers that either dried up or were blocked, allowing it to reshape them to its liking and use to hunt for creatures out of this area."

"But those holes were miles away," Lightning chimed in, "There's no way something that big could fit more than one of its whiskers into 'em. How's it able to hunt?"

"No idea," Snap hummed. "It's possible it can stretch its body, making its whiskers long enough to move that far. Or maybe the tunnels get bigger further in. Honestly, ah'd rather not find out the hard way."

The others nodded as Rancher kept yelling, "Zippy! Swift-Claw! Streak! Blur! Peppermint! Where are you?!" It was here that he heard the familiar call of his Speed Stingers, running up to see a they were all trapped in a single blob of amber with only their heads sticking out. "No!" He screamed, "Hang on! I'll get you all out of there!"

"Wait! Get back!" Flash told him as he flew in front of him, his sword beginning to glow. "Flash Cutter!" He swung his blade down, but it simply bounced off the amber while the light was sucked into it. The amber glowed for a second before stopping. "Oh...yeah, forgot it did that."

"There has to be someway to get them out of here," Rancher added, only for another roar to suddenly ring out. They turned to see the loucarcolh's head shoot out of a hole and before any of them could jump for cover, it saw them and let out a screech.

"Not good," Flash gulped as the loucarcolh raised its whiskers, pointing the ends in their direction. "MOVE!" The ponies tried to scatter, the snail monster now spitting orange goop out of its tube-like whiskers. Blobs struck the ground, the goop then solidifying into amber in just a few seconds.

Lightning leapt onto one of the amber encased cows as his horn sparked, "Static Spear!" The bolt of electricity exploded out of his horn, hitting the loucarcolh in the side of its head, making it cry out, "Yes!" Lightning cheered before turning to the others, "Come on, let's get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving them to that thing's mercy!" Rancher yelled as he started to punch the amber holding his Speed Stingers.

Lightning groaned at this before hearing Flash's voice, "Lightning, watch out!" He looked back at the snail, the creature now pointing its whiskers at him before firing goop right at the unicorn.

"GYAH!" He cried as the slime hit him, knocking him off the amber and hitting the canyon floor with a thud. He then felt the substance begin to harden, sticking him to the ground. In mere seconds, everything but his head and tail was encased, the unicorn unable to move.

"Lightning!" Flash yelled before taking to the air, dodging a stray slime shot. "Hang on! We'll get you out of there!" But as he said this, Allgood's wing was struck by some slime, making her scream.

"Ahhh!" She cried as the liquid hardened around her wing, making her fall as the loucarcolh fired some more slime. The warm substance struck her body, quickly cooling and amberizing until it formed the cocoon around her. Like Lightning, only her head was free.

Rancher was the next one caught, the unicorn ranger still trying to free his Speed Stinger when the beast hit him in the back, pinning him against their cocoon before the slime hardened and struck to it. "Ahhh!" He exclaimed, "Oh, just great!"

Flash zipped over to Lightning, the unicorn sparking his horn to try and teleport out of the cocoon. But before he could, the light was sucked out of his horn and into the amber, making it glow. The knight saw this, grimacing as he saw the magic be worthless, "Keep trying Lightning!" he yelled before pulling a hoof back to punch the amber, "There's gotta be a way to get this stuff off of you. Let me-"

"FLASH!" Snap yelled just as the snail began to shoot some goop at the defender. The earth pony shoved him, the slime hitting him.

"SNAP!" Flash cried as Snap fell to the ground, only to hear the beast growling.

"Run!" Snap yelled from his cocoon, "Ya'll no good to us caught!" Flash nodded and took to the air, zipping to the exit while dodging several shots of slime. But as he took a turn around a canyon wall, he looked back to see the loucarcolh now following him, a glob of slime flying over his head. Flash began to sprint again, hovering over the ground as he continued to pick up speed. And as the defender left the eyesight of the others, Snap whispered out, "Be careful."





Flash kept himself just above the ground, zipping through the rocky maze as he kept looking back every few seconds. He knew he couldn't fly too high, knowing the loucarcolh could suddenly shoot out of a hole. And as he took a turn in the maze, the snail came right out of a hole, Flash ducking under a slime shot before pointing his blade, "Flash Force!"

He unleashed a laser right above the loucarcolh, the rocks breaking to pieces before avalanching down. The beast retracted his head at this, dodging the rock slide. As this happened, Flash spun around and zipped down another corner, making turn and turn. But as he did this, the loucarcolh's head shot out of some rocks in front of him.

It didn't see him, letting Flash jump into one of the holes before it turned to see him. He tried not to make a sound, the pegasus moving further into the tunnel as one of its whiskers moved in front of the opening. The whisker began touching the rock around the hole, Flash noticing several hairs covering it that were vibrating.

The sight made him see that the loucarcolh must detect pray using vibrations, so tried to stay as still as pony-ly possible. His heart raced as the whisker moved inside the tunnel, slithering up to him. He held his breath as the whisker stopped mere inches from him, his lungs burning as he tried not to let out any breath that it would detect.

But as this happened, the whisker then slowly pulled back, leaving the hole. Flash waited a few more seconds as the loucarcolh's growls remained, but then let out a breath once he heard it retract back into the rock. And once his breathing was back to normal, he spread his wings and flew out of the hole without touching the sides.

"Okay..." he sighed, "Amber spitting giant snail that can detect movement from underground. So as long as I stay in the air, it shouldn't detect me....I hope." He then flew back to the center of the maze, his mind now going over how to save the others from the amber. "Come on Flash...you gotta solve this now."





Meanwhile...

The group was still stuck, sighs all around as Rancher kept trying to squirm in the amber, "Raaaah! Where is Flash?! I knew he'd leave us!" His teeth grinded as he continued, "I need to pee!"

"He didn't leave us," Lightning barked back, "He'll be back." He then looked down, "If I could just reach my knives."

"It wouldn't matter," Allgood groaned as her squirmed back and forth, "Whatever this is, it's really strong. I don't think we can cut through it."

"If we can't cut it, then how do we get out of here?!" Rancher exclaimed.

"Everything has a weakness," Snap replied, "If we can just figure out what that thing is, then we can escape." But as he said this, Snap suddenly found himself getting slammed by something, knocking him back. "Whoa! What's happening?!" He yelped as the amber slumped back, making him look up at the sky before seeing a certain pegasus standing over him.

"Oookay," An upside-down Flash sighed, "So that's a negative on plan A: Ramming the cocoon open."

"Please tell me you have a plan B," Lightning moaned, only to see Flash rub his chin in thought, "Sentry, we need something here!"

"Give me a sec! I usually leave the thinking stuff to Twilight, remember?!"

Allgood sighed. "Well if it involves cutting, ramming or ripping, you might as well forget it Flash. Once it cools down, this stuff is as hard as any rock I've ever seen."

Those words made a light-bulb go off in Flash's head as he asked, "Cools down?"

"And hardens," Allgood added as Flash shined a big grin. "Got an idea?"

"I've got an idea," he instantly replied, "Nopony move." They all gave him a deadpan stare, "Oh...right." He spread his wings, quickly flying above the maze before rocketing over to the entrance. There he found Rancher's cart and their saddlebags, Flash beginning to rummage through until he found what he was looking for. "Gotcha."

When the defender returned, the others found he was now carrying a large jar that Snap and Allgood instantly recognized. "Good on yah mate!" Snap cheered as Flash began to cover them in the slime, "Now that's thinking outside the amber cocoon."

"I just hope there's enough slime," Allgood added, soon finding that Flash was able to cover all the ponies and the animals in the slime while also connecting the cocoons with trails of slime.

"So you're gonna set me on fire?" Rancher asked as Flash covered his chest in the stuff.

"I'm setting the slime on fire. It burns right off and will melt the slime enough for you to get away. It'll only sting for a few seconds...probably."

"That's not reassuring!" Rancher cried before a familiar roar rang out.

The loucarcolh's head shot out of the rock, Flash having leapt into hiding to wait for it to leave. The others stayed as still as possible, hoping that their lack of movement would put the creature off. The loucarcolh stretched out a whisker that began moving around the area close to Rancher, the unicorn struggling to keep his breathing in check as the tentacle got close. But as it did this, it then grabbed a cow just in front of him and pulled it up. The poor piece of cattle mooed as it was pulled into the cave with the snail monster.

With it gone, Rancher let out a sigh before crying out, "You have to hurry up! It just took the appetizer and I think I'm the main course!"

"Will you relax?" Lightning responded as Flash continued his work. "It could take hours for him to eat that cow." But as he said this, the group was suddenly shrouded in darkness as the loucarcolh shot its head out, staring the ponies down.

"OR SECONDS!" Rancher screamed as a tentacle came down to him and his Speed Stingers. "AHHHHH!"

The loucarcolh was about to grab him, only for a beam of light to shoot down and hit its head. The beast roared and turned to the source, seeing Flash smiling down with a pointed blade, "Hey there, remember me?" The snail roared and began firing at him, Flash taking to the air to dodge the amber slime.

Another roar came from the beast, pulling its head back into the rock. Flash raising an eyebrow at this, slowly moving down to the start of the slime trail, only for one of the loucarcolh's whiskers to shoot out of a hole, firing another blast of slime. "Whoa!" Flash yelped as he flapped his wings, barely dodging the slime.

"Okay...new strategy." Flash commented before pulling his sword back, then throwing it at a nearby wall. A loud clang rang out a this, the impact causing several sparks that flew down and hit the slime, causing it to ignite. Flash smirked at the sight, he and the loucarcolh watching as the flames shot across the field and heated up the amber cocoons. The others flinched at the heat, only to feel their prisons loosen. One by one, the ponies managed to break out of the cocoons.

"YES!" Snap cheered as the amber shattered, pushing himself back up, "It worked!"

"Yeah it did!" Lightning and Allgood exclaimed, followed by Rancher and his Speed Stingers. The other animals began to escape, the loucarcolh watching in horror as he began to ready his whiskers. But before it could fire anything, Flash shot up to his face and fired a beam right between its eyes.

"That's the way!" Flash laughed as the snail got knocked back with a cry of pain.

"FLASH!" He turned back to see Lightning, his horn flaring, "Let's get out of here!"

"Go!" Flash yelled before dodging a blast of amber. "I'm gonna make sure this guy doesn't come after us." He turned back to the loucarcolh as his body glowed, "ARMORIZE!" His body exploded as his Shining Guardian armor appeared, blinding the loucarcolh long enough for the others to run out of canyon.

Flash then flew into one of the nearby holes, the loucarcolh trying to give chase. The Knight of Friendship soared through the tunnel as fast as he could, turning a corner only to see one of the whiskers coming down the other ends. "Whoa!" He yelped before heading down another tunnel, the whisker following him as he zigged and zagged around. He then found himself coming down another tunnel, spotting another whisker coming down the opposite direction.

There was a tunnel right above him, making another bulb go off in his head, "Oh yeah." He fired a blast from his chest crystal that struck the whisker in front of him, causing the loucarcolh to growl in pain before firing a shot of amber. However, Flash just flew straight up, the amber striking the whisker behind him and trapping its end in a cocoon.

The loucarcolh roared again as the un-trapped whisker chased after him, Flash flying into another tunnel before finding another whisker. He did the same as before, one tentacle firing some amber that ended up hitting the other whisker, trapping it in amber. The tunnels echoed with its roar as Flash continued to fly through them, only to come up to a tunnel large enough that the beast's head was in it. "YIKES!" He cried as he ignited his wing boosters, accelerating fast enough to avoid the loucarcolh's biting mouth, zipping into a smaller tunnel.

The loucarcolh sent another whisker after him, Flash then coming out into a chamber with three holes. Each hole had a whisker coming out of it, making Flash grumble, "Not good." He bit his lip, his mind racing as the whiskers got close, "Wait...that's it!" He raised his hooves, firing a blast from each of his four boot-gems. Each one struck a tentacle, making the loucarcolh fire some slime out of each whisker.

Flash smirked before he stopped flying, dropping down and embracing the ground as the amber flew over him, hitting each other whisker. All four whiskers were trapped at the tip, making it impossible for the loucarcolh to fire amber. "And that's all she wrote." Flash chuckled as he pointed his sword straight up, his wing jets firing up. "FLASH DRIVER!" He spun into a drill, shooting straight up into the rock ceiling, tunneling right through it. But as he did this, he found himself digging right into another tunnel, quickly breaking out of his attack before flying out of the rocky maze.





At the entrance...

The others had gotten out of the maze, now at the cart. Rancher quickly hooked his Speed Stingers up, grabbing the reins as he got in his seat. "Where's Flash?" Allgood asked, only for the face of the canyon's wall to suddenly explode as a stream of light shot out of it. That light faded to show a still glowing Flash, staring at the wall.

"FLASH!" Snap yelled, "Let's go!"

"Almost done!" Flash replied as the light around him grew brighter, only to let out a mighty roar before it exploded off of him.

"Crikey," Snap whispered as the light took the form of a twenty meter alicorn with Flash in the center of the head. The avatar stared at the wall before spinning around and smashing its energy tail into side of the wall, causing it to break apart, filling the holes with a barrage of rubble. And once the holes were filled, the avatar began to flicker and fade away, Flash slowly falling down as his armor began to vanish. The pegasus let out a moan as he felt his energy leave him, only to suddenly start glowing yellow as Lightning caught him in his magic. As this happened, the unicorn pulled him to the cart as he, Snap and Allgood caught him.

"You okay?" Snap asked as they laid him out on the cart.

"Yeah..." Flash moaned, "It just...takes a lot out of me."

"No wonder," Allgood giggled before pointing to the damage the avatar caused. "Talk about power. No way the loucarcolh is getting out of there."

"But it can still use the underground tunnels," Snap added, "We shouldn't let our guard down until we get back to town." They all nodded as Rancher snapped the reins, the Speed Stingers cutting into a sprint as the group wanted to get away as fast as possible.





Luckily, the loucarcolh didn't attack again before they got back to town. Once there, they told Great Taste and the others who needed to know about the loucarcolh. The ponies were horrified to hear about the fate of their friends, some asking what they planned on doing about the creature.

"This enough?" A pony standing on a cart full of rocks.

"It should be," Snap replied, nodding, "Once we fill the holes with these rocks, we need ta pour cement on top ta make sure it can't get out."

"I still don't like the idea of that creature being there," Taste added, "What if more of our animals escape and run into it?"

"Don't you worry," Allgood responded, "Snap Shutter and I are gonna inform the Equestrian Board of Rare animals about the loucarcolh. Once they find out one's still alive, they'll work on relocating it to a nature preserve. There, there won't be anypony to accidently get close to it....though they might need to ask a few soldiers to help. The thing was more dangerous than we thought."

Over at the inn, Flash was sitting on the roofed area overlooking the porch while Lightning was leaning against a beam. "Looks like our work here is done," Lightning commented while twirling a dagger in his hoof, "Think it's about time we head back to Canterlot?"

"Not yet," Flash replied, "We should probably wait a day of two to make sure nothing bad happens until they've finished sealing up those holes. The loucarcolh might leave its home in Swiss Canyon and come looking for us." Lightning nodded at this. "Plus, it'll give Heart a little more time training with Grand."

"You make it sound like you want gramps to be Heart's mentor."

"Of course not," Flash responded, letting out a slight chuckle, "But if I come back and he hasn't made any progress, he'll probably feel bad. This'll give him more time."

"I guess. It is gramps were talking about." Lightning added before Salt and Pepper ran up to them.

"Flash! Lightning! We made dinner! Hope you two like stew."

"Who doesn't?!" Flash laughed before jumping down and landing next to Lightning. But when they walked inside, they found Rancher's Speed Stingers on the table eating out of a large pot that had had the stew in it. When they noticed they had an audience, the raptors pulled their heads out of the pot and turned to them before giving the best innocent smile it could give.

The ponies all laughed at this, soon trying to find something else to eat. Flash and Lightning's adventures in New Omniara had been an interesting one, filled with friends both old and new. They could only wonder how things were going back home, specifically Heart's training.
> Dungeons & Discord
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several weeks had passed since Flash and Lightning returned from their adventure in New Omniara. In that time, Twilight and Starlight managed to repair the Friendship Map, Heart, Soul and the CMC also got to enjoy the Applewood Derby, with Flash and Twilight helping the twins out while the CMC asked for the help of the big sisters. It had been an...eventful day, though it was almost ruined after a big crash. Finally, the only event of significance was the town wide prank everypony had pulled on Rainbow Dash in order for her to stop her own slew of pranks, which involved cookies, rainbow colored mouths and a zombie apocalypse.

And after all this happened, a certain couple was now packing for a journey. It was Fluttershy and Iron, the defender speaking up first, "Got the earmuffs." he commented as he carried a set of gray muffs with a black band while the other was white with a blue band and a purple flower on the side. Fluttershy nodded as she took hers, putting in a saddle bag before looking up and gasping in surprise.

"Tea?" a certain multi-animal creature known as Discord asked as he stared at the half-packed bags. "Trendy coats? Bedrolls? Saddlebags? Oh!" He smiled at the two, "Are you both heading off on a couples retreat? If so, I'd be happy to send you somewhere sunny and deserted." With a snap, he was suddenly on a deckchair atop a pile of sand while wearing sunglasses. "I hear Puerto Caballo is lovely this time of year." He picked up some of the sand and blew it, "Sand like powdered sugar."

Fluttershy and Iron stared at him, Fluttershy raising an eyebrow while Iron let out a groan. "Um, Discord?" the pegasus spoke up, "Princess Celestia is taking us on an overnight goodwill tour of Yakyakistan. We just found out."

"And I'm on security detail with Grand and Sentry," Iron added, "Though save that secluded beach idea for another time. I may decide to take you up on it."

As he said this, the two now saw Discord frowning. "Well..." he cleared his throat, "That's fine." He began to fold a tray holding a tea set up like a book, folding it again before pulling at his brown fur, opening it up and dropping the object inside, "I wasn't thirsty anyway."

Iron rolled his eyes at this, Fluttershy speaking up, "Discord...I'm sorry. I know we were supposed to have tea, but I have to do this." She bit her lip at her words, only for a bulb to go off in her head, "Say...if you're looking for something to do, you could spend the evening with Spike and Big Mac."

This caused Discord to break out in laughter, the draconequus rolling back through the air until he did a full circle. That is, till he stopped when he realized Fluttershy wasn't laughing, the amalgamation of creatures staring down at her. "You aren't kidding."

"They're very nice," Fluttershy replied while continuing to pack her bag. "They have a top secret thing they do whenever we leave Ponyville." She let out a giggle, "Although everypony knows about it, so it's not a very good secret."

"I think they're planning on having the bat pony join them today," Iron chimed in as he stuffed a sweater into his bag.

Fluttershy nodded back before turning to Discord. "I think you'd have fun with them."

"Fun?!" Discord yelped, "With sidekicks?! Oh, you must think that we're in a dimension where everything is opposite." He snapped his fingers, the three now finding themselves in a world where every color was its exact opposite. "Da-dee-la! I'm Opposite Discord, and I want to hang out with Spike and Big Mac! I'm sure I'd have fun!"

His laughter came to a stop when Fluttershy flew up to him, anger stemming off her face, "WELL GUESS WHAT, SASSAFRAS?!" She suddenly grew twice as big as Discord, "I'M OPPOSITE FLUTTERSHY, AND I'M SICK OF BEING NICE AND QUIET ALL THE TIME!" Discord was quick to snap his fingers and return them to normal, Fluttershy covering her mouth while shrinking down to half her normal size. Iron just stared at her with a smirk on his face, mentally wishing he could hang out with that Fluttershy from time to time.

"Let me explain it to you as simply as I can," Discord responded, "Me? Amazing! Them? Well, I've already forgotten who we're talking about. You see?"

Iron rolled his eyes at this as Fluttershy flew down, returning to normal before continuing to pack her bag. "All I'm saying is that it's an opportunity to expand your circle of friends." Fluttershy put her purse in her bag before giving Discord a look that screamed sass, "Unless you're afraid they won't like you?" Iron's smile grew, this version of Fluttershy being his favorite.

"Oh please," Now it was Discord's turn to roll his eyes...and roll back into his head and come out of his mouth before putting them back into their holes, "Don't stoop to tedious reverse psychology. You're better than that."

"It never hurts to make new friends," Fluttershy instantly replied.

"Unless that new friend is a porcupine," Iron pointed out. "Then an un-careful hug can really hurt."

Fluttershy glared at him as Discord let out a scoff, "Consider it considered." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Fluttershy began humming as she tried to close her bag, only to gasp when it opened back up to reveal a miniaturized Discord looking at her pleadingly. "Couldn't I just come with you instead?"

Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply, only for Iron to walk up with a jar, "Sure, as long as you stay that size and I have permission to stuff you in this jar if you start messing around." Fluttershy and Discord turned to him, the mare surprised at how direct he was being while Discord growled at him. Iron then let out a sigh, turning away, "I never get to do anything I want."

He and Fluttershy continued packing while Discord chose to teleport away. Once that was done, they quickly worked to set out enough food for all of Fluttershy's animal friends before getting dressed in their cold weather gear. Fluttershy was wearing a purple jacket, while Iron was wearing a black turtleneck with their earmuffs. Once that was done, they headed off to the castle, only to find the group there was still packing up. As such, the two headed off to the station, hoping Rainbow, Rarity or somepony else was there.

And while one of their friends was there, it wasn't one who was going to Yakyakistan. Instead, it was the strangely somber looking draconequus. "I suppose this is goodbye then. Have an absolutely fabulous voyage." But then, he snapped his fingers behind his back, the ponies sensing something occurring behind them. They both turned to see the train line suddenly reshape to wrap around a large mountain that had smoke coming out the top, making Fluttershy look back at her friend, "Discord..."

The master of chaos gasped. "Well, it's not my fault the new train route leads into an active volcano. Guess you'll have to stay." Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, making Discord sigh. "Oh, you're no fun." He snapped his fingers, returning the train back to normal just as the rest of the Mane Seven arrived with Grand, Spike and Mac. Springer and the younglings were also there, though they weren't carrying any luggage. All but Spike and Mac were dressed in warm clothes, Flash wearing the parkour he had gotten for his birthday with his cutie mark on the shoulders.

Applejack shined a big smile as she walked onto the platform. "Ah got mah bedroll, parka, unattractive but functional hikin' boots." She turned to her fellow earth pony mare. "Uh, anything ah forgot Pinkie Pie? You're our resident Yakyakistan expert."

"Nope!" Pinkie shook her head, "I brought yeti food!" This made them all stare at her with wide eyes, "Oh, did I forget to mention that there's a pony-eating yeti on Frost Field Glacier?"

"Oh, we know." Flash replied, Twilight nodding. The two exchanged glances next, blushing as they remembered what happened last time.

Pinkie began jumping up and down, "We're gonna have so much fun!"

"Heh!" Rainbow laughed before punching the air. "If he messes with us, I'll turn that yeti into confetti!"

"Still, probably a good thing that we sent Heart, Soul and Scootaloo to sleep over at their friends."

"But Springer's bringing Ace and Mira?" Rarity asked, pointing to the younglings.

"Nope," Springer replied, "I'm taking them to see the Crystal Empire. Ruby said she'd give us a tour." Mira clapped her paws while Ace just looked away, his eyes stuck in a comic. The sight made Springer let out a sigh, "And maybe get some help with training them."

In that moment, the whistle of an approaching train rang out. And as the train pulled up to the station and came to a stop, Mac pushed Applejack toward the opening doors, making his sister laugh, "Heh, somepony's in an awful quick hurry to get us out of here." She turned back to give her brother with a giant smirk, "Don't y'all have too much fun without us."

"I bet you boys have big plans," Twilight giggled while stroking Spike's head spines back. "Right, Spike?"

Spike crossed his arms, "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." He then smirked while running over to Rarity's side. "Although if I did, I certainly wouldn't be allowed to discuss it with you girls."

Rarity rolled her eyes at this, walking into the train while Twilight and Flash followed, "Buh-bye!"

"Don't get to bored without us," Flash laughed.

"And try not to make a mess of the castle," Springer added as the jakhowls climbed on board, Springer having to drag Ace. As soon as they were all on the train, the doors slammed shut, the train soon beginning to pull away. And as this happened, the ponies waved goodbye while Discord, Spike and Mac did the same. Once the train was out of sight, Discord looked back at the two before looking away and crossing his arms.

Mac and Spike stared at him for a moment before Mac whispered something into Spike's ear. Spike then whispered back, the earth pony nodding with a hushed, "Yup" before they turned back to Discord.

The draconequus summoned a magazine and pretended to read it. "Fascinating article, yes?" He let out a nervous laugh before whispering to himself, "Don't let them come over, please don't let them come over, please don't let them come over, please, please, please-" But as he said this, they came over as Discord was forced to throw his magazine away, "Oh salutations, my friends! Wish I could stay and chat, but I don't want to."

"Wait!" Spike yelled, causing Discord to stop his finger from snapping, "Um..." He rubbed the back of his head, "We were wondering...what are you up to tonight?"

"Oh," Discord slapped his hand onto his face, pulling it down while extending his goatee to be five times its length, "Here we go..."

"Do you wanna, I don't know, hang out? Is that like, something you do?"

Discord tried to resist rolling his eyes, "Oh, Twilight's friend and Applejack's monosyllabic brother. If only I weren't super busy this evening." He crossed his arms, letting out a huff as Spike turned to Mac.

"I guess guys' night will only be having one new member." Mac nodded before the two began to walk off, only for Discord to suddenly fly past them.

"A guys' night?!" He extended his head right into their faces, "You mean a rowdy evening of reckless revelry?! Zoot suits, fedoras, swing dancing?!" He clapped his hands, about to summon a zoot suit as Spike gave him a half-smile.

"Eh, something like that. You should totally come. Four of us would be way better than three. Rogue'll be there too, so the more the merrier."

Mac also gave a nervous smile at this, the pony nodding his head.

"So, the newest character of Banshee's story is joining in..." Discord took one of his horns off and began scratching his chin in thought with it, "That does sound fun..."

"Too bad you're busy," Spike responded, only for Discord to vanish in a flash, only to then reappear wearing a business suit and sitting behind a desk.

"Well..." He took out a calendar, "I suppose I could squeeze you in if I move a few very important ponies around." He reached down and tapped his intercom. "June," he said in a gravelly voice, "Honey, be a dear and reschedule Luna and Cay-Cay." He turned to the two and spoke normally. "That's what I call Princess Celestia, what a hoot!" He then went back to the gravelly accent. "In fact, clear the whole evening. Tonight is guys' night. These fellas invited me to spice things up and bring a little class to the whole affair."

Discord then vanished again, only to phase out of the floor, pulling them into a hug. "Tonight will be the best night of your lives, and not just because you get to bask in my greatness."

"I do like basking in things," Spike replied, "See you tonight." He grabbed his ear and whispered into it, "Twilight's castle. The fun starts promptly at sundown."

Discord smiled before dropping the two. "Technically, the fun starts when I arrive, but I'll make sure it's around sunset." He gave them a bow. "Adieu, fellas." With that, he disappeared, leaving Spike to go to the castle while Mac headed off to the farm to grab Rogue.

It was a very rare event where every female that would normally be at the castle to be gone, whether it be off to Yakyakistan or having a sleepover at a friend's house, or going to visit her dad in Starlight's case. Hours passed, both Mac and Rogue soon arriving at the castle as Rogue looked like he had just woken up while taking off his glasses. "Right on time," Spike commented as they walked inside, "You ready for the most awesome night of your life?"

"You bet," Rogue replied, "I'm been waiting to do this since Mac first told me about it."

"Well you won't have to wait much longer," Spike responded as they walked up to the castle's balcony, the group now seeing the sun hit the horizon before being replaced by the moon. "And now..." he said as the sun completely vanished behind the horizon, "We have sundown. I repeat, we have sundown." He then shined a massive smile, "I declare tonight's guys' night ceremonies officially open!"

"Eeyup!"

"Guys night!" Rogue cheered before Mac and Spike started dancing and singing together, Rogue laughed before doing his own dance. But as he did this, his wing smacked a nearby table, knocking something off before his other wing grabbed the object.

"Phew," Spike sighed before walking up to him, "Be careful with that. It's Soul's school project." He grabbed it out of Rogue's wing, Rogue and Mac now seeing it was some kind of model. It had a pony head with an open mouth, connected to a pipe leading to several organs.

"What is it?" Rogue asked as Spike put it back.

"A model of the pony digestive system. Soul, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have been working on it for weeks." He rubbed his chin at this, "Odd...I thought she said she was taking it over to Diamond's place to finish."

But before any of them could say anything else, a sudden loud noise rang out under them. The trio ran downstairs, only to come to a stop as Spike yelped, "What the hay?" He was now staring at two Discord clones, both were playing the trumpet on either side of the front door. It was then that a miniature version of the draconequus suddenly began skedaddling into the castle, coming to a stop and pulling out a scroll before speaking in a high-pitched voice.

"Announcing the much anticipated arrival of the spirit of chaos and disharmony, the purveyor of pandemonium, lord of lawlessness, earl of turmoil, bringer of bedlam-"

"We get it," Rogue called out, now realizing this was Discord that Applejack had told him about.

"Discord!" the mini-Discord yelled, a banner with Discord's face appearing before the real one suddenly ripped through it while dribbling a basketball before throwing it at them. The ball exploded seconds before hitting, Discord laughing as he appeared in front of them. "So, shall we hop to it? I made a list of the rowdiest establishments in Ponyville." He pulled out a scroll and unfurled it, only to show it was an inch long and had two lines on it. "It's rather short."

Rogue raised an eyebrow at this before turning to the duo, "You didn't tell him what we were doing today?"

"Actually," Spike turned to Discord and rubbed the back of his head, "We're staying here. I hope you like awesome games!"

"Games?!" Discord gasped, "I love games! I'm great at games..." He snapped his fingers, the four now teleporting to a wooden cabin. The three were on a couch while Discord sat in an armchair with a bowl of paper in his claws. "Famous pony charades?" He reached into the bowl and pulled out a slip of paper. "Oh, this is an easy one." He rubbed his face with his hands, pulling them away to show a white face that looked like a horror movie version of Celestia. "Who am I? Huh? Huh?"

"Well, I know what'll be haunting my nightmares from now on." Rogue commented while Spike just frowned.

"Uh," he began to twiddle his claws, "I'm talkin' about a real game."

"Oh," Discord's Celestia hair jumped off his head, landing in his lap as he began to stroke it, "You mean like trapping best friend ponies in hedge mazes and turning them against each other? Those were the days." The hair then leapt out of his lap, making a cat like sound before he snapped his fingers, puffing them back to the castle.

"Not exactly. Wait here." Spike replied before running off.

"Whatever it is, it can only get better by adding me to the mix."

"Hope so," Rogue added while pulling out a bag, "I've been waiting to try this out for a week." He reached inside, taking out a golden apple before munching on it.

"Okay!" yelled Spike's voice behind the throne room door, the three walking up to it. Mac and Rogue went in first, Discord looking inside to see the room was pitch black. But then, a light filled it, originating from a flashlight Spike was using to illuminate his face. "In a world where evil reigns supreme, a small band of warriors stands tall against the darkness. This is..." The lights switched on, revealing a table covered in maps, books and dice. "Ogres and Oubliettes!"

Discord let out a gasp, now realizing what the three of them intended to spend the night doin: Nerd stuff. He flew over the table, frowning at as he mumbled, "Oh, this looks like..."

"The best game ever?!" Spike finished for him, "You're right!"

Discord huffed as he slumped over in Rarity's throne, "Yes..."

"Ogres and Oubliettes is a fantasy role-playing adventure game," Spike explained as he held up a book. "Our goal, defeat the evil Squid Wizard." he and Mac smirked at one another, "Or as we call him...the Squizard!" He held up a card with the character drawn on it, which was a blue octopus with a wizard's hat, cape and wands.

"Oh, give me strength," Discord whispered as the others laughed.

Spike then climbed onto the table, placing the drawing on the game board. "The Squizard has laid siege to the last free city in Spiketopia, that's the name of the land. He's kidnapped a beautiful unicorn princess named Shmarity." He blushed as began to sweat, "We started this game a while ago. Been meaning to change that name."

"Fear not, your romantic delusions are safe with me." Discord made a mouth-zipping motion, causing an actual zipper to appear over his mouth.

Spike chuckled as he hopped back into his chair before taking out a piece of paper. "First things first. You've gotta create a character!"

"I've been working on mine all week," Rogue replied as he did the same. "I've taken inspiration from my name and chose it as my class." He then held up a card showing what looked like him, only dressed in black leather that covered everything except his eyes and wings. "I am Gureo, a thestral rogue with high stealth and agility along with slight of hoof."

"Nice, nice, loving the energy," Spike pointed at him before looking back Discord. "Now for your character. Name?"

The lord of chaos tapped his chin before replying, "How about...Discord?"

Spike and Mac shared a glance, Spike responding, "Discord...the whole point of the game is you get to use your imagination to be someone you're not." He reached into the box, pulling out his own card that showed a drawing of him dressed like a wizard. "I'm Garbunkle, a famous magician. Everyone treats me with the utmost respect."

"Just like in real life?" Discord asked sarcastically, the draconequus now clipping his toenails.

"And don't get jealous, but I'm a level 30 Enchanter with major skill points assigned to intellect and perception."

"Go on..." Discord was now reading a magazine while his head was in a hairdressing machine. "I'm listening."

Spike then held up a card showing Big Mac, except he was a unicorn in black armor. "Big Mac's character is Sir McBiggun, a level 27 Black Knight Unicorn from Castle Chadwick!"

"I'm listening..." Discord muttered while putting the top layer on a house of cards.

"When his king aligned himself with the Squizard, Sir McBiggun would not besmirch his honor."

"Nnope!" Big Mac shook his head before seeing Discord was now in a floating bed with a sleeping fold over his eyes.

"I'm listening," he mumbled after clearing his throat.

"And so it came to pass, the magician and black knight vowed to rid Spiketopia of the evil Squizard."

Rogue shined a big grin as he put his card next to the other two. "And on this latest journey, they'd be joined by a dashing young thief who says he's only in it so the princess would reward him handsomely. But deep down, he truly does want to help the kingdom of Spiketopia." Spike and Mac smirked at him, only to hear the sound of a deflating balloon...and seeing the balloon is Discord.

"So..." Spike grabbed the character sheet, "Your character's name?"

"I already have the best name in the universe," Discord growled as he shifted back to normal before crossing his arms. "Why would I change it for something like Captain Wuzz?!"

"Captain Wuzz, it is!" Spike laughed as he wrote it down, Discord letting out a groan, "What class are you, Captain Wuzz? There's Archers, Mages, Clerics..."

Discord snorted at this, "Can I suggest we take a break and, I don't know, go out and have some fun?" He held up a bucket of paint and a brush, "Ponyville's not going to paint itself red...or polka dot as I would like it."

"You'll love it once we get started!" Spike grabbed some dice and rolled them before looking back at Discord, "How 'bout an Archer?"

"Sounds just as miserable as the other options," Discord threw the paint and brush away. "So fine." Discord watched as Spike began drawing on another card, then put it down to show an image of Discord dressed in green clothes with waving blonde hair while holding a bow and arrow.

"Are you sure this won't copyright us?" Discord asked, seeing the three just blink at him. "Nevermind. I'm betting legal issues will be more fun than this."

Spike then turned to the ponies, "Sir McBiggun, Gureo, are you prepared to enter the world of Ogres and Oubliettes?"

"Eeyup."

"Bring it on," Rogue added.

Spike turned to the draconequus. "Discord, or should I say Captain Wuzz, are you-"

"Oh, get on with it," Discord grumbled while crossing his arms again.





Meanwhile...

At the mansion of Filthy Rich, Soul, Diamond and Silver were laughing as they were doing makeovers. Soul had borrowed a book from Twilight about what you would do during a slumber party, the first activity being makeovers. "The mud masks are ready," Diamond announced.

"Sweet." Soul replied, "After this, it's ghost stories before roasting marshmallows and then truth or dare."

"This is gonna be so much fun," Silver clapped her hooves. "We've never done this before..."

They then heard a knock at the door, Mr. Rich's voice calling out to them. "Girls, I know you're probably having fun, but I hope you haven't forgotten to finish your school work."

Diamond let out a moan, "Alright dad." She turned to her friends, "Let's get it done so we enjoy the rest of the night."

"Got it," Soul responded, only to see the two stare at her, "What?"

"You had the model, remember? You were gonna add the intestine because you're the only one that can stomach doing that kind of stuff."

"Oh yeah..." Soul replied, a frown appearing on her face.

"You did bring it...right?" Diamond's question made Soul let out a nervous laugh, the filly groaning at this, "Great. Now what do we do?!"

"No problem," Soul responded before heading for the window. "I'll just fly home and grab it, though I'll have to be careful so I don't ruin Spike and Big Mac's 'secret guy thing'." She giggled while opening the window with her magic.

"Wait! You can't go out after dark!"

"Why not?" She asked as she began to float outside before turning back to the duo, "I spent three years living in an abandoned city with only my brother for company. You don't go through all that and still have a fear of the dark."

Diamond and Silver shared a glance, only to walk up to the window, "Then we're going too," They then looked down, seeing the ground be quite far away. "Though uh...any idea how we get down?" As they asked this, they found themselves glowing as Soul used her magic to lift them up before gently lowering them down.

"Wow. You're getting good at that."

"Just don't ask me to do anything too complicated," Soul replied, her friends seeing she was slightly panting after that. "Now come on."





Jazz music was the first thing Rogue heard after Discord snapped his fingers, teleporting them somewhere. He had been enjoying the game so far, especially when Discord turned his fingers into carrots, but the draconequus hadn't enjoyed it so much and after making Mac float in a giant bubble, he warped them someplace else. That place was some kind of jazz club, with Discord now dressed in an orange suit.

"This is the life!" He yelled as he began teleporting all over the shop. "Jazz, dancing, the best table magic can buy!" He teleported back to them, "This is what guys' night is all about. Am I right, fellas?"

Mac looked like he was about to say no, but then a mare walked by and winked at him. "Eeyup!"

Rogue rolled his eyes before a flash of light summoned a pair of bat pony mares on either side of him, both beginning to hang off one of his front legs. "Care for a dance?" One asked while fluttering her eyes.

"Discord!" Rogue roared while pulling himself free.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Discord replied. "Or is the problem being your more of an earth pony kind of stallion." The mares suddenly morphed into clones of Applejack, the thestral blushing at the outfits she was wearing. Luckily, Mac hadn't noticed this as Rogue quickly pulled himself free.

"Knock it off!" He barked while he and Mac moved over to Spike, the drake now beginning to set up their game board on the table Discord had gotten them.

"I know you probably didn't do this on purpose, but this table's the perfect size and shape!"

But before he could say anything else, Discord swept the game pieces away. "I don't think so. Let's have a drink." He commented before warping the four over to the bar, the draconequus growing an extra arm to grab all three of his companion's drinks. "Chocolate milkshakes?"

Spiked sighed as he took the drink, "No, we want to go back to Ogres and-"

"Oh, how 'bout a different game?" The four were suddenly zapped back to their table, where they and several dogs were suddenly holding cards. Spike looked around in both confusion and annoyance as Discord chuckled, "Those are very bad cards."

Spike threw the cards in his face, "Stop messing with us! We wanna-" He didn't get to finish as the group was once again warped to another part of the club, Discord beginning to bust a move when they appeared.

"A dance contest?" He did several very outdated moves before the room was filled with confetti, streamers, balloons and party blower sounds. "Surprise! We won!" He passed them all a trophy, Spike growling at this.

"DISCORD!" He screamed while throwing the trophy away.

"Yes?" The ultimate lord of chaos asked as he turned back to him with a sinister smile.

Spike took a deep breath, Rogue now seeing the drake trying to take a calm route. "Look, we don't wanna do these things." Mac and Rogue stood on either side of him, nodding as the little dragon spoke up, "We wanna play our game. If you don't want to play with us, you can, I don't know, sit and watch."

"Sit and watch?!" Discord yelped, a look of horror on his face before being replaced by a look of anger. "Fine. We'll play your game." His costume dissolved as his body began to grow, storm clouds started spiraling around him. "Are you ready to enter the world of Ogres and Oubliettes?!"

Before any of them could reply, he thrust his hands forward, unleashing a zap of energy into them. The three found themselves blinded, the trio crying out as they felt something happen. They felt pieces of clothing appear around their bodies, Mac feeling something beginning to grow out of his forehead while Spike felt hair start to grow around his mouth. And as the light faded, they opened their eyes to see they were now wearing the exact same clothes as the character they had designed for.

"Sir McBiggun?!" Spike yelped as Big Mac looked himself over.

"Eeyup!"

Spike turned to Rogue, who reached into his cloak and pulled out some daggers. "And you're...Gureo."

"Yeah," Rogue replied before glancing over at Spike, "And you're Garbunkle."

"I am?" Spike responded before looking down, "That means..." He let the pieces fall into place as a smile appeared on his lips, the transformed dragon glancing back up to see that they were in some kind of valley surrounded by giant O&O dice. It looked just like the map he had designed for his campaign. "Sweetness!" He jumped for joy, "We're in the game!" He then swung his staff, "Check it out! Ka-zam!" A burst of magic shot out of the staff, hitting one of the dice, making it explode.

"Nice." Rogue commented as Spike then did a freezing spell, making a pillar of ice. He then did a back-flip and fired another spell at a dice, granting it wings. As it flew past them, Mac found he could use his magic to draw his sword while Rogue started spinning the daggers around in his hooves, Mac slicing the blade around while Rogue threw the daggers around with incredible accuracy.

Once they were done, they both smiled as Spike, Rogue and Mac started singing and dancing a re-breathed version of their guys night song. Once that was done, Spike looked up at the sky. "Discord, where are you? This is great! You made the game real!"

As he said that, a large white cloud was hovering toward them, only for the reverberating laughter of the lord of chaos started echoing out of it. They stared at the cloud as Discord's head formed from it, the draconequus continuing to laugh, "Aren't games fun?"

Spike turned to the ponies, "Should we be worried he's using his scary voice?"

"Eh, what's the worst he could do?" Rogue replied, only for the sound of marching to ring out. They turned to the noise now, seeing an army appearing on top of the die.

That army was made up of the same card-like figures Spike had been using earlier, only these were much bigger. All but one of those walking cards depicted the image of a pony skeleton with black boots and swords in their mouth. But the one that wasn't a skeleton was a certain octopus wielding magic wands, "Behold! I am the Squizard!"

The players gasped while Discord chuckled. "You're welcome."

"ATTACK!" The Squizard yelled before he and his army jumped off the die, the trio backpedaling at the sight.





Outside the castle, Soul and her friends were now at the front door.

"See? Got here with no problems." Soul commented as she opened the door, "We'll just sneak in, grab the model, sneak out and get back to your house before anypony spots us." But as they entered, they suddenly found themselves trotting through some kind of magical barrier. "What the?"

As they walked in, they found them suddenly transformed. The three looked down, seeing they were wearing new clothes. Shining Soul was dressed in a set of white robes with a tiara on her head, also having a staff strapped to her back. Diamond Tiara was wearing a simplistic gi with a headband on her head and white hoof coverings, both having holes in the front and back. Silver Spoon was dressed in leather clothing, a light gray cloak over it along with an acrostic guitar on her back.

"What's going on?" Diamond asked as Silver held the guitar. She strummed it, letting out a soothing sound, causing her to play it some more, now getting a rhythmic melody.

"When did you learn to play the guitar?" Soul asked as she finished.

"I didn't," Silver replied, "I've never played any instrument."

"Huh." Soul hummed as she pulled the staff off her back, "Weird. This looks...familiar." She turned around to see the place was now covered in die, looking nothing like the castle. The filly grimaced at this before spinning around, "Maybe we should get out of here before whatever's causing all this decides to come looking for us." The other two nodded, Diamond then grabbing the door's handles.

But as she tried to open it, she let out a yelp, "It's locked!"

"What?" Soul grabbed the handles with her magic, her horn flaring as she tried to open it, "That's not right. The only way to lock these doors is with...magic."

"So just use your magic and unlock it!" Silver responded, "Or better yet, teleport us out of here!"

"I don't know how to teleport," Soul replied, "I've only just learned how to control my magic without much thought. If I tried teleporting, I could send us into a volcano or make us materialize inside out!"

Silver and Diamond gulped at this, Diamond then chiming in, "Well...maybe whatever this is is only happening on the ground floor. Think we can get to a balcony and you do what we did at our house?"

"Good idea," Soul added, "But where are the stairs?" As she asked that, a new sound caught their ears. They turned to it, now seeing an army of...cardboard. "What the heck?!" she yelped, now seeing the cardboard had skeleton drawings on them, all the drawings glaring at the three.

"Are we in trouble?" Silver asked, only for the skeleton to raise the bows they were carrying. Before they knew what was happening, a bunch of cardboard arrows shot out before arcing down at them.

"RUN!" Soul screamed as the girls ran away, soon hiding behind a large twenty-sided-die.

"What's going on?!" Diamond cried as they curled up, the arrows falling all around them. "What do we do?!"

Soul grimaced at this before looking down at the staff she was holding, "Wait...I knew I'd seen this thing before. It was in one of Spike's Ogres and Oubliettes books!" The other two raised an eyebrow at this, "It's a game. He left the book out once and I read through it while he was out." She rubbed the staff with her hoof, "Sure feels real." The filly looked back up at her friends, "I think we've become characters from that game."

"So?" Silver asked, only to see Soul leap out from behind the die.

"So I should be able to do this!" She pointed her staff at the army as it began to spark with lightning, "Guided Volts!" The staff unleashed a burst of lightning, striking several skeletons, causing them to melt.

"Whoa...how'd you do that?!" Diamond gasped as she and Silver poked their heads out from behind the die.

"I'm a cleric. It's what I do." She pointed at Diamond, "You're a monk." Her hoof went to Silver, "And you're a bard. If this is following the rules of that game, that means we can do anything our classes can do."

"Is that why I can play this thing?" Silver asked, holding up her guitar.

"You can do more then just play it," Soul replied before another wave of skeleton drawings appeared in front of them. "Point it at them and strum!"

Silver did so, unleashing a burst of energy in the shape of musical notes, a lullaby sound coming out of the instrument. The energy flew around the skeletons, wrapping around them before they fell over, "What did I do?"

"Slumber. You put them to sleep."

As she said this, several more skeletons appeared, the two then using the same attacks as before. While this happened, Diamond stayed behind the die as she asked, "What about me?! I don't have a weapon!"

"Just punch them!" Soul screamed as a skeleton sprinted past them, about to get to Diamond. She closed her eyes, throwing a punch at the charging cardboard creation. As she did this, her hoof began to glow and as it made contact, only to unleash an explosive force that sent the cardboard flying back.

"Wow..." she gasped as she opened her eyes, "That was so cool!" Several more skeleton charged at her at this, only for the filly to start using a series of martial arts she had never known how to use before, doing several spin kicks and moves from tiquando and even krav maga.

Alas, the girls soon found that their new skills and abilities weren't enough, "Sleep!" Silver yelled as she strummed her guitar, sending out the lullaby energy....but the skeletons weren't affected. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Soul replied, trying to remember what she had read in Spike's book, but was blanking. This distraction allowed one of the skeletons to get up close, using its bow to knock her staff out of her magical grasp, making her gasp as she jumped away.

"Look out!" Silver cried as some skeletons fired at Soul, Silver running up and swinging the instrument like a bat that deflected the cardboard arrows. But this caused her instrument to break, leaving her with only the neck that she quickly dropped.

While this happened, Diamond found the skeletons beginning to dodge her moves. She attempted a flying kick on one of them, only for the skeleton to step back, making her go flying past it and land in front of her friends. "Outh!" She moaned before looking up at the girls, "Now what?"

"Run!" Soul screamed, grabbing the two in her magic before flying away. She dropped them on the other side of the skeletons, the trio running as fast as they could into the battlefield, all the while dodging arrows and whatever else the skeletons threw at them. "Oh, please let us find somepony that can tell us what's going on and who has an idea of how to stop all this!"





Spike had no idea how to stop all this. He, Rogue and Mac were running as fast as they could, having just survived a barrage of arrows thanks to rolling a seventeen. It was here that they saw a nearby cave, going inside and jumping behind another giant dice. Once safe, the three began panting, gasping for air as they slumped down.

"This is nuts..." Rogue moaned, "What do we-"

"Boo."

The group let out a scream as Discord's suddenly appeared, upside down with a big grin on his face. "DISCORD!" Spike yelled, his outburst now making their pursuers turn to the cave as Discord warped over to the mouth before turning back to them.

"Sir McBiggun, I'd cover the entrance if I were you." Mac replied by drawing his sword, charging the approaching foes while Rogue did the same.

Mac began slashing away at the skeletons, only for Rogue to jump in front of him. "I got this!" He took a deep breath before letting out a, "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" But as he did this, he saw the skeletons just stare at him, making him go wide-eyed, "What the-my scream attack!" He suddenly found himself about to be struck by a cardboard sword, Mac barely managing to block it for him. "I don't have my scream!"

"Of course you don't." Discord summoned his character sheet. "Do you see hyper-sonic scream on your skills list? I don't, so why would Gureo have such a thing."

"This isn't funny!" Spike barked, pointing the tip of his staff at him.

"Isn't this what every gamer wants?" Discord asked while pushing the staff head away, "To live the game?" His smile morphed to a frown, "Like this?!" He snapped his fingers, the creature of chaos transforming into the Squizard. The drawing pointed its wand at Spike, firing a blast of magic that Spike barely managed to block with a magic shield. He then began to run away, dodging magic beams as the drake quickly found himself at the very back of the cave.

He turned to the Squizard as several skeletons charged into the cave, carrying Mac and Rogue. They threw the ponies at Spike, both landing atop of him, making him cry out as he was crushed. The dragon let out a groan, "This kinda hurts! Like, real pain!"

As he said that, a miniaturized Discord appeared on the tip of his nose. "Oh, how kind of you to notice. It's the little details that really bring alternate dimensions to life, wouldn't you say?" Spike glared at him, only to then hear some new screams. Discord blinked at this, turning to the exit of the cave. "What was that?" He snapped his fingers and before anypony could say anything, they were suddenly warped outside.

There they spotted three fillies running for their lives from a bunch of skeletons. "Soul!" Spike cried as he recognized the flying one, soon seeing her two friends, "What are they doing here?!" He turned to glare at Discord, the creature just blinking at the sight.

"Don't look at me. I didn't bring them here."

"Well stop this before they get hurt!" Rogue yelled before he, Spike and Mac ran off to save the girls. Discord rolled his eyes, simply floating after them as they found the girls now getting cornered and surrounded by skeletons.

"Ahh!" Diamond screamed as the three were backed up against a large die, Silver looking close to tears while Soul was hyperventilating.

"Get away...get away..." Soul whispered as her panting got more out of control.

"Oh no...don't do it Soul!" Spike cried, trying to pick up speed as he called out, "SOUL!"

"GET AWAY!" Soul's eyes shot open as her horn exploded with light. That light formed a dome around her body, now shooting magic in all directions. The blasts hit several die and cardboard villains, making them all explode. Silver and Diamond gasped at this, hopping behind other die as the alicorn's magic continued to flow.

"Soul!" Spike yelled before seeing a magic coming for him. "Get behind me!" He said as he turned to Mac and Rogue, summoning a barrier to push the beam back, only for the blast to hit the shield and shatter it, knocking them all back.

"Gyah/Outh/Ahh!" They cried as they were sent flying over the floating Discord.

"Soul!" Diamond called out, "You can stop now!"

"AAAAAHHH!" Soul continued to scream, the magic pouring out of her horn as beams flew across the field, "I...can't! HELP!"

"What's wrong with her?" Rogue asked as he pushed himself back to his hooves.

"She's lost control of her magic!" Spike yelled, "And in a terrifying situation like this, it's no wonder she lost it." He turned to Discord. "This is your fault, so deal with it!"

Discord rolled his eyes, sighing, "Fine..." He drifted over to Soul, not even attempting to dodge the magical blasts. "Now now young lady, I think it's about time you calm-AUGH!" He cried as one of the blast struck him in the chest, making him backpedal while clutching the spot. Once the pain was gone, he pulled his hands away, now seeing a large hole going straight through his body. "That...actually hurt."

"Oh, how kind of you to notice." Spike growled, "It's the little details that really bring being in real danger to life, wouldn't you say?!"

Discord let outa huff as he summoned a jar of Fun-Doh, the draconequus taking the brown putty and sticking it into the hole to repair himself. Once that was done, he turned back to Soul, summoning a captain america shield before charging. "Victory or death!" He flew in closer, the shield reflecting every blast.

And as he got to the filly, he reached out to her with his claw. He pinched the tip of her horn, everypony surprised to see that technique was actually working as the magic began to diminish, soon stopping as Soul slumped over. The dome vanished next, Discord letting her horn go as she fell face first.

"SOUL!" The others ran over to the filly, Spike dropping his staff and picking her up in his arms. "Soul, you okay?!"

Soul let out a moan, her eyes squinting open as tears began to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Spike shook his head, "Don't apologize. It's not your fault." He then glared at Discord, "It's yours!" He handed Soul over to Mac as he got up, "Not only did you ruin our game night, you also put not just us, but these girls in danger and possibly scarred Soul! And just when she was getting more confident with her magic! You're the worst!"

"If I'm the worst, then why did you invite me?" Discord instantly replied.

Spike grit his teeth as he yelled, "Because we felt bad for you!"

This statement was met by a horse neigh coming from Discord, the creature going wide-eyed, "Because you...WHAT!?" He snapped his fingers, a flash of light coming next as they suddenly found themselves back in the throne room with everything being as it was before.

Spike looked around and gasped, seeing Soul and the others there with him. "We're okay, we're okay!" He turned back to his ill-fated house-guest. "No thanks to you, Discord!

"You felt sorry for me?!" He growled, making the dragon look back at him.

"Who wouldn't?!" The dragon replied, "Fluttershy told us you practically begged her to stay! And then at the train station, you were just standing there, all alone!"

"This can't be!" Discord barked back, "I'm supposed to feel sorry for you because I'm me and you're you."

"Why?" Rogue asked, "What makes you so much better than us?! Sure you've got a lot of fancy powers, but so does Flash and he doesn't go lording it over us."

Spike nodded at this, "We only invited you to be nice! I mean, you're kind of a...weirdo!"

"Eeyup," Mac added while Rogue nodded.

"I ruined your night, and you don't even think I'm cool?" The ponies and dragon simply glared back, giving the draconequus the answer. "Ugh..." he moaned as a paper bag appeared over his head, "How embarrassing. I should go." He took off the bag and leapt out of the throne, "I have a lot of other friends I need to see tonight."

"Good!" Spike yelled.

"Yes..." Discord headed for the door, "so many other friends." He stopped just at the entrance, letting out a wimpering sound before suddenly warping behind Spike's throne. "Farewell, Garbunkle the magician." He turned to Rogue, "and young Gureo. May you become as devious as me." He pointed to Big Mac. "And brave Sir McBiggun." He patted his shoulder, "May providence smile upon thee in thy quest to rid Spiketopia of the dreaded Squizard." He let out a sigh while stroking his beard. "When I say it that way, the game doesn't sound half bad." He warped over to the door, placing his claw on it, "Oh well."

With that, he warped away and left Spike and the ponies Discord-free. The drgaon let out a sigh before turning to Soul, raising an eyebrow. "I forgot our school project. I was hoping to just sneak in and grab it without you noticing."

"That plan sure got kiboshed," Diamond added.

"We'll just grab our project and head back to Diamond's place," Soul replied while Spike nodded back. The girls headed out of the room, Spike grabbing the dice before turning to the pony stallions. "It...it's better this way, right?

"Eeyup," Mac responded, a slight frown on his face.

"He was the one who didn't want to play," Rogue continued, "It's not our fault he isn't...interested."

"Right..." Spike sighed, "And now he can't bother us, 'cause he's off somewhere by himself...all alone...with no friends."

"Eeyup."

Spike sat back down at this, clearing his throat and grabbing the book. "We find ourselves in the dungeon of the evil Squizard..." He let out another sigh, "The bars are locked and...ah," he dropped the book, "Who am I kidding?" He turned to the others, "We should give him another chance."

Mac nodded, but Rogue just frowned, "How many second chances has he had up until now?" Spike raised an eyebrow, "Fine..."

Spike cleared his throat before speaking out loud, "Captain Wuzz? Can you hear me?" Barely a second later, there was a flash of light, Discord now floating above the table.

"Oh! You realised how amazing I am and that I make you cooler just by being around me?" The dragon and ponies gave him deadpan stares, "Uh...no, no. Actually, that's not what I meant to say." He grimaced as he took a deep breath before speaking again, "I'm...sssssss..." He tried to get the words out, but his mouth refused to open.

"What?" Spike asked, Discord's mouth now fumbling.

"I'm ssssssss-"

"Can't hear you," Spike added while Mac shook his head.

"Nope."

"Try opening your mouth," Rogue commented, "I find it makes talking much easier."

This seemed to make Discord finally snap as he yelled, "I'm trying to say I'm sorry, all right?! I'm sorry for ruining your game, and I'm sorry for putting those fillies in danger and making Soul lose control of her magic. And most of all, I'm sorry that I thought I was better than you!" He let out several pants before slumping back into Rarity's throne. "Now let's play before this evening gets any sappier, shall we?!" He summoned his game card and placed it on the board, Spike chuckling at this as Mac and Rogue leaned up and whispered into Spike's ear.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah! Okay!" He turned back to Discord, "What if we forgot the board and the pieces for a minute?" Discord raised an eyebrow at this. "I mean, the whole game coming to life was completely terrifying, but also kind of the best thing ever!" Spike gave a sheepish smile, "So we were wondering...what if you toned it down just a teensy bit?"

Mac nodded as Rogue turned to Discord, the master of chaos rubbing his paws together. "I say...let's stop the Squizard." With that, he snapped his fingers, the four now back in their adventure world.

At this moment, Soul and her friends returned downstairs with their project, only to see they were on the battlefield again. "Not again..."

Spike turned to her with a big grin, "It's okay. We asked Discord to do this."

"You girls want in?" Rogue asked as he jumped behind a skeleton and stabbed it in the back. "Or would you rather have Discord send you back?"

Soul, Diamond and Silver exchanged glances, smiles appearing on their faces next as Soul quickly put their model out of harm's way.





The next day...

The ponies and jakhowls that had left the previous day had now returned home after an interesting voyage. It had been a fun visit to Yakyakistan, but they were all happy to be home.

"I can't believe you caused an avalanche," Springer laughed while Flash rolled his eyes.

"Cut me some slack," the pony replied as they reached the castle. "There was a lot of dust on that mountain. I couldn't help sneezing."

"Dust...on snow?" Rainbow asked as Twilight opened the door. But before anypony could reply to her, they came to a stop when they found themselves staring at a battlefield covered in large die. In that battlefield, Spike, Mac, Discord, Rogue, Soul, Diamond and Silver were doing battle against cardboard skeletons, all dressed in bizarre clothing.

"I have been seriously underestimating the awesomeness of guys night," Flash whispered as he watched Soul lift her staff over Diamond, unleashing a wave that made her injuries go away.

The six were then surrounded, with Spike turning to Discord. "I've got your back, Captain Wuzz!" With that, he fired a magical blast while Mac sliced a skeleton in half with Rogue and Discord launching their projectiles. Silver strummed her guitar as Diamond threw a barrage of punches, knocking the skeletons down while Soul gave them a power boost.

Once the last skeleton was defeated, the seven began to pant before hearing roar of laughter. They turned to see the Squizard charging at them. "Garbunkle!" Discord yelled, "Follow my lead!" With that, he fired an arrow over the Squizard's head while Spike shot it with magic, causing the arrow to glow and bounce off a die before hitting the Squizard in the back.

The creature let out a scream before running off, "Bull's-eye!" Spike cheered as he leapt up and high-fived the archer.

"Nice one!" The seven exclaimed, only to turn and see they had an audience, Discord and Fluttershy smiling at one another.

That is, till Twilight's horn shined, her magic grabbing the door handles, "Maybe we should just close the door and let them finish...whatever this...is."

"No way!" Rainbow yelled, "Did you see Big Mac's sword?! I totally want in!" She ran past the alicorn as Pinkie followed her.

"Yeah! I don't know what it is, but it looks like super duper fun!" The two entered the magic field, Rainbow transforming into a gray version of Rogue's suit while Pinkie was in a jester outfit mixed with something from Asterix. Both looked down at their new looks, grins on their faces before charging at a fresh wave of skeletons, smiles on every face.
> The Most Dangerous Flame
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a mountain range in the middle of nowhere, a large group of ponies were busy using power tools or their own magic in order to dig into a rock face. It was a mining operation, looking for any valuable building materials. Metal ore, diamonds and other rocks were the main objective, digging for every bit they could find while trying to leave the land as untarnished as possible.

"Come on ponies!" The foremen yelled as the unicorns lifted piles of large rocks while the earth ponies shattered theirs into smaller ones that the pegasi could carry away. "I have to support a wife and three kids working with you bozos! So let's get it right already!" The ponies barked back in agreement, continuing their work as a pegasus brought a jackhammer over to a large rock.

However, as he pounded away at the rock, the stone surface would not break. "Come on..." he moaned, pushing down on the machine. But as he did this, the rock would not budge, making him sigh, "Hey! We got a rock over here that needs heating!"

The foreman nodded before turning to a unicorn with a fire cutie mark. "You heard the pony. Get going."

"Right," the unicorn replied before moving over to the rock. His horn began to glow, firing a beam of heat at the rock. It was a simple procedure done hundreds of times, super-heating a rock in order to make it easier to break. However, as he did this, he didn't know this would be different.

On the other side of that rock was a small space, one filled with something breathing at a slow rate. It was in a hibernative state, only for the heat to flow through the rocks and go into the space. The being inside felt the heat, its breathing increasing to a steady rate as its entire curled up body began to grow.

While this happened, the unicorn's horn stopped shining as he turned to the pegasus. "Alright, you're good to go!" The pegasus nodded, putting the jackhammer on it. But as he put the tool down, the rock began to shake.

"What the-" He asked while pulling the machine away, only to see cracks now appearing on the boulder, "What in the-what did you do?"

"Nothing," the unicorn responded, "At least...I don't think I did anything."

"What's going on?" The foreman asked as he walked up to them, only to see the rock's crack to start going beyond the boulder...and up the rock wall. "That's not good." He then let out a yell, "EVERYPONY MOVE!"

And in that moment, the rock shattered, a flurry of flames pouring out of the rock wall. The workers quickly began to run away, all gasping as they saw the wall fall apart. As this happened, a pair of blazing red eyes came out of the fire, rage igniting in those eyes. "RUN!" The foreman yelled before the ponies of the mine ran as fast as they could, their ears now hearing a mighty roar from the creature as a burst of fire exploded from its mouth, turning everything into a sea of flames.





Two weeks later...

The town of Ponyville was enjoying yet another stint of peace, no big threats or terrifying situations in the usual chaotic town. The only event of note was the buckball game between Ponyville's Pinkie, Fluttershy and Snails and Appaloosa's own team. Luckily, Ponyville had won, the town celebrating their victory.

Now, everypony was simply enjoying their day to day activities. But as they did this, a certain visitor made them all stare and flinch. It was a light blue unicorn with a snow white mane and tail, a small trail of ice following him. A low glare was on his face, not concerned by the stares he was getting. Frustration on his face as he walked through the place, his eyes darting around as he tried to find a certain somepony. And as he trotted down another street, the air around him dropped ten degrees, causing those around him to shiver at the chill.

"Cold Steel?" called out a pony, the knight spinning around. The sight made the pony flinch, backpedaling as she saw the anger on the knight's face. As for him, he barely recognized the yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane and tail that had called out to him.

"Who are you?" Cold grumbled, "You look familiar...you're one of Flash's friends, right? Flutter...jack?"

"Shy," she replied with a blush. "Fluttershy. And yes, I am one of Flash's friends." She let out a small gulp, the knight's glare not going away as she tried to ask, "Um...w-w-what are you doing here?"

"I'm here on business. A citizen like you shouldn't be concerned."

He turned back around, Fluttershy speaking up, "B-b-but um...maybe I could help you? You uh...look a little...lost."

The knight slowly glanced back at her, seeing her flinch at his glare again. "Do you know where Grand Hoof is?"

Fluttershy showed a small smile at this, barely nodding, "Oh yes. He and the rest of the defenders are at the Ponyville Day Spa."

"Day spa?"





"Ahhh!" Flash, Grand, Lightning, Springer and Iron sighed together, the group all in the spa's hot tub.

"I'm so glad you talked me into this," Iron moaned as he leaned back. "We've been working and training so hard, my joints felt like they were gonna rip apart."

"You don't even know the half of it," Grand responded, "Try being my age. If I don't soak in something really hot every other day, I'm gonna turn into one of those old stallions constantly complaining about my hip and the terrible music kids listen to today."

"Speaking of kids," Flash turned to the side of the tub, seeing Fire Heart sitting n the room's corner, "You sure you don't want in? The water's nice."

"Um...no thank you," Heart replied, "Hot or cold, I ain't getting in any type of water I don't need to get into."

The older ponies frowned at this before Lightning leaned over to Flash, "He's been taking baths, right? Or at least a shower."

No answer came from Flash as he turned back to Heart, "At least do us a favor and heat the water up a little more." Heart nodding, slowly lighting his hoof ablaze before shooting out a weak but sustained stream of fire that struck the water. The defenders let out a sigh of relief as the water bubbled around them.

"You're getting good at that," Springer added, "Looks like all that training's paying off."

"Thanks," Heart replied before laying back, all staring up at the ceiling. The remaining defenders continued to revel in their hot tub. That is, till the doors of the spa opened, a freezing chill flowing into the room as the heat vanished, making everypony shiver.

"What the heck?!" Flash yelped before turning to the door, now seeing a certain pony, "Cold?! What are you doing here?!"

"And why are you freezing everything?!" Iron barked as most of the group started to get out of the tub.

"Some of us actually work for a living," Cold hissed, walking up to the tub as Fluttershy appeared behind him. The knight then trotted up to Grand, "I need your help Grand."

"Oh?" Grand asked with a raised eyebrow, "What's up?"

"Twenty years ago, you battled a creature that was causing havoc all across Equestria. You chased it for a week before finally losing it in a mountain range. The reports said you spent tree days tracking it, but couldn't find any clue to where it had gone."

A long frown appeared on Grand's face, "Been a long time since I heard that story...the fire salamander."

Cold nodded back, "Yes. An Equestria mining company accidentally found one and now I've been charged with stopping it. I came to you because you know how I operate."

"You want any piece of information you can get before engaging the monster." Grand replied as he took a towel off a rack. "Alright, what do you want to know?"

"Everything."

Grand opened his mouth to respond, only for Heart to walk up and ask, "What's a fire salamander?"

The others turned to him, Lightning speaking up, "Kinda obvious kiddo. It's a salamander that's on fire."

"It also eats and spits fire." Grand added before sighing as he began to recap, "The last time one appeared in Equestria, it burned down three villages before I arrived. They're rare, so not much is known about them besides their love for setting things aflame."

"Which is exactly why we need to stop it before it does that," Cold responded, "So Grand, what say you? Care to join me on this hunt?"

Grand shook his head, "As much as I'd love to settle an old score, monster hunting isn't exactly something I'm skilled at in my old age. I could barely keep up with the creature when I was in my prime. I'd likely just slow you down more than be of any actual help to you."

That statement made Heart go wide-eyed, remembering how fast Grand had been during their sparring match. That is, till he thought about a quick burst of speed compared to a marathon of fighting a monster. As he did this, Cold let out a groan, "So I made this trip for nothing."

"Now hold on there. I didn't say I wouldn't go with you," Grand instantly replied, "I'll be happy to join you on this quest, but you'll have to do most of the heavy lifting. However, I think there might be somepony else in this room that could help you better than me." The ponies raised an eyebrow at this, the group turning their heads to Flash, "Nope." They then turned to Lightning, "Getting colder." Then Iron, "Freezing." They finally got to Heart, making Grand shake his head again, "Don't be ridiculous. If the salamander saw his fire form, he'd be a full-course meal for him."

Heart gulped at this, the group then turning to the only other pony in the room. Fluttershy spun around, only to see nopony was behind her before looking back and pointing to herself, "ME?!"

"Of course," Grand nodded, "You're an expert on creatures of all shapes and sizes. If you can stop a raging manticore, snoring dragon and petrifying cockatrice, I don't see why a fire salamander would be any different."

"He has a point," Flash added, "And Cold will be there to protect you if things get too dangerous."

Fluttershy blinked at this, turning to Cold as he just glared at her. She let out a small 'eep' as he continued to stare, seeing the judgement in his eyes. He spun around at this, giving the others a 'seriously' look.

But as he opened his mouth, Springer chimed in, "Don't underestimate her. She may look small and harmless, but she conceals within her a dark side that's truly terrifying if you get on the wrong side of her."

The ponies and jakhowl shivered at the horrifying memory, making Cold raise an eyebrow before slowly turning to pegasi, "Right...so, are you coming or not?"

Fluttershy turned to the others, seeing the looks of approval on their faces before glancing over at Grand, "It's your choice." He said as her eyes went back to Iron, seeing a nod from him. She then took a deep breath, slowly looking back at Cold.

"Alright, I'm in."

Cold was about to reply, only to get interrupted again. "I'm going too," Iron said, "It's about time I got to see some action around here. This might actually be a challenge."

Cold's eyes shifted between the three, eventually letting out a sigh, "Very well. Be ready to leave in an hour."

With that, he left the spa, Iron, Grand and Fluttershy following him. And as they left the building, Fluttershy muttered to herself, "What did I just get myself into?"

And as she asked this, the three went home and gathered what they needed before meeting Cold at the train station. With the suddenness of their departure, only Flash, Springer, Lightning, Heart and Twilight were there to say goodbye before the train arrived.

Soon enough, the four were in a carriage being pulled down the tracks. As they sat down in the car, Cold turned to Grand, "So what's the plan?"

"First thing's first, tell me where we're actually heading. I'll be able to plan better if I have a sense of the environment we'll be facing it in."

"Got it. This is latest information I have." Cold replied while taking out a map, unfurling it to show a zoomed in section of Equestria. "Here. The salamander has been sighted in this area."

They saw it was mountain-like area, Iron pointing to a town on the map, "What's that place?"

"Trakeyser. It was first built around ten years ago, and is a well known tourist destination due to a nearby volcano."

"Volcano?!" Fluttershy gasped, only to see Cold glance up at her with a low stare.

"Relax. It's mostly dormant, but the heat from it causes the ground to heat up. And what really gives it its fame is the streams that flows through the area, pooling to become small ponds that creates a series of natural hot-springs."

"Hot-springs?" Grand asked, a big grin appearing on his face. "I know what I'm doing once we catch this thing."

"This isn't a vacation Grand, its business."

"I know." Grand replying, shrugging.

Cold then pointed to another part of the map, "Now, there's also a forest to the east of the town, and on the other side of it are the mountain ranges where the salamander was reported to be. And since it likes fire, it'll go right through that forest before getting to the town."

"And then it'll burn both places down." Iron grumbled with crossed hooves.

"A place filled with steaming hot baths..." Grand sighed, "The kinda place will be paradise for a fire creature."

"That's why we need to stop it," Cold finished before leaning back, the knight glancing over to Grand. "What's the plan?"

Grand showed a small frown before turning to the non-knight of the group. "Fluttershy, before I start, do you have any suggestions? You are the animal expert."

"I've...never encountered a creature like this before," Fluttershy replied, her eyes slightly looking away, "I won't be able to suggest anything until I've seen how it acts. I'm not even sure I'll be able to understand what it says." She took out a book on rare creatures, opening it to show a bare bones drawing of a lizard on fire. "There's barely any information on them. Only their name and where they're likely to call home."

"Then that's our first objective," Grand responded, "Slow it down and maybe even stop it. All the while, Fluttershy will study it's actions and try to determine a way to stop it. Hopefully, we can find a way to stop it without causing it too much harm and before it can do any damage to Trakeyser."

The three nodded at this, continuing their strategy meeting as the train continued down the track. It began with Grand going into detail his previous encounter. Fluttershy felt her heart sink as she was told the beast Grand fought was the size of a house, going on a rampage that Grand could only slightly stop. Their battle lead them to a mountain range, Grand pushing the flaming beast into the rocky terrain...only to suddenly vanish. He then told them he had a team search the mountains for a few days, only to find nothing.

"So...it just vanished?" Iron asked with a raised eyebrow.

Grand nodded back, "Yes. I never figured out how. I thought I had the advantage, as I started a rock slide on top of the beast. I was sure I had him...but it suddenly disappeared."

"You didn't...kill it, did you?" Fluttershy muttered out, only to see the knight shake his head.

"We never found any evidence of that. No body or anything."

"Guess we'll have to make sure this one doesn't get away." Cold commented just as the train's whistle sounded out. "Looks like we're here."

They walked onto the platform, now seeing the train station was located on the edge of a cliff that looked down on a large town, close to being a city, which had several rivers running through it. Each of those rivers was giving off a lot of steam, Cold gesturing them to follow down a path as he said, "Welcome to Trakeyser, hot-spring capital of Equestria."

"I think I'm in heaven," Grand sighed as they entered the town, Fluttershy giggling at his reaction. They soon saw the ponies walking through the place, all showing looks of relaxation while some of the older ponies looked ten years younger then they should have. It was here they headed down a street with a river flowing through it, which had several bridges that went to some buildings advertising themselves as bath-houses.

"Why are so many bath-houses so close to one another?" Fluttershy asked, "Isn't that bad for business?"

"You might want to take a closer look at each of the signs," Grand chimed in as Fluttershy and Iron stared at the buildings, seeing a bunch of different signs.

"Scolding bath?" Fluttershy read.

"Electric bath," Iron continued.

"Mineral bath."

"Waterfall bath."

"Sulphur bath?" Fluttershy added with a raised eyebrow, "I had no idea there were so many different types of baths."

"Everypony has their own preferred way of relaxing," Grand responded, "Some like it blazing hot, others like the smell of sulphur and so on. With all the hot water flowing through here, it's no wonder this place is seen as the perfect place for so many hot-springs."

"Milk here!" They heard a vendor yell, "Get your ice cold milk! The perfect refreshment to have after a steaming hot bath!"

Grand shined a big grin at this, only for Cold to walk in front of them, "Come on, we're wasting time." He trotted down the street, the three following as he commented, "It doesn't look like the salamander's been here, so let's go to the forest."

"Now hang on, it might be a good idea to ask around," Iron chimed in, "It's possible the salamander came and chose not to go into town."

"I don't know about that," Grand responded before moving over to the milk stand. "Hello there, we're wondering if you've seen anything peculiar."

"Depends what you mean by peculiar," the milk vendor replied, "The only peculiar thing I see is a group of ponies who aren't going into or coming out of a bath-house."

"I meant have you noticed any strange animals passing by. Maybe a lizard of some kind."

"Lots of lizards show up around here," the vendor added, shrugging, "They're cold blooded, so of course they like being someplace warm."

"But have any of those lizards been on fire?"

The vendor gave him a deadpan stare, "Buddy, I stand in this very same spot, eight hours a day, seven days a week. You're asking the wrong pony if anything weird has been happening around here."

Grand let out a sigh at this, Cold then stomping up, "I suggest you stop telling jokes. We're trying to save your town from getting burnt to cinders."

"Sure you are," the pony interrupted.

Cold's eyes narrowed at this, his horn about to spark, only to feel a hoof on his shoulder. He turned to the touch, now seeing Fluttershy, "Can I?" He glared at her for a second before stepping aside, Fluttershy giving the vendor a small smile, "Hello. Can I have a milk please?"

"Of course," he gave her a bottle while she gave him a bit.

She quickly removed the top and took a drink, sighing at the refreshing taste. "It's really nice."

"Sent straight here from a local farm. Not even a day old."

Fluttershy nodded back before asking, "I don't suppose there's...anything you could tell us that might help our quest? We really just want to help you." The vendor raised an eyebrow at this, making Fluttershy look away, "This place is so peaceful. You must love it here."

"Indeed," the vendor replied, "No matter how bad things get, a simple bath can make all the problems in the world just vanish."

"Well those baths may vanish if we don't find what we came here to find." She looked back at the vendor, giving him a long yet cute frown, "Please help us save them."

The vendor flinched at this, shaking in his booth before sighing, "Oh, alright. I might have heard some news." The statement made Cold go wide-eyed as the vendor continued, "Some ponies who like to go to some natural hot-springs in the forest were complaining that the baths aren't as warm as they usually are."

"That's it?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, those pools don't have a direct line to the volcanic vents that heat the water around here. They normally stay the same temperature, but the ponies that went to one of them found 'em ice cold, like the heat was sucked out. Though an hour later, it heated back up again."

"I see. And where are these pools?"

"In the forest. There's a path that'll lead you straight to them."

"Thank you," Fluttershy nodded before turning back to the others.

"Not bad," Grand chuckled, "Not bad at all."

"What are you talking about?!" Cold barked, "That gives us nothing!"

Grand shook his head. "Not true. It gave us a location to investigate. That's better than wildly searching the forest." He pointed to the forest, "Let's get going."

The four soon left the town, getting the forest as they found the path Fluttershy had been told about. They soon were trotting deep into the woods, now noticing the air was growing much cooler. "Anypony else getting a weird feeling?" Iron asked as they passed a strangely shaped mushroom.

"Like something's gonna leap out at you any second?" Grand asked, getting a nod from Iron and Fluttershy.

"You're all just letting our imaginations get to you," Cold replied, rolling his eyes, "If there was anything out here, we'd sense it."

Grand sighed at this, "Weren't you supposed to have mellowed out?" Cold spun around with a glare, only to see Grand crossing his hooves, "You seemed to become more open during your time in the lost city, but now you're back to being the same old grumpy pants."

"I'm not a grumpy pants," Cold growled. "And I have taken what I've learnt during the war to heart. I came to ask for help, didn't I?!"

"I guess...but you could be a little more cheery about it."

"Grand....this is a job. I don't have time to be cheery." Cold sighed as he turned back around, "You're just like Sentry, you need to take this more seriously-WHOA!" the knight yelped as he pushed through some tall grass, only to suddenly find the ground beneath his hooves vanishing, a loud splashing following this. The others ran up and pulled the grass apart, allowing them to find a large shallow pond. Cold ascended from the water, letting out a puff of breath to get the wet mane out of his eyes before glaring at the others, seeing Grand opening his mouth before saying, "Not a word."

"I was just gonna say-"

"Not...a word!"

Fluttershy held back a giggle before putting her hoof into the water, only to look up at the knight, "That's cold. Did you use your magic on the water?"

"No..." Cold replied as Iron and Grand dipped a hoof in the water. "I don't see what that has to do-" He stopped when he suddenly felt the water start to heat up, making him look down to see several tiny bubbles. He then reached down, touching the bottom of the pond, feeling a very hot spot that was heating the pool. "He was right. There's a small heat source."

"How hot is it?" Grand asked.

"Very," Cold grumbled, "Give it an hour or two and the pool will be boiling hot."

He then pulled himself out of the water as Fluttershy hummed, "It's just like he said. It's like the heat was completely sucked out of the water."

"But how can heat be sucked out?" Iron asked, the others shrugging before Cold turned to see several footprints in the muddy ground around the spring.

"Look." The others glanced at the prints, seeing they belonged to some kind of reptile that had to have five toes which bulged at the end of them. They followed the footprints, leaving the muddy area before vanishing a few feet away, "It must be this way."

"Then let's get going," Grand, Iron and Cold were about to run, only to come to a stop as they noticed one member of their group wasn't moving. They looked back at Fluttershy, the pony staring at the tracks.

"Hey! Let's go already!" Cold yelled, but the pegasi just ignored him, making him stomp up and growl at her, "What are you doing?!"

Fluttershy turned to him with a small frown, "I'm trying to figure out how big the salamander is," she replied while gesturing at the print, "Based on the size of the footprints and how far they're spaced apart, I'd say it's about the size of a pony. Maybe a little smaller."

"So its small. Nice." Grand responded while nudging Cold, "Now we know what we're up again."

Cold rolled his eyes at this, the group now going through the forest again. As they did this, Fluttershy quickly found the trail, following after her as they trotted through the area. But as they did this, they soon found themselves surrounded by bugs.

"Are we sure the salamander is around here?" Iron asked as he started swatting them away, "I thought lizard were supposed to eat insects."

"Maybe these aren't the kind of insects it likes," Cold added, only to feel one bite into him, hissing as he tried to swat it, only for it fly away, "You'd think a place known for being hot would have less bugs."

But as he said this, the group looked up to see a cloud of smoke rising up from behind the treeline. They all gasped before running toward the smoke, the sound of cracking fire catching their ears as they drew closer. And as they got there, they found a section of the forest that had been set ablaze. "Oh my," Fluttershy whispered while trying to not think of what animals were likely in this section of the woods.

Cold quickly lit his horn, unleashing a wave of frost in every direction, putting out the flames and freezing the half burnt trees into place. "This has to be the salamander's doing," he sighed while staring at the area, "Any sign of where it might have gone?"

"None that I can see," Grand replied, only to quickly get into a defensive stance. His reflexes kicked in as he felt something coming, a fireball suddenly flying out of the trees. He leapt out of the way of the flaming attack, Grand and Iron now pulling their Celestic Gear off their backs. And as they glared at where the fireball had come from, they saw the culprit standing on the log of a fallen tree.

It was a mostly red lizard with a yellow underbelly and under-tail, with claws that were a darker red. On its forehead was a round orange gem that seemed to glow, while a fin made entirely of fire flowed through the back of its head, down its neck and back before heading before its tail. The tail had a short dark red spike on the end of it, and just as Fluttershy had predicted, it was around the size of a pony.

"Salamander..." Cold growled. "We've finally found it."

"Looks like Fluttershy was right about its size," Grand added, "Shouldn't be too much trouble stopping it."

But as he said this, the salamander stared at the old knight, a long glare appearing on its face. It began to growl, its eyes narrowing at Grand.

"Is it just me or does that thing look mad?" Iron asked while Cold scoffed.

"We just stopped its forest fire, of course it would be angry. Now come on, let's stop this thing before it tries to start another one." He charged at this, forming a sword made entirely of ice. "Cold Saber!" As he got closer, the salamander hissed before launching several fireballs. Cold quickly deflected them, only to notice a few were also heading for Grand.

"Whoa!" Grand yelped as he swung his hammer around, knocking them back.

Cold then reached the creature, swinging his sword down, only for the salamander to jump back before hopping onto one of the unfrozen trees. Cold galloped over, slashing his sword through the trunk, making the salamander jump off and onto another tree that was soon cut down, then another and another.

"Cold!" Iron yelled, "We're supposed to stop it, not help it wreck the place!"

It was then that the salamander jumped off another tree before unleashing a wave of fire...that flew past Cold and went straight for Grand.

"Hey!" Grand slammed his hammer into the ground, causing a wall of rocks to shoot up and block the flames. And as the fire struck, the knight felt nothing but slight singes on his fur tips, "Why's it keep firing at me?"

While he asked this, Fluttershy had been hiding behind one of the trees, her eyes glancing between Grand and the salamander. She blinked at the sight, going over the information Grand had given her while watching the creature dodge Cold.

"Grand?" He turned to Fluttershy, "Where did you originally fight the salamander all those years ago?"

"What?!" Grand asked.

"Do you think it could have been in the mountain range beyond this forest?" Grand blinked at her question, now feeling another fireball hit the rock wall he had created. "Um...well..." A memory or two flowed through his head, only to remember that Cold had said Trakeyser had only been built ten years ago.

"It's...possible." He muttered out, now remembering seeing a forest on the map he had originally used to get to the mountains, as well as an inactive volcano. "Yes, I think you're right. The mountains beyond this area are the ones I fought the original salamander in."

"So what?" Iron asked, "This place is a hotbed for salamander breeding."

Fluttershy shook her head at this, the salamander dodging Cold again. "No, I think this salamander is the same one he fought all those years ago."

This statement made all three go wide-eyed, the stallions coming to a stop before staring at the creature. "What?!" Cold yelped.

"No way," Iron added.

"That's impossible," Grand finished, "The one I fought was the size of a house. This one's not even a tenth of that size."

"But the way it's looking at you, glaring and firing at you, it's the only reason I can think of as to why it does that is if it had a grudge against you." To confirm her theory, the salamander leapt into the air and bit the end of its tail. It then began rolling, morphing into a flaming wheel that headed in Grand's direction. The attack smashed through the rock wall, making Grand backpedal.

"Gyah!" Grand yelled before hitting the ground with his hammer, creating a ramp that the salamander rolled off of, sending it flying over them. "I think Fluttershy might be right."

"But if that's the salamander you fought, how'd it get so small?!" Iron said as the salamander broke out of its flame wheel, turning around and scuttling past Fluttershy. As it did this, the pegasi squinted her eyes as she noticed...it was smaller.

"How did it-"

"Cold Force!" Cold yelled as he unleashed a tornado of frozen wind at the beast, the salamander responding by opening its mouth, firing a flamethrower that met the ice attack. The two attacks pushed at one another in a stalemate, Fluttershy watching the salamander from behind.

And as she did this, she noticed it very slowly shrinking. "That's it."

As this happened, Cold and the salamander stopped their attacks, both now panting. The salamander then hissed as the three knights now slowly moving up to it, the flame on its back suddenly growing stronger. And before anypony could do anything, the flames exploded off his back, creating a plume of smoke. The dark fog covered the knights, a round of coughing happening next as they swatted the smoke away.

And when the smoke cleared, the salamander was gone. "What the hay?!" Cold barked, "Where'd it go?!"

"Don't get angry. It couldn't have gotten that far in such a short amount of time," Iron yelled, "Let's spread out and-"

"Wait. You're not gonna catch it that way." They turned to Fluttershy as she flew out from behind the tree. "Its much smaller than what it was."

"What are you talking about?" Cold asked.

"During the fight, I noticed the salamander was getting smaller." The three raised eyebrows at this, making her shake her head, "It did. It was almost half the size it was when it disappeared."

"So?"

"So what if the salamander can change its size, just like me?! It would explain how the creature Grand fought all those years ago could be the same one you just fought, despite being smaller."

"And it would explain how it escaped me last time," Grand added while rubbing his chin in thought, "It just shrank down until I couldn't notice it."

"Wait...so it used the smokescreen as cover to shrink down and get away?" Iron asked, Fluttershy nodding. "Huh. Talk about a clever defense."

"So what do we do?" Cold chimed in, "How do we find that lizard if it can shrink to the size of a...lizard?"

"That's a good question," Grand replied, "If we can't think of a way to contain it, it'll just keep escaping. Either it'll shrink down and crawl through the bars of whatever cage we throw it in, or it'll grow large enough to just bust out of it. And that's not even taking into account whatever fire it uses."

"Then we have no choice," Cold created a sword. "We take it down before it can hurt anypony."

"No!" Fluttershy cried. "That's not fair! It has as much right to live as anypony else."

"Even though it caused part of this forest to burn, and would have burned the rest down if we hadn't come here?!"

"We don't know that's what happened," Fluttershy responded, walking up to the stallion while giving him the first glare she had given him from the start. Iron couldn't help but smile at this as she continued, "We didn't see how the fire started. The salamander could have done it on accident when it was scaring off a predator."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's dangerous and we need to stop it. Pony lives matter more than one lizard."

"And who are you to decide that?!" Fluttershy asked, "We don't know what this creature wants. For all you know, it wants to be left alone and find a place it can live without being bothered."

"Oh please. And I'm sure that's the perfect excuse to the ponies of Trakeyser when their houses are burned down!"

"ENOUGH!" Both flinched as they turned to Grand, "I admit you both have a point. We should give the salamander a chance to explain itself, but we should also be ready encase it plans to attack."

"So what do we do?" Cold asked, "Invite it to a dinner party and ask it to kindly to stop burning places down?!"

Grand shook his head. "We'll split up. You and Fluttershy will track down the creature, and Fluttershy will attempt to communicate with it, asking what it wants and if there's a way to get it to stop. If she can't establish a dialogue, then you're free to do whatever is necessary to stop it." The ponies shared a glance before sighing and nodding, "Meanwhile, Iron and I will return to Trakeyser. I get the feeling having me there will only anger the creature, so we'll begin warning ponies about the salamander and telling them to be ready to evacuate if it shows up."

"Alright," Iron replied before turning back to Fluttershy, "Be careful."

"I will," Fluttershy nodded before the two groups headed off in different direction, Cold and Fluttershy into the forest while Iron and Grand began to make their way back to Trakeyser.





Meanwhile...

The salamander was scuttling along the floor, now the size of a normal lizard, no bigger than a hamster. The flame on its back was also very small, looking like it was going to go out at any second.

It crawled up to the trunk of a tree, soon getting on a top branch as it started moving sluggishly. It turned to see a large cloud of steam off in the distance. Trakeyser.

However, there was another cloud of steam that was much closer then the town. The lizard shuffled down to a lower branch, crossing it until it got to another tree, then went into another and another while heading for the steam cloud.

After several minutes, it arrived at the source of the steam, another small pool of heated water. But the salamander wasn't moving as fast as it was before. Instead, it was barely moving at all. The flame on its back was seconds away from going out, causing the salamander to slump over. It stopped on the branch that was hanging right over the water, but the flame on its back went out, the salamander losing consciousness.

It was lifeless at this, laid out on the branch until a strong gust of wind hit it. The branch began to shake, making the lizard slide off the twig before falling into the pool. A tiny splash came next, the lizard sinking down into the liquid. Steam coming from the water began to decrease at this, the bubbles vanishing.

And after a minute, the salamander leapt out of the pool. Its body was about the size of a cat, the fire on its back now ablaze again. Taking a deep breath, it began to scuttle through the forest once more, heading to where large cloud of steam was coming from.





Cold ran as fast as he could through the forest, Fluttershy barely able to keep up as she flew behind him. The knight's eyes darted around, scanning every direction as he tried to find any ounce of a trail. As he did this, Fluttershy was absentmindedly following him, her mind focusing on something else just as she flew into a tree, stopping just in time with a cry of surprise. The sound made Cold spin around, sighing at the sight.

"Would you please focus?! We need to find this thing and fast."

"I know," she replied she flew up to him, "Its just...there's something I can't figure out."

"Which is?"

"Why didn't it grow larger?" Cold raised an eyebrow at this. "If the salamander can grow as big as Grand said it could, then why didn't it do that when you were fighting it. Lots of animals try to make themselves look bigger to scare off predators, so why didn't it actually grow bigger when you attacked it?"

"Who knows," Cold scoffed, "It's a dumb animal. It probably didn't think of that."

"I'd hardly call it dumb. It was smart enough to use that smokescreen to escape you." Fluttershy barked back before crossing her hooves, "There has to be a reason it didn't grow bigger when it had the chance."

But as she said this, a new sound caught their attention. The noise of running water, which Cold cut into a sprint. Fluttershy followed after him, the two then finding a large river that was flowing in the direction of the town. "This must be one of the rivers that feed the town's hot-springs," Cold put his hoof in the water, hissing at the heat.

"You think the salamander might use it to head to the town?" Fluttershy asked, Cold shaking his head.

"I doubt it. It probably wants to stay as far away from the water as possible since it might be able to put its flame out." But as he said that, he noticed that the steam from the river suddenly vanish. He raised an eyebrow and tried the water again, feeling it was ice cold. "What?"

He ran upstream at this, Fluttershy following him again. And after a minute or so of running, they both came to a stop, now seeing a certain creature that was standing in the river. The salamander had grown back to the size of a pony, looking back to see Cold and Fluttershy. It hissed while preparing to launch a fire blast, Cold forming a sword. "Wait!" Fluttershy's voice cried out, making Cold and it turn to her. "Grand said I have to try and talk to it."

"Are you nuts?!" Cold asked as she moved past him, "That thing could roast you alive."

"I have to at least try." Fluttershy responded, flying in front of him, flaring her wings. Cold growled at her, clutching his sword before the pegasi leaned up to his face. She began to use The Stare, the gesture making him flinch for just a split second, only to glare back at her. Despite this, she said, "Put the sword away and let me try it my way."

Cold stared at her, gritting his teeth before desummoning the blade, "Fine."

"Good." She spun around and flew up to the lizard, "Hello there, I'm Fluttershy." The salamander hissed at her, fire smoking out of his mouth, only to see the pegasi lean down with giant kind grin, "I know my friends probably scared you, but there's no reason to fear me. I won't hurt you." The salamander remained silent, its body slowly growing as Fluttershy continued, "Please tell me why you keep setting the place on fire."

This made the salamander hiss, Fluttershy understanding every word it was say, "I didn't want to. It was just a sneeze and I set the tree on fire. Then those other furry things attacked me."

"I thought so," Fluttershy replied, "Well, I'll be sure tell the others and they'll apologize for what they did." Cold raised an eyebrow at this, "But you can't stay here. You might set the forest on fire again. Why not come with me and I'll find a place for you to stay that's not so flammable."

The salamander shook its head. "No. I need fire. I need burning. I...need heat."

"Heat?" Fluttershy asked before noticing just how big the salamander had gotten, now twice the size it was when they first arrived.

"I can smell it," the salamander responded, "So much heat. Enough to feed me for so long." Fluttershy was now putting the pieces together, the mare looking down at the single foot the salamander had in flowing water. And as a light-bulb went off in her head, the lizard turned around, staring at the town in the distance.

"Wait!" Fluttershy cried as the lizard began to run away.

"That's it!" Cold created a sword again, charging at the salamander. The lizard spun around, unleashing a burst for fire. Cold slashed the fire with his freezing blade, somehow cutting it in half. "Cold Eagles!" He yelled he swung his sword, creating a flock of ice birds that shot right into the fire lizard, slamming into its body.

The beast roared before unleashing a burst of heat from its back, causing it to shrink slightly as the heatwave struck Cold and Fluttershy. Both ponies hissed at the heat it was giving off, the salamander putting its foot back in the water. Seconds later, the lizard began to grow again.

Fluttershy gasped at the sight, barely able to see it as she covered her face with her wings. She peeked out through the gaps, now seeing the salamander grow even more before taking a deep breath, "Look out!" Cold yelled as he tackled her, helping her dodge a giant stream of fire that burnt the grass around them.

As this happened, Cold pushed himself back up before sparking his horn, creating a sphere of ice around the two. And as he did this, the salamander growled before spinning around and slamming the sphere with its tail. Both ponies felt the blow, the ball now being sent flying into the some trees and out of sight.

And as the ice sphere disappeared, the salamander turned back to the town, continuing its journey while keeping its foot in the river as it kept growing.





"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Cold and Fluttershy screamed as they felt the sphere fly through the air, Fluttershy quickly clenching her eyes as she began to grow her body. Once big enough, she broke through the ice, grabbing Cold and spreading her wings. The ice hit the ground and shattered, the two gliding down to a soft land. But despite this, Cold swatted Fluttershy's hoof away as she shrank down.

"I knew this was a waste of time," Cold hissed as he began to march away, "And I knew bringing you here was completely useless." He summoned another ice blade, growling as Fluttershy just stood still and stared at him.

"You should be glad I'm here," she yelled as she got back to her normal size, the statement making Cold spin around with a glare on his face.

"And why is that?! What could you possibly do to help me with that thing?!"

"Because it was me who realized the salamander could shift its size, and it was me who realized it was the same salamander Grand fought."

"That doesn't matter. That won't help us stop it!"

"It will when I tell you this." She walked up to him at this, leaning up to his face, "I know why the salamander grows and shrinks the way it does."

"What?!"

"I know now why the salamander grows because it told me." She tapped his chest with his hoof, "It can't do it at will like me. It's the heat."

Cold raised an eyebrow at this, "Heat?"

"The reason the water was cold was because the salamander absorbed the heat. And whenever it absorbs heat, it grows. And whenever it loses heat, it shrinks. That's why it had a foot in the river. That's why it's heading for Trakeyser."

"That...what?!" Cold replied, his brain now catching up, "So it's like a hot air balloon?"

Fluttershy nodded at this, "Yes. And I'm willing to bet that if it runs out of heat, it won't be able to make any fire, and it'll shrink down so we can catch it."

Cold's glare slightly vanished, his stare still there as he replied, "Okay...let's say you're right. What does that change with fighting that thing?"

Fluttershy crossed her hooves at this. "Simple. I have an idea, but you have to do exactly what I tell you to do." Cold's glare started to return at this, making her sigh, "Listen, I know you don't think I'm any use, but I want to help save the town...and the salamander." Cold's eyes narrowed at this, "Cold...its not its fault it has to do this. We don't know enough about it to judge it yet. For all we know, heat is like food to it. Even if its causing problems, we shouldn't let it starve." She stared at him now, steely determination on her face, "I want to help both it and the ponies of Trakeyser."

"Why?"

"Because that's who I am. I'll always try to find a way to help everypony, because it's the right thing to do. It's right, and it's decent. And above all...it's kind. And a little kindness can do amazing things. Things that other ponies would think is impossible."

Cold glared at her, but a small ray of understanding twinkled in his eye.

"Alright...maybe you're right," he sighed, "Force doesn't seem to work. Grand tried force and all it did was delay the problem. Maybe...maybe we can try doing this the kind way." Fluttershy shined a small smile at this, Cold then asking, "What's the plan?"





Back at Trakeyser, Iron and Grand had managed to spread the word about the possible creature attack. Many ponies thought they were nuts, but agreed to be ready in case it happened. Now the two earth ponies were running out of the nearest bath houses, meeting up at the edge of the town. "That's everypony," Grand announced while taking a drink from a bottle of milk that had been given to him.

"Now if they'll only listen..."

"Don't worry," Grand responded while putting the half-full bottle down. "Even if they don't think it'll actually happen, I doubt they'll ignore the warnings of a royal knight."

And as he said this, their ears pricked up at a sound. It was a deep thumping sound, the noise repeating as they heard it get louder and louder. The earth ponies exchanged a glance, the thumping then being met with another sound. A dripping sound.

They looked down, seeing it was the milk, which vibrated on each thump. They glanced back up, turning to the forest. The ground then began shaking as the cause finally appeared from out of the trees, a giant salamander the size of a building. Its head broke out from the canopy, staring at the town while looking down at the two royal knights. And before either of them could do anything, a loud scream filled the air.

That scream came from a mare that had stepped outside the bath-house, now spotting the salamander's head. Her scream made other ponies look outside, now seeing the lizard before more screams rang out. The entire town was soon in a panic as the salamander walked out of the woods, still heading for Trakeyser.

"We can't let it get close to town!" Grand yelled as he and Iron charged.

"I got this!" Iron thrust his spear into the ground, a line of spikes shooting out of the floor and creating a sharp wall that blocked the giant lizard. "That'll stop ya!" Iron smirked while the salamander stared at the wall, the flame on its back glowing bright as it took a deep breath before unleashing a continuous stream of fire. The flames struck the wall, the metal slowly melting as the attack began to make a gap in the wall that went all the way to the ground.

"Oh..." Iron pulled his weapon out of the ground while the salamander walked through the gap, his body slightly shrinking to fit through.

"Alright, let's try this!" Grand slammed his hammer into the ground, causing it to shake before a fissure opened up beneath the lizard's left side feet. Both fell into the gap before Grand closed it, trapping the lizards appendages there. "That should hold you!" But as he said this, the salamander's back flame grew hotter as he expelled a great burst of heat. The flames made both knights flinch and backpedal, the lizard shrinking at this until his legs were small enough to pull its feet free. "Dang it! Looks like Fluttershy was right about it changing sizes."

"That doesn't tell us how to beat it though!" Iron yelled as the salamander continued to charge, unleashing another streak of fire in their direction.

"MOVE!" The two leapt back, dodgin the flames as one of the lizard's feet landed in one of the town's rivers. The two went wide-eyed as they saw it grow larger, making Grand growl, "Its getting bigger! We gotta stop it now!" He slammed his hammer down, a barrage of large chunks of rock now exploding out of the ground. "Grand Impact!" With a swing of his weapon, the rocks were sent flying at the beast.

The salamander unleashed another burst of heat from its body, making the rocks melt before they even got close to the lizard. Iron was about to unleash his own ranged attack, only to stop himself, "There's no way to stop this thing. He'll just melt any metal attack I send at him."

"There's gotta be a way. We can't let him into the town." Grand added as the salamander put another foot into another river.

The two ponies were slowly moving back, seeing it continue to grow. But as they did this, a pair of ice dragons exploded out of the ground, both beginning to wrap around the creature's stomach. It roared while unleashing a burst of heat, slowly melting the living statues. At the same time, Cold appeared in front of the earth ponies. "Cold!" Grand gasped, "You're alright!"

"Where's Shy!?" Iron asked next. "If something happened to her-"

"She's fine," Cold interrupted, "She's just implementing her half of the plan."

"Plan?!"

"Whatever happens, don't let that thing get its feet into the water. We can't let it near any source of extreme heat." The ponies blinked at this, only to hear the salamander roar as it broke off the ice dragons. As it did this, Cold's horn sparked, "Get ready!"





Meanwhile...

Fluttershy's hooves twiddled around, now finishing typing up a rope around the tail of the salamander. Once the knot was tight enough, she grabbed the end, looking up to see the ice dragons fall apart. "Here goes," she whispered before she started growing. The increase in height was spotted by the knights, the salamander still oblivious. And as she grew, she flew up as she reached her full size.

She began to tug on the rope, her size allowing her to jerk the unsuspecting salamander back before it could notice her, the suddenly reversal in direction causing its feet to be pulled free of the hot water. Iron was quick to stab his spear into the ground, covering the river with metal coverings while Grand raised several stone pillars up between the lizard and the water.

The salamander looked back and now saw Fluttershy, the lizard unleashing a burst of heat that set the rope on fire, quickly burning it to a crisp. "Eep!" Fluttershy cried as she was sent flying back, having lost her grip. "Now Cold!"

The unicorn teleported onto one of the stone pillars as the salamander looked back at the knights, "This...ends...NOW!" With that, he unleashed the most powerful Cold Force right at the salamander. The lizard countered by firing its own elemental attack, the fire and ice connecting and cancelling each other out. The battle of wills continued as the two kept unleashing their attacks at their highest levels, both refusing to give in. But as they did this, Grand and Iron gasped as they saw the salamander's fire begin to grow weaker, the creature shrinking as Fluttershy flew back to the scene.

"You okay?" Iron asked while looking up at her, the pegasi nodding back before they saw the salamander shrink down before being slowly encased within a tomb of ice that took the shape of its own body.

And as this happened, Cold cut the flow of his magic, feeling himself go limp as he fell off the stone pillar. Fluttershy then caught him in her oversized tail before putting him down. At the same time, Grand and Iron walked around the pillars, now seeing the ice that held their foe.

"Won't it just break out?" Iron asked as Cold picked himself up.

"It can't," he replied, "The thing uses heat as food and to grow. Whenever it uses its heat, liking spitting fire, it shrinks."

"So you encased it in ice so it couldn't absorb any more heat," Grand added, "Great idea Cold!"

Cold actually smiled as he looked up at the giant mare, "It was Fluttershy's idea. She's the one who figured it out." Grand and Iron smiled up at the mare, who was staring at the ice lizard with a long frown on her face. Then, she raised her giant hoof and hit the head of the sculpture, breaking it off.

The stallions gasped at this before Fluttershy shrank back to her normal size, flying to the neck hole. A second later, she glided down out of the hole, carefully putting down the now very tiny salamander. The creature had shrunk back to its base size while the flame on its back had gone out, its eyes closed and its breath shallow.

"Is it alive?" Iron asked.

"Yes," Fluttershy replied, nodding, "It's almost like it's hibernating."

"That must be what happens when its body heat hits zero," Grand commented, "That must have been what happened to it last time. It went cold and fell unconscious until something heated it back up."

"What do we do with it then?" Cold chimed in, almost feeling sorry for the creature. That is, till Fluttershy stood up and picked up a milk bottle that had been dropped on the ground and moved over to the river. She filled the bottle and returned, Cold asking, "What are you doing?" Her answer was to tip the bottle so a splash of the hot water fell out, hitting the salamander, causing its body to glow and grow a few inches.

As it did this, its eyes opened, now seeing the four staring at it. But as it saw this, he clenched up as he tried to summon some flames, only for nothing to come out.

"We need to talk," Fluttershy told it. "You need to be near heat in order to survive, don't you?" It slowly nodded its head, already starting to lose consciousness when it tried to use some flames. Its body's glow began to fade, the lizard shrinking before Fluttershy tipped some more water onto it, making it grow. At the same time, the ponies that had run away from the salamander were slowly leaving their houses, making their way over to them.

"You deserve to live your life, but we can't have you causing forest fires and growing huge." Fluttershy mumbled out, the group all exchanging frowns at the statement.

But as this happened, a certain bulb went off in Cold's head. He turned to one of the ponies and asked, "Are there any hot springs around that aren't fed by your river?" The ponies blinked at him before giving their answer.





And so, the four ponies and the salamander made their way back into the forest. Following the ponies' directions, they soon arrived at a clearing on the far side of the forest. There they found what they had been looking for, a hot spring. This one was being fed by a stream that didn't connect to the river flowing through the town. What's more, the clearing was completely covered in rocks. It was like a cobbled street, with no tree or plant within fifty feet of the pool.

"It's perfect," Fluttershy whispered before flying over to the pool, sitting the salamander down next to it. "Go on. This is all yours." The salamander smiled before diving into the water, soaking up the heat. It swam through the water as it grew larger and larger, eventually growing to the size of a pony by the time the hot-spring went cold. It then leapt back out of the water, Fluttershy smiling as she put her hoof into the hot spring, feeling the heat that it had.

"By the time you shrink back to your normal size, the cold water will have washed away and be replaced by this hot water. Then you can do it all over again."

Grand nodded at this, "And with the rocks around here, you won't have to worry about accidently setting anything on fire. It'll be your own little private hot spring."

"And we'll make sure it stays private," Cold added, "I'm sure Celestia will be happy to make this area a nature preserve, so nopony will come and disturb you."

The salamander didn't understand what he meant, only for Fluttershy to translate a simpler version. After this, she pulled the lizard into a hug, being careful of its flame, then pulled away. "You'll be safe here." The salamander nodded and turned back to the hot-spring, diving into it to simply enjoy a nice swim. At the same time, the ponies spun around, walking away as they hoped this would be the last time they ever had to worry about it causing problems.





The threat of the salamander passed, allowing the four to return to Trakeyser as the ponies there worked to fix the minor bits of damage done. They agreed to help, and within no time at all, the tourist town was back to normal. The ponies there also offered the four a free night's stay at any of the inns, the four deciding to take the offer and chose to stay at the waterfall bath.

"Well done everypony," Grand sighed as eh slumped over in the springs, "We were able to save the town from destruction, and find the salamander the home it needed."

They all nodded as Fluttershy spoke up, "And with everything we've learned about fire salamanders, ponies shouldn't have any issue dealing with any future problems."

Iron chuckled at this, "You should contact the ponies that published the book you read about them and let them know. Then they could publish a remastered version of it. Maybe you should write the salamander section and get and author's credit."

The two stallions laughed at this, seeing Fluttershy blush as Cold turned to the mare. "Thank you. Because of you, I was able to complete my mission and I didn't have to hurt the salamander to do it."

Fluttershy nodded back, "I'm glad I could help. And I'm proud of you for finding a way to help the salamander have the life it deserves."

"I guess there's more then one way of solving a situation then by force," Cold replied, "Is this what it's like to be kind?" The three nodded, "Huh...I kinda like it. I'll be sure to remember it the next time I have a problem."

"Good for you," Grand chuckled, patting Cold's shoulder, "But for now, let's just relax and let the warm water melt away all our troubles."

They all replied by doing this, Fluttershy leaning against Iron as she let out a sigh. They would have a lot to do tomorrow, heading to Canterlot and giving Princess Celestia their report and possibly contacting somepony about a revised animal book. But for now, they would enjoy the calming atmosphere of the hot-spring town, forgetting their troubles until later.
> Following the Grand Script
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville, the only event of note being the absence of Fluttershy and Applejack, who had been sent on a Friendship Mission to Viva Las Pegasus. Several were wondering why they had been sent there, but they would have to wait, including Springer as he was now at the veterinary clinic of Doctor Fauna.

But he wasn't at the vet for a check up for himself, instead focusing on Ace and Mira. "Say ah," Fauna asked before Mira opened her mouth to let the earth pony point a light down her throat. "Good girl." she commented, "Hmmm...no, I'm not seeing anything worth worrying about. Healthy teeth and gums, a clear throat and you don't seem to have any issues with your nose." She turned off the light as Mira closed her mouth. "I can safely say you're perfectly healthy." She patted Mira on the head before turning to Ace, "Now it's your turn."

Ace huffed as she began to look inside his ears, the young jakhowl letting out a bark and growl that she didn't understand. She turned to Springer, the jakhowl sighing and rolling his eyes. "He's asking why I brought them here while ponies get a hospital all to themselves."

As he said that, a ferret Fauna was caring for suddenly ran past him with a rabbit on its tail. In response, Fauna began to giggle, "You jakhowls might be a lot smarter than your average canine, but your physiology is very similar to them. That makes me a better expert on jakhowl treatments than any doctor." She grabbed his chin and turned him to her, "Now hold still." She shone a light in his eye, making him flinch.

"I hope Heart's having more fun then me," Ace groaned.





Meanwhile...

Heart was in the training room of the castle.

Flash was helping him learn flight techniques, allowing him to fly at high speeds while not crashing into things. Currently, the knight was helping him learn the three S's of flying. They had covered the first S, steadiness, by hovering in the same place without moving for hours. The second S, slow, required him to fly through an obstacle course of posts covered in branches without hitting them. And now they were on the final S, safe.

To do that, he was flying through the same maze as yesterday...only for it to now be filled with mist.

"How is this supposed to help me in flying?" He asked before flying face first into one of the posts, "Ow!" Down on the ground, Flash and Grand flinched at the sight.

"You've gotta focus!" Flash yelled, flying up to Heart next as he easily dodged the post and branches. "The mist will react differently when it's near an obstacle. Use that to help you see what's around you. This exercise is meant to help you learn to always be on the lookout when you're flying."

Heart let out a groan while rubbing his face, "You know, I was expecting something different when you said you were teaching me advanced flying skills. I thought we'd be learn cool barrel rolls and flying upside-down."

Flash chuckled as he flew in front of him, landing on a mist-hidden branch. "You're already a fast flyer, especially if you use your fire as a booster. But unless you learn the three S's of flying, you'll never be able to use that speed to do anything helpful. Imagine if you were in a forest that was on fire and there was somepony in it. How would you be able to get to them through the smoke?"

"Uh..." Heart muttered, only to frown, "I don't know. Guess I gotta figure out how to fly through it."

"Good. Now, try again." Flash replied as he hopped into the mist, disappearing on the spot.

And as this happened, Grand watched as Flash land beside him before they listened to Heart's voice...and several banging sounds. "Hey!" Bang, "What?! Where did that come from?!" Another banging sound, "Ow! Oh, come on!" One more, "My tail!" The two chuckled until they saw a shadow in the mist, only for a bruised Heart to fall out, skidding across the ground as he looked up at them, "I did it..."

"Maybe it's best we call it a day," Grand responded, "You can pick it up again tomorrow."

"Okay..." Heart moaned as he pushed himself up, slowly walking over to the door. As he did this, Flash and Grand stayed behind to discuss something, leaving the colt to wander the hallways alone. He then turned a corner, only to come to a stop when he almost ran into something.

"WHOA!" He and another cried as they came to a halt, Heart seeing it was Starlight. "Sorry Heart. Wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's cool." Heart replied, only to raise an eyebrow, "Wait...shouldn't you be with Twilight right now?"

"She called the lesson off early," the unicorn sighed, "Said there was something important she needed to do, so I'm free for the day. Not that it matters." She shined a smug grin, "I managed to master every spell she wanted to work on with me today. You should have seen the look on her face."

"That's great," Heart responded, "So what about your friendship lessons?" This made Starlight go wide-eyed, her grin vanishing as she bit her lip while going silent. The sight made Heart tilt his head, "Starlight?"

"Um...well uh...I've just been so busy that er…" She began to twiddle her hooves, "You see, I haven't...well..."

"Starlight...you're not avoiding it again, are you?"

"I uh...yeah." Starlight sighed, "I've been avoiding the friendship lessons."

"Why?"

Starlight looked away, trying to hide the big frown on her face, "Because...what if I'm bad at them?! I'm the Princess of Friendship's student! If I screw up, that'll look bad for her..."

"But Starlight, not doing the lessons won't help you."

"I know." Starlight responded while rubbing her face, "I just...I wish there was a way to show everypony Twilight was right when she decided to pick me as he student. Like...a problem that I could solve that involves friendship."

"Like the one Fluttershy and Applejack are on right now?"

"Yeah!" Starlight replied, nodding before letting out another sigh. "That's exactly what I need...if only the map would send me on one."

"Does it even work that way?" Heart asked as they began to walk down the hallway together, soon getting close to the front door, "I thought the map only sent Flash and the rest of the elements of harmony."

"Oh...yeah, you're probably right." Starlight mumbled, hanging her head at this, "But there can't be just one friendship problem happening in Equestria. If only I could-" She didn't get to finish as a loud knocking sound filled the air, making them turn to the door. Starlight grabbed the handle with her magic, pulling the door open, "Hello?" The two then found themselves staring at a red unicorn with a green tail and mane that was styled to cover his left eye. "Can I help you?"

"Yes," the unicorn replied, "I have an appointment with Princess Twilight."

"Really? Can I ask who you are?"

The unicorn raised an eyebrow at this. "I'm Solid Script."

Starlight blinked at this, only for Heart to say, "Oh, I've heard of you. You're Lightning's friend, right?" Script nodded, "You're the pony that uses those...run thingies."

"Runes," Script corrected as he walked inside, "And yes, I am well versed in that particular type of magic, which is exactly why I'm here. The princess and I are beginning work on a new type of rune magic that'll revolutionize Equestria."

"Cool..." Heart commented as Starlight gestured to Script to follow.

"So what is this revolutionary new type of rune magic?" Starlight asked as they headed for the library. "You can't just say that and not dish on the details."

"I think it would be best to leave it until the princess and I are ready to give it a test run." Heart and Starlight frowned at this, ears slumping down as they turned a corner to the library hallway. But as they did this, Script suddenly stopped in his tracks, Heart and Starlight doing the same before seeing Flash and Grand outside of the library. The two saw Script scrunch up at the sight, then seeing Flash give Script a smirk while Grand remained stoic.

Script then trotted forward, a hard look on his face as he glared at Grand. "Hello Script," Grand replied, only for the unicorn to remain quiet as the doors to the library opened, Twilight walking out.

"Script!" He turned to her, "It's good to see you again. Come on in, I can't wait to see the results of your research." Script forced a smile onto his face as he stepped into the room, only to shoot a glare at Grand when Twilight wasn't looking. Before Grand could say anything, Script slammed the doors shut with his magic.

"Same old Script," Flash commented as Grand let out a sigh.

Heart and Starlight stared at the two before Grand walked past them, a long frown on his face. And as he left the castle, Heart added, "Well, that was awkward."

"What was that all about?" Starlight asked as she turned to Flash.

The defender let out a sigh at this, "That's just how those two are."

"What do you mean?"

"It's always been like that with them. I'm not one hundred percent sure why, but I think it had something to do with Lightning in his more...rebellious days."

Heart raised an eyebrow at this, "So...the two don't like each other?"

"I know Grand does want to patch things up with Script, but that unicorn is as stubborn as a mule and won't accept his attempts to apologize."

"Why?"

"No idea." Flash replied while shrugging, "Grand just tries to steer clear of him now, mainly cuz he doesn't want to cause a scene." The pegasi scratched the side of his head, "Sorry, I gotta go meet up with Iron. Later!"

"Later!" Heart responded, waving his hoof as Flash walked away. He then turned to Starlight, only to see a big grin on her face. "Starlight?"

"This is perfect."

"Huh?"

She glanced over to the colt, "Don't you see? This is the perfect chance for me to prove myself as the Princess of Friendship's student! All I've gotta do is get Grand and Script to make up. Easy, right?"

Heart raised an eyebrow at this, "Well...I guess." He looked back to where Flash was, only to look back at the unicorn, "Okay, I wanna help too." Starlight tilted her head at this as he continued, "I'm the apprentice of the Knight of Friendship. That means It's I've gotta help fix whatever friendship problems I find as well."

Starlight hummed at this before nodding, "Alright. Then we'll work together and get those two to make up." She held out a hoof that Heart quickly shook. "Now...how do we make them make up?"

"Hmm..." Heart rubbed his chin in though, only to ask, "Well, Flash said they don't like each other because of Lightning, right?"

"Its probably not that simple, but I doubt Grand or Script would tell us why." Starlight scratched the back of her head, "But we do need to know why this happened." A small smile appeared on her face, Heart doing the same, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"





"Gramps and Script?!" Lightning yelped as he and Wild were helping Mac fix a broken cart wheel. "Why do ya wanna know about them?!"

"We were just curious," Heart replied, "The two of them seemed really....awkward around one another. Well, Grand looked awkward and Script was angry."

"That's an understatement," Wild chuckled as he lifted the cart up while Lightning attached the wheel. "Script's had it out for the old stallion for a long time. Never been sure why though."

"Oh, there's a lot of reasons," Lightning sighed, "But I'm not sure I should be the one to tell you." HIs horn shined as he twisted the wheel, the cart coming down next. And as Mac began to inspect the wagon, the defender turned back to the duo, only to see them staring at him with shining eyes. The sight made him sigh again, "Alright, fine. I'll tell you..."

Lightning took a deep breath, crossing his hooves as he began, "It started when Script and I first became friends. He wasn't the most popular pony in Celestia's School of Gifted Unicorns, and ended up getting picked on a lot." The defender began rubbing the back of his head, "That's when I met him. I fended off some bullies that were after him on one of Canterlot's streets one day...and he followed me after that, thanking me for saving him. After that, I kinda couldn't get rid of him, and we became friends."

"And the bullies stopped." Wild added, Lightning nodding in agreement.

"Huh." Starlight responded before Mac gave them his thanks before heading off. "So...where does Grand fit in that?"

Lightning grimaced at this, "Well, he wasn't too happy with me being friends with Script, and he never told me why. He didn't seem to mind it when I first introduced him, but a few days later...he changed. Gramps said Script was nothing but trouble, and that I should stay away from him. He would even go after Script, telling him to stay away from me."

"He went that far?" Heart asked with wide eyes.

Lightning nodded again. "It was a bad time in my family. I mean, me and gramps weren't doing well at that time either."

"You mean when he picked up Flash to be his student?" Wild asked, Lightning sighing back.

"Yeah." Lightning then patted Wild's shoulder, "Thankfully, I decided to keep hanging with Script in rebellion to gramps and soon met Wild and Gorgenia. After a while, Gramps seemed to start cooling off about Script...but then something else happened."

"What?"

"My father got arrested...by gramps." Lightning replied while gritting his teeth, slightly looking away, "I...didn't take it well."

"That's putting it lightly," Wild added.

"Script stayed by my side, and with me being so mad at gramps, his own anger followed. Ever since then, even now that me and gramps have made up, Script still can't let go of that anger." He bit his lip at this, "And though gramps says he wants to get along with Script...I'm not completely sure if he wants to fix it. Both of 'em are just...stuck in the past."

Heart and Starlight glanced at each other before Heart asked, "Do you think they'll ever make up?"

Lightning shook his head, "No. I think gramps could be down for fixing it...but I don't think they can." Wild then tapped his side, giving him a gesture. "Oh yeah." Lightning looked back at the two, "Sorry, we got some errands."

"Got it. Thanks." Heart responded as the Wild and Lightning began to walk away.

And as they left the farm, Starlight and Heart stared at each others as the unicorn spoke up first, "So it was Grand who started the issue."

"But Script was the one who refuses to let bygones be bygones," Heart added, "This might be harder then we thought." He shined a small grin at Starlight, "So what's the plan?"

Starlight hummed for a moment, rubbing her chin in thought. "Hmmm...good question. We might need some help."

"What kind?"





A few minutes later, at the castle...

"Here it is," Starlight commented as she pulled a book out of a bookshelf, floating down. It was a heavy purple hardback, Heart raising an eyebrow at the sight.

"What is that?"

"Twilight wrote it as a way to help anypony whose having trouble with a friendship problem. She used it when she and Fluttershy went...somewhere for a friendship problem, and it was apparently a big success."

"Awesome," Heart opened the book, "So it's like a strategy guide?"

"Exactly," Starlight nodded before the doors of the library opened, Twilight and Script walking inside. They turned to the two, Starlight quickly hiding the book behind her back.

"What are you two doing in here?" Twilight asked with raised eyebrows.

"Just...reading," Starlight replied.

"I got a...book report," Heart made up. "Need something to do it on."

"Oookay..." Twilight slowly responded, "Well, I hope you don't mind, but Script and I need to get back to work and we don't want anypony to see what we're working on until it's done. So could you-"

"Sure, no problem." Starlight instantly said as she grabbed Heart in her magic, keeping the book out of sight as she walked around them. But as she did this, she turned to Script. "So Solid Script, how are you enjoying Ponyville so far?"

Script raised an eyebrow at this, "This isn't the first time I've been to this town. Two of my closest friends live here."

"Oh," Heart replied, "Huh. Haven't seen you before though."

"Well, I've been busy," Script responded as his horn shined, summoning some equipment. "Haven't had the chance to come lately."

"That's too bad," Starlight added, "So...you'll be here a while?"

"A few days."

"Well I hope we get the chance to really get to know you," Starlight happily replied before pulling Heart out of the room.

And as they left, Script turned to Twilight. "They seem...friendly."

"Yes." Twilight slowly hummed, "A little too friendly. And it's not like Starlight to try and open up to a new pony so quickly..." A smile then appeared on her lips, clapping her hooves, "She must be taking my friendship lessons really seriously! I'm so glad, especially since she seemed to be avoiding them recently. I'll have to ask her later!"

She then turned to Script, seeing him blankly stare at her, "Oh. Sorry for getting distracted. Let's get down to business, shall we? The world of magic isn't going to change itself."





Outside of the library...

Starlight and Heart breathed a sigh of relief, quickly running up to a spare room.

"Okay, I think we're good." Starlight replied as she pulled the book out, "We only have a few days to come up with a plan to get Grand and Script to make up." She started flicking through the book, "According to the others, Script refuses to so much as talk to Grand, so we need a way to get them together and force them to interact."

"So we need some kind of event?" Heart asked, getting a nod from Starlight as stopped on a page.

"Ah-ha!" She exclaimed, "This could work. We just need to talk to Pinkie." Heart raised an eyebrow, only for Starlight to show him the page.





The next day...

Twilight and Script had been working on their project since sun-up, it now being noon as they decided to take a break and get something to eat. "The formula's looking good," Twilight commented, "Now we just need to find a way to interconnect them so the network works the way we want it too."

"I think I might have a way of doing that. We'll need to add an additional formula into the matrix, but it shouldn't be too hard. Especially with the idea you gave me. What did you say they're called again?"

"Cellular telephones," Twilight replied, "Shortened to cellphones or mobiles."

"Right..." Script nodded. "That world sure has some amazing ideas. I wish I could go there myself...but its probably not a good idea."

"Yeah. Let's get some lunch."

"Twilight!" yelled another voice, making them turn to see Starlight, "Glad I found you before you ate."

"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow, getting a shake of the head from Starlight.

"Nope. But Pinkie's throwing a picnic party in the park, and she wanted me to come and get you both." The two raised eyebrows at this, "I just happened to be in Sugarcube Corner yesterday and mentioned you two were working on some super secret project, then mentioned you might start working yourselves into a laser focused marathon of research. So she decided to make sure you two had a break and did something fun."

Twilight let out a giggle, "We appreciate the thought, but as you can see, we're making sure to take the time to eat and bathe. I learned to not make that mistake a long time ago."

"Yes," Script added, "Though it'll only be a quick lunch break before we get back to work."

"Oh..." Starlight replied, her ears slumping down, "I see. Well, I'll tell Pinkie you couldn't make it."

"Hang on there," Twilight responded, "I didn't say we wouldn't come." She sparked her horn and in a flash of light, the three were suddenly in the park. "It'd be rude to let all of Pinkie's work go unappreciated."

"Twilight!" They turned to see Pinkie bouncing from an area with several tables, all of them having the standard party and picnic foods laid out. Wild was also there, pulling more food out of a picnic basket. "You made it. Yay!"

"You know I wouldn't miss something like this Pinkie. Thanks for going through all this trouble."

Pinkie shined a big grin at this, only to let out a 'psst' while waving her hoof. Twilight walked up and leaned up to the pony as she whispered, "ain't no problem. Everypony needs a break from working hard. Gives 'em a chance to recharge the batteries and help them work better. And it's not just you who could use a break." She gestured to another part of the park, showing the many other friends they had. The defenders, Rainbow, Rarity, Heart, Soul and Spike were amongst them along with Time Tuner, Lyra and Bon Bon, all of Heart and Soul's classmates and even Derpy. "Let's have some fun and all unwind."

"Heck yeah!" Wild cheered as he took out a record player, the music already playing.

With that, everypony began to dig in, loading their plates for lunch. At the same time, Heart moved over to Starlight. "Okay, they're around one another. But how does this help them get over their issues?"

Starlight smirked at this, "Remember when I asked you what food you've seen Grand eating?"

Heart nodded back. "Spring rolls and cucumber sandwiches. Why?"

"Well, I managed to catch Pinkie asking Wild what Script really likes to eat. When she wasn't looking, I moved the plates with those foods next to one another. If Script and Grand want to get their food, they'll have to be near one another and I'm sure they'll start talking if that happens."

They turned to the food table, seeing Script had spotted the onion and green bean wraps he liked so much. But as he went to get it, he came to a stop when Grand stepped up to grab his sandwiches. Script frowned at the knight, using his magic to lift the wraps and get them around the older pony.

"Any other bright ideas?" Heart asked Starlight, who quickly pulled out the book and started flipping through the pages.

"There's gotta be something in here. Maybe...hmm..." Her horn began to glow as she said this, Heart grimacing at the sight.

"Starlight...what are you thinking?"

"I could put them both under a spell that'll make them compelled to talk to one another."

Heart's eyes went wide, quickly tapping her side, "Starlight, I don't think that's how you solve a friendship problem."

"Why not?"

"Flash has told me all the friendship problems they go solve for the map mainly just has them...talk it out. Or fight a bunch of bandits and make the ponies more courageous. Putting ponies under a spell isn't gonna fix the problem. How do you know they just won't fall out again once the spell wears off?"

Starlight opened her mouth at this, only to sigh, "You're Flash's student alright."

"Yup." Heart chuckled, wagging his tail.

The unicorn looked back at the book, "Hmm...maybe I could use a magnetism spell that'll force them to be stuck to one another, then they'll have no choice but to talk to one another and work out their problems."

"Again, I don't think that's how this is supposed to work."

Starlight sighed again, "So easy to condemn, so hard to create. What do you suggest then?" Heart took the book and flicked through it until he came to a page that looked like it had been originally ripped out before getting taped back in.

"How about this?" he then read, "Those who have differing opinions and lack of understanding can usually find respect though joint activities and working towards a common goal." He turned to Starlight, "Isn't that how you and Twilight became friends? Taking down that evil version of Flash?"

Starlight hummed at this, "That could work, but how do we get them to work together on something if they won't even talk to one another."

As she asked this, Wild moved up to them, "Hey you two, you want in on the volleyball game? Just stick your name in here and you can be randomly assigned a team." Heart shined a grin at this, writing his name on a slip of paper while Starlight just stared at the bowl.

"No thanks, I think I'll just watch." Wild nodded and walked away, only for Starlight to grab Heart and whisper, "I got a new idea."

Fifteen minutes later...

Everypony had finished eating, the volleyball game now ready to begin. "Okay..." Pinkie took the bowl from Wild as everypony gathered around, "It's time to pick teams."

While this happened, Starlight and Heart were hiding behind some trees. They were both carrying a bowl with paper in it, each slip of paper having the same name written on them. Before Pinkie could reach in, Starlight used her magic, swapping the paper in the bowl, Pinkie not looking down as she grabbed a piece of paper and unfurled it.

"Grand Hoof!" The older pony smiled as he walked up just as Starlight quickly swapped the papers in the bowl. As soon as that was done, Pinkie reached in again, pulling out another slip of paper, "And your teammate is...Script?"

"What?!" Script yelping, turning to glare at Grand. "I didn't even enter this game. Is this some kind of joke?!"

"Well, somepony must have put your name in," Wild chimed in, patting Script's back, "Come on. Don't be a party pooper."

"I'm not being on the same team as him!" Script yelled while pointing at Grand, "Just draw somepony else to be his partner."

"That's no fun," Pinkie responded, "You two got picked to work together and that's how it'll work. I guess the universe just wants to see how well you do together."

At this moment, Starlight swapped the papers in the bowl with the originals just as Lightning walked up to Script, "Come on Script. Just give it a try."

Script and Lightning stared at one another for a moment before Script let out a sigh. "Fine..." he hissed as he glared at Grand, "Just this once." Grand gave a small smile back, Script looking away as Pinkie kept picking the teams. By the end of the selection, the teams consisted of Wild and Lightning, Flash and Springer, Twilight and Rarity, Pinkie and Rainbow, Ace and Heart, Soul and Mira and finally, Time Turner and Derpy.

"Alright!" Pinkie cheered as Starlight agreed to do the scoring. "Time to decide who's playing first. There's eight teams, so it's a three tournament. Starlight, pick the team order."

"Okay," Starlight used her magic to grab a piece of paper out of the bowl again. The first team to be picked was Heart and Ace, who would be facing Pinkie and Rainbow. Then Twilight and Rarity would be facing Flash and Springer, while Grand and Script would be facing Time Tuner and Derpy.

And as the games were about to begin, Starlight whispered to Heart, "Try and lose. If something goes wrong, we'll need to try and stop it before it causes a problem." Heart nodded back before he and Ace took the field, Pinkie and Rainbow on the other side of the net.

Heart didn't need to try in order to lose. Against Rainbow's natural athleticism and Pinkie's...Pinkie-ness, he and Ace didn't stand a chance. They lost twenty-five to fourteen. After that, Flash and Springer destroyed Twilight and Rarity, the mares not being allowed to use their magic or wings. So Flash and Springer beat them twenty-five to seven.

"Alright!" Pinkie called out, "Time for round three. Script and Grand against Derpy and Time Turner."

Script let out a long sigh, "Let's get this over with." He walked out onto the field with Grand beside him, Script taking the left.

"Alright gentlecolts," Turner said as he spun the ball on his hoof. "I hope you're ready. My geometry skills have improved a great deal since I started bowling. They should help me greatly during this game."

Grand smiled at this challenge. "Let's put that to the test, shall we?" Script rolled his eyes at this, his eyes focusing on Time Turner as he threw the ball up before hitting it with his tail. It flew over the net, about to fall toward Grand, who ran up and bashed it back over the net.

Derpy saw it coming and ran for it, only to trip over her own hooves. As she did, her wing flew out and managed to hit the ball back straight up, Turner running under it and bounced the sphere over the net.

"Script!" Grand yelled, "It's all yours!"

"I know that!" The unicorn growled as he moved under the ball and prepared to slam it with his tail. But as he hit the ball, his aim knocked the ball into the net, bouncing it back onto his side of the court.

"Score one to team Muffin Doctor," Starlight announced as she put the point onto the board.

Script stared at the ball before turning to glare at Grand. "You put me off!"

The older pony raised an eyebrow at this, "How did I put you off? I didn't say anything." He picked up the ball and served it, Turner then batting it back with Script managing to do the same and actually getting it over the net. Derpy tried to block it, but once again tripped, letting the ball hit the ground.

"Score one for team...Script and Grand. Couldn't you have thought of a better name?" Starlight put the point up as Time Turner helped Derpy up.

"I'm sorry."

"Nothing to fear, my dear. Let's just focus on the next round." Derpy nodded and was given the ball to serve, surprising everypony with how well she was able to serve. It shot over the net at blinding speed, Grand trying to jump in order to bat it back, only to miss it.

"Point to team Muffin Doctor!"

"Great..." Script moaned, rolling his eyes while Turner and Derpy high-hoofed.

"Oh boy," Heart groaned. "This is already going bad."

The rest of the game went in a very similar fashion. Derpy and Time Turner would work together while Script tried to play on his own, Grand doing his best to work in tandem with the unicorn. In the end, the score landed on twenty-five to twenty-four in team Muffin Doctor's favor.

"This is it!" Pinkie told the others. "If Derpy and Doc get this next point, they win."

"I never got that about volley ball's pointing system," Lightning spoke up, "Why do you have to win by two points? Can't it just be the first to fifteen?"

"I think it's to make sure the victory is more about skill then luck," Rarity replied as Turner prepared to serve the ball.

"We can do this Script," Grand told him, "We just need to work together."

"I've managed to get us this far without stooping that low," the unicorn hissed before the ball was served. "Just stay on your side." He ran up and used his tail to bat the ball back over, Derpy deflecting it as Grand skidded over to knock it back again.

This went on for quite a while, neither team giving an inch. Once again, Derpy and Time Tuner were working together while Script tried his best to ignore Grand. But after three minutes since the ball was served, Script spiked the ball, shooting it toward the dirt. Derpy ran for it, tripping on her own hooves at this. Script smiled at the sight, only to see the ball hit Derpy's hoof and bounce straight up, letting Turner run up to bat it over the net.

"I GOT IT!" Both Grand and Script yelled, leaping for the ball at the same time...only to collide midair. "Augh!" They cried at the blow, both flopping over as the ball bounced next to them.

Starlight inwardly sighed before she spoke up, "Point to team Muffin Doctor. The score is now twenty-six to twenty four. Team Muffin Doctor wins." Derpy and Turner cheered while hugging each other, Script yelling as he used his magic to throw Grand off of him.

"Great. Now that I'm out, can I go now?!" He turned to Twilight, "We've still got work to do."

Twilight nodded at this, "He's right." She turned to Pinkie, "This has been fun, but we're gonna need to cut out early. Tell me who wins, okay?" Pinkie nodded as Twilight teleported herself and Script back to the castle.

Starlight and Heart intended to follow, but the next game was about to start, and Starlight only now realized she had trapped herself with scoring duty. The volleyball tournament continued until it was Flash and Springer against Rainbow and Pinkie, this particular game taking almost an hour until the boys were finally declared the winner.

It was at this moment that the picnic party came to an end, everypony heading off the do the rest of the day's work while Heart and Starlight sat at a nearby bench, plopping themselves down while letting out sighs of defeat.

"Well, that was a total flop," Heart groaned. "We set out to try and fix this relationship and by the looks of things, we've only made it worse."

"No kidding," Starlight sighed. "I just don't know what went wrong. If that had been any other two ponies having a disagreement, it would have been sorted by now."

Heart frowned at this, "Hmm...do you think the problem is that there were other ponies around? I mean, they didn't talk to each other at all until the game. Script was talking to Lightning and Wild while Grand was talking to...everypony."

"True. And because of that, they didn't have a reason to talk to one another." Starlight added, only to go wide-eyed, "So...that means we need to come up with a way to get them both alone with nopony else around to bother them!"

"How do we do that?" Heart asked, "It was hard enough to get them in the same place with others. There's no way Script would have stayed at the picnic if Lightning and Wild hadn't been there." Starlight's eyes started to shine, a big grin appearing on her face.

"I think I have an idea."

Heart did a big gulp at this, a certain twist now clenching in his stomach as he whispered, "I have a bad feeling about this..."





The next day....

Heart was right to have a bad feeling, for he was now hiding inside a bush along with Starlight as the mare was looking through a pair of binoculars. "Remind me again how this is supposed to work."

Starlight sighed. "I'm only going to go over this once. I gave a note to Script saying it was from Lightning, and you did the same thing to Grand."

"Okay. With you so far..."

"Both notes say to meet at the cafe," she pointed at the building right in front of them. "It also says to order if he isn't there yet, then when the two of them do, they'll be forced to talk while they wait for Lightning to show up."

"But what if he doesn't? What if Script sees Grand and decides to leave? Or what if they both sit down and Lightning actually shows up?"

"I've taken care of that. Script will be arriving five minutes before Grand, plenty of time to get comfortable and order something. And Lightning is helping Rarity work on some new suit designs."

"Huh...sounds like you've come up with everything."

"We're about to find out," Starlight responded, "Script's coming." Heart poked out of the bush, now seeing the unicorn take a seat, looking at the menu until the waiter arrived and took his order. A few minutes later, Grand came down the road, spotting Script at the table.

He came to a stop at this, making Heart comment, "He's not gonna go for it."

"He'll go for it," Starlight instantly replied, "He's got to." They waited as Grand took out the note, glancing around as he tried to find Lightning. "Come on..."

And then, after taking a deep breath, Grand walked up to Script. "What do you want?" He asked as Grand pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Lightning asked me to come have lunch with him here. I assume you got the same invitation." Script did a slight nod, "I guess he's running late."

They could all see Script was about to get up, but then the waiter came a put down his salad. The unicorn sighed at this, his horn shining as he picked up a fork. "Fine," he hissed before starting to eat, "Just don't talk to me."

Grand sighed as he slumped down, turning to give his own order to the waiter. The two sat in silence as Script ate his food, Grand waiting for his as Heart chimed in, "It's not working."

"Give it time," she responded, "There's no way they can sit in silence the whole time."

But as the minutes scraped by, the silence stayed. And as this happened, Script got close to finishing his salad, only for Grand to speak up, "I'm starting to think Lightning ain't coming."

"Fine," Script put his fork down on his mostly cleared plate and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Then I don't have any other reason to be here."

This made Grand sigh again, "Is being around me really that bad?"

The question made Script freeze, his eyes narrowing as he glared at Grand, "I can't believe you'd even ask me that. Of course it is! Why would I ever want to be anywhere near you after what you did?!"

Grand just showed a small frown at this, "Script...how many times to I have to apologise for that? I was going through a...tough time back then."

"A tough time?!" Script yelped, leaning over the table, "That's just an excuse. Don't think it'll work on me, cause it won't. Do you have any idea what it was like for me back then?! A little colt getting bullied all the time, only to suddenly meet somepony who is not only nice to me, but also willing to fight back against the bullies when I couldn't. The first real friend I ever had..." He slumped back down, his breath already heaving, "But just when things were feeling great, you suddenly drop into the picture. First you tell Lightning he couldn't be friends with me, and when he refused, you threatened me to stay away."

"I didn't threaten you! I just-"

"It was a threat," Script interrupted, glaring back up, "I was just a kid, and you come along and threaten me to stay away from the only friend I had ever made, the only glimmer of light in my life. And you never even told me why."

Grand looked away at this, Script shining a small smirk as he continued, "And don't think I don't know why. I know why you don't like me...and I know that you still don't like me."

"That's not-"

"It is." Script interrupted again, "I know you still don't want me to be friends with Lightning. I bet that's why you got the princesses to banish him and make him travel the country, so I wouldn't be around him and he'd likely make new friends. I bet you love the fact he lives here now, so I can't be around him as much."

"That's not true!" Grand almost snapped, turning back to start glaring at Script, "None of it is. I don't care if you're friends or not. I just want Lightning to be happy."

"The only pony you've ever wanted to be happy is yourself." Script spat, "You know, it's no surprise your son and grandson both tried to conquer Equestria. Look who they got as a role model. I guess it's a miracle Sentry didn't make it three for three." Script let out a low chuckle, "But who knows, maybe you just pawned his training off onto somepony else and took the credit."

"Hey!" Grand growled, smacking the table, "That's going a bit too far. I know I've made some mistakes, but I've tried to make up for them as best I can. And I want to do the same for what I did to you if you'll just let me."

"Forget it. As far as I'm concerned, you don't deserve to be forgiven. You should carry the guilt of all your failures for the rest of your miserable life."

"I already do that Script. You have no idea how much I suffer."

"Oh, I know." Script replied as he leaned up to Grand's face, only to see several ponies staring at him in the corner of his eyes. Sighing at this, he started to get up. "I'm gone. I've gotta do one final check before we test the-" He stopped himself at this, only to give Grand one last glare, "If you wanna make things up to me, then stay away from me." With that, the unicorn trotted off while Grand let out a sigh, slumping over to eat his lunch before leaving as well.

As this happened, Heart and Starlight remained in the bushes with wide eyes. "Well...that was intense," Heart commented before crawling out of the bush. Starlight did the same, a defeated expression appearing on her face.

"That's it," she moved over to the now empty cafe table and sitting down and smacking her head on the wood. "I'm completely out of ideas." Heart flew over, the two ordering something. But after a few minutes, the two started brainstorming...only for nothing.

"We could teleport them someplace when they're asleep," Heart suggested as he ate his sandwich. "And the only way to escape is to work together."

"I think whatever place we come up with to trap them in they could easily overcome on their own," Starlight added while sipping her soup. "We still have the magnetism plan. That could work."

Heart gave her a frown, only for both to let out one final sigh and slam their heads down on the table. "This is hopeless," the colt groaned.

"I refuse to believe a friendship problem is this hard," Starlight moaned, "Maybe this just proves I'm not meant to be the Princess of Friendship's student."

"And I'm not meant to be the Knight of Friendship's squire," Heart lifted his head off the table as tears began to stream down his face. "This is it. We're done for."

"Maybe," Starlight lifted her head up. "But at least nopony knows what we were trying to do. They don't know how badly we failed, so maybe we can still prove we're worthy."

"How?" Heart asked, only for two puffs of ash to fly down and cloud in front of them. In a puff, they morphed into scrolls.

"Huh," Starlight commented while grabbing the scroll, "What's this?" She unravelled it and read, "Twilight wants me at the castle." She began to sweat, "She said it's urgent."

Heart opened his and found the exact same message, also sweating. "Do you think they figured out what we did?"

Starlight said nothing, instead teleporting them to the castle, "TWILIGHT!" Her voice echoed into the halls.

"We're in the library!" Twilight's voice called back, making Starlight sigh.

"Of course you are." They slowly walked up to the library, Heart wiping away his tears...only to find Soul and Mira coming down the other hall.

"Hey sis," Heart said first, "What's this all about?"

"I have no idea," Soul replied, shrugging, "Twilight just told us to come here for some reason."

"Same here," Starlight responded before opening the library doors. There they found the defenders, Rainbow, Pinkie Rarity, Wild, Spike, Ace and the CMC sitting down, all waiting for Script and Twilight to begin.

"Ah, great!" Twilight chimed in as the four walked in, "Now we can begin."

"Begin what?" Starlight asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Begin to show off the fruits of our labor," Twilight replied before gesturing to something on the floor, showing a type of sheet.

"Oh wow!" Pinkie cheered, "What an amazing creation! It must have a thousand uses! You could use it as a blanket, or to sit on it in the park so your cupcakes don't get dirty. Or as a ghost costume on Nightmare Night. Or-"

"It's what's under the sheet that we wanted to show you," Twilight interrupted before turning to Script, "Care to do the honors?"

"Sure," Script replied in a low tone, grabbing the sheet in his magic, pulling it off, "Presenting the future of Equestrian travel: The Rune Gate." Everypony looked down, seeing a quartet of large stone slabs. Drawn on those slabs were the exact same circles, all made up of lines with runes inside them.

"Wait..." Lightning commented, "Those look familiar."

"They should," Script responded, "They're based on the ones Bomber used to get into the underground mines. Along with the runes used by the Crystal Empire in order to travel between there and the Crystal Pen, these ones are much more stable and aren't just limited to travelling from one place to another."

"That's right," Twilight added, "And they'll be able to go vast distances. When completed, they'll allow us to travel from Ponyville to Canterlot and even the Crystal Empire in seconds. Now if there's ever an emergency, we can travel to the place before it's too late to do anything."

"I must say, that sounds a lot easier then taking the train," Rarity chimed in.

"I just hope it doesn't become too popular," Soul continued, making everypony turn to her, "What? I like taking the train. And this sounds like the kind of thing that would put it out of business."

Twilight giggled at this, "Don't worry Soul. For now, these gates are only going to be used in emergencies. Or to travel someplace far away, further than the train can go."

"I admit it's an interesting idea," Grand said next, "But it could also be a major risk. What if somepony uses it to travel somewhere they couldn't normally get, like into this very castle?"

Script instantly glared at him, hissing, "Do we look like idiots to you?! We've taken that into account. We'll work on better security features, but for now, the gate can only be activated using alicorn magic. That means only the princesses...and her," he pointed to Soul, the filly frowning back, "Can use them."

Grand gave him a flat stare, "Alright, I'll admit that makes sense. So, are these four the prototypes?"

"Yup!" Twilight cheered, "Each one has a seven digit code connected to them. All you have to do is type the code of one into another, and it'll create a link between the two gates. Then it'll work like any other rune teleporter and transport you to the rune."

"But how will it help send you to far off places?" Rainbow asked. "Wouldn't you have to travel there and set up a rune?"

Twilight shook her head. "Nope. If it's just one trip, we can make a temporary rune that can be teleported by pony magic. If it's something small, I can send it to the place without issue. Then we can use it to go there and come back before the magic in the rune is used up."

"Marvellous," Rarity whispered. "So are you going to test it out now?"

"That's right," Twilight nodded. "First we're going to send something simple through first, which won't be missed should something go wrong."

"Simple and not be missed," Soul giggled, "Are you sending Heart?"

"Hey!" Her brother yelled while the others laughed.

"No." Twilight picked up an apple from a nearby table. "This is it. We'll send this apple through the rune gate, and if it comes out the other side intact, we'll start testing the distance. Then it'll be onto pony trials."

"That sounds awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed, "Dibs on being the first pony to try it."

"Go ahead," Flash chuckled, "It'll be interesting to see how fast you can fly when you get turned inside out." Rainbow glared at him, only for the thought of that happening going through her head before turning to Twilight.

"That won't happen...right?"

"That's what we're about to find out," Twilight placed the apple down on one of the circles before she and Solid moved over to a safe distance. "Okay," she grabbed a clipboard, "Rune gate, maiden test. Everypony ready?" They nodded. "Then let's get this started." With that, her horn began to glow before unleashing a burst of magic that struck the magic circle the apple was on.

After a second or so, the runes began to glow a bluish white that got brighter every second. Then the light shot straight up into the ceiling, forming a pillar of light. Everypony let out sounds of amazement and wonder before looking down to see the apple was...only to see it had vanished.

Pinkie let out a loud gasp, "It's gone!"

"Phase one's done," Twilight turned to the other circle. "Now will phase two work?" She expected the circle to create the same pillar as the first one, but it remained completely unresponsive. "Oh."

"Something wrong?" Flash asked, getting a nod from Twilight.

"Yes. The apple should have appeared by now, but the other circle isn't working."

"We must have made a mistake somewhere," Script added, "Strange. I checked the formula and I didn't notice any problems. Could I have missed something?"

"That's not like you," Lightning responded, Grand, Starlight and Heart frowning with hidden gulps as they knew what that meant.

That is, till Flash raised a wing, "Hey uh...how long is the other circle supposed to stay on?" The others turned to the pillar, only to it was still going.

"That's odd," Twilight commented, "It should have vanished once the transfer was complete." She went to write that issue down, only for her quill to suddenly be pulled out of her magic and sucked toward the pillar of light. As soon as it entered the light, it vanished.

"What was that?" Springer asked, the others about to ask the same thing...only to go wide-eyed at the next sight. The pillar of light began to emit a suction that grew stronger by the second. Books, Twilight's clipboard, and other stuff in the room were quickly being pulled toward the portal, vanishing inside as the suction intensified. It soon became so strong that the group found themselves getting sucked in as well.

"Not good!" Flash yelled as he and the other winged ponies began trying to fly away, the non-flyers being forced to grab whatever was nailed down, though there weren't many things in the room. It was here that Twilight managed to teleport some ropes, throwing them to the flyers. They caught the ropes, began pulling them and yanking them to the earth ponies, unicorns, Spike and jakhowls.

"We gotta stop this!" Spike screamed.

"Twilight!" Flash yelled over the sound of the suction, "Turn it off!" Twilight nodded, her horn sparking before firing a beam of light at the circle. But before it could hit the runes, it suddenly veered off course and was sucked into the pillar.

"How is that even possible?" Soul asked as Starlight tried to do the same thing, only to get the exact same results.

"This is insane!" Lightning screamed.

"There has to be someway of stopping it!" Heart added, spiralling around to he was flying backwards and pointing at the pillar. He then fired his own blast, the fire also getting sucked into the pillar. "Oh, come on!"

"We have to do something!" Springer roared, clutching the younglings in one arm and using Steel Paw to dig into the floor.

"What if we disrupt the runes?" Grand asked, turning to Script. He turned to Grand, raising an eyebrow at Grand continued, "If we damage the runes forming the pillar..."

"Then it should disappear. But it could also-" He didn't didn't get to finish as Grand let go of the rope he was holding, sliding on his back toward the pillar. "WAIT!"

Everypony gasped as they watched him get pulled in, Grand taking his Grand Slammer off his back. He held it above his head until he got within striking distance of the pillar, then swung it down into the slab. A loud cracking sound filled the air, the slab breaking into three pieces, pulling the runes apart.

This had the desired effect, the runes no longer glowing. This was followed by the light fading, and the ponies now falling down or slamming into the walls and empty bookcases surrounding them.

"Gyah/Augh/Whoa/Dyah/Whee!" several of them cried, Pinkie saying that last one as they crashed. "Ow..." was the general word used next as they began to pick themselves up.

"That wasn't fun," Flash groaned as he rubbed his bruised nose. "Everypony okay?"

"Thanks to Grand," Springer replied as he picked himself up.

"He got lucky," Script grumbled, "If he had struck another spot, he might have made it explode instead of powering down."

"Well, thankfully it wasn't worse." Rarity commented, only for the rune gates to began to glow the same color. "Oh dear."

As the pillar began to form again, everypony got ready run while Grand prepared to smash it. But as he raised his weapon above his head, something shot out of the pillar and went splat against his face. "Augh!" He staggered back as the slime of the object dribbled down to his open mouth, allowing him to taste it, "Apple?"

The others raised an eyebrow at this, only for something else to shoot out of the pillar. A quill and clipboard.

"Oh no." Twilight gulped as she sparked her horn as over a hundred books exploded out of the pillar like a tidalwave. But before it could crush them, Twilight teleported them all outside the library...which was followed by a loud crashing sound.

"Well, at least now we know the gates were connected." Flash added.

"I suppose." Twilight sighed.

As this happened, Grand let out a low growl, "This is why I hate rune magic! Always unreliable and way too dangerous."

But as he said this, he saw the others turning to him, Flash asking, "Come again?"

Grand went wide-eyed for a second, only to look away, "Forget I said anything." He turned back to the library door, "I suspect we need to help clean that up."

But as the others just stared at him, Starlight's brain shined a certain bulb in her head. "Wait...that's it!" she gasped, making them turn to her as she pointed at Grand, "Is that why you tried to stop Lightning from being friends with Script in the beginning?! Because you hate rune magic?!"

The group all raised eyebrows at this, Grand leaning back at this. He didn't respond, Script chiming in, "Grand?"

The knight stayed silent, looking away as Lightning added, "Gramps..."

"You might as well tell them." Script chimed in, making Grand glare at him. But the sight didn't faze the unicorn, "Go on, tell them that my interest in rune magic was why you don't like me being friends with Lightning."

"Script, what are you-" Lightning tried to say, only to see his friend roll his eyes.

"Come on Lightning, surely you knew why. What other reason could he have for hating me then hating something I do." Solid responded before turning to Grand, "He hates me because of my talent in rune magic."

"Now come on Script, you know that's not true." Lightning added, "Gramps it trying to make up with you and you keep-"

"He doesn't want to make up with me." Script interrupted, glaring at Grand with narrow eyes, "Isn't that right, you-"

"Shut up! Rune magic is evil!" Grand yelled, making everypony but Script flinch, "I already lost somepony I cared about to that magic, so stop talking about it!"

The knight instantly flinched at his own words, making him backpedal. But before he could say anything, Lightning gasped as he spoke up, "Gramps...is this about what happened to grandma Live Wire?" Grand went wide-eyed at this, giving Lightning his answer. "You can't blame Script for that."

"I don't." Grand instantly replied, "And I didn't at the time. I was just...I saw what that magic did. The disasters it makes. I've seen horrors come from that magic." He looked away, "I...I couldn't let that happen to you."

"Okay, hang on here!" Flash chimed in, "What are you all talking about?!"

Lightning turned to the others, "My grandmother was killed in an explosion caused by a rune magic user." He gave Grand a slight glance, "I'm not sure on all the details, but I do know that's when gramps and my dad started to drift apart."

Grand let out a long sigh, crossing his hooves, "She died protecting a scientist who thought it was a good idea to start playing around with a type of magic he didn't know a thing about. Because of that, the runes exploded and...Live Wire tried to save the scientist, but was caught up in the explosion...which killed several ponies." He closed his eyes at this, "Even though they managed to get her to a hospital, she...she eventually succumbed to her injuries and passed away."

Everypony exchanged glances, all showing frowns as Heart spoke up, "I still don't see what this has to do with you and Script hating each other."

"I don't hate Script," the earth pony replied, his eyes glancing over to the unicorn as Script kept glaring at him, "And I didn't then either. I was just worried that..."

"The same thing would happen to Lightning that happened to your wife?" Twilight asked, getting a nod from Grand. "You thought Script was going to end up accidently killing him because he uses the same type of magic."

"Rune magic is complicated and unpredictable," Grand grumbled, "You saw what just happened. It could have sucked us up and spit us out like pretzels!"

"But...didn't what happened to Live Wire happen like...years ago?" Wild chimed in.

"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded in agreement, "Do you know of any other big disasters that happened because of rune magic?"

Grand didn't say anything. making Rarity speak up, "They're right darling. Any type of magic is dangerous if it's misused. That doesn't mean you should hate it."

"Or the ponies that use it," Script added with crossed hooves, "You know how much I care about Lightning. You really think I'd do anything that might actually hurt him or anypony else?"

Grand took a deep breath, being silent for a second as he formed a response. "I don't now...but back then, I lost two family members by the time you and Lightning became friends. I was worried I'd lose a third because of it as well." They all raised eyebrows at this statement, making the defender sigh, "After Live Wire died, my son became a completely different pony. The pony you all know, the one that created the Thunder Tomb and tried to conquer Equestria, never would have been born if it hadn't been for that lab experiment." He looked away again, "I'm also to blame for how he turned out...but it all started because of that magic. Those were the thoughts going through my head when you and Lightning first became friends. I was so happy to see Lightning have a friend until I found out what you studied. But..."

"But what?" Lightning asked.

"But I don't think that way anymore," Grand turned around again, now staring at Script. His face was calm now, a slight frown on his face as he said, "I might still hate rune magic, but I realized you weren't a pony I needed to worry about after I got to know you. I realized you were smart and careful, not the kind of pony that would take stupid risks just to see what would happen. But by the time I realised that-"

"You had already damaged our relationship well beyond repair," Script interrupted, crossing his hooves with a huff, "You let your fear get the best of you, and judged me before you even got the chance to know me. Tried to take me away from the bestest friend I ever had. Another addition to your long list of failures."

"Whoa! Script!" Lightning barked, smacking Script's shoulder, "Don't insult gramps like that! I know he's made some mistakes, but the rest of us aren't exactly walking on clean hooves."

"But he hasn't done a thing to make up for his mistakes." Script turned to his friend, "He has that stupid catchphrase about counting up sins, but has he ever done that?"

"Hey!" Grand yelled, "Every day I work to make up for my mistakes. And I've tried to make up for what I did to you, but you never let me."

"Saying sorry isn't enough!" Script spat back, "And you say you try to make up for all the bad things you do, but what have you actually done to make up for your failures. When Lightning tried to take over Equestria, you didn't do a thing. When Doom Raizer returned, every knight except you put their lives on the line to take him down. And if memory serves, didn't a town almost get burnt down because of a monster you failed to capture? And what about-"

"That's enough Script!" Lightning roared, making Script's expression freeze up for the first time. He turned to see anger now his friend's face, Lightning tapping Script's chest, "I know gramps has made mistakes, put he's done a lot good as well. And it wasn't is fault some of those things happened. I let my anger control me and used the Alicorn Amulet. Same with my father and the Omni Sphere. And the salamander...he didn't know anything about it."

"And what about me? What about what he tried to do to me?!"

Starlight chose to speak up at this, "The way I see it, that's on you. You refused to accept any apology he's tried to give."

"That's because there's no way he can apologise and make up for it. He doesn't deserve my forgiveness."

"And that makes you better?!" Heart added, "Who says you're the only one allowed to do that?! You're just being a brat and not moving on!"

Script turned to the colt with a snarl, "I won't deny that." He leaned down to the colt, "But I also have the right to say no." He then spun around, "Now if you excuse me, I have work to do. I need to figure out what mistake I made with the rune gate...and remake one thanks to a certain somepony."

With that, he opened the library doors and started wading into the sea of books. And once the doors were closed, Heart and Starlight let out a sigh. "Well that could have gone better," the colt groaned. "So much for our friendship problem."

"Excuse me?" He and Starlight went wide-eyed before turning to Twilight, "What friendship problem?"

"Heart..." the colt flinched at Flash's voice, "What did you do?"

They both sighed, knowing they had no other choice. The two soon told them everything, all about trying to solve a friendship problem, trying to prove they were worthy of being Flash and Twilight's students.

"You sent us those lunch requests?" Grand asked, the two nodding back.

Twilight let out a heaving sigh, "Starlight...you shouldn't have done that!"

"I'm sorry," Starlight replied, looking away, "It's just...I wanted to prove I was worthy of being your student. And...I've kinda been slacking with the other friendship lessons. At first, I thought if I wowed you with my magic, then you wouldn't notice I haven't been doing any. But then I realized that wouldn't last, so I thought if I could solve my own friendship problem, you would think I wouldn't need as many lessons."

Twilight shook her head at this, "Starlight...I wish you would just come to me with this problem instead of keeping it secret and trying a crazy stunt like this. You can't just bottle up everything. You just saw what that does with Script!"

"I know..." Starlight muttered out, "But it's just...asking me to bake a cake or chillax makes me start to suddenly panic. I keep thinking about what might happen if I failed. I didn't want to be a disappointment to anypony, so...

"You stuck your nose where it doesn't belong, causing this whole issue with Grand and Script." Twilight chimed in, getting a nod from her student. "Starlight...we almost got sucked into Celestia knows where because you caused Script to get distracted."

"I'm sorry." Starlight hung her head down, "Please forgive me. I know I'm a failure and-"

Twilight raised her hoof, stopping the unicorn, "Starlight...I forgive you."

"You...do?"

The princess nodded back, "Of course. We all make mistakes. But I think the bigger issue here is that you seemed to miss the point of the lessons."

"I did?"

"Yes. It didn't matter if you messed up doing whatever it was you were doing, be it baking, sewing or...chillaxing. The point was to spend time with others and get to know them better by doing something they enjoyed."

Starlight blinked at this, the info sinking in before blushing, "Really?" Everypony nodded back, "Oh. Yeah, I think I did miss the point."

Flash then focused on Heart. "And can I assume you went along with this scheme for similar reasons?"

"Um...kinda," Heart chuckled, "I mean...you are the Knight of Friendship."

"Flash's title has nothing to do with you," Grand instantly chimed in, "Just because he's the Knight of Friendship doesn't mean you have to live up to it. My title is the Great Mountain. You ever see Flash doing anything connected to that?"

"Err...no?"

"Exactly," Grand nodded. "Because our titles are who we as a knight. And when you become one, you'll have a title that represents you and only you. Not Flash or any squire you take on."

"Oh..." Heart muttered out, "I guess that makes sense."

It was here that Flash reached down and ruffled his mane, "Don't worry about it." he then leaned down, "But you and Starlight do need to apologize for the trouble you've caused."

They nodded and turned Grand. "We're really sorry, for everything."

Grand smiled and nodded back, "It's fine. This was probably for the best. Finally telling Script and Lightning the truth behind our issues feels like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I'm not proud about what I did, but until Script is willing to forgive me, then there's nothing I can do."

"So what do we do?" Starlight asked Twilight, "You're supposed to be the one who fixes friendships."

Twilight shook her head. "I know this sounds mean, and I would like nothing more then to help, but I can't force Script to forgive Grand. It's very likely this relationship...can't be saved." The others went wide-eyed at this, "I know what you're going to say, but I'm sure we would have either figured something out or perhaps the map would have chosen somepony to help fix it. But...based on what I just saw, I don't think its possible right now."

"You really think so?" Lightning asked, his ears drooping down, "I mean, I really don't want that."

Twilight just shrugged at this, "I'm sorry Lightning. Maybe one day Script will decide to let the possibility of forgiving Grand into his heart. And when that happens, we'll be there to help them both. But for now...all we can do is hope."

Everypony frowned at this, Pinkie pouting, "This feels like a total downer ending."

"That's life," Grand sighed, "Sometimes, not everything works out great."

"So what do we do now?" Heart asked, Twilight turning to him and Starlight.

"Now you two can start cleaning up the library," she opened the door, several books falling out into the hallway. "And after that, you can help Script and I with our rune gate research. We're close to completing it, but this time we may need a few more safety measure in place."

The two stared into the library, seeing the now sea of books they would need to clean up, along with a bunch of other stuff hidden under there. This was gonna take a while.





Two days later...

The train had just pulled up at Ponyville station, Applejack and Fluttershy walking out, the two fresh from their Las Pegasus adventure. It had been an interesting time, with Applejack needing to put aside old grudges in order to solve the problem by working with ponies she would rather stay away from. And while the outcome hadn't been exactly as the mares hoped, they did managed to fix the issue and had now returned home.

"Woo-wee!" Applejack wiped her forehead as the two walked off the platform, "Sure am glad ta be back home."

"Me too," Fluttershy added, "I hope Iron was okay looking after my animals for so long."

"Well ya'll have ta wait ta find out," Applejack told her. "We gotta report in ta Twilight and tell her about everything that happened."

Fluttershy nodded at this, only to go wide-eyed at a sight in the distance. From the middle of town, a beam of light suddenly exploded up into the sky. The beam remained for just a few seconds before dissipating, only for a burst of magic to shoot into the air and create a firework.

"What the hay was that?" Applejack asked, Fluttershy unable to respond. "Come on," she ran ahead, Fluttershy flying after her. The two quickly arrived in the middle of town, but couldn't find anything that would tell them about the pillar of light.

But then, another pillar appeared to their left, making them see a stone slab with two ponies around it. "Heart and Starlight!" Fluttershy called out.

The two turned to them and smiled, "Hey! You're back!" Heart waved as the light began to fade.

"What in the blue blazes is goin' on here?" Applejack asked before noticing an apple was now sitting on the slab. "Is that one of mah apples?"

"Yup," Starlight nodded as she picked the apple up. "And it looks like it showed up unharmed." She took a bite as her horn glowed and fired off a blast of magic that exploded into another firework. "That makes ten apples."

"Ten?" Applejack turned to see Heart was also eating an apple along with six more on the ground along with two fully eaten apples. "What is all this?"

"Twilight can explain it when she gets here," Heart replied before the pillar of light appeared. "This should be them now." He and Starlight stepped back, Applejack and Fluttershy doing the same. Then out of the light, the Princess of Friendship walked out with Script hot on her tail.

She glanced around before looking herself over, seeing she was unharmed. "It worked!" She cheered before turning to Script, "We did it!"

Script nodded back, "Indeed. Now we have to move onto the next phase, increasing the distance even more. We've done one mile. Let's up it to five and see what happens."

"Hey! What's going on?!" Applejack almost yelled, making Twilight and Script turn to her.

"Applejack?" Twilight gaped before turning to Fluttershy, "You're back! When did your train get in?"

"Just now," the pegasus replied. "We got off the train and this light appeared in the sky."

"What is this?" Applejack asked, getting a smile from Twilight. This was gonna be a long explanation.
> Pizza Pi Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another brilliant day in Ponyville, everypony now getting ready for yet another festival. An entirely new one, which was created and organized by Princess Twilight and Pinkie Pie. The park was already decorated for the event, leaving the ponies with the simple task of waiting in anticipation for it the very next day. This included Flash and Heart, who were both on patrol while flying over town. However, that quickly came to an end when Flash directed them to land in front of one of Heart's normally favorite spots: Mr Domino's Pizzeria.

Now Heart was usually big on pizza, but he didn't have the stomach for it. "Flash...we just had lunch." Flash turned to give him a look that yelled, 'hardly.'

"Oh please. That hay-burger?" He asked, shaking his head and waving his hoof. "Barely a snack. An extra large Domino pizza, that's lunch." He trotted up to the building while Heart held his stomach. "You don't have to have any if you're full."

"If I had known we were coming here, I wouldn't have had the extra large."

With that, they entered the pizzeria, soon seeing two ponies at the counter. The first was a cream colored unicorn with a black mane and tail, along with a curly moustache. He was wearing the traditional pizza maker clothing of a white coat and red bandanna, which a chef's heat on his head. His cutie mark was that of a pizza with a section cut out of it. His name was Mr. Domino, the best pizza maker in Equestria. And beside him was the inventor known as Time Turner, who was fiddling with some kind of remote.

"Ah, my best customer!" Domino spoke with an Italian accent, "Flash Sentry." Flash smiled back as he grabbed a slice from a pizza that a waiter was walking with. "Benvenuto! And ciao Fire Heart. The two of you are just in time to see the future of pizza making!"

"Don't tell me," Flash replied, "A hay-ball stuffed with pizza. Or, a pizza stuffed with a whole other pizza. You could call it a pa-pizza."

"It isn't a food that's the future," Turner responded as he held up the remote. "It's my latest invention, which Mr. Domino asked me to look into." He hit the button, making something fly up from behind the counter. It was a type of drone, which used the same helicopter tech as Rainbow's turtle Tank. It also had a pair of arms that had buzz-saws on the ends that the pegasi assumed were meant to be pizza slicers. "My remote controlled pizza cutter."

"It's gonna revolutionise the pizza making industry," Domino added as he placed one on the counter. The drone turned to the pizza, is camera staring at the food. It then used its saws to cut through the pastry, creating eight perfectly even slices before it flew off to do the same with the other pizzas around the room. "Eight perfect slices, every time."

"Bravo you two," Heart cheered, "And just in time for the pizza pi party."

"Ah, sì." Domino chuckled, "Such a wonderful idea that Miss Pinkie and her highness had."

"Leave it to those two to create an event celebrating two of my most favorite things," Turner laughed, "How did they come up with it?"

Flash rolled his eyes at this, "Twilight saw my sister's report card and realized she was having trouble. She asked Cheerilee and apparently, a lot of her students were having difficulty with that subject."

"Most of her students," Heart corrected, "I'm actually good at math."

"And you struggle with everything else." Heart growled back at the knight, Flash patting his head in response, "Anyways, she wanted to find a way to help the kids and thought about doing a study session to help. And when Pinkie heard about it, she had the idea of evolving it into a town wide event. And here we are. A festival with pizza and math based events."

"Like the pizza baking contest," Turner responded, "And I've managed to cook up something special for that event." The others raised an eyebrow at this, only to see Turner tap his nose and tell them to wait as see.

But as he did this, the pizza cutter flew over to one of the tables as a waiter was about to refill a customer's drink order, only to fly right under the water jug as it was tipped. This caused water to pour down on the machine, resulting it start sparking.

This caught the four's attention, turning to see it flying all over the place before slamming into a wall. As it did, it's systems caught up and it spun around to the pictures on the wall. Then, it slashed at the picture four times and carved it into eight triangular shapes.

"Uh...doc?" Flash said as the earth pony was now fiddling with the remote.

"Great whickering stallions!" He cried as the drone continued to fly around, "The receiver for the remote must have shorted out!"

"Mamma mia!" Domino added as the customers began to duck and cover, "My cutter's cut loose!"

Flash and Heart got into a battle stance as the machine turned to them, both getting the strange impression it was angry. Flash grabbed a metal dish as Heart leapt behind the counter, holding it up only for the machine to cut it into pizza slices, then going to a nearby table and hitting a table, knocking a pizza upward.

Heart saw the pizza fly up, several slices landing on Flash. He then watched the drone move over to a circular table and cut it up, making it fall apart and reveal the couple hiding underneath it. The fire pegasus then grabbed a baguette from behind the counter and threw it, hitting the drone, making it spin around before slicing the bread apart and coincidentally filling a bread basket that had been knocked to the floor.

"We gotta do something, before this thing starts cutting us to pieces!" he yelled to Flash.

He then heard a cough from Domino, "Eight even pieces."

Heart rolled his eyes while Flash spun around and saw Iron walking outside the store. "Hey!" He called out, catching the machine's attention as he moved over to the doorway. The drone flew after him as Flash pushed the door open before jumping to the side. "IRON!"

The outcry caught the earth pony's attention, making him turn to see the buzz-saw wielding machine. He instantly pulled out Piecemaker, "Iron Lance Strike!" He shot a single projectile off the weapon, hitting the machine right in the camera lens.

This caused the machine to finally go kaput, flopping over. Heart, Turner and Domino came out next, seeing the drone let out one last mechanical cry. They all sighed in relief, Turner letting out a chuckle. "Oh well," he turned to the others. "Still not as much damage as the self-twirling spaghetti fork."

As he said that, the bell of the store's door made them turn to see Flash stepping out...and still covered in pizza. That didn't last long as he pulled a slice off his shoulder...then ate it. "Yum. Mushroom...."

"Flash..." Heart groaned.

"Heart, I'm training for tomorrow's pizza eating contest. If you can't push through a little shoulder fur, don't even bother entering." He took another bite before offering the remaining slice to his squire, "Want some?" Heart's reply was to walk away while shaking his head in disbelief.





Meanwhile...

At that moment, Grand had just arrived at the castle to talk security with Twilight for tomorrow's event. But when he walked through the doorway, he found the hallway was filled with boxes of stuff.

"What the-" He muttered out as he started skirting around the boxes, finding Soul, Diamond, Silver and the CMC sitting on the floor with masses of books surrounding them. "What's going on in here?" The girls turned to him, "Are you all having a garage sale after the party tomorrow?"

"What's a garage?" Soul asked, "And why would we sell it?"

"I meant...never mind. What are you up too?"

"Swatting up," Scootaloo replied, "We heard what some of the prizes for some of the math events are gonna be, and we really wanna win them."

"Couldn't Twilight have picked an easier event to have the coolest prizes?" Soul sighed before hearing a chuckle come from the stairs, the seven looking up to see Twilight, Pinkie and Starlight coming down.

"That's the whole reason I gave the math events the coolest prizes," Twilight responded, "To give you a reason to start taking this subject seriously."

"We are taking it seriously," Sweetie replied.

"We just wish it didn't have to be so hard," Diamond moaned.

"What I don't get is the name," Silver Spoon added, "Why is it called the Pizza Pie Party when there won't be any pie there? Shouldn't the name have something to do with math in it?"

"It does," Twilight laughed before she grabbed one of the math books and opened it to a certain page. "See this? Pi is a number."

"A number?"

Grand nodded at this, "Its used in math to figure out the size of circles."

"It's a constant throughout the universe," Pinkie giggled, "Even on Cybertron."

"Cyber-what?" Starlight asked.

"Never mind. Forget I said anything."

Twilight laughed as she put the book down, "Since pizzas are circles, it makes perfect sense to have those two words together in the title of the festival."

"Oh...I get it," Apple Bloom added. "So it's pi, the measurement, and pizza pie is the food."

"Yeparooni!" Pinkie cheered, "I can't wait! This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Well, just wait," Scootaloo pointed at them. "I'll win one of those math events for sure and get that cool new scooter."

Grand chuckled at this, "And I'll be entering the cook off. Iron and Lightning are on patrol duty, so I'll get to enjoy a day of fun. That and be at the festival just in case something goes wrong. By the way," he turned to Starlight. "The mayor still hasn't found somepony to judge the cook off. Think you can handle it?"

"Me?!" Starlight gasped, "Why me?!"

"Why not you?" Twilight asked with a shining smile. "It could be a great experience for you. And it could help you with one of your friendship lessons. Not giving your friends preferential treatment in contest settings."

Starlight blinked at this, only to nod, "Alright, that sounds good. I'll do it. Could be fun." The others smiled at this, only for their grins to disappear when a beeping sound caught their attention, all turning to the hallway leading to the kitchen, where smoke was now coming out of.

"Fire!" Grand yelled as he ran toward the smoke, the others following as Pinkie pulled a fire extinguisher out of her mane. They then reached the kitchen and Grand grabbed the door, Pinkie aiming the nozzle and firing as soon as the door was open.

She sprayed the whole room, only to hear someone cry out. And as she stopped spraying, the smoke began to die down, revealing a familiar pegasus. Rainbow Dash let out a cough as she flew out of the room, holding a cooking tray in her hooves that was covered in a pile of black ash.

"Rainbow?!" Twilight yelped, "What are you doing in my kitchen?!"

"Sorry Twi," Rainbow coughed again as she landed. "I was practicing for the pizza cooking contest tomorrow and my oven at home wasn't big enough to cook the monster I'm gonna make." She then looked down at the tray. "But I think It might be a little overdone."

"I'll be the judge of that," Starlight giggled, "Let me see." She stared at the remains of the pizza. "Nice dark coloring. Burnt evenly throughout. Strong smoky aroma. Was charcoal the secret ingredient?"

"I think it's the only ingredient," Grand quipped as Rainbow growled at him, "Maybe you should focus on another event. Like the eating contest."

"I can't," Rainbow sighed, "Soarin's coming to the party and we both agreed to win a trophy each, so we flipped a bit and he's in the eating contest."

"Then maybe you should stick to the math side of tomorrow's event," Twilight suggested as Soul offered her a math book.

"No way!" Rainbow yelled, "I'm winning the cook off." She then poked Grand in the stomach, "Just you wait. Don't get too scared."

"The only thing I'm scared of is whatever Time Turner's working on," Grand replied, "That's the only thing we can't plan for."

"Ha! I'm not scared!" Rainbow smirked while holding up her destroyed pizza. "With my recipe, tomorrow's gonna be easy as pie." As she said that, the smoke from the charred remains floated over to the others, making them cough.

"Though perhaps not as edible," Scootaloo whispered so he sister didn't hear. The others nodded while Pinkie put on a fire-fighter's mask.





As the evening sun set, everypony in the castle was preparing to go to bed. Fluttershy and Iron had joined the inhabitants for the night, due to an incident at Fluttershy's cottage involving a skunk friend and a large bowl of sprouts. As such, everypony was in the dining room, all getting a last minute drink or snack before bed.

Spike was there, enjoying a bowl of cereal while Springer strolled into the room, only to have to be careful stepping through it due to the place being covered in boxes and loose toys. However, he failed to spot a skateboard, making him slip on it, "WHOA!" He yelped, crashing into the floor before letting out a groan. He then looked up to see the items on the floor, hissing as he got up and pointed at the dragon, "Spike! Why is your stuff all over the dining room?!"

"And in the hallway," Soul moaned as she and Mira entered. She was holding a bag in her magic and threw it away, flying over the mess while also carrying Mira so they didn't trip over the junk. "Shouldn't this all be in your room?"

At the same time, Flash, Twilight, Fluttershy and Iron trotted in from another door. "Okay, who left their dirty laundry on the stairs?" Flash held up a smelly sock, "I mean, come on. Where am I supposed to put mine?"

Spike let out a sigh. "I had to clear off a shelf for the pizza eating trophy I'm gonna win tomorrow," the little dragon chuckled, "And there's nowhere to put everything." He swallowed another spoonful of cereal before speaking again, "I need a bigger room. Or maybe an extra one." He slowly turned to smile at Twilight, who rolled her eyes.

"No."

"Oh, come on!" He cried out, "This place is huge and it's half empty! You can spare one room."

"It's not a matter of room," Twilight sighed as she sat down and poured herself some tea. "It's a matter of principle. Giving you another room means you'll have more reason to want more stuff. And it wont be long until you're asking for a third room and then a fourth. You remember what happened to last time you got greedy, don't you?" Spike grumbled at this, "Exactly. And I'm not singling you out. Everypony gets one room and nothing more."

Spike let out a long extended sigh, "Then I don't know what to do except keep my stuff spread out around the castle."

Fluttershy giggled at this, "You know, I remember my packrat of a brother had the same problem when he was your age."

She then sat down while Iron sat opposite her, the defender asking, "So how did you fix that for him?"

Fluttershy chuckled as Twilight poured her a cup of tea. "I traded him my bigger room." Everypony went wide-eyed at this, only to see a big smirk on the pegasi's face, "And as soon as he realized more space meant more cleaning, he begged me for his small room back. And suddenly, he made everything fit."

The others laughed as Twilight turned to Spike, "Maybe you don't need more space. Just...less stuff." She looked around the room while Flash poked a pile with a fork. "You've outgrown a lot of this stuff."

"Like these," they turned to see Flash holding some blue shorts with the fork.

"But those are my lucky swimming trunks!" Spike yelped, "Thanks to those bad-boys, I've never drowned when I've gone swimming."

"I don't think that has anything to do with the shorts," Mira told him despite the dragon not understanding.

"Well, what about this?" Springer held up a piece of cardboard, which had a macaroni pony face on it.

Spike gasped at this, "I can't get ride of Mr. Macaroni! It was the first thing I made all by myself!"

He then felt Twilight place a hoof on his shoulder. "Spike, I know your things are important to you, but it's just as important that we find a place to put them."

This made Spike sigh, mumbling as he looked away, "Fine....but can it wait until after the party so we can be sure there's room for my trophy?"

This was met with a laugh from Flash as he grabbed the nearby milk carton and opened it up. "Not gonna be an issue squirt." With that, he started gulping the milk down while the others stared at him in disgust, Twilight sighing and shaking her head at the sight.

"How did I ever fall for a meathead like you?"

Flash leaned up and patted her with his wing, "Eh, you know you love me." This was followed by a smack to the head from Twilight's wing, "Ow!"





The next day...

The Pizza Pi Party was in full swing, the park completely brimming with almost everypony in Ponyville as they played games, bought food or whatever else Pinkie and Twilight had managed to come up with. Everything before noon would be math events, with the pizza part of the party happening after lunch. Currently, Heart and Soul and their jakhowls were at a kind of ring toss booth that Applejack, Rarity, Mac and Rogue were at while Cranky Doodle ran the booth.

"You ready?" He asked Rarity as she grabbed a trio of rings. The kids flew up, seeing several cups on the table with different numbers on them. Cranky took out a random card from a deck holster and read off of it. "One hundred and fifty-two, divided by eight?"

Rarity did the math and smiled when she spotted a cup with the number nineteen on it. She then threw a ring, getting it right on the cup.

"Nineteen," Cranky checked the answer. "That is correct." He put the card away and pulled out another, "That's ten points. For twenty points-" Heart looked up and see several stuffed toys hanging from the top of the booth, each with either a ten, twenty or thirty attached to it.

As he was looking the prizes over, Rarity managed to get another two answers right. "That makes thirty points," Cranky responded, "What do you want to spend them on?"

Rarity hummed at this, "I'll have the ten point teddy bear and the twenty point dolphin."

Cranky grabbed the toys as Rogue commented, "Didn't think you were in-ta having cuddly toys."

"Oh, it's for my store. Several of my customers have been bringing their children to their fittings. Nothing destroys creativity like a bored foal." She filled a bag with the toys, "Anypony hungry?" They all nodded back before heading off to the food court. As they did this, they passed the main stage and found a trio of ponies dressed as cheerleaders doing a routine.

"Co sign, chord and tangent sign. Three point one four one five nine. Go PI!"

At the same time, Rainbow and Soarin were making their way over to them. Soarin was doing his best to keep himself from eating anything for the contest, but Rainbow wanted to be fully fueled for hers. However, when they arrived at the booth, they saw somepony getting three slices loaded onto his plate. "You're buying food?" Rainbow asked Flash as he turned to them. "Doesn't the pizza eating contest start soon?"

"Yeah," Flash took a bite of his first slice, "I have to warm up. Any pro will tell ya that ya can't eat on an empty stomach."

"Huh..." Soarin turned to the pizzas being placed on pony's plates and licked his lips.

"Maybe one slice won't hurt," he muttered before grabbing his own plate. "Just enough so I don't pass out before the contest starts."

"Whatever works for you dude," Flash chuckled before flying over to Twilight, the princess now judging the mathlete competition. To everypony's surprise, Scootaloo had actually managed to make her way to the final round.

"Round five of the mathlete competition," Twilight announced before gesturing over to the prize. "Whoever wins this wins the scooter." The flightless filly was almost drooling at the sight of it, but quickly shook her head. At that moment, Twilight flipped the whiteboard around to reveal a formula. "Solve for X."

With that, the contestants began writing in a flurry of movement. "Go Scoots!" Flash yelled while trying not to break her concentration.

"Check!" She raised her answer into the air, Twilight levitating it over before nodding.

"That's correct!" Everypony around her clapped, "First place goes to Scootaloo!"

"YAHOO!" Scootaloo cheered, jumping up a good five feet before running over. Twilight levitated her prize, Scootaloo now looking like she was about to cry, but gave her thanks to the princess before trying it out.

"Good for her," Flash chuckled as he saw her rush off to show her friends. "Though now I'm out of ideas for a Heartswarming Present."

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Twilight giggled, "Though I have to say, I can't believe how well this is going."

"Well don't celebrate to soon," Flash replied, "It's not over yet."

As he said that, the overhead speaker system beeped before Mayor Mare's voice called out, "Would all chefs and judges please make their way towards the Pizza Pi Party cook off area?"

At this announcement, almost everypony in the park began to make their way over, most wanting to see who was competing and what the secret ingredient Time Tuner had developed. It was here they found Starlight, the unicorn taking a several deep breaths, "This is it." She then spun around, her eyes twitching as she asked her friends, "How's my mane look?" The group flinched at the worried expression on her face, making Starlight gulp, "Oh no...maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"You'll be fine," Rainbow responded as she walked up and patted her back, "And when they give out that trophy, just remember who lent you that book on judging." That had been a surprise, Twilight more than anypony when she found out such a book existed without her knowledge.

"I'm confident Starlight will not play favorites," Twilight added, "And that she will rank the chefs solely on merit."

"But that's hard..." Starlight moaned. "And so...judgy."

"That's kinda the point, isn't it?" Flash asked with a raised eyebrow, Starlight sighing and nodding. They then headed over to the stage, spotting a long table with a ton of cooking equipment and ingredients along with chefs Grand, Domino, Thunderlane and even Derpy. Rainbow flew down to the table at this, looking the equipment over.

"Measure, mix, GO!" The cheerleaders cheered as Pinkie and Time Turner arrived on stage, Pinkie now balancing a bowl on her head that had a metal dome covering it.

"And now, Time Turner will explain the secret ingredient the chefs must use in order to win the contest." The mayor walked off of the podium as Turner stepped up and Pinkie placed the bowl on a table next to it.

"Thank you Mayor Mare," he then looked out at the crowd, "Our contestants should have no problem rising to the occasion," some of the ponies groaned at this pun as he continued, "Because the surprise you'll be using is this."

Pinkie removed the dome covering the bowl, allowing everypony to see what it was. And they all raised eyebrows at it.

"Sand?" Rainbow asked as she stared at the grain filling the bowl and piling above it. She then had a smile on her face. "Yes, I totally practiced that one."

The ponies all stared at her for a second before Spike spoke up, "Wait...is that yeast?"

"A brand new magically created super yeast," Turner corrected. "Specially designed for places that have a hard time growing food. This will be its first use outside of tests. It only takes a teaspoon of this to turn the amount of dough used for one pizza into enough for ten."

This statement made everypony gasp, Twilight commenting, "Incredible. This could change the world. Places like Dodge Junction and Appaloosa would never have to worry about food again."

"Imagine how many cupcakes Pinkie could make with that," Heart licked his lips while Soul rolled her eyes.

"Cupcakes use baking powder, not yeast."

"What's the difference?"

"This'll certainly make this tricky," Grand added as he filled a water jug while Rainbow mixed her dough. "Use too little and the pizza won't rise properly. Use too much and it could balloon up and explode."

"Scared?" Rainbow asked as she shook some salt into her dough and put it next to the jug, Grand shooting her a look that said 'please.'

"Alright, let's begin the contest." Turner responded as he motioned to the chefs. "You should already have some yeast, so get to cooking!"

A round of cheers rang out, the chefs all continuing to start the cooking process. And as the competition started, the cheerleaders started another routine. "Pi R squared the ancients found, but we prefer our pizzas round!" As they said that, one of the cheerleaders leapt up and landed on the other two's shoulders. But as they did this, their balance went off, causing the tower to topple over, making the top one fall onto the table holding the yeast.

Unfortunately, the table had wheels for easy transport. So when they landed on it, it was sent flying along the stage while the yeast bowl fell over the side, colliding with Rainbow's bowl and Grand's jug. Flash quickly took to the air, reaching the stage in order to stop the table before it went off the edge.

"Oh no." Flash muttered as he saw the liquid sink into the bowl. "That's not good, is it?"

The damage was now done. The yeast, dough and water had combined, causing the dough to start bubbling as the chemical reaction occurred.

"Great whickering stallions!" Turner cried, "That's enough yeast for...hundreds of pizzas!" And just like that, the dough began to expand. Within seconds it was the size of a pony, absorbing the bowl and jug in the process.

Rainbow quickly grabbed a rolling pin and leapt over the table to start hitting the dough...but it did nothing. "Hurry!" Grand yelled to everypony, "Run!" The citizens didn't need to be told twice, the dough turning into a mountain of yeast, soon getting to the size of an elephant.

As this happened, the pony Octavia was nearby, tripping on the ground before the dough reached her. Sticking to her hooves, she screamed, "No! Get it off me! I'm gluten free!" And as this happened, Applejack and Rogue grabbed her hooves, pulling her out of the dough with one mighty yank.

"Everypony out of the park now!" Twilight yelled, now seeing the town's pegasi grabbing the closest pony and shooting into the air. At the same time, Flash drew his sword and slashed at the dough. But as he took a chunk out, the yeast grew it back instantly.

Springer took the more direct approach and tried punching the dough, only for his paw to get stuck. "Uh oh." He commented before trying to pull away. The goop began to latch on at this, starting to grow up his arm. But as this happened, a blast of fire struck the dough, making it go hard and allowing him to break free. He then turned to Heart, the colt now in his fire form, and gave him his thanks.

"This isn't good." Flash added as he fired a Flash Cutter. "Twilight-"

"Give me a second!" Twilight barked as she created a magic barrier, trying to push the dough back as more ponies ran past her, "I'll think of something...I hope."





Meanwhile...

Iron and Lightning had just completed their patrol of the town. However, nothing was going on, making them both sigh.

"Okay...you're right." Iron grumbled. "This is really boring today. Maybe we should just go over to the party and see if they need any help."

"Maybe..." Lightning replied, "But with nopony around, it would be the perfect time for a criminal to strike."

"You're right...which makes this more boring ironically." Iron growled before turning to the park, only to raise an eyebrow, "Hey Blitz?"

"Yeah?

"Was that on the party schedule?" Lightning looked to where Iron was now pointing, both now seeing a dough mountain rise above the trees and houses.

"What the heck?!"





Back at the park...

The Defenders, Mane Seven and a few others were still making sure the citizens were able to evacuate. As Lyra and Bon Bon got to safety, Springer took this moment to clap his hands together, sending out a wave of aura. And with a deep breath, he shut his eyes before turning to Flash, "The park's clear. Nopony left behind."

"Then it's time for us to clear out too," Flash told everypony. Twilight teleported the non-flyers out of the park while Rogue and the pegasi took to the air. Once they were high enough, they saw just how bad things were. The dough's weight had prevented it from growing tall, but that just meant it had more room to grow wider and was soon oozing out of the park toward the closest houses.

"Pizza dough gone rogue," Soarin spoke up. "That's a new one, even for this town."

"How do things look from up there?" Twilight asked after Springer had connected all their auras so they could speak over the distance.

"Sticky," Rainbow replied, "It won't be long until the dough starts engulfing houses."

"This is getting worse by the second," Grand added.

"Yeah. I'm used to eating lunch, not running from it." Flash chimed in, "Any idea how we're supposed to stop that dough, Twi?"

The princess hummed at this, "Well, what we're witnessing is a chemical reaction. The super yeast is fermenting, causing the dough to expand at a fast rate."

"So we need to end the fermentation process," Pinkie spoke up, her years of baking coming into her head, "Or at least slow it down until we can."

"How?" Wild asked.

Starlight spoke up at this, "What if we add salt?" the others turned to her. "It won't stop the dough, but it might slow it down enough to give us some breathing room."

This made Twilight smile. "Great idea Starlight. Salt is just what we need to end the fermentation and halt the dough, for a little while."

"Err...yeah," Flash commented, "The only word I understood there was dough. Which if you haven't noticed, is heading straight for us!" Everypony glanced back, now seeing the dough continue to expand down the street, Grand quickly using Springer's connection to speak to his grandson.

"Lightning, you and Iron meet us at the town supply shelter. There's a mountain of road salt left from last winter and Iron's Piecemaker is just what we need to shuffle it."

"Got it," Lightning nodded as the connection went dead. "Sounds like we didn't miss the party after all."

"Sounds like we are the party," Iron laughed before Lightning grabbed him and sparked his horn. In a flash, the two disappeared.





The ground forces were also heading toward the warehouse, Twilight sighing in relief, "Good thing somepony thought to store that extra salt nearby."

Spike chuckled at this, "See? You never know when your unused stuff could come in handy. Hint hint."

Twilight rolled her eyes before glancing back at Spike. "You're not getting another room."

This made Spike sigh and sit back with crossed arms, "Maybe I can move into the salt shelter when we're done."

"Oh! Maybe you can move into my party cave. I've got lots of space." She then gave him a glare, "But remote privileges are earned."

Spike just waved a claw, "Thanks, but that seems like kind of a trek from there to the castle every day. Unless I install something like an underground go-kart to ferry me."

Twilight let out a long sigh, "Spike, you don't need half of what you have. Give the kiddie stuff away. You'll feel better."

"Really?" Spike asked in a sarcastic tone, "Would you feel better if you gave away your Smartypants doll?"

"What?!" Twilight yelped, "Well...no. But that's different."

Soul, who had been flying beside her, spoke up, "How?"

"I...I don't know. It...it just is." The princess let out a groan, "Look, can we just concentrate on making sure a giant thing of dough doesn't eat the town?!"

The ponies chose to remain quiet until they arrived at the salt shelter, the pegasi landing down before they opened the doors to reveal a large pile of salt sitting on the floor. Twilight conjured up some carts, sacks and shovels that she handed out, everypony getting to work. Fluttershy grew as large as she could while Twilight made a larger bag for her, Iron turning his spear into a shovel that grew as large as he could make it, then started filling Fluttershy's bag.

"We'd better get going," Springer told everypony as he leapt up onto the roof and saw the dough getting closer. "That deep dish crust is getting deeper."

"Does anypony actually know what we're gonna do once we've slowed this thing down?" Heart asked next.

"One problem at a time," Grand replied, "Right now, we just need to focus on slowing it down."

"Alright everypony," Rainbow said as she grabbed two bags and lifted them up. "Pass the salt." They all nodded and began their trek back to the dough. Flash led the air team with the larger Fluttershy at the back, while Applejack led the ground team as they raced through the streets while pulling their salt filled carts before splitting up.

Iron and Grand arrived at one street that was half buried in the dough, both ponies unhooking from their carts and beginning to shovel the salt on top of it. As they did this, the cheerleaders from before suddenly appeared, "Sodium chloride, stop that yeast! S A L T save our feast!"

The two turned to them for a second, blinking at the sight before returning to their task.

Up above, the flyers were also spreading out and started tipping their bags, the salt spreading everywhere. "Look out below!" Rainbow called out.

"Bombs away!" Soarin yelled.

Springer, Twilight, and the younger members of their group were salting another area, Ace letting out a groan, "This is exhausting."

"Not as exhausting as it'll be to clean the entire town of dough if we don't stop it here," Springer responded while throwing another bucket of salt into the blob. As he did this, the cheerleaders appeared again.

"Go team go! Slow that dough! Tell that pastry, we say no!"

"I gotta admit, their positive spirit is kinda inspiring." Springer waved at them, "Thank you, oh leaders of the cheer." The cheerleaders smiled until Springer heard Flash speak up and quickly channeled it to the others.

"I think it's working," he commented after doing a quick once over of the town. The mixture seemed to have come to a complete stop, though he knew it was still growing. "Way to slow the dough."

"Wait!" Soul turned to Twilight, "We've only salted one part of it. Isn't it also growing on the other side of the park?"

"I'm afraid so," Twilight nodded. "Fortunately, there aren't any homes in that direction."

It was then that Pinkie let out a gasp, "TWILIGHT!" She turned to her frantic friend, "There's a meadow behind the park and I just remembered Mr. and Mrs. Cake were planning on having a picnic there with the twins."

A sudden wave of terror washed over the group before Springer turned to that direction, closing his eyes as he began to sense aura past the dough. He then let out a yelp as he picked up the unmistakable signature of the two bakers and their children. "Oh no....they're still there and it doesn't look like they know about the dough!"

"Or the pizza party it seems," Flash added, "I mean, why have a picnic when you've got pizza as an option?!"

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake aren't big fans of pizza," Pinkie replied, making Flash, Heart, Soarin and a few others to go wide-eyed.

"Really?!"

"Can we focus?!" Twilight spoke up.

"We gotta save 'em," Applejack chimed in while the others nodded.

"Flash, Rainbow and Soarin," Grand pointed to the pegasi. "Get over their and get them to safety. The rest of us will grab as much salt as we can and be there as soon as possible." The three nodded and quickly took to the sky, shooting over the dough.

The meadow was between the park and the Everfree Forest, but the forest was atop a ten meter cliff face that overshadowed the rest of the canyon. Usually, this was a good thing because it meant nothing from the forest could get into the meadow, but this would be an exception due to the dough now about to trap the family of four.

"There they are!" Rainbow called out as she saw them pinned up against the wall of the cliff, "Hurry!" She flew straight down with the boys following after her, "Sorry, trail closed due to hazardous food conditions." She took the twins and flew them up onto the cliff while Flash and Soarin both lifted Mrs. Cake before flying down to grab Mr. Cake.

But as Mr. Cake was lifted, the dough finally reached them, Soarin accidently landing in it. And when he tried to shoot up, the athlete pulled a trail of dough up with him. It then reached full tightness, springing back like an elastic band. "WHOA!" He yelped as he yanked back, letting go of Mr. Cake and forcing Flash to take the full weight of the earth pony. Luckily, they had been close to the top, so Rainbow was able to reach out and grab the stallion before Flash dropped him. They flew him the rest of the way, only to look back down to see Soarin was till stuck.

"Now I know why they say to avoid carbs," Soarin groaned as he pulled at the dough, but it refused to give. "I'm stuck like a pizza topping."

"Armorize!" Flash yelled as he leapt off the cliff, a burst of light equipping him in his Shining Guardian armor. He quickly flew down, grabbing Soarin around the wings. "Somepony order take out?" He joked as his wings opened up, unleashing a burst of Sacred Light, propelling them both straight up with enough force to finally snap the dough string.

The pair quickly reached the cliff and shot past it as Twilight and the others arrived, the earth ponies and unicorns beginning the shovel salt down onto the dough while Fluttershy lead the flyers as they poured their salt out of bags. As this happened, Pinkie ran over to the Cakes, happy to find they were unharmed.

And as the last few piles of salt was added to the dough, the mixture began to slow to crawl. They were now no longer in danger of instant dough-pocalypse, instead now having to worry about a slow conquest from the ever expanding blob.

"Good work team," Grand said as he turned to the group, "But now that we've slowed this runaway recipe down-"

"We have to figure out a way to stop it completely," Lightning added.

"Before Ponyville become one big bread blob," Soul finished while shivering.

Rarity turned to Twilight at this, "Can't we just teleport it someplace where it won't do any harm?"

Twilight shook her head, "I can't teleport something that big. It'd take a giant rune circle, and even if we could make it, the dough would likely grow bigger than the circle before it was completed."

"Besides, where would we teleport it to?" Spike chimed in, "Unless you know of any active volcanoes anywhere near here, we'd just be shifting the problem someplace else." The ponies and jakhowls that had fallen victim to his mess all gave him a glare, the tiny tooth crossing his arms and looking away. "Shut up."

Iron let out a groan, "Out of control baked goods aren't exactly part of our Royal Knight training."

Pinkie let out a gasp at this, "Ooh ooh!" She jumped up and down, "But it is part of my training." She turned to Twilight, "What if we baked the dough?"

Twilight clapped her hooves at this, "That's a great idea Pinkie!" She turned to the others. "High temperatures stop yeast from rising. It's the entire principal behind bread making. Pinkie, you're a genius."

"Aw, no need to praise me. Just doing my job." Pinkie blushed, "Though I'll happily take some if you're offering."

"Oh sure," Flash added with crossed hooves, "We'll just put the dough onto that giant sized pan we have and pop it into our mile long oven."

"I can do it," everypony turned to Heart as he lit his hoof on fire. "Earlier, I was able to free Springer from the dough using my fire to make it hard. If I go all out, I'm sure I'll be able to bake the dough no problem."

Everypony nodded at this, Spike chiming in, "And I could help as well."

The drake spat out a tiny fireball. But as this happened, Twilight's horn shined before summoning a whiteboard she had used earlier. Everypony watched as she did some quick calculations, humming as she worked. "My estimates state that even at full firepower, you'd need to continuously heat the dough for...about six days and seven hours."

Starlight let out a sigh, "That's about six more days than we have."

"I don't think I could keep my fire up that long," Heart gulped before turning to Spike, "Think Ember would be willing to spare a few dragons to come help us out?"

Spike shrugged at this, Soul then speaking up, "But doesn't pizza cook a lot faster then bread?"

Twilight blinked at this, rubbing her chin for a second before going back to the board. Doing a few new calculations, she said, "She's right. We need to make the dough thin, like a pizza crust, rolling it out the way Mr. Domino does."

Everypony nodded at this, only for Iron to raise a hoof, "Hold on there. We can't even get near that stuff without sticking to it. How are we supposed to roll that stuff?" Everypony turned to Pinkie for an answer, the expert baker smiling back before pulling out her Sherclop Pones hat and bubble pipe.

"Elementary, my dear Iron Core." She gave the defenders a look that told them they wouldn't like this, everypony else just blinking at her.





One hour later...

Everypony was now standing outside Sugarcube Corner. At the moment, they were all staring at Flash, Springer, Iron, Lightning, Grand, Soarin, Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Rogue. The ten were now completely white, having been covered in bags and bags of flour.

"There," Twilight said as she poured the last bag of flour onto Flash. "This flour coating should prevent you from sticking to the dough."

Scootaloo then let out a laugh. "And you're all ready for breading and frying." She and the others laughed while Iron let out a sigh, Mira and Ace looking Springer over.

"Is this what they mean by the term Flower Power?" Mira asked as Springer chuckled.

"I really hope Skybreaker doesn't surprise us with a visit today." Iron grumbled, Fluttershy laughing as Twilight stepped up to her.

"Will this be enough for you? I'm still not clear about what grows with you when you go big." Fluttershy began to grow at this, soon hitting her max. And when she got there, she found she was still completely covered in flour.

"Yay," she softly said before she breathing in, "Ahh...ahh...ACHOO!" She let out a massive sneeze, accidently beating her wings and creating a strong gust of wind. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the wind had blown the excess flour onto the rest of the ponies. "Sorry."

Grand chuckled before turning to Heart and Spike, the two scarfing down as much food as they could stomach. "Make sure those two are well fed by the time we're done. They're gonna need all the energy they can get." The two stopped eating, turning to him while their faces were stuffed, both giving salutes before going back to eating. "Alright gang," he turned to everypony. "Time to commence operation thin crust."

They all nodded as Flash walked up and pointed to the squishy mountain. "Time to roll out the dough." With that, the floured up ponies headed off in different directions, all soon encircling the dough. Once there, they began pushing at the dough.

Thanks to the flour, they didn't get stuck, and were able to put their whole bodies into moving the giant confectionery back toward the park. The unicorns helped out with that magic, grabbing the largest pieces they could connect to and folding it over.

"That's it," Twilight told Soul as the two lifted up the dough they were flying above. "You're doing great Soul."

"Thanks," she replied while wincing, "But this is heavy."

"Just take it slow and you shouldn't have a problem."

Her advice was correct, taking it slow as they managed to get a large section folded back into the center. At the same time, the others were getting closer to the park as well. And with Fluttershy's large size, she was able to roll the dough into the giant ball.

Once that was done, Flash, Soarin, and Rainbow flew up and divebombed the ball. This caused the center of it to flatten while the sides remained bubbled up, the three beginning to slam the dough down. The earth ponies soon followed this, jumping into the center to do the same, the group acting like they were on a bouncy castle or playing in the snow as they jumped up and down and even made a few dough angels.

Twilight also summoned some large pipes that she dropped on the dough before Applejack, Iron and Grand leapt up onto them, rolling them like they were lumberjacks on a log. This flattened the dough out even more, making Flash gasp, "Hey!" he called out, "Don't make it to thin! I like deep dish better."

"No way," Rainbow flew up to him. "Thin crust beats thick any day."

"In competition, yes thin crust goes down quicker. But chilling out with a slice and a soda, Shire-cago style all the way."

Rainbow crossed her hooves. "You know, it's scary that you've actually put this much thought into it. Impressive, but scary." They both laughed before getting back to work, the dough eventually being formed into a large circle that filled the entire park and could fit every pony in town on it.

"I think that should do it," Grand sighed, wiping his brow, "Are the ovens ready to burn?"

"Ready and able," he heard Heart say as he flew up while Soul was carrying Spike in her hooves. Heart morphed into his fire form and the three got to work, the twins flying over the giant pizza as Heart and Spike unleashing a burst of fire at the dough.

Everypony watched as the flattened mixture turned from a creamy white to a toasty brown color. They were amazed at the sight, seeing the insane plan was actually working, Pinkie sniffing the air. "Yum! Smells delicious!"

"Add this to the list of things I never thought I'd do when I was a filly," Starlight commented as Heart and Spike finished their work. The entire thing was complete cooked, the yeast within it no longer able to rise.

The crowd cheered over their victory against baked goods, Heart, Soul and Spike landing in front of them. "So what do we do now?" Spike asked, "Sure, it's not gonna grow any more, but its still here. What are we gonna do with it?"

"Funny. I remember us having a similar conversation yesterday, about all your stuff." Iron added.

"Yeah. Maybe we should make you keep this in your room." Flash chuckled, Spike glaring back at him.

"Oh yeah. That reminds me." Twilight chimed in before suddenly teleporting away. A second later, she came back with a book that some of them recognized as a family photo album. "Here," she floated the book over and opened it to a page, "Take a look at this. You're right Spike, I didn't want to give up Smartypants. But I did give up all of the other ones." The picture showed a much younger Twilight, probably before Spike even hatched, holding Smartypants while standing in front of a large pile of cuddly toys.

"Wow," Spike gasped.

"Gave them to charity," Twilight elbowed him. "Hint hint."

"Spike's query is still unanswered," Rarity chimed in, "What do we do with this gargantuan crust?"

Flash let out a laugh, "What else? Let's eat it!"

"Oh! I'm with Flash on this one!" Grand chuckled while licking his lips, "Let's spread the word that the Pizza Pi Party is back on, with an all new event to cap off the day."

Everypony cheered at this, quickly spreading out to inform the masses. Within an hour, everypony in town was back at the park, only now they had brought any pizza making supplies they had at home with them, including cans of sauce, cheese and whatever toppings they wanted on the mega-sized pizza.

"Cheese to the left, sauce to the right please." Springer said as she directed the ponies, the townsponies filling large barrels with the sauce before Twilight, Starlight, Soul and any other unicorn picked them up to pour onto the base. Soon enough, the pizza was like a giant swimming pool with red water.

This now done, Fluttershy grew larger and started spreading the cheese on top of the sauce, her aerial perspective allowing her to make sure it was evenly distributed. "Laa laa laa laa, laa laa laa laa, laa laa laa laa laa laaaaaaaaaa."

Once the cheese was placed, everypony started adding their toppings to the mix. Every few degrees of the pizza was topped with a different topping combo, be it mushroom and onion, pineapple and daisy, bell-pepper and tomato, and even baby spinach and olives. And as the preparations were completed, Heart, Soul and Spike repeated their previous cooking maneuver, but this time stayed far enough away so the heat of their flames touched the pizza but not the flames themselves. As the cheese melted and the ingredients cooked, everypony around the edge took a whiff of it before letting out moans of approval.

It was now fully cooked, Iron having a rope tied around his waist before Flash and Soarin lifted him into the air. He was pulled along and used Piecemaker to slice the pizza into multiple evenly sized pieces. Once cut, they were still big enough to feed a family of four for a week.

With the pizza finally completed, Starlight stepped up to the finished product and looked it over. "A golden brown, toothsome crust. Cheese toasty yet sumptuous." Everypony licked their lips and some rubbed their hooves together as they listened to her. "Tangy sauce and splashes of colorful aromatics." She turned to the rest of the townsponies and smiled, "I judge this pizza to be delicious-looking and ready!" This was met with a great round of applause.

"Yeah!" Flash yelled as he ran forward to take the first bite.

"Flash, wait! It's still hot!" Grand yelped, Twilight rolling her eyes at the sight.

She then felt Spike tap her side, turning to him, "You know...maybe you were right."

"OW!" They heard Flash yell as he burned his tongue.

"Maybe it's time I start getting rid of some of the things I don't use." Twilight smiled at this until Spike held up a claw and pointed at her, "But I'm keeping the lucky swim-shorts."

Twilight laughed at this, "Okay then. I guess we all got a reminder today that more isn't always better." In that moment, the townsponies picked up large slices of the pizza and took a bite out of them. But as soon as they did, they all got sickly looks on their faces and spat it back out with moans of disgust.

"Or better tasting," Grand groaned.

"Ugh..." Domino moaned as he dropped his slice, "This crust is horrible. Whose recipe was this?"

Everypony blinked at this, now remembering what bowl the super yeast fell into. They all turned to Rainbow, the mare giving them a wave before racing off. "I guess Pi isn't the only universal constant," Pinkie giggled as everypony began to walk off.

This only left a single pony who was still eating the pizza, a certain goofy smiling defender. "Ha!" Flash laughed before taking another bite, "I guess that means I win the pizza eating contest." He swallowed another one before holding out a hoof. "I will take my trophy, and the rest of this, to go."

Everypony just rolled their eyes as Flash continued eating. It wasn't long till they left, the group coming back with less pizza like meals. As for Flash, he continued to gorge himself as Twilight munched on a light salad.

"Flash." The defender turned to the princess, "You are not bringing that thing home."

"Challenge accepted," Flash guffawed before munching down on another piece. Twilight let out a long sigh while everypony else either giggled or rolled their eyes. It had been an interesting day for sure, one which nopony would likely ever forget. With such a memorable first Pizza Pi Party, next year's would have a lot to live up too. Until then, the ponies would look back on this day and remember to always have a bag of salt at the in case of approaching dough-ageddon
> The Bug and the Knight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was evening time in the Crystal Empire, and Thorax was in Flurry Heart's room, playing with her in an attempt to tire her out. Her parents were dealing with some visitors who were high ups in Celestia's royal court.

"Peekaboo!" He said, making Flurry laugh and clap her hooves. "Peekaboo. Peek..." Flurry raised her eyebrow, "aboo!" She laughed again at this.

As he did this, Hiveena walked into the room while a pair of guards kept the door open and stared inside. "So this is where you were," she sighed. "Oh, if only my mother could see you now."

"She'd probably have a heart attack," Thorax chuckled, "If she has a heart, that is."

"Too bad we can't be trusted to actually get left alone with her," Hiveena added as she plonked herself down in a rocking chair Cadance had. Thorax turned to her, only to see her point to the guards at the door, the two quickly looking away, one even whistling.

"That's not fair. Shining and Cadance always have a guard stationed at the door."

"They're there whenever you or I are here," Hiveena countered, "How do you know they're still here when we're not?"

"I...don't. Or...can't."

"They're always here." The two glanced back to see Ruby standing at the door, "You two aren't being singled out."

"You sure?" Hiveena asked.

"I would have thought you'd have a little more faith in us. We did agree to remove you magic-suppression ring."

"But Thorax and I still have to wear these paralyzing collars," Hiveena replied, "Not exactly something you put on ponies you trust."

"I don't have time for your wild theories," Ruby calmly responded, "I'm only here because the princess asked me to bring her daughter to her. The visitors are interested to meet Equestria's newest alicorn." Thorax nodded at this, stepping back as Ruby picked the princess up, Flurry squirming at this. But as she did this, Ruby patted her belly, making Flurry giggle, "Come along, little one."

She headed out the door with the changelings following her, the three making their way through the castle until reaching the meeting room. As they arrived, they found Cadance and Shining Armor walking out with several ponies. Fancy Pants was amongst them, but the others was a pink earth pony mare, a brown unicorn stallion and a pale blue pegasus, all dressed in finely crafted suits and dress.

Cadance smiled at the sight of her daughter, who started calling and reaching out for her. She took her in her magic, levitating her over, "Flurry, we have some very nice ponies looking to meet you." The alicorn turned to the four newcomers. "This is Fancy Pants, Clearwater, Hard Sell and Gentle Cloud."

"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance," Fancy told Flurry with a bow as the baby laughed.

"You know she can't hear you, right?" Hard Sell told him. "She's a foal."

"I wouldn't underestimate her," Hiveena spoke up. "The foal seems a lot more understanding then most her age." The high-end ponies all gave her a stare, making her raise an eyebrow, "What?"

"She's right, you know," Shining chimed in, "Watch. Flurry?" his daughter turned to him, "Black. Black." He said it a few more times until Flurry laughed and pointed at Thorax. "Good. Now...blue. Blue." This time, Flurry pointed to both him and Fancy...though she was focusing on their manes. "See?"

"Fascinating," Hard Sell chimed in, "She knows her colors. Very useful for one day ruling an empire."

"She's still young," Cadance added, "She'll learn more when she's older, especially since we have an excellent pony to teach her."

"Yes," Clearwater nodded. "This...Sunburst character. Where is he again?"

"At home," Cadance replied, "It's getting late, so it makes sense he'll be there."

"Ah, yes," Fancy nodded. "Maybe it's time we all turned in for the night. I'm sure we have lots more to do tomorrow."

They all nodded with Cadance turning to Thorax, "Can you run ahead and start running Flurry's bath? We need to show our guests to their quarters."

"Sure," Thorax responded before flying off to do said task. As he did this, Hiveena began to stretch out her body.

"Well, I might as well get to bed to. Busy day of doing nothing tomorrow...again." With that, she trotted off in the other direction.

Once she turned a corner, Gentle Cloud turned to Ruby and the royals, "Are you sure it's such a good idea to have those two wandering about the castle? They are changelings after all."

"Don't worry," Cadance replied, "Those two have been around for a long time and they haven't caused any trouble. Thorax has been a big help with Flurry whenever we need a foalsitter."

"But what about the other one?" Hard Sell asked, "If I remember correctly, she's the daughter of the changeling that kidnapped you and tried to wed Shining Armor. How can you be sure she won't cause any problems?"

"I admit I was a little skeptical at first," Shining told them. "But so far, she hasn't given us any major need to worry."

"And even if she does, I'll be there to make sure she's dealt with. Everything will be fine." Ruby finished, the higher ups showing content with this, the eight ponies heading toward the visitor's quarters. As they did this, Hiveena walked out of the corner.

"Of course," she sighed. "Still don't trust me, even though I've done everything I can to fit in here. Eh, whatever..."





Celestia's sun was soon completely set, the ponies of the empire now preparing to go to sleep. But there was one figure that was wide awake, hidden within the darkness of a nearby alleyway.

Within there, a pony stepped out of the darkness. It was a unicorn, but the specifics of its body were unknown due to what it was wearing. The entire body was covered in a black suit that could mistaken for a ninja outfit, covering all but their eyes. The pony was also wearing a pair of night-vision goggles, ducking through the darkness as they walked through the area.

The pony stared out of the alleyway, only to see some guards on night patrol, ducking back into the darkness until they passed. Once they were gone, he looked out again before staring at the castle. He then moved up to the wall and put something on it, a sticker with a circle drawn on it that had a series of symbols on the inside: Runes.

A horn began to glow at this, shooting out a blast of magic that struck the rune sticker, causing it to glow before the circle expanded off the sticker and onto the wall. Once it was done, the inside of the circle transformed into some kind of tunnel made entire of magic, which the pony leapt through.

What he found on the other side was darkness, the pony lighting his horn to illuminate the area. The pony now found itself surrounded by brooms and mops, then looking back at the portal to see it transform back into the sticker, ready to be used again. He then headed for the door and opened it up, looking out and finding itself within the Crystal Castle.

He stepped out of the broom closet, his eyes shifting around, only to hear hoofsteps. Going back into the closet, another pair of guards walked by before coming out of the closet again. And with that, the pony began to sneak around, trying to find its target.





Meanwhile...

Hiveena was now laying in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her head kept going over what the others said, growling at the words.

"Ahh!" She yelled, pulling a pillow over her head. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why she cared so much about what they had said. She knew they didn't trust her, so why did hearing about it bother her so much?

Before she could make another sound, her door opened, making him turn and see a staring Thorax. The changeling let out a silent growl, "What?!"

"I heard you through the walls. You were making a bunch of weird sounds. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she lied, quickly getting up, "I'm just...just having trouble sleeping. Probably not tired enough." She walked past him into the doorway. "I'm sure a walk'll tire me out. Then I can get to sleep no problem."

"Great!" Thorax walked with her, "I'll join you. I'm not really tired either." Hiveena knew that was a lie, since looking after Flurry Heart for even an hour could exhaust anypony. Thorax then let out a yawn, making her roll her eyes. But as she did this, a small smile appeared on her face, both now walking through the hallways.





The ninja was continuing his trek through the castle, and after many near misses of almost being seen, he arrived at this destination. The bedroom of Princess Flurry, which was being guarded by two guards, was just around the corner. His prize was in sight, and he magically pulled out two squares of paper with runes on them.

He stepped out from around the corner, slinking up as quietly as possible. And as the guards noticed him, one said, "Who are-" They didn't finish as the ninja threw the squares, both hitting one of the guards before the runes glowed and unleashed burst of electricity.

Both guards cried out as they were zapped, two bodies hitting the floor with a thud.





Hiveena's ears pricked up, spinning around, "Did you hear that?!"

"Hear what?" Thorax asked, Hiveena turning around and running through a hallway.

"I don't know, but It came from this direction. Sounded like somepony crying out." She continued to head in that direction with Thorax following her, the smaller changeling gasping.

"Wait...this is the way to Flurry's room!" He ran ahead of her, turning a corner before gasping again as he saw the guards laid out on the floor with the door open. The changeling zipped into the room, only to see the pony in ninja gear hovering over Flurry's crib. "Get away from her!" He almost yelled as he charged, but the unicorn leapt back before firing a blast of magic. "Augh!" He cried as he was thrown back, slamming into Flurry's bookshelf. He fell to the floor as the shelf rocked and collapsed on top of him, making a terrible racket as Hiveena arrived.

She saw the guards, then the stranger, then Thorax as she walked into the room. An angry hiss escaped her lips as she morphed into a giant cobra, charging at the ninja. He began to firing several magic beams, but she easily dodged them, pushing the stranger into a corner of the room.

Seeing the window to just his side, the ninja looked back at the now giant snake. "Nowhere to run now," she hissed, "You will pay for you've done here."

But as she said this, the stranger suddenly charged at the window, leaping through it in a single go. Glass shattered everywhere as the unicorn fell out the window, Hiveena gasping as she changed back to normal. She then saw the unicorn fall, only to bring his hooves to his side before pulling them apart to reveal glider wings. "What the-"

"What the hay?!" She turned to see Shining, Cadance and a few more guards entering the room. "What's going on?!"

"Thorax needs help!" She told them before leaping out of the window, making everypony go wide-eyed as the guards ran over to the window, Cadance to her daughter and Shining began to pull Thorax free. In a lower hallway, Ruby had been patrolling the castle when she heard the disturbance, only to see Hiveena flying outside a nearby window.

Deciding to follow her gut, Ruby teleported outside, looking up to see Hiveena fly low, teleporting again to a nearby roof. "What's happening?" She asked, only for Hiveena to point ahead. Ruby then saw the figure she was chasing, who was almost invisible thanks to their dark clothing.

"He was in the brat's room. He hurt Thorax and looked like he was about to do the same to Flurry."

Ruby went wide-eyed before glaring, running at full speed as the figure glided back to the ground. He performed a rolling landing, the flaps between his legs just dropping off as he started running. "Stop!" Ruby fired a blast of magic, but he managed to hop over it, then ducking under a beam of magic from Hiveena.

But as he evaded the third attack, he ran into an alleyway, only for Hiveena to fire some green slime from her mouth that hit his hoof. "Augh!" He cried, falling over, knocking his goggles off, revealing tanned brown fur around a pair of blue eyes. And when he picked himself up and rolled over, he found a crystal sword at his throat.

"Time for some answers," she replied, only for the ninja's horn to glow.





Back in the castle...

Shining was now trying to get Thorax to wake up, but the bug was out cold.

And as they did this, their attentions suddenly shifted to a new light coming from a wall. It was here that they saw a rune sticker placed on it, the runes now glowing as a buzzing sound filled the room.

"Oh no," Shining whispered before magically pulling everypony toward him and casting a shield spell. But as soon as it was up-

"I say," they turned to see their guests at the door. "What the dickens is going-"

"NO!" Shining yelled, trying to extend the shield.





KABOOM!

The explosion made the two run out of the alleyway, both seeing the castle now go up in smoke. Ruby gasped in horror as Hiveena looked back at the criminal. She let out a hiss as she saw him blast the gunk off his leg. "Hey! Get back here!" She flew after him as he ran to the back of the alleyway, towards a wall. "There's nowhere to run!"

To answer that statement, the criminals fired a blast from his horn, hitting a certain sticker. Hiveena gasped as she then saw a portal open up. The stallion leapt through it before it began to close, Hiveena trying to do the same. But as she got closer, she found herself unable to catch to the quickly shrinking portal. Instead, she saw the other side, a glimpse of an alleyway...and a sign.


Highlight's Pet Emporium.
Fillydelphia's best pet store


That was all she could read before the portal closed, her hooves then hitting the wall. "NO!" She yelled before seeing the sticker suddenly catch fire, burning to a crisp, "NO!"

"Hiveena!" She spun around at the voice, "The castle!" Hiveena nodded before taking Ruby's hoof, flying her up to the building. As they did this, almost everypony in the Empire began to running out of their houses, including Sunburst as he spotted the two.

"Ruby!" He called out, making them look down at the unicorn, "What's going on?!"

"We don't know!" Ruby replied, "Somepony tried to kidnap Flurry and when we cornered them..." She gestured to the castle, making Sunburst gasp. It wasn't long till all three were inside, being told by the guards that the royal couple were at the infirmary, making them gasp before they ran over there.

When they arrived, they saw Shining and Cadance standing at the foot of several beds with Flurry crying in Cadance's hooves. "Is everypony okay?" Ruby asked, stepping over to the couple.

"We're fine," Shining sighed, "But..." He turned to the beds, everypony now seeing Thorax, Fancy Pants, Hard Sell and Clearwater laying there. The nurses each placed an oxygen mask over their mouths before green gas was pumped inside.

"What happened to them?" Sunburst asked.

"Thorax got hit by a powerful blast of magic and then had a bookshelf collapse on him," Cadance explained. "He has a concussion and a few cracked ribs. The others were caught up in the explosion. All but Gentle Cloud was thrown into the back wall or hit with debris."

The head doctor spoke up at this moment, "I've given them all a powerful sedative, which should keep them comatose long enough to heal without feeling any pain. They'll be out until late tomorrow or maybe the day after."

"Thank you," Cadance nodded while the only visitor not hurt moved over to them.

"How could you let this happen?" Gentle Cloud asked, "Where were your guards when this happened?"

"The ponies guarding Flurry's room are still out of it," Shining grumbled out, "Some kind of weird rune magic was used on them."

"I found the same kind of rune when the pony who did all this disappeared." They all turned to Hiveena and asked for more details, the changeling explaining who it was that had hurt Thorax and likely set the bomb. Ruby also chimed in and verified what she was saying, Cadance's face showing a rare tinge of anger.

"What were they after?! Why kidnap Flurry?!" Cadance hissed, "Who is after my daughter?!"

"I don't know." Ruby replied, looking down in shame, "We won't know for sure until we find this individual."

"But how?" Sunburst asked, "You said he escaped through a rune portal. That means he could be anywhere in Equestria."

"I wouldn't worry about that. I know exactly where they are right now." They all turned to Hiveena, seeing a grin on her face. "They're in Fillydelphia."

"Fillydelphia?"

"I saw a sign through the portal." Hiveena added, "Highlight's Pet Emporium. Fillydelphia's best pet store. It's a sign that was across a road."

"So the pony that tried to take my daughter is now in Fillydelphia?" Shining growled, clenching his hooves, "Just wait until I get my hooves on-."

"No, your Majesty!" Ruby interrupted, "You need to stay here. It may be possible that he has a partner still in the city, waiting to try again. You need to make sure Flurry is safe." She stood tall, "I shall find this criminal and bring him to justice."

Shining glared at her, then looking at his wife as she nodded at him. Letting out a long sigh, "Wery well. We'll stay here and keep the empire on alert until you find out whose causing this."

"We'll also contact Twilight," Cadance added, "No doubt she'll want to hear about this. She may even be able to help if you run into any roadblocks."

Ruby nodded at this, "I'll set out for Fillydelphia on the first train tomorrow."

"You mean we'll set out," Hiveena chimed in, making everypony turn to her, "I'm going too." The ponies went wide-eyed at this, mainly because they knew Hiveena never volunteered to do anything. That is, till she said, "I'm going to make them pay for doing that to Thorax. Besides, I'm the only one who knows what to look for."

Ruby opened her mouth, only for Cadance to speak up, "Very well." She turned to the princess with wide eyes, "Hiveena can be a big help with her shape-shifting abilities. I want you to work with her and find out who's doing this."

"I...very well." Ruby sighed, doing a small bow.

"Great. Then let's get going." Hiveena added as she gestured to Ruby. "Come on."

"What are you talking about? We can't just go to Fillydelphia. It's halfway across Equestria."

"That distance means nothing. Come on, we'll fly there."

"That could take days, and I can't fly." Ruby deadpanned, only to slightly gulp as she saw a grin appear on Hiveena's face.

"You poor naïve fool. Shining Armor," she turned to the prince. "We're gonna need a chariot." The prince raised an eyebrow at this, only to tell her there were some at the city's stadium.

Within an hour, the two were standing in front of one of the Crystal Empire chariots. "I still don't see how this is supposed to help us," Ruby told the changeling as she got on the chariot. "Changelings can't fly that fast."

"Have you forgotten my special talent?" Hiveena asked as a burst of fire consumed her before taking the shape of Rainbow Dash. "I don't just copy a creature's form, but their abilities too." She flew around the chariot at super speeds, creating a blue blur that blocked it from view. And when she finally stopped, she was coupled to the chariot and Ruby was strapped into the seat like a pre-flight astronaut. "With this, we'll be there in no time."

"Err..." Ruby tried to say, "I don't think this is such a good IDEAAAAAAA!" She screamed as Hiveena shot into the air with a sonic boom, pulling the chariot with her. Within seconds, they reached the edge of the city's protective barrier and disappeared into the snowy night.

Cadance, Shining and Sunburst watched them go, all hoping they could find the one responsible for this. As they did this, Gentle Cloud was staring down at the royal couple and their child from the castle tower.





Hours passed like they were nothing as Ruby sat in the chariot while the Rainbow Dash lookalike flew through the air. She was forced to slow down when they were a third of the way there, but still kept up a brisk pace, the two now flying over the more common landscapes of Equestria. And as the sun and moon began to swap places as dawn approached, the city of Fillydelphia came into view.

"We're almost there!" Ruby told Hiveena, "You holding up alright?"

"I'm fine," the changeling replied, "My species can go four days without sleep, though the journey here will have cut my limit to three."

"Well, don't overdo yourself," Ruby responded, "At least not until we find the shop you saw before." As she said this, the began to land. They first had to find someplace to park their chariot, though that wasn't difficult since theirs had a royal decree sticker, giving them permission to park anywhere that wasn't a handicap zone.

"Alright," Ruby commented as she got off the chariot, "Let's get searching. If this pet store's supposed to be the best in Fillydelphia, lots of ponies must know about it."

"Maybe...unless its a boast on their part. But before we start searching...." She walked behind a street lamp and came out as a white pegasus mare with black and red stripped hair and a music note cutie mark. "There. That should help keep me incognito." She turned to Ruby, "Though you'll stick out like a sore hoof."

Ruby smirked before lighting her horn. In a flash of light, her normally glistening red coat had turned the normal blue while her mane and tail turned violet. Her cutie mark had changed to a panto mask and the Crystal Promise had vanished from around her neck. "A little something I picked up from Trixie. Figured I may end up doing detective work, so having a way to stay under the radar was a must."

Hiveena giggled at this, "I can't help but feel touched that you've adopted my way of doing things."

"Let's just get to work," Ruby replied, "We should ask around and see if anypony can direct us to this store."

But as they did this, asking anypony they came across, they soon found that Hiveena's comment about the boast was correct, nopony knowing the store. The mares were forced to split up, asking street after street, only to get no answers. They had never heard of Highlight, their pet emporium or it being being the best pet store in Fillydelphia.

Hours passed, no help coming. And as Ruby let out a sigh, she walked back to where she and Hiveena had agreed to meet, mentally exhausted after asking the same question over a hundred times. She arrived on the street, now seeing the disguised Hiveena lounging on a bench, drinking a soda and flicking through a book as their chariot was behind her.

"What are you doing?" Hiveena looked up to see a glaring Ruby, both locking eyes before Hiveena took a sip from her drink. "How long have you been here?"

"About an hour." Ruby's eye twitched at this, "I realized we were never gonna find this place just by asking around."

"So you gave up?"

"No," Hiveena held up the book, "I realized there was another way to find it." Ruby blinked at the novel, now seeing it was the Fillydelphia mail directory, a book with the names, addresses and zip codes of everypony and business in the city.

"Of course!" Ruby face-hoofed, "Why didn't I think of this before?!"

"Don't go singing my praises yet," Hiveena added as Ruby sat down, "I haven't found the place yet, and I've been looking for an-wait!" Ruby turned to her as she poked a page, "Bingo!" Ruby stared down the page, seeing the name they had been looking for.

"Highlight's Pet Emporium," Ruby read. "One, two, three Trotting Street."

Hiveena slapped the book shut, "Let's ride." Ruby got onto the chariot while Hiveena strapped herself in, the two having grabbed a map and located Trotting Street on the edge of the city. They soon flew over, Ruby directing the changeling in which way to turn.

As they made their way through the town, they found the buildings were looking less maintained. The windows were either dirty, broken or boarded up. Trash bags littered the streets along with other sets of loose garbage, making both wretch in disgust. "No wonder nopony knew about this place," Hiveena commented, "Who'd wanna buy a tortoise from this dump?"

"Let's just find this place and get out of here before we get mugged." Ruby added as they landed, the two getting out and following the map. But as they drew closer to their target, they found the conditions around them growing worse.

"Shoo!" Ruby yelled as some bugs swarmed around her, then feeling one bite her, "Raah!" She waved her tail around, trying to swat the bugs away, only to notice Hiveena wasn't having any problems. "Why don't they mess with you?"

"Maybe they're not into cannibalism," Hiveena laughed, making Ruby roll her eyes.

"Whatever." She glanced back at the map as the pair turned onto what should have been Trotting Street.

"There!" Hiveena called out, Ruby looking up to see a building down the street. They both ran up to it, seeing the sigh with the exact same words Hiveena had seen. "This is definitely it," the changeling commented before turning around and spotting the alleyway she had seen through the portal directly across the street. "That's where he teleported to."

Ruby turned to the alleyway, glancing around before seeing a frame store to the right and a bar to the left. "Think after his failure he went to drown his sorrows?"

"Only one way to find out," Hiveena replied as they walked up to the bar. As soon as they opened the door, they were met by the buzz of noise coming from within. It seemed everypony that lived in the area had all compiled within the bar, filled with stallions and the occasional mare. The place was very dark, lit by a single overhead light.

Several pairs of eyes fell on the two as they moved over to the bar and sat down, "What can I get you ladies?" The bartender asked. Hiveena suggested the least-alcoholic drink they could get, both taking a small shot before looking around.

"See anything?" Ruby asked, her mind telling to not expect much considering how long it had been.

Hiveena's eyes shifted around the place, trying to make it look like she wasn't staring...only for her gaze to come to a stop, "Ten o'clock."

Ruby glanced over in that direction, spotting a booth with a tan brown skinned unicorn, a pair of blue eyes barely showing themselves. "That's him," Ruby whispered as they turned back to the bar before he spotted them. "What's the plan?"

"Maybe go over and teleport him outside? I get the feeling the ponies in this place are looking for an excuse to throw down."

Ruby slightly shook her head, "We need to get him to tell us why he tried to take Flurry before we capture him. Right now, we don't even know for sure that it is him. That's a pretty common fur color."

"Alright," Hiveena gulped down another shot. "Leave it to me." She got up before Ruby could say anything, sauntering over to the booth as several eyes saw her sway her hips. Their target was one of them, Hiveena using a special changeling magic that allowed her to link her mind to a closeby target. She couldn't read their mind, but she could learn what attracted them. She carefully shifted her proportions so that she was the right body shape to be attractive to the stallion, the mare soon reaching him. "Hey there handsome. This seat taken?"

The stallion probably would have told her to go away, but already being a few drinks in, he couldn't and said, "Sure."

She sat down and ordered another round of drinks as he finished his off. "So, what's got you drowning your sorrows?"

"I had a really important job to do...and I blew it. Now my employer's gonna have my head."

"Oh, poor baby." The drinks arrived as Hiveena quickly drank hers, making the stallion slowly drink his, "So...what kind of work do you do?"

"I'm a...handy-pony. I do whatever the customer wants. I haven't failed before, but...some annoying ponies got in my way. Now I've blown my chance and the money I was gonna get from it."

Hiveena said nothing and drank some more, now knowing she had found their stallion. The two continued to talk after this, Hiveena using her old talents to make up a bunch of stories about herself. And as the stallion began to drown more into his drink, she tried to steer the conversation in the direction of his job. But every time, he would shift to another subject. She couldn't even get a name out of him.

One hour and several glasses of cider later, the two were laughing at something Hiveena had said. The changeling glanced over at the bar, seeing Ruby stare at her before the disguised unicorn got up and left.

"So..." she turned back to him, "Are you local? At least tell me that."

"I have a place I crash at whenever I need some time to myself," he replied before Hiveena leaned up to him.

"Why don't you show me it and you won't have to be by yourself?" The stallion smiled before getting up, walking to the door. He was a little tipsy, but not bad enough to make him look like an idiot. Hiveena followed behind him, the two soon turning left as Hiveena glanced around for Ruby. And as they walked into an alleyway, an idea popped into her head.

"What was that?" She asked, making the unicorn stop and turn to her.

"What was what?" She stared into the alleyway, raising her ear up.

"I heard something. Somepony...calling for help." She walked ahead of him, the unicorn slowly following her. She then began glancing around, the stallion raising an eyebrow at this.

But as they got about halfway through the alley, the exit suddenly disappeared. "What the?" He asked as he spun around and saw a large wall of crystal suddenly shoot out of the ground. "Wait...this is-"

"Surprise!" He turned back to Hiveena as a flash of light revealed Ruby beside her, both mares transforming back to their true selves.

"You two!"

"Us!" Ruby instantly responded, "We have a few questions we'd like you to answer. Now we can do this the easy way-" she didn't get to finish as the unicorn fired a blast, both ducking under the beam before the unicorn charged at them. Ruby sighed and easily deflected a punch before grabbing the unicorn, spinning him over onto his back. He let out a groan of pain as he hit the floor, then opened his eyes to see the upside down mares glaring at him.

"Why did you try and kidnap the princess?!"

Hiveena answered for him, "I think he was hired too. He said something about a job with a big payday." This made Ruby growl as the unicorn tried to get back to his hooves, only to fall back down before shuffling backwards.

"Is that true?! Did somepony put you up to this?! Admit and it'll be a lot easier on you. Just tell us who it is that hired you."

"I don't know," the unicorn came to a stop. "I just got a message telling me what to do and where to bring the foal when I was done. I never met the pony that hired me."

"You must have talked to them," Ruby barked back, "Ponies like you like to haggle, so you must have worked out a price and spoke to them face to face."

"No. They sent me a special rune that let me communicate to them. I never saw their face." He started shuffling back again, "I even asked what they wanted to kid for, but they said nothing. My guess is they wanted to trade her for somepony else. Probably a friend that was in prison or something."

"A likely story," Ruby hissed as she summoned a sword, "Now tell us who hired you!"

Hiveena smiled at the squirming pony, enjoying the look of terror on his face. That is, till she saw something on the ground. A piece of paper that Ruby hadn't noticed, which the criminal placed while he was crawling back. One with some strange symbol on it, Hiveena yelling, "Don't!" But it was too late. Ruby stepped on the rune as it lit up beneath her hooves.

"AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" She screamed as lightning exploded through her body, causing it to go numb and making her magic cut out. As the last of the electricity flowed through her, Ruby's sword fell to the floor, her body soon joining.

Hiveena could only gasp when she saw what had happened, the criminal quickly getting to the fallen knight before the changeling could react. Before Ruby could do anything, a hoof slung around her neck, yanking her up before a dagger presented itself to her throat, "Don't even try it," the unicorn hissed, "One wrong move and you get a second mouth."

Ruby tried to move at this, only for a numbness to flow through her body. Seeing this, the unicorn looked up at Hiveena, "You too lady. Unless you want your little friend hurt, you'd better give up." The changeling glared at him, then glanced down at Ruby before looking back at him and letting out a sigh. The unicorn smirked at this, only to see Hiveena turn back with a glowing horn. He clenched his dagger ready hoof, only to for a beam of magic to suddenly hit Ruby.

"Ahhhhh!" Ruby screamed as the blast struck her chest, knocking her out of the stallion's hooves. She slumped over, hitting the dirt.

"What the-" The unicorn turned back to Hiveena, only to see her smile.

"Finally. You have no idea how much of a favor you just did for me," she replied, "That unicorn's been on my tail for ages. Thanks for giving me the opening I needed to finish her off."

"What...trickery is this?" He asked, holding up his knife as Hiveena moved up to him.

"No tricks. You see, I'm as much a prisoner as your employer's friends. Even though I'm allowed to walk around, they still keep a watchful eye on me. Just waiting for me to make some kind of mistake that they can use to justify throwing me back into a cell." In that moment, Ruby's eyes flickered open, but neither noticed as her head lifted up. "But thanks to you, now I can disappear into thin air. Although, I may be willing to help you in your little endeavor."

The unicorn laughed at this, "What could you possibly do to help me?" Her answer was to ignite her body, transforming back to her normal state, the unicorn gasping at the sight.

"I'm a changeling," she replied, "I can take whatever form I want." She began to move to the left, the unicorn mirroring her movement to keep away, "That means I'm the perfect pony to sneak in and grab the little brat with everypony being none the wiser." In another burst of flames, she suddenly transformed into Ruby. "It's simple. I go back to the Crystal Empire, telling them I escaped and fled before she could catch me. Then, when nopony's looking, I snatch the poop-machine and hand her off to you."

"And what's in it for you?" The unicorn asked as Hiveena turned back to normal.

"If I'm to properly escape, I'm gonna need bits to hold me over until I can find a place to lay lower. I help you get the foal, you split your take with me."

This got the unicorn to frown, raising his dagger again. "I don't think so." With that, the unicorn charged at the changeling, only for Hiveena to magically grab Ruby's fallen sword, blocking the knife with a single swipe. Both were soon stuck in clashing, both weapons swinging around as they also fired beams.

But as this fight began, Hiveena took to the air, firing a barrage of magic. And as she did this, the unicorn fired a shot straight up, hitting her wing. "Augh!" She fell to the ground as her magic dropped the sword, the unicorn catching it in his magic.

Before she could recover, she suddenly felt the blade at her throat, "Should have run while you had the chance." He pulled the blade back, only to suddenly flinch. "AHHHHH!" He screamed at the feeling of something hitting him in the back, Hiveen jumping to the side to see a flying crystal ball.

Ruby was now back on her hooves, the ball now growing before expanding around the unicorn until his entire body was consumed in the red gem. Hiveena sighed before turning to Ruby, "Nice save partner. Now let's see what this moron-" She didn't get to finish as Ruby created another crystal sword and pointed right at her neck, "Whoa, whoa, whoooooa! What's your problem?!"

"Don't play dumb with me," Ruby growled, her eyes red with anger, "Despite your attempts to eliminate me, I heard everything you said to him, including your plans to kidnap the princess for a cut of his profits." This statement caused Hiveena to roll her eyes, giving a look that said 'I can't believe this.'

"And they say unicorns are supposed to be the smart ones of your species." She pushed Ruby's sword away before pointing at her. "That was a diversion. I was trying to get him away from you."

"You shot me!"

"If I didn't, he would have sliced your head off!" She pointed at Ruby's chest, "You're not badly hurt, are you?"

"No," Ruby did her own once over before glaring back, "But that doesn't make what you did right. And how do I know you were telling him the truth and are now lying to save your own skin?"

"Oh, for crying out loud! What is it gonna take for you to trust me?! If Sentry or any of your other little friends had done something like that, they wouldn't even need to say sorry for you to forgive them."

"Trust is something that needs to be earned," Ruby growled, "And so far, you haven't been doing anything to make me trust you. Especially with stupid stunts like that."

"How can I earn your trust if you won't even give me a chance?! I would have thought helping Sentry and the princesses stop that storm cloud would have shown I'm trying to help you."

"Self preservation," Ruby instantly responded, "There's no way you could have escaped the storm, so slowing it down enough to allow a proper solution was you best bet."

"Oh, I give up," Hiveena turned away from her. "There's just no pleasing you, is there? And while we're on the matter of trust, I'd like to point out that it's meant to be a two way street." She glared back, "I held up my end of the bargain, but so far you ponies have been less than giving with yours." Ruby raised an eyebrow at this. "Did you forget what you promised when I agreed to join you?"

"We promised to let you roam free in the Empire, and you have."

"As long as you've got a guard close by to keep an eye on me," Hiveena corrected. "But that's not what I was talking about! You promised to help me reclaim my rightful place as queen of the changelings. What have you actually done since then to try and help me accomplish this goal?"

"This kind of stuff takes time-"

"It would take a lot less time if you actually did anything. Do come running to me if my mother decides to attack tomorrow and ends up conquering Equestria. If you had held up your end of the bargain, she would have been taken down by now!" Ruby growled at this, only to say nothing. Instead, Hiveena let out a huff as she turned to the frozen pony, "Let's just drop it for now. We're wasting time." She tapped the crystal, "Unlike someponies, I actually keep my promises. I'm gonna find out who's after the baby, and then after that, you can decide whether or not you trust me." She glanced back at the knight, "Open him up, would ya?!"

"Fine." Ruby sighed as her glowed, creating a small crack around his face. It then broke off, freeing his mouth and nose, but left the rest of him trapped.

He let out a mighty gasp of air, panting as he glared at the pair. "Are you insane?! I could have died!"

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic," Hiveena spat, "Goody two-hooves over there obviously left you a big enough hole to breath."

"Barely."

"Well, if you want to keep breathing, you'll start talking. Who is it that's after Flurry Heart?"

"I told you," the unicorn cried back. "I never met them." The two shared a glance before Ruby lifted her blade...and began to morph it into an axe. "B-b-but I have the rune they sent me for communication! Maybe you can use it to track them down!" The knight and changeling shared another look before turning back to him, Ruby then shattering the crystal prison.

He cried out before slumping over. A few seconds later, he held out a piece of paper, which Ruby took in her magic. "How's it work?"

"Just hit it with some magic and it'll connect to the rune that the employer has. But when I tried to contact them to explain my failure, they didn't pick up."

"Is that so?" Ruby hummed. "Thank you. I'll send some police officers round to pick you up and leave a crystal pickaxe to break you out." The unicorn tried to respond, only for a flash of light to appear around him, putting him in another crystal prison. This one only had one opening, which was on the end of his snout, freeing up his nose but leaving his mouth locked shut.

With him out of the way, the two stared down at the paper, staring at the runes as Hiveena, "So what do we do with it?"

"Good question. Do you think you know him about enough to impersonate him?" Hiveena nodded, "Then we'll call the pony and see if we can identify them. It's possible they don't know he failed, and if that's true, we can set up a trap by pretending to have him deliver the princess."

Hiveena transformed at this, Ruby placing the paper on the floor before hitting it with her magic. The runes lit up, the pair waiting for a voice...only for nothing. "Hello?" Hiveena asked while mimicking the criminal, "Anypony home?" There was no reply, "Hey! You in there or not?!" She continued trying to get an answer from the paper for about five minutes before giving up, Ruby cutting the magic as she transformed back. "Well, now what?"

Ruby picked up the paper and hummed. "There may still be a way we can use this." Hiveena raised an eyebrow, "I know of somepony that might be able to help us. Come on!" She shattered the crystal wall and ran off, Hiveena following after her.

"Where are we going?"

"Canterlot. With the Royal Chariot and your Rainbow speed, we'll get there in-OH, CRAB-APPLES!"

Ruby's language now showed itself as they turned a corner to find the chariot had been chop-shopped. The wheels had been pilfered along with the connecting reigns and several of the gems.

"Darn this city!" Hiveena yelled, "How the heck are supposed to get to Canterlot now?!"

"I can replace the wheels," Ruby sighed, "You go find something you can use to attach yourself to it that won't break at high speeds."

"You sure you trust me with that?" The changeling asked, "Won't you be scared I'd find something that would snap once we're high up in the air so you'd fall to your untimely demise?"

Ruby rolled her eyes at this, "Just go find something. We're running out of time." Hiveena grumbled as she flew off as Ruby began creating a pair of crystal wheels, trying to make them as firm as possible, "We're getting there your majesties," Ruby whispered, "Just hold on."





The Crystal Empire...

Fancy let out a moan, the stallion slowly opening his eyes as he found himself staring at a crystal ceiling. He then heard other moans, making him turn to see some other ponies were also waking up, but the changeling was still asleep.

"Where are we?" Clearwater asked as she sat up.

"Some kind of hospital," Hard Sell replied.

"Obviously," the mare groaned, "I mean, what are we doing here?" Her question was answered when the doors opened and Gentle Cloud stepped into the room, followed by Sunburst and Cadance.

"You're awake!" Gentle exclaimed, "Are you all okay?"

"We're fine," Fancy muttered before holding his head. "Mostly. What happened?"

"You were all caught in an explosion," Cadance told them. "Somepony tried to kidnap Flurry Heart last night."

"Somepony tried to kidnap the princess?!" Hard Sell gasped, "Why would somepony do something like that?!"

"We don't know," Sunburst responded, "But Ruby and Hiveena are investigating."

"The changeling?" Fancy asked, "Are you sure that's wise?"

"She saved my daughter," Cadance replied, "Flurry would have been taken if she hadn't been there. I know she and Ruby will find out who did this."

Gentle nodded at this. "And hopefully, that'll mean all these security measures will vanish. I can't even stay in my own room without having another pony there."

"The buddy system is to ensure everypony stays safe," Cadance responded before seeing a pair of guards walk into the room, "Everything's fine in here, unless there's something to report?"

"No, your majesty," one guard responded, "We just thought we heard somepony's voice in one of the guest quarters, but we didn't find anything when we looked."

"Very good," Cadance replied, nodding, "Continue your patrol and keep your eyes and ears peeled. I'm counting on you." The guards bowed before leaving the room as a bunch of doctors walked past them. They were carrying more oxygen tanks, full of the sedative gas that the ponies would need to take.

"Whoa," Hard Sell stared at the bottles, "That's a lot of gas. How many ponies could that stuff knock out?"

"A lot," the doctor replied. "Several rooms full probably."

"Several rooms?" Gentle asked, "That's...impressive."

"Yeah," Hard Sell nodded as the gas was pumped into his face. He slowly drifted back off to sleep, Fancy and Clearwater doing the same.

"How long will they be out?" Cadance asked once they were asleep.

"Depends on them," the doctor replied, "But I'm confident they should remain under until tomorrow morning. By then, the magic should have healed them enough to leave." Cadance nodded and left the room, Sunburst following her. The doctors stayed behind to continue their examination of the four unconscious ponies, while Gentle Cloud stared at them before glancing over to the gas.





With the chariot...mostly repaired, the two mares had made a beeline for Canterlot and arrived late in the day. Once there, they went to see the only pony in Equestria that could help them when it came to rune magic. "Sloppy," Script grumbled while looking over the rune they had confiscated. They were in his house, which was more like a library than anything else. "Whoever made this has only the faintest understanding of the craft."

"We didn't come to get it's value appraised," Hiveena hissed back.

"Ignore her," Ruby went on as Hiveena stuck her tongue out at her. "We need to know if you can use this to help us find out who gave it to the criminal."

"This kind of black market runes could be acquired by anypony with connections in the trade industry. A few have them have even shown up in auctions here in Canterlot. However, I might be able to come up with a way to help you."

"How?"

"You said it's meant to have a twin that it can be used to talk through, right?" They both nodded, "That means there's a magical signal connecting them. I can use that to trace the location of the rune. Depending on the strength of the connection, I could find out which city it's in and even pinpoint the house."

"Great!" Hiveena said, "Then get to work!"

"Hold your horses."

"I'm a bug."

"Whatever." Script got up and started pulling books off his shelves. "It'll take time to properly write the rune circle. Give me an hour." The two sighed, heading for the door as Hiveena took up her disguise.

It was here she spotted a café across the street. Having not eaten much today, the two walked in and gave their orders as Ruby commented, "Hopefully, Script can locate the one behind all this, and we can put this investigation to rest. I'll be good to know the princess will be safe after that."

"I'm sure that's not the only thing you think is good about this investigation ending," Hiveena grumbled, Ruby blinking at her, "When it's over, you won't have to be around me anymore."

"Not this again. Hiveena, you need to let this go."

"How can I let it go? How would you feel if somepony like Cadance or Shining Armor admitted they didn't trust you, even though you'd done nothing to make them mistrust you?!"

"Well, you have done something to make me mistrust you. Don't forget, you enslaved a town of ponies and almost killed me!"

"You trust Luna, and she tried to turn Equestria into a realm of eternal night!" Hiveena barked back, "And name one thing I've done since being let out of prison to make you mistrust me, other than the bluff I used to save your life!" Ruby opened her mouth to respond...only for nothing to come out, Hiveena looking away while crossing her hooves, "You know...I get that you have a reason to mistrust me, but why do you not trust Thorax? What did he do?"

"What are you talking about?! I trust Thorax."

"As long as he's got a collar around his neck," Hiveena spat as she pointed to the one she was wearing. "If you trust him, why does he have to wear it?!"

"I..." Ruby tried to say, only to go silent. She had forgotten about the collars they had to wear, making her look away.

"I know why. You want some way to stop us if you think we've become too dangerous. To deal with us easily, like what you said to those high-up ponies yesterday." Ruby gasped at this, "Oh yes, I heard all about it. Even after everything that's happened, you're still okay with cutting me down at the slightest mistake. And you say I'm giving you no reason to trust me."

Their food arrived at this moment, Ruby not responding before seeing the bug chow down on her food. Sighing at this, she ate her meal, both eating in silence. And as this happened, Ruby thought back on the past few months, including the one she had been gone. Hiveena hadn't done anything until today, and it was all to help her.

And as they finished their meal, they returned to Script's house, walking inside to find him drawing a rune circle around a map of all Equestria. "Ah, you're here. I'm almost done."

"So how does it work?" Ruby asked before Script held up the rune paper.

"I hold this over the map and activate the circle. Then this one's location will appear on the map before drawing a line directly to where its twin is. Ready?" They nodded and Script levitated the rune over the map before hitting the runes with magic, causing them to light up and create a barrier around the map and communication runes.

The piece of paper glowed blue for several seconds before unleashing a beam of light that struck the map, hitting Canterlot dead on. Everypony watched as a line then started spreading across the map, heading north. This got the mares to frown, thinking the criminal was somewhere just south of the empire. But to their surprise, the line passed the last town before the empire and headed into the snowy land. And it didn't stop, instead going north.

"You don't think?" Hiveena asked as the line came to a stop, right on top of the Crystal Empire. "Oh no."

Script quickly looked through his bookshelves and pulled out another map, floating it over the rune circle. It unfolded to show a layout of the Crystal Empire, the map floating right above the first one. The light from the first map then flew off the paper, striking the edge of the second map, appearing on the southern most side of the city and moving upward.

"Please don't stop where I think it'll stop," Ruby begged as the line continued...all the way to the castle. "No."

"We have to get back there," Hiveena added.

"No, we have to get Celestia to send a warning to Cadance. They'll scour the entire castle for the culprit." Ruby responded, trying to head for the door, only for Hiveena to grab her hoof.

"Wait!" She turned back to the changeling, "If we do that, then we'll just be telling the criminal we're onto them. If that happens, they could ditch the rune and cover their tracks. Then they'll just bid their time until we let out guard down so they can try again."

"So, what do you suggest?" Ruby asked.

Hiveena took a deep breath at this, "I have an idea, but you're gonna have to trust me." Ruby raised an eyebrow while Hiveena waited for a response, wondering what the knight's answer would be.





The Crystal Empire...

Night had fallen again, the ponies of the empire now fast asleep. The guards around the castle were on high alert, constantly searching the area. Of course, they also knew that only an idiot would try again so soon after the last failed attempt...but this world was full of idiots.

Though the castle had many spare rooms, the royal couple hadn't wanted to be apart from their daughter until the culprits were caught. So Flurry was sleeping in the same room as them until they were sure she would be safe, the family of three all fast asleep. And outside, the guards were constantly patrolling the hallways, everything seeming fine.

The guards all let out yawns, many thinking it was due to their workload and lack of sleep. But as they did this, none noticed the air was slowly being filled with a familiar green gas that was falling to the ground, difficult to see thanks to the darkness. But despite it being on the ground, the soldiers breathed it in and all let out yawns. Then, one by one, they began to fall asleep. Some leaned against the wall and slid to the floor, others just straight up collapsing.

When the last guard was counting sheep, the cause of the gas walked out of the shadows. It was a figure in a black cloak, wearing a gas-mask. The pony stepped through the hallway, which was now filled with the snores of the sleeping guards, until they reached the door leading to the royal family's chambers.

The pony cracked the door open enough to slide a pipe connected to an oxygen tank through it and then shut it, keeping the room air tight as they opened the valve. The green mist flew through the pipe and exited into the room, which quickly filled up the place. Now those sleeping would remain asleep until the deed was done.

Opening the door again, the figure walked in while the gas began to thin out. He spotted the royal couple, both covered by their blankets. The pony then focused on the crib, walking up as a light appeared from under the cloak hood, revealing a horn. A similar light appeared from out of the cloak, being wrapped around a dagger. And as the figure reached the crib, he stared down at the sleeping foal as she was curled up in her blanket. She looked so peaceful in this state, but the pony knew it was only a façade.

"I'm sorry," a muffled voice told the baby. "But this is for the greater good." The dagger was raised upward, tip pointed straight at her heart while the figure looked away. "For the sake of Equestria...DIE!" The dagger was plunged straight down...and stopped.

The figure sighed, believing the deed was done...only to hear no scream. No sound of blood splattering. They looked back at the dagger, only to see it was stopped inches from the foal's chest, the cause being a green light that wrapped around the blade. The same was coming off the baby's horn, the filly's eyes shooting open before she gave him a coy smile.

"No thanks. I prefer life." She chuckled, the figure gasping before the foal fired a blast of magic at him, sending him flying across the room.

"AUGH!" They cried, their mask getting blasted off.

And as the figure hit the floor, Flurry flew out of the crib before transforming in a burst of fire into Hiveena. "Surprise!" The blankets were then thrown off the bed, revealing Ruby and another guard, both having weapons ready while the figure got up.

"Hooves where we can see them!" Ruby yelled as she grabbed the cloak in her magic, pulling it to reveal the pony beneath. "Hard Sell...you're under arrest." The pony that had been previously asleep in the medical bay, even still being bandaged up, glared up at them.

"How?! Where are the royal family?!"

"Several levels lower," Ruby replied, "They teleported down as soon as they closed the door. And we teleported in."

"But how are you awake?!" He asked, only to realize his mask was gone and he was still awake. He then saw the ponies point to the walls, the unicorn now seeing rune stickers all over to the place.

"Since you decided to use black market runes, we decided to counter you with our own masterly crafted runes. Anti-sleeping runes. Place them in a circle and it creates an area that's impossible to fall asleep in." While Hiveena said this, Ruby used her magic to place him in a similar crystal prison she had the original criminal.

All but his head was sealed away, the guard putting a magic suppression ring on his horn. Once that was done, Ruby teleported Hard Sell, Hiveena and herself into the throne room. There, Cadance, Shining and their daughter were waiting with Sunburst and several more guards at the sides.

"So...this is the pony that orchestrated everything. The one who tried to steal my daughter away from me?" Cadance hissed.

"No," Hiveena shook her head, making Hard Sell and the royals to glance at her, "He's the one who planned this, but he didn't try and steal Flurry away."

"He tried to kill her," Ruby continued before throwing the dagger he had used to the ground. "Planned to stab her in her sleep." The royals gasped, Cadance holding Flurry tighter at this.

"Why?!" Cadance asked, "Why do all this?! What could you possibly gain from killing my daughter?!"

"I was only trying to protect Equestria!" Hard Sell yelled.

"Protect Equestria?" Shining yelped, "How could hurting a child protect Equestria?!"

Hard Sell glared at him, then at Flurry. "That child is too powerful. Even as an infant, her power matches that of a fully grown alicorn. And the power will only grow stronger with age. Such power, in the hooves of a pony we know nothing about?! A pony whose allegiance has yet to be confirmed?!"

His words made everypony blink, eyebrows raising as he continued, "Princess Twilight and Princess Cadance became alicorns after proving they were worthy of the power and wouldn't use it for evil. But that foal has done nothing to prove she can be trusted to not use her power for her own gains. Already she almost destroyed the Crystal Empire! Whose to say she won't do so again, only next time on purpose!"

"That's ridiculous," Sunburst spoke up. "You're justifying trying to kill a foal just because she might use her powers for evil one day."

"I'm sure there were ponies a thousand years ago who chose to see what Sombra would become. If they had acted, the pain the Crystal Empire went through would have never happened. If Princess Luna could become Nightmare Moon, who's to say your child won't end up the same way?!"

"I say," Shining announced. "I know my daughter won't turn out like Sombra or Nightmare Moon."

"But you don't know the future. Maybe you and Princess Cadance can stop her from turning evil, but you don't know what'll happen. You might be killed by something and that horror may cause her to turn to the dark side."

"That still doesn't give you the right to kill her," Shining growled. "For all you know, this very act could have been the trigger that turned her evil."

"Only if I failed," he hissed, only to let out a sigh, "Which I have. Equestria is still in danger."

"Maybe it is," Hiveena spoke up as everypony turned to her, "You're right. There is a chance the brat could turn evil and choose to do something terrible." She trotted over to him while all eyes remained upon her. "But isn't that true about everypony in Equestria?"

"Not everypony has powers like hers!"

"Princess Twilight didn't get that much more powerful when she became an alicorn," Hiveena pointed out. She then turned to Shining Armor, "Didn't she turn your parents into plants?" Shining nodded as Hiveena glanced back to him. "She already had the power needed to destroy Equestria before she was an alicorn. If somepony like you had seen her power and come to the same conclusion, imagine how horrible Equestria would be right now. Because somepony thought she was too dangerous, they killed her and left Equestria with nopony to find the Elements of Harmony. So Nightmare Moon wouldn't have been stopped, Discord wouldn't have been reformed, and my mother would have taken over Canterlot because nopony else would have found princess Cadance."

"She's right," Ruby added, "Hiveena's telling you that despite Flurry having the potential for great evil, she also has the potential for great good. A potential you almost destroyed."

"There may come a day when an evil rises and only Flurry will have the power to stop it," Sunburst went on, "But you want us to sacrifice that chance just because you think the child is dangerous."

"I'm afraid he isn't the only one with this fear." The ponies all turned to see Gentle Cloud trotting into the throne room, Fancy Pants and Clearwater limping behind her. "Flurry's future is a subject of much debate in the high ups of Equestria."

"What are you saying?" Cadance asked, "Were you all in on his too?!"

"No," Fancy spoke up. "Though we share his fears of your foal going down a dark path, we do not share his delusions to the situation."

They all shot him a glare, Hard Sell countering, "You see it too! The danger she could become! Discord, Sombra, Tirek...compared to what she could become, they're nothing."

Fancy nodded at this, "Yes, but if we fear what everypony might become, nopony will be able to unlock their true potential, and Equestria will become stagnant."

"But safe!" Hard Sell screamed, the three ponies turning away from him. "Don't look away from me! You know I'm right!"

"Guards!" Cadance yelled, "Get him out of my sight." The guards quickly ran over and took the crystal trapping him in their magic, pulling him away as he continued to rant.

"You know I'm right! You'll be sorry one day! You'll regret stopping me!" With that, he was pulled out of the room as his ramblings continued.

Once he was gone, Cadance turned to the high up ponies. "You fear my daughter?"

Fancy sighed at this, "We fear what she might become...but we hope those fears are proven wrong. And I'm sorry to say your majesties, that that fear may be something your daughter will find in a lot of ponies that see how strong she is. It will be a long time until she proves she can be trusted with the power she was born with."

Cadance frowned as she stared down at her sleeping child, letting out a long sigh, "She didn't ask for this power. She may not have earned it like the other alicorns, but I know in my heart she will one day make Equestria proud."

The ponies all nodded back, believing the same thing. Cadance and Shining then turned to Ruby and Hiveena, "Thank you. I'm sure this investigation wasn't easy."

"It had it's...challenges," Ruby replied, "But in the end, we managed to find the culprits and save the princess." She let out a sigh. "To think, that pony was scared because of something a pony might do despite there being no reason to fear that would happen. It's hard to believe a pony would let one's past define their view on another without even getting to know the individual they're accusing."

"It's not that hard," Hiveena chimed in, Ruby turning to her. She saw the long frown on her face before spinning around and leaving the room. And as the bug left, Ruby sighed at the sight before turning back to the royal couple.

"Princess, I know it's late, but I want to ask you about something." Cadance raised an eyebrow at this, "What are your plans for fulfilling our side of the bargain we made with Hiveena? To defeat her mother and place her on the throne." The royal couple, and Sunburst, all went wide-eyed at this.





The next morning...

As the sun rose, the ponies of the empire were happy to awaken to a less tense city. News about the failed assassination spread quickly, many ponies running out onto the streets to get a look at the stallion that tried to kill their beloved princess as he was dragged towards the prison, shooting glares and calling him names to indicate the kind of monster they saw him as.

In the castle hospital, Hiveena was watching from the window as he was sent to take her place in the Crystal Pen until a proper trial could be held. She then turned to Thorax, the changeling still asleep in his bed, still knocked out from his head injury and the sedative gas.

Her attention was then pulled away at the sound of the doors opening, the changeling princess turning to see Ruby, "So what'll happen to that nutjob now?"

"He'll have a trial of course, facing charges of treason, attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. His accomplice has been apprehended and will be facing charges of treason, attempted kidnapping, assault and property damage. I doubt either of them will be getting the innocent verdict." She then turned to the unconscious changeling, "How is he?"

"He's almost healed," Hiveena replied, "And he should be coming around soon."

Ruby nodded back, sitting beside the changeling as she stared at Thorax. As she did this, she sparked her horn, making Hiveena raise an eyebrow...only to hear a clicking sound come from Thorax's neck. She then saw the collar float off the bug and land in Ruby's hoof. The knight turned to her, both locking eyes for a moment before Ruby's horn glowed again. Another clicking noise filled the air before Hiveena felt the pressure around her neck vanish, the paralysis collar now levitating over to the other one.

"You...you just...why?"

"Because you're right. We haven't given you a reason to trust us. But that changes now." Ruby responded before taking a deep breath, "I'm...I'm sorry for not trusting you. And I'm sorry we haven't done anything to help you claim your place as queen. But Princess Cadance has assured me that they'll start working on a plan to finally defeat Chrysalis and earn you the throne." She held out a hoof, "It's time to make peace between are kingdoms."

Hiveena stared down at her hoof, then up at her. They locked eyes again, staring until Hiveena shined a small smile and took the hoof. And as they shook hooves, Thorax let out a moan, making them turn to him as he opened his eyes, "Ow...what's going on? Why am I here and-ow! Why does my head hurt so badly?!"

Ruby and Hiveena both chuckled at this, knowing this was going to be a long story. A threat to Flurry Heart would turn out to be an event remembered for years. Not only for the event itself, but the many events it set into motion. And biggest of those events, was the moment trust was finally achieved between ponies and changelings. A trust that would develop into a strong friendship. But only time would tell how far that friendship would take the two species
> The Misadventures of Springer 3: Springer the Teacher
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within a long flowing grassy meadow, two figures sat in meditative stances. The first was Springer the jakhowl, his eyes closed as he put his paws on his knees and let out a long breath. In front of him was Mira, the youngling in the same cross-legged stance as she mimicked his breathing.

"Good Mira." Springer whispered as they both opened their eyes. "Remember, stay calm."

"Okay." Mira replied as she then saw Springer put his paws together.

"Now...watch me." Springer said as a flicker of aura appeared between his paws, forming a tiny Aura Blast. "This is aura, the life force of all things."

Mira didn't reply, instead staring at the slowly forming aura ball. The blue flames flickered in her eyes, her paws reflexively mimicking Springer's. Her mind told her one thing: She wanted to do what he was doing. Closing her eyes next, a very thin layer of aura formed around her paws before a tiny stream of aura began to go out of them. A small aura ball was starting to form, Springer nodding at the sight.

"Good...keep it steady." Springer commented as Mira continued to flow the minuscule amount of aura between her paws. But as she did this, Springer looked up and saw Mira's face scrunching up, flinching as she tried to summon more aura. And as she continued, her paws began shaking, the tiny orb already shrinking.

"Aah!" Mira yelped as she felt a surge of pain shook her body, Springer instantly grabbing her shoulders.

"Mira! Are you okay?!" Springer yelled, steadying her before she could fall over.

"Ow...it hurts." Mira moaned as she opened her eyes. "Why does it hurt?"

"I..." Springer tried to reply, now pouring his aura into the youngling, soothing her pain. "I'm sorry Mira."

As the weeks of training had passed, Springer had found that Mira had the mental part of aura down pat, but her physical aura just wasn't enough. Even the slightest bit of forming an Aura Blast was too much, and this try was just as bad as the last.

Mira let out a long sigh at this, "I'm sorry Springer. I failed again."

"Its okay Mira." Springer replied as he tapped her chin, making the jakhowl look up at him. "You'll get it. I promise."

The young jakhowl looked away, "But..."

Knock, knock!

The two jakhowls turned to see a small door open up in the meadow, revealing a certain colt. It was Heart, and he had a snoring young jakhowl on his back. "Um...I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Springer shook his head, "No." The jakhowl let out a sigh, standing up, "He didn't want to come, did he?"

"Nope." Heart responded as he walked up to the two, grumbling before flaring his wings and smacking Ace off his back, "Wake up!"

"Augh!" Ace yelped as he fell over, his face kissing dirt. A groan later, he started to stand up as he moaned, "Ow...can't a jakhowl get some sleep around here?"

"Ace..." Heart pulled the jakhowl's ear, making him whine, "What did I tell you?! You need to wake up."

"Yeah yeah, let go." Ace moaned as he swatted Heart's hoof away.

Heart and Springer both shook their heads, Ace letting out a long yawn before scratching his behind. Ace then stared up at the older jakhowl, seeing a big frown on his face, "What?"

"You're late." Springer growled before leaning down, "You shouldn't have Heart have to bring you here. You're supposed to come here to train, and this is the third day in a row you've done this." Springer got down on one knee, "Ace...I asked to get a whole week with the training room because I want to train you and Mira more." He put a paw on the jakhowl's shoulder, "Ace, this is important for your growth."

Ace just stared at Springer, squinting his eyes before turning to Heart, the colt nodding at him. A long sigh left his mouth as he moaned, "Fine..."

"Good." Heart replied before spinning around, "I gotta go to school."

"Thanks Heart." Springer added, "Sorry you had to bring him here."

"Its fine. Good luck with him."

"Hey! What does that mean?!" Ace yelled as Heart left the room, "Come back here!"

A certain jakhowl arm stretched out and grabbed Ace's head, "Oh, no you don't. You're not trying to get out of training. Again."

"Aw, come on!" Ace moaned, "Can't you let that go already?!"

"No. There's a reason why we're in the training room, Ace. You're not going on another eating spree at Sugarcube Corner, or any other outside distraction."

"Yeah yeah..." Ace sighed in defeat, "What are we doing today?"

"Aura training. Come on."

Springer walked back up to where he was before in the meadow, getting back into his meditative stance. Mira sat down in front of him, Ace slowly doing the same. The older jakhowl put his paws together at this, taking a deep breath, "Now, let's begin again. Me and Mira were practicing summoning aura, as I still want both of you to be able to use Aura Blast to protect yourselves."

"But we can't." Ace instantly replied. "We've been trying for months and got nothing."

"That's because you no longer try Ace. That's why we're doing this week." Springer responded before pointing at him, "I've trained you both as physically as I could, but you both are still lacking with your aura. For Mira, it is the amount of aura her body has." Mira looked away at this as Springer continued, "But you Ace, you have the aura, but you don't have the spiritual focus. That's why we're doing this."

"But we've already tried this for like...I don't know, three months?! Its impossible!" Ace barked back, crossing his paws and glancing away, "This is pointless."

"Its not pointless." Springer growled, grabbing Ace's head and forcing him to look back at the older jakhowl, "You need to learn this."

"He's right Ace." Mira added, "We gotta learn this to help protect ourselves."

"From what?!" Ace snapped, "We know to no longer go in the Everfree Forest, and we can fight with our paws."

Springer and Mira sighed at this. They had spent several months practicing marital arts, both young jakhowls able to fight almost evenly against Springer without using aura techniques, though they had to do it together. Springer found Ace was attuned to using a boxing style while Mira preferred a kicking style. However, despite this, they both were having issues using aura into their fighting styles.

"Ace, you need to learn this because-"

"Because of Shade, right?" Ace interrupted, making Springer almost bit his tongue.

A dark glare appeared on Springer's face, "Ace...what did I tell you about that?"

"But I'm right, aren't I?" Ace replied, shining a cocky grin.

That is, till Springer's paw gabbed his face cheeks. "Yes. And that's why you need to learn." Springer let out a loud huff, "Ace, there will come a time where I can't protect you. It may come to Shade, or it may be something else. Whatever it is, you need to learn this."

"But I told you I don't wanna be some fighter like you, or a defender."

Springer let out another low sigh at this, "I know. But you still need to learn this to protect yourself."

He then let go of his face, Ace rubbing the sides before mumbling, "Fine..."

"Good." Springer walked back to where he and Mira were before, both getting in a meditative stance. Ace groaned as he walked up and did the same, closing his eyes along with Springer and Mira. And as they all did this, Springer began to speak, "Now...feel the aura in you. Feel the life around you and within your body. Watch." Mira and Ace opened their eyes as Springer kept his closed, raising his paws as they saw him slowly create an Aura Blast in his paws.

The blue sphere reflected in their eyes, radiating and growing as Springer said, "Now...do as I do."

Mira instantly began to mimic him as Ace just stared down at his paws. The female youngling took a deep breath, his paws glowing in tiny blue fire. As for Ace, his paws showed a larger flame around them. Springer opened his eyes at this, seeing the aura flames not just consuming Ace's paws, but his whole body.

"Ace, you are spreading your aura around too much. You need to focus on just your paws."

"I am!" Ace barked back, glaring at his paws as his aura flared around his body.

"No, you're-"

"Aaah!" Mira yelped, making Springer turn to her as she fell back again.

"Mira!" Springer gasped before grabbing her, cradling her as he immediately started pulsing his aura into her. "Are you okay?"

"Ow..." she moaned as she squinted down at her paws, "It happened again."

"I'm sorry." Springer replied as he put his paws on hers, pouring aura into it. And as it began to heal her, the two locked eyes as Springer said, "Take a rest, okay?"

"Hey!" Ace barked, making Springer turn back to him, only to see the aura flames now spiking around the youngling's body. In his paws was a now growing orb of aura, the sphere shaking and rumbling. "Why does she get to-

"Ace, you need to stop! You're flaring too much aura!" Springer interrupted, "If you don't stop, you're gonna-"

BOOM!

"Augh!" Ace yelped, the aura ball exploding in his paws.

"Ace!" Springer gasped as he saw the young jakhowl fall over, burns from the exploding sphere now layering his body. A weak moan came out of Ace as he hit the ground, Springer then running over to him and putting his paws on the jakhowl's chest. Blue fire came out of his paws next, the flames slowly glowing over Ace. "Are you okay?" he asked as he slowly grabbed Ace by the head next, helping him up.

"No..." Ace groaned, letting out a tiny cough. "My paws hurt."

"I'm sorry that happened." Springer said as he looked Ace over before staring at his paws, "Here, let me-"

Ace then jerked his paws away from Springer, rubbing them as he mumbled, "Just stop it."

"Ace-"

"Stop it. Its pointless." Ace grumbled as he hopped out of Springer's arms, "I don't wanna do this anymore."

Springer opened his mouth to respond, but just saw a glare in the young jakhowl's eyes. He tried to get up and move over to Ace, but the youngling then said, "I'm done. I don't wanna train today."

"Ace, you need to-"

"I don't need to do anything!" Ace barked back, "I don't need aura! I can protect myself just fine, so I don't need some fancy jakhowl tricks that only you can do!"

Springer's eyes narrowed at this statement, making him point at the youngling, "Ace, you need to learn to use your aura. Its a part of you and-"

"And what? What am I supposed to do after I learn it?! I already told you, I don't wanna be a defender like you! I don't care about fighting!"

"I know that, but you still need to-"

"NO!" Ace interrupted, only to see Springer cross his arms. A light blue flame was covering his body, making Ace backpedal.

"Ace...you need to learn this. Its part of who you are." Springer uncrossed his arms as he continued, "I know I've been forceful, and I know you don't want to be a defender. However, you still need to learn your place in the world, and its not just sitting in a room reading comics and eating junk food all day." Springer then leaned down to Ace's level, the glare on his face fading to show a small frown, "Listen Ace, I care about you. I truly do. I'm not trying to be mean or forceful, but you have to learn this. I know its hard, but this is for your own good."

Ace stared at him for a few seconds, silence covering the area as Mira watched the two stare at each other. That is, till Ace spoke up, "Oh yeah? If that's the case..." he then spun around, "I quit."

Springer's face turned back into a glare, only for Ace to look back and hiss, "I'm done. I'm gonna go find something else to do."

"If you want to do that, then you're not allowed to go to your room." Springer instantly chimed in, making Ace go wide-eyed.

"What?! Then what am I supposed to do?!"

"You'll figure something out." Springer replied before walking up and patting Ace's head with a smirk. "Oh, and because of yesterday, I told the Cakes they're not allowed to give you any snacks, along with Bon Bon as well."

"B-b-but you can't do that! What else am I gonna do?!" Ace yelped.

"You'll figure something out. You don't want to be a fighter or defender, and you don't want to learn your aura. If that's the case, go out there and figure out what you're really supposed to do."

Ace just glared back at Springer, the jakhowl staring at him with a long, cold glance. Seeing this, Ace let out a huff before leaving the room, Springer watching him close the door. And as it slammed shut, the jakhowl slumped over, rubbing his face, "I messed up again, didn't I?" It was here that Mira walked up and patted his side, "Why can't he see I'm trying to help?"

"Ace is too stubborn, Springer. You're just gonna have to wait on him to learn. Remember what Ruby told you?"

"I know." Springer muttered, "I know..."

Mira turned to the door, biting her lip before asking, "You want me to go watch over him?"

Springer looked up at her, "You don't mind?" She nodded back, "Thanks."





MIra caught up to Ace just as he left the castle, both jakhowls walking out at the same time. Silence stayed with them as they slowly made their way to through town, Ace soon finding that Springer was telling the truth. No puppy dog eyes he could try would get him free snacks, no matter how much he tried. It was here that Mira began to speak up.

"Ace...you need to go apologize to Springer." she said as they sat down on a bench in the town's park. Ace's response was just a low grumble, his arms crossed as he was slumped down on the bench. "Ace..."

"I know." Ace mumbled as he looked away. "I just don't wanna."

"Why not?"

"Cuz I don't wanna learn aura stuff. We've been doing it for months and its still not working." He glared back at Mira, "Why bother if its not gonna work?!"

Mira opened her mouth to respond, only to glance away, staring at her paws, "I know...but I still think we should try."

"Why?! You can't even summon your aura!"

"I know." Mira muttered out, "And I really want to use my aura." She lifted her knees up, then embracing her knees with her arms, her head resting on the top of her knees, "You know Ace...I kinda think we're not gonna figure it out either."

This made Ace go wide-eyed, stuttering out, "B-b-but you train with him everyday."

"But I haven't gotten any further either." Mira added, "I just...I just think we should do it."

"Why?!" Ace yelped, his eyes narrowing in anger, "Why do something pointless?!"

Mira just turned to him with a long frown, "Because Springer wants to protect us."

Ace grit his teeth at this, "But he keeps making us do pointless stuff! We're not doing anything important!"

"But we're the only jakhowls out there." Mira replied, her words making Ace's face defuse. Anger began to leave him as he looked away. "And you know you would like to be a defender."

"I..." Ace mumbled out, looking down at this paws, "But I can't do anything like Springer."

Mira opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Silence took over again, two big frowns on their faces. Several ponies walked past them, asking what they were doing, but only barks were their answers. Instead, they just sat there for another hour. And as the time passed, Ace turned to Mira, "Sorry I got angry earlier."

"You should say that to Springer."

"I know."

"And you should go do it. And by doing it, I mean today."

"I know." Ace repeated, grinding his teeth at this.

"Ace..."

"I'll do it later!" Ace replied while crossing his arms, "I don't wanna talk to him right now."

"Ace...you have to go to him sooner or later."

"I know..." Ace sighed, looking away again, "Just not right now." Mira began to glare at him, Ace turning to her with a roll of his eyes, "I'll do it Mira, just give me a-"

SPLAT!

"Augh!" Ace yelped as he felt a burst of water splatter into his face. The two jakhowls turned to where the liquid came from, only to see a green coated colt that had a water balloon in his hoof. A giant grin was on the colt's face, his hoof leaning back before throwing the balloon right into Mira's face.

"Eep!" she screamed as water splashed over her face, making her yelp before rubbing her face.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Ace barked as he wiped off the last bit of liquid off his face. However, as he said this, another water balloon hit his face. "Blaugh!"

"Ace!" Mira gasped before another balloon was thrown at her face, the jakhowl reflectively blocking it with her right paw. "Hey! Stop that!"

And as this happened, the colt spun around and stuck his tongue out at them. The sight made Ace hiss, hopping off the bench, "Why you little-"

The colt then suddenly ran off, Ace yelling as he started to follow, "Come back here!"

MIra shook her head at this, getting the last bit of water off her before seeing Ace run off into the distance, "Ace! Wait, come back!"

The youngling cut into a sprint at this, the two chasing the colt through Ponyville's streets. And as they followed him, they saw the colt easily zip through the town, both barely able to keep up as Mira caught up to Ace.

"He's really fast!" Mira yelled as they ran down another street.

"Doesn't matter! Just get him!" Ace barked as they exited the street, now going out into an open field.

And as they kept chasing the colt, Ace's eyes glared directly at the pony. As for Mira, her eyes shifted around as she saw they were already getting further from town. She knew she didn't know much about outside the town, mainly just the Apple's farm and Everfree Forest. Despite this, she soon saw a certain valley in the distance that the colt was heading for. Ghastly Gorge.

"Uh...Ace?"

"What?!" Ace yelled as he kept staring at the fleeing colt.

"I don't like this. Maybe we shouldn't-augh!" she tried to say, only for something to suddenly appear behind her, smacking the back of the jakhowl's head.

"Mira?" Ace said as his eyes went away from the colt, only to gasp as he saw Mira hit the dirt from the blow. "What the-"

He looked up to now see a giant wooden being standing over Mira, a large blunt club in its arm. Ace's eyes went wide as he saw the weapon be pointed at him, only for his ears to hear a sudden sound behind him.

"Hee hee hee…"

And as this noise hit Ace's ears, he glanced back at the colt, only to see the pony had vanished...and had been replaced by something that made him gasp. That and the giant grin it wore.





Springer was now slumped over at a table outside of the town's ramen stand. He had just eaten a bowl Shichimi had given him, the jakhowl grumbling as he sat back in his chair. Ace's words had been repeating in his head, making him sigh.

"Ace..." he whispered to himself, putting his paw over his face, "Why doesn't he understand that I just want to help him?"

But as he said that, a certain memory went through his head. It was when he had gone to the Crystal Empire with Ace and Mira. Ruby had been beyond excited to meet the two young jakhowls, quickly giving them a tour of the city. And while he was there, Springer asked the knight for advice. However, all she could tell him was one thing:

"If Ace doesn't want to train, then you best give up." she had said, Springer then asking her why before she responded, "Jakhowls figure out what they are in a singular moment. This allows them to fully control their aura. I suspect yours was when you first met Flash. For them, they probably haven't found it yet. Until then, you have to wait. You can try to help Ace along, but I doubt he'll cooperate until its time. All young jakhowls are like that."

After hearing this and returning home, he had Spike send a letter to Princess Luna, who confirmed Ruby's thoughts. Despite this, the older jakhowl let out a sigh, grumbling to himself, "But how long is it gonna be Ruby?" He looked down at his paws, a thin layer of aura tracing over them, "I...I don't know if I can protect them forever."

And as these words left his mouth, his ears suddenly spiked up at a new sound.

KA-BOOM!

"What the heck?!" he yelped before leaping out of the chair, spinning around to see a smoke cloud now appearing in the distance. This was followed by several more explosions, these less loud but now visible as flames erupted through the sky. Screams of panic and chaos instantly came next, the jakhowl's eyes going wide before closing. He began to try to connect his aura to others, only to feel a wave of auras around him. "Augh!"

The now panicking crowd struck his aura, surges of emotion crowding the auras he needed to contact. He gripped his head at this, grumbling before glaring at the flames in the distance. "Can't contact Flash. Though I doubt they won't see that." But as he said this, a new thought went into his head. Ace and Mira.

He shook his head, telling himself to a get a grip as a burst of aura appeared around him, his body glitching as he zipped up to the nearest rooftop. He clapped his paws together, sending a pulse of aura that instantly waved over the crowds of panicking ponies. The jakhowl grimaced at the fluxing auras, gritting his teeth as he tried to find two certain auras. And as he did this, he felt something zip by him. Opening his eyes, he saw Rainbow Dash running over to the smoke with some rain clouds, Flash following her. The other defenders weren't far behind, Grand and Iron helping the crowd get away from the disaster area while Lightning and Heart were helping the others with the flames with their magic.

"I need to help-augh!" Springer yelped as he felt his aura spike, making him spin around as he felt two auras in the distance. He instantly recognized them...and they were in pain.

"Oh no." he said before leaping off the roof, landing outside the ramen stand. Shichimi saw the jakhowl and flinched, only for him to turn to her and say, "Shichimi! I need you deliver a message to Flash for me!"

"Um...okay." Shichimi barely replied.

"Tell Flash to find me after he's done with whatever caused that explosion. Tell him Ace and Mira are in danger, and that's why I'm not here."

Shichimi just nodded before sprinted off, the mare watching him race away.





To normal eyes, some would say it was a blue blur racing by. The jakhowl was in full Velocity Strike mode, zipping above the crowds while jumping off rooftop after rooftop. He soon found no roofs left to hold him, hitting the dirt before running at a blinding pace. Despite this, his body showed no signs of slowing down, the jakhowl now wearing a face of desperation crossed with fear as he continued to run.

"Hang on you two. I'm coming." he whispered as he left the town, his feet racing down a road he knew very well. It was the street that led straight to Ghastly Gorge. And as he got there, he skidded to a stop, his eyes pure blue as aura flames covered them. He scanned every bit of the surroundings, only to go wide-eyed as he looked down at the gorge.

In the middle of the canyon was the two young jakhowls...both bound in ropes that were held by cloaks. A loud hiss escaped his mouth as he leapt off the gorge's edge, aura blazing off his body as he landed in front of the puppets. "Let them go!" he yelled before charging at them, Steel Paws appearing in both paws.

But as he got within a foot from them, something happened. A sudden overwhelming surge of pain struck him, making him scream, "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Underneath his feet, a giant circle filled with writing and symbols appeared. The circle was massive, taking up all the ground around him and was even going so far as to touch the canyon walls. However, the circle seemed to only focus on one precise point, its center...which Springer was now standing on.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Springer continued to scream, falling to his knees as aura began to surge all over his body. "What is-AAAAAAHHH!" he yelled, his eyes now twitching as he stared down at the circle. The symbols under him were fuzzy in his pain-filled vision, but his hurting brain knew what it was. These were runes, and he knew who made them and why.

And as another surge of pain struck his body, his body clenched up before looking up, now seeing the cloaks stand over him. They had no weapons, just holding the tied up jakhowls. He could see that both were unconscious, both covered in bruises. But as he saw this, the worst was yet to come as a certain dark bipedal figure appeared.

It was Shade, the dark fox now sporting an arrangement of symbols all over his body. They were all a blood red color, all running up his arms and legs. "Hello Springer." he chuckled, his usual smile not showing as he narrowed his eyes with a long frown, "Its been a while."

"Shade..." Springer growled, his face contorting as pain surged through his body. "What did-yaugh!" His fur shot up, feeling the runes under his feet zapping every nerve.

"Hee hee hee...I suggest you don't resist. The runes I've set up there are designed to fire off every pain receptor you have, and they'll surge at every impulse of your aura." He pointed at the runes, "Doesn't matter how much you try, it won't work. You'll just make more pain for yourself."

"You-rurgh!" The blue flames trying to appear in his paws instantly extinguished, his eyes widening in pain.

"Stop resisting and just stand still. I also suggest you don't try attacking me, as my body is decked out as well." Shade gestured to his arms, "Full armor and strength enhancing runes. Specially designed by yours truly." He then crossed his arms, "Now, we really need to talk, and I'm not in the mood to fight today. But since you want to keep fighting those runes, I'll wait."

Springer could feel his nerves clench, teeth gritting as he clenched his fists. Feeling the unending pain from the rune, he stared at Shade as the fox just...glared at him. In complete silence. If there was one thing he knew, Shade loved to talk. And as a complete minute passed, Springer's arms went down to his side, pain no longer zapping him as he let out a long breath. He was no longer summoning any aura, pushing every ounce of power down.

The sight made Shade's smile start to form, uncrossing his arms, "Good. Seems you understand now."

"Let go of Ace and Mira. Now." Springer growled as he glared at him, the runes faintly glowing under the jakhowl's feet.

"Is that their names?" Shade asked as he glanced back at the jakhowls being held by his cloaks. "Not usual names for 'em, though that doesn't really matter." He put a claw under Mira, letting out a snort as he looked her over, "Though I have to say that I have been observing them for a while...and they're not impressive. Not a good amount of aura in this one in particular."

"Let. Them. Go." Springer hissed, only to flinch as another surge of electricity hit him. "Shade..."

"Stop getting angry." Shade barked back, turning to Springer as he pointed at the cloaks, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt 'em. They're too valuable right now. At least, until I get some answers."

"Answers?"

"Yes. Answers." the fox scowled, walking up to Springer as his tone continued to increase, "How...are those two alive?!"

"What?"

"You heard me!" He pointed at the young jakhowls again, "How are they alive?! It shouldn't be possible!"

Springer raised an eyebrow at this, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid!" Shade roared as he walked up and grabbed Springer's neck, shaking him, "Don't tell me you've forgotten our last encounter! I've shown you our species' history! The jakhowls are dead! Master Dark Mist made sure of that!" A dark aura covered the fox's body as he glared at Springer right in the eyes, going bloodshot as he hissed, "The Tricksters gave everything to destroy your filthy kind!"

"Oh. Right...." Springer replied, his brain not fully functioning as his conflicting nerves kept making him flinch. Despite the pain and his mind not completely working, a certain smirk appeared on his face, "Well, it looks like your precious Dark Mist didn't do his job right then."

SMACK!

That was the sound of Shade slapping his face, hissing as he responded, "How dare you mock Dark Mist!"

"I'll mock your kind anytime, Shade." Springer cackled, "Now let them go and let's fight already."

"No! We just started talking!" Shade instantly responded, pointing at the jakhowl's chest, "You don't get out of this!" He spun around next, glaring at the two unconscious jakhowls, "How...how is this possible? How are these two alive?!"

"Why don't you figure it out." Springer chuckled, only to feel Shade grip his neck, "Urk!"

"Shut up! You don't get to mock me!" Shade hissed before shaking Springer, "Tell me jakhowl! Tell me how those two exist!"

Springer was about to reply, only for the pain rune to activate again, making him flinch. Shade saw this, seeing a bit of blood coming out of the Jakhowl's mouth. A series of mumbling came out next, making Shade sigh, "Blast. Seems the runes are sending too much pain to your brain." He then snapped his claw, turning the rune off. In response, the jakhowl slumped a bit, only to feel Shade yank him back up, "I'll turn this off for now, but just because I want answers."

"Yeah yeah..." Springer moaned, his arms slowly reaching up and grabbing Shade's. The fox could feel the intense grip, making him flinch. He glanced down at Springer's arms for a split second before looking back up, seeing a death glare coming from the jakhowl, "How about no."

Springer's body flared with aura in that split second, his body instantly turning into his mega form. A white sphere appeared next, Springer ready to do a point blank Aura Force attack. But as he thrust the orb, Shade snapped his claw, the runes under them glowing as a surge of pain struck the jakhowl again, "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Shade backpedaled at this, seeing Springer's mega form fade in the instant of the surging pain. The fox let out a small gasp, grimacing as he saw Springer fall to his knees, only to look up at Shade with the same glare. "Well...seems you've grown quite a bit since our last encounter." the trickster commented, taking a deep breath, "But I'm in control of this situation, just like last time." He leaned down next, getting to Springer's level, "I'm not gonna just fight you head-on jakhowl, I'm not stupid. Considering what you just did, I know I would lose, even with my enhanced body runes."

Springer just glared at him, letting out a hiss, "Let. Them. Go."

"No." Shade instantly responded before turning around, "I can't do that Springer. I have to know how and why they exist. Preferably why. After all, I can't let more of your kind exist." He then motioned to the cloak restraining Mira, the puppet drifting over to him. He put a claw under her chin, looking back at Springer, "Say, I forgot to ask this. Why is this one's fur yellow? Did she paint it?" The fox leaned up, squinting his eyes as he brushed her fur, "I don't think it is, but I don't remember any females looking like this..."

"Don't you-AAAAH!" Springer screamed as he tried to get up, only for the pain to surge again.

But as he fell to his knees, Shade just laughed before looking back at Mira, "You know, you got here really quickly. I didn't even get time to look these two over." He scratched Mira's chin next, seeing the jakhowl squinting her eyes open. "Hello little one. Sorry my cloaks were so rough."

A light mumble came out of her mouth, Shade motioning for the other cloak to walk over with Ace. As he did this, both young jakhowls began to wake up, now seeing the fox front and center. However, his usual grin was not there, a look of intrigue with a long frown on his face instead.

"What the-" Ace moaned out, his eyes starting to adjust as he saw Shade walk up and touch his chin. "Who...who are..."

"Hello there. My name is Shade." The fox chuckled, the statement entering both jakhowls ears. And as their waking up brains caught up, they both went wide-eyed.

"You...you're Shade?!" Ace yelped, his body reflexively trying to move, only to now feel the ropes binding him. He glanced down for a split second, soon looking back up as Shade began to show a small grin.

"That's right." The fox did an obvious mocking bow, "I am Shade, the Trickster. Master of deception, follower of Dark Mist...and a lover of tragedy." Those words made both jakhowls flinch, only for their eyes to drift to what was behind him, now seeing a certain jakhowl in pain.

"Springer!" Mira cried out.

"Help us!" Ace added, only to see the pain rune activate again, zapping Springer. "What the-"

"RAAAAAAHHHHH!" Springer howled, trying to stand up, only to scream again.

The sight made Ace and Mira go wide-eyed, seeing the runes around him shine as they saw blood now fly out of Springer's mouth. They saw Springer fall back to his knees, the older jakhowl screeching as the pain rune kept activating.

"What are you...doing to him?" Ace mumbled out, his lips shaking at the sight.

"Eh, don't worry about him." Shade laughed, "He won't help you thanks to my runes. Besides, maybe you can give me the answers I seek."

But as he said this, Mira suddenly barked, "We're not telling you anything!"

Shade's eyes shifted to Mira, seeing the fear now gone on her face as it was replaced with an angry glare. That is, till he looked back at Ace, seeing him not add to Mira's outcry. Instead, he was still wide-eyed and shaking as he watched Springer suffer under the runes, making Shade smirk. He waltzed up to the youngling, putting his claw under Ace's chin, "You're not as brave. Surprising for a jakhowl. They're usually so gung-ho and reckless." A big grin began to form on Shade's face before turning to Mira, "I suspect you won't tell me anything."

"That's right! Springer told us all about you!"

"Oh? And what did he say?"

"He said you're evil!" Mira yelled, "He said you hate our kind for stupid reasons, and you're just as dumb!"

The fox twitched at these words, making him hiss as he walked up to Mira and gripped the top of her head, "Is that so?!" His claws slowly began to tighten his grip, "Did he tell you how much I've tormented him? How I made my life goal to make him miserable before taking his pitiful life?!"

Mira just glared at him as she replied, "He said you're dangerous, but he'll always beat you!" Shade's eyes narrowed at this, only to increase his grip, slightly clawing into her head as she cried out, "AAAHHH!"

"Mira!" Ace yelped before trying to move again, only to just squirm as he yelled, "Leave her alone, you big bully!!"

Shade raised an eyebrow at this, turning to Ace, "Ah. And there's the backbone you jakhowls always show." In response, he flexed his claw, making Mira scream in pain again. Ace growled at him, Shade shining an even bigger grin, "Don't get angry. You knew I was gonna do that. But I can stop if you do one thing for me."

Ace kept squirming in his bindings, only to let out a huff, "What?!"

"Tell me how you two exist."

"Huh?"

Shade rolled his eyes at this, letting go of Mira before walking up to Ace, "Tell me...how you two...are alive?!" Shade screeched before pointing at Springer, "I showed that aura snot behind me the truth of the jakhowls. Your kind is dead!" He raised his voice at those last words before leaning up to Ace, their heads about to touch as he hissed out, "How are you alive?! Where did you come from?!"

Ace didn't say a word, just glaring back at Shade before the fox pointed at Mira, "If you don't tell me, I'll start with her." He then raised up his claw, a dark aura appearing around it, "And it will be very loud and very very painful."

As he said these words, Ace saw the claw slowly come up to his face, Shade chuckling before turning to Mira. Ace then saw fear now appear on Mira's face, her eyes shrinking at the sight of the claw. And as Shade pulled his claw back to thrust it, Ace yelled, "STOP!"

Shade turned to him, raising a small eyebrow, "Oh? Ready to tell me everything?" The young jakhowl grimaced at the sight of the fox glaring at him, then feeling Shade put his other claw on the top of his head, "Well?!"

Ace's eyes darted to Mira for a second, seeing the mix of fright and anger on her face. And then...her face showed a determined glare, the jakhowl nodding to him. The sight made Ace do the exact same, glancing back at Shade as he yelled, "Never!" He then spat a glob of spit into Shade's eyes.

"Blaugh!" Shade hissed before rubbing his eye. "Why you little-"

"I'll never help you! We're jakhowls, and we're not scared of a big bully like you!"

As these words went through the fox's ears, his teeth began to grind as he let out a long hiss. "Grrr…" he growled before grabbing the top of Ace's head again, "You blasted jakhowl!"

A dark aura formed around both claws, the one on Ace's head now burning him. "AAAAAHHHHH!" Ace screamed.

"Ace!" Mira yelled.

"Now you're gonna suffer, you stinking, little-"

And as Shade began to roll out more insults, Ace continued to scream n pain before screeching, "Springer! Help us!"

THOOOM!

The ground suddenly shook, Shade freezing in place as he felt something shake the area behind him. His claw was just a centimeter away from Ace's stomach, the fox slowly turning around. And as he did this, his eyes slowly began to go wide. "What the-"

His words cut themselves as he now saw a giant aura Springer head, the sight making him let go of Ace as he fully spun around. As this happened, Shade looked down and saw Springer was in Mega Form, his body slowly ascending as the jakhowl glared at him. The jakhowl's eyes were dark red, showing nothing but rage and anger pouring out of them. "Shade..." he hissed as two giant aura paws appeared next, Springer slowly preparing to clap his paws together as the aura paws mimicked his movements.

"No, wait-" Shade yelped before both aura paws slammed into each other in one mighty clap, a shockwave instantly flying out of the clap. The force of the attack made him go flying, the fox screaming as he was sent flying, "AAAAAHHHHH!"

"Springer!" Ace and Mira cheered, both seeing the mega jakhowl now fully standing up.

But as they shined two big grins at the sight, they found they were still bound to the cloaks, both puppets having been able to brace against the aura clap shockwave. And as this happened, Shade landed a small distance away and yelled, "CLOAKS! KILL THEM NOW!"

Two daggers appeared in the cloaks, ready to go for the throats. But as this happened, both giant aura paws suddenly grabbed the cloaks, crushing them with a single clench of the fist. However, it left the jakhowls completely fine and free, safe despite the puppets being destroyed instantly.

"You...saved us." Ace gasped as he felt the aura paw hold him. He could feel a small tear grow in his eye, his mouth mumbling out, "Thank you."

"Thank you so much!" Mira added.

"Yeah...thank you." Ace repeated, mumbling as he looked back at his paws before glancing up, "Um...Springer? I'm-"

"RRRAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" roared a certain fox, making both turn to see Shade walking up to them, a dark aura pulsing off his body. As he did this, the blood red symbols on his body began to glow, signifying the runes on his body were now activating. "I will not lose again!" He opened his mouth, a giant black orb appearing before his teeth, "DARK BLAST!"

A black sphere shot through the canyon, Ace and Mira gasping before Springer raced in front of them. The giant aura jakhowl head and paws came with him, Springer crossing his arms as the aura arms mimicked him. As he did this, the ball struck the giant aura paws, Springer grimacing at the blow.

And as the attack began to fade, Shade let out a cough. "Grrr….blasted jakhowl!" The runes on his body began to glow, a dark aura slowly growing on his body.

"You're...not touching...them." Springer muttered, his body shaking as he felt the aftermath from the pain runes still affecting his nerves.

"Springer!" Ace gasped as he saw Springer sway back and forth, only for the jakhowl to flash a paw at him.

"Don't. I'll beat him." Springer glanced back at Ace, the anger filled red eyes gone. Instead, he showed a calm, long stare. "Just watch me."

Ace and Mira both nodded, Springer turning back to Shade as the fox began to summon another orb. However, this one began to grow, Springer knowing what was coming next. "DARK FORCE!" Shade roared, a black beam now flying through the canyon. Springer crossed his paws again, blocking the attack as Ace and Mira jumped behind some rocks. And as they watched, they saw Springer get pushed back, the Dark Force breaking through the aura avatar.

"You won't win!" Shade screamed, "I will beat you this time! I will kill you and those other jakhowls! I will destroy your kind!"

"No...you...won't." Springer muttered out as he felt his feet grind into the dirt, his whole being pushed back as he stared ahead, "I will protect them. I won't let you hurt the jakhowl, and I will beat you again!"

With those words, the jakhowl suddenly felt four paws touch his back. He glanced back to see Mira and Ace holding onto him, pushing his back as their feet grinded against the ground as well.

"We're with you!" Ace yelled.

"Beat him Springer!" Mira added.

Springer could feel the aura from them, the life force flowing through their paws and into his body. He shined the biggest smile he could to them, nodding back before turning back to Shade. "We won't lose to you Shade." His body began to glow, a large blue flame burned around all three. Ace and Mira stared up at Springer as they felt the aura pour out of him, their bodies being consumed in the blue fire.

"THIS...ENDS...NOW!" Springer screamed, uncrossing his paws as the avatar's paws did the same. The arms struck the beam, cutting it in half in one single motion.

"WHAT?!" Shade yelped as he saw his attack, only for his feet to reflexively backpedal as he saw a new sight appear. Before him was no longer just the head, arms, paws and chest of the aura avatar. Instead, Springer's aura avatar began to grow giant aura legs, the Trickster now facing a massive aura jakhowl.

"Whoa..." Ace gasped as him and Mira stared up at the avatar.

"Its huge!" Mira added.

Shade just stared at the giant, his whole body shaking. He looked down at his arms, staring at the runes on his claws. "What is...I'm...scared?" he whispered, "But he's just a...just a...jakhowl."

And as he said these words, his eyes narrowed, hissing as he grit his teeth. "No....NO!" A dark aura consumed his claws, his body doing the same as the runes began to shine like crazy. "I WON'T LOSE TO ANYTHING!"

But as he looked back up at Springer, he saw the jakhowl now putting his paws together, the avatar mimicking again. The aura paws put themselves together, a giant Aura Blast appearing. Ace and Mira watched the giant aura paws twist and turn to form the Aura Blast, the paws spinning around like they were making an orb around them. The sight made Mira gasp, "That's it! That's how we can do it!" She then turned and whispered into Ace's ear, the jakhowl going wide-eyed as she asked, "What do you think?"

"Whoa...let's try it!" Ace gasped before nodding.

"DARK FORCE!" Shade screeched as he fired another beam, Springer firing the giant Aura Blast at the same time. The beam struck the sphere, the orb easily going right through the Dark Force attack. Shade saw this and quickly leapt to the side, hopping onto one of the canyon's walls before climbing up in an almost instant sprint. His claws dug into the rocks, jumping up one of the lower walls just as the giant Aura Blast hit the ground behind him.

BOOM!

An explosion struck his back, making him flinch. Despite this, he turned back to Springer, huffing before charging at the avatar. "If he's that big, his attacks are gonna be slower. I'll just charge and hit him with a point blank Dark Force!"

He began to sprint on the canyon side walls, his runes giving him support as he ran through the area. But as he did this, his eyes went wide as he saw the next sight. Springer's avatar was making a massive Bone Breaker...and swinging straight down.

"No, wait-" Shade yelped as the weapon came straight down, the attack almost covering the whole canyon.

THOOM!

"Augh!" Shade screamed as the giant Bone Breaker slammed down onto him, the whole canyon shaking as the blow struck the area. An explosion of dust and smoke came next, Ace and Mira gasping as they saw the Bone Breaker fade away.

"WOW! Did you see that?! That was awesome!" Ace cheered, "Springer did it!"

"But we can't see!" Mira countered, "What if Shade dodged that?"

"How?! That thing struck the whole gorge!"

And as he said that, the jakhowls gasped as they saw the blue flames around them start to fade. They turned to Springer, only to see him revert to his regular form, the avatar fading. "Springer!" they both yelled as the jakhowl fell to his knees, his body shaking as he slumped over. A thud came next as his face hit the dirt, Ace and Mira kneeling down at this, "Springer! Springer!"

The older jakhowl didn't respond, just letting out a small moan as he closed his eyes. Both jakhowls began shaking him, tears appearing in their eyes as he wouldn't respond. "Springer! Please get up!"

But the older jakhowl wouldn't respond, the only coming from him was a small breath coming out of his mouth. The two looked him over, Ace still shaking him as Mira put a ear to his chest, "His heart's beating...but what happened?"

"It must have been the pain rune thing." Ace replied, more tears going down his face, "He...he got so hurt because of me."

Mira turned to him, placing a paw on Ace's shoulder, "Ace...this isn't your fault, its Shade's. We need to-"

Her words came to a stop as her ears spiked up, Ace's doing the same. They both spun around, now seeing a certain Trickster raise up from a pile of rocks. "Hee hee hee…" Shade cackled, his mouth spitting out a glob of blood. His whole body was covered in dirt and mud, his left eye was closed while his legs dragged on the ground as he glared at the duo. "Hee hee hee...I won. Springer may have got some new power, but I still-"

"Stop!" yelled a voice, making the fox raise an eyebrow as he saw Ace and Mira standing in front of Springer. Both had their arms stretched out, glares on their faces. "We won't let you hurt Springer anymore!"

"Oh?" Shade chuckled as he lifted up a claw, a thin layer of dark aura consuming it. "Want me to kill you first?"

"Go ahead and try!" Mira barked back.

"We'll kick your flank first!" Ace added.

"Oh please, like you could beat me. Don't think I haven't been observing you two. You can't even use your aura!" Shade laughed as he pointed his claw at them, "But since you're so eager, I'll gladly take you out here."

And as Shade pulled back his claw, ready to thrust it at one of the jakhowls, both glanced at each other. They gave each other a nod before putting their paws together. Mira then raised her paws up, having both be horizontal while Ace's were vertical. The sight made Shade raise an eyebrow, "What are you doing?!"

"We're doing an Aura Blast!" Ace yelled as blue flames began to surge in his paws, Mira's doing the same.

Shade just let out a cackle at this, "HA! I've seen what you two can do, and you'll fail. Besides, it'll take more than one measly-urgh!" The fox suddenly tensed up when he felt something grip his feet. All three looking down, they saw two thin aura paws gripping the Trickster's legs. "What?!" Shade glanced back up to see Springer on the ground, his back now radiating a bonfire of aura. However, it was the eyes of the jakhowl that made the fox stand still. They were white, staring at him like a unconscious beast.

"How is this-you should be out of aura! You've been reduced back to your adult form!" Shade hissed as he tried to move his legs, only to flinch as the thin aura paws tightened their grip. "Urgh! That's it!" He pulled his claw back next, pointing them down at the aura paws, "I will win this, and you will-"

"Hey Shade!" Mira interrupted, making the fox glance up to see both jakhowls still in the same position as before. However, this time...there was an aura blast now forming between their four paws.

"AURA BLAST!" they yelled in unison, all four paws thrusting forward as the sphere of aura began to fly right at the fox. Shade tried to react, pulling his legs up, only to feel Springer's aura paws keeping him place.

"Grrr...let go!" Shade yelped before looking back at Aura Blast, crossing his arms next as the sphere hit him. "NO!"

KA-BOOM!

An explosion followed this, consuming the fox in a plume of smoke. And as cloud began to form, the two jakhowls slumped over, gasping for air. "That took more than I thought." Mira moaned, looking down at her paws. "Does Springer regularly do that all the time by himself?"

"Yeah..." Ace added as he stared at the smoky fog, only to clench his paws as he got in a fighting stance. "But I don't think its over yet."

As Mira looked back at the cloud as well, the two ready for a fight as the smoke faded...and Shade was gone. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"Oh, come on!" he yelled a voice below them, making them look down. The next sight made both raise eyebrows as they saw a tiny black fox now staring at its paws, "That was enough damage to revert me back to this?!"

"Uh..." Ace began to say, only for Shade to spin around and growl at him.

"Shut up! I haven't lost this!" Shade screeched, "I won't lose to some aura-loving furballs!"

"Wait...are you Shade?" Mira asked, only to see the fox hiss at her with blood-red eyes.

"Of course I'm Shade!" The fox screamed before yelling into the skies, "And I'm gonna make you pay! CLOAKS!"

In what seemed like a split-second, two cloaks appeared in front of the duo. Both were brandishing giant metal axes, the sight making them backpedal as Shade pointed at the jakhowls, "Cut them in half! NOW!"

And as they raised their weapons upward, the two jakhowls clenched up and-

BLAM!

Two beams of light suddenly cut through the air, slicing both cloaks in half. "What?!" Shade yelped, now seeing his pawns flop over as their axes clanged into the dirt. "Oh, come on!"

Ace and Mira glanced back at this, now seeing a certain bullet of light approaching. Before they could react, the light morphed into one Flash Sentry, the pegasi landing between them and Shade. This was followed by the other defenders, all of them charging down the canyon, including Heart and Soul.

"Everypony!" they cheered, smiles gracing their faces as they all ran up to the scene.

"You okay?" Flash asked as he turned to them, his eyes going between the duo and Springer, "Sorry we didn't get here earlier."

Both shook their heads back, "Its okay, we understand."

It was here that Heart and Soul got to the jakhowls, both running up and hugging the jakhowls. "Thank goodness you're safe!" Soul cried as she tightened the hug.

"We're...okay." Mira wheezed.

"Yeah!" Ace replied as Heart let him go, "Springer saved us, and now we can use Aura Blast!"

"Really?" Heart responded, the jakhowl nodding back, "Cool!"

Flash then put his hoof on Heart's mane, getting his attention, "Let's celebrate later. We got work to do."

Heart glanced up and nodded, both turning to the Shade as the others got up there as well. All turned to glare at Shade, the fox growling at the sight. "No...NO! You gotta be kidding me! Not another plan ruined!" Shade pouted, his teeth gritting before he called out again, "Cloaks! All of you come here right now!"

Within that instant, ten cloaks appeared in front of the fox, all wielding axes and swords. Heart's body lit up as got in front of the group, smirking at the wooden puppets charged. The fire-wielding colt slammed into two of them as Flash cut down two more with a single swipe of his sword. Lightning threw three daggers, hitting three cloaks in the head before surging a bolts into the trio, burning them inside-out. And as Grand and Iron began to take out the other three, Shade began to backpedal as he put his paw in his mouth.

"Figures this would happen. The jakhowl learns something new, and now you all ruin my fun." Shade sighed as the cloaks were instantly destroyed.

A head of a cloak fell in front of him, half of it burnt off. Lightbringer was now pointing down at the fox's face, Shade staring at its owner with a deadpan stare as Flash said, "End of the line Shade. You're going back to prison."

"No, I'm not." Shade replied in a deadpan tone. "You're not going to do anything to me."

"Oh yeah?" Iron added as he pointed Piecemaker at his face. "And why is that?"

Shade responded with taking the paw out of his mouth, along with a small red sphere. "Simple. I'm leaving. Cloaks, distract them please." Three more cloaks suddenly landed in front of the fox, all pointing axes at them as Shade tapped a button on the sphere. And as the puppets were cut down, a ball formed around the fox. "Goodbye. Tell that knocked out fleabag there I will be back." He then shined one last big grin, staring at Ace and Mira, "I'll see you later, aura snots."

The sphere shined a vibrant light before suddenly vanishing, leaving not a trace of the fox. A fireball from Heart hit the area a split second later, the colt growling as he saw he had missed. "What?! Where'd he go?!"

"Its too late kiddo. That thing just let him teleport away."

"Seriously?!"

"Yes. That was...Doom's invention." Grand grumbled before staring down at the cloaks, "And these..."

Lightning patted his side at this, making Grand turn to him to see a small frown. As this happened, Heart and Soul hugged their jakhowls, Soul asking, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." they both replied, Mira then looking down at her mentor as tears filled her eyes, "But Springer..."

The jakhowl was still knocked out, his body laying in the dirt. Flash leaned down at this and picked him up, replying to the younglings, "Don't worry, he's been through worse. Come on."





A few hours later...

The group was now in the castle, all watching Springer as he laid in his bed. Long heaving snores were coming out of his mouth, the jakhowl still haven't waken up yet. And as he laid there, Ace and Mira were on the sides of the bed, huge frowns on their faces.

On the trip to the castle, Ace and Mira had broken down to Heart and Soul, especially Ace. Ace had not stopped crying since leaving the canyon, Heart surprised at how emotional the usually lazy jakhowl was. Flash and the others keep reassuring him Springer would be okay, but Ace wouldn't stop crying.

"Its all my fault..." Ace moaned, rubbing his eyes as tears kept flowing.

"Ace..." Heart added as he patted Ace's back. Ace had said the same statement over and over, the others telling him it wasn't. But Ace wouldn't listen.

"Its all my fault..." he repeated, "I just...I just wanted to have fun and...and now Springer is all hurt, and its all my fault!"

A long sigh escaped Heart's breath at this, his eyes shifting to Mira. She had barely talked since they got to the castle, just staring at bed. Soul was hugging her at the same, Mira barely embracing back. He then looked back at Ace, the jakhowl sniffing as Heart slung a hoof around his shoulders.

That is, till Flash walked up and leaned down beside Ace. Heart saw this and Flash gave him a small nod, the colt taking his hoof off the jakhowl before Flash moved over to Ace. He tapped the jakhowl's shoulder, making Ace turn to him as Flash then put his hooves on both of Ace's shoulders, "Ace....I want you to listen to me." Ace just sniffed back, Flash taking a small breath before continuing, "Ace, this is not your fault. Why this happened is because Shade is a monster."

"But-" Ace barked out.

Flash put a hoof over Ace's mouth, muting the jakhowl despite not being able to understand him. "Let me speak. Ace, do you know what Springer would think if he saw you like this?"

Ace blinked at him, Heart then leaning in and saying, "He'd say to stop crying Ace."

"Don't give him the answers Heart. He needs to figure it out on his own." Flash said with a slight nudge to the colt before tuning back to Ace, "Now, Ace...what do you want Springer to think when he wakes up?"

Ace just stared back at him, seeing a long stare in Flash's eyes before glancing at Heart, the colt giving him a nod back. Seeing this, he began to slowly reply, "He'd...he'd want me to be strong."

Heart translated for Flash, the defender then shaking his head, "No."

"No?"

"Ace....Springer wants you, to be you."

"Huh?"

Flash let out a small chuckle, knowing he didn't need Heart to translate for him, "Ace, Springer just wants to protect you, and that's why he's been training you. But, he also wants you to be yourself. He wants you to learn and grow, and he's just worried you don't want to do that. And if that means you don't have to become some master of your aura, he'll accept it."

"He...he will?" Flash nodded back. "I...I..." Ace looked down at his paws, letting out a whimper, "I don't want that."

After Heart telling him what he said, Flash tilted his head at this, "What do you mean Ace?"

Ace's eyes slowly went back up, "I...I wanna become stronger. I want to be able to fight!" His eyes narrowed as blue flames began to form around his paws, "I wanna become a strong jakhowl!"

Flash and Heart shined two big grins, both nodding back as Heart said, "There you go Ace! That's what I'm talking about!"

"That's a good answer Ace. Springer will be proud." Flash added as they both patted Ace on the shoulders.

And as they said this, a small stirring sound rang out. "Springer!" Mira exclaimed as they all turned to see the jakhowl now waking up.

"Uhhhh…" Springer moaned as his eyes slowly opened, now glancing over to see Heart and Soul holding back Ace and Mira from jumping onto and hugging him.

"Morning bud." Flash chuckled as he walked around the bed. "How you doing?"

"What...happened?" Springer groaned, raising his head off the pillow as he rubbed the side of his head.

"A lot." Flash commented before pointing at Ace, "But somepony has something to say to you first."

They all turned to Ace, new tears falling down his face as his lips quivered, his body shaking as he looked back at Heart. The colt nodded back, Heart spinning around before he exclaimed, "I'M SORRY!"

"Huh?" Springer moaned as saw the jakhowl cry, blinking as he tried to respond. "Ace?"

Ace lowered his head, "I'm so sorry Springer...its my fault that you got so hurt."

Springer's brain started to catch up as he saw Ace cry, only to reach out and pat his head. The gesture made Ace stare up at him with wet eyes, "Ace...you don't have to apologize."

"But-" Ace tried to say, only for Springer to pat his head.

"Ace...I'm here to protect you. Don't you remember?" Springer added.

"But..." Ace muttered out before hopping on the bed, standing on it while bowing, "I'm sorry. And I...I want you to train me! I want to be strong!"

Springer blinked at the jakhowl, his eyes shifting to Heart and Flash, both showing smirks and nodding. A small chuckle came out of Springer's mouth, patting Heart again. "Alright. But you'll have to get serious. That means no sleeping in...and trying to do snack breaks."

"I know. I will." Ace replied, not hesitating with his words.

"Good." Springer then turned to Mira, seeing a giant smile on her face. "Looks like you'll be having a rival student."

"I know. And we have something really special to show you."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Just something really cool when you get up."

It was a few hours later that Springer felt like he could get up, the group going to the training room, Ace and Mira showed off their Aura Blast, the attack making Springer cheer, telling them both that this was the first true step into aura training. After that, Pinkie suggested making a small party, celebrating their victory over Shade. Most were for it, only the defenders not in as they wanted to help the town from the damage Shade had done. The two jakhowls had taken their next step into their days of becoming true jakhowls, and it was just the beginning for both.





Meanwhile...

Within a dark, damp cave, a certain tiny fox was sitting in a chair, surrounded by several cloaks. They were all shuffling through the place, moving boxes, weapons and food all around the area. While they did this, the fox was tapping the seat with his paw, growling as he stared up at a few pictures on the wall. They were pictures of Springer, along with several sheets of rune diagrams.

"Blast it...why did I lose again?!" Shade screeched before firing a Dark Blast at the picture of Springer, destroying it. He then began to scratch the sides of his head, "Why...why?! Why do I keep losing to him?! He's just a jakhowl! And now there's three of them!"

The fox slumped back into the chair, hissing as a cloak put down a box of pears beside him. He glared at the fruit, taking one before chomping into it, "Grrr…" he growled while munching on the pear, "I will have revenge. Mark my words, I will win one day." His teeth crunched into another piece of the pear, hissing as he slumped back again, "I just need one good idea..."
> The Trial of Flash Sentry
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a distant, far off land, lightning exploded in the night, dark sky, the perfect atmosphere within this area. Inside an elaborate laboratory was an arrangement of large pieces of machinery and computers, tables covered in different scientific equipment and beakers holding a large array of colored liquids. And on the far side of the room, there were five large metal doors with a tiny hatch in the center.

Only a single pony could be found within the place, the being showing a lack of wings and horn. Their entire body was covered in a grayish black body suit that was littered with wires, tubes and pieces of metal. The pony's face was covered by a silver mask, hiding even their mouth, nose and eyes. Eye covers on the mask were bright red while the end of the mouth-piece had a triangular vent-like design. The mask had several wires that connected it to a piece of metal that connected to a large tube coming out of the chin, which was connected to a square control console on the pony's chest. The pony's breath was heavy and loud, making an almost robotic noise.

With this, the pony walked through the lab, their metal boots clanging with every step. Their destination was the central metal door, but not before they reached one of the tables and picked up a pair of items. One was a metal claw on the end of an extendable stick, while the other was a small chunk of black rock that had a slight glow to it. The pony placed the rock onto the claw before moving over to the metal door, the center one having a piece of paper stuck on it that said this:


Trial-F


The pony opened the hatch, revealing a window into an almost completely pitch black room. Sliding it open, he placed the stick into the hole before it extended and moved the claw and rock further into the room. The claw and rock eventually disappeared into the darkness, a clunking sound coming next. After this, the pony spun the stick, the sound of something swinging shut along with a clicking sound. Retracting a the stick and closing the window next, the pony now stared at the door.

And then, a pair of bright red lights filled the room, illuminating the outline of a pony-like figure. An almost laugh came from the pony as the red lights walked up to them.

The creature then glanced down at them, the pony holding up a picture and placed it against the window. That picture was of an orange pegasus pony with a blue mane and tail. The creature stared at the picture, a look of rage and desire filling its eyes.





Several weeks later...

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville, the town having just recently finished repairing the damage done by Shade's attack on the village. Thankfully, there had only been minor injuries, mainly just fires that Shade had created. Now everypony was getting back to their normal day to day lives, including the town's beloved heroes.

At one of the restaurants, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie were all sitting at a table. They were laughing as they enjoyed one another's company alongside a delicious meal, "And then Pound burped and it caused a bubble to blow out of his mouth," Pinkie giggled as she told them a story, "When he saw it, he laughed and started making the bubble bigger. I swear, it was almost as big as me when it finally went pop." They all laughed again as Rarity cut up the grilled cheese she had ordered.

"It's a shame the boys couldn't join us," she sighed, "But Lightning said they had something important they needed to check out."

"Flash said the same thing," Twilight added, "I wonder what it is."

"Maybe it's something really big that could spell doom for Equestria if they fail," Rainbow chuckled, only to see the others glaring at her. "What?"

"I hope not," Fluttershy gulped, "Shade was bad enough. I hope things stay quiet for at least a little while."

Applejack nodded, "Ah'm sure whatever they're doing, it's important, but not end of Equestria important."





"Flash Cutter!"

In the canyon outside of town, Flash shot through the air in his Shining Guardian armor, slashing his sword at Springer. The mega jakhowl smirked as he created a Bone Breaker to deflect the attack, then swung it around to lock swords with Flash. Grins were on both as they pushed against each other, only to leap back. Once that happened, they charged again, both incredible speed as they clashed again. Blue and orange flashes covered the place as they began dashing around, attacks now coming so fast that anypony watching would see nothing but blurry flashes of light.

As this happened, several ponies were sitting on the top wall of the canyon, watching as the two sparred. Grand, Lightning, Iron, Heart, Ace and Mira all watched intensely as they clashed.

"Remind me again why they're doing this." Iron asked.

"Now that Springer's mastered his power, it's time to find out who's stronger going all out." Heart replied.

Lightning turned to Grand, "And the reason we're not doing this in Twilight's castle?"

"Do you want to be the one to explain what happened when those two blow a hole in the wall?" Lightning shrugged at this as Flash and Springer finished their hyper speed clash, leaping back again before they glowed their respective colors. "Besides, there's no way those two can go all out inside the castle, even with how the training room is."

As he said that, the energy domes appeared around them before reforming into the head shapes. The two began to glow, forming their fully completed avatars.

"Go Springer!" Ace cheered as Mira gave a whistle.

Springer's avatar formed an extra large Bone Breaker and charged, swinging it at Flash as his avatar easily side-stepped to dodge it. The horn of the energy alicorn then unleashed a beam of light that struck the blue avatar, causing it to be thrown back, now hitting the side of the canyon.

"Whoa!" Heart yelped as the ground shook, flaring his wings as he was about to take to the air.

Springer huffed as he pushed off against the rocks, charging again while using Steel Paw with his avatar, raising his arms up high before swinging them down. But Flash raised his wings and used them to shield his avatar, Springer's claws digging in, but not doing any damage. After a second, Flash spread his wings, knocking Springer's avatar off balance before unleashing another beam of light, hitting the avatar in the chest.

"Looks like Flash is the stronger one," Grand commented, only to see Flash's avatar began to flicker, a grimace appearing on the defender's face. The avatar then vanished, forcing Flash to glide down while Springer picked himself up.

Iron hummed at this, "So Flash's avatar has more power, but Springer can hold his longer."

Grand nodded at this, "I'm sure with more practice, he can learn to hold it longer."

At the same time, Ace held out a paw and Heart huffed before pulling a bar of chocolate out of nowhere and was about to give it to him. But then, as Springer prepared to attack Flash, the armored pegasus leapt up and slammed the avatar in the chest, knocking it back again. This made Heart smirk and pull his chocolate away, Ace growling as he looked away.





"Agreed," Twilight nodded to Applejack. "And if it's not important, it's their loss and not ours." She picked up the menu and licked her lips, "Anypony for pudding? I heard this place just got a near black forest gateau." The others nodded, grabbing the menus at the same time.

And as they did this, something was happening on the edge of town. At the forest behind the train station, a figure appeared from between the trees. It was hidden beneath a dark brown cloak with a hood up. They walked out and moved around the train station, not being noticed as he walked over the tracks and into the town. The figure strolled through the town without a care in the world, shifting side to side, passing everypony as they stared at them.

Back at the restaurant, the girls were half-way through their dessert before Pinkie suddenly froze, her ears twitching and her elbows rattling. The other mares turned to her, knowing this was the fabled Pinkie Sense. When the twitching and rattling stopped, Pinkie's eyes went wide, "Ooh!"

"What is it?" Rainbow asked first.

"Somepony new just arrived. Somepony that that's never been in Ponyville before." With that, Pinkie jumped under the table. But when the five looked under it, she was gone.

"Where did-"

"Up here!" Pinkie interrupted Twilight, making them look up to see the mare standing on the roof of the restaurant. She pulled a pair of binoculars out of her mane, glancing around before seeing a certain cloaked figure.

The mare then walked out of sight of her friends, her friends blinking before the pinky pony suddenly popped up from under the table. "We've got a new friend." She grabbed the plate and opened her mouth, causing her tongue to stretch out and grab her dessert. The tongue retracted back inside, swallowing the cake before turning to her friends, "Come on!" With that, she bounced off, her friends quickly finishing off their gateau before following her.

A few minutes later, they arrived on the street the cloaked figure was in. And as Pinkie's eyes fell upon him, she doubled her bouncing speed to catch up and jump in front of him. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!" The figure said nothing in reply, instead turning to walk away, only for Pinkie to zip around him, "What's your name?" They still remained quiet, causing Pinkie to frown, "What's the matter? Are you embarrassed by your name?" The figure just walked away, making her bounce around him again, "Oh, come on. I'm sure whatever you're called is great." The being still stayed quiet, Pinkie looking like she was getting upset.

The others saw this, Rainbow flying over and landing between them, "Hey, what's your problem?! Would it kill you to say hello?!" The figure remained silent, just looking away. "HEY!" Rainbow growled before reaching out her hoof to grab the figure's hood, "I'm talking to you!" She was about to grab it, only for the figure to suddenly shift around and grab her outstretch hoof. "WHOA!" The rainbow maned pegasus screamed as she was suddenly thrown to the side, crashing into a nearby house, breaking right through the wall.

Everypony gasped at this, the remaining members of the Mane Seven glaring the figure down. "Now yah done it!" Applejack yelled as she ran up and spun around to buck them. But the stranger easily sidestepped the mare before grabbing Applejack's hooves, throwing her away like Rainbow, "WHOA NELLY!"

Twilight was next, now firing a magical blast at the stranger. But the stranger easily leap side to side, dodging every beam before Twilight tried to grab them in her magic, only for the figure to dodge this as well as they sped up their evasion. As this happened, Rainbow and Applejack recovered, the pegasi charging while Applejack pulled out a lasso. But the figure ducked under the pegasus before the rope wrapped around their neck, only to reach out and grab the lasso and swing the farmer around.

"Augh!" both Applejack and Rainbow cried as the figure slammed both into each other.

"Oh dear." Fluttershy grimaced as she saw Twilight attack the figure again, "Oh, if only Iron was here."





"Wow!" Flash gasped as he sat down while Heart gave him a water bottle, drinking half before pouring the rest over his head. "That was some workout."

"Tell me about it," Springer nodded as Mira did the same for him. "Looks like we're pretty even. I can hold my avatar longer, but you're still more powerful."

Flash chuckled at this, "Give me a little time and I'll have you beat in both categories." They both laughed at this, only for Springer, Ace and Mira to suddenly clutch their heads, causing the five ponies to raise eyebrows, "What's wrong?"

Springer shook his head, "We've got trouble."

Back at the town...

The street where the girls had met the cloaked figure was now complete ruin. Every house on the street had a hole or some kind of broken window, large clumps of the earth now overturned, and every single street lamp had been knocked over. And as this happened, the seven ponies that caused this destruction stood in the middle of it. The cloaked pony was standing in the center, the girls surrounding him, each mare panting.

"Geez," Rainbow wiped her brow, "This guy's good."

"Or girl," Rarity corrected, the hood still over the figure, "But you're right. Whoever this is, they're strong." She gestured to their surroundings, "Look at everything they've done."

Twilight blinked at these words, only to go wide-eyed. She then saw Rainbow about to charge again, only for Twilight to yell, "WAIT!" Rainbow came to a stop, "Don't attack." Everypony turned to her, the princess responding, "Stop. All they've done is defend. Everything that's been damaged was caused by them countering us."

The others turned back to the cloaked figure, now remembering that the being had only deflected their attacks. Every time something was damaged, it was caused by this figure throwing one of them or dodging an attack. They hadn't actually damaged to place themselves.

"So what do we do?!" Rainbow asked, "Not attack?!"

"I think that's all we can do if we want to keep the town in one piece," Twilight gulped, only to hear another voice call out.

"Twilight!" They turned to see Flash and Heart flying into the street, the rest of the defenders running up in the distance. The two saw the destruction, then glaring at the cloaked pony. "Are they the one that did this?"

"Yes, but don't attack. That'll-" She didn't get to finish as the figure suddenly charged with so much power that it caused a shockwave that knocked them all down. The cloaked pony practically flew at Flash, attempting to tackle him.

"Whoa!" Flash and Heart flew apart, causing the figure to miss before spinning around. As this happened, Flash landed while the other defenders appeared around them. "I'll only ask this once. Who are you and why are you attacking our town?"

The figure remained quiet, making everypony frown. "Don't wanna talk?" Springer created a Bone Breaker, "We don't have to talk!" With that, he and Iron charged, only for the cloaked pony to easily dodge both attacks, Grand, Lightning and Heart doing the same. But as they tried to hit the figure, it just leapt over them.

As it did this, the figure turned back to Flash, charging at the defender. Flash quickly countered with his sword, but the figure raised their leg under the cloak and stopped the blade. Something clanged against the sword, making Flash realize he hit something metal. "Huh?" Flash said before glaring at the figure, only for the pony to leap back, the rest of the defenders gathering around him.

But before Twilight could call out to stop, Flash leapt into the air. "ARMORIZE!" Flash's body exploded with light, taking shape in the form of his Shining Guardian armor. Once it was formed, Flash's wing boosters ignited and rocketed him at the cloaked figure. "Who," he spun around to perform a flying side kick, "ARE YOU?!" He struck the figure before they could dodge, causing an explosion of force that kicked up a cloud of dust that covered them both.

Everypony around was buffeted by the air, forcing them to brace and shield their eyes. And as they saw Flash leap back, he came out of the cloud as Heart asked, "Did you get him?"

"Not sure." Flash replied.

"Look!" Grand added as he pointed at the fog, the figure walking out as its cloak was torn apart. The cloud then faded away, showing the true form of the pony.

"What the-" Was all Flash could say as he stared at...himself.

The attacker was an almost exact twin of Flash, almost being the definitive word. This Flash's fur and mane were a slightly more pale color, but that wasn't the strangest part. Parts of his body weren't even pony, but machine. His mouth and nose was covered by a triangular vented mask, while his eyes were bright red and whizzed around with a robotic clicking. The front of his neck was metal and ran down to his chest, which was also metal and appeared to open based on the hinges on the sides. Instead of the standard wings, this Flash had a pair of metal poles coming out of its back which were connected to large metal boosters with bumps on the front that had holes on it. [AN]

"What in the name of Celestia am I looking at?" Iron asked as everypony stared at the pony machine hybrid.

"It...looks like..." Springer stuttered out.

"Flash?" Twilight finished and asked at the same time. The others just went wide-eyed, some looking horrified while others soon switched to confusion.

But nopony was more baffled then Flash, who could only stare at his cyborg twin. "I don't know what the heck's going on here," Flash raised his sword. "But just because you look like me, that doesn't mean you're gonna get any mercy from me." But just as he was about to attack, the mechanical Flash suddenly charged at him, "Whoa!" Flash got into a counter stance, but the cyborg just came to a stop right in front of him. It then started breathing in, almost sounding like a vacuum cleaner as it sucked the air around its masked mouth.

"What the-what are you-" Flash asked, only to feel a shiver down his hooves. He looked down next, seeing a strange golden glow coming off his body. The glow was originating from his armor, which was slowly losing its shine...and going into the creature's mouth. "No way," he staggered back while his twin kept trying to get closer, "My...my Sacred Light."

Heart let out a loud gasp, "Mecha-Flash is stealing Flash's Sacred Light!"

"Mecha-Flash?" Rainbow asked.

"We gotta call it something," Heart replied.

"Who cares what it's called," Grand added as he charged, the others following. "Get him!"

"Get away!" Flash yelled as he swung his sword at the machine, but Mecha-Flash quickly blocked it with its hoof while still sucking his Sacred Light out. "Flash Force!" Flash fired a beam of light out of his horn, but the cyborg actually caught the blast in its hooves and held it until Flash stopped. The light from the blast formed an orb that it held in its hooves before bringing to its mouth, sucking it down as well. The ball shrank until it was completely gone, then turned back to Flash.

But before it could get close again, the others got between it and its target. "You're done!" Grand roared as he swung his hammer at the machine, only for Mecha-Flash to jump back. It was then that the cyborg's wings opened up and began to fire super-heated air out, allowing it to take flight and shoot over the grounded members of the group.

Rainbow and Heart flew up at this, Heart unleashing a burst of fire at Mecha-Flash. But the cyborg merely flew through the flames, getting through unharmed, while the holes in the front of its wings began to glow. And before either pegasi could do anything, Mecha-Flash unleashed a beam of light from each wing, hitting them both.

"AUGH!" They cried as they slammed into a nearby building, Twilight suddenly teleported up next, blocking the machine's path. Mecha-Flash repeated its last attack while Twilight created a shield to block it, only to stop it and charge at Twilight. The alicorn countered with a series of magic beams, but Mecha-Flash easily spun around them, only to fly around her in a tight circle. It quickly got up to extreme speeds, its jets blaring before buffeting Twilight back with a spiraling whirlwind.

"WHOA!" She yelped as she tried to teleport away, only to find herself still spinning and crashing into the side of a building.

Flash growled at the sight, only to then find Mecha-Flash land in front of him before resuming the extraction of his Sacred Light. "Stop it!" He barked, raising his sword to attack again. But before he could, he felt his body grow weaker. "What's...happening?" he lost his grip on his sword, falling over as his armor completely vanished. And as this happened, the light continued to be extracted from his body.

"FLASH!" His friends cried as Pinkie and Lightning ran up next, Lightning unleashing a bolt of electricity that Mecha-Flash jumped away from while Pinkie threw several smoke bombs. A pink cloud covered the area next, hiding Flash within the smoke. As this happened, Springer and Grand jumped into the smoke, zipping out of the other side with an unconscious Flash on Grand's back. The two raced into an alleyway as Mecha-Flash used its jets to blow away the smoke, only for the cyborg to now see its target was gone.

"Sorry," Lightning said as he, Iron and Heart charged at him. "But feeding time's over!" He pulled out a pair of knives and started slashing at Mecha-Flash, electrifying the metal, but the cyborg easily hopped back. At the same time, Iron and Heart unleashed burst of fire and metal, but Mecha-Flash just leap over their attacks, taking to the air again.

Once it was high enough, the holes on its wings lit up before firing a pair of energy projectiles upward. And when they got high enough, they exploded like fireworks. But the embers didn't fade, instead shooting down and bombarding the town.

"WHOA!" The defenders cried as they ducked for cover, Twilight teleporting over to her friends and created a shield to protect them.

"We have to get out of here!" Twilight screamed before turning to Lightning. "Teleport back to the castle!" Lightning nodded as Twilight's friends grabbed onto her while Lightning grabbed Heart and Iron. The two disappeared in a flash of light, right as the bombardment ended.

Mecha-Flash stared down at the wrecked town, its eyes glaring around as it couldn't locate its target.





Back with Springer and Grand...

The two had taken cover behind the post office, Springer glancing over to see the pony flying around. "What can you sense from that thing?" Grand asked, Springer closing his eyes for a second.

"It's weird," Springer replied, "It feels like Flash, but it's lacking something. Like whatever it is, its...lacking soul." It was then that the cyborg turned to them, "We need to get out of here."

"It'll spot us if we run," Grand responded, "And might level the town to try and get to Flash."

"So what do we do?"

Grand let out a huff, an idea slowly forming in his head. As he did this, Mecha-Flash flew through the town's streets, not seeing anypony, but it could sense it's target. It then flew over the post office, landing on the roof before staring down...and finding nothing.





Flash let out a moan, his eyes blinking open to see himself moving despite his body remaining still. "Huh?" he muttered before glancing up, now seeing he was in a dark tunnel with Springer carrying him on his back. Grand was digging the tunnel, using his Celestic Gear to carve through the rock as they ran, the tunnel behind them closing quickly.

As he watched this, memories rang out in his head, "Darn that guy!" He growled, making the two glance back at him, "Where is he?! I'll make him pay!"

"You're not doing anything," Grand replied, "It's you that thing's after, so we need to keep you as far away from it as possible so it doesn't get what it wants." Flash hissed back, only for the two to come to a stop, "Alright, we should be just outside the castle. Springer?"

The jakhowl let out a burst of aura and nodded. "I'm picking up Twilight and the others just ahead." Grand nodded back and slammed the ground with his hammer, causing it to shoot up while the ceiling opened. In a single motion, they were standing outside the castle.

"Hurry!" Grand yelled as they ran inside, closing the door before Mecha-Flash could spot them. They rushed into the throne room, only to see Soul, Fluttershy and Rarity bandaging up the rest of the defenders, Twilight turning to them.

"Flash!" She ran over and hugged him, "Are you okay?!"

"I've been better," he replied, their embrace quickly ending as he slumped over, "But whatever that thing did really took the wind out of me."

"It looked like it was absorbing your Sacred Light," Grand added, "I guess with a power as strong as that, it would attracted some unwanted attention."

"But what the heck even was that thing?" Iron asked, "And why the heck does it look like Sentry?"

"And why is half its body...like that?" Heart continued, the statement making Starlight let out a gulp.

"Um...Twilight?" the alicorn turned to her, "You don't think it's the evil Flash we met, do you?" Twilight and Spike shared a glance at the suggestion, remembering their time travel adventure as Starlight kept going, "You don't think he like...fell back hundreds of years and the only way to stay alive long enough to seek his revenge was to turn himself into a robot?"

The others turned to Twilight, the princess beginning to pace around at the thought, "I...I guess its possible."

"I don't think it is." They now turned to Springer. "I might not have met that version of Flash, but I don't think this is him. When I scanned him, I couldn't sense any kind of soul. That thing isn't just a machine on the outside, it's a machine on the inside. Whatever it came here to do, it isn't doing it under its own free will."

"So what are you saying?" Lightning asked. "If this thing isn't the evil Flash, then where did it come from?"

"Hmmm..." Twilight hummed, rubbing her chin. "That does make sense Springer. I mean, if it was evil Flash..." She turned to Starlight, "He probably would be after me, Starlight and Spike first before taking on Flash. That and he wanted to kill all versions of Flash, not...absorb the Sacred Light. But if that's the case..." She closed her eyes for a second before gulping at her own conclusion. "It's a clone. A clone of Flash."

"A clone?!" Iron asked while raising an eyebrow, "I thought those only existed in comics. Clones aren't real."

"They are," Twilight replied while shaking her head, "If somepony was able to get Flash's DNA, it's possible they could create a magical clone of him. It's a highly advanced spell, so usually only somepony with great magical skill would be able to do it."

"So that thing is just a copy of Flash?" Heart asked.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense." Iron commented, "If there is a spell for it, and getting Sentry's DNA wouldn't be hard since he leaves it all over the place." The other ponies turned to him, the defender scowling back, "Not like that! I mean with how reckless he is, he's probably dropped some of his blood in every town of Equestria by now!"

"So he's a magical clone," Rainbow repeated, "But what's with the tech?"

"Maybe the spell didn't work right," Soul added, "Maybe whoever made it didn't do a good job."

Twilight nodded in agreement, "That's probably right. They must have had to stabilize it with machinery." She clapped her hooves at this, "That means that it's the machinery that's keeping it alive. If we take it out, that thing goes down too."

"But how?" Fluttershy asked.

"Simple. It's got to have a power source," Twilight responded, "The question is where in its body."

"Who cares," Iron added, "We'll just keep pounding that thing until we finally hit something that makes it spark."

"I don't think it's that simple," Grand chimed in, "If it does have a power source, it'll be heavily protected. And let's not forget all the damage done to the town before we managed to find it."

"So we've gotta get it out of Ponyville before we can fight it," Rainbow sighed. "This is sounding like a pain."

"Yeah...but how are we gonna do that?" Heart asked next.

"We'll use me." They all turned to Flash, "I'm what that thing wants. The only way to lead it out of town is by using me as bait."

"Flash, no!" Twilight exclaimed, "It's too dangerous. You saw what happened last time that thing got close."

"It sucked the Sacred Light right out of yah," Applejack added.

Twilight nodded at this. "And don't forget, you losing your Sacred Light is dangerous. If that thing manages to get all of it, you'll die."

"I know that," Flash replied, "But I'm not just gonna sit here and let that thing hurt you or my home." He pointed at himself, "I'll show myself to it and then hightail it before Mecha-me can get close. And once I lead it someplace it's safe to go all out, we'll take that thing down together."

The others all exchanged glances, Grand letting out a sigh, "I hate to say this, but he's right. Using Flash as bait is our only option." He turned to the others, "Unless anypony has another good idea for taking it down." Everypony remained silent, "Then we have no choice. Heart, Rainbow." The pegasi blinked at him, "Stick with Flash. If that thing gets to close, try to slow it down long enough for Flash to escape the town."

They nodded as Twilight turned to Flash, "I don't like this, but I understand we don't have a choice." She placed a hoof on his chest, "Just be careful."

Flash nodded back before turning to the others. "Alright everyony. Let's go take this mechanical copycat down!"

"YEAH!" Everypony else yelled.





Back Outside...

Mecha-Flash was now wondering around, its connection to Flash having now vanished. It landed in front of a house at this moment, kicking the door in before hearing screams as the cyborg looked inside, now finding Berryshine holding a Piña Colada tightly to her chest. The machine stared at her before walking back outside, going to the next house. But as it raised a hoof to kick the door-

"HEY!" The cyborg spun around to see Flash, Rainbow and Heart in the air, "Looking for me?" The clone let out a mechanical hiss before its wings began to power up. "You want me? Come and get me!" Flash took off, Heart and Rainbow following while Mecha-Flash's wings exploded and pushed the cyborg into the air.

Flash looked back to see the cyborg had alrerady covered half the distance between them. "Come on!" He pumped his wings harder, "We've gotta get that thing away from Ponyville!"

"You two go!" Rainbow yelled before stopping. "I'll slow him down." The boys wanted to tell her not to be stupid, but they knew she wouldn't listen. "Alright Mecha-Fake!" she roared before flying in a circle. "Let's see how you do when I rock you like a hurricane!" With that, the mare's speed began to form a tornado between Mecha-Flash and the real one.

The cyborg saw this and Rainbow smirked, the machine just staring at the whirlwind. That is, till Mecha-Flash began flying in a circle as well, though in the opposite direction. A reverse tornado formed, the two air spirals clashing and merging, the winds now cancelling.

"What the-" Rainbow yelped as the tornadoes vanished, only to then see Mecha-Flash flying right at her. "Oh crab-apples," was all she could say before the cyborg slammed into her, her body flying away like a rocket. She screamed as flew through the air, with anypony seeing this being reminded of what Applejack tried to do an entire applebuck season on her own. Once she disappeared into the horizon, Mecha-Flash turned back to its true opponent.

"So much for Rainbow," Heart commented as the two of them got out of town. "This is really bad."

"At least she slowed it down so it won't stay in Ponyville," Flash added while glancing back to see his mechanical lookalike following them again, "Come on, let's see if we can take it down in the canyon. Hope you've been practicing your advanced flying!"

Heart shined a grin before his body ignited, the pegasi's back hooves exploding, allowing him to rocket into the canyon. Using his front hooves to steer, he flew at max speed through the turns and flying out of sight. Flash smirked at this before looking back, pointing at Mecha-Flash, "So you're fast and strong. But how good are you are turning?" With that, he also entered the curvier sections of the canyon, easily making the sharp turns without much issue.

But Mecha-Flash didn't seem to have that kind of maneuverability, causing it to crash into the turns whenever it tried. But as it did this, it instead just busted through the rocks that got in its way. "Okay," Flash gulped, "That's kinda cheating."

The clone was soon only a few feet behind Flash and as it got in range, starting to make the vacuum noise again. And as it did this, the light began to be pulled off of Flash. "No..." he moaned, his wings flapping awkwardly as he felt himself get weaker.

But then he turned a corner, only for Heart to appear, "Hey Mecha-Flash!" He yelled before unleashing several fireballs from his hooves, "Here's a little something I learned just before I got my powers!" The fire struck the rocks atop the walls, making them come lose.

Flash smiled at the sight before pulling out his sword. "Nice one Heart! Let me help you! Flash Cutter!" Flash added as he swung his sword upward, the energy blades hitting the walls. Rocks upon rocks began to come crashing down, the defender escaping the rock slide as the boulders began to bury Mecha-Flash.

"Gotcha!" Heart cheered before unleashing a full force of flames onto the rock pile, causing it to melt into a tomb similar to the one Flash had been trapped within during their battle in the lost city. "That's gotta hold him."

"It can hold me," Flash corrected, "Doesn't mean it'll hold that thing." He let out a long moan, "Let's get going and meet up with the others."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," Flash replied, "Just a...little winded. Come on, the others are waiting." The two flew off and left the tomb, which was still smoking.

However, a crack soon appeared on the surface, light pouring out before more soon appeared.





Outside the canyon, in the meadow-like area north east of White Tail Woods, almost everypony else was there. The only ones missing were Flash, Heart, Twilight, Springer and Rainbow, the rest now getting ready. "Ooh..." Pinkie bounced in a pacing motion, "Where are they?! It shouldn't have taken this long."

"Relax," Lightning responded, "They'll be here." Wild nodded in agreement, only for the group to suddenly see Flash and Heart leaving the canyon. "You made it!"

"Yeah, we did," Flash replied before landing, only to notice a certain pair were now missing. "Where's Twilight and Springer?" He got his answer when a flash of light made him turn to see them along with a very dizzy looking Rainbow Dash.

"Sorry we're late," Twilight told her boyfriend, "Springer sensed Rainbow's sudden blast off and we had to go get her." She glanced around next, "Where's the clone?"

Heart puffed out his chest at this, "Taken care off. I trapped him under a pile of melted rock. No way he's getting out of that." But as he said that, a large explosion shook the ground, making everypony turn and see a streak of light shoot into the sky.

Flash glanced back at Heart, "Wanna rethink that statement?"

"Battle stations!" Grand yelled as the shining meteor began to curve toward them. "Let's end this. Grand-"

"Aura-

"Iron-"

"Lightning-

"Fire-"

"FORCE!" The five screamed as they unleashed their attacks in the direction of Mecha-Flash, the machine unphased at the incoming danger. It instead unleashed a burst of lasers from its wing cannons, taking out the force attacks before they could get close. Mecha-Flash then began to spin as light appeared around it, transforming the cyborg into a shining energy drill.

"A drill attack?" Soul asked.

"Just like Flash," Heart whispered. "Is there anything that guy can't copy?"

"Let's hope so," Twilight replied before she, Starlight and Springer formed a shield around them. "Because at full power, Flash is almost unstoppable." She created a bubble around the group while Starlight created one around hers and Springer created another around hers.

But then the drill struck, shattering Springer's barrier, only to slow it down. It smashed through Starlight's next, only to hit Twilight's, her bubble starting to crack before shattering as well. And before anypony could do anything, the cyborg flew out of the drill and struck the ground, causing an earthquake and that sent everypony flying.

"AUGH/GYAH/OUGH/ARRRH!" Were some of the sounds as the shockwave made them go flying, Flash then feeling something tackle him.

A loud vacuum sound filled the air, making him look up to see Mecha-Flash pinning him to the ground, now sucking the Sacred Light out again. Flash tried to raise his hooves at this, only to let out a whisper, "No..."

"FLASH!" He then heard his friends scream before a blast of purple and blue magic struck Mecha-Flash, knocking it off him. Twilight and Starlight kept firing as Heart and Soul ran over, now seeing he was barely conscious.

"Come on Flash," Heart shook him. "Stay with us!" As he said that, Mecha-Flash picked itself up before staring at its prey. But as it did this, the Defenders stepped between him, glares on every face.

"You want him?" Springer asked while creating a Bone Breaker, "You gotta go through us!" As he said that, Grand raised his hammer before slamming it into the ground. This caused spiked rocks to explode out of the ground, a circle of rubble quickly pinning the cyborg on all sides.

The others charged in next, Lightning leaping up while electrifying his hooves. "Time for you to short circuit!" He yelled as he landed on the rocks and slammed his hooves into Mecha-Flash's wings. The lightning electrocuted the monster, Mecha-Flash now letting out a scream of what felt like pain.

The cyborg then thrashed against the rocks holding it in place, the spikes shattering before turning its cannons at Lightning. An instant laser came out, knocking the defender flying back, only for Rarity to catch him in her magic before he flew away.

As she did this, Springer, Iron, Rainbow and Applejack charged. "Mega Mode Power/Armorize!" The defenders yelled as they transformed into their upgraded forms, seconds before they and Mech-Flash reached one another. Iron was first, swinging his tail weapon that morphed into a sword, which was blocked by Mecha-Flash with just a hoof before spinning around and slamming one of its metallic back hooves into Iron's face.

At the same time, Rainbow and Applejack charged as Rainbow attempted to tackle it from above while Applejack tried to apple-buck it from below. But Mecha-Flash simply ducked down under Rainbow and used its front hooves to catch Applejack's back hooves. It then spun around and swung Applejack into Rainbow, sending both flying back.

Mecha-Flash then turned to Springer as the Mega Jakhowl began swinging his staff at him. The cyborg easily smacked the bone weapon away, only to see Springer suddenly begin to glitch out. A Velocity Strike came next, the machine feeling thirty punches hitting its body. Its wings, neck and hooves began to get dented and damaged, everypony gasping at the sight as they saw Springer finally get the upper hoof.

"Aura," Springer swept Mecha-Flash off its hooves as he formed an orb in his other paw, "FORCE!" He thrust the orb at Mecha-Flash, making it explode into a beam of energy, Mecha-Flash just managing to cross its hooves over its chest before the beam struck.

Mecha-Flash screamed as it was pushed back by the beam, digging a trench a good twenty feet long as it kept going back. And as the attack began to come to a stop, Springer let out a gasp, refocusing his aura as Grand asked, "Did you get him?"

"I...think so." Springer replied as they stared at the machine. It was now twitching, sparks coming off it as pieces were now missing from its body. That is, till a dark light began to seep out of the metal doors on its chest, the light spreading around its entire body, causing the damaged parts to slowly repair themselves. The cracks disappeared and the missing pieces of metal began to grow back.

"No way," Twilight whispered, "It can heal itself?!"

Her question was confirmed when Mecha-Flash pushed itself back up, looking as good as new. "This just got a whole lot harder," Springer added as Mecha-Flash's boosters exploded and propelled it into the sky. "Everypony watch out!" The machine then unleashed twin blasts from its wing cannons that shot straight up before exploding into a hundred more energy blasts that rained down on the meadow like a meteor storm.

Everypony screamed as they ducked for cover, Twilight, Starlight, Lightning and Springer doing their best to shield everypony. But some couldn't get there in time, now getting caught in the explosions that rocked the meadow.

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Rainbow, Applejack, Iron and Grand screamed as they knocked back, each slamming into the ground, tree or stray rock.

"NO!" Heart cried before igniting and charging straight up, "You'll pay for this!"

"Heart!" Twilight yelled as she flew after him, Starlight using her magic to do the same. Even Fluttershy flew up, while Heart reached Mecha-Flash and started throwing fireballs.

But the mechanical pony just stood there, smacking the flames away with its hooves before firing an energy blast at the colt. "Augh!" He yelped as one struck his shoulder, Mecha-Flash then descending on Heart before Twilight and Starlight flew past the colt.

The two unleashed a massive magical beam, hitting the cyborg back while Fluttershy caught Heart. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," the colt replied before hopping out of her hooves, Fluttershy sighing before growing three times her usual size. They watched as Twilight and Starlight circled around Mecha-Flash, firing more beams that the machine easily dodged.

"Raaah!" Heart screamed as he rocketed up and tried to punch Mecha-Flash with a blazing punch, but the cyborg simply blocked his jab, easily smacking him away with a swat of a metal hoof. As he did this though, Fluttershy appeared and clapped her hooves together around the machine. But before she could crush it, Mecha-Flash held out his hooves, managing to push the giant clapping hooves back. Fluttershy growled at this, trying to crush the cyborg as he continued to push back.

Twilight and Starlight took this chance to get on either side Mecha-Flash, both firing magic blasts. The cyborg saw this and flared its wings, then rocketing straight up and out from between Fluttershy's hooves. This made the magic beams hit one another, cancelling each other, only for the machine to see Heart waiting for him.

"FIRE FORCE!" He unleashed the strongest blast of fire he could, making sure the wind was behind him for added power, the flames rocketing at Mecha-Flash before it could react. The cyborg just took the attack as its body began to warp, the flames soon dying out after about thirty seconds.

Several of Mecha-Flash's metal body-parts were melting while its pony body-parts were badly burnt. But before Heart could celebrate, the light from Mecha-Flash's chest appeared again, spreading across its body, healing every part and burnt piece of skin and fur. The colt growled as Twilight and Starlight flew past him, the mares unleashing two beams as Mecha-Flash fired its wing cannons. The orange beams struck the blue and purple ones, putting them in a deadlock.

Heart and Fluttershy began to attack again at this, only to for Mecha-Flash to point its front hooves at both. They then shot off the main body, firing off like missiles as fire rocketed out of them. The two hooves hit both Heart and Fluttershy before they could react, knocking the wind out of both before sending them straight down.

"Heart!" Soul cried.

"Fluttershy!" Rarity screamed, seeing the two hit the ground with so much force in created a crater. The dust from the impact faded to reveal the two, still being pinned by the rocket hooves that were digging into their chests.

Twilight and Starlight gasped at this before turning back to seeing the metal hooves had been hiding something. Mecha-Flash had a pair of thin metal tubes coming out of its legs, which it pointed at the both of them as the ends began to light up. The mares then cut their spells, seconds before lasers exploded out of these barrels, the two barely dodging the beams.

"Geez!" Starlight yelped, "What else can this thing do?!" As she asked that, the hooves from before flew off the downed pegasi and went back to the main body.

"I'm afraid to find out," Twilight whispered, then teleporting them back to the ground. "Are they okay?" She asked the ponies looking over Heart and Fluttershy, the mare having returned to her normal size.

"I'm fine," Heart moaned, Fluttershy just letting out a whimper.

"Okay, that's it!" Springer suddenly yelled, making everypony turn to him. "No more holding back!" he began to run as his body shined, the light exploding off him before forming his full aura avatar. "You're not hurting anypony else!" His avatar formed a Bone Breaker and began to swing it down at Mecha-Flash, the machine flying back to the avoid the attack while unleashing lasers from its wings.

The lasers hit the avatar, only to be absorbed and not hurt Springer at all. The jakhowl then dispelled his staff and created an Aura Blast that he threw at the cyborg. Mecha-Flash responded by once again firing its lasers from its wings, blocking the orb before it launched its rocket hooves. However, the rockets simply passed through avatar harmlessly. Mecha-Flash took this moment to fire its leg blasters at the avatar, but they too were absorbed.

At the same time, Twilight and Starlight took to the air again while Lightning teleported onto the avatar's shoulder. "Try this! Gatling Spark!" He unleashed a barrage of lightning bolts while Twilight and Starlight got behind it and launched their own attacks.

Mecha-Flash began to dodge all three attacks, its vision focusing on the magic as Springer swung his avatar's hand at the machine. Smacking it down, it slapped the being right into the ground, the impact making a crater.

"Got it! Nice one Springer!" Lightning cheered as Springer lifted his giant aura paw back up. The crater was now a dust cloud, soon fading to reveal the badly damaged cyborg picking itself up, only for darkness to cover it as it looked up to see the avatar's giant foot overhead.

"Time to end this!" Springer exclaimed, only for Mecha-Flash to turn to the others. It as Pinkie, Rarity Wild, and Soul now pulling everypony that was unconscious into one group. And seconds before Springer could stomp on him, Mecha-Flash unleashed twin blasts from its wings that flew diagonally up before exploding...right above the injured ponies.

Those fighting gasped as they turned to their friends, quickly forgetting the machine as the magic users teleported down to them and deflected the closest blasts while Springer used his avatar to swat the rest away.

As this happened, Mecha-Flash began to repair itself again. But once it was fixed, the light from its chest didn't go away. Instead, it flew up as the light continued to grow, the machine soon flying above Springer's avatar. It was then that the doors opened up, the blackish purple light now getting brighter by the second. The glow also seemed to unleash a force that was trying to push it back, stopped by the cyborg's wings doing the reverse.

Springer was the first to notice this, turning to Mecha-Flash as he saw the light get stronger. A bad feeling struck him as he saw this, making him turn to his friends, "Twilight! Starlight! Shield!" The two nodded and put up a combined barrier around them all as Springer turned back to Mecha-Flash.

His avatar brought its paws together, beginning to charge a blast of its own while Mecha-Flash continued charging its up. And as this happened, a black beam of energy exploded out of Mecha-Flash's chest while Springer unleashed a giant Aura Force. The two attacks collided, pushing against each other, appearing even in power.

But soon, Springer's attack began to get pushed back, "No!" Springer groaned as the beam got closer to his avatar, eventually pushing past his attack and striking the main body. "NOOO!" Springer yelled as his felt his energy body get overpowered, soon shattering as Springer was struck by the beam.

The ponies gasped at this, the beam then hitting the barrier, causing it to crack and strain. "That's not gonna hold!" Twilight yelled before turning to the others, "Brace yourselves!" Everypony tried to take cover at this, the attack getting through before hitting the ground.

KABOOM!

The entire meadow shook from the blow, a cloud of smoke and dust soon filling the air. Mecha-Flash watched and waited to see the damage, the fog covering its vision. And as the smoke cleared, most of its opponents were now laid out on the ground. Several had serious wounds, most now fully knocked out.

Only Twilight, Starlight and Springer were able to stand, the three wide-eyed at the destruction around them. Springer was surprised he was still in Mega Mode after that blast, but he knew it wouldn't be enough as he saw Mecha-Flash begin to float down. But as it did this, the three final obstacles stepped up in front of Flash, Springer turning to Twilight. "I'll hold it back," Springer told Twilight, "You grab Flash and teleport someplace else."

"We can't keep running from it," Twilight replied, "We have to stop it, here and now." Springer nodded as he formed a Bone Breaker, the mares lighting their horns.

But as they were about to attack, a sudden blast of gold and blue magic shot down from above, knocking Mecha-Flash back. The three looked up, Twilight gasping, "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" The Royal Sisters glided down with small grins.

"We got your message," Celestia replied as they landed. "And we have a battalion of guards marching here as we speak."

"But the three of us decided to teleport ahead," Luna added.

"Three of us?" Starlight asked before a flash of light revealed a blue unicorn beside her.

"What's up besty!" Trixie giggled before the six heard a loud clanging noise, all turning to see Mecha-Flash pick itself up. The machine stared at them before releasing its jets, flying up a split second later.

"Twilight! Luna!" Celestia called out as she took flight, the smaller alicorns following her while Trixie, Springer and Starlight charged. The princesses got above the cyborg and began firing as the others shot from below, Mecha-Flash letting the attacks collide with it while it fought back with its wing cannons, rocket hooves and leg blasters.

As this happened, two of the previously unconscious ponies began to come around. Applejack and Rainbow moaned as they pushed themselves up, only to gasp as they saw everything happening. "Everypony!" Applejack yelped, now seeing Mecha-Flash fight all the magic users.

Celestia and Luna each fired a blast that were blocked by the wing cannons while Mecha-Flash fired its rocket hooves into Trixie and Springer. "Augh!" They cried as they were thrown back, Twilight and Starlight firing a set of beams that were also blocked by the leg blasters.

The four magic users pushed against the multiple attacks, only for Mecha-Flash to fly back, dodging the magic beams all at once. And as this happened, Twilight yelled out, "Don't stop! We have to keep attacking before-" She couldn't finish as energy from its chest flew out and spread across its body.

"It can heal!?" Trixie gasped, getting a nod from the others.

"Whatever's in its chest must be its power source," Twilight added, "It keeps protecting it, so we have to destroy it!"

"But how?" Springer asked, "We can barely dent it when we work together." He got his answer when a sudden sonic boom rocked the meadow, followed by a flash of light.

Mecha-Flash wasn't able to process what happened as it was slammed by Rainbow, the pegasi tackling it before charging it into the ground. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" She screamed as they picked up speed, Mecha-Flash just now realizing what was happening. The two then slammed into the dirt, shaking the meadow again. And as a resounding thud rang out, a quick dust cloud kicking up before revealing Rainbow pinning a slightly damaged Mecha-Flash. "Gotcha!" She cheered, only for Mecha-Flash to reach up and grab her mane, slinging her off its back, "Augh!"

Mecha-Flash turned to fire a blast at her, only for a coil of rope to fall down over its neck and yank it back. "Oh, no yah don't!" Applejack yelled as she pulled her lasso back.

The cyborg tried to grab the rope, only for a light to appear around both its metal hooves. Its hooves were pulled away from its neck, then the light spread to the rest of its legs. The light on its right leg was a mixture of gold and purple, while its left leg was held by a mixture of blue and pink light.

The Royal Sisters and their students strained as they worked to keep Mecha-Flash from escaping, Starlight rushing around its back and seeing its wings about to ignite. "You're not escaping this!" She exclaimed as she created a bubble around the wings, forcing the air out. No air, no combustion.

Its head began to turn around, its body squirming as the magic kept it held. But as it did this, it saw its chest was aimed at several of the downed ponies. It instantly opened it up, light beginning to form around it. "NO!" Twilight screamed, now seeing what was about to happen.

"Oh, no you don't!" Springer roared as he jumped down in front of Mecha-Flash, an Aura Blast in his paw. "This ends...NOW!"

With that, he thrust the orb into its chest, the aura quickly reacting with the power source. A dome of energy began to form as he pushed the sphere through, the dome growing around the machine. The dome began to burn through Applejack's lasso, and blocked the magic holding it, growing more and more by the second. This allowed Mecha-Flash to grab Springer's shoulder, the cyborg trying to push the defender away. But the Mega Jakhowl refused to let up. "Not...gonna...happen!" He yelled while the others saw the dome wouldn't hold much longer.

"SPRINGER!" Twilight screamed.

KABOOM!

Another explosion rocked the meadow as the dome exploded, unleashing a wave of energy that knocked all those standing flying back. The impact sent them across the fields, Springer flying the farthest as he returned to his normal form before falling unconscious.

And then, Mecha-Flash just stood still. It was badly damaged, but it could heal. As it began to do this, it turned to see the still unconscious Flash. It headed for the knight, ready to extract the last of the Sacred light. But as it did this, the machine noticed some sparking in its chest.

Looking down, the sight of its metal chest doors, batted and dented, filled its optics along with sparks that came from within. But before it could try to heal, a large explosion burst from its chest, causing the doors to fly off. The cyborg clone let out screams of pain, staggering back as something fell out of its now open chest and hit the ground.

This was followed by a second explosion, this one being entirely of golden light. The light rocketed out of its chest and formed a cloud above it, the cyborg screaming as it felt itself beginning to lose power. At the same time, the cloud began to move away, streaming back into its true host.

Flash let out a groan as he woke up, opening his eyes before getting up. "Uh...what happened?" he moaned before looking up, now seeing the stream of light flowing over and entering his body, "What the-" He turned to see Mecha-Flash now turning on its vacuum, trying to suck up the Sacred Light...only for all of it vanish inside Flash.

The cyborg then let out a scream at Flash, glaring at the knight.

"Not so tough now, huh?" Flash stood up, only to glance around to see his friends all knocked out. Anger filled his entire being at the sight, the pegasus turning to his doppelganger with a look of pure fury. "I've had it with you. You stole my look. You tried to steal my power. And now, you've hurt my friends!" The cyborg screamed again before charging, "I'm gonna make sure you never hurt anypony...EVER AGAIN!" He raised his sword and held it high, "ARMORIZE!" With that, light exploded off his body, quickly forming the Shining Guardian armor.

The light also flew across the area, causing everypony to glow as their wounds began to vanish. They opened their eyes, all beginning to look up and see Flash about to be attacked by his clone. But when the light faded, Mecha-Flash leapt at the original, only for the Pegasus to simply throw a single punch, slamming his armored hoof into the cyborg. Mecha-Flash screamed as it was thrown backwards, flying a good ten meters before landing on the ground.

As this happened, Flash held his sword up in a battle-ready sword stance. Mecha-Flash pushed itself back up before calling on the last remaining drops of power it had left to unleash a single burst of energy from its wing cannon. But Flash didn't even attempt to dodge it, instead letting the light hit him. But as it struck, the attack merely bounced off, flying harmlessly into the air.

This made the clone roar, charging again as it tried to punch Flash. But the original simply blocked the metal hoof with the flat side of his sword blade while his own hoof began to glow with Sacred Light energy. And before the cyborg could react, Flash threw another punch, causing an explosion upon impact.

Mecha-Flash screamed as it was thrown back, crashing into the dirt before quickly rolling itself back to its hooves. It then unleashed a barrage of energy blasts, Flash spreading his wings to fly up and over the explosions that hit the ground next. And as this happened, the five blue gems on his armour began to glow.

The machine also spread its wings, igniting the boosters while pushing into the air. It rocketed for Flash, but the defender just waited before unleashing the energy beams from his boots and chests, hitting the cyborg. Every beam that struck blasted through Mecha-Flash's armor, especially doing serious damage to its wings.

"Flash FORCE!" He screamed before unleashing a blast of magic from his helmet horn, the beam striking Mecha-Flash instantly. The cyborg screamed as it felt itself be burnt, its armor melting before it struck the ground, slamming into it so hard that it actually carved a ditch as it slid along it.

Flash cut the power of his attack before flying down, landing roughly thirty feet from his clone. The cyborg tried to pick itself up, but everypony watching knew it was on its last legs. "Alright," Flash pointed his sword at the machine, "Last chance tin can. Tell me who made you, or be destroyed!"

Mecha-Flash growled at him before giving the pegasus its answer, pushing itself up and charging at Flash with a wild animalistic scream.

"So be it," Flash whispered before the tips of his wings opened. His Sacred Light exploded out of them, propelling him at the machine as he held his sword so the tip of the blade pointed behind him. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed, swiping his blade the second he reached his clone. In a blink of an eye, the sword slashed through the area, the knight sliding to a stop behind Mecha-Flash with his sword pointed forward.

Mecha-Flash stood there for several seconds before lightning began to spark around it, the cyborg short circuiting while letting out screams of pain. And as this happened, the cyborg's entire body self destructed, now consumed in a large explosion.

It wasn't long till the force of the explosion faded, Flash turning back to where his copy had been before looking down at the crater the explosion had caused. All that was left of the cyborg were a few bits of metal, Flash staring at the sight. He knew he wasn't sure if his attack had destroyed the clone, or the damage to the machinery had caused the magically created body to fall apart. Either way, it was gone.

"FLASH!" He turned to see his friends running over, most limping than running though. Twilight was the first to reach him, tackling him to the ground, Flash managing to disperse his armor before he accidently poked her.

"You did it!" She laughed, hugging him tightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now," he replied as she pulled away, allowing him to get up, "Are you all okay?" Everypony gave some form of positive response, although he could see most still had a few bad burns and cuts.

"We're a lot better than we were before your Sacred Light swept over us," Grand added, "I think you saved us a good few weeks of healing. Is there anything your Sacred Light can't do?"

"Protect me from that thing," Flash responded while pointing at the remains of Mecha-Flash.

"You kidding?" Trixie asked, "You completely owned that thing!"

"Yeah," Lightning nodded. "Kinda made the rest of us look bad with how easy you made it look."

Flash shook his head, "I only finished the job. It was already beaten before I armored up." He glanced around at all his friends, "It was you all who did all the hard work. Fighting that thing off and protecting me while getting hurt in the process. If you hadn't destroyed that thing's power source, I'd be dead right now."

"You've always put everything on the line to help us," Celestia responded, "It's only right we do the same for you." Flash saw a series of nods back, making a smile appear on his lips. "That being said," Celestia turned to an area of the meadow that was still smoking. "I am curious to see what could have powered such a dangerous weapon."

Flash flew over to the smoke in response, landing next to the fog before seeing a black rock that had been broken into several pieces. He reached down to grab it, but pulled his hoof back after feeling a surge of pain rocket through his hoof the moment he touched it. "Ahhh!"

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked, looking at his hoof, but seeing no damage.

"It...burned me." The others stared down at the stone, Twilight then reaching down and doing the same thing Flash did. But she felt no pain, now able to pick it up.

"It doesn't hurt when I hold it." Celestia, Grand and Springer all touched the rock, but none felt anything. "It's just you." She saw Flash stare at the rock, a grimace appearing on his face, "What is it?"

"I know exactly what it is."

"You do?"

Flash did a slow nod, "I've seen it before. The only thing on this planet that can give life to something so powerful, heal it, and give it the power to nullify and absorb my Sacred Light." He turned to the others with a scowl, "It's Corrupted Shadow."

Everypony's eyes went wide at this, all then staring down at the rock, now wondering where it came from, and for what purpose.





Back in the lab, the pony was staring at a computer screen. It was now showing nothing but static, two words flashing on the screen.


Signal Lost


The pony let out something that was the mix of a growl and a wheezing cough, only to quickly reclaim their composure. "Enjoy your victory while it lasts," the figure hissed, their voice deep and muffled, spoken alongside long deep breathing, "Soon, you will all fall."

With that, the pony turned to a table that had five vials on it. Within each vial was a small fly-like insect, though upon closer examination, one can see the bug was nothing more than a tiny robot. Each vial also had sticker on it with almost the exact same word one it, though the last letter was different. They were Trial-H, Trial-T, Trial-G, Trial-C and Trial-R.

And in front of each vial was a small chunk of black rock, the future power source for what was to come. It had been a long, hard fought battle. But in the end, Flash and his friends had been victorious...but the war had just begun
> To Where and Back Again PT1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several weeks had passed since the attack of the mysterious cyborg Flash clone. In that time, the damage done to Ponyville had once again been repaired, everypony that had been injured now recovered and were back to full strength. And while the mystery of who created such a monstrosity was still fresh on everypony's mind, they refused to let that stop them from living their lives.

Now at the castle of friendship within the throne room, Heart, Soul and the jakhowls were all sitting around. Heart and Soul were busy playing with a pack of cards while Springer, Ace and Mira were working on packing their backpacks. The older jakhowl had chosen to take the two on a camping trip, wishing to teach them some survival skills now that they had mastered the Aura Blast technique.

"Alright," Springer closed up his bag, "How's everything looking?" He turned to see Mira place her folded sleeping bag into the backpack before closing the top like him. "Good." He then turned to Ace and raised an eyebrow when he saw him pushing a scrounged up sleeping bag into his backpack. Unlike Springer and Mira, he had just thrown everything in without thought for space, making Springer shake his head as Ace struggled to pull the flap down over the top.

"Come on," he groaned as he tried to pull the clip toward the holder. "Come on!" Eventually, he managed to stretch the fabric enough to pull it close with a notable click. "Got it!" He turned to the others with a smile before throwing the backpack onto his back. But as soon as it was on his back, the top shot open, everything exploding out and scattering everywhere. Everypony had something land on them, causing the four to glare at Ace.

The young jakhowl let out a nervous chuckle, "Sorry." Everypony rolled their eyes before they started gathering the things up again, Soul using her magic to do most of it, with the twins focusing on what they were doing beforehoof.

"Is this your card?" she asked while showing Heart a two of clubs.

"No," Heart replied, making Soul go wide-eyed.

"Are you sure?" She asked, getting a nod from her brother. "Dang it."

"What are you two doing?" Springer asked, the twins turning to them.

"Trying out a few magic tricks," Heart replied, "Trixie showed us some before she and the princesses left. We've been practicing, but so far we haven't been able to get any of them right."

"Well, those kinds of tricks do take ages to learn," Springer responded, "You just gotta keep practicing."

"We know that," Soul nodded. "But these card tricks are...tricky."

"I'm so much better with the smoke bomb tricks," Heart chuckled.

"Smoke bombs?" Springer asked, "What do you-"

"Behold!" Heart took out a bomb and threw it down, suddenly filling the room with smoke, making everypony cough. And when it faded, Heart was nowhere in sight.

"Nice try," Springer looked up at the chandelier, seeing Heart hanging from it. "But those tricks don't really work on creatures that can sense others." Heart grumbled as he flew back down, he and Soul heading out of the room to practice somewhere else.

They flew through a hallway, only to find Twilight, Starlight and Spike walking down some steps while carrying boxes of books. Well, Spike was carrying them while Twilight and Starlight were simply using their magic. As this happened, Spike then tripped and sent the boxes flying.

"WHOA!" He yelped before he was caught in Twilight's magic, Starlight catching the books in hers. She put Spike down and the dragon dusted himself off before turning to them. "Well, we don't all have magical horns."

The mares giggled before Twilight spoke up, "I've been meaning to move these older books to my reference section for a while. Got to keep the new books front and center! Thank you both for your help."

"Are you kidding?" Starlight asked with a smile, "After all you've done for me, this is the least I can do."

"Oh please," Twilight blushed. "I haven't done that much."

"Nah," Starlight joked. "You just taught me the value of friendship. Not much at all."

Twilight nodded back, continuing to talk as Spike seemed to notice something at the window. He moved over to it, Heart and Soul watching him as they walked up to him. There they spotted a strange dot in the air that was moving oddly through the sky. "Spike, can you-" Twilight asked before noticing the three at the window, "Spike?"

"What's that?" Spike asked, the older mares moving over to see the strange dot.

"Is it a bird?" Twilight asked.

"Is it a parasprite?" Starlight inquired.

Spike gasped as it got closer, "It's...it's...INCOMING!"

"Duck and cover!" Heart yelled before the five of them leapt away from the window, seconds before the mare known as Derpy Hooves shot through it and crashed into the boxes. The sound of falling books filled the room until everything was settled, Derpy quickly kicking a box off of her and shaking her head before smiling. She then grabbed a letter from out of her bag and held it up in her mouth.

"Oh?" Twilight asked while walking up, "I usually get letters by dragon."

"It is the fastest way to get mail!"

"Even though you're the only dragon that can apparently do that," Soul reminded him.

"We ever gonna get an answer for that?" Heart added as Twilight tried to take the letter in her magic, only for Derpy to keep her mouth clenched tightly around it. She pulled the letter from her magic and shook her head, then turned to Starlight.

"For me?" She gasped as she took the letter, "Who would be sending me a letter?" She opened the envelope, pulling out and reading it over before a look of shock covered her face. "Its...its the ponies from my old village."

"Are they in danger?" Twilight asked.

"Are they upset with you?" Spike added.

"Did you just get served?" Heart had no idea what that phrase meant, but had seen somepony else say it while handing Time Turner a letter.

"No, it's worse! They've invited me to the annual Sunset Festival!" Starlight screamed as the four ponies and one dragon all raised an eyebrow at this while Derpy flew out of the window to complete her rounds, leaving the others to deal with Starlight.

"Ooookay." Heart spoke up, "I'm clearly missing something here. What's so bad about a festival?"

"It's..." Starlight opened her mouth to continue, only to look away with a sigh, "Nothing. I guess I just overreacted with the surprise of it all." She then looked back at the letter, doing a quick mental calculation to help her realize when she needed to leave to get there in time. "I'd...better go get packed." She started to trot off, leaving the others staring at her.

"She's not fine, is she?" Soul asked while turning to Twilight.

Twilight sighed and shook her head, "Probably not. But she'll just keep denying it if we badger her. I'm sure if she wants our help, she'll ask. And she will want our help...eventually."

And as Starlight left, the rest now walking away to do what they wanted for the rest of the day while Starlight stayed mostly in her room, the sun soon setting as everypony went to bed.





At Starlight's village, many ponies were working hard to get everything ready for the festival. Party Favor and Double Diamond were putting up a banner when they heard a voice they recognized as their previous oppressor. "Uh...hey there, everypony." They turned to see Starlight Glimmer walking up, shock on every face as she got closer.

"Um..." was all Party Favor could say at first, "Hey...Starlight. What are you doing here?"

"I-I-I..." Starlight stuttered out, only to see the ponies of the town begin to circle her, each with a look of either confusion or anger on their faces. "I was invited," she held up the invitation. "To the Sunset Festival?"

"Uh, yeah," Double Diamond said as Party Favor took the letter. "But we didn't think you'd actually show up."

Party Favor nodded at this, "You didn't think we really wanted you here, did you?" Double Diamond then tore the invitation to shreds, Starlight going wide-eyed as tears began to appear.

"But...I...apologized," she muttered out, "I...I thought everything was fine." Party Favor and Double Diamond both began to laugh at this statement, Starlight moving back, only to run into Sugar Belle and Night Glider as they too began to laugh. More and more of her former zombies laughed while circling her more and more, causing Starlight to put her hooves over her head, "Please!" She begged, "Stop!" She shut her eyes, "STOP!"

And then, the laughter vanished. Starlight opened her eyes, now seeing the village was now completely deserted, night time now over the town. "Huh? What happened?" She asked as a mist began to gather around her, "Is anypony there?" She then felt a shiver down her spine, now seeing a figure step out of the mist, revealing the alicorn of the night. "Princess Luna?! W-w-what are you doing here?!"

Luna smiled back before pointing at her chest. "Dreams are my domain, Starlight Glimmer. I am here because you need me to be."

"Oh." Starlight gasped, falling on her flank before sighing in relief, "Its...its only a dream."

"It may only be a dream," Luna replied, "But the feelings in it are real."

This caused Starlight to sigh. "Great. So I guess I'm more afraid of going back to the village than I thought. What do I do now?"

Luna's reply was to simply smile and close her eyes, fond memories now flowing through the princess's head. "I have been helped time and time again by several very special ponies," she opened her eyes. "They helped me overcome my past. You're fortunate to have them as friends." She placed a hoof on Starlight's shoulder, "I suggest you share your concerns with them." With that, the alicorn turned to walk away, floating through the air like she was walking up a flight of invisible stairs. Then, halfway up to the moon, she turned back to smile at the unicorn. "I see much of myself in you Starlight Glimmer, and I can tell you from personal experience that things do indeed get better."

Starlight nodded back before Luna turned to walk into the moon, causing it to unleash a bright light that blinded the unicorn. And when Starlight recovered and opened her eyes, she found that she was back in her room. Starlight sat up, gasping as Luna's words rang out through her head.





As soon as the sun was up, Starlight headed to Flash and Twilight's room. She asked them to send a message to all their friends, the friendship council, the defenders and Heart, Soul, Ace and Mira now finding themselves in the throne room as she recounted her dream. "And Princess Luna said I should tell you all how I was feeling," she finished while the others absorbed this information. "So...there it is. I'm afraid to go back to the village for the celebration."

"But why, darling?" Rarity asked, "You went back to apologize and they accepted. Everypony has moved on."

"But have they?" Starlight replied, "They don't really know how much I've changed. Or even worse, maybe I haven't changed as much as I think I have!"

The group shared a glance, Flash speaking up next, "I think you're fine Starlight. I mean, I might have been skeptical of you at first, but I can safely say you're a completely different pony to the one you used to be."

"Totally!" Rainbow added, "One hundred percent new Starlight Glimmer. I mean, it's not that hard to better than you used to be. You were pretty awful."

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack yelled as the others glared at her.

"What?" Rainbow shrugged, "She was! It's a compliment!"

"You and I have very different ideas about what qualifies as a compliment," Grand grumbled.

Fluttershy then spoke up, turning to Starlight. "I don't think they would've sent the invitation if they didn't want you to come. I'm sure they'd be happy to see you." Starlight tried to smile at this, only to suddenly have Pinkie get right up into her face.

"And getting an invitation to a party and not going?!" She pulled back and placed her head on the table, her hooves being placed on her head. "That's like...its like...!" She looked like she was about to scream, but then stopped and spoke in a calm manner. "Well, I don't know what it's like, but its definitely bad!"

"Just be honest with them," Applejack added, "Ah'm sure they'll understand where you're comin' from."

Iron nodded at this, "And if they don't, its their loss and not yours. If they can't see how much you've changed, then I say they don't deserve your friendship." Lightning nodded as well while Soul frowned as she and Heart walked up between Flash and Twilight's thrones.

"That's a little harsh," she told the two. "It's not always easy to forgive somepony, especially if that pony did something that really hurt them. Remember what happened with Solid Script?"

This made Lightning frown, Starlight doing the same as Twilight walked up and put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder, "I understand how hard this is for you. Maybe if you took a friend or two along, it might make things easier. Somepony you trust who would look out for you."

She and Flash both smiled at Starlight, the unicorn staring at them before rubbing her chin, "Hmmm...you're right. I do need somepony there with me, and I know the perfect alicorn pegasus pair that are perfect for the job." Twilight and Flash shined big grins at this, only to be soon disappointed.





"ROAD TRIP!" Heart exclaimed at the top of his lungs, leaping out of the castle with a packed saddlebag on his back.

Soul walked out behind him with Starlight beside her, the two smiling at the colt's eagerness. Twilight, Spike and Flash were also there, Twilight showing a long frown on her face as Starlight spoke up, "Thanks for doing this. Twilight's right. I do need a friend or two to help me when I need it."

"Glad to be of assistance," Twilight replied before leaning over to Flash and Spike. "I was talking about us."

Flash just shrugged, Soul then turning to Starlight, "Why did you want us? Wouldn't Twilight or even Trixie be a better choice?"

"I was thinking of asking Trixie at first..." Twilight's frown grew as she hear she wasn't even second choice. "But with how last minute this all this, it didn't feel right making her or anypony else drop whatever they might be doing just to help me out."

Twilight began to smile at this, only for Springer, Ace and Mira to walk past her with their rucksacks on their backs. "Ready to get going?" He asked, the two groups planning to travel together for the first leg of their trip before splitting off.

Starlight nodded before turning back to the group, the rest of their friends having just arrived. "The festival lasts a whole week, but I'm sure we won't stay that long."

"You kidding?" Heart asked, "I wanna see everything this festival has to offer! It's gonna be awesome!" The others chuckled at his excitement, knowing he and Soul had very limited experience with these kinds of events.

"Well, try and have as much fun as you can," Flash added, "When you get back, you're gonna be training from dawn till dusk to make up for the training you missed. And to work off all that party food you're obviously gonna scarf down."

"I'm looking forward to it." Heart chuckled back.

And so, the group of six walked off, their friends waving them off and wishing them luck with whatever they found themselves doing. The group kept travelling for about a day before splitting up, the jakhowls heading to a mountain range while the ponies travelled in the complete opposite direction. The terrain around them slowly shifted, from a flat grassland to a grass covered rocky area, to a greenless rocky area. And eventually, the three ponies arrived at their destination, the town coming to view as they walked onto the top of the path and looked down at the single street.

"Is that it?" Heart asked, getting a nod from Starlight. "So that's the town where you-"

"Magically stole everypony's cutie marks, replaced them with equal signs, and forced them all to hide their natural talents?" Starlight interrupted before letting out a sigh, "Yes."

"Huh." Heart replied, "I was just gonna say where you came from." Starlight glared at him for this, Heart ignoring her, "So anyways, what are you planning on doing when you get there? Apple-bobbing? Scavenger hunt? Horseshoe toss?"

Starlight sighed again. "I just want to...blend in. Be just another pony in the crowd enjoying the Sunset Festival with my friends."

Soul patted her side, "Oh, don't worry about it. Like Fluttershy said, they wouldn't have invited you if they didn't want you there. Besides, this is the perfect chance to show them how much you've changed." Starlight turned to her, seeing a grin on the alicorn's face, "And if things get too much, Heart and I will be there to help in anyway we can. We've got your flank."

Starlight showed a tiny smile, "Is that a promise?"

"You know it," Heart chimed in, "And with the magic tricks Trixie showed us, we can easily draw their attention away from you." He showed them what he meant by throwing another smoke bomb onto the ground, unleashing a cloud of smoke that made Starlight and his sister cough. When it faded, he appeared to be gone...only for both to spot his flank and tail sticking out from behind a boulder.

"Well, I couldn't ask for more than that." Starlight giggled before turning back to the village and taking a deep breath. "If we're gonna do this, let's do it." With that, she began to head down, Soul following close behind while Heart leapt out from behind the boulder.

It was strange how much real life could be like one's dreams, for the place looked exactly as she had seen it while slumbering. Double Diamond and Party Favor were even putting up a banner, which they had just finished when they noticed the three walking up.

"Oh!" Double Diamond gasped, "Starlight, you came!" Starlight let out a nervous giggle while waving at him, the two running up as other townsponies began to surround the three.

"We were worried you wouldn't be able to make it!" Favor added, "Are you staying the whole week? We have different events planned each day!"

"How is it living in a castle?" Sugar Belle asked.

"It is so good to see you!" Double Diamond clapped his hooves before looking down at Heart and Soul. "Who are these two?"

"I'm Heart," the colt replied.

"Soul," the alicorn continued, "Starlight invited us along. I hope that's okay?"

"Of course," Sugar Belle assured her, waving her hoof. "The more the merrier. Everypony's welcome to enjoy the Sunset Festival."

The twins chuckled before Heart turned to Starlight and whispered, "I see what you mean. These ponies are terrifying."

He and Soul laughed as Starlight let out a small groan, looking back at the large number of ponies behind her, "It's good to see all of you, too."

"You got here just in time," Party Favor responded, "We were having some debate about these banners." He pointed behind him and Starlight looked up to see some pegasi holding them up. "Which do you think feels more sunsetty?" He shined a big smile that made Starlight backpedal, sweat appearing on her face as she saw them now staring at her for her answer.

"O-o-oh..." she gulped as she continued to backpedal, "You don't need me to decide that. Heh...whatever you think is probably best."

Double Diamond walked up next, "Well, how about helping us with the routes for the relay races tomorrow? Can you take a look?"

"Oh, um..." Starlight started glancing around, "I-I shouldn't." Heart and Soul saw the panic on her face as she kept backpedaling, "You all go ahead. I-I-I just want to enjoy the festival."

But then, Sugar Belle moved right up so their faces were almost touching, "But you will be a judge for the baking competition, right?"

"We had a few questions about the order of the acts for the talent show," Double Diamond added as he also moved far too close for comfort. Then Night Glider did the same.

"And the unicorns have a fireworks show planned! We could really use your help!" Starlight's entire body started shaking as more ponies got closer, all asking for her opinion on something. Heart and Soul tried to get up to her, but their voices were drowned out as the ponies kept asking questions.

Starlight's eyes began to shrink as the questions continued, only for her horn to explode in light, "NOOOO!" She screamed as the magic pulsed out of her, knocking almost everypony away from while she began shivering in the fetal position.

Heart and Soul had been spared from the blast, the twins now seeing the ponies around them moaning as they began to pick themselves up. Sharing a glance and nodding, Heart spoke up. "Well, would you look at the time. Great party, really captures the essence of sunset."

"But we really need to get going," Soul continued, "Lots of squire and princess student things that need to be done." Heart took out a smoke bomb, "Let's do this again next year." With that, Heart threw the bomb, causing the three to be consumed by the smoke.

And when it faded, they were gone, now having run about a good half-mile away from the place. "Ugh!" Starlight moaned once she had caught her breath. "I was horrible when I led that town!" She began to walk off, the twins following close behind her. "I was ready for them to not trust me, but...I wasn't ready for them to put me in charge again!" She looked down in shame. "With my past, I should never be in charge of anything!"

"Says who?" Soul chimed in, "If Princess Luna is allowed to rule all of Equestria after what she did as Nightmare Moon, why shouldn't you be in charge of a small village festival?"

"Luna is Luna," Starlight replied, "I'm just me."

"You know Starlight, the self loathing thing's getting pretty old." Starlight turned to Heart, seeing a deadpan stare on his face, "So you messed up. Big whoop. But look at everything you've done since. If it wasn't for you, the Crystal Empire would have been buried under a mile of snow right now. Sure, Sunburst had the answer, but you were the one who helped him realize the answer and convinced everypony to use it."

Soul nodded in agreement, "And you helped Trixie deal with her problems with her father. And that's only the start. There are so many things you've done to help everypony in Ponyville. More than enough to prove you're a different pony from who you used to be."

Heart flew ahead of her at this, "And if Luna, Discord, Lightning and Sombra are allowed to be forgiven, then so are you. But nopony's gonna believe it if you don't start to believe it."

Starlight let out a long sigh, "But...I don't know. Its hard to move on....especially after the mistakes I've made."

"Grand once told me something about mistakes," Heart replied, "He said there are two things you can do with a mistake. Hide from it, or learn from it. Beating yourself up is the same as hiding from it, and if you just admit it and move on, you'll learn. You've admitted your mistake, but you haven't learned from it. And until then, you can't move on."

Starlight stared at the colt, making her sigh, "I guess...you're right. I guess I have been hiding from my mistake, even if I didn't want to admit it. You kids are pretty wise, you know that?"

The two chuckled at this, "Well...we are two thousand years old." The three laughed before continuing their trek back to Ponyville, Starlight eventually getting tired of walking and teleporting the three back to the town. They then arrived on the outskirts, heading for the castle while passing through the town square.

It was here that they spotted a familiar pink pony bouncing through the street. "Hey Pinkie Pie!" The pony stopped bouncing and turned to them, Starlight walking up to her.

"Hey..." Pinkie slowly said with a raised eyebrow, "You!"

"So, uh..." Starlight scratched her leg as she replied, "You're probably wondering why I'm back so soon."

"Where were you?" Pinkie asked, making Starlight now raise an eyebrow.

"I...went to my old village? For the festival?"

"Ooh," she went goofy eyed, "Sounds fun! How was it?"

Heart and Soul exchanged glances at this, blinking as Starlight replied, "It was kind of a disaster. I came back early because I freaked out."

"Ooh...sounds awful!" Pinkie then waved at her, "Bye!" She spun and bounced off again, leaving a blinking Starlight.

"That was...strange."

"Yeah," Heart added, "That's not like Pinkie Pie at all."

Soul tilted her head at this, "I expected her to offer you something to cheer you up. Like a...cupcake or something."

"Maybe she's got something on her mind," Heart continued.

"I guess..." Starlight replied before seeing Rarity and Applejack walking down the street. "Hey!" she called out before trotting over, "I'm back early."

"Ah," Rarity responded with a slight frown, "Welcome...back?"

"Have you two noticed Pinkie acting a little strange?"

"Pinkie Pie always acts strange," Applejack chimed in.

"But not that kind of strange," Heart added.

"Anyways," Starlight spoke up, "I wanted to talk to all of you. Things didn't go the way I thought they were going to go at the Sunset Festival."

"What happened?"

Starlight showed a small blush, doing a slight gulp despite knowing the two wouldn't make fun of her. "I kind of freaked out and ran out of the village."

But as she said these words, her eyes went wide when Applejack and Rarity suddenly broke out into laughter, making her gasp. "You freaked out and ran away from a festival?" Applejack said before letting out another honk of laughter, "That's the funniest danged thing I've heard all day."

Starlight backpedaled at this, Heart and Soul also going wide-eyed before glaring at Applejack before Rarity spoke up from her laughter, "Oh my. Let me guess, the decorations were terrifying?"

"That's not very nice," Soul growled, "Starlight's feeling really bad about all of this!"

"Oh, lighten up," Applejack replied before waving her hoof. And as she did this, Rainbow and Fluttershy flew down, Fluttershy whispering something into Rarity's ear while Rainbow pushed Applejack away.

"Hello, ponies." Rainbow said in a low, almost bitter tone, "We need Rarity and Applejack. Very important friendship business." The other three walked off, with Rainbow being the last. She spun around and flicked her tail in a way that it made a whipping sound, shocking the three until they were gone.

"What is with everypony?" Heart asked, "It's like they're mad at us or something."

Soul turned to him, "You didn't leave any of your smoke bombs laying around, did you?"

"No..." Heart replied before frowning, "Well...not that many." Soul let out a long sigh, shaking her head as Starlight grimaced at the sight of the fleeing ponies.

"I don't like this. We need to talk to Twilight!" With that, Starlight ran for the castle, the twins following behind her. And as they did this, Heart looked up and saw Flash flying overhead.

"HEY! FLASH!" The Knight of Friendship looked down before landing in front of him. The look on his face wasn't what Heart was expecting, being one of annoyance.

"What do you do want kid?"

"I...I'm back. You said we'd start training again."

"Oh...I did?" Flash raised an eyebrow, "Sorry, err..."

"Heart."

"Cart. Right...." The colt blinked at this, only to gasp as Flash waved a hoof at him, "Listen kid, I don't have time to play foalsitter. I'm very busy, so go find somepony else to hang around." He turned away and flew off, Heart quickly taking to the air after him, only for Flash to glance back at him, "What did I just say?!"

"But I'm your apprentice!" Heart yelled, "I'm supposed to be learning from you!"

"I've got better things to do then try to teach you to blow your nose. Get lost and leave me alone." If anypony had X-ray goggles, they could have seen Heart's...heart, shatter into a million pieces. The colt started to drift down, watching the knight fly away as tears filled his eyes.

And as he landed on his flank, Soul placed a hoof on his shoulder while Starlight turned to the two, "Something's definitely wrong here." She once again began to run for the castle, the twins trotting after her since Heart wasn't in the mood for running. And as they made it to the castle and tried to open the door, they found it to be locked, "What the-" She asked before knocking. "Twilight? Hello?"

A few seconds passed before the door opened, revealing a very annoyed looking dragon. "What do you want?!" He asked with venom in his voice, "Twilight's very busy!"

"Spike, I really need to speak with her."

"Make an appointment!" He barked back, "She's a princess, after all!" With that, he slammed the door shut, making Starlight backpedal.

"What is-what's wrong with you?!" She knocked again as Heart and Soul arrived, "Why are you being so-"

"Rude?" A familiar voice finished as the doors swung open, revealing the Princess of Friendship. She shot Spike an icy glare, one nopony had ever seen her give him. "I think a certain dragon didn't get his nap today."

Spike rolled his eyes and jumped down off the stool he was on, the dragon beginning to drag it away. "Yeah, right. Whatever." He disappeared down the hallway as a blinking Starlight walked into the castle and watched him vanish, the twins there besides her.

"Sorry," Twilight replied, "He's been acting a little off all day. I think he missed a meal or something."

"He's not the only one," Starlight replied before looking back at the town. "Everypony's acting a little strange today."

"Flash totally froze me out," Heart added, "It's like...he doesn't want to me be his squire anymore."

This made Twilight grimace, Soul noticing it as the princess said, "Yes...it's definitely been one of those days. So uh, how are you?"

Starlight sighed at this, "Not great, actually." She looked up at the mare, moving up to her as Twilight began to backpedal with a look on her face that would make somepony think Starlight was on fire or something. "You're probably wondering why I'm back from the village so early."

Twilight opened her mouth for a moment, pausing before she replied, "I didn't want to bring it up, but yeah, it did seem strange. Did it not go well?"

Starlight shook her head, "The townsponies kept asking me things, like they expected me to be in charge again. But being a leader is the last thing I should ever be." She began to blush as she continued, "So we...left. Very suddenly. In a literal puff of smoke."

"Wow. You should definitely never go back to that village." Twilight instantly responded, Starlight about to say she agreed, only to go wide-eyed as her brain caught up.

"What?!" She yelped, Heart and Soul just as bewildered at the response.

Now it was Twilight's turn to move up to Starlight, the unicorn now backpedaling as she said, "If you were worried about what they thought of you before, it's probably way worse now. I'd cut my losses."

"That's..." Starlight fumbled on her words for a second before replying, "Surprising advice, coming from you."

"Trust me," Twilight pointed to herself. "I'm the Princess of Friendship. You don't need those ponies. You can always make more friends." As she said this, a door behind her opened up, Rainbow's head poking out. Twilight looked back and saw the pegasus gesture her, "Ah! Speaking of friends, if you'll excuse me, important business to attend to!" She quickly ran into the room with Rainbow, Spike then suddenly appearing out of nowhere. He gave them the 'I'm watching you' gesture before running after Twilight, now slamming the door shut, leaving Starlight and the twins standing in the hallway, all completely perplexed by what had just happened.

"Does anypony think something was up with her?" Heart asked.

"Gee, what gave it away?" Soul deadpanned, "The way she was talking? How nervous she got when Starlight asked for advice? Or the absolutely horrible advice she gave?" She turned to Starlight, "Something's up with them."

Starlight nodded in agreement, but wasn't exactly sure what the problem was. The rest of the day was just as unusual. Starlight discovered Flash and Rarity had sent Scootaloo and Sweetie to Sweet Apple Acres for an extended sleepover. Then Heart went out to try and find the other Defenders, and see what they had to say about Flash's earlier comment.

But when he found them, two things were of note. The first was that like Flash, they kept telling him to get lost. The other was how they did their job. Grand completely ignored an elderly mare when she dropped her grocery bags, while usually he would help. Iron refused to help a mare who asked him to help her knock down a broken fence so she could put a new one up, even though it would only take him ten seconds the smash it. And Lightning was found napping on a park bench, not even trying to find something that might need his attention.

Soul also found the castle was unusually fortified. Several rooms had been locked, and even the library was shut tight, confusing her since Twilight never locked that room in case somepony in town needed a book for whatever reason. And most unusual thing was how much their friends were avoiding them. Every time any of them tried to get their attention, they either ignored them or made up an excuse to go somewhere else. It was so bad that during dinner, Starlight, Heart and Soul were eating alone while the others disappeared.

And as night came about, Starlight was in her room, one of the few rooms not locked up, preparing for bed. But no matter what, she couldn't help but think about what Twilight had told her earlier. "Cut my losses?" She got into bed, "That can't be right." She switched off the light and sat back, trying to get to sleep, but the words kept rolling around in her head.

She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift, Twilight's words slowly growing quieter. And when she opened them back up, she saw she was back in the village. It was night time again, and she was alone, the unicorn trotting up to the buildings. But as she entered the village, every house suddenly opened and the ponies of the town trotted out. "Hey," she called out when Double Diamond moved past her. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier." But the white earth pony remained quiet as he trotted by, his face stoic. She raised an eyebrow and stopped, then spotted another of her former friends. "Party Favor," he trotted passed her, his face the same as Double's. "Can you hear me?" He also walked off without paying her any attention, and before Starlight could call out to somepony else-

"I told you that you can never speak to them ever again!" She turned to the angry voice, now seeing Twilight as she appeared out of the mist, Flash, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity beside her.

Starlight raised an eyebrow at this, "What are you all doing here?"

"Making sure you do what I said!" Twilight replied, her voice filled with pure anger, one she hadn't heard since before she became Twilight's student. "I'm your teacher, aren't I? Didn't I say to never come back here?!"

Starlight nodded back, "Yes, but that just doesn't seem right. You aren't acting like yourself." And as she said these words, her brain began to race through everything that had happened since she, Heart and Soul had gotten back to town.

Then, she spoke up, and she wasn't alone when spoke.

"Something is wrong/SOMETHING IS WRONG!" Her eyes went wide at the sound of that familiar voice, a gust of wind shooting past her and hitting the seven ponies in front of her. They vanished as Starlight realised where she was, "A dream? This is another dream!"

"Starlight Glimmer," the mare looked up after hearing the whispering voice.

"Princess Luna? Where are you?"

"Starlight Glimmer!" The voice was louder, this one now filled with haste and fear.

"Princess Luna, where are you?" Starlight got her answer when the moon glowed, the unicorn looking up to see Luna's head appear within it. She looked the same way her voice sounded, scared and in a hurry.

"Starlight Glimmer, there is no time!" She poked her head out of the moon along with her front legs, looking like she was trying to pull herself out. "You must get help!" As she said this, she jerked back, as if something was trying to pull her back through the moon.

"What?! What are you talking about?!" She gestured to everything around her, "This is just a dream!"

"Not here!" Luna announced, "In the waking world! They've taken my sister and I, Trixie too!" She was once again pulled back, the alicorn barely able to hold onto the edge of the moon. "It's worse than the last time! Your dream called to me, and I was able to break through! You must find help!"

"What are you saying?!" Starlight yelled, "Who's taken you?!"

"Be careful who you trust!" Luna responded as her body jerked back and forth, "You need all the help you can find! The changelings have returned and-" Before she could say anything else, a dark shadow came up from behind her, pulling her back with a gasp.

"PRINCESS LUNA!" Starlight screamed before feeling the world around her starting to fall apart, the image of her village melting like a wet painting. Starlight tried to run away as the darkness overtook her, but she couldn't escape, the place pulling her toward her to the moon.

And as soon as she was pulled inside, there was a bright flash of light, and she felt her body suddenly jerk as her eyes shot open. She let out a cry of shock, gasping as she yelped, "They're back!"

Her heart was beating a mile a minute, the unicorn getting out of bed before trotting around the room as terror gripped her very soul. 'It all makes sense know,' she thought to herself. 'Everypony being out of character. Why Twilight would give me such bad advice. Why they sent Scootaloo away and stopped doing their jobs properly.'

"Everypony's a changeling." She gasped before running up to the nearest way out of the castle, which happened to be a balcony. She stopped and looked out at the town, her brain trying to process who to go to. If Celestia and Luna had been captured, that meant nopony was safe. The entire town could have been replaced. There was nopony she could go to for help.

"Wait..." she walked back into the castle, gulping as she tiphoofed up to two rooms she knew contained ponies she could trust, and started tapping against them. "Heart," she whispered as she knocked before turning to the other door and doing the same, "Soul." She kept knocking for a minute until the two doors opened, revealing the twins.

"What is it?" Heart asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Why did you wake us up so early?" Soul yawned until she noticed Starlight's frantic expression. "What's wrong?" Starlight was about to explain, only to remember Luna's words.

"Heart," she turned to him, "What did Grand tell you were your only options when you make a mistake?"

"What?" Heart asked, still half asleep, only for Starlight to grab him and pull him close, the two locking eyes.

"What did he tell you were your only options when you make a mistake?"

"Hide from it, or learn from it!" Heart called back, his voice echoing throughout the hallway. Starlight placed a hoof over his mouth, glancing around before letting out a sigh of relief. "Can't breathe," Heart told her through her hoof.

Starlight let him go and moved back. "Sorry. Had to make sure you weren't-" she took one final look around before whispering to them, "One of them."

"One of who?" Heart asked while Soul frowned at these words.

"A Changeling," Starlight replied, "I think they've taken princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Not to mention Trixie and probably anypony else they think might be able to stop them."

"What?!" Heart yelped, his voice echoing again. Soul threw her hoof over his mouth to stop him from yelling more, the young alicorn turning to Starlight.

"Does that include who I think it does?" Starlight nodded before gesturing for the two to follow, the three trotting through the castle until they reached the door to the throne room. And as they got closer, they heard voices coming out from the door, Starlight showing a shushing motion to the twins.

They nodded and the trio looked into the room, the door having been left slightly open, allowing them to see the mane seven and defenders. Just by looking, they could tell these were not the ponies they knew and loved. Applejack was eating a pear, Fluttershy had her back legs up on the table, Pinkie was fast asleep, Lightning was picking his nose and Spike was drawing on one of the thrones with a crayon.

Fluttershy turned to Spike as he drew a pony with several stink marks coming off of it, then shoved him away. He cried out as he fell back and slammed into Pinkie's throne, waking her up. She retaliated by shoving Spike into the table, the 'dragon' groaning on impact while Rarity let out a shrill cackle.

Heart and Soul glanced at each other, now know for sure that these weren't their friends. But it was at this moment that the impostors placed three bug shaped disks on the table, Twilight walking up to it. "Is it ready?" She asked, Applejack holding up another disk.

"Just one more." She placed it on the table, forming a perfect square. As soon as it was in place, it and the other three opened up and unleashed a green light that shot at each other and formed a green square. The disks then floated up and collided with one another, a black webbing keeping them connected to the table. When they touched, the energy engulfed them, forming a green and black sphere with a white center, and in that sphere, a familiar face appeared.

Starlight's eyes went wide, seeing a green haired version of Hiveena, "Queen Chrysalis!"

"She's ugly," Heart whispered before the three went quiet.

The changeling queen stared at the group before rolling her eyes. "Ugh. I can't take any of you seriously when you look like that."

"Oh. Right." Suddenly, the ponies and dragon in the room were engulfed in green fire. When the flames vanished, each of them had been replaced with a black insect pony hybrid.

"Much better," Chrysalis chuckled, "Now report!"

"Everything here is going according to plan!" The changeling that had been impersonating Twilight replied. "We've replaced the ten ponies and their dragon, and have taken control of the castle!"

"Excellent," Chrysalis replied. "And I've just received word that the princesses from Canterlot have successfully been replaced as well, along with one of their students and several knights." The changelings laughed while the ponies outside shared looks of horror. "We thought too small last time. One pony-napped princess wasn't enough. With all the most beloved ponies of Equestria taken care of, nopony can stop us!" She laughed again, the changeling following suit as the sphere vanished and the disks returned to normal.

As this happened, Starlight and the twins sharing terrified glances. But as they did this, Starlight accidently pushed the door, causing it to squeak. This caught the changeling's attention, making them turn and hiss, the group retaking their disguises before running up to the door.

But when they threw it open, there was nothing there.

The eleven began to spread out and search the castle, with only the Twilight changeling stopping to sniff the air. She turned back to the hallway leading to the throne, slowly walking around while sniffing the air. She came to a stop and stared at the blank air, giving one final sniff before turning to walk off again.

As soon as she was gone, Starlight and the twins appeared. A camouflage spell Starlight had learned from Trixie had been their saving grace, Heart and Soul gasping as they hadn't dared to breathe while the Twilight changeling had been close. Now they were panting heavily, causing a lot of noise. Starlight grabbed the two and sparked her horn, teleporting the three outside.

"That was close," Heart whispered.

"This is why you shouldn't hold off on bathing," Soul added, "She was clearly smelling you."

Heart was about to argue back, only for Starlight to put her hoof between them, "We don't have time for arguing!" They turned to her, "We have to find somepony that can help us."

"But who?" Heart asked, "You heard Chrysalis. The defenders, princesses and the knights have all been captured. We're doomed!" He fell over, getting into the fetal position, clearing overwhelmed by the sudden hopelessness of the situation.

"Maybe not," Starlight patted him on the side, "I mean, Queen Chrysalis only said they took Luna and Celestia and obviously Twilight and the others... but maybe Cadance is still safe. Our best bet is to get to the Crystal Empire before the changelings do. That way we can-"

"There's no help coming from the Crystal Empire." The three froze at a new voice, turning to see its owner as it walked out of some nearby bushes. Thorax, their first changeling alley, stood before them with a big frown on his face.

"Thorax?"

He nodded back. "Yes. It's good to see you all again." Heart and Soul were about to run up to him, but Starlight put a barrier in front of the two, her horn glowing with offensive magic.

"How do I know you aren't just some other changeling pretending to be Thorax?" The twins gasped at the suggestion, then taking an offensive stance.

They watched as Thorax thought for a moment, then smiled. "When you went to go see Sunburst, the two of you were so awkward around one another that he accidently overfilled a cup of tea and it went all over the place." Starlight blinked at this, only to cut her magic.

"Alright," she sighed, frowning as the twins walked over to him, "But what did you mean, there's no help? Did the changelings get Cadance too?"

Thorax nodded back, "They took Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart and Ruby! Hiveena sensed their presence, but by then, it was too late."

"What happened to Hiveena?" Soul asked.

"She tried to fight them off, thinking that if she captured them, she could turn them against Chrysalis. But there were too many. By the time Sunburst told me to come here, she was captured and about to be sent to the queen. Then they got Sunburst, who tried to hold them off while I came to get Princess Twilight's help....but it sounds like it's too late for that."

"It is," Heart gulped, "I can't believe they got everyone. Flash...Twilight...Rainbow and Applejack-"

"What's this about Applejack?" The four jumped at another voice, the group now seeing a dark figure appear from the darkness and flew down to them.

"Rogue?" Starlight asked, the bat pony now landing. "What are you doing here?"

"Granny Smith's been wondering why Applejack hasn't been home in the last few days. I waited to see if she was gonna return tonight, but when she didn't, I decided to come see what's going on. Now what is it you were saying about her and the others."

Starlight let out a sigh before explaining the situation.

"WHAT?" Rogue yelled, almost unleashing his sonic blast. "So these things have her and the others?!" He turned to the castle, "I'll show them!" He tried to fly straight up, only to be suddenly slammed into a magic wall.

"We can't just attack them," Starlight countered, "We need...we need to find a way to find the others."

"How?" Soul asked.

"Of all the times for Springer to go on a camping trip," Heart groaned. "He and Flash are so close they could find each other anywhere."

Starlight shook her head at this, "Well, we don't have time to wait for him to get back."

"So what do we do?" Thorax asked next.

Soul jumped up and placed her front hooves on the unicorn's side. "Yeah Starlight, what are we gonna do?"

Starlight's eyes flicked between the lot of them, the mare panicking as she saw the many eyes staring at her, "I...I don't know!" She jumped away from the group, "There has to be somepony else who can handle this!"

"There is nopony else!" Heart almost yelled. "Every single one of Equestria's greatest heroes has been captured. There isn't anypony else with enough magic power to take these things down!"

"You know, whenever ponies talk about powerful magic, they always leave me out." The five of them jumped at this, only to look up and see the mystical conglomeration of beastie parts laying on a branch of a nearby tree. Discord was knitting what looked like a puppet version of Angel Bunny. "If I weren't so evolved, I might decide to take it personally."

"Alright," Heart deadpanned, "Is there anypony else out here that we should know about? Speak up or forever hold your peace!"

There was no response, Discord taking this moment to speak up again, "Well, isn't this quite the combination of secondary characters?" He smirked, "Though the two younger ones kind of ruin the dynamic." Heart and Soul growled at him before Discord took his eyes out and made them look around, "Where are Twilight and the rest of her merry mares? The stallions too, I guess."

"First, how do we know that you're really you?" Discord shot her a look that said 'seriously', then snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, the nearby flowers pulled out themselves out of the ground and started dancing on their roots. The tree he was in morphed into a coocoo clock and ground suddenly transformed into soapy water covered surface that caused all but Thorax to fall over.

"Shall I continue?" He added.

"No. Chrysalis and the changelings are back," Starlight replied as she forced herself back to her feet. "They've pony-napped all of the most powerful ponies in Equestria! Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, the knights, Twilight and her friends. We need to-"

Before she could say another word, Discord's eyes went wide as he snapped everything around him back to normal. He then extended his neck so he and Starlight were inches from one another. "They took Fluttershy?!" He asked in an angry, hushed voice.

"Yes!" Starlight nodded.

"Where?" Discord eyes literally burned with rage.

"The Changeling Kingdom," Starlight replied, "And with you on our side, I can-" She didn't get to finish as Discord snapped his fingers. The next thing they knew, the six were transported someplace new.

When the light faded, they saw they were in some kind of forest area which was still bright out. They were all equipped with bags and other explorer gear, Rogue even wearing his shades now. They were all blinking at the sight, Discord also doing the same.

"Odd," he commented, "I was trying to take us right to Fluttershy," he lifted a rock and looked underneath it. "But...there is no Fluttershy." He dropped the rock and stroked his beard, the others looking around.

"Um...everypony?" Soul spoke up, the group turning to her, "I think I might know where to start looking." They followed her hoof and now saw that they were on the edge of their current biome and right next to another. This one was covered in spiky cliffs and had very little plant life, and in the center of it was a structure that resembled a giant black termite mound covered in holes.

"Chrysalis' castle," Heart whispered before turning to Thorax for confirmation.

The changeling nodded and shook in fear, "I'd hoped to never see that place again." He turned to Starlight, "Now what?" The others turned to her as well, Starlight's eyes leaping from one to the other, unable to respond. All she knew was that somewhere in there, their friends were trapped, and in who knows what condition.





Hiveena let out a long moan as she opened her eyes, everything around her a blur.

She tried to move her body, only to feel herself unable to move an inch. And as her vision began to clear, she went wide-eyed at the sight, her heart stopping next, "Hello," she looked straight up and saw somepony she hadn't seen in years, "If it isn't my sweet little daughter."

Hiveena was in the throne room of her former home, the changeling castle, with everything but her head trapped within a changeling cocoon. She was stuck to a wall, her horn now covered in the slime, preventing her from using magic. And hanging from the ceiling was her mother, surrounded by cocoons filled with every single hero of Equestria.

The princesses, mane seven and the Royal Knights, all trapped within these slimy prisons. And Hiveena's mind told her she would be next. There was no doubt in her mind, Equestria was doomed.
> To Where and Back Again PT2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight frowned as she stared out at the construct holding her friends, and about a bazillion changelings. The changeling castle was an intimidating building, but if she wanted to save the lives of their friends, she, Discord, Thorax, Rogue and the twins would need to find a way inside.

"Huh," Starlight was pulled from her thoughts as Discord rubbed his fingers, "This is strange." He pointed at the castle. "We're here and that's there, and I clearly meant for us to be there and not here."

"Oh," Thorax spoke up, "I-I can probably explain-"

Discord turned back to the castle and cracked his knuckles, "Well, if at first you don't succeed," he was about to snap his fingers again, but Starlight grabbed them in her magic before he could.

"Maybe we should come up with a plan first?!" Starlight chimed in.

"A what?!" Discord yelped before blowing on his hand, causing the magic the fly off like powder.

"A plan," Heart added, "The thing that usually ends up saving the day. What stopped Nightmare Moon, Sombra and you."

This statement got Discord to laugh, patting Heart on the head, "Oh, that's adorable. But when you can do literally anything at the drop of a hat, plans become nothing more than loss of memory space."

"Uh," Thorax spoke up again, "Actually-" Discord stopped him by placing a finger on his mouth.

"That's all very nice, but really a waste of time. We have me. What else could we possibly need?"

"Pretty much anything that could be useful," Rogue spoke up, "I mean, when have you actually helped solve a problem and not just make things worse?!"

Discord spun around and glared at him, "Why are you here again?"

"Because like you, there's somepony in there that I want to save! And unlike you, I don't just mean one pony. So I have even more reasons for being here than you!"

"Maybe," Discord replied while rolling his eyes, "But at least I can actually do something. What are you planning to do to save your friends? Throw rotten apples at them?" Rogue hissed at him, "At least when I find who I'm looking to save I'll have the magic to actually do it."

It was again that Thorax spoke up, "The thing about magic here is-"

"Like this!" Discord snapped his fingers and in a flash of light, he was suddenly riding a winged pig and carrying a giant lance. "For Fluttershy!" The pig charged at the castle, but as soon as it reached the edge of the cliff, the pig and lance suddenly exploded, Discord falling a second later, "GYAH!" He grabbed onto the cliff as the others gasped, looking over to see him trying to flap his wings. But no matter how fast he flapped, they didn't lift him up.

He then pulled himself over the cliff and looked back at the castle, then snapped his fingers to summon another winged pig. He pointed forward, and the pigasus flew towards the castle....only to explode, and the magic began to be sucked toward the castle.

"I'm guessing that's not a good thing," Heart added.

"I've been trying to tell you!" Thorax yelled, "Nothing other than changeling magic works here! Chrysalis' throne is carved from an ancient dark stone that soaks up outside magic the same way changelings soak up love! It's how she keeps the hive safe."

"So no magic will work passed that point?" Soul asked, Starlight moving up and lighting her horn. And just like Thorax told them, as soon as she leaned over the cliff, her magic was sucked off her horn.

"Does this mean we can't even fly over?" Rogue asked Thorax, knowing that the ability to fly was magic based. The changeling nodded as Starlight turned back to them.

"So about that plan?" Heart asked, Starlight frowning back.

"Without magic, I have no idea." But then her frown was replaced by a long stare, "But nopony else is coming, so somepony better come up with something." She waited for one of them to reply, but the five remained completely quiet. "Anypony?" They exchanged glances, all sharing blank faces. "Anything?" They turned to her, Starlight now realizing the problem.

Aside from her, their group was made up of two foals, a bat pony that spent most of his life in a cave eating apples, a draconequus that had no idea how to function without magic, and a terrified changeling that would probably be attacked the moment he was spotted. And then there was her, the only capable one.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes before humming, "Hmm..." she turned to Thorax, "This throne. If we get into the hive and destroy it, can we get our magic back?"

"Uh-huh!" Thorax nodded.

"How do we destroy it?" Heart ignited his hoof and moved over to the cliff, holding it over the side and feeling the fire getting sucked off him. "Without magic, we're useless."

"Not all of us," Rogue told them before jumping over the cliff. Once he was on the ground, he took a deep breath before unleashing his scream attack. The others covered their ears, but smiled as the sonic blast showed it was working.

"I guess you're not completely useless," Discord chimed in, "But still, how are we even supposed to get to the hive?" The others replied by jumping over the side, Heart looking back at him.

"It's not that far to walk." He followed the others while Discord's jaw dropped to the ground.

"B-b-but...I haven't walked that far in a millennia!" The others groaned as they continued to walk, Discord slowing following them. And as they focused on getting to the hive unseen, Heart asked Thorax if there were any nearby passages they could use so as to not risk being seen travelling above ground. However, Thorax replied in saying that all those tunnels were sealed after Hiveena used them to escape.





In the hive...

Hiveena was now glaring at her mother, Queen Chrysalis jumping down from her collection of prisoners. "Oh, what's the matter my dear? Not happy to see your dear old mommy?"

Hiveena squirmed against the goo holding her in place, "I had hoped the next time I saw you, it'd be after we defeated you and I took my throne."

Chrysalis gave a mock look of pain, "Oh, you're breaking my heart."

"Like you have a heart to break," Hiveena hissed while Chrysalis tried to stroke the side of her head with her hoof. She snapped at the hoof, forcing the queen to pull it back. "Why am I here?! You've already captured me, so why not just end it?!"

Chrysalis laughed as she flew away and landed on her throne, "Why would I end it so quickly? After all, you've been gone so long. I'm interested in hearing what you did during your time away from the hive. Meeting and serving that Doom pony, getting imprisoned and then being let out by joining the ponies now decorating my throne room. You've certainly lived an interesting life."

"So basically, you just want to laugh at me for everything I did since escaping?"

"You always were good at knowing my intentions. Well...most of them. Though I am quite surprised you were able to trick those ponies into thinking you were on their side."

"It wasn't a trick," Hiveena growled, "And it wasn't me who got them to be open with the idea. Thorax-"

Chrysalis hissed as soon as that name was uttered, her subjects doing the same as the queen roared, "Don't ever mention that traitor's name in my kingdom! He was a fool to leave!"

Hiveena just chuckled at this, "Shows what you know. Thorax was never a traitor, because he was never on your side to begin with." The queen and drones all stared at her, going quiet as she continued, "It was me he pledged himself to that day. And as soon as you ran me out, you lost all loyalty from him."

"Is that so?" Chrysalis stood up. "Then he is a traitor, just a much earlier one than I originally thought." She let out a low chuckle, "And once my plan is complete, I'll track him down and make him pay for turning his back on me."

"I won't let you lay a hoof on him!" Hiveena screamed, "And he'll find help. Believe me. Something I learned from those ponies is that as long as you have friends, you'll always have somepony to get your back."

Chrysalis laughed at this, "I've captured the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria," she gestured to her half conscious prisoners. "Even if he can find somepony willing to help him, what hope do they have against my army?"





Outside the hive...

The drones that were on guard duty were just wandering around, their constant vigilance not working as they failed to notice six intruders sneaking past them to get to the hive castle. Thorax was leading the group, the hiveless drone gesturing for them toward a hole that he flew through. The others used Discord as a bridge to get inside before he climbed into it himself.

"Alright," Heart spoke up as Rogue removed his shades. "How about if I say red shirt, you say blue shirt?"

"That sounds a little foalish," Soul replied. The group had been trying to come up with a code word for if they got separated, but nothing good had came to mind.

"Come on you two," Starlight responded, "We need to think of something."

"What's the point?" Discord added, "Let's face it. If we do get split up, we're pretty much doomed to be captured. From now on, I say we don't trust anypony if we-OW!" He yelped as he tripped over something, making him fall on his face.

The others laughed as Rogue spoke up. "Here's an idea," he turned to the others. "How about if I say klutzy, you say draconequus."

The others laughed again, Heart replying, "I'm down for that."

Soul nodded in agreement, Thorax adding, "I'll definitely remember it."

"Klutzy draconequus it is," Starlight cheered while Discord grumbled.

"What did I trip over anyway?" He looked down at his foot and found it was stuck in a hole in the floor. And when he pulled it out, the hole suddenly closed. The others then looked around, now seeing that the entire structure was like that, filled with holes that opened and closed without a second's notice.

"Ooookay." Soul gulped before turning to Thorax, "I am definitely glad you came." She leapt away from the wall as a hole opened. "It'd be almost impossible to find our way around without you."

"No almost about it," Thorax replied before pointing behind them. They turned around, only to see the hole they had come through was now gone.

Their eyes went wide before Heart spoke up. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a hole right there?"

"It's a changeling hive," Thorax responded, "It shifts and changes like we do, and we're the only ones who can navigate it." He turned to a wall and walked up as another hole appeared. "It's total chaos to non-changelings." He stepped through the hole, the others quickly following while the hole closed seconds after Discord pulled his tail through.

"Well, it's decent chaos. I don't know if I'd call it total." Discord as they continued to travel through the hive, trying to be as silent as possible. An hour seemed to pass as Thorax lead them up one tunnel and down the next, over a bridge and down a spiral walkway next.

Heart let out a long sigh, "You changelings need to hire a better architect. Are there any hallways here that are just a straight line?" Thorax shrugged as they made their way up the staircase.

"Are we sure that I'll get my magic back when we destroy this throne thingy?" Discord asked, Starlight turning back to him.

"If Thorax is right, then yes."

"Well," he muttered while rolling his eyes, "That's reassuring."

Rogue let out a chuckle, "Just leave it to me. Once I get close enough, I'll blast that throne to pieces." He turned to grin at Discord, "Maybe you should just leave the important stuff to me while you sit back and...I don't know, make popcorn."

"Oh please," Discord crossed his arms. "Once I have my magic back, I'll be able to rip the fabric of space and time apart to save our friends. Leave the heavy hitting to me. Wouldn't want you to strain that oh so precious voice of yours. Though for all we know, you might have one of your little episodes before you can even get to the throne. I wouldn't really call somepony with that issue reliable."

Rogue growled at this, "At least if I make things worse, it's actually by accident. You just breathing causes problems for all those around you!" Discord leaned down at him at this, only for Starlight to get between them.

"Cut. It. Out!" She hissed while pushing the two apart, "I'm just barely keeping it together, and it would be wonderful if you two could actually try to help instead of bickering like foals!" She then trotted up another flight of stairs while Discord and Rogue shared a glare, both growling before following.

"Okay," Discord hissed.

"What do you need us to do to help?" Rogue asked, Starlight looking away in response.

"Don't ask me!" She yelped, "I couldn't even handle giving advice at the Sunset Festival, and I had magic then! And four out of the five of us are as good as useless!" Rogue smirked at being the one useful one as they reached the top of the stairs where Thorax and the twins stood. "At least Thorax knows where we're going."

"Um..." the changeling did a small gulp, "Actually, I think we're lost."

"What?! How can you be lost?!" Heart yelled, "You lived here!"

"Ages ago," Thorax countered, "They must have remodeled after I left. Guess it's not a surprise, since they did the same thing after Hiveena escaped."

"So now we have no idea how to get to the throne?" Soul asked, getting a nod from Thorax. "Great. At this rate, the only way we're ever gonna get to the throne is if the changelings capture us. And then it won't matter, because we'd be nothing but a love buffet."

Heart groaned at this, "I never thought I'd spend the rest of my life feeding ultra-hungry changelings." He fell on his flank and put his chin in his hoof, then turned to Thorax, "Be honest, how many changelings do you think I could feed?"

"Changelings can never get enough love. Although..." he started to think, "I haven't really been hungry since Flash and Twilight took me to the Crystal Empire. That place was so full of love, I was like a fish that lived in a puddle being thrown into the ocean."

"Spectacular," Rogue deadpanned while Discord was busy clipping his toenails.

"What about now?" Starlight asked, "It must have taken a while to get to Ponyville from the empire. Are you feeling at all hungry now?" Thorax went wide-eyed at this, now shaking his head, "So you're not hungry, and your wings changed. And this all happened after you made friends with Spike and the others."

She rubbed her chin until Discord let out a yawn, "While I would love to sit around chitchatting about feeding and not feeding, I HAVE A FLUTTERSHY TO SAVE!" That last word echoed through the hive, the pony styled creatures all going wide-eyed before glaring at Discord.

"Will you keep the noise down!" Rogue whisper yelled, "We're trying to be stealthy, loudmouth!"

"Hmph," Discord crossed his arms, "Pot calling the kettle black. Besides, we haven't seen an actual changeling since we got into this hive." It was then that they all heard a buzzing sound, the six shaking at the sound.

"What's that?" Soul asked before Thorax cried out.

"A changeling patrol!" He started to hyperventilate, Starlight putting a hoof over his mouth as they rest tried to locate where the sound was coming from.

"This seems like one of those moments where we need a plan," Discord pointed out before Rogue got into a battle stance.

"Let me at'em! I'll blast them away and-"

"No," Starlight interrupted, "We can't risk revealing your sonic attack. If they learn about it, they may realize you can destroy the throne and focus on taking you down first."

"So what do we do?" Heart asked, "We've got no magic and unless changelings like a good card trick, WE'RE DOOMED!"

Starlight blinked at that statement, "Did you bring any of those smoke bombs Trixie gave you?" The twins turned to her before giving her a smile, Heart reaching into his bag before showing the bombs, "Perfect. Here's the plan."

Two minutes later, five changelings appeared from one of the holes. They looked around, only to spot Heart standing on the cliff. "Alright, you got me." The five hissed before charging at him, but Heart threw a smoke bomb down, "Surprise!" He yelled as the smoke covered him, the changelings flying through it, only to find he was gone.

"Waz'up!" They turned to the voice and saw him on another ledge, the colt turning to run down a hole with the three following after him.

Further down the hallway, Starlight, Soul and Discord watched from a hole in the ceiling as Heart ran past them. The five changelings continued to give chase, though two of them split off and went a different way. "Huh," Discord huffed, "Not bad I suppose."

"I'll take it," Heart told him as he appeared beside him. "I may not be as skilled an illusionist as Trixie, but I'm small and fast." In that moment, another Heart ran up to them. Starlight looked him and the first one over, she and the other three stepping back from the two lookalikes.

"Klutzy..."

"Draconequus!" The two exclaimed as one of them transformed back into Thorax. Soul hugged the real Heart while Discord let out a groan.

"I really think we need a new code word!"

They all chuckled at this while Thorax turned back to Starlight. "That was a pretty good plan."

"But we're still lost," Rogue pointed out. "And it's not like the changelings left a map laying around with a 'you are here' logo on it."

"Maybe not," Starlight replied, "But two of the changelings didn't go with the rest."

"Oh!" Thorax face-hoofed. "With an intruder in the hive, they went to protect the queen! Good thinking, Starlight!" The others smiled while Starlight let out a nervous laugh.

"So...we just have to find the place that's the most guarded?" Soul asked next.

"Exactly," Thorax responded, "That's where we'll find the throne and all our friends."

"So then what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Discord exclaimed as the others nodded, all heading toward the direction the two changelings headed off in, all while Starlight was thinking about their chances.





Hiveena continued to struggle against her bonds, growling as found still unable to move. But as she did this, she saw the room was now empty, making her focus on her horn, making it glow. Slowly, the slime began to melt until she stopped and it slowly hardened again. She then did it again, lighting her horn until the slime melted again before stopping. Seeing this, she knew if she kept it up, the slime would become thin enough that her magic could get through.

But as she did this, a slime-ball shot down from the roof and hit her horn. Hiveena gasped as the slime solidified, right as Chrysalis flew down. "Ooh," she shook her head before poking her nose with every word as she said, "Naughty, naughty." Hiveena growled at her, only to be interrupted by two drones.

"Your highness!" They turned to them, "There's an intruder!" Chrysalis' eyes went wide while Hiveena smiled.

"Find them!" Chrysalis ordered, "Capture them!" They nodded and ran off, Chrysalis glaring back at her daughter. "Don't get cocky. They may have gotten into the hive, but they won't be getting into this throne room." With that, she flew off, Hiveena watching her leave as her smile vanished.

"Thorax...please be careful."





Meanwhile...

The group had now managed to circumvent the drones, now arriving at the top of a staircase. At this, they looked down and saw a large group of changelings guarding a door of some kind. They counted six drones out in the open and knew more would have to be inside.

"That's gotta be it," Rogue commented.

"So what now?" Soul asked as they hid to the side, everypony turning to Starlight.

"We...go in," was all Starlight could come up with.

Thorax's entire body shook at this, "Even if we wanted to, there's no way past the guards. We'll be spotted for sure!"

Starlight let out a groan, "We need some kind of...distraction."

"Smoke bombs?" Rogue asked the twins.

"Fresh out," Heart replied, "But I did bring a few stink bombs."

"I doubt they'd be able to drive these drones away," Soul pointed out before Discord spoke up.

"Normally, I'm the most distracting thing I can think of. But without magic..." He fiddled with his beard, only for Starlight to smirk as she gestured to him.

"You shouldn't underestimate yourself." The draconequus raised an eyebrow until Starlight explained her idea, Discord half loving and half hating it.

The changeling guards stood to attention as another group of changelings flew over. The doors opened like a beetle's wing cover, creating a triangular opening that they flew through, and when the doors closed, the changelings looked forward again. And when they did, they suddenly found a creature they had only heard about standing in front of them.

Discord was holding a microphone and tapped it, "Hello, changelings and changelettes! Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are that I'm here! When I heard that I'd be playing for a bunch of changelings, I was beside myself! But then I realized, it was just one of you." A rimshot played in his head, but the changelings just hissed.

They began to walk up to him, Discord letting out a chuckle, "But uh...seriously, this isn't the toughest crowd I've ever been in front of. But it's definitely the easiest to bug!" He waited for the laughter, but the changelings came to a stop and blinked at him, "To bug?" He repeated, but still they remained laughter free. "Is this thing on?" He tapped the microphone.

With the changelings so focused on Discord, they didn't notice the other five sneak past and push the door open. Once there, they heard Discord insult the changelings before running off. He even got down on all fours to run as fast as he could, he and the changelings disappearing down another hole.

Rogue then turned to the others, "How the heck did that work?"

"I'm gonna say luck," Heart replied. "Pure and simple luck." They jumped down one of the darker hallways but stayed where they were, glancing around the corner to try and see any sign of Discord coming through the doorway. And so they waited...and waited...and waited.

"We can't wait for Discord," Thorax whispered after about five minutes and three drone parties flying past them. "Between seeing him and Heart, the castle will be crawling with guards soon."

Starlight let out a long sigh, "But if we do manage to destroy Chrysalis' throne, we'll need him. He could take on the entire changeling army by sneezing if he wanted to."

"But without his magic, he's pretty much useless," Rogue added, "So he's probably already been-"

"Hello?" They suddenly heard Discord's voice, making them look up to see him sneaking through the doorway. "Fellow rescuers?" The ponies shared a glance, the way Discord was talking already making them uneasy. But they had to be sure, so they stepped out of hiding.

"We can't stay here," Thorax said, "We gotta find the throne."

"Ooh!" Discord replied in an almost child-like manner. "I heard some of the changelings who were chasing me say that they know where it is!"

They exchanged glances at this, Rogue speaking up, "Klutzy..."

"Oh...yeah." Discord chuckled, "I uh...I can be klutzy. Now," he pushed past them and lead the way, "Follow me." The ponies slowly followed, Starlight glaring at the back of his head before turning to whisper to the others.

"You know that's not Discord, right?"

"Obviously," Rogue replied while the others nodded. It was then that they reached a passage with two large holes, one going left and the other going right. Discord was standing in front of the left tunnel and gesturing them to follow.

"This way!" He yelled before walking inside, "We're almost there!"

"I know this trick," Thorax told the others. "If he says to go left, we should definitely go right. He's leading us to a swarm waiting to attack!"

They all stared at each other, Starlight's mind on fire as she tried to think, 'If we go right, the changeling will quickly realize what happened and be after us. If only we could block this passageway so they couldn't follow. But since we can't-'

"I'll go," they all turned to Heart as he stepped up, "I'll do my best to hold the changelings off while you all get to the throne room."

"Heart!" Soul cried as Starlight ran in front of him.

"You can't!" She told him. "It's too dangerous. You're just a colt."

"I might be a colt, but I was chosen by Flash to become a protector of Equestria and all its important ponies. And right now, there's no pony more important then all of you."

"But you can't use your fire," Soul added.

Heart nodded back, "Maybe, but Flash has been teaching me to fight with more than just my flames." He turned to Starlight, "I have to do this."

Starlight grimaced at this, only for Soul to walk up next, "Then I'm coming with you." Heart gasped at this, but she flashed a hoof at him, "Heart, we've spent our entire lives facing one issue after another together. I'm not about to change that. I might not have my magic, but I can double any time you could buy for us on your own."

"Not you too," Starlight whispered. "Please, I won't know what to do! We've already lost Discord, I can't lose you too! Without magic, I-"

"Was able to trick a changeling patrol and got us past the ones guarding that door," Heart interrupted.

"Stop doubting yourself," Soul added, "If Twilight had been in your shoes, she probably would have gone into a panic attack by now."

"But still-"

"You can do this," Heart assured her. "I know you're scared to listen to your gut, but you shouldn't be."

"You're a good leader," Soul finished. "Now stop wasting time and get Rogue to that throne room." They glanced back at the two males, both nodding as the two turned back to the tunnel.

"You ready?" Heart asked as he took out his stink bombs.

"As I'll ever be," she replied as they walked into the darkness, "Hey Discord! We've got a joke for you!"

"What do you call a changeling with tears in their eyes?" Heart asked as the imposter turned to them, "A stinkbug!" He threw the stink bombs right into Discord's face, making him cry out. It transformed back to normal, glaring at them with puffy red eyes as the twins glanced back at their friends.

"RUN!" The three ran off while the changeling tried to chase them, but Heart and Soul tackled it to the ground, both easily pinning it. But as they did this, a hissing sound from above filled their ears, making them look up to see a whole swarm of the bug-ponies glaring down at them.

"Err...hi," was all Heart could say before the changelings descended.

He leapt off of the first changeling, dodging the first few bugs before spinning around and smacking a bug in the face. This was followed with a bum-rush, knocking two more down before he was suddenly tackled from behind. "Heart!" He heard Soul cry, looking up to see his sister getting pinned along with him. The two reached out and tried to grab one another's hoof, but the swarm completely covered the two before they could reach one another, everything now going dark.





Starlight, Rogue and Thorax continued to run through the hive, Starlight now feeling a wave of sweat pouring down her face. And as she continued to run down a hallway, the twin's words filled her mind.

"I...I can do this." she whispered to herself before speaking up, "Alright, I have a plan." The two turned to her, "It's a long shot, but it just might work." She quickly explained it to them, but as she finished, they heard a buzzing sound, now knowing the swarm was approaching.

"THIS WAY!" They yelled before leaping into a different hole, only realizing their mistake after the swarm flew in and began to stream into a different hole. Knowing that they couldn't go back, the three each headed off down their own tunnel, hoping it would come out at the throne room so they could pull off their plan.





Within the throne room, Hiveena continued to hang from her spot on the wall. Her drifting eyes saw two drones staring at her, knowing she could try to escape. All she could do was hang there and wait for the inevitable to happen. That is, until she heard hoofsteps, turning to see somepony walk in from one of the holes. It was Starlight, the princess gasping. "You're the intruder?" She asked as Starlight turned to her.

"Not just me," Starlight replied, "I'm here with-" She stopped due to something splashing down on her head, making her rub it and find it was green slime. She gasped as she then looked up, seeing all her friends trapped within the slime cocoons. Discord, the twins, and every replaced pony that they had come to save. All trapped, all looking like they were only half conscious.

She turned to the back of the room and saw the throne, only for a loud laugh to ring out, "One little pony, all by herself." She looked back up at the cocoons, now seeing the tyrant known as Queen Chrysalis. She unfolded herself with several cricks, smiling as she stared at the unicorn. "Oh, how will I ever prevent this daring rescue?"

Starlight began to backpedal, the unicorn's eyes darting around as she now saw eyes illuminate almost every hole. Before she could do anything, the changeling leapt out and dog-piled her while letting out several hisses. When they pulled back, Starlight's hooves were glued to the ground by slime.

"Well, well, well." She looked up to see Chrysalis flying down and landing on the throne. "The other pupil of the Princess of Friendship. Honestly, I didn't think you were worth replacing with one of my drones."

Starlight began to squirm against the slime, "You won't get away with this!"

"I already have," Chrysalis gestured to the ponies on the roof. "Nopony is coming to save you. Your little squad was it. And now, there's just you."

Starlight hesitated for a second before smiling, "Thorax is still out there."

"HA!" Chrysalis laughed before flying off her throne, "That fool poses no threat to me. Everypony that knows him as a good pony has already been captured. He has nopony to help him now that you're out of the picture. All he can do is hide and cry until he's inevitably found." She turned to slowly walk away, "And when I find him, he'll learn what happens to those who betray the hive!" She glared back at Starlight while saying that last part, causing the mare to whimper. In doing so, her eyes shined for a brief moment, "And it seems I don't have far to look, do I..." Her horn glowed before firing a blast of magic, hitting Starlight in the chest.

"Augh!" She cried as she was suddenly consumed by green fire, fading to reveal his true form.

"Thorax!" Chrysalis roared as the drones glared at him, Hiveena letting out a gasp while Thorax just shivered under the queen. Chrysalis's horn began to glow again, only for a banging sound to ring out.

She turned and saw Starlight hitting her throne with a piece of rock. She let out several grunts while doing so, but stopped when she realized she had been caught. "Whoa!" She yelped as she jumped behind it, seconds before Chrysalis's magic struck the spot she had been sitting. The unicorn then leapt into a hole, now hiding within the hollow base of the throne as Chrysalis walked up. And as she did, Hiveena saw nopony was focusing on her.

"Very clever," she heard Chrysalis say as she began to melt the slime on her horn. "And clearly Thorax revealed to you the secret of my throne." She looked inside, Starlight squirming to avoid her sight, "I can't have powerful ponies using their abilities against me." Starlight could feel sweat pouring down her face as Chrysalis slowly leaned down, her heart racing until another voice called out.

"Well you're about to find yourself going up against exactly that!" The changelings looked up at the voice, only to see Rogue leap into the throne room through one of the wall holes. He ran as fast as he could, several drones charging at him, "Out of my way!" He yelled before unleashing his sonic blast, knocking them all flying back and making Chrysalis have to cover her ears.

He ran up to the throne and fired another sonic blast that struck the rocky chair, making it form tiny cracks. "NO!" Chrysalis screamed, "STOP HIM!"

Rogue stopped screaming when several drones charged, the bat pony beginning to jump around to avoid them. And as he did this, he sent out another sonic blast, knocking the bugs away. But as he did this, Chrysalis's horn fired a shot right at his chest.

"AUGH!" He cried as his body suddenly went ridged, a green glow wrapping around him. The others gasped before Chrysalis lifted Rogue off the ground and slammed into him, another changeling firing a slime-ball at Rogue's face and sealing his mouth shut.

"NO!" Starlight cried as Rogue's eyes went wide, the thestral trying to pull the slime off, only for the other changelings to tackle him. They quickly sealed him up, binding all but his head in a cocoon.

Chrysalis laughed at the sight, the queen staring back at the throne and the unicorn who was hiding within it. "Even with your rather embarrassing little rescue attempt, everything has gone according to my plan."

"What plan?" Starlight asked, "Why did you do all this?!" She turned to the nearest hole, only to gasp when Chrysalis stuck her head through it.

"So I could feed, of course!" She pulled her head out of the hole and gestured to her captives. "By replacing the most beloved figures in Equestria, my drones will be able to store all the love meant for them and return it here to me."

"That's your plan?" Hiveena replied, "Pretty terrible one if you ask me!" Chrysalis turned to her and gasped as she saw the changeling's horn was now slime-free, the princess unleashing a beam of light that struck her prison and cut it open.

"NO!" She cried as Hiveena spread her wings, firing a beam of magic that struck every drone near her.

She then turned to her mother. "You can't fool those ponies forever. There's no way your drones can do the same thing as the real princesses. Eventually, they'll slip up and the ponies will realise who they truly are. And when that happens, they'll do everything in their power to find and rescue the real ones. You'll have a full blown war on your hooves."

Chrysalis growled back, "One I'm sure to win."

"Then what? You'll still have no more love and your subjects will starve. All because they have a leader who should have been dethroned a long time ago." The drones around her prepared to charge at her, but Hiveena's next words froze them on the spot, "I challenge you for the right of succession."

Chrysalis glared at her daughter, but knew the drones wouldn't attack now. "Whenever a challenge is made, the one challenged must accept or lose all control of her drones."

"And those same drones can't help in the challenge," Hiveena replied while taking to the air, "That is the way of the changeling."

"Very well," Chrysalis spread her wings and flew up so she was at level with Hiveena. "I hope you've been practising."

"Almost every day since I left," Hiveena got into a battle stance. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."

Everypony's eyes began to dart around as both began to fire blasts of magic at one another. The beams connected and pushed against one another for several seconds, only to cease as both began firing at each other again. Chrysalis the spat some slime out of her mouth but Hiveena ducked under it before her body was then engulfed in flames. And when the fire vanished, a purple dragon the size of Ember was in her place. She unleashed a burst of fire at Chrysalis, who shielded herself with her magic while landing. But the heat from the flames got through her shield, making her sweat as Hiveena kept pushing her back.

And as this happened, Chrysalis suddenly turned into a Scorpentine, lunging a claw at Hiveena. The dragon flapped her wings to dodge the attack, cutting her flame breath before flying up to the ceiling. Kicking off it, she divebombed at her mother before transforming into a lindworm, rolling herself up as she let gravity take hold.

Chrysalis crossed her claws and blocked the attack, but flinched as the worm landed on her. Chrysalis then raised her tail, trying to stab the Hiveena. But before it could make contact, the lindworm shape-shifted into a snake and coiled her body so that it formed a ring that the sting stabbed into the center. Completely unharmed, Hiveena quickly slithered up the tail and transformed into a pukwudgie once she got within range. She spun around and fired off several bristles, hitting Chrysalis in the face, making her cry out.

As this was going on, Starlight jumped out of the throne and grabbed another rock off the ground, now hitting the side of the throne. But as she did this, it still seemed to be hopeless, the damage done by Rogue's scream along with her not doing any damage.

It appeared that Hiveena truly was Equestria's last hope, as Hiveena was easily pushing Chrysalis back. The queen turned into a minotaur now, charging at her daughter until Hiveena morphed into Fire Heart's ignited form, propelling herself into the air above the minotaur. Once behind her, she morphed into Ruby Scarlet and unleashed a barrage of crystal arrows that impaled into Chrysalis's back. This made her scream as her daughter transformed into Shining Soul and flew down onto the minotaur's back. Being so small, Chrysalis couldn't reach her, that is till Hiveena shifted into Lightning Blitz.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Chrysalis screamed as she was electrified, her entire body now covered in lightning.

Hiveena then hopped off and returned to normal, landing as her mother swayed from side to side before falling over, reverting back to normal. This caused them all to gasp, Hiveena smiling as she turned around and saw her mother trying to pick herself up. "That's the difference between you and me, mother. You can only mimic other creatures appearances. But I can mimic everything, including their abilities. It's the kind of power all these changeling would have had by now if I had been allowed to take my rightful place on the throne."

The changelings watching turned to one another, whispering over the ideas of having Hiveena's abilities. And as they began to talk about what they could do with this, Chrysalis saw this and hissed, seeing the faith in her drones now vanishing.

That is, till Hiveena walked up to her, "Last chance. Surrender or I'll be forced to end it."

Chrysalis glared up at her, hissing before her eyes drifted to something else. Something made her shine a huge grin, "You may have more power then me, but you have a fatal flaw that would doom the changelings if you lead them."

Hiveena raised an eyebrow, "And what's that?"

She got her answer when Chrysalis sparked her horn, only to point it at Thorax. Time seemed to slow down as she fired a beam of magic, Hiveena gasping as she saw this. Thorax's eyes went wide, unable to escape thanks to his hooves being trapped. And so, Hiveena's body moved before she could think, leaping between Thorax and the blast, but didn't have time to counter it or transform into something that could withstand it.

And so, the blast struck her in the chest, making her scream in pain as she fell over. "HIVEENA!" Thorax screamed as time sped back up, the drones gasping while Starlight looked out from behind the throne.

"AHAHAHA!" Chrysalis laughed as he pulled herself back up, "And that, dear daughter, is why you'll never be a good queen! Because you make the mistake of caring for others more than yourself." She walked up and slammed a hoof into Hiveena's face, making her daughter squirm in pain, "You little fool. Why risk your life for one simple drone?! There are a hundred more just like him, but only one of you."

Hiveena let out a groan at this, moving her head away from Chrysalis's hoof as she mumbled out, "You're... wrong," she pushed her head back up. "It doesn't matter who you are, drone, queen or whatever else. Everypony in it is equally important. That's something I realized while living with the ponies."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes at this, "My word you've gotten sappy. Without the queen, the hive can't survive. Even if a million drones die, the hive will live on as long as its queen lives. And until you learn that, you'll never be a worthy queen." She spun around and walked up to her throne, "I will continue to rule this hive, and now I can gather magic from all over Equestria." She turned back to the swarm staring down at her. "Everypony will do as I command, and my subjects and I will feed on their love for generations!" She let out a fit of maniacal laughter, the changelings around them hissing in agreement.

Meanwhile, Starlight glanced out from her hiding spot and stared at Thorax's wings. The glimmering appearance made her remember what he had said earlier, an idea beginning to form in her mind. "What if you didn't have to feed?" But as she said this, Chrysalis flew over and slammed into the ground beside her.

"Ridiculous!" She cried as Starlight tried to run, but Chrysalis reached out and grabbed her tail before throwing her over to a nearby wall. She grunted as she hit it, slumping over as a pair of drones landed beside her and held her down. Chrysalis then trotted over, staring right into her eyes. "The hunger of changelings can never be satisfied!"

"Exactly!" Starlight barked back, "Thorax left the hive and made a friend. He shared love, and now he doesn't need to feed." She pushed herself back up, though the drones kept her held in place as she turned to the swarm. "You don't have to live your lives starving all the time!"

The drones heard this and began to murmur, the sounds of whispers now making Chrysalis growl. She quickly grabbed Starlight in her magic, throwing her against another wall, "How dare you! You know nothing of the changelings or what it takes to be their queen!" Starlight slumped over at this, flinching as Chrysalis slowly walked up to her, "I decide what is best for my subjects, not some mewling traitorous grub!"

"No," she now heard Hiveena's voice, the queen turning to the princess as she pushed herself up on shaking hooves, "Thorax isn't just some grub. He's more then that." Chrysalis hissed as her horn began to glow, "Before I left, I gave Thorax a spark of my magic. It's spent all this time within him, growing stronger and stronger. That spark is now just as powerful as my magic source."

This made Chrysalis go wide-eyed, her vision darting between Hiveena and Thorax as she noticed their wings were now different from before they were banished. She grit her teeth as she then yelled, "So what?! You're just traitors and nothing more!"

"No. Thorax is proof that the changelings aren't done evolving." Hiveena moaned out, "Every generation is stronger than the other, becoming more and more complete with every leader that takes the throne. But because you refused to give yours over when we needed to, the changelings have stagnated. But Thorax is proof that we can still become who we were meant to be. All we need is a catalyst."

The drones continued to listen, their murmurs getting louder as Chrysalis' face contorted in fury, "ENOUGH!" She fired a blast at Hiveena, knocking her flying across the room.

But as she screamed this, Starlight stood up, "I know what it's like to lead by fear and intimidation!" Chrysalis turned back to her, hissing as she continued, "And I know what it's like to want everypony to do what you say! But I was wrong." She opened her eyes and spoke now to not just Chrysalis, but to the changelings themselves. "A real leader doesn't force her subjects to deny who they are! She celebrates what makes them unique, and listens when one of them finds a better way! That's what Thorax has found!"

Chrysalis hissed as she moved over to Thorax, "The only thing Thorax has found is what happens to those who turn their back on the hive!" The drones around him cowered away as she drew near, her horn growing green before she grabbed him in her magic.

"No!" Starlight ran forward, but some drones blocked her path. "Stop!" Hiveena also tried to push herself up, but her injuries were too much.

"I will," Chrysalis replied as she pulled Thorax up, freeing him from the slime, "Just as soon as I drain every last ounce of love from him and show my subjects what a real leader is!" With that, she opened her mouth, a pink mist beginning to fly out of his stomach and into her mouth.

Thorax grunted and groaned, trying his best to keep her from draining the love he had been gifted by his friends. In doing so, his wings started get less sparkly. "I can feel the love inside me slipping away...!" Hiveena tried to spark her horn, but only got a sputter, "I can't hold onto it any longer..."

Starlight went wide-eyed at this, only for her brain to click, making her gasp, "Then don't!" Thorax turned to her as she continued, "Sharing love is what made you different to begin with! You should share yours with Chrysalis!" It was then that Starlight gave him a look she hadn't given anypony since the day Twilight put her on the right path. "Give her all of it!"

Thorax stared at her for just a second, only to take a single breath, closed his eyes...and let go.

With that, the love exploded out of him as his wings regained their glow. The love turned into a shockwave that struck Chrysalis, sending her flying and smashing into her throne. Then, a white light appeared from within him and wrapped around his body to form a shining cocoon. The drones went al wide-eyed at this, Starlight using this to move past the others and reach the cocoon. She then touched it, the cocoon exploding while also unleashing a blinding light.

Hiveena blinked as she suddenly felt her injuries vanish, the light now fading before causing each drone to be wrapped in a small veil of light that lasted only a moment before disappearing. She then turned to the source of the light, gasping as she saw what Thorax looked like now. He was now even taller then her, though that was mostly because of how large his antlers were. He now had a pair of orange antlers shaped like mandibles that gave him the appearance of a deer mixed with a stag beetle. His formerly black skin was now light green, the section around his neck now orange. The neck now had three gems attached to the front, the barrel of his body now wrapped in a dark green jacket and his back had purple wing coverings, which opened to reveal a set of glistening purple wings. His legs no longer had holes, and his tail was now larger and appeared to be the same color as his wings.

Starlight stared at him as he floated down, Hiveena moving up at the same time, "So this is what my magic was able to do to you." Thorax blushed as she looked him over, "I like it." With that, she hugged him. In doing so, she too unleashed a bright light that forced Thorax to jump back, the princess soon wrapped within a cocoon of light.

And when the light burst off her, she revealed her new form. The changeling's previously black body was now bluish purple while her mane and tail were now a reddish pink. The barrel of her body was covered in a dark red jacket and her legs no longer had holes, and changed from purple to a more yellowish color below the knee. The coverings for her wings were also yellow with red spots, opening to show transparent light blue wings while also being larger and lacking the holes. Finally, her horn was now the completely free of holes and curved upward while being as long as Celestia's.

She opened her eyes, which were now red that matched the shade of her hair. She looked herself over and smiled, then turned back to Thorax and saw they were now equal in height if she didn't count their horns.

As this happened, Starlight turned to the other drones and exclaimed, "You see? This is what happens when you give love freely instead of taking it!"

Hiveena nodded as she spoke up, "Changelings, let us all follow Thorax's example and push past our hunger for love. Let the changelings race be reborn anew!"

This seemed to win over the swarm, each not wanting to starve and also gain new power. So one by one, the changelings did what Thorax and Hiveena did, giving their love. That love exploded throughout the room, filling it with light as each drone was wrapped up in their own cocoon. The energy given off by Thorax when he evolved began to transform them, filling the room with more and more energy, causing the place to shake.

Chrysalis saw this and felt the vibrations, only to hear a cracking sound that made her look down and see her throne being shaken apart. But before she could do anything, the love within the throne room became too much for the structure.

KABOOM!

The top of the changeling hive exploded, unleashing a shockwave of love that flew out in every direction. Smoke filled the air but it quickly faded, a dome of magic appearing from within. That dome vanished to show Starlight, Thorax, and Hiveena, the three looking around as Starlight realized her magic was back.

But before she could figure out why, she and the two tall changelings saw the other changelings. And they were all very different. None were like Thorax or Hiveena, but they were still different. They had gone from being completely black to being a multitude of different pastel colors. No two changelings appeared to be the same...and they were all smiling. Their all consuming hunger had vanished, the seemingly never ending void now completely filled.

A squishing sound then caught Starlight's attention, making her turn to see her friends, all of them having been knocked off the ceiling during the explosion and freed from their cocoons. The mane seven all glanced around while the knights quickly took in their surroundings with some preparing to get into a battle stance.

Heart shook his head to try and get the slime off, only for his sister to hug him. Luna walked up to her sister, helping her up while Thorax moved over to Spike and helped him. Shining and Cadance pulled themselves free, and before fear could set in, a changeling flew over and handed Flurry to them.

Hiveena moved over to a still recovering Ruby, helping her of a cocoon. The knight looked at her, eyes going wide, "Hiveena?" She nodded back, Ruby squinting her eyes, "You look...different."

"Different good?" Hiveena asked, Ruby nodding back.

"Very good."

"Well, don't get to used to it," Hiveena laughed. "Even if I'm good, I'm still bad." She gave the knight a wink, making the mare the chuckle.

Rogue was freed from his cocoon and the slime covering his mouth was removed, allowing him to take deep breaths. "Finally," he gasped before noticing a certain somepony off to the side. "Applejack!" he ran up to her, only to stop a few inches away as she turned to him. "Err..." he scratched his leg and looked away, "I'm...glad you're okay."

"Yeah, you too." She wanted to ask where they were, but noticed Rogue appeared to be in pain. At first, she thought maybe he needed a golden apple, only to see he was flinching from the light that was now streaming down on them. She quickly removed her hat and plopped it on his head, blocking the light. The two smiled at one another, but were then forced to look away as Discord pushed past the pair.

"Fluttershy?" He ran past several changelings, grabbing her before Iron could stop him, the draconequus pulling her into a hug.

Fluttershy smiled at him until his hug grew a little too tight. "It's um, good to see you too." She hugged him back while Iron rolled his eyes. At this moment, Starlight walked over to Twilight and helped her up while Heart ran over to see if Flash was okay.

"Starlight?" She asked, her head beginning to clear, "What happened?"

Starlight looked back, now remembering everything her team had been through. "We defeated the changelings with no magic at all, they found a new leader, and...they're all kinda...good now." She tried to give Twilight a smile as Twilight turned to Throax, seeing the changeling nod back.

Twilight's face wore a look of total disbelief while Flash just laughed. "You take one forced nap and you miss a whole lot." He turned to ruffle Heart's mane while Luna walked over to her.

"Well done, Starlight Glimmer. It seems as though you've learned a great deal since we last spoke."

Luna would have said more, but their attention was caught by the sound of rocks shifting, all turning to where the royal throne had once been. The rocks were thrown away to reveal Chrysalis, still in her unreformed state and letting out a hiss of anger. She looked like she was about to attack, but stopped when she saw the opponents she now faced. Her former hive, the princesses of Equestria, the Royal Knights and some of the greatest heroes the kingdom had ever seen. They all stood united, ready to stop whatever she tried to do.

But before either side could attack, Starlight walked up and looked down at the now dethroned queen. "When Twilight and her friends defeated me, I chose to run away and seek revenge." She pointed at her, "You don't have to! You can be the leader your subjects deserve." She held her hoof out, offering Chrysalis the chance to live a new life.

Chrysalis stared at the hoof, Starlight's words going through her mind. Her eyes shifted to Thorax and Hiveena, both just staring at her. Then, she held up a hoof and reached out to take Starlight's hoof...only to slap it away.

"There is no revenge you could ever conceive of that will come close to what I will exact upon you one day, Starlight Glimmer!" With that, she leapt off the side of the castle, beating her wings as she flew away. The ponies all ran to the edge, now seeing she had somehow already gotten a good distance away.

"We need to stop her!" Heart yelled, but Thorax shook his head.

"No, let her go." The others turned to him, "Maybe someday she'll be willing to accept our new path. But for now, she's no threat."

Hiveena nodded in agreement, "On her own, she won't be much trouble." She turned to Thorax, "And she no longer has the power to lay anymore eggs. Not with a new ruler overpowering her rule."

Thorax blinked at these words, only to gasp and point at himself, "Me?! But you're-"

"It's clear to anypony watching that you are the better choice for a leader. You took the tiny spark of royal changeling magic I gave you and were able to make it grow, letting you become...this," She gestured to him. "And you were able to transform yourself to our kind's next stage of evolution. The only way I could have done that is if I had sat on the throne. You were able to do it on your own."

"Maybe..." Thorax muttered as he looked away, "But I don't know the first thing about leading a hive."

"I'm sure you'll be great," Flash chimed in, "You've already got a lot of qualities I'd want in a leader." The ponies that knew him all nodded in agreement, the changelings also nodding.

"Still..." Thorax mumbled, only for Heart to walk up to him.

"Why don't you and Hiveena rule together?" they turned to him. "It's clear you're both lacking something in leadership skills, but that something is what the other has."

Soul nodded at this, "I bet together you could lead the changelings into a new renaissance." She then giggled, "Plus...you both look so cute together." The changelings turned to one another, Thorax quickly glancing away while Hiveena started to blush. The rest of the changelings all let out their own calls of agreement, the two now seeing what this truly meant.

It was here that Celestia chose to step up to the two. "As the new leaders of the changelings, I look forward to discussing how we can improve our relationship in the future." They both nodded before Celestia turned to Twilight and Starlight. "However, for the moment, perhaps it is best that we leave the Changeling Kingdom to the changelings."

Everypony nodded in agreement, only for Discord to suddenly pop up between Applejack and Rarity. "Splendid idea!" He clapped, "Now who's ready for some celebratory tea at Fluttershy's?!"

The pony in question went wide-eyed before looking around, instantly knowing she couldn't fit them all into her house. "Uh...everypony? I don't think-"

"Actually," Starlight spoke up. "Now that you can snap your claws and send us absolutely anywhere again, I think I have a better idea."





Back at Starlight's old village, the ponies were enjoying the last few days of their festival. Double Diamond and Party Favor had decided on a banner, and were putting it up as they heard some loud hoofsteps, making them turn around and see Starlight standing a ways of. "Uh...hey, Starlight. What are you doing here?"

Double nodded. "You left in such a hurry before, we kinda thought you didn't wanna come."

"Yeah," Starlight replied as she walked up, "I guess after the way I used my magic on all of you, I wasn't sure I was somepony who should even be in charge of a baking contest. I was afraid I might go back to being the pony I used to be." She then gave them a small smile, "But now I know that sometimes you don't have a choice. You have to step up. And I have changed!" She stomped her hoof, "I can handle it." Sugar Belle and Night Glider walked up next as she continued, "Whether that means saving Equestria, or helping friends out with the Sunset Festival. Speaking of which, I know the Festival's almost over, but I kinda invited a few of my friends to join." She gestured behind her and the four spotted the many, many ponies standing there with smiles on their faces. "Hope that's okay."

Double's reaction was to let out a joyful laugh. "Are you kidding? Of course!"

"Great! Now where's that baking contest? This pony needs a cupcake!"

With that, the festival was in full swing. Everypony began enjoying themselves, eating food, playing games and competing in contests. It was made even more fun with some of the newer guests using their abilities to improve things, such as making slides out of ice and crystal, or Discord turning a spot just outside the town into a chaos filled area that the ponies could enjoy. Pinkie especially enjoyed the chocolate milk pool and the twins, Spike and Flurry had fun jumping on a bouncy castle floor.

It truly was a great time had by all.





The day after the festival, a large flash of light signaled the return of Ponyville's greatest heroes to their hometown. Everypony let out sighs of relief at the sight of the castle. "Ah...it's good to be home." Flash commented as they walked up to the castle doors.

"I just hope those changelings didn't do anything to bad while we were gone," Grand added, "We should ask around and see what happened since they grabbed us."

And as they opened the castle's doors, they found Springer standing at the entryway. "There you are. Where the heck have you all been?"

"It's...a long story," Twilight replied, "Let's just say we won't need to worry about the changelings any more." This made Springer raise an eyebrow, but Twilight quickly changed the subject, "So how was the camping trip? Did Ace and Mira have fun?"

"Oh, they got more than fun out of it." Springer chuckled before the two young jakhowls jumped out from behind him.

"Hey everypony!" Ace exclaimed, the group going wide-eyed as they heard those words come out of Ace's mouth.

"What's up?" Mira added, jaws now dropping.

"You can talk!" Flash almost yelled, the three jakhowls nodding back, "That's great!" Heart ran up to Ace and gave him a hoof bump while Soul and Mira hugged, the rest of the group each giving their congratulations to them.

"Wow..." Starlight commented before turning to Twilight, "These last few days certainly have been full of surprises."

"Tell me about it," Twilight responded, "And it hasn't been just the last few days. The last few weeks have been insane. Mecha-Flash, Shade, and even that out of control pizza dough." She let out a sigh, "I don't know about you, but I could use a break."

"I could certainly go for some normal for the next few weeks," Starlight replied, "Think the universe is gonna give us a break?"

"What else could it do to us?" Twilight asked as everypony headed inside, "What the heck can possibly top what's already happened so far?"





The Dragon Lands...

In the dark caverns of the Flame-cano, Flicker was still working to uncover the secrets of the ancient mural that depicted the only piece of history their kinds had recorded. He was now sitting in front of the wall with a strange drilling device. "Alright..." he placed the device's tip against a corner of the wall, "Time to see if I can get a sedimentary specimen and find out how old this piece of wall is." He started cranking the handle, causing the drill to spin, allowing it to slowly make its way into the rock.

He kept drilling in, more rocks funneling out. "Interesting," he commented while seeing the different types of rock coming out. Each rock would tell him how far back this picture was, but before he could stop himself, the drill suddenly surged forward as it appeared to reach some empty space. "Whoa!" He yelped as the machine part slammed into the wall, causing it to crack around the hole. "Oh no."

He pulled the drill out, the cracks now spreading even more. "No, no, no!" He cried as the paintings became covered in cracks. All he could do was watch as the only piece of dragon history broke more and more apart. And eventually, the entire thing was covered cracks...and the wall began to fall apart. "NOOOOO!"

Then entire cavern began to rumble at this, Flicker flying away before the wall crumbled. It soon became a pile of rocks, the dragon falling over as he dodged the falling rubble. And when the shaking stopped, he picked himself up as he saw the hunks of the painted stone now covering the floor.

He reached down and picked up some of the smaller pieces, seeing one of the dragon's claws on one and the pony on the another. "What have I done?" he sighed, slumping over as the dust cleared. But as the dust faded, he saw the wall was now revealing something new. Another chamber beyond the wall.

"What the-" Flicker muttered out as he dropped the rocks and flew over to the hole in the wall. He glanced inside, now finding a chamber with only one thing inside: A round stone table.

And on that table was a large silver leather-bound book that had some writing on it. It wasn't draconic or even ancient draconic. In fact, it was written in a language he had never seen before. But something about the book was drawing the dragon to it. Flicker reached out and touched the book.

But as his claw tapped the book, a sudden green light exploded out of the book, filling the dark chamber while consuming Flicker in its glow, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" His screams continued as the light devoured the area, signaling an evil the Dragon Lands had not seen in over a thousand years.


<The End>